"Blah": Talking
"Blah": Demon speaking/Inner Sakura
'Blah': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts
'Blah': Harry talking to Naruto
Another chapter closer to the end of Book 3! This chapter is pretty short so I decided to post it right away as soon as I finished the last details and finished identifying the differences between the old version. After this that leaves two more chapters and then it's done! It's about time too, because I've been working on this fanfic for over two years. I should have finished it ages ago. But it shouldn't matter because we're finally almost done!
Azeroth44: I think it was at this point, or the previous chapter of the original version of Naruto Uzumaki and the Chunin Exams, where you and Leaf Ranger punished me for all the crazy stuff I've done by making me watch The Last Airbender movie.
Kvsyaoran: Yeah… I can't believe I was suckered into that piece of crap movie. Four years ago, I was convinced it might actually be good, despite obvious casting controversies and all the other obvious crappy stuff I simply tried to ignore. Imagine the wave of disappointment I felt after that one viewing…
AZ44: YOU TIED ME TO A CHAIR AND FORCED ME TO WATCH IT!
K: Man, I wish I could turn back time and read a book instead…
AZ44: We're doing this now?! SERIOUSLY?! YOU'RE JUST GOING TO FORGET WHAT I WENT THROUGH?!
K: I mean, I loved Avatar: the Last Airbender… and that weasel Shyamalan almost took all the balance and wonder that series offered and took it away like a monster from a fairy tale… But we should move on and start this latest chapter of the story. I hope you guys out there enjoy it :)
AZ44: DON'T YOU DARE START THE CHAPTER YET, YOU MOTHER F-
Reviews are welcome and wanted!
Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto,
Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling
Chapter 26: The Aftermath
{{Hallucination by James Newton Howard}}
Naruto blinked and moaned as his blurred vision tried to focus. He looked around and realized he was in the arena, in the stands, as the forces from Oto and Suna came from nowhere and attacked the soldiers of Konoha. But the world around him seemed slower, darker, filled with more shadows, and muffled as the sounds of war were slightly muted. He could hear the sounds of kunai clash, Sasuke's Chidori, while a blast from a bomb knocked him on his back. He looked at the ceiling as the shinobi of Konoha, Suna, and Oto fought and killed each other.
It was a bloodbath.
Naruto looked on in horror as the soldiers acted and looked less and less human with each passing moment. He saw all three forces let out snarls and drool, as Gaara did while he transformed. Naruto felt cold and shivered as he saw even Kakashi tackle someone from Oto down and stabbed them over and over. Blood flew out and stained the walls as Naruto scrambled far from his sensei, from all of the soldiers as he tried to remember how to breathe.
The blonde shinobi tried to flee the scene until someone clenched his arm and took him. It was Sakura as she screamed at his face, terrified and desperate to leave. Shikamaru was there too and led them both out of the arena, through a hole in the wall.
He blinked and found himself in the woods as storm clouds hovered above Konoha and blocked out the sun. Darkness surrounded Naruto and his friends as the three of them dashed between the trees. Still deaf ever since the arena, Naruto looked around to make sure no one followed them. But as he turned his head in his search, he stopped when he saw a woman with red hair, wearing a green apron and sandals.
It was his mother, Kushina Uzumaki.
Naruto ran over to her as his friends vanished from sight. He forgot all about them as he ran over to his mother while she stood there and stared at him with a small, warm smile, as if she were a photograph. The blonde rookie smiled as he embraced his mother, delighted to see her alive but worried for her life as the storm brewed and the forest filled with shadow. Naruto grabbed his mother's hand and tried to lead her far from the battle, but she refused to move as she stared out ahead.
"Mom," he mouthed, "Mom?! Mom! Mom, c'mon! We have to leave! C'mon!"
Still, she remained, as she smiled and Naruto soon realized she didn't even see him as she smiled and stared out ahead. Naruto started to hear his own voice as he called out to her, worried as he heard a rumble out in the distance.
"Mom, we have to go," he tried to sound more calm but insistent, "We can't stay here."
Kushina refused to move as tears welled up in Naruto's eyes.
"Look at me," he tried to reach out to her and cried, "Listen to me, mom. Listen to me!"
Tears ran down his cheeks while Naruto's face turned red, like a tomato and he screamed with a cracked, broken, tearful voice.
"MOM, DON'T JUST STAND THERE AND LOOK AT ME! PLEASE! LISTEN TO ME! PLEASE! MOM! LISTEN TO ME! PLEASE!"
