WHOOOOO Another chappie all for youz! Before I begin, special thanks to all y wondrous reviewers and readers!
Also, Haku and Zabuza will not be making an appearance before the chuunin exams, sometime later they will, it makes the story more intereting! Lets begin shall we?
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1-2 months after bell test
"Mission complete Hokage-sama. Our team apprehended the tiger terrorizing the the small village nearby." Kakashi stated as he handed the report to the Hokage.
The Hokage smiled and nodded respectfully at the successful mission. It was nice to see a rookie team that completed all their missions with flying colors and never one failure. He was also surprised as this was the first team Kakashi has ever passed. Not only that, but when Kakashi was to pass teams during his exercise, the students weren't actually supposed to be able to take the bells. But this team managed to do so anyway. This team was quite impressive.
" Congratulations, that is your 20th successful D rank, your team shall be given another 30% in the cash reward from the village."
Naruto leaned into Hinata's ear ad whispered " Pff yeah, 10% cash for each genin, horay." He whispered sarcastically. Hinata giggled at his comment. But Kakashi has sharp ears. "Hey what about me?" He feigned hurt.
"Your a Jonin, why would you need the extra cash"? Naruto asked with an eyebrow raised as he crossed his arms. His sensei's antics sure were intriguing.
"I'm still the boss Naruto." He smiled with triumph until he noticed the look on Naruto's face and shuttered. The last time he made that face Naruto tried to burn his book and came very close to doing so. Kakashi smiled again.
"Don't worry Naruto, I won't really take the money, you three can enjoy you extra cash." He finished rustling Naruto's hair.
The Hokage suddenly remembered he had news for the team. Reaching under his desk he pulled out a yellow file. "Ahh yes, the chuunin exams are around the corner. Kakashi, it would be in your best interest to prepare your team for the exams."
Kakashi answered with a silent nod. Hinata was a little questioned. She didn't recall anything called the chuunin exams, embarrassingly enough.
"The chuunin exams? What that's Hokage-sama?" Hinata asked a little embarrassed, Sasuke crossed his arms slightly as he answered her. "It's an exam where if genin show they have the correct quality, they may be promoted to chuunin rank. This will be one of the first to be held in the leaf village too."
Sarutobi nodded. "Yes Sasuke is correct, but it is not only for the promotion of genin, it is also to maintain the balance of power and the relationship between villages. For genin to show off their skills so they, and their village, may obtain more clients. The chuunin exams always has strong runner ups, and as such will be the toughest challenge you will have to go through thus far. However I predict your team in particular might do very well for a rookie team." He finished.
"If that is all, team 7 is dismissed until your next mission."
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The group walked to their usual meeting spot as Kakashi turned to them. "Alright team, you are all dismissed, get some rest as tomorrow we won't be going on missions."
The three genin sighed contentedly, they did 4 missions today, and although 1 C rank and 3 D ranks, witch was considered easy, they had been working all day. A rest seemed nice.
"Because tomorrow I'm going to push you ever so harder then a simple mission! Hehehe". He made a low chuckle, not unlike the ones he made when reading his book.
Naruto showed his disappointment in his face. Hinata only frowned slightly but asked. "Why? What are we going to do tomorrow?"
Kakashi took another step off the bridge, showing the students that whatever he was going to say would be his last comment. "Why, a simple survival initiation." Leaving the genin to their thoughts.
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"Ahh good, all here and accounted for." Kakashi exclaimed and returned his book to his back pocket. The three genin promptly stood in a straight line. Hinata arm occasionally brushed against Naruto's, making her shiver slightly, but it was un-noticed.
"This is how this exercise is going to work. Each of you is going to have a turn escaping from your 2 comrades. This is meant to teach all of you about stealth during the chuunin exams, but there is a reward also. Whoever can last the longest will get solo training with me until the chuunin exams in addition to our regular squad training."
This interested the 3 ninja.
"The first candidate to be running will be Naruto. You have a 5 minute head start to run to the forest in training area 7. Your time starts now."
Immediately Naruto rushed off, determined to win, creating many dozen shadow clones to throw off his pursuers.
Hinata activated her Byakugan as Sasuke prepared himself to charge. Kakashi finished timing and initiated the challenge with a yell of "Charge"! As the 2 genin charged into the direction of training ground seven.
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Naruto awaited in the thick bush of a tree. Over a hundred shadow clones were scattered across the place. A larger multitude of clones were at the back of the forest. He hopped that Hinata and Sasuke would suspect that he would try a simple strategy of flooding himself with clones, and would go straight to the back of the forest and waste their time dispelling clones. The bad part of this strategy was Naruto was left with thin cover and little clones surrounded him. All or nothing he supposed.
Hinata and Sasuke entered the opening of the forest. Hinata scouted the area, seeing about 30 Naruto's within her range. "We should probably go into the area that has more Naruto's huddled up together, to take out more at once."
