PrinnyMist steps out from behind a red curtain. He stands in the center of a stage.
"Hello and welcome to the second chapter." PrinnyMist pulls out a gun. "But enough of that. Did you know? Persona 3 is pretty fun. Y'see, you have to take this thing that looks like a gun and—"
"HOLD IT!" Drago yells and leaps onto the stage. He jabs a finger at PrinnyMist. "You're supposed to recap the last chapters and introduce us to say the disclaimer!"
PrinnyMist shrugs and slips offstage.
"Well, last time Naruto got his butt kicked by Temari for sleeping in class. That was so awesome! She just like SMASHED him with her fan…I'd like to see if I can survive one of those! It looks like a challenge!"" Drago proudly announces.
"More than that happened." Keisuke reprimands in his low, emotionless voice. "In fact, I want to bring attention to the first part. PrinnyMist does not support that pairing in any way shape or form. It is a joke, which contrasts what is actually happening."
Drago stretched and yawned. "BOOOORING! I want to kill stuff now."
"Disclaimer: Naruto and his universe are property of Masashi Kishimoto. PrinnyMist does not own these characters, the manga, or the anime in any way, shape or form. PrinnyMist's only wish is that you keep an open mind when you read this fanfiction, and to leave a review and/or constructive comment." Keisuke continues, ignoring his teammate.
"PrinnyMist however, does own these characters: Natsuki, Ryousuke, Keisuke, Drago, and Nina." Nina softly adds from the sidelines.
"Without further ado, PrinnyMist presents: "
Naruto: Rising Darkness
Chapter 2
Naruto leapt through the woods, keeping an eye out for enemy teams. Before, he had Sakura and Sasuke to watch his back, but now, he was on his own. He continued leaping through the woods, only finding trees and the native wildlife. No snakes, no blood-thirsty ninjas, and no enemy teams. Naruto paused and gripped the Heaven scroll hidden in his jacket. All he had to do was find his way into the tower while Sasuke and Ryou obtained an Earth scroll. He sighed and plopped down against the thick trunk of the tree. His eye lids started to droop, even though he had plenty of sleep during the first portion of the exam. He shook his head, remembering his part of the mission, but soon his eyes shut for good. His head bobbed up and down as he tried to fight off the never-ending waves of slumber, until at last his head simply dropped and snores escaped his lips.
"He's asleep." The gravelly whisper of a Kusagakure ninja was barely audible over Naruto's snores.
"I can't believe he fell so easily to our Sleeping Pollen!" Another Kusa-nin responded, emerging from the edge of the branch that Naruto slept on.
"I know. Plus we saw him grab at that scroll!" The third gleefully cackled, drawing a kunai to cut the scroll out of Naruto's jacket.
"Why don't you just kill him too?" The gravelly voiced ninja said. His companion evilly smiled and stabbed the slumbering Naruto in the heart.
"Too easy." The one with the kunai chuckled, before dropping his weapon in shock. Naruto had vanished in a puff of smoke.
Two loud cracks rang out behind the ninja. He swiftly turned around and let his jaw drop. His two teammates lay unconscious on the ground, with large bruises to their faces. The last Kusa-nin scrambled to find an escape, although he knew it was futile; the attacker could very well be right behind him…
The last thing he saw was the bottom of a boot.
Naruto couldn't help but smile as he took the Earth scroll from the fallen, gravel-voiced ninja. He carefully tucked the scroll into his jacket as Sasuke and Ryou tied up the defeated ninja.
"We knew you guys had been following us for a while." Naruto laughed, as both Sasuke and Ryou shared an exasperated sigh. They nodded and leaped away, as Naruto shouted and scrambled to catch up.
They had not traveled far when Sasuke paused and leaped behind a tree. Ryou's eyes widened as his ears twitched. He leaped beside Sasuke as the two covered their ears. Naruto leaped past them with a puzzled look on his face, just as a gust of wind shoved him violently backwards.
The trees trembled as the force of the blast stripped the leaves from their branches. Naruto gritted his teeth as he continued to fly backwards. With a puff of smoke, a kage bunshin appeared behind him. Using his kage bunshin as a springboard, Naruto hurled himself to safety behind a tree near his teammates.
