Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, go figure.
Posted: 12/1/08
A/N: I'd like to thank you all for your wonderful reviews and support for the first arc of Houses of the Holy. It was a great joy for me to write and - as an author - very fulfilling to read your responses to my first real attempt at fiction.
Having said that, I must admit that some of the reviews for the last chapter made me chuckle. I was trying – in what I thought was a fairly non-subtle way – to hint that there would be no Wave arc in this story. Some of you didn't pick up on that, so before we start arc two, I want to make this clear.
There will be no Wave arc in this story.
I wouldn't want you to be confused when you start reading chapter 8.
We're time skipping again folks. Naruto is now thirteen years old. Enjoy.
Chapter Title: Twilight Zone by Golden Earring.
Listen closely.
This will be your last mission as a ninja of Rain Country, Naruto.
A young teen walked determinedly alongside a wide canal, mentally fortifying herself a final time for the task set before her.
She was Iwamoto Kaoru, and she was going to be a chuunin. She was sure of it.
But she was still nervous.
This would be her first Chuunin Exam since becoming a genin nearly a year ago. She had worked so hard to hone her skills to reach this point – to make her uncle proud of her. He was a Commander of Ame, after all, and she certainly could not disappoint him. Only twenty-seven genin were chosen to participate in this round of the Exams, and being one of them was certainly a high honor.
Especially given that Ame had not participated in the Exams in eight years – not since the hostilities between Lord Pain and the old regime had reached a boiling point. She would be one of the first genin sent forth to remind the ninja world that Amegakure was not a village to be trifled with.
Not only that, but her idiot teammate had gotten himself hospitalized not two weeks ago and despite a quick recovery had been deemed unfit to compete in the coming exams. So he had been transferred to a different team and replaced.
It hadn't helped matters that the dipstick she was now stuck with for the exams hadn't bothered to show up for training with the rest of Team Thirteen even once since then.
She would be meeting this mystery ninja for the first time today. What a way to jump into a life or death contest.
Kaoru spared a glance at the sunrise peaking over the horizon in the distance. She had wanted to arrive at the meeting point - just inside the city walls behind the Grand Causeway leading out over the city's defensive moat - early in order to make a good impression on the rest of the party. All nine of the genin teams participating in the exam were to assemble there with their jounin instructors before traveling together to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
Turning her attention in front of her she started in surprise. She had been so lost in her musings that she had unknowingly reached her destination.
Damn it! She couldn't afford to let her mind wander like that.
She allowed her eyes to pan over the wide square that opened just behind the main gates of the city. Unlike most of the urban cityscape – which consisted of ugly piping and dull concrete - this plaza was covered in wide cobblestone roadways lined with lush trees and alluring flowerbeds. It had been completely rebuilt after Pain's conquest of the city nearly four years prior. The only facet that remained unchanged from Hanzou's time was the massive stone plinth that decorated the center of the square. A statue of Hanzou had once stood there facing the Grand Causeway as a warning to any who would come into Amegakure against his will.
The statue was no more.
Now the granite monolith was decorated with the names of those who had fallen in the fight against Hanzou's oppression - starting with a mysterious character named Yahiko.
Not even her uncle had been able to tell Kaoru who that had been.
Finally her eyes focused on a lone figure standing next to the great cenotaph. On its hands. She blinked once before turning to examine her reflection in the calm waters of the canal beside her. Her shoulder-length auburn hair was still tied tightly into a bun at the back of her head and her apparel – a long-sleeved dark gray shirt with matching knee-length pants, a wide belt resting on her hips, and a feminine style of ninja sandals that reached up to her mid-calf – was immaculate.
Good.
Time to make a first impression.
She approached the inverted figure at a clipped pace – hoping to articulate that she was an all-business kunoichi. The figure gave no indication that it had detected her despite the fact that she had been deliberately noisy. She had not wanted to startle this person, but he or she had made no effort to acknowledge her even as she stopped walking not ten feet away.
From this distance she could see that the mystery figure was not simply standing on its hands but was actually pushing its whole body up and down on the tips of its fingers.
Now that was an unusual exercise.
The figure had still not acknowledged her presence, so she cleared her throat.
The ninja made no sound aside from a deep, muffled breathing as it slowly pushed up and down with its fingers. She wasn't sure if the muffling was caused by the forest green cape that fell down from the character's shoulders to the ground or if it was due to some other obstruction. The cape was blocking all view of the person's head.
Maybe a more direct approach…
"Hello." She waited for a few moments, her face drawing down into a tight frown all the while. She was about to do something she would later regret – like kick the mute's arms out from under him – when a muffled response drifted up from where she believed the caped figure's head to be.
"Howdy."
It sounded like a guy, but she couldn't be sure thanks to the distortion coming from whatever was covering his mouth. Well, at least he talked. It was something.
"What are you doing, exactly?"
The response came much quicker this time, and despite the muffled sound to the voice, Kaoru thought it sounded as though the figure was inwardly laughing at her.
"Waiting."
It wasn't the response she had expected.
"Waiting?"
"Exactly."
Was he making fun of her? He must have been. This certainly was not the introduction she had meant to make, and her temper was slowly building. Still, she was a Commander's niece and a kunoichi of Ame. She wouldn't let such a little thing set her off.
"Who are you waiting for?"
The figure stopped his finger push-ups then and carefully regained his feet. He shook out his hands and flexed his fingers a number of times before turning to look at her.
The boy – for that is what he had to be – was slightly shorter than she was by about an inch. Either he was very young or just small for his age – though something about him made her think that he was anything but immature despite his playful banter.
