Talking: 'Gimme Ramen'
Thinking: 'Are they going to give me ramen?'
Jutsu: Flying Thunder God Technique
Tailed Beast talking: 'Do you have any idea who I am!?'
Tailed Beast thinking: 'He seriously has no idea who I am!?'
If it is "toad," then it is a dumb animal; if it is "Toad," then it is a summons.
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For better or worse, I do not own Naruto.
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Previously: Naruto and his friends, and the rest of Team 7, entered the Chunin Selection Exam. While competing, Naruto gained the attention of one Karin Uzumaki who was convinced that Naruto was not really a member of her clan. After passing the first part of the exam and then continuing on to the survival test in the Forest of Death, Naruto creates an army of Shadow Clones disguised as other competitors to act as scouts and distractions to make life easier for Team 7. In the process, he discovers that many of his clones are being destroyed by a Hidden Grass genin who is abnormally powerful and uses snakes to fight…
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Chapter 7: Finding Family amongst Death
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Land of Fire
Outside of Konohagakure
Training Ground 44, a.k.a. the Forest of Death
Day one of the second exam
Nearing sundown after the first day
Naruto frowned as he assimilated memories of dispersed clones. Based upon signs from one battle, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino had staged a trap which had successfully netted them a scroll. Unfortunately, it had also resulted in the deaths of a fellow Leaf squad. It appeared that Team 8 regretted this, since they had made a point of making a quick burial to protect the remains so that they could be collected for later, yet it emphasized how bloodthirsty this exam was.
Hidden Leaf had killed Hidden Leaf, a disturbing concept.
Due to the sheer number of participants from Konohagakure, most of Naruto's disguised clones wore that headband to help blend in, and yet his fellow countrymen were just as dangerous as the foreigners in their desire to succeed. Some just seemed desperate as time passed and the enormity of the challenge before them sunk in, and others did try to attack to just wound or capture their comrades, yet it was still shocking, terrifying even, and raised disquieting questions for Naruto.
XXX
Elsewhere in the forest
Tenten beamed with pleasure as Naruto's clone led them to the aftermath of a battle between two cells. The fighting had been so bloody and fierce as they went at each other with kunai that only one person out of the six genin was left alive. Even then, the survivor was only still breathing because another group of Naruto's clones had done emergency first aid. 'Thanks again, Naruto!' she said cheerfully.
'Hah! Seeing Lee take Sasuke's ego down a notch was worth it! I only wish I had a camera for it! And besides, training with you guys helped get me here! See yah when this is over?'
Rock Lee was about to begin an emotional outburst about the youthful flames Naruto possessed when Tenten clapped a hand over his mouth. 'Enemy territory,' she said calmly, and Lee immediately stilled himself. Might Guy had made it perfectly clear in the past that there was a time and place for trying to inspire people about the Springtime of Youth, and this was not one of those times. Might Guy had made it perfectly clear that Tenten's advice was to always be heeded in dangerous situations, citing her ability to always keep a clear mind.
For his own part, Neji Hyuga only stared with narrowed eyes at the Uzumaki boy's clone. He was too pragmatic to pass up the chance to get an easy scroll, yet he wanted to fight the original, since he was the one to initially cause the Lady Hinata to become more unjustifiably confident.
XXX
In another part of the forest
Shikamaru and Naruto's shook hands on the deal they had secretly made. The latter was unwilling to directly provide food to a rival squad, even if members of it were friends, but he was happy to tell them where to find some injured foreigner cells that they could raid for their food. Naruto benefited because these enemy teams were still a potential threat, so Shikamaru would discreetly guide Ino and Choji towards them and take them out.
'I've already got about forty-two plans developed based on where we can use the terrain, how weary they will be, and our abilities to get the scrolls and food without too much effort,' Shikamaru thought confidently, 'but the real concern in this exam in terms of competition might actually be Naruto. Clones with such range should require a lot of chakra, and yet I thought he said he was a wind element? Not simple elemental clones then. Something is a little off on his abilities, including his rapid progress. No matter, too troublesome to worry about it until we see if we have to face him in the next round. Besides, it's not like he'll want to really hurt us.'
