AN - wow! All these reviews! I'm truely honored! You people really seem to like this story, so I guess I wont let it die...even though you people are the reason AZ died. Yes, you. You people are the cause for my first fanfiction here to die. Feel guilty.

Anyways, enough advertising, Let's hope that this chapter has alot more action than the last one. R&R, seriously!

Disclaimer - Never have owned Naruto or Kingdom Hearts, aside from the various merchandise i've purchased over the years. I'm a sad, sad little boy.

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Chapter 3 - A Training Exam, or, First Strike

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Part One

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"Alright everyone,. Thank you all for coming back. Today, you see is the day that you will be grouped into three-man squads and paried with your jounin sensei!" Iruka cried happily. No, he was litterally crying. All because of the blond sitting at the center of the group of students before him, with a gleaming metal plate shining against his forhead, the leaf insignia carved flawlessly into it. "So congratulations to everyone here on passing!" Especially you, Naruto...

Naruto grinned, smiling broadly and adjusting the forhead protector he was now wearing proudly in place of his trademark goggles.

I cant believe it...i'm a NINJA! He thought triumphently. And it was true. He really was a ninja now.

That didn't mean, however, that he was a good one.

"Baka! How did you become a ninja! Everyone knows you failed!" Cried out a slightly enraged Sakura as her fist met the top of his head.

"Itai! S-sakura-chan! what did you do that for?" Whined the injured shinobi, nursing the large lump that had formed atop his head, along with the nearly-broken jaw from his head slamming against the desk below it.

"Dobe..." Was all the confermation that the two recieved from sauske to tell he was even listening to their converstaion, or rather, argument. Although it quickly dissolved however.

"Sauske-kun..." Sakura blushed as her inner self worked it's way into her mind. CHA! Sauske-kun's so freaking cool! Sakura continued her mental converstaion with herself as Naruto, forgotten, nursed his aching head.

From the back of the room, the lavender-eyed form of Hinata watched Naruto with care and happiness.

"Congratulations... Naruto-kun..." she whispered quietly, as Kiba turned to look at her.

"Ne, you say something, Hinata?" He asked quietly, arching his brow as Akamaru barked happily, lolling his tounge out as he sat atop his partner's head.

"Eh? Oh... iie..." She said quietly, blushign and turning away, earning a shrug from the canine-user before he turned away.

I'm so happy for you... Naruto-kun... Gambate...

Naruto sneezed quite loudly, saking his head as he looked up from the floor, having fallen over backwards from the shere force of his sneeze. Then again, perhaps he shouldn't have been leaning back in the first place. Mild laughter accopanied his antics but was quickly quieted by Iruka.

"Alright everyone, As you know, you will be meeting your jounin sensei today. Untill then, I'll tell you your groups of three-man squads, and then you will leave with your sensei when they arrive." He explained, looking at a list. "Squad one is..."

His voice was drowned out to Naruto's ears by exited whispers. Sitting back up with his chair, he sighed. It realy was his last day. His last day at the academy. He had spent nearly seven years in this building. He had even gotten in early thanks to a refferal by old man hokage. Yeah, he failed three times, but it was always because of that graduation exam...that stupid bunshin no jutsu. If it wasn't for that, he would have passed long ago. Two years ago infact. Then it came back in a flash.

The three girls on the tower. The one with the rose. He had seen her before. He had been in her class before infact, last year even. But she had graduated and he handn't... placed with that weird-eyed-guy and the weirdo with the bowl-cut. She had actually been very nice to him, unlike the others, and had actually taught him how to throw a kunai properly. Without her, he probably wouldn't be as great a ninja as he was now. Ohh.. what was her name again? It had a ring to it...it repeated, didn't it?

Mulling the image of the girl on the tower over in his head, he could remember her vaugly. Rather than the long, flowing hair she had on the mural, she had been wearing buns whenever he had seen her, two of them atop her head. bun-bun? nah...nobody would name their kid bun-bun...

