DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO...YET...HA! OKAY SO I'LL NEVER OWN NARUTO, BUT I STILL HAVE THIS.
((Author's Notes: And I'm back...sorry I didn't mean to rush the last chapter. I remember mentioning that I only try to mention only what Naruto notices or foresees. Anyway, I didn't mention some of the other characters for dramatic reasons. Also, I didn't add what happened in the manga itself like when Naruto gets cut by hot blood lady since I do like following the story line but not to the note at times but I will try to keep it close at certain times. Hope you understand. As for how I heard someone mention that it seemed a bit short and rushed. I didn't want to really mention a lot in training, since the manga hadn't really explained much when it came to that...I wanted to get into the Chuunin exam and the first part of the test is pretty simple. And I needed some time to think up the next part of the exam. ; Enjoy the story and keep those reviews acoming.
TRAVELS AND JOURNEYSWe ran for quite a while, for nearly two hours of straight running. There were several screams, not to mention I heard several gargantuan screeches that didn't even sound remotely human. Sakura began slacking behind and I could already tell she was fatigued; her stamina was less to be desired. I began to slow down and we eventually stopped amongst a large thicket of gigantic roots and trees that towered like skyscrapers over us.
I stretched and looked around, Sasuke had leaned back against one of the large roots that was as thick as a school bus and curved and its bark was slightly warped from all the twisting and turning it had grown into. Sakura was bent over, leaning on the tops of her knees. She took long deep breaths, I felt an urge to say something but I neglected to do so.
"I'm going to go take a piss."
I told the two without skipping a beat, Sakura decided to chime in.
"In front of a lady?"
I looked back at her for a moment.
"Yes in front of a lady."
I used a mocking tone that mimicked in a horrible way Sakura's voice. She glared venomous daggers at me and growled lowly. I only smiled and walked into the large thicket of brush. I instantly sensed something and my right hand snapped out and impacted with the side of someone's face.
I jumped from the brush and looked at the Nin that had been spying on me. They wore a hidden rain hitae-ate and wore a blindfold over the eyes with holes cut out for the eyes. They seemed to have some breathing apparatus hooked to their mouth. He took a quick glance at me and the other two and jumped back onto the large root and threw down several smoke bombs.
I paused, I looked back at Sakura who held the Heaven scroll we had tightly, I wasn't about to leave her unguarded and knowing Sasuke without really having to know Sasuke, I could tell he was an arrogant son of a bitch and he would go into hell to chase after someone. Sasuke jumped upon the large root and scanned the area. He looked at me with a rather ugly face that just beamed that he was pissed.
"Why'd you let him get away?"
"I'm not up for chasing anyone right now, and besides, we're not even halfway there yet. There will be plenty of chances to chase people."
The argument ended there and we continued back on for nearly another hour and we traveled a nice distance before an explosion rocked the forest. The dust flew and I noticed three enemies through the thicket of small debris and dirt. A strong feeling came over me as I could literally hear a low growl in the back of my mind. I tried to shake the feeling from my current thoughts but I was quickly overwhelmed in an instant.
"Follow..."I nodded and gave chase to the three. We weaved in and out of the large roots and went to greater heights hitting the tops of the trees at one point. We had reached about mid-level of the gargantuan trees when another explosion jolted me from my course and I landed back on my feet and looked around curiously. The three were gone; and I couldn't sense them anywhere. I cursed at myself and looked around.
Shit. It was the only thing I could think of at the time when I stared at the ground for a few moments trying to collect my thoughts. I closed my eyes and began to focus. I began searching for the power of Kyuubi within me and quickly found his presence awake within me.
"Why was I following them?"
"Your destiny seeks one of them...""What the hell are you talking about? I need to get back to Sasuke and Sakura!"
His booming voice paused, worry and doubt threatened to consume me. My mind clicked and sprung around wildly trying to figure out what kind of destiny my future held. Without warning his voice boomed back into presence.
"Turn a footstep more to the left. Head that way, and there you will find your friends and your destiny."
"What is my destiny?!"
I heard no answer and quickly snapped my eyes open. I turned my body in the direction that Kyuubi had ordered and I sprang myself full speed in that direction. I glanced at the scenery as I sped past everything at super sonic speeds when a large tail managed to catch me off guard and knock me hard into the tree 15 yards back. I growled and pulled myself from the rather large indent I put into the building sized oak tree. I gazed up through the leaves at the sun peaking through barely.
