The Shadow Of A Flash
Chapter 9: Tell Me Everything
It was a cold day, unlike the usual temperature that Konoha had experienced. With the nine genin and jounin having already traveled several days toward Suna the trees were beginning to thin out as they neared Tani no Kuni and the air was beginning to grow heavy with water molecules. It wasn't exactly freezing but neither was it pleasant. The land held a wet, cold feel to it that was uncomfortable compared to the usual warm weather the group was used to.
Naruto looked at the group surrounding him with a keen sense of curiosity. Sasuke and Sakura were flanking him on either side while Kakashi was walking behind them, giggling every now and then as he read his orange book. It wasn't his team that interested him however; it was the team in front of them. Gai and his student, Lee, were talking avidly about the value of weights and 'youth' to each other. In any other circumstance he would of shivered at the display but considering they weren't bothering anyone else he was simply thankful for the respite. The girl, Tenten, was fiddling with a kunai half-heartedly as she walked, her gazed entirely focused on the direction they were walking.
It was the Hyuuga that was most pertinent to Naruto's thoughts. He instantly recognized the boy as the child of one Hyuuga Hizashi - one of the shinobi involved in the controversial Kumo plot to steal the Byakugan. When the Kumo delegates had dared to try and take the heiress of the Hyuuga clan from under Konoha's nose Hiashi, the clan head, had responded accordingly - killing the delegate in battle. The thoroughly chastised village demanded retribution in the form of Hiashi's head. They even had the audacity to warn that war would occur if Konoha didn't give in.
Hizashi immediately offered himself in place of the man but before the plan could be put into action Naruto's father had intervened and, rather than give into the petty demands of Kumo, had taunted them. He dared them to strike out at Konoha and face the village that had emerged victorious in the Third Shinobi War. In light of having to face the Yellow Flash in battle Kumo had cowed; it was a fools errand to fight the man on his own turf. Because of this the diplomatic incident was avoided as well as no loss of life from the Hyuuga clan. Hizashi's boy, Neji, had been unbelievably grateful when he had found out and sworn, at the young age of six, to serve the blonde-haired man loyally.
The boy still held the cold indifference found in members of the clan but the usual disdain for outsiders was gone; in place was a polite, albeit distant, countenance that had apparently helped to draw even the heiress out of her shell. The boy was seen as a genius of his clan techniques and with his positive effect on Hinata's confidence was highly respected in the clan and the village itself. Naruto shivered as he thought of what the boy might have turned out like if his father had died to save Hiashi.
The other team behind them wasn't particularly interesting if the blonde were honest. He knew their names - Kabuto, Misumi and Yoroi - but found the members of the team rather boring if he were entirely honest. They were nervous and unassuming and it rubbed Naruto the wrong way; as if they weren't confident in their own skill.
As they walked Kakashi strode up next to Naruto for a moment, "Maa, Naruto?" At the boy's inquiring gazed he continued, "The likelihood is that there'll be some Iwa teams at these exams so it might be a good idea to hide your identity. Well, for as long as you can." The man rubbed the back of his head as he spoke.
"Why would he have to do that sensei?" Sakura asked in confusion.
"Naruto's father has some particularly bitter enemies from Iwa - ones that would jump at the opportunity to get back at Hokage-sama by killing Naruto." Kakashi spoke seriously.
Naruto merely nodded, "I understand, I'll wear a mask." As he spoke he pulled a scroll out of the back of his bag and bit his thumb before swiping blood across it. An assortment of clothing suddenly appeared and Naruto quickly grabbed two items before sealing the stuff back into the scroll. First, he put a black, blank mask on his face but pulled it up so it sat on his hair - he didn't need to wear it yet. Next, he pulled a grey, mottled cloak around his body. The cloak was very loose and hung off his body easily. It also had a hood attached that would later allow him to pull over his blond hair. All in all, the boy looked like he was wearing a reversed ANBU outfit.
"How much do you have in that scroll?" Kakashi asked in surprise as the boy pulled out the exact type of clothing he needed.
Naruto merely looked at him in bemusement, "Enough." He didn't bother to explain that he had made the scroll itself and thus it had a much large capacity then usual. No one knew about his studies in Fūinjutsu - not even his father. He had originally intended to learn from Jiraiya but upon being separated from him had decided to pursue it in his own time.
After all, with his father's genius and his mother's ancestry it was in his blood to be a skilled Fūinjutsu user. He simply had to draw it out from within.
The group soon found themselves in front of the imposing gates of Suna. After a week of travelling and a few days dragging their feet through the incredibly sparse desert - huh, who would of thought a desert was so empty? - they had finally seen the glimmering lights of the distant village and a wave of relief had washed through the group. Sakura even sighed outwardly in relief - although Naruto couldn't blame her; the desert was so damn hot it was ridiculous. And it wasn't even the tempered heat of Konoha where the condensation in the air still managed to relieve the heat. No, in the Land of Wind it was hot and dry, a combination that left the travellers both sweaty and parched. Naruto decided he would avoid the place in the future, it was just too unpleasant.
