Chapter Twelve - Chunin Exams III

They were at the Forest of Death, but were allowed a bit of leisure time to talk to their sensei if they came or to, as Anko said, 'contemplate life and write their will'. This got a few people antsy and many were now fidgeting as they talked with their sensei, but many Konoha teams were left to fend for themselves; this included the rookies.

However, Naruto is laying on the ground with his head in Hinata's lap as she plays with his hair. She made a pair of braids to frame his face with one longer one at the back of his head. He let her do her thing and just had his eyes closed to enjoy the sun.

"Pssst."

His ears twitched.

"Pssssst."

Just ignore it, Naruto, they'll go away eventually.

"PSSSSST!"

"What!"

Naruto leaned up and glared to his left to see who was disturbing his relaxation and was surprised to see a red headed girl with a Kusa headband. She is wearing glasses over red eyes and is wearing a purple zip-up turtleneck jacket with nothing underneath, black biker shorts, thigh high stockings and black sandals. She suddenly turned bashful when he yelled at her, blushing as she adjusted her glasses.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you with your girlfriend, but I wanted to ask you if you really are an Uzumaki? I heard the proctor from the first exam call you by that name."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the question. "Can I ask who you are before I answer that?"

"Oh!" Her eyes lit up at not being immediately rejected or yelled at. "My name is Karin, Karin Uzumaki!"

Naruto remembered that from the scroll he got before the Wave mission. Well, this just makes it one less person to search for. "Yes, my name is Naruto Uzumaki. My hair is blonde due to my father, Minato Namikaze, but my mother is Kushina Uzumaki."

"The Red Blade of the Swirling Leaves!"

Naruto chuckled at the girl's sudden enthusiasm and nodded his head. "Yeah, that's her." He then glanced around for her teammates but with how it looks they are not around currently, so he leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "I am rebuilding our clan. I want to know if you are interested in bringing back the Uzumaki clan."

As he leaned back, he was not prepared for the slap he received and he had to hold up a hand to stop Hinata from attacking her. Karin's face is in a deep blush that matches her hair and she is stuttering. "We just met!"

"I didn't mean it like that!" Naruto hissed out, making the girl blink. "I mean, I am bringing the family back together. I am looking for Uzumaki and seeing if they will come back and rebuild what our clan used to be."

Karin opened her mouth in realization and bowed her head in embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry. I thought you meant…sexually."

Naruto rolled his eyes but chuckled. "No, I just met you and I'm not getting with anyone just for the sake of it. I'm not that desperate. So, about the offer?"

The girl paused to think to herself, her eyes seeming to drift in the direction that her team is in.

She doesn't need to know the repercussions for the possibility if she refuses.

Otherwise, it would be a false loyalty, Kyuubi nodded his head in agreement with his container's choice. We need to know she really wants to be a clan again and won't waver.

"I'm worried about my team," Karin finally said slowly, hesitantly looking back at him as she instinctively gripped her left arm. "They and my village won't be happy if I leave."

Naruto immediately looked down at her arm and he calmed himself before he asked an important question. And depending on what she shows will affect whether she'll have a team to worry about. "Let me see your arm, Karin-chan."

The girl jumped and Hinata, who has been watching quietly with an analyzing gaze, looked down at her arm with her Byakugan activated. What she saw made her suck in a quick breath before she could stop herself.

"How bad, Hina?"

She whined out hesitantly as her answer, causing Naruto to tense. He softly grasped Karin's hand, making her tense and bite her lip, before rolling up her sleeve a few centimeters before he already felt he would be justified in any punishment he would end up giving her teammates. Deep bites that looked to have once caused bleeding can be seen and some were pretty fresh.

"Those bastards."

The Uzumaki chakra healing ability did not need you to gnaw at the arm like a steak! You put your mouth over the hand or limb and would be healed when the Uzumaki channeled the chakra into that area! What these Kusa-nin are doing is abuse!

