Chapter 6

Enter the Chunin Exam

Gaara of the desert

" I got enemies, got a lot of enemies. Got a lot of people tryna drain me of my energy,"

-Drake - Energy

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"…and that's…. around 300,000 Ryo!" concluded Naruto. He was in his shabby apartment, counting his exorbitant money, earned from the completion of two back-to-back A-ranked missions he was in. Although the latter was surprisingly easy, despite its A-rank difficulty, the former was definitely befitting of an A-rank mission, what with the jonin-level missing nin that Kakashi was forced to fight.

Naruto had just tallied his money, and after paying all of his living expenses, had a netted 300,000 Ryo. Feeling satisfied with himself, he headed out to the largest Konoha ninja general goods store. Needless to say, Naruto wasn't quite welcome in any store in the Konoha city centre. Naruto didn't care. He needed new gear didn't care if someone would disturb him.

Arriving at the general goods store, The Sharp Leaf, Naruto was greeted warmly by a doorman, one that most likely didn't recognize Naruto. Entering the store, he was met with alleys upon alleys of weapons and armour. Naruto only needed few things. A new suit as well as scores more projectiles was what he was looking for. Perhaps even a weapon, depending on whether it caught his eye. Naturally, entering the store required him to show his shinobi identification.

After a few minutes of browsing, he had found some new armour mesh which was both lighter and stronger than his previous one. He finally bought some quality kunai. After a few more minutes of browsing, a rather sleek-looking weapon had caught his eye. It was an extendable Bo staff which, judging by its product description, was specialised to fit wind-natured chakra. In its basic form, it was around seven inches long, but in its fully extended form, if its description was to be trusted, it could extend to up to two meters in length. Naruto headed straight to the cashier, now with his shopping cart filled with the required amenities. He tried checking out the products, now.

"A full brawler-nin set, twenty kunai, and a… excuse me, sir, but you can't have that unless you're a Chunin," explained the cashier. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Well why the hell not?" he asked, needing an answer.

"It's just regulations. You can't expect me to go against that," tried the cashier.

"Wha- You haven't even asked me if I am a Chunin yet!" defended Naruto. The cashier bowed down swiftly before asking, apologetically.

"Are you a Chunin?"

"Well… no," replied Naruto meekly. "Ya know… whatever," Naruto gave up, and left the Bo staff. Before he could go, however, a man caught his attention.

"Hey, kid, so you can't buy the Bo staff, right?" he asked. Naruto looked back, and saw Asuma Sarutobi, the Hokage's son. Naruto grinned.

"Apparently I need to be Chunin to get one. Could you…?" tried Naruto. Asuma simply whistled dismissively.

"Of course I can on one condition, though. You pay for it," stated Asuma determined. Naruto handed the jonin the money and waited as he went through with his own transaction, and afterwards, buying Naruto his item.

"A chakra flow weapon? For some reason, I'm not even surprised," he commented, smiling.

"The Chunin exams are tomorrow, and this weapon just looked really interesting so I couldn't really help myself," admitted Naruto. Asuma chuckled, his mood as light-hearted as ever.

"Alright, now, you fight well!" encouraged Asuma. Naruto nodded before turning around to leave.

Waving goodbye at Asuma, Naruto continued onwards, out of the store with all his items. Another person that followed suit was Sasuke, with his own set of items. Evidently, he also bought some new armour to wear below his regular clothes, projectiles/pros, and a ninjato. Interesting Naruto thought.

He approached Sasuke casually, bumping into him lightly, getting his attention.

"Whaddya buy?" he asked, grinning.

"Stuff… armour, pros, and this ninjato. I got it for standard price, but the cashier told me that the weapon is only as strong as the wielder's chakra," informed Sasuke.

"A sword, huh? I never thought you were the type to play with swords," joked Naruto. Sasuke, as always, hardly laughed.

"What's that stick, though?" asked Sasuke, pointing at the shortened Bo staff.