The second thing she noticed was that even for an Ame ninja – who generally dressed more conservatively thanks to the sometimes harsh environments they had to operate in – he was positively covered. From his closed-toed boots to the long, black bandanna that obscured his head all the way down to his shoulder blades - where it wrapped tightly around what Kaoru could only imagine was a long mane of hair - he was completely covered. He wore standard dark gray pants and a long sleeved shirt like many Ame ninjas, but also carried a number of accessories that she rarely if ever saw on a genin – or any ninja for that matter. Like the chuunin and jounin in the village, this boy wore a dark cream flak jacket with a high collar that was popular amongst ranking ninjas. The cape that had obscured her view of him earlier now hung comfortably from his shoulders down to his mid-thighs. Strangest of all, however, were the massive, deep-water re-breather and thick faceplate that he wore framing his tanned visage.
Only his eyes were visible, and strange eyes they were. Highlighted by a dark yet natural outline, slit like a cat's, and colored the most striking shade of cerulean blue, they held an intensity that she had rarely seen before. They sized her up – whether as an opponent, an amusement, or a meal, she couldn't really be sure.
The outfit looked familiar, and it took her only a handful of moments before she realized that she was looking at a flesh and blood miniature of the statue that once lorded over the square – with the gloves, boots, and bandanna as additions.
She didn't know what to make of that.
Like many children of ninja clans who were secretly supportive of Pain's revolution, Kaoru had been raised within the walls of Amegakure by parents who outwardly supported Hanzou's rule. Though young, she had memories of the time when the Salamander was supreme in Ame and mere mention of his name was revered.
Though many ninjas still dressed in the classic style of Amegakure, she found it to be a bit strange that a ninja in these times would choose to mimic the overthrown dictator so closely.
"My team, of course."
Kaoru could only stare at him for a moment, a bit flustered by the obvious response. Honestly, whom else would he be waiting for?
"Er, right. So… so what were you doing just now, exercising?"
The boy cocked his head to the side and stared at her for a moment before responding.
"Was I that obvious?"
Kaoru felt herself blush in consternation. She was really screwing this up. Luckily, she probably wouldn't see too much of this kid anyways. As far as she knew the Ame teams were only traveling to and from Konoha together – the rest of the time would be spent in the tournament and team training.
If they got that far.
"What sort of exercise was it?"
The boy was either getting tired of amusing himself at her expense or was simply ready to cut her a break.
"It's to strengthen my fingers." Seeing her brows draw together in confusion, he continued. "So that I don't sprain or break them in combat."
Kaoru thought a moment before answering. "I've never heard of a ninja strengthening just their fingers before. What good would that do in a fight?"
The boy's eyes narrowed into what she could only interpret as a sly smile.
"Maybe most ninjas don't fight like I do."
She nodded in acceptance of that. Perhaps she should just let it be.
"So what team are you waiting on?"
The boy shifted slightly as his eyebrows furrowed in concentration and his right hand found its way to the side of his head, which he scratched through his bandanna.
"I forgot."
Kaoru blinked at that. How could you forget what team you were on, for goodness sake?
"How do you forget something like that? Who's on your team?"
"Ah, I'm supposed to meet them today."
Oh no. This runt was the third member of Team Thirteen? He certainly didn't look like the reliable type that she had been hoping for.
"You wouldn't be waiting on Team Thirteen, would you?"
The boy's eyes brightened for a moment before he snapped his gloved fingers. "That's it! You aren't one of my teammates, are you?"
Kaoru gave a forced smile. "I suppose I am. My name is Iwamoto Kaoru. It's a pleasure to meet you."
The boy ignored her formal bow and stepped forward to grasp her hand, shaking it enthusiastically. "Nice to meet ya. I'm Yellow."
Naruto grinned behind his re-breather as the flustered girl before him tried to regain control of her flailing arm. All in all, he thought he'd done an excellent job of thoroughly confusing her, and it was fun too!
Regaining control of her arm, Kaoru once again went on the attack, though a bit more feebly than she had originally. Like her uncle, Naruto found the girl to be a bit pretentious, but his playful rapport had certainly put her off her normal game.
"That's your real name?"
This was just too much. "Of course not. I made it up just now."
She stared at him for a moment before her eyes narrowed in anger. Maybe he had pushed a bit too far? "So what's your real name?"
Naruto leaned in close to her conspiratorially. "It's a secret."
She looked as though she were about to erupt. He'd have to back off a bit. There was no need to enrage a teammate right out of the gate.
"It's my code name for this mission, and that's all I can tell you."
He could tell that she was skeptical, but his answer had diffused her anger for the moment. Done with her interrogation for now, she turned away to wait silently while the rest of their party arrived. Naruto occupied himself with watching the sunrise over the skyline of Amegakure.
It would be the last time he saw it for a long, long time.
It was not long before the two were joined in the center of the square by other genin. They wandered in one at a time or – in a few cases – in groups of three. Most minded their own business, but a few gave Naruto strange looks, which he studiously ignored. Let them wonder.
There were nearly a dozen genin assembled when the jounin instructors arrived. The nine high level ninjas appeared together in an instant – probably in an attempt to impress their charges. Naruto could never understand why they bothered.
Focusing on the group, Naruto found that he recognized the majority of them from his time serving with Pain's forces in the war. It was a small comfort to see the familiar faces after years of working alone and clinging to anonymity in Ame. A surprisingly large part of Naruto was glad to be out of the tower and interacting with other ninjas again.
It took only a matter of moments before the arriving jounin spotted him leaning against the granite cenotaph and calmly appraising them. The first few to see him narrowed their eyes in anger – most certainly due to his attire – before turning to their comrades and exchanging muted whispers. They were probably already in a bad mood due to not being allowed to wear their slashed through Ame headbands – a symbol of pride among Ame ninjas who actively fought against Hanzou's regime – on this mission. One of the ones that Naruto didn't recognize – he seemed rather young – was the first to call out.
"What the hell do you think you're wearing shrimp?"
Naruto didn't budge from his spot or give any indication that he was cognizant of the man's anger. He calmly noted that the other genin had turned their attention to him – watching as the young jounin stomped towards him in a huff. The other jounin followed behind, still exchanging heated whisperings between one another.
