Hey guys...Another chapter coming up. Sorry about the lag time between chapters as of late, but I've been very busy. If you need to recap, I suggest you read back a few chapters to catch up again.
KONOHA STREETS
Team 7 was currently en route to the Konoha Academy when they went over everything they had been through as a team in the past three months...
TIME SKIP - 3 MONTHS
After the arson incident, Team 7 followed Sarutobi to his office and true to his word, he drew out the deed and keys to the Namikaze estate. Once they arrived there, they saw that is was a modest home, two stories high with 5 rooms and 2 bathrooms with an outdoor bath included. Kurumi, Haruna, and Sakura all had to be keyed into the security seals around the house or it would react to their presense. Once that was over, they picked out their rooms, but Kurumi insisted on being in the same room as her master. The two other females understood why she was so adamant about it, so they didn't comment or say anything. Steel Angels, especially ones like Kurumi who have been fully awakened, had the desire to always remain by their master's side.
The small, pseudo-family had a few scrapes and incidents with a few of the more stubborn locals trying to get into the estate grounds, but the security seals that Minato had set up throughout the house and the grounds stopped them dead in their tracks. After that, there were no more attempts at vandalism and with how the council's grip had been weakened, the price gouging had lightened up considerably.
Haruna faced some of the backlash at the hospital when a few of the nurses and doctors were banding together in an attempt to get her fired as a form of retaliation. However, Yui Ayase managed to find out not only who the conspirators were, but what they were planning to do. The savvy 19 year old nurse managed to get herself pegged as Dr. Haruno's personal assistant so that she could be the proverbial eyes in the back of her head. Thus far, they managed to avoid and spin around over a dozen different incidents, getting their detractors fired in the process. As for Yui herself, she was slated to be one of the medical personnel for the up coming Chuunin Exams, along with Dr. Haruno herself and a select few others.
On a brighter note, Ino came over to their new house and had something she wanted to get off of her chest...
"What do you want, Ino?" Sakura asked, her eyes and tone wary.
"S-Sakura...I...want to say...I'm sorry, for everything I said back at the restaurant." Ino told her, her voice no louder than a whisper. Sakura eyed her for a second, trying to gauge if she was really sincere. Finally, she spoke.
"I'm not the only one you have to apologize to, Ino. Naruto deserves one, too." Sakura replied in a firm tone.
"Do you know where he lives?" She asked.
"...Yes. I'll go get him." She said, turning into the house and calling for him.
"Hey, Naruto! Someone here to see you!" She called out. A moment later, Naruto appeared at the top of the stairs.
"What's up, Sakura-chan?" He asked before looking at the doorway.
"What's...Naruto doing here, too?" She asked, her tone carrying a tone of disbelief.
"This is his house. His apartment was burnt down at the same time our house was, so he offered to let us live here. It was his inheirtence from his parents and we needed it." Sakura informed her, making sure to keep the sensitive stuff she knew secret.
"Who were his parents? They seem like they must have been loaded!" She exclaimed.
"We can't tell you. What do you want anyway, Ino?" Naruto asked her, getting to the point and off of the subject.
"Oh! Well...Um...I wanted to say that I was sorry about all of the stuff I said back in the restaurant." She told him, looking down at her sandals.
"Really? Is that so?" Naruto asked, his eyebrow raised.
"Really! I mean it! I acted like a real jerk back there. I didn't believe what happened to you, but when I saw what happened at the trial...I felt horrible. I could believe that Sasuke-k ...Sasuke could be such a heartless monster." Ino confessed to them.
The two teammates looked at each other, trying to come up with something to say. They eventually shrugged.
"Ino...We just need a little time to think on this. I mean...A LOT has happened to us as of late." Sakura told her. Her face looked downcast, but she just thought of something.
'Sasuke proved to be a real letdown...But Naruto here is still available and I don't think Forehead put a claim on him. If anything, they treat each other like siblings...I'll give it a shot.' Ino thought as she tried flirting and sweet talking him, introducing the idea. Once she was prepared to spring her trap...Kurumi came bounding down stairs and glomped him. She was careful to not call him master like she does when no one's around, but the effect was still there.
"Naruto-kun! Let's go play!" She giggled.
Even though Ino had seen her before, she didn't know that she and Naruto were so close. She was hanging off of him like a barnicle, but he seemed to be smiling.
'WHAT? Aw, come on! I can't compete with THAT! If I were a lesbian, though, I'd TOTALLY do her. Dammit...A good one's already taken...' Ino pouted as she gave her farewells and kicked a rock in the street as she left.
"What's her problem?" Naruto asked. Sakura knew EXACTLY what Ino was up to, but Kurumi's appearance brought her plans to a screeching halt. She informed her teammates of what she was trying to do. Kurumi summed it up nicely.
"Nuh uh! No way! She can go find her own master!" Kurumi growled as she mashed his head into her chest.
"Not the way I'd put it, but that works too." Sakura shrugged, putting that issue to rest.
During the two months until the Chuunin Exams, they had trained relentlessly. Naruto had been making massive improvments in his skills while Sakura was busy catching up. Her stamina and capacity were in dire need of expansion and she worked on them until she nearly passed out everyday with the kind of dedication that would make Gai proud. Speaking of which, he had his team cross train with his rival's team to give them a view of more experienced Genin.
"Kakashi! I see you have another student now! She seems to be full of youthful vigor!" Gai said/yelled.
"Uh...Yeah." Kakashi replied lamely as Lee introduced himself to Kurumi.
"Hello! My name is Rock Lee and I would be honored if you would be my girlfriend!" He annouced in a manner that was a mirror image of his sensei. Sakura saw this and had her face in her palm.
"Oh boy..." She muttered, catching Tenten's attention.
