Welcome to chapter 10 loyal fans newcomers hell even you jerk ass flamers are welcome. I honestly thought I would never get this far and its all because of your support.
I do not own any published or copy written works. But I really want to make something new even if I only help to create it.
Normal speech "You make me sick every breath you take is an insult to what it means to be human." MHX's face contorted into a vicious snarl as a black aura flared around his right hand.
Thoughts 'Yeah you son of a bitch get ready.' MHX's entire body tensed veins bulging pupils fading out as a white aura flared around his left hand.
Greater being speaking or thinking "That technique it seems familiar. But I think this should be sufficient to stop you Majin-chan." Status Quo extracts a beige Tommy gun from his waist coat.
Techniques Forbidden Arcane: Twilight Breaker MHX crashes his hands together with an explosion. A silver sphere the size of a golf ball launches forward. As Status Quo unleashes his bullets Majin raises a single hand snarling. The deadly projectiles were caught and crushed between MHX's fingers. Status Quo coughed out a black vapor wrapping around his form.
"Today is the beginning of the end of your kind Majin-chan. After today no more perverts, no more sex, no more violence, no more chaos, never again will anyone dream or strive. Only clean simple order in the universe." The stereotype screamed as the silver sphere struck his vapor.
The Chuunin Exams Part 1: The Floodgates Open Wide
Game Saved! The holographic version of Naruto chimed. He sighed as he slowly pushed open his apartment door, his elusive rest avoiding him. There was a feeling in his gut that he hadn't felt in a long time. He felt fear.
'But why am I afraid…?' Naruto wondered as he leaped across the skyline of Konoha. The moon was shining brightly, just a sliver away from a full circle. Naruto leaped across in that silvery light as he pondered the fear.
Was it the invasion? Any sane man would be downright terrified of two villages invading their home. Not only that, but NINJA villages. Chunin, Jounins, people on the level of Kakashi, (okay, maybe not that good, since the guy was potentially the Hokage in a few years, but still powerful!) and even Gaara, a Jinchuuriki, a demon incarnate, just like him, storming in by the hundreds, maybe thousands, all intent on destroying Konoha, his home. But no, Naruto decided, it wasn't that. He'd been there, done that, didn't even get a t-shirt to prove it. Konoha had made it through an invasion before relatively unscathed. (Naruto winced as he realized that losing the old man Hokage and having a good chunk of the village infrastructure destroyed, not to mention god knows how many lives lost was not exactly 'unscathed'.)
And that was before he even had the power of The Videogame on his side. The Videogame would make it impossible for him to die, so he could do this over and over until he found a way that worked, where the least amount of people would die. He would say until nobody dies, but after taking the life of one of the (admittedly, not yet realized) greatest traitors Konoha had ever seen as his first kill, he wasn't nearly so naïve anymore. So, no, the invasion didn't scare him.
Was it Orochimaru? The man was a monster, the reason that Naruto was in this whole mess of trying to save the village from invasion. He was the ringleader, the mastermind, the man behind the man. Not only was he a card-carrying villain, a deranged mass murderer intent on achieving immortality, and a man with a distinctly unhealthy obsession with snakes and little boys' bodies, (but Naruto didn't want to touch on that one for too long. That was something that was probably not too safe to dwell on.) But he was also one of the sannin. He was on the level of ero-sennin and the old hag. He that bastard is probably even stronger than that since it took both of them to take him down. (But that was a scary thought for his prospects, so he didn't want to dwell on that too long either.)
But, no, while the thought of Orochimaru unnerved him (Naruto honestly wanted to meet anybody who WASN'T unnerved by the snake-man. That guy was unnatural!), the sickly-looking man did not scare him. He knew that he probably should be, but he wasn't. When the chips were down and everything was stripped to the bone, he was just a man bent on immortality and everything that implies. Naruto already HAD immortality, thanks to The Videogame, although nobody would know it. He could do it over and over and over and over and over until he found out a way to defeat him. After all, everybody had a weakness somewhere. All it took was digging deep enough to find it. He had an entire village's worth of resources and manpower to help him learn how to combat the man. There would be something to defeat him. And best of all, Orochimaru didn't know he was coming for him, which gave him the element of surprise. He already had the death of one infamous Konoha traitor on his resume, so why not add another? So, no, he wasn't scared of Orochimaru.