I looked ahead to see a gigantic snake flying at me. I cracked my knuckles and pulled a two kunai out from my pouch. He grew closer with each passing second. Brush, limbs, and even one of the large roots became nothing but rubble as it plowed forward. I smirked and waited until he was within breathing distance and I snapped into action.
Unfortunately it had already planned something ahead of my actions, his maw flew open. His tongue whipped out at a blinding speed, wrapped itself tightly around my leg and fluidly pulled me back with such force that I was practically thrown into the back of the creature's throat.
I grimaced as his throat muscles instantly snapped its vice-like grip around my entire body. I struggled to move my arms and legs as the creature's throat muscles continued to pummel me with such force. I felt a twinge of pain on my hand as several drips of the snake's digestive juices spilled onto my hand. I wasn't going to go down like this. I was Uzumaki Naruto! My destiny lied so close at hand, no matter what I had to do. I was going to seek it out and conquer it! I did my best to pull my arms free from my sides and placed them together at the front of me, as the creature's muscles hadn't yet relented. I formed three seals and tried to put myself in a position that vaguely resembled the Ikazuchi stance.
I pulled forth from within me, the chakra of Kyuubi being the only reason I could fully do this without damaging myself so badly. I felt a slight pull then a gigantic tug and suddenly a wrenching pain stabbing me in the stomach as a large amount of chakra was being pulled from Kyuubi. The chakra burn around me sparked and began to spin like a top but in the shape of a thin pointed diamond.
"Shippuu Supin no Shikyo!"
(AN: Hurricane Spin of Death
I felt my chakra begin to spin my automatically, my hands grazing the titanic winds around me that freed me from the gargantuan snake's throat's muscles. I could feel my hands instantly begin to burn from the sheer force of negative energy. I grimaced as the pain again stabbed me in another surge. I eased the chakra pull and the pain suddenly subsided as the fiery red chakra that was being pulled from my stomach had abruptly drawn back in. I doubled over as it felt as I was swiftly kicked in the stomach by a two hundred pound weight.
I slowly eased my head up at the sky and held my hand up to the new skyline that I had created. I winced as I looked at my hands. My gloves were completely burnt off my hands and the end of my jackets was slightly singed. I looked at the rest of my orange jacket and it seemed to have sustained rather nicely for that being my only real time of using that jutsu.
I looked at my orange pants that seemed a bit puffy due to the weights and they hadn't sustained any damage at all. My weighted sandals were however a different story. I had been moving so fast that the straps holding them on my feet were thin and definitely wouldn't hold in any further combat. I picked them up sorely with my left hand and looked back towards my goal.
I suddenly felt a large and sudden surge of dread. I formed another three seals and focused my chakra upon my bare feet. I held a serious face and tried my best to hold my concentration. I had hoped this would work. I lurched forward and leapt into the air, my feet held strong upon what felt like solid but I could quickly feel the ethereal platform weaken and disintegrate. I took another leap and landed on another solid platform of air, I scowled and continued sprinting in long jumps from platform to platform. I held the 'dragon' seal while jumping through the air.
I took in a deep breath with each jump. This was taking too much chakra to use like an invisible platform and I was quickly realizing the downfall of my decision. Fortunately I had managed to make it to the battlefield at last.
I landed atop a higher branch, I took several deep breaths before standing upright and looking down at the forest floor. I scanned the area and noticed that there were indeed three Nins standing out in plain view. I took a quick glance down at whom their attention was fixated on. It was Sakura, but I had yet to see Sasuke. I glared out at the failing sun as it was gradually sinking into the horizon.
I saw one of them wearing what looked like a straw-like cape across his back. He squatted down about 25 feet from where Sakura was sitting. I knelt down onto my right knee and strained my hearing. I guess I came at the end of their 'pleasant' conversation when all I heard him say was.
"Kill her."
I gritted my teeth and began to leap down when I suddenly noticed another trap. I quickly gathered my chakra to my feet and strapped myself to the bottom of the limb I had been standing on. I wiped the sweat from my brow as I watched huge log roll from the larger limbs above. It came tumbling down upon them but suddenly exploded into splinters and landed into two smaller chunks that rolled away from the clearing.
