Chapter 12

I seem to forget to say that this becomes an AU after the chuunin exams, like you'll know what changes were made when we come across it.

12

"Shouldn't you be with your students to wish them luck?" Yuzuki asked Kakashi as she came down the stairs in her normal shinobi uniform.

"They can miss me for a few more minutes," Kakashi smiled at her.

She could tell he had been going to his therapy sessions, he seemed a little more relax compared to the first time they had met. She hummed at his answer and grabbed a piece of fruit. The exam happened at the academy and there was a food vender there, so hopefully she could buy some bread. A curry bun sounded good, it was quick and simple. If not, then she could probably send puppy dog eyes at Choji until he cracked.

"You'll be late if you don't head out," Kakashi informed her and she gave him the look.

She gave him the Genma look of a disappointed parent. He was able to ignore it as she headed out her front door. He sat there in her dining room, nursing a cup of coffee, and mulled over the S-rank secret he had been able to learn the night before. He had to make sure the way he treated her wasn't any different from before. Too many would be able to catch it if he were to do so. She had made things difficult without meaning to, she was still able to treat him the same.

Yuzuki looked at the team she was temporarily placed with. Two boys that were much taller than her, short dark hair, and dark eyes with tan skin. She gave them a small smile and bowed in greeting. They sized her up just like she had done to them.

"Think you can make it, kid?" they asked her in unison, twins then.

"Yes, I believe I can," She smiled, "I have a certain person I need to wipe the floor with."

It was said so casually they couldn't tell if she was messing with them or not. She wasn't, but that was beside the point. She needed to make it to chuunin to get missions that made her more money and then she could become a jonin and take on missions that paid more. She also wanted that guaranteed spot in torture and interrogation due to her Yamanaka heritage.

"Let's head in, yeah?" She asked.

The two boys gave a nod and they entered the academy. They went up a flight of stairs and noticed a large group of people standing around, muttering to one another. She raised a brow in disbelief and wondered why they were reamining on the second floor, they needed to be on the third. She moved towards the next flight of stairs and the two boys blinked in confusion.

"Where are you going?" They asked her.

"How many flights of stairs did you just go up?" She asked them in a calm manner.

"One, oh."

She gave them a kind smile and they joined her. She hadn't been rude about it, and they weren't expecting that from a Hyuuga, even a mixed one. They entered the exam room and followed the females lead and quietly sit down. It allowed them time to study the room and make plans.

"Those kids from Sunagakure are scary," one of the boys said.

"I can see why you think that, but two of them have an obvious weakness in the way they fight," Yuzuki muttered and they turned to her, "The blonde uses a fan and as such it's easy to tell her nature type is wind, a few earth or fire jutsus would stall her for sure. And the guy with purple face makeup might be a puppet type so long-range fighting would work best."

"Attack the joints of the puppet and you'll break it," a silver haired teen said as he walked up to the group, he held his hands up in defense at the narrowed eyes, "Relax, I just couldn't help but overhear, it sounded interesting."

"Right," Yuzuki muttered.

He seemed nice, but a churning in her gut told her not to trust him. Something was…off and she didn't know what. She needed to know his name, Hayate had talked about a teen with silver hair and glasses being the reason why he died but she had met a few silver haired people in this world. It was hard to just fixate on one. She didn't have much trouble when it came to Kakashi, but she liked him and didn't have a personal vendetta against him.

"Sasuke-kun you're late!" A familiar voice exclaimed and Yuzuki gave a soft snort.

"That's Ino for ya," She muttered in a fond tone.

"Ino?" One of the boys asked.

"One of my cousins, the other is Hinata-chan," She answered as she motioned towards the Hyuuga heiress.

"Let's go talk to them," One of the boys said with a grin as he got up from his chair and hooked an arm around Yuzuki's shoulder, "It's only polite that we introduce ourselves to your friends and family."

Wait, what? Yuzuki was so confused as she was dragged over to her loud cousin by the two boys who made up her temporary team. They watched as a far too familiar pinkette yelled at the blonde and couldn't help but find her annoying, that was one person they felt wasn't friends with their new teammate.

"Oh, you found a temporary team," Shikamaru commented as he walked up to Yuzuki and put his hands in his pockets, "Glad to see you could make it."

