-1Disclaimer: Kore wa watashi no zyanaidesu. NOT MINE!
A.N: Last chapter as for Naruto not noticing Sasuke... I was half asleep when I wrote that part so forgive me, and thanks for pointing it out. The reason is because making the contract takes a lot of chakra ((even by a demon/god's standards)) and concentration. Even Sakura could have walked in on it. Naruto forgot to set the barriers. Seems his personality hasn't completely changed.
And congratulations to Intelligo for being the first to guess the new summoner.
Part 11
Panic at Forest 47
Team 7 ((plus two)) arrived in Konoha a few days later. Upon arriving the guards glared at Naruto, who in turn arranged for their plumbing systems at home to malfunction or explode. ((he gave his element the choice)) Zabuza noticed this and decided to pull the boy aside to question him about it.
"I saw you notice that man glaring at you. Why do you allow them to do it? And why do they do it in the first place?" he asked.
Naruto smirked; "They've done it for as long as I can remember, you get used to it after a while. As for why they do it, that's classified. But why do I allow it?" he snickered to himself. "It will just cause them more bad luck in the future." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "You and Haku don't have any place to stay do you? Why don't you stay at one of my places? Meet me later at the abandoned apartment complex. Form there I'll take you to where we'll be staying. No one but me and those in my company are able to get there." Zabuza agreed and walked back to join the group.
From there they continued on to the Hokage tower. Haku was the only one to notice the agitated stirring of the moisture in the air, him having it as part of his bloodline. He saw it move around the blond protectively; ready to lash out at anything that could harm the boy. Haku had since decided that nothing would surprise him about this boy. He would even believe him if he told him that he was a god.
They quickly made it to the Hokage office where Kakashi proceeded to give the mission report to the village leader. When he was done, Kakashi dismissed Sasuke and Sakura, but held Naruto back. The grey hair jounin turned back to the Hokage; "During the mission, it seems that Naruto here had unlocked some sort of Bloodline limit." Looking at Naruto; "I believe you called it Alchem, am I right?"
Naruto nodded happily. "Yep. The Alchem bloodline."
"And what does it do?" Sarutobi asked curiously. Naruto was very important to him, but his life was hard. He would have done more for the boy, but the counsel kept him from helping him. The only thing he held over their heads in this matter was The Contract that both he and the Yondaime had signed before the Kyuubi's defeat. Leting out a small sigh Sarutobi returned his mind to the matters at hand, memories from the past held no place in conversations like these.
Naruto grinned broadly. "I can make stuff."
Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "You can make stuff. Care to demonstrate?"
The blond haired boy reached into his pack and pulled out bottles and containers of various materials. He placed them on the floor and clapped his hands. There was a flash of light and in their place were several kunai. "See, I can make things."
Sarutobi smiled. 'This will be very helpful to him. If I remember correctly, the shopkeepers charge him triple prices and give him the worst of their stock. Now that he can make the things he needs himself he wont have to worry about that anymore.' "Congratulations Naruto on unlocking your Bloodline. Come see me later and we'll see what else we can do." He smiled kindly. "You're dismissed."
Naruto jumped up and down excitedly. "Ok Jiji, but you'd better be there." And he ran out the door, heading toward where his den seal used to be. 'I wonder if it's still there, and if it is if anything happened to the tree.' Once he was out of sight he disappeared into the shadows with a whispered; "Kage Hada no Jutsu."
Back in the Hokage's office, Sarutobi was questioning Kakashi on the stranger who had helped on their mission. "You say this person just showed up during your fight with Zabuza. You didn't sense him at all?" when Kakashi shook his head no, Sarutobi sighed. "So, there is a new country hidden in the shadows." He paused. "About how strong would you say this Kage-nin, Hitoshirenu Itazura, was?" The Sandaime contemplated the strangers name. 'Hidden Mischief… sounds like someone I know.' Thought Sarutobi, the image of a smirking Naruto in his head.
He was brought from his thoughts when Kakashi replied; "He said that he was one of their Sannin, but he was at least kage level, sir."
The Hokage nodded. "That makes sense. There is an old legend, one I'm sure you've never heard because it is an S Class secret, that tells of a hidden village that could take on all other villages, and win. It was said that these shinobi wore a pitch-black hitai-ate with the mark of shadows on them. It was the Village Hidden in Shadows. And it seems that they have re-emerged." He paused once more. "I wonder if it has anything to do with that." He mumbled, but Kakashi heard it anyway.
"Anything to do with what, Hokage-sama?"
"Huh, Oh, just something that happened a few days after you left. This was going to be your next mission any way. A few days ago, something happened in one of the forests surrounding Konoha. The trees seemed to come alive and tossed everyone that was in it out. Then the trees on the perimeter grew together making a wall with what looked like gates every twenty meters. Everyone who has tried to scale the wall has been stopped and tossed back out. I want you to see if you can find anything out about what happened, but don't let anyone know what we have talked about."
Kakashi nodded before leaving to go read his book. Whatever happened at the forest could wait. It wasn't going anywhere.
Naruto stood in the center of Forest 47 where his den's anchor was located. He looked around and whistled. "Whatever I thought would happen, this wasn't it." the whole area was filled with various trees and flowers, yet a fog seemed to flow along the ground. Sunlight lit the paths to the tree in the center, which had grown to be forty times as big as all the others. His seal still showed through the bark, fresh as the day it was made. It seemed like all of the other trees where part of the master tree. "Niiice." He said before opening the gate to his den. He would leave it open for now because no one would be able to get past the guardian trees that formed the walls. "Now, time to get Zabuza and Haku settled in. Maybe I should set them up their own small worlds. I could preset them to look like houses inside. Yeah, that will be good."
He quickly made the seals on two different trees on either side of the master tree. He only put enough energy in them to create a nice house on the inside of each of them that the residents could change to fit them. Because the power used was much reduced, the trees only grew a little bit to set them apart form the others. "Yep. They'll like these. Better than having them in my won den at least. Who knows what kind of trouble they could cause in there."
He walked back to one of the shadows and melted into darkness once more to reappear again in front of his old apartment. He saw both Zabuza and Haku waiting for him. "Hey guys, I just finished setting up your houses."