"It's an… uh, a stick I guess?" pondered Naruto. Sasuke deadpanned.

"A Bo staff? Huh… interesting choice, really," mumbled Sasuke. "You experienced with one?" he asked again.

"Absolutely not. I might get the hang of it in no time, though, so it doesn't matter too much," dismissed Naruto.

"Keyword: Might," emphasized Sasuke.

"Oh please, like you're a goddamn swordsman of the mist," replied Naruto.

"Kenjutsu is a big part of the Uchiha fighting style. I know myself around when it comes to swinging a sword, so watch out," warned Sasuke, more as a humble brag than an actual threat, really.

"Anyways, Sasuke. When's our next team meeting? I didn't catch most of what Kakashi-sensei was saying before we were dismissed," admitted Naruto, with a sheepish grin. Sasuke simply sighed.

"This afternoon. We've still got things to prepare for. The Chunin exams are approaching, remember?" asked Sasuke.

"Oh, those things. Guess I better show up at the usual training ground, two hours earlier than him, right?" groaned Naruto.

"I don't think so. Sensei seemed really serious about having us come on time, since the Chunin exams are going to be a matter of life and death, and sensei can't afford to goof up," said Sasuke. Naruto nodded.

"We'll see," mumbled Naruto before bidding his comrade farewell. He was headed to his apartment to change into his new gear.


The executives of the rebellion of the mist were all assembled around a table in a dark room, where the table was illuminated by a single light bulb hanging above it. The demon of the mist, his companion and two insiders were all there, readying themselves.

"For the last fucking time, Terumi, we can't have my men attack the flank! It's an obvious trap!" swore Zabuza, hammering his fist at the table angrily. Terumi scoffed at his rage.

"It's a scare-tactic, you inbred ape. They make it look beefy so attackers are discouraged, but really it's the weakest part of the whole fortress!" exclaimed Terumi.

"We aren't dealing with a daimyo's castle. This is a Mizukage building, in a shinobi land! The flank is always the strongest part of any ninja stronghold!" yelled Zabuza back. Mei rubbed her forehead to quell her headache.

"Listen, just listen," she began, calmly. "This is the effect that they are trying to have on you. Second thoughts. This is what will mess this entire operation up! If you don't see through that obvious bullshit, then who the hell will?! Zabuza, think about it. You'll spare most of your troops if you attack the flank, and you will gain the upper hand by doing so. I've been working in that building all my childhood and I know this village's secrets. The village's flank is always the weakest zone," concluded Mei. Zabuza began shifting his eyes in calculation before coming to a conclusion.

"Fine, fuck it. But if this all goes to shit, then it's all on you, Terumi," conceded Zabuza. Ao raised his hand.

"Now that we're done with the petty squabble, why don't we turn our attention to something more pressing? Like how to secure the Mizukage once he actually begins resisting? Who here is strong enough to oppose the Mizukage in his strongest state?" he asked. Haku spoke up.

"No one here. But it doesn't matter, because we won't give him the time to collect his power. He will be subdued peacefully and once we manage to infiltrate the Mizukage building, we capture him and break him out of his trance," said Haku.

"Now that it's all settled, and my men are all ready, when does the party start?" asked Zabuza. Mei held her chin for a moment.

"In two days-time. Until then, orders are to stay low and do absolutely nothing but wait. Patience is of essence in this mission, and timing is key," reminded Mei to everyone listening.

"Very well," said Ao.

"Good shit," mumbled Zabuza.

"Perfect," said Haku.

"And now, we wait," said Mei.


"Alright, my cute genin, as you all know, tomorrow is the Chunin exam's first phase. Before you ask, yes, I have already declared all of you worthy of taking the exam. And as for your consents?" asked Kakashi.

"I'll do it," said Sasuke.

"Count me in," grinned Naruto.

"Fine, whatever," replied Sakura, after a moment of thinking. She was cursed to be in this team, which was too strong for her own good, but she hadn't the power to defy any of their wishes, so she was always reluctantly sucked into their antics.

