Sorry for the long wait my faithful readers. A lot of things have come up. But before I tell you what I have this to say.
Now the reason this chapter was so late. The first week I just didn't feel like writing anything. Then the second and third week I was playing a new video game instead or reading and writing. Then the week after that, I went camping/ skiing/ swimming. There was no electricity so that means no computer. When I came back I had 30 some alert updates for stories that I love to read. So I read those. Don't forget I work about 35 hours a week also. That takes up a huge amount of time. Then, finally I got to write this chapter. I'm actually surprised I was able to finish it so quickly actually.
Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto
Meetings, Tests, and Bets
"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!" (Grand Fire Ball)
"Doton: Doryuheki!" (Earth Wall) A figure in a Jounin vest jumped into the air and put his hands up to his mouth and blew out a fire ball that was at least five feet wide. The other figure was on the ground and put his hands on the ground and a wall of earth came up and blocked the fire heading at him.
The person who was breathing fire saw this and put more force into the attack. The results were spectacular, the fire that was once five feet wide grew in intensity and started to melt the very earth and turned it into molten lava.
"Tsuga." (Piercing Fang) Naruto hears the whisper on his right side. Just then a tornado came at him and he was forced to jump to the side and cancel his attack. He jumped up into the trees and had to jump again to avoid the tornado that was following him. When the tornado hit the tree it broke right through the tree branch like it was nothing.
Naruto did a back flip off the tree to avoid Kiba's attack and grinned. "You guys are going to have to do better than this to get me." When he landed he had to immediately jump again because of a shadow coming for him on the ground. He jumped forward right over the shadow and right up to Shikamaru, who was in the middle of the clearing they were in.
"Never leave yourself open Shikamaru." He went to punch him when he saw him smirk and his eyes widened. He just barely dodged two kunai that came from his left. Landing again he turned and saw it was a shadow clone of Shikamaru.
'Damn, they're getting better.' He thought to himself. He took out one of his own kunai and sent it at the still prone form of Shikamaru, effectively canceling the shadow that was coming at him. Then he went over towards the clone and got right up to its face before it could react and sent it back, hitting a tree with a well placed fist to the stomach. The clone poofed out of existence.
Then, a giant ball came out of the trees and he jumped straight up dodging it. Kiba saw his chance and threw some kunai at him while he was still in the air. They hit right on, but then his target turned into a log.
'Shit! Kawarimi. (Replacement)' He thought while looking around himself. "Akamaru, can you find him?" The dog took some whiffs of the air and then started to growl. Kiba's eyes widened and he turned sharply only to get hit in the gut and keel over and land on his knees gasping for breath.
Akamaru, seeing his master down lunged at the Naruto that was still standing there; he too was hit in the side with a fist for his efforts and landed right beside Kiba on the ground. Naruto looked up and saw a twisting mass of air heading right for him. He made some seals faster than the genin could follow and trust out his right palm at the incoming attack.
"Futon: Daitoppa." (Great Breakthrough) The result was a giant wind came up and collided with the mass of air coming at him. The two collided and they exploded, sending wind and dirt everywhere at once.
Naruto grinned. "Not bad guys, not bad at all, but you have yet to hit me or put a scratch on me yet."
Naruto then turned and looked right at Shikamaru and Choji, who were standing right in front of him. "Man what a drag." Shikamaru said while not letting his gaze go off Naruto.
Choji did like wise. "Come on Shikamaru, we have to at least get a scratch on him or else he will make do on his threat." Shikamaru, who was acting lazy instantly, got serious. They all heard a groan behind Naruto, who turned his head slightly.
"Morning sunshine, good nap?" He asked playfully. Kiba shook his head to get his bearings right and then growled.
"Asshole." Naruto just grinned at him foxily.
With that, all three of them got ready and even Naruto tensed up slightly. They all stared at each other and waited for someone to make the first move. Then the wind picked up and blew some leafs into the clearing. They flew in front of everyone's eyes and when they were gone, so was Naruto.
"Come on guys, you're supposed to keep an eye on your opponent." His voice was all around and they couldn't find where he was hiding at.
'I'll have to thank Zabuza for teaching me the voice projection jutsu latter.' Naruto mused to himself. Then he jumped forward to avoid twenty shuriken and kunai from behind.
'What! When did they get behind me?!' Naruto though as he landed in the clearing where the genin were. While he was in the air, he made a cross hand seal and five copies of himself popped up beside him and the instant they landed they ran into the woods. Three seconds later they all dispelled, telling him they were shadow clones of Choji.
During those three seconds though, he had to avoid an air blast courtesy of Shikamaru, a tornado from Kiba, and a rolling ball that was Choji. Thinking fast after the information was given to him, he took a step forward and disappeared to the genin's eyes in a burst of speed, only to reappear a few feet in front of were he was before, which happened to be right in front of Choji.
With fast moving limbs, he hit Choji in the gut and then side stepped to avoid a kunai aimed at the chest from Shikamaru and ran at him while avoiding all the weapons and got in front of him a second later, delivering an identical strike.
Then he turned to Kiba, who had a hand full of kunai in his hands. Kiba let them all fly at him and Naruto just stood there. When they were five feet in front of him he grabbed one of his own kunai from his pouch and deflected four of them and the others he dodged, or let them fly by.
Kiba had a look of astonishment on his face, but then Naruto blurred out of existence and was in front of him. Kiba took an involuntary step back and Naruto push the butt end of a kunai into his gut. Kiba looked down and sighed.
"I forfeit." Kiba said and Naruto smiled before removing the kunai and walking over towards the two downed boys that were clutching there stomachs.
Naruto bent over Choji. "You alright?" Choji just nodded unable to speak. Naruto shook his head and stood up. "Damn, I did it again didn't I?" He asked them.
