AN: Yes, still alive. Yes, still writing. No, not abandoned. I just happened to be on vacation, and inspiration seems to run dry when I'm not at work. :P
Anyway, change of plans: Second Test will end at Part 3. I really tried to make it end in 2 parts, but it just became an incoherent mess. So, to avoid that, I'm spreading it out into another part as well.
Happy reading!
Training Grounds 44 "The Forest of Death," Chakra Restraining Seal Dissipates in 4 hours…
WHERE WERE THE EARTH SCROLLS?!
Naruto raged internally as he and the rest of Team Shikamaru-Sasuke continued their trek towards the tower. Along the way, they had come across more teams, and dispatched them one after another, and Naruto was still finding it hard to believe that they had yet to come across a single Earth Scroll in that time.
"This is either the most amazing case of bad luck I've ever seen, or someone's deliberately messing with us," Shikamaru had summed it up quite nicely after the fourth team they'd encountered that day.
Naruto had to agree. As bipolar as his luck tended to be, he had never lived through such improbable results in his life! There was just no sense in every Earth Scroll in the Forest to have vanished. Even worse, they had seen the enemy shinobi acting much in the same way as his team was — desperate and confused. No one they came across seemed to understand why there was such a preponderance of Heaven Scrolls; Shikamaru, Sakura, Hinata, and Sasuke had even discussed the possibility that the Exam proctors had slanted the amount of scrolls to reduce the amount of teams that could move on to the next round.
Shikamaru, however, had shot that scenario down after the sixth team they'd come across.
"Even if Konoha reduced the number of one type of scroll," he'd explained, " we firstly don't know if it really is the Earth Scroll they chose to reduce; and secondly, we have no way of proving it. In addition, between our two teams, we've tagged at least 22 teams, not counting ourselves, possessing the Heaven Scrolls, which is already over 50%. Yet, within an hour of the test beginning, Sasuke's team was able to come across an Earth Scroll. I won't say the odds aren't stacked," he'd mused, "but it seems likely that this is not a deliberate plan by our village."
So, of course, that left the probability that they were being messed with. The problem was, all that did was piss them off, but without a clear target to attack, all they could do was stew in silent (or not so silent, in Naruto's case) rage while they desperately tried to acquire an Earth Scroll.
It didn't help that Naruto had felt this irritating ringing sound in his ears ever since this second day had begun. He cuffed at his ears in a desperate attempt to get the tinnitus to go away, but as usual that only provided temporary relief.
"Oi, Shika!" he called out to his friend up front. He landed roughly on the nearest tree branch.
Shikamaru and the rest of the combined team did the same. The pineapple-haired boy sighed as he straightened up. "What, Naruto?" he asked irritably. "We're almost at the tower."
"Aren't you guys hearing that?" the blonde growled as he again cuffed at his ears. "That ringing sound!"
Shikamaru and Sasuke narrowed their eyes, while Sakura glared in irritation, and Choji and Hinata looked on in concern. "What sound, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked carefully. He hadn't heard a thing, but by now he knew better than to doubt Naruto's word. Prankster or not, the boy was all business when it came to missions.
...Sort of.
"That...ringing...sound!" Naruto growled with increasing intensity as he began to hear it in his other ear now. "Damnit!"
"Oi, Naruto!" Sakura called out. "Knock it off, already, will ya?"
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed softly as she watched the blonde fall to one knee.
"Oi! Naruto!" Choji cried out as he jumped to aid his temporary teammate.
Shikamaru and Sasuke remained motionless, though there was concern written all over the former's face. The two level-headed shinobi exchanged glances.
"Shikamaru…" Sasuke began.
Shikamaru nodded. "I was wondering if they'd try again," he mused. And clearly, they'd decided to get rid of the only member they hadn't seen use any jutsus, probably assuming he was the weakest. It made sense; with their weakest member incapacitated, they, as "Konoha hippies," would probably try and help him out. That would give the ambushers, whoever they were, enough time to set up their formations and get ready to drop on them.
"Hinata!" Shikamaru called out, snapping the Hyuuga heiress from the mild panic attack she was undergoing at seeing her crush in such distress. The pale-eyed girl turned to her friend, who remained stoic in the face of Naruto's pain. "I need you to scout out the area. Quickly!" he snapped, seeing her glance over at Naruto.
Any other day, he might've considered her crush on Naruto cute and troublesome, but today, right now, it was just troublesome. The best she could do to help the blonde out right now was acting like a shinobi, and getting ready for the imminent trap that was about to close on them.
"Byakugan!" she mumbled, her veins bulging out from around her pale eyes. Almost immediately, she reeled from what she was seeing. "8...12...15 enemy shinobi, all around us!" she reported, stunned.
How had they managed to sneak up on them?!
Shikamaru cursed their luck. Or rather, Sasuke's luck. Eyeing the raven-haired boy, the resident boy genius knew that neither Choji nor Hinata made a sensible target for deliberate attacks — a theory vindicated by careful questioning of the aforementioned duo. Hinata and Choji had attested that, during their previous encounters with the Oto-nin, the enemy ninja had been especially attentive to Sasuke.
"Any idea what they want with you?" he casually asked his co-leader.
Sasuke grunted. "Beats me," he then said. "But if they're coming at us with 5 teams worth of Genins, I must've pissed off someone in Oto..."
Shikamaru sighed, still keeping Naruto's pained figure in his peripheral vision. He knew his friend's pain was no joke, but he couldn't afford to slip up at this critical juncture. Whatever these enemy shinobi were after, he had to make sure that his friends made it out alive from the encounter.
"Come out!" he shouted suddenly, surprising his teammates. "We know you're out there!"
