Kumogakure Ninja
Posted: 20-08-10
Updated: 28-06-11
CH12: Hari's Secret
"This year's Chūnin Exam will be held in Konoha and commence on the first of October. Because they host the exams, their teams will not be told what to expect. Though I've got a good feeling a couple of sons of bit- I mean sensei will tell their students anyway. This year's exam will be the largest one in nearly two decades. There will be six teams from the Five Great Shinobi Villages. All the smaller villages will be sending in three teams each.
Because this year's exam will have the highest amount of genin in nearly a decade, the tasks have been slightly modified. The first task will be an information gathering task with a special twist at the end. I still don't know what that's going to be, but try and be prepared. The second part of the exam will be a lot more difficult. For ten days you'll be trapped in Konoha's infamous training ground forty-four, or otherwise known as the Forest of Death. It's of the up most importance you know how to survive in this forest as it is known for its unusual selection of overgrown animals.
During the second task, you will be given one scroll out of four. The four scrolls are Heaven, Earth, Darkness and Light. It is your objective to capture the three scrolls you do not have in your possession. During this part of the task, you will find out what it is to be a ruthless shinobi. Death is a common occurrence in this task.
To prepare you for this task, we, your teacher, Darui and I have started with designing a training regimen. In order to survive in the harsh environments of the forest, you will have to learn multiple new jutsu to adapt. Some as simple as a genjutsu to cover your tracks or an earth jutsu to make a cave for shelter."
Shi continued to pour the information in Kirabi's students as his partner and Kirabi discussed suitable techniques to teach them for the exam.
"I still say I could've covered all that with ma rap! Hey that rhymes!" Kirabi caught the questioning look Darui gave him and conceded, "Okay, fine, but you could have still let me do it anyway!"
"I was thinking we teach them genjutsu, Suiton jutsu and Fūinjutsu for now. Those would be great for the second task of the exam," Darui continued as Kirabi nodded in approval, "After that, I suggest Doton jutsu and kenjutsu."
"Alright. I'll teach kenjutsu and Fūinjutsu if you cover Suiton jutsu and Shi covers Doton and genjutsu," Kirabi said. "I never really had any use for anything but my kenjutsu and Raiton jutsu, ya know?"
Shi continued to drill information into the genin's minds for an hour before they were finally dismissed.
"Be here tomorrow at six in the morning. It's only three months till the exam now and you need to get in as much training as possible."
The genin quickly left the training ground, leaving Darui, Shi and Kirabi to discuss exactly what they would have to teach them.
-ooo-
"So, what do you guys think?" Naruto asked his teammates as they walked down the road. "I'm pretty excited." Naruto was wearing black shinobi trousers with a plain white shirt and a flak jacket with many pockets for scrolls and projectiles. The young shinobi wore his standard black shinobi sandals and had white bandage wrapped around his calves, wrists and index and middle fingers. His kunai and shuriken holsters were attached right and left thighs respectively. Naruto opted to wear his headband on his forehead instead of his bicep like usual.
"Yeah, same here!" Hari grinned, briefly forgetting the exam was in Konoha. "I'm psyched Darui-san and Shi-san are helping us out. I really want to learn that Suijinheki of his. It's awesome." Hari had also gone for a change of wardrobe now that they were away from the battle field. The brown haired genin's attire resembled that of a Hunter Nin. Hari wore dark blue shinobi trousers, with a pair of slippers called zōri, a white, loose fitting shirt and a dark blue kimono robe on top. Hari's holsters were carefully hidden under his kimono and the genin opted to wear his headband on his forehead.
Naruto nodded in agreement, "Hell yeah. Maybe we can learn some cool earth jutsu as well. I've been dying to learn a few of those."
Yugito, still with her right arm in a sling, was about to break of and go her separate way when she caught her teammates' looks. "What?"
"Don't you want to talk about the Chūnin Exam?" Naruto asked her with a infectious smile. "Come on, we need to start working together on strategies!"
Yugito eyeballed the grinning idiot and glanced at Hari who smiled encouragingly at her. "Fine, what do you want to talk about?"
Yugito's attire had changed to compliment her luscious curves. Yugito now wore a sleeveless, purple zip-up halter top that revealed the lower part of her belly that was covered by fishnet mesh. Yugito wore black, skin tight shorts and a skirt with a slit going down her left thigh. Yugito wore black shinobi sandals and had her pouches and pouches hanging from a belt down the small of her back. Yugito had her long blonde hair up in the usual ponytail and had her headband strapped around her right thigh. Overall it was a very bold choice of clothing and even her teammates snuck glances whenever they could.
Hari shot her a grin and nodded, which she didn't return but it was enough. "Let's get something to eat while we talk. I'm starving."