Sasuke nodded. Hinata was truly a talented tactician. "Agreed, lead the way Hinata". Sasuke wasn't one to really like following teammates, but with Hinata's Byakugan she was a natural tracker, so he knew when to give her the spotlight.
Even the clones were on alert, but Sasuke was stealthy. Hinata pointed out the areas of the clones, and Sasuke would take them out. Hinata held her hand out to Sasuke to keep him from advancing.
"Hang on Sasuke; there are more clones on the field of my vision. There are more of them there then there are here. We can cut time if we skip the clones in the middle of the forest and go around. But that also means that we could miss the real Naruto if he is among the heart of the forest."
Sasuke lowered his head in thought. "I say we just charge through the middle, take out clones as we go, don't leave any behind." The 2 clan prodigies lashed through the fields, this time, the Naruto's would run back if they saw them approach. The real Naruto was among them.
'Crap! They didn't fall for my anti-Byakugan trick! Aw well, ill have to switch the positions of the clones at the back of the forest with the ones here and fall back.' Naruto ran back, forcing the remaining clones forward to stall. Naruto ran back at very fast speeds, but Hinata caught this on the edge of her Byakugan before he escaped her range.
Hinata liked Naruto very much. In fact she would be inclined to say love if it didn't make her embarrassed. But Hinata saw this as an opportunity to impress Naruto with her skills. "A single Naruto ran off. Almost no doubt he is the real one. I'll follow him so I don't lose the trail, cover me Sasuke."
Hinata rushed through the trees with Sasuke following close behind. As Naruto clones charged her, Sasuke would throw a shuriken, hit them, or use fire ninjutsu. He wasn't worried about hitting the real Naruto, as Hinata was sure she was on his trail.
A few kilometers forward, Naruto was sure that his cover was blown. He couldn't run forever, and if he continued to use hit and run it would be a waste of chakra. Hinata could see him from miles off, and Sasuke could attacks groups of enemies with considerable precision. Making 30 clones, Naruto charged with the mass, and created a clone that continued to run off in his place, trying to trick Hinata's sight.
Hinata and Sasuke were bombarded by a large mass of clones. Hinata saw a Naruto on the end of her vision alone getting away. She could get the real one later; she would need to take out the clones in her way.
"Fire style: Fire Ball jutsu!" Sasuke screamed suddenly, as a large…well… fire ball, cascaded out of his mouth, obliterating over half the Naruto forces. However, luck was on their side, as Naruto's second tactic to make Hinata continue on to the other clone failed, as Naruto was hit by the fire and the other half of the mass was taken out of existence. Naruto was burned slightly around his arm and it hurt to move it as it stretched the burnt skin. But he was still running. Hinata and Sasuke close behind.
Naruto took out a rope and threw it on a branch above him as he fled. He swung himself upward, aiming to land on the branch the rope attached to. Sasuke saw this and his instincts kicked in. He lashed out a kunai toward the rope midway through Naruto ascent up, cutting the rope, Naruto was flung forward unexpectedly. Sasuke rushed under and Hinata followed suit.
"Crap.." Naruto muttered, he knew he lost but he smiled, he had fun. As he hit the ground Hinata grasped Naruto's arm with a smile.
"Gotcha."
28 Minutes and 32 seconds.
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"Next is Hinata". Kakashi announced after a little rest. "Begin!"
Hinata rushed off, Byakugan blazing. Naruto thought she had a better chance of winning. She could see her enemies coming even before they did. But it would be hard to avoid a mass of clones if they happened upon her direction. Besides, constant use of the Byakugan would mean constant chakra drainage.
After the 5 minutes were up, Naruto created 50 clones, and he and Sasuke rushed toward the forests, where Hinata waited.
Hinata decided that Naruto's strategy was smart, using shadow clones as distractions. She created 30 clones, they didn't need to be shadow clones, and they served their purpose. The clones scattered as Hinata remained in the heart of the forest for the best vision range all around.
"Do you think Hinata is scouting the area or staying still?" Naruto asked. Sasuke shook his head, unsure. "Can't say for sure, with the Byakugan she could pick whichever tactic, although she might pick the one that conserves most energy".
Hinata remembered how toward the end of chasing Naruto he tried one more tactic to throw them off; blend in with the crowd and change their attention to a clone. She stayed still and in the open, while one of her clones scouted the area.
Back with Naruto and Sasuke, the shadow clones picked up on Hinata. And alerted the real copies. "Hey, that's her right there." Naruto whispered. He narrowed his brows. "But that was way too easy."
"Yeah…might be a clone, she doesn't even have her Byakugan activated." Sasuke confirmed. However, they didn't leave the clone behind, and dispersed it.
"Hey Hinata's takin' my moves! Heehee". Naruto laughed slightly, actually flattered. Sasuke didn't comment but was still focused. He really wanted that solo training. "This might be more trouble then we thought. Can u make a bit more clones to save time?" He asked genuinely.