XXX
With Team 7
Sasuke had pulled ahead of the squad to take point, forging the way as they walked through the forest, to help assert how he was the most suited to lead. Naruto did not protest, mostly because he was a little distracted by the constant flow of information as clones died from enemy squads, the wildlife ('If I could seal one of those tigers in a scroll…'), and other natural hazards.
'I've got to get a handle on this,' Naruto thought as he winced with pain. That last clone had died by a fire jutsu, and while the clone had quickly dispersed before the burns became too severe, Naruto still experienced a ghost of it. 'This method is incredibly useful. My clones aren't strong enough to beat other squads unless I have enough clones around, and I can't even manage that with so many threats, so it's just information, but I'm still learning a lot. I've figured out from Team 8 that the redheaded eyebrowless kid from Hidden Sand is named Gaara like Kabuto said, and uses sand of all things to fight. I have a rough idea of which squads might be in the third round from their skills, but it's a distraction when I keep receiving all this information out of the blue. I have to learn how to absorb it without being distracted! I'll have to talk to Haku.' He did not even notice how he wanted help from Haku first, and not Kakashi.
As for Sakura, she was getting a little nervous as time passed. The anticipation as she waited for some enemies to appear was getting to her. They had the scroll they needed now since Naruto's clones had brought one (the clone explained the former users had been killed by the wildlife, and when Sasuke insisted on seeing the bodies, they had found signs of the most gigantic bear Sakura could imagine), yet something just seemed wrong. They had seen no sign of any enemies or other animals, just the three of them as they traveled. 'Where is everyone?' she wondered.
Sakura was also worried about how they were just walking on the ground, when someone could try and ambush them from above, but she knew she did not have the chakra reserves to run up and leap across trees without tiring out soon. 'I'll ask Kakashi-sensei if he can help with me with my reserves,' she thought hopefully.
XXX
Land of Fire
Konohagakure
Some generic bar, safe and sound
Haku was rubbing his forehead in frustration as he listened to what Kakashi Hatake had to tell him. 'Obviously I have to still work on teaching Naruto to not be ruled by his ego,' he thought regrettably, 'Oh well, he still did good to get past the first exam when so many others failed!'
For his part, Kakashi only gave an eye smile of amusement at Haku's woes. Truthfully, he was still a little resentful of how Haku had taken over training Naruto so much, and how it had thrown Kakashi's plans off, but he had to also appreciate how much safer it made Naruto. Hopefully getting a few drinks together would help mend some fences.
XXX
Back with Team 7
The sun was starting to go down, and Naruto was trying to get Sasuke to stop so that they could camp out. 'C'mon teme! Traveling through the dark is stupid! We can set up a camp and have time to put up traps if start now!'
'Quiet, dobe,' the Uchiha retorted without looking back, 'we'll be fine for a bit longer, and we need to get to the tower as soon as possible.'
Naruto just scowled at the back of Sasuke's head, his education from Haku screaming that it was a bad idea. Fed up, he just stopped walking, sat down, and began to pull out relevant sealing scrolls. Sasuke could tell from the sounds what Naruto was doing right away, but gave no response since he hoped that it would pressure Naruto into catching up, but it was half a minute before Sakura realized what was happening.
'Naruto! What're you doing!? We've got to stay together to pass this exam!'
'I know, so why don't you guys get back here?' Naruto shot back as he unsealed some sleeping bags, ninja wire, lots and lots of explosive tags, and lots of other assorted gear.
Fuming, both Sakura and Sasuke doubled back and helped set up the traps and shelter. The latter stood off to the side, pointedly ignoring his blonde teammate, while Sakura started cooking dinner. 'This will really impress Sasuke-kun! ' she thought with brief happiness over the food she was preparing and how it would help prove she would be the perfect wife, before remembering how angry she was. Inner Sakura resumed spewing out insults at Naruto, while questioning what gave him the right to try and act cool like Sasuke.
Finally, Sakura just snapped.
'Naruto!' she yelled at him.
In a flash, he was beside her with his hand over her mouth, 'Quiet!' he hissed. Looking around, he noticed Sasuke was up in a crouch, and also checking the perimeter.
'We're trying to keep a low profile,' the blonde fiercely whispered to his pink-haired teammate, 'so if you've got something to say, keep it down!'
