Chapter 48
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The Chūnin Exams Approach
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"Ok you three, I think that'll do it for today," Kakashi said cheerfully. His three Genin opened their eyes in shock, even for Kakashi this was early. Today had been a day of teamwork exercises – again, and it felt like they'd barely gotten started. The looks of near disgust from Rezano and Meshikamaru went unnoticed as Kakashi held out three pieces of paper.
"Before you guys take off, take one of these each." One after the other they stepped forward to take one. "Chūnin Exam entrance form," Meshikamaru said aloud reading out the title. "Yup," Kakashi chirped, his eye-smile on display. "You think we're actually ready?" she questioned. "Uh huh," he nodded.
…
She had been expecting an actual answer, so why was she shocked when he simply vanished in a swirl of leaves. "Honestly, why does this still surprise me?" she irritably muttered. "Kami if I know," Rezano added.
Sasuke seeing they were clearly done spun on his heels and left. His two teammates eyed their already leaving third team member before sharing a look between them, it involved some eye-rolling and sighs of resignation. Any attempts at actual teamwork today had been hindered by Sasuke being an absolute pain in the ass.
"Kami damn it, does he honestly think we're ready?" she grumbled as they too made their exit from the training ground. "Not as ready as we might be if we actually worked as a trio," Rezano said taking his turn to grumble. Meshikamaru sighed, "Ain't that the truth. We just wasted another, what, couple hours on teamwork exercises that don't seem to impress upon dear Sasuke what 'teamwork' actually means."
"Mendokusē," Rezano uttered which got a raised eyebrow from Meshikamaru at his use of her twins catchphrase, especially his use of the same shorter form of the word Shikamaru used. She couldn't disagree though, "Mendōkusai," she said herself.
"Don't suppose either of your brothers are free for some training sessions over the next few days are they?" Meshikamaru asked him. "Probably, Tou-san's been keeping them in the village so both are rather bored. I'll ask and let you know."
"Thanks."
After that they, for the most part, walked back into the village in relative silence, both lamenting how much more confident they'd be if they had an actual third team member. Upon reaching a major crossroad within the village they bid a brief farewell before going their separate ways.
"Tsk, typical Kakashi-sensei," Rezano griped. "Dumps these on us without warning and doesn't even have the decency to stick around to answer questions afterwards." He had so many complaints he wished he could hurl at the copycat Ninja.
"Am I ready?" he quietly asked himself, "Are we as a team ready?" he followed up. Because that's what was truly important, right? Only the best teams would succeed and progress to the third and final test and it was only then that one could display individual skill.
Rezano differed from most of the Genin that would be competing in that he had personally witnessed a part of previous exams when Tri and Naruto had competed in Kumogakure. He'd watched Naruto kill one of his opponents without hesitation. Yet so many of his friends and classmates from the Academy were confident, if not cocky about competing, yet replaying Naruto killing someone struck very hard – you could die in these exams.
He lifted his hand to read the form held in it. He was brought a brief respite when he noticed he had until the morning the exams started. 'I still have some time to think it over at the very least. I suppose I should be thankful sensei didn't give us these the day before, I can easily picture him doing that.' It meant he had just under a week to make his mind up.
If only that sense of relief could have lasted that long. Reading a little further he noticed in bold underlined text, 'For a team to compete, all three members must unanimously agree to participate'.
'Oh joy,' he thought envisioning how much more unbearable Sasuke would become towards him if he decided not to enter.
"At any rate, I think I will be asking Naruto-kun or Tri-kun if they're free to have a few training sessions with me and Meshikamaru-san. I reckon we'll need them considering we learnt more from Tri-kun and Sakura-san during the week in Nami no Kuni than we have done from Kakashi-sensei all together." He was surprised by just how embittered his voice sounded.
It was a tone of voice born of frustration and one other emotion, envy. He'd seen how his former classmates interacted with their assigned Jōnin sensei. How Asuma, with Ino's help, was managing to get action out of Shikamaru. How Kurenai was slowly helping to build Hinata's confidence, he'd still yet to act on Tri's advice regarding the quiet girl. And while they weren't in his class nor did two of his Genin fully enjoy his 'attitude', you could never accuse Gai of not caring for his three charges.
But as much as he might wish for a more serious Sensei, it might not have made much of a difference, they'd still need a new third Genin to replace Sasuke, his arrogance was just as big an issue to Team 7 as Kakashi's lax attitude to his responsibilities. Meshikamaru used to be able to ween 'teamwork' out of him but even that struggled now, he'd been even more obstinate in recent weeks.
Shaking his head he scattered the thoughts from the front of his mind as he shut the front door behind him. Slipping off his sandals he placed them on the rack next to several other pairs. Standing again he walked down the corridor, a quirk of their house was the bottom of the staircase being next to the kitchen instead of the entrance hall.
Reaching for the bannister he stopped at the sound of rustling paper emanating from the kitchen. Poking his head around the corner he saw his mother was still at work doing paperwork, or whatever it was, either way it entailed a lot of sheets of paper. And boy did she look bored.