But still the name evaded him. He could actually, though, remember calling her 'bunbun' once, and getting a giggle... Right? Ah well, nothing he could do about it now. Who knows, he might actually get to see her again...

"Squad seven will consist of Uzumaki Naruto..."

Iruka's voice cut through his thoughts like a shuriken through rice paper at the mention of his name, giving his sensei his full attention, he looked down.

"Haruno Sakura..."

Leaping to his feet in triumph, Naruto grinned, missing the look of dissapointment on said girl's face.

"And Uchiha Sauske"

It was Naruto's turn to crumple in defeat, and Sakura's to rise in triumph. Sauske merely sighed and shook his head. The dobe and an over-obsessive fangirl... just what I need.

"Iruka sensei! Why dose a super-awsome ninja like me have to get stuck with Saus-gay over there?" Naruto cried defiantly, slamming his hands onto the desk before him. Iruka's eyebrow twitched dangerously.

"Because, Naruto. Out of all the test grades, Sauske's were some of the highest, and yours... WERE THE LOWEST!" he cried out, his infamous 'big-head-no-jutsu' in full effect as he did so, causing several students to fall off their chairs in shock. It always seemed this jutsu didn't need handseals, so there was absolutely no warning for it.

"So? You saw what I can do! Who cares about test-scores! It should be what we can actually DO that defines how good of a shinobi we are, not some stupid piece of paper!" Naruto cried back. This actually silenced Iruka, who looked upon Naruto with confusion. Since when had naruto been so open about such things?

Although, Iruka could see his point. FRom naruto's point of view, it seemed as though the world was against him. After his first year with the blond boy, Iruka had actually gone and checked some of Naruto's previous test grades. The papwerwork tests atleast. And, under closer inspection, he realised something.

They were all right. One-hundred percent so.

And yet he had only recieved minimal credit, just enough to pass. By all accounts, Naruto was probably one of the smartest students in here when he applied himself, just like Shikamaru. But after all the abuse and lies he's been fed over the years, he stopped doing his best. That entire internal confrence of minds he had, took less than a minute, and he already had a comeback for the new shinobi.

"Alright then. Since you're such a good ninja, and Sauske is such a good ninja, why dont you two see who can be the best ninja?" Iruka said smugly, turning back to his sheet. "and now, you're first test. Lets see who can be the quietest untill your jounin sensei gets here, shall we?" Iruka added as Naruto opened his mouth to say something to Sauske. Glancing down at the sheet to see who was the blond's sensei, he knew it would be a very quiet long while. "Oh, and Sakura, you're in charge of recording who talks first. Make it fair, or i'll know." Sakura gulped and nodded at the slightly dark look on her teachers face, having been thinking of automatically declaring sauske the winner as soon as Iruka left the room.

Turning back to his sheet, Iruka began to call out the names of the next squad. "Squad eight, Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji, Squad nine is Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuga Hinata."

Only one thought passed through Naruto's mind as he sat, watching the clock.

I'll be better than you, Sauske!

--seven hours later--

The sun was starting to set on the horizon. and the three genin were getting impatient. Especially a certain blond-haired shinobi sitting at his desk and doodling on the corners, if you could call using a kunai to etch images permanantly into the wooden surface doodling, that is.

"Where is he?" Sakura sighed, rubbing her eyes slightly. "He had better get here soon..." She muttered after a short pause, cracking her knuckles as Naruto finished his 'drawing' and stood, walking down to the front of the class and away from the leaf-imprinted naruto(1) etched into the top, right corner of the desk.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" the pink-haired kunoichi asked as she saw him pick up a chalkboard eraser from the tray and move to the door, climbing on a chair to reach the top of the sliding panel as he opened it.

Resting the eraser between the door and the wall, he slid it shut so the eraser would fall if the door was opened, which he knew would happen.

"Naruto, you idiot! Our sensei is a highly trained jounin! You don't really think he'll fall for such a stupid prank, do you?" she groaned exasperatedly, rubbing her temples as Naruto grinned and moved from the door, something catching his eye at the back of the class.