"And you all know what that means?" he asked gleefully, expecting answers.

"Training?" replied both Naruto and Sasuke in unison, while Sakura crossed her arms.

"Correct," replied Kakashi. "Well, sure, you can train, but don't expect me to train any of you. From now on, until the end of the Chunin exams, you will all be completely independent, and all of your personal growth will be forced to be self-cultivated," revealed Kakashi, causing Sakura to gasp.

"…but- that's hardly fair!" complained Sakura.

"Life isn't fair, and a shinobi's life is much less so," he replied. Sakura wasn't satisfied.

"That's not a good answer! Are you really that lazy?! You arrived on time this one time! Just this once, and for what?! Telling us that we're gonna train by ourselves?! What's wrong with you, you're a horrible teacher! What kind of sensei are you?!" she ranted. Kakashi tried calming her down, raising his hands and pushing them gently.

"Relax, Sakura. Teaching you something new right now won't do any good, especially because of our timeframe. Just suck it up this one time. The Chunin exams are tomorrow, so if you know you've got nothing else to do, I suggest you rest," advised Kakashi. Sakura held any more potential arguments that she had.

"Well, what're you waiting for? Scurry on, then," said Kakashi, dismissing his team. Sakura, having waited for this opportunity, headed homewards in pursuit of rest. She definitely still needed it after those two A ranks she had done.

Naruto headed to the outskirts of Konoha to familiarize himself with his new weapon. After a few minutes, he arrived in a small clearing in the forest. He pulled out the shortened Bo staff from his holster before trying to extend it. He tried shaking it but it didn't work. Then he tried jerking it around in an attempt to push the long part out of the shortened staff, to no avail.

"Damn this thing's complicated," lamented Naruto. After a few minutes of trying, Naruto tried applying his chakra to the weapon this time. Almost in a flash, the Bo staff sprung outwards. The shortened staff had been held vertically, so when Naruto sprung it, the lower part of the staff dug itself into the soil. Naruto grinned triumphantly.

Naruto cut off the staff's chakra supply, shortening it once again. When he applied chakra, the staff extended. Another thing that Naruto had learned was how easy it was to push chakra into the staff. The staff didn't burn chakra. Instead, the chakra would enter the staff, and circulate around it before returning to the wielder resulting in absolutely no loss. This was something very useful, and reduced waste of chakra by 100%.

Now, Naruto tried wind transformation with the staff. After applying wind-natured chakra into the staff, Naruto swung it horizontally, towards the trees. A strong gust of wind blew towards it, but otherwise, the trees were unharmed. Naruto frowned.

"Tsk,"

He tried swinging the staff faster this time, trying to make the gust of wind sharper. To his joy, the trees were now cut, but only on the surface. The cut hadn't penetrated far enough. Needs more chakra thought Naruto. He was afraid of destroying the staff, which was why he limited his chakra output, but now that he knew that the staff could withstand it, he applied twice the amount of chakra for another wind slice.

He swung his staff swiftly, directing it towards an unharmed tree. The wind sliced the tree cleanly, but it didn't harm any other tree beside it. Naruto grinned.

"This is fun," mumbled Naruto, chuckling.

Thus, he spent the rest of his day trying out various sorts of techniques using his Bo staff, and in the process, formulating a few techniques that he could use. Other than using his staff to throw wind-based attacks, he really had no proficiency when it came to staff fighting. He could overcome that by brute force, but it wouldn't be elegant. Dusk was approaching, but it was still bright, and Naruto grew sort of bored, so he decided to head to Ichiraku's ramen shop. The old man wasn't like the rest, and actually enjoyed Naruto's company.

