Alrighty! Welcome one and all to the next installment of Choices from The Past. This chapter has some big events in it so lets get to it!
As always please R&R.
~The Changes~
Naruto walked into his apartment hanging his jacket on the peg next to the door. Placing his books on the table he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a water out of his fridge before sitting down and pulling the books out and looking at the titles making sure he had everything.
"Chakra Control for Those with Larger than Normal Chakra Pools"
"An Introduction to Chakra Natures. 2nd Ed."
"Training for Older Genin."
"Basics of Nature Manipulation. 4th Ed."
"Chunin Selection Exams: A History"
"Standard Ninja Arts. Abr. 5th Ed."
"Kenjutsu Basics. 9th Ed."
He also he borrowed a selection of varrious jutsu scrolls. Looking over his choices, the blonde decided to crack open "Training for Older Genin." He began reading and would continue well into the night.
~Three Weeks Later~
A shirtless Naruto stood in a clearing panting, as the last clone vanished in a puff of smoke. Standing upright, he had allowed himself to break into a real smile for one of the first times. The exercise he had just completed was the final one in his Chakra Control book. The final exercise consisted of three levels with three tiers each. The first level involved fighting 25 kage bushins for 15, 30, and finally 60 minutes. Level two ups the number of bushin from 25 to 50, though the time stays the same. The final level takes the number of bushin to 100, and increases the times to 30, 60, and 120 minutes.
Walking to the edge of the clearing Naruto picked up a water bottle before plopping down with his back against a tree. Leaning his head back closing his eyes he let his senses spread out around him. Just as he was beginning to really relax, his senses picked up a chakra signature he didn't recognize moving through the trees. Jumping to his feet he pulled a kunai from his holster flinging it to intercept the signature. But to his surprise the telltale sound of metal on metal could be heard, his answer came in the form of a young girl appearing in the trees holding a short sword in her right hand and his kunai in the other.
She stands about 158 cm tall, with long auburn hair held up in a high ponytail with two bangs framing the top portion of her face, and bright emerald green eyes. Around her forehead was her Hitai-ate, tied with black cloth, the plate was engraved with four diamonds; a large one towards the bottom, a small one near the top, and two mid-sized ones in between. She wore a deep green leather vest trimmed in brown with a single short grey sleeve that covered the upper part of her arm. Strapped over her right shoulder was the sheathe for her sword. Around her waist was a simple light green skirt trimmed in tan with a simple strap over her left hip. Her left elbow and right forearm were wrapped in bandages, the only adornment was a black leather bracelet with simple studs, she wore it on her right wrist. Her right shin was covered in fishnet and her feet were covered by a pair of basic black ninja sandals. But the part about her that drew Naruto's attention was the tribal tattoo that wound its way up her right arm from her elbow all the way to her neck.
As the pair locked eyes Naruto was the first to speak. "Hello there."
"Hi. I assume that this is yours?" She held up the kunai.
"Hehe, yeah it is."
"May I ask why you threw it at me?"
"I'll answer that with a question of my own. You are clearly not from this village, may I ask why you are here."
"Simple, the exams. I am the only genin in my village that was chosen to compete."
"I see, may I ask your name?"
"Only if I can get yours."
"Of course, I am Naruto Uzumaki."
"My name is Kogoe Hayashi."
"What village do you come from? I don't recognize your Hitai-ate."
"I'm from Chirigakure, the Hidden Dust."
"I'm from Konoha. So Kogoe, can I have my kunai back?"
"Sure." Leaping down, she slid her sword back into its sheathe. Walking over to the blonde she handed him the kunai, which quickly disappeared back into his holster. It was only after that, that Kogoe realized that Naruto was shirtless. Before she could stop herself, she began blushing fiercely and quickly turned away. "Um, Naruto-san?"
"Yeah Kogoe?"
"Could you please put a shirt on?"
"Oh! Yeah sure." The blonde quickly picked up his black t-shirt and pulled it over his head. "It's ok Kogoe-chan you can turn around again." The girl turned back and took him in. Even with his shirt on she couldn't help but blush slightly.
"Well as nice as it has been meeting you Naruto-san, I need to go and register for the exams. I'll see you later."
"Goodbye Kogoe-chan. I'll see you later." After their goodbyes Kogoe leapt into the trees and disappeared. Deciding that he had done enough training he decided to go grab a bite to eat and hit the hay.
~The next Day~
Naruto felt the sun's rays hitting his face as his alarm blared on the table. Reaching over he shut it off and stood up. Stretching up he glanced over at the calendar he smiled at the date, today was the first day of the Chunin Exams. After stretching and doing some push-ups, the blonde hopped in the shower. After his shower he got dressed and fixed a simple breakfast. As he was eating a knock came from his door, opening it up he was greeted by a female ANBU wearing a cat mask.
"Hello there Yūgao-san. How have you been?"
