Grim Reaper of Iwa
Chapter 12
Well, I was going to put in another filler chapter, but I thought better of it. Just seemed annoying to me. So, onto the next arc….the Chunin Exams in Iron Country!
Onoki stared at his new students from behind his desk with a blank face. These kids were something else. There weren't many, but they managed to take down all of their pathetic missing ninja that wanted to cause problems for his village.
Now they were ready for anything that came there way. Hopefully the Chunin Exams in Iron Country will provide them more experience that they needed.
Hopefully for him, they didn't end up destroying the place like with that one village. He didn't remember name anymore because these idiots blew it off the map!
Flashback!
Onoki stared at the mushroom cloud that he sent his team to in utter shock. "What the hell did they do this time!" He raged.
XXX
"So, what you are saying is that Hataraku basically transformed that town into his sick image of clay and posed as all the towns' people? And with that forbidden jutsu to do it?" Onoki asked the beaten up looking kids and their temporary team leader. With everyone nodding, the old man sighed before tears started falling from his face. "I am going to have so much paperwork for this!"
The group just stared at him in pity.
End Flashback!
"In a few days, you and another team will be taking the Chunin Exam in Iron Country. I hope you are ready for this. Especially since it is in Iron Country. The Exams are almost never there and when it is, it is usually pretty difficult."
"Anything we should know?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Yes, there are only two parts to this. They don't do the paper exam that Konoha has and from what I have seen, you don't need it." Onoki stated.
"Well, that's good, we don't need Naruto to blow a fuse." Haku replied with smirk.
"Oh ha girly boy." Naruto deadpanned.
"Enough you two." Kurotsuchi stated in a sickly sweet voice that sent shivers down their spines. "So, when do we leave old man?"
"You leave tomorrow." Onoki replied, "You may want to pack now while you have the chance. Dismissed….well except Naruto because I have to speak with him." Haku and Kurotsuchi exchanged a glance but said nothing as they nodded and left.
"What did you need me for old man?" Naruto asked seriously. After all, the old kage didn't speak to you in private for nothing.
"In the near future, you will be making difficult choices involving your future." Onoki started. "You are my prize student and so, it makes you very desirable to certain groups. What I want you to decide in the future is this. Do you want to join a special group like ANBU or the others in my village, or are you up to the task of creating your own group?"
"Why are you asking me this now?" Naruto asked, genuinely confused.
Onoki sighed. "To tell you the truth, I gave Deidara the same option once upon a time and he created the Explosion Corp. It went well for a while until he went nuts. The reason I am asking this is because….like Deidara, I see you as a potential candidate for the position of Tsuchikage."
"Huh!? Why me, why not your granddaughter?" Naruto asked bluntly.
Onoki smiled sadly. "For the same reason I had not given the position to my daughter before she died in the last war. For the simple reason, no the rule set forth by the 1st Tsuchikage. One cannot give the position to their family members and I am not sure Kurotsuchi's father is up to the task, plus he has never been that interested anyway."
"I see, but why me?"
"I am getting old Naruto, I may not have much time left and with you three as my last students, it has given me happiness, but out of the three, you hold the most potential. Kurotsuchi is a family member, so that is out the window. Haku is level headed yes, but lacks the potential and power you do. So with them as your future advisors, I feel that with my training and their support, you will make a fine Tsuchikage.
"O…k." Naruto said, not sure how to respond to all of this.
"Naruto there is no need to respond for this right now, but I will tell you two other things. If you decide to make a group, you will need members and I have a feeling that not all in the villaqge will join, so you should be on the lookout for people on the road that could fit the bill. The other thing is…how should I say this? I am setting up alliances with other villages, but they won't become official until after the Exams."
"Ok, so why are you telling me that." Naruto asked, not understanding.
"Lately there has been a popular method to alliances. Some do plain old treaties while others do….political marriages to strength those treaties." Onoki stated with an emotionless face, looking at Naruto's confused face that was starting to understand. "I am too old to get remarried, my son, again, has no interest, and I don't feel comfortable making Kurotsuchi do this. So I again looked to you since you will probably try and revive your clan here….same with Haku,but he has Guren and that girl can be freaking scary when pissed."
"I see, but that is a bit much!" Naruto said with a red face.
"True, but you and Kurotsuchi already have a thing going on, so this course could be advantageous." It was then Onoki saw that Naruto was not even looking at him. Was the boy really that dense? "Oh come on, you are not together yet."
