A/N: Returning to Konoha after a mission is not always a smooth process. With the influx of foreign shinobi, Naruto finds himself in the middle of uncharted territory

Team Rin

Chapter 10: Foreign Influence

"I'm just saying there's definitely enough time to get more training in!" Naruto continued his argument, bouncing on the balls of his feet as Ayano handed her shinobi identification card to an older chūnin manning the entrance desk. Nothing about the man stood out other than how slow he moved while reading the card and marking down the genin's return.

After a week of dealing with the same type of work, Naruto had no idea how the man managed to stay sane without moving as fast as possible.

"The exam starts tomorrow, Naruto." Natsuko said from behind him. She leaned most of her weight onto her staff like a walking stick, and her normal, carefully maintained appearance broken by bedraggled hair and a sweaty face.

"Exactly!" Naruto agreed.

"This close to the start, it'd be smarter to just rest." Ayano spoke in a low, tired voice as she took her ID back from the guard. Naruto slapped his down on the desk with a force matching his eagerness to make something of the day. The shinobi glared at him, and Naruto glared right back.

"After how hard I pushed you three, I agree with the girls." Naruto's hopes were dashed as his sensei took his teammates' side. He sent her a pleading look, but she only glanced down to his stomach and flicked an eyebrow. Naruto grumbled under his breath, gathering his teacher's meaning.

It sucked that the others didn't get the boost from having a tenant in their gut.

"Never ever challenge a group of women and hope to win, kid," the guard said with a chuckle. Naruto's patience for the man grew thinner as his teammates bristled at the joke.

"Can't you go any faster?" He complained, and the guard froze in place for a moment before looking right into Naruto's eyes with an intensity Naruto rarely saw. The shadows caught on the lines on the man's face, and a chill went down Naruto's spine as a sliver of killer intent passed between them.

"Would you take the security of this village for granted, Genin Uzumaki?" Naruto's left eye twitched and he stood up straighter in defiance.

Sensei's hand landed on his shoulder just as he opened his mouth to tell the old man exactly where he could shove it. "Please don't take offense for my student's impatience, Sarutobi-san." Naruto tensed as he heard the man's name. This old man was related to the Hokage? "We've been away for some time."

The member of the Sarutobi clan eased back into his seat, still looking annoyed. "There are policies that need to be respected, and lessons to be—"

"Hey, Shirou-ojisan!" A deep rumble of a shout interrupted the chūnin. The man's eyes closed as a sigh of irritation left him with his head hanging. "Send for an ANBU squad, we need an escort to the old man right away!" A bearded man taller than Rin-sensei and almost twice as wide from solid muscle ambled up to the desk, cigarette smoke trailing up into the air in a lazy trail as he leaned onto the chūnin's paperwork-covered workspace with a grin. He wore the standard jōnin uniform, and three familiar faces trailed behind him in a triangle formation around four people Naruto didn't recognize.

"Yo, Naruto!" Inuzuka Kiba called with a grin, his teeth bared as he raised a hand in greeting. Naruto would have responded in kind, but was distracted by the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Standing just behind Kiba, she loomed over the genin by at least a head. Her long black hair was pulled back in a low ponytail save for two bands of hair left to frame her angular face. With her slight frame and wide, brown eyes, Naruto was smitten on site.

"There are proper rules about this, Asuma," Sarutobi Shirou muttered, but Naruto paid him no more mind as he focused on the visitors, put off as he noticed the girl wearing a hatai-ite around her neck with four wavy lanes arranged in a diamond pattern rather than Konoha's spiral leaf. It looked as if they had taken Kirigakure's symbol and rotated it.

"I've got four shinobi claiming diplomatic immunity." Asuma-sensei put out his cigarette with a burst of air from his fingertips. His smile gave way to a grim line. "The rest is for my dad's ears only. S-class."

That snapped Naruto out of his daze.

"Eh? You guys got to go on an S-rank mission, no fair!" Kiba's grin only widened as he puffed out his chest, but Shikamaru spoke up from the back of the formation.

