Chapter 2
Sasuke buried his head in the pillow to bite back a scream as a fresh wave of pain encased him. Lately his night mares and hallucinations had been worse; he always seemed to hear someone screaming for help and the roars of something demonic. And the odd thing was that it worsened when he was near the dobe.
"Kuso," cursed Sasuke, clenching his fists. Of late everything seemed to be going wrong. He wouldn't admit it but he hated being alone. He hated coming home to an empty house with blood stains everywhere; it reminded him of something he'd tried hard to forget, the massacre of his clan. He detested the pitiful stares of the villagers and their whispers of his harsh fate.
He didn't want their pity, he didn't need it, and he refused to give in to it. He was an avenger and the path he walked was solitary.
The Uchiha survivor forced himself to stand up and pushed the pain in his head aside, stumbling to the bathroom, where he washed his face to clear his thoughts. Then ambling outside, he let the cool evening air envelope him. The raven haired rookie made his way to the training grounds situated in the Uchiha district and began to practice his Taijutsu and Katon jutsus. Hoping the training would set his mind at ease.
The Next Day
Iruka watched as the blonde haired, orange clad boy made his way to his seat, his head held low. The academy teacher knew something was seriously wrong as Naruto always held his head with confidence, even if he was having a bad day. It was getting close to the genin exams, and he desperately wanted Naruto to pass, and prove everyone wrong.
Naruto slumped in his seat, his head resting on the cool surface of the desk in front of him. His head was pounding horribly and he hadn't been able to sleep all night due to the nightmares. He knew he should probably report it to the Sandaime but he just couldn't bring himself to. Suddenly Naruto heard a desperate scream come from Sasuke's direction and he wiped around his head to investigate the noise. But when he did so he realized it was just a hallucination, or so he thought. The Uchiha looked as impassive as ever but little did Naruto know that he was going through the same thing.
The blonde haired boy bit his lip to bite back a scream, but couldn't hold out anymore. The sounds of Ino and Sakura arguing over Sasuke, Iruka shouting and the rest of students being rowdy suddenly become overwhelming and the classroom felt hot, he could feel the sweat running down his face. Naruto got to his feet and made his way into the aisle, staggering to the door where he collapsed.
"Naruto, Naruto!" shouted Iruka, rushing over to the unconscious boy. The whole class had become deadly silent as they looked on. It seemed strange to them that Naruto collapsed as he always seemed so full of energy and life. But what they saw before them was a tired, lonely, broken boy. Iruka quickly rushed Naruto to the Konoha hospital, sending an ANBU to inform the Hokage.
Naruto tried to move but his body was frozen, his throat felt tight and dry and there was a never ending darkness around him. He could hear a faint sound in the distance but couldn't quite make out what it was…it seemed to be someone calling his name.
"Where am I?" he tried to say but he couldn't hear his own voice. Naruto struggled to leave the painful darkness and overwhelming silence but he just couldn't. He began to panic.
Mean while the nurses bustled around Naruto while a grave looking Sarutobi looked on.
"The patient is going into a state of panic, this is bad!" yelled one of the medics "If he falls into this state while unconscious his body will shut down!" But there was nothing they could do but wait. Iruka, who had assigned another teacher to the class for the rest of the day, clenched his fists. He could see Naruto's eyes fluttering under his lids, trying in vain to open. The boy's chest heaved as he fought his way to consciousness, his body thrashing in the bed and sweat ran down his face. For a split second it seemed as though all hope was lost. Naruto stopped moving and his body became rigid, his breath limited. Then, in one miraculous second his blue eyes opened and he began to gasp for breathe.
The medics rushed to put an oxygen mask of Naruto's face to help with his breathing, while Iruka and Sarutobi sighed in relief.
The Sandaime crossed the room and sat on the edge of Naruto's bed, taking a long draw of his pipe before letting out the contents in one large sigh, his aged face looking even older as the day's events rested heavily on his shoulders.
"Naruto-Kun there is something you need to know….." trailed the aged Hokage, his brown eyes sad and worn.
