I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).
"Talking" will be done with the normal font.
'Thoughts' will be done by Italic.
Chapter 10- Let The Chunin Exam Begin!
"Everyone hand in your papers and in return you'll receive a number. This number will determine where you stand for the exam." Temari shouted as one by one the people in the room went to grab numbers from the various Jonin organising the event. Eventually, Kazumu and his team went up to grab their numbers. Kazumu came out with 47, Naruto came out with 51 and Konohamaru got stuck with 117.
"That's not fair! You two are close to each other." Konohamaru was unhappy about his placement.
"It doesn't matter, I know what to do in this test. You just have to answer yes for the last question in the test." Naruto said. He had done the Chunin exam once before and assumed the test was the same one.
"Are you sure about that? What if they have a different one in the Sand?" Kazumu looked at Naruto funny. He knows he's been wrong on more than one occasion.
"I'm sure Kazumu. Just you wait, we will enter a big room with desks all over and Chunin lined up on the sides watching us."
"Ok everyone listen up! The first stage of the exam is about to begin! Make your way through the doors at the other side of the room!" Temari announced, as the ninja started heading to the doors.
"Moment of truth Naruto. If you're wrong you owe me a bowl at Ichiraku's." Kazumu had grown to love the ramen there just as much as Naruto.
"That's fine because I'm positive it's-" Naruto stopped talking as they ended up in a massive room with a large number of wooden stumps on one side and a lot of Chunin and Jonin on the other.
"I'll have miso ramen thanks." Kazumu put his order in as Naruto stood there dumbfounded.
"But I don't understand. Why would they give us numbers then?" Once all the people in the Chunin exam had entered Temari spoke up once again.
"Pay attention everyone!" She stood on the other side of the room really far away from the stumps holding a big fan. "Everyone look for their number in the stumps behind you and stand on the stump that matches you number!" Everyone began the mad scavenger hunt for their numbers.
"Is this the test? Because this is already hard." Kazumu smirked.
"I doubt it, I just don't like where this is going." Naruto looked over at Temari and got a chill down his spine.
"Well my number is here, so you can't be too far away." Kazumu cheating with the Byakugan found his spot and jumped on. "I don't know what they could possibly have planned for us like this." He said to himself. Naruto had already gone off the find his spot.
"Ok now that everyone is ready I'll explain the test!" Temari yelled out. "Since the amount of people here today is too high for a regular Chunin exam we have chosen a test that relies strictly on advanced chakra control so we can find the best candidates for Chunin." Everyone's face went sour as she told them this, expecting most of them to fail like that. "The rules are simple enough. One! You must not leave the top of your stump at any time! Two! You can try to knock others off as long as it doesn't include lethal force! And three! If anyone in your three person team falls off, everyone in that team fails the test!" Roars went all over the room after hearing the rules of the test.
"That's really unfortunate." Kazumu worried to himself.
"Why's that?" He looked back to see Naruto was only a row behind him. "We can handle this fine!"
"Well you and I can help each other if we need."
"We won't need to help each other though, what's your point?"
"You moron, Konohamaru is on the other side of the room!" Naruto almost fell of his stump hearing this.
"Damn! If he goes out then we all fail!" Naruto finally understood.
"Well I guess there is no point in worrying about it too much. There is nothing we can do about it." Kazumu said this but he was still worried. Not about failing but about Konohamaru's well-being.
"Oh I forgot to mention rule two only applies if you can manage to do anything to anyone else at all." Everyone looked back at Temari who was standing there with her fan and countless other ninja had joined her with fans as well.
'Uh oh...'
"That's right! During this test the Chunin here with me are going to be making sure you are all hit with a constant gale force winds that get stronger and stronger as the test progresses!" And the roars of the Genin returned. "Silence! The test will begin in a moment! Prepare yourselves!"
