A/N: Sorry, Busy week at work, didn't have time to post this Wednesday. Next week I promise. I'm not sure how you will like the changes to the Canon backstory I've introduced in this chapter. When I started the story I didn't intend to make it that AU, but recent revelations in the Manga coupled with a few (in my own admittedly biased opinion) really good ideas have pushed my story firmly into an alternate Univerese. I will be putting an AU disclaimer in the first chapter, and I apologize to any who stop reading because of it.
XXXIV: Wings
Konoha: One Month, Nine Days Ago:
As soon as Team Seven entered the examination hall a blonde haired missile streaked across the room. "SASUKE-KUN!" The girl launched herself on Sasuke. "YOU'RE LATE!" she shouted in Sasuke's ear while rubbing her face against his.
"Please get off Ino."
"But I haven't seen you in ages." Ino pouted.
"I can't believe they let you enter." Her voice was so cold that it took Naruto a moment to realize Sakura had entered the room behind them. "I guess they had to so Sasuke could compete."
Sakura shoved Ino off of Sasuke on her way past. "And you keep your hands to yourself piggy."
"What did you say forehead?" Ino shouted after Sakura. "Come back here and say that to my face!" She chased after the pink haired girl shouting obscenities.
"Oh they made you take this stupid test too?" Shikamaru and Chouji had followed Ino across the room, "Don't die."
"Hey Shikamaru! I didn't realize you were taking the test."
"I didn't want to it's too troublesome, but our sensei made us."
"Hey Naruto!" Kiba and Shino entered the room. "Sorry about Sakura, the past couple of months have been hard on her."
"Indeed."
"So how do you think you'll do on the test Naruto?" Shikamaru asked once they were seated in a ring on the floor.
"We'll ace it, it can't be as hard as the last couple of missions." Naruto boasted loudly.
"Hey Naruto, I'd keep it down if I were you." A grey haired, bespectacled teenager said as he sat down next to them. "Thanks for the fruit basket by the way it was delicious."
"What do you mean Kabuto?"
They grey haired medic gestured around the room, "The test is hard, this is the second try for more than half of the people here."
"Oh…is this your second try too?"
"Seventh actually, this is my Fourth year."
"Wow…Either you suck or it's really hard…"
"Naruto! He saved you life!" Hinata scolded.
"Well he's kind of right…" Kabuto admitted sheepishly, "The first two parts of the test change each year but the third is always the same…and well…I can't do it…every year I drop out at the end." He looked away sadly.
"I'm sorry Kabuto."
"Don't worry about it. Tell you what I'll show you guys something cool." Kabuto pulled a stack of cards out of his pocket. "These are my ninja info cards." He shuffled the cards and pulled one out. "Normally they're blank but when I put some of my chakra into it…" A map of the Elemental Nations appeared, "This card shows how many people are taking the test and where they're from."
"That's so cool." Naruto said, "The seals for those things must be pretty complex."
Kabuto blushed, "Fuinjutsu isn't my specialty, but they're pretty impressive if I do say so myself."
"The map's nice and all," Sasuke interrupted, "But do you have information on individuals?"
"Of course is there anyone in particular you have in mind?"
"I do." A cold voice interrupted Kabuto, behind him stood Gaara, his cold features locked into a frown. "Him." He pointed at Naruto.
"Well…His name is Uzumaki Naruto." Kabuto shuffled his cards again and drew another from the deck, "Let's see," He channeled chakra into the card, "Above average stats in Taijutsu, Ninjustu and Fuinjutsu, No skill whatsoever in Genjutsu, and he has a tendency to end up in the hospital."
"Hey!"
"It's true Fishcake, don't complain."
"As for missions," Kabuto continued without missing a beat, "Thirty-one D-ranks, one C-rank, Three B-ranks...And….That can't be right! Four A-ranks and two S-ranks?" He shouted in confusion. "There must be something wrong with my seals…"
"Actually…"
"Wait a minute, Naruto." Sasuke interrupted Naruto "Aren't S-rank missions classified?" He glared at Kabuto suspiciously, "How do your cards know all this?"
