Ch.2- Return to the village and Exam prep
Naruto let out a grunt of effort as he pushed one of his clones away and then turned to block a downward slash from another to his right. His Kubikiribocho clashed loudly with the one his clone possessed, and the muscles in his arms tensed to hold back the assault.
Suddenly, Naruto's eyes widened at the feeling of being cleaved in half...before the body erupted into a cloud of smoke. Both clones searched frantically for the original, unfortunately one of them was too slow, and was soon beheaded by a spinning blade.
The surviving clone looked on as the giant cleaver was brought down by gravity and buried in the earth.
"Oh come on, I swear I had it that time." Cried the original Naruto, who was hanging from the tree that he'd aimed the sword from.
Looking over to its creator, the clone said, "At least it got closer, a month ago you couldn't even throw it, now you only missed the tree by like ten feet."
Naruto called back his chakra and let himself land on the ground. Pulling his weapon from its earthy sheath he replied, "I suppose you're right, and I've managed to pull off a couple one-handed swings before needing to go back to two, so that's something right?"
After his clone nodded Naruto dismissed the doppelganger with a cloud of smoke. With a sigh, the blonde replaced his blade in the strap across his shirtless back and stretched. It had been a little over three months since his return to the village and, if he did say so himself, he was making great strides in his training.
His physical ability had taken a satisfying jump, seeing as he'd taken to performing workouts multiple days a week, rather than just every once in a while with heavy weights. It was a routine that included a multitude of body-weight exercises along with using free-weights; his cardio easily coming in from the brawls he go into with his clones.
The blonde remembered waking up one morning and being surprised at the reflection that greeted him in the mirror. With the increased strength came increased speed as well, thanks to the ankle weights he wore. Naruto dared to think he was now among the fastest genin in his graduating class; behind only Sasuke and Kiba now if he were to have any competition.
But that gap would soon close as well.
Along with his physical increases came chakra strength too. Naruto could now create twice as many clones as before, and each could now create a small army of their own too. The blonde had also taken to learning how to master the kawarimi, deciding that it was a move many ninja forgot about because of the fancier techniques, and yet it was just as effective and dangerous.
But Naruto didn't stop at just fine tuning an old trick, no, the young Uzumaki decided that adding a few new jutsu to his list couldn't hurt either; he chose to start with one he'd seen once...the Water-Dragon jutsu. Naruto went to Kakashi for this one, recalling the man copying the technique during his battle with Zabuza.
He was a little disappointed with what he learned however.
Kakashi, while not against training him in the technique seeing as he'd learned the Kage-bunshin, made it a point to tell Naruto that unlike the mist technique, he would forever need a water source in order to create the dragon.
While that little piece of news made Naruto upset for a while, he soon looked passed it. He had practiced with the Hidden-Mist jutsuconstantly, and now was able to perform the technique with ease, covering the whole of Training Ground 7's clearing in a matter of minutes.
This gave Naruto hope that he could eventually do the same with the Water-Dragon. Then, during one of his trips to the library, he found a saving grace.
After team training with Kakashi-sensei Naruto was trying to figure out how he would carry around a water source big enough for his dragon to be effective; the dragon was a mass of water simply laced with chakra to hold it together. Meaning that he would need a lot of water to make a battle-effective attack.
He found it in a water jutsu scroll; its name, the Exploding-Water Shockwave.
Naruto learned that this technique was exactly what he needed. The user shot copious amounts of water straight from their mouth in a vicious torrent, and even if the initial attack missed, you now had a small lake of water to perform other water jutsu with. And to top it off, the amount of water was relative to the amount of chakra the user had to spare. It was perfect.
That had been something Kakashi had informed him of after asking to learn the Water-Dragon. The silver-haired Jounin explained that, the higher a jutsu's level, the easier it would be for Naruto to perform it because he had the chakra to pump into it. This also worked with the Hidden-Mist jutsu because the mist was laced heavily with the users chakra.
But it also had the draw back that, normal low-level jutsu would be harder to master without proper chakra control because he had to focus such small amounts into them.
So, Naruto set out to learn the water-style technique, and then got to work on creating his dragons.
Now, three months later, Naruto felt good about his standing among the genin pack. While still not one of the smartest members, Naruto knew he was definitely one of the strongest.
"Although," he mumbled to himself as he walked towards his team's meeting spot, "I should definitely work out my brain too. Zabuza was pretty clever, and he also had knowledge of foreign ninja as well as techniques, I'll need to start checking out some reading material when I head to the library now too."
It was about fifteen minutes before Naruto made it to the bridge Kakashi-sensei had told them to meet him at. The man had mentioned wanting to do some sparring before he decided to make an announcement.
Once he arrived, the blonde noticed that his other two team-mate's had beaten him to the bridge.
Sasuke was leaning against the railing with his eyes closed, and Sakura was seated on the other end; she would periodically glance over at her crush with pink cheeks.
"Good morning Sakura-chan," Naruto greeted with a smile. Then, turning his eyes towards the other male he grumbled, "Hey Sasuke-teme."
While Sasuke only acknowledged his greeting with a grunt, Sakura matched him with her own 'good morning'. The pink-haired girl also took a moment to take in the sight of her blonde team-mate.
