Disclaimer

I, Syraxes, do not own the Naruto manga, Naruto anime, Naruto shippuden anime, the Boruto manga or anime, video games or Naruto novels. They are property of Masashi Kishimoto and Studio Pierrot. I am a fan making this for the enjoyment of other fans. Please support the official release

Chapter 26

Guren rolled her eyes. Ryuzetsu, always the pragmatists. "Yeah, we could go and wait by the red building, but who knows how long that would take? We don't know when any of the teams are going to pass."

Ryuzetsu glared at her over Muku's shoulder. "It's the best option. Whatever team heads for the building will have already fought a battle. They'll have both scrolls, and be weakened. We can take all three scrolls, removing an extra from the field."

"Yeah, but we still won't know how long we'll be waiting. You're also assuming a lot. What if the team doesn't just go straight to the building? What if they decided to rest and go after a nights sleep?"

They had already allowed one whole day to pass, and they hadn't encounter a single team.

"Actually," Muku said, cutting Ryuzetsu off, "I agree with Guren. Not about waiting- Guren, you really should try and work on your patience- but we don't know if they'll be weak. Moreover, other teams might have thought about the same thing and could possibly already be there waiting. If we get drawn into a group battle..."

Ryuzetsu sighed. "Alright, I see your point."

Guren took the chance to reinforce that she had been right. "See, Ryu, I told you I was right."

She fired up immediately, "Don't call me Ryu!" she hissed, shooting Guren her death glare.

"Only Muku can call you that, right?" Guren said laughing.

"Ryuzetsu, calm down. You can't attack Guren, she's your teammate." Muku said, always the peacemaker. "Guren, stop egging her on."

He turned his eyes to give her a reproachful look.

"Okay, okay." She held her hands up, rolling her eyes.

"We won't have to look far for another team," Muku said, turning away from them. "I can sense three people coming towards us. That way."

As he pointed, Guren was once again reminded how useful having a sensory shinobi on her team was.

When the Iwa team (the stone depicted on the hitai-ate giving them away) arrived, they stopped. All three of them were girls. The red head stepped forward. "It seems like you knew we were coming. My jutsu should have hidden our presence."

Guren snorted. One of her favorite past times was making fun of people, and enemies were the best to do so with. "You're not as skilled as you think you are, red. We could see you coming from a mile away."

The words passing from her were a complete lie; had Muku not mentioned it, they would've never even sensed them, but the spasm of rage that passed over her face was worth it.

The girl next to purple head laughed. "My, my, what a bitch. From one to another, 'course."

Nice to see one of them has a sense of humor.

"What scroll do you have? No point in fighting if we both have the same scroll."

Leave it to Muku to try and talk his way out of a battle.

"A heaven scroll."

Oh goody.

"We have an earth scroll," Muku said in reply.

"If you hand over your scroll peacefully, we won't have to hurt you."

"That's big talk, purple. Think you can back it up, little girl?" The insult came easily to her. The purple haired girl narrowed her eyes.

"I have to agree with Guren. If you want our scroll, you'll have to take it."

It wasn't often that Ryuzetsu agreed with her, but she always savored the moments when Ryu did.

"Fine. Let's make sure we aren't disturbed first." The purple haired girl slammed her hands together. The buildings and roads shimmered, before returning to normal.

"That will make sure no one sees what I'm about to do. Suiren, take white hair. Fuyo, you have the boy. Big mouth is mine."

"Right, Ajisai!"

"Ajisai, huh? I'm Guren. Don't take this personally, but I'm going to hurt you."

She didn't say anything, jumping away from her teammates and towards her. That was fine too.

"Shoton: Crystal Encampment Wall!" Guren slammed her hands against the pavement and a wall of crystals shot up between her and Ajisai. Guren was surprised to see the girls punch put a crack on the wall. She must be skilled at infusing her chakra.

Guren could channel her chakra into the wall and take care of that crack, but that would only delay her attack.

"Shoton: Growing Crystal Thorns!" From the wall, crystal thorns shoot out, and nearly impaled Ajisai, who dodged out of the way at the last second.