"If this had been an actual S-rank, we'd all be dead." Kiba deflated, complaining about his teammate killing the vibe, but Naruto spotted Chōji nodding his agreement with his lazy teammate. Naruto had to do a double take when he realized the large genin had a sword twice his size strapped to his back. When did the Akimichi get such an awesome weapon?

Naruto scrubbed his hair in frustration and disbelief with how far it looked like he was falling behind his fellow rookies.

The oldest among the strangers laughed beneath the bandages covering the bottom half of his face. He wore his hatai-ite sideways, so the metal plate rested above his left ear. It had the same pattern as the girl's. "At least the Nara and Akimichi understand when they're outclassed, brat." The foreign ninja's hand flashed forward in a blink, flicking Kiba in the back of the head. The Inuzuka flailed his hands in protest, glaring at the older man.

"You shouldn't be so hostile, Zabuza-sama," the pretty girl said, sighing. By the way Shikamaru and Chōji laughed along with the other two foreign shinobi, Naruto guessed this had become a familiar pastime.

"I'll send for Gecko and Neko," Shirou said with a sigh. Naruto's ID hit the genin in the back of the head. He turned to glare at the gate guard, but was utterly ignored. Natsuko hiding a giggle behind a cough did not help soothe Naruto's irritation.

"Grumpy old bastard," Naruto said under his breath, choosing not to retaliate under Sensei's warning look.

"I'm just glad our C-ranks aren't the only ones that turn interesting." Ayano sidled up to the group, looking at each with the same glint in her eye she got while answering Sensei's quiz questions. "You're the Demon of the Mist," she said, nodding toward the man with the bandaged face. Naruto thought the man grinned beneath the wrappings.

"Good to know not all of Konoha's brats are clueless." Zabuza crossed his arms, eyebrow raised. "Shame you don't have the sense to be wary of me." Sensei tensed and she released Naruto, taking a half step forward.

"Surrounded by friendlies," Ayano said with a shrug, turning to the pretty foreigner. "And I figure Asuma-sensei wouldn't let you anywhere near these three without good reason." Shikamaru hummed something that sounded like he agreed. "Kofuku Ayano." She offered her hand along with her name and a bright smile to the kunoichi, who blinked in surprise but returned the greeting.

"Haku," she said in a voice as delicate as the rest of her. She gestured to each of her teammates in turn. "These are Akemi and Akio." Both spoke a quiet greeting and Naruto thought they must have been twins. They stood the same height a head below Haku, had the same brown, spiky hair, and wore matching, simple outfits of blue on black. The only difference Naruto could see were their eyes and voices. One had blue eyes and a low voice, while the other had green and the higher tone of a girl.

"Welcome to Konoha," Ayano said, still smiling. "Last I heard, we weren't hearing anything out of Kirigakure or the Land of Water." Ayano still held Haku's hand as she tilted her head to the side like a curious puppy.

"Well, it-" Zabuza's shoulder landed on Haku's shoulder, cutting the younger shinobi off. Asuma spoke up as well.

"Hence the S-class part, kid. Need to know only."

"And they need to know?" Naruto asked, curiosity piqued now that he wasn't supposed to know the information.

"We don't," Kiba said, arms crossing. His nin-dog, Akamaru, yipped in agreement from his place in the hood on Kiba's jacket.

"You've been escorting these guys without knowing why?" Natsuko asked, surprised.

"Part of the job," Asuma said with a shrug. Rin-sensei hummed her agreement.

"It's been troublesome," Shikamaru said, stuffing his hands into his pockets and backing away from the four foreign shinobi. "But they haven't been hostile."

"That is good to hear, Nara-san." Naruto blinked, surprised at the new woman's voice. He turned to find two ANBU flanking him, their ceramic masks pointed right at Zabuza, who stood up straighter under their gaze. Naruto shivered, glad he wasn't the one under their impassive scrutiny.

ANBU could be downright creepy.

The other one coughed, ruining their mystique a bit and taking some of the tension out of the air. "We'll take it from here." He coughed again. "Asuma, if you would come with us?"

"Of course," the bearded jōnin said. He waved his other two students away from the Mist ninja and took up Kiba's position on point. "You three get some rest," he told his students. "The rest of you, follow me." The seven disappeared in a burst of speed, making a beeline right for the Hokage tower.

