Kakashi took in his students appearance when he returned to pick them up, he'd noticed the new injury Shibuki sported too. Sakura looked mentally exhausted, Sasuke looked like something had humiliated him and he was still angry about it.
Naruto was the most drastic though, he'd lost all his baby fat somehow, his hair had lengthened, and he'd grown an inch. On top of that his lips seemed oddly more full and his eyelashes seemed longer, but the jonin did not want the boy to catch him noticing either of those.
"What happened?" Kakashi asked, directing the question at Shibuki, he didn't think he was that late this time, and as soon as he spotted a shinobi of Amegakure no Sato running away he'd come as quickly as he could.
"There was an incident." Shibuki answered with an understatement, "A nukenin of our village, backed up by more from Amegakure, chose today when many of our more elite shinobi were out on missions, to attack the village and steal the Eiyu no Mizu." he explained, "Naruto drank some of the water and killed most of them." he finished.
Kakashi stared at the man, searching for signs of deception before he turned on Naruto, "What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked bluntly, "Actually, no, don't answer that." he changed his mind immediately, rubbing his temples, "I'm sorry about any trouble he caused." the jonin added.
"Technically speaking, he did save our village, and he returned the water." Shibuki assured, "He did stop the nukenin taking it, he's just..." the man trailed off, glancing at the blonde, "He wasn't very kind about it, he's rough but he did save the day." he acknowledged with a sigh.
"I'm a hero!" Naruto declared happily, clearly proud of himself, "The mighty Kajo no Ninso saves the day once again!" he added with a laugh.
"Kajo no Ninso?" Kakashi asked, looking to the others for clarification.
"Apparently someone put a bounty on him for killing Gato." Shibuki explained with a shrug.
"Oh, that was faster than expected." Kakashi said, not surprised by that part at least, "Alright, let's get you kids home." he decided, "I'll see you the next time I see you." he added casually towards Shibuki, who just nodded.
"Kakashi forgive an old man, I seem to be losing my hearing because it sounded like you just said Naruto Uzumaki drank the Eiyu no Mizu." Hiruzen said, his tone alarmingly dangerous compared to the grandfatherly figure he usually portrayed.
Kakashi shrugged, the genin had been dismissed already, "I was responding to an S.O.S from a nearby team, so I wasn't around to provide assistance or stop him." he excused bluntly, "I left them in the care of Shibuki not far from Takigakure no Sato, he requested their assistance cleaning up garbage so I mistakenly assumed they'd be safer doing that." he explained.
Hiruzen rubbed his temples, "I'm not sending you on any more C ranks until I get an expert to look at the fuinjutsu." he said, he didn't need to explain which Fuin he meant.
"Of course, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said respectfully, he could agree with that but he wondered how well the Hokage would stick to that if Naruto used Oiroke no Jutsu again.
"Now explain why Naruto-kun suddenly looks like a girl." Hiruzen demanded.
"I have no idea." Kakashi answered honestly.
"Naruto, what are you wearing?" Sakura had hesitated to ask, but she couldn't help herself. The boy was wearing an orange kimono with the same white Uzushio spiral on the left arm from his usual jacket, with a white haori for the kanji for Kajo on the back of it tied by a purple sash, his tanto tucked into the sash and his katana strapped to his back.
"I saw the clothes and they reminded me of Haku-chan, the kanji was Maemi-chan's idea," Naruto answered as he did a twirl to show the outfit off, "how do I look?" he asked with a smile, sounding pleased with himself.
"You look like a girl." Sakura said honestly and bluntly.
"Really?" Naruto asked, surprised, "I didn't think my hair was that much longer..." he mused, playing with a lock of the blonde spikes.
Sakura decided not to explain that it wasn't just the hair and clothes that made him look like a girl.
Sasuke tuned the conversation out, he'd noticed one good thing came from the mission to Takigakure no Sato at least. The Uchiha wasn't sure when it happened but he'd awakened the Sharingan, probably while trying to see through the enemy genjutsu. He was eager to test it out more but he wasn't supposed to spar with Naruto without someone of higher rank around and he doubted Sakura would be worth much.
Iruka stared at his former student, surprise obvious on his face, "Is this some new jutsu?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the blonde genin, suspicion obvious in his voice.
Naruto giggled, "Nope! I think this happened after I drank the Eiyu no Mizu," he began to explain, Maemi did not correct him, "it's supposed to take some of your lifespan so I guess it made me older or something." he assumed, "I didn't think I'd grow up to be such a hottie though!" he finished with a laugh.
Iruka frowned, he didn't think that was how the Eiyu no Mizu worked but he also didn't know enough to refute that. He was pretty sure that getting older did not make your eyelashes grow or your lips plump up, but he knew by now not to let the young genin know he'd noticed that.
