-\/-
By the time Naruto was done, Teams 7, 8, 10, and team Gai all knew roughly what to expect. There was of course a minor panic when they figured that training ground forty-four was known as the forest of death, but it couldn't be that bad if they were sending the genins there.
Naruto opted to pack his stuff into scrolls, as opposed to a bulky backpack. They might need speed and he didn't fancy running around with so much dead weight. Tenten insisted he learned how to properly use at least basic seals and he picked it up rather fast… well, in theory at least. Having a bunch of time-accelerated shadow-clones doing the practice for him was almost stupidly overpowered. He could have an equivalent of a month of training every day.
So, he arrived at the training grounds quarter to seven. Some genins were already here, including his former classmates, so he just amused himself with a bit of gossip. Ino was just telling him about a potential romance going on between Asuma and Kurenai. Naruto was sure there was some attraction there, but he didn't know either of them to really contribute to the news in a meaningful way.
Anko appeared right on time and explained what the test was about. Naruto was only half-listened, much more focused on trying to figure what pranks he could pull during the exercise. There were so many possibilities. Clones disguised as animals. Or maybe as Anko telling people to leave. No… impersonating a proctor was probably forbidden. But no one said anything about knocking people out with his Oiroke no Jutsu.
"... And remember. Inside, you might be forced to kill. Both the animals and other contestants. So make sure you're ready for it because this test isn't for the faint of heart." Anko warned. She then proceeded with licking a bloodied kunai. Naruto shivered. He didn't fancy killing anyone. Then again, he might not get a choice.
"Damn. This isn't time for pranks. I need to treat everyone in the forest as a potential chunin already."
"Be careful, brat. You're actually growing on me. It would be a shame to lose you." Kurama growled in his mind.
"I love you too, furball!" The boy joked. Taunting a Biju wasn't smart, but it was funny as hell.
"Come on, dobe. We need to get to our gate before they start." Sasuke urged him.
"Hey! If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even know how to prepare." Naruto argued, which only made the Uchiha angrier. He gritted his teeth. Somehow, Naruto was able to learn the next task before it started and spread the news to his friends. Now they all owed him. I'm an elite. How can someone like that be better than me?
As soon as the test started, team 7 dashed forward. They figured they shouldn't remain by the gate in case someone tries to use move along the fence trying to catch inexperienced Genins. They leaped through the tree crowns for a good half an hour until they finally paused in a dark clearing.
"Listen, we need to prepare a password in case someone tries to impersonate us," Sasuke ordered. Naruto stopped following his words somewhere between 'listen' and 'we'. Which turned to be a mistake when the Uchiha grabbed his shoulder. "Did you get it, dobe?"
"Huh? Could you… repeat that last bit?" Naruto chuckled at his teammates' angered expression. Then, the call of nature hit him. "But in a bit. I've gotta go find some nice bush to take a leak."
"Baka! Don't say gross things like that!" Sakura screamed at him, but the boy was already leaping away.
Sasuke just shook his head. He could always count on Naruto to be an idiot.
-\/-
Naruto was returning to where he left his friends when a wave of dark chakra hit his senses. It was evil, more so than Kyuubi's chakra. And it was coming from the general direction where his friends were. He was about to speed up when a large shadow fell on him. Before he knew it, he was inside a stomach of a snake.
"Great. How am I supposed to get out now?" Naruto groaned. He tried to stab his special kunai into the wall of the beast's stomach. It went all the way in, but it wasn't nearly enough to get through. Strange black smoke started coming from the wound though.
"Brat! You must get out now! No matter what! Those friends of yours are about to die!" Kurama started screaming in his head
"What!? What's going on!?"
"This is not just some smoke. This is demonic essence! And this means either this snake is a demonic vessel or someone enhanced it with essence taken from a demon. Both are bad."
Okay, now Naruto really started to get worried. He had to get out of here and fast. He formed his beloved seal and shadow clones started to pop everywhere around him, filling the snake. Each of them spread their wings, causing the walls to be pushed to their limits. Finally, when it was clear that the snake was at its limit, all clones flapped their wings at the same time.
Amidst the explosion of gore, almost all clones were dispelled, creating a massive cloud of smoke.
"Listen, Ningen. If you want to go against a demon, you're gonna need my powers. You're simply not strong enough."
"But… I can just use my awesome bloodline limit!" Naruto protested before fully grasping the words. "And what do you mean your powers?"
He could feel Kurama sweatdrop inside his mind.
"You're telling me you haven't realized you can potentially tap into my powers?"