Naruto moved to get to his feet but Karin immediately latched onto him to keep him on the ground with her. "Please don't! They can't know that I've been sharing secrets with you!"

"I am the Prince of the Uzumaki clan, and you are related to me," Naruto hissed out but stopped when he saw tears welling up in her eyes. He sighed. "Fine, I will refrain from killing or severely harming your teammates for now. But know this, if I run across you and your team I will kill your teammates and have your village believe you are dead."

Karin nodded, knowing that answer would be the best she got. "Thank you."

"Answer me, are you interested in joining the Uzumaki clan again?" She nodded this time as she wiped her eyes. "Then be prepared to be moved to Uzushio by the end of this Exam."

She was going to ask why the island since it was in ruins but a whistle blew through the area.

"Alright, brats, line up for the second part of your exam!"

Anko watched with a grin as the sensei left and the Genin gathered before her. Her eyes found the delicious Fox walking away from Hinata to his team and she grinned even wider when his eyes caught hers. She felt the desire to chase him as soon as he playfully rolled his eyes at her. She loved that stubborn playfulness!

"Alright, everyone, I have some announcements to make. I hope all of you signed the waiver we sent out when you got here because the entire team will have to sign it to be able to participate in the next part. The area behind me is the Forest of Death, more commonly known as Restricted Training Grounds number forty-four, and this is where we will have a bit of a survival exercise."

"Your team will be sent in with one of two scrolls; Heaven, or Earth. Your objective is to get the other that you do not have before you need to reach the building at the center of the forest. However, you cannot, under any circumstances, open your scrolls until you reach the middle with both scrolls. If you do, there can be…hehe dire consequences. Like death! Isn't that fun?"

Everyone was immediately on edge as Anko broke out into deranged giggling that, for all intents and purposes, must be exaggerated to mess with the Genin psychologically. However, for Naruto, who knew her more than many people can say, knew that this was not an act and that she meant every word she said. This will likely actually kill them.

"You have five days to reach the center with both a Heaven and an Earth scroll. If you don't, you fail. Whether that also leads to death depends, as we will not be going out there to retrieve you." People began chatting in concern to the threat of being abandoned during the exam. "Oh, calm down, it's a joke! Probably. Eh. Anyway, the stipulation is that there is no limit to what it takes to get the other scroll. Go crazy!"

"W-what do you mean?" Sakura had raised her hand as she asked the question.

"Kill each other," Anko grinned at the girl. "Kill, maim, incapacitate, anything you want! You need to do what it takes to get the other scroll."

"So that means that no matter what, half the teams minimum will fail," Sasuke said aloud in thought, causing many people to break out in more whispers.

Naruto looked around, and the three teams that were looking at him from the previous exam seemed unfazed by this. If anything, they expected that and were willing to act on it.

"Exactly! For each team that passes, that means one team has been beaten or killed for their scroll! But, the forest is very large so it is possible to not find a team in time to pass." Anko looked around with a smirk and motioned to the tent that had been set up. "When you are ready, one team at a time will go in to get a random scroll given by an assistant proctor. Be quick, I want to see the bloodshed get started as soon as possible."


"What's the plan, Sasuke-kun?"

"Yeah, Sasuke-kun," Naruto mocked while he fluttered his eyes at the Uchiha. "What's the plan in that beautiful head of yours?"

"Baka!"

Naruto leaned back to easily dodge the girl's poor attempt to hit him and he chuckled at her flustered expression while Sasuke just looked annoyed. "Whatever, I prefer women anyway. Talk to me again when you start wearing a skirt and growing your hair out."

Naruto grinned at the twitch of the Uchiha's lips that couldn't decide whether to give in and smile at the joke or to frown at the implication he will do drag. "Shut up, idiot. The plan is that we travel as far and as fast as we can into the forest. There are a total of twenty-eight teams left. Do you know the exact size of the grounds?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the question. "Hm, I believe it is about sixty square kilometers. About fifteen species of carnivorous insects, seventeen carnivorous animals, and four species of poisonous plants."

