(OK everyone before we begin I'd like to apologise for the ridiculously long wait for this chapter, however I've been under a great deal of pressure these lasts few months, and haven't had any motivation to write – and I thought it best to wait till I regained some enthusiasm for writing again, otherwise my story's quality would suffer greatly – once again I'm super sorry for the delay)
(If you're a fan of Sasuke and Sakura click off this – they are now my bitches to ridicule Muhahahaha!!!)
PS: If anyone has any plot ideas, pairings or any suggestions feel free to let me know through either email or review messages – we'll I think I've dragged this on long enough. Without further ado let's begin!
Journey to Lordship
Chapter 9 – Chuunin exams, a sorrowed existence
Gasping heavily Naruto heavily landed upon the ground, his knee cracking the earth slightly as he impacted with the ground.
'It's finally complete…With this I can definitely beat down everyone in the exams…' looking at the vast damage his new sword based technique had caused. It was truly impressive a vast amount of trees had been cut to shreds, and the surrounding earth scorched.
Stabbing his demon blade into the ground he used it as a crutch to help himself to his feet. This new technique really used up a vast amount of chakra.
'With my current abilities I should be able to shoot this off three or four times before I pass out from chakra exhaustion' muttered Naruto to himself, beads of sweat trickling down his body, slowly straightening himself, he brushed back his golden blond locks, which had now turned dark red at the roots. Casting his deep cerulean eyes heavenwards, the sun had been roosted in the sky for several hours now, and the sky still had a faint crimson tint to it, the sky was remarkably beautiful, silhouetted behind Konoha's buildings, with the Hokage monument jutting upwards in the distance, the cliff side on which the four faces of Konoha's rulers, the four Hokage's enormous stone faces resided, their stone eyes gazing towards the hidden village to which the four fire shadows had dedicated to ruling and protecting, of which only one of them remained, the Third, also known as the 'professor' his official title is 'Sandaime Hokage-Sama'.
(A/N: whoops lost track for a moment there)
Wiping the sweat from his brow Naruto wrenched the So'unga from the ground, sheathing the long, double edged sword into a leather sheath that ran diagonally down his back. The bone hilt and guard stuck up behind his right shoulder, the jewel on the hilt gleamed faintly in the early morning sunlight. Using some white wrapping cloth he wrapped the entirety of the sword, sheath and hilt, obscuring it from view, after all he couldn't have someone accidently touching it after all
'The second Chuunin exam begins in a few hours, I should head back to Anko-Chan's place and get ready' announced Naruto quietly to himself as he quickly departed the ruined training area, and running swiftly in a slightly crouched stance, with his arms back (tradition ninja stealth running) he quickly crossed several training areas, swiftly covering the distance, running along the rooftops, leaping from building to building he soon reached Anko's apartment. Landing he made virtually no noise as his feet touched the ground. Reaching into one of his pockets he extracted three keys, which he used to unlock the door. Anko had soon added extra locks to her home after Naruto had moved in, as well as a few subtle traps, a wise precaution as it turned out, as three male civilians had tried to break into her apartment, not long after he'd moved in with her. Apparently the thought of the 'demon brat' and 'snake whore' co-mingling and having a taste of happiness set their imaginations and hate aflame.
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(Flashback – general POV)
The moon was brightly stationed in the night sky, a few stars scattered across the sky, it was somewhat cloudy, causing shadows to claw amongst most of the buildings, amongst the shadows three tall, broad shouldered men still dressed in their work clothes, quietly as possibly could, converged on Anko's home, keeping to the shadows, walking slowly – not making any noticeable sounds. They were rather good for non-shinobi.
Climbing quietly up the 'L' shaped steel stairs which curved round to a small space in front of her apartment, rather like a balcony which led to the door. The shortest of the three, a somewhat thicker built man who was named Sakaya Senji, one of the Southern districts locksmiths' crouched down in front of the door, quickly checked out the locks to check for anything booby traps.
'Anything there?' whispered the man on the right of Senji quietly, being careful to keep his voice quiet.
