SpiderFox

SpiderFox

By Nezumimaru

Chapter 9: "The First Exam Part 1: Meeting the Rivals!"

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Naruto would be smarter.

--

Knock, knock. The Sandaime looked up from desk, a little relieved at getting a break from the paperwork he was doing. "Come in." he said. The door creaked open, and in walked Kakashi. After closing the door behind him, Kakashi asked, "You wanted to see me, Lord Hokage?" "Yes, I did," the aged man said, "I'm sure you have heard by now the rumor floating about? The one about a six-armed ninja working with the Sound Village?" Kakashi nodded. "And that many people think that this ninja is Naruto, sent to spy on us?"

"I am aware if this rumor," Kakashi said, "And I also know that Naruto has a fellow surviving clan member named Kidoumaru. Chances are that the Sound-nin is him, not Naruto." The Sandaime sighed, "Well, none, the less, I'd like you to ask Naruto, when you have a chance, what he knows. Whither or not he is a Sound-nin, the council wants him to stay in the village and rebuild the Kumo-oni clan. Well, except the Shibi Aburame. The Aburame still harbor ill-feelings towards their former rival clan, regardless of their near-extinction."

"Well, hopefully, if Naruto does stay, they will overcome those grudges as they will both be protecting the village. But that is if Naruto stays." commented Kakashi, "And as for talking with him, that will have to wait, as the Chunin Exams start today."

The Sandaime nodded. "Yes, of course. Oh, and before I forget," he added, looking Kakashi right in the eye, "Are you done with one volume of Icha Icha Paradise? I'd like to have it, if it's not too much to ask." Kakashi's visible eye widened, but went back to its normal, lazy look. "Sorry, but no. I only have this one copy, and I'd like to keep it, in case I want to reread it."

A look of disappointment came upon the Sandaime's face. "I understand. I guess I'll just go and buy it my self. You may leave now." Kakashi bowed, then left.

AT THE EXAM HALL

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura climbed the steps to the third floor, finding a large group of people out side a door. Two boys were keeping the others out, and many people were getting annoyed. One with brown hair up in buns and a pink sleeveless shirt tried to walk to them and try reasoning, but one of the boys backhanded her, knocking her to the ground. "Be thankful, brats," he said, "The Chunin Exams are grueling. We ourselves have tried for many years and still haven't passed. We're just trying to save you the humiliation….and your lives."

"You guys sense it?" Naruto whispered to the other two. "The Genjutsu?" Sasuke asked. "Yeah, those two…they must of put it up to confuse us, delay us until the Exam started. It's a test. Most likely, we're still on the second floor." the six-armed bounty hunter summarized. "If we sneak passed," Sakura said, "We'd be in the Exams, and there would be that many people we don't have to face, making it easier to pass." The two boys nodded in agreement.

Team 7 got to the landing between the second and third floors, before they heard someone yell, "HEY YOU!" Looking above them, they saw a boy a little older than them with bowl-cut hair, bandages on his wrists and forearms, and a green spandex suit on the stair-case balcony. "You there, Sasuke Uchiha, I want to fight you." "Right here…right now?" asked Sasuke.

"Yes!" the boy said, jumping down. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Rock Lee." Sasuke looked unimpressed. "Why do you want to fight me?" "I want to prove my self. Besides…." Lee said, then looking at Sakura. She looked confused, but when Lee winked at her, she freaked. "YEEEKK! Those eyebrows are creepy! And that hair cut…and outfit…YUCK!" Lee, apparently oblivious to the insults, blew Sakura a kiss, calling her an angel. A heart flew towards her, and Sakura fell over backwards dodging it, banging her head on the floor. Sakura, getting up, yelled, "Keep your creepy kisses to your self! I could have died dodging like that!"

Naruto, meanwhile, was laughing his ass off. "HAHAHAHA! Dog-Brows' got the hots for Billboard-Brow! That's rich!! HAHAHAHAHA!!" Naruto was reduced to clenching his sides as he rolled on the ground in a fit of laughter. "STOP LAUGHING! IT'S NOT FUNNY!" screeched Sakura.

Sasuke stepped forward towards Lee. "Alright, I'll fight you." Sakura gasped, looking at the clock. "But Sasuke! We only have a half hour to turn in our enterance slips!" she said, a look of worry across her face. "Don't worry; it'll only take five minutes, tops." Sasuke said, reassuringly. He then charged at Lee, who had gotten into a fighting stance, one arm behind his back and the other out in front, his feet perpendicular to Sasuke.

