5 - Papers and Forests

Soon enough, Team 7 stood in a room filled with genin ready for the first exam. All of the rookies were present, the older genin not here just yet.

This was the time for Fuyuka to have a dramatic internal monologue of her opinions of each person. In her own team, Sasuke was an overconfident idiot, Naruto a dumb idiot, and Sakura a simping idiot. Simple enough.

Team 10 consisted of Ino, Shikamaru and Choji. Ino was too much of a simp for Sasuke, and Fuyuka disliked the popular girl trope. Also, too purple. Shikamaru was slightly better, but his 'what a drag' attitude made her want to what a drag his face through the mud. Choji dropped too many crumbs.

Team 8 was Hinata, Kiba and Shino. Hinata was alright, a bit stuttery but nice enough. She had a crush on Naruto though, which can't be a sign of good taste. Kiba liked dogs. Fuyuka didn't like dogs. Simple. Shino was more complicated, being all mysterious. His personality was alright, but the Aburame worked with insects, which freaked Fuyuka out.

Then the older genin- Team Guy and Team Haruka. They all had that 'man these kids are dumb' vibe despite being only one year older.

Among Team Haruka, Naku was the world's biggest jackass, with the 'newbie' business and magician wannabe theme. Mitsuka was interesting, quite amusing and more friendly but a bit too energetic. Terasu was, as previously mentioned, hard to read and potentially a powerful opponent.

In Team Guy, Lee was way too intense in everything, be it eyebrows, outfit, bowl cut or attitude. Also, terrible sense of fashion, at least to Fuyuka. Pretty Hyuga boy was, clearly, pretty. He had nice hair, but he always looked like he was constipated. Also, he had the same 'I'm better than you' air Naku has. Fuyuka didn't know much about Buns girl, but she really pulled the hairstyle off.

The blue-haired girl didn't pay too much attention as Kabuto, the silver-haired genin with glasses, approached them and showed off his cards. She only really perked up as he offered to share his intel.

Sasuke immediately asked about Rock Lee and Gaara, a creepy sand village genin she hadn't met yet.

"After you're done with them, I want to know about Naku and Mitsuka Sora, and Terasu Shiomiru. The members of Team Haruka," Fuyuka said.

After Kabuto finished Sasuke's request, he dramatically flicked out three more cards.

"Naku Sora, skilled in ninjutsu and taijutsu with a fondness for dramatic flairs. He, along with his more straightforward in combat sister, primarily fight using chakra-enhanced taijutsu mixed with basic ninjutsu. Their family practices wind-based jutsu, which they are both basically capable of but not proficient at," Kabuto read off the card. "I don't have much information on Terasu Shiomiru, but his clan originates from another village, his parents moving to Konoha with him. Additionally, he is said to have an eye-type kekkei genkai."

With the information she had, Fuyuka resumed tuning out the rest of the conversation and the sound shinobi that injured Kabuto.

They were interrupted by a scarred man named Ibiki Morino- the proctor for the written exam (oof, Naruto is deeeeaad).

Ibiki explained the cheating system and the genin were all assigned seats. Fuyuka found herself next to Mitsuka, Terasu sitting two rows behind.

Fuyuka quickly realized she had no clue what these questions were. She didn't even figure out she was supposed to cheat, she just decided to cheat anyway. Sadly, the guy next to her got eliminated quickly, meaning she had to wait for Mitsuka.

"Bathroom, please," Terasu requested, raising his hand. A staff got up and accompanied him.

Something was off. His footsteps were slightly inconsistent. Then, it clicked when Mitsuka finally started writing.

He was tapping morse code to his teammates. How the green-haired genin himself figured it out, she had no idea. Maybe the kekkei genkai Kabuto mentioned earlier.

Fuyuka leaned down, pretending to focus on her own paper, then straight up copied from MItsuka during the moments she lifted her arms. Easy. Naruto though, was screwed, she just had to hope he gets at least one question so her team doesn't get eliminated.

Apparently the test was a scam.

So yeah, they pass. Now they were inside the Forest of Death, and Sasuke was beating up fake-Naruto, who finally revealed his true form and was currently fighting Sasuke.

"Real Naruto's here," Fuyuka announced, walking into a clearing and gesturing to her teammates. She freed the boy from his ropes, and he rushed off to join Sasuke in fighting the enemy ninja.

Finally, after getting stabbed, he fled.

"A password," was what Sasuke said as the group circled up. "In case someone else tries to impersonate us. If they don't know the password, attack."

Just as Fuyuka memorized the password, a fierce gust of wind blew into the clearing.

Fuyuka managed to get away, but quickly found herself alone. She cursed, looking around. She couldn't see any enemies, perhaps she ran too far. 'I'll look around for now.'

Suddenly, she heard a stir in the wind, ducking just as a shuriken flew past her and embedded itself in the tree beside her. The girl whipped around, finding none other than her least favorite Konoha team, Team Haruka.

"Why are you here? To steal our scroll?" Naku demanded, retrieving another shuriken.

"Geez, calm your magician wannabe ass down. I got attacked and separated from my team, if I'm trying to steal a scroll I'd target some weaklings," Fuyuka retorted. "Now leave me alone, so I can find my tea-"

"Careful!" Mitsuka shouted. Fuyuka lunged sideways, avoiding yet another attack. From somewhere in the forest came two ninja- teammates of the snaky guy who 'returned' the kunai to the proctor. If they were here, does that mean the other guy was attacking Naruto and the rest?

Fuyuka lunged into action, retrieving two kunai which she launched at them. The guy with the mask made a hand sign and the earth beneath him erupted upwards, blocking both. The bald guy then lunged forward with incredible speed, a knife having appeared in his hand.

Fuyuka whipped out another kunai, blocking knife strikes and chunks of earth coming out of nowhere. Team Haruka exchanged some glances, before coming to a consensus to help at least for now.

Naku dashed forward, literally just chucking his cape over the bald guy's face, before gutting him in the stomach. He cast a clone jutsu, encircling the guy as Mitsuka kicked him down, stomped him, and held a kunai to his neck. She turned towards mask guy. "Don't move."

"Tch..." mask guy muttered. Suddenly, a wall of earth encircled Mitsuka and Naku. Terasu stepped in, suddenly appearing behind mask guy and stabbing him with a kunai. Taking the opportunity, Fuyuka immobilized his arms by grabbing them and then kicking him against his own earth wall, which fell with a shudder.

Inside, bald guy had wounded the siblings. Mitsuka clutched a bleeding arm as Naku sparred with him, trying to snatch back his cape. Bald guy managed to get a stab in, only for Naku to cast a substitution jutsu and kick the guy down again.

Mask guy struggled free, summoning an earth pillar that knocked Terasu backwards. He got a punch in on Fuyuka, before she kicked him in the balls and in the stomach, causing him to flinch in pain. Bald guy threw Naku off of him, then ran towards his teammate, trying to stab Fuyuka. The girl countered with a kunai, before jumping backwards and throwing a shuriken at him.

Mitsuka had managed to crudely bandage her shoulder with a piece of Naku's cape, something that would horrify the long-haired boy once he realized, and stopped mask guy just as he made a hand sign to summon more earth walls.

Terasu recovered then, throwing a shuriken to knock out bald guy just as he tried to stand back up. Naku cast a clone jutsu, circling mask guy, buying enough time for Fuyuka to stomp on his chest.

"You're welcome," Naku remarked sarcastically.

"Sure," Fuyuka replied. These two didn't have a scroll, she discovered with some annoyance. "Well, I'm leaving now. Don't die."

She herself wasn't in the best condition, but she had to find her team fast.