Zabuza showed not outward emotion, but on the inside he was amazed. They each got their own house!
Haku just took it in stride. As he said; no more being surprised.
Naruto laughed nervously; "Um, something happened around my home while I was away, so the only way to get there is though my Kage Hada. I hope you don't mind." When they nodded, he took hold of both of them and they were sucked back into the shadows.
Unknown to them, the Hokage had seen it all through his crystal ball. Naruto would have noticed had he been looking for it, but he never expected to be spied on by the Hokage.
"Interesting, I wonder what else you learned while you were away." He smiled lovingly at the image of the boy. "Don't worry, you're secrets safe with me, Juubi."
Flashback
Sarutobi was sitting at his desk, fighting the dreaded paper work, and seemed to be loosing. 'Why did I ever take this job?' he wondered for the thousandth time that day.
His head snapped up from the paper he was signing as he felt a chakra surge at the other side of his office. The henge he had placed over The Contract disappeared as three chakras surrounded it. The scroll pulled off the wall and opened, hovering in the middle of the room. Beyond all of the ancient script, five names were signed: Kazama Arashi ((Yondaime)), Sarutobi ((Sandaime)), Uzumaki Naruto, and lastly, Kazan ((God of Fire)), and the Shinigami. This was the contract that allowed the Kyuubi to be sealed. Arashi and Shinigami were there because they were the ones doing the sealing, Sarutobi was there because he would become the Hokage once more and would need to look after Naruto, Naruto was there because the Kyuubi would be sealed inside him, and Kazan was there because it was his country and anything major needed his blessing to work, plus he was there for a reason of his own, but no one knew what that was.
Sarutobi watched intently, this could only mean that one or both of the gods were changing some part of the agreement. He gasped when Naruto's name was blotted out and replaced with the name: Juubi no Kitsune. He did not know what that meant. It could either be good or bad, he would have to wait and see if Team 7 came back alive. If they did, they may have a new powerful ally, if not, they had made a deadly enemy.
End Flashback
He knew that Naruto was now far stronger than he seemed to be. Naruto did not seem to mean them any harm, so he would do nothing and hope that none of the villagers would do anything stupid. If they did, he would side with Naruto, who he secretly considered as a grandson. ((-/ Yay! Konohamaru has a brother! Snickers.))
'Now, to cancel Kakashi's mission and get the deed for that area to Naruto. After all, it won't be doing anyone else much good.' He thought for another second; 'and it seems we've found our Shadow-nin as well.'
A.N: Sarutobi doesn't know anything about the Shadow except for the legend. He doesn't know where it is, what its like, whose in it, or really how powerful they are. He doesn't even know if they have the same rank system. And most importantly, he doesn't know what they are. END A.N.
Naruto stepped out of the shadows with two very disoriented ex-mist nin behind him.
Zabuza leaned over into the brush and had a meeting with his breakfast. When he was through he yelled; "What the hell was that?"
Even Haku looked a bit green; "Naruto-kun, as much as I respect you for sparing Zabuza and I, I will hate you for the rest of my life if you make us go through that again."
Naruto looked a bit uneasy. "Sorry, I didn't think that it would affect you like that. I'll have to arrange for the guardians to let the two of you in, but you'll have to make sure no one is watching when you come and go."
They both nodded and Zabuza asked; "So, where are the houses?"
Naruto pointed to two of the larger trees ((the ones he had made for this purpose)) and two gates opened, showing the inside of two houses within. "There they are. Now, these are very special houses. You may change them in whatever way you want, within reason of course. They will adapt themselves to your personality, becoming exactly like your dream home. You can pick which ever one you want." He then pointed to the largest tree in the forest and the gate that had already been opened. "That one is mine. Only enter it if there is an emergency, otherwise, tell one of the forest animals what you need and they will tell me." Seeing their expressions he explained; "The animals of this forest are very intelligent, sometimes more so than humans. And don't worry about them attacking you, they will leave you alone so long as you don't attack them, or me. It might even be a good idea to befriend them, but I'll leave that up to you. Now, I have to go see the Hokage about my 'Bloodline.' On my way out I'll talk to the Guardians so you can move about as you wish. And I believe you also have a meeting with the old man later. Have fun." He closed the door to his den and disappeared in a swirl of mist.
For the next few hours, he and the Hokage talked about his "Bloodline" and its possible uses. Together they made a few sets of armour and weapons that Naruto gave to Sarutobi. The armour looked like old samurai armour without the facemask, but it was stronger than steel and light as a feather. Lines of gold ran through the dark coloured metal forming designs that gave the armour additional protective properties, such as resistance to having one's own chakra used against them.
Naruto left when it began to get dark with the Hokage's thanks.
The next morning, Naruto woke early so that he could get out of the forest without being noticed as easily. 'What to do today? Should I show up for the team meeting or send him instead. Wait… isn't Kakashi going to sign us up for the exams soon? Ugh, not again. Well, third times the charm so I guess I'll go, and then there's Gaara. I wonder what I can do about that.' A wall of water surged around him as he disappeared, heading for the bridge where Team 7 was to meet.
No one there noticed the water below the bridge whirlpool and Naruto rise up from the middle of it. He jumped up on the bridge only to be hit by Sakura for being late. "Whatever." He mumbled; "It's not like sensei will be here any time soon." He quickly plugged his ears with a silence jutsu just in time to avoid having his ears damaged by a pink haired banshee.
The rest of the day was spent doing worthless D-Rank missions, such as weeding a garden, picking up groceries, and finding the stupid cat. The last of which no longer fought against Naruto, being far too scared of the Ten Tails demon that now held it to try to hurt him.
During all of this their teamwork steadily decreased, Sasuke was being Sasuke, Sakura was fawning over him, Kakashi was reading his book, and Naruto was ignoring them all. When they were finally done, they all tried to go their separate ways, the exception being Sakura following Sasuke, asking if he wanted to practice with her.
Finally the raven haired Uchiha got fed up and rounded on her; "You're the same as Naruto. If you have time to bother me, go practice a technique or two." He paused for a second as Inner Sakura was being weighed down by a boulder. "Actually… you're below Naruto." The bolder just doubled in size, crushing her.