Maybe it was time to say something?
"I can hardly be blamed for not having had my growth spurt yet, now can I?"
Naruto made sure that his voice was light. He had to keep up appearances – mostly for benefit of the other genin who couldn't be trusted to keep their mouths shut. The jounins continued to approach – the curiosity and anger evident amongst many of them – while the original speaker's face began to redden in fury.
"I asked why you were wearing that, genin!"
Naruto's slit eyes found their way to meet a jounin named Yoichi's and gave him a meaningful look. The two had run missions and played cards together a great number of times back during the war.
"Because I was ordered to."
Yoichi's eyes widened in recognition and he nudged the man beside him with an elbow, though his companion was also staring intently at Naruto's eyes. Sharing a quick look they leapt forward and grabbed the young, incensed jounin beneath the armpits and dragged him back quickly. The rest of the group exchanged curious glances, though some of the older ones seemed to be catching on.
"We need to have a quick discussion." And with that, Yoichi led the other jounin off to talk.
The ninjas under Pain's command were not stupid. There was no way they had missed the inclusion of an eight-year-old boy into their ranks all those years ago in a time when literally no child fought in Pain's army. They had not missed the fact that – outside of missions – the boy seemed to disappear almost as often and as completely as Lord Pain or Angel themselves.
Those who remembered Tiger – for they never learned his name – knew him for his strange, cat-like eyes. They also knew him for the fact that he was almost certainly Lord Pain's own apprentice. Before his ninth birthday - it was said - the boy had already lead missions and survived an encounter with Hanzou himself.
And then the strange boy had disappeared just as surely as Lord Pain himself had. Once Hanzou was buried and Amegakure rebuilt, there was no hint at the fate of the child the ninjas had once called friend, comrade, and Captain.
But there were always whisperings.
Whisperings of a Demon, who just as surely as Angel would provide guidance to Pain's faithful, would tear his enemies down and leave nothing but ashes in his wake.
They were only rumors, of course – and those who remembered Tiger would never equate the quiet, clever boy they knew with the horrible monster that was depicted in the stories - but there was some truth to every rumor and Naruto knew that these men would connect the dots, and quickly.
The hushed whispers of the jounin carried across the otherwise silent square – though none could make out the exact conversation. More genin walked up as they continued and quietly fell in line with their teammates – subtly trying to find out just what was going on between the jounin and the strange new genin.
Finally, one of the younger jounin stepped forward to approach Naruto. This was his sensei - the head of Team Thirteen - and he seemed to be a bit out of sorts. The man was obviously horribly nervous – no doubt thanks to the stern talking to the more informed jounins had given their comrades.
Naruto sighed.
"Hello, sensei. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
The shorthaired brunette grabbed Naruto's outstretched hand weakly and allowed the boy to provide all of the enthusiasm for the shake. No doubt the young man was a bit overcome by anxiety thanks to the briefing he had received from one of the commanders - who had surely informed him just how high this team assignment had come down from.
"The pleasure is mine, sir." The man spoke weakly and appeared to be sweating rather profusely. The other jounin winced at the deference the man showed the boy before him. There was something to be said for discretion – especially amongst ninjas.
Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in mock disgruntlement. "No need to patronize me, sensei."
The poor man brightened a further shade of red as he realized his mistake, but was saved from stuttering out a damning apology by one of the gathered genin.
"Good morning, sensei. Is this our new team member?"
The speaker was a boy of Naruto's age who had just arrived. Naruto inwardly scowled at the black-haired boy. He was easily four inches taller than the blond. Though his height usually didn't bother him, being thrust into a group of his peers – nearly all of which towered over him – was doing nothing for his self-image. His lack of height was one of his few sore spots.
"That's right." Kaoru had stepped forward to meet her old teammate. "This is Yellow, and he's going to the Exam with us."
The new boy raised an eyebrow at Naruto's fake name but amiably took the blond's offered hand and gave an enthusiastic shake.
"My name is Akira. Nice of you to finally join us, Yellow."
Naruto laughed lightly, though it sounded a bit strange through the oversized re-breather covering his mouth. "Yeah, sorry about that. I guess the paperwork concerning my transfer got lost or something. I only got the assignment yesterday." Which was true – at least the part about the team assignment.
Naruto looked around and quickly counted the heads of the genin surrounding him. They had mostly gone back to conversing amongst themselves after the small confrontation involving the jounin instructors. He nodded to himself when he found all twenty-six of his "peers" assembled.
"Looks like everyone's here. Time to head out?" The question carried to the group of jounin who were still muttering to one another – bunch of gossips that they were.
Pulled out of their musings, they regarded the assembled ninjas before a voice called out over the cacophony of many conversations.
"Listen up! We're heading out now so you'd better check your gear with your instructor and make sure you have everything prepared. I want us in Konoha by dinnertime tomorrow, so we'll be hauling ass on the way over. Stay close to your instructor and follow orders to the letter. Remember that we are guests in a foreign nation during this trip, so keep your actions within the rules and guidelines laid out for the Examination. If you fuck up I'm not going to be the one to pull you out of an ANBU interrogation cell. Now get to it!"
The Ame party had been met at the border of Rain Country and Fire Country that evening a little after nightfall by a group of Konoha jounin. From the conversations he overheard, Naruto found that they had been expected and that the Hokage had dispersed squads to escort every foreign party from the border to Konoha proper in order to prevent any dangerous encounters or misunderstandings.
The next morning, Naruto took the time racing through the treetops of Fire Country to examine his fellow examinees. There were two types of ninjas who found themselves in the Chuunin Exams – those who were up and coming prodigies who would reflect well on their village of origin and those who were likely to never advance in rank yet foolishly hoped to one day become a Chuunin regardless.
Most chuunin were not promoted in the public exams. There were not nearly enough promotions in the average Chuunin Exam to sustain even one of the larger villages - let alone the five villages that were participating in this exam. Genin were more often than not given commissions as chuunin thanks to skills exhibited or missions completed.