There was a brief moment of relative silence, broken only by Naruto's whimpering as he cradled his ears, before three figures jumped into view. Two boys, a girl. All wearing Oto forehead protectors.
None of them were making a single sound, meaning they weren't the ones responsible for Naruto's pain.
"We're going to have to make a break for it," Shikamaru mumbled to Sasuke, who shot him a sharp look. "Don't give me that!" he hissed. "We're outnumbered, surrounded, and Naruto's out for the count. We need to regroup!"
Sasuke seemed of a mind to disagree, but was robbed of the chance by the leader of the three Oto nin chuckling.
"Retreat?" he asked through his facial bandages. Honestly, he looked like someone who'd broken out of the emergency care ward at the hospital. "What makes you think you'll get the chance?"
Shikamaru growled. Of course Oto-nin would have exceptional hearing. Why wouldn't they?
The lanky boy next to the leader snickered. "Looks like Tayuya-senpai's technique did the trick," he observed as the Oto-nin watched Naruto writhe. "I'm a bit disappointed at how weak these Konoha trash are, though."
The Konoha teams became a bit more alert. Tayuya — either that was these Oto-nin's supervisor Jonin, or someone else in the exam who had techniques to watch out for.
"Shut it, Zaku," the Oto leader snapped. "We have our orders. Kill the Uchiha. Leave no witnesses."
The lanky kid called Zaku grinned, a crazed look passing over his features as he swung up his arms, which Shikamaru and Sasuke only belatedly realized had some form of opening at the palms.
Shikamaru's eyes widened. He had a fair guess at what was about to happen, and given his posture and movements, he was aiming at…
"Hinata! Sakura! Get out of the way!" Sasuke called out.
Fortunately, their improved training paid off, and both kunoichi were able to jump away as the lanky kid swung forward his arms. "Zankūha!" the Oto-nin roared, unleashing twin blasts of something at where the two girls had been standing.
The branches were completely pulverized.
"Holy crap!" Choji swore as he jumped back to Shikamaru with Naruto in tow. Both girls had come out unscathed, but the Konoha nin were all somewhat unnerved by the destructive potential of the technique.
"Stay calm!" Shikamaru called out. "He's obviously mid to long range!" he pointed out before turning to Sasuke. "Sasuke, can you deal with him?" he asked.
The Uchiha prodigy glanced at his co-leader and nodded. "I thought you wanted us to run?" he asked wryly as he brought out a kunai.
Shikamaru glowered at the enemy shinobi, who seemed completely at ease with the fact that the two Konoha kunoichi had avoided their opening salvo. "I still do," he confessed. "But we're obviously going to need to fight our way out."
"And since we know what's in front of us…" Sasuke observed.
Shikamaru nodded. "We charge straight forward."
"My kind of plan…" came a tired and pained voice from nearby.
Both teens turned to see Naruto holding himself with Choji's help. "You're not leaving me out of this fight," he grumbled. "I can help the teme…"
Shikamaru shook his head. "You're too out of it, and your seal is in the way. You just get ready to move the moment we have an opening," he ordered.
Naruto glowered, still panting lightly as he recovered from the stinging assault on his ears. "I said I'm fine."
"Hinata!" Shikamaru barked. In an instant, the pale-eyed Hyuuga arrived and, with just a moment's hesitation, knocked Naruto out with a soft touch to his nape. Shikamaru nodded. "Thanks."
Hinata merely looked away as she held up her unconscious crush. As much as it had pained her to knock him out, she also didn't want him to get hurt fighting while crippled.
"Are you done?" the leader of the Oto teams asked, bored. Both of his teammates were overtly smirking, but this one just seemed bored to tears.
Shikamaru frowned at the Oto Genin, feeling as though he was being way too confident, despite their overwhelming numbers. Yes, Shikamaru and his friends were outnumbered practically 3 to 1, but at the same time, they had already proven to be superior to most of the Oto nin that had come after them.
So why were they so confident now?
"Sakura," he took charge of the situation. "You take Naruto and bolt at the first opening we manage. Sasuke, you've got the guy who's blowing wind out of his hands. Hinata, you and Choji deal with mummy-face. I'll deal with the girl. The first chance we get, we run after Sakura and Naruto. Understood?"
Sasuke snorted as he readied his kunai. "Figures you'd go for the weak link."
Shikamaru grinned weakly. "What can I say? She seems the least troublesome."
"I will open a way for you!" Hinata mumbled as she activated her Byakugan, reluctantly letting Sakura take Naruto from her. "Please protect Naruto-kun!"
Sakura gave her a friendly grin. "Leave it to me!"
Choji seemed nervous, shifting from foot to foot as he glanced at the Oto-nin. "They look strong, and I'm kinda hungry...but…" he glanced at Shikamaru, who remained cool despite the odds. He sighed, shook his head, slapped his cheeks, and steeled himself. "Ah, screw it. Let's do this!"
Shikamaru smiled in what he hoped was a confident fashion as he brought out a kunai and fixed his eyes on the dark-haired girl that was his target. If he was reading the Oto leader right, then the rest of the ambushers weren't there to swarm him and his friends, but rather to prevent them from escaping. Yet, given that Hinata had not noticed any trying to plug the hole left by the only overt Oto team, it meant they were confident that the Konoha Genin would be unable to break through.
Well, time to take a page out of Naruto's book…
...And shatter all expectations.
"She did what?!"
Kimiko didn't even react as Kakashi slammed a hand next to her head, leaning forward and glaring at her dangerously. The redhead had taken an incredible risk by disobeying her Elders and going straight to Kakashi with this information...but, to paraphrase the future Clan Head, it was the right thing to do.
"The plan was to have the seal collapse right before the first test," Kimiko explained, not even a little bothered by the healthy amount of killing intent Kakashi was probably unconsciously letting out. "Naruto-sama agreed to it."