He fumbled with his mask subconsciously, ensuring it was strapped on, and pulled the hood of the grey cloak up around his head. There was no point risking the ire of Konoha's old enemies by wearing his father's face proudly in the presence of them. To Iwa in particular, it would seem like the actions of a reckless braggart and they would take considerable offence - something Naruto wished to avoid.
When they reached the gates a pair of chunin quickly waltzed over to them. The casual air surrounding them was unreasonably irritating to Naruto and the boy suddenly realised precisely why the two fools, Izumo and Kotetsu, were put on guard duty in Konoha; their disarming smiles and casual appearance both irritated threatened individuals and relaxed nervous ones. The two notched up some more respect from the blonde for such underhanded genius. Regardless, the two in front of them were particularly annoying and so he internally prayed that they would simply take their papers and send them on their way.
"Ah, Konoha-nin. How lovely." It was the way the man said it that put the group on edge - it was quite obviously not lovely. In fact, he seemed to believe their appearance was the exact opposite. "Papers?" He asked lightly. Gai strutted forward with a brilliant smile and offered the man the desired objects. He seemed to ponder over them for a moment before continuing, "Reason for visit?"
"Yosh! We shall be indulging in the youthful process of-"
"We're here for the chunin exams." Kakashi interrupted the green man quickly. Honestly, such formalities were a waste of time anyway. They knew why the group was here.
The chunin nodded sagely, "Identification?" As he said this Gai, subdued by the silver-haired man, slowly handed over some more paper that Naruto realised contained their names and info. The man took them and looked at the pictures and then the individuals before giving an all too fake smile and returning the papers and identification. "Great, everything's in order. Please enjoy your stay in the village." His subtle message of, 'go away' was not missed and so the group clambered through the gates and found themselves in the village and away from the chunin guard.
Kakashi, Gai and the final other jounin instructor all suddenly converged on each other and muttered among themselves. After a few moments of quiet discussion Gai seemed to hand the other two scrolls and the two happily took hold of the offered objects. They then broke up and separated to their own respective teams. Gai dragged his team further along the road while Kakashi pulled them away from the Kabuto's team.
"Gai is going to take his team on a leisurely tour around Suna," The group shuddered at this, "And the others are going to a restaurant. I figured you guys would want to go to the hotel we're staying at first..." He paused and as the three of them nodded in agreement he smiled, "Great! Well, let's get going then." As he finished he turned away from the genin and began to walk in a specific direction.
Naruto was surprised at the copy-nin's comfort in the village, considering that every building had the same clay-like structure. It made working out where you were going quite difficult and so the boy realised that Kakashi must have had a mission at some point in his career that led him to Suna. One didn't have such knowledge of the layout of a location without a background in the particular area.
Sakura meanwhile, seemed irritated with the man's ability to be both aloof and rude at the same time and so had resorted to merely staring at his form as they trudged through the streets. Naruto noticed that the villagers were giving them distrustful glances as they walked and supposed it was only reasonable that they did; after all, they were in foreign lands. Surprisingly, Sasuke seemed uncomfortable with the stares. It seemed after having lived in a village that praised your clan and idealised your genius the idea of someone simply hating you for 'you' was distinctly uncomfortable to the raven-haired boy.
The three soon found themselves heading toward a three storey building. It was large in comparison to the other buildings and so it was no surprise when Kakashi turned in the direction of it. Realising it was the hotel, Naruto felt a degree of contentment knowing he was going to be experiencing a bed for the first time in over a week. They entered the building easily, ignoring the pointed looks of the villagers in the area.
"You guys wait here, I'll go find out about our rooms." Kakashi smiled as he spoke. Without waiting for a reply, the man turned toward the front-desk that was on the other side of the foyer they were in. He strode over confidently and began an animated discussion with the woman who seemed to be administering it. As he did so the three moved to the couches next to the entrance and sat down.
"Well, well. Look what we have here... A bunch of tree-huggers!" Team Seven turned to see three shinobi at the entrance. The one who spoke, a tall teen with brown hair, was sporting a malicious grin. A girl stood to the left of him, looking at the three Konoha shinobi with pure hate on her face. The final was a small, black-haired boy who stared at the three with disinterest. It was what was on their forehead that was most interesting however.
Two rocks were engraved on their forehead protectors; Iwa.
"Tch! Who would of thought we'd say a bunch of scum like you here." The girl spat. She looked at Sasuke in surprise before grinning maliciously, "Ooh! An Uchiha. How risky of them to allow you to participate. I'll enjoy showing your village the error of their ways when I carve out your eyes!" Her gaze grew furious as she spoke and Sakura shrunk into her shoulders in worry. Sasuke, to his credit, managed the usual Uchiha stoicism with a disdainful shrug.
Naruto outwardly laughed at the pathetic bravado act which only seemed to spite the tall boy, "Hey, what the fuck do you think you're laughing about, mask-boy?" At this he shuffled forward and pointed at him.
