Disclaimer: do not own Naruto, the character or the anime/manga, Feneris however is my own Character.
True Power
Chapter 16: Run for the Tower
"Look out for the traps, idiot."
Sauske Uchiha
Team 7 and Team 5 hurled themselves through the trees of the Forest of Death. Gaara had his sand swirling around him in an earthy haze, and Haku had his sebon out ready to strike.
"So what's the plan, loser?" Sauske inquired, as Naruto changed his position in the group. "And why do you keep changing you formation?"
"It makes us harder to target," Naruto explained, "and our plan is to get to the tower ASAP."
"And watch out for traps," Haku added, as he disarmed a trap with his sebon.
"Um… what else should we look for?" Hinata asked.
"Ambushes," Gaara said, as he used his sand to disarm another trap.
"People waiting for groups with two scrolls to head to the tower?" Sauske guessed.
"Exactly," Gaara replied.
"In fact, we could be watched right now, as we speak," Haku said, shooting a needle into the bushes.
Out of sight a Rain Ninja staggered out of the brush, a sebon needle through his arm.
"Damn it," he hissed to his team mates. "They're more observant then we gave them credit for."
"I'm going to scout ahead," Naruto said to his team mates.
"Okay," Haku replied. "The password is: Flame Burst Jutsu."
Naruto split off from the group and disappeared into the trees up ahead.
Once he was out of sight, he made a hand seal causing red chakra to pour from the seal on his stomach and condense into the human form of Kyuubi.
"What do you want Kit?" the kitsune samurai asked in a bored tone.
"I need you to drive a few Rain Ninja forward," Naruto instructed. "I want to test out a new jutsu."
"Will do Kit," the demon said, as it disappeared into the bushes.
Naruto crouched in the bushes. Soon the Rain Ninjas burst into the clearing. "What was that?" one of them gasped.
"Some sort of demon," his team mate answered.
Naruto quickly went through the list of hand seals for his new jutsu in his head. "Let's see, Salamander, Crimson Dragon, and Fire Singer."
"Viking Funeral Jutsu!" he yelled, as the area burst into flames.
The inferno burned furiously for a few seconds before dieing out, leaving a charred clearing and the smell of burnt wood.
"Nice job," Kyuubi complimented as he approached Naruto and returned to the seal on Naruto's stomach.
"What the hell happened?" Sauske yelled as the two teams approached the clearing.
"Like it? That's my Viking Funeral Jutsu. I create a large fire that's completely under my control. Cool, huh?" Naruto said, a giant fox-like grin plastered across his face.
"So that's what you've been working on," Gaara said, with not a single hint of surprise.
"Let's just get going, we have all the scrolls we need anyway," Haku said, as he took to the trees.
"How on Earth can that loudmouth loser be so powerful?' Sauske thought to himself, as he took off after his team.
"You don't look surprised," Kai remarked.
"I'm not. Naruto creates new jutsus all they time," Haku answered.
"What are we going to do when we get to the tower anyway?" Kai asked.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Haku assured.
The teams broke through the foliage into a clearing. A tall oriental tower stood in the center. Walking inside, they found a riddle written on the wall.
"What do you think it means?" Kai asked.
"Feneris often says stuff similar to this effect," Haku replied after thinking for a few seconds. "I think it means we open both scrolls at the same time."
"Okay!" Naruto said as he grabbed an earth scroll. "Ready, one, two, three!"
Naruto and Gaara tore open the scrolls, a cloud a smoke billowed out revealing Feneris.
"Hey guys," he greeted cheerfully. "Good thing you got the scrolls. I assume Team 5 also has both scrolls."
Hinata nodded and produced both of her team's scrolls.
"Good, I can see they're genuine," Feneris said. "You have three days to take a breather before the next challenge, just stay in the tower."
As Feneris turned to leave, he saw Haku sign, "Fan got cursed."
Nodding in acknowledgement, Feneris signed, "I'll take it from here," and he vanished in a poof of smoke.
"Well we managed to get through that with little difficulty," Naruto stated after they had cleaned up. "Want to train?"
