Apologies for the... lateness.. the super lateness...

Replies to reviews... Thanks for them btw...

Near-Sighted Byakugan User : The last name of Yondaime "Kazama" was created by someone as part of a fic and has spread out over almost every writer. But Kazuma, the Akatsuki leader and Yondaime are connected in my story.

The hero of time : Kazuma, Ayame, Shin and Ikkaku are the OC's in Akatsuki, Kyome and Hiryuu Kira are also OCs

Scienceboy : Kazedan is Naruto yeah, don't expect Naruto to be too overpowered though

For those of you who don't knowthe meaning of Naruto's false name Kazedan Nakuma here it is. Kazedan, which is alsothe name of his jutsu, means Wind Bullet, while his intended name of Akuma means Demon.


Chapter 5 : And So It Begins...

The Village of Sound was crap. Or as Kisame described it a dull, unimaginative shit hole, with no sense of creativity when it was built. Besides the weird smell coming from what was the "best restaurant in the Village of Sound", the faulty power lines and the unfinished buildings, the Village was actually pretty well off for a newly created village. Naruto's expectations were of a dictatorship of Orochimaru, enemy nins being tortured in one building, armies of nins being trained which included the muscle-bound, ex-convict and downright ugly nins - and it was far from it, except for the ugly part. And that was no joke. The Village was a democracy of rejects, where missing-nin gathered and were welcomed with open arms. It was rather depressing, having all the "misfits" gather in one place. But Naruto thought that for such a village, the snake bastard had done rather good -it still didn't change the fact that he was still the snake bastard.

Somewhere in the depressing village, behind the building in which Orochimaru and Kabuto resided, bricks paved the large area, with no signs of trees or plants. Naruto scratched his spiky, black hair - yes it was black, as he, and six others, were being briefed about the Chunin exam by Orochimaru. Kazuma made Naruto get a haircut from Ayame, who managed to overpower the squirming boy and splatter the black dye all over his messy hair. According to Ayame herself nothing short of a powerful blast of water would get it out, so Naruto's attempts in the shower were futile. Naruto was sitting on the ground wearing his black Uchiha-styled shirt, in which the collar reached his mouth, with his trademark yellow swirl on the back. His black pants were full of shuriken and kunai, and around his waist was his long sword.

It only took him a couple of seconds to absorb and process the names and details of the six other nins. Among them was Akado Yoroi - the chakra absorber, Tsurugi Misumi - who could stretch his body, Dosu Kinuta - who wore a sound amplifier on his arm, Kin Tsuchi - a genjutsu user, Zaku Abumi - who created sound waves through holes in his hands and Yakushi Kabuto - the jounin-level medic nin.

"Zankuha!" The sound wave blasted itself from the holes in his hand, and straight at Naruto. It was a wide range jutsu, so all Naruto could do was jump as high as he could and attempt to block it with his sword. Naruto barely managed to block the attack, which caused him to lose his balance in mid-air, as he not so gracefully landed.

"He's toying with Zaku..." Orochimaru thought, watching the fight. From where he was standing he could tell Naruto, or "Nakuma", was testing Zaku's abilities, trying to see whether he could do any better. He organized the practice fight, as some hostilities had occured when Orochimaru announced that Naruto would be joining them, Zaku was displeased the most. And so the fight started, Zaku put his position in the team on the line, and if he lost, it would go straight to Naruto. Right now Zaku thought he was winning. Thought.

"Just a one-trick pony..." Naruto easily dodged his attacks, after all he only had the one sound wave attack. It was good practice for Naruto's defensive taijutsu, but after a while it would get tiresome. He had learned how to predict Zaku's jutsu process, he would engage in Taijutsu, and when he decided he couldn't get a move in he would stop, pause, and use the "Zankuha". But something intrigued Naruto about the move, mainly because of the use of wind in the jutsu.

