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The Chuunin Exams - Part 1
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Kakashi slowly walked towards the conference room of the Hokage building. He assumed he'd been called in because the Hokage was still looking for help for the Chuunin exam. Usually, the Chuunin helped with those, but when they were lacking helpers, even Jounin had to lend a hand.
Kakashi knew his assumption was wrong when he entered the room and Jiraiya was sitting at the table. The shinobi greeted him with a nod.
Kakashi sat down looking around. More Jounin were present, as well as the Hokage himself. It seemed like he'd been the last to arrive.
"Now that everyone's here…" the Hokage started speaking. "I'm afraid we've received some worrying news. Jiraiya has been tracking some of Orochimaru's activity, and it seems that he's been in contact with Sunagakure and the Kazekage lately."
"The Kazekage? Why's that?" Genma asked while casually chewing on a needle.
"We don't know yet," the Hokage admitted. "But with the Chuunin exams coming up, we need to be especially careful. There will be a lot of Sand shinobi in our village."
"Isn't Sunagakure's Jinchuuriki taking part in the exams? We shouldn't allow it. Those things are like a ticking time bomb. They are dangerous enough, even without Orochimaru involved," an older Jounin said.
Kurenai glanced at Kakashi, expecting him to speak up and defend his student who was a Jinchuuriki too, but Kakashi didn't. He rested his face on his hand and barely looked like he was even listening.
"Jinchuuriki's are more than just weapons," the Hokage said in his stead. "They are people. Someone's comrades, children, friends. And in the case of Sunagakure's Jinchuuriki, Gaara, the grandson of our first Hokage. It would be utterly disrespectful to both Suna and Hashirama if we forbid him to join our Chuunin exams."
"Gaara hasn't been raised in Konoha. His name is neither Senju nor Uzumaki. If Rasa is truly plotting against Konoha with Orochimaru, I'm sure Gaara's loyalties would lie with his father. He's dangerous," someone else continued the discussion.
"Rasa seems like an honourable man to me," another Jounin argued back. "Does he really have a good enough reason to attack his wife's village using their own son as a weapon?"
"Honourable?" The shinobi scoffed. "He has two bastard children. He betrayed Konoha the moment he betrayed Hanako and took a mistress."
"Enough," the Hokage intervened in a sharp tone. "I did not call you here to make assumptions. I called you here to assign tasks and missions to you to ensure Konoha's safety during the Chuunin exams. We are not going to impute a betrayal to Sunagakure and the Kazekage. But that does not mean we cannot prepare for the worst."
Kakashi quietly listened as the Hokage presented his plans to involve more Jounin into the Chuunin exams. He sighed. It looked like he was going to end up as a helper for the Chuunin exams after all. Being a teacher for a Genin team was enough for him. He didn't need to participate in an exam with even more Genin.
Jiraiya's eyes were on him. But Kakashi was quite sure that the he wasn't interested in him but in information on Naruto. So he quickly left when the meeting was over. If Jiraiya wanted to learn about Naruto, he would have to do it personally.
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When the Chuunin exams were finally there, Naruto found himself having mixed feelings. He secretly hoped the exam would go horribly wrong for both Sasuke and Sakura. But especially for Sasuke. He couldn't stand the thought that Sasuke might potentially become a Chuunin and be higher in the standings than him. Officially better.
But Naruto also didn't want this to be the end of Team 7 yet. He wanted them to spend the rest of their first Genin year together, like they'd been meant to, as equals.
But all the sulking and grumpy thoughts eventually got overshadowed by Naruto's usual excitement. Because the Chuunin exams weren't only exams. They were festivities. Konoha turned into one big street festival, with markets and food stalls on the streets.
Naruto never thought much of festivals. If anything, he disliked them. They had always showed him how lonely he actually was. Everyone was out on the streets with their families and friends, except for him.
But times had changed, and now that he had someone to spend the festivities with, he was looking forward to catching up on all those fun times he'd missed. Sakura and Sasuke would be busy with their exams, but he still had Naho.
Naruto walked down the streets of the festival, people left and right. He was on his way to pick up Naho, walk around town a bit before meeting up with Sasuke and Sakura to wish them good luck on the first day. His eyes were already checking out all the food him and Naho could try.
"Careful! Watch your step!" someone suddenly yelled at him. But Naruto hadn't crashed into anyone. They'd bumped into him.
He turned his heads sideways, and spotted Ino. She was with her family, or at least that's what Naruto thought. He only recognised her father, who was well-known in Konoha. But their group was much bigger, and most of them shared the same blond hair and green eyes. Naruto quickly figured out they were celebrating Ino's participation in the Chuunin exams. She was the centre of attention, and her father was proudly boasting about her to some of the other people.
