Hey, everyone! This chapter is a lot more than half an hour late... sorry. Thank you for your reviews, alerts, and favorites! Again, I love you all x3
Master of Darkness and Light: Thank you so much for pointing that out!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto (shippuden) series, and any of the characters in it.
Now that Sasuke knew, Team Seven trained harder than ever, preparing in the last month they had before the Chunin Exams. Sasuke is determined to get stronger on his own without the snake's help, along with the help of his comrades. He resolved to find his brother, and to get things right.
He won't do the same mistakes as his future self did.
Sasuke's attitude and personality took quite a change; he was more open, talked a little more. He wasn't as loud as Naruto, of course, but his social skills were improving slowly. He smiled more often, not the smirks and half smiles he would give. He didn't outright grin, but he was getting there.
Sakura worked hard to get her chakra levels higher as well as her stamina, working for endless hours in the training grounds, also keeping up to date with the books. She was getting stronger with each passing day, and her chakra control was amazing for a genin as well as chunin. She also started getting some medical ninjutsu lessons from the hospital, Kakashi introducing her to one of the medic nins working there.
Naruto continued working on her Sage mode, the time it consumed to gather the natural energy growing smaller. It wasn't improving at a rapid speed, but it was still impressive for a twelve year old―or a seventeen year old trapped inside a twelve year old body. Naruto managed to retain all of her abilities from the Nine Tails mode, after training with the fox for a week.
The three all stood at the meeting place, and Naruto remembered that the bridge they were on was where Kakashi would announce them being signed up for the exams. They all fidgeted, excited and impatient.
"Yo." As usual, Kakashi appeared with a poof, crouching on the red fence of the bridge. He was sporting an eye smile, holding three slips of paper in his fingers.
His three students beamed at the sight of them and gingerly took it, as if it would crumble to pieces.
Naruto smiled, her eyes crinkling, "We won't disappoint you, Kakashi-sensei, believe it."
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura eye twitched at the sight of a large, perfectly square rock.
It had two eyeholes, too.
Naruto rolled her eyes, twirling her golden locks with her finger, "Hey, Konohamaru." The three could see the rock tense, before a muffled, childish voice escaped from the box.
"As expected of my rival!"
The box exploded, purple smoke and bits of confetti surrounded the three academy students. They erupted into fits of coughs, waving away the clouds, as Sakura and Sasuke squinted to take a better look at them.
The three wore the same dark green goggles Naruto wore in the academy. Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon did their dramatic introduction.
The three kids tagged along with the older team, until they bumped into Kankuro.
"Bunch of brats, eh?" Naruto frowned; this was supposed to happen before Kakashi gave them those permission slips… She shook her head, dismissing it.
"Let go of me, weirdo!" Konohamaru squirmed from the puppeteer's grip on his shirt. Naruto frowned, as well as Temari.
"Kankuro, you should stop. We aren't supposed to cause trouble."
Kankuro ignored her, looking at Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. "You guys entering the chunin exams, too?"
Sakura nodded for them, "Yes, we are. If I'm not mistaken, you three are from Suna."
Temari rolled her eyes, "Thank you for stating the obvious. Yes, we are, can't you see the headbands?"
"Sorry, we didn't know Suna's gennin could be so immature." Sasuke pointedly stared at the black clad boy.
Before Kankuro can retort, however, Naruto spoke, "So is the guy in the tree your third teammate?" She raised a brow as Gaara appeared with sand. "That's a lot of KI you're leaking there."
Sasuke snorted, and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "show off." Naruto glared, as Sakura tried to hide her giggle. Gaara narrowed his teal eyes, looking at the blonde as he soaked in her appearance.
Kankuro and Temari did the same, although a little nervously at the presence of their younger brother. The girl was a little short, and kind of cute. Her two sunny ponytails and striking blue only added to her charm. They ignored the three younger kids that scurried off, squeaking a tiny goodbye to her.