"Naruto would agree to anything if he thought it made you guys happy!" Kakashi snapped. "This was reckless beyond belief!"
Kimiko glowered at him. "The circumstances were dire. We had no choice if we wanted to bring Shuko-sama to Konoha," she defended her clan. She leaned to the side as Kakashi turned his head away in disgust, hoping to maintain eye contact to reinforce her sincerity. "We had to!"
"Why?" he demanded. Fortunately, they were at his house, and no one had seem Kimiko enter. Between the privacy of his home and the many seals he'd purchased to have it soundproofed, there was no risk of being interrupted due to the noise they were making. "So your clan can just add a couple dozen more clansmen to your numbers?"
Kimiko laughed bitterly. "Try three hundred."
Kakashi was stunned. "What?"
Kimiko sighed as she raised a hand and palmed her face in frustration. "Kakashi, it's more than just the numbers," she tried to explain. Honestly, if the old her had ever come across a clansman so openly discussing clan matters, Kimiko had no doubts she would've killed everyone involved. "Shuko-sama...is a genius. No ifs, ands, or buts."
Kakashi was still reeling from the understanding that there were at least three hundred more Uzumaki clansmen out in the wild, and took a few steps back until he collapsed onto a chair. "A...genius?" he managed to ask, shaking his head to get the shock out of his system.
Kimiko crossed her arms under her bust and sighed. "She's the reason there even is an Uzumaki clan left in this world," she explained. "Keisuke-sama and Heiyako-sama are both good leaders, but Shuko-sama is a strategist. The only reason we didn't all die at Uzushiogakure was thanks to her."
She stared at him, still hunched over and trying to absorb the fact that his student, his master's son, was out in the Forest of Death with maybe a tenth of his chakra available to him. And that there were at least 300 more Uzumaki somewhere in the Elemental Continent. She closed her eyes as she pondered her next words. "When...Uzu's capital fell, Shuko-sama had been sick. Very sick. I wasn't around back then, but according to the stories, she was at death's door. That she recovered at all to coordinate the defense of our village was a miracle in itself."
"According to Keisuke-sama, the general consensus among the other Elders had been to make a final stand, hoping against hope that our allies would show up in time. However, Shuko-sama was the one who perceived that we could not win, even if Konoha committed its entire strength towards relieving the siege," Kimiko continued, reminiscing back to the old stories the adults used to tell every now and then. "So she ordered our evacuation in small groups. That's how we managed to slip out so many Uzumaki and avoided complete extermination."
"You're telling me...this woman, Shuko…" Kakashi slowly said as he lifted his head to look at Kimiko. It spoke to his level of consternation that he didn't even bother to register the fact that, with her arms crossed under her bust, Kimiko's assets were far more pronounced. "...the same woman who has now made it ridiculously easy to kill the one boy who can bring your family back together...is the reason you are all alive?"
Kimiko gave him a weak grin. "Ridiculous, right?"
"That barely covers it," Kakashi grumbled as he rubbed his temple. A moment of silence passed between the two. "We need to go to Hokage-sama with this," he said with finality.
"We can't."
Kakashi glared at her with his one good eye. "We have to," he insisted.
"We. Can't." Kimiko insisted right back.
"And why the hell not?!" Kakashi demanded, mentally wondering why he was even listening to this young woman in the first place. As a Jounin teacher of Konoha, he had the right to present this grievance to the Hokage without needing anyone else's prior approval. It was his team; they were his soldiers!
"Because, like it or not, Naruto-sama would be the one hurt the most," she pointed out, thankful Maki and Hikari had explained things to her. Keisuke had explained things as well, but like most Elders, he was fond of overcomplicating things. Hikari and Maki, being used to dealing with idiocy the likes of Natsu and Takeshi, were far more succinct.
Silence.
"Explain."
Kimiko sighed. "If you go right now and complain to the Hokage, then maybe he stops the Chuunin Exams," she conceded. "After all, some third party's unduly interfered in the proceedings and may have attacked the resident Jinchuuriki."
Kakashi nodded. So far, she'd expressed his side of things.
She raised a finger then. "But," she continued, "what if he does? This Exam, as I understand it, is exceptional in that it has managed to draw participants from Iwa, Kiri, Oto, and Kumo, beyond the usual suspects from Kusa, Taki, and Suna."
Kakashi's nod this time was slower. He had a feeling he knew where she was going with this...and if so, he didn't much like it.
"The foreign Kage are here because of what we did in Nami," she pointed out. "Justifiably, they fear my clan has returned to wreak vengeance on those who nearly exterminated us. But more importantly, they're probably here to gauge our strength...to see if we're as much a threat as our adventure in Nami suggests."
Kakashi was silent; he could do the rest of the math himself. If Naruto, an Uzumaki, was at the core of a Chuunin Exam scandal that drew the whole process to a halt, then questions would arise regarding his deceased master's only child. Questions which could, in theory, lead to the discovery of his Jinchuuriki status, the fact that he is Minato Namikaze's only son, or the fact that he is the nominal head of the Uzumaki clan...or all three.
And if Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri found out that not only had three Uzumaki been involved in the Nami incident, but that one of them was the future Clan Head, who at the same time was a Jinchuuriki and the sole heir of the Yellow Flash, while at the same time having the ear of the Hokage…
Well, it would certainly help validate some (false) assumptions.
"Shuko-sama once told me," Kimiko suddenly said, having watched Kakashi think things through on his own, "That information doesn't have to be true to have power; it just needs to sound true."
Kakashi nodded. There was deeper wisdom in those words than seemed apparent. Even if the Hokage denied every accusation till kingdom come, the other Great Villages were not obliged to believe a word he said. Even if the Uzumaki were put under sanctions for their actions in Nami — and himself as well by association — the other Villages would have no reason not to believe the sanctions temporary or lenient.