Kiba jumped up from were he was sitting and pointed and accusing finger at him. "We're only genin you prick! We can't beat you; you're a freakin' Jounin for Kami's sake!"
Naruto looked over at him and sighed. "Sorry guys, I guess it's another visit to the hospital." Shikamaru and Choji groaned and Kiba huffed. Sighing again Naruto bent down and picked up Choji and put him over his left shoulder and walked over towards Shikamaru and put him on his right. Naruto motioned for Kiba to get Akamaru and come over to him.
Once he was standing in front of him, Naruto put a hand on hit shoulder and they all disappeared in a swirl of leafs. They reappeared in front of the hospital and Kiba fell on his butt. "Damn, what the hell was that." He asked while he tried to suppress the urge to barf.
Naruto looked down at him and offered a hand which he took. "That was the shunshin no jutsu, it's a teleportation jutsu. You've actually been in it before but you were unconscious like these two here are." He gestured to Shikamaru and Choji. Kiba glared at him remembering the memory.
He looked down at the ground and mumbled. "Sadist."
"You say something Kiba?"
"No! I mean… lets just go inside already." He walked away and into the hospital leaving his sensei with his two friends behind. If he would have looked behind him he would have seen and heard Naruto mumble to himself.
"You'll thank me one day Kiba." With that he followed his student inside. When they got inside they got quite a few stares and shakes of the head from the staff. When they got to the front desk, the receptionist looked up and saw Naruto there.
"You're here again Naruto-san. Weren't you here a couple of weeks ago?" She asked while looking at him with a small blush.
Kiba 'humped' and that got the receptionist attention. "Our sensei is a freakin slave driver woman."
Naruto shook his head and looked at Kiba. "What have I told you about manners Kiba, especially when the person you're talking to you can kick you out of the hospital and not give you treatment that you and your dog need?"
Kiba just glared at him. "We wouldn't be here if you didn't make us like this!"
"It was training Kiba, if you take hits and get injured your body will harden and it also improves your reaction time. Besides, I had to see your guy's skill level to see about something coming up." Kiba looked interested but before he could ask, Naruto turned back to the receptionist.
"I need these three to get checked out and healed please. They only have minor injures though."
"Right, please go to room 301 and there will be a medical Nin that will come in and heal them soon."
"Thanks." Naruto replied while turning around and waving to her as he left with his back turned. When they got to the room they only had to wait for about half a minute until someone walked in. It was none other than Haku.
"Haku-san, how's working as a volunteer med nin been?" Naruto asked while she was startled at seeing them here.
Getting over her shook quickly she walked over to them. "It's been ok, Naruto-san, though I prefer my Jounin duties more. Remember this is just a part time thing I do."
"Yes I know, I was just wondering is all." Naruto said while looking at her uniform she was wearing. She had on a white nurse's coat on.
Haku caught him staring and started to blush, which Naruto also caught and looked away embarrassed. He spoke while not looking at her this time. "R-right, we came here to get these three healed after I took it a little too far in training."
"R-right, I'll get right on that." So for the next ten minutes she worked on healing them while they made small talk.
"So… how's Zabuza doing on his own?" Naruto asked after a while.
Haku raised an eye brow but answered none the less. "He's fine, though he missed not being able to fight as often."
"I see, how have you been doing yourself Haku-san?" She faltered slightly in healing Choji's still unconscious form but got right back.
"I've been doing fine; I recently found a nice place that I just moved into last week. It's a lot nicer than my other place was."
"I'm glad to hear you guys are doing well." Haku blushed slightly but it was too small to notice with out being right in her face.
Another two minutes later she stepped back from Shikamaru. "Well that should do it, they're all healed, they just need to rest some more and they'll be fine."
"Thanks for healing them Haku-san, I really appreciate it." Naruto said with conviction in his voice.
She just waved him off. "It was no problem Naruto-san, but I better go, I have some more people to heal before I can go for today." Naruto said his good bye while thanking her again before she left.
He turned to his genin to see only Kiba was awake. He was giving him a lecherous grin. "What?"
His grin just grew. "You like her don't you?" Naruto blushed slightly.
"My personal life is none of your business Kiba."
Kiba just grinned more. "I knew it! You do like her!" He pointed an accusing finger at him and grinned more.
Naruto's eye started to twitch and before anyone knew what happened he moved faster than Kiba could see while making some seals. Kiba stepped back seeing him agitated but it was too late.
"Niju omori fuin." (Double Weight Seal) He tapped Kiba's weights and he hit the ground faster than Naruto moved.
"Bastard! Why'd you do that!?" Kiba yelled as he struggled to get up but failed every time he got more than an inch off the ground.
"That's what you get for trying to interfere with my personal life." Naruto crossed his arms and turned his back to him.
Kiba tried to move his hands and make the right seals but his hands felt like they weighted a ton. He couldn't even make the first seal before he screwed up. "I was only making a joke!"
Naruto turned back to him and sighed. He picked him up and the other two also. "Hay, what are you doing? Put me down!" Kiba yelled at him.
Naruto didn't even respond before they shunshined to the front desk, signed out, and shunshined out of there again. They arrived at the front of the Inuzuka clan house. Naruto dropped Kiba and bent down and made some seals again before touching his weights and then leaving before Kiba could get his bearings from so many shunshins. "I'll get you for this Naruto-teme!"
Next, Naruto dropped Choji and Shikamaru off at there respective homes before walking down the road towards the market distract, looking for a restaurant to eat at.
Just as he was about to enter a random restaurant he heard some shouts and people screaming at each other. 'Damn, I was hungry too…' With that thought Naruto turned away from the restaurant and headed over towards where he heard the screaming. Deciding to be elusive as to not get caught if he didn't have to, he jumped on a roof and made his way over there.
