AN: Hey guys! Just got back to my apartment from my parent's house after Christmas, This chapter probably wont be out until the 26th but I plan to deal with the Chunin Exams & Naruto getting ready to leave for his training trip with Jiraya this chapter! Not much else to say so lets get into it :)
I don't own Naruto :(
Chapter 4: Exams
Naruto stared into a puddle of his own blood, the dark crimson liquid pouring from his lips and dripping onto the floor. He watched as the blood slowly spread to fill the cracks of the tiled floor beneath his feet. Just as the blood consumed the white tiled floor beneath it, hopelessness consumed Naruto.
Suddenly a fist connected with his stomach as he spat up more blood, some of it landing on his torturers face, earning him another hard punch to the ribs.
"Tell me what you know about Konoha's movements, and we can take a break." Came a muffled voice beneath a mask.
"... 1...2..6..0..7..." Naruto mumbled through swollen lips, repeating the digits of his shinobi registration number. Focusing on keeping the series of numbers in the correct order helped him to keep his mind off of the pain.
A fist flew towards his face and everything went black.
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Naruto woke up with a gasp, his hands tracing the scars and phantom pains of all the broken bones and wounds he had sustained. His eyes took in the bright room around him, it was his room. He relaxed his body as he reached for the glass of water on his bedside table, noticing that his hands were still shaking.
'Maybe I should talk to Ino's dad. He might be able to help with the dreams.' Naruto hummed to himself as his feet touched the ground and the wood slightly creaked, shifting under his weight.
'You should have done that as soon as you got back into the village. I know that Hokage of your's wanted you to, she didn't press you because she wanted you to feel comfortable back in the village. I'll play nice if you let the Mindwalker do some damage control up here.' Kurama's deep voice grumbled from the back of his mind.
"I thought you were a violent furball, why do you care about my thoughts and dreams?' Naruto mentally raised an eyebrow and smirked as the Nine-Tails growled at the nickname.
'Because, brat. If you've forgotten, I live up here and those thoughts that you've been having are making it look even worse than it usually does. Go see the Mindwalker today.' Kurama said, mumbling about blond brats and toxic living conditions before the connection was cut.
Naruto shrugged to himself and decided to go see Tsunade first and then go see Ino's dad. After making himself some breakfast he walked out the door, choosing to walk to the Hokage's tower rather than run across the roofs. Sure it took longer, but he got to see the morning bustle of the village. Shops were being opened, stalls with fresh fruits, vegetables, and bread lined the streets that soon became crowded with civilians and shinobi alike.
Finally making his way to the Hokage tower, he walked in the main doors and waved to a few shinobi on his way up the stairs to Tsunade's office. He knocked twice, his knuckles lightly tapping the wooden doors before he was called in. Entering the office he took notice of the light scowl on Tsunade's face as she stared down the pile of paperwork that sat in front of her. She lifted her head and her bad mood vanished as a pleasant smile replaced the frown and her eyes softened.
"Good morning, Naruto. I assume Jiraya talked to you about the Chunin Exams? Is there anything you'd like to discuss about your part in them as a proctor?" Tsunade said as she pulled out a small glass and a bottle of Sake.
"Ah, yeah Ero-sennin told me that I was to be the proctor of the third stage? Is there any planning that I need to do beforehand?" Naruto asked as he flopped into one of the chairs across from Tsunade's desk.
"No planning is really needed for the third stage, it will be a tournament style series of one on one fights between the top genin in the exams. You are merely there to make sure they follow the rules, and to prevent any death's that you can." Tsunade said, before taking a sip from her glass of Sake.
Naruto nodded and chose to ignore the fact that Tsunade was already drinking, but couldn't help his eyebrow from twitching. It was only 8 in the morning, for crying out loud!
A slightly uncomfortable silence filled the office as Naruto took the time to study the room. Nothing had really changed since before he was kidnapped, but he found it extremely difficult to maintain a casual conversation. He silently noted that his social skills were a little rough. He shifted in his seat as he worked up the courage to admit to Tsunade that he needed some help.
"Baa-chan... I know that you can tell, and I appreciate that you have given me time to settle back in... But I think I need help. I keep having nightmares, my thoughts keep replaying my days in that prison. Ive opened up to some of my friends about it a little bit but I think I need more professional help." Naruto breathed out, feeling some weight lift off of his shoulders as he sunk further into his chair, avoiding eye contact with the Hokage.