The wind immediately died down as Sasuke peered out from behind his tree. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped, while Ryou sighed and shook his head.
"Whatever that was, it was huge!" Naruto exclaimed, before leaping to the top of his tree. As soon as he perched himself on a thin branch, his jaw dropped to his feet.
An enormous cloud of dust and bits of trees rose nearly half a mile into the sky in front of him. He swiftly shook his head and blinked. The cloud continued to rise and expand. Whatever had caused that explosion must be very, very dangerous, thought Naruto.
He rejoined his teammates and the three raced through the treetops towards the rising cloud of debris. Although the central tower was to their left, Sasuke insisted on finding out what caused the destruction.
"If I have to fight the guy responsible for that, I don't know if I'll survive!" Naruto shouted to himself, as sunlight streamed in from a gap in the trees ahead. The three leaped through the gap without hesitation.
Below them lay hundreds of tattered tree stumps, a floor of leaves and shredded bark, and several bodies of ninja and animals. Sasuke and Ryou gracefully landed on a tall stump, while Naruto flailed rapidly as he plummeted towards the devastation below.
"Oh man! Kage Bunshin!" Naruto shouted, forming a single kage bunshin. The two Narutos screamed wildly for a second, before remembering their plan. The clone lifted the real Naruto onto his shoulders. Naruto took a deep breath and leaped from the clone's shoulders, causing the clone to disperse. Naruto soared through the air and landed on a shorter stump. He let out a long sigh, plopped himself down and crossed his legs. After letting the adrenaline subside from his body, he stood up and surveyed the destruction.
--
"You went overboard, Drago." Keisuke admonished. Little emotion, save a bit of anger, was present. "Even though they only wanted our scroll, you could've at least let one of them live."
"Yeah, yeah." Drago pouted, his gruff voice reduced to a scratchy whisper. "It's just that we have to act like we're so weak. Why can't we just go assassinate our target already?"
Keisuke growled at Drago, who leapt back a little. "Nina, show him the orders." He groaned, as Nina cautiously slipped over to Drago and handed him a red scroll.
"Remain undercover for the duration of the Chuunin Exam. When the signal is given, commence assassination." Drago paused and gave Keisuke a confused look. "This doesn't explain anything."
"We will still follow our lord's orders." Keisuke rubbed the back of his neck. "I know how you feel; we're clearly Jounin level, and we have to deal with these rookies. However," He glanced at his teammates from the corner of his eyes. "I'll have to rely on you two to conserve your strength. I'll need someone to cover me while I kill our target."
Drago and Nina nodded, the sweat from their brows dripping onto the moist ground.
In a flash, the three vanished, leaving behind a few spots of sweat that soon vanished under the pouring rain.
--
Tsunade looked down at the 5 teams that had passed the second stage of the exam. She smiled as her gaze passed over Naruto's and Konohamaru's team, as well as the Dark-nin team. Only one team from Sand, and one from Mist. How very strange, she thought, before signaling Shizune to begin explaining the final part of the exam.
Suddenly, one Sand ninja collapsed, blood beginning to soak his vest. Konohamaru's teammates jumped back, and nervously shouted to withdraw from the exam. Outside, thunder crashed and lightning lit up the Forest of Death. Shizune finished looking over the fallen Sand ninja, frowned, and shook her head. Tsunade glanced at the Dark-nin. Keisuke gave a rare smirk, while the other two seemed visibly concerned by the Sand ninja's sudden death. The ninja who stood in front of his fallen comrade stabbed his index finger at Keisuke.
"You! You killed him!" He screamed, before leaping towards Keisuke and flinging a pair of shuriken.
Keisuke simply ducked under the attack and rammed his fist into his attacker's gut. The Sand ninja coughed up blood and doubled over. He clutched his stomach and angrily cursed Keisuke, who simply frowned and kicked him back towards his teammates.
"Only the ones who are worthy of becoming Chuunin should continue. There isn't any hope for hot-blooded fools such as you." Keisuke froze the air as he spoke, causing the defeated ninja to shiver. "If you're scared, I'd be like those two little brats and quit, too."
