Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor am I affiliated in any way with it, other than being a fan. Those rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I do own the OC's and any techniques and weapons I add to the story.
A/N: Four words. Two. Hundred. Thousand. Words!
Thank you all so much for your reviews for the previous chapter! In this chapter, Naruto and Hinata meet Alex a Chihanshu who is a bit scared of females for reasons unknown at the moment, and we begin the Suna exams! Hope Akari and the team do well!
Chapter 47: The Exams Begin!
"This is it," Kimimaro said as he, his team and Fu stood outside the gates of Konoha. "Hopefully your life will be better here than it was in Taki."
"That sentiment would be more believable if it was not your job to say it," Fu replied hotly as they went to report to the Hokage. As Kimimaro went on ahead with Suigetsu and Karin, Fu felt a hand on her shoulder, and she was forcefully turned around to come face to face with Jugo. "What's the big idea?" Fu demanded as she saw the hard expression on Jugo's face.
"You need to stop being so cynical with Kimimaro," Jugo said. "He truly wishes for you to adjust to what happened. He actually understands you better than you think."
"And just what makes you think so?" Fu growled. Normally, she was a happy-go-lucky sort of person, but the straw that broke the camel's back had just been put on her.
"Because he has told me of his past. He spent almost his entire childhood locked in a cage by his clan, for reasons he never knew, let alone could help. He was only let out when they wanted him to fight for them."
"Huh? But why would they treat one of their own like that?" Fu asked.
"Who knows? All he ever knew was what they did, not why. But the point is, he was treated similarly to the way jinchuriki have been in the past. He knows at least to an extent what you went through. That's why he feels obligated to help you."
Jugo walked after Kimimaro and the rest of the team after that, leading a slightly remorseful Fu behind him.
…...
"Naruto, are you alright?" Hinata asked as the panting blonde collapsed.
"I finally did it," Naruto said with satisfaction as he looked at the debris of the boulder he had flung the training dummy into with Shinra Tensei. Thanks to Kurama giving him so much chakra, he could almost endlessly train and master the Path in a short time frame, despite the fact that he could not rely on Shadow Clones for it. He was also having a few clones work on the other Paths, but he could not have that many on it at a time due to the disorientating effects of having so many fields of vision when he used the Rinnegan that e was still getting used to, so he had more clones studying the dojutsu and training methods with the Rinnegan shut off.
"I can finally use Deva Path effectively in combat," Naruto said as he got up.
"You shouldn't-," Hinata began, but Naruto held up a hand, took out a can of whipped cream and made a hundred Shadow Clones, each with cloned cream.
"You know what to do," he told all of them as they ran off into different directions, as if looking for someone or something. Noticing the confused expression on Hinata's face, he said, "What? Do you really want Isaac around right now?"
Hinata took the moment to giggle as she realized what Naruto was doing before the concern returned. "You shouldn't push yourself so hard you know," she said as Naruto used Deva Path to bring the training dummy back to himself. "I don't want to see you work yourself into the ground."
"I know, but if that Raizen we are up against really is the same as the one we read about, then I am going to have to be as strong as I can possibly get before the time comes if I want to face him. I mean, he went up against the guy who defeated the Jyuubi and created the ninja world, and he would have had to be stronger than Nagato was to accomplish that, and I had gone up against Nagato and would have lost without Itachi to bail me and B out that time. If I am to defeat a guy who could go toe to toe with someone with an even greater mastery of the Rinnegan and full use of his body, I will have to be as strong with the Rinnegan myself as possible before I confront the guy.
"And on top of that, we still have to deal with the Akatsuki, and Madara. That is a lot to deal with, and if they succeed in bringing the Jyuubi back again, even an incomplete form of it, we are going to have to have our work cut out for us."
"You're doing it again," Hinata said, confusing Naruto.
"Doing what?"
"Trying to take on responsibility for everything by yourself."
Naruto paused as the words sank in.
Flashback
"If you allow yourself to become arrogant and egotistical because you now have power, you will wind up the same as Madara," Itachi said to Naruto shortly after sealing Nagato. A few more words had followed before Itachi told Naruto, "Never forget your friends!"
End Flashback
In this timeline, Itachi had told Hinata to make sure Naruto did not ever try to do too much alone, and she had had to remind him a few times. "You don't have to stand on your own Naruto," she said to him. "Haven't we gotten this far this time by doing things together? There is no reason for us to stop walking down the same path, along with everyone else that has been on the road to a better future with us. We can't walk down that road if we don't help to pave it."
"Yeah, sorry, I just can't seem to stop doing that," Naruto said a little sheepishly.
"And don't forget, you did have me on your side from the beginning this time," Kurama said.
