Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.
thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)
"blah" = speech
'blah' = thoughts
'blah' = Kyuubi's speech
A/N:
Jenniyah - yea... sure... -nervous laugh- no i will i will. thanx for reminding me about that little detail though.
opposingforce - battles w/ leaf nins, thats what... ehhh... just read. ur right i do have an outline for the story.
joekool - i'm not gonna spoil the story for you, so sry i cant answer ur question
gelionlegends - more on kisame's death later. also naruto's sword style is different from kisame's.
timeshifter16 - naruhina... you might get an idea from this chapter, but ireally dont want to say anything about it.
Chapter 8 – Happy? Reunion
A solitary figure stood outside the wooden gates of Konoha. He was clad in almost all black. He had black travel shoes, black pants with multiple pockets and had a kunai holster on his right leg. He had a black jacket, the left sleeve of which was cut off at the elbow. His left arm was bandaged from the shoulder down to the wrist. He wore a black facemask. His dark blue eyes seemed to be somewhat violet and his dirty blonde hair had streaks of red going through it. If his hair didn't completely cover his ears, one would see that they were slightly pointed and had orange-red hair growing on top. He wore his forehead protector tied around the upper part of his left arm. The forehead protector had the Hidden Grass Village's symbol on it.
'Never thought I would come back here again… especially under these circumstances,' mused Naruto.
'Five years… and here I am… last time my back was to the gates, this time my front,' Naruto sighed deeply, 'my source of pain is right there in front of me…'
Images flashed in Naruto's head, the stares, the glares, the abuse, the mocking, the put-downs, and much more. Naruto shook his head to rid himself of all this shit, 'this isn't a revenge trip; can't let my feelings get in the way.'
Flashback
"I'm going WHERE!?" yelled Naruto jumping up to his feet.
"Konoha," calmly answered Itachi.
"KONOHA!?"
"Yes, the Hidden Leaf Village in the Fire Country"
"I know what Konoha is…" said Naruto in an annoyed voice.
"Then why do you keep asking?" said Itachi with a grin.
Naruto let out a frustrated sigh, but seemed to calm down a bit, "Konoha, huh?"
Naruto scoffed, "Why are they sending ME of all people?" asked Naruto in a disgusted tone. Then continued in a sarcastic tone, "What, do they want me murder everybody?"
Itachi sharply breathed out of his nose and threw Naruto the scroll.
Naruto opened it and quickly skimmed through it, his eyebrows rising more and more as he went through the scroll.
"Well, this is certainly interesting" said Naruto.
"Wouldn't it be better to go AFTER the jounin exam is over?" asked Naruto in a contemplative tone, "I mean the security will be less, once the hype is over."
"Getting in, for foreigners, is easier this way" replied Itachi.
"True, all I have to do it take an identity from some other village," said Naruto "but wouldn't it be better if both of us go? I mean it'd be less suspicious."
"Yes, it would be better," said Itachi "however management said something about testing your power or showing off your power."
"If a single ninja can do THIS, then what about a group… right?" questioned Naruto rhetorically "this would be the Akatsuki's show of power."
"'Interpret it as you will,'" that's what Roeto said.
"In that case… I'll have to choose a village with an initially small amount of people…"
"If you unroll the scroll a bit more you will see that the list of contestants is already prepared" informed Itachi.
Naruto did as instructed and saw the list, 'so management is being helpful for once.'
"Hmm… either this one or that one… wait a second… the Grass will do perfectly," mused Naruto, "they are only sending two people."
'I just hope at least one is a guy, I wouldn't want to fight while in Sexy no Jutsu form…' chuckled Naruto, 'come to think of it, I have done that in a LONG while… ah… the memories of youth…'
Naruto smile quickly faded, 'the happy ones at least…'
"The Leaf always seems to have the most," said Naruto.
"The hosting village does usually have the most participants," explained Itachi.
"All right, off to find the Grass participants and get a new identity" said Naruto heading to the door.
"Good luck, Naruto" said Itachi with a small smile, "I'll be on the outskirts of the village, throughout the exam, just in case."
"Thanks, take care of your self" said Naruto and rushed out.
"You too, kiddo, you too" said Itachi in a caring voice "you've got the more dangerous assignment."
"Going back to your home village is always difficult for people like us…" whispered Itachi in a distant voice.