"Like I'd be the only one of the rookie ten to miss the exams," She chuckled, "How's it been being on a team with Ino?"

"It's a drag." He answered with a slight sigh as his shoulders slumped.

Yuzuki laughed at that and his eyebrows raised. She had never laughed at something he said before, he knew that she understood that he wasn't serious about half the things he said but she had never shown anything other than a humored look. Maybe being an apprentice had been the best thing for her, she seemed a bit happier. He let a slight smile appear on his face.

"I'm Watanabe Daichi," Said one of the boys before he pointed towards the other, "And this is Eiji."

The impressive first son and the second born one, Yuzuki couldn't help but feel bad for them. They were labeled by their names, and it was almost impossible to have fun with such names. Shikamaru seemed to share that thought as he shared a look with her.

"Hey, so you guys finally showed up!" Kiba Inuzuka loudly said as he walked up to the group of recently graduated genin.

"A-Ah, h-hello," Hinata greeted as she shyly looked to the side.

"I guess everyone's here," Kiba commented as he looked at everyone, "I'm surprised you showed up, Yuzuki."

"Why's that?" She asked with a frown.

"Well, you weren't the best in the academy," He explained with a slight smirk on his face, "So, I doubt you really learned enough to use those swords properly."

"What a drag," Shikamaru sighed.

"Agreed," She muttered before speaking up, "I guess we'll just have to see."

Daichi and Eiji looked at their newest member and then back at the Inuzuka. They couldn't help but wonder how a kid could be so stupid. She was average in the academy? She had noticed the genjutsu on the second floor the moment she stepped foot in it. They wondered just what kind of plan she had if she had scored average in everything at the academy, which was suspicious since everyone had something that they excelled in and to have nothing was a red flag.

"I wouldn't count her out just yet." Those words from the Uchiha had surprised everyone.

"Yeah, that's right!" Naruto exclaimed, "And we won't be losing to the likes of you, Kiba!"

"S-Sorry Naruto, K-Kiba-kun didn't mean it in that way," Hinata softly explained.

Hinata caught the fond look that was sent her way by her "favorite" cousin. She gave a soft smile towards the taller girl and saw a smile appear on her face. The two of them looked to the side as the white-haired teen from earlier walked up to them. Daichi and Eiji were on alert when he did, the fact that he was trying the same trick twice bothered them.

"You guys should be quieter," He warned them, "You guys are rookies fresh out of the academy, right? You don't need to be screaming like schoolgirls."

"Valid point," Yuzuki said as she sent a pointed look towards Ino.

Ino rolled her eyes but let out an amused huff. She was used to Yuzuki saying such things to her, being highly annoyed at her love for Sasuke. She knew it was true, while her cousin believed it to be an obsession or fixation.

"Get in all the cheap shots you can," Ino informed the dirty blonde.

"Who do you think you are?" The Uchiha asked the teen.

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto, but that's not important," He answered, "Look behind you."

As the genin did he looked towards Yuzuki and tried to gauge her reactions. She hadn't reacted to his name, luckily but her mind was reeling. She couldn't believe that it was the kid that Hayate warned her about. She needed to keep an eye on him, without calling attention to herself. She clenched her jaw before clearing her mind like Inoichi taught her to. She needed to keep a clear mind to push through this.

"Don't worry about everyone glaring at us," She piped up and the remaining rookies and her teammates looked at her in confusion, "It's an intimidation tactic, it's to unnerve you and make you make mistakes."

"Ha ha, it took me until my third time to catch that, but you got it on your first," Kabuto commented, "You're pretty sharp."

"Are you an intel-nin?" She asked him and he gave a nod.

"How many times have you taken these exams?" Sakura asked.

"This exam is held twice a year, and this is my fourth year," He answered.

"Eighth times the charm," Yuzuki commented, "It must've been pretty difficult in the other villages, at least you don't give up."

"Okay, I now officially wish you were our teammate," Eiji chuckled as he ruffled her hair.

"Yeah, you'd get a free lunch seeing as I make bento's for people," She grumbled.

"Why don't I share some info with you tiny rookies," Kabuto offered, "Anything you want to know about someone?"

"Sabaku no Gaara and Rock Lee," Uchiha stated.