When he got there, he saw a boy in a black jumpsuit that made him look like a cat. He had face paint on and had a bundle on his back wrapped up in medical tape. 'Hmmm, a puppeteer…' He thought absentmindedly.
Then he looked at what he was holding in the air. 'Konohamaru, what have you gotten yourself into this time?' Then he looked behind the cat boy and saw a girl standing there with a fan strapped to her back. 'Well, a wind user, don't see many of them around.' She had blond hair and had her hair in four pigtails in the back.
Then he saw the girl that he recognized from Kakashi's team. 'Sakura.' Then he looked into the trees across from him and saw Sasuke Uchiha sitting on a branch watching everything.
After he figured out who everyone was, he listened to there conversation. "Let me go you big meanie!" Konohamaru yelled as he struggled to get free.
"Kankuro, stop this! We don't want to get into trouble. What if 'he' sees us?" The girl asked the now identified boy in a cat suit.
"I'm just teaching this boy a lesson Temari, relax; these weak Konoha ninja can't do a thing to us." Kankuro said as he raised his fist to hit the boy.
Naruto was ready to step in at any notice seeing that Sasuke and Sakura were doing nothing when he sensed another chakra signature pop up in the tree by Sasuke. He looked over and saw a red haired boy with the kanji for love on his forehead. He had a giant gourd on his back. He had his arms crossed and was watching everything.
'This boy, he is strong, he was able to hide his presence almost completely. His stealth skills border on low to mid Jounin level, impressive.' Naruto though but then took his eyes off him to see the Uchiha take a pebble and flick it at Kankuro. The rock hit him in the hand and makes him wince slightly and loosen his hold on Konohamaru enough for the child to kick and struggle free with a couple of seconds to spare and then he ran behind Sakura and to his two friends.
"Who the hell are you?" The cat man asked as he rubbed his hand and stared daggers at Sasuke.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squealed in delight at seeing her hero. Said boy just ignored her and looked at the cat man.
"You should pick on someone your own size, not some little boy." He said.
"Why you…" With that he went to grab his wrapping on his back but his female companion stopped him.
"Kankuro, your not going to use 'that' are you." She asked startled.
Sasuke got ready to draw a kunai when the boy with red hair spoke up, spooking everyone with his sudden appearance.
"Kankuro stop." He spoke evenly with a monotone in his voice.
Kankuro stopped in his tracks and started to shake slightly and looked up into the trees. "G-Garra."
'He was able to sneak up right beside me without me knowing.' Sasuke thought while looking at him.
"You're an embarrassment to our village." He said in a cold voice this time.
"G-Garra t-they started it. I was just…" He didn't get to finish because a strong killing intent hit him dead on and everyone else in the area.
"I don't care about your excuses, if you continue to act stupid I will kill you myself." His voice sent a shiver down everyone's backs.
"Y-yes Gaara." The boy backed away in fear. Then the red head, now known as Gaara, used shunshin with sand to teleport down to the ground.
The sand swirled around him from out of no where and covered him completely blocking everyone's view of him for a second. When it came down he was gone. Then sand started to swirl at the ground in-between the two groups and Gaara was in the middle of it.
Sasuke jumped down also and landed by Sakura. "Who are you and why are you in this village?" He demanded to know.
Gaara just looked at him and turned around and started to walk away. Sasuke became angry at being ignored and threw a kunai at him that would have hit if a wall of sand did not come up and stop it in mid air. Having done its job the sand went back into the gourd on his back and the kunai fell to the ground.
The red head turned around and looked at the Uchiha calmly betraying no emotions. "Why did you attack me?" He asked in a cold voice.
Sasuke just grunted and said, "I asked you a question first, why are you foreigners in this village?"
Temari stepped up and spoke to them. "We're here for the chunnin exams idiot."
"Don't call Sasuke-kun an idiot!" Sakura yelled at her only to get a glance at and then ignored.
"I don't answer to weak people." With that more sand poured out of his gourd on his back and Sasuke got into a defensive stance and Sakura and the kids backed away in fright. Then a kunai came out of no where and impaled itself into the ground between them.
Everyone looked to where it came from and saw that it was Naruto that did it. "There will be no fighting in this village. Are you guys trying to start a war!? Lay down your weapons!"
Sasuke looked pissed but did as asked, Sakura looked relieved for the help, Konohamaru and his two friends looked ecstatic. Konohamaru even shouted to his friend. "Naruto-oniisan." (Big brother)
Naruto looked down at him and smiled at him. "You ok there Konohamaru?" The kids replied happily that there role model was here to save them. Naruto turned back to Gaara though and had on a serious look on his face while he jumped down to the ground and picked up his kunai.
"Put the sand away genin." He said sternly. He didn't even bat an eyelash or blink at him. He just stood there with his arms crossed.
"And why should I listen to you?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes at him. "You're in our village and you will obey our rules, or you can get out or be killed. I'm a Jounin and will use force if you do not comply."
The boy just looked at him impassively for a few more seconds before his sand started to retract. During that time he was releasing all of his killing intent on Naruto, but Naruto just stood there unaffected at all. Finally the sand was completely in his gourd and he turned and walked away with his teammates following quickly behind him.
Naruto watched them walk away and thought to himself. 'The Gaara guy, what was with his chakra? I sensed some weird spikes in it…' he shook his head to clear it of those thoughts as he felt a tug at his pant legs. He looked down slightly and saw it was Konohamaru.
"That was so cool Naruto-oniisan!" He exclaimed as he grinned at his older friend and role model. Naruto looked at him and grinned also.
Later that day, Naruto was at his home reading up on some scrolls on some futon jutsu he wanted to learn when there was a knock at his door.