I noticed that they continued at her through the air, I snapped into action and leapt forward when I had been beaten by a few seconds by a sudden attack upon the three sound shinobi.
"Leaf Spinning Wind!"
I heard the figure yell as he spun in a furious kick spin that knocked the three of the sound Nins away. They had managed to catch themselves but ended up back where they had started. The hidden leaf shinobi stood proudly in his tight green suit with his palm outstretched towards them.
"I'm the Beautiful Green Beast of the Hidden Leaf, ROCK LEE!"
I landed a moment after his grand introduction, I slowly stood up and brushed myself off and shook my head.
"Beautiful Green Beast?"
"What? Who are you? Have you come to fight me also, you shall lose!"
I shook my head again and could feel a vein throb momentarily on my temple.
"You idiot! I'm on her team!"
"What are you doing here?"
The two of us looked back at Sakura, I frowned as I looked over her. She was absolutely dirty and seemed very fatigued. She was sitting next to Sasuke who, from the distance I was standing had something on his head and was currently unconscious. I damned myself for not being here sooner but my thoughts were quickly brought from myself when Rock Lee looked over towards Sakura and gave her a glinted smile.
"I've promised myself that I would protect you."
I hadn't even bothered to think of what the hell he was talking about as I turned my attention back to the three shinobi standing in front of us and ready for battle. I watched as the Nin with the straw cape jumped forward with his right arm pulled back. I readied myself for battle when Lee had suddenly stabbed his arm deep into the ground and uprooted a gigantic tree root.
As soon as the Sound Nin's arm came into contact with the root, the top of the root was splintered wildly and flew several feet before falling harmlessly into the nearby brush.
"I've seen your attacks before..."
The thick-eye browed boy known as Rock Lee quickly unwrapped his heavily bandaged arms as the sound Nin came back into attack again. He crouched down and as the shinobi grew within range, he pushed himself off the ground and kicked him squarely in the chin. I watched as he vanished from sight, I tensed my body and scanned the area again. He was indeed fast; He was already behind him and just leaping up into the air when I watched the dumbfounded Sound Nin look around in a frenzy.
Lee had finally caught up with him, I watched as the Nin's eyes widened. Lee quickly grabbed him from behind and tightly locked his hand around his wrist. The two came back down in a downward spiral, headfirst. The two spun so quickly that it left a slight trail as I heard a loud yell.
"Initial Lotus!"
The two hit the ground with a resounding boom and a thicket of dust erupted from the spot. I glanced and saw Lee bounce free from the incurring damage and land only ten feet from where I stood. The dust cleared and the Nin's legs hung limply from a raised pile of dirt. I had expected there to be a crater of some sort but the other shinobi seemed quite satisfied with what had happened. The one with the tall black hair slowly stood back upright and put his hands on his hips.
The sound genin erupted from the dirt and quickly shook his bandaged head from all the dirt. He stood and turned around, he held his right arm out, the large metallic armband becoming very obvious to me now.
"That hurt me way too much even on a sponge of dirt...but it's my turn."
The sound Nin jumped forward, I jumped forward and his head soon caught the full force of my right foot. He spun and tumbled a couple yards away from the two of us. The boy looked over at me with a painful and weary look on his face. I wasn't sure why he was so beat already but I had bigger problems in front of me. The shinobi stood back upright and looked at me.
"So you're fighting now? I just thought you were too scared to—."
I quickly ended his sentence by putting my knee swiftly into his gut. He doubled over slightly; I plowed my elbow into the back of his head. I noticed his teammates and quickly jumped back. He waved his arm in my direction and everything became very hazy. I felt my stomach turn upside several times before slowly stirring unpleasantly. I looked at the guy, holding my stomach with one hand. He gradually stood back up.
"You are a fast one too, but our attacks travel at the speed of sound. Attacking your ears directly, the membranes inside can't take our attacks. You will become more and more disorientated and you wont be able to do anything.
The genin took off towards Sakura and Sasuke. I planted my foot into the ground and pushed myself forward only to slip slightly and lose my footing. I thankfully caught myself and pushed myself back up into a slight daze. I shook my head looked over to see Lee doing a quick leg spin. The sound Nin reflected the attack and swung at him, Lee was able to stop it but I could see the vibrations resonate off the shinobi's right armband.
