Chapter 9: The Forest of Death
Team 7 had been moving through the forest for the better part of an hour which was alive with activity from what Naruto could feel whether it was the animals or the genin fighting amongst themselves. A few of the teams of clones had been dispelled already from traps or being attacked by other teams. Once a team was dispelled Naruto would correct their course to move away from the danger, much to the anger of temari who just wanted to get a scroll.
However the team listened to shikamaru who insisted on moving forward for a while longer at least till he put up a hand bringing everyone to a halt. Everyone stopped crouched on a branch overlooking a small clearing which contained a kiri and an ame team duking it out. They watched as the ame team took care of the kiri team pulling out an earth scroll as Naruto felt a grin form as he thumbed the heaven scroll in his pouch.
Looking over at Shikamaru who simply nodded, team 7 sized up their opponents all of them wore the same face Hiata-ate with rebreather and jumpsuits. The only way to differentiate between all three of the genin was the difference in their sashes across their eyes. Weaving through some hand signs quickly Naruto's chest puffed up before blowing a rather strong gust of wind.
"Fūton: Daitoppa(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)!" He shouted as the wind moved quickly blowing each other genin away from each other as team 7 jumped down in front of their own opponent.
"You fucking brat!" Shouted what seemed to be the leader of the group who had had two eye holes in his sash.
"What me? What did I do?" Naruto asked innocently as he unsheathed his katana standing before the man who went through some hand signs forming some water clones and another jutsu that Naruto wasn't sure what it did putting him on edge.
The clones charged forward forming a screen for the real genin as Naruto attempted to slice through the first clone only for it to phase right through the clone as he received a punch for his actions.
"Just Bushin?" Shikamaru wondered aloud as he watched Temari and Naruto fight the team while he formed the strategy for the team, Narrowing his eyes he shook his head.
"No it has to have been a genjutsu." He said forming the release hand sign. "Kai(Release)!" He shouted and most of the clones disappeared.
"Formation C!" Shikamaru shouted and instantly Team 7 formed a triangle watching each other's back.
"So what did you find out shika?" Naruto asked as he held his katana out in front of him as temari held her fan out not opened yet.
"There's only a handful of actual Bushin the rest were part of a genjutsu." Shikamaru told the team and as if on cue the couple released the genjutsu allowing them to see the actual Bushin and they couldn't quite figure out the real shinobi.
Naruto grinned as he brought his hands up in a familiar hand seal, 10 clones burst out around the members of team 7 each fanning out to try and figure out which of the members of the ame squad. It didn't take long before all 3 of the genin were tied up squirming trying to get out.
"Fuck you konoha gaki let us go!" Shouted the leader of the squad as Naruto swiped the Earth scroll tossing it from hand to hand.
"Nah I don't think I will. It would be a nuisance to have you in our rear trying to get revenge on us… soooo I think I'm just going to leave you nice and tightly tied up here. Tata!" Naruto shouted as he and the team took off back into the woods.
"Are we really just going to leave them there in the middle of the forest of death?" Temari asked next to Naruto as they jumped branch to branch.
"No of course not the rope isn't that tight so they should be able to get out of it pretty easily… within like an hour." Naruto said with a cheeky smile as temari simply shook her head and smiled.
"Leave it to naruto to take it easy on our enemy." Shika said with a deadpan
"Ma Ma, I couldn't in good faith leave them out here alone so whatever I doubt they'll be after us." Naruto said with a simple dismissive wave of his hand.
"Kukuku careful Naruto-kun that line of thought could end up killing you." They heard a voice that could only be that of a snake as yellow snake eyes appeared in the darkness of the forest.
'Fuck! Naruto you gotta get out of here now!' Hiruzen shouted as team 7 came to a halt in a defensive position.
"Who the hell are you?" Naruto asked as he felt his hand start to quiver as an overwhelming force washed over team 7.
"My, my naruto-kun I thought you were smarter than that after all who else has snake features." The figure said as it stepped out in the open revealing a face most konoha shinobi recognized and feared.