Tsunade smiled weakly, her eyes taking in the vulnerable form of the boy she thought of as a son. Her heart broke all over again as she imagined the horrors that he had to face. A twelve year old boy, being beaten and tortured for over two years. She suddenly felt immense pride wash over her. Here he was, that same boy who had gone through all that, overcome all of that, only to wear a mask and act as if nothing was wrong so as to not worry his friends. She felt the urge to wrap him up in a hug and never let go, but in the end she just sighed and nodded.
"I can set you up to see Inoichi after we are done here, does that work for you?" Tsunade offered, and waved to one of her Anbu silently. The Anbu left without a trace, only to be back a few moments later, nodding at the Hokage.
"Thank you, Baa-chan. I just want to feel normal again." Naruto breathed out, his voice cracking slightly.
"It's alright brat, now if you don't mind... I need to deal with this paperwork." Tsunade sighed as she began to glare at the paperwork in front of her.
"Since you're helping me, Ill help you. Two words Baa-chan... Shadow. Clones." Naruto said with a fox-like grin as he stood to make his way out of the room.
Naruto didn't look back as he heard something hit the top of the Hokage's desk. He didn't have to see it to know that Tsunade had just slammed her face into the desk. He chuckled to himself as he made his way down the stairs when he heard somebody yell behind him.
"ITS SO SIMPLE! WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?!" A harsh yell came from the Hokage's office as Naruto pushed open the front doors of the Hokage Tower and walked into the sunny streets of Konoha.
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Naruto made his way to the Torture and Interrogation building, quietly remembering the only other time he had been to the building before.
*Flashback*
It had been for a mission when he was a genin. Ibiki had put in a request for a team of genin to come and file some paperwork for him. It had been a relatively boring mission before Sasuke had accidentally walked into a purple haired kunoichi who was carrying a coffee. Her coffee spilled all over the front of her shirt and Sasuke could only stand there with his mouth gaping as the purple haired Kunoichi stood deadly still, her eyes shadowed as Sasuke began to apologize. Suddenly her head snapped up and a smile crossed her face. Naruto blinked and Sasuke was gone, Naruto looked at the wall beside him to see Sasuke embedded in the concrete wall. They had quickly completed the mission and then had to take a few days off as Sasuke had gotten a concussion.
*Flashback end*
Naruto chuckled to himself as he swung the doors open and passed the wall that Sasuke had been punched into, coming to the front desk he told the receptionist that he had a meeting with Inoichi Yamanaka. With a wave, Naruto thanked the receptionist and followed her directions down the hall to Inoichi's office. He went to knock, just as the door was opened.
"Oh! Naruto? Fancy seeing you here!" Ino smiled and greeted Naruto, who just jumped in surprise at Ino suddenly appearing before him.
"Hi Ino, what brings you here?" Naruto smiled as he stepped back to allow Ino to come out of the office.
"Just visiting daddy on his lunch break! I'm going to meet my team now, our teams should meet up and go get a meal soon! Im running late so I'll talk to you later! Bye Naruto! Bye daddy!" Ino called as she walked towards the front room, not waiting for either of them to answer.
Naruto's head turned back to the still open door that lead into Inoichi's office. He stepped forward and saw Inoichi wave him in. He walked in silently as Inoichi got up and closed the door behind them.
"Good afternoon, sir. My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm here on the recommendation of the Hokage. She said that you might be able to help me with my... Recently acquired issues." Naruto spoke in a professional tone.
"Relax Naruto, I know who you are. My daughter speaks of you often, and my old teammate Shikaku has nothing but praise for you after you saved his son. I am aware of what happened to you, and I will do my best to relieve you of your stress." Inoichi said, as he finished clearing his desk of the remains of his lunch.
Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he wondered why Ino would be talking to her father about him. Nothing bad, he hoped. He decided to let it go and just nodded politely as he waited for Inoichi to begin their "session". They spoke for a few more minutes about what specifically was bothering Naruto, and then Inoichi had him lay on the couch as he proceeded to enter the boys mind.
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*Within Naruto's Mind*
Inoichi's feet landed in shallow, murky water. Darkness surrounded him and all he could hear was water dripping from above into the shallow waters around his feet. He had no clear sense of direction in this place, so he followed his gut and walked off into the darkness that stretched as far as he could see. He had no sense of time, but it felt like he had been walking for hours when out of the darkness a light appeared. Inoichi made his way towards the small light and found himself standing outside of a door. There was nothing attached to the door, just a door surrounded by darkness.