What the suna team members were mostly surprised about, though, was that they were totally indifferent to Gaara's murderous aura. The pinkette looked slightly disturbed, but didn't step back or anything to prove her fear.
Gaara's icy stare drifted to the three, his deep, dark voice carrying out, "I'll look forward in seeing you at the exams." He nodded once, his words directed at Naruto by the incline of his head. He turned his cold gaze at his siblings, "We're going."
Sasuke and Sakura didn't let their shock show, looking at Naruto in disbelief once the odd group was gone. How did she manage to convert Gaara from something like that to the sweet and loyal Kazekage Naruto spoke so affectionately about?
Sasuke realized how similar this Gaara seemed to the description Naruto told him about of his future self. He tried to shove the thought away, but it still lingered in the back of his mind.
Naruto smiled, acting oblivious to the stares she received. She knew it faltered, that her smile would look a lot like Sai's (although a lot less creepier and sadder looking). She blinked when she felt a hand hold hers, and looked down to see Sakura's. Naruto's smile started reaching her eyes at the gesture, before she widened her eyes when Sasuke did the same as their pink haired teammate. Her stunned face morphed into a gleeful expression, her grin shining.
"Let's go eat some ramen!"
She laughed when Sasuke and Sakura immediately let go, but still stayed close.
Naruto couldn't help but be bothered by the glares and hateful remarks pointed at her. Sasuke and Sakura noticed, and held her hands, slightly blocking the looks from the villagers as they stood at either side protectively. Naruto smiled appreciatively, touched that they would do it for her.
She loved this team.
The ninjas openly greeted her, surprising the civilians. She shyly greeted back; she still wasn't used to the kind gestures, even during her original timeline. Sakura grinned as Sasuke smirked, whispering to Naruto teasingly about her discomfort. Naruto reddened before playfully whacking his arm.
Sakura can't help but widen her grin at the two.
They were like a bickering couple, and she saw them act the way her mother and father would to each other. Her inner self squealed, before loudly boosting out a "Yeah!" in her mind.
Sakura joined in with Sasuke, making Naruto whine. "You guys are ganging up on me!" She accused, dramatically weeping into her arm.
The three decided on eating some yakiniku instead, much to Naruto's displeasure, but she still liked the beef so the blonde let it slide. They sweat-dropped at the sight of Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji, as Naruto raised a brow, "Are you guys always here?"
Chouji kept munching, as Shikamaru rested his hand on his palm, waiting for the beef to cook. Ino looked up to see the three, before snorting, "No, we are not. I ain't so sure about Chouji, though." She poked the chubby boy in the ribs. "But he loves the place, so we end up eating here a lot."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "Luckily he's paying for his own."
Naruto nodded before draping her arms on her teammates' shoulders, "Are you guys entering the exams, too?" She knew the answer, but asked anyways. Shikamaru blinked at Sasuke in surprise, before shaking his head, muttering another "troublesome."
"Yeah, you guys are too?"
Sasuke nodded before turning to Naruto―and tried to get some distance between them, seeing as how close their faces were. "Can we eat?" he twitched an eyebrow irritably, obviously hungry.
Naruto rolled her eyes, "Fine, scoot over, guys, we're gonna eat with ya."
Chouji ignored them, while Shikamaru complied grumpily. Ino happily moved closer to Shikamaru, patting the seat next to her, her eyes meeting Sakura's, who understood with a grin.
Sasuke and Naruto's eyebrows twitched in annoyance, realizing that the two were trying to make them sit together. Ino did because she thought the two were going out. Naruto shot a glare at Sakura, before sighing and sitting next to Chouji, Sasuke following after her.
The two teams talked, chatting happily and―much to Team Ten's surprise―Sasuke participated in some parts, mostly irking Naruto. They laughed when Naruto blew up and stumbled on her words as she tried to give some comebacks.
