Hey, sorry for the wait. I think this chapter was sort of sounded pointless, but it continues the story so hopefully you guys will enjoy it! I am still in need of a beta reader! Sorry everyone, I just notice that my squiggly lines that showed a change in time or place was missing in the last three chapters, so I fixed that!
I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 4: What the Heck is Going On?
"Hey! Bet you can't catch me!" Naruto's yells trailing behind him as he escaped from the furious ANBU.
"Target in sight. Male, blond hair, blue eyes, three whisker marks on each cheek, 100 meters ahead."
"Copy that Badger-san. Raven moving in."
Naruto turned his head to see a raven masked ANBU rushing at him from behind. The ANBU seemed to have no qualms in hiding their obvious displeasure of his vandalism (or themselves for that matter). God, just because he looked like a very immature and stupid civilian, does not mean that he was one!
Well maybe just a tad bit immature...
Lifting a hand, the blue-eyed menace pulled down his eyelid and stuck his tongue out at the ANBU. "Too bad, you lose suckers!" With that, the kage bunshin disappointed in a cloud of smoke.
The squad of ANBU slowed until they stopped at the bunshins last spot. The thin wisp of smoke lifted into the air, curling and expanding, just like the knowledge that they had been duped finally registered within some of the most fearsome ninja ever.
"Place an immediate order for the look out for that blond man. He is a possible threat to Konoha and must be captured quickly!" Geez, talk about revenge, ANBU-style!
--
Naruto cackled as he received his clones memories. Man, it really was good to be back home. Nobody could ever act so...prideful and righteous as the occupants of Konoha when they were faced with a prank! It felt good to be here.
Soft wet grass flattened beneath sandaled feet as Sasuke slowly walked to Naruto's perch on top of the Yondaime's head. "You're still using pranks as an introduction?"
"It's a favorite pastime, and it's who I am, don't they need to know that?" He didn't turn his head, just continued to gaze at the big blue sky above him. "Hey teme? Are you glad to be back?"
There was a pause in which the Uchiha let his eyes wander over the rousing village. "Hn. It's the same as always."
A comforting stillness settled over the rivals. In a way what passed during that time was more than what any conversation could have stringed together. Overlooking the village, they each enjoyed the feel of having a home. Sure it was bustling and loud, with annoying gossipers and uptight prissy shinobi, but this home was alive.
Sakura had been about to join Naruto on the monument but Sasuke had beat her to the punch. Now peering at her teammates who had early been as frosty as snow, she couldn't help but smile.
"Sasuke, I know that we have our own lives, but don't isolate Sakura-chan so much. She's strong, and she tries to hide it with her strength. But our reluctance hurts her." Naruto scowls, "I've seen her cry one time too many times. There is no need to upset her now."
Face expressionless, Sasuke watched the blond. "She is no child. She knows that everything doesn't end happily ever after. You can't shield her from the world's horrors forever, and even now you are too late."
The jinchuuriki gritted his teeth, "Yeah, I know I'm too late okay! I'm just saying that one shouldn't always suffer. I came back to right my wrongs, to turn my crappy self-pitying life around!"
"Oh how nice. It's just like you to become the man of justice. Do what you want, like I said I have no real connections anymore to either of you" Sasuke sneered at his rival before making to leave.
Scowling to herself, Sakura jumped up from inside the store where she had been eavesdropping and landed in front of Sasuke. Without losing any momentum, she decked the precious Uchiha for all of the Hokage's to see. And when you get a Sakura version of being decked, it consists of a jaw-shattering uppercut that will send you sky-rocketing into the air.
Gracefully flipping and landing on both feet, Sasuke winced slightly at the numbing pain. Silent and angry, Sakura held up a glowing hand to heal the damage.
"Don't talk about me as if I am a child, you don't know me and that counts for you too Naruto." She glared at her teammate to see that he got the message. "You don't have to sugar-coat things just for me. I can take it, I want you both to be honest."
"Sa...Sakura-chan, I was just trying to help you."
"You can both help me by growing up."
Naruto flinched.
"Grow up and move forward, don't just isolate yourself to think about the woes of life." Sakura spat. "Really Naruto, it's ironic since you said you came back so that you wouldn't dwell in self-pity. Mr. Angst I can understand but you should know better."
"I came back for my friends, and it is your misfortune that you two are some of them. I will keep us together. Haruno Sakura is no longer the dead weight that'll just sit back and watch her world fall to pieces again. It ain't gonna happen."
With that the rosette barely glanced at either of the males and jumped down to head to the Hokage tower.
The remaining two just stared. Naruto in shock, and Sasuke in what could only be described as passive amusement. Snorting, Sasuke leapt off of the cliff to the waiting Hokage.
