From Uzumaki to Uchiha
Chapter 4
A/N at bottom
Enjoy
Previously
All in all, Iruka was wondering what had happened to the normally cheerful boy. He seemed rather reserved now, not much but a little.
"Hey! Long time no see."
Everyone stood silently as they gaped at Iruka, even Sasuke and Naruto as they had never encountered something like this before.
"W-what's going o-on Iruka-sensei?" Sakura stuttered, completely stupefied by Iruka's sudden appearance before them.
Iruka looked at the team concerned, they were covered in dirt and scratches. 'They must have run into one of the more experienced teams,' Iruka thought. He was still amazed that they got to the tower on the third day! Only two other teams had made it so far and Team 7 was a rookie team barely out of the academy.
"Looks like you guys had some trouble," Iruka said, his concern breaking his voice a little. Everyone on the team seemed to have been affected by the forest, Naruto the most, he seemed to be diff- No. Naruto was definitely different from when Iruka had met him for ramen on the night before the first exam.
It was definitely Naruto; only he could wear that atrocious neon orange jumpsuit, but he had changed a lot
Naruto was looking at Iruka with a scrutinizing eye, he didn't want to believe what his father figure told him - especially about Iruka-sensei - and he hadn't found any reason to doubt his former teacher but, the seed of doubt was already planted and was slowly growing. Iruka could be faking what he was showing outwardly; He had done that for most of his life.
Even though he hardly paid attention in class, he had been told repetitively that 'Deception was a Shinobi's greatest weapon' and the way in which he understood is that Iruka could be hiding things and he could never know what was really going on inside of Iruka's head.
The suspicion was subconscious, but it was always there, lingering.
"Why were you summoned, Sensei?" Naruto asked semi-calmly - you could see his body tremor here and there- a small smile spreading across his face.
"At the end of the second test, it's set up that we chunin's would greet the exam takers... And I was the one allowed to greet you."
"Greet us?" Sakura questioned, tilting her head to the side in confusion.
Iruka took out his watch and looked at the time. "3 days 17 hours. A good time. This will allow you to rest for the remainder for the second exam"
"The second test. Congratulations! All three of you passed... If we had time I would have bought you all some ramen."
Naruto and Sasuke merely nodded at the confirmation while Sakura was looking at her teammates trepidly.
"Ah! I have to explain what's on the wall. This is the motto for chunin made by Hokage-sama. The heaven in this paragraph refers to the human mind while the earth represents the human body...
If you seek heaven, gain wisdom, be prepared..."
"The third exam will begin in just over a day. Will we rest or go and look around?" Sakura asked, managing not to stutter.
Team 7 were wandering through the winding corridors of the tower, they had just been dismissed by Iruka who had told them where their rooms, the dining area and the room where they were to meet the other passing teams on the 5th day were.
"Hn, rest. We need it more than wandering aimlessly, there could be confrontations within the tower." Sasuke muttered. His dark eyes scanning the dimly lit hallway, glowing red occasionally.
"Let's go then. *yawn* I'm tired" Naruto started walking faster, pulling ahead of his teammates.
"Dobe!"
Naruto turned around, "What, Teme!"
Sasuke pointed to the left, opposite to the direction that Naruto was heading in.
"Our room is that way"
Naruto looked back down at the hallway that he was heading and looked back at Sasuke with a faint blush of embarrassment on his face.
"Hehe, I knew that!"
"Sure you did" came Sasuke's sarcastic reply.
"Teme!"
"Dobe!"
Top of the Tower | Just afterwards
"And the seal is not bothering you anymore Anko?"
"No Hokage-sama"
"That's good... Orochimaru huh?"
"Hai, I ran into him after went in search of him. Those bodies were definitely his work, even though I couldn't get an ANBU team out because the evidence was shaky."
"Hmm." The Hokage drew a puff of his pipe as he stared down at his paper work, pondering on what the Tokubetsu Jonin had told him.
"He's after Sasuke isn't he?"
"Hai, he mentioned that he had marked the Uchiha with the same seal that I have," Anko brushed her fingers against the three tomoe that lay in a circular pattern on the junction between her neck and shoulder. "I don't think that the Gaki can survive it though, I barely did all those years ago."