"Hey Kaa-chan," he said from the doorway. She quickly lifted her head, her lips upturning into a smile, 'Oh thank Kami, something to distract me for five minutes.' "Hey Rezano-kun. You done for today already?" she asked since it hadn't seemed that long ago that he'd left.
Her youngest son looked up at the clock hanging on the wall, it was 1:30 pm. 'Not even two hours… Kakashi-sensei you lazy son of a…'
"Hello…? You in there?" he heard. Kushina was waving at him, "Sorry Kaa-chan. I space out for a moment." She shook her head in amusement before spotting the sheet of paper he was holding, "Whatcha got there?" she politely asked.
"It's an application form for the Chūnin Exams," he answered holding it up. Kushina slipped out of her chair walked over to him, taking the form from him she quickly scanned it. "Are you going to enter?" she asked noticing none of it had yet been filled in. "I…" he hesitated.
Handing the form back to him she pulled her youngest son into a reassuring hug. "It's okay to be nervous. Everyone is when faced with their first Chūnin Exams."
"It's not that - well not entirely. It's just… I don't know whether I'm good enough yet. People die in these exams, we watched Naruto-kun kill someone during his."
"You won't be the only one asking yourself such questions either, trust me on that."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I asked myself those questions before my first Chūnin Exams. I know for a fact your father did too."
"Huh? Tou-san did?" he asked in surprise. "Yup, he hasn't always been the 'Yellow Flash'. He was a regular Genin once too. And if it's your safety you're worried about then you can withdraw at any time. There are even circumstances where you'll be looked upon more favourably for doing so."
"Really?" he asked in disbelief, she nodded. "Knowing when you're beaten plays an important part in keeping you alive."
"Huh, that does make sense actually. You're no use to the village if you're dead."
"Precisely," she remarked not at all disturbed by the morbid nature of his comment. "And according to your form you still have a few days to make your mind up so no need to rush to a decision," she said finally, ruffling his hair before returning to her work. "Thanks Kaa-chan," he said in gratitude, "You're welcome, Rezano-kun," she replied.
Stepping out from the kitchen brought him right to the stairs leading to the houses upper floor. Making his way up the stairs he could hear a small amount of noise emanating from a room to the left of the landing. On that side were Tri and Minusha's rooms along with Tou-san's office while on the right was his, Naruto's and his parent's rooms along with the houses main bathroom.
Reaching the landing he peeked into Tri's room, he was sat in his chair staring at the seal design on his wall. But he wasn't alone, sat on his bed, her back against the wall was Minusha idly strumming on her Biwa, a pear-shaped lute.
"Yo! Still busy I see," he said walking in to join them. "Hey," both replied, Tri in the usual monotone and Minusha in a very bored voice as Rezano sat down on the bed next to her.
Looking around it was clear to see that Tri took a great deal of effort into keeping his room immaculate. He didn't have all that many possessions and most of what he did own was normally sealed away to save space so it lacked that cluttered feeling you got in Minusha's room. There wasn't a speck of dust to be found on any surface, unlike his own room which often went neglected cleaning wise. And finally there weren't any dirty clothes lying around to give it that untidy appearance that Naruto's room was known for.
"You weren't gone long," Tri remarked pulling Rezano from his thoughts. "Nope, Kakashi-sensei decided to be especially lazy today, didn't even last two hours."
"What you got there?" Minusha asked curiously spying the piece of paper in hand. "Right before he cleared off Kakashi-sensei gave us application forms for the Chūnin Exams." Tri lowly chuckled, "Called it."
"Nii-san?" Rezano inquired, eyebrow raised. "Sorry, it's just, me and Naruto-kun both said Kakashi-san would do exactly this. And lo' and behold… Least he gave you almost a week."
"Thankfully… What you two been up to, or same as earlier?"
"You're looking at it."
"So same as earlier then, Minusha-chan." She nodded, her fingers still slowly plucking away at the strings of her Biwa. "Makes your day about as productive as mine then…" he said without a hint of sarcasm.
"Which reminds me, Nii-san, would you be able to have a few training sessions with me and Meshikamaru-san?"
"You and your teammate?" he asked curiously. "Yeah, let's just say I'm not the only to have realised the lacklustre effect of Kakashi-sensei's training."
"Sure, why not. Gives me something to do as well since Tou-san has insisted on keeping me in the village for the past few weeks."
"Yes!" he fist pumped, "Thanks Nii-san. Can we start tomorrow morning?" he asked excitedly. Tri shrugged, "Sure. You'd best tell Meshikamaru-san though." He nodded eagerly, "I'll go tell her later."
Rezano finished nodding and as he did his eyes fell upon the seal that occupied so large a portion of Tri's wall and so many hours of his life. Gazing at it the teenager remembered the rudimentary education in seals he'd been given by Kushina when he was younger. So he understood the basics, it was certainly enough to know that what he was looking at simply wasn't right.