"Damn…" He said to no one in particular and got up and went to the door. He opened it up to see an ANBU standing there waiting for him.
"Can I help you Naomi-chan?" He asked when he recognized who it was even though she had a mask on. She was one of his subordinates when he was the captain of his division.
"No Naruto-taichou. (Captain) I just came to inform you that the Hokage has called a meeting for all Chunnin and Jounin level ninja. I was asked to come get you." She answered as she nodded to him.
Naruto smiled at her. "Thank you Naomi-chan, would you like to come inside to get something to eat or drink?"
She smiled back at him, but he couldn't see it because of the ANBU mask. "Thank you but, I'm still on active duty right now."
Naruto put on a pout face but sighed. "Alright, but feel free to come by when ever you want, ok."
"Thanks for the invite Naruto-taichou; I'll keep that in mind, good bye." With that, she poofed out of the front door to Kami-sama knows where.
Sighing, he went back inside and put on his Jounin vest and disappeared in a pillar of flames.
Not five seconds later, in the prestigious Hokage's office, the flame shunshin shot up from the floor and show Naruto standing there. He looked around and saw that there were a lot of other Jounins and some Chunnin level ninjas in the office with him. As usual when Naruto used one of his patented teleportation's, all eyes were focused on him.
Naruto scratched the back of his head and gave a small wave. "Yo." That seemed to make everyone forget about him and go back to there own conversations. Naruto then sighed in relief before he grimaced hearing a certain person.
"YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHT AS EVER NARTUO-KUN! YOSH!" This person had huge eyebrows and the ugliest green spandex you could have ever seen.
Naruto turned to him and saw that Gai was standing by Kakashi, Asuma-sensei, and Kurenai. Then he felt every eye on him again and he sweat dropped before making his way over to his group of friends that he knew.
Once over there, he looked slightly up towards them because he was still the shortest of them all. "Soooo, any of you know why we were all called here?"
Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma all sweat dropped and gave him a dead pan look. Gai being oblivious to this all gave Naruto the nice guy pose before explaining. "YOSH! We are here to decide who goes to the chunnin exams!"
Naruto had a look of understanding on his face before he scratched the back of his head. "Yaaaaa, I completely forgot about that." He chuckled nervously. 'I'll have to thank Naomi-chan for coming and getting me later.' He thought continuing to chuckle.
The others just shook they're heads while Gai ranted about something that they all ignored. They all made idle chit chat while waiting for the meeting to begin. Five minutes later the door opened and the old man Hokage came walking into the room. He sat at a big desk put there for the meeting and then lit his pipe before looking at everyone present.
"Is everyone present?" He asked loud enough so everyone could here. No one spoke up but he did notice that Naruto was elbowed by Asuma. He ignored it and started the meeting.
"I have called this meeting to discuss the participants who will be entered into the chunnin exams this year. If you believe your students to be ready, please step forward and state your name and who is in your team."
There were was a group of twelve people, but what surprised everyone in the assembled people was the three people in that twelve. Specifically the three new sensei's of rookie genin, Kakashi, Kurenai, and Naruto. Murmurs started to go around, but the Sandaime just raised his hand for it to be quiet, to which everyone complied.
"Now, let's start from the left to the right." The Hokage ordered and everyone went through there names of their teams and who they were until it was Gai's turn.
"I Maito Gai, Jounin sensei of team nine, nominate Hirigashi Tenten, Hyuuga Neji, and Rock Lee to participate in this year Chunnin exams." With that, he stepped back and Kakashi stepped forward next.
"I Hatake Kakashi, Jounin sensei of team seven, nominate Sai, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke to participate in this year Chunnin exams." Next came Naruto.
"I Namikaze Naruto, Jounin sensei of team ten, nominate Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Choji to participate in this year Chunnin exams." Then he stepped back for Kurenai to be the last to speak.
"I Yuhi Kurenai, Jounin sensei to team eight, nominate Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Yamanaka Ino to participate in this year Chunnin exams." After she stepped back everyone that was there was whispering to each other.
Things were said about there not being a rookie genin in the Chunnin exams for ten years now and the conversation got out of control, after a while Iruka stepped forward and the Hokage asked for silence.
When Iruka spoke up everyone turned to him. "You guys can't be serious, they're rookies! It's too early to let them participate in the Chunnin exams."
"I agree with Iruka." Gai said in a serious voice that got everyone's attention. "You should wait a year like I did with my students. The Chunnin exams are not a game and you should give them time to get more experience." Some people agreed with him but Kakashi turned to him.
"No." Kakashi started "They are my students and I think they are ready for it." He said in a calm voice.
"They were my students before yours Kakashi! I know they're strong but the Chunnin exams break people! They're not you and Naruto, you guys were prodigies." Iruka tried to reason with him.
Naruto turned to him. "That may be so Iruka, but I know my students and if I think they are ready for it, then they are."
Iruka looked ready to argue some more but a death glare from Kakashi stopped him. "They are my students Iruka, not yours anymore. I know them better than you do now and if we as their teachers think they are ready for this, you can't over-rule us!" His voice had an edge to it that made some people back off.
"Enough!" The Hokage said in a stern voice that stopped all talking in the room. "There will be no more arguing like children. Iruka, Kakashi and Naruto are right. They are their students now and not yours, they know them the best and if they think they are ready, then so be it."
Everyone in the room was silent and the Hokage rubbed his temple already foreseeing a headache forming. "If there are no other issues concerning who will be participating in the exams, then we will now discuss what the exams will be."
An hour later everyone was out of the office and it was only Naruto and the Hokage left. The Hokage saw him and sighed. "What can I do for you Naruto-kun?"
