Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Flame of Recca. They belong to their respective creators and TV networks.
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Chapter 5: Onwards to the Exams!
Naruto walked around the village nonchalantly. He and Hinata had been officially going out for a week now but they're taking their time and not rushing anything. He had straightened things out with his friends and told them about whom his parents where but didn't mention him being a descendant of the Hokage ninjas. He had told them about Kyuubi, they were shocked but he was assured they don't see him any different.
'They accepted Gaara so why wouldn't they accept him?' he happily reminisced
He had a great week despite the run-ins with the fan girls and the cold, hateful glares from some villagers. He just ignored them. He doesn't care anymore as he already has his friends plus they'll acknowledge him sooner as he excitedly waited for the start of the chuunin exam, which is today. But first, he got to get some breakfast.
He approached Ichiraku restaurant and was greeted by a surprising sight. Gaara and Temari were already there. Gaara was having a nice conversation with Ayame, who blushed when Gaara whispered something to her. Temari was with Shikamaru or rather it appears she forced him to be with her as Naruto heard a 'troublesome woman' grumble.
'I never would've imagine Gaara would ever pursue Ayame-chan' he thought. 'Poor Shikamaru, Temari-chan is quite a handful not to mention brutally frank.'
FlashbackThat night He was preparing to fetch Hinata for their date. "Gaara, Temari-chan, You guys have any plans for tonight?"
"I'm just going to get dinner at Ichiraku." Gaara simply replied, trying to act indifferently.
"Ne, Gaara-kun, so you're set on seeing Ayame-chan this soon, huh? Can't wait to have her all by yourself?" Temari teased as Gaara turned away blushing. "No need to worry about us Naruto-kun. As for me, cry baby Shika-kun has kindly volunteered to show me the nightlife in this village."
"You mean you threatened his lazy ass and gave absolutely no choice but take you." Naruto retorted as he and Gaara snickered. Temari smacked them on their heads with her halisen then stomped off.
End Flashback'Yep, it has been a great week.' He thought. "Ohayo, Gaara, Ayame-chan, Temari-chan, Shikamaru. I was wondering where the two of you went. You left the house early."
"Actually, You just slept in a bit longer than usual so we didn't bother you. Plus, I promised Ayame-chan I'll have breakfast with her before the exam." Gaara replied.
"Ooooh, it's Ayame-chan now is it? Making sure she's well guarded and not taken from you, eh, Gaara?" Naruto teased. Gaara just smirked and Ayame reddened more.
"Speak for yourself Naruto-kun." Temari countered. "Anyway, let's eat we have an hour until the exam starts. Crybaby Shika-kun here won't give me any clues; he's such a stubborn examiner. I guess he doesn't want the incentives I plan on giving him." She implied seductively. Gaara and Naruto laughed out loud as the lazy bum uncharacteristically went a deep shade of red, clamping a hand on his nose as a small trickle of blood escaped.
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"What's taking him so long, he's going to be late." Hinata looked down the road worriedly.
They are currently at the academy grounds waiting for the school to open and the exam to begin. It was starting to get full of genins from different villages and most from Konoha. Ino and Sakura are by the swing bickering as usual, Choji was sitting under the tree munching on his chips, Kiba and Akamaru are perched on a tree branch. Shikamaru was with them but refused to give any clues about the exam. He lied and said he'll be a referee thus he didn't know much. Sasuke just arrived and heard her comment.
"Don't fret Hinata, the dobe will be here shortly." Sasuke then went to greet the others, standing beside Sakura. Soon enough Naruto and the sand sibs arrived. Hinata brightened up and run towards him.
Hinata and Naruto hugged which caused a stir from some of the fan girls also taking the exam. The ruckuss caught the attention of most participating nins who became curious at the group of nine. Some Iwa (stone) nins glared at Naruto as they saw a look alike of the Yondaime. Naruto kept an eye at them discreetly, giving a silent heads up to Gaara. The Iwa nins, however, didn't do anything yet.
"Well, if it isn't the dobe. So you have returned to the village. Got tired of running away?" an obnoxious and fat leaf genin approached. He looked at Hinata lewdly. "And what would a delectable girl like you would see in him anyway?" Naruto stepped in front of Hinata protectively.
"Back off, fat ass!" Kiba reacted then he leapt down with Akamaru. "Who do you think you are? You're just a pathetic weakling."
