Disclaimer: You know what this is. Naruto does belong to Kishimoto.
Akami was fidgeting in her seat from the atmosphere in the room. Her parents finally managed to talk to her and make her agree to meet Naruto in some other way than on a mission where everybody would die. Kushina and Minato were doing the same, it was almost like when Naruto came back, and they finally could talk.
The doorbell rang and Kushina ran to it in less than a heartbeat. She straightened the creeks on her robe and with the most cheerful of smiles she opened the door. Naruto was standing in front of it strangely without Kurama who didn't want to make things harder on everybody and just stayed in the forest playing with the foxes under moonlight.
"Good evening, Kushina."
"Good evening, Naruto. Please come in." she said and stepped aside to let him through. Just as he entered the house, he smelled the aroma of tea in the air as well as the tense atmosphere that wasn't vented in more than a week.
He took off his shoes and walked to the normal spot where he and the Namikaze would gather to chat and do some secret reports that weren't meant for a spy's ears. He scanned the room and saw the younger redhead not able to seat calmly. "Oh, shit here we go again…" he thought to himself as he knew what was going to happen.
"So Kushina, how is your treatment going? I've heard from the few times Tsunade and Dan came to us that your chakra paths are being healed faster than she predicted." Said Naruto taking a sip of tea he was served by Minato when Kushina opened the door.
She did a few turns to demonstrate the ease of movements and said "As if nothing ever happened. She says that I have to take some free time from shinobi activities to make sure the fresh pathways don't crack or something before they are properly anchored."
"A few weeks and I will be able to go against the Red Blade of Deathly blood and doom, huh?" he said jokingly making a huge mashup of every nickname she was given during her career and a few that Minato told him about when she passed her shinobi version of Chunnibyo phase.
The woman became red from embarrassment hearing how he was addressing her. Everything was going perfectly, but there was someone who didn't like it. For the past week Akami was feeling disgusted by herself and her parents. Because of her and some stupid prophecy of a now mostly dead clan, he was abandoned by his own parents and she even forgot about him since she always thought of him as a nuisance.
The younger redhead got up from her seat unable to stomach the atmosphere that was circulating around the house. She looked at Naruto who stopped talking with the Kage couple waiting for what she was about to say, and he didn't have to wait long.
"I don't understand how can you come here and laugh with them as if this house didn't bring you only suffering and pain, Naruto? And you, how can you treat the fact that he forgave you as if nothing happened? Aren't you disgusted with what you did, father, mother?" asked Akami her voice modulating between angry shouts and sobbing mutterings.
"Then what should they do, Akami? Should I pursue revenge on them? Should I kill them? Then if I did where do I stop? Should I make a show of killing you first? Or maybe killing every Konoha villager that beat me? Where do you think I should stop?! Tell me!" shouted Naruto
"I don't know! You have the power to make them completely bend to your will. Have you said anything about your treatment to anyone in this village, the opinion of this house would be torn to shreds…" she stopped for a second to take her breath in from the tirade she did on one breath. "They should be on their hands and knees thanking you for letting them live their lives!" she shouted with a red face and tears rolling down her cheeks.
Naruto snorted hearing the girl rumble and shot her a glare "You tell about it as if you weren't a cause of my suffering, dear sister. Have you forgotten how every time you broke something you would blame me? Or maybe how you made a show of eating the best food when I was starving; tip toeing the line between life and death? You throw those accusations as if that wasn't you, but I know that you feel the same way they do, only trying to shift the blame away from yourself. If you want them to get on their hands and knees maybe begin with yourself." He said with a sadistic smile.
Neither Kushina nor Minato were going to stop their daughter from doing what she was told, and if she did, they would prostrate themselves in front of the son they tortured with their own hands. Akami was about to go on one knee when in a burst of speed Naruto closed the distance between them and caught her by the top of her clothes. With a mighty push he flung her to her seat and gained an annoyed look on his face as she tried to get up.
"Sit down! This isn't a place to talk." He said and snapped his fingers transporting the residents of the house into his Battlefield. The place was filled with weapons in different state of destruction and occasional bodies lying around.
For a long time neither of the Namikaze felt such ominous power this close. Never since Naruto came back to haunt their days with the two goddesses. Everyone gulped as the always calm Naruto was marching towards them with a domineering aura that no teen should ever have.
"You know Akami there are many things that I feel everyday looking at any of you. Resentment, sense of abandonment, the little sobs of my younger self. A few years ago, there was something else though… It was hatred! For many years a burning flame of hatred roared inside me thinking about the things I would do to you when I came back. It was the first emotion I regained after I was given a new life. With time there were more of them, joy, melancholy, even love. I've worked hard to be able to throw this hate away turning it into a fuel to train every day until I felt that this hatred was beginning to dim. I was getting more mature and instead of turning into a revenge driven monster I decided to throw it away." He said catching his thoughts and trying to make what he was saying comprehensible
His face contorted into an ugly sneer and he continued "So don't even try and tell me to reignite my hatred towards the three of you because from time to time the power I was given at birth likes to feed on it and show me what I could do if I gave in. At any moment I could gain unholy levels of power and raze not only this family but Konoha itself. So, trust me Akami. I didn't forgive any of you for your sake, I had to move on either way, and I chose this way. Kushina and Minato trying to be friends with me is their way of showing how sorry they are." He said and snapped again as they came back to the Namikaze household.