"Food!" Naruto said excitedly, "I haven't eaten in a while either. Let's go!"
"Haven't you two paid attention whatsoever?" Yugito sighed audibly. "We got to stock up on equipment, you simpletons." Even as she said this, Yugito bit back a smile. Their simple minded way of thinking was amusing sometimes.
"Oh yeah," Hari recalled, "Well, what do you think we should we get first, Yugito?"
Yugito looked at both her teammates, suddenly uncomfortable with the way they were looking at her. "You're asking me?" Only Hari gave an encouraging nod but it sufficed. "Alright, first off we should go to the shinobi store. We need new gear, such as kunai, shuriken and explosive tags."
Hari and Naruto instantly beamed at the prospect of going shopping for shinobi equipment. It made Yugito sigh in annoyance but she led the way nonetheless.
After a fifteen minute walk they entered a market street and instantly saw a large group of shinobi gathered at the shop. They were all about the same age they were, some were a little bit older but the general expression Yugito got was that they were all genin.
"What do you think is going on over there?" Naruto asked out loud.
"Preparations for the Chūnin Exam," Yugito replied.
"Seems so crowded, why can't we go to the Shinobi Library instead? They got archives on jutsu as well," Hari suggested.
Yugito shook her head, "Most techniques you find in there are useless. The more powerful techniques have been stolen a long time ago."
"Makes sense…" Hari thought back to when Kirabi gave him the scrolls on fire jutsu. They had seemed awfully well kept and looked after. "Alright, let's go then."
Yugito nodded and led her teammates into the establishment through packs of genin discussing their purchased items outside. The shop was incredibly large and the genin on team Kirabi took a moment to inspect it.
The shop was roughly sixty by forty feet with high walls. The shop was simply decorated with a few posters and demonstrative diagrams here and there but for the most part nothing extravagant. The shop was divided in several areas. There was a section on each of the most prominent shinobi arts such as ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, kenjutsu and several others. There was a whole section of the shop decorated to weaponry and another section to miscellaneous arts such as poison crafting.
"Seido, there's a couple books on fire manipulation over there. You should be able to find some ninjutsu there as well. Go," Yugito commanded with definite authority. "Uzumaki," Yugito turned to Naruto, "You wanted to earth jutsu? Good, follow me."
Naruto didn't know why he did as she said. Normally he would have refused any order she gave him but the authority in her voice silenced any objection he had. That, and Hari's hour long lecture about teamwork and mutual respect he received the day after they returned from their mission.
Naruto followed Yugito through the crowded store, instantly noticing the leers and inappropriate looks the males inside gave her. It made him angry at them for looking at his teammate like that. Not that he couldn't blame them, Yugito was a incredibly beautiful and developed for her age but since she walked around with her arm in a sling and looked so defenseless, Naruto felt a sudden need to be protective of her.
Yugito led him to a corner of the shop and immediately picked up book from the shelf and looked at it. Flicking open the book with her thumb, Yugito read the index and nodded before turning to Naruto. "Take this. It covers the basics of earth manipulation and includes one D rank ninjutsu."
Nodding in thanks, Naruto took the book and waited for Yugito to finish. The prodigy was apparently very picky and took another fifteen minutes to find another book and three earth ninjutsu. While she stood next to him, facing the book case Naruto spotted several perverts stare at her behind. On impulse Naruto moved behind her and glared at the teenagers who glared at him and flipped him off.
"What are you doing, Uzumaki?" Yugito glared at him, not at all comfortable or appreciative of his close proximity.
Naruto stammered something incoherently and blushed in embarrassment feeling murderous towards the other males.
Yugito picked one last ninjutsu scroll from the shelf and turned around, "Follow."
Naruto claimed he was no pervert but Yugito's commanding tone intrigued him. He silent prayed he wasn't into being dominated by women. "Where are we going now?"
"You could use some more Fūton ninjutsu. After that, we're getting a few books and scrolls on Suiton jutsu, understood?" Yugito didn't wait for a reply and led the male jinchūriki to another corner of the of the shop. "Offense or defense?"
"Uh, offense."
"Figured as much. Fūton Dangan should be good for you. You've got a big mouth so you might as well make use of it," Yugito briefly explained the theory behind the technique. "Should come in handy when we're in a pinch."
"That's awesome," Naruto's voice lacked enthusiasm as he caught another few genin stare at Yugito as if she were some hunk of meat.
Yugito merely raised an eye brow but turned back to the shelf and picked up a book on wind manipulation and another scroll. "Take these," Yugito shoved them in her teammate's hands and led him to the water jutsu section.