"Oh, it's Naruto." Ino raised her eyebrows at him, while thinking of something mean to say. She soon found something, and a big grin formed on her lips. "Sakura told me you weren't allowed to participate in the exams. Can't say I'm surprised; you were always the idiot in our class. Some things just never change. I just wonder why they still let you wear that Konoha headband at all."
Naruto was ready to fight back, but then his eyes got stuck on one of the women in Ino's group. Her hair was darker than Ino's, but it was equally long. Somehow, she reminded Naruto of someone, but he couldn't quite figure out who she was.
"You should be nicer to your former classmates, Ino," the woman softly said, realising Naruto was staring at her.
Naruto looked away. He didn't need anyone making fun of him for staring at adult women. But her voice, it also reminded him of someone. It sounded familiar.
Ino laughed. "Don't worry, auntie. Naruto doesn't care. He's used to it." Ino turned away from him again. She'd lost interest in mocking him already. Making fun of Naruto had been one of the easier ways to get the attention and approval of the rest of their classmates during the Academy. But it was different with her family, Ino quickly realised.
Naruto chewed on his lip, wondering if he should still pick a fight with Ino, despite her obviously not caring about him anymore and being surrounded by adults.
"Are you all alone here?" the woman asked. Her voice wasn't mocking him like Ino's was. She seemed to genuinely be interested.
Naruto appreciated the question. It gave him the opportunity to announce that he, in fact, was not alone at all but was meeting with friends. To his dismay, Ino still couldn't care less and was busy ordering fresh drinks for everyone with her father. But at least the woman smiled and nodded, and Naruto could move on without the feeling of humiliation Ino had tried to sow.
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Naruto and Naho were on their way to the exam's building, both still munching on sweets, when they met a team of Suna shinobi.
Naruto immediately recognised them. Or at least one of them. The red hair gave Gaara away.
"Hey, you think that guy is the Kazekage's son? I heard he has red hair. He must be really excited to come and visit Konoha. Come on, let's say hi." Naruto grabbed Naho's hand and pulled her along. Naho lost a dango on her way, but Naruto barely noticed in all the excitement he felt.
"You are Gaara, right?" Naruto stopped in front of the three Sand shinobi. Naho quietly eyed the red-haired boy from behind him.
"Yes. I am Gaara of the Sand. Who wants to know?" Gaara spoke in a calm manner.
Naruto put on a big grin and pointed at himself, saying, "I am Naruto Namikaze! Son of the 4th Hokage and future Hokage. You and I have a lot in common, don't we? You are the Kazekage's son, right?"
A spark of interest ignited in their eyes as Naruto announced he was the Hokage's son.
Naho grabbed his hand and pulled him back. "I thought you weren't supposed to tell strangers," she whispered.
"Huh? But Gaara and I are basically family. His grandfather was a Hokage too." Naruto was talking loud enough for the other Genin to hear. He took some quick steps towards Gaara.
Temari and Kankuro instantly put a hand onto their weapons, ready to draw them any moment. But Gaara only stared back at Naruto's face that was right in front of his. No muscles even twitched.
"So you are also participating in the Chuunin exams?" Gaara asked.
"I uh… I don't."
"Are you a Chuunin yet?" Temari asked.
"No…" Naruto scratched his head, slightly embarrassed.
"A Jounin?" She now smirked at him, realising Naruto was none of those.
"I'm sure that guy is not even a Genin yet." Kankuro joined in as well. "Just look at him. Whose Kage's son are you again? The Kage of the Village of Losers?"
"What?!" The smile on Naruto's face vanished. Instead, he rose his fist at Kankuro. Naruto's feelings about his father had always been rather complicated. Usually they fluctuated somewhere between pride that his father had been a Hokage and bitterness that he'd sealed a demon in him. Still, despite the latter feelings, attacks on his father always rubbed Naruto the wrong way.
"You want to come at me?" Kankuro said, further stinging him.
Naruto wasn't going to let him ask a second time, and charged at Kankuro with his fist raised high into the air. Kankuro jumped back, also ready to show the two Konoha Genin his weapon.
"Stop it, Kankuro." Gaara immediately intervened in a harsh tone. "You are an embarrassment for our village. I'd rather see you dead than have you pick meaningless fights with Konoha Genin."
Kankuro immediately dropped what he was doing and returned to Gaara's side, apologising. There was fear on his face. Temari too apologised for his behaviour. They then turned around and left.
"What idiots!" Naruto pouted. "Good thing I scared them away!"
Naho sighed, shaking her head. They continued to the exam's building.
