Preparation and Guests
For the last few days, Mugen helped his fellow Jounins to prepare for the Chuunin Exams, especially with Anko. They spent most of their times in the Forest of Death, putting traps and releasing more deadly animals free. Anko sighed and dust off her hands after releasing some giant snakes. "And that's that! Come on, we're done here." She said and sighed when Mugen kept looking behind his back. "There's nothing on your back, Mugen. Now, let's go." Said the kunoichi, with a tone of annoyance. "H-how can you be sure?! You haven't checked my back! Come on, please! I freaking beg of you!" He said while turning his back against her. Anko smirked and did what he said. "Oh shit, yeah there is something on your back, Mugen! Crap..!" Said Anko, pretending to be surprised. "Seriously?! Whatever it is, get it off of me!" Mugen yelled and closed his eyes. "Your wish is my command!" Said Anko and she hit him hard on his butt. He jumped up, grabbing his in pain bottom.
"Ow! What the heck, Anko?! Did you get it?! It was a spider, wasn't it? I fucking knew it! That's why I hate stepping into a place like this!" He said and started to rub all over his clothes, worrying a spider could be in his sleeves and jacket. Anko laughed so hard that she had to bent over with her arms on her stomach. "You're such a pussy! There was nothing on your back, you baby! I was just messing with you!" She said and continued to laughed at the color drained, shocked male. Mugen was speechless and in his mind was filled with, "How could she?" "Evil…" "Demon…!"
Mugen stomped past her and jumped on one of the branches before making his way to the exit without waiting for his purple haired friend. Anko caught up to him after a few seconds. Her eyes were watery and she has a big smile on her face. "Aww, come on, Mugen. I was just playing around with my good old buddy!" She said and nudge him gently with her elbow. Mugen huffed and turned his head away from her. Anko got close to him, enough for her to whisper at him. "If you hate this place so much, then why did you come find me?" She asked, with a smile on her face. A part of her just want to cheer him up but the other was just curious. "Idiot, you're important to me. I would run into a forest full of poisonous bugs just to make sure you're alright. Or save your ass." He said, still not looking at the woman.
Anko was surprised by his answer but doesn't show it. She smirked and wrapped her arm around his neck. "Well, aren't you a gentleman! Your beautiful damsel would like to thank you for rescuing her ass." She said. Mugen almost lost his footing because Anko put her around his neck and both fell from the trees. Mugen landed on the ground safely with his friend in his arms. "Looks like the damsel owes me more for rescuing her ass for the second time." He said and chuckled. Anko lowered her head to cover her blush. "Hm? What's wrong?" Mugen asked and he got hit on the head, making him let the woman down on her feet. "Don't get too ahead of yourself, you jerk. Haha, come on, Lord Hokage must be waiting for our report." She said and jumped out over the exit. Mugen reached his hand out to her and asked her to wait before he followed behind her.
After went to report to the Third Hokage, Mugen and Anko got separated as they have their own errands to deal with. A friend of Mugen, a Jounin, asked for his help to write on banners for the exams. He met with him at the arena where the final exam was going to be held and greeted him. "Yo! I see you already did a few without me." He said and the man chuckled. "I was saving the best for last. What do you think I should write on this one? It's for welcoming the candidates." The man asked and looked up at the thinking shinobi. "Hmmm, how about 'Welcome to the exams, modafukas!'?" He asked and earned a shocked expression from the man. "Dude, you can't be serious! The Hokage will kill me!" He said and Mugen laughed.
"I know, I was just kidding! Sheesh… Just say welcome and tell them good luck.." Mugen suggested and the man let out a sigh. Saying that they had always written that message and he wanted to make something different this year. "You didn't let me finish. 'Welcome and good luck on the Chuunin Exams! Or you'll gonna be a failure and everybody is gonna laugh at you! And your failure is going to be remembered for generations.' How about that? Quite motivation, don't you think?" Mugen asked with a smile and a thumbs up. The man's color drained as he couldn't believe what his friend had just said. "Don't you care about your village's reputation?!" He yelled and made Mugen laughed more. "Hey, it's your mistake for asking my help. Look, I'll help you put on the banners while you write this last one. Deal?" He said and he walked over to the neat stack of banners. The man sighed and gave him a slow nod. "He is a skilled ninja…skilled for making my work into hell!" The man thought.