"Iruka-sensei! Take me out to Ichiraku Ramen?" Naruto added, fluttering his new eyelashes at the man. The chunin wondered whether the Eiyu no Mizu or Naruto would be more dangerous to his lifespan, but he did take the blonde for dinner.
Maemi was quite pleased with herself, using something like change to her advantage was a little distasteful but it had to be done and it was preferable to stagnation at least. Becoming perfect required excessive amounts of change after all, and thanks to the Imp of Slaanesh the people of Konohagakure no Sato were starting to acknowledge her master.
This was, of course, mostly because they were confused by the girly clothes and the change in appearance, but it was getting better than before. The small Muse had even overheard curious whispers regarding Slaanesh, few called the Dark Prince by his true name since they couldn't pronounce it but she recognized the translated titles Naruto had been throwing around.
Kajo no Kami, Yorokobi-sama, Yokubo-hime, all pointing to the same divine figure. Unfortunately it seemed like this world was full of prudes, the local faith wasn't even a deity so much as an idea. Maemi wasn't sure what to make of this Hi no Ishi, it didn't seem like the domain of any of the other gods who were the rivals of Slaanesh.
Fire was technically an Undivided concept, although it was mostly associated with Khorne, Tzeentch, or even minor gods like Hashut. From what Maemi had gathered Hi no Ishi was also predicated on the idea of love being the key to peace, with love being a domain mostly associated with that disgusting Nurgle but there was a minor overlap with Slaanesh.
All in all she was pretty sure it was an idea the humans of this world had come up with personally, which meant that the more connected this world came to the realm of chaos the more likely it was to manifest as a minor chaos god if it wasn't subsumed by an existing god.
That aside she figured Naruto needed a new jutsu, she wasn't actually sure if the next one she was to teach him would be classified as a ninjutsu or genjutsu in this world though. Maemi assumed genjutsu, which meant it would be difficult because Naruto himself was ill suited to those. Thankfully the genin had his Muse to help him, but if the other shinobi found the Shifuku no Kurushimi suspicious then they were going to hate this next one.
Oh well, Naruto was already developing the preternatural charisma of Slaanesh, he didn't even realize how important his latest blessing was and she wasn't really sure how to explain it. Mostly she wasn't sure how others would react if the boy let slip he had become something of a hermaphrodite, it wasn't a full transformation thankfully but the new androgynous appearance was obvious and an in depth medical check up would reveal the subtle internal changes. Maemi supposed the explanation that the Eiyu no Mizu had aged him slightly was good enough, no one had let a preteen drink the water before so it should hold up for a bit and effeminate boys were far more common than hermaphrodites in most worlds.
"Zeitakuna Kutsu?" Naruto asked his Familiar, frowning as he cocked his head to the side to consider the name of the new Kajojutsu she was teaching him.
"That's right." Maemi confirmed with a nod, "It's closer to genjutsu than ninjutsu, but so are most Kajojutsu and of them it'll be the easiest to learn." she explained in a lecturing tone, "Interestingly this is one you could use on yourself or an ally as well as enemies, it fills the targets brain with a wave of hysteria."
Naruto frowned, looking oddly deep in thought considering he wasn't drugged, "Why would I use that on an ally?" he wondered, not quite getting it.
"It'll have a similar effect to the combat drugs I make for you." Maemi explained, "However it's dangerous too, the wave of hysteria turns off the brains limits, you could tear your own muscles just throwing a punch under the power of this jutsu."
Naruto still seemed confused, "I don't think I get it, but how do I practice this?" he asked, "I can't just hit a practice dummy can I?"
If Maemi could cry, she would be weeping tears of joyful pride at how much her blonde master had grown, "Correct!" she agreed happily, knowing that when he'd first called her and bound the Muse to his chakra the blonde wouldn't have picked up on that at all, "We need a living practice dummy, preferably a volunteer." she explained. Truthfully she didn't care if the live practice dummy consented, but if Naruto started practicing genjutsu like this on his fellow citizens of Konohagakure no Sato no amount of eyelash fluttering or Oiroke no Jutsu would protect him from the consequences.
"Sakura-chan can I practice a genjutsu on you?" Naruto pleaded, trying the eyelash fluttering trick.
"Hell no! Get away from me!" Sakura was having none of it, even if Naruto did look much nicer now he still freaked the kunoichi out.
"Sasuke?" Naruto turned on the dark haired member of the team.
"I will stab you." Sasuke didn't even look at the blonde.
"That's not technically a 'no'..." Naruto pointed out with a grin.
"No." Sasuke retorted flatly, not bothering to argue with his purple eyed teammate.