"I think he's amused by your idle threat." Sasuke replied calmly. The three watched as their faces morphed into fury and Naruto almost grinned at the reaction, almost.
"You just remember this face - it's coming for you." the tall boy grinned as he spoke and then noticed Kakashi's approach from the distance. His silent teammate, the small one, seemed to notice too.
"Stop wasting time with them, we'll kill them in the exams." The way the boy spoke, as if he were sure of what he said, made Naruto much more uneasy than his hardheaded teammates, "Come on." He gestured at the two as he turned back toward the entrance and left quickly, avoiding Kakashi's figure. His two teammates gave a final look of hatred at the three Konoha nin before turning and leaving with him.
Kakashi walked up to the three of them, his book in his hand, and spoke in a deadpanned voice, "See, this is why I don't leave you alone."
The hotel room they were given was pretty good with all things considered; it had two bedrooms and a large bathroom. The team had been given two rooms and Kakashi had, after much deliberation, made Sasuke and Sakura go in one and himself and Naruto in the other. Sakura was, of course, overwhelmed while the Uchiha sent the jounin a withering look that explained just how much he liked the decision. Kakashi merely gave him an infuriating one-eyed crinkled smile back and shooed them away before leading the blonde of the team to their room.
And so Naruto found himself in one corner of the room looking out of the window while his sensei was sitting in the only chair with his infernal orange book in his hand. As he giggled to himself Naruto inspected the village with varying degrees of curiosity; it was impressive for such a huge settlement to be in the desert and Naruto would be lying if he said he didn't want to explore it.
A decision made, Naruto walked over to the jounin, "Kakashi-sensei?"
"Hmm?" His single eye peered up from the book in boredom.
"I'd like to have a walk around the village."
Kakashi sat up and thought for a moment before replying, "Ok. Just try to stay out of trouble - I know it's hard for you but do your best." He looked pointedly at naruto, "And no fighting. Things are tense enough as it is between Konoha and Suna." Naruto snorted at him, insulted that the man thought to little of him.
"Of course not. I'll be back by midnight." And with that he turned away from the jounin and walked toward the door. On the way out he grabbed his cloak and mask, slipping the black thing over his face in mild irritation - it was getting uncomfortable to wear it all the time.
As he walked around the fringes of Suna Naruto knew something was wrong. He could feel a presence in the depths of his stomach; something dark and foreboding was writhing in his gut. He felt a pang of premonition, as if he was warning himself of what was to come. The question was, what caused this reaction? He knew better than to ignore it - one of the most harshly taught lessons by his father had been to always trust your instincts. That particular rule was learnt during a week-long taijutsu spat in which his father viciously brought out Naruto's body's sixth sense. Ever since the day when he had ignored the irrational wish to flinch only to end up with an uppercut in his stomach he knew that instincts were important; they could save your life.
So of course at the first sign of such a paranoia in his mind he was intensely worried. He wrapped the grey cloak around him and tightened the mask on his face to ensure there was absolutely no chance for it to fall off. Regardless, the feeling didn't leave him and so he was about to voice such concerns to Kakashi when he saw it. The back of a gourd could be seen in the distance. It was attached to some figure who was standing in the open expanse of the desert; seemingly ignorant of the festering winds that were blowing and the below zero temperature of a desert night.
The figure seemed to realise Naruto was watching him and so turned to look coldly at him. The blonde couldn't quite make out his figure from the distance they were at and so he was both curious and apprehensive when the boy quickly moved across the sand and back into the confines of the village. As he neared Naruto finally got a good look at him; it was a boy, no older than Naruto himself, with a large gourd on his back and a mop of red hair attached to his head. He stared at Naruto with a level of apathy that made him distinctly uncomfortable. The blonde was sure that the look he was giving him was that of a predator. He wanted to do something to him, something bad. The feeling grew even stronger as he neared within talking distance of the Naruto, so much so that the blonde felt himself stagger from it.
The Namikaze quickly regained his bearings but a pounding in his head prevented his full focus from returning. A particular someone wanted to talk to him. He opened the mental connection quickly.
"To force such madness..." Kyuubi's voice pierced Naruto's thoughts, "Blood is his only language." A barking laugh resounded in his head as he finished and Naruto physically flinched from the sound of it.
"What?" Naruto asked mentally.
Naruto looked at the redhead but was quickly distracted again by his tenant, "Such is the insidious nature of a raccoon; a pest." Before Naruto could ask what the fox was talking about the he continued to talk, "He shall regret such manipulation when he is forced to revel in my power. Child!" Naruto's eyes widened as he was addressed, "That thing you see before you is the husk that Shukaku now calls home. For what he lacks in power the Ichibi always makes up in cunning; he prefers them broken."
Naruto could feel the fox grinning madly in his mind and when he began to chuckle darkly it was only confirmed.
"So, he's like me?" Naruto wondered. When Kyuubi didn't reply he wasn't particularly surprised; the demon had only spoken to him twice since the forging of their partnership and from what the boy could tell the demon didn't care for the nuisance of a conversation. Realising he was getting nothing more from the fox, Naruto returned his attention to the object of Kyuubi's ire.