In short, unless he believed the Hokage was willing to deliver the heads of the entire Uzumaki clan to the other villages to keep the peace, then rocking the boat here by revealing Uzumaki Shuko's actions would be idiotic at best. Suicidal at worst, since there was no guarantee the Hokage wouldn't value the Uzumaki's military contributions enough to silence any dissenter.
Kakashi placed his face in his palms and leaned down, groaning in frustration. This was the most stressed out he'd been in years...and he'd served in the fucking ANBU.
"You Uzumaki really know how to screw the pooch good, don't you?" he mused bitterly.
"We didn't think Shuko-sama would target the Clan Head," Kimiko said defensively. "Or that she'd be willing to stir trouble among the other villages just to screw Konoha over."
Kakashi peeked over his hands at her. "And you're positive Shuko had a hand in that?" he asked. Honestly, the way Kimiko spoke of her, Shuko sounded like a Buddha of Military Strategy.
"It's the only explanation that makes sense," Kimiko opined.
Kakashi groaned. "What does she want, Kimiko?" he asked.
Kimiko was silent for a moment, clearly trying to find the right way to express herself. "To be left alone," she answered simply.
"...I'm not seeing the downside here."
Kimiko sighed explosively, scowling at Kakashi. "Kakashi!" she snapped.
Said Jounin grunted and waved her off. "Yeah, yeah," he conceded. Truth was, he did see the downside to letting Shuko off to her own devices. A genius like her running wild in the Elemental Nations, with 300 unidentified shinobi at her beck and call...all of whom probably harbored as deep a grudge against the villages as their leader…and the singular intent to cause as much devastating chaos as possible among their enemies...
Yeah, not a pretty scenario to paint.
"So...what do we do?" he asked at length. Kimiko frowned.
"To be honest, I came to you to see if you had any bright ideas," she mentioned.
Kakashi glanced at the wall clock in his apartment. He wasn't needed at the Tower in the Forest of Death for another hour or so...though it really was mostly ceremonial than anything. If the brats arrived with the two scrolls at some point after his shift began, the summoning formula on them would just make some other proctor on duty appear. Still, he wanted to be the one to congratulate them...if they made it.
Which reminded him — he needed to change clothes. Shower, too. Couldn't show up in his nightwear, after all.
"You need to monitor Shuko," he told her, coming back to the topic at hand. "Make sure she doesn't force us into an even deeper hole than we're in. If she tries to fudge with the exam anymore, stop her," he added as he got up and pulled his shirt over his head, leaving only his facemask on. "I'll run interference as long as I can with the other Jounin."
Kimiko's eyes had widened fractionally at Kakashi's sudden state of undress, and quickly averted her gaze, much to his amusement. He'd completely forgotten that, behind the rough and vicious facade of the Uzumaki Clan's enforcer still beat the heart of a maiden.
Armed with this knowledge, Kakashi's eyes gleamed as he wondered how else he could fluster her. Despite his legendary self-control and overall lax attitude towards petty revenge, Kimiko had caused him no end of grief ever since they'd met...and this seemed like the right kind of payback.
Seeing that she'd basically become frozen to the wall, Kakashi eyed her for a moment before shrugging and going for his pants.
SHINK.
In a flash — a literal one — there was a sword stuck into his house's floor, blade right off his crotch. It somewhat depressed Kakashi to realize that this was hardly the first time he'd been in this sort of situation.
"What do you think you're doing?!" she hissed, blushing furiously.
"Getting ready to shower," he deadpanned. "This is my house, remember? And since you ambushed me before I could get ready, I kinda need to get ready now."
Kimiko blinked, having somehow completely forgotten that she was, in fact, intruding in his home very early in the morning…and standing with a sword ready to split mini-Kakashi in twain at the slightest flick of the blade...while said man was shirtless and had his hands ready to pull down his pants.
When had she turned into Hikari?
"I'll be going now!" she yelped in embarrassment before making the sword vanish and dashing out, leaving a bemused Kakashi behind.
Arguably one of the most powerful Uzumaki clansmen...shy at the sight of the male body. Who knew? Kakashi chuckled, despite the overall gravity of the situation. Once he got Naruto out of the mess he was mired in, he could see himself having a bit of fun at Kimiko's expense.
First things first, however. He had a team to save.
He paused.
Somehow.
Training Grounds 44 "The Forest of Death," Chakra Restraining Seal Dissipates in 3.5 hours…
Waking up half an hour later, Naruto's first cogent thought was that he had to find a way to pay back Shikamaru for getting him knocked out.
His second thought was to immediately panic as the memory of their impending fight returned in full force. Instinctively rushing to his feet, Naruto looked around him to find himself very alone in what appeared to be a dark cave. That was his first warning sign; if he had been knocked out, then there was no way he'd gotten here without any help — that meant he should have someone else with him.
So where was said person?
On instinct, he summoned some chakra to be ready to throw out whatever jutsu he needed to fight off an enemy, then winced as he was reminded of his current chakra seal. Glowering at his wrist, he mentally reminded himself to ask Maki how to disable an active seal once he got out of this mess.
In fact, in hindsight, it seemed downright irresponsible of him not to have done so in the first place.
Walking to the mouth of the cave, he slowed his pace as he reached the dim sunlight outside — or whatever reached the ground after having been filtered by the thick canopy. It worried him that the only sounds he could make out were the resident wildlife, and none of it sounded remotely friendly.
He made to shout, when he nearly kicked himself for being so reflexively dumb. Instead, he reached for his temporary communication seal and, using a chakra-charged finger, began tapping it in morse code.