"What's wrong, besides Lee getting shot down again?" She asked.
"Just watch. You'll see." Sakura replied.
"No way! I got Naruto-kun!" She replied quickly as she mashed said blond's head into her chest once again.
"I see...SO YOU HAVE ALREADY CAPTURED THE HEART OF THE FAIR KURUMI-CHAN?" Lee wailed.
"Uh...What?" He replied lamely.
'Oh man...Not this wierdo again...' He grumbled.
'I'm so proud of you, Naruto...' Kakashi thought, hearing his response.
"CURSE YOUR HIPNESS, NARUTO-SAN! I SHALL CALL ON ALL OF MY YOUTHFULNESS TO WIN HER HEART!" Lee yelled announced at the top of his lungs, "Youthful" tears pouring down his cheeks.
"WELL SAID, MY YOUTHFUL STUDENT! IF I CANNOT HELP YOU WIN HER HEART, I WILL EAT 20 BOWLS OF DEVIL'S BLOOD HELL CURRY FROM DEMON COUNTRY WITHOUT WATER OR MILK!" Gai cried out.
"AND YOU CANNOT DO THAT, I WILL CARVE A REPLICA OF HOKAGE MOUNTAIN OUT OF THAT BOULDER USING ONLY MY FACE!" Lee replied as the hugging ensued, the "Evil Genjutsu" in full effect. Everyone was sure to look away from the horrifying sight...Everyone but Kurumi.
"What...Are they doing?" She asked, completely confused.
"Believe me...You're better off not knowing." Tenten sighed while she staved off a headache as they got down to what they were doing there, training. Of course, Neji was on that team and while he was less of a jerk than he used to be, he was still a bit overbearing towards the more junior Team 7.
"I have to say that you are...Less than I expected, being the Dead Last and Fan Girl not withstanding." Neji mused aloud in a condescending tone, not noticing the growing anger on the face of the taller pink haired girl and her male teammate. Sakura noticed Kurumi's enraged expression and stopped her from advancing. She then stepped forward to speak.
"Neji-san. You don't know anything about us, so please don't act as if you do. The Hyuuga all seeing eyes don't see everything." Sakura told him calmly, but with a firm and steely undertone that made her sensei proud.
"Sakura's really growing up and away from the fangirl she used to be. I also have to give Naruto credit for not rising to the bait." Kakashi mentioned to Gai.
"I see..." Gai agreed, but Kakashi wasn't done yet.
"It's a good thing Sakura spoke out when she did, or your Rookie of the Year would have had a long hospital stay." Kakashi added. This caught Gai's attention.
"What make's you say that, my rival? While I don't mean to speak lightly of your student, but Neji-kun is quite strong for a Genin." Gai asked.
"Let's just say that this girl can give Lady Tsunade a run for her money in sheer strength. One hit took down the infamous Zabuza while Naruto-kun defeated both the Uchiha with his Sharingan and Zabuza's accomplice, while helping to take down thugs. Sakura-chan did very well herself, despite being tired." Kakashi casually mentioned. Despite being touted as a genius when he was younger, he saw first hand what it could do to a person, all of that going to someone's head. He decided that being a genius wasn't all it was cracked up to be, especially after Obito died.
"Yosh! I now find myself wanting to challenge their flames of Youth! We shall have our two teams face one another in a mock battle! Is this okay with you, my rival?" Gai requested, giving his usual wide and...Quite frankly, disturbing grin.
"Let me tell my students first and see what they think." Kakashi replied as he walked over to them.
"Hey guys...You want to make them eat those words?" Kakashi asked, but the looks on their faces spoke volumes. They wanted to fight.
"Yosh! Do you want to face Kakashi-kun's team?" Gai asked of his team.
"Gai-sensei, this is a blatant mismatch. They couldn't even beat Lee and he was the Dead Last for last year." Neji replied with disdain.
"Neji-kun...That wasn't a very nice way of saying it. But sensei, he has a point. We have over a year's worth of experience on them." Tenten added.
"Ah...But you underestimate them. Go ahead and fight with them. I think you will be surprized." Gai told them as he ushered them forward.
After a moment of explaining the ground rules, especially to Kurumi, they squared off. Naruto was singled out by Neji, Tenten faced Sakura, while Lee took on his new crush.
"AHH! MY YOUTHFUL PASSION BURNS! KURUMI-CHAN! LET US HAVE A GOOD FIGHT AND IF I WIN, WILL YOU GO ON A DATE WITH ME?" Lee hollared.
"No way! I only want Naruto-kun! What don't you understand?" She replied again, getting angry that this strange kid didn't learn yet as he launched a kick only for her to block easily. She quickly grabbed the ankle and flung him aside like she was tossing a pillow.
'Wha...? Such strength! I WANT HER TO DATE ME EVEN MORE!' He thought as he continued to attack her. After a few more minutes, she was growing impatient with his constant advances. Granted, he was nowhere near as bad as Sasuke, but it was still annoying. She caught his incoming punch with ease, clamping down hard and keeping him from escaping.
"I will NEVER leave Naruto-kun's side...GOT THAT?" She roared as she punched his tickte for a free flight across the village, his teammates watching in awe.
"Wha...? How the...? No way!" Tenten gasped as the now somewhat infuriated pinkette turned her sights over to where Neji was taking Naruto to task.
"I tried to tell you. Kurumi's only got eyes for my teammate for better or worse and if anyone tries to come between them...Kami have mercy." Sakura explained, carefully covering up the fact that she was like that for another reason as they continued to fight. Sakura was putting up a good fight against Tenten, but was still being overwhelmed.
For the past few minutes, Neji had been toying with Naruto in a manner not unlike a cat toying with a wounded mouse. Naruto had improved dramatically over the past few months, but it wasn't nearly enough to overcome Neji's skill and experience. His clones and his natural deviousness were able to somewhat offset his lack of experience and skill difference in Taijutsu, but he was still being picked apart by the Hyuuga genius.
