Kumogakure Ninja
Posted: 12-03-11
Updated: 28-06-11
CH16: The Chūnin Exams Commence
(Konoha Academy for Shinobi Arts)
Naruto walked into the academy building and walked past the reception and lobby, making his way to the staircases to climb to the third floor. Naruto noted the building was absolutely packed with chūnin hopefuls making their way through the broad hallways of the academy. The academy itself had remained pretty much the same in regards to its large three story rectangular shape but had recently remodeled or so Naruto thought judging by the polished wooden boards and decorative art and new sliding doors set on the class rooms. Naruto looked around a moment taking in all the niceties Konohagakure's administration must have added to impress the other villages- hell, the academy even had laboratory now.
"We're supposed to go to the third floor, right?" Hari looked up to the sign after they got of the staircase.
"That's right. Why do you ask?" Naruto looked at Hari over his shoulder. "There something wrong?" Hari's gut feeling was uncannily accurate most of the time. Naruto speculated it had something to do with the fact he was a sensory type ninja.
Yugito looked around and nodded, seemingly detecting something wrong too. "Follow me. This isn't the third floor."
"Huh?" Naruto looked utterly confused and followed her anyway. "What do you mean, this isn't the third floor it says right here- oh." Someone had placed a genjutsu on the second floor to eliminate those oblivious to genjutsu. Whoever had cast the illusion had a skill for detail as even the class door numbers matched the floor. Naruto skipped a few stairs and overtook Yugito on the staircase and led them to the fourth floor, which in reality was the third floor. "Only a few teams spotted the illusion. Nice one, Yugito." Naruto complimented her and looked down the corridor of the third floor.
Roughly eight other teams had spotted the genjutsu and had discretely moved on to the real third floor. Naruto spotted two teams from Kumogakure; team Manako and team Hitaro stood grouped up at the end of the corridor. One of the ninja waved at them and beckoned them to come over.
"Over here," Sawada Tokashiji beckoned them to join them from the other side of the hall once more.
Naruto shared a brief look with his teammates but then nodded and walked over and greeted his fellow Kumogakure shinobi. "Yo," they weren't enemies yet Naruto reminded himself hence there shouldn't be in any harm in speaking to them. Besides, Tokashiji was one of his closest friends since academy. "How you guys feeling? Nervous?" Naruto held up his fist to Tokashiji as he walked over.
Tokashiji shrugged and bumped fists with Naruto, "Not quite. The genjutsu was pretty easy to look through. For Miyabi that is." Tokashiji jerked his head to his right, motioning towards Miyabi who had already struck up a conversation with Hari who was smiling nervously and rubbing the back of his head. Apparently the two had not forgotten about their fling a few months ago. Naruto briefly wondered what happened to Miyabi's boyfriend as whatever Hari's intentions were he would have to watch himself.
"Saito-senpai," Naruto nodded to Kenji with a smile. He had become quite fond of the Saito clan heir ever since their 'faithful' meeting as Naruto had put it. "Kenichi, Taiko-chan-"
"Don't say my name," Taiko growled with an unpleasant expression before turning to Yugito with a pleasant smile as they continued to have small talk. Naruto had yet to figure how Taiko could manage her 'bi-polar bitch-fest tendencies' but gave it not much more thought, he had after all peeped on her. It was a surprise she hadn't gone ahead and relinquished him of his testicles. Naruto shivered at the gruesome thought. Being into dominating chicks was one of thing, crazy ones was another.
Kenji chuckled apologetically for his girlfriend's behaviour. "Hello there, Naruto." The lanky teenager awkwardly offered Naruto a fist bump. Naruto tended to fist bump rather than shake hands. Kenji ruled it out as Kirabi's influence, since the Hachibi's jinchūriki was known for the same tendency as his sensei had once mentioned.
Naruto looked around the hallway, counting a team from Kusagakure (Hidden Grass), two from Amegakure (Hidden Rain) and two more from Konohagakure. "Where are the others?"
"The two other teams from our year should have known about the genjutsu. They're probably observing the other participants to gather some information. I don't know about team Kodama." Kenji looked at the staircases down the hall with a troubled expression.
"Knowing those dumb asses they're probably gonna be eliminated already," Naruto chuckled but was stopped abruptly by another voice.
"What was that, huh, Uzumaki-teme?"
Naruto looked over his shoulder at Shimura Ayame. "Oh, hey, I was getting worried about you guys!" Naruto said with a comical attempt at sincerity.
Ayame scoffed and leaned against the wall next to Hasegawa Madao, "Dick." Ayame glared at Naruto who opened his mouth for a childish retort but was given a murderous look by Yugito and Taiko if he uttered the word he was about to say.
"I apologize for my teammate, Uzumaki-senpai," Zenzou Gokudera said with a nervous bow to Naruto. "She swears like a man, but she can't help it."
"What are ye apologizing for me for, bastard," Ayame shook her fist at her teammate. "And I thought I told you to stop calling him fucking senpai. If anything, he's an academy student's kohai!"
Kenji shared a chuckle with the group and his expression lightened up at the sight of the two other teams from his year arriving. "Hibari-senpai, Nobunaga-senpai, how are you?" Kenji looked at the genin that graduated one year before him.
Team Shikūyo had been added last minute to the roster and met them at Shitai no Minato (City of Harbor) according to his sensei's explanation. Team Shikūyo were a genin team that were the students of the same jōnin for three years. When asked why they had not yet been promoted to chūnin, Manako-sensei had simply shrugged told them the Chūnin Exams were "Thought shit". Apparently they were one of the few genin teams that were trusted to go on long term missions. They had been close to Hi no Kuni for a mission and were given special permission to be the seventh team from Kumogakure.
"Looks like we've got some tough competition," Hibari said with a nod to the other teams. "We helped these guys up so we had to leave ourselves but we saw enough. Fujihara-san spotted two Konohagakure chūnin guised as genin under genjutsu. They were blocking the door that supposedly leads to the first stage of the exam."
