DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.


Thinking (+ flashbacks, "Naruto speaking to Kurama in her mindscape," etc.)

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking


Shikaku tried to reason with the terrifying ninja in front of him who looked like he wanted to stab him and definitely had the power to take him down, no sweat. "Sakumo-senpai. Kakashi and Naru competing in the Chunin Exams will cement their positions in the village as members of the traditional forces," he explained quickly in a low voice, never knowing who might be listening.

"You want to nominate two six-year-olds to be Chunins," Sakumo asked in disbelief. "Chunins lead missions!" Who the hell is going to listen to a 6-year-old leader?! "They're not prepared; not even for the exams. Naruto's already been kidnapped…"

"Yes, she has," Shikaku said gravely and moved closer to his senior. In an even lower voice, he tried to better explain. "I don't want that to happen again to her OR Kakashi-kun. I don't want that to happen inside the Foundation of the village." He gave Sakumo a chilling look.

Sakumo swallowed down his aggravation with a warning growl - and barely. He didn't want to think that Shikaku was right in what he was thinking, and that was aside from the fact that making small children in this day and age Chunins was ridiculous: whether another war was on the horizon or not. However, rumors had it that Danzo was leading "promising orphans" in his own private army supposedly called "The Foundation," with the Hokage's permission, no less.

That, he thought, was a mistake: Sakumo knew Danzo to be a man who if given an inch, would quickly take a mile. "How did you come to your conclusions?"

Shikaku gestured for the older Jonin to follow him - leading the Hatake all the way into the deepest parts of the Nara Forest. "Troublesome," he sighed, turning around. "A couple of Genins recently went missing: two of our clansmen. They were put in the Genin Corps after graduating last month."

"Genin Corps and… last month?" Sakumo began to ask in surprise, interrupting him. It didn't make any sense to put a Nara in the Genin Corps. Additionally, mid-term graduations were only given to older kids or those with special circumstances who had superior skills. That didn't happen with Naras and others from large clans: all the clan kids were enrolled full-time at the beginning of terms; it was simply the way things were done for the kids' safety. Shikaku only shrugged.

"I've been thinking about it for a while," the teen admitted. "A lot of the clan kids in the Genin Corps seem to go missing, don't they? –Haven't had a chance to look into it much."

Sakumo would admit that he'd been too busy dealing with Daimyo-sama's latest problems at the capital, running missions, and trying to raise his son alone to look into the Genin Corp for a very long time. As a shinobi who routinely took S-class missions and hadn't been assigned anything lower than an A-rank since he was only a few years older than Kakashi, he didn't run into those that were in the Genin Corp often. When he did, he only interacted with the Genins' commanders. "Have you brought this up with Lord Hokage? And Cho?"

Akimichi Cho led the Genin Corps.

"Dad has."

"And?" Sakumo asked after several long seconds.

"Cho-oji felt terribly guilty that he'd not trained the kids well enough." Sakumo scoffed, which Shikaku understood. There were easily over a thousand Genins in the Genin Corp so how was the Akimichi Clan Head supposed to monitor all of them when he also took missions with his original team? "Hokage-sama offered his condolences; said he would look into it. Hokage-sama spoke of their Will of Fire…"

"So the norm," Sakumo grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. He'd always had unwavering faith in his village leader until the man decided to torture his own student's little girl; a little girl Sakumo had come to care about and felt responsible for. "What else have you heard?" Shikaku-kun's father was the Jonin Commander but Sakumo knew that he drank (and then had a tendency to talk) - a lot.

Thank Kami, he was loyal to Konoha and he only hung out with those who were also incredibly loyal.

Shikaku sighed heavily. "Troublesome…"


"Oh, man! We're totally gonna get killed," Naruto mourned, summing up her thoughts on the Chunin Exams as soon as Kakashi's dad and Shikaku had left. "I don't want to do it!" I want to get captured by ROOT as soon as I've got that seal down so I can kill Danzo!

What a crazy (but surprisingly an - in some ways - moral) thought!
However, some would say that Naruto was a crazy person. It was normal for her to have these kinds of ideas.