Over and over he repeated his message, which was little more than a request for check-in. To his increasing worry, no answer came back, but he reminded himself that this was possible for various reasons. Perhaps his teammates were out of range (it was a temporary, basic communication seal, after all), or the ink had washed off (difficult, but possible), or they were unable to reply for one reason or another...without necessarily meaning death.
The problem was, that didn't help his situation at all. He had to get back to his friends, and finish this thrice-damned test, or else he would be responsible for holding them back.
And that just pissed him off.
"Screw it," he grunted out loud as he rolled his shoulders and made a last attempt at communicating with Sakura and Shikamaru via their temporary tattoos. "Looks like I'll have to look for them the hard way."
"We'd rather you didn't, yeah?"
Naruto immediately shot forward and rolled back onto his feet, smoothly turning on the spot as he did so, to see who had spoken. The voice had been unfamiliar, and he wasn't about to get cornered in a cave; that would be suicide!
Sitting atop the cave entrance in a lotus position, looking rather bored with everything, was a redheaded girl about his age he'd never seen before. For a moment, he let down his guard somewhat, given that it could just be another Uzumaki member he'd never gotten around to getting introduced to, until he spied her hitai-ite.
Kusa.
Naruto wasn't a boy blessed with the patience to pay much attention to history or politics, but he knew that Kusa's alliance with his village was tenuous at the best of times. Plus, given that his teammates were nowhere to be seen, he was unable to reach them, and this lone chick appeared to know where he'd been….Naruto had reason to be suspicious.
"Who the hell are you?!" he demanded, pointing at her quite rudely.
"Calm your ass down, alright?" the girl answered dismissively, staring down at him through her rimmed glasses as though he was the greatest annoyance she'd had to deal with in her life. "Jun and Tetsu are out getting food. Last thing we need is for you to be a dumbass."
Naruto twitched irritably at the dismissing tone. "Oi! I asked you a question!" he shouted.
The girl smirked at him. "And what makes you think you're in a position to ask them?"
Glowering, Naruto's hands went for his kunai pouch — mentally sighing in relief that he still had a pouch on him — and quickly drew a kunai. "Answer me, damnit!" he demanded.
The girl's smirk grew wider, even as she remained still. "Make me," she dared.
Not backing down, Naruto threw the kunai at the girl, hoping to scare her a bit by nicking her on the cheek. To his surprise, however, the kunai was deflected by the sudden appearance of a glowing chakra shield in front of her, making it bounce off harmlessly. In fact, all around him, chakra suddenly began to shimmer into solid existence, revealing he was caged in a fairly large, translucent chakra box. Just as quickly, the shimmering walls vanished.
The girl laughed out loud at his dumbstruck look. "Not very smart, are you?" she asked as she calmed down. "You really think there's a dumbass on this earth that would just sit there and take a kunai to the head?"
Naruto glowered, but was silently thankful that he'd at least tried. The appearance of the chakra barrier in front of the girl meant she'd taken precautions to avoid getting attacked, which in turned ruled out a frontal assault. Sure, he might've looked foolish for trying to hit her with a thrown kunai, but now he knew a bit more about what he was dealing with here.
Plus, she hadn't moved yet from her spot, and if he was remembering his lessons right, that meant she was the one keeping him trapped in the invisible chakra cage…
"What the hell do you want?" he demanded as he maintained a ready stance. She'd mentioned two names previously, and he wasn't eager to be jumped by her comrades.
The girl's smirk seemed to be a fixed feature. "That's better," she crooned. "Starting to think first before you act. A little late to the party, but I guess even Keisuke-sama's vaunted future Clan Head isn't perfect."
Naruto hoped he'd been able to reel in his visible shock, because the girl's words had just narrowed down his suspicions about her by a lot.
"You're...an Uzumaki?" he asked hesitantly. Granted, he'd thought as much to begin with, but then dismissed the idea upon seeing her hitai-ite.
The girl blew some errant lock of her red hair away from her face. "Still slow, huh?" she snarked before glancing up. "Hello? Red hair? Awesomeness incarnate? Of course I'm an Uzumaki, dumbass."
Naruto's shock gave way to relief, completely ignoring the girl's rudeness. If she was an Uzumaki, then odds were she could help him get through this! If she could just take off his seal, then he could go back to his friends and help them out!
"Then!" he shot out his sealed arm. "Can you take this seal off?!" he asked urgently.
"Nope."
Naruto's shoulders slumped. "Damn. Maki-chan's seals are that great, huh?"
His head rose when he heard the girl snicker. "What's so funny?" he asked.
The girl's smirk widened, and Naruto couldn't detect an ounce of friendliness in it. "You really are an idiot, aren't you?" she mused, making Naruto bristle slightly at the continuous insults. "It's not that I can't take away the seal, you moron, but that I won't."
Naruto reeled. Here was an Uzumaki clansman, and they were refusing to help him? Why? Keisuke-jiji would've for sure told anyone participating in the exam to help him out, if he was in trouble! For that matter, why was she even in this exam? As far as he could remember, the Elders hadn't told him of any Uzumaki candidates! And why was she wearing a Kusa hitai-ite, damnit?!
All of these questions made Naruto's frustration skyrocket, until, in one burst of anger, he vocalized it in the most succinct way he knew.
"WHY THE HELL NOT, DAMNIT?!"
"Shuko-sama's orders."
And just like that, Naruto's anger vanished, replaced with a cold chill in his veins.
Shuko.
The furtive Elder that he'd never met, yet had steadfastly refused to acknowledge him as future Clan Head, thereby keeping their family apart. Everyone he'd spoken to insisted she had her reasons, and that she was incredibly smart, but Naruto had never really understood any of that.
