Naruto sat alongside Hiruzen in Training Ground 7. They had come here many times to train- it was the training ground where the Sannin had been instructed as well. Out of the entire village, it truly felt the most like 'their' spot. Naruto knew that if he was upset and needed to talk to someone, if he just waited here then eventually his Jiji would walk down the street and sit beside him.
The Hokage smiled as he caught Naruto's eyes,"Are you ready to begin, Naruto-kun?"
"Yes, jiji." His guardian held out a square of chakra paper which Naruto took reverently. He knew that this was the next milestone in his shinobi career. He channeled chakra into it. There was a moment of silence as teacher and student waited to see the results. The two were surprised when the paper split down the middle loudly and the two halves slowly were soaked.
"My, my. Two chakra natures. Wind and Water… A perfect combination of your parents, Naruto-kun."
Naruto smiled as he looked at the remains of the paper and nodded, "Kurama told me that because of what he did chakra would be easy for me to use in any element- but, he said that my affinities would still be the easiest for me to learn."
"Indeed.. Then, that's where we'll start. Well- after I see your progress with the Genin Three. Have you been practicing?" Naruto gulped,"W-well… I'm having problems with the bunshin."
It was not often that Naruto struggled with something and he didn't like admitting that he couldn't do something. He was very thankful for Sarutobi simply raising an eyebrow and saying, "Show me."
Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated. He made the handseals and channeled the chakra- and seventy-five half-dead looking clones appeared around them. He blushed as the Hokage gave a loud laugh and ruffled his hair.
"I think I might know what the problem is, Naruto-kun. You simply have too much chakra, and your control is not kage-level yet. That can be easily remedied… Well, I was planning on teaching you this technique regardless, but I think it's best to do it now before we move on to elemental jutsu."
"Oh? What technique, sensei?"
"It's called the Kage Bunshin, the Shadow clone technique." Naruto watched as a clone appeared beside Hiruzen in a small cloud of smoke.
"It takes a massive amount of chakra to make even one. Splits it between the user and the clone. The most impressive part of the jutsu, is that all the memories the clone experiences are sent back to the caster upon its destruction."
Naruto felt his eyes widen at that. The implications were astounding- if he could make two clones, then he could have three days of studying in one! That would greatly enhance his training!
"That's amazing, jiji! Please, how do I do it? What are the seals-" The Hokage gave another smile. Naruto know that at his core, the Sandaime was a teacher. An academic at heart. Naruto didn't mind pleasing him with his enthusiasm for learning- he had an opportunity to learn from the best and he'd always make sure that he didn't squander it.
"It's rather simple, Naruto-kun. Just a ram seal, like so." Naruto's hand went into the position and he channeled chakra.
"How many do you think I'll be able to make, Jiji?"
"Probably a couple, Naruto. It's a very taxing-"
He was interrupted as the clearing was covered in a monumental cloud of smoke. Naruto blinked in confusion as the smoke started to dissipate,"Jiji, it didn't make that much smoke when you did it. I think I did something wrong."
Naruto turned and realized that his teacher was gaping around them, speechless. He didn't understand until he sensed them. Looking in a mirror for the first time was disconcerting- seeing your reflection, how the world sees you, is an unusual phenomenon.
Sensing the emotions of yourself perfectly copied, and surrounding yourself, emanating from over three hundred replicas is staggering.
"Naruto-kun. We need to have a talk about your future training regimen. I have decided that it may need accelerating."
Sai was surprised when he was called in to meet with their new leader, Konoha. Konoha had taken over headquarters with a seamless transition. He had vetted all the agents within three days, and had 'retired' five of them. Those five, surprisingly, had not been neutralized but 'reintegrated' within the village as civilians. An interesting change.
He walked into the Leader's room and saw the true face of Konoha for the first time. The boy seemed to be as old as Sai himself. It was quite surprising- most children aren't so independent or mature. Unless they were in Root. Sai stepped forward and saluted.
"At ease. What's your name?"
"I am called Sai." Konoha nodded and looked at him with an interested gaze,"I have a long-term mission for you. I want you to join the Shinobi Academy and observe the clan heirs- mainly, one Sasuke Uchiha." Sai bowed his head when he received his orders and kneeled.
"Your will be done, Leader-Sama." Sai stood up and walked out. He had to find Shin- find out how to 'make friends' with kids. He didn't want to disappoint his leader. Danzo or not, it wouldn't reflect well for a Root agent to fail their mission.
He made his way to the mess hall and found his brother eating with gusto. Shin had always been more expressive than Sai had been. His brother looked up mid-bite and had the decency to swallow before he started speaking,"Hey, so what was the meeting about?"
"I've been assigned a new long-term mission. I'm going to join the Shinobi Academy and observe the clan heirs… I will be stuck with children."