The sound Nin landed on his feet while Lee promptly yelled in pain and fell over. Sakura rose and took several quick running steps forward and threw three kunai at the Sound genin. He easily reflected the kunai off his plated arm. She proceeded to throw six shuriken at him, his ally had pulled in front of him and with his hands in the tiger seal, he suddenly jutted out his arms and a small concussive burst echoed. The stars flew back and luckily missed her.
Suddenly the third sound Nin came from nowhere and grabbed a nice chunk of Sakura's long hair. I gritted my teeth and tried to shake the dizziness from my being. With the awakening of Kyuubi, my senses were a bit more honed than others. I had to help my comrades, I had made a promise; any comrade of mine would not come to harm while I was around. I took in a quick breath and an idea instantly entered my mind.
In a swift motion, I pulled my hitae-ate down and with my other hand pulled a kunai from my pouch. I began to focus all my senses again and felt the presence of everyone around me again without hindrance. I snapped into action and threw a kunai at the female shinobi that was holding onto Sakura's hair with a tight hold. I heard the kunai miss its target but continued forward. I swung my leg in her direction with hesitation and felt her dodge the attack and move away a couple of yards.
I turned my head in direction of the other two; I jumped high and hard to the left as a rush of wind burst by me. I looked around as the sound resonated off the trees, dammit; this wasn't going to work either. I quickly removed the blind-fold to see the sound Nin with the straw cape on his back charge forward. I quickly put three seals together and replaced myself with merely air in my image and ducked into the brush. I formed a cross seal.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."
I had whispered and focused enough chakra to form an additional fifteen of myself. They rushed out of the brush and postured themselves in the Ikazuchi stance. I had ordered them to use Kawarimi no Jutsu and attack his partner from attacking Sakura any further. I'm glad they had performed without error, probably due to the seriousness of the situation.
They leapt at his partner as he was pointing his two hands that each held a single hole in the palm of each towards Sakura's prone form on the ground. I wasn't sure if it was dumb luck or just bad skill on his part, but he was caught off guard. The Bunshins swiftly began pummeling him with powerful kicks and precise hits. They were quickly blown away by the holes in his hands. I slowly stood up and prepared myself for another round.
I had pumped way too much power into my Shippuu Supin; or rather it had sucked out way too much energy. That's why Taifuu-sama had told us never to use it, since previous ones who had, died. I wasn't sure if he was merely trying to trick me into not using it against others but he was right. That's why very few knew of it and knew how to perform it and lived to tell about it.
I took a step from the brush and locked eyes with the sound Nin with the straw cape strapped to his back. When a sudden rush of chakra washed over me and I looked in the direction it came from and saw Sasuke rise from his resting place. Sakura had shouted in excitement as the boy stood hunched ever so slightly. I glanced at his left arm and saw the dark fiery markings travel all the way up his body and crawl up the side of his face.
He looked at his hand for the longest time, I'm guessing staring at the markings before he finally tuned his attention to Sakura.
"Who did that to you?"
"We did it!"
The sound shinobi with the tall black hair spoke up. He stared back down at his hand; I took a cautious several steps forward. This energy I was feeling wasn't great, it just sent bad vibes through me over and over again.
"Don't worry Sakura...I feel great...He gave it to me. I understand. I am an avenger."
He looked up; his eyes had changed into something I hadn't seen him have before. He had face of resolute hate and anger fixated on his face.
"Now...it was you guys, right?"
I watched the sound Nin that I had been mainly fighting back up slowly. He looked at his partner, which had begun to form several seals.
"Don't worry about this half-dead freak Dosu!"
"No Zaku! You don't realize!"
Zaku held his arms out straight and rigid.
"Ultimate Zankuuha!"
The force from his hands was grand and the force of chakra mixed with the air blast mixed so heavily that you could see the force behind it streak through the area. I hesitated, I had allowed my mind to wander and now there were dead. My ill-minded thoughts quickly were dismissed when that same feeling struck me earlier when Sasuke had arisen from his unconsciousness. I looked over at the Nin known as Zaku to see Sasuke standing at his side.
The shinobi darted his head over to Sasuke with a wide-eyed look apparent on his face. Sasuke's arm quickly snapped at him and knocked him nearly 20 feet from him. That was way too fast for Sasuke, especially with five days of training before the Chuunin exams. Something was definitely wrong. Zaku had slowly stood back up while Sasuke prepared for another attack. He formed the tiger seal and took in a deep breath. He suddenly spit forth nine small balls of fire.