"If you haven't noticed, I've been toying with you this whole time." Rather than Naruto saying it, it was Zaku - much to the surprise of everyone else. "I've been waiting to bring out my new jutsu, to test it out on a weakling like you." Naruto couldn't help but smirk, currently Zaku was in worse shape than he was, but Naruto was still on guard nevertheless. Zaku's hands faced Naruto, there was the stop and pause. "Zankukyokuha!" The jutsu was a much larger blast of wind, lifting bits of the ground up at Naruto, serving as projectiles, besides the strong force of wind aswell.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto called, using the Bunshins as a shield for himself, the Jutsu didn't touch him. And then came the Taijutsu again. Apparently Zaku had only been taught one style of taijutsu, whereas most ninjas knew more, just incase the opponent was able to counter it. The pattern was, punch, punch, kick, punch, stop, pause - Zankuha or Zankukyokuha. Judging from the restraint of his attacks, Naruto guessed that it was Zankukyokuha, but he would never know, as Naruto used his finally strategy to end it. The first two punches were easily blocked by Naruto, the kick was dodged, and the last punch was interrupted by Naruto's sword. The stop and pause was left. With speed, as Zaku held his two hands out towards Naruto, Naruto put his sword in its hilt, appeared in front of Zaku, and pressed his hands against his.

"Kemurigakure No Jutsu!" Smoke came out of Naruto's hands, and clogged up Zaku's air holes - there would be no more air attacks anymore for Zaku. Naruto withdrew the sword from its hilt, jabbing Zaku in the stomach, doubling him over and towards the ground.

"Naruto wins!" Kabuto called from the sidelines, as Zaku was picked up by an unknown medic-nin and ushered away. Orochimaru didn't care much as Zaku was sent away, he never really had a connection with any of his disicples and he always thought that Zaku in particular was rude and had no respect for his superiors. All eyes were on Orochimaru as he walked in front of the remaining Genins, except for Kabuto who was only pretending.

"As of today you will all begin you're training as teams, for how you finish in the exam reflects on yourself as a nin." His voice radiated with authority, but truth-be-told, he didn't really care how any of them had finished, he had guessed the outcomes already. "But, besides the exams, all of you will have a mission to complete for me. Assasinate, Uchiha Sasuke." Orochimaru withdrew a photo of the said Konoha nin from his pocket, showing the Sound nins the black hair and eyes, and the trademark Uchiha shirt. "Remember this face." And with that, Orochimaru left, with Kabuto following closely behind.

"What's so special about him?" Dosu asked, preparing to train with Kin. Ofcourse, Naruto knew the answer to that question. If Orochimaru couldn't get the Sharingan from Itachi, he would have to get it from his little brother. Without a word, Naruto departed aswell. "Oi! Shouldn't you train aswell?"

"Maybe later." Naruto replied, walking off. The streets were littered with stalls selling apparently "cursed items" and "priceless jewels", but Naruto was told not to believe any of that stuff. Kisame had told Naruto his sword was getting old, so Naruto had to go look for a new one by himself. As he walked through the marketplace, a certain stall caught his eye. Swords were crammed around the sides, hanging from the top, on the desk, practically begging to get attention from any swordsman or anyone that passed by.

"Hey boy! You like swords?" The old man asked, he was speaking a very broken english, using only words that were necessary. "I have lots swords. Pick whatever please you!" Naruto had to stop and think for a second to decipher what he wsa saying, but he began his search throught the many swords. The one that caught his eye was a strange design, it looked like a normal katana, around 2 to 3 feet long, the blade must have been painted black. The hilt of the sword was yellow, but extending from it was a long chain.

"If I sell this sword, may I also buy a wakizashi to accompany it?" Naruto laid down his old sword, and some cash. The wakizashi Naruto wanted was probably about one and a half feet long, the blade was painted white, and a white ribbon came from the hilt.

"How you know?" The man asked, to which Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"How did I know what, sir?" Naruto said as politely as possible.

"You found sword partner..." The old man leaned in, as if telling a precious secret. "When sword and partner used properly, powerful jutsu is made." Naruto balanced the two swords in his hands, to Naruto, they felt good. "I sell it for just that old sword." The old man took Naruto's old sword, and once again stopped Naruto as he began to walk away. "You know how to use sword with chain?" Naruto stopped, looked at the man, and honestly out of all the styles of weapon use Kisame and Ayame had told him, "Sword With Chain" style was not one of them.

"Can you teach me?" Naruto asked.

"I teach for one week." The old man and Naruto shook hands, and began his training.


