Chapter 8: Survival 2
"Guys, we have a problem," Naruto stated very seriously as he stood up from his sleeping position and walked around the campsite.
"Wuzzat." Sakura sat up from her sleeping bag.
Naruto nudged Shikamaru with his foot to make sure he was awake.
"I'm up, I'm up. I might be lazy, but I'm a light sleeper. Practice and all that. We were supposed to get an extra thirty though, what gives?"
"I think Mizuki has it out for me. He's acting like he is trying to fail me specifically. I think we need a better strategy if we are going to succeed in getting to the gate with the scroll. I have a plan if that's okay Sakura."
Sakura rubbed her eyes and smiled. "It's fine Naruto. I trust you. But why would he have it out for you?"
"Not to start a fight Sakura, but the same reason your mother has a problem with me," Naruto said bitterly.
Sakura paused for what seemed like ages before she spoke, "I never asked what that was about."
"You can try," Naruto said. Leaving unsaid but implied, 'but it won't succeed.'
"Put a pin in your lover's quarrel, please. What's the plan? I'm sure you didn't wake us up early for no reason," Shikamaru whined.
"I played Mizuki before. He thought I had the scroll and was going off on my own. This bought us some time. Eventually, he should have realized I had fooled him, so he would head to the clearing where we found the scroll. I put proximity seals just outside the clearing in our direction. The proximity seals were tripped which woke me up, meaning he is headed this way. The plan is this: I'm going to send a clone after the fake scroll. Mizuki only presumed that it was fake. We are going to take the route around Mizuki with our remaining minutes. My clones are going to trick him into thinking I double-faked him so that he'll rush back towards the clearing. Having realized that I had you guys take the 'real' scroll, I'll send Mizuki at an angle away from us, giving us edge enough to beat him to the gate if he immediately goes in that direction. If he decides to guard the gate instead, I have a jutsu I can use."
# # #
Mizuki was beyond furious. Just how much had he been outsmarted by the demon brat. It was ridiculous. He was a Chunin! It might be as far as he ever got in the Leaf, but he was outsmarted multiple times by an academy student!
"You're cornered now though, Demon."
He quickly tracked his way up the path until he came across the team members! They might have the scroll.
"Damn, you guys almost made it. Give up your scroll if you know what's good," Mizuki said.
"We don't have it," said Sakura with a smile.
"Troublesome, as we don't have it," said Shikamaru.
Mizuki almost believed them. Almost. This would be the kind of mind game the demon liked to play. But also, every second he wasted on them was a potential double fake. If they didn't have the scroll, he needed to know now.
"I'll just have to knock you both out and check for myself then."
"I wouldn't if I were you," said Sakura taking a fighting stance.
"Yeah, Naruto has the scroll, and we're meeting up with him. He went around," said Shikamaru.
'They must think I'm an idiot. Why would they tell me? Unless to trick me again?' thought Mizuki.
Suddenly there was an explosion of smoke and the two teammates were running back in the direction they came from! He went after them, but their speed was impressive. He couldn't catch them, and they couldn't escape. Wait!
"This is a trick!" yelled Mizuki.
The two looked at him like he was crazy, and started running again. Damn! He went after them again for a minute until he turned white. It was a trick. The pink-haired girl could never pull off this speed, and definitely not for so long!
"DAMNIT!" Mizuki ran back to the clearing. Almost no sleep last night, and he had been running ragged. He could still outpace Nara and Haruno, Mizuki purposefully picked them for their lack of stamina. There's no way he was incapable of sabotaging the demon! He had to be careful though, or Naruto might suspect he was trying to sabotage him instead of just playing his role. Truthfully, they weren't supposed to go hard, Chunin vs Academy kids was not a survival exercise, it would be a slaughter if they tried.
Eventually, he made it back to the clearing, and his stomach dropped. The scroll from the tree was missing. It all made sense. Every time he was about to check the tree, the kid had come to distract him. When the kid was going to make a move, he asked how Mizuki knew it was fake to be sure he didn't have an extra method. Only Iruka did back at the gate. Tricking Chunin was encouraged here. Of course! Naruto had time to replace the scroll when he chased after the clone! Naruto wanted him to think the scroll was fake, but the tree became the perfect hiding spot. His real team was hiding in wait for him to go the wrong way.
Mizuki checked the clearing for tracks. And sure enough, there were fresh tracks from after he had passed through. The only problem was, they could pass off the scroll to Naruto. He would chase them towards the gate. If they stopped heading in that general direction before he caught them, he'd bail to guard the gate. Naruto still needed his team to pass.