"Sasuke-kun has a strong will, I'm sure that he will survive and be able to fight off the temptation to use it"
"If you say so"
There was a knock on the door, breaking up the discussion.
"Chunin Umino to see you Hokage-sama" The ANBU by the door announced after he had checked as to whom was wanting entrance.
"Let him in."
The door opened, revealing a troubled Iruka standing there, Iruka walked in and stood in front of the Hokage's desk.
"Hokage-sama"
"Hello Iruka, back from greeting a team in?"
"H-hai Hokage-sama, that the reason I'm here actually"
"Was there a problem?"
Iruka looked down at his feet sheepishly. "Not exactly Hokage-sama, it's about Naruto's team - Naruto and Sasuke specifically."
"What about Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun?" Sarutobi leant forward on his desk, his usually jovial expression replaced by seriousness.'Has Orochimaru took an interest in Naruto-kun as well as Sasuke-kun? Were they both marked?'
"It seemed that Sasuke was in pain, holding the side of his neck like this," Iruka took hold of his right shoulder. "But Naruto has... Changed."
"Changed?" Anko asked, her worry amplified by the possibility that another had been marked with Orochimaru's cursed seals.
Iruka scratched his scar nervously. "Its hard to explain to be honest. You would understand better if you saw him."
"Hmm" The Hokage frowned, reaching down into one of his drawers and taking out a glass orb placing it down onto his desk and holding his hands over it.
Images started to race across it before it stopped at a dimly lit room that was occupied by two people
They were easily recognized: Sasuke by his duck-butt hair and Sakura by her bright bubblegum pink. But where was Naruto?
Sarutobi's question was answered that next moment as someone walked into the room. Sarutobi gasped softly as his mind jumped to another person as soon as he saw that face and hair. But he could tell that it was Naruto. The orange jumpsuit was Naruto's trademark, even if the legs now barely reached Naruto's ankles and the sleeves stopped short on his wrists. The faint whisker marks also confirmed the identity of this boy
Hiruzen only had one thought when he saw the new Naruto.
'How? We sealed it away after we found out... I'll have to speak with him about this'
Time passed quickly in the tower for Team 7, there wasn't much to do other than rest and wait for the exam to end.
Two teams were already at the tower; The Suna team - Gaara, Temari and Kankuro and a team from Ame - according to Kankuro who responded briefly as they passed- but they didn't come out of their rooms at all - that they were aware of -
Naruto(Madara) sealed up Sasuke's mark as soon as they got into their room it was done quickly so it wasn't a permanent fix - Madara needed to analyze the mark in order to fully seal it off or remove it- but they were working on it.
The days flew and only a few other teams had managed to make it to the tower.
It was on the fourth day when Team Gai had walked in tiredly, waving halfheartedly as they carried semi-conscious Lee along with them.
Early on the fifth day, Kabuto's team had arrived. They were a little scuffed but they seemed alright, Naruto noticed however that Kabuto's eye's seemed to linger on him a little longer than the rest of his teammates but that was expected, Naruto looked a lot different than before.
The day passed on and it seemed that no other teams were going to make it to the tower in time for the third task but the teams were surprised when team 8 turned up - visibly tired and their clothes were torn up some- just at the end of the exam.
The exam had now ended and the teams made their way to the main hall. When team 7 walked in, Naruto looked around and took in his surroundings, noting the large empty area that was the ground floor and the raised balconies that overlooked the area. The raised platform the had a huge statue of a hand in the ram seal at the back.
Naruto looked back at the balconies and noticed that the sensei's of the teams were already there: Kakashi-sensei stood there with Kurenai? Wasn't it? - Team 8's sensei - and that green spandex wearing ... Thing... He was the sensei for team 9 if he remembered correctly. They were chatting amongst themselves quietly but when Naruto's team walked in they froze and stared at him intently. Actually everyone there was staring at him.
The Suna team and their sensei were staring at him curiously but they turned away as soon as Naruto looked at them.
The Ame team looked at him intently before the red haired girl turned and ran up to their sensei - Who wore a typical jonin uniform and had blue hair. There was also a paper flower in her hair... Curious- and started talking rapidly but he couldn't hear what they were saying from the distance but when the girl had finished and the woman had responded both females looked at him with wide eyes. The red haired girl ran back to her teammates and said something else to them which made them all look to him with wide eyes also.