Naruto's annoyance with the perverts reached murderous levels as he saw a boy his age hiding in the crowd and reaching out to grope Yugito's behind. Naruto instantly dropped the books and scrolls stuffed in his hands and went out to attack but Yugito beat him to it as she turned on her heel and executed a flawless roundhouse kick against the perverted genin, sending him flying into his friends' arms.
As the genin held his bleeding nose, his friends stepped forward in threatening fashion as if they were about to attack them. The shop keepers started shouting for them to leave but the rowdy teenagers refused and closed in on Yugito.
Naruto stepped in front of her and glared fiercely at the leader of the pack. "Make a move and you die." It was not an empty threat.
"Yeah? Well eat this! Katon! Ack!" The brutish genin couldn't move as three senbon had lodged themselves in his neck and two more in his hand.
Hari appeared with a glare that matched Naruto's. "If you and your friends try that again, I'm not going to stop him."
Yugito watched the scene in front of her with a curious feeling in her stomach. Did Uzumaki just stand up for her? The shop keepers quickly appeared and shoved the unruly customers outside. When the commotion died down, Yugito turned to Naruto. "I could've handled it myself."
"I know."
Yugito couldn't hide her surprise fully. "Then why did you?"
"Because we're a team," Hari answered for him. "Anyway, I got what I came for. I found some pretty cool fire jutsu and a few books on medical jutsu."
"Medical jutsu?" Yugito repeated as Naruto picked up the scrolls and books. "I didn't peg you for that type."
"Well, I'm going to be an Oi Nin one day so I'm going to need medical expertise. Beside, someone's gotta look after you two when you're hurt," Hari added with toothy smile.
"So you're done with your shopping?" Yugito asked her teammate who nodded. "Naruto," Yugito turned to her teammate who had picked up their items but was looking at another stall.
"Naruto," Yugito repeated but to no avail. It was as if the blond was in a trance as he eyed the diagram in front of him.
"Naruto, are you alright?" Hari asked with a worried tone.
"Do you guys understand this?" Naruto said finally, pointing at the diagram. The diagram displayed multitude of numbers and figures. "Do you?"
When both his teammates shook their heads Naruto looked confused. "I do."
"What are you talking about, Naruto?" Yugito shared a look with Hari and grabbed Naruto's arm with her non-injured arm. "What are you getting so entranced over?"
Naruto looked her in the eye with such intensity, Yugito felt unnerved. "These seals, I get them. I understand what they mean. Somehow… I understand what they mean."
"How?" Hari asked incredulously, not quite believing what he was hearing. "How do you understand all of that? It's just numbers and symbols."
"I'm getting a few books on these," Naruto decided, ignoring the look on his teammates as he went to fetch a basket and put his ninjutsu books in them. The blond picked up three different books, premade sealing scrolls and blank scrolls as well as two large pots of ink and six different kind of brushes.
"Let him be," Yugito said to Hari as he was about to say something. "It's his choice."
While Naruto continued eyeing his books with fascination, Yugito finished his shopping. She selected three Suiton jutsu, two offensives and one defensive. She also picked up a book on Suiton basics and selected several packs of kunai and shuriken for her teammate. Once she finished selecting Naruto's items, Yugito went searching for herself. Nearly three-quarters of an hour later, Yugito had selected two jutsu from each element except for lightning and purchased a simple wakizashi, as well as a book on swordplay and a few packs of kunai, shuriken, explosive tags and makibishi.
After they finished their shopping, they paid for them at the counter and left.
-ooo-
The shopping expedition took a large bite of out their individual reward money but it was well worth it if they became chūnin because of it.
Hari had gallantly insisted he carry Yugito's bag as she picked a restaurant for them to go to for lunch. Naruto absentmindedly followed the pair, having already opened the book on seals for beginners and reading it. The genin, for a reason unknown to him, was drawn to the art of sealing. It felt very familiar to him, yet distant for some reason. The genin continued to read the book, taking in every word as he followed his teammates into a barbeque restaurant.
"Would you put that down for a minute?" Yugito exclaimed with annoyance as they slid into a booth. "You haven't taken your eyes of that book since we left."
Naruto finally looked up from his book and met Yugito's angry eyes that, unbeknownst to him, held a slight tint worry. "Sorry, it's just interesting."
"You're like child," Yugito remarked, looking at the menu.
"Let's get Kobe beef and shrimps," Hari suggested. "I'm so hungry."
"Yeah, what he said," Naruto had again started reading the book in front of him.
Yugito saw an opening here. "So, you'll pay for everything, Naruto?"
"Yeah, yeah sure."
Hari met her mischievous eyes and said, "Then it's definitely steak for me."