"Might be good for you, Sai. You are a kid." He glared at his brother and didn't realize that he didn't flinch from the show of emotion. Emotional conditioning had been expunged from their training. He saw his brother smiling at him though, and he realized he was still expressing his displeasure. His face seamlessly slid back into the neutral state he had been trained to assume and then his brother chose to frown.
Naruto watched the young ninja leave his new office and sighed. The office was rather bare, no surprise. But, he had taken a few photos that the Sandaime had gifted him and put them on his desk.
The photo of him and Itachi eating at Ichiraku was nestled safely in his top drawer. It wouldn't do to openly cherish an S-rank missing-nin. It also still upset him to look at.
Naruto stood up and opened a secret door behind his chair. Danzo had turned his paranoia into a weapon, and had dozens of secret passages that only he had previously known about. It had been quite easy for Naruto to discern of their existence. One on one time with anyone would inevitably reveal their darkest secrets..
He slowly travelled down the spiralling staircase and passed a few locked doors. He was headed towards one of his own 'darkest secrets' at the moment. He went up to the door and channeled his chakra into the handle to release the locking seal. It glowed green and he pushed it open as the lock lightly clicked.
Naruto was convinced there was something genetic about Uzumaki's and seals. Kurama couldn't highlight any one genome that indicated such relationship, but Naruto only needed to think of the few dozen seals he had mastered to be confident in his belief. The art of sealing was done in levels, or stages, and on top of that there were levels for each individual seal. Seal Masters made the most of their money off of fine-tuning existing seals. Making them more dependable, efficient, and lethal. It was very rare for entirely new seals to come out in mass production. Usually, it would take a few generations of a prototype seal to be perfected by the creator or their students before it would start to be utilized by the village and from there stolen by spies and off of fallen shinobi.
Naruto didn't have time for such traditions. He had designed his own locking seal which was keyed to chakra-signatures and used them everywhere he didn't anyone snooping. He was sure that Danzo knew he had his own locks now, but he would most likely keep it to himself. Just because he didn't lead Root anymore didn't mean that he wasn't still a strong player in the game of the village political theatre. Ever since his 'retirement' Danzo had been much more active talking to the different clans. It would take time to find out what he was up to, but Naruto was determined to not be outplayed by the wily warmonger.
He opened the door and stepped in to Kabuto's newest laboratory. Kabuto didn't look up from his test tubes. Naruto didn't expect him to- the experiments Danzo had been conducting were disgusting, but fascinated Naruto's friend all the same. The young doctor hadn't left the chamber for more than an hour or so a day.
"I can't say that I'm glad to be back in the midst of Root, but this is simply too good to let go to waste. He has been-"
"I know, Kabuto-kun." Naruto walked over and sat up on the desk,"I read all the research before handing it off to you. I didn't understand most of it, and what I did I didn't like. I don't know if it's a good idea to continue these experiments." Naruto could sense Kabuto's reluctance to agree. Kabuto was of a more morally ambiguous nature. He also sensed his apprehension to raise his concerns.
"You can disagree, Kabuto-kun. I won't get mad." Kabuto smiled and turned to face him, "Naruto-kun. Your enemies won't play nice- we shouldn't either. These experiments aren't pleasant, but there's ways to go about conducting them in a much more humane and compassionate manner. They could mean success. You need to utilize every tool in your arsenal if you want the best chance to succeed."
"..I know you're right, I just don't really like it. I'll trust in your judgement for now though… Thank you for coming here- I know you're worried Danzo might strike at us. You're very brave."
Kabuto laughed and Naruto pouted, but he knew that there wasn't anything he could do to stop it. Kabuto would still get amused if Naruto ever tried to console him or anything of the like.
"What's our next move, Naruto-kun? We have Root at our command; suddenly, many more routes are open to us."
"Don't get too excited- I don't trust anyone here. Or Danzo. If anyone could find a way to fool my empathy, it'd be him. I have agents gathering as much information on the jinchuriki as they can get- and I convinced the Sandaime to let me send agents out to convince Roshi, the jinchuriki of the Four-Tails to defect...But.."
"But what?"
"Well- I didn't tell him that I'm going out to talk to Roshi myself." Kabuto paused in his writing and turned back to Naruto, face grave.
"That's a terrible idea- if anything happened to you-"
"I know- but I have to. He wouldn't trust anyone else. This is something I have to do myself." Kabuto frowned, and Naruto winced as he became angry. Kabuto's anger was like a snake- coiled tight and venomous. Kabuto was a dangerous man, and he was almost as emotional as an Uchiha. It just took more than most to get him to lose his cool.
"Who are you taking with you? Root Agents?"
"Yes- but, I'm not going as Konoha." Kabuto blinked and his surprise dulled his anger somewhat. Naruto sighed a little bit- he hated upsetting those he was close to.
