Disclaimer: I don't own anything, Naruto belongs to Kishi, even though I think he prefers Sasuke more (I do too).

Hope you all enjoy, I will be updating this regularly!

...

Ibiki laughs maliciously to himself as he holds the written Chuunin tests in his hand. He scans over the exam room, the looks of fear prominent on all the young Genins' faces.

"This test will determine whether or not any of you will continue to the next examination to be promoted to Chuunin. This test that I hold in my hand is difficult. Most of you will not pass. Some of you will, but you need your entire team to score correctly in order to move on." His eyes narrow, "And furthermore, if anyone is caught cheating you will be thrown out and your team will fail the exams and be forced to wait and take them again in six months."

The heads in the room shift their attention to the creek of the door opening behind them. Everyone just stares at the bright orange man. Naruto Uzumaki. Then their eyes shift to the quiet man next to him. With his deep black eyes and dramatic spiky black hair, no mistaking it was Sasuke Uchiha. The room is silent with shock.

"Ah! That's unfair! Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha!" A young girl screams out. The rest of the young Genin join in the complaining. Ibiki's eyebrow twitches a bit at the uproar. He doesn't know why they're both here, but keeps his objections to himself.

"QUIET!" He yells, "Let this be proof to you! You need to rise through the ranks properly! These two may have ended the last Great Shinobi War, but that by no means promotes them to Chuunin or Jounin." He smiles at the two as they walk to the empty seats in the room.

Naruto smiles at Sasuke, who offers up a more reserved one in return. They've done this before. Back when things were different. Now they'll be a two man team, being the only ones among their peers still at this low level.

Ibiki places a test in front of Naruto and narrows his eyes, his scars creating a weird pattern from the creases near his nose, "NO CHEATING!" He screams in Naruto's face. Naruto pouts his lip, but he knows the man well enough to know when he's joking. Ibiki looks cautiously as he hands the test to Sasuke.

"Begin!" He booms to the room as they all flip their tests over to reveal the questions. Ibiki leaves the room at a quick pace, leaving several Chuunin to watch over the test takers.

Naruto looks at the questions, his eyes scanning over the test quickly. He begins smiling. Years ago these questions scared him. They weren't questions a Genin would be able to answer. However, after all the missions he's been on now, these questions are jokes to him.

The questions are primarily about Chuunin and Jounin level missions. What would you do if your comrade was taking hostage with Genjutsu? How would you handle an enemy with multiple healing abilities? What would happen if you ran out of long ranged weapons against an opponent you couldn't touch? All things they've both learned on their travels.

Naruto and Sasuke quickly complete the test. Sasuke remembers using his Sharingan, a special ocular jutsu from his clan, to cheat the last time. There are Chuunin spread throughout the room, taking the same test, but giving the correct answers. There's no need for that now though.

They look around at the struggling children and grin towards each other. Did they really look that helpless at that age?

Ibiki takes his time at first moving through the village, his mind swirling with questions. He turns the corner, passing by a delicious smelling ramen kitchen. His anger starts to fume a bit as he heads quickly up the spiral staircase. The questions in his mind cause him to barge into the Hokage's room, now full of emotion.

"Lady Tsunade! Sasuke Uchiha? He will destroy those children! This is unfair. I will not allow it. Even Uzumaki is too strong for these kids." He is a bit out of breath and stares towards the cluttered desk with the bodacious young blond sitting at the head.

Lady Tsunade places her Saki down on her desk, she takes a loose strand of that blond hair and tucks it behind her ear. She peers out towards Ibiki, "I know what I'm doing. Sasuke and Naruto are working together. Naruto won't let Sasuke get out of control, and we'll have ANBU agents, like we've started doing recently, watching the arena in secret."

"It's still... they're too powerful. I don't trust that Uchiha. I don't care that he helped defeat Madara and Kabuto, I don't trust him. He killed Danzou, and attacked the Kages!"

"Ibiki, he personally asked me if he could do this with Naruto's help. Something has changed in that boy. His Uchiha eyes are no longer filled with darkness but with light. We all saw that with that jutsu he performed against Madara."

Ibiki ignores the last part of what Tsunade says, "And why does he want to take the exam in the first place?" Tsunade waits for him to calm down and changes her position in the large chair.

She sighs, "He plans on restoring every honor his clan has ever held. I'm not saying he's an entirely changed man, or that I trust him. He is dangerously powerful, there's no joke about that. But if there's anyone in this world who can talk to him, and bring him back to himself – it's Naruto." She flips through some papers, and pulls a long, text-filled one with a flick of her finger.

Ibiki shakes his head and mumbles to himself, "Those kids... don't stand a chance."

"This year, under very special circumstances we will have two very different Genin competing. Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, due to certain reasons, have both been absent from other Chuunin exam screenings. Special rules will be made for these two for the protection of the other exam takers. Absolutely no Sage Mode, no demons, no summonings, no ocular jutsus, no Ninjutsu, no bone crushing, no Genjutsu, and no other special abilities and permitted from these two. And of course NO forbidden, killing, or permanent mental/physical damaging jutsu."

Ibiki stands still, taking in the rules ordered by the Hokage. He lets them wash through his mind and thinks about them, "But Lady, that only leaves Taijutsu and low level Ninjutsu."

"Correct. These two may actually learn something from these exams. How to be regular ninja," she laughs. "They'll be fine. I've already received an exorbitant amount of people trying to pay for seats to the finals. They all expect it will be Sasuke versus Naruto."

