Chapter 11: Something About those Blondes
Naruto awoken from his slumber rather early in the morning for a combination of reasons. Mainly though, it was his excitement for the start of the chunin exams that caused him to jump up from the couch and get ready for the day. He cleaned himself up and even ordered room service for his entire team so they could have breakfast before heading out. Surprisingly enough, Shikamaru was the second person to wake up, walking into the living room while trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.
"Morning Shikamaru, I'm surprised you're up before Ino." Naruto said looking up at him from the couch. Shikamaru waved him off as he took a seat next to the boy, yawning deeply into his hand.
"Of course the walking battery has no problem getting up early in the morning. I'm surprised you ever sleep at all." Shikamaru said turning on the tv. They still had three hours before they had to report for the chunin exams, and Shikamaru planned to rest for as long as he could. A knock at the door caught their attention, Naruto grinning as he got up to go answer it. Opening it up, he said a quick thank you before wheeling in a cart filled with food. Bringing it over to the table they were sitting at, he began to set the food out with Shikamaru watching with mild interest.
"You know Asuma-sensei has to pay for all that right?" Shikamaru said while grabbing a plate of food for himself. Naruto grinned up at him slyly, grabbing a plate as well.
"He does? Why I had no idea!"
"Hmph, asshole."
The two shared a laugh with each other as they began to eat, Ino walking out of her bed room just as the two were starting to settle down.
"What's so funny?" She asked taking a seat on the couch next to them. She briefly looked over all the food set up on the table, staring at Naruto and Shikamaru for a moment before shrugging and deciding to take some for herself as well.
"Nothing much, inside joke." Naruto said stuffing a roll into his mouth. "Smleeph mhood?"
"Not really, had a little late night interruption." She said glancing over at him. "What about you?"
"Eh, I've had better." Naruto said with a shrug. Ino snorted as she played around with the food on her plate.
"I bet." She said recalling the mini panic attack he seemed to be having the night before. She wanted to bring it up, but felt that for some reason it would be better if she kept what she saw last night to herself, at least for the moment. They continued to eat their breakfast with the conversation topics going all over the place before Shikamaru and Ino got up to get ready for the day themselves. They left the apartment with around an hour to go before the chunin exams started, deciding to get there a little early.
"Wow, the streets are still bustling even this early in the morning. I didn't think the chunin exams were such a big deal." Ino said noting how many people were ready out on the streets.
"Well this is supposed to be one of the biggest chunin exams in recent memory, so it's only right that it has a big turnout. From scouting future talent, deciding which villages are the most powerful for jobs and the gambling involved with it, the amount of people doesn't surprise me." Shikamaru said. Eventually they came to the stadium complex that the exams would be taking place at, walking inside the building after being cleared by the door guards. Going into the main room, Ino failed to hold back a gasp after seeing just how many people were present in the room.
"So much for showing up early…" Shikamaru mumbled as he too looked around the room in slight astonishment. "Troublesome…"
"Hey guys, over here!"
Ino and Shikamaru both winced at the sheer volume of Naruto's voice as he was waving over at Team 7. They looked up to see if anyone had taken notice of them, and lo and behold almost the entire room was now staring at the group. The two shrunk down slightly into themselves as the glares being sent their way started to get to them.
"Naruto you idiot, be quiet! You're drawing attention!" Ino half yelled and half whispered as Naruto stared at her curiously.
"Who cares about any of that?" Naruto said before turning back towards Team 7 who had walked up next to them. "Hey guys, ready for the tournament?"
"Naruto, don't you think you're drawing a little too much attention to yourself?" Sakura said as she looked around the room. Just as she feared, there were now people looking at her team suspiciously as well.
"You sound just like Ino Sakura-chan, what's the big deal with them knowing who we are? I'm pretty sure they all know about the group of rookies participating in this thing anyways, and Sasuke doesn't seem that bothered by it. Isn't that right Sasuke?"
"Hn."
"See?" Naruto said pointing over at him. "Nothing."
"I don't know if it's confidence or idiocy that drives you sometimes." Kiba said shaking his head at the boy. Just then, Team 8 walked through the front doors as well, sharing the similar looks of shock the other team's had after seeing the number of people present.
"O-oh my," Hinata said looking around the room, before turning to Shino. "Do you think all of these people are here for the chunin exams?"
"Yes, and I'd reckon that this isn't even the full amount still." The big user replied, getting the already pale girl to turn even paler. Naruto walked up besides her and threw his arm around her shoulder, getting a small 'eep' from her as she began to blush profusely.
"Don't worry Hinata-chan, everything's going to be fine! These guys don't have anything on us!" Naruto said trying to boost the girls confidence. It seemed to work as she spared the blonde a timid smile, Naruto returning it with a full blown grin.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, especially in her case."
Just then, another group of people walked up to join the Konoha reunion. Naruto had no idea who two of them were, but he instantly pointed out his bun haired friend.
"Tenten-chan!" Naruto yelled running over to hug her before catching a fist to the face from said girl.
"I told you to stop calling me that! Tenten is just fine." She said folding her arms over her chest. Naruto groaned slightly as he rose up off of the floor, grabbing at his head before a green blur appeared in front of him, extending a hand to help him up.
"Yosh! It is a pleasure of mine to meet any friend of my teammate! My name is Rock Lee, what is yours friend?" He said, Naruto taking his hand hesitantly.
"Um, it's Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." He said returning the grin as Lee helped him up to his feet. "Those are uh…those are some pretty crazy eyebrows you've got there Lee-san."
"Yosh, these eyebrows are meant to show off my passion for youth, beaten only by those held by the great Gai-sensei!" Lee exclaimed getting Tenten to facepalm in embarrassment. Might Gai was a person Naruto had definitely heard of before, both from Anko and Asuma.
"I see, so you guys must be Might Guy's team then right?" He said looking over at the remaining member. "I don't think I got your name yet."
"Neji Hyuga, thought I doubt you'll need to know it long seeing as you won't be going far in this tournament." He said, Naruto glaring at his words. He was about to retort when he remembered his name, or the later half of it specifically.
"Hyuga? So are you and Hinata related then?" He said noting that they had the last name. He could also see that Neji had the same milky white eyes that Hinata had, along with the similar pale skin. Neji however chose not to answer, instead scoffing at the question and walking off. Tenten frowned at his attitude before turning to address Naruto.
"Don't mind him Naruto, he tends to get like that sometimes. Especially when Hinata is involved." She said placing a hand on his shoulder. Naruto allowed his gaze to linger on Neji for a little longer before turning back to his group of friends.
"Well whatever, he'll get that stick out of his ass one of these days." He said getting a collective laugh from everyone. On the other side of the room, another group of young shinobi were staring at them with mild interest.
"Well look at that, looks like we're not the only rookies participating in this exam." A dark skinned boy with blonde hair said. "Talk about drawing attention to yourselves though, I'm glad you decided to be on your best behavior today Karui."
