Tsunade was seething, pacing back and forth in front of her sensei's desk. It was taking a monumental amount of self control to not break something, or someone. Self control that she didn't possess. The buxom medic had been ranting for a sum total of thirty minutes, but for the first time in living memory, Hiruzen Sarutobi lost his patience. Killing intent that would have made a Bijuu flinch flooded his office. Even Tsunade wasn't immune, and the effects were instant. Falling into a seat, the blonde woman wheezed as she found it getting harder and harder to breath.
"If you are quite finished, Tsunade-chan." said Hiruzen, his voice hard. "Now then, let us assume you came into my office and bid me good afternoon. Let us also assume that you know the Eye Mind Reading technique and utilized it during the meeting with the council yesterday morning."
Tsunade blinked, but was so shaken she kept her mouth closed. 'The fuck is an Eye Mind Reading?'
"Now that we have all of that out of the way, let us review the plan for Naruto-kun in regards to the CRA. While utilizing the Eye Mind Reading jutsu, you should have seen the fact you will be named Godaime Hokage after the exams conclude. You would have also seen the reason for this, however, let us assume that you don't fully understand the inner machinations of my mind."
The Sandaime, one of the kindest people the blonde had ever met, was noticeably angry as he took a long, therapeutic drag of his pipe. "Now, in my attempt to solve problems peacefully, the village, namely the elders and the council have been given too much power. So much so, that my hands were virtually tied. There was nothing I could do against them. However, this is a shinobi village. It is a dictatorship, not a democracy. The Hokage holds the ultimate power and the last say. The purpose of the council to add other perspectives when dealing with an issue."
He took a breath, his words soft though his eyes remained alit with the flames of anger. "Even the juinjutsu utilized by the Main Branch of the Hyūga clan can be erased or applied to the should the Kage demand it. However, as I said. I have allowed too much of my power to shared amongst those on my council. You, Tsunade-chan, will take it back as my successor. That is the reason I remained silent while Danzo spoke of the Clan Restoration Act. I will say, however, that Naruto-kun's vocabulary is rather impressive, if not volatile. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, is there anything else you need to say?"
"No, sensei." said Tsunade quietly. Her mind was racing at everything he'd said.
She would become Hokage? She would take back the power the position came with? To say Tsunade needed a drink at that moment would have been an understatement.
"Where the hell is that blonde idiot?" Sasuke grumbled impatiently.
In this battle royale-esque portion of the exams, to remain stationary was to accept death. Though in Sasuke's mind, neither death nor defeat were acceptable. His greatest ambition, to restore the honor of his fallen clan, demanded that he be perfect in everything he put his effort into. It was why Kakashi was training him. Now that he'd unlocked his clan's kekkei genkai, Kakashi had put a greater effort into developing his latent talents. The Uchiha didn't know why, though. Perhaps it had something to do with the man's own Sharingan. The simple fact that he even had one meant that he was either close to an Uchiha and received it as a gift, or he killed an Uchiha and managed to retrieve only one of their coveted eyes. With their mysterious sensei, one could only guess.
"Sorry I took so long." Naruto fell from above, landing in between the pinkette and the ravenette. "Didn't know I was holding that much back."
Sakura looked at the blonde and subtly inhaled his scent as she moved closer. A while back, during some rather intense taijutsu training, Naruto pinned her. She could tell he was holding back, way back. It bothered her to distraction but when she remembered that he literally broke a jonin-level Missing-Nin's spine with a kick, she was grateful. It was in that moment, that one moment she was beneath him, that she caught a whiff of his scent. It was extremely subtle, yet highly intoxicating. He smelled ever so faintly of jasmine and something else that she couldn't place her finger one. Not until she went to the flower shop afterwards to see Ino. It was honeydew.
Neither of those scents caressed her olfactory sense as moved closer still to the blonde. She looked to his outfit, his very appearance. Had she not know there was supposed to be 'Five' on the back of his haori, or that he carried such an intoxicating and dainty fragrance, she would have believed that this fuck was her crush. Though, it was possible that he removed his scent and changed his haori (as unlikely as it was). So she had an idea.
"Hey Naruto," just calling the probable imposter his name made her stomach churn. "I ran out of the cytotoxin you gave me. Can I have another vial?"
The blonde turned to her, his gaze blank and confused. "Cy-what?"
It happened quickly, too quickly for Sasuke to follow without his Sharingan. The only thing he saw that denoted a difference was the fact that Sakura was in the process of completing the sheathing of her tanto. When he looked to the blonde, he noticed a red line appear on his throat. The other boy's face was immortalized in shock; his mouth slack, his eyes showing a hollowness as the flames of life were snuffed out. Blood seeped from the red line before his legs gave out. When he hit the floor, his head rolled to Sasuke's feet. Anyone that said the Uchiha was shocked would have been right on the market.
