Naruto nodded. It made sense. There were a lot of teams here. He'd spotted nearly ten from Iwa, and seven from Kumo. Beside Haku and that bone guy, he'd also spotted at least two more from Kiri, at least one from Suna and another half dozen from the minor villages. And those were the only ones he was or could keep some semblance of track of.
All n all there were at least a hundred gennin here maybe more.
He couldn't blame them for wanting to cut down teams.
"What do you think the test is gonna be about though?" Ryoko asked crossing her arms. "I've heard it can be anything from survival to capture flag missions, defend the target or combat."
"It can be." The mocha skinned girl answered. "I think they just make it up a week before the exam or just recycle old ideas. No way to really guess till they tell you."
"Well that sucks." The silver haired pre-teen muttered. "Think they'll rig it to get us kicked quick?"
"Its a...distinct possibility. That's one reason why Konoha never nominates teams for the exams here and Iwa never nominates teams for the exam there. The mistrust is too deep. No matter what the treaties say."
"Hey it doesn't matter!" Naruto grinned. "We'll beat whatever they throw at us!"
Ryoko smirked. Kyofu ruffled his hair, to his slight irritation.
It was minutes later that the chuunin's voice finally called them. "Team eight of Konohagakure no Sato under Orochimaru, no surname offered. Please step up."
A slight hush fell over the crowd, the bulk of which were still Iwa gennin. And, even though the teams had all been called in a similar fashion they couldn't help but feel the target being painted on their backs as they marched up to the front of the room.
The chuunin tossed them a carefully neutral look. "Please follow one of our proctors." He said and the children found another chuunin stepping forward to lead them out the back door.
-0-
It wasn't long after that they were transported, via Shunshin onto the peaks of a mountain!
Now, Iwa had many mountains but he highly doubted that many of them could have them looking down at bloody clouds.
"Holy hell!"
"You will begin your exam here." The proctor stated crisply before pulling out a folder from under his arm and handed it to Kyofu. "These are your targets."
The purple haired girl opened the folder curiously, her two teammates crowding around her with Naruto standing on his toes to get a proper look. It was a Kusagakure gennin team.
"Each team-" The proctor continued "-will carry one of these." A coin was produced from his vest one with the number 42 on its face with the other holding the leaf symbol. "The coin will have a number and the respective village symbol. "Each coin is unique. You must arrive with both your own coin and that of your targets to pass this portion of the exam."
"So this is a mock package mission combined with search and destroy?" Kyofu asked.
The proctor nodded. "Also survival. You're half a days climb from the village. You're expected to find your way down the mountain and return by the fourth day, time to track your targets and return if you're capable. Be aware though, your targets are tracking another team and another team is tracking you. If your targets find their targets first and get back to the village-"
"Then there's no way to pass." Naruto muttered, to the chuunin's nod.
Ryoko whistled lowly looking towards Kyofu, "You weren't kidding when you said they were gonna try and cut us at least by half. We fail by losing our coin, letting them get away, getting beat by another team, or just letting the time run out."
The eldest took a deep breath. "Indeed. Looks like we'll have our work cut out for us."
The chuunin nodded, looking bored. "Since this test also includes survival, hand over your kunai, shuriken pouches and ninja tools. I'll return them to your sensei and you can get them from him upon arrival or upon your recovery should teams be necessary to come retrieve you after the fourth day.
The three unstrapped their equipment pouches where they could, emptied their pockets when that wasn't an option.
The chuunin nodded, and then without another word, vanished via shunshin.
-0-
The spoon was clinking softly within the cup as he stirred his tea.
Pale hands gripped the ceramic glass, bringing it close to his lips to sip with a hum of satisfaction.
Closing his eyes he thought this is very good tea.
It was almost easy to imagine himself sitting in Konoha enjoying this tea across from the Daimyo rather than here.
As such, the act of completely and utterly disregarding the existence of the fifteen glowering Iwagakure Jounin that stood across the hall with looks that promised murder, passed from being easy, to very nearly being inconsequential.
Indeed, were it not for the irritating fly that was their collective killing intent, he honestly might have forgotten they were there at all.
The other jounin from other villages were giving him a rather wide berth to say the least, even the Suna nin. No one wanted to be at the center of this mess should it blow up.
While he liked the quiet, he could vaguely remember some of the old stories from other jounin sensei about how they were able to easily make some acquaintances in the easy atmosphere of a chuunin exam and found himself rather irritated at the fact that his chances of enjoying such a novelty were cut down so drastically. He may not have indulged, but to have the option expunged before he could choose weather or not to act on it was just irritating.
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