The Konoha teams were also staring at him oddly, specifically Kabuto's sensei who looked at him hungrily, his chakra felt weird as well.
'What's going on? Is it "Everyone stare at Naruto day" or something, its getting annoying' Naruto thought turning his head to the front where the Hokage, the crazy proctor lady and the assorted ANBU were also staring at him.
'Oh come on! Fuck this shit' Naruto crossed his arms and glared at everyone, making the Hokage's eyes widen even more if that was possible.
"You have changed quite a bit Naruto, the old man probably recognized the looks. He was alive in my day, he was only a little genin then though. Its a surprise that he could remember that far back. You resemble me a bit too much. Maybe we should have waited-" Madara was cut of by Naruto's shouting
'No. I don't care! let them all stare if they want. It's all they ever do. If they have a problem they come out to me and say it.'
"Very well. Be cautious however, a lot of attention will be gathered here today and even more than necessary if you are not careful"
'Hai'
Naruto drew back his attention to the outside world where the Hokage was explaining that there was going to be preliminary matches before the third task.
"- And now for the first fight" a sickly looking man finished looking at the crazy proctor lady that stood next to the Hokage. She said something into a head set and an electronic board was revealed out of a wall. It began spinning through names and stopped landing on two names
Uchiha Sasuke vs Akado Yoroi
"Will Uchiha Sasuke *cough* and Akado *cough" Yoroi please stay here and the rest of you please *cough* leave to the viewing area.*cough* "
Everyone milled around a bit before leaving to stand beside their sensei's. Naruto caught up to team 9 just before the stairs.
"Hyūga!"
Neji turned around and looked at the Madara lookalike with narrowed eyes.
"What"
Naruto walked up and stood directly in front of Neji and Tenten, speaking quietly so no one could hear. His position made it so that no one could read the lips of the two talking. One curious observer could, however...
"I would appreciate if you didn't mention what happened in the forest to your sensei or anyone else for that matter. I have plans and you blurting out my secrets to anyone and everyone could cause them to fail."
Neji crossed his arms and glared at Naruto with his white eyes. "What's in it for me? Why should I stay quiet?"
Naruto drew back a bit, he hadn't anticipated this response. He had only remembered just now that he had not told the others to stay quiet - this was a impromptu thing. He hadn't planned at all.
"Idiot, you should always have a plan. Doesn't matter now it is not a fault of yours that you are unprepared for this... I will help you now but you will have to learn to plan for unexpected situations. Mention that you can do something about his seal."
'Seal? He has a seal? Where?'
"His forehead, it is covered by his Hitai-ate. It's a seal that has been used by the Hyūga for decades... The Caged Bird seal."
'OK,' Naruto looked over to Neji who was still glaring at him. Naruto leant forward, close enough that his mouth was right next to Neji's ear.
"Oh. I think, that if I tell you that I can do something about that seal of yours, Neji. Wouldn't want to give up such an opportunity to be free from your cage, Wouldn't you?... Little bird." Naruto smirked and poked his index and middle finger right in the middle of the long-haired boy's Hitai-ate - right in the centre of the engraved leaf - before walking past the Hyūga scion and up the stairs, not looking back at Neji, who stood frozen where Naruto left him.
Sakura already stood next to Kakashi, both of them looking at him with inquisitive looks.
"What was that Naruto?" Sakura asked, her messily cut hair swaying as she tilted her head.
Kakashi looked up from his book and looked at Naruto lazily. "Hmm?"
Naruto just looked at his teammates blankly before going to stand by the railing, leaning his elbows on it and looking down at Sasuke and that Yoroi guy who were now fighting on the ground.
"I don't see why you want to know. What goes on between Neji and I is none of your business." Naruto turned round and looked at Sakura with a raised eyebrow. "Shut up and don't talk about it again".
"But Naruto-"
"Maa Maa Sakura-chan, leave Naruto-kun alone for now Ne? If he wants to keep his secrets that as fine, don't pry. He'll tell us if he wants to." Kakashi looked up from his book, absentmindedly turning a page as he gazed lazily at the former blonde boy, if you looked closer however, you could see that Kakashi's eye was narrowed a fraction of a fraction.