Everybody was sitting back on their respective chairs in silence thinking about how Naruto wasn't fighting against everything from the start but even against himself at one point. There was only one person who stayed on one knee in the center of attention.
It was Minato who instead of getting up to think about what he witnessed got on two knees and bowed until his head touched the ground. "I never said it, but I'm truly sorry, Naruto. I never thought of myself as your oppressor, thinking I wasn't guilty of anything or at least as guilty as Kushina. B-But then Akami scolded me like a child reminding me that between the two of us I was the worst, sometimes I even think I don't deserve to be called a human." He said not lifting his head until given the permission.
"Lift you head Minato. No lift your head Yondaime Hokage. Such a pose doesn't fit someone of your state, instead of bowing to me show me how sorry you are by following through with your actions. Use the power that was granted to you as the ruler of this country to make sure that no other child has to live through what I had." He said pulling Minato up by his arm. "Especially since we are going to have a guest."
The rest of the house was about to get into their battle modes but seeing Naruto's calm expression filled with annoyance they stood their ground. A knock was heard at the door and Kushina went to open it.
"How did you know someone was coming? You aren't a sensor from what I know." Asked Akami
"No, I'm not. That doesn't mean you can't train the ability to some degree, but talent is a huge factor there and when someone is flaunting their power like our esteemed guest it's pretty easy." He said making Akami frown since she didn't feel anything.
Kushina came back with a very tall white-haired man with the Kanji for oil written on a metal plate on his forehead. He wasn't wearing his perverted smile like usually when he came back to Konoha to have a drink with his student. "Hey kid, I rushed to Konoha since I have the most important information I came across since the reestablishment of Kiri." He said and everyone gave him the stage.
He took out his notebook and began "There is a girl named Yumiko in a village in the land of snow with breasts only a centimeter smaller than Tsunade's." he said and paused thinking about what he just read. There wasn't much time for him to reflect on his actions as Kushina slammed his head to the ground.
He got up as if nothing happened, he stored the notebook and took another one "Sorry, wrong notes. There is a group of S rank nuke nin named-"
"Akatsuki." Said Minato cutting in
"For now I know about only two of their members, to be exact one member and one ex member-"
"Orochimaru and Itachi" he was cut short again
"Their goal is unknown for now but they are-"
"Hunting down the jinchuuriki, we know." Said Minato
Jiraiya was about to blow a gasket, he rushed here without stopping to peep at any bathhouse only for his information to be known already. "How do you know about it?!" he shouted throwing his notebook to the ground.
"In his time away Naruto met a stupidly strong, may I even say godly strong informant who was able to gather information on them much earlier than you. And then we already had a run in with Itachi, or to be exact it was Naruto's genin team." Said Minato
"It's a bit hard to believe that a genin team was able to survive a run in with Itachi. Wait by Naruto you mean your son? I thought he disappeared." He said and watched around the room seeing a carbon copy of Minato seating and calmly drinking his tea.
"I'm not their son anymore Jiraiya, after Akami was named heir I was banished from ever using the name Uzumaki or Namikaze ever again. And yes, I'm back now after I disappeared."
Jiraiya scoffed at the defiant and strong tone of the teen "Care to tell me how you a weakling who never even had an ounce of chakra came alive after battling an S-rank shinobi?" he said mockingly
The faces of everyone in the room went blank hearing Jiraiya's words. The older man directed his gaze to Minato "Have I said something wrong?"
"You just went full retard Sensei, never go full retard." Answered Minato and an audible snap of fingers resonated in the background.
The Namikaze family was greeted once again by the pale-yellow sky of Naruto's space awaiting the cries of the white-haired man. Jiraiya gulped unconsciously seeing that this "weakling" either made a genjutsu with a snap of his finger or just used an unknown type of space-time jutsu.
"You see Jiraiya, things have changed since the last time you came to the village. I'm not a weakling anymore and at least two people can attest to it as they have seen what I can do." Said Naruto walking to Jiraiya emitting a pressure around him. He outstretched his hand and a spear that was lodged into the ground has flown right into it. Naruto threw it directly at the sennin, some people just needed to be taught the lesson a hard way.
Has it not been so telegraphed Jiraiya would have a hole in his shoulder by now. His anger rose and he wanted to sprint to the boy and slap him six generations into the future for even thinking about making such a stunt. He wanted to but he stopped when he saw every bladed weapon on the Battlefield vibrate and tremble. They began flying at Jiraiya as if thrown by invisible beings at speeds so fast that they looked like black streaks.
"Hari Jizo!" shouted Jiraiya as he knew that at some point he would be unable to evade every weapon flung at him and his white hair became so long that it encompassed his entire body making a seemingly impenetrable shield. And in the beginning it worked, each weapon bounced off his metal like hair until one spear was able to penetrate it slightly.
Some blood began staining the white hair and it receded back into its normal shape. Jiraiya's face was a mix between anger and disbelief as he watched his left arm that had at least a one centimeter deep hole in it from the spear that touched him.
On the other side was Naruto who wore a look of boredom and sadism on his face. Was he really that strong that battling one of the Sannin was boring him? No, he was not. But now he had the upper hand on his opponent in every possible way. He was unharmed, within a safe distance and he already won the psychological battle.