She noticed immediately how much more muscular he was than Sasuke, his lack of a shirt giving her a clear view of his growing pectoral muscles and his abs; Naruto seemed to be running hand-in-hand with puberty. There were no deeply cut lines, but the pinkette could see the strong, budding definition. The blonde's shoulders had also widened and become broader; no doubt to help shoulder the weight of the massive blade strapped to his back. Sakura could also see the strength in his calves thanks to the cargo shorts he wore. The blonde's face however was still hidden beneath a mask of bandages from the nose down.
Another thing that seemed to work to the boy's advantage was something that, usually, got him laughed at. Because he was so short, the blonde's steady transformation was much more compact and noticeable.
But his physique wasn't all about Naruto that was changing.
Over the course of the months since Wave Sakura began to notice that the gap between Naruto and Sasuke was inching closed day by day; it had gotten to where the Uchiha was forced to use his Sharinganif Naruto removed his weights. And even before then, Sasuke would tire far faster than Naruto, eventually giving him the lead.
This shocked Sakura because she always felt that Naruto was just as everyone always said; a no-talent loser. Someone who, no matter what, would never truly amount to much in terms of being a shinobi. And yet here he was giving the Rookie of the Year trouble!
"Cha! That's only because Kakashi-sensei spends more time watching over Naruto-baka than Sasuke-kun! He'd be ten times better than that blonde punk if sensei would train him more!"Inner Sakura butted in.
But Sakura couldn't help agreeing with her. Their Jounin instructor had been spending a lot of time with the former dead-last, so it stood to reason that the kid would improve in leaps and bounds. Maybe she should say something about that today?
"Hello there," came a voice from above. Three sets of eyes turned upward, and were greeted by the sight of Kakashi seated atop the archway at the end of the bridge.
"You're late again Kakashi-sensei, that's like the hundredth time!" Sakura shouted in irritation.
"Sorry about that," the Jounin smiled, "a black cat crossed my path and I had to retrace my steps."
"Liar!"
Naruto, wanting to get on with training, broke up the argument, "Alright, well, since you're here now how about we get this show on the road?"
"Eager aren't we Naruto? But that's fine, if you three will follow me, we'll begin today's training."
The foursome headed to their usual training ground. After arriving Kakashi said, "Okay, so, I want to see how far each of you has come in the time since we've been back. My hope is that our mission to Wave has helped open your eyes to the reality of being a ninja; so we're going to have some spars."
"But Kakashi-sensei, how is that any different from what we've been doing?" asked Sakura. And she was right, they'd just sparred together two weeks ago.
A new voice came from behind the tree line."Simple Sakura;you'll be facing me."
All three genin looked over, and their eyes widened in surprise when Iruka-sensei walked out to greet them.
Naruto's face broke out into a cheerful expression at seeing one of his favorite people, "Hey Iruka-sensei, what are you doing here?"
As he turned his gaze to address the cheerful blonde, the scarred chunin was surprised at the image before him. 'Kakashi did mention that Naruto was different, but this is more than even I expected.'
Pushing those thoughts aside, and deciding to just be happy at seeing his favorite student again, Iruka smiled in return. "Kakashi asked me to come by and help him out in measuring your progress. I was more than happy to lend a hand, I can't wait to see how much you've grown Naruto."
"Alright you three, who wants to go first?" Kakashi asked.
Sakura turned to her instructor, her mouth hanging open and an incredulous look on her face, "B-But Sensei, Iruka-sensei is a chunin, how do you expect us to win against him?"
"I don't Sakura, he still has years of experience over you three, but if you've used this past month correctly then you'll at least stand a chance. Oh, and thank you for volunteering to go first Sakura."
The young kunoichi just let her mouth drop to the floor, before pulling herself together, and walking out onto the training field across from Iruka.
As she made her way over the emerald-eyed girl thought over how she spent her time after the Wave mission. When not watching Naruto and Sasuke train under Kakashi-sensei or doing a mission with the team, Sakura usually read up on various ninjutsu, or genjutsu, and learning how to defeat each one. She had also read how to escape certain traps as well as how to set them up.
Unfortunately, the pink-haired kunoichi didn't take any time to practice her taijutsu or actually learn any of the ninjutsu she studied.
'I just hope I can last.' Sakura thought as she entered into the basic academy stance.
Across from her Iruka had to keep from shaking his head in disappointment. The academy style was meant solely for those who had not found a style of their own yet. Many ninja without a clan, after receiving their headband, went straight to the library and found a new one; one without so many holes.
'It seems Sakura may not be taking this as seriously as I'd hoped she would. I guess we'll just have to see.' The chunin thought as Kakashi began the match.
Sakura opened with a textbook maneuver; throwing kunai to force the enemy off their feet. Following this, Sakura created three clones of herself and rushed forward. However, instead of avoiding the kunai, Iruka simply pulled out one of his own, and deflected the knifes. This left him on guard for his opponent's attack.
Sakura tried to shake him up with her clones, but the chunin could see which copies of the girl made no presence in the grass, allowing him to ignore the leg sweep and roundhouse that came at him while blocking the jab to his stomach.
