Disclaimer: Don't own shit, do not own shit. I'm just waiting on my tax returns so that way I can own something! ... Oh, but that'll never be the rights to Naruto, unfortunately. :(
Once again, as the sun rose over Konohagakure, Jiraiya stood in front of the gates of Konoha. Standing directly across from him was Fū, Sasuke, Shino, Ino, and Chōji.
"Fū, officially speaking, we do not know the exact location of Shimagame Island, so you will be escorted to Kumogakure. By the time you arrive, the Second Exam will be over, and you'll be brought over." Jiraiya informed them. "The rest of you will be staying in Kumo afterwards; Fū will not need an escort after that and you all can get assigned work helping 'train' the genin for the Third Exam."
"Understood." Shino, Ino, and Chōji all said in unison.
'Hopefully I'll get there in time to catch Itachi.' Sasuke thought, frowning slightly. 'Probably not, though. I'm certain he'll be under tight supervision when there.'
"Again, you all are doing a great duty for Konoha and you all have my appreciation. Thank you." Jiraiya said, bowing his head slightly. "Safe travels."
With those words, the five shinobi all moved off towards Kumogakure. The four Konoha shinobi all looked at Fū, who walked ahead of the group with a determined look in her eyes.
'When we get there… it'll happen. I'll manage it, Chōmei.' Fū spoke to her bijū, her hands tightening into fists. 'I will finally master your chakra and I will be the jinchūriki I was supposed to be!'
Shortly after waking and getting ready for the day, Naruto, Anko, and Ebisu were escorted to the Raikage's Office once again. Ē was sitting down at his desk, a scowl on his face. Darui and Mabui were both at his side.
'It's that guy again!' Naruto's eyes focused on Darui. The bodyguard's eyes narrowed on Naruto for a moment before they softened, turning into a lazy expression as he turned his attention back to the leader. '… If I get the chance, it'd probably do us both some good if we got to talk. So, he can understand what happened with Nasumareta.'
"I had Mabui do some info checking; yes, there is a suspicious-looking shinobi named 'Yowai' on my record that is currently on a long-term mission investigating an arms dealer in Kaminari no Kuni. His last report was logged over a year ago." Ē said, crossing his arms. "I will assume this man is this Yakushi Kabuto. If he tries to enter this village, he will be apprehended on site."
"Good." Anko nodded her head: "Tell whichever shinobi that approaches him to exercise caution. He is a dangerous enemy to engage."
"I know you all plan on getting this guy if he comes in, but we should plan in case he still gets in. Any famous burial sites need to be guarded."
"He targets kekkei genkai and strong shinobi in general, correct?" Mabui asked. Naruto nodded his head: "Kumo only has a few kekkei genkai, so this should be easy to supervise there. Only the Magnet Release, Swift Release, and Storm Release are currently known to be in the village. Those can be watched."
"If I were this Kabuto guy, though, I bet his real target would be the bodies of the previous Raikage." Darui mentioned. "Sandaime-sama's Black Lightning is something he might have an interest in. And let's not forget Shodai-sama's kekkei tōta."
"A kekkei tōta?" Naruto frowned at the word, trying to recall what that meant. His eyes then widened as a lecture from Iruka's class returned to his mind: "Isn't that a kekkei genkai that uses three elemental affinities? Like Old Man Ōnoki's Dust Release?"
"Correct." Darui nodded his head. "In the case of our Shodai-sama, the first Ē was capable of using Weather Release."
"Wait, hold on a second." Naruto shook his head as he turned to face the Yondaime. "The 'first Ē'? Were you named after the Shodai Raikage?"
"No." Ē scowled in response. "Do you know nothing of history, brat? When our first leader took the title of Raikage and invented Kumogakure, he renamed himself 'Ē' and threw away his identity so he could focus on a new one that was dedicated solely to his people and his village. Every Raikage has done the same, since. When you take this hat, you discard your given name and adopt the name 'Ē'."
"Ah. Okay. That makes sense." Naruto rubbed his chin. He then titled his head as he looked at the Yondaime. "Then, what was your given name?"
"You don't need to know that!" Ē snarled.
"Ahem." Mabui coughed lightly, drawing attention to her. "Getting the topic back in line, Darui-san I think is correct about Kabuto's intended target. Shodai-sama did have the kekkei tōta 'Weather Release'. Combing water, wind, and lighting elemental chakra affinities, he could summon thunderstorms, tsunamis, and tornadoes with a flick of his wrist. Similarly, to how the Shodai Hokage created the forests that surround your village, our Shodai Raikage helped stabilize the atmosphere and keep the clouds around our village permanently around us and help conceal our village."
"There are stories of the Shodai Raikage's battle prowess with Weather Release. I would dread the day I had to fight anyone with that ability." Ebisu admitted, adjusting his sunglasses.
"Kabuto would definitely target his burial ground, then. If for no other reason than to add him to his 'Edo Tensei' collection." Naruto said, crossing his arms. "I want to know where he's buried so I can stake out for Kabuto."
"I would be fine with that. Although, I wish to keep that fact secret. In case I do have any 'Akatsuki moles' in my midst, I'll keep that information to those of us just here in this room." Ē said, his eyes focusing on the group in his room. "The majority of my force right now is currently scanning the area around Kumo and Kaminari no Kuni for any traces of Akatsuki scum, but I would appreciate the extra assistance in buffing up our security across all major access points to burial grounds and other points-of-interest. I want that Kabuto fucker dead the second he so much breathes in this village."
"We're more than willing and able to help with that shit." Anko said, crossing her arms.
Upon finishing their meeting with the Raikage, the three jōnin returned to their respective genin teams. As Naruto entered his apartment room, he was greeted by the smells of a freshly cooked breakfast. On the dining table were four plates of filefish, four bowls of rice, four pieces of toast, and four cups of freshly brewed tea. Hanabi and Katsumi were just sitting down while Kanji brought chopsticks to each plate.