"Shut your mouth Omoi before I shut it for you." Karui replied. "Those idiots probably don't even know what they're getting into, I doubt any of them will make it pass the first round, right Samui?"
The final member of the group, Samui, opted to stay silent at that question. She instead focused her gaze on Naruto, who was currently rubbing the back of his head while displaying his trademark grin. A pair of fingers snapping in front of her face brought her out of her trance as she turned to look over at Karui.
"Hello, earth to Samui, anyone home?" She said leaning over to look up in the blondes face. "You didn't hear a word I just said did you?"
"I wouldn't judge a book by its cover, remember what sensei taught us." Samui replied coolly. Karui pouted slightly at her words while Omoi twirled the sucker in his mouth.
"That's right Karui, who knows, what if one of those guys turn out to have some secret power that no one knows about. Their village leader could have sent them here in disguise of participating in the tournament, but in reality they're here to kill us a-"
"Oh shut the hell up already Omoi!" Karui yelled fed up with the boy's constant rambling. She instantly regretted this choice however as she noticed that her little outburst had caught the attention of everyone else in the building.
"Now that's the Karui I know." Omoi said smiling up at the girl. She gritted her teeth as she tried to fight down the blush coming upon her face, balling her fist up at her sides.
"Omoi…"
Naruto meanwhile was watching the group with some interest of his own before turning back to his own comrades. He was about to continue the conversation when suddenly the doors to the side of the complex began to open. A tall, dark skinned man with blonde hair walked through, looking around the room before clearing his throat.
"Alright, listen up everybody! Were about to start the first test of the chunin exams, so if you would please follow me!" He said turning to head back through the doors. The large crowd followed after him, walking into a large lecture hall with a giant screen facing the rows. They were instructed to sit in the declining rows with their team and wait for further instructions, which came after everyone was situated. Clearing his throat, Darui pointed up to the projector screen as it started to light up.
"Welcome to the first stage of the chunin exams, I'll be your proctor for this section. The name is Darui." He said pausing for added effect. "The purpose of this first stage will be simple; it's to test your skill to work together as a team to complete an emergency objective. You will all be pitted up against an opposing squad and the one who is able to complete the mission will move on to the second half of the exams. Of course, neither team completing the objective and both squads failing is also an option."
"Well that's not nice." Naruto mumbled quietly, getting a giggle from Ino.
"Effectively, this test should cut the number of participants in half, but I guarantee it will end being more than that. Now, each team needs to send a representative down to grab a number so we can determine who you will be going against." Darui said as a box was placed on a table next to him. Naruto got up and began to make his way down the stairs to chose for his team when he bumped into someone on the way. Looking up, he saw it was none other than Temari, who was looking over at the boy in surprise.
"Well well, if it isn't Temari-chan, how's it going?" He asked as the two continued down the stairs. Temari gave him a smile as the two reached the line leading up to the box.
"I was wondering when I would see you in the tournament. You and your friends sure know how to draw attention to yourselves, but I'm guessing you're not worried at all are you?" She said moving to stand in front him.
"Nothing fazes Naruto Uzumaki, not even death itself." He replied as the two finally reached the table.
"Is that so?" Temari said reaching inside the box and grabbing a number. Stepping aside, she glanced down at it quickly before turning back around to face Naruto. "I've got number 75, what about you?"
"10, go figure, looks like I'll be one of the first ones up." Naruto said still not showing any worry at all. "At least we won't be going against each other in the first round, I'll see you around Temari-chan!"
Temari watched him march back up to the stairs towards his team before turning towards her own. She could see that Gaara's eyes were following the boy, and knew that look inside of them all too well.
"Yeah, that's a good thing…" she whispered to herself before heading back to her siblings.
After everyone had selected their numbers, Darui made his way back to the front of the room to announce the first matches.
"Alright, every team that has a number going from 1 to 20 is to report in the next room over immediately!" He yelled pointing towards the door.
"Welp, that's us." Naruto said standing up. Ino and Shikamaru followed after him as they made their way down the stairs, coming towards the door when they ran into familiar faces.
"Yo, what numbers do you guys have? Hope we don't have to fight each other in the first round, it would be a shame for you guys to have to head home without even passing one exam." Kiba said with Sasuke and Sakura coming up behind him.
"Can it dog breath, we're going to do just fine. And who's to say the first match is going to involve fighting anyways?" Naruto retorted before turning towards Sasuke. "Just make sure you make it to the finals, we all know that it's almost certain they'll be doing sparring matches for the final event. Me and you have a little score to settle."
"More like you have a score to settle, I already know who's the better out of us." Sasuke said smirking over at him. "If you need a little reminder though, I'll be glad to hand it to you."
"Alright you two, lets save it for when that time comes. Come on Naruto, I want to see what our mission is going to be." Ino said grabbing the boy by the ear dragging him along, despite his protests. They walked into the room, where Darui was standing in the middle of it with a clip board along with other instructors.
"Listen up, you'll be pairing up in groups of twos from 1 all the way up to 20, and that's how the matches will be set. Team 1 will go against Team 2, Team 3 against Team 4. You catch my drift, no?" He said looking around for any complaints. Seeing none, he nodded his head and continued on. "Look for the the instructor holding your number, and they will lead you to where you will start your particular exercise. You can do anything you deem necessary to complete the mission, but do not harm any civilians or outside people during the course of this exam. With that said, knock yourselves out, further instructions will be giving by your instructor."
After Darui's monologue, Naruto and crew made their way over to the instructor holding the sign for 10. They made their way out of the building and into the village, eventually heading outside of the gates a little ways before finally coming to a stop.
"Alright, this is the place where your exam will start. The other squad will be starting on the opposite side of this gate. Here's the scroll detailing the workings of your missions. Read through it and proceed in anyways you deem necessary." The instructor said handing over the scroll. "Good luck."
With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, getting Naruto's jaw to drop at the lack of information giving.
"T-that's it?! He didn't even tell us anything worthwhile!" Naruto yelled as Shikamaru opened up the scroll.
"Well it's supposed to be an exercise testing our abilities to work in emergency situations right? I guess he really couldn't give us too much information or it wouldn't be authentic." Ino said turning towards Shikamaru. "What's the scroll say Shika?"
Shikamaru didn't say anything back for a few moments as he continued to read over the components of the mission, closing the scroll and grabbing the bridge of his nose once he finished.
"It's a kidnapping scenario." He said with a sigh. "We're going to have to track them down and return the hostage safely. And we have to do so before they leave a designated area."
"Well shit." Naruto said looking back at him blankly. "How the hell do we do that, did they give us anything else?"
"Just a picture of what the woman looks like." Shikamaru said handing over the photo. Naruto and Ino both hunched close together to get a look at it before handing it back over.
"So what are we gonna' do? We don't even have any idea where to look for this lady at. Hey, what if she's closer to where the other team started at!" Naruto said smacking his fist into his palm. Shikamaru played with that idea in his head before quickly dismissing it.
"I doubt they'd give them an unfair advantage like that. I'm pretty sure we're both stationed so that we have an equal chance of getting towards them, at least at the start." Shikamaru said grabbing at his hair in thought.