Kushina made a sudden movement. She looked down at her son and smiled at him. The slender, red-haired woman cupped her son's tear-stained cheek and spoke to him with a soft, warm voice.
"Sweetheart…"
Naruto frowned in sadness as the tears continued to run down his face. He touched her hand and nuzzled his cheek into her warm touch.
"Mom…" his voice cracked.
Kushina then said with a more worried tone, "Danzo Shimura… Don't ever let him win… don't ever… let him…"
Naruto froze in silence as his hearing returned to normal. He heard the sound of something massive and violent rush towards him, followed with the sound of a thousand chirping birds. The blonde rookie turned his head to the source of the noise and saw a violent burst of sand rush towards him like a tsunami. And then all he saw was red.
Naruto almost screamed but the clear mask over his mouth and nose silenced him as he woke with a start. He inhaled a cold, medicinal gas and was soon on the verge of passing out again. Out of reflex, he inhaled one more time but was knocked out cold in an instant. Naruto awoke one more time after several hours as he looked around and tried not to breathe too hard. It was dark, he heard beeps of machines, and felt rubber tubes inserted in his arms. He was bound to a bed and he couldn't feel or move his arm. But it didn't matter, as he was too weak to move. He soon remembered Gaara had broken his arm and remembered the pain in vivid detail and he flinched.
The blonde rookie took slow, deep breaths and felt a warm pressure beside him. While he was too weak to move his head, he was still able to see the blurred frame of a man with brown hair tied into a wolf's tail. Naruto felt the firm arms of the man were crossed and rested beside his torso while he heard the echoed sound of slow, muffled, quiet sobs.
It was Iruka, without a doubt, as he leaned on Naruto as rested his head over his arms, sobbing. Naruto wanted to reach out and end his tears, but then he heard another voice in the room, the voice of a woman. It was too dark for him to see, but the voice was familiar, but so much softer than he ever remembered. Naruto wanted to see whom it was, but all he could see was a trench coat before he took a breath and lost consciousness again.
Naruto went in and out of consciousness several times. But each time, he felt a warm hand stroke his forehead or a thumb rub his cheek while he rested, unable to open his eyes. Time flowed like an endless river before Naruto was able to wake up and maintain conscious for more than a few seconds. When he came to, he blinked and tried to focus his flawed, blurred vision. It felt like noon but the skies were filled with clouds when he looked out the window. Naruto turned his head around and saw Iruka was there, seated on a chair next to the window with a necklace around his neck, identical to the one Anko wore. The chunin looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept in over a week as he stared down at the necklace in his hand and fiddled with it out of boredom. But then he heard movement and heard Naruto moan as the child tried to sit back on the bed.
"Naruto?!"
Iruka came to his aid at once, relieved and delighted to tears to see his little brother alive and awake. Naruto offered him a weak smile and the chunin let out a laugh as tears ran down his cheeks. He couldn't hold back the hug he enveloped Naruto into, but the rookie welcomed it no matter how much it hurt.
After the reunion, Iruka insisted Naruto not sit up and had him continue to rest back.
Naruto tried to relax as he asked, "How long was I out?"
"Since the invasion?" asked the chunin before he answered, "It's been over a week."
The blonde rookie turned to look at the window and could make out smoke as multiple columns rose from all across Konoha. Naruto tried to think back to the battle and that's when he remembered Sakura, stuck in the cocoon of sand on the tree and what Gaara had told him.
"Wait a minute. Where are Sasuke and Sakura-chan?!" he looked to Iruka and then he remembered the Sandaime in the barrier with Orochimaru, "And what happened to the Sandaime? Is he ok?! He's not-"
Iruka raised both his hands to silence Naruto, "Hokage-sama is alive, Naruto. He's fine. The Sandaime defeated Orochimaru and forced him and his allies to flee. Your teammates are safe too. Sakura was here for a while and was checked for minor head trauma, I think. Her parents picked her up a while ago and took her home. And Sasuke… he's somewhere else… He was unconscious when he was brought in. He came here to visit one time to ask how you were doing and he seemed relieved, but I haven't seen him since."
"Who was it that brought us back?" he asked as he turned his head to look at his older brother, "Was it you, aniki?"
Iruka shook his head, "It wasn't me. I don't know who it was that brought you kids back."
"Oh, well," breathed the blonde-haired rookie, "I suppose it doesn't matter… at least we're safe…"
Naruto relaxed as he sank into his bed. He looked down and noticed he was dressed in hospital clothes, covered in bandages while his arm was encased in a cast, held in a dark blue sling. He looked to his bedside table and was about to reach for his wand, when he realized he couldn't move his arm, didn't know where his wand was, or where his old clothes were.