"Housenka no Jutsu!"
"Oh yeah! Pathetic!"
The sound Nin drew his hands forward and blasted the fireballs with a surge of air. He smirked and I watched as the shuriken were freed from their fiery encasements. They flew straight and true at a bewildered Zaku, five of them striking their mark. In the flurry of the ninjutsu, Sasuke had already moved up on the unsuspecting Zaku and ended up behind me. Holding both of his arms tightly behind his back, by each wrist.
"So you're proud of these arms, are you?"
A resounding snap echoed through the clearing and out into a small part of the forest around us. The Nin screamed in agony before collapsing forward and into unconsciousness. Sasuke then turned to the last sound Nin that was actually standing, the one known as Dosu.
"Don't stop allowing me my fun."
That definitely didn't sound like the Sasuke I had gotten to know in the last few days, I also didn't believe he was some closet masochist either. The sound Nin took a couple of steps backwards before Sakura lurched forward and wrapped her arms around his chest and arms. He stopped and looked at her momentarily. If he were to attack her, things between us would instantly change. I would also be in for a hell of a fight if it had, pending on what I had just witnessed.
Fortunately, his mind seemed to respond as the markings that covered the left half of his body began to disappear and draw up towards his head but instead the markings there also came in to the side of his neck. The sound Nin, Dosu revealed an Earth scroll from his clothing and placed it on the ground.
"Sasuke-kun, you are too strong for us at this time. Here is a gift to you, please let us leave."
He picked up each of his comrades in each arm and slowly began his venture away from us.
"This may seem convenient now, but there is something we must find out...I will promise though, if there is another situation where we battle...we will neither run nor hide."
"Wait!"
Dosu slowly turned back around and looked at Sakura who had come out of nowhere and shouted.
"Who is Orochimaru?!! What did he do to Sasuke-kun?! Why Sasuke-kun?!"
"I do not know, I only know that we were ordered to kill him."
He turned and left silently with his comrades under each of his arms. I looked over at Sakura and Sasuke who were standing silently next to one another. I heard several shouts and handful of genin shinobi appeared from the woodwork so to speak. A girl with very light blonde hair came along with a rather large kid I vaguely remember as Chouji and the other rather skinny bored looking kid as Shikamaru.
Two people appeared and came to Lee's side, the girl with her hair done into two buns. She knelt down next to him and helped him up, the boy that stood stiffly next to the two of them looked over in our general direction. He had the same eyes as Hinata; the thought briefly crossed my mind before I looked back towards the new group that had walked up to Sasuke and Sakura.
I closed the distance between us and smiled lightly at Sakura. Shikamaru looked at me for a moment with his hands in his pockets.
"Naruto?"
I looked at him and nodded.
"When did you return?"
"Not too long ago actually. Where were you guys?"
"Uh..."
I glared and shook my fist at him angrily.
"We were in trouble and you sat back and watched?!"
"Well you looked like you guys handled it rather well, we would have if you hadn't been here."
I nodded as sarcastically as one possibly could.
"Uh huh."
I looked at Sakura and quickly noticed her hair being shortened dramatically. I looked at the girl who was shaking Lee violently and screaming for him to 'Wake up!' I shook my head and looked back at my group.
"Looks like we have the Earth scroll now, hmm?"
Sakura nodded in a weak but happy nod. I turned to look at the weak voice of Lee who had just regained consciousness from the girl's brutal waking tactics.
"Tenten...what are you doing here?"
Tenten shook her head.
"We came to save you!"
He had a half-dazed look his face when he began to look around quickly.
"Where are the sound nins?"
"That Sasuke kid drove them off."
I walked over to Lee and smiled at him lightly."Hey, you did pretty damn good out there."
Lee smiled weakly; I helped him and the girl, Tenten stand up. The three of us looked back towards the grouping that Sakura and Sasuke had made up now. I watched as Sakura quickly noticed the three of us watching and jaunted over our way with a sweet smile on her face.
"Lee-san, thank you. Thanks to you I have awakened. I feel like I've become a little bit stronger."
His face turned into a sappy teary-eyed face that border-lined something you'd see on an innocent puppy that was held in the pound. All of a sudden though, he hung his head and stared blankly at the ground.