The list is as follows:
Leaf – 11; Sand – 3; Stone – 6; Snow – 3; Mist – 6; Waterfall – 4; Rain – 7; Grass – 2; Cloud – 5.
End Flashback
'Well here goes… mission start…' Naruto thought as he calmly walked toward the gates.
As soon as he got close enough, a guard motioned him to stop and asked for his papers.
"Nazashi of the Grass, huh?" asked the guard "Attending the jounin exam?"
"Yes," answered Nazashi. (A/N: From now on, until I say otherwise, I'll refer to Naruto by his fake identity)
"Aren't you coming a little late, I mean the exam starts tomorrow" said the guard.
"I was delayed…" answered Nazashi simply and then added, "on a mission."
"Understandable…" replies the guard still looking through the papers.
"Hey, it says here that there should be two ninjas from the Hidden Grass," questioned the guard.
"There should have been, but… she was killed on her previous mission," Nazashi managed to answer sadly.
'It's partly true… she was killed… by me… well both of the ninjas from the Grass were… but we don't have to go into details.'
"I see…" said the guard "well your papers are in order, so you are clear to pass. You'll find the hotel about half a mile down this street."
'As easy as a walk in the park…'
"Thank you" replied Nazashi politely and walked away.
'Back in Konoha… still can't get my mind around that concept.'
'Focus, Nazashi, focus you have a mission to do and it's not to get reacquainted with old comrades.'
Naruto found and checked-in to the hotel without a problem. The reserved room had two beds that Nazashi moved together to become one.
He dropped off his bag and sat down on the bed, 'should I scout now or do it later?'
Nazashi decided to get some needed rest, since the exam was the next day.
As he un-strapped his kunai holster, he held it in his hand for a second and looked thoughtfully at it.
'Just when I got used to throwing knives, I'm forced to use kunai again. But I can't help it, gotta blend in and throwing knives don't commonly replace kunai.'
Nazashi held out an open hand with his fingers out stretched and tightened his muscles slightly. Watching amused as his fingernails lengthened into claws about two inches long.
'It's like holding five kunai,' Nazashi smiled, 'and these are a lot more versatile. Another thing is that if I pour more chakra into them they'll grow even more.'
Nazashi sighed deeply, 'Of course, all this came at a price…'
Flashback
Naruto is standing in front of Kyuubi's cage, watching in shock and confusion as the Kyuubi's chakra leaks out of the gates and all over the walls and floor.
"Kyuubi, what the hell is going on?" yells Naruto.
"Kid I don't have much time left" said the Kyuubi.
"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Naruto in confusion.
"I'm sure you have noticed that during the past week your chakra supply seemed to have been growing" said the Kyuubi and Naruto nodded. "Well that is because I'm merging with you."
"Merging? What will be the effects of this and what's going to happen to you?"
"Your body will probably have some physical changes and perhaps psychological. I'm not sure exactly what will happen. As for me I'll be absorbed into you… and won't have to sit in this cage anymore" said the Kyuubi with a slight smirk.
"Will I still be able to talk to you?"
"Not likely kid" said the Kyuubi in a passive tone "anyway I called you here to give you a farewell gift."
"Really? What is it?"
"Just take off your jacket and hold out your left arm" instructed the Kyuubi.
Naruto did as he was told. The Kyuubi then sent some chakra toward Naruto, which then surrounded Naruto's left arm completely and swirled around for about a minute. During this time Naruto felt such great pain in his left arm that he had to drop to his knees and grit his teeth to keep from screaming.
He had experienced this kind of pain before when Kyuubi modified his eyes to accommodate a special eye jutsu, so he knew that the rewards were well worth the price.
Finally the pain stopped and the chakra was absorbed into Naruto's body instead of returning to the Kyuubi.
"See kid, my own chakra doesn't return back to me."
Naruto looked at his left arm and saw burning red symbols painted on it.
"It's a tattoo, kid, the glowing red will soon cool down to black."
"Tattoo? What kind of tattoo?" asked Naruto looking at his arm from all different sides.
"A summoning contract tattoo…" said the Kyuubi with an evil smile.
The tattoo consisted of a fox's head drawn on the biceps. From the fox's chin a goatee in the form of a tail extended down from the inside of the elbow all the way down to the wrist and was in the form of a helix. The fox's head also had eight whiskers, four on each side, which snaked around Naruto's arm and the helix, in an intricate design to meet at one point in the middle of the wrist.