"Oh, knowing their names makes this easy."

Yuzuki didn't trust the smile that Kabuto had. She looked at the info cards he had before looking towards Naruto. The boy looked so confused that she felt bad for him. The teachers at the academy really did sabotage him, she's proud that he was able to become a genin. He was one of those people that charmed you and wormed his way into your heart and stayed there. She wished him nothing but happiness.

"Okay, Rock Lee is a year older than you guys and finished twenty D-Rank, and twelve C-Rank mission," Kabuto said as he looked at the ninja card, "His sensei is Gai and his taijutsu improved greatly in this year, the rest is nothing important…he graduated last year but didn't participate in the exam so this is his first time like you guys. His teammates are Hyuuga Neji and Tenten."

Yuzuki and Hinata flinched at the mention of Neji's name. The Heiress was worse and seemed stressed at the idea of the boy being in the exams. He had such anger at the main branch that clan problems might be aired to the public. Yuzuki looked down at her feet as she realized that if he went too far, she'd have to step in and stop him as per clan rules. She would have to protect Hinata, which she was okay with. She adored her shy cousin.

"Sabaku no Gaara, he did eight C-Rank and one B-Rank which is impressive for a genin, he's a new comer from a foreign country so there isn't much information but it seems that he returned from all his missions without a single scratch," Kabuto informed everyone.

"Yuzuki?" Daichi asked as he looked at a suddenly thoughtful and calculating girl.

"Don't worry, it's nothing," She muttered, "This is going to be an interesting exam."

She looked towards the door and raised a brow under her long fringe. Kakashi had been standing there for a few minutes, it was like he was keeping an eye on his team. It was kind of sweet of him, but also annoying. If he had really cared he would have trained them, and trained them hard. He used to be the ANBU captain for fucks sake!

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I won't lose to you bastards!" Naruto yelled as he pointed at the genin in the room, "You got that!?"

"What is he?" Ino questioned Sakura as Yuzuki snickered under her breath.

"He's great," She muttered before sending an amused look towards Naruto, "That probably felt cathartic."

He let out a chuckle as he scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner. She moved and pulled him out the way from Sakura, surprising the pinkette and blonde equally. She brought a hand down and hit the girl on the head instead. Ino seemed surprised and noted the look in her cousin's eyes, the girl was completely done with her rival.

"You really need to control your temper," Yuzuki stated, "Naruto may be kind, but I am not, you go to hit him one more time around me and I will hit you. He doesn't deserve your abuse."

"Yuzuki," Ino muttered as it finally sunk in why she reacted so negatively to Naruto being hit.

She never talked about her mother and father, but from what her father said they had been so distant and cold to her. She wouldn't doubt that they had hit her at one point. That explains the therapy she had to go through since she hadn't reacted to losing her parents. She had just…accepted it, like there had never been any form of connection to them.

"You better watch your back," Sakura hissed as she clutched at her head.

"Hey, Yuzu-chan had a point," Eiji piped up with a frown on his face, "You were going to hit your teammate just because he got something off his chest and tried to pump himself up."

"Besides, do unto others that you want done to you," Daichi said, "You should know the golden rule."

Kabuto sighed at the genin, and wisely stayed out of it. Though the fact that he moved closer to Yuzuki showed silent agreement. He looked behind him when he felt chakra rushing towards him. Yuzuki reacted as well and turned her head while activating the byakugan, two oto-nin had rushed him and he jumped back to dodge the attack. He looked confident but the shattering of his glasses caught everyone's attention. He looked confused before his stomach revolted and he ended up on the floor.

"Ah, so that's what that was," Yuzuki muttered as she deactivated her byakugan.

A wave of chakra had come from the boy that had attacked him. Daichi and Eiji quickly moved her away from the group since they seemed to be attracting the most attention. They stood towards the back of the room as the proctor appeared and yelled at them to shut up.

"Thank you for waiting, I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the chuunin selection exam's first test," He informed them he pointed at the oto-nins, "Otogakure shinobi, stop doing as you please before the exam, do you want to fail?"

"I apologize, this is our first time and we got a bit carried away," the leader of the three nin said, his voice muffled behind the bandages that covered his face before he lumbered away.

