[…] It's been a week since the Devastation. Nay, the Cataclysm. I survived by Bethrezen's will alone, for what else is my survival if not a divine intervention?
The shining star in the sky that we all saw for years was finally upon us – a celestial body of unimaginable size impacted Nevendaar on the other side of the planet, yet its after effect had global consequences. Continents shifted, the seas churned, the tectonic plates moved. And from all sides we were assaulted by gargantuan wave of debris. Millions upon million died and perished.
There are so few survivors. And each day more people die. A permanent cloud of dark dust seems to have settled in the sky, blocking the sun's rays. We struggle to find food. To find water. Nothing grows. Nothing is left of the civilization. […]
[…] The very energies of the planet seem to have shifted. No one is able to perform magic or Miracles of the Gods anymore. Not even the few surviving Prophets. Prayers are met with deafening void of silence, our very connection to the sacred planes blocked. […]
[…] My faith in Bethrezen remains absolute. When everything is lost, I only have faith that gives me strength to walk another step. It is faith that makes me record what I see in this journal still. Nevendaar as we know it is no more and I finally am starting to feel like this was by divine providence. A clean slate for everyone to start over. Or maybe it is just a dying man trying to put meaning to this devastation to find solace. Either way, until the day I die, I will record as much of Nevendaar's and Bethrezen's history as I can so that future civilization may learn aught from the history.
That is, if the world is able to pull itself from extinction. […]
-The Disciple's Archive
The Cultist
Chapter 10
And so it continues
"Finally! You took forever, even medi-nins got here before you!"
"Now now, Naruto-kun, that's their whole purpose - to give immediate help. We arrived as quickly as we could."
"You were taking a leisurey pace while there's Orochimaru about!"
"And who's to say I don't have the best of my ANBU scouring the forest as we speak?" Hiruzen admonished with a raised eyebrow "Surely you didn't expect me, the Hokage, to go on a wild goose chase."
"Wild goose chase?!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Yes. I know my former student better than most and I'm more than certain he is no longer anywhere within the forest or even the village. Again, I have the best ANBU looking for any signs of him within the forest and most of them possess exceptional tracking skills. Me not being there won't make a difference."
Naruto finally relaxed and sheepishly smiled "I guess you have a point."
"Of course I do - I'm the Hokage," Hiruzen briefly smiled "Now tell me what happened. And don't leave any detail out."
Naruto nodded and regaled their encounter with the infamous nuke-nin.
They sat comfortably within one of the barrack rooms delegated to Konoha. Medi-nin arrived rather quickly and took Team 10 away and assured Team 7 that they will be alright. They also got told they should proceed to their rooms as no one should be loitering around the entrance when other teams arrive.
It didn't take long to recount their encounter and their escape as it was relatively fast paced. Sasuke and Sai remained silent throughout the whole monologue.
"I see," Hiruzen finally let out with a grim expression "First of all, I want to congratulate you on surviving such an ordeal. He might not have been going all out but it doesn't lessen the achievement. Secondly," here he looked at Sasuke "You will let Jiraiya examine the mark."
Both Sasuke and Naruto raised their eyebrows in mild surprise. The tall white haired man leaned against the wall near the exit from the start with no introduction, remaining absolutely silent. They only looked at him briefly and had their suspicion of who it was due to reading plenty about their legendary ninja, but otherwise their focus was solely on the Hokage.
Jiraiya broke his gloomy character and as if on cue jumped into a funny pose and exclaimed "I am the great-"
"No," Hiruzen quickly cut him off "You're not doing that."
Having facefaulted, Jiraiya could only whine "You ruined my grand introduction, old man!"
Hiruzen rolled his eyes "You can do it some other time. Now, Jiraiya here is a master of Fuuinjutsu, the best Konoha has. He will examine you, Sasuke-kun."
"Right," Jiraiya recovered and approached the silent teen "Let's see it, kid."
Sasuke scowled but obliged. Jiraiya leaned uncomfortably close to the exposed neck and kept prodding and touching the affected area and humming to himself. Sasuke had to bite down on the wave of anxiety that he felt rising - he absolutely hated to be touched, let alone by someone he just met.
Jiraiya finally left Sasuke's personal space and revealed his findings "Your suspicions were correct, old man. This does look like a cursed seal. However… hmm," he mused uncertainly and addressed Sasuke "What exactly happened at the moment Orochimaru bit you? Naruto's report was clear enough but you have better perspective of that moment."
