FROG MASK
CHAPTER IX:
By Blackmamuth
"Kyuubi speaking"
Naruto pouted. He was purposely ignoring the lecture his dad was giving about the importance of tracking and stealth, and that he needed to improve dramatically in those areas. It wasn't true. He didn't suck at it! Did Sasuke bastard detect him trailing the mist team? Did Sakura-chan detect him? Did the mist genin team detect him? A 'No' was the answer to all three questions. What was the problem then?
Kiiro pointed that Sasuke was so exhausted that he wasn't paying much attention at his surroundings, Sakura was fawning over Sasuke even more than the usual, (they did not know about the cursed seal) and the mist team was so busy tailing them while remaining hidden to really search for another shinobi.
But the worst part was about his nonexistent tracking skills. He took hours to find them, a feat that even Sakura would do in less time.
Naruto shivered at the proposed training regime his dad was proposing to correct those weak points. He was going to sneak into forbidden area number nineteen (a forest in the outskirts of Kenosha, heavily trapped), he was supposed to go there, find and disarm every trap (tracking), while hiding from his own kage bunshins, and hunting them at the same time. In short it was like the second test of the chuunin exam, adding the fact that he should survive the traps, disarm them all, and "kill" all his Kage bunshins without being seen at all.
It would be a feat in itself, especially because the Kage bunshins had the same techniques and skills as him.
Naruto sighed. He was so tired of lectures already. First that, and then the fact that he learned that opening the scroll meant immediate disqualification. How stupid was he? That piece of news was enough to darken his mood considerably. Only the presence of Iruka-sensei returned the smile to his face. Then he explained the poem in the wall, basically saying that you must work to overcome your shortcomings. That poem was a nasty reminder about his future trip to forbidden area nineteen.
And then Iruka said to take it Easy, he was worried about him! That was enough! He needed training, true, but he was not in the academy anymore! He grabbed his forehead protector, and shouted.
"I'M NOT AN ACADEMY STUDENT! Iruka-sensei! there is no need to worry! Maybe I'm still Loud, BUT I'M NOT A KID ANYMORE! "
Silence made his appearance after the last Naruto outburst, Naruto's face regained his ever present smile for a few seconds, and he then added the undeniable truth: "I'M A NINJA!"
-XXX-
Kiiro was looking through the eyes of his son the teams that passed the second test of the chuunin exam. Four leaf teams, a sound team, and a sand team. More than usual this late in the exam, but the abundance of leaf teams was normal. After all, every genin who wasn't a rookie was allowed to enter a chuunin exam in his home country. A rookie genin of the leaf needed a jounin recommendation. That wasn't the same for foreign teams. For a foreign team to enter a chuunin exam in a foreign country, their village needed an invitation to it. And traditionally, Villages gave very few of them. It wasn't unusual to only have a single team from a village, if the sponsor of the chuunin exam only gave them one invitation.
Usually rival villages sent their best genin to compensate for the lack of invitations they got. So they usually ended in the last exam.
It was surprising that all the rookies passed the second exam. But looking at them he could see why they were there. There was a team with the Ino-shika-cho, the legendary teamwork. Kiiro sighed, if the next part was what he expected, one on one fights, the advantages they had in their superb teamwork that led them here would be nullified.
The second leaf team was a team with a Hyuuga, an Aburame, and an Inuzuka. It was not surprising those three passed the second test. The three clans were the best Kenosha had to offer in relation to scouting, tracking and operating in unknown terrain.
The third team had another Hyuuga, a clone of Maito Gai (Bowl cuts and green spandex... Ouch!)And the last member was a pretty girl. He didn't know of her clan at first glance. Maybe she was a weapon specialist? The scrolls she was carrying around hinted about it, also, there was the fact that Hyuuga's and Mini-Gai were obviously taijutsu specialists, so a long range weapon specialist made sense.
There was also Naruto's team. Of all the teams, it was the most unbalanced. An Uchiha (two, but they did not know about Naruto). Uchiha's were traditionally genjutsu/ninjutsu specialists, Naruto was a mix of taijutsu (Regeneration and endless stamina) and ninjutsu specialist (Nearly endless chakra), but he didn't excel that much in those areas, and then, Sakura... Well, maybe moral support.
The last leaf team was an incognita in itself. He wasn't present at Kabuto's meeting with Naruto in the forest because he was still digesting the horrible fate the Uchiha clan had, but for what he had been told, he was able to pass his traps like they weren't there. That meant that he was an experienced tracker, in that area he was at least upper chuunin level.
His two companions where an incognita too. They had no clan symbol anywhere and had their faces covered. It was a good strategy to hide your skills, a strategy that obviously succeeded.
The Sound team was interesting. They had one member badly injured, and the other two were not that fresh. Naruto didn't exactly know what happened either, but what he was able to find indicated that it took the combined might of the Ino-Shika-Cho, Mini-Gai and Sasuke to defeat them. The good part was they did know their jutsu, but the sound team could still have a pair of aces under their sleeve.