"This is a good opportunity to say this, there will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner," Ibiki informed the room of genin, "Even if permission is granted, killing will not be tolerated…those pigs that disobey me will be failed immediately, do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Yuzuki muttered as she stared at the man with a blank expression.

"We will now start the first test in the chuunin exam, instead of your current seating," He continued and he held up a small box, "You will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you and then we will hand out the exams."

Yuzuki sighed as she sat next to Gaara. She hadn't missed written tests from her time in public school, but she knew that it wasn't just the written part. She looked at the proctors that lined the walls and closed her eyes as Ibiki explained the point systems. Cheating subtracted two points for each offense and that's where she understood the test. This was to see how they gathered information, true some of the shinobi around her could answer the questions from studying, but on a mission one didn't have the luxury to do so.

"The final question won't be given until the end of the written exam," Ibiki informed them, "You have an hour to do this test, now begin."

Yuzuki flipped her test over and stared at the questions. The first one was a cryptogram and she easily solved it and noted that it was just nonsense words. She could answer every one of the questions, and chanced a glance towards her teammates, they seemed a bit confused and worried. She sighed and knew that she might have to use the mind transfer jutsu. She couldn't disappoint her teachers and friends.

She closed her eyes and took in a soft breath and quickly went through each question. She caught the attention of a few proctors and Ibiki. He raised a brow as the first paper in the room was turned over and a pencil was put down. He thought back to his files on each of the genin. Yamanaka Yuzuki had been one of those people who hadn't stood out, but here she was the first one done with the test and slumped over on the desk, dead asleep. He remembered her from when she had to do the disciplinary D-Ranks with Anko, said woman was waiting for the girl to promote to teach her everything she knew about torture.

He almost smirked. Yamanaka and their mind jutsu, she had done it quickly enough not to get caught. A second paper was slowly turned over and then a third before the girl seemed to move and wake up. She had done that within the span of fifteen minutes, he would have to steal that girl for his department and soon. She looked up and her eyes met his, she wasn't even breaking a sweat. She was calm, especially for a test like this.

Her teammates looked confused before they looked behind them to see Yuzuki. She gave them a wink and smiled at them, they slumped in slight relief and rested their heads on the desk. They made it through the exam part without a problem. They were extremely glad they had a Yamanaka on their side.

"You finished already?" Gaara muttered next to her.

"I'm well versed in situations without probability," She mumbled.

He went silent after that and performed a jutsu of his own. She watched as an eye made of sand appeared in his hand before he crushed it. She couldn't help but think it was cool, it was a genuinely interesting way to gather information.

"Okay, that's fucking cool," She couldn't help but mutter.

He didn't react to it. He just got the answers he needed and finished the test. Yuzuki stared out the window and at the clouds in the sky. The proctor that was sitting where she was staring seemed to be unnerved. He couldn't tell where exactly she was looking, little did he know that she just thought that one of the clouds looked like the Pug that Kakashi summoned.

It was a really weird cloud.

"We will now start the tenth question," Ibiki announced and those that were finished with the test perked up.

The unsaid finally could almost be heard by the chuunin and jonin in the room. Ibiki didn't even need to smirk to feel amused by the genin, they were a spirited bunch with a few interesting brats mixed in. His gaze passed over the room and he narrowed his eyes slightly when one of the Suna genin came back from the restroom.

"Nice timing," He told the boy, "Was your doll playing beneficial? Just sit down."

"Yes, sir," Kankuro muttered before walking back to his seat, passing something to his sister.

"I'll explain now, these are the rules of desperation," Ibiki continued, "First, for the tenth question you must decide whether you will or will not take it."

"Choose? What happens if we choose not to!?" Temari asked from her spot in the back.

"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero and you will fail along with your teammates." He answered.

"Oh, this is genius," Yuzuki couldn't help but extract some glee from the panic around her.

Gaara sent her a look as she sat back with a slight smile on her face. She held up two fingers and activated a jutsu. She connected to Daichi and Eiji and felt the strain on her chakra from how far she was trying to communicate from. She just needed to give them a message.

"Don't worry about him, we'll stay," She informed them, "We can do this, so don't let him discourage you."

