Chapter 24: A New Exam
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Beta: AwesomeA909
A/N: Going to start putting the date at the beginning of the chapter to make it easier to keep up with, for different events. Such as Chunin Exams, birthdays, and stuff like that.
(June 3rd)
Naruto slowly got out of bed with a grin on his face. Today, they would be heading to Suna for the chunin exams. It was scheduled for the middle of the month, but due to the last exams being interrupted, they moved it up. Before they left the blonde was going to help Sasuke get stronger. Of course, most things they could train together in wouldn't help the raven. However if someone like Orochimaru showed up once again, the blonde thought it would help for his brother figure to be able to summon.
Getting dressed, he headed towards the Uchiha compound. It was too early for the streets to be crowded, the sun hadn't even begun to rise yet. The moon was still bathing the empty streets in a soft glow. A few ninja moved along the rooftops, either returning from missions or leaving for them. Ten minutes later, the blonde arrived at the Uchiha Compound.
Sasuke was waiting for him in the training area behind the main compound. Sending out a pulse of chakra, as he hadn't been in the training ground before, Naruto could tell what was in the training ground and where everything was. There were four training logs off towards the right, a few trees huddled together with targets on them, and the lake that Sasuke often trained his fire jutsu at. The dock for the lake was on the other side, outside of the actual compound.
Naruto moved over to Sasuke, who was near a charred portion of land, most likely from practicing the Uchiha fire techniques. "Are you ready Sasuke?"
The raven nodded his head stiffly. "I am, but how am I going to do the jutsu without signing a summoning contract first."
Naruto scratched the back of his head, as he realized he forgot to explain that. "Well, when you perform the jutsu without signing a contract, it teleports you to the clan that you are most in-tune with. For example, I went to the fox summoning clan and Jiraiya went to the toad clan. The hand signs are boar, dog, bird, monkey, and then ram."
Sasuke nodded once more and went through the seals slowly. As he called out the summoning jutsu, the raven disappeared. Naruto waited in the clearing, unsealing his sword and going through a few training stances, and after about twenty minutes, the raven-haired teen appeared. Sasuke no longer had a shirt on, and his shorts had a few rips in them. The boy's hair was also disheveled. As Sasuke panted, a smirk found its way onto his face. "I am now the owner of the hawk summoning contract. Itachi and his crows better watch out."
Naruto winced slightly at that. It was the first time that Sasuke brought up Itachi since they went to retrieve Tsunade. "Do you still plan on killing Itachi?" The blonde asked cautiously.
Hearing the blonde's question Sasuke froze. "I am not sure. Killing him is no longer my goal in life, but at the same time, I know that I will find and fight him one day. Until that day comes, I have no idea what the outcome will be. I have thought about it a lot, and there is a part of me that wants Itachi to come home. However, with how things happened, I know that he can't. I am not sure what will happen, but I will face him one day, and I plan to win that fight."
Naruto nodded his head in understanding. "Well, I will be there with you to make sure that no one interferes." Sasuke smiled at that, but didn't say anything as the two headed towards the gate. It was about time to leave after all. When they got there, most of the other genin and jonin were waiting for them. Naruto moved to Kiba's side and gave him a kiss on the cheek, he then scratched Akamaru behind the ears. "Good morning Kiba-kun, Akamaru."
Akamaru barked something Naruto couldn't understand while Kiba smiled. "Morning Naru, you ready to become chunin?"
Naruto nodded his head. "I'm more than ready. Besides, it will be nice to visit Suna, Gaara even said that he will show us around if we want. He also mentioned that Team Eight could stay at the Sabaku Manor if we wanted."
Anko chuckled at that. "You won't feel that way for long Blondie, the desert sucks. Between the heat and lack of water, it is the worst environment to be stuck in, at least in my opinion."
Naruto listened for a second before speaking up. "I have taken precautions though. I have put a seal on Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru, and myself that will allow us to change the temperature of the air around us, and I have enough water sealed within one of my scrolls to last us two months out there."