(A/N: This contract will be explained later when Naruto uses it.)
Naruto was sick for three days with a high temperature; he was constantly thrashing around in bed and had occasional chakra flames surrounded him that would destroy anything in their path.
When he finally woke up he found that he grew about a foot, his muscle mass almost doubled, his eyes, ears and hair had changed, his whisker marks were thicker, he had two very sharp fangs that could easily break bones and of course he had the tattoo that the Kyuubi had given him. When asked about the tattoo by Itachi, Naruto simply said that it was a farewell present from the Kyuubi and didn't elaborate anymore.
Psychologically Naruto was mostly unchanged, he became a little bit more possessive of things that were his. He would only need about three to four hours of sleep, occasionally five if he were really exhausted.
His chakra was seemingly unlimited, a Rasengan wouldn't even take away a percent. He never seemed to use up more than 25% of his chakra. He was now blessed with night vision and could interchange his own scent with that of a fox.
The scary thing was that he was constantly figuring out new things that he could do. It seemed that after every battle, or at least after serious ones, there was something new that he learned. Not that Naruto minded at all.
End Flashback
'That was six months ago… after staying with me for 18 years of my life… he left…' thought Naruto sadly.
He had gotten used to having the Kyuubi inside of him. When the Kyuubi merged with Naruto it felt like Naruto had lost a part of his soul. That little voice in the back of his head that advised him.
Naruto sighed, 'never thought I'd miss that fox…'
Naruto shook his head slightly, 'enough now; time to get to bed, so that I will have a good five or six hours to do some scouting.'
Next day the jounin exam participants were set to meet by training area 44 at 9am. Nazashi showed up at about ten minutes to nine.
'Forest of Death, again? Please not another scroll hunt' thought Nazashi, 'well may as well look around and pretend to show some curiosity in the other participants.'
Nazashi noticed that the villages weren't interacting with each other, but rather stayed in their own groups talking quietly amongst themselves. Nazashi looked around until he spotted the Konoha group and slowly made his way closer to them hoping to hear some interesting details about what happened while he was away.
As he got closer he was able to make out who was taking the exam, he recognized everyone except three people. Sasuke, Ino, Shikamaru, Hinata, Kiba, Tenten, Lee, and Shino. Were the ones he recognized, the others he couldn't even tell which clans they were from and he surely didn't know them.
'Well that's not good… I need to know who is a liability.'
Sasuke looked much the same except a bit taller. His hairstyle was the exact same and he also had short diagonal lines going across his cheek, but they were a lot less distinct than Itachi's. He wore the standard chuunin vest over a black shirt with the Uchiha fan on the sleeves, black shorts and standard blue sandals. 'He looks so much like Itachi, it's simply amazing.'
Ino had tight black shorts and dark red shirt over which she wore her chuunin vest. She had grown out her hair again and it was in the same style as it was five years ago. 'She looks a lot more attractive,' smirked Nazashi.
Shikamaru, he looked exactly the same except he was taller and had a beard. 'My god… is he so lazy that he doesn't bother to change his appearance over five years?'
Hinata still wore the traditional Hyuga clothes, but had grown her hair out and it was now a bit below her shoulders. Also she now had an aura of confidence around her. 'Seems like the shy girl grew up to become a beautiful woman.'
Kiba wore long black pants with his old gray jacket, Nazashi couldn't tell if he wore a shirt under the jacket or not. 'He looks grown up, but does he act like it?' Next to Kiba was Akamaru that now stood as tall as Kiba's mid-thigh; his white fur had taken on a more reddish color. 'That dog means business now.'
Tenten and Shino seemed to not change at all except in height. 'What is it with this village and lack of change? Damn conservative sons of bitches, everyone probably has the same old mentality about the Kyuubi and their damned demon child…' Nazashi had to mentally slap himself to stop these thoughts, since his left hand was now slightly shaking in anger.
Lee had become an exact copy of Gai, I mean exact. 'I wonder if he has a rivalry with Sasuke?'
Nazashi decided to keep his distance and instead activated his advanced hearing.
"Hey Lee, how are you feeling about going into this place again?" asked Kiba.
"I'm a little nervous about the whole exam, but this place still gives me the creeps," answered Lee.
"Well I think we are going to kick ass! With all the training we had, we will certainly pass!" said Kiba in a cocky tone.
'Same old showoff' thought Nazashi.
