?: hey everyone Fanreader26 here or FR for short. I'm here to say to all of you readers thank you for reading my story and reviewing. I'm also here to tell you
*SMACK*
FR: ow! Who hit me!?
Naruto: I did
FR: Naruto? What are you doing here?
Naruto: getting some payback for doing all that stuff to me
FR: it's part of the story and I thought abo..
*smack*
FR: ow who did that!
Ino: we did
FR: oh hey Ino, Hinata whats up. Uh Ino what are you doing with that mallet
Ino: *smiles evilly* how many hits does it take to get to the center
*FR runs away*
Ino: I'm going to get you for putting me through all that turmoil! *runs after FR*
Hinata: um shouldn't we help him
Naruto: no. it's what he gets for making us go through all that
*in the distance* Ino: your only making it worse. I promise I won't hurt you
FR: so when should I tell her that she is chasing a clone
Nartuo:...just get on with the story
FR: well guys here you go
"Normal speech"
'Normal thoughts'
"Demon/Summon speech"
'Demon/Inner Sakura/Summon thoughts'
Jutsu name
(author comment) - not a lot of them
flashback/memory
~locations and transitions~
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter 22: Preparations for the Chunin exams
It had been three weeks since team seven had returned to Konoha and things haven't been the same since then. Kakashi has been the same smut reading sensei but he now has someone else that he has to look after. Kakashi had been tasked into watching Haku for the time being and after he has been deemed trustworthy, Haku will take the title of chunin based on his skills and kekkei genkai. Hiruzen had chosen to keep the kekkei genkai a secret, to avoid the civilian council trying to use him for breeding.
Sakura had been spending her time more with Haku than with Naruto or Sasuke, as well as getting training in using senbons and physical training. Sakura had been pushing herself harder than ever to become a better kunoichi but she secretly wanted to be ready for any enemy she may face whether they be from enemy shinobi…...or a teammate. She had been scared to be anywhere near Naruto, for fear of him lashing out at her and doing what he did to Gato, to her. She also enjoyed spending time with Haku who told her stories of his travels and the sights he has seen.
Haku had enjoyed spending time with Sakura as well, seeing her as a bright, intelligent and sweet girl. He had told her what had happened to him when he was a child and how he had to kill his father in self defense, when he found out about his Kekkei Genkai. Sakura sat there and didn't interrupt him with questions which he was grateful for. Once he finished his story he asked her what life was like in Konoha. The two enjoyed each other's company and grew close quickly.
Naruto had been pushing himself harder than ever, with the help from not only Hinata but also from Kurama, who decided to teach him how to use some of his bijuu abilities. Kurama had taught him that now that he was a five-tailed fox much like himself, Naruto should be have a much easier time using fire based jutsu and with enough practice in chakra manipulation he would be able to release a stream of fire without the use of hand signs. Not only did Kurama teach him how to release a stream of fire from his mouth, he was also taught how to manipulate his tails to make them extend in length or increasing their strength so he could hit harder with them. Naruto had ask Kurama if he had any jutsu to teach but unfortunately he never paid attention on how ningin used jutsu. One thing that he could get Kurama to teach him was the Bijuu-dama, which he learned about from Hiruzen when he asked about the battle between his father and the fourth hokage (he still doesn't know about Minato) but Kurama immediately said "NO" and even with all the whining, pleading and bribing (not much to bribe with though) he couldn't get Kurama to budge. Safe to say with all the training he has been getting, he is now faster, stronger and tougher than before.
Sasuke had become more arrogant since he had unlocked his sharingan. He would activate it every time he would spar with Kakashi, Sakura or Naruto. He had attempted to copy their jutsu but when he fought Kakashi, he wouldn't get anything but visual recognition of Kakashi's fighting style. When he spared with Sakura he got nothing since she only had strength going for her and it was a standard fighting style which he could care less about. It was when he spared against Naruto that brought many more problems. The first time he spared with Naruto he had tried to copy the Kage Bunshin but due to his immature Sharingan he only got the hand sign and movement of chakra for it but not the amount of chakra required so when he tried to make ten clones at once he couldn't even make one and all he ended up doing was using every ounce of his chakra in a pointless endeavor causing him to collapse immediately from extreme chakra exhaustion. This caused him to remain in the hospital for a little over a week much to his ire.
Now both Naruto and Sasuke were facing off against each other in another spar.
Kakashi stood in between them as the got ready "now you two, try not to overdue it this time"
Naruto nodded his head as he got into the stance for his personal fighting style and subtly undid the henge on his nails, allowing his claws to be used
Sasuke gave his usually "Hm" and activated his sharingan, not even going into a fighting stance
Kakashi looked between the two, lifted his hand and dropped it as he said "Haijeme"
Naruto was the first to move. Running at a very long angle and both hands pulled back in claw strikes, he swiped his left claw at Sasuke's head aiming to finish quickly.
Sasuke was surprised at the speed that Naruto went. It was only thanks to his sharingan that he was able to react quick enough to bend back having the claw strike pass his head but he felt something sharp nick him above his eye. Noticing that Naruto had also passed him, he pulled himself up, spun to his left and he threw a right hook at the back of Naruto's head
On instinct Naruto shifted a bit to his left, having Sasuke's fist move past him, which he grabbed and pulled forward
Sasuke thought that Naruto was going to throw him over his shoulder and mentally prepared himself to flip in the air and launch his Katon jutsu but he was shocked when instead of being thrown he was pull into the back of Naruto who then threw his head back so it could meet Sasuke's nose making a loud *CRACK*
After Naruto had thrown his head back to hit Sasuke's face,he let go of Sasuke's arm, crouched lower, planted his hands on the ground, lifted his legs and kicked Sasuke in the stomach with both feet
Sasuke was launched a dozen yards away and rolled back to his feet as he held his stomach and nose. Glaring at Naruto he then felt that the nick he got earlier was starting to bleed a lot, which covered one of his eyes with blood forcing him to close it. Growling at what just happened he chose to copy the move Naruto used. Getting back on his feet he curled his hands into claw formations, crossed his arms in front of him and lowered himself. He had watched Naruto spar with Kakashi and used his sharingan to copy the style
Seeing this Naruto began to growl at Sasuke. 'He is copying my style! What gives him the right to use something that I made like he owns it?!'. Naruto took a deep breath and waited for Sasuke to attack.