"Iie, no," said Naruto stoically, his usual happy go lucky mask had crumbled. "I don't want to talk about this." The Sandaime felt his heart sink even further when he heard Naruto say those words. He knew it was the Kyuubi that had caused Naruto to go unconscious. But obviously the boy was not ready to know. The Sandaime knew there was nothing he could do but wait, but deep down in his heart even though he knew the real Naruto would awaken eventually, he didn't want to expose the boy to the darkness of his true heritage and the curse of his kind.
The months flew past in a flash and Naruto buried all thoughts of his nightmares and focused solely on his training. He had discovered he possessed both the wind and fire element and had begun to train himself in that area. He still had nightmares and terrible insomnia but he hid it beneath his mask, he knew it wouldn't be long until he could show his true self. He didn't know right he was, in more ways than one.
Day of the Genin Exams
Naruto felt a satisfied smirk settle on his face as he walked into the classroom at the academy with his Hitai- ate tied around his forehead. He had passed with flying colours.
Everyone stared, their mouths hanging open with shock. Uzumaki Naruto, the dobe had passed?
Uchiha Sasuke felt his pupils contract with surprise, the dobe had passed!
'Hn, maybe he is worth of my rivalry after all,' thought the rookie. As Sasuke passed Naruto on his way into the next room where the exam was being held he smirked and nodded slightly, the latter doing the same.
In a few minutes Sasuke returned, his hitai-ate tied proudly around his forehead. He was an Uchiha after all.
Later that evening Naruto walked along the streets of Konoha, ignoring the dirty looks and the mean whispers that the villagers gave him when they saw the Hitai-ate around his forehead. He knew they hated the fact that he had passed, but he didn't care anymore.
Meanwhile Mizuki, who had discreetly followed Naruto from the academy, clenched his fists. He was fuming. He couldn't believe the demon brat had passed and ruined his plan to get rid of him.
'Hn,' thought Mizuki 'I'll get rid of you, demon.' With that thought in mind he plastered a fake smile on to his lips and walked casually through the street until he caught up with Naruto.
"Ne…..Naruto, I have a special task for you, it's another part of the Genin exams. A part which only an academy teacher can bestow on one chosen student," said Mizuki to the orange clad genin, the smile widening but never matching the evil glint in his eyes.
Naruto's eyes narrowed in suspicion, he did not trust Mizuki as the teacher had never done anything but treat him unkindly or neglect him. Suddenly a sinister smile appeared on Naruto's face, changing his fake countenance.
'Hn, I'll play along with his little game to see what he's up to,' thought Naruto, he could feel his thirst for blood rising, he knew he was changing and there was nothing he could do about it.
"Ne, ne, what is the task Mizuki-sensei?" asked Naruto innocently, jumping up and down with perfectly feigned excitement.
Mizuki narrowed his eyes as his smiled widened,
'What a baka, he'll never know what hit him. I'll have him steal the Forbidden Scroll and then alert the Hokage, who will immediately send shinobi after him. I'll take the scroll and escape while the demon brat gets caught.' The silver haired Chuunin smiled eerily and said,
"All you have to do is get the Forbidden Scroll and bring it to me; I'll be waiting in the forest. The scroll is in the Hokage's house."
"That's all?" shouted Naruto excitedly while flashing his signature grin. "I'm on it Mizuki-sensei, dattebayo!" and with that he ran off.
'Hn, the Forbidden Scroll eh?' thought Naruto as he raced over the roof tops 'Mizuki must really think I am an idiot. Hn, he won't know what hit him when I reveal my true strength.' Naruto felt his lips turn up in a humorless smile, dripping with the thirst for blood, his eyes flashing red for a moment. Every time he felt it he was disgusted, but he couldn't help it. Lately his thirst for blood had increased, maybe he was a monster like everyone said...maybe they were right.
A few minutes later Naruto arrived in the forest, the Forbidden Scroll on his back. Meanwhile Sarutobi sat at his desk, watching Naruto through his crystal ball. He was curious to see what the Genin was up to. Suddenly two Chuunin burst into the Hokage's office,
"Hokage-sama, Hokage-sama!" they shouted in unison, "the demon brat has stolen the Forbidden Scroll!" Sarutobi clasped his hand and rested his chin atop them. For a few minutes he said nothing, but gazed into the crystal ball.
"Hokage-sama—"the Chuunin started but was cut off when the elderly leader began to speak.