He stepped back as she kept glaring at him.
Finally she hissed, 'What do you think you're doing!? You've been acting on your own, forcing us to follow your lead, and from all this,' she gestured at what Naruto had unsealed, 'you've been hiding from us what you're real skills are. Your teammates need to know those kinds of things to help keep us all alive!'
Naruto just stared at her blankly for a moment, before 'You actually think I'm a teammate?'
Sakura was confused at this question, meanwhile Sasuke pretended to be ignoring them both by having his back to them while keeping an eye out for people trying to sneak up on them all. He was also turning on his sharingan at intervals to make sure there was no sign of enemy chakra nearby.
'All you and Sasuke have done is ignore me or insult me or hit me from day one,' Naruto continued tactlessly, 'and I didn't think you would believe me or pay any attention if I actually showed you what I was capable of now. Because you wouldn't accept what I'm capable of. Am I wrong?'
Sakura opened her mouth to refute it, yet even Inner Sakura was strangely silent. She stared and stared at him, while the smell of food wafted over and her hand felt the soft sleeping bag Naruto had provided beside her, before she lowered her head, 'Sorry,' she said faintly.
Naruto was impassive for a moment, before breaking out his trademark grin, 'No problem! What about you Sasuke, anything to say?'
The Avenger-in-training was conflicted for a moment, caught between his need for vengeance and his need for companionship. Sadly, the part of him that was afraid of feeling the pain of losing anyone again, won over, 'Hmm, did you say something?'
XXX
Konohagakure
Kakashi looked up from his "Make Out Paradise" book, a feeling of wonderment welling up inside of him, 'What is this sensation?' he thought with confusion.
XXX
Back in the forest
With long practice, Naruto hid the pain that he felt at that comment, and instead said, 'Nah. I need to get some sleep now though. Got a lot of memories in my head to sort through.' And with that he unzipped the nearest sleeping bag, crawled in, and went to sleep.
Sakura was a little unsure for a moment if Sasuke was trying to be hurtful or not, but she quickly distracted herself from such silly thoughts. 'Of course Sasuke wouldn't do that! I wonder where Naruto got all this equipment from? It must have cost a lot. Oh, from the Wave mission when it got bumped up to an A-rank. Huh, I thought he spent his entire share of the mission pay on ramen.'
XXX
Land of Fire
Outside of Konohagakure
Training Ground 44, a.k.a. the Forest of Death
Examination Tower
Day two of the exam
Late morning
Exam proctor Anko was sitting on a couch while one of her subordinates brought her some water and food to replenish her exhausted body. Anko accepted the offerings gracefully, knowing the man meant well. Unfortunately, the root cause was the curse mark on the back of her neck, which was disrupting her body ever since she had briefly fought her former teacher, Orochimaru. The man had infiltrated the exam for reasons unknown, and had briefly fought his former student when she had caught up with him, before activing the curse mark he had put on her and had then departed. Before her were the two ANBU who had helped escorted her here through the Forest of Death, and were waiting for her to finally give her report while a third ANBU stood by to memorize her story to relay it directly to the Third Hokage.
'When I found him, Orochimaru,' Anko panted, 'he seemed a little annoyed actually. Maybe even angry. It was faint, he was trying to hide it, but it was like when he did an experiment and it failed, and he later learned it was a defect it the supplies he had acquired. I think…that whatever happened in there, something beyond his control interfered. He toyed with me a bit before leaving, and when I tried to figure out his agenda, he kept deflecting my attention with insults and insinuations.'
'Probably the sudden swell in competitors,' the bird faced ANBU captain, "Bird" theorized. At Anko's questioning look, he elaborated, 'The observing ANBU reported approximately three hundred unregistered contestants coming out of nowhere. It's possible that their presence distracted Orochimaru enough that he ran out of time, afraid that he would encounter one of the patrolling squads. We're not strong enough to stop him, but we would last long enough to get some sort of warning or message off on his location.'
Anko bowed her head in thought at that. What was not commonly known was how the Village Leader who was hosting the chunin exams would dispatch ANBU squads to watch over the contestants as a form of insurance. This prevented any of the competing villages from inserting any ringers that were contending solely to eliminate the most promising members of the younger generations from rival Hidden Villages. Otherwise, someone could theoretically insert someone whose rank was only genin but whose threat level was an A+ ranked threat, who would then slaughter all the competition during a survival exercise.