"I've been alright Naruto-kun. The Hokage would like to see you. Please report to the roof of the Hokage tower." With that she moved to leave but turned back. "Naruto-kun?"
"Yeah Yūgao-san?"
"Good luck. I'll be watching for you in the finals."
"Thanks Yūgao-san." and with a nod the purple haired ANBU vanished in a shunshin. Closing the door Naruto walked over and finished his breakfast. Putting his dishes away he grabbed he coat slipping his feet into his sandals before locking his door and leaping towards the tower.
Arriving at the top of the tower, Naruto was surprised to see a group of ninja from several different villages, including Kogoe. Seeing that he had arrived Tsunade spoke.
"Now that everyone is here I'd like to thank you all for coming. Each of you is here because you are going to be participating in the Chunin Selection Exams, however as some you may know, here in Konoha the first two parts of the exams are proctored in teams of three. So in order to make sure of that, each of you will be paired with two other participants, by drawing one of these cards." Tsunade held up a stack of cards. "Now these cards are special. Once each of has one, I will instruct you to channel chakra into the cards. The cards will analyze your abilities and match you two other competitors that will balance each other out. Now the cards will not divulge your abilities, once your cards have chosen your teammates a number will appear on the card. I will tell you more once that is done. Now would everyone please step forward and take a card." With that each genin stepped up and took a card. "Now everyone channel your chakra now." For a few seconds a slight increase in chakra, to those sensitive to differences in chakra levels, it was plain who had good chakra control and who didn't. "Alright now onto the teams, 1..." After a few minutes she called out "6?" With that Naruto stepped forward and to his surprise Kogoe stepped up along with another Leaf shinobi. Soon all the teams were completed and the Hokage dismissed all. Naruto turned to his new teammates.
"Meet me at the center square in 15 minutes. We should get to know each other."
"Hai!" The pair nodded and leapt down into the village.
Arriving at the center square, Naruto saw the other two silently standing apart from each other. Walking over he waved to get their attention.
"Alright follow me." With a nod Naruto took off in the direction of the forest with the other two following. After a short while the three descended into the same clearing that Naruto and Kogoe met the day before.
"Alright why don't we introduce ourselves. I'll go first. I am Naruto Uzumaki, I'm 16 from Konoha. My sensei is Jiraiya. I have a primary affinity to Fūton and a secondary affinity to Suiton. and this is my second attempt at the Chunin Exams. Next?"
Kogoe stepped forward. "Alright my name is Kogoe Hayashi, I'm 16 from Chirigakure. I don't have a sensei. I have a primary affinity to Raiton and a secondary affinity to Doton. This is my first attempt at the exams."
As she finished she turned to the third member of their team. As he stepped forward Naruto and Kogoe took in his appearance. He stood 144 cm tall with grey hair with one bright blue bang in front of face, and bright blue eyes. He wore a kimono style top with only a right sleeve, the right side is a white color with a deep red flame motif on the cuff and on the left ribs, the left side is the same red color as the flames. His Hitai-ate plate was affixed to the shoulder of the right sleeve. His left arm was wrapped in bandages from mid-bicep all the way down to his fingertips. His arm was also wrapped in red fabric that is tied off at the wrist. He wore a pair of black shorts with his kunai holster on his right thigh, clipped on over some bandages. On his feet were a pair of standard blue ninja sandals.
"Ok. My name is Yakedo Subayai, I'm 13 from Konoha. My sensei is Hamaki Mimura. My chakra affinity is Katon. and this is my first attempt at the exams." Naruto nodded.
"Alright since we are going to be fighting together we should probably share any special skills we have. I have enormous chakra pools and thus I am able to use the Kinjutsu, Kage Bushin no Jutsu in abundance. I also am the inheritor of the Fourth Hokage's hidden jutsu, the Rasengan. Kogoe?"
"Ok, I have advanced survival skills, as have been living on my own since I was born." She reached up over her shoulder and drew her sword out. "I also have a mastery of kenjutsu, and my primary weapon is my kodachi. Yakedo?"
"Well I really only have one special skill and that is my Kekkei Genkai; Moukaton, Inferno Style. It is a advanced fire style."
"Well that's interesting Yakedo, I've never heard of Moukaton. Could you give us a demonstration?"
"Sure Naruto." Stepping forward Yakedo shook out his hands before flashing thru a series of hand seals faster than most genin should be able to. Finishing on the tiger seal a large flaming magic circle appeared on the ground under his feet. He pulled his hands back into chambered possition, before thrusting them up and shouting.
"Moukaton: Iraira Kanketsusen no Jutsu! (Inferno Style: Raging Geyser Jutsu)" Suddenly a very intense column of flame shot out of the ground surrounding Yakedo. After a few seconds the fire dissipated, leaving Yakedo surprisingly untouched. Kogoe jumped up.
"Yakedo! How are you, like you know, not on fire?"