"Even checking back into the village can never go smoothly," Natsuko said after they had gone. "I think we're cursed, Sensei." Rin-sensei rolled her eyes at Natsuko's halfhearted joke.

"That's not even funny, Natsuko." Ayano spoke while still looking after where the strange group had gone. Naruto was doing the same.

"When did they take the sword?" Chōji spoke up for the first time. The larger genin looked startled as he reached behind his back to empty air. "I swear I just had it!"

"They're ANBU," Shikamaru said with a shrug.

"Just hope Zabuza doesn't blame you for it going missing." Kiba joked, but Chōji went a little green. Shikamaru kicked a pebble from the ground that hit Kiba square in the middle of his forehead, knocking the boy back a step.

"What was that for?" Kiba rubbed at the spot of impact, pouting toward his teammate. Shikamaru just gave him a look, and Kiba backed down. Naruto chuckled at Kiba's misfortune, earning a glare.

"Are you guys going to be entering the exams?" Natsuko asked before Naruto could get into it with the Inuzuka. Kiba perked up in an instant.

"Hell yeah! Asuma-sensei signed us up the second he could."

"Aw man, Rin-sensei made us do all this special crap before she would let us."

"You'll thank me later!" Rin-sensei called absentmindedly over her shoulder as she spoke with the Sarutobi manning the gate desk.

"Probably trying to make sure you wouldn't embarrass her in the first round." Kiba laughed, and Akamaru yipped along with him.

Naruto clenched his fists, knowing he shouldn't rise to the bait, but… "I'll do way better than you, dog breath." A simple insult was better than a punch to the jaw, right?

"We'll see about that, won't we Akamaru?" Kiba's grin went feral as Akamaru leapt out of his hood and onto his head.

"Save it for the exams, guys." Shikamaru said. The Nara trudged forward, eyes to the sky. "And I'd worry more about the foreign ninja, than each other."

"You're such a killjoy, Shika." Despite his protest, Kiba trailed after his teammate with Chōji bringing up the rear.

Shirou Sarutobi's bellowing yell for them to get back to the desk and follow procedure had Naruto in stitches as Team Asuma fell under the uptight ninja's mercy. He shared a glance with Natsuko and Ayano, and the trio ran toward the village proper before they could be delayed any longer.

Naruto felt completely done with paperwork.

"So I wonder what that was all about," Natsuko said as they turned onto the main road and dodged around the growing number of civilians.

"Had to be big." Ayano reached up to pull her hair back into a loose tail, back arching in a stretch at the same time. "I think they might have been from one of the rebellion's forces."

"The symbol on their hatai-ite was weird for Kiri." Naruto agreed. He threaded his hands behind his head and looked up to the sky as orange and pink bled into blue and took a deep breath to get all the familiar smells in one go. It was good to be home.

"No use speculating in the open, you three." Naruto was not surprised Sensei had caught up without making a sound, and threw an annoyed look over his shoulder.

"Boring." He accused and focused forward again. The girls mumbled their agreement, but Sensei brushed them off.

"But still right," she said. "Now, I'm ordering you lot to go home and rest. I won't have any of you passing out in the first round because you overextended yourselves, got it?" Ayano and Natsuko voiced their agreement without issue, and Naruto only gave in when the back of his head started to sting from Sensei's eyes.

"Yes, Rin-sensei…" He tried not to sound too disappointed. There was so much he could do.

"Great, I'll see you all, bright and early!" Their teacher waved and left them behind with a sealless Shunshin. Naruto had the passing desire to figure out how to do ninjutsu without hand seals, but put it out of mind. His chakra control sucked less than before, but he still had a long, long way to go.

"So which faction do y—" Ayano trailed off and they all froze as a pained scream reached their ears. Naruto's heart skipped a beat as he recognized who it belonged to.

"Sakura-chan!" He sprinted forward at top speed, leaving his teammates behind and leaping to the rooftops without a conscious thought. In less than twenty seconds he found his crush on a less traveled side street, standing next to Ino as both held position over three younger kids in a defensive formation. She held one arm folded on itself and held high and Naruto felt a deep rumble in his chest as a growl escaped his throat.

