Chapter 8- Tricks of the Mind
A.N. (super-long-edition!):
Ugh… Here we go… I always hated the Chunin exams. THEY ARE SO BORING!!!! Ahem. Anyway, I wanted to ensure that everyone understands why Naruto lets himself get hurt. As you have seen-err, read- Naruto is, in fact, super-powered. In this fic, he could kill the villagers in a blink of an eye. But, seeing as he has the Kyuubi in him, he could be charged for assaulting a villager (and executed) for accidentally bumping into them. So that's why Naruto doesn't try to defend himself. To put it simply, it's because the villagers are idiots. End of story. I have shown in Chapter 2 that he CAN get away from them, but he didn't last chapter because he was covering for Lee. (But don't blame the smaller Green Beast! It's not his fault!!) I only wrote this because a flamer, who shall remain nameless, said that because of that reason my writing sucks and that I should stop writing… Ah well. Anyway, the vote ended in a tie-ish thing, so, umm… you guys get something between a HUGE twist and a smaller twist… In my opinion at least. Anyway, Konohamaru makes his appearance! Behold! (WARNING: There is a flashback this chappie!)
In the Hokage's office:
"Welcome everyone. I assume you already know why you've been called, so I suppose I might as well formally announce it." The Hokage's weary eyes flicked over to the corner of the room for a second, glancing at the Anbu that was hidden there.
"Konohagakure will be hosting the Chunin exams this year!" declared the Sandaime. "Any jounin wishing to nominate their teams step forward."
Four jounin stepped forward.
'My team should be strong enough… But what if I'm wrong? This is my first team!' thought the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha.
'My team's Flames of Youth shine brightly enough to pass!' were the thoughts of the Beautiful Green Beast.
'Heh. My team will pass without a doubt!' the jounin smoking a cigar reassured himself.
'Might as well. It means I'll get more time to read Icha-Icha.' thought a certain silver-haired jounin, his nose buried in a book. He glanced up from the orange novel, and noticed everyone staring at him. He took the hint.
"I, Hatake Kakashi, nominate Team 7 for the Chunin exams." Kakashi began to take a step back, but was interrupted by a brown-haired instructor with a scar across his nose.
"It's too soon! The exams are dangerous! Who knows what could happen to them! They are my students, and I know they aren't ready!" cried an enraged Iruka.
"Correction, Umino-san." spoke a voice from the corner of the room. The Hokage smirked knowingly at the confused looks on the rest of the room's occupants. They had all turned to look at the darkened corner as a short Anbu with a fox mask appeared.
'So he's decided to step in after all. May as well hear what he wants to say.' thought the oldest shinobi in the room.
"They were your students, but now they are Kakashi's teammates. He knows their capabilities. Test them yourself if you have any doubts." The Anbu then stepped back into the shadows, his mask hiding the small smirk that adorned his face.
Iruka sat back down in his seat. It wasn't his place to argue with an Anbu, after all.
'Maybe I will.' thought the sensei. 'Well, maybe not Naruto, I don't really want to face an Anbu Captain.' The Chunin allowed the tiniest of sighs to escape his lips. The nominations continued.
"I, Yuuhi Kurenai, nominate Team 8 for the Chunin exams."
"I, Sarutobi Asuma, nominate Team 10 for the Chunin exams."
"I, Maito Gai, nominate Team 5 for the Chunin exams because of their Flames of Youth." The last jounin stepped back, ignoring the annoyed looks he received.
"Very well. Teams 5, 7, 8, and 10 will be participating in this year's Chunin exams. Dismissed." All of the jounin and the single chunin left the room, and a single Anbu took their place.
"What do you think?" asked the older of the two.
"They can handle it." replied the Anbu, taking off his mask to reveal brown hair and green eyes, which were quickly returning to their original colors. "Believe it." he added jokingly, before leaving with a poof of smoke.
The Sandaime sighed; he knew a lot of paperwork would result from this, one way or another.
Kakashi strolled through Konoha, bored out of his mind.
He checked the time and sighed.
'I still have thirty minutes until I'm officially considered three hours late to the gennin. What to do? I've already thought of today's excuse…'
The Copy-nin looked through the window of a bookstore and his visible eye bulged slightly.
'Is that the new Icha-Icha book? Hm, I think I know what to do with my time now…'
The jounin entered the store with an unseen grin.
Meanwhile…
Naruto hid in a tree, watching his clone unsuccessfully trying to interact with his teammates. The Bunshin grinned like an idiot all the while.
Naruto checked the time.
