A/N: It is now officially time time for the Chuunin Exams Arc. You're in for a bit of a surprise this chapter, I assure you. I just want to thank everyone for all of the positive feedback, and I hope you continue to enjoy this story. Also, I want to note another thing: for those of you who have suggestions and/or want to know about Naruto's future powers, it would kinda ruin the story if you already knew exactly what was going to happen about 30 chapters before it happened, right? Ergo, I won't reveal much until probably after the timeskip. Also, to lengthen the story, I'll probably do a bit of my own original arcs, maybe add in some NaruSamu in there. But before I talk a little too much, I'm just going to start the chapter. See you soon.
Naruto already knew what his decision would be. He'd make Chuunin on his first try. He was by no means a Genin-level ninja. Oh no; he was only a Genin in name, as was the rest of his team. Even Sakura had improved to the point where she could handle herself in a fight. And Sasuke- oh boy, Sasuke- he had become a monster in his own right. Naruto knew that even with his Rinnegan, Sasuke was a tough opponent. Now when Naruto used his Deva Path, Sasuke stood no chance. However, if Naruto used his Asura Path, Sasuke could dodge easily. His jutsu were likewise avoided.
As Naruto contemplated his team's effectiveness, he bumped into someone with an 'Oof!'.
Before he could stand up and apologize, a rough hand grabbed him by his tracksuit collar and pulled him to his feet, lifting him into the air. "O-oi!" Naruto said in surprise, not expecting something so aggressive.
Naruto looked at the three people before him. There was a short kid with a large gourd on his back and red hair, who looked like he hadn't slept a day in his life. Then there was a blonde girl, noticeably taller than the short the one, with a war fan strapped to her back. Finally was the one manhandling him; he had a bundle on his back, a black hooded one-piece, and… makeup?
"Let me go, now." Naruto spat coldly. This was eerily similar to how he was treated as a child- he would tolerate none of it. The older kid scowled. "No way! How can you just bump into someone without even apologizing? I need to teach you some manners."
The girl sighed. "C'mon, Kankuro, we don't have time for this. You're gonna get us in trouble!" Kankuro shook his head. "I don't think so, Temari. This brat needs to learn to respect his elders."
Naruto had heard enough. He activated his Rinnegan (but hid it with a Genjutsu that Kakashi had taught him) and said, "Asura Path." Naruto pointed his closed fist at Kankuro's face, and his arm flew off with concussive force. It sent Kankuro about twenty feet away.
Temari looked shocked as Naruto's hand returned to it's proper place, and the red headed kid had a maniacal grin on his face. "What is your name?" he asked. Naruto looked at him worriedly. "Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo. And yours?" Naruto responded.
"My name is Sabaku no Gaara. Mother will enjoy me spilling your blood. I hope you are in the exams, Uzumaki." Gaara turned to Kankuro. He glared coldly. "Kankuro, you are a disgrace to our village. If you embarrass me while we're here, I'll kill you." Kankuro and Temari were sweating. "O-okay, Gaara. I understand."
As the group walked away, Naruto deactivated his Rinnegan and started walking again. He had to meet up with his team in two hours.
_Cursed Eyes_
Naruto was walking towards the Academy for the Chuunin Exams. He had everything he could possibly need; kunai, shuriken, explosive tags, rations, and ration bars. All of it was sealed into sealing scrolls, which were kept in a bag on his back. As he continued, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
He turned to see what seemed to be a team of Kumo Genin. There were two dark skinned ones and a blond, blue eyed one. The dark skinned ones had swords. "Umm, can I help you?" Naruto asked. The blond one, whom Naruto took as the leader, answered. "Yes, if you're willing. My name is Samui, and this is Karui and Omoi. Could you please point us towards the Ninja Academy? We're here for the Chuunin Examinations. It'd be really cool of you."
Naruto smiled. "Oh, I'm headed there myself, dattebayo. Come on, I'll show you the way." He noticed the skeptical look that Karui gave him, but Omoi was just downright weird with what he said: "Are you sure it's a good idea to follow him, Samui? He might lead us into an ambush set by Konoha ninja and hold us ransom as revenge for the death of that Hyuuga Clan member years ago."
Naruto rose an eyebrow. "What?" he asked, drawing a blank. Karui growled and punched Omoi over the back of his head. "Shut up! You can't just go off saying anything you like!" Omoi rubbed his head, cowering. "Sorry, Karui…" Samui sighed. "So uncool, Omoi. Ready when you are, Konoha Ninja." "Just call me Naruto, Samui-chan, dattebayo!" Naruto said with a grin. He then hopped onto a nearby roof and begin to run, followed by Team Samui.