She was bleeding.

"Naruto-nii!" Naruto recognized the voice belonging to the Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru, who had taken it upon himself to declare Naruto his eternal rival once upon a time, and the blonde genin's anger grew.

Messing with Sakura-chan was ridiculously stupid. Messing with a kid that actually looked up to Naruto? It couldn't be measured.

He landed in a crouch next to Sakura-chan and stared down the ninja across from them. He wore a black bodysuit with a hood that had cat ears of all things, and purple makeup decorated his face in purple lines and curves. "You alright?" He asked the group at large, not risking looking away from the sneering boy.

"Just fine Naruto," Sakura-chan said, though her voice shook a bit.

"This bastard thought it would be okay to mess with kids while in Konoha," Ino said in a voice low and mocking. She twirled a kunai in her off hand and held her right in a pouch Naruto assumed was full of shuriken. "We thought he ought to know better."

"Nobody was actually going to get hurt," the bastard in question said. "You two jumped in the middle of my swing!" Naruto narrowed his eyes at the bloody kunai the teen held. Sakura-chan's blood. His nostrils flared.

"Why the hell were you trying to scare kids?"

"They attacked me!" Naruto chanced a glance back to Konohamaru and his friends, who looked sheepish under his eyes.

"We were playing ninja…" The stuffy-nosed Udon said, head hung low.

"He looked like he'd be fun." Moegi defended herself, tugging on her long hair she managed to keep in two sections pointed to the sky. "He's wearing makeup and a cat suit!"

"It's war paint." Killing intent bled off the strange man in waves and Naruto snapped his focus back to him and took a step forward. Ino did the same while Sakura backed closer to the kids. Compared to the irritating gate guard's killing intent, this guy's was nothing, but that didn't stop him as he reached for a large, wrapped something he had bundled onto his back.

"Kankuro!" A shouted rebuke froze their enemy in place as a blonde girl dropped into the alley on his left. She wore her hair in four short tails that held her spiky hair in check, and stood taller than all of them. Her hatai-ite gleamed in the light of the setting sun, highlighting the sigil of Sunagakure, a thin rectangle over an hourglass shape. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" She gripped wide meter and a half long block of metal in a white-knuckled grip.

"I—"

"You know what? No." The girl interrupted, turning to Naruto and the rest in a half bow. "I apologize for whatever actions my little brother took." Kankuro crossed his head and turned his head up and away, sulking. Naruto's guard started to drop in sheer surprise.

"How's your arm, Sakura?" Ino asked, keeping her kunai poised.

"Burns a bit, won't stop bleeding." Sakura-chan tried to her voice steady, but Naruto picked up a tiny tremble that gave away her worry. Ino's eyes narrowed and she marched forward. Naruto kept pace with her in case the Suna kunoichi was only putting on an act of apology.

"You attacked kids with a poisoned kunai?" Naruto's heart skipped a beat in worry, flashing back to Sarutobi and Rin-sensei passing out. His step faltered and he looked back to Sakura-chan to make sure she was still standing. That Konohamaru or one of his annoying but friendly friends may have been hit if Sakura-chan and Ino hadn't been there…

Ino reached into a pocket of her sleeveless shirt – a bulkier thing than her normal dress – and pulled out a thin piece of metal the size of a needle that Naruto recognized as a senbon. The foreign kunoichi's eyes hardened and she stepped in front of her brother. The giant block of metal opened up into what Naruto vaguely recognized from history class as a Sunagakure war fan – Naruto couldn't help the passing thought of awesome that flitted through his mind – and held it in a defensive position.

"Kankuro?" Her tone sounded clipped, demanding answers. The child attacker winced.

"I wasn't aiming to hit them, Temari!" Kankuro voice grew higher as he tried to defend himself. "If she hadn't come out of nowhere, nobody would have gotten hurt!"

Naruto felt a distinct lack of sympathy. "What kind of idiot are you?" Ino stopped her advance as Temari tensed, but did not stop laying into the Suna shinobi. Kankuro bristled and only his sister's unmovable stance kept him from stepping toward the blonde pair. "Whatever, just give me the antidote." She twirled her senbon between nimble fingers and slipped it into a wristband and held out her hand expectantly.