Was it the new people, the team from mist? They were the odd men out, the variable that he hadn't expected, the variable he hadn't even known existed. He knew nothing about them. Why they were there, what they could do, not even whose side they were on in the upcoming fight, if they were on anybody's side at all. He didn't know what the heck he had done to get them appear, and it was driving him batty. And if they could appear without any rhyme or reason, then what prevented some of the other villages from coming in to crash the party, like Iwa or Kumo? Naruto would bet his bottom ryo that if they got involved in the upcoming tussle, they certainly wouldn't be on Konoha's side. The fact he couldn't predict anything like that was disheartening.
But then again, The Videogame took care of that as well! Naruto knew that because of all of his death-and-rebirth stints, he was gaining something of an analytical side. He probably learned more from dying and learning what went wrong, then learning how to do it right, than anything else he had learned. So what if he didn't know why they were here? He'd LEARN why they were here! The Videogame was instilling into him a deep belief in the power of chain-and-effect; a butterfly flapping in Iwa causing a tsunami in Wave and all that. If they turned out to be hostile, he'd figure out what the heck he did to get them to show up, and then he'd do whatever the hell it took NOT to do that! It'd probably take a crap load of rebirths, but it'd be worth it if it helped save the village. He would learn their styles, learn their weaknesses, and make sure they couldn't hurt anybody that he cared about. So, no, he wasn't scared of the team from mist.
So, then, why did this terror in the pit of his stomach not go away? Why was he so scared, if there wasn't anything causing it? Naruto rewound his thought process, and, with a startling jolt, realized the one thing they all had in common.
The Videogame. With a shudder, Naruto realized that it was his salvation that scared him, his ticket into immortality that caused the sinking feeling in his gut. Compared to the rest of the potential dangers to Konoha, he knew LESS than nothing about The Videogame. All he knew was his and the Kyuubi's own speculations, and those weren't worth the paper that he'd scribbled them down on in his apartment. He had no idea WHO put him in the Videogame, he had no idea WHY somebody put him in The Videogame, and he had no idea HOW somebody put him in The Videogame (the last one was the one that freaked him out the most. Who in the HELLFIRE would be powerful enough to make somebody's LIFE a frickin' VIDEOGAME!?). Another thought struck Naruto, one that chilled him to the bone.
In the admittedly few videogames that he knew about, there was always a set amount of lives that you were allotted, before it was game over for real. What was his number? He had no idea if this was true for him, and if it was, he had no idea how many lives he had left. For all he knew, this could be his last chance to live, that he wouldn't get another shot after this. Naruto had brushed dangerously close to death twice: once with his first death, and once with the freakiness that Haku caused. (Come to think of it, he had no idea how he got out of that one. Hmm…) Naruto knew that the third time was ALWAYS the charm. He had come so close to actually dying he could taste it, and he was never going back again. Compared to his fear of lack of knowledge of the videogame, the invasion, Orochimaru and the team from mist paled in comparison. He actually considered not entering into the chunin exams, so terrified he was of it being his last chance.
'Is this how Orochimaru feels?' Naruto wondered. 'is this why he wants to live forever so badly?' if he was this scared of death, him, who charged headlong into a fight with Orochimaru the sannin and a transforming Gaara, him, the fearless, knucklehead ninja, then he wondered how someone like the snake bastard felt. 'I sure as hell don't condone the shit that bastard's caused to try and live forever… but I can at least understand where he's coming from.'
"The hell? You're excusing the snake-faced bastard, you worthless meat sack!?" kyuubi growled. Naruto nearly flew over the top of the Hokage mountain. A part of him wondered when the hell he had gotten there.
'GAH!! Fuzz-butt!! How long have you been listening in!?'
"Long enough to be pissed off at you! Why the hell are you acting like some emo little shitstain!? You are the container of the most powerful demon in existence!! You are more than human!!! And you're moping around like some weak-ass Uchiha fuck!? This is unacceptable!!" kyuubi shouted from inside his cage. Naruto sighed.