'Knowing that snake whore she's probably got something nasty set up' muttered the man on the left. His name was Huan Shinji, the local butcher, like most men of his profession he was tall, broad, and foul tempered.
'It seems fine, looks like she's lax when it comes to her home, pah only three locks' muttered Senji smirking. He pulled out three thin metal wires from a pocket inside his coat. With practiced ease he inserted the first wire into the top right of the keyhole, the second in the bottom of the keyhole. Inserting the third wire, a little thicker than the other two into the centre, then angling the first two he made a twisting motion and the first lock unlocked with a faint click. That click was their downfall. It was loud enough to rouse Naruto, with Naruto's demonic enhanced hearing, it sounded like a cannon shot.
'God damn pricks' Naruto thought to himself quietly climbing out of bed, doing his best not to awaken the sadistic beauty laying next to him in a curled position, her face was snuggled into her pillow a faint smile on her porcelain coloured face, her dark silk like hair tumbling around her angelic features.
He lightly kissed her on the forehead 'I'll be back in a sec, keep the bed warm' said Naruto to the sleeping beauty, then deftly grabbing a few kunai from his standard equipment pouch which he'd left on the side table next to the bed he proceeded silently to the hallway, ready to punish the soon-to-be intruders.
Meanwhile the three civilians with violence on their minds: Senji the locksmith, Shinji the butcher and Mamoko Renji the carpenter silently held their breath as the third key clicked and the door opened revealing an empty hallway.
'Were in luck' grinned Renji 'there both still asleep by the sounds of it'
'Yeah let's kill that demon and then we can have some 'fun' with his whore' snickered the butcher. It was at that moment two things occurred:
Naruto summoned several small snakes, with acidic venom which slivered towards them
Anko's Genjutsu trap triggered, freezing the muscles of the body, including the vocal muscles of the three intruders.
Suddenly finding themselves to move or speak the three men suddenly found themselves in a very bad situation, the Genjutsu that had trapped them had been activated when her door had been opened without the use of the three specific keys, in this case the door was picked.
At this point Naruto deactivated the illusion that had hidden him from their sight. He'd only been a few feet from them and had heard them quite clearly. Scarcely had he kept his anger in check as he appeared before them, seemingly out of thin air.
His teeth bared and his slitted, cerulean eyes stared at them. With the poor light all they could see were his fangs and his piercing eyes glaring out from the darkness.
'I don't care what pathetic reason you thought up' said Naruto in a dark, intimidating tone 'and I don't care, but I'll punish you now you ignorant bastards' clicking his fingers, three sets of eyes darted around wildly, wondering what would happen, they were expecting something terrible and they were not disappointed.
Three dark scaled snakes each about 10 – 12 inches long slithered up their legs, winding around their waists until the three snakes were staring eye to eye with the locksmith, the butcher and the carpenter, who were wide eyed.
'Bite them…' at Naruto's orders they arched their necks back, revealed their gaping maws, each mouth lined with long sharp looking fangs, then bit each of them on the neck, releasing a small spurt of blood from their necks, as the venom entered their systems.
Within moments they felt a horrid pain spread through their bodies, like lava was surging through their veins, they collapsed, wanted to scream, but the Genjutsu kept the lips sealed tight.
'My snakes poison is a form of corrosive acid; it will slowly dissolve you from the inside out…'
The locksmith made a pathetic whimpering noise in his agony, as another wave of pain swept through his body.
'That's what you get for breaking into our home, intending to kill me and raping my…'
Pausing Naruto kicked the butcher, who coughed up blood and another greenish substance.
Crouching down to them Naruto hissed 'its ignorant fools like you who make our life, lonely, painful, unbearable…' he raised his fist; it was glowing with his blue chakra.
(End flashback)
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unlocking the door and stepping through, Naruto thought back on that day, rather sadly it was ignorant idiots like that who would continue to make his life hard, dimly after he gained the So'unga Naruto had begun to realise that gaining the respect of an entire village that shunned, feared and hated him would never allow him to be Hokage. This realisation had brought great sadness. Now he'd only fight for himself, and Anko.