Sasuke saw that Naruto didn't move and smirked "what's the matter dobe? Scared that I'm using your fighting style?"
Naruto just narrowed his eyes as he got into a stance. He spread his legs, lowering himself a bit, spread his arms to the side as he shifted his weight back and forth from each foot
Sasuke chose to do the same move that Naruto used at the beginning of the spar
Naruto noticed this and allowed his instincts to guide his movements. He saw Sasuke was going to strike with his right hand and already knew what to do. Shifting his weight to his left foot he waited until Sasuke was mid swing and once he was, Naruto tilted to his left out of the strike path. Naruto moved his left hand to flow with Sasuke's strike and once he grabbed Sasuke's arm he spun with the momentum of the strike and threw his elbow to the back of Sasuke's head
Sasuke was shocked when he saw Naruto spin out of the way. His shock was short lived as he felt a hard strike to the back of his head and was launched forward and he slid face first in the dirt.
~With Haku and Sakura~
While the fight was happening Sakura kept her eyes on Naruto. She once thought that his feral fighting style was cool but now she saw his fighting style as an animal attacking his prey and it caused her to shiver.
Haku saw the fear in Sakura's eyes and wondered why she was afraid of Naruto "Sakura-chan why do you fear Naruto-san?"
Sakura looked towards Haku, still fearful from taking her eyes off Naruto. Looking down in depression she spoke in a soft voice "I…...I can't tell you"
Haku was confused about this. 'Why can't she tell me? What are you hiding from me Sakura-chan?'. Sighing Haku looked towards the fight "I see no reason to fear your teammate". This caused Sakura to look up at Haku as he continued "Does Naruto-san seem like the kind of person to be afraid of? Because to me he seems like the person who would protect those precious to him. Even go through hell to make sure they are safe"
Sakura looked back to the fight to see Naruto elbow Sasuke in the back of the head "I don't think he sees me that way. He always seemed annoyed with me"
Haku chuckled at this "you'd be surprised. Back in Wave he told me that he does see you as a precious teammate and he would still aid you when you need it"
Sakura was shocked to hear this. After years of doing nothing but belittle him for everything he did, he would still help her. She then she thought of Sasuke and how they were towards each other "what about Sasuke-san?"
Haku's smile dropped at the question as he remembered what Naruto said to him about his male teammate, at how he's, in Naruto's own words "the glorified whiny prince of Konoha". Naruto had told Haku how every single villager seemed to kiss the ground the Uchiha walked on, how the girls all swooned and threw themselves at him but the Uchiha paid no mind to anything. The Uchiha would demand something and he would most likely get it, if it were in the villagers or even the councils power. Haku didn't like this kind of person, someone who can't appreciate the small things or the things that really mattered "Naruto had told me how he sees the Uchiha and although he said he would be reluctant to do so…..he would help him even if it made him angry"
Sakura looked from Haku back to the fight as she saw Sasuke try and get up from the ground. Although she felt a bit less fearful of Naruto she still felt wary of him
~back to the fight~
Sasuke had been trying to push himself off the ground but found that his right arm hurt every time he used it. Once back on his feet, he spit out a glob of blood as he was bleeding from his nose, the cut above his eye and a few more cuts around his right arm. looking at said arm Sasuke saw that it was limp and unmoving and when he did move it, a sharp pain shot up it. He dislocated not only his shoulder but his elbow as well. Gritting his teeth he turned and glared at the blonde with his one open eye. "What the hell did you do DOBE!?"
Before Naruto could say anything, Kakashi jumped in between "if your asking about your arm Sasuke-kun than I have to say that he didn't do that. You did that to yourself."
Sasuke looked furious at this "WHAT!?"
Kakashi sighed a bit in disappointment "Sasuke-kun, you copied the movements of a fighting style you cannot use"
"WHY NOT?!"
Kakashi turned to Naruto as he spoke to Sasuke "the fighting style you used was made by Naruto-kun and from what I can tell it requires an amazing amount of flexibility." Kakashi turned to Sasuke "Something you don't have. That strike you threw, used so much force that you yourself dislocated your shoulder and elbow. You most likely didn't notice because the shock of Naruto-kun dodging. Speaking of which" turning back to Naruto, he tilted his head "how did you know how to counter that way?"
Naruto smiled at the question "I made the style myself and had my clones use it against me. I came up with counters for most of my moves"
Kakashi nodded his head "well...this spar is over." he then turned back to Sasuke "we should get you to the hospital so you can get your injuries fixed because if I do it here, it will hurt more" as he made his way to Sasuke he looked up in time to see a hawk flying overhead 'so it's that time already huh?'. Placing his hand on Sasuke's good shoulder, they Shunshined away leaving the three on their own
Naruto looked at Haku and Sakura as he waved at them "well I'll see you guys later! Ramen is calling my name" and with that Naruto ran off
~2 hours later in the council room~
The hokage sat at his seat with the whole council present as they looked towards all the Jonin senseis including Kakashi who was reading his book as he ignored Guy. Taking puff from his pipe he started the meeting "well…..I am sure you are all aware as to why you are here" seeing that they all nodded their head he continued "well I would like to start with the civilian teams. Do any of you want to recommend your genin to take the chunin exams?"
None of the jonin senseis for the civilian teams stepped forward and Hiruzen could understand that they weren't ready for these exams.