"Well…" Naruto began, getting a groan from his leader. "I am not sure if she feels the same way. But…maybe I'll find out during the exams. By the way, how many villages are we talking if you are going to do this?"
Onoki gave Naruto, an 'are u stupid' look for the Kurotsuchi comment before sighing. "Honestly, I was going to try an alliance with Suna since they seem to be forgoing their treaty with Konoha due to you. I think the girl they will offer is someone name Temari." He smirked to himself when Naruto blushed. "Then for Kumo….i am not sure."
"I see. Well, I'll get back to you later on that then." Naruto said, still not sure what to say about all this. It was after all, a bit much to take in.
"Very well, I will see you in the Chunin Exam finals then, good luck." Onoki stated.
XXX – In the Land of Iron
"Man, this place has not changed…at all." Naruto deadpanned.
"What did you expect?" said Guren with smirk as the two teams entered the village where the chunin exams were being held.
All six genin were there to take the exam, Naruto, Haku, Kurotsuchi, Guren, Akatsuchi, and Suzumebachi were all ready for what lay ahead.
"So what should we do first?" Akatsuki asked.
"Well, it would advantageous if we get to our hotel now before the other teams get all the good rooms." said Haku.
"Heh, from what you told us, we might be already set up with the good rooms if Naruto is with us." Suzumebachi replied with smirk.
"You never know." Kurotsuchi replied, a little irked when she heard about Naruto's relationship with Mifune's daughter from Guren herself.
Oh? Is someone pissed? Someone needs to make a move soon. Guren thought with a smirk as they made their way through the snowy village of Iron Country.
As they walked, Naruto, Guren, and Haku noticed there were a lot more Samurai patrolling the streets. With young ninja around here to prove themselves, that means that fights could spring up at any moment and the samurai were ready for anything. Speaking of ninja, it seemed that they had already made it here as well.
Of course some would already be here. Naruto thought as he was instantly on guard. They probably left earlier than we did. Let's see what we have here. Some Kiri nins, which is odd, but I guess even they can afford to bring ninja here during a war. I don't see any Suna nins just yet. Naruto then saw a few Kumo ninja, but they were already too far away to talk to. He would try and talk to them later, be friendly to future allies and all that. Now, that only left…
"NARUTO!"
…Konoha. Naruto brought up his hood, his long hair covering one of his eyes as he turned to look at the people he turned his back on, one once upon time. His teammates and friends backed him up, knowing what Konoha would try to do.
Looking at the person who called his name, he was treated with the sight of his old crush, Sakura Haruno. Next to her was Sasuke Uchiha, the emo looking a little brighter, but not much. Then there was their new teammate. He was deathly pale looking kid with jet black hair that was cut in a bowl like fashion. He was wearing a black shirt that stopped at his stomach, which show he was fully pale. He wore the standard black pants and black shinobi sandals. What was creepy about this kid is that he showed absolutely no emotion at all. However, Naruto saw the calculating gaze the boy was sending him and he didn't like it.
Next was Hinata Hyuuga's team. Hinata, Kiba, and Shino didn't even look like they had changed at all, but the looks they were giving him creeped him out a bit. Well…Shino's look was still neutral, the boy never showed any emotion as well. That, Naruto could deal with.
Last was Shikamaru's team. Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji still looked that same well, but while lazy, except for Ino of course, they were giving him the same looks as well.
That look, it was the look that they knew what he was, who he was, and who his parents where. Like they didn't know how to react with him around now that they knew that information. But that look was combined with something else. Like they couldn't believe he was wearing something other than kill me orange.
It annoyed him to no end.
"What." was his simple response.
Of course they all looked a bit offended by that one word response. Sakura was the one to speak for all of them, although Ino looked ready to burst as well. "Is that all you can say after you ditched us you baka!" Sakura screamed with tears in her eyes as she acted on instinct and threw a punch to his face.
What happened next shocked all the ninja from Konoha. Naruto caught the punch with ease and an annoyed look on his face. However, it was the sound that got many quirking an eyebrow. It was the sound of flesh and bone hitting metal. Sakura grimaced in pain at the contact and tried to retract her fist, but Naruto's grip was to strong.
"No longer will I take a punch from you." Naruto said with anger in his voice. "I have had enough of being your whipping boy. Next time you try it, I will rip off your arm."