He ordered two bowls and finished them relatively quickly before taking his leave. Along his path, a rather peculiar sight had met him. A hooded youth in a black jumpsuit was holding up Konohamaru, the Hokage's grandson. Naruto didn't interact too often with Konohamaru, but the boy still idolized him. He was flailing in the air, yelling at his assailant to let him go. Looking back, he saw Naruto, and regained hope. Both his friends had already ran towards Naruto, hiding behind him seeking protection.

"I told you to let me down. Now that big bro's here, you're dead!" laughed Konohamaru. The hooded youth got angrier, shaking Konohamaru in the air. Naruto was more than annoyed that someone felt the need to bully his minion. As he approached the youth, the headband symbol caught his eye. It was that of the hidden sand. Bingo.

"Oh yeah? And what the hell is he gonna do?" asked the sand-nin. Behind him was a girl most likely his elder, with a giant metal pole on her back.

"Nothing much, really. Only if you don't put him down, though. If not…" Naruto pulled out the shortened staff, applied his chakra, and let it spring. "I just bought this thing this morning and I never thought I'd get to use it on something live so early on!" exclaimed Naruto, his eyes fixated on the hooded youth. The girl behind him reached for her own metal pole. Naruto, seeing this, felt the need to comment.

"Why don't we all just shake our sticks? Let me start," threatened Naruto. With great precision, Naruto used a clone jutsu, made it use the transformation technique to make it look like Konohamaru, and substituted it with the real one. Now that Konohamaru was out of the way, Naruto could indulge, but not too much. He needed to save his strength for his fight with the Jinchuriki. The kid in front of him sure as hell wasn't him, and neither was the girl. The Jinchuriki was somewhere, but not here. After a clone of his had evacuated the three children, it was go time.

Naruto struck first, swinging his staff at the hooded sand-nin, going for a wind slice. The blonde behind the boy leaped in front of him and pulled out the metal pole that turned out to be a giant fan. She blew against Naruto's slicing wind, neutralising it in the process.

Naruto whistled, impressed by her reflexes. He now held the pole horizontally, with both his hands. In a rowing motion, he pushed each end of the staff forwards circularly, starting out slowly. He accelerated at an unprecedented rate, sending small wind slices rapidly. The blonde girl used her fan to blow against the cuts. Check mate she thought. This kid will run out of chakra in no time, and when he does, he's finished! What she didn't predict was that the boy's chakra reserve outdid her own several hundred times over.

Naruto stopped, though. He didn't want to make it a battle of attrition; so instead, he aimed to overpower his opponents brutally. The hooded boy, sensing the opportunity, pulled out the bandaged bag he was carrying and released the bandages. The thing was apparently a compressed puppet, but now it seemed to be moving.

"Kankuro, go for his flank!" yelled Temari. Naruto sighed at the sheer stupidity of letting the opponent hear their battle strategy. With a quick clone summon, Naruto had a copy of himself watch his back in case of any flanking.

"Now it's my turn," she mumbled, sending out blasts of wind against Naruto, who did all that he could to block each and every wind attack. Naruto really wasn't trying too hard, but acted that way only so his assailant could lower her guard, not that he needed her to. It was just satisfying for him that his opponent plays the game that he was controlling.

Suddenly, Naruto's clone was dispelled. It was attacked in a way which it was too slow to react.

"Headshot," mumbled the hooded nin from behind Naruto. Right before another projectile could connect with the real Naruto, it got shot away by a shuriken. The thrower leaned against a tree, slowly unsheathing his ninjato. Naruto grinned triumphantly.

"Hehehe," chuckled Naruto, facing down the blonde girl. "Game, set and match!".

"What's all this, though?" asked Sasuke in his regularly calm and collected demeanour. Seeing the two enemy ninja, he grew a tad angrier. "As for you two, I suggest you leave. Else I will not be accountable for the lives that you both will lose at the hands of my colleague," threatened Sasuke.

"And who the hell are you? Do not underestimate us, 'leaf nin'. You are both weaklings, I can tell," taunted the hooded nin. The girl grew exasperated.

"Shut up, Kankuro!" she yelled, annoyed.

