Declaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.

Note: English is neither my first language nor my second, if you find any grammatical or spelling error, please point it out.


Chapter 4 : Chūnin Exams


Recap: "Hello, Kushina-san, How are you faring today? Kukukukuku"

The day started out like any other.

I woke up to find a couple of inkwells dribbling thick black liquid all over the futon. I must have fell asleep while practicing fūinjutsu.

What started out as a challenge has soon turned into an all out war, and I'm on the losing side. Learning fūinjutsu on your own is next to impossible. I learnt this the hard way, the numerous scorch marks on the walls can attest to that.

Not to mention the countless nights I had to stay in hospitals. Burns are painful on their own, add to them some chakra and you have a wound agonizing enough to make a war veteran cry.

But I will not accept defeat. The art of seal creation is in my blood. I can feel it. Or maybe, it's just the morphine.

I took a quick bite and readied my equipments.

Speaking of equipments, I seriously need to buy some new kunai and shuriken. In past few months I've been trying to cut my cost to the bare minimum.

The ink I've been using is not cheap.

Seal creation is a rare art. In addition to that, the economy of Konoha is not the strongest and there is only so much allowance I'm allowed each month. Suffice to say that my accounting prowess has developed far more in the past few months than my prowess over… anything.

I got ready and headed out to the field. Today was supposed to be the final day of my genin life.

As usual, I find Nara looking at the clouds. What is so fascinating about them I can not for the life of me comprehend. Then again maybe it's a Nara thing.

Actually every major clan in our village has its own quirk. The Akimichi are healthier than most boss summons, The Hyūga act more noble than the diamyō and The Uchiha used to have an unhealthy fascination with fire.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that looking at clouds and sleeping randomly is not the worst quirk out there.

At least Nara had a personality, I wish I can say the same about Kurama. How can she be so chirpy every morning is a complete mystery to me. It must be a clan secret.

No wonder all her clan is dead. After all, no one can take that much positivity. In fact, come to think of it, the bijū with all their negative energy must have been initially created to fight against her clan.

Hmm.… A thought for some other time perhaps.

I spot sensei arriving.

In his hand are the yellow forms. The ones which will take me one step closer to becoming the most powerful shinobi in history.

Wait… What is he holding in his other hands? It looks like a box covered with some sort of shiny paper. Is that … a trap? Maybe a bomb… as a final test perhaps…

I have heard many instructors make their students kill an animal, usually a puppy or a kitten as the final test before allowing them to proceed to the chūnin exams.

Looks like I'll be eating some hot dog tonight.

"My students," Sensei began "I'm so proud of you."

"Here are the forms for entering the chūnin exams. This year they are going to be held in Suna." He continued handing out the forms.

I took my form and quickly filled it as did the other two while he continued explaining to us the history of chūnin exams. Contrary to what you might assume, we do not go around pasting our photographs in every bureaucratic paper out there. The only picture they take of us is during the graduation.

Ninja are trained to be as inconspicuous as they possibly can.

My teammates did the same and returned their forms back to Sensei.

"There may be a chance that you fail, or that you are not granted the position of chūnin -" I heard him say in a somber tone.

You have to understand the exact situation going on here. Konoha is weak. Chūnin exams are farce. The entire goal of this exam is to maintain the status quo between five villages and show flashy skills.

Most clients do not find a precise needle to nervus terminalis entertaining enough.

Not to forget the unfavorable odds, we as Konoha nin are going to face. Unless and until we completely and utterly crush everyone out there, there is little chance of other Kage recognizing us worthy of chūnin.

But as I said earlier it's all a farce. Regardless of what the other Kage say we will be promoted to chūnin if our village deemed us powerful enough.

"— but in my eyes you are already chūnin." He continued.

"As a mark of your growth I've decided to give you guys gifts to remember our time together." There goes my hot dog.

He gave a box to each of us. Unsurprisingly I got the biggest box. I always knew sensei loved me the most, but this is plain favoritism. I didn't blush… I didn't.

Inside the box were the most beautiful pair of sai I had ever came across.

Elegant and deadly.

I took them out and gave them a quick swing trying to get a feel. I've tried sai a couple of times in the past but mostly I try to make do with kunai.

The reason being my short hands.

That and kunai is much cheaper.

These were perfect. It felt as if they were made for me.

"I got them custom-made for you, Naruto." My hunch was right.

I look around. Nara received a set of throwing knives, he never had any talent for close ranged combat and Kurama got… earrings. Huh.

"Alright, all of you, time to head home and pack your belongings. We will be heading to Suna tomorrow." He announced.

"Be ready at the main gate by four." Nara took to the walls and Kurama started running. I also concentrated chakra in my feet for a quick Shunshin.

"Wait a moment, Naruto." I heard Sensei calling.

Ah! The hot dog. Here I come.

"Do you know why I gave you sai and not the others? I could have given all three of you the same gift but I chose to give you the most powerful weapon and not them." He asked.

"Because buying three pairs of custom-made sai would be too expensive?" I have much more appreciation for accounting than I used to.

He laughed.

I like it when he laughs. Maybe it is because I lack a father figure. Sometimes I dream of the forth looking at me with those eyes.

"Beside that?" So this is going to be one of those trick questions he liked to ask.

I shrugged.

"I've seen you grow, Naruto. You used to be disconnected, had no friends. Even now while you do look after your teammates, you look at them more like children than comrades." I never questioned his astute power of observation.

"You are more mature than them, and I respect you for it. I may not always be there to protect those two but you will." I was quiet.

"I gave you two sai, Naruto; one to protect Ayumu and the other to protect Nara. Look after them when I'm gone." I saw sadness in his eyes.

Nothing truly lasts. No one is immortal. Sensei knew his fate and has accepted it.

"I promise." I gave him a small nod and left.

Guess I won't be eating meat tonight.

I opened my door and turned on the light.

Placing the sai in the corner I went around the room collecting things I might need for this trip. I pity the poor souls who have to pack. Luckily, I have seals to do those for me. Not the packing part, rather the storing part. Seals are quite expensive in the open market but I've grown adept enough in the art of fūinjutsu to create simple storing seals.

Actually I know many fūin techniques other than simple sealing but sealing somehow came easier to me. After quickly sealing everything and placing the scroll in the drawer, I went out to practice with my new toy.

Night arrived and in my dreams I was sealing something or someone, I can't really remember. Next day, I woke up early, took my seals and headed out to the main gate.

Exiting the village was a simple affair. We gave our papers to the guards stationed at the gate and headed out.

The procedure is similar for almost all the village that I know of. Even though it might appear lax, it is anything but that, of that you can have my word. The guards on the gate are just the first layer of security.

No chakra user can enter or exit the village walls without leaving a trace unless they know exactly what they are doing. And if someone is powerful enough to evade the trace, a bunch of guards won't be a problem for them.

The real security is actually setup outside the wall. Traps are laid all around the wall up to a certain distance and regular patrol takes care of the rest. The exact details of which are known only to the Hokage.

And even if someone is capable enough to get past all the traps, hide themselves from the hundreds of thousands of Aburame insects looking specifically for something out of order, evade the trace, fool the ANBU and the entire spy network of Konoha, they still would not be able to hide themselves from the crystal ball which is made specifically to show intruders in the village.