"Baka," Kakashi drawled. "We will take that exam, pass it with flying colors, and we'll do it as a team. –That's how it works; Minato-sensei told me about it a long time ago. Father said the same thing." Although Father ended up being sent out when his was supposed to take place - and he was then promoted in the war.

"But I don't wanna," Naruto whined - and she knew she was whining! She was six again for God's sake. So was this idiot but he didn't have all of his old man years of knowledge behind him to rely on. "I don't think you're a genius anymore, Kakashi." Kakashi sighed and looked to the heavens for help, she guessed. Help was not coming, she was sure! It especially wouldn't come from THERE if they decided to do this dumb thing!

Someone once told her that Kami helped those who helped themselves - unless he or she might feel like doing something on a whim anyway: something like that. "If we live, we're gonna get the crap beat out of us."

Kakashi stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Why do you think that?" Call him stuck-up but Kakashi knew he was strong AND a genius; everyone that knew him said so. It wasn't arrogance - a shinobi must not be arrogant - but it was true.

Naruto deadpanned. "Are you joking?" she asked, thinking that he would figure out their dilemma for himself. "We are tiny, our power levels suck, and we don't know shit. Those animals in that damn forest will eat us for snacks, leaving our leftover carcasses or scalps and stuff to the giant insects that swarm there."

"YOU'RE the chibi. –And maa, that was… descriptive." Too descriptive.

"I wanted to paint you a realistic picture of the exams, ya know."

"I think you should have more faith in yourself" and me, went unsaid. "We'll probably get one more teammate to do the thing with; that's what I've heard. Plus, we know a lot of stuff." Kakashi knew that he and Naruto were learning a lot more than the other new Genins were: he'd been monitoring it.

Monitoring trends was a part of the job of a shinobi, his father had said. Kakashi wanted not only to be like his father, but to be by his father's side when he fought. Becoming a Chunin would bring him closer to that goal.

Naruto's skin was crawling just thinking about Training Ground 44. She could admit that she and Kakashi did know some things - but would they even make it past that giant centipede nest that she remembered? From what she recalled, that thing was many times bigger than they were. Heck, the centipedes were bigger than they were right now! "Oh, man! If Gai's father hadn't gotten promoted we coulda totally requested him to be our third!"

Kakashi, bug-eyed, looked around to make sure he was safe. "Don't mention Gai!"

"Gai's cool." Naruto did not appreciate the way Kakashi nearly face-faulted in disbelief at her honest proclamation. Sure, Gai was a little different but so was she! So was Kakashi! "Your youth sucks."

"I'm fine with that," Kakashi grunted, feeling weirder and weirder the longer they stood out here in the open. Already there were kids - and a few adults - around who were whispering about them. "Come with me." He turned on his heel and ignored the oblivious girl he'd be teamed with for at least a little longer. When he realized that she wasn't following him, he anxiously growled and wanted to yell at her - making her laugh at his face which was definitely not his intention. At least she eventually followed him back to his place. "Have you heard the rumors?"

Naruto gasped excitedly. "What rumors?!"

"Baka girl! They're bad rumors."

Naruto tilted her head, getting more and more eager to hear what Kakashi had heard and where he heard it from. His ears were turning pink! That was hilarious! "Did someone say something about you?!"

How irritating. "Yes." Naruto danced all around him like a puppy, getting in his way and begging him to tell her, but he just couldn't. The rumor was… not good. "Just keep in mind that the rumors aren't true. Now get out of here before I sic my pups on you."

"Jerk." Both of them knew that if he called his ninken, they'd just jump and lick all over her. –That's what they did the last time she saw them, anyway. Bull was already getting pretty big. She'd ask him to summon them, but on the other hand, Kakashi was often so testy and a pain to be around. Naruto wouldn't say that Kakashi was as bad as Sasuke because

1. He wasn't deranged like Sasuke was.
2. Kakashi actually spoke up, often using his words. (Imagine!)

However, the two boys were still a lot alike. Why was she cursed to have power-obsessed assholes as teammates so often? Naruto couldn't care less about becoming a Chunin right now, surprisingly enough.

Although I suppose I am a little power-hungry, myself, BUT IT'S BECAUSE I'M A CHIBI STUCK IN THE PAST!