When their food arrived, Yugito forced the book out of Naruto's hands and put it in her pouch. The young shinobi's annoyance soon disappeared as he saw the Kobe beef arrive. Yugito's nose twitched in disgust as Naruto practically inhaled his rice and vegetables, making wet slurping noises as he did so. Hari shrugged with an easy going smile and began eating his food, albeit with a bit more grace than Naruto. Yugito silently blamed Kirabi for being such a bad influence and dug in as well.
"I noticed you bought a wakizashi," Hari said between bites, indicating the big package in one the bags. "I thought you didn't like swords."
"What makes you say that?" Yugito said helping herself to a little ball of rice.
"You didn't use one after the academy," Hari noted. "You were quite good. Why did you stop?"
Yugito shrugged, "Lightning jutsu and metal don't go well together. I figured it was a health risk. But after our mission, I thought I might as well purchase a smaller blade."
"If you want, I could show you a thing or two," Hari offered, picking at his vegetables with his chopsticks.
"Oh? What makes you think you're in any position to show me 'a thing or two', Seido?"
Hari simply smiled, "Do I have to remind you I own a very cool ninjato and I'm very good with?"
"I didn't see it on you either during our mission," Yugito remarked.
"Well, Naruto broke it during- Naruto, what the hell are you doing?" Hari looked at his friend with an incredulous look.
Naruto was dipping his finger in the saucer and was drawing a strange symbol of sorts on a napkin. Naruto didn't answer his teammates and instead reached over to Yugito, who ducked out of the way, finding his hand way too close to her chest. As she opened her mouth to say something in justifiable outrage, she saw Naruto had grabbed the salt flask next to her and placed it on the napkin.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Uzumaki?" Yugito hissed as people began turning to see what Naruto was doing.
Poof!
The salt had disappeared in a small puff of smoke. Yugito's eyes widened and so did Hari while Naruto jumped, pumping his fist in the air and shouting, "Yes! I got it!"
Hari met Yugito's look and nodded. They stood up and quickly paid for their meal and herded Naruto outside.
"What the fuck did just happen?" Yugito demanded as she looked at Naruto. Yugito wasn't known to swear but when she did, it was never a good sign,
"I made a seal," Naruto was still clutching the napkin in his hand. "Look, Kai!" With another 'poof!' the salt container appeared in his hand and the napkin instantly withered away. "Pretty cool, huh? I only managed to make it a onetime only seal, but it's still pretty awesome."
"You're freaking me out, Naruto," Hari said genuinely unnerved. "You just got that book on seals. How the hell did you manage to do that?"
Yugito nodded in agreement, wanting to know just as badly as Hari did.
"I don't know. I told you in the shop I understood it for some reason. I just do," Naruto's explanation was far from enough. "It just seems familiar, you know?"
"We don't know, but maybe Kirabi-sensei will when we meet him tomorrow," Yugito said to which Hari nodded.
"Fine. Can we just go and train now?" Naruto asked his teammates.
Hari looked to Yugito, who nodded and said, "Alright. Let's find a training ground. I want to try out some of these new techniques."
-ooo-
The genin made their way to a training ground when they heard loud noises closely, followed by laughter. Naruto looked at his teammates and nodded as they began to approach the source of the sounds.
In the middle of the training ground, there were three teenagers roughly two or three years older than themselves. Two of them were fighting each other with swords and another sat against the tree with a smile on his face as he clapped his hands in support for the female as she tried to viciously stab her male opponent.
As soon as the genin of team Kirabi got closer, the spectator called out to his friends who immediately stopped. The spectator then turned to Naruto and co. and held up a hand in friendly greeting.
Shrugging to his friends, Naruto approached the trio. "Yo!" Naruto greeted. Yugito and Hari merely nodded while the two teams sized each other up.
"I'm Kenji," the tallest of the three who had been fighting the girl just now said with an outstretched hand to Naruto. "Saito Kenji."
Kenji was a tall sixteen your with green eyes and black hair, which he done up in a pony tail. Kenji wore ANBU styled pants, with similar plate armour only it was a shade of dark blue rather than the standard black or white. The plate armour carried the Saito coat of arms, two kunai attached to ropes around the kanji for 'fidelity'. Kenji had his headband tied around the bicep on his right arm and had his sword sheath trapped to his right hip. The tall teenager had a set of tree large pouches hanging on the small of his back and had kunai and shuriken holster on his right and left thigh. Kenji seemed like a genuinely good natured guy. This quality made him very inviting for company.
Naruto looked at the hand in front of him and offered a fist bump instead. "Yo!" Naruto repeated with a huge grin. "That was some skill you showed there, senpai."
"Saito Kenji?" Yugito repeated.
"That's right," Kenji answered with a good natured smile. "Do I know you?"
Yugito shook her head, "But I do know you. You graduated at the top of your class two years ago."
