Disclaimer: Naruto and all associated characters are property of Masashi Kishimoto
Jutsu: Original (Translation)
Bijū/Summon Speaking
Bijū/Summon Thoughts
Naruto mental reply
! - dattebayo
Edit 4/21/16
Chapter 24
Storm Surge
1 Week before Chūnin Exams – Training Ground 7 – Konoha
Kakashi reviewed the dossiers on his cute little genin to convince the Hokage to allow them to enter the Chūnin Exams. He knew that they had a better shot at completing the exams then most other teams.
They had trained hard and completed quite a few C-ranks these past five months. Plus, he wanted to beat Guy again so he wouldn't have to pay for the next collectors edition of Icha Icha Paradise.
Kakashi looked down at the qualification forms he had completed in order to register his team for the exams.
Name: Naruto Uzumaki
Age: 13
Height: 5' 0"
Weight: 103 lbs
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue
Blood Type: B
Bloodlines: None
Special Notes: Three horizontal marks on both cheeks.
Taijutsu skills:
Academy Style: Low Chūnin
Hurricane Fist Style: Mid Genin
-redacted style-: High Chūnin
Kenjutsu skills: None
Ninjutsu:
High Affinity: Futon
Strong Affinity: Katon, Suiton
Known Jutsu:
Fūton: Reppūshō (Gale Palm)
Fūton: Daitoppa, (Great Breakthrough)
Fūton: Kazekiri no Jutsu (Wind Blade Jutsu)
Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu (Water Bullet)
Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Formation Wall)
Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Dragon)
Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu (Headhunter Jutsu)
Doton: Doryūheki (Mud Wall)
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Great Fireball)
Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Phoenix Flower Jutsu)
Raiton: Jibashi (Electromagnetic Murder)
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone)
Kage Shuriken no Jutsu (Shuriken Shadow Clone)
Shunshin (Body Flicker)
Specialist Skills: Fūinjutsu level 5
Storage seal
Explosive tag level 1 – 5
Gravity seal: Reverse Gravity seal
Barrier seal
Chakra storage seal
Jutsu storage seal
Privacy seal
Security seal
Chakra draining seal
Gogyō Fūin (Five Element Seal): Gogyō Kai (Five Elements Unseal)
Sensor seals (7 varieties)
Ambush seals (3 varieties)
Naruto was pretty strong for a genin, thanks to his shadow clones, and while he was better at his taijutsu, it was still lower than he would like. Naruto could now reliably hold two tails of the Kyūbi's chakra for half an hour before he risked succumbing to the negative emotions still stored in the Kyūbi's chakra.
Next, he studied Sasuke's qualification form.
Name: Sasuke Uchiha
Age: 13
Height: 5' 2"
Weight: 98 lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Black
Blood Type: AB
Bloodlines: Sharingan
Special Notes: 3 tomoe R/L eye
Taijutsu skills:
Academy Style: Mid Genin
Interceptor Fist: High Chūnin
Kenjutsu skills:
Chokuto: Low Chūnin
Ninjutsu:
High Affinity: Raiton
Moderate Affinity: Katon
Known Jutsu:
Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu(Great Dragon Fire)
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Great Fireball)
Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Phoenix Fire Jutsu)
Katon: Hōsenka Tsumabeni (Phoenix Flower Jutsu)
Raiton: Jibashi (Electromagnetic Murder)
Raiton: Bakurai (Depth Charge)
Raiton: Raijū Tsuiga (Lightning Beast Running)
Raiton: Sandāboruto (Thunderbolt)
Raiton: Gian Yari (False Darkness Spear)
Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Formation Wall)
Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu (Water Bullet)
Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu (Headhunter Jutsu)
Doton: Doryūheki (Mud Wall)
Fūton: Reppūshō (Gale Palm)
Kage Shuriken no Jutsu (Shuriken Shadow Clone)
Shunshin (Body Flicker)
Specialist Skills: None
Sasuke had learned an impressive amount of jutsu thanks to his Sharingan and a steady supply of chakra seals from Naruto.
He had to enforce a limit of no more than 3 seals per training session after Shizune had revealed that the density of Naruto's chakra had actually been stretching their chakra pathways and tenketsu slightly. If they tried to absorb more, they risked having tears in their chakra pathways, which would put them out of commission for an extended period of time, if not permanently.
Kakashi had started to use them as well, after that revelation, increasing his pathway and tenketsu size would allow him to grow his chakra reserves slowly. He realized if he continued to slack off in his own training, it wouldn't be long until his cute little genin were bypassing him. While his experience still kept him leagues ahead of them, with Naruto's massive chakra reserves, Sasuke's improvement in using his Sharingan and growing reserves, and Hinata's improved Jūken abilities, he could lose a fight simply through attrition or bad luck.
Kakashi looked over Hinata's dossier last.
