Chapter XV
The sunny beginings for the day were not a good clue to the amount of destruction half of Konoha would be facing through the following 24 hours.
Naruto and Kyuubi had, after a summons from the Hokage that had arrived at his complex fairly early, given what he knew (or thought he did) about the working habits of the Godaime, made their way to the Tower in the centre of the village only to be informed that half of it had been evacuated and prepared for their evaluation exam. The testing area had been isolated and sealed off from the rest of the village by a special array of Fuuinjutsu, courtesy of Jiraya. Several Jounin chosen by the Hokage were stationed at key points through out the sealed section of Konoha and would be acting as judges, observing their movements and making considerations of their decisions, while the Jounin-senseis of Naruto's graduating class would function as opponents, either directly engaging Naruto and Kyuubi or trying to hamper their progress in some way.
The 'mission', in itself, was deceptively simple: to make their way to the opposite end of the village, enter a small shrine next to the village Wall, extract a scroll on the altar and return to the tower unscathed with the scroll.
All this had been explained to them in a rush and then both were left inside a room to discuss their course of action for five minutes. Then they'd have to start running. The time limit: an hour. Fairly easy at first glance, considering Naruto could easily cover the distance involved in the exam in barely 15 minutes on foot, let alone using the abilities the Flow enabled him to use.
The suddenness of the summoning and the rush in which the exam was explained left the two ninja with the feeling that they had been purposefully been kept in the dark, in order to gauge how they would react when faced with an unexpected situation. Look underneath the underneath and be prepared for any eventuality, and such.
As soon as they were left alone, Naruto and Kyuubi traded a look and immediately engaged in a discussion through their mental link.
'So?What do you think, Kyuu-chan?'
'This is obviously some kind of modified Chuunin Exam, or something. I guess they're bypassing the theoretical examination and the show to the nobles and going straight for field application...'
'I hear ya... how do you want to do this? Together we'd probably be a greater military force.'
'We'd also be much more easier to corner and spot. I think we're better off separating from each other and make our way there alone...' Kyuubi answered pensively, 'I'll go first. I can use my shape-shifting abilities to attract the attention of any pursuers and lose them after a while.'
'Yeah.' Naruto agreed mentally, 'Except the area we're testing has been evacuated and there is no crowd to disappear into.'
Kyuubi stared at the blond, startled by having forgotten such an important detail and somewhat surprised at his insight. Although, come to think of it, she should have expected it: he did have a lot of experience at evading unwanted pursuers.
'Well...' she drawled as an idea came crawling into her head, 'We could always use the populated area of the village... they only told us to get to the scroll, they never said we were restricted to the evacuated zone...'
'Maybe... but won't that put the villagers at risk?'
'Only if we engage someone. But we'll have a better chance of success if we stay incognito and avoid direct confrontations. If we are discovered we'll return to the testing area and proceed from there...'
'Sounds good. Although, Kyuu-chan, I could always fly us out there, grab the scroll and return us here without all the trouble we're predicting.' Naruto answered dryly.
Kyuubi frowned, 'True. But, Naruto, I think its best if you do not flaunt your new abilities. I think we should try to do this without the active Flow techniques. It's not that I don't trust your fellow ninja,' she added hastily, as if afraid of some misunderstanding.
Naruto interrupted her with a wave of his hand before she could continue, 'OK, OK, it was just an idea, and I can sort of understand what you're getting to, I guess... No need to justify your opinions, Kyuu-chan.' he paused before grinning, 'Ready?'
Kyuubi returned a ferocious grin of her own in answer to his and the two of them launched themselves out of the window.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes as the two shadows blurring out of the window in the Hokage's Tower signaled the escape the two examinees. Adjusting the microphone closer to his mask, he whispered to the other examiners, "Dog here. They've just exited the Tower. Heading towards you on a steady pace, Turtle."
The answer came almost immediately, in such a quiet way that people who didn't know him wouldn't believe it was Gai on the other side, "Roger that, Dog. I'll await their passage and pursuit their trail."
"They seem to have decided to stay together, for now. Will follow at a safe distance." Kakashi informed the other teachers, "How are the preparations for the trap, Stag? Owl?"
Asuma's grave voice cackled softly on his ear, "We're ready for them, Dog. Jiraya-sama has also reserved a surprise for those two further ahead, in case they escaped. He wouldn't say what it was, though..." his voice grumbled as if slightly annoyed.
"How about Owl?" Kakashi insisted.
Kurenai's voice answered him, sounding slightly upset, "I'm also ready. I still don't like our codenames. Why do I have to be called Owl? I understand Kakashi and Gai but I don't even have a summons!"