"Shoton: Suishōrō no Jutsu!" The crystal shot up from below her, encasing Ajisai's body in a crystal. Guren allowed the wall to fall apart, examining her good work; stuck in the crystal, the purple haired girl.

She didn't see the fist and before she could react, it connected with the right side of her face. Staggering backwards, the footsteps running. Guren made the substitution, replacing herself with a potted plant under one of the windows, just above the ground. Guren wasn't shocked to see Ajisai standing where she had just been, smirking up.

"So you can make solid clones?"

"Impressive, right? You fell for it."

"Yeah. I guess you got me." Guren jumped down, landing lightly on her feet.

"Shoton: Suishi Kyo." The crystal appeared between Guren and Ajisai. While it would block Ajisai's view of her, it worked both ways. She would have to be quick.

Her reflection was the only thing that greeted her, staring back at her. Guren began to weave more seals. "Suisho Bushin no jutsu."

Guren watched as her reflection stepped out of the mirror. The clone smiled at her.

"What? Are you going to keep hiding behind that thing?" Ajisai's voice carried over the mirror.

The clone gave her a smile. Clone Guren bolted right, throwing a kunai. Guren could hear the clank of metal on metal, as the clone disappeared from her sight.

"What's going on?" A voice yawned out from behind her. Turning around, Guren came face to face with a sleepy looking resident, peering out his now opened window. Right where she had been.

That's strike one. Damn purple hair, can't you do anything right.

"Sorry about waking you kid. If you could just go back to sleep," Guren said in a soft voice. Her words carried the Genjutsu, it was very low level, but against a sleepy, untrained child, it worked like a charm; the kid closed his eyes and fell back on his bed.

How many people are we allowed to be seen by again? More than one, hopefully.

Guren turned back to the crystal mirror in front of her and stepped into it. From the mirror, she could see what was happening in the mirror's sight line; her clone, more solid than a normal shadow or water clone, was fighting Ajisai. Ryuzetsu and Muku were in the middle of their own battles, though they were too far away for Guren to make out in the mirror.

Her clone was fighting valiantly, but it'd only be able to hold up so long. It'd start to fracture soon and Ajisai would know it's a clone by then.

Guren leaned forward in the mirror and waited; the battle between her clone and Ajisai continued, her clone slowly being pushed back. At that moment, when Ajisai turned her back to the mirror, following the clone, Guren struck; she raced out of the mirror.

"Shōton: Suishōtō!" The crystal blade formed on her left arm.

"Kesshō no Yoroi!" Her right hand was covered in the crystal armor. Ajisai kicked away her clone and turned back to face Guren, just in time for her face to be smashed in by the crystal fist.

Guren brought her knee up, slamming it into the other girl's jaw. Guren used the momentum to slam Ajisai into the brick wall, holding the blade under her chin.

"You make one move and I'll cut your throat," she warned, pressing the blade against the skin. "Understand?"

Ajisai nodded. "Good." It was at times like this, Guren wished she could mold her chakra nature to lightning, but she didn't have that talent.

So we'll do it the hard way. Guren molded the earth chakra into the crystal armor, before slamming it into the girl's stomach. Ajisai's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed.

Guren quickly searched her pouch and found the heaven scroll. Bingo.

Slipping the scroll into her own pouch, Guren dragged Ajisai into the alley, hiding her behind the large trash cans. Guren didn't know when she'd wake up, better than leaving her out where anyone could find her.

A plan was already forming in Guren's mind. If she came out with the scroll, then this girl's teammates would fight. What if they could get away without fighting and still pass?

"Henge no Jutsu." Smoke exploded around Guren and the chakra surged through her body, changing it so she looked like Ajisai.

Jumping out from the alley, she allowed the crystal blade to disintegrate, stopping the flow of chakra to it, but she kept the armor active.

It wasn't hard to find Ryuzetsu, the demon lantern jutsu swirling around her. She was fighting the girl Ajisai had called Suiren.