'But… we don't know what's going to happen! We don't know if The Videogame is going to allow us another chance! If we die again, it could be our last-'
"THEN DON'T DIE AGAIN, YOU DUMB BASTARD!!!!!" kyuubi roared. Naruto jerked his head up in shock at the volume ringing in his ears. "I WILL NOT HAVE THE MEATSACK WITH THE MOST POWERFUL BEING IN EXISTENCE SEALED IN HIS GUT BE WORRIED ABOUT DEATH LIKE SOME WEAK-ASS HUMAN!!! YOU WILL ENTER YOUR PATHETIC LITTLE EXAM AND KICK SOME ASS!!!" Naruto blinked… before grinning.
'Hell yeah!! What the hell am I talking about!! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!!' he pumped his fist in the air. 'So what if it's my last life!? I'll just not die!! I'll kick ass and take names!!'
"You will defeat that arrogant ass of a demon Shukaku, who dares to think that he can stand toe to toe with the almighty kyuubi!! You will rip the meat sack known as Orochimaru asunder, who thinks himself an equal to the king of all demon kind, and for daring the think he could kill me with his feeble minions!!!" kyuubi howled, subtly pumping demon chakra through Naruto's system, more and more, faster and faster. Naruto's eyes gleamed red.
'Nobody will stand in my way!! Not Orochimaru, not Shukaku, not the mist team, not anybody!!! If they try to stop me, I'll just slaughter them all!!!' kyuubi leered at the brutal words. He pumped even more through Naruto, enough where it was straining against the seal. He went for the final blow.
"And then you'll take that Hyuuga wench and plow her in front of the crowds, sowing my seed for a whole new legion of demons!!!"
'The bitch is as good as knoc- wait, WHAT?!?!?' and just like that, the demonic aura forming around Naruto was gone. Kyuubi could have screamed in frustration at his foiled attempt at escape. 'The hell are you trying to make me do, you damn fox!?!?'
"What, me? I didn't try to make you do anything! You were agreeing with me!!"
'BULLSHIT!! You were just pumping your chakra through me, I know it!!!' Naruto was more pissed than he'd ever been. 'You goddamn fucking bastard!!! I give you an inch of freedom, give you company; I freely use your chakra!!! AND YOU TRY AND MAKE ME RAPE AN INNOCENT GIRL!?!?!?'
"…can't rape the willing… and she's not THAT innocent…" kyuubi muttered under his breath.
'What was that, you goddamn fox!?!?' Naruto shouted.
"I said she's not that innocent!!" kyuubi shouted, deciding it probably wasn't too good for his continued health if he mentioned the first bit. "She's a freaking' Hyuuga! What the heck do you think they use their X-ray eyes FOR, huh? Why do you think that Neji bastard randomly activates his eyes around Tenten?" Naruto choked on his spit.
"WHAT!?!?" he shouted out loud. 'I mean, what!? Neji does that!? And how do you know that!?'
"I'm a demon with more chakra in my left pinky nail than you have in your entire body. I have my ways of knowing every time any kind of chakra is used in Konoha, and to a lesser extent, where every chakra-using fleshbag is at any given time." Kyuubi responded in a smug tone. "I'm not completely positive that the Hyuuga fleshbag peeps on the stab-happy fleshbag with his freaky doujutsu, but I'm pretty damn sure. Now, tell me: when you're born into a family, with the inherent ability of X-ray vision, is there any possible way that you ARE innocent, in any way, shape or form?" Naruto rocked back on his heels.
'I… I never… I never thought about it like that…'
"Of course you didn't. That's why I'm the superior being." Kyuubi blinked, before bellowing out hearty guffaws. "HAHAHAHAHAH!!!"
'What's so funny?' Naruto asked suspiciously.
"bw…bwahahaha!! Oh, I just realized something!!" Kyuubi grinned a lecherous grin. "Why do you think that one of the only girls in your class that doesn't fangirl over the Uchiha fleshbag and wants to jump YOUR bones instead, also has X-RAY VISION!!? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" the thought process escaped Naruto.
'Huh? What does that me…? OH!!' Naruto blinked once.
Twice.
Thrice.
"YES!!! HELL YES!!!" Naruto whooped aloud. HELL!! YES!!! HAHAHAHA!! Oh, everything is right with the world!! Fuzz-butt, you win everything forever!! HAHAHAH!!! That is the most AWESOME thing in the WORLD!!!" Kyuubi brushed his knuckles along an imaginary suit.
"I try, gaki." Naruto finally was able to stop rolling around in helpless laughter, and forced himself up.