Samui kept pace with Naruto. "You seem like you could handle yourself in a fight. How long have you been a genin?" she asked. Naruto smirked. "Three months. Not bad, huh?" Samui was surprised. "I've been a Genin for about a year and a half. You must be powerful to be taking the Chuunin Exams at your age."
Naruto's smirk never left his face; it only got wider. "At least someone acknowledges my expertise. I am the future Hokage." Samui smiled lightly. "I'd pay to see that." Naruto looked hurt. "You don't think I could do it? I'm offended, Samui-chan." "We'll see what you're made of in the exams, Naruto-san." Samui said.
Karui was behind them, scowling slightly. She whispered to Omoi, "Can you believe that she's actually conversing with a Konoha Ninja? It's disgraceful." Omoi shivered, his eyes wide. "What if she becomes romantically attached to him and defects to Konoha? That could cause the Fourth Shinobi World War, and that could destroy Rai no Kuni! It might bring the end of the Shinobi system!"
Karui smashed Omoi over the head with a tic mark on her forehead. "Obviously, that won't happen. But still; a Kumo kunoichi and a Konoha Shinobi getting along? That doesn't even sound right…" Karui said, suspicious. "Maybe you're jealous of the male attention that Samui is getting?" Omoi suggested. Karui turned on him with a death glare. "Are you implying that I'm unattractive?" she asked. Omoi began sweating. "Nuh-Not at all, Karui! Forget what I said!" he said. Karui huffed and turned around. "Good."
Soon enough, the group had landed right outside the Academy. Sasuke and Sakura stared with wide eyes as they approached. "Naruto, why are you with Kumo Ninja?" Sakura asked.
"I was just being my usual gentlemanly self, and showing them the way to the academy." Naruto said. Sakura rolled her eyes. Sasuke began walking inside. "It doesn't matter. Let's go." Sakura quickly followed after her crush, while Naruto turned back to the Kumo team. "Well, I guess when I see you again we'll be opponents." Naruto said. Samui nodded. "It seems that way. Thank you for leading us here, Naruto-san." She then elbowed both of her teammates, who mumbled their thanks. Naruto gave a grin. "No problem! Well, guess I'll see ya when I see ya, dattebayo!" Naruto disappeared in a raiton shunshin.
"Oh? So he wasn't kidding about his abilities. To see a Konoha nin using a raiton shunshin is rare; especially a Genin." Samui pointed out. "That's rather cool." "Are you interested in him?" Omoi asked. "Let's watch out for that team. Someone like him, as well as an Uchiha- that's a problem. That problem is uncool." She said, walking into the building.
_Cursed Eyes_
Team Seven walked through the halls of the Academy. "Kakashi said that the exams take place on the third floor, so that's where we're headed," Sasuke commanded. Naruto made a sour face. "Who made you the leader, dattebayo?" he asked. Sasuke looked at him dryly. "Do you want to make all the logical decisions, Naruto?" Naruto smiled stupidly. "Nope!" Sasuke smirked. "I didn't think so. Now follow me."
They climbed the stairs and came to a room that everyone seemed to be standing outside of. It appeared that there were two Genin blocking the way inside. A bowl-haired genin in a green spandex suit yelled, "Please let us through!"
He was shoved back by one of the Genin. "No way! You're not ready for this kind of test. Just come back next year!"
Sakura whispered to her teammates, "Genjutsu. We're still on the second floor." Sasuke flipped on his Sharingan. "You're right; good work, Sakura. Let's go." Sakura beamed at her crush's praise.
Naruto's Rinnegan, while powerful, couldn't detect the use of chakra. He scowled at the thought that the Sharingan could do other things that his Rinnegan couldn't. 'Why do people praise these so much if I can only do certain things with them, dattebayo?!' Naruto thought, frustrated. He kept his thoughts to himself, though, and continued walking.
"Hold up!" a voice called, halting Team Seven. It was the bowl haired boy. "What do you want?" Sasuke asked impatiently. Immediately, the boy was in front of them, displaying shocking speed. The speed that he showed made Naruto act on instinct: "Shinra Tensei!" the boy flew into the nearby wall, dazed.
Sakura bonked Naruto on the head. "You idiot! You could've hurt him! And he's a Konoha nin!" Naruto quickly started walking in the other direction. "We didn't see anything, okay?" Sakura sweatdropped and caught up, followed by Sasuke.