"Naruto. Are you sure that your chakra control is good enough to handle this?" He looked back to see that Naruto was standing there with a weird handsign and his eyes closed. 'If I had to take a guess, he's going to use his training at Myoboku to help with this one.' He turned back around to see Temari was ready for thing to get under way. He looked in the crowd of Chunin behind her and noticed that Ino was hiding in the back. 'What is she doing here? As far as I know she isn't a proctor.' Their eyes met and Ino simply smiled and waved to him. 'I really hope she didn't come here to see me. I need to concentrate on this. Wait I'm already losing focus by thinking about this. Get you head out of the clouds Kazumu! Hmm, I might have to use "that" jutsu to ensure I'll pass this. I did want to save it but it seems like the logical choice. Well it's safe to assume that-'
"Begin!" Temari shouted lifting her fan above her head.
"God damn daydreams!" Kazumu cursed to himself.
"One Moon! Wind style! Great Breakthrough!" All the fan wielders slammed their fans down at once hitting all the participants with a wind that held amazing power. As it got to Kazumu the wind didn't effect him at all. He had his eyes closed holding up a handsign. For some reason the wind simply avoided him completely hitting the people on his sides with more velocity. He then opened his eyes to reveal that his eyes were white as if he had activated the Byakugan but his nerves were retracted, making him look like part of the Hyuga clan in a way. He slightly turned his head to see that Naruto hadn't moved from his spot at all. Still holding the same stance with his eyes closed, but this time the area around his eyelids was tinted orange. Kazumu ignored this and looked around for Konohamaru, as he did he notice a small number of ninja falling off the stumps but most of them could handle this with their current skills it seemed.
'Byakugan.' Kazumu fully activated it this time and looked around for Konohamaru. He eventually spotted him further down the room and noticed he was being targeted by about five different ninja who were throwing wire strings over him trying to pull him off his stump. 'That's not good' Kazumu readied himself. "Eight Trigrams! Air Palm!" He struck the air and a shock wave of chakra surged out directed at the ones harassing Konohamaru, but soon after the wind took the attack and knocked about five ninja to the side of Kazumu right off their stumps. 'Damn it! How did I not realise that would happen! I have to help Konohamaru somehow!'
"Two Moons!" Just then the fans were slammed down again with an even greater force and Kazumu watching Konohamaru saw the ninja around him throw their wire strings again only to get themselves tangled up with them thanks to the increased wind and they were knocked right off with Konohamaru just managing to stay on.
'Thank god, that was too-' Kazumu was cut off from his thought as three of the ninja in front of him were knocked off at the same time and were headed straight for him. "Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!" Suddenly chakra began to expel from his entire body and he then started spinning around on the spot, creating a sphere of chakra around him knocking all the ninja out of his path. 'Speaking of too close...' He let out a sigh of relief as he looked around to see a lot more people her falling off now. At least a quarter of the Genin had been eliminated from the test. 'Well that didn't take too long.' He looked back yet again to see that Naruto still had the same stance. He hadn't moved an inch since the start of the test. 'Naruto you never cease to amaze me. I didn't think you would be able to handle this amount of chakra control.' He looked around again seeing the amount of ninja falling has completely stopped. 'I think it's about time I go on the offensive a bit.' He then released multiple Air Palms, knocking off a decent amount of the people around him. 'I would go further but I doubt I would reach the others from here thanks to this wind.'
"Three Moons!" They slammed down their fans once more and a lot of ninja were instantly knocked off just from this increase in pressure.
'Wow, at this rate my jutsu is going to fall. I've never used it for this long before but I guess there's no time like the present to train. From the looks of Naruto right now I'm going to need this to beat him in the end.' Once again Naruto's stance was held, he was completely motionless. 'Out of all the times to be serious at least he chose the right one, but I can't help but think I'm forgetting something important...Konohamaru!' He looked back over to see him struggling to keep himself upright and his eyes were squinted up from the wind hitting them. 'I have to help him somehow. It doesn't look like he can hold on much longer and they only just started at this speed. Come on Kazumu think!' His eyes opened and he weaved a few handsigns and wood began sprouting from his arm towards Konohamaru. You could see the effort it was taking to get it through the wind on Kazumu's face. It eventually reached him just as he was about to fall off and he hit his back against the wood wall behind him. Konohamaru snapped out of it and regained his ground thanks to Kazumu and turned towards him and mouthed the words 'thank you'. 'That was lucky. If I was any later we would be in trouble.' Kazumu was a little worn out after this. 'As if keeping my defence up was hard enough using that wood style to help him was too far. I've never been that fluent with it to begin with. I guess I'll have to work on it later and build up my skills with Ninjutsu.' The wood style jutsu then retracted back into Kazumu's arm and his eyes went back to normal. 'No good! I couldn't balance the jutsu!' Kazumu was now feeling the full force of the wind and relying on nothing but chakra control now, he was handling it alright but the jutsu he used are taking their toll.
