OK, I'll admit that I rushed the ending in the last chapter. But I had to get to class! And after writing ten pages in one day, I was tired! Hopefully this chapter will reveal some things that you will all enjoy.
I can't believe that Naruto got captured and is now having his chakra sucked up. Right now I can only see three things happening next. One is Pein leaving the village now that he has wheat he came for followed. Two is that we see some Kyuubi chakra again. Three is that Hinata rushes over to help Naruto since she is so close until those two old toads can use their genjutsu. I was kind of hoping Naruto would have changed into a girl just for the laughs. Just imagine Pein's reaction to seeing a naked girl flying towards him!
Let's rock!
-x-
The room was silent as the de-armed oto-nin was taken out of the room. Everyone except for Hinata, Anko, and Haku kept a watchful eye on Naruto. While it had been a stunning display of skill for the two other wind users in the room, it made everyone else kind of freak out. Kurenai was left wondering what Kakashi had done to make Naruto improve so much. Asuma was simply impressed that Naruto could do something at that level for his age. Gai was shedding tears of joyful youth at how Naruto had helped a foreign shinobi. And let us all be glad that he didn't ask Naruto about how he got his skills because if Naruto had Gai would have begun to shout about how youthful Naruto was. All the other genins, except for Temari and Gaara, were just freaked out.
-x-
Back at the station, Koto had a look of utter bliss on her face. It was hard to describe. Her eyes had a dreamy look to them and there was drool coming out of her mouth. If having your favorite meal was a one and doing 'it' is a ten then this would be a nine point nine.
"Ah Koto-chan," said Juri nervously. "You're starting to scare me!"
-x-
Now all of the genins were lined up in front of the elder Hokage and several of the examiners. The old man was proud to see so many Konoha-nins advance to the final round. This would show the strength of their village not only to their clients, but to the rest of the village as well. And it did his heart some good to see that Naruto and Anko were two of them.
"You have all done well," said Sarutobi after a moment. "Now that we have all seen how you fair when you have no idea what your enemies are capable of, we would like to see how you respond when you know what they can do. In one month's time all of the appropriate parties will be contacted and given time so that they can reach the village to watch you in the final round of the exam. You may use this time to prepare however you see fit. If you wish to sit back and relax, that is your choice. If you wish to train to better prepare yourself for your opponents, you may do so. If fact, I would highly recommend it!
"The format of the final exam will be similar to what you just went through. The exam will take the form of a tournament. However, that doesn't mean that there will be one winner. In fact, even if you lose in the first round you might be promoted. We will be watching you fight to see if you have the qualities that make a chunin. The more you fight the more chances you have to show that you have those skills. Now we will be handing out ballets in order to…"
"Hold on one second," came a man's voice from the back. Everyone turned around and saw a small black cat enter the room. The cat then vanished only to reappear on the Hokages shoulder. The cat then whispered in his ear causing Sarutobi's eyes to widen in shock.
"I'm afraid something has come up," said the Hokage as he cleared his throat. "Once we come to a decision on the matter we will contact you with the lineup. Please expect it to come in at least three days from now. Yoruichi-san will escort you all back to the village quickly so you can begin making preparations. With that, he and the rest of the examiners vanished from the room.
-x-
"You heard it from the Hokage himself ladies and gentlemen," said Koto as she got back into her grove. "In three days we will have a line up for the chunin exam. This is going to be a bloodbath for sure!"
"Please don't get to excited," said Juri as she sweat dropped. "As for us, we will be making our way there to cover the fights live and give you live interviews with the contestants. However, these fights won't be free and you will have to order it. Sorry."
Jiraiya let a grin slip as he got up off his seat. He knew that Orochimaru had plans for that village. In fact, he was going there to help stop whatever his old teammate was planning. But now he had another reason: to start training his godchild. This was going to be exciting, that was for sure.
-x-
"If you will please follow me," said Yoruichi as the cat motioned them to follow.
"Hold on," said Kankuro. "Shouldn't we have a real guide or something? I mean, you're just a cat!" At that, Yoruichi chuckled and let out an evil smile. Hinata shook her head to tell Yoruichi no, but it was too late.