So yes, breaching the village defense is hard. The same goes for exiting the village. All you have to do is look underneath the underneath and you will know why exactly we call them 'Hidden Villages'.

The journey to Suna was not as exciting as I thought it would be.

I've been sorely misled about the terrain of the wind country. There were songs about this place, that waxed about the columns of sand dunes and the ever-changing face of the landscape. It was all a lie.

We ran for the first day. The journey was taxing and boring. Good thing I packed my books, at least I'll have something to do while the other two whined about the distance.

Reading while jumping from one tree to another is not recommended, specially for a ninja. We must always be aware of our surroundings but I don't have to worry about that, Sensei will be on the lookout for anything weird and I know for a fact that Nara has four of his shadow clones surrounding us from all sides.

And believe me when I say it, you don't want to be the one fighting a Nara's shadow clone. They give a new meaning to the word shadow.

I took out my notes and started practicing my sealing. I want to make a wide area seal that can store and manipulate the objects kept in it, but am hitting a wall. There are seals that can hold the object and there are other seals that can manipulate the said objects but never have I come across a seal that can do both at the same time.

We reached our destination on the fourth day. I was beyond tired and so were my teammates.

It was not the first time we ran for four days straight, Sensei once had a less-than-sane idea of leaving us with jōnin Maito Gai. That was one of the most painful experience in my life and the pain was not just physical, seeing him in a dress so outrageous was mentally scarring. Something like that ought to be banned.

Showing our credentials at the main gate, we followed the chūnin assigned to us. He led us to a hotel and pointed to us our room number before heading off.

Once settled, we ate our rations and went to sleep. Sensei was taking the first watch.

Such is the state of our world. We are never safe, even inside closed walls we are paranoid. We eat the provisions brought with us, speaking is reduced to bare minimum, showing emotion is out of question and sleeping without a guard is just asking to get killed.

Morning came, and we readied ourselves for the first phase of the exam.

I tucked in my sai and dressed in light green clothes. Equipment and seals in place, we were ready for anything Suna might throw at us.

We went to the administration office to get ourselves checked in and headed off to the point where the first test was supposed to be conducted.

I wasn't really sure what to do. We were expecting some kind of office or stadium but the test was to take place in open desert.

"All of you must survive in the desert for seven days in order to proceed for the next phase." I heard a Suna ninja announce.

Seven days is nothing. I'm sure I can make it that far if other genin do not come after me.

Speaking of other genin why do I get the feeling that they are looking down on us?

"All three members on your team must return alive at the end of day seven,"

There goes my plan to ditch my teammates.

"Any equipment, be it seal or weapon if caught would lead to an immediate elimination of the entire team."

There goes my backup plan and the backup plan of my backup plan.

We went back to return all our weapons and in my case seals to sensei and came back in line.

"This is a test of your endurance, ability to survive and make diplomatic connections. You are free to team up with as many people as you want." The ninja continued "Killing is not allowed."

There are more than seventy teams this year participating in the genin examination. Almost a quarter of those were from Suna itself.

A few teams from Iwa looked busy cozying up to Suna nin. They turned towards us and started snickering. As bad as I am at understanding social situations, even I can guess what is happening over there.

They are laughing at us. They are laughing at me. I looked them in the eye and smiled back. I've been told on several occasions that my smile combined with the pointed teeth tends to make people uncomfortable. Considering that they quickly turned back, it must have been true.

"Ready at three,"

"Three"

"Two"

"One"

A blast indicated the signal to run. We ran as far from the other teams as we possibly can and stopped only when we were certain that no one was following us.

"OK guys, what do we do now?" Nara asked looking around trying to find if someone was hidden in the immediate vicinity.

I had an inkling of what we might do.

"Nara, create a hundred-meter parameter around our location. Send out two shadow clones and check if anyone is nearby." I said after a few moments.

"Got it."

Attacking during the day would be suicide, and other teams would most likely spend the first day looking for food and water. But even so, a little paranoia never hurts.

"Kurama, create an underground cave with a small waterhole."

"Just stop with it already, I've told you so many times to call me Ayumu." She huffed.

Not happening.

Kurama was my trump card. And while most of the time she is useless, useless does not equal weak.

Being a ninja is all about silence, speed, subtleness and precision.

She is not ninja material. Extremely powerful? Yes, but ninja material? No.

For you to understand what I mean, you have to understand her abilities.

Her clan was one of the oldest out there, their powers so great that few dared mess with them. After all who in their right mind would challenge a clan, of whose each member was powerful enough to change the very fabric of reality.

But as time passed their ability waned. In the last one hundred and fifty years none had the ability to so much as bend a spoon using nothing but their will.

That was until Kurama came along. And with her, came the powers thought to have been lost to time.

Yes, Kurama can bend reality to her will.

In theory, it sounds great and maybe one day it will be. But for now it is not as powerful as you might imagine it to be. Her learning curve is not that great, as a result the time she took for even one jutsu is too much to be of any practical use.

Not in this case though. You see, doing what I told her to do with doton techniques would be useless.

Structures created with chakra crumble over time as chakra dissipates back into the nature. And so all things that are meant to last, be it buildings or equipment are hand made.

Kurama's technique has no such restriction, she is using her chakra to transform the universe. The cave itself would be made with nature's chakra.

"My shadow clones have popped themselves. No enemy is nearby."

"Stay here and protect Kurama, I'll set up some traps." It's going to take her around half an hour to make that cave.

I move around and create a radius of fifty meter around the cave. This area would be filled with seals.

Making seals on sand takes a lot of chakra. After it's done, Nara would be the only one with enough chakra left. He would have to keep guard while we recover.

Once done, I went back to the cave. As it turned out the cave is big enough for the three of us. She exceeded my expectations, all things considered the cave was quite good, not that I would tell her that. Her head is inflated enough.

I lied down beside Kurama and Nara sat at the entrance, cross-legged sending out as much shadow tentacles underground as possible.

Evening came and Kurama was still asleep, she will be no good to us half tired so it was better to let her regain her strength.

I took a drink from the waterhole. Seeing me awake Nara also stood up retracting his shadows.

"Any movements?"

"None, I think there were a few snakes to south-east but other than that nothing."

"Protect Kurama. I'll be back with something to eat."

"And try not to sleep." I added as an afterthought.

I headed out to the direction of the snakes spreading some low level movement detection seals in the area. An hour, five snakes and two dead branches of some desert fauna later I headed back to the camp.

"Light a fire while I clean them." Living alone can teach you so many things.

The snakes were cooked in silence and the fire snuffed out before night arrived.

"Go and take some rest. I'll keep the next watch."

The night was spent in peace.

It became our daily routine, I would recharge the traps and rest for the day while Nara kept guard. In the evening Kurama and I went out to collect dead twigs and snakes. During the night I took the first shift and Kurama took the last.

Everything was good till the seventh day.

We went out to collect snakes and twigs. When we came back Nara was missing.

A quick search lead us to the team of Iwa and Kiri ninja holding him captive. The unnatural bend in his knees was unsettling. His leg must have been broken.

I heard a small sniff from Kurama. She is too soft.

"I'm going to save Shigezane, you coming?" She said looking at me.

"Don't be daft Kurama. We have no hope of defeating all of them at once."

"I don't care. He is my teammate and I'm not leaving him out there with Iwa nins."

"Neither am I, but we have to do this subtly. Rushing there head-on won't help him."

