A/N Hey folks. I'm back after months of hibernation. The next chapter will be just as slow in the making as this one, I'm sorry to say. Problem is, I got a fulltime job. I also recently started a hardcore exercise and diet program – no sugar, kill me please – and I'm also studying for an exam that's gonna take place on the 26/05 of 2017. Point is, I have little recreation time, so the next chapter will probably not be out anytime soon, give it a couple of months.
Yeah, I know, I'm a slow writer. I like to blame it on the language barrier, but really, I'm not so sure anymore.
Anyways, a cool thing you sometimes get to do when you write a story, is that you mess something up. Why is that cool, you may ask? Well, it forces you to get smart and write yourself out of that hole you unknowingly dug yourself into. I had to do some damage control in this chapter, which was fun times for me.
Other fixed things and thanks to some excellent reviews:
A big thanks to 'The Sailor Earth' for pointing out my preconceived notions about the Japanese tanto. FYI, a tanto is never longer than 30 cm, or 11,8 inches. We're getting smarter folks, we're learning here. I'll do some more research on the weapons in Naruto as this story progresses.
To my great shame, I somehow mixed up Ibiki's name last chapter and misspelled it for most the time. It was quickly corrected, fortunately.
Next up, a big thanks to 'InARealPickle', who gave some critique on my writing and how to improve. As someone who writes English as a second language, it's very hard to discover my own mistakes. I appreciate the help immensely.
He also very smartly explained to me how Japanese nouns doesn't work the same way English nouns does. Cough* I've been doing things wrong for a while now. I've gone back and corrected many of my ghastly mistakes. So, yippee for that. Protip: Ninjutsu is correct. Ninjutsu's is never correct.
General quality of life changes to many segments has been done. You don't have to go back and reread anything, I simply cleaned up my story a bit.
Okay, this has already gotten very lengthy, so let's get on with it. Thanks for the reviews. They were great! Now. Read on!
Legacy Ascending
A test for the Uzumaki
~ Noon – Center Island of the arena ~
Naruto gave the proctor of the exam one of his more unfriendly looks, but Ibiki had already disregarded him in favor of facing the crowd.
Despite his confident reply earlier, Naruto honestly didn't want to take any mock test.
It was obvious that Ibiki suspected him of . . . something. The man had probably surmised he was an agent of Orochimaru's, and this 'test' was just an orchestrated attempt to have him removed from the exam.
Yeah, that seemed probable. He did knock down the decorations after all. Naruto threw a glance at the toppled human statue to his side. It was five times the size of an average person. Hardly worth bragging about, but whatever.
He crossed his arms and looked at the scarred Konoha Jonin with glassy eyes. The man was explaining the finer details of the exam, but Naruto was only listening with half an ear. His mind was busy trying to work itself around the unexpected problem.
At least he's giving me some time to think while he's explaining all the necessities.
Naruto slid a hand into an inner pocket on his shinobi garb. His fingers lightly wrapped around a small wooden object – unique in its contours. The Hokage had given it to him earlier that morning. The order was to subtly give it to the exam proctor without anyone noticing. Other than the proctor, of course. It was the preplanned way of establishing contact with him.
They were supposed to work together for the length of the exam.
It was a shame, because planting the object on the obviously suspicious man was not something he could push ahead with at the moment. If Naruto had the situation correctly deduced, Ibiki was suspecting him as one of Orochimaru's moles in the exam. The man looked far too distrustful to approach right now, much less plant an object on.
"-So, yes. You must sign an agreement shortly, pure formality. We don't want to get blamed for any injuries or deaths-" The proctor continued from the podium, while Naruto jumped from one thought to the other.
He could only think of a few examples where he could plant the object from a distance, but all of them were equally risky. He didn't dare entrust the job to a clone.
Naruto was in a bind, and the setup now seemed even more haphazard and thoughtless than it did earlier when the Sandaime had explained it. He and the proctor were supposed to be allies, but now Naruto had to approach him as an enemy.
The blonde sucked in a long breath and it helped quell his frustration with the old geezer in the Hokage tower.
Why wouldn't he give me and Ibiki a file of each other beforehand? That alone would have deterred this exact situation. I swear, if it's because he doesn't want to reveal my heritage then this is starting to get ridiculous.
Some kind of sign would have made everything a lot easier. Although it struck him that Hiruzen might have made things difficult simply to challenge him. The old man seemed to love it when he struggled. Maybe this was just another test. As absurd as that was, Naruto couldn't rule it out either.
Looking at the scarred proctor gesturing from the podium, Naruto couldn't say he liked his chances taking the test, whatever it was. Even so, the only way to avoid that outcome was to somehow get Ibiki's trust, but planting the object on him would require some kind of plan or distraction.
The scarred baldy won't even make it a halfway fair test, and having him as an ally will be important down the line . . .
Naruto took a quick peek at the people closest to him while his mind churned. They appeared absorbed in Ibiki's speech, but Naruto noticed how no one seemed to want to get too close to him. There was a literal circle around him where people didn't stand, and he hadn't really done anything noteworthy yet.
"-of the victory condition, what I mean is this: The first stage of this exam will be over when there's only twenty names left on that blackboard."
Naruto perked up at that interesting bit of information. An elimination game would suit him. In fact, it was probably the best-case scenario. Of course, he had to clear Ibiki's rigged test first.
"-Now, we're going to have you sign these disclaimers I mentioned earlier. We'll begin calling names now, if you hear yours simply get up on the podium here. But first: You there. The blondie, get up here."
Ibiki finished by staring straight at Naruto, who blinked out of his introspective state of mind.
Time's up, huh?
A few people stepped away to clear a path for him. A noticeable quiet settled down when he stepped forward.
"Right." He muttered inaudibly, and his heart began beating faster. This could be an opportunity.
He unclenched his hands and glanced up at the Konoha Jonin, trying hard not to reveal his thoughts. He quickly ascended the makeshift wooden steps that led up to the podium.
Naruto spared the other judges a short glance each. Two shinobi and two kunoichi. As battle hardened and menacing as they appeared in their combat attires, they lacked presence standing next to Konoha's bulky proctor.
Naruto made sure to direct his question directly to him.
"Where do you want my signature? I presume you want it before you put me through this test of yours." His voice came out normal, but his throat felt somewhat constricted.
"Naturally . . . Huh, it seems you're actually on the list under the name 'Naruto', no last name. Make sure to sign this with your surname, I won't accept it otherwise." The scarred man grunted. "When we get all the formalities taken care of, I'll have your test issued."
Ibiki gestured to a large stack of identical forms lying on a workbench behind the judges. It looked out of place on the podium.
"Do you have a pen?" Naruto asked and stretched out a hand in a vain hope.
The Konoha proctor moved a hand to his pocket, but then stopped. "There are pens by the papers." He answered.
