Evil Takes Root

Today was the day. After all their work, the finals to the Chunin exams were finally here. Would they fight and prove their superiority, or would they lose and embarass themselves and possibly their families? Only time would tell whether or not they'd prove themselves worthy of being promoted from the lowly rank of Genin to the level of Chunin...

Waking to the sound of an alarm clock, a young teenager pulls himself out of bed to prepare for his long day. After all that time training with the pervert, Jaraiya, he would actually have the chance to prove himself to all these people that looked down on him.

With a grin on his face, he quickly got dressed, brushed his teeth and then left his apartment in the direction of the ramen stand for a quick bowl of miso ramen, or two or three... dozen. Maybe if he was lucky, he could get his old teacher, Iruka, to buy him a meal for this big day, but decided to bug him after the tournament was over. Whether he made it or failed, he could get the results to work in his favor to get a free meal from the man.

Upon arrival to the ramen stand, he shouted out to the owner and their daughter. "Hey, Teuchi-san! Hey, Ayame-neechan! Can I get two bowls of miso ramen, quick? I'm in a bit of a hurry."

Looking up from their work, Teuchi called out, "Naruto! Good to see you, my boy! Today's the big day, and we've actually already started on your meal since we figured you'd be stopping by." With that said, he gave the pot one last stir with his ladel and then dished out four large bowls of miso soup for the blonde-haired boy.

Staring down at the food, with a hint of drool at the corner of his mouth, Naruto clapped his hands together and shouted out his thanks before diving into his meal, finishing a bowl a minute, until four short minutes later when he set the last one down upon the pile of empty bowls. "Delicious! I swear, your food gets better every time I eat it!"

Reaching into his pocket for Gama-chan, thinking that the frog will feel slightly hungry after the serious diet he was putting it on with his constant intake of ramen, he was surprised when a hand was placed on his shoulder to stop him. "Don't worry about it, Naruto. Think of it as our way of wishing you luck for today. As a matter of fact," the man said as he looked over at his daughter who was cleaning up the kitchen, "we're closing shop for the day so we can go see your match! Only things we ask in return are for you to kick butt, and be sure to get Iruka to come along afterwards and buy you plenty of ramen. Have to keep us in business, right?" At this last part, both Naruto and Teuchi grinned at eachother and gave a thumbs up.

"Alright, I'm headed to the arena so I can kick some ass. See you later, Teuchi-san, Ayame-neechan!" That said, the hyperactive boy clad in an orange jumpsuit dashed from the ramen stand in the direction that nearly everyone else was slowly moving towards. Snickering to himself, Naruto felt like these people were nothing more than sheep that were being herded. Today, he'll make sure they all see him in a different light, even if he dies in the process.

Not really paying attention to much else, a chill went down his spine as he stepped into the shadow of the arena. Removing his sight from those around him, he looked up at the arena's structure that was blocking out the sun and he couldn't help but feel a foreboding sensation. No one else seemed to show signs of experiencing the same sensation, but he definitely felt like there was something horrible going to happen today.

Shaking off this sensation, Uzumaki Naruto laughed at himself for being so foolish, and then he made his way inside so as not to be late...

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Sitting within a windowless office in an undisclosed location within Konoha, an elderly man with half of his face covered in banages sat behind his desk while listening to a report from his subordinate from Root.

Kneeling before the elderly man, the ninja looked down while delivering his report from beneath his ANBU mask. "Danzo-sama, we've discovered Sound and Sand military forces moving in to surround Konoha, as well as some ninja that have been confirmed as being followers of Orochimaru. It seems they're planning an attack during the Chunin exams. Shall we inform the Sandaime?"

Stroking his scarred chin, Danzo pondered on this for a moment before answering. "No, we'll keep this to ourselves. However, inform the rest of Root to move into strategic positions; we'll use this attack as our chance to move in and take over Konoha. Once we've taken over, I'll become the Godaime. No longer will we be in the shadows, and this nation will rise to it's true potential. Nothing shall get in our way."

Chuckling beneath his breath, he began issuing orders to his Root ninjas that were waiting on hand, quickly dispatching them to bring his plans into fruition. After today, nothing would be the same...

~~~~~~~~!x!x!Author's Note!x!x!~~~~~~~~

So, there's the first chapter. Every chapter after this will be WAY longer, so don't worry. Since I can't guarantee constant access to this PC with my fiance also writing her Twilight fanfic, I'll just choose the update schedule of every friday. This way, you can read the fanfic and the manga in one sitting! Oh, and I'm looking for proofreaders. Any that are interested, please get in touch with me so we can work things out.

Read, rate and check back next friday for more!