Name: Hinata Hyūga
Age: 13
Height: 4' 8"
Weight: 84 lbs
Hair: Dark Blue
Eyes: White
Blood Type: AB
Bloodlines: Byakugan
Special Notes: Heiress to Clan Hyūga
Taijutsu skills:
Academy Style: Mid Chunin
Jūken: High Chunin
Hakke Sanjūni Shō (Eight Trigrams 32 Palms)
Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams 64 palms)
Hakke Hyaku Nijūhachi Shō (Eight Trigrams 128 palms)
Hakkeshō Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation)
Kenjutsu skills: None
Ninjutsu:
High Affinity: Raiton
Minor Affinity: Katon
Known Jutsu:
Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Phoenix Flower Jutsu)
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Great Fireball)
Raiton: Jibashi (Electromagnetic Murder)
Raiton: Bakurai (Depth Charge)
Shunshin (Body Flicker)
Specialist Skills:
Shōsen Jutsu (Mystical Palm)
Herbalist
Hinata had started to hit a lot harder when she began training with Tsunade. Strength enhanced Jūken strikes were no fun at all. While her dossier wasn't as expansive as Naruto or Sasuke, she was just as capable if not more in her area of expertise. She was usually just toying with Naruto when they went at it in a straight taijutsu fight. He had to get on her case about holding back against Naruto too much since it was an area he still needed improvement on. Kakashi suspected that she had more clan jutsu in her arsenal but had not mentioned or displayed any of those techniques on any missions or during training. It wouldn't be a stretch to believe that she could actually have more moves in her arsenal that were unknown.
Kakashi didn't think anyone could argue against his team entering the Chūnin exams though he had heard all of the rookie teams were entering this year which was uncommon.
Kakashi looked over at his genin who were waiting for him as usual. It seemed that he was undetected at the moment since he was down wind and Naruto appeared to not sense him yet, but it was hard to tell with him sometimes. His sense of smell, hearing, and sight was exceptional, and Kakashi had to guess his range was about 100 yards for smell and hearing.
Kakashi used Shunshin to move into range to meet with his team.
"Yo," Kakashi said.
"Good Morning sensei" The trio replied.
"I have here the entry forms for the Chūnin Exams that are due to take place next week. Please fill these out and in 1 weeks time, present yourselves to room 301 in the Academy before 9 am with the completed forms. Do you have any questions?" Kakashi asked.
"Will we need to prepare for anything special?" Naruto asked.
"That, I can't tell you as it would be cheating. You will just have to prepare yourselves to face whatever the exam decides to throw at you to prove you are ready to begin doing higher level missions without out Jōnin support. Chūnin rank also allows you to stay outside of the village for more extended times than Genin are typically allowed." Kakashi replied.
"Okay, Sensei. We will ace this exam no sweat!" Naruto said with a small smirk.
Sasuke also had a smirk on his face while Hinata merely smiled. They had all been working hard in the hopes that they would be allowed to enter the exams and test their skills. Kakashi had drilled them hard on everything from combat simulations to survival skills and the experience gained from the various C-ranked missions had bloodied them enough that they would no longer balk at killing when necessary.
"I have faith that you are more than ready but remember what I taught you. Look underneath the underneath and make sure to hide your skills as much as you can. There are foreign ninjas already arriving in town as we speak, so you should probably refrain from training anything you want to keep secret." Kakashi said.
"I am assuming that training is called off for the week then, sensei?" Hinata asked.
"That is correct. A lot of us Jōnin will be helping with setting up or monitoring our guests. We have to be careful this year as we have both Iwa and Kumo ninjas attending, as well as a lot of the lesser villages which may not be so friendly. Also, Naruto, you should be aware that the Hachibi Jinchūriki is expected to be in the village with his Genin team. Watch yourself. You have done much better, but we do not want a repeat of the incident in Nami no Kuni again. Understood?" Kakashi said seriously.
"I understand, Sensei, don't worry. I won't start anything even if they try to," Naruto said resolutely.
"We have to seek him out as well as Shukaku. He is here as well." Kurama added.
"Umm, Kakashi-sensei, did you know that Suna brought their jinchūriki also?" Naruto asked.
"I was not aware of that, Naruto, but I will mention it to the Hokage to see if he already cleared it. Any last questions before I go?" Kakashi said.
All three of the genin shook their heads.
"Very well. Good luck in the exams!" Kakashi said before he vanished in a Shunshin.
"Well, do you guys want to go eat or something?" Naruto asked.
"Hn. Let's go to that Omusubi cafe again." Sasuke said.
"That is fine with me. What about you Naruto-kun?" Hinata said.
"Sure. I already had some ramen before I came anyways." Naruto said with a shrug.
"Let's see who can Shunshin closer and no cheating with clones Naruto," Sasuke said.
"You're on! If I win, you have to buy me two Nikumaki (Pork soaked in soy sauce), and if you win I'll buy you two Katsuo (Dried Bonito)" Naruto said
Sasuke grunted his approval.