"Who you calling a weakling? I'm here to claim my place as the rightful rival of Sasuke!" The fat ass puffed his chest as if he owned the place. The nine fell silent then the girls bursted out laughing. The jerk fumed.
"Oh, my Naruto. This is a good prank. It's good to see you still had it in you." Sakura patted Naruto on the back.
"I have to agree with Sakura, dobe. Everyone knows you're the only one I consider a rival. And I'm the only one who can call him dobe." Sasuke said the last part to the fat dude while glaring.
"Nani? What do you mean by that Sasuke-bastard! Never mind. I haven't pulled any pranks guys, I've been really busy this week it haven't even occurred to me." Naruto responded while Hinata blushed with the implication.
"Oooh, we got to have some girl talk with you Hinata-chan!" Ino said while Tenten, Temari and Sakura agreed.
The jerk screamed. "How dare any of you ignore me!" The guys turned their attention back at him boredly.
"Why wouldn't we? It's just troublesome." Shikamaru added. "Who are you anyway or better yet who do you think you are?"
"I, am Bakadzura (Foolish/Stupid faced) Buta (pig)!" the fat guy tantrum which only drew blanks from him.
"Hmmm… I think he was in the same year in the academy with us." Naruto replied nonchalantly. "Hey, Choji, I think he was the fat kid that you beat up once when he thought he was an equal with the Akimichis."
"Eh? That's him? I see nothing has changed. He's a shame to all fat… er… healthily plump people. He wouldn't amount to even the weakest Akimichi in a million years." Choji replied boredly and just focused on his chips. The guys shrugged and ignored him once more.
"Listen up, Uzumaki Naruto. Better watch out this exam. I'll prove to everyone you're still a dead last and I'll beat you up good. Don't worry I'll take care of your pretty girlfriend while you recover. I'll make sure we have lots of fun." Buta looked at Hinata pervertedly.
"Wrong thing to say, baka." Sasuke barely finished saying when Buta was violently held up against the tree by Naruto. He was easily held by just one arm, his feet dangling from the ground.
Several murmurs erupted from the genins. "I haven't even seen him move." "Are you sure that guy is still a genin." "Wow, Naruto-kun is strong, I bet he, Sasuke-kun and Gaara-kun are the strongest shinobis here. We love you!"
"Don't. Even. Think. About. It!" Naruto silently but fiercely said while radiating killing intent directed only on Buta.
"Come on, Naruto-kun. Don't waste your time on him, please calm down." Hinata pulled him gently away from the terrified genin who stumbled quickly away."
The genins went back to their own business while the nine friends tossed the incident away as nothing even worth remembering.
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"Man, what's taking so long! It's already half past eight!" Naruto complained.
"Yo! Patience is a virtue, Naruto. I would like to think that you already learned that from me." Kakashi spoke behind them. The genins turned around and found several jounin instructors including Jiraiya and those from other villages.
"In your case, Kakashi-sensei, it's not just a virtue, it's like harsh prison sentence." Naruto retorted.
"Naruto-kun, please be more respectful!" Hinata berated. "Gomen, Kakashi-sensei."
"Gomen, Hinata-chan." Naruto sheepishly. "What's up Kakashi-sensei?"
"Everyone listen up! We're starting the chuunin exams. The first and second part of the exams are combined, there is no more a written part." Kakashi started to explain to everyone, ignoring Naruto jumping up in joy. "The first part of the exam will still test your data gathering skills, stealth, and other field skills. This will be like a search and rescue mission." This perked up all examinees.
"You will be assigned a random jounin instructor to make sure none of you get your official instructor. They will be kept in assigned locations and will be up to you to figure out how to get in, possible routes, guard duty, and such. Since there are about thirty teams, some 'hostages' may even be held in the same place though not necessarily together. Teams who are caught or with their rescues recaptured are out of the exams. Also, as added measure so that a reasonable number of teams are taken out, some 'hostages' will be 'brainwashed' and may act hostile towards his rescuers and betray them. Are there any questions?" None spoke.
"Good. A representative from each team please draw out a number from this box so that you will be assigned the area. You will begin two hours after we left and have three days to complete this mission." The leaf genins let the foreign teams go first.
"Well, this is different from the ones we took." Kiba yawned.
"At least we don't have to face Morino Ibiki again." Choji mumbled while munching.