With her strategy ignored and her attack blocked Sakura had to think fast. She pulled another kunai from her holster and took a slash at Iruka...only for him to grab that wrist as well. The next thing Sakura knew was pain. Her former instructor headbutted her, and with him wearing his forehead protector and her's tied like a bandanna, Sakura immediately went weak in the knees from the impact.
Iruka let go of the kunoichi's wrists and watched as she sank to the ground, her hands swiftly coming up to try and sooth the aching in her forehead. With a sigh, the scarred ninja turned to his superior and said, "Kakashi what is this? She's been your student for about half a year, why is she still using the academy taijutsu and tactics?"
"I've told her already what she needs to work on Iruka, but it seems she hasn't listened to a word I've said, I'll be sure to spend some time whipping her into shape. Hopefully you'll be more impressed with my other two students." Kakashi replied.
Sakura was quickly escorted off the field and to the sidelines while Sasuke took center stage. The Uchiha entered into the basic stance of his family's taijutsu and waited for Iruka to come to him.
Iruka knew this was Sasuke's preferred method of fighting, because it allowed the younger ninja to read his opponent's moves and then react to them accordingly. This way, Sasuke could measure their speed, strength, and fighting style all in one.
'Well then, if it's me who's supposed to make the first move, might as well make it a good one.'
The pony-tailed chunin disappeared in a burst of speed and re-appeared to Sasuke's right. Iruka slid his foot behind the Uchiha's leg and then drove his arm forward in a close-line to the throat. With his leg behind Sasuke's, the raven-haired youth tumbled backwards, but managed to catch himself and perform a leg sweep.
Iruka jumped over the counter-attack and then flipped backwards out of Sasuke's range; but it seemed Sasuke wasn't about to let him run away. The younger ninja rushed after his superior and attacked with a roundhouse kick. Iruka blocked it with his forearm and pushed it away, before retaliating with a right-hook.
Sasuke saw it coming but couldn't move fast enough to dodge it, so he let it hit, and then used the momentum to carry into an elbow attack that landed squarely in his opponent's chest. The Uchiha followed this up with a scissor-kick to the chin.
However, Iruka recovered faster than he'd expected, and managed to grab a hold of Sasuke's ankles, from there the chunin lifted Sasuke higher and finally slammed his back into the ground.
Sasuke coughed up a bit of bile due to the harsh impact, but quickly pushed passed the pain and rolled backwards out of Iruka's reach. Once a sufficient distance away, the young ninja ran through a series of hand-signs before calling out his attack, "Fire-style: Great-Fireball jutsu!"
After Iruka easily avoided it using the replacement technique Kakashi called for a stop to the match.
"Why?" Sasuke asked. "I could still fight, and I hadn't even used my Sharinganyet."
Kakashi just smiled and replied, "I know, but remember, these spars are just so I can see how you've all progressed. And you've done very well Sasuke, managing to hold your own against a chunin after being a genin for such a short time is no easy task."
Sasuke just grunted and moved to the sidelines next to Sakura, who was still nursing her wound.
However, this didn't stop the girl from congratulating her crush, "Way to go Sasuke-kun, you were amazing against Iruka-sensei. If you had used your SharinganI think you may have beaten him."
But the raven-haired youth ignored her, choosing instead to focus on the next match. Naruto had gotten significantly stronger over the last few months, and Sasuke wanted to know how the blonde would stack up against a chunin now.
Would he do better than Sasuke, or worse?
Naruto pulled Kubikiribocho from his back, and then removed the ankle weights and wrist bands from his body as well. While he wanted to show-off his skills in kenjutsu, the blonde had decided that against his old teacher such a thing was unnecessary.
Sasuke on the other hand had a different thought.
"What's the matter loser, can't swing the sword? What's the point of carrying it around if you don't use it?"
But Naruto just ignored the smart-mouthed Uchiha. It was true though, Sasuke had never seen Naruto wield the infamous blade since he'd brought it home, but that was because Naruto decided that during spars against a fellow team-mate it was dangerous. The blonde became completely serious when he unsheathed his sword, and he didn't think Sasuke would be able to handle him then.
So Naruto just moved to his side of the field and entered into his opening stance.
Iruka was interested in the stance his former student took up. His feet were shoulder-width apart, knees bent, and his left arm was held to the side at a ninety-degree angle; his hand balled up into a fist. The blonde's right arm was held up and bent inwards, the forearm blocking his face, while the hand was formed like a claw.*
'The King's Fist, an appropriate taijutsu for Naruto. Let's see how far he's come with it.' Iruka thought with pride...before being shocked as Naruto disappeared from view.
"What the—ah!" The chunin cried out as his legs were swept from under him from behind. While managing to catch himself, the man's attempt at a retaliation kick failed, as Naruto had expected it and moved away beforehand.
Iruka righted himself and kept his eyes trained on the blonde before him. He couldn't afford to let his guard down it seemed. Deciding to take a page from Sasuke's book Iruka weaved through the same hand-signs, and sent a decently-sized fireball towards Naruto.