"I can't believe people still remember me," Kenji said with a sense of modesty, scratching his cheek.
"They mentioned you when I graduated at the top of our class. I ranked higher on ninjutsu," Yugito had a quizzical smile on her face as she and Kenji eyeballed one another, seizing each other up.
"The name's Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto introduced himself, "I'm the next Raikage of Kumogakure."
Kenji looked away from Yugito to Naruto and laughed. "That's a good ambition!" Kenji said approvingly. "I hope to be the next Raikage as well. Maybe one day we can fight each other for it."
"I look forward to it!"
Suddenly the girl to Kenji's right gasped. "I know you! You're that Uzumaki kid from the academy!" She shouted pointing at Naruto. "You were the little pervert that hide in the girl's locker room!"
Naruto looked closely at the girl and his eyes widened as he remembered her. "I remember you!" Naruto shouted, pointing back at her. "You're the girl with the mole on her-!"
"Shut up!" Taiko shouted at him, causing Naruto to jump behind Yugito. Fighting a girl he had seen naked would not bode well for him.
"What were you doing in the girl's locker room, Naruto?" Yugito looked at her teammate.
"Prank," Naruto said simply, as if the one word alone would answer her question. Naruto remembered the day quite vividly. The prank was his way saying 'goodbye' to the graduating genin. Once the girls (and guys later on) had finished showering after a taijutsu training session, the orange bars of soap the academy provided coloured their skin orange for the rest of the day. It was a quite good prank in Naruto's opinion.
Kenji smile nervously. "Er, this Nakamura Taiko," Kenji introduced the girl he was sparring with, "She's, uh, my girlfriend."
Nakamura Taiko was a very attractive fifteen year old girl with a petite frame. She had black raven hair with light eerie blue eyes. She wore black, baggy trousers and a tank top that revealed her very generous bust and showed perhaps more cleavage than she was intending to. Taiko carried a sheathed blade on her back and had kunai and shuriken holsters on her right thigh. Taiko only carried one pouch on her left hip. Unlike her lanky teammate, Nakamura had air of up tightness about her which only seemed to increase as she glared at Naruto, who blushed and looked the other way, obviously remembering his little escapade in the girl's locker room two years ago.
"About time," the last remaining teammate snorted. "I'm Tomaro Kenichi," Kenichi introduced himself with a smile, ignoring the look Taiko shot him. "I'm fifteen years old, and single," Kenichi added with a wink towards Yugito.
Tomaro Kenichi was average height with tanned skin, short brown hair and brown eyes. Kenichi wore shinobi trousers and a jacket with a plain black shirt under it and wore his headband on his forehead.
"Nii Yugito," Yugito introduced herself with a neutral look, not bothering to even acknowledge Kenichi's presence. She mentally noted to kick Naruto's ass for embarrassing them.
Hari eyed Tomaru for a moment and sighed, "Seido Hari."
Kenji and Yugito instantly caught the look Kenichi shot Hari and then looked back at their teammates. Both of them pretended nothing happened. Fortunately, Naruto changed the subject, oblivious to what just happened.
"So you guys training for the Chūnin Exam too?" Naruto placed his hands on the back of his head.
Kenji smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we didn't participate last year so we could train harder and do more missions. Since most people don't pass the first time around, so we decided to sit out for a year."
"I'm surprised you're even allowed to enter this year," Taiko commented, eyeing Yugito with a subtle disdain only a woman or a very perceptive man could perceive.
Yugito definitely caught the look. "We earned our place," the prodigy said with a smirk.
"So, you guys came here to train?" Kenji looked at Naruto. "You're welcome to join us. I'd like to see what this year's batch of genin can do."
Naruto nodded with a competitive look. "Sure. What do you suggest?"
Yugito and Hari looked at each other for what seemed to be the thousandth time and sighed simultaneously.
"How about a friendly spar?" Kenji unclasped his body armour and took it off, revealing the simple white shirt he had on under it. The plate armour fell with a heavy thud on the ground.
"Weighted clothes, not bad," Naruto complimented as he took of his black vest and dropped it to the ground with an similar heavy thud. "Our sensei makes me wear the vest when we're not on missions."
Meanwhile, Hari hadn't said a word, opting to closely observe the Tomaro clan member. Just his luck, to run into one of them here.
"Hari, are you in?" Naruto turned to his friend.
Hari looked at his teammate and slowly nodded, "Sure." Hari hoped he wasn't matched up against Kenichi.
"You can't fight like that, can you, Nii?" Kenji looked at Yugito's arm.
To everyone's surprise, Yugito took her arm out of the sling and clenched her fist. "It's fine. I can barely feel it."