"So, how we should go about finding them?" Ino asked as Shikamaru closed his eyes. He stood still for a moment, clearly lost in thought, before lazily reopening his eyes again and turning towards the gate.
"We're at the North gate right? That would mean the other team is stationed over at the South Gate if we go off what the instructor told us." He said getting a quizzical look from Naruto.
"Ok, and? I figured that out awhile ago Shika." Naruto said deadpanning at the boy.
"Really? That's great for you Naruto, it really is." He replied, getting the finger from the blonde. "What that means is that, theoretically speaking, if they wanted to make this even then there's only two ways the kidnappers could have gone."
"From the Eastern or Western gates, so east or west!" Ino said catching onto what Shikamaru was getting at. He nodded his head as she finished his thoughts, Naruto now understanding what he was getting at as well.
"Ok, that narrows our options down two." He said before poking his head up with a blank look on his face. "Looks like our competition probably figured this out as well."
"What do you mean?" Ino asked as Naruto turned towards the East.
"They're on the move to the east, I can sense them." Naruto said, Shikamaru narrowing his eyes at that.
"What do you mean you can sense them, how can you do that?" He said curiously. Naruto shrugged his shoulders as he turned back towards the boy.
"I don't know, it's just that one of them has some real negative vibes rolling off of him. It's hard to explain, but I can sense that more than I can sense them per say." He said before shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "That's not important though, shouldn't we head after them?"
"We don't even know if they're heading in the right direction, what if they took her out the Western gate?" Ino said.
"Look, if they took her out of the Eastern gate and those guys get her first while we're in the west, then we're screwed. If we meet them out east and it turns out she's not there, then that just means we'll have to race over to the western side before they get out of dodge." Naruto said justifying his thought process. Ino scrunched her face up in thought as she mulled over his words before snapping her fingers as if an idea had came to her.
"Wait, check it out guys, how about we have Naruto make a couple of clones and have them go out west! That way we can cover both sides just in case they didn't go out the Eastern gate!" She said, Naruto's eyes lighting up in understanding.
"Say no more, I'm on it!" Naruto yelled making the sign for his shadow clones. Three of them popped into existence, saluting their creator before heading out on their mission. "Alright, let's go cut off these bastards and pass the first part of these exams!"
With Naruto taking charge, they bounded off towards the direction of the enemy squad. It was around 30 minutes into their travels that Naruto held up a hand for them to stop, signaling that they were close to the enemy.
"Your shadow clones haven't found them out on the western end yet have they?" Ino asked as they dropped towards the ground.
"I wouldn't know, it's not like we're telepathic with each other you know. One of em would have to come back and tell us if they did." Naruto replied as they crept forward into the clearing the other team was at. Peering through the trees, Naruto could see the opposing team hurled together over a map, yelling at each other in loud tones.
"Look, we're already at the border of the boundaries for this exam, they obviously didn't come this way! We need to turn back around now, stop wasting time!" One of the boys yelled pointing at the map. Naruto could just barely make out his headband from where he was standing.
"They're from Iwagakure, I think." He whispered back towards his team. Ino and Shikamaru both nodded at that information, continuing to listen to their conversation.
"He's right Bon, we've basically scouted this whole area and still haven't picked up even a trace. I think we should try to head out west and hope the other's haven't found them already." Another, smaller looking boy in group said. Naruto theorized that he had to be younger than all of them, seeing as the other two members seemed noticeably older and bigger than him. Bon, the tallest, baldest and biggest of the group who Naruto assumed was the pseudo leader, growled as he stood up and balled his fist.
"Damn it, I'm not failing this test for a fourth time, we're going to get this done!" He yelled turning towards the smaller boy angrily. "Hachi, use your Jutsu again to check this area one last time!"
The sandy haired boy complied, quickly placing his hand down on to the ground and closing his eyes. Naruto watched him curiously until he felt a tingling feeling shot through his body. Hachi looked up suddenly, turning directly towards where Team 10 was.
"T-there's someone over there!" Hachi yelled pointing towards them directly. Shikamaru swore to himself as they all tensed up at being called out.
"He must have some type of detection jutsu, damn it." Shikamaru said before standing up. "Well no use in standing here, let's go greet our new friends."
Naruto walked out into the clearing, keeping an even stare with Bon who seemed particularly interested in him. Ino and Shikamaru stood behind him, ready to engage in battle at any giving moment.
"Well well, looks like we weren't the only one's to consider coming east." Bon said still staring at Naruto. "Look Kaoru, you're not the only dumb one out here."
Kaoru, tall with a slim build and short black hair, didn't say anything to that remark, though his fist did flex tighter at the words. Bon was silent for awhile before speaking up again, this time addressing Naruto.
"You, what's your name?" He said not talking his eyes off the boy. Naruto returned the state with full force, contemplating over whether or not he would answer.
"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage." He said raising his head slightly. Bon's scowled deepened as he finished, cracking his neck on both sides in hopes of intimidating the group.
"You know, i'm not all that fond of your face kid. Reminds me of someone I really hate." Bon said ever so slightly shifting his position. "I think I'm going to take some of my frustration out on you if you don't mind."
"What if I do mind?" Naruto asked sarcastically with a small smirk. Bon didn't answer, instead choosing to charge at the boy head on, getting Shikamaru and Ino to get out of the way while Naruto stood his ground. Bon gave a beastly yell as he threw his fist forward, Naruto waiting until right before it was near his face to duck underneath it. Grabbing Bon's arm, he used his momentum to throw him straight down into the ground, jumping away as he made impact.
"Bon! Damn it…" Kaoru said before turning towards Naruto as well. "You're gonna' pay for that!"
Running through hand signs, Kaoru dropped down towards the ground and stuck both of his hands into it. Instantly, the ground underneath Naruto began to soften and collapse into itself, with him struggling to maintain his balance. He managed to jump away at the last minute and made a dash for Kaoru, who pulled out a kunai to defend himself. Naruto however didn't attack him head on, instead flipping over and landing behind him. Quickly launching himself backwards, he threw a elbow into Kaoru's back, sending him flying towards the treeline. Turning towards the remaining threat, he smiled as Hachi tried to back away from him.
"Two down, one to go." Naruto said cracking his knuckles. Before he could reach him however, an arm shot out from the ground and grabbed his ankle. Bon shot out from under the ground, hoisting him into the air before slamming him back down on ground.
"That little trick you pulled back there hurt, so I'll be sure to repay you back tenfold!" He said lifting a moaning Naruto back up by his ankle and slamming him down again. He yelled out in pain as Bon prepared to lift him again, only to find that his movement had been restricted. "W-what the hell? Why can't I move?!"
"Hey, brick face!"
Bon tried to turn his head towards the sound of the voice, but found that he still couldn't move as Ino delivered a roundhouse kick into his face. He instantly dropped Naruto, opting now to instead clutch at his leaking nose. Naruto reacted quickly, landing on the ground and sweeping his legs to knock Bon's out from under neath him. He then jumped back away from him and over towards Ino.