Tsunade groaned and shook her head. She had hoped that the Dark-nin wouldn't cause too much trouble; otherwise, the exam might turn out to be similar to the Sound invasion from six years ago. The Village of Darkness was small, but from the reports she had received, the ninja it produced were Jounin level rogues hailing from every country. It was a village of mercenaries, but she was willing to give them a chance to compare themselves with ninja of other villages in a controlled environment. However, from what she had heard from the proctors closest to Keisuke on the third exam, she knew that he was the most deadly and powerful ninja on the team.
"Lord Hokage, are you still sure my team will not be too much for this child's game?" A young girl with short silver hair teased. She wore a white kimono over metal mesh, and carried a long metal pole strapped to her back like a sword. "They were the first to finish the second part, with a total of 4 scrolls, if I recall. Perhaps you should just recognize them all as Jounin level and be done with it."
"Stop bragging. You're barely older than your team, and just because you're the daughter of the lord of your ragtag village doesn't mean you can push your way around like that!" One of the Konoha proctors demanded, giving the girl his best evil glare.
"Oh, but I'm not pushing my way around because I'm the daughter of the village lord." The girl smiled, before flicking her wrist and slashing at the proctor with her metal pole. A bright flash of light extended from the edge of the pole, slicing open the proctor's vest. "You'll see that I'm quite powerful…more powerful than you." She smiled as the proctor clutched the now bleeding wound in his shoulder. He grunted before collapsing in pain on the floor. Tsunade groaned again and slammed her foot down, causing the building to shake.
"ENOUGH!" She shouted, as everyone focused on her. "Everyone who feels that they cannot continue will now leave this building!" Every ninja on the floor recoiled at her sudden outburst, and the beaten Sand ninja and one of the Mist ninja immediately raced from the building. "And you, Natsuki Ryukana. I would appreciate it if you would refrain from nearly killing more of our ninja." Tsunade tended to the fallen proctor and glared at Natsuki to enforce her point.
Natsuki simply smiled and shrugged. "My deepest apologies, Lord Hokage." She responded sardonically, bowing deeply. She quietly and promptly shuffled backwards into the line of team leaders.
Tsunade waited until Natsuki had removed her hand from her weapon before continuing. "One month from now, the third and final stage of this Chuunin Exam will begin! I want all of you to pick a slip of paper from the box Shizune will pass around."
"Wait." Sasuke calmly demanded. Naruto glanced at his friend, who simply closed his eyes. "I quit, too."
"WHAT?!" Naruto shouted, grabbing Sasuke by his collar. "But why?"
Sasuke looked down at Naruto, his face still emotionless. "I don't care about being anything more than myself. Even if I'm a Genin, I can still defend Konoha."
Naruto said nothing as he lowered Sasuke to the ground. With a small smirk on his face, Sasuke waved goodbye as the storm continued to rage outside.
--
Ryou waited outside of the tower, his short black hair and light blue robes soaked with rain. He frowned, not because he was wet, but because the meeting between Tsunade and Natsuki had lasted for more than the expected hour.
"One month from now, the final section of the Chuunin exam will commence. There isn't much time, then." Ryou softly commented to himself. "I must become stronger; strong enough to fight even the Kyuubi itself." He stared at his fist. "I never thought that such a goof would be the one to contain the most powerful demon in this world."
"Don't worry about it, darling." Natsuki chirped, skipping out of the tower with an umbrella. "You're already at my level of skill, so it shouldn't be too hard for you!" Natsuki smiled as she held the umbrella over their heads. "But even that doesn't mean much if you catch a cold!"
Ryou smiled and sighed. "You know the cold never bothers me. I was always cold in my childhood."
"But now you have me to keep you warm." Natsuki leaned her head on her husband's shoulder as they headed towards the exit.
--
Naruto stood outside Sakura's home. He felt quite excited; not because he was at Sakura's house, but because this would be the first time that everyone would be getting together since Sasuke's return to Konoha. Often, at least three of his friends would be out on missions, and although whoever had free time got together regularly, it was the time when everyone could meet that they looked forward to. Naruto didn't need to knock; the door opened for him.