"Send any free Chuunin and Jounin after him," said the grave Hokage. The two chuunin smiled sadistically; finally they would be able to get rid of the demon brat.
Naruto stood in the forest the scroll on his back, waiting patiently for Mizuki to appear. Surprisingly he didn't even feel the urge to look at the scroll, he wasn't curious, not at all. As Naruto stood waiting on Mizuki he heard a voice behind him.
"I've found you Naruto!" it was Iruka. "Why did you do it, why did you steal the scroll?"
Naruto turned to look at his sensei. He could see the disappointment, disapproval, sadness and anger in Iruka's eyes.
"Hn, you really believed that I stole the scroll without a good reason?" said Naruto, narrowing his blue eyes, a dark aura emanating from him. "Then you're just like the rest of the villagers!" the blonde haired Genin growled, his mask falling apart, revealing his true countenance.
"N-Naruto…" stuttered Iruka, shock settling onto his features. "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions. What happened?" asked the academy teacher. The blonde rookie turned his back on Iruka, and for a moment the Chuunin thought Naruto was not going to answer. Then, the orange-clad Genin began to speak.
"After graduating, Mizuki came to me and said that he would allow me to participate in a special part of the Genin exams which only one teacher could bestow on a chosen student. I knew he was up to something, but decided to play along so that he would fall into my trap. He told me to fetch the Forbidden Scroll from the Hokage Tower, and meet him in the forest." Iruka's eyes widened as Naruto explained the situation. He couldn't believe Mizuki would do something like this. He had always known that the snowy-haired teacher hated Naruto, but he never thought that he would sink this low. The young Chuunin was also quite surprised at Naruto's change in personality; he never would have thought that the happy face Naruto showed each day in class was simply an elaborate façade.
'Was he like this all along? Is this the real Naruto?' thought Iruka, a sad expression gracing his face.
A few seconds later Mizuki appeared. The Chuunin faced Naruto, his hand outstretched, a sickly sweet smile twisting his pale face.
"Hand over the scroll, Naruto-kun," said Mizuki, his voice dripping with fake sweetness.
"Hn, Mizuki-teme did u really think you deceived me with your lies?" asked Naruto scornfully, a humorless smile twisting his lips. "You must really underestimate me. I knew you were lying from the start, but I played along as I wanted to know what you were really up to." At this Mizuki's eyes widened. The demon brat had tricked him! He had known about his plan from the beginning!
Suddenly a grotesque leer formed on Mizuki's face as he spoke.
"You would have been better off not knowing about my plan, demon brat," he spat "not hand over the Forbidden Scroll and I might consider making you death painless." Naruto narrowed his eyes; he could barely see straight as his blood lust had begun to overpower him. He wanted to kill Mizuki; tear out his throat with his teeth, rip out his heart and watch the blood drain from his lifeless, limp body with a sense of sadistic pleasure.
"Mizuki don't do it!" yelled Iruka, interrupting the blonde's bloody thoughts.
"Huh?" sneered Mizuki "why are you defending the demon who killed you parents Iruka, don't you want revenge?" asked the silver haired Chuunin tauntingly; his black eyes gleaming with evil intentions. Upon hearing Mizuki's question, Naruto's eyes widened with shock.
"Iruka-sensei, did I really kill your parents?" asked Naruto, his exotic blue eyes filled with confusion.
Iruka looked down at his clenched fists, he hated to lie to Naruto, but he couldn't tell him the truth without revealing his secret.
"Iie, no, it's nothing Naruto-kun," replied Iruka, trying as best as he could to flash his signature smile at the blonde. As the words let Iruka's lips a humorless bout of laughter erupted from Mizuki.
"Do you really believe that, Naruto-kun?" asked Mizuki mockingly, his eyes wild with untamed glee. "Iruka is lying, he hates you like everyone else does and you ARE the demon that killed his parents. YOU are the child that the Kyuubi no Kitsune was sealed into, YOU are the demon that destroyed the village!" roared Mizuki, his eyes staring wildly as he unleashed the Fuma Shuriken from his back and flung it at Naruto, with speed befitting a Jounin.
"No, Mizuki don't!" yelled Iruka, but it was too late, the academy teacher had already spilled Naruto's secret.
To Naruto time had stopped. He couldn't feel his heart beat, he felt numb. He didn't even see when Iruka jumped in front of him to intercept the incoming Fuma Shuriken. His world had come to a halt.