Walking down the corridor and turning left he entered the bathroom, quickly undressing and climbing into the shower. Turning on the hot water Naruto gave a contended sigh as the water washed away the dirt and sweat from his body as well his cares for the day. His muscles relaxed and he felt like he could face a new day.
Naruto spent roughly 10 minutes in the shower, as he finished washing his hair he became aware of being watched, turning he saw that once again with some embarrassment that Anko had walked in to give him a towel, however decided to stay for the show.
Quickly he grabbed the fluffy towel from her, wrapping it around his waist, covering the essentials.
'I wish you wouldn't keep doing that Anko-Chan, its embarrassing' stated Naruto his face flushing slightly on his tanned face.
'What's it matter Naru-Chan, it belongs to me now after all' replied Anko, smirking, giving his slim muscular body a good once over.
Naruto's eyebrow rose archly to that statement, but said nothing; he turned to throw his drenched, dirty clothes into the laundry bin.
'When you've got dressed, breakfast is ready, so get your arse in the kitchen'
'Fine, I'll go get dressed, no peaking this time' he told Anko pointing a finger at her.
Pouting Anko turned and left the bathroom 'How mean Naru-Chan' said Anko, in a tone of voice which to Naruto left no doubt she wasn't serious.
Going into his room he shared with Anko, dried himself, sat down on the edge of the bed picked out his clothes for his exam. He eventually made his choice with a little input from Kyuubi, on how to look 'dark' and 'cool'. His choice of clothing consisted of a dark red T-shirt; black Para shoot pants, with dozens of pockets in them with which he could carry more equipment with him for easier use. Over his shirt he wore a sleeveless black trench coat, however unlike the one he'd worn previously, this jacket wasn't weighted. For footwear he had put on leather boots, which went up slightly past his ankles, the boots most noticeable feature was that it had a metal plate on the front.
He wore his hiate with the konoha emblem cut into the metal plate; however he'd recently replaced the original blue material with a longer black one.
His hair was its usual spiky self; however he'd brushed a few locks over his hiate partially hiding part of his face in shadows, to make him look more mysterious.
'See much better kit' announced Kyuubi through the mental link.
'I guess' shrugged Naruto leaving the bedroom, time for breakfast, never enter an exam without a hearty breakfast in you.
Apparently Anko had already left, next to his breakfast which consisted of beef ramen and half a dozen dango. (Neither of them were well known for having a wide ranging, pallet when it came to food.) There was a quick note from Anko scribbled on a piece of paper.
Naruto
Gone to prep exams
Don't be late or else!
-Anko
glancing at the clock mounted on the wall opposite him, he nearly choked on one of his dango, he only had 35 minutes till the exam started, downing his food within a minute he ran back into the bedroom and grabbed his rucksack filled with various supplies and after wrapping his sword to keep it hidden from prying eyes he sheathed it, attached it to his back with the rucksack following soon after.
'Well time to head out!' Naruto announced to himself as he left the house, locked the door and reset the Genjutsu trap.
Leaping out onto a nearby building Naruto quickly ran along the rooftops towards the Konoha's training area, nearby which was a vast expanse of tangled forest filled with dangerous creatures – the forest of death – the place where the second Chuunin exam would take place.
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It took him roughly 15 minutes to reach the small field in front of the forest of death where the other young Gennin from the various different villages had gathered awaiting instructions on the next exam.
Landing lightly amongst a group of grass shinobi, startling several of the other ninja, though the feminine looking grass Nin, with long black hair, seemed to find his comrades surprise somewhat amusing, if his large, perverse looking smirk was anything to go by.
Naruto sniffed, and felt a chill.
'You shouldn't let yourselves be caught off guard you know' said Naruto walking away, and though he maintained a calm demeanour, his heart was hammering in his chest, he'd sensed a powerful chakra signal carefully hidden when he'd first arrived, he'd jumped amongst them to verify, to think that snake bastard was the one he'd been detecting.
