Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage rolled the message he had been reading up and sighed. Team 7 was returning from their C turned B turned A rank mission late but intact. Actually they were plus one member, a Mist kunoichi named Haku, who wished to become part of the village as a civilian. The report included her history and truthfully Sarutobi was impressed. It wasn't everyday that the apprentice to the 'Demon of the Bloody mist' wished to join your village, let alone as a civilian. Well, he'd be dead before he let an opportunity like this slip away. He called some selected individuals into his office.
Moments after his summons left his possession, the four people he had called arrived. Yuuhi Kurenai, Umino Iruka, Shiranui Genma, and Morino Ibiki all entered the office of the Hokage with various degrees of clueless ness, although Ibiki hid his best.
"You called us, Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked the old man.
"Hai, Team 7 will be returning with an extra 'member'. A former Mist kunoichi by the name of Haku. She was apprenticed to Momochi Zabuza, until his death a couple days ago. She wishes to become a Konoha citizen, however, due to her skills; I would like her to be a shinobi. The only problem is that she would need someone to adopt her and sponsor her. She has lived through the Mist's 'cleansing' and hasn't had a true family for years. You four are the only ones with the ability to defend her, should Hunter nin come for her, as well as provide the correct atmosphere for someone her age." He handed the four the letter he had received from Kakashi and Anko. In turn the quartet passed it around and read its contents.
"Hokage-sama," Iruka spoke "I would like to adopt Haku, seeing as how she has already bonded with Sasuke and Naruto, but as a chuunin, I don't have the income to support anyone besides my self, and that's if I don't treat Naruto to ramen."
"I'm afraid that I wouldn't provide the correct atmosphere in a home that you are looking for." Ibiki stated.
Genma was about to make some excuse when Kurenai spoke up.
"I'll take the girl." She stated calmly. "I have been lonely as of late, and a companion would do me wonders, and as skilled as she is, perhaps she could inspire Hinata."
The Hokage merely nodded his head and dismissed the others.
"I will have the paperwork for you later today, and they should be returning in three or four days. There was a slight incident involving Naruto, but it has been taken care of."
Kurenai nodded her head and left the office.
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Three weeks had passed since that meeting in the Hokage's office. Team Seven had returned safe and sound, although Sakura was still glaring/hiding at/from Haku. Speaking of the ex mist ninja, Yuuhi Haku was adapting very well to her life as a Konoha shinobi. Technically, she was on the mandatory ninety-day probation period, but that didn't stop her from training with Kurenai, Team Eight, or Team Seven. Originally the plan was to have her trained as a medic ninja, but it quickly turned out to be a bad idea. While she was well versed in anatomy and pharmacy, Haku had a problem with being a medic nin. She had a large fear of blood. Not Tsunade large, but somewhere in between freak out/panic/faint. So the decision was made that Kurenai would train her to become a genjutsu specialist. It turned out that Haku had chakra control to rival Sakura, but larger chakra reserves, something the pink haired girl found to be a grave injustice, although no one was quite sure how she came to that conclusion.
It turned out to be the correct move. Haku seemed to be a natural at deception and manipulation, so genjutsu came naturally to her. She didn't have a large number of techniques, but when she used them in conjunction with her bloodline limit, they became very difficult to combat.
Speaking of blood limits, our protagonist was currently practicing his new bloodline in the forest. Needles of ice were scattered around the area and even a few had hit their target, Anko. She was pleased with her son's progress with his newest addition. He was faster than Haku when he used the demonic ice mirrors, and when he didn't, but he was quickly growing bored of the same two techniques. So he'd create his own.
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Whenever Team 7 wasn't training, the different members had their own routines to follow. Naruto would go and train with his various bloodlines and the sealing techniques that the Sandaime gave him, Sasuke would practice his fire manipulation, and Sakura spent an equal amount of time fawning over Sasuke, and immersing herself in the world of medical ninjutsu. It turned out she had a knack for the stuff, and after only three weeks of practice, was able to heal minor cuts and lacerations. She had grown more accustomed to having Haku around during training, but still saw the girl as a rival for Sasuke's love.
Naruto was walking back from the forest having just finished creating a new technique. Ok, technically, he hadn't created it, he had heard about the Satetsu (Iron Sand) that the Sandaime Kazekage was famous for and had been trying to replicate the technique for ages. He had finally succeeded today and was feeling proud of himself. So, in celebration, he would treat himself to Ichiraku ramen!
Over the years of living with Sasuke, Naruto had developed a kind of sixth sense when it came to his brother. For instance, he could tell when fan girls were chasing him, or when he was…ok, so mainly he could tell when Sasuke was being chased by fan girls, but hey! It was a darn good skill to have at times. He got that feeling right as he turned the corner towards the main street of Konoha. Right on cue, Sasuke rounded the corner followed by hordes of screaming kunoichi.