'You know what? I think that'll get you out of trouble for at least a week!' Naruto snickered.
"Awesome."
'But you know; now I'm wondering about something you said.' Naruto scratched his head. 'You said you'd make me… do unpleasant things with Hinata.' Kyuubi snickered at the euphemism. 'SHUT UP!! That's what you said!! You said that you'd… make her a mother of demons.' Naruto sounded extremely uncomfortable. 'Would that really happen if… if I took a wife?' kyuubi sighed.
'Sigh' "brat, I honestly have no idea. Nobody who's been a jinchuuriki in the past actually formed a family of their own; either they died too young to actually have time to do that, or they were hated too much for there to be any willing takers. I have no idea what would happen if you actually tried to knock a girl up. Maybe my chakra would make a demon baby; maybe it'd make all your little sailors brain dead. Maybe absolutely nothing would happen, and you'd get a regular kid, I honestly have no idea." Naruto felt a weight descend upon his heart. "This is really getting you down, huh?"
'Well…' Naruto began. 'It's just that… I'm an orphan. I know that it's like to have nobody to watch over you, to hear no 'well done, son!' whenever you do something right. I know what it's like to have no mom's shoulder to cry into whenever you skin your knee, while she whispers meaningless babble to calm you down. I… I really want to have a big family. So… maybe that the family that I made would make up for the family that I never had.' Kyuubi was silent. 'Does… does that make any sense?'
"Che! You're a sentimental little fleshbag. Never would have pegged you for a 'feelings' guy." Kyuubi snorted derisively.
'HEY!! What's wrong with being insightful once in a while!?'
"I won't have the fleshbag with me sealed in him be a wishy-washy intellectual!!! I want to be able to destroy!! To maim, to rend from limb to limb!!!"
'We're done talking.'
It took exactly two days for Kakashi to get off his ass and tell team seven that he had entered them into the chunin exams. Naruto stood in front of the doors to the testing building the next day, Sasuke just barely getting there before him. "Where's Sakura?"
"Probably washing her hair or something. Let's go." Sasuke was obviously in a rush to get the show on the road. Naruto shook his head.
"Uh-uh. We wait for Sakura. We'd probably get pulled from the exam if we showed up missing a team member." Sasuke arched an eyebrow.
"And you figured this out, how?"
"Logic." Although it was really before-hand knowledge, but he didn't need to know that! "There's gonna be a crap load of ninja from all around the world here. They're all going to know different techniques, and they're all going to be immensely powerful."
"How does this relate to Sakura?"
"I'm not finished. Now, there's almost definitely going to be a few tests to weed out the people that were shoved in here before their time. One of these is probably going to be a trial by fire, in other words, a combat situation. The three-man team is going to be essential, and life-saving, when this happens. 'Cause no matter how powerful anybody is, we're still just genin, and we can definitely be mobbed and defeated by numbers. Having everybody be on three-man teams is the only way that the tests can relatively level the playing field for everybody." Sasuke looked thoughtful.
"I never thought about it like that… but, then, why did Kakashi tell us that it was voluntary?" Naruto waved this away.
"To see if there was a weak link in the team. Being a ninja is serious business, and a lot of the jobs we get could get us killed. If there's someone on our team that can't even handle a controlled environment test, then they're definitely not going to jump up the totem pole.' Naruto smiled as Sakura rounded the corner. "But we're not weak like that! Team seven is here to kick ass and take names! Right, sakura?" sakura gave a start, before nodding decisively.
"Right!!" Naruto waved them forward, and they entered the building. While walking, Naruto began to brief them.
"Alright guys, now here's the deal. There's gonna be a lot of genin here, and this thing is just gonna be a massive dick-swinging contest." Sakura looked fairly repulsed at the metaphor. "Because of this, there's gonna be a lot of chumps with something to prove, and a hairline trip-switch to beating the crap out of someone. We're a hell of a lot stronger than any of those types of morons, but fighting before the tests could get us canned before the big man even says go. So, for right now, until the crowd thins out and the idiots are weeded down, shut up, keep your head down, and do as I say. We might just get through to the finals that way." Sasuke snorted.
"Who died and made you leader?" Naruto gave him a wry look.