"O-Orochimaru!" Naruto shouted his heart dropping down into his stomach as he realized just how many ways team 7 had just become fucked.
"Yes hello Naruto-Kun. Don't worry I'm not here to kill you… yet I just left a gift with your friend sasuke-kun and I came to see the son of the man who stole my position as hokage." He said with an evil glint in his eyes as he stared down Naruto.
"I hope to hear many great things about-" Orochimaru was cut off as a 3 pronged kunai landed at his feet causing him to click his tongue as Minato appeared rasengan in hand driven straight into orochimaru. However the Orochimaru in front of team 7 turned into mud.
"Kukuku Minato-kun did you really think it would be that easy to defeat me? Till
we meet again." Was all they heard from orochimaru the the intense wave of power subsided causing breath to return to Naruto's lungs as well as the other members of team 7.
"Tou-san thank-" Naruto began as Minato simply held up a hand turning around with a smile on his face.
"No worries, Naruto-kun I heard Orochimaru had infiltrated the chunin exams so I came to make sure everyone was fine. Continue on we're proud of you and good luck!" He shouted before he disappeared in a yellow flash. Team 7 took up a position to rest breathing heavily after their encounter with orochimaru.
"Kami, that was intense. I've never felt so weak in my life." Temari said as she held her knees snuggling into Naruto's side.
"I know what you mean… wait didn't he say something about sasuke." Naruto said jumping up causing temari to fall over and grumble however she reflected on naruto's words before her eyes widened as did shikamarus
They didn't get a chance to say a word to naruto before he took off into the forest more than likely already honing in on the chakra signature of team 8. Both teens just nodded to each other before taking back off following their unsaid leader. Both fell instep behind Naruto who said nothing to them with a look on his face.
"Naruto what's wrong I know that look what aren't you saying?" She asked with concern laced in her voice.
"There are three other chakra signatures in the area of team 8 and they're filled with malice. I also can sense the residue of orochimaru's chakra all over this area and it's prevalent where they are… It almost feels like it's mixing with Sasuke's own chakra." He said flashing a concerned look over to temari before he set his foot down hard on the next branch blasting off it with another force to break it off the tree propelling him forward.
"Naruto wait up!" Shikamaru said with a sigh as he moved faster as well with temari. Naruto came to a halt on a branch overlooking a clearing as Ino stood outside a hollowed out tree log. Shikamaru and Temari stopped besides naruto catching their breath as they watched the scene below.
(Earlier with team 8)
Ino sat over a passed out yakumo and Sasuke both of which were bruised after the run in with orochimaru. She sat treating their wounds as best she could but she was no medic-nin. Wiping sweat off her brow she heard a crack in the bushes surrounding the hollowed out log causing her to tense up.
Slowly and carefully pulling out a kunai she cut a wire next to her causing logs to fall down on top of the bushes that surrounded the clearing. Hearing cursing and shouting Ino let out a smirk as she wiped the dust off of her dress standing up and walking out of the tree with the same kunai in hand she stood in a defensive position as the team from otogakure appeared in front of her
"So what are you losers from a loser village doing here?" Ino asked with as much confidence as she could muster causing dosu to laugh which made Inos smirk turn to a frown.
"What's so funny?" Ino asked the confidence still in her voice but it had waned just a bit.
"It's your confidence I find amusing. It's three vs one and we have the training of orochimaru-sama to guide us." dosu said with a smirk which was visible under his bandages. Inos confidence turned to horror in an instant as the rest of the team joined their leader in laughing.
"Face it girly your no match for the three of us so just hand over sasuke so we can complete or mission and continue on in your stupid villages chunin exams." Zaku said with a sadistic grin as he stared down Ino who at this point was shaking.
"I'm sorry but I can allow you to get closer." Ino said her voice fierce as she steeled herself ready to take on the team who started to walk closer.
"We weren't asking." Kin said with a smirk as they stepped closer and closer till they were in the middle of clearing. The corners of inos mouth twitched as she formed a ram seal, the clearing litting up as the team jumped back just as it exploded, sending them flying back a little further than they intended.