Naruto struggled to keep his frustration from showing, but he turned to sign under the disclaimer. Even in that situation, a small part of him was pleased to put down his mother's family name onto paper.
Naruto finished his signature with a flourish and rolled up the paper. With some sleight of hand action, he was able to slide a small object inside the rolled-up disclaimer in a smooth motion no one seemed to notice.
A feat he was immensely proud of, he was the first candidate up on the podium and all eyes were on him.
The scarred Konoha Jonin was busy calling out names from a list by now, but Naruto summoned some courage and stepped up to him.
"Here." He told the man in a way that clearly demanded attention.
Morino Ibiki paused in his name-calling to look at the young shinobi behind him. His gaze made Naruto feel like a bug, or something equally insignificant. He tried hard to not let that affect him.
"What is it now? Turn in the signature with-"
"Actually, I want you to take this." Naruto cut him off mid-sentence, and held out the rolled-up disclaimer. Ibiki, about to give a negative response, was surprised when Naruto cut him off again.
"Take this, and have a good look at my name. I want you to know who I am when I beat the test." Just fucking take it. Was added in Naruto's own head.
The Jonin regarded him impassively for a short moment, before stuffing the outstretched paper into a back pocket.
"Get off the platform, brat." The proctor then turned to continue announce names as if Naruto didn't exist.
The young Uzumaki reluctantly walked off the wooden structure with a stiff countenance. He only absentmindedly took note of a Genin with long dark hair and pale eyes passing him by to sign her disclaimer. Unless the proctor takes out that paper and has a look at it, the situation isn't going to change, unfortunately.
There was a chance he would have to rely on himself. He just hoped the proctor was underestimating him.
Back on the clearing, Naruto found that thinking of what his test would be was an exercise in futility. Instead, he made it a point to observe his fellow competitors as he walked around the clearing aimlessly. It was a bit awkward, as most of the candidates stood stock still and was warily observing him. But he managed to ignore that for the most part.
He did spot a few interesting characters, and some familiar faces. The Kiri team was confidently meeting his eye when he passed them by. They were unafraid and intrigued. Like wolves paying respect to a fellow predator amid a sheep flock. He added them to his mental list of people to watch.
A bit later he was amused when he bumped into someone he recognized. Literarily.
"Ouf! Watch where you're going jerk!"
Naruto stared at the girl who had run into him for the second time now.
A small distraction was very welcome, so Naruto replied with some sarcasm. "How right you are, I should be held accountable when people randomly walk straight into my side out of nowhere. Or when they run down the stairs. Yes, I'm clearly the one at fault."
He had a hard time holding back his smile at her annoyed expression. Her odd pink eyes did a poor job at conveying anger.
"You can fuck off! I don't care if you think you're the greatest Genin walking the earth-"
"I'm not really a Genin."
"-You think anyone cares if you can knock over a slab of rock!?"
"Well, it was pretty heavy."
"You're an idiot!"
"Really?"
"Yes! The moment you fuck up during the proctor's test you're going to realize it too!"
"I think you might have an insecurity problem."
"Fuck you." She told him, suddenly very calm.
"Anatomically speaking, that would be-"
"Will you shut up!?" She cried before storming off, back to furious in a 180° turn.
He really tried not to laugh at her retreating form, but he failed in that venture. Tsuchikage's granddaughter or not, she was a hothead.
He walked on and managed to stay away from Sabaku no Gaara when he saw the Suna siblings standing a few paces away. Naruto had avoided the red-haired psychopath for the last few days and right now was not the time to spark a confrontation with him. He had not forgotten him though, he still had to check his seal for defects.
He gave a wave to Sasuke and Sakura when he spotted them next to some other Konoha Genin. They looked very standoffish, so he didn't stop to chat. By that time, the name-calling was over anyways. Ibiki had made it evident he had no patience for stragglers. Naruto stepped a bit closer to the panel and looked on as Konoha's proctor put away his list and looked across the crowd of Genin.
"Good! Now, this first phase of the exam will last for a week at most, but I doubt you'll last that long. I guess it depends on how resilient you are. During this week, you can drop out of the exam at any time."
Ibiki folded his hands behind his back and looked sternly at the crowd.
"If you fail your objective, you're out. If you become incapable of continuing, you're out. If you somehow break the rules, you're out. Any of these things happen, your name will be wiped off this blackboard here, and you won't be able to continue advancing."
A slight pause.
"Of course, you can also choose to give up anytime, even during a test, which means immediate failure. Keep in mind there's not always going to be someone ready to get you out of harm's way the second you give up during a test. Think carefully before you make a decision."
Ibiki let his words sink in yet again.
"Like I said earlier, only twenty of you get to advance to the second stage. That doesn't mean you can't get a promotion here, we will be scouting for anyone with talent, so impress us with what you can do. That about sums it up, the first test of the exam will begin sometime in the next hour. You're free to prepare or relax as you please until then, but don't be absent when we begin. I will cross out your name."
Ibiki looked across the clearing, his eyes were scouring after something.
"In the meantime, there's a defiant youngster here who has to pass a test. Let's get that underway, it might be amusing to watch while the preparations of the exam are being finalized."
He gave a slight cough to clear his throat.
"Let me introduce you to some assistants of mine. They will handle a great deal of the actual tests this week."
The proctor brought two fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly.
Two humanoid shapes suddenly whizzed into existence below the podium. Two near perfect shunshin.
One male and one female. The woman had a fitted mesh suit covering her from the neck and all the way down to her thighs. She also wore a tanned overcoat and a brown mini skirt which helped conceal her indecency. The outfit was still revealing, a lot of the males were probably getting a kick out of her arrival.
The man by her side was an odd sight, he looked sickly and out of place next to the woman who seemed to be near bursting with energy. He wore a standard shinobi flak jacket, but Naruto took note of the katana on his hip.
"Hello everyone! I am the sexy and irresistible Mitarashi Anko, and you're lucky enough to have me as one of your test supervisors this week!" This introduction was accompanied by a few suggestive hand motions. One of the guys beside him did a sudden air intake. A team member of his quickly bonked him on the head for that.
"Nice to meet you, I am Hayate Gekko, I will be your test supervisor for parts of this exam, pleased to meet you." Hayate said in a calm monotone, but he began coughing at the end of his introduction.
The female supervisor quickly drowned that out. "Now, I heard we have a rebel here, so I'm just going to take care of him for ya all. Will the bad boy step up?"
Naruto did as she asked without fussing and began to wade through the masses of Genin. It seemed these two were issuing the test. Is that good, or bad?
"He the guy?" The mesh suit clad supervisor asked when Naruto stopped in front of the podium. Her dark hair was set up into an orderly mess he could appreciate, the brown eyes she focused on him made him uncomfortable though.
"Yes. Let's get this over with." The proctor responded.