"So what do you suggest we do."

"I'm thinking."

I looked at the genin playing with kunai. Charging at them would be idiotic. How on earth were they able to bring weapons was another matter to consider.

"Alright, send out a sense distortion genjutsu over the area at my signal."

People don't understand the power of a well-placed genjutsu. I'm sure these genin were trained enough to be able to break genjutsu if they notice something unnatural, but it is not as easy as it sounds.

The application of genjutsu is a tricky subject. Low level genjutsu are usually applied to distract a powerful enemy and to distract a genin you should apply something subtle.

The reason being our mind. When faced with powerful enemies a hundred fireball falling from the sky is not unexpected nor is a monstrous spider summon running towards you. Often in these case it becomes hard to distinct between reality and trickery, and so a D-ranks like hell viewing techniques have a much higher probability to work.

On the other hand when facing a genin you would instantly realize that a fireball coming at you is obviously a genjutsu.

Then again it is not always the case. Many a ninja died at Uchiha Itachi's hand because they believed his techniques to be trick.

The genin had no hope of noticing the distortion jutsu with snakes zipping past them.

The snakes weren't meant to harm them but rather it was meant to make them throw their ranged weaponry.

"Now" I hissed.

The jutsu made them lose their hand to eye coordination and their movements grew more erratic.

While the genin were busy defending against dead snakes I carried an unconscious Nara to Kurama.

"Let's head to the finishing point while we can."

"KAI" or not. I heard one them shout, apparently someone was not the idiot I expected them to be.

"Take Nara and meet me at the finishing line," I said nervously "I'll be there."

Don't get any wrong ideas, I'm not the self-sacrificing type of guy. This was simply the most optimal choice. It would be hard for me to carry Nara's body and there was no way Kurama would be able to fight against this guy. Besides, I'll easily be able to outrun anyone here.

"Luck seems to be on my side today, Naruto. I've wanted to meet you for a long time." I heard the Kiri ninja.

Kurama was reluctant but having no choice, she leapt off giving me one last glance.

Standing in front of me was a short boy with dark eyes and tuffy blue hair with a massive sword on his back.

How could I have been so stupid? Of course, they said 'if caught', we were supposed to find and utilize the loophole. All I had to do was keep it from been seen.

"You are last of the Uzumaki. Aren't you Naruto?" The Kiri nin said breaking my chain of thought "I was given dossiers detailing all the genin expected to participate in this exam. Your name was highlighted."

Not exactly how I thought being famous would feel like.

"My sensei once told me about the time when he destroyed Uzu." That's a big sword on his back, I'll be in serious trouble if he knows how to use that monstrosity.

"He said Uzumaki were powerful as a team but separate them, and they are easier to kill than blind sheep." I stopped.

"Who are you?"

"Don't you recognize my sword? Maybe you are not as intelligent as the reports indicated."

"I am Chōjūrō." He announced laughing. "Run little Uzumaki, I wanna have some fun."

I ran. I'm not a coward, I'm a ninja. Fighting him head-on would be idiotic not to mention time-consuming. I have a window of one hour to reach the finishing point, Kurama and Nara should already be there by now.

From what I know of the seven swordsmen of mist, the sword on his back should be Hiramekarei, staying in one place would only give him a chance to get hold of me in those fish-bone like crystals of his. Besides, I don't have enough chakra left after recharging the seals.

Yes. This could work. I changed my direction and ran towards the camp.

I stop right at the gate of the cave, facing Chōjūrō.

"Facing me like a man." He took out his sword "How brave of you."

"You should have ran Naruto. Better yet, you should have died and rid the world of your worthless blood."

"You are wrong Chōjūrō. I was unprepared. Next time we meet, I'll make sure to teach you the worth of my blood." I said for the first time.

"Next time?" He sounded confused.

I activated the sequence and the ground lit up. The sand moved to engulf Chōjūrō. I knew what was going to happen, and so I ran once again.

A few seconds later I heard a loud blast.

Knowing what I know about the sword, the blast must have been useless. Hiramekarei has the ability to absorb chakra.

But the next time we meet he'll learn the worth of an Uzumaki. No one insults me and walks away. No one.

I saw Kurama and Nara waiting for me at the finishing line. Sensei was standing behind them, his eyes lit with pride.

Finally, the first test was over.

Bone-tired, the only thing I was looking forward to was sleep and some food, preferably something that was not snake.

Taking my equipments from sensei, I waited for the final countdown to be finished before heading back.

Someone was staring at me. I looked in the direction and found Chōjūrō smiling at me.

It must have been his unlucky day. I'm going to tear him apart and rip him to shreds. I'll make him rue the day he met me. I smiled back.

Out of the seventy or so teams that ventured into the desert only twenty one managed to come out.

"Genin, are to go to point X marked on the map for the second phase of chūnin exam." I heard an Iwa jōnin announce distributing maps to jōnin sensei.

Dammit, I'm tired. Who knows what the second test entails.

I looked over at my team. Nara has managed to push off sensei and is now standing on his own. Looking at his pale skin, I frowned. He must be in quite a bit of pain.

Aye, he is worthy of being in my team. We'll show these villages the might of Konoha.

I hadn't noticed it before but the exams are not just under the jurisdiction of Suna, rather it is more like a collaboration headed by the three great powers. Suna is simply the site of examination.

The first exam reminded me of something kiri used to do, placing their little crazed ninja in a dangerous scenario and letting them kill each other. Only the strongest were worthy of rank in Yagura's village.

From what I can observe, the second test is under the jurisdiction of Iwa.

Looks like no one is eager to give Konoha a chance to get back to her former standing.

We started running to the location on the map.

I was a little worried about Nara but showing weakness in public never helped anyone. He won't appreciate my help. Had I been in his place I wouldn't have either.

I ran as slowly as I possibly could have.

We stopped at the village academy.

We were, at this point already almost an hour late but looks like most of the students were simply waiting outside the academy.

A few moments of spying later I found about the second test.

The second test was supposed to be some sort of situational reaction test. They would test us to see what we would do in a given situation. It was intentionally placed just after the first examination to get us to the most mentally unstable position as they can before testing our mental fortitude.

The first exam was not an endurance exam, it was a bar, a way to crack genin before they are placed in this exam and are disqualified for being mentally unsound.

The result of the exams would be in points and those points would decide the line up for the final match.

Waiting around I tried to look for the kids exiting the compound but didn't find any, maybe they left from a back door.

Each team was called one by one.

"Team Hizashi, step forward." I heard a Suna chūnin call out to us.

The team had to go in at the same time inside three adjacent rooms where examiners were supposed to be sitting, waiting for you.

I was a little nervous.

Konoha never did these psychological evaluations. Had they done so, none of the S class ninja would have made past genin.

I looked at my teammates for the last time before entering the room.

A Suna ninja was sitting in a chair behind the desk marking some papers and an Iwa ninja was standing guard near the window.

There is a weird contraption sitting on the desk.

"State your name for the test to begin." The Suna jōnin suddenly spoke.

"Namikaze Naruto, genin from the village hidden in the leaf." I stated.

"This exam is an evaluation of how you would react in a particular situation. The device sitting here is a gift from the land of iron, It'll give a signal if you lie." That's handy… I suppose.

"As soon as the device signals, you and the rest of your teammates would be removed from the exams." He continued in the same monotone voice.