Asuma's voice sounded amused now, "Come now, Kurenai-chan. You know your eyes are one of your most... enthralling features..." Asuma sidesteped the mistake of classifying them as her most defining feature with a skill that left Kakashi slightly impressed, "It seemed natural... At least your name has to do with you; look at me, I had to be defined by my student's family natural reserve."
Both men chuckled lightly at the grumbling from the young female Jounin until Gai's voice called them back to reality, "Got them. They should arrive at your positions in ten minutes, at current speed, Asuma-san."
"Let them come, Gai!" Asuma said, his voice betraying the enthusiasm he seemed to be feeling.
Kakashi sped up until he was able to track the pair of ninja with his sight alone. They moved with remarkable speed and flowed from one stance to the other with a natural grace that left Kakashi strangely proud. His student had come a long way, even if he wasn't, technically, his student any more.
As the pair entered the trap zone, a barrage of Jutsu exploded towards them.
"What are they doing?" came Gai's wondering question.
"Shit! They won't be able to evade it!" came Kurenai's startled voice.
Kakashi's eye narrowed as he watched the pair of ninja turn towards the general position of Gai and himself, making no attempt to dodge the Huge fireball about to envelope them and shouted, in a voice loud enough for all of them to hear, "SUCKERS!" before disappearing in a burst of smoke.
The swearing that echoed in the radio was accompanied by his own expletives. 'Shit! Of course! How could I forget: Kage Bunshin! Naruto's signature move!'
"Asuma!" he bellowed into the microphone, "Use your wind techniques to try and pick up their movements! Kurenai: back track and see if they're coming in behind us! Gai, you're the most capable physically, go on ahead and try to stall them in case they've passed us by! Do it, people!"
A chorus of agreement answered him in return for his orders, as Kakashi hurriedly loosened up the scroll on his jacket and cut his thumb on a specifically designed appendage on the piece of clothing. He couldn't believe how fast is ANBU Commander persona had been established at the setback. But the way they'd been tricked, the anger at his own mistake and the thrill he was simultaneously feeling at engaging in a war game against one of the few people he would call a friend, no matter how embarrassing it would be to admit it aloud to Naruto, had Kakashi's blood running through his veins like few things outside a death threat situation did.
With quick, practiced movements, he sprayed the blood across the seals on the scroll and summoned Pakkun, his most sharp-nosed (and tongued) ninja-hound.
"Pakkun," Kakashi started hurriedly, showing him a piece of clothing he'd had the care of... borrowing from Naruto, "find me this scent and do it quickly!"
The dog spared him a flat stare before taking the cloth in his mouth and setting it on the ground. As the hound gave it several sniffs to memorize the scent, Kakashi contacted his team-mates, "Stag, Turtle, Owl? What can you tell me?"
"They're not behind us so far as I can see, Dog." Kurenai's voice answered him.
"They're not ahead of us either. I've already went as far as the shrine. Nothing." Gai echoed back.
"What about Stag?"
"Kakashi, my tracking skills were never great to begin with but, as far as I can sense, we're the only ones moving in the testing area. If they've gone underground we'll be in for a heap of trouble. None of us are too good with Earth techniques. They've effectively disappeared. And there's no one to blame but our own incompetence!"
It was true. Of the four of them , Kakashi was undoubtedly the one with the most Earth Jutsu in his repertoire. But, similarly to Gai, those were Jutsu designed for direct confrontation, not tracking. Shit! If only they had Tenzo in the group...
Pakkun gave a small bark and said, "Found it!"
"OK, team, Pakkun has found a trail. Follow my lead." he communicated to the radio. Then he turned to the small dog, "Where to, Pakkun?"
Kakashi lifted his head and followed the path painted by the hound's head movement. He swore quietly, "Fuck."
"What is it?" asked Kurenai's voice, as she landed next to him, followed by their two companions, "Where have they gone?"
In response, Kakashi merely pointed.
In the mid-distance, overcrowded by the evacuation for the exam, was the busy commercial district of Konoha, crawling with people.
Naruto smiled as the memories from the Kage Bunshin he'd created with the help of Kyuu-chan's chakra flooded back to him. The yell of outrage from Kakashi-sensei that reached him just before the clone dispersed still ringing in his ears.
'Did you get that, Kyuu-chan?' he asked through the link, cackling silently with mirth.
'Yes!' was the vixen girl's amused response, 'Doubtless they'll be tracking us now. We'd better move. Let's meet at the shrine and then blast our way through any resistance we find on the way back!' she added, the excitement of the test finally catching up to her.
"OK!" Naruto screamed back, forgetting himself in all the excitement.
There was a moment when everything around him went quiet, the people in the square looking at him, surprised at his outburst. Then, as if everything was happening in slow motion, the faces of several girls in the crowd twisted into grotesque masks of glee and, with several squeals of joy, they launched towards him.
