(AN: Sorry about how long it's been since I've updated any of my stories, but RL has been a bitch, and it took me forever to re-edit every chapter of my stories. Some of you are probably going to hate what happens in this chapter, but it is needed for the plot. Also a bit more about Tsunade being Naruto's mother is revealed. As always flames will just be ignored. Constructive criticism is always welcome though.)
When the team was approximately 2 kilometers into the forest Naruto called for them to stop. Sasuke had a sour look on his face, while Sakura was curious about what Naruto wanted to say. Seeing he had their attention Naruto pulled the stolen scrolls out with a smirk.
"Since we have both scrolls why don't we head straight to the tower?" He asked nonchalantly.
Seeing his teammates' shocked expressions Naruto's smirk widened.
"How did you get the scrolls?" Sakura exclaimed while Sasuke's fists tightened in anger.
Naruto put the scrolls back before he answered. "I picked the proctor's pocket when she tried that intimidation act right before I kissed Haku-chan. With them we can head straight to the tower without having to worry about wasting time fighting pointlessly while hoping that the next team we run across has the scroll we need."
Sakura was stunned that Naruto-baka was able to think ahead like that, never mind the fact he managed to steal from a Tokubetsu Jonin. Sasuke grit his teeth at how the dobe managed to show him up yet again. Even though it pissed him off to no end he very reluctantly had to admit that Naruto had managed to clear the way for them since there was no reason to fight weak opponents, and those that made it to the finals were sure to be strong. Sasuke allowed a grin to show as he reasoned this out.
"Good job, Dobe. Now we can bypass all of these weaklings, and spend the time training once we finish this stage."
While Sakura stared in open mouthed shock Naruto just blinked in surprise before laughing. "Let's get going then." Naruto said before jumping off the tree he was in, and was quickly followed by Sasuke. Sakura stared after them for a moment before her brain caught up with events, and she ran after them.
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Sarutobi Hiruzen was enjoying a leisurely smoke break with some chè sen tea when the chunin Anko had sent burst through the door.
"Hokage-sama, I have an emergency report from Mitarashi Anko!"
Sarutobi went from relaxed to full on "Hokage mode" hearing this, and set his pipe down before leaning forward.
"Report."
The chunin hearing the tone of the Hokage's voice immediately stood at attention. "Hai! Three bodies were found outside Training Ground #44, and Tokubetsu Jonin Mitarashi upon arriving at the scene ordered me to report to you. The corpses were found faceless, and Mitarashi-san quickly identified the person behind the deaths. She said "Notify the Hokage immediately! Tell him Orochimaru is in the village!" She then growled before thrusting me away from her, and turning to Haku-san. Ordering her to report to the Hokage tower, and remain silent about the situation until you order otherwise."
The old man felt his age hearing that one of his greatest mistakes had returned to the village, but had a duty to his people. Signaling one of the hidden ANBU to appear before him he began giving orders.
"I want three full squads of ANBU in that forest now! They are to locate, and contain Orochimaru until backup arrives before attempting to arrest him. Also Locate Anko, and have her brought to me in chains if necessary." He then turned to the chunin signaling the ANBU to leave. When the masked ninja disappeared in a swirl of leaves Sarutobi spoke.
"This is to be kept as quiet as possible so the people don't panic. When Yuki Haku arrives at the tower tell her to come to my office at once."
The chunin saluted, and quickly left closing the door behind him. When he left Sarutobi slumped in his chair feeling every day of his 70 years. After taking a long sip of his tea, and relighting his pipe he seemingly spoke to the empty office.
"Inu, I want you to send a hawk to Jiraiya informing him of the situation, and that he needs to speed up his search since he is needed in the village with Orochimaru on the move."
In response an ANBU with a dog mask stepped out of the shadows, and bowed before using shunshin to carry out his orders.
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While Naruto and Sasuke could have made it to the tower without being winded they had to go at a slower pace than they liked due to Sakura being slower and not having their stamina. This is why they were taking a short break a little over 1km from the tower so that Sakura could rest even though they had only covered 8km. While Sakura sat with her back against the trunk of a tree, Naruto was in the canopy keeping a lookout even though the chances of running into someone this far into the forest was negligible. Sasuke stood with his arms crossed glaring in the direction of the tower thinking about how useless Sakura was being unable to run for more than an hour. Unbeknownst to them they were being snuck up on by someone that was far less than happy about them getting this far before he caught up to them. Using skill far beyond that of a genin the person got with 20 feet of them before Team 7 was hit with a huge burst of Killing Intent causing them to freeze in place. The person walked out from concealment with a disgruntled look on his face.
"I had wanted to test you before doing this, but the risk is too high this close to the tower. Instead I will just give you the gift, and see if you are worthy to use it, Sasuke-kun."