"How should I know? I thought you were just there so you didn't hurt anyone and to hide my true nature! Nobody told me I would get some new cool powers from you!"
"Just… go save those pathetic excuses of shinobi before they die"
"You've got it! Believe it!"
Naruto flapped his wings and used Jiton to carefully maneuver between trees. Despite all the practice he had, it was still akin to trying to dance between a rain of senbon. He arrived just in time to see a pale man atop a giant snake trying to attack Sasuke.
His eyes turned a mixture of red and silver and dual chakra poured from him. Without even realizing it, he appeared in the snake's path with two of his blades already in his hands.
"Get away from him!" He yelled at the pale man.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried out.
Waves of killing intent radiated from their opponent. Two human genins felt weak in their knees. Naruto responded with his own KI. While many often called him immature due to his antics, he understood how the world worked. He chose to become a shinobi knowing, that he would one day have to fight. Meeting Haku only further shaped his conviction. He would do anything to protect his home. His friends. People are precious to him.
The man before him wasn't a genin. Which meant he was an intruder who went after his friends for some reason. Naruto would not let him hurt them. He was ready to kill to protect those he considered precious.
And that man threatened his precious people.
Red and silver chakra poured out of the boy in waves. With each wave, the air became more saturated with his emotions. His killing intent overpowered the one the other shinobi was channeling and made even the snake lean back a bit.
"Twin silver impact!" Naruto called and dashed forward with a flap of wings. His two knives stabbed the snake right in the head before anyone could as much as blink. In a puff of smoke, the beast was gone.
The pale man and the Nephilim were both falling from a great height, but it didn't stop either from trying to land a blow on the other. It was painfully obvious who the better shinobi was, but what Naruto lacked in skill he more than made up in sheer power and determination. His strength, superhuman on worst days, was now probably close to that of legendary Tsunade. His speed, enhanced by Jiton, was pushing the limits of the visible spectrum.
Orochimaru found himself hard-pressed to keep up. He cast several Jutsu that slowed the boy down, only for a mere genin to push through with even more power. It was… incredible!
When they crashed into the ground, Orochimaru managed to leap back before Naruto was able to engage him.
"Kukukukuku. Impressive. Such raw power, hidden in a simple Genin… You would make a great vessel. Almost as great as Sasuke-Kun will." The creep taunted Naruto, who responded by creating eight shadow clones. Each clone held a single Angel Kunai in their hand.
"Nine Shadows Style: Silver Impact Barrage!"
He created the move to work in conjunction with his favorite Jutsu. With his wings, aiming for specific body parts at great speeds was almost impossible. Hence, he went for quantity. Each clone had the potential to either deliver a deadly blow or create an opening for a follow-through attack.
The clearing they were fighting in was filled with the sound of rustling wings. Each clone moved faster than a normal eye could see, trying to jab the angel kunai through the pale man. Naruto himself moved last, delivering what should've been a deadly stab to the guts.
Only his opponent seemed completely unfazed. He only laughed while black mist poured from his body.
"Most impressive. It's almost a shame you have to die now."
With those words, he opened his mouth wider than humanly possible. A new body climbed out of his skin like a snake shedding its useless body. His former shell dissolved into more black mist. Naruto could hear Kurama panicking in his head, but before he realized what was going on, Orochimaru jammed a hand into his gut.
While it didn't pierce him, Kurama was silenced entirely.
The sannin expected the boy to be knocked out or at least weakened significantly after the Kyuubi was taken away from him. Instead, Naruto's chakra became more volatile, seeping out of him and creating a silver aura. Now it was clear that Naruto's shadow had a pair of wings that the boy spread as he straightened.
"You are not taking my friends!" Naruto roared. "Jiton: Nine Point Silver Execution!"
Time slowed down for a moment for Naruto as he moved, but then the pain in his stomach flared, making him stumble and fall on his face.
"Kukukukuku. You're amusing, little one. Maybe I'll even let you live… After I deal with your friends." He looked up. "You should've run away, Sasuke-Kun. But thank you for making it easier for me."
Naruto got up, but he was too late. Orochimaru already bit Sasuke, making him fall unconscious only seconds later. The pale sannin laughed as he vanished away. And while Naruto was ready to chase after him, Sakura's cry for help kept him grounded.
-\/-
The next day was spent mostly trying to watch over unconscious Sasuke. Naruto and Sakura had enough resources packed to keep them comfortable enough, but the trickling fear of being alone on enemy-infested territory was getting to them.
Naruto took to trying to ward their temporary camp. While his Fuinjutsu was not the best, he knew enough to give them rudimentary protection. Unknown to either, he used Enochian runes to do so.
