Fist of Naruto
By The Unknown 007
Disclaimer: I don't own Fist of the North Star or Naruto. They belong to two great authors, so don't sue me, I have nothing to offer or sell save my eternal soul.
Author's notes: My apologies to everyone, I am sorry for not being able to get this chapter out to you so quickly, but I have been looking for a new job, and that caused me to stall on all my other projects. Thank you for your patience.
' ' – Thoughts
"Heheheh" – Kyuubi speaking
Chapter 9
The Chuunin Exam:
The Second Exam
Naruto walked toward the Second Exam, he was mentally preparing himself for this next exam. All that he knew was that he was going to a training ground but he did not know what to expect. As he approached the training ground he saw a group of people standing there. As he got closer, he noticed the chain, lock and seal on the door. "What is this place," he said as he looked at the forbidden area sign.
"This is where the Second Chuunin Exam will take place." Anko said. "The 44th training area… Also known as the Forest of Death."
"The Forest of Death?" Naruto repeated. 'Where do they come up with these names?' he thought as he noticed a rectangle box moving behind him. 'Are they trying to be a rock? And pretending to be one on grass?' He slowly walked away, only to see that they were following him. He slowly went faster and faster, as he went in circles to see how far the group was going to go. Finally after a couple of laps, he did a quick turn and saw the box quickly stop behind him. "Oy, Konohamaru. What are you doing here?"
A voice came from the box, "I should have expected that from the man I look up to. Good job detecting me." Suddenly the box began glowing brightly and suddenly exploded in a big cloud of smoke. Once the smoke cleared there knelt three kids coughing. "Hey, you used too much gunpowder." The group then noticed that everyone was staring at them.
"The one who possesses the sex appeal of an adult, and the female ninja from the senior group, Moegi."
"The one who loves dividing numbers, Udon."
"This village's number one genius ninja, Konohamaru!"
"The three of us make…"
"The Konohamaru Corps!"
"HEHEHE, WHO SAID COMEDY IS DEAD. HEHEHEHE" Kyuubi said.
Naruto ignored the Kyuubi, as he tried to figure out what the Konohamaru Corps was doing here. 'I know it's not to play, and they know how serious this exam is, so that leaves… ah ha, a newspaper story. Well let's see if I am right.' "What do you three want? I'm about to take the Second Exam for the Chuunin Selection Exam. I don't have time to play with you," Naruto said.
"We didn't come here to play!" Konohamaru said.
"Yeah, we came here on a story," Moegi responded.
"Yes, yes," Udon said in agreement.
"A story?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, we were asked to do an exclusive story on the Chuunin Selection Exam for our school newspaper." Konohamaru responded.
"So can we ask you some questions? Please, cooperate," Moegi said.
"Please," Udon repeated as he bowed to Naruto.
"But…" Naruto said as he tried to think of an excuse.
"Hey there! What are you doing!" Anko said as she walked toward Naruto and the Konohamaru Corps.
Naruto looked up at Anko and said, "Konohamaru wants to do an exclusive for his school newspaper or something."
"Oh," Anko said, as she looked stunned for a moment. She then put her right hand in back of her head in embarrassment as she said, "Yes, I forgot that Hokage-sama mentioned something like that."
Naruto sweatdropped. 'You forgot?' he thought.
"All right, we're going to have a 10 minute break now. If you are asked any questions just concede and cooperate quietly." Anko yelled.
"What the…?" Naruto said confused. He quickly shook his head and smiled at Konohamaru. "This is your chance, you can find out about other countries now," he said.
Konohamaru looked confused, "But what about you?"
Naruto smiled, "You already know about me, Konohamaru. Got talk to the ninjas from other countries. Ask them what it's like in their country, what are their customs, and how they like being here. This will give you a better understanding of the world outside of Konoha."
The Corps nodded and dispersed into the crowd. "Well done," Anko said. "This will give them a better understanding of the world around them."
Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I learned that lesson, when I was traveling with Ken-sama." Naruto walked to a shaded corner, and sat down. 'Oy, Chibi-Kyu,' He thought as he went into his mind.
"DAMNIT KIT, STOP CALLING ME THAT!" The Kyuubi yelled. "WHAT DO YOU WANT, ANYWAY?"
'Well since we have a few minutes, I thought you could show me a good jutsu while we wait.' Naruto thought.
"HMMM… YOU DO HAVE A POINT, OKAY. HERE IS A JUTSU YOU CAN USE WHEN YOU FIND THAT YOU NEED TO GIVE YOURSELF SOME SPACE. ITS CALLED BUSHIN DAIBAKUHA NO JUTSU. YOU CREATE A KAGE BUSHIN AND THEN LET IT EXPLODE, DEPENDING ON THE AMOUNT OF CHAKRA YOU GIVE THE CLONE YOU CAN CAUSE A SMALL TO LARGE EXPLOSION, WHICH CAN INJURE OR KILL THOSE CAUGHT IN THE BLAST. HERE ARE THE SEALS FOR IT." The Kyuubi said as it began teaching Naruto the jutsu.
To the outside world it looked like Naruto was asleep, which caused some constraint to his teammates, who could not believe that Naruto would sleep at a time like this.
Later
After the Konohamaru Corps had finished their interviews, everyone once again stood in front of the Forest of Death. "This sure is a creepy place," Sakura said.
Anko chuckled, "You will be able to experience why this place is called the Forest of Death."
Naruto raised his eyebrow 'She makes it sooo easy.' He quickly created a clone, and sent it to do some insulting. The clone closed his eyes and blew air through his nose, hard. It then got into a "girly" pose, and repeated what Anko said while shaking his bottom side to side. "There's no point in trying to scare us like that! I'm not scared at all!" Naruto's clone exclaimed.
Anko was not impressed "Really? You sure are energetic." She quickly pulled out a kunai and threw it to the clone. Naruto to allow Anko to hit the clone, he watched as the kunai hit the clone and continue past it to cut the hair of another Genin. He watched as Anko went behind the clone. "Boys like you die the fastest." Anko said. He watched as Anko slowly grabbed the clone's head and began wiped the blood from the clone's face. "After spilling out the red blood I love all over the place," Anko said. Before she could continue the other Genin appeared behind her, she quickly pulled out her kunai as she saw the tongue hold the kunai.
"Here's your knife," the Genin said.
"Thank you." Anko replied. "But don't stand behind me like that. That is, unless you want to die young." She then grabbed the kunai from the tongue.
"Well, I got itchy when I see blood," the Genin said. "Also, my precious hair got cut, so I got excited."
But before either could continue, the clone disappeared, which caused both ninjas to look at the smoke. "If that's true then I think you both need therapy. Or at least a better excuse to why your quirky," a voice said beside them. They turned to see Naruto smile at them with his blades held parallel to his arms with the curved blade jutting out toward them. "I hope you don't mind I decided to let you play with each other, if you want to continue, there is a love hotel not far from here. I am sure they can accommodate your needs," Naruto said with a smile. He then pointed to Anko, "Or at least you could inspect that tongue of his more closely?"
Both Anko and the Genin were stunned. They both thought that Naruto was the clone and to see it disappear and then having him suddenly appear beside them was startling. Anko quickly shook it off, although the thought of the tongue and Naruto's comment made her blush, slightly. The Genin was shocked as to what Naruto had said and quickly move away.
Anko went back to the front of the group. "Before we begin the Second Exam, I'm going to pass these out to everyone," she said as she pulled out a stack of papers from her hand. Everyone saw that the papers were consent forms. "These are consent forms. Those taking this exam must sign these. The reason is from here on, people will die. Therefore we need people's consent before we continue. Otherwise, I'd be held responsible," Anko said, she then laughed out loud. "Now, I will begin the explanation of the Second Exam. To be concise, you will all go through an extreme survival match," she said as she handed the form out to a Genin who passed them out to the others.
Naruto listen to the information given about the training ground, and heard everyone's comments on the exam. After all the comments, he continued to listen to Anko give the rules to the contest. He took his consent form, he already knew the reason for the consent form, and so he decided to wait until they called his group up. Once there he took the Earth scroll and put it into his pouch. 'I think I should make a copy of it so that if we lose it, we won't lose it,' Naruto thought.
"NICE GOING KIT. THAT'S USING YOUR BRAIN," the Kyuubi said.
Naruto walked behind his group and quickly made some seals to change an explosive note to the scroll. Team Seven followed a ninja to the appointed point. Naruto sat down and waited for the door to open.
Once the gates opened, Naruto followed his team and extended his senses to give him an early warning to danger. He watched as Sasuke and Sakura turned when they heard someone scream. "It looks like someone has already been eliminated," Naruto said. Sasuke nodded, while Sakura shivered. Naruto sensed someone watching them. So he quickly went to a tree, "I need to pee," Naruto said.
"You idiot!" She screamed as she hit Naruto in the back of his head. "What are you trying to do in front of a lady!" She pointed to another tree, "Go behind the tree," she stated.