"You're going as Naruto Uzumaki? How's that going to work." Naruto winced and looked away as he idly traced a seal on the inside of his sleeve.
"Well- they're holding the Jounin Exams tomorrow… And I'm going to sneak in and ace them. Then they'll have to make me a Jounin."
Kabuto groaned and Naruto winced again. The only thing worse than Kabuto's anger was his anxiety- and it was spiking heavily right now.
"You haven't given me a lot of time, Naruto-kun… Make some shadow clones- we're going to get a few hours of cramming in before you throw yourself into something you are completely unprepared for."
Shikaku Nara watched as the nominees for the Jounin Exam filed in one by one. The Jounin Exam was an option for promotion for Chunin or Tokobetsu Jounin who felt they were ready for the advancement but had not been promoted on their Hokage's own initiative. It was mainly for the use of those who needed to prove themselves capable. As it was the Jounin Exam, it was much more secretive than the ostentatious and public Chunin Exams. As such, it also had an incredibly smaller pool of examinees. There was only around a dozen applicants, but the nature of the exam split them up into cells of four. The group he was supervising contained Chunins Anko Mitarashi, Kurenai Yuhi, Saito Ikabe, and Tokobetsu Jounin Hayate Gekko. The Jounin Exams only happened once every two years, and for good reason. They were incredibly grueling and if they were offered every six months they could be more harmful than beneficial for the village's strength. It followed the same formula for the Chunin Exams, but were much less forgiving. There was a three hundred question exam for the first part of the Jounin Exam. Each examinee was given a specialized packet the day before the exam that had seventy questions of the three hundred. Each examinee was given different questions. In the time before the exam they were expected to figure out the answers they had been provided- and they would have to use their skills to gather the other answers. Of course, this left twenty questions that no examinee had been provided- and to pass the exam you could only miss ten questions.
The first exam only lasted an hour. Shikaku thought this was the easiest test of them all, but many jounin blamed this part of the exam for why it took them so long to be promoted. This year's batch of students wordlessly filed in and sat down at their desks. He sat up and got ready to observe them more closely.
"Begin." Each test taker silently began their exam. This wasn't the first time Hayate had taken the Jounin Exam- two years ago he had been advanced to Tokobetsu Jounin because of how well he done. His swordmanship and stealth had been exemplary but his genjutsu and ninjutsu had been rather lacking. He was also fighting a chronic illness which had been progressively getting worse. Not the best material for Jounin, but his will and ambition were slowly making up for that.
Anko Mitarashi and Kurenai Yuhi were two young chunin with something to prove. Most of the village knew of Anko Mitarashi- even he found it hard to believe that she hadn't known of her sensei, Orochimaru's, true nature. But, she fuelled her resentment and anger into sarcasm, disrespect, and a drive to make anyone who doubted her eat crow. Literally, in the case of one very vocal and drunk civilian. Anko was dead-set on climbing the ranks as fast as she could.
Alongside her was Kurenai. Kurenai was an esteemed genjutsu user who had been quickly garnering fame throughout the village for her skill with the art. With the loss of the majority of the Uchiha, the village had been pushing for genjutsu users to climb the ranks to teach the next generation. That was enough, in conjunction to being one of Anko's only friends, to get her to take the exam.
Lastly, there was Saito Ikabe. A Chunin going on six years, it was quite surprising to see him push to be advanced this late into his chunin career. He had been an academy instructor and had seem content to remain there, but had turned in his application on time and so went in.
Shikaku doubted that anyone from this group would pass the entire exam. They were all quite skilled, most of them just lacked some needed experience that they had yet to gain. But, they would get a taste of what being a Jounin meant and that would hopefully inspire them to proceed.
They were about fifteen minutes into the exam when Shikaku noticed something… off. Saito was acting unusual. Each shinobi had a dossier, a file that included previous exams, mission statistics, confirmed kills, personal history, and behavioral missives. Saito wasn't behaving as his dossier had lead Shikaku to expect him to. It was possible that the dossier didn't know all of a shinobi's secrets, but the behavioral section shouldn't be this off. Saito was noted to be an academic, but he was also supposed to be anxious. He nearly failed his first chunin exam due to his nerves. Yet, out of the four of them, Saito was the most coolheaded, and was flying through the exam. That could almost be dismissed by assuming he had just studied his questions well and other general areas.
Except, he was only looking down at his paper and was not cheating. The other three were being smart, but Shikaku could more or less determine how they were getting by. It was likely that Yuhi and Mitarashi had previously exchanged answers with each other. Hayate was taking notes of what the other two were writing in his margins, and Anko had sent out a snake prior to the start of the exam it seemed, and it was coiled around a rafter above Saito and Hayate. While all of this was going on, Saito was sitting down, writing. His eyes didn't stray from his page, and he was nearly done with his test.