After the second night, the seals alerted Naruto to someone incoming. His grace control was still screwed, but he still managed to use his wings just fine to get high onto the tree and wait there.
Three sound ninjas arrived shortly after. They dismissed Sakura's trap as merely amusing. It led to them falling straight for Naruto's unique seals. The following burst of bright light dazed them and left the trio of genin open for his counter-attack.
Naruto fell on them from the treetop with silver kunai ready. His weapons flashed in the morning sunlight. It was the only warning anyone got before the blade embedded itself in the palm of one of the enemy genin.
Or would've, if a wave of condensed air didn't hit him and push him away.
"You're good, I'll give you that." The one responsible for the airwave smirked. "But your movement gives a very distinctive sound of flapping wings."
"We are sound ninjas. That's all we need to finish you!" The one whose sleeves were much too long for him cackled as he leaped at Naruto, only to be sent back by a strong gust of wind. The characteristic sound of wings flapping echoed through the forest.
"And you're underestimating me," Naruto growled. "That Orochimaru gal… guy… whatever they were, they might've messed with my chakra, but I still have my other skills."
"Yeah, right. You're just a brat." The enemy kunoichi taunted.
"I'm still stronger than the three of you combined." Naruto boasted. Inside, he was trying to figure out some sort of a plan. Ever since his fight with Orochimaru, he had trouble controlling Jiton for a prolonged amount of time. Half of the Hirashin no Jutsu relied on the ability to slow time and orient oneself after traveling to a specific location.
During his training with Tenten, Naruto discovered that while a marker was not needed for his travel, he lacked the precision to stop at a moment's notice. Something tangible to focus his arrival on gave him a much easier time maneuvering on the battlefield.
"Kunai Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" He called as he threw six silver blades at his enemies. Each of them multiplied in the air, resulting in scores of characteristic silver daggers embedding themselves everywhere on the battlefield. Everywhere but into his enemies, who dodged it with ease.
"Look at him. He can't even properly throw a kunai." The guy with windpipes laughed.
"I never needed to hit you." Naruto grinned and vanished with the sound of flapping wings. Across the battlefield, orange flashes were the only sign that Naruto was moving. The enemy team tried to hit him with their attacks, but when one moves faster than the eye can see, they can dodge even sound waves. Especially with the constant sound of his wings creating disturbances all around.
Naruto finally appeared between the trio, jabbing a silver kunai into the shoulder of the kunoichi. He tried to vanish back into his mad dance, but Dosu (the bandaged guy) was already on him. Naruto bent back to avoid the punch.
He was about to start laughing, but a sudden pain in his head. The world around him started to spin.
"Ha! I've got you now!" He slowly approached his pray, taking insane pleasure in watching Naruto roll on the ground in pain. "To think you somehow duplicated the fourth Hokage's signature Jutsu. I'll surely get promoted after this."
-\/-
Sakura watched Naruto fight in awe. She knew her teammate was steadily improving ever since their first real C-Rank. It wasn't hard to figure out. It was then that he started to fool around so much and ask her out constantly. He invited her several times to train with him but otherwise left her alone. Something has changed in him.
Deep down, she knew what it was. Naruto killed for the first time during the mission. It was bound to have some effect. Naruto still constantly played pranks and acted like a fool, but… he changed. He started to push himself harder and harder. It almost seemed he would potentially catch up to Sasuke.
Before today, Sakura refused to even entertain the thought. There was no way Naruto of all people, the dead last of their year, the guy who failed the Academy exam three times, would ever catch up to Sasuke of all people. No freaking way.
But then, during the test, he somehow got the correct answers pretty much before her. She didn't see him write after the very start, but while they were leaving, she took a peek at his test. It was full. And it seemed correct at the glance. He was also the only one who chased after their second proctor and somehow managed to get a clue about the second exam.
Speaking about the second exam, it was crazy. Sakura's team was attacked by one of the legendary Sannin. Someone so strong not even Sasuke was able to fight. Someone trained by the Sandaime. An S-Rank Missing Nin. She was sure they would die. So sure that it was all over. That killing intent radiating from their enemy… was even stronger than Zabuza.
And Naruto fought him like an equal. Maybe not in skill, but in raw power. Naruto was able to push the man to the limit. And when it was all over, Naruto was still standing.
Now, when they were attacked again and Naruto was single-handedly fighting a whole team that was clearly older and more experienced. And he was holding his own. If she understood correctly, he wasn't even at his best.
And what was she doing all this time?
