EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Basically I wasn't planning to upload this chapter (as the popularity of this fic seems low), but due to some, recent events, I figured this would be my way of helping a friend (as I can't do anything else really). A very good friend of mine, who some of you might know, Shang, has recently find out that his father has cancer. Thus I'm publishing this chapter to ask you all to send your prayers for Shang's dad, asking that he'll be fine.
On a side note I do wanna thank those who did review the previous chapter. I'm posting this one due to the circumstances, but I will continue this story if I get reviews. To put it more simply I WON'T UPDATE UNLESS I GET REVIEWS!
With that said, guess we can go straight to the next chapter of "Naruto: Beyond":
Chapter #39: The Second Exam Ends!
Title Page: Naruto painted himself in the way it'd look like he activated a cursed seal and right next to him stands Sasuke with his arms crossed, seriously pissed
But as Urusai, Jun and Ayame entered the tower, their eyes widen at noticing that no-one was there. The blonde gennin looked around nervously, hoping that his eyes deceived him. "What the hell is this? Some sort of genjutsu? What are we suppose to do now?"
But as he said so Jun simply walked over to him and hit him in the back of his head: "Start by calming down…" he advised simply. "We're at our destination and I don't suppose this is any type of illusion, so we're either missing something or we just came in too late, but I doubt that last one…"
Ayame on the other hand said nothing. She just kept staring at some sort of note that was attached to the wall. Urusai noticed that and came closer to the kunoichi: "What is it, Ayame-chan?" he asked as he followed her sight.
"That note…" she replied without taking her eyes off the wall. "I'm not sure about it's meaning, but I assume it tells us… that we should open those scrolls…" and with that she turned towards Jun, who now was also looking at the note, standing behind the two.
After a short analysis the young genius only nodded slightly and announced: "Seems like you're right… let's open them up, Urusai…" and with that the blonde merely nodded as well.
The two then stepped to the center of the room and slowly began unwrapping the scrolls they've gathered. But as they proceeded, Jun noticed something: "Summoning?!" his eyes widen at the realization before he turned to his teammate: "Urusai, throw it away!" and without waiting he tossed his scroll against a nearby wall.
Soon the blonde followed and white smoke covered the air above the scrolls. The trio went into their fighting stances, noticing that there was a figure in the smoke, but as it cleared, they relaxed slightly, realizing that the one who appeared before them was a chuunin with a scar going across his face.
"I… Iruka-sensei?" stated Urusai totally surprised. "Why are you here?"
"Basically it's already a tradition that a chuunin appears before the examinees at the end of the second test…" replied the man calmly with a warm smile. "It seems that this year I ran into you guys…"
"So this is how it was done…" noticed Jun with a smirk, earning confused glares from his companions. "Think about it: we were forbidden to look into the scrolls before reaching the tower, so if we would fail to do so, you'd show up, Iruka-sensei and expelled us from the exam, right?"
"Pretty much…" nodded the chuunin with a smile.
"Okay, but what now?" demanded Urusai, still pretty confused. "We reached the tower, opened the scrolls and still nothing happened! Did we pass or fail? And what the hell are we suppose to do now anyway?"
"Calm down, I was getting to that…" Iruka assured him with a sweat drop. "I have several messages for you, but I believe the most important one should go first… about the second exam… you just passed it!" and with that his smile widen. Then, several events followed.
Urusai began jumping up and down, cheering as loud as he could, whereas Ayame just collapsed and Jun simply sat on the floor with a tiny smile appearing on his face. They all give the blonde time to run around for awhile, but soon it became boring, so Kakashi's daughter just made her teammate trip over her legs and fall on his face, while she told him to 'finally shut up'.
"Well, I might tell you what you should do now, but before that it's better if I'll give you one, more announcement…" continued the chuunin calmly, yet smiling at the blonde's behavior, which reminded him so much of a very similar event from years ago. "It's an… advice left to all the young chuunin by the Sandaime Hokage…"
"It's that note?" asked Jun out loud. "Basically it has to be here for a reason…"
"Yup…" nodded Iruka, still smiling. "You might say it's a motto of all the chuunin. Read it carefully. It says: 'If you lack Heaven, seek wisdom, be prepared. If you lack Earth, run in the fields, seek advantages'… do you know what that refers too?"
"Heaven and Earth are the names of the scrolls we were suppose to get…" notice Ayame unsure and after that she received a nod from Iruka: "Yes, but that's just the tip of the mountain in this case…"
"So what does it means?" asked Urusai, completely clueless and not interested.
"Well, heaven refers to human mind and earth to his body…" responded the chuunin calmly. "To put it simply, what that note says is that if you lack brains, you should seek knowledge and prepare well for missions… and if your stamina is low, you can't slack off and should train everyday. And once you have both Heaven and Earth you're really prepared to become a chuunin…"
"And what's with the missing word?" asked the blonde, this time a little curious.