1 Week Later...

In the one week Naruto learned how to throw the sword, and with help from the Kyuubi extend his chakra long enough to reach the full length of the sword and control it. According to the old man, who never really told Naruto his name, the trick to mastering what was called Tensa Zanjutsu, the "Chains Of Heaven Sword Technique", was chanelling your chakra through the chain to control it. Naruto could only learn the basics of the technique because that was all the old man knew, so Naruto was left with the two swords to develop his own sword style from there. And now Naruto was on his way to the Chunnin exam, there was only one problem with the trip though.

Naruto hated snakes. If there was any animal he'd be happy to live without, it would be snakes. Though they did prove useful for food when in the desert, they weren't so fun when an evil genius had accidentally left some in your pillow case - with an intention to kill your proclaimed mentor. And yet, Naruto found himself riding on one. A giant one. The size was cool, and the fact that Shinobis could summon these massive beasts left Naruto awestruck, but the giant snakes freaked the hell out of Naruto.

"Don't think about snakes, don't think about snakes..." Naruto repeated to himself, trying to set his mind of the giant snake whose back he was sitting on. He couldn't see from where he was sitting, but he was damn sure the snake was grinning, and even if the snake wasn't - Orochimaru was. Orochimaru had suddenly changed to a younger, but still as creepy, Jounin as part as his disguise for the Chunnin exam. Naruto thought it was stupid at first for Orochimaru to return to his old village, but now he had seen his plan fall into place, it would be simple and easy, but Naruto was sure that the Sound didn't have enough nins.

"Is he still repeating that same sentence?" Kin, the black haired kunoichi said to her bandaged teammate.

"It's pretty funny from where I'm standing, and I'm sure Orochimaru-sama is getting some pleasure out of this." Dosu, the other member of Naruto's temporary team for the Chunnin exam. They were alright, Naruto didn't mind Kin, but Dosu had a bad habit of thinking that he was the leader of the group, thus making him better than Naruto.

"Not all of us are lucky to have our ears covered by bandages like you, Dosu." Naruto called out, to Dosu, who was standing beside him, next to Orochimaru.

"Stop talking!" Orochimaru called, raising a hand. "This is the closest we can get to the village, we'll get the rest done on foot, let's go!" The snake disappeared underneath them and Naruto, Dosu, Kin and Orochimaru gracefully landed on the ground.

"This is going to be a long day..." Naruto sighed.


"Let's see our contestents for this year..." The Hokage smiled to himself, opening the applications for the Chunin exam. He loved the exams, the secrecy and the fact that only he, the Hokage, was allowed to know this information. The Hokage took out the first application, and stared in glee as it turned out to be one of Konoha's prized student, and this year's favorite - Uchiha Sasuke.

Name : Sasuke
Age : 13
Clan : Uchiha
Clan Specialties : Sharingan
Signature Jutsu : Katon : Gokakyuu No Jutsu

The application showed other details, such as height, weight, date if birth and reasons of why he is participating in the exam and why he wants to be a ninja. The open questions would be important as there would be some psychologist examining them, as the answers would affect the exam in total itself. He flipped over the next application, showing one of the few mystery nins that had entered this year.

Name : Nakuma
Age : 13
Clan : Kazedan
Clan Specialties : -
Signature Jutsu : -

The application form for "Nakuma" showed little information, and the one sentence answers to the open ended questions provided hardly anything for the psychologist to analyse. They considered declining his application, though it was decided to let him in in the end. Suddenly, a Chunnin burst intio the Hokage's room, he was sweating, and looked like he might faint.

"What is it?" The Hokage was annoyed by the interruption, but if it was this urgent, it had to be something big.

"We're not sure, but our group was coming back from a mission, and we saw a giant snake coming towards the village!" The man said between breathes, trying to get in as much air as possible.

"A giant snake?" The Hokage looked out of the window, and onto the village, he had view of the village gates, and saw a genin team with their Jounin Sensei walk into the village. "We have no time for it. We need your team watching the gates for anything suspicious, for now we have to pretend nothing happened as our guests have arrived."


Naruto entered a village which he had not seen in a long time, taking in all the sights. Dosu, Kin and Orochimaru as a Jounin followed behind, as they made their way to the hotel.