Outside of the real classroom, Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke, still reading his book. "Well, I'm glad you all decided to come, because if not, then none of you would've been allowed to participate," Kakashi said. The trio widened their eyes. "Why didn't you tell us that before, dattebayo?!" Kakashi eye smiled. "Because I knew that you'd all participate. Well, after this point, it's up to you. Watch out for eachother. You're a team; a unit. That means you protect one another and work together. I'm sure that once you complete the exam, you'll have a lot more respect for one another. Well then, Ja ne~!" Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Team Seven walked forward and entered the classroom. They were immediately met with vicious waves of killing intent, which only made Sakura sweat slightly. Sasuke scoffed at the attempt to frighten them. "Like these weaklings could ever scare me. I'm an Uchiha; that is beneath me." Naruto rolled his eyes. "You're not the only one with a dojutsu; remember that, dattebayo." Naruto chided.
"Sasuke-kun, you made it!" Ino Yamanaka yelled, jumping onto his back. Sasuke gained a tick mark on his head. "Get off of me." Sakura scowled at Ino. "Get away from him, Ino-pig!" Ino and Sakura then began their petty arguing, and Sasuke took the time to stand next to Naruto. "I'm thinking of getting a restraining order," Sasuke said honestly. Naruto deadpanned. "What would that solve? You know it won't stop them." Sasuke sighed, knowing he was correct.
"Hey, it looks like we're all here!" Kiba Inuzuka yelled rather loudly, as Team Eight walked up to join the others. Shikamaru rubbed his head. "You're here too? How troublesome…" Choji kept munching on his chips. Shino greeted his fellow rookies. "It's nice to see you all again."
"It's nice to see you, too, Shino! It's been a while! And Kiba, you look like you've gotten stronger. Not strong enough to beat me, but maybe enough to amuse me." Naruto said with fake arrogance. Kiba grinned. "Watch your mouth, dead-last. You've never beaten me in a fight, and you never will." Hinata walked up to Naruto then and said, "A-ano… hello, Naruto-kun... ".
"Oh, hey, Hinata! It's good to see that you're a Genin. I bet you've done some super-cool missions and defeated all types of bad guys, right?" Naruto said. Hinata blushed. "R-right…" she said. Before anyone could say anything else, someone else spoke up: "Keep it down!"
The rookies turned to see a grey-haired, glasses-wearing man. "You're the rookies, right? I'm Kabuto. You're not making a very good impression." It was true; looking around, the group could see that every other genin was glaring at them."Let me give you a heads-up: these exams are anything but a joke. I've taken these exams seven times, and I still haven't passed."
Naruto grinned cockily. "That says more about you than the exams. There's no way anyone can fail that many times and still be a good ninja. Unlike me; I'm gonna pass on my first try!" The guy smiled. "You won't say that once the real tests begin. Anyway, since you're new here, I thought I might give you a bit of help. I have these 'Ninja Info Cards' that I've got information saved on about almost every genin participating. Anyone you want specs on?"
Naruto turned serious. "Sabaku no Gaara and Samui of Kumo." Everyone was surprised to see to see that Naruto was actually gathering information. Kabuto looked at his cards. "Let's see… Sabaku no Gaara. He's completed thirty-seven C-Ranks and two A-Ranks! And, he's never even been scratched on a mission." Kabuto let that sink in. Many Genin were regretting joining the exams this year. "Man, that guy sounds troublesome. And you've met this guy before, Naruto?" Shikamaru said. Naruto scoffed. "I can take him. Now Samui."
"Okay. Samui is from Kumogakure. She specializes in kenjutsu and raiton ninjutsu. She's completed twenty-two C-Ranks and three B-Ranks. She graduated top of her class in the academy." Kabuto said. "You know, if you wanted information on me, you could've just asked." a voice spoke. Everyone turned to see Samui, Karui, and Omoi. "Oh, hey, Samui-chan! You know how it is… just scoping out the competition, that's all, dattebayo!" Samui rolled her eyes.
"That's cool, I don't think that knowing about me is enough to defeat me. I'm a Cloud Kunoichi, after all." she said. Naruto nodded and turned back to Kabuto. "Anything else we should know?"
"Well, that's pretty much all the heavy hitters you may encounter. Iwa's not in the exams, as expected; Ame may be a threat, but I wouldn't worry about Oto. They're a relatively new village, so they shouldn't be too much trouble to deal with." Just as he said that, an Oto genin that looked much like a mummy appeared in front of Kabuto. Before anything could happen, Naruto and Sasuke were in front of him, kunai poised at his throat and heart.
Before words could be spoken, a puff of smoke entered the classroom at the front desk. "PUT THE WEAPONS DOWN, BRATS! NO ONE KILLS ANYONE UNLESS I SAY SO!" Naruto and Sasuke reluctantly sheathed their weapons. The Sound nin gulped and shunshined back to his group.