He would have started to panic when he said, "What happened to-"
But then Iruka surprised him with a certain wand in his hand while he asked, "Looking for this?"
The chunin tossed the wand over to Naruto, who caught it with his left hand while he smiled in relief.
"Thank the maker," he said, "I was afraid the doctors found it!"
With the wand stuck in his left hand, it felt a little bit weird. Naruto could still feel the familiar warmth in his hand, but it felt out of balance to him. He tried to levitate a glass but he made it wobble over a dozen times before he floated it back down on the table beside him. Iruka rested the glass down on the table when it wobbled about and turned to his little brother. The chunin tilted his head as he waited for his thanks.
The blonde wizard soon said with a smile, "Thanks so much, aniki! But how did you manage to hide it this time?"
"I didn't," he answered as he scratched his temple, "You still had a few articles of clothing left from the battle, and I found it under what was left of that coat and the weapons pouch before the doctors threw in the trash."
Naruto nodded, somewhat sad that he lost his clothes from Tenten's store. He like that outfit, and now it looked like he was stuck with hoodies and his old tracksuit. But while he mourned his old outfit, Naruto noticed the tall collection of boxed confectionaries stacked in front of him. Golden boxes filled with vacuumed-sealed dango, caramels, and chocolate covered sliced strawberries, coated with drizzle of white chocolate.
"What's all this?" he asked.
Iruka turned to the boxes and rubbed the back of his head with a slight smile, "You noticed! Anko visited a few times and she dropped off something for you every time she came by. She's taken an interest in you ever since she saw your match with all that fire."
"Anko-sensei?" he asked, and then he remembered the last time he saw her with Iruka, "What happened at the Amaguriama after I left?"
"Well, uh," the chunin scratched his nose as he tried to hide the sudden blush on his face and cracked a smile, "I don't want to share all the details… but I, uh… I have a date with her as soon as the village has calmed down from the attack."
"A date?!" the blonde rookie almost screamed, "You two are dating again?!"
"Yeah," the tan chunin answered as his blush faded a little bit each second, "And to be honest, I'm kinda looking forward to it. I can't even remember the last time I ever went out."
Naruto snickered at how nervous his elder brother seemed before the chunin switched topics. He wanted to talk about what had happened after the forces from Suna and Oto attacked. Naruto steered clear of his horrific experience in the arena, and asked how the evacuation went with the school.
"I was a bit worried for a while after I saw the smoke from the arena. But I did lead the evacuation and all the students were sent to the shelters with no trouble," said the chunin, and then he looked excited as he smirked, "Oh! You'll love this: before we evacuated the students, Daikoku Funeno called a conference at the main office and was fired as the head instructor."
Naruto stared at Iruka in astonishment, "You're kidding…"
"Well," the chunin shrugged and said in a casual manner, "To be honest, he wasn't fired at all. It turned out Daikoku knew about the invasion for over a month but decided to save himself. He intended to make us wait until the enemies arrived and sell the lives of the teachers and students to Suna and Oto. So I threw him out the window of the main office."
Naruto cracked a wide smile and would have thrashed about with excitement and delight at the demise of his worst teacher.
"I don't believe it," he cheered, "THAT'S AWESOME!"
The two brothers laughed at the misfortune of the wretched teacher for a while. Iruka retold the tale down to the finest details as Naruto smiled and admired his former teacher. He chuckled at the part when Daikoku was thrown out of the school window and could imagine the look on the other teachers' faces. But after a while, the blonde rookie wondered what became of the former instructor after he was sacked.
"But where's Funeno now?" he asked.
Iruka frowned when he answered, "He's dead. At least he could be. Last time I saw him, he ran for his life and was headed towards one of the market streets. That whole area was bombed to hell. No one would have survived that, so it's safe to assume we won't have to deal with him ever again."
Naruto's smile started to fade with each word Iruka uttered. He then looked out ahead and thought back to when he first met Funeno. He remembered how cruel that instructor was to him and how difficult he made his first term at school. How he treated him like dirt and humiliated him. This same man stole Iruka's chance to become headmaster, and then tried to sell the innocent students to save his own life. Naruto's blood still boiled when he thought of him.
"He caused me so much trouble and hurt me so much when I was a little kid… Funeno was scum," he said, but then Naruto told his brother, "But it sure would be a bit sad if he's really dead."