"Splendid! You've managed to come out of it almost unscathed. I would say that I'm impressed but seeing that you are one of the legendary shinobi of the past generation, I must say I'm a bit disappointed. Instead of an intricate plan you just took the attack head on without knowing what was going to happen." He said casually, mocking the older shinobi, rejoicing in the emotional pain he was causing to the man with his mockery for the moment.
Jiraiya who was making plans how to teach this small bastard a lesson gave completely to his anger now. Or at least in the way a veteran shinobi would give in. He wouldn't just go and slug it out with the blond, but his reaction times would become longer and train of thought sloppier.
He wanted to get close and personal with Naruto when another black streak passed right next to his right cheek leaving a small scratch. Jiraiya stopped in his sprint, seeing Naruto with his outstretched left hand covered in a perfect black sleeve and his yumi held proudly. Another arrow appeared in Naruto's right hand and Kushina took everyone in a close vicinity of Jiraiya away from him already knowing what this thing could do.
"Dance for me Jiraiya! Don't even think about blocking it!" he said and shot arrow after arrow as Jiraiya was slowed down in his advance having to evade the arrows before they were even shot calculating the path it would go.
When he arrived at a distance where a yumi was going to be ineffectively slow Jiraiya thought the victory was his. He wasn't ready when the black yumi morphed into the flame short bow that shot arrows like bullets. For the first time in the match Naruto began moving, running around Jiraiya and shooting from every possible range and angle.
Jiraiya was doing what he was ordered before, his efforts in evading the arrows made him look as if he was dancing for his life. Sweat was going down his face and his legs weren't liking the chaotic movements forced upon them.
In a faraway corner that nobody was able to see a huge sword began to tremble and flew the distance towards the unsuspecting Jiraiya as not even one of Naruto's attacks generated a chakra signature.
The white-haired man was beginning to grasp the rhythm at which Naruto was shooting his arrows and he thought that an opening presented itself to him. He lunged at Naruto in this instance ready to respond to the attacks.
Naruto had to fight the maniacal laugh that wanted to escape his mouth. He made his shots rhythmic in the purpose of giving Jiraiya the false hope of finding an opening. It was then that the sword that he summoned before hit Jiraiya in the leg cutting of his Achille's tendon sending him to the ground.
Naruto calmly walked to the man writhing on the ground in pain unable to make any type of movement with the damaged ankle. With an innocent and childlike smile Naruto posted himself over the man and bent himself at the hip. "How does it feel to be beaten by a weakling that is unable to wield chakra?"
Seeing no response from the man Naruto sighed and undid his Battlefield. They were once again at the table of the Namikaze family. The pain in Jiraiya's ankle stopped and he got off the ground touching his foot and moving it in every direction to check what was going on.
"Excuse me, what the actual fuck? A minute ago, I was sure that I would have to somehow get to a hospital and now I'm good as new." Said Jiraiya getting in the face of Naruto
"Can you please take a few steps backwards? I don't feel comfortable having an aged man this close to me." Said Naruto pushing the man slightly away. Now that Jiraiya was slightly away Naruto continued "What you just witnessed is called Battlefield. You can think of it as of a space time jutsu where I transport anyone who I want to. And I'm a master in there, for now I can slightly change the flow of time between there and the real world as well as make the injuries that happened there disappear. That's how we train with Kurama without her destroying a part of the village." He explained and sat down on his spot.
"Was that how you were disappearing in Wave?" asked Akami
"I have to say that whether it is by training or purely your own smarts you impress me Akami. Yes, that's how we were training in Wave, especially in Wave since we had you and Itachi on our toes. And it wouldn't be safe for the country in itself but that's just a bonus."
"I have another question for you Naruto. When you came back you told me that you were at the level of a jonin, not able to effortlessly take down one of the Sannin." Asked Minato
"Because I'm normally not able to take down any S-ranks just like that. But Jiraiya just gave me a great opportunity to do so. First, he thought I was a weakling unable to even defend myself from a cat, then I showed him a space time jutsu causing a shock. And I just kept taking every bit of advantage I could until it snowballed into him forgetting about me able to wield the weapons scattered around. I think it's called tactic three point two in the academy textbook." He finished looking directly into Jiraiya's eyes mocking him at falling for one of the basics.
"Okay, okay I understand, I'm sorry for thinking you are a weakling." Said Jiraiya, lifting his arms in a surrender pose. "But I do have questions, mostly just one to be exact. How were you able to use a space time jutsu or anything else? You never had any chakra; shit I can't feel anything from you even now." Asked Jiraiya
Naruto almost rolled his eyes hearing Jiraiya "I am sure that you weren't the one who taught Akami how to think like a shinobi, hell, like any sane being. Any person living in this world needs some type of internal energy to be able to live, shinobi, civilians, animals even trees. Most of the time it's chakra and its derivatives. I'm not that different just the energy that lets me live is different." He said and made a nod towards Minato who made a silencing seal encompassing the whole house.
That wasn't something Jiraiya has predicted. Casting such a strong seal was meant only for secrets deemed vital for the village. And yet here Minato was using it to talk about a kid that went from zero to hero.
"I see you two understand the gravity of the situation, Jiraiya, Akami. There was something big that happened during the sealing of Kyuubi. Naruto, he… he had chakra in the beginning, but during the sealing the Shinigami decided to honor the prophecy about the child of destiny and help him end the cycle. She and her sister gave Naruto the power to finally kill the last boss, the goddess who began all this cycle of hatred and pain in this world." Said Minato summing the whole story of Naruto.