"Oh shit!"
'What? What is it?' Came Kyuubi's startled question.
'Fan girls!' Naruto sent back in a very lady-like shriek.
Had he not been occupied dodging the rabid females, Naruto would have been able to catch the half exasperated, half amused sigh from Kyuubi but, as he dodged a particularly vicious hand, whose nails seemed, at that point more like claws from the demonic, corrupted Nine-Tails, than a Human one, he only managed to catch her suggestion that they return to the testing area and regroup as soon as possible, considering the close they already were to the shrine. Naruto jumped to the air, actually using the Flow a bit to manoeuvre out of the girls reach, grabbed a mask to disguise himself from one of the counters on the market, left a few coins to pay for it and bolted out of the market square.
The yells from the excited females on the market did indeed attract Kakashi and his team to the place. What they found there made the war veterans feel like they had entered ground zero for a highly destructive Jutsu due to the sheer noise alone. The agitation was so outspread that it would be almost impossible trying to find Naruto or Kyuu in the crowd.
He surveyed the area attentively, before turning to his companions, "Asuma, Kurenai, please interrogate the civilians and try to get a feel of where they might have escaped to. Gai and I will go ahead and try to cut them off."
The two other ninja nodded and merged with the people.
As Kakashi and Gai made their way to the end of the market, still looking for a sign of the two examinees, they would catch bits of pieces of the conversations both Kurenai and Asuma engaged in, trying to get some straight answers as to the whereabouts of the two ninja and instead getting responses concerning how coll Naruto-sama was and how handsome.
They were inside the sealed area again when the radio cackled.
"I absolutely despise fan girls!" Came Asuma's frustrated comment.
Kakashi was about to answer in humour when a flash of something in his sharingan eye attracted his attention.
"Gai." he mumbled, instantly getting the other Jounin's attention, "Large chakra source ahead." he said pointing to an alley.
Nodding, Gai sped up and, with incredible velocity, made its way to the other side of the marked street.
Kakashi picked up speed as well and entered the alley just in time to see Gai skid to a stop on the other side, effectively closing Kyuubi's escape routes.
Without even giving them the opportunity to say something, the white haired girl launched herself at Gai, of all people, and engaged him in direct confrontation. Kakashi was still trying to process the stupidity of the girl's decision when his brain seemed to pick up on the fact that the girl was actually giving the Taijutsu specialist a run for his money.
The scraps of cloth that she had hanging from her rather large white belt and which, under normal circumstances, formed that strange half-skirt the woman seemed so fond of, twisted and moved with a life of their own, intercepting or softening blows whenever they connected with her body, occasionally providing enough distraction to allow Kyuu to score a blow against Gai – and if the cringing the Taijutsu master displayed at those times was accurate, her physical attacks were not to be taken lightly!
Gai dodged another blow and Kakashi launched himself into the fray. Immediately, the kunoichi broke away from the engagement and jumped up, using the walls of the street as springboards. Kakashi and Gai gave chase, only to dodge hastily as a large fireball came crashing down on them. The whole confrontation was strange in Kakashi's mind and he finally understood why: the girl wasn't overly concerned with escaping them, which meant she was acting as a decoy.
Both of the examiners jumped to the roofs of the houses and ran after the fleeing girl, edging towards the centre line of the testing area and away from the populated zones. Kakashi mentally sighed in relief. It seemed they'd fallen back into the warded zone after being discovered, in an attempt to keep harm from befalling the villagers. This was in agreement with what he knew of Naruto's character.
He adjusted the radio system once more, intent on calling back Asuma and Kurenai when something very strange happened. The girl, who had been steadily loosing ground to them, seemed to suddenly trip on air and fell down to a deserted small street. He thought he heard a scream. As he and Gai edged closer, the scream became a howling NO! There was an immaterial shock wave. Kakashi suddenly felt like he was walking on sawdust. The buildings around them seemed to ripple and waver, before dismantling themselves in smaller and smaller pieces, eventually becoming a dusty material. Kakashi waved his arms like a child, trying to regain footing on a roof that wasn't there any more. He saw Gai trying to do the same. And then... darkness.
Kyuubi jumped over the roof, trying to put some distance between her and the two Jounin.
'They found me, Naruto. I'm going to try and lead them away to clear the path for you.' she sent to her contractor.
'Got it. As soon as I get a hold on the scroll I'll contact you.'
'OK. I'll see you soon!' she said almost lovingly. Fortunately (or unfortunately), Naruto didn't seem to catch the tone her voice had traitorously added to the phrase.