"We weren't the only team there scouting others instead of going upstairs. Six Sunagakure (Hidden Sand) teams were down there as well as others. I don't think all the participants have arrived yet though."
Nobunaga spoke up in his deep voice, "We've got some tough competition this year. I saw some Hyūga genin down there and get this, I saw an Uchiha. The last of the Uchiha I heard. Apparently the rest got killed off years ago but this guy-"
Naruto stopped listening. The infamous Uchiha Massacre had taken place mere months before he had left Konoha. "I wonder how you've turned out, Sasuke." Uchiha Sasuke was the only other participant Naruto was truly interested in facing during the exam. Naruto wondered how far Sasuke had gone in the years they had been apart.
"Uchiha Sasuke," Naruto interrupted Nobunaga who seemed rather perturbed but listened anyway, "Is he still down there?"
The black skinned shinobi nodded, "Yeah, why?" Naruto noted that not only did he look like Darui, he sounded like him as well, albeit considerably more energetic and down-to-earth.
"I'll be right back, Yugito, Hari," Naruto turned abruptly and ignored the others' confused looks and calls for him. The blond jinchūriki descended down the stair case and walked back into the hallway, walking into a rather interesting scene.
A boy dressed in a tight, green spandex and a girl with buns on the side of her head dressed in white and green Chinese styled clothes were being roughed up by two boys with distinctive markings on their faces.
'Those two must be the chūnin disguised as genin,' Naruto deduced with a glance. A smile crept to his face, the show-off inside of him simply couldn't resist. Naruto approached the pair and intercepted a punch meant for the girl.
"Hey, who the hell are you, kid?" the genin with one of his eyes covered by a bandana demanded. "Let go of my hand- ack!"
Naruto gripped onto the fist so tightly he was close the braking the chūnin's hand. "It's not very nice to hit women."
The chūnin's partner charged at Naruto cocking back his arm, "Tough guy, huh? I'll show you to play hero!"
Naruto let go of the bandana wearing chūnin and turned on the chūnin with bandages covering the bridge of his nose and was about to intercept his attack when the boy in the green spandex appeared in front of Naruto with such speed Naruto's eyes widened. The spandex clad genin caught the chūnin's fist and instantly let go and stepped back respectfully.
"Please, let us not fight before the exam. I know the Power of Youth compels us to pursue action, but please, let us let it build up so we can unleash our youthful exuberance when it is at its peak!"
Naruto chuckled, still unnerved with the strange looking teen's blinding speed. "Sure, whatever you say Geijimayu." This guy might have appeared to look like a pushover and a freak with his spandex, bowl cut like hair and bushy brows, but Naruto knew better than to judge a book by its cover.
The bandage wearing chūnin helped up his partner who nursing his hand. "You two are freaks!"
Naruto ignored them and looked to his right down the hall, and spotted a flick of familiar, black duck-like hair enter one of the training rooms. Naruto also managed to spot the Sunagakure team from a few days ago and locked eyes with the red hair briefly.
"What was that all about concealing our power, Lee?" the teenage girl with the amusing hair style that made her look like a panda. It was kind of cute. "That was a total waste. Neji will be here any second and we don't even have a spot yet."
"What are you two doing here?"
Naruto and the two teammates turned simultaneously to what Naruto assumed to be Neji. Neji was a sixteen year old Hyūga with long brown hair that ran down the back of his white and green kimono and a headband strapped to his forehead.
"Heya," Naruto greeted friendly.
"Who is this, Tenten?" Neji ignored Naruto as though he was some snob, looking directly at Tenten, demanding an answer rather than asking her. "I asked you who this was."
"Excuse me," Lee suddenly walked off down the corridor and walked into the training room, brushing past other genin and leaving his teammates.
Naruto locked eyes with Neji, vaguely remembering how there were rumours Hyūga clan members considered it an affront for those with 'lesser' eyes to look them in the eye. "The name's Uzumaki Naruto."
Neji's expression visibly looked caught off guard but to his credit the Hyūga regained his composure. "Ah, the traitor Uzumaki."
Naruto refused to be goaded into losing his tempter. He was too good a prankster to allow himself to be manipulated so easily. "Ah, the Hyūga arrogance still lives on. Funny thing it's hardly ever justifiable." Naruto could be an arrogant prick if he wanted to he reminded himself. The trick wasn't to use big words but to smile as arrogantly as you could while you said it.
"How dare you-"
"See ya," Naruto turned to Tenten and bowed politely and walked down the corridor to the staircases and raised a middle finger in the air aimed at Neji.
-ooo-
"Yo," Naruto greeted his fellow Kumo genin as he approached them. At least another twenty or so teams had seen through the genjutsu or had stopped observing the others and had gone upstairs.
"Where did you go and what were you doing?" Yugito looked at Naruto with her trademark impassiveness.
"Oh, you know, here and there. As for what I did," Naruto shrugged, "I was looking for an old friend and ended up getting in a fight and pissing off a Hyūga who's probably going to be out to kill me. No biggy."
"No biggy?" Yugito repeated before face-palming. "You're incorrigible." Yugito placed a hand on her hip and turned to Hari.
"Don't let him out of my sight, got it," Hari caught on before she had a chance to say it. Hari smiled kindly whilst placing a handing on his blade, "If he tries to sneak away I'll cut him to ribbons."
"Oi, Hari, that's scary shit!" Naruto said indignantly, holding his arms up in a defensive fashion and unnerved by his teammates. Hari was no pushover if he was pissed off enough and had anything sharp to his disposal.
Naruto looked around the hall once more, counting more teams of the other villages. All the teams of Kumogakure were present already. The corridor was too crowded for Naruto to count how many teams came from what villages. He did manage to spot some odd headband emblems he hadn't seen before which his friends managed to indentify for him. Apparently Getsugakure (Hidden Moon), Joukigakure (Hidden Steam) and Shimogakure (Hidden Frost) had decided to send in teams of their own this year due to the high amount of teams attending.