"I see," said the cat. "Well my dear little genin, I guess I had better show you my true form then." Yoruichi's body began to glow and smoke began to circle the cat's body as it began to change into a more human one. The black fur turned into tanned skin and purple hair appeared on the head. And then, it was done and several of the guys had major nose bleeds as they stared at the naked form of Yoruichi. "I just love seeing the way people react when I reveal my true form. They always except I'm a guy because of the deep voice."
"They're not reacting that way because they thought you were a man," said Hinata. "It's because you're naked!"
"But clothing is just…confining," said Yoruichi with a pout. Naruto and Anko just smirked as they tried not to laugh at their friend's embarrassment.
-x-
"Here I am," announced Sarutobi as he entered the council's chambers. He moved quickly into his seat and sat in between Homaru and Koharu. As he sat, be pulled out his pipe and lit it. The rest of the council, which was made of several of the founding clans and several civilians, sat down. "I have just been made aware that Orochimaru has left us a message about the chunin exam."
"Hai," said a civilian councilman. "One of this village's jonin was found dead just a short while ago. A message was carved on his back and the body was laid out near training area 44. The message demands that Uchiha Sasuke be allowed to compete in the final round of the exam and to go against Gaara first or else he will destroy the village."
"We cannot allow ourselves to be bullied like this," said Hiashi. "Right now the entire shinobi world is watching us and on live television! If we do as he says then the world will see our weakness and we will lose face."
"Better to lose face than to lose lives," said Nara Shikaku lazily. "At least that's the way I see it. Look at it this way, if we say no than he will attack. But if we go along with it Orochimaru might keep his word. I know it's not very likely, but we should do everything in our power to avoid a conflict like this one."
"Coward," growled a Haruno. "You're only saying that because your son made it to the final part of the exam." At that, Shikaku blinked.
"He's in the chunin exam?" he asked causing everyone to face fault. How could any father be that clueless?
"Both sides have merit," said the Hokage as he took a drag. "I too wish not to show any weakness at such a critical time. However, we know what kind of man he is. He has been planning this for a while now and is being very careful with his plans. All we know is that they involve Uchiha Sasuke in some way. The mark on his neck is proof of that."
"I agree with Sarutobi on this," said Homaru. "We shall have to allow Uchiha Sasuke to compete in the final exam."
"We could tell the public that an outside party interfered with the exam," said Koharu with a nod. "We needn't give out the details and give a perfect excuse to allow the Uchiha to compete."
"Now wait just a moment," said Sarutobi. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. There are still other factors to consider. We should talk to our allies in Suna about this as well. They have a right to know what is going on since Orochimaru wants one of their shinobi to fight Sasuke."
"I agree with Hokage-sama," said Danzo shocking everyone. No one thought they would live to see the day when either one would agree with each other. Hell must have frozen over! He then stood up and turned to face Sarutobi who stared back. "Since we are dealing with Orochimaru and his Oto-nins, we will need not only superior strength but numbers as well. After we take out Orochimaru and whatever forces he plans on using against us, the two of us will be able to destroy his village and divide the land up equally between our two villages. At least for now."
"Once again we are getting ahead of ourselves," said Sarutobi. "We will send out a message to Suna to inform them of the situation and then wait for a reply. Once we have received one we will make our final decision on the matter and go from there. Until then we are to act like nothing is wrong as to not alert the public. However, I think we shoulder schedule a few emergence evacuation drills just to be on the safe side. Meeting adjourned. Oh and Hiashi, could you stay behind for a moment."
With that, all members of the council got up and left the room until it was just Hiashi and Sarutobi. The Hokage calmly took a drag as Hiashi waited impatiently for the old man to say what he wanted. He was a busy man with things to do. Finally, the head of the Hyuuga family spoke.
"What do you wish to talk about Hokage-sama?' asked Hiashi in a respectful tone.
"Something has been troubling me," said Sarutobi calmly as he blew a ring of smoke into the air. "Neji seemed to think that he had a chance of leaving the branch family. Why is that?"