"Oi, dobe, you wouldn't want to keep the hokage waiting would you?"
Our scatter-brained hero blinked for a second before realizing that today was the morning of his reinstatement. Even if Shizune wasn't Tsunade, she still knew the exact ways to make his life a living hell.
"Ah! Oh crap, Shizune-nee is going to kill me!" He disappeared before you could even say "ramen".
Sighing the Uchiha silently made his way after the idiot.
--
"You're late."
Naruto could only sweat under the heat of Shizune's glare. When did she ever glare?!
"Yeah...I was busy?"
A snort. "Obviously since our hokages look like they got drunk and decided to play dress-up!" Shizune waved her hand at the sparkly painted carvings in front of her window.
"If Tsunade-sama were here, she would have sent you to the hospital for a whole three months with the beating you would have gotten." The medic took a breath. "Already there is a search warrant out for a man of your description. This isn't the smartest way to show to your fellow shinobi how you work Naruto."
Shrugging, he answered, "Just tell them that it's okay. That I am no threat."
"And say what? Yeah, I know him. Don't worry he's not a threat at all, we're old pals. That wouldn't work. Not when nobody knows you and has certainly not seen me with someone like you."
"They would think that I am naïve to trust everyone, I'm not the official Hokage so they don't have to believe me."
"He's an idiot, let him pay the consequences of his actions, I'm sure he'd find some way to have fun with that." Sakura muttered.
Naruto couldn't help his sweatdrop. 'Sakura-chan really is mad at me. At least she decked Sasuke-teme and not me.'
"Anyway, all I can do is reinstate you. Getting people to trust you will be your problem."
"An exam will be held to let others see your abilities and to officially decide your rank. I have drawn up a carefully documented explanation of your involvements with the village." Shizune handed out three scrolls for the trio to review.
"The exams will start in three hours. Be prepared."
They all nodded before disappearing in swirls of leaves.
Shizune scowled, "Now I have to have the room swept again! Why can't shinobi disappear with smoke, or go out the door?!"
--
The minute Naruto appeared outside of the Hokage Tower, he was ambushed by six ANBU.
"Vandalism suspect is in custody. We are moving him to Ibiki's facility immediately." a squad member reported into a headset.
The grown man gawked. How the heck could this have happened to him!
Turning towards the duo coming out of the tower doors, Naruto gave them his best puppy dog look only to be shot down. Sakura made a point to turn her head away, an amused smile on her face. Sasuke had on his patented smirk as if to tell Naruto 'told you so'.
Scowling Naruto yelled out, "Hey, what do you think you're doing! It was just a prank, no need to haul me to this Ibiki guy!"
"You have defaced some of our most respected shinobi, and are an unknown individual in Konohagakure. Questioning is required for the safety of the villagers." Naruto could practically hear the disgust in the ANBU's voice.
It seemed that Lady Luck was on Naruto's side today as Ino came walking toward the tower.
"Hey! What are you ANBU doing with Naruto?"
A dove-masked member turned towards Ino. "Ino this is none of your business."
The female scowled, "Oh cut the crap Neji, what are you doing with him?"
A flicker of killing intent rolled off of Hyuga Neji, "You know that it is against protocol to say my name when I am on duty." He paused. "Naruto here, is suspected of the vandalism of the Hokage Monument and is not a villager in Konoha. We are taking him to Ibiki for questioning."
Naruto and Sakura couldn't help but gape. Sure, Neji wasn't as mute as Sasuke, but he was one of those stoic grunters.
Ino sighed, "Uzumaki Naruto is a new addition to the village, he arrived yesterday morning along with Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke. I don't understand why he pranked the village, but in my opinion, things have been too lonely around here anyways."
When only stares were met with her explanation, Ino walked toward the group of people to forcefully extract the prankster from their grasp.
It was entertaining watching an irate Ino play tug-a-war with a squad of ANBU, and having the rope be a very annoying Naruto was just an added bonus to the show. It was especially funny when Naruto just so happened to leave a nice brownish-yellow stain on Neji's ANBU vest.
Too funny it seemed, since Sakura had to cover her mouth and turn away to try to block the snort of laughter building up.
Ino, who had been twitching at the sight of the vomit, rounded on the rosette in an instance. "Oi! Forehead! What do you think you're doing? He's your friend! Why do I have to help him? Get down here and stop that horrendous snorting!"
Naruto guffawed even as he shrunk under the Hyuga's shrewd gaze.
Sakura's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets with the way they were bulging, maybe she was trying for a mock imitation of the Byakugon...?
"WHAT did you say?! Forehead! My forehead is perfectly normal thank you very much."
