Start Chapter 9
Naruto keeps making more and more progress and it astounds me. Who would have thought that the class idiot was actually a genius in disguise? Oh well I guess I'll just have to keep on teaching him and keep up my skills so he doesn't surpass me just yet. I feel like all of these missions he's running are preparing him more and more for his next challenge. Soon he'll be a Chuunin and before I know it he'll be the same rank as me.
A Month after the Talk
Naruto fights of Iruka successfully before landing a mean haymaker to the Jounin's face. Feeling confidence flow through him he continues the assault until Iruka lands a mean rising wind kick to his jaw. It sends the blonde straight into the air and back to reality, "Well I guess I'm not as good as I thought." Naruto says rubbing his jaw from the blow, "Maybe next time I'll get him." Getting up off the ground and patting himself off the blonde looks at Iruka, "So I heard the Chuunin Exams are coming up soon."
Iruka nods, "Yes they are what of it?"
The blonde smiles, "I don't want to enter them just yet, if you were thinking about putting me in the mix." Iruka cocks an eyebrow confused by the boy's statement, "I want a little more time to develop as a ninja before I try for that."
Looking at his student proudly the Jounin says, "Well it's good you realized that for yourself before I entered you in. Although we've run 6 C-rank missions and two B-ranks I think another year of preparation won't hurt you." Pausing, "Honestly I don't think you could enter them anyways based off of the fact you're not on a team. I'm pretty sure the Hokage will promote you when he feels you're ready." The Jounin looks up at the sky before saying, "Say we haven't really worked on any water-jutsu chakra control exercises, why don't I show you some?" The two get to work on an exercise that requires Naruto to use his chakra to create a whirlpool in the water. Focusing on the flow of his chakra and the water the blonde Genin takes a stab at the technique.
Later that Night
Naruto pants heavily trying to create a decent sized whirlpool and succeeds, "Yes! I got one!" Smiling in victory he feels himself pass out from chakra exhaustion and Iruka shakes his head at his student. Picking up the unconscious boy he takes Naruto back to his apartment complex.
The Next Day
Cracking his eyes open Naruto feels the strain he put on his body yesterday coursing in his muscles as he gets up and out of bed, "I really need to learn some limits, this can't be good for me." Rubbing his head he prepares for the day ahead.
At the Training Ground Later that Day
Naruto thinks for a second before moving the Shougi piece and saying, "Checkmate." Iruka looks in surprise as he sees the blonde is right, "So are we doing a mission tomorrow?"
Shaking off the shock the Jounin replies, "We're going on a document delivery mission to the Sand Village. It has to do with the Chuunin Exam, so it's very important and counts as an A-rank mission." Naruto smiles feeling proud of himself and Iruka reminds him, "Don't let that blow up your head; this isn't any harder than a C-rank mission. The only thing bringing the grade up is the importance." The blonde Genin nods and they leave the area as the sun sets for the day.
Somewhere in Wind Country Several Days Later
Naruto and Iruka trudge through the desert and see a large canyon a mile or so ahead smiling the Jounin says, "Here we are the Hidden Village of the Sand." The two pick up their pace before eventually reaching the check in point, "We're here on business related to the upcoming Chuunin Exams." Iruka hands the Sand ninja a scroll containing their credentials and the Chuunin waves them in, "Thank you."
As the pair traverses through the canyon they notice Sand ninja lining the tops looking ready to attack, "Is it just me or are they on edge?" Iruka looks up and quietly nods ushering Naruto to continue. They head into the center city and eventually make their way to a large stone dome marked with the wind kanji. Entering into the building through several more security checkpoints they come to the Kazekage's office and meet the Sand Village's military leader.
"You must be Iruka Umino and Naruto Uzumaki." The two bow and nod in respect of the leader, "Oh no need for such formality, now do you have the documents I requested?" Iruka nods and procures the scrolls from his hip pouch handing them to the leader, "Very good, I will make sure to send the Hokage my regards. You can go now."
Naruto and Iruka bow one last time before heading out into the city. For some reason the blonde Genin feels a tug inside his head and hears a deep gravely growl. He looks around and sees a redheaded boy with a gourd on his back and they make eye contact. The growl grows louder before the redhead disappears in a swirl of sand. Naruto brushes it off as a weird occurrence as the pair leaves the village and heads back home.
That Night in Naruto's Subconscious
Naruto wakes up in a sewer of sorts and begins heading towards a room not necessarily by choice. He feels a foul aura radiating from it and he steps in to what seems to be an ornate prison cell. A pair of blood red eyes stares down at him, "I'm glad you could make it down here runt."
