Response to comments:
Animaman: Sakura's redemption path will come from recognizing her own faults with the assistance of Tsunade and eventually Kushina. Menma and Narumi are psychos but they aren't going to be really stupid. They are actually pretty smart and powerful because of all the training they have received so they won't ask Jiraiya to help them kill Naruto. Also Jiraiya wouldn't do it because while he does believe in the prophecy, he's not completely blinded so he won't help the twins fall into darkness like that. The two will actually get rid of their summoning contracts themselves and how they turn out will affect Jiraiya and Minato more than anyone. Orochimaru's role in this will be decided next chapter. Thanks for the review it was really informative and constructive and I hope I gave some acceptable answers.
MarethyuQ: Sakura's role will grow eventually. She's only been training under Tsunade for a short time so she has a long road ahead but her role and skill will get better throughout the story. Thanks for the support.
PinkiePieParty122894: Thanks for the support I'm glad you're liking it.
UnsanMusho: After the chunin exam arc, a lot of things are going to come to light about the twins so his reaction to everything will be interesting indeed. Thanks for the review.
Yakumo was laying in her bed bored and tired. Over the past two months, Itachi had been pushing her and Sasuke to the limit in their training. Sasuke had matured his sharingan to three tomoes in each eye and had nearly mastered the Uchiha Interceptor taijutsu style. He had also learned how to summon crows and Itachi's crow shunshin. Sasuke had come a long way from the arrogant prick in the academy and she could now honestly say that she trusted him with her life. But Sasuke wasn't the only one on the team to improve. She had been improving her own personal taijutsu style by working on her flexibility and speed. The two months had also proven to be very productive in terms of genjutsu training. Itachi had helped her advance far enough that she no longer needed to paint the illusions to make them real. Her mentor had also helped her create a variety of genjutsu that ranged from confusing and disorienting the enemy to ones that were completely lethal. Yakumo couldn't wait to tell Naruto of her progress.
Naruto. Yakumo sighed. It had been a long and lonely two months without her boyfriend but Itachi made sure that she understood why he had to leave. Every week, one of Naruto's serpents would appear to her, give her a message from Naruto, and receive what Yakumo wanted to say to him. According to his letters, he had become stronger than he could have ever hoped. He never did go into what he had learned or the exact level he was at, but she knew that the ninja world was in for a shock when he returned. Secretly her questions weren't necessarily about his skills, but how much his body had grown in his time away. For now, all she could do is fantasize and make sure that she had tissues on her person in case she started to suffer from recently recurring nosebleeds. Before any more thought could be given to her boyfriend, a thick mist started to form in her room. Expecting another one of Naruto's serpents she was understandably shocked at who was revealed when the mist cleared.
Naruto stood in the middle of Yakumo's room. Wanting to surprise the girl that held his affections, he decided to reveal himself to her first. Over his two months of training he had grown three inches in height and his body now had a much more muscular shape to it. Wearing a sleeveless black shirt that showed off his muscular arms and summoning tattoo, anbu style pants, and his headband which now hung from his neck instead of around his arm, the boy stood with a smile. Opening his arms for a hug from his girlfriend, he was slightly surprised when he received a slap to the face but it was immediately followed by a passionate kiss. Hugging Yakumo tightly he simply said "I guess I deserved that" which got a nod from Yakumo causing both genin to start laughing.
(Hokage's Office)
Minato sat in his chair once again doing paperwork. It had been two months since he had seen Naruto but he understood why his son had to go. He once had to make a similar decision regarding his training with the toads and Jiraiya. Speaking of his sensei, things with the old pervert were becoming more and more troublesome. The sage was becoming a problem when it came to his misguided and deluded son and daughter. He constantly tried to put Menma and Narumi in a positive light for the fellow villagers and shinobi, hoping that they would each do their part to make the them as strong as possible. It unfortunately did the complete opposite. Almost every day Minato had to deal with complaint after complaint about his children and Jiraiya throwing their weight around. It eventually got so bad that he had to threaten Jiraiya with the punishment of no longer being able to see his godchildren. Putting his head in his hands, he thought about what was happening to his children. Kushina had tried as hard as she could to break them from their current mentality but it seemed that they were just too far gone. The brother and sister openly believed that the weak had no place in this world and that only the strong deserved to live.
Everything in terms of those two had completely gone to hell. Despite all of the attention and training the two had received throughout their lives, Menma and Narumi had turned into potential monsters. It hurt Minato deeply to associate his children with that word but it was the truth and both he and his wife knew that. At the moment, Kushina was helping Tsunade in teaching Sakura, her former student. Under two of the strongest kunoitchi in all of the elemental nations, the civilian born girl thrived and was said to have greater potential than Tsunade herself.