Except now things were beginning to click. The seal on his arm...the seal that should've disappeared by now…
"Shuko did this to me, didn't she?" Naruto asked as he looked down at the seal on his wrist.
"Yep," the girl confirmed.
"Why?"
The girl shrugged. "Who knows? With Shuko-sama, it's anyone's guess."
"Does she want me dead?" Naruto asked remarkably calmly.
"Doubt it," the girl answered.
"Why not?"
The girl smirked again. "'Cause my team and I are here."
Naruto blinked. She'd lost him. "Huh?"
The redheaded girl sighed. "I can see why she'd think less of you," she said wearily, rolling her eyes. "Kinda slow on the uptake there, aren'tcha?"
"Oi!"
The girl ignored him. "Look, my team and I are here to monitor you," she explained. "And to only to interfere if you were in danger, or if you were about to pass the test."
Naruto nodded, following so far. One thing did bug him, though — beside the fact that someone was actively sabotaging him and his team, that is — "Won't Shuko get mad at you for telling me this?" he asked. Keisuke and Heiyako, as well as his other clan teachers, had all taught him the value of never revealing too much information to an unknown actor.
The girl, on the other hand, seemed unbothered. "Why? Anyone with two brain cells to rub together could figure it out."
Naruto growled. She just would not stop with the digs at his intelligence; sure, he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but that didn't mean he was an idiot, damnit!
"Are you the reason why we haven't found any Earth Scrolls?" he asked her bluntly. However irritated he was feeling, he needed answers, and the longer she was focused on answering him, the longer he had to think of a way out of this.
The girl smirked. "Liked that?" she asking tauntingly. "All it took was a couple of changes to the scrolls' appearance, and that was that. A few seals applied discreetly before the test began, and BAM! Instant Heaven Scrolls. On the outside, anyway."
Naruto's inner prankster couldn't help but feel impressed. Given that the participants had explicit instructions not to open their scrolls, there was no way of telling whether or not a Heaven Scroll was genuine or not until they reached the Tower...and if they got it wrong, they could be failed.
And if anyone tried to verify its authenticity before the test ended...the scroll's security measures would knock them out for the duration of the test.
Brilliant.
Dastardly, sure, but brilliant.
He was even willing to bet that the "extra" Heaven Scrolls they'd come across already had reverted back to Earth Scrolls once he and his team were out of the way. It's what he'd have done to avoid raising suspicions among the proctors.
"What about my team?" he asked. He still had no idea where his missing teammates were, and he wasn't about to throw them under the metaphorical bus.
The girl shrugged disinterestedly. "If you mean pinky, Jun took her to a safe spot. She'll wake up having regrettably failed the exams, but safe."
"And the others?" Naruto pressed, despite being relieved to know that Sakura was alright. "Shikamaru and the others were about to fight off 15 Oto assholes!"
The girl shrugged again. "Not our problem. They live, they live. They die, pity that."
Okay, now Naruto was getting seriously pissed. The intelligence jokes, he'd lived through worse at school. The isolation from his friends, he could deal with that too, given that he'd gotten out of worse scrapes. He was even fine with knowing someone was dicking around with his life — he was used to that as well.
But being so cavalier about his friends' lives?
Fuck. That. Shit.
He quickly ran through what he knew about barrier seals — the only possible explanation for why the girl had settled for taunting him from her sitting position. He knew they needed to be maintained by a caster — the girl — and its strength was proportionate to the complexity of the seal — which he currently did not know.
According to Maki's lessons, seals were only good as long as the initial sealing formula was left intact. It was one of the reasons Kimiko had to retouch her seals after every fight, or else her body seals would go haywire and potentially rip her apart from the inside.
Similarly, a barrier seal would only be active so long as these initial seals were left intact. A single blemish, a single scrape, and the entire thing collapsed. Thus, while seal barriers were among the most powerful in existence, they were also critically vulnerable in this one aspect.
The problem was, he had a fair idea about where the seal array was located, and that was right underneath the sitting girl — who was in turn protected by a smaller version of the barrier she was using to keep him locked in this area.
"Let me out," he ordered her, walking towards where he'd seen the edge of the barrier shimmer before. "I need to save my friends."
The girl snorted. "With what? Your stellar personality and some angry language?" she asked dismissively. "You forget, we've been monitoring you. That chakra seal is keeping you from accessing most of your chakra — about 95%, by my calculations. Your Taijutsu is basically passable, but not overwhelming or effective against large groups; and your sealing knowledge is based solely on the slips of paper that Maki-chan gave you."
The girl took a deep breath and then shrugged. "Face it. You're scre—"
Whatever she was going to say died in her throat as Naruto punched the edge of the barrier, making it shimmer briefly, but remain intact.
A moment of silence passed between them before the girl recovered from shock. "What the...are you a complete dumbass or something?!" she demanded, managing to stay sitting despite her anger. "This is a Level 4 Barrier Seal!" she reprimanded him. "You're more liable to break your idiot hand than it is to budge!"
WHAM.
Again, Naruto smashed his fist against the barrier, and again it refused to break. The girl could only gape at the astounding amount of idiocy being displayed here.
"Holy crap," she muttered disbelievingly. "This is the future Clan Head?! No wonder Shuko-sama wants nothing to do with you!"
WHAM.
Naruto's third punch was similarly ineffective, but rather than ready a fourth punch, Naruto turned to face his captor, a potentially suicidal idea coming to mind.
"Shuko is a coward."
Silence.
"You have five seconds to apologize before I make up a story about how you tragically died before we could save you, punk," the girl threatened as her visage twisted into the perfect image of fury.
Now it was his turn to smile tauntingly. "Shuko. is. a. coward," he repeated slowly.
The girl's eyes narrowed into a deep, furious glare. "You...little…" her entire frame was trembling, as her self-control battled with her raging emotions.