"A-Ranks and up are classified sure," Kabuto said, "but the number of missions and the rank are publicly available information." Kabuto shrugged, "as for the rest of the information on the cards, it's a lot of detective work and observation mostly. I don't have information on everyone here, but what I do have is pretty accurate."
"So it's public information that we completed two S-ranks?"
"You mean to tell me that you actually did that?"
"I've heard enough." Gaara turned and left without another word.
"I don't know about the S-ranks," A new person joined the conversation, their voice deep and gravely, "But I can sure as hell attest to two of those A-ranks." Momochi Zabuza flopped down next to the genin. "Those were against me."
"Are you a p-proctor now?" Hinata asked nervously.
"No. I'm here to take the test same as you."
"Wh-What?" Hinata stuttered.
"Are you kidding me!" Naruto shouted.
"Figures." Sasuke just sighed.
"I was still a missing-nin when I came here." Zabuza explained, "I didn't belong to any village and that makes me dangerous. So the Hokage offered to let me join the village, and part of the process is taking the chunin exams."
"So…If you're taking the test, where's the rest of your team?"
"Right here Naruto-kun!" Haku and Fu walked over to the circle of Genin and sat down.
"Well…" Sasuke said, "I guess that answers that question."
"Which question Sasuke?" Haku asked.
"It doesn't matter."
"Why are you taking the test Fu? You don't plan on defecting too?"
"My cousin Shibuki applied for dual citizenship for me."
Suddenly there was a high pitched scream and Tenten ran up to the group, "That's Kubikiribocho isn't it?" There was a wild look in her eyes and she edged closer to Zabuza.
"Yes it is why?"
"C-C-Can I touch it?"
"Um…why?" Zabuza was clearly creeped out by the girl's attitude.
"It's one of the Seven Swords of the Mist! Why wouldn't I want to hold it!"
Zabuza shrugged and handed her the weapon, "Just don't try to steal it I don't want to have to hurt you."
"What's the big deal?" Naruto asked. "It's just a boring slab of iron! It doesn't do anything cool."
"Actually Naruto, The blade is capable of re…" Zabuza clapped a hand over Tenten's mouth before she could finish speaking.
"I don't want to know how you know that, but keep it a secret or else." Tenten nodded weakly behind Zabuza's hand.
"It doesn't matter what it can do I doubt it's cooler than my weapon!"
"An oversized staff sword isn't cool, Naruto." Tenten glared at him, "Not compared to one of the Seven Swords."
Naruto's eyebrow twitched, "Does this look like just an oversized staff sword to you?" He clapped his hands together and summoned Uzu no Tsubasa.
When Tenten saw the weapon she made a strange low moan and passed out.
"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT!" Zabuza shouted and leapt away from Naruto.
"I know it's cool, but what's with the reaction?"
"You don't even know what that is?" Zabuza asked in surprise, "That's one of the most famous weapons in the world!"
"I just found it in the Scroll of Seals during a mission; the note said it belonged to the Uzumaki so I took it."
"That's all you know?" when Naruto just nodded Zabuza palmed his face in both hands before continuing, "Well, It's a long story, and I'm not sure how much of it is true.
"It begins two and a half thousand years ago with the defeat of the Juubi by the Rikudo Sennin, and the creation of chakra as we know it.
"The sage possessed many tools to help him shape and focus chakra. But his most treasured possession was his shakujo, his sounding staff. It was said to have phenomenal power, but in truth it was nothing more than a length of simple wood and six rings of metal.
"The Sage traveled for many years, spreading the gift of chakra and the knowledge of how to use it.
"Now the Sage had two sons, the oldest inherited the Sage's soul and believed Strength was the key to peace, while the youngest, who inherited the Sage's body, believed Love was the key to peace.