Mitarashi nodded contently. "Okay folks! Here's what's gonna happen! The center of this clearing will be empty in the next minute, anyone other than me and bad boy here still standing in this clearing after that get their names crossed of off the blackboard." All of this was said stoically, but she finished her tirade with a smile and a cute: "Simple, right?"
Everyone was spurred into motion by that, it only took half a minute before there was a sizeable empty area in the middle of the clearing. Naruto was impressed.
"Good! You listen, that bodes well for you!" Anko called out loudly. "Now, you're all welcome to sit on the sidelines and watch if you will. I don't recommend standing to close, thrown weapons or a stray Jutsu could hit you, but it's allowed. Just don't get in the way, because I am about to issue a test here, you got that?"
Slowly, the various Genin trickled further away to give better room, most stopped when they hit the tree line. A few disappeared into the undergrowth, uninterested in the commotion taking place.
"Great!" She called out exuberantly. "Take this as an opportunity to learn!"
The proctor made an impatient motion with his hand from the podium, "get it on with, Anko."
"Shush you!" She answered, then she gave Naruto a look that was almost sympathetic, but not quite. "You ready, kid?"
Naruto turned his head to look at the scarred man. "Did you read my name yet, proctor-san?"
"I'm waiting to see if it's worth my time."
Of course you did.
He turned back to the Kunoichi. "Yeah, go ahead Mitarashi-san."
"Okay, kid! Your test will be to fight me!" She called out loud enough for anyone in the vicinity to hear.
How simple.
"But we're going to do coinflips first." She held up a simple Ryo.
"Okay. . ." He prodded. Maybe not?
"If the coin hits head, we fight only using Taijutsu. If it hits tails, we only use Ninjutsu. In the rare event that it lands on its edge, I'll allow everything. You following? If you break these rules you lose instantly."
"I follow." That was actually an interesting rule.
"Good. This test will consist of three rounds, and we're gonna do a coinflip for each round. Each round is worth one point, the one with most points in the end wins. If you make it to the end that is."
"Okay, what determines the winner of each round?"
"Well, each round should last for a set amount of time, say a minute? During that time your goal will be to subdue me in whatever field the coin lands in, if you can do it, you win the round. If neither of us manages to take down the other, then the judges will decide on who did better. They'll make a vote and the one with most votes gets the point for that round. Let's not make this unnecessarily complicated."
Naruto nodded along. Ibiki will give Anko the vote every time he gets the chance, so it's better to subdue her and bypass the vote system entirely. Even so, it's not a completely hopeless case if I must rely on the votes. If the other four judges are unbiased that is. Essentially, I need three out of the four votes to win a round.
Naruto gave the supervisor a look. It's probably best to subdue her though, but how good is she?
"Couple questions, can we use weapons and equipment when the coin hits heads? Taijutsu in other words."
Anko paused to think that over. "No, it complicates things. No equipment or weapons at all. Pure Taijutsu only if it lands on heads."
"Then, is it okay to bolster yourself with chakra in our Taijutsu contests?"
"Well, yes, chakra is an important facet of Taijutsu, so that's allowed. But no Ninjutsu of course. We'll consider this a competitive spar, no lethal force. If you do, I'll come right back at you. That sounds fine?"
"Okay . . . I think I understand this then. I'm ready to begin whenever."
She gave him a slight look over. "You're good at coping, that's nice. Maybe you'll be worth my time." She finished the sentence with a weird tongue flick over her lips.
Naruto smiled a bit. You're about to find out.
Without sermon, she knelt and formed a small earth protrusion through a Jutsu he was unfamiliar with. Naruto looked on unalarmed.
She stood back up, content with the mound of dirt almost level with his waist now lying in-between them. "I'll make the coin land on this dirt pile, so be prepared for it." She explained.
"Once the coin lands, we begin the round. Hayate will referee the match. Got it?"
The sickly man positioned himself to the side and in-between them. He looked ready to keel over in Naruto's honest opinion.
"Yeah." Naruto lowered his center of gravity ever so slightly. He was trying to rack up as much Ninjutsu knowledge as he could muster.
She gave him an excited look. "Here goes. Three. Two. One."
She flicked the coin into the air, where it spun and reflected a few golden sunrays.
It hit the mound with an unceremonious thump.
xXx
The rookie teams of Konoha stood at the edge of the clearing among a growing number of Genin. There was little talk, only the occasional hushed whisper. Everyone was observing the two figures out on the grassy field.
The group listened as the test supervisor explained the test in a loud and confident voice.
"You think he can do it?" Kosuke murmured.
"It depends on the supervisor." Sasuke replied. "She doesn't look like a Chunin."
"She looks more like a Jonin, yes." Shikamaru added in from his spot between Choji and Ino. "If they're supposed to fight, I don't see how he can beat her. It's an inherently unfair matchup. But maybe the judges take that into consideration?"
"Doubt it." Said Sasuke.
"Isn't it just good for us if he gets disqualified here? Then we don't have to deal with him later." Kiba commented.
"He saved Sasuke-kun's life!" Sakura returned hotly, to which Kiba gave a lopsided smile. "A real shame that."
Sakura gasped.
"No one appreciates a joke like that, Inuzuka-san." Hinata's tone of voice was cold, and Kiba felt implored to give the Hyuuga heiress a nod.
"It's about to start guys." Choji announced, his fingers scratching at the bottom of his bag of chips.
The two on the field stood coiled and ready to burst into action. The supervisor did a coinflip. The rookies stared at the falling Ryo.
It hit a small and elevated flat mound, and in the same instant the supervisor bolted ahead in an impressive display of speed. She moved at a speed far out of reach for most Chunin. The boy – Naruto – seemed overwhelmed.
He looked unprepared and slow, a bit stiff in his first movements maybe. The scantily clad supervisor was upon him in an instant. She attacked with a peculiar Taijutsu form. The blonde teen moved out of the way of the first strike, and he somehow managed to erect a flimsy block for the second one, but it was apparent he was losing badly.
The woman stepped in closer, a condescending smile on her face.
Unexpectedly, the blond boy also leaned in without preamble.
Slightly alarmed, Anko struck at him with intensity. Oops, that might have been excessive.
Very few people saw it clearly, but Naruto passed underneath her arm with a sudden burst of speed that surprised everyone.
Now inside her guard, Naruto discovered he was tall enough to ram his knee forcefully into her solar plexus.
Anko gasped breathlessly and her body scrunched up.
Never pausing in his movements, Naruto slammed a two-finger strike into the crevices of her ribs, before he spun and delivered a merciless roundhouse kick to her face.
She hit the ground hard. To her credit, she hurriedly rolled into a squat, eyes a bit wild. Naruto observed calmly from a standstill, but on the inside, he was pleased. It had been a bit of a gamble to try and trick and surprise her like that. His skin pricked with adrenaline.
Hayate was looking at him strangely.