'Still thirty minutes until Kakashi-sensei arrives. I might as well make good use of it.'
Naruto jumped away from his teammates, and, after trading his Anbu uniform for the obnoxious orange jumpsuit, did a quick warm-up. He began with three hundred push-ups, sit-ups, and squats, then proceeded to perform two hundred punches and kicks. He finished with twenty laps around the small training area. His muscles buzzing lightly, Naruto performed Kawirimi (Replacement Technique) with his Kage Bunshin. He then dispelled the clone. Apparently nothing out of the ordinary happened, unless Sakura fawning over Sasuke was considered abnormal.
Naruto checked the time and held his breath.
'6…5…4…3…2…1!' there was a poof of smoke at one, and there stood Kakashi, holding a new book. He raised his hand in a lazy wave.
"Yo."
"YOUR LATE!!!" cried Sakura and Naruto.
'Although not by your standards…' added the blonde silently.
"Maa, maa, gomen, but I saw a new Icha-Icha book, so I had to buy it, and then I had to show it to everyone!" the jounin crinkled his eye happily.
"YOU'RE…" began Sakura, "… Telling the truth?" she finished confusedly. The younger males rolled their eyes.
"Anyway…" prompted Naruto.
"Oh, right. I nominated you for the Chunin exams. Here are the papers." The team leader handed the three a stack of papers. "Sign them and report to room 302 at the Academy tomorrow if you want to participate. Ja ne!" the jounin then left the same way he arrived.
Naruto glanced at his teammates. Sasuke was looking at the papers arrogantly, as if he thought it would be easy because he was the "last Uchiha." Sakura, on the other hand, looked slightly nervous, yet determined. Naruto knew he had to participate, but he also knew it would be a pain. He glanced at his teammates.
"Anyone have a pen?" he asked sheepishly, ignoring the fact that he had one in his back pocket.
Team 7 was heading out to eat. Sasuke and Sakura couldn't refuse Naruto's offer for lunch. They were doubtful at first, but the deal was sealed when Naruto said he would treat them to whatever they wanted. They were almost at their destination, a steak house, when Naruto turned around and yelled, "Stop following me!"
Knowing he couldn't be referring to them, they turned around and stared at the rectangular rock that was now in front of them.
"There's no one here!" came a muffled voice from the "rock".
"Konohamaru, give it up, I know it's you." spoke Naruto.
The rock exploded, revealing three Academy students, all covered in soot. The one with a blue scarf spoke up.
"Too" –cough- "many" –cough- "explosives" –cough. The student cheered up considerably after his uninformative sentence.
"Ah, boss, I would not expect less from you! You are such a great shinobi, after all!" the boy laughed. "In fact, you're as sly as a fox!"
The gennin froze at that statement. He knew Konohamaru had no idea what he had hinted at, but the blonde couldn't help but be alert.
"So, boss, will you play ninja with us? You promised!" said the boisterous student.
"A shinobi playing ninja? How ridiculous can you be, Naruto?" claimed Sakura.
Naruto relaxed a little. No one had thought about Konohamaru's fox statement.
"Ne, boss, is she your… you know?" said Konohamaru, wiggling his pinkie.
"Iie, Konohamaru, she's not-"
"Me?! Go out with him?!" shrieked Sakura. "You have to be kidding me!"
"Oh, good. I'm relieved then, boss. Her forehead is too big for her to be pretty, anyway." said the Hokage's grandson boldly. His two friends snickered and Sasuke smirked.
"What did you say?!" asked an enraged Sakura.
"I said that you're forehead is too big to-"
Naruto tuned out of the conversation.
'The kid is still annoying, but I have to admit, he's much better then when I first met him.' Naruto fought back a chuckle at the memory.
Flashback:
Naruto stood in front of the Hokage, his two senseis next to him.
"-So that's why we believe that Naruto is ready-" Anko was interrupted by a crash. Immediately the three shinobi jumped into action. Anko and Yamato went to either side of the Hokage, weapons drawn, and Naruto took out a kunai and went towards the source of the noise carefully. He hoped it wasn't an intruder; he was only turning five next week. He knew it wouldn't be a good idea to try and face an experienced shinobi. He approached the intruder only to be met with the sight of a three year old boy, sprawled out on the floor. Naruto sighed in relief.
"Do you want some help?" he asked the clumsy younger boy.
"I'm fine!" replied the brunet, standing up, he returned to his march to the Hokage's office, and Naruto followed, curious of what would happen.
"Old man!" cried the toddler, "I challenge you to a duel! Whoever wins becomes Hokage!" The three people behind the desk sighed; they had to survive this every week.