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"Have you seen Sakura anywhere?" was the first thing Sasuke said to Naho and Naruto once they found him in front of the exam's building. Their first test was to be held there in the afternoon, but a lot of Genin had already met up in front of it. Some of them were carrying papers and flashcards with notes, in case there would be a written test. Others sparred their friends to warm up their bodies.
His question surprised Naruto. "Isn't she here yet?" Sakura was never late.
"I haven't found her yet. She kept bugging me about meeting earlier to prepare and now she doesn't show up," he complained. "Kakashi's still nowhere to be found either, but that was to be expected."
Just as Sasuke spoke his name, Kakashi appeared next to them, greeting them with one hand and a "yo". But he too was surprised to find Sakura absent.
"Maybe she decided she wanted to take the exam with me after all." Naruto casually put his hands behind his head and threw a dirty grin at Sasuke. He enjoyed seeing him a bit nervous.
"Mh, I wanted to introduce you two to your new teammate soon." Kakashi looked around, but Sakura was nowhere to be found.
"Maybe she overslept?" Naho asked. It wasn't really an explanation they thought plausible. But they still decided to check Sakura's home and ask her parents.
It didn't take long before the four of them stood in front of Sakura's house. Before Naruto could even knock at the door, it opened, and Sakura came stumbling outside.
"Come back, Sakura! You are not going!" Her mother's voice yelled behind her.
"I am, mother!" Sakura attempted to yell back, but her voice was no more than a creak. She turned around to find her teammates standing in front of her.
They looked at her in surprise, shock almost. Sakura's hair was undone, all over the place. Her nose was red, so were her eyes. She looked like she'd been crying for hours, but all the snot she had to sniff back up her nose told a different story.
"Are you sick?" Naho asked, but Sakura immediately waved the idea away.
Her mother arrived in the door as well, a cup of tea and medicine in her hands. "Please, sir, don't let my daughter attend those exams like this. She has a fever. She looks awful," she said in Kakashi's direction.
"Mom!" Sakura wanted to protest but there was barely any sound leaving her throat. "I'm feeling fine, really."
"What? I'm not doing these exams with a walking corpse." Sasuke now spoke up. He looked at his teammate with disgust, a look that cut deep into Sakura's heart. "… a corpse that's coughing out bacteria every two seconds." He turned to Kakashi, his eyes full of expectation. He was waiting for his teacher to fix this. To give him someone else.
But Kakashi only put a finger to his lips, thinking. "Well, I'm not sure we'll still find someone to take Sakura's place. The exam will start in a few hours. Teams are already locked. There's barely any time to appeal for a change of teammates left, and even less time to actually find those teammates."
"Are you saying…?" Sasuke frowned, but Naruto's face lit up.
Kakashi only shrugged. Sakura again tried to convince them she was feeling good enough to take an exam. But all this time, she'd held back a cough, and it had gotten worse and worse, tickling and scratching in her throat, until she couldn't hold it back any longer. She coughed, and coughed, feeling like every cough she'd held back now came out twice as strong.
"Come on, Sakura. Not even I would try and participate in those exams looking like this!" Naruto said.
"But… if I don't participate, Sasuke can't either…"
"Yeah, that's too bad for him." Naruto grinned at his teammate.
Naho carefully listened to the conversation around her, watched as Sakura's mother dragged her daughter back inside to go back to bed. And right before Kakashi could tell everyone to go home again, she made a decision.
"I could join for Sakura."
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Kakashi and Naho walked to the exam building together to sign Naho up in Sakura's stead. Neither of them said anything until Kakashi eventually decided it was his job to talk to her, make sure this decision was wanted.
"A week ago, you wanted to quit being a shinobi." He observed her reaction, but there was none. "Are you sure you want to participate in the Chuunin exams now?"
She stopped. "Kakashi-sensei… have you gotten used to killing people?"
He looked down at her, glad a mask hid his face. "At some point, I stopped thinking about it. So yes, I guess I got used to it."
"Don't you ever feel bad? Like, do you just not feel anything when you are fighting another shinobi?"
Kakashi turned away from her. He didn't like that this was now about himself. But he knew he couldn't dodge this question. "Fighting is no conscious decision. You might think so right now, but eventually, your body will move on its own, fight for itself. Because everyone wants to survive. It's instinct. Or like a dance someone performed so many times you know it by heart. You can kill people without having to think much about it, without having to feel the impact. But what you do after the fight is over… that's a different story."
Naho slowly nodded.
He quickly changed the topic when he realised his answer seemed to suffice. "You know you don't have to do this just for Sasuke, right? He'll survive waiting for the next exams."
"I'm not doing this for Sasuke," she quickly answered. "I'm doing this for myself."