"What about me Naruto-kun? What if I win?" Hinata asked with a pout.
"Hmmm, well, if you beat me I guess I'll get you the Osekihan (red adzuki beans)" Naruto added.
"Okay, Naruto-kun. I hope you are ready." Hinata said
"3, 2, 1, Go!" Naruto called out before all three vanished from the training ground in a swirl of leaves.
Konoha Merchant District
Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke appeared in a swirl of leaves close to the Omusubi Cafe, and Sasuke was declared the winner with Hinata in second. Naruto just shrugged at his loss and the three began to walk towards the cafe when they heard a commotion. He was glad that he didn't overload the technique and overshoot the cafe like usual.
Following the sounds, Naruto saw Konohamaru being picked on by a Suna-nin wearing, what appeared to be, a Black cat Kigurumi outfit. (Animal onesies for adults) He had his face painted with purple triangles and stripes and had a large wrapped package on his back that appeared to have brown hair sticking out.
Next to the Suna-nin in the Kigurumi outfit was a kunoichi with dirty blonde hair in four small pigtails that were teased and bangs parted down the middle. She was wearing a light purple battle kimono belted with a red sash over a shinobi kusari (shinobi chain) chest armor, kusari shorts that peeked out under her dress on her left leg, and a kusari calf protector on her right leg with black sandals. She had a large black Tessen (War Fan) on her back.
"Leave him alone, Kankuro. It's not worth the trouble." the kunoichi called out.
"No way, Temari, little brats like this need to be taught a lesson." The now identified Kankuro said with a sneer.
"Oi! Leave the kid alone, Suna. You'll regret messing with the Hokage's grandson," Naruto called out.
"Kit, I sense Shukaku nearby in the tree. I am trying to contact him, but I can only sense madness and rage coming from him but not his jinchūriki. Be careful, something is wrong with him." Kurama said.
"Oh, yeah? What are you going to do about it?" Kankuro said.
Before anyone else could respond there was a flood of killing intent directed at everyone and the Suna-nins froze with fear.
"Kankuro what are you doing." a voice called out from the tree above them.
"N-n-nothing, Gaara. I was just messing around." Kankuro said.
Naruto looked up at the Suna jinchūriki and studied his appearance.
"Gaara" had short messy red hair that was almost as spiky as Naruto's. He had heavy black rings around his eyes and the kanji for love tattooed on his forehead near his temple. His piercing light green eyes were boring into Naruto's sapphire blue as they stared each other down.
He was wearing a black combat suit over a kusari shirt with a white sash over his right shoulder and a thick leather bandolier over his left which supported a massive gourd that appeared to be cracked with special seals on it that he didn't recognize. His ankles were wrapped below the knees, and he wore ankle length sandals.
"Kankuro, let him go, or I'll kill you," Gaara said without taking his eyes off of Naruto.
"Yes, Gaara, whatever you say." Kankuro dropped Konohamaru, who ran off as soon as he hit the ground, towards the Hokage tower.
Gaara sand Shunshined down in front of Naruto and just stared at him, causing Sasuke and Hinata to stiffen in preparation for an attack. After a few moments of silence, Gaara spoke.
"Mother says I should be wary of you. What is your name?"
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. What is your name?" Naruto said in a friendly tone.
"Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Desert) is what they call me... Mother want's your blood, you are powerful enough to prove my existence." Gaara said in a serious tone.
"Kit, repeat what I say: 'Do not play these foolish games with me, Shukaku or I will show you your place.'"
Naruto put a serious look on his face then repeated what Kurama said.
Gaara visibly recoiled for a moment before grabbing his head. The cork in his gourd popped out, and sand began to swirl around him.
Naruto flared a bit of Kurama's chakra, at Kurama's prompting, which caused the sand to settle momentarily. As the sand began to pick up again, a voice rang out.
"Gaara, stop it this instant. This is not the time or place." A man called out.
As he landed in between Naruto and Gaara, the man had his hands held in a Tiger seal as he stared Gaara down.
"Baki-sensei!" Kankuro and Temari called out.
The man identified as Baki was wearing a keffiyeh (Arabian head wrap) wrapped around his head with part of it hanging down over the left half of his face and two red markings that curved up his cheek towards his eye. He wore the standard Jōnin outfit for Suna, which was about the same as the Konoha Jōnin outfit only with black shirt and pants instead of dark blue and a dark khaki flak vest.
"Stand down now, Gaara. I won't say it again." Baki repeated.
The sand retreated into the gourd dragging the cork along with it before resealing itself.
"This isn't over, Uzumaki," Gaara said before following after Baki and the rest of the Suna team.
"Naruto-kun did you have to antagonize him like that?" Hinata chastised him.
"He is just like me, Hinata-chan. If I didn't act like that, he would have done something worse. I know it seemed like he wasn't going to do anything but he was, I could feel it." Naruto said with his stoic look in place.