With that being said the person discarded the wicker hat revealing a konoichi from Amegakure. Seeing Sasuke and Sakura shaking caused the girl to smirk before she went through some hand seals. Sasuke's hand had just started to move towards his kunai pouch when he froze up again seeing the kunoichi's neck stretching at a rapid pace. In a matter of seconds the kunoichi had bitten Sasuke on the shoulder causing him to cry out in pain. As he dropped to his knees clutching his shoulder the kunoichi's neck started to shrink back down to normal. As her head settled back into place she started to chuckle as Naruto finally dropped down from the tree.
"What did you do to the Teme?" Naruto yelled out as he took a guard stance infront of Sasuke.
The kunoichi's smirk only grew before she spoke. "When you decide you want the true power of my gift seek out my master, Orochimaru."
Naruto growled as he drew a handful of shuriken to only put them away as the kunoichi melted into mud. Using the sensory granted him from the Jagon he scanned the area coming up empty except for the jonin level signatures approaching from the tower. Hearing a grunt from behind him Naruto turned around in time to see Sasuke pass out with Sakura still frozen in fear. He quickly moved over to Sasuke, and rolled him over onto his back before checking his pulse. Giving out a sigh of relief at finding him still breath he looked over his shoulder at Sakura who was shaking while staring at Sasuke.
"Snap out of it, Sakura! He's still alive, but we need to get him to the tower fast."
Her eyes darted from Sasuke to Naruto hearing his harsh tone. Gathering herself together she took a deep breath before nodding. "Yeah let's hurry before whoever that was comes back."
She had only taken 2 steps in their direction when she fell back with a scream as 4 ANBU and 3 jonin dropped from the trees. The ANBU with a white cloak signifying that he was a captain took a quick look around before telling the rest to spread out. He stood there for a moment before walking over to where Naruto was kneeling by Sasuke.
"What happened here, Uzumaki-san?"
"Some Ame kunoichi released a massive burst of Killing Intent that caused me to slip from the branch I was on while keeping lookout so Sakura could rest before we went into the tower. I managed to catch myself before I fell too far, and started to make my way back down. When I managed to get down I saw the kunoichi using some kind of neck stretching jutsu to bite Sasuke-teme. I then dropped to the ground and took up a guard position between them, and asked her what she was doing. She just smiled, and said that if Teme wanted the true power of her gift to seek out Orochimaru than melted into mud."
The ANBU captain turned his head to Sakura receiving a nod in reply to his unasked question. He then knelt down next to Sasuke, and started running a diagnostic jutsu over him. By the time he had finished the jutsu, and was looking at the bite mark that now looked like three tomes the other jonin and ANBU had started to return.
"There is no trace of the attacker left, Taicho." One of the ANBU said.
The captain sighed, and stood back up before looking at the conscious members of Team 7. "Do you have both of the scrolls required for this part of the exam?"
Naruto nodded, and took out both of the scrolls he had swiped from Anko showing them to the ANBU captain.
"Good. Kuma, take Uchiha-san to the infirmary, and notify Hokage-sama about what has happened here." The captain said looking at the ANBU in a bear mask before turning back to Naruto, and Sakura. "You two take the scrolls to the tower, and inform whoever shows up that they are to take any questions they have to Hokage-sama."
Sakura and Naruto both gave assenting nods as they watched their teammate disappear with the Kuma ANBU not noticing the captain signaling for the others to move out. After the jonin and ANBU had left Naruto shook his head wondering how the day went to hell when it started so well.
"Think you can make it to the tower at a sprint, Sakura?" He asked his obviously distraught teammate.
"Huh? Oh. Yeah I think so, Naruto." She said still looking at where Sasuke had been laying.
Naruto walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder drawing her attention. "He's going to be alright. That ANBU was taking him to the infirmary not the hospital so whatever was done to him can't be that bad. We should get going. The sooner we get to the tower the sooner you can see him. Ok?"
Sakura nodded her head with a small smile of gratitude. "Then what are we waiting for?"
Naruto smiled seeing some of her fire return. "You." He said before jumping into a tree, and heading to the tower.
"Naruto, you baka!" Sakura yelled giving chase.
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As the sun began to rise above the trees in the forest a figure could be seen rolling over on the roof of the tower to keep the sunlight out of his eyes. A few minutes later he sighed giving up on staying asleep, and stretched. Checking the position of the sun he saw that it was around 8am, and decided to head to the cafeteria for breakfast. On his way there he decided to check in on Sakura seeing as she was the reason he ended up sleeping on the roof. Entering the room that Team 7 was assigned he saw the pinkette curled up in a ball on one of the beds. He walked over to her, and brushed some hair out of her face noticing that her pillow as well as her face was stained with tears.
Letting out a soft sigh he couldn't help but feel pity for her. He could only imagine what he would be going through if something happened to Haku. Yeah Sakura was a fangirl of the first order that only fell for the "Tragic Uchiha Heir", a bitch, and pathetic as a kunoichi, but she was still his teammate. Taking a moment to send a prayer to Kami for Sasuke's wellbeing, if only for Sakura's sake, he bowed his head. With that done he wrote a small note saying he'd be busy for most of the day, and to ask any of the chunin or jonin in the tower if she needed anything. He then folded it so she could see it standing on the nightstand by her bed before continuing to the cafeteria.