"Yeah thanks Kurama," Naruto said before he smiled at Hinata. "Still, I gotta at least make sure I pull my weight in this endeavor, but don't worry, I will leave plenty for the rest of you to do, and trust you to succeed wherever I can't."
"Thank you Naruto, that's all I ask," Hinata said before they embraced. No sooner had they broken apart than Felix came out to the training grounds.
"Hey guys, that Alex character has arrived. And he wants to know why a hundred giant squirrels that looked like they had rabies were chasing someone."
…
Alex looked confused at the rather entertaining spectacle of a man wearing a battle kimono that was grey and a red headband ran in mortal terror running laps around the compound as though his life depended on it. And if the mouth foaming squirrels that were the size of humans were anything to judge by, it probably did depend on it.
Like his uncle Nathan, Alex had open cuts on the tips of his fingers and palms, though no blood leaked from them. His eyes were also grey and his dark brown hair was cut down to his shoulders. He wore a short sleeved red vest and had black cargo pants. He also had blue fingerless gloves on. Strapped to his hip was a cutlass. He was about sixteen years old.
"Guess Naruto and Hinata wanted to have some time alone," Mathew said from behind Alex, giving the Chihanshu a start. Mathew ignored that and just ate popcorn that he somehow pulled from Kami knows where as he watched the chase going on.
"What does that have to do with this… spectacle?" Alex asked in confusion.
"The guy Isaac that is being chased right now by those squirrels has developed the bad habit of always doing something that ruins the mood between the two over the past couple of years, so lately Naruto has taken to taking advantage of the guy's fear of squirrels. Don't ask. He makes Shadow Clones to transform into squirrels to chase Isaac around so he is too preoccupied to disturb the two lovebirds. Recently he decided to make them all human sized to add some terror. The whipped cream to imitate rabies is a nice new touch."
"You must be Alex," Naruto said as he stepped out of the compound to find Alex and Mathew both waiting right outside the doors, still watching Isaac running rather comically. "I'm Naruto."
"You can make that many clones? For such an… interesting task?" Isaac asked, impressed with how casually Naruto could use the jutsu.
"Yep."
"Shouldn't you let the man stop running now Naruto?" Mathew asked. "As much as I am enjoying the show, if you and Hinata are done having your moment, then you could let him off the hook."
"Sure fine," Naruto said as he dispelled his clones. Hinata stepped out and gave a glance at the man who had passed out from exhaustion after his fear induced adrenaline wore off. She almost pitied him, but whenever she remembered the moments he had ruined, and those Naruto had to resort to such drastic measures she could enjoy, she lost that pity.
"Are you Alex Chihanshu?" Hinata asked as she approached the young man.
"Stay away!" Alex said as he backpedaled away from her, discomfort clear on his features. Hinata froze, looking slightly hurt.
"Yeah, Chihanshu clan alright," Mathew shook his head, glaring at Alex. "Same disdain for females of the human race you all have."
"I apologize," Alex said. "My actions were not out of disdain, but… let's just say I am put on edge by women."
"What, you're not scared of an "inferior being" are you?" Vanessa said as she alos came out of the building and rapidly approached Alex. But then Felix came out of nowhere to come between her and the young Chihanshu.
"As a matter of fact, he is scared of you and Hinata because of your gender, but not quite directly," Felix said. "I heard his story from him, and he has asked me to keep it between us, but I can say that he does not have the same problem as the rest of his clan."
"What do you mean he is not directly scared of them?" Naruto asked, giving Alex a hard look.
"He has been traumatized at a young age by a certain event which I will not elaborate on that is connected to this mindset of his. He is still capable of interacting with you two, but he needs to have some distance."
Hinata nodded as Felix continued to explain that Alex would be staying to train with them until the time came for the group to return to Naruto's world. Vanessa still looked at Alex with a bit of contempt in her eyes. She hated his whole damn clan. Of course, if she openly made his life miserable, Felix would let her have it. But if she was subtle enough, her father couldn't complain.
"Why don't you come inside and rest for a bit?" she asked with a bit of false sweetness. "I'll ask my mother to make you a nice large meal for you-," she was cut off as her "subtle" attempt to make Alex suffer a little was easily seen through by Felix, who gave her a bonk on the head to teach her a lesson.
"Nice try Vanessa, but I know that your mother's cooking is something only you would ever wish on your worst enemy."
Naruto sniggered at the girl. Though he could understand why Vanessa tried, even he would not try to force feed Madara those barely edible horrors that came from Erika's kitchen if he had the chance to. Honestly, the woman should just give that hobby up.