"Fine," she slumped after several more silent seconds from the masked boy staring at her. "Whatever, Kakashi. –I'm going to get some ramen and see if I can find Anko! Ja!" She sunshinned out, not running into anyone this time.


Naru found Anko with a bunch more of her other older, former classmates who were excitedly discussing the upcoming Chunin Exams and eating dango on the street. "Chibi-chan," Anko called happily as soon as she saw her.

"Aww, c'mon. Don't call me that!"

"Sensei is entering us into the Chunin Exams!"

Naruto winced, only bobbing her head and feeling a little sick. She knew NOTHING of what happened, if anything, during this particular exam. Being the silent, aloof, sad pervert he was, Kakashi-sensei never told her about what he'd had to face in his Chunin Exams and Naru had been dumb enough not to even consider asking him about it. Because of the age Jiraiya once mentioned that Kakashi-sensei became Chunin - supposedly he was the youngest ever - she could assume that Kakashi was promoted in the upcoming exam. Jeez: didn't that suck?

"You in there, short stuff?" Anko asked, snapping her fingers in her face. Naruto was clearly distracted.

"Yeah," Naru groaned, kicking a pebble. "I heard about the exam, too."

"You guys taking it?" Asuma asked. He wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to but Naruto and Kakashi were younger than them - and only a two-person squad. From what she had told them before, they didn't even have a full-time sensei although they were technically assigned to the laziest Jonin in the military.

"I don't know," Naruto admitted, kicking another pebble forward and through a nearby tree with some wind chakra. Asuma looked impressed which made her feel pretty good, considering his affinity and future mastery of the element. He looked so different now. "Maybe. I heard it's hell in there."

"Where?" Ebisu asked excitedly. "You know where or what the exam's all about?!"

Naruto couldn't believe she was now friendly with this future closet perv. The time she spent filling in for Anko had helped their pseudo-friendship along, she guessed. "Forest of Death, right?" Suddenly she was surrounded by a bunch of older, taller but thankfully friendly kids.

"Seriously?! That place is a death trap!"
"That's only a rumor."
"Haven't you heard that people die in there?"
"So we only have to survive?"
"Do you hear yourself?! What do you mean 'we only have to survive?!'"
"No way. People fight each other in those exams: I have heard that much."
"We have to fight inside THE Forest of Death?!"
"No way!"
"I can't believe Hokage-sama would allow that!"

"I can," Asuma said, ending everyone talking over each other or frothing at the mouth around him. "My father's a jerk."

"Asuma, don't say that!" Asuma only shrugged.

"What else have you heard?" Kurenai asked Asuma and Naruto seriously.

"Ano," Naruto began worriedly. There were an awful lot of important Jonins of the future standing here, she realized again and felt the weight of the world on her shoulders all the more keenly. "From the stories my father told me, he said there's a written portion of the test - of some kind - plus a scary place to get through like the Forest of Death here in Konoha or that creepy island in Kiri with the mermen or kappas or whatever it is they have - and then finally, individual fights. It sounded like it's the same system no matter where you take the exams although the exacts vary from year to year and depending on where you are. Ya know?"

No one said anything for the longest time. Most looked stunned. Naruto was honestly glad that they weren't all quite so excited about the test anymore. She didn't want any of her friends to get hurt. That was the whole reason, in the end, that she was here, right? To save everybody?

Asuma was mad, to say the least. He didn't know much of that. Naruto was saying that her father, who was HIS FATHER'S student, told her all of this. Why didn't his own father tell him? Oh right: it was because he was never around and didn't see him fit to even bother with. "The thing I've heard is that you can win the exam yet not become a Chunin." That is what had happened to his older brother.

All his friends looked baffled. "Yeah. But on the other hand, you can lose and become a Chunin." –That's what happened to Asuma's sister. Anko, naturally, Asuma thought, was the first to slam her hand down on the table.

"That's the STUPIDEST thing I've ever heard!" Asuma only shrugged.

Aoba pushed his ever-present sunglasses up on his face. "I'm sure they want to see responsibility and maybe restraint as well as skill. Decision-making skills; that kind of thing. –At least we have a month to prepare and find out more from our senseis."