"I'm the one who took down Kakashi-sensei single-handedly. You want to fight me for right to be team leader, you go right ahead." Sasuke didn't have an answer to that. Sakura, on the other hand…
"BAKA!!! Don't talk to Sasuke-kun like that!!" WHAM!!
"OWW!! Crazy bitch!!" Naruto was nursing a bruise when they came up on the first obstacle. Lee was getting his green spandex-clad ass handed to him by the two genin. Or were they chunin? Naruto remembered something about two much-older versions of them on guard duty when ero-sennin and he left for the old hag. It didn't matter anyway. It was a dupe, so they could just leave lee and company and go. Lee was strong; he could handle a light-hearted beating.
That's when he noticed a lack of people by his side. Naruto's eyes widened. 'Oh, FUCK NO!!!'
"Get out of the way. You're blocking the halls." Sasuke began, the arrogance on his voice almost dripping onto the floor. 'Haven't heard that in a while… Metsuki's been a good influence on him.' Naruto mused idly. "And you'll remove the genjutsu on the door while you're at it." Naruto groaned aloud. "You noticed it too, right, Sakura? Your genjutsu is the best on the team." Sakura nodded.
"Of course! This is still the second floor!" Naruto could've strangled the two of them. The sign blurred, and what was formerly 301 was now 201.
"Nice going… but all you did was SEE THROUGH IT!!" the genin-chunin swung at Sasuke as the Uchiha began a kick. Rock lee was between both of them, catching the blows. Everybody but Naruto and team Gai was stunned at the turn of events.
"Smooth move, Casanova!!" Naruto shouted, smacking Sasuke upside the head. The blow, along with being unbalanced by lee's catch, sent him tumbling to his butt. "What did I just say not two seconds ago? And then you ruin the first test to weed out the morons fooled by this! Level one of the home field advantages, why don't ya? Great going, really. The genius of the Uchiha never ceases to amaze me!" Naruto pulled Tenten to her feet, having been smacked around by the chunin-genin. "You alright?"
"I'm fine. Thanks, Naruto." She nodded. Naruto turned and curtly nodded to Neji. The Hyuuga returned the gesture, a paragon of politeness. He then grinned and turned to lee. "You dumbass! Weren't you three going to go incognito for this?" lee blushed and rubbed his head.
"Ah… yes. I'm sorry, Naruto-kun… but…" he turned to Sakura. Naruto's eyes widened and clapped a hand on lee's shoulder, leaning in to his ear.
"Don't do it, lee! Think with your brain, not with your balls! She's seriously hung up on Sasuke, and she'd not give up any time soon! Trust me, I've tried!" lee hung his head in shame.
Yes, Naruto-kun… I know you've said this many times during our spars, but now that I see her in person…" Naruto chuckled.
"Yeah… she is quite the pretty face. She's really violent, though. Nothing we manly men can't handle, of course, but it pisses you off like nobody's business, and that'd put a damper on any relationship." Lee pulled away and nodded.
"I understand, Naruto-kun." He walked up to Sakura and bowed. "So, you are Sakura-san? Naruto-kun has talked about you quite a lot. It is very nice to meet you!" and with that, he turned away, team Gai following behind him. Sakura turned to Naruto, the question in her eyes.
"How do you know him?" Naruto grinned sheepishly, massaging the back of his head.
"Ah, well, we train together quite a bit. He's a real good ninja. You'd get your ass kicked if you tried to fight him as you are now." Sasuke bristled at the insult.
"Oh yeah? Says who?" he replied testily.
"Says me, the guy who's fought against both of you. I've gauged you two's skills, and frankly, he's got you beat. He's a year older than you, he's got a genius teacher that takes a heavy-handed role in his tutoring, and he's worked himself to the bone making himself better. You're younger then he is, we all know what Kakashi's work ethic is, and you've been skating by so far with your Uchiha 'genius'. There's no contest." Naruto cracked his neck. "Let's get to the exam." Sasuke and Sakura followed, fuming.
"You! With the dark eyes." Lee called out from an overhanging ledge. Naruto absently glanced upwards as the other two members of team seven jerked up. "Will you fight me right here?" he asked, staring intensely at Sasuke. Naruto could've rolled his eyes.
'Some things never change…'
"A fight? Right here?" Sasuke inquired, nearly twitching with excitement. Lee vaulted over the balcony onto the wood floor.