Kakashi didn't quite understand. A week ago he had to convince her to even stay a Genin, and now she wanted to become a Chuunin.
"When I came to Konoha, I wanted to become a shinobi, I really did. My parents they… they were killed by some robbers, just normal men. They weren't shinobi. And I'm sure even a Genin would have been able to stop them. So I wanted to become a shinobi and came here. But then… It all seemed so hard and pointless. Because my parents were dead anyway."
Kakashi carefully listened.
"I wanted to quit years ago, but the orphanage wouldn't allow it. They said I had to make myself useful somehow, to the village, so I kept going. And now… I have Team 7. I can't just stand by and watch them become Chuunin. And maybe Jounin afterwards. They'll go on completely different missions than me. They'll risk their life. And I won't be there. If anything happened to them while I sit around and do Genin missions…"
Part of Kakashi was proud of his student's words. A shinobi was always supposed to put their teammates first, care for their safety. But there was also a much darker feeling inside of him. He couldn't quite name it. Anxiety, fear. Because he knew that sometimes, your best effort wasn't enough to save someone's life. No matter how much you cared. "There will always be death," he told Naho. "Both on the enemy's side, as well as yours."
"I still want to give my best."
Kakashi nodded, and they continued towards the exam's building.
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Their third member turned out to be a girl from the Aburame clan, Rei. All of Team 7, with the exception of Kakashi, immediately compared her to Shino since they were from the same clan. But except for a random bug sitting on her shoulder or crawling up her hair, Rei was nothing like Shino. She had hazelnut brown hair and an outgoing attitude with a warm smile on her lips.
Rei was two years older than Sasuke and Naho, but it was her first time taking the exams as well. "My two teammates both took it right after their first Genin year. But I didn't really feel ready yet," she explained to them. "I wasn't even sure if I really wanted to become a Chuunin, but my mom kept going on and on how Shino is already taking the exams this year as well. I can't get beat by my little cousin, can I?" she laughed.
Naho and Naruto both instantly took a liking to her. She was like a mix of both Sakura and Naho, always nice and friendly but still outgoing with a strong voice.
Kakashi too could see this team working out. Only Sasuke was not happy. He stood next to them with crossed arms and a frown. Somehow he'd hoped for another boy, someone who was considered a prodigy like him. He wasn't looking forward to being responsible for two girls. But at least he got to participate at all, so he held back his complaints.
Team 17, that was the new number they'd been assigned. The first exam soon started, and Sasuke, Naho and Rei vanished inside the building.
Naruto was left outside with Kakashi. He looked up at his teacher. "So, are we waiting here for them?"
Kakashi pulled out his book. "Nope, this is going to take a few hours."
"Hey, where are you going?" Naruto ran after his teacher. "Are you going to the festival, Kakashi-sensei? Because we could go together."
His teacher waved the thought away and explained he had more important matters to attend to. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
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Again, Naruto walked over the festival in Konoha all alone, while everyone else was having a good time around him. All he could hope was that Sasuke and Naho didn't have fun taking that exam either. And Sakura was so sick she couldn't even take said exam. He really couldn't really blame them. Yet this was nothing he'd hoped for. He'd had expectations.
He bought some sweets, but then decided he wasn't really in the mood for sweets.
He tried a game of darts next, but it seemed rather pointless when he couldn't share his perfect throws with anyone.
Then, Naruto got an idea. If his teammates couldn't come to him, he would come to them. Or at least to Sakura. There was this vague idea in Naruto's head that someone ought to bring food to a friend who's sick. He wasn't exactly sure if that really was a thing, but he liked to believe it was. He definitely would be happy if someone brought him food while he was sick.
So Naruto walked past the stalls, wondering what he should get for Sakura. Hearty meals seemed unfit. Sweets Sakura didn't like.
"Can I help you?" a soft voice asked from behind him.
Naruto turned around to find the Yamanaka woman again, Ino's aunt. She was smiling down at him. He wasn't sure why she would talk to him, yet alone offer his help. But he still decided to take it.
"I'm looking for a present for a sick friend. She's got a cold and I want to visit her."
"Tea is always a good choice when someone's sick."
"That's what I thought too at first, but… if I buy tea now, it'll be cold until I'm there. Or maybe I'll spill some."
The woman laughed. "Why don't you buy dried tea then? She can brew it herself whenever she wants."
Not once in Naruto's life had be bought tea. He'd drank tea at Ichiraku's and other restaurants. He'd seen other people drink it, had bought a bottle of sweetened tea at the market, but he had never bought dried tea. "Where do I buy that?"