"Wait, wait, wait. You are telling me right now that the higher beings interfered with the workings of our world directly and chose Naruto as the vessel for this power… It's hard to believe but after I witnessed it firsthand, I can't do anything else than believe you." Said Jiraiya deep in his thoughts
He wasn't the only one deep in his reflections as Akami lifted her hand as if she was in the academy gathering the attention to herself "Since Tou-san is sure that this is true then what happened after you disappeared?"
"I was training in what you would call heaven, in truth it's just another dimension where deities live while checking our world. Heaven is a completely different thing, another dimension apart if you want."
"You were training with literal gods?!" exclaimed Jiraiya and calmed himself "That's what I would have said a few minutes ago but now that I know the origins of your power I'm not that shocked anymore. Though I must say that the more I think about it the more this ability of yours to transport anyone to your own space looks almost like a city-class jutsu. Especially when you either reverse the damage or use those weapons that are scattered around." He said and you could see almost material question marks over the youngsters' heads
"What's a city class jutsu, Ero-sennin? I always thought that jutsus went from E to S class." asked Akami
Jiraiya wanted to act smug hearing the beginning of the phrase until he heard the nickname that was given birth by Kushina "Can you for the love of gods stop calling me that?"
"Nope" answered the two redheads in unison
The older man could only sigh and explain the question "Ninety nine percent of the time you would be right, jutsus are classified from E to S by the criteria of their difficulty, chakra consumption and most often their effect. Let's say an Iryo jutsu like the Shosen is an A rank, then Tsunade's Sozo Saisei is an S rank. Now imagine a hypothetical jutsu that is capable of healing an entire city at the same pace as the Sozo Saisei. If you were to classify such a jutsu normally it would be an S rank and that's a problem, they are both S rank yet one is much more powerful than the other one. Here come the city class and higher. They describe the power of jutsus on another scale that what one can see in their life. A good example of such a jutsu would be Lady Chiyo's Chikamatsu collection of ten puppets which let her alone conquer an entire city. In short if it has a huge impact on an entire city then it is a city class jutsu." He monologued fishing his lecture
"You said city class or higher, does it mean that there are jutsus on even a higher scale than that?" asked Naruto
"Only a few and they carved themselves in the books of history. The most recent one comes also from one of Suna's nukenins, Sasori. He used one hundred puppets to destroy by himself a whole country. The other ones date back to the time of the Warring Clans periods. Then there is the continental class, it wasn't ever used nor created according to what the books say." He said
"If that's the name for such a technique then it was already used in this world, it was just stopped before it could take effect. The next time it's used will be during our lifetimes." Said Naruto worrying the entire room
"It's not a funny thing to joke about Naruto." Said Jiraiya
"I'm not joking old man. It happens cyclically like the appearance of the child of prophecy, since he or she is tasked with halting the process."
"Are you talking about the goddess that you are supposed to kill and finally break the cycle?" asked Jiraiya and Naruto only nodded with a heavy sigh. He rocked his head to the back and sighed again.
"But it's undoable for me right now. No matter how strong I may seem for my age I'm far away from being strong enough to beat a celestial being. I need to improve, and I need to do it fast. And then comes the fact that I have no idea when Kaguya will be released."
"Neither we know how she will be released…" said Minato
"It's pure speculation but I think that Akatsuki is somehow linked to the method, knowingly or unknowingly." Responded Naruto
"So, for now we are going on pure theories and a biased prophecy. Talk about being in the dark." Said Kushina summing the situation
"It's not as bad as we presume for the moment though. If we take into account the hypothesis Naruto presented, the fact that Akatsuki is looking for members for the moment and merely sent one of their members to only test Naruto because he disappeared from the radar for a bit of time… We probably have more time than we think." Said Minato
"A few years at most I think though, but it will be a large improvement over today. My generation will reach late teens to early adulthood, we will be much stronger compared to today." Said Naruto
"Then our top priority is to make the most of you." Said Minato even if slightly reluctant to send children into something even worse than the war he lived through.
"Stop sulking Minato. I know what you are thinking right now 'It's so difficult as the parent to this whole village to ask young people to fight'. If you are scared of children dying, then do something about it! Prove why you were chosen as the leader of this village and order the jonins to extract the last bit of talent in every young shinobi under their care because there is a lot of lost potential wasted among your ranks Hokage-sama." Said Naruto
Minato's system received a shock from what the younger blond told him "You are right. We are living now in times of relative peace. As bad as it might sound it made me soft and weak. I need to remember that we are living in a shinobi village where any type of common sense is thrown out the window, we are training children to be killers! If they are ready to die for their village then I must make sure that they are strong enough to never be forced to pay the ultimate price." Said Minato with resolve he thought he lost after the war
"That's the kid I supported on the way to the top." Said Jiraiya slapping Minato's back with a smile that disappeared immediately "There is something else that was brought to my attention as well, Orochimaru is preparing something."