Ino rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah whatever, that thing is like a shining beacon!"
"Oh its on! Well if I have a big forehead, then you're a pig!" Sakura couldn't help but spit that out for old times sake, and out of habit.
Ino gasped, "Forehead!"
"Pig!"
"Pinky!"
"Slut!"
In her haste, to counter Sakura, Ino had unceremoniously dropped Naruto on his noggin. The poor man hurriedly got to his feet while nursing his wound, careful to keep an eye on Neji and the duo.
Sasuke stared impassively at Ino and Sakura, though he noted that the medic-nin seemed to glow with the familiarity of arguing with the girl.
Just as the bickering was about to escalate into more vulgar terms, a quiet voiced murmured, "My vest..."
There was total and utter silence as everyone watched Neji inspect the vomit dripping off of his ANBU vest. Naruto was slowly inching down the road, waiting for the perfect moment to bolt.
The infamous Hyuga glare sent the blond barreling down the street, only to trip over Sasuke's conveniently placed foot.
"What the hell, teme!"
"Hn."
The ANBU squad was about to go after Naruto when Neji spoke up, "Leave him. That man is worthless, he'll cause more damage for himself then he can for Konohagakure."
With that Neji, threw off his vest, incinerated it, and leapt off onto the nearby roofs, his squad quickly following him.
The Yamanaka stared at the pile of ash for a second before turning to Team Seven, "Oh right, I was charged with escorting you three to the arena where we usually hold our Chunnin Exams. We have...two and a half hours left before your testing, you guys better get ready."
The trio practically flew to their respective apartments to get their equipment after seeing the loss of time
-Two hours later-
The group of four were inside the arena behind closed doors. Even so, they could easily hear the excited chatter and noise from above.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "I thought that this would be a private exam."
Ino shook her head, "No, apparently Hokage-sama wanted the shinobi community along with some of the villagers to acknowledge and see your abilities. I guess this is so that if you do become a Konoha nin, there will be no questions as to who you are."
The three immediately froze.
Giving a weak smile, Sakura shakily asked, "You mean that all of the shinobi are here? Right now?"
"Yes, what did you think I meant?" Ino asked exasperated.
The trio shared a look. Sure, they were ready for the test, but to see all of the friends that they had all at once was kind of unnerving.
Finally, Naruto pulled out his foxy grin, "Nah, that's no problem at all. This just means that there are more people to see the awesomeness of the holy and great-"
Ino had shoved her fist into Naruto's mouth.
"Don't worry about it. It's just like that prankster said, the exam comes first, what the ninja thinks, comes second."
Sakura sighed before cracking her knuckles for effect. "Nobody's going to take me down!"
Taking a quick look at the clock, Ino cleared her throat, "This is going to be three part exam. First will be a test of your abilities. Each of you will go into the arena and battle one of our specifically chosen shinobi. Any and all abilities and styles can be used, though kinjutsu is cautioned due to the civilians in the audience. It's just basically a one-on-one battle until someone forfeits, is knocked out, or killed. The other two parts will be explained at the time that they occur. Winning does not exactly guarantee that you will pass."
"Now go out and knock 'em off of their feet!" with that, Ino threw the doors open and Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto stepped out into the light of the arena.
--
The stadium was filled to the brim with people. A nin from the outside was rarely given the option of fighting to stay, let alone fighting in front of an audience. Such an exam was usually kept private.
Shizune stood up from her position in the Hokage box. "Today, we will be administering the testing of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke in consideration of allowing them to join Konoha as her proud shinobi!"
The crowds exclamations were loud as voices overlapped.
"What is the Hokage thinking..."
"A simple test isn't enough"
"...should hand them over to Ibiki..."
"Foreigners..."
"..can't trust them..."
"...that man who defaced..."
It was quite obvious that the response to the brunettes decision was far from pleasant, but Shizune continued none the less. "Calm down! This test is in no way easy and is just as useful as Ibiki's questioning would do to decide their loyalty." A pause. "The ANBU's Torture and Interrogation Force worked with me specifically to make sure that there would be no loopholes for a spy. If you feel a need to question the proficiency the exam, you can take it up with Ibiki or Anko later."
Naruto winced for the poor sod who had the nerve to actually question Ibiki or Anko. The ANBU head would probably chew the guy out, leaving his spirit crushed. Anko would probably make the man run like a bat out of hell.
The blond shuddered. He still remembered the time before the Forest of Death when Anko had licked the blood of his cheek after throwing a kunai at him. That lady was creepy! Ibiki on the other hand was just plain intimidating.