"A month?" Naruto asked. Shikaku-sensei didn't mention that. Naruto feared that she and Kakashi would have to do this in the next day or so. "Yeah, I guess so."

She didn't want to hold Kakashi back, right? And Naruto HAD been a Genin for a very long time…

"So," Anko began in a soft voice. She pulled Naru into the dango place, Kurenai right by her side, so Naru could place an order - and hopefully buy her some, too. "I heard about stuff with your… teammate."

Naruto groaned, throwing her head back. Kakashi was such a pain and so damn small - whether he was taller than her or not. "Yeah," is all she could say. She was here to get away from Kakashi, his father-worshiping and rules talk and everything else - not talk about the guy. "He's a good Genin, I guess."

"Kakashi-kun is a prodigy," Kurenai commented.

Naruto looked back and forth between the two girls. The boys were outside the shop but it was clear that a few were listening; something was up.

Neither Kurenai nor Anko looked like they wanted to say whatever it was that was on their minds, and for Anko, especially, that was unusual. "What's up?" Naru asked and then realized what this might be about. "Is this about the rumors?!" The ones about Kakashi?

"So they're true," Kurenai guessed in a dramatic whisper.

"No way - although they are Genins now, I guess," Anko said at the same time, rethinking the whole thing. "Makes sense in a way that they'd only be told now. Yuck."

"Wait. What did you hear?" Naru asked.

"That you two were paired together because you're getting married." Naruto started choking.

Anko waved her hands around. "Not now or anything! Like, like: you're betrothed or something!" Kurenai nodded with big, wide eyes.

Naruto felt like she'd had a bucket of ice-cold water poured over her - and then howled with laughter before coughing and gagging even more simply to be a jackass about it. Joking or not, she definitely wasn't in the mood for dango now. She knew how village rumors wildly spread and grew very well, however. There had been crazy rumors when she was young the first time:

1. Naruto WAS the demon fox
2. She was a boy or a shapeshifter
3. As the "evil fox demon," she'd taken on the Yondaime's appearance to fool or mock the villagers' pain
4. And similarly to this BS, after the Sand/Sound Invasion, they'd all heard that Shikamaru was going to one day be forced to marry Temari-hime to cement the villages' alliances.

Yeah, that last one really pissed her off. Naru liked Shika-kun a lot and although she had teased him about the rumor, it kinda hurt to even think about.
The other awful rumors ruined her childhood, of course, but she only realized that when she was older: that all the fox rumors were due to her father and the fox in her gut.

"Can you talk about it?" Kurenai asked once Naruto had calmed down.

"No way," Naru said. "Kakashi told me there were some rumors out there but he told me that they weren't true." She crossed her arms over her chest and was confident. "It's NOT true. No way." She'd still talk to Jiraiya about it, though. Naru trusted that he would never allow such a thing but she wouldn't put it past him to prank her.

Speaking of pranking, she could also tease and raz Kakashi about it. She let out a dark chuckle and kept thinking about the whole thing. Hmm…

Anko theatrically dragged the back of her hand over her hitai-ate as if she'd been sweating. "Phew!"

"It would make sense, though," Kurenai said somewhat apologetically. "My parents said that the Hatake Clan is down to Kakashi and his father, and that you're an Uzumaki. Uzumakis are known for their strong, dense chakra and Hatakes have dense chakra as well. Plus, I mean… your clan is only you and Kushina-senpai now, isn't it?" she asked in a softer voice.

Naruto's face had begun involuntarily twitching the more she talked. She might develop a tik if this shit continued. "Your parents?" You've gotta be shitting me. People need to get a life if they're discussing stuff like that about kids. And weren't Kurenai's parents in ANBU or something? Naruto was pretty sure they were.

"Mmhm," Kurenai said, "they had it on a good source. I told Anko and… Well, people were already talking about it. –I'm sorry."

"'A good source,'" Naruto repeated, running her index finger over her upper lip as she thought about it. "Who would start a stupid rumor like that, and why?"

Outside of the Academy, a princess named Ami, (the Daimyo's secret daughter,) that had recently transferred into the Shinobi Academy sneezed - and kept sneezing. She hoped no one was talking about her. –Which was quite hypocritical, really.