A long drawn out whistle from one of the spectators ended the silence, and whispers broke out.
"He's not an idiot . . . That was tactical, he targeted some crippling spots too." Nara Shikamaru was the first to say anything in the rookie group. "Not to mention his ridiculous burst of speed there, I didn't think that was possible for someone our age." His little analysis brought the rest of the rookies out of their stupefied stares.
"Just how good is he?" Muttered Sasuke, a tint of frustration in his voice.
"I've only ever seen Kakashi move that fast . . . " Sakura breathed.
Everyone became quiet again when the dark-haired supervisor stilted herself back up on her feet. Her nose was bleeding, and she was very clearly favoring one side over the other. The pain from the two-finger strike was showing, it was a bit of a low blow, Naruto knew that.
Finger strikes are meant to cause a lot of pain and debilitate a person that way, it was an excellent option for attacking the throat and neck, but it could also sneak in-between the ribs and do some serious damage. He was not above using it, then again, getting kneed in the solar plexus wasn't exactly pleasant either.
Ibiki cornered me, so I've got to take every advantage I can. And since everyone keeps underestimating me . . .
Surprisingly, her expression was not hurt, but serene. Her breath was a bit ragged, and there was a different kind of intensity to her eyes from earlier. She looked even more dangerous now, like a lion whose tail had been yanked. And yanked a bit too hard.
Maybe this had been a bad idea.
She let out a wheezing laugh. "You fucked that up kid." Her voice was amused.
What's she on about? And am I still just a kid to her?
"You shouldn't have stopped. That kick to the face was a kindness compared to what I would have done. Nice behavior like that is going to get you killed."
Naruto blinked. "Maybe, but I'm worth your time now, right?"
That made her blink. "Yes, yes you are." She replied and wiped some blood off her face, unfortunately the nosebleed didn't stop. She didn't seem to care.
"Beating your ass will be time well spent, and our time isn't up yet."
I have to move quickly, she looks ready to kill me.
"There's only 17 seconds left." Hayate announced.
Naruto immediately snapped into the stance of 'river cuts the reed'. His feet shifting into place just as Jiraiya had taught him years ago, and not a moment too soon.
Despite the crippling blows from earlier, Anko moved like she was fresh out the shower. She was already in front of him.
She opened the assault by going for his midsection. Naruto deflected her with a knife-hand strike which he turned into a grapple, he whirled around and tried to dislocate her left arm, but Anko slithered out of his grasp through an odd maneuver he had no idea how the human body was even capable of.
She's like a fucking snake!
Spinning once more, Naruto performed a compact horse kick directed at her gut. Despite the close quarters Anko slid out of the way again and threw out a fast kick of her own. Naruto held up a block and winced when it hit, he was rapidly coming to understand conventional Taijutsu did him no good here. Her follow up palm strike was redirected, but this time she was the one who grabbed hold of him.
She pulled and twisted his arm. Staying calm, Naruto struck at her jugular with his free arm in a precise knife hand attack. He'd been quick enough, and Anko let go of his arm to grab and stop his attack. They were practically wrapped up in each other now, but Naruto took a page out of her book and shot out an elbow strike aimed at her temple.
Anko bashed his attack aside with one arm and managed to slither in a follow up strike to his abdomen. It carried some force behind it, despite the small wind up.
Had that hit him just a year earlier, he would have gone down like a sack of potatoes. Luckily, it hit him today, and although most of the air in him left in one big wheeze, he remained standing.
Anko however, struck again without pause, a blow to his head this time. He barely dodged, and he realized he was in a rougher shape than first anticipated. Now oxygen deprived, Naruto took a step back and sluggishly changed stance, but Anko had no intention of giving him space.
A fist snuck past his guard and nailed his shoulder, which became unresponsive. Just a couple seconds left now, it can't be much longer.
Another strike got him in his side and it very nearly made him dry heave. His thoughts turned desperate. What do I do here? What can I do!?
One of those annoying elbow strikes forced up his guard and left him completely open. He met her ferocious eyes for an instant, and time seemed to slow down.
An old man's voice buzzed somewhere in the back of his head. Dig deep kid! Dig deep and rise back up!
The act was unconscious, but he shifted his footing. He wanted to make the voice shut up. The test supervisor was closing in to finish him off, she had a grin plastered on her face.
With no clever ideas, Naruto went with his instinct and simply leaned in and focused the rest of his strength into one last effort.
A distant voice called "Time!" Just as an explosion of pain washed over him.
It took a him a few steady breaths before he came back to himself, and a couple more to realize he was lying in a clearing and what he was doing there. His head hurt, it ached with each heartbeat. The kunoichi knew her stuff. He took a steadying breath and began the arduous task of rising.
It took considerable effort, but it wouldn't do to appear weak. Now back on his feet, someone was trying to get his attention. The male supervisor probably, but his ears were ringing.
Instead of trying to listen, Naruto slowly put one foot in front of the other and walked back to the mound where he picked up the Ryo innocently lying there. He had probably lost that round, but he had to look forward, worrying was useless.
An idea was taking shape in his mind, and that gave him confidence his head was still up and running.
"I'll flip it this time." His voice came out jumbled, and his tongue stumbled on the last word.
He recognized the tan overcoat that stopped in front of him. It was a bit blurry though.
"Stop that silly. Did you even notice you're vision impaired right now?"
Naruto raised a hand to touch his eye, and was a bit surprised when it came down wet with blood.
"No." He replied truthfully. I got hit harder than I thought.
He could still see with the eye, but it gave him a foggy vision. A sinewy stream of blood dripped into his eyelashes from a narrow cut above his left eye. He must have made a dreadful sight. Instead of trying to stem the bleeding, he swiveled the gaze of his good eye to the supervisor.
He noticed some discoloration on her face. "Did I do that?"
"Yeah. Didn't see it coming, I'm shocked you got to me twice in one round. Might have cost me the round that last exchange." She grinned, but stopped when her bruised cheek began to hurt.
The buzz of voices all around him was finally getting through the ringing in his head. Many of the Genin were talking excitedly.
"Seems like they enjoyed the show." He muttered.
"Of course, even I enjoyed that spar, it was awesome." She gave him a look he recognized, one of curiosity. Unlike other times when people wanted to know about him, this time it was a mutual feeling. She was an oddball.
He was pleasantly surprised when she didn't ask him anything personal. "You look out of sorts though, maybe you can get yourself a bit patched up. I don't want the next round to be stale. The judges aren't done arguing anyways. Sit down a bit, okay?"
"Mhm." He murmured in consent and lowered himself down to his knees. Giving him recuperation time was a bad move, but he wasn't going to complain. He dug out a scroll from his Fuuinjutsu compartment affixed to his hip. After unsealing it, he immediately took a big gulp from the water bottle that appeared. He closed his eyes in relaxation and took an occasional sip of water.