Putting two and two together the blonde says, "You must be the nine-tailed fox if I'm not mistaken?" The beast laughs and nods in acknowledgement, "What have you brought me in here for?"
"To talk and warn you." Naruto looks at the creature confused, "That redhead you saw was no ordinary boy, and he was the container for the one-tailed demon." The blonde Genin looks shocked at the news, "I was growling at him because I was warning the one-tails to remember its place in the order. If I'm not mistaken he was what you humans call a Genin and if I had to guess he's going to be at the Chuunin Exams."
Naruto feels concerned at the demon's knowledge, "How do you know all of this?"
The beast laughs, "I can see all of your thoughts, not to worry I can't influence any of them unless you use my chakra." Naruto sighs in relief and the nine-tails smiles deviously before saying, "If your life is in danger and you can't go on I will lend you my chakra, but only if you want it or truly need it. Now I believe your mentor is trying to wake you up."
Naruto feels himself being sucked back into reality, "Naruto it's time to go." The brown-haired man says and the blonde gets up slowly before getting ready to go home.
Back at the Leaf Village
Iruka and Naruto stand in the Hokage's office at ease waiting for the elderly leader to speak, "Good job you two, and you will be compensated properly." Handing a wad of cash to the two he lets Iruka distribute it, "Now is there anything else I can help you with?"
Recalling earlier events Naruto says, "Two things actually Lord Hokage." Naruto clears his throat as the Hokage motions for him to continue, "Last night the fox dragged me into my subconscious to talk. It said it thinks the one-tailed container is coming for the Chuunin exams. Is there any reason to be concerned about this?"
The Hokage sighs, "I knew this would happen sooner or later." Lighting his pipe and taking a drag he continues, "The fox has a point, but we have counter measures in place in case the one-tails gets loose somehow." Sarutobi smiles before saying, "Now what was the second thing?"
"We noticed that the Sand Village ninja seemed on edge for some reason when we came in. I don't know if that's of concern, but I just got an eerie feeling the whole journey through the canyon." Naruto says and the Hokage nods before making a hand seal.
Sarutobi takes another drag from his pipe, "I've silenced this room to outside of the three of us because the last thing we need is prying ears. Naruto and Iruka I'm about to tell you something that must be kept a secret for now at least. The Sound and Sand Village are going to attack us during the Chuunin Exams. We are already putting in counter measures to minimize the damage." Iruka and Naruto looks shocked, "Normally we would attack first, but I heard Orochimaru is heading the assault and I want to finish what I couldn't all those years ago. It's not only personal, but also for the safety of the village and the ninja nations." Looking out the window the Hokage sighs, "Now I assume there won't be a word from either of you until I release this information to the village?"
The two nod and the leader makes a hand seal before dismissing them to leave his office. Naruto looks at Iruka and the two know exactly what's on each other's mind.
At the Secret Spot the Next Day
Naruto and Iruka trade blows at a high pace. The Jounin feels the need to step up his game as the blonde's strikes become harder to block. Naruto notices this increase in intensity and only pushes harder. Eventually the blonde's efforts become labored and a mean spinning kick from the Jounin catches him. He falls hard backwards and sighs as he looks up at the sky, "You're getting a lot better Naruto, and it may be time to up your weight." The Genin nods and accepts a helping hand from the brown-haired man to get up. Clicking in a new piece of resistance Naruto feels a noticeable increase in drag as they continue sparring for a little while. As time goes on Naruto feels the weight get to him and he can't go on. Iruka lands one last blow before saying, "Alright I think that's enough taijutsu for today, let's work on that whirlpool exercise again." Naruto smiles and they head over to the base of the waterfall before the blonde gets to work on the exercise.
Chakra exhaustion begins to set into Naruto and he finally creates a large whirlpool on his last try. This time he doesn't pass out, but nearly does, "Well at least I didn't get knocked out." He says chuckling dryly before plopping onto the ground from his tiredness, "Iruka, I think I'm ready to call it a day."
The Jounin shakes his head, "Let's do one more round of sparring, but this time we're going to go all out. You have to be able to push past the pain barrier if you want to be able to get to the next level." Naruto nods in understand before getting up and bracing himself for battle.