"That's gonna' hurt in the morning. Oh, and thanks for that Ino-chan, got a little carried away there." He said laughing sheepishly. Ino rolled her eyes before turning around at the sound of Kaoru getting back up.
"We need to finish these guys off quickly, we don't have time to be playing around here when we still have to complete the mission." She said seriously, getting a nod from Naruto. "Shikamaru has a plan, but I don't know if…"
"You don't know if what?" Naruto said noticing she had trailed off at the end. Ino seemed to be contemplating her words in her head before looking back up at Naruto.
"Well, we're going to need you to use the Wind Gale Thrust." She said, flinching slightly as Naruto quickly turned his head to stare at her. "Listen Naruto, I get it, but if me and Shikamaru can get two of them to line up then it would be an easy way to take them out! We have to wrap this up as fast as we can!"
Naruto looked away from her, eyes slightly glazed over as if he had lost consciousness for a moment. It didn't last long though as he noticed that Bon had recovered from their little sneak attack, and Kaoru was raring up to go again. Sighing, Naruto didn't say anything, instead giving a small nod to show that he was on board. Ino let out the breath she was holding in as she tried to explain the details quickly. She didn't get chance though as Bon began to rush them again, causing the two to have to split up.
Naruto tried to roll away but couldn't do so fast enough as Bon caught up with him, sending a series of punches his way as Naruto tried his best to stay out of range. He caught a slight slip in Bon's attack sequence and used it to his advantage, ducking underneath a punch and getting inside close to deal a powerful one of his own directly into the man's stomach. He didn't stop there, dropping to the ground and using both of his feet to kick him up into the air.
Shikamaru meanwhile was hiding inside the treeline, watching Ino's fight against Kaoru. He was waiting for an opening to use his shadow to slow him down, but found that the two keep moving around to much for him to get a proper attack.
"Come on Ino, give me something here…" he mumbled to himself, a drop of sweat trickling down the side of his head. His opportunity came when the two clashed in the middle of the air, and were currently falling back down towards the ground. Figuring it was now or never, he sent out his shadow to the area where he approximated Kaoru would land, hoping that for once luck would be on his side.
'Come on, come on...got him!' He thought as Kaoru landed directly on his shadow, his body turning rigid as Shikamaru took control. "Ino, do it now!"
"Roger that!" Ino yelled forming her hands into a diamond for her clan's signature technique. Kaoru squirmed under Shikamaru's control, looking over at Ino in a mixture of fear and confusing.
"What the hell did you do to me?!" He yelled still struggling. Ino said nothing, instead focusing her concentration on the technique.
"Let's get this over with…" she mumbled to herself, holding her hands out in front of her. "Mind Transfer Jutsu!"
Kaoru's struggling stopped instantly, just as Ino's body went limp and fell down towards the ground. Shikamaru released his shadow jutsu and ran over to protect her now vulnerable form.
'I hate going into a boy's body, doesn't feel right at all. Anyways, time to grab big guy over there…' Ino thought looking over at Bon, who was still trading blows with Naruto. She jumped over to where they were, landing next to Bon who looked over at her questionly.
"You looked like you could use some help with this brat, let's put him down once and for all." Ino said looking over at Naruto. Bon smirked as he cracked his knuckles, walking forward confidently.
"Alright, but I get first dibs." He said stepping in front of Ino. Before he could go too far however, Ino grappled him from behind, locking her hands behind his neck to hold him in place. "Kaoru, what the fuck do you think you're doing?!"
"Naruto, do it now!" Ino yelled struggling to hold Bon down even in Kaoru's stronger body.
"Say no more." Naruto said seriously, already flowing through the set of hand seals. Hand dropping to his side, the telltale signs of the technique took form as the wisp's of wind began to swirl around the arm, eventually turning into a mini tornado. Looking up, Naruto stared directly into Bon's eyes before breaking out into a sprint.
'Ok Ino, you've got to time this perfectly or you're absolutely screwed.' She thought preparing to hop out of Kaoru's body as soon as Naruto struck. Jumping into the air, Naruto cocked his fist back, Bon struggling frantically to get out of hold the closer Naruto got.
"Wind Style: Wind Gale Thrust!" He yelled throwing his fist forward. The attack went directly into Bon's torso, distorting it as it tore through him and Kaoru, who was now back to his original self. The two were thrown back instantly, both falling towards the ground with blood flowing from their open wounds. Naruto landed in the spot they once took up, watching the scene in a mixture of awe and disgust. Even Shikamaru looked a little shaken up, not expecting the attack to be so gruesome.
For a while, the entire clearing was completely silent besides the natural sounds of nature. This was broken up by the stirring of Ino, who opened her eyes to see Shikamaru staring down at her blankly. Blinking, she looked over to where Naruto was standing, noting how the boy was simply staring at his hand with an emotionless expression. She could see the other two lying on the ground, the grass around them clearly stained with blood.
"Wow, that got a lot messier than I thought it would." Ino said, Shikamaru nodding in agreement. Naruto meanwhile was still looking down at his hand in thought, until the sound of something shuffling in the grass turned his attention towards the neighboring forest. It was there that he saw Hachi, back against a tree trunk and looking up at him in absolute horror.
"H-how could y-you, l-look what you've d-done!" He yelled pushing himself further against the tree. Naruto frowned and turned to walk towards him but stopped when the boy began to shriek and ball into himself. "N-no! Stay away from me you monster!"
Naruto froze at those words, staring at the quivering boy blankly as he started to cry into his legs. Shikamaru and Ino, who had been watching the interaction from afar, had came to stand next to Naruto, all three watching their former enemy seemingly fall apart in front of them. Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck before turning towards his other to teammates, only Ino acknowledging his stare.
"I doubt this kid's in any position to fight now, hell I doubt he was ever in a position to fight in the first place. We should start heading west so we can save the prisoner." Shikamaru said, Ino nodding in agreement. Naruto stared at Hachi for a little longer before turning to walk away.
"Follow me, I know where to go." He said quietly before jumping into the tree line. Ino and Shikamaru shared a glance before jumping after him, leaving the rather depressing sight behind them. Naruto meanwhile was trail blazing through the forestry, with Ino and Shikamaru struggling to keep up.
"Naruto, think you could slow down a little?!" Ino yelled out. Naruto continued to run full speed, getting Ino to grit her teeth as she thought the blonde was ignoring her. "Naruto I know you-"
"We need to hurry, they're almost out of the safe zone." He replied not breaking stride at all. Shikamaru stared at his back as he continued to run after the blonde, raising an eyebrow at his response.
"How do you know that, can you sense them?" Shikamaru asked grunting. He was starting to feel a little winded. Naruto clenched his jaw and held in a frustrated sigh at all the questions being thrown his way.