"He didn't bite me," Sasuke corrected as he readjusted his shirt and scowled "He tried but Naruto's technique stopped him. I assume he only managed to scratch me with one of his fangs. The initial contact wasn't as painful as a full bite would've been."
"I see. So he applies the Cursed Seal through a bite to the neck," Jiraiya grimaced "How twisted."
"So what kind of curse seal is it?"
"I can't say for certain. It looks incomplete - only one of the three mitsudomoe is present. Based off the seals written within this one tomoe it looks like the basis for this cursed seal was Seal of Heaven." he turned to Sasuke once again "Do you have any trouble with accessing or manipulating chakra?"
Sasuke tersely nodded "Yes. My control has degraded back to early academy levels."
"That's where you are wrong. Nothing can truly 'degrade' level of control one has over their chakra. Even age." Jiraiya explained "What truly is happening is that the seal is rewiring the flow of chakra and the associated signals your brain sends. Instead of flowing through the natural refined channels in an orderly manner under your command, the seal forces the flow to go through it.
Now, the writing of the seal has loose open ends which I assume where the missing parts of the mitsudomoe are supposed to connect. And since other functions of the seal are missing, your current seal just flushes all the chakra back into your system. So if you ever feel discomfort, pain, or fever then that's because of this." here Jiraiya paused and frowned "Now, the seal has another function but I can't say for certain what it is without doing some practical experiments."
Sasuke's displeasure at all of that was clear for everyone to see. "Is there a way to remove it?"
"I… honestly don't know." Jiraiya rubbed his chin "There is another ninja in the village with a Cursed Seal. Both have similar foundations so I assume yours is impossible to remove without harming the person either. But that's speculation."
"Is there a way to limit its influence on Sasuke, Jiraiya-San?" Naruto asked "A protective circle around the Cursed Seal to restrict its reach in his body?"
"A budding Fuuinjutsu user, eh kid?" Jiraiya asked as he finally observed Naruto from closer perspective.
He honestly was not how he imagined Naruto to be. Instead of exuberant kindness or rebellious determination, he only found intense eyes unflinchingly staring straight back at him. Dressed in a black outfit, with long, spiky and messy hair, and deep bags under his eyes; an unsettling aura surrounded the blonde boy that felt vaguely familiar to him.
Naruto's lips twitched in amusement, quite pleased with the fact that such a legendary ninja would mistake his comment for a Fuuinjutsu practitioner.
"Not quite," he said and didn't comment any further despite the quite obvious inquisitive look on Jiraiya's face.
"Right," the man finally relented "Yes. A restrictive matrix around the Cursed Seal should negate its effects. Mind you, it will operate on Sasuke's own willpower. Should he allow it, the matrix can temporarily cease its function."
"Why not permanently seal it?"
Jiraiya shook his head "Unfortunately that's not possible. It might be incomplete but it has the same permanent function inscribed on it that a full Cursed Seal has. It's the only way."
"Very well then," Hiruzen interjected "We should get this over and done with before teams from other villages arrive. There is a plain room for such purposes here. You know where it is, Jiraiya. Sasuke, please follow Jiraiya and follow his instructions. It shan't take too long."
"See you later then," Jiraiya waved "Come on, Sasuke."
Sasuke got up from his seat a bit too eager and followed the legendary ninja with a spring in his step that Naruto hasn't seen in a long while. He couldn't blame his teammate - for someone like Sasuke it meant the world to have his powers back.
"So, Naruto, Sai," the blonde was pulled out of his thoughts by the Hokage's voice. He occupied a seat next to a table and busied himself with preparing his pipe. Naruto was wondering whether the Hokage robes had hidden pockets inside if they could store pipe and tobacco. "You described what happened to Sasuke and how you escaped, but what happened afterwards? Why didn't he chase after you?"
Naruto shrugged "I honestly don't know. I'm just glad he didn't."
"I see," Hiruzen inquisitively looked at Naruto and Sai "Is there anything else you wish to tell me?"
A beat.
"No…" Naruto slowly replied "I pretty much told you everything already."
"Very well. In that case all that is left for us to do is to wait for Jiraiya's and Sasuke's return." Hiruzen chuckled "Now then. How are you two finding the exams so far?"
It was only after roughly an hour that the pair returned. Sasuke was barely standing on his feet, his face and shirt covered in thin layer of sweat.