He had to face the unpleasant fact lurking in the back of his head. Just like Kakashi, she was better than him when it came to Taijutsu. If the coin hit heads again . . .
"Want me to fetch someone to look at you?" Anko asked.
"What happened to 'nice behavior like that is gonna get you killed?" He asked quietly without opening his eyes.
"Difference is, I can afford to be nice from time to time, unlike you." She answered, but said nothing further.
"Are you underestimating me again?" He wondered aloud.
"Maybe." He could hear her smile.
Time passed, and Naruto let the buzzing of distant conversation wash over him. A minute passed, then another one ticked by. He could feel the skin on his forehead scratch, a sign he had learned to recognize as the Kyuubi's chakra doing its thing. The bleeding had nearly stopped altogether.
"Looks like they're done." Anko announced.
Naruto nodded slowly, and cleaned off some of the blood on his face with last of the water. He rose back up and turned towards the podium just as Ibiki was stepping forth to make an announcement. The judges behind him looked conflicted.
"The first round, with three out of five votes goes to . . ."
"Mitarashi Anko!" He declared loudly.
The Genin on the outskirts took that with both groans and excited shouts. Bets had been made apparently.
"Huh, tough luck kid."
I'm gonna make her stop calling me kid by the end of this, I swear.
"It's okay, I'll win the next two." He responded. He might have to reveal some of his strengths, but the way things were going he didn't have much choice.
"Confident, ey? You're ready to go then?" She asked and gave his forehead an examining glance. She frowned, the cut was nowhere near as bad as it had been only minutes before.
"Of course," he turned to her and threw his water bottle away. He made sure to make the action look haphazard, when it was anything but. "I'll do the coinflip this time then."
He held up the Ryo.
"Just do it already. I'm anxious to kick your ass again." She told him and moved into her spot behind the mound.
A silence settled over the field when people noticed the two moving into position.
He gave her a nod and aimed his arm down at the mound. Anko frowned at his odd stance, it looked like he was aiming the Ryo like a projectile.
He would lose if he didn't win the next two in a row, and Anko would likely win another Taijutsu round.
It made things obvious in Naruto's mind, she never specified how to do the coinflip.
He counted down calmly like she had done before. "Three. Two. One."
The coin was launched from his hand with a powerful chakra empowered flick. It burrowed itself halfway into the dirt, effectively standing on edge.
" . . . In the rare event that it lands on its edge, I'll allow everything."
Naruto stared for half a second in wonder, surprised it had actually worked. He recovered a split second faster than Anko, who was frowning at the coin.
He flipped through two rapid hand signs and disappeared in his fastest Kawarimi. An empty water bottle dropped to the ground in his place.
I'll end this . . .
He reappeared behind the woman with a wakizashi already unsealed and equipped. Anko began to spin around.
Right now!
Naruto stepped in and thrusted the slim mini-katana forward with his right arm.
The execution had been close to flawless, but Anko still managed to narrowly sidestep it.
He had been counting on that. Her eyes bulged slightly when Naruto snapped out his left hand and a tanto tore through a small cloud of smoke.
Anko held out a long-sleeved coat arm, and four thick snakes burst out of it like confetti out of a box. They were already too close to avoid. Suddenly desperate, Naruto channeled his wind chakra and hurriedly sliced the air with his tanto. The extended wind blade cut through the reptiles cleanly, and they went up in smoke.
Anko came through the smoke armed with a simple kunai in a reverse grip.
Without pausing Naruto resealed both weapons back into his tattoos, before unsealing a different one. It took him half a second.
The shock this time around wasn't so great, but she had no way of escaping his sudden reach. Now holding a long bō staff, Naruto swiped at her with both hands. He almost got her in the temple, but she somehow managed to bring up the kunai to deflect some of the blow. The staff slid of the small blade and hit her in the back of the skull.
Naruto changed his grip on the bō staff and pressed his advantage by thrusting the butt of the staff at her torso. She bashed it aside, but the action likely bruised her hand. Going with the momentum, Naruto twirled the staff and aimed another strike at her, but she vaulted backwards and out of reach.
Naruto sealed the staff away and paused.
A snake summoner . . . Those are very rare, just who is she?
Very similar thoughts concerning the blonde was buzzing in Anko's head.
"45 seconds left." Hayate supplied from the sidelines.
Both eyed each other with a wary and mutual respect. Anko made the first move and appeared next to him in a shunshin. Her stab at Naruto only hit air, because the teen had already gone.
Anko quickly left the spot in another shunshin. Which saved her from being hit by a spinning back heel kick from behind.
The round devolved into a game of catch where both dashed around using the Shunshin. Their fast-paced clashes only lasted a second or two at most before they disengaged, only to reappear somewhere else.
Neither was getting the upper hand, and at this point the duel was becoming hard to comprehend from the sidelines.
"Are you guys seeing this?" Ino muttered, almost speechless. The Yamanaka girl felt humbled by the skill level of the two in front of her. She had never seen such an advanced spar, it was enough to make her lose self-confidence.
"He's fighting her evenly, yes, we're seeing it." Shikamaru replied quietly.
"Where did you say this guy was from?" Kiba asked, and threw a look at team 7. Both Sasuke and Kosuke was too absorbed in the fight to notice him.
"He never said." Sakura answered. "I asked, but he only gave us some vague reply about being from all over."
"How does he summon and vanish his weapons? He keeps doing it." Shino wondered aloud.
"He's a Fuuinjutsu genius, so it's no doubt linked to that, but I have no idea how he does it." Sasuke responded uniformly without looking away.
Hinata glanced at him, "labeling someone a genius is high praise coming from you."
Sasuke gave a lazy twist with one shoulder. "He showed us Fuuinjutsu I doubt our shinobi corps even know exist."
"I see." She said evenly and withdrew her gaze.
A small shockwave of air ruffled the clothes of the rookies, even as far away as they were. Naruto's wind techniques were clearly powerful. It had not been enough, unfortunately.
"Oh, she got him." Choji commented, for once not eating anything.
A suspenseful silence settled over the group, the strange Genin was hurt.
Drops of blood dyed the grass red as Naruto weaved in-between attacks. He was bleeding profusely from a bite wound in his shoulder. Curtesy of one long ass reptile.
Anko was capitalizing on the opportunity, he only barely managed to vault away with a single hand.
He had slowed down some, but nothing too vital had been severed, he thought he could still use the arm somewhat. Anko wouldn't count on that, probably. There wasn't much time left either, he had no more chances. If he lost here everything would be over before it began.
It was time to play it risky.
Rising from his roll, Naruto set into high gear. With his healthy arm, he flicked a handful of shuriken charged with wind chakra at the supervisor. Simultaneously, his wounded arm held up a lone sign, and six shadow clones burst into life around him.