"It looks like I need more work..."
Sasuke had decided to finally join us, whilst Lee continued.
"The Uchiha clan must be really great...to be able to drive those sound Nins, you have some incredible powers..."
I watched Sasuke's reaction as he his eyes widened as he was staring at the boy in disbelief. Rock Lee looked up with his right eye half-closed and a weak smile across his face.
"I will be stronger for you next time, I promise."
Sakura blushed very lightly and nodded. Out of the blue, the blonde-haired girl named Ino began waving Sakura over to her.
"Come here and let straighten out your hair!"
Sakura walked over to the other girl and they headed off a little ways from everyone. I turned to Rock Lee and Tenten and smiled lightly.
"Well it was fun, hopefully I'll see you guys in the third part."
I ventured my way back towards Sasuke who was now standing alone, his left hand touching the back of his neck. When he noticed me, he quickly took his hand away and set it at his side. I walked up to him and sat to the left of him. I looked up at the vast canopy that covered us all.
The other genins had already left while Sakura was finally walking back towards us with her hair neatly cut neatly to match her new hairdo.
"Sasuke..."
He looked at me without turning his head. I closed my eyes and sighed deeply.
"If you can't control yourself when you're like that...and you get out of control...I'll stop you..."
Things were silent until Sakura came up to us and I opened my eyes with a smile on my face.
"Nice hairdo, Sakura-chan."
"Um, thanks Naruto-kun. Sasuke-kun are you ready?"
He nodded and the three of us; team 7 were back off to finish this mission.
(AN: Not sure if you noticed but I didn't have Orochimaru burn their Heaven scroll since Naruto wasn't being a pest and he was able to spike Sasuke's anger enough to test his power and accept him, then give him the bite. Okay? ;
We made great time covering all the ground we had lost in the battle and everything else. We ended up taking a rather nice rest period to rejuvenate everyone to their full potential. After nearly six hours of sleep alone I felt totally restored compared to the day before. I took to the tops of the trees and gazed at the naked view before me. The tower stood proudly only a few miles from here. I smiled and quickly plummeted back to the very bottom and several feet before the ground, I made a quick air platform and landed silently upon it.
Sakura sighed in relief while Sasuke hadn't bothered to say anything concerning my re-entrance.
"We're only a few miles away. If we give it all we've got, we can make it there in no time!"
My partners nodded at me and we took off towards the direction of the Tower. After only another half hour we were able to cross the distance in no time and we walked up to the two solid looking doors that stood before us. I looked at my comrades and gave them a reassuring smile and walked inside.
We gazed up at the large scroll that was pinned up on the wall before us. I looked around briefly before looking back up at the old scroll. I quickly skimmed over it and looked at Sakura and Sasuke who were standing on each side of me.
"What the hell does this crap mean?"
"I guess we open it."
Sakura had said sounding pretty sure. I opened the earth scroll while Sakura opened the heaven scroll at the exact same time. I stared at the kanji in the middle as it began to pulse, I threw it to the ground as Sakura proceeded to freak out and throw it down as well. In a brief cloud of smoke, a silhouette became visible from the smoke. Iruka-sensei stood with his arms crossed in front of him with a pleasant smile on his face.
"Hey, long time no see."
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
I looked around the rather large room. My eyes skimmed the room taking in all I could possibly take in, the architecture and the colors that seemed rather bland and normal until I reached the front of the room. Two large hands in the form of the ram seal; the top of the fingers nearly touched the roof.
"Congratulations on passing!"
I peeked my head up to the front, I shinobi that was only a couple of inches taller than myself but wore a nice wide straw hat ended up obstructing my view even more. I growled in frustration and pushed my way to the front. The guy's stale gray hair clashed with the cold glare he looked at me with his topaz colored eyes. His hidden cloud forehead-protector was halfway hidden underneath his hat.
"Watch where you are stepping, kid."
I glared at the kid, who the hell was he calling a kid? He couldn't have been that cold, I guess if you held any height over anyone you thought you were god. I heard a girl's voice next to him hush him, the voice struck a soft chord in my mind that suddenly started a spark of activity as my brain had began quickly processing
"Boufuu-san, we don't want to start any trouble. Please don't start now."
He looked to his left and nodded weakly. He gave me one last look with narrowed eyes before he turned his attention back to the front. I looked at the ground for a few moments while Hokage began speaking up about the third part of the exam and why it was important for the countries to join together for them.