'I-I am the Kyuubi,' Naruto thought, his shocked brain trying hard to process the information. Then everything fell into place. The villagers abuse, their insults, his neglect at the academy.
"N-Naruto," Iruka managed to say, his brown eyes filled with sadness and pain. The blonde haired genin held his head down, his eyes shadowed by his hair and his fists clenched tightly. Suddenly a humorless bout of laughter escaped from Naruto's throat.
"The Kyuubi, huh?" asked Naruto somewhat mockingly, his blue eyes with blood lust and were coloured a blood red adorned with black slit pupils. "Maybe you're right Mizuki, maybe I am a demon, maybe that's why I want to kill you so fucking bad!" said Naruto, licking his lips grotesquely, while red potent chakra swirled around him. The blonde turned to look at Iruka, a a glimpse of sadness shinning through the anger and darkness in his eyes.
"So you're just like the rest of them, huh?" asked Naruto, his fists clenched with pent up emotions. "But Mizuki is right, I am a monster."
Iruka felt tears form in his eyes. He hadn't expected Naruto to take the truth so hard, it made him wonder, just how much hurt and pain the blonde was hiding. Just how many times had he been abused by the villagers?
Suddenly Naruto felt a searing pain engulf his head; he immediately dropped to his knees, holding his head between his hands.
'Yes,' said the Kyuubi in Naruto's mind, its muzzle stretching into a blood thirsty demonic grin,
'give your soul to me Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto tried to block out the demonic roars in his head, but his efforts were in vain. The overwhelming darkness and doubt in his heart gave the Kyuubi something to feed on and because of this his consciousness was overthrown by the demon.
Iruka watched in horror as Naruto stopped screaming and got to his feet. A dark aura surrounded the boy and the potent chakra swirling around him thickened. His nails lengthened as did his canines, giving him a savage demonic look. But what unnerved Iruka the most was Naruto's eyes, they were blood red with slit pupils and stared wildly around the forest, dark emotions and emptiness swirling within them. They were the eyes of a fallen angel, a demon. Mizuki backed away hurriedly as Naruto drew near.
"Mizuki!" he hissed, his red eyes narrowing "I'll kill you!" he roared, swiping at Mizuki with his clawed hands. The chuunin went reeling back when Naruto's elongated nails and a powerful blast of demonic chakra hit him. The blonde walked over to where Mizuki laid, his hair shadowing his eyes, creating a dramatic effect. He gripped one of Mizuki's arms, and then mercilessly ripped it from its socket, enjoying the screams that echoed from chuunin at his feet.
Iruka forced himself to stand. He felt sick in the stomach, he hated to see Naruto like this, it was wrong.
"Naruto stop!" he yelled "don't let what Mizuki said get to you. You are not the Kyuubi, you are not a monster…but if you continue like this you will be. Despite the fact that you hold the Kyuubi inside of you there are people who care deeply for you; like me, the Sandaime, Teuchi and Ayame. It may not be much, but sometimes the best things come in small packages. So get a grip on yourself Naruto or you will end up hurting those who love you." For a moment it seemed as though Naruto had not heard Iruka at all; then he swung to face the academy teacher, his hollow eyes boring into Iruka's soul.
"I-Iruka sensei," whispered Naruto, his red eyes slowly fading back to their normal blue colour and his nails and teeth shortened and the dark chakra dissipated. Tears pooled in Iruka's eyes as he watched the blonde Genin struggle with his emotions.
Naruto grit his teeth and forced himself to look at Mizuki. The stench of blood made his stomach turn and the site of Mizuki's arm lying a few inches away from his body, twisted into a deformed shape and burnt to a crisp from the Kyuubi's chakra made him sick.
"I did this," thought Naruto in shock "only a monster would have done this, I am a monster after all." These thoughts continued to haunt him then he remembered Iruka's words.
'That's right,' he thought 'It wasn't me, it was the Kyuubi. I am not a monster but merely its container.' With these thoughts Naruto's determination hardened and he raised his head, his blue eyes sparkling with resolve.
'I'll kill you with my power Mizuki,' though Naruto as he formed the hand seal for the Shadow Clone Technique.