Iruka, who was standing on the side was was smiling at how his civilian students were not being put in them
Puffing out a bit of smoke Hiruzen nodded his head "very well, none of the civilian genin will be participating. Now, onto the can heir teams. Any nominations from you four?"
Kakashi walked forward as he put his little orange book away, much to the ire of a few in the room "Team Seven is ready to be in the chunin exams"
This got the civilian council to all smile at this (gee I wonder why?)
Kurenai then stepped up next "I nominate Team eight to take part in the chunin exams"
Guy came up and gave his good guy pose "My genin are ready to spread their flames of youth"
Asuma stepped up last as he took a drag of his cigarette "Team Ten are set to join the chunin exams"
Iruka could not help but object to this "hold on a minute. Apart from Guy's team the rest are fresh out of the academy. They haven't even been genin a year yet! I know their skills, they are not ready for these exams. These exams will destroy them! How could you just put them in it so soon"
Hiruzen turned his head towards Iruka and understood that he was worried for his former student "Iruka-san…."
Before he continued Kakashi spoke up "sorry to say Iruka-san but you don't know their skills anymore. They have been training with us and have improved a lot since their time at the academy. Like your favorite blonde, he has improved leaps and bounds since the genin test"
Guy smiled wider as he held his fist to his chest "AH Naruto. His flames of youth burn so bright that he has earned my honorary training suit" he said as he pulled out a green spandex uniform similar to his own.
Iruka, Kakashi, Hiruzen, Tsume, and Inoichi turned green as they felt sick imagining Naruto in the green spandex while everyone else shivered at anyone wearing Guy's outfit
Hiruzen shook the thought out of his head hoping not to have nightmares of Naruto screaming "YOUTH" and got back to what they were discussing"Iruka-san I can vouch for what Kakashi-san has said. Your former students have all improved since their academy days and you should have faith in them"
Iruka still feared for his students but he knew what they said was true so he reluctantly stood back
Hiruzen then turned to the jonin senseis "very well. Teams seven through ten will participate. The exams begin in a month, be sure to let your genin team know and to give them the required forms. This meeting is adjourned. You are all dismissed"
~evening Hokage office~
Hiruzen was sitting at his desk looking over the list of participants, not only from konoha but also from the other villages. He had also thought about the invites he had sent out to the other villages, wondering if any of them will attend it. He doubted that the Raikage or the Tsuchikage would participate with the very fragile agreement they have. He had doubts about the Mizukage as he had heard that the civil war they were in had finally been ended and the new Mizukage might not have the time for such things. He wasn't sure about Oto since it was a fairly new small village and he has no real knowledge on them. Even though Oto sent a one team he had received nothing on their leaders participation. He looked at the many villages and thought about how much security they would need for the foreign dignitaries coming and prayed no information to leak out. This thought brought back an investigation that was still ongoing into his mind. Pressing his intercom to speak to his secretary "would you please send for Anko Mitarashi immediately. I must speak with her"
"Yes sir"
After twenty minutes of waiting, Anko walked into the office with a dango stick in her mouth "hey old man whatcha need?"
Hiruzen would have reprimanded Anko for how she addressed him but he knew it was one of the fruitless endeavors he had. Going through some hand signs he slammed his hand onto the wall and placed privacy seals on the room. He knew that his anbu were still present but he wanted them to hear the conversation they were about to have "Anko, do you recall the little bit of information you received from the traitor Mizuki?"
Anko's mood took a nosedive and immediately got serious when she heard the question "your talking about how he said that there was a spy in the village that works for that snake-teme"
"Yes, the investigation has brought up nothing and although this would have insinuated that there is no spy, this is Orochimaru so I don't want to take any chances. With many from other villages coming here for the chunin exams, it might be the perfect time to infiltrate the village so inform Ibiki to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. He is to tell only his most trusted members of his team"
Anko understood the seriousness of the situation and nodded her head "is there anyone else you wish for me to inform?"
Hiruzen was about to say no but another event came to mind "yes. I would like you to inform Naruto Uzumaki"
Anko was stunned at this "why?"
Hiruzen chuckled at this "he once found a mole that was hidden in my office and although the mole died on us, the very action of finding a mole when neither my anbu or I could not, makes me put a lot of faith in the boy. Don't give him the full details but tell him to report anything that he thinks needs my attention"
Anko couldn't help but feel some sense of pride for the gaki and smile at how much faith the hokage had for him "yes Hokage-sama" she said with a bow, showing her respect to him
~Kiri~
In the office of the Mizukage, we find a Mei Terumi
Mei was a tall, slender woman with fair skin. She had green eyes, and ankle-length, auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band, and with four bangs at the front. Two of the bangs were short, with one covering her right eye, and two are long, crossing each other over her breasts, just below her chin.
She wore a long-sleeved, dark blue dress that falls just below the knees. It was closed at the front with a zipper, and kept open on the front-right side from the waist down. The dress only covered up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts. Underneath, she wore a mesh armour that covers slightly more of her upper body than her dress. She also wore a skirt in the same color as her dress and, underneath those, mesh leggings reaching down over her knees. Around her waist, she wears a belt with a pouch attached to the back on the left along with high-heeled sandals, shin-guards reaching up over her knees, dark blue nail polish on her fingers and toes, and purple lipstick
Mei was looking over an invitation she received to attend the Chunin exams in Konoha. "I won't have time to go with all the things that need to be done here. Pity I would have liked to have a discussion with their hokage". As she looked on at the invitation she took one more glance to the location 'hmm he might like the idea'. She then heard someone enter the office, and she glared at the man that entered "you should learn to knock"
"A waste of time doing something like that" the man said as he walked up to her
Mei sighed in exasperation at the bold rudeness of someone who helped end the civil war immensely "regardless, you have perfect timing. What would you say to visiting Konoha to watch the chunin exams?"
The man smirked as he pierced his sword, Kubikiribōchō into the ground "when do I leave?"