Naruto did as he was told, but as soon as he was away from the group he created a clone and went underground. He watched as his clone was caught and searched. He waited to see if the Genin had brought anyone else. When he saw that the Genin was alone. He would allow the Genin face Sasuke and Sakura. 'This will be a great time to let them know how bad it can get during this exam. He watched as Sasuke saw through the disguise, which was easy considering the Genin had the pouch on the wrong side. Naruto dispersed the clone and waited until the right time appeared. He watched as Sasuke made the first move as he attacked the Genin from behind. Sasuke then pointed out that the Genin's flaw in creating Naruto. Naruto watched as Sasuke attacked the Genin one of Uchiha's fire technique, the Katon Housenka no Jutsu.
'Interesting technique, using it to get some breathing room to allow a ninja some time to use other methods of attack.' Naruto thought. He watched the fight escalate into a kunai fight, only to have the Genin attempt to lead Sasuke to another area. 'Probably to get some support. I can't allow that to happen,' he thought as he prepared himself.
Causing a ground eruption to occur in front of the Genin, he used the force of the eruption to send the Genin back to Sasuke. He watched as Sasuke was heading toward the Genin, who had his back turned away from Sasuke. He knew that Sasuke would try something to end the fight with a spectacular move. So he wasn't disappointed when he saw Sasuke take down the Genin by plunging a kunai into the Genin. The Genin cursed himself as he quickly left.
"Damn," Sasuke said. "I was hoping to get their scroll."
"HEY!" Naruto yelled. "There is no I in team, and beside there are more than just you in this group." Once he saw Sasuke back down, he heard Sakura yell at Naruto about losing a chance at a scroll. Naruto ignored the comment, and decided to leave the scroll he took from the Genin a secret. 'This way it will help they train and learn how to survive in the wilderness,' he thought.
After the fight
In a small clearing
Team Seven was gathered in a circle. As they sat down both Naruto and Sasuke notice that there was some one close. Before Naruto could get the person Sasuke spoke.
"If the three of us gets separated, don't trust anyone even if they looks like one of us. There's a possibility that an enemy will transform into one of us and approach us."
Naruto nodded, while Sakura responded, "So, what should we do?"
"Let's decide on a password," Sasuke said.
"Password?" Naruto asked. 'Why is he doing this, it will give away our ability to find out who is the real person?'
"If a different password is given, assume that they're the enemy no matter what they look like, got it?" Sasuke said. "I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully. First, you will ask, "The ninja song 'Ninka?'" The answer is the following… It is a good chance when a large number of enemies are making a scene. There are no hideouts even in a quiet place. It is important for a ninja to know the right time. The time when the enemy is tired, and has his guard down. That's it"
Naruto raised an eyebrow. 'He knows I won't say all that, he's baiting the spy. Cool, better play along.' "Can you say it one more time?"
"Huh?" Sakura asked.
"I said I'm only going to say it once," Sasuke responded.
"Could you not remember it all?" Sakura asked. "You're stupid. I memorized it right away."
"I remembered it perfectly, too!" Naruto yelled back. "I just wanted to be sure by hearing it one more time…"
"I'll keep the scroll." Sasuke said.
Naruto raised his eyebrow and handed the fake scroll to Sasuke. As soon as Naruto had finished handing the scroll to Sasuke, his hand shot up and caught a senbon needle. The others stared at what Naruto had done, only to have their eyes bug out even more as Naruto sent the senbon needle back to its origin. Naruto, himself, did not even recognize what he had done, and looked at his group. Seeing they're bugged out expressions, he asked, "What?"
Unfortunately, a howl came from their side. The howl became louder, suddenly a blast of air hit Team Seven. "A new enemy?" Sasuke asked as the air rushed by them.
Naruto was hit by the blast, usually it would not have done a thing save give a refreshing breeze to him, but with the chakra enforcing the blast, it lifted Naruto off the ground and into the air. Naruto attempted to stop himself from flying but to no avail. Eventually the blast ended and Naruto was able to land safely with his head bowed. "Man, who would have thought that there was a blast of air that was strong enough to move me?" Naruto said as he shook his head. "Yosh, here we go." He looked up to see a giant snake looking back at him; he then raised an eyebrow. "It's never easy," Naruto said as the snake attacked. Naruto jump upwards as the snake landed where he once was. "Nanto Senshu Ryu Geki!" Naruto cried as his hand disappeared in a haze of movement. The result was devastating as Naruto's hand pierced into the snake's head. Naruto continued to push until his forearm disappeared into the snake's head, then with a quick jerk, Naruto ripped his hand away from the snake, pulling out a chunk of gray matter. The snake landed on the ground with a thud. Naruto took a look at his hand, and pulled out a towel from his pouch. "It's never easy," he said as he wiped his arm. Once he was done, he closed his eyes and searched for the rest of his team. Once he located them, he ran toward their location.
Naruto came upon an interesting sight; a man had somehow wrapped his body around a tree like a snake and was facing Sasuke. Naruto quickly create a Kage Bushin and let it throw several stars and kunais in front of the snake man while he threw three kunais. Once close to the snake man, one behind Sakura, and the other toward the tower in the middle of the forest. He cloaked his chakra and let the clone speak. "Sorry Sasuke. I forgot the password."
Sasuke could not believe that Naruto had finally shown up. He quickly responded, "Naruto, you may have come here to show off by helping us, but don't get involved! Run! He's way above our level!"
"Looks like you defeated that big snake, Naruto-kun." The other ninja said.
Naruto's clone raised an eyebrow. Meanwhile Naruto was sending other transformed Kage Bushins to surround the group. 'If what Sasuke and the ninja said is true, then that would explain who sent the snake, and who he truly is.'
Meanwhile, Sasuke was trying to figure out what he could do. He cursed his luck and thought back to all the times where Naruto's arrival had caused "bad things" to happen. He, however, conveniently forgot the times that Naruto helped out the team.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey! Looks like you were picking on the weak, eh. Now that I, the great Uzumaki Naruto, am here, I'm going to beat you to a pulp!" the clone said.
'Crap!' Sasuke thought, 'All three of us are going to get killed at this rate! What should I do?'
'Sasuke-kun.' Sakura thought.
'Shit… This is the only way I know of…' Sasuke thought as he dismissed his Sharingan. "Wait." He cried. "I'll give you the scroll. Please, take this, and leave us in peace." The rest of Team Seven was shocked that he would say that. "Take it," Sasuke said as he threw the scroll to the other ninja. But before it could reach the ninja it disappeared.
Everyone watched as Naruto rebound off another tree and land next to Sasuke. But before Sasuke could say anything, Naruto grabbed Sasuke and threw him toward Sakura. Naruto turned to the other ninja.
Sasuke recovered from the throw, and yelled at Naruto, "Why you… Why did you do that?"
Naruto ignored Sasuke. He looked at the other ninja. "You know I heard a rumor about a man that could summon snakes."
The other ninja raised his eyebrow, "Oh, what did you hear."
"I was told that if I ever met that man to say two things to him," Naruto said, "Orochimaru."
The rest of Team Seven gasped as they heard that name. They, too, have heard about the Snake Sannin.
The other ninja chuckled. "So you know who I am… it won't help you at all." Orochimaru was about to lunge at Naruto, when he heard Naruto yell.
"WAIT! As I was saying before I was interrupted. There were two thing that needed to be said." Naruto said with his hand raised in a stop position.
"And what is that?" Orochimaru asked.
Naruto grinned, "First, stop staring at my young ass, you fruitcake!"
This caused everyone save Naruto to hit the ground in stunned amazement as a crow passed overhead cawing out. But before any of them could respond to Naruto's comment, Naruto continued. "Second," Naruto said with a smile. "Whatever you had planned for us, kiss it good bye fruit cake." He then turned his eyes toward his teammates.
Orochimaru followed it, and widened his eyes in amazement as Naruto suddenly appeared behind the rest of Team Seven, in a bright yellow flash. Orochimaru watched as Naruto grabbed the two and flashed again. "NOOO!" he cried as he turned toward the clone.
"Boom." The clone said as the kunai that was next to Orochimaru ignited and exploded.
Orochimaru barely escaped the explosion, but before he could act. He found that he could not move. He quickly looked at his arms, to see several Narutos grabbing his arms and body.
"Normally, I would have just ran away, but I figured that you would follow me. Therefore, I needed to make sure that you wouldn't. I know this won't kill you but it will slow you down," The clone said with a smile. "If you want the scroll so bad… Take it." The clone pulled out the scroll and tossed it to Orochimaru.
Orochimaru widened his eyes as the scroll transformed into another Naruto. He then heard all the clones, "Bushin Diakuha no Jutsu!"
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion rocked the entire forest. Everyone felt the explosion as the dust cloud lingered in the air. As it dissipated, they wondered what could have caused such an explosion.
Meanwhile, Team Seven was miles away from the site. Sasuke and Sakura could not believe what had just happened. One moment they were looking at one of the most feared missing Nins, the next they were on the ground at a completely different area. What was more confusing was the explosion that sent the entire team to the ground. 'What could cause that explosion?' Sasuke and Sakura thought. They then turned toward Naruto, only to see him collapse. "Naruto!" they cried as they went to him.