Sasuke was surprised by the blonde's information and his knowledge of a restricted training grounds.

At the look on his face, Naruto shrugged. "I got Hokage-jiji to let me train here while I'm at the academy."

Sasuke decided that he won't question why an academy student would be allowed here under any circumstances and instead continued on with continuing his plan. "Alright, we will travel at least an hour into the forest or until we find another team. Rinse and repeat until we get a Heaven scroll."

"Why not just go to the center and ambush an exhausted team as they go to turn in their scrolls?"

Sasuke looked at the blonde. "Considering the monsters I've noticed of the other teams, I feel like they are dangerous even if they are exhausted. That redhead, Gaara, is especially dangerous."

"I would be able to handle him," Naruto assured his teammate. "The reason he seems strong is because he is like me. A Jinchuuriki."

"He has a Biju?!" Sasuke growled that he is only just now learning this. "He's from Suna, what Biju do they have?"

"One-Tail, the weakest one," Naruto answered. "However, the thing that makes him dangerous is that the Ichibi allows his host complete control of any sand he mixes his chakra into. That's why he carries that sand gourd. It's his main weapon."

Sasuke nodded his head. "I don't know any water jutsu."

"I do. As I said, I can handle him since I'm technically his older brother in terms of strength. But, if you truly do not want to, I won't pressure you to follow my plan."

Sasuke was quiet before the buzzer sounded and the gate started opening. "We will go with my plan and if the first team we run into doesn't have the scroll we need then we will do what you said. I want you to take point since you know the forest, I will cover the rear while Sakura stays in the middle."

With a nod from Naruto and Sakura, the three of them burst up into the branches and into the forest.


Knock knock knock

"Come on," Hiruzen called as he finished adjusting a commission from a civilian merchant.

Jiraiya walked inside and approached the Hokage's desk, surprising the aged man that his former student didn't enter through his window again. Seeing the serious expression on the Sannin's face, however, made him put aside any other paperwork to give his entire attention. "Jiraiya, what's wrong?"

"Naruto is rebuilding Uzushiogakure. He's gathered former retainers and their families, the merchant families, and civilians from around the nations and from afar. He's done it, and I find out that you knew. Why didn't you tell me?"

Hiruzen widened his eyes as he heard his student speak. "I didn't think he would actually do it, not to this degree, but I should have known when he made that promise that he would follow through all the way. He told me when he arrived from Wave that he had done some things but it seems he didn't share everything."

Hiruzen was upset that his relationship with the blonde is still so strained, but he understood that it was to be expected. He simply reminded himself to be there for the boy and to support him as much as he can through his actions and choices. He owed it to Minato and Kushina, for all his mistakes and hasty decisions that had hurt the boy and stunted his growth.

"Why didn't you stop him?"

"It's not my place to make that call, nor is it yours," Hiruzen gave a hard stare when he answered and his tone was deathly calm. "If Naruto wishes to do what Kushina had no care to, then that is his business. I set up the transactions for out-of-village payments that were sent to a port he named to me. Each monthly transaction was sent with an Anbu of my choice and they were met with a young boy by the name of Lord Phantomhive and his servant Sebastion."

The Anbu he used to send was Itami Uchiha when she was still in his employ, then it fell to Yugao and Yamato whenever one or the other was not on a mission. They were sworn to secrecy to not speak on what they see or learn, as it is considered clan business which, if shared, is punishable with imprisonment. While he never knew for sure how far Naruto was going or where he was in terms of gathering those once loyal to his clan, he trusted the boy as he was intelligent and capable. He would not make a bad move and risk the progress he has made thus far.

"Phantomhive is the merchant fleet that is selling candy, toys, cosmetics, and theater equipment. They are a supplier of movie companies, providing much of the equipment to the Princess Gale movies." Jiraiya paused as he looked at his sensei and his eyes narrowed. "From what I found, he has gathered the surviving retainer clans, what's left of them, and he has been some Prince for the last five years. They have an influence on the other continent across the Kaizoku Sea, and have some outlying villages at Sky and Demon."