"Yes. My name is rock lee." He smirked just the tiniest bit. "When you want something from someone, it is best to introduce yourself first, correct?" Sasuke nodded.
"Uchiha Sasuke… Naruto's been waxing lyrical about your skills." Lee smiled at Naruto, who nodded silently.
"I have heard much about you as well. I want to test myself against the supposed genius of the Uchiha clan. Plus…" his eyes twitched to Sakura, before shaking himself free. "No, that will come later. First, the fight!"
"You sure you want to do this, lee?" Naruto asked. "He's just a fresh genin, and Kakashi hasn't exactly been proactive with training. If it weren't for you and Gai-sensei, I'd be worse than him." Rock lee's thick eyebrows arched the tiniest bit.
"Really now? That is most unyouthful behavior on behalf of Kakashi-san. Nevertheless, I want to fight him." He settled into a fighting stance. "I will say this right now, Sasuke Uchiha. You cannot defeat me, for I am the strongest leaf genin here." Sasuke smirked.
"Sounds fun. I'll do it." Naruto rolled his eyes.
'Of course he accepts the challenge. He needs to mend his bruised ego from my teardown, and why not beat the crap out of the comparison?' Sasuke charged, and lee blurred away. Naruto watched impassively as Sasuke summarily got kicked right across the room.
"Sasuke-kun!!" Sakura screamed. Naruto held out a hand.
"Stay out of this. He started this fight on his own, and he'll end this on his own." Sasuke worked his way back off the ground, smiling. Naruto's eyes narrowed. 'Hell no… he isn't going to…' Sasuke blinked, and then his eyes were the red of the sharingan. 'Dammit!! That no-good, cheating bastard!! If he tries to copy lee's moves, I'll break every bone in his body!!' Sasuke charged back in, confidence at an all time high…
Only to get a boot to the chin. Sasuke went flying; lee followed him like a second shadow. Sakura gasped. "But…!! The sharingan!!"
"Is not infallible." Naruto finished. "Sure, he can see when the enemy uses ninjutsu or genjutsu. But what if all the enemy uses is straight taijutsu? No tricks, no smoke and mirrors, just straight out martial arts. And even if they can see them, that doesn't mean that they'll be able to react in time." Naruto yawned. "No matter how much Konoha totes the sharingan as 'the ultimate doujutsu' it's not infallible. You just have to figure out where the weak point is." Naruto jumped for joy inwardly for sounding so goddamn badass saying that. 'Practicing sounding cool in the mirror DOES help!! Awesome!!!' lee flicked out his bandage wrappings… and Naruto caught them. With a swift move, Naruto yanked lee out of the sky and into the ground.
"GWAH!!" lee cried out as he slammed into the wood. Naruto turned to the doorway and bowed.
"Good morning, summon-san." He said to the turtle who nobody noticed was there until now. Lee stiffened and leaped to his feet.
"That's enough, lee!!" the turtle shouted.
"So you were watching…" lee hung his head.
"Lee!! You know what it is forbidden to use that technique!!" the turtle shouted. Naruto stepped forward.
"With all respect, summon-san, I was perfectly prepared to step in when things got out of control, like you just saw. I would have stopped him before he could reveal anything other than the absolute basics." The turtle nodded.
"And I thank you for that, Naruto, but that does not excuse lee from beginning the technique in the first place!! Lee!!" Barked the summon as it turned to the pupil. "Are you prepared to face your consequences?" lee nodded hesitantly. "Good! Then here comes Gai-sensei!!"
"Cover your eyes, you two!! The first sight may blind if not properly protected!!!" Naruto called back to Sakura and Sasuke. A smoke bomb went off on top of the turtle, and Gai appeared out of the smoke just as Sakura and Sasuke covered their eyes.
"YOOOOSH!! You guys are the epitome of youthfulness!!" he cried out, striking a pose. Sasuke gave a start. Sakura dropped her hands in shock. Both got an eyeful of Maito Gai in a fit of youthfulness.
"ACK!! THOSE EYEBROWS!!!" Sakura screamed. Naruto sent a caustic glance at her.
"Don't judge people by their looks. Just because he's never heard of tweezers doesn't mean you get to shout it to the world." Naruto bowed to the man riding the turtle. "Hello, Gai-sensei. Before you say anything, remember that I was here, and I stopped it before it got out of hand." Gai stabbed a thumbs up at him.