An hour later Naruto was wandering around the tower when an ANBU appeared.
"Hello, ANBU-san." Naruto said coming to a stop.
"Hello, Uzumaki-san. Hokage-sama wants to see you."
"Do you know what for?"
"Sorry, Uzumaki-san, but I do not."
"Oh well I'll find out soon anyway." The teen said walking up to the ANBU only to disappear in a puff of smoke a moment after the ANBU placed a hand on his shoulder.
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Hiruzen sat behind his desk rubbing his temples to alleviate the growing headache he had from the situation with Orochimaru. Letting out a deep breath his eyes fell to the message he got that morning from Jiraiya informing him that he had found Tsunade, and that they should be back in the village within the week. So far that was the only good news he had since finding out Naruto had a girlfriend. He had just finished putting the scroll in a drawer of his desk when an ANBU with Naruto arrived.
"Thank you for bringing him, Risu. You can wait outside with my other guest for now." The Hokage said before getting a bow from the squirrel masked ANBU. "Sit down, Naruto." The old man stated gesturing to one of the chairs.
"What's up, Jiji?"
"I just wanted to see how you were doing after that incident in the Forest."
"I'm alright. But Sakura was up crying herself to sleep sometime in the middle of the night. I ended up sleeping on the roof of the tower to give her some time to be alone. How is the teme doing anyway?"
Hiruzen sighed, and started to fill his pipe. "He is currently unconscious after having the mark sealed, and being looked after by med Nin in case anything happens. He should be up and about later today or tomorrow. I am sorry to hear about Sakura, and will have someone take her to see a Yamanaka after this part of the exams is over."
Naruto nodded hearing this knowing Ino would help her best friend/rival. "That will probably help out a lot."
Taking a puff off his pipe Hiruzen smiled at Naruto. "On a brighter note I hear you managed to embarrass the proctor before the 2nd stage even began."
Remembering that particular event Naruto could only chuckle while rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah I hope Haku-chan isn't still mad at me."
"Oh I wouldn't worry about that. She has been worried sick about you since yesterday. My ANBU reported that she had to be taken to a spare room since she refused to leave the tower incase news came in about you. I wouldn't be surprised if you get more injures from her tackling you and hugging you then you get from the Exams." The old man said with a chuckle much to Naruto's chagrin.
"I'll be fine as long as she doesn't add her bloodline to it….I hope."
While Naruto was distracted with thoughts about his lady love Hiruzen signaled one of the hidden ANBU to send his other guest in. "So tell me, Naruto. Is what you said about Anko's body in comparison to Haku's true?"
Naruto blushed at this, and tried to think of what to say to this not noticing Haku having stopped dead still upon opening the door. "Uh…well…"
Hiruzen's grin grew seeing a perfect shot for some payback for the paperwork his past pranks had caused. "You do know Anko wouldn't stop going on about how good you are with your hands."
"Wha…!" Naruto managed to get out as he stared open mouthed at the Hokage not believing what he just heard. Haku's face on the other hand was a myriad of emotions ranging from embarrassment, fear, shock, jealousy, and anger before she put her "Game face" back on.
"Hokage-sama, did we not agree that the private details of Naruto-kun and my relationship were not to be discussed again?" The pale beauty said walking into to the room taking note of, but not acknowledging that Naruto's face was now paler than her inner thigh.
The old man put on a serious face, but if one looked closely enough they would see a slight upturn to the corners of his mouth. "True we did, but we were not discussing your relationship with Naruto, but his with Anko." As he said this his façade almost broke seeing Naruto clutch the chair for dear life, and getting close to hyperventilating. 'Ah revenge is sweet, my boy.'
Naruto was having a mental breakdown by this point, and began to seriously consider the odds of successfully cutting his own throat before Haku could get him. 'Oh shit too late!' He thought as he noticed the temperature rapidly drop causing frost to form in the room.
Haku looked slowly between the Hokage, and Naruto who now looked like a deer that is 0.0001 seconds from having its throat torn out by a Bengal tiger before tapping her chin in thought. "You have a point, Hokage-sama, but I feel I must correct you on something. Since the only time another woman can be intimate with Naru-koi is when I bring her to our bed myself it still constitutes as part of our relationship, and is therefore not to be discussed."
The room turned dead silent at her statement with the only exceptions being one of the ANBU falling out of concealment, and Naruto's intelligent reply of "Urk!" as his brain ceased to function, and he swallowed his own tongue. Hiruzen failed to notice Haku's slight smirk, which isn't too surprising considering his mind went off to la la land as his inner pervert conjured images of what her words implied.
Haku reveled in her victory over the small verbal prank war that had just taken place for several minutes before pulling the zombiefied Naruto out of the chair. "Come on, Naru-koi. We don't want you to be too worn out to finish the Exams now do we?"