Iruka insisted, "He was a traitor, Naruto. A man who would rather sacrifice the lives of innocent people to save himself doesn't deserve to be called a man nor is he worth the compassion… I know it sounds cruel, but there are some people the world is be better off without."
The blonde rookie sighed and figured Iruka was right. Naruto knew for a fact that men like Funeno would never amount to much and the world would be much better off without. No one in Konoha would miss Daikoku Funeno, much less Naruto and Iruka.
"So," the rookie asked, "Without that bastard around, who's in charge of the Ninja Academy?"
"That would be," the chunin soon smirked as he pointed at his chest with his thumb, "Me!"
Naruto smiled at his former teacher and congratulated him. He was delighted to hear that Iruka's ambition, his dream to become the head instructor of the Ninja Academy had come true. The blonde rookie listened as his brother rambled on about how excited he was and how wonderful it felt to be a leader. He couldn't wait to restore and rewrite the curriculum and help the students learn more and aid his fellow teachers. Naruto had never seen Iruka look so full of life and let him ramble on as much as he wanted this time.
But the chunin did take a moment to rub his shoulder as he winced.
Naruto took notice and asked, "You weren't hurt too, were you?"
"Just a sore shoulder from the number of times I used that new boomerang," he answered with a smile.
"Sounds like it worked like a charm," the blonde rookie beamed, "I bet it's going to be your preferred weapon of choice from now on then?"
Iruka frowned when he said, "I wouldn't count on it, Naruto."
The chunin reached back for his bag and showed Naruto the cleaved remains of the boomerang. The blonde-haired rookie was shocked and stared at the two halves of the weapon he crafted.
The chunin stared at the remains and looked miserable, "Gomenasai, Naruto… Kabuto Yakushi, the traitor, sliced it in two when I attacked him and he escaped."
Naruto mused over the remains of the weapon but didn't seem as lost or hopeless as his chunin friend. He took his wand in his left hand and tried to exercise the wrist movement he required.
"No problem," he insisted, "I can fix this in a heartbeat."
Before Iruka could reach out and stop his little brother from using his magic, the blonde-haired wizard touched the remains of the weapon and said, "Reparo!"
At once, the two separate halves of the boomerang shook but instead of snapping back together, the two pieces flew out in separate directions and almost sliced into both Naruto and Iruka. The two of them ducked down in time as one half zoomed above Iruka's head, sliced a few hairs clean off and dove into the wall behind him. The other half almost cut Naruto's scalp before it drove into the screen behind his bed and scattered the glass. A few sparks flew behind him before it powered down and both Naruto and Iruka rose from their ducked positions.
Iruka suggested, "Let's hold back on the magic until your arm's fixed, huh?"
Naruto nodded, sharing his concern. But soon there was a knock on the door and the two brothers looked over as the door slid to the side. Naruto hid his wand underneath the sheets while Iruka sat tall in his chair. It was Might Gai as he presented a wonderful bouquet of fresh flowers, scented with a strange substance that made the petals glisten and shine like diamonds. The man bowed his black bowl-cut head down as he breezed into the room.
"Greetings, Naruto Uzumaki. When I heard you were in the hospital-" the man smiled at Naruto and seemed calm, warm, and collected but then he blasted his eyes wide-open and shouted, "I DASHED RIGHT OVER!"
His voice had boom and the look on his face terrified Naruto and Iruka as well. The two of them froze in their seats and shivered as the two of them tried to shuffle back, far from the muscular shinobi. The two of them both let out small, childish noises that made their fear and discomfort all the more obvious. Gai rested his bouquet down on the table and reached down to his waist.
"And as I suspected… You are in a desperate need of my assistance… YOSH!"
Gai tore off the torso of his skintight suit and revealed his massive muscles. He had solid, defined abdominals, swelled biceps, a thick neck, bulbous pecks, and a solid torso, riddled with more lines that were hidden beneath his suit. Gai flexed his arms and tightened his chest while his skin shined as if he were drenched in water. But Naruto and Iruka let out identical terrified screams while Gai flexed and showed off.
"DAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
Gai continued to flex his muscles and boasted with a loud, audacious voice: "YOU NEED THE EXAMPLE OF A PERFECT, PHYSICAL SPECIMEN OF YOUTH TO INSPIRE YOUR RECOVERY!"
"SAVE ME, ANIKI!" screamed Naruto.
Gai then shouted, "YOU SEE?! YOU'RE LOOKING LIVELY ALREADY!"