"That is Sunagakure's classified formula," the boy said and Naruto had enough.

"Who cares?" He said, advancing and cracking his knuckles. He didn't like having to scare people, but Sakura-chan's health was at stake. "If you won't give it up, we'll just take it." Ino moved in step with him. He did not know how much stronger she had gotten since the academy, but his clones should more than make up the difference.

"Kankuro." Temari's jaw clenched and Naruto thought she didn't want to fight, but she stood by her brother. Naruto could respect the kunoichi for that.

"It's my own recipe," he said in a whine. "I—"

"Can't afford to piss off the host village," the older sibling cut him off.

"It's a non-lethal dose." He crossed his arms, not giving in. "It'll wear off in about twenty minutes." Naruto paled as he realized what taking an actual serious injury from a poison that didn't let the bleeding stop for so long would do…

"Forgive me if I don't want to take your word for it," Ino said.

"She shouldn't have dived headfirst into a situation she couldn't handle!"

"You were attacking kids," Naruto repeated the main point as Konohamaru and friends shouted their agreement. The four fight-ready ninja returned to a silent standoff, waiting for someone to make the first move.

The tension broke in their favor as a new voice called from behind the Suna shinobi. "What trouble have you gotten my team into, Dobe?" Naruto did not think he had ever smiled at Sasuke's appearance before.

"Never been glad to see you show up, Teme." Naruto grinned as Kankuro spun on his heal to face the Uchiha. With the foreign shinobi outnumbered, and Naruto knowing how good Sasuke was, he felt confident they could take them and get the antidote.

"The freaky guy poisoned Sakura and is being stingy with the antidote." Ino summarized and Naruto felt a fresh wave of killing intent come from both Sasuke and Sakura.

"I am not freaky!"

"Don't make it sound so bad," Sakura complained. "I saved the kids!"

"You do know where you are?" Sasuke asked, the condescending tone Naruto hated in full effect. "You have nothing to win here."

Temari sighed and snapped her war fan shut as she stood up from her ready stance. "He's right, Kankuro."

Kankuro grumbled as he reached a hesitant hand into an inner pocket. "If Gaara were here…" Temari sent another sharp look his way and Kankuro shut up, pulling a tiny vial of red liquid and throwing it toward Sakura. Ino intercepted it and held the contents up to the light, eyeing it suspiciously. Kankuro's face twitched.

Ino popped the tiny cork off the vial and wafted the air above it toward her nose. She flinched against the smell but handed it off to Sakura with a grimace. "Straight onto the wound?" She half said to her teammate, half questioned the foreign ninja. Kankuro gave a clipped nod and Ino seemed pleased for a split second before she regained a neutral mask.

Sakura poured the liquid onto her cut and Naruto watched out of the corner of the eye as the blood began to clot the moment the liquid made contact. The girl hissed in pain but managed to cover the entire slice.

Naruto began to relax as tension bled out between the groups.

"We should go," Temari said with a pointed look to her unhappy brother, who nodded after a reluctant moment. Before they could make good on that idea, another figure dropped onto the street whose presence came along with a sense that put Naruto more on edge than he had been since Takigakure.

Standing the same height as Naruto, the redheaded boy wore a dark brown shirt over mesh underarmor with pants to match and a white sash tied loosely across his chest so its tail fell between his waist. A gourd bigger than the new shinobi was strapped to his back on a long leather strap, and Naruto wondered what use it could be in a fight.

Pale green eyes in sockets shadowed by lack of sleep looked between each groups with a complete lack of any emotion Naruto could recognized. He shivered when the boy's gaze passed over him for just a brief moment. He could see the boy dismissing them all in turn, and while the slight pissed Naruto off, he found he couldn't talk.

"Kankuro, Temari." the boy's voice was as dispassionate as the rest of them. "You're embarrassing the village. Come." The other two Suna shinobi flinched at the words, and when the gourd-carrier leapt toward the roofs, they both followed without a moment's hesitation.