"I... understand, Naruto-kun, but please be careful," Hinata said.
Hinata studied Gaara carefully as he walked away and was worried. That boy was obviously unstable, and his own teammates seemed afraid of him. Hinata couldn't help but wonder how he could become that way. Her experience around Naruto had led her to believe that most of the concern surrounding jinchūriki were unwarranted. Now, she could see why people had been so worried. The Suna-nin was completely at the mercy of his bijū. Naruto must be truly strong to withstand the influence of the strongest demon of them all.
"Hn. We will all have to be careful. He was going to go after us anyway, right Naruto?" Sasuke said.
"Sasuke is right, Hinata-chan. I'm sorry, but he would have made you guys a target because of what I am." Naruto said with a frown.
"I don't care about that, Naruto-kun. You are our teammate. We will stick with you through every trial." Hinata said passionately.
"Hn. If I can't save you from your own messes, who is going to hold off the Root trash while I kill that bastard Danzō?" Sasuke said with a smirk.
"Tch. You wish you could handle that old bastard. Don't worry, I'll keep you safe, Sasuke-chan." Naruto returned Sasuke's smirk with his own.
"Now, let's get our onigiri already. Gama-chan is ready to lose some weight today." Naruto said.
Team 7 turned and walked back to the Omusubi cafe to enjoy their well-earned onigiri from Naruto's poor Gama-chan.
Hokage's Office – Hokage Tower
Hiruzen sat behind his desk as he eyed all the prospective Jōnin planning to enter their teams for the Chūnin exams.
"So, the support and logistics teams that are still active have already been registered in their version of the Chūnin exams by handling the organization and supply of the foreign ninja that are entering the village starting today. A few of those teams have opted to join in the full Chūnin exam as well. All we have to review now are the combat teams." The Hokage announced. "Assuming you have already supplied the necessary qualification forms, please state your team designation, members, and the reason why you believe your team is ready."
"Hinata Hyūga, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki of Team 7 are all ready for the Chūnin exams, Hokage-sama. All of my cute little genin have skills that are at least High genin level, and those are all offset by mid to high Chūnin level abilities. Add to that fact that we have a fūinjutsu specialist means they are more than capable."
Hiruzen read over the qualification forms briefly before responding. "Very well I will accept Team 7 as an entry."
Kakashi went back to reading his book while Kurenai stepped forwards.
"Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Sakura Haruno of Team 8 are all ready for the Chūnin exams, Hokage-sama. Shino and his insect jutsu, as well as his improvements to his taijutsu, have ensured that he is capable physically while mentally his strategies are capable of being on par with the Nara clan. Kiba has lost some of his brashness and his work with Akamaru has improved steadily. Sakura has conquered her individual challenges and has been working more on her genjutsu and iryō ninjutsu as well as polishing her taijutsu skills." Kurenai stated.
"Hmm, Sakura is still on probation for a few more years because of the Nami no Kuni incident," Hiruzen said with a frown as he reviewed their qualification forms. "Do you truly think she is capable of handling tense confrontations without Jōnin oversight?"
"I have spoken with Inoichi about this particular issue, and he believes the issue has been sufficiently resolved. Any relapses in her behavior will not be a threat to any others because of how the situation was created. Inoichi has also provided her with mental tools to ensure that there are no relapses and, so far, it has proven successful." Kurenai said.
"Very well, I will accept Team 8 as an entry, and if Sakura obtains a promotion, I will allow a reduction of her probation after 15 successful C-ranks," Hiruzen said as he added their name to the list.
Kurenai stepped back with a smile on her face as Might Guy stepped forward.
"Yosh! Tenten, Rock Lee, and Neji Hyūga of Team Guy are all ready for the Chūnin Exams, Hokage-sama. Their Flames of youth burn with fiery passion, and their skills are unrivaled. Tenten has displayed 100% accuracy in all thrown weapons and is proficient in any short or long range melee weapon. Rock Lee is a genius of hard work in Taijutsu and has surpassed his disability at using chakra while Neji is a genius prodigy of the Hyūga clan who has recently been granted permission to learn the Main Branch techniques even though he is from the Branch family."
Hiruzen just nodded as he reviewed their qualification forms.
"Very well, I will accept Team Guy as an entry," Hiruzen added them to the list.
Guy gave his trademark thumbs up with a sparkling smile before stepping back.
Asuma Sarutobi stepped forwards.
"Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka of Team 10 are all ready for the Chūnin exams. They have mastered their team formations from the previous Ino-Shika-Cho formation, and they have also been working on their individual skills." Asuma said.
"I am pleased to hear that they have made such an improvement, but do you really think Ino is ready for single combat?" Hiruzen asked. Her qualification form was really light on the list of abilities she had to use, and he wasn't certain she was truly ready.
"Of course. Who she draws in the finals could make or break her, but I think she will at least surprise you, Hokage-sama," Asuma said.