Pausing about twenty feet away, he took a deep breath, and gathered his thoughts, though he hated to admit it Orochimaru's disguise was brilliant, by wearing the skin of that grass nin, he was able not only to hide his appearance but also his scent, with his demonic senses he just about smell the second scent beneath the deceased grass Nin's scent. But to a normal ninja he was completely invisible, just another kid trying to become a Chuunin
'What's that bastard up to? There must be a reason for him coming here…to spy? No, maybe something or someone has attracted his attention.'
Walking onwards not once looking back, Naruto pondered who might interest him, besides himself, and then suddenly he remembered something Anko had mentioned about her former sensei…
'One thing about hebi-teme is that he had a real obsession for learning new techniques'
'Sasuke?!' Naruto's sub-consciousness shouted out 'hmm, he wants the Sharingan' turning back to Orochimaru he saw he was watching the young Uchiha lustfully out of the corner of his eye.
'Paedophile…' he muttered under his breath, and to his amusement the sannin's eyes flared or a moment.
'hey Naruto over here!' yelled sakura in her high pitched voice, having finally noticed their strongest and most violent team member Uzumaki Naruto, striding quickly towards them, his blond hair flowing back, while his front locks shadowed his face, making him look dark and menacing. Sasuke took a step back unconsciously and sakura paled slightly.
Sakura and Sasuke were dressed in their usual clothing, what briefly caught Naruto's attention was that Sasuke's scent was slightly different, it felt darker than the norm. He'd changed apparently.
'Sakura, sasu-gay' said Naruto standing next to them, giving them a brief nod, but saying nothing else.
It was obvious that neither of Naruto's team mates wanted to be anywhere near him. They were frightened of him, plain and simple, though Sasuke would rather die than admit it to Naruto or anybody else for that matter.
'Hnn…' grunted Sasuke, pointedly ignoring him; in a very immature fashion, whilst sakura hovered hesitantly between the two, hoping to keep Naruto placid.
'Hi Naruto…its…it's good to see you, I'm sure we'll do fine on this exam ne?'
Naruto briefly turned to her, his cold mask, reserved for his team and most of konoha firmly locked in place.
Sakura felt like a wilted shrub in a storm, with her blond team mate glaring down at her with those deep, cold eyes; it was like looking into a tsunami.
'You'll be fine as long as you both stick near me'
'So you'll protect us?' asked sakura feeling a little relieved, with her limited, and all honesty pathetic skills she wouldn't last long without someone to protect her.
'No…' replied Naruto, Sakura face faulted, Naruto continued with 'I'd kill them before they could take a single step, so my earlier statement remains true'
Sakura laughed nervously, whilst Sasuke silently fumed 'how dare that bastard, I'm an Uchiha, a descendent of noble blood, his just a commoner, looking down on me, I'll show him. His secrets, I'll find them and take them after all I have…' Sasuke's mental rant was cut short by Naruto slightly shoving him on the shoulder
'Sasu-gay the instructors are here, pay attention' frowning in response, Sasuke half turned as though planning to retort, but wisely decided against it.
Indeed the instructors had arrived, the instructors for this exam were a young Chuunin with bandages wrapped around the middle of his face, that hid his nose and upper lip, his eyes and hair were dark and he was dressed in the standard Chuunin uniform. The second instructor was a slightly older female Jounin; Mitarashi Anko a member of the ANBU interrogation squad and rumour had it was in a relationship with his blond team mate, at first he hadn't believed it, but seeing the two kiss with his own eyes had confirmed it at the first exam. Anko was dressed in a slightly provocative outfit which consisted of a short brown skirt, that just passed her thighs, showing off her long, well shaped legs, she also wore a fishnet style shirt, popular among male shinobi, however in this case the shirt showed off her well firm, decent sized cleavage and over that she wore a full length brown trench coat, cut in the same style as Naruto's though unlike Naruto's it had long sleeves which Anko used to hide an assortment of small, usually poisoned weaponry.
Sasuke's mental tirade had made him miss the brief explanation and the mission requirements for the second exam, feeling idiotic that he hadn't listened Sasuke had intended to ask Naruto, as sakura was without a doubt too ignorant to fully understand a mission objective.