"Okay, if you're sure about that, then that's that. I'll take you on, Uzumaki. And to make it seem unbiased, your friend there can fight Taiko-chan. Kenichi, you're up against Nii." Kenji looked at his girlfriend and then Yugito, "Sound fair?"
"Can't I fight the midget?" Taiko said as she glared daggers at Naruto.
Naruto, for his part, had the grace not to reply. The midget comment was fair game as long as he didn't get his ass kicked by an angry girl.
"Er, no, I don't want you to actually hurt him, Taiko-chan," Kenji said to her, shooting embarrassed looks at Yugito and Hari.
Taiko eventually conceded but not before saying, "I'll get you back when you least expect it."
Naruto was too excited at the prospect of fighting Kenji to really care. He doubted some amateur prankster could get to him. "Senpai, what are the rules?" Naruto asked Kenji.
"Let's stick to taijutsu on this one," Taiko suggest. "I don't really feel like flaunting my jutsu in front of our future opponents. Who knows, maybe they'll use the knowledge against us during the chūnin exam."
"My thoughts exactly," Yugito said with challenge, eyes locked with Taiko.
"Okay," Naruto nervously said, "Let's do this. I'll fight you first, Kenji-senpai."
Kenji nodded and led Naruto to a more spacious setting. "You ready?"
"I was born ready," Naruto replied.
Naruto's playful expression instantly snapped into seriousness, it was game time. Naruto charged the lanky genin and jumped at him with a knee intended to Kenji's face.
Kenji sidestepped it and attempt a backhand fist in Naruto's back, but the genin turned upside down and blocked it with his shin in a display of extraordinary reflexes and flexibility. Naruto rolled on his shoulder as he landed and attempted a vicious swipe kick to Kenji's leg. Kenji fell but not before raising a leg and viciously dropping his heel on Naruto's thigh. Naruto hand flipped back and felt the stinging pain but refused to nurse his leg. That was going to hurt in the morning.
Kenji advanced on him, throwing three jabs and a hook which Naruto blocked and returned with a uppercut that missed but he managed to redirect in his momentum and place a solid fist in Kenji's stomach, prompting the later to involuntary fall on his knee to catch his breath. Naruto grinned viciously and raised his leg, intent on smashing his foot on Kenji's head.
The Saito clan heir caught the foot with both arms and tried to kick Naruto's remaining foot from under him, but Naruto, once again displaying extraordinary finesse, jumped and used the motion to plant his foot in Kenji's chest, sending him flying six feet back. Naruto landed with a back flip in a crouch.
The jinchūriki took pleasure in demonstrating his high affinity for taijutsu. You didn't train hand-to-hand combat with Kirabi for six years and not come out a killing machine.
Kenji quickly got up and held his chest, wincing. The kid packed a hard punch and an even harder kick. The Saito charged at Naruto intent on bull tackling him against the tree, but Naruto copied his last opponent, Takezo, and bent his knees, took Kenji's right arm, taking a brunt of the tackle, and easily lifted him up into the air before he smashed him into the ground.
The crater wasn't nearly as deep as the one Takezo had done with but if was more than enough. Kenji raised his hand in surrender.
"I give," Kenji croaked.
Naruto offered Kenji and hand pulled him up. "Not bad," Naruto said, "You were a bit predictable, but not bad."
"Not bad?" Kenichi repeated with snicker, "He just got his ass kicked by a thirteen year old midg- I mean genin two years his junior," Kenichi quickly amended when he spotted the look Naruto shot him.
Yugito felt a slight tug of pride towards Naruto for beating the other team's leader. "Good job," Yugito said to him and turned to Hari. "Want to go next?"
Hari stopped staring at Kenichi and nodded. "Yeah, sure. Who am I fighting again?"
"Me," Taiko stepped forth with a predatorily expression, intent on making Hari pay for forgetting who he was facing.
Hari shook his head to clear his mind, "Okay, yeah sorry. Let's do this."
…
Hari and Taiko waited for Kenji's signal and attacked when he gave it.
Hari was hard pressed by Taiko's fierce advances - she was obviously the most taijutsu orientated fighter of their team. Hari side stepped a palm strike to the chest, stepped forward to lock his leg behind hers and lifted her up. As Hari lifted her up, Taiko proved that Uzumaki wasn't the only one quick on his feet. The taijutsu using genin swiftly reversed the grip before Hari could throw her, climbing over his tall body and landing behind him.
Quick on his feet, the Oi Nin hopeful jumped to his right, rolling on his shoulder as he did so, and held up his arm to block a high kick from his female opponent. Hari dodged the first two punches before getting nicked once in the cheek. In retaliation, Hari pulled in Taiko's arm and raised his knee however Taiko displayed how very flexible she was by supporting herself on Hari's knee and for the second time jumping behind him.