"Very well, I will accept Team 10 as an entry. Now that this is complete we have some other news that needs to be shared with you." Hiruzen said. He channeled three short bursts of chakra into the seal on his desk.
Soon the rest of the Jōnin entered the office along with the Jōnin Commander, council, and the clan heads.
"I have gathered you all here today because we have received confirmation that the villages of Oto and Iwa will be launching an attack during the Chūnin exam finals. This was confirmed by one of our undercover operatives and Jiraiya himself, who will be arriving back in Konoha within the week. While we do not have confirmation on these other villages, it is believed that Kusa and Suna will be involved as well." Hiruzen said in a serious tone.
There were a number of gasps and small conversations that traveled through the room at that announcement.
"Hokage-sama, if I may ask, I know we are aware of the Hachibi jinchūriki being in attendance from Kumo but were you also aware that the Suna jinchūriki is also in attendance?" Kakashi asked.
"Kakashi, how did you learn about this? We have not received notification or a request from Suna for him to attend." Hiruzen asked.
"I warned Naruto about the Hachibi being in the village, and Naruto asked me if I knew that the Ichibi was also in the village," Kakashi replied.
There were more murmurs around the room at that mention.
"You know what that means, Shikaku, Suna is definitely involved as well if they thought to sneak their jinchūriki into the village. We can only hope Kumo doesn't seek to take advantage of the situation." Hiruzen asked.
"Why is Oto trying to invade us Hokage-sama?" Asuma asked.
"That, we are unsure of. All we do know is that they managed to muster enough missing-nins to overthrow Ta no Kuni's Daimyō and establish a village. Most likely this is Iwa's work. I would also be more suspicious of Kumo if the insurgents from Ta no Kuni and Yuki no Kuni had not been making inroads into Kaminari no Kuni." Hiruzen replied.
"What are the plans for our defenses?" Chōza asked.
"Currently, we have the logistics and support teams running "Chūnin" exams on combat effectiveness. Very few of the other villages take part in these types of exams because they feel that their students who can not pass the academy are not suitable for shinobi work. In this way, we have the advantage because the civilians have already been ordered to cooperate with the evacuation testing as well as the gathering and distribution of rations, medical equipment, survival kits, and other essentials if this turns into a siege." Hiruzen said.
"The genin running those support and logistics teams are specialized in directing the civilians into specific shelters and will begin that phase of their "testing" shortly before the finals. They will then be responsible for the organization and distribution of said supplies to those within the evacuation bunkers so they will be out of the way for our counter-offensive." Shikaku added.
"We will have a meeting with the final briefing and updates on any intel we have collected during the one month break between the second exam and the finals. So, be aware during the next two weeks. Shikaku I want to you update the possible movements of invasion forces now that Suna is involved, I suspect Iwa will leave our west to them and advance on us through Kusa. I will reveal the final defensive positions and strategy at that final briefing." Hiruzen said before dismissing everyone.
Hiruzen gave a weary sigh. He knew the peace from the last war wouldn't have lasted too long, but he had hoped. After Minato had been made Hokage things had begun to get better. Even after the Kyūbi attack, there was still peace between everyone.
Now it seemed everyone was quite ready to jump back into war. He only hoped he still had the strength to lead the village through it safely. Tsunade had promised to begin transitioning into the Hokage role after the Chūnin exams since she still needed to hand off operations of the external hospital systems to different medical-nin.
Hiruzen just hoped he didn't have to go out with a bang. It was so common for shinobi to die in that manner, he thought it would be more novel to die in his bed peacefully after a somewhat boring retirement like most civilians did.
1 Week Later - Chūnin Exam Day 1 – Konoha Shinobi Academy
Team 7 approached the Academy with their papers in hand ready to take on whatever they could throw at them. All three of them were excited and determined, for the most part, but they all still had a little trepidation in them because they would be exposed to foreign ninjas from almost every village in the elemental nations.
Naruto had added seals onto all of Sasuke and Hinata's clothing choices for the exams, so they were all fully geared out as if they were on a two-week long mission. Naruto had also created tons of extra chakra storage seals for himself and his teammates to use, just in case.
Sasuke and Hinata would be limited to two per day just to be on the safe side. Naruto had enough to refill twice a day for a week.
As they began to make their way up the stairs, they noticed a few Chūnin guarding the door and a group of genin crowded around it arguing. Naruto had no idea what they were arguing about, he just shrugged and walked up the next flight of stairs to the third floor with Sasuke and Hinata following without any comment.
Sasuke snorted in amusement at the fools who fell for that simple genjutsu. Hinata had also noticed the genjutsu but when Naruto only walked by she decided not to make any comment about it. Naruto didn't know that a genjutsu was active because Kurama had already flushed the invasive chakra from his eyes before Naruto even noticed.
Kakashi was actually waiting for them at the door to the testing area which surprised them.
"Kakashi-sensei? What are you doing here?" Hinata asked.