"Hmph. Zero times zero will always remain zero." Neji scoffed as he slammed a Jyuuken powered palm into Naruto's gut, taking him down. He was about to turn away when he sensed an incoming blow and dodged out of the way, and not a moment too soon either due to said blow taking a good chunk out of the ground.
"What? How is she so strong?" He muttered to himself in complete disbelief.
"Hey you! Yeah! You girly looking guy! Stop picking on my Naruto-kun!" Kurumi roared as she charged in to take Neji down, but he was quicker. He countered with a barrage of Jyuuken strikes to incapacitate her, but they were worse than useless. They only made her even angrier! To her, all she felt was a few contacts with her breasts and she interpreted that as copping a feel. You can already guess what this means.
'I-Impossible! The Jyuuken had no effect on her!' He though as he took a good look at her system with his Byakugan...And saw that she had no system to speak of! Only a central mass in her chest...
POW!
Kurumi's fist met with Neji's stomach with the force of a speeding dump truck, nearly causing it to abandon ship while he sailed away. He skipped end over end across the nearby pond before skidding to a halt in a pile of mud, ass in the air, as she went to check on her master.
"Kurumi-chan...I'm okay. We need to go help Sakura-chan." He told her shakily as he stood up slowly with her assisstance as they went to their teammates aid.
Sakura had just baerly blocked a swipe from Tenten's staff with a kunai and broke away from her, trying to put some distance between them. Tenten was getting tired of running her back down and having to get through the traps she'd set, so she got within range and summoned some chains to tie her down. Sakura looked back to see a pair of chains screaming right at her and she was too tired to avoid them. She closed her eyes to await the blow, but it never came. Instead, Kurumi stood over her holding the chains while Naruto had slipped in and dragged her away to safety.
"Thanks, guys. I thought she had me." Sakura sighed in relief as Tenten tried to pull the chains away, only for Kurumi to yank them from her hands with no effort. The sane choice was as clear as glass.
"I give! I give!" She yelped, waving her hands in the air. She didn't want to experience Kurumi's strength first hand like her teammates did.
Gai looked gobsmacked. His team had been wiped out while Kakashi's team all covered each other, showing exemplary teamwork. Kurumi displayed a strength that was comparable to his own and shrugged off the Jyuuken like it was nothing, Naruto was actually holding Neji at bay for a little while until Kurumi helped him, and Sakura was managing to fend off Tenten until her teammates came to her aid.
On the other hand, Kakashi looked every bit the proud sensei. He knew that their teamwork was hard won and hard learned, if their misranked mission in Wave had proven anything. With everything that happened afterward, his team had become like a family that watched out for one another. Not for the first time, he wondered what Team 7 would have been like had Kurumi not come into their lives...And shuddered.
All of that aside, Gai's team had lost their mock battle against a fresh Genin team consisting of the Dead Last, a recovering Fan Girl, and a totally unknown kunoichi. He knew that he would have to further stoke their "Youth" with extra training sessions to cure them of their overconfidence. Neji was at least grateful for one thing as he watched Lee and Gai perform their self-punishments...
'At least Lee will leave me alone now that he found a new rival...I really pity you, Uzumaki...' He thought, shaking his head as they limped away. He and Tenten at least got a show out of it as they performed their self-punishments. Gai was trying to eat 20 bowls of curry so spicy, just looking at it nearly gave them ulcers. Looking over at Lee, they nearly had sympathy headaches watching Lee bash his face into the house sized boulder. A person with a lesser stomach and more of a conscience would have tried to stop them...But this was only going to get better.
Team Gai wasn't the first team they had cross training with. Teams 8 and 10 were also called upon for training sessions. Team 8's came first and Kurenai finally got to meet the fabled Kurumi, whom she took a liking to, and Hinata also got to meet her new nemesis for Naruto's heart. Shino's was...Well, Shino but Kiba was about to learn a harsh lesson about girls. Naruto was talking with the Sandaime about something and would be along later.
"Whoa! She's a real babe, huh Akamaru?" Kiba asked his canine companion, who yipped in agreement. He then decided to go over and put some moves on the new girl. Sakura saw what he was up to and stood up from her stretches to issue her standard disclaimer.
"You know...I wouldn't do that if I were you." Sakura warned him.
"Eh? Why not?" Kiba asked.
"Naruto and her are together." She replied simply.
"So what? I bet if I show her what a real shinobi looks like, she'll ditch that loser." Kiba laughed as he marched over, completely full of himself. Sakura just shook her head as she sat back, getting ready to enjoy the show. Kurenai was ready to march over to stop him, but Kakashi stopped her, the glare she gave him venomous.
"Just watch. Kiba's going to learn something he should have a long time ago." Sakura commented as Kiba made it over to the Angel, who was stretching.
"Hey babe. I don't think I ever saw you before." Kiba greeted, a lecherous grin on his face.
"What do you want?" She asked, annoyed that yet another guy was hitting on her. This was something she was getting really tired of.
"I saw you sitting here and thought that you could do so much better than the Dead Last...Like me." He replied, trying to lay down his smoothest lines.
"What did you just call Naruto-kun?" She asked, trembling.
T-minus 10 to blast off...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...
"What? I just called him the Dead Last. That's all he'll ever be, anyway." Kiba laughed in response.
2...1...Ignition!
"DON'T CALL HIM THAT!" She roared as she sent him into LEO (Low Earth Orbit).
Houston...We have lift off.
Kurenai was in sheer awe of the raw power this girl was packing while Kakashi was watching Kiba's trajectory with a spyglass and Sakura with a pair of binoculars, betting on where he would land.