"Nod once when you are ready."

I gave a quick nod to show that I understood and the test commenced.

"Situation one: You find an injured ninja of another village on your way back home. What would you do?" He asked reading from a dark blue scroll.

That's simple "Kill him and take his body to the village for further medical examination."

The ninja sitting in front of me looked up. He blinked and then blinked again.

"Right." He said, clearing his throat.

"Next question: Should there be a scenario where you have to choose between the mission and your team. Who would you choose?"

"Depends on the class of mission. In case of mission ranked B or above the mission comes before the team." Unfortunate but should a time come where I have to choose between the mission and my team, I know where my loyalties lie.

"Next question: Our files show that you have two other teammates. In a situation where you can save only one of them, who would it be?"

"Once again the answer depends on the type of mission, should it be an assassination or infiltration type Nara Shigezane would be my first choice. In case of diplomacy and missions dealing with civilians obvious choice would be Kurama Ayumu. Other factors may include their physical and mental state at that point."

"Next question: Who do you think is more important, the person leading the team or the team?"

"The leader."

"Should you be made to choose between the team and the village who would you choose?"

"The village."

And so on the question went for about an hour. My loyalties, my relation with teammates and my ability to access a situation logically was tested to the extreme.

It was exhilarating.

In some ways keeping a secret gnaws you from within. Hiding who you truly are, your believes and ambition can and will slowly suffocate you.

Telling them what I truly felt was a new experience.

"Last question: An enemy village took something of yours but taking it back would place your village in conflict against the aforementioned village. What would you do?"

This has to be the easiest exam I ever took in my life.

"I'll raze the village to the ground, slaughter their army and kill their Kage. A conflict requires two parties to be in disagreement. There would be no conflict if there is only one party."

The Iwa nin twitched. No doubt he is reminded of the forth. The last time a Namikaze entered a battlefield, an entire army was exterminated.

"Thank you, you are free to leave."

The Suna ninja looked pale at this point.

I gave him a smile and promptly made my way to the door.

"The Yondaime was a good man, dangerous without a doubt, but a good man. This… thing can't be his son." I heard the Iwa ninja speak as I exited the door.

Was it supposed to hurt me? Maybe… But I've long since stopped caring what others thought.

I suppose, being the host to the very image of hate and destruction makes you immune to such trivialities.

I made my way to the gate. Sensei was waiting along with Nara and Kurama.

They look shaken, it must have been the test. Most of the time the correct answer to the situation they placed us in, went strongly against what our village taught it's young children.

After all, there is always a difference between what we know to be correct and what we teach our children. Look deep enough and we will find our village too has it's hand, coloured with blood.

The blood of our enemies and allies alike.

"It's alright, the test was meant to break you. Less points just mean that you have to participate in more spars." Sensei was trying to sooth us.

Nara wasn't looking so soothed.

"Sensei, I'm thinking of quitting the exam. With my leg as it is, I don't think I'll be able to walk, much less fight." he said hesitatingly.

"I understand"

Nothing more was said as we returned to our allotted room. The dinner was a silent affair. Sensei took the watch while we found our comfort in soft beds.


"The report should be on Tsuchikage's desk by tomorrow."

"It shall be done."

The report on Namikaze's psychological evaluation must be important. Important enough that the Tsuchikage sent spies just to know what was going through the container's head.

Tsuchikage would surely be impressed with his speedy delivery.

As would Danzo-sama, the operative smiled.


Morning came and we headed out to check the wonders of our host village. The result would be announced tonight and the next exam was scheduled to be held after two weeks.

In case you didn't get, the checking out the wonders part meant that we'll try to gather as much local information as we possibly can without alerting Suna ninja.

The city would be full of civilians, local daimyo, nobles and their servants coming in too see third phase of exam. Bets were openly made and bars were full of men discussing the prospects of fighters.

Even in such a disarray it was hard to get yourself mixed up completely with the civilians. Suna Ninja were stationed at every checkpoint on the lookout for foreign ninjas.

Our newly bought local civilian clothes helped and the rest was a mixture of talent and sheer dumb luck.

We travelled across the village creating a mental map of the place.

"Check out these Suna puppets," I heard a child shout. He had make-up all over his face. I'm not the one to judge. Weirder things have happened.

I looked over to find a bunch of puppets fighting each other. Every few moments a small partition would open and from these socket would come out endless amount of weapons.

In few cases swords would come out of these sockets clang against each other and go back inside.

"Sensei, please go ahead. I'll be back at room in a few hours." I was intrigued.

"Are you sure? Do you need something?"

"Yes I'm sure." I had to confirm my suspicion.

"Oh! And can you buy something for me?"

"Sure," Sensei turned back to face me "What do you need?"

"Some heavy chains. Steel would be fine."

"How much do you need? Besides what do you even need chains for?" he was getting more curious every passing moment.

"Buy as much as you can. Let's just say I have an idea." I looked him in the eye "We are are going to create history, Sensei. Believe it."

"You, Naruto are the weirdest kid I've ever met" He said turning back.

Evening came and we met back at the room. Turns out the Hyūga had deeper coffers than I estimated.

Sensei presented to me five seals of chains as thick as my arm, each containing a hundred metres.

"They were not cheap, Naruto. Make sure that I don't regret it." He warned.

"You won't."

The door was knocked and a three Suna genin came inside to deliver to us the results.

Of the total five hundred points Nara got two hundred and eighty five and Kurama, a hundred and five.

"Don't worry guys, as I said earlier the test was a farce it was set against our ethics and the code of Konoha. It just goes on to show that despite choosing a line of violence, you are a good person and that's all that matters" Sensei was trying to console us.

"What about you Naruto? How much did you score?" Nara asked trying to look at my result.

"Four hundred and seventy one." I said "This is supposed to be the highest score anyone has ever received at least according to the Kazekage."

"You may not be a good human but then again, few S ranks ever were. -Rasa" I read aloud from a piece of parchment that was attached to my result. Huh.

Things got real awkward real soon.

The next two weeks passed quickly.

Nara submitted an application to quit the exam and spent most of time in the room trying to regain his footing. Turns out it wasn't a fracture as we initially presumed, just a sprain. I must have misjudged at the moment.

Sensei was helping him, using the little iryō jutsu that he knew.

Kurama spent her day practising against Nara's shadow clones and I, trying to learn shadow clones and studying seals.

Many a times I asked Sensei to teach me clones but each time his answer remained the same.

"You are too small for such large chakra manipulation."

Begging, requesting, arguing, I tried it all. After a few days it turned into a game of sorts. I would harass sensei and Nara would snigger from across the room.

After a few days, I left them to their devices, I'm going to show them my chakra manipulation and the degree of control I have over my chakra.

Since I topped the last test, I only have to fight in the finals while Kurama has to go through eighteen of the competitors.

Three days were spent perfecting the formulae and the seals. That was the easy part.

The rest were spent trying to apply my theory in practice. It was hard, but the fruit would be worth every bit of pain.

Three days before the exam, Hokage arrived with his ANBU squad.

The ANBU were the best of the best. To me they were the perfect shinobi, cold, powerful and logical. The eyes and arms of Hokage. The most elite.

Standing in the helm was the captain of Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai, Hatake Kakashi, age twenty two; many a times referred to as the right hand of Fire-Shadow. Famous for his ninjutsu, few can hope to match him seal to seal and live to tell the tale.