"There's more where that came from!" Ino shouted before team 7 appeared in front of Ino in a wedge formation.
"No need to fear Ino team 7 is here." Naruto said with a grin before he turned back to the oto team who stood staring at team 7 in disbelief.
"What no other teams were supposed to be in this area…" Dosu grumbled before looking at his team.
"Well we're here now." Naruto said with a small grin on his face before he formed 4 squads of shadow clones who stood in anticipation for their command to attack. Clicking his tongue Dosu formed a hand sign causing a flash to blind everyone present. When it subsided the oto team was gone causing Naruto to sigh as all but one of the squads of clones dispelled themselves.
"Thank you Naruto-kun!" Ino shouted as she glomped onto Naruto who returned the hug in a comforting manner as he started to sob. "I thought we were done for before you guys showed up." She whispered out, Temari was a little upset but let it slide for the moment.
"No worries, we were just in the area and worried about sasuke so I thought we'd come check on him." He said with a smile before he let her go, moving to check on Sasuke. He frowned as he saw the black seal on Sasuke's neck. Tracing the lines he let out a sigh.
"What's wrong with Yakumo?" Naruto asked, looking at the seal on Sasuke's neck.
"Nothing really I think she was just pushed to her physical limit when we went up against Orochimaru so she's just sleeping it off." Naruto nodded as he stood up.
"Sasuke should awaken soon till then keep hidden and I'll leave a squad of shadow clones to protect you, they'll disperse whenever you guys get up and move, good luck!" He said with a smile giving her one last comforting hug before he and team 7 took off once more towards the center of the tower.
"Once again helping our enemies huh Naruto?" Shikamaru spoke up on Naruto's right, who simply shrugged.
"In my opinion even now their not our enemy we're all konoha shinobi right? I think it's better to help them out rather than turn our backs to them in their times of need." He said with a small sigh as Shikamaru just gave a shrug of his own.
"I'm just saying it's rather troublesome that we've helped out two teams that can go against us now." He said with a frown as Naruto simply waved his hand.
"No need to worry shika it'll all be fine." He said as they continued to hop through the woods. Naruto however felt himself suddenly pulled into his mindscape a frown formed in his face as he stood within the familiar sewer. Splashing through the water he came to the dark section that held Hiruzen and the Kyuubi.
"So what's the deal? Why was I called in here?" Naruto asked as he watched Hiruzen and Kyuubi share some sake.
"Why didn't you move when I warned you to Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen said, taking a sip as he stared down Naruto.
"It's not that I didn't want to Hiruzen its just that I felt like I physically couldn't is all." Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head in shame. Hiruzen simply nodded.
"No need to feel shame Naruto-kun you just faced off against one of the strongest shinobi to come from Konoha. Not many people can say they survived that. Do you know what that seal was on Sasuke-kuns neck?" Hiruzen finished as he set down his sake dish.
"Kinda Kaa-chan showed us a similar seal and to be wary of it's presence but she never really told us why." He said with a frown as he thought of how the seal was made.
"It's called the Ten no Juin(Cursed seal of heaven) I would tell your father and mother as they might be the only ones that can help Sasuke-kun now." He warned as Naruto nodded before looking between hiruzen and the kyuubi.
"So… when did you guys get so chummy?" Naruto asked as the kyuubi and hiruzen looked at each other and shrugged.
"We've spent a lot of time in here together ningen it's hard to hate someone for so long but be forced to be around them constantly. We've learned to coexist so that our boredom isn't so intense." The kyuubi grumbled out barely caring about the two humans in front of him.
"Whatever, I think you're just a big softie inside that hateful exterior." Naruto said with a grin as the Kyuubi who just closed its eyes instantly shot open staring down its jinchuriki.
"Careful what you say boy your words can get you into trouble." It said blowing air out its mouth which kicked Naruto out of his mindscape. In an instant Naruto was back in the normal world as he noticed he had barely moved since being pulled inside.
"Stupid kyuubi kicking me out of MY own head… how the fuck did he do that." Naruto grumbled to himself as he touched off from another branch. The grumblings continued till the center of the forest was just insite for team 7.