Naruto spotted Shikamaru and his team standing next to another team he couldn't make out through the crowds. Sighing exasperatedly, Naruto complained out loud, "Why do we have to show up two whole fucking hours before the exam actually starts? It's totally bullshit."
"It's to wear out your patience, Naruto-kun," Miyabi informed him with a tender smile, turning away momentarily from the other females she had been conversing with.
"Matsuo-san is correct," Kenji agreed with a polite nod to Miyabi before turning to Naruto and adjusting the straps on his body armour. "They want us to get impatient and get into trouble with other teams. They say the exam started in two hours from now, but in reality the exam starts the second you enter the academy grounds. Hence why they set up the illusion on the second floor and have chūnin walking about disguised as genin under more genjutsu." Kenji once again proved to be a fountain of knowledge for what must have been the hundredth time. He was much more perceptive than most who did not know him would peg him for.
"Pointless, if you ask me," Naruto wasn't convinced but leaned against the wall next to Hari and struck up a conversation with Tokashiji and Gokudera to kill some time. He couldn't exactly whip out his handbook on seals here although it was tempting idea.
"It's only another hour by now, Naruto, just relax," Hari told him.
…
Another hour had passed and more teams had arrived on the third floor, though the whole building was so crowded, the Kumo shinobi stuck close to avoid any trouble.
"Alright listen up!"
Naruto turned to look down the hall where a Konohagakure jōnin dressed in a cool trench coat and a bandana stood alongside many other jōnin from other villages. Naruto spotted Genryūsei, Darui and Shi amongst them and smiled in relief. The exam was finally starting for real.
"Listen up!" the jōnin repeated and waited a moment to get everyone's attention. "Everyone is here for the Chūnin Exam. I am the Chief Examiner, my name is Morino Ibiki." Naruto noticed the many gruesome scars that adorned the jōnin's face and swallowed thickly with slight disgust. "All participants follow me!"
Naruto looked to the others and nodded and followed the stampeding genin into the hallway to another part of the building Naruto had never seen when he was a kid. They walked into a huge foyer that was spacious enough for all the chūnin hopefuls to spread out while Ibiki and the other jōnin stepped onto a platform and addressed the crowds. All the while genin were audibly whispering amongst themselves. Morino Ibiki's reputation clearly preceded him.
"SILENCE!" Ibiki shouted, silencing the entire room instantaneously. The bear like man look around and nodded. "The Chūnin Exam officially has commenced. You all will be representing your villages to the best of your ability. The Chūnin Exam will be split into four parts. You will be informed of what each of these parts detail moments before they take place. The first part will commence now. This is the written test part." Ibiki allowed a moment of murmuring before continuing, "You will all be assessed on general aptitude and knowledge of the shinobi arts. Due to the fact there are so many of you this year, we have had to prepare multiple rooms. Stuck on the walls are sheets containing information in what room your team will be examined. You have thirty minutes to prepare." Ibiki abruptly turned on his heels and left the platform with the other jōnin following him.
"Phew," Naruto whistled. "Looks like the gears are finally moving. Can you feel the tension up in this place?" Naruto chuckled good naturedly while Hari went to retrieve their classroom number from the board.
"Good luck, everyone, this is where we split up," Hibari announced with a nod to Kenji and the others.
"Same here," Nobunaga and Kenji said as they all split up.
Naruto sighed, gripping his fist with excitement. "You guys best watch your back. If we have to face each other, I'm not holding back one bit."
Nobunaga looked at Hibari and Kenji and chuckled, "Sure, Uzumaki. Good luck."
Team Kodama abruptly left whilst team Hitaro stuck a while before they parted after Naruto and Tokashiji shared one last fist bump. "Take care," Tokashiji told him.
"Yeah, you too, Shiji."
By the time Hari had returned Yugito and Naruto were all that were left out of the eighteen genin. "They left, huh? We're in room four by the way."
"Yup. Are you ready, Hari?" Naruto looked at his best friend with a determined smile. "From here on out it's us versus all of them."
"Naruto is correct," Yugito agreed taking a look across the giant hall to observe the other teams. "Take a good look around, who knows what we'll see. At this point, we can't afford to overlook anything."
Naruto nodded and looked across the hall to find the Konohagakure teams still stuck close and huddled up. A tall, skinny young man in his late teens clad in a purple body suit with thin, grey hair in a ponytail and glasses approached them. Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly as he saw the man stand in front of none other Uchiha Sasuke and strike up a conversation.
Uchiha Sasuke retained his like duck like haircut over the years, though he had grown taller and had opted for black shinobi trousers and a dark blue robe with the Uchiha clan emblem. Sasuke had his headband strapped to his right arm and carried a katana on his left hip and a kusarigami on the small of his back
"Let's go and take a look," Naruto did not wait for a reply and began to approach the Konohagakure teams, brushing past other genin that were assembled in the hall. Naruto bumped shoulders with another boy from Otogakure (Hidden Sound) who roughly pushed him back with a sneer.
"Watch where the fuck you're walking."
Naruto ignored him and pressed on and stood between a group of Amegakure and Getsugakure a few feet away from the Konoha teams. Closing eyes, Naruto focused on hearing what they were talking about. He had better eyesight, smell and hearing than most people due to Kyūbi, but it was hard to tune out over a hundred genin to hear a specific source.
"What do you want?"
Naruto recognized Sasuke's voice instantly. Nobody but him could of speaking with an air of supreme arrogance and come off sounding stoic like Sasuke could.
"My name is Yakushi Kabuto, and it's not what I want from you, but what I can you offer, my kohai." Kabuto spoke with an oil slick tone, his confidence not wavering not in the slightest as he pushed up his old fashioned glasses.