Naruto opened his eyes, "Chakra exhaustion," he said as he went to sleep.
Sasuke and Sakura quickly found a hiding place to rest. 'What happened? How did we get here?' they thought as questions about what had recently happened plagued their minds.
Orochimaru was pissed. He was able to escape the blast, but not without some injuries. His entire body was badly burned, his right arm was broken, his left leg was limping, but that wasn't even the worst part. Uzumaki Naruto, a nobody, a dobe, came close to defeating him. That thought angered him the most. But as he replayed the fight, his eyes widen when he realized what he had seen. The Hirashin no Jutsu, the only jutsu that no one could copy, a jutsu so powerful that it gave that damnable Arashi is nickname, 'The Yellow Flash.' Orochimaru took a deep painful breath. 'If Naruto could use that jutsu, then that means that he is… Damnit, I thought I got rid of Arashi and his line.' Orochimaru continued to brood as he began to heal himself. 'I need a new plan, if Naruto is Arashi's son… then things have become complicated.'
Sakura and Sasuke were watching over Naruto, ever since he "transported" them to their current location. From what Sasuke had seen when he scouted, it was close to the center of the Forest. They both had questions for Naruto to answer when he would awaken.
Meanwhile in Naruto's Mind
Naruto awoke to see that he was in front of a large cage. As he turned he saw a vast emptiness surrounding both him and the cage.
"Damnit what happened?" Naruto shouted.
"YOU IDIOT!" The Kyuubi exclaimed, as Naruto turned back toward the cage.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. It was the first time in long time that the Kyuubi had insulted him. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"THE JUTSU, THE HARISHIN NO JUTSU IS A TECHNIQUE THAT ALLOWS ONLY ONE PERSON TO MOVE AT AN EXTREME RATE! WHEN YOU TOOK YOUR TEAMMATES YOU EXTENDED THE FIELD TO INCLUDE THEM, THIS CAUSED YOU TO EXPEL MORE CHAKRA THAN WHAT YOU CAN SAFELY USE. YOU ARE DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO CHAKRA DEPLETION." The Kyuubi explained.
Naruto sighed, "How bad?"
"NORMALLY IT WOULD TAKE YOU MONTHS TO RECOVER," the Kyuubi growled. Before Naruto could speak, he continued, "BUT BECAUSE OF ME IT WILL TAKE YOU A FEW DAYS, MAYBE A WEEK TO FULLY RECOVER? IN THE MEAN TIME DON'T DO ANY OF YOUR MORE POWERFUL JUTSU."
Naruto nodded, "Thank you Kyu-chan, I will rest, but only if you teach me more techniques while I recover."
Kyuubi chuckled, 'THE KIT LIVES TO LEARN, BART YOU WOULD BE PROUD OF HIM,' Kyuubi thought. "ALRIGHT THEN KID, BUT FIRST YOU REST."
Naruto nodded, and laid down to rest. After he had when to sleep, he failed to notice that the Kyuubi extended one of his tails and wrapped him with it.
Real World
The Sound Team watched over Team Seven. At first their goal was to eliminate Uchiha Sasuke, however, that all changed when the received a visit from Orochimaru.
Flashback
"Orochimaru-sama!" the Sound Team exclaimed as they knelt before their Kage.
"How can we serve you, Orochimaru-sama," Zaku said with his head bowed.
"Your orders have changed," Orochimaru said, "You are now to observe Team Seven. Make note of any thing that is out of place or unusual, also, of each member, their ability, their strengths, and weaknesses. Is that clear?"
"HAI!" the Sound Team said.
"Excellent," Orochimaru said, as he started slipped into the shadows. "Also, if there is anything new… here," he said as a scroll was thrown at the Sound Team. "This will allow you to speak with me."
End Flashback
The Sound Team watched as two members of Team Seven were watching over their third member.
"This is boring," Dosu said, "Why can't we attack them, they are weak right now."
"NO!" Zaku emphasized loudly. "You and I both know what happens to ninjas that disobey Orochimaru-sama. They end up dead or worst… part of his experiments," he continued as he shivered.
The rest of the Sound Team shivered as well, remembering the times that Orochimaru "disciplined" those that disobeyed him. It was difficult not to remember the screams or seeing the results of his experiments. The Sound Team shivered and continued their watch over the group.
But they weren't the only ones that were watching.
Sasuke and Sakura were watching over Naruto, each taking turns looking after him. They knew that they had to take care of each of their members or else they would fail the exam. However, they soon became aware of others that were watching over them.
A squirrel came bursting through the underbrush racing towards them. Sakura reacted quickly and threw a kunai in front of the squirrel causing it to run away. Sasuke awoke as he heard the noise that the kunai made once it hit the ground. Both waited, each prepared for the worst. Suddenly a multitude of kunais and shurikens came at them from the underbrush, Sasuke reacted quickly by slamming his hand on the ground and shouting, "Doton: Doryuheki!" Instantly, a wall of earth erupted from the ground in front of the team. After intercepting the thrown weapons, the wall returned to the ground. As it returned, it revealed a team with the Hidden Rock symbol on their headband. There were three Nins, two males and a female. Each Nin was well equipped; the two males carried massive spiked clubs and the female carried a Zanbatsu.
"Give us your scroll and no-one gets hurt," one of the males said with a grin.
Both, Sasuke and Sakura knew that this was a lie, as they saw the grins appear on each of the faces of the Rock Team. They had recently searched Naruto for the scroll and were able to find the Earth Scroll, which they received at the beginning of the exam. Sasuke decided to carry it, to which Sakura agreed. But now, there stood a complete team, both Sasuke and Sakura knew that they had to guard Naruto, while he was unconscious, or else he would be used to get the scroll. So they stood close by Naruto with their kunais at the ready, waiting for the next move.
"So be it," the same Earth Nin said as they charged toward Team Seven.
"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled as he got ready to jump. Sakura nodded and unleashed the trap that she had waiting. Meanwhile Sasuke unleashed his Sharingan.
The Earth Team watched as a gigantic log came barreling down towards them. "Heh," the Earth Nin said as he made some seals. "Doton: Doryudan!" Suddenly a dragon projectile made of mud was launched at the log. Once it hit the log, it exploded, destroying the log and the projectile.
"Stop playing around, Kenshen. Get the scroll." The female Nin said.
"What do you think I am doing, Asuka?" Kenshin said.
"Shut up both, get the scroll first!" the third Nin said.
With that the three attacked, the male Nins charged forth, while the female Nin leapt into the air and threw more kunais and shurikens.
Sakura and Sasuke acted quickly, they grabbed Naruto and leapt out of the way of the barrage. Once out of the way, Sasuke created a set of symbols, "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" A barrage of fireballs came from Sasuke's mouth, each fireball heading toward the two male Nins. He then created another set of seals and cried, "Katon: Karyu Endan!" An enormous fireball shot out of Sasuke's mouth, creating a dragon. Sasuke used this to get the two male Nins closer to one another.
The male Nins dodged all of the fireballs, but just as they were about to face Sakura, they were about to dodge two satchels thrown by Sakura. What neither of them knew was that a third satchel was thrown toward Asuka. Just before the satchels reached the Nins, they exploded scattering little sheets of paper that covered the ground around the Nins, and the Nins themselves.
"What?" the Nins said as they saw the little sheets of paper surround them. They watched as those little sheets of paper floated downward. It was then that they realized that those sheets weren't sheets but little EXPLOSIVE NOTES!
"Sakura Fubuki no Jutsu!" Sakura yelled as she threw two kunais with an explosive note attached to them.
KABOOM!
The resulting explosion sent the Nins flying back hitting the trees with a tremendous amount of force.
Both Sasuke and Sakura looked on stunned as the Nin went unconscious. "How?" Sasuke asked. Sakura could only swallowed. "N-n-naruto gave me the scroll that detailed the Jutsu," she responded. Sakura could not believe the amount of damage that the technique produced. She remembered that Naruto took her aside one day and gave her a scroll to study detailing this and other techniques, but nothing could prepare her for the amount of devastation that the Jutsu produced.
Sasuke could only nod as he remembered that Naruto had handed him a scroll. At first, he did not want to study it, but after the hearing about what happened at the bridge, he opened the scroll. Within detailed many different ninjutsu and genjutsu techniques, as well as a meditation technique, which was supposed to help him. Although, Sasuke had no idea how it would help him.
It was then that they heard a moan behind them. 'Naruto' they thought as they turned to see him slowly getting up. They both went to his side, "Naru?" they said. Just as they approached Naruto, Sasuke collapsed. Sakura reacted quickly and caught Sasuke. "Chakra depletion, with the use of his eyes and the three high level ninjutsu," she thought.
Meanwhile in the trees surrounding Team Seven
The Sound Team was fuming; they had just seen Sasuke and Sakura defend themselves against the Earth Team.
"I think we should talk to Orochimaru-sama. With Sasuke down, we can easily deal with Team Seven," Dosu said.