"Alright Shika whatcha thinking." Naruto whispered to his confidant.
"Well it's barely been a full day so I don't think it's very likely that many teams have made it here to scope it out just yet. I say we said a team of clones and see what happens." Shikamaru said with a shrug. Naruto simply nodded creating a team of three clones blowing away the smoke with a simple Fūton jutsu. The clones nodded before hoping out of the hiding place of the team walking towards the front doors they barely made it halfway there before they were shredded up by kunai and shuriken.
"Well that answers that question." Temari said with a small snicker as Naruto shuddered, getting the memories of the clones.
"Guess we have to brute force our way through this." Naruto said as Temari pulled out her fan opening it slightly and creating a torrent of wind in all directions giving team 7 the time they needed to hop to the front door. Looking at the words on the wall Naruto grinned as he pulled out the two scrolls laying them down in front of them. With a puff of smoke Kakashi appeared with his signature eye smile.
"Hey guys! Congrats and good job on getting through the second portion of the exam, I hope you guys go all the way cause I got a lot of money riding on you. But enough about that. You're the second team to arrive just a couple hours behind Gaara's team so get in there get some food and rest and I'll talk to you guys soon." Kakashi said as the doors opened for them before he once again disappeared.
"I am so hungry and tired… I don't think we stopped once the entire time we were out there…" Naruto said with a frown realising he probably pushed the team too hard to keep up with him.
"Yeah but I didn't really want to spend a night out there… let alone 3 additional days." Temari said with a shudder of the thought of staying in training grounds 44.
"It was troublesome but now we have time to rest and get our bearings for the next part of the exam." Shikamaru said as the young teen looked ready to drop into a Nara nap at any moment. The fact that his friend never thought about choosing not to breath out of laziness always surprised the blonde teen.
"Naruto, Temari I'm glad you guys made it." Spoke up the familiar voice of gaara who stepped out of the shadows. A small barely noticeable smile on his lips as he held out a fist for Naruto who gladly returned the gesture. And that's when something strange happened well everything that happened with jinchuriki was strange.
The two jinchuriki stood on opposite sides of a large room with two separate changes behind them holding their respective bijū.
"Hahaha look at you kurama trapped within that cage, not so tough now are you!" shouted shikaku, this set kyuubi off in a rage as he slammed himself against his cage roaring at the ichibi.
"How dare you use that name Shikaku!" Shouted Kyuubi as Gaara and Naruto looked at each other in confusion. Gaara was also confused to see hiruzen who was studying the large room in amazement.
"Wait… Kurama is that your name?" Naruto asked him to turn around to face the kyuubi who simply glared at his jinchuriki.
"Yes it is gaki. Is there a problem with me having a name?" Kurama asked as Naruto simply laughed and shook his head.
"No, there's not. I actually like knowing you have an actual name rather than just Kyuubi… Kurama ay! That's what I'm calling you from now on!" Naruto shouted with a grin as kurama simply turned around to face his cell wall.
"Aww look at that Kurama has a friend now." Shikaku said with malice glee in his voice.
"So where are we… and who is that naruto I didn't know you had two beings sealed in you?" Gaara asked in confusion as he continued to stare at hiruzen.
"Well he's the sandaime hokage he sealed a portion of himself into my seal… as for where jiji you have any ideas?" Naruto asked, staring at hiruzen who coughed into his hand to regain his bearings.
"Well it was only a theory into now but when jinchuuriki came in contact with one another it was thought they could potentially share a mindscape between them and their bijū. I guess this proves that theory was true so I guess we're in a shared mindscape." Hiruzen explained as Naruto stared in awe.
"Thats awesome! So I guess if we ever need a place to talk in secret this is the way we do it… hey Gaara you've felt another presence too haven't you?" He asked thinking back on the Taki team where he felt the presence of another jinchuriki.
"Yeah I have… I'm not sure what to make of three of us all in the same place." Gaara said before shrugging.
"I think it's a good thing personally anyways we should return to the real world." Naruto said as the link was separated and the fist bump ended.