"Hey Naruto! What kept you so long?" Kakashi chuckled, before ushering Naruto inside. "You're even later than me this time…I hope my habits aren't THAT contagious."
"Well, they're not, Kakashi-sensei. I still think Icha-Icha is boring." Naruto laughed. He took a few steps into the house and looked around. "Wow."
It certainly was a party inside. Sakura and Ino rushed back and forth between the kitchen and the circular center table, keeping the platters of food well stocked, the drinks filled, and the alcohol out of the hands of many. Sasuke sat in a corner, cold and unreceptive, except for the casual smile or greetings he gave to passerby. Kiba kept putting food on his plate then promptly consuming it in the sloppiest fashion, spraying bits of it all over Shino's hood and glasses. Neji appeared to be drunk, and kept trying to get Tenten to kiss him. Tenten, on the other hand, kept stopping Neji by slapping him, taking his drink, and running away. Lee, meanwhile, stood in jaw-dropped awe at Guy's fiancé, a randomly hot babe that Jiraiya would have killed for to date. Shikamaru and Temari sat next to each other on a couch, both blushing from consuming too much alcohol and being in love. Choji sat across from Kiba, heaping plate onto his food and then neatly eating it with careful gusto.
Naruto scanned the ordered chaos once more, searching for Hinata. As Kakashi wandered off to help Sakura and Ino, Naruto sighed and wondered if Hinata couldn't make it.
"Naruto! I thought you weren't going to come!" Naruto swiftly turned and found himself face-to-face with a blushing Hinata. "You're the last one here; even Shizune and Tsunade-sama are here." She pointed to the kitchen, where Naruto caught a glimpse of the duo in aprons, rapidly preparing more food for Kiba and Choji to devour.
"Well, I was training, and I forgot the time." Naruto smiled as he attempted to make up an excuse for being late; he had actually taken a nap at home after training and woke up later than he thought he would.
Hinata giggled and blushed again. "You really should listen to your alarm clock, Naruto." She had been with Naruto long enough to know that he simply turned off the alarm when it rang. "But, uh, have you had anything to eat yet? The roast beef Shizune made is very delicious."
"Well, I am hungry from all my training." Hinata led Naruto tenderly by the wrist to the center table. Kiba gave a half-hearted wave before shoving an entire chicken leg into his mouth. Naruto and Hinata smiled nervously to hide their disgust, before they began forming plates of their own. "Aw man…" Naruto whined, as he scanned the selection before him.
"What is it, Naruto?" Hinata asked, before noticing Naruto's disappointed face. "Oh, there's fried ramen on the other side of the table." She said, before secretly sampling a piece of sashimi.
"Thanks Hinata." Naruto leaped, ducked, and dodged the deadly projectiles of food from Kiba's mouth and arrived at the other side of the table relatively unscathed. He piled on the ramen and added a cut of roast beef, three rolled eggs, and a piece of fish cake. Hinata sidled up next to him and they found a quiet place to sit and eat.
"Naruto, I have to tell you something." Hinata whispered, nervously picking at the piece of roast beef on her plate. "It…it's about us."
"Huh?" Naruto swallowed and looked at Hinata, who fixed her gaze on her food.
"Um..." Hinata blushed, before deciding to tell Naruto the best news. "I'm pregnant." She blurted her gaze meeting Naruto's.
To Naruto, everything stopped. Tsunade, Shizune, and Kakashi peeked out from the kitchen, still wearing "Kiss the Cook. Please?" hats. Sakura and Ino floated in mid-stride, both carrying fresh plates of food. The flecks of food that escaped Kiba's maw screeched to a halt just before they impacted Shino's newly decorated hood. Choji's food filled hand quivered precariously on the edge of his lips. Sasuke's jaw dropped. Shino raised a hidden eyebrow. Shikamaru and Temari paused in mid-drunken kiss. Tenten's breathing was labored. Neji lay in a sober heap at her feet. Lee blushed. Guy flashed his trademark "Guy's Approval of Youth!" pose.