"Clan matters," said Hiashi. "I will admit that we had a talk before the start of the exam. I had told him that if he did well then I would look into having him placed within the main house. However, he did not live up to my expectations as he clearly lost in the preliminary round."
"I see," said Sarutobi. "That is very generous of you. Very unlike you as well." With that, Sarutobi took another drag. "Yes, very unlike you. Well please be aware that I will be keeping an eye on Neji for a bit. Some of the things he said made me think that there was something…more going on. And he had better be in good condition to help fight Oto when the time comes. We will need every able body available so I don't need you causing him unnecessary harm with that seal of yours."
Hiashi gritted his teeth for a moment. The Hokage was beginning to suspect something. But at the moment all he had were his suspicions and no time to really check up on them. And for that, Hiashi was thankful for Orochimaru. All Hiashi could do now was to lie low until this blew over. That or the old fool died.
"Very well," said Hiashi as he fought hard to stay calm. "Let us hope that he recovers quickly."
-x-
"Damn this bed is itchy," whined Sechs. It was the next morning and Sechs had been patched up and given a blood transfusion. He had to admit that the medics of this village were pretty good at what they did. They were able to do their job quickly which was essential in the shinobi world were you had to get back onto your feet quickly. Plus, all be had lost was his arm. He just wished they used a different fabric softener when they did the laundry.
"It could be worse," said Naruto. Sechs turned his head over to the side and saw Naruto sitting in the chair next to his bed.
"When did you get here?" demanded Sechs.
"A little while ago," said Naruto. "The twins are right now trying on nurses outfits so I let myself in." Sechs grunted.
"Well that's just perfect," said Sechs. "If this were a mission I would be dead right now." He paused for a moment, as if to think about what he was going to say next. "Listen Kaze-shu, don't you dare lose from here on out. As soon as I get back on my feet I'm going to restart my training so I can function with only one arm. And when I'm done we are going to have that rematch."
"Hai, hai," said Naruto as he waved it off like it was nothing. But it did feel nice to have a rival like Sechs. In some ways they were so much alike. They trained hard in order to prove themselves and believed that the only real way to fight was head on regardless of what others thought. In the back of Naruto's mind he was sure that if they had been born in the same village they would have been friends.
"Don't wave me off like that damn it," swore Sechs. "Listen, I'll only say this once. You're…"
"We're back!" yelled Elf and Zwölf. They were both wearing white nurses outfits and were carrying a large about of medicine and needles. "Time to play doctor!"
"What the hell?!" shouted Sechs. "I was about to say something really profound and you two had to ruin the moment! And this isn't a game you numb skulls! Just what is wrong with you two?!"
"Sechs, you shouldn't yell in a hospital," said a voice from the doorway. Everyone turned and saw a person that they all knew every well.
"Hanzo-sama/ojiisan," said Sechs, Elf, Zwölf, and Naruto respectively. The leader of Ame nodded as he walked towards the bed and then stared down at Sechs.
"I saw your fight," he said after a moment. "Well done considering who you went up against. And you saved yourself some time as well. The doctors have informed me that your arm was crushed so badly that they would have had to remove it anyways. So that leaves us with a bit of a problem now doesn't it? Are you still willing to be a shinobi?"
"What kind of lame ass question is that?" said Sechs. "I won't quit until I have beaten down both the Kaze-shu and you Hanzo-sama!" Hanzo chuckled.
"It seems that Naruto-kun has rubbed off on you," said Hanzo. He then turned towards Naruto. "Thank you for setting this dead beat straight. Now he has a clear understanding as to why we push the younger generation so much. And you yourself have proven me right when I said you would be a great shinobi. I am proud of you Naruto-kun."
"Thanks," replied Naruto with a grin. He was then about to say something when voices in the next room caught the attention of everyone.
"So girls are weak," yelled Hana followed by several sounds that sounded like smacking. "BAKA!"
"I think it's time you learned the very same lesson I gave your father years ago," said Tsume as she cracked her knuckles. "Believe me; you'll be better for it."
And when Naruto turned around, Hanzo and the rest of the Ame-nins were gone.