Sakura looked at Kakashi in frustration, he was supposed to back her up in this!
"Just watch Sasuke-kun's fight for now hmm?" Kakashi had gone back to reading his porn.
Sakura huffed and turned back to the edge watching as Sasuke delivered a debilitating series of kicks to Yoroi sending him down to the ground in a crash of tile.
"Shishi Rendan!"
Sasuke landed back on the ground gracefully, his Sharingan fading from the blood red of the Sharingan to the dark onyx it usually was.
"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke"
Sasuke smirked at his downed opponent and walked away.
Naruto looked at Sasuke with a small smirk on his face.
"That was over quickly, never even got a chance to see it with the rest of our team nagging at me"
Sasuke's smirk widened and his black eyes glimmered in amusement
"Oh? Shame then, nevertheless my performance is better than yours probably will be. You just don't have the skill that I do, Dobe"
"Again with the 'Dobe' I thought we got past that Teme. Anyway I'll be better than you soon enough"
"Speak for yourself, your just as bad as me with the 'Teme' thing... You? Better than me?... We'll see..." Sasuke stopped beside Naruto and leaned over the railing in the same manner that Naruto did.
"Hn"
Sasuke said nothing in response but his smirk spoke volumes.
The rest of team 7 and the surrounding teams just watched the byplay, wondering what had happened between the two.
"Well then, let's see how you do"
"Huh?" Naruto looked up at the board which had just stopped running through names.
Uzumaki Naruto vs Inuzuka Kiba
"Hah! See that Akamaru, we got the easy one. I'll beat Uzumaki to a pulp easy!" Kiba shouted out in glee, his voice carrying far across the room too where team 7 stood.
"Easy? I'll show him easy" Naruto muttered under his breath, turning round to walk over the stairs.
"Good luck Naruto!" Sakura said, although her eyes were hesitant.
Sasuke scoffed. "Naruto doesn't need luck. He'll wipe the floor with that mutt easy. See you back up here soon."
"You bet, Sasuke." Naruto turned back around and headed towards the stairs, raising a hand in a lazy wave as he went.
As Naruto descended the stairs, Madara spoke up from the depths of his mind.
"Don't use the Sharingan here, its best to keep that hidden,"
'Eh? Why? it will be an easy win if I use it.'
"Do you want to reveal everything we have tried to keep hidden just for a minor fight like this? You won't need it, the Inuzuka can be taken down easy, you just have to exploit their weaknesses."
'Weaknesses?'
"I won't tell you that, you need to work out these things for yourself. A hint, however."
'Hmm?'
"Contain him. Without manoeuvrability, he is useless That's all I'm going to tell you... use all the resources you have."
'That's helpful' Naruto retorted sarcastically. He looked out ahead where Kiba stood arrogantly with his puppy Akamaru standing next to him. Naruto noticed that Kiba stood a little in front of the dog in a subtle, defensive way.
'Weaknesses, huh?'
"Hah! I feel bad for you Naruto, so I'll end it with one punch."
Naruto smirked darkly at Kiba, making the Inuzuka and many of the watchers shiver slightly.
"Will you now? Go on then, end it!"
"Hehe, right then. Akamaru stay back I won't need you in this. Gijū Ninpō: Shikyaku no Jutsu! (Imitation Beast Ninja Art: Four Legs Technique)"
Kiba got onto all fours and a shroud of chakra erupted from him, changing his looks to be more feral; claws grew from his fingernails and his facial features grew more feral and dog-like.
"You're going down Uzumaki! Tsuga!(Passing Fang)"
Kiba started rotating rapidly and soon was fast enough for him to look like a massive fang-like drill as he attacked Naruto... Who stood and watched.
"Contain him... Heh," Naruto smirked, "Easier said than done."
Kiba was advancing fast, he was almost right in front of Naruto, on course to rip the long-haired boy to shreds.
Just before impact, Naruto stepped neatly to the side, just as the human drill that was Kiba impacted the ground where Naruto stood only seconds before.
Kiba bounced up and continued up towards the ceiling before he suddenly stopped spinning and hovered in the air for a few seconds before locking his eyes on Naruto and once more, spinning and becoming a massive fang-like drill.