"The sage returned from his journeys an old man. On his death bed He charged his youngest son to continue his work and insure that the world remained peaceful. The eldest son was charged with the protection of his younger sibling, because the sage knew that some did not desire peace.
"When the Sage died, the brothers divided his possessions amongst themselves; each took what they felt necessary to accomplish the task their father had left him. In this they had no quarrel; for they understood their father's tools and the tasks they were most suited too.
"But they couldn't agree on who would get the Rikudo Sennin's staff. For each brother saw it differently, even though they knew the truth, that it was but a staff that any monk would carry.
"The youngest saw it as a symbol of his father's love, for the rings would chime each time the staff struck the ground and the noise would warn small animals of his approach.
"The eldest saw the staff as a symbol of his father's might. Despite his desire for peace the Rikudo Sennin was famed for his skill with staff and sword.
"The siblings fought long and hard over who should carry the Staff. In the end they agreed to share it, one would have it for one year and the other would the next.
"For a time things were peaceful, the sons married and founded their own clans. The eldest became the first Uchiha and his clan became a tribe of mighty warriors. The youngest was the first Senju, and became a tribe of monks, teachers and scholars, renowned for their wisdom and patience.
"Time passed, the sage's sons died, their children died and so did their children's children before the peace was broken. The Senju and Uchiha had grown in size until they were the largest clans in all the world, but the leaders were not satisfied with the way things were.
"Having to share the staff galled them, each believed that their clan was the only one worthy of bearing the Rikudo Sennin's mighty staff.
"Two Hundred years later, in the time of the fourth clan head the Son of the Senju and the Daughter of the Uchiha clan heads fell in love.
"When their parents found out, they were ordered to assassinate their lover.
"Instead of carrying out their parents orders they ran away together. The Son of the Senju stole The Book of Seals, a mighty tome of Fuinjutsu written by the Rikudo Sennin himself.
"The Daughter stole the staff, for it had been the Year of the Uchiha and the staff was kept in the Uchiha shrine.
"Together they ran east, towards the coast, traveling by night, and sleeping in shifts, trying desperately to avoid their pursuers.
"When, at last, they came to the coast they fashioned a raft from a fallen tree, and set sail in hopes the water would make it difficult to track them. Scant hours into their voyage a terrible storm hit, it lashed the coast for seven days and seven nights. Desperately they clung to the raft and each other, lest they be washed away.
"On the dawn of the eighth the storm broke and they found themselves in the middles of a group of islands. After they made land fall on the largest of the islands the Son of the Senju took the knowledge contain in the tome he stole and crafted mighty whirlpools around the islands to protect them from harm, leaving only a narrow and treacherous path through the maelstroms.
"During their travels the Daughter of the Uchiha had divined many secrets about the staff. After Years of constant use by the Rikudo Sennin and his descendants the wooden shaft had transformed.
"No longer was it a simple length of wood, instead it had become a living thing. The staff fed on chakra, using it to reinforce and repair itself. In addition the wood had gained the ability to store vast amounts of chakra.
"The metal rings had changed as well. Chakra flowed through it as easily as it flowed through flesh. And each ring was attuned to a different element, Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, Lightning, and Yin Yang.
"The rock of the collapsed cliff face they had made their shelter was full of Iron, gold, and silver. While her husband labored over the Whirlpools she smelted the ore down to iron, and cast the metal rings along with the head and the heel of the staff, into the molten metal. With her new alloy she forged two simple blades for the staff.
"After many days the whirlpools and the blade were completed. When the Son of the Senju returned from the outer islands he found his wife waiting for him, in his absence she built a small stone hovel to shelter them along with a forge to allow them to build the tools they need to survive.
"When he saw the blade she had forged for him he was awed by its beauty, the long smooth wooden handle, the unblemished blades, the weight and the balance, it was perfect.
"When she gave it to him, he inscribed intricate seals into the blades, giving the weapon strange and marvelous powers.