"Iruka-sensei can I practice this new genjutsu I'm trying to learn on you? Please?" Naruto begged, he was even bowing respectfully. Maemi taught him that.
"Genjutsu?" Iruka asked in surprise, "When did you take interest in genjutsu?" he wondered.
"What?" Naruto's head snapped up in surprise, "I want to be the perfect shinobi, I should be good at all the shinobi arts, shouldn't I?" he asked, surprising the chunin.
"I suppose that's true." Iruka agreed, he wished Naruto had been this focuses on improving back in the academy, but it seemed he had at least caught up to his fellow genin, "I suppose I can try to help you." he agreed hesitantly, he hoped whatever was about to happen was worth seeing Naruto's face light up with pure joy.
Hiruzen was getting too old for this, Iruka had been hospitalized by Naruto attempting an experimental genjutsu on the man. Apparently the chunin had at least consented to helping the blonde practice, but the damage was surprisingly physical.
Iruka's muscles were torn as a result, which was not the kind of side effect associated with any normal genjutsu. As far as the Hokage was aware only the Kurama clan had access to genjutsu that could cause physical harm, but Naruto had learned this jutsu from his Muse.
Hiruzen had half a mind to demand Naruto dispel the Daemon, only the fact Iruka had indeed consented and the boy seemed quite distraught over hurting his academy sensei stopped the old Sarutobi. From the reports he'd read the chunin, under effects of the genjutsu, had rampaged through a training ground and even uprooted a tree with his bare hands. Iruka had no recollection of this.
Thankfully the damage wasn't permanent, the man just needed to rest and recover. Hiruzen knew the academy students wouldn't be too concerned, and Iruka had even managed to prepare some homework for them to complete while he was in hospital. The Hokage tried not to be amused that said homework was an essay on the dangers of experimental genjutsu, but he had to admire the chunin for having a sense of humor in a situation like this.
What was most surprising about the whole thing was that Naruto of all people had successfully learned a genjutsu, it was the worst subject of the blonde when he'd been in the academy. Hiruzen had to acknowledge that whatever these Daemons were, the Muse was at the least a good tutor.
Kakashi was surprised when he heard the news, the information had circulated around Konohagakure no Sato regarding Iruka tearing his muscles performing incredible physical feats under the effects of a genjutsu. What concerned the jonin was what was the purpose of a genjutsu that made the target more dangerous, even if they hurt themselves that was still confusing.
The fact Naruto had been the one to do the genjutsu was surprising too, but the fact that he'd learned it from Maemi as another one of those Kajojutsu however made the entire situation concerning. The only thing Kakashi could think of was that it wasn't meant to be used on an enemy in open combat, but on an ally or an enemy who was fighting another enemy.
Kakashi hoped Naruto didn't intend to use the strange genjutsu on his teammates, or himself for that matter. The jonin shuddered to think of what would happen if the Fuin containing the Kyubi no Kitsune was damaged by their resident jinchuriki using it on himself.
Naruto really did feel bad about Iruka getting hurt, but on the bright side he had a new jutsu. He could have done without Kakashi scolding him in front of the rest of the team.
Kakashi had left even earlier than usual after glancing up at the sky, Naruto assumed the jonin had another meeting to be late for. Maemi meanwhile had inky black hair now, she noticed it was very similar to Haku's.
"Hey, Sasuke-kun, wait up!" Sakura called out, chasing after the dark haired boy who was leaving as soon as Kakashi gave the okay, "I- I was wondering if, you know, you and I, just the two of us, we could work on our teamwork?" she asked bashfully.
Sasuke stared at the kunoichi impassively, "You're just as bad as Naruto." he said bluntly and the girl deflated immediately, "Why waste your time flirting when you should be practicing?" he asked, "Even his skills are better than yours." he finished and the kunoichi slumped as she realized her crush thought she was actually worse than Naruto.
"Hey, hot stuff!" Naruto called out and the pink haired girl flinched, "Forget Sasuke, why don't you and I train together?" he suggested eagerly, waving his hand energetically even though the girl he was addressing wasn't even looking at him.
Maemi wished she had eyelids, because she needed to rub them. The Daemon wondered who thought a square rock was a good disguise as she watched it try to sneak up on Naruto, it didn't do a very good job because even without drugs the blonde heard the poor disguise scraping along the ground.
At least whoever it was had the sense to stop when Naruto turned to look at it, the Muse wanted to slap herself when the boy turned away from it. The horribly fake rock moved again as soon as the blonde wasn't watching, she decided since whoever it was had no malicious intent aimed at the blonde then it probably wasn't a concern.
