Chapter Ten: The First Exam, Naruto's Wind Jutsu.
The Human who touches the DEATH NOTE can recognise the image and voice of it's original owner, a God of Death, even if the human is not the owner of the note.
Kouru sat down on his sleeping bag as the temperatures began to drop, "Geez it's getting cold." he said as he held his hand up towards the small fire.
Naruto nodded, "True that, did you set it up?" Naruto asked.
Kouru nodded, "Yep, the Genjutsu is in place to hide our location and I'll know if it's disrupted cause my chakra is still connected." he said with a smirk.
Naruto grinned, "Good work," he said before looking back in front of him again.
Hanabi lay on top of her sleeping bag between Naruto and the fire, her forehead bare as she glared up at the ceiling while Naruto placed his hand on top of the seal.
Naruto's grin lessened slightly as he saw the sweat forming on her forehead, "It's okay Hanabi, but remember no matter how much it hurts you have to keep your head still, got it?" Naruto said.
Hanabi swallowed nervously and nodded, though Kouru interjected, "Y'know I can put her under a stasis Genjutsu if you want? It's what they use in hospital surgery sometimes but I was taught it to capture enemy ninjas once you knock 'em out." he suggested.
"Yes please." Hanabi said quickly, the first words she had said at all since taking off her headband.
Naruto watched as Kouru formed a long series of one handed seals before taking Hanabi's hand for a moment. After a few seconds, Naruto watched as she visibly relaxed and began to slip into a deeper and deeper sleep. Nearly a minute later, Kouru pulled his hand away, "Okay, you got like three hours, think that'll be long enough to make any progress?" Kouru asked.
Naruto clapped his hands together, "I'll know in a moment," Naruto said as Naruto looked over the three separate entities in the seal, "SEALING ART: THREE PRONGED UNSEALING METHOD!" Naruto exclaimed as he held his right wrist with his left hand and concentrated.
Kouru's eyes widened as Naruto's thumb, pointer and middle began to glow with chakra with the Kanji for Metal, Wood and Light. Naruto placed his fingers along her seal and rotated his wrist.
The Caged Bird Seal rotated with Naruto's hand to end up upside down before he pulled away and it spun back into position as the seal expanded around Hanabi, ending up marking the floor and sleeping back to her left and right as if the seal was copied directly from the scroll.
Kouru grinned, "You did it!" he exclaimed.
Naruto shook his head as he looked over the formula, "No I didn't, I just maximised it so that I could see all the components..." Naruto said as he looked up and down the scroll in thought, 'It took Mikado-Sensei and a full two days to fully unravel Sasori's Mind Scroll, but both Sasori and Mikado are better sealers then the Hyuuga apparently...' Naruto thought before nodding to himself and turned to Kouru, "I can do it. But I think it'll take another night of work." Naruto said as he formed a cross hand seal.
"Let's speed things up a bit, SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" Naruto announced.
Kouru grinned as five more Narutos popped into existence, "Awesome, that's gotta speed it up a bit right?" Kouru asked.
Naruto frowned in thought, 'All six of us for three hours is about the same amount of time we worked on Sasori's scroll on the first day...' he thought as he grinned and began nodding, "Yep, if we do this again tomorrow night I'm certain I can unravel the rest of the seal." Naruto said as he and his clones got to work.
Kouru nodded as he stood and took his sleeping back, "I'll keep watch then, see you in three hours." Kouru said as he walked around the slight corner of the cave and sat down just out of Naruto's sight.
The first night of the Chunnin exams came with a surprising chill that they should've expected considering the environment they were in, and the wind picked up as the temperature got colder, making Kouru frown in thought as he could only feel the radiant heat of the fire thanks to the small size of the cave, 'Hmm... I bet anyone unprepared could die in this weather... maybe we should scout for corpses tomorrow as we move along?' he thought as he settled in to meditate, feeling his own Genjutsu sitting just outside the cave.
##########
"Hey Naruto, Mikado! I'm not interrupting am I?" Light shouted so that they could here him through the glass.
Naruto and Mikado looked up from filling in their reports of Sasori's Mind Scroll, Naruto smiling as Mikado rolled his eyes and gestured to their left while shaking his head.
Light looked up and around before following Mikado's gesture and coming in the door to the lab a few seconds later, "Hey guys, how's it goin?" he asked as he looked at Mikado warily.
Mikado smirked, "We finished about an hour ago, just doing these boring reports." he said before getting back to work.
"Well I guess I came at a good time!" Light said as he placed two large bags on the table behind Mikado, making both him and Naruto turn to look, "I got lunch!" he exclaimed as he started taking out piles of Ramen cups.
Mikado frowned, "You and your ramen." he said with a shake of his head before looking to Naruto in hopes of the boy not being interested.
Naruto's grin covered his face as he took out a bottle of Ichikaru's Special Sauce, "I got the good stuff!" Naruto exclaimed as he got up and went ove to the kettle near the sink in the corner.
Light grinned at Mikado as the man watched him, causing Light to raise an eyebrow, "What?" Light asked.
Mikado gestured to the scroll in front of him, "This. Naruto is beyond what I expected with Seals. It took a while for him to focus but when he did he started flying through them," Mikado said as he glanced between the metal shelves between them and Naruto, leaning in to say softly, "I think he's seriously gifted at picking up things that he finds interesting, and didn't you promise to teach him some wind stuff?" Mikado asked.
Light smirked as he began to prep the ramen for the boiling water, "Yeah..." he said as his smirk to look at Naruto, seeing the blonde look away as he swelled with pride, obviously having heard their conversation, "Gifted aye?" Light muttered as his smirk grew.