"Not now, Temari. Can't you see? Blondie over there is obviously retarded! A few more minutes of that dumb fight and he'd be chakra exhausted! We can take'em!" he yelled. Sasuke didn't give Kankuro any time to react, as he lunged for him, holding his Ninjato to his neck, a perfect chance to end his life in a single strike.

"Don't bother with that dumb puppet. If I even as much as sense that it's moving, I'll kill you," whispered Sasuke. Kankurou began sweating, and refused to move. Temari grew on guard. Dammit, why did this monster show up?! She thought. Naruto approached Temari, slowly. Temari blew her fan towards Naruto, who redirected the wind stream upwards with relative ease. Surprised with himself, he realized a new way to counter the wind attacks. He could redirect them with his own wind, and leave himself untouched.

Temari almost began panicking, as she began attacking more frantically. Naruto got so close to her, she had to retreat. She jumped back, but Naruto followed. As he pulled out his kunai, he was ready to strike. A non-lethal hit, but if it came to it, the sand-nin were the aggressors, so Naruto was right to attack.

Just as the blade struck Temari, a screen of sand blocked the attack, separating him from her. On the other side, Kankuro had wiggled his finger, which had forced Sasuke to go for the slice, but instead, he simply sliced sand, and the hooded nin dematerialised into something that was most likely a sand clone.

A boy hung upside down from a tree branch using the tree walking technique. He had rings around his eyes, crimson red hair, and a giant gourd on his back. His arms were crossed, and his face signified pure anger.

"Temari," he said slowly. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked, angrily. The girl was at a loss for words. Both the sand-nin had been saved by the red haired boy.

"Gaara…" began Temari, but she couldn't complete her sentence. Gaara disregarded her, and simply glared at the two leaf-nin who were both stronger than they looked. Both of them had managed to corner his siblings with ease. But the one that caught his eye the most was definitely the blond boy. He could feel his insides churn. Shukaku grew restless as he felt the boy's presence.

The nine tails! It's the nine tails! Kill him, flay him, burn him, bury him! It's the nine tails! Repeated Shukaku in a hoarse voice. Only Gaara could hear him, though.

The same line kept repeating inside his head, giving him a severe headache. He held his head in pain before deciding it was best to leave. He gave Naruto one last glare signifying pure and unbridled hatred and anger.

"Wow," mumbled Naruto. "What the hell was that about, anyways?" he asked to no one in particular. Not long afterwards, the three children returned, Konohamaru charging into Naruto, hugging him on his waistline.

"Thank you so much, big bro!" he yelled, all the while Naruto ruffled his hair. "Hey, no biggie. Besides, I just felt like trying the new weapon that your uncle bought me," he explained. Konohamaru jumped off of him, beaming with joy.

"Awesome! Can I hold it?" he asked. Naruto tossed the shortened staff towards Konohamaru who tried shaking it to extend it.

"Push your chakra into it," explained Naruto. Konohamaru tried doing so, causing the staff to extend slowly. The boy was grunting in his effort to extend the staff. Once it grew completely, Konohamaru held it up victoriously.

"Awesome, I'm just like my grandpa now!" he yelled, swinging it around wildly. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Grandpa? I've never seen the old man use a staff before," he replied. That stopped Konohamaru dead in his tracks.

"You haven't?! It's a summon called Enma, the monkey king! He turns it into a staff, and then back into a monkey at will! It's so awesome, I can't believe you haven't seen it!" he yelled. Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"I'll make it a point to see it one of these days," he noted. Sasuke was still confused by the situation, having only seen Naruto while he engaged both the sand-nin simultaneously.

"What were their problems?" he asked Naruto.

"Yeah, Konohamaru, how come you almost got your butt kicked?" he asked the boy, now frowning.