"How are you doing Hinata?" asked Kiba.
"Fine, I'm pretty confident" said Hinata in a calm voice, then added a bit softer "I have to do this… for Neji… and Naruto-kun" the final name was in a whisper that no one could hear.
Kiba seemed to understand and nodded sadly, "it's really a shame that that had to happen. He would have been a great ninja, especially since he managed to rid himself of his superiority complex."
"Yes, thanks to Naruto-kun…" the last part was whispered.
"You still think he'll come back?" asked Kiba.
"I have to believe… believe that we didn't lose two ninjas in that one mission," she gave a slight glare in Sasuke's direction.
'Nice to see he's not well liked,' Nazashi smirked behind his mask.
"Yeah…" said Kiba sadly, "with Neji dying and Naruto going away…"
'So Neji never did recover… interesting…'
Naruto then shifted his attention to Tenten, Ino and Shikamaru.
"Hey how come Chouji isn't participating?" asked Tenten.
"He can't…" said Shikamaru sadly.
"Why not? I've worked with him several times and he's pretty strong," said Tenten.
"His health doesn't permit him to become a jounin," said Ino "his body just won't be able to handle that kind of stress."
"Oh yea that's right, he never fully recovered from five years ago… sorry I asked" apologized Tenten.
"No, it's alright…" said Shikamaru.
'Seems that so much shit happened on that one mission,' Nazashi sighed 'at least he was able to become a chuunin. He's a good person and a good ninja, he deserves it.'
Tenten suddenly smiled slyly, "anyway how are you two Naras doing?"
"Hey, we aren't married yet" retorted Ino pushing Tenten slightly.
Shikamaru just looked bored as usual and mumbled something about troublesome women.
'So, Ino and Shikamaru… interesting… a lot has happened while I was out.'
Akamaru's barking, made Nazashi re-focus his attention on Kiba. Nazashi noticed that Akamaru seemed to be looking at him.
"What is it boy? What do you smell?" asked Kiba.
Nazashi instantly hid himself in the crowd, his little espionage session over.
"What, you smell a fox? The Grass-nin is suspicious?" Kiba repeated what Akamaru said.
'Shit, maybe changing my scent to a fox's wasn't such a good idea… I forgot foxes are taboo in Konoha. Gotta be careful not summon one here.'
Just then the examiner for the test appeared in storm of leaves. He was dressed in regular jounin clothes with his forehead protector on his head, except it was tilted down to cover his left eye. (A/N: if you don't know who this is, re-read the whole manga)
'Out of all the possibilities it had to HIM. Seems I'm gonna have no luck here,' Nazashi's right arm shook in anger at the sight of his former teacher. 'oh how I hope to go up against his prized student. I wonder how good Sasuke is with the sharingan and whether or not he has Mangekyou.'
"Welcome everybody, to the jounin exam, my name is Hatake Kakashi."
"Now for the first part of the exam, you will each get a scroll with a special number on it" explained Kakashi.
'Oh god, not again' thought a bored Nazashi.
"For the next five days you will be living in there," said Kakashi pointing behind him, "The Forest of Death."
Some of the chuunins cringed slightly at the name, but most didn't seem to care.
"Now try not to lose your scroll, since in your hands it is worth 3 points. In anyone else's hands it is worth 1 point. To pass this part you have to have at least 4 points by the end of 5 days."
'So each person has to fight at least one other person. Easy enough.'
"You will not be allowed to leave the forest for the next 5 days. ANBU will be posted right outside to make sure of that, anyone who leaves will instantly be disqualified. At the end of the 5-day time period you are to report to the tower in the middle of the forest. The tower's doors will open only AFTER the 5-day period is up," explained Kakashi "any questions?"
No one said anything and Kakashi told everyone that the exam would begin in one hour.
As Nazashi went to the stand to take his scroll, he overheard the conversation between Kakashi and Kurenai.
"I'm surprised you were on time" said Kurenai.
Kakashi put his hand on the back of his head, "Well… you see the Hokage threatened some horrible things if I were late…"
"Really? Like what?" asked Kurenai.
"She said she would personally come into my house and burn all the 'Come Come Paradise' books I owned" answered Kakashi.
Kurenai's eyebrow twitched a couple of times before she finally socked him in the face, then just turned around and walked away from him mumbling something about perverts.
'And some things never change.'