Spoken in dark taverns were sometimes rumours of his hidden eye. The Sharingan. He was also at the time the only loyal adult in Konoha wielding the infamous dōjutsu. But his most famous accomplishment was his famous chain of command and his nindo of never leaving a comrade behind.

No operative working under him has ever died in the field.

That was an unprecedented record. Something, not even the fourth could have claimed.

And for that he was respected even by his enemies. Surely, given the chance any one of his thousand enemies would love to kill him. But, a few would deprive him of an honourable death.

Honour amongst thieves. What an irony.

The Hokage came and met with us one-by-one. First Nara, since he was no more in the test and then Kurama, encouraging her and telling her how proud he was of her.

Finally he came to me.

"Naruto, you have grown."

"People tend to do that." I replied and then quickly realised what I said out aloud.

Ok, so maybe I was a bit angry. I remember the time when I was small, barely a couple of years earlier when he used to be a friendly grandpa.

Then one day he made me join ninja academy and the grandpa was replaced by the Hokage.

I went to his office a couple of times but was told that he was busy.

"Yes, I suppose they do." He looked saddened but continued after a moment "You are the gem our village Naruto, the hope of future generation. You are the future of Konohagakure. Make me proud."

"What do I get in return?" I really need that filter back in place.

"Hmm… Win this Naruto and I'll give you something many ninja would literally cut their right arms for."

Wow, that must be something.

After a customary talk with our sensei he went out and we back to our practice.

Days passed and finally I was ready to show the world that the name of Namikaze did not die with the Fourth. I will make them tremble before me just as they did before my father.

On the day of exam, I stood in the balcony with Nara and Sensei looking at Kurama who was ready to face her first opponent.

The first round was supposed to be an elimination round where sixteen ninja would face one fighter each and eight will rise up to an open battle where they would then face each other in an open battle, the final four left standing will rise to the next level.

The next day, these four will fight each other in two, one-on-one matches to compete for a spot in the quarter final. The final two left standing will then fight for a spot in semi final.

The third day, the semifinalist would fight against Chōjūrō and the one who wins, most likely the swordsman, will face me in the final match.

The chance that Chōjūrō and I will fight in the final is almost guaranteed.

And not just because of our skill.

People wanted to see how the son of Fourth would fare against the infamous swordsman and they had paid good money for it.

Bets were placed and stakes were high. No matter who the winner is, Suna would be making lot of money.

It was a waste of my time.

I returned back to the room. My time would be better spent improving my own skills.

Chōjūrō won't be fighting until the third day and the others were of no consequence.

Night came and with it came rest of my team. They were happy. Looks like Kurama won her fights and would be fighting for quarter finals tomorrow.

I sat by her side after things toned down a bit, handing her a cup of tea.

"Kurama, If I ask you to do something for me. Will you do it?"

"Wha…" She began.

"Just trust me. It's going to be alright."

"Naruto, aren't you... a bit too young for these kind of things?" She was slowly turning red.

It was my turn to stare. What in sage's name is she talking about?

"What do you mean?" I was confused. All I wanted was for her to remain safe.

"I know you are a growing boy, and…"

"Just stop. That's not what I'm talking about."

"Oh!"

"Throw the semifinals. Trust me you do not want to face a swordsman of mist." At once the mood turned and her smile wilted away.

"Naruto , you don't understand. Even if I don't want to, I'll be forced to fight. I can't just up and drop it, the Hokage will never accept it." She continued in a sombre tone "Don't you think I'm frightened? Not even jōnin dare go against the seven."

Her eyes were starting to glisten.

"It's not up to me Naruto. I have to do this, even if I die." Her voice was barely above whisper.

Kami! This girl wears her emotions on her sleeve.

"Good thing it is not up to you then."

"What do you mean?"

"Goodnight Kurama"

I walked away to my own bed as her breathing slowly deepened.

The night was peaceful. The next day was not.

"You poisoned Ayumu?" Nara was furious.

"It was for her own good. And it's not poison, just a small dose of concentrated poppy to keep her sedated and some chakra suppressing potions."

"That's not any better. You don't get to make choices for her. You had no right to do what you did."

I remained silent. Its weird. Logically I knew I should have let her fight. Most of the time she's a useless trash anyway. Had she died maybe we would have received someone powerful in her place.

It's illogical and yet it made perfect sense at the time.

"It's going to have serious consequences Naruto. This is a big embarrassment to our village. Hokage-sama won't be happy." Sensei said looking at me.

"He will be, when I win this thing."

"Make sure you do. Come Shigezane, let him be."

The day was spent practising my kata.

Hokage was indeed not happy. He came to us in the evening sat beside Kurama for a few moments and them came to me.

"Naruto, what you did today made us a laughing stock. It was a serious blow to our public image. Out of the three Konoha ninja participating in the exam, one quit and the other forfeited. You are the last one left. I hope you know what you are doing." His voice had a tinge of killing intent.

"Yes Hokage-sama" I said looking at the ground.

"Good, I'll see you the day after tomorrow, don't make me regret choosing you to represent our village." The foreboding lifted.

Nothing was left to be said. He went back and I resumed my stance.

Time flew by and before I knew it the the night before the finals arrived.

Information came about the match between Chōjūrō and his opponent. Turns out he was as powerful as I had anticipated.

His opponent, a Kumo nin died before he knew what was happening.

Looking at me Kurama gave a small smile.

I remembered why I poisoned her.

She might be a trash but she was my trash and I won't let anyone take her without my permission. No one was allowed to take something that is mine, be it one of the swordsman or the Hokage himself.

The night passed quickly and soon I found myself getting ready for the fight.

The arena was full of people waiting for the finals.

Chūnin exams each year also acted as the biggest source of data for bingo books. Hidden among those seemingly simple minded crowd of spectators were more than a few movers and shakers of our world.

They were the ones who decided the worth of ninja, and the cumulative worth of ninja was the worth of the village who owned them.

Time to present them with the show they had been waiting for.

"Try to have a clean fight." The Kumo ninja acting as the referee said.

"Killing your opponent is not prohibited but is frowned upon." He continued looking at Chōjūrō.

"You should have have forfeited like your other teammate, Uzumaki."

"Begin"

We jumped away from each other.

Throwing a few kunai is usually a good starting technique. In a typical fight kunai are usually considered to be a beginner weapon, no one really expects you to be hit by one. Shuriken and kunai are mostly thrown to gauge the speed and hand-to-eye coordination of your opponent.

Unfortunately for me he is good.

"Is that all you've got, Naruto? I expected more from the leaf's best genin."

I hate these unnecessary trash talks, these pointless bantering. In a real fight you either live or die, fights are over in a matter of minutes.

I dodge a hail of spikes made of fish bone.

Ok, the enemy has as unlimited amount of ranged weaponry. Not good.

I ran to the other side of the arena and Chōjūrō followed.

"Is he supposed to be a prodigy, Sarutobi?" the fourth Kazekage asked.

"The standards of Konoha have surely fallen." laughed Onoki.

"Alas, time has not been kind to our village."

I jumped in the air taking out my sai and went for the head.

"You think you can defeat me, one of the legendary seven in kenjutsu?" he roared.

A front jab and slash left my right arm bleeding.

I turned on the spot and tried attacking him again from different angles.