After another five minutes, Saito stopped writing and put his pencil down. The other three examinees paused and looked up as he turned his papers over and sat up straight in his seat. Shikaku didn't blame them, but still made note of it all the same. It seemed that Saito's belief in his answers unsettled them… If not that, then they hadn't been as quick to secure Saito's answers as they had hoped to have been. There was still forty minutes left after all…
This would be a good lesson for them though. If they failed because they had made an assumption about the performance of one of their 'opponents' then that would be as good a metaphor as any for underestimating an opponent out in the field. Whatever chance they had before, it was severely diminished now. It was imperative to get all seventy questions that the other test takers had, and 'gamble' on the twenty that no one knew. Even if they got half of Saito's answers, that left fifty-five answers which remained. Terrible odds for this level of examination. The questions weren't easy, Shikaku had seen to that. Saito was sitting still, calmly facing forwards. Shikaku didn't know how, but this wasn't Saito.
Of course, he didn't make any outwards sign so as to alert the other three. If a shinobi snuck into the Jounin Exams, then they had the skill to take them. There wasn't any rule outlawing new Chunin- or even Genin, honestly- from taking part of the exam. It was just highly dangerous. Whoever this shinobi was, though, they were doing quite well for themselves.
That being said, how well they did truly depended on the results of their exam. Regardless, it would be interesting to watch this play out. Time passed by incredibly slowly for the two kunoichi as Hayate finished his exam with fifteen minutes to spare. Mitarashi barely had enough time to set down her pencil before the timer rang.
"Time's up. Report to the Hokage Tower for the second part of the Exam." The four of them stood up and headed out. He waited until the door closed before he walked over and grabbed Saito's exam. He scanned it and chuckled.
Perfect score… Whoever this shinobi was, he was good. Shikaku got up and headed over to the Hokage Tower. Usually, he'd head home after his job was done, but this was proving to be interesting for once.
Anko walked alongside Kurenai and behind Saito and Hayate. The test had not gone as she or Kurenai had planned and she was upset. She remembered Saito- he'd been something of a bully when she had first joined the Academy. He had been jealous that Orochimaru had chosen her as his apprentice. Of course, after her sensei's defection then Saito had smugly ridiculed her and questioned her own loyalty.
She had told herself that it was just because he was an inferior shinobi and wouldn't amount to anything higher than an academy instructor. That's what helped her get over his harassment and rumors that he spread about her. His inferiority.
So him coming in and fucking not just her, but Kurenai and Hayate over in that exam- well, it really pissed her off! There was no way that Saito of all people could have finished the exam that quickly- and passed- so he was just trying to sabotage her! Fuck her over once again!
"You need to calm down, Anko." She grunted and rolled her eyes at Kurenai- prim, composed, Ice-Queen Kurenai. Her best friend.
"Y'know, he didn't just fuck me back there- you got the short end of the stick in there too. He reamed us in there! It doesn't matter how well we do now- there's no way that I got enough of the questions to pass."
"Then that reflects poorly on us as jounin-hopefuls."
"Don't give me that- we would've been fine if he hadn't-"
"It's not just his fault, Anko. We should have done better to get his answers while he was vulnerable, and we failed to do so." Anko ground her teeth and looked away. She hated it whenever Kurenai was right, which she often was.
"I'm gonna go give him a piece of my mind." Kurenai sighed but she sped up before he friend could try to stop her. She quickly passed Hayate who gave her an amused smirk, and she caught up to Saito who was emotionlessly walking along the road.
"Hey- Saito. What the fuck was that back there?" Saito looked at her- and it was almost as if he didn't know who she was. The prick was pretending as if they hadn't ever met or something.
"Ah- I apologize, Mitarashi-san. I didn't realize that finishing so quickly would impede your test."
"Bullshit, Saito. And really, 'Mitarashi-san'? You think being civil is going to work now, after you've called me 'Snake Slut' all these years?"
"Ah- no. But, I mean- we are both shinobi of Konoha, right? Maybe we could, ah, uhm, start over? On a new leaf?"
Anko would've laughed at his ballsiness if she wasn't so upset,"Fuck you, Ikabe. Why the fuck do you think I'd just start over after all the shit you've pulled?" Saito actually seemed to grimace, or was that a gag, before he nodded of all things,"I apologize for my behavior, Mitarashi-san. I didn't treat you as a fellow shinobi, and that is… disgraceful on my end. I promise to… try better to be open minded in the future. After this exam, I will do my best to stay out of your way, as best I can and not cause you anymore trouble."