##########
"Naruto, Kouru," Hanabi said as the sun began to rise, shaking her team-mate's sleeping shoulders, "Wake up time, let's move out." she said.
Kouru woke with a yawn as Naruto's eyes snapped open as if he was ready to fight, but Kouru's yawn and Hanabi's gaze made him calm down, "Morning guys." Naruto said as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"Morning," Kouru said as he struggled out of the sleeping bag and began to roll it up before he looked up to see the large amount of remaining wood, "Umm, what are we gonna do about that?" he asked.
Naruto raised a brow as he reached out of his sleeping bag and unrolled one of the two scrolls next to him, once more putting his hand on the corresponding seal that immediately sucked in everything it had spat out, including the ash from the fire that was lit, "You heard the lady Kouru, let's get going." Naruto said as he placed the two scrolls in his shirt's back pocket, the two of them sealing away as he zipped it closed.
The three of them packed up quickly before stepping outside of the cave, Kouru's Genjutsu falling the moment he stepped back through it. Then Hanabi activated her Byakugan and took lead, "The ridge should be about four hours that way." she said before she dashed off, Naruto and Kouru following close behind.
##########
"Hold up!" Hanabi said as she halted in her running and ducked.
Naruto and Kouru did the same as they crouched behind her, "What is it?" Naruto asked.
Hanabi was quiet for a moment as she used her Byakugan to peer down the mountain, "Some people who had been using the valley is climbing up this mountain about fifty metres ahead. They seem to be thoroughly confused with their map... it's the Mist Team." she said.
Kouru stood for a second before Naruto pulled him down, "Hanabi, do you see their ball? What colour is it?" Naruto asked.
Hanabi's Byakugan flared as she focussed, "I... actually I can't see it anywhere." Hanabi said with a frown.
Naruto nodded and stood, "Then they've concealed it pretty well," he said as he formed a hand seal, making a shadow clone pop into existence next to him, "Go ahead and offer them the deal." Naruto said.
The clone ran ahead as Naruto turned to his team, "Hanabi, what's the best ambush spot near the spot where they're coming up?" Naruto asked.
Hanabi smirked as she realised the plan, "Unfortunately there isn't many, but if we go down the mountain here we can come up behind them easily enough." she said as turned and ran to the cliff, using her chakra to stick to the wall as they circled around behind the team.
##########
The Mist team paused as they came to a stop along the ridge, "See! I told you it was here!" the woman on the team said as she waved her map overhead in an over zealous gesture.
"Hey excuse me?"
The three ninjas turned defensively as the Naruto clone waved, "State you name and business or else!" the shorter male shouted.
The clone chuckled, "Yeah I'm just a clone. Here to give you guys a message." he said as he held his hands up in surrender.
The group was silent for a moment before the girl relaxed her stance, "So... what's the message she asked curiously.
The clone smirked as her teamates glared at her, "You see my team-mate has the ability to tell whether you guys are lying or not, and in case you haven't noticed the traps only a few steps away from you and the fact you're surrounded. So I just wanted to ask what ball you have just in case we have the same one, cause if we do then it's unnessesary fighting will be avoided." the clone explained.
The other two members dropped their guard as they looked around, "Surrounded? There's no one here!" the taller one said as he faced the clone again.
The clone raised a brow and shrugged, "Believe me or not, you have thirty seconds to answer." the clone said as it pulled out the small hand fan from his kunai holster.
The trio was quiet before the girl and the shorter male shouted out at the same time;
"The orange one!"
"The pink one!"
the two members just glared at each other after they spoke, causing the clone in front of them to nod, "Alright, thanks."
POOF
##########
Naruto opened his eyes, "The two that just spoke, either of them lying?" Naruto asked Hanabi.
Her Byakugan turned to Naruto, "They have an orange ball, the male was lying about the pink one." she explained.
The trio looked at each other for a moment before standing up from their cover, seeing the other team looking around the ridge they stood on cautiously, "I think we should knock them out. It'll at least slow them down so that way they can't catch up to us." Kouru said.
Hanabi shrugged, "Knock out... kill... they both have benefits," she said as she took a step back, "Either way, we need a distance attack to distract them before we go in for the attack.
Naruto smirked as he turned and looked down the mountain, "Where did they walk up exactly Hanabi?" Naruto asked.
Hanabi raised a brow, "Right where you're standing now actually." she reported.
Naruto grinned as he turned to face the enemy and began forming hand seal slowly, after a few moments Naruto's eyes opened in determination, "Okay, the moment you see me make contact start going for the other two." Naruto said before clapping his hands in the Horse Seal, "WIND STYLE: WIND WINDER!" Naruto shouted as he focussed as hard as he could.
Hanabi and Kouru watched as Naruto was pulled through the air right towards the taller male's back, landing feet first, one on the guy's neck and one on his spine, making Naruto slide across the ground like the man was a skateboard until they hit a rock that Naruto turned and flipped up on to.
The two team-mates who were mid argument about saying anything turned to Naruto with wide eyes, "Oh my God he hit Idate!" the girl exclaimed as if it was the first real battle she had faced.
Naruto smirked, hiding his slight sickness as he most definitely did not have the control to do that jutsu perfectly, but as a sudden ambush, it was handy, "Yeah, and I'm gonna kill him." Naruto said as he pulled out his fan.
The two stood defensively before Hanabi slammed her hand into the back of the female's neck while Kouru seemed to fade into existence from nowhere and punch his target square in the face.