The only reply she got was a shake of the head as Naruto's brain had yet to reboot enough to do more than follow Haku. Before she closed the office door she decided to give one last parting shot. "Please don't stress yourself too much, Hokage-sama. We wouldn't want you to have a heart attack in your old age since you don't have Naruto-kun's immense…stamina." She said making sure to put special emphasis in her tone.
It was several moments later before the sound of the ANBU that had fallen picking himself up could be heard before he coughed glad his mask hid the shame that was clearly showing on his face. As he entered concealment once again a soft mutter could be heard that matched what everyone in the room was thinking including the female ANBU with waist length violet hair.
"Lucky bastard."
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Several hours later Naruto was lying on his bed in the Forest of Death tower staring at the ceiling thinking about the events that happened throughout the day. Even after all the reassurances Haku had given him earlier he still felt bad about it, and wanted to make it up to her. The only problem was how. He knew that with the restrictions placed on the chunin hopefuls that it would be almost impossible to do until after the Exams. The next problem was figuring out how to do whatever it was he decided to do without having to play "Dodge the zanbato wielding psycho." He'd been lost in thought for over 3 hours when the sound of the door opening caught his attention. Sitting up he noticed Kakashi carrying in a passed out Sakura. After putting the girl to bed Kakashi gestured for Naruto to follow him outside. Once they were outside with the door closed Kakashi began speaking in a quiet voice.
"She's had a rough couple days, Naruto, and being allowed to visit Sasuke was a mistake even though it seems talking with her mother helped."
Naruto crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Do you think they'll be ok enough to finish the Exams?"
"Sasuke will try even if he's on his deathbed, but Sakura…" Kakashi stared at the door across from them for a moment before shaking his head as if to clear old memories. "I honestly don't know. Depending on how her sessions with the Yamanaka go her career as a kunoichi might come to an end very soon."
Even though Naruto no longer had his crush on the pinkette, and thought of her as nothing more than a teammate, he couldn't help but sigh hearing this. "Maybe you can convince Sasuke-teme to go on a date with her in exchange for teaching him a few low rank jutsu. Kami knows if nothing helps that would."
Kakashi cocked an eyebrow at Naruto wondering why the boy that used to nag him about learning new jutsu was suggesting teaching the teme instead as a bribe. "Why would you suggest that?"
"If you haven't noticed Sasuke will do anything to learn something that might help him avenge his clan. You could teach him a jutsu to keep his underwear soft as long as you said it would help kill Itachi."
"Hmmm…While I can't argue with you on that are you sure it would be a good idea to bribe him to go on a date with Sakura?"
"Yeah a date…dates…yeah that just might work!" Naruto said as an idea for his own problem hit him. Naruto turned to face Kakashi with a smile that wasn't as scary as his "Prank Time" one it still sent a chill down spine. "Oh, Kakashi-sensei, can you do me a favor?" Naruto said in a sweet tone that made the jonin very uncomfortable.
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Haku had been told to report to the exam tower on the 4th day since the start of the exam. After she met with Genma she was told to get acquainted with the other medics, and to prepare to use her skills since it looked like there would have to be preliminary matches to cut down on the number of participants for the 3rd exam. After swearing secrecy of the issue she familiarized herself with the infirmary, but as the day went on she felt like she was the butt of some kind of joke. Having faked being an oinin for so long she could feel the humor radiating off of the ANBU stationed throughout the tower. At first she just dismissed it as word having gotten around about what happened in the Hokage's office, but it only seemed to get worse the longer she was there. So when a beautiful silk yukata with an intricate wave design on it was delivered to her she checked it for traps, poisons, seals, and any other types of trickery she could think of. Finding nothing she checked the box it came in only to find a folded note from Naruto.
"Beloved, I hope you like my little gift. If you would give me the honor, privilege and pleasure please put this small gift on, and go to the roof at sunset. I love you, Naruto."
"Naru-koi." She said softly holding the note to her chest as her day just became a lot better. Setting the note aside she carefully changed taking a few extra moments to make any final adjustments, and admire herself in a mirror. After several minutes of allowing some ego boosting at how good she looked, and how her boyfriend could pick out clothes that complemented her so well Haku checked the time, and saw that she should start making her way to the roof.
Haku was so lost in her thoughts about what Naruto was up to that she didn't notice Ino start following her to find out why Haku was so dressed up. With this being the case it is understandable that her situational awareness went down even more when she arrive on the roof and saw Naruto by the railing in a kimono of matching quality to the yukata she was wearing. While she admired her blonde beau from behind as he looked out over the forest in the direction of the setting sun she failed to notice Ino moving into a surveillance position by the stairwell. Walking up behind him Haku slipped her arms around his waist, and rested her head against his shoulder with a content smile on her lips.