"Sasuke!" Naruto called and Sasuke only had the strength to give a dismissive wave before retreating in the showers.
"Took you longer than I thought it would." Hiruzen commented as he stood up.
"It was a vicious little whore of a seal," Jiraiya frowned "It might've been incomplete but by Kami did it try to fight me back as much as a full seal would. It took a big toll on Sasuke."
"Was it successful?"
Jiraiya nodded "In the end, yes. Though I made some discoveries during the procedure."
"I see. We can discuss those in my office. Is he fit to continue the exams?"
"Yes."
"Very well." Hiruzen turned to Naruto. In the corner of his eye he noticed Sai intently observing them. Filing that for later, he said "Our job here is done. Rest up well and be prepared for anything that may come."
"What about Orochimaru?" Naruto immediately enquired.
"It's been over an hour and ANBU haven't reported back yet. It's safe to say his traces haven't been found so he is unlikely to be in the forest anymore."
"Alright," Naruto replied with a twinge of disappointment. He really hoped the infamous criminal would be caught.
"We shall take our leave now," Hiruzen said as he made his way towards the exit. He then stopped near the doors and turned to look at the blonde "And Naruto? I'm proud of you." and with that both him and Jiraiya left the premises.
Naruto couldn't stop the smile that broke on his face.
It's been 10 minutes over the time limit to arrive at the tower. That meant the second stage of the exams has officially concluded.
Naruto looked around from where they all were gathered on the main floor and was surprised at what he saw. The medium sized hall was nearly packed. Clearly too many people managed to pass this stage and he wondered if Orochimaru's interference had anything to do with.
A team from Suna was here, spearheaded by the crazy Suna jinchuuriki. The Kumo team was surprisingly here too with the red head glaring daggers at them. Some Konoha teams were here, including Rookie Team 8. Ame, Oto, and Kusa too.
"Congratulations to all of you for passing this challenging second phase," the Hokage said with authority atop the balcony overlooking the whole ground floor "However, this year the villages have indeed sent their most exceptional shinobi - so well have you all performed that too many of you have passed this stage, more than what was anticipated. Therefore, a preliminary stage will take place now to determine who will proceed to the next and final stage. The preliminaries will take form of one on one matches with the winner getting the right to participate in the third stage."
Needless to say that created a loud outrage from everyone present. While Naruto himself wasn't too bothered by the announcement -and he imagined Sasuke wasn't either- he could understand some people's disconcert. Several teams only arrived minutes and hours earlier, with others still haven't recovered from injuries sustained. For them it was completely unfair to have to fight someone who had more time to rest.
The Hokage raised his hand in pacifying motion and unleashed some of his KI to get the attention of the crowd again.
"I understand your frustration but this is the nature of the Shinobi world - expect the unexpected," he sternly said "Apart from the chance to get promoted to Chuunin, does any of you know the true purpose of the exams?" he was met with silence "The true purpose of the exams is to imitate and replace war." he declared with severity, shocking some of the teams "The Shinobi World is currently enjoying a relative peace, so these exams are designed to pit one ninja against another in a controlled manner. For any given village it's a chance to showcase their most exceptional ninjas, and also an opportunity to assess the strength of other villages.
And the most anticipated part of the exams is the third stage - a tournament that pits all the finalists to fight each other to the best of their abilities. And this is no small closed doors event either. Nobles, merchants, Lords and Ladies of Daimyio courts, and other High ranking citizens of the world are invited to attend the exams.
And I can't stress this enough - this is not only an event to flex village muscles in front of other villages, it's also an entertainment for the esteemed guests. Your performance, any one of your performances in the final round, can have a severe impact on the missions your village gets. It's the potential clients who will be in the stands, watching you.
Therefore we can't allow everyone to pass to the final stage. There's too many of you and frankly speaking no village can afford 'boring' the spectators." he finally finished.
For many it was a wild revelation. It didn't sit well with everyone to know that they were simply, in a way, bargaining chips. But at the same time they knew that duty to the village should come above all.
"If I may take it from here, Hokage-sama…" a sickly looking Konoha man spoke up. With bags under his eyes to rival Naruto's, bandana, and senbon being rolled around his lips he struck a rather casual impression. However it didn't fool majority of present ninjas. A katana strapped over his back coupled with standard Jounin outfit told everyone that the man should not be underestimated.
"By all means, Hayate." the Hokage allowed.