And the last team was the sand team. A team that had an obvious fan user, and a puppet user (Why the puppeteer didn't have his puppet sealed in a scroll was interesting in itself. Did the boy suck at sealing perhaps?). Those two practiced traditional sand village styles. But the most enigmatic was the short redhead. He had a strange aura, he radiated killer intent.
It was going to be an interesting exam.
-XXX-
Mitsarashi Anko commanded the attention of the tired genin in the room.
"Hokage-Sama will now explain the third test, please, listen carefully!"
The old man took his pipe, and proceeded to explain that the chuunin exams had an ulterior motive; they simulated war and acted as advertisement at the same time. In the last part of the exam, important personalities and country leaders were invited to show everyone the strength of your hidden village. That was a way hidden villages gained or lost clients and influence.
Inuzuka Kiba asked rudely why they had to risk their lives in an advertisement. The Hokage answer was that only in life-risking battles Shinobi's showed their true strength. And the strength of the shinobi was the power of a village.
The old man was going to explain the rules of the third test, when the referee appeared. Gekyou Hayate. The man requested to explain the rules himself instead, and the Hokage let him.
But before he explained it, he shocked everyone saying that there was going to be a preliminary, because they were limited in time, and they could not have the guests wait too much.
The sickly jounin asked if someone wanted to give up, because the preliminary was going to take place right away.
Naruto was startled, but there was nothing that would make him abandon, he promised to do his best.
Naruto wondered if the injured sound guy with the hollow hands was going to quit, but there was someone else who gave up. Someone he never expected: Kabuto-san.
Naruto couldn't believe it. Kabuto-san was quitting? Why? Naruto tried to restrain showing his disappointment, in his mind, quitting was the same as being a coward, even thought that when asked, Kabuto said that he was unable to hear from his left ear, and he wasn't very confident he was able to pass a life risking exam.
The referee asked Kabuto's name, and crossed it from his list. He stated that quitting was not going to affect one's teammates, because from now on, the exam was individual.
In a corner of the room, two members of the Ino-Shika-Cho team grimaced, and the third muttered "this is troublesome..."
-XXX-
Kiiro was worried, but for a reason. He had just overhead (thanks to Naruto's keen hearing) Sandaime and Anko saying that the boy had quit six times already. His academy record wasn't impressive, but the important piece of information was that Kabuto was the child of dead enemy shinobi. An orphaned child brought to Konoha by a medical jounin, in the battle of bellflower pass.
Bellflower pass? It was nearly at the end of the war against rock and thunder, a desperate effort from the enemy to hold that position to stop shinobi entering rock country mainland. The leaf and a team of the grass stormed the fort protecting bellflower pass. It was a massacre. Bellflower fort was a wooden fort. And the leaf specialized in fire jutsu.
It was a shame that there were civilians along with ninja in the fort. It was war, and they had to march across bellflower pass to get into rock country proper.
Why did the boy quit six times in a row when it was obvious he had the skills to pass the exam? It made no sense. If he was still Hokage, he would assign someone to watch him, something he was sure Sarutobi would do.
Kabuto whispered something to his teammate, and started walking towards the exit, not without waving Naruto Goodbye.
If someone could have seen his face when he was slowly walking to the exit, that someone would see that he was experiencing a sadistic pleasure while leaving.
-XXX-
Sasuke grabbed his shoulder and groaned. The waves of pain were nearly unbearable; he bit his tongue, hoping that the pain in there surpassed the one from the mark.
When Sakura heard the part about quitting, Sakura reminded him of the mark, suggesting that he took in that opportunity. The pain, like a macabre joke, intensified.
And her suggestion reached outrageous proportions. She said that he was in no shape to fight, and begged him to quit. Tears fell from her eyes, and stated that he was acting strange since then.
Hah! He would like to see her with her body feeling like liquid fire, and acting normal.
He tried to stop her pestering him. He uttered a cold "shut up" willing her to spare him her tears.
She ignored it. She continued rambling about that he didn't fool her, and that he had been hiding his pain since then.
Sasuke tried a "be quiet", but without success either.
And then she told him that she was going to tell sensei about it. It was enough. He tried to be polite about it, but she was unable to be rational. He grabbed her hand (an action that succeeded in shutting her up)
He looked into her eyes, and tried to use his coldest tone on her. "Shut up about this mark".
Sakura's tears fell for a few seconds, while Sakura tried to regain her composure. It wasn't enough. She continued pestering him.
"Why are you so stubborn! I don't want to see you suffering anymore. To me you are..."
Wasn't he clear enough? "This has nothing to do with you." "Stay out of my business"
He challenged her with his gaze, engaging her into a silent battle of wills. No one was going to force him out of the exam.