Team 7 went down to the dojo to find Hinata beating the tar out of a training dummy.
"Oh, hello Hinata," Naruto said. "Care for a spar with us?"
"Um, sure Naruto-kun," Hinata replied.
"Good," Haku said, taking a small cloth bag from his robe. "Take a number out of this bag Hinata."
Hinata reached into the bag and pulled out a 7, Naruto pulled out an 8, Gaara got a 2, and Haku pulled a 4.
"Okay, Naruto and Hinata spar first, since they pulled the two closest numbers, then me and Gaara," Haku explained, as he sat on a bench near the wall.
Naruto moved to the center of the dojo and took on a Taijutsu stance. Hinata followed him and took on the stance for the Gentle Fist style of the Hyuuga clan.
"Taijutsu only?" Naruto asked. Hinata nodded in reply.
"Okay, fight," Haku said, giving the go ahead for combat to start.
Naruto and Hinata fought for a few minutes. Naruto used what Haku identified as the Feral Claw Style, which used sheer fury, speed and strength to keep an opponent on the defensive and to do major damage at the same time. The Gentle Fist Style had done some damage to Naruto's arms slowing him down, and when Hinata had managed to close the chakra points on his arms, it had allowed her to actually get on the offensive.
"Okay that's enough," Haku said. "You can unseal his chakra points Hinata."
Hinata unsealed the chakra points on Naruto's arm and Haku and Gaara took the center.
The fight was short. Haku created five ice clones and surrounded Gaara. However, Gaara's sand armour held up to the steady crossfire of sebon needles. Finally, Haku unleashed an ice jutsu upon the sand armour, freezing the sand. Unfortunately for Haku, Gaara slipped some sand under Haku's line of sight, trapping him in a cocoon of sand, and burying Haku up to his neck.
"Draw!" Naruto called out.
"Well, that was a good spar," Haku stated, brushing sand off his robes. "Meet here again?"
Hinata nodded in agreement. "I-I'll show up," she stammered. "Sorry for not being better."
"Hey! You're actually really good, Hinata," Naruto argued. "Not many have managed to stand up as long as you have against the Feral Claw Style."
"If you actually want to learn more jutsus, take these," Haku offered, handing Hinata some scrolls. "Theses contain a few basic healing jutsus and Genjutsus. You should find these useful."
"Th-thank you, Naruto-kun, Haku-kun," Hinata stammered, darting out of the dojo.
After a walk up several flights of stairs, Team 7 walked into a room with three beds and a desk pushed against the wall.
"I'm going to do some equipment maintenance," Haku announced, taking out his needles, a leather pouch of lock picks, and a folding box filled with vials of poison.
"Good idea!" Naruto agreed. "I need a new sword as well. Hey Gaara!"
"Yes?" Gaara inquired.
"Can you acquire some raw metals? Preferably mirthril or adimandite."
Gaara didn't reply. He just walked to the window and opened it. A low rumble soon followed, and sand crept up the side of the tower. It pooled at Gaara's feet revealing a large chunk of black metal, a slightly smaller chuck of a silvery metal, and a few lumps of gold and silver.
"Thanks!" Naruto chirped, gathering up the metal. He placed it in the stove and made a hand seal. "Forge Fire Jutsu."
Naruto then sat in front of the stove, made another hand seal, and used his chakra to mould the melted metal.
Three days passed. Team 7 sparred with Hinata, who was actually improving, while Naruto worked on his sword after his round. More teams trickled in over the course of the three days, including the rest of the year's Rookie 12, and Gai's team. The team from the Sand came on the 3rd day, and the team from the Tide followed on the 4th day.
"Done!" Naruto exclaimed on the 5th and final day of the exam, showing his newly finished katana. The blade was a grey colour, with a silver hilt, a 9-tailed fox made of gold was set in the pommel, and orange flames danced softly down the length of the blade. "Like it? I named it Pyron."
"Elven for flame," Haku stated. "A good name."
A knock sounded on the door, and a kouichi with black hair and red eyes, stuck her head in the room. "Alright you three, lets go, the second part is over."
Authors Note: I would like to thank my English tutor for helping me edit this chapter.