Hey all! I can't believe this is the last arc of my story. Sobs Time just goes by so quickly. My cosplay outfit is done, yay! Katsucon here I come! For all those that don't know what I'm talking about, see the note on my profile page. I'm not happy with this chapter but maybe I'm just beating myself up about it too much. I always find beginnings the hardest. Anyways, thanks to my wonderful beta Capito Celcior. Please review and let me know how I'm doing. Remember, flames are welcome so long as they're constructive.
The Rookie Twelve: Godaime Kazekage Appears
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Sunlight sparkled on the water of a quiet pond found in the middle of Konoha's northern forest. The pond's surface was as still as glass and lay undisturbed until a strong and tanned blonde broke the surface. Temari gave a small laugh before she dove down again to look at the myriad of tiny, polished stones that lined the bottom. Water was a scarce and protected resource in Sunagakure and so it was rare when she had the opportunity to completely immerse herself in it. Rarer still when there was actually enough to explore its tranquil depths. Her team had come across the pond just this morning and Temari had practically demanded that they stop and rest for awhile. Baki had not been suicidal enough to deny her.
Temari surfaced again and flipped onto her back to float for awhile. Thinking of Baki had brought her thoughts to the mission that brought them to Konohagakure. They had registered to take the chunin exams that where being held in Konohagakure but the truth was that they were there to carry out the first stages of the coming war. Her father, the Kazekage, was obsessed with power and had made an alliance with the unknown sound village in order to destroy the village hidden in leaves. Temari frowned up at the leaves that swayed innocently above her. They were only just recovering from the last war and to battle such a powerful nation would surely put them right back into poverty, regardless of whether they won or lost. She doubted that the sound village would hold up their end of the bargain. Even if they did she held no hope that the Daimyo would not demand a war tribute. Her father, however, had lost sight of reason long ago and only saw the coming battle. Temari was only a genin and had no voice with the council. Not even to tell them that there were two jinchuuriki in Konohagakure. She would be on the front lines against her very own little brother.
Temari sighed and willed the tranquil waters to brush all thoughts away. The Gods seemed against her and a shiver traveled up her back that told any kunoichi that a pervert was trying to sneak a peek. Temari shot up and pulled a concealed senbon from her hair. She launched it angrily at a near by bush and watched as her teammate Sano scrambled out of its path, strategically covering herself with her arms. He sneered and ambled lazily to the shore of the pond.
"Its nothing you have to hide from me Temari," he informed her coldly. "Just two more years and it will be my property." Temari glared at him and tried to cover up even more. Unlike other nations it was customary that the seat of Kage remain within the ruling family in Suna. Only if no heirs were produced or if the heir was unacceptable was the power shifted to a new family. This would ordinarily mean that Temari was in line to be the next Kage, as Kankuro had abdicated to his elder sister and Gaara had left the village, but a scandal had broken out just last year when her father announced that he had another heir. It turned out that he had been seeing a mistress the entire time that he had been married to their mother and had fathered a son just a year before she had been born. Sano was a carbon copy of their father in both looks and mentality and in order to appease the council he had arranged a marriage between Sano and Temari. The Yondaime didn't care that he was damning his only daughter to a life of incest and marital slavery. Once Temari reached the age of eighteen she would be forced to marry her illegitimate half-brother.
"Well two years hasn't come yet so get lost Sano," she spat angrily.
"Oh," he replied with a smirk, "and just who is going to make me?" A rapid clatter of wood had him jumping back as a gouge was torn out of the earth.
"That would be me," spat Kankuro as he pulled back Karasu and prepared for another shot. Sano sniffed.
"As if I would lower myself to fight with a nobody like you." He walked away leisurely and Kankuro was left bristling at the jab. Temari sighed in relief.
"Thanks Kankuro, now get lost." Kankuro laughed and left to allow her privacy to dress. She gathered her clothing and resolved to keep all future baths to a secured bathhouse. Ten minutes later the team from Suna was once again on its way to Konoha and war.
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Zabuza lifted a kunai and scanned the dancing leaves warily. He had almost been caught twice already and he was not about to let things end so easily. His pursuer had yet to actually show himself but it was clear that he was a master of building traps and of genjutsu. The level of power behind the latter had him beginning to second guess himself and almost afraid to make a move. He crept over a fallen log and made another scan of the area. A blur out of the corner of his eye had him shooting his last kunai to the left. It went wide and the figure disappeared into the foliage once again.
"You're pretty good I'll give you that," said Zabuza with a calculating grin. "I'd have to say mid-jounin level. That's kind of high for a civilian, wouldn't you agree Sasame." He looked straight up to where his pursuer had been watching him from all along. Sasame smiled and jumped down to the forest floor.