"So, you are different now without a mask to hide your true emotions." Sasuke stated grimly. This new tone Naruto was taking with them was dangerous for them, he need to tread lightly.
Shino picked up on Sasuke's thought process and nodded to himself before asking the question that was on everyone's mind. "Naruto, will you return to Konoha after the Chunin Exams?"
Naruto sent him a glare, but not much else. Despite only having one eye visible underneath that hood, it was still scary.
"W-we m-miss you." Hinata stuttered out.
Naruto sighed. He knew that some of his old classmates did accept him, but to him that was not enough. Not when the whole village hated and feared him for stupid things. Kurotsuchi saw Naruto was having a hard time with them and was going to intervene, but Naruto spoke again.
"No, I will not comeback." Naruto replied and before Kiba could retort. "I know what has happened since I left, hell the rest of the country knows." He paused at that in thought, wondering how word spread so quickly. "But still, I will not comeback. I will not come back to a place and hates a fears me. The only thing I hold against you all is that you never took the time to get to know the real me when you had the chance."
"But the village needs you." Choji injected.
Naruto saw the boy was just trying to be nice, like always, but he didn't see what Naruto saw. "No the village needs their icon and weapon back. I will not be that. Some may have changed their views on me, but not for the right reasons. They still see me as a demon and fear me for it, they also fear that when they die, they will have face my father's wrath. Nothing has really changed in Konoha, trust me."
"I suppose we can't change your mind, troublesome." Shikamaru stated with a sigh. "But please sate my own curiosity, what it with your arm?"
Naruto smirked darkly as he pulled up his sleeve to show them his all metal arm, making some gasp. "This is my metal arm."
"What the hell happened to make you get that?" Ino asked.
"This is what happens when you go toe to toe with an S-class missing ninja and they let you live. Me, Haku, and Guren fought him, but we lost. He was just toying with us."
"Damn, who did you fight man." Kiba asked, at little put off. He and Akamaru noticed that Naruto's scent a changed a bit, but this was nuts. They thought it was just from being in another country.
Haku groaned to himself when he saw Naruto look at the younger Uchiha with a dark smile. Guren just rolled her eyes while the other three Iwa ninja looked nervous. Naruto spoke while looking directly at Sasuke, something Shikamaru and Shino noticed before the others did, "We fought a certain Uchiha." Shino thought he saw Naruto's metal hand glow a faint orange. His form grew darker, like shadow were wrapped all around him and his lone eye turned blood red. If you looked closely though, you could see that it was the Sharingan "He maybe have taken my arm, but I took….his soul!"
Sasuke seemed to have understood what Naruto said and his mind ignored all rational thought and his earlier thoughts to stay on Naruto's good side. Itachi was his quarry dammit! "YOU BASTARD! HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE BY MY HANDS!" He screamed as he threw a punch to Naruto's face.
Shikamaru thought Naruto was going to catch the punch like he did with Sakura, but he just left the Uchiha hit him. What was more shocking was that the fist continued, like Naruto wasn't even there, the strange black smoke giving no resistance.
The reactions to this were all mixed, but they are revolved around being shocked.
"Oh….temper, temper Sasuke." Naruto voice rang out from the black smoke. His hands came out and grabbed the Uchiha's forcing them behind the supposed elite ninja. "Trust me, he is not dead. Even with all the training I went through, I could not hope to beat him and if can't beat him, neither can you."
"Bullshit, I am the rookie of the year! I am the elite-" Sasuke stated.
"Of a bunch of kids." Naruto interrupted. "Compared to what we have been through, Konoha's academy teachings are weak."
"So what, I am an Uchiha!" Sasuke growled as he tried to free himself.
"Sasuke, did you forget how strong your brother was as a kid? He was a teen when he did what he did. Can you honestly say that as you are now, that you can pull off what he did?"
That froze Sasuke in place. Naruto was right. However as he relaxed and Naruto let go of him, he smirked arrogantly at the blond that reformed in front of him. "Heh, if I can't fight him just yet, I prove that I can beat you, after all, I am an Uchiha. I have to prove my mantel by beating the 4th Hokage's legacy."
"We'll see." Naruto replied with his own arrogant smirk.
