Naruto Senju : Konoha's Ice Dragon

Chapter 35 - The Written Test

ROOM 301

As the candidates take their seats, Ibiki informed them, that they only have an hour to answer all ten questions of the written test. They have 45 minutes to answer the first nine questions, while the tenth and final question, will only be given at the last 15 minutes of the test.

The weird part was, that the test is conducted on a Point Reduction System.

Each candidate will begin with a perfect score of 10 points. One point will be deducted for each wrong answer. So if they miss three, their final score will be seven. And if they miss ten, they will get a zero. The second rule, is that the teams that passed or fail, will be based on the total scores of all three members. So if one gets a zero, they will all fail. Which obviously sparked some cries of outrage, from the candidates, but they were immediately silenced by Ibiki's killing intent.

The 'Sentinels' that are positioned around the room, are there to watch very carefully for any signs of cheating. And for every attempt they spot, the Sentinels will subtract two points from the candidate's score. So if a candidate is caught cheating five times, they will be immediately dismissed from the classroom along with their teammates.

Right now, every teammate was completely separated from each other.

Ino was sitting next to Omoi at the back lane, while Shikamaru was sitting next to Temari at the far right side of the middle lane. Naruto was sitting at the centre area, two lanes behind Shikamaru, and three lanes in-front of Ino.

Naruto noticed the person sitting next him, is the same Kusa kunoichi, with red hair and glasses, that he saw earlier. He also noticed that she was staring at him with wonder and curiosity in her red eyes. Like she was trying to read him. And since the exam hasn't started yet, he decided introduced himself.

"Hi" Naruto whispered, snapping her out of her dreamy daze "I'm Naruto" he greeted with a friendly tone.

"Oh h-hi. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. I'm Karin. Nice to meet you, Naruto." She whispered back shyly.

"Haha its okay, nice to meet you too, Karin" Naruto whispered back with a smile.

After their introduction, it was a few seconds of uncomfortable silence between them, as Ibiki continues to explain the rules in detail. Naruto then noticed Karin was getting nervous by the minute, so he decided to ask...

"Nervous?" Naruto whispered to her.

"A little. I-I mean not for me, I'm actually fine when it comes to studies in general. I'm just worried about my bone-headed teammates." She whispered, with a disappointed sigh.

Naruto simply chuckle at this, which made Karin blushed, when she saw his warm smile.

"Well, I'm sure it'll be fine. Don't worry, Karin. You look like a smart girl. And I'm not just saying that, because you're wearing glasses and all. In fact, they just make you look cute. And I'm positive that you'll at least past this part of exam with flying colours" Naruto whispered with another warm smile, which made Karin blush even deeper, especially from his compliment of her.

"T-Thanks, Naruto. That really means a lot to me" Karin whispered back more shyly, as she was playing with her red hair, trying to hide her growing blush.

Naruto then heard a very familiar, and slightly angry voice in his head.

'You done yet, Naruto-kun?' Ino asked in his mind, with an annoyed tone.

'Oh, h-hey Ino-chan. I was just....' Naruto said nervously.

'Yeah, yeah whatever, casanova. You need to keep that silver tongue of yours, on a leash.' Ino said with a huff.