…
Three days later in Suna, a large crowd of shinobi wearing different head bands were in the receiving room of one of Suna's academies. Akari and her team were among them, and she quickly spotted Genyumaru, Haku and Kin. "Watch out for those three," she told Daisuke and Kiyoshi seriously. "Duck-Butt Sensei told me they were going to be serious competitors who should have made chunin years ago, but their sensei just found it inconvenient to take them to the exams until now."
"I wonder which of them is the greatest threat," Kiyoshi mused as he took in the other three Konoha genin.
"Well, on looks alone, I am inclined to think the big guy with the metal knuckles that he's wearing, and it looks like they are chakra conducting, but that is probably only true at close range," Daisuke whispered. "My guess is that he engages foes up close and personal while they have another ace in the hole do some damage from hidden positions a good distance away. I'm not so sure about the two females in the group though."
"I think Duck-Butt Sensei said one of them was a guy," Akari said, causing Daisuke to snigger.
"If that's the case, I pity the poor fools who end up mistakenly asking whoever it is out."
For some reason, a man wearing a Suna headband and mak- er, war paint, that was approaching the crowd sneezed violently, at the exact same moment in Konaha where an Inuzuka did so as well.
"Hey Akari, how ya been?" Konohamaru asked as he pushed his way through the crowd, Udon and Moegi close behind.
"Konohamaru, what are you doing here?" Akari asked, surprised.
"What do you think, we're taking the exams!" Konohamaru said. In this timeline, he was actually stronger than he had been at this point last time, owing partly to the fact that he got more practical tutoring from Naruto this time earlier on and also trained a bit with Akari. Udon and Moegi were also better than they were previously, because they were trying to keep up with the young Sarutobi. "Sakura-Sensei has decided we were good enough to at least take a shot, and she thinks it will be good experience for us, even if we don't make the rank!"
Yep, this time Sakura is Konohamaru's jonin instructor instead of Ebisu. In this timeline, Itachi had set up some optional advanced classes at the academy to improve the top genin that came out of the graduation process, and decided to take full advantage of Ebisu's talent as an instructor, and put him in charge of those courses. Daisuke, Kiyoshi and Konohamaru had all taken those extra credit classes.
"Oh, so Duck-Butt Sensei's girlfriend is here too?" Akari asked. Konohamaru sniggered.
"Yeah, and he better watch out. Sensei is scary when she's mad, and when your Sensei left without waiting for her to get back from our mission outside the village… well, I am just glad I am not on the receiving end of her wrath like the time I first met her and thought she was a guy because of that… flat chest of hers." Konohamaru shivered as he recalled that horrible incident. He still had nightmares.
Akari chortled. She had been around for that, and still had the pictures of Konohamaru being taught a lesson. She took one last glance around to see if there were any other people of interest competing, but only spotted Matsuri and her team among the crowd.
"Alright, listen up all of you!" the war paint wearing man shouted to all of them, and they quickly stood rigid. A few other Sand shinobi stood behind the man, but it was clear that they were just assistants in proctoring this exam. "Starting now, you are all officially in the deep shit known as trying to improve your shinobi rank, and all of your actions from here on out will be evaluated. I am the proctor for the first part of the exam, you can all call me Kankuro. The exam as a whole will consist of three parts! Today we will do the first part, which involves intelligence gathering. Those of you who get the code phrase we have set up and bring it back to tell us by sundown will pass the first exam and move on to the survival portion of the test, where you become Temari's problem!
"The ground rules are as follows. In order to get the code phrase, you are to find the people we have scattered throughout the village who know it. The villagers who have volunteered to participate will be able to give you a few leads here and there, but finding out who knows the phrase we are looking for and getting them to talk is on you. The ones in the village who are participating in this exam will be wearing one of these," he held out a bright purple wristband with three red streaks on it. "You are allowed to use torture and interrogation tactics on anyone, shinobi or civilian, wearing one of these you suspect knows the code, but you are NOT to cause any permanent physical and/or mental damage, or you will be disqualified. You are not to do anything to anyone without one of these on. If you attack or try to force any other person taking the exams to tell you what they know, that is also grounds for disqualification, though you are free to simply ask nicely and/or tell anyone else what you know should you wish to exchange information. Also, if you come back and give us even one wrong code, you are disqualified immediately, so you better be sure the source is an honest one."
Most of the genin gulped, but Akari, Daisuke and Kiyoshi were already making plans to get what they needed. The Sharingan would have come in handy if Daisuke had awakened it, but he and his team had other ways.
"Are there any questions?" Kankuro asked. "Yes?" he asked one of the genin who had raised her hand.
"Are we allowed to use anything we have brought on us?" the girl asked.
"As long as you obey the rules I have earlier mentioned, anything goes. You are also allowed to resupply in the midst of the exam if you have the ryo, since in infiltration missions, you would often have the chance to visit shops if for no other reason than to acquire information, but remember that this is not always the case. Yes?"