"We don't need your help, Yakushi-senpai." Naruto couldn't quite recognize this voice but it sounded distantly familiar and feminine.
"Are you sure? I can be of great use to you. Like I said, I'm only here to help. I've tried and failed the Chūnin Exam six times in the row. It's nothing like you may think, Haruno-kohai."
Naruto frowned, "Failed six times in a row? That doesn't sound right… And how did he know her name?" Naruto clearly remembered Haruno Sakura. He had a childhood crush on her when they were still kids. Naruto used to get in a lot of trouble for defending her, though Sakura never found out.
Sakura gasped audibly. "How did you know my name?"
"Thanks to these special shinobi information cards." Naruto heard rustling and took a few steps to his right to change his vantage point- Naruto's eyes narrowed. Kabuto was showing the others a deck of intricately designed cards. "This doesn't look good."
"What do those cards do, Yakushi-senpai?" Nara Shikamaru asked clearly intrigued.
So even Shikamaru knew this was strange.
"I have developed a jutsu that allows me to record data on all shinobi in the shinobi database for the Chūnin Exam. They allow me to see stats, mission records and even their ninjutsu," Kabuto sounded extremely arrogant and condescending by now. "Would you like to see for yourself, Uchiha Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke, scoffed clearly interested but attempted to appear indifferent with a shrug. "Show me what you have on the strongest participants in the exam."
"Do you have a name?"
"Sabaku no Gaara, he's from Sunagakure. I don't know much about him other than he carries a large gourd and uses sand based techniques. He approached me the other day."
As Kabuto told them the stats of Sabaku no Gaara, Naruto's eyes bulged. Sabaku no Gaara had been deployed on B rank missions and returned without a scratch. In addition, Gaara had a hundred percent success rate on all his missions. Naruto's eyes narrowed, "This guy is dangerous. If my name comes up-"
"Hey, Sasuke-kun, if you want to know about some strong guys, we ran into Uzumaki Naruto a few days ago." Ino threw herself onto Sasuke, standing close into his personal space and resting her chest on his arm.
"Uzumaki Naruto? What about him? I thought he was dead."
Naruto clenched his fists as homicidal thoughts went through his mind regarding a bottle of acid, Yugito's Shūrai jutsu, duck tape and one Uchiha Sasuke.
"Shikamaru said he was strong and even his dad thought it was important enough to mention him."
"Ino!" Shikamaru glared at her angrily but she ignored him. "We promised him."
"Oh?" This seemed to spark Sasuke's interest. The Uchiha heir smirked and turned to Kabuto, "You, Megane, give me all your information on Uzumaki Naruto."
Kabuto smirked, happy to have intrigued the Uchiha heir, "Of course." Kabuto dramatically bowed and theatrically shuffled his cards and pulled out a data card with Naruto's picture on it. "Impossible." Kabuto's eyes visibly bulged, causing the other genin to step closer, "What is it?"
"This Uzumaki Naruto, I have never heard of him before but he is quite the shinobi," Kabuto turned and showed the card to Sasuke and gulped. "He's taken out an A rank samurai wanted in three countries by the name of Takeshi Takezo... on his own."
"Tche," Sasuke scoffed but pressed on, unable to convincingly feign indifference at this point as his frustration was clearly visible. "What about his stats? His jutsu? I have no interest in a no name samurai."
"Of course, Uzumaki Naruto has an affinity for wind and water and has quite the destructive ninjutsu arsenal on him such as the coveted Shippū-"
Naruto growled ferociously, causing the shinobi around him to back off instantly. "There's no way I'm gonna let them learn that piece of information." Naruto made a hand seal and Shunshine'd forward instantly and appeared next to Kabuto and grabbed the hand in which he held the card. "Yo."
-ooo-
"Yo," Naruto smiled kindly to his former academy classmates. "Heya, it's been a while. How you doin'?" Naruto increased his grip tightly on Kabuto's wrist as he smiled pleasantly causing the older genin to wince in pain.
"N- Naruto? Uzumaki Naruto?" Sakura's eyes widened dramatically as she took in Naruto's appearance unable to stop herself from blushing. "Is that you?"
"Yo, Sakura-chan," Naruto greeted the rosette warmly. "Haven't you become a beauty?" Truth to be told, Sakura had become good looking and looked quite attractive in her red, sleeveless shirt and white skirt under which she wore black skin tight shorts. "Would you like to go on a date with me? Don't answer now though," he clenched his fist and turned to Kabuto who looked fearfully into his eyes. "I don't know how you got all that information on me, but if you give out any of it... I'll kill you." Naruto promptly took the card of Kabuto and placed it in his pocket, leaving the bespectacled genin nursing his hand.
"So the fool returns," Sasuke looked at Naruto with a sly grin. Apparently he did remember the blond jinchūriki. "I must say, who would've thought you would join Kumogakure?"
"Maa," Naruto rubbed the back of his head with a smile, feigned ignorance, "Who are you?" Naruto pulled a comical expression while enjoying Sasuke's outrage, enjoying the opportunity to return the favour.
"What?" Sasuke hissed, stepping forward and glaring daggers at Naruto. Realizing he fell for it, Sasuke scoffed and crossed his arms allowing himself a tiny smile. "As if you don't know."
Naruto broke his 'grin and stare' contest and turned to the pale skinned Hyūga staring at him whilst furiously blushing at his appearance. "Na- Naruto-kun?"
"Heya, Hinata-chan, Shino, Kiba-teme," Naruto held up two fingers in greeting. "It's been a while." Naruto eyed the headband Kiba had strapped around his thigh and placed a hand on his mouth in a comical feint of shock. "No way, they let you pass? Who did your sister sleep with for that one?"
"What was that, Uzumaki? Lookin' for a bruising already, aye?" Kiba's canine partner Akamaru jumped on his shoulder and yelped excitedly.
