Book 1: Child of the Shore (Naruto X Oc X Kabuto Love Triangle) [Under Editing]

Chapter 22: The Written Exam

Hamako's P.O.V

I watched along with everyone else as Ibiki held up his arm and pointed directly towards the Sound Village shinobi.

"First, you from the village Hidden in the Sound, knock it off! Who said you could fight? You want to fail before we've even begun?" He scolded them with his powerful, loud, and brooding voice.

The bandaged shinobi turned to Morino Ibiki. "Sorry, it's our first time taking the exams, so we flipped out despite ourselves."

My eyes lingered on him. Even though his face was covered, I could hear the smirk in his voice. I couldn't stop wondering why Orochimaru's followers were here. I shook my head, deciding it was best not to think about it.

Ibiki scoffed, before turning to the rest of the room. "I'll say this once, so listen up!" his voice projected to everyone and caught their attention. Every single person in that room had their eyes on him.

"There will be no combat between candidates, no attacking each other without the permission of your proctor. Even then, the use of fatal force is strictly prohibited! Anyone that screws with me will be disqualified immediately, got it?"

"No fatal force?" the other male member of the Sound Village trio smirked, "That's no fun." 

'I don't know why they're here, but right now, the exam is more important. They were wondering why Orochimaru-sensei sent sone If his followers are here for,' I thought.

"Now then, if we're ready, we'll proceed to the first stage of the Chūnin Exams," Ibiki informed the room filled with genin of every land, sex, and age. "Turn over your applications. In return, and you'll each be given a number, which will determine where you will sit. We'll start the written test once you're all seated."

I was perfectly fine with a written test. I always did well with written tests back In the Hidden Mist village.

"Did he say written?" I heard Naruto utter for near her. I turned to the blonde knucklehead, who was sweating profusely.

"NO, NOT A WRITTEN TEST! NO WAY!" 

**

Third person's P.O.V

Hamako was surprised to find her seat and was pleasantly surprised when she saw who she was sitting next to during this first stage of the exam.

"Hello, Kabuto," she greeted the sliver hair teen as she took her seat. Kabuto's onyx eyes drifted in her direction and stared at her for a few minutes.

"Hello, Hamako," he replied after a few minutes.

"Good luck," she whispered. "Let's both pass this first stage."

Kabuto kept his eyes on her. He didn't understand why someone from a hot temper clan and skill in assassination could just be so friendly to a random person. He wondered if this was why Lord Orochimaru wasn't here for her even though he says she has more skill than Sasuke. He knew she does have a temper but doesn't show it that often.30

"Everyone, eyes front," Ibiki's voice made Hamako turn away from Kabuto. Her eyes went to the front where Ibiki was standing before a blackboard.

"There are several important rules you need to be aware of, and I won't answer any questions, so you better pay attention the first time around."

"Rule number one, the exam is conducted on a point reduction system. Contrary to what some of you might be used to, you'll begin the test with a perfect score of ten points. A single point will be deducted for each answer you get wrong. If you miss it there, your score will be seven."

Hamako nodded as she placed her knuckle against her cheek. The first rule made sense. She wasn't that worried about getting the question wrong.

"Rule number two, teams will pass or fail based on the total score of all the members."

Hamako's eye began twitching in annoyance at what rule number two was. Kabuto looked over at Hamako and was shocked when he saw she looked ready to kill someone.

Hamako slowly turned her head and looked where Naruto was sitting next to Hinata and goared at the back of his head.

'Naruto, you better do good are I kill you,' Hamako thought.

"What? Wait a second! You're saying we all get scored as a team!" Sakura exclaimed, also baffled by the second rule. Team Seven's trust in Naruto was fragile.

"Shut up!" Ibiki snapped, and Sakura frowned at his rudeness. "I have my reasons, so shut up and listen. The third rule, the sentinels you see positioned around the room are there to watch for any signs of cheating. For every incidence they spot, they will subtract two points from the culprit's score. After five times, you'll be dismissed."

Hamako glared even more hard at the back of Naruto's head, not liking that she had to count on him to pass this exam. She doesn't mind counting in others but no, someone who is an idiot knucklehead. She like Naruto and all, but she won't lie. He an idiot.

If he could, Kabuto would be slowly backing away right now. Hamkao looked as if she was will snap at anymore and kill her target.

'That look she is giving Naruto is terrifying. She looks ready to snap. Yep, she definitely has Hōzuki blood is showing right now.' Kabuto thought his best not to freak out.

"Anyone foolish enough to be caught by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here! If you want to be considered shinobi, then show us what exceptional shinobi you can be."

Hamako took in a deep breath and started to relax, "Even if Naruto gets a zero, we should still be fine. I'm sure Sakura and Sasuke won't get any questions wrong. As for myself, I'm very confident. That's thirty points conjointly, and seeing as our team is a four-person squad, that will be enough for us to pass and move on to the next section of the exam." she muttered underneath her breath.

"One more thing, if any candidate should fail the test, then the entire team fails," Ibiki added on to his list of rules. 

"Did he just say fail?" Hamako asked in an annoyed tone of voice while her eyes were full of rage. She found the back of Naruto's head again and stared at him intensely, which caused the boy to fear for his life.

Failing was not an option, not when she had come this fall to achieve one of her dreams which was to become stronger.

"The final question won't be given out until fifteen minutes before the end of the testing period. You'll have one hour in total." 

The clock ticked, and the room was silent. Hamako's eyes stared at her test while tapping the pencil in her hand.

When the minute hand hit the number twelve, Ibiki turned to the contestants. 

"BEGIN!"

**

Hamako carefully read over all the questions before she began writing. She narrows her eyes as the questions get more difficult as you go along. If one couldn't answer the first questions, then the exam was impossible to finish.

'There's definitely more to this test than just answering the question. No genin could easily answer them. I could since I'm not an average genin.' Hamako thought as she continued on writing.

"Please, Naruto, pass," Hamako whispered.

💛💛💛

Hey lovely readers!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Don't hesitate to let me know what you think of this story.

Also, don't forget to vote and comment.

Q: What was your favorite part of this chapter?

Q: What did you think of Hamako sitting next to Kabuto?

Q: How many of you were afraid of Hamako's glare like Kabuto?

Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 1287

Edited 5/16/22