"I wouldn't bet on it. This is after all a search and rescue type mission, most probably simulating scenarios involving POWs." Sasuke replied. "And since Morino Ibiki is a well known interrogator, I'm sure he's widely involved in this exam."
Sakura, Tenten, Ino and Hinata couldn't help but gulp. "Heh, don't be such a pessimist bastard. I'm sure we're all ready for this so let's show them!" Naruto shouted. Sasuke smirked. He, Naruto and Sakura went to draw the numbers for their teams.
After everything was finished the jounins disappeared in a puff. Every genin remained in the school grounds guarded by hidden Anbus. Two teams were disqualified when they tried to sneak off using bunshins.
"I guess they didn't understand that the exam already began when we finished drawing the numbers, we just need to be held here for two hours." Ino commented. Two more teams were taken out when they tried to send only one member of their team, thinking it would be less suspicious. Everyone that remained waited patiently after that. Soon they were let out.
"Good luck, Naruto-kun!" Hinata gave him a peck on the cheeks before she and her team rushed off.
"You, too, Hinata-hime!" Naruto shouted after her.
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"We got here in record time." Naruto commented as they stepped forward in front of the first gate into the Forest of Death.
"Hai, just enough time for me to look around first." Gaara replied. He nodded towards Naruto who was already using his heightened sense of smell and hearing to detect if anyone is near them. "Daisan no Me (Third eye) Kage Bunshin no jutsu." Gaara whispered then placed his hands on the ground. He manipulated the little sand already present inside the forest and he also made some by crushing earth and rocks. Around twenty little eyes the size of golf balls began to develop. They floated around inconspicuously giving them an idea of the immediate perimeter.
"I see Sasuke's team a few meters away, near the third gate from this one." Gaara reported.
"Yeah, I smelled Hinata's perfume also." Naruto replied, he blushed as the sand sibs looked at him intently. "Well let's get in and observe them first to know if they'll be in the way of our mission or what."
Naruto quickly jumped over the fence followed by Gaara and Temari. They took to the trees and hid as they saw Sasuke, Kiba, and Hinata.
"Come out Naruto-kun, Gaara-san, Temari-chan." Hinata said. "I already saw you with my Byakugan."
"How did you do that? I didn't even sense your chakra signature when you use your doujutsu." Naruto came out, grinning sheepishly.
"Your not the only one who learned to hide their chakra as low as possible, dobe." Sasuke taunted.
"Anyway, I don't think we had to spy on each other. We are after all assigned independent mission of sort." Temari piped in.
"Hai, so now what?" Kiba asked.
"I believe it would be beneficial if we form an alliance." Gaara began. "It's possible that our targets are kept in the same place, if not, near each other since we are both in the same area."
"There is another team but their chakra signatures are already moving deep into the forest but doesn't seem to be going near the tower." Naruto added.
"You're correct, it would appear that we are going for the same location since we chose the gates with the shortest possible routes toward the tower." Sasuke mused, they all nodded at this assumption. "Working together would also be better since we can defend each other against other teams who might use an ambush tactic to make sure weaker teams doesn't complete their mission."
"Alright, lets form a plan then." Hinata said. "I think we should establish a base of operation first, before anyone sense we are already here. Follow me, I already saw a good place."
They leapt up the trees in a spread out formation. They avoided detection easily. Between Hinata and Gaara's eyes and Kiba and Naruto's senses, they arrived at their destination without alerting anyone and avoiding patrolling jounins and chuunins and some genin lookouts. They entered a cave behind a small waterfall. The entrance is not obvious but was easily seen with Byakugan.
"I saw this cave during our first chuunin exam but wasn't able to mention it to Shino and Kiba. I think this will serve our purpose for now." Hinata smiled.
"Great work Hinata!" Kiba commented while Akamaru yipped. "It'll be safe to make a fire here. I can detect a faint smell coming from deep in the cave. I'm certain it's from a vent ending far way from here."
"Alright, this is excellent, Hinata-hime!" Naruto beamed at her. "Let's establish camp then. I think Sasuke and I should set up traps and hunt on the way back, Temari and Hinata would fetch firewood and catch some fish in case we aren't able to hunt enough."
"Kiba and I would scout ahead and take a peek towards the tower, I need his sense of smell as look out while I send in some of my sand eyes. Who are your targets and what was the location given to you?" Gaara asked the other team.