"Psych!" Naruto turned suddenly to point accusingly at the fake rock as whoever was inside, likely three children from the startled voices, startled in surprise at being found out, "Faked you out! Little hint, no rock has perfect corners, or angles... or eye holes." he explained as if the disguise had any merit whatsoever, "Kind of a big clue." he finished with a confident nod.
Three children crawled out from under the fake rock, Konohamaru Sarutobi being front and center having replaced his helmet with goggles. Flanking him were a snot nosed boy with circular glasses, short brown hair, and wearing a blue zipped up shirt, brown pants, ninja sandals and identical goggles. On the other side was an orange haired young girl who was barely taller than Maemi, with her hair tied up in two large pigtails with red elastics, wearing a red tanktop over a pink t-shirt, grey pants, ninja sandals covering a bit less of her feet than the other two, and the exact same goggles over her forehead.
"Leave it to the man I have acknowledged as my equal!" Konohamaru declared confidently, "Your skill rival my own!" he finished, arms crossed over his chest. Maemi considered the consequences of stabbing the child with Naruto's tanto and decided not to risk it, her master would get in trouble if she did that and there were far too many witnesses.
Naruto relaxed, "Oh it's you, hey Konohamaru." he greeted blandly, "Who are these two, and what's with the goggles?" he asked.
The snot nosed boy spoke up first, "I am the genius of the Konohagakure academy, capable of advanced mathematics even at a young age, Udon Ise!" he introduced with a kabuki pose.
The girl went next, "The most seductive academy student and future kunoichi, Moegi Kazamutsuri!" she introduced next with a mirrored pose.
"Under the leadership of the future Hokage, Konohamaru Sarutobi," Konohamaru picked up, indicating they'd definitely rehearsed this as he posed between them, "we are the Konohamaru Gundan!" he finished proudly before dropping the pose and laughing, "You're our idol, right? We're copying the style you used to wear!" he added as a quick explanation for the goggles.
Naruto didn't look impressed, "Okay..." he said, cocking his head to the side as he wondered if he'd been like that when he was younger.
"What do you mean 'okay'!?" Konohamaru snapped, "You too cool for school all of a sudden?" he questioned, pointing accusingly at the blonde.
Moegi blushed, "He doesn't look like the picture." she murmured to Udon, who just shrugged.
"What do you guys want?" Naruto asked as he cocked his head to the other side.
Moegi piped up, "We can show you, Oyabun! Can you come with us now?" she requested eagerly.
"Nope!" Naruto responded bluntly, "I have to train." he said, gesturing to himself with his thumb, "You don't become a perfect shinobi by slacking off." he lectured.
"Aw come on!" Konohamaru whined, "You can play ninja with us for a little bit, right?" he asked.
"What kind of ninja plays ninja?" Sakura asked as she approached, all the energy drained from her body by what Sasuke had said to her, the girl dejected by the Uchiha forcing her to realize she really was the weakest link on the team.
"Wow," Maemi spoke up, deciding to torment the girl more, "you don't see the value in disguising training as games to help children become stronger?" she questioned, "No wonder Sasuke isn't interested, even Naruto-sama is more motherly than you." she added, hiding her smirk behind one hand.
Naruto blushed a bit and scratched his cheek, embarrassed to be referred to as motherly of all things. Sakura meanwhile stared at the Daemon in horror, processing what the Muse said.
"Wait," Konohamaru spoke up suddenly, "who are you?" he asked, pointing at the Muse with a confused expression.
"Call me Maemi-chan!" Maemi introduced haughtily as she flicked some hair over her shoulder, "I am a Kajo no Tenshi, called down from Tengoku by Naruto-sama's power and devotion to Kajo no Kami!" she ranted.
"Looks more like an Oni-" Udon began to say, but was interrupted by the female member of the Konohamaru Gundan.
"That is so cool!" Moegi gushed, hanging on every word the Muse said with awe in her eyes, switching her admiring gaze between the Familiar and the blonde genin.
"Woah, Neechan can call Tenshi!?" Konohamaru was similarly hooked, "That's awesome, right!?" he exclaimed in an excited tone.
Naruto scratched the back of his head with a laugh, "Yeah, you already saw some of them when I beat that tall four eyes-" he began, remembering the day he'd met Konohamaru before he paused with a frown, "Wait, what did you call me?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Niichan?" Konohamaru lied smoothly. Maemi decided not to call the boy out on it, mostly because she thought it was hilarious.
Udon however ruined the lie with his next words, "Oyabun is a lot prettier than the girl with the big forehead." he whispered to Moegi, who simply nodded in agreement.
Sakura's eye twitched, the kunoichi having overheard that remark and wondering if beating up younger children was worth the scolding she'd get, "You kids want to play ninja, huh?" she asked, cracking her knuckles as she glared down at them.