Ibiki nods, "I will trust your judgment." He heads out of the room quickly. Dashing with a great speed back to the academy. He spots a small group of people staring into the door of the exam room.

"What are you all doing?" He asks them suspiciously. They all turn around and jump a little bit.

"Sorry Ibiki! We were just checking up on Naruto and Sasuke," Sakura Hanoru scratches the back of her pink hair and blushes.

Kakashi steps up behind Sakura, offering a smile that only moves the corners of dark mask that hides most of his face. Ibiki sighs and orders them to leave, but in a more playful manner. He opens the doors and reenters the room. The children cover their tests and mutter to themselves in a worried manner.

As he walks down the isle he yells, "Time is up!" And grabs Naruto's test off his desk. He reads the paper through. "What would you do if your enemy used their last-resort jutsu? I would use my nine-tails chakra and push myself through no matter what." He shakes his head and tries to repress his smile.

Naruto chuckles to himself as Ibiki crumples the paper up and throws it back in front of Naruto. Sasuke can't help but role his eyes. His answers are almost the same, listing the immense amount of jutsus and skills that he has developed over the years.

"One last question!" The room is silent and a feeling of dread overtakes the mood. None of the kids thought there'd be another impossible question. "If you get this right, you pass... if you get it wrong, you and your group are disqualified."

The children huddle closely towards each other. Naruto kicks his feet up on the desk and grins obnoxiously at Ibiki, who stares him down.

"The question is... who do you want to get rid of from your team, or better yet who is holding you down? Who would it be easier to get rid of then deal with?" The words come out softly and they set into the children's minds and mess with their ideology He looks intently at a very quiet Sasuke.

Ibiki stands still and begins with the teams on the right hand corner. He asks every student, most of them naming someone else's name. Naruto and Sasuke already know the answer to the question. It's a trick question, and so far most of the kids have got it wrong.

The young girl who objected to Naruto and Sasuke's entry stands up to answer, "Sir, this question is unfair. I think we are all great ninja and there is no one on my team that I would sacrifice. I will stick by my team no matter what." Her words are crisp and intelligent. Naruto recognizes her, it's Hinata's younger sister. Hanabi Hyuga. Naruto smiles at her wise words.

Ibiki joins him, but quickly hides it. A few groups have caught on and use the same thinking, all inspired from the girl with the silent gray eyes. He weaves down towards Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto stands, "I would never sacrifice my teammate, I would stand by them through thick and thin!" Naruto's face gets serious as he stares at Sasuke, "I would never give up on a comrade, and especially not a friend."

Ibiki writes a check mark next to Naruto's name, along with the others who have passed. He clenches his jaw and watches Sasuke Uchiha stand up, "So Uchiha Sasuke. Would it be easier for you to get rid of Naruto? Sacrifice a teammate. Do whatever is necessary to complete your own goals?" He begins getting more personal, unable to contain his hate for the young man. His hate that Naruto can't fathom for Sasuke. The words lash out and attack, "Sacrificing Sakura, your Sensei, and the very friend who vowed to save you no matter what? Sasuke, I know your answer -"

"Stop it Ibiki!" Naruto stands up, his shoulders are hunched a bit and a red chakra consuming his aura and shrouding his being. His face is filled with anger, "Don't talk to Sasuke like that. He did what he had to, and in the end sacrificed himself for the sake of the village. For his clan, and for his brother. He is a friend, and cares about his teams, he -"

"I've changed." Sasuke interjects. Though his voice is quiet it silences the whispers in the room. Naruto stands still, giving his friend the floor. Ibiki squeezes his fists a bit awaiting Sasuke's speech. "I understand your feelings. My only goal now is to restore my clan's honor, and bring honor to my brother. In order to accomplish this I need to show my respect for the Leaf and my comrades. I would not leave Naruto in the state of what the question has asked."

Sasuke's eyes stare into Ibiki's. Ibiki has to blink a few times, trying to comprehend Sasuke's seriousness. Naruto grins widely, happy Sasuke is finally sticking up for himself. "Do you know how many friends I lost to that war?" His voice can't be made out by anyone except those in front of him. Naruto is about to speak, but Sasuke stops him.

"I'm sorry."

Ibiki grimaces but doesn't let it bother him further. That Uchiha doesn't understand his pain. The Uchiha were probably better off all dead,but he won't argue Tsunade's decision. "Congratulations to the following teams," Ibiki begins to read the lists of teams with the proper answers. He reaches the bottom of the list, "Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. All will continue to the next rounds."

Naruto claps Sasuke on the back, "We did it! That test wasn't even difficult!" Naruto grabs his jacket off the back of the chair and slips it on.

"Says you, I saw you looking at my paper," the corners of Sasuke's mouth curve a bit. He looks at his friend before him, and all his emotion. Sasuke has been working hard on it. The darkness he has felt over the years has ate away his ability to laugh and smile. But he wants to, he wants to be how he was.

Naruto pouts, "No! I knew all those answers! Haha, let's go find the others and get some ramen." He and Naruto head down the isle. Their are a few cries of those who failed the final question, and a few arguments with those that sacrificed their teammates. Out of the corner of his eye Naruto sees Hanabi. Hanabi smiles at Naruto and waves.

As he turns back to Sasuke he catches the confused look on his friend's face. "What? I've been over at Hinata's house a lot..."

Sasuke gives him a very subtle, "Mm-hmm," driving Naruto insane. He begins to bicker with a silent Sasuke, only to be stopped by a strong fist on his forehead. Naruto falls to the ground yelling and grabs his head, rubbing it carefully.

...

Who could have hit poor Naruto? ;D

~Missbexie