"Kage Bunshin no jutsu," said Naruto and on cue six shadow clones appeared. Mizuki's eyes widened in horror as Naruto formed familiar hand signs. "Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!" yelled Naruto and his clones in sync; Naruto closed his eyes as the fire balls sped towards Mizuki. He was about to test out his new jutsu.
'Time to end this," thought Naruto and formed a ram seal. Immediately the fire balls merged, creating a large fire dragon.
"Katon: Hi no Ryuu," said Naruto as the dragon devoured Mizuki, drowning out his screams of agony. The blonde rookie smiled. He felt quite proud of his technique. By channeling chakra into the fire balls made by clones, along with a ram sign he could form a powerful fire dragon. It was an original technique.
Iruka's mouth hug hung open in shock.
'When did Naruto get so strong?' he wondered. But his thoughts were cut short when naruto collapsed on the ground. He immediately rushed over, shaking the blonde.
"Naruto are you alright?" he yelled, his voice rising in panic. The blonde rookie forced his heavy lids open and managed to whisper,
"Arigatou Iruka sensei…." Before falling back into the dark abyss of unconsciousness; meanwhile, Sarutobi who had been watching the entire fight through his crystal ball ordered an ANBU to tell the shinobi he had sent after Naruto to retreat.
"Naruto…you have grown," said the old Hokage as he looked out the window at the faces of the Hokages which had been carved into the mountain. He let a tired sigh leave his lips. The real Naruto's birth was getting closer; it wouldn't be much longer until his true heritage was revealed.
Naruto opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling of the hospital, trying to recall the previous day's events. Iruka had convinced the Hokage of Naruto's innocence, and the elderly leader, after hearing the whole story was quite impressed. He was a bit worried about how the Kyuubi was affecting Naruto, but there was nothing he could do about it; for it wasn't the seal that had weakened but Naruto's mind.
The blonde rookie forced himself up out of the bed and quickly showered and dressed. He was already late for the meeting with his new team.
A few minutes later he was racing over the roof tops and soon reached the training field where he and his new team were supposed to meet. Both Sasuke and Sakura turned to look as Naruto skidded to a halt beside them. His breath fast and heavy,
"Am I late?" the blonde Genin questioned.
"No, Kakashi isn't even here yet," replied Sasuke curtly, blatantly disrespecting their new sensei. Naruto just raised his eyebrows and turned his back and Sakura and Sasuke. At this Sakura was shocked, usually Naruto would have already begun to pester her for a date. She pursed her glossy lips, folded her arms and said,
"What are you doing here freak? Isn't it obvious that you don't belong on this team? You are way below me and Sasuke-kun's standard, you are not worthy to be in our presence." Naruto clenched his fists and grit his teeth. Even though his back was to her he could feel Sakura's self satisfied smirk. He was sick and tired of people putting him down, especially people who were spoilt and did nothing but fan girl over Sasuke.
Sakura opened her mouth to speak when suddenly the temperature dropped and air around her felt heavy and suffocating. She could feel herself trembling with fear. She forced herself to look up and saw Naruto, who still had his back to her, with his fists clenched and his head held low while a strange red chakra swirled around him.
'What is going on?' thought Sakura, panic clouding her mind. Meanwhile Sasuke forced himself to block out the screams of anguish in his head. They had gotten stronger ever since the strange chakra enveloped Naruto.
'Who are you dobe?' thought Sasuke, he really needed some answers and quick. Sakura felt a bone chilling wave of fear run up her spine as Naruto turned to face her, his red eyes staring wildly, their slit pupils boring into her soul and thriving off of her fear. Naruto opened his mouth to speak, his killer intent rising when Kakashi appeared between him and Sakura in a swirl of leaves.
"Maa, maa," he said his one visible eye crinkling into a U shape "calm down you two." His words seemed to do the trick because the chakra disappeared from around Naruto and his eyes returned to their regular blue. But Sakura couldn't stop staring at him. She had never witnessed something so evil in her entire life.
'Just who are you?' she thought, wanting answers as much as Sasuke did.