One Hour Later
Nazashi was jumping through the forest looking for Kiba, when he suddenly smelled three ninjas in front of him.
'It's those three Leaf-nin that I don't know…'
Nazashi instantly created a Kage Bushin and sent it to explore on the ground, while the real Nazashi followed in the trees.
The clone ran into the clearing to find that no one was there. Suddenly it noticed that several shuriken were flying at him. It dodged them rather easily, but was kicked in the stomach by someone and sent flying into a tree. The three Leaf-nin then jumped down from their hiding places and started moving towards the fallen clone.
'What idiots…' thought Nazashi with a small sigh.
Nazashi waited until the three ninjas were right next to his clone and then finally jumped down performing hand seals in midair. He landed with absolute silence, whispered "Katon: Karyuu Endan," brought his fingers to his mouth and breathed out fire.
The ninjas barely had time to turn their heads around when the fire upon them. They screamed as the flames consumed them.
Once the jutsu was done, Nazashi looked the burned corpses of three ninjas. 'Idiots… gathering like that over a clone… psh… rookies…'
Nazashi searched them and found the scrolls were unharmed.
'Seems they are smarter this time and actually put a barrier jutsu on the scroll.'
"Thank you," said Nazashi to the corpses as he pocketed the scrolls and ran off to find Kiba.
Kiba was walking through a small clearing with Akamaru at his side. Suddenly Akamaru turned his head and growled.
"What is it Akamaru?" asked Kiba looking around.
Akamaru barked.
"That fox smell again, huh?" Kiba contemplated, then yelled out "come out and fight like a man!"
Nazashi chuckled and walked out into the clearing, "hello Kiba."
"How the hell do you know my name!?" yelled Kiba.
"Don't recognize?" said Nazashi in a flat tone "that's too bad…"
Nazashi tilted his head to the side and asked, "how about now?"
'What the hell?' thought a bewildered Kiba 'his scent just changed. That's impossible… yet it's somehow familiar.'
"Don't remember?" Nazashi continued in the flat tone "seems your memory isn't that good Kiba."
'My memory… wait a second…' chills ran down Kiba's spine "Could it be…?"
"Could it be… who?" continued Nazashi.
"…Naruto…?" asked Kiba uncertainly.
"Yes Kiba, long time no see."
Nazashi's tone was beginning to unnerve Kiba. Also the fact that Nazashi's eyes were completely cold made Kiba shiver a little bit, but he didn't pay attention to it.
"So you've finally returned?" asked Kiba in a happy tone "So good to have you back."
Nazashi couldn't help but smirk under his mask, 'he's relaxing, his defenses are falling… thank you Kiba you're making this a lot easier.'
"For as long as I'm back…" countered Nazashi.
"What do you mean by that?" said Kiba with a hint of confusion in his voice.
"Let's just say I'm not planning to stay for long" answered Nazashi in a sly tone.
"You've joined another village haven't you?" asked Kiba motioning to the forehead protector on Nazashi's arm.
"Oh this… this is borrowed, in the interest of getting into Konoha."
"Borrowed?" asked Kiba slowly raising his defenses once again, "then why are you here?" then as an after thought added, "to get the jounin title right?"
'Thank you Kiba you kept your defenses down just long enough for me to set everything up.'
"It's not about the title, it's about the skill" replied Nazashi in a cold tone.
Nazashi's heightened senses told him that they were completely alone, so he didn't mind disclosing this information to Kiba.
"And I'm not here on behalf of any village, but I am here on behalf of an organization…" said Nazashi slyly.
'Organization? What the hell could he mean by that? But by the looks of it he expects me to know…' Kiba mused thoughtfully 'Hokage-same mentioned something about an organization some time ago… WAIT… if I remember correctly she said that that organization had been looking for Naruto… but no way…'
Nazashi noted Kiba's eyes flash in confused realization and said, "yes Kiba it is the one you are thinking of."
The fear was clearly written on Kiba's face for several seconds before he finally composed himself and that fear turned to anger.
"You… you betrayed the Leaf!" growled Kiba and Akamaru.
Nazashi laughed slightly, "What's the matter Kiba, didn't expect me to be an enemy?"
"I'm gonna kill you!" yelled Kiba "you will die a traitor's death!"
'There he goes again telling me his goal… and it looks like he's blinded by emotion, betrayal if I'm not mistaken. You're making this too easy Kiba.'