"Okay, you miserable excuses of shinobi- it's time for the first test. My name is Morino Ibiki, proctor of the first exam. Come up here, single file, and get your seat numbers and quizlets. Make it snappy, pisspots!" Ibiki said. Naruto groaned. 'Not a freakin' written test!' Sakura and Sasuke glared at Naruto. "You'd better pass the test Naruto, or I'll hurt you." Sakura threatened. Naruto shivered in fear. Everyone got in line.
Naruto ended up seated next to Hinata. He gave her a smile and looked at his test. 'Impossible…' he thought. He turned back to Ibiki, who began speaking again. "Here are the rules for the first test: there are ten questions, and each chuunin-candidate starts with a perfect score of ten points. You will take the first nine questions now, and the tenth will be given once the first 45 minutes of the test have elapsed. If you are caught cheating, two points will be automatically deducted. If you are caught cheating five times, you fail immediately, and your team will be asked to leave the room. Begin."
Naruto gulped. So cheating off of Hinata was out of the question… He looked at his paper again, then around the room to find Sasuke copying hand movements with his Sharingan. So he decided to cheat anyway, huh? 'Well, then; let's see what my Rinnegan can do, dattebayo!' Naruto activated his Rinnegan, then placed a genjutsu over it. Naruto looked around again. He didn't see anyways that his dojutsu could help him here.
'Another thing these loser eyes can't do! Damn it!' Naruto internally raged. Then, he got an idea. Something in his mind told him to channel chakra into his hand. A black rod appeared in Naruto's hand. 'What the Hell? What does this thing even do?' He asked himself silently, exasperated. Then the wheels started turning in his head. Instinct took over. He waited patiently. Soon enough, a kunai sailed past his head, landing on the paper of another cheating candidate. "Tests 56, 89, and 21; you fail. Get out!" The genin cleared out quickly, but the damage was already done. Naruto raised his hand. "I have to use the restroom."
Ibiki was about to reply, but suddenly stiffened and said, "Genzo, take him to the bathroom." The chuunin nodded, and the two walked out of the room.
When Naruto came back, he wrote down every answer to the test in quick succession. A grin was present on his face. 'I bet Sasuke's Sharingan can't control people, dattebayo!'
Naruto waited for the tenth question. "Okay, brats! It's time for the tenth question; but there's a little twist to it: you have to choose if you want to take it or not." Ibiki announced. Temari raised her hand. "What happens if we refuse to take it?" Ibiki's face betrayed no emotion. "Then you fail automatically." he said. Someone else shouted, "Then of course we'll take it!" someone said.
"Well, you might not take it if you know the consequences of getting it wrong." Ibiki grinned sadistically. "If you fail the question… you can never take the Chuunin exams again! Not in your life!" Everyone began to shouted about how unfair that rule was. "SILENCE!" His loud voice shut everyone up.
"You can argue all you want, but the fact remains that this is my test, and I can do whatever the bloody Hell I please with it! Got a problem with that, take it up with me personally." Ibiki spat.
Team Seven wasn't really worried. 'We made it this far, we can get through one more question.' Sasuke thought. 'I answered the other ones with relative ease; another won't be a problem.' was Sakura's reasoning. Naruto's thought was a little different though. 'Like Kakashi-sensei said, "With eyes like mine, anything is possible",'
One by one, teams dropped out, not wanting to risk their careers. As expected, Samui's team didn't give up, either. After a while, no more teams dropped out. "Well, if everyone here is staying, then I guess you all… pass!" no one was expecting this. (Though by the fact that Samui's facial expression didn't change at all, Naruto suspected that she did). "You see, the tenth question was testing your mettle. When you're a chuunin, you can't have the mindset of a quitter. You can't refuse a mission just because you think it's too dangerous. That isn't allowed. But risking your career for just a chance at success; that's what it means to be a chuunin. That's what a it means to be a shinobi." Ibiki explained. Someone raised their hands. "But what about the other questions?" Ibiki laughed. "Isn't it obvious? It was to test your information-gathering skills. Someone of you had more creative ways to cheat." he said, sending Naruto a look. Naruto chuckled nervously, while Hinata looked at Naruto with admiration. 'He's so courageous… Naruto-kun…' Hinata thought, blushing.
Samui rose an eyebrow at Naruto. 'I wonder how he did it…'
A second later, something flew through the window. It was a woman wearing a skimpy fishnet armor and a banner that read, "The Sexy and Single Second Exam Proctor Mitarashi Anko". Naruto knew that things were going to get really weird from there.