The genin sent to the international exams served an important purpose, however. The exams were – more than anything else – an exhibition of the best and brightest of various villages as well as a show of strength of arms. Because of this, there were two important factors to consider when picking which and how many genin to send to the exam.
First, powerful genin with bright prospects are sent to showcase the quality of the ninjas of a village. Often these genin are held back an exam or two so that when they do fight, they appear to be far stronger than their greener opponents. The other reason to hold them back, of course, is to ensure that such valuable young ninja are not inadvertently sent to their deaths before they are truly ready to face the rigors of unsupervised combat. Simple talent cannot always protect a ninja in every circumstance, and the Chuunin Exams represent a very real scenario in which a genin is put in life or death situations without the assistance of a more capable jounin instructor.
Second, each village is expected to send a respectable number of candidates to each exam. This provides an indication to both rivals and clients that the village is strong enough to forego the presence of a decent number of both genin and jounin and still function properly. In reality, sending so many participants – most of which never have a hope of passing the Exam – is a wasteful allocation of ninja resources that nonetheless sends an important message to others about the strength and readiness of each village. The ranks of these extra ninjas were often filled with older genin who would likely never achieve the rank of chuunin, yet still hoped to one day be promoted. Despite their relative lack of skill, these perpetual genin were often the most dangerous to their younger counterparts – embittered as they were due to their own experiences and failings. A vast majority of fatalities occurring in the exams were due to these candidates preying on their younger, greener, yet more inherently talented opponents.
As Naruto observed his fellows, he could easily make out the difference between the up-and-comers and the pipe-dreamers. His teammates – Akira and Kaoru – were certainly in the first group. Both were young and exhibited the qualities of a natural shinobi – which was no surprise in Kaoru's case given who her uncle was. Another team of young teens - who all wore a smaller, shallow-water version of his re-breather - seemed to have a good team dynamic. Their stamina appeared to be less than extraordinary, however, given their constant huffing and puffing. Most likely they would end up a successful team – if not this year then in years to come.
On the other hand, a group of older teens – some nearly as old as the younger jounins – were an excellent example of Chuunin Exam throwaways. Decked out in woven straw hats and odd wooden umbrellas, these genin sported scars and cloth masks that likely covered up more scars. They were killers - though not particularly good ones - and Naruto distantly wondered if they'd make any trouble in the exam's later stages.
Not that he cared.
After the Exam he'd probably never see these people again.
The day passed in general silence aside from the occasional quiet conversation, the thumping of rubber on wood, and the rustling of the trees. As the sun was finally dipping below the tops of the trees late in the afternoon, Naruto caught his first glimpse of the massive wooden gates of Konohagakure.
And aside from a slight bit of anticipation for what he was going to do here, he felt nothing.
The escorting Konoha ninjas announced them at the gates - where the chuunin guards marked their arrival - before disappearing into the village. The Ame delegation was to wait here for a new group of jounin to meet them and escort them to the Hokage's tower where they would be properly registered for the exam. One by one, the Ame teams were led down the wide, main thoroughfare that led between the gate and the administrative tower.
Naruto's interest was slightly piqued at the sight of Team Thirteen's escort – a man who appeared in every Bingo Book in the shinobi nations – Hatake Kakashi. The laid back man led them on a leisurely stroll through the village towards the Hokage tower, all the while making small talk with the team's jounin sensei – though the poor man seemed just as flustered in the presence of the legendary jounin as he had been the day before when meeting Naruto.
The blond took this time to reacquaint himself with the layout of the village. It had been more than eight years since he had been within these walls, though he was quick to realize that not much had changed from what he remembered from his childhood. Maybe he'd swing by the ramen stand and see if it was still open after all this time. Now that he actually had money to pay for his meals the least he could do was offer the old man his patronage.
His gaze wandered farther ahead to the rocky monument carved into the cliffs overlooking the village. He had often looked on it as a child - admiring the stern faces of the Hokages and imagining how wonderful they had been in life. Now he looked on in a new light at men who sacrificed more than any others for the sake of their village – performing unspeakable acts to ensure its peace and prosperity.
They were heroes, yes, but they were ninjas too.
And there was the stern gaze of his father as well. Did he hold that expression often in life?
Lost in his thoughts, Naruto barely registered the masked Konoha ninja slide up beside him and idly strike up a conversation.
"You have interesting eyes."
Barely sparing the man a glance, Naruto answered. "So do you."
Oops.
Naruto schooled his face quickly. He hadn't meant to say that. Though Kakashi's Sharingan eye was well documented, it was a bit odd that a genin would be able to recall that type of information off the top of his head – especially when it concerned a ninja from a foreign village.
Kakashi just closed his eye in what Naruto supposed was an exaggerated smile. Quietly the boy mused that the white haired man must have practiced long and hard to be able to convey such emotion with just an eye.
"Fair enough." The man turned to look at the Hokage Monument that Naruto had been carefully scrutinizing. "I noticed you looking at the Monument. It's something, isn't it?"
Naruto nodded slowly. "Not much like it in Rain Country." He paused for a moment, thinking quickly to himself. What could it hurt? "I was just wondering if the Fourth Hokage always looked so stern. After all I've heard of him, that isn't the picture I was expecting."
Kakashi hummed to himself quietly, appearing to debate whether or not to answer the unasked question. "Well, sensei was certainly serious when the circumstances called for it, but I wouldn't call him a serious man. To tell you the truth, he smiled more often than not. He was a good man and a good friend."
Naruto nodded, thankful for the man's candidness. "I see."
They were at the tower now. Naruto followed Kakashi and his team into a large administrative room where dozens of teams from various nations were signing in and receiving their housing assignments and testing instructions.
Naruto hoped it wouldn't be too long before he could eat and call it a night.
