Chapter 11
Our favorite genins are in the Forest of Death cooking food. Yep making smoke and letting other shinobi know that they were there. It took the duo persuasions of Sakura and Naruto to force Sasuke to let them make a fire in the first place. Then again, Sasuke did not want to make Kyuubi mad at him so he just pretended to be persuaded. It didn't hurt that he was hungry as well.
Sasuke caught some fish while Naruto and Sakura made a small fire.
"Itakdakimasu!" They all said, munching on the fish. Sasuke watched Naruto out of the corner of his eye. He was being especially wary now.
With a demon as a teacher who knows what sadistic things Kyuubi will think up of?
Due to his heightened senses and paranoia, he sensed a person arriving.
"Someone's coming!" He whispered, slowly drawing out a kunai.
Naruto also drew out a kunai. He too had sensed it. Sakura however did not but she did prepare herself, after the short battle and realization that she was the weak link. The experience taught her that she had to pull her own weight.
Yondaime looked at the shinobi that appeared. The shinobi held his arms up to show he was not armed. Yondaime was not fooled though; he himself knew several moves that did not need hands and can kill silently.
It was Kabuto. He was the one who had the cards that told people's statistics. Technically those were not supposed to be in circulation. Those cards can be chalked up to spying and treason. Ninja villages hoard their secrets and the price of treason is great.
Yondaime looked at Kabuto; something about Kabuto that made his hair stand on end.
He channeled Kabuto's words out and listened for tone. Whoever Kabuto was, he was a very skilled shinobi. Each word had no maliciousness or falsity, that itself was a sign of suspicion.
Everyone lies.
Sasuke did not like Kabuto either. He had noticed how Naruto was silent and was not really paying attention.
"I don't trust you." Sasuke declared, eyes narrowed in an evil glare.
Kabuto smiled through it all. He seemed undeterred at Sasuke's glare.
"Sasuke!" Whined Naruto, lips curled in a pout. "He's a good guy!"
"Yeah!" Shouted Sakura, she did not notice that Kabuto was being too nice. "He's helping us!"
Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets and scowled. He would keep his silence. He will play his part, and Naruto will play his.
"You helped us out earlier, thanks." Naruto gave Kabuto a thumb up. "Let's go!"
Sasuke huffed and followed a bit slowly. Sakura started chatting with Kabuto.
Kabuto grinned as he listened; not knowing that one boy, a dead Yondaime, and a Demon Lord was already on to him.
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They jumped through the trees, following Kabuto. They landed near the tower. It was not that far away but they had to get the scrolls first. Their scroll was taken by the snake senin and they needed two.
"Here is a good spot to set an ambush up to steal peoples scrolls!" Kabuto told the group.
Sakura was oblivious to the fact that they had company. It was until they passed the same tree five times that she realized that they were stuck in a genjutsu. She whirled, her stance defensive.
"Mwahahaha!! You have fallen into our ambush!" Shouted someone, the area was soon clouded in mist.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He recognized this jutsu; he drew his kunai scanning the area. The mist was not as thick as Zubuza's but it was foggy.
"I must defeat you!" Shouted Naruto over exuberantly, the racket he made combined with his bright clothes made him an instant target. His loud shout alerted the enemies to his plan. He first summoned several clones and then attacked.
Inwardly Yondaime grinned. One of the best techniques in the world was to make people think you are an idiot. Then they underestimated you and the battle is so much easier to win. He switched one of his clones with the original and then snuck away. His clones continued attacking, new ones made as old ones were destroyed. It seemed wasteful but as Yondaime thought about it, that was all 'Naruto' knew. Poor chakra control and no teachers willing to teach 'Naruto' left him with little skills.
The only thing good that 'Naruto' knew was the chakra and the Kage Bushin. Yondaime didn't dare risk other jutsu that he knew, he wouldn't want the others to be suspicious.
Sasuke activated his bloodline ability, easily seeing through the illusions. He noted a discrepancy and scanned the area. After a quick glance, he knew what he had to do.
"Naruto! They're genjutsu!" He shouted, warning his sensei/ teammate. He had to deactivate his Sharingan due to the pain. He also did not want the other seal to take control of his mind. He used his iron will to hold back the curse seal. He wanted power on his own merit, not some shortcut.
Sakura threw kunai and shuriken at the clones. Kabuto helped as well. He did not seem that skilled, only dodging the thrown projectiles.
"Yosh!" Shouted Naruto, as he made more and more clones to attack the other clones.
Suddenly in a heavy barrage of kunai, the clones popped and the Team 7 collapsed.
"They keep multiplying!" Huffed Naruto tiredly, dirt covering his form. Sakura gasped for air while Kabuto glared at the clones.
The mist nins walked into the open. They had breath masks on and was covered in some rubber tarp. They also looked identical.
"Hahahahaha!! You are DIRT! Now I will destroy you and your friends!" Said one gloating, his voice was masked but his words discernable.
He twirled a kunai in his fingers before throwing at Naruto. He hated Naruto for annoying him with all those clones.
"Naruto!" Shouted Sakura, mouth open in horror. She kept getting flash backs of the bridge and of Sasuke.
Naruto poofed, Sakura gaped and turned to Sasuke to see if he was shocked as well. To her surprise Sasuke poofed as well.
Her jaw dropped.
The mist nins was about to run away when they were suddenly tied together. In a blur, they were shoved together and a rope was tighten around their waist and hands.
"You know, throwing kunai at people makes most people mad." Said Naruto with a grin. Inwardly Yondaime danced about, happy that the hair brained scheme worked. "Aren't you happy I'm not the type of person who gets mad?"
