CHAPTER FIFTEEN – Present day, human world, village of Konohagakure
(a sheet of dust flies off the page as it is turned)
The morning sun shone brightly upon the smooth, youthful skin of the three genin that made up Naruto's team. Yomiko, Satoshi, and Otowano had all prepared for this day. Since they first decided to accept their sensei as who he was, they served under him, learning all that he could teach them at their current level of skill. Satoshi picked up new jutsu and training techniques the fastest of any of his teammates, while Otowano adapted the fastest to the teaching style of Naruto. Each had their own unique skills that put them at their own vertex of a triangle that made them powerful as a team. They just hoped that they could all make it as far as they possibly could. They all set their sights on chuunin. They had the hunger and the drive. All they would need now was to show their skill and pray it was enough.
"Good morning, guys!" Naruto exclaimed, standing in front of the entrance to the main hallway that would lead to the classroom that exam part one would take place.
"We're on our way to chuunin! Hoohaaa!" Otowano's cheerful battle cry brought smiles to his teammates' faces.
"Oh man are we gonna kick ASS!"
"Well, Yomiko, I hope you remember that later on today when you are in the middle of competition. You will, after all, not only have to prove your mental skill but your physical as well. Any and all aspects of being a ninja you will have to excel at. Ninja from all over the world will be competing for the positions you are seeking. And only the best make it out of genin." Naruto grinned and pumped his fist. "But you guys are gonna win this! I believe it!"
Three fists rose high into the air. "We will, Naruto-sensei!"
"We won't let you down! Hoohaaa!"
"We're gonna win big time!"
Naruto stepped aside. "Beyond this door is one more step in your pathway to becoming an adult member of the ninja community. I cannot follow you into part one of the exam. I have utmost faith in you. Go!" Otowano pushed the door open with a swift kick. The three seven year old genin went through into the main resting area where the other teams were gathered. They expected a lot of people.
They weren't expecting to be the youngest of the bunch.
The air in the room became exceptionally silent as the whole of the group turned to analyze the three young genin. Several laughs escaped into the air, quite a few sneers became apparent quite quickly, and there were even some verbal insults. Yomiko shook her head as she followed her teammates to their seats. Satoshi rolled his eyes and analyzed those in the room by the chakra he could sense on them. Otowano, on the other hand, he had a different idea.
With a bounding leap he landed on a table. "ALL YOU FUCKERS WILL BOW TO ME! I AM THE GREAT HIGURASHI OTOWANO!" He drove his fist high into the air. "HOOOOHAAAAAAAA!" Smiling he leapt from the table, landing proudly near his teammates.
Yomiko punched him in the face. "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT!" she grabbed him. "Now everyone wants to kick our ass!"
"Uh, guys?" Satoshi whispered, "I think they've always wanted to kick our ass." They turned to see a little over two dozen faces staring at them, all quite peeved.
"I'm...uh, terribly sorry for my teammate here," Yomiko apologized. "He's a bit mentally retarded." She collared him. "Isn't that right, Otowano!" She dragged him to his seat by his hair.
"Attention, everyone," a voice from the front boomed. One single wave of silence floated through a sea of noise, commanding attention as it went. "My name is Morino Ibiki, and I am the proctor of part one of the chuunin exam. Before we begin, let me go over the rules."
Naruto sat on a bench in front of the building that served frequently for village gatherings. He hoped his tema did well in the exams; he knew they certainly had their work cut out for them being the youngest of the bunch. Even considering that many jounin considered him to have among the best teaching skills of all the level one's, he had slight doubts about whether or not they'd have picked up enough of his talents to make it on their own. He coughed and took another sip of tea before leaning back to catch a brief nap.
A few dozen meters away, behind a building, a chuunin strolled towards his goal, the central office, with intent to see if they had any missions for him. Moving on he did not hear footsteps behind him, because a cloaking jutsu silenced them. Pow. "Uh!" Thud. He barely managed to vocalize a groan after the fist struck the back of his head. The man turned over his laid out target, staring into the chuunin's unconscious eyes. The man touched his hand to the forehead of the unconscious chuunin and his body dematerialized in a quick flash of light.
