The Hidden Truths of the Village Hidden in the Leaves
Summary: Starting after the trip to the Land of the Waves, Sasuke has developed a sense of overprotectivness a shinobi feels towards their partner and Naruto has to deal with new surprises every day. The secret behind the Uchiha clan massacre is revealed and Orochimaru is scared of one man. ANBU and foxes flock towards Naruto as much as danger does. A whole new take on the life of Team 7 and co.
Two weeks passed and Rookie 9 and Team Gai were fully healed, as if they had never fought Utsukushi, Inpu and that giant demon that had nearly stepped all over them. Their sensei's were fine as well and were preparing for the big event.
The Chuunin Exams were starting in two days and there was much to prepare. Genin from all countries have been arriving for days now and there were some pretty scary ones. Quite a few worried for Rookie 9, especially Iruka, since Naruto was on Team 7. The rest of their former classmates had refused to have anything to do with the Exams, having heard quite a few death stories and valuing their lives too much. Iruka had tried at least drawing Team 7 out of it, but Kakashi refused. They were his subordinates, as he had told Iruka, and he knew them best. With Sasuke and Naruto as a team, and Sakura having been training more recently, they should be fine. Iruka wouldn't listen, so he went to test them, but in Kakashi's humble opinion, he had been too soft on Naruto. The Kyuubi's vessel had improved exponentially since the last time Iruka had seen him fight, and that, too had only been a month and a half ago, at the Genin Games. At least they were going to participate, even if Iruka was avoiding the jonin now.
Another person who had not exactly been happy about the Chuunin Exams had been "Uchitachi". Though he didn't make a fuss about Naruto-sama participating, he demanded that he be allowed to patrol the second stage and the Hokage had no problems with that, as long as he didn't interfere. Hiruzen knew it was going to be hard enough for the man not to interfere with deadly blows or serious dangers to his charge, so he had allowed the ANBU to watch over him... from a greater distance. And if something really put the Kyuubi vessel in danger, he was allowed to step in. But it had to be something that would have been stopped no matter which participant was at stake. The ANBU captain had, of course, understood and had been satisfied with this new "freedom". Kuro Onyx now constantly followed the blond without being detected, a form of training for both bird and master to not interfere or be detected.
Sakura had been nervous about the whole thing, as she knew every team was as strong as its weakest link, and she had finally come to realize and accept that that wasn't Naruto. The boy might have been thrown through who knows how many walks by Utsukushi, but he had fought her and Inpu and he had survived with only some bruises and cuts as proof of that event, while she had barely fought one enemy. Naruto may be brash and loud, but he had gotten strong while she was still at the same level as she had been before. Really, the only new thing she had was the move Sasuke-kun had thought her during the break at the Genin Games. She had practiced it more and some shuriken jutsus, but she was nowhere near good enough to fight Sasuke-kun or even Naruto one on one without either boy laughing in her face for even thinking she could. Well, yeah, they wouldn't really laugh, but they wouldn't take her seriously as they would each other. She had watched them spar a few days ago when they had gotten pissed by something (not each other, for once) and had needed to vent a little. Kakashi swore they were fighting to show off while being brutal, a dangerous combination. She would have been dead in five minutes in such a fight.
Naruto was rather excited about possibly getting a new rank! It would mean he was one step closer to becoming Hokage! And he would meet lots of new people. He hoped he could make some friends of them at first, but after meeting that team from Sand, he gave up such childish wants. Had it not been for Sasuke that time, two days ago, that guy from Suna would have surely hurt him and the kids. Konohamaru hadn't been as opposed of Sasuke as he had been before, which was good. But, seriously, if Sasuke hadn't arrived, Naruto would have had to rely on Kurama to fight that freak, and the fox had been frizzled all day, even more so when that red haired guy with a huge pot on his back arrived. After that, Kurama had closed himself off in the dark shadows of his cage and didn't want to talk to Naruto. He didn't talk to him for the two remaining days before the Exams began, so the blond took this as his opportunity to train without Kurama and try to become stronger without always relying on the Kyuubi's incredible powers. Kurama, of course, felt guilty later for ignoring his Jinchuuriki but Naruto wasn't angry so they were chatting again. They agreed that Naruto needed more training on his own before he started his training with the biju as a Jinchuuriki. That didn't exclude the Kyuubi from helping in the Exams if such a situation arrived.