Kakashi observed his students. He felt immensely satisfied that he had got the Uchiha, the prized student all the instructors had wanted. The Jounin's grey eyes rested on Sakura. He hated the fangirl types but he could whip her into shape. It wouldn't be easy but he could do it. His eyes then flickered to Naruto and underneath his mask a sneer curled his lips and hatred burned in his eyes. The Kyuubi gaki, he hated him but would try his best not to let his hate get in the way. But unbeknownst to him hate had long since blinded his eyes.
Naruto clenched his fists in anger. He had seen how his sensei looked at him. It was a look filled with hatred and scorn, a look that almost everyone bestowed upon him.
'He's just like the rest of them,' thought Naruto angrily, pushing away the hurt and loneliness that ached his heart.
"Well, introduce yourselves," said Kakashi breaking the silence that had overcome the small group. "You know, like your name, hobbies, likes and dislikes and goals or dreams."
"Why don't you go first sensei," suggested Sakura.
"Very well," replied Kakashi. "My name is Hatake Kakashi but you must call me Kakashi-sensei, my likes and dislikes are…and my hobbies and goals are none of you business," finished the Jounin with a smile, causing all three students to sweat drop. He had only told them his name.
"Alright your next," he said pointing at Sasuke. The Uchiha scowled at him and said,
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke; I don't like many things and dislike practically everything. My hobbies are training and my goal is to kill a certain man," he finished, his dark eyes burning with hatred. Sakura squealed with delight and ooohed and aaahed as though Sasuke had given the world's greatest speech. Kakashi just raised his eyebrows. He has expected the Uchiha to say something like that. The Jounin nodded at Sakura and the pinkette took it as her cue to speak.
"My name is Haruno Sakura," she said "my likes are helping out at the Yamanka's flower shop and…." She trailed giggling as she looked coyly over at Sasuke. "My hobbies are…" she said, giggling and glancing at Sasuke once again. Her goals and likes and dislikes followed in the same footsteps.
"Ok…" said Kakashi feeling exasperated. She was even worse than he thought. "Your turn," he said inclining his head towards Naruto. Everyone waited to hear the blonde start ranting about being Hokage as he always did but to their surprise he was strangely quiet, then after a while he began to speak. His tone was clam and not filled with excitement as it usually was.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto; my hobbies are training and gardening. I do not many likes or dislikes and my goal is to become the strongest shinobi ever, no matter what it takes." The silence was deafening as the blonde ended his speech, he had took them all by surprise. He had mentioned nothing of Ramen or being Hokage.
'Well that was surprising," thought Kakashi and wondered just how much the blonde rookie was hiding. The silver haired Jounin then reached into his pocket and pulled out two bells. Kakashi held up the bells and the sunlight glinted off them.
"You have an hour to get these two bells from me, if you don't succeed before the hour is up you fail and one of you will be sent back to the academy." The last few words echoed in Naruto's mind.
'Failure is not an option,' thought Naruto determinedly 'I cannot be sent back to the academy. I will not be. But his challenge is more than it seems because a team has to be made up of three or more people so they wouldn't send only one of us back to the academy." The blonde continued to think for awhile then it hit him. 'The aim of this test must be teamwork! With teamwork we would be able to get the bells and none of us would go back to the academy. I'll take on Kakashi first to evaluate his skills and then tell the others about the true incentive of this test.'
Kakashi watched Naruto; he could see the mysterious Genin was thinking hard.
'He must had figured out the test,' though Kakashi but quickly corrected himself. 'No, that is impossible, a dobe like him could never figure out something like that. He was worse in the academy; there is no way he could figure it out.'
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, there was no way he was going back to the academy, if anyone should go back it would be the dobe or Sakura.
'Hn, I'll show Kakashi the true power of an Uchiha,' thought Sasuke arrogantly, not bothering to thoroughly think through the test. As Kakashi shifted, holding up three fingers the Genin's tensed.
"After three," said the Jounin, his mind and body in full battle mode. "I won't go easy on you," he said his one visible eye sending shivers down the spine of his students. "San, ni, ichi…" counted Kakashi, pausing dramatically before adding "Hajime!" at these words everyone except Naruto disappeared, hiding somewhere around the training field, Kakashi and Sasuke masked the chakra signature so they wouldn't be found while Sakura hid only her body.
Kakashi watched Naruto from his hiding place. The blonde hasn't even bothered to hide, he just stood in the clearing as still as a statue.