Anko pulled a face. "You're being awfully mature about this." She hadn't believed the rumors and knew that Naruto was really loud about how she felt about kunoichi duties and traditional women's roles in general. She figured Naru would be yelling and ready to rumble unless it was true.

It was almost disappointing that she wasn't.

"Ohhh," Naru began, a sly, foxy grin creeping up her face. "I AM gonna find out who this 'good source' is and wreck them." She narrowed her eyes at the two girls. "Who wants to help?"

Both girls perked up and the hunt was soon on.


Later that week -

Right behind Konoha's other orphanage - which was a different, vastly better-looking place than the one Naruto had been dumped in - there was a cave. She only came out here looking for the orphan who had supposedly started that dumb rumor but look what she found!

"Seriously?" she asked no one, nearly sweat dropping as she snuck toward it. There were a lot of freaking chakra signatures down there and underground.

Naruto came to several conclusions as she stood there, in the dark:
A. That cave was either manmade - or maybe the entrance to it, at the very least, was enlarged by an earth jutsu.
B. Little or even big kids could wander in there anytime: it was a total danger to the kids in the orphanage!
C. Which is why it was there: easy access for Danzo and his goons, to and from an adjacent hunting ground: gross.
D. Danzo was an even more brazen dick than she'd previously thought!
E. Hokage-jiji, LORD THIRD (she corrected herself,) had to know about it. Or if he didn't? Shame on him, then. –Will of Fire and True Kings of Konoha bullshit; goddammit! What the hell is he thinking?

The little blonde shoved her fists in her pockets and scratched at the inside of her calf with her other sandal as she turned to the fuzzybutt in her mindscape. "So I'm guessing that's where Danzo is?" She didn't feel him, though.

Kurama shrugged. "I don't have to tell you that most of those underground have small, weak chakra signatures. I can sense emotions in them, however."

"They're kids so of course," Naruto sighed. Setting her hands on her hips, she became even more determined. "That's it! I'm gettin' 'em out of there, right now!"

"Are you an idiot?!" A sudden chakra signature emerged out of thin air, making him go on alert and his vessel jump away. God, Kurama had nearly forgotten how much he hated being surprised by that idiot. This time, however, he appreciated Minato appearing and stopping his vessel from doing something stupid.

"What do you think you're doing, Naruto-chan?"

"GAH! Aniki! Stop sneaking up on me like that," she scolded her father with a huge smile (that was missing a few more teeth.) She hadn't seen him since… Oh: since that "thing" happened. "Oh, Kami! You've got blood on you; I can smell it!"

Minato only shook his head tiredly, grabbed her shoulder, and they flashed off again; this time to his apartment. He listened to Naruto ramble and fret about him even after he explained that the blood wasn't his. She'd also offered up some fairly lame excuses about being where she was that he saw right through.

Naruto had helped him take off his sandals and vest, jabbering about the Chunin Exams, what a pompous baka her teammate was, and about her other little friends and their big mouths - and her search for the "dickweed that made up some bullshit I won't bother you with."

Minato really needed to work with Jiraiya on getting her not to speak like that.

As he sank into his couch knowing that he needed to get in the shower, he watched as she pushed a chair into his kitchen so that she could make him tea and ramen, marveling at how grown up she could be. Genin or not, she was so small!

Minato's mind traveled to what Kushina had accused him of: she could be so crazy and as Naruto kept talking nervously but excitedly - trying to avoid discussing what she was doing outside of the orphanage, he guessed - Minato thought of how similar Naru and Kushi really were.

Yes, Minato's chakra was in Naruto's seal but his chakra felt like it was all over Naruto. She spent a lot of time with him: as much as he had time for. Kushina hadn't realized that her own chakra was on Naru, too. It was faint and different but still there, just like his was - although Minato's "different" chakra was more present in Naru's seal.

He was always good with sensing chakra; with molding and separating it, even. It was only when he knew that Naru-chan was okay that he considered that his Hiraishin marker was on Naruto (but so was Senju Tobirama's: what the heck is that about? Tobirama was said to be fond of the Uzukage however) that he'd begun really wondering whether or not Kushina could be right.