"Oi, Akamaru you've gotten pretty big!" Naruto said reaching out to the dog and petting it affectionately to which the puppy yelped happily. The hell with cats and foxes, at least dogs liked him. "I still don't get what you see in him, Akamaru, I really don't! Would you like to come with me instead, buddy?"
"Hey don't ignore me!"
"Naruto-kun?" Hinata stuttered in absolute shock at the sight of Naruto flagging the Kumogakure headband. It became harder to breath and it felt like her heart stopped beating. "I- I'm- excuse me!" Hinata turned around and left quickly, running away with Shino right behind her a moment later after a curt nod exchange.
Naruto watched Hinata run away with a frown and turned to Kiba, "Heya, Kiba. It's been a while but would you mind going after Hinata-chan. We'll catch up later."
"I was going to anyway," Kiba growled and left quickly, running after his teammate with Akamaru back on his shoulder.
"I guess it's a bit of a shock considering...," Naruto trailed off and looked at Ino who gripped on tighter to Sasuke who seemed even more annoyed with her almost violating proximity, "Ino-chaaaan."
"I tried to stop her, but once she starts talking she can't help but run her mouth," Shikamaru told him with a shrug. "You didn't have to hurt Yakushi-san though."
Naruto turned to Kabuto, his expression harsh and unforgiving, "I almost forgot about you, Megane. If you want to steal some information, do it on some punks from Oto or some other backwater village for all I care. If you pull the same stunt again-" Naruto's eyes narrowed and he instantly turned around to roundhouse kick his would-be attacker across the hall, sending other genin sprawling and into a wall with such velocity he left a crater. "Wauw, that was rude."
This would be attacker was a lanky teenager dressed in the purple military print of Otagakure, gauze covering most of his face, leaving only his left eye uncovered. He wore a large poncho with long sleeves, a snake patterned scarf around his neck with a straw raincoat protruding from the back of his scarf. Most notably, his attacker hard a large amplifier of sorts on his right arm.
"Dosu!" Dosu's teammates ran over to their teammate. The girl crouched next to him and helped him to his feet.
"Zaku, get him!"
"I got it, Kin!" Zaku rushed forward to attack Naruto but suddenly stop as a loud voice boomed across the room.
"STOP FUCKING AROUND, MAGGOTS!"
Naruto gulped, "Yugito's going to kill me. I'd better go now, see ya." Naruto left the Konoha teams to their own devices and walked past the crowds of genin, ignoring the looks he got from the others and stood next to his teammates.
"Nice going," Hari said with a sour expression. Hari looked across the hall and onto the podium where the jōnin stood, amongst which as few looked at Naruto with disdain, including their Shinobigashira, Genryūsei. "You're going to get us kicked out at this rate, Naruto."
"No," Yugito said firmly, surprising both of her teammates. "That fool came after you. He underestimated your power and now he's less likely to try and repeat any future actions. In fact, he may pass on a word of caution to the rest of Otogakure's teams, meaning we have less opposition for us to worry about."
Naruto merely nodded, silently wondering why Yugito wasn't berating him like she usually would do. Naruto was sure if he had pulled something like this before their mission in Ritoru Haaku she would have never let him live it down or forget. "Ahuh."
-ooo-
Naruto sat down in class room number four in the front row close next to Hibari on his far left and Shikamaru's team were a few rows behind him. Naruto recognized the Otogakure team and Sasuke's team were in his class but they were all spread out. Yugito was seated in the far left and Hari in the far right. It was impossible for him to make any communication with the others.
"The first part of the exam is simple," Ibiki explained as silence settled throughout the massive classroom. "You will all have one hour to answer the ten questions on your sheet. To pass this exam, you must score at least seventy percent. To your left and right you will see chūnin proctors. They are highly trained in spotting cheating and other foul play. If you are caught, your whole team will be disqualified. If you give up, your whole team will fail," Ibiki took a moment to let the information sink in and then continued with a ferocious grin, "At the end of the exam, you will be given question eleven. No matter how well or bad you did on the first ten questions, question eleven will determine whether you pass or fail."
"Then what's the point in the first ten questions?" an indignant genin from Iwagakure (Hidden Rock) shouted.
"That is for you to find out," Ibiki replied with sheer indifference. "Oh, and if you back out during the eleventh question, you will be refused entrance into further exams. In other words, you will be a genin for the rest of your lives."
"No way!"
"That's ridiculous!"
"He's lying! He's lying, isn't he?"
Naruto observed Ibiki, noting how much the man was enjoying their outrage by his smile. 'This can't be right,' the jinchūriki shook his head, 'That's definitely a trick. Why would all the villages agree to something like this? Especially the smaller villages who have little man power as it is. They can't miss out on getting their genin to become internationally acknowledged chūnin, can they?'
"The exam starts, you may start as soon as you get your test paper." Ibiki promptly left the room, leaving the proctors to start the exams.
…
Explain to great detail the theory behind pocket dimensions in regard to the Sealing Principles written by Ikamuzu Irottah during the fifth age of the Shinobi Worlds. Explain into great detail.
Naruto smirked. This was simple enough for him though he did think it was strange to ask a complicated question like this during a Chūnin Exam. Not many knew of this theory, hell, Naruto doubted most jōnin knew about it. Naruto dripped his brush in the ink pot provided and swiftly began to write the answer to great detail. Thanks to Fūinjutsu his calligraphy had improved by leaps and bounds. Five minutes later, Naruto pulled the page of to look at the next questions.
'What the fuck?'
Name the theory that proved the existence of chakra coils and go into detail what said theory entails.
Naruto tapped his desk nervously; there was no way he knew this. Deciding to look on the next few pages his eyes bulged. These were all questions he hadn't the faintest idea of as to what the answer could be. 'Is this what chūnin are supposed to know? I'm fucking screwed if I don't get the eleventh question.'