Naruto nodded silently and created 50 more clones. They all split up and tackled through the bushes. Taking out Hinata clones as they go. It seemed like a sort of repeat of Naruto. But they had no idea where Hinata was, and she knew where they were.
A few of Naruto's shadow clones were dispelled and Naruto got the memory of the clones. Knowing that only the real Hinata could damage them, Naruto alerted Sasuke to the direction. But Hinata was fast and she had the distance. Naruto created more shadow clones to flood out Hinata. She was forced to take out the clones that were able to approach her, sending more accurate information to Naruto, instead of small bits. Now Naruto and Sasuke could follow Hinata by the 'memory trails' they found. They caught the real Hinata in view. Hinata knew the main reason for their supreme tracking was Naruto's clones. She tried to attack with a swift hyuuga palm to his elbow, but Naruto bent forward and blocked with his headband to avoid sacrificing any other body part while blocking. He lashed out with his own left hook to her stomach witch she blocked easily with her knee. Sasuke charged behind her as Naruto was about to aim a kick for her side. Hinata charged chakra through her whole body and spun on her heel, repelling Naruto's kick and Sasuke's and they both skidded away.
Hinata's eyes widened at what she nearly did purely by accident. She narrowed her eyes in focus and determination as she decided to charge for Sasuke, aiming a kick to his leg. Sasuke dodged by flipping forward and brought his heel down aiming for Hinata's head. Hinata, instead of blocking, aimed a palm to his leg, the chakra in her hand absorbing the pain of the impact as well as damaging his chakra coils. Then aimed a palm at his stomach, he blocked with his arms still in midair, but was knocked back. Naruto was upon her again with 3 shadow clones. Hinata dispersed one with a sweep kick and ended up hitting the real Naruto in the chin with a palm as she stood back up, he reeled from the blow witch gave Hinata time to create 4 clones just as Sasuke and Naruto recovered. All 5 Hinata's jumped up onto a tree branch and immediately descended down, 2 Hinata's on Naruto, 2 on Sasuke, and 1 Hinata stood in the middle of both.
The clones couldn't attack but she knew they didn't want to leave clones behind that could be the real one. Witch gave Hinata time to test her theory.
'Lets see if I could try that again..'
Gathering chakra into her entire system and around her body, she rapidly spun in place. To a hyuuga, the beginning of the spin would seem a little clumsy but she maintained her balance and increased the speed of her spin just as Naruto and Sasuke charged with the assistance of 5 shadow clones. Hinata then released her chakra in all directions, not all at once, she was sure to not make that mistake. 'Like running water, smooth release of chakra' The release of chakra took a bit longer then normal, but was good for her first time.
A dome of visible chakra erupted around Hinata and grew gradually as she poured more chakra to keep it running and make it larger. Hinata knew that she had done it, and called out her technique as the boy's made contact.
"8 trigrams palm rotation!" She increased the velocity of her spin, kicking up dirt and wind picking up around her. Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise but it was too late to stop as they leaned into the deadly sphere and were immediately sent cruising back as they hit the trees behind them. However the Rotation was very draining and she had to stop
As Hinata stopped spinning she felt nauseous and very chakra drained, she nearly fell to her knees from exhaustion but was suddenly tackled by Naruto, the two tucked a rolled painfully until Naruto had hold of both her arms and was hovering above her, his legs on either sides of her. Both were breathing hard but smiled into their breathing slightly, smirking more then smiling. Naruto's vision began to slightly haze and his breathing became more labored and husky, unknowingly relishing in the feel of Hinata's skin against his own. Hinata noticed the look in Naruto's eyes. Like a tiger that just caught its prey, and was eyeing it down hungrily. The look made her nervous but at the same time she was drawn to it. And although it made her feel slightly embarrassed as she made this realization, But Hinata couldn't help but be turned on, as she started to breathe harder as well, her chest heaving higher then necessary.
The 2 were broken out of their heated trance when they heard Sasuke confirm the exercise with a call of,
"You've just been captured". It was obvious he didn't see the sparks between Naruto and Hinata, and it embarrassed them both dearly, but un-noticed by the other, they both licked their lips involuntarily before Naruto hefted himself off of her and apologized. He was actually glad Sasuke had snapped them out of it before Hinata REALLY noticed his excitement…
He blushed inwardly at what almost happened, slightly unnerved.
But he couldn't say that he didn't like what just happened. He shook his head to get rid of his thoughts and looked toward Hinata and tried to speak as normally as he could.
"So how long did she last?"
"44 minutes and 3 seconds".
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After the group rested for about an hour, Naruto and Hinata hadn't spoken during their hormone induced run in. Naruto told himself that he'd not trust people so much anymore. He was sure he could trust his teammates and especially Hinata since she saved him from rotting away in the training field after he killed Mizuki. Still, it didn't make the reunion with her any less awkward.