Hayate nodded and turned his attention to all the present Genins. Between the heavy coughs he spoke "Right. As the Hokage-sama said… not all of you can proceed to final stage… such is reality of being a ninja. Preliminaries will now take place which… will be one on one fights. As stated before… winners of their respective fights will proceed to the next stage." couple of coughs and he continued again "Those of you who wish to quit right now for any reason are free to do so without… the detriment to your teams. From now on… you are all on your own. Those of you… who wish to forfeit please raise your hands."
Surprisingly there were several ninjas who chose to quit, claiming chakra exhaustion, injuries, or not wanting to embarrass their village. Among those quitting there were 2 Konoha shinobi.
"Name?"
"Yakushi Kabuto," the same boy from before the first stage spoke up and he was one of the last ones to arrive "I know how tough these exams are and I'm completely out of chakra. It's the best course of action."
"Right. Please step… aside to the balconies." Hayate confirmed and looked at another raised hand "Name?"
"Sai."
Naruto and Sasuke looked at their teammate in surprise.
"Reason?" Hayate prompted. His question was met with a blank stare "Right… well, please step to the balconies."
Sai silently followed that order.
The remaining members of Team 7 exchanged a questioning glance.
"Anyone else?" Hayate's voice rang out again. There were no more raised hands. "Good. All of your names will be shuffled and paired up in… in a random order. The screen above," he pointed at a large screen on the wall above the Hokage's seat "will display who will fight. When your name comes up, please come to the ground floor here… where the fights will take place. Any questions?"
There were no questions and so everyone was quickly ushered to balconies that lined up the whole first floor. All ninjas naturally congregated with their respective teams and villages. Those who quit didn't have to leave the premises and thus were allowed to watch the matches.
And so the preliminary phase began with a loud beep of the large screen. Rather quickly, it selected the first two ninjas as it proudly displayed: Sasuke Uchiha vs Yoroi Akado.
Sasuke eagerly jumped down the moment he saw his name. Yoroi, too, appeared in front of him with the same enthusiasm.
Unfortunately for the other Konoha shinobi, the fight ended too fast. Sasuke, now having most of his chakra control back after Jiraiya's sealing, showed his great proficiency with shuriken jutsu, taijutsu, and Katon jutsu. Yoroi also had the nasty habit of breaking into grandeur monologues which Sasuke capitalised on with silent efficiency.
There was a moment where Yoroi showed a surprising ability of being able to absorb chakra just from a small graze of Sasuke's hair. But it didn't lead to anything as Sasuke dealt with his opponent within a minute.
"It's a pity this is what Konoha has to offer," was Sasuke's parting words as he was declared the winner.
Naruto congratulated Sasuke on his win. Not even a half a minute later new set of names were rolled on the screen. It seems, Naruto thought, that they wanted to get over and done with these preliminaries as quickly as possible.
Next was the Suna kunoichi, Temari, and Tenten of Konoha. That, too, was a quick victory. This time the opposing village won the fight - Tenten's weapons and projectiles were completely countered by Temari's Fuuton ninjutsu; Tenten couldn't even get in close melee to utilise her speciality. The match was finished when Tenten brutally landed on Temari's fan with her back, nearly breaking the spine. Thankfully she had avoided any grievous injuries.
Afterwards, as if by a twist of fate, Hinata Hyuuga faced off her clansman Neji Hyuuga. From the very beginning it was very one sided with Neji effortlessly dismantling any resistance Hinata tried to bring. Naruto was genuinely surprised at what he was seeing - it was clear Neji was driven by some sort of anger directly aimed at Hinata. Naruto frowned in thought; what could be happening within the Hyuuga clan to fester such emotion, and why wasn't it dealt with before the exams? He wasn't allowed to think on this for too long as before he knew it, multiple Konoha jounin jumped down and interfered with the fight. It seems that at one point Hinata managed to deflect one of Neji's jabs and deliver her own attack that grazed the older Hyuuga. That had enraged him even further and he viciously renewed his assault. It culminated with the Jounin restraining Neji, his hand an inch away from Hinata's heart. The poor girl immediately lost conscious and the medics rushed in.
Looking around, Naruto narrowed his eyes. He resented the looks of enjoyment that other villages were sporting.
With the drama over, the fights had to continue and it just so happened that Naruto's name flashed next on the screen. Without waiting to see who his opponent was, he jumped down and refused to look at the screen. Let it be a surprise to him.