And as suddenly as it began, it started up again. The three cooks laughed and went back to cooking. Sakura and Ino gracefully swapped the empty dishes for the full ones. Kiba's scraps made even more colorful spots on Shino's hood. Choji's food instantly disappeared into the localized black hole of Choji's mouth. Sasuke's mouth returned to its usual, emotionless slit. Shino's hidden eyebrow returned to its "disgusted" position. Shikamaru and Temari vanished. Neji cried. And as Tenten attempted to process Lee's bold move, only one thing came to her mind. She kissed him. Everyone had returned to laughing, chatting, eating, or brooding. Only two did otherwise. Naruto had fainted, and Hinata was trying to wake him.
Well, he took it nicely, thought Hinata.
--
In a dark forest somewhere in Konoha, a single ray of moonlight illuminated a lone ninja. His glasses gleamed as he glanced at the only source of light, and wondered if his informant would show.
"I see you've arrived early." A deep, booming voice called out. Keisuke hid his startled face from the light, and took a deep breath.
"So even you aren't sure if he's involved with the recent massacres?" Keisuke began, wishing to finish his business here as quickly as possible.
"That is correct." The deep voice responded. It echoed into the darkness of the forest, as Keisuke continued to piece together the different reports and information he had gathered. "However, it is likely that he is not working alone, either."
"So someone in Konoha is a traitor." Keisuke coldly remarked, a frown crossing his hidden face. "Many things are not adding up."
"But the evidence so far points to your conclusion." Keisuke's eyes twitched slightly at this remark, but he kept his face carefully hidden from the moonlight.
"It's only a hypothesis. Nothing has been concluded yet." Keisuke frowned again for just a moment, before starting to leave. "However, I'd like you to report back to me in one month. Hopefully you'll have more information on the one who took down the ANBU squad three months ago."
"I'll do what I can." The deep voice's echo receded into the darkness, as Keisuke listened for any sounds or signs of movement.
"Interesting…" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps you have been quite useful after all…" With a wave of his hand, Keisuke vanished in a puff of smoke.
--
Naruto watched with complete boredom as Hinata studied the outlines for different styles of weddings. Beside her lay stacks of wedding gown designs, kimono designs, cake designs, seating arrangements, guest lists, and generally uninteresting things to Naruto. What he wanted to do now was train for his upcoming match against Drago. He sighed and looked out the window. A few clouds dotted the sky, while a pair of birds flew into the distance.
"What about these?" Temari placed another pile of designs and catalogs into the pile beside Hinata. "Shika and I decided to elope; it was simple and cheap." She gave her husband a mischievous glance, to which he simply blushed and pretended not to notice. "But since you're part of the Hyuga Clan, I guess that money is no object, huh?"
"Well, not really." Hinata murmured, rolling up one scroll and picking another from the pile. "Although I think we'll do a traditional style wedding; that's how it's been done in our family." She opened the scroll and began reading. "Right now I'm looking for my wedding kimono."
"Have you taken a look at these?" Temari fished out a large catalog and passed it to Hinata. "They have a large selection, and the store is just a few blocks from here."
Naruto decided that he had stayed there long enough, and stood up to leave. He had just taken his first step when suddenly he stopped and quivered in frustration. He turned his head and glared at Shikamaru angrily.
"Hey, don't blame me, Naruto. Blame them. They just told me to keep you here." Shikamaru shrugged. "You know how Temari is if I don't keep her happy."
"But this is boring! And I've got to train for my battle against that Drago guy. He was the one who destroyed that whole section of forest!" Naruto felt his muscles relax as Shikamaru's shadow separated from his. "Besides, whatever Hinata picks is fine with me."
Shikamaru and Temari shared a knowing smile, and laughed. "You've still got one more week, and you've been training all the time before. One day of not training won't hurt." Temari insisted, ushering Naruto beside Hinata.
"Hey, Naruto! What about this one?" Hinata pointed to a wedding cake with a spiral design. "We could add the Hyuga Clan symbol in the middle, if we wanted."
"Looks good." Naruto blandly remarked, entirely unhappy about his current situation. After pouting uselessly for a few minutes, he reluctantly took a peek at the page Hinata was looking at and blushed. "Er…Hinata? Why don't we, uh, do this together?" He gingerly flipped the page. After all, getting married to Hinata in a green jumpsuit was definitely a bad idea.
--