Eventually, however, her temper could hold out no more, and she shot to her feet.
"FUCK!" she screamed angrily, the entire barrier lighting up like the sun, before the sound of glass breaking filled the clearing. As she belatedly realized what had happened, the girl and Naruto watched as the clearing was lit up by the now-visible barrier, before it shattered into nothingness.
There was a pregnant pause then, as both Naruto and the girl realized he was now free.
"Oh, shit."
Without a moment's delay, Naruto shot her a triumphant grin, and then vanished from sight.
For the first time ever, he could not be more glad for the infamous Uzumaki temper.
In hindsight, Karin realized that perhaps putting her in charge of the prisoner had been a bad idea.
Shuko had always encouraged self-reflection among her clansmen, and Karin had often come to the conclusion that she was, much like many of her clan, incredibly hotheaded. The trigger for the famous Uzumaki temper, of course, wasn't universal. Some people, like herself, got pissed off when their heroes or families were insulted or harmed.
Others, like Isamu, were much colder. Their triggers were much less obvious, and they were capable of greater restraint.
As a result, they were also the ones trusted the most by Shuko for critical assignments that demanded stealth and subtlety.
In her team, that person was Jun.
"Shuko-sama will be displeased," Jun noted as they raced after the fleeing Naruto. He and Tetsu had been on their way back to the camp, having left the Haruno girl near the Tower, when they'd received Karin's burst transmission through their seals that Naruto had escaped.
Karin predictably winced at Jun's rather bland reprimand. It was the closest Jun ever seemed to get to yelling his head off.
"Yeah, Karin, what the hell?!" Tetsu, on the other hand, was far less coolheaded. "How'd a brat get through a level four barrier seal?!"
"He...he provoked me!" Karin shot back a bit lamely. Truth be told, it wasn't a great excuse, and her teammates' expressions told her they weren't the least impressed.
"Perhaps I should have remained with the prisoner after all," Jun mused aloud as he jumped to the next tree branch.
Karin dipped her head in embarrassment. She had held such high expectations regarding her first foray into carrying out missions for Shuko. Most clansmen her age were usually still in training, or relegated to support roles far away from the actual mission. That she had been picked for this mission at all had been remarkable, and not a small source of pride for her.
Of course, the reason for her presence was obvious. Jun and Tetsu were both a little too skilled to be believed to be Genin. However, Karin was both the right age, and had the right amount of skill, for anyone to believe she was a rookie.
Even the Level 4 Barrier Seal had been Jun's work. All she'd had to do was sit still and fuel the barrier with her not insubstantial chakra reserves. Like a battery.
A battery that had failed its purpose.
"What happened, happened," Jun said then, landing on another branch and taking note of something on it. "We are close. He appears to be moving directly towards our last reported sighting of the Oto-nin and Konoha-nin conflict."
Karin grit her teeth. Of course he was. Stubborn and predictable as a mule, that Clan Head candidate. She couldn't wait to get her hands on him and beat him within an inch of his life for humiliating her. Of course, it would've been even cooler if she could manipulate her chakra to create the infamous Kongō Fūsa, or Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Jun was capable of it. Tetsu wasn't.
"So, what's the plan, boss man?" Tetsu asked, his savage grin splitting his face. Unlike Karin, he seemed to have a good idea what their team leader had in mind.
"We reacquire the target," Jun replied cooly. "Willingly, if possible."
"And if he resists?" Karin asked.
"Insist."
Karin shivered from the way Jun had emphasized his reply. She had no doubts that if Naruto showed any sort of resistance, Jun would not hesitate to break a bone or two to ensure his "cooperation." To clansmen like Jun, Shuko's orders were absolute, and there was no changing their minds.
"There he is!" Tetsu cried with a triumphant grin, pointing towards the grey-and-black figure jumping branches ahead of them.
Karin smiled as well; it was inevitable, really. With his Chakra Seal in place, every jump would wear down on his reserves and stamina, while her team was raring to go.
"I've got him," Jun announced simply, and with a mere twitch of his eyes, four chakra chains burst out from his back, turning in mid air and shooting towards Naruto. The blonde barely had the chance to turn his head to see what was going on before the chains were upon him.
To their surprise, however, Naruto reacted quickly, dodging the initial salvo of chakra chains and speeding up — though they could see this was straining his already minimal chakra reserves. The chakra chains, for their part, wedged themselves in a nearby tree.
"Slippery little sod," Tetsu noted with a savage grin.
Jun nodded, before frowning. "But ultimately useless," he said, right before he disappeared from Karin's side. Karin had to adjust her bearings a bit before she realized Jun was using the chakra chains to pull himself forward.
Karin winced as she saw Jun suddenly overtake Naruto and spear tackle him down towards the ground. Tetsu and she quickly caught up, but by then, Jun had managed to subdue the blonde.
"Let me go!" Naruto demanded as he futilely continued to struggle.
"Please cease your resistance, Naruto-san," Jun said neutrally as he kept the blonde's arms pinned on his back, the other hand holding down his head. "I would rather not have to take drastic measures to ensure your cooperation."
Jun then looked up at his teammates. "Tetsu, set up a perimeter. Karin-kun, please bind Naruto-san's limbs securely."
"Let me go, damnit!" Naruto continued to howl. "I won't abandon my friends!"
"Their fate is outside your power to affect, Naruto-san," Jun said calmly as he effortlessly held him down. "Not only have you not the skill to turn the tides of their struggle, you have had most of your chakra sealed away, including your remarkable condition."
Naruto froze for an instant, having apparently deduced that they knew he was a Jinchuuriki. Karin took advantage of that moment of indecision to bind his wrists.
"How do you know?" he asked.