Inoichi stepped closer to the door, noting that the light was coming from a small window on the door. He looked into it and held back a grimace. There, behind the door was a dimly lit room. There were countertops lining the walls of the room, each counter held many medical instruments. Scalpels, syringes, sewing needles and stitches. He recognized a few of the items and he had a sneaking suspicion that he could find the rest of these items downstairs in Ibiki's torture rooms. There was a man standing at one of the counters, humming to himself as he tested the weight of a hammer before turning to face the other occupant in the room.
Naruto swung lightly, back and forth as his head hung low. He was restrained by his wrists, chains connected to the roof, the height of the chains had been altered to where Naruto's toes barely touched the ground. the metal cuffs around his wrists drew blood as he dangled there, his bare feet smearing the blood on the floor below him.
Inoichi heard the man ask Naruto a question, to which the blond didn't reply. This earned Naruto a blow to the chest with the hammer, he heard an unpleasant crack as the chains holding Naruto rattled, filling the room with an unpleasant mixture of grunts of pain and shifting metal.
The man spoke again, this time in an annoyed voice and Inoichi missed what he said, but he heard Naruto's reply.
".7." Naruto spoke slowly, Inoichi's eyes widened as he realized that Naruto was reciting his Shinobi Registration number, a tactic taught to Chunin/Jonin as a way to hold onto reality if they were ever caught and taken prisoner. Inoichi blinked and the scene changed.
The blonde Yamanaka Clan Head recognized this scene as Konoha. He observed a young Naruto sitting on a swing and staring at a stone. Inoichi realized it was a tombstone, it read:
"Here lies Naruto Uzumaki, Monster of the Leaf."
Suddenly the young version of Naruto spoke, his voice quivering.
"Nobody came to my funeral, nobody cared. I guess I really am expendable, just a weapon to be used and thrown away when I'm not needed." The young blonde spoke, seemingly to nobody. The scene changed again.
Inoichi stood in Naruto's apartment, he looked down the hall and saw the blond standing without a shirt on staring into the mirror of his bathroom. Naruto's reflection moved independently of the real one and spoke out in a mocking tone.
"See these scars? They're a sign of weakness. You were too weak to win. You had to be rescued, you're a burden. These scars will stick with you, to remind you every day of how you were too weak to win. You'll always be too weak. Next time your failure wont be measured in the scars you receive, but in the dead teammates you bring home." The reflection teased, as Naruto just stood there, taking the abuse and nodding.
Inoichi had seen enough, no fourteen year old should ever have this level of psychological damage. Suddenly Inoichi was plunged into the dark abyss again. Somehow he knew he was back where he had begun. He got to work, weaving handseals and drawing up some seals in the young blonde's mind. He spent what had felt like several hours rewriting Naruto's subconscious. It wasn't so much rewriting the subconscious of the blonde as it was pulling back the blinds and letting the blonde see the whole picture. Showing him that just because he had been captured, did not mean that he was weak. Showing him that he had friends who cared about him, and that he was not alone, he was not expendable. The darkness lifted significantly, and the familiar smiling faces of Naruto's classmates began to fill the empty void. Inoichi noted that the water had begun to drain and he hummed to himself, satisfied with his work. Inoichi weaved some handsigns and began to fade from Naruto's mind, although he could have sworn he had heard a deep voice thanking him before he woke up back in his office.
Naruto woke shortly after, unaware of what Inoichi had seen. The older blond just told Naruto that they had finished and gave the boy a warm smile as he walked him out of the building. He kept his smile on his face until he reached his office and closed the door. As the door closed, Inoichi let out a choked sob and sunk into his chair. He documented what he had seen and filed it into his desk drawer before locking his office and leaving for the day.
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* A month before the Chunin Exams*
Naruto had been called into the Hokage's office first thing in the morning. A few months had passed since he had visited Inoichi for the first time, he had been seeing the man weekly since then. He had to admit that he felt much better, he still had the odd nightmare, but overall he was sleeping better, and he felt more confident in himself than he had since he had been back.
"Yo, Naruto!" Kakashi waved at his student and gave him an eye-smile.