"Once we get to the hotel I'll leave you guys there." Orochimaru said. "The exam starts in three days, and remember, I will be watching." When they reached the hotel Orochimaru disappeared, Kin mouthed something along the lines of "creepy" and Dosu coughed something that sounded alot like "pedophile." And then Naruto looked around, two beds in their room.

"Shotgun my own room!" Naruto grinned.

"Baka, there is no other room..." Kin brought her hand down towards Naruto's head, but Naruto tilted his head to the left to dodge it.

"WHAT!" Naruto yelled so loud that the other people in the hotel could here.

"You did remember to give your money to Orochimaru to pay for the hotel right?" Dosu asked, as Naruto looked like he was about to explode.

"The Snake-Bastard didn't say a thing..."

"No!" Kin said to Naruto, as he stared at her and winked. "No way you're sleeping with me... That came out wrong..." Naruto decided that he could either sleep on the floor, or find somewhere else to stay. Without a word he ran and jumped out of the 20 story window.

"Ah crap..." Naruto forgot how high up they really were, and just wanted to impress Kin and Dosu by having a cool exit not judging the consequences. Chanelling chakra through his wakizashi he stabbed it into the building, holding on as he dangled from the ground, about 10 stories up. Taking out his katana he tied the end of the chain to the wakizashi and threw the sword down, so it attached itselft to the roof of a smaller building. Climbing down the chain and onto the other roof, with one tug his wakizashi returned to his hand and he put the two swords in their sheaths, tied to his waist. Naruto jumped off the building, and as luck would have it he landed in front of the place he was looking for. Ichiraku Ramen. Little did he know he would not get a chance to eat there due to complications.

Walking down the street was Nara Shikamaru, the genius nin who had a powerful mind to observe everything, forget nothing and create strategies in a split second. Suddenly he bumped into Naruto, and Naruto was the first to apologize.

"Sorry Shikamaru-kun." And then Naruto realised what he just said. One word flowed through his mind "Shit". And the Kyuubi couldn't help laughing, as it echoed through his mind.

"Excuse me?" Shikamaru asked, he had caught every word the black haired boy standing in front of him said. "Do I know you?"

"No!" Naruto overexagerrated the no, but Shikamaru decided it was good enough and that delving further into it was "troublesome". "But I see you're going cloud gazing again..." The second time the word "Shit" flowed through his mind, and the Kyuubi was practically rolling in his cage with laughter.

"Yes I am... Naruto-san." Shikamaru had guessed right, his mind was able to take in everything and that included faces, especially the one of his old friend from his childhood.

"Shit, Shikamaru-san please don't tell anyone!" Naruto said, as he saw Shikamaru contemplating on it. "If you tell everyone they'll start bothering you for more and more information and then people will start demanding answers to questions about me and that will be - troublesome..." Naruto knew how to persuade his friend, who simply shrugged.

"Fair enough. Well, I'm going to go look at clouds..." Shikamaru shrugged once again, and Naruto followed him.

"You reckon I could stay at your house?" Naruto asked. Naruto like Shikamaru for two reasons, 1 - He was lazy, just like Naruto and 2 - He didn't ask questions unless they were absolutely necessary.

"You know my mother Naruto, she's a Nazi when it comes to these things so the answer is - no. But I do know of somewhere you can stay..." Shikamaru chuckled, Naruto did not like that chuckle. Naruto would find himself staring at the "Help Wanted" sign at a certain flower shop, and with that Shikamaru left him. A tall blonde man came out of the shop.

"I see you're interested in our help wanted sign!" The man said.

"Yeah, I'm staying here for the Chunin exam and I need somewhere to stay..." Naruto said, to which the man nodded.

"Earn your keep here and we'll give you our spare room, let me come inside and ask you a couple of questions first." Naruto followed the blonde man into the house, and thus his journey for the Chunin Exam begun. And it was going to be a difficult one.


Sorry again for the late update, next chapter the Chunin exam will begin, as Naruto gets settled into his new home, and I've added in a couple of new people in the exam - my character Kira and ofcourse Haku.

Well, till next chapter (which I hope will take shorter thant his one did...)