"Yeah, we only have the girl to deal with," Zaku replied.
"Let's see what Orochimaru says," Kin responded.
With that the Sound Team leaves Team Seven.
The next day
Sakura began to nod of to sleep, she knew that she needed to stay awake in case there was an attack, and with both Naruto and Sasuke unconscious, all that was left was her. A noise behind her set her on alert. She pulled out her kunai and slowly turned around only to see a squirrel gnawing on a nut. She breathed a sign of relief. However, when the squirrel came closer she quickly threw her kunai to ward it away.
In the trees
"So she found the scroll," Zaku said.
"Possibly or…" Dosu answered.
"Or it is a trap there waiting for us," Kin said.
Dosu nodded. "Let's go. Remember our orders. Kill Uzumaki Naruto."
Sakura began to nod off again, she shook herself in order to stop, but she knew that it was only a matter of time before sleep would take her. 'I need to stay awake, they are relying on me to protect them,' she thought. She pulled out the scroll that Naruto had given her when they first started training as Team Seven. She remembered trying to ignore it but Naruto insisted and told her that it would help get Sasuke's attention. With that she promptly grabbed the scroll and took it home. She studied the first techniques and was surprised by the details that it required. Her father and mother also looked at the scroll and were amazed by the techniques that were in the scroll, however, when they heard who gave her the scroll, they immediately attempted to burn the scroll saying that no daughter of theirs would accept a gift from him. Sakura quickly grabbed the scroll and ran to her room, she quickly hid the scroll, and stayed in her room the rest of the night. Sakura remembered when she met with Team Seven, she told Naruto of her parent's response to the scroll, he nodded, and told her to tell her parents that if they have a problem that the Hokage will gladly correct it for them. She shook her head in jest as she remembered the fish face that her parents did after they heard what Naruto had told her. She was allowed to keep the scroll from then on.
A voice interrupted her inner musings, "Not paying attention to your surroundings." Sakura quickly turned to the voice to see the Sound team on the outer edge of the clearing. "But there's no need to do so. Can you wake Naruto-san? We want to fight him," Dosu said.
'These guys are…' Sakura thought as she edged her hand toward her kunai pouch. "What are you talking about? What is your purpose?" She said as she stood up. "We know that the S-ranked nukenin named Orochimaru is behind all this."
This caused the Sound Team to react suddenly.
"If it wasn't for Naruto, Sasuke-kun and I would be dead by now. You want to fight Naruto when he is suffering from chakra depletion?" Sakura demanded.
"I wonder, too what is that person thinking?" Dosu said.
"But now that we heard that, we can't ignore it." Zaku said. "I'll kill this girl, too. I'll even kill the Naruto guy." He then got up from the rock.
"Wait Zaku." Dosu said.
"What?" Zaku said.
Dosu walked closer to Sakura. "How unoriginal," he said. "The color of the dirt indicates that it has just been dug up. This grass doesn't even grow here."
Sakura narrowed her eyes, 'That's okay, it's only a plant for the next stage,' she thought.
"There's no meaning to a trap if it isn't made well." Dosu continued as he pulled the grass back a little.
"How dumb. So she threw that knife so that the squirrel wouldn't get caught in the trap," Zaku said.
"Let's kill her right away." Dosu said. The Sound Team then leapt toward Sakura.
Sakura smiled as she cut a wire from her kunai. This activated her trap, a log that came swinging down from the treetops.
"A log!" Zaku yelled.
"So there was a trap above us, too?" Dosu said, "Crap… Not." With that he placed his hand on the log and raised his left hand. This caused the log to explode.
Sakura smiled as she threw a kunai towards the remains and cut another wire. This unleashed two more logs, one from the back and the other dropped from above them. But before they could react the kunai hit the remains of the log, it ignited and set an explosion that sent the Sound Team hurtling toward the log behind them, but before they could react that log exploded and the concussion force sent then hurtling back toward Sakura, right in the path of the log that was dropping down toward them.
"Shit," Zaku yelled. He then placed his hands in front of the log. "Zankuha!" he yelled. Just then the log burst into pieces. The Sound Team turned toward Sakura. "Nice try, but your time ends here," Dosu said.
Before they could reach Sakura, a voice called out, "Konoha Senpu!" It was then that each member of the Sound Team was hit by a whirling green figure. As the dust settled, a green figure came into view. A squirrel rested on his shoulder, and with his right hand opened to the sky, everyone heard him say, "Then the three of you also need to work harder." Sakura was stunned, "Him," she said softly.
"Who are you?" Dosu asked.
"Konoha's beautiful blue beast… Rock Lee!" Lee said.
"Why are you here?" Sakura stuttered out.
"When you are in danger, I will appear at anytime." Lee responded quickly. He then took the squirrel down from his shoulder and onto the ground. "Not. It was thanks to you," he said to the squirrel. "Now, go."
"But right now, I am your enemy, too," Sakura said.
"I told you before," Lee said as the wind blew threw his hair. "That I will protect you to the death."
Sakura gasped as she remembered what he had said before. "Oh, thank you…" she said quietly.
Lee's eyes watered and tears rolled down his face. 'I did it perfectly! I did it perfectly, Guy-sensei!' Lee thought.
Dosu pulled out the Earth Scroll, "We have no other choice. Zaku, I'll give Naruto-kun to you," he said as he tossed the scroll towards Zaku. "I'll kill these two."
'Judging from her appearance, she's not fit to fight right now,' Lee thought.
'That fat eyebrow is quite efficient in hand-to-hand combat,' Dosu thought as he pulled his shirt arm away from his right forearm exposing the holed gauntlet. 'Looks like I can have some fun.' He then charged toward Lee.
Sakura saw this and threw a kunai toward the feet of Dosu. As it landed Dosu went into the air. But just as he leapt into the air, the explosive tag on the end of the kunai exploded and sent him flying even further up. Dosu corrected himself, and willed the pain away as he approached Lee. Lee quickly shoved his arm into the ground and pulled up a root.
"Your attack has some sort of trick to it, right?" Lee asked. "I won't dodge it in a normal way." This caused Dosu to react. "I saw your move before, and Naruto told us what your attacked used… Sound waves." This caused the Sound Team to react as well. "Naruto told us that Sound can be used as a weapon, depending on the frequency and the users ability to mold it."
'He's… strong.' Sakura thought.
'But still, I'm at a disadvantage since it's one against three,' Lee thought. 'I will have to gamble. I will defeat them one at a time with everything I have!'
Meanwhile in another part of the forest
"We can't find any weak looking people at all!" Ino said.
"Actually, only Naruto's team is probably weaker than us." Shikamaru said.
"You idiot, do you know what you're saying!" Ino said with her fist raised.
"What?" Shikamaru asked.
"Naruto and Sakura are weak, but they have the super genius, Sasuke-kun." Ino replied her forehead throbbing.
Shikamaru folded his arms, and said, "I don't know about that. Geniuses can become quite fragile in real combat."
"What!" Ino asked in a deep voice.
Shikamaru sweatdropped, "Fine, fine. I'm sorry that I upset you." 'Geez, what a troublesome girl. She always glares at me whenever I talk badly of Sasuke.'
"There's no way Sasuke-kun can be defeated!" Ino continued. She turned and folded her arms. "Although Sakura can be."
Cho, who was sitting high in the trees, eating, noticed something and began to stare intently. "Sasuke's on the ground. And Sakura's fighting."
"What did you say?" Ino asked. Shikamaru and Ino leapt into the trees, and focused where Cho had said. What they saw stunned them.
Meanwhile in another part of the forest
"He's late. That Lee…" Tenten said, "Something's wrong. He's always on time. Maybe he encountered an enemy. Did he…!"
"That's not possible," Neji said as he opened his eyes. "Anyway, let's go look for Lee."
"Okay," Tenten said. The two then disappeared to go and look for their missing member.
Back to Team 7
Lee was remembering Gai's words.
"This technique is a last resort move that places a heavy burden on your muscle cells. Normally, people only use 20 percent of the power that the muscles possess. Only 20 percent… And if you try to extract 100 percent of its power, your muscles will break down. That is why your brain limits your powers. However, this move forcefully removes that limiter from your brain using Chakra… And enables you to produce enough power to execute high-speed continuous hand-to-hand combat combo moves… In other words, it's a dangerous technique that enables you to use powers that challenge the human body's limit. That's why you can only use this move under this condition."
'The condition is…' Lee thought as he unraveled the arm bandage. 'Guy-sensei, I will now use the move without reservation. Because now is the time to…'
Dosu charged at Lee and grinned, 'All to easy,' he thought.
"… Protect an important person!" Lee said as he raised two fingers in front of him. Just as Dosu approached, Lee disappeared from his sight.
"He disappeared," Dosu said, only to be interrupted by a kick that sent him flying skyward.
Lee seeing that Dosu was heading upwards used his hand to launch himself upwards. Appearing behind Dosu, he yelled, "I'm not done yet!" Lee's bandages loosened and began wrapping themselves tightly around Dosu. Once they were completed they tied Dosu's arms behind him. After they were done, Lee wrapped his hands around Dosu and sent both himself and Dosu downward.
