Shinobi Isekai!

Exams, Commence!

Hanako took a steadying breath as she and her—hella suspicious, seriously, were they even trying to be discreet—team approached the academy. She hadn't been there in a very long time, and seeing so many grown, foreign ninja in the halls was a little off putting. Her nomination slip said the sign up area was on the third floor, so she, Kabuto, and Yoroi silently began climbing the stairs. At the first landing, they encountered a massive crowd of people struggling to fit into the second floor hallway. Yoroi and Kabuto made a show of joining them. They weren't that gullible, were they?

"Um, guys?" They stopped and looked back at her with confusion. "This is the second floor."

They and several other teams around them looked startled. "Oh? But the legend says these are the three hundred number rooms."

It was true. There, on a wall, was a sign marked 300-325.

"Yeah, but we only climbed one flight of stairs."

Kabuto put on a thinking face. "You're right! Good catch, Hatake-chan!"

Her words had set people whispering, but her name had them straight up conversing among themselves.

Great. Kabuto, you jerk.

They trudged their way up to the actual third floor, followed by a small crowd of foreign genin. Oh, well. The exam room was already pretty full, with several teams clumping together at different desks or against the walls. A flash of red hair caught her eye.

"Ah, Gaara-kun! Hello!"

The jinchuuriki turned black rimmed eyes on her, expression unchanged. "Hanako."

She walked right up to him, leaving her teammates to fend for themselves as she smiled up at the slightly taller boy. "How are you? I haven't seen you since we got back to the village."

"Fine."

She extended her chakra, pleased to see his was pretty calm. "I'm glad! Have you enjoyed your stay so far?"

"Hn." His chakra rose in answer to hers, surrounding her with a feeling of summer sun. Hot summer sun, but still. At least it wasn't angry.

"Hey, Hatake," his brother began, a smirk pulling at his painted lips. "You sure you wanna take the Exam this year? You're the littlest one here."

Translation: Gaara might like you, but even he can't stop himself sometimes. Get out while you can.

She smirked right back at him. "Mah, Kankuro-san, are you worried about me?"

He looked away with a sharp click of his tongue. Temari laughed at his expense.

Gaara's face didn't change, but his agitation came through in his chakra. Hanako rushed to soothe him, sending him as genuine a smile as she could conjure.

"Oh, Hatake-chan, you know some of the Suna ninja?"

Crap. She forgot about Kabuto.

Letting her smile drop where Gaara could see, she turned to her team. "Yep. We travelled to village together after I finished a mission to the Wind border."

Kabuto smiled and bowed slightly. "Hello. My name is Kabuto Yakushi and this is Yoroi Akadou. We were lucky enough to be put on a team with Hatake-chan for the Exams."

Before any of the Sand Siblings could respond—if they even planned to—the door to the room opened again, letting in six of the Rookie Nine.

Naruto and co. really were going to be last, huh?

"Hana-chan~!" Ino called, skipping up to her and draping herself across Hanako's shoulders. "I should have known you'd beat us here."

Shikamaru promptly chose a spot by the door and sat down, Chouji plopping down beside him and opening a bag of chips. Kiba came toward her and Ino, a cocky grin on his face—his default expression.