However, where the chunin expected him to dodge it, and set himself up to be attacked, Naruto simply weaved through his own set of signs before using his Exploding-Water Shockwave to punch a hole straight through the fire. The speedy torrent hit Iruka dead-center in the chest, but the man's body was soon replaced by a log.
Naruto canceled his attack, and strained his already impressive hearing to catch any clue to his opponent's next move. It payed off, as the blonde threw up his forearms in an cross-block to defend against a hammer-fist from above. Afterwards, the Uzumaki countered with a spartan-kick that caught the unguarded shinobi and sent him flying.
But Iruka wasn't a chunin for nothing, the man quickly righted himself and was prepared for is former students next move; which came in the form of a trio of Kage-bunshin. The three Naruto's came at him in a triangle formation; as he jumped over one's leg sweep, the second was there to hit him with a roundhouse. As he blocked the kick in mid-air Iruka was left open to the third kick that was aimed at his back.
The last clone sent him flying forward before they all dispelled, this made Iruka an easy target for Naruto's next attack; the Water-Dragon jutsu. With the field flooded with water from his previous attack the blonde had plenty to work with. Next thing Iruka knew, he was being hit head-on by a B-ranked ninjutsu.***
"Alright, I think that's enough Naruto, good job." Kakashi called out, putting an end to the spars.
Naruto quickly strode over to help Iruka up off the ground. "You've definitely come a long way from being the knucklehead class-clown Naruto." The academy instructor praised.
"Thanks Iruka-sensei, it really means a lot to hear you say that. But I know you weren't really trying, or else I never would have landed those hits."
"Hmm, you underestimate yourself Naruto; a chunin is only as good as his training after all. Now, when did you learn such an advanced technique like the Water-Dragon?" Iruka asked in wonder.
Naruto's eyes shined happily as he replied, "Kakashi-sensei taught it to me, pretty cool huh?"
At this point Kakashi cut in, "Yes, yes, we get it Naruto you're becoming a force to be reckoned with. Now, Iruka, what's your opinion of them?"
The scarred chunin swept his eyes over Team 7 before turning back to Kakashi. Letting out a sigh Iruka said, "I really wish you'd wait another year before doing this Kakashi, but, I can't disagree that this will be good for them. It'll give them a good idea of what they're up against concerning the other village's ninja, as well as tell them where they stand among their fellow Leaf shinobi...I concede."
"Kakashi-sensei, what's he talking about?" Asked Sakura.
The Jounin turned to the kunoichi of his team and answered, "What he's talking about Sakura, is how I've recently nominated you three for the chunin exams."
All three genin looked back and forth between the two older ninja before Naruto said, "Well now, this will be fun, and I'll even get to see how I stack up against the competition. Thanks Kakashi-sensei."
"You're welcome Naruto, now, here's your registration forms. The exams will begin five day from now at 3:00pm sharp, you are to go to the academy building and wait in room 301 for your first proctor." Kakashi instructed as he handed each genin a small form to fill out.
With that, the silver-haired Jounin bid his students good luck and left via Shunshin. Iruka quickly followed, mentioning how he'd only asked his substitute teacher to stay half the day.
Once the three were alone Sasuke sighed and made to leave, throwing over his shoulder, "I'll see you guys at the academy; don't be late."
Sakura, seeing the Uchiha leaving, called out. "Hey wait, Sasuke-kun, why don't you and I spend the five days together? You know, do something personal to help build our teamwork?"
The Uchiha heir stopped and looked over his shoulder. Sakura was immediately put-off by the look in his onyx-black eyes, and it got worse as he opened his mouth.
"Or how about you use the five days to work on your skills? Even Iruka-sensei said you needed help, so instead of flirting and primping yourself up to look pretty, why don't you learn a new taijutsu form and a couple of genjutsu; you know, things to help make the team stronger."
With his piece said and done Sasuke turned and continued his walk home, caring nothing for the girl he just left torn apart in the field.
Sakura's head and shoulders slumped in defeat at her love interest's words. Naruto, seeing this, made an attempt to cheer his crush up. "Hey, Sakura-chan, why don't you and I train together? Forget about Sasuke-teme, he's not even that tough, heck I can already beat him. If we train together you'll get stronger in no time."
Her response was nothing like he'd expected. Sakura began to tremble, and while at first he thought she was going to cry, Naruto was quickly on-guard when the pink-haired kunoichi turned to him with anger in her eyes.
"Why can't you just back off Naruto-baka!? I don't wanna hang out with you; I've lost count of how many times we've been through this. Why can't you just listen?"
Naruto, for his part, couldn't help feeling hurt. Sure she had said something along those lines, but the blonde didn't think she really meant them. But now, for the second time, Sakura was telling him to really get lost.
Saying that she'd rather be alone without Sasuke than give him a chance.
The blonde genin's ocean-blue eyes lowered in resignation. He felt there wasn't even a point in asking if she thought of him as a friend, seeing as a friend would have let him down a lot more gently than Sakura had.
Finally, Naruto managed to pick his eyes up and look at the pink-haired girl that still stood before him, "Okay Sakura, I'm sorry, I hear you and I-I won't bother you anymore. I'll see you at the exams."