"That's not good. He can't break the fall like that." Zaku said, as he began making symbols. Only to stop and dodge out of the way of a kunai that Sakura had thrown. 'Damn it I need to finish help Dosu,' he thought as he tried again only to have to break it off as Sakura again stopped him with another kunai throw.
"Take this!" Lee yelled as he began to spin like a top. Zaku tried to one final time to stop Lee's attack, but Sakura once again stopped him from doing so. However, the attempts stopped as they heard Lee yell out.
"SECONDARY LOTUS!"
BOOOM!
Zaku, Sakura and Kin watched as Lee disappeared and the legs of Dosu appear on the ground.
Zaku and Kin reacted quickly, Kin grabbed Sakura's hair while Zaku pulled a kunai and placed it at Sakura's throat. "STOP!" Zaku said, "Or I will kill her."
"Sakura-chan!" Lee yelled as he staggered up. 'Not good, I am still feeling weak from the technique.'
Zaku noticed Lee's stagger, and attacked. Disappearing from Sakura's side, he reappeared next to Lee creating symbols along the way. Before Lee could react, Zaku yelled out pointing his palms at Lee, "Air pressure, 100 percent. Supersonic waves, 50 percent. Zankuha!" Twin bolts of sound waves and air pressure waves hit Lee, sending him flying back. Before he could adjust himself, he heard a voice call out above him. "Air pressure, 0 percent. Supersonic waves, 100 percent. Zankuha!" It was then that Lee cried out in pain.
As Lee tried to stand, he found that his perception ability was altered. He opened his eyes to see Zaku or at least what he hoped was Zaku, because the person standing before him was wavy and distorted.
"I doubt that you could react as quickly as you can now. With the Supersonic wave that I hit you with, you would be hard pressed in to doing anything at all." Zaku said.
'He's right, I can barely make him out, how am I going to help out Sakura.' Lee thought. It was the last thought he had as he fell unconscious, as he never saw the punch that sent him to the unconsciousness.
Meanwhile in the bushes around the battle
"Come on, let's run away. They're dangerous." Cho said.
"Looks like Sasuke and Naruto are out of it." Shikamaru said. "But even Lee is weaken, and now it's just Sakura. What are you going to do, Ino?"
"What, you ask?" Ino said.
"Sakura's in danger. Is that okay with you?" Shikamaru said.
This brought Ino back, as she turned her eyes to Shikamaru.
"You two were best friends, right?" Shikamaru asked.
Ino flashed back into her past and her life with Sakura. She knew that she had to do something, but her body was shaking in fear.
Back with Sakura
Sakura began to move but Kin pulled her hair. "Don't move," Kin said.
Sakura began to tear up, she saw that Lee was hurt and she knew that there was no one left that could protect her. 'Protect me…' she thought. 'I'm just being a nuisance again. I've always been protected. I thought that it was my turn to protect my important people.'
"Let's end this." Zaku said as he turned and walked toward Naruto and Sasuke.
Sakura quickly pulled out her last kunai.
Kin notice it immediately and said, "It won't work. There's no point to that."
Sakura turned her head and looked at Kin. "What are you talking about?" she asked. And with a quick cut removed Kin's hold by cutting her hair. Once done, Sakura instantly went into action. 'I've always been acting like a grownup ninja… And I've always been saying that I love Sasuke-kun. And I always lectured Naruto like I was better than him. But all I've been doing was watching their backs. Still...' Sakura thought as she remembered the past, the fights that Sasuke and Naruto both had. 'They always fought to protect me. Lee-san… you said that you liked me…' She remembered Lee's words and his fight. 'And fought with your life while protecting me. I think you taught me something.' In her mind, she replayed Naruto, Lee, and Sasuke all smiling at her. 'I want to become like you three.' She then remembered Naruto giving her the scroll with a smile on his face. "There will come a time when you will have to decide what to do. Read what is in this scroll, study it, and when the time comes use it," he said. 'Naruto… Thank you… Everyone… This time… Please watch my back.' Sakura thought as she squeezed her hands into fist. With her back turned, she began making seals.
"Kin, kill her!" Zaku yelled, as he saw her cut her hair.
Kin shook off her stunned expression and pulled out three senbon needles and charged at Sakura. As she approached Sakura quickly turned and dodged the attack. Sakura used that time to place her hands on Kin's arms. This caused Kin to lose her grip on her needles. "What!" Kin said as she turned toward Sakura, who slapped Kin's legs, causing Kin to fall to the ground.
"Chakra scalpels." Sakura said as she turned to charge toward Zaku. But before she could attack, Zaku's Zankuha sent her flying into the air. She hit the tree roughly and landed on the ground. Her body was in pain, but Sakura attempted to get up. 'I have to protect them,' was the thought that ran through her mind. She looked up to see Zaku aim his arms at her.
"Prepare to die," Zaku said as he aimed his arms. But before he could continue three blurs appeared between him and Sakura.
"What?" Sakura said softly.
Zaku grinned, "Some new weird ones are here now."
'Ino,' Sakura thought.
"Sakura, I promised that I wouldn't lose to you, remember?" Ino said. Sakura gasped.
It was then that Kin, who was carrying Dosu, joined Zaku. "Che," Zaku said, "How is Dosu."
"Still unconscious," Kin said.
"Che," Zaku restated.
Sakura looked up at Ino, "Ino… Why are you here…?"
"I'm not going to let you take all the good parts in front of Sasuke-kun!" Ino said.
Chouji was scared, he didn't like what was going on and decided to act. "What are you two thinking! These guys are too dangerous, even if there are still two of them left!" he cried.
"It's troublesome, but we have to do this." Shikamaru tried to explain to Chouji.
Ino giggled, "Sorry to get you two involved, but we're a three-man team. We do everything together."
"Oh well, whatever happens, happens." Shikamaru said as he looked at the Sound team.
"No! I don't want to die yet!" Chouji exclaimed as he turned to leave. "Let go of my muffler!"
"Shut up and stop moving!" Shikamaru said as he held on to the muffler.
Zaku chuckled at the group's actions. "You can run if you want… Fatty."
Chouji stopped as his ears twitched. "What did that person just say?" Chouji asked, "I couldn't hear him too well."
Zaku was puzzled; at first the fat boy wanted to run, now he stood there waiting for a response. Meanwhile Shikamaru was worried, 'Those words are taboo to Chouji.'
"If he says it again…" Chouji stated in a neutral voice.
"I said that you can go jack off in the woods in you want… You fat ass!" Zaku yelled.
Chouji turned quickly around, his face a shroud of anger. "I'm not fat! I'm big-boned!" He yelled as veins became more pronounced coming from his forehead protector. He spun around and began gathering his chakra which came forward is a whirl of blue that surrounded him. "Hurray for big-boned people!" He cried as a noise suspiciously like a person breaking wind could be heard. It was then that his chakra covered him.
Sakura was stunned and could not figure what was going on.
Immediately Chouji pointed to Ino. "Okay! You two understand that this is a fight between Konoha and Sound, right!" He cried. His eyes became enflamed with righteous anger.
'Good, he got pissed off,' Ino thought.
"Geez, this is going to be troublesome," Shikamaru said.
"Hn. That's our line," Zaku said. 'Damn it, first Sasuke, now Naruto, how can we kill him without any more interruptions.' He thought.
Sakura turned to her teammates that were still unconscious. He turned her head when she heard her name being called by Ino.
"Take care of the two back there." Ino continued. Sakura nodded and when to her teammates. "The Ino team is going to go with everything they have!" Ino said.
"Alright!" Chouji and Shikamaru said.
"Formation Ino!" Ino yelled.
"Shika!" Shikamaru yelled.
"Chou!" Chouji yelled.
"Go for it, Chouji!" Ino cried.
"Okay!" Chouji cried. He then clasped his hands together in an arch and cried, "Baika no Jutsu!" His waist expanded into a balloon shape. "And Konoha Style hand-to-hand combat…" Chouji said, before his arms, legs, and head disappeared into his body. His body bounced upwards. "Meat Tank!" he cried before his body spun forward towards Zaku.
"What the hell is this?" Zaku said as he saw the ball rush toward him. "It's just a fat ass rolling." He said as he raised his arms toward Chouji. "Zankuha!" he cried and unleashed his power. Unfortunately, all it did was slow down Chouji. "Why you…!" Zaku exclaimed as he poured more Chakra into his Zankuha. Just when Zaku thought he was winning, Chouji changed his body so that it could be launched into the air.
"What!" Zaku cried as he saw what was happening. "It flew up!" 'Damn it, with his rotation, the air pressure from the Zankuha doesn't work very well. But even if I want to send supersonic waves into him, my arms would break touching that thing.' He thought.
Kin saw her partner in trouble and rushed to his aid. But before she could, Shikamaru saw her actions.
'I don't think so,' he thought. "Ninpou, Kage Mane no Jutsu!" Shikamaru called out as his shadow suddenly reacted and lashed out towards Kin.