~Konoha 3 days later~
Naruto was walking down the street after he had eaten his new record of ramen bowls: 25 bowls. As he was walking he felt someone following behind him. Smiling at how easily it was to notice that he was being followed he took a couple of sniffs in the air to see who it was. 'Hehe they still have to work on it but at least it was better than the different colored cover sheet. I mean who uses a green camouflage sheet on a tan wooden fence!'. Turning around he had to stifle a laugh at seeing a box painted to look like a square rock "hey Konohamaru, you still gotta work on your stealth skills. Now why don't you three come out already"
The box began to wiggle "darn it boss! Why can't I ever get the drop on you!". After the box stopped squirming the top of the box exploded with smoke and coughing could be heard from inside the smoke
"Konohamaru *cough* I think we used *cough* too much smoke in this"
After the smoke began to clear up Naruto could see it was Konohamaru with a girl and another boy, both seemed to be the same age as him and all of them began to introduce themselves as they struck a pose
The girl had orange hair tied up, with red elastics, into two very large pigtails. She also has a perpetual blush. She wore a red tank-top over a pink t-shirt layered at the bottom; her pants were grey and she wore blue ninja sandals. "Im Moegi, the sassiest girl in the whole academy"
The boy had short brown hair and dark eyes. He had what looked like a perpetual drippy nose and circular glasses. He wore a simple blue shirt which zipped up the middle, a pair of brown pants and sandals "I'm Udon. I like math" (does he really say this in the anime?)
Not much had change from Konohamaru apart from him being taller and he lost the bald cap, showing his spiky brown hair "and Im Konohamaru and together…..we are"
"THE KONOHAMARU CORPS" they said in unison as they did a three man pose
Naruto looked at the spectacle with a straight face while in his head 'that…..needs some work'. Naruto shook his head as he looked at the three and smiled at how they all kept the pose for a few more seconds "so what's up guys? Haven't seen you in a while'
Konohamaru got out of his pose and started to stomp his foot in the ground with his arms raised "you barely hang out! Your always on missions or doing something that you never play Shinobi with us anymore!"
Naruto laughed at the younger boys tantrum but thought about it and realized that it was true, he has been training nonstop and hasn't played with these three since before the Wave mission "well I have been busy doing a lot of training but I'm not doing anything right now so why don't we do something right now?"
Moegi and Udon smiled at hearing Naruto saying he would play with them. Konohamaru smirked and pointed at Naruto "ok than you have to play shinobi with us!"
Naruto nodded his head and crossed his arms "ok then I will give you a fifteen second head start. Lets see how long you guys can keep away!...one"
With that the three screamed as they ran away. Naruto counted in his head till fifteen seconds passed. Once the time passed he began to jog slowly after the three kids. He enjoyed doing things like this, it was a nice way to relieve a bit of stress apart from the glares he got, he would just enjoy these small moments. He was brought out of his peaceful jog when he felt a massive amount of something dark. He would have avoided whatever was causing it but not only was it in the village it was in the direction he smelt Konohamaru and his friends were, so steeling his nerves he ran towards where he could smell Konohamaru. Turning at a corner into an alley he found Konohamaru being held up by the collar by a boy wearing a black full body catsuit, wearing paint on his face and carrying something wrapped up on his back
Udon and Moegi saw Naruto turn the corner and ran to hide behind him.
The catsuit boy turned his head and glared at Naruto "oh great another loser came to join the runt"
Behind him was a girl who had teal eyes and sandy blonde hair, which was gathered into four consecutive pigtails. Her outfit consisted of a single light purple-coloured, off-the-shoulders garment that extended to halfway down her thighs, with a scarlet sash tied around her waist. In addition to incorporating fishnet worn over her shoulders and legs, with it only going to her right calf while the left reached her thigh, she also wore her black Hitai-ate around her neck. "Kankuro you should stop before he gets here!"
Kankuro scoffed when he heard her "relax Temari. I'm just going to teach this little punk some manners" he said as he lifted his free hand to punch Konohamaru
Naruto could tell that the dark feeling he felt was nearby so he stayed on guard but he looked towards the now name Kankuro "hey! Put him down!"
Kankuro glanced at Naruto before looking back at the boy in his arms "just wait your turn! After this runt, you can be next"
Before Kankuro could throw the punch at Konohamaru, he blinked in surprise when the short brown haired boy he was holding up was replaced with the blonde he just saw. His shock was short as the blonde headbutted him hard causing him to let go of the blonde's shirt and hold his nose in pain
Tamari was wide eyed seeing what just happened. She looked towards where the blonde was standing and noticed that the brown haired kid was there now instead of the blonde 'how did he do that?'
Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi stood watching the confrontation between their boss and the unknown pair. As they were watching they didn't notice someone coming up behind them
"What's going on here?"
The three kids jumped a bit and turned to see who spoke. They noticed it was both Sakura and Haku.
Sakura and Haku had finished training, where Haku was teaching her how to use senbons. Afterwards they went out to get something to eat and as they were walking to the restaurant Sakura wanted to show Haku, they both noticed Naruto jogging down the street. They would have just thought it was nothing but Haku noticed that Naruto's happy mood turned grim and he began to run in a bit of panic so both Sakura and Haku followed him and came upon the scene.
Kankuro glared at the blonde and after he removed his hands from his nose, he reached to the thing wrapped up on his back. Pulling it off he brought it forward and slammed it in front of him.
Temari was stunned at how quickly Kankuro was going to use his puppets "do you plan on using crow?!"
Haku seeing the action subtly pulled out a set of Senbon in his hand to help out his friend if things get bad
Sakura was unsure about what to do and stood there watching what would happen
Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi were silently rooting for their boss to show these newcomers not to mess with him
Naruto wasn't paying much attention to the boy in front of him. When he arrived he had been trying to find where the dark feeling was coming from. Shifting his eyes left and right, he knew it was close, it got stronger when he arrived and didn't move. He subtly sniffed the air to see if he could find who was releasing it. He could smell Sakura, Haku, the three kids, the two in front of him, he even smelled Sasuke in the tree. It was when he smelt Sasuke that he thought it might have been him but as he focused he noticed that it was a foot away from him and then he caught the scent. 'It smells like sand…...and blood!'. Turning his head towards the tree, he panicked at how close the dark feeling was "Sasuke! Get down here!"
