Chapter: 6 (Genin Exam)
Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto franchise, just my puppets and a few assorted OC's. Also congratulations for those who figured out where I got the idea for my last puppet from. What can I say, I'm a fan of obscure pro wrestling gimmicks hardly no one remembers.
(Konoha Ninja academy the next day.)
Iruka looked uneasily at Naruto, he remembered what happened after seeing Naruto leave with the body He picked up the forbidden scroll left behind, and went to report what he saw to the Hokage. To his surprise the Hokage simply brushed it off, and told him to keep quiet, and not worry about it. He said whatever Naruto did with Mizuki, that Mizuki had it coming when he stole the scroll and tried to flee. Iruka tried to for now put this in the back of his mind as he called the teams out.
"Team Seven will consist of Aburame Shino, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke.
"YES!" Cheered Sakura."Eat that Ino-pig, CHA!" Went Inner Sakura.
"Your sensei will be Hatake Kakashi. Team Eight will consist of Yamanaka Ino, Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyuuga Hinata. Your sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai" Iruka continued the three mentioned had different thoughts.
"Well at least I have Naruto on my team, not bad."Thought Ino.
"Hehehee... I get to be on a team with three ladies." Naruto's inner pervert raved.
"I get to be on a team with Naruto-kun." Hinata thought as she started to feel faint.
Shortly after the other teams were called. A woman with dark hair, red eyes, and wearing a dress that looked like it was made of eighty-five percent bandages entered the classroom. "Team Eight please come with me." She said. The three ninja followed her out without a word.
(Later in a small clearing near the forest.)
The newly-formed Team Eight was sitting on a bench while their sensei stood before them. "So why don't you three tell me about yourselves. I'll go first. I'm Yuhi Kurenai I like genjutsu, children, and my friends. I dislike overly perverted men, smokers, and people who judge others without getting to know them. My goal is to see all three of you attain the rank of chunnin."
Ino then spoke up. "I'm Yamanaka Ino. I like flowers, Sasuke-kun, and... (Looks at Naruto and giggles.) My dislikes are forehead-girl, and people who badmouth my friends. My dream is... (Fantasizes about being double-teamed by Naruto, and Sasuke.) Heheheheheeee." She giggled as her nose began to bleed.
"I see..." Kurenai said as she sweatdropped. "How about you?" She asked turning towards Hinata.
"M- My name is Hyuuga Hinata. I like flowers, water, and my little sister. I do- I don't like the way my family conducts it's buisness, and people who are generally mean to others. My goal is to unite the main, and branch houses of the Hyuuga clan, so that my cousin Neji, and best friend Ranfa don't have to be servants anymore."
"Now you." Kurenai said as she turned to Naruto.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, son of the Yodaime Hokage. My likes are ramen, puppets, and learning jutsu. My dislikes are overly judgemental people, people who betray their homelands, and overly egotistical people. My goal is to become Hokage, and to resurrect the Namikaze clan."
At the mention of the name Namikaze, Kurenai was frozen in shock. It was no secret that as a child and teenager, she had the biggest crush on the young handsome Hokage. Finally she spoke. "Excuse me for one minute." She said as she shunshin'd to the other side of the village, and gave the loudest, longest fangirl squeal in Fire Country's history. After composing herself she shunshin'd back to the team's location. "Okay tomorrow we will have a survival test to see if you are ready to become Gennin."
"But we just became Gennin." Ino tried to argue.
"And this test will prove whether you are truly ready to become a ninja, if you fail you will be sent back to the academy. I should warn you though this test only has a thirty-three percent chance of passage. This meeting is now over." Kurenai said as she shunshin'd away.
Ino was the first one to speak up. "This is bullshit!" She yelled.
Naruto couldn't help but chuckle, he was expecting this, as Mikoto had given him a heads-up yesterday. "Don't worry about it girls." Naruto said. "No matter what the test is, I'll be there to help us pass it."
"Th... Thank you Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a smile.
"You two just head home, and get some rest. Be sure to eat a decent breakfast, especially you Ino-chan. I'm not going to have our team get held back because you chose to starve yourself in order to keep your figure.
Ino huffed in annoyance before finally saying. "Fine... I'll eat breakfast tomorrow."
"Good... see you tomorrow." Naruto said as he too Shunshin'd away.
(That night, Naruto's apartment.)
Naruto was making alterations to the Kyuubi seal on his stomach. Much to Kyuubi's protest.
"Gaki I think this is a bad idea, if you screw this up. We could both end up dead." She ranted in his mind.
"Don't worry Kyuubi-chan, we've been studying this for years now. If this works we'll be able to be together." Naruto said as he flashed through several handseals.