As the Hokage's thoughts drifted, it was quickly interrupted by the forming of mist in the office which lasted but a few seconds. When the mist cleared, standing in his office was his first born son. "Naruto, I wasn't expecting you! Welcome back son" Minato said with a wide smile. Walking up to his son, he grabbed him into a hug which Naruto returned. After their brief hug, Minato went back to his seat and motioned for Naruto to take the seat across from him. Naruto took the seat as Minato took time to examine his son. With a smile Minato started the conversation. "So Naruto, what have you been up to" Minato asked forgetting that Naruto had constantly kept him up to date on his progress. "Dad, I would like to ask that my team and mom be here for what I'm going to say" Naruto said with a serious look on his face causing Minato to quickly go into hokage mode. He snapped his fingers which caused an ANBU to reveal himself and ordered him to gather Team 11 and Kushina in his office.
Ten minutes later, everyone was gathered in the Hokage's office. Sasuke was surprised to see his teammate as was Itachi, but the older Uchiha hid his surprise much better. Kushina on the other hand upon seeing her son quickly glomped her son saying constantly how much she missed him and that he was never going away for so long. Yakumo watched everyone's reactions with a smile as she had already had her moment with Naruto. After the excitement of the genin returning home died down, he instantly became serious changing the entire atmosphere of the room. "I have brought some information that I didn't reveal in the letters because I thought it best to reveal it in person" the boy said causing Minato to lean forward. Naruto sighed before going into his tale.
"It starts when I left the village the first time" he said gaining a wince from his parents, "I met a woman in a forest named Sera. She is the one who taught me how to wield a sword and is the reason I have not only my sword but my summoning contract as well. All the times I have said that my sword is special, I meant it. Yakumo and Sasuke already know this but that's it. You see, when I finished my training with Sera she told me that my sword would appear to me and with it, a title. I received my sword in the dead of night and gained the title of "The Lunar Soldier". It was after I gained my title and summoning contract that I was forced to kill Sera" he said looking at the ground while Kushina put her hand to her mouth and her eyes teared up. Minato looked down in shame and then at his son in sympathy. After a short moment, Naruto continued his story.
"The reason that I had to kill her is because I am the most recent in a line of history's most legendary swordsmen. The catch is that only one swordsman in that line may live at one time. The moment I received my sword was the moment that Sera accepted what was about to happen" Naruto said and quickly wiped a tear from his eye. "My sword gives me multiple abilities, most of which I am only able to use at night. When the moon shines, my strength, chakra reserves, chakra control, speed, swordsmanship, and overall power are increased dramatically. Before my training trip it tripled, now it increases over ten fold" he said causing everyone in the room's mouth's to drop. Naruto was strong enough during the day, but if his power increased that much, he could be pretty much unstoppable. After seeing everyone in the room get over their shock, he continued.
"On my trip, I learned from the serpents how to work better with them as a summoner, mastered the lightning and water elements, and can now with great difficulty summon the most powerful serpent in existence. Also thanks to both Sera and the serpents, I was able to master a large amount of the techniques used by the previous swordsman in my line. Now that I've filled you in about my skills, I have really troubling news" he said with his face taking a dark look. "There is a group of swordsmen called the Shinigami's Blade. They are five of the strongest swordsmen on the planet. I'm not sure exactly how strong they are, but I have no doubt that if all five were to attack Konoha, we would fall" he finished causing everyone to go pale.
After the bombshell that Naruto had dropped, Minato told everyone that they were free to go and that he had to think about things. None of the group that knew the information slept very well that night.
(Training Ground 7)
Kushina and Kakashi were standing in the middle of the training ground when Narumi and Menma arrived. Both siblings were shocked because while it was normal for their mother to be on time, Kakashi rarely ever was. Approaching their senseis, the two were stopped when their mother put her hand up. After a long moment of looking her children over, Kushina spoke. "I do not know if you know this, but today the Chunin Exams begin" she stated gaining an interested and somewhat excited look in her children's eyes. "So where do we go for the exams?" questioned Narumi. Kushina stared at her daughter once again before taking a deep breath. "You don't. Both Kakashi and I have deemed you two unworthy of becoming chunin so you will not take part in this year's exams" she said immediately getting cries of outrage from her son and daughter.