A lock. A star shaped lock. On a small red chest, sitting on a shelf. Moving twords it, he ignored his female teammate's confused expression and duck-butt-head's look of quiet disgust.

Something made him draw a kunai as he approached, something deep within him drawing out his arm to hit the chest with the black steel before a fist crashed into his head.

"NARUTO!" sakura bellowed in his ear as he cringed, holding his throbbing head with the non-blade wielding hand. "Why would you try to open something...of...iruka-senseis...wait, I dont remember this being here five minutes ago...do you?" She asked, staring at the oddly shaped lock and the large yellow swirl that stood out against the glossy red wood of the chest. Reaching out she tried to open it, to see if it was unlocked. No use. She even tried hitting it herself to break the wood, but nothing worked.

"Stupid box.." she gritted her teeth and tried to move the box, only to find out it was firmly rooted to it's place on the shelf. Sighing with defeat, she turned away, thinking it a genjutsu to test their minds or something left by Iruka sensei, probably to trick Naruto into talking or something. Imagine her surprise when she hears a 'click' and turns to see Naruto holding a kunai just above where the lock had been on the now-open red chest.

"N-naruto? how did you open it?" she asked increduously, moving over to see what was in the mysterious box.

Naruto merely shrugged, as he had imagined holding the strange shield from his 'dream' and hitting the lock gently, twice infact, and motioned that he did so, tapping the bottom half of the lock twice. Sakura's look of confusion increased more.

"You tapped it?" she blinked, dumbfounded as she looked into the chest, Naruto joining her as Sauske moved over to see what was so spectacular.

"What in the world?" was all that left the girl's mouth as Naruto withdrew a scroll with a glimmering, wax spiral seal on it, just as the chest dissapeared before their very eyes.

'WHAT THE?" the two fell back,just as sauske moved forwards, stopping as Sakura's head landed at his feet. Arching his brow he looked at where the chest had been, which was now just an empty shelf.

"That was freaky..." Naruto mumbled, temporarily forgetting not to talk in his shock as he looked up at the empty space, only to clasp his hands over his mouth.

"Ha! I knew you wouldn't win Naruto!" she said, grinning trumphently as he was suddenly clinging to Sauske.

"Not exactly..." came a call from the door, revealing the head of a white-haired man with a mask over the bottom half of his face, a leaf headband covering his left eye, and a chalkboard eraser resting gently atop his head. "It looks like he just made it..."

The three stared at him, blinking in surprise. The man stepped into the room, removing the eraser from his head and setting it on the tray under the green board.

"He..actually..fell for it?" was al Sakura could muster, blinking in surprise at the jounin that stood before him. Either he had to be a very bad ninja, or he just didn't care about the eraser. She seriously hoped it was the second one.

"Well, you two are a snaggly little bunch, aren't you?" Kakashi asked, arching his brow at the three kids before him. "Hmm?" his eye locked onto the scroll in Naruto's hand. It looked farmiliar..but he couldn't figure out how...like he had seen one before...on that mission! Kakashi remembered it now. That scroll was one the hokage had sent him to find before he became a jounin. When he asked the hokage had simply stated "It's not me who needs the scroll, but someone later on... The scroll will choose who opens it." Could this kid be the one that is supposd to use it? He didn't have time to answer as two voices derailed his train of thought.

"YOUR LATE!" Yelled Naruto and Sakura, their faces now inches from Kakashi's face without his realising it. He must be really off his game today, first that banana-peel, then the eraser, now these two sneaking up on him? What was wrong with him? To save face he simply eye-smiled and tilted his head to the side.

"Sorry about that, But I was walking along and got lost on the path of life-" "LIAR!"

Kakashi chuckled. That line never worked, but it was worth a try after all.Turning to face his new squad he looked them over. The quiet, emotionless husk of Uchiha Sauske, the Easily-angered figure of Haruno Sakura, and the Florange-clad being that was known as Uzumaki Naruto... Yeah, this was going to take forever.