Unknown to the two of them, Naruto was sitting in a tree watching all of this. 'Hmpf, actually, both of you are below me.' he jumped down and started down the road.
He sighed. 'Hello Konohamaru.' He thought as he saw a box painted to look like a rock, but it was still a box with two eyeholes in it. He continued on with the box following him. He walked by a water pipe and made it explode, knocking the box away. He turned around; "Next time you might want to actually make your disguise look like a rock instead of a box."
Konohamaru and his two friends stood before him. "That was awesome bro! That's exactly what I expect from my rival. How did you do it any way?"
Naruto looked them over, ignoring the fact that they were trying to imitate him by all wearing goggles on their foreheads. "Just something that I learned while I was away." He stretched; "So, what do ya want?"
Moegi smiled up at him. "Are you free today?"
"Ahhhh… nope. I have to check up on Zabuza and Haku."
The Konohamaru Corp. all shouted; "What! But you said you'd play ninja with us today!"
"Oh, yeah, that's right."
Sakura picked that moment to make her presence known, she was leaking killing intent, but it was so weak that even Konohamaru barely noticed it. "Why would a ninja "play Ninja?" she asked with a scary look on her face. 'I'm below him?'
"Hey bro, who's she?" Konohamaru asked looking up at his boss. "Oh! Not bad…" Naruto looked down at him questioningly. "She's your." He held out his pinky. ((Girlfriend))
A vein popped out on Sakura's forehead as she hit both of them on the head.
Naruto fell over as Konohamaru yelled; "How dare you, you ugly hag!"
Naruto sat up quickly; 'This isn't good.' "Run Konohamaru!" he said as he backed away from Sakura who had little flames in her eyes. By this time Udon and Moegi had already disappeared leaving Konohamaru and Naruto to face their doom.
Sakura cracked her knuckles before giving chase to Konohamaru who was running and had just passed Naruto who was running as well. "When I catch you your both dead!" she yelled.
Far away, Kakashi was standing in front of Iruka, handing in his mission reports. "So, is Naruto doing well with his comrades?" asked Iruka.
The jounin sweat dropped; "Um, he's doing fine…"
Iruka sighed in relief. "That's good. I've been busy lately and haven't been able to check up on him, and I've been worried."
"Well you know he's with Uchiha Sasuke, they see each other as rivals." 'Though it doesn't seem like Naruto does anymore. I sense that he is looking down at him from a level far beyond Sasuke. But that cant be, Sasuke is so much better that he is. Oh well, another thing to think on later.' "They argue a lot, but they are both improving greatly. Soon they will surpass you."
Iruka smiled. "Is that so?"
Back with Konohamaru and co. they were still running away from a mad cherry blossom when Konohamaru ran into… a cat man! Oh wait, that's only Kankurou. ((Couldn't resist)) Upon impact, Konohamaru fell back to see two people. The male was wearing a baggy black costume and a hat with what looked like cat ears made of cloth. He had his face painted white with red triangles on both cheeks, chin and forehead, all pointing towards the center of his face. And he had something on his back, wrapped in bandages. He wore his hitai-ate on his forehead. The girl had on fishnet armour under her jacket, and her hair was done up in four pigtails. She had a giant fan strapped to her back and wore her hitai-ate around her neck.
"Hey, watch where you're going you little brat." Said the boy as he picked Konohamaru up by his shirt. "That hurt you little piece of shit!"
"Don't." said the girl; "Well get yelled at later."
Upon seeing what was happening Sakura ran away like the little girl that she was.
Naruto looked at her fleeing form. "Pathetic." He turned back Kankurou. "I'd put him down if I were you."
Kankurou looked at Naruto's hitai-ate. 'A leaf genin hmm.' "Let's play a little before boss gets here." He twitched his fingers sending chakra strings out to grab a hold of Naruto.
The blond ((sennin)) smirked as he avoided the strings with ease. "Tricks like that don't work if your opponent knows them."
"We'll see." was his only response. Kankurou was about to attack when a rock struck his hand making him drop Konohamaru who was instantly by Naruto's side.
Sasuke was sitting in a tree throwing a stone up and down. "What are you bastards doing in our village?"
At that moment a meeting was being held in the Hokage's office. "As you know, the Chuunin Exams will be held in one week." Said Sarutobi to all of the Konoha Jounin before him. "This meeting was called to decide which Genin teams will be attending. First well hear from those watching over the Rookie Genin." He motioned Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai forward. "Well? Are there any genin that you would like to enter this Chuunin Exam?"
Kakashi stepped forward. "Under the name of Hatake Kakashi, I nominate Team 7: Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura, to take the Chuunin Exam."
Iruka's eyes widened in surprise.
Then Kurenai; "Under the name of Yuuhi Kurenai, I nominate Team 8: Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino, for the Exam."
"Sarutobi Asuma, Team 10: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Choji, the same"
The Hokage thought on this. "How rare for all of them…"
He was interrupted by Iruka. "Hold on a second! I may be out of place, but all of them were my students at the academy. They are all talented, but this is too early for them." He reasoned. "They need more experience."
"I became a Chuunin when I was six years younger than Naruto." Said Kakashi.
"Naruto is different!" yelled Iruka. "Are you trying to crush them? The Exam is…"
"Crushing them would be fun, but they are always complaining about their missions. This will be a good experience for them. Besides, it seems that Naruto has unlocked a bloodline and I want to see what it can do."
All present gasped, save for Sarutobi who already knew. The thought that ran through all their heads was; 'The Kyuubi brat has a bloodline.' Iruka was the exception with; 'How come I wasn't told?'
Iruka was about to protest once more when Kakashi cut him off. "Stay out of this. They are no longer your students. They are my shinobi."
The Hokage smirked. "I agree with Kakashi. They are all ready for the Exam, especially Naruto. He is far stronger than even you, Kakashi, know. He has shown me what his bloodline can do, and I am confident that they will make it. And no, I wont tell you what it does, you will have to wait and see."
Kankurou glared up at Sasuke; "Another one who pisses me off."
Sasuke only smirked. "Get lost."