Brought out of his thoughts by her contact Naruto couldn't help but smile at how she made his life so full and warm where it had once been nothing but a desolate landscape of emptiness with only a few patches of life before. Gently turning around he wrapped his own arms around her, and met her lips with his own in a chaste, but heartfelt kiss. After a moment that seemed an eternity to the lovebirds he drew back to get a good look at Haku. As he examined her appearance in the new clothes he couldn't help smiling at how beautiful she looked to him. The unintended effect of his facial expression was Haku blushing slightly which was only expounded when her eyes met his.
"I take back everything I said about you being a tenshi because only a megami could look as divinely stunning as you do."
Hearing not only his words but how they were said caused Haku's heart to flutter, and her cheeks to have more than a slight tint of red considering she was far from used to being complimented in such ways. Unbeknownst to Haku who had become lost in her beloved's embrace and Ino who was too busy biting her hand to prevent herself from squealing Naruto had with Hiruzen's permission, commissioned several musicians for the date. The reason neither Haku nor Ino hadn't seen them was that they were set on the upper levels of the roof. With all of this it is more than understandable that Haku, who was lost in the contentment of the moment, jerked in surprise when the strings of a koto were plucked at the same moment that the sun started to sink below the trees. Taking a look around Haku quickly found the source of the music, and couldn't hide her gasp of surprise seeing a group of musicians with a koto, shamisen, biwa, taiko, and shakuhachi. (AN: the song that they are playing is "Asukagawa" by Rin') When she looked to Naruto he merely smiled, and moved her so her back was against his chest before pointing to a Noh performer that had come from hiding behind the raised observation deck the musicians were on.
While the lovers were off in their own world Ino could not believe what she was seeing. The shock of finding out that the "day glow orange knucklehead" was dating Haku was bad enough, but finding out that he could romance someone on such a scale during the Exams let alone at all was more than she thought possible. As she tried to comprehend this before unknown aspect of the prank king the musicians had started playing "Yukari Purple". The blonde gossip's brain was running a mile a minute trying to reconcile this aspect of Naruto with the one that she knew from the academy with no results. Catching some movement out of the corner of her eye she turned her head for a better look only to see a clone setting up a picnic style dinner complete with candles.
With the last rays of the sun starting to disappear as the sky changed from a collage of orange and red to twilight blue, and purple the music became mellower as the musicians started playing "Sakura sakura". Hearing the prearranged change in music Naruto knew that the next part of the date had been set up, and opened his eyes in order to kiss Haku's neck.
"Would you do me the honor of joining me for dinner, Kamigami no ōjo?" He whispered as he held his hand out toward where the food was.
Haku couldn't hide the shiver, and slight moan that escaped her even if she wanted to as Naruto's breath caressed the skin he had just kissed. Opening her own eyes she looked where his arm was directed causing her to smile at the lengths her beloved would go to for her. Gently removing herself from his arms she drifted over to where the blanket was spread out, and took note that the music had become lighter and purely instrumental.
"You didn't have to do all this, Naru-koi." She said looking over the finger foods arrayed before her.
Naruto couldn't help but let loose a sigh of relief that Haku liked what he had planned especially how hard it was to convince the Hokage to let him do this. Settling himself next to her he brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear, and looked into her eyes with his hand cupping her cheek.
"Being the lowly ningen that I am I would do whatever it takes to keep a megami such as yourself by my side." He said softly before leaning in and kissing her.
Feeling her eyes start to water, and a spike of jealously grow in her heart Ino decided it was time to leave the lovers be, and slipped back into the tower. Halfway down the stairs she let the tears flow freely as she clutched her heart as what she had seen brought everything she knew about not only Naruto, but everyone else she knew into question. These thoughts were mainly focused on Sasuke, and her crush on him. If she had been so wrong about Naruto could she be just as wrong about Sasuke? While part of her was in adamant denial of that thought another part of her was in agreement. Either way she was terrified of the answers she would get. Without realizing it she had walked to where the genin rooms were, and bumped into her sensei in the hallway.
"You ok, Ino?" Asuma Sarutobi asked as he held his hand out to help her up if she needed it.
Ino was shaken back to reality from the harsh landing her butt took on the stone floor, and looked up in confusion at him. "Sorry, sensei." She mumbled blushing slightly in embarrassment before taking the offered hand.
Once she was back on her feet Asuma looked her over a little more carefully. "I asked if you're ok, Ino. You seem a bit distracted."
The blonde sighed deeply, and brushed her ponytail over her shoulder as she searched for words. "I don't know, Asuma-sensei. I just saw something that makes me doubt everything I thought I knew."
Asuma ran a hand through his hair seeing the lost and confused look on her face, and barely restrained himself from lighting a cigarette. "Shikamaru and Choji are at the mess hall if you want to talk about it privately."
Looking up at her sensei she could see the concern in his eyes, and sighed before nodding her head. "I would appreciate that a lot." She said with a weak smile.