The redhead seemed to be experiencing his own personal demons - to which Naruto knew could be interpreted quite literally - if the crazed and pained look on his face was anything to go by. The boy was shaking, whether from madness or fear the blonde couldn't tell, when he suddenly stopped moving entirely. Before the blonde realised he had shunshin'd to appear directly in front of him.
"Mother asks for your blood." The insanity in his voice dripped off his tongue. Naruto himself made sure not to visibly react. Instead he merely raised an eyebrow in surpise before stepping forwards, just short of the boy's personal comfort zone.
Staring the boy down, he spoke coldly, "Be careful not to overstep your limits, Ichi." Killing intent began to gather around the two, "I am nine times your equal." Just as it seemed the civilians in the area began to notice the confrontation the oppressive air disappeared. The redhead's eyes widened in a moment of rapid fear as he interpreted Naruto's words. He stumbled backwards before clutching his head in pain.
"Your name; what is it?" The boy shot up with a crazed look in his face as he spoke.
"Namikaze Naruto. And yours Ichi?"
"Sabaku no Gaara." Naruto would of laughed at the presumptuous nickname if the situation wasn't so serious; Gaara of the desert... Such self-importance rattled his brain. "I will kill you to validate my existence, Namikaze." For a second Naruto thought the boy would do just that but before any serious conflict could occur the redhead shunshin'd away, sand spinning in the spot he had been holding.
"Well. That is most troubling." He muttered to himself absentmindedly.
"It feels like only yesterday when I was given my cute little genin team! And now you're all grown up," Kakashi sighed melodramatically, "Already on your first chunin exam - I'm just so proud." At this a fake tear dropped from his one eye. Sakura giggled at his display while the two boys of the team snorted in disgust.
"You're so embarrassing." Naruto muttered. And it was true, the other Konoha teams had been watched Kakashi's emotional outburst - fake as it was - with no small amount of amusement.
"Pah! You'll understand when you have kids." Sasuke rolled his eyes at that, "Now, let's catch up with the rest of your peers. We wouldn't want to be late would we." At this he gestured for them to go to the other two Konoha teams while he strode over to the two jounin who were standing a little way away from the group.
As they approached the group it was obvious that the two teams were in a very animated discussion. Well, Lee was gesticulating wildly while Neji and Tenten were visibly embarrassed by the display. Kabuto meanwhile, the object of Lee's enthusiasm, was nodding weakly in assent - probably hoping the madman would leave him alone if he just agreed.
At their approach Lee turned to them excitedly, "Yosh! My Konoha comrades!" He pointed at the three of them, "We would like to extend a most youthful offer of friendship during the upcoming trials we may face." The three stared at him blankly.
Kabuto, noticing their faces, explained, "We were wondering if you'd like you form an alliance during the exams - the three Konoha teams together." He smiled disarmingly at the three and they immediately felt comfortable around the man.
Sasuke took charge and nodded, "Yeah, we'll do that." He looked pointedly at Naruto, who shrugged, and Sakura, who smiled. Happy his decision was agreeable he didn't say any more to the teams in front of them.
"Great!"
"Yosh! Most admirable of you!"
The two replies were shot out quickly and Team Seven did their best to smile back, although it was difficult when Lee blinded you with his own pearly whites. Satisfied with proceedings, the two turned back to their teams and began talking among themselves. Naruto turned back to his own teammates and shrugged in bemusement. Fairly soon the jounin returned to the group and signaled to follow them. They trudged silently through the village, ignoring the still suspicious glares of the civilians, and soon found themselves in front of an intimidating building. It was, contrary to the usual whitish-brown colouring, completely black. As they stood in front of it Naruto craned his neck to read the sign on the front of it.
"Torture and Interrogation?" Sakura asked fearfully. Naruto didn't reply but couldn't help but agree with her; what kind of exam took you to this building? Shrugging off his nerves, they approached the entrance where the three jounin were standing.
"Well, this is where I leave you." Kakashi addressed them, "Good luck! And remember; Konoha believes in you." He grinned ear to ear at them and Naruto knew he was trying to reassure them. Sakura didn't buy it while Sasuke adopted the traditional Uchiha disdain expression. No one replied to him and so Kakashi nodded seriously at the three of them and gave them an intense stare. He seemed satisfied and walked off, away from the group. Naruto turned to his two teammates and shrugged. He beckoned for them to follow him into the building as he opened the doors.
As soon as the three of them entered they realised the sheer number of teams that were participating; the room was packed to the brim with an assortment of genin from every village one could think off. When they walked in they were subjected to the whole room glaring at them; being top-dog meant everyone hated Konoha. Regardless, it was still disconcerting to experience the hate firsthand.
"Well isn't this just brilliant." Naruto muttered to himself and dragged his teammates to a relatively empty corner. Sakura was looking around wide-eyed while Sasuke had his hands in his pants with a smirk on his face. They quickly shuffled into an empty area and began to analyse the teams in more detail. The Iwa team was off to the side and seemed to be paying particular attention to them, if the hate-filled gazes were anything to go by.