After a few jabs all of which were expertly blocked I jumped back throwing a few shurikens.

A shinobi should be a master of disguise. He should be good at deception, good enough to fool even the most paranoid opponent.

And I had succeeded in fooling my opponent.

"Fight like a man, Uzumaki." He hollered in pain. Looks like one of the shuriken managed to hurt him after all.

"I win, Chōjūrō."

With that I bent and activated the last sequence in the seal I've been writing on the ground with my blood.

The cut I received earlier was important for my plan to work.

The ground lit up, and out came chains as if from the depth of hell itself.

Five chains lashed at Chōjūrō as he tried defending against each one of them.

I sat on the ground and waited.

The chains were semi-autonomous and required a large amount of chakra to work.

Under the mask of overconfidence and relaxed posture, I was panting. My head was spinning and the exhaustion I felt was more than just physical, but it was worth it.

Sitting on the ground at a distance I could see thousands of spectators wondering how the match turned over in an instant. Most had their bets placed on Chōjūrō and were angry.

They tried cheering for him and when that didn't work they tried jeering at him.

It was useless, Chōjūrō was busy defending against five simultaneous attacks at once. Had he been more experienced it wouldn't have worked but right now it was the best strategy.

The chains were extremely nimble and strong, result of the hours I spent etching them with seals.

Slowly but surely Chōjūrō was losing his footing. Every once in a while one of the chains would slash his skin.

It was like trying to fight five extremely strong whips. Whips that you can't cut, burn or harm.

He even tried using what little ninjutsu he had in his arsenal but to no avail.

Fifteen minutes went by and much of his speed was now gone. Even I was worried, the chakra in the seal would barely support another five minutes. Looks like I would have to end it quickly.

In a showing of weakness, I slowed chains until Chōjūrō finally found the perfect opportunity to hit me.

He ran towards me and suddenly a chain came through the ground and hit him square in the chest. His sword was thrown afar.

Using my chains I tied him and hoisted him up in the air. My win was secure, just a final gesture was left. I stood and slowly walked up to the sword where it was thrown haphazardly. With the whole stadium looking at me in silence, waiting to see what I would do. I spat on Hiramekarei.

Utter pandemonium broke loose. For a Kiri swordsman there could have been be nothing more shameful.

"This is the worth of my blood Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū no Chōjūrō. I won't be so merciful the next time we cross paths."

Simply winning wasn't enough, I had to crush him using nothing but my Uzumaki heritage.

"Namikaze Naruto is declared the winner." The referee announced.

I dropped him from my chains and looked around the stadium at the thousands of spectators that cheered at my success.

One day these men will stop calling me Minato's son rather they'll call you Naruto's father. I'll surpass you dad. Believe it.

My chakra was exhausted and it took everything I had just to stand before the five Kage while they discussed the match.

"You have done well Naruto, you may go now." the Hokage maybe sensing my plight urged.

"As you wish, Hokage sama." I barely managed to reply.

Once inside the room, Sensei and Kurama helped me heal my various cuts as I drifted of to sleep.

"Sensei would have been proud." I dreamt about a silvery hair looming over me whispering. The man with the white hair was someone I had dreamt about countless times. I like to think of him as my guardian angel. Then again considering his white hair he must be a really old angel.

Results were announced the next day and for the first time in six years Konoha had won the competition.

It was time to return back home.

We left with the Hokage and his ANBU squad.

Our return to the village was an occasion of celebration. My win was a testament that Konoha was on her way to rise once again.

The missions continued and there was little change in our daily routine, the only difference was that the missions which used to be D rank mostly were now C ranks with an occasional B ranks thrown here and there.

It gave us an increased status in the village, the increase in payment was a welcome gift as well.

The additional money all went to restocking my supplies and buying more chains, stronger and sturdier.

Fūinjutsu was now more of a pass-time, I had strong foundations the only thing left to do was selecting a branch and delving deeper so as to master my chosen path.

I had an idea about the branch I wanted to follow but it would take me a long time to achieve my goal.

And so the days went, where once we mostly stayed inside the village, now we had to take missions outside the village. It was on the way back from one of these missions that my monotonous routine broke.


There were a few villages in the elemental nation which had history darker than that of Kirigakure no Sato.

Originally found by Byakuren, the founding Water-Shadow, Kiri has since been home to some of the darkest and most heinous acts of violence.

The village was divided into caste system with those who can trace their roots back to the founding of the village at the helm, those who joined kiri as allies on the battlefield came second and the members of the families who were defeated on said battlefields and annexed into the village were at the lowest level of hierarchy, these were the ones who toiled in the fields, the ones who acted as cannon fodder in case of wars and their lives were but a toy to the whim of the upper caste.

Suffice to say they had a social structure more unstable than bijūdama.

Unstable though they were, weak they were not. Even though the village was prosecuted by many as uncivilised and barbaric, it held on to its power. Battles were waged and Kiri answered in kind. It proved its worth as one of the great five.

The village's unstable economy and its cruel methods of teachings resulted in fewer ninja each year than any of the great five, but what they lacked in quantity they made up in quality.

The hunter-nin division, Kiri's answer to Nidaime's ANBU was one of the deadliest combat force in the battlefield. Their expertise ranged from all out frontal war to search and rescue and even hunting rogue nins or those that abandoned the village.

And this was what became the vicious cycle that slowly started to gnaw the foundation of Kiri.

The fewer students each year resulted in fewer powerful shinobi, most wars started using massive amounts of lower caste nins to slow the enemies and in many case they were sent as baits.

The resentment grew.

The war with the Kaguya was the last straw. Those at the top of the social hierarchy were of old blood. Blood with strong kekkei genkai.

The commoners started fearing them even more and where there is fear there is hate.

The society broke.

This slow and meticulous destruction of the village was not done in a day.

No, it was a plan that took almost a decade to come to fruition.

The academy was the first piece in the domino, the economy second, the social resentments third, the declining inter-village relations and growing distrust between the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist were the last step.

Uchiha Obito smiled.

Kiri acted as his base of operations. Since the village didn't have any registration system for it's ninja, it was easier to send them as spies and were generally better tools.

All through the power of his eye.

After the failed attempt at destroying Konoha through Rin, Kiri sealed the three tails in young Yagura Karatachi.

Rin. He hadn't thought about her for so long. Initially what started as a quest to avenge her death slowly twisted and darkened until it enveloped young Obito in a never ending spiral.

Rin would have hated this version of him. Such a good person she used to be, she might not even recognise him now.

But Rin was dead.

And it was her death that taught him the most important lesson in life.

There was only power and those too weak to seek it.

Konoha used to be so proud and powerful and now it was nothing. Rin died because she wasn't strong enough. Even he was left behind because he wasn't powerful enough. Wasn't worth the time and effort to send a rescue party.

He was weak, but never again.

The village was almost at its knees, a few more strikes and Kiri would fall.

All modesty aside, his most recent plan was brilliant. The best way to kill your enemy is to let someone else do it for you.

The declining force of Kiri's ninja still loyal to the hat made it important for him to take a risky gamble.

And so, Kiri birthed two giants.

Terumī Mei and Momochi Zabuza. They were not giants because of their prowess. Oh no! They weren't that powerful at all.

In fact, many shinobi in the land of Mist was far more powerful than these two. They were giants because people saw them as their hope. The light that would shine and rejuvenate Kiri.