Anko almost looked a little jealous at that, but Naruto knew the purple-haired woman would end up asking for a seal along the way. Kurenai simply looked proud of her team, knowing that they would be well prepared for anything that they would face.
The two day long trip to Suna went rather quickly, and as the group passed through the gate Kiba was laughing at how miserable the other genin teams were. Naruto touched the brunette's arm to get him to stop. "Come on Kiba, after we check in at the Sabaku Manor, we can get something to eat together."
The brunette nodded and grabbed the blonde's hand, pulling him forward a few feet before coming to a complete stop. "Where is the manor?"
Hearing Kiba's question got a laugh from Naruto. "It is in the center of town, behind the Kazekage's Tower." Anko said before watching as Kiba pulled Naruto towards the manor. The two put their stuff in the room Gaara told them to use, and Kiba rushed Naruto back out the door. They ended up sitting at a small table in a BBQ restaurant. After they ate and made it back to the manor, it was time to go to bed, as the exams would start the next day.
In the morning Gaara lead them to an old building, one that looked similar to the academy in Konoha. They entered a room with a lot of other genin and Kiba looked around. While most teams were from Suna, there was one from Iwa and one from Taki. Kiba narrowed his eyes at the girl from Iwa, a black haired girl with pupil-less pink eyes, who was glaring at him and Naruto.
Naruto, sensing the hostility rising in the girl's chakra, moved over to whisper to Kiba. "Ignore her, unless she tries to start something. Keep in mind that we are in Suna."
Kiba nodded his head. "I know Naru."
A few minutes later, Baki, the jonin of Gaara's team during the Konoha Exams, came in. "Alright, here's the deal. We are going to separate you from your teams. Then, we will bring you back together, although we will have replaced one of your teammates. You will not be allowed to ask any personal questions and must find out which teammate is a fake within twenty minutes."
When he finished explaining, the genin were taken out of the room in three separate groups. Each group had one genin from every team and as they walked, the blonde from the Iwa team moved over to Naruto. "Well Kurotsuchi was right Blondie. You do look similar to the Yondaime of Konoha, Un."
Naruto kept walking, not really sure what to say. "So, since I am blonde, I look like another blonde? By the way, my name is Naruto, not blondie."
The blonde from Iwa laughed. "Deidara, and I suppose that is true, your facial features are pretty different, Un."
As they walked, Naruto noticed the extra chakra going to the boy's hands. It was weird, and the blind boy filed the information away for later. They talked for the next few minutes as they were lead to a different room. Naruto had to admit that the other boy was actually kind, and it changed his outlook on Iwa. After they got to the room, a few different ninja came in, and after removing some of the genin, they transformed into the genin they took. After about thirty minutes they were separated and taken to random rooms. A moment later Kiba, Akamaru, and Hinata entered and Naruto turned to the man that was there. "When two of you agree on the third being the impostor, let me know."
Naruto faced his team and focused on his chakra sensing abilities. Suddenly, Naruto made a few hand signs. Kiba and Akamaru, who were watching the blonde, knew what the signs meant. 'Hinata is the impostor, it is Anko-sensei in disguise.'
Kiba nodded his head, knowing that Hinata's scent was off, and looked towards the man in the room. "Naruto and I know that Hinata is the fake. He can tell based on her chakra and I can tell based on her scent."
'Hinata' was surrounded in smoke and Anko stood before them. "Well, I told them you would be the first ones done." After that, the three were lead by Anko to a cafeteria. The cafeteria is where the genin who had been replaced were taken. Looking the area over, Kiba pulled Naruto with him to the table Hinata was sitting at. Akamaru barked hello and jumped into the girl's arms.
Sitting down next to Hinata the boys looked towards the door. They watched as more teams arrived, starting with Team Seven and the Suna Siblings, and ending with the blonde boy from Iwa and the girl that had been glaring at Naruto. The blonde from Iwa moved towards Naruto. "So you passed too blondie, Un."
Naruto smiled at the warm tone in the other blonde's voice. "Yeah, I am glad you passed too." Kiba growled at that and Naruto touched the brunette's arm. "Relax Kiba-kun, Deidara and I talked a little as they took us to the different rooms to separate us."