Anko couldn't process what Saito was saying. She had known him for years, and this was a complete reversal of what she had been expecting. She didn't know how to respond outright, so she settled for glaring and poking him harshly,"If this is another fucking joke, Ikabe, then I'm going to beat you so hard it'll make the last one look like a training session." She didn't wait for a response, she turned and walked back to Kurenai agitatedly.
"What happened?"
"He...apologized." Kurenai blinked in shock, and Anko was relieved she wasn't the only one who hadn't been expecting that from Saito. The instructor may have been a decent teacher, but he wasn't a very good person. He had nearly been arrested by the Uchiha for attempting to start a riot before the Uchiha Massacre had happened. He didn't have many friends.
"Maybe he's trying to make a new start with this exam, Anko."
"I don't think that's Saito Ikabe. He called me 'Mitarashi-san'. Something's going on here, and I intend to find out what." Anko kept her eyes on Saito as they neared the Hokage Tower. Whatever was going on, she wasn't gonna let Saito get one over on her. She'd be ready for whatever trick he pulled.
The Hokage Tower was one of the most defended buildings within the village for a number of reasons. Besides being the symbolic source of strength for the village it also housed the majority of sensitive documents, forbidden jutsu, and shinobi rosters. It also was the office of the Hokage themself. Ontop of all that, there were cells in the sublevels of the tower that could house prisoners of interest to the village. Today, they house over a dozen captured spies. Most of which belonged to Orochimaru, truth be told. They had already gone through T&I, and now they were to be the jounin hopeful's second test.
The hopefuls would have an hour to break the prisoners and find out what information the spies had already provided to the village. The toughest shinobi had been selected from the halls of T&I, the ones that would see assisting a lowly ranked shinobi of the Leaf as an insult- ones that would actually make for a good test.
The examinees had an hour and if they did not succeed, they would fail. Of course, they would continue on to the next exam, but they would find out afterwards if they passed or failed. To become jounin, they had to pass all three by a respectable margin. Scraping by in two exams wouldn't be good enough. Sarutobi had come to watch the Jounin Exam play out. He watched as the examinees all filed in and settled down from his observation window. They would be kept under observation and they'd be released one at a time to break their prisoners.
Hiruzen was pulled from his observation as Shikaku Nara stepped beside him, "Hokage-sama, I have something to report."
"Oh? Go ahead, Nara-san." Shikaku bowed his head slightly and held out a folder- the results of the first exam. As he took them he couldn't help but note the interest in the Nara's eyes. That meant that this 'mystery' was important.
He looked over the results and raised an eyebrow. Out of the three groups, there were three perfect scores…
"It seems our Chunin are more skilled than we thought. These three candidates all achieved perfect scores… In an almost identical fashion."
"Most unusual. What do you suspect?" He watched as the veteran Jounin sighed and glanced back at the report.
"I suspect a covert-operative who hasn't been granted an official Jounin rank wants to claim what they believe they deserve."
It wasn't an unheard of situation- in the history of the village similar scenarios had happened. There were nearly a dozen cases of that exact phenomenon- this time though, it put Hiruzen on edge. He immediately thought of someone- he hoped his ward wasn't planning anything that he hadn't discussed with his guardian. The boy was already in deeper in the life of a shinobi then he had wanted for his age…
But, he would respect the boy's decisions. If this was Naruto, then he would give him an impartial and objective evaluation of his exams. He only hoped that the boy would be able to handle the responsibility that he was putting on his shoulders.
His stomach sank even deeper when Ibiki entered the room with a scowl on his face, "Hokage-sama, this Saito Ikabe- he has to be in disguise."
"What happened?"
"He walked into the room, asked his target a single question- which wasn't even answered, and left. Upon debrief, he supplied the requested information. I think that this Saito stole the information beforehand, or…"
"Yes, Ibiki?" The veteran interrogator coughed lightly into his hand and looked back towards his kage, "...Or it's the shinobi you have randomly testing the Yamanaka." Shikaku looked up sharply at that, observing the Sandaime intently. Even he didn't know much about Agent Konoha. Shikaku had three possible candidates for the identity of the terrifying sensor and was interested to find out the true identity of such a shinobi.
Hiruzen couldn't restrain the sigh that left his lips, "My thoughts exactly, Ibiki… I wonder how the rest of the examinees will fare."
The final part of the Jounin exam was scheduled to take place in one of the Jounin Training grounds. These were much harder to find and access than normal training grounds, and minimized any lost civilian or hapless genin from stumbling into an active sparring ground. Anko furiously marched alongside Kurenai to Training Ground 22; a large valley on the northern outskirts of the village territory. Ahead of them, yet again, was Saito Ikabe.
Thanks to her training under Orochimaru as well as her own natural inclinations, Anko had been banking on having the best performance in the interrogation exam. She knew Kurenai was damned good as well, what with her twisting genjutsu, but Anko's style took less time and less effort. A little more messy, but extremely efficient.