Fairly soon the other two Konoha teams approached them and surrounded Team Seven. As Naruto looked around the group he saw Gaara with a boy wearing makeup and a girl with a huge fan on her back sitting silently in the corner. Interestingly, the other Suna teams were deliberately avoiding them. It seemed Gaara was either inherently disliked or he'd done something to make them fear him. Perhaps both?
"Guys," He addressed the whole Konoha group and so eight faces turned to look at him questioningly, "Stay away from that redhead in the corner if you can. He's dangerous."
Sakura looked confused, "Ano, why Naruto?"
He gave her an intense stare, "He's insane and has the power to allow such madness to run wild." The way he said it was what made the group nervous; he spoke with absolute surety, as if the redhead would happily kill anyone in his path. And the truth was he probably would. He didn't bother to mention the demon as he didn't feel they'd understand and it'd also bring up questions surrounding how he knew.
Lee looked notably subdued by his comment and Neji nodded in assent, "Thanks for the warning, Namikaze." Kabuto smiled fearfully and nodded in agreement at the Hyuuga boy's comment.
"Yeah, thanks Naruto."
Before the group could talk any further a group of Suna chunin suddenly appeared out of the walls and surrounded the genin in the room. They stared coldly at the assortment of shinobi and their leader, a slim pale man, walked in the middle of the room. Seemingly unaffected by the countless shinobi surrounding him, the man grinned wickedly from ear to ear. The room had fallen silent at his and the chunins appearance.
"So many... This is going to be fantastic." The way he licked his lips was unnerving to even the most hardened genin, "Hello all. Welcome to the first stage of the Chunin Exams. I'm your first proctor and my name isn't important - I can assure you however, that this is going to be most pleasurable, whether for you or us I don't know." He smirked at the now incredibly worried group of genin, "Now, you're probably wondering why we're in this building... The answer is simple, you're going to be interrogated."
"W-What!" A boy from Kusa exclaimed in shock.
The man turned at the boy and shrugged his shoulders, "You heard me. The first test is going to be a trial of resolve. Can you hold out? We shall see." He whipped out a scroll and held it up to the group, "Every team will be given a scroll with vital information on it. You are to hold onto this information at all costs. One of your team will be experiencing the pain of the body, another of the mind and the final shall watch the whole affair."
"That's fucking insane!" It was the same boy as earlier and he looked terrified by the very idea.
"If you're scared then quit, boy." He looked coldly at the room, "The shinobi life is full of danger - this is something you may face in the future. Now, if you can handle it please proceed to collect your scroll from that room," He pointed at a door behind him, "If you can't then begone! Get out of my sight, weak fools." At that the man laughed darkly and turned away, heading toward the room of the scrolls.
As soon as he left Sakura looked at the two boys in horror, "T-Torture?"
"This doesn't change anything, Sakura. We participate - and if you can't handle it then just quit. No point not trying." Naruto replied coldly to the girl and Sasuke nodded in agreement. The girl shivered for a moment before tightening her chest and shrugging off the nerves forcefully.
"Yeah, you're right. Let's go." And with that she led the team toward the scroll room. They entered slowly and walked up to the desk with a woman behind it. As they neared the woman looked up and stared intensely at the three of them. She seemed to inspect them each for a moment before coming to a decision. She handed a scroll over to Sakura.
"You," She pointed at Sasuke, "Will experience psychological torture. You," She pointed at Naruto, "Will experience physical torture. You," She pointed at Sakura, "Will watch. Any three of you may quit at any time if you wish - simply let the chunin watching know." She gestured at a door at the back of the room, "Go through that door and a chunin will take you to your rooms. The test will be half an hour. Good luck." She smirked at the three of them unkindly and Naruto realised she definitely didn't want to wish them good luck.
The three read the scroll quietly, learning the information they had to protect;
Life is the desert, life the solitude, death joins us to the great majority.
Naruto stared at it silently. It was a poetic line but quite clearly useless - it was just a means to test their ability to withhold information.
As they walked Sakura was incredibly relieved, if the way her body relaxed was anything to go by. If the blonde were honest it worked out possibly the best it could have; Sasuke had been trained from birth by his clan to handle the pressures of the mind while Naruto himself knew he could handle whatever restricted physical attacks the interrogator could manage. At least, he hoped it was restricted; they were only genin. And he'd like to think Sakura could handle watching.
They were led by the chunin through a dark corridor and into a door on the right. In the room there was two windows side-by-side that let you see into two smaller rooms with two chairs and a desk each. A small light flickered on and off in each. The chunin grinned wickedly at the two of them and gestured at the seat in the room that was situated so you could see in both rooms.
"Girl, that's your spot." He looked at Sasuke, "You're in the room on the right. A woman with black hair will be taking you." He turned to Naruto and smirked, "And you... You're mine." He stared at the blonde's cloak and mask, "Take that off, unless you want me to break it." The boy consented and quickly took off the offending clothing. As his blonde hair sprung into freedom and his blue eyes shone in the darkness the man gasped. "Ooh! I've never had royalty before. This is going to be so fun."