And with that, the blonde made his own exit, leaving Sakura to also walk home alone...and his dream of them together to fade into the wind.
xXx
Naruto's eyes opened slowly as the morning sun peeked through his window. As he sat up and stretched the blonde genin's fuzzy mind slowly rebooted from being sent into hibernation mode during the night; that's when he recalled the day before.
He was entering the chunin exams in four days!
Immediately after this thought, Naruto's unwrapped face broke into a foxy grin, and the young Uzumaki jumped out of bed in excitement. There were sure to be lots of other genin taking the test, and from what Iruka-sensei said, many of them would be from foreign villages. This meant Naruto would already be able to start making a name for himself!
'This is gonna be great,' he thought as he made himself a bowl of cereal.
As he ate, the blonde thought about how he should spend the next four days. While at first he thought of training, the young ninja quickly discarded that thought. It wouldn't do for someone to see his skills before the test. Then he thought about how he'd made it a point to learn more general knowledge, and decided to spend his time at the library.
With his game plan set, Naruto finished his cereal and got ready for the day. Once his morning routine was finished the blonde set about getting dressed, he slipped on a pair of cargoes and a hooded vest, before attaching his weights and weapon pouches, and finishing it off by re-wrapping his face and tying on his forehead protector.
After a look in the mirror, and with a look of satisfaction at what he saw, Naruto exited his home. Once again leaving his sword, so as not to give anything away to the competition.
As he walked through the streets Naruto immediately took notice of some of the foreigners that had already entered the village. But it wasn't hard, they had different symbols on their headbands than him after all.
Many of them looked like nothing special, just your run of the mill genin, but one person did catch his attention.
A girl with shocking red hair.
This girl interested Naruto because he'd never seen anyone with that color hair before. Sure, Sakura's was pink, but so was her mom's. Red was a hair color that Naruto hadn't ever seen on anyone in his village before.
Taking a closer look at the girl before he lost sight of her, Naruto took in the glasses on her face, and her unusual eye color as well. The blonde had to admit; the girl was kind of cute.
The girl must have felt his eyes on her though, because she began to turn her head, which forced Naruto to look away. Lest he be caught staring and cause a scene. After he turned a corner, and was out of sight, the blonde returned to his journey and headed for the library. His mind stuck on what kind of ninja would have red hair.
xXx
"How can there be nothing!? Are ninja with red hair really not that weird?" Naruto groaned as he thumbed through his fifth aisle of books and scrolls. He'd been there for almost an hour and still hadn't found anything. Maybe red hair just wasn't common in his village, but was everywhere else.
As he was about to slip his latest pick back into its spot on the shelf a flash of purple caught his eye and he turned to look; he was met with the sight of Anko entering the aisle he was in.
In her own hands was a blue book, and she too had a look of annoyance on her face.
"Couldn't find what you were looking for either?" he asked in an attempt to make conversation.
With her eyes downcast in disappointment Anko didn't see who had been speaking, and when she turned them up to make sure the person was talking to her, she greeted with a sight she hadn't expected.
'I recognize the voice, but not the face, so is this what the Kyubi jinchuuriki really looks like?'she thought to herself. As she took him in, Anko realized that the young teen in front of her wasn't at all what she'd been expecting. She'd heard the tales of his pranks from other members of the T&I department, and while she found many of them funny, the Special-Jounin knew a cry for attention when she saw one.
But this genin didn't look like the type to care about such things.
Anko took in how the clothes looked on the now blonde-haired ninja. The vest didn't hang loosely from his frame, instead it stretched a little under his athletic torso. His arms showed clear signs of growing muscle, and his shoulders were strong. Looking up at his face, the kunoichi had to force herself not to laugh; was he taking after Kakashi now?
After her quick observation Anko decided to reply, "No, unfortunately I didn't. And from the sound of it neither did you."
Shaking his head Naruto answered, "Nope. So what were you trying to find?"
"If there was anywhere else besides Konoha that sold goma dango, but there isn't." Anko replied, her shoulders slumping in discouragement.
Naruto stared at her for a moment, as if expecting her to suddenly tell him she was kidding, but when she didn't he asked, "...Are you serious?"
The annoyed look he got was more than enough proof. Anko held up the book she'd been reading, showing it to be an international food journal, and said, "Of course I am. When I'm out on a mission there's always a chance I'll end up slumming it in another village, so it'd be nice to know I can still have my favorite food away from home. But I'm finding out nobody except Konoha makes it." She growled at the end, folding her arms in frustration.
Naruto didn't know what to make of the sight. Here was a woman, a kunoichi no less, that looked to be a few years older than him...pouting like a child over sweets. He couldn't hold back a small laugh.
They stood close enough though that Anko could hear it. Narrowing her eyes she challenged, "Oh yeah, well, what was so important that you couldn't find?"
This got Naruto to immediately stop laughing. The blonde knew that his quest was just as silly, and to reveal it would be embarrassing after laughing at Anko's misfortune. However, the choice was taken from him, when Anko simply plucked the yellow book from his hand and read the cover.