"Time's up!" The winds suddenly stopped making Kazumu and Konohamaru almost fall off automatically. "Congratulations on passing the first stage of Chunin exam for those who did." Temari announced as everyone began to jump off their stumps. "If I were you I would check to see if your team mates made it through before coming up here, only as a team can you pass this stage." Kazumu jumped off and noticed Naruto was still standing the same way as before.
"Ok that's getting old. NARUTO!" Kazumu yelled at him making Naruto fall of his stump and straight on his face. "Much better." He said smiling.
"Oww! Why did you do that Kazumu!?" He looked up and his eyes looked different. They were yellow with horizontal barred pupils and he still had the orange tint around his eyes.
"What is that Naruto?" Naruto got up and calmed down a bit.
"It's my Sage Mode. It's what I learned at Mount Myoboku." He smiled.
'Sage Mode? Is this what I'll have to end up facing in the end? Hmm, I'm not looking forward to that. Knowing Naruto there is a million things that form can accomplish. I don't know how I'm going to beat him without my Rinnegan. But I guess I'll worry about that when the time comes."
"Kazumu?" He snapped out of it and looked behind him to see Konohamaru. "Thanks for saving me there."
"No problem. We're a team after all." He smiled at him and fell on one knee. "I guess I have to avoid wood style more often. That and my new jutsu together is too much for me. Plus I've been too focused on Taijutsu this past year." Kazumu picked himself back up. "I'll be fine. We need to head to the sign-in and get checked in for the next stage." They nodded and walked over with Kazumu to the desk and they got signed for the next stage without a hitch.
"That was a good save back there." Kazumu turned to see Temari talking to him. "He was just about to fall as you got him right?"
"Y-Yeah it was a close call." Kazumu laughed nervously. After seeing how forceful she is in the exam, he wouldn't want to get on her bad side.
"You're also the Akatsuki member that kidnapped my brother right...?" Kazumu froze. Temari's voice was so mixed around that you could tell how mad she was.
"Umm... Yes?" Kazumu was shaking, after hearing Naruto's warning about Gaara's sister he was really concerned now.
"Well that's all. Run along you little Genin brat." Temari then walked off. She sounded mad but she probably understood what happened from Gaara.
"Phew! I thought I was going to die!" He exhaled in relief. Then fell over again. "This is weird. I shouldn't feel this weak..." Naruto and Konohamaru made sure he was ok and then someone else showed up.
"Kazumu, are you alright?" He looked up to see Ino with a very worried face "I thought I said don't overdo it." She knelt down next to him.
"I'm fine, I think..." Kazumu sounded pretty unsure. "I just don't know why I feel this drained. I didn't do that much."
"Well you should get to your hotel room for now. The next stage doesn't start till tomorrow so you should rest." Ino helped him get up and put his arm over her shoulder.
"I'm getting sick of being like this."
"It'll be ok, just let people help you. Naruto, Konohamaru. I'll take him to his room and make sure he's fine for tomorrow."
"Sounds good!" Naruto then took Konohamaru and ran off. Kazumu and Ino then started walking to the hotel that the Leaf visitors were assigned to.
"Thank you Ino." Kazumu still being helped by Ino sounded pretty unhappy.
"What's wrong Kazumu?"
"I don't know, that's the problem."
"So you're talking about the dreams. And your injuries."
"Yeah. They come out of nowhere. I feel like it gets worse every time this happens."
"And even Tsunade had no idea what is was right?"
"That's right. I have something wrong with me and not even the greatest medical ninja in the world knows what it is."
"It's ok Kazumu, it's not your fault."
"That's not the point!" Kazumu yelled and shook her off him. "I'm not supposed to be this weakling that can't walk after all the training I did!" He tried to start walking again and fell to the ground, his face slamming into the sand.
