Chapter forty six – Road to the Chunin exams

Disclaimer: The author claims no ownership of the series known as Naruto

A/N: We finally made it~!


"You think he's alright in there?" Tanaka asked Mother who had chosen that time to lean against the wall.

"The boy's strong, he'll pull through" Mother said and Tanaka was going to say something but stopped mid way when Naruto stood up. The wolf huffed at the rue smile on Mother's face. Wiping his face, the blonde turned to them with a smile of his own. "So, how was it?" she asked, pushing herself off the wall. The blonde looked down at his hands and then back at her.

"We came to an understanding" Naruto said and she arched an eyebrow at him. She could hear the sadness in his voice.

"That doesn't sound like winning to me" Tanaka said with a wry chuckle. Naruto didn't even glance at him.

"Because that's all he needed" Mother said, walking over to him. She gave him a rough pat to the head and he nodded. "Now that we've gotten that handled, I think it's time you got some rest" she said, leaving for the door.

"Wait!" he shouted, almost tripping over his own feet. She stopped and he said "I need answers".

"To what questions? You haven't asked her anything" Tanaka snidely said and Mother just placed her hand out, ordering him to be quiet.

"You want to know about your parents. You wish to know more about that burden you were forced to bear" Mother said, and Naruto who had grabbed up his jacket, nodded.

"Yes" he said, placing his mesh shirt on. "I need to know who I am. I need to know about this thing inside of me" he whispered.

"And once you know, young Uzumaki, what will you do?" Mother asked, turning to him. "What would you do once you've found out about what resides in that seal of yours?" she added, nodding her head to his stomach where the seal was seemingly tattooed.

"I would..." he said but stopped himself. "I would shoulder this pain as Yami did" he softly said, placing his hand on his stomach. She arched an eyebrow and after a few seconds of silence, she smiled.

"Very well, once your exams are over you'll receive your answers" Mother said and at his confused face, she chuckled.

"What exams are you talking about?" he asked ready to run after her but she disappeared in thin air.

"It's no use, boy" Tanaka said, sitting on his hind legs to stare at him. "She's stubborn as a mule, even when she was young" he added.

"You knew her when she was young?" Naruto asked, placing his clothes back on. Tanaka chuckled.

"Of course I did" Tanaka said and studied his face. "You remind me of her in a way" he added.

"Me?" Naruto asked and Tanaka seemed to mull over some thoughts before sighing at him. "What?" he added.

"Nothing" Tanaka said and he was going to leave as well but decided to stay a little while longer, so he could warn him. "A little advice kid" he said and Naruto looked at him. "Now that you've achieved true inner peace, you know what that means, right?" he asked.

"Yeah" Naruto mumbled and Tanaka nodded.

"Good. At least you know" Tanaka said and pattered over to him. "Things more evil than that baka fox inside of you, will be heading your way, Uzumaki" he added before he returned to wherever it was he came from.


"How long are we supposed to wait here?" Sakura whined leaning against the bridge they were currently awaiting their very late sensei.

"Knowing Hatake-sensei, it's going to be awhile" Naruto mumbled as he sat down on the ground.

"It seems like you don't have a good impression of me, Naruto-kun~" Kakashi spoke as he approached in lazy strides.

"You're late" Sakura gritted and Sasuke followed up with a glare of his own. Kakashi raised his hands in the air whilst eye smiling at them.

"Maa, you see I had the misfortune of crossing paths with a green turtle that kept pestering me for a race" Kakashi said. Naruto snorted, Sasuke "hnned" and Sakura clenched her fists, ready to punch the man to a pulp. "You three don't believe me, do you?" he asked.

"What gave us away, I wonder?" Sasuke asked and only received a ruffle of the head. Kakashi was forced to remove his head, as a kunai was sent his way.

"What did I say about attacking your sensei, naughty boy?" Kakashi asked and Sasuke was ready to pulverize him.

"Can you please tell us why we're here? If you should know, you're wasting our time" Sakura said, with a sigh. All the three males turned her way, each of their eyebrows raised. Usually she would have loudly admonished their teacher. "I'm tired" she said with pink cheeks once Sasuke's eyes were on her. "I was up late doing some research" she confessed at their curious gazes.

"Well that's new...and unexpected" Kakashi said and then clapped his hands, effectively surprising them. "Onto more pressing matters" he chirped as he took out three slips of paper before each handing them out to his students. "The chunin exams are coming up and I've nominated you all" he said.

"The chunin exams?!" Sakura shrieked and Kakashi was certain it wasn't out of excitement.

"Yes" he said and his playful demeanor vanished, causing for the present genin to straighten up. "This will be a completely different playing field, as genin from the other shinobi villages will be attending this year's exams which is taking place in Konoha" he said, and he could already see how Sasuke's eyes lit up at the prospect of fighting strong opponents. "This exam is not to be taken lightly you three. Because one wrong move can mean death" his words skated across their skins. "More than ever, you all will have to rely on team work. You will have to look out for your comrades just as they will have to look out for you" he said, allowing for his words to sink in. He knew that they had gotten closer in the Land of Waves, but this chunin exams was on another level. Unlike the Konoha genin they had that year, the other hidden villages had rather sadistic genin from what he had heard (his Anbu contacts). When he was certain they understood what he meant, he eye smiled at them. No matter what, he thought, the brats will be fine. "And with that, Sensei wishes you good luck and good bye!" he chirped before disappearing.

"This is really happening, isn't it?" Sakura whispered, looking at Naruto and Sasuke for confirmation.