"I am here to wish you luck, my cute little genin. Also, I am to collect your forms for registration. Remember what I told you on the day I gave you the entrance exam forms and you should do well." Kakashi said with an eye smile before collecting their papers and Shunshining away.
"Alright, let's do this," Naruto said as he opened the door and Team 7 entered the exam room.
Right away they noticed some killing intent directed at them, but they shrugged it off easily and took up a position where they could watch most of the lingering groups of genin and the entrance to the classroom at the same time.
Naruto immediately adapted his stoic pose and leaned against the wall while reaching out with his senses. He made a mental list of all the teams he was currently detecting in the building to find some identifying markers to help keep track of all the competition.
While each person had an individual identifying scent, it was still possible to determine teams by scent because each member would share similar trace scents due to close association with each other. Once the individual scents were grouped together, it was a simple manner of sniffing out trace scents from their home village. All of the five major villages had very different ecosystems, so it was easy to classify people into particular groups because of the terrain they lived in and the flora and fauna that was native there.
It wasn't foolproof, by any means, but it was a good way to sort through a large group of people and assign identifying traits to them before using other senses to analyze their strengths and weaknesses.
Three Iwa teams - (nine strangers that smell of minerals and dirt) – all hostile
Two Kusa team – (six strangers that smell of numerous foreign plants) – nothing sensed
Two Oto teams – (six strangers that smell like muddy water, and a hint of snake) - all hostile
One Kumo team – (three strangers that smell like snow and pine) - nothing sensed
Six Konoha teams – (three signatures that he could sense deception from)
One Taki teams - (three strangers that smell like lilies and lotus) – nothing sensed
Three Suna teams – (five strangers that smell like cactus and sand. Plus Shukaku) - all hostile
Two Ame teams – (six strangers that smell like rusty metal) – nothing sensed
The Suna teams being hostile was a surprise to him, since they were allies, but he wasn't sure if their hostility was due to him being a jinchūriki or if they were mad at Konoha in general.
Then there was the sense of deception he felt from a Konoha team. He couldn't pick out exactly which ones since the intent was not directed at him. He opened an eye to look in the direction of the teams he was unfamiliar with and took note of how they looked and how they smelt.
Kumo didn't surprise him because he figured Matatabi already spoke with Gyūki. Kurama was more silent than usual so Naruto figured he was either trying to work on contacting Shukaku, or was already communicating with Gyūki.
Kurama was currently in the process of trying to establish contact with Shukaku, but he was still blocked by something, much to Kurama's frustration. He would have to probably check the seal with Naruto's help and figure out why it was blocking their communication ability.
As the remaining teams entered the room, Naruto mostly blocked out the chatter as he continued sorting out the scents and emotions he was sensing around him. Ino's loud voice came screeching through his hearing making him grimace slightly.
"Oh, Sasuke-kun! I missed you so much. I haven't seen you in so long!" Ino said.
Naruto peeked over to amuse himself with Sasuke's scowl and wasn't disappointed. Ino had latched onto his arm and was going on a mile a minute about all the things she has done and how she wished she was with him instead.
Naruto waved at Shikamaru and Choji as they called out to him. They immediately made their way towards him and began to catch up with each other. He still visited them on occasion during the weekends, but it had been fewer and farther in between because they were all busy with training and missions in preparation for the Chūnin exams.
He was distracted from his conversation with Shikamaru and Choji by someone named Rock Lee, who start shouting about flames of youth and challenging the geniuses of Team 7. Naruto just disregarded him as he sensed one of the deceptive Konoha-nins, a silver-haired Konoha genin with glasses, approach the group.
He introduced himself as Kabuto and began to offer information on the other genin that were attending the exam, which was very suspicious in itself. That wasn't even including the fact that he had taken the exam 7 times total but still managed to remain a genin.
Naruto and Shikamaru both eyed each other with the same suspicious look. Naruto could tell that Shikamaru also thought something was off with the guy. Naruto took note of his scent, that was thick with medicine and sanitizer, to warn the Hokage when he could.
"YOSH! I want to know about the geniuses of Team 7, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki!" Lee called out, much to Naruto's chagrin.
So much for remaining subtle and how could he just disregard Hinata-chan?
"Ah, let's see here. Sasuke Uchiha the last member of the Uchiha clan. Reported to know over 15 jutsu with high-level taijutsu and kenjutsu. He has also managed to complete 35 D; 15 C; and 1 S-ranked mission." Kabuto replied.
The entire room stilled when they heard that a genin team had completed an S-ranked mission.
"Yea, that's right!" Kiba said cockily, "We totally rocked that mission didn't we Naruto! Sasuke!" Kiba said.
Kiba walked towards the group with Sakura and Shino in tow. Ino seeing her rival approaching decided to stoke Sasuke's ego a bit in an attempt to rile up Sakura. Lately, Sakura had been more subdued and didn't visit Ino as often as she used to, which caused Ino to become concerned.