"That's good," Hiruzen surprised his student with a nod. "That means they're growing steadily and are strong enough to not have to remain stuck on their island anymore."

"This is wrong, sensei!" Jiraiya shouted, causing Hiruzen to activate the office's privacy seal array. "He is a Genin of Konohagakure, and he hasn't held that rank for more than a year! He cannot have loyalties to any other village but our own!"

"The Uzumaki are not a Konoha clan!" Hiruzen slammed a fist on his desk, cracking it a bit. "The Uzumaki have always been independent! I wouldn't think you would forget my lessons about my time during the Second Ninja War! The Uzumaki will never swear allegiance to any village but their own! We gave Kushina sanctuary as the next Jinchuuriki to carry the burden that we cannot! Mito married the First and her family supported us! That is why we have the Uzu swirl on our vests to this day! We commemorate their support and sacrifice to make sure we survived!"

Hiruzen stood to his feet during his shouting and now stared at his student with such anger that he caused the man to step back a bit. "You are Konoha's spymaster, and your loyalties are to the village without question! That means you listen to me and you do not question my decisions! What I decided on Naruto reviving his clan and rebuilding his home village is not of your concern. When Naruto reaches Chunin after these exams, as I know he will pass even if I have to promote him myself, he will have the ability to move to Uzushiogakure if he decides to. That is for me to discuss, and you will not question any outcome we decide, am I clear, Jiraiya?"

"You do not have the authority to make any decisions as you are lucky I didn't take away your right as a godparent to have any legal presence in Naruto's life. You are gone for two years and you come back to me with your concerns about Naruto?! I should throttle you like when you were an impudent child nearly fifty years ago! He is not Minato! The sooner you stop trying to make Naruto like him, the sooner your heart can heal! You look at him and you can only see Minato and you only cause Naruto to push you away! As I said I have no doubt he will pass the Chunin Exams, whether you make the choice to watch him succeed or not! I, for one, cannot wait for the moment he actually wins this entire exam! But if you ruin any sense of joy and pride in this event, I will relieve you of your duties."

The two men are quiet as they just stare at each other before Jiraiya slumped slightly, a defeated aura around him. Hiruzen deactivated the seal and slowly sat back down in his chair, taking more puffs from his tobacco pipe as he silently stared at his former student. "Are we understood, Jiraiya?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Good, you are dismissed."


Well then. Poor Hiruzen has to deal with Jiraiya's bullshit smh. Anyway, we got Karin into the mix and she is being abused for her healing abilities. Naruto is teasing Sasuke more than ever, and now the rest of Team Seven knows that the redhead is more dangerous than they could hope to face.


InfinityMask: For your first comment, Danzo did gain power after the Second Shinobi War. His team and Hiruzen's team, having worked directly under Tobirama, were very influential so you wouldn't be long to assume that. You will have to see, as it has a bit more than that tied to the hush of the Uzumaki clan. For your second clan, they aren't technically Anbu but they are like them. This specific unit with whirlpool masks is the Whirling Tide unit who was mentioned in the eighth chapter I believe. As for the reason many do not witness them is that they utilize Uzumaki space-time fuinjutsu to be able to get into various locations, but if not done correctly or hastily they tend to end up in pieces. By the time the barrier monitors in Konohagakure realize someone unknown had entered Konohagakure out of nowhere, they tend to already be gone as they only enter to interact with Naruto.

Marquisshax: o.o well that's not nice. but guess what, friend, I write this for my own entertainment. If I wanted to make Sasuke a twink servant and cuckold everyone in Konohagakure and make up some stupid scheme to take over the Elemental Nations just on a whim that's my choice. If I want to genderbend a single character because I like that character and I think it would be nice for a relationship to be built between them and the main character then that is my decision to do so. So sit back and let daddy work and enjoy the ride or jump out of the moving vehicle because I don't take stops. :D