It was deathly quiet, and Naruto waited for the inevitable jibe...but it didn't come. Instead, a teasing grin etched its way onto Anko's face as she asked, "Sooo, interested in kunoichi with odd hair colors huh? I guess I left a better impression on you than I thought back at the clothing store huh?"
Whatever Naruto had been expecting, this wasn't it. As the Special-Jounin held up the book, showing off the title of 'Legendary Kunoichi with strange hair colors', Naruto's face lit up like a cherry.
"What, no, it's nothing like that okay!? I saw this girl from another village, and she had red hair, so I wondered if that meant anything special. That's all, really." The flustered young teen explained.
At this Anko's playful smile broke down into a pout. "What, am I not good enough for you gaki?"
She couldn't really see it, but Anko was sure the blonde's mouth was wide open. Unable to to keep up her charade the Special-Jounin broke out into laughter as she slipped the two books back onto the shelf, not caring if they were in the right spot.
The older woman's laughter broke Naruto out of his stupor, and then he pouted as he grumbled quietly to himself. After getting a hold of herself Anko patted the younger ninja on the shoulder and said, "Aw don't get all upset on me now kid, I wasn't serious. Besides, there's a height requirement for anyone who wants to make a move on me ."
Hearing the barb at his lower-than-average height Naruto's expression swiftly molded into one of fierce annoyance. "Yeah, well, you're too tall...wait," the blonde stopped, suddenly remembering something, "How did you know it was me at the store?"
Anko met his curious stare with a smirk as she answered.
"My best friend is the village's leading expert in genjutsu, she spotted your henge from across the store. I suspected something, and when I asked her about, Kurenai told me it was you; apparently you have an easily recognizable chakra signature."
That last part interested the blonde genin. 'Chakra signature', he thought.
What was that?
But before he could ask her, Anko looked at the watch on her wrist and said, "And speaking of Nai-chan I'm supposed to meet her after her team's meeting. I'd better go now, she's such a pain when I'm late, see ya later shrimp."
With that the purple-haired woman left in a swirl of smoke, leaving Naruto alone. While slightly discouraged he couldn't ask about chakra signatures, the young Uzumaki quickly remembered he was in a library, and headed off to the shinobi section to find a scroll on the subject.
xXx
As Naruto studied up on his newest interest, Anko appeared along the branch of a tree that overlooked one of the Leaf's many training grounds. This one in particular was being used by the members of Team 8.
Standing off to the side was her friend, Kurenai Yuhi. The older woman's attention was concentrated on the two students that were currently sparring.
One was a young male. He wore a gray, hooded jacket with fur lining all its openings. He was a tanned young teen, with feral features, and triangular tattoos on his cheeks. This young genin was Kiba Inuzuka.
Kiba's opponent was a young girl.
She too wore a hoodie, though her's was a cream color and significantly baggier than her male team-mate's. The young kunoichi had a head of dark, blue-tinted hair and fair skin. But her most recognizable feature were her eyes. This young girl had a pair of pupil-less, lavender eyes. She was Hinata Hyuga.
At the moment Kiba and Hinata were each attempting to overcome the others defenses, though Anko could see that it was only Kiba who was really trying. So, while Hinata was doing a good job of holding her own, she was slowly being defeated.
Anko shook her head, not able to understand why such a promising kunoichi was so hesitant. However, as she turned her attention back to Kurenai, to see her reactions, Anko wound up locking gazes with her fellow Jounin.
Smiling, the purple-haired woman dismounted her perch, and walked over to Kurenai. Throwing up her hand in greeting she said, "Hey, how's the training going?"
The red-eyed Jounin nodded in greeting, before turning her attention back to her students and asking, "Why don't you tell me? You were just watching them."
"Yeah, you noticed that huh? Anyway, what's the deal with your kunoichi, she's barely even trying against her team-mate. Is she sick or something?"
Kurenai shook her head, letting out a sigh as she replied, "No, that's Hinata. She's not very confident in her ability to be a ninja, and unfortunately it's to the point where she second-guesses every move she makes. Resulting in what you see here."
As she explained it, Hinata was being brought down by her enthusiastic opponent, and soon found herself lying flat on her back. Having had her legs knocked from under her.
With that Kurenai called out, "Okay you two, that's enough for today, you guys can head home. Be sure to come to the meeting on time tomorrow; I have something important I want to discuss with you."
As they were leaving Kiba eyed his Jounin instructor and asked, "What about Shino, he couldn't make it to practice today, how's he gonna know?"
"When Shino informed me he wouldn't be here today I explained that we'd be meeting tomorrow as well, and I expressed the same desire for promptness as I did with you. What I have to say tomorrow is important."
The explanation being good enough for him, Kiba exited the clearing, after waving good-bye to his female team-mate. Hinata, muttering a quiet good-bye of her own, also left the training ground.
Once the genin were out of ear-shot, Anko looked over to her friend and asked, "So you're really gonna enter them into the chunin exams?"
As the two women made their own exit Kurenai replied, "Yes. They may just be rookies, but I have faith in their ability to succeed, each of them shows great promise as a shinobi and I truly believe they have a chance of doing well in the exams."