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The next day found the genin teams that had made it to the tower gathered on elevated walkways on the sides of an arena while on an elevated area stood the Hokage, and several jonin. Naruto was only listening with half an ear as he scanned the area trying to find Haku. While their date the night before had gone over very well he still hadn't had a chance to really talk with Haku since she had fallen asleep, and he had to carry her back to her room. After several minutes of being unable to spot her, he gave a dejected sigh and hoped he'd be able to see her soon. Feeling a hand on his shoulder he looked over to see Kakashi eye smiling at him.
"Don't worry, Naruto. I'm sure you'll do fine."
Said teen was confused for a moment until he remembered that they had to have preliminary matches to cut down on the number of genin in the finals, and had missed the start of Sakura and Ino's fight. Shaking his head slightly he gave a wry smile.
"It's not that, Kakashi-sensei. I just haven't been able to spend much time with Haku-chan over the last week. After spending so much time with her between Wave and the Exams it just feels…" He paused here in an attempt to find the right words, but gave up after a moment. "Well it just feels wrong. I don't know how else to describe it."
Kakashi caught the sincerity of his words, and smiled at him under his mask. "You have to remember that you are both ninja, and there will times where you won't see each other for weeks or even months depending on the missions you two have to take. I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's the truth. The length of some of the missions we are required to go on that cause us to be separated from the ones we love is the biggest reason so few ninja have serious relationships especially with civilians. The only advice I can offer is to cherish the time you spend together, so that you can look forward to the next time you see each other instead of lamenting the time you are apart."
As much as Naruto didn't like it he knew his sensei was right. "I understand, Sensei. I just hope that I won't be on too many long term missions since Haku-chan won't be taking very missions with having to work at the hospital."
Kakashi eye smiled at Naruto once more, and patted him on the shoulder. "It will all work out, Naruto. In the meantime I better collect our teammate."
Naruto looked down into the arena to see that Sakura and Ino had somehow knocked each other out. 'How the hell did that happen?' He asked himself dumbfounded that such a thing happened outside of a civilian fight. A few minutes later the board showed the names of Uchiha Sasuke and Sabaku no Gaara.
"This isn't going to end well." Naruto said as he hoped Sasuke would forfeit if Gaara was as dangerous as he thought he was.
Sasuke smirked seeing his name come up, and headed down the stairs confident that no mere desert trash could stand up to an Uchiha. Gaara on the other hand was hoping that this opponent would be worthy to prove his existence. As the sand around his feet began to move in preparation for a Suna shunshin Temari and Kankuro to a step back knowing just how psychotic their younger brother was. With both competitors in the arena the sickly jonin raised his arm.
"Are you both *cough* ready?"
Without breaking the staring contest the two had each on gave a nod of ascent with Sasuke being the only one to slip into a fighter's stance. Seeing them both ready the jonin dropped his arms and jumped back by the Hokage.
"Hajime!"
Seeing his opponent just stand there with his arms crossed Sasuke gave a snort before rushing Gaara. Opening with a simple right hook Sasuke can't up but smirk as Gaara doesn't even move, but that quickly changes when his punch is blocked by sand. Upping his speed with each attack that is blocked Sasuke to no effect much to his ire. This went on for a minute before Gaara spoke.
"It seems your blood isn't worthy to give Mother."
Hearing this pissed Sasuke off to no end at the insult to not only himself but to his entire clan, and almost missed burst of sand Gaara sent at him. With the aid of a chakra enhanced leap Sasuke dodged the attack before growling as he went through hand seals.
"We'll see whose blood is unworthy. Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" The only response Gaara had to seeing the fireball shoot towards him was a slight smirk before a wall of sand shot up blocking the jutsu. Seeing this Sasuke started to sprint around Gaara going through another set of hand seals. "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu." With the jutsu released he jumped into the air sending a spread of shuriken from each hand in hopes that one of the attacks would get through the sand. Unfortunately this was not the case as a massive wall had formed blocking all of the attacks including the shuriken hidden in the fire jutsu. Seeing this Sasuke's hands clenched tightly causing the seal on his shoulder to flare up.
"Pathetic." Gaara said in his usual monotone as he turned around to face Sasuke. Raising his hand palm up until it was at chest level he smirked at the grimace on Sasuke's face before quickly closing hand as if he had just caught a ball. "Sabaku Kyū."
Sasuke tried to dodge the attack, but was too slow as he was still griping his shoulder in pain. He kicked and punched the sand trying to disperse it enough, and it seemed to work for a brief moment, but sadly it was not to be. The reason for this is that when Gaara saw Sasuke go for an aerial kick his loosely held fist tightened causing the sand to shoot up around Sasuke entrapping him from the stomach down. Sasuke struggled to get free as he felt the sand crawl up to his chest.
"Mother is thirsty." As Gaara said this a maniacal gleam could be seen in his eyes, and he called out a final technique before the proctor could call the match. "Sabaku Sōsō."