"Alright you three. Tomorow we'll meet up at Training Field Four to go over training schedules, Getting to know eachother, and so on and so forth." Kakashi explained, before turning to walk out the door. He mentally counted down... three, two, one...bingo!

"YOU'RE LEAVING?" came the outraged voices of Naruto and Sakura. Simply turning and giving them an eye-smile, the silver-haired jounin simply nodded.

"If you honestly waited this long, I don't see why a few more hours should be any worse" He commented, before dissapearing in a swirl of leaves, leaving a dumbfounded Naruto, a homicidal Sakura, and an indifferent Sauske, the lattermost of which also left after a few brief moments, only to quickly be followed by a cooing Sakura, leaving the confused and annoyed Naruto standing there, scroll still in hand.

"That was... that was... What was that?" He asked himself aloud, blinking slightly. It was now he remembered the scroll resting gently in his hand. It was odd how it felt almost weightless, despite being big enough that he had to use bolth hands to grab it all the way around. He also took notice of the Spiral shaped seal holding it closed. Looking closer, he noticed that the center of the swirl had a keyhole imprinted onto it, much like the chest did. Drawing a kunai, he tapped the small keyhole gently, to no avail. Trying to pry it off with the blade only ended with him actually bending the kunai. Whatever was in that wax, it was strong.

"I'll keep this for later..." He mumbled, stowing it away in his shuriken pouch, as he had done with the ramen from his dream, which, was surprisingly still there. Thinking it best to head home and get some rest before heading out to meet with his new squad tomorow, the blond leaped out the open window and ran for home.

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In the small, dark room that held his crystal ball, sandaime hokage watched Naruto head to his home, sighing as he did.

"What could all this mean?" he asked no one in particular. First the meteor shower, then the Scroll of Light finding its way to Naruto, through a chest that, by all accounts, should not have existed. It was all very forboding, and also confusing to the elderly man. Even more disturbing was the fact that, despite Iwa's obvious hate twords Konoha, they had not had any contact on the upcoming chuunin exams in three months, as was required of all nations that wished to enter their shinobi into the exams. The elderly ninja also had dispatched several Anbu to the area, and only one of which had returned... alive, if you could call it that.

The man had been shaken to the core, something that just did not happen to a ninja who has 'seen it all.' When she wasn't asleep or tossing in fits of fear, the green-haired shinobi had cried out about... creatures. Black, insect like creatures that their tools had no effect on, and their jutsu had little effect on. Apparently, Iwa had been crawling with these Denizens, these... Heartless abominations of shadow. Not a single Iwa shinobi or resident had been seen by the man from what they could tell, only those things.

Even worse, when the shinobi had calmed down enough to tell them what had happened, she explained just what these creatures did... They stole your heart. She had said, though, that when she had inspected the body of one of her comrades, there had been no wound from his heart leaving his body seconds before, before he dissapeared in a flash of light. And it was this that had sent her over the edge in the hospital ward. After they had sedated her, the hokage had left to mull over these events.

"If these...Creatures... truely exist... I think that boy may just be our only hope..." The third muttered, the crystal ball focusing on the image of an already sleeping blond boy, with whisker marks on each cheek. "You just might be our only hope... Naruto..."

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AN: well, there's chapter 3, part 1 of 2.What is going on? What dose that scroll contain? Where did the chest that contianed it come from? What are these dark 'things' that have overtaken Iwa? And whys is Naruto the only one that can stop them? I doubt you dont' know the answers to a few of these questions, but I ask them anyways! Why? Because I can!

Next time: More of our florange clad hero's destiny is revealed, and their training exersize commences! These strange creatures move past Iwa's borders and threaten more of the shinobi world, also, their first C rank mission! I wonder what will go wrong now...

Next chapter: A Training Exam, or, First Strike - Part Two