The Mist ninja flailed as he was thrown to his knees, though he recovered after a few seconds to see that not only were both of his team-mates knocked out, but his enemy was suddenly gone.
##########
Kouru dropped his hand seal, making the Genjutsu he had put on his target fade as he Naruto and Hanabi turned out of view, "Made it perfectly!" Kouru exclaimed with a grin.
Naruto gave him a thumbs up as Hanabi nodded, "Yeah we did! It seems so much easier this time around." Naruto said.
Hanabi nodded again at that, "Yeah it definitely does feel like that," she said with a slight smile as she looked at Naruto out of the corner of her actual eye, "Naruto? Umm, you never told me how the research went last night, can you read the Seal?" she asked as they began to run through the morning mist that was slowly fading.
Naruto smirked, "Yeah, I can read it. I don't know if I can undo it yet but so far so good." he said.
Hanabi seemed to stand taller is hope funnelled through her, "Okay, thank you." she said with an unmistakable smile as she faced ahead again.
Kouru and Naruto smiled at her reaction as they began to run further ahead round the mountains.
##########
"I think the canyon is up ahead," Naruto said as he looked up from the map, the three of them having run for nearly four hours.
Hanabi's Byakugan flared as she changed from defensive scanning to scouting ahead, "Yeah I see it... it's way bigger then we thought it was." she said before jumping up a little higher on the mountain they were running along.
Naruto and Kouru's eyes widened as they saw the massive gap between their mountain and the other side of the canyon, "Shit, is your plan gonna work?" Kouru asked Naruto.
The blonde nodded, "Yeah, but I gotta say, I'm not really keen to try it out now." he said with a shaky smile.
Hanabi and Kouru looked at him with obvious frowns on their faces, "What the hell does that mean? What is your plan exactly?" she asked.
Naruto shrugged, "Shadow Clone bridge across. We're going to have to use our chakra to stick strong though." he said as he walked ahead.
Hanabi nodded in acceptance as Kouru's jaw dropped, "W-what? A whole bridge of clones? How the hell are you gonna manage that?! And how are they even gonna hold each other across that massive distance? The weight will surely make them slip." He asked.
Naruto turned and smirked, "I have enough chakra to make it, and let's just hope it does hold." Naruto said, secretly nervous but hiding it fine.
The three slid down to the canyon, Hanabi's Byakugan eyes making details out of some tiny specs on the other side, "There's a team setting up camp for the night in a cave directly across from us. Another local Kumo Team." she reported.
Kouru spoke up, "Maybe we should wait til later tonight then? When at least some of them are asleep and they won't see us coming right away." he suggested.
Naruto nodded, though Hanabi shook her head, "No way, didn't you notice last night? Cause of the altitude the fog covers the entire valley and probably this canyon too." she said with a frown, "You two won't be able to see." she said.
Kouru frowned as Naruto sighed, "So... how about we just set up camp on this side and then tomorrow we leave when they move out or maybe before their awake so we can get the spring on them?" Naruto suggested.
Hanabi shrugged as Kouru's frown turned into a grin, "Yeah that's goo, Hanabi?" he asked.
She shrugged again, "Best plan we got right now," she said as her Byakugan flared once more, "Actually, down the cliff face about fifty meters is a pretty large cave. Looks to me like we'll have to be ducking most of the time, but it's got good protection from the stronger winds, curvature to hide the radiant light of a fire... I think it's good." Hanabi said.
Kouru sent chakra to his feet and stepped over the edge, using the tree climbing technique to begin walking vertically, "Well lets go then." he said before dipping out of view.
Hanabi and Naruto quickly followed before Hanabi changed their course slightly to the left to find the cave, though they paused as they looked into the darkness, "Is it empty?" Kouru asked into the blackness.
Hanabi nodded, "Yeah, just a few bugs and an empty nest." she said as she stepped in first and crouched slightly, "It's actually roomy once we get past this corner."
Naruto followed her in next with Kouru frowning, "I don't like the dark." he whined as they moved inside.
##########
"I gotta do what?" Naruto asked as he held the Bird hand seal.
Light pointed the tiny black dots floating around in the sky, "The birds up there Naruto, can't you see them?" Light asked.
Naruto nodded, his hands still holding the last hand seal of the Ninjutsu Light was teaching him, "But they're heaps far away!" Naruto said.
Light nodded, "Exactly! That makes it harder to aim!" he said as he pointed up.
Naruto sighed before the let his chakra form through the hand seal before filling his lungs with air, 'WIND STYLE: WIND STREAM!' Naruto thought as he spewed forth the Flow Wind chakra in a focussed funnel, the funnel spinning the further away it got, though the birds flew around the odd disturbance without harm before Naruto dropped the jutsu.
Light raised an eye brow, 'Incredible... I didn't think he's be able to shoot that far let alone even get close, I just wanted him to push himself.' Light thought.
Naruto formed the three hand seals again before taking a deep breath, 'WIND STREAM!' he thought as he attacked again, determined to throw one of those birds higher into the air.
##########
Naruto sat with the first third of the Caged Bird Seal opened on a scroll in front of him, letting him unravel the seals to their basic functions so he could design the placement of his counter-action seal, 'If I get this tonight then I can do it the moment we finish this exams, which'll give Hanabi a reason to really kick it into high gear.' Naruto thought as he continued his work while it was his turn on watch.