"Are you ready to get your ass kicked?!" "Woof!"
He impassively looked at his opponent. Looks like Kiba forgot how easily he was cowed few days ago.
"Time to remind him." Naruto thought.
"Begin!" Hayate called.
Without hesitation, Naruto unleashed his KI concentrating it on Kiba and like before, he froze in fright. It was only for a moment, but it was enough for Naruto to dash behind his opponent to deliver a swift chop to the neck effectively knocking out the Inuzuka.
He was declared the winner and everyone sweatdropped. This is going to be a reoccurring theme of quick fights with no show - the spectacles, they realised, are going to be saved for the last round where it really matters.
Naruto silently left the ground floor in contemplated - he now could somewhat understand Sasuke's desire for a good fight. On one hand, he was happy his match was over quickly with no extra exertion. But on the other hand… well, he admitted he was itching for a fight to show off his Infernal Arts that he was very proud of.
"Is this what Sasuke feels with the Sharingan?" he glanced at Sasuke. Sasuke noticed the look and blankly returned the stare. Sheepishly shrugging, Naruto broke the eye contact and looked at the screen which was already selecting the next fighters.
Gaara's fight with Lee was the longest one yet and it was equally brutal as it was exciting for the onlookers. Gaara's style of fighting was an interesting one - he was an immovable fortress. He stood his ground and somehow managed to block all of Lee's hits with his sand without even lifting his arms.
Lee was also a real shocker for all the present Konoha nin. His speed and power, especially when he removed his weights, were unparalleled. No one, save for Team Gai, ever thought Lee would be so strong. And the fact that Gaara didn't care one bit about his hits only proved how strong Gaara himself was.
There was a moment where Lee performed some forbidden technique and his victory seemed to be at hand… yet Gaara took the full brunt of the technique and remained unscathed. The only proof that he was even hit were the cracks on his face and everyone realised he had sand armour hugging his whole body like second skin.
After that it was a blur - Gaara got enraged and in the end won. Lee only barely managed to escape the deadly Sabaku Soso. Unfortunately Gaara still caught his leg and crushed it. If not for Gai's interference Gaara would've proceeded with another attempt to trap Lee.
The hall was silent in horror at what they just witnessed. The fact the whole building was mildly charged with Gaara's KI didn't help either.
Regardless, as they say, the show must go on.
Next fight was the last Suna Shinobi, Kankuro. He easily won his fight against another unknown Konoha shinobi, Tsurugi, with an interesting display of Suna's traditional art of Puppeteering. One scratch and Tsurugi was left paralysed from the poison coated on the puppets blades and projectiles.
Next, it was the last remaining Konoha Ninja and the heir of the Aburame clan, Shino. He beat Zaku of the Otokagure with a smart application of his Kikaichu jutsu that drained his opponent of chakra.
The last two matches were short, but exciting too. The two Kumo shinobi versus the two remaining Oto shinobi.
Both Omoi and Karui displayed very similar skillet. They both were proficient in Kenjutsu and Raiton. The difference between them was that Karui displayed more fluidity in her movements, while Omoi adapted a more traditional stoic approach to Kenjutsu. In the end they both beat Dosu and Kin of Oto. Dosu's sound gauntlets proved to have a glaring weakness against Raiton. One jutsu was enough to fry the whole contraption.
When Kin took out her flute, everyone was excited to witness new exotic techniques. However, she proved to be a Genjutsu user who wasn't very experienced with fighting on her own in such close proximity; Karui dismantled and made her surrender before she could cast even a single Genjutsu.
And so the preliminary round concluded just as suddenly as it was announced.
All the winners of their respective fights were gathered on the ground floor. The Hokage, too, climbed down and stood in front of them all.
"Congratulations on passing this stage and moving on to the final round," he said "I'm sure you've done your villages proud."
Hayate then stepped forward carrying a small, dark tinted bowl. "Now… each of you will draw a piece of paper… from this bowl with a number written… on it. The order of numbers will establish the order of fights."
In no time at all everyone had their numbers, and the order of matches for the first round was thus:
Naruto vs Neji
Sasuke vs Temari
Kankuro vs Gaara
Karui vs Shino
Since they were an odd number of participants, Omoi drew the last number which meant he will fight the winner of the first fight.
Everyone looked around and observed their opponents. Of all of them, Kankuro seemed to be the most distressed.