"We know, he will most likely act during the chunin exams." Said Naruto
"Let me guess this divine informant again? Let me ask a question though if you have the information from the divine beings then how is it possible that they don't know exactly what will happen let's say with Orochimaru or Kaguya?" asked Akami who never spoke during the previous conversation
"Because it would have been too simple… is the answer I would love to give you, but it isn't the case. It's a simple question of free will that was given to us. There are many possible outcomes of very simple actions and we can only know basic information like when and what and they have already a huge margin of tolerance. A very simple example would have been I drink alcohol tonight and I have to stay here for the night because it is the first time, I would be drunk. Simple right? Now add to it that outside there are maybe assassins sent after my head and me just getting wrecked saved my life and changed the outcome of a future event." He explained to Akami
"Let's stop talking about things like this for the moment. We already decided our next steps and can't do more tonight." Said Kushina
"Before we do I want to do one more thing before though. Jiraiya, do me a favor and take Akami as your apprentice. I know you trained her before from time to time but now I want you to make her your full-blown apprentice. Your style of using a huge amount of jutsu to overwhelm your opponent matches as well as your taijutsu. I know that with you as her master she will become one of the strongest shinobi in history." Said Naruto and Akami was in shock hearing him recommend her and give her compliments.
"Minato, what happened to this kid over the years is a mystery to me. He sounds like an adult more than a teen. Even more like a teacher that recommends his pupil. Normally I wouldn't listen to a brat like you but seeing that you had me lying on the floor in pain I accept your proposal." He said to Naruto and turned to Akami "Akami Namikaze, do you want to become my apprentice?"
"Yes!" she shouted and mouthed a thank you to Naruto
Time skip
A few days have passed since the Namikaze family had the heartfelt conversation and Akami became Jiraiya's apprentice. Minato's fervor didn't fade and made sure that the students were properly taught by their senseis by explaining them the threat of Orochimaru. Everyone would have to bring weekly reports as well as monthly meet ups between the teams other than team eleven since they were balance breakers and Kushina still had to wait for some time until she was in the clear.
That's why neither Naruto nor Kurama were to be found in Konoha. They were sitting with the livelier of goddesses at table in her space.
"I've seen what you were doing down there. I have to say both of you grew up so much in this short amount of time. I will wake up one day and be an auntie to your child." Said Kami and both teens spilled their drinks.
Kurama's face got red and she started blabbering "Wh- What are you even saying! We aren't even that far into a relationship."
Naruto held her hand under the table to calm her down and he pointed to Kami who was restraining her laughter even if he himself was embarrassed. "Kami-nee please stop teasing Kurama-chan that much."
"Huh? Whyyyy? She's so cute when distressed." She said and hugged the poor girl. After calming the future beauty Kami went back to her seat and put her head on her hands "Speaking of growing up have you found something strange about your Flame of War recently Naruto?"
"No, I don't think so… Maybe? Kind of? In my battlefield I can break the rules and use the weapons scattered around even if they don't qualify as spear or bow. But then it's not like I'm using it directly with my hand maybe that's why."
He received a thumbs up for his response from Kami "Pinpon! You never cease to impress me Naru-tan. You got everything right other than just one thing, you aren't breaking the rules within your battlefield. What you are able to do now with the Flame is only a small portion by using your designated weapons freely. But in a war, they aren't the only weapons used, and using the other types of weapons without your hands is the next thing you will train in."
"Let me get it straight, I must learn how to use other types of weapons without my hands."
"Exactly. First inside the battlefield as it is easier. For now, you are able of using the weapons by projecting them in a straight line but with training you will be able to manipulate them as if you had multiple arms, each holding a different weapon. The next step will be to do the same in the real world."
"Finally, new level of training, when do we begin?" exclaimed Naruto marveling in the possibilities it would give him.
Kami's face twisted into her rare sadistic smile and she said "Now."
Time skip
Kurama and Naruto were standing in front of the academy where the first part of Chunins exams would take place in the matter of hours. Next to them was standing Kushina in her battle gear which she was finally allowed to put on a few days ago with her synthetic chakra pathways fully anchored.
"Listen you two, I know for a fact that you don't need luck in here, especially after your solo training with Kami-sama and Shinigami-sama. So just go in and do what you know best. But please let some people to pass the test with you. That's all dismissed." Said Kushina and shooed her pupils to the academy.
The couple was walking through the halls and felt the heavy aura of negativity from those that didn't feel ready to climb the ladder. Hitai-ates from different countries were shining right and left with the most prevalent sign being from Konoha itself but it wasn't the only the only country being represented.
"Kusa, Ame, Kiri, Suna and a few from some completely minor ones. Do you see anything else?" asked Kurama
"Nope, but I'm sure you felt it. There are a few monsters running around here. That guy from Kiri, the one with the bowl cut and the guy serving as prison for your youngest brother."
"I'm not sure if they can qualify as monsters though. Compared to us they aren't that strong."
"Yeah compared to us they are only good, but we don't count. You are the walking mass of chakra capable of destroying cities with a single blow and I have the power of an ancient god. If we weren't the monsters in this hall then they are the next for the spot."
"Can't say you aren't right. Then between them all who do you think is the strongest one?"
"Tough question. Maybe the redhead with that crazy tanuki inside?"
"Same here." Said Naruto when he and Kurama felt a new presence enter the hall. First, they were sure it was one of the jonins waiting outside giving some last advices. No, it was someone who was clearly as strong as Kakashi posing as a genin. "I'm changing my mind, that guy right there. He is the strongest apart from us in this room."
"And once again I have to admit that you are right. He's fishy though, he just said to the genins of the class we graduated in that it is his seventh time in these exams."