Then he moved. "Leaf Hurricane!" He cried. Sasuke didn't have time to dodge, do he tried to block. But as soon as Lee connected, Sasuke was sent flying back. 'But how?' he thought, 'I blocked! It must be a trick. I may have to use my Sharingan to see it.'

Activating his Sharingan, Sasuke charged again. 'So,' thought Lee, 'This is the famous Copy-Cat Eye of the Uchiha. If I beat it that will show Guy-sensei I am indeed ready for the next Gate stage!' Lee then disappeared. Sasuke stopped. Even with his Sharingan, he did see where he went! Suddenly, Lee appeared beneath Sasuke and kicked him into the air. Lee then jumped and was right beneath Sasuke again. "The Shadow Leaf Dance!" Sasuke said.

"There is a difference between you and me," Lee said, "You are born with talent, I had to work hard for it. But in the end, your inborn talent can't save you, for even if you can see it coming, your body is too slow to react!" He then used the bandages on his forearms, now unwrapped, and started wrapping them around Saskue.

And he would have, if a needle with a pin-wheel didn't stick them to the wall. Lee tugged on the wrappings, spinning to the wall, as Sasuke fell to the ground, being caught by Sakura. "Lee! That move is ! You know better than to use it so haphazardly like that!" Team 7 looked over at the newcomer. He was an older version of Lee!

"I-I'm sorry, Guy-sensei!" Lee said, bowing low to the man. "I will over look it this time, but after the Exams are over, you are to run a thousand laps around the Konoha Arena!" "Yes, sensei!" Lee exclaimed, standing at attention, "And if I do not accomplish that, I will do two thousand back flips!" "And if you do not do that, you will do twenty five hundred push-ups!" Guy said louder than before. The two embraced, crying.

"Oh Lee!"

"Guy-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Guy-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Guy-sensei!"

The other three present were, well, let's go into their thoughts to understand how they feel, shall we?

Sakura: "WHAT THE FBEEP!? THAT'S NOT RIGHT! MY VIRGIN EYES!" Inner Sakura: Virgin eyes? Did you forget that little show of Sasuke at the hot springs? Sakura: "Stop bringing that up in public."

Sasuke: "I can't believe I got my ass handed to me by such a fruitcake!"

Naruto: "………………………………Those spandexes are too revealing. Good Kami, they should be shot just for wearing those things."

Guy and Lee stopped their little…..session….and Guy looked over to Team 7. "Ah, you must Kakashi's students!" "You know Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked. "Know him? Of course I do! He and I are rivals! In fact, the score stands 49-50. I am much stronger than him!" Guy said, giving a good guy pose, a shine off his smile.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura sweatdropped. "Anywho," Naruto said, "We gotta get going, bye!" And with that, the three sped off, leaving the two spandex warriors on the landing.

--

Gaara was not happy. Why? Because here he was, in the middle of a crowded room, and he couldn't kill any one! The ! His father probably thought of this when he said to show restraint and not kill anyone unless the Exam called for it.

Soon the door opened. Hoping it was the proctor of the Exam, Gaara looked over to see. It wasn't the proctor, but three more Genins. One with pink hair and a red dress, one with black hair, a blue shirt, kaki shorts and arm warmers('Didn't we run into him earlier?'), and one with blond hair, orange pants, black muscle shirt…..whisker marks on his cheeks……and six arms……..HIM!! Gaara's began to boil, and the sand he keeps in the gourd on his back began to stir.

"Gaara!" Gaara glanced to his right, at his brother, Kankuro. "But…" "Yeah, I see him, but you still have to restrain your self." Kankuro said. Gaara grumbled, and settled for glaring at the boy.

--

'Wow,' thought Sakura, 'There are a lot of people here…..'

"SASUKE!" said person was immediately glomped by one Ino Yamanaka. "Ino, you pig! Get your hooves off Sasuke!" Sakura yelled, rushing over to remove her former best friend off him. Naruto's jaw slacked a little but regained his composure and crossed his arms. Why should he care that Ino likes Sasuke? Its not like he likes her or anything, right?

"Jeeze, you two. Do ya have to be so loud?" a lazy voice said. Naruto looked over to see a boy with black hair in a pony tail that made his head look like a pineapple. Next to him was a larger boy with a green shirt with the kanji for food on it, chomping away on a bag of chips. Naruto guessed that these were Ino's teammates Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akamichi, respectably.

"Well, well, looks like the gang's all here, plus one." Naruto then saw a boy in a grey jacket, triangle marks on his cheeks and a dog on his head. With him were a with pale eyes, a heavy jacket, and purplish hair and a taller boy with a high collar jacket and black sunglasses. 'Hmm, must be that Team 8 Ino mentioned; Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuuga, and ShinoAburame.'