Kiba calmed slightly but decided to stake his claim and pulled Naruto into a kiss, and when the blonde gasped, the brunette added tongue to the kiss. When he broke away from his boyfriend, he didn't have to look around to know that most people were either, staring at them shocked, or looking away with blushes on their faces. Deidara, for his part just laughed, as he understood what jealousy did to others. The girl from Iwa, and her other teammate, were blushing and looking towards the door.
Naruto's face was rather red as well, but he enjoyed the kiss, so he didn't say anything. "Seriously Kiba, can you go five minutes without sticking your tongue down Naruto's throat?" The question came from a grinning Ino as the other Konoha genin joined their group, most of them not trusting Iwa.
Before anything else could be said, Baki showed up in the room. "The test is officially over. Those of you that are with your team pass, and the rest of you, your teams are waiting outside the building."
Quite a few upset genin walked out of the cafeteria, although, Naruto noticed one or two of the Suna-nin looked relieved. 'They were most likely scared that they would fight Gaara.'
After they all left, Baki signaled for someone to come in through the door. "Alright listen up." As he spoke, the man that came through the door started handing everyone a glass of what looked like milk. "Everyone who wants to continue will be required to drink this milk. There is a chemical in it that will knock you unconscious for a few hours. During that time, you will be taken to a random point in the desert. You will have two days to find you way back to Suna, and you will only have the supplies that you have on you right now. We will give you a special seal that will let us know if you give up, and if you give up, or are unable to make it back in two days, we will retrieve you. Are there any questions before the exam begins?"
Baki waited a few minutes, and no one had any questions. "Alright then, drink the milk and let the second exam begin."
Naruto took a deep breath, as he touched the glass to his lips before tilting it back. He took a few gulps before setting the glass down. In a matter of second, his chakra was fluctuating and his chakra cloud died down, as the blonde fell to the floor. As his other senses were shutting down, Naruto could hear multiple thumps and felt Akamaru fall from his spot on Kiba's head and onto the blonde's back.
After a few hours, the blonde woke up lying face down in the hot desert sand. Standing up and activating his chakra cloud, he noticed that both Kurenai and Anko were with them. "You weren't supposed to wake up for a few more minutes brat, but I guess I can tell you something since you did. You guys better make it back to Suna first, I bet quite a lot of money on it. Also, I knocked Akamaru out, and he might not wake back up in time." Hearing Anko say that before the two women disappeared made the blonde laugh a little and then shake his head. Turning, he picked up Akamaru, who had looked rather uncomfortable, from the ground before shaking both Hinata and Kiba awake.
When Kiba got up, he smiled at the sight of Naruto holding Akamaru. "So any ideas Naru?" the brunette asked, as Hinata rubbed her eyes and yawned.
The blonde thought about it for a moment. "We could try summoning something that could help us find the nearest town. From there, it would be easy to make it back to Suna, I have maps of the desert memorized. If I get a town name, I will know exactly which direction Suna will be in, as well as the distance."
Kiba thought about it for a minute before remembering his mother talking about a scout wolf that uses echolocation. "I am not sure how far he would reach with it, but there is a scouting wolf that uses echolocation."
Deciding to at least check and see if the wolf could find the nearest village, Kiba bit his thumb to draw blood and ran through the hand-signs. "Summoning Jutsu!" he called, as black markings spread from his hands onto the ground in a five meter radius. Suddenly, the clearing was filled with smoke and when it cleared, a grey wolf with milky white eyes was in the clearing with them.
The wolf sniffed the air before facing the three genin. "My name is Okamikodama, but everyone calls me Kodama, since my full name is a mouthful. Why did you summon me pup?" After the genin explained their situation, the wolf sent out a large pulse of chakra. The desert was about the same size as the wolf's home forest, and he could use his echolocation to see to the end of it. "Is Suna the largest town?"
Naruto shook his head. "No, the largest town is the capital, Suna is the second largest."