So, Anko took it a little personal when she came out and saw that three others had completed their interrogations before her- one of them being Ikabe. He even had the nerve to nod at her when she arrived, as if they were actually starting over!
She nearly tripped as Kurenai nudged her. Her friend almost glared at her and Anko rolled her eyes with a huff. She did her best to calm down and relax. She begun running a mental checklist of all her stashed seals and weapons. They all knew what the third exam would be.
An all out slugfest. It was unspoken between the cells that they'd group up in their teams of four against the other two; but, Anko was looking forward to getting one or two licks in on Ikabe in the madness. She saw him tense a bit and glance back at her subconsciously. He looked away as soon as he realized they had made eye contact, and Anko's stomach dropped.
She knew that Saito Ikabe wasn't a sensor-type. Those who were gifted with the ability to sense chakra in their surroundings were the most adept at sensing killing intent. Thinking of how many ways she could stab him non-lethally wasn't necessarily 'killing' intent, but it still carried over. A sensor type could distinguish passing urges from premeditated fantasies of maiming.
Whoever was walking in front of them wasn't the teacher who couldn't sense her if she was six inches behind him. Not only that, but she had now just alienated whoever had been able to remain disguised as another shinobi through their entire exam. The imposter knew that Anko had intended to ambush him- and shinobi were a paranoid bunch. She wouldn't be able to convince them that her intentions had changed. With a silent snarl she started signalling Kurenai that their original plans would have to change. Unfortunately, they'd have to leave Hayate to defend himself, as the Saito-imposter would assume that all three of them were onboard for taking him out. She tried to ignore Kurenai's furious glare as they rapidly traded signed messages.
Whoever this infiltrator was, Anko was going to have some harsh words with them about how royally they had managed to fuck up her Jounin Exam. They would definitely be buying her some dango- at the least.
Naruto quickly surveyed the battlefield they had been led to. Training Ground 22 was one of the five locations Kabuto had predicted would be used, based upon the information that a handful of Root agents had supplied to Naruto. It was one of the smaller training grounds and would force the examinees to remain enclosed during their combat. He twitched as the aggression surrounding him strengthened. The negative emotions these shinobi were allowing to overwhelm them was almost staggering. It was taking all of his training up to this point to not visibly react to each and every violent thought. Kurama was proud of him, he believed, but was remaining quiet so as to not distract him. His senses were going haywire, but that was good. It was giving him time to get accustomed to them, because when the fighting began… It would only get worse.
They were all lined up and Kakashi appeared before them all. They all stood tighter at attention- Kakashi had only gained more of a 'mythical' status after he disappeared from the public eye. Naruto felt Kakashi's eye wash over him and he nearly gulped. He knew- both he and Jiji knew that he was in the exam! He gritted his teeth and held his head- Saito's head- high. He would do them proud; he would show that he couldn't be anything else but a Jounin. He could help the village. He would help the village.
"Examinees, you all have an hour to express your combat expertise. Here are the rules; no killing. No forbidden jutsu. No leaving the arena." The wind whistled through the valley as everyone took a steadying breath.
"Begin."
The battle raged.
In the span of a second, the groups had already split off- three groups all facing each other. Of course, that lasted for only a moment before everything changed. Anko and Kurenai jumped away from Hayate and Naruto making four groups. That's when Naruto took that time of surprise from the other two groups and Hayate to release his other two shadow clones in the other two groups and replaced himself with a nearby rock as a volley of shuriken pierced where his body had been a breath before.
Things went from aggressive to vicious. Most of it could be laid at Naruto's feet, but the two kunoichi had not helped. Tensions rose as the other two groups realized their cells of four had fallen down to cells of three, and the kunoichi's retreat incriminated them as also being involved. If the three absentee shinobi reappeared together with the kunoichi, that would make a cell of five hopefuls against two cells of three and a solitary Hayate. One cell went after Anko and Kurenai while the other surged towards Hayate.
It was smart- take out the visible threats and keep eyes open for ambushes or traps. Naruto normally would've capitalized on their paranoia and remained in hiding until the other two cells weakened each other up before storming in. Normally.
But, he wanted to leave his footprint. He wanted to be noticed. He wanted to be remembered.
He had to avoid rolling his eyes as Kurama snickered in the back of his mind.
Naruto dropped his henge and put his hands together, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Twenty clones spawned at his sides and leapt forwards silently. They dashed forwards to engage in the members of the two cells that were hanging back watching for ambushes- ironically, they were the easiest targets. Naruto closed his eyes and relaxed for a second as the shadow clones created an empathy relay. It was a side-effect of the jutsu that had never been observable before. Each clone had their empathy. The more clones he had out at a time, the faster his empathy was 'processed' and turned into reflexes. The first time he had used the jutsu it had left him a massive headache, but with training that had minimized.