"Punk! Get down here." He began unwrapping the object on his back. "Show offs like the two of you annoy me the most."
Temari put a hand on his shoulder and whispered; "You're going to use Karasu?"
He shrugged he off and would have continued had a chilling voice not stopped him. "Kankurou, stop it. You're an embarrassment to our village."
Everyone but Naruto looked up to see a red haired kid with a gourd on his back standing upside down from a tree. Naruto shot a glance up before returning to Konohamaru.
Kankurou sweat dropped nervously. "Ga… Gaara…" he got out while thinking; 'I hope he doesn't kill me.'
Sasuke on the other hand was stunned. 'When did he… that stealth level, its on par with Kakashi-sensei's.'
"Losing yourself in a fight. Pathetic. Why do you think we came here?" questioned the red head.
Kankurou stammered; "But they started it, and…"
"Shut up, or I'll kill you." Everyone gathered shuddered except for Naruto, and Gaara was the only one to notice. His eyes narrowed. 'He's not like the rest of these fools. And the other one, to be able to hit Kankurou with a stone, he must be good.' He smirked inwardly. 'They will be fun to kill.' "Sorry to you guys." He said in an emotionless voice before a swirl of sand enveloped him.
Sasuke had been watching him intently, recognizing him as the leader of the Sand Team. He was surprised, though, when the sand surrounded the boy and he disappeared in it.
The sand rose up again between the other two Sand-nin, leaving Gaara in its place. "It seems we arrived a little early, but we didn't come to play around." He glared at Temari and Kankurou. "Let's go."
Sasuke jumped down, blocking his path. Behind him, Naruto could be heard mumbling; "Foolish. Stupid Uchiha will get himself killed like that." He continued to rant to himself on Sasuke's stupidity, who in turn just ignored him, like always.
"Wait. What are Sand-nins doing in Konoha?" Sasuke demanded. "Sand and Leaf may be allies, but its forbidden to enter another hidden village without permission." He got in a defensive stance; "State your purpose and I may let you go."
The Sand shinobi and Naruto rolled their eyes as if Sasuke were the biggest idiot on earth. It was Temari who answered him. "These Leaf-nin are completely clueless. Don't you know anything." She held out a pass. "Were here for the Chuunin Exam. Didn't you know that your village was hosting this year?"
Sasuke glared at her, before looking at Gaara. "What's your name?"
Temari blushed. "You mean me?"
Barely suppressing a snarl of disgust answering Sasuke started to become annoyed 'Another pathetic fan girl.' ((Pun)) "No, you with the gourd."
Gaara turned his eyes from Naruto. Shukaku was being surprisingly quiet, matter of fact, if he didn't know better; he would say that the tanuki was scared. "Gaara of the Desert." He said glancing at him before looking back at the indifferent Naruto who was standing beside Sasuke. "I am also interested in your name."
Sasuke spoke thinking no one could be interested in the dobe beside him. "Its Uchiha Sasuke." He smirked.
Gaara focuses his killing intent on the blond. "And you?"
Naruto moved forward passing him. "You'll find out soon enough, crazy raccoon." He didn't stop and kept going.
Gaara's eyes widened before narrowing as his sand shot forward to attack the retreating blond. He was shocked once more as his sand stopped just short of its target and refused to move.
Naruto laughed; "Your nine short to be doing that, Ichibi." He whispered, but Gaara heard him nonetheless.
He turned to his team; "Lets go." He disappeared in a swirl of sand, leaving the two to catch up with him. When they were out of range Gaara turned to Temari and Kankurou; "Be careful around that boy."
"Which one?" asked Temari.
Gaara glared; "The blond one, he puts Mother on edge." He grinned, his blood thirst evident; "His blood is mine."
Sasuke walked away after the Sand team had left. 'This is getting interesting.' Suddenly a loud; "Sasuke-kun!" came form the other side of the alley. He panicked for a second; "Shit! Fan Girls!" before he burst into a full out run. From around the corner came a crowd of the village's girls, young and old alike, ((eeewwww)) all yelling for their Sasuke-kun.
Naruto jumped up into a tree smiling wickedly. 'Just what you deserve, teme.' Just then he felt a presence above him. He looked up to find that the Sound team had been watching the whole thing. 'Damn.' He thought. 'Shukaku's chakra must have masked theirs. Crap!' he moved to fight them, but they vanished in a cloud of smoke just before he got there. Naruto growled; "That snake better be ready this time."
Just before Naruto found them, the Sound-nins intently watched what was going on below them.
They all wore white camo pants and sandals that went up to just below their knees. One of them wore a baggy shirt with a big furry thing attached to the back. His face was concealed by bandages that only left his left eye visible. The girl wore a Chuunin style vest and had long black hair that went just past her shoulder blades. The last member had on a tunic with an unknown kanji ((if anyone knows what it is, please tell me so that I can change this)) above and below his belt. His forehead protector had armour pieces that came down on both sides of his face along his jaw line. His hair looked a little like Kakashi's would if he had black hair.
"So, what do you think?" asked one.
"Nothing serious, but…" he shivered, "That black haired leaf seems to be the weakest of them all. The blond leaf and the sand with the gourd… let's keep an eye on them." He saw Naruto look up at them. "Let's go." And they vanished.
Team Youth ((twitch)) was out training deep in the woods when Gai's clone brought up something interesting.
"Hey, did you guys hear? They're letting rookies in this year's Chuunin Exam."
"No way. It's probably some stupid jounin in a competition or something." Said Tenten.
"No." said their bowl haired, caterpillar eye browed sensei. "The story is that three of them the students of Hatake Kakashi."
Neji remained sitting; "Sounds interesting, but…" he whipped out a kunai and threw it, hitting one of the practice dummies right between the legs. "in the end, you have to feel sorry for them."
The next day, Naruto was the first to arrive at the bridge. He yawned in boredom. 'Still no one's here.' He scowled making the water under the bridge spike and freeze. The temperature in the area dropped several degrees. 'They had better hurry up, or I wont be responsible for a suddenly missing Team 7.' He grinned devilishly. 'Then again, I might do it anyway.' Off in the distance he saw two figures approaching, quickly before they could see him he clapped his hands together and slammed them into the wooden bridge. "That'll teach 'em." He muttered.