"God damnit I already had troubles with one space shinobi and now we have two of them!" Temari shouted, waving a hand in front of the eyes of Naruto who simply blinked.
"Sorry! Was not expecting that." Naruto said with a small laugh grinning at temari who rolled her eyes.
"Alright we should go get some rest and you should as well gaara." Temari said, giving her brother a hug before they split into their separate chambers. Seeing a shower Temari grinned as she ran into the bathroom slamming and locking the door behind her.
"I'm going to go get-." Naruto began before hearing the nara slump down and into what had essentially become his bed. "I guess I'm alone now." Naruto said as he went to the cafeteria getting a surprisingly good meal of rice with chicken in a teriyaki sauce.
"It wasn't ramen but that sure hit the spot." Naruto said petting his now full and happy stomach he returned to see temari was still in the shower and the nara still asleep. Happy to just sleep himself after hours in the forest Naruto fell into his own bed. After a little while he felt temari snuggling into his side which caused naruto to wrap his arms around her kissing her head.
(3 Days Later)
"Time flew quicker than the team had expected as team after team came in. Late into the night naruto finally got the memories of team 7 finally being fully back up and ready though Sasuke was different. Naruto and the team spent most of the time resting and using the training grounds within the tower.
"Attention all teams please meet at the center of the tower." Anko's voice announced over the loudspeakers waking up Naruto and Temari from their snuggle nap.
"Come on shikamaru lets go." Naruto said standing up the nara chose to simply turn over, enraging naruto who kicked the lazy man.
"What the hell naruto!" Shikamaru said rubbing his back grumbling he got up however following the other two the center staging area of the tower. Most of the teams were already there standing in lines behind their sensei's. Anko Minato and protractors stood at the head of the room staring down the genin present.
There were 12 teams that had made six were from konoha, One from suna one from kiri and the kiri rebels taki Kumo and finally the last one from oto. Anko decided that she was going to glare them all down.
"Fucking 12 teams made it through unfuckingbelievable 12 teams how the fuck." Anko said to herself as Minato simply laughed.
"Don't worry, it was a good batch this year." he said to her with a grin stepping forward all the talking silenced
"Welcome all of those who have made it this far as you know I am the yondaime Hokage and I would like to congratulate all of you for your hard work. Every year villages hold chunin exams to see who from their genin force are ready to move higher in the shinobi world you all are examples of the best your village has to offer. However-" Minato began but was cut off by a shinobi with short brown hair, dark-coloured eyes and dark markings under his eyes. Even though he was a young man, he had pronounced lines under his eyes. He wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit complete with a Hitai-ate that he wore as a bandanna, flak jacket and regular shinobi sandals. He also carried a katana with a rectangular hand guard strapped over his back.
"Excuse me Hokage-same as the protractor of the next exam may I explain this next part." He said with a bow as Minato simply nodded with a smile.
"Hello All I am Hayate Gekkō and I am the protagonist of the third and final exam of the konoha chunin exams. The next portion of the exams will be a 1 on 1 tournament held exactly one from now you will no longer be working as team mates. However as many important people including kages and noblemen as well as potential clients are watching we can't allow every person to advance. As such we shall be holding a preliminary exam whoever wins will advance." Behind the jounin a screen lit up as names began to spin.
"However before we start, is anyone wanting to quit? There is nothing wrong with quitting if you'd like to. You've come far and have proven yourselves." Hayate said one person raised his hand which was Kabato.
"I'd like to quit. I don't have much chakra left in me to fight." He announced with a smile as Hayate nodded kabato waved to the rockie 12 as he left. Something didn't sit right with Naruto about kabato still but he chose to ignore it for now. one more hand raised its hand, Suna leaving the two sand brothers. This left just 34 genin left which delighted Hayate that there wasn't an odd number. Behind him the names stopped showing Sasuke uchiha vs. Yoroi Akadō.