"Now, now, Konohamaru, I have important business to attend to. Sit down. I'll talk to you when I'm done." The grandfather turned to the three shinobi in front of him, the three having resumed their positions as the Hokage gave his reply to his grandson.
"All right, Anko, Yamato, I have been watching Naruto's progress and I must agree with you. Naruto, congratulations, you are now part of the Anbu."
Naruto was in shock. Him? In the Anbu? He couldn't believe it. He was closer to achieving his dream of being a great shinobi.
"… And Naruto, I want you to stay for a bit."
"Hai, Hokage-sama." Anko and Yamato left the room.
'That guy… is in the Anbu? But he's only two years older than me! He must be really good.' thought Konohamaru, awe-struck.
"Train me!" he cried at the blonde. "Please? You must be really good!"
Naruto chuckled softly. "I'm sorry, Konohamaru, but I'm afraid I'm busy for now. Maybe some other time."
The Hokage was watching this exchange with interest. He was curious of how the two interacted.
Konohamaru walked up to Naruto, pouting.
"You have to! I need to become stronger if I want to become Hokage! Besides, I'm the Hokage's grandson!" he said desperately.
"Konohamaru, heritage does not matter. If you are the Hokage's grandson, then you most likely have the finest trainers. Listen to them; gain knowledge from them. Work hard and become strong if you want to become Hokage. There are no shortcuts, only hard work."
"Hai, boss!" said Konohamaru, turning around and leaving.
The Sandaime was impressed. No one had ever been able to do what Naruto had.
"Naruto." The said boy snapped back into attention. "Follow me. We're going to the Anbu equipment house, so that you can get your armor and mask. From this day forward, you shall be known as Kitsune, or Fox, in the Anbu." The pair then left the room.
End Flashback
Naruto returned to reality. He saw Konohamaru and his friends turn around a corner into an alley, escaping an angered Sakura, and then he heard several yells. The Anbu followed the noise, only to be met with the sight of the blue-scarfed boy being held in the air by a teen only about a year older than Naruto himself. He wore an odd black garment with a pack covered in bandages on his back, and had purple face paint all over his face. Next to him was a girl with a large white fan, her dark blonde hair arranged into four ponytails. A Suna headband was tied around her neck.
"Come on, Temari, can't I have a little fun? I'll stop as soon as he arrives." pleaded the black-wearing shinobi.
"Kankuro, we're foreigners. We can't afford to cause trouble."
"Damn straight, you aren't." said Naruto, who then grabbed the child and delivered a punch to the face in a second.
"And you, up in the tree, come down here." He added, for good measure. A redheaded boy with the kanji for love on his forehead jumped down. He had dark circles around his eyes, a sign of insomnia.
A voice that Naruto was all too-familiar with popped up in his head.
"Kit, that boy has Shukaku sealed in him, and not very well, at that. Knowing him, he's probably torturing his vessel in an attempt to get out."
Naruto nodded absentmindedly, then walked towards the redhead after letting go of his bundle.
"Hello, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, what yours?" he asked politely. He noticed that the pair from earlier was almost trembling in fear.
"Sabaku no Gaara."
"Pleased to meet you. Now…" Naruto walked closer to Gaara. "I hold the Kyuubi. He says that you hold Shukaku. Don't let him take over, no matter what. I'll see if I can help you. But if you try to hurt any of my friends, I will ensure your painful death." Naruto hissed into Gaara's ear. "Well, Ja ne!" The Anbu turned around and left the alley, leaving a group of confused people behind him.
Then next day, Naruto woke up before sunrise. He had a few things to do before heading to the Academy that afternoon. Mainly hoping that a certain Chunin didn't take his advice to test the other rookies. He decided to ask his teammates if anything had happened when he met up with them. He went into the kitchen to prepare his breakfast, which was, as always, instant ramen.
Elsewhere, two gennin were rather annoyed. Apparently Iruka had in fact, taken the Killer Kit's advice to heart.
A.N.:
Well, there ya go. I hope it was okay, at least… Or that it makes up for the last chapter, which I realize sucks. In any case, I have a quick thing for anyone who has been wondering about a small puzzle in the story. The question is: How does Kakashi recognize Naruto's katana? I'll give you two hints:
1) Look up Kakashi somewhere, especially his time as an Anbu.
2) Re-read the first two chapters
The answer should then be obvious. I'll give the answer next time. Ideas and criticism are appreciated, as long as they aren't flames. See you next week! Ja ne!!
(PS: And big thanks and hugs to all my reviewers! You guys are the BEST!!!)