"Beast Effect Ninpou" yelled Kiba "Beast Human Bushin."
Kiba grew claws and Akamaru transformed into Kiba.
"Piercing Fang" yelled Kiba, as he and Akamaru spun about their center wildly and headed straight for Nazashi.
'This old technique? How do you expect to win against me using something I have already seen?' thought Nazashi in a bored tone.
Nazashi merely placed his hands in the chakra summoning position, "Raiton: Electric Wall no Jutsu" he whispered.
Suddenly the outlines of a chain-linked fence made up of electricity became visible right in front of Kiba. Kiba saw it, but could not bring himself or Akamaru to stop in time and forcefully collided with the wall. As the electric current made its way into Kiba's body he screamed as his muscles were being burned, Akamaru was forced to return to his original state and also whimpered and howled in pain.
Nazashi smirked, "thank you Kiba, you lowered your defenses just enough for me to be able to set this up. Otherwise I would have had to go through a lot more hand seals."
At that point the wall seemed to collapse, but did not fade, rather it became more like a net through which the electricity was still circulating.
"Oh dear me…" said Nazashi in a fake carrying tone "did I forget to mention that this is an Electric Wall, Chakra Net Combo."
Nazashi then stretched out his right hand, with the palm pointing upwards and wiggled his fingers in what seemed to be a random order. However every time he wiggled a finger Kiba and Akamaru would howl in pain.
"You see Kiba, through the use of chakra strings I am controlling the amount of chakra going into the Chakra Net. This way also allows me to contrast and expand the net as I see fit. The chakra is actually being converted to electric energy, hence the name 'Electric Chakra Net.'"
Nazashi suddenly shook off his hand and the Chakra Net disappeared. Nazashi quietly surveyed the damage he had done. Akamaru was completely knocked out, perhaps dead, and Kiba was struggling to get to his feet.
"Ah…" sighed Nazashi "enough is enough Kiba… time to end this," said Nazashi in a cold bored tone.
Suddenly Kiba felt pain in his back and chest. He looked down and his eyes widened in horror.
A hand, a clawed hand completely covered in blood was sticking out of his chest. Kiba's leg muscles no longer held him up, this hand was the only thing that was keeping him from falling. He suddenly noticed that the Nazashi in front of him disappeared in a cloud of smoke, 'that was a Kage Bushin?'
Blood was now pouring out of Kiba's mouth like a river, he was finding it difficult to breathe. He coughed, but more blood just kept coming out. The world around him seemed to get hazy and spin a little, somewhere far off in the distance it seemed he heard a voice, "goodbye Kiba, this was a nice reunion we had…" The voice seemed to continue to say something else, but he couldn't make out what. Suddenly his head dropped down and the last thing he saw was blood red before the world faded to black.
"… this was a nice reunion we had, but you're a liability Kiba. I can't have you exposing me," said Nazashi in a completely cold tone. "I'm sorry it had to end this way, seems another person of out five-man team has died, but… such is life."
Nazashi took Kiba's scroll and stood for a second thinking, 'now who else could be a liability? Sasuke? Not really… Lee? Definitely not… Shikamaru? A potential, he'll pick up on clues easily enough… Shino? Probably not… Hinata? Also probably not… Tenten? Nope… Ino? Hmm… with her mind-jutsus and all, a potential.'
Nazashi then ran off on a random course through the forest hoping to meet up with Shikamaru or Ino.
Ino was running through the forest when she suddenly spotted someone out of the corner of her eye. She slowed down and quietly crept up to see who it was. There she saw the Grass-nin seemingly sleeping with his back against a tree.
A smile slowly crept its way to her lips, 'perfect I'll just use my Mind-Body Switch jutsu and take his scroll.'
Ino positioned her hands in that special seal and said, "Shintenshin no Jutsu." Instantly Ino's body when limp, while Nazashi's body began moving. Ino/Nazashi stood up, took his scroll out, walked over to Ino's body and put it in her pouch. Ino/Nazashi then went back to where he was before and Ino then released her jutsu.
Ino woke up in her own body, checked to make sure she had the scroll, and smiled a little bit, "good I got a scroll. Now I have to keep it for the next 5 days. I better find Shika-ku…"
However Ino was unable to finish her musing, because she felt her right arm being painfully twisted behind her back and felt cold steel graze her neck.
"Ahhh…" cried Ino and struggled against her captor.