Konohamaru gulped, "I didn't say anything wrong! They're the ones who called attention to your massive forehead!" he defended himself poorly in an attempt at throwing his teammates under the bus. Udon and Moegi flinched away from the boy, betrayed.
"Don't worry Sakura-chan, I think your big forehead is cute!" Naruto insisted with a thumbs up and a smile, and his pink haired teammate slugged him in the face for it.
"You witch!" Konohamaru accused, "He was complimenting your billboard brow!" the boy shouted, putting his foot in his mouth right before Sakura put her fist to the top of his head. Maemi decided to keep quiet, not wanting to risk being dispelled by the irate girl.
Satisfied with releasing her pent up aggression, the pink haired kunoichi turned to stomp away with a huff. Despite being betrayed by their leader, the Konohamaru Gundan were worried about the two, Naruto rubbing his face with a pout as Konohamaru groggily pulled himself up.
"Are you guys alright?" Udon asked, noticing that they'd been hit pretty hard.
Konohamaru groaned in pain, "That broad brow, fire breathing hag! Is she even a real female!?" he questioned, clutching his aching skull.
Unfortunately, the foolish academy student didn't wait until she was out of earshot and the stomping stopped. Sakura turned with an expression that made Maemi think of the Daemons of the Blood God, and immediately Naruto was on the run with the Konohamaru Gundan.
They didn't get far before Konohamaru slammed into a stranger wearing a baggy black bunraku outfit with a red and yellow circle on the front, a black hood covering his head with points resembling cat ears and a hitai-ate on it. The boy was carrying something wrapped up in bandages on his back, and he was also wearing triangular designed purple face paint.
Next to the boy was a teal eyed girl girl with sandy blonde hair in four pigtails, wearing a light purple off the shoulder garment that extended down to her mid thigh, tied around her waist with a red sash, her hitai-ate worn around her neck, and fishnets visible on her shoulders, left thigh, and right calf. The girl was carrying what appeared to be an oversized fan on her back.
The male of the two picked up Konohamaru by the front of his shirt and scarf, "That hurt, snotface!" he sneered at the much smaller boy. Maemi would guess him to be slightly older than Naruto from appearance.
"Knock it off, Kankuro." The girl scolded idly, not seeming like she actually cared one way or the other.
Sakura seemed to calm down now that someone was actually threatening the child, "It was my fault. I was fooling around." she tried to excuse Konohamaru's behavior nervously.
"Put him down." Naruto demanded, glaring at the older boy who was apparently named Kankuro.
The boy in question just smirked, "I just want to play with him a little," he said as he tightened his grip to cause the younger boy pain, "at least until the nuisance gets here." he finished.
Naruto stepped forward only to widen his eyes in surprise as something tugged on his leg and pulled him off balance, the blonde did a swift hand stand and twisted back down into a crouched position while reaching for his katana.
"Woah," Kankuro acknowledged, "here I heard Konoha genin were a bunch of softies." he said with surprise and Sakura realized the two were foreign shinobi, "Really though? Boxers with ramen toppings on them?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, "Not very ladylike." he tutted.
"I'm a boy though." Naruto responded bluntly, "Why would a boy be ladylike? Are you stupid?" he asked, "You bonehead." he finished with an insult.
Kankuro's eye twitched, "You're starting to annoy me." he warned, "First off, I'm allergic to shrimp." he began, clenching his fist threateningly, "Bad enough you're a girly little brat, but you go disrespecting your elders too! Makes me want to kill this kid." he threatened.
The blonde girl turned away, "I'm not going to be held responsible for this." she decided, ignoring the situation as best she could.
"So once I finish with this tiny shrimp I'll deal with the crossdresser!" Kankuro declared, rearing his arm back to punch Konohamaru. Naruto narrowed his eyes and reached for his tanto, the shorter blade would be quicker to pull out.
The purple eyed blonde need not have bothered, a rock struck Kankuro in the wrist and forced him to drop Konohamaru. The source of said rock being Sasuke Uchiha in a tree nearby, "What the hell are you doing in our village?" he asked, tossing another rock up and catching it to emphasize he had been the one to toss the first rock and he'd do it again.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura gushed happily as Naruto sighed, he'd been wanting to cut the other guy up.
"Seeing whom I have invited here," Hiruzen began as he looked at the jonin in his office, "you may be able to guess the purpose of this meeting." he finished with a puff of his pipe, the tobacco smoke a pleasant taste in his mouth as it helped him stay relaxed.
"That time already?" Kakashi asked, pondering about how time flies.
