A lone Shinobi races through the treetops with his four pursuers drawing ever closer. The Konoha Nuke-Nin and current Ame Jounin Aoi Rokushou, listed in Konoha's Bingo Book as an A-Ranked criminal wanted for the theft of the Nidaime Hokage's legendary lightning chakra sword Raijin, was running for his life from a Team of Konoha Shinobi lead by the former ANBU Captain Kakashi Hatake. "Damn it," Aoi curses as he dodges four kunai thrown at his head.
The sudden appearance of another Konoha Shinobi directly infront of him forces the traitor to drop down to the ground only to find himself surrounded by numerous copies of the same Shinobi that had attempted to cut him off just a moment ago. "What the hell," he exclaims as his pursuers drop into the circle of Kage Bunshins behind their target.
"Aoi Rokushou," the masked Jounin says addressing the former Konoha-nin. "You are under arrest for the crimes of theft and betraying Konoha," the former ANBU Captain informs him. "You can either come peacefully or you can die here."
"Fuck you Cyclopes," the Ame-nin snaps as he draws Raijin, "Let's see if the famous Copy-nin really can live up to his reputation."
"Kiba," Kakashi says to the young Inuzuka.
"Akamaru," the dog-nin calls out as he hunches low to the ground allowing his canine partner to hop onto his back while his hands are locked in the ram sign. "Shikyaku no Jutsu," he calls out as his features begin to change due to the effects of his Four-Legged Technique taking on a more bestial almost feral quality as his fangs elongate and his claws lengthen once completed he calls out his second Jutsu, "Juujin Bunshin (Beast-Man Clone)."
"I'm supposed to be scared of an Inuzuka pup and his dog," Aoi laughs only to leap out of the way in an attempt to avoid an axe kick to the head from one of the Shadow Clones to his right.
"Not really," one of the Clones tells him as it and several others begin attacking the nuke-nin as their own claw like nails try to claw him to death. As the Ame-nin dances around avoiding the wild swipes of claws and almost clumsy kicks from the clones the twin Kibas launch their own attack. "Gatsuuga," the original Kiba calls out as the twin tornadoes of the Dual Piercing Fang attack plow through his Teammate's mini-Shadow Clone Army in an attempt to shred the traitor to pieces.
Aoi almost laughs as he dances around the Genin failing to notice the fact that he's being herded towards the Rookie Shinobi's Teammates. An instant too late the Jounin finally realizes his mistake as the dog-nin and his companion break off their attack and their blonde haired Teammate takes over.
Grabbing the wrist holding the legendary Raijin and forcing it off to the side Naruto delivers a powerful kick to the nuke-nin's crotch with his left foot forcing a cry of pain to escape the Jounin's mouth as he doubles over only to find the Genin's right knee coming up to meet his face resulting in a broken nose. Ducking under the chakra sword, Naruto swiftly grabs the wrist with his other hand while the hand that had been holding the wrist comes up for a powerful blow to his enemy's armpit. The force of the blow combined with the sudden jerking motion of the arm results in the Ame-nin's shoulder being ripped out of its socket.
As intense pain courses through the now useless arm Aoi loses his grip on his stolen weapon and it falls harmlessly to the ground. A hard blow to his spine followed by a quick kick to the back of his left knee forces him to kneel infront of the pink haired kunoichi on the team as she finishes a series of hand seals that locks him in a world of never ending pain as every nerve ending in his body seems to come to life as he relieves a the experience of every injury he ever suffered through out his life over and over again until the pain finally forces him to black out.
"You want this one Sakura-chan," Naruto asks his Team's Medic as he offers her a kunai.
"Hai," the green eyed kunoichi replies as she accepts the offered weapon before walking over to kneel beside the unconscious traitor. She slits his throat with almost practiced easy ending his life before getting up to return the now bloody weapon to its owner. "It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," she admits to her Teammates and the Sensei.