'What?' she thought as she found that her body could not move.
Zaku dodged Chouji's attack and turned towards Kin. "What the hell are you doing?" he cried as he saw her in a monkey position. He turned to see Shikamaru in the same predicament. "What? Shadow Bind?"
"Ino, now it's up to you woman," Shikamaru said.
"Okay, Shikamaru, take care of my body." Ino said.
"Sure," he said as she went into a stance.
Kin widened her eyes in amazement. "What?" she cried.
"Ninpou, Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Ino cried. When her and Kin's eyes met.
"Damn it," Zaku said as he dodged another attempt from Chouji. "Kin," he called out. He then saw Kin pull a kunai and point it towards her neck.
"This is it." Kin said.
"Nani!" Zaku yelled.
"If you move, this Kin girl is dead." Kin stated.
Zaku could not understand why Kin would do this.
"If you don't want to retire here, leave your scroll and get out of here." Kin continued. "Once you two back off far enough where we can't sense your Chakra, I'll let this girl go."
Zaku grinned and chuckled.
'What are they laughing…?' Ino/Kin thought. "Chouji!" Kin/Ino called out.
"Okay!" Chouji said as he charged at Kin/Ino.
"No! They're trying to…!" Sakura cried out. But before she could continue Zaku raised his left arm and shot Kin with his Zankuha. This caused Ino to bleed from the mouth.
"Ino!" Shikamaru cried out.
Chouji reappeared from the dust cloud, his eyes were swirling. "I'm dizzy…" he said.
"What's wrong with them…? They hurt their own teammate." Kin/Ino said as she tried to rise from the ground.
Zaku smiled. "You took us too lightly. Our purpose is not a dumb scroll or to get through this exam." This caused Shikamaru and Chouji to gasp.
"What!" Kin/Ino said in a quiet tone.
"It's Naruto," Zaku said.
Zaku then raised his hand towards Kin. "It looks like your teammate was injured as well as Kin, which means if Kin dies, so does she."
"You're going to kill your teammate?" Shikamaru asked.
"If we have to… Yes," Zaku said.
"This is over." Shikamaru said after a few moments.
"Damn it!" Chouji said.
Zaku grinned as he got up. "Close. You almost had us. But you let your guard down," he said.
"How disgusting" a voice called out from above them.
Both Zaku and Team InoShikaChou looked up to see two more Konoha ninjas.
"A mere minor Sound ninja…" Neji said, "Acting like victors by beating those second-class ninja?"
"They're from Lee-san's team…" Sakura said softly.
Both Tenten and Neji saw the state that Lee was in. "Lee," Tenten said.
"It looks like he screwed up." Neji said.
"You guys keep coming out like roaches." Zaku said.
"That bobbed hair kid there is on our team…" Neji said. Veins bulged toward his eyes, "Looks like you went overboard with him!" This caused everyone to stare in amazement and fear.
'What is with his eyes? It looks like he's able to see everything with it…' Zaku thought.
"If you're going to continue to fight, we will fight with everything we have," Neji stated.
'Damn it, Dosu down, Kin is can't fight. IF we continue, there is no way we can finish the mission,' Zaku thought, 'But maybe we can get them to fight each other?' He slowly pulled out the earth scroll. "Here, take it," he said as he grabbed Dosu.
Everyone nodded, and Ino removed her jutsu. Zaku then took his team members and left.
Everyone was staring at the scroll. The first to speak was Neji. "Huh, like we would take a scroll from a weak opponent." Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji wanted the scroll since it would help them pass, but before any one could get the scroll two moans were heard. Everyone turned to see Naruto and Sasuke getting up. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ouch, what happened?" Sasuke said.
"Oooooh, I have got to start thinking more about what I do BEFORE I do it," Naruto said.
With that both turned to see two teams and an injured Sakura looking at them. "Sakura!" the two called out as they ran to Sakura. Sasuke grabbed Sakura and looked at her, checking for any injuries. "What happened?" they asked. After getting the entire story from Sakura, Naruto stood up. He turned toward the two teams and bowed.
"Thank you for protecting Sakura. If you want you can have the scroll as a thank you for your efforts," Naruto said, with Sasuke nodding.
"Naruto, what are you doing? We need that scroll, remember Orochimaru took ours." Sakura stated.
Naruto turned to Sakura. He raised his hand and placed it behind his head. Grinning at Sakura, he said, "Eheheh, about that. I still have the scroll, the one that Sasuke gave Orochimaru was one of these." He then pulled out a scroll opening it to reveal a series of explosive notes, attached to the scroll. "This way if anyone took the scroll they would be in for a nasty treat," Naruto said with a grin.
Everyone looked at Naruto with amazement. They could not believe that the 'dobe' could do something so ingenious as to fake a scroll. Their thoughts then turned inward with a simple thought, 'Why didn't I think of that?' Sasuke, meanwhile, smirked, 'So that's what caused the explosion.'
Once that thought had run its course. Naruto turned toward Sakura. "I think there is something that you need to do," he said as he nodded toward Lee who was being shaken awake by Tenten. Sakura nodded and walked up to Lee. "Lee-san… Thank you. Thanks to you, my eyes are wide open now," Sakura said with a smile. "I think I've become a little stronger."
Lee listen to Sakura's speech, his eyes welled up and began to tear. After a moment he spoke, "Sakura-san." He wiped away his tears and continued. "I… It looks like I need more training." Lee then raised his head toward Sakura. "Sakura-san. The Lotus in Konoha blooms twice."
"What?" Sakura asked.
"The next time we meet, I promise that I will be a stronger man." Lee said.
Sakura smiled, "Okay."
Suddenly, Ino yelled at Sakura, "Hey Sakura!" Sakura turned toward Ino's voice. Ino raised her hand, "Over here! I'll fix up your hair."
Sakura was suspicious but decided to go ahead. "Thanks," she said.
While Ino was cutting her hair, she started to complain. "You cheater. Sasuke hugged you back there, forehead girl."
Sakura gave a devious grin and turned her head towards Ino. "In public, the person who takes the initiative wins…" she said. "Ino-pig."
Once every thing was squared away, Lee's Team and Ino's Team left. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura nodded to each other and went to a more defendable place to gather supplies and think of what to do next.
Naruto was getting the last of the fishes. He had six, which meant that his teammates and he would be able to store some food for later. He was on his way back into camp when he saw Sakura with another ninja. Think she was in danger he quickly acted. Using the Shuushin no Jutsu to get behind the ninja, he quickly grabbed the ninja's head and quickly pulled just enough to be painful, but not enough to kill. "If you so much as flinch, I will kill you," Naruto said as he let a small amount of his killer intent out.
"Ehhh, Naruto… It's me Kabuto," the ninja said.
Naruto blinked, and then he blinked again. He quickly reined in his killer intent and removed his hands from Kabuto. He quickly got on his hands and knees and began bowing. "Ehehehe, forgive me Kabuto-san, I did not know it was you. Please forgive, please, please, pretty please with sprinkles and a cherry?" Naruto said as he continued to bow.
Kabuto and Sakura sweatdropped at the display, Kabuto quickly waved his hands. "Ehehehe, forget it Naruto," he said. 'He is definitely strong, and the speed is unlike anything I have ever seen. What else is he hiding?' Kabuto thought.
Soon after Sasuke came and both he and Naruto found out why Kabuto was there. "Nani! Why would you attempt to look at the scroll, Sakura?" Naruto said.
Sakura was embarrassed. She knew that she shouldn't have attempted to open the scroll but she wanted to know what was inside that made it so important. She hung her head down in shame saying, "Gomen." However, Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay Sakura. At least, Kabuto was able to stop you before you did anything permanent," Naruto said as he smiled.
"Arigatou, Naruto," Sakura said in a soft tone.
Naruto changed his clothes, and when he got back he heard Sasuke challenge Kabuto for his scroll. Shaking his head, he remembered what he needed to do, and decided to wait until the appropriate time. However, that did not let Sasuke off the hook. "Baka, we don't need another scroll, we have both of them," he exclaimed.
"WHAT?" Sasuke and Sakura said.
"When we first went up against that Mist Nin, I stole his scroll. This means we have two scroll, I was waiting to tell you this after breakfast," Naruto said.
Both Sasuke and Sakura could not believe what Naruto had done. This removed the huge burden that they thought they had. Smiling, they realized that all they needed to do was to head toward the tower.
"Kabuto-san, since you are heading that way, why don't you join us until you meet up with your teammates?" Naruto asked.
Kabuto realized that this would be a great time to see what Naruto's abilities were at? So he agreed to go with them.
Nightfall
Naruto knew that there was something going on. It had taken them the entire day of traveling, and once it was nightfall, Naruto felt something was not right with his surrounding. 'We must be caught in a genjutsu. It is the only explanation to why I feel the way I do. I better let the others know, ooooorrr…' Naruto thought as a small grin appeared on his face. Without letting the other react, Naruto quickly pulled out a kunai and threw it towards an insect that was crawling up a tree. "There!" He said as he threw the kunai.