"Kazumu!" Ino started helping him and he grabbed her arm stopping her. He then looked up to her.
"Please...help me." Kazumu's vision blurred and he passed out with Ino screaming his name.
"..."
'?'
"Guess who Kazumu?"
'Why am I not surprised.'
"Well I'm always here. Waiting."
'Waiting? For what you freak!"
"That's not important."
'Sounds important to me. Wait a minute, are you the one doing this to me!'
"Of course not Kazumu. I wouldn't want to hurt you like this."
'I find that hard to believe. Do you at least know what's wrong with me.'
"Yes, well I think I do anyway."
'Well? Spit it out!'
"Lets just say you're... Incomplete."
'What? I don't understand.'
"You're missing something and I can't tell you what it is or I run the risk of you never getting it"
'How convenient. The one person who knows and he can't tell me.'
"If I tell you you may never get better."
'Wait. So if I get this thing I'm missing I'll be rid of you and my weaknesses?'
"That's a mean way to put it, but yes Kazumu. Anyway I have other things to attend to. Till next time."
'Don't you dare leave like this!'
"..."
Great. He's gone. Perfect." Kazumu could see a glimpse of light and he began to open his eyes.
"Kazumu..." He woke to see he was in bed with Ino watching over him.
"Hi Ino." He said it so casually like there was nothing wrong.
"You're an idiot."
"That's about right." Suddenly Kazumu felt a sharp pain in his side. "Oh no."
"What is it!" Ino looked at what Kazumu was holding onto in pain and saw his bed sheets were soaked in blood. "You had another nightmare didn't you!"
"Sorry I didn't say so sooner." He got the sheets of and took of his shirt to reveal the rip in his skin around the right side of his ribcage, dripping blood still.
"Next time be quicker. This one is really bad." Ino's hands started glowing with chakra as she began healing Kazumu.
"What would I do without you." He smiled jokingly at her.
"Don't be stupid. I'm just helping you." Ino couldn't help but smile a bit as well. Kazumu just laid back as the wound was healed and he thought about what his mysterious 'friend' said.
'So I'm incomplete huh? That's not really the best answer I could get. What could I be missing? An ability? A person? That answer is way to vague to understand for me, heck for anyone. I could ask Shikamaru for some help on this one. He is the smartest guy I've met so it wouldn't be a bad idea I guess, but...I don't know if anyone can help. I don't think I can find out either. He did say if I find out I may never get it so is there anything I could do?'
"Kazumu?" He looked up to see that Ino was talking to him the whole time.
"Sorry, I was lost in thought." He sat upright in bed. "So I'm guessing it's better now?"
"Yeah, as good as it can be at least."
"You should go to bed then, I don't want you worrying about me all night."
"Ok, but if you need anything just yell. I'll be in the next room." She got up and started walking towards the door. "I'd do anything to help you though this and I'm sure your team feels the same way, just let people in more often." She left and closed the door behind her.
'Hmm, she's probably right about that one.' Kazumu laid back again and went to sleep, hoping that his 'friend' wouldn't be there to greet him.
Kazumu woke the next morning, it was they day for the second stage of the Chunin exam. "I better get up and find-" Kazumu stopped talking as he realised he couldn't get up because something was on his legs. He looked to see Ino laying down with her knees on the ground and her upper body resting on Kazumu. "Looks like she ignored me after all." He started shaking her slightly. "Wake up Ino." She started to move and gradually opened her eyes.
"Oh, good morning Kazumu." She rubbed her eyes.
"I told you to go to bed Ino." He got out of bed and helped her up.
"But I was worried about you. I wanted to make sure you didn't have another nightmare."
"Well now I'm worried you didn't get enough sleep."
"I'm fine as long as you are Kazumu." She stood there still half asleep.
"Thank you." He walked up to her and put his arms around her. "You do way too much for me." Ino put her arms around him as well.
"All I do is heal you when you have your nightmares."
"It's so much more than that. You stay up all night to make sure I don't have one. You constantly worry about me. You're just always there for me." They both smiled together and then just to ruin the moment the door opened.
"Hey Kazumu you feeling bette-" It was Naruto and Konohamaru. "Oops, are we interrupting?" Kazumu and Ino separated quickly.
