Kaoru, his job done, went around the room once more to gain a few more pets, before loitering to his reclining spot and stretching out fully. He yawned satisfyingly and dropped into a half doze, the only sign of him being awake was the twitching of his tail.

Sako doodled across the borders of the paper, looking bored now that she had finished. However, inside she was anxious. She wondered if Mori is able to aid Miso in gaining the answers. It will be a difficult feat, but she hoped that Mori understood her simple, coded message. It was difficult enough for Kaoru to carry the answers to Hebachii, as the paper became lumpy and awkward in the collar. She had to make her answers as short as possible, and hoped that they could understand what she wrote.
She definitely knew that Mori had no trouble. Hebachii... Sako had dealt with that. Miso now was her only concern. She could not help Miso directly, but Mori can.

Mori had no idea how he would help the blind girl. There was no way he could secretly do it.

--------------

Miso, who was worried that she could not answer the questions and couldn't cheat, decided to put everything into the tenth question. Hopefully it would be something she could answer.

Kyocho decided he would not cheat, not yet anyway. Even if he didn't know the tenth question, there was still a chance that a great deal of people would get caught before the end of the exam. At the very least, he would know he had the right answers at the end if he stole them; he'd just have to be more careful.

The tenth question...what was it anyway?

Mori looked confused, and Sako knew that whatever happened, they had to rely on the last question to pass. They must answer it correctly no matter what. She really didn't want the challenge to fail when it has really just begun.

OOC: just keeping the thread aliiive.

Dou settled back into his seat, then uncapped his pen and began scribbling away feverishly at the script. He secretly wished he could have caressed ehr soft chest, but he wasn't willing to take the chance of being sent away to another village for such a cheap thrill.

After all, 2.5 wasn't worth it.

Soon, he had finished transferring his stolen knowledge to the paper, and he sat back, eying the hot chuunin examiner beside him and imagining her with her clothes off, in various compromising positions with him. It's a cheap thrill too, he thought. But it passed the time.

Chumaru hadn't heard or seen any answers that he could intercept in a while, and his paper was bursting with doodles. Hopefully he wouldn't need any extra space for the last question, or maybe he'd get lucky and they'd give him some scratch paper. With no more space to draw, Chu occupied himself with daydreaming. He thought about the first place he could head toward when he became a wanderer. Maybe he'd head to the land of the Rain ninja. He didn't know much about it, but he knew it was to the northwest. It seemed like a long first journey, and it'd lead him through the Grass country; it'd be a good challenge. He thought he should probably bring Sacho with him for backup. But first, if he wanted to try, he had to pass this exam first.

"Now is the time for the tenth question. Before I give out the question, there is something you need to know. Your answer may not determine if you pass or fail. In your four-man groups, one person will be choosen at random. If that person is correct, everyone in your team passes. If they are wrong, everyone fails, but not only that, you will remain a genin, forever."

Some of the genins began to speak up, but where quickly silenced by a loud yell from the main examiner. "Silence! I am in control here, and I will see to it that anyone who fails never takes this exam again. However, you can leave at any time. Leave and take the exam in six months. If you do leave, your entire team must leave. If you want to quit, go now." The examiner stopped to allow genin who wanted to leave to do so.

Hell no. I'm not leaving. Nobody's going to say I screwed the rest of you guys in this.

Dou folded his arms and leaned back.

I'll be out of this village if I can't answer or if I quit... so I might as well go for it.

Sako was in a dilemma: She knew that if she didn't quit, and didn't get the answer right (she got a damned low mark in the written exam in her initiation as a genin) she would fail her teammates. She knew that Mori wouldn't be too concerned. He was more interested in his plants than anything else. Hebachii, she can deal with as well. She always could deal with him. Miso. Now, that was a problem. She wasn't sure how Miso would react if she failed them.

Then again, she wasn't sure the others would be able to answer the question either. Miso has a steel resolve. She wouldn't quit. Not until Sako herself quits. Mori... He'll probably wait it out. Hebachii...
Sako chewed her lip and stayed put, undecided and subdued. In the corner of her eye, Kaoru started scratching his side, as if saying "It's not my decision here. YOU'RE the human."

There is no way that I am going to leave this. I just hope my teamates don't either. Istus looked over at Dou, relaxing in his chair. I just hope this whoever has to answer knows the question.

A few hands went up, and three teams were forced to leave. Among them was a few leaf genin that Kyocho recognized. Watching them leave out the door, he noticed the distrustful and angry looks exchanged between teammates.

It was a few moments of thought until Kyocho laughed. "You're a bastard," he said softly, "You know that right? You're making us decide whether or not we trust our own teammates...and for those of us who trust our teammates too much will pay the price of being a genin forever."

But I've been through too much to doubt them now, and I sure as hell trust myself. Seeds of distrust won't grow inside of me.

Sacho smiled thinking to himself. "What fools. Even if they leave now they will have to answer the question some time. Might as well be now." He looks over at his other team mates. "I just hope for there sake I dont screw things up. Oh well maybe I will get lucky and it will be about elemental techniques."

Heibachii stretched his back, cracking it a few times. He let out a sigh, hoping that this question would be simple. Failure is not an option. My friends are all going to pass. I can't simply let them give up on their dreams. Is it not better to dance in the light for a day than to live in darkness for your whole life? There will be many risks in the road ahead, this part of the test must be to see how we will deal with them. Heibachii grinned a little bit. Odds are, this last question will be something simple, I mean, they have to pass some of us, don't they? How else would Konoha have so many strong ninja? We not only have to be strong in body, but strong in our conviction, our wills have to be like iron. He chuckled a little. It all seemed so clear now. He was tempted to call the examiner's bluff, but the talking might get him kicked out. Plus, he wasn't too keen on helping all the other cells pass on to the next test, mostly because he didn't want to fight them. If one of his teamates did decide to quit, he would talk them out of it.

Kyasshu looked around the room at his teammates. Looks like they're not going to budge. I guess I won't either. He kicked back in his chair, leaning on the back two legs while propping his feet on the desk. Heck, failing this exam won't change my life much. I'll just run the family business if this doesn't turn out good. No shame in that.

Unfortunately, his chair teetered backwards and he fell out of it, nearly hitting his head on the desk behind him. "I'm okay!" he exclaimed as he scrambled back into his seat with a sheepish expression on his face.

It was then that Sako decided. It was a challenge. It will always be a challenge. That's all she had to live for. She will not back down.
"I may not be stronger than most, but I won't back down for my mates," she muttered to herself. THere was an answering pur at her side, and she looked down to see Kaoru rubbing his chin against her knee. Sako pulled half a smile, and reached down to pet him. Thank you for your support, Kaoru, she thought privately.

Chumaru wanted to get up. He really did. But he couldn't. He was about to possibly blow any chance of reaching his dream, and one question could make it impossible. He wanted to run, but he couldn't. He couldn't move. Is this fear holding me or a ninja technique? 'Cause if it's a tec... who am I kidding, I'm about to wet myself. Hold it together, Chu, hold it together. There are four of us, one of us might get up, and even if none of us does, then maybe he won't call me and my team mate'll be able to answer. Chumaru managed a gulp, then continued to sit frozen in his chair.