"The final round will happen in one month's time, here in Konoha's grand arena. It will take form of a tournament similar to preliminaries where you will face off your opponent in one on one matches," everyone turned to look at the Hokage again "Your objective is to study your opponents, train, and show your prowess to the audience and potential clients." here he gave a small pause and looked at the ninjas from visiting countries "Kumo and Suna. You are free to return to your respective villages during this one month period, but be aware that if you're late to arrive for your match then it will be immediate disqualification. Conversely, should you choose to remain you will have appropriate accommodations provided for you. Any questions?"
Silence followed. It was clear as a day - prepare, win, and show off the strength of your village.
The Hokage nodded "Very well then. In that case please return to your teams and let the Proctor team know whether you will be staying so we can show you to your accommodations."
With the excitement of the fights gone, everyone quietly returned to their teams and left the tower to make their way back to the village. Apart from Konohan teams, everyone else was followed by a Konoha shinobi to show the way back and to ensure no premature fights broke up under the canopy of the forest. Which is why, smartly, each team was let out of tower in different intervals.
Team 7 were one of the first teams to leave the tower. Sai had disappeared somewhere so it was only Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto who took the trek back. They travelled in a comfortable silence until they finally reached the gates that would lead them to the village.
Once they went through the gates and breathed in the busy smell of the Village, Naruto addressed Kakashi.
"Kakashi-sensei. What's the plan from here?"
"Hmm?"
"Training wise," Naruto clarified "We have a month to prepare and we will be fighting some strong opponents. It's obvious we all will receive further training, so I'm just wondering how we are going to do it with both Sasuke and I being in the final round? Will you split your attention between us?"
"Ah," Kakashi let out "No. I will be training Sasuke only."
Both Naruto and Sasuke frowned; Naruto in disappointment that his sensei was abandoning him, and Sasuke in mild confusion. While Sasuke was happy that he would get Kakashi's undivided attention, he wasn't sure how he felt about leaving Naruto on his own. He developed a sense of respect towards him and that respect told him that this was somehow mildly unfair.
"That is unfair." Naruto simply stated and Kakashi's carefree eyesmile only served to annoy him further.
"I hope you understand that as the only other Sharingan user I'm the only one in the village who can train Sasuke to his full potential. Also, we have matching elemental affinities."
Naruto scowled "So it's OK to just abandon me?"
"Now now, Naruto," Kakashi admonished "I never said that, did I? You will have… your own schedule." Naruto questioningly looked at Kakashi "Hokage-sama has something planned for you. That's all I know. So I suggest you go and seek him out."
Now it was Sasuke's turn to scowl "I know Naruto was getting special treatment from the Hokage, but personal training? Now that's unfair."
"He speaks!" Naruto exclaimed in mock shock and Sasuke nearly snarled in response.
"HN!"
Kakashi shrugged "As I said, I don't know what Hokage-sama has planned. He only let me know that it's okay for me to take over Sasuke's training and that he got something for you."
The feeling of disappointment was quickly replaced with excitement. What Kakashi said made sense and if the Hokage really had plans for him for the coming month then… well. He won't complain.
By now they have reached the interior of the civilian sector that was closest to the Forest of Death. Kakashi stopped and turned to his two students "This is where we will part ways for today." he said "Sasuke, meet at Training Grounds 7 at 7am sharp. Pack for a small trip for few days. Naruto, I suggest you go see Hokage-sama straight away. He might still be in the tower but I'm sure you'll be allowed to wait at the office."
"What happened to Sai?" Naruto suddenly asked. "He kind of disappeared."
Kakashi shrugged "I honestly don't know. He was only ever meant to be a temporary member anyway, so don't worry too much."
Naruto wasn't quite worried, he just couldn't shake off the feeling of something shady going on with Sai.
Nevertheless they all bid their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Naruto felt slightly bittersweet at this parting - by the sounds of it he isn't going to see neither Sasuke nor Kakashi for a while and he was mature enough to admit he'd miss their company. But on the other hand, more training provided by the Hokage himself.
True to what Kakashi said, the Hokage wasn't in when Naruto arrived but he was allowed to wait at the reception.
He sat on the sofa and sank into a meditative state, allowing Power to run through his body, relaxing and invigorating it. Everyone around him inadvertently shivered at the sensation, not that it was too busy.
Shortly after -or at least what Naruto felt was short when in reality it was over half an hour-, the Hokage walked in and beckoned for Naruto to follow him, clearly already anticipating that the blonde would be there.