Guren appeared behind Ryuzetsu and attempted to kick her, but Guren's teammate was no pushover; while blocking Suiren's kunai, Ryuzetsu brought her arm up to block her kick.

Ryuzetsu glanced at her. "You? Where is-"

Guren pulled her leg back and jumped around her, to Suiren's side. "I got the earth scroll from the girl," Guren lied. Muku had given it to her for safe keeping but the scroll she took wasn't the one Ajisai had. Suiren grinned, but she could see the confusion on Ryuzetsu's face.

"Lets get Fuyo and get out of here!" Suiren said, weaving her hand seals.

"Sorry girl, but the golden kunai is mine!" Guren said the statement in Ajisai's voice, but Ryuzetsu would understand. It was a code phrase Muku had come up with; it meant fall back, and follow.

Between Guren and Ryuzetsu, a blast of water exploded from the ground. "Come on!"

Guren followed, jumping up to the top of the nearest building. "Show me."

Never one to disobey, Guren pulled out the both the heaven and earth scroll, showing it to her.

"Good job, Ajisai. Konan-sensei is going to be really pleased."

I don't know about Konan, but Maori-sensei will be. Maybe I can get a kiss from Muku; that would drive Ryu crazy.

As they raced across the rooftops, they passed Muku fighting Ajisai's other teammate. "Fuyo! Come on, we're pulling out!" Suiren yelled down to her. The girl broke off the battle right away, jumping up to join them.

She saw Muku staring at her and Guren grinned; he knew the feel of her chakra. He had been on her team for a year, and was very familiar with the feel of their chakra.

Ryuzetsu stopped next to Muku and began speaking. Come on. You two can figure it out.

The plan hinged on her teammates putting two and two together.

"Did we get their scroll?" Fuyo asked.

"Yes," she answered in Ajisai's voice, holding up both scrolls. Fuyo grinned. Guren put the scroll back in her pouch.

"We're going to the red building," she declared.

"The quicker we can we pass, the better mood Konan-sensei will be in," Fuyo said, nodding. "Let's go."

It didn't take them long to make it to the red building, all according to plan. Guren looked behind her, but if her teammates were following, she couldn't see them.

Come on.

Guren dropped down in front of the now familiar red building. Standing outside, two of Konoha's Anbu were on either side of the door.

"No fighting inside. Once you enter, if you attack anyone, you'll be disqualified from the exam." One of them spoke; hard to see which, with the mask covering their faces.

"Understood." Guren pushed the doors open, Ajisai's teammates entering after her. The path was familiar and she walked down the corridor. The room that had been used to give the teams there scrolls was changed; gone was the large desk and two shinobi behind it. Just a large, empty room, with a door behind where the desk had been.

"What what do we do now? Open the scrolls?" Suiren asked.

Two sets of footsteps entered behind them. Guren turned around and gave her teammates a wide grin.

"Yes, I think you're right, Suiren."

"What are you two doing here? We already got inside, you can't- Ajisai, what are you doing?"

Guren walked to Muku's side, turning around to face them. She released the transformation jutsu and a wave of smoke later, Guren was in her own skin.

"Thank you for making sure our teammate arrived safely," Muku said, giving them each a nod. A deep, bubbling laugh burst from Guren's lips.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura jumped up from her seat, throwing the chair backwards. He noticed the wary glance she shot him, closing the door gently behind him. "How is Sasuke?"

Kakashi looked around, drumming his fingers against his Jonin flak jacket. "Where is Naruto?"

"He went out; something about trying to find a decent ramen place." I swear, if he could get away with eating nothing but ramen, he would. Good thing Sasuke can cook, Kakashi thought.

"How is Sasuke?" she repeated again.

"He woke up." After sleeping for almost twenty-four hours, Sasuke had awakened; and the rage he woke up in, Anko hadn't been able to do it justice. Kakashi could still clearly see the black marks that were inked across his skin. Sasuke hadn't been in his right mind then, attacking him and Jiraiya. It hadn't been too much of a hassle; he was still a Genin. When he attacked them, Sasuke was different; more dangerous than Kakashi had ever seen him as Orochimaru's power surged around him, the chakra becoming visible for a few seconds. It had been a dark purple, almost black. "He should be okay now. The medical staff wants to keep him under observation for the time being."