Strangely enough, as the head came to a stop, the whisker marks faded as the sun-kissed tone of his flesh turned paper white. His hair turned blue and his eyes, forever open and sightless, turned an earthy brown. Whosoever dared to impersonate Sakura's crush would share this poor bastard's fate, and he should thank Kami that the pinkette was feeling somewhat merciful.
"How did you know?" Sasuke asked, very impressed.
She looked at him before searching the corpse for supplies. She frowned as she took a second Earth scroll and threw it to her teammate. "Naruto is an expert when it comes to poisons and elixirs. Ask him anything when it comes to either of those topics, and he'll tell you things you didn't even ask about. Since he didn't even know what a cytotoxin is, it was obvious."
Sasuke nodded. He remembered that he was always reading some book about poisons, venoms, and toxins. He also remembered the blonde of Team Seven using a jutsu that allowed him to breathe poisonous gas on the bridge that Tazuna was building. He was thoroughly impressed, even as she was muttering to herself about 'honeydew smell' with the faintest of blush dusting her cheeks.
Sakura cleared her throat. "Let's keep moving."
Sasuke was curious about why she decided to move on without the blonde, but didn't care enough to ask. Besides, it would give him a chance to be alone with her, and he would finally say yes to her incessant dates.
Naruto looked at the dead snake in front of him. He should probably come with a warning label that read 'Boil Release Blonde Can Cause Heartburn.' Laughing at his own humor, he turned to find a three man cell of Iwagakure genin.
"Look at this, guys." the female of the trio smiled maliciously. "He looks just like-"
"Heavenly Spear Kick" The other Iwa genin looked in fear as Naruto's foot was literally embedded him her chest, in between her generous breasts. Everything below the knee was visible, protruding from her back. "If you're going to kill someone, just do it and don't try to make a point."
He spun, flinging the corpse from his leg as he rushed towards the male wearing a mask. His expression never changed from surprise. The last one alive was looking at the Yondaime look alike in fear, trembling as though the fear of Kami was forced into him. As if he were looking at Jashin himself. He Iwa genin blinked, and Naruto was gone. He heard a sniffle. Out of the corner of his left eye, he could see Naruto scratching his nose.
"What are you looking at?"
The final Iwa-Nin turned, armed with a kunai. The last thing he saw was the blonde touching his chest as though he was using the Gentle Fist taijutsu style. The last thing he heard was the ominous whisper that alerted him to the end of his life.
"Death Technique: Heart Sever."
Naruto inhaled deeply and cursed as he looked to his pants. Like all pairs he possessed, they were black, but his right pant leg was soaked through with blood. His toes were red, which annoyed him to no end. With a sigh, he searched through the belongings of the dead. Kunai, shuriken, senbon, an umbrella and...Naruto fought the urge to shout in jubilation as he found the Heaven scroll.
Reaching out with his chakra, he tried to see if Sakura and Sasuke were still waiting. They weren't. All of a sudden, a massive killing intent flooded the forest. Scarily enough, the source wasn't even close to him. Worried about his team, Naruto launched himself from his place. Enhanced by his kekkei genkai, he rocketed in the direction he felt their chakra.
Sasuke and Sakura were staring down the genin from Kusagakure, the killing intent she was giving off suffocating them. She licked her lips provocatively as she stared hungrily at Sasuke, something that made his skin crawl for some reason. He could damn near hear the collective voices of the fan girls that never made it out of the Academy.
'Let me have your baby, Sasuke-kun.' the look the genin in front of him seemed to say. He shivered, uncomfortable and afraid.
Despite her trembling, she remembered Naruto's angry words when they first met Zabuza. 'I won't heal a coward.' She knew it was aimed at the Uchiha, but it hit her hard as well. At that moment, all of the training Naruto gave her came back and she drew he tanto. In a move that was as brave as it was stupid, she rushed the Kusa-Nin. She went for a horizontal slash and somehow managed to catch the kunoichi off guard, slicing her thigh.
The other genin hissed and moved to punch Sakura. She blocked the strike with the flat of her blade and threw her own punch. It landed on the other girl's face, tearing through some of the flesh as though it were paper. The skin under her torn face was sickly pale, her right eye a blazing yellow. The genin from Kusagakure caught Sakura's arm and backhanded her, the force of the strike sending her flying to the tree she and Sasuke originally stood in. She hit the tree with a sickening thunk and sank onto the branch, unmoving. Meanwhile, Sasuke was on his knees, hypnotized by the killing intent that was still aimed at him. With a trembling hand, Sasuke reached into his weapon pouch and pulled out their original Earth scroll. He threw it to the other genin, hoping she would take it and leave.