Minutes later the two remaining genin arrived at the bridge. Sasuke ignored Naruto and continued to ignore Sakura who had been following him everywhere. Sakura herself looked like she had just got out of bed three minutes ago. 'Probably saw Sasuke and dashed.' Thought Naruto who just sat down with out a word and entered his mind to have a talk with Tsunami about some ideas for new Suiton techniques, if he should allow the human rats to use them, and about that one sealed door that still refused to open. 'Funny,' he thought, 'that that door would not even open for a god.' His musings where interrupted by a poof at the far side of the bridge. He smirked. 'Three, two…'
"Morning. You see, there was this old lady with a cat and…"
Sakura was about to interrupt what a: "You're late!" when a groan from the bridge stopped them both.
Two genin suddenly found themselves waist deep in freezing cold water when the bridge that they had been standing on collapsed. The only reason Kakashi hadn't joined them was because he had jumped the moment he had heard the sound. Naruto however was a different matter. He remained sitting where he had been, the wood beneath him being held up by several columns of ice. He just looked at them like they were crazy.
As soon as everyone was out and dry, Kakashi pulled out three slips of paper. "I know this is kind of sudden, but I've nominated all of you for the Chuunin Exam." He said holding them out. "Here are the applications." Sakura and Sasuke glared at him, while Naruto rolled his eyes. "This is just a nomination." He explained; "Whether you decide to take it or not is up to each of you. Your decision won't affect your teammates at all. If you want to take it, show up at Academy Room 301 tomorrow by 4P.M. That's all." He jumped up and vanished.
Naruto jumped up from his place on top of the ice column. 'Idiots, never even noticed the ice. Fools are so set into thinking that I'm a dead last that they don't even notice something right under their noses. I wonder if that means that I can lessen my limiter a little bit?' he saw that the other two were already walking away so he saw no reason to hide how he was leaving and summoned an ice mirror. Seconds later he was gone, leaving only a few chunks of broken ice to float down the river.
Sasuke smirked. 'I might be able to fight him.' the image of the red haired sand-nin in his mind. "Whatever."
Sakura looked at Sasuke before turning around to ask Naruto what he thought. He had been strangely quiet lately, not even asking her out on a date. When she looked back, Naruto was nowhere to be seen. She sighed, 'Now even Naruto is ignoring me. I don't want to do this… but I have to keep up with Sasuke-kun and Naruto. Maybe then they will start paying attention to me. Wait, why do I care that Naruto quite bothering me? Now I can concentrate more on Sasuke! But, I still wish that Naruto would go back to normal, he's been different ever since that mission.' She hung her head and continued home.
((A.N: I'll only be doing Naruto's test, as the others are the same as in the anime.))
Naruto emerged from the mirror on the other side of Konoha where Konohamaru and his gang were waiting for him.
"Hey Bro! Let's play!" yelled Konohamaru as he Udon and Moegi ran to meet him. Just before they got there a rain-nin appeared behind Moegi, grabbed her, and jumped to the top of a pole. The whole time Moegi was yelling for them to save her.
Naruto glared up at the man. "Let her go." The man smirked before dashing off. Naruto turned to Konohamaru and Udon; "Stay here, I'll get Moegi back. And no arguing." He said sensing what Konohamaru was going to say.
Konohamaru nodded as Naruto dashed off; "You go Leader!"
As soon as he was out of sight, Naruto picked up speed, quickly catching up to the fleeing figure.
The rain-nin looked back and was surprised to see Naruto catching up so quickly. 'Wow, I'm surprised that he can keep up, let alone be gaining on me.' he thought. He stopped and quickly tied Moegi to a tree and gagged her. "Konoha, what a joke. The Chuunin exams made the perfect opportunity…"
He was cut off by Naruto who had landed behind him, a few yards off. "I won't say it again. Let her go."
The kidnapper turned around. "That was fast. Tell you what, you get me the Scroll of Seals, and I will let her go." He placed a kunai at her throat; "If you don't, she will die."
Naruto appeared to be thinking it over, but he was really transporting Moegi away using a custom Kage Hada. "How about no." he said when he was sure that she was back with Konohamaru.
The nin's eyes widened slightly; "Don't you care what happens to this kid?"
Naruto smirked; "What kid?" he focused chakra in his eyes and whispered; "Onimetsuki." He then glared at the nin. "You have threatened my friends, and now you will pay… Iruka-sensei."
The nin froze before smiling and dropping his henge. "So you figured it out, but how?"
Naruto tapped the side of his eye. "My eyes are much like the sharingan, they can see through any genjutsu. It is the bloodline that I unlocked during my last mission."
Iruka smiled; "Good for you. If you didn't know, you have just past the entrance round for the Chuunin Exam. You are now free to enter. You should know that the real Chuunin Exam is much harder, and you will be put in situations much like the one you just faced. By the way, how did you get Moegi? It wasn't a kawarimi or bunshin."
"I guess I can tell you. After all, you are one of the few people in this village who actually care about me."
Iruka frowned at that; 'Is that really true?
"It's a jutsu I learned a while ago. The jutsu is very similar to the Nara Clan's bloodline of manipulating shadows. It allows me, or those I choose, to walk through shadows as if they were roads, thus the name Kage Hada: Shadow Body."
"Sounds like a useful jutsu, mind teaching it to me some time?"
"Sure, maybe after the Exam. See you then sensei!" with that Naruto disappeared into the shadows.
Iruka just stared after. "You really are growing strong Naruto. I wouldn't be surprised if you really did achieve your dream." Iruka disappeared as well, heading toward the next nominee for the Exam.
Later that night, Iruka met up with Kakashi on the roof of a building. "So much for that, all nine of them passed. Just like you said, their abilities have really improved. Especially Naruto."
Kakashi looked up at him; "What did he do?"
Iruka smiled; "He saw through my illusion as well as removed the child without my knowledge. He used a jutsu similar to the Nara's to teleport Moegi elsewhere before calling me by name."
Kakashi nodded, even though he had not been expecting that. Naruto really was getting stronger, but where was he learning these things. Certainly not from him. "Ah, but was it enough for the real Chuunin Exam?"
