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-------------------------------------------Shattered Illusion : Copy Of a Ninja
: Chapter 09
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The following afternoon, Naruto sat in his favourite spot on the Hokage monument, letting the wind gently ruffle through his unruly blond hair. From his perch on the rock ledge Naruto gazed at the sprawling village a hundred paces below.
His thoughts, often whimsical, now strayed toward the invitation clasped within his outstretched left hand, and subsequently, the confrontation with his team earlier that morning.
He had risen early, the revelation by the sand genin foremost in his thoughts. That the outsider ninja had already started to arrive meant only one thing, this event had been planned months in advance. Why had the village leaders seen fit to inform them only the day before the exam. It made little sense, he failed to see how such a lack of preparation could benefit the Konoha entrants.
Kakashi provided no answers, merely handing over the applications with minimal instructions. Sighing, he decided to drop the examination, the events had already occurred; complaining about it now would change nothing. Tucking the application back within his hip holster Naruto turned once more to survey the streets of the village.
Spotting the distant forms of Konohamaru and his two friends Naruto frowned at what he found there.
They were being followed.
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He arrived not a moment to late, the trailing nin had taken action, grabbing the defenceless Moegi and vaulting up onto the overhanging archway. A foolish move, yet even more foolish was the lone ninjas next move, pausing to grin down at Naruto, that moment was all Naruto required, his unique vision piercing the encircling illusion as if it were not even there.
Iruka?
Restraining himself from teleporting, Naruto forced himself to wait for a more concealed battleground. Surely Iruka had a reason for this bizarre action, and a confrontation out in the open like this was not to either of their advantage.
His senses focused on the fleeing ninja's chakra signature, Naruto paralleled his course through the trees. When Iruka suddenly stopped, Naruto allowed himself to cross to his path and unconcerned with the consequences leapt down into the revealed clearing.
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"Hidden leaf village, how disappointing, the chuunin exam presented the perfect opportunity."
Ignoring the attempted deception, Naruto gathered a minimal amount of chakra within his hand and formed the strings shown to him the previous day. Carefully entangling the instructor within the created web Naruto focussed his attention upon the unsuspecting chuunin.
"You can drop the act Iruka."
While the man tried to escape the trap that he could not see much less sense, Naruto gathered enough chakra to cancel out the transformation technique in use by the older man. It was unnecessary for him, but would help bring home the futility of denial to the chuunin.
"Don't bother, you cannot escape. You will explain what this was all about."
Walking over to the still bound form of moegi, Naruto loosened the ropes and removed the gag from the frightened child. Allowing some of the boundless bloodlust of the fox demon to show within his eyes, Naruto turned and walked over to carefully study the captured chuunin.
"Now."
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So, they wanted to test each of the rookie Genin, he could understand that. That did not mean that he approved of their methods, however necessary. Releasing the chakra that still enmeshed Iruka, Naruto turned toward the still frightened form of Moegi.
"I trust that I have met your requirements."
Gathering the small girl into his arms Naruto turned a last look upon the still form of the chuunin.
"I will return Moegi to the village. I will see you later to talk about this, while I understand you needed to place me in an extreme situation, I do not appreciate your unthinking treatment of Moegi, she deserves better than this."
Conscious of the fact that the chuunin still had to test Sakura and Sasuke, and catching the faint cries of Konohamaru on the afternoon breeze, Naruto kept track of Iruka as he left the clearing. Dropping Moegi off with Konohamaru and telling the trio to return to the village, Naruto left in hot pursuit of his former teacher.
It was an opportunity to see the better skills of his two teammates firsthand.
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Keeping track of Iruka after his confrontations with the other genin, Naruto followed him to a meeting with Kakashi. Crouched within the concealing shadow of the house upon which they were perched, Naruto listened in on their conversation.
"How were they". Kakashi queried.
"So much for the special preliminary exam, all nine of the rookies passed, just like you said. All of their abilities have really improved."
Iruka paused here, seemingly hesitant. "Naruto however, I am worried, his performance this afternoon should be impossible. No one can improve that much over such a short journey."
"There are circumstances."
"I understand that, I only hope that Naruto will remain safe, some of the people in the village would make accusations."
"It won't help them, the Hokage has already been informed. Even I know little."
Leaving the pair to their conversation, Naruto returned home, he had heard enough.
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Naruto locked his fingers behind his head and leaned back against the mossy blanket of the tree trunk. He could feel Sasuke fast approaching, and Sakura had stood before the entrance of the school building for some time now. He did not mind that she did not approach him, as his clone had been told numerous times of her negative feelings where he was concerned.
Even so, she was a part of his team, at least for now, and petty feelings like that would need to be eliminated as the difficulty of missions increased. Trust was essential, and feelings of contempt did not lead one to trust another. Though he had certainly provided the girl with something to think about.
It would need to be addressed sooner or later, oh well.
Rising from his perch against the tree trunk, Naruto walked over to stand beside the pink haired genin, Sasuke had just reached the entrance to the square. Offering a casual greeting, Naruto followed the other two into the familiar building.
The chuunin exam was about to begin.
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-------------------------------------------Done. Comments Welcome.