Terumī Mei was the beacon for old families with powerful bloodlines. The original settlers of Kiri and Zabuza was the hope of countless peasants and third class citizens.

Both their goal was to fight against the Mizukage, but to do that effectively they would have to solve the difference between them. Decades of atrocities would have to be forgiven and the old families would have to accept the newcomers as their equals.

It was impossible.

And so what was once two major forces formed to oppose Mizukage became the two opposing sides of a civil war with Obito supplying weapons to both sides.

It was funny how idiotic men could be.

But Obito forgot one tiny detail.

In the conquest to conquer whole of elemental nations he forgot what was once the sole reason of his existence.

Love.

Mei did not. Months of attempts finally led her to her goal.

And Momochi was, but a man.

Mei knew that once Zabuza died, she would be the undisputed leader of both fractions.

Without a voice the lower class civilians would fall back in line but killing Zabuza on it's own served no purpose.

No, Zabuza had to be killed by Yagura's forces for it to work.

And so her plan slowly came together.

Ao, her ever faithful dog, the one who told her about the possibility of Yagura being controlled by a third party let the knowledge of Zabuza's base be known to the other swordsmen.

The swordsmen were the perfect choice. Zabuza was a stain on their honour. The oath they took to serve the hat was broken by Zabuza and for that they would never forgive him.

Actually, it was the second best choice, the optimal was the the killing to have been done by Yagura himself. But involving Yagura and whoever controlling him was far too risky.

The events went just as she predicted.

The swordsmen killed everyone, it was a slaughter.

Most of Zabuza's high ranking commanders were killed and his organization fell.

What angered Mei was the fact that Zabuza managed to escape, but it was alright. Zabuza still thought of her as his lover and he would remain in contact with her.

Opportunity will arise again and the next time Mei would make sure to remove any obstacle from her path.

She once dreamt of becoming the first female Kage and sage be her witness, she would achieve her dream or die trying.


The mission was a regular security detail for a minor lord, easy money.

Most of the time these diamyō don't have to worry about anything, them hiring expensive escorts is just a way of showing their prestige and money and me being the winner of last chūnin exam added a lot of prestige to the team.

They would usually pester me with inconsequential small talks. Sensei usually advised me to indulge in these frivolities.

"It's never too bad to have connection in high places" He said.

Try as I might I can never seem to able to do so. Me trying to stay away didn't help.

"It only adds to your mysteriousness, you idiot. Wish them a good day every now and then and they won't pester you any more." Kurama suggested.

I was right, Kurama is good at this civilian thingy.

The mission ended uneventfully.

The diamyō was impressed by my age, he couldn't seem to stop comparing me to one of his son back at some castle or other.

We stayed at the castle for the night before heading back to the village.

Nara took the vanguard Kurama was in the middle and I took the lead.

It was a regular training session.

Sensei was hidden, and I acted in his stead.

The travel was mostly uneventful, for the most part. We were in the vicinity of our village when our paths crossed with the demon of the mist.


Zabuza Momochi, exiled from his home was wandering the elemental nations trying to gather allies and send monetary relief to Mei back home.

Money in the world of ninja was a powerful tool and the ways to earn high amount of it were few. First was to work for a village and do high ranking missions and the second was to go rogue and hunt for bounties.

The way he saw his luck suddenly took a hike.

In from of him was the a person who would add millions to his coffers if used correctly.

Namikaze Naruto, the last of Uzumaki and the heir to the Fourth would bring a good price if given to the correct parties.

Iwa would be interested in him and so would the upstart Akatsuki. It was a stroke of luck he was not willing to let go.


"Naruto, run!" Sensei shouted as he came in front of me taking the brunt of the first kick that I hadn't even seen coming.

"Kurama light the signal!" Nara called out to Kurama coming forward to take her place in the middle.

"Nara, four shadow clones. Send one to scout for other enemies one to protect Kurama and send the last two to engage Momochi" I'm not leaving sensei alone to die.

A quick slash and my dripping blood was ready to draw my signature technique.

"Boom!" We heard the signal go off, help would soon be on its way. Hopefully the nearest scout team would be made up of at least one ANBU.

The clearing in the forest which was a second ago filled with sunshine suddenly grew dark and filled with mist.

"Silent Killing technique" I shuddered.

It was bad. The killing intent was strong, strong enough to make me hesitate drawing my seals.

Seals are dangerous like that, especially blood sealing. One false move and I could burn down the entire forest.

"Dammit!" I took out my sai and took the place of the shadow clone, Zabuza had just popped.

I had a plan, but it was a risky one.

There are few ways to free yourself of killing intent, the first and most common of them being by pain. The other was a massive flux in chakra system. Self harm was a foolish choice in the middle of a fight.

I threw a shuriken, drawing a thin line of blood from Kurama.

"Kurama, place me under genjutsu and dull my senses!" I said trying to let her chakra overpower me.

The pace was fast, my movement relied solely on my instincts. My vision blurred and defending against the incoming strikes was all I could do. Nara's clone helped but only so much before they were popped and his attention was focussed on me. Another shadow clone popped.

"Shuriken Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu"

Suddenly hundreds of shuriken went flying towards Kurama.

"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven" Winds picked up and the mist thinned as Sensei took it upon himself to create a barrier in order to deflect every shuriken in the air.

"You thrice-damned Hyūga" Momochi sneered "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu"

"Naruto take your team and run. That's an order!" Sensei commanded once again trying to fend off against the water dragon.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" Sensei created a clone of himself to fight the water dragon and came running towards Momochi. "Jūkenhō Ichigekishin"

Can I do it? Can I leave and break the first vestige of family I had? Logically I should have done it.

In my bones, I knew that leaving here alive was the only choice. The only way to fulfil my dream.

"KAI" My vision cleared...

"Nara, take Kurama and go and find reinforcement. Do not come back."

The killing intent ended and I drew my blood once again.

For a second Nara looked at me, then he gave a small nod and took Kurama to safety.

I too back-flipped into the bushes while Sensei fought against Momochi using his gentle fist technique. Months of practice had made me somewhat proficient in my technique.

Fifteen seconds later the ground cracked and out came more than twenty chains shooting for Zabuza.

"Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" I heard Zabuza yell jumping towards the Sensei with one of his clone leaving behind another clone to deal with me.

Can it be any worse?

"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu"

A pained cry from Sensei made me look towards him. The water bullet had tore through his legs which was now covered in blood.

Dammit! I hate the god of irony.

"Doton: Doryūheki" With four quick hand seals I sent an earthen wall between the torrents of water bullets and Sensei. It wouldn't hold for long but it would give Sensei some time to recover.

On the downside, I was running on fumes now. My chains held back the water clone in front of me but it was clear that it wasn't going to last long.

Suddenly a few shurikens shot from the tree tops.

Help had arrived.

The reinforcement consisted of a chūnin commander and his three genin, two male and one female.

Two of the guys joined me in fighting against one of the water clones, the chūnin and the girl went to fight another shadow clone and sensei went for the real one.

There was still a chance to come out of this alive.

I sent the chains to help Sensei and took out my sai once more.

My comrades seemed to know what they were doing, one of them was a long range expert who shunshined really fast and kept shooting projectiles.

The second was a support type medic nin who hid in the trees, sending us quick bouts of chakra boost every so often.

