Crushed or Cursed

8. The Crop of Extraodinary Maggots

Ibiki explains the test as the genins sit down in the room. People who knew some answers, started writing while the others started cheating. Some succeed while some got failed clumsily, and all this while our protagonist, no, not Naruto, but Tatsuo, was sleeping.

Yes, she was actually asleep the whole time...Particularly she was on the first bench, sitting in the desk beside the window. As she had picked up on the actual motive if the test, a small smile escaped her lips as she drops into her dreamy world but gets woken up by a yelling Naruto. She rubs her eyes as she sits straight on her desk and asks "Excuse me, Ibiki-Sama, is the test over?"

Now she felt like she really asked a dumb question. Everyone was literally glaring at her with what-the-fuck look. She heard someone exclaim "She was sleeping the whole time?" then "She shouldn't pass", murmurs and stuff like that when Ibiki clears his throat saying "Would you like to explain why you were sleeping Miss?"

"Sure" I reply back grinning like an idiot. Dumbass, I mutter to myself as I turn to Ibiki "But before I explain, can you tell them they all passed" I smirked...Gasps and astonished expressions filled the whole room when Ibiki chuckles and says a curt "That's true"

"Well, it's simple, I slept because I didn't know the answers, nor did I have any ideas to cheat. The first part of the test for us was to cheat, not clumsily, but correctly, just like we would have to gather intel on our missions. Well, the diversionary tactics and all are not my style as I prefer direct one-on-one combat better. Surely, I neither have byakugan or sharingan to see through other people's test nor did I have any other power like being a smartass, or having powers of mind transfer or sand control. Surely, I must have something special I don't know, but again it becomes a case of-we can't let the enemies know the true extent of our strengths and weaknesses."

I continue "About the second part. Either you stand by your comrades through thick and thin, even if it forbids you for being a Chunin forever or ditch your friends and try to selfishly gain the title of Chunin for yourself, its surely a difficult choice, but I have my own opinion in it 'Those who break rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum' and that's what I, Naruto and the rest of the people here chose..." I pause as I turn to Ibiki smiling "Was I correct?"

I could hear gasps and cheers from the room. I sighed. At least, I didn't look like an idiot anymore, that's althemore important to me. Ibiki smiles as he states whatever I said was correct. Then he went out to talk about the real purpose of the test in detail, just what I explained in short and in my own words. I kinda zoned out and entered my mindscape "That was a really horn-est little speech, my little dragon" Amaya said to which I just chuckled "You're still bad at making jokes, aren't you Amaya...But still, thanks"

I came back from my mindscape as I hear a crash at the windows and a word escapes my lips "Anko"

"Early as always, Anko" sighed Ibiki

"Ibiki, you let 26 teams (79 genin) pass?! Your tests are becoming weaker" I hear Anko say and I chuckle inwardly as Ibiki says "...Or maybe we have an excellent crop of genin this year"

She gets energetic like always and yells "Alright, listen up maggots, I'm Mitarashi Anko, your proctor for the second test, which would be taking place tomorrow...And when you're done with the test, half of you would have failed already"

"Tighten your belts, Anko...Don't take this crop of maggots lightly, or you'll regret it" smirked Tatsuo as the statement caught everyone in the room off guard, and Anko turned saying "Who has the guts to—wait is it you, Taumi? (TATSUO UCHIUMI)" This shocked the people in there even more. "The one and only" she smirks as she gets up and the females hug each other leaving a bewildered classroom "You're all dismissed" said Ibiki as the crowd started fading while Tatsuo asked "Wanna catch up Anko?"

"Not right now, have to set up for the exams" she sighed tiredly

"With dangos?" this statement caught the sneaky-snakey woman off guard

"7 p.m., our usual shop" she cried before jumping out of the window and Tatsuo smirked

"You knew the lady proctor?" asked Naruto while slurping the soup

"Well, we kinda...met...each other during...a trip, and then...she told me...about being...a leaf ninja ...and she seemed cool...so we became...friends" She replied pausing again and again as she slurped her ramen.

"So, can you ask her to pass our team? Not like we'd fail or something, but she was kinda scary," said Naruto

"You'd be even more scared to know she'd fail you if she gets to know about this conversation" she replied giving him a serious glare which actually scared Naruto and he frantically yelled "No! no! no! no! no! Just forget this conversation" and she chuckled at his antics

Ibiki is collecting the papers... He started from the first row and got where Naruto was sitting

"I passed a genin who didn't answer a question...Naruto Uzumaki" he chuckles...He collected the rest of the papers and his eyes lie on a paper labelled as 'Tatsuo Uchiumi'

...In every box there was some message like

'I don't know'

.

'I'm sleepy'

.

'Just don't fail me'

.

'Hello Ibiki Sama'

.

'No genin can solve these questions'

.

'I'm sorry I'll pass out'

.

'You know you looked really creepy when you entered the room' and stuff like that...

Another chuckle escaped his lips

"Tatsuo Uchiumi, written everything except the answers...We do have some crop of extraodinary maggots this year"