The sharp, instantaneous vocalization may have been too far away for any normal person of Naruto's distance to hear, but the fox demon with his extraordinarily acute hearing picked it up. He bounded from his seat and found himself on site in less than a second. "Shikamaru-san? What're you doing here?" Naruto asked.
"I'm just...just kinda strolling around," the possessed chuunin lied. "Nothing much."
Naruto's suspicion had been piqued. "Oh...okay," he offered, leaving slowly.
An evil grin appeared on the face of the possessed chuunin. Now I can keep a closer eye on you, without you being able to sense me, my son, Kenzo thought. This pitiful human body provides me a degree of shielding. The mighty demon, having taken a flawless disguise, moved on towards his next goal: Yondaime.
He found his target filling out paperwork on the upper floor of the Hokage's palace. The blonde-haired leader of the village finished the last line on the form he'd been working on, and placed it in the envelope. He stepped out of the office just for a moment to place it in the mailbox—and to stretch his legs—and in that twenty seconds Kenzo had come in and left, leaving behind a memento of his arrival.
I know you can read this, Arashi, the note said in demonic language. I know you think you have it all figured out, the deception that is, but you know nothing. The Great Aura of the Earth is more than a mere servant. It is a weapon beyond all comprehension. The user will be truly unstoppable. And so when you believe you have figured out all there is about myself—or Orochimaru—you should possibly try to outthink yourself.
And if you think I'm going to roll over and let you win, you have another thing coming. Demonic Sealing Jutsu or not, you're dealing with I, the Great Taker of Life. I look forward to the inevitable fight.
Take care of my son, you bastard,
Uzumaki Kenzo
He walked on, his message delivered. The pawn enters knight territory, Kenzo thought to himself. The king's attention has been piqued. The next move is yours, Arashi-san. He kept his mind on target.
Naruto sat at the ramen stand, feasting on his favorite spiced ramen. Or, at least he tried to. He found himself playing with his food more than eating it, a behavior he did not usually express. Something feels wrong with the air, he analyzed. I've felt this way only once before. When he had met Kenzo, the air had the same dark tone to it. Perhaps the demon king lurked somewhere near the village...or perhaps he'd possessed someone.
"N...Naruto-kun," a soft voice said. "How...how are y...you doing?"
He glanced over and smiled. "Hinata-chan!" She blushed at his calling her name. "Come and sit down! This is a nice surprise. I thought you'd be in the chuunin exam. You didn't fail, did you?"
She shook her head. "N...no," she explained. "Your father gave me a provisional promotion to chuunin. I have to undergo your training for another eight months and then I'll be fully chuunin."
"Well, that's good. Have you been keeping up with the weight symbols and all?"
"My...I can tell my speed has gone up, but I've been working with you for months now and I can't notice more than a slight increase in speed."
He grinned. "Probably because you're constantly under the extra weight of the blood symbols. If you wash them off in combat, you'll notice a dramatic increase. But only wash them off if you absolutely have to to survive. Let me see your technique after we finish our ramen." He paid for her bowl.
"W...wait, Naruto-kun, I have...I have to use the bathroom," she told him. Walking away from the stand, she headed behind the town gathering building to use the service entrance to get to the women's bathroom. As soon as she got out of Naruto's sight, she turned to the door.
A pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and whirled her around. "Shikamaru-kun!" she tried to shout, but a hand clamped over her throat stole away her breath before she could speak his name. She had no idea it wasn't him.
The game is on, Kenzo telepathically told Hinata, cutting off any access of Naruto or Kyuubi hearing his thoughts. With his other hand he placed a drop of blood—his real blood—on her tongue and forced her head back so she had no recourse but to swallow it. He disappeared immediately as she began to convulse.
She coughed a few times and gurgled, then managed to scream, "NARUTO-KUN!" He appeared on sight faster than he'd ever ran before.
"HINATA-CHAN!" He scooped her up into his arms. "Don't worry, my mother will take care of you...HINATA!" Her convulsing worsened. ; Mother! I need your help! Hinata's been poisoned! ;
As Kenzo in Shikamaru's body stood atop a building watching the event unfold, he smirked. One of yours has become one of mine; a pawn switches colors. "See you soon, my son."