"10 says he lands on the female side this time." Sakura commented without looking away.
"15 says the male side." Kakashi muttered as Naruto walked up. The fact that they were doing this told him everything.
"Kiba tried something with Kurumi-chan, didn't he?" Naruto deadpanned, their nods telling him yes. Kurenai was slightly gobsmacked by their lack of action, so he answered her.
"This kind of thing happens nearly everyday. Put me down for 10 on Female side." Naruto shrugged as Kurumi noticed his arrival, becoming a pink tinged missle that snatched her master up into a tight cuddle. Hinata was beginning to shake with anger from how this girl was cuddling with HER Naruto. Shino could feel her rage roiling off of her in waves, so he did the smart thing...He got away from her as quickly as he could.
After training was over, Kiba came staggering back into the training grounds with various extra bruises and a wash bucket broken over his head. Kakashi sulked as he reached for him wallet, pulling out the money he bet his two students.
Next up, we have Team 10's session with them and the further introduction of the Angel, even though they didn't know what she really was. Shikamaru got a good look at her and smirked at his kunoichi teammate.
"So...She's the one who jumped your claim on our other resident blond, huh? I bet you never thought someone hotter than you would step in." Shikamaru teased. Ino saw red as she put a knuckle in the back of his head.
"Shut it, lazybones, or I'll tell your mom how you spend all of your training sessions just playing shougi." Ino retorted, making his eyes go wide.
"You would dare..."
"Try me."
"...Damn...Troublesome girl..." He sulked as his shoulders slumped. He knew he was beat, when his mother was brought into the equation. Ino smirked herself, knowing she had won this little verbal spar, but blushed slightly when she recalled that he mentioned that she was hot. That still wouldn't put her out of her funk from being turned down by Naruto of all people so easily.
Chouji just simply introduced himself and whispered to Naruto.
"Good job, man! You're one lucky guy."
"Thanks, Chouji...You have no idea how lucky I feel." Naruto replied, a soft smile on his face as Asuma introduced himself to the fabled girl.
"So...My dad told me about you. It's nice to finally get to meet you." The bearded Jounin greeted.
"Huh? The old man's your old man? Cool!" She chirped as she shook his hand...And nearly broke it. He turned to Kakashi after she bounced away after Naruto.
"Geez...What's with her strength?" He asked, shaking his hand to get some feeling back into it.
"She eats her veggies?" He offered weakly with a shrug as training moved on.
Chouji squared off against the pink tressed powerhouse and even at his strongest, he was no match for her. He even pulled out his Human Boulder and she caught him like it was nothing. All of Team 10 tried their techniques on her and the only one that would work was Shikamaru's...For a moment until she ripped free. Ino's wouldn't work, and the only thing she saw was nothing...Just a blank slate.
Against the other members of Team 7. Ino fought with Sakura while Naruto had fought Shikamaru. Ino was eager to see where she stacked up against her former friend, but was surpirzed that she approached the fight with a tenacity that she hadn't seen before while Shikamaru was surprized that Naruto was smarter and more patient than he remembered...And faster. Just when he thought he caught the real Naruto, he poofed away to reveal that all he caught was a Kage Bunshin while the real Naruto had a kunai to his back. Ino was defeated by Sakura, who was able to confuse her into using her Mind Jutsu on a bunshin by using a smoke screen. All of their training was paying off.
They didn't just train the whole time. They had already done several missions together, including a couple of C-Ranks. One was to the Fire Capitol to deliver a few document to the Daimyo. Pretty uneventful. However, another wasn't.
It nearly turned out as bad as the Wave mission was, but they were able to strike first. Their mission was to chase away a new Yakuza gang that had set up shop inside of a town near the Fire/Wind border. These thugs had been doing pretty much what ever they damn well pleased and behaived much like Gatou had. Team 7 arrived in Katabame Town a day after they got the mission and saw that it was nearly a ghost town. They would see people peeking out at them through their window shutters before they slammed them shut.
"The people here are terrified...I already don't like this." Kakashi murmured as he pulled his team off of the main streets and up to the rooftops.
"Let's keep a low profile for now and head to the client's house quickly." He instructed, the team nodding.
As they continued along the rooftops silently, they could see things happen in the alleyways below. One of them as a hold up, two thugs beating up a man for his money. Another was an abduction, taking another fresh girl for the brothel. Both of these, the three tried to jump in on and stop, but Kakashi held them back.
"No. I know it seems cruel, but we can't afford to expose ourselves more than we already have. We came here to put a stop to this and that's what we're going to do, so let's move to the client's house." He ordered them to move.
Move they did. They made it to the client's house, a man named Tonkichi, the ex-Mayor of the town until the Yakuza chased him into hiding. He had some in-depth information on the identity of the leader of the Yakuza and it was a woman around Kakashi's age. He felt that he'd seen her somewhere before and dug out his Bingo Book. To his horror, the woman was an A-Ranked Missing nin from Kumogakure name Kiyoko Kurobame. She was wanted for slaughtering her entire Academy class in retaliation for being demoted to Chuunin from Jounin for flubbing a critical mission. She was a known Taijutsu expert with a healthy arsenal of Raiton Jutsu, along with highly sadistic tendencies. She was infamous for causing mind-shredding amounts of pain before she killed by snapping bones and ligaments.
Once again, Kakashi gave his team the option of continuing the mission or scrubbing it. After all they had seen on the way to the house, they voted to continue on mission. They all gathered intel on the various thugs and after a few days, they could safely ascertain that she had only two other ninja with her. They were a pair of former Oi-nin from Iwa, a pair of twins named Kohaku and Koharu Kingamine, C-Ranked Missing nin. Their crime was just leaving the village and not returning, opting to go into business for themselves, but they had perfect teamwork and they were rumored to be slightly telepathically linked to each other.