The ANBU were also tasked with collecting the corpses of any ninja whose bodies held valuable secrets. Some ambitious young genin would try to earn promotions by capturing, dead or alive, the Bloodlines of a rival village. Just as how they body of a Main Branch Hyuga was to be returned as intact as possible if they died competing in a foreign village, the Hidden Leaf's ANBU had to keep track of all the foreigners running around the Forest of Death and preserve their remains if they died. Failure to do so would have severe repercussions.
'I guess whoever did that screwed up that ^&*( 's scheme, but they probably made things too difficult for you to know what else was going on.'
'Yeah, we've been working overtime on it,' Bird replied, 'couldn't be helped though. Still, not surprised the Uzumaki boy's still making life hard for us.'
'Him?' Anko said in surprise.
'Yeah, we recognize their body language, and some of them dropped their disguises to confer with the boy's friends.'
Anko scowled at that, such opportunities would not be available in real life, 'Naïve fool!'
'Yep. Still, he did manage it to try and weaken the squads that weren't from here. We'll have to make up some report in case the other villages call foul about our own genin cooperating though.'
XXX
Land of Fire
Outside of Konohagakure
Training Ground 44, a.k.a. the Forest of Death
Day two
Afternoon
Team 7 had been making their way further and further into the forest. Occasionally Sasuke would head up a tree to get a look at the sun to confirm they were heading in the right direction, and that they were making excellent time in getting to the tower at the center of the forest. 'Something's not right,' he thought irritably, 'I should've fought someone by now. But we've been alone this entire time! But why is it?' Then his eyes locked onto Naruto, and he forced himself to consider a bitter truth, 'Could the dobe be keeping everyone else away? No, it's impossible that his clones could be skilled enough to do so!' The idea that Naruto's clones were fighting the enemy cells had never occurred to Sasuke until now. In truth, they were mostly just drawing off the other squads or distracting them. 'Alright, stop and think. I'll just head off in another direction. When we run into someone to fight, that'll prove that I've just had bad luck, and he's not behind this.'
With that in mind, Sasuke raced down the tree and headed of at a sharp angle from their initial path, 'C'mon, this way!' he called without looking back.
Seeing him quickly disappearing, Sakura and Naruto had no choice but to chase after their reckless teammate, one wondering why her crush was suddenly acting so contrary, and the other mildly annoyed. 'I think that there's some enemies up ahead. No matter, I never got any bad vibes from them, and now I can test out my own skills,' Naruto thought with a feral grin. He was feeling much cockier now since there had not been any more signs of that particular Hidden Grass genin with the snakes.
They continued on for about half an hour, when suddenly kunai came flying them from ahead and above.
'Surrender, Hidden Leaf, and we won't kill you!' a voice called down to them.
Looking up, Team 7 saw three Hidden Grass genin: a burly girl with black hair and about fifteen years old, a more slender teenage boy about the same age with blonde hair and glasses, and finally a second girl with red hair, glasses, and maybe a little younger than the others.
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-Enter Naruto OST – Heavy Violence –
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In response, Sasuke just grunted with satisfaction and heedlessly jumped up to attack. Surprisingly, it was the red haired girl who reacted first, despite how she was standing a little behind the other two, jumping down and snarling, 'The blonde is mine!' With that, she threw down a kunai with a letter bomb on it that forced Team 7 to separate, even as Naruto and Sakura tried to catch up with Sasuke.
'Then I'll take the hothead,' the older girl called back as she leapt even higher to meet the raven haired Hidden Leaf genin, while her male teammate silently dropped down to meet Sakura who was still staying on the ground. For Naruto's part, he rocketed backwards even further from his team to escape the fuselage of exploding notes and projectiles raining down on him from his attacker.
XXX
With Sasuke
The older girl dodged a wall of fire and threw a barrage of kunai at the source. Quickly the raven haired Leaf ninja dodged the attack, and retaliated with his own. Around and around they circled each other, using chakra to propel themselves from tree to tree, throwing weapons at each other. Throughout it all, Sasuke kept his distance while she tried to get closer so that she could use her greater strength and mass to overpower him.