Shikamaru leaned to his side, head still rested on his hand, an eyebrow raised, "Did being Naruto's boyfriend really change you that much?"
Naruto and Sasuke choked on their tea, blushing furiously. "We aren't dating." Sasuke glared as he tried to get the colors on his face back to normal. Naruto nodded, wiping her mouth with a tissue.
Sasuke then directed his glare at Sakura, as Naruto did the same. The blonde growled, "Sakura lied when she said the things before." She rolled her eyes, "I don't really know why though. Something about aggravating Ino."
Shikamaru mumbled, "Figured as much." While Ino's jaw slacked.
"W-What! B-But…" She was too stunned to continue. Sakura laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.
"Rivals do the craziest of things?" She pointedly looked at Sasuke and Naruto, who caught it.
In unison, the two "hn"ed. Naruto widened her eyes, as she whipped her head at Sasuke, slapping a hand to her mouth. Sakura looked horrified as well.
Team Ten shared a glance, and all thought the same thing.
Team Seven was definitely bonding too much.
Team Seven went to the academy on the day of the exams, and it was going quite well. Sasuke fought Lee with his Sharingan, and he fared off better this time. Team Seven, Eight, and Ten now stood gathered in the back of the test room, talking to each other excitedly. Everything was doing fine as it should be, just like how it did in Naruto's future―
―Until now.
Naruto knew that there was a possibility of things changing a slight bit, but nothing too drastic. Zabuza and Haku were alive and kicking in Konoha, doing missions for the village. Sasuke found out about the Uchiha's, as did the chunins and jounins of the Leaf. But that was all because she caused them on purpose.
So what the hell was Sai doing here?
Naruto stood stupefied as Sai introduced himself to the Rookie Nine, "It's nice to meet you all." With his usual, painstakingly fake smile.
Sakura took one look at Naruto's face, and wondered what caused her to have such an expression. She studied Sai, before recalling the time when Naruto had described the new teammate that replaced Sasuke in the future.
This was that Sai.
The realization caused her to freeze, before she got control of herself. She turned to Sasuke to see that he found it out, too, judging by his stiff form.
They heard a voice speak up from behind them, and the rookies turned around to see Kabuto, "You kids are too loud. Don't you notice the tension?"
Naruto had to stuff the anger bubbling up away, "We have, and don't care. Is that all you have to say?"
Kabuto raises his hands up defensively, "Sorry, Blondie. Just thought I should give you guys a heads up."
Naruto noticed the concerned looks she received from her friends, and sighed, "No, I'm sorry. I'm just… in a bad mood right now." She ignored Shikamaru and Sai's calculating stare, before the painter went back to his team. She would have to ask the Hokage about Sai later.
Shikamaru frowned at that, but didn't say anything. His eyes slightly narrowed, studying his former classmate. Hinata did as well, except more out of worry, and from noticing her role model's sudden anger towards Kabuto.
The older boy smiled, shaking his head, "It's the exams after all, so of course you'd be agitated. Hey, how about I show you something cool?" He got out a stack of cards, "I have information on all the genin here in the exams in these cards, which appears only when I apply my chakra. Have anyone you're interested in?"
Sasuke spoke up, "Gaara, Rock Lee… Naruto." Said girl blinked in surprise.
Kabuto raised a brow, smirking, "On your own teammate?" Sasuke shrugged.
"To test out those cards."
Kabuto shuffled through the set, "Well, whatever." He got out a card, showing Gaara's profile.
"Impressive. I forgot about that. Came back from all missions without a scratch, eh?" He showed the interested group, "Next's Lee, was it?" He flipped through the stack, and got one out. "Rock Lee. Doesn't seem to have any talent when it involves chakra, but his taijutsu is remarkable."
Kabuto's smirk widened and Naruto stiffened, before shaking it off. He wouldn't dare show any classified information. "Uzumaki Naruto. From what I've gathered, not much of a big shot. Oh, and your team completed a B-rank?"