Everyone looked towards the tree Naruto was looking at to see Sasuke standing on a branch looking down at the group.
Sasuke was taken aback at not only the panic he could see from the blonde but also the fact that said blonde called him by his name. "What's got you so nervous dobe? And why should I listen to you anyway?"
Naruto just scowled at how oblivious he was at the danger "the guy hiding behind you has got me nervous you idiot!"
Sasuke was confused as he had not noticed anyone near him and turning around he didn't see anyone. He was about to call Naruto and idiot but he was stopped by a voice coming a bit lower from the direction he was looking
"Kankuro, Temari stop what you're doing now"
The voice was cold and emotionless. It sent shivers down Naruto's spine and he was on guard even more now that he knew where the feeling was coming from.
Sasuke was shock when he looked down at the person who was standing upside down on the branch on the other side of the tree. His eyes widened more when the person disappeared in a whirl of sand and reappeared in front of Kankuro and Temari
Temari and Kankuro became extremely nervous when they saw the person in front of them "Gaara!" they said in unison
Naruto looked over the newcomer. He wore a black bodysuit with an open neck, t-shirt-like sleeves, and almost full-length leggings. He wore a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips. He had a wide leather band from his left shoulder to his right hip which carried a gourd on his back.
Sasuke jumped down to join his teammates and looked at the three unknowns. He stepped forward to confront them but stopped by a hand on his left shoulder. Turning his head to glare at the person he saw it was Naruto. He was about to say something but noticed that Naruto wasn't even looking at him he was looking passed him and sweating a bit.
The newcomer Gaara looked impassively at Kankuro "you are here to represent Suna, not to cause problems. Now be quiet…...or I'll kill you". Both Kankuro and Temari stiffened at this and kept quiet
Naruto felt his instincts were screaming at him, but he wasn't sure what they were telling him. It was either to attack the boy or run away as fast as possible. He jumped when he heard Rama talk to him
"Kit. be careful around that one"
'Rama-tou-chan? What's this feeling I get from this guy? And why do I need to be careful?'
"The feeling you're getting is bloodlust. And you should be careful because he has the one tailed Shukaku sealed inside him"
Naruto went wide eyed. The boy was like him, a jinchuuriki but the look in the boy's eyes show a lack of empathy or sympathy. He needed to end this encounter fast, he did not want to stay around this bloodlust.
Gaara turned to Naruto and walked up to his group "I apologize for the actions of my teammate. They will stay out of trouble from now on" he said the last part turning his head to look at them
Naruto could feel a subtle bit of KI hidden in all the bloodlust aimed towards the boys teammates "don't worry about it"
Gaara stared into Naruto's eyes before he spoke "my name is Gaara may I ask your name"
Naruto just wanted him to leave so he gave a response "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, the dark haired one here is Sasuke Uchiha the one in green is Haku Yuki and the girl is Sakura Haruno" he introduced the others to show that there are other shinobi here just in case a fight broke out here
Gaara nodded his head and turned to leave
But before he could leave Sakura spoke up "hey wait, you guys are from another village aren't you? What are you doing here in Konoha?"
Naruto panicked a bit more 'damn it Sakura! Let them leave! We don't want to mess with that guy!'
Temari looked at the pink haired girl and scoffed "we are from Suna and we are here for the chunin exams. If you don't know that, it can only mean that you aren't worthy of participating" she then turned to leave with her teammates
Before Sakura could ask more Haku placed a hand on her shoulder. Sakura looked at Haku who shook his head and turned to look at the back of Naruto. He noticed that Naruto was even more on edge with the red head around.
Sakura looked to where Haku was looking and saw Naruto staring intensely at the retreating forms of the Suna-nin and seeing how he was sweating made her nervous about them because if the one she was wary about was tense it could only mean that the one he was tense about was worse than him
Once the three were gone Naruto took a breath he didn't realize he was holding, he wasn't even sure how long he was holding it
Haku put away his senbons as he removed the hand he had on Sakura's shoulder
Sasuke shrugged off Naruto's hand that was still on his shoulder while he thought about what was said 'the chunin exams huh? Why am I not participating!'. He began to walk away to see if he could find Kakashi to know how to enter
Naruto looked towards the three kids, who were shocked to see the serious look Naruto had "sorry guys but we are going to have to play another time. Right now I need to see the hokage". Naruto didn't even wait for an answer, he just jumped away to head towards the hokage tower
Konohamaru could tell something happened that they didn't know about "wonder what boss wants to talk to ji-chan about"
Haku decided to relieve the tension with Sakura so he walked forward and turned toward her "so…...should we still get something to eat" he said with a smile while in his head 'I feel like something big is about to happen. I just hope it's not bad'
~Hokage tower~
Naruto had just finished explaining his interaction with the Suna Shinobi as well as what Gaara was
The Hokage had a serious look on his face as he thought about this. 'A jinchuuriki participating in the chunin exams isn't anything new but usually they only take part if it's in their own village. Why would Suna send their jinchuuriki here? Even if it's for the chunin exams, it is very risky to do so…...unless'. Shaking his head from these thoughts he leaned his head back to rest on his chair 'hmmm maybe I'm being paranoid, but it's better to be prepared'. Looking to Naruto he finally spoke "thank you Naruto-kun for letting me know about this and I will keep an eye on him"
Naruto nodded his head "ok Hokage-jiji, I didn't like the feeling I got from this guy so I felt like you should know"
Hiruzen was glad that the boy had enough thought to come to him about this and this brought something up in his head "very good Naruto-kun. One thing have you talked to Anko-san yet?" see the boy shake his head he figured better ask him now "Naruto-kun I would like to ask your help on something"
"Sure what is it?"