"Stay still so I can hit you! Damn it"
Naruto jumped aside once more as Kiba drilled the ground where he stood. This process repeated 5 more times, each miss making Kiba more and more frustrated.
"Stay still? What kind of fool would stand still in front of a rotating drill of death at a request of an enemy? Not me anyway" Naruto was taunting the feral boy now, a plan in mind.
Kiba had landed next to his dog and was baring his teeth threateningly at Naruto, a low growl rumbling in his chest.
"Aww, The little doggy mad? Better get back to your owner then. Wouldn't want you attacking anyone else here, you rabid mutt."
"Argh! UZUMAKI!" Kiba charged forward. Kiba was incensed by Naruto's taunting, he never noticed Naruto's smirk.
The two engaged in combat, punches and kicks being exchanged between the two rapidly.
Naruto ducked under a roundhouse punch and swung out his leg and lashed out with a rib-breaking kick which threw the feral boy back several meters.
Kiba landed on his feet and reached down with a hand to steady himself. He charged forward once more only to be met by three Kage Bunshins.
Naruto stood back and watched as the clones were quickly taken down by Kiba, he channelled chakra throughout his body, careful to avoid his eyes. He could barely keep up with the boy as it was.
Naruto drew out a few shuriken and shot them towards Kiba, a few hit directly on but others passed by and cut shallowly on Akamaru, making the dog jump in surprise.
"Akamaru!... You bastard!" Kiba charged forward disregarding technique in order to pummel Naruto to pieces for daring to harm his Akamaru.
He was so blind in his rage that he didn't notice Naruto's arrogant smirk widen into a mad grin as the raven haired boy reached back into his shuriken pouch and drew out a scroll.
Naruto flung the scroll out in front of him, unravelling it as it went revealing a line of identical seals.
"Uzumaki storage seals..." The older Shinobi muttered reverently as they recognised the seals on the scroll.
"Ne, Kakashi-sensei what's that Naruto's got?" Sakura asked. Sasuke turned back slightly, also curious, he couldn't recognise the seals at this distance even with his enhanced eyesight.
"Those are storage seals Sakura-chan, I wonder where Naruto-Kun got the scrolls from? He hasn't used them before."
"Oh.." Was all that Sakura responded with
Back down in the arena, Kiba had stopped his charge, having enough sense to stop and see what the threat was. Akamaru crept forward nervously in the background, unnoticed by the two combatants.
Naruto bit his thumb - drawing some blood - and swiped it across the first seal, something appeared but the observers sight was blocked by the plume of smoke that normally preceded an unsealing.
The smoke cleared but nothing was left on the paper, making everyone curious as Naruto held something small in his hand.
Several more puffs of smoke appeared around Naruto and disappeared to reveal six Kage Bunshins. Naruto handed something to them and they spread out around Kiba in a general circle shape.
Kiba was looking around wildly, that smirk on the orange wearing boy's face didn't look good.
All the Bunshins threw something down on the ground at once. Only those with a quick eye could see the small grey pellets that flew from the hands of the Naruto clones.
The arena was filled with a thick grey smoke, covering the sight of the two boys and dog from everyone else. Neji and Hinata tried to see through the smoke with their Byakugan but could only see vague shapes.
"The smoke is threaded with chakra," Neji muttered amazed.
All of a sudden Kakashi sneezed violently, several times. The silver haired man rubbed his nose with his sleeve sheepishly. Looking up to most of the room staring at him.
"Sorry." He waved his hand in front of him nonchalantly. "The smoke made me sneeze."
Everyone looked back to the floor, noticing that the smoke showed no sign of disappearing. They could also hear two sets of sneezing in the smoke.
Sasuke's eyes widened. "He's put some kind of smell irritant in the smoke, to stop Inuzuka from smelling where he is... Heh, that's Naruto for you."
Everyone who had heard looked curiously at the smoke, they could smell something off about the smoke if they really tried.
Back in the arena, Naruto was unsealing more and more kunai, all of them connected to separate spools of ninja wire.
"Heh. That'll do it." He summoned another two Kage Bunshin. "Get the dog," he ordered.
"Aye aye sir," the two mock saluted and ran off into the smoke, red eyes barely visible.