'He really is a dobe,' thought Kakashi, feeling somewhat bewildered. But the Jounin kept his eyes on Naruto, he was curious to see what the boy would do next. His other two students had hidden well, at least Sasuke had. Sakura wasn't very skillful at hiding her chakra signature and thrashed about, trying to find Sasuke.
Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated on the powerful chakra within; he knew he had a massive amount, even without the Kyuubi. As the blonde concentrated, his chakra began to leak out of his body and surround him. Kakashi's eyes widened with shock,
'Is that the Kyuubi's chakra?' thought the Jounin but was quickly corrected when he saw the colour of the chakra and felt its aura. It was powerful but lacked the underlying tones of darkness. As the chakra swirled around Naruto a powerful breeze picked up. From his hiding place Sasuke watched, filled with shock. When had the dobe got this much chakra? And how was it so powerful? Naruto smiled as he detected Kakashi's chakra.
'Found ya!' thought the blonde gleefully, turning to face Kakashi's hiding place, his blue eyes staring intensely at the place where the Jounin stood. The Jounin had hid his chakra signature well but with the technique he had invented called Buraindo Fainda, which was able to uncover people's chakra signature by invading the essence of any human in a ten mile range of him, he had easily found his sensei.
Kakashi froze in shock. He had felt something cold wash over him, as if something had possessed him, then when he saw the blonde staring directly at him he knew, he had been found.
'This dobe is a lot stronger than I thought; maybe he does have some skills…' Kakashi trailed, and then slowly made his way out of his hiding place and into the clearing where Naruto stood. The blonde rookie smirked smugly at the Jounin as he entered the clearing.
"Surprised, huh?" said Naruto, his lips turning up into a sneer. Another wave of shock hit Kakashi.
'Who is this boy?' he thought 'where has the happy-go-lucky attitude gone?' But before he could delve deeper into his thoughts Naruto attacked with a mass of graceful but deadly Taijutsu moves. His speed was good and his fluidity superb, but Kakashi could see he was holding back. It was almost as if the style he used was forced.
'Kuso!' cursed Naruto mentally as he dodged a kick from Kakashi. 'he can see that this is not my natural style of Taijutsu,' he thought 'but I cannot use the Uchiha style in public…' As Kakashi continued to attack, Naruto back flipped, creating space between them and then began to form some hand seals.
Kakashi's eyes widened as he recognized the jutsu Naruto was about to perform.
'No!' he thought incredulously 'It cannot be…the only current rookie who can do that jutsu is Sasuke!' Naruto saw the shock in Kakashi's eyes and smiled in triumph.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!" Naruto yelled as a large fire ball erupted from his mouth and enveloped the clearing. From his hiding place Sasuke watched in shock. Naruto had just used a jutsu that he had been learning for a while, that jutsu was well known among the Uchiha clan, it was the Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu. As the shock faded anger filled Sasuke,
'He copied me!' he thought angrily, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. 'How dare he copy me! An Uchiha at that! How dare he!' Sasuke screamed mentally, wanting to rip out Naruto's throat in anger. Naruto felt Sasuke's chakra spike and smiled smugly. The last Uchiha was angry.
'Hn, serves him right!' thought Naruto 'And if he thought I copied it he's dead wrong. I've known that jutsu long before him, but was forced not to use it.' The blonde was abruptly brought back to reality when he barely dodged a kick from Kakashi. Suddenly the blonde dropped a smoke bomb, surprising Kakashi. When the smoke cleared he was nowhere to be seen.
Naruto leaned against a tree, his breath coming in quick short bursts. While fighting Kakashi he had been thinking about the challenge the Jounin gave them. The real challenge was teamwork, he's already figured that out, but up until now he was not able to set his plan into motion.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Naruto said softly and immediately two Shadow clones appeared. He nodded slightly at the clones and they immediately took off running to fulfill their mission.
Sasuke sensed the chakra from Naruto's clone behind him and spun around, words ready to berate the dobe on his lips when the clone put up its hand.
"I know you're angry Sasuke," said the clone "But there is no time to argue, there is a time limit on the challenge. I have figured out the true meaning of the test."