Naruto decided to calm himself and just relax and wait for the eleventh question to pop up. There was no way he would give up now. As Naruto was thinking this, he heard distant ticking noise. A repeated series of taps that sounded like Morse code, Naruto established. 'Those Oto guys aren't as dumb as they look. Guess they're really making use of sound related techniques.'
…
It was an hour later when Morino Ibiki returned to the class room and coughed, "Your time is up. Stop writing immediately." The tall, bear like ninja waited for the rustling of brush on paper to stop and for the genin to look at him. "Before we move on to the eleventh question, there is something you all must see." Ibiki promptly removed his bandana revealing his gruesomely scarred and burned head.
"Holy fuck!"
"Oh that's just sick!"
Naruto felt the urge to gag at the sight of the man but refused to visibly express his discomfort and disgust.
"The questions set for these paper would be impossible to solve for any genin," Ibiki announced, confirming Naruto's suspicions. "The whole purpose of this exam was to see how you would perform under pressure and your information gathering skills." Ibiki's face contorted into one of the most fearsome expressions Naruto had ever seen in his life. "Information is the most important currency in the shinobi world. Without it, we would needlessly lose lives and fail our missions. It is also of the upmost importance you learn how to protect your information," Ibiki pointed to his mutilated skull, "It is your DUTY as the front line warriors of your respective villages to PROTECT the information entrusted to you by your superiors AT ALL COSTS!"
Naruto involuntarily shivered. This guy was so passionate it simply radiated out of him and filled up the room.
"Now for the last question... Those who do not want to answer must leave the room immediately. Those who forfeit now may try again next year. Those that stay and fail will never become chūnin."
"I- I give up!"
"Me too!"
"And me!"
"Teams six, forty-three, thirty-two, seventy-five, you all fail," said a proctor reading from a list stick to a clipboard.
Gradually more began to raise their hands.
Naruto frowned with uncertainty. These were ridiculous demands on Ibiki's part and if it was true no one could become a chūnin if they failed the eleventh question, what was the point? He growled as several despondent genin apologized to their teammates and got up and left the exam hall. All the while, Ibiki was smiling contently as he put his bandana back on, his grin widened when even Naruto raised his hand.
"SCREW YOU, I'm not running away!" Naruto stood up slamming his palm on his desk and cracking it. "Even if I'm going to be a genin for the rest of my life, I'm going to be the Raikage!" Naruto laughed loudly and sat down, "Give it your best, baldy, I'm not gonna budge one bit!"
Ibiki chuckled, "Interesting kid." The jōnin looked around once more and noticed how all hands were retracted. "This kid... he wiped out all of their uncertainties with one speech. I guess there's no point in waiting then," Ibiki looked to the proctors on the left and the right and nodded. "Now then, you all pass!"
"What?" Naruto shouted in disbelief. "We pass?"
As Ibiki continued to explain the eleventh question was whether they were prepared to take the risk, several of Naruto's teammates and friends from both Kumo and Konoha looked at him smiling, impressive with his resilience and determination.
"Now then, for the second part of the Chūnin Exam-"
CRASH!
A figure appeared crashing through the window and shooting kunai in four different directions to spread out a banner that read: "Examiner Mitarashi Anko At Your Service!"
"Hello there brats! The name's Mitarashi Anko, and I will be your second Examiner!" Mitarashi Anko was as shapely woman with light brown, pupil-less eyes. Her violet hair was done up in a short, spiky ponytail. Anko was dressed in a tan overcoat, complete with a fitted mesh body suit that stretched from her neck down to her thighs. She wore a dark orange mini-skirt, as well as a forehead protector with the Konoha emblem, a small pendant that looked like a snake fang on a thick cord and shin guards along with a dark blue belt around her waist that connected to her skirt that had an appendage-like sash.
"Wow, she's hot!"
Naruto full heartedly agreed with the callous statement made by a genin a few rows behind him. Anko looked like the kind of women present in the wildest dreams of men of all ages.
"Tche, sixty out of ninety? Ibiki-chan you've gotten soft!" Anko looked away from the bear like jōnin and pointed at the genin. "Listen up, maggots, this was just the first part of the exam so don't get cocky. From here on out it's gonna be fucking hardcore!"
"I wouldn't mind going hardcore with her," Naruto thought looking at her see-through fishnet top that revealed a significant portion of her perky cleavage.
"The second part of the Chūnin Exam will be taking place at the forty-fourth training ground of Konohagakure, also known as the Forest of Death!" Anko dramatically paused, enjoying being in the centre of attention. "Go speak to your jōnin instructors, they will show you the location. The second part of the Chūnin Exam starts in three hours from now. You best prepare yourself! Dismissed!"
With that said the genin stood up out of their benches and left the examination room cheering and grumbling amongst each other.
"I can't believe we passed, Fūji!"
"Neither can I!"
Naruto smiled contently and left the room and waited outside in the hall for his team to come after him.
-ooo-
In the hall the others had already appeared. Out of the two-hundred-sixty, a shocking hundred-eighty had passed the first part of the exam. That meant sixty teams were out there for Naruto's own team to contend with.
"How'd it go?" Hari asked when they met up by the water tap.
Naruto groaned, "That was one big mind fuck. I just knew there was something up with those conditions. It didn't make sense to me. I mean- ouch what was that for?"
Yugito had arrived and promptly punched him in the back of the head. "That's for encouraging more people to stay on. You just decreased our odds of succeeding."
"Sorry," Naruto offered with one of his comical expressions, callously giving away he was not apologetic in the slightest.
Yugito crossed her arms and sighed with annoyance but allowed herself a smile. "Still, this tournament is getting exciting. We should convene with Darui-sensei and Shi-sensei immediately."
"Sure thing, Neko-taichō! Ouch!" Naruto held his head and gritted his teeth. "I bet Kirabi told you to hit me in the end- he did, didn't he?" Naruto was convinced he was going to end up with permanent brain damage if both his sensei and Yugito continued to hit him in the head.