Hinata was always taught to be the respectful princess of her house hold. To be involved psychically that way with Naruto that way made her feel slightly uncomfortable since it went against everything she was taught. But…the heat. The touch. It was new and fresh and attracted Hinata's attention as she enjoyed that touch immensely.
But now was Sasuke's turn. He would have to exploit all of his advantages if he wanted to win the extra training.
'Naruto uses his clones to explore the area and even if they are destroyed he gains the memories of how I destroyed them, witch means he'll know my tactics, and he'll know my location. Hinata can see me from far away even without shadow clones, witch means her and Naruto can create a plan to make better use of his shadow clones. This is going to be difficult'
"Alright, Sasuke's exercise begins now!"
Sasuke dashed right into the forests. He was going faster then normal. Thinking up a storm.
'How did Naruto make it so that Hinata couldn't tell the difference between clones? Hmm…Hinata's Byakugan spots people from far away by seeing their chakra. Did Naruto give a equal amount of chakra between himself and his clones? That's the only explanation I can think of. Damn...Naruto would need a lot of stamina and chakra for that. I don't think I could create hundreds of clones…maybe 40 and still have enough chakra left over for other uses.'
Creating 40 clones and distributing the chakra evenly, Sasuke headed off into the forest when suddenly he was tackled from the side.
"What! It hasn't even been 5 minutes!" He yelled. But the thing that tackled him was upon him and lashed a claw to his side, causing very deep wounds. Sasuke saw it was a tiger with red deep skin.
"Crap! Chakra tiger!" He exclaimed. These animals usually weren't one to attack humans unless they crossed their territory. Actually, their attacks were weak and mere academy students could kill them. Unluckily for Sasuke, he was running straight for the tiger's swipe and it caused a deep gash. The tiger chased him and took a bite for his arm as Sasuke was busy reeling from the previous blow. The bite was enforced with chakra but the added pain snapped Sasuke out of it. Charging his leg with chakra he kicked the mighty beast away. But cats always land on their feet, and soon it was charging Sasuke again.
'Its strong for a chakra tiger'. He thought to himself. Then again, he had no experience fighting one, as most people didn't. Witch is why some people were still killed by the even though they were supposedly easy beasts to beet.
'My ass.' He completed his thoughts with a few hand signs.
"Fire ball jutsu!" The large fire ball raced for the beast, but its senses were too much and jumped over the ball and right onto Sasuke. Sasuke was now below the mighty beast. Just as it was about to swipe at Sasuke's face, its movements slowed and Sasuke could see himself reflected in the tiger's eyes. Sasuke Uchiha, the prey. But Sasuke could see that his sharingan was activated. He gasped at this but was on alert. With the new senses and reflexes the dojutsu gave him, he bent his leg and kicked the tiger off of him. He created hand signs at a quicker pace.
"Rapid flame storm!" He called. As the name suggested, it approached the tiger at a rapid pace incinerating it.
Sasuke was on alert again, he was sure that was about 5 minutes and Hinata could find him by now. Hinata and Naruto had impeccable teamwork. Activating his sharingan again, he picked a few flowers nearby and placed it near the tiger. He said nothing, but he was grateful to the tiger that helped him activate his sharingan, even if he didn't know how it happened really.
He quickly rushed off certain that Hinata and Naruto might be drawn to the sight. He was sure that his own clones were scattered across the forest and headed to the very back of the area, certain to cover ground.
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"So uhh, where is he?" Naruto asked politely. Still worried if Hinata might be upset over the previous encounter. But then he snapped out of it. He had an exercise to get to.
"I see a few Sasuke clones, he seems to know how to trick the Byakugan".
Naruto put a hand on his chin as he examined the battle sight before him. It was obvious Sasuke got into a scuffle with a wild animal of sorts and took no mercy on it. The site looked about 10 minutes old. Some blood was scattered on the floor.
"Isn't there a way to be able to actually tell a clone from the real copy?"
She nodded. "Well…yes but I don't have enough experience with the Byakugan. I can only see the person, their clothing, skin, and chakra network. But I can't see the organs inside of a person's body yet…I don't have that experience, I need more training." She finished softly.
"I'm sorry if I'm a burden…"
"No way"! Naruto interjected. "Your doing more then enough, I'm happy that you can do even this." He reassured.
"Wait a moment…" Hinata's voice trailed and Naruto raised an eyebrow in question.
"There is only one Sasuke that seem to have wound gashes on his skin. Send your clones for him. Only the real Sasuke can dispel the clones so if he does that means we have the real Sasuke. Me and you should continue taking out clones just in case that one is a decoy."
"Good plan". He replied and smiled. He created 20 clones tot the direction of Sasuke as the real copies searched for different clones as a precaution.
The Sasuke clones were stealthy and were smart to flee on sight of Naruto and Hinata, they ran away I the opposite direction of the Sasuke with the gash marks. Giving Hinata extra confirmation that the one with gashes was the real one. After a few of his clones were dispelled, Naruto got memories from his dispelled shadow clones.