Sarutobi looked down at the throng below him from a second floor balcony. He was never sure why all of the competitors made a point of showing up late on the day before the start of the exam and at the same time, but it made for a veritable madhouse both for the genin squads and the administrative staff.
He ignored the soft patter of feet and the dull clunking that announced a rather unwelcome presence beside him for the chaos occurring below.
"I still don't understand why you've allowed the Village Hidden in Sound to compete in this exam, Hiruzen. What good could possibly come from inviting Orochimaru and his men here?"
Sarutobi sighed and reluctantly turned to face the grizzled visage of Danzou, who joined him in looking over the arriving examinees.
"As I've explained to you many times, Danzou, it is in our best interests to expose him here and now, while our forces are capable of dealing with any schemes he may be concocting."
"And I still fail to see how inviting the fox into the chicken coop is a viable strategy. Don't you think that Ame's entrance in this examination is a bit too coincidental? After eight years of not participating they choose this time to send a delegation?"
"A simple coincidence, Danzou." Sarutobi turned to give the bandaged man a meaningful look. "Unless you believe that Hanzou would willingly consort with Orochimaru?"
"Anything is possible, Hiruzen, and until you accept that we remain vulnerable. Hanzou could easily choose this time to neutralize us once and for all. Don't expect me to believe that you could survive another battle with that man. Unless you've forgotten, he is still younger than we are. I wonder if you could even defeat Orochimaru any longer."
Sarutobi winced slightly. "It is true that I must find another successor soon, but I hope to at least be able to weather this storm."
"Regardless, this exam should be interesting, so long as it lasts. Sai has informed me that Uchiha Sasuke is progressing quickly and that he should put on quite the showing."
The old Hokage frowned. "Might I remind you that Sai is no longer your subordinate, Danzou. I allowed him to be placed on Team Seven with Sasuke at the insistence of the council. Not so that you could spy on the boy. Both Sai and Sasuke would do well to open up to others more. It would certainly be a step towards reversing the damage…"
"I don't need another lecture, Hiruzen. You've already taken away my ANBU."
"And I'd do more were it not for the council. Shinobi are not tools for you to shape as you will. That behavior is unacceptable."
Danzou grunted.
Sarutobi's gaze once again wandered out to the main doors, where more and more young ninjas were being led into the registration center. There stood the future of the other nations, but Sarutobi could not see that future for his own home. The younger generation in Konoha was far removed from the true meaning of war and strife, and still only Kakashi showed any potential to take up the reigns as his successor with Tsunade and Jiraiya absent. The council – no, the whole village – had high hopes for young Sasuke, but his obsession with hunting down poor Itachi and gaining more power were not the makings of a successful Hokage.
Sarutobi had foolishly put his hopes in another – so long ago – but he had let that opportunity slip through his fingers thanks to his own naivety. He would do so many things differently if given the chance, but now that was impossible and his opportunity was almost surely lost.
The doors swung open and closed. Open and closed.
"You're thinking about Uzumaki again."
"He's still out there, Danzou, hiding somewhere."
"Even if that's true…"
"It's true, Jiraiya has assured me that his information is correct. Naruto contacted the Raikage's brother…"
"Five years ago! And that's only if you believe the veracity of those reports. There's not even any evidence to suggest that it actually was Naruto - only that he reportedly claimed that that was his name."
"Jiraiya's information came from the Raikage's office. He assured me that Killer Bee confirmed that the boy fit Naruto's profile and showed markings characteristic of a jinchuuriki."
"And what's your point, Hiruzen? Nothing's been heard from him since then. The boy is probably dead by now."
Sarutobi shook his head slowly. "If he was good enough to escape from Killer Bee at eight then someone has been giving him training. That same someone has been hiding him all this time. The only question is who and for what purpose. He is thirteen – he should be strong enough by now to operate openly. Sooner or later we'll be seeing Naruto again, but under who's banner, I can't be sure."
Danzou scoffed. "Then our worst fears will come to be realized. An enemy with the son of a Hokage as his weapon! Face it, Hiruzen, even if the boy surfaces we'll almost certainly be best served by killing him."
Sarutobi didn't respond. His gaze was drawn to the opening door once again as Kakashi strode in beside a short figure wearing an outfit that he never expect to see at an exam like this one.
It was the armor of Hanzou – worn only by the man himself and his personal guards.
The short figure slowly scanned the room, sparing only a moment for the two old men on the balcony. Sarutobi was too far away to make out the young teen's face.
Danzou's voice carried to him in low tones over the din below.
"Now that is interesting."
Naruto left the dorm room that he shared with Akira early the next morning and headed leisurely to the river that ran alongside the city for his daily swim. His Ame-tailored gear was designed to work both in and out of water at maximum efficiency, so he had no reason to remove any of his coverings.
The evening had been uneventful aside from when he elicited a startled yelp from Akira when he removed his re-breather and flashed the taller boy his fangs. Good times.
The sun was well into the late morning sky when he finished his routine. The first stage of the exam did not begin until later that afternoon, so Naruto decided to use this time to get a better look at the village.
For the most part the day went by uneventfully, but Naruto did learn one important piece of information.
The Ichiraku Ramen stand was still open.
"We've been waiting here for over an hour, Yellow! Everyone else is already inside!"
Kaoru was irate, while Akira just looked bored. Their sensei seemed torn between wanting to admonish Naruto and placate Kaoru. The man seemed a bit useless as a sensei, though that spoke nothing of his skills as a shinobi.
"What's the rush? The test doesn't start until four and it's only…" Naruto glanced over his shoulder at the position of the sun still hanging over the tops of the buildings "…well, it's not even three yet."
Kaoru narrowed her eyes and practically hissed at him. "We were going to go in early!"
Naruto looked affronted at the enraged kunoichi. "Alright, alright, enough yelling. If we were going in early then why didn't anyone let me know?"
Akira spoke up this time. "Maybe because you were gone before anyone woke up?"