Yoroi Akadō's appearance was greatly concealed by the mask he wore around his mouth that hung to around his neck, sunglasses that obscured his eyes and Hitai-ate which he also wore like a bandanna. He also wore what appears to be the standard attire of his team consisting of a high-collared, sleeveless, purple shirt with a short-sleeved, white one underneath, a simple obi around his waist, purple pants, blue sandals and purple fingerless gloves.
"Will everyone else please leave the arena." Hayate announced as the remaining genin left taking up positions around the arena. The fight between Sasuke and Yoroi wasn't much to talk about besides when the curse mark made its way across Sasuke's body. Naruto caught minato frown upon seeing the curse mark but he didn't move or say anything so he figured his father would do something later.
Sasuke won using taijutsu Naruto had never seen him use which he figured he "learned" from someone else and across the way he caught Lee frowning. The names began to spin once again popping up Kin and Yukumo.
The fight was mostly a mind game of genjutsu not much really happened however by the end both opponents fell down passed out by the war of their minds.
"Jeez that was pretty boring…" Naruto said with a yawn surprise that the oto nin went down with such little fight.
"Next up Ino Yamanaka vs Sakura Haruno!" Announced Hayate causing Naruto to perk up as he watched one of his girlfriends walk down the stairs she sent Naruto a wink. The fight sadly also wasn't much to write home about while both of the girls had improved quite a bit from the days of the academy they still were just leaving their fangirl phase. The two friends knocked each other out causing Naruto to sigh and shake his head.
"Next Fight is." Hayate paused to cough and let the sign finish spinning. "Gaara vs Kankuro!" He announced.
"Oh fuck no protractor I forfite!" Announced Kankuro causing Temari to fume as she glared at her brother.
"Come on another let down!" Naruto cried as he just wanted to watch a good fight. The sign began to spin once more before landing on Chōjūrō and one of the kiri shinobi. Both appeared to be swordsmen and it was interesting to see the two factions of kiri go against each other. Both swordsmen gave a great show of Kenjutsu which excited naruto to no end that he could fight a swordsman from kiri.
In the end Chōjūrō won by disarming the kiri nin and putting the blade of his sword to the genins neck while seeing he had no options forfeited. The next fighters called up were omoi of kumo and another kiri genin. This time it seemed only omoi was a swordsman.
The kiri genin was a taijutsu specialist it seemed as he didn't use any ninjutsu and simply fought with kunai however Omoi simply had more range with his katana. In the end the kiri ninja was knocked out after not giving up.
"Rock Lee vs- '' Was all Naruto heard as he piped up excited to see how Lee didn't he had heard stories of how Gai trained his students so he was excited to see how his star pupil would do. To say the fight was one sided was an understatement as the Kiri genin he was fighting barely saw Lee before he was knocked into the wall unconscious.
Naruto was getting bored at this point as three more fights passed by without much interesting jutsu or taijutsu or really anything being used. Neji fought Misumi Tsurugi and rather quickly blocked all the man's chakra points and rendered him unconscious. Hinata fought a taki Ninja and took the win following her cousins lead getting a cheer from Naruto seeing her win and finally choji lost to a shinobi from taki named Hōki as choji just couldn't bring himself to fight.
"Karui vs Kiba!" Announced Hayate Kiba grinned and pumped his fist at finally being called up as he jumped down ready to fight.
"It sucks I have to fight a girl but oh well you can't be too much of a challenge." Said kiba off handedly as karui stopped on the stairs turning to glare at the inuzuka.
"Oh and why is that you mutt?" She asked, cracking her knuckles.
"Because you are a girl and girls are weaker than guys." He said as every girl glared at the poor poor soul.
"Shouldn't have done that." Minato said a smile still on his face even as the genin got the beat down of his life as he was left bruised and in a bloody heap as Karui walked away a little less angry now.
"Next up is Temari vs Sai!" Announced Hayate Naruto grinned and gave her a quick kiss causing the girl to smile and hope down. Once both of the genin were in position he nodded to each of them getting a nod back he raised and then let his hand fall down shouting. "Hajime!"