The woman realised that he was rather clueless and offered to show him a good tea shop in the village. It was one of those shops that had always completely escaped Naruto's attention. At first glance, he thought they sold spices, not tea. On second glance, he noticed they actually sold both.
The woman helped Naruto pick a tea for Sakura, explaining to him which herbs were good against colds. Naruto greatly appreciated her help.
When they left the tea shop, Iruka was standing in front. He happily greeted Naruto.
"You bought a present?" Iruka asked, pointing at the wrapped up tea.
Naruto nodded. "It's for Sakura-chan. She's got a cold. Have you been to this shop before, Iruka-sensei? I never knew there are so many different kinds of tea! It's huge! But fortunately, I got help from –" Naruto turned to the woman, just to find she was gone. "Eh, that's weird. Where did she go?" He looked around but couldn't find her. She'd vanished.
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Sakura's mother opened the door when Naruto knocked. She looked down at him with a frown. "What do you want?"
Naruto remembered that she didn't exactly like him. And it made him nervous to talk to her.
"I wanted to give this to Sakura…" he started. "It's echi…echina…echina…," he realised he'd forgotten the name. "It's tea, one that's really good against colds. It's also…" He tried to remember the word the woman had used. "Anti-inflammatory… or something like that. Anyway, it's good when you have a cold!"
Sakura's mother didn't move a bit. "Sakura can't see any visitors right now. You know she's sick. She needs sleep." Her voice was so full of reproach that Naruto started regretting coming to Sakura's house and bringing tea.
His eyes dropped to the little wrapped gift in his hands.
Sakura's mother too looked at the gift, then again at the sad face of the boy standing in front of her. She sighed, and her attitude suddenly changed, like she'd remembered that Naruto was Sakura's friend, and that she ought to give him a chance. "Sakura's asleep right now; I'd rather not wake her because she needs rest," she explained again in a nicer tone. Her eyes too now fell on the gift. "I can give this to her if you want. Or you can come back later."
Naruto considered for a moment. He wanted to see Sakura. He wanted to not be alone. In his head, he'd pictured himself giving her the tea, and Sakura being all grateful. But Naruto knew it was selfish to think like that. The most important part was that Sakura got better again. So he handed it to her mother.
"Make sure to tell her it's from Naruto, her teammate."
Sakura's mother nodded and gave Naruto a short smile before going back inside again.
Naruto watched the door close in front of him.
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The first exam turned out to be a mere written test, covering everything they had learned in the Academy, as well as additional knowledge they had been supposed to acquire during their Genin years.
Naho was not happy with the results. She'd been unprepared, given that she hadn't even known she had been supposed to be prepared half a day prior. Still, they passed somehow and moved on to the part of the exam which, according to Rei, was much more interesting.
They met at noon for the second exam, two days after the first one, in front of the Forest of Death. Naruto was there too, but Kakashi and Sakura were both missing. Sakura was still sick, and Kakashi seemed to have work to do.
"When my teammates took the exam, they had to get two different scrolls, and each team started out with one. I wonder what kind of test it is this year," Rei said while they all waited for the announcement from the proctor.
Naho didn't feel too good going into a "forest of death", but she'd heard from other Genin that it wasn't all that deadly. At least not for shinobi. You could find exploding plants and oversized animals but other than that, it was no more than a forest.
They stood close to the other Genin from their year. Tenten rose a thumb in Naho's direction while sitting on top of Lee's back who was doing sit-ups to steel his body for this next test. Neji's eyes glanced at Hinata, who in returned glanced at Naruto. Kiba could tell that his teammate wanted to go over and wish Naruto good luck, but she was too shy. Ino's team participated too. She dropped a few snarky remarks in Naruto's direction about him and Sakura not taking part before putting on a much sweeter voice to talk to Sasuke. Naruto growled at the attention Sasuke received from her.
The Genin were lively talking with each other when Genma stepped up to begin his speech.
"Just like every year, we are happy to hold the Chuunin exams together with Sunagakure," he spoke in a bored tone, which didn't quite convey the happiness he was talking about. "And just like every year, we would like to remind everyone that while you might fight against the other teams in this next round, we are still all fellow shinobi and allies. That means, we do not want to see unnecessary killing. Going into the next stage, all of you will put their lives on the line, just like you would on a real mission. And likewise, you should be ready to kill others for the success of your mission. But, just like on real missions, you should carefully consider whether a death is really necessary. Unnecessary bloodshed is not wanted, neither here nor during missions. We will not bat an eye if someone dies during a fight, or if someone accidentally steps into a trap. But beware that deaths will get looked into, and should we find out that a death was not directly connected to the success of the mission that you will be given in a minute… you will be disqualified."