Naruto shifted his gaze to the brunette. "Well I can hardly be blamed for that. Anyways, what are we standing around out here for? Let's get in there and scope out the competition!"
Kaoru sighed and turned to follow the covered boy in through the doors of the Konoha Ninja Academy, Akira trailing just behind her.
"Good luck!" It looked like their sensei had finally decided on something to say.
They reached the second floor without any trouble – and promptly ran into a press of examinees. It appeared that they were trying to get through a door at the end of the corridor labeled as the proper examination room, but were being blocked by a pair of young teens in Konoha headbands. Naruto pressed forward a bit to overhear the conversation between the two and what looked like another squad of Konoha genin who were being beaten away from the door.
Kaoru's voice drifted to Naruto's ears in a bare whisper. "This is the second floor. Why is the door labeled in the three hundreds? Weren't the ones on the first floor one hundred?"
Akira responded quickly. "Yep. Either they have an odd numbering system going on here or that's a genjutsu – probably part of the test."
Kaoru brought her hands together in a simple ram seal. "So those two are probably chuunin proctors."
Naruto grabbed her hands before turning around. "Don't do that, this is hilarious. Plus, we have no reason to help out all these other chumps. They're competition, right?"
Kaoru nodded and lowered her hands to her sides, settling in to watch the frustrated genin try to get by.
It quickly occurred to Naruto that the team that was trying so hard to get by unsuccessfully was faking it. If he wasn't mistaken, the one calmly watching his teammates get smacked around was a Hyuuga. He'd never met one before, but from what he'd heard there was no way a basic illusion like this would stump a member of that clan.
As more chuunin hopefuls spilled in behind them Naruto was bumped roughly by a slightly larger boy who was trying to make his way forward. Immediately Naruto's eyes fell onto the red and white symbol on the back the boy's navy blue T-shirt.
Uchiha Sasuke. Well, that hadn't been too hard.
The Uchiha was followed closely by a pink haired kunoichi and a pale, dark haired boy who seemed bored with the whole affair. His team, no doubt.
Sasuke strode forward towards the door, undeterred by the swarm of ninjas in his way, and stopped before the two disguised chuunin. Naruto followed the pale boy closely - his team right behind him - in order to get a better view for what promised to be a rather amusing encounter.
"I'm sure you must have noticed it first, Sakura." He said it with a superior smirk, one that made Naruto want to laugh at him. Congratulations, Uchiha, you found the fake door.
The pink haired girl answered, apparently very pleased with herself. "We're only on the second floor."
Naruto blinked. The pale boy still looked bored.
"Genius." The low voice of Akira expressed the thoughts of many.
"Take down this genjutsu and let us through."
"Holy shit! This is a genjutsu?" Naruto would have his fun with this. He stepped forward and slapped the Uchiha on the back, hard. "Thanks a bunch, buddy. I don't know what we would have done without your help there." As he spoke he indicated his two teammates with his hand.
Kaoru rolled her eyes.
"Idiot." The Hyuuga did not look happy with Sasuke. "I don't even have to ask. You must be a rookie."
The Uchiha turned with an angry expression on his face. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"
The Hyuuga's eerie eyes narrowed as his two teammates rose from the floor of the hallway, completely unharmed. "It means that you're too dense to understand a simple concept like subtlety. How many of these genin do you think would never have gotten past this door if you had managed to keep your idiot mouth shut?"
"Don't call Sasuke an idiot!"
The Hyuuga spared the girl – Sakura – a bare glance before returning his eyes to the Uchiha.
Sasuke looked a bit miffed for a moment before regaining his composure. He probably just realized just how bone-headed that move had been. "Hmph. If you need to rely on petty mind games to pass this exam, then I doubt you're worth my time."
The Hyuuga's schooled face revealed a bare hint of anger at the slight. "What's your name?"
"I don't have to answer to you."
The Uchiha turned his back and moved down the hallway – the chuunin guards long gone and his teammates following close behind. Naruto raised an eyebrow as one of the Hyuuga's teammates – a boy with a bowl cut and a hideous green spandex body suit – followed after the trio. Maybe he'd get to see something interesting?
"I'm going to be a few minutes, you two can go on ahead."
Kaoru frowned. "I don't think that's a good idea."
Naruto nodded. "Okay." Then he started walking off after the green clad boy.
Kaoru's annoyed voice followed after him. "Just don't get us disqualified!"
Naruto caught up to the four genin in a large chamber – most likely used for sparring. He stood on a second story balcony overlooking the tiled floor below him. As he had hoped, the oddly dressed boy had challenged Sasuke to a spar.
Time to see what the youngest Uchiha could do.
Before the match could begin, Naruto turned around to find a small girl approaching him from the way he had just come. He was a bit relieved to finally meet someone shorter than he was. She gave him a small nod before moving to stand beside him at the railing.
"Hello there."
The girl turned to him shyly, keeping her head low and appearing to want to disappear into herself. Naruto wasn't sure what to make of it.
"Hello." Her voice was annoyingly quiet. The girl seemed to have no backbone whatsoever.
"I hope you don't mind my asking, but are you a Hyuuga?"
The girl nodded. "Yes."
"Ah." Naruto turned back around to watch the fight below, which was just now beginning. "Who are you here to see?"
The girl looked at him for a moment before turning back to the floor. "Rock Lee, the boy in green."
"Is that right? He looks to be holding his own."
In fact Rock Lee was doing more than holding his own. Using a rigid form of taijutsu that Naruto hadn't quite seen the likes of before, Lee was tearing the Uchiha apart. The speed difference between the two fighters was just too great. Naruto let out a bit of a chuckle at the boy's assessment of the Sharingan. Sometimes the truth hurt.
From his rigid, pre-programmed strikes and somewhat strained movements Naruto could tell that Lee was wearing a good deal of weight. Apparently the boy wasn't the type to really rub it in the Uchiha's face. He was certainly much stronger than he let on.