When the power finally gave out, Sasuke snapped out of whatever trance he was in. The Cursed Seal receded, Kakashi wasted no time in sealing it, after explaining what it was and what the seal would do. Master Jiraiya was with him now. Kakashi hoped he had been able to collect useful data.

Sakura slid back into her seat. "That's good. Really good. When will we be able to see him?"

"Later today, most likely. He won't be in any shape to train or spar for a few days after, but he'll be making a full recovery before the week is finished."

Sakura beamed at him.

Once the second exam is finished, we should have some time until the third exam is set to start. Sasuke should be recovered by then. I better come up with a schedule for the brats or who knows what they'll do.

Damn it. A whole city and not one decent ramen joint! The last place I looked at didn't even have ramen! The only place close to ramen was a tsukemen place. Tsukemen! Really! Dipping noodles, what do they think they're doing? If old man Teuchi was ever to fall off the wagon, I don't know what I'll do. Tsukemen.

What was he going to do now? He supposed he might as well go find someplace out to eat... But he really wanted ramen. Kakashi-sensei had forbidden him from eating any during training for the Chunin Exam. What did he have to do to get some ramen?

Naruto didn't realise just how far he walked in his quest for the most elusive of foods, until he noticed a small bathhouse. A hot spring bathhouse. He had seen this place from his spot on the train, as he entered the city itself. I must have walked far.

Naruto looked around; the street was small, though cleaner than he would have thought, given he was in a city. Not too many people were around, which didn't surprise him. It was still early on in the day and he knew many of the cities residents were still at work.

This place will probably be crowded later tonight. Might as well enjoy the lack of people. Sakura would understand.

With that happy thought, Naruto found himself bare chested, a towel heaved over his shoulder a short time later. His thoughts continued to return to Sasuke and he wondered how the Uchiha was doing. Kakashi had said he had some of the best people looking after him, but he and Sakura hadn't even been allowed to visit.

"Oooooooh. Oh yeah. Mmmm. Yeah, that's what I like to see! Yeahahahahah."

All thoughts of Sasuke were driven from his mind. What was that.

It had come from the room he had just went by. Naruto walked backwards slowly, stopping in front of the closed door.

"Yeah. Yeah. Come on baby. Get up out of the water. Let's see those luscious melons!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. He had lived with enough roommates to know the tone of that voice; the tone of a pervert. Back at the academy, Naruto had had his fair share of perverted roommates. More than once, he had caught one or more of his roommates trying to sneak a peek into the girl's changing room. They sounded just like this guy.

Naruto threw the door open, the sound of it slamming as it hit the wall. The old man, who appeared to be looking at something in the wooden wall, jumped. On the other side of the wall, voices that had been speaking stopped. The sound of water breaking echoed from the other side.

Of course it'd be an old man. I bet he was looking- wait a second.

The old man had rounded on him. "Damn it kid! They're leaving, do you hear that! Why did you have to make so much noise! That's a hitai-ate on your head, isn't it? You're supposed to be a shinobi? What happened to shinobi being quiet! I've been in this city for three days and finally found this wonderful spot; a great place to conduct my research and you go scare the girls away! Have you no decency kid? No shame?"

Naruto found it pretty assuming that he was the on getting lectured on decency and shame by this pervy old man, peaking through walls to spy on pretty, naked girls. Could this guy really be a Sanin?

He matched the picture Kakashi-sensei had shown them... But there was no way this perv could be Jiraiya the Toad Sage.

"Hey!" Naruto snapped at him. "Are you Jiraiya?"

He had a bad feeling in his gut as he asked, but he had to do it. The man paused, mouth open like he was going to continue his rant until Naruto interrupted. He closed his mouth and gave Naruto a considering look.

"Ah. I see now. Yes, you must be a fan."