This got all of them to look… at a giant centipede, with a kunai lodged in its head.
"It's huge. Those legs are just creepy," Sakura said as she made a gesture about the legs.
"Naruto-kun," Kabuto said. Naruto turned his attention towards Kabuto. "I want to avoid careless actions and unnecessary noises from here on out. If we go through this jungle making noises like an elephant, it's the same as signaling to everyone that we're coming. We will receive a passionate welcome."
Naruto faked a thoughtful expression. "I see…"
"We will hide and move slowly, as time allows." Kabuto continued.
"Okay," Team Seven said.
Kabuto was watching Team Seven. "They're pretty good," he said as he watched Sakura and Sasuke. 'But where's Naruto?' he thought. As he moved forward, he soon came across his answer. Tied up in vines Naruto was struggling to get out.
"I can't get it off… Let go…!" Naruto said, as soon as he felt Kabuto get closer. 'This will make him think less of me. Hehehehe,' Naruto thought.
'I can't believe Orochimaru was defeated by him.' Kabuto thought as he reappeared to help Naruto out.
Once they were all gathered, Kabuto used his compass to estimate how long it would take to get to the tower. After a few hours, they came across another team… only the team wasn't able to meet them.
"A trap?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah." Kabuto replied. "It's going to be more intense now."
As they all left, Naruto decided to lower the other's opinion of him by tripping a trap. As he tripped the trap, Kabuto jumped in front of him taking the kunais that were meant for Naruto. When Naruto turned toward the corpse of Kabuto, he saw the log with the kunai attached to them.
"That was close, Naruto," a voice said above Naruto.
Naruto turned to see Kabuto leaning against the tree. "Kawarimi no Jutsu?" Naruto said.
"I told you that it was going to get intense now." Kabuto said.
Team Seven looked at Kabuto, and nodded.
It had been another two hours, before Sakura gave out. "How long have we walked? The tower isn't getting closer at all," she said.
Naruto looked at the tower. 'I guess I better help them out a little,' he thought. "It looks like it's right in front of us… This is weird…" he said.
"Indeed," Sasuke said.
"It seems that we're already inside someone's "passionate welcome"." Kabuto said. "See? Look over there," he said as he pointed behind them.
Team Seven looked to see a giant centipede, the same centipede that Naruto had killed earlier.
"How?" Sakura said.
"An illusionary technique." Sasuke said.
"So it seems." Kabuto said. "I was totally fooled. It seems that we were tricked into walking in circles in a very careful manner."
"We're being watched," Sasuke said.
"They most likely want us to waste our strength and were planning a surprise attack when we tire." Kabuto said.
"Then we're already playing to the enemy's plan." Sasuke said.
"Then they might attack us soon." Kabuto replied.
It was then that everyone noticed the surroundings. From every corner, Mist Nins started appearing, wearing all black except for their white blindfolds. They began crawling out from the trees and ground. Once they appeared they all stood up. Naruto decided to take the initiative and attack with a punch. 'Let's see what kind of bushin they are,' he thought as he lunges toward the bushin. His punch went through the bushin easily, causing the bushin to have an open space in its center. 'It feels oil-like,' Naruto thought as he passed through the bushin. Which sprouted another bushin which tried to kill Naruto with a two-bladed knife.
Sasuke knew he had to do something. So he decided to use the only thing that he knew could help. 'Sharingan,' he thought as his eyes turned red with two commas swirling within. Sasuke saw the action of the bushin and used his some of his shurikens to destroy the arm. However, this did not stop the bushin as it turned toward Sasuke and threw another two-bladed knife at Sasuke. Naruto shouted a warning to Sasuke, and watched as Sasuke quickly blocked the knife with his kunai.
'This is definitely real. It's no illusion,' the four Nins thought, as they tried to figure out what was going on. Sasuke was the first to speak. "They are just illusions. It's an illusionary technique used by the enemy."
"That means that…" Sakura said.
Naruto nodded his head. "We need to get rid of these bushin, that way we can deal with the real thing." He was about to act when Kabuto spoke.
"Wait, Naruto-kun. In this situation, the source of the real knife is hidden, so we can't figure out the enemy's exact location. Do you understand now? That's their tactic. According to my data, those who are weak in hand-to-hand and close combat prefer to attack like this. The real enemy won't come out until we can't move at all. Listen up, everyone. We can only dodge the enemy's attack right now."
"I don't think so," Naruto said as he created a seal. Suddenly, he cried out, "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" As the smoke blocked everyone's view, Naruto used some of his clones to get the rest of his group into hiding. He then created several Kage Bushins and attacked. After he was committed, he sent a mental order for the other fakes to help. Through the night and into the morning Naruto continued to fight. After the sun had risen, he decided to fake losing. He mentally ordered the fakes to take hits and to be defeated. He knew that the others were rested and ready to attack, so he began losing. Finally, he and the fakes were pushed into a corner; he knew that the true opponents would not miss this chance.
Meanwhile in the treetops
"The sky is getting brighter," Oboro said. As he waved to another Mist Nin. "It's finally time to hunt. Mubi, you can stop now." Mubi nodded, as he released his illusion. Then suddenly the illusions began disintegrating. "We're done crushing their spirits. Now we finish off their bodies," he said as he and the others landed in front of Naruto.
Naruto worked very hard not to smile as he saw the Nins disappear. He knew that the Mist Nins had shown up. 'About time I thought they wouldn't take the hint.'
Once the illusion was gone the Mist Nins remained. "How lucky," Mubi said. He then saw the fake Sasuke. "You," Mubi said. "You're the one who injured my left shoulder, right? I finally found you. You wasted our time. How, lucky, I can finally get revenge." Mubi then raised another two-bladed knife.
Naruto had finally had enough. He grinned as a voice called out.
"Like a mouse in a trap."
The Mist Nins became nervous as they looked at the tree lines trying to find the voice.
"It went well, Naruto," another voice said.
The Mist Nins finally turned around to see Naruto's companions behind them.
"What did they do…?" Mubi asked. "That can't be! When did they…!"
Naruto stood up and dusted himself off. "Baka, you finally showed yourselves, huh." He then dismissed the dismissed the fakes to reveal Kage Bushins.
Mubi turned back to Naruto and saw the Kage Bushins. 'What? Did this kid…?' he thought. 'It can't be.'
Naruto smiled, "I used the Kage Bushin to set up this trick. So that I could pretend to be everyone from this team." The bushins disappeared.
Sasuke smiled, "Once he started the Kage Bushins, the three of us hid. So an illusionary technique master was fooled."
Naruto began taking deep breaths. 'I'm not really tired but I might as well fake it so that no one knows how strong I really am,' he thought as he set himself down on one knee.
Sasuke and Sakura gasped. "Naruto." Sasuke called out. "Naruto, you used up too much Chakra. I'll do the rest."
The Mist Nins turned to face the three Genins, but before they could act Naruto leapt toward the Mist Nin on the right and using his fist struck him causing him to hit the others with a tremendous amount of force. This causes the Mist Nins to be dragged back a few feet. Naruto smiled, "As much as I would like that, Sasuke. We need to end this quickly and not give them time to recover," he said as everyone saw the weariness on his face.
Everyone looked at Naruto stunned, each with thoughts running through their heads.
'Is he really that Naruto?' Sasuke thought. 'When did he become stronger?'
'What a kid, he can still move after all that,' Mubi thought as he raised hand as if to ward off an attack from Naruto.
"Naruto," Sakura said softly.
Kabuto could only stare. 'What incredible Chakra stamina. Right before that multiple Kage Bushin no Jutsu; he transformed three of them into teammates. He did all that and can still move? It's the fifth day already. If he masters how to use his Chakra, he's going to become even stronger.'
Oboro quickly made a seal. "Pretty good." His teammates were about to make the same seal when Naruto appeared before them.
Naruto yelled out, "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Naruto created two Kage Bushins to grab the Mist Nins on either side of Oboro. He then sent the Kage Bushins the command. And as he punched Oboro out, the clones flipped the other two towards his teammates. "Sasuke, Sakura, Kabuto-san, heads up." Naruto said before he dismissed the Kage Bushins.
Sasuke was the first to react by attacking the Mist Nin. However, before Sakura or Kabuto could react, Mobi attacked Kabuto. Using his two-bladed knife, Mobi was able to slash Kabuto causing Kabuto to lose his glasses. As Mobi was about to finish the job, Kabuto stared at him. Kabuto's eyes were that of a maniac's, with the white part slowly turning red. This caused Mobi to back up slowly, allowing Sasuke and Naruto to see why he was backing up. Before anything could happen, Sakura performed a flying roundhouse kick that hit Mobi on the side of his head, knocking him unconscious.
Later
Naruto had gathered the Mist Nins together, doing a complete search, he found some scrolls, most he read were journals, but some contained Suton Jutsu, Ninpo Jutsu, and other techniques. He quickly created fake scrolls and replaced it with the ones that he was taking; he stealthily took the Heaven Scroll from his pouch and placed it in front of him. Once he had scavenged some weapons, he took the scroll and turned around.