"Look, I just know alright? Now could you guys just shut up and follow me?" Naruto said, his irritation showing clearly in his voice even though he tried to hide it. Ino was taken aback by the outburst, as it was one of the few times she had seen Naruto genuinely angry. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, but continued to run in silence nonetheless with Naruto leading the way, taking them around the now mountain based terrain. After about 10 minutes, Naruto came to a stop around a clearing with a lake running through it. Crouched behind a rock nearby was two of his clones, both looking back up at him.
"They're just up ahead boss!" One of them yelled pointing into the clearing. Naruto nodded in response, and the two puffed out existence. Crouching down where the clones once were, Naruto peered over the rock to see three men escorting a woman with a bag over her head. Shikamaru and Ino came to sit next to Naruto, peering over the rock as well.
"Should we ambush them?" Ino whispered while Shikamaru continued to look on in thought.
"Whatever we're going to do, we need to do it fast. They're almost outside of the boundary." Naruto said impatiently, preparing to hop out. Shikamaru grabbed his shoulder before he could do so however, pulling him back down to a seating position.
"Relax, no need to be hasty. Take a closer look, those guys aren't dressed like shinobi, they look more like your common bandit." Shikamaru said noting that they didn't even have equipment on. "We can take all three out in one swoop if we play it right."
"I know, we can use the plan Asuma taught us about! You know, plan 'loudmouth'." She said getting a grunt from Naruto at the name.
"Yeah, that'll work. Well Naruto, you know what to do." Shikamaru said smiling over at the blonde. Grumbling, Naruto made a shadow clone that didn't even require directions instead jumping off into the clearing. Shikamaru gave a nod to Ino, who pulled out a set of shurikens and threw them towards the group of bandits, missing on purpose.
"What the hell?" One of them said looking around the area. "Did one of them finally find us?"
"Hey, over here asswipes!"
All attention was turned towards Naruto, or rather his clone, who stood dead in front of the enemies pointing at them.
"Get a load of this!" He yelled before turning around and dropping his pants. The bandits were prepared for an attack, so the sight of the boy's bare ass caught everyone off guard as they could only stare on in shock and confusion.
"Now!" Shikamaru yelled as all three of them jumped out from the clearing and quickly closed the gap between the two groups. Before the three bandits could react, they were each dealt swift blows that knocked them unconscious at the same time. The woman looked around frantically under the bag from all the noise, only stopping when Naruto took it off of her head. She stared up at the blonde fearfully, tears running down her eyes while Naruto looked back at her uncomfortable.
"Um, this is only supposed to be an exercise right?" Naruto said glancing back at Ino and Shikamaru. The fact that this woman was actually crying and looked distraught was kind of throwing everything off for them.
"W-who are you? And what do you want with me!" She yelled backing up from the group clumsily because her hands were still tied. Naruto to tried calm her down, walking towards her with his arm up in a harmless position.
"Hey hey, take it easy now. We're the genin participating in the chunin exams, we're supposed to take you back to the instructors to pass?" Naruto half said and half asked, not even entirely sure what was going on himself anymore. The woman simply continued to back away with fear in her eyes, shaking her head at his words.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about! Those people, they just kidnapped me out of nowhere! And you say you're working with them?" She asked as not only Naruto but Shikamaru and Ino were getting more confused by the minute.
"She's definitely not the girl from the photo…" Shikamaru mumbled, staring down at the picture.
"What the hell is going on here Shika?" Ino whispered looking over at him. Shikamaru was at a loss of words himself, though he knew this entire situation had just got a lot more troublesome than it already was. Before anyone could react, the lady scrambled to her feet and broke out into a run, stunning Naruto for a second who watched her take off before snapping back to reality.
"H-hey! Where the hell are you going?!" He yelled taking off after her. It wasn't hard for him to catch up to her, grabbing her by the dress she was wearing and pulling her back towards him. He overestimated the momentum she was bringing however, and ended up bringing them both down to the ground. He landed on top of her, looking down into her eyes and taking note of how her irises were oddly slitted in shape, almost like an animal's.
"Damn it Naruto, don't hurt the poor woman!" Ino yelled pushing him off of her and helping the fellow blonde lady up to her feet. "Listen ma'am, I'm not entirely sure what's going on here, but rest assured we don't plan on hurting you. We can take you back to the village if you would like?"
At first the woman still looked hesitant, but Ino's reassuring smile seemed to calm her down slightly. Ino reached behind her and undid the binds holding her hands together, helping her up to her feet as Naruto came back over.
"So, what's your name?" Ino asked when everything was finally settled. Though hesitant still, the lady eventually answered her.
"Mitsune." She said simply, getting a nod from Ino in acknowledgement.
"Well Mitsune, I'm Ino and these are my teammates Naruto and Shikamaru. If you come with us, we can make sure you get back to the village safely like I promised earlier." She said placing a hand on her shoulder. Mitsune shook her head yes, Ino beaming at her in response.
"Great, let's head back then!" She said taking the taller girl by the arm and leading her back towards the village. Naruto and Shikamaru stood back and watched what was happening, both still lost at what had just transpired. Shikamaru however eventually decided that worrying about it was too much of a bother and shrugged it off, following after the two and leaving Naruto to voice his confusion alone.
"I don't even...what?"
It took a little longer for them to get to the village than expected seeing as they had a civilian to care for, but eventually they found themselves back at the front gates. Naruto had spent most of the trip eyeing Mitsune, though for once it wasn't for perverse reasons. Sure, she was a looker with the long blonde hair, curvy body, and exotic eyes, but something else about her was catching his attention. Something else entirely.
Standing at the gate waiting for them were Darui, some other kumo shinobi, and oddly enough a woman in a dress similar to the one Mitsune was wearing. Naruto walking right up to the taller dark skin man while his team trailed behind.
"Um, Darui-san? I think we might have stumbled onto something during the exam." Naruto started as the man glanced down at him.
"Oh, and what's that?" He said not taking his eyes off Mitsune as she walked forward with Ino and Shikamaru.
"Well, you see, we found this lady being escorted out of the village, but she didn't seem to have any clue about the exams or what was going on. I think we might have stumbled upon an actual kidnapping case." He said tracing the man's hard stare back over at Mitsune, who he noticed was trying her hardest to avoid it. "Um, did you catch that? I said that-"
"Yeah, I heard ya kid. Well, you did a great job by escorting this...real case back to village. We'll take over from here." Darui said walking over to Mitsune. "Mitsune is it? Would you mind coming with me miss Mitsune?" Darui asked grabbing her by the arm and dragging her off, followed by the other Kumo guards. He turned around towards Naruto and the others, addressing them before he went into the gates.
"Oh yeah, you guys pass the first exam. Head back to HQ for further instructions after all the other teams have finished." He said before continuing on his way. Ino watched them leave with a frown on her face.
"Why are they treating Mitsune like that? Kind of harsh for someone that was just kidnapped isn't it?" She asked as they made their way back into the village as well. Shikamaru shrugged it off as they made their way back to the headquarters.