"Oh, whatever dog breath like you could compare to Sasuke-kun," Ino shouted out before she turned to Sasuke "You must have been tired from doing all the work for those two. What good could they have done on an S-rank when compared with you." Ino said sweetly while batting her eyelashes in a coy manner.
Sasuke got annoyed at Ino at that moment and ripped his arm away from her. Ino had a shocked and hurt look on her face.
"Shut up. Ino, I may not give a damn about Kiba, but I can guarantee that you are nothing compared to Naruto." Sasuke snapped. He remembered how Ino treated Naruto in the Academy and while he didn't care back then, he wouldn't let her talk down to him now, even if Naruto preferred to let that kind of thing go.
He moved away from the others and took up a position on the other side of Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, and Choji.
All the Konoha genin were quite surprised at that reaction from Sasuke, excluding Team 7 and 8. Sasuke never bothered to defend or care for anyone, and here he was defending Naruto.
"Whatever, Ino. We were tearing it up down there. Like you would even know! I doubt you have even killed someone yet." Kiba said brashly.
Shino and Sakura decided to give themselves distance between Ino and Kiba since both of them were likely to start arguing loudly now. They also joined the rest of the group to leave Ino and Kiba to bicker amongst each other.
Kabuto cleared his throat. "Well, next we have Naruto Uzumaki of Team 7 reported to know over 13 jutsu with average level taijutsu and is at a level 5 rank in fūinjutsu."
There was another round of shocked reactions, and even Kabuto would admit he was surprised. It was rare that you found someone in that level of fūinjutsu that wasn't, at least, a Jōnin.
He would have to speak to Orochimaru-sama about this. Sasuke seemed really attached to Naruto and with those kinds of skills, plus being the jinchūriki, Orochimaru-sama could definitely make use of him, especially with Kimimaro's health in decline.
Naruto's default frown deepened a little as he heard his abilities revealed to everyone. That bastard had to pay somehow. He had to be a traitor to reveal that kind of thing in front of all these rival villages.
Before anyone could grill Naruto about his abilities any further, the room was brought to attention by the proctor Ibiki Moreno. He began calling out names and pointing to a seat before following up with a threat if they weren't seated in 30 seconds they would be eliminated from the exam along with their teammates. There were a few close calls as other teams tried to trip or block people from reaching their seats, but everyone succeeded in seating themselves within the time limit.
After taking their assigned seats, Ibiki had the spotters hand out the tests while he went through the rules.
"Okay. Listen up, brats. The rules are simple. You have one hour to complete the test. The exam is worth ten points and if you get caught cheating you lose two points. All these guys here will be keeping a close eye on you and will be keeping track. If you fall below four points on the exam, your team will fail. If one of you decides to quit, your team will fail. You may begin the test now." Ibiki said while starting the timer.
Naruto looked at the test questions quickly and saw that he wouldn't be able to answer quite a few of them. He was fairly intelligent, but some of this subject matter was still too advanced for him. Seeing the difficulty of the questions made it obvious that the test was designed to force them to gather those answers from someone else in the room. Probably the Chūnin proctors on the side watching for cheaters or the other genin who had already obtained the answers through cheating.
Naruto was glad he got assigned a seat next to Hinata, it would make it easier to copy off her if needed and it was much easier for her to reliably pull the answers from the answer key that the proctor and the other chūnin held.
Naruto discreetly slapped a small sensor seal tag underneath the desk where Hinata's test was located. Next, he placed another sensor seal underneath his test and linked the two together using his chakra. Picking up his pencil with his right hand, he set his pencil on the sheet, let his arm relax and closed his eyes while holding his left hand over the sensor seal under his test. He slowly began to channel a small amount of chakra into the seal to pick up Hinata's pencil movements for him to copy. He had learned this trick about sensor seals when he first began experimenting and practicing with sensor seals.
When trying to test a series of seals that would trigger based on movement, he found that the parent seal would record the action and then send it to the child seals that were linked to it. When he had been applying the child seal to another surface, a clone had brushed some papers off of the desk containing the parent seal. Naruto had felt the action clearly, almost as if his hand wanted to copy to motion. After some more testing, he determined that he could mimic or copy any action that occurred within a five-meter radius of the parent seal if he was actively channeling his chakra into the child seal. Further experiments showed the potential for using the seal as a way of information gathering and espionage since the user could essentially copy any messages or reports before they were even filed or sent.
Naruto was still trying to figure out how to make the seal record the pen strokes onto a scroll by ejecting ink in some manner. So far he hadn't succeeded in anything more than making a lot of mess in his mindscape and spraying Kurama in the eye with ink when he became curious about what Naruto was attempting. Needless to say, Naruto no longer worked on that seal while sitting next to Kurama anymore.