"Does everyone who has one of those bands on know the code, or do they just have information that could lead us to one that does?" asked another genin.
"Everyone wearing a band has intel that could point you in the right direction, but also possibly the wrong one. Only some know the code, and like I said, it's up to you to determine what intel is good intel and what intel is bad intel. Any more questions? No? Then the first exam begins!"
Akari and her team immediately left the building to find anyone wearing one of the bands, already formulating plans. What they did not know was that they were being watched by a group of Iwa genin.
"Hm, I am sure of it, that girl is a Namikaze, she is the spitting image of the Yondaime's wife," the leader of the team said. Then he started laughing. "Perhaps we can avenge the crimes against us the Yellow Flash committed in the Third War, come the second exams."
…
"Finally decided to unload the team huh?" Sasuke said as he met Zabuza outside a bar.
"Yeah, I got no problems with them all getting their vests now," the mummified man said. "Do you think your team stands a chance against mine?"
"Well, while I am sure Daisuke and Kiyoshi could put up a decent fight against at least Kin, I know that Genyumaru and Haku should be testing for jonin right now rather than chunin. So Akari would kick their asses."
Zabuza, who had unwrapped enough of his face to take a swig of beer, sprayed the beverage in shock. "Are you really saying a nine year old girl could beat either one of my own stronger students!?" he demanded.
"Yep, and age has nothing to do with strength in the shinobi world these days, unless you are just a swaddling infant. But I will bet you 20,000 ryo that if Akari faces either Genyumaru, Haku or both during the third exam, she will come out on top."
"You're on," Zabuza said, and they shook on it.
They bantered for another minute or two when Sasuke heard the blood chilling words, "Ohh, Sasuke-kun…"
Sasuek paled and then said, "Please Zabuza, tell me that the girl behind me who just said that does not have pink hair."
"She does not," Zabuza replied.
"Really?" Sasuke asked, not daring to be relieved yet.
"No not really, you just asked me to tell you she did not have pink hair so I did, though it was a lie. Don't say I never do anything for you."
"I hate you," Sasuke said to Zabuza as he turned around to face Sakura.
"Why Sasuke, I would think you weren't happy to see me," Sakura said, her tone and smile dripping with sweetness, the last way anyone who valued their internal organs and outer layers of skin would want her to address them. "Why don't we catch up a bit. We didn't get a chance to when I got back from my mission, since you LEFT BEFORE THEN!"
Yep, Sasuke was screwed. Royally, painfully, fatally screwed.
…
Omake: Top three NaruHina moments Isaac ruined. #3.
(A/N: This is my first attempt at an Omake, I just want to let you all know exactly why Naruto has to go as far as he does to keep Isaac away from him and Hinata when something is about to go on.)
"Are you sure it was a good idea to let Isaac cook for us during our alone time tonight Naruto?" Hinata asked a little nervously.
"Well, with Felix, Vanessa, Mathew and Kyle (A/N: This Omake is from before Kyle died and Naruto got the Rinnegan.) gone on that little training trip, the alternative is to have Erika do it, and I'd rather risk Isaac's antics than that," Naruto said, and he and Hinata both shuddered as they remembered the one time they had sampled Erika's cooking. All that can be said of the results of that horror was that Naruto would rather swallow Saiken's acid than go there again. "Besides, this way, we know where he is and can keep an eye on him, rather than him doing something totally unexpected to us."
"And here is your dinner, ladies, gentlemen, Naruto," Isaac said as he came into the room with a lidded dinner tray, and ignoring the glare he had earned from the blonde after that last word.
"Odd, I didn't smell anything when you cooked," Naruto said a little suspiciously, ignoring another flash of pain in his eyes.
"So your meal is a little raw, that's better than what Erika makes right?" Isaac said.
"Good point," Naruto said and Hinata giggled. Naruto lifted the lid… and he and Hinata promptly fled the room, screaming. Apparently Isaac had downplayed the "raw" part, to the extent where the meat was actually still breathing. And when Naruto said he wanted Isaac to make them some steaks, Isaac had somehow thought Naruto had said "snakes." (A/N: Cookie for anyone who recognizes that joke)
Needless to say, neither of the two ever let either Erika or Isaac prepare a meal for them again. Either one would have them run screaming from their entrée.
A/N: Yeah, I know what you are all thinking… those poor Iwa bastards don't know what they are getting into, lol.
The poll on who will fight Madara will close by the time next chapter is posted, so you likely have until tomorrow to vote! Of course, that is no absolute guarantee that next chapter will come out tomorrow, you will just have to keep your fingers crossed. Please Read and Review!