"I know where Sasuke is."
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Sasuke had taken out all the clones in 1 fire ball by making them huddle together, now he knew he had to flee the area quick before another wave of shadow clones found him. Luckily for Sasuke, the next wave of shadow clones had to pick up where they left off, with was in the northern area of the forest, Sasuke fled east.
He stayed inside an impressively high tree and created 10 clones to travel to the edge of the forest and try and find the real Hinata and Naruto and approach them from another direction, hoping to throw them off. He deactivated his sharingan to conserve his energy.
A few minutes later he was bombarded by shadow clones in 2 separate directions, 10 clones per mass. He aimed for the mass coming at him from the south. He punched a clone in the stomach, and turned and kicked the other in the face and they both dispelled. He was still attacked by the clones that remained. He knew he had to be quick or time would run out and Hinata and Naruto would find him.
He ran to the mob of 8 Naruto clones and jumped up with his leg out stretched, forcing through 3 clones as he ended up behind the 5 clones that remained and the other wave behind the 5 clones, giving Sasuke an opening to escape as he ran off before Naruto and Hinata got to them. Unfortunately Naruto didn't send only 20 clones, as 10 clones rained in from the trees above.
"Fire ball jutsu!" He fire into the air before he realized his mistake. He took out the clones but now he had to deal with the 15 clones that caught up to him from behind, and no matter where Hinata and Naruto were, Byakugan and shadow clones or not, they would have seen the fire ball shoot up. Sasuke aimed a kick to the closest shadow clone and jumped up onto a tree branch. Luck wasn't on his side as the branch was too burnt and it gave way as Sasuke stepped on it. He spotted another branch as he descended toward the ground, the branch was still green and bright brown, his flame didn't pass by that one.
He grabbed onto it with his hands and swung onto it. He turned around and swiftly called out his rank B technique.
"Rapid flame storm!" They deadly flames races to the 15 clones. However 5 clones jumped out of the way and rushed Sasuke, jumped off the different trees to make their ascent toward Sasuke. Sasuke rushed to the closest clone and aimed a punch. What he did not expect was that the clone swiftly dodged him and aimed a hyuuga strike to his arm. Out of instinct he blocked and he could feel the chakra smash into his chakra system, rendering chakra movement in his arm useless. He jumped back but the other clones caught up. The Naruto that had his him with a hyuuga strike smiled and erupted in a cloud of smoke, revealing Hinata. They had been among the shadow clones the whole time, with Hinata transformed.
Sasuke smiled respectfully. "Nice idea, but its not over!" He knew he couldn't do hand to hand combat with Hinata, she proved to have better hand to hand efficiency then both Naruto and Sasuke combined. Not to mention that 8 trigrams Rotation move she had. But without chakra flow through his arm, he couldn't use long ranged fire jutsu. Not to mention the now minor flesh wound the tiger had given him was still burning. The 4 Naruto's were upon him as one aimed a hit to his head. Sasuke blocked with his good hand and backhand him with the same hand. It disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sasuke didn't see the 3 Naruto's behind him using a rather odd formation. One Naruto put one foot on both of the others as they 'sling shot' him to Sasuke at speeds that they were sure he wouldn't be able to react. Earlier, Sasuke deactivated his sharingan when he rested in that high tree to conserve chakra, but now it was time to use it. The word felt strange and new on his tongue as he said it
"Sharingan!" He activated his bloodline, surprising the Naruto that was flying toward him at great speeds. Sasuke dodged the human missile and turned his attention to Hinata who was coming for him with a kunai in hand. He pulled out his own and charged her.
The action confused Hinata as she knew that he was aware that in close combat he couldn't beet her without jutsu or assistance. But with Sasuke's newly acquired sharingan she had to be careful. The Naruto that Sasuke dodged landed on the tree sideways feet-first, and jumped toward Sasuke again, the other 2 Naruto's charging for him behind Hinata.
Sasuke brought his weapon toward Hinata. Just as she brought hers up to blocked, Sasuke jumped up suddenly. Creating hand signs, he called out his favorite jutsu.
"Fire ball jutsu!" He poured a little extra chakra into it to increase the mass and size of the ball. Unfortunately this was a doubled edged sword; As soon as he released the ball, the bright colored ball cut his few of the enemies right away. He put himself and his senses on alert.
Down below, Hinata and Naruto saw their chance. Naruto created more shadow clones witch stood in different directions all around Sasuke. Naruto and Hinata jumped out of the way of the giant flame barely. Naruto took out his kunai and ninja wire and attached the wire to the loop of the kunai quickly and tossed it to a clone right by Sasuke. Sasuke was on alert seeing the kunai fly right by him, and halted the fireball jutsu to see what was going on. He spotted the multitude of clones all around him. He saw the kunai was attached to wire.
Again the kunai zipped by him quick, then again, and again and rapid pace, holding Sasuke up there in place by the wire that was around him, knotting him up like a fly in a spider's web. He knew it was over.