Naho could only wonder what had happened in prior missions for them to put such an emphasis on this topic. She wasn't quite sure whether this speech was supposed to reassure her or make her more nervous.
"Now, to the mission… Your mission will be to bring one of these hostages to the tower in the middle of the Forest of Death. You should all have gotten a map. It's on there." A group of shinobi stepped up next to him. They all had their hands tight up behind their backs. Cloaks and scarves covered most of their bodies and faces. It was obvious they tried to hide their identity, though apparently it wasn't important enough to use a transformation jutsu. Yet Naho was quite sure that one of them was their own teacher. His tired eyes and lazy posture were hard to overlook. Part of her immediately hoped that Kakashi would be their hostage.
"These hostages will not speak to you nor try to escape during your mission. They will passively watch, and will not interfere with anything. Each hostage has their own name tag which I will shortly hand out to you. The hostage follows the person wearing the tag. So if someone manages to sneakily steal the tag, the hostage will follow the thief. However, only every second team starts out with a hostage. The other teams are given a sixty-minute head start into the Forest of Death. Sixty minutes to prepare for your mission. The mission is to acquire one of the hostages by acquiring their tags from another team, and safely bring them to the tower. Those of you who start out with a hostage, your mission is to, obviously, safely bring the hostage to the tower."
"Isn't this unfair? The teams that start out with a hostage seem to be at an advantage here," one of the Genin complained.
"Missions are not fair," Genma immediately snapped back at him. "One of the first things you should learn when becoming a Chuunin is to shut up and stop complaining." He picked up a little box and approached one team after the other, letting fate decide whether they would start with a hostage or not.
Rei picked one of the small papers for their team. They started with a hostage.
"Just a short note before we start. If your hostage might ever get into a situation that forces them to act in order to not die… or even worse, should they actually die, you will be disqualified. Obviously, we don't want to lose good shinobi because you little brats are unable to keep them alive out there. Therefore, they will act to save their own life in dire situations. But don't think they won't tell us of your failure afterwards. You better make their safety your top priority. You have 24 hours. Anyone who's not at the tower tomorrow at noon has failed."
One of the hostages approached team 17. He gave them a short nod and coughed. Naho read the name tag he handed to her, "hostage 4" it read.
"That's a nice name you got there, Four." Rei grinned at him, but he didn't answer, only coughed once more.
"Do you have a cold too?" Naho asked.
"They really take that 'no talking' seriously, huh?" Rei said when their hostage kept his silence.
Naruto crossed his arms as his brows moved further together. "This is such an easy test. As if I wouldn't have managed to bring this coughing guy to that tower," he loudly announced.
Sasuke only smirked.
"Also, one last thing…" Genma too had a pleased grin on his face. "To pass, you will need to safely bring one hostage to the tower. But in case a team shall bring two or even more hostage… there will be bonus points. And sometimes passing an exam is not enough to actually be promoted." This last part, to Genma, was the most exciting part of the exam. It showed which teams were ready to take risks, which teams played it safe, which teams would know their own limits. Taking a hostage to a tower was easy enough for Genin, even if the tower was in the Forest of Death. But Genma wanted to see more than a simple run through the forest. He wanted to see the Genin battle it out.
The teams were already being accompanied to their starting points, when suddenly, Sakura came running at them, waving and shouting at Naho and Sasuke.
"I'm so glad I made it in time." She was out of breath, her cheeks red.
"Are you not ill anymore, Sakura-chan?" Naruto's face lit up. The last two days, Sasuke and Naho had spent all their time training with Rei.
She sneezed. "Almost, I guess. Here, I have a gift for you. To wish you good luck." Sakura held a little book out to Sasuke and Naho. She smiled at Naho, but then her eyes stayed on Sasuke, hopeful to spot some gratitude in his eyes.
"What's that?" Naruto asked, eying the little book.
"It's a guide on plants and mushrooms. There's quite a bit of rare flora in the Forest of Death, but it should all be included in here."
"Thank you, that's so nice of you!" Naho said when she realised Sasuke wasn't going to.
Naruto bit his lips. Had he been supposed to get them something too? His hands frantically searched his pockets for anything remotely useful. He found a bar of chocolate.
Sasuke snorted as Naruto handed the chocolate bar to Naho, acting like he'd bought it specifically for her.
"Good thing I didn't get one for you, Sasuke. Seems you wouldn't appreciate it anyway," Naruto said with a sulking face.
Sakura and Naruto said goodbye to their two teammates and Rei, wishing them all the best luck in their exam.
"Ah man, I didn't know we were going to give them gifts. You could have warned me, Sakura-chan," Naruto said once they were gone.