"Are you kidding me? Why the hell not, we're the strongest genin in the village. We deserve to be chunin" yelled out Narumi which caused Kushina to snap. "YOU DESERVE NOTHING! ALL YOUR LIFE YOU HAVE HAD EVERYTHING HANDED TO YOU! NO MORE!" she shouted unwilling to hear anymore of their ridiculous resons for being chunin. "Is Naruto taking the exams?" asked Menma in an angry tone. Kushina hesitated before nodding. "Naruto and his teammates have proven that they are qualified to take the exams with the other genin" she said.
Everything was quiet until Menma spoke again. "So that's it? You're just gonna throw us away for that piece of trash? Scum like him deserves to die and I would be more than happy to do it" he said which gained an immediate slap from Kushina. "How dare you! Your father and I have given both of you everything you could have asked for your entire lives while we completely abandoned Naruto you ungrateful little brat. As for your comment about your brother, I will mark it down as frustration for now but if you ever make any hostile move towards Naruto, I will make sure that the two of you cease to be ninja forever. I will personally seal your chakra and throw you in the nearest mental ward, do I make myself clear?" she asked getting a quick nod and hateful looks from her children in return.
Once Kushina and Kakashi had left, Menma screamed out and plunged a rasengan into the ground while Narumi pulled fiercely at her hair. The prince and princess of Konoha had officially lost their throne and in their minds Naruto was the direct cause of it all. Had he just died when he left then the village would still worship them like they deserved and their parents would still devote their time to them. Both siblings were constantly plagued with the question of why? Why was Naruto so special? Why did their parents look at him with pride while they looked at them in shame. In Menma and Narumi's minds, there was only one solution to their problem. To kill Naruto. After he was dead then everything would go back to normal. The two were so deep in their hateful thoughts and plans that they didn't notice a figure approach them from behind.
The figure sat down on a log in front of Narumi and Menma Uzumaki-Namikaze which gained the attention and caution of the two. Before he could speak, Narumi and Menma removed their kunai from their sheathes in preparation for a fight. The figure chuckled at the sight. "You know, most people who pull a weapon on me end up suffering a very painful death but I'll let it slide this time. For now, I believe that I may be able to help you with your problem" said the figure with a smile.
Too excited at the offer the two immediately put their kunai up which gained a chuckle from the man in front of them. Now that their feeling of surprise was over, the two looked over the man who claimed to be able to assist with killing Naruto. The man wore a type of what seemed to be samurai armor with black gloves and boots. He had black hair and a muscular build but the most distinguishable part about him was a large scar that stretched from his forehead to his collarbone. The scar seemed to go through the right eye socket but the eye was still there and looked undamaged. The two sat down to speak with the man. "How could you help us kill Naruto?" Menma asked.
The man chuckled again which seemed to upset Menma. "Simple. I will train you. You see, you two are far too weak to challenge a shinobi of his caliber. Honestly most jounin would be hard pressed in a fight with him and the reason for this is the sword he carries. With that sword his power can reach heights that many ninja could only dream of but that doesn't make him invincible. I could train you both to become strong enough to kill that boy" he stated. Menma looked at Narumi who quickly spoke up. "I've never seen him with a sword and how do you know how powerful it is?" she asked gaining a dark look from the man in return. "Because the last person to wield a sword like that gave me this scar" he said pointing to his scar. Examining the scar, Narumi had another question. "Where will you train us?" she asked. "Not here. This village wouldn't take kindly to someone like me and I feel that both of your potential would simply go to waste. You would have to leave Konoha" he said but was a little surprised to see looks of apprehension on both of their faces. Needing to give a little push, the man decided to play on their dark thoughts about the village. "I take it that the both of you recognize what is happening in the village. You are no longer being treated as you should be because of the outcast. The only way to gain your reputations back is to take them" he stated.
Menma looked at Narumi who gave a nod. "When do we leave?" he asked and the man stood up. "Soon. You will know when to leave. All you have to do is make it to the forests of fire country and an associate of mine will pick you two up and bring you to our base. Make sure to wait for the opportunity" he said before being pulled into a pool of darkness that surrounded him.
(Front of Academy)
It had been a week since Naruto's return from his training trip and here he was with his girlfriend and his best friend about to take the chunin exams. Smiling, Naruto looked at his team standing behind him. Yakumo stood tall, confident in her abilities as a strong kunoitchi. Sasuke stood with a small grin and a look of determination in his eyes. "Well, let's show them who we are" Naruto said with a grin. With that the three chunin hopefuls took their steps into the academy to meet their destiny.
(Inside of Academy)
Team 11 made their way upstairs but upon reaching the second floor they were met with the sight of a girl with her hair in two buns pleading to be let past two ninja blocking a door. Naruto looked behind him and saw Sasuke shaking his head and Yakumo rolling her eyes. The genin group quietly walked past the girl and what Naruto assumed was her team. Before the two could make it to the stairs up to the third floor, they were stopped by a voice.