"Nani?" spat Sasuke angrily "there is no true meaning to the challenge, it's just as it is. Only two of us can become Genin, one will be sent back to the academy." The Uchiha paused, a sneer twisting his lips "and the one that'll be going back will definitely be you, I'll make sure of it!' he hissed. The brunette waited for Naruto to explode with anger like he usually did and then start yelling about becoming Hokage, but only silence met his ears. Then Naruto began to speak,
"Oh really?" he said scathingly "I wonder, how did you become rookie of the year if you can't look beneath the underneath, Uchiha," said the blonde with a sneer. Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but Naruto cut him off. "Why do you think there are two bells and not three? Do you really think one of us will go back to academy? A team has to be made up of three people or more so there is no way only two of us will pass. Look deeper, there must be a reason why there is only two bells. That is because only two will be needed, we are to accomplish this as a team, and teamwork is the most important thing for a shinobi. If teamwork is not carried out the mission will fail." Sasuke gaped at Naruto in shock. He had never heard the blonde speak so intelligently and even though he hated to admit it Naruto was right.
"Hn, fine, what's the plan then dobe?" asked Sasuke, a smirk on his face.
After convincing Sasuke it was quite easy to do the same to Sakura as she readily did anything the Uchiha did. After quickly going over the plan the three rookies got to work.
Kakashi was brought abruptly back to reality when three shuriken whizzed towards him. The Jounin easily dodged it and was quite surprised to see Sakura standing a few metres away, a look of pure determination in her face.
'Surprising,' thought Kakashi, he hadn't expected the pink-haired fangirl to even try attacking him. The Jounin check the time on the stop watch in his pocket; only thirty minutes remained. As the silver hair Cyclops focused on Sakura he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!" yelled Sasuke, but being the Jounin he was Kakshi easily dodged the fire ball. He drew a kunai and casually deflected the shuriken Sasuke had begun to throw at him.
'Why is his aim so bad?' thought Kakashi as two shuriken missed him by several inches. 'I thought he was skilled at weaponry, that's what his academy file said.' The Jounin continued to ponder the reason for the Uchiha's bad aim, and then reality hit him. 'Unless it's a trap, it couldn't—'his thoughts were cut off as Naruto suddenly appeared, jumping athletically over Sasuke, and while in mid air quickly formed hand seals with speed befitting a Chuunin.
"Futon: Kazekiri," the blonde said softly, landing lightly on the ground as the air around him turned into blades of wind all rushing towards his Jounin sensei. Meanwhile five of his clones had ambushed Kakashi from behind.
For a minute Kakashi was frozen with shock. They had used teamwork. First Sakura tried to distract him giving Sasuke allowance to attack him, who then made him off guard by aiming sloppily. While his mind was occupied Naruto jumped down from his hiding place while he had his clones ambush him from behind. The battle hardened Jounin was impressed, he was impressed for the first time in years.
As the wind blade enveloped Kakashi Naruto smirked, it was over, they had won. A little way off Kakashi leaned against a tree, panting slightly. He had used the replacement jutsu to escape the wind blades just in time.
'Time is up,' thought Kakashi, and then on a sudden impulse he looked down and realized that one of the bells was missing. For a split second he was confused then he realized. When Naruto has his clones attack him, the blonde had also had Sakura nab the bell.
'His improvising his very good,' thought Kakashi somewhat begrudgingly, the demon brat had proven him wrong, he had blown his mind away. The Jounin wondered once again, just how much was the Jinchuuriki hiding.
Kakashi walked out into the clearing, facing the three anxious rookies.
"You fail," he said sternly "you failed to get both bells on time, one of you will have to return to the academy."
'What?' thought Naruto, panic seeping into his mind. 'But we used teamwork!' Upon seeing the shocked look on his students faces Kakashi laughed.
"You figured it out, didn't you?" he asked "yes, the real incentive of the test was teamwork and you did just that so…" trailed the Jounin dramatically, his visible eye turning up in its familiar U shape, then he said "You pass!" Naruto felt a wave of relief overcome him. He was now an official Genin, his dream had just begun. The blonde felt Sasuke staring intensely at him; he could feel the Uchiha's anger. A smirk turned up the corners of Naruto's mouth and he turned slightly, meeting the Sasuke's eyes. No words were exchanged but they both knew. Their rivalry had gone to another level.
AN: sry about the long wait but my life is really busy right now!
pls forgive me ans R&R pls!