"But we still don- Wait I'm not ready!"She tried to protest but it was too late as he finished the jutsu. There was a flash of light and an explosion of red smoke. Both Kyuubi, and Naruto were in extreme pain. When the smoke cleared Naruto saw Kyuubi laying in front of his body. Naruto crawled towards her and embraced her unconscious form.
Only for Kyuubi to spring to life, and conk him on the head. "You jackass!" She yelled. "I told you I wasn't ready, do you realize how close you came to killing yourself?!"
"Yeah but you're here Kyuubi-chan." Naruto said with a smile. "That makes it all worth it."
Realizing she could now be with Naruto in the real world was a happy epiphany to the demon. She promptly glomped Naruto, and kissed him passionately. "Thank you Naruto-kun, but I still have to punish you for your recklessness." Kyuubi said as four of her tails each grabbed Naruto by a limb and hefted him into the air.
Naruto gulped as he felt the remaining five tails produce red chakra blades, and one by one sliced off his clothes. He knew he was in for a long night.
(The next day)
When Ino, and Hinata arrived at the meeting location, they were shocked to find a half-dead-looking Naruto laying on the ground in front of them.
"What the hell happened to you?!" Ino yelled.
Naruto didn't answer he just got a goofy grin on his face. It was at this point that Kurenai showed up. She took a long look at Naruto before speaking. "Your test will be to take these rings off my fingers." She held up her hands revealing a single blue ring on each middle finger. "Whoever does not have a ring by noon will fail this exam."
"But there's only two rings." Ino observed.
"Exactly so one of you will indeed fail." Kurenai said. "If you want them you'll have to come at me with intent to kill."
As he finally mustered the effort to get up, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle. He knew if he did that Kurenai-sensei would be dead, and the test would be over in less than a minute.
"The test will start NOW!" She said. Ino, and Hinata leapt into the forest, but Naruto stayed here. He casually summoned Fencer, Killer Clown, and Saba Simba.
"Your intimidation tactics won't work on me." Naruto told her. "I've trained under much more frightening individuals."
"So I've heard." Kurenai retorted.
Killer Clown fired a kunai from it's mouth, but Kurenai was able to easily dodge it. Saba Simba then rushed her and tried to stab her with it's spear. Kurenai performed a forward gymnastics-style flip over the large puppet. Fencer then detached it's hands which went flying at the Jonnin, but just as it's swords were about to connect, Kurnai seemingly disolved into a pile of flower petals.
Up in the trees Kurenai was watching Naruto, and his puppets at work. "His skill with those things is impressive." She thought. "I wonder how he'd fare against the puppeteers of Suna though?"Just then Kurenai felt a kunai lightly pressing into her back. Turning her head she saw Naruto was holding the weapon. "Hmmm I see you know Kage Bunshin." Kurenai observed.
"It's one of the best techniques a ninja can have in his arsenal." Naruto answered. "Especially one such as me."
"It won't be enough for you on your own." Kurenai said as she suddenly back-kicked Naruto in the gut, causing the bunshin to dispel. She leaped out of the tree onto the ground.
"Just what I was hoping for!" Naruto thought as he had fencers lower arms fire a pair of white orbs at the spot Kurenai was going to land. The orbs exploded leaving a puddle of white paste. Kurenai didn't have time to manuver as her sandaled feet landed on the sticky paste and were glued to the ground.
"You're trapped, now hand over those rings." Naruto ordered.
But Kurenai instead pulled out two shuriken, and threw them downwards. They sliced through the straps of her sandals, prompting Kurenai to leap out of them into a cartwheel where she came to a stop about ten feet away. Taking a look at her abandoned footwear and back to Naruto she then spoke in an annoyed tone. "That paste better be removable, otherwise you're going to owe me for new shoes."
"I'll be sure to get them out for you, after I pass the test." Naruto said as he began to quickly flash through some handsigns. "Fire Release: Burning surface technique!" Naruto yelled as he placed his hands on the ground, and a burning red aura began to rapidly spread outwards from the point he was standing.
Kurenai immediately knew what Naruto was trying to do. He was heating the ground to the point where it would be impossible to stand barefoot on it without being burned. "I see, that was his plan all along."Not wanting to be burned, she leaped back into the trees before the aura could reach her, and ran off.
"Good just as I hoped for." Naruto thought He then called out. "Ino, Hinata you can come out now."
The two kunoichi came out of hiding. "What was that all about?!" Ino yelled.
"I had to drive her off for us to have this talk." Naruto told them. "I have a plan for all three of us to pass, but in order for it to work, the three of us have to work together."
"I'll work with you Naruto-kun." Hinata told him.
"I guess I'll go along too." Ino said after a moment. "So what do you have in mind."
"Don't worry I've got a plan." Naruto said with a smirk.
And that's where I'm gonna end this chapter for now. I had originally planned to put the entire gennin exam in this one, but I decided not to let you wait anymore for the next chapter. I hope to have the next one up in a few weeks.