'Kid's not bad,' she assessed, 'but he's still too inexperienced, misjudging his throws as he leaps around while trying to hit a target that's also moving. What was his jonin sensei thinking, putting him in this exam?'
Suddenly the boy in question mistimed a landing on another branch and stumbled, seizing the opportunity she charged him when she suddenly seemed to hit an invisible wall. 'Ninja wire!? When did—some of the shuriken he threw had ninja wire on them? But how did he know where I would go!?'
Low on weapons but not on chakra, Sasuke cast a few quick handsigns and blew out a barrage of fireballs at his target that slammed into his entangled enemy's flesh she screamed in horror before being cut off.
'Not bad,' Sasuke sneered with his red eyes, 'but not good enough for a Uchiha. It was easy for my Sharingan to read your movements.'
XXX
With Sakura
Sakura screamed as another shuriken cut her arm.
'He's-he's too strong,' she thought with terror. Each projectile the older boy sent at her struck her in some way, no matter how she tried to block or dodge, they all hit. Every single one.
She screamed for help from Naruto or Sasuke, but no one came, and that contemptuous smirk never left her enemy's face as she felt herself growing more and more exhausted.
'Is this really all you're capable of? Don't you have any talent at all?' the Grass genin finally asked, the genuine curiosity in his voice hurting Sakura more than disdain would have, as if he genuinely could not see any value in her. 'I'd assumed you were a medic or a sensor like Karin for a bit, but you wouldn't have tried taking me head on like that if you were. You showed some good use of basic ninja moves at first, but you've shown no signs you've learned anything since the academy. Why are you even here? Well?'
Sakura could only try to scowl up at him as he casually stood upon a higher tree branch, as she fought back tears.
Suddenly the world around her seemed to dissolve, and she saw the male Grass genin somehow further away and running towards Sasuke-kun.
In a rush all of her injuries were gone, as well as the pain. 'Genjutsu!' she realized, 'he was able to weave such a subtle genjutsu!?'
Sharingan blazing, Sasuke saw how his enemy projected a wave of chakra that the young Uchiha realized was a genjutsu. Effortlessly seeing through it, he leapt forward, and rammed a kunai into his enemy's chest while locking eyes with him.
Coughing out blood, the Grass genin gave a rattling sound and collapsed.
Smirking to himself, Sasuke took a moment to make sure Sakura was still alive, and went to find where Naruto was.
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-End Naruto OST – Heavy Violence –
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XXX
With Naruto and Karin
'What's your problem lady!?' Naruto yelled as the red haired, red eyed chick with glasses tried to cut him again. 'Did I do something to offend her or something? Her attacks are way too personal, and worse she keeps driving me away from the others!'
'You're a liar! You're no Uzumaki! Not with that hair!'
'What!?' Naruto roared in rage, 'I am a Uzumaki! The Old Man said so since I was a kid!' While there were many, many things that could anger Naruto, he was surprised to realize how much that insult hurt. In the end, his name was one of the few things he really had in his lonely life, and something no one had ever challenged before. 'You take that back! Wind Release: Gale Palm!' And he clapped his hands together and blew Karin backwards with a blast of air. Fortunately for her, Naruto's lack of experience with the technique, especially when so distracted, meant that not enough chakra was properly put into it, so she was still barely able to keep her balance.
'Uzumaki have only red hair, like me!' she snarled back. 'Every one of them except me is dead, and you have no right to insult my family like that! Saying you're one of us!'
Truthfully, Karin was a little more nervous about fighting the blond name-stealer now. She had felt how his chakra had suddenly engulfed the forest, and had spread throughout in those weird clones. Monitoring them had also led her to discover something horrible: Lord Orochimaru himself had been competing. The man had been hiding his chakra signature somehow, but when Karin had tried to figure out who was destroying so many of the clones so suddenly, she had found him. 'He'll know what's been happening, so I'll have to do a good job in proving I've got what he wanted,' she thought nervously, 'but why was he fighting this boy?'
Seeing how they were just facing off against each other, with the blond having a stupefied look on his face at her last statement, probably at being caught in the act, Karin focused her Mind's Eye of the Kagura onto him in full.