"Wait. You are Team 11 correct?" asked a boy in a bold cut. The girl and a Hyuga stepped forward to join the boy at his side. "And if we are?" asked Sasuke. "We were told to keep our distance from you but looking you over, you don't seem so tough" commented the girl with buns in her hair. Naruto chuckled which turned into a laugh while his team also had grins grow on their faces. "Avoid us or face us, it doesn't matter but the cardinal sin of someone in battle is to underestimate their opponent" spoke Naruto as he and his team continued towards the stairs. "What are your names?" asked the Hyuga who had not made a sound until now. "Isn't it polite to give your name first before asking for another's?" asked Sasuke. It was no secret that the Hyuga clan and Uchiha clan were not the biggest fans of each other but Sasuke didn't let his clan's prejudice affect his opinion. Itachi made sure of that.
The Hyuga was silent for a while before finally giving in. "My name is Neji Hyuga. These are my teammates, Tenten and Rock Lee" he introduced. Tenten waved and Rock Lee smiled widely at them. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. My teammates are Yakumo Kurama and Naruto" he said introducing his team who examined their competition. "So I take it you are the leader?" asked Tenten to Sasuke which caused him to chuckle. "What's funny?" she asked confused. "You will find out later in the exams why that question is funny. For now, we need to leave" Sasuke said as the team made their way to the third floor while the Hyuga's team stayed behind trying to figure out Team 11.
Upon reaching the third floor, Team 11 was met by their sensei, Itachi.
"I see that you three have made your choice. Listen, I want you each to know that I am so proud of the three of you. Each of you have the potential to go down in history as the greatest ninjas of all time, this I truly believe. So go and fulfill your destiny" he said giving a new source of confidence to the genin. With a nod, the three walked past their sensei and into the examination room.
Upon entering the room, the three looked at their competition. Most were standard genin but a few stood out to Naruto. The first one was a Kusa ninja that Naruto was sure wasn't a genin. She was obviously trying to conceal her power but he could tell that she was a definite threat. The second was an Iwa ninja who also seemed to be trying to conceal her power. She wasn't near as strong as the Kusa nin but powerful nonetheless. For some reason, the girl was staring at him with a look of pure hatred. The third was Kumo ninja who radiated power from deep inside of her. Naruto concluded that she must be a jinchuriki. The final genin he observed concerned him the most. He looked at the red headed Suna ninja that was staring at him. He had bags under his eyes, proof that he had not slept in a long time, and was leaking blood lust. Naruto was brought out of his contemplation by an Inuzaka who was gathering what looked to be his graduating class. Only being there for a day, Naruto didn't know their names but had a pretty good idea of what clan each were from. Seeing Yakumo and Sasuke join the Inuzaka and other genin, Naruto joined his team.
"So looks like everyone is here. Except for Menma and Narumi" Kiba said before noticing Naruto. "Oh hey, you must be Sasuke and Yakumo's teammate. I'm Kiba and this is Akamaru" he said pointing to a white puppy standing by the Inuzaka's leg. The boy held out his hand to Naruto who took it hesitantly. "Naruto" he said. "Naruto. Well welcome. Let me introduce everyone. These are my teammates, Hinata Hyuga and Shino Aburame" he said pointing to the two. Shino gave no reaction but Hinata gained a slight blush while examining the blonde. Moving on from his teammates, Kiba proceeded to introduce the rest of the genin. After the boy was finished with introductions, a pink haired girl entered the room followed by two regular looking kids.
"Sakura? I thought you didn't have a team to compete" asked the blonde known as Ino. The pinkette smiled. "Master Tsunade talked to the Hokage and I was allowed to take it with two genin who were also unable to take the exams because of injuries to their teammate. So here I am and I'm ready to give it all I've got!" she shouted while her inner self pumped her fist in agreement. "You tell em" shouted her inner self. "Well it's good to see you here" said Yakumo making her presence known. "Yeah I know. I've been learning so much from master Tsunade and Kushina sensei that I would've been really depressed if I didn't get a chance to show it off" Sakura said.
"All of you should be more quiet" warned a voice behind the group. When they turned around, they were met with the sight of a grey haired ninja wearing glasses. "Trust me, you don't want to draw attention to you and your team in the exams" the ninja continued. "Who are you?" asked Kiba voicing the question on the minds of each of the Konoha genin. "Oh, forgive me for my lack of manners. My name is Kabuto Yakushi" the newcomer said with a smile. "You said to trust you about the exams. Have you taken them before?" asked Sakura which caused Kabuto to rub his head nervously. "Actually, this is my seventh try" he said embarrassed. Kiba laughed loudly at his response. "Wow, you must suck" the Inuzaka said. "Yeah well the upside of taking the exam so many times is the experience and information that I've gained. Speaking of information, is there anyone you may have questions about" Kabuto asked with a smirk.