Naruto had six clones continuing to unravel the final third of the seal while the second part was being deciphered by another clone. His last clone sitting in the shadows looking out the opening of the cave, holding it's hands up to sustain the small 'Wind Wall Jutsu' that Naruto was still learning to solidify, turning the exercise not only into training, but also a way of keeping the winds that blew through the canyon hold still.
After a few minutes, Naruto smirked as he placed down his skeleton pen and held his hand over the first part of his counteraction seal, minimising it to fit on the scroll before Naruto looked at his handiwork, "That's the first part done." Naruto said in success before looking over the people in the cave.
Seeing his six clones step back from the final third of the seal, Naruto stood to his feet and jogged over to Hanabi's side as he grinned, "Awesome, the last part is just a mirror of the first section." he said before he formed a single handed seal.
POOF
Naruto sat down as all of his clones but the one keeping watch dispelled, leaving Naruto with the last part of deciphering the middle section of the seal, it being the most complex.
Naruto looked down at the scroll that held his copy of the expanded middle section before turning back to Hanabi and forming hand seals again, "SEALING ART: THREE PRONGED RESEALING METHOD." he said softly as he minimised the seal back on to her forehead.
Hanabi's brow furrowed in discomfort before she rolled over, making Naruto smirk at her face, 'Geez, who knew that angry little Hanabi Hyuuga was such little cutie.' he thought with a chuckle as he poked her nose, causing her to scrunch up her face in discomfort before she rolled away from him and flush again Kouru's arm, 'She's going to grow into quite a woman some day.' he thought as he looked up.
Naruto's thoughts were quickly side-tracked as the memories of a kunai stabbing him in the stomach crossed his mind, "Guys! Up now!" Naruto shouted, causing Kouru's eyes to snap open.
Kouru quickly placed his hand on Hanabi's forehead to disrupt the Genjutsu that kept her under, causing her to wake up with a sudden loud gasp as Kouru spoke, "What is it Naruto?" he asked.
Naruto took out his hand fan as he swung it behind his back, putting out the fire and enshrouding the cave in darkness as he whispered, "Hanabi, Byakugan now." Naruto ordered.
To her shock, she followed without question, "BYAKUGAN!" she exclaimed, "Three Shinobi, one of them down the cliff face and the other two up top, one of them is sending pulses through the ground with his chakra." she said.
Naruto nodded, "Hanabi should take the one below us since only her Byakugan can really see in the fog out there. Kouru, I'm going to attack the up above us and I want you to sweep in and take them out. Got it?" Naruto said.
Kouru nodded and he swallowed nervously, "Yeah... okay." he said.
They quietly shuffled around the edge of the cave in the darkness, just as Naruto was able to see out the hole, Hanabi spoke up softly, "There's a Wind Jutsu coming from above, curving around now! It's coming!" she shouted the last part as the attack suddenly changed direction.
Naruto leapt forward out of the cave, the moonlight shining dimply through the fog to show a billowing gust heading straight for him as he swung thrust his hand forward, "RASENGAN!" he shouted as he slammed his spiralling sphere into the wind ball, destroying the attack quite easily.
Naruto turned in mid air as he formed a cross seal, "Come on guys move it! SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" Naruto shouted as the air was suddenly filled with hundreds of copies of him.
Thanks to his clones, Hanabi and Kouru were able to spread out unseen as Naruto was being thrown up through the air. Naruto locked grips with one of his clones as the clone spun around and pitched Naruto as hard as it could before dispelling, launching the real Naruto through the fog towards the wind and earth users.
Naruto's eyes slitted as he spotted the two who looked up at him in shock, "Found you!" Naruto shouted as he was suddenly joined by twenty or so clones that were also launched from the fog.
"EARTH STYLE: EARTH WALL!" the Cloud ninja shouted as he slammed his hands into the ground.
Naruto shouted in exertion as he slashed his fan through the air, "WIND STYLE: WIND SCYTHE JUTSU!" Naruto shouted.
A single sharp blade of wind hacked the wall horizontally before Naruto and his clones landed on the top half feet first, kicking it back to fall down at the castor.
Naruto looked up as his two opponents leapt back, "Go get em!" Naruto shouted as he pointed forward, his twenty clones charging forward.
"WIND STYLE: WIND BALL!"
Naruto dropped back behind the lower half of the wall as his clones were destroyed, 'Where's Kouru?' Naruto thought as he put his fan away and reached behind his back.
POOF
Spinning his scythe around, Naruto got into a stance as he took a breath.
"EARTH STYLE: CRUSHING ROCK FAULT!"
Naruto's eyes slitted in determination as he leapt over the small wall, facing the rocks and stones that began to shoot up at him as he lifted his scythe, "Here we go! TRUE WIND SCYTHE JUTSU!" Naruto shouted.
Naruto's scythe glowed like the upgrade blade as he slashed his way through the smaller parts of the jutsu before he spun and launched the single blade of wind, hacking through the largest rock before he came out on the other side.
Naruto completed his spin only to receive a punch in the face.
Naruto flipped back onto his feet before ducking under the slash of his opponent's kunai, the Wind user not relenting in his Taijutsu assault so that Naruto was forced on the defensive.
After a moment Naruto parried the kunai with his blade before using the pole-end of his scythe as a pivot point instead of his foot, making his enemy raise his other arm in a block. Naruto's kick pushed through the guard and made his opponent fall back as the grip fumbled on his kunai.
Naruto brought his hand around, his personal seal glowing on his palm as he gripped the Cloud ninja's arm and turned, "TENDRIL SEALING!" Naruto shouted as he threw the ninja over the cliff.