"Yo, Kakashi-sensei. What are you guys doing here?" Naruto greeted, as he spotted Sasuke and Sakura both standing in the room as well.
"We don't know yet, we were waiting for you to arrive." Sasuke said lazily as he uncrossed his arms and moved to stand beside Naruto.
Tsunade cleared her throat and the conversation died out, Team 7 having given the Hokage their undivided attention.
"It has come to my attention that we don't know how strong you are Naruto, and given what Jiraya has planned for you, he wants to test your abilities. I've called your team here because its about time that they knew of what's going to happen in the near future." Tsunade sighed, she was not looking forward to telling the boys team that he was going to leave again.
"What do you mean Hokage-sama? What's happening in the near future?" Sakura asked, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the Hokage in confusion.
"Jiraya has found out about a new group of mercenaries that have plans of capturing all of the Jinchuriki to take the Tailed-Beasts from them. If the Nine-Tails were to be forcibly ripped from Naruto, he would die." Tsunade explained, earning shocked looks from Sasuke, and Sakura. Kakashi seemed to know where this was going, and Naruto was sure that the man was frowning under his mask.
"Jiraya has decided to take Naruto on as an apprentice to make sure he is strong enough to face these mercenaries." Tsunade continued, not looking forward to the next part.
"This means that Jiraya will be allowed to bring Naruto with him when he leaves the village, and they will be leaving to bring Naruto up to par with the S-rank mercenaries that will soon be after him." Tsunade finished and she looked into the eyes of Naruto's teammates.
Kakashi's face was unreadable, Tsunade knew he was upset but he also knew the importance of these actions. Sasuke had crossed his arms again and seemed to be in deep thought. Sakura however, was vibrating.
"I don't understand. We just got him back, and now you want him to leave? AGAIN? For how long?!" Sakura spoke, her voice rising until it was just below a yell.
"Sakura! Watch how you are speaking, this is your Hokage and you will respect her decisions." Kakashi chided her with a serious voice.
Sakura's hands balled into fists as she bit her lip. Her hands were shaking as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked over to see Naruto with a pleading look in his eyes.
"Sakura, I know how you feel. Trust me, I do. I would much rather stay and be around you guys but this is something that I have to do. To protect myself, to protect my friends, and to protect the village. I have to see this through, I have to get stronger." Naruto said, his voice filled with determination.
Sakura nodded but turned back to the Hokage, her face was blank as she spoke once more.
"How long though? How long will he be gone for this time?" Sakura spoke, her voice barely above a whisper this time.
"Two years, Sakura. Naruto will be gone with Jiraya until he's sixteen. Then they will return to the village and Naruto SHOULD be ready to at least hold his own against these mercenaries. Which leads me to my next point." Tsunade spoke, noticing how Sakura deflated, Sasuke grimaced, and Kakashi visibly stilled at the mention of how long Naruto would be gone for again.
"Jiraya asked me to tell you to meet him at Training Ground 7 so he can test your abilities. The match will be public, so expect to see some shinobi show up. Meet at the training ground in an hour. Dismissed." Tsunade said, and she watched Team 7 slowly leave her office.
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"I can't believe this. You haven't even been back for half a year!" Sakura fumed, worry clear in her voice.
"I know, Sakura. You heard Baa-chan though, it's my duty to get stronger. I would never forgive myself if we ran into one of those guys and I couldn't protect my team. I have to get stronger." Naruto said, his eyes looking far off, as if he was imagining watching his team die in front of him.
"If you have to get stronger, then so will we. Trust me, Naruto. We won't let you get too far ahead. We will get stronger to help protect you too." Sasuke said, his voice sincere and determined.
Naruto just smiled at his rival. Sasuke had changed a lot since he had been back. Naruto remembered the way Sasuke used to be, full of rage. Apparently Sasuke had changed after Naruto had sacrificed himself for the team, Sasuke had opened up more, been more friendly and cooperative. Naruto was glad, Sasuke was his best friend and didn't want to see him be consumed by his hatred for Itachi any longer. Sure, Sasuke still wanted to kill Itachi, there was no doubt. However the other boy had realized that strength didn't always come from the need for revenge. He saw how strong Naruto had become by fighting for his friends, and Sasuke had wanted to experience that as well.
Team 7 walked to the training grounds in silence for the remainder of the trip.