"Have you informed the other lands then?" Another jonin spoke up, "I've spotted some foreign ninja in our village already." he mused, "When is it to be?" he finished with a question.
"A week from today." Hiruzen responded, glad his jonin were so quick on the uptake.
"This is rather sudden." Another jonin pointed out.
Hiruzen sighed out a breath of smoke, "I'll make it official, I hereby announce that seven days from now on July 1st, we shall be conducting the Chunin Selection Examinations within Konohagakure no Sato." he declared with a smile, "First I would like to hear from those who have been overseeing our most junior genin, Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai." he continued and the three jonin stepped forward, "Tell us, do any of you feel it time to nominate any of your genin for the Chunin Exams?" he questioned, mostly as a formality, "Each of your teams has completed the minimum required missions, so kindly employ your best judgement as to be considered truly competitive a team should have completed at least double the required minimum." he reminded them all, "You may begin, Kakashi-san." he finished with a nod towards the silver haired jonin.
"Cell number seven," Kakashi began formally, "led by Kakashi, consists of Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki." he continued, he knew that of those the Uchiha would draw a crowd for the more public phase of the exam, "I vow upon the honor of clan Hatake, they're all fit for the Chunin Selection Examinations." he finished, reciting the formal verbal application and startling Iruka.
"Cell number eight," Kurenai, the red eyed and dark haired woman with fair skin, spoke next, "led by Kurenai, consists of Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. I vow upon the honor of clan Yuhi, they are also fit to compete in the Chunin Selection Examinations." she finished calmly, prompting the other assembled jonin to exchange surprised looks.
"Cell number ten," Asume spoke next, an unlit cigarette in his mouth, "led by Asuma, consists of Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akamichi. I vow upon the honor of clan Sarutobi that all three are ready for the Chunin Selection Examinations." he finished confidently.
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, "How unusual, all three of you..." he muttered, surprised since the three most junior genin cells had not been genin long. He'd expected it from Kakashi all things considered.
"J-just a moment!" Iruka spoke up, taking a moment to find his voice, "Hokage-sama, please allow me to speak!" he requested.
"Yes, Iruka-san?" Hiruzen asked, assuming he knew what the chunin would say.
"Forgive me if I overstep," Iruka began, "but those nine genin listed, they were my students in the academy." he reminded for the benefit of any in the room who were unaware, "Certainly they are gifted and show talent," he continued and a few raised eyebrows as Naruto Uzumaki was one of the listed named, "but they're just children! They are not ready to step up to chunin level yet!" he protested, "Only with more time will they have the maturity and experience required by these exams." he pointed out, remembering taking the exams himself, "I don't understand why their supervisors would recommend them." he finished, not wanting to insult the jonin but too worried for his former students to stay quiet.
Kakashi and Asuma exchanged a glance before the Hatake turned to Iruka, "I was six years younger than Naruto when I took the exams." he pointed out calmly.
"Naruto-kun is not you!" Iruka shot back, ready to continue speaking.
"I also had far less kills to my name." Kakashi continued, interrupting the chunin and prompting a stunned silence from the others in the room except for the Hokage, "During their first C rank mission, Naruto and Sasuke displayed an aptitude for combat against C rank nukenin of Kirigakure no Sato." he explained, "This same mission was escalated to an A rank threat and genin cell number seven still pulled through to succeed, Naruto himself killed multiple D rank threats. Granted they would likely have died had I not been around to keep the A rank threats from killing them. However on their second C rank mission I was pulled away by an S.O.S from a nearby team of chunin who had run into complications on their own mission, during my absence they met complications and without my assistance Sasuke Uchiha killed a pair of C rank nukenin of Amegakure no Sato, while Naruto Uzumaki killed a C rank and a B rank nukenin of Amegakure no Sato as well as an A rank nukenin of Takigakure no Sato." he finished with a stern stare at the chunin who had questioned him.
Iruka swallowed a lump in his throat, he'd known of such things logically and mentally scolded himself for allowing his emotions to get the best of him. The other jonin were exchanging glances as they all took in those words, Takigakure no Sato especially was known for producing some high quality jonin so a genin somehow succeeding there was astounding.
Kankuro turned a glare on Sasuke, "Great, another little brat." he complained.
"Get lost." Sasuke retorted quickly.
"So cool!" Saukra gushed, Moegi next to her looking just as impressed with the Uchiha.
Konohamaru glared at Naruto with tears in his eyes, "I can't believe we looked up to you..." he grumbled.
Naruto sighed, "Don't be stupid, I was about to kill that guy." he said bluntly, turning his purple eyes on Kankuro, Konohamaru didn't look like he believed it.