A fan? Well Naruto respected him, he was a Sanin. One of the legendary three shinobi that had come from his village. What wasn't there about his skill to respect? Even know, his skill and talent were worthy of Naruto's respect, but the man himself? Was Naruto a fan?

"Let me guess. You recognized be from the back of the cover and you had to get my autograph, hmm? "

... Naruto had an increasing feeling that the two were having a different conversation.

"Well I suppose I can take time from my busy schedule for a fan. But for future reference kid, try not to barge in on people while they're working. They might not take it as well as I am. So, we should see about finding a pen and some paper. I think have some in my bag."

He turned away and began to ruffle through the large bag sitting beside him.

"What are you talking about, you pervy old man?"

Jiraiya head snapped up so quickly, Naruto could see his neck crack. "Pervy? Did you just call me a pervy old man?"

"Yeah, you pervy old man. What do you expect me to call you when you're peeping through the wall at girls?"

"Peeping? You have the nerve to compare my research to a common peeping?"

"Research? That's a fancy way of saying peeping, is it-"

"It's not peeping!" Jiraiya cried. Returning his attention to the bag, Jiraiya began to ruffle through it.

He pulled out a book and shoved it in front of Naruto's face, who recognized the cover immediately.

"That's the perv book Kakashi likes to read," he commented.

Jiraiya looked offended. "Perv book! Damn kid, do you have any taste in literature at all?"

Naruto had been ready plenty of scrolls on the life of shinobi who had come before him, on strategy and tactics, books on chakra and Ninjutsu, you name it. His reading habits have been selected to his profession only. He hadn't considered reading one of Kakashi's pervy books.

Jiraiya continued without waiting for him to reply; "You know what, kid? Don't answer that. I don't need to hear about your depressing reading habits. Why should I have expected a brat like you to understand the brilliance of my work."

Brilliance? "If that's what you want to call your perv book."

Jiraiya looked like he'd be very happy to hit him. "Now listen brat. I've got important work to do. My research here-"

Naruto snorted.

"- is vital for my next book," Jiraiya said, acting as if Naruto hadn't spoken. "You're too young to understand. Give it a few years did and when they drop, come see me again."

The old man reached out and ruffled Naruto's hair, before turning away. When they drop?...

Then it hit him: "No. No way. I refuse to believe it. You can't be Jiraiya."

"Hmm. What's that kid?" The old perv was positioning himself where he had been.

Almost unconsciously, Naruto channelled ths chakra through his leg and kicked the old perv in the back.

Sasuke pushed the door to the room open, crossing the threshold. He hadn't even finished closing the door when Sakura poked her head out of the hallway, a smile wide on her face. "Sasuke!"

Her name wasn't even off his lips when she slammed into him, pulling him into a bone crushing hug. The sealing had effectively put the Cursed Seal behind a wall of his willpower, but doing so had left his body feeling weak and sore. The hug didn't help, sending waves of pain rolling throughout him.

"Ah! Sakura, that hurts."

She pulled back as if she had been struck, giving him a once over. "Are you alright, Sasuke?"

"Yeah. Just have to take it easy for a few days. Doctor's orders."

Sanin's orders really, but I don't need to mention that right now.

"Sorry." She offered her hand and Sasuke took it. Looking around, he half expected his blonde teammate to come running out of one of the side rooms, yelling for him.

"Where's Naruto?"

"He went for ramen."

"Of course he did. Kakashi-sensei?"

"He's out meeting with the exam staff."

"So we're all alone?"

"Yeah," Sakura said, something in her voice changing. Sasuke grinned. When they were alone, they had taken to kissing to pass the time. It was one of Sasuke's favorite activities.

Author's Note:

Team Ajisai, consisting of Ajisai, Fuyo and Suiren, was a team in the New Chunin Exam filler arc.

As you can see, for Guren and a few of her jutsu, I'm using the english anime name. I cannot, got the life of me, find the Japanese translation for it in Rōmaji. If anyone can point me in the right direction, much appreciated. Those jutsu that that I could find the Japanese name for, I used them.

As always! An awesome thanks to my wonderful beta Blue Pencils, for her great work!