When they were gone, Naruto let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"What was with that guy?" Ino asked. She curled in on herself and her breathing was ragged. Naruto noticed Sasuke looked nonplussed as well.

"I don't know," Sakura-chan hugged her arms across her stomach, looking green. She shook her head and looked to the kids. "You three okay?"

"Yeah, thanks Sakura-neechan," Konohamaru said, managing a trembling smile.

"That was an awesome save!" Moegi gushed, hopping on her toes. Sakura-chan glanced to her injured arm and hid a grimace behind a smile.

"I hope that guy doesn't come looking for us," Udon said, shivering and sniffling.

"I doubt he would care that much." Ino patted the sickly boy on the head with a reassuring smile and Naruto shook himself from his stupor.

"Yeah, and if he does, we'll show him what happens when you mess with someone from Konoha! Right, Sasuke?" Silence greeted Naruto's boast and a glance over his shoulder found the brooding genin staring off in the direction the Suna shinobi had retreated, a look on his face that set off Naruto's warning bells.

"That feeling…" The Uchiha whispered, eyes going glassy.

"Naruto!" Natsuko's shout brought Sasuke back to the present as he shook his head, frowning. Both of Naruto's teammates rounded the corner, out of breath and pale. "What the hell!?" Naruto winced. He knew they were exhausted and felt a twinge of guilt for leaving them in the dust, but Sakura-chan had been in trouble, so…

"Is everyone alright?" Ayano asked. Naruto gave a hesitant confirmation and Ayano nodded before promptly sat and rested her head against raised knees.

"You knew we were running on empty, Naruto." Natusko leaned against her staff, getting her breathing under control. "You can't just leave us behind like that during the exams."

"So you three are going to be in the exams as well?" Ino asked, saving Naruto from his angry teammate's annoyance.

"Yup," Ayano said without looking up at the group, deadpan. Natsuko shot a concerned look toward the redhead.

"You are on the brink of chakra depletion."

"I'm fine." Ayano hoisted herself back to her feet to prove her point and focused on Ino and Sakura. "When did Kakashi-sensei sign you up?"

Naruto left the girls and the excited kids to talk about the exam, eager to not to earn any more ire. He shuffled over to Sasuke, who stood within hearing distance of the conversation without being close enough to be drawn in.

"Who do you think that guy was?" Naruto asked. The dark haired boy looked to the middle distance for a minute before shrugging.

"Someone strong." There was an excited edge to Sasuke's words that Naruto didn't understand. He wasn't afraid of the Suna ninja, but he wasn't thrilled about being in the same city as him. Not when he gave off a feeling like Satoshi had in Fū's village.

"Something about him sets me on edge," he said.

"That's what makes it interesting," Sasuke said with a slight smirk. "We can only become stronger through challenge. These exams may actually be worth my time." He glanced toward his teammates chatting with Naruto's for a brief moment before nodding. "I think we should avoid each other as long as we can."

"What? Why?"

"Because when I beat you, Naruto, I want to make sure everyone can see." Sasuke's grin took the edge off the insult and Naruto felt himself returning the gesture.

"So you want an audience when I kick your ass? I can live with that."

"We'll see." Sasuke nodded to Naruto, spared another look to his team, and walked off without a word. Naruto watched him go and felt his earlier tension drain away.

If Sasuke was embracing their new opponents without hesitation, there would be no way Naruto would let himself fall behind. He walked back to his team with a bounce in his step, ready to take the exams by storm.

A/N: And that's the end of the Chunin exam setup! Next chapter we kick off the first task, which, as mentioned last chapter, will be different than the quiz in canon!

Some more ripples are felt in this chapter by the surprising appearance of Zabuza, Haku, and company! We are much further down the timeline than the Wave Arc - and what happened there will be explored, I assure you. Asuma's team did *not* have it in place of Naruto. Them showing up also gave me a chance to show a brief slice of life for the new Team 10, leaving the only remaining team yet to appear on 'screen' is Team Kurenai, who will be showing up next chapter!

Also, fun fact, Haku is most definitely a boy in this fic. Should lead to some amusing situations sooner rather than later.

Anyway, please let me know what you think! Reviews are an author's lifeblood, dattebayo!