"Why'd you come to find me, anyway? You should be resting, nii-san," Naruto scolded, taking his mind off the true origins of the little blonde as she pointed her index finger at him before bringing him some cup ramen that she'd cut veggies and herbs into as well as tea. Minato took it gratefully.

"Thank you, Naruto. I came to find you as soon as I was back in the village because of a promise I made to Jiraiya-sensei..."

"You saw Ero-otou?" Naruto asked, grinning cheekily. She knew that not only did Jiriaya hate the "Ero" she almost always tagged onto Jiriaya's honorific but that Minato said he did, too - whether he actually thought it was funny or not. That's why she added the "O," making her normal "Tou" to speak of her father formally: Honored Pervert Father. That made it respectful, right?! Ha!

Minato, again, saw right through her. "Jiraiya-sensei is a great shinobi, Naruto. You shouldn't call him a pervert."

"Hai, hai: he's a 'Super Pervert.'"

Minato groaned but then drank down the tea, followed by the warm ramen broth. His chakra was low and he was tired. "I also wanted to find you because you're my little sister. -Right, Naruto-chan?"

Naruto tilted her head as if she was wondering if that was really a question. She quickly turned away to get him some more tea. Or avoid the question.

"Mmhm," Naruto agreed.

Minato thought back to the argument with the red-haired goddess of vengeance he'd had after she dragged him away from a terribly injured Naruto.

"Fine," Minato said as he backed away from his "girlfriend." He just wanted to get back to his poor little sister. He didn't have time for this craziness!

"Don't say it's fine, you baka!"

"Kushina, I don't know why she would have my chakra near her seal but what Jiriaya-sensei said made sense!" Kushina looked like she was going to blow another gasket. Jiraiya had said that he'd recently begun fearing that some of a tailed beast's chakra had been sealed into his daughter - and that Naruto didn't know about it.
Kushina agreed that it
was possible.

"I can't believe you don't care. Your chakra's IN THAT SEAL!"

"Kushina," Minato said, unable to hold his emotions back anymore. "My… little sister… She might not pull through. And Hokage-sama was just standing there!" At that moment, he didn't care that the tears began to fall.

"I- I'm sorry, Minato! I just… I don't understand. What if… What if… GAH! What if she's been in a sealing accident and is like our kid from the future, 'ttebane?"

Now Kushina was crying with a bright red, embarrassed face but Minato was so shocked at her implying something like that could even be possible between them one day. "I guess… That would be okay."

"WHAT?!"

Minato slumped. "Kushina, I don't care who she is. I love Naru-chan and am glad to finally have family. She's so little and she's hurt and…"

"OH, STOP IT! YOU'RE SO INFURIATINGLY PERFECT, 'TTEBANE!"

Minato had quickly been wrapped in chains and sat on - but all he could try to wrap his head around was that Kushina had called him "perfect."

Later, Kushina swore he'd been dreaming: that she'd never said anything of the sort.

Minato finished his ramen as Naruto made both of them more. "So, Naruto, did Kushina-chan ever talk to you about your seal?"

Naruto felt her eyes go wide with shock although she didn't realize how much she had slumped. So we're really doing this? "No," she said in a small voice. "She's still out on her mission, I think." She couldn't even look at him.

"It's okay, Naruto," Minato said.

Naruto's eyes went wide with shock. He makes it sound like it's easy!

"So sensei told you." Naruto only nodded., looking glum. "It's not so bad."

Naruto wanted to punch him.

In a lower voice, Minato tried to be more comforting. "Did sensei tell you what is in the seal?'

"A fox," she said, making it really simple.

"The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's chakra, Naruto-chan."

Naruto didn't like Kurama or any of his siblings being called demons. What humans had done to those like him was what was truly "demonic," in her opinion. Kurama, unfortunately, QUICKLY warned her to keep her mouth shut. She felt her father's arms come up around her but instead of leaning into him, she quickly jumped off of her chair and ran off into the night.

"Crap," Minato sighed, really worried now. He followed her out into the night, meaning to talk to her but cursed again when she exploded into hundreds of clones that took off in every direction. He tried to release the illusion, and panicked even more when he realized that those were all really shadow clones! "Ohhhh. Oh, NO! No, no, no, no!"