"Yosh!! Thank you, Naruto-san!! Your work is appreciated!! Nevertheless… LEE!!!" lee snapped to attention.
"Yes, Gai-sensei!!" Gai's fist sent him rocketing to the ground.
"YOU IDIOT!!!!" he shouted to the rooftops. Sakura and Sasuke gaped in astonishment. Naruto just yawned.
"g-Gai-sensei…" lee stuttered, tears rolling down his face. Gai clapped him on both of his shoulders, also crying.
"That's alright, lee. You don't need to say it…" and they embraced in a manly hug. Naruto turned to Sakura and Sasuke.
"I suggest you cover your eyes now, AND DO NOT PEEK THIS TIME." They snapped their hands up as the sunset-of-hell genjutsu appeared.
"You are in the springtime of your youth… and youthfulness and mistakes go hand in hand…" Gai declared, standing once again. "But you did start a fight, would have broken one of the rules had Naruto not been here to stop you." The sunset faded away.
"It's safe to look now." Naruto called to the rest of his team.
"That's a matter of perspective…" Sakura grumbled as her hand drifted away.
"As punishment, you shall do five-hundred laps around the practice range!!" Gai cheered.
"YES, Gai-sensei!!!" Lee cheered. With that done, Gai turned to the other three Genin in the room. Sakura gagged.
"So, you three! How's Kakashi doing?" he asked. Sasuke blinked.
"You know Kakashi-sensei?" Gai chuckled.
"Know him? He…" Sasuke stared, waiting for an answer… and then suddenly, he was gone. Within the blink of an eye, he wasn't there anym- 'HOLY CRAP HE'S RIGHT BEHIND ME!!!' Sasuke freaked.
"People refer to us as, eternal rivals!" he chuckled. "Fifty wins, forty-nine losses… the record shows that I'm stronger than Kakashi." Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Gai-sensei, can I clarify something?" he asked. Gai nodded. "How many of those win were at rock-paper-scissors?"
"SEVEN!!" he pumped his fist into the air. Naruto glanced over to Sasuke and Sakura with a look that clearly said 'see? Take it with a grain of salt.'
"That's all I needed to know." Gai nodded, before patting Lee on the top of his head.
"Good luck, Lee." And with that, he disappeared. Lee began to slowly wrap his bandages up again.
"Sasuke-kun. I will say one more thing, before I leave. The truth is I came here to test my abilities. I lied before. The strongest leaf Genin of this generation is not me, and is most likely on my team. "I've entered this test to defeat him. But that doesn't mean you're not one of my targets, either. Be prepared for the exam!!" and Lee leapt away. Sasuke trembled in place, nails digging into his skin. Naruto walked back towards him.
"I told you. You aren't nearly ready to fight someone on his level."
"Oh YEAH!? Are you are!?" Sasuke snapped. Naruto leveled a glare at him.
"More than likely, yes. But that doesn't mean that I overestimate my skills. There's always somebody stronger than you in the world. Never forget that." And he turned away. "c'mon, let's go. We've gotta get to the exams." The two reluctantly followed. 'Man, when did I become the voice of reason on this team? This goes against just about every law of nature there is!!'
"You probably have to be. This exam seems to bring out the worst in the Uchiha shit-stain, and the pink banshee sure as hell isn't going to go against his ideas. You're the only one that'll keep him grounded."
'That sounded just a little gay, just now.'
"Yeah… didn't mean it like that."
"WH… what's this?" Sakura gasped at the rows upon rows of Chuunin hopefuls. All glaring at the newcomers.
"This, dear Sakura, is the Chuunin exam." Naruto said with a dramatic flair. "The best of the best of the best genin from around the world, all against you, all wanting to rip your heart out and feed it to you. Out of the possible hundreds of teams, only a handful will even get to the final round, and even if you won, you still might not win the rank. This, dear Sakura, is what we are up against. The world." 'DAMN THAT SOUNDED BADASS!!! I need to write that down somewhere!!!' the sobering effect of Naruto's speech was ruined with a squeal and a GLOMP!
"Sasuke-kun!! You're late!!" Ino squealed, latched onto the back of the Uchiha. "I haven't seen you in so long!! I've been so excited to see you!!"