"Oh? You made breakfast?" Naruto's eyebrow raised slightly as a chuckle escaped his lips. His three genin turned their heads towards him. "How nice. I should go out more in the morning."
"Oh good. You're back. That means your food won't get cold." Katsumi noted, crossing her arms. "Come on and eat, Naruto-sensei!"
Naruto continued to chuckle as he walked to his seat and sat down: "Where did you even get all this stuff? I know our kitchen didn't have any fish?"
"I found a market that sold them this morning. There's a lot of street vendors right now because of the Chūnin Exams." Kanji said as he took his seat with a grin. "And if I sea food, I buy it!"
"Well, thanks. Really." Naruto smiled back at his students.
Team Nine was quiet for a moment as they began to enjoy their meal, making quick work of it. Naruto, Kanji, and Katsumi all nearly shoved their fish down their throats while Hanabi looked at her teammates, appalled, before glancing back at her own plates, which were only a third of the way finished.
"Do you all even enjoy your food like that?" Hebihiro asked, adjusting his position on Hanabi's neck to look at the group.
"Uh, yeah?" Kanji's eyebrow raised slightly as he finished his entire bowl of rice.
Katsumi finished both her fish and rice at the same time and took a quick sip of her tea before she turned to her teammate: "Really enjoyed it. That's why we ate it so fast."
"That…" Hanabi looked downward to her plates once again before shaking her head. "That makes zero sense to me."
"As riveting as this conversation is," Naruto began, drawing the attention of his students, "I gotta ask real quick; how are you all feeling about the exams tonight?"
"Pretty comfortable." Katsumi admitted. "I mean, we're gonna take it seriously, but we at least feel pretty ready for it. If it's anything like yours, we should be fine. We all have methods that can help us 'cheat' and get information."
"Just a reminder, though; the first exam usually is information-gathering. It's not a guarantee it will always be. Especially since this exam is occurring in Kumo." Naruto said.
"Did the Raikage tell you anything about what the exam is going to be about?" Kanji asked.
"Nope." The blond shook his head. "He's not going to help out Konoha shinobi so easily like that."
Kanji shrugged his shoulders: "I mean, you'd think he would want to though. It would be in his best interest if at least one Konoha team makes it to the final round."
"He probably just assumes that Ero-sennin sent good teams that don't need his help. Which, in fairness, he did." Naruto said, a grin developing on his lips. "I feel very good about all of your chances!"
"Heh." Hanabi smiled in response. "We'll do what we can to make sure we do you all proud then, Naruto-sensei."
Silence filled the table as Hanabi focused on eating while Naruto, Katsumi, and Kanji all drank from their tea. Once the group finished their breakfast, Naruto grabbed the dishes his students prepared and went to the sink to wash them.
"So, what are you going to be doing Naruto-sensei?" Katsumi asked. "We have to report for the exam at six o'clock PM, so do you got any big plans for tonight?"
"Well, I'm gonna try and meet with Karin at least once." Naruto said, chuckling. "Then I'll probably meet up with Anko-sensei and Ebisu to discuss what our plans are for tonight." His eyes narrowed slightly: "We're going to try and see if we can find and kill that Kabuto bastard."
"That guy from Suna, huh?" Hanabi bit her lip, frowning at the thought of the graverobber. "He's probably here, isn't he?"
Her jōnin-sensei nodded his head: "I'd bet. And if we could reduce Akatsuki's numbers by at least one before this invasion, that would be a great help."
Naruto's mind flashed back to his encounter with Kabuto back in Sunagakure, at the Kazekage's Mansion. He recalled the three different kekkei genkai that Kabuto used to fight against him and how Kabuto casually referenced having Uzumaki Mito's corpse. He scowled at the thought as his hands tightened into fists.
'This time, things will be different, Kabuto. You're going to die this time!' Naruto told himself.
"Shall we rest, Hinata-chan?" The White Snake Sage asked.
Hinata did not verbally reply; instead, she fell to her knees and began to pant heavily. The Hyūga managed to maintain her Sage Mode as she tried to calm her body down. She was sweating heavily, but the sweat had a slight, dark blue coloration to it. The White Snake Sage smiled down at the girl.
"I must say, you're making great progress with producing and utilizing your own venom. You are going to be quite the lethal contender in your next fight, I assume." The Snake said.
"Thank… Thank you." Hinata smiled back as she slowly pulled herself off the ground. "I've been-"
"Why are you still entertaining this bitch, Sage?" A voice echoed throughout the caves.
Hinata tensed up as she felt a presence slithering its way through the tunnels. Thirty seconds passed by and the Boss Snake, Manda appeared in the White Snake Sage's chamber. The purple snake towered over Hinata's body, glaring down at her as if he was poised to attack.
"Manda, you have not visited me in nearly a year and this is the first thing you say to me when you come by?" The White Snake Sage asked, scowling as her mouth tightened on her cigarette holder. "Leave."
"Not until you answer my question." Manda demanded. "The 'summoner' you have in this room is illegitimate. Remove her at once."
"Illegitimate?" Hinata repeated the word, scowling. "I signed the Snake Contract. Mamushi-sama-"
Manda responded by swinging his tail downward at Hinata. The Hyūga jumped up, causing the tail to crash into the earth and cause rocks to scatter the cave.