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Jiraya stood up and dusted off his pants, he had just finished making the barriers around where he would be testing Naruto's abilities. His plan was to see Naruto's top speed, his most deadly jutsu, and assess his on the spot thinking. Tsunade had turned this into an impromptu Jonin exam, but she had "forgotten" to tell Naruto that.
"OI! Ero-sennin! Heard you wanted a shot at the title?" Naruto joked, puffing up his chest and acting as if he didn't know that Jiraya would obliterate him in a real fight.
Jiraya's eyebrow just twitched before a smile crossed the man's face. He took notice of how Naruto carried himself, how his shoulders seemed to carry the weight of his burdens much easier than they had in the last few months. Naruto seemed brighter, his smile wasn't so forced and he looked to be more relaxed.
"Mornin' brat. Nothing too special today, just want to test a few things. We'll wait for Tsunade to get here, and then we can begin. Go warm up if you need to, I want to see your best." Jiraya greeted the blonde, who just nodded and began to stretch.
Jiraya checked over his own equipment and nodded to himself when he was satisfied that he was ready. He would not be underestimating Naruto. He knew what the blonde had gone through, but he also knew that he had two VERY deadly bloodlines that could make up for any mistakes the blonde made.
Tsunade appeared along with some others to spectate the match. Everyone left the field to gather on the sidelines while Naruto and Jiraya stood across from each other in the center of the grassy field.
"Alright, brat. Today I want to see your fastest attacks, your strongest attacks, and then I'm going to pressure you and see what your "on-the-fly" strategizing is like. So for the first part, I want you to come at me with your base speed first, without using THAT." Jiraya called out, as he jumped back, folded his arms and waited for Naruto to attack.
Naruto was excited, he had been training himself hard over the last few months, most days he would train with Sakura, Saskue, and Kakashi even though they weren't genin anymore. On his off days, he would explore his own interests which had been massively focused around Fuinjutsu for a while now.
Naruto raised a hand to his chest and deactivated his resistance seals, which he had made himself after progressing through the early stages of fuinjutsu. With the resistance on his body released, Naruto rolled his shoulders back and bounced on the balls of his feet a few times to get used to it. There was no call to begin, and the invisible barrier that Jiraya had set up around the field was already working so Naruto took that as an invitation to begin.
Naruto's stance changed before he shot across the field from where he stood. On the other side of the field, Jiraya's eyes widened a little bit.
'Hmm, faster than I expected him to be. He clearly hasn't been slacking off since he got back. Base speed appears to be around mid-jonin level.' Jiraya thought, as he moved to the side to avoid a blind-side strike from Naruto.
"Fast, but not fast enough." Jiraya stated, as he caught Naruto by the collar as the blonde flew past him.
Naruto quickly substituted himself with a log and appeared behind Jiraya. Naruto shot towards the Sannin once again. This time, his muscles screamed in protest as Naruto pushed himself to the limits of his base speed.
Jiraya was ready for him. As soon as Naruto tried to throw a punch at the older man, his wrist was caught and he felt his body slam into the earth, blood flying from his mouth as he looked up at the man for a fraction of a second and then poofed into smoke.
'Shadow Clone, huh? I should have guessed.' Jiraya thought to himself, as an amused smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Jiraya lifted his head and stared at the blonde who was back in the spot that he had been when the fight began. Jiraya's eyes widened as he connected the dots.
'When did the brat move back over there?... Oh that sneaky little rat, using himself as the bait with the first attack, he must have formed a shadow clone as soon as he finished the substitution. Leading the original Naruto to Henge into the broken log that I had just finished hitting. He knows that he could have hit me, and I think he knows that I know it too.' Jiraya's eyebrow twitched as he thought about how his reputation would take a hit if the Elemental Nations ever found out that a Chunin had pulled one over on him.
"Ready for THAT, now Ero-sennin?" Naruto shouted, his voice slightly amused.
Jiraya set himself into a defensive stance, and pushed his senses to their limits. He knew just what kind of advantage the blonde had with this ability, and he was not going to underestimate the kid again. Jiraya scoffed as the irony was not lost on him. He had planned to not underestimate Naruto from the beginning, yet the brat had surprised him with his quick thinking.
"Ready when you are, brat." Jiraya called out, his breath slowing as he prepared himself for the nearly inescapable bloodline technique to be used.