"And how do think they'll do against the other rookie teams?" Anko asked, her mind conjuring the image of the blonde she'd just left.
"There aren't too many I'm worried about. Aside from Sasuke Uchiha and Shikamaru Nara I don't think my team has any real competition. The other six just aren't up to par yet; I really can't believe Asuma and Kakashi think their teams are ready for the exams."
Anko eyes the elder kunoichi curiously, as the woman's slightly arrogant tone was unlike her, but decided the woman knew her students better than the Special-Jounin and just had faith in their abilities.
xXx
Naruto walked through the streets of his village, not really having a destination in mind, merely enjoying the lively activity and the nice weather. He'd spent a few hours at the library, studying up on chakra signatures, and then researching the different hidden villages. While Konoha's knowledge wasn't very extensive, those places not being very open with their information, Naruto did learn a little bit about the different types of ninja there were in the world.
While some of it had been boring, the blonde never having been one for book learning, Naruto forced himself to concentrate on the pages and the information written on them. No one would take an uneducated shinobi seriously, and the blonde couldn't afford anything less.
Now, with the studying put on hold, Naruto just let himself wander.
It was as he walked through one of the empty streets that Naruto heard a shuffling sound behind him. The spiky-haired ninja looked back...and was met with the sight of a crudely done disguise in the shape of a rock. A square rock.
Letting out a disheartened sigh Naruto called out, "Really Konohamaru? When have you ever seen a rock shaped like a perfect square...especially one with eye holes?"
"You always manage to see through my disguise Boss." A voice called out under said garb, before the box erupted into a large cloud of colored smoke, revealing three young academy students.
The first was Konohamaru, he'd gotten rid of his long scarf, and wore a dark-green shirt with brown shorts. A vast improvement from his yellow and white attire. To the boy's right was a young girl, she had her orange hair done up into two very large pigtails. She wore a red t-shirt and brown shorts. Standing at Konohamaru's left was another young boy; this one also a brunette. He wore glasses, a baggy, long-sleeved blue shirt and khaki shorts...he also had a runny nose. All three wore the goggles he once wore before becoming a genin.
Naruto watched as the three youngsters introduced themselves as the Konohamaru Ninja Squad.
"So these are your friends from the academy Kon?" Naruto asked as he eyed the two other children.
"Yep, I was talking to Iruka-sensei about the spar we had the other day and they over heard. Moegi and Udon asked if I could introduce you to them after hearing how strong you are."
Both of the aforementioned academy students nodded excitedly in agreement before the girl, Moegi, asked, "Is it true you're training Konohamaru outside of school Naruto-san?"
"When I get the chance, yes. I want to make sure Konohamaru gets as much help as possible so that when he becomes a genin I won't have to worry about him out in the field." Naruto replied.
"So does that mean you'll teach us?" Udon asked hopefully. But before Naruto could answer, an undignified snort interrupted his train of thought.
"This is what you do in your free time, hang around with little kids?"
The small group turned their attention to the voice that had spoken, and were greeted with the sight of Sakura walking towards them. As the pinkette approached, Naruto had to chomp down his usual greeting, and instead asked, "And what if it is? What's wrong with helping others get stronger Sakura?"
'I offered the same to you, but you just threw it back in my face,' he thought sadly.
"What's wrong is you should be preparing for the chunin exams, not playing games Naruto-baka, I don't want you holding us back during the test."
Naruto's brow furrowed in confusion, "But Sakura-ch...Sakura, Iruka-sensei said you were the one who needed help. He was more than impressed with my performance remember."
While Naruto hadn't meant for it to be taken as an insult, merely a pointing out of fact, Sakura took it as a barb at her skills. And coming from Naruto, the class clown, that was unacceptable.
"What do you know dead-last, if you weren't always pestering Kakashi-sensei then maybe he'd have more time to train me and Sasuke-kun!"
But before Naruto could respond, Konohamaru's voice rang out in a whine, "Man Naruto-niisan, is this what you have to put up with all the time? I think I'm gonna blow an ear drum if she keeps this up; what is she, some kind of harpy?"
Naruto never got to ask where the young Sarutobi even heard that word before, because Sakura's anger sky rocketed at the insult. "What did you just call me!?"
'Cha! I'm gonna pound that little runt!' Inner Sakura raged along with her. As she made a move to grab Konohamaru the young boy managed to slip away, and then he turned and ran, with Sakura hot on his heels.
Naruto just sighed and, looking to the remaining two kids, said, "Well, we should probably go after them. C'mon, and if she hasn't killed him I'll spend some time helping you guys train."
It wasn't long before they found the two, but when they did, Naruto's eyes immediately narrowed in anger.
After turning the fence corner, Naruto and the two children found Konohamaru being held up by the throat; while Sakura stood off to the side trying to stammer out an apology.
Naruto took in the guy holding his friend hostage, but wasn't very impressed with what he saw. The guy, obviously a ninja, was tall. He was dressed in a black, baggy suit that covered his entire body and his face was lined with purple paint. On the guy's back was a wrapped bundle of cloth that had, what looked to be, a tuft of brown hair sticking out from the top.