The group from Iwa were now very confused. Where they best friends or something? They thought some big fight would erupt, but not this! Plus, the Konoha ninja were dumbfounded as well. However, some like Shikamaru and Shino were trying to figure out Naruto smoke jutsu. And they should have known not much would have changed between them.
"Well, I guess the two of you have to prove your worth since you are both dickless." Came the first reply from the unknown pale boy that replaced Naruto on team 7.
"UGH! SHUT THE HELL UP SAI!" Sakura roared, making everyone wince at the volume. "HE DOES TOO HAVE ONE!"
"Are you sure, have you checked?" Sai asked simply, getting a sputtering response from Sakura and an eyebrow raise from Ino.
"I don't know about the Uchiha, but I can vouch for Naruto." A familiar voice stated. The two groups turned as one to see a tanned girl with green hair, who was none other than Fu.
"FU!" Guren shouted in glee as she hugged the girl, but she decided to tease the boys a bit and made it look sexy, which Fu caught onto and just went with it.
Kiba, after wiping the blood from his nose, decided to ask, "Who is that and what does she mean?"
"Actually, I want to know how big it was." came soft voice. Again, the groups turn to the new voice and saw that it the familiar visage of white hair and amber orange eyes of Misa, Mifune's daughter.
Ok, now Naruto was sweating, these girls obviously had a thing for him and well, this was going to be difficult talking to Kurotsuchi. Speaking of said girl, "Naruto, who are these girls?" her sickly sweet voice piercing him with fear as he dared not to look at her.
"We are friends of sorts." Misa replied with a smirk. "And I came to let the Iwa teams know they are bunking in our mansion."
"Sweet!" Akatsuchi and Suzumebachi cheered while Haku smiled politely and Guren thanked the girl in her own pervert way, getting the boys to have nose bleeds again.
"Naruto, you still have not answered my question." Kurotsuchi stated as she put a hand on his shoulder. Naruto looked to Haku and Guren and then to the Konoha ninja for help but they are seemed entertained by his dilemma. Figures. However, he was saved by the next voice.
"My my Naruto, I knew you were smooth, but you seem to be quite the lady's man. I like that, makes things more….sexy." An obviously female voice stated seductively and with some mirth, like they were trying to hold back from laughing. He didn't need to look to know it was Temari and from the sniggers near her, her brothers were there as well.
Nope, not saved, he was utterly doomed!
So…he did the only thing that he knew would save him….well, for a few hours anyway. He ran like hell! "GOTTOGO! BYE!" With that, he was gone in a poof of smoke.
Kurotsuchi looked a little pissed by that. She wanted answers because she was pursuing the blond idiot. She genuinely had feelings for him. Glaring at the girls, she ordered, "Back off. I will win!"
"Is that a challenge?" Misa asked with a kind smirk.
"So what if it is?" Kurotsuchi asked heatedly.
"Then we won't make it easy one you, after all, I am the furthest ahead." Fu replied with a perverted grin.
"This should be fun." Temari stated with a grin of her own.
"Um, I want him too!" Hinata suddenly said, although it was softly spoken, it was still heard. The 4 girls stared her down before completely ignoring her in their competitive glares. They felt she was no threat to them. Harsh.
"Damn." Kiba stated. "Some guys get all the luck in the world. First Sasuke and now Naruto. So unfair!"
"Better him than me. Too troublesome." Shikamaru stated before trudging off to the hotel, already having enough of this. Choji shrugged and followed him.
However, this incident renewed a certain spark in Sakura and Ino's eyes as they launched themselves at Sasuke as he tried and failed to make his own getaway.
Kiba was left alone with his team as he silently cried at the unfairness of the world before they too left with Sai, who was now giving off that creepy fake smile of his and insulting the dog boy.
XXX
"I'm alive?" Naruto asked himself a fair distance away from the group of girls that wanted him and would probably make his life difficult. Maybe he should have mentioned the future treaties?
"So it would seem, but who are you?" A male voice asked. He was a dark skinned boy with the usual Kumo armor and white hair. "No wait, are you here to interrogate us in your own special way to make us reveal the secrets of our village, causing us to have to kill you and then causing an international incident before the Chunin Exams even start? OW!" The boy was hit by his teammate, a dark skinned girl with red hair.
"Shut up Omoi!" She screamed.