Sasuke must have looked the least eager but was actually the most so. This will be the perfect opportunity to see how strong he was, how much he had improved since he vowed to himself to kill his brother and to see how much more he had to improve. He might even find something out about his brother from some of the other participants. But he had an extremely bad feeling about all of this. For starters, as soon as they arrived to the right classroom (there were some idiots who wouldn't let them in a wrong classroom. How those who needed him and Sakura to tell them that was not the second but the first floor expected to get through these Exams alive, Sasuke didn't know) they were met with a strong killer vibe from quite a few teams. No matter how long these idiots spent as genin, they should never be able to match the killer intent Kakashi and Zabuza had had during their fights. That only comes from killing so many people and watching enough blood, friend and foe alike, that you can see it every time you close your eyes. Even when you blink. He would have tried to find from whom it was coming from, but Ino had distracted him by all but barreling into him.
Then Ino and Sakura were fighting like before the Genin Games and before the mission and then the rest of Rookie 9 arrived and he could just see what everyone had been thinking: fresh soon-to-be-dead meat. He was more than smug to see quite a few of them flinch away at his death glare. Oh yeah. He's still good. Kiba was making a lot of noise with Naruto, making everyone glare at them and then a strange dude, Kabuto or something, had walked over and started telling them all about the Exams and the information he had on each participant through some cards. Surprisingly enough, Naruto had stepped away from him as soon as the purple-wearing, glasses kid arrived and he kept his distance. Even when Sasuke came closer to get information on Gaara.
There was a good reason for Naruto to stay away from the seemingly nice Kabuto. Naruto was sure of that. He was just waiting for Kurama to tell him. As soon as the gray haired older boy had come their way, Kurama had started screaming at Naruto to stay away from him, no matter what. Naruto didn't understand, but since he didn't want Kurama to take over and show everyone just what was inside Naruto, the orange clad boy had obeyed and watched from a little ways away. Kurama wanted to keep him in sight even though he wanted to be far enough away from him that if he attacked, Kurama could take over Naruto's body fast enough to react without Naruto or any of his friends getting hurt. And he had also insisted on Naruto staying away from the guys from the Hidden Village in the Rain, especially the leader. Naruto had no objections to that, as the look in the guy's eyes freaked him out.
As did their first instructor, Ibiki or something. The man was tall and intimidating in his black trench coat and with the scars he had. He told them the rules and Naruto was freaking out and panicking as he was sat far away from Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme. At least Hinata-chan was sat beside him! At least there was a familiar face around. Kurama had tried calming him down but he was beyond hope. Of course he felt Sakura's glare on his back when they were told if one teammate failed, all three will be dropped. Surprisingly enough, Sasuke wasn't glaring at him. He felt somewhat comforted by that fact.
The test was impossible! Sasuke was the first to realize this as he looked down at the questions. There was only a couple that he could answer and that was only because he had loved bugging Itachi for shuriken and kunai throwing techniques. If he hadn't been so ... obsessed (he hated describing himself like that but it was the closest attribute he could think if) with his older brother, he would have left a blank sheet. 'Wait!' Hadn't the instructor told them that they'll get a 2 point reduce if they were caught cheating instead of being failed immediately? Why would they do that? In a normal situation, if one was caught cheating, their test would be nullified. And the test itself was too hard for a genin to answer. Sasuke only knew two answers because he had had a genius brother who had passed the Chuunin Exams all on his own. There was no way anyone knew all the answers! And they were practically inviting them to cheat! 'To cheat like a shinobi and not get caught.' He realized. He wondered if his teammates understood this as well. 'Sakura might. Naruto, you better get this!'
Sakura was currently writing down her answers frantically. She wasn't called her generation's shrewdest child for no reason. Sasuke-kun may have graduated at the top of their class but she was a damn close second. Besides, she knew Sasuke-kun liked smart girls. He hated idiots, so it always surprised her when he would drag Naruto away or let the blond drag him away. She didn't understand their friendship but she could deal with it. Naruto really wasn't so bad after you got to know him. He was still annoying, though, and pretty dumb. She hoped he would get at least one question right. If he was having trouble, then he should read more. Like her!