And now Karin could only stare back in shock as she felt the presence of the person before her.
'It's so happy and bright. His chakra makes me feel warm inside just being around it!'
'A-are you really a Uzumaki?' he asked hesitantly, eyes boring into her own.
'Y-yes. Are you what you say you are?' she responded, shocked at what she was sensing.
'I am Naruto Uzumaki, of the Uzumaki clan.'
Karin felt his chakra for any sign of the minute disruption that would happen if he lied, and Naruto looked for every hint of body language that Haku had trained him for, to tell if she was trying to deceive him.
They both found nothing.
'Cousin!'
'Cousin!'
Both of them were crying as they embraced each other, finding family at last.
XXX
Just to the side
'The ^&*((# is with Naruto Uzumaki?' one of the observing ANBU muttered to his companion.
'Got me,' was the response. 'One moment he's fighting her to the death, and now?'
'Better radio in to the Third that he's found family. The Hokage should be prepared.'
'Right.'
XXX
Back with Team 7
It was this scene that Sasuke discovered, his teammate hugging and enemy. 'Dobe! What are you doing!? Why aren't you fighting her?'
'Oh, hey Sasuke,' Naruto called back while waving, 'guess what? I've found a long-lost relative!'
Sasuke could only stare in disbelief for half a minute as he processed how his teammate was a) not fighting an enemy like he was supposed to, b) was actually happily embracing said enemy and apparently not in a genjutsu, and of course, c) that the Dobe had found family. That the person who had grown up his entire life without a family had found someone while Sasuke had had everything he loved torn from him, and had suffered for it. 'Why!? Why does he get all of that? Why him!?' Sasuke seethed. 'You do know that she and her teammates were just trying to kill us, right!?' he snarled, to which the blonde and redheaded idiots just blinked in confusion, apparently they had forgotten. 'Well, of course I say "were," because I killed the other two,' the Uchiha added with a sneer.
Karin gave a small gasp at that, and broke away from Naruto and headed in the direction Sasuke had come from. The would-be Avenger let her go; planning to deal with her once she got angry and attacked in revenge. Naruto followed behind, a studiously blank face on. Following at a more casual pace, Sasuke caught up to them, and almost stumbled in further surprise. 'I-I killed them! How!?'
Contrary to expectations though, both the other Grass ninja were alive and breathing, albeit painfully, while Karin worked to make them more comfortable.
'Th-that was incredible,' Sakura gasped, 'you healed them so fast, and from such mortal wounds! Is that what your teammate meant by you being a medic?'
Karin gave a distracted nod as she gave her comrades a quick survey, and answered absently, 'Yeah, but my way is a little different than usual.'
For his part, Naruto was examining the discarded tool pouches, 'Aw, you guys only have one scroll, so you won't be able to advance to the last phase.'
'You guys already have both?' Karin said with surprise, paying more attention to Naruto than Sakura.
'Yeah. Do you want to come to tower with us, or stay out here and compete more?'
Karin paused in thought, 'If we do pass to the next event, we'll have to fight someone who was able to do this to my teammates, who were a lot stronger than me. And my mission is to spy, not actually compete. Yet I should be able to still get a good assessment to report to Lord Orochimaru, just by waiting inside the tower. And, wait—' as her mind caught up with something Naruto had said.
Sakura had caught on as well, 'Naruto!' she shrilled. 'Are you actually suggesting we take them with us!?'
'Yeah. Why not? My clones can carry the others. It's not like they're a threat or anything.'
Sasuke so wanted to attack Naruto right here and now, but the pervading thought in his mind was how he needed both Sakura and Naruto in good shape to pass this part of the exam. Fighting strong opponents was his still main priority, and being able to advance to the last phase would help with that, especially given the scarcity of prey so far. 'I need him intact to proceed, to truly test myself,' Sasuke harshly reminded himself. So he just gave a harsh grunt, got his bearings, and started walking towards the tower.
Casting a quick look at Naruto, Sakura hurried after the object of her affections, 'Sasuke, do you know why Naruto wants to help that girl? Does he have a crush on her something?' But Sasuke just grunted in response.
A moment later, Naruto, Karin, and a bunch of clones carrying her teammates followed after them.