-x-
Later in the day, Sechs found himself back at Ame. Somehow Hanzo had brought them there so fast he had thought they had teleported. Hanzo merely stated that it wasn't him but his salamanders that were to thank for their speedy return. Now, he was in a lab with Hanzo and several other scientists who were preparing all sorts of devices. Sechs felt like the only light in the room was the one on him as he lay there on the table.
"I hope you enjoy this," said Hanzo. "You are going to be used to test the first prototype."
"First prototype of what?" demanded Sechs. Hanzo moved to the side to reveal that he had been standing in front of a case holding a robotic arm. It seemed a bit bulky and the area from the hand to the elbow seemed to be a bit larger than the rest like it could hold something.
"This is something I have had our research team look into for some time now," said Hanzo. "In Suna, some of their puppet masters can replace lost limbs with wooden ones and used them as if they were the real thing. Well I have something better in mind. We technology in this village is more advanced than any other village in the shinobi world and it is time we showed them that with this: the Solenoid Quench Gun arm!"
"Indeed," said a scientist as he came into the light. "This little beauty will be attached to your nervous system so you can control it like it was the real thing and it will be powered by your own chakra. It will also store chakra so that you may fire it in the arms transformed state or use it if you run out of chakra yourself as an emergency option. It also has a special scroll department so you can use fire the water that is in the scroll with enough power to cut through steel."
"Any draw backs?" asked Sechs.
"A few," admitted the scientist. "If you use all the chakra stored in the arm then it will stop functioning until its power has been restored. Also, it takes time in between firing sequences so you can't fire repeatedly. Lastly, it takes about thirty seconds to transform the arm from gun mode and back again. I have it all lined out in this manual."
"Do you want this Sechs?" asked Hanzo. Sechs just grinned.
"Do you have to ask such a stupid question?" he replied.
-x-
At the same time, Naruto and Hinata were walking through town. They hadn't seen Anko all day and they got worried. When someone like Anko just vanishes off the radar you can't help but worry. They had checked every store that sold dango and every training field in the village and still found nothing. Now they were back in the market area and it was getting dark which made Naruto worry even more about his first real friend.
"Ano, I'd better be getting back home," said Hinata. "Yoruichi-neesan has been worried lately and that's never a good thing."
"I guess," said Naruto as he leaned against a wall. "I'll keep looking anyways." However, Hinata didn't move. "Is something up Hinata-chan?"
"Well kind of," admitted Hinata. "You see, we might have to fight each other in the final exam. I'm just worried that…well you know."
"That we might go a little too far in our fights?" supplied Naruto.
"Sort of," said Hinata. "I mean what if we really hurt each other or do something that ruins our friendship." Naruto blinked at that.
"You know," he said, "that never accrued to me. But I think we'll be alright. All we're going to do is show everyone what we're really made of. As long as we fight to show everyone what we are really like, I'm not worried at all." Hinata nodded and then took a deep breath. She then moved over to Naruto and did something that seemed to stop time itself. She kissed him on the lips. Naruto's eyes opened wide in complete surprise. He had no clue why she was doing this all of a sudden! And then it was over and Hinata took several steps back.
"I just wanted to do that before the finals start," she said quickly. "Also, please don't hold back." So many ways that could be interpreted. And before Naruto could blink, Hinata used shunpo and vanished out of the area. All Naruto could do was look up at the sky's, bring a hand up to touch his lips, and wonder if she liked him or something.
Hinata reappeared a few block away and seemed to be in a very good mood. She had finally shown Naruto how she felt about him. If she were to die right now, she would die the happiest girl in the world! The only thing that could make her happier would be if Naruto had kissed back. But that could wait for another day. Right now she had to get home.
As Hinata walked down the street to get to her home, Hanabi was following her from a distance. Today was going to be the day when she would get answers right from the source. In truth, she had not planned on it. However, when she saw Hinata just appear a few yards in front of her she decided that it was a sign from the gods themselves. Hanabi decided to follow this girl to her home and confront her there.
Suddenly, Hanabi saw Hinata turn down an alleyway. She, in turn, followed her down until Hinata stopped at a dead end. Then, Hinata spoke up.