"Mamushi? Don't make me laugh! My mother is no longer the head of the Snake Clan. That is my title and I did not authorize your status! In the years since you have signed our contract, you have not once offered even a single human sacrifice!" Manda shouted. "You have no respect to the ways of our clan and I will-"
"Manda. Stop." The White Snake Sage crawled out of her throne, inching her head towards the 'Boss Snake'. "Your mother still possesses the Snake Contract and I authorize all senjutsu training. Hinata-chan has every right to be a Snake Summoner and to practice our clan's senjutsu, even if you disprove." The sage then breathed out a cloud of smoke directly at the Boss Snake's face. "Quit acting like a hatchling and leave us in peace."
Manda bore his fangs, hissing loudly as he grew closer to the White Snake Sage: "Respect who you are talking to. Know your place."
As the two snakes looked poised to strike at one another, three large white snakes appeared from the underground, positioning themselves around Manda.
'Who are they-' Hinata's thoughts died as she noticed the tiaras on the white snakes. 'Ah! Those three are Tagorihime, Tagitsuhime, and Ichikishimahime!'
"Know your place, Manda-sama! You are in the presence of the White Snake Sage and disturbed her while she was busy training a disciple of hers!" Tagorihime stated sharply.
"Leave. Now." Tagitsuhime hissed.
The four white snakes continued to encircle Manda in the center, who was eyeing the White Snake Sage only. Hinata's eyes moved from snake to snake as she prepared to engage when the signal was ready.
A minute passed by before Manda shook his head and turned away towards the exit. The 'Boss Snake' slithered between Tagorihime and Tagitsuhime.
"I do not wish to kill any of you, so I will let this slide for now. But next time, remember who is your Clan Head." Manda warned.
A few more seconds passed by before the large snake was finally gone from the Sage's room. The moment he was gone, the three snake princesses all activated their genjutsu, turning back into a human form once again. Ichikishimahime visibly sighed in relief while both Tagorihime and Tagitsuhime seemed to visibly relax.
"Thank God he dropped it. I was afraid of having to fight him…" Ichikishimahime admitted, looking downward.
"What… was that about?" Hinata asked, a frown on her face. Her Byakugan continued to focus on Manda, making sure that the Boss Snake did not make a return back to their location.
"Manda does not like you." Tagitsuhime said bluntly, crossing 'her arms'. "Neither you nor Anko. You two are not his ideal summoners. And he resents the fact that you both are learning senjutsu."
"What is his 'idea' summoner?" Hinata asked, her frown turning into a scowl. "Someone like Kabuto?"
"Kabuto-kun is probably his favorite summoner ever; even more than Orochimaru-kun." The White Snake Sage spoke-up as she slithered back to her throne. "Orochimaru was too much of a 'free spirit'. He would summon Manda and the snakes for errands that he did not approve of and assumed he could get away with it through enough human sacrifices. But Kabuto-kun, on the other hand… that boy respects fealty. He recognizes Manda as his 'boss' and pays regular tribute to him while not wasting his time. In his mind, Kabuto is the ideal." A chuckle then escaped her lips. "But I must admit, Manda isn't alone in that; I found myself charmed by the boy."
"By Kabuto?" Hinata turned her attention to the Sage, frowning. "Why?"
The White Sage Snake breathed out a massive cloud of smoke from her mouth as her eyes focused on the snake summoner: "I know you dislike him, but Kabuto-kun is a focused student and has always been respectful and courteous. He is an ideal student to teach because he either will, without question, throw himself into your lesson until he understands it or will invent a new method and learn it in a much faster amount of time."
Hinata was quiet for a moment, looking down back at the ground. The White Snake Sage continued to stare at Hinata, a frown developing on her face.
"You appear troubled, Hinata-chan? I recognize that Manda may have affected our training environment for the day; would you like to end it for the day?" She asked.
Hinata shook her head immediately: "No."
'I can't allow myself to fall behind Kabuto. I need to get stronger and make sure he doesn't get too far ahead.' She told herself.
She continued to tell herself this as she returned to senjutsu training.
"Wait, what?" Karin's eyes widened. "This village is going to get invaded?"
Naruto nodded his head. After his team separated him to explore Kumogakure for a moment, Naruto went over to meet up with his cousin to catch up with her and to chat. And, after setting up some privacy seals, he told her the truth about the upcoming Akatsuki invasion.
"It'll be during the Third Exam, so maybe you'd be able to leave if your team doesn't quality for the final exam." Naruto offered.
"No. My team will qualify. Even if I tell them about all this nonsense, which I'm going to have to, cause I don't want them to be unaware of all this…" Karin crossed her arms, scowling. "The fucking Raikage didn't tell any of the Kusa higher-ups about this. Do you know how absolutely infuriating this is?"
"Ē is careful; he's communicated only what he needs to communicate with the major shinobi villages and is keeping everything on a 'need-to-know' basis. It's annoying as fuck." Naruto said, frowning. "But I guess he needs to keep appearances, I suppose."
"Whatever." Karin shook her head, sighing. "Well, guess you all can count on me as an ally while I'm here. The last thing I want is for innocent people to die." A smile developed on her face as she held out her fist towards her cousin. "At the very least, I'll get more time to hang out with you, then. I can focus on it like that."
"Hell yeah!" Naruto grinned as he and Karin fist bumped, chuckling. "Y'know, you're a lot more confident than I last remembered. You were a little shier back when we were at Uzushiogakure."
"Well, back then I was a mousy genin meeting you all for the last time. And I think anyone would probably be 'shy' when they're meeting you, Tayuya, and Jiraiya for the first time all at once." Karin replied, giggling back. She then held out her right arm, flexing some muscle slightly. "But nowadays, I'm a badass jōnin, which has done wonders for my self-confidence. I'm probably one of the top jōnin Kusagakure has ever produced and I'm easily their best seal master, dammit!"
"Good! Good!" Naruto grinned. "What kind of seals can you do?"