Once again, Naruto was the first to arrive at the Academy. This time, however, he surprised several genin from other villages when one of the shadows warped and rose up before bursting revealing a genin clad in all blue.
Ever since he had gained his Mizukami status all of his cloths had transformed into a blue cloth that perfectly mimicked the look, feel, movement, and flow of water. Here and there, strands of red or brown could be seen forming different patterns. The red was concentrated on his shoulders as little flame designs that shimmered as he moved. A brown belt of jagged mountains circled his waist serving as a foundation. It increased his defense and helped him keep his balance no matter what happened, the world could turn upside-down and he'd be fine. His hitai-ate had also changed. The band was completely black, except for a thin white line that ran along the edges. If one looked close enough, they would see that it was actually thousands of tiny kanji that repeated "Left Hand of Death" over and over again. The metal plate that held the symbol of the leaf had also changed. It was still silver in colour, but it reflected no light, and along the spiral of the leaf were the kanji for demon, god, water, fire, earth, darkness, and death.
((-/ change that and die))
Around his team he had used a henge, but he decided to drop it for the exam. He really did hate orange.
He stepped out of the shadows and glared at the people that were staring at him making them go back to whatever they were doing before he got there. He sighed before going to stand next to the door to wait for his team. 'Kakashi must be rubbing off on them.' He thought.
Suddenly from the other side of the building he heard three familiar voices yell; "Kit-sama!"
He turned to find two girls and a boy with Shadow Hitai-ate running towards him.
When they got to him, the boy panted out; "Kit-sama, Niko-sama said to give this to you." He reached into his hakama and pulled out a scroll with an complicated seal on it.
Naruto nodded to them before pulling them all into his den. "We can talk here without people getting suspicious." He extended a claw, cut his thumb with it, and smeared the blood on the seal. When it was gone he unrolled the scroll and read it.
Kit,
Congratulations on becoming Juubi. As you are a sennin, you are free to do and go wherever you wish, but I have one request. I want you to keep an eye on these genin. They will be entering the ningen's Chuunin exam. I want you to watch them and make sure that they don't destroy the place. (that's your job if you choose) I also want you to keep the Snake-bastard away from Uchiha-teme. Good luck and have fun.
Niko, Onikage of Kagegakure
P.S. You might also get the Mist, Rain, and Waterfall villages to help Konoha, seeing as you are now the Mizukami. If they don't listen, just tell them that they will loose their Suiton Jutsus if they don't.
A.N: If you're wondering, the Shadow Village was un-affected by the time shift, so they still know about Naruto and all that had happened before the destruction of the world. Actually, it wasn't affected by it at all, with so many high ranking spirits there, they were able to place the whole village in a den of it's own before the world was destroyed.
Naruto looked up at the three Shadow Nin in front of him, "Looks like I have to keep an eye on you three. Now, I'm sure you know who I am, but I don't know you, so mind introducing yourselves?" at their smug looks he glared. 'I know that they knew about this beforehand. I just hope they don't have anything nasty planed for me. Or the ningen genin for that matter… wait, why do I care? They can do what they like so long as I don't get in trouble for it.' He pointed at the only boy; "You first."
((A.N: Profiles will be at the bottom. -/ )) ((Disclaimer on Shadow Team: Not Mine, they belong to PhiloWorm and TigerLady.))
"My name's Naosoka and I am a Neko Hanyou. I specialize in interrogation, stealth, and infiltration." He holds out a staff; "This is my partner Zugaikotsu Assaiki, my Skull Crusher."
Kit pointed to the girl sitting next to him. "You."
"Huh?" the girl looks around before pointing at herself; "Me? I'm Adhinari Suki, but you can just call me Suki. I bonded with a Thunder Apparition, so I have lots of thunder jutsu." She pulls out two scimitar; "My specialty, besides Raiton Jutsu is Kenjutsu, with these Raiken thunder blades."
"I guess that leaves me." said the last girl. "My name is Tsuyayaka Hana and my spirit is a dryad. I specialize in Plant Jutsu and Genjutsu. I don't have any special weapons because I attack from a distance."
Kit nodded, sounded like a good team, better than his at least. "Ok, now that we know each other, I have only one rule for these exams: Keep Orochimaru away from the Konoha Teams, and don't kill any one unnecessarily."
"Ummm… Jyuubi-sama?" said Nao, ((-/ the name's being shortened for my sake)) "That's two rules."
Kit's eye twitched. "Sooo…"
The three shadow genin backed up, slightly afraid of their new sensei that had begun to chuckle evilly. "That doesn't matter. What matters is that I am also taking the exam with my ningen team, and I will know if you've messes up." He grinned. "So, are you ready for this exam?" The three nodded. "Then why are you still here?" he asked. A second later he was standing by himself in his den. He sighed, "So much fun messing with them. Why am I still here?" with that he also disappeared, re-emerging from the shadows behind a tree in front of the academy.
From there he ran to meet his team who had already arrived by then. "Sorry I'm late." He panted.
Sasuke glared at him, noticing the change in clothes. 'Whatever, it's better than the orange monstrosity.' He thought.
Sakura glared at him as well for being late. "Naruto no baka!" she yelled. She as well noticed his change, but was too focused on Sasuke to pay it any mind.
Naruto grinned foxishly at them. "Well I'm here now so let's go." He said before entering the school. He looked up to the second story and saw his genin examining his team from one of the windows, not that anyone but him would have been able to notice it. He was secretly proud of them, already scouting out the enemy without them even noticing. But then again, what do you expect from Shadow-nin?
Once they were inside, they headed directly toward room 301, but when they got there they found a group of people standing there watching as a green spandex wearing boy was tossed back by two people blocking the way. The boy appeared to have many bruises covering him from many attempts to get into the exam room.
"You should all just quit now." Said one of the two blocking the exit.
A girl, apparently from the same team as the one on the ground moved forward and shyly asked; "Please, let us in." she was knocked back instantly by a kick. The crowd around them began to mumble about what was going on.