The wolf sent out another pulse before speaking once more. "Alright I have found Suna, do you need a lift?" The genin took the wolf up on his offer and made it to Suna within an hour. They were the first team there, although Gaara and his siblings would have beaten them if it wasn't for Kodama giving them a lift. After talking to the gate guards, who were assigned to let the examiners know when a genin team arrived, the trio headed towards the manor. Looking around Kiba saw a movie theater.
"You know Naru, we have some spare time, since we finished the test so quickly. If you want, we could catch a movie." Naruto smiled and went to summon Giso. As he did that, Hinata said goodbye to Kiba, and left taking Akamaru with her to the manor. Kiba didn't mind, as the young dog had woken up on the trip to Suna, but wanted to nap more. As they looked at what was playing, Naruto saw a poster.
The title of the movie was called Shattering Sins, and it started in ten minutes. Naruto, Kiba and Giso went to the showroom and got ready to watch. As they watched the previews, they noticed that the new Princess Gale movie would come out soon, and that both of them were in the preview. It showed them fighting on the glacier, the first fight they got into on their way to Snow, and Naruto standing up to Doto.
They both laughed about that, having given permission for the director to use their fights, if he wanted. Naruto even redid a few scenes that they didn't get to record. Such as, the scene where he was in a jail cell. After the movie started though, they both calmed down. The movie started with a young girl about to be married off, the guy she was betrothed to was a jerk, and tried to force himself on her before their wedding. She awoken some type of power though and blasted him through a wall. Afterwards, she ran from her home town by stealing a boat.
Both Kiba and Naruto were silently cheering her on as she escaped, and Kiba took that moment to hold onto Naruto's hand. Naruto smiled when Kiba intertwined their fingers, and focused, once more, on the movie.
At sea, she was attacked by pirates. After being knocked out, she woke up in a room with a dark-haired boy her age. The boy explained that he had hired the pirates and kept them from hurting her. He apologized for attacking her ship in the first place, but he had a mission that needed completed and didn't have the time to restock on supplies, which her ship had plenty of.
She forgave the boy and they traveled together. With him, she learned about all the Gods, Goddesses, and Demon Lords that existed and fathered children, and that her power was likely connected to one of them. Her journey with the boy came to a sudden halt when she realized he was trying to open a portal to the demon world. After running for her life, she ended up at a school that taught others how to use their special gifts. She trained at the school for a few years before learning that the man in charge of it, was working with the pirate boy she had met. He would send random students on missions where they would meet and be killed by the pirate boy. Running from the school she hid as best she could.
That is, until her mother, the Goddess of Hope, appeared before her. Naruto listened as The Goddess told the girl the truth of what would happen if such a portal opened. The rift that would allow demons through would be so powerful, that it would break open the Earth, and the more demons that came through, the bigger the hole would get, until it swallowed the world entirely.
The girl was scared, but her mother sent her to stop the final ritual. When she got there, she was captured. Naruto and Kiba were on the edge of their seats when the pirate boy came in the room, and they were both shocked when he freed her. "I need to explain something to you. Before you get mad, hear me out, I am not who you think I am. You have been trying to stop my brother from making the portal, and I want to help you."
Naruto was shocked that the pirate boy had a twin, and it turned out, that this twin was good. He explained that they were twins, sired by the darkest of the Demon Lords, and that he would do anything to stop his brother and father. During the trip, the two grew close and started to fall in love, and Naruto was excited for the final battle. When they managed to kill the evil twin, but it was too late. The portal was open, and demons were about to pour through. That would have been the case at least, if the two hadn't sacrificed their lives to allow the Goddess of Hope to seal the portal. Right before the credits started rolling, the camera focused on the two dead lovers' hands, which were intertwined.
Naruto and Kiba walked out of the theater holding hands. "That was awesome, I mean it sucks that they died, but they did it to save the world." Naruto said.
Kiba nodded his head before wrapping his arms around the blonde's waist. "I am glad we could watch it, but we should head back. It is getting late and we will need our rest, even if the next phase of the exams start the day after tomorrow." Naruto agreed, and the two left, going back to the Sabaku Manor and falling asleep peacefully.