The girl beside him gave a small smile when Lee ended the fight with an unorthodox kick that launched the beaten Uchiha high into the air. "Well done, Lee."
Naruto nodded. "He's very good with his taijutsu."
"Nobody works harder than Lee to get stronger. He has the strongest spirit of anyone I know." Apparently her champion's win had emboldened her a bit.
"That's certainly commendable." Naruto watched as a turtle appeared in the middle of the room and began to berate Lee for attempting to use an apparently forbidden technique. That was something to keep in mind. "I think it's time for us to get to the examination room now, the fight's over." He stopped to think for a moment before continuing. "I didn't catch your name."
The girl looked a bit surprised by the veiled question, but quickly recovered. "I'm Hyuuga Hinata."
Naruto stuck out his hand to the small girl. "My name's Yellow. Pleased to meet ya."
Hinata smiled sheepishly before gently taking the offered hand. The two of them walked down the stairs and skirted the edge of the room while what must have been Lee's jounin sensei berated the boy and had words with Team Uchiha. Finally approaching the examination room, Naruto was surprised to find Hatake Kakashi waiting outside reading a small orange book. It took him a minute to realize that the man must have been waiting for his own squad.
"Is the Uchiha yours, Hatake?"
Looking up from his reading, Kakashi took a moment to recognize the strange face that greeted him.
"Ah, hello again. That's right, did something happen?"
"Not really. Your team should be on their way in a moment. The Uchiha had a sparring match with a taijutsu specialist and they're talking with the kid's instructor now."
Kakashi sighed and brought the heel of his hand to his temple – supposedly to fend off a headache. "Did Sasuke at least win?"
"No, got his ass handed to him pretty badly. The green kid was damn good though."
This was obviously not the response that Kakashi had been hoping for. He sighed again. "Alright, thanks for the update."
"Yep."
With that the two teens walked through the door, leaving the jounin to his thoughts and his small, orange book.
The examination room for the first round of the Chuunin Exams was enormous. There were already well over a hundred genin packed into the room. They sat together in small groups with other ninjas from their respective villages. Naruto scanned the room quickly and picked the faces he was looking for out of the crowd – which was relatively simple given that his entrance had drawn the attention of nearly every person in the room.
Kaoru and Akira sat off to one side with the rest of the Ame delegation. He spared them a small wave, which was returned by Akira. Kaoru seemed to exhale a deep breath that she had been holding. Naruto wasn't sure what he had done to give her the impression that he was completely unreliable, but her reactions to him were getting a bit annoying.
Rock Lee's team sat nearby at the end of one of the examination tables, eagerly looking up when he entered before turning away in disinterest at the sight of him. Apparently Kaoru wasn't the only one worried about wayward teammates.
Finally his sharp eyes came to rest on the form of his final target. He grinned as the turquoise eyes met his own and narrowed in concentration before widening in – what was that? Oh yes – fear.
Naruto didn't consider himself a particularly cruel person, but he savored this. Apparently his lesson had sunk in all those years ago.
Gaara of the Desert still remembered him.
His attention was drawn away from the Sand jinchuuriki as two boys approached him – one wearing an oversized jacket with fur lining and a small dog resting against his chest and the other - a tall boy wearing a high-collared jacket and sunglasses. On second glance, it looked like they were approaching Hinata – who still stood beside him. This was her team no doubt.
"Hey Hinata! Who's the robot?" The dog boy, Naruto found, was nearly as loud as he himself was on occasion.
The quiet girl looked to Naruto before speaking. "This is Yellow, from Ame."
The boy looked between Hinata and Naruto in confusion before finally resting on the blond. "Your name is Yellow?"
Naruto cocked his head to the side and met the boy's eyes with his own. "It is today."
The dog boy nodded slowly. "Alright Yellow, my name's Inuzuka Kiba and this guy here is Aburame Shino."
Naruto nodded at one after the other. "Pleasure."
"You have some wicked eyes there, dude."
Naruto let loose a wide grin then, though it was hidden behind the massive re-breather. "Killer."
Their conversation was halted as the doors opened behind them and Kakashi's team stalked in with Sasuke in the lead. Sakura was apparently trying to raise his spirits after the humiliating defeat he suffered while the pale boy continued to look disinterested in the whole affair.
Naruto looked on in amusement as the Uchiha was accosted by a blond kunoichi who sported a long ponytail. Sasuke looked to be beyond annoyed by the squealing girl around his neck. Apparently Sakura didn't appreciate it much either, as she and the blonde began a loud argument while Kiba and Shino wandered over to the now liberated Sasuke. Two other boys joined them there – a dark haired boy with his hair pulled back into a short, high ponytail and a portly boy with strange markings on his cheeks and a bag of some sort of snack food in his hand.
Not wanting to waste an opportunity, Naruto followed the boys over to get the dirt on these Konoha ninja. To be honest, he was enjoying interacting with people his own age – even if he had to invite himself into their company. He quickly picked up that the pony-tailed boy was Shikamaru and the pudgy one was Chouji.
It only took a moment for Kiba to realize he was standing with the group and introduce him to the rest, though Sasuke seemed reluctant to chat with "the enemy."
"How's your jaw, Uchiha?"
Sasuke scowled at him but didn't answer. Apparently the kid had a fragile ego to boot.
"What's he talking about, Sasuke?" Kiba, at least, was willing to explore the topic.
Naruto pointed over to where Rock Lee was sitting with his team – having slipped by the group in the confusion. "The kid in green over there – Rock Lee I think his name was – beat the tar out of the Uchiha here a few minutes ago."
Kiba looked shocked for a moment, while Shikamaru quickly sized up Lee. Despite his lazy attitude, Naruto got the feeling that the boy picked up on more than he let on.
"Haha, just goes to show that even a genius can have his moments like the rest of us!" Kiba was really laying into Sasuke. Naruto wondered if maybe there was some bitterness there despite the dog boy's outgoing and friendly nature.