Sakura shivered and looked at the two boys in worry, "G-Good luck guys." Sasuke nodded stiffly, his mind having retreated into a defensive shell in preparation. Naruto himself merely snorted and nodded at the girl. He had had some light training in torture resistance by Yamato when he was younger. Essentially, you had to develop a separate personality to take the pain. It seemed Sasuke's was even more introverted than usual. Naruto found he talked back a lot - it got on the torturers nerves and caused them to make mistakes
The man stared pointedly at the group, "Well get moving." He gestured for Naruto to get in the room. Sasuke had already turned and strutted into the room quietly. The blonde followed suit and walked into the small, dingy room quickly. He took his seat - the one with straps and bindings to hold him in place - and calmly waited for the man to lock him into place.
The chunin didn't disappoint and Naruto quickly found himself bound in the chair. The door back into the room with Sakura closed and Naruto could no longer see her, a one way mirror being in the place of the window. He returned his attention to the chunin in the room who seemed to have completely changed. Gone was the malicious happiness. Instead, a cold, clinical man had taken his place.
The man walked left to right silently and stared at Naruto, "Tell me everything." Naruto stared at the man with a deadpanned expression. The man sighed, "Right, well let's get started." At that he shot forward and punched Naruto in the stomach harshly. The boy coughed and struggled to regain his breath from the hit, choking on the air. "Tell me." When Naruto didn't reply he shot forwards and repeated the earlier punch. He stepped back and stared at Naruto for a moment, "This is only going to get worse."
Naruto didn't reply and braced himself for the pain.
Sakura had gasped when Naruto had been punched viciously for the first time. It was one thing to be told your teammate was going to be physically tortured - it was another matter entirely to watch it happen. As she saw Naruto merely stare back at the man coldly she felt a sense of pride for her teammate. She quickly turned her attention to Sasuke to see how he was going.
The raven-haired youth was experiencing a vicious dressing down by a tall black haired woman. She was insulting his family, his village and his skills. The boy, to his credit, was sneering in disgust at her, not even slightly unnerved by her intimidation act. She suddenly stopped ranting and stared at the boy silently for a moment before giggling. Sakura strained her ears to hear what she said.
"You think you're strong huh? Alright, let's see you deal with this." She looked at him and grinned wickedly before flashing through a set of handseals. Sakura didn't her what she said but it seemed that she used a genjutsu if the widening of Sasuke's eyes was anything to go by. Obviously, she was showing some uncomfortable situations to the boy in an attempt to break his resolve. Sakura shivered at the display and returned her attention back to the blonde of the team, who was now sporting bruises across his body. She looked up at the clock.
It had been fifteen minutes.
"Tell me!" The man's voice had been building in anger. It correlated well with the rising viciousness of his strikes.
In reply Naruto laughed mirthfully, "Fuck you." Before he had a chance to prepare himself a punch connected with his nose. Blood spurted out and splattered across the room.
"You could just sit there and be quiet you know? But no, you have to be a smart-ass." He drew a kunai at this and looked at Naruto coldly, "So I'm going to cut up that pretty little face of yours. I don't have to; I probably shouldn't to be honest. But you've really pissed me off." He stalked toward Naruto and traced the kunai over the boy's throat slowly, "Just a flick of my wrist and you'd be dead."
In response Naruto spat in his face.
The man staggered backwards in fury. The brat was gonna pay for that.
Sakura had been watching silently as Naruto progressively infuriated the interrogator. It had been obvious that the man was frustrated with the restrictions on what he could do; his face had been morphing into a more and more angry expression every time Naruto refused to answer. As she watched the boy spit in the man's face Sakura was horrified; from the look of the man the blonde had pushed him over the edge. She knew Naruto couldn't have any lasting damage done to him but from the look on the man's face he didn't care.
The man jumped at Naruto and slashed the kunai across Naruto's cheek. It was shallow and wouldn't scar but it was what he did next to it that made Sakura wince. The man pulled out a small plastic packet and broke it across the cut. As flecks of white fell into the cut the man rubbed his hand across it. Naruto's face morphed into one of pure pain and he moaned slightly. Sakura quickly realised what the chunin had done; he had rubbed salt into the wound, literally.
Rehardless, Naruto quickly regained control of himself and reset his face into a stony demeanor. The chunin seemed incredibly displeased with this and so slashed his Kunai viciously across Naruto's shoulder. The wound was much deeper than the other one. Another soon followed on the other shoulder and then another across the chest. It seemed the man was getting serious.
It had been twenty-three minutes.
Sasuke watched as his team was killed in front of him, cut down viciously by Suna-nin.
They left Sakura alive and turned to him, "Tell me or she dies." Sasuke didn't reply and just stared. The pink-haired girl was quickly slashed across the throat and her eyes opened in horror, looking at Sasuke in betrayal. The boy didn't react at all to her silent plea.