'Using the Sharingan to see through the smoke huh? Heh, good idea me.' Naruto channelled chakra to his eyes and turned on his own Sharingan, using the ability to see chakra to locate the two chakras - seen as some sort of flames - in the smog.
Naruto smirked. 'Too easy'
He started throwing kunai in seemingly odd directions, but as they piled up you could see a sort of shape forming from the overlapping wires.
The smoke began to fade, making everyone - even Gaara - lean forward curiously.
Many eyes widened as they saw the intricate cage of wires that held the panicking figure of Inuzuka Kiba.
As the smoke faded more, they could see two Naruto's holding the shaking Akamaru; one held a kunai to the puppy's neck.
The smoke was completely gone now, everything could now be seen down in the arena. The only thing to add was the smirking figure of another Naruto who was walking steadily towards Kiba. The onlookers concluded that this was the real Naruto.
Naruto blurred and silently landed on top of the cage - where the wires all overlapped. He drew a kunai from his thigh holster and held it in a reverse grip, Naruto looked down at Kiba and smirked even wider at the scared look on Kiba's face as the dog like boy kept glancing between the real Naruto and the two clones holding his precious dog.
"Let Akamaru go you bastard!" Kiba roared, his fists clenching at his sides. He involuntarily whined when the kunai was pressed closed onto the white dog's neck.
"Do you forfeit?" Naruto asked softly. "The dog will live if you forfeit." A small line of blood running down snow white fur made Kiba panic.
"Yes! I forfeit, I forfeit! Now let Akamaru go!"
"Hn, very well," Naruto motioned to his two clones who let the dog down on the ground and dispelled leaving only smoke behind.
Naruto shook his head slightly as he gained the memories and thoughts of his clones.
'Interesting, I gain the memories of my clones... I'll think on this later'
He dropped down outside the wire cage and cut an inconspicuous wire at the edge of the structure, making the whole thing collapse neatly into bundles of wire and kunai which Naruto sealed back into his scroll.
Kiba ran to his shivering dog and gathered it into his arms muttering soft comforts into the floppy ears.
Naruto just turned and ascended back up the stairs. Not taking notice to the glares being sent to his back.
"Well done, you did well...regretfully," Sasuke said as Naruto rejoined his team up on the balcony
"Hn."
Sasuke just laughed and turned back to the arena.
Naruto went and stood next to him, sighing softly in content as his blood started to stop rushing through his body, incited by the thrill of battle.
The silence didn't last long as someone shouting drew him out of his musing.
"Naruto-Baka!"
Naruto turned and got a brief look at pink hair before his head was snapped to the side, a ringing 'slap' echoed through the room.
Yo! Sorry its a bit late, got caught up with homework from school, ya know?
Hope this was alright for you guys let me know what you think ne?
REVIEWS!
Antex-The Legendary Zoroark - Thanks for your review. Your question's... Hmmm? Maybe, if people want it I'll put it in but I'm leaning against it for now. If I don't put Kaguya in I will guarantee that something as big as Kaguya appears though... To keep it interesting.
The Mangekyō... Wait and see ;D
Wyrtha - Here it is! Do you like what I've done, thanks for your review
The Sith'ari - perhaps. Although it will be after the time skip.
Post1e - yup, in the future though. Thanks!
thor94 - that's just the image you get now. Things will change in the future, you can't expect Madara to be all good and pure just as he is revived, he will change. Naruto does that a lot.
dbtiger63 - at first, but he gradually grows away from Madara as he becomes stronger. The plan... I agree, Naruto will have a different approach... Just have to figure out what though... :(
ND99sama - thanks for your review, I try :). Yeah... that bit... Eh hehe. I wrote the invincible bit before the whole talk with Madara and the weaker bit... Well just think of it as the fluctuating emotions that the Sharingan brings, at the talk Naruto didn't have the Sharingan activated and when he was running through the trees, he did. The power of the Sharingan would do that when its directly on don't you thinks
To: Rocuezar, Habu2010, guest, Hachiman, fenixrojo36, Brehze and Dzerx.
Thank you for your reviews, its appreciated.
OK then. That's me off. Going to go revise for prelims
Ja ne ;)