"Well, you might have inspired me a bit," Sakura casually said, trying her best not to give Naruto too much credit.
Naruto couldn't quite understand.
"The tea you gave me. That was really nice of you, so I thought I should do something nice too," she nonchalantly talked past Naruto, before giving him a short smile. "Thank you, Naruto."
Naruto once again scratched his head in embarrassment. But before he could decide what to say, Sakura was already on her way back to Konoha. She turned back to him when she realised he wasn't coming yet.
"So are you taking me home or not?" she yelled back in an overly grumpy tone so Naruto wouldn't get any wrong ideas from her being nice.
Naruto ran after her, nodding. Together they decided to take a little detour over the festivals.
.
Naho looked at a snake vanishing into undergrowth. She was glad they hadn't met any giant tigers or bears yet.
They moved rather slow; cautiousness was much more important than speed. Everything around them was quiet, except for the occasional bird songs and coughing from their hostage.
Rei sighed. "Really, why did we have to get the coughing hostage? This is such a disadvantage."
The man threw a dark glance at her, and the three Genin realised they shouldn't be complaining in front of the guy mainly deciding whether they will pass or not.
"What are we going to do if we meet another team?" Naho asked.
"We should still be fairly safe out here. I'm sure most teams set their traps closer to the tower." Sasuke was walking in front of them, skimming through the guide Sakura had given them.
Rei smiled at Naho. She held out her hand and two bugs crawled out from her sleeve. "Don't worry. I'll send these guys out once we are closer to the tower. They'll help us spot enemies." She then caught up to Sasuke and looked over his shoulder. "Anything interesting in there? Oh hey, I know that one there. Flammable moss, right? One little spark and wooosh!" She threw her hands in the air to pantomiming an explosion. "You two know fire jutsu, right? You better be careful where you use it in this forest."
Sasuke thrust the book into her hand and walked faster to get distance between himself and the girl again. Rei was too much of a chatterbox for his liking.
A sudden sound startled Sasuke. He immediately signalled the others to stop and be quiet. They carefully listened for any nearby teams. But all was quiet, even their hostage.
"Weird, I thought I'd heard something." Sasuke put the kunai away again.
But before he could turn towards his teammates, there was a strange voice, right next to him, whispering into his ear. "Maybe it was me."
Sasuke immediately jumped away. How he hadn't noticed someone standing right next to him he didn't know.
A woman stood in front of them, long brown hair. She wore Sunagakure's headband. "I'm glad I was able to find you this fast."
Sasuke looked around, wondering where her teammates were hiding, but he couldn't spot them.
Naho and Rei stood next to their hostage, ready to defend him. This time, Naho was determined to give it her all.
The woman licked her lips. Her tongue was grotesquely long, almost like that of a snake. "Let's hope you were worth the long journey."
A shiver ran down Sasuke's spine, but he barely had time to be appalled. The woman attacked him, faster than he'd expected. Only in the last moment did he manage to dodge by activating his Sharingan and jumping upwards. He still wasn't proficient in the use of his eyes yet. Kakashi had given him those kinds of vague tips he always gave his students. But the Sharingan was Sasuke's pride, the bloodline of this family, and ever since he'd awoken it, he devoted a big part of his training time to its mastery. It made his eyes and reflexes sharper, yet it wasn't enough for this fight. Sasuke kicked down at her, trying to prevent her from approaching his team. But the woman was gone already.
Naho had a hard time even following their enemy's movements.
"Those movements…" their hostage suddenly spoke. He watched the fight between Sasuke and the strange woman with big eyes.
"Hey, I thought you weren't supposed to talk!" Rei immediately threw back at him.
The fight between Sasuke and the unknown woman continued, but not for long. Sasuke could not keep up with her movement and she was soon right in front of him, her face only inches away from his. Sasuke just so managed to duck away before she could lick his neck.
"What the…?" He landed next to his teammates. "Who are you?"
"Just some Genin from Sunagakure." She smiled. "I'm impressed you can use the Sharingan. But I would expect nothing less from the brother of Itachi Uchiha."
"Itachi Uchiha?" Naho looked at Sasuke, who clearly recognised the name. It sounded familiar to her too, but she couldn't quite pin it down.
"You know my brother?"
"Certainly. Who doesn't know the man who slaughtered his whole clan, the only exception being his little brother?" Suddenly, the woman was right next to Sasuke again, and once again whispered in his ear. "A little bird has told be you are seeking revenge. Why don't you let me help you with that, Sasuke?"
Sasuke swung a kunai at her, but she was gone again before he was even close to hitting.
"Are you seeking power? Because I can give you power."
"Just, who are you?" he yelled at her.
