Chapter 64

I desperately fended off Sasuke's vicious practice sword with my own bamboo shinai. "That fucking Sharingan..." Even though I could edge out Sasuke in raw speed, he was far, far more efficient in his movements. In the short time Kakashi had been instructing us in kenjutsu, Sasuke had become monstrously good at it. It was a little unfair that he merely had to copy Kakashi's movements with his Sharingan and adapt the jounin's moves for his own use.

It distinctly reminded me of playing a video game. Sasuke was like an AI-controlled opponent in a fighting game that was set to impossible difficulty and could read my button inputs and respond perfectly. I still had the time of my life trying vainly to beat the crap out of him.

I wasn't half bad at kenjutsu myself. I didn't know how much was predisposition and how much was years of taijutsu practice but it felt natural to use a sword. Now that I knew the basics of how to properly strike and block and shift my feet, it felt like I was catching up with an old friend I had forgotten.

I still was only a beginner, however. Sasuke broke through my guard and tapped me hard on the ribs. "Goddamn. Can't fall for that one again."

Kakashi stopped us, "Impressive. Both of you are progressing very quickly. This might be a little sudden but I've recommended the three of you for the Chunin Exam."

Sakura looked up from her medical text. "Huh? Chunin Exam? Already?"

Kakashi gave us a reassuring eye-smile and said, "I think the three of you are ready. Here are your applications. If you feel you aren't ready for any reason, you don't have to enter. It's completely optional. Otherwise, then bring your signed application form to Room 301 at the Academy at 3 o'clock five days from now."

I grinned. "It's finally here." And then I gingerly rubbed the bruise on my torso. "Only five days left. Gotta make it count."

I was sitting against a tree with Sasuke. We were watching our clones fight with actual swords. His clone had a generic katana and mine was using the Kubikiribocho.

"Hey, Sasuke, have you ever considered what you would do after you finally kill Danzo?" I asked idly. My clone was fully using the reach of the massive sword to keep Sasuke at bay. I was a little annoyed that I had to remake my clone far more often than Sasuke, however.

The Uchiha took a long time to reply. "I'm supposed to fulfill my father's expectations and become a ninja worthy of leading the Uchiha clan."

"Is that what you want though?" It wasn't really any of my business. I was just curious because he was my teammate.

"What else is there?" he retorted.

I shrugged. "Who knows? Anyways I'm done for now. I have some things to take care of. I'll see you at the exams." I picked up my sword off the ground and started to walk off. Sasuke didn't stop me.

Finally, it was the day of the exam. I was about as prepared as I could be. I met up with Sakura and Sasuke outside the Academy. "Hey, guys! Ready to become chunin?"

Sakura answered halfheartedly, "I guess so."

Sasuke, as cheerful as ever, replied, "Whatever."

I sat down in my assigned seat for the first test. Next to me was a familiar face.

"Kabuto! Long time no see! How have you been? Finally decided to take me up on that anmitsu offer?"

"Do I know you?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten your dear friend Haru! It's only been about six years. You gotta tell me what you've been up to, Kabuto. Joined Otogakure, I see. Has Orochimaru been treating you well? Is that old fogey Danzo still alive?"

"I think you have me mistaken for someone else. My name is Kaida."

"So that's what you're going by these days. Alright. If you don't want anmitsu, we can get some dango after the test if you want."

"Please, leave me alone."

I definitely did not expect Kabuto to show up to the Chunin Exam. Sure he was using a different name and not doing his magic ninja info card trick. But it was unmistakably Kabuto.

"We'll catch up after the test okay?"

He merely ignored me until Ibiki Morino walked into the room.

The first test was about what I expected. Ten questions, team scoring, the last question revealed at the end. I was pretty good at math so I could answer one question on my own, the one about optimal kunai trajectory.

For the rest of the test, I doodled cartoons on the back of my test with my finger and used genjutsu to make random foreign ninja fail. I used a combination of making their feet itch, illusionary bugs flying around their heads, shadows on the periphery of their vision, and horrifyingly distracting screams from behind them. I got about a dozen genin disqualified before Ibiki revealed the final question. I could have done better, but I wanted to finish drawing the chibi versions of the entire Rookie Nine before I ran out of time.

"Man, Ibiki's coat is pretty nice," I thought to myself when he presented the tenth question. "Yeah, I should totally think about getting a new one after the exam."

And then Naruto immediately undid all of my sabotage by declaring, "It doesn't matter what kind of question you give us! One day, I'm gonna become the Hokage and some stupid test isn't going to change that!"

I was expecting Anko Mitarashi to burst in through the window but instead, it was Jiraiya who swaggered into the room through the door. He groaned and muttered under his breath still loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, "I'm too old for this."

"That's different. I guess the Hokage is doing something after all to prepare for Orochimaru. Still, I was looking forward to seeing how much Anko's chainlink really hides though." Being a teenager was rough.

"Yo! Congratulations on passing the first stage of the exam! You might know me as the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, Jiraiya the Sannin! But right now, I'm your proctor for the second stage of the exam." Jiraiya proudly pointed his thumb into his chest.

"This is the Toad Sannin? More like the Clown Sannin," a petulant voice spoke from behind me. A Kirigakure genin was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed defiantly.

With a deadpan expression on his face, Jiraiya clapped his hands together summoning a cloud of chakra. Before the smoke began to clear, a massive pink tongue shot out at the genin, wrapping around the Mist ninja who was pulled into the mouth of a toad that was nearly as tall as Jiraiya himself. The nondescript genin screamed before being swallowed whole. The toad seemed completely unaffected by his human-sized meal.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine," Jiraiya told the shocked class. "Does anyone else feel like interrupting my introduction? No? Well, I was going to tell you that your jounin leaders will tell you when and where to meet tomorrow for the next test. If you don't want to end up like that guy, you had best come prepared. Alright. That's it. See ya." He blandly waved his hand and trudged out of the room, grumbling, "This is why I don't like sticking around longer than I have to...putting me on babysitting duty..."