"Whatever, it's not really our problem anyways." He said flippantly. Ino rolled her eyes as they continued on in silence. Though the whole fiasco with Mitsune had threw the atmosphere off, it was now clear that Naruto was still in a bad mood, judging by his silence and the look on his face. Ino for one was slightly scared to approach him after his outburst earlier, while Shikamaru wasn't scared per say but more so preoccupied by other thoughts that also involved the blond. Eventually they were back inside the building, making their way back into the room where the presentations took place until Ino stopped them.
"Hey, I think they're giving out food in the cafeteria if you guys want to eat?" She said pointing to the room while as they passed it. Shikamaru shrugged and walked inside it, Ino following before she noticed Naruto wasn't. "You coming whiskers?"
"You guys go ahead, not really all that hungry." He replied yawning as he continued on. He made his way back to the presentation room, opening the doors and going back to their spot near the top of stands.
Naruto took a seat, glancing around the room to see what other teams had passed. He instantly noted that Temari's team was already in the room and comfortable, as if they had been there for awhile. Other than them, the only other team present was one from Takigakure, a village Naruto had just learned about this very day. Two boys on the team, who appeared to be twins, were having a rather vibrant debate about sharks while the lone female was asleep next to them. Naruto admired her unique green hair for a moment before his attention was diverted to the doors opening up and another team coming inside.
"You think anyone else from the first section of teams made it in yet?" Omoi said stepping inside. He was answered by the three groups already inside, deflating a little as Samui and Karui nudged pass him. "Aw man, I thought we finished up pretty quickly all things considered…"
"We might have been first had someone decided not to take a bathroom break on the way back…" Karui mumbled as they made their way up the stands. Naruto watched them with mild interest, inadvertently catching the eyes of Samui who caught him staring. Figuring he was already caught, he gave her small wave in attempt to be humorous about the situation. He figured it worked as she smiled at him slightly and gave a sarcastic wave back in return. Karui saw the small interaction and looked over at Naruto curiously.
"Hey, you're the loudmouth from earlier!" She said pointing over at him. "The hell are you doing up here all alone, where's your team?"
"Maybe they got caught in a trap and died tragically, and he's the only one who managed to get away." Omoi said as he started to salute Naruto with tears brimming in his eyes. "I offer you my condolences, I know this must be a ha-"
"They're in the cafeteria getting something to eat." Naruto interrupted sweat dropping at the boy's actions. Omoi's eyes widened at that and he quickly turned towards his two teammates.
"I didn't know they had food, let's go!" He said grabbing Karui's arm and dragging her down the stairs despite her protests.
"I'm not really hungry, I'll catch you guys later." Samui said smiling and ignoring Karui's yelling of the word 'traitor!' as she was pulled down the stairs. Walking into the row, she took a seat next to Naruto as he slouched down lower into his seat. He glanced over at her curiously as the two sat in silence for a moment.
"So um, did you want something?" He asked after a few moments had passed. Samui, who was holding her face in her hands while looking at nothing in particular, shook her head negatively as she looked over at him.
"No, nothing in particular. Why, is me sitting here bothering you?" She asked, giving the faintest of smiles as Naruto quickly began to wave his hands to show it wasn't.
"No no, it's nothing like that. It's just you kind of surprised me that's all." He said returning to his relaxed state. Samui's smile widened as she returned to staring ahead blankly.
"Cool." She said as the two settled back into silence. Naruto however was growing more and more uncomfortable, feeling as though he should start up some form of conversation.
"Sooo, how are you liking the exams so far." He said, blurting out the first thing that came to mind. Samui shrugged, not taking her eyes off of whatever it was she was looking at.
"It's cool." She said blankly, getting Naruto's face to drop slightly.
'Welp, that didn't work.' Naruto thought squinting his eyes at her. Looking at her closely, he realized she was actually quite the looker. So much so that he actually got so preoccupied staring at her he didn't notice that she had said something to him.
"Hello? Anyone home?"
"I-uh, I mean, yes?" He said catching himself as Samui smiled slightly once again. Naruto couldn't tell, but that smile of hers felt oddly condescending in a way.
"I said is there something on my face, you were staring pretty hard there?" She asked turning to face him. Naruto blushed slightly as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"N-no, I was just uh...admiring?" He said skeptically. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare…"
"It's cool, I don't particularly mind. So, admiring huh? Like what you see?" She said smirking over at him.
"Well um y-you see, when I said admiring what I actually meant was-" Naruto started before Samui broke out into laughter. She was trying her hardest to stifle it, but was failing miserably much to Naruto's embarrassment.
"You've got to relax, you're way to uptight. Be cool." Samui said finally calming down. "You'll be a virgin for life if you keep this up."
"How did you know I was a virgin!" Naruto blurted out before throwing his hands over his mouth. This time Samui couldn't hold it in and bursted out into laughter as Naruto grumbled and shrunk further down into his seat with a blush on his face.
'Damn it Naruto get it together! You've never let a girl fluster you like this before!' Naruto yelled in his head as a pep talk. He heard the faint rumblings of laughter in the back of his head, which only fueled his rage. 'I know that isn't you back there furball, I'll kick your ass!'
"I'd love to see you try boy, I could use a good meal. Though you would hardly suffice." The Kyuubi said. Naruto growled as he folded his arms over his chest.
"Alright, I hope you enjoyed this small victory of yours because I'll definitely be paying you back for this." Naruto said as Samui was still struggling to calm down.
"Oh yeah? I look forward to it." Samui said, Naruto grumbling about a lack of respect. He was about to continue when the doors opened and Team 7 stumbled into the room, much to the surprise of Naruto.
"So you guys were sent out with the first group as well? Looks like you're the last team from our section to pass." Naruto said as they walked up the aisle. Sasuke grunted in response as he took a seat in the row in front of them. Judging by not only his appearance but the others as well, it was clear that they had run into some rough times.
"It was crazy, we went against this team from Kumo and they damn near electrocuted us to death!" Kiba yelled sitting down next to Sasuke and turning to face Naruto. "Really, for some genin they sure knew a lot jutsu, though they had to at least be in their twenties."
"Hey, you're from here as well right Samui? Kumogakure?" Naruto asked looking over at the girl.
"Yep." She replied flicking the headband around her arm. "Born and raised."
"Neat," Naruto said turning back to Kiba. "So you guys had a hard time huh? Man, and I thought we had it rough."
"I'm sooo tired." Sakura said from her seat. "It could've been way worse though I guess."
"Yeah, did you hear about what happened to the two other teams that went out?" Kiba said nudging Naruto.
"No, what?" The blonde asked, both him and Samui listening in with some interest.
"Well, one of the teams had two guys come back with basically holes punctured through their bodies. Jury's still out on whether or not they're going to make it." Kiba said. Naruto flinched at that one, seeing as he actually knew a lot about how that situation came to be. "Crazy enough, that wasn't even the worst to happen out there."
"Do tell." Naruto said, both curious about what else happened and hoping to move away from the previous subject.
"Well, another team went flat out missing. No trace of them was found anywhere, even after a search party was sent out." Kiba continued, Naruto's eyes widened with surprise. "Yup, the only thing they found was a single headband. They were from Suna I think, and ironically enough the team they were against was from their as well."
