Naruto: Lost In Kishimoto [Book 1]

Chapter Twenty-Three: Preliminaries.

Beth POV

Kabuto had left us out the front of the tower, intending to meet up with his other teammates. Although glad to be rid of the snake, I knew that he'd be meeting with Orochimaru sooner rather than later, and that thought alone was enough to send shivers running down my spine. As my teammates and I walked inside the centre tower, the silence was unnerving. There were no other teams in sight, most having finished already since the deadline was closely approaching. Looking around, Sakura spotted what looked like a large poem in the centre of the far wall across from us. Limping over to one of the columns in the room, Naruto helped me sit down against it, my injuries far from healed.

"If qualities of Heaven are what you desire,

Acquire wisdom and knowledge to take your mind higher,

If Earthly features are what you lack, train your body in the fields and prepare to attack

When both Heaven and Earth are opened together,

The path of peril will revert to the righteous path forever,

This is the secret way that guides us on from this place today.

-The Third Hokage" 

"We need to open both scrolls together." I stated, breathing heavily, trying to stay awake.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked.

"'When both heaven and earth are opened together' " I repeated. "Pretty sure."

"She's right Naruto." Sakura agreed. "I think the poem is telling us to open the scrolls here and now to pass."

Sasuke reached into his pouch and pulled out the Earth and Heaven scrolls that we had collected. He handed Sakura the Heaven scroll, nodding to her to get ready. Bringing their hands close together, they both began to slowly open the scrolls.

A burst of light flooded throughout the room, like an explosion. Sasuke and Sakura both dropped the scrolls in shock, stepping back from the wall with the poem to join Naruto and I.

As our eyes adjusted, the room coming into focus once more, I was the only one unsurprised to see Master Iruka standing before us, a giddy smile on his face as he greeted us with the news we had been hoping to hear for the last five days.

"Hey kids! Been a while hasn't it?" He said, his arms crossed over his chest. "You four look like you've been through the wringer. Are you alright Beth?" He asked. Lifting my hand I gestured for him not to worry about me, despite the pain it caused me.

"Master Iruka, what are you doing? Popping up out of a summoning spell?!" Naruto asked, running over to his old sensei, a mixed expression on his face.

"The spell was designed so that we Chuunin could greet the applicants at the end of the second exam. It was just good luck that I got to be the messenger for the four of you. You barely made it."

"If we had sneaked a peak at the scrolls before the exam was over, what would you have done to us then?" Sasuke asked snidely, a dark smirk on his face.

"You're as sharp as ever Sasuke..." Iruka held up the two scrolls that we'd dropped. "As you seem to have guessed... an important component of this exam was that you demonstrated the ability to remain within a mission's stated parameters. And you were specifically instructed not to open the scrolls until you got here."

"So if we had tried to open them too soon?" Sakura asked.

"Our orders were very specific. Anyone standing around an open scroll was to be knocked out until after the second exam was over." Iruka finished.