"You and your beautiful foxy ears never cease to amaze me." Complimented Naruto making her blush slightly.
"Thanks" she answered shyly
"Kurama-chan can you stop being so cute? We are supposed to be in a place full of killers." He said earning a small punch to the shoulder and a small laugh.
"I don't want to sound to sound too high and mighty but we both know that nobody poses any kind of threat to us. And thank you Naruto-kun, no matter how many times you compliment me it always warms my heart." She said with a beautiful smile showing her slightly larger canines making Naruto pause for a second to look at her.
His musings were cut short when a door opened and many chunin and higher-level shinobi went out. One stood out among them thanks to his height and battle-hardened face. "Gather around maggots! Your test will begin now, form a single line and enter the classroom. You will be given a number to sit at."
Some people were too frightened of the domineering aura of Morino Ibiki, the head of T&I division of Konoha and walked like sheep into line unable to think what the next test might be. A few minutes later everybody was sitting in their spot, no team was allowed to sit together, always separated by at least a few people.
Naruto was scanning the layout of the classroom when Ibiki presented himself to the rest of candidates. Then came the time for the rules of the test and the papers being handed out. Naruto saw the questions and almost laughed at the difficulty of this test.
"I've seen this test in some books for the jonin exams. They aren't hard per se but need some advanced calculations that most people here don't have a notion of. At least not consciously yet using them naturally. Like in this question about throwing a kunai through air with a temperature gradient." He was thinking to himself writing the answers casually.
After barely a half of the time he was getting bored since he already finished his test and saw Kurama do the same. A good idea came to him in the next second, he knew roughly who wasn't able to pass the second exam with all the limbs still attached.
With a single breath he erased his own presence as if he never was in the class and left his seat strolling around. Kurama was having a hard time not laughing seeing how he exchanged every proctor wallet with another one. Then he took a lighter from one of them.
He went across the tables sometimes even on them still being invisible to the detection of anyone even Ibiki who saw through almost any attempt to cheat. He saw the first target and with the lighter he borrowed before he lit the genin's test. "Number 33 you are out" rang Ibiki's voice throwing the genin's team out.
For the next ten minutes there was chaos with what was later called the Chunin Combustion as an unknown presence lit half of the distributed tests. Before time ran out, Naruto sat back down and anticipated the last question. He wasn't perturbed in the slightest sensing the bluff the proctor was playing on them and stood his ground for the last question.
"Nobody wants to quit anymore?" asked Ibiki and saw not a single soul rising his or her hand into the air. "Then you pass." He said knocking more than a few from their chairs. Another round of chaos ensued as genins were shouting to get answers from the tall man who finally gave them a mental scar by showing his own ones from when he fought against himself and said nothing when captured.
The screams of genins were silenced as a ball of cloth broke a window in a spectacular manner. A woman was apparently inside as she began throwing kunais attached to the cloth until it fully unfurled.
Now fully uncovered they could see who barged in was a woman around twenty-four to twenty-five years old with chocolate brown eyes and purple hair tied into fanning ponytail. Most important though was her state of dress, or undress to be exact. She had only a protective mesh top under an open trench coat.
"Perfect timing Anko. The kids were getting more and more annoying." Said Ibiki walking from the back of the banner
Anko began counting the resting genins in the class and stopped on our favorite blond "Where did I meet him before?" she thought and continued counting. Unknown to her Naruto was thinking the same. "Only sixteen teams left, you didn't go easy on them Ibiki."
"I would love to take credit for that, but it wasn't me. Someone was able to sieve the weakest under my nose by igniting their tests."
"No way! And you didn't notice it? Someone here must be seriously over leveled." She said and exchanged a last look with her superior and turned to the contestants. "Everyone who wants to continue follow me." She said pointing toward the general direction of the Forest of Death.
The resting teams ran after the second proctor to the edge of Konoha where they met one of the numerous gates of the training ground. "Welcome to the training ground 44, also known as the Forest of Death." Said Anko and at the same time came a sound of a slaughtered pig.
Meanwhile just behind the foliage one of the green horns of T&I looked at the pig he just killed under Anko's command to add some dramatics to her speech.
Back on the outside Anko was telling the rules of the next test like one of them being that additional scrolls were hidden inside the forest since the group was so small, some were horrified at the thought of spending there more than a few hours in the hostile environment. In the meantime, team eleven was talking and not paying attention to the woman as they already had all the information.
"You feel him, don't you?" asked Kurama
"Yeah, such foul chakra. I can't believe nobody else is sensing it."
"Then what do we do? Do we go and help team seven when they are attacked? How far into killing him do we go?"
"You heard Jiraiya's last info. Our goal of halting the process of Akatsuki worked already. They have many missions from legitimate sources to get more people under their wings and they can't stop now, or they will lose them all. And even the worst of villains need money to continue their plans. We can go all out from now on." He said and regretted his words when he saw Kurama's hair take an orangey and fiery glow. "Okay maybe not all out, I don't want you to put this village back into tough times of debt."
"I know, I know. I will refrain from using large area attacks. But still it will feel good to fight at full power someone else than you or Nee-chans."
"I know what you mean-" their conversation was cut short as a kunai flew in their direction. Naruto caught it with his left hand and Anko appeared behind him, holding him with a menacing grin.