Iruka had never looked more wrathful as his head swelled several times its normal size and unleashed his loudest roar to scare Gai out of the room, "WILL YOU GET OUT?!"
{{The Dumbledores by Alexandre Desplat}}
Back in the mindscape later that night, Naruto was seat on one of the soft, cushioned chairs beside the fireplace, in the room designed to look like the Gryffindor Common Room. The blonde wizard sat back and leaned into towards the warmth of the fire and listened to the fire crackle. But soon after, the silver door to Harry's office materialized on the closest wall and the wizard arrived to see his companion in one of the chairs.
"You sure look fit!" said the wizard as he commented on Naruto's arm.
Naruto scowled at him but still smiled, "You'd be surprised what a shinobi like me can still do with one arm!"
"I bet I would be if that were true," the older wizard smirked and snickered at Naruto's reaction.
Relieved from the battle, the two brothers embraced, thankful that the two of them and the others made it out of the invasion alive. Harry sat back in one of the chairs while Naruto sat back in the one he took before. The two of them had a chat and drank tea for a while as the two of them recalled the excitement of the exams, as well as the horror of the invasion. But there was one detail from the battle with Gaara that Naruto was curious about, but hesitant to look into. He wasn't sure if what he saw was a dream or if it were real. But the experience itself was almost identical to another event Naruto witnessed in the Pensieve.
"Harry," he started out slow, "When Gaara and I attacked each other… his jutsu and my spell collided and… my wand did something funny… Our combined attacks, sort of… connected."
The older wizard stared at Naruto and muttered, "Priori Incantatem…"
The older wizard sat taller than he did a minute ago. He stared at Naruto and tried to remember the exact details of that battle. He did remember their attacks hit each other, there was an intense flash, and then the two rookies were tossed in opposite directions. The older wizard stood from his seat and walked towards the fireplace to bask in the warmth and take a moment to think. He soon turned to look back at Naruto, worried and curious to know what had happen in his perspective.
"You didn't… Did you hear or see anything come out of your wand, Naruto?" he asked.
Naruto answered, "Well… when our attacks connected, I think I heard a phoenix singing… there was this flash and then… I don't know where I was… It was like I was underwater, but I could still breathe… I couldn't swim but then I heard these voices call out and talk to me for a while."
"Who were the voices?" he asked.
Naruto hesitated before he answered, "I heard Haku and then Zabuza Momochi."
"Anyone else?"
The blonde wizard nodded, looked down at his feet, but then looked back at his brother while he smiled and whispered, "I heard my parents…"
Harry stared at Naruto with absolute bewilderment on his face. He had never heard of such an instance where Priori Incantatem resulted in such an event. When he and Voldemort faced off, the reunion he had with Cedric and his parents lasted a few short, chaotic moments and he had to maintain his hold over the connection the entire time. Naruto's experience was a lot different, somewhat similar, and unique. The older wizard walked over to his apprentice and knelt down to his level. He wanted to make sure his old friend didn't become too fixated on the idea of another reunion with his mother and father.
He rested a hand on his shoulder and reminded him, "Naruto… You and I have discussed resurrection before… You know there is no spell that can ever bring the dead back to life, at least not in a true sense-"
"I know that," the blonde wizard told him as he cleaned a tear from his face and said, "But I heard them… I heard their voices… It's the first time I've ever heard them speak… How is that even possible, Nii-san?"
Harry didn't know how to answer that, so he paced around the room for a while and tried to think. He must have brainstormed for half an hour before he started speaking and saying his theory out loud while he was still deducing it, trying to make sense out of it.
"I doubt Gaara is a wizard… However… You two are both jinchuuriki and you are one powerful sorcerer, Naruto… You remember how you had those visions and your scar kept hurting before it happened? You two have a connection with each other, on a level neither one of us can understand. Priori Incantatem is when two wands that share the same source of their cores and are forced to combat each other. So we can assume the connection that activated it comes from a connection with the tailed beasts. Add a little influence from an intense source of magic and that could have caused an alternate version of Priori Incantatem to occur."
Naruto sat back in his chair and said, "I almost saw them… Mum and dad… I saw mum's hair and I felt her touch… dad too… I heard them talk to me and felt them both hold onto me… You don't think it was real, or was it all some dream I had in my head, Nii-san?"
"I don't think it was a dream, Naruto. It could have happened, but no more than a few seconds passed in the real world," he said in support of Naruto's hope that it was real, "Dumbledore and I talked for hours and no more than a few seconds had passed after Riddle struck me down in the Forbidden Forest."