"What's the catch?" asked Sasuke who was growing more suspicious of Kabuto by the minute, a feeling shared by both of his teammates. Kabuto shook his head. "No catch. Just call it one Konoha ninja helping out another. That is what we are supposed to do right? Support each other?" Kabuto asked but didn't receive a response from Team 11. "Tell us about Konoha's Team 11" spoke Neji Hyuga whose team had made it inside the room just in time to hear Kabuto's offer. The other Konoha genin teams and even some of the foreign teams leaned in to hear the information. "Team 11. Okay I can do that" Kabuto said pulling out three cards. "First up, Yakumo Kurama. Genjutsu prodigy who was formerly under the tutelage of Kurenai Yuhi but left her after constant events dealing with the demon Ido which inhabited Yakumo. Ido was eventually sealed by the fourth hokage and she now learns from Itachi Uchiha. Not really skilled in ninjutsu but very passable in terms of taijutsu. Her team has been on fifty seven D rank missions and a C turned A ranked mission without their jounin sensei" he finished making the other genin's eyes go wide.
Kabuto began to read his second card. "Next is Sasuke Uchiha. All around prodigy, skilled in the Uchiha Interceptor taijutsu style, specializes in fire jutsu, and is very skilled in terms of genjutsu but not as good as Yakumo. He is the youngest Uchiha to reach three tomoes in his sharingan in each eye" he said getting an annoyed look from Sasuke about the genjutsu aspect. It was true that Yakumo was far greater than him in terms of genjutsu, but he didn't have to say it out loud. "And last but not least, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. Nothing shown in terms of ninjutsu or genjutsu but he is skilled in taijutsu" Kabuto said. The genin from Team 8, 10, and Sakura along with other genin that had been listening in simply shook their heads writing him off as weak. That is until Kabuto finished reading his card. "He is also incredibly skilled in kenjutsu, considered by his sensei to be the best swordsman in the entire village. It also says that he is the most dangerous member of his team" Kabuto finished while the rest of the room grew quiet. Naruto stared intently at Kabuto. His sensei wasn't someone who went out in the streets bragging about his team so how did Kabuto know what Itachi thought of his sword skills?
Before Naruto could contemplate what was going on, a large man wearing a bandanna and a coat popped into the room.
(Jounin Lounge)
Itachi, Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai were sitting in the jounin lounge talking about their teams and their chances of making chunin.
"I think Shikimaru has a chance to make chunin but I doubt it for Choji and Ino. It's not that I don't want them to make chunin, it's just that I don't think that they are ready" Asuma said smoking his cigarette. Kurenai nodded. She had seen Ino and Sakura's work ethic from a distance and had to say that they were a disappointment to kunoitchi everywhere even though rumor was that Sakura had done a complete 180 recently. "Well I think that all of my team will make chunin" said Kurenai proudly. "Kurenai your belief in your students is so youthful. I share the belief for my team as well" shouted Gai with a blinding smile. Asuma chuckled and looked over at Itachi. "Hey Itachi, do you think any of your students will make chunin?" he asked. Itachi chuckled shocking the others. "Oh they'll pass. Yakumo is unmatched in genjutsu, Sasuke is probably the most well rounded genin in the exams, and I wouldn't be shocked if they made Naruto a jounin. Kami knows he's powerful enough" he said with a hint of pride in his voice. The other jounin were shocked at Itachi's words but even more shocked that he believed them.
Today was very special for Itachi because to him, this would be the true start of his genin's careers as ninja. Today would be the beginning of his team showing the world their power. Smiling, Itachi left to meet the Hokage. He had been meeting with Minato a lot lately. His visits ranged from Minato getting his advice on village matters to learning more about diplomatic situations from him. It was odd to Itachi because it almost seemed like Minato was training him for something but he couldn't imagine what.
Author's Note: Hey everyone thank you so much for the support. I wanted to say real quick that I'm not going to spend really any time on the first exam or meeting Anko even though I love her character. I know that some of you might not like it but it really won't have much to do with the story. Forest of Death will be brief but something VERY big will happen in the short time. Another thing, the whole Menma and Narumi leaving won't be like the Sasuke retrieval arc. It will be different but the two will become really important later on. Anyway, hope you liked the chapter and REVIEW! Thank you everyone.