"I hate when some insolent little shits like you don't listen to what I have to say." Whispered Anko into his ear
"For your own good I advise you to stop smushing your chest against my back." He said calmly
"And you have the gall to talk back to me!" she said and tried to take out a kunai from her pouch only to find her hand being pressed down to her body with the point of the kunai she threw a few seconds before.
"If you don't stop then a hole in your hand won't be the biggest problem. You see my beautiful girlfriend is quite possessive." He said pointing to Kurama who had fire in her eyes
Anko gulped feeling the KI the little girl was shooting at her and it seemed to only affect her since no one other was showing any sign of being under such heavy aura. Slightly trembling Anko took off her hands from Naruto and got away from him. "What's going on, a kid her age shouldn't be able to scare me like that. At least no one heard our conversation, or all the intimidation and my image would be gone."
A few minutes later of intimidation, rules, scrolls and death waivers distribution the teams were finally ready to go to their designed starting points. "Kurama-chan, can you feel where Akami's team and Orochimaru are?"
"Orochimaru has the gate opposite to us and team seven are fourteen gates to north from our point. If I had to guess Orochimaru will toy with them if possible, so maybe he will attack only in a day or two."
"So? What do you suggest we do?"
"For now? Just get to some teams and take their scrolls. Then we will stand in a reasonable distance to Akami's team to watch them. The question is if we should or not inform anyone about Orochimaru being here?"
"Nah, they will discover in a few hours at most the victims who served for his skin vessels. That will give us plenty of time to scare mentally the old pedo."
"You aren't thinking about killing him in any possible way right here and now?"
"Nope, he must have at least a few escape plans. The only way to kill him right now is to do it when he is about to change his vessels. Then there is a need to rupture any of possible links of him to the world. The more I think about it the more I'm sure he chose the wrong summoning contract, he isn't a snake, he's a cockroach."
With his last word Anko's voice was projected through the speakers with some advice to not die and the gates opened. "The next team is two clicks to the north. ETA is five minutes." Said Kurama
"Let's make it two." Said Naruto and a black goo portal opened on the ground. A pitch-black horse came out of it. "Great to see you Bucephalus." He said and mounted it. When he was comfortable, he outstretched a hand to Kurama "Hime-sama?". She positioned herself in front of her beloved with her legs on one side of the horse.
"I still can't believe you can summon this horse." She said and the horse ran at speeds that made the surroundings blurry. It was even less than two minutes when they arrived close enough to take their opponents scroll.
"Sorry Buce-chan, next time I will summon you for an entire day for you to run everywhere you want." Said Naruto dismissing his horse as they were less than fifty meters from their targets. "No need to play sneaky games with this team. You don't have to be a sensor of your caliber to know they are a scared shitless."
They passed through the foliage and stood right in front of an Ame team. They were all bunched up with kunais in hands barley covering any terrain trying their best to prepare for an ambush or some kind of beast living in the forest. They tensed up even more seeing the blond redhead team.
"Listen, you have two possibilities. Either A you give us your scroll willingly, we check if it's the one we need and we take it without harming you and maybe you will be able to get another two scrolls to pass. Or B we do it the hard way and you won't be able to compete anymore in this exam nor in the next ones." Said Naruto giving them the choice
One genin from the Ame team snorted haring that and threw his kunai at Naruto who caught it. "If you think you can scare us then you are completely wrong. Get them boys!" he shouted and began to run.
"That's too bad. Have it your way then." Said Naruto and he summoned his short bow. With a quick pull of the string he shot three arrows each hitting their mark and ending the life of the three boys. "Hope you don't mind that I took them out Kurama-chan. Knowing you the scroll would have been incinerated with their bodies." He said earning a sheepish look from her.
He went to check out which one of them had the scroll. "Tsk, it's heaven. We don't need it, have they been a tad smarter they would have been alive by now."
"Doesn't matter. Let's go for the next team north." Said Kurama and they went continued their hunt. The luck was on their side as the next team they encountered had the earth scroll they were looking for.
"The only thing we need to do is go to team seven and wait for Orochimaru to show up." Said Naruto as he stashed the scroll in his pouch.
"And to find some place to sleep as well." Said Kurama
"Yeah we can't go to our personal training ground with this many people running around. Then how about a romantic night under the stars?"
"Is it a date proposal in a forest full of creatures big enough to eat us whole and people ready to kill us in any manner possible? Why not, we don't have anything better to do now anyway." She said with a smile until something hit her radar. "I guess our night will have to wait. The officials just found out the bodies outside and are on their way into the forest, fuck Orochimaru must've felt it too. He's going straight for team seven. With his speed he will get there faster than we will be able to."
"I hope we won't be too late. Come out Buce-chan!" said Naruto summoning his steed and they both jumped on. After a good ten-minute run, they were nearing the battle. Kurama shared with her boyfriend her sensing ability and he stood on the running horse's back. His yumi spawned into his left hand and he drew his first shot. Each time he released it a shockwave appeared in a cone front of them.
"It was a miss, he managed to evade them at the last moment." Said Kurama. Naruto tsk'ed and was ready to for another shot when a body flew past them. Kurama jumped away from the horse and caught the person flying through the air. "Akami! Are you okay?" asked Kurama
"Yeah, I'm okay but Sasuke won't be, he's fighting this freak alone right now. He was saying about giving Sasuke some kind of gift and was about to do it until those arrows came in." she said getting away from Kurama's arms.