"Nothing Oji-san, I just wanted to let you in on a little secret that will make your life easier." He had a devilish smirk on his face.
Seeing the look the Hokage was interested. "Oh, what do I need help in?"
The smirk on Naruto's face just grew bigger. "Oh, nothing much but a way to beat paperwork." He said off handedly.
The old mans eyes widened and he had a pleading look on his face. "What is it?! I'll do anything for you! Name your price!"
Naruto's grin turned into a smirk and then he couldn't hold it in any longer and started to laugh it up. The Hokage was slightly confused and irritated because he was laughing about such an important issue, or at least to him it was.
"Anything?" Naruto asked sweetly.
"Hai!" He replied right away.
Naruto lost it again and after a few seconds he was able to calm down. "Oh man, you should have seen the look on your face when I told you there was a way to beat paperwork."
The Hokages face was confused and then it went to furious in a split second. "Are you saying this was some kind of joke?" His tone was deadly.
Naruto stopped laughing immediately and straightened up. "Ah, no Hokage-sama, your face was just so funny."
The old man narrowed his eyes at Naruto and he held up his hands in defense. "Ok, ok, gosh, you don't need to be so serious about this."
He just got a glare for saying that. Seeing the old mans patience already gone Naruto told him really quickly. "The price is nothing Oji-san, think of it as a thank you for protecting and taking care of me all these years."
The old mans face softened and he had a hopeful look on his face now. "So you'll tell me?" He was almost pleading for the answer.
Naruto just grinned. "Ever thought of using Kage Bunshin?"
The Hokage's face was confused for a second until he got a look of understanding on his face. "Damn it! Why didn't I ever think of that?!" He slapped his head with his hand and shook it. "All this time wasted…"
Naruto just smiled at him. "Well think of this as thanks Oji-san, I'll see you around." With that, Naruto flame shunshined out of the office.
The Hokage looked at the stack of papers on his desk and glared at them. Then he looked over at the picture of the Yondaime and glared at him. "You knew this secret, didn't you?! This is how you always finished so fast." The picture seemed to laugh at him. "I hate you so much right now, you know that right?" It just laughed some more at him.
"Well guess what! Your son showed me how to beat this pure evil. Hehehehe, now to get to work, or should I say relax time."
"Kage Bunshin no jutsu." With that three copies of himself appeared and pulled up some chairs and started to work on the paper work that he now has defeated.
"I have defeated you once and for all paperwork! Who gets the last laugh now? Mwah hahahahahaha!" With that declaration, he got up and headed home.
The Next day, at ten in the morning, team ten were waiting for there sensei to show up like usual. The only thing that was weird though was that he was late and he has never been late before.
"Man this is so troublesome, I could be watching clouds in a better place right now." Shikamaru whined as he stared though the trees at the sky.
Choji just ate some more food. "Come on Shikamaru, I'm sure he has a good reason for being an hour late."
"He better or I'm going to kick his ass!" Kiba said shaking a fist into the air.
Just as he lowered his fist to his side did the wind pick up and a small six foot tall tornado form in front of them and then lowered showing there late sensei.
"You better have a good reason for making us wait for an hour sensei!" Kiba yelled the second he noticed it was Naruto there.
"My bad Kiba, I was picking you guys up something." Was his coy response.
Shikamaru and everyone listened now. "We're listening…" Shikamaru said as he sat up.
"Well, I signed you guys up for the Chunnin exams; I was picking up the forms for you." He pulled out three pieces of paper and waved them in front of himself.
Kiba ran up to Naruto and tried to grab them but Naruto just spun around him. "Not yet Kiba, a little patience would be good." Kiba just grumbled and went back to stand by his friends. Naruto just gave them a grin.
"So, you think we're strong enough for the Chunnin exams sensei?" Choji asked. Shikamaru looked interested also.
"Hell yeah we are! We're the best team around; we'll kick everyone's ass in the exams." Kiba said enthusiastically.
Naruto just smirked at him while he went and sat against a tree across from the others. Seeing their sensei sit down the other members of the team did the same thing. Akamaru jumped on top of Kiba's head and sat quietly.
"Well, other people think you're not ready, but I think you are. If you work as a team and remember everything I have taught you, then you should at least be able to get to the second round. After that though, I don't know if you'll pass or not." Naruto gave them some information on the exams.
"What's involved in these exams Naruto-sensei?" Shikamaru asked interested.
"Hmmm, well the first test is always a written test, the second one I'm not allowed to say, and the last one is always a battle of some sort, where you go against other ninjas in a fight."
"I see… is there anything else you can tell us?" Choji asked this time.
Naruto adopted a thinking pose and the three genin in front of him leaned in to hear what he had to say better. "Nope." Naruto smiled at them and they all fell over.
"Why not!" Kiba yelled.
Naruto just smiled at them. "It's the rules Kiba, think of it as a mission, you don't always know what's going to be involved in the mission but you always have to be prepared for it."
"Fine." Kiba grumbled while he crossed his arms.
"Well…" Naruto started, "Since the exams start tomorrow, you can have the rest of today off. Be at the academy building room 301 tomorrow at nine in the morning and bring all your ninja gear, you'll need it." With that Naruto handed the pieces of paper to each of them and stood up.
"Oh, and one more thing, if you don't want to take this test you don't have to. You can take it as individuals also." With that Naruto walked away and jumped into the trees and took off.
The others just looked down at their respective forms and they each had their own thoughts on their mind. Shikamaru was thinking about what his mom would say if he passed and about getting stronger and getting her off his back for once. Choji was thinking about getting some respect if he passed this thing, and Kiba was thinking about all the people he could fight and beat.
Shikamaru was the first to get out of his thoughts and speak up. "So what you guys think about this?"