"Don't be stupid Naruto, what do you want anyway." Kazumu glared at him.
"Umm. The next stage is starting soon and I was hoping you were well enough to participate." Naruto reeled back from the look Kazumu was giving him.
"I should be ok for now thanks to Ino healing me last night."
"Oh so that's why she's here."
"Yes that is why, now are we going to head off to the exam or not?"
"Yeah lets get going then!" Naruto shouted and the four of them began heading to the next stage of the exam.
"Naruto where is the next stage being held?" Kazumu said. He was walking a little bit slower because of last night.
"At the entrance to the Hidden Sand. It looks like it has something to do with the desert." Naruto sighed. "I'm going to be so thirsty when it's done."
"That's the only thing you're worried about? What about the potential of actually fighting someone in this test? Shouldn't that be higher on the priority list?" Kazumu looked at Naruto funny.
"Oh yeah! But didn't you say only three were a challenge? That shouldn't be too much of a problem." Naruto cheerfully said.
"I did, but if they were to be on the same team we might have a lot more trouble." Kazumu pointed out.
"Lets just worry about it when the time comes. I'm sure we will be able to hanldle it after all the training we've done." Naruto smiled.
"Speak for yourself, I feel terrible right now."
"The nightmares huh?" Naruto's expression dropped. "They don't seem to be stopping much."
"No kidding." Kazumu and Ino looked down about it too.
"You have nightmares? So what?" Konohamaru said, not understanding the situation.
"It's not like that moron!" Naruto was the first to defend Kazumu. "Every time he has one of these 'nightmares' he get really bad injuries out of nowhere like cuts and gashes. Plus there's a man who talks to him every time it happens." Naruto looked at Kazumu with a worried expression. "Speaking of that, did he say anything important this time."
"Well, he said I'm like this because I'm missing something. And once I get it I'll be better and never have the nightmares again." Kazumu explained. "Although he was pretty vague about it."
"That doesn't help much. Does that guy ever say anything useful?" Naruto asked.
"Last night had to be the most useful thing he's ever said. So not really." Kazumu frowned. "Why is everything so messed up."
"Don't worry about it Kazumu. I'm sure you'll find what you're missing soon enough." Ino comforted him. "You just focus on not pushing yourself in the Chunin exam."
"Yeah there is no way that's going to happen. I wouldn't use wood style to save my life right now." He sounded a little too serious about that.
"Well I wouldn't go that far but I agree you should avoid wood style. If anything you should avoid ninjutsu as well." Ino had an idea in mind. "Maybe the nightmares only happen when you're drained of chakra so avoiding jutsu that use high levels of chakra might help you for now."
"...ok I'll try it. I have done a lot of Taijutsu training after all." He was hesitant to abandon his ninjutsu and dojutsu like that but it seemed like the right idea.
"Have some faith in me Kazumu!" Ino yelled at him.
"I do! I do! Trust me!" He said trying to bail himself out.
"Guys! Argue later, we're here." They looked ahead to see the remaining ninja for the Chunin exam gathered and the proctor along with small handful of Chunin were in front of them.
"Ok, it looks like the last group for this stage just arrived." Kazumu looked at the guy and he seemed a little familiar. He walked up for a closer look. "Hmm?" He turned to face him and they stared at each other for a few seconds.
"Ahh! It's you!" Kazumu and the proctor who turned out to be Kankuro yelled in unison.
"What are you doing here!?" Kankuro had a defensive stance.
"Umm, long story short. I'm with the Hidden Leaf now." He held up the headband around his neck. Kankuro looked at him funny.
"Lets just get this over with. I don't think my brain can handle this." He walked back a bit and turned to face the ninja. "Everyone the next stage of the Chunin exam will be explained soon! Be prepared!"
"Looks like this stage is going to be interesting." Naruto had a serious expression for once.
"I think so as well." Kazumu looked ready for it as well.
"How are you two so pumped all of a sudden?" Konohamaru questioned. Kazumu and Naruto put their hands up and pointed and at the same time said.
"That guy!"
End of Chapter 10.
Sorry for the delay. It's just hard doing all this original stuff. I just hope you guys are liking it as much as I do.
Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.