The ninja turned, "WIND STYLE: WIND PLUME!" he shouted, launching the attack back at Naruto.
Naruto brought his scythe up defensively, but the Earth user grabbed him from behind, "EARTH STYLE: ULTIMATE SHIELD!" the ninja shouted as he turned to solid rock.
Naruto tried to pull his arms free, but was far from successful as the jutsu flew towards him, "C'mon!" Naruto shouted as he stared at the airborne enemy.
The man smirked as he held his hand seal, though he shouted as suddenly nine tendrils shout out and gripped the rock wall in front of him, trying to pull rocks towards him but instead bringing him forward to slam face first into the canyon wall.
"Brother!" the ninja holding Naruto shouted as the wind jutsu began to lose form, though Naruto knew it was still gonna hurt.
"VOLT TACKLE!" Kouru shouted as he blurred out from nowhere, slamming into the side of the jutsu with his metal guard and making it explode with chakra.
"What?!" Naruto's captor shouted in shock as his grip lessened.
Naruto kicked off with his feet, flipping over the ninja's head and raking his scythe along the Ninja's stony body, finally finding some flesh near the ninja's shoulder.
Naruto landed and looked up at Kouru as the Cloud ninja turned back at Naruto, blood oozing from the gash in his shoulder, "I'll kill you!" the guy said as he took out a hatchet from behind his back and leapt at Naruto.
Once more calm, Naruto parried the strike before using his scythe to cut the head of the hatchet free from the rest of it before the pole end of his scythe came around and hit his sternum, giving Naruto a moment to leap away as the ninja looked up at him in confusion.
"LIGHTNING STYLE: THUNDERPUNCH!" Kouru shouted as his electrically charged fist hit the Cloud nin's head.
He went rolling before he slammed into a rock, lying in unconsciousness as Naruto and Kouru finally dropped their guards.
Naruto smirked at Kouru before his eyes widened, causing Kouru to turn defensively as he barely blocked a punch from the ninja Naruto thought he had taken out, "I'm not done yet!" he shouted as he threw Kouru aside.
Naruto ran forward at the guy, blocking his strike with the scythe again before they kicked apart and the man formed three hand seals, "WIND STYLE: AIR CUTTER!" he shouted as he held a visible blade of solid wind around his hand and ran forward at Naruto and Kouru.
Naruto smirked as he leapt forward, channelling chakra through his scythe and thus making the seal on it glow, "DEATH HUNTER!" Naruto shouted.
BOOM
The Kumo ninja was flung back to slam against his team-mate, the two of them now unconscious as one of them was slowly losing blood from the gash across his chest.
Naruto and Kouru nodded to each other before Kouru pointed behind Naruto, "Hey look." he said.
Naruto turned to see that not only had the team that attacked them make an earth bridge to cross the canyon, but Hanabi was quite easily beating down the lady that was attacking her on it.
Naruto and Kouru dashed forward to help her end it before they saw Hanabi take a low stance, "EIGHT TRIGRAMS: SIXTY FOUR PALMS!" she said as she started her assault.
The girl of the Cloud team hacked up blood as she was continuously pummelled, but luckily for her, Hanabi pulled her last attack, making her fall unconscious rather then die.
Hanabi smirked and deactivated her Byakugan, "Too easy," she said before turning to the two approaching her, "Taken care of." she said confidently.
"Look out!" Kouru shouted as Naruto shot forward in a burst of chakra.
Hanabi raised a brow as she turned, seeing the ninja she had just been attacking turn into water, "What?" Hanabi asked out loud.
"WATER STYLE: PRESSURE CUTTER!"
Hanabi turned to the side of the bridge that connected her to Naruto and Kouru at the same moment the female ninja slashed up through the rock bridge, shattering it as it began to fall from under her.
Hanabi shouted in shock as she lost her footing and fell.
""HANABI!"" Kouru and Naruto shouted as the blonde leapt ahead.
The female ninja kicked out at Naruto, though the blonde hacked his scythe through the air to force her to dive out of his way before he dove off the cliff.
The ninja stared wide eyed down at the collapsed bridge as Naruto dove after it, "That idiot!" she exclaimed, believing that the two of them would fall to their death.
"THUNDER WAVE!"
The female ninja suddenly began to convulse as Kouru gripped the muscles between her shoulder and neck, the attack electrocuting her into unconsciousness so that she fell to her knees asleep.
Kouru stepped over her and looked off the edge of the cliff, 'I sure hope he has a plan.' Kouru thought with a frown as he looked down at the fog the bridge had disappeared into.
##########
Naruto gritted his teeth as he held his scythe behind his back, resealing it before he bullet dove further down, "Hanabi! Where are you!" he shouted.
"Naruto!"
Naruto looked to his right and squinted, seeing a shape in the fog before he aimed his hand at her, the seal on his palm glowing, "TENDRIL GRIP!" he shouted, feeling it form and stick before it began to retract.
Naruto's eyes widened as he realised he had gripped a boulder, so he swung himself sideways to dodge it before his seal deactivate, letting himself land on the back of it feet first and push off in Hanabi's direction.
"Naruto here!"
Naruto looked directly below him as he saw her standing on a small piece of the bridge with her chakra, 'Okay, the Tendril Grip isn't great for this, so... I know!' he thought as he aimed at her with his left hand, 'With enough chakra, it'll be just like when I screwed it back in training!' he thought as he formed a few one handed seals with his free hand, making a tornado of wind chakra form around his arm, "WIND STYLE: TORNADO FIST!" He shouted.