"Ouch," Yugito feigned hurt and shook her hand. "Kirabi-sensei's punches gave you a hard head. I'm not sure whether I'm hurting you more than me."
Hari burst out in laughter, purely because Yugito never took to dramatics and her awkwardness was just priceless. "She's got you there, hahaha!"
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Can we just get to moving? From the looks of it other teams heard of my little stunt and they don't look to happy." Naruto was right, at the moment he said it he noticed he was getting the 'evil eye' – as Kirabi had called it – from other teams that weren't too happy with his stunt.
Naruto spun on his heels and led his team outside of the hall, on the way flipping off Hyūga Neji without bothering to look at him or wait for his outburst. Once they got outside Naruto and his teammates headed for their hotel where they knew Darui and Shi would be expecting them. All the while laughing and celebrating having passed the first part of the test.
…
"Hey there, Naruto-kun, Hari-kun, Yugito-chan," Shi greeted them with a huge smile when they approached them. Even Darui who stood next to him look elated.
"Yo," the deep voiced jōnin greeted with his hand. Darui nodded appreciatively of the team, proud of their achievement. "I heard you were quite the motivational speaker, Naruto."
Shi's expression turned comically sour, "Not exactly the best decision you've made, Naruto-kun. You only increased the opposition and decreased your own chances."
"That what I told him but he's not too bothered by it," Yugito shrugged no longer caring. She knew she wanted to test her limits as well, maybe even as much as Naruto.
"Maa," Naruto waved the comment off, simplistic as ever. "It's not a big deal. The more to fight the better!"
"Kirabi-senpai would have said the exact same thing. It can't be helped I guess," Darui smiled lazily and reached into his pocket and withdrew a scroll. "Here," the giant jōnin tossed the scroll to Yugito who handily caught it and scrolled it open. "Instructions how to get to training ground forty-four, otherwise known as Shi no Mori."
"Genryūsei-dono needs to see all the jōnin immediately. We have to part for now," Shi told them, placing his hands on Yugito's shoulder. He had taken a liking to Yugito during their genjutsu lessons and treated her like a protégé and younger sister. "See you in ten days, Yugito-chan. Take care of these two morons."
"Hey!" Hari spoke up indignantly.
"Sorry, one idiot." Naruto was too busy poking his nose, causing Shi to sigh. "Look over these two."
"You got it, Shi-senpai," Yugito nodded firmly walked over to Naruto, slapping his hand out of his nose. "Let's go, Hanatsumi. Hari."
"Ha- Hanatsumi? Oi!" Naruto followed his teammates. "That's rude you know!"
(TL: Hanatsumi translates to flower picker. 'Hana' is synonym for nose. So in actual fact, Yugito is calling Naruto a 'nose picker.')
-ooo-
If Naruto to pick one word to describe the Forest of Death it would be 'huge.' The forest was encircled by a giant gate that went up at least fifty feet. The forest stretched for ten miles in radius and from what Naruto could see it was a giant greenhouse for thousands of flora and fauna. The Forest of Death truly lived up to its name. Even from outside the gates, Naruto could smell blood from different kind of animals. To top it off, the sun was setting meaning that by the time they got in the forest they would be moving in the dark. They would have to break for camp much earlier than they had wanted.
Close to the entrance were groups of genin standing by their teammates. Naruto saw many different shinobi from more villages that he knew existed. A shiver went down the jinchūriki'sspine. He couldn't bare the excitement any longer. He had to go out there and fight.
"Okay, listen up!" Anko had appeared by means of Shunshin and began to rally the chūnin hopefuls to her. "Alright, looks like everyone is here! Here's what's going to happen, so listen up carefully. Every team will be given one scroll out of four. These are Earth, Heaven, Darkness and Light. You objectives are to track and eliminate other teams by taking their scrolls through any means necessary. After you have collected all four scrolls, you must report to the Shi no Tou (Tower of Death). It is absolutely imperative you have all four scrolls or you will be denied entry unless you forfeit at the tower."
Anko allowed a moment of murmuring and waited for the information to sink before making her most important announcement. "Now that you understand, you must comply with two demands. Firstly, you must sign a voucher that revokes any responsibility of Konoha as to your potential deaths."
"Potential deaths? What kind of exam is this?"
"Wh- what's she talking about?"
"QUIET!" Anko silenced the genin that were talking and gave them all a look over. "Death is a probable- no common occurrence in the Chūnin Exams. You will be fighting to survive as well as complete your objectives. No punches are pulled during this exam, so brace yourselves for the worst.
Now then, for the second part you must go to one of the stands and pick and await for one of the chūnin to assign you one out of four scrolls you must protect. Only one per team may go pick up scroll." On that note Anko dismissed them and went to stand by some of the chūnin at the stalls.
"I'll go," Naruto told Yugito and made his way over to a stall.
The stalls were operated by roughly fifteen chūnin who guarded the four large boxes that were protected by seals Naruto recognized to open only on blood contact from the authorized users the seal maker had attached to seal by drops of blood.
"Oh, well look who it is."
"Excuse me?" Naruto looked at the pair of chūnin in front of him that were radiating hostility. Naruto frowned thinking they were one of the prejudiced shinobi that hated him because of his connection to the Kyūbi but he noticed one of the chūnin had a bandana on he recognized and his right hand was wrapped up in bandages. "Oh, it's you!"
"Yeah, that's right, you bastard," the chūnin glared at him and raised his hand. "Thanks to your little show off stunt, I've been put on medical leave and I'm stuck working on this fucking exam for the duration of as an extended mission it to get by."
Naruto rubbed the back of his nervously and smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that." Truth to be told, Naruto didn't feel one bit apologetic but he apologized for appearances. Naruto handed over the three slips to the chūnin's partner and continued to smile apologetically.