"My specialty is environmental seals. I'm more of a 'trapper', I guess, and I like to control a battlefield." Karin answered, adjusting her glasses with her right hand. "But I got a couple of aces up my sleeves if I happen to get into a close-combat fight."
As she said that, a small adamantine chain developed out of her left palm. She swung the chain around lightly in a circular pattern. Naruto's grin widened even further as he created an adamantine chain out of his right hand.
"You can use the adamantine sealing chains too, huh?" He noted.
"Damn right I can!" Karin replied as the chain returned to her body. "And I can do a lot of things with them!"
"As can I." Naruto chuckled as his chain returned to his hand. "I'd actually really like to spar with you, whenever you have the free time."
"'Whenever you have the free time'." Karin snorted. "I have plenty of free time. Especially during the second exam when our students are all going to be doing a long-term survival exam."
"True." Naruto nodded his head. "Well, we can get-"
There was a knock on the door to Karin's room. The two Uzumaki grew quiet for a second as Karin made a hand sign. The door opened, revealing a kunoichi with short, curly light purple colored hair and brown eyes. She wore a beige-colored long-sleeve shirt with brown markings on the front that resembled leaves and white skin-tight pants. She had two brown pouches marked with the Kusagakure symbol tied around her waist that appeared to be completely filled and she had the Kusagakure forehead protector tied around her forehead.
"Morning, Maitake." Karin greeted, waving at her. "Back from exploring Kumo already? Where is Ayaka and Gonta?"
"Still out. I'm only stopping here momentarily." The girl spoke with a quiet, emotionless voice. She glanced at the seal on the door before turning back to Karin with a raised eyebrow. "Privacy seals and locks? Is that necessary Karin-sensei?"
"Call it paranoia. I'm just catching up with my cousin." Karin said as she gestured towards Naruto. "With that in mind, meet Uzumaki Naruto, the cousin I told you all about last night. Naruto, meet one of my students, Kono Maitake!"
Naruto smiled at the girl: "Nice to meet you-"
"Karin-sensei, you aren't conspiring against us, are you?" Maitake asked, her eyes narrowing on the two Uzumaki: "You aren't revealing information about our team to the enemy?"
"Huh? Of course not." A frown developed on her face: "What do you take me for? I am the one who vouched for us to come Kumo; I'm not helping anyone out!"
"Hmm." The Kusa genin pursed her lips for a moment before shaking her head. She walked to the back of the room. "I'm only here to get something real quick. Pay me no mind."
"Getting money?" Karin asked as she noticed her student reach for her bag and pull out her wallet.
"Things are expensive here compared to Kusa. It's rubbish, if you ask me." Maitake said as she walked back to the door. "A pleasure to meet you, Uzumaki-san. I pray that our sensei is being honest and that she has not revealing any secrets of ours."
With those words, Maitake left the room. Karin immediately reactivated the sealing tags to the room. Naruto frowned in response.
"You should have told her the truth about the invasion." Naruto said.
"Not yet. I'm not telling her without telling all my students. Besides, I still need to figure out what to tell them in a way that won't freak them out." Karin sighed as she adjusted her glasses slightly. "I'll tell them tonight."
"She seems… doubtful? Distrusting?" Naruto's frown deepened as he closed in his eyes in thought. "Cautious?"
"Maitake is." Karin nodded her head. "There's a stereotype that all Kusa shinobi are overly analytical and Maitake takes that stereotype and runs with it. I don't think there's a single shinobi in the world smarter than her."
"Really? Huh." Naruto nodded his head as a chuckle escaped his lips. "I'd actually be really interested to see her fight any of my students then."
"We'll see." The Kusa jōnin said. Her face then hardened slightly. "Naruto, before we relax too much, I wanted to say something real quick; you mentioned when you said the Akatsuki was going to invade that you think Kabuto might be here, right?"
"Do you know him?" Naruto asked.
"I know of him. He is in the bingo books, you know?" Karin pointed out. "You're gonna try and hunt him down then, right?"
"That's… confidential, but yes." Naruto nodded his head. "Why?"
"I have something that may help." Karin noted as she reached into pocket.
Naruto tilted his head slightly: "What do you mean?"
"I have a seal that might help you stay hidden from sight for a bit." Karin said as a smirk developed on her face as she pulled out a sealing paper.
With time to kill, Hanabi, Katsumi, and Kanji all agreed to walk down the streets of Kumo together. It was rare to get the opportunity to explore another Hidden Village, so they all wanted to make the most of it.
"I have to admit, now that we're better with the altitude, this village is beautiful." Katsumi said, her eyes wandering.
The three shinobi had turned a corner and entered a market of sort. There were many clouds that were level with the ground and the stands and buildings in this market were all colored bright colors – many blues, yellows, and light greens were visible.
"Seriously, this place looks ripped from a dream." Kanji noted. "Wonder if anything like this exists in Konoha and we don't even realize it."
"Hmmm… good question." Katsumi crossed her arms. "What do you think Hanabi?"
Hanabi did not reply. Katsumi and Kanji noticed the Hyūga was not looking at the colorful stands and buildings; instead, she was focused on the people, who were still giving dirty looks at the Konoha shinobi. Both her teammates frowned slightly. Kanji instinctively reached out to her shoulder, which caused Hanabi to tense-up slightly.
"A lot of the people here just have issues with Konoha. It's nothing to lose sleep over." Kanji told her. "We talked about it last night, Hanabi; we're all together."
"He's right, you know?" Katsumi added. "We're a team of badasses. Some glares and shit aren't going to change that."
"I… I'm aware." She nodded her head, a small smile developing on her lips. "It's just-"
"Oh look. There's some Konoha trash walking around our village. Thought you jerks wouldn't show your faces around here until the exam started."