Kiba grinned that wolfish grin of his. "I'm taking it, I won't pass up the opportunity to fight some strong people and prove myself."
Choji just smiled at his friends. "I'm taking it so I can get some respect and show everyone how strong I really am."
Shikamaru sighed. "I guess I'll take it too, maybe if I become Chunnin my mom will stop nagging me all the time." Then he grinned. "I'm glad we're all taking it. If we stick together, we will dominate these tests, as a team."
Choji and Kiba both grinned back at him and Akamaru barked in response. "Together we will win!" Choji said confidently.
Kiba put in his two cents also. "No one can beat team ten, watch out Chunnin exams, were coming!"
Up in the trees, Naruto smiled at them and it turned into a full blown smirk. 'Yep, defiantly going to go far.' He thought before he turned around and left the seen of his team alone.
The next day found team ten walking to the academy and when they made it there, they checked the time and saw that they were forty-five minutes early. Nodding to each other they went up the stairs and went to room 301. When they got there, the whole team looked confused. They were at the door and there were two people blocking the doorway and a crowd of people in front of it. The two boys were stopping the other competitors from getting inside the building.
Choji leaned over to his other two team mates and whispered low enough for the others not to hear. "Isn't this the second floor, not the third?"
They both nodded and looked at the door. Shikamaru saw it first. "Genjutsu on the sign." He whispered to the others. Kiba grinned and stepped forward but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back and saw it was Shikamaru and he was shaking his head no. Kiba gave him a confused look.
Seeing the confusion on his teammate's face, the Nara explained. "It's an unofficial test; this will keep all hopeless people out of the test that way there's less competitors for the real thing. Leave them alone, it will make less work for us later." Kiba and Choji just nodded and trusted Shikamaru's advice and moved past the door and continued down the hall to the stairs and to the real room 301. Once inside the room they felt a huge killing intent hit them but it was nothing compared to what they felt at the bridge in wave country, so they just brushed it off like nothing and walked over to the wall and sat down quietly.
"You guys see anybody we know?" Choji asked his teammates. Shikamaru shook his head negative but Kiba and Akamaru sniffed the air.
Akamaru barked and Kiba nodded to his companion. "Akamaru says team eight is over there." He pointed across the room and indeed, there they were, standing there doing nothing but looking at the competition. Kiba was going to get up and go talk to them but Shikamaru said no.
"Leave them for now, if something happens, then we will go talk to them, but for now leave them." Kiba wordlessly agreed with him and Choji did the same.
Half an hour later, team seven walked in and team eight went and talked to them. Kiba looked at Shikamaru and he said, "Leave them until later; we have to concentrate on this test right now." So they watched them interact, with Ino and Sakura fighting over who should have Sasuke and Sai was making some jokes that insulted them all. Some of them actually made team ten laugh, but they held it in for now, so not to draw attention.
Then, some guy went over and introduced himself as Kabuto; he offered to show the rookie teams some information on the exams. Shikamaru stood up and Kiba and Choji followed him. "Some more information could be helpful in this exam, let's go see what he has to say." The others nodded and they followed Shikamaru over to the small group. They stayed in the back as not to get noticed. The only one who actually did notice was Sai, and Shino. They both gave small nods in their direction, which they return respectively.
The Kabuto guy pulled the card containing all the information on the number of people in the exams and put it back into the deck before he spoke again. "I also have info on almost anyone here or in this village."
Sasuke perked up at that and stepped forward. "So you can give me info on certain people?" He asked.
Kabuto adjusted his glasses and nodded. "Hai, is there some one you would like to know about?"
Sasuke smirked. "Hai, do you have info on Sabaku no Gaara, Rock Lee, and Namikaze Naruto?" At the name Namikaze everyone in the room turned their heads and stared at who said it.
Kabuto became nervous with everyone staring at him. "Why would you need to know anything about Namikaze Naruto? He's a Jounin already."
Kabuto wasn't the only one caught off guard though; it was also team ten, Shikamaru in particular. 'Why would he want to know anything about sensei?' He thought.
Kiba stepped forward and spoke to the group. "Yo, Sasuke, why would you need to know about Naruto-sensei?" That got some heads turning. That's also when team eight and seven noticed them.
"Hn, none of your business mutt." He said glaring slightly at him. Kiba went to punch him when Choji restrained him.
Sasuke turned back towards Kabuto and looked for his answers. Kabuto got the idea and took out three cards. "Let's see, first is Sabaku no Gaara. Teammates are Sabaku no Kankuro, Sabaku no Temari, and Jounin sensei is Baki. He's taken 4 D-rank missions, 3 C-rank, 1 B-rank, and wow… 1 A-rank mission. It doesn't say anything about his skills, but he's come back from every mission without a scratch on him."
Some people in the room looked surprised and some looked scared. Kabuto ignored all of them and continued. "Next we have Rock Lee. Teammates are Hyuuga Neji, and Hirigashi Tenten, and Jounin sensei Maito Gai. He's taken 12 D-rank missions, and 38 C-rank missions. His Genjutsu and Ninjutsu are nonexistent meaning he doesn't use them, but his Taijutsu is off the charts, his taijutsu is easily mid to high Chunnin level."
Kabuto continued on ignoring everyone. "Finally we have Namikaze Naruto. His full name is Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto; he is the Jounin sensei of team ten, which consist of Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Choji. He went to the academy at the age of five and graduated at the age of six, breaking the old record. Then at eight years old he made Chunnin and then ten he made Anbu, at eleven he made Anbu Captain. Then at age thirteen he retired as an Anbu captain and became an elite Jounin of Konoha. He has done 20 D-rank missions, 32 C-rank, 12 B-rank, 22 A-rank, and 18 S-rank. He has earned the nickname 'Shunshin no Namikaze' because almost every time he uses shunshin no jutsu he uses a unique one that he created himself, apparently there is one for every element. He has also created a few jutsu of his own, but his most famous one is called Kaizuki (Fire Blade) which is an S-rank jutsu that is supposedly just like the Raikiri that Hatake Kakashi created, except with fire instead of lightning."
