Kasek: Well, I'm at a loss on how to do the next chapter of Kitsu Kitsu no Mi… so I'll do this, instead. Okay, just to let you know; I edited Kokuen's description (he is now so much cooler, in my opinion), as I came up with something for him that required him to look a bit… different. It wouldn't hurt for previous readers to get a recap of the three Ocs I've inserted into this story. Also, I FINALLY came up with a good way to put Naruto's necklace into the story. I know it's not a pendant, but… pendant sounded cooler when I was making it. Well, recap: Temari just announced that a bunch of people just passed the first exam. Alright, disclaimer!
Disc: I do not own Naruto… or Zelda. I own games from both franchises, though. Bleh!
Special note: This chapter is dedicated to bmp112, who reminded me that I have an author's soul. Translation: bmp112 got me off of my tushie and made me write this.
Legend of Naruto: Hokage's Pendant Chapter 4: Exam Interlude: Enter Nabooru!
"We- we passed?"
Temari sighed. "Baka! How many times do I have to tell you?!? Do I have to drive it into your head with my fan?!?"
Naruto gulped at the sight of the monstrosity she called a fan. "N-no, that's quite alright…"
Kaijin spoke up. "If we passed the first exam, when and where do we take the second?"
Temari smirked. "Eager lttle brat, aren't you? Well then, I guess I'll tell you. The second exam will be…"
"HOLD IT!!! HOLD EVERYTHING!!!"
You could almost see question marks appearing over people's heads as they looked around for the source of the voice. They were very much surprised when a spot on the floor at the front of the room exploded, sending pieces of the floor everywhere. When the smoke cleared, everyone saw a red-skinned, red-haired, scantily clad woman standing in front of Temari. Naruto thought she looked kinda like one of those dancers at a Wind Country hotel that he and Jiraiya had stopped at. "Temari, I thought I told you that I would be explaining this exam."
Temari snorted. "Must've slipped my mind."
Three voices- which all sounded exactly the same- came from the back of the classroom. "Hey, sensei! We passed the first exam!" Naruto looked towards the back, and saw that it was the triplets. Looking between them and their sensei, he would've mistaken them for mother and daughters.
"Kousa! Oashisu! Yashiko! I TOLD you beforehand! While you're taking these exams, I cannot act as your sensei! Now don't call me that again! Clear?"
You could see them shake with fear. "Y-yes, Nabooru-san…"
Nabooru sighed. "Where was I… oh, yes! The next exam! I am Gerudo Nabooru, the proctor of the second exam here in Sunagakure no Sato. The next exam will be a bit of a… survival exercise, if you will."
Naruto almost groaned. He was hoping he wouldn't have to do something like this. So what's it going to be? The Desert of Desolation? The Desert of Doom?
"This exam will take place on one of our training grounds. The locals like to call it… the Canyon of Death." While Naruto sweatdropped, a chill went throughout the crowd of majority first-timers. "If you brats will follow me, I'll bring you there myself." As the crowd of Chunin hopefuls followed Nabooru out the door, Naruto walked up to Temari.
"Hey, Temari-san, do all of the Chunin exams have an 'of Death' place?"
Temari shook her head. "No, only Suna and Konoha have such places…" While Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, she continued talking. "I remember that Iwagakure has some kind of Mountain of Doom… and I think that Mizugakure has a Marsh of Desolation…" Naruto sweatdropped. "Well, anyways, you better get going. I don't think that this will be as bad as the Forest of Death, though, so you shouldn't have to worry. Then again, you do have some rather… young teammates." Speaking of, those very two teammates had just walked up to Naruto and began dragging him off. Hanabi frowned.
"Come on, Naruto, we don't want to get left behind." Naruto gave Temari an apologetic glance as he was dragged out the door. Temari shook her head. "The same baka you were when we first met… not that Gaara would have it any other way."
Team Impa arrived just as Nabooru started explaining the exam. Naruto looked up- there were two huge cliffs to either side, a small pass in between them. "Alright, here's the gist of it. Each team gets one scroll- either a Heaven scroll or an Earth scroll. Your objective is to get the other one that you don't have and bring both scrolls to the building in the middle of the labyrinth. After you sign these liability forms…." She motioned to said forms being held by her assistants, "…and receive your scroll, you'll be escorted to a set point in the labyrinth." She took out a map of the canyon. Naruto thought it looked suspiciously like the map of the FOD. "After you go through this entrance here, the path forms a ring around the labyrinth. You'll be taken to your respective entrances, and then left to fend for yourselves for three days. If you make to the tower with both scrolls within the time limit, you pass. If a team member becomes incapacitated, or you do not make it to the tower with both scrolls in the time limit, you fail. If you peek inside of a scroll, you fail. If you die… you die. Can't really do anything about that. Any questions?"
Naruto spoke up. "How come we only have three days? Why not, say…. Five?"
Nabooru snorted. "What, leave you out here in the desert heat with no food or water for several days? We may be mean, but we're not heartless. This isn't Konoha; you don't have any wild beasts out for your blood here. Your only enemies out here are the sun, the clock, and the other teams. Three days is plenty. Anything else?"
Kaijin stepped forward. "So, then. Besides the rules you gave us, anything goes?"
Nabooru smirked. "Anything." Kaijin looked up at the sheer cliff walls as Nabooru resumed talking. "I don't feel like taking anymore questions, so just sign the forms and stuff so we can get started. I wanna hear some screams already." With that last statement, several people who were just about to sign the forms changed their minds.
Naruto immediately signed his form, and noticed the Mori team seemed to be arguing about something. "Come on, Mido! It's perfect! We just head torwards the tower and wait there for somebody else to come by! I even took a picture of the map when she wasn't looking!"
Mido snorted. "Come on, Link, we'd have a much better chance if we went up top. That way, we'd be able to go from section to section and ambush whoever we want!"
The girl shook her head. "I doubt that you're the only person who's thought of that, Mido. If we go up there, we'll be completely exposed. We wouldn't stand a chance against some of these guys. We need to think strategically. If we've got a map, then we should use it to find the best ambush spot and go for it."
"What an awesome plan, Saria! Glad I thought of it!" As Mido looked awfully proud of himself, Link, Saria, and Naruto all sweatdropped. Naruto sighed. That guy is more of an idiot than I am! Wait, that didn't come out right… As he was thinking, he wasn't really paying attention to where he was going, and accidentally bumped into somebody.
"HEY! Watch where you're going, punk! I oughta… wait a minute… hey, boys, look who we've got here. Looks like it's our lucky day…"
Naruto only had one thing to say: "Uh, do I know you?"
Kasek: I'm just going to stop it right there. Yes, a cliffhanger, but at least I managed to make it both dramatic and funny at the same time… I think. And yes, I know it's not nearly up to the length standards I normally set for myself, but I really wanted to get this chapter out as soon as I could, and that seemed like a good place to stop...
Who did Naruto bump into? How do they know him? Why am I asking these questions? The answer to these (except that last one) and more reside in the next chapter.
It'll be exciting from hereon in. I've got the entire story completely planned out now, just need to write it. Hehehe… well, send in your reviews, please! I need criticism, or else I won't change the way I write! Which might not be a bad thing...