"Wait, they went against another team from Suna? Then that means the team they went against were…" Naruto trailed, staring down at Temari's team. His eyes lingered on Gaara, who seemingly feeling his stare turned to look back at him. The two watched each other in silence, a sense of tension forming that only they could feel. It was broken up however by the snapping of fingers in front of Naruto's face, who turned to see Samui looking up at him.
"Didn't we have a discussion about staring at people or have you not learned your lesson yet?" She said playfully as Naruto blinked at her. Kiba watched the interaction with a leering grin, focusing it on Naruto as he sat back down again.
"So Naruto, who's your friend?" He said looking over at Samui.
"Huh? Oh, this is Samui. And I'd prefer if you didn't try to hit on her, I'd like our relationship to last and I don't need you scaring her away." Naruto said, getting a giggle from Samui and a glare from Kiba.
"Dude! That was totally uncalled for man, I wasn't going to hit on her!" Kiba yelled angrily. Naruto's blank stare at him started to wear him down a little however, and he turned around in his chair to face forward with his arms over his chest. "Yet."
Naruto sighed at his friend's antics as the doors to the room opened again. This time it was Ino and Shikamaru, followed by Karui and Omoi as they came up to join the others.
"Oh man, that was delicious." Omoi said sitting to the right of Samui. Karui sat next to him, still looking rather miffed about being dragged along.
"Here Whiskers, I brought you back a bowl of ramen." Ino said sitting next to Naruto. Naruto took it out of her hands with a look of surprise on his face.
"You didn't have to get me anything Ino-chan, I really wasn't hungry." He said while opening up the container. Ino was about to feel about it until she saw the boy was already digging into the bowl, tick marks forming on her head at the sight.
"Well you sure don't look hungry, you're right about that." She said as he looked up with a mouthful of noodles. It was then that she noticed Samui sitting next to him, sparking her curiosity. Samui noticed her stare and looked back at her, Naruto seemingly oblivious to the staring contest happening on either side of him.
"Ahhh, that hit the spot." He said placing the chopsticks on top of the bowl. Now that he had finished his meal, he couldn't help but feel that there was a little animosity in the air. He chalked that up to himself being weird however as once again the doors to the rooms opened up, this time Darui walking inside.
"Alright for those of you who are in here, listen up!" He yelled gaining everyone's attention. "All of you guys have passed on to the next part of the exams. Now, testing for the first will still be taking place for the rest of the day, so you guys are free to go back to wherever you're staying at. Any interference with the other teams still testing however will result in immediate expulsion from the rest of the exams. Report back at this building tomorrow morning for the start of the second exams at the same time you came for today's. Oh, and congratulations."
"Finally!" The green haired girl Naruto noticed earlier said standing up and stretching. She promptly stood up and began to walk out of the door, her two teammates getting up to follow after her. Gaara and his two siblings followed suit, leaving out right behind them as he gave Naruto a final glance.
"You know, after that bowl of ramen I actually am pretty hungry, maybe I'll go grab something." Naruto said looking up in thought. Samui perked up slightly at that, and stood up from her seat.
"Great, I'm actually hungry myself. Come on, we can go together then." She said grabbing his wrist and pulling him out of his seat. Karui looked up at her with her mouth agape as she continued down the stairs with Naruto in tow.
"Hey, what about us?!" She yelled as Samui stopped for a moment to look back.
"You guys already ate right, why would you need to come along? I'll see you guys later." She said pulling the slightly protesting blonde out the door. For a moment the entire room was quiet at what had just transpired. That is, until Kiba spoke up.
"That lucky son of a bitch…" He mumbled out loud in a daze. Sasuke sighed as he got up to leave out, stopping only when he heard slight snoring coming from beside him. Looking over, he saw that Sakura was sound asleep on the spot next to him. He looked over at Kiba, who shook his head no at whatever mental conversation the two were having.
"I did it last time, it's your turn king of the broods." He said walking towards the door. Sasuke grunted as he picked the girl up and carried her on his back, ignoring the mumblings of his name coming from her mouth.
"We'll see you guys around I guess." Kiba said waving over his shoulder towards Shikamaru and Ino. Shikamaru waved back in response while Ino was still staring forward blankly, a position she had been in since Naruto had left out with Samui. Shikamaru glanced over at her worriedly as he stood up to leave as well.
"I guess we'll have to wait until later to see whether Choji and the others passed...Uh, Ino? Are you okay?" He said as the girl continued to stare forward. After a while, she stood up from her seat and began to walk down the stairs. She turned around halfway down to smile sweetly at Shikamaru, so sweetly in fact that it unnerved the boy to no end.
"I'm fine Shika, just fine." She said her grin widening as she turned to continue towards the door. In the end, Shikamaru was alone in the room as he stared after her, contemplating whether or not he would be better off just staying here for the night. Eventually, he too began to make his way down the stairs with a heavy sigh.
"Troublesome…"
After allowing himself to be dragged around by Samui, Naruto now found himself exiting a sushi restaurant, having paid for both him and his female companion. He sighed as he looked at the remaining of his funds, noting that his frog wallet was going through quite the diet.
"If there's one thing that sucks about the chunin exams, it's the lack of missions." He grumbled to himself. Just then Samui came from out of the restaurant, raising her eyebrow at the boy's words.
"What was that?" She asked walking up to him.
"To put it bluntly, I'm broke." He said getting the girls now signature smirk in return.
"You know, I didn't say you had to pay for me. I could've brought my food myself." She said starting to walk down the road. Naruto shrugged as he followed after her, holding his hands behind his head.
"It wouldn't feel right if I didn't pay for you. And trust me, you weren't what put me in this position. A series of bad choices on my end put me in this situation." Naruto said thinking of all the bad monetary choices he had made in the last month. Maybe buying those special edition ramen pajamas wasn't a good idea after all…
"Well, aren't you a gentlemen. Keep this up and you might find that girlfriend yet." She said sarcastically, getting Naruto to blush. Before he could respond, the sound of a bag dropping caught their attention as they looked up to see someone standing in front of them. Naruto's eyes widened as he realized who it was.
"Hachi-" he said as the boy looked up at him in fear. Before he could continue the boy had scrambled to grab his bag and runoff in the opposite direction, leaving Naruto with his hand hanging out. Samui watched the scene in silence, looking over at Naruto as he stared after the younger boy. Eventually he turned and gave Samui a smile, though she could easily tell it was forced.
"Well, I think I'd better get back to my hotel. I'll see you around Sam-" he started, turning away before she grabbed his arm.
"I don't think so mister, you still have to walk me home." She said pulling him along down the street. Naruto was about to protest, but figured he'd be better off just going along with it. They walked on in silence until Samui decided to start up the conversation. "That kid, Hachi, he was from one of the teams in the chunin exams right?"
"Yeah, the team that we ended up going against." Naruto answered quietly as the two continued on.