The blood curdling scream of agony that was ripped from Sasuke sent chills down the spines of everyone in the room, and the wet gurgling of the pureed gore that was the last Uchiha from the heart down being forced out of his mouth caused nearly all of the genin to vomit. It was a grotesque, and gory scene as Gaara drew his sand back into his gourd leaving what remained of Sasuke spilled across the floor. The cold and callous way that Gaara ended the hopes of many a fangirl as well as influential members of Konoha even shocked the veteran jonin. The proctor looking even sicker than he was turned to the Hokage for his judgment only to receive a nod in return. Swallowing what bile had managed to make its way up his throat called the match.
"Winner Sabaku no Gaara!"
While Gaara walked back to his teammates the medics gave him a wide birth as they began to gather up the remains of Sasuke. Naruto spotting Haku among the medics jumped over the railing, and pulled her aside talking with her in hushed tones. Hiruzen was deep in thought knowing this would cause a shit storm within Konoha. The only consolation was that whatever plans Danzo had around the boy were now all moot. Catching sight of Naruto speaking with Haku a thought occurred of how to bring some type of distraction if not calming to the obviously rattled genin in the room. Gesturing to one of the chunin nearby he signaled for him to bring the musicians that were still in the tower.
Unbeknownst to everyone the Oto jonin was gritting his teeth and balling his fists in rage. Growling in frustration at the massive setback to his plans he had just witnessed he was tempted to kill Gaara, but pushed the thought aside as it would remove a rook from the game far too early. With there being no more reason for him to be there he made sure everyone was focused elsewhere before slipping out of sight.
After several long minutes for everyone the Hokage stepped forward to speak using chakra to amplify his voice. "It is always hard to lose a comrade even under the best of circumstances. For those of you that wish to attend his funeral the date and time will be announced tomorrow. For now let us take a moment of silence out of respect for those close to us that have died."
Everyone there minus a select few bowed their heads praying to Kami for the souls of the departed. When a minute had passed the Hokage coughed slightly before stepping back. As he did so the sad sounds of the song "What the Rain Said" could be heard. As the sound of the shamisen carried through the arena it brought fresh tears to those that knew Sasuke primarily Sakura and Ino. As the last notes of the song faded away the board once more began rolling through names for the next match. When the randomization ended it showed the names of Uzumaki Naruto and Inuzuka Kiba.
Seeing his name come up Naruto looks at Kakashi meeting his eye before glancing at Sakura. Kakashi steps closer to Sakura and places a hand on her shoulder before nodding to Naruto in answer to the silent question. Before he can say anything to the pinkette a loud voice full of bravado echoes through the arena.
"Hey dobe are you going to fight or are you going to admit I'm better than you and forfeit?" Kiba yelled boisterously.
Naruto sent a glare at Kiba before vaulting over the railing. "I'm going to make this quick since I have more important things to do than listen to the barking of an impotent omega like you."
Kiba's face clearly showed the anger such a statement caused as he growled. "I'm going to rip your throat out!"
The proctor looked between the two for a moment before giving the signal to start. Kiba ran straight at Naruto with his fist cocked back preparing to knock Naruto's teeth down his throat. Naruto dodged the punch slipping behind Kiba and delivered a thrust kick to his back. As Kiba tried to stand back up Naruto grabbed him around the neck in a sleeper hold wanting to end the match quickly. Unfortunately he had forgotten about Akamaru who ran over and bit his calf. Naruto tried to ignore the dog tightening his hold until Akamaru started to shake his head like he was trying to rip the flesh from the bone. Naruto released Kiba pushing him forward before knocking the dog away with a closed fist backhand that missed his eye by less than an inch causing a loud yelp.
"You bastard!" Kiba roared as he succumbed to his rage. "Tsūga!"
Reacting quickly Naruto dropped down and rolled to where Akamaru was laying still dazed from the hit. Quickly grabbing the dog Naruto pulled out a kunai pressing it to the canine's belly with the point just under the ribs and angled so that a slight thrust would send the blade through Akamaru's stomach to his heart.
"Kiba, forfeit or I kill Akamaru!" Naruto yelled in a slightly chakra enhanced voice.
Kiba was extremely pissed off and wanting to do nothing more than beat Naruto like a drum growled loudly as he took a step toward the blonde. When he did Naruto pressed the kunai just hard enough to draw blood, and force Akamaru to yelp and whimper.
"Your partner's life is on the line, Kiba. Submit or choose to watch him die." Naruto said in a cold tone laced with KI. "Choose. The match or Akamaru's life!"
Kiba was in a very tough spot with his pride, anger, and chance at promotion warring with the ingrained Inuzuka loyalty. After a few minutes of the Mexican Standoff Kiba slumped his shoulders in defeat. "I forfeit."
With the match called Naruto slipped the kunai back into his pouch and held the dog out for Kiba to take. Quickly checking over his partner to assess his wound Kiba sighed in relief that the injuries appeared to be minor before casting a headed glare at Naruto.
"That was low, Naruto. Very low." The Inuzuka boy said through clenched teeth.
"I am sorry, Kiba, but we are shinobi. Save the honorable fights for the samurai." The blond said before walking over to where Kakashi was standing with Sakura nowhere in sight.