It was humbling. All my experience, all my practice and all the hours I spent practising every single move again and again until they were perfect and yet I wasn't able to so much as destroy a clone.

"Ahhh!" The medic nin suddenly yelled.

There was a trident of water piercing his leg through the branch of the tree on which he was standing a moment ago.

It was fascinating. A weapon made of nothing but water yet, strong and sharp enough to pierce through bone without losing its shape.

"Get down!"

In an instant he other genin I was fighting with, was standing in front of me with the Kubikiribōchō coming out of his chest. Slowly I saw life exiting his eyes as he fell on me.

What a fool he was, sacrificing his life for a chance to save mine; then again, was I any different? I too stayed to protect sensei knowing that it would kill me.

Only a few weeks before I would have left them all and ran to safety and yet, here I was.

The situation was dire. I was tired in no shape to get up and continue fighting.

This was the true might of a legendary swordsman. He was a true demon, someone worthy of calling himself one of Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū.

The chūnin and the girl were dead, at least they took down one clone with them. Sensei was on the ground bleeding, my chains long since devoid of it's chakra ware thrown aside.

Zabuza smiled as he walked lazily towards me. His clone standing in wait for the original to come and relieve him of his post.

Is this the end? Beaten by single man. Is this the end of my dreams?

I closed my eyes trying to find peace within myself. My comrade was lucky to have died early on in the battle.

"Help me Kyūbi..." I whispered.

In the face of death there is no shame in begging for help.

But, none arrived.

If only I was stronger. I felt my eyelids drooping.

Suddenly the forest lit up. It was as if a thousand birds started chirping at once. Maybe that's what the call of heavens sounded like. It was my last thought as I fell unconscious.


I never expected to open my eyes, so when I did open them and looked at the white ceiling of familiar hospital, it was a welcome surprise.

"Welcome back Naruto. It has been three days." I saw the medic nin I was fighting beside, moments ago standing next to me.

"You had a severe case of chakra poisoning. Looks like an external source of chakra tried mixing with your own coils." he started.

"The results were spontaneous. Your body tried fighting the chakra and in the process exerted much strain on your coils. The external chakra was concentrated, extremely so. The results could have been fatal. It is a surprise that you are even alive."

Huh, looks like my prayers didn't go unanswered after all.

"Hokage sama wishes to meet you." a masked ANBU operative announced appearing out of thin air.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." I said getting up out of the bed.

"Yakushi Kabuto" The medic extended his handed.

"Namikaze Naruto" I said looking at his hands, he was acting a bit too friendly for my taste but at least he had fought by my side so that was a point in his favour.

Walking towards the Hokage I tried sorting through my memories of the day. All I could remember was a loud ringing and then everything went numb.

"Come inside, Naruto." I heard Hokage invite me. "How are you feeling?"

"All right, Hokage-sama" I replied turning to see a hooded ANBU standing in the corner, with his head bowed.

"Ah! That is Kakashi, my most trusted lieutenant. He was the one who saved you." I looked at the hooded figure once again.

"Your opponent Momochi Zabuza ran away as soon as Kakashi arrived. Since you were in mortal peril, Kakashi here decided to save you and carried you all back to the village instead of going after him." looks like the rumour about him never leaving a comrade to die had some basis after all.

"Your father, once said that to be a shinobi is to protect. Even in the face of death you stood to protect your Sensei. It was an act of selfless sacrifice."

I looked down, It was not, old man. I am not selfless. Protecting my family was but a selfish decision on my part.

"Your sensei is in Hyūga compound recovering from his wounds. You ought to go and meet him." he signalled my leave.

"Make sure to submit your account of what happened by tomorrow evening." I heard him say as I left the room.

Walking towards the Hyūga compound, I found it hard to imagine that just a few days ago I almost died. I needed to get better. Stronger.

Entering into the compound I saw a few older members smile and nod at me. Considering the fact that most of the looks aimed at me are usually full of disdain, it was a weird experience. Looks like the story of our fight came out.

Asking around led me to sensei's home.

He was sitting on the bed Kurama and Nara standing by his side.

"We were waiting for you to wake up, Naruto." Sensei said looking up at me.

"Morning Naruto." Kurama seemed a bit dull.

"We were just leaving." Nara said abruptly moving to the door taking Kurama with him.

"Whatever is up with those two, it is not my fault. I just woke up." I cleared the air before any misunderstanding arose.

"I know kid. It's not your fault." He sighed.

"Invidia; the sin of envy. Not even the pure souls of children are spared from it. The more you grow the more your friends would alienate, it is the sad truth of life. Even so, do try to keep yourself involved with them Naruto."

I looked outside, a few children were running around playing ninja. Children my age.

"I understand Sensei."

"Saying that, I'm proud of how you have grown."

The door opened and a girl my age entered holding a cup of green tea.

"You should not have troubled yourself Hinata-sama." Sensei tried getting up.

It was time for me to leave.

"I'll come again sensei. Take care."

I must become more powerful. My best technique was not good enough. Chains were useless. I needed to be more. I had to be more than what I am.

Never again would I be as weak. This I promise myself.


Like it? Hate it? Review and share your opinions…

No, I'm not dead... just reeaaaaaallllly buzy. Hope this chapter was good enough.

Muse:

The story is going to be in mostly first person view.

Japanese as a language does not use plurals. The word is understood as being single or multiple in the context of sentence. I'll try to follow suite and write Japanese words in singular form.

Since, the Kyūbi is sealed I decided to remove instant healing. As I said earlier Naruto has to learn, I hate characters who are all powerful from the beginning itself.

Not all Uchiha are evil, not all Nara are brilliant at making plans on the go. I'm gonna break many-many stereotypes.

Nara does seem to have lot of chakra to make so many shadow clones doesn't he? What's his secret?

Chōjūrō is more than a bit angry at Uzumaki, But why? guess why to get a cookie.

Poison was in the tea. Cheers if you got it correct.

Ugh! I hate info dumps but because it's an AU, you gotta understand the premise, also I find the characters in cannon extremely honourable and generally really bad at being ninja. Kishimoto should have made his characters part of Iron nation if he wanted goody two shoes.

In these info dumps I'll try to provide with reasonable explanations (my thoughts) on why things happened and why the characters reacted the way they did.

Cheers to Lord Voldemort. If you got the reference, you are awesome.

Terumī Mei, the soft, beautiful figure who showed everyone that women can be just as powerful and can also become kage. You don't get to be a leader of killers in a male dominated society without doing what it takes.

Give Naruto a break. He's seven. You seriously didn't expect him to win against Kirigakure no Kijin,did you?

He'll grow strong but as I said it's gonna take time. He won't be winning any unrealistic fights.

Seven years without a hint of Kyūbi chakra in his system. Of course he wouldn't survive even if Kyūbi for whatever reasons decided to help him by giving him even a drop of its chakra. I plan on using this incident as a sort of vaccination process.

Emotions are confusing. They are never constant, the love that you might feel one moment can turn into hate the next. I'll try to make this a realistic story and in real life you are never dead set on becoming a good or a bad guy. Your emotions and experience shape you.

Chapters are going to be longer from now on, so I hope it'll be worth the wait.

Thanks for following and favoriting.

Stay tuned.

PS- Chocolate chipped cookie if you help me BETA my stories.