When he blinked, Naruto was suddenly there, his fist connecting with other genin's face with a satisfying crack. The girl was sent rocketing away from them. The blonde jumped to his team and grabbed Sasuke by the throat, after he conjured a shadow clone to check on and heal Sakura.
"I told you that I won't heal a coward." the blonde snarled, tightening his grip as Sasuke clawed at his hand. "Get up and fight, you fuck!"
He released the other boy as the Kusa genin returned to their immediate sight, a sickening smile on her face. Reaching up, she touched the damage dealt by the blonde and the pinkette. The next moved shocked both boys, as Sakura stirred. The girl started ripping and tearing her face off as though it were nothing more than an elaborate and lifelike mask. She, which was actually a 'he', giggled in a sinister fashion. 'Ku-ku-ku' was the sound his giggling made, and it sent shivers racing up and down Sasuke's spin as it pissed Naruto off.
"Good afternoon, Naruto-kun." the man said, caressing the blonde's name like a lusting lover. "It's been a while since I've seen my favorite nephew."
Sasuke looked dumbly at Naruto as the blonde glared at the Snake Sannin. "Of course it has, you giggling prick."
Steam rose up dangerously from Naruto's body, his eyes flashing crimson as they seemed to do when he was angered. Sasuke was still stricken dumb as he stared between his teammate and pale man that strongly resembled a snake. From his golden eyes and slitted pupils, to his obscenely long tongue. He pouted at the blonde.
"Aw, Naruto-kun." the feminine male in a teasing voice. "You're hurting my feelings."
The blonde cracked his knuckles in response. "How about I hurt your body instead?"
"Perhaps another time." he purred before turning his lusting gaze to the Uchiha once more. "I am only here for Sasuke-kun today."
The blonde and his clone stood in front of his teammate with their arms crossed. "He may be a jackass, but he's on my team."
Sasuke's Sharingan activated out of pure rage, and started spinning madly. He pushed the Senju heir aside and rushed the Sannin. Orochimaru looked faintly amused. The snake sage dodged each strike aimed at him with an eerie flexibility. The older man continued to stare into the blazing red eyes of Sasuke's Sharingan. It was what he wanted more than life itself. It was why he betrayed the family that was Team Hiruzen and the little boy he'd come to love as family. He detested his own mortality and sought to achieve immortality. He needed the Sharingan, however, for with its power, he would be unstoppable. A single punch to the sternum was all that was needed to put Sasuke down. Granted, the force of the blow sent him crashing into his original resting place, next to the girl with pink hair.
Naruto rushed forward, leaving his clone to heal the Uchiha. A giggling Orochimaru bent at an unnatural to dodge the Heavenly Spear Kick aimed at his face. A punch was aimed at Naruto's face, but he slapped the fist away and threw a front kick. The blow connected and sent the sannin crashing against the body of the tree, but his body exploded into mud. He looked around for the slippery bastard, but saw nothing. At least until, the pale man's head race towards Sasuke's downed body. He conjured another Shadow Clone as he shot towards his uncle and teammate.
"Ninja Art: Summoning: Chakra Sealing Chains." The clone slammed his hand on the branch he stood on, smiling deviously as whipping chains erupting from beneath the feminine male and wrapped themselves around his unnaturally flexible body.
"Boil Release: Unrivalled Strength: Erupting Propulsion Fist." the original blonde felt the steam erupting from his elbow jetting him faster towards Orochimaru's face. The strike, when it landed, sounded with a crack so loud, it seemed to resonate throughout Training Ground Forty Four.
A flash of white, that looked eerily like Kabuto, took the now unconscious sannin and sank into the tree. Naruto felt his legs give out when they were gone; he'd seen Orochimaru do that once before, and while he may not have been the biggest fan of the Uchiha, Naruto would be damned if he allowed his teammate to suffer such a fate. Sasuke looked shaken, seemingly aware that there were people stronger than her could have imagined in the way of his ambition. Sakura smiled at the blonde, glad that he was okay.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"I should be asking you that. What happened while I was gone?"
Sakura sighed. "I killed someone that was impersonating you, and we kept moving until Orochimaru showed up. I tried to fight him; landed a good punch and cut his thigh before I got slapped away. I blocked his punch with my sword, though!"
"I'm proud of you, Sakura." Naruto smiled. "Not bad for only having two weeks of training."
She shook her head. "He was holding back."
"I know," he said. "How are you feeling after your first kill?"
Sakura said nothing and stood. Naruto followed suit but pulled her into a warm embrace as the girl started trembling in his arms, tears rolling down her cheeks. The blonde nodded in understanding. The first kill was always the hardest.
Sasuke looked at the two, wondering the relationship they had. He knew that the girl was more than likely trying to get over her first kill, but in their world, there would be many more. She needed to get over it. The Uchiha sighed, so much for not holding him back.