"What do you want with me Hyuuga-sama?" asked Hinata in a calm voice without turning around. Hanabi started to take a step back but stopped herself. She couldn't back down now.
"I have some questions for you," said Hanabi in the toughest voice she could muster. "I want to know who you really are! Why do you look like my kaa-san? Why are all the records of you deleted from the clan and the school? Tell me!"
And with that, Hinata slowly turned around. Hanabi felt her strength crumble as she looked into that face, the face that so much resembled her mother's soft features. The look in Hinata's eyes seemed like she was sad for some reason yet held it back. And for a moment, no one said anything as they stood in that alleyway full of trash.
"Are you sure you want to know?" asked Hinata. "You might not like what you hear."
"I have to know," said Hanabi. Hinata sighed.
"This goes back to when the war against Kumogakure ended and they sent a representative to work out the peace treaty," said Hinata. Hanabi nodded.
"I know all about that," she said. "They used it to try and capture a main branch member, but tou-san caught him and killed him. After that, they demanded his head but instead my uncle was sent to them. What does that have to do with anything?" Then, something clicked inside Hanabi's head. "You were that child, weren't you?"
"Hai," replied Hinata. "That was when you're tou-san started to despise me. He blamed me for the death of his brother. He claimed that if I hadn't been so weak as to get kidnapped in the first place, then he would still be here today. Even Neji blamed me." Now tears were rolling down Hinata's eyes. The happiness she had felt just a short while ago was completely gone now. All of her painful memories that she thought were gone were now hitting her like flood water.
"But it wasn't your fault," insisted Hanabi. "How could it have been? You were just a child!"
"I know," said Hinata. "But that didn't matter. In his eyes, I was nothing short of a total failure. And as soon as you were born, he didn't hesitate to throw me out." Now Hanabi began to sweat a little and took a step back.
"Wait," she said nervously. "Why does my birth have anything to do with it?"
"Did you ever wonder how your tou-san was able to get to the Kumo-nin so quickly?" asked Hinata. "How he could have sensed that a Hyuuga child was being abducted? How he killed him without any hesitation?"
Hanabi's eyes widened. She slowly began to shake her head no. Wordlessly, Hinata nodded yes as if to answer some unspoken question. And when Hanabi saw that, she felt her legs give out on her and she fell onto the palms of her hands as everything began to click. Hinata was her older sister. Her father believed her to be nothing more than a shame upon the clan and got rid of her as soon as he had another heir. That's all Hanabi was, a replacement! With that, Hanabi got up and ran away from her sister who was left alone to cry.
-x-
At the same time, Naruto had made his way back to his apartment while still thinking of that kiss. Sure we're close, thought Naruto. And I do like her a lot. But I never thought of her in that way. Sure she's cute, smart, and we both like plants…oh no, I can't start thinking like this! I bet that was just a good luck kiss or something. Yeah, that has to be it! Naruto then stopped at his doorway to find Anko leaning against it.
"I've been waiting," she said.
"And I've been out with Hinata looking for you," he said. "I was worried!"
"Oh," said Anko as she looked upward. "I wonder if that would be considered a date?"
"Nani?" asked Naruto quietly. Anko just shook her head and turned to look at Naruto.
"Nothing, forget I said anything," she said with a smile. "Listen, I'm going to be training by myself for awhile. So I thought I'd come by to tell you, but no one was home. So I just…waited."
"Oh, well Haku-itoko is out gathering herbs and stuff so won't be back till the morning," said Naruto. Then he shivered. "Said something about making a special meal and smiled. Creeps me out when she does that." Anko let out a laugh at her friend's misfortune. "But you could have just left a note or something."
"Well, I wanted to tell you something else and I wanted to do it face to face," she said. And once again, Naruto was caught off guard as Anko closed the gap and kissed him on the lips. Naruto could feel her arms snake around his body and hold him tightly as he stood like a deer in head lights. Then, when the kiss ended, Anko looked at him face to face. "I wanted to let you know that I love you." And with that she let go and ran away from the blond who was still standing there like a statue.
-x-
Hope you all liked it. Now review!