The plan was to chip away at their man power little by little by going out in disguise in pairs rather than with a Henge, due to enemy ninja being around that could detect them, the teams were Kakashi and Kurumi, Naruto and Sakura. Soon, Kiyoko was wondering where her thugs were disappearing to and began to investigate on her own , bringing her two Oi-nin to help track them, but Kakashi had them playing right into his hands. Naruto had learned the Kage Bunshin Bakuhatsu the previous week and had created several "Landmines" as explosive traps while painfully obvious passive traps were hidden near them to distract them, a collaberative idea between Naruto and Sakura.
As soon as the three got around the middle of the minefield, they all exploded at once. Kiyoko was fast enough to escape, but her two accomplices were blown to pieces. She didn't have long since Kurumi bore down on her and started to fight. Kiyoko was highly experienced in combat and managed to lock up with her...But that was a fatal mistake. She tried to break Kurumi's bones only for hers to break instead, Kurumi nearly taking her head off with a powerful but controlled punch. Kakashi had told her that she was worth more alive, so that's what she did. After the short battle was over, they sealed the remains of the twins into a scroll while they did the same for Kiyoko.
After their boss went down, the rest of the Yakuza thugs tried to put up a front, but the rest of the townspeople easily scared them away since they no longer had the shinobi backing them, much like the Wave mission. Since the mission turned into another A-Rank mission due to the A-Rank and C-Rank missing nin involvment, the village head simply took their payment out of the coffers that Kiyoko had built up and put the rest into fixing the town to where it was again. Payment in hand, Team 7 made their way back home.
After their return to the village, Sarutobi was very proud of the fact that a fresh Genin team had completed 2 A-Rank missions in their first 6 months of service. So much so that when Kakashi mentioned entering them in the upcoming Chuunin Exams, he readily agreed with him. Sarutobi was also glad that Kurumi was adapting so well to her team, turning them into a family. Kakashi even found himself invited over for supper more than a few times, seeing as how he was not only their sensei, but technically part of Naruto's family since he was the only survivor of his father's Genin team and very close to Naruto's father, making him sort of an un-official uncle to the team.
When Team 7 was presented with the option of entering the exams, they only smirked at each other...Well, Naruto and Sakura smirked while Kurumi merely gave her million watt smile. As they left to celebrate, they ran into the Hokage's Grandson again, Konohamaru, who had two of his little friends with him.
"Hey! Nii-chan! Wanna play Ninja with us?" He asked.
"A ninja playing ninja? That's a little odd." Sakura joked with a grin, but Konohamaru took it wrong.
"Meh...What does a big foreheaded girl like you know? You don't even have big boobs like Kurumi-neechan!" The pint sized boy taunted, but his jeering was cut short by Sakura grabbing his collar.
"What was THAT?" She yelled at him, but he wriggled free.
"Better run, Kono." Naruto advised, the boy doing just that.
The sawed off Hokage wannabe pelted around the corner, but soon ran into something...Or someone. Team 7 ran around the corner to find the boy being held up by the front of his shirt by a foregin nin.
"You little runt...That hurt." The black clan Genin with face paint growled.
"Kankuro...Put him down and cut it out! He might find out and we'll both get killed!" His female teammate, a slightly tall girl around 2 years older than them in a pale dress and her sandy blond hair in four individual ponytails.
"Pipe down, Temari...I'll be quick." Kankuro replied as he cocked his fist back only to have it stopped by Kurumi. He had to admit that she was quite pretty and her...physique was also quite impressive.
"Hey...I never knew Konoha chicks were as hot as you..." He attempted to hit on her until he felt two sharp objects, one at his neck courtesy of her blond teammate and the other at his crotch due to the other pink haired girl.
"Drop the kid. NOW." Naruto ordered, pressing his kunai further to assert his point.
"I guess you guys are here for the exams, too? If you are, then you're going the right way to get booted out of here." Sakura added.
"Wh-what for? We didn't do anything!" Kankuro replied, his voice similar to a whine from Sakura adding pressure down below.
"Wrong. That boy is the Sandaime Hokage's only grandson. If we hadn't stopped you, the ANBU watching from the roof over there would have you seeing the inside of the T and I chambers and no one could save you. You would have created an international incident." Sakura answered, being the studious one.
Both Temari and Kankuro paled at hearing that. Konoha was infamous for having three of the foremost torture specialists in the known world, Ibiki Morino the Boogieman of Konoha, Inoichi Yamanaka, the Mind Destroyer, and Anko Mitarashi, the Pain Princess and Snake Mistress. Only one would be bad enough, but all three? Not a chance in Hell. Kankuro quickly released Konohamaru, who scrambled off with his two friends. Suddenly, Naruto felt a chakra spike oddly familiar to his own, a red haired boy appearing before them. and his tenant trying to speak with him.
"That sensation...Another like yourself is near. He bears Shukaku, the One Tailed Demon. Be wary of him, boy." The massive fox warned as it's voice faded.
Naruto was visually shaken by the prospect of there being another container like himself within the village since he'd never met anyone like himself. He had no idea if this guy was even sane or not. As he pondered this, the strange boy was having his own little conversation.
"Hmm...A Steel Angel...I thought we destroyed them all..." The Sand Demon mused.
"Mother...What is a Steel Angel?" Gaara asked.
"Nothing...Beware of her and the blond boy. He is like you..." The Demon replied quickly as it went silent, no matter what Gaara tried to do to re-establish the link.
"You...Are like me?" Gaara asked. Naruto just gave him a hesitant nod in response.
"I see...I look forward to killing you." Gaara stated bluntly as he turned to his teammates.
"We are leaving." He ordered as he disappeared in a cloud of sand.