"He was a traitor," Kakashi reminds her. "He betrayed his comrades and his village. Those that abandon their Teammates are worst then trash so it's easy not to feel bad about avenging such betrayal." Withdrawing a large curved kunai from his weapons pouch he kneels down beside the dead nuke-nin and removes his head before returning the blade to its proper place. Picking the head up by the hair he also retrieves the stolen sword before stepping back and handing them to Naruto. "Seal these in a storage scroll while I dispose of the body," he orders.
As Naruto begins sealing the items away he can feel the heat of his Sensei's Katon Jutsu as it reduces the headless body to ashes. Once both tasks are completed the members of Team Seven return to Konoha to report the Success of their latest C-Ranked Mission as well as to collect the bounty on Aoi's head and the reward for the retrieval of the Raijin although their encounter with the now deceased missin-nin had been a purely chance encounter that had nothing to do with their original Mission it would still look good on their records.
0o0o0o0o0
Little more then five months have passed since the Rookie Genins have graduated from the Academy and in that time each of the three Teams have each completed over forty D-Ranked Missions. Asuma's Team has thirteen C-Ranked, two B-Ranked and one A Ranked Mission under their belts while Kurenai's Team has fifteen C-Ranked diplomatic Missions and one B-Ranked Interrogation Mission on their records. Kakashi's has eleven C-Ranked, three B-ranked and two A-Ranked Missions to their credits most of which revolved around tracking and eliminating low to mid level nuke-nins.
Now standing in the Hokage's Mediation Chamber most of the Chunin, Jounin and ANBU of the village await their Leader's explanation as to the reason that they were summoned. "As some of you may have deduced it is once again time for the Chunin Selection Examinations to take place," the Hokage tells his assembled subordinates. "Would the Jounin Instructors for the Rookie Genin please step forward."
Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai step infront of their fellow Konoha-nin as instructed and stand before their Hokage proudly. "Which Genin under your care do you wish to nominate for the Exams," he asks them.
"I Kakashi Hatake Jounin Sensei in charge of Genin Team Seven consisting of Naruto Uzumaki, Kiba Inuzuka and Sakura Haruno on my honor do nominate all three of the Genin under my command for the Chunin Selection Exam," Kakashi informs the Hokage with pride evident in his voice.
"I Asuma Sarutobi Jounin Sensei in charge of Genin Team Eight consisting of Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuuga and Choji Akimichi on my honor do nominate all three of the Genin under my command for the Chunin Selection Exam," Asuma says with just as much pride for his own Team.
"I Kurenai Yuuhi Jounin Sensei in charge of Genin Team Ten consisting of Shikamaru Nara, Shino Aburame and Ino Yamanaka on my honor do nominate all three of the Genin under my command for the Chunin Selection Exam," Kurenai tells them practically beaming with pride over her teams progress these last few months.
"Well this certainly is unusual," the Hokage says smiling as he smokes his pipe. "I do believe that it has been what almost ten years since all of the Rookie Teams have been nominated for the Chunin Exams.
"You aren't doubting their abilities are you Otousan," a voice from the back of the room asks. "After all I did tell you that this would become the norm when you placed me in charge of the Academy," Raven reminds the Hokage as he steps out of the crowd and stands beside his "younger brother" Asuma.
"Of course you did," their father replies with a warm smile, "And I am happy to see that your dedication to improving the quality of our village's young Shinobi has bore such fruit."
0o0o0o0o0
As the day of the Chunin Selection Exams arrives and the Chunin hopefuls both from Konoha and various foreign villages converge on the Academy to via fro their chance to earn their promotions. Naruto and his team meet up outside the Academy and with only a nod of acknowledgment between them move silently inside to turn in their applications.