Nothing. She wasn't improving. She was just riding on her team or trying to go after Sasuke, who ignored her. During the first test, she wasn't able to answer all the questions. She didn't even think of cheating. She was a kunoichi for Kami's sake! When the snake sannin attacked, she was almost knocked out from fear. She had to be rescued first by Sasuke, then by Naruto. And now? She just stood back and watched as Naruto was being hurt.
"No more."
She grabbed the silver kunai that fell nearby and looked at the battlefield. She needed to do something. Naruto was about to be executed.
She gave a silent prayer and leaped forward. Remembering the tree-walking exercise, she pushed more chakra into her feet than was needed. The effect was that the ground cracked below her and she flew higher and faster. Applying the same principle to her closed fist, she punched the nearest enemy, who just happened to be the spiky-haired guy.
Two howls of pain resounded through the clearing. The boy she attacked fell. He was lightly swaying. It seemed he had a concussion. But that came at a price. Sakura's hand was badly hurt. She bruised her whole fist and she couldn't even try to push any chakra there. It seemed the feedback from her technique was more serious than she expected. Before she could control herself, a pained scream escaped her lips.
It did work in her favor. The distraction gave Naruto enough time to jump back and get back on his feet. On the downside, the enemy kunoichi managed to grab Sakura's hair and put a kunai to the back of her neck. She pulled at her long mane of pink hair, making the girl struggle not to get cut by the kunai.
"Enough. We don't need to fight the two of you. Just give us the Uchiha brat and we will part ways." She enforced her pint by pulling Sakura's hair with a bit more force, which equated to pushing the kunai into Sakura's neck slightly. It caused a small stream of blood to trickle along the edge. A single drop started to fall down.
Naruto watched the situation for a moment. He didn't realize until now how much he started to rely on his Jiton. It was bad. Without it and with his Shadow Clones unstable, he was almost without options.
Silently, he swore to practice with other Jutsu than just his basic ones.
"I can't give you Sasuke…" He started.
"Then we will kill the girl!"
"And then we will take you out too. And then we will kill that Sasuke anyway."
"You didn't let me finish," Naruto growled. The already gloomy clearing suddenly became slightly darker. Naruto, on the other hand, seemed to emanate strange light. His shadow spread a pair of wings that seemed much more physical than a normal shadow. "I wanted to become the Hokage since before I joined the academy. At first, I just thought that Hokage was the coolest. I didn't understand what it actually meant. I didn't even try to grasp the meaning behind the will of fire. It took me a long time to understand what it really meant." Two silver kunai slipped into Naruto's hands from his sleeves, shining in the light he was giving out. "You see, the very first lesson my sensei has taught me was that those who break rules are trash. But those who abandon their teammates… are worse than trash." Light got even stronger, temporarily blinding the enemies.
That very moment, Sakura yanked her head forward. She used Naruto's kunai she grabbed beforehand and cut her hair.
Naruto didn't hesitate to zero on the Kunai she used and appeared there, kicking the enemy kunoichi and grabbing Sakura. The two flashed back.
"I thought you loved your hair long?" He asked, trying to catch a short breath and memorize enemy positions.
"It's inconvenient in the field." She retorted before getting up and taking a combat position.
"You brats! You think you can defeat us!?" The bandaged ninja cried in fury. He started to rush at the duo when something zoomed past the two Konoha shinobi.
Malicious chakra filled the clearing. The killing intent radiating from whoever it was overwhelmed most of the genin. Only Naruto remained mostly unaffected. He was able to first see who was standing before them. Sasuke woke up.
"You... you have his mark!" The downed guy was first to realize the change.
Black tattoos now covered half of Sasuke's body, spreading from his neck to his face, arm, and leg. He looked at the three sound Ninja and scowled.
"Leave. Or I'll kill you."
Naruto looked at his teammate and tried to take in his transformation. There was something wrong about him. Something dark took seed inside him. His entire being was infected with… evil.
"We were ordered to kill the last Uchiha. You're not scarier than failure! We can take you on!" The guy with windpipes got up and was about to attack when Sasuke moved. Faster than most genin could see, he got behind the enemy nin and grabbed his arms. With a strong pull, Sasuke caused both arms to get dislocated from the sockets.
"I won't give you another warning. Leave. Or I'll rip those precious arms of your and beat you to death with them."
"Hey… Hold on just a second… can we just…" The kunoichi tried to negotiate, but Sasuke just glared at her. "No… okay… Look… we're placing our scroll here and leaving… Okay? Just let us go…"
"Scramble!" Sasuke roared before throwing the captured Shinobi at his teammates. The three sound ninja left the clearing as fast as they physically could.