As if reading his mind Naruto leant over to him and said quietly 'the exam is to get to the centre of the forest of death, there's a tower there, we have to bring two scrolls with us to pass, we get 1 scroll at the start, we have to get our second scroll from another 3 – man team, the deadline is five days, oh and next time pay attention or you'll fall behind dobe' said Naruto smirking at the last sentence, finding the flash of anger mixed with embarrassment highly amusing as it flickered across the arrogant Uchiha's features.
'Well then let's go, there handing out the scrolls now'
'alright Gaki's listen up one at a time each team come over to the booth to receive your scroll, it will be either a heaven scroll or an earth scroll, and remember shit stains that if you open the scroll you forfeit the Chuunin exam' yelled out Anko to the surrounding Gennin.
One by one the teams walked up to the entrance to the forest of death, where there was a small booth surrounded by a screen, they'd enter, receive their scroll and hid it amongst one of their team mates, keeping which scroll they had a secret, very prudent as many teams would then know who to hunt in the forest of death.
After roughly ten minutes of waiting, it was team 7's turn to receive either a heaven scroll or earth scroll from the face bandaged Chuunin. Once stepping into the booth the Chuunin leaned forward from behind the small desk and said in a drawl, business-like tone 'which of you will carry this heaven scroll?' before anyone could reply Naruto swiftly snatched the scroll and deposited it into an inside pocket.
A vein appeared on Sasuke's forehead, Sakura stood in front Naruto, pointing a finger at him 'don't be rude, don't be deciding everything yourself!' flared Sakura
Naruto's eyes narrowed and darkened 'Oh is that so?' Sakura then remembering who she was talking to, suddenly wilting under his cold glare.
Reaching into one of his outside pockets he pulled out a white scroll with the Japanese kanji for heaven printed upon it, crouching till he was at eye level with the pink haired Kunoichi, thrusted the white scroll into her hands
'Fine you can look after it then, but they'll be targeting you now, instead of me' grinned Naruto a little viciously. Rising to his full height he then added 'and its stays with you, no giving it back to me, or passing it on to sasu-gay, you'll be a target for the next five days, aren't you proud?
Sakura paled slightly at the thought of being a target of most of the other shinobi teams, sticking out her head out the side of the screen she looked at the other Gennin, all who suddenly looked rather intimidating when the prospect of being hunted by what seemed like a hundred trained killers.
Turning back to Naruto she saw him grin and he looked down at her and said in a voice that made it abundantly clear that she was less than an insect in Naruto's eyes…
'I hate both of you; you're not my nakama, but merely a couple of annoying obstacles, that will slow me down without a doubt, so both of you don't make any mistakes, if you mess this up for me…' Naruto left it unfinished, turned and walked towards their assigned gate through which they'd enter the forest of death.
'Scary' whistled the Chuunin, looking at the frightened Sakura and the slightly intimidated Uchiha
'Dammit I'm shaking, quit it body! His nothing, stop being scared!' thundered Sasuke's mind 'his just like…'
After a brief pause the two Gennin followed Naruto as he strode towards their designated entrance gate that would take them into the forest of death. Anko was waiting by the entrance and as Naruto passed her, she leaned forward and gave him a brief kiss on the lips, she whispered something to him, and Naruto smirked and nodded, moments later Sasuke and sakura passed through the gate too. For team 7 the Chuunin second trial had begun.
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(Time skip – 2 days)
The densely packed forest was worse than anything Sakura had expected, it dark, unbearably so, in empty spaces they'd hear roars and hisses from time to time, in such occurrences she'd jump and try to cling to Sasuke; however he'd simply brush her off. There were also the thick tree roots that invaded the pathways in unpredictable places and angles. Sakura frequently found herself falling flat on her face, tripping on the roots with embarrassing regularity.
Had she been anything more than a third rate wannabe ninja she'd have seen the obvious choice of jumping from tree to tree, like undoubtedly most of the Gennin would be doing. Without a doubt such a course would have occurred to the other members of team 7, however Naruto stubbornly stuck to the small paths on the ground for some reasons, both Sakura and Sasuke would find out why Naruto had chosen the slowest most troublesome path as averse to the countless other paths, had they taken the trees they'd most likely be at the tower already, eventually it was Sasuke on the evening of their second day within the forest that Sasuke voiced his opinion, or to be more accurate questioned Naruto's.