Sasuke just scowled and turned away mumbling something under his breath. Shikamaru grabbed his teammates and led them back over to the wall they were at before and waited for the test to start. While waiting, Shikamaru was thinking. 'How did that Kabuto guy get so much information? He even knew how many missions each person has done, that should only be available to higher ups. I'll have to tell sensei about this, he will be able to clear things up better than me.'
"All right maggots, listen up! My names Morino Ibiki and I'm the first examiner. This is the first part of the Chunnin exams and I want no fighting back there, you sound genin, unless you want to be disqualified!" A guy in a black trench coat yelled at them. He was the examiner and there were at least twelve Chunnin behind him. Shikamaru looked over and saw that Kabuto was on the ground and the sound genin had done something to him. He must have really been in deep thought to miss that. 'I'll have to ask Kiba and Choji about it after this test.' He thought to himself.
"Grab yourselves a number from the front and sit in your seats maggots!" The guy with the black trench coat yelled.
In another location, there were five people sitting in a room in comfortably silence. They were all Jounin and they were in one of the many Jounin lounges in Konoha relaxing. These people were none other than Kakashi, Naruto, Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai. They were having small talk when a new topic came up.
"So, do you think our genin will be able to pass the first test?" Kurenai asked them.
They all looked at her and Asuma answered her first. "That depends, who's the examiner this year?"
Kakashi chuckled and it wasn't a perverted one either seeing as his book wasn't out, so naturally, everyone turned to him. "Well the first test is the written test and this year the examiner is Ibiki."
Asuma coughed on some of the smoke he was smoking on and sputtered, causing Kurenai to become worried. "Who is this Ibiki, I've never heard of him?"
Naruto answered this time. "Ibiki is the head of the interrogation squad of Anbu."
Kurenai gasped. "He won't use torture will he?" She asked timidly and scared for her genin.
Naruto just chuckled. "No need to worry about their physical health Kurenai, he won't need that. Although you might have to worry about their mental health."
Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"
Naruto continued his explanation. "All Ibiki needs is to use words to make people crack under the pressure. He's an expert of the mind Kurenai."
Kakashi chuckled again. "Our genin are so screwed."
Naruto shook is head negative. "My genin will be fine, I've taught them not to give up and they will look at Shikamaru for help if they don't know the answer to something, plus Shikamaru will see right through the test no problem."
This time Gai stood up. "YOSH! Naruto's team is the epitome of youth! They will surely pass along with my team for sure!" Everyone just looked at him then turned back to each other again.
This time it was Kakashi's turn to arch an eye brow. "You seem pretty confident in your team passing the test, Naruto." He stated in a matter-of-factly manner. Naruto just shrugged in response.
Suddenly Kakashi got a shit eating grin on his face. "Since your so confident in your team, lets make a little bet."
This got everyone's interest; Naruto arched an eyebrow at him. "What kind of bet?"
Kakashi's visible eye twinkled. "Whose ever team gets to the tower in the second part of the exam first, wins. The loser's team has to pay the other person five-hundred yen."
While Naruto was sitting there and thinking about it the others were as well. "I'll take that bet." Kurenai said with a grin.
"YOSH! My team will show your teams there flames of youth by getting to the tower first!" Gai said as he agreed to the bet.
Everyone turned towards Naruto, he was still thinking. Asuma not wanting to be left out spoke. "I'll put my money on my student's team." The others looked at him and agreed with it.
They turned back to Naruto. "I'll agree to this bet, but I want to make it even more interesting with another bet."
Kakashi raised his single eye brow. "Alright, we're all in, with Asuma betting for Naruto's team, so what's this other bet you want to do?"
Naruto smirked. "I want to fight… you." This caught everyone by surprise.
"Why would you want to fight me?" Kakashi asked for once completely baffled.
"You were one of my dad's students right?" Naruto asked which he got a nod for an answer.
"Hai, you already knew that though…" Kakashi stated not knowing where he was going with this statement.
"Well people say you're a prodigy, like me, in the shinobi arts. You were trained by my dad, and I want to see how my skills measure up to your own to see how far I have come." Naruto stated confusing the others.
Kakashi squinted his eye. "So you want to fight me to measure your abilities, right?" He got a nod from Naruto so he continued. "And you want to fight me, because I was your dad's student right?" Again another nod for an answer. "Ok, sure, so what are the terms and when and where do you want to do it?" He asked grinning beneath his mask. The other people in the room looked at each other and then listened intently to this one conversation.
Naruto grinned back. "Good, I'm glad you agreed to the fight. The fight will be in three days at the tower were the Chunnin exams are being held, that way we can get the money we bet at the same time for the other bet we made. The actual fight will be an all out fight with anything goes except killing. The bets are simple on my side; if I win you have to stop reading your 'Icha Icha Paradise' books for one month straight. If you win, I don't know, you can think of something I'm sure. These are my stipulations for the bet and fight, what will be the prize if you win Kakashi?" Naruto was grinning now and everyone looked at Kakashi for his answer.
The said man leaned back in his seat and looked at the ceiling in hard concentration. After a full two minutes he broke out into a grin that the ones who knew him could tell he was grinning, which included everyone in the room. That grin turned into a chastity cat grin, which turned into perverted giggling.
Finally he looked back down straight at Naruto and the said boy gulped. That look was evil. 'What have I done?' He thought, while the others couldn't agree with that mental thought more.