Hari tried and failed to block a straight punch to the face and sloppy raised his right shin for the kick he was about to receive. It proved to be a feint, as Taiko used her right leg to step forward to execute a sweep kick with her left leg against Hari's left leg.
Her opponent fell on his back and Taiko glared at him, "That was too easy."
"Hari, what the hell?" Naruto shouted at his teammate, not believing how easily he had been defeated.
Yugito let Naruto do the shouting, inwardly fuming with Hari's failure. The young kunoichi directed her ire at Kenichi who was clapping for his teammate as Taiko did a theatrical bow. Whatever it was that distracted Hari, it had to do with Tomaro Kenichi and he would pay for that.
"Alright, I'm next," Yugito said quickly stepping over to the designated fighting area.
Tomaro shot her a wink, "Go easy on me, hot stuff."
Yugito grinned uncharacteristically. "I will."
…
As soon as Kenji gave the sign, Yugito was on Tomaro in an instant, intent on humiliating him for embarrassing her team. Though Hari technically lost on his own, Tomaro was a part of that, or Yugito thought, and he would face her ire.
Yugito entertained herself briefly by picking her opponents defenses apart, throwing jabs at lightning speed and with uncanny precision.
Tomaro fell to his back as Yugito punched him in the stomach and kicked him in the shin. The genin spat blood and shot a grin at Yugito, "You seem to be very keen on getting me on my back!"
Yugito ignored his shameless flirting, fighting down the blush at what he was insinuating. It only fuelled her desire to pummel into the ground.
Kenichi front flipped on his feet and charged at Yugito, attempting to catch her off guard with his sudden offense. It didn't.
Yugito side stepped and kneed him viciously in the gut and slammed her left elbow in back before turning around demonstrating another flawless roundhouse kick the second time today.
Yugito walked over to her fallen adversary and forced him on front, locking his arms in a painful joint.
"I give!" Kenichi said quickly as he felt the searing pain. "I give!"
Yugito smiled, satisfied with her victory and turned around. Before she knew it, her legs were kicked from under her and Kenichi was on top of her.
"How about a little kiss for the winner?" Kenichi said, puckering up.
Yugito raised her eyebrow at him and simply shot up her knee causing Kenichi to scream like a girl as he rolled of her, holding his manhood.
Naruto nodded in approval, he was only a split second away from defending his teammate himself. "Yugito, I think that's enough."
Yugito kicked Kenichi one more last time and strolled back to her teammate who gave her back her sling.
Kenji looked at Kenichi and then back to his girlfriend before turning to team Kirabi. "You guys sure are something. Whose your sensei?" Kenji smiled good naturedly as Taiko walked over to her teammate and kicked him one more time for good measurement.
"Yotsuki Kirabi," Yugito replied.
"The Raikage's brother?" Kenji's eyes bulged. "No wonder you guys are so strong!"
Taiko and Kenichi seemed visibly impressed as well. Yugito was pleased to see how highly people thought of their sensei.
"Whose your sensei?" Hari asked Taiko.
Taiko looked at him briefly and answered, "Manako Runi."
Yugito piqued, "I believe Kirabi-sensei mentioned him once."
"Oh, yeah. He came up with that joke of, eh what was it again? Kirabi-sensei thought it was hilarious."
"An, Iwa nin, a Kiri nin and a Konoha nin walk into the bar…" Kenji revealed with an expression that said it was the worst joke he had ever heard.
"Yeah…" Naruto said, his face sour as he remembered the joke. "Anyway, we'd like to stay, but we've gotta go and report to our sensei," Naruto lied.
Yugito spotted where this was going from Naruto's glance at Hari and followed.
"We'll be here training tomorrow if you'd like to come by again," Kenji shouted after them with a wave, which only Naruto returned.
-ooo-
"Why did you lie to them?" Hari asked as he followed his teammates from the training ground.
Naruto turned around and glared at Hari, "What's wrong with you today? You think I didn't notice you looking at that Kenichi guy?"
Yugito had to give her blond teammate some credit for noticing. "He's right. Why did you get so distracted? We both know you could have won that fight."
Hari looked at his feet and didn't answer for a full minute. "It's complicated," Hari eventually managed.
"Then simplify it," Yugito told him.
Naruto nodded. "We're your teammates. If you can't trust us then you can't trust anyone."
"Look who's being the hypocrite," Hari shot back angrily. "You didn't tell me you two were jinchūriki and we've been best friends since the academy, Naruto!"
"Yeah, well I think it's a bit different when you've got a blood thirsty demon inside of you! There's a difference between being scared of being embarrassed and scared your friends will hate you." Naruto's eyes were set in an angry stare at Hari. "Now tell us what's going on!"