Suddenly the image distorted and shimmered. Everything around them changed; the forest turned back into the interrogator's room. The woman was up in Sasuke's face staring at him coldly. She seemed annoyed that he had completely ignored her genjutsu, to the point where her previous malicious mirth was replaced by a cold, angry demeanor.
"Tell me or I'll make it much worse." She breathed into Sasuke's face. Her forehead was right up against his and she was staring at him straight in the eye. The Uchiha wasn't intimidated; he knew she was trying to unnerve him by invading his personal space so he wasn't going to give her the reaction she wanted. No, he had a much better idea.
Rather than wither under her gazed he shoved his head forward and their foreheads collided. The woman staggered backwards from the force of his movement. Unfortunately for her Sasuke had been wearing a forehead protector and she hadn't so she was suitably injured by the strike. A wound had opened up on her head, bleeding profusely. She stared madly at Sasuke.
"You're going to regret that!" She moved forward viciously and flashed through a set of handseals.
Sakura stared worriedly at her crush and idol as he struck the interrogator; something like that wouldn't go down lightly, he was sure to be punished accordingly. As the woman flashed through handseals the pink-haired girl only hoped Sasuke could handle what he had brought down on himself. She looked up at the clock.
It had been twenty-seven minutes.
As the man moved forward to slash Naruto across the chest for what must have been the tenth time in the day Naruto put the plan he had been preparing into action; as soon as he had been strapped into the seat he had been working on one of the leg bindings to the point where he knew he could release it. He'd have one chance to hurt the man but he was going to make sure it was worth it.
The slash across his chest hurt him momentarily - it stung due to the salt the man had put on his kunai, the sick freak - but he quickly regained his bearings and pulled his right leg out of the bindings. It shot upwards and kicked the man right where it hurt the most; the groin. The man dropped to the floor in pain and Naruto began to laugh hysterically at him. He wondered for a moment if he'd get in trouble for hurting the interrogator but shrugged; there hadn't been a rule about it.
The man stopped rolling on the floor and stood slowly. His face had morphed into pure fury and he stared at Naruto silently for a moment. The room went silent for a moment before suddenly the man lunged forward at Naruto. The forward momentum of his body pushed the chair over and so Naruto found himself knocked onto the floor. The man wasted no time and began to attack Naruto viciously; fortunately without the use of his kunai.
Naruto winced from the hits and realised he had pushed the man too far. No longer were the strikes coordinated, precise hits that maximised pain and minimised damage. Instead, the man was attacking him like he was possessed. The chunin had lost control of himself, that much was obvious. What made it even more obvious was when he struck Naruto so hard that an audible could be heard in the arm he hit.
Naruto screamed in pain, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuc-" Before he could finish two chunin had flung into the room and pulled the man off of him. The man suddenly seemed to realise what he had done and stared at Naruto's now broken arm in horror; he was so boned. one of the new chunin hauled the man away from the room quickly, heading toward the proctor.
The other stared at Naruto's bruised and battered form, "Apologies, Konoha-san. It seems Masato lost control of himself. Unfortunately, we are not permitted to heal your injuries - it is part of the exam to handle such problems. We can put it in a sling for you however and your team shall automatically pass as a result of Masato's foolishness." He tilted his head at Naruto for a moment, "Perhaps the kick was unnecessary?" He grinned lightly at the blonde - it took some balls to do what he did.
"It seemed funny at the time." Naruto stood slowly and cradled his arm. The chunin merely snorted at his response before gesturing for him to follow him out of the room. The blonde nodded and immediately did so. He soon found himself in the presence of Sakura who was staring at him in a mix of horror and amusement. He realised she must have watched the display through the window. Because the interrogation had ended his personality quickly shifted back to it's usual position.
"Sasuke?" He asked quickly.
She smiled softly, "He's fine - getting unstrapped now. But what about that arm!" She gesticulated wildly at his broken arm.
The Kyuubi interrupted him before he could reply, "You are fortunate that I found your display amusing; I'll heal this injury."
Returning his focus to Sakura, he shrugged, "It'll be healed soon enough. Don't worry." She looked skeptical but calmed down once he received the sling from the chunin examiner and put it on. With his arm resting much more comfortably in the sling he relaxed. The first portion seemed to be over and they had passed. He noticed the door to Sasuke's room open out of the corner of his eye and so turned to face the boy.
The Uchiha seemed slightly shaken up but otherwise fine. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of Naruto's bruised and cut skin and his arm before sighing.
"I didn't think they'd go that far." He gestured toward Naruto's sling, "That might be a bother."
Naruto shook his head, "No, I have accelerated healing. It'll be fine."
"Hn." He looked at Sakura and then at Naruto, "Well, let's go then."
The three Konoha jounin stood silently next to each other, looking at the TV in front of them. They were surrounded by all the jounin instructors who had teams in the Chunin Exams. The screen that they were all peering at was flicking through the highlights of the competition so far. It had yet to show anything from Konoha and Kakashi didn't know whether to be relieved or worried.