"All the better to keep up with three powerful boys," he declared. "I decided to keep training when I first came upon Haku. I will protect those who are precious to me."
"You haven't changed at all," Zabuza said as he began forming seals. "You're still too soft." Sasame's grin disappeared and he suddenly turned serious. Faster than Zabuza could track, he disappeared and then reappeared behind him. Zabuza stilled at the feel of the kunai at his throat."
"I'm sorry," said Sasame softly, "but I'm expected somewhere else shortly. Looks like it will have to end here for now." He sliced the throat cleanly and watched with amusement as the body fell and then broke apart into falling water droplets. Zabuza jumped down from a tree branch and gave him a small glare.
"Don't think that you won just because you got the last shot in," he growled playfully.
"Wouldn't dream of it," replied Sasame as he handed him back his lost kunai.
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Sarutobi smiled in appreciation of the interesting match that he had just witnessed though his crystal ball. It seemed that Zabuza was integrating nicely with Konoha and now he was even coaxing Sasame back into the shinobi way of life. He had never accepted a mission before, even though he was well aware that the Hokage knew of his daily training. Now that Zabuza was dragging him by his ear to the Missions Office, however, he was beginning to participate more with the rest of the shinobi village. He still refused to leave the village for missions and was technically still a civilian but Sarutobi knew just where he would be most effective and he was already giving great results.
Sandaime was just sitting down to work on the never ending mountain of paperwork in his office when an angry scream cut through the quiet of the village. A flash of orange whizzed by his window and sent a rush of wind circulating around the room. In seconds the carefully stacked towers of paper were scattered carelessly on the floor. "Naruto!" screamed Anko as she passed by the Hokage's window. Her beloved coat was missing a sleeve and the end was burnt from what must have been a foxfire jutsu. Sarutobi growled and reigned in his killer intent to an uncontrollable eye twitch.
"Perhaps I should send Anko on a short mission," he mused quietly. "It wouldn't due for Naruto to die right before the chunin exams began."
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Naruto growled angrily as he stalked down the street. Anko had finally stopped knocking him around in favor of the mission that the ANBU had brought to her. Naruto would have counted himself lucky except for the fact that she had shredded his last orange jumpsuit to shreds. "Just because I overdid that foxfire jutsu," he growled out as he stomped towards his house "She said to come at her with a killer intent. I should have used a stronger one on her". At least his father could always sew him up a new one. He turned onto his street and paused when he saw his front door come open. Uchiha Sasuke came out of the house and turned in the opposite direction with a pensive look on his face. Naruto watched in suspicion as he shrank into the distance.
Naruto entered the house a few moments later and found both Sasame-tou-san and Zabuza sitting on the couch having a cup of tea. Zabuza and Rin had moved in with them after the journey to waves. The first few days had been tense but it soon began to feel as though they had been a part of the family forever. Of course there were still times when Naruto felt like launching a kunai at the ex-nukenin.
"What the hell happened to you?" asked Zabuza with a mighty laugh. Naruto growled and his fingers twitched towards his kunai pouch. Sasame just sighed and moved to the closet where he kept his personal works-in-progress. He dug to the back and pulled out a new jumpsuit. This one, however, was predominantly black and only used orange on the trims and spiral seal of the back. The orange wasn't even a neon orange but more of a red-orange. Naruto frowned in confusion as Sasame handed it over to him. "Naze…" he began before trailing off. He hated to complain when it was obvious that his father had worked so hard on it. The carefully concealed pockets alone looked like they had been a nightmare to work on.
"I was going to save this for your next birthday," he explained, "but Anko has informed me that you guys will be taking the chunin exams in a few days. This will be much more appropriate. I know that you like how you dress Naruto but you have to think like a ninja. Besides, if you dress more seriously then your rival will take you more seriously." Naruto thought about how his fashion change would throw Sasuke for a loop and grave a foxy grin. "Thanks chichue," he said before he raced to his room to try on his new threads.
"Thank god," Zabuza muttered. I thought he would burn my eyes out with that ridiculous thing he dares to call clothes." Sasame just grinned and turned back to his tea.
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In another part of the village Gaara was leaning against a tree's trunk and trying valiantly to ignore the square shaped 'rock' that was shuffling its way over to him. Often enough, if he just ignored it, the 'rock' would choose to go to Naruto-ni instead but today he was alone and it looked like he was going to have to humor them. He sent some sand out and directed it to lightly hit the top of the box. "No one with any common sense is going to believe that pitiful excuse for a disguise" he said in monotone. Smoke blasted out from under the box and the Konohamaru corp. hacked their way through their introductions.