Hanabi's eyes widened as Naruto punched through four more rocks while being pulled through the air towards her, deactivating his technique as she looked over her shoulder, "Naruto! The ground!" she shouted as her Byakugan finally saw the bottom of the canyon.
Naruto landed in front of her forming hand seals, "Grab on!" he said as he turned away, 'I hope this works! If it's not going fast enough we'll probably die!' he thought as as his hand began to glow with the wind chakra of the wind technique.
Hanabi jumped on his back as he leapt up into the air, a green Rasengan coming into existence and making the air around the two of them blur with it's intense speed, "WIND STYLE: TORNADO RASENGAN!" Naruto shouted as he thrust his punch upwards with his combination of the Wind Style: Tornado Fist and Wind Style: Rasengan.
Hanabi's eyes widened as she saw Naruto's chakra make a miniature tornado around the green glowing Rasengan in his hand, it's suction pulling them up through the air as if in flight while obliterating every rock and chunk of earth that touched the jutsu.
##########
Kouru's eyes widened as he saw the fog began to twist as if it was being sucked down a drain pipe, "What the hell?" he mumbled in awe.
Suddenly, the fog layer opened up and Naruto and Hanabi shot up from it, Naruto's technique dissipating as they slowed about twenty meters above the canyon.
"We got you boss!"
Kouru watched as the four Naruto Clones that had survived leapt out at Naruto and Hanabi, grabbing an arm each before they threw them back towards Kouru.
The gennin's eyes widened as he saw their trajectory, "Ah!" he shouted as Naruto slammed into him back first with Hanabi hitting Naruto in the same way.
The three gennin groaned as Naruto looked up at Kouru in thanks, "Nice catch." Naruto said with a weak chuckle before rolling onto the ground, throwing Hanabi off the opposite way so that he could.
Hanabi rolled onto her back with wide eyes, her dojutsu deactivated, "What, the hell, where you thinking?" she gasped out, amazed that she didn't just die.
Kouru shook her head, "You guys... be more careful would ya?" he asked before turning to look at Naruto, "What the hell was that technique anyway?" he asked.
Naruto grinned, "It's my Rasengan, but I figured if I use it to speed up the rotation of my Tornado fist technique it'll make it strong enough to get us some lift," he said happily as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, "Good thing it worked!" he exclaimed.
Hanabi jolted into a sitting position, "Wait a minute, are you telling me you just made that up then?!" she exclaimed with wide eyes.
Naruto nodded, "Yep!" he exclaimed before having to lie down to dodge a shuriken.
"You idiot!" Hanabi shouted angrily, "We could've died!"
Naruto just barked another laugh as Kouru sat up with a sigh, though he blinked as he leaned forward squinting, "Hey, can you guys see that?" he asked.
Hanabi paused before she could begin shouting again as she followed his line of sight, "Yeah, there's something..." she said before activating her Byakugan as Naruto tried to see what it was they had spotted, "I think it's the other half of that bridge, this is the team that was camping over there before." Hanabi realised as she used her eyes to scan the unconscious ninjas behind them, as well as noticing that one of them was waking up, "The guy that's getting up has their ball, but it's green too." she said with a frown.
Naruto sat up, "Maybe we should get going then? Let him look after his team while we use that bridge then break it down." Naruto said as he stood and closed his eyes in concentration.
POOF
A single clone popped into existence, "Grab our stuff for us would ya?" Naruto said as the clone nodded and ran off down the edge of the canyon with it's chakra.
Kouru and Hanabi stood, "Let's get going," Kouru said as he took a few steps back and sent a large amount of chakra to his feet, "I'm off!" he said as he leapt.
Kouru fell through the air, just barely making the jump to the bridge where he quickly had to run forward as the part he initially landed on broke away, causing Hanabi and Naruto to look at each other, "Better hurry!" Naruto exclaimed as the two of them took a run up and jumped.
They landed together with a roll before having to jump ahead again since the bridge was falling apart underneath them, though after a few more hops they made it to the other side of the canyon.
The three looked at what remained of the thin bridge, though Kouru quickly stopped that by chucking some explosive tags around the bridge's point of connection, "KATSU!"
BOOM
"Hold on..." Hanabi said, "What about that clone with our stuff?" she asked.
Naruto and Kouru looked back over to ridiculously large canyon, "Umm... crap, I didn't think about that." Naruto mumbled.
Kouru stepped forward and looked down the canyon before he turned to Naruto, "Maybe you could use that Rasengan to fly back over? Or maybe-"
"WIND STYLE: WIND WINDER!"
Naruto and Hanabi's eyes widened as they looked over Kouru's shoulders, seeing a clone move through the air as if it had jumped and begun to run across the now non-existent bridge, slamming into Kouru as he turned around.
POOF
Kouru fell back as Naruto's Shadow Clone ran straight into him, using his Wind Path to make the jump, "Heh, the clone just used my original plan." Naruto said as he picked up the Storage Scroll the clone had dropped upon dispelling, puting the scroll in his ninja pouch as he pointed down the path towards their target, "It looks like they didn't even bother packing up to attack us." Naruto said.
Kouru and Hanabi leant forward to see the two tents set up around a campfire that was long since put out, "How long we got til we were supposed to get up?" Kouru asked.
Hanabi pulled out a pocket watch, "4:40, so we're supposed to be up in like twenty minutes." she said as they walked over to what remained of the other camp site.
As they arrived, they looked down to see leftover food and canteens connected to an odd system with a plastic bag, "Hey, is this thing making water?" Naruto asked as he knelt to analyse it.