His clones fell onto the eleven shinobi with efficiency that he had learned from his days in anbu. Each cell had to contend with a new five-man cell.
He sensed their confusion as a flood of 'children' swarmed the battlefield and sensed it turn into panic as his clones incapacitated two ninja right off the bat- one being an Aburame and the other being a Nara. There had only been a few shinobi that had caught on to him and his clones, and those two had been the most dangerous to him. If the Nara had been just a bit quicker, she could have possibly gotten the rest of the examinees to team up on the 'fakes'.
As it was, his clones were slowly being pushed to the defensive as the three two-man-cells and Hayate started to thin the herd. Shadow clones were meant for reconnaissance, one good hit was all it took to take them out.
Blades flew through the air, and blood was spilled as the groups were all shepherded together. His clones worked seamlessly together, and they started to react before their enemies could even physically react.
He watched impassively as one hapless Chunin was beaten down by five clones who had managed to isolate him, before moving on after two clones axe-kicked his knees and shattered them. His screams were silenced by a dispassionate kick to the head- these were allies after all.
'Rather brutal, Naruto-kun. Are you sure that this is the path you want to walk? Look at all the pain you cause those who you are supposed to protect.'
'I have to play by the rules of this world if I want to change it… It doesn't justify my actions, Kurama-kun, but I have to do what I can. This is what I was trained to do- and it will let me help the bijuu the quickest.'
'I never intended to dominate your life with this purpose you zealously fight for… I only wanted to show you the truth of this life.'
'To know the truth and not act on it is how evil infects the air. To breathe in that apathy- I can sense the hatred that resides within us all. I know how cruel inaction truly is. This is my choice, Kurama. Millions have ignored your pain- the pain of you and your siblings. If I am to be the one soul that will make a difference, I have to act with every ounce of my being. You are my family. This is what family does for each other- what you have already done for me.'
'Behind you!'
Naruto shoved his head to the side, dodging the kunai that would have taken a good chunk of his ear and dropped from the tree branch he had been hiding in. Across from him stood Hayate with Anko and Kurenai on either side.
"A kid?! What the fuck are they thinking-"
"Not now, Anko, don't underestimate-" Naruto leapt forward and once more capitalized on someone underestimating him. Hayate went for a swipe and Naruto seamlessly flowed under his blade. As if he was an amateur, Hayate lost his grip on his sword as Naruto chopped his wrists, and broke his grip. He immediately twisted and kicked the sword- the chakra-infused strike sending it far out of bounds.
Anko immediately pulled Hayate back and the three of them got into taijutsu positions- Naruto identified them as the snake-style, the willow stance, and the village style: jounin stance. He took his position and heard them gasp as the Uchiha Interceptor stance breathed fear and disbelief into them. His blue eyes gazed cooly at them, taunting them with his lack of dojutsu.
Every foolish chunin hoping to get a promotion tried to learn the Interceptor taijutsu and use it to bank on it's infamy. When the clan was still going strong, Uchiha jounins would actually teach the stance to any chunin or jonin foolish enough to ask.
The Uchiha would then laugh if anyone ever tried to use it in combat; especially, if it was an 'ace' for an examination. You could not use the stance without the Sharingan.
Naruto and Itachi had discovered that you could actually use the Interceptor without the Sharingan- you just needed some other form of prediction to replace it.
Hayate grew a smug smirk and dashed forwards- Anko close behind. Those two didn't have the hesitation that Kurenai felt. It was their first mistake.
Hayate's willow stance was about flexibility much like Anko's snake-style, and the Interceptor answered them with rough grapples and shoves that threw off their balance, quick and debilitating strikes hammering in when they couldn't react.
Kurenai came into the fray in an effort to defend her allies. Naruto could easily predict her attacks from her movements alone- taijutsu was definitely not her strong suit. He blinked as Kurama broke a genjutsu and realized he had almost opened himself up for a finishing strike from Anko. The up and coming 'Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha' was deadly. That level of illusion neared the level of Itachi himself..
Anko yelped as Naruto deflected her strike and quickly snapped her wrist. He leapt straight up and into the tree branches as Hayate attempted to blind-swipe him.
"He broke my fucking wrist! I'm gonna kill him!"
"Anko! No!"
Mitarashi's anger and frustration that had been bubbling this whole time overcame her better senses and forced her to leap up immediately after him. She came face to face with three clones who rushed her as soon as she came in range. She dodged and swiped, destroying one. The second backed up a bit as the third managed to latch onto her waist. Instead of trying to regain its footing the clone pushed against the branch and sailed them into the air and over the cliff. She howled as the third clone descended on them with a brutal donkey kick that bent her in half and sent them flying into the stones below!