Seeing that the others that backed off, the brunette spoke, "The first test will be a one-on-one battle between each of the three outsiders and a Konoha nin. Anything can be used though kinjutsu is only allowed if they feel that it is necessary, the safety of the villagers are at stake. We will be assessing the foreigners abilities based on how they handle a situation. The judges will consist of me, Ibiki, the clan heads, and the village elders. First up will be Uzumaki Naruto versus Hyuga Neji."
A ripple of amazement rolled off of the audience. An outsider being able to stand up next the Hyuga prodigy! Never!
Naruto's eyes grew wide with surprise. 'Oh crap! Now I know why Neji backed off so easily earlier. He knew he had the chance to officially cripple me in front of everybody without being charged with assault! Damn, he's smart that Neji. Oh well, I'll just have to pull that stick out his butt again, just like in the Chunnin Exams...' This would be the perfect moment to insert insane laughter
Sakura awkwardly patted his back. "Don't worry, I'm sure he isn't that mad."
Naruto's eyebrows furrowed, "Why are you acting sympathetic Sakura-chan?"
"You threw up on a Hyuga." Sasuke deadpanned, an eyebrow raised in skepticism.
Naruto's smirk grew wide, "That's why it's going to be more fun when I kick his butt!"
Sakura's eye twitched, BAM!
Smoke rose from Naruto's fallen body as he lay twitching from Sakura's super punch.
"Don't get cocky you idiot! He's ANBU and Jounin for a reason! Throwing up on him isn't something to be proud of!" With that, Sakura hauled the blond up like he was a sack of flour and threw him into the middle of the arena, quickly following Sasuke up the steps to the viewing box afterwards.
Groaning, the jinchuuriki pulled himself off of the ground and sat cross-legged while whining about his head not being able to function anymore after the hit. To which Sakura sourly yelled about when his brain ever functioned.
Neji had already made his way to the center of the battlefield, and was currently eyeing his opponent as if it were a worm beneath his shoe. His cruel dove mask hung limp in his hand, his unveiled eyes staring intensely. Neji was still in his ANBU gear, his arm guards were strapped securely on, every piece of armor was in perfect position. Apparently he had found a new vest to put on, and his ninjato or ninjaken was oddly strapped low on his back, sort of near his waist, probably meant for a quicker draw. His hair was still long, pulled back in that ponytail of his, the forehead protector hid his seal.
Neji's change of clothes wasn't the only difference from the 18 year old jounin that Naruto used to know, and the Uzumaki couldn't wait to beat that thy-better-than-thou look off of his face.
Slowly getting to his feet, the man was barely aware of the whisperings of the crowd above him.
"Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you."
Neji stared at the hand that Naruto had stuck out and conveniently ignored it.
"Hyuga Neji, be prepared."
At that, a slow smirk grew on the whiskered man's face. "Oh of course I'm ready. Are you?"
He laughed as he settled comfortably into a non-defensive, yet not quite offensive stance.
"I forgot to apologize for that ruined vest, Hyuga-sama, but it seems you found have another one."
Neji's eyes narrowed dangerously, a low growl emitting from the back of his throat. "You won't be so at ease at the end of this fight."
"Oh we'll see about that." Naruto watched his opponent slide into a normal taijutsu stance with a raised eyebrow.
Up in the viewing box, Sakura was gripping the railing so hard that the metal was twisting. Anymore pressure and it would snap.
"That baka!" She fumed. "He's goading Hyuga-san on purpose, even after what he had done!"
Ino was watching with an amused expression, "Your friend doesn't have any sense of self preservation does he?"
Sasuke responded with a 'hn'. Truthfully, he was wondering about the idiocy of his old teammate, but was also quite interesting in how far the jinchuuriki had advanced in his absence.
The referee, Maito Gai, who for some reason had been unnoticed for the past few minutes, yelled out, "Ah the flames of youth are strong in both of you! This surely will be an interesting battle. Neji! You must fan those flames in the very core of your being, you will definitely win if you-"
Gai had been thankfully interrupted by a glare from Shizune.
Coughing he announced, "You both know the rules, if I believe that an individual has lost than I will stop all fighting. There is no time limit. With that, the first test of the Shinobi Reinstatement shall begin! Start!"
Neji rushed at Naruto with deadly speed, bring his leg up to hit the other man in the neck.
Naruto had no trouble bringing his arm up to block the oncoming blow, his other arm coming to grab the loose limb. He was about to throw Neji over his shoulder, when in midair, Neji quickly pulled out his ninjato and aimed for a deadly strike in the jugular vein.
Everybody could only watch in horror as red splattered on the ground.
Well that's that. What happened? Wait to see in the next installment! Please check out the poll on my profile for this fic! Who do you think Sasuke and Sakura will fight? Please review!