The three of them were gathered around a small fire eating what Naruto had gotten for them when he'd gone off to look for supplies, it consisted of fish, caught from a nearby stream, berries, and several nutrition bars which Naruto had gotten from a supply bag he'd taken from some rain ninja who'd already be disqualified from the Chuunin second exam.
Leaning back Sasuke turned in Naruto's direction, who was hurriedly scoffing down his food, making a surprising amount of noise, for once he looked more like his own age, instead of the tall, muscular genetic monster he'd become, virtually overnight.
Finishing his food with a contented sigh he leaned back against a tree and before Sasuke and Sakura's eyes he returned to his emotionless face and usual cold eyes. Though puzzled they decided not to mention it.
'Naruto' said Sasuke leaning forward slightly
'Hmm..?' grunted Naruto looking in the Uchiha's direction
'Why have we been taking these slow paths, Naruto, it's just a waste of time, we've got to get another scroll before times run out…'
'I'm perfectly aware of that Uchiha, however because I have you dead weights with me, I need to be careful or you'll end up dead, and me disqualified, so it's necessary to take this safer, unused path.' Replied Naruto in a slightly condescending tone.
Jumping to his feet, having enough of Naruto justly deserved superior attitude Sasuke attacked Naruto again, and just like the last time, he was easily beaten, a quick side step followed by a blow to the neck, which left the Uchiha unconscious for the better part of an hour.
When he regained consciousness, he spent the rest of the night behind one of the trees sulking about how easily he'd been bested once again.
'This is so unfair; the dobe is so ahead of me…I have to get stronger'
Watching Sasuke sulk with some amusement, he shook his head and took a seat next to the small fire, after adding a little more kindling to the fire.
'Ano…Naruto why don't you just use a fire Jutsu?' asked Sakura who was seated with her head rested on top of her knees.
Stoking the fire slightly he replied ' fire techniques waste a lot of chakra and there's a possibility that they'd feel me releasing my chakra, and there are a few shinobi in this forest right now that I want to avoid, so I'm doing this manually. You and sasu-gay would do well to do the same, unlike me your both at a much greater risk in this test, try not to die' standing and brushing himself off he then added 'I'm going to take care of something, I'll be back tomorrow morning – stay low, and avoid any ninja till then if possible' then making a two handed seal he vanished in a swirl of leaves.
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(Elsewhere in the forest)
Three young Gennin dressed in grey shinobi uniforms kneeled down in front of a tall grass nin with long black hair, and a doll like face.
'Orochimaru-sama we've followed the team 7 konoha team as instructed, it seems that the only threat in the team is the blond one called Uzumaki we intend to separate him from the Uchiha and the pink one before executing your plan' said a the eldest Gennin whose face was hidden behind white bandages, leaving only his right eye visible. Next to him was a medium height Gennin with wildly spiky, black hair and wearing an arrogant expression. The other member was a slightly taller girl with long black hair, almost the same length as her body.
'Shall we precede Orochimaru-sama?' asked Kin
'No, I'll deal with young Uzumaki Naruto, he'd be far too much for you three to handle, just focus on the Uchiha' said the snake Sannin grinning slightly at zaku's angry expression.
'you're dismissed! Attack 1 hour before dawn.'
'Hai!' the three sound Nin simultaneously vanishing in an instant.
Looking towards the sky the snake Sannin chuckled darkly to himself
'I wonder how well Anko-Chan's trained the fox host? Time to prove to another generation who the snake master of the ninja world is heheh!'
'Is that right?'
'Omai?!'
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Well there you have it finally this chapter is completed, oh and for those bitching about some action between Anko and Naruto and you'll be happy to know it's gonna happen after the second exam – somewhere around chapter 13-14.
I'll update when I've done my essays and the next part of my critical study – till then wonderful authors and readers
Ja ne!
P.S special thanks to Genesis D rose for being my 'godly' patient beta!