Team Nine turned around to see two people walking towards them. One was a boy with short black hair, tanned skin, and light brown eyes. He wore black pants and a dark yellow short-sleeve, un-zipped jacket with no shirt underneath, intentionally showing off his muscles on his arms and his chest. He wore a Kumogakure forehead protector around his right forearm. The other person was a girl with shoulder-length, wavy blonde hair, green eyes, and ivory-colored skin. She wore brown pants and had on a similar-colored dark yellow sleeveless shirt, showing off her own muscles. She wore her Kumogakure forehead protector around her neck.
"'Konoha trash'?" Katsumi scowled. "Who the fuck are you talking to?"
"Do we see any other Konoha shinobi around here? Hmm?" The girl hummed slightly as she looked around the market dramatically. "Guess not; we must be talking to you, dipshits."
"Is this supposed to be an attempt at intimidating us?" Kanji asked with a snort. "Or are you two auditioning for a play of some sort? You sound like the most generic bullies out of any manga."
"The fuck do you mean by that?" The boy asked, scowling.
"I'm being completely serious; you two can't be actual shinobi, right?" Kanji's snort turned into loud, unapologetic laughter. "This has to be some type of prank or something. Who even are you two?"
"Name's Urusai." The guy stated, scowling. "And she's Tarinai. We're two members of the best genin team Kumo has participating in this exam!"
"The 'best'? Really?" Katsumi shook her head, joining Kanji in his laughter. "Guess you Kumo shinobi are shit then, huh?"
"What did you say?" The girl, Tarinai, demanded as she stepped forward.
"She said you're shit. And yes, you both are shit."
The two Kumo genin, as well as Kanji and Katsumi, turned their heads towards Hanabi, who was scowling. She crossed her arms as her Byakugan activated unconsciously. Hebihiro inched forward from her neck, hissing loudly.
"If you're half the shinobi you're claiming to be, then you should know how embarrassing this is. You're making a scene and trying to intimidate us, but it's not working. So just give up and go home." She said, cracking her knuckles. "If you want to fight, save it for the exams. And we'll kick your asses then!"
Both Hanabi and Hebihiro leaked a moderate size of killing intent, causing both Urusai and Tarinai to take a step back. Both Katsumi and Kanji continued to stare in disbelief at their teammate.
"Wh-Whatever." Urusai turned away, composing himself. "We were just scoping out the competition. But if you really want an ass beating that bad, then whatever. Just wait until the exams start."
"You're gonna regret this." Tarinai added.
With those words, the two Kumo genin walked off. Hanabi continued to glare at them as they moved away for a few more seconds until she finally shut off her Byakugan and took in a deep breath.
"Jerks. They can't just come up and talk to us like that. It's rude." She said, frowning. She then turned her attention back to her teammates. She was about to say something, but she then noticed that, instead of irritation or anger on their faces, both Katsumi and Kanji were simply staring at her in shock. "Um, guys? Hello? Are you okay?"
"Hanabi, you just swore." Kanji noted.
"I… did?" Hanabi blinked for a second before she started to blush. "S-Sorry, I've just been kinda in a bad mood since we got here and they were being really rude and I-"
"Hanabi, you swore!" A grin developed on Katsumi's face as she swung her arm around Hanabi's shoulder, bringing the younger girl closer to her. "And you said 'shit' with such righteous anger, I loved it!"
"Eep." Hanabi gasped slightly as Katsumi hugged her tightly. "I, um, d-didn't mean-"
"Lunch. My treat. You buy whatever the fuck you want; you earned it." Katsumi declared cheerfully.
"Wait, I-"
Hanabi's words died on her lips as her two teammates rushed her over to the nearest café they could find to reward their teammate.
"There you are." Kabuto said, grinning.
The silver-haired shinobi made a few more steps forward into the cave, coming face-to-face with Sasori and Deidara. Standing directly behind Sasori was another shinobi: a kunoichi with umber brown skin, short black hair, and dark brown eyes with a burn mark over her right eye, wearing the standard Kumogakure flak jacket and uniform.
Sasori nodded his head in acknowledgment at his former spy before gesturing towards the kunoichi: "This is Hiretsuna, one of my sleeper agents in Kumo. She will help you enter the village easily without drawing attention to yourself." A scowl developed behind the puppet's face: "Do not get this one killed off like you did with Yūra and Mukade back in Suna. I may have other agents here, but she is the one who receives the most info due to her status as a high-ranking jōnin."
"I promise, I will not get her killed." Kabuto said with a chuckle as he turned to face the sleeper agent. "A pleasure to meet you, Hiretsuna-san."
She bowed her head in response: "The pleasure is mine. Any ally of Sasori-sama is an ally of mine and I will do my part to help you."
"Oi Kabuto, where's the religious fanatic?" Deidara asked, scowling. "He's not doing anything stupid right now and blowing our cover, yeah?"
"No, Hidan is currently training. He's on his best behavior." Kabuto said. "He even promised to hold off on doing sacrifices for the time being, to prevent any suspicious 'deaths' in the area."
"Oddly conscientious of him." Sasori noted, nodding his head in approval. "With that in mind, Deidara and I will be leaving. We will be ready for the meeting in two days."
"Before you go off, Sasori-sama, I have a gift for you." Kabuto spoke-up as he reached into his robe and pulled out two scrolls. He laid them on the ground and made a hand sign, revealing the bodies of Ōnoki and Kitsuchi. "Two more additions to your collection."
Both Sasori's and Deidara's eyes widened as they rushed towards the two corpses. Making a hand gesture, Sasori pulled himself out of his Hiruko puppet and then ran his hand down Ōnoki's cheek while Deidara simply stared in silence.
"I heard the Old Man died, but still… seeing him like this…" Deidara mumbled, crossing his arms.