"Do you remember Mizuki" Hiruzen could see the scowl growing on the boys face "well a piece of info he said back then has yet to be resolved. It's about the spy in the village"
The scowl on Naruto's face turned to shock as he had all but forgotten the whole event
"I want you to keep your senses open for anything out of the usual. In fact, how good is your sense of smell?"
"Hana-oneechan once told me my sense of smell was just as good if not a bit better than her ninken" Naruto said with pride in his voice
Hiruzen chuckled at Naruto feeling pride in his nose "well do you know Anko's scent?"
"Yeah she smells like Dangos and Sake"
"Anything else?"
Scratching the side of his head he tilted it as he thought "well she also smells of snakes really. Probably because she uses snakes a lot"
"Good. the reason for the snake smell is because she has a contract with the snake summons. Although it is a sub-contract which allows her to summon snakes but she cannot call upon the higher summons. Now the reason I bring this up is because the upcoming chunin exams are allowing other villages to enter Konoha and I fear someone we should be wary of could use this opportunity to infiltrate us. I ask of you to keep your nose out for anyone that smells like snakes that ISN'T Anko-san and to report it to either Anko-san, Kakashi-san or Ibiki-san"
Naruto thought about the last one for a second before he bonked his fist into his other hand in an "ah ha" moment "oh you mean Grumpy scarface"
Hiruzen held in a laugh at the nickname but quirked an eyebrow in confusion about the name
"I met him with Anko-neechan once when I was younger and he always looks grumpy. I called him that because I thought the face he made was funny so it stuck"
Calming his inner laughing Hiruzen cleared his throat "very well. Also, Kakashi-san has nominated you to the chunin exams, so your team will be participating in them and I want you to keep up your search while there as well"
"Really? YEAH" Naruto said as he jumped in the air pumping his fist. Once he calmed down a bit he looked towards the hokage and got serious again "I will keep my senses out for what you asked for"
Hiruzen nodded his head "now it isn't certain that anything will happen but I want to be sure, and after you caught that rouge Anbu in my office that one time, I am putting my faith in you"
Naruto smiled at this "thanks Jiji"
"Your welcome Naruto-kun also keep your nomination for the exams from your team, Kakashi-san will tell your team himself. Don't forget people from other villages are coming here so be alert"
"Yes sir Hokage-jiji" Naruto said with a salute
~hidden location~
Danzo stood in the center of a wide circular room looking towards a tunnel, as if he was waiting for someone. After a few minutes he saw someone coming out of the shadows towards him. The person was wearing a cloak that covered everything about the person. Once the person had made it in front of Danzo, the man spoke "well Danzo-sama, to what do I owe this invitation?"
Danzo analyzed the man in front of him but he wanted to get his business taken care of "I will be quick about this. I am somewhat aware of your masters plans for the chunin exams and I would like to make a proposition to him"
"Oh? And what would this proposition be, and what would we get out of this?"
"I can offer a lax in security and my agents will not interfere with it.I can even offer one of my root agents for that jutsu you plan on using"
"How do you know about all this anyway? More importantly the jutsu he plans on using"
Danzo smirked a bit knowing that the conversation is going how he planned "I have had dealings with him many times in the past and I figured he would be using it. Most likely for not only a morale drop in the villages shinobi but also to have a powerful fighting force in his control"
"And what would you get out of this?"
"That does not concern you. So are you ready to listen to my proposition"
The cloaked man smiled as a small sheen passed by a pair of glasses
~with Haku~
After he had lunch with Sakura, Haku decided to explore more of the village. He still didn't know everything about his new home so he wanted to familiarize himself with it.
Ash he was walking through the streets, he noticed the different people looking around as well like they were tourists on vacation. 'They must be from another village. I wonder if there are people from Kiri?'. So deep in his thoughts that he let his guard down and didn't notice someone behind him
"I thought I taught you to never let your guard down. Looks like Konoha really has made you soft"
Haku recognized that voice. He used to hear it on a daily basis. Turning around he came face to face with someone he didn't expect to see so soon
"Zabuza-sama!"
~3 weeks later~
It had been about three weeks since Naruto met with Hiruzen. Not much has changed with the team except Haku seemed to be in a much better mood but wouldn't tell any of them and only said they will find out later. Naruto had been preparing himself for the chunin exams and even if his team didn't know about it just yet he felt he needed to improve with a different type of training. Every night he had been training with Kurama to improve his resistance to KI and the feeling of bloodlust. The first night was an extremely unpleasant experience for Naruto
Flashback
Naruto sat in front of Kurama and waited for him to start
"Kit are you sure you want to do this? Your not going to like it"
"How many times are you going to say that to me? First it was when you told me the truth about what happened on my birthday, second was when you told me about shifting back and forth from my human form and my fox form, still wish I could just stay a fox. It's more comfortable."
Kurama smiled when he heard what his kit said, happy to hear that he prefers his fox form over his human form
"And the third time is now. I'm just going to deal with this anyway so better from you who I know won't hurt me"
Kurama took a deep breath (seriously they don't need to breath…...or do they?) "ok kit but fair warning you might get visions of things that aren't real. Remember that and try to get through it. We will start will your KI resistance. Ready?"
Naruto gulped a bit as he readied himself. Sitting up straighter on his haunches he nodded his head
Kurama then released a massive amount of KI towards his kit 'good luck kit'
Naruto went stiff and his eyes widened in fear as he saw visions of his own death. This brought up a small subconscious fear of dying as he had died before and it left its mark on his soul. (I'll leave this to your imagination cause when I wrote something for this, I got really bummed out)
After a few minutes of Naruto's visions, Kurama let up the Ki to give Naruto a breather.