Naruto fell back down in his chair and sank into the cushions while he starred at the ceiling and saw the stars illuminated with swirls of various colors.
The blonde wizard smiled as he thought about his parents and said, "Good… I want to hold onto that… I want it to be real… Ever since I was little, I wanted to hear their voices. Even after the old man showed me what mum looked like and told me how she felt about me… I wanted to know, with their words, that I was loved… and I got my wish."
Harry cracked a small, sad smile as he watched Naruto stare into the heavens and let him relax. Naruto continued to think about his mother and father as he felt this pleasant warmth in his stomach. He closed his eyes before the sight of the cosmos, unsure when he fell into his dreams. He saw his mother and then how he imagined his father looked as he floated over to them. The blonde-haired wizard fell into his parents loving embrace and dreamed of nothing else for countless, blissful hours.
To Be Continued…
And that's the latest chapter, I'm sorry it was a bit short but we are closing in on the end of the book and this chapter served more as a break from all the action of the previous chapter. And it's about time we moved on to the usual differences between the new version and the original chapter:
Let's see… In the original chapter, I created this dream sequence very different from the one I wrote here with Naruto's mother. The original dream was also a flashback of Naruto's lost past where his healing abilities were being experimented on by doctors, much like the flashbacks from the first season of the television show; "Generator Rex" Danzo was also there and wanted a sample of Naruto's blood… for some reason. I never thought it out. There was also a mob that tried to break in and kill Naruto as the doctors were experimenting, but this fanfic universe isn't like most fanfics where Naruto was attacked by angry, vengeful villagers with torches and pitchforks, so I cut the entire flashback sequence. It was entirely pointless. The second half of the dream featured Naruto confronting an evil version of himself that was becoming more and more like Lord Voldemort. This evil version raised his wand and used the Cruciatus Curse on Naruto. He was then snapped back into the real world when the doctors were forced to break his arm again because the bones were healing too quickly and were aligned incorrectly. Naruto woke up and screamed bloody murder until he was injected with countless painkillers. I thought the scene was too graphic, disturbing, and extreme, so I cut it in favor of what I wrote here.
In the original fanfic, Naruto received a lot of sweets and cards from his fellow rookies and other villagers as thanks for his assistance in defeating Gaara and saving the village from another demon attack. But the battle in the forest was so far away; I really questioned how anyone would have been able to witness it other than Temari, Pakkun, and Sasuke. So I decided to have all the sweets come from Anko as a way of building up a friendship between her and Naruto. I always imagined Anko as the kunoichi equivalent of Tonks and it would be fun for Naruto to have a friend like her, acting as an older sister to him.
In the original version, Naruto was able to fix Iruka's boomerang and the chunin recited the same line I gave him when he first used the new weapon. I did a little bit of research on wands from the Harry Potter wiki as well as Pottermore and figured it wouldn't make sense for Naruto to be able to use his magic properly if he was forced to use his left hand when he's clearly right-handed and has been unconscious for at least a week. So I had Naruto screw up a little bit and show he's still human and can't be perfect all the time.
And the biggest change from the original would be the scene talking about Priori Incantatem. In the original sequence from two chapters ago, Naruto heard the phoenix song but also heard something else. He heard the sounds of all of Gaara's victims, as well as the singing voice of a woman that tormented Gaara. I cut the details out because I wanted the Priori Incantatem to be different, sending Naruto somewhere similar to Limbo to speak with his parents. The reason I chose the woman singing in the original was that it was supposed to be Gaara's mother singing. I made up a pretty sappy theory that Gaara's mother was once a singer/dancer that the Fourth Kazekage fell in love with before he became the Kazekage. I thought it was kinda strange and overdramatic, not to mention it didn't make sense for Harry and Naruto to theorize this as they have little to no knowledge about Suna's culture.
And that's about everything, and I mean everything. This was where I left off before I decided to go back and write Book 1, Book 2, and then came back to re-write the Chunin Exams. It's kinda strange to be back here after all this time. It's been so long since I first wrote this re-written version and even longer since I wrote the original version. The next chapter will take me time to finish and then I will post the final chapter of Book 3 after that one.
I'm really eager to move on to the next book in the series and I look forward to reading your reviews as always, though I don't think this chapter has much to offer other than the dream sequence and Gai-sensei's Armstrong moment. But I will continue to write whenever I can and look forward to reading what you guys think :D I really hope you guys have enjoyed this book so far and take care until the next chapter!