Kouru smirked, "Not exactly, it collects moisture throughout the night that condenses in the bag once the sunlight hits it, and considering how high up we are that should be within the next two and a bit hours right?" he asked.
Naruto and Hanabi nodded in unison as Naruto grinned, "Well then, if you guys don't mind I'm gonna get a little shut eye. Wake me up when we're gonna go?" he asked as he crawled into one of the tents.
Hanabi sighed as she sat and closed her eyes, "You rest as well Kouru, it's supposed to be my watch anyway." she said as her Byakugan activated and her eyes snapped open.
##########
"WIND STYLE: WIND STREAM!" Naruto said before taking a deep breath and blowing the jutsu out from the Sunagakure walls.
Light smirked as the small flock of birds in the distance were blown apart from each other, "Good distance and great control, I think it's fair to say you got that technique battle ready for sure," He said with a grin.
Naruto panted as he crouched slightly, "Geez, that's good. This is starting to make my throat sore.
Light nodded, "You get used to it, now, try the Sharp version. Same seals, same control, just the other side." Light said with an encouraging smile.
Naruto nodded as he formed the same hand seals again, "WIND STYLE: PIERCING WIND STREAM!" Naruto shouted before spewing the tube of wind downwards.
Though it didn't reach as far, Light smirked as he watched it burst apart a large sand dune before Naruto stopped, "Fantastic! Ha!" he exclaimed.
Naruto smiled as he panted, "So, you said I can learn the Wind Winder now right? The one you used with that puppet?" Naruto asked.
Light grinned and nodded, "Yeah sure! Though this one is actually quite dangerous so I think we'll need to go to a different training spot." he said as he held his chin in serious thought.
Naruto blinked at Light before looking down at the dune he just obliterated, seeing that it rather obviously was the outer part of one of the Village's training grounds, "Y'know, we could just go there."
Light blinked and looked down, "Oh yeah," he said before casually stepping off the edge of the wall. Naruto's eyes widened as Light fell for a second before landing on solid air and beginning to walk down a stairway of air, "I forgot these thingys were here." he said happily.
Naruto blinked before stepping off as if he was going to land on the step next to Light, but as he fell past without any sort of contact, he realised that wasn't happening as he formed a cross hand seal.
POOF
Light raised a brow as Naruto made a clone that pushed him so that he moved through the air towards the wall, gripping it with chakra before he slid down safely, 'Hm, quick thinking, but I highly doubt he'd be able to do a Wind Walker skill for an extremely long time.' he thought as he arrived to ground level and began to walk with Naruto out towards the training fields, 'Beside, the Wind Walkers were my clan, I'm supposed to have a kid or something to teach it.' he thought with a shudder at the thought of having to look after a child.
Kids cause too much stress and they always complicate things.
##########
"I think that's the mountain! Look it's even got steps leading up it." Naruto said as he put the map away, squinting make out the shapes in the low fog.
It seemed throughout the day that the closer they got to their target, the less fog seemed to enshroud the mountains that they ran through, making them feel more confident to run as fast as they could up to the target.
Naruto and Kouru ran out off a jagged rock as Hanabi paused for a moment, "Wait!" she shouted as she turned to face someone hidden in the rocks, though her Byakugan was already active.
"KATSU!"
BOOM
An explosion rocked the area as the two disappeared, causing Hanabi to shout, "No! You killed them!" she screamed a little overdramatically.
Three gennin leapt out of hiding, the three of them surrounding her on all sides as she took a 'shaky' defensive stance, "Yeah, we're taking this exam seriously!" the Tallest Cloud ninja said confidently as he and his team-mates pulled out some kunai.
Hanabi lowered herself slightly, "P-please..." she said softly.
The fattest ninja that was behind her grinned disturbingly, "Please what little girl?" he asked.
Hanabi looked down, "Please..." she said as she stopped shaking.
The three around her straightened as they got ready to lunge forward, all of them within a meters range, "Get her!" the animalistic girl of the team said as she leapt forward.
Hanabi looked up, glaring at her enemies with her Byakugan, "Please die!" Hanabi shouted as she began to spin, "ROTATION!" Hanabi shouted.
The three around her yelled in pain as her shell of chakra collected them and threw them around in a circle before being thrown up back through the air.
""RASENGAN!"" Naruto's two clones shouted as they jumped out from hiding, slamming their attacks into the backs of the two male ninjas, throwing through the air and into each other, breaking their bodies completely.
"THUNDER WAVE!" Kouru shouted as he appeared using the Hidden Leaf Shadow manoeuvre behind her.
The girl shouted as she was electrocuted by Kouru's grip, though he span in mid-air out of the way as the real Naruto caught her with his Tendril Grip, "Best tactic ever!" Kouru shouted excitedly as he and Naruto landed near Hanabi.
She sighed as Naruto's clones popped, "I know this was an important one but I gotta be honest, I would've preferred fighting them head-to-head. I'm proud of my strength." she said with a frown.
Naruto nodded as Hanabi walked over to them, "Yeah well, sometimes you're gonna have to do infiltration missions and stuff. Just pretend you're practising for those times." Naruto said as he laid the girl down on the ground.
Hanabi knelt with her Byakugan still flaring, taking the girl's ninja pouch and reaching into it to pull out their Pink ball, "Now we have all three." she said with a smirk.
Naruto and Kouru smirked to each other as they all took out the balls, showing that they had all three before they looked up the mountain, "So, I guess we should get going right?" he suggested.