She prepared herself to turn around and was actually already starting the movement when Naruto's voice sounded in her head again. It had a strange quality to it, almost like static present in the normally clean 'reception'.
'Huh? That's strange...'
'What is it?" she asked, the speed of thought-talk so great that not a second passed between interchanges.
'I'm having this strange, weird feeling, as if-'
'Naruto? NARUTO?' Kyuubi called, scared at the way the connection abruptly ended.
There was no answer.
Frantically, she tried to catch him again. The action, usually something so easy it actually classified as instinctual, seemed impossible now. Kyuubi searched for the connection, only to trip over her own feet, when she failed to find it. The link between the two was gone!
The kitsune's mind went into overdrive. Naruto could sever the conversation, if he wanted to, but the link, the port, so to speak, was always there in her mind, even if she was incapable of communicating with him due to his block. He had done it before, when they had fought shortly after returning to Konoha, when each other's stress and weariness were still dragging them down, psychologically if not physically. But for the link to completely disappear, there was only one explanation: Naruto was dead.
Grief grasped her heart and squeezed the despair out into her body. Her mouth opened and let out a howl so powerful the windows around her shattered and, for the first time in hundreds of years,Teumess Cadmius Huli-Jing Achomawi Mamaceqtaw Ysengrimus Reinard, aka Kyuubi, aka Kyuu-chan, taped into her power as the Goddess.
A split second before she touched the ground a burst of power spread from her body, all her frustration, rage, sorrow and desperation infused in it. The surrounding area wavered like a dispelling Genjutsu and turned to dust, as the expanding sphere of power made contact with the buildings.
Naruto, the mask still in place, him having forgotten to remove it, stared at the destruction from the top of a house.
Seconds after his connection to Kyuu-chan had been severed – for reasons he still hadn't figured out – something happened. The last thing he knew, the buildings around him started to collapse and shower him in dust. If he hadn't used the Flow to burst out of the way, he'd surely have to swim back to the surface.
The central half of the testing area, a heavily constructed place just a few instants before the Event, as he decided to call it, was now reduced to piles of dust that reminded him of the desert, somehow.
Naruto grabbed his head as the connection suddenly returned and the full force of Kyuubi's anguish hit him whole. He gasped, feeling his eyes water at the grief he was sensing alone, before calling out to the kitsune, in an attempt to stop her suffering.
'NARUTO?' came the slightly crazed, despairing retort, 'WHERE ARE YOU?'
'I'm here, I'm almost at the shrine.' he answered, sending her a pulse to orientate the vixen girl, 'Kyuu-chan... WHAT HAPPENED?'
He received no answer as a blur of white entered his field of vision and the girl tackled him hard, sending both of them to tumbling to the ground.
The force of the impact was so great it actually sent Naruto sliding across the ground. With a slight bump, his head impacted on something and he felt an object fall to his head and bounce to the ground. It was the scroll.
"Hey, good show, Kyuu-chan!" he said, laughing, "You found us the scroll."
The mirth he felt disappeared immediately as he took notice of her tear-streaked face.
"K-Kyuu-chan! W-What's wrong?" he asked, taking the mask off and pocketing it.
The girl gripped his black clothes and buried her face in his chest, mumbling, "I thought I'd lost you! Oh, Kami, I thought you'd died."
"W-Why?" he asked, blanching.
"The connection. It disappeared. It should only do that if you die. What happened?"
"I don't know." he said, frowning, "One moment I'm talking to you. Then I enter a new square and I suddenly couldn't reach you any more." he shrugged, "It came back the moment the buildings went down, though. Was that you?"
"Yes, I... I panicked, I'm sorry." she shook her head as if trying to clear it, "I probably buried your sensei and that guy in the spandex under a lot of dust, though."
Naruto laughed, as he pictured Kakashi-sensei digging itself out of the mess Kyuubi left behind, dragging a half-buried Gai with him.
"Well, at least we'll have the way clear, now!" he exclaimed, laughing as he twirled the scroll and gave a tighter squeeze on the hug he was sharing with the kitsune.
A/N.: We interrupt this sickening, heart-warming moment to bring you to your scheduled Author's Note:
A new chapter, because I was actually feeling uncomfortable with how much time it was taking me to update. Blame it on Life. And FFnet, for not allowing me to upload the chapter; something about an error 2... Also, since there are a lot of people asking, Kyuu-chan and Naruto will get together and... do things in... chapter XXXI; just six chapters away(or five if you don't count the chapter itself).
As you can see, Kyuu is a bit... irracional when it comes to Naruto and danger... hmm...
Also, on another note, to any female reading this story, please note that the representations of your gender in this story and this chapter in particular, are merely artistic liberties for the story and in no way relate to the author's views on the matter :-P