Daichi and Eiji relaxed at that and sat back as well. Yuzuki dropped the jutsu and made a mental note to use that jutsu more to make sure it didn't drain her as much. It was dead useful. She blinked as she realized that she had done that over the panic and missed what was asked and what Ibiki had said.

Well, hopefully her gut feeling was correct. She watched as team after team left because of the pressure.

"Don't underestimate me!" Naruto yelled at Ibiki, "I will not run! I'll take it, even if I'm a genin forever, I will become Hokage, so I don't care, I am not afraid!"

"I'll ask you again," Ibiki said, "Your life is riding on this decision, this is your last chance to quit."

"I follow my unbending words, that's my ninja way," Naruto replied.

Ibiki looked across the room once more. The genin inside had relaxed and seemed determined and were giving him looks. He caught the grin on Yuzuki's face as she looked towards the blonde. It appears she had expected him to yell out but was surprised at what he had yelled.

"Well, now to everyone still remaining," Ibiki said and he saw some of that determination falter, "I congratulate you on passing the first test!"

"What do you mean, we already passed?" Sakura asked, "What about the tenth question."

"There wasn't one," He replied with a grin, "Or you could say that those two choices were the tenth question."

"Hey! Then what was the first nine questions for?" Temari barked, "Were they pointless?"

"They were not pointless, they had already served their intended purpose," He explained, "To test your individual information gathering ability, that is the purpose. A chuunin will lead missions and to do so one must think under pressure and gather correct information, and sometimes information is more important that life."

He had removed his bandana, and everyone paled, except for a few kids. He had burn scars, screw holes, and even kunai scars that littered his head. He had the signs of physical torture on his skin, but the mental torture was left unsaid. Yuzuki checked out of the explanation as she looked towards the window, she could sense Anko out there. She was waiting to see what the woman had planned. Was she the proctor for the next part?

She really hoped so, the woman was an absolute unit of insanity.

She grinned as the window broke and a cloth came through before being pinned to the ceiling by kunai. It hung down and covered Ibiki from sight, much to Yuzuki's amusement. She felt as though her senpai was getting some form of payback for something. She would really love to know.

"This is no time to be celebrating!" Anko informed the genin, "I will be your proctor for the second test, Mitarashi Anko, now let's go, follow me!"

"Bad timing," Ibiki informed her as he moved the banner she had created, and she gained a light pink dusting to her cheeks due to embarrassment.

"You left thirty teams?" Anko questioned him, "The test was too easy this time."

"This time there are a lot of outstanding ones," He countered.

"That's fine, I'll cut them in half during the second test," She stated as a smirk grew on her face, "I'll explain everything once we've changed places, follow me."

The genin got up from their seats and followed the purple-haired woman out of the academy. Ibiki stayed behind and gathered the tests, he was curious as to how some of the genin did. He picked up Naruto's and gave a low chuckle at the fact that he passed a kid who didn't answer a single question. He moved towards Yuzuki's seat and picked her's up and glanced through it. Well thought out answers written in neat script; he was expecting that. He wasn't expecting a perfect score, and she was able to do so with all three tests.

"We need to get her in T&I," He muttered.

"Another form?" Daichi grumbled as the group filled out the agreement form.

"Well, it is saying that we consent to our possible demise," Yuzuki smiled.

"How are you this unfazed?" The Uchiha asked as he walked past, hearing such words.

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself," She quoted at him and he sent her a look.

Her team finished signing the forms and got their scroll. They held a heaven scroll, and chose Eiji to hold onto it. He was a long-distance fighter and as such was the best person to hold onto it. They stood at their gate with a jonin and Yuzuki smiled at Hayate. He simply sent her a look as they waited to be let in. She really wished she had brought a lunch with her, at least she knew the forest like the back of her hand thanks to Anko.

"Good luck you three," Hayate told them, "You may enter the forest."

"Five ryo says we'll hear a scream not even five minutes in the forest," Yuzuki said.

"I'll take that bet," Daichi grinned.

"Well, he'll be out of five ryo," Hayate muttered as the team rushed into the forest, and in less than one minute a scream rang out followed by a distinct damn it.

He really hoped that his student made it through the second exam. He knew that Orochimaru hid inside the forest, their best bet was to get in and get out. They needed to be quick so they wouldn't be attacked by the evil snake shinobi.