"Listen," said the one who had kicked her; "this is our kindness. The Exam isn't easy; even we failed it three times straight. Those who take this exam, most quit being shinobi, those that don't die that is." He paused. "Chuunins are the leaders of military teams. Mission failure, the death of a comrade, it all rests on the captain's shoulders. And yet, kids like you think you can pass!" he laughed. "We're just getting rid of those that will fail anyway, what's wrong with that?"
A voice came from the back of the crowd; "I agree, but you will let me through." The crowd parted to reveal the one who had spoken, Uchiha Sasuke. "Remove the genjustu you put up." Behind him, Naruto snapped his fingers, breaking the genjutsu himself. The sign that read 301 wavered and became 201. "I'm going to the third floor." Everyone around him gasped when they noticed that they had been tricked.
The one blocking the fake room smiled. "So you noticed…"
Sasuke looked at Sakura; "You must have noticed it first right?" Naruto rolled his eyes. "After all, you know the most about genjustu on this team."
Sakura blushed and nodded. "Of course I noticed a while ago, because this is the second floor."
The one blocking the door smirked. "Yeah, but all you did was see through it!" he moved to kick Sasuke in the head when a concentrated killer intent froze him in place. In his mind he saw gigantic glowing red eyes glaring at him, the eyes of the Kyuubi. If that weren't enough to stop him though, the green spandex wearing genin had gotten between him and his target, catching both his and Sasuke's kicks. He smiled when the intent disappeared. It seemed that they had some very good candidates this year.
Everyone else was amazed, was this the same kid who had been tossed back so easily earlier?
The boy walked back to his team where his white-eyed teammate glared at him. "Hey, what happened to the plan, weren't you the one who said that we should hide our strength?"
The boy glanced at Sakura and blushed. His female teammate shook her head as he walked over to Sakura and began his introduction. "Hi, my name's Rock Lee, and yours is Sakura, right?"
Sasuke gave him and his team a hard look, all of their injuries had disappeared. They must have been stronger than he thought.
Lee smiled and stuck out his thumb in the Good Guy pose as his teeth sparkled. "Let's go out together! I'll protect you until I die!" he proclaimed.
Sakura just looked at him like he was crazy. "No way, you're lame." She said before going back to idolizing Sasuke. Lee slumped dejectedly.
Sasuke meanwhile was looking at the white-eyed boy who had been staring in his direction.
Neji had been looking at them since the guard had frozen. Sure, Lee had blocked it, but he had frozen slightly before Lee got there. When it happened he had felt a flash of chakra come from behind Sasuke, where Naruto was standing. 'But wasn't he the dead last?'
Gai-sensei had told them what he knew about Kakashi's team. They had Uchiha Sasuke, the Rookie of the Year, Haruno Sakura, smartest in the class, and Uzumaki Naruto, Dead Last and generally worthless. But what he just saw made him have second thoughts, that chakra had definitely not come from Sasuke.
"Hey, it's rude to stare." Said Sasuke.
Neji grunted. "What's your name?" he said, hoping to get Naruto's attention to confirm his theory.
Sasuke though, thought Neji was talking to him because no one would want to talk to Naruto over him. "When you want to learn someone's name, you should give your own first."
Neji was slightly disappointed; Naruto gave no notice of having seen him. So instead he stared at Sasuke. "You're a rookie right? How old are you?"
Sasuke turned to leave; "I don't have to answer to you."
With that, he and his team left to the third floor.
Neji watched their retreating backs; 'I'll have to keep a close eye on both of them. Sasuke is apparently the strongest of them, but I feel like I'm missing something on Naruto.' The thought of him missing something irked him, he was a Hyuuga, and they never missed anything. Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling. 'I'll find out eventually.' He was brought from his thoughts when Lee went after Team 7.
"Where ya going Lee?" asked Tenten.
Lee looked back at them; "You guys go ahead, there's something I want to test."
Neji smirked inwardly; 'So he noticed to, or maybe he just wants to challenge Sasuke. Either way we will learn something.'
The one's blocking the doorway had disappeared. Instead they were in another room talking to each other.
"So they all passed."
"This year is going to be fun for us examiners too." They both dropped their henge. There now stood two Chuunin.
"We have some pretty strong one's this year. Both Gai's and Kakashi's prized students, as well as whoever that was with the killer intent." They both grinned; this would be fun indeed.
Lee caught Team 7 in one of the open areas leading to the Exam room. "Hey! You with the dark eyes!" he yelled.
Sasuke looked up to the balcony from which the voice had come. "What?"
Lee jumped down in front of him. "Will you fight me… right here?"
Naruto smirked, the attention was away from him and no one would notice if he was there or not. He made a few seals and whispered; "Kage Hada no Jutsu." And merged with the shadows behind him. 'I'll watch the fight from here, and interfere when it becomes necessary.'
"A fight, right now?"
Lee nodded. "Yes. My name is Rock Lee. You should introduce one's self before asking the name of another. Isn't that right… Uchiha Sasuke."
The Uchiha smirked; "So you know, yet you still want to fight me?"
"Yes, I want to test my skills against the child of the genius Uchiha clan. Plus…" he looked over at Sakura and blushed before winking at her.
The pink haired kunoichi freaked; "Eew! Those eyelashes are creepy!" she screamed again in disgust. "Hairstyle is lame, and those eyebrows" she shivered.
Lee blew her a kiss. "You're an angel!"
Sakura leaned back to avoid the kiss so fast that she hit her head on the ground. When she came ack up she was breathing hard and glared at Lee; "What do you think you are trying to do? Kill me?"
In the shadows, Naruto was rolling with laughter. Last time he hadn't appreciated it, but that was because he had liked Sakura. Now that he didn't he just found it hilarious. 'Baka Sakura, if only you knew truly how much he likes you. Already you should know that the Uchiha will never like you the way you want him to. Yet you still pursue after him, passing up all others. Your love life is truly a sad one.' But that made it all the more funny to him. 'Oh yes, the life of an apparition is good.' He watched intently to see if this would be the same fight as last time; 'Should I copy the fight, Lee does have some good moves… No, that would make me just like that Uchiha-bastard. Lee worked hard to get his moves, so I won't steal them. I will only do so with his permission.'
Sasuke glared at Lee. "You are about to learn what the name Uchiha means, thick brows." Sasuke got in his fighting position.