"Calm down Ino-chan," said a cold voice behind her "wouldn't want Shika-kun to mourn you now would you?"
Ino froze, "h-how d-did you know… my name?"
"Nobody seems to recognize me after five years," continued the voice "I suppose that's a good thing though… considering the circumstances."
'Five years…' Ino then saw the body that she had occupied vanish in a push of smoke, 'a Kage Bushin… no way…'
"Naruto… is that you?" asked Ino in a shaky voice.
"Guilty as charged," answered Nazashi in a slightly amused voice, "however it's Nazashi now… or at least for now."
Ino hesitantly reached for the scroll she had just stolen only to find the pocket completely empty.
"No Ino-chan, that scroll was a fake. Did you really think someone would just fall asleep like that?"
"You have my scroll, now let me go" Ino whimpered.
"Ah yes, but you know who I am…" said Nazashi.
"I won't tell anyone… I promise" Ino whimpered in pain.
Nazashi immediately noticed this, "am I hurting you Ino-chan?"
"Could you just relax the grip you have on my arm?" asked Ino.
"Then you would have a higher chance to escape," replied Nazashi in a flat tone "and I don't see why I should have to chase you, if I already have a tight hold."
"Release me!" commanded Ino, "or.. I'll scream… and then more people will come and your identity will be found out."
Nazashi's cold laughter sent a chill down Ino's spine.
"You scream and I'll shove this kunai straight through your voice box," said Nazashi in a cold voice after abruptly ending his laughter. Ino trembled visibly.
"And another thing Ino-chan, there's nobody around us in a half mile radius" Nazashi stated simply.
"W-w-what do you want with m-me?" asked Ino.
"Ah… getting down to business, are we?" said Nazashi as more of a statement.
"Well if you must know," Nazashi then leaned in and whispered into Ino's ear, "I consider you a liability."
"L-l-liability…?" questioned Ino uncertainly.
"Yes, a liability. A liability that a Missing-nin like myself doesn't need."
"Are you going to kill me?" asked Ino in a surprisingly calm tone.
"I like you Ino-chan…" said Nazashi while running a finger through her hair, "you gave me a much better welcome than Kiba" said Nazashi instead of an answer.
"You've met Kiba…?"
"Yes, and you will meet him soon too" stated Nazashi in an amused cold tone "however… since you're so much nicer, you will go there more quickly and easily."
Nazashi's head shifted slightly and Ino could hear sharp, short inhaling noises.
"Hmm… it seems we are out of time…" stated Nazashi.
"So, sorry that we have to cut this joyous reunion short, I would have loved to stay and chat about old times, but I must leave now…" said Nazashi and brought the kunai closer to Ino's throat.
Nazashi then leaned in a whispered softly into Ino's ear, "Goodbye, Ino-chan… don't worry if circumstances permit I'll be sure to tell Shika-kun that you loved him very much."
Ino's body shook and several teardrops fell out of her eyes, "Shika-kun…" 'Why does it have to end like this?'
And with that Nazashi dug his kunai into one side of her throat and pulled it all the way to the other side.
"Too bad it had to end this way Ino-chan… but… my mission comes first," said Nazashi while gently placing Ino's body on the ground.
'Poor Shika-kun he was always nice to me and he I go and do something like this… I may as well…'Nazashi took out a piece of paper, wrote something quickly in Ino's blood and put it in her vest pocket.
He then stood up, did a few quick hand seals and disappeared.
Standing on top of the tallest tree in the vicinity Nazashi surveyed his position in the forest.
'Hmm… just my horrible accursed luck… I'm on the far edge of the forest, directly opposite of the place I have to scout.'
Nazashi looked once more at the scenery memorizing the approximate path that he would have to take. Since he wanted to avoid the tower, he would have to go on a slight detour.
'No real problem… about 20km… so at non-suspicious speeds that would take me about two or three hours, one and a half if I don't encounter resistance.'
Six Hours Later
Nazashi was at the edge of the forest and was preparing to sneak out of the testing area.
'First it's five Leaf-nins, now it's five random ninjas. And why is everyone so hell bent on killing me? I would have just pounded the crap out some of them, but no they give me shit like "I'm not going to give up until I die" and many other variations. Then when I DO kill them, fear is the dominating emotion clearly written in their eyes.'
Nazashi was just appalled at the absolute stupidity of some of the ninjas.