"Feeling conflicted seeing him dead?" Kabuto asked, adjusting his glasses. "I do recall hearing that Ōnoki taught you somewhat."
"Nah, Ōnoki was an annoying old fuck who didn't appreciate my art, hmm." Deidara shook his head. "Still, though, it's surreal seeing him dead like this."
"His body… it's preserved so well…" Sasori commented, a manic grin on his face that grew wider-and-wider with each second. "Kabuto, you are gifting me this? And Kitsuchi's? Why? Do you not see the value of them?"
"Oh, I see the value and already took my DNA samples. All that's left is the cadavers, so you can use them however you see fit." Kabuto said, grinning back. "Add another Kage to your collection."
"This… This one will require some experimentation, but you may have given me access to my most lethal puppet yet." Sasori noted. He finally turned away from the corpse to look at Kabuto. He bowed his head. "You have my eternal gratitude, Kabuto."
Kabuto's grin widened: "It's my pleasure, Sasori-sama."
The day in Kumogakure moved on. As the sun began to set above the village, the nine genin of Konoha all moved down the streets of the village together towards their destination.
"You know, there's a realization I had." Udon commented as he scratched his nose lightly. "The only teams from Konoha that even left for this Chūnin Exams is us – the rookies."
"I noticed that." Kazuo nodded his head, crossing his arms. "I… understand why teams would refuse to come to this one, but still; it's kinda funny." A chuckle escaped his lips. "We're the bravest ones, I guess."
"That's one way to put it." Moegi mentioned, sighing. "Still a little anxious about all of this, not gonna lie."
Konohamaru shook his head: "We'll be fine."
"There is some statistics to help back us up." Yūna mentioned, bringing her hand to her chin. "The last time the Chūnin Exam featured rookies from our village, all three teams made it to the final round of their exam."
"And one of those teams was Naruto-sensei's." Katsumi noted, her eyes narrowing.
'Naruto-sensei, Hinata-nee, Shikamaru-san…' Hanabi's hands tightened into fists. 'They all passed their first time taking it and were able to handle even the Suna-Oto invasion right after it. We have a lot to live up to. But we can do it. We have to do it!'
The Konoha genin were quiet for the rest of the walk until they reached a large, grey building. The building itself appeared rather plain with no markings, signs, or posters to really identity it. The only thing that tipped them off that they were at the correct location was the address and the shinobi directly in front of the building.
Standing directly in front was a tall, fair-skinned woman with shoulder-length, straight blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a low-cut grey outfit, showing off her cleavage, with mesh armor underneath and wore a short grey skirt. She had red hand guards on and appeared to have a portion of the Kumogakure flak jacket on over her stomach. Attached to her waist was a red tantō and she was holding a clipboard with papers attached to it.
The woman's eyes narrowed on the group as they approached: "Names?"
"Ah. Um…" Kazuo blushed, trying his hardest to make eye contact with her. "Konoha Team Eight, reporting for duty. U-Uzuki Kazuo, Aburame Tsunemasa, and Rangaku Yūna."
"Konoha Team Six. Sarutobi Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi." Konohamaru stated, crossing his arms.
"And Konoha Team Nine." Katsumi spoke-up. "Inoue Katsumi, Hyūga Hanabi, and Yamanaka Kanji."
The kunoichi nodded her head as she checked her paperwork. She wrote down something on it before she brought her clipboard to the side.
"My name is Samui. I am a jōnin of Kumogakure and I will be the proctor of the first exam." The woman said, bowing her head. "The exam will begin shortly, so if you do not mind entering so we can begin soon, that would be cool."
"Understood." The Konoha genin all said at once.
With those words, the nine walked past the Kumo jōnin and opened the door to the building.
The room the group walked into was rather plain, with walls painted white and white carpeting and no decorations in sight. The only two things present in the room were two opposing black staircases: one going upward and one going downward.
"Um… did that Samui lady say which way the exam was?" Udon asked.
"Maybe that's part of the exam." Kazuo spoke-up, yawning. "Maybe… we're supposed to figure out…"
"Tired, Kazuo?" Tsunemasa asked, frowning. Before he could scold his teammate, he felt a yawn escape his lips.
"Something's not right." Kanji noted, frowning.
Hanabi activated her dōjutsu: "There is something-"
Before she could finish her statement, all nine genin fell to the ground in joint unconsciousness.
"So, this is where the Raikage are buried, huh?" Naruto asked.
Both Naruto and Anko were escorted by Darui to a grotto in the northern portion of the village. Upon entering the cave, they were greeted by the sight of a small spring with a natural fountain. The ground was smooth and light beamed through the cave from illumination seals on the cave ceiling.
Around the spring's shore were multiple burial grounds. Displayed in front of each burial ground was a picture.
"This grotto was the burial sight for the Shodai Raikage and his wife. It was the location where the Shodai asked his wife to marry him, before Kumogakure as a village was even created. The Nidaime and Sandaime were buried here as well. The Yondaime also expressed a desire to buried here one day." Darui explained. "As such, this grotto is referred to as the Lightning Memorial."
"Quaint." Anko noted.
"So, we'll be allowed to stay here overnight, then?" Naruto asked.
Darui nodded his head: "You have the Yondaime's blessing. A dull guy like me can't argue against that." He then shrugged his shoulders: "Other important burial sights will also be guarded by other shinobi, but the Raikage can't afford to have too many shinobi on 'burial ground duty' tonight. Especially since the exams have officially started."
"Yeah, that makes sense." Anko nodded her head. "Ideally, this won't amount to anything and nothing happens in the first place."
"But if Kabuto does show his face, we'll send someone out to let Ē know immediately." Naruto said, eyes looking forward.
"Good." Darui said before he turned away towards the exit. "Anyway, just keep us informed."