I heard several arguments erupt from the other shinobi around me, as I hadn't bothered to listen with the constant rattling of noise that bustled around me loudly. The sudden appearance of a shinobi jolted me from my thoughts, as he had appeared about ten feet in front of me, kneeling before Hokage.
"Forgive me Hokage-sama...from here on, as the referee, will you please allow me Gekkou Hayate..."
Hokage had nodded and the Nin turned around, the sickly look on his face discouraged me from totally trust his ability to be able to referee any kind of matches between the genins in this room.
"Hello everyone, I'm Hayate. Before the third test actually begins, there's something I'd like to do...this will be a preliminary for the third test. To see who actually gets to participate in the third exam..."
I heard several weak arguments come forth from several genins from the small crowd behind me. I began to get frustrated with the simple arguments and the weak excuses that the referee had been giving. He began talking about if you weren't 'feeling up to it' or 'just felt like quitting' that you should go ahead and speak up now and not waste any more time. I gritted my teeth and was ready to speak up when I watched a guy with gray hair tied back step forward and nonchalantly quit. I looked over at him in shock, why the hell would anyone quit after working so hard?
He looked over towards me and smiled genuinely before the referee took out a packet with everyone's information and checked him off.
"Alright, You're Yakushi Kabuto-kun from the leaf right? You may go ahead and leave now..."
He looked around the group of us. One more Nin down, twenty-six of us left, how many more would quit?
"Does anyone else want to retire now? Oh and I forgot to mention that from now on, you will be fighting individually..."
He looked around and paused for a few moments before looking back to his packet.
"There are no more shinobi retiring right?"
I looked back my teammates; Sasuke was holding his neck again while Sakura had a helpful hand leaning on his other shoulder. She had said something to him that made him shake her hand from his shoulder. He pushed his way up to my right and held onto his neck painfully.
"Maybe you should quit..."
I whispered to him, he glared at me and gritted his teeth.
"I am an avenger. I won't be denied my chance to prove myself...and I must fight you again to show my strength..."
I shook my head and looked up at the group of Jounins that were standing up at the front of the room in front of the large hands. Anko was bent over, whispering into Hokage-sama's ear. I desperately wished I could hear what they were saying but they were too far away and the noise still would make it impossible for me to eavesdrop.
"Alright. Since there are 26 people, we will be having 13 matches. This is one on one fighting. There are no rules, you fight until one dies or is knocked out or admits their defeat. I have the right to decide the winner if it is clearly one-sided. Also if it gets out of hand I will jump in and save the ninja so umm as not to increase the number of corpses. Their destiny is in the hands of an electric scoreboard that shows the match-ups for each battle...now this is sudden but the first fight will begin with..."
He looked up to the scoreboard and it immediately lit up with Sasuke's name along with a name that was unrecognizable to me. Akado Yoroi. I shrugged and looked over at Sasuke.
"Look's like your up...Have fun with that."
He smirked and nodded, still holding the marking on his neck. I began to walk away when the sudden shrill voice broke out from the group. I looked around quickly as my name continued to get called numerous times before I turned around and was immediately plowed over by a short-blue haired girl.
"Naruto-kun!"
I slowly gaze up dizzily at my attacker and sighed.
"Hi, Sori-chan. I guess you made it..."
"Hey! Don't sound so excited!"
She said sarcastically promptly picking her weight off of me and merely decided to lean over and watch me lay prone for a few moments longer before I decided to get up myself. I dusted myself off as I began walking towards the stairs; Sakura had slowed down enough for Sori and myself to catch up with her.
"Sakura-chan, this is Sori-chan."
Sori glared at her for a moment then shot a cute smile towards Sakura. She nodded at her with a small smile on her face. I took a quick look around as we were walking up the stairs.
"Where are the side-kicks?"
This time, she decided to take a quick look around and scratch her head in a ditzy manner.
"Umm, actually I don't know."
I face-faulted and quickly picked myself up.
"Right..."
"I'll be back, I gotta go find them real quick! See ya Naruto-kun!"
I waved lightly and sighed leaning on the rail at the edge of the second floor of the building that looked down at the battle floor. It was completely bare now; except for Sasuke and the other shinobi he was fighting as well as the referee, Hayate. I looked toward Sakura.