The two make the sign of the ninja before backing up from each other and going to work. Throwing several shuriken the Genin attempts to distract the Jounin from his sweep kick. Not letting it faze him, Iruka dodges the projectiles and the low blow. He counters with a knee to Naruto's face and the blonde flies backwards before making a replacement with a log. Charging at the Jounin head on Iruka hits the log full force before Naruto comes from behind with a drop kick that the man catches with relative ease. He redirects the blonde's weight and sends Naruto towards a tree; sticking to the wood with chakra Naruto makes hand seals for a wind bullet jutsu. Iruka sees this and jumps out of the way of the invisible projectile. Clicking his teeth Naruto grabs a kunai before turning around to meet his mentor's blade. Grinding iron against iron Naruto channels wind chakra into his weapon cutting through the metallic blade of his opponent. The tail end of the energy cuts Iruka's face on his cheek and Naruto smirks, "I'm getting closer." Iruka shakes his head before coming directly at Naruto before sliding in between his legs and throwing shuriken at the boy. Naruto quickly jumps off of the bark onto the ground meeting Iruka's foot with his forearm. Making hand seals for an illusion Naruto feels himself grow drowsy before he releases the illusionary technique. However, it's too late as Iruka's fist impacts with his cheek.
Standing over his opponent Iruka says, "Yield." Sticking knife at Naruto's throat and he feels cold iron press against his throat.
"No you yield." Iruka slacks his shoulders as the blonde under him turns into a log, "How did I do?"
Smiling at his student, "You passed… Almost." The Iruka before Naruto puffs into smoke and Naruto sighs as he feels the cold iron press against this neck, "Now you yield."
The blonde smiles before saying, "I yield." They turn and face each other before making the sign of ninja acknowledging each other's skills, "I was so close."
Iruka nods and smiles softly, "It comes with time Naruto, and it'll be years before you can get me." They share a chuckle before deciding to call it a day.
A Week Later On an Escort Mission in Wood Country
Naruto notices a puddle of water on the road and recalls it hasn't rained in weeks he looks at his mentor nodding. He stomps hard on the puddle and a missing ninja from the Hidden Mist Village pops out knocked out from the impact. Making several hand seals he ensnares the criminal in tripwire. Once the ninja wakes up he asks, "Who sent you to kill this man?" He points to Oku, the man they were told to protect on the escort mission.
The missing ninja looks at the blonde with defiant eyes before saying, "Fuck off Leaf scum." Naruto punches the guy in the face and continues the process until the guy says wearily, "I give, and I give!" Pausing and taking a deep breath he continues, "It's a man named Gomi! He said this guy was giving him problems by not obeying food price laws he had set in the Oak Village. He jacked them way up so people couldn't buy food, but since he has me and three other low-level missing ninja nobody will fight back." He looks up at the Genin, "The other ninja aren't any better than me. That's all I know I swear!"
His black eyes are pleading and Naruto nods before drawing a ninja-to and slicing his head off. Sealing it away and burning the remains he places the scroll back on his belt before turning to see Oku staring at him in shock, "Iruka let's continue the mission, if he's telling the truth which I'm pretty sure he was, we'll be fine." The Jounin nods and they wait for Oku to collect himself before continuing their trek towards the Wood Village.
Later that Night
Naruto and Iruka are doing some reconnaissance outside of the village gates and see three ninja at different positions around the town, "You want to take the two at the north and west point? I'll take the one at the eastern side. We'll regroup around the compound where Gomi resides." Iruka nods and the two begin stealthy making their ways to their targets. Naruto conceals his chakra signature down to barely anything before edging towards the missing Stone Village ninja. Drawing a kunai he gets up behind the unaware criminal and covers his mouth as he slits the throat of the scumbag.
Looking around he sees Iruka taking out the first of his targets and making his way to the second. The missing Leaf ninja looks around to see his fellow guards missing and sounds an alarm. Iruka curses silently before throwing several kunai at a once former ally. They pierce the body that turns into a log the Jounin spins around to meet a kunai coming down on his skull with his own blade. Making some one-handed seals he draws from a nearby water source a solid blade of water that pierces the traitor in the heart. The man falls to the ground with a quiet thud and the brown-haired man disposes of the body properly. He joins back with Naruto and says, "Let's finish this." They look at each other before bounding across the rooftops to the compound that Gomi resides in. Approaching it they see the man holding what appears to be his wife with a knife to her throat. The pair acts quickly and Naruto aims a kunai, which he launches right into the man's skulls. His body slumps down and his wife runs at them scared to death thanking them, "It was no problem, we were just doing our job." Wiping the tears from her face the woman promises to make things right in the small town.
Naruto and Iruka start to make their way out of the building before coming into a crowd of happy looking people. Walking through it they get handshakes and offerings of gifts that they respectfully decline. They see Oku and say farewell before heading into the night for home…
End Chapter 9