As they step out of the stairway on the second floor they see a large group of would be Chunin crowded around a door with the sign for 301 hanging over it being denied entry by a couple of "Genin". Naruto looks at each of his Teammates and receives matching nods from them before they continue on to the next set of stairs completely by passing the foolish crowd and continuing on to the third floor. "Seriously how dumb do you have to be to fall for something that lame," Kiba asks as the door to the stairwell closes behind them.
"I agree," Sakura says, "I mean honestly they were on the second floor. Surely that should have been a dead giveaway."
"That and no one even noticed that the so called Genin stopping them were using Henge No Jutsu," Naruto adds. "You would think that they'd at least recognize Kotetsu and Izumo as being the ones that greeted them when they entered Konoha in the first place."
"True," Kiba agrees as they come to the door leading to the third floor. "Although you have to admit they looked more intimidating as Chunin then they do as Genin."
I don't know," Sakura says as they pass through the door. "I think Hagane-san and Kamizuki-san looked kind of cute as Genin," she giggles.
"You would," Naruto laughs as they wave to Kakashi before entering the real room 301.
0o0o0o0o0
Inside they find their friends already waiting for them and move over to join them taking notice of the still rather large number of Genin there before them. "Took you long enough," Sasuke teases from his spot against the back wall.
"What can we say," Naruto grins, "Traffic was a bitch."
"They're still there," Choji chuckles as he takes out a bag of chips. "I thought Kotetsu and Izumo would have gotten rid of them by now."
"I think they're just supposed to delay them and not actually run them off," Hinata tells them from her spot beside the Uchiha Heir. In the months since they all graduated the Academy they have all grown both as shinobi and as individuals and as with all things growth brought about certain changes. The most prominent of these changes was the change in clothing that each of the Genin now wore. Including the sleeveless trench coats they all wore with each team possessing a different color to set them apart from the other two teams while uniting them as one Unit. The members of Team Eight wore Midnight Black while Team Seven wore a Rustic Brown and Team Ten wore Forest Green.
In addition to their coats each Genin had changed their own personal shinobi outfits to better serve their personal fighting styles. Sasuke wore his Grandfather's Assassin outfit as a badge of honor while displaying the Uchiha fan on the back of his coat. For the last few months he has trained rigorously with his mother and has so far Master four of his mother's Clan's techniques.
Like Sasuke Hinata also wears all black and proudly displays the Hyuuga Clan Crest on the back of her jacket. Choosing the path of a Medic-Nin over that of the traditional Shinobi she no longer carries a kunai holster and weapons pouch having replaced them with a utility belt similar to that of Raven and Asuma's where she stores various balms, ointments, bandages and other medicines and supplies she might need while out in the field.
For his part Choji has taking to wearing an all black version of his Clan's combat armor while also displaying his Clan's symbol on the back of his coat. Having little use for kunais and shurikens he long ago stopped carrying them and instead took to carrying a War Hammer which he keeps strapped to his back when not in use.
"Troublesome," Shikamaru says from his spot on the floor while folding his hands behind his head. "You'd think that at least a few of these guys would have something better to do then just glare at each other."
"Perhaps it is their way of coping with the pressure they feel from being in a foreign Village," Shino replies standing beside his Teammate.
"Yeah Shika," Ino chimes in, "Remember how uncomfortable you usually feel whenever we went to another village during a Mission?"
"That might have had more to do with the fact that you tended to drag him into the village then the village themselves," Shino points out to his kunoichi Teammate.
Ino seems to think about that for a moment before shrugging. "You might be right," he concedes. Ino's outfit reflected her flirty yet dangerous nature as she still wore her traditional two piece purple outfit but with a one piece mesh bodysuit and spandex bicycle shorts underneath. Shino seemed to embrace the Forest Green coloring of his coat and wore traditional shinobi clothing of the same color underneath and even added a hood to the coat to hide his hair although his ever present sunglasses remained solid black. Shikamaru found it too troublesome to argue with his female Teammate and simply gave into her pestering him to change his look. As a result he now wore an all black version of the traditional shinobi uniform under his always open Forest Green coat.