Anko narrowly dodged the deadly projectiles and paused to observe the clones, she seemed surprised. Whether it was due his use of a taxing Kinjutsu, or the way he executed it with just one hand, he had no idea.
The six clones split off and surrounded her, Anko responded by throwing a few of her own projectiles. One clone vanished in a smoke puff. Unbothered, Naruto unsealed his wakizashi and abruptly threw it in an overhead arc at the woman.
Realizing he was planning something, Anko made quick use of the Shunshin to get out of the hotspot. Which was the signal he had mentally instilled into his clones.
Anko reappeared at a safer distance closer to the podium. However, unease flowed into her when smoke screens popped up on all her sides. Four identical dark dressed teenagers attacked her simultaneously in a clearly rehearsed pattern. Anko hastily flipped through four hand signs.
"Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu!" The snake summoner unleashed a breath of fire that expanded into a short cone of hot flames. Two clones went up in smoke, and a third only barely managed to dive out of the way. Anko whirled around to deal with the fourth clone, but halfway into her spin something tightened around her pivotal foot.
Alarmed, Anko reflexively tried to substitute, but her focus took a dent when the clone next to her reacted a bit quicker than expected and nailed her with a punch to the stomach. The hand around her ankle yanked down hard an instant after that. Anko was in the process of being submerged when another Naruto appeared out of nowhere with his leg extended. The flat of his foot connected firmly with her chin.
The impact was enough to jolt her brain into unconsciousness.
Anko fell limply and hit the ground awkwardly, her right leg was buried to the knee. A clone didn't hesitate to bring a kunai to a rest over her throat.
Hayate stepped forth and raised an arm to gather attention, he was eyeing the clone warningly. "Round over, the point goes to Naruto for subduing his opponent."
A sort of stunned silence greeted those words, and Naruto let his taut body slacken. His clones evaporated into smoke next to him, and he couldn't help but to analyze their perspectives of that last sequence. The round had been very close, but he caught a break towards the end.
The onslaught of attacks from so many directions must have caught her off guard. The point that round wasn't wholly his credit, it was more apt to say the supervisor messed up.
It only took a moment for the excited small talk to bubble up. Naruto did his best to ignore the crowd and gave his hurt shoulder an experimental roll, he managed to keep a wince back, but it certainly hurt.
Oh well, that turned out a lot better than expected. I revealed nothing too important, except for my Fuuinjutsu aptitude, but Fuuinjutsu is my bread and butter anyways. It's an obscure branch, so it usually catches people off guard even if they know you're skilled at it.
He would have used his own summons too, but Gamahiro would have as much of a problem in pinning down the snake summoner as Naruto. Better to keep his contract with the toads under wraps.
"Ugh, for fucks sake, that made me dizzy." Anko slurred from her prone position, back to awareness. Naruto barely heard her over the din of noises. "I can't believe I lost that one. I didn't expect you to have that level of synergy with your clones. I fucked up."
Feeling generous, Naruto took a step forward and extended his unhurt arm. She looked at the hand for a few seconds before grabbing it.
Up on her feet Anko pulled her foot loose from the ground and wiped herself down. She then straightened and gave her chin a gentle caress, the look she sent him was teasing.
"You got anything against pretty women, or is it just this face in particular you're trying to mess up?" She asked.
"At least I spared your nose this time." Naruto replied in good humor, but eyed his shoulder worryingly. "Your summons aren't venomous, are they?"
"Some of them are." She seemed happy to inform him.
Oh well, I probably would have felt the effects by now if that was the case with this bite.
"Well, I need a minute." Naruto turned his head to look at the small bite in his shoulder. Now that the fight was done and the adrenaline in him was flushing out, his shoulder was beginning to bleed for real. The fabric around his upper torso was becoming slicker with blood by the minute.
"So, it won't it close up as easily as the previous cut?" She was only halfway joking.
"It would take three or four hours for a wound this big to close itself, unless I speed up the process." He said matter-of-factly. She might not know it yet, but they were allies after all. He could tell her minor things like that, he'd like to have her trust someday.
Besides, he kind of liked being honest with people for a change.
"Get it bandaged." Anko suggested slowly, clearly unsure if he was being truthful or not.
I could bandage it, but I have to consider the upcoming round as well, if I get into another Taijutsu showdown with her . . . The odds are against me in that field, and I shouldn't just hope I luck out and get a Ninjutsu match. I ought to do something as a precaution . . .
He made sure to act when Anko turned away to have a few words with the male supervisor. Naruto channeled chakra into his fingertips and held his hand over his stomach. Over the eight-trigrams seal, to be precise.
He hesitated for a moment, a tiny moment that was significant still. He had done this once before, a dumb experiment from his more brash and foolhardy days. It might help him now though, so he shouldn't complain.
Slowly . . . I only want to jiggle it a bit.
He rotated his hand ever so slightly. Apparently, there was a key to the seal somewhere. But Naruto had yet to encounter a lock he couldn't pick, and his father's seal was no exception. Then again, he was unable to actually open the seal –a good thing to be sure, but he knew how to prop it ajar, so to speak.
Okay, there. Any more and I'll lose chakra control, and the effects would become visible.
Naruto removed his hand and felt an increase of chakra seep into him. The eight-trigrams seal was unique in that it allowed the Jinchuriki some of the Biju's chakra, a small trickle of it leaked into the Jinchuriki always. Like an IV that never stopped dripping. Over time this resulted in increased chakra reservoirs and large chakra pathways for the Jinchuriki.
Unfortunately, this benefit came with a drawback, the eight-trigrams seal deteriorates over time, and the key to completely seal off the proverbial chakra 'drip' would also mean the Jinchuriki could no longer access any of the Biju's chakra. Naruto had just momentarily turned the IV drip into something a bit more powerful.
Naruto straightened and glanced over the crowd.
Some must have seen him tamper with the seal – or his own stomach in their eyes, but he sincerely doubted they had the knowledge necessary to understand it. Ibiki had been busy discussing something with a fellow judge, and Anko was still talking to Hayate. His eyes stopped when he glanced over the Konoha rookies, he gave their suspicious faces a wink.
The skin on his shoulder was itching terribly now, and the pain had dulled into a slow beat. He felt better, a bit stronger too maybe.
He released a breath and closed his eyes. The additional chakra from the kyuubi made him more rash, but he wrestled it down. It was enough to make him wonder how much of an effect the malicious chakra had had on him as a child growing up. Although he couldn't do anything about it, it still worried him from time to time.
Naruto stood perfectly still and tried to calm his cardiac valves. The added chakra from the Kyuubi also influenced him physically. Everything became slightly sharper, less gritty and more vivid. He imagined the effects would only increase if he took in more of the Kyuubi's chakra. He had never gone beyond this experimental stage though, and he hoped he never had to go further.
"Oi, bad boy?"