Naruto felt numb like the only thing that was left of him was his sight. Slowly lifting his head and looking into the concerned eyes of Kurama, he slowly walked to him and laid on top of Kurama's paw
Flashback end
Naruto had gotten over that first experience and pushed forward nonstop. It had taken over a week of nightly training but he had gained a resistance to a good level of KI. He even learned how to unleash it as well but only a small amount so it was useless.
Right now he was with his team on a small bridge in the village waiting for their sensei to arrive.
Sasuke was leaning back against the railing with his eyes closed and arms crossed. Sakura was on the same railing a bit away from Sasuke, leaning on her arms as she looked down at the water under the bridge. Naruto was on the other side of the bridge, laying on top of the adjacent railing with his hands behind his head as he looked at the sky, using a bit of chakra control to stay on the rail.
"That cloud looks like Kakashi"
Both Sasuke and Sakura look at Naruto with a raised eyebrow at the random comment. Both out of curiosity look up at the single cloud in the sky. Sasuke squinted his eyes and turned his head but he couldn't see what the hell Naruto was seeing 'che Dobe'
Sakura looked at the cloud and also tilted her head trying to find how it looked like their sensei. After a few seconds of trying she gave up and gave her opinion of the cloud "Naruto that cloud looks like a turtle"
Naruto just nodded as he continued to look at the sky "exactly"
It took Sasuke and Sakura a second to realize what he meant and only Sakura thought it was a little funny as she laughed a bit, while Sasuke rolled his eyes and went back to brooding
Naruto was surprised about his Sensei going back to his lateness, especially after his last prank on the one eyed jonin, which had to do with Guy ripping out the pages of his favorite book and saying how un-youthful it was to read it and that if he was late again he would find his collection and make sure that Kakashi remains youthful. Needless to say Kakashi had been on time most of the time afterwards. He would think of a prank to get his sensei back to being on time but Naruto didn't have time for it, since he had been more on guard while he was on the streets, seeing so many new faces that didn't glare at him, spit at him or even whisper about him, it all made him more unnerved since it was new to him. Sure in wave no one did it either but the atmosphere was oppressive and the people were close to feeling like he did when he was younger. He was brought out of his musing when he smelt Kakashi pop up in a shunshin with his usual "Yo"
Sakura got off the rail and turned to glare at Kakashi "YOUR LATE"
"Aaahhhh my ears!" Naruto was unprepared for the screeching yell since it had been awhile since she did it and it forced him to cover his ears in pain which caused him to lose focus on the chakra that kept him on the rail and he fell into the water below
Everyone sweatdropped at what happened to Naruto while Sakura looked sheepish at causing it
When Naruto hit the water he lost his focus so much that his henge was undone causing him to panic a bit before he re-applied it. After he surfaced, he swam to the shore and walked back onto the bridge 'great now my fur is all wet. I hate it when my fur is wet! Unless it's for a bath or Hana-oneechan's pet service. And my tails feel heavy now! Damn banshee shriek'. Once he made it back to his team he was still dripping wet and he was trying to wring out his sash while he glared at Sakura
Sheepishly Sakura said "sorry"
Kakashi cleared his throat to get his team's attention "well everyone I have something for all of you". Getting everyone's attention he pulled out three slips of paper "I'm sure you all know about the chunin exams" he said as he eyed Sasuke who scoffed. Sasuke had come to him demanding the right to participate in the exams and after a bout of elites and uchiha Kakashi told him he would participate only if he deems the team ready and then he shunshined away. "Well I recommended you all to participate them" he then handed the slips of paper to each of them "if you sign those and turn them into the academy by the deadline you will have the right to take part in the exams. Good luck, Ja ne" and with that he poofed away
Each of the genin had there own thoughts on taking part
Naruto had already known they were taking part so his excitement was dulled a bit but he still had a big grin on his face 'alright! This is going to be fun!'
Sakura was unsure of herself about taking part 'am I ready to be in them. I don't know if I can do this'
Sasuke smirked at the sheet 'now I can show everyone the might of the Uchiha! One step closer to him'
As Naruto was looking at the sheet he saw that the exams start "looks like they start a week from tomorrow, but where's the deadline for turning this in?"
At hearing this Sakura looked at the sheet and her eyes became wide as dinner plates when she saw the deadline "the deadline ends in an hour!"
The other two looked at the deadline and both saw she was right. Glancing at each other they all ran to the academy with the same thought in mind 'DAMN KAKASHI!'
~Day of the exam~
Naruto stood at the academy gates and he felt numb. Not from nerves but from shifting back into his human form. It wasn't even his decision this time. It was the Hokage that asked him to do it this time
Flashback
"You want me to WHAT?!"
Hiruzen rubbed the inside of his ear from the shout Naruto gave. Finally getting his ears to stop ringing he looked towards Naruto "I want you to change into your human form for the exams"
Naruto stared dumbfounded at what the old man said. He was so shocked that he accidentally undid his henge.