"He looked pretty scared of you." Samui said bluntly, Naruto smiling bitterly at her comment.
"Yeah well, tearing holes in other people tends to make people fear you I guess." He said, Samui's eyes widening at that information.
"So you were the one who did that?" She said a little surprised at that bit of information. She instantly regretted how she said it however when she saw how Naruto's face fell. "I didn't mean it like that, I'm just surprised, you don't seem like you'd be capable of something like that."
"I'm not! It's just that sometimes…" he started before trailing off. "You know what, nevermind. Actually I'd rather not talk about it."
Samui nodded in acceptance, after all the two had just officially met only a few hours ago. It made sense that he wouldn't want to open up to basically a stranger, she'd feel the same way in his position.
"Well, this is my stop." She said turning to face the blonde, lifting the bag of food up with a smile. "Thanks for the food."
"No problem!" Naruto said giving her a genuine smile, one that she returned happily. Naruto watched as she turned to go into her apartment, mulling over what he was considering doing next. "Samui!"
"Yeah?" She asked stopping at her door. Naruto was silent, staring at the ground momentarily before he looked back up into her green eyes.
"Is there any particular reason you singled me out? I mean not that I didn't enjoy the company or anything!" Naruto said correcting himself hastily. "It's just that, well it's been kind of bothering me this whole time. Is there something you wanted?"
Samui stared at him for a moment before closing her eyes and turning to head inside of her house.
"I thought you'd be an interesting person to get to know Uzumaki-san." She said looking over her shoulder. "Do I need any other reason?"
With that, she went inside of her apartment and closed the door. Naruto watched it for a little while, a slight blush on his face before he scratched his head and turned to head back to his hotel.
"I really don't get women at all." He mumbled to himself, though he couldn't help the smile on his face.
Back in her apartment, Samui sighed as leaned against the door slightly. Opening her eyes, she found herself staring at another set of green ones as her brother peeked from behind the wall.
"Need some brotherly advice?" He asked hopefully as Samui walked passed him. Going into her room, she turned in the doorway to face him as his eyes lit up with hope.
"Kagura-san called earlier. She said it's over." She said plainly before closing her door. Atsui stared at the closed door with his mouth agape before scrambling to get out of his chair and bang on it.
"Wait, when did she call?! Why am I just now hearing about this?! Come on Samui, please open up!"
Naruto opened the door to his team's hotel room and let out a sigh he didn't know he had been holding as it seemed Shikamaru and Ino had already went to sleep. Walking over to the couch in the dark, Naruto simply three off his top shirt as he prepared to collapse, only to jump up while screaming after he heard a 'ouch' as he laid down. Reaching over to open the curtains up, the moonlight revealed Ino laying down, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she glared up at the boy.
"Jeez Whiskers, watch where the hell your landing that body of yours." She said raising herself up into a sitting position. "So, did you have a great night out with Mrs. already developed?"
"Who the hell are you talking-" Naruto started before looking up in thought. "Well her chest is pretty big already...almost as big as.."
"What was that?" Ino asked leaning in curiously, causing Naruto to jump back.
"Ahh, it was nothing!" The boy said waving his hands in front of him. Relaxing a little, he sat down on the couch as Ino let out a heavy yawn next to him. "Why are you still up, you should get some rest for tomorrow."
I could say the same for you. I know you're a walking battery but you still need to get some rest you know." She replied, Naruto not really listening. Grabbing at her arm, she glanced down in thought before looking back up Naruto. "Naruto, are you okay?"
Naruto looked away from the TV with a slight look of surprise on his face as he stared at his teammate. "I'm fine Ino-chan, where did that come from?"
"Well it's just that you've been acting a little different lately. And what happened during the exams seemed to be really bothering you." She said rubbing at her arm. "I mean you don't have to feel guilty, we're shinobi you know. We have to be prepared to handle death."
Naruto looked away as those words came out of her mouth. He wanted to tell her that that's easy to say when you've never killed someone yourself, or when you don't have a demon inside of you that you couldn't be sure wasn't influencing your actions. He wanted to tell her that it was not only the feeling of having killed someone that was getting to him, but the fact of how easily he was able to do so as if a human life was basically nothing.
He wanted to tell her how he still felt responsible for the death of Haku, or rather how he knew he was responsible for her death. He wanted to tell her how the more he went on, the more he felt ostracized from his peers. Most of all, he wanted to tell her the truth about himself. He wanted to tell her about how he held the Kyuubi, and how his very presence was a danger to her. He wanted to tell her everything.
He found however that he simply couldn't find the words to do so. And the more her worried blue eyes stared into his own, the more jumbled and confused his thoughts became.
"I'm…I'm fine Ino-chan. You don't have to worry about me." He said giving her a tentative smile. "You should get some rest, I can almost guarantee tomorrow's test is going to be harder than what we experienced today."
A ting of pain stung inside Ino's heart as she watched him smile at herself. She knew he was hiding something, and desperately wanted to pry the information out of him. However, she knew that right now probably wasn't the best of time, considering all that was going on. And so, she decided to let Naruto hold on to whatever grip he had that was keeping everything together for now. She got up and walked into her room, closing the door behind her as Naruto prepared to lay down.
Listening through the crack of his own door, Shikamaru frowned at what had just transpired. He was actually hoping for Naruto to open up to Ino, especially about the Kyuubi, seeing as the sooner that was all in the open the sooner it would not be a problem. Still, he had to consider how she would handle the information. Would Ino really think any different of him if she learned what she held? He'd like to think so, but you could never know what was going through someone's mind, unless ironically you were a Yamanaka. Sighing, he moved over to get in his bed and get some rest of his own.
'I knew these chunin exams would be one big headache, and we haven't even got to the worst yet.' Shikamaru thought to himself. 'Well, guess I'll sleep on it.'
Over the night horizon, two figures stood looking over Kumogakure. The taller of the two lifted up his hat to peer down on the city, grinning as his sharp teeth glistened in the moonlight.
"Well, this'll be fun don't you think?" He said looking over at his smaller companion. The shorter man opened his eyes, their blood red color practically glowing in the night. They seemed to be quickly scanning the village, as if they were searching for something before he closed them again silently.
"Remember, we're not here to start anything. Just to gather information on all the Jinchuuriki who are in this area currently." The man said as the taller one let out a small laugh.
"Yeah, isn't it like five of them down there? Really, why didn't we just storm the place and take em all at once? Would've been a good time if you ask me." He said, fingering the handle of his sword absentmindedly. The smaller man didn't reply, simply beginning his descent down the mountain and into the village.
'How have you been...Sasuke.'
12,000 words. That's 4,000 more than my previous record. I applaud those on this site who are consistently able to do this in a reasonable time. I hope to soon join your ranks my friends.
Anyways, that's the start of the chunin exams for you. Things are going to be coming at you fast for the next few chapters, so be ready for that. The website's acting all weird today as well so I can't do the line breaks, I'll update that as soon as I can. As always, any questions? Drop em in the reviews. Or message me. I'm a nice guy all things considered.