"When the blade was at last complete, they began building their home in earnest.
"For a time everything was perfect, but after a year on the islands The Daughter of the Uchiha fell sick.
"The Son of the Senju set sail for the mainland in hope of finding medicine his wife needed.
"He was lucky, the coast was little more than a day's voyage away, and a small fishing village sat almost directly opposite the Islands He called home.
"The village had the medicine he needed but, he had no money, so they refused to sell it to him. After much debate they agreed to trade him the medicine for a storage seal, which was something they had never seen before.
"More time passed, whenever they needed something they couldn't find or make themselves He would sail to the fishing village and sell the storage scrolls he made, or the knives, swords kunai and Shuriken, that his wife made.
"Some time after the birth of their first son, word reached the ears of the Senju and Uchiha clan heads, of a village on the coast that produced the best storage seals and the most beautiful weaponry.
"Each clan sent a party under the guise of purchasing weapons, but they intended to kidnap the ones who made the weapons so they could keep them for themselves.
"When the two groups met they attacked each other instantly, for each clan still blamed the other for the disappearance of the clan heirs, and the loss of the Staff.
"Fortunately for the villagers, who were caught in the cross fire, it was the day when the Son of the Senju and the Daughter of the Uchiha, Who now called themselves the Uzumaki, arrived to trade their goods.
"When She saw her family attacking her friends in the village she flew into a blood rage, drew her sword and attacked both sides with such ferocity that by the time He arrived at the scene of the battle only She remained standing, the rest were either dead or had fled.
"Fearing for the safety of Their friends in the village, The couple invited the village to join Them on Their island.
"When the survivors of the battle returned to their clans with news that the Daughter of the Uchiha was hiding in a fishing village on the coast, both clans sent a war party to capture Her and rescue the staff.
"But when the clans arrived, all they found was a burned out wreck, for the villagers had set fire to the buildings and the docks when they left.
"Enraged by the escape of the thieves, The Senju and the Uchiha temporarily set aside their growing differences to renew their hunt.
"While their old families fruitlessly searched for them, The Uzumaki, with the help of the villagers turned their Island Home into a fortress.
"Word eventually spread of a hidden country, were people, tired of the wars that plagued the Elemental Nations, could go to live in peace.
"But nothing can remain hidden forever, and the Senju and the Uchiha eventually found the island nation.
"Figuring it to be the hiding place of their former children, the Staff, and the village they had spent years searching for they launched assault after assault on the budding nation.
"Each time they were repulsed by the whirling tides, for only the Uzumaki knew how to deactivate the seals that kept the maelstrom going, and only the villagers knew how to navigate the treacherous water way that led into the village.
"It was after the birth of their third son that their former clans managed to figure out the way through the tides.
"They snuck into the village in the dead of night, and began torching homes in an attempt to draw out the First of the Uzumaki.
"The couple fought back, but they were badly outnumbered, and when they finally managed to push their attackers back, the former Daughter of the Uchiha had sustained terrible wounds. Without her husband's Senju resilience, she died before the sun rose.
"So great was the First of the Uzumaki's fury and sorrow, that his scream of anguish could be heard across the sea, where his former family prepared another larger assault.
"The First cut his wife's blood stained armor into strips and bound the haft of his blade with it.
"When the second assault landed they were met by the First of the Uzumaki in all his fury. He fought with no regard for his own survival, and unleashed the full power of his blade.
"He seemed to change shape, one moment he was a green dragon roaring his defiance at his enemies. The next moment he was an angelic figure clad in white, raining lightning bolts from the sky. Then he was a red Oni, clad in flames, roasting the invaders with gouts of white hot flames. Afterwards his skin cooled from flame red to ocean blue and he fought with blasts of water. Then he became a stone samurai and crushed his foes with his giant stone sword.