TIMESKIP END
KONOHA ACADEMY
Team 7 was currently walking into the Academy to take the exam, spotting the fake door easily and bypassing it quietly to get to the real classroom. Once there, Kakashi met them at the door, one of his famous eye-smiles on his face.
"Ah...You made it past the Genjutsu and came here. You are now ready to take the first exam, but I will give you one final chance to back out. What will you do?" He asked. His Genin looked at each other, then at him and answered.
"We're gonna take it, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto answered him.
"Yeah! This will be easy!" Kurumi chirped.
"As long as we stick together, we'll do just fine." Sakura added.
Kakashi was happy to see that they were confident with their choice, so he left with a tiding of luck. When he left, more teams from their year started to pour into the room.
"Yeah! We're gonna rule this exam!" Kiba crowed.
"Kiba. Be silent and do not draw attention." Shino chastized.
"Y-yes...W-we don't w-want others t-to target us." Hinata added, her voice very quiet.
"Aw, man..." Kiba whined. The ass kicking he recieved from
"Oi...Naruto. You're here too, huh? This is a real drag, man..." Shikamaru complained until Ino bopped him on the head.
"Will you grow a pair already?" Ino chided him until she saw Sakura and started to gab with her, another team walking in behind them...Team Gai.
"KURUMI-CHAN! I HAVE IMPROVED MYSELF AND HAVE NOW COME TO ASK FOR YOUR HAND AGAIN!" Lee yelled at the top of his lungs. Wihle Kurumi was busy rejecting his advances...AGAIN, Naruto's attention was pulled away by his tenant.
"Boy...I am sensing another like your friend in this room...She is VERY close...But something is off..."The Fox mused.
"Huh? Like how?" He asked.
"It's as if...She's awake, but not awake...Still dreaming...I must think on this. Until then, be on your guard and keep an eye out for the girl who could be the Angel. She is still very dangerous even in her half awakened state." The Kyuubi warned.
'Damn...Another like Kurumi, but she might be hostile...This is really bad...' He thought as he turned back to his team, relaying what the Kyuubi told him to Sakura.
"You mean...There's ANOTHER one running around here? Where is she? Which kunoichi is she?" She asked, looking around but keeping her voice down.
"I don't know, but I know she's here...He can sense her." Naruto replied. Sakura knew what he meant.
On the other end of the room, Saki stood stoically with the team she had been integrated with. Saki looked like an attractive girl of around 16 years old, wearing a black vest top with a camo patterned skirt, completed by matching arm warmers, mesh thigh highs, and her Oto Hitae-ate. The original team had been Dosu, Kin and Zaku, but Zaku met with a rather...Morbid demise at the hands of Saki after he tried getting frisky, leading to her replacing him and being a plant. She was told that he would relay orders periodically through Kabuto and would follow Dosu until then. Speaking of which, Kabuto waltzed over and showed off his cards until Dosu hit him with his sonic weapon as rehearsed. The tension died down, but Naruto and Sakura were still on edge through the entire first exam. Even Kurumi was on edge, looking at the oddly stoic brown haired kunoichi on the Sound team. She could feel that something wasn't right, but couldn't place it.
After they passed the first part, which Naruto got them through unwittingly, Kurumi ran into the woman who taught her the dreaded Puppy Dog Eyes.
"Hey! It's the Dango Lady!" Kurumi chirped as she greeted the eccentric kunoichi.
"Eh? Oh! Hey there, girly! You taking the exams today?" Anko replied cheerily with a question of her own.
"Yeah! Naruto-kun in on my team and so is Sakura-chan!" Kurumi told her as she dragged the boy and girl to the forefront.
"So HE'S the lucky kid, huh? He's a cutie." Anko winked, pinching Naruto's cheek as she regarded Sakura.
"Is she your little sister or something?" Anko inquired due to their shared hair color, causing them to scramble for a story.
"Err...Something like that." Sakura answered quickly, trying to steer away from that subject.
"Anyway, this next exam is nothing like the first one. I hope you guys are ready." Anko told them, her impish grin making Naruto and Sakura sweat but Kurumi was oblivious, still smiling. The strange woman laughed as she handed them their disclaimer forms, walking off to hand out more.
"She's...A little off..." Sakura commented.
"Tell me about." Naruto murmured as they signed up, got their scrolls, and reported to their assigned gate. The whole time, Kurumi was still looking at the brunette Oto kunoichi oddly.
'That is so wierd...She feels...familiar.' She thought as they got the signal to start the Second Exam.
"C'mon! Let's go!" Naruto yelled as they all took off into the forest.
In another part of the forest, a blood-curdling scream ripped through the canopy. Saki dropped the dismembered arm of a Rain Genin and stomped on his head to silence him. She then bent down to pick up his scroll and handed it to Dosu.
"Primary objective achieved." She stated in a cold, monotone voice.
"Y-yes...Good work." Dosu replied as he pocketed the scroll. In truth, he was scared to death of her even since he saw what she did to Zaku. Now, he and Kin were now stuck in this forest with this emotionless killer that even Kabuto used extreme caution around and they were terrified, despite the fact that she was temporarily taking orders from him. He swallowed hard as he issued their secondary orders.
"N-now...We need to find the Uchiha." Dosu ordered as they began their search, unaware of their lord's true plan.
Team 7 had come to a quick stop for some rest in a small clearing toward the center of the forest, just 1/2 km shy of their destination and safety when an unnatural wind tried to scatter them about, only for Kurumi to grab hold of them and let the wind carry them all away. The caster of the jutsu scowled at her quick thinking, but was also wondering something.
"That is strange...Where is Sasuke-kun?" He wondered as he followed the team to when they landed. His usual source of information had been oddly slient about this subject. He tried getting the information about it himself, but found nothing of any relevance.