"Alright! We finally got you"! Naruto exclaimed excitedly. Sasuke was a sneaky and smart little bugger.
"Congratulations, you did well Sasuke." Hinata exclaimed and contacted Kakashi by the 2 way radio. "We got him Kakashi sensei."
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After the group gathered Kakashi tallied up the time and scores with all 3 genin exhausted. Kakashi eyed them warily and with a smirk. "Well now, I think you've all learned a thing or two about tracking and escaping enemies in the forest and pretty much anyplace with obstacles, wouldn't you agree?"
All three exhausted from the endless chasing and running, they were battered and bruised, and Sasuke had a strange gash in his stomach witch didn't seem to serious, and a mouth that seemed a bit charred. Kakashi chuckled soundlessly at this; he wasn't surprised Sasuke had busted out all of his fire moves to keep the genin at bay.
It also looked like to Kakashi that they seemed more like adults now. In a way this was more than survival training. The team reported in and Kakashi knew that they learned more about techniques now. Although it had been accidents, Hinata learned the 8 Trigrams Palm Rotation. According to her it started off wobbly but it was a success. Sasuke obtained his sharingan, as Uchiha's gain the sharingan in an encounter where they would die and the sharingan could save them. Sasuke got off lucky on that one, without the sharingan he would have been caught sooner by the team. Naruto didn't learn much about new jutsu. But he learned valuable information about himself. He tested out his coordination with kunai, rope, and wire, and was able to detest that he had rather unusual chakra reserves, as he could make much more then quadruple the clones Hinata and Sasuke did, and they were shadow clones witch demanded much more chakra, not only that but he could do it without an exhaustion at all.
"Naruto, your time was 28 minutes 32 seconds. Not bad for someone with no forest experience. But still the worse time".
Naruto frowned and did the all famous anime sweat drop.
"Hinata, your time and strategies were smart and you avoided them for quite some time by yourself. I'm sure your time would have been much longer if you had more experience with the Byakugan, and a bit more training. Your time was a solid 44 minutes and 3 seconds." She bowed respectfully.
"Sasuke, you look the most battered of the three of you. You pulled out all of your tricks and in the midst of your survival exercise you learned to activate you sharingan and surprise Hinata and Naruto with your new moves and kept them at bay with your own clones and fire jutsu. And it paid off; your time was 49 minutes and 22 seconds."
This time Sasuke didn't let out a giant outburst like he had during the bell test. But the happiness was evident in his face. His teammates congratulated him as Kakashi released the group.
"Oh, one more thing troopers! Tomorrow we will be going through special training after our mission". He stated.
"What kind of training is it sensei?" Hinata asked.
Kakashi pulled out his book but didn't open it. "Well I'm going to teach you how to perfect your chakra control by climbing trees not with your hands, but by using your chakra to climb with just your feet."
Sasuke tilted his head to the side. "Sounds fun". He said sarcastically. Kakashi chuckled. "Oh little Sasuke, I had a feeling you would find it useless, but I can assure you it is quite helpful. Some of the most powerful jutsu has stemmed from these simple tree walking exercises, and he second phase of this exercise-water walking, has also stemmed much jutsu."
"Like what?" Naruto and Sasuke asked simultaneously, earning a chuckle from the hyuuga princess.
"Such as a jutsu my teacher and forth Hokage invented, a powerful sphere known as the Rasengan. When I asked him about the formula, he told me it stemmed from the 2 chakra waking exercises. The first part was rotation, and learning to maintain continuous chakra flow, just like tree walking. The second part of the exercise was the only part that didn't come from the walking exercises witch was how to put power into your spin. Well you get the point, the chakra walking exercises help!" He finished slightly irritated, humorously enough.
Naruto's eyes sparkled. "He was your teacher? Does that mean he taught you the Rasengan?" He asked hopefully.
Kakashi shook his head not to say no to his question, but what Naruto wanted. "Oh no you don't. The Rasengan took the fourth Hokage 3 years to invent and 4 years to learn. Besides there is only a week before the exams, any Rasengan training would leave your arms useless. For now your getting down the basics. Meet here tomorrow after the mission. Squad dismissed."
"Hey Hinata, what time is it?" Sasuke asked. Hinata lifted the sleeve of her baggy jacket to see her watch, witch read,
"6:32pm". She answered softly pushing her sleeve back to its regular spot. Her skin tingled at the slightly chilled air.
"Hey sweet, I can still catch that movie I wanted to see." Naruto commented. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What movie?" Naruto crossed his arms lazily as he answered.
"Blackout, why?"
"Aw darn, I was going to see that movie today, guess I'll have to watch it another time". He stated with a smirk as he walked off with his hands in his pockets.
"Hey! What does THAT mean jerk?" But Sasuke was already leaving with a head held high. Naruto scoffed but laughed. That was a little funny he supposed…
Hinata shyly approached him. "Naruto…I-If you'd like, I could come with you, I don't have very much left to do today." She asked softly.