He also noticed that Konohamaru, the grandson of the Hokage, was forced to flee for his life, and in the process, bumped into a shinobi dressed in a black body suit with cat ears on the hood. He was wearing purple face paint, and had a large bundle, wrapped in cloth on his back. He also noticed the Sunagakure insignia emblazoned on his forehead protector.
"Little brat! I'll teach you a lesson for running into me." The black clad kid threatened and lifted Konohamaru off the ground.
"Hey! You'd better put him down." Naruto demanded.
"Oh? What's a little punk like you gonna do about it?" The mysterious kid asked, still holding Konohamaru.
Naruto was between a rock and a hard place. 'I don't want to show satetsu before I have to, although it would probably scare these guys witless. I know!'
Naruto drew a kunai from his holder. Through his study of seals, Naruto had pieced together, at least what he though, was the principle behind the Yondaime Hokage's Hiraishin no jutsu. (Flying Thunder god) Although he wasn't capable of recreating the technique, he did create a good bluff.
The kunai he had just drawn had a couple seals carved into it. One contained enough chakra to create a kage bunshin when it impacted the ground; another contained a low-level fuuton technique to quickly dissipate the smoke created by the kage bunshin. He would simply use a henge to transform into something inconspicuous and hope his opponent didn't see through it.
The plan worked like a charm. Naruto threw the kunai at the Suna genin's feet and quickly transformed into a pebble on the ground.
Kankurou wasn't able laugh at the Konoha genin's attempt at throwing a kunai, when a fist connected with his face. He flew behind a blonde girl Naruto didn't notice, although she seemed to be the black clad boy's teammate. While both of their attention was away from the clone, Naruto dismissed the clone and canceled his henge.
'What the hell was that? I couldn't see him move!' The boy quickly stood up and watched Naruto help Konohamaru to move out of the way. He quickly un-shouldered whatever was strapped to his back, causing his teammate to question his decision.
"You're really going to use the crow?" She asked in a surprised voice.
As he was about to unwrap 'the crow' a pebble ricocheted off his hand.
"Ow!" The boy growled and turned his attention towards the stone thrower.
Sasuke sat in a nearby tree, tossing three more stones in his hands.
"You know, that's the Hokage's grandson you were threatening." He stated coldly.
The Suna boy stared at Naruto.
"No, not me you idiot, Konohamaru!" Naruto growled in outrage.
"Kankurou…stop it." A voice drifted towards the small group. It was coming from Sasuke's position, but no one had felt him arrive.
"G-Gaara!" Kankurou stuttered, "T-that brat started it!"
"ENOUGH!" The red haired Gaara said forcefully. He was hanging upside down from the tree branch adjacent to Sasuke. "You are an embarrassment to our village, Kankurou; if you don't stop I'll kill you." Turning towards his female teammate he spoke equally as coldly. "Temari, why didn't you stop him? You two were not to make any kind of trouble."
"S-sorry, Gaara, I lost him for a moment and d-didn't find him until just a moment ago." The blonde kunoichi replied, shaking.
Gaara turned towards the Konoha shinobi. He glanced at Sasuke first. 'The black haired boy was able to hold off Kankurou with some rocks, but he was holding back. He is strong, but the blonde…' He glanced turned towards Naruto and Konohamaru, who was hiding behind the blonde and black haired boy. 'I have no idea how he did that move with the kunai…a replacement perhaps? No, it was too fast for that, not even Baki could do a kawarimi that fast. He is just as strong as the black haired boy, if not stronger. Something tells me I should be weary of those two.' He suddenly disappeared in a swirl of sand before reappearing in front of his teammates. He was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and dark brown pants and had a large gourd strapped to his back. He also had dark black rings around his green eyes…or light blue eyes…err a light bluish greenish color…anyways, it was some one of those colors that fights would start about.
"I'm sorry for my teammate's behavior." He said and began to walk off.
"Wait!" Naruto yelled after the red head. "What's your name?"
The shortest Suna genin turned and stared at Naruto. He didn't flinch as Sasuke jumped down from his tree perch and landed next to his brother.
"Gaara. Sabaku no Gaara. I am interested in your names as well." He calmly stated.
"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke said, still feigning his coldness.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
"I look forward to seeing you in the upcoming chuunin exams, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto." Gaara once more turned away before disappearing in another swirl of sand.
The boys just turned away after making sure Konohamaru was ok, and began to chat idly.
"So," Sasuke started "chuunin exams, eh?"
"Think Kakashi sensei will nominate us?" Naruto asked.
"I bet if we hid the registration forms in one of those 'books' he reads he would." Sasuke joked.