"Jeez, man…That is so plain." Said Mugen, looking at the welcome banner with his arms crossed. "I don't want to hear that from you! You can go now, you gotta greet the Sand and Grass ninja, right?" He said and Mugen nodded. "Yup, catch you later." He said and he jumped onto the buildings, making his way to the Village Gates. "Yo, Izumo! Kotetsu!" Mugen greeted at the two Jounin, who were bored at their post but lightened up when they saw their friend. "Hey, Mugen! I was informed that you're going to escort the candidates along with their teachers to rooms. They will arrive soon." Said Izumo. Mugen nodded and tossed two cans of cold soda at the two before he stood against their booth, chatting with them.
After a couple of hours, the candidates from the Hidden Sound and Sand, arrived. "Greetings, my name is Baki. This is my team, Gaara, Kankurou and Temari. I apologize for being late…Tora-San, right?" He said and Mugen nodded. "No worries, just sign on the log over there and I will lead you to your rooms." Mugen explained and the man nodded, walked to the booth and wrote down their names. "My name is Harawa, and here are my team that will participate the exams. Kinuta Dosu, the team leader and they are his teammates, Tsuchi Kin and Abumi Zaku." The Sound Jounin introduced and they bowed to Mugen slightly. Mugen nodded and turned back to Harawa, "Can I talk to you for a moment before you put your name in the log?" Mugen asked an caused curious looks from the Hidden Sound Genin. Harawa raised his arm at them to ease their looks. "Very well." He simply said and followed Mugen away from the group at the gate.
Mugen told him about his encounters with the Sound ninjas along with other ninjas outside of the village. Along with Anko and her teammate's kidnapping. Harawa's expression changed and he puts his hand on his chin. "That's news to me, actually. Although, I think they were just some rogue ninja as they are quite a lot of them. I will report this to the other Jounins when the exams are over. On their behalf, I apologize for the inconvenience they had caused to the Leaf." He said and bowed. Mugen was still suspicious but he has to act polite so that he doesn't cause any problems to the Third. "It's okay, Harawa-San, no need to bow. I'm just glad that I get to clear this misunderstanding. That's all I have to say, thank you for your time." Said Mugen and smiled. Harawa nodded and smiled back, walking back to the group.
Soon after the Sand and the Sound's arrival, the Hidden Grass ninjas arrived then later register their names in the log. While waiting for the Grass, Mugen sensed hostility and from instinct, his hand quickly moved to his sword. Just a few inches from the handle and he looked where the source of the sense of blood thirst. He was surprised when he looked directly at one of the Sand ninjas, the one with red hair and 'love' written on his forehead. "There's no way such blood thirst could come from a kid…No, there are some who have such hostility. Better keep an eye on him." Mugen relaxed and made sure no one noticed him being alert. "Alright, if you're ready follow me!".
"Phew, that was a close one…Jeez, Gaara. I know you're itchin' for battle but at least be subtle!" The hooded boy with purple markings said to the red head. He, along with his team and teacher were in their room. "Maybe I should start with you..!" The red head said, giving the boy a death glare. The boy froze and cold sweats started to form on his face. "Calm down, both of you! Gaara, Konkurou is right. You were lucky that the Tiger of the Leaf didn't noticed your hostility. Otherwise, the whole plan is ruined." Said Baki, resting his back against the wall by the window. The boy growled before he turned and walked into another room to be alone. "You two rest because tomorrow we got some training to do." Baki ordered and his students obeyed.