Sai pulled out a scroll and quickly drew two lions which came to life with what looked like roars even if they didn't produce sound. Temari pulled out her fan blasting away the ink causing Sai to frown. He once again began to draw however he was interrupted by temari once again swinging her fan in his direction.
Landing on the wall he formed a hand seal as 2 lions burst forth once more however they met the same fate.
"I appear to be at a disadvantage.. Protractor I forfeit." Sai announced with a somewhat creepy smile. Hayete nodded announcing Temari as the winner who simply smiled on her end. The next fight was between shikamaru and a kiri nin who tried to rush the nara who simply caught the genin in his shadow raising a kunai to his neck.
"So far so good." Kakashi said with an eye smile looking at his genin as he internally counted his potential winnings. By this point there were only six genin left and each of them were staring each other down trying to psych each other out.
"Samui Vs tenten!" Announced Hayate as the two took the positions he once again called the start of the fight. Tenten quickly pulled out 2 scrolls causing samui to frown before she cursed watching the weapons rain down her way flying through handsigns she stopped as lightning flashed from her arm.
"Raiton: Raiga(Lightning Release: Lightning fang)!" She shouted as the lightning jutsu jumped from weapon to weapon before arriving back at tenten shocking the girl and knocking her out as samui stood up once she was safe from the weapons. Once the weapons and knocked out girl were collected the sign once again began to spin before landing on not naruto.
"Fu Vs Zaku!" Hayete announced as Naruto groaned seeing he was going to be the last fighter. However he was also watching Fu as he could feel that she was the other jinchuriki. Once the fight began Fu covered the arena in a thick smoke and not much else was seen before zaku was sent flying into the wall covered in cuts.
"Hm she seemed to do that on purpose so no one saw her abilities." Naruto said with a frown that turned into a grin. "I really want to fight her now." He said thinking about how awesome a jinchuriki in a jinchuuriki fight could be.
"Finally Naruto Vs Dosu!" Announced Hayate as Naruto jumped over the rallying ready to fight the mummy. However the mummy didn't move as his sensei whispered into his ear before he nodded raising his hand.
"Protractor I am deciding to forfeit!" He announced causing Naruto to falter and land on his face.
"Are you serious!" Naruto shouted in rage but it's not like he could really do much. Grumbling he stood there waiting as all the winners were called to the arena and handed green balls with numbers on them.
"Please announce what Numbers you have as these will decide who fights who in the third exam!" Hayate announced.
"1!" Naruto announced
"2!" Came Chōjūrō as Naruto grinned excitedly to face a fellow swordsman.
"3" Temari said.
"4" Came from Karui
"5" Said a voiced filled with pure laziness
"6" He heard the shy voice of hinata say.
"7!" He heard from Lee.
"8" Omoi said, timidly scared to face the taijutsu specialist.
"9" He heard the monotone voice of gaara.
"10" came from the chipper voice of Fu.
"11" came from sasuke who sounded tired.
"12" was the voice of samui
"13" came from neji
And finally "14" came from Hōki the ninja from taki.
"The fights are as follows Naruto Namikaze vs Chōjūrō, Temari Vs Karui, Shikamaru Nara vs Hinata Hyuuga, Rock Lee vs Omoi, Gaara Vs Fu, Sasuke vs Samui and finally Neji vs Hōki!" Hayate announced. The winners of the preliminary all stared at each other in anticipation
"Once again you are the best your village has to offer from its genin force congratulations to all who made it this far and to those advancing on. You have exactly one month to train and prepare. I wish you all safe travels and good luck!" Minato announced
Going to be honest did not mean to take this long… sorry I kinda just lost my muse till just recently and didn't know how I wanted to continue this fic. Sorry for the kinda lackluster preliminary the actual chunin exams will be much better. I swear I just wanted to get this chapter out after so long. I also have big plans for the chunin exam arcs ending which leads almost directly into our next arc which I can't tell you what it is. I should have another chapter out in 2 weeks… hopefully as well as another chapter for shinobi among titans. Also super happy we made it over the 60,000 word mark. Thank you to everyone who kept this in their favorites and follows and I hope it lives up to your hopes!