"You shouldn't be so loud you know. You don't want to be drawing attention to yourselves in a place like this."
The group turned as one to see an older Konoha ninja sporting round glasses and a silver ponytail walk up to them.
Sparing a glance at Naruto, the newcomer continued. "And I'm not sure what you all are thinking consorting with the enemy like this, but I would strongly suggest that you don't."
Naruto gave a dry chuckle through his re-breather. "How about this? I promise I won't kill any of you in these exams. Good enough?"
Kiba gave a barking laugh but cut it short when he found that he was alone in his amusement.
The silver haired genin introduced himself as Yakushi Kabuto and produced an odd deck of cards after telling his tale of six failed exams. It was a believable story in Naruto's mind, aside from existence of the veritable treasure trove of information he had in his pocket.
"Maybe you should train a bit more instead to taking so much time collecting data, eh? You might actually pass one of these times."
Kabuto only pushed his glasses up his nose. "I'd rather be well informed enough to survive these exams than risk dying. The Chuunin Exam isn't a game, you know."
Naruto almost snorted in mirth. Almost.
Sasuke asked for data on both Rock Lee and – to Naruto's surprise – Gaara of the Desert. Apparently they had had a run-in earlier the previous day. It was no surprise to Naruto that Rock Lee was an accomplished taijutsu expert – though his other skills were absolutely abysmal. Gaara had apparently completed a number of B-ranked missions and held the distinction of never being injured – not once.
Naruto actually did snort at that, but ignored the strange looks he received.
Kiba even asked for information on Naruto, but Kabuto claimed that because Ame hadn't participated for a number of years that no data was available.
Lucky for him.
And for Kabuto.
The older genin made a mistake, however, when he managed to insult the newly founded Village Hidden in the Sound and was accosted by a group of ninjas from the village. It was no real surprise that the leader of the Sound ninjas used a device to manipulate the sound waves traveling through Kabuto's ear to damage him internally.
It was an interesting attack in Naruto's opinion – though not much more than a simple parlor trick in the grand scheme of things.
Naruto rolled his eyes at the idiocy of it all. Did they honestly believe that the proctors would leave a room full of nearly two hundred apprentice ninjas from different villages unsupervised?
He had barely finished his thought when nearly twenty ninjas appeared in the room and gave the Sound group a dressing down.
Finally the exam was ready to begin.
And it was a paper test.
Naruto scowled at the absurdity of the questions lain before him.
Math problems? Ciphers? This rubbish didn't have anything to do with being a chuunin and frankly wasn't even taught in most academies beyond the very basics. Naruto supposed that he could do some of them if he put his mind to it, but he had finished his formal education in a cave more than five years ago.
The setup of the test eventually gave away its purpose. It was a question of cheating, but even then there was more to it. A good cheater, no matter how poor he was at being a ninja, wouldn't need more than one try to get all of the answers for the test. The way the rules were worded, Naruto wouldn't have been surprised if he were only docked two points for stealing the paper of the student beside him.
So the test weeded out the morons who couldn't remember nine answers. If you tried to cheat, it was a given that you'd be caught – especially considering that no matter how good a ninja you were it would be almost impossible to fool a room full of proctors hanging on your every action. The real trick here was to only have to cheat once – or at least less than five times.
The tenth question was the answer it seemed, so Naruto waited with a blank paper for forty-five minutes before the final question was asked. If worse came to worst, he could always cheat in the final fifteen minutes.
The final question gave the test away. Frankly Naruto was stunned when examinees started quitting based solely on the examiner's threat. Honestly, did they really think that their village leaders gave a damn what some Konoha jounin said? Pain sure as hell wouldn't. Hanzou wouldn't have, either.
What a bunch of morons.
It was times like this that Naruto thanked whatever higher power existed that he had been kidnapped all those years ago. God forbid he be another wet-behind-the-ears idiot like so many of these genin turned out to be.
He wasn't worried about his teammates. Given what he had gleaned of her personality, Kaoru had probably threatened Akira before the exam in case something like this came up.
When all of the wimps had folded, the head proctor announced that they had all passed.
Now, as the sun began to lick the tops of the trees in the late afternoon, Naruto found himself standing outside of what the second proctor had lovingly referred to as the Forest of Death.
At least he wouldn't be stuck sitting at a desk for this next exam.
Turning to glance at his two teammates, Naruto steeled himself for what was to come.
No one ever said that being a ninja was pretty.
His real mission started now.
A/N: Well, there's your first chapter of arc two. Is it pretty darn close to canon? Yep, but that's sort of the point, for now. Not a lot of action, I know, but I had to push through these first few scenes. Next chapter will take us through the second exam and possibly start the preliminaries (can't have a Chuunin arc without those gems).
About Sai: Yes I know it's cliché, but I had the option of creating an original character to follow Sasuke and Sakura around who got no lines or I could use an already existing character. It wasn't a hard choice for me.
About Hinata: In my mind I could either completely re-write her character as a total loser – having had no one to inspire her – or have her miraculously grow a spine. Instead I chose what made sense to me. Lacking a role model in her own class she looked a bit further and found Lee – who exhibits many of the same qualities that canon Naruto does.
About Hanzou's age: Some people may have been wondering about this considering that the manga shows him to be middle-aged when he encounters the Sannin. In my story - and I think this can be supported by canon since Jiraiya still believes him to be insanely powerful when he learns of Pain defeating him - Hanzou is three years younger than Sarutobi. That means that he was sixty-one when Pain killed him. Suffice it to say that Hanzou was very young when he gained the Salamander Contract and began his rise to power (mid teens).
I realize with this arc that many of my loyal readers will either be drawn into the story or put off by the horrible contrast between the somewhat original Rain arc and the twisted rehash of canon that this arc promises to be, but writing this arc was always my intention and to me, it just makes sense.
Next Chapter: Money For Nothing by Dire Straights.