"I found it!" Naruto exclaimed. "Look! It's a Scroll of Heaven!"
"Great." Kabuto said as he looked at Naruto.
'He…' Sasuke thought as he looked at Kabuto. '… Isn't what he says he is.'
Later at the tower
Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kabuto had finally reached the tower. As they reached the doors two Nins approached from behind Kabuto. Kabuto turned when he heard them.
"It's just you all…" the first Nin with dark glasses said. "You're late, Kabuto."
Kabuto walked up to the Nins, "I was caught up in some trouble," he said, "Sorry."
Naruto decided that now would be a good time to switch the cards; he went to stand next to Kabuto. "But, but thanks to you, we got the two scrolls," Naruto said.
Kabuto smiled, "No, it's because of your hard work. Especially that last move, it was incredible, Naruto-kun."
Naruto smiled as he faked tears coming from his eyes. He grabbed onto Kabuto and pulled him into a tight embrace. "Thank you, Kabuto-san," he said as he quickly switched the Nin cards, without anyone suspecting anything.
"Naruto, let go," Kabuto said as he tried to get Naruto off. He saw Naruto smile with tears in his eyes. Kabuto began to feel sorry for Naruto, but quickly squelched the thought as he finally removed Naruto from himself. Once Naruto was off of him, he looked at the door next to him and the Nins. "We'll go through this door…" Kabuto said. "Good luck to all of us."
Naruto quickly ran back to his team, he turned to see Kabuto raise a thumbs up at him. To which, Naruto smiled and nodded back. He then proceeded to open the doors and with that Team Seven entered the tower.
Meanwhile back with Kabuto
Once Kabuto and his team entered a voice called out to him.
"Got anything?" the voice asked.
"Yes, more than I expected," Kabuto said. "I've written down all the data pertaining to them from the Second Exam." He then pulled out two Nin cards. "You need this, right?" Kabuto asked.
"So, how were they?" the voice asked as the card switched hands.
"Looks like you're fond of them, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto said.
"I want to hear your opinion… As a spy from the Hidden Village of Sound.
"You don't need that…" Kabuto said as he placed his right hand to where the blade slashed him. Once he removed the hand, you could not see a scar. "Since, you're the one who will determine everything." Kabuto said as he removed his right hand to show no scar of the slash.
"Your cunningness is what I like." Orochimaru said before he left. "Good job." Was heard from the placed where he once was.
Back with Team Seven
Team Seven had entered into the tower. Once inside they realized that no one was there. They saw the message on the wall.
"If you do not possess Heaven… gain knowledge and be prepared. If you do not possess Earth, run through the fields and seek strength. If you open both Heaven and Earth scrolls, dangerous paths turn into safe paths. This is the secret of something something…" Sakura said aloud. "It shall lead you on your way."
"That part looks like it's missing a letter," Sakura said. "It's probably referring to the scrolls. I think it's telling us to open both the Heaven and Earth scrolls."
Naruto nodded and pulled out both scrolls, Sakura to the Heaven scroll and both Naruto and Sakura opened the scrolls. They both looked at the scroll.
""Person", "Jin"" Sakura said as she looked at the scroll. Before anyone could do anything, Naruto quickly grabbed Sakura's scroll and tossed the scrolls both away from Team Seven. Once the scrolls landed they erupted in a plume of smoke. Once the smoke cleared Team Seven could not believe who stood before them.
"You're," Sasuke said.
"Hello," Iruka said interrupting Sasuke. "Long time no see." Iruka then looked up and smiled.
"What is going on?" Sakura demanded.
"Looks like the three of you went through a lot of trouble," Iruka said.
"What? Why?" Sakura said.
"We Chuunins are to welcome the examinees at the end of this Second Exam. I was given the duty to pass the three of you a message by chance." Iruka said as he pulled out a watch and whistled. "You made it just in time." He then closed the watch. "Everyone…" he said with a smile. "Congratulations on passing the Second Exam."
Team Seven stared at Iruka.
"I'd like to treat you to ramen at Ichiraku, but…" Iruka said. But before he could continue, Naruto ran up to him and tackled Iruka. "Hey, Naruto! Let me finish…" Iruka continued.
But Naruto would not let him, saying, "Ramen! Ramen!" over and over and over again.
Sakura and Sasuke sat down on the ground, they were exhausted. "What an energetic guy," Sasuke said.
Before anything else could happen, Iruka interrupted them. "Geez, you're still restless like before." Iruka said.
Sasuke grinned as he finally connected the scroll and Iruka together. Naruto smiled as he began to hear how the Second Exam was about testing the Nins ability towards mission completion. Also, Iruka told them that if they did disobey the rules that a Chuunin would stop them until the end of the Second Exam. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. She then realized her question.
"Oh yeah sensei." Sakura said as she got Iruka's attention. She then pointed to the message. "What does that test on the wall mean? It seems to be broken, and we can't understand it all."
Naruto decided to tease Sakura by telling her that it did not matter, since they won. However, Iruka interrupted them. "No, my other mission is to explain to you what this means." Iruka said embarrassingly.
"What?" Naruto asked. "Really?"
"Yes." Iruka responded. He turned his head toward the writing. "Read it. This is the principal Hokage-sama wrote that you should keep in mind as a Chuunin."
"Principal?" Asked Sasuke.
"Yes, the "Heaven" in this text points to the head of a person. And "Earth" points to the body. If you do not possess Heaven, gain knowledge and be prepared. That means, fore example, if Sasuke's weak point is his brain… He should study and prepare for his missions."
Naruto heard growling coming from Sakura and a little from Sasuke, 'He did say for example and if,' he thought.
"And if you do not possess Earth, run through the fields and seek strength. For example, if Sakura's weakness lies in strength, she should train herself every day. That's what it means," Iruka said.
Sakura smiled and quietly laughed.
"And if you have both Heaven and Earth attributes, any dangerous missions will become safe… It can even become easy," Iruka continued.
Sakura decided to interrupt. "What about that missing letter?" she asked.
Iruka smiled. "It's the letter that symbolizes a Chuunin." He lifted the Earth scroll. "The "human" letter that was in here goes in there. The survival mission you took part in these past five days tested the basic abilities of the examinees as a Chuunin. And you guys completed it. A Chuunin is a commander-class. He has a duty to lead a team. Deeply inscribe into your heart the importance of knowledge and strength in missions. Never forget that Chuunin principal, and go on to the next step. That's all I was ordered to tell you."
Naruto smiled and saluted Iruka. "Roger!" Naruto yelled. He then noticed that Iruka was looking down.
Iruka decided to help out Team Seven. "But don't push yourselves in the Third Exam. Especially you, Naruto. I'm worried about you, the…" he started to say.
"Iruka-sensei." Naruto interrupted. "When I got this Konoha forehead protector, I graduated from the academy." Naruto then smiled. "There's no need to worry." He then grabbed his forehead protector. "And this is the proof you gave me to show I'm not a child anymore, right, Iruka-sensei? I may still be restless, but I'm not a kid anymore. Right now… I'm a ninja."
Iruka took a moment to look at Naruto. 'He has changed,' he thought as he smiled. "I see. I'm sorry, Naruto," he said. He remembered back when he stood in front of Anko and beside Kakashi. He pleaded to be the one to talk to Team Seven. He remembered them asking questions about Naruto. Only to be silenced by the Hokage, who happened to pass through the hall at the time. He knew that Naruto had grown, but still Iruka felt responsible for Naruto, after all they had so many things in common. Iruka smiled. 'When he finally becomes the greatest… No one will deny who he truly is. Naruto Uzumaki, Sole heir to the First Line, Heir to the Hokuto Shin Ken and Nanto Shin Ken, Son of the Yondaime, Leader of all Kages. Naruto you have grown so much, I would like to see you grow.'
Author's Notes (Again): Well another chapter done, and it was a long one. For now, I am working on the Ranma/Andromeda and the Buffy/Naruto. But my primary focus is the Fist of Naruto. Check out the next chapter.
A question came up about how Naruto celebrated his birthday even though the Chuunin Exams were held in the spring. My reason is that I have recently seen the Jump DVD, however, I was not able to put them into the storyline. However, because these two adventures did occur, Team Seven was not able to be there during the previous exam. Plus, I decided that the last exam was in the Earth Country, which are not friends to Konoha. This meant that no ninjas could participate in the last exam, only the one before it.
Also, I know some people might not like that I did not have the Sound Team attack Team Seven, but in my opinion, the only reason for their attack was to test out Sasuke's dedication for more power.
Also, Naruto is trying to help out his team, even though he does not like them that much
Finally, I need some pre-readers to help with reading my story. I had some but they are no longer available. If your interested email me and let me know.
Next time on Fist of Naruto: Yes, the Second Exam is over… WHAT! We have to fight now? Wait a minute, why do I have to fight them!
Next episode: The Chuunin Exams Part 3 - The Preliminary fight begins. Naruto Vs….