With a casual wave, Darui left the room, leaving Naruto and Anko alone in the grotto. Naruto immediately went to the cave walls, starting to put sealing tags down.
"Plan is to rig this whole area, yeah?" Anko asked.
"Yup." Naruto nodded his head, placing seal after seal on different corners. With each seal, the seals sank into the earth, hiding themselves from view. "To be honest, I do hope he comes. We can finally get that asshole killed."
"Yeah, it's about time that bastard is killed." His former jōnin-sensei nodded. "Although, if he is here like we think he might be, you think he will bail the second he senses us? I'm not certain how good of a chakra sensor he is, but he's gotta at least notice our presence before it's too late."
"I think we'll be fine. Namely, cause of this." Naruto said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out two more sealing tags, marked with the kanji for darkness with radicals surrounding it. "This is a seal that Karin made for us that she showed me how to activate. And, as long as we don't use any of our chakra, it'll completely mask our chakra signature."
"Didn't your other cousin work on something like that? Honoka?" Anko asked.
Naruto nodded his head: "She did, yeah. And really, I need to figure out how to make it as well. But regardless; so long as we got these, Kabuto should not expect anything if he comes by. And we'll get the jump on him!"
"Good. Alright then." Anko nodded her head. "Then I guess all we have to do is just wait, then."
Naruto nodded his head as he went back to applying more sealing papers: "Just wait and see."
It was the beginning for a potentially long night for both Naruto and Anko. As Naruto continued to focus on getting more sealing tags ready, his mind went back to his students. A small developed on his lips. 'Hopefully they're kicking ass in the first exam already.'
"WAKE UP MAGGOTS!"
A loud, angry voice boomed through Hanabi's ears. The Hyūga grumbled as she slowly pulled herself up from lying down.
'Where… am… I?'
She was no longer where she remembered being last; Hanabi was now locked in a small prison cell alone. Hebihiro was still tied around her neck, but there was no sight of Katsumi or Kanji.
The floors, walls, and ceiling were all painted dark blue. The only window present in the room was on the door. Hanabi activated her Byakugan and noticed that there were multiple prison cells like this, housing a single occupant in each cell.
Altogether, there were over a one-hundred and twenty prison cells.
"I think all you maggots are awake! Good!" The voice boomed again.
Hanabi's Byakugan narrowed in on the point of origin of the voice. It was a fair-skinned young man with short, blond hair in an asymmetrical-bowl cut with green eyes. He wore the standard Kumogakure shinobi outfit with a matching flak jacket. He also wore bandages on his arms, had shin guards, and had the kanji for 'heat' tattooed on his left shoulder.
"Now that you're all awake, listen up cause I'm only going to be explaining this once. My name is Atsui and I am the younger brother of Samui, the first exam proctor. I am the hot shot in charge of all of you right now and, I'll be honest, none of you deserve to be chūnin!" The man shouted.
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" The shinobi in the cell next to Hanabi's – a boy from Kumogakure – shouted.
"Did any of you ever once consider that an exam like this could be a trap? You all just blindly entered a building without any thought whatsoever and fell victim to a trap." Atsui said, crossing his arms.
"The hell? This was part of the instructions for the exams!" Another Kumo shinobi that Hanabi recognized as that 'Urusai' guy shouted. "We are literally just following the orders you were given!"
"And you gave them no second thought. Bah." Atsui rolled his eyes. "This could have been life or death. How do you know if Samui or I were loyal Kumo shinobi? We could have just been fucked up deviants who led a bunch of newbies to slaughter, all because we felt like it. Shit like this just happens, sometimes, and you can't just wait and hope nothing like that ever happens to you. Life doesn't work that way."
"He has a point, but he's not being very considerate about this." Hebihiro whispered into Hanabi's ears. "Because it should be safe for you to assume that you should follow the exam rules-"
"Well, since you all managed to get caught up like this, you all have a much harder exam now." Atsui said sharply. "If you can't tell, you're in the downstairs holding cells of the building you were just in. Your single goal is to get upstairs. On the second floor, my sister is waiting for you to congratulate you on passing the exams." A grin developed on his face. "Couple of catches, though. First, only the first sixty people upstairs will be passed. If your number sixty-one, you're out of luck."
"So only twenty teams will be allowed to pass?" A Kusagakure genin – a kunoichi with purple hair – asked.
"When did I say teams? I said 'people'." Atsui rolled his eyes. "This ties into my second point; to get out of the cell, you should get out on your own. A shinobi should be able to do it on their own. I'm not the only 'extra proctor' that Samui is employing here. If any of us catch a shinobi out of their cell helping another genin, they'll regret it."
'So he doesn't want us helping each other?' Hanabi frowned in response.
"Third point – this exam has a time limit." Atsui announced, chuckling. "You all slept for rocks for five hours, so it's now eleven o'clock. You have exactly two hours to get upstairs and meet with Samui. Anyone who fails to do this will be failed."
Silence filled the cells as all the shinobi began to process his words. The instructions were rather simple; bust out of their cell and meet up with the real proctor to complete the exam.
"Now, I'll give you all a heads up. There's a couple of ways you can break out of your cells, so find some way that works. But fair warning; if your plan is to 'brute force' your way out, you best have some jōnin-level strength." Atsui said. He then turned around. "But that's all I'm saying. I'm not gonna answer any questions from now on. You're on your own."
'On our own?' Hanabi frowned.
Many upset shouts were heard from various cells as some of the genin began to demand more information or a clear directive. Atsui only chuckled in response.
"Maggots, you do realize I said you have you a time limit, right?" He reminded, his chuckling turning into full, loud laughter. "Sure you wanna waste precious time arguing with me?"
While some shinobi did, in fact, continue to shout loudly at the blond, most came to a realization about what he was implying and calmed down.