"He fought long past the point of chakra exhaustion, took countless wounds that would have felled lesser men. He pushed himself so hard that when the fight was over and the clans defeated, the First of the Uzumaki had aged one hundred years in the course of a day.
"He managed to drag himself to his dead wife's side, before crumbling into dust. The two of them were buried together, and the Staff was passed down to their oldest son.
There was a moments silence when Zabuza finished telling his story.
"I didn't really understand the whole thing," three older Genin wearing Kirigakure Hitai-ate had been listening in, "But that thing," The leader of the trio pointed to the Uzu no Tsubasa, "Is really powerful and probably worth a fortune, right?"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Zabuza warned the boy as he reached for the staff.
"Be careful you traitorous bastard, keep talking to me like that and I'll take your sword too."
"Yeah you can't be that tough if you're taking this test." One of the Kirin Nins chimed in.
"Gimme that." The leader snatched the staff away from Naruto. Almost instantly the boy collapsed screaming in agony, before anyone had the chance to react his body crumbled into dust.
"Kiri Team Three, Disqualified." A group of ninja, all wearing the same high collared grey uniform, lead by a large man who wore a leather trench-coat and his Hitai-Ate on a bandana, entered the room in a swirl of leaves. "You have less than the required three participants. See you next year."
"HE KILLED HIM!" One of the Kiri ninjas shouted and pointed at Naruto.
"No." The large man said, "That," He pointed to the Uzu no Tsubasa, "and his own greed killed him. That weapon is a SSS-rank forbidden item. That means it was considered too dangerous to even touch. It was sealed by the previous Uzumaki clan heir, before the fall of Uzu no Kuni."
The man ignored the complaints of the two remaining members of the team as they were bodily dragged out of the examination hall. "I am Morino Ibuki and I am the proctor for the first exam." The large man said, "We will now start the first stage of the Chunin Exams. Instead of your current seating arrangements you will form a single file line and take a tile from this box and sit in the seat indicated. Once you are seated we will hand out the exams."
There was a moment of silence before Naruto moaned, "A written test? I hate written tests."
"Do not turn over your test until I give the signal." Morino Ibuki said while the shinobi who entered the room with him began handing out the test. "There are three rules you need to know before we begin." He picked a piece of chalk and began writing on the board, "First, everyone starts with ten points there are ten questions and an incorrect answer means you lose one point.
"Second, the scores are team based, to pass you need a total of twenty points," He paused to let the teams groan, "But for a team to pass every member needs at least one point. If any one on your team gets a zero you all fail." He paused again to let the teams glare at their dumbest member before continuing.
"The third and final rule, anyone caught cheating loses two points for every infraction. If you lose all your points, your whole team will be disqualified."
Once the tests were all handed out Ibuki said, "You have one hour. Begin!"
Jiraiya's Camp, Present Day:
"Is that story true?" Tsunade asked Jiraiya. "I've never heard anything like it before."
"I heard something similar from Kushina." Jiraiya replied, "She was the one to have the staff sealed you know."
"I always thought the Uchiha and the Senju hated each other because the sage chose the Senju to carry out his legacy." Shizune said.
"I always thought it was a stupid reason to fight." Tsunade said. "But over a staff? That's even worse."
"Ah, but it wasn't just any staff, Hime." Jiraiay said, "It was the symbol of the Rikudo Sennin's authority and love. In a way they were fighting over who should be the one to carry out the sage's will."
A/N : My brother SorifTheHunter, (He's actually directly responsible for Sage of the Seventh Path, he dared me to write a story so I did. He writes an oc heavy Young justice fic and has started a similar harry potter fic, I can't tell you whether it's any good or not because I haven't read it [oc's and young justice don't interest me], but his harry potter one shot was kind of funny) paid me $1.50 to say this:
Yo, Dawg I heard you like stories, so I put a story in your story (in your story) So you can read while you read (while you read)
What? It was that or make a crack about "Storyception…"
Don't Judge me.
Xahn777