Naruto cracked open his eyes. The bruised face of his test supervisor greeted him. He could make out individual strands of her dark hair now. He noted how it framed her face very prettily.
"Mitarashi-san?" His voice was a bit dry.
She folded her arms and looked at him with annoyance. "Aren't you going to get that shoulder wrapped up? Its bleeding you out kid."
Naruto gave the shoulder an experimental rotation, it was sticky with slick and crusted blood. But he only felt a slight sting when he moved it.
"Actually, I'm ready for the-" He began to tell her, but she interrupted him.
"Pfft! Not likely." Anko stepped forward and grabbed his shoulder gently to inspect it.
Her eyes widened when she peered through the bite holes in his dark grey combat vest. The skin beneath was irritated and covered in crusted blood, but also nearly unblemished. She leveled her head with his and stared at him. It felt strangely intimate, and Naruto struggled not to get flustered.
"Who are you?"
". . ."
". . ."
"Uzumaki Naruto." He looked her square in the eyes. She took a moment to digest that.
"I doubt even a pureblooded Uzumaki had that kind of regeneration." Her voice was calm, but also insistent.
"I'm not pureblooded, but I'm special." He replied easily. "And besides, I told you I could speed up the process."
She took even longer to stew over that answer.
"Okay, Uzumaki-san. Let's wrap up this test. Don't hold anything back this round, kid. You'll regret it if you do." She walked off to her side of the dirt mound and threw off her tan overcoat. People around the clearing quieted down. They knew what was coming next. The panel of judges straightened.
Was that a warning?
Anko gave Hayate a look, and he stepped closer, ready to referee the match.
Fine, I wasn't going to hold back anyways.
Naruto stepped up to the usual spot and stared blankly ahead. He flared some chakra out experimentally. The grass under him rippled slightly under the invisible force.
Yeah, I still have good control. Nothing to worry about.
Anko arched an eyebrow at his display.
"I'm ready." He told her evasively.
She gave him a nod and held up an arm. "Three. Two. One."
She did the coinflip.
A drop of sweat trilled down his forehead.
The coin landed, and Naruto blasted off his feet. It was heads again. Taijutsu again!? Ugh!
With his right leg, Naruto kicked into the dirt mound as hard as possible. Anko stopped in her tracks when she got hit with a literal explosion of earth. Squeezing out his considerable reserves of chakra, Naruto took two large strides before kicking off into the air.
He snapped his legs into a text book fly kick. Anko recovered in time to block him with a cross guard, but the force of the kick had her feet slipping. Naruto landed and brought up an arm to block a fast retaliation from the snake summoner.
Naruto returned fire, and their arms became a blur as the two fought for dominance. Any distractions ebbed away from their minds, both went from one stance to another in the blink of an eye. There was only action and reaction. Both refused to be the first to lose focus.
The kunoichi snapped out multiple attacks in quick succession, and her slippery style made it difficult to anticipate where she was aiming. But unlike earlier he could see her moves more clearly now, and react slightly better as well.
Naruto blocked a strike and redirected a sneakier low blow. He attacked back with a knife hand aimed for her neck, but Anko blocked him expertly and in a single fluid motion she caught his elbow in a vice grip. Naruto stepped closer and wrung his detained arm down and to the side, before he bent and performed a compact kick upwards directed at her stomach.
Anko grabbed his leg with her one free arm, but the kick proved too powerful. She used her hand as a buffer and let her body be pushed back by the force. She tried grabbing hold of Naruto's foot, but the boy spun on the spot and a round house kick nearly lopped her head off. She managed to twist away in time, but Naruto heard her annoyed huff.
The two was starting to learn the other's distinct style, their exchanges were more even now. Both had yet to land a proper hit. The audience was staring at the increasingly complex Taijutsu battle. A fight like the one unfolding was a rare sight.
The halfway mark of the round was called, and the equilibrium had yet to shatter.
Their fight was explosive, and Naruto was starting to get winded, his arms were getting heavier. Fortunately, he wasn't the only one. Anko was having the exact same issue, and whenever their eyes met, he could discern one prevailing emotion in her. Irritation.
Good, he could work that angle.
Naruto blocked a sweeping kick and fired off a punch. Anko redirected it and quickly closed their distance. Naruto sidestepped and blocked several successive attacks, he kept denying her each time she advanced. He never took his eyes off her face, not once.
How does it feel, Mitarashi-san?
Naruto bent away and narrowly avoided a lightning quick strike from the woman, he responded with a palm strike.
To fight evenly with someone half your age?
He briefly met her eyes again after another super-fast exchange of fists. She looked beyond vexed.
Must be frustrating, right? The corner of his mouth got caught in a smile.
Naruto dodged left and right, he then employed a difficult combination series of both closed fists and open palm strikes that forced Anko to take a step back. Naruto's smile grew larger.
Can you feel my superiority?
Anko let a growl slip free and layered into him with a ferocity he hadn't seen before. Slightly overwhelmed, Naruto backtracked and evaded her at all costs.
On the inside, Naruto felt a small measure of triumph surge through him.
Naturally, she didn't want to be outdone by anyone so young, and unlike Kakashi who was an analytic, Anko was an emotional fighter. Naruto had recognized that early on, he could even relate to her. He used to make the same mistake she was making now in his training sessions with Jiraiya.
Her frustration was building incrementally from each attack he stopped and evaded. Her nurtured skills were gradually being forgotten in favor of instinct, and her polished tactics were eroding into rushed feints and tricks he'd seen her do already.
Naruto felt he could beat her now. The sudden thought surprised him somewhat, which made him pause for an insant. One instant was enough to make a subtle difference for Anko though.
She managed to land a powerful blow to his shoulder that had him reeling, and immediately went for the opening in his defenses.
Naruto cursed silently to himself and immediately employed some of his best moves to stem the sudden onslaught from the Jonin. That feeling from before remained though. He could beat her. She was excited to have gotten in the first hit, this was the perfect time to turn the tables.
Naruto felt more than saw her next attack coming. I can anticipate her . . .
Naruto twisted his body to the side and leaned into an unnatural single handstand, which he used to catapult himself into the air.
The Snake summoner whirled around to keep track of him with wide eyes. With only one hand?!
With an impressive display of coordination Naruto dropped down on Anko with a heel kick. She redirected it to the side, but Naruto made his landing by planting his elbow in Anko's face. The snake summoner staggered backwards and made an involuntary grunt of pain.
Not giving her any time to recover, Naruto stepped forward and slammed his fist into her upper torso. He felt her ribs creak. The force of the blow launched Anko away. She bounced across the ground brutally before she came to a stop a good distance away from Naruto.
Did I . . . overdo it? Naruto bent down and leaned on his knees. He was out of breath, but just fine otherwise apart from a throbbing shoulder.
"Time. The round is over, the judges will declare the winner momentarily." Hayate was reduced to a series of coughs at the end of his single line. Naruto let out a relieved breath, he had made it just in time.