They were watching the amusing sight of a genin from Suna wetting himself as he was psychologically tortured when it suddenly flicked to Kakashi's team. The whole room turned and stared at the Konoha-nin while Gai looked pointedly at Kakashi. The jounin licked his lips nervously in preparation for the sight of one of his genin giving up in some humiliating way.
"Ah, this doesn't look good." Kakashi spoke off-handedly as they stared at the image of Naruto with countless cuts and bruises across his body. It seemed that he had earned the ire of his interrogator because of his heritage. The Iwa-nin in the back of the room was fortunately looking elsewhere and so Kakashi felt a sense of relief for the situation.
He returned his eyes to the screen and waited to see Naruto give up. Instead he was subjected to the sight of the man getting up in Naruto's face angrily before the boy suddenly reared his head back and spat - spat! - in the man's eyes. Several of the jounin were shocked by the display and mutterings of 'well, I didn't expect that' and 'that's a new one' circulated around the room.
Gai grinned from ear to ear at the display, "Yosh! Naruto-kun had displayed the fires of youth!" Kakashi normally would sigh at such a proclamation but was too caught up in staring at the grinnign form of Naruto spitting in his chunin's face.
"So this is the infamous asshole Naruto?" Before Yamato died the man had spouted constantly to Kakashi about Naruto's split personality that he used in torture and interrogation training. Apparently the boy became a vicious, for the lack of a better word, dickhead to anyone and everyone. He could understand that evaluation now. When the screen flickered to Sasuke he grew nervous again; he didn't think the Uchiha would quit but you never knew.
When he watched the boy headbutt his chunin the whole room once again stared at him and he shuffled on his feet nervously, "They're, um, really good kids normally?" He announced quietly. The other Konoha jounin snorted at his comment and Kakashi couldn't blame him. From first glance, it seemed he had a team of demonic children.
Suddenly the screen flickered off for a second and the main proctor of the exam walked forwards in front of the jounin.
Everyone grew silent and the pale man grinned wickedly at them, "Ladies and gentlemen, the first phase of the Chunin Exams have completed. Now, before we go through the process of jubilation and disappointment where we find out what teams passed or not let's watch the highlight of the entire phase!" Kakashi frowned, he hated how Suna turned the exams into a sort of entertainment for their village. It was unsavory in some way and made him uncomfortable. He knew even now as the teams finished up there were countless TV screens in Suna with the images of the genin being displayed across them.
Regardless, he continued to watch as the man pointed at the screen and it flickered to life. The image that it showed made Kakashi groan and put his head into his hands.
"Why me?" Naruto was shown calmly sitting across from an infuriated chunin interrogator. Gai patted the jounin on the back sympathetically as the entire room once again turned to look at him. Some teams hadn't even had one highlight and here he was with three.
The man lunged toward Naruto, looking to cut the boy across the chest. As he did so however, Naruto's foot broke free from it's bindings and struck the man incredibly hard in the groin. The jounin were all subjected to the sight of the boy dropping to the floor rolling in pain while the blonde sat in his chair laughing hysterically. The man clambered back to his feet slowly before lunging at Naruto and knocking the chair over, viciously attacking the blonde with what seemed to be very illegal moves.
Kakashi moaned and rubbed his hands through his hair as the proctor continued to speak, "Namikaze Naruto is the first person to break his interrogator in three Chunin Exams so I believe congratulations are in order." The man gave a giggle and clapped quickly at Kakashi. Before anyone could join in he resumed speaking, "Now, let's move onto the second portion of the-"
Kakashi droned out the man as he looked over to the Iwa instructor who wad glaring daggers at the image of the blonde boy. It was just too much to ask the world for Naruto not to be noticed wasn't it? He rubbed his forehead in frustration; if the look of the Iwa jounin was anything his team was definitely being targeted now.
Damn blondes.
A/N: The plot thickens! Neji isn't a sycophantic douche?! Naruto's learning fuinjutsu?! Gaara's first appearance and Iwa is in town?! Oh shi-
Yeah, so I figured that Suna would make it into a public spectacle. My inspiration comes from the Burning Chunin Exams where they had those huge TVs showing all the action. I thought it was a pretty cool idea so I incorporated it.
That desert quote is by Edward Young.
It makes me angry how many plot ideas are swirling in my head! It's so distracting when you're working on a fic only to think 'oh this would be an awesome story'. Damn ye brain. I'm thinking of making a oneshot collection of all my plot-ideas where everyone can comment on them and say whether they like them. For example, I still have that idea of a slightly insane Naruto and only today I thought of what would happen if Naruto met his father through the seal collapsing during the Mizuki incident. And I've always been fascinated by the idea of a Puppet!Naruto - it's such a beautiful branch of the series that I think is unappreciated. So yeah, don't be surprised if you see a oneshot series starting. If you think you like any of the ideas comment and I might follow through on them.
Apologies if there are any mistakes - I couldn't be bothered proof-reading this chapter.