XXX
That evening, just before it gets dark
From his hiding place, Orochimaru hissed with frustration as he observed the young Uchiha, his teammates, and Karin Uzumaki all entering the tower together to complete the second exam. 'If only those ANBU hadn't been keeping such a close eye out on the remaining contestants, and weren't so cautious after I'd already exposed myself! I'll have to wait for another opportunity to mark the boy with my curse mark for his sharingan.'
He had considered ordering Kabuto to approach the young genin, building upon the faint trust established by helping them out just before the start of the first exam, but Orochimaru had concluded it too risky. While the ANBU were unlikely to break the teenager's cover, they would be suspicious of how he found that particular team when so many decoy ones were running around, and Team 7 was doing well enough that his second-in-command could not justify offering to help themout. 'On that note, I'll have to keep a closer eye on the Nine Tails Jinchuuriki. That little trick of his was surprisingly effective, and his clones fought better than expected for someone his age. I can still kill him or capture him even here in the village, but this is not the time to challenge the Akatsuki.'
XXX
Land of Fire
Outside of Konohagakure
Training Ground 44, a.k.a. the Forest of Death
Examination Tower
'I think I'm glad I took Haku's advice to be the one to meet them,' a rather confused Kakashi reflected as he took in the sight before him. Ordinarily it was supposed to be a chunin proctor who greeted the squads who completed the second exam and activated the special summoning scrolls, but Kakashi had approached the Third Hokage and had gotten special permission. The Third Hokage had been happy to encourage his emotionally damaged subordinate in bonding more with his students, and Kakashi thought it would help cohesion amongst the overall team if he was the one to congratulate them on their success. Instead, 'Why are they here with a squad from Hidden Grass of all places? Has Naruto gone and befriended enemies again?'
'Oh, hey Kakashi-sensei! This is Karin! She's going to be staying with me!'
'What!?'
'What!?'
'What!?'
'What!?'
'Naruto, what are you saying?' Karin said, feeling shocked and embarrassed.
'Well, if you stay here we can see each other. And wouldn't you rather stay in the Hidden Leaf?'
While Karin was still staring back in surprise, Sasuke was scowling at how Naruto was working to have a family, and Sakura was scandalized at how Naruto was inviting a foreign girl he had just met into his home.
'I-I would like to stay with family,' Karin thought sadly, 'but with everything else, I can't make such a decision right away.'
'Now, now, Naruto,' Kakashi said weakly, 'you can't just spring a question like that one someone out of the blue. Why don't you wait a few more days first?' Naruto pouted, but nodded his head in agreement. 'Good, then I can use the time to find out what the ^&*() happened to my genin in that forest!'
'Oh, Kakashi-sensei?'
'Yes, Naruto?' Kakashi asked, while desperately hoping for no more surprises.
'What's with that riddle up there?'
Without sparing a glance at the chunin directive the Third Hokage had written on the wall above, Kakashi explained, 'It means that a true chunin should find the balance between their physical and mental skills.' He had been about to elaborate further, when a thought struck him. While Sasuke certainly had that balance, Sakura was sorely lacking in strength or physical power. As for Naruto, it was becoming increasingly clear that he was developing the brainpower to match his body, even if this latest stunt put this progress into doubt. Expanding upon the topic might emphasize how far behind Sakura was compared to the two boys, which might jeopardize the improvement to their teamwork that Kakashi assumed had developed in the Forest of Death, so he decided to stay quiet.
Their sensei gave a lazy wave to them all, 'Well, I'm off. You've got a few days to stay here, and there's lots of accommodations, food, water, beds, and whatnot. See the proctors about the rules; they want to do them in person to make sure you get them all, to avoid any conflict with foreigners. I'll be off back to the village to let folks there know you're all alright. Chow.' Then he paused and turned back to his genin, and gave an eye smile with his mask on, 'Oh, and congratulations.'
And with that, Kakashi was gone, with his first intended destination being the Third Hokage to have a serious talk. Sasuke just stalked off towards the far door, wanting to get the stupid guidelines out of the way so that he could get away from his stupid teammates, and to get to bed. Sakura followed faithfully afterwards, although a little subdued since she was reflecting on her only serious fight and the Hokage's decree that Kakashi had brushed over. Naruto offered to help Karin get her countrymen somewhere where they could heal, and so that they could get to know each other more.