'Why is everyone so stupid? I know I'm good at hiding my chakra and erasing my presence, but this is sad. How hard is it to understand that I always move in doubles, my clone is in front and I'm slightly lagging behind. God, the Kyuubi was right, "stupid, arrogant and ignorant humans" never thought I would actually believe him.'
Nazashi now considered himself more like a half-demon or something, but absolute NOT a regular human.
He had just finished bandaging his right forearm, which was damaged by a wind attack and was now swapping his Grass forehead protector for his old Leaf forehead protector. 'Who would have thought that I actually would need this someday.'
'Now lets see… the guards are only posted at the fence, so I'll just use Shadow Step and teleport myself up to its maximum of 500 yards.'
Nazashi started doing the hand seals, but suddenly stopped when he remembered a little detail, 'I can't go like this, I'll need to change my appearance.' Nazashi smirked and laughed slightly, 'Seems I only use this jutsu in the Leaf…'
"Henge," Nazashi whispered and transformed into his girl form. 'Sexy no Jutsu… with clothes this time around… now Shadow Step and I can go scouting after dinner.'
Five Days Later
Most of survivors had already made it into the building and the examiners were going to close the doors, when they felt a slight chakra signature heading toward the tower.
Nazashi was the last person to enter the tower. He would have forgotten about the exam, if he hadn't reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the scrolls. In his hurry he almost forgot to switch back his forehead protectors.
Once inside Nazashi walked up to a jounin sitting behind a desk that was covered in scrolls.
"Give me your name and your scroll" ordered the jounin.
"Nazashi of the Grass" said Nazashi and handed the jounin his scroll.
"Alright I have verified that this is indeed your scroll, so you now have 3 points; now give me any other scrolls you collected."
Nazashi then reached into another pocket and pulled out 10 other scrolls. The jounin's eyes widened at the amount of scrolls Nazashi had.
"Wow! Well you certainly set the record for the most scrolls…" stated the jounin in a somewhat dreamy voice.
The jounin noticed that five of the scrolls were that of Leaf-nins, "did you kill anyone to obtain these scrolls?"
Nazashi knew that the jounin was mostly asking this in relation to the Leaf-nins, "this is the real world… shit happens… now where do I go?" said Nazashi in a cold voice.
"Um… just go down the corridor and take a left. You will arrive at a small arena."
Upon walking in he was lined up along with the other participants. Nazashi looked around the room to survey who was still there. 'Seems I was the only person to take out any of the Leaf ninjas.'
Nazashi came up with the following list for the remaining participants:
Grass – 1; Leaf – 6; Sand – 2; Stone – 1; Mist – 2; Rain – 2; Cloud – 1; Snow – 1
In the front of the room a jounin seemed to drop out of nowhere and land calmly in front of the crowd.
"Good day everyone that survived it through the first part of the exam, my name is Maito Gai and I will be your examiner for the next test."
'Oh god, he hasn't changed a bit… he's still a freak…' thought Nazashi as he looked at Gai trying very hard to hide his disgust. 'Still if he's the examiner, then the test must be taijutsu related… not that I really care…'
"The next part of the exam will commence in two days at training area 29 at 11:00am. This should give you plenty of time to relax," said Gai with his signature pose.
Nazashi noticed all the Leaf-nins sweat drop and shake their heads in disapproval, while Nazashi just sighed deeply.
"Oh yes and the next test will consist of one-on-one fights, taijutsu ONLY!" yelled Gai.
After that all the chuunins were dismissed. Nazashi made a few hand seals and vanished, not wanting to deal with any of his former comrades anymore.
'Taijutsu only, huh? Better make sure I don't use any lost arts. It really depends on who I'm going to be fighting though.'
IMPORTANT!!IMPORTANT!!IMPORTANT!!
for exam 2, do you want me to describe every fight in detail?
(i'm gonna do it for nazashi's no matter what)
there will be 8 fights and i was planning on writting about the second exam in ONE chapter, but i could spill it... should i, should i not?
plz tell me what you think
kiba's and ino's jutsu names are taken out of the manga
oh yes i'm finally utilizing some more-or-less original jutsus...
howz the battles? too bloody for you?? or not enough?? -demonic laughter is heard in the background-
what is naruto's mission??? suspenceful isn't it...? not telling yet =P
but ur welcome to guess =)
and im just really blabering now......