# # #
Sakura, Shikamaru, and Naruto arrived at the forest's end at twenty minutes past seven. They hit the window, Mizuki had been successfully baited away. Now they needed to get through the gates within the fifteen-minute lead time they had on Mizuki. There was a stretch of open land, it would take them a minute at a full sprint. But there were sure to be Chunin, or even other students lying in wait.
Sakura asked, "Naruto, you said you had a plan for this?"
Naruto nodded, "The second the mist appears, make a break for it. Also, don't tell anyone about my shadow clones please."
Naruto built up around 10 times the required chakra, combined with his completed affinity training, that was significant.
"Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
A massive roiling mist filled the space between the gate and the forest. Shikamaru, Sakura, and Naruto ran like hell through the mist. Naruto would have carried them, but it was a team victory in his mind, they linked hands so none got left behind. And finally made it through the gate.
Immediately Naruto dispelled the mist and the clones. And immediately several teams were caught mid-way through their run. Including Sasuke who was fending off a Chunin, who was obviously going easy on him enough for Sasuke to make it through with some difficulty with his team.
"Fight me Naruto!" demanded Sasuke.
"Did you say something?" Naruto pretended not to hear him.
Sasuke threw the scroll in his hand on the ground and stormed off.
Naruto quickly grabbed the scroll and used the copy jutsu before anyone could object. He then gingerly placed the scroll back on the ground and smiled at Iruka, who looked on with a bemused expression.
"Mind if I check your scroll?" Iruka asked.
Naruto handed the original team scroll to Iruka, who immediately confirmed they had passed. A sheepish Kiba handed the scroll that Sasuke had thrown on the ground.
"You are free the rest of the day, the scrolls are yours to keep. Just remember that they are Chunin level jutsus of the Leaf and must be treated as such," Iruka stated for all to hear.
Naruto decided to wait for Hinata and examine the jutsu he had obtained from Sasuke thanks to his tantrum. "Suiton: Water Trip-Rope"
A lower chakra requirement, higher control supplemental C-Rank water jutsu. The jutsu sends out a tendril of water along the ground, which can be used to pull an opponent. It can also use pre-existing water to suddenly become a tendril, catching them off-guard.
Thirty minutes later, Naruto looked out, he saw Hinata in the brush, waiting for an opportunity to make a move. Unfortunately, Mizuki was combing around, probably looking for him. Naruto knew what he had to do.
"MIZUKI-SENSEI! BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!"
Mizuki turned and saw Naruto relaxing at the gate and turned white. He immediately rushed over. Naruto knew Mizuki might still think his team was out there. If he thought Naruto was distracting him to get his team past the gate, he would see Hinata and her team and take his frustration out on them. He would have to circle back, but Mizuki had to understand he had passed. He held up the real scroll, and the copy of Sasuke's scroll and pointed to Iruka-sensei.
"I just chased your team away, they had the scroll! There's no way!" yelled Mizuki.
"He must have pulled one over on you Mizuki. His team was the first to pass, and I checked the scroll. It's real." Iruka struggled to hold back his laughter. Mizuki had bags under his eyes, he looked like he might collapse. "Taking the job very seriously Mizuki, commendable," Iruka remarked.
Mizuki fell down as Hinata's team ran past their spent sensei, they handed Iruka their scroll.
Naruto cheered, "Hinata! Ino! Choji! I've been waiting for you! Let's hangout. It's been too long. You don't have clan stuff right? Shikamaru said he and Choji were planning to go to Yakiniku with whoever wanted to come. Sakura is coming too Ino!"
"Naruto! We've got to go home and shower first! Sheesh. We're covered in dirt and it's not even nine yet! I'm taking a nap!" Ino yelled.
Naruto frowned. She was right, but Hinata couldn't go home. Her father was a Hyuga supremacist like Neji, except Hyuga Hiashi was obsessed with his head position and the clan. No matter how strong Hinata became, Hiashi's only measuring stick was the traditional Hyuga taijutsu inheritance. Hinata was learning the gentle aspect of the gentle fist very well, but she would naturally struggle with the hard stances considering her Yin nature. Hiashi had given up on his daughter, only teaching how much was required of him. Very often he would take his anger out on her in a spar when he felt she had failed him. Which seemed to be every time he saw Hinata, and having the byakugan, was inescapable in the Hyuga manor.
"You're right Ino," said Naruto. "But you'll be there, right? Yakiniku Q at noon?"
"Yeah, yeah…" Ino walked off.
"See you guys there! I'm so excited so many people wanted to come! We'll be able to get so much meat!" Choji pumped his fists and also walked off.
Hinata and Naruto looked at each other, Naruto got a bit nervous.
"Hinata, do you… want to sh-sh-sh-shower at my place? J-j-just because, you know, your family. N-not for any other reason."
Hinata laughed behind her hand. Naruto could swear when they were alone together she turned into a slightly different person.