They walked in silence and reached the office uninterrupted. Once inside, the Hokage chose to take an informal approach and sat on the sofa, beckoning Naruto to join in.
"First of all," he said as he got his pipe out "I'd like to once again congratulate you on coming so far in the exams. I was right to put such high expectations on you."
"Thank you!" Naruto smiled in return.
"Now, since you're here I believe Kakashi has passed on my message?"
"He has."
Hokage nodded and lit up the pipe, and took a big drag. Slowly exhaling the sweet smoke, he gave a small pause before he spoke again "Since you know your first opponent, have you thought on the areas you need to improve on?"
Naruto only gave two seconds to collect his thoughts "Against Neji specifically – speed and taijutsu. I need to be faster to deal with his Jyuuken up close. Or I need to come up with a long range strategy with my Infernal Arts and Katon. Apart from that, for the next month, I want to improve all of my shinobi areas overall. And I need to spend some time developing my Infernal Arts too."
Hiruzen was pleased that Naruto already had some ideas in mind "That reminds me… we never had that discussion about the summoning you performed in Wave, did we? The one you mentioned to me when you returned from that mission."
Naruto frowned. The Hokage was right - he fully meant to discuss it with him but it had slipped his mind.
"Well, it's something you can discuss with your new sensei for the month. He is well known for that branch of the ninja arts. In fact, he's someone who's been wanting to train you for a long time, so I hope you two will get along well. He's also someone who is highly skilled, so make sure you do your best, as usual."
"Who is it?"
"Jiraiya."
Naruto's eyebrows rose in shock "Jiraiya-sama?"
"Indeed."
"Wow! I'm honoured he'd want to train me… but why?"
"That's something you'll have to ask him. Either way, make sure you use this opportunity to your full advantage."
"Thank you so much for arranging this!" here he hesitated for a second "Should I tell him about my Infernal Arts?"
"Yes," Hiruzen replied straight away "You haven't been really hiding it, no reason to suddenly get shy about it. I briefed Jiraiya on your abilities and mentioned you have a unique branch of ninjutsu that's your speciality, but didn't say anything more than that. So at the very least he's expecting something interesting." here he softly chuckled "I suppose he'll finally understand my request from years ago."
"A request?"
"When you first shared your Infernal Arts to me I asked Jiraiya to investigate different cults around the world and find out more about religious practices."
Naruto burst in excitement! He's only ever read theories and mythologies about different religions in history. To speak with someone who might've witnessed things with his own eyes in current age was bound to be insightful.
"Now," Hiruzen continued with a chuckle "You can ask him all about it too. He is going to be waiting for you at Training Grounds 15 at 8am." here he hesitated for a second "I… dissuaded him from doing his special kind of introduction. But I also know Jiraiya very well, so please expect some sort of shenanigans upon meeting him. At the very least, give him a chance."
"I'm not sure I like the sound of that, jiji."
"Me neither," he chuckled "But it is what it is. Do you have any questions?"
"Not really…" Naruto admitted "At least not one about my upcoming training. Did any of the villages decide to stay?"
"Hmm," Hiruzen puffed out a ring of smoke "All of them did." he shrugged seeing Naruto's surprised expression "Don't be surprised. It's the perfect opportunity to spy and gather intel on our village. But it also works for us the same way too."
"I see, thank you. The following month is sure going to be interesting."
"It will indeed. Now if there's nothing else then you may leave," he glanced at his desk and sighed "It just so happens that the amount of paperwork has tripled while I was away in the tower." He looked back at Naruto "I suggest you rest up for tomorrow; as much as you normally can anyway."
Naruto nodded and bid the Hokage farewell.
He decided to heed the Hokage's decision and went straight home to read up on the Manual and get as much rest and mental preparation as he could.
Naruto was most definitely excited for the month to come.
And scene.
I will be honest - this is more of a filler like chapter. This part of the exam is my least favourite part to write, so there are a lot of skips for something that you already know what would happen. There wasn't much I wanted to change in the preliminaries themselves. This chapter is more so to fill out that awkward period before the 1 month training, and to set up some ground work for future chapters. Now, next two chapters I am giga excited for - those are something I've had in mind since I started writing this fanfic. Lots of stuff happening, lots of ground works set for long term resolutions, lots of plot twists and changes! I'm excited!
R&R