Naruto raised an eyebrow slightly, but he smiled. "Sure…I'd like that". Naruto was still a little uncomfortable being so friendly. But he found himself making excuses to make Hinata an exception.
They had begun walking to the theatre when Hinata started to shiver slightly even with her jacket on. Naruto had his jacket wrapped around his waist, but he felt fine.
"Naruto…it's a little cold." If one looked closely, you could see Hinata' ears become slightly red. Naruto laughed slightly. "Ah come on, it isn't that cold, you only think its cold because your not used to it, you just gotta let it get to you and you don't notice. Come on, take your jacket off, you won't feel different."
Hinata was reluctant, but proceeded to take her jacket off slowly. She started to shiver slightly, but it wasn't too different she supposed.
"See?" Naruto cooed. Hinata then promptly… sneezed.
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"N-N-N-N-Na...Naruto!" Hinata grasped Naruto's arm as they watched the movie, frightened to death. It was 30 minutes into the movie and Hinata was trying her best to not scream. Naruto chuckled lightly.
"It's n-n-n-not funny Naru-KYAAAA!" She suddenly screamed as the killer in the movie jumped out of his hiding spot and just missed the girl in the movie. As a result she was shushed by many of the other people watching. Hinata was embarrassed as well as scard and hugged herself closer to Naruto.
Naruto didn't mind that she was scared and did these things through her fear. But she was really crushing his arm.
"Urrg Hinata…my arm?" He asked sheepishly. She gasped softly and apologized. He lifted his arm lightly to get the blood flowing. When the killer in the movie ambushed the girl again, Hinata ducked immediately under his arm and hugged Naruto himself. Naruto put his arm down and rested it on Hinata's shouler.
'Ahh that's better, I can feel my arm'
"Kyaaa!" Hinata screamed again as the killer got the victim and stabbed mercilessly over and over. Naruto was enjoying himself slightly, he was quite comfortable, the movie was fine, and he swore the top of Hinata's head was a great pillow. He could almost feel himself dozing…
"Excuse me madame, you are causing too much commotion and I've received multiple complaints. I'm going to ask you and your boyfriend to leave." An employee told them.
"Eh wha?" Naruto snapped out of it as he heard the employee. Hinata blushed in embarrassment a being so scared.
"You are going to have to leave the area. You are causing too much noise." He confirmed again.
Naruto yawned. He was comfortable and he wasn't about to leave.
"Ah come on. Her screaming wasn't that bad. If I could sleep while being beside her then its just fine." He argued.
But the employee continued. "Sir I'm-"
"Also! It's a scary movie; it's supposed to make people scream."
The man sighed but nodded. "Alright, one warning but if it happens again I'll have to really ask you to leave." Naruto nodded. "That's fine." He replied as he unconsciously rested his head on Hinata's again and smiled. Hinata also felt herself dozing off as she felt very warm in the embrace she had given him. Her last thought as she dozed off were, 'At least I won't scream anymore.' She snuck herself onto his lap and fell asleep.
3 hours later the theatre was completely empty, but if you could look closely you would see 2 people bundled up comfortably in each others arms.
"Excuse me sir." The same employee who spoke to him earlier, woke him up. "The theatre is closing for the night. Please wake up your company and exit the theatre." He told him.
Naruto was still dozy and tired but nodded. Not wishing to disturb Hinata, he picked her up slowly by wrapping his arms around her back and lifting her up slowly. He walked off with her as an adult would to a small child. She unconsciously snuggled closer, but she woke up as he walked down the stairs.
"Rise and shine". Naruto called to her as she blushed and put herself down on the floor.
"I'm sorry; I think I ruined the movie for both of us." She genuinely apologized
Naruto shook his head. "No way, watching you scream was fun enough." He laughed.
"Ooooooh u big meanie." Hinata was still very tired but laughed softly."Naruto, you can go home, I'll go home by myself today."
"Really? I thought that was the plan already." He joked.
Hinata giggled slightly. "I'll see you tomorrow Naruto." Naruto waved and walked his separate ways.
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The next day was slightly un-eventful, at least in comparison to the special tree climbing training the group was awaiting. They were nearly done their mission, and were driven by determination and eagerness to finish quickly. "Target in sight." Hinata called by radio.
"Hey no fair you cheater! You have Byakugan". Sasuke joked.
"Don't be jealous of Hinata Sasuke, at least you have a bloodline, I got nothin" Naruto exclaimed.
Loud static like sounds crashed through all three radios as Kakashi's voice rang out. "Alright kids enough dilly dally. Attack now!"
Sometime later
"Mission accomplished, we caught the all famous damn Tora again." Naruto exclaimed in a bored manner.
"Can you not give us that mission anymore? That's the 7th time we've done that mission and its only Thursday." Sasuke mumbled.