Upon landing, Team 7 was still in pretty good shape thanks to their angelic/cybernetic friend grabbing them. Naruto stood up and looked around, sighing.
"Dammit...Now I have no idea where we are." He grumbled.
"Neither do I, but I'm more worried about what made that wind. It couldn't have been natural." Sakura added, but another voice cut in.
"Oh ho ho...She is a smart one. But I'm afraid that intelligence will only get you so far." The voice taunted as the three looked around for the source.
"Who the hell is that?" Naruto muttered to himself, answered by a blast of Ki that could put Kakashi to shame. Sakura buckled under it and even Naruto was slightly affected, but Kurumi was completely immune to it. In fact, she was glaring at him. Orochimaru frowned at this.
"And what is this? A mere girl thinks that she can best me? One of the Sannin?" He mocked.
"Who are you anyway, ya freak? What do you want?" She demanded.
"As for who I am, I am Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin you impudent girl. As for what I want, it is for something to be explained to me." The snake answered.
"And what would that be?" Naruto asked.
"It's quite simple, really. Why is the Uchiha not with you? Where is he?" He demanded impatiently.
"What do you want with that bastard?" Sakura spat out defiantly only to be silenced by more Ki.
"None of your business, you little brat! Now, tell me where he is!" The snake snarled. He was not expecting Naruto to laugh at him.
"And what exactly, is so funny, boy?" Orochimaru demanded.
"That Teme...Is busy rotting away in prison, where traitors like him belong!" Naruto yelled out. Orochimaru smirked arrogantly.
"Is that so? That just won't do, not at all..." He replied simply, more to himself than anything as he seemed to be mulling something over. He wasn't even keeping his guard up, not expecting them to be any threat. Naruto felt his tenant tugging at him, so he slipped into the seal for a moment.
"Boy...That man is...Dangerous. Your team and yourself should leave here right now and not look back." The Kyuubi urged him.
"I know...I already got an idea." Naruto replied. He quickly created three of his Explosive Kage Bunshin to swap out with before this snake noticed.
"Well...I believe you know what happens to people who outlive their usefullness, so I won't bore you with the details and just kill you." Orochimaru grinned sinisterly as he lunged in to dispatch the trio, but was met by a nasty surprize when he saw that they were merely Kage Bunshin...Explosive Bunshin. Apparently, someone had swapped them out for Explosive Bunshin when he was distracted. He had grossly underestimated the trio of Genin.
He wasn't a Sannin for nothing though. He escaped the huge explosion with some minor burns and scanned the area for the three, finding their signatures headed toward the tower. As he made off to run them down, he couldn't help but feel that one of them was...familiar, like he'd sensed something like her before. He thought back to where the taller pink haired girl brushed his Ki aside like it was nothing and came to a conclusion he didn't like.
'That girl...She couldn't be...' He thought as he stopped moving for a moment, taking the time to analyse what he just thought of until he was blindsided by his old student.
(Now...This fight goes down according to canon, so I won't bore you with the details.)
After leaving his fight with Anko, Orochimaru was going to try and hunt down the trio that managed to slip by him, but passed on it and opted to contact his planted teams about his change in plans. He ordered them to fulfill the parameters of the exam and proceed to the tower and await further orders. Dosu was glad to be out of there and so was Kin, but they were still within reach of Saki if anything set her off.
TRAINING GROUND #44 - CENTRAL TOWER
Team 7 stumbled into the Central Tower while the sunlight was fading fast. They had decided that after their encounter with Orochimaru, it would be best to rush to the tower as quickly as possible. Upon arriving there and Sakura figuring out the riddle with the two scrolls, Iruka appeared in a puff of smoke to greet them.
"Congrats, you guys! You made it through the forest with almost four days to spare!" He complemented the trio. He already knew what happened to Sasuke, but that information wasn't to leave the village.
"That's great and all, but who else is here, Iruka-sensei?" Sakura cut him off. She wanted to know if their friends had made it out of the forest yet and Naruto looked like he wanted to know who was there with them already.
"Let's see...Team 8 made it through just before you did, the Suna team arrived over two hours ago..." Iruka rattled off, but the arrival of another team broke his concentraition. They all turned to see the Oto team standing there.
The Kyuubi began to tug at Naruto's attention so he went to see what the Fox wanted, but the Kyuubi's alarmed tone scared him.
"Boy! One of those two kunoichi is the Steel Angel!" It informed him.
"Oh crap! We need to be careful!" Naruto replied, mild panic in his tone as he scanned the two girls. The one with the very long ebony hair looked...Well...Normal as she seemed to be alert and looking around, if not a bit on edge. He remembered that the Kyuubi said the Angel was only half awake, so she might be easier to spot. Looking at the other kunoichi, he saw that she was standing still as a statue, her eyes not even blinking. He lightly nudged Sakura, who noticed what he was looking at and confirmed his thoughts...Somewhat.
'What the hell? Do ALL of these Angel's have a bigger rack than me?' Sakura thought, scowling while cupping her own chest, the other Oto kunoichi sadly understanding.
'She's not even human and she's got bigger boobs than me...Not fair!' Kin whined.
"Ah...You are also very early in finishing this test." Iruka commented as he faced them as a whole.
"We already have bunking available for all of you, so if you kids would follow me..." Iruka motioned as he led them to the dormatories. Saki followed along since Dosu ordered her, although timidly, to do so. He knew that they would have to bide their time and play along, on top of keeping Saki from killing anyone within the tower. If she did, it would raise questions they really had no answers for nor could they really divulge. Naruto and Kurumi were watching her, sub-consciously knowing that she was the Angel.