"Oh? What other reasons were you thinking of?" Hinata asked in a deceptively sweet voice.
"NOTHING! Umm, I assume you've got a change of clothes or something?"
"I can't borrow one of your shirts Naruto?" Hinata asked innocently.
"M-my shirts?"
She laughed. "I have a change of clothes. Let's go. Want to trade jutsus?"
# # #
The Hokage looked over the Crystal Balls he had set up with the telescope technique for the Academy Survival exercise. Multiple Intelligence Division personal filled his office, each with a ball set to a student's chakra signature. He had been pleasantly surprised by some.
Others, like Sasuke, had seriously underperformed, even if he had technically pulled through in the end. There were some personality issues there. A Jonin sensei would have to work on them if Sasuke wanted to be a successful ninja the Hokage thought to himself. Such a potentially powerful shinobi could not be a loose cannon. Kiba's condition was very good, he was the taijutsu type, and his skills never came into play. He followed Sasuke's lead, probably because they thought they were the strongest team offensively. Shino's skills were perfectly suited for this scenario, and he used them well, accommodating Sasuke's leadership. His conditioning was decent to good.
The Hyuga heiress was absolutely nothing like Hiruzen Sarutobi had expected. Was her father playing some kind of feint? Or was there some internal clan politics at work? From the beginning, she had simply taken leadership as if it came naturally to her. Her plans were simple but effective and used her advantages well. Of course, she had taken a risk in assuming the Chunin would not track the scroll by some other means than sight. Her teammates never had an opportunity to do much except the simple survival aspects. Ino's conditioning was not good, and downright unacceptable for a clan. Choji's conditioning was decent, his clan jutsus would work against him in some aspects.
Naruto's team performance was the craziest survival exercise ever performed in the history of the academy. Helped along by Mizuki. Was his hatred of the fox so great that he would be so inappropriate? The monitoring of the event was an A-Class secret thankfully. Sakura had performed very well as lead, allowing Naruto to take some control when needed, and managing the team's overall strategy well. Her reaction to the C-Rank jutsus was the textbook response. Her conditioning was just below Ino's, but Sakura didn't belong to a shinobi clan.
Shikamaru's conditioning was barely decent, with his family's jutsus allowing him to be lazy, his Jonin sensei would have to push him. It was a shame Gai still had his team. Shikamaru had potential and was willing to work on a team, but his reluctance to lead was a huge problem. What if the leadership had a problem? Could the boy be relied upon to take things into his own hands? He'd need to be on a Genin team where he was required to take charge in the Chunin exams. Perhaps the Ino-Shika-Cho trio would be resurrected.
Naruto had directed Mizuki like Nara Shikaku. As a result of Naruto's actions, combined with Sakura's clean strategy, the team had been in the least amount of trouble, and no risks had been taken. Good planning, flexibility, and cautiousness had won the day for them. Naruto could have taken on Mizuki, if not in the beginning, then at the end when he had been running for almost 24-hours. Naruto never did, he never put his team at risk. And truth be told, Hiruzen didn't know his conditioning level, Naruto had never been pushed to go full speed, and had never tired out.
Time to negotiate with the next crop of Jonins on their team requirements and different mixes.
# # #
Hinata fiddled with the hem of her jacket as she and Naruto approached his apartment. She knew Naruto lived with a guardian, but she had never met them. The mysterious Hisato-sensei who Naruto looked upon as a father figure. The apartment complex looked a little ramshackle, but clean. Her father would sneer at even walking in such a place.
"Door number three, here we are!" said Naruto. "Hisato-sensei! I'm home. Hope you don't mind I've brought a guest." He said as he opened the door.
As Hinata walked in, she noticed a slightly sickly looking, woman? No, Naruto had told Hinata his sensei was feminine looking but was definitely a man. Good thing too, she wanted to make a good impression.
"Naruto! How did your exercise go? Bringing a guest?" Hisato looked at Hinata, and suddenly his expression opened up with a huge mischievous smile. "Aaaaah. Yes, a guest."
Hinata bowed. "Very pleased to meet you Yuki-sama. My name is Hyuga Hinata, one of Naruto's classmates. I am sorry to intrude upon you. My house is- unavailable to me. Naruto said I could shower and change here; I hope that is okay?"
"Oh yes dear, absolutely. Wonderful to meet you, maybe I could make a small breakfast for all of us afterward? Shower is at the end of the hallway; Naruto's room is the furthest room from the bathroom."
Hinata bowed and headed for the shower.
Just before she closed the bathroom door she overhead voices.
"I approve son. Bwahahaha!"
"We're not like that! And I'm not your son!"
"Don't be embarrassed Naruto. Are you embarrassed already? Oh, I'm going to enjoy this."