"Gaara-sempai, will you please play ninja with us," asked Moegi in a cutesy little voice. Gaara groaned inwardly and shook his head.
"Go ask Naruto or Haku," he ordered.
"But the boss was running from the crazy lady the last time we saw him and Haku is still working his shift in the hospital. Besides, you're so much harder to win against so its good practice. You have to play with us Gaara-ni." Gaara sighed and resigned himself to one round of a glorified game of tag.
"One, two…" He watched as the chibis ran from him and towards a coming genin team. They raced around them but Konahamaru was held up by his trailing scarf by the pink haired kunoichi of the group.
"Is this jerk bothering you kids," Sakura demanded heatedly.
"He's playing with us and you're going to make us loose so let go you old hag," Konohamaru demanded angrily.
"Old hag?" she screamed angrily. "Shanaro!" Her fist came down to whack him on the head only to find that he had disappeared from her grasp. She whirled to the other kunoichi of the team and growled when she saw the brat hiding behind Rin's legs and peeking out to stick out his tongue.
"Move it ghost girl," she ordered heatedly. Rin just crossed her arms and glared at Sakura, silently daring her to try anything. Sakura ground her teeth in frustration. Rin had been assigned to her genin team once she had cleared her interrogation and citizenship requirements. Ever since then Sakura had been fighting a loosing battle to be top kunoichi on the squad. Kakashi sensei had taken more of an interest in training her and, more importantly, Sasuke had begun following her like a lost puppy. Rin accepted the training happily and turned her nose up to the willing slave that followed her around. Sakura had been so sure that making it onto Sasuke's team would mean that she would finally get him for her boyfriend but he didn't even acknowledge that she existed. She firmly ignored the fact that she hadn't put that much effort into training and that Sasuke had barely tolerated her before. She was convinced that all her problems existed solely because of Rin.
"Thanks nee-chan," said Konohamaru as he edged around her and took off running. He looked back as he ran and grinned evilly. "See you forehead girl." Sakura growled and then gasped as he collided with a boy in what appeared to be make-up and a black cat suit.
"Sorry," cried Konahamaru as he picked himself up.
"Sorry?" growled the boy angrily. "You little brat, I'll teach you to run in to me."
"Kankuro, we shouldn't make trouble in a foreign village." The boy, Kankuro looked back and smirked at his sister. "Don't worry Temari, I'll make this quick and painful."
"Whatever," she said with an uncaring shrug. "I'm not involved." Kankruo smirked and pulled back a fist to hit the kid when a rock smacked him on the side of the head. He dropped Konohamaru and turned to face team seven. Sasuke smirked and stepped forward.
"If you want to make any trouble in my village then you'll have to deal with me," he declared. "Rin rolled her eyes and moved to cloak Konohamaru from view before anyone else tried to commit mayhem on the Hokage's grandson.
"Ano," Sakura stepped forward with a frown. "You two are obviously foreigners. Do you have the proper papers to be in Konohagakure?"
"Of course," said Temari disdainfully as she pulled out her passport. "We are here for the chunin exams."
"Chunin exams?" questioned Sakura in confusion.
"You guys must be green," said Temari snidely. "Don't you know anything?" Gaara sighed and stepped away from his tree where he had been watching the events unemotionally.
"I would think more carefully before you take on a team of the leaf in this exam. After all, the team you may run across could be mine. I would hate to have to make you my prey sister."
Temari gasped and Kankuro's jaw dropped in shock. "Gaara," he stammered. "Is that really you otouto?"
Gaara nodded and tears came to Temari's eyes. Neither she nor Kankuro could detect a hint of madness or demon yukai from him and he looked happier than they had even seen him though he still did not smile at them. They could tell that the rings around his eyes where kohl and not bags from lack of sleep. There where no wrinkles from where he would cry daily. Even his skin and hair seemed healthier than they had been all those years ago. Temari stepped forward to embrace her brother when a voice called out making her groan in annoyance.
"Temari! Kankuro! I thought I told you idiots to go to the hotel and prepare my room.
"Sumimasen," Kankuro bit out. "We were delayed."
"I can see that moron. If you're going to waste my time with the obvious then you should remain silent." He pushed past a fuming Kankuro and surveyed the genin in front of him. He had never met the red headed leaf nin and so he disregarded him as unimportant. His gaze settled on Sasuke and he smirked.
"So you are the mighty Uchiha that I have heard so much about? I look forward to defeating you in the exams. Temari, moron, come!" The sand siblings bristled at being called like dogs but followed obediently behind their leader. Gaara watched as they disappeared down the street and frowned at the implications of what he had seen.
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That's all she wrote.
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