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Indeed, Kakashi did nominate Team Seven for the chunnin exams, which were being held…tomorrow. This was a point of annoyance for all members of the genin team, since they would have little time to prepare for the exams.
"Just fill out those registration forms and turn them in to room 301 by 3:00 pm tomorrow." With that, the lazy/perverted jounin disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving the three genin in an anxious mood.
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Dinner that night was short and subdued. Both boys were muttering about late sensei's not giving them enough time to get ready for stuff.
"Ok, what's this about Kakashi?" Anko asked.
"Oh, that baka of a sensei didn't tell us about the chuunin exams until today, and then he says if we want to participate we have to fill out these forms and have them for tomorrow!" Sasuke complained, as he packed extra clothes into a backpack.
"Yeah, and if it wasn't for Gaara we wouldn't even had known about the exams until today!" Naruto added.
"Who is Gaara?" The name seemed familiar to Anko, but she couldn't place it.
"Oh, his name is Sabaku no Gaara, we met him the other day, Konohamaru had trouble with some Suna shinobi and Gaara scared the guy who was bothering us." Naruto explained.
Then it struck Anko. Sabaku no Gaara! The Kazekage's youngest son. The vessel for Suna no Shukaku. He was the demon vessel known among the ranks of foreign shinobi as being bloodthirsty and insane. If he met Naruto and Sasuke…he was here for the chuunin exams! That wouldn't be good if he fought with Naruto. Eventually the boy's demons would express themselves…and who knew if the village would survive the fight?
"Kaa-san, is something wrong?" Sasuke asked, seeing the panicked expression on his mom's face.
"Boys, Sabaku no Gaara…he's like Naruto…he had a demon sealed inside him at birth also, but something is wrong with him…he's done higher rank missions than most chuunin, without a scratch on him."
Sasuke and Naruto were frozen in understanding. So there was someone else like Naruto. That struck Naruto very hard. Someone had lived through what he had gone through…and if it was half as bad as what happened to him, than that was unacceptable.
"I'm going for a walk." Naruto said, his voice sounded dead as he exited through the door.
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Gaara was sitting on the roof of a random building staring at the moon. It was only a quarter full, but already he was dreading the full moon. The voice always got unbearable on those nights. He suddenly felt a presence behind him and without turning his head, ordered the sand he controlled to crush the intruder.
"Suiton: Suijinheki." A voice spoke softly, and Gaara could feel the sand halt upon contact with the water barrier. He applied more force to the attack, but still his sand couldn't contract around the barrier. He turned his head and to his utter amazement, found a solid ball of ice surrounded by his sand.
"Who are you?" He demanded of the shadowy figure in the ice sphere.
The ice melted and a small hole appeared around a familiar face.
"I didn't mean to intrude; I come here to look at the sky sometimes." Naruto responded.
Gaara didn't say anything. Despite the voice calling for the blood of the boy, Gaara didn't attack. He had orders to wait until the chuunin exams. He simply withdrew his sand and returned his gaze to the moon. He felt Uzumaki sit next to him, a few meters away and stare into the sky.
After a few minutes, Naruto broke the silence.
"You stare at the moon a lot. Could you tell me why?"
Gaara didn't say anything. The boy with odd hair was quickly wearing out his welcome. 'Kill him later.' He though. He stood to leave and turned his back to the boy when he heard the boy again.
"It's because it seems so alone…isn't it?"
Gaara froze.
"I thought so. You know…I used to feel the same thing. Until I was almost eight, I lived on my own. I assume that you've heard of the Kyuubi attack, so that in itself is nothing unusual, but while many orphans of the attack were adopted, or lived in orphanages, I was different. When I was five, the orphanage I was living in kicked me out. Told me that I wasn't wanted by anyone and that if I knew what was good, I'd go and kill myself and save the village the trouble. Since I couldn't enter the academy until I was seven, I lived off an allowance that the Hokage gave me. But the looks that followed me…I got those for as long as I can remember. The looks of disgust, the looks of hatred, I got so many of them, that I would hide in my shabby apartment for weeks at a time, not leaving until I had to buy food. Its hell isn't it? Not being loved. Not being acknowledged. That's a pain no one should live through."
Gaara's eyes widened, as a boy he had never known described his life to a T.
"Then I met Kaa-san, and Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei. They saved me from that pain. They made my life worth living. I don't know how bad you had it in Suna, but from your appearance…and reputation, I can guess it's been worse than mine."
Gaara turned to look at the boy, who was still staring at the cloudy sky.
"I'm a monster, you wouldn't understand. I can survive on my own. I live to prove my existence."
"What makes you so sure?" Naruto asked, still staring at the sky.
Gaara simply continued to glare at Naruto.