Kankuro decided to ignore that, "Come on down little squirrel." he taunted the Uchiha instead, "Think you're smart?" he questioned when the dark haired boy didn't respond and pulled the bandaged bundle from his back.
"Wait, Kankuro, you aren't going to use Karasu for this!?" The blonde girl questioned, turning on the black clad boy in surprise.
"Kankuro!" A new voice spoke, startling Sasuke as it came from the same tree he was in, "Don't!" the voice ordered and the foreign shinobi being addressed gulped as they all looked at the fair skinned red head who spoke, "You're a disgrace to our village." he scolded coldly, standing upside down on a branch. The new stranger had the kanji for love scarred into his forehead, green eyes with thick black rings around them, no eyebrows, wearing a black body suit with a white sash going from right shoulder to left hip and a brown leather belt going the opposite underneath that holding a large gourd to his back.
"G-Gaara..." Kankuro stammered nervously, but Sasuke was more focused on the red head he'd named, noticing the other boy had impressive stealth skills.
"I'm annoyed that you'd lose control in a quarrel with children." Gaara scolded calmly, "Have you forgotten why we came here?" he questioned.
Kankuro swallowed a lump in his throat with an audible gulp, "Listen, they started it." he tried to excuse, "The little one slammed into me!" he insisted.
"Shut up," Gaara ordered coldly, "or I'll kill you." he warned seriously and the target of his ire shivered with fear.
"You're right, I was out of line." Kankuro agreed quickly.
"We're really really sorry, okay Gaara?" The sandy blonde haired girl added, clearly nervous despite not being the object of the red head's ire.
"Sorry about them." Gaara told Sasuke, his tone not sounding very apologetic before he leaped down in between the other two foreign shinobi with a use of suna shunshin, "I know we're a little early," he added as he landed in a crouch, "but we aren't here to play games." he finished as he stood up.
"It won't happen again." Kankuro swore, still on guard.
"Let's go." Gaara said, turning to leave.
"Wait!" Sakura interrupted, causing the red head to turn back around, "According to those hitai-ate, you three are from Sunagakure no Sato." she pointed out, "Our villages may be allies but according to the treaties your shinobi can't just cross the border without permission." she explained, "State your business, we can't just let you foreign ninja do what you want." she finished with surprising resolve. Maemi was actually impressed, although she was pretty sure the pink haired girl wouldn't be able to actually do anything except raise an alarm.
The girl of the three Suna ninja pulled out a small passport, "Weren't you guys informed? she asked, holding up her travel papers to show her name was Temari, "As you guessed we're genin of Sunagakure." she confirmed with a nod, "We're here for the Chunin Exams." she finished.
"What's that?" Naruto asked and Maemi was pretty sure that one could not be excused by poor education, that was sometimes a public event.
Temari seemed surprised by the question, "You really don't know?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, crossing her arms, "Genin are sent from other villages to compete against each other in an examination held by a host village, these exams its Konoha's turn to be host." she explained.
"Why test us all together?" Naruto asked and Maemi supposed that was a fair question at least.
"Mainly to maintain the skill level of all shinobi to the same level of standards." Temari answered, "Also to foster relations between ninja of different lands, and to maintain the balance of power between the lands themselves." she explained.
Naruto grinned, "Wow! I should enter too then!" he decided cheerfully, unaware of the meeting that had been held recently.
Sasuke leaped down to stand with his teammates, "You there, what's your name?" he questioned.
Temari blushed, "Huh? W-who me?" she asked, suddenly shy.
"No!" Sasuke snapped and the Suna girl deflated, "I was talking to the spook beside you." he finished.
Gaara narrowed his eyes, "...Sabaku no Gaara." he answered after a moment, "Yourself?" he prompted.
"Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke responded with a smirk as the two stared each other down.
"And I am the Kajo no Ninso! Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto introduced boisterously.
"I didn't ask." Gaara said bluntly, turning away from the attention seeking blonde only to halt suddenly at the killing intent he felt, he turned back to see the purple eyed blonde glaring at him and returned it with equal intensity for a moment, "We're leaving." he finished, turning and leading the other two away.
Naruto looked towards his door in surprise, wondering who was visiting him at night. The boy was already in some leopard print pajamas Maemi had insisted he buy, but he approached the door and opened it.
On the other side was a tall middle aged man, with waist length white hair pulled back into a pony tail, two shoulder length bangs framing his face, a hitai-ate with the kanji for oil on it that had two small horns to it, a small silver piercing in the left side of his nose, wearing a short green kimono, matching green pants, a black belt mesh armor underneath visible at his wrists, ankles, and chest. On top the man wore a red haori with two yellow circles on either side of the chest, and on his feet were a pair of geta.