Team Seven tensed, and the rest noticed. Kiba complained, "How'd you guys get such a high ranked mission!" Akamaru barked in agreement.
Sakura frowned at Kabuto, not even turning to the dog boy, "It wasn't supposed to be so well known. It was just a C-ranked mission that was bumped up to a B-rank."
Kabuto grinned, "Well, it's kind of famous. Especially with Naruto in it―"
The blonde glared, now leaking out murderous intent, "Kabuto. I suggest you stop there. I don't really appreciate you spouting things about me that could even be kept a secret."
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes again. Secret? It sounded like there was more to it than that.
The rest took a slight step back at the intensity of Naruto's glare. They weren't used to this side of the happy, cheery blonde at all.
A voice boomed across the room, silencing everyone. "Shut up you little maggots! This is where the first part of the Chunin Exams begin!" They all turned to see a scarred, tall man dressed in black, along with other ninjas in grey uniforms. "I'm Morino Ibiki, the proctor for this test!"
Naruto ignored the stares she received from the chunins as she leaned against the seat, obviously not doing the work. She looked down at the paper, before cringing.
Naruto had decided to wait and sit back, seeing as she didn't have much skill in cheating, other than her flashy jutsus. She looked around, to see Sakura and Sasuke already finishing the test, and then back at Ibiki, who raised a brow. He was obviously wondering why she didn't bother writing.
She huffed, looking the other way, crossing her arms, making the proctor chuckle silently.
Naruto still didn't understand the questions on the paper.
Sakura tried not to roll her eyes, as did Sasuke.
Shikamaru frowned again at Naruto, who had not even touched the paper. She wasn't panicking or anything that showed her discomfort. He looked down at the test, knowing the questions were all too hard for the girl.
He sighed as he put the paper back down, deciding to lean forwards onto the desk.
"Before the tenth question, I want to ask one thing. Do you choose to stay and continue, or leave the exams? You'll be given another chance next time, otherwise, if you fail the question…" He chuckled evilly. "You would stay genin forever!"
People who had been shouting in outrage drew back, shocked and considering their options. Slowly, some raised their hands, followed by others.
Naruto frowned, looking around to see that many of them were leaving. She had to stop to keep the added tournament later.
She slammed her hand on the desk, causing many people to jump. She smirked, "That won't scare me! Even if I can't get a higher rank, I'll still get the hokage title, dammit! I don't go back on my words, nor do I give up! That's my nindo!" The people who hesitated brought their arms down, slightly smiling in confidence. They nodded in agreement, before Ibiki rolled his eyes at the blonde.
"Fine. You all…" He paused for an effect, making the participants lean forwards. "Pass!" The man chirped, smiling.
That caused the genin to falter, except Naruto. People started shouting out in outrage again, before Ibiki silenced them.
"The previous questions were on your information gathering skills, while the final was the real test to see if you're ready." He glared, "People die on missions, especially when you get the wrong information." He continued, telling them about an example. He showed the scars and burns on his head, much to the horror of the genin.
A black round thing flew into the classroom, surprising everyone except Naruto and Ibiki. The man deadpanned, oh lord, not her.
The black cover was pinned to the wall, showing a busty Mitarashi Anko. She grinned as she laid her eyes on the blonde before to everyone else. "I'm the proctor for the second part of the Chunin Exams, Mitarashi Anko! Love letters, confessions, and praises can wait until later. Now, follow me!" She was oblivious to the tenseness, and Ibiki had to refrain from face-palming.
"Read the atmosphere, Anko."
She blinked, before glaring at the guy, "You're growing soft, Morino. But…" Her smirk turned feral, "I'll cut it down to at least an half."
Many fidgeted as her gaze was drawn back to the genin, "We'll be doing the second test tomorrow. Get the information from your jounin sensei. You're all dismissed."
What's going to happen next, I wonder? Hehe~
Reviews highly appreciated! :D