Hari stepped back, visibly stunned by what Naruto had told him. The thirteen year old glanced at Yugito who nodded encouragingly and then at Naruto who still looked angry.
"Naruto, you're from Konoha, right?" Hari looked at his male companion. "Do you know anything about the Hyūga clan?"
Naruto nodded, "Yeah, they're the strongest clan in Konoha next to the Uchiha clan." Naruto vaguely remembered a cute girl in his class with indigo coloured hair and pale eyes. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"You ever heard of the attempted kidnapping of the Hyūga heiress?" Hari saw the confused looks in his teammates eyes before he saw Yugito began to piece the puzzle together.
"Hyūga Hinata," Naruto whispered, the name popping up his head. She was the only one from his class he could remember because she shared her bento with him once.
Hari nodded, "My father was the one who attempted to kidnap her six years ago."
The story that followed next was an huge surprise for Naruto. Hari told them everything.
"My father," Hari said it with visible disgust, "Was a Shinobigashira. He was sent to Konoha as a diplomat eight years ago for some peace treaty settlement. While he was there, he tried to kidnap the Hyūga heir. When he was caught, the Hyūga clan leader nearly killed him, though he was stopped by Konoha ANBU."
Naruto remembered now. He had heard rumours here and there about the incident where his classmate, Hinata, had been kidnapped. "I knew her!"
Hari continued, "They didn't want a war and agreed to turn him over to Kumo. That guy - Kenichi - his clan was the one that helped my father come back to Kumo. We didn't get the details, though. My mother told me they threw him into prison and we had the Tomaro clan to thank for his return. Not that she cared later on... Anyway, now you know my secret." Hari attempted to veil his discomfort with a smile. "Happy?"
"I will be when you stop smiling like you're fine," Naruto sighed. "Yugito, what do you think?" Naruto looked at Yugito for the answer.
The kunoichi shook her head, "We can't risk it. Naruto showing up is bound to turn some heads, but with the son of a Shinobigashira that nearly started a war between our villages..."
"Then find someone who can!" Hari shouted at them. "Don't let me hold you back. I won't forgive you if you do!"
"I don't think there will be a need for any of that," Naruto said, surprising them both. "If Hiruzen-jiji is anything like he used to be, he won't care. He was the only one that really cared about me when I was a kid. He always used say to me 'We shouldn't judge someone for the actions of another'." Naruto smiled sadly. "Back then, I didn't know what he meant, but now I'm sure he was talking about the Kyūbi."
His teammates looked him with curious looks. "This is the second time you've called him jiji," Yugito observed. "Were you close?"
Naruto nodded with absolute certainty. "He's not like most old people. He's cool."
"You're sure about this?" Hari asked, wanting to make sure it was absolutely safe for him to go to Konoha. "You're sure he won't object if I enter the exam as well?"
"I'm sure he is! Just relax, you're going to the chūnin exams!" Naruto clapped his best friend on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it."
"Now that I think about it," Yugito interjected, "They wouldn't have sent you a slip if you couldn't go."
"She's right," Naruto said with a grin. "Now, lighten up!"
It was an hour later that Hari had finally dropped all of his concerns that they had begun discussed discussing what their strategies were going to be for the Chūnin Exams. Yugito had more or less established leadership and decided on most things. Neither Hari or Naruto minded, though, as they were eager to hear her plans.
-ooo-
Naruto slid his key into the lock and turned it, opening the door to his and Kirabi's apartment. "I'm home!" Naruto called but there was no response. Kirabi was probably out drinking or whatever else it was he did with his free time.
With a content sigh Naruto fell on to the couch, having put down his bags of newly purchased items next to it. Naruto grabbed the remote and turned on the huge plasma television Kirabi had purchased with his share of the bounty. While he listened to a music station, Naruto picked up the Sealing for Beginners book and began to read, nodding every once in a while in understanding of several sealing concepts.
Author's Notes
And that was chapter twelve of Kumo Nin.
I bet nobody saw that one coming, huh? Hari's dad is the one who tried to kidnap Hinata. More on how Kumo affected Hinata's life (and Neji's*hint*) will covered during the chūnin exams. The Chūnin Exam will have to wait for another chapter at least. I still have to cover the training Team Kirabi goes through the next chapter, plus it would be lame if I skip three months of training in only one chapter.
Props to Marutectz for Team Manako. They are the equivalent of Team Gai for the Kumogakure genin and will be recurring roles for most of the chūnin exam. Also, who liked the idea of Naruto and seals? I wanted Naruto to be good with seals because it's been revealed in the manga the Uzumaki's had a high affinity for seals, plus it will fit in nicely with some other plot bunnies I've got in store for Kumo Nin.