"Naruto Uzumaki?" The man asked with a raised eyebrow, seeming oddly surprised by his appearance.
"Can I help you?" Naruto asked, raising a confused eyebrow.
"I'm Jiraiya." The man said as if that explained anything.
"Okay, and?" Naruto asked, narrowing his eyes at the strange man, growing suspicious.
Jiraiya's eye twitched at the blonde, "I'm a fuinjutsu expert," he began, "I've been ordered by the Sandaime Hokage to check you out." he explained.
Naruto blinked in surprise, however due to the wording he got the wrong idea and pulled the top of his pajama top more closed, "So you're a pervert?" he asked.
Jiraiya scoffed, "Hell no," he denied before grinning and giving a thumbs up, "I am a SUPER pervert!" he corrected, unable to resist. Besides if the door got slammed he could leave without being blamed and check the Fuin later.
Naruto stared at the man for a moment before a grin split his own face, "Awesome!" he decided, surprising the man, "Alright, you may look at my awesome body." the blonde declared graciously, unbuttoning his top.
Jiraiya had not been expecting that, he hoped no one was watching or listening to that exchange, "Huh, you are a bit of a weirdo." he murmured as he scratched the back of his head, having heard as much already. He crouched down, "Channel some chakra for me?" he requested.
Jiraiya's eyes widened at the altered Fuin, he did his best to analyze it but it was completely alien now. It was complicated before, and comparatively the new form was simple but if it was as simple as it looked it shouldn't be working. He narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin, as far as the fuinjutsu expert could tell it was still holding the Kyubi no Kitsune at least.
"Huh? Done already?" Naruto asked as the man turned to leave.
"Yeah, I have other business, see you around kid." Jiraiya answered, he had to report what he'd learned.
"Sarutobi-sensei." Jiraiya greeted, popping into the office of the Hokage through the window.
"Jiraiya, did you learn anything?" Hiruzen prompted, still concerned for the safety of Naruto.
Jiraiya frowned, "Not as such," he confessed, "it's completely alien now. Nothing like the Fuinjutsu I know." he began, "As you said, the eight points it used to be have been reduced by two to six, but there's no remnants of the missing spokes. The inner workings are also completely different, and that symbol looks a lot like the one at a shrine that cropped up in Nami no Kuni recently." he explained.
Hiruzen nodded with a frown of his own, "The shrine is Naruto's work actually." he revealed, "Naruto-kun has taken to worshiping a deity I can't pronounce the name of, you'll have to hear him pronounce it, but it has come to be known by a few titles; Yorokobi-sama, Yokubo-hime, and Kajo no Kami." he explained.
Jiraiya raised his eyebrows, "Sounds like my kind of Kami," he said with some levity, "so this happened after he-" the man began.
"After he pulled a Jiraiya, yes." Hiruzen interrupted with a nod.
Jiraiya sighed, "I really wish you wouldn't call it that..." he grumbled, "How was I supposed to know you aren't supposed to perform the jutsu without a contract?" he asked and the Hokage stared accusingly at him, "Fair point," he acquiesced, "but it worked out for me in the end." he pointed out.
Hiruzen huffed as he packed his pipe with tobacco, "Regardless, these Daemons, they are called, that Naruto-kun has contracted himself to haven't done any harm so far, but I fear they may be a detrimental influence on the boy." he explained as he lit the tobacco, "As near as we have gathered, the chakra of the Yoko flows freely into the boy, and his mental state seems to have suffered. Naruto-kun has, on two seperate missions, slaughtered his enemies without showing remorse. The boy is obsessed with becoming the perfect shinobi."
Jiraiya cast his gaze down, starting to understand the concern now, "I see, well I can confirm the bakegitsune's chakra is merging with his at a much faster rate than ever intended, yet curiously none of its hatred or will seems to be within the chakra. Oddly enough, this new Fuin is completely stable, at least as far as I can tell." he explained, "So whoever this Daemon clan is, they didn't turn him into a living bomb anymore than he already was." he pointed out with a shrug, "That being said, I asked the toads, none of them have heard of these Daemons either." he added.
Hiruzen puffed on his pipe as he listened, "That is a concern in and of itself." he pointed out with narrowed eyes, finding it suspcious that no one in all the nations had heard of this strange Daemon clan.
Translation: Zeitakuna Kutsu - Luxurious Torment
Additional Note: It came to my attention recently that in the manga Jiraiya's wart is actually a piercing, I think it fits his image as being a bit of a punk a bit better so I'll be using that in any future stories. I can see why they'd change it to a wart for the anime, easier to simply color the slight bump on his nose the same as the rest of his skin for animation purposes and it does fit with his whole toad thing, but I just personally like the piercing idea better.