"Uh, well… Udon, Moegi and I were playing ninja, but I accidentally bumped into this 'Kankuro' guy. He got really angry so he picked me up and was gonna hurt me. I told my friends to run so I would be the only casualty because that's what a shinobi does. Luckily, you saved me, and your friend kicked that hooded guy's butt, so I'm fine, really," he confessed. Sasuke held his chin, pondering.

"That's a foolhardy thing if I've ever heard it. Targeting the Hokage's grandson… I'll say they got off lightly, seeing as how they weren't apprehended by ANBU black ops, yet," Sasuke mumbled the last part.

"Oh, and about the sand nin," Naruto pondered whether he should reveal anything regarding Operation Sand shield. Instead, he simply gave him a hint. "Just watch out for'em, and just so you know, that red haired kid's mine," he warned. Sasuke scoffed.

"He's all yours. Monsters attract monsters after all, right?" joked Sasuke. Naruto felt a small sting at the comment. He was used to getting called a monster, but that was mostly done due to the hatred people felt for the nine tails. He didn't like the word monster, but he didn't let it show that he was offended at all. Instead, he did his best to grin.

"You have no idea," mumbled Naruto.


"Temari, Kankuro, you are both disgraceful," stated Gaara, in his slow but thorough voice. They were both in their hotels that the hidden leaf had provided for them during their stay. The two offending sand-nin lowered their gazes in shame.

"He challenged our strength, Gaara," tried Kankuro. Gaara wasn't the type to shout. He rarely even spoke, but when he did, it was damn sure that people would listen.

"You dragged our name through the mud, Kankuro. You brought our village shame. As for you, Temari, I expected more from you," he growled.

"I understand, Gaara, and I acknowledge my mistake," she replied shortly.

"Whatever the case, there will be no more interactions with anyone until the first phase of the Chunin exams tomorrow," he ordered. "I will hear no more of this," he concluded, before sitting on his bed with both his arms crossed, staring at the wall.

That blond one, Gaara thought. Nine tails…? What does any of this mean? The sand inside his gourd began swirling around more and more. Shukaku had finally calmed down, but he had still left an imprint. The sound of sand scrapping against a rough surface grew louder in a crescendo, sending the sound across the room, intensifying both Kankuro and Temari's nervousness.


A/N

Got a new chapter out. This one's shorter than the others, but eh, I can't always be writing 6k words for every chapter lol.

I feel that Temari's fight was donee moderately well. Naruto's already great at chakra control, so I figured that learning how to do nature transformations in conjunction with a chakra flow weapon would make sense. As for Sasuke, the guy's desperate for power, and would do anything to crawl his way, even if only an inch closer to Naruto's power level. He already does have a sword in Shippuuden, so a ninjato wouldn't really be a stretch.

And as for how Sasuke defeated Kankuro so easily, I always figured he was too arrogant for his own good, so he got caught off-guard underestimating his opponents. Naruto's battles have become too predictable, though, so writing them have become somewhat boring. Also, I hope I cleared up how he relates to the various characters in the series. Obviously he'd have good ties with the Sarutobi, so having Asuma help him wasn't too much of a stretch, I hope.

I always wondered how Shukaku and Kurama would interact. Sadly, I haven't really done any research on their relationship, so I'll wing it and say that they're on bad terms hehehe.

Anyways, I appreciate all reviews and be sure to follow and favorite the story if you liked it and want to see more content. I'm so happy that I've got so many people appreciating my story, it really warms my heart.

Guest review time!

Guest: i like this book

Thank you so much, guest. I like this 'book' too.

Guest: Kill yourself, virgin fag.

Easy there, guest. Don't cut yourself on that edge.

Guest:Yo keep doing what it doing but how do u explain. The Karama Confusion? ?

I dunno, brah. My mom asked me that this morning after reading chapter 3, but I had no answer. I told her to lay of the crack pipe, and finally her question started to make sense. Here's my answer:

Cinderblock

HEHEHEHEANYWAYS let's conclude this incoherent A/N hosted by urs truly, Sherlock D(ursley) Holmes

Sherlock D(andelion) Holmes