Hiruzen was amused at the state Naruto was in. Naruto's ears were shot up while all his tails were stiff in the air and he gaped at him. He was so stiff that anyone would think it was a well done statue. Hiruzen pulled out a big portable camera he kept in his desk and took a quick picture of Naruto 'how could I not take a picture of the few times Naruto is shocked this much'
After a few moments Naruto began to pace back and forth yipping and barking randomly which cause Hiruzen to smile more. 'He must not realize that he is ranting as a fox'
Naruto had so many thoughts going through his head 'all other times I have to convince them to let me do it but now he is asking me to do it! What the hell! Is this really Hokage-jiji' *sniff sniff* 'yeah it's him, but why is he asking me to do this? Are the exams that tough that I might drop my henge'
Hiruzen cleared his throat to get Naruto to stop pacing "the reason I am asking you to do it for the exams is because there is a portion that could cause your henge to be released and with all the people from other villages in attendance it is extremely risky with just your henge. Now I have a possible solution to this problem and it has to do with one of my students. I plan on requesting information on it but it will have to wait for after the chunin exams. The person has a way of living under the radar…..somewhat…. So it will take time to get into contact"
Naruto was happy at hearing another solution to his shifting but also a little disappointed he had to wait for it but he knew he could do it. He barked at Hiruzen in agreement. He then noticed that Hiruzen was smirking at him. After a few seconds of asking what he was smirking at he looked down and noticed that he was in his fox form. Reapplying his henge he sheepishly gave and "oops". Coughing in his fist he gave his answer again "ok Hokage-jiji. I will shift into human form the night before the exams. But you better tell me that solution when you get it. I hate doing it so much"
"Of course Naruto-kun"
Flashback end
After a few minutes of waiting he caught the scent of his two teammates and looked up to see them walk up to him. "About time you guys got here"
Sasuke scoffed at this and walked towards the academy "move it Dobe. I'm not going to wait for you to catch up"
Naruto followed Sasuke toward the academy with his hands in his jacket pocket
Sakura stared at the retreating forms of her teammates 'am I ready to do this, to test to be a chunin?'
"Hey Sakura-san, you coming?!"
Sakura looked up to see it was Naruto who call him, a part of her felt a bit better at the enthusiasm he was showing and she began to run to catch up with the two
~inside the academy~
After team seven entered the academy they were told by one of the instructors that they needed to head to room 303. Making their way up the stairs they noticed a group gathered around one of the rooms
"Hey come on let us in man!"
"Yeah! You can't just stand here and tell us that we aren't allowed in!"
"Move it you punks!"
"How do you expect us to become chunin if you block us"
Team Seven made their way closer to the group and all three noticed something was off
Sakura felt that something was off at the whole thing. She felt like a major piece of information was bouncing around her head and she couldn't see what it was
Sasuke was thinking about the whole thing and could feel the air around the room door shift a bit
Naruto looked from the group in front of them to the stairs behind him and then to the group again 'wait didn't we just go up one flight of stairs? So this should be the second floor' looking at the door, he noticed that it didn't say 303 it said 203 'this isn't even the right floor or the right room so why is everyone here?'
Sakura finally realized what was going on when she saw the 203 waver a bit. She gently spoke to her teammates "genjutsu"
Sasuke nodded his head 'these guys are pathetic
Naruto on the other hand felt like he got a revelation on why everyone was gathered here 'oooooooohhhhhh' his thoughts were broken when he heard someone in the gathered group talk
"Hey come on! we need to take part in the chunin exams"
Naruto knew that voice and it made him sweat a bit. He then looked towards the person who was talking and he was right, it was Tenten. He looked beyond the group and saw the flight of stairs that led to the third floor. Ignoring what his team was doing, he crouched down and tried to sneak passed. He had made it a bit passed the group when a pair of kunai flew right by his nose
"Oh hey Naruto. What are you doing?" spoke Tenten in a sweet voice
Naruto mechanically turned his head to see Tenten smiling at him with a twitching eyebrow. "Oh hey Tenten-chan. Good to see you. I was just on my way to….." Naruto moved forward a bit but he was stopped when Tenten threw three kunai into his sash to pin it to the ground
Tenten took one step forward still with a smile on her face "oh what's the rush? I haven't seen you in awhile and there is something I wanted to talk to you about ..." she said as she pulled out three more kunai
Naruto, in his crouched position lifted his leg and put all his strength into kicking the kunai out of the ground and although he didn't like the new holes in his sash it wasn't the most important. He ran with his arms in the air and screamed
"GET BACK HERE YOU BASTARD" Tenten yelled as she chased after Naruto throwing kunai at him
Lee gained waterfall tears as he saw this 'Naruto-san and Tenten-chan are at the pinnacle of their youth'
Neji scowled at the hallway where the two ran off to. Turning his head he saw Lee try to flirt with Sakura who turned him down immediately and the girl ran down the hall towards the stairwell. Deciding that this farce was now pointless he walked towards the stairs as well, looking back to see Lee going off in another direction with the dark haired boy. Neji noticed the symbol on the back of the boy's shirt 'so that's Sasuke Uchiha. Fate shines on you. Lets see if your fate leads you to me'
~with Naruto and Tenten~
Naruto was running everywhere in the academy while dodging kunais, knives, swords, axes and a sink 'WHERE THE HELL DID SHE GET A SINK?!'. He then felt something bounce on his head hard. Still running, he caught what hit him and saw it was a doorknob. Looking back he saw that she was now throwing random items "WHERE ARE YOU GETTING THESE THINGS?!"
"Get back here and take your punishment like a man"
Doing a hand sign out of desperation, "Oiroke no Jutsu!"
Tenten was still chasing him when all of a sudden a poof of smoke surrounded him. Getting ready for anything she pulled out a kitchen knife, ready to throw when….
"You wouldn't say that to a girl would you?" Naruto turned into Naruko as he dubbed this form, still running and naked
Tenten gained a tick mark and threw more items and at a faster rate "WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT WILL STOP ME!"
*poof* "I didn't! but I was hoping it would shock you enough for me to get away! AAAAAAHHHHH"
And Tenten kept chasing him with righteous womanly fury
End chapter
The top part was some of the crew getting back at me for…..you know, for the previous chapters and for me to have a little more fun
I was looking forward to getting the chunin exams started and at first the original draft for this chapter was maybe half of this but I felt like I needed to hit a bunch of markers I set up in previous chapters. Also I really wanted to get Tenten back in
Next chapter is when we get to the real start of the chunin exams. Look forward to how Naruto gets through it
Also I still need a name for Naruto's fighting style. If I can get at least three I'll set up a pol for you guys to vote the name (gotta learn how to do the poll thing anyway)
Also I plan on going back to previous chapters and fixing up some errors and putting in the torture scene that I actually removed from an early chapter
Please read and review