Kakashi gave one final giggle then with a perverted look in his eye he told them his idea. "Since your stakes are so high, I want two things, one is easy to get, at least for you it is, the other… well, I can't wait for your reaction." He gave a perverted giggled again.
Naruto just scowled at him. "Just tell me what your stipulations are Kakashi." He said wanting to get it over with.
Kakashi giggled again. "The first one is easy for you; I want a signed copy of the next 'Icha Icha Paradise' book that comes out from the author himself." He giggled again at that.
Naruto was actually taken aback by that one. "That's it! And here you had me all worried there. Fine, I can do that no problem. What's the other half?"
Kakashi got that evil look in his eye again and looked directly into Naruto's eyes. "I want you to ask Haku on a date." He said simply. He waited for Naruto's reaction and he didn't have to wait long.
Naruto turned red and started to blush profusely. "W-w-wh-a-at?" He asked in a shaky voice while stuttering. The other in the room looked at his reaction and then started to grin themselves; Kakashi actually had a good, not entirely perverted idea there.
Asuma got up and hit his former student in the arm playfully. "Why didn't you tell me you liked a girl Naruto?!" He was grinning like a chastity cat the whole time to.
Naruto looked up and just blush more. "I-I-I d-don't know what y-your talking about." Naruto said stuttering and looking anywhere but at them.
Kakashi leaned forward and looked at Naruto again. "So do you agree to those terms Naruto?" He grinned at him for good measure.
Naruto took some calming breaths and settled down again. He turned back to the others and looked at Kakashi; everyone noticed that he still had a small blush on his face. "I don't know why you want m-me-," They all grin at him at the stutter, but he ignores it and continues. "To ask Haku on a d-date, but I agree to those terms Kakashi."
Kakashi just grinned at him again. "Good." He turned to the other three in the room. "Do you guys want to make a bet on this thing?"
The others looked at each other and Asuma spoke first. "I'll bet one-thousand yen that Naruto wins, although I kind of want him to lose now, seeing as he has to go on a date with a girl." He said as he elbowed his former student in the ribs, who just scowled.
"I'll also bet one-thousand yen on Naruto winning also. I want to see you not read those books of yours for a month, though I do want to meet this girl of his." She said.
They looked at Gai for his bet. "I'll bet one-thousand yen on Naruto also, I CAN NOT HAVE MY ETERNAL RIVAL WINNING A BET! YOSH!" He agreed to the bet also.
Naruto shook his head to get rid of the thoughts and the blush he knew was on his cheeks. "Alright, the bets are made. I can't wait to see who wins our fight, I look forward to it Kakashi."
The man grinned again. "Oh I look forward to the fight to, but I look even more forward for the book and the date you're going to go on." He said with a perverted giggle at the end.
Kurenai looked at Kakashi in disgust about the book comment, but then looked at Naruto. "So who's this girl you like Naruto-kun?" She asked purposely dragging out the kun suffix on purpose and making Naruto blush.
"Your flames of youth are growing stronger than ever Naruto! Let me help you with this girl you like so much!" Gai said for once not screaming it but just slightly louder than normal, but it still made Naruto look away embarrassed.
"Come on Naruto, who is this Haku girl you like? Have we met before?" Asuma asked grinning.
Kakashi giggled again, before he answered for the target of the conversation. "You've all met her. She has brown hair, brown eyes, and a great figure that already has the eyes of some people in the village from what I hear."
"What!" Naruto blurted out in anger before he realized what he had said, and tried to come up with something to cover himself but failed miserably.
Kakashi grinned. "She's the girl Naruto and I brought back three months ago from the wave mission."
Asuma looked deep in thought before he got an understanding look on his face, same went for Kurenai. "Hehehehe, you got quite the eye there Naruto, keep up the good work!"
Kurenai just shook her head at the two grown men torturing the boy. "Don't listen to them Naruto, she's a really nice girl and really strong too. You made a good decision to go for a girl like her; I hope it works for you."
All of this made Naruto blush and stammer more and more until the flush had become a permanent fixture. He was standing by now and just looked away. "I never said I liked her, guys." Although he said this, it had no conviction or force behind it.
Kakashi just grinned. "Sure Naruto, what ever you say." Naruto just scowled at them before teleporting out of the room, lightning covering him from view and then in a flash he was gone.
Kakashi and Asuma both burst out laughing at Naruto's expense.
Gai looked at them laughing. "YOUR UN-YOUTHFULNESS IS NOT HIP MY RIVAL KAKASHI!" Gai yelled at them.
That just made them laugh harder until they were holding there sides, Kurenai just shook her head at their antics. "Really you two, grow up and stop teasing Naruto about this." They just laughed harder, after a full minute of laughing; a vein appeared on her head. She stood up and slammed her fists into their heads making them both whimper at her wrath. "Grow up you two." With that she disappeared in a swirl of leafs.
After she was gone, they looked at each other again, and burst out laughing. Gai looked at them shaking his head. "Your actions are most un-youthful, Kakashi. Love is the most youthful thing there is and you are laughing about it." With that serious declaration made, he poofed out of the office in a cloud of smoke.
Both Kakashi and Asuma looked at each other having stopped laughing when they heard Gai being serious and then Asuma spoke up. "Did he just speak seriously about that?"
Kakashi looked equally as dumbstruck. "Yep." Was all he could say in response. Two seconds later they burst out laughing again.
Author Notes…
Well that's the chapter.
The chapter was pretty boring but I started on the relationship with Haku and Naruto sort of anyways. I had to write this to set things up for next chapter. Speaking of next chapter, it will have Kakashi's and Naruto's fight and the chunnin second exam and prelims over with by the end of it.
As always any questions will be answered to the best of my ability and I will be glad to answer them all.
Review…
Battousai222