"It's part of the specialty of Moukaton. My family is immune to any form of fire, and the damage it would cause."
"That is impressive. Now since I've taken the exams before I'm gonna go over the different parts of the exam. The first part is the written exam, now the exam isn't about knowing the information, it is actually about collecting information. It'll make more sense once we get there. Now if you feel like you aren't able to collect the info, just ignore the first nine questions. When we reach the final question just do as I do. Got it?" The other two nodded. "Now the second exam is a team mission. We will be in a forest and we will have either a heaven or an earth scroll. Our objective is to collect the other scroll from one of the other teams and make it to a tower in the middle of the forest, we have five days to complete this."
"The finals are a tournament of one on one fights to determine who is worthy of being a chunin. Now these fights take place a month from the end of the second exam. This is because the finals are a big deal for a lot of high-profile individuals. The month is also to train and fix anything that might be off before the finals. Now I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting hungry, anyone wanna grab some lunch?" The other two nodded and the team headed back into town.
~Three Hours Later~
Yakedo walked over Kogoe, who was cleaning her fingernails with a senbon. As the young leaf-nin approached her, Kogoe stood up from the wall she was leaning on.
"Sup Yakedo-san?"
"Hey Kogoe-san, I can't find Naruto-san anywhere. After we left the ramen stand he just kind of vanished. He never told us where to meet tomorrow before the test. We gotta find him."
Walking over to him, Kogoe put her hand on his shoulder. "Relax, I'll find him. Just wait here. We'll be back." With a smile she leapt to the rooftops, and soon arrived outside Ichiraku Ramen. Kneeling down she examined his footprints in the dirt. A lifetime of hunting and tracking through the dustlands around her home village, had made Kogoe a master tracker. So all it took was looking at the subtle variations in the way the dirt had mounded around his footprints, for her to determine what direction the blonde had leapt. Following the trail she arrived on top of the Hokage monument and was approaching the fourth's head when she heard a guitar strumming. Settling down by some bushes she began to hear Naruto's voice.
"She just walked away
Why didn't she tell me
And where do I go tonight
This isn't happening to me
This can't be happening to me
She didn't say a word
Just walked away
You were the first to say
That we were not okay
You were the first to lie
When we were not alright
This was my first love
She was the first to go
And when she left me for you
I was the last to know
Why didn't she tell me
Where to go tonight
She didn't say a word
She just walked away
You were the first to say
That we were not okay
You were the first to lie
When we were not alright
This was my first love
She was the first to go
And when she left me for you
I was the last to know..."
Listening to the song Kogoe was on the verge of tears when she heard the tempo start to increase, as Naruto began an impressive Guitar solo. After a little bit he began singing again.
" I'll be the first to say
That now I'm okay
And for the first time
I've opened up my eyes
This was my worst love
You'll be the first to go
And when she leaves you for dead
You'll be the last to know
I'll be the first to say
That now I'm okay
And for the first time
I've opened up my eyes
This was my worst love
You'll be the first to go
And when she leaves you for dead
You'll be the last to knooooow."
The blonde was silent for some time before he spoke. "I know you're there Kogoe-chan. You can come out." Surprised Kogoe walked out to the front of the monument.
"That was beautiful Naruto-san. You have an amazing voice. If I may ask, who was that song for?"
"Thank you, and yes you can. That song was written for my ex-girlfriend Ino."
"What happened?"
"Well long story short, we started dating after this one mission three years ago. But then I left for a training mission with my sensei, which before we left Ino and I made a promise to each other to always stay true to each other and wait to be together again when I returned. But when I came back about a month ago, I found out she was dating her long-term teammate. A guy who I thought was my friend, and a guy she always said was more like a brother to her. So a few days later I was thinking about it and decided to write a song about it."
"What is the song's title?"
"Last to Know. I feel it fits perfectly because I was the last to know, apparently everyone here knew over a year ago."
"Well Naruto-kun, I think you are very strong for how you handled it. and I would love to hear you sing again." Smiling as she used the 'kun' honorific for the first time Naruto stood up.
"Maybe another time Kogoe-chan. I need some sleep before tomorrow's test."
"That's right the test. Yakedo wanted to know where we should meet tomorrow."
"Let's meet in the clearing. See you tomorrow Kogoe-chan." With a smile and a nod, the blonde vanished. Leaving Kogoe to wonder why there weren't guys like him in Chirigakure. Sighing she leapt back into town to let their teammate know where to meet, before heading to the hotel she was staying at to get some much needed rest.
Welp there you have it. We've had the introduction of two OC's. The debut of Naruto's musical talent. and the lead into the exams.
Alright just a note to all my adorable little flammers. To those who keep complaining about my characters being OOC, if you want them in character, READ THE CANNON! People write fanfiction to write the characters in a way they like, not the way that Kishimoto wrote them. End of rant.
Song List:
"Last to Know" ~ Three Days Grace (Life Starts Now)