Another female voice sigh at this and caught Naruto's attention. She was a white girl with short blond hair, grey outfit with mesh underneath, a skirt and high heeled sandals with red hand guards. Another thing that caught his attention was her quickly developing breasts, which were on par with Temari's! "You have to forgive Omoi and Karui's antics, they are currently being uncool."
"It is fine…just a bit odd." Naruto said with a sweatdrop at this girl's perpetual aloof look. "Oh, by the way, I am Naruto Uzumaki." They all seemed to perk up at that.
The blond girl nodded and said, "I am Samui. We have heard about you." She seemed to pause a moment before asking. "I assume you know about the treaty Kumo and Iwa will be make soon?"
Naruto blinked, finding it odd that they knew about that already and were talking about it to him. "Yeah, it will be…odd to say the least. I am not exactly sure how this is all going to work." He said with a sigh.
Samui saw this and offered a rare smile. "I am sure you will pull through with whoever you will end up with from our village." She then looked around and then said, "Would you mind having lunch with us? So we can get to know each other and improve village relations?"
Naruto perked up at that. He could worry about the treaties later. Right now he was going to make some new friends. "Yeah, that would be great! I know they one place that serves good food since I was here a few months back." He said, leading away.
XXX
"Tch, should have known that you would be a dom type, Karui." Naruto said
"Why thank you. I'll take that as a compliment." Karui replied.
"You know this is far from over, right?" Naruto replied with a smirk.
"Oh please, you can't win." Karui stated.
"Wanna say that again when I use my metal arm?"
"No! If you use your metal arm, you could break her arm and kick us both out of the tournament!" Omoi freaked.
"Omoi is right, I don't think a simple game of arm wrestling is worth it." Samui stated.
"Damn, well ok then." Naruto said with a sigh before he eyed Karui. "This is far from over, right."
"We'll see blondie!" Karui laughed. "You know, you ain't half bad. I don't usually trust people this quick, but you are a good guy."
"Thanks?" Naruto replied, a little put off.
"Yeah, when we heard that about the future alliance and the possible political marriage, we started freaking out that you would be like stuck up Uchiha that wanted everything handed to him on a silver platter." Omoi said.
"No, that was just you." Samui countered. "However, we were worried for whoever they choose to be your political wife, but now that we have met and gotten to know you, we are not that worried."
Naruto smiled sadly, "You guys give me too much credit. I am just a reckless kid while likes to have fun in a fight. Personally, I don't think I am ready for this kind of responsibility or that I am the right choice, especially considering the other thing the old man wants me to do."
"Oh, what is that?" Omoi asked.
Naruto froze a little bit, not sure if he should tell them about his future position in Iwa. "Well, I can't really tell you, sorry. But I am sure it will be the talk of the town everywhere in the Elemental Countries if he does decide it."
"Well, whatever it is and if you really are the guy for the alliance marriages, I am sure you will do fine." Samui said kindly.
"Yeah, just have faith in yourself," Karui cheered, "It might be scary at first, but it'll be fine. Just one more thing about being a ninja."
Naruto smiled. "Thanks." He then looked at the near clock in the Bar B Que restaurant they were in and paled. "Well, I need to get back to my team or else they could come looking for me and I am already in deep with one of them. Oh…I hope she doesn't kill me!" Naruto said as he ran out the door before popping his head back in. "Oh, good luck and see you in the Chunin Exams."
Karui smirked. "Strange kid, but I like him."
"Yes, he is pretty cool." Samui replied.
"Well, we better get back to the hotel before we are a later and then sensei will-ow!" Omoi yelled in pain because Karui comically bashed him in the head again and Samui just rolled her eyes.
XXX
When Naruto got back into Mifune's mansion, he was immediately confronted by Kurotsuchi's stern but hurt look while the rest of the Iwa ninjas made their way to him.
Naruto sighed. Onoki never did say that he could not tell them. He just hoped they understood. "Hey guys…" He said dejectedly. "I need to tell you something….all of you."
XXX
And there you go everyone. I wanted to end it sooner, but I still have ideas rattling around in my head. Also, I want to apologize to the Naruto/Hinata fans, I know I was a bit cruel, but this is my story. They will still be friends.
As for the Kumo pairing, I truly torn between Karui, my personal favorite….for a few reasons, and Samui….for the obvious reasons.
Now I am going to play the game I just got. Ni no Kuni. After all, gotta kill time with that and Borderlands for when Pokemon X and Y come in October.
Anyway, I need a lot of reviews please!