Naruto sighed. "Look, I know the history of Shukaku. The Ichibi (One tailed) was imprisoned inside a teakettle and then inside of two others…and then you. You don't believe that I can know the pain you've lived through. So I'll ask you this…how strong a tea kettle would you need for Kyuubi?"
Gaara was in shock. Beside him sat the vessel for the Kyuubi no Yoko. The strongest demon to roam the earth was imprisoned inside a boy his age.
"I may have the strongest demon in existence sealed inside of me, but even I can't live by my own. Not like I was. I don't know what the sky looks like in Suna, but I've heard of sand storms that block out the sun, so I'll assume you don't get a good look. Look at the sky some time, not even the moon is ever alone."
Gaara stared up as the clouds, which were obscuring the heavens, parted. There was the moon, as big and bright as ever, but in the background, were thousands…millions…perhaps billions of twinkling stars, shining compassion and friendship to the lonely moon.
"There is no need for you to be alone Gaara. If you want, I'll be more than happy to be there for you when you need me."
With that, Naruto leapt from the roof, and headed home again. Gaara simply stood exactly where he was for a while, before sitting down and thinking about the boy who knew his pain so well.
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The next day, Team seven headed towards the academy, room 301. They entered a hallway and saw a bunch of teams mulling about, since two genin were blocking the door to room 301.
"You aren't fit to become chuunin." One said.
"Yeah, we've seen people quite as ninjas because of the chuunin exam. Go home while you can, people die in this exam!" The other ordered.
A boy in an atrocious green spandex suit with black hair in a bowl cut was pleading with the two genin. A kunoichi with her chestnut brown hair up in two buns was pleading with the green clad boy. Team seven assumed they were on the same team. Then where was their third member?
Sasuke then spotted his rival, Hyuuga Neji leaning against a wall, arms crossed and eyes closed. Team seven walked past, but Neji opened his eyes and spoke before they got too far.
"Uchiha."
Sasuke replied in kind. "Hyuuga."
"Uchiha."
"Hyuuga."
"Uchih-"
"OK ALLREADY! You know each other's last names! God that was annoying!" The girl yelled at the competing 'genius' ninja. Neji and Sasuke simply turned their backs to each other and folded their arms against their chest.
"Hn!" They both grunted in unison, creating another staring contest. Yep, it was a testerone fest fit for a high school locker room.
"You might as well take down the crappy genjutsu you have up." The rookie geniuses were once more speaking in unison, trying to constantly out do each other. More glares ensued.
"So, you figured it out, well seeing isn't enough." One of the genin said, before charging the two teams, only to be stopped by the green boy.
"Lee," The kunoichi said, belittling her teammate, "I thought it was your idea not to show off our strength?"
The boy sheepishly bowed. "Gomen, Tenten, I forgot."
The two teams walked towards room 301, the two 'captains' were still glaring at each other, while Tenten and Naruto were cracking up at the two geniuses acting like small kids.
As they approached the room, they found Kakashi…and a future version of Lee waiting for them.
"Ah-ha! I told you my youthful team wouldn't show up after your team, my eternal rival!" The future Lee bellowed at Kakashi.
"I'm sorry Gai, did you say something?"
Gai began to cry. 'Darn you and your hip attitude!'
"Well, it's a good thing your all here, the test is optional, but can only be taken in teams of three, so if someone hadn't come then their entire team would be unable to participate." Kakashi explained. The two teams entered the door to uncertainty.
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(A/N: Ok, so I promise, I'll get to the actual exam next chapter, but this seemed as good a place as any to stop. Thanks for all the review, and please keep them coming. I also have another poll to ask of you, so please help me in my moment of…laziness? Naruto is going to absorb one more bloodline and I want to know what you'd like to see.
Options:
1) Mokuton: The wood element that the Shodaime and Captain Yamato use.
2) Corpse Bone Pulse: Kimimaru's bloodline, the bone one. (Shikotsumyaku)
3) I make something up. This one would take the longest, but might be interesting if this one wins, then there will be a follow up poll for possible ideas.
I know a bunch of people are pulling for the Byakugan, but I don't really feel like doing that. Since a bunch of people were reviewing and telling me that my voting system for the last poll was unscientific, here are the ground rules.
a) All votes must be signed. I'm sorry for those who don't have accounts, but this is the only way I can keep the numbers true to the votes. Some anonymous reviews were sent by the same people last time.
b) In your vote only write what bloodline you want, because I'm not going to pull a Florida on you and try to interpret the 'intent of the voter'.
To answer another FAQ: Sakura doesn't know about Naruto's sharingan. None of the Rookie Nine does, and only a few Jounin and chuunin do. The civilians are clueless and will remain as such for a while.
Please give me feedback on the story, I'm loving all of your opinions and praise so far.)