Naruto ignored the loud people on the sidelines and turned around to give the referee a nod of acknowledgement. The up and coming Shinobi then calmly walked to his opponent. Her eyelids were drowsily trying to open when he stopped next to her prone form.
"That was some spar." She muttered. "I've never fought someone like you."
"The feeling is mutual." He told her.
"No wonder Ibiki got his panties in a twist over you. What did you do to upset him anyways?"
"I knocked down the party décor." He gave a slight nod to a conspicuously toppled statue some distance away from them.
Anko let out a wheezing laugh that seemed to drain all the tension out of her. "He gets so carried away, that guy."
Naruto looked over his shoulder at the Konoha proctor. The scarred man was pointedly explaining something to a fellow judge. "You think he overreacted too?"
". . . You're not the guy he's looking for."
". . . I'm not, but what makes you so sure?"
"Call it intuition if you want."
Naruto shrugged and held out a hand to her for the second time that day. She didn't hesitate to take it this time. He pulled her up, but she wouldn't release his hand after the fact. Her smile was drowsy, but also playful. A very attractive combination.
"If you're back in Konoha again someday with a few extra years under your belt, you should find me. We could have a different kind of spar together, you know?" She joked with a teasing smile. He thought she was joking in any case.
Naruto tried not to look at her skin which was showing through the mesh suit. Instead, he pulled away his hand and snapped his eyes to hers. He forced himself not to look down again. I hate my height. Her boobs are almost in my face, it's impossible not to notice.
"Err, I don't know, I'd probably lose that fight, and I hate losing." He surprised her with a witty and modest reply, but heat was surging up his throat. She let out a laugh.
"I can tell. Go get some experience first then, you're clearly a fast learner, you'll get there."
Despite himself, Naruto felt his face heat up, not even all his experiences dealing with Jiraiya's female companions had prepared him enough for the teasing face Anko was making.
Naruto refused to look as meek as he felt, so he tried to end things smoothly. "Konoha is my new residence, I'm sure we'll bump into each other."
"Really? Well, don't be a stranger then. I look forward to get to know you, Uzumaki boy." She let out another laugh before she turned to pick up her discarded overcoat. Naruto was left behind thinking 'Uzumaki boy' was probably an improvement from just 'kid'.
Hayate walked calmly past Anko and into the center of the clearing, he cleared his throat and said in an almost flat voice: "The judges voted unanimously. The round went to Naruto. Having won two out of three rounds, he passes the test and is eligible to take the exam."
A brief pause.
"This clearing is no longer a test area and the exam will begin shortly. That is all."
Naruto could only feel elation at that.
xXx
Although it had been a spectacular show, very few clapped when it was over. It wasn't the ninja way, and as Naruto would soon become everyone's competition, no one felt like applauding him.
Sakura was one of the few who tried to clap, but was stopped by a man next to her. She looked down at the hand restraining her, puzzled.
"I wouldn't be so quick to show everyone you're friends with that guy. You'd be a perfect target for his enemies." The man holding her arm warned.
Sakura gave him a glancing look, she had him pegged somewhere in his late teens, as he was taller than most of the Genin she'd seen.
Excusing his rudeness for now, she asked: "What do you care?"
The other rookies were eyeing the spectacled man warily.
"Ah, I beg your pardon." He pushed his glasses further up his nose. "I'm Kabuto. A fellow Konoha Genin, and I think we from the leaf ought to stick together, no?"
He didn't pause for long.
"As you can see, no one is approaching him." Sakura looked ahead and had to agree with that. People were returning to the clearing, but there was a large circle around Naruto, who was stretching his shoulder.
"Yeah, 'cause he's dangerous. We're not dumb." Kiba commented from the sideline. Kabuto gave the Inuzuka a small nod, he then addressed all the rookies. "As a veteran of these exams, there's a lot I can tell you. I have information on the people trying out for instance."
Kabuto showed the group a handful of blank cards.
"I figure you rookies will need all the advantage you can get. Any of the names on the blackboard that piques your curiosity?" He asked them.
There was a short silence, and Sakura had to repeat his words once to herself before she realized what he was offering. How does he have intel on the Genin here?
She was a bit surprised when Shikamaru took half a step forward.
"What do you know about Sabaku no Gaara?" He asked tonelessly.
"An interesting name, let me see." Kabuto quickly picked out a card and channeled some chakra into it. He held it up to his eyes.
"Hmm, impressive. His B-rank assignments are up in the double digits. And perhaps even more impressive, he's completed an A-rank and returned home completely unscathed."
That surprised everyone, Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the information.
The Hyuuga heiress was the first to recover and give Kabuto another name.
"Kurotsuchi."
"The Tsuchikage's granddaughter?" Kabuto flipped up a new card. He seemed to know exactly where he had each individual card, even though they were all blank.
"Another young powerhouse, she's a known candidate for the Kage position in Iwa. That alone says something about her, but her mission records are also eye-catching. She's recently done a whole string of B-ranks, and every report on her performance are glowing with praise. Her main aptitude is ninjutsu, she's also known for her elemental manipulation."
"Troublesome." Shikamaru let out a breath. Hinata Hyuuga looked thoughtful.
Sasuke was the next to give a name. "Naruto."
Kabuto turned his gaze to the Uchia and gave him a smile. "That guy, huh?"
Sasuke gave Kabuto a dark look. "Do you know him?"
"He's . . . interesting. You see, I have intel on every Genin here, there's a few I only know snippets of information about, but at least I know their affiliation. Him though? Nothing. Naruto, whoever he is, has been a ghost all his life up until now. I admit I'm curious about him. His benefactors clearly went to great lengths to conceal him, so why is he purposefully garnering attention? It makes no sense. In any case, I would be careful around-" At this point Morino Ibiki stepped forth on the podium, and Kabuto stopped mid-sentence.
"Genin! Gather around here, the first phase is about to begin!"
The silver haired Genin adjusted his round spectacles again, he left with a few parting words. "It's starting. Here's a tip, don't try to compete, try surviving. Good luck."
With those glum words on their minds, the rookies shared a few looks and walked ahead. It was unlikely they would all be walking back again, and they all knew it.
A/N That's another one done, guys. What's there to like about it? What's there to dislike? Please give me your thoughts in a review!
How are everyone's thoughts about Naruto's strength and skills so far? I'm honestly curious what you think. I should probably mention Naruto will face greater danger earlier on in the story than in canon.
If you have any problems with how this chapter progressed, all I want to say is: I introduced Anko and had her fight Naruto. Therefore, your opinion is invalid.
EDIT: I revised the ending in this chapter on the 31.10.17. I didn't like it as it stood. I also edited some of the dialogue and combat between Naruto and Anko, only minor stuff.
The Epic Pen, signing off.