Hinata activated her Byakugan and began to write out the answers to the test. She knew that Sasuke would be able to copy the answers with the Sharingan, but she wasn't sure how Naruto was going to copy them. He was very smart, but a lot of these questions were tough to answer. She decided that she would write all of the answers down first before finding a way to get them over to him.
As she began copying the answers from a proctor with the answer key, she noticed that Naruto had his eyes closed with a look of concentration on his face and was copying the answers somehow.
She inadvertently paused when she first noticed his movements, curious to how he was copying the answers before she continued writing the answers down when a few of the proctors turned their attention towards her. Using her Byakugan panoramic view to observe him, she realized Naruto was somehow copying her movements precisely. She would have to ask him how he had managed such a feat later on.
Naruto had tuned out his surroundings as he focused on copying the motions recorded by his sensor seal. He thought for a moment he might have been caught when Hinata stopped, but she continued, and soon his test was complete. He had to erase Hinata's name and put his own at the top once it was done. Otherwise, the seal had worked like a charm.
Naruto removed both seals with a quick dispel action under the desk, then reviewed the answers he copied. Based on the questions he did know how to answer, he could deduce that they were all correct. He would have only been able to answer about two-thirds of the questions if he had simply tried to complete the test normally. If what Hinata had copied was accurate, he would have gotten a few of the answers wrong.
With twenty minutes remaining on the test, a few of the teams began to get desperate in their attempts to cheat. One Iwa team and a Suna team were eliminated for cheating as time began to run out.
Ibiki called a halt to the test and stopped the timer when there were 15 minutes left.
"All right, brats. Here are the rules for the final question on the exam. Before you are allowed to answer the final question there are certain circumstances you must know about. First, if you do decide to take this question and you answer it wrong you will be banned from taking the Chūnin exams for life. However, if your quit now and save yourselves the trouble, then you are free to retake the exams without consequence. If you do decide to give up your team will be forced to resign as well. You have five minutes to decide before I announce the question." Ibiki said.
As the remaining genin began to protest and ask questions, Ibiki slammed his hand down on the table.
"Silence! This isn't some mere Academy exam, and I ain't your sensei! Don't look to me to hold your little hands like a lost child. You have four minutes to decide before I announce the question. So, what will it be? Will you risk being a genin for the rest of your life? Are you confident that you can answer the question? You better hurry and decide you only have three minutes left and times a ticking." Ibiki taunted.
One of the Konoha genin decided to quit because he was nervous, which lead to his two teammates having to leave the exams as well. Shortly afterward, one of the Ame ninjas decided to quit, eliminating her teammates from the exam.
Naruto was confident that he would be able to find a way to answer the question regardless. As he sensed around the room, he could tell that the rest of the genin remaining didn't appear to be troubled by the last question either. He quickly looked over the remaining teams to see how many genin were going to move on.
Two Iwa teams
Two Kusa team
Two Oto teams
The Kumo team
Five Konoha teams
One Taki team
Two Suna teams
One Ame team
"So, we have some brats that think they know everything do they? Well then. I hope you are right because you only have one minute to save your ass from the embarrassment of being a lifetime genin. Imagine making a living off those D-ranks." Ibiki barked with a laugh.
After a minute elapsed. "Last chance, brats. Are you sure you are all ready for this?" Ibiki said.
None of the other genin responded. They just sat there watching Ibiki.
"Very well," Ibiki said with a grim expression before dramatically pausing for a few minutes. After he swept his eyes over the remaining teams, his expression changed from stern to pleased. "Congratulations! You have all passed the first exam." Ibiki said in a surprisingly cheery tone.
"What? Where is the tenth question we were supposed to answer?" Shouted an Iwa Kunoichi.
"The fact that I asked you if you were going to try and answer the question was the question itself. If you can't figure out why that was the final question, do yourself a favor and quit before the Second Exam you aren't ready and will probably die." Ibiki said with a scowl.
The Iwa kunoichi just sat down and glowered at Ibiki.
Suddenly, the window shattered, and someone flew in while wrapped up in a dark brown banner. The person spun around in a corkscrew sending two kunai flying into the ceiling of the classroom which unfurled the banner and revealed a kunoichi who was wearing only a knee length kusari body suit and a dark orange mini-skirt with metal shin guards over her ankle length sandals. Her ensemble was topped off with a tan overcoat that reached down to her calves. She had violet hair and light brown pupil-less eyes.
Naruto went red faced at the woman's apparel and turned his head away while the rest of the men were either staring in surprise or ogling her body. The other females were a mix of jealousy or embarrassment.
"I am Anko Mitarashi! The chief proctor for the second exam." Anko said jubilantly.
Anko then looked around the room and shook her head.
"Forty-eight genin remaining, huh? Well, I'll just have to make sure a lot more of you don't pass the second exam then." Anko said with a sigh. "Alright, brats, time for you to follow me."
Anko smirked to herself as she thought of all those invading teams available for the killing. The Forest of Death would get rid of a good portion of them.