"Naruto go we will catch up to you. Orochimaru is about to give Sasuke his seal!" shouted Kurama and Naruto only nodded. "Let's get going too. Listen when we get there you take your team and run; this freak you met is Orochimaru. We can fight him, but we won't be able to guarantee your safety." Said Kurama
Meanwhile Naruto just got to the center of action where Orochimaru was kicking Sasuke around like a ragdoll. The snake was about to capture the lone Uchiha when Naruto dismissed his horse and did a diving attack with a spear making Orochimaru jump away from his prey.
The look of annoyance on Orochimaru's face was unmissable as he lost his opportunity to mark his next host. And even more as he saw who stopped him, once again this blond brat "I wasn't expecting you Naruto-kun." He said with fake cordiality.
"Well you weren't but we were closely watching what you were doing in the forest. Sasuke you alright?" asked Naruto turning his head to the Uchiha.
"I don't need your help, Naruto." Was the only answer he got
"I think we already had a talk about pride, Sasuke. For now, take your team and run away, you are far away from being in his league."
"And you think you are in my league Naruto-kun?" said Orochimaru
"That's a good question." Said Naruto with a smirk and multiple black portals opened behind him with innumerable weapons. There was only a small delay between the spawn and all the weapons launching straight at Orochimaru's face.
A huge dust cloud covered the spot where Orochimaru was and when it settled there was no sign of the man other than a rest of mud from the clone, he used Kawarimi with. "What a superb ability Naruto-kun. Such a shame I won't be able to have your body." Said Orochimaru from behind a tree walking out harm free and getting into a combat ready position.
Naruto did the same pointing his spear towards his enemy feeling the tension rising. "Sasuke do me a solid and get the fuck out of here. As much as I don't care whether you die here or not some people will get mad. So, go to Sakura and make her heal you and continue competing in this exam." Said Naruto and in a burst of speed he disappeared.
The same happened with Orochimaru as he took out his Kusanagi. They met with great force blade to blade and a shockwave around them. They didn't cede any ground as they swung their weapons at inhuman speeds only sparks flying off being testament of them fighting.
Naruto spawned a few portals to the side of Orochimaru sending a few large great swords with the intention of cutting the man into a few pieces. Orochimaru evaded the first attack and parried the next sword flying at him catching the hilt and throwing it back to the last two swords deviating their paths.
Naruto used this leftover time to gain a bit of distance as he flew into the air and threw his spear with enough force to rip someone's arm clean off. Summoning his short bow, he began firing shots at Orochimaru that defied any type of known physics. His training with the goddesses was showing as he integrated the fast fire bow capacities into the much stronger short bow. Each time he fired many black streaks were flying towards Orochimaru changing their directions with sharp angles as Orochimaru was running around trying to evade them.
The Sannin managed to evade them all but a single one was able to get close enough to him to send him flying with only the residual force from the arrow. Naruto's bow changed into his yumi and a spear like arrow spawned in his right hand. He drew his bow with it as his power was recking the ground around him. "Eat this!" he shouted releasing the arrow with a cone of destruction following the projectile.
Orochimaru knew it was too late for him to evade the attack and even too late for him to use Kawarimi. So, he elongated his Kusanagi fighting the power of the arrow with the legendary sword. With unseen precision the tips of the weapons were battling for domination and the legendary sword was the losing one. The length being shorter and shorter from absorbing the blow it was returning to its normal length.
There was no more room to take on the rest of the impact with the sword, but it made it slow enough for Orochimaru to make it narrowly miss. Or at least that's what the man thought as the arrow turned towards his heart once again. He put his left arm in front of his heart strengthening it with chakra, yet it wasn't enough, the arrow penetrated his arm with the tip being lodged a good centimeter in his thorax. "You surprise me Naruto-kun! So much power in such small body." He said licking his lips.
In the back Sasuke still hasn't left the scene watching the fight as if his life depended on it. "Is this what a battle between shinobi really looks like?" he said to himself feeling so small when a hand grasped him from behind.
"We are bailing out Sasuke!" shouted Akami who just got to the scene with Kurama and took the Uchiha to where Sakura was preparing to heal her team.
"It took you long enough, Kurama-chan." Said Naruto feeling his lover come to help him
"Sorry about that, there was a huge snake in our way. Anyway, it doesn't look like you need that much help." She said looking at Orochimaru's arm.
"It will be much simpler though now that you are here." He said and Kurama smirked. A snake like path of fire emerged from her feet and went directly to Orochimaru and burst out into a huge pillar of fire visible from outside the forest.
Orochimaru was jumping and using Kawarimi to evade the successive pillars until Naruto added his tracing arrows into the pursuit of the snake until he was cornered. Multiple flames forming a prison he was unable to escape with one forming under his feet with Naruto spawning the black portals in a dome around him.
The two attacks fired at the same time making Orochimaru forced to stay in a hellfire riddled with lethal weapons from ever side. When both techniques stopped there was no trace of the snake Sannin only scorched earth and multiple black weapons sticking at the exact same point.
"He ran away, reverse summoning I guess." Said Kurama not sensing his presence anymore. "Let's go to the tower now. No need to stay here any longer since our mission is complete."
"Yeah at least we will be given food and a bed." He said and they both went to the tower to wait for the next five days until the end of the exam.