"Hm? Oh, hey Naruto." Ino said, as if just noticing him. Shikamaru looked at his teammate. "You know him?" "Yeah, he bought some herbal plants at my family's shop yesterday."

"Could you guys be any more annoying?" a guy in glasses, who looked few years older, said as he approached the rookie teams. "Let me guess, you guys are fresh out of the Academy, snot-nosed and wet-behind-the-ears?" "Maybe. Who are you?" Sasuke shot back.

"Name's Kabuto. A word of advice: don't try to PO anyone. People are already tense as it is with the Exams starting; they don't need you newbies getting y and arrogant to send them off the edge."

"Kabuto, it sounds like you've done this before. Is this your second time?" asked Sakura. "No, seventh. Been at this for, hmm, four years now." answered Kabuto.

"So you have experience. Think you have anything that could help?" asked Naruto. "In fact, I do," the silver haired ninja said, pulling out a deck of cards, "I have these shinobi cards. They basically have info on every participant in the Exams. Just ask me to find someone and I'll give you what I've got."

"Think you can find me….Rock Lee and Gaara of the Desert?" asked Sasuke. "Sure, no problem."

"You know that Gaara guy?" asked Naruto. "Yeah, ran into him a few days ago."

"Well, I've met him, too, awhile back. Total nut job."

"Here they are." Kabuto said holding two cards, "First, Rock Lee, Leaf-nin. Sensei is Might Guy, his teammates are Neji Hyuuga and Tenten, and he has completed 55 D-ranked missions and 32 Cs. Lee's taijutsu is off the charts, but he has no other qualities worth mentioning."

"Next is Gaara of the Desert. Unknown number of completed D-ranked missions, 12 Cs, and 1 B. Sensei is unknown; teammates are his brother Kankuro and sister Temari. Skills are also unknown."

"He controls sand with his mind," interrupted Naruto, "And he's completely insane. Not to mention rude. I mean, he just barged in on a date I was on with Temari when I was in Suna!"

The Rookie 8 facevaulted. "What?" asked Naruto, his back to the majority of the room. "You were on a date with his sister." Ino said panned. "Yeah, and he tried to kill me!" "Dude, I don't blame him," said Kiba, "If you were dating my sister, I'd want to kill you, too!"

Naruto placed two hands behind his head, two on his hips, and his front two arms crossed his chest. "Well, Gaara still had no excuse. It's like he doesn't want other people happy, especially his own family! Or maybe he has the hots for his sister, who knows?"

The room then went quiet as a huge wave of killer intent filled it. The Rookies and Kabuto all paled as the began inching away from Naruto. "He's standing right behind me, isn't he?" Naruto asked, turning around. No sooner then he did a hand made of sand grabbed him by the throat, lifting him an inch or two above the ground.

Gaara stood in front of him, eyes full of . "Oh, you heard that." Naruto choked out, giving off a nervous chuckle. The sand's grip tightened.

"Ok, maybe what I said 'bout you and your sister was a little over the top, but we don't want to do anything rash, right?" Naruto quickly said, hoping, in vain, to calm the - ed psychopath down.

"Hey! Settle down, you brats!" A large smoke-bomb detonated on the opposite side of the room. As it cleared, it revealed a group of older ninjas in uniform. Proctors. The biggest one, who sported a large black trench coat pointed at Gaara. "YOU! The kid from the Sand Village! Put down the spider!"

Gaara was about to protest, but the looks he was getting from Temari and Kankuro said that he should just let it go for now, so he dropped Naruto hard on the floor. "You got luck, Kumo-oni." He said as he rejoined his team. Naruto gave a quick prayer to Lady Luck in thanks before getting up.

"Alright, my name's Ibiki Morino, Chief Proctor of the First Exam. You will each receive a slip of paper containing a number. You will then find the seat that corresponds with your number. Once everyone has found their seat, I will then give you the rules concerning the written portion of the Exams."

Naruto's face darkened. A paper test!?

--

Signature

Nezumimaru—Finis. My longest chapter yet! But I needed to get all this out of the way to get things moving.

I'm keeping the polls up until next chapter, so please vote if you haven't. Here's what we have so far:

Poll 1, Female Naruto's Name:

Naruko: 3

Naru: 7

Sora: 13

Megitsune: 1

Other (Nori): 1

Poll 2, Female Naruto's love:

Kiba: 4

Choji: 3

Shikamaru: 5

Tenten: 12

Other (Shino): 1

I also am split on another issue that will only be up til next chapter:

Should I, or should I not, have the Legendary Stupid Brothers Fuujin and Raijin as FemNaru's caretakers? Yes or No?