Sakura lowered her gaze after a few seconds, defeated. Her face was radiating sadness.
Sasuke felt a pang of guilt. It was not her fault. He decided to explain his motives.
"I'm an avenger." Yes, he was going to kill that bastard. "I don't care about being a chuunin. I only want to fight strong guys." Sasuke looked at Sakura's eyes, to show he was serious. "I won't forgive you, if you take that from me"
Naruto jumped into the argument, defending Sakura, when he looked at him, Sasuke couldn't control himself. He was also a strong guy. He said it without thinking. "I also want to fight you..."
Naruto opened his eyes wide, speechless. The unthinkable happened. Sasuke had just acknowledged his strength.
Kiiro was uneasy. Sasuke's attitude reminded him of a lot of excellent shinobi that went down a dark path. Revenge no matter what was something that gave no real satisfaction in the end, and the primary cause of the creation of a missing nin, some of them, created more damage in their wake than the objective of their ire. He decided to not voice his concerns to Naruto. The boy was someone Naruto acknowledged as a friend, and he did not want to hurt his feelings... He wasn't ready yet.
And that mark... Before he left, Orochimaru had begun a macabre set of experiments, ending with a series of test in his own team. A team that died in strange circumstances, their bodies strangely mutated. Only the girl in his team survived, and she passed three months in a coma-like state. The few he knew about that seal was that somehow when activated it released enormous amounts of chakra, killer intent, and twisted the victims into some kind of blood hungry psycho, while eating the user's body slowly.
He wasn't telling Naruto about that either.
-XXX-
First match: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi
Kakashi said something to Sasuke. 'Probably it was something about the cursed seal'. Kiiro thought. Why they didn't stop the match was something he couldn't comprehend. Were they afraid to upset Sasuke and losing the sharingan for good? Highly unlikely. There was something he did not know in the Hokage's hands.
The match was interesting in itself. The Uchiha boy was under the severe pain, and he was unable to use chakra. At first he played a dodging game with his rival, and managed to immobilize him. That suited Yoroi, Because Yoroi drained chakra with his hands.
He and Naruto had a private laugh about him trying to drain Naruto's and getting Fuzzy's chakra instead. Talk about indigestion.
When Sasuke looked finished, Naruto couldn't bear it. He shouted at him an insulting remark. He asked if that was the limit of his abilities. Well, it helped him, but not in the way Naruto thought. When Sasuke looked at the spectator's, he saw Lee and was reminded of his fight with him. A fight Sasuke used his sharingan.
He used the opening move of the lotus, to surprise his opponent, and finished it with his weaker version. Not that he could have used the original technique, because Gai had stopped their match before Lee finished using it.
There was a tense moment where it seemed the cursed seal was going to activate, but he managed to control it.
Naruto shouted a "YES" when Sasuke was declared the winner, but Kiiro stopped his ramblings, when he shouted in his head. "Naruto, quick! theoretical exercise, What would have you done against Yoroi?"
Naruto's thought for a moment. "Overwhelm him with Kage bunshins?" He ventured into his mind.
And his father response was a solid "Not good enough, that would work but waste too much chakra, and this guy would have poofed your Kage bunshins easily only touching them"
Naruto thought a bit more. That guy only strength was a draining taijutsu, so close fight was out of the question. He did not know long range just, so that was also out of the question. Kakashi wore a facemask like him and he was a pervert... Harem no just?
Kiiro sweat dropped, and offered a "last chance"
Naruto thought again hard. The guy was a rather slow taijutsu user. He didn't have a ranged direct damage ninjutsu like the Katon Sasuke had... By the way, why didn't Sasuke use it? Was he injured to the point of not being able to perform it? He didn't use the sharingan either. He would have to ask later.
So what was left? Kunai and shuriken. He would have to toss those. But he didn't throw them particularly fast and precise... How he would pull that off? Yes, he had the solution.
"I would encircle him with a few Kage bunshins to save chakra and all my kage bunshins would toss him kunai at the same time."
Kiiro smiled. "Good, I accept that, but you would have to remember not to have your shadow clones directly at the other side of the guy. It would be rather embarrassing to poof your shadow clones yourself. Also, it would be a good idea to move around the guy randomly while tossing your shuriken, it would have confused the guy, and make easier to hit him and dodge. A stationary shinobi is the perfect target. "
-XXX-
The Kyuubi was surprised to see a rather rusty set of gears, slowly coming to life, without her interference. She smirked. It was good to know the boy had started to use his brain
END CHAPTER
Author Notes: this chapter is really late, but finally it's out. I had several problems that I'm not going to enumerate. Also, I guess I'm not going to respond to your reviews due to the new policy in of forbidding it.
Well, if you REALLY want to know something about it, email me, and I will try to answer your questions.
I only got a match in the preliminaries. This is moving slowly, but we are getting there...