"We just need to listen to Hatake-sensei and we'll be alright" Naruto said as he stood up. "I hope" he made sure to add. However the two boys were so preoccupied with themselves, they didn't even see Sakura's hands shaking.


"The chunin exams" Naruto whispered as he walked down the street. He knew he should be excited about getting his chance at moving up in the shinobi ranks, but from what Anko-sensei had told him about them, he knew it would mean...He shook his head of such thoughts when his mind ran on his purple haired teacher. When he got back to the village, he hadn't seen the woman. According to the Sandaime, she was commissioned on a special assignment, and wouldn't be back until tomorrow. "But that means I won't be able to see her because tomorrow the chunin exams begins" he whispered to himself.

"Naruto-nii!" a high pitched voice shouted and when he turned, he watched as Konohamaru as well as two other kids his age ran up to him. Wearing similar shinobi gear he was wearing before he had been given his current coat.

"I like the clothes" Naruto said and Konohamaru with a pleased look on his face blushed. "And who are these two?" he asked.

"Boss, these are my friends, Moegi and Udon!" Konohamaru shouted. Naruto chuckled and placed a hand on his head.

"Good for you, little monkey" Naruto said and Konohamaru's eyes widened at the nickname.

"Oh, is he related to you, Naruto?" Sakura asked a cheeky grin on her face. Naruto snorted as she laughed. The events of the Land of Waves had managed to repair the little friendship they had left and whenever Sakura looked at him, there was no longer the underlying guilt in her eyes.

"Very funny" Naruto said and Sakura stood beside him to study the kids in front of them. "Konohamaru, Udon, Moegi, this is Sakura, my team mate" he added.

"Wow, you're very pretty" Moegi said and Sakura turned red. Naruto snorted again, only to receive a light nudge in the ribs from the girl.

"Is she your?" Konohamaru asked, raising his pinky finger. The three younger kids watched as Naruto and Sakura turned to each other before vigorously shaking their heads at the same time. "That's okay, because my Naruto-nii wouldn't like someone with a forehead that big!" he shouted and laughed as Sakura ran after him. They were running around for a few seconds in a circle, before Konohamaru bumped into a boy wearing a black cat suit.

"Watch where you're going, brat" the boy wearing war paint barked before pulling Konohamaru off the floor and into the air by the front of his clothes.

"Already making friends I see, Kankuro" a blonde girl with four pig tails said as she approached.

"Shut up, Temari" the boy identified as Kankuro said before looking at a frightened Konohamaru who was still in his grasp. "Listen up kid, if you apologize, maybe then I'll let you go. I promise I won't beat you up….too bad" he added with a laugh.

"Wow, you're so tough" Naruto said, and even Sakura was taken aback by the frigid tone the blonde had adopted. Tension zipped in the air as Naruto took off his hood to reveal equally as cold eyes. "How weak do you have to be, to go around picking on little kids who can't defend themselves?" he asked.

"What did you say, blondie?" Kankuro asked, dropping Konohamaru who scampered to safety: behind Sakura.

"You heard me" Naruto said, his hands in his pockets yet his body was tense. "I called you weak" he whispered, a smile as sinister as his tone appeared on his face.

"Kankuro" Temari called after her brother who was ready to pull out one of his puppets. Luckily (or not), Gaara appeared in a whirl of sand.

"Enough" the red head said, and the blonde's eyes narrowed. Unlike most, he couldn't hear any sound from the red haired boy's chakra, like he normally did. In fact, he could barely feel it but the little that he did feel, felt like death itself. "You're a disgrace, Kankuro" he added to the boy who seemed to be shivering.

"At least you've trained him" Naruto chuckled and the red head's icy gaze turned to him. "Next time, keep your little kitty there in check" he added only for the red head to smirk. Naruto watched as Gaara raised his hand, seemingly towards Naruto only for a rock to stop that pale hand.

"I'm guessing that boy in the bushes belongs to your team" Gaara said, motioning to the side. Sasuke, despite where his previous hiding place was, strode towards them with grace only the Uchiha seemed to achieve.

"And you are?" Sasuke asked taking his place beside Sakura and Naruto. "You do know that you were ready to attack genin of Konoha right? And that boy there, he's the Sandaime's grandson" he added, watching as horror etched its way on Kankuro's face. Gaara on the other hand just smirked.

"Interesting" the red head said before glancing at his siblings. "It's time we took our leave" he added but not before pausing to stare at the three. "And you all are?" he asked.

"Team seven" Sasuke spoke up, causing his fellow team mates to smile. "And you?" he asked.

"Gaara of the Sand" the red head said, turning his back on them. "Try not to die, Team seven" and with that, the siblings left.


Additional notes: O.O Sasuke-kun has grown up, hasn't he? Aw~

So anyway, to LordGhostStriker: Nah…..I decided not to change Naruto's hair or eye color…though your question gave me an idea, so thanks. As for why: I thought that when Yami's eyes turned from red to blue, it sort of symbolized (to me anyway) that good had won and it was why in canon, Naruto's eyes remained the same. So I kept it as is.

HOWEVER, if Yami had won, now that is a different thing. I think that Naruto's eyes would turn from blue to red….or something like that…

As for the hair…I already plan to let Naruto learn seals…add red hair to that and you would get most of the fan fiction written about a fuinjutsu Naruto, a path I want to avoid. As a result the hair is a no go for now. Doesn't mean I wouldn't change it though…maybe…but if I do, it's probably not going to be red. (I can already see some of you asking: If not red or blonde, what other color is there?) I don't know myself, but hey, something might come up, you never know.

To tacticalkiller7: Thanks. I'm just glad you enjoyed it.