The Hokage chuckled but nodded. "That is fine I suppose. But then who would catch it?"
"I don't care just not me". Sasuke replied as Naruto interjected.
"Or me!"
Naruto and Sasuke looked to Hinata who hesitantly answered.
"Umm…or me I suppose…it's a little troublesome."
"Hahaha, well in any case team 7 is dismissed. Make sure you get your training in for the exams."
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"Alright-"
"Troopers? Why do you always call us that?" Naruto questioned.
"Dumbasses." He finished with a slightly smirk as he knew Naruto would try to interject.
Hinata merely giggled. But she was excited for this training. It was something extremely violent. "So when do we start?"
"Right now". Kakashi answered as he casually walked up the tree and hung upside down on the branch. "You're supposed to gather chakra in the sweat glands and soles of your feet to work kind of like a suction cup. But you use the suction of chakra just enough to comfortable lift your feet to climb the wall. Too much, and it becomes too unbearable to move your legs and you'll lose your focus eventually. Too little and you won't have the suction to stay attached to the tree. This is why this is known as the most effective way to practice a beginner's chakra control. The same with water walking; too much and the force of your chakra will cut right through the water, too little and you'll sink. You understand how this works now?"
"Yes..um, Kakashi sensei, will you teach us water walking as well?"
Kakashi pondered this with a hand to his chin. "Well I didn't think of that. If you can reach the top of the tree before the end of this week than I suppose we can begin on that training, but I doubt you'll have time for both, as Sasuke and I will be doing solo training after this."
"Okay..." Hinata softly replied.
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After about 2 hours of trying Hinata was the most successful of the 3, as her hyuuga style helped with her chakra manipulation. But they were far from the top. All three were tired and drained. When Kakashi saw this he dismissed Naruto and Hinata for Sasuke's solo training.
"Alright Sasuke, first I'm going to confirm your elemental affinity with this sheet of paper here".
"Affinity?"
"Everyone was affinity, witch allows their elemental jutsu to be stronger then usual. If your elemental affinity has been fire this whole time, then your fire attacks have been getting a boost. That's an example. Now charge your chakra into this piece of paper. Depending on the effect, I'll tell you what affinity you have."
Without a word Sasuke grabbed the paper eagerly and channeled his chakra. The papyer slightly crinkled and then burned.
"It burned, so I'm fire?"
"Ehh sort of, it crumpled first witch makes you lightning affinity with secondary fire." He finished with a thought.
'Hmm I was hoping he'd be fire, the lightning jutsu I had in mind is a little difficult to learn…'
"Alright, be prepared Sasuke, this technique is difficult to learn. Activate your sharingan to learn this more easily. In fact you could completely copy it with the sharingan if you can achieve the next state of the sharingan."
"You mean the second tomoe?"
"Yes, although copying jutsu isn't the same as learning it and the jutsu you copy can only be re-used while sing the sharingan but both at once is very chakra draining so its better to learn the jutsu you want to be able to use consistently. But the sharingan records hand signs and how the jutsu works better so it still helps."
Sasuke raised a brow questionably. "How do you know so much about the sharingan?"
Kakashi's eye crinkled showing a smile. "That's a story for another day. Now watch."
He casted a short fuse of hand signs and raised his hands and stretched his arms completely straight.
"Lightning style: Raigeki!" Lightning erupted from his hands and shot out forward, the bolt separating like that of a tree's branches.
"Ohhhhhhh" Sasuke murmured in slight awe.
"This technique can strike a small amount of enemies in front of you in a fan-type array. If this attack hits, it damages your opponents slightly and paralyzes them for a few seconds leaving you to do any more damage you like. The problem is that this attack is easily blocked by someone charging chakra through their body to block. Witch is what ninja's usually always do when they are attacked to block attacks. Also, this attack usually only has a range of up to a meter."
"Tsk". Sasuke merely replied.
"Don't get your panties in a twist Sasuke. This effect is best used to force your enemies into defense if your bombarded by an assault too difficult for you to counter. That's what's so useful about the short casting needed for this technique. Also if you ambushed somebody you could damage them and keep them stunned for another assault. So it does have its uses."
Sasuke seemed satisfied enough. "Alright lets begin". He started the hand signs in correct order and posture. He tried to gather chakra in the way lightning would and thrust his arms forward, keeping them as straight as possible.
"Lightning style: Raigeki!"
All he got was a little spark. Kakashi sweat dropped.
"This is gonnna take a lot of work."
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"Urrg I can't stand this!" Naruto exclaimed pulling at his hair. Hinata looked on warily. Naruto was just watching Sasuke try to learn the Raigeki.
"Stand what Naruto-kun"? She asked polity, tugging at her own hair. She worried it might be too short.
"I know Sasuke won the challenge but I can't stand being left behind. Please Hinata…" He started turning to her heartedly. "Train with me. Please Hinata! I need your help. I don't wanna fall behind. I need you to help me." He begged generously.
Hinata was a little