Jun ignored the huff of condescending pride from Karin. "We are intelligence gatherers, Naruto-san. It is only logical we would piece everything together," he explained.
Karin frowned as she noticed that, despite his earlier struggle, Naruto was seemingly calming down. That was highly unusual, given the boy's desperate attempts to escape previously. What was he planning this time?
"Jun-senpai," she started, only to be halted as the man raised a hand.
"I am aware, Karin-san," he said calmly, still holding Naruto down. The Uzumaki tracker's gaze was turned to meet Naruto's own. "If your intent to escape now involves convincing us of the righteousness of your cause, Naruto-san, I wouldn't bother. Shuko-sama's orders are absolute."
Naruto chuckled grimly. "Yeah, I figured," he acknowledged. "I got that feeling from sealing girl, there."
Karin twitched. Technically, the barrier seal had been Jun's work, not hers.
"Then you have decided to surrender and cooperate?" Jun asked, not once relieving the pressure he was applying to Naruto's wrists.
"Never," Naruto said with such conviction as to momentarily make Karin stumble in surprise. "Even if you break every bone in my body, I would just crawl away next time."
Jun nodded silently...and then proceeded to dislocate one of Naruto's wrists.
Kairn flinched at Naruto's howl of pain, while Jun seemed entirely unaffected by it.
"You are worthy of respect, Naruto-san," Jun said calmly, seemingly ignoring the fact that he had just caused the future Clan Head of the Uzumaki enormous amounts of pain. "Your strength of conviction, worthy of praise. But conviction is useless in the face of superior strategy and power."
"Fuck...you!" Naruto gasped through the pain.
Jun ignored the insult. "Are you aware, Naruto-san, of the reason we are to detain you, not kill you?" he asked.
Naruto's expression clearly said he'd much rather gut the older Uzumaki right now, but the pain was clearly too much for him to vocalize anything.
"Shuko-sama is not heartless," Jun informed his prisoner, nodding to Karin to proceed with binding his ankles. "Though it would have served our goals better to see you dead, Naruto-san, you are still of our blood," he added. "And Shuko-sama has no wish to spill Uzumaki blood."
"Then...join...us...you...fucking...morons!" Naruto hissed through gritted teeth.
"We cannot," Jun said calmly. "You would have us join hands with our enemy, Naruto-san. To forgive the unforgivable."
"Konoha...not...Kiri!" Naruto spat.
Jun eyed him askance. "And what makes you think Kiri is the one we want revenge on?"
Naruto stared at Jun in silence, dawning horror creeping onto his face.
Jun stared up, towards where he could hear the sounds of a battle coming closer. Likely the Konoha-nin and Oto-nin. He didn't worry, however; Tetsu was on perimeter guard, so if anyone came close enough to become a problem, he would let Jun know.
"Iwa, Kiri, Kumo," Jun then continued. "The three Great Villages who laid waste to Uzu and Uzushiogakure. It is natural that, like many of our clansmen here, you would think we would want them to pay."
Jun then glanced at Karin, who nodded, having finished binding Naruto's limbs. Finally, Jun dropped the pressure he applied to Naruto's aching wrist. "But theirs is a crime of fear, and strategically understandable. Konoha's sin, however, is one of craven cowardice."
Naruto glared at Jun, who was finally standing up. He had that look of self-righteousness that always made Naruto want to punch his old Academy teachers — Iruka excluded — in the face. "You...bastards!"
Jun's gaze was upon him, silently telling him that he had lost completely. "For the sin of abandoning their allies, Konoha will lose the Uzumaki, and gain the ire of the Great Nations."
"Like hell they will!"
Jun and Karin had barely the time to react when a sudden transmission through their seals from Tetsu warned them of what was to come.
A single kunai, a seal tag attached to it, landed firmly next to them, prompting Karin and Jun to jump out of the way, in case it was an exploding tag.
Instead, it unleashed a large cloud of smoke that instantly obscured their view of Naruto, prompting Karin to swear loudly.
"Damnit!" she cursed. "Who did that?!"
Jun, for his part, remained calm, eyeing his Uzumaki tattoo on his shoulder. "It would seem there is someone competent among Naruto-san's teammates," he observed as he made a quick seal and blew away the smoke. "We have been ambushed."
Standing all around them atop of branches was a group of three worn, but defiant Konoha-nin. Their leader, a wild looking teen with red markings on his cheeks and a puppy at his side, was glowering down at them, while a blonde teenage girl undid Naruto's bindings. A third teen, whose expression was hidden by a high-collared jacket and large, dark glasses, stood silently by.
"Looks like you've been taking care of our friend for us," Kiba growled, cracking his knuckles audibly. "We'd like to repay the favour."
Ino nodded as she reset Naruto's wrist with a pop, causing the boy to whimper in pain. She turned to glower at the three Kusa-nin who'd boldly announced they would bring Konoha down. "You hurt our friend...and threaten our village," she said angrily, drawing a kunai. "You're going down!"
Then, a buzzing sound started to permeate the air, and Jun and Karin noticed that there seemed to be a sudden increase in the presence of bugs around them. Karin saw that neither the first boy or the girl seemed to be controlling them, leaving the third one as the likely culprit.
"Konoha values its bonds," Shino said, even as the buzzing sound increased. "Why? Because we value our friends."
Kiba sneered, bumping his fists together with some strength, while his puppy barked angrily at the two Kusa-nin.
"Team Kiba, engage!"
Post-AN: For the curious: Isamu (who premiered last chapter and is referenced this chapter) is the expy of Jellal. Karin is, of course, Karin. Jun and Tetsu are OCs.
Also, no matter what you hear from Jun, bear in mind that Karin's dictum is probably the best thing to keep in mind for this arc: "With Shuko-sama, it's anyone's guess."