Sasuke choked a bit. He had to smother his laugh. While 'Naruto' may not get angry, Kyuubi does. If the mist nins did piss Kyuubi off, nothing would be left of them.
I am GENIUS, Yondaime thought doing a little dance as well. Kyuubi walloped him on the head, making 'Naruto' wince a bit.
"Kukuku…you are now surrounded… Hand over your scrolls or face the wrath of the Uchiha!" Sasuke said with yet another evil glare. Yondaime had to hand it to the boy; he was really learning how to throw those evil glares around.
Sakura squealed in happiness. Kabuto laughed softly and pushed his glasses up his face.
He had to reevaluate Naruto and Sasuke. They were much different now. He was surprised at Sasuke's resilience against the
curse seal and at the teamwork.
His task was much more difficult now. The vessel, Naruto, was in the way.
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Sakura did complain a bit on why she was in the scheme. Sasuke did not know what to say that did not include that he thought she was weak. Naruto jumped in and said he was following Sasuke's lead and did not have enough time to to tell Sakura about it. Sasuke did not object. The truth was, he was following Naruto's lead.
Battle scarred and weathered, but unaffected by wear, Sasuke and company arrive in the tower, Heaven and Earth scrolls held in Sasuke's clenched fists. The inside of the tower was plain and gloomy, not very interesting to look at. On the wall were various scrolls, but none more prominent than the large scroll on the wall directly facing the four nins.
Yondaime gave Kyuubi control back. While Yondaime liked being alive again he knew that he was unsuited to the body and adjusting may get him killed. When they get some rest time Yondaime will get used to the body and it's unique chakra.
"This is where we split," Kabuto said solemnly. "My group should be here by now, I'll see you around!" Waving and smiling slightly, Kabuto walked off down one of the various hallways in the tower. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke turned back to the large scroll.
"It says to open the scrolls, "Sakura said, nodding to Sasuke.
"Right…"
Sasuke expertly opened both scrolls at the same time, forming an "X" on the ground. The group all quickly took a step back and braced themselves for impact.
Nothing happened.
Naruto frowned, squatting down and poking the scrolls with his finger. "Oy…maybe those Mist Nin's had the wrong scroll?"
Sasuke clenched his fists, his brow darkened. This could not be happening. What a fool they must look to the jounins who were watching them on the hidden cameras he sensed.
Sakura looked over at him, concerned. "Calm down, Sasuke. We probably just-"
"POOF!!"
"AHHHH!"
"NARUTO!! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Sakura yelled angrily as she tried to wave away the smoke clouding her vision. She heard a cough and turned around, finding a very dazed Naruto collapsing from the wall into which he had been slammed into. Sasuke, on the other hand, was not distracted by Naruto's idiocy.
"Sakura! Leave him! We have bigger problems to deal with!" Drawing a kunai, he activated his Sharingan. There was a sharp pain in his shoulder, but it quickly subsided. Narrowing his eyes, he thought to himself, 'Kyuubi… are you testing me?'
Suddenly, through the smoke came three kunai. Reacting quickly, Sasuke blocked all three. The faint outline of a figure was becoming visible. Planting himself, Sasuke did a rapid series of hand seals. 'Katon:Goukakyuuno Juts-'
"W-wh… Sasuke! Wait! It's just me! Iruka!!" Waving away the smoke, the familiar figure of Iruka stepped in front of the group.
"Iruka-sensei!" cried Naruto in delight, getting up from where he was slammed against the wall to greet his favorite teacher.
Although Sasuke saw this Naruto, it did not prevent him from seeing the poof of a clone as it disappeared. 'Huh… so it was Kyuubi…' Sasuke mused. 'That was pretty clever. Sakura would never notice secret training like that. If Iruka hadn't shown up, I wonder what he would have cooked up for me?'
If Kyuubi had been a kindhearted soul who really did care for the Uchiha brat, then Sasuke's assumption would have been plausible. In reality, Kyuubi was seething. While trying to figure out the stupid scrolls they had activated, blowing him backwards, but with enough time for him to quickly create a clone to get blown the other way. As soon as his clone saw Iruka appear, it had tried to get rid of all its problems in one smooth sweep. Aiming for vital points on Sasuke, Sakura, and Iruka, Kyuubi had planned on leaving his weighty baggage behind and finally moving on towards his final goal: killing the Third Hokage. Foiled again by the Uchiha brat, Kyuubi had no choice but to play the part of the annoying blonde dobe who simply adored "Iruka-sensei".
"Oy, oy! Iruka-sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked, bouncing up and down. Iruka just laughed.
"Haha, for someone who just came out of the forest of death, you sure do have a lot of energy, Naruto," he smiled kindly at him.
His expression quickly changed as he noticed the wiped out Sakura and Sasuke lying on the ground.
"Eheheh… Oh! That reminds me." Standing straight and looking rather professional, Iruka announced to the group:
"Congratulations, you have just passed the second part of the Chunnin exam!"
'It's about time you moron…' Kyuubi muttered inwardly, while on the outside Naruto was jumping up and down and shouting for joy, until finally passing out from exhaustion.
> In Naruto's Mind
"BAKAAAAA!" Kyuubi roared from the control room.
Stifling a yawn, Yondame emerged, rubbing his eyes and wearing lovely fuzzy blue pajamas with white bunnies. "Wh-what do
you w-want?" He asked, yawning.
Already changing into his fox form, Kyuubi walked out of the control area on all fours. "Your turn…" he muttered, before curling up in a ball in the corner to catch a few 'Z's.
Yondaime just shook his head and took his place at the controls. "He's softer than he admits," he grumbled, pressing a few buttons.
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So sorry about the long wait. I'll get to the next part soon!