The first exam of the Kumogakure Chūnin Exams was underway and, understand it or not, the teams needed to respond to it accordingly.
Shortly after eleven o'clock, Kabuto began to creep his way through Kumogakure. Before long, he arrived at his destination; the Lightning Memorial Grotto entrance.
He stood a few feet away, standing alongside Hiretsuna.
"There was some security detail around the village, but I will keep it diverted. No one is in this area right now. Ideally, you will be in-and-out." The sleeper agent told him.
"Your help has been appreciated. Thank you Hiretsuna-san." Kabuto bowed his head.
With those words, the Akatsuki agent entered the grotto. His eyes focused on the fountain for a moment before they narrowed on the burial mounts
'The Shodai, Nidaime, and Sandaime Raikage… both the Nidaime and Sandaime will make useful acquisitions, but the Shodai…' A grin developed on his face as he walked directly to his burial ground, staring at the picture next to it of the Shodai Raikage. 'Your Weather Release kekkei tōta is something I cannot wait to research further…'
As Kabuto got down to start digging up the body, the ground next to the burial ground started to crack. His eyes widened in surprise as he quickly clapped his hands together:
"Iron Style: Armor of Iron!"
"RASENGAN!"
Naruto emerged from the ground and shoved his Rasengan into Kabuto just as Kabuto's body became encased in iron. Naruto increased the force he used on the jutsu, causing Kabuto to get sent flying backwards into the wall of the cave.
His iron armor prevented the Rasengan from tearing into his body, but he felt the armor collapsing shortly after contact with the wall. A scowl developed on Kabuto's face at the sight of the Uzumaki.
"I didn't sense you… how the hell-" Kabuto's words died as two long snakes rushed forward from the ground, reaching Kabuto and biting down on his left hand. He winced in pain. "Fuck…"
"You didn't sense us, huh? Good. That means your seals worked, Naruto." Anko noted as she pulled herself out of the ground, holding onto Kabuto with her Hidden Shadow Snake Hands.
"It's over, Kabuto." Naruto declared as he made a hand sign.
The sealing tags on the walls around Kabuto began to appear and light up. Kabuto's eyes widened in horror.
'They got the jump on me. Shit.' He told himself as he made a hand sign with his right hand. 'I can't die here like this!'
As Naruto's seals activated, different elemental jutsus – tornadoes, raging fires, and lightning bolts – were launched from the sealing papers at Kabuto. Before the jutsus could connect, Kabuto's body became surrounded by an extremely thick exoskeleton. The jutsus continued to connect with his body bit-by-bit, causing dust and smoke to surround his body as the elemental techniques bombarded him.
"That's probably not going to kill him." Naruto admitted, frowning. "Be ready for whatever he has coming our way."
"Yup." Anko nodded her head as she closed her eyes for a moment, beginning to channel natural energy. Naruto quickly joined her in channeling nature energy as well.
With each passing hit, Kabuto's exoskeleton bone structure started to crack more-and-more. He shook his head as he clapped his hands together, making hand signs.
"Summoning Jutsu: Edo Tensei!"
After a minute had passed the smoke had completely dissipated. Kabuto's extra bone structure had been completely destroyed and the Akatsuki member's cloak was ripped up slightly from the elemental attacks, revealing a few burns and cuts to his body.
Standing directly to his side and seemingly, unphased was a single coffin that arose next to him. The coffin door opened up and the figure inside walked out, causing the coffin to sink into the ground.
A scowl developed on Naruto's face while horror etched on Anko's.
"Edo Tensei again, huh?" Naruto asked.
"You wanted to ambush me with a two versus one. I need some way to even out the odds." Kabuto replied with a grin.
"You… know… it can't…" Anko's right hand went to her neck. "You're… you're dead…"
"Precisely. That's why he's here like this." Kabuto said, chuckling.
The 'Edo Tensei' summon looked up, gaining some of its consciousness. His eyes focused on Anko as a grin developed on his face.
"It's been quite some time, Anko-chan." Orochimaru said, licking his lips slightly with his tongue. "Fate works in mysterious ways, it seems. Looks like I get the chance to finally pay you back for your hand in my death!"
Quick Notes:
1: I just want to make the note here, really quick, since now that this arc is getting on the way, I have a couple of OCs getting introduced en masse...
I'm doing my best to not overwhelm when it comes to introductions. Spread out introductions of some of the characters (specifically the genin that will be participating in the Kumo Exams). Don't feel pressured if it's hard to remember every OCs name. But I am doing my best to not make it overwhelming. Just... wanted to make that point really quick before we get too into the arc!
Author's Note: Hey! Chapter 103 is done! :)
So, actually, the chapter... ehhh... I kinda am splitting it in half. I've been liking these 'shorter' chapters I've been doing, so when the pre-first exam/pre-battle stuff started going on long enough, I decided it would be best to split it in half. So, instead, 104 will just be the second half. I THINK that's better overall, but if this chapter feels a little too... less 'actiony', then let me know. I can get back in the habit of not splitting up chapters then if that's a genuine thought. :)
At the very least, it's also been helping when it comes to posting chapters! Things are much quicker this way, which is something I think we all can agree on is a good thing. XD
I also wanted to get an update done before next week; I will still try and update by next week (since I have now done three weekly updates in a row)... but I do got a busy week next week. Outside of work/school, I do have a lot of meetings I have do for wedding planning. My wedding's in March, so the closer it gets to the day, the more work needs to be done AND THE MORE STRESS OMFG I JUST WANT IT TO HAPPEN ALREADY! ... :P
But enough ranting, I guess. I'm getting off track! Regardless of my schedule, I still will be trying to update next week, but we'll see! Regardless, when 104 is done, I'll be posting it ASAP. And i'll see you all when it's finished! Until then :)