Like Hinata Sakura also abandoned her weapons in favor of healing rather then killing although as was proven on her Team's last Mission she could still take a life if the need arose. Under her Brown Coat she wore a red version of Ino's outfit and a utility pouch identical to the one Hinata wore. Kiba and Naruto's outfits consisted the traditional navy blue shinobi outfit typically worn by Chunin and Jounin of Konoha although Naruto insisted on wearing a hitai-ate with orange cloth while inside the village.
As the Rookie Nine continue to chat between themselves a silver haired Genin wearing glasses approaches them. "You guys might want to keep it down," the older Genin advises them, "You're attracting a lot of attention."
"And we should listen to you why," Naruto asks stepping between his friends and the older Genin. "Your hitai-ate says you're from Konoha but I've never seen you before."
"The name's Kabuto Yakushi," he tells the Kyuubi container, "And I've taken these Exams a few times."
"How many is a few," Sasuke asks now standing beside Naruto.
"This is my seventh time taking these exams," Kabuto tells them.
"Six years and you still haven't passed," Shikamaru comments assuming his thinking pose. "You're either very incompetent or else you've been playing the fool."
"Either way I don't really care," Sasuke says as he steps right infront of Kabuto and places his left hand on the older boy's left shoulder as he leans in close. "Stay out of our way," he warns whispering into the silver haired boy's ear, "Or they'll never find the body." With that last statement the forward facing blade on his arm guard shoots out cutting Kabuto's cheek startling the Oto spy before retracting as if it never existed.
A now frightened Kabuto slowly backs away from the Uchiha Heir as the younger Genin casually walks back to his friends before they all walk towards the other side of the room ignoring the stares they're receiving from the rest of the participants in the room.
0o0o0o0o0
'You've got to be kidding me,' Naruto thinks as he looks over the first nine questions on the written portion of the exam. 'They can't honestly expect a Genin to answer these,' he almost chuckles. 'Ibiki… Ibiki… Ibiki… Now I remember Ino and Shino said that he specialized in psychological torture. Okay so if we're supposed to cheat then that means this is a test of our information gathering abilities… Man is this guy has no idea what they're teaching at the Academy these days.'
The faint sound of yapping catches his attention signaling that Akamaru was relaying the answers to Kiba. 'Same as they did at the Academy,' he muses. 'Hinata and Neji will use their Byakugan while Sakura will figure the answers out on her own as will Shikamaru who will use his Kagemane Jutsu to help Choji out…like always. Shino will use his bugs while Ino will switch with someone to get the answers. Ten-Ten will probably help Lee, so now what do I do to get through this…' an almost evil grin crosses his lips as an idea begins to form in his mind.
Naruto allows his left arm to lay at his side as he turns his head from side to side popping his neck in the process to cover up for his seeking out his target. Spotting Kabuto towards the back left corner of the room he creates chakra strings just the way Raven had taught him a few months earlier and sends them towards his unsuspecting victim. One of the chakra strings connects to the silver haired Genin's test paper while four others attach themselves to his feet. Pushing more chakra into the ends of the strings setting the older boy' sandals on fire.
As Kabuto hops around trying to put out the fire Naruto uses the distraction to quickly place the stolen test on his desk and erase the original name while replacing it with his own. He almost laughs as the medic-nin yells out loud that his test is missing causing Ibiki to expel him and his Teammates from the rest of the test. Looking to his right he sees Hinata giving him an amused smile before she closes her eyes while shaking her head.
Ibiki watches the whole scene play out before him and can't help but smirk at how the blonde Genin had not only managed to cheat in one shot but also knocked out another team. 'Naruto Uzumaki,' he thinks amused by the boy's action. 'Raven-san's certainly rubbing off on you.'
0o0o0o0o0
A/N: I think that went pretty well don't you? As always please remember to read and review and I'll catch you next time.
Later,
Raven