"It's an equivalent to the word chuunin…" replied the scar-faced man. "The same one as you saw on the scrolls… it's person… remember that chuunin is the rank of group leaders… during missions it's his responsibility to guide the team, thus he must be well prepared to complete missions and assure his subordinates safety…"
"Weather his subordinates live or die… depends just on him…" concluded Urusai in his mind as his fists clenched. Iruka only looked around the trio and then announced: "And that's all the messages I had for you…"
"Gotcha, Iruka-sensei!" replied the blonde loudly and smiled. But the chuunin still looked worried and after a short silence, he added: "There's one more thing I'd like to tell you before you go… an advice from me…"
"Let it rip!" responded Urusai, but that earned him a hit on the back of his head from Ayame, who just yelled 'learn some respect, dammit' as she began crushing her teammate to the floor. Literally.
"It's about the third exam…" continued Iruka, much quieter then earlier. "During it you'll all be on your own… no-one will be watching your back… and with everyone so confident, death might get you before you know it… so don't push it too hard…"
"Don't worry about us, Iruka-sensei!" replied the blonde with a smile. "Maybe we're still brats, but we fought our battles. We might not be the strongest or the smartest, but that doesn't change the fact that we're shinobi!"
The other, two gennin only smiled and nodded at that, making the chuunin smile back: "I see… well then, follow me, coz the details about the third exam should be given to you any minute now…" and with that he walked forward with the three teens close behind.
---That time, elsewhere---
"Come on, we gotta go…" announced Dajaku as he left the room. "Sasuke-sensei said that the next exam is about to begin and if we won't hurry, we'll get disqualified just for not attending!" and with that he turned towards his two teammates, who calmly followed him without rushing at all.
"Chill already…" asked Hige with a wide yawn. Urufudo only bark loudly as he stretched himself and then walked slowly behind its master. "I don't really suppose they're going to start without us… Sasuke-sensei himself was late for his third exam, remember?"
"You're taking it too lightly…" stated the blonde, sweat dropping. Kyoudai only rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed, but then his sight stopped at a team that was just walking down the hallway towards them.
It was a team of mist-nins, consisting of a boy with violet hair, carrying a huge sword on his back, a girl wearing black and most disturbing, a blond with a plaster on his left cheek. As the Kiri cell walked past the Leaf shinobi, Kyoudai's eyes meet the blonde's for a split second. It was in that moment that the dreadlock felt a strange sensation. Looking into those eyes, for some reason, made him scared… a feeling he never had before.
As the Kiri shinobi disappeared behind the corner, Kyoudai glared after them with his eyes narrowed: "That blonde just now… who the hell was he?" he thought to himself, completely forgetting about his teammates.
"Kyoudai, are you alright?" Hige suddenly asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. The dreadlock glanced at her and after a short moment, he replied as if nothing happened: "I'm okay… it was nothing. Lets just go and get the next exam over with…" and with that he walked confidentially to the meeting spot. Yet as he held out his hand, he noted a single drop of sweat appearing on it.
Dajaku only narrowed his eyes as he glanced after his teammate: "First those sand-nins and now the Mist… this exam is crowded with dangerous people…" and with that thought he followed his companions. The third exam was about to take place. Or so he thought.
---the second exam ends… what awaits the young ninja?---
And that's it for chapter 39. Hope you enjoyed it and that you'll review. It's the only way to keep this fic going. And now, just as a reminder, here's the full list of more important gennin, again:
Konoha (Uzumaki Naruto): Hanayaka Jun, Hatake Ayame, Kodawari Urusai
Konoha (Hyuuga Hinata): Aburame Kumo, Emimaru Hinako, Hashira Hisaki
Konoha (Nara Shikamaru): Akimichi Choumura, Hyuuga Isseki, Uchiha Homura
Konoha (Uchiha Sasuke): Fuujiru Dajaku, Inuzuka Hige, Reijuushi Kyoudai
Konoha (Rock Lee): Mekko Gaki, Naifu Ibuki, Sakudo Kei
Suna (Temari): Sabaku no Kai, Nibai, Saboten
Suna (Kankuro): Chisoku, Hagetaka, Kugutsu
Kiri (mist-nins): Ago Fuka, Ketsueki Kenbu, Kodawari Kigahen (goes without his last name)
Oto (Yakushi Kabuto): Kaguya Toge, Tategoto Fushi, Wooku
Kusa (grass-nins): Chitagana Renge, Hongen Kamoku, Irakusa
Ame (rain-nins): Kasano, Kasumi, Pazu Tso
Well, this concludes this chappie. Thanks for reading. Cya!