"This outta be..."
I felt my words trail as my mind sputtered to a stop as I looked beyond Sakura to see the rather tall cloud Nin that I had run into earlier named, Boufuu. He took a single step back from the railing and turned to the female Nin standing next to him. My heart stopped. She held a staff in her right hand and had it leaning against her slightly. Her jet-black hair was tied back behind her head but the most noticeable thing was the fact that her hitae-ate was covering her eyes. I took a quick breath and smiled.
Sakura waved her hand in front of my face a few times and then looked back behind her shoulder and into the distance. She looked back at me with an inquisitive look on her face.
"Where have I seen her before...?"
She had asked herself before I waved at her lightly before walking past her and towards the three cloud genins. Unfortunately the tall shinobi had noticed me and took a quick step in front of the female shinobi, a disgruntled smirk on his face.
"Bothering me again, kid? What do you want?"
I could feel my smile quickly leave my face, replaced by a fierce frown.
"I would like to speak with the girl behind you."
His smirk quickly fell into an angry frown.
"Piss off, kid. She doesn't speak to outsiders..."
I could feel my blood begin to boil and the Kyuubi's chakra begin to churn within me freely. I clenched my fists and held back all the retorts that instantly popped up in my head that could easily start a fight.
"Tatsumaki-chan isn't like that."
His eyes widened slightly, he looked as if he was about to retort further when she pushed him aside gently with her staff and took a few steps forward.
"N-Naruto-kun?"
I smiled.
"The one and only."
A beautiful smile streaked across her elegant face and she quickly gathered me into a fierce hug. I was surprised at first and gently accepted in fully. I closed my eyes and smiled, the warmth that I felt inside and all over enveloped me and I felt my spirits suddenly soar. Our hug broke as I merely watched her smile, she touched my face softly and her smile widened.
"Are you smiling because of me?"
I nodded with her hand on my right cheek. She giggled lightly and looked to her left.
"Boufuu-san, will you excuse me for a while."
He was about to argue when she suddenly began walking past me. She quickly locked her hand with mine and gradually began to drag me in the opposite direction. I smiled and whipped myself around to follow her for a few steps before I began to direct us away from her comrades.
"I've been thinking about you..."
I looked at her, I felt a little shocked at her bluntness as well as the fact that she was actually thinking about me. I smiled and felt a small blush spread across my cheeks.
"I've been thinking about you too, Tatsumaki-chan."
I stopped us a nice distance away from everyone and looked out onto the beginning battle as Sasuke began to battle Yoroi.
"How were your travels?"
I smiled.
"They were fine...I met quite a few interesting people and learned some new tricks, but nothing like what your grandfather taught me..."
She looked down for a moment, her smile slowly fading before I turned and put my hand under her chin. She smiled lightly at my gesture and touched a hand to my face.
"I haven't been able to sleep well though since..."
She nodded.
"I understand. I've had difficulty sleeping since you left me..."I frowned and looked down, I still felt bad about it, but there was nothing I could do about it. I felt a bit awkward for a few moments before I decided to change the topic.
"You're buddy over there is an asshole."
She nodded.
"I understand, he's just jealous."
I looked at her with a confused look as my mind began racing through the different meanings behind her statements.
"Why would he be jealous?"
"It's nothing..."
She turned away from me and put both of her hands on the railing and leaned her head down. I cocked my head to the side and leaned against the railing.
"Tatsumaki-chan, you can tell me..."
She slowly looked at me.
"His family believes that you must protect what is rightfully yours and once you show your full power in combat...then you may take a bride of your desire...unfortunately for me...that bride is me..."
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END OF CHAPTER 9
(AUTHOR'S NOTES: EVIL, NE? You all knew I was going to have her in here; I couldn't not have her in here! And what a horrible cliffhanger. I just wanted to say thank to Blaboy for beta-reading this chapter and fixing anything I had forgotten...Sorry I had to cut this short...as well get it out late. But I've had tons of classes and its bothersome but whats awesome is that my teacher had been reading a bit and we got into a small discussion about Naruto! It was awesome! Anywayz, I'll do my best to get em out to you as fast as I can. Next one will be out Sunday night at the earliest or late Monday. Thanks everyone. Remember your REVIEWS count! I'll do my best to figure them out. Until next time, thanks for reading and laters!