Naruto and Hanabi nodded, "Hanabi on point, let's move!" Naruto said before they began the sprint up the steps.
##########
"Haaaaaaa!" Naruto shouted as he pumped Wind chakra into the Rasengan his clone was holding out to him.
Light smirked as he watched it slowly stabilise, "So that's the Wind Style: Rasengan... incredible." he mumbled as he watched Naruto's clone charge forward and smash it into the desert in front of him.
Naruto grinned as he watched his attack explode with sharp power, "Yes!" Naruto shouted in success.
Light's smirk grew as he floated down to Naruto's side, "Good work Naruto, wanna go check on the clones working on the Wind Winder?" he asked.
Naruto shook his head, "Not yet, I gotta learn to do this without the clone now that I know how it works." Naruto said with a grin as he opened his hand and formed the Rasengan after a moment.
Light stepped back as Naruto's brow furrowed in concentration before he brought his other hand over the top of the Rasengan, slowly filtering Wind chakra into the Rasengan, after a few moments, it expanded out of control and threw him off his feet.
Light blinked at Naruto as he forced himself back onto his feet, "Dammit!" Naruto said as he stormed back into the clearing and began to try again.
##########
"I see the top, there's a large circle carved into the plateau." Hanabi explained.
Naruto ran ahead excitedly, leaping twice to land at the top as he blinked in curiosity, "Umm, hello." Naruto said.
The young blonde woman opposite him sat in the middle of a ring of blue flames, "So, you're the first team with a full set." she said with a smirk.
Hanabi and Kouru came to a stop on either side of Naruto, "You're the Jonin?" Kouru asked.
The woman stood, "Yes, my name is Yugito Nii. Now, you gotta give me the three balls." she said as she held her hand out towards them.
The three leaf gennin leapt over the ring of blue fire, coming up to Yugito as Naruto saw where the flames were coming from.
Two Tails of blue flames were sticking out from Yugito's lower back, growing and laying down to make the circle of blue fire that kept the area a nice warm temperature despite the harsh cold winds mere meters away.
Naruto stared at the tails as his mind flashed to a picture of the Two Tailed Nekotama, the Nibi, but his trail of thought was cut short as Yugito held her hand in front of him, "The Orange one kid?" she said.
Naruto looked at her in the eyes for a moment as he felt something build inside of him, making his pupils become slitted like a fox's.
Yugito's eyes widened as her pupils did the same and she stepped back in shock. The two of them staring into each others eyes for a moment of silence before Yugito smirked and offered him her hand, "It's an honour to meet you, I'm guessing... Kyuubi?" Yugito asked.
Naruto glanced at his two team-mates nervously, "Yeah...Nibi?" Naruto asked in return, earning a smirk as his confirmation.
Kouru raised a brow, "Umm, what?" he asked, not understanding what was going on.
Hanabi raised a brow as well until Yugito took the three balls and held them to the flaming tails that were growing from her back, the intense heat causing them to crack open to reveal three small pieces of paper with a single Kanji on each of them, "Alright, you guys' code is as follows, I suggest you remember one words each; Hunt, Speed and Creation. Memorise it." she said as she held up the three pieces of paper for them to read.
The moment all three of them had nodded, the paper combusted into blue fire from Yugito before she looked over all of them, her eyes settling on Naruto as he stepped up to her again, "Yugito-san? Can... can I take you out after these exams?" Naruto asked, earning a raised brow from Hanabi while Kouru gawked.
Hanabi and Yugito raised a brow to the two men next to them, Hanabi wondering what had Kouru flustered while Yugito was wondering why Naruto seemed so amazed just looked at her.
"What is it Kouru?" Hanabi asked him.
Kouru looked at her incredulously, "Didn't Naruto just ask out that Jonin on a date?" he whispered.
Hanabi's eyes widened in realisation as she looked back at the obviously intrigued Naruto, but both her and Kouru quickly looked at Yugito as the woman nodded, "Sounds good to me Kyuu." she said with a wink before turning away.
Naruto looked down seriously in thought, 'She's a Jinchuuriki, just like Gaara and me... I have to warn her about the Akatsuki.' Naruto thought before turning away, seeing Hanabi and Kouru staring at him in shock, "Let's move. We have the pass-code so let's push all the way back. The sooner we're there the longer we can rest." he said before glancing over his shoulder at Yugito again as the blonde woman sat smirking at him.
Hanabi and Kouru nodded before the three of them started running down the steps, Hanabi speaking up, "Did you just ask her out Naruto?" Hanabi asked.
Naruto looked at her with a suddenly incredulous expression, "What? Not like that Hanabi..." he said with a roll of his eyes before he thought over the words he had used, "...At least I didn't intend it to be that way..." he mumbled as he realised that maybe he had accidentally asked the Jonin out on a date.
Kouru laughed as he followed behind, making Naruto glare at Kouru while Hanabi took lead, "We'll run through the valley itself, everyone will be up in the mountains for cover unless they're idiots." Hanabi said as she sprinted ahead.
Kouru jumped down past Naruto to catch up with her as the oldest gennin sighed, "Well, it could be worse. At least she's the most attractive woman I've seen here." he said as a perverted grin came over his face before he slapped himself, "No! I won't become Ero-sennin." Naruto began to chant to himself as he ran behind his team, "I will not become Ero-sennin."
##########
Chapter End.
Hey guys, here's chapter ten :)
tell me what ya'll think, and yeah, please R&R
Love ya and leave ya, Alky out
p.s. I've had people asking about the death note being used more, it will be :)