The woman laughed, wailed like a banshee, before saying, "Do you want me to show you what kind of power I am talking about?" Within seconds, the woman was behind Rei. She placed her hands on the girl's head, just slow enough so everyone around her could follow the movements. She snapped, twisting Rei's neck in an unnatural way. There was the sound of bone breaking. And then Rei fell to the ground.
Naho stared at her teammate. Her mind couldn't quite comprehend yet what had just happened.
"Watch out!" Sasuke yelled at her as the woman was going for Naho next. He grabbed her arm, pulled her behind him to defend her.
The man playing their hostage had seen enough. Before the woman from Sunagakure could attack the two Genin, he drew a sword from under his cloak and dashed between them.
"I thought you were told not to intervene." The woman smirked again.
"Answer his question. Who are you?" the shinobi calmly said, sword raised at her.
Naho still couldn't believe her eyes. They'd told them death was a possibility during the Chuunin exams. But it was nothing that was supposed to happen. Not this fast. She reached out to Sasuke and held onto his shirt. This woman was capable of killing them both with ease.
"I told you, I'm just a Genin from Sunagakure."
"State your name. Your movements are clearly not Genin level. I'm disqualifying you for unnecessary killing."
Again, the woman laughed hysterically. "It seems like I'll have to have some fun with you first before I can have a nice little chat with Sasuke again."
"What do you want from me?" Sasuke asked, but he didn't move away from the shinobi still guarding them. He too had realised they didn't stand much chance without him.
"I just want to talk," she said, but the shinobi already went into the offensive.
A fight ensued, one that seemed rather close at first. During the fight, the scarf their hostage wore around their face fell off. Naho and Sasuke recognised the Konoha shinobi. It was a Jounin, Hayate.
There were mixed feelings among Sasuke and Naho. On the one hand, they felt quite safe knowing one of their Jounin was there to defend them. But the fact that this other shinobi was able to keep up with a Jounin terrified them more than anything. So much Sasuke didn't even complain that Naho was holding onto him tightly.
They became more hopeful when it looked like Hayate was about to win. He was faster than the woman. His sword kept slicing at her, only missing by a small margin. He repeated this before finally changing his tactic. He managed to trap the woman in a wooden cage.
A feeling of relief spread in Naho and she could feel her muscles relax for just a bit. But the feeling didn't last long. An immense snake suddenly broke out from the ground beneath Hayate. He dodged the snake's attempt to eat him whole, but the Suna shinobi used the opportunity to form the signs for a fire jutsu. It burned through the cage, something he apparently hadn't thought possible, and hit Hayate. His cloak caught fire. He ripped the fabric away from him, but the motion left him open to more attacks.
The woman got a hold of his sword, and managed pierce it straight through his belly.
"Run," Hayate gasped into Sasuke and Naho's direction, slowly crouching over while fighting the pain.
The woman pulled the sword out again. Blood came pouring with it.
"Come one," Sasuke grabbed Naho's wrist and pulled her away from the fight, but she didn't budge.
She stared at him with big, scared eyes. "What about him?"
"If we don't run now, we are dead." Again, he pulled at her. This time, Naho's feet reluctantly moved to follow him.
They ran away while Hayate still tried his best to fight the mysterious Sand woman. But the big snake immediately turned to follow them.
.
A/N:
Hi there :)
How's everyone doing?
I hope you enjoy the story. I was really looking forward to writing the Chuunin exams. Absolutely didn't think it'd take me a 100k words to get there though, haha!
Since the tailed beasts are supposed to be an actual threat here, I thought it made sense that Naruto wouldn't be allowed to participate at this point. But don't worry, he and Sakura will definitely still be present in the next chapter!
The Gaara in this AU is also related to Hashirama (his grandson). This isn't too important for the story, but I tried having the characters a bit more "connected" and felt it made sense that Konoha would strengthen their alliances to other villages via marriage. Gaara's red hair gave me the idea that he might be partially an Uzumaki. I think it adds some depth to his background!
Also just a short reminder that Combined Nature Transformation is not a bloodline in this AU. I think I mentioned this at the beginning, but it hasn't really been a thing in the story so far. Definitely in the distant future though. I like being able to give characters without bloodlines (like the Sharingan, Byakugan, Kimimaro's ability, etc.) the opportunity to achieve something special via hard work, which in this case is Combine Nature Release. But since Hashirama was so known for his Wood Release, I wanted to still keep that notion and made his Wood Release more special. Basically normal Wood Release can only produce "dead wood", whereas Hashirama could actually make living trees and flowers, due to being a Senju and his bloodline. Really not important since he's dead anyway, but I just felt like sharing. :)
Have a nice day!