"Whatever. You've got some grip, I'll give you that. Here take the Earth scroll, it goes well with your personality," the brazen chūnin reached into the box and took out a white and brown scroll with the kanji for "Earth" on it along with a gate ticket with the number '25' and passed it to Naruto. "Go on, scram! Your team enters through gate twenty-five."
Naruto took he scroll and bowed his head politely and left the stall to reunite with his team. "Yugito," he tossed the scroll to his female companion. "You should hold on to that."
Yugito caught it and looked at the scroll briefly before tossing it back, "No, you hold on to it. If we were ambushed the first person they would go after is me."
"She's right," Hari said in agreement as he fiddled with his forearm protectors. "I'm getting excited."
"Me too," Naruto told him as he looked over to Anko was gathering the genin once again to give last minute instructions. "Let's go."
…
"Everyone here should've handed in their slips and should've received a gate number and a scroll- okay, that's fine. Now that that's out of the way, are there any questions?" Anko looked around and smirked placing her hands on her curvy hips, "No questions? Okay, just don't come to haunt me if you die."
"'Don't came to haunt me if you die'!" Naruto said with a rather flawed impression of Anko as he did a silly dance with his hands on his hips. It got a few laughs from his genin peers and lightened the dark mood.
Instantly a kunai shot out and streaked across Naruto's face, leaving a deep gash on his cheek. Anko appeared behind him and grabbed him in a neck lock. "Oh, I think we've found this batch's moron. There always is one moron amongst the bunch," Anko leaned in closer, resting a blade on Naruto's neck and pressing her perky breasts against his back. "Oh my, what tasty looking blood," Anko proceeded to trail her tongue over Naruto cheek but suddenly stopped the second she felt a hand slip under skirt and grab onto her firm behind and grope her. "Aren't you a little pervert!" Anko said squeezing down on Naruto's neck, temporarily choking him before dropping him to the ground. "If you survive this part of the exam look me up kiddo. We can have some fun."
"A boy toy at your age? That's a bit embarrassing isn't it?" Naruto blatantly trying looking up her skirt.
Many of the genin couldn't help but laugh and the men specifically felt murderous envy towards the blond. Naruto got up and dusted of his pants and stood next to his teammates, oblivious to Yugito's murderous glare.
"Now then, proceed to your gates and wait for the signal!" Anko instructed them in an overly cheery voice.
"What signal?" a bespectacled genin inquired to which Anko smiled.
"Oh, you'll know when you see it. Just a word of advice, the signal tends to piss off the countless of deadly inhabitants of the forest so I wouldn't just stand around. Oh and it's almost night time so expect some great experiences!"
Naruto chuckled, "I like her," he commented as they made for entrance 25 of the Forest of Death. "She's got an interesting personality."
"And a nice ass too, I believe?" Hari added jokingly. "I can't believe you got away with that."
"Me neither!"
Yugito resisted the urge to violently lash out at both of her teammates and especially Naruto. She wrote of her anger to the fact he was a pervert but she knew that wasn't the real reason. Naruto was always callous and sexist towards other girls he knew aside from Yugito. "Maybe he just doesn't think of you as a girl." Yugito shook her head. "Shut up," she told herself under her breath, closing her mind to the issue. Now wasn't the time to feel insecure about her looks or how boys her age perceived her.
"All participants, good luck! You may begin!" The voice was projected by megaphone and followed by ear-splitting horn that rattled the creatures within the Forest of Death, sending flocks of crows into the sky, followed by numerous distant roars from the distance.
The gate in front of team Kirabi opened and the team slipped inside in their planned formation with Naruto in the front, Yugito next and Hari in the back.
"Let's GO!"
Author's Notes
Heya!
Guys, I've been practically writing nonstop since I got back to work on Kumo Nin. Chapters seventeen and eighteen are already done – can you believe it? While my beta was busy I even went back and updated all the previous chapters to provide a clearer insight on locations, jutsu and specific words characters are using. I am very enthusiastic as to what you guys are thinking about Kumo Nin as of late so please leave a review when you've read the chapter!
Also I've decided to put in an occasional 'Character Corner' as seen in Dragon6's great story Mizukage (most FFN vets have read it). It's really just for fun if you want more in depth information on characters and to keep track on the OC's.
Let's start with the first villain introduced….
Kumo Nin Character Corner!
Name: Shiroi no Satoru
Date of Birth: December 3rd.
Age: Thirty-three.
Blood Type: A.
Affiliation(s): Akumu Shokō, previously Shiroi Clan.
Occupation: Samurai.
Rank: None.
Classification: A ranked samurai.
Bounty: Three million ryō.
Mini biography: Not much is known about Satoru other than that he is a descendant of the legendary battle monk Tōshirō no Shiroi, after whom the clan had changed its name to. As a young man Satoru was a prodigy within his clan and some even hailed him as Tōshirō's reincarnation. His prowess made him arrogant and cocky and gave him a superiority and inferiority complex. At some point in his youth, Satoru came into contact with the blade of his other ancestor Shiroi no Nisui, a corrupt monk that had challenged Tōshirō and had suffered crushing defeat. Long after his death, a part of Nisui's soul had remained within the blade named after himself and had manipulated Satoru, whispering to him at night to find the legendary Hiryū Shikōn. Satoru is a refined samurai who enjoys literature and long journeys on foot and battling powerful adversaries. Satoru has always hated his counterpart Takeshi Takezo for his ancestor and has a developed a new hate for Hari while in prison.
Weapon: Satoru exclusively uses his katana Nisui in battle.
Nature Type: Wind, Water and Ice.
Fighting Style: Satoru uses a soshijutsu and kenjutsu mixture that allows him to channel his element nature types, wind and water, through his blade and create ice based attacks.
Techniques (7):
Hakkei (Release of Internal Power), Hatsugoori (First Ice of Winter), Eirō (Life Imprisonment), Kenshiko (Sabre Toothed Tiger), Shimobashira (Ice Needles), Yari (Spear), Hanagoori (Ice Flower Dome).