Lee mimicked him, going into the Iron Fist position. 'Today I will prove myself to Gai-sensei!' he thought before examining the area. He noticed that the blond haired genin had disappeared, not that it would matter during this fight. It was just interesting that he had not noticed it, or anyone else for that matter. He knew that he had been there at the beginning of the conversation. Maybe he was skilled as well. He would have to seek him out for a fight later. 'But for now, I must concentrate on the enemy before me.'
Sasuke rushed Lee hoping to make the first strike.
Lee moved to the side. 'I'm sorry sensei, but I may have to use that move.' He thought as he brought his foot towards Sasuke's head. "Konoha Senpuu!"
'Damn, I can't dodge, so I'll have to block!' thought Sasuke as he brought up his arms in front of his face. The blow landed somehow getting through Sasuke's guard. He was knocked into the air, not landing for several feet. Sasuke quickly got to his feet; "Damn, he slipped through my guard. What was that? Was it ninjutsu or genjutsu?'
Lee smiled and Sasuke smirked. 'Fine then.' Sasuke thought, 'This gives me a chance to practice it.' he focused his chakra in his eyes. "Sharingan."
Sakura was surprised that her lover had brought out his trump. 'This guy must be good for Sasuke-kun to have to use the Sharingan.'
'Whatever this guy is doing, my Sharingan will break through it!' Sasuke looked straight at Lee, but while he was doing it he noticed an odd flicker of chakra inside one of the shadows in the room. 'Is that it? no, it's too far away, but what is it? is there another person watching this fight besides my team?' He focused back on Lee, waiting for his next move.
A second later, Lee's foot connected with his chin, knocking him into the air.
In the shadows, Naruto was getting ready to stop Lee. He made his tails reappear and changed their colour to black to match the shadows he was in.
Sasuke was stunned; 'My Sharingan can't read it! This can't be!'
Lee prepared to jump after Sasuke; "That's right, my techniques are neither ninjutsu or genjutsu." He appeared behind Sasuke. "Shadow Leaf Dance!" ((-/ Japanese if you please ((heh, I rhymed)), I don't have net at this point so…))
The shadows on the wall began to stir, shifting, bulging out in places before receding back. The only one to notice though was a single jounin that was also waiting for the right time to stop his student. 'I sense a burning flame of youth is near. One that blazes more brightly than even those of my wonderful students!'
"My techniques are simple taijutsu. You may not believe it because it is so basic but…" Lee proceeded to give an explanation of the Sharingan and how it works, ending with; "Even if you can read your opponent's movements, if your own body does not have the speed to keep up it is useless." The bandages wrapped around his arms came undone, snaking their way around Sasuke. "Did you know this? Among strong people there exist the genius types and the hardworking types. Your Sharingan is of the genius type, while I am the hardworking type who has only mastered taijutsu. You could say that good taijutsu is the worst match up against your Sharingan. And with this technique I will prove that hard work surpasses genius!"
He went to finish his technique, but two things stopped him. One, a pinwheel flew out of nowhere and pinned his bandages to the wall, and second, ten shadows burst from the wall and caught hold of him. The shadows forced him and Sasuke apart, flinging them to opposite ends of the room. Just as suddenly as the appeared they vanished, and with them, Naruto re-appeared behind Sakura, his tails hidden once more.
The Jounin noticed this. 'So he is the one with the burning passion of youth! It shines brightly even though it is hidden from his team. This must be the burning fruit of passion of which the Hokage spoke! How wonderful! Now to take care of my passionate student!'
A plume of smoke rose from the center of the room, revealing a turtle wearing a Konoha hitai-ate. "That's enough Lee!" it said.
Lee bowed his head in shame; "So you were watching…"
Sasuke got up shakily and glared at both Lee and the spot from which the shadows came. 'The power in those attacks. I must have them! I was able to copy most of Spandex-boy's attack, but the Sharingan wasn't able to see through the shadows. Was it a bloodline? No, there are no Nara's in here. I will find the one who did that and make them teach it to me! I have to defeat him.' He thought.
"Lee that technique is forbidden!" the turtle yelled.
Lee began to mumble an apology but the turtle's glare stopped him. He quickly got out; "But I wasn't going to use the other one."
"You fool! You know what it means for a shinobi to give out his special attacks! Are you prepared to pay?" Lee bowed in shame and nodded. "Then here comes Gai-sensei!" a swirl of smoke appeared on the turtles back, disappearing to reveal an older Lee, one who's eyebrows were even bigger.
"You are the springtime of youth!" the green wearing man known as Gai-sensei yelled, one hand up and the other circling his eye like a monocle.
Sasuke and Sakura both freaked at the appearance of the man. The moment he had appeared, Naruto clapped his hands together and now had one hand near the fire button on a giant laser cannon. "Green Freak in sight! Prepare to fire!" he whispered while the attention was off of him.
Gai sweat dropped when he saw the weapon before giving a thumbs up as his teeth sparkled. The cannon immediately disintegrated, the freakiness was just too much for it. Naruto cried silently over his broken toy. Gai smiled; 'Such weapons cannot stand before my flame of youth!'
((The rest is the same, at least until where…))
/BN: Why oh why must Tagge be so lazy in this chapter./
Suddenly Gai was behind them, Naruto's first reaction was to spin around and kick the green beast into orbit. He restrained himself, barely, but still ended up giving the freak a hit he would never forget. Gai was knocked back a bit, before smiling at the boy. 'The fires of youth burn bright in this one.' He then explained his rivalry with Kakashi and how he was in the lead. Afterwards he disappeared with his student in tow.
Naruto turned towards the door; "The Uchiha clan aren't worth much these days." Then lower so only Sasuke could hear him; "You saw his hands right? He must have trained hard, harder than you."
Sasuke smirked; "Then I'll just have to be better. This is getting fun. Come on, let's go."
And with that, Team 7 entered the Chuunin Exam.
A.N: Yeah, I was trying to wrap it up quick. This chapter was getting too long so I decided to cut it here. Hope you don't mind. The next update my take a while as I am working on a new story, so be looking for a new story in the near future.
The Shinigami no Scion is coming.