"Put him down Kankuro, I don't feel like getting into trouble just because of your stupidity." A female voice said. This drew Naruto's attention to a girl that stood behind the now named Kankuro.
She, like Anko, wore a full-body mesh suit under her clothes; which consisted of a lavender battle dress, tied at the waist by a crimson sash. Naruto noticed that she too was a blonde, though her's was sandy, and pulled back into four spiked pig-tails. On her back she carried a giant battle fan.
Konohamaru's cry of pain drew his attention back, and re-ignited his anger as he shouted, "You should listen to your team-mate's advice, because if you don't let him go, there's gonna be trouble."
The genin known as Kankuro turned his beady eyes in Naruto's direction, and with a sneer, said, "Oh great, more brats. This village must be full of em'. Look, this little pipsqueak ran into me, and he hasn't apologized for it so I'm a little mad. I wouldn't suggest making it worse."
"I'm giving you one last warning; let him go." Naruto replied, his eyes hardening like ice.
And Kankuro did just that...only to reach behind him and pull his package from its place, and slam it on the ground.
"You know what I think? You all need a lesson in manners." He growled.
The blonde kunoichi looked like she was about to say something, but before she could voice her words, Naruto vanished.
"Well you know what Ithink? Next time, you'd better think twice before challenging an opponent that's faster than you." A voice whispered from behind Kankuro, causing the puppet user's eyes to widen in shock. He whipped around, trying to catch his fellow genin with his elbow, but the attack missed and he was sent tumbling back after a palm strike to the chest.
From his place on the ground Kankuro seethed. Who the hell did this punk think he was? "You surprised me there, I didn't think you'd be that fast, but next time I won't be caught off-guard—ouch!" As he spoke Kankuro made to get back on his feet, but a pebble to the side of the head stopped him, and drew everyone's attention to a tree beyond the fence.
Sitting up on one of the branches was Sasuke, juggling another pebble in his hand.
"You guys are a long way from home, and way out of your league." The last Uchiha warned before crushing the pebble in his hand.
Looking between the two Leaf shinobi, the sandy-blonde smirked to herself. 'Well, if nothing else, at least the Leaf village guys are better looking than the one's back home.' But the smirk soon turned to a look of fear as she sensed...him.
"Kankuro, get up and stop embarrassing yourself, you're a disgrace to our village." A raspy voice echoed through the area.
While Sakura and the children couldn't seem to find the person, Naruto followed the two foreign shinobi's line of sight to the tree that Sasuke was seated on, and couldn't hold back his surprised look at what he saw.
A red-head stood, upside down, along the branch above Sasuke; who from the looks of it didn't sense the boy's presence until just that moment. The red-head was dressed in a brown and black attire, with a mesh shirt underneath, and a large gourd strapped to his back.
"G-Gaara, hey, it's not what it looks like. T-They started it-" Kankuro tried to explain, but the boy, now named Gaara, cut him off.
"Shut up...or I'll kill you."
The boy's response shocked the Leaf ninja; he'd kill his own team-mate just for talking!? Who the heck was this guy?
But Naruto never took his eyes off him, and followed the other boy's moves as he vanished from the tree and moved to the ground via sand-shunshin. In the light, Naruto was able to make out the kanji for 'love' tattooed on Gaara's forehead.
"I'm sorry for my team-mate's idiotic behavior," Gaara said, braking Naruto from his observation, "I warned them about acting foolish while visiting your village, but it seems they didn't take me seriously. I'll correct that behavior soon, and there won't be any more problems, I assure you."
Wary of the trio, but not wishing any harm to come to the two troublemakers, Naruto said, "No, it's aright. We should have paid more attention to where we were going, it's us who should be apologizing..."
It seems Gaara could read his mind, because his next words were an introduction, "My name is Sabaku no Gaara, and you?"
"Naruto Uzumaki; I take it you're here for the chunin exams then?"
"Yes, and I look forward to facing you in them, Naruto Uzumaki." With that, Gaara turned and began walking away, giving a non-verbal signal to his team-mate's to do the same.
What nobody noticed, was the trio staring down at them from atop a roof nearby.
xXx
The next four days passed much the same for Naruto as the first; only significantly less drama. He woke up, went about his morning routine, then headed to the library to do some studying. Although he knew he'd have to look over certain subjects again in order to really remember them, like the different poisonous plants that grew around the continent, others he managed to pick up right away; like the basic knowledge of the Byakugan, the Hyuga clan's dojutsu.
However, with his inability to train, Naruto became anxious as the days passed. The blonde practically bounced in his seat while eating as he thought about the chunin exams.
Then, finally, the day came.
On the morning of the chunin exams Naruto leaped out of bed with a loud cheer. "Yes, finally, the chunin exams are here! I finally get to show everyone what I'm made of..." The blonde's excitement was quieted when his eyes landed on Kubikiribocho; which he'd settled next to his bedroom door the night before.
Seeing the large executioner's blade reminded Naruto about his plan, and sobered him up as the excitement was replaced with the feeling of responsibility. The exams were more than just a chance to advance, they were his first step towards honoring Zabuza.
He was the Heir to Kiri's Demon now, and it was time everybody knew it.