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY MAN, INO-PIG!!" Sakura shouted. Ino looked up.
"Why, if it isn't Sakura. Still have that big ugly forehead, I see." Naruto rolled his eyes.
'Not getting involved. Nope, not a chance.'
"You guys are taking the exam too? Hope you don't die…"
And now, a word from the beta-reader/co-writer:
Hey, y'all! (Did I really just say that?) The Animaniac dude here! Quite a few of you have voiced some concerns about where this story is going. I figure I'd answer these now, since MHX is catering to his main squeeze. The lady's the demanding type… make of that what you will. (MHX walks by carrying 100 shopping bags) oh, damn… there goes the sex innuendo. Black Friday was not good to you, my friend. Alright, back on topic!
First off, the OCs. A LOT of you have commented on them, and not all of them were approving. I will say this right now: THEY ARE NOT GOD MODE MARY SUES. I cannot stress this enough. I despise these freaks of nature, and I sure as hell wouldn't let anything I'm helping to write have them… not intentionally at least. We had a plot idea that would be awesome sauce, (lol. Funny word.) But in order to pull it off, we needed a team from mist. Therefore, we made up some OCs, tried to give them personalities, (they haven't been around yet long enough for us to see if that's worked yet.) and tried to think of skills for them to have without god-modding them. With the possible exception of Ginko, because we both think that guy's a badass, and even then we give a reason for the power. But I digress! After a certain point in the story, they'll probably drop off the map until much later. We'll err on the side of not giving them enough screen time, as opposed to too much screen time and make them into a spotlight-stealing squad… not that canon has any of those. *cough*hawkandsasuke*cough* so… yeah! Somebody suggested creating a profile for each of the OCs, and I think that's actually a good idea! We'll work out the technical details of that, and have those up sometime in the future for all the OCs we currently have going. If we make any more OCs, well, we'll burn that bridge when we cross it.
New avatars: how many times have we said it? IT WILL HAPPEN AFTER THE SASUKE RETRIEVAL ARC!!! I honestly hope we don't have to say this over and over every chapter, because it's getting pretty annoying. We WILL change avatars then, and not a moment before. We've got to create some plot twists before we're able to create his mindset for changing avatars.
About the non-videogame-ness: everybody, repeat after me: SASUKE. RETRIEVAL. ARC. This is the time that all the good stuff happens. We'll throw in some other videogame-related goodies before then, but the Sasuke retrieval arc is when the magic happens. Compare it to Lost Soul by LD 1449, if any of you have read that. Remember the beginning of it? How it was pretty much the standard weaponized-Naruto-tries-to-find-his-soul-and-interact-with-people story? And then… WHAM!! Shocking swerve! You understand what I'm saying? Get it? Got it? Good!
About Kyuubi: some of you have said it's disconcerting to see Kyuubi acting 'like a frat boy horn dog'. I have two words for you: OBFUSCATING. STUPIDITY. You guys know Vash? From Trigun? He is the KING of obfuscating stupidity. And we all know what Vash is like. Remember: before absolutely anything else, kyuubi is a conniving demon, whose first and foremost concern right now is breaking out of the prison in Naruto's belly button. He will act however he needs to act in order to get Naruto's guard down, and then go for the kill, as demonstrated by the beginning of the chapter. That is all. Dismissed, soldier!!
I THINK that's all… MHX, do you have anything to say?
Now as I recover from combination bite burn stab wounds from the black Friday. I continue to write the next chapter some of you may ask why this one was so short. Well while researching for this chapter I reread the manga did you know it took six chapters for Masashi to get from where chapter nine ended to where this chapter ends. Now I'm pulling out all of the stops I will work through Christmas to get back on Schedule The next chapter will be longer and even better I need to fill in these holes in the story I'm going as fast as possible without tripping over myself. Also there will be more videogame in the next chapter I need time to character develop The plot will thicken in five dimension I will blow your minds with the next few chapters. The first exam and the Forest of Death are set for chapter eleven stay tuned my fans I won't let you down.
Two last items to mention if anyone says I am copying Prefect Lionheart during the chunin exams I will eat your head and condemn you to Super Jail. Finally have a happy holiday from your mentally disturbed friend MHX.
Well said, MHX! Well, that's it! Read, review and all that jazz! The power of anime compels you!