XXX
Day five, end of the Second Exam
Despite the chance to relax, the ensuing days had still been busy ones. Naruto had used the time to fill in his teammates about all the intelligence he had gathered, but Sasuke had been rather contemptuous of the idea of fighting someone using sand, claiming he would just burn it into glass with his fire jutsu, which Sakura was very supportive of. When others had arrived, like Shikamaru and Choji, the blonde had been quick to warn them about what Team 8 had seen with that Hidden Sand squad from earlier, and had then told one of his clones, and Naruto also emphasized to all his friends how quickly those three had seemed to pass through the Forest of Death. That one squad from Hidden Sound had made it through too, and everyone had been reminded how as the only genin squad sent, they must be the best their village had available for representation. Naruto had also let Rock Lee and Tenten have some information, but given how they were older and more experienced, he had felt free to tell Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Shikmarku, and Choji what he knew about their abilities from his time training with the two of them under Might Guy's guidance. He would have also given information about Kabuto's group, but he had never really seen what they were capable of since the other two members destroyed his clones so fast, so he warned his friends that they were very fast and brutal.
Yet even while he was showing off the fruits of his labours, Naruto had delegated a clone for the job, preferring to spend his personal time getting to know Karin, his newfound family member. Over the next few days they had spent a great time bonding with each other. Unfortunately (or so Naruto thought), Karin was two years older than him, so she got to treat him like a kid at times. She was also willing to slap him upside the head and yell at him for commenting on how weird her hair was, since the left side was long and straight, while the right side was shorter and spiky.
She was pretty volatile like Sakura sometimes really.
At least she apologized after Naruto clarified that he was complimenting her unusual red eyes, not criticizing her.
Despite this, those few days were still some of the happiest that those two could remember. His friends had also been surprised to learn about her, and had been quick to welcome her, even if they were also a little dumbfounded by Naruto's invitation for Karin to stay in the Hidden Leaf even though she was from a rival Hidden Village.
To Naruto's mild frustration though, Karin did not know much more about the Uzumaki clan than Haku did. Karin explained how the small town she had been born in had been destroyed when she was young, along with most of her surviving family there. All she knew was that they had fled there after Iwagakure had destroyed the Hidden Whirlpool Village.
'Are we really the last two?' Naruto wondered aloud.
Karin flinched at that, though Naruto thought she was just thinking about how much they had lost. 'Should I tell him?' she wondered. 'I've seen other redheads before, but one of them looked like one of my aunts. Yet if I mention Tayuya of the Sound Four, then I risk exposing my connection to Lord Orochimaru, and that could get both me and my newfound cousin killed!'
So she decided to put the decision off for now, and bask in the warm glow of her cousin's chakra and presence, glad to finally have a good friend like him. The fact that he was family only made it all the sweeter.
In fact, the entire time there had only been one point where things between them had become tense.
[Flashback]
Naruto was awoken from his nap by a gasp of shock. Looking around, he saw Karin staring at him in horror. 'N-Naruto?'
'Y-yes?'
'I-I was looking at your chakra some more, just because, and uhm, there's something, what are you!?' she finally cried out. 'There's something else, deep down inside of you, and its, its, I—'
'The Nine Tails Demon Fox,' Naruto cut in bitterly.
Shock made Karin pause, and Naruto went on to explain what had happened to him the day he was born.
Karin stared back in disbelief for a moment, and Naruto steeled himself for the worst, but then she smiled. 'I've heard of the Tailed Beasts and Jinchuuriki before, I've heard a lot about them, but I know the stories aren't true with you, Naruto. I've felt your chakra, and I can tell it is untainted, and that it keeps the evil part buried down.' Then she hugged him, 'And you're too nice to be a demon!'
She held him tight, and Naruto quickly followed suit, and she gave no notice to how Naruto quickly wiped some tears from his eyes.
[Flashback End]
'What kind of life have I gotten myself into,' Karin wondered, 'and how can I keep it?'
Author Notes:
My first attempt at an OST, so I am curious as to how well you feel I pulled it off.
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Next Chapter: "Watching Preteens Fight to the Death"
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