Mugen was on his way to the Hokage Mansion, report about his suspicions towards the Sand ninjas. Then, the man noticed a certain short blonde boy and greeted him. "Hey, Naruto! How's training with Master Jiraiya?" He asked after the boy greeted him back. Naruto groaned, "He kept peeping on girls playing in the river while I was trying to do a Summoning! I just can't believe him! And Kakashi-Sensei has been busy that jerk, Sasuke!" He said and Mugen chuckled. "I know, I know. Just be patient, the training is important to him too. He just doesn't show it and…get distracted easily." Mugen said while turning his head, sweat dropped as he remembered when Jiraiya used him to do his errands while he does his 'research' and sometimes he was forced to do his 'research'. "You too, huh?" Naruto asked and watched the man sighed.
"Wait! You summoned your tiger in my class awhile ago, right? Think you can teach me? Please?!" Naruto asked with such hopes in his eyes. "I could but you're under Master Jiraiya's training right now so, I think you should just stick with him." Said Mugen and got a loud groan from the boy. Mugen patted his shoulder, "When the time comes, I'm sure you can use the Summoning Jutsu. Just practice and never give up like you always do." He said and smiled at him. Naruto tilted his head and his arms crossed. "How do you know I always never give up, Sensei?" He asked. Mugen jumped and his mind was rushed with answers that he could come up with but couldn't decide. "I-Iruka t-told me! Yeah! Iruka told me about you, you little rascal." He said and ruffled his already messy hair. Naruto kept looking at him suspiciously, didn't take the bait. "What the heck?! Do you have woman's intuition or something?!" Mugen thought. "I..uh…Gotta go!" Mugen threw a smoke bomb in between him and Naruto before he hid in the alley, watching the boy looking left and right while calling out his name. The man let out a sigh of relief and the boy was out of his sight. "He is so energetic…kids…" He said and jumped when Anko was standing behind him, grinning.
"Whatcha doing there? Hiding from a girl or a guy dressed up as a girl?" Anko teased and watched her friend stood up from falling on the ground. "More like a boy with woman's intuition…What are you doing back here? Stalking?" He asked and the woman just shook her head, not feeling offended by the man's remark. "Just saw you and that brat. I knew that I just have to scare ya when I you threw that smoke bomb. I mean you did the same thing when a girl from the other class back at the Academy, about confessed to you." She said and Mugen blushed of embarrassment as he remembered how shy he was when he was young and some girls thought it was cute, which made him shy even more when they approached him.
Mugen dusts off his pants and had his arms crossed. "And how did you know about that? Nevermind, I gotta go meet Lord Hokage." He said and walked past her. Anko walked up to him until they walk side by side. "About what? Something up with our new guests?" Anko asked, changed to her serious attitude. "Kind of but I hope it was just nothing and my imagination." He explained. The Hokage was reviewing a few reports from other team's mission until he heard a knock on his door. "Come in." He said. He knocked the ash out of his pipe and saw Mugen along with Anko walked inside his office. "What is it Mugen? Anko?" He asked. Mugen explained what happened to the Hokage but it didn't surprised him at all. "The boy…His name is Gaara, son of the third Kazekage. There are rumors that he may forced the One Tail into his son, making him a Jinchuuriki." Sarutobi explained and let out a puff of smoke.
Both Jounin was surprised about the information that they are hearing. "Isn't that against the rules or something, Old Man?" Anko asked and Mugen nodded, agreeing with her question. "No, it's not as long as the Jinchuuriki can control his Tailed Beast." The Hokage explained and gave a look at Mugen. The man understood what he meant, Naruto is also participate in the exams. "Don't worry, the Anbu has already known about this information. They will step in whenever the Jinchuuriki lost his control. I suggest you be on your guard as well, Mugen. Genma also know about this, since he will be the proctor of the final exam." Said the Third Hokage and both Jounin nodded their heads. "Anything else? You are dismissed." He said and the two left the office.
The two walked down on the stairs with the Sand's Jinchuuriki in their minds. "This year's exam has become more interesting, huh?" Said Anko. Mugen sighed, "Tell me about it. Let's just hope nothing happens…". On the next day, Mugen stood on a roof top with a few Anbu members as they stared at the corpse in front of them A friend to one of the Anbu and also, Mugen. The man clenched his hands and gritted his teeth. "Tsk…damn it..!"