Naruto watched anxiously as Hayate regrouped with Kurenai. The genjutsu specialist could be a thorn in his side- she was the most likely to get him eliminated out of the rest of the jounin. It seemed that she didn't like how he'd treated her friend and was getting angry.
She was terrifying.
No wonder Asuma was so smitten with her..
That being said, his clones were starting to thin out a bit…. That wouldn't do.
"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"
The two jounin cursed and leapt back as fifty clones suddenly appeared and swarmed the battlefield- the original somewhere amongst them.
"Who the fuck even is this kid?!" Kurenai huffed at Hayate's exasperation.
"He's the Hokage's ward- the Uzumaki."
"How do you know that?" Kurenai opened her mouth to respond and then closed it, trying not to blush. She wasn't quite yet comfortable with how close she had been become with Asuma her teammate turned…. friend...well-
Her focus jerked back to the present as Hayate shoved her back, out of the way of a kunai that would have severed her hand from her wrist. She was weaving back, constantly on the defensive. Naruto was pressing the offensive with a ruthless zeal. She had sparred with Asuma long enough to spy the tell-tale signs of wind chakra. The boy wasn't extending it as far as Asuma's trench knives, but his kunai might not have been made of the proper metal.
It was still lethal and couldn't be blocked directly. That's what was important.
She had spied how his clones had cut down the competition in the other cells. At the end of this exam, there would be a lot of injured shinobi. A few of the others were still up and fighting- a final group of three ninja against a horde of thirty clones. It was absurd.
She knew the B-ranked clone ninjutsu. She could make a single clone. She had believed it to be incredibly powerful and one of her most unexpected assets. In truth, she had planned to showcase it in these exams. Weaving a combination of genjutsus at the same time.
Therefore, she was incredibly intimidated by just how many clones the child in front of her was spawning. They were strong. Naruto was a small army on his own.
She jumped over a clone and kicked him into another doppelganger. Suddenly, she was knocked off her feet! A body crashed into her and she almost put a kunai into it, before she realized that it was Hayate's bleeding body. She could feel the clones taking position around her and readied her kunai.
She was about to leap to engage them when a massive cloud of smoke erupted from beneath the nearby cliff. A bruised and bleeding Anko appeared, standing atop the head of a massive green snake. She watched as the clones seemed to respond as one. With a start, she realized that somehow whatever one observed the others would as well.
Her heart dropped.
"Anko! Dispel as many clones as you can!" She tried to cut her way through the clones towards Anko. She cut two down before a third grabbed her. She swung her knife into it's arm and was surprised when blood flew from the wound. Naruto, the real one, wasted no time and disarmed her and swung his own kunai at her chest. She replaced herself at the last second with her dropped weapon- another feat she had anticipated showcasing to the examinees. She lunged and disarmed Naruto; as well as, all the seals he had in his pouch.
She saw him frown as she stashed the stack of seals away, "Sorry, Naruto-kun; Asuma may have told me that you've taken after his father in many ways. Such as stashing away an arsenal of weapons. Your skills have been impressive, but you must be tired now- submit."
Anko's foul cursing in the background gave Kurenai little hope that her summon had been able to take out the thirty-odd clones at once. It seems they were the last three ninja standing. The two underdogs and the child that was in no way intended to enter the exam.
Whether she succeeded or failed, she was sure that the story of this test was going to make it's rounds through the village.
"Asuma always spoke highly of you, Kurenai-san… I think he has feelings for you." The young boy looked her in the eye with a focus that teetered on the unsettling, "You should tell him your fears about pursuing a relationship at this stage in your career; and your unresolved feelings for Mitarashi-san."
Kurenai's eyes widened in shock at the secrets she had never voiced aloud, only to see Naruto's hands glown with a sickly green chakra and dash towards her. He engaged in taijutsu and she tried to avoid his fists as well as she could, but inevitably one made contact. She felt a piercing pain in her leg as it collapsed beneath her. The strike left no blemish or tear, but all the same she felt her muscles become unresponsive.
"Chakura no mesu. Chakra scalpels- I don't have the control yet to use them for their intended purpose, but with them I am never unarmed. After this I'll alert the medic-nin's to you first. This shouldn't take too much longer." Three more strikes followed, and Kurenai couldn't get away- her limbs lying useless on the ground. She had never felt so powerless.
All at the hands of a boy not even ten.
"I'm sorry to have scared you so, Kurenai-san… I promise I won't tell anyone your secrets. I just- you were too scary. Your genjutsu skills are amazing- Itachi-kun would've been impressed."
She couldn't help but stare as the boy turned and put his hands together, only one opponent yet standing. She realized that she had, against her own warnings to her teammates earlier, underestimated his abilities at every turn.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"
And as two hundred more clones appeared around the giant snake summon, Kurenai realized that she hadn't stopped underestimating him.