Naruto's face blanked as he focused on Jiraya's chakra signature. He didn't NEED the kunai, or the seals to use the Hiraishin, but they definitely would make using the ability easier. It took a second but when he locked onto Jiraya's signature, he let a feral smirk appear on his face. His whisker marks and sharp incisors making him look far more intimidating than any fourteen year old rightfully should.
In the blink of an eye, Naruto ceased to exist in the spot that he had just been standing, and Jiraya felt cold steel on his throat as Naruto spoke form behind him.
"Checkmate, Ero-sennin." Naruto said as his chest heaved, obviously the technique took a lot out of the boy. He needed to fix that.
"Don't be so sure, brat. You're a million years too early to land more than a few hits on me as you are now." Jiraya said, as he pressed his own kunai further back into Naruto's stomach so that he could feel the point.
Naruto looked down, and he cursed. Jiraya's hand was behind his back and pointed directly beneath the bottom of Naruto's Chunin vest. Had this been a real fight, Naruto may have been able to kill Jiraya, but he would have been disemboweled at the same time. That, plus the amount of time it took Naruto to lock onto a target, and the amount of energy he needed to use the ability once made him realize that he still had a long way to go. Naruto backed off and so did Jiraya.
"Alright brat, that's good enough. Your base speed is around mid-jonin, and with THAT bloodline, not many shinobi will be able to keep up. I only countered because I taught your dad. Let's move on to your strongest attacks. I'm going to make a mud clone with 50% of my chakra and you're going to use the strongest ability you have on it." Jiraya explained, as his hands made the signs for the clone.
Naruto nodded, and looked at the clone while Jiraya jumped back to observe. He thought about his strongest attacks and decided not to use the Rasengan. He had something else in mind. Suddenly, four dark blue chakra chains sprouted from his back, and flailed gently around him. Naruto overloaded the chakra chains with as much chakra as he could, from earlier experiments he found that if he overloaded the chains, the results were... Explosive.
Four chakra chains hummed and vibrated due to the amount of chakra running through them, and Naruto jumped from his place on the field. At the peak of his jump, Naruto ducked his head, covered his feet in chakra and pushed off of the air. Sending him screaming towards Jiraya's mud clone. Naruto did a half flip just as he was about to crash face first into the mud clone. Then his chains slammed into the ground, the earth shuddered as the chains made contact. Jiraya's eyes widened as he lost his balance and stumbled back, after the dust died down, he saw Naruto struggling to stay on his feet as the chakra chains sank back into his skin. Jiraya shook his head as he disabled the barrier.
Naruto wobbled on his feet as he took deep breaths, suddenly his legs gave out and he fell forward. He expected to meet the ground but his fall was stopped and he felt himself being lifted. Opening his eyes, he found that he was on Kakashi's back. Kakashi carried him over to where Tsunade stood with Jiraya and the rest of Team 7.
"How'd I do?" Naruto asked in an exhausted voice, his cheek pressed up against the collar of Kakashi's vest, as Kakashi set him on the ground gently.
"Well brat, I'd say that you're definitely qualified to proctor the third stage of the Chunin exams. I'll call for you tomorrow. Expect an Anbu at your door." Tsunade said with a smirk, before she and Jiraya walked off to talk in private.
Naruto blinked, and then looked at his teammates.
"What was that about?" Naruto asked, and his team just shrugged their shoulders in unison.
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Tsunade sat in her chair in the Hokage's office and released a sigh. She pulled two saucers out followed by a bottle of Sake and filled them both. She offered one to Jiraya, who took his and walked to the window behind the Hokage's desk. Looking out over the village he released his own sigh before he spoke.
"He's so much like both of them, and having both of their bloodlines will no doubt make Naruto one of the most dangerous shinobi in the world. He's easily Jonin level, and although I didn't get to test his battle strategy, I think I saw enough to offer my recommendation that Naruto be promoted. Surely you saw the moment he caught me off-guard with some simple misdirection. If he can trick me, he won't have any issues dealing with most of the shinobi in this world after I've trained him." Jiraya finished determinedly , before taking a drink of his Sake.
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AN: I know I was gonna add Naruto Proctoring the Chunin Exams in this chapter but Ive been sick with a Respiratory Infection for the last few days so I'll do it next chapter. I feel good about this chapter, hopefully I've conveyed Naruto's inner feelings well! Also by him getting help from Inoichi, it's not to say that he's over his issues, but they're far easier to manage.
Until next time,
Wonderouzzz