'I gotta tell Jiji and Kakashi-sensei...' Naruto thought. As soon as they were shown to their rooms, Naruto immeadiately set out to track down their cycloptic sensei. After an hour of searching, he found him in the galley, taking in a meal. The scarecrow looked up at his student with a slight bit of shock.
"Naruto? I didn't expect you all to finish so quickly. I must say that I'm surprised." Kakashi told him honestly, but Naruto waved it off.
"That's nice and all, Kakashi-sensei, but we have a problem...A BIG problem." Naruto replied, the tone in his voice one of total urgency.
"What happened? Are Sakura and Kurumi alright?" He asked, alarmed.
"They're fine, sensei...But we need to talk with Hokage-jiji, NOW." Naruto answered him.
"What is so critical that would have us talking with the Hokage?"
"Orochimaru is one of them..." Naruto whispered, making Kakashi's lone visible eye go wide. He abruptly stood up and pushed his meal aside.
"Let's go." Kakashi said to him as they rushed out of the dining facility and up to the Hokage's temporary office within the tower. After a few minutes, they reached the uppermost floor, where the Hokage resided for the next week and quickly knocked on the door. The door cracked open and a young brunette, one of the Hokage's secretary Chuunin, poked her head out.
"Oh! Kakashi-sama, Uzumaki-san...What could you need at this hour?" She asked of them.
"We need to speak with Hokage-sama...NOW." Kakashi told her firmly implying all seriousness. She looked to young Naruto's face and it told her all she needed to know as she motioned the pair inside. Sarutobi turned in his chair and stood up to greet them and asked her if she could wait outside.
"Now...What is so critical that you needed to see me right away?" He asked the pair, an eyebrow cocked.
"Jiji...While we were in the forest, we ran into this wierdo that called himself Orochimaru." Naruto replied, going first. The old man was shocked to his very core.
"WHAT? Did everyone on your team make it?" He asked.
"Yeah...We're all fine. We managed to get away from him, but he was asking us all kinds of questions about Sasuke-teme. He got really pissed when we told him what happened." Naruto replied.
"Sir...Do you think he's after the Sharingan?" Kakashi asked.
"...I believe so..." Sarutobi confirmed as the door burst open to reveal the examiner, Anko, who staggered inside while clutching her neck. She collasped to her knees in front of his desk, panting hard. Sarutobi already knew what it was and ordered Kakashi and Naruto to place her on his desk and hold her down, which they did. He the whipped out his sealing ink and brush, working on a counter seal to help her suppress the Curse Seal that Orochimaru inflicted on her so long ago. The vile seal hissed like a snake as the ink came in contact with it, but it was quickly suppressed and Anko regained color in her cheeks.
"Hey, Anko-sensei...You okay now?" Naruto asked her, his blue eyes looking on in concern from what he'd just seen.
"Y-Yeah...I'm fine. Thanks kid." She said as she stood to tell him about what she'd seen but Naruto shook his head.
"I know...My team and I met him, too. We managed to make a clean getaway somehow." He told her about that and about what he was doing there, since Orochimaru was arrogant enough to gloat about it.
"What do we do, sir? Do we cancel the exams?" Anko asked.
"No...We continue the exams and let him believe that he has us intimidated for now. No one is to know of this, so do not talk about it." He ordered as all three agreed upon it as Anko walked out of the room, but Kakashi and Naruto stayed.
"Is there more to add?" Sarutobi asked.
"Yeah...There's another Angel running around in the tower right now and she's one of the kunoichi taking the exam. The Kyuubi helped me pin point her, but what he said was really wierd. He said that she was "Awake, yet not awake...Still dreaming...". Do you know what he meant?" Naruto asked.
"I did more studying into the Angel's and found that one of the only ways to truly awaken an Angel is the way you did it, Naruto-kun. This new Angel may have had a false activation, according to my research. Did you notice the symbol on the headband she wore?" Sarutobi asked, dreading the answer. The one he got confirmed his fears.
"Yeah...It was a musical note...Just like the one that Snake freak wore." Naruto confirmed.
"This situation has just gotten even more grave. He has found an Angel and activated her." Sarutobi murmured, trying to think of what to do.
"We need to keep this secret as well. If Orochimaru catches on that we know about her, he will change his plans even more than he already has." Sarutobi informed them as they headed off to eat and sleep but first, they needed to inform the team that they couldn't talk about this.
Back in the dorm areas, Naruto walked back in to see his teammates on the verge of falling asleep.
'Sorry, girls...But you have to know.' He thought as he woke them, nearly getting his block knocked off by Sakura, who lashed out on instinct. After she apologised, they all sat in a circle to hear him out.
"What's up, Naruto?" Sakura asked sleepily as Naruto relayed everything that had been discussed with his two teammates. As shocked as they were about Anko's encounter and Orochimaru's true intentions, they understood why they needed to keep this to themselves. Orochimaru was beyond dangerous and anything he had planned was certain to be a disaster. The only thing that made it even worse was the fact that the other Steel Angel was under his control and little more than his slave.
"That's...So horrible. One of my sister's is...A slave." Kurumi muttered sadly. The two humans could tell that the plight of her sister Angel greatly troubled her greatly.
"I wonder if there's a way to snap her out of it?" Sakura wondered, to which Naruto shook his head sadly.
"I don't know. I really don't know." He replied.
A/N: Whew...That took a while to crank out. Anyway, the Chuunin Exams are underway, the second exam already over. They had their brush with the Snake Sennin, but managed to get out of there with incredible luck and Orochimaru underestimating them. Also, we see the advent of Saki and the brutality her unwakened state is capable of. Sarutboi has found more information on how the Angels function and concluded that she wasn't truly awake. They also now know who discovered her and activated her...Orochimaru. We can look forward to a smackdown of divine proportions in the future, since Kurumi is possibly the only one that can bring Saki down.