Naruto was having a little mental break down in his head. His face was blue, he was sweating, his hands were shaking and his brain hurt. He was deaf and blind to all around him. He didn't even hear Kurama yelling at him to slow down so the fox could answer some of the questions for him. He didn't want to fail, not because he would have to wait for the next exams, but because he didn't want to drag Sakura-chan and Sasuke with him. He didn't mind if he has to wait a while again to take the Exams a second time but Sasuke would hate him for it and Sakura ... Well, Sakura already didn't really like him. She could only dislike him more.
The blond sighed as he felt a nudge from his side. This was the second time Hinata-chan was trying to offer him answers and he was going to refuse them again. But he was grateful to her, though, because he had calmed down. And now he regretted it, because he was sure his ears will bleed.
FUCKING FINALLY! I'VE BEEN YELLING FOR HALF AN HOUR NOW! Naruto winced and the fox quieted down so as not to deafen his host. Now, as I was saying, slow down so I can answer some of those questions.
'Eh? You know these things?'
Not everything, but I do know a few things. And you can use my sharp sight to peek at others' answers.
'But they'll deduct my points if they catch me!' The blond protested, worrying his lower lip. 'I don't want to cause trouble for Sasuke and Sakura-chan.'
You know you mustn't get zero points, either. The fox reminded and Naruto gulped. Cheating went against everything he stood for, which was hard work and determination. That's how he got so far in his life and he would really like for it not to change, but sometimes, change was forced on people. Like now. He would have to change for this test if he wanted to become a chuunin and be one step closer to realizing his dream. Naruto, I think the whole point of this test was for you to gather information undetected.
'You think?' The blond asked, not even noticing that time was passing. They only had a few more minutes left until the tenth question was revealed.
Positive. Intel is very important for ninja missions. Be it gathering information or extracting it from prisoners, it is invaluable. Every nation has specialists who have mastered interrogation and such techniques so that they could protect their village's secrets. Many give their lives for it. Kurama explained, he, too, forgetting about the ticking time. They tended to do that, as they usually had really interesting conversations. To Naruto, Kurama was a great source of information, allowing the blond to study things that he never could get access to due to the villagers not wanting him to succeed as a ninja. To the fox, his Jinchuuriki was his closest friend, almost a little brother, his Kit that had somehow put aside prejudice and accepted Kurama for who and not what he was. They have come to rely on each other to keep the other company or chase away the loneliness and fears they might have. They may be tied together for eternity but it was their close bond that not only made it bearable but desirable. They wouldn't change each other for the world, and that's saying something for the imprisoned Kyuubi. I really think that's the point of this test. To make everyone realize just how much is risked for even the smallest amounts of information.
'I got it, dattebayo.' Naruto thought and he was just about to start writing what Kurama would tell him when Ibiki spoke up. "Alright, put your pens down. I will give you the final question now." The blond paled and his inhabitant cursed that they hadn't even noticed the time was up. Sasuke stared worriedly at the stiff back of the orange clad blond and Sakura looked around, not understanding what was going on (Ino had just released her from her mind transfer technique she had used to get answers from the pink haired girl) as everyone stopped working and looked on nervously at their instructor.
Ibiki observed them all and had to admit that a lot more genin had made it through the first part of the test. This year was going to be interesting, it would seem. A few had caught his interest, either in their panic or in their cool behaviors. He had seen quite a few interesting ways of cheating and he was interested with how well they had done. Not that it would matter, because it all came down to the tenth question. If they fail here, they will have to retake the test during the next Chuunin Exams later that year.
"Before I give you the final question, I will ask you if you want to quit now." He got quite a few confused looks, which was to be expected. After all, if they had made it this far, why would they suddenly want to quit and fail? "Once you make this decision, there is no backseats. You chose on your own free will and you will live with the consequences." That only got him more confused looks and Ibiki did his best to repress a full blown smirk. "Because if you take the tenth question and fail, not only will the rest of your test be nullified and you will fail, along with your teammates," they were all watching him with horrified anticipation, cold sweat running down their entire bodies. "But you will also forever be banned from taking the Chuunin Exams ever again!"
A look of horror was plastered on everyone's faces, none so much as on Uzumaki Naruto's as his chances of becoming Hokage just cracked into a million pieces like a broken glass figurine.