"We are surprisingly after your perverted sensei, Jiraiya." Sasuke responded. "He's supposed to be located on the top most floor of the tower."
"Ok, we are coincidentally after Kurenai-sensei and is supposed to be on the second floor. Let's move out." Gaara finished and everyone immediately dispersed.
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They regrouped at the cave at exactly noon listening to Gaara and Kiba's report. "There isn't that many shinobis guarding the place. Some of the guards are patrolling the perimeter but is dispersed and too few enough to give us a small window to quickly dash towards the tower. There are look out posts on the North, East, South, and West with three guards, I'm betting genins. The second floor and top floors are guarded with a group of four jounins stationed on a sealed room but they can also be decoys. The front entrance, lobby and basement is where most of the guards are. Only the roof top and the third floor are lightly guarded even left alone from time to time." Gaara paused.
"I used one of my eyes to read into the conversation on one of the posts. It seems the fixed time for switching guards is every six hours tonight at 6 pm, midnight, and so on. They said they will be using some summons at night for added security."
"Let's have a vote." Temari spoke first. "I believe midnight would be appropriate since most would be tired and sleepy since they switch duties too often and I don't think they can spare much personnel when there are other areas to guard plus we can use the cover of darkness and still have enough time to get our targets to the drop point."
"I agree," Naruto said while contemplating. "We can assume that the possible summons to be used are Kakashi-sensei's dogs and Ero-sennin's toads."
"I can help take care of those pests, kit, they are mere insects." Kyuubi rumbled.
"Ok, Kyuubi just said he can help with the dogs so we shouldn't worry with them. As for the toads it will be highly unlikely and Ero-sennin may use them as a last resort since I can also summon them plus most toads like me better than him." Naruto grinned foxily.
"As for other possible summons, they can either be slugs or birds from Tsunade-shisou." Hinata added. "She'll keep the slugs since they're her most powerful and mostly used summon while the birds could be look outs and messengers. Kurenai-sensei is a very good genjutsu user so it won't hurt to think she would be one of the 'brain-washed' hostages."
"Hai, and Ero-sennin may be drugged by Tsunade-babaa to cause further delay or just for the fun of it. It won't even surprise me if you find him drunk, bribed, and distracted by some women." Naruto said.
"Good assessment, I can use one of the Uchiha's genjutsus to disorient the birds. I agree with the plan since it'll be best that we conserve our energy than waste it attacking too early. It's ok with everyone then that we move at midnight?" Sasuke asked as everyone nodded.
"Alright, let's eat and rest for now. I'll keep first watch." Kiba volunteered and they proceed to wait until midnight.
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A/N: Whoa, it took a while. Hope everyone enjoys. Thanks to all who sent me the sites for the English-Japanese dictionary, it surely helped a lot. Sorry if anyone is offended with the name I used for the fat leaf genin. I'm trying to be funny but not making fun of the Japanese language.
To everyone, I'm sorry if I lump some of your names together. I can't express my gratitude for all reviews and criticism enough.
To Dan Inverse: Thanks for the review. I couldn't do without the dragons though; they are such a vital part of FOR that it just doesn't feel like this fic would be complete without them. I hope you still enjoy reading this and keep on reviewing.
To ShinobiFighter101, hecate-19, Goyana: Thanks for the reviews and help. Hope you enjoyed this new chapter.
To kijo kasumi and MegDeity: (Sobs) (Anime tears flowing) Thank you that you enjoyed this fic so far.
To Krows Scared, Dargon Sheinto, Firedue, Viky, ninofchaos, and Firehedgehog: Thanks for the reviews and I hope to keep up to your expectations.
To Akira: Thanks for thinking this may be one of the best. It greatly warms my heart. Hope you enjoy and keep on reviewing.
To Jays Arravan and Dragon Man 180: Thanks for the reviews and your insights. I'll try to keep up the good work. I'll try to explain the relation between Recca and Naruto on upcoming chapters, I'm thinking through it hard since it'll be tricky. Please keep on reading and reviewing.
To Dwright46, Kaori, AngelKelley17, mrasdfghj, and Joranski: Thanks for the reviews. Sorry if Gaara's attitude change seems rushed but he did get to sleep more often and he spent a good year with Naruto so it's bound to happen right? Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and keep on reading and reviewing.