"Is she ok, Kakashi-sensei?" He asked wondering how his teammate was doing.
"She passed out from crying, and is asleep in the medical bay. With the way the last week has been she was running on fumes before her match even started, and his both physically and mentally exhausted. She'll probably be asleep for a few hours if you want to check on her. Also Hokage-sama wants me to tell you to wait in the med bay with Haku since he has something important to talk with you both about after the preliminaries are over."
Naruto ran a hand through his hair letting out a sigh at how this day just keeps getting longer. "Alright, Kakashi-sensei. Let me know how the rest of the matches go would ya?"
"No problem, Naruto." Kakashi eye smiled.
Giving a nod and a smile in thanks Naruto headed to the med bay where what was left of his team and his girlfriend were.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX
While the life and death struggle for chunin was going on in Konoha a tall white haired man was walking into a bar. Looking around he quickly spotted a cute brunette with a pig sitting by a very buxom blonde. Making no effort to hide his presence he walked over to their table getting a hesitant smile from the brunette and a glare from the blonde.
"What are you doing here, Jiraiya?" Tsunade said before taking another swig of her sake.
"Is that any way for a beautiful woman to greet her teammate after so long, Tsunade-hime?" He said as he sat down across from her.
"Cut the crap, Jiraiya. You only show up to perv on me or to get me to do something for Konoha."
Jiraiya sighed before his expression went dead serious. "Why didn't you tell me you had a kid?"
Shizune looked between the two Sannin in shock while Tsunade spit out her sake in surprise.
The glare Tsunade leveled on Jiraiya as she wiped up the sake off of her shirt would have melted lead at 100 paces. "You've been spending too much time on your smut if you're starting to believe your fantasies. You know damn well I've never been pregnant!"
Without changing expression or looking away from sundae Jiraiya slid his hand between his ninja mesh armor and his shirt to pull out a large yellow envelope before sliding it across the table to Tsunade. The slug summoner glared at Jiraiya for a few moments before looking over the contents of the envelope. The shock and disbelief of what she was reading could clearly be seen on her face as she reread the papers several times, before slamming the papers onto the table.
"What kind of bullshit is this?! How dare you try to pull a scam like this on me?! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't castrate you and force feed you your balls for this stunt!" The blonde yelled as she leaned over the table in rage.
Jiraiya's eyes never left hers despite the bountiful display mere inches from his face staying silent until a gasp could be heard from Shizune upon seeing the papers.
"Tsunade, those test results are real. Sensei had his own doctor run them 8 times just to be sure."
Tsunade searched his eyes for several long moments before slowly sitting back down realizing just how serious the Toad Sage was. "They have to be false. There is no way he could be my son. I have never been pregnant, and Shizune sure as hell can attest to that! Do you think I wouldn't know if I had a son?"
"If that's true than how do you explain it?" Jiraiya said in a level voice.
"I can't, but I do know for a fact that I have never conceived, carried, or birthed a child ever. Any chance of that died decades ago." She said as memories of her dead lover flashed through her mind.
Seeing the honesty and pain in his teammate he glanced at Shizune seeing there was no deception in what Tsunade had said Jiraiya's expression softened. "I don't know what to tell you, Hime, but one thing is certain is that those medical reports are as real. Sensei sent me to bring you back to Konoha to verify this."
Tsunade picked up the bottle of sake, and downed its contents before shaking her head. "Why is the boy's name, and picture excluded from the report?"
Jiraiya sighed pouring himself a saucer of sake. "Sensei wants to discuss that with you in private. Just imagine the shit storm that would happen just from the rumor of you having a kid? Suna would probably put a price on his head for how you countered Chiyo's poisons. Kumo would have him kidnapped to try to breed the mokuton. Not to mention what Iwa and Kiri would do. He wouldn't even be safe in his own bed."
A look of extreme pain and sorrow crossed Tsunade's face before she lowered her head to stare vacantly at the sake bottle in her hands. While Jiraiya filled up a saucer for himself and pushed another towards Tsunade Shizune couldn't help but look at her master in confusion, shock, and worry. 10 minutes passed in dead silence before Tsunade spoke in a surprisingly meek voice.
"I don't have a choice do I?" She said as if she was speaking with herself. With a heavy sigh Tsunade raised her head to look at Jiraiya clearly displaying the fear that this is nothing more than a trick to get her back into the village. "I'll go to Konoha and run the tests myself, but I warn you now. If this is a joke I'm going to beat you worse than Koharu did when she caught you peeping on her, and Sensei will join what is left of your corpse."
Jiraiya set his saucer down and leaned forward so that his face was only a couple inches from hers. "I've this is I lie I won't put up a fight or try to run away."
After a very long moment Tsunade spoke not taking her eyes from her teammate's. "Shizune, go back to our room, and get everything ready for travel. We leave at dawn."
Shizune scrambled up from her seat and bowed to both of the Sannin. "Hai, Tsunade-sama." She said before hurrying to do her master's bidding.