A seal had to be designed for a specific purpose to work properly, all the arrays that entailed its design had to flow into one another seamlessly. If they didn't the seal would react unexpectedly or not function at all. The picture on the wall was simply a mess.
He was reminded of a night he and Kushina had done a jigsaw puzzle when he was still young, she'd said you should always start with the border and work your way in. But looking at this, where would you even begin?
The arrays were a collection of fragmented, incoherent patterns that served no discernible purpose. It almost looked like a jigsaw puzzle, the original design having been cut up into ten thousand pieces and reassembled into what he saw now.
"I'm not gonna lose you to it as well am I, Rezano-kun?" a female voice asked from the doorway. Snapping to attention Rezano spun to face the voice to find Kushina leaning against the doorframe, her arms folded across her torso, he'd not even heard her coming up the stairs.
"Err… No Kaa-chan," he said in reply sounding somewhat unsure of himself as Kushina came in and squeezed in between her two youngest looping an arm around each of their shoulders. "Weren't you doing paperwork?" Rezano questioned having seen her return to just minutes earlier.
"I was, turns out there was only one thing left. So I'm done!" she cheered. "Did you have any ideas?" she next asked her youngest. He shook his head as he looked at it again, assuming she was talking about the picture on the wall, Kushina sighed, "It was worth a try."
"Have either of you been able to learn anything about it? Anything at all?" Mother and son looked at one another then back at Rezano, "Nope, not a thing, well – besides the obvious," Kushina said for them both. "Nothing? How long have you spent between you researching and everything else again?" Minusha said, "You're two of the best seal-smiths in Konoha but neither of you is able to decipher it."
"And that's just it Minusha-chan, as far as we can tell, there is nothing to decipher. It's a broken, unintelligible muddle. But we think that whatever happened, whatever this seal did was so powerful that it irrevocably destroyed the design."
"And you don't think that that is a good thing? If it was so powerful then perhaps it would be better it remains unknown," Minusha reasoned.
Mother felt pride for her daughter for her wise words, there were circumstances where the Shinobi world would perhaps have been better if a few select Jutsu hadn't been discovered. "Maybe you're right Minusha-chan but it's difficult to suppress curiosity for such things."
"Curiosity is one thing but why do you persist if, after all this time, you've learnt nothing, why do you continue to spend hours working on it?" Rezano asked Tri more than Kushina. He shrugged," I don't really know. Perhaps the hope that if enough time is spent on it something, anything will spark a thought, an idea of what this is – or was."
Kushina's eyebrows furrowed at his words, "Time…" she quietly muttered to herself before her eyes widened again. Untangling her arms from Rezano and Minusha and hurriedly back stairs taking them two at a time.
The three siblings caught in silence listened to Kushina rush around the house, from the sounds of it she'd made for the living room. Just a few moments later she was back in the downstairs hallway and charging back up the stairs before appearing back in the doorway.
"D-do you remember this book?" she breathlessly asked Tri. In her hands she held up a small, slim book titled, 'The Nameless Woman.' Tri raised an eyebrow, "Of course, it's a story book you gave me to read when I was young." Kushina nodded eagerly as she sat between Minusha and Rezano again.
"What's this book about?" Minusha asked taking the book into her hands and looking over the cover, there was no blurb. "It's an Uzumaki storybook that was around when I was a kid," Kushina answered. "Not really an answer, Kaa-chan," Minusha deadpanned. "It's not the story that's the important factor, Minusha-chan," Tri stated with a shake of the head.
"So what is then?" she huffed as no one would actually answer her question. "There's a vague reference to a very powerful type of seal. That's what Kaa-chan's gotten excited over."
"What's so special about this seal?"
"It's called an Endomorphic Seal," Kushina answered to a pair of blank looks from her youngest. "It's a theoretical type of seal so complex that it, and I stress again theoretically, could do anything."
"Anything?" Rezano asked sceptically. "So the theory goes."
"Remember, Rezano-kun. There is technically no limit to how intricate a seal can be, it is only limited by the designer's ability."
"Kind of like Tou-san's Hiraishin?" Rezano suggested. "Not quite, the Hiraishin is certainly the most advanced piece of Fūinjutsu known today but that doesn't mean it's always been the most advanced, the Uzumaki clan before the founding of Konoha were said to have completed works of Fūinjutsu that dwarf what we have today. These forgotten works are titled Endomorphic Seals, the word loosely means 'Internal Shape'. And I believe this," she added pointing at the picture, "Is the aftermath of an Endomorphic Seal," Kushina said in near reverence.
"Kaa-chan. Endomorphic Seals are very much theoretical," Tri said very much putting a dampener on Kushina's eagerness. "If we had the Shoseki no Moyou (Book of Seals) then maybe it could be explored but there's no foundation to base such research on."
He didn't like having to come down on her as bluntly as he was, he wanted to know what this seal was, he wanted to know what it did, who designed it and why. The answers to those questions would explain to him why he ended up on the plateau that night. An answer he very much wanted.
His words, sensible while heavy-handed made a major dent in Kushina's enthusiasm as she stood again. Walking over to him she put a hand on his shoulder, she understood that despite his words he wanted the answers to this seal more than anyone.
The two of them continued discussing in fairly quiet voices but what Rezano and Minusha could pick up was useless to them, the conversation had shifted to really in-depth Fūinjutsu, the likes of which contained terminology neither could understand.
For the two youngest members of the family the minutes dragged by ever slower but then a saviour came. The sound of the front door opening and closing again shortly after gave the two a legitimate excuse to make their exit. And so with quiet footsteps they did just that, Minusha leaving the book on the bed. Not that either missed their departure, they were accomplished Shinobi after all.
Rezano immediately headed downstairs while Minusha made a quick stop in her room to place Biwa in its stand before re-joining Rezano.
She arrived in the entrance hallway to find Rezano eagerly conversing with Naruto. She didn't know what they were talking about but Rezano's enthusiastic shouting of "RAMEN!" gave her an idea or two.
"I take it you need saving from boredom too?" Naruto asked her having been filled in by Rezano, she nodded. "Alright, get ready then," he instructed.
"What exactly am I saving you from?" he asked as she picked her sandals up from the rack. "Tri-kun and Kaa-chan are talking seals again but it's that kind of talk where we have absolutely no idea what they're on about" she answered. "Ah," Naruto chimed in understanding, "Well come on then," he said hurrying them up and out the door.
Before exiting himself he created a shadow clone to leave a note for Kushina to let her know they were both with him, she tended to get very anxious when she didn't know exactly where they were.
They were waiting for him at the side of the road, Minusha kicking a small stone between her feet.
"What you been up to today, Nii-san?" Minusha asked him as he joined them. They started walking towards the centre of town before he answered, "Nothing much really, a few errands, seeing a few friends I've not seen in a while. Just trying to find things to occupy myself with really, being kept in the village is beginning to drive me mad."
"Well it's a good thing you've still got a week to go then," she mentioned. Naruto darkly pouted at her, much to the girl's amusement.
"At least some of the foreign Shinobi have started arriving," he said, his face brightening again as he was expected to keep an eye on them and prevent anyone, domestic or foreign, from getting into trouble. "Huh? They've already started arriving?" Rezano asked in surprise. "That's right Otouto, some of the Suna teams have been arriving for the past twenty-four hours."
"But there's still a week to go, why are they arriving so early?"
"Acclimatisation, Rezano-kun. Some Jōnin sensei like to get their teams here early to let them get used to the climate. Sunagakure is in the middle of a desert, the air has almost no moisture, it's really dry whereas here there's an abundance of it. Iwagakure is usually colder than here all year round. While Kumogakure tends to have pretty erratic weather.
"Genma-sensei aimed to have me, Tri-kun and Itachi-kun in Kumogakure several days early for our Chūnin Exams so we could get used to the weather. Ironically it was a huge snowstorm coming south from Yuki no Kuni (Land of Snow) that delayed us so we ended up arriving like half an hour before the exams began."
"What was it like? Your exams I mean," Rezano asked in a slightly hushed voice. "Problematic at times, being the son of a Kage meant there was a target on my back, a lot of prestige available to the one who beats me, the same for Tri-kun. Not that it mattered, none of them could keep up with us anyway.
"Kurotsuchi-san had the same problem."
"Because she's related to the Tsuchikage?"
"Precisely, being his granddaughter put a target on her back," Naruto elaborated as they passed by one of the villages interior training fields.
"Did anyone manage to get any of you?" Naruto shook his head, "No, the first exam was closely monitored by proctors while we were faster than everyone else in the second exam. Kurotsuchi-san did have a run in with some Suna Genin though."
"It meant we had to put up with quite a bit of trash talk…" he was cut off by what sounded like shouting. It sounded like it was coming from the training field just behind a series of trees and thick bushes.
"The hell is that?" Minusha wondered. "Dunno," Naruto replied before grinning at her, "Let's find out." She rolled her eyes but nevertheless smiled, Rezano had already gone a step further and begun sneaking into the vegetation.
Utilising their various levels of training the three siblings slowly and quietly pushed through the brush homing in on the shouting voice. Drawing close enough they saw there were five people present, three were kids, the other two adults. It was one of the kids shouting at a sat down adult.
"Listen lady, enough of the silent treatment," the kid angrily shouted in a high pitched, squeaky voice, his gesticulating making his ridiculously long scarf flap around.
"Who's the brat?" Rezano asked sounding very unimpressed, "And why is he shouting at Sakura-san?" Indeed the kid, who couldn't have been older than eight or nine was shouting and pointing fingers at the Pink-haired Chūnin who in reply – did nothing. Her meditative pose remained unchanged, her legs crossed, eyes closed and hands held in a Ram hand-seal.
"You've actually met him before, Rezano-kun but I'm not surprised you don't remember he was just a baby at the time."
"Wait, what?" Rezano said in astonishment. "His names Konohamaru, he's Sandaime-sama's grandson." Rezano furrowed his eyebrows trying to remember.
"What about the others, know them?" Minusha asked. Naruto cast his gaze over them, "I don't know the other two kids but I recognise the guy with glasses, names Ebisu, a Tokubetsu Jōnin. He was in Genma-sensei's Genin team and by all accounts has a rather high opinion of himself. Also, if you believe the rumour mill, doesn't like Tri-kun at all."
The now named Ebisu chose that moment to step in front of Konohamaru, pushing his black lens tinted glasses back up his nose, "Now listen here, Chūnin," he sneered, the disdain in his voice set Naruto's teeth on edge. "You will show the proper respect and vacate this training field so that I, an elite, might continue the training of the Sandaime's honourable grandson."
Naruto didn't miss the flicker of annoyance across the kid's eyes as Sakura finally responded. "Respect is earned, not given," she simply, forcefully replied. Naruto had the quickly cover his mouth to stifle his mirth at the shocked expression on Ebisu's face. He'd done a pretty good job of hushing himself but behind closed eyelids Sakura's eyes looked right.
Pushing his glasses back up his nose a red flush of anger crept up his cheeks as he began aimlessly berating her, Naruto continued to struggle suppressing his laughter.
"What was the rumour about this guy and Tri-kun again?" Minusha asked curiously. "The rumour is that Ebisu-san had some quite vocal opinions about Tri-kun challenging Jiraiya, something about not respecting a Sannin I think – anyway in the end Tri-kun apparently chewed Ebisu-san out big time in the Jōnin check-in station."
Turning back to Ebisu still heckling Sakura, "You know what, I reckon there's some truth in that," she said bluntly. "Same, perhaps I should Ebisu-san that Sakura-san is one of the few people Tri-kun will listen to without question."
Her ears had blanked out the mindless shouting and were instead focused elsewhere, her eyes opened as she heard her name. She continued to ignore Ebisu and turned her gaze again to the right. Reaching behind her she slowly withdrew three kunai in full sight of Ebisu who immediately shut up upon seeing the weapons, a finger through each of the rings.
With a fast flick of the wrist that only Ebisu and Naruto could follow clearly the three kunai shot from her hand and embedded themselves into the dirt mere inches from the hedge line. Each of them lined up exactly with the three Kage children.
Naruto laughed aloud this time, "Looks like we've been rumbled guys," he said before standing up. With his hands held up in mock surrender he walked into the clearing, "Very good, Sakura-san. It's great to see that those training sessions to improve your spatial awareness have paid dividends," he complimented.
She shook her head in amusement as Naruto leant down to retrieve her kunai. Brushing the dirt from the blades he walked over and returned them to her. With an appreciative nod of thanks she put them back in her pouch held out her hand and he pulled her to her feet.
"How are you Sakura-san? Haven't seen you in a while."
"I'm well Naruto-san, thank you. I trust you and your siblings are well too?" she asked in reply as Rezano and Minusha made their appearance. Meanwhile Ebisu seemed to be doing his best goldfish impression as they all deliberately ignored him.
"We are thank you. We were just taking a walk when we heard shouting, so we decided to investigate. How'd you know we were there?"
"Yeah, that shouting really made my meditating difficult but I've been learning to filter out certain noises so I could just about hear your chatter, proved good practice to be honest," she agreed.
"Y-you threatened the Hokage's children," he said scandalised. All could see there was no malice in Sakura's action but that didn't stop him from grasping at straws. "Ebisu-san. Shut up," Sakura growled, her patience now wearing thin. He seemed to recoil at her words before puffing out his chest. "Watch your tone, Chūnin!" he barked, "You're speaking to an elite Shinobi," he aggressively replied. A statement that made Naruto chortle.
"You're really stretching the definition of the word 'Tokubetsu', Ebisu-san. And since you're so eager to throw rank around, remember that I outrank you," he said firmly. Ebisu sniffed, "And yet I'm entrusted with the well-being of the Sandaime's honourable grandson," he said without a shred of sarcasm.
"No, Ebisu-san. Real 'elite' Shinobi are entrusted with Anbu duties, they're entrusted with the duties of Proctor in the upcoming Chūnin Exams. And not glorified child-sitting." Sakura almost managed to suppress a snort as Ebisu's face began turning bright red as if he were a colour changing kettle reaching boiling point.
His fists clenched as Sakura waded in again to compound his frustration. "As far as a childminder goes, Ebisu-san, you ain't very good at it are you?"
"W-what?" he spluttered in outrage. Sakura simply pointed behind him. He turned to find he was now alone, Konohamaru and his friends were gone.
"Wha… Where did he go?" he exclaimed in alarm, his glasses almost falling from his face. With a panicked cry he ran off, "Honoured Grandson!" fading into the distance.
"That was eventful," Minusha deadpanned as they laughed. "It sure was and I'm pretty sure that rumour is in fact true now. He knew exactly who I was referring to with the ANBU and Proctor references."
"I wondered what you were driving at," Sakura said in realisation. "Anyway, what are you lot up to?"
"RAMEN!" Rezano shouted, thankfully Sakura knew the family dynamic well enough to understand that just shouting 'Ramen' had a legitimate meaning.
"Yeah, what he said. You're welcome to join us if you're free," Naruto said extending the invite. She seemed to be weighing it up, "No, 'fraid I'll have to pass but I am going that way so I'll walk with ya."
She already had all her equipment on hand so they immediately departed and were soon back on the path. Despite them all knowing her fairly well no one seemed to want to start a conversation on anything.
So instead they all listened to the everyday events of what was an ordinary day in Konoha. Passing market stalls, people having conversations, the occasional Shinobi leapt across the rooftops overhead.
Turning from one of the larger roads onto a secondary side street to take advantage of a shortcut they found themselves walking alongside a high wooden fence when, for the second time, they heard a commotion nearby. And for the second time curiosity got the better of the Hokage's children.
Drawing closer they heard a familiar, high-pitched, squeaky voice. The same high-pitched, squeaky voice they'd heard just minutes earlier. "Did Ebisu-baka find the kid again already?" Minusha wondered. Naruto and Rezano were unable to prevent themselves snickering like a pair of five-year-olds.
"Let go! Put me down you big oaf!" the voice shouted. "Yeah! Put him down you big bully!" a girls voice shouted immediately afterwards.
Peeking their heads around the corner they found it was indeed Konohamaru who'd been shouting. And he was being held clear off the ground by someone who had a handful of the front of his shirt. This person they'd never seen before, they'd have remembered since he wore a full body black cat-suit and was wearing what looked like make-up on his face.
Rezano being Rezano reacted before he thought as he stepped out into full view, Minusha and Sakura followed him out. Naruto, however, held back silently shunshining into a nearby tree.
Without smoke nor leaf he re-appeared on a high branch. He was almost directly above the commotion down on the ground. Sakura's eyes were immediately drawn to his new location, 'Yep her awareness is much improved,' Naruto commended.
"What do you think you're doing?" Rezano demanded marching forward. From this side Naruto could see that this 'cat guy' had a large 'backpack' for lack of a better term on his back. He wasn't alone either, a few feet away from him was a girl of similar age, her blonde hair tied into four, a large battle fan strapped over her back, he estimated it at some four feet long, maybe a little longer. She was stood at a 90° to her companion so he could make out the Suna symbol etched into the Hitai-ate around her neck.
'Suna Genin I guess,' he surmised as 'Cat Guy' turned his attention to the approaching Rezano. "Well, well, lookey here, more Konoha pipsqueaks," he chuckled to himself. "I said put him down!" Rezano shouted, his walk turning into a run. With a look of annoyance and briefest twitch of his hand Rezano's feet were pulled out from under him.
'Chakra threads?' Naruto wondered, 'The thing on his back certainly seems big enough for a puppet of some kind and he's from the right village for it.'
'Cat Guy' snickered to himself, "Jeez if this is the best a Konoha Genin had to offer then this will be even easier than we thought." He made sure to say it loud enough for everyone to hear. "Will you put the runt down before we get in trouble," the blonde girl sighed. "Ah, don't worry about it sis, this won't take long," he grinned lifting Konohamaru a few inches higher.
'Sis? So they're siblings, huh, they don't look the slightest alike. Curious that they'd team siblings together. Unless they had the same issue me and Tri-kun did,' he wondered, him and Tri had been placed on the same team because there were no other teams to split them amongst.
Naruto's attention was then drawn two branches lower in his tree.
"I'm warning you. Put him down," Rezano conveyed in the firmest voice he could manage pulling himself to his feet. For now Sakura leaned back against the fence and observed, the situation wasn't yet serious enough to warrant her immediate intervention, they were only Genin after all.
'Cat Guy' stared at Rezano, Rezano stared back. 'Cat Guy' burst out laughing for half a second before abruptly stopping. "A warning huh. Well let's say I've had enough of shorty here disrespecting his elders. It makes me want to kill him." He immediately drew his fist back.
A kunai slipped into Sakura's hand, a quick glance up the tree she realised Naruto wasn't going to act, someone else was going to do it for him.
A split second from punching Konohamaru full on in the face a stone struck 'Cat Guy's' hand.
He was forced to release his grip on Konohamaru. Holding his wrist he spun, eyes homing in who threw the stone. Immediately spotting Sasuke leaning back against the trunk throwing another small stone up and down in his hand he growled.
"Killing a child, real tough guy…" he darkly said. The girl smirked as 'Cat Guy' growled again. Naruto meanwhile was suddenly grumpy, Hmph, copycat, shunshining into the tree.'
'Cat Guy' recomposed himself, "Oh look, another brat," he said casually. "Say little squirrel why don't you come down from your tree," he challenged removing the package on his back. "Wow, hang on. Don't tell me you're going to use crow?" the girl said in alarm. Her apparent sibling only grinned.
'Crow? It has a name… Guess I was right about it being a puppet.'
Naruto senses flared again, yet another person had appeared in the same tree.
"Kankuro! Don't!" a new voice ordered. The now named Kankuro froze immediately, to Naruto it seemed as if his limbs had tensed up in what he recognised as fear. He wasn't alone either, the girl looked very nervous too.
Hanging upside down on the middle of the tree's three major branches in between Naruto and Sasuke was one of the strangest looking kids Naruto had ever seen. His red hair bore a similarity to his mother's but lacked the same vibrant tone. He couldn't quite see what it was but he seemed to have a Kanji tattoo on the side of his forehead. Around his eyes were thick, black rings that made it look like he'd never slept a wink in his life. And over his shoulder was slung a great gourd, the purpose of which Naruto could only guess at.
"G-g-Gaara…" the now named Kankuro stumbled, all that confidence he'd been displaying had just melted away. 'Gaara? Why do I know that name?…' Naruto thought with a grumble, wracking his brain for the reason. Either way, this Gaara had copied him too, Shunshining unseen into the tree.
"You're a disgrace to the village, Kankuro. Squabbling with children." His voice sounded strained, almost pained. "B-but Gaara, they started it, the little one slammed me!" he tried to argue. "Shut up… Or I'll kill you," he threatened.
'Ooo. Now that's a voice with authority,' Naruto noted. 'Guess he has a history of carrying through with his threats,' he added noticing that Kankuro was legitimately shaking where he stood.
"Uhh. You're right Gaara, I was out of line…," he stammered in a near panic. "Yeah.. We're sorry, Gaara," the girl added trying to brush it off but it was clear she was unsettled too. 'What is this kid? To leave them both in such a state…'
"Sorry about my friends," he apologised looking at Sasuke then down at the others. With a swirl of sand Gaara reappeared on the ground between his two teammates, both of whom took a nervous step back.
"Well I'm glad to see cooler heads prevailed," Sakura said stepping forward, the kunai now back in her pouch. "Now, Naruto-san. Are you going to come down from there or did you want to continue moping?" she asked looking up at him. A murmur of surprise spread through the others, no one had seen him, not even Sasuke and this kid with the gourd had noticed. "They're all copying me," Naruto shouted down.
"Oh for Kami sake," Sakura facepalmed. "You're a Jonin! Act like it and quit pouting. *Sigh*. Anyway, I take it you have your passes with you?" she asked Gaara, he simply nodded. "Good, keep them on you at all times in case some jobsworth Shinobi starts running their mouth and questions your presence in the village."
"Arigato, Shinobi-san," Gaara replied. "You two, let's go," he ordered spinning 180°.
"Oh, and one more thing," Sakura hastily said turning her gaze on Kankuro, "A word of advice, in future don't threaten to kill the Sandaime Hokage's grandson, eh." His face paled at her words, Sakura swore she could hear him gulp.
Sasuke appeared a few feet in front of Sakura, "Hey you, what's your name?" he demanded. "W-who me?" the girl asked in surprise pointing at herself, a small tint of red atop her cheeks. "No," Sasuke said in annoyance, him," he clarified pointing at Gaara.
"Sabaku no Gaara," he replied, not sounding the slightest bit interested. Nonetheless he reciprocated the question, "And you are?"
"Uchiha Sasuke," he answered, a small air of arrogance punctuating in his pronunciation of 'Uchiha'.
Without another word he vanished, the others following a moment later.
"Policing all these Genin is going to be a nightmare…" Sakura sighed. Bringing together Shinobi from other villages was always a tense affair, especially when so many have a point to prove or a chip on their shoulder. And as a Chūnin who rarely got border patrol assignments she was one of those expected to keep them from trying to kill each other. None of the Iwa Genin had arrived yet either.
"Ah, don't worry about it too much. Most are just in their early teens and if anything major kicks off ANBU will step in." Naruto said dropping down next to her. "I suppose," she relented. "Weren't you going to get Ramen?" she questioned, she knew the family well enough to know that once Ramen was on their mind it was very difficult to shift it again.
Naruto's eyes widened and brightened, it appeared it had been pushed from his mind. "Times a'wastin," he said to his brother and sister. Both nodding eagerly.
Sakura turned around to find Konohamaru and his friends were gone again, "Huh, kids are actually pretty sneaky, maybe Ebisu-san is entirely hopeless after all for not noticing earlier," she quietly said to herself. Sasuke had seemingly already left too.
"Hey, Sakura-san! You still walking with us or not?" Naruto shouted back. "Yeah, yeah I'm coming."
"Oh Nii-san, can we stop by the Nara compound before we go back home later?"
"Uh, sure… Why?"
"Tri-kun agreed to a few training sessions with me and Meshikamaru-san. And I need to let her know. I would've invited Sasuke-san but since he's already left…" Naruto gave a few quick nods, "Alright."
With their departure none now remained except for an unseen trio of two males and one female. They'd watched the entire exchange with great interest.
"What do you think?" one asked. "None but the Uchiha and the sand runt with the gourd are of interest, keep an eye on them. Stay away from that blonde Konoha Jonin, he's a quiet one," a second voice said, "Ignore the rest." His voice slightly muffled by the wrapping covering all but his left eye.
But the chain of spying didn't end there, in another nearby tree atop a small branch concealed by leaves was a black Raven. Muninn too watched with interest, it's powerful hearing allowing it to filter out background noise and pick up every word spoken. Huginn was elsewhere in the village but their mental link kept them in constant contact with one another.
"Huginn-kun, have you found any others?" Muninn telepathically asked its twin. "None," was the reply, "What are your three up to?"
"Being sneaky, they appear to have an interest in the younger Uchiha brother and one of the Suna Genin."
"Yes, I see your memory, most curious. I shall inform Tri-kun that we have found Shinobi wearing the musical symbol, if that is to your agreement?"
"It is, I will maintain my watch on these three but from a distance. They are going to lengths to conceal themselves when moving through the village."
"Understood, fly carefully."
"Likewise."
With a small caw Muninn, looking ever much like an ordinary Raven, took off.
-(*)-
End Chapter
Omake: Gai's Genin prepare for the Exams
*Thunk*Thunk*
That sound, one of metal striking hardwood was a regular one across the dozens of training grounds spread across Konoha. It was the sound of kunai and shuriken impacting circular wooden targets.
And on this particular training field you would many of those targets attached to straw dummies, the targets simulated a targets face, heart, stomach and both hands. There were several of these straw targets and each was riddled with sharpened implements.
"So, did you hear, this year's rookie Genin are supposedly going to be competing," Lee said to his two teammates as he rebound the wrappings around his fists. "Really!?" Tenten said in surprise, a kunai twirling around her finger. "Perhaps the rivalry between the Jonin Sensei's has played a part?" she suggested. But Lee shook his head, "No, I do not think so, one of these cells are trained by Hatake Kakashi.
"Hmm, that's true," she conceded, "Isn't this the first cell he didn't immediately fail?"
"I believe it is," Lee replied. "The Hatake Kakashi huh. Isn't the Hokage's youngest son in that cell?" the third team member, Neji, asked. "He is, along with the Uchiha and one of the Nara twins," Tenten answered throwing another kunai.
*Thunk*
"Interesting," Neji murmured after the kunai struck the target dead centre little more than a foot above his head. "Either way it doesn't matter. We are ready, Gai-sensei has made sure of that," Tenten said confidently.
"Hey, remember when Sensei recommended we watch tape from previous exams?" Both boys nodded, "Did either of you actually do so?"
"I did indeed Tenten, they were most enlightening. We need to expect the unexpected, I saw so many techniques I'd never seen before," Lee answered while Neji, as he normally did, didn't answer.
"Ok, but did you watch any from the Kumo Exams?"
"Hmm, it was that exam Gai-sensei specifically mentioned, wasn't it?" Lee thought aloud, "Why specifically that exam again?"
"Because it's the one the 'Prodigal Three' competed in," Neji spat. "Exactly," Tenten chirped pointing at the Hyūga with a kunai. "And? Were they as impressive as Gai-sensei suggested?"
Neji sighed, "Honestly, perhaps more so. The final was a great example of fighting smart. Uzumaki vs Uchiha was pretty impressive since they managed to destroy the camera recording them," Neji admitted much to Lee's surprise. "Wait, really?"
"Yeah, right at the end there's a big explosion then the video cuts to black," Tenten added. "But Neji's right. Speed, Power, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, Fūinjutsu and Genjutsu, those exams had it all."
"Wow," was all Lee could manage.
"I think Lee is better off not watching them to be honest. The levels of ability those three performed at aren't going to be replicated in these exams. You've been watching matches that were far more 'realistic'.
While the Hyūga branch family member wouldn't concede it, Gai-sensei's admittance that the Uzumaki may actually be faster had made him silently curious, curious enough to look into it. During their innumerable training sessions he had seen fleeting glimpses of Gai-sensei's speed and it had been far beyond his ability to perceive. So for him to suggest another might in fact be faster… Neji found it hard to believe.
But having watched the tapes, tapes that were years old now, tapes that were recorded when they just ten, four years younger than Neji was right now. He had to acknowledge it might actually be genuine.
Some of the Jutsu, the techniques displayed were far beyond that of a regular Genin, no one had expected them to know them. Naruto might not have been able to utilise the Rasengan in its completed form but he'd still been able to make use of it. It was acts like that which separated true geniuses from the rest.
But Neji had in his arsenal Jutsu and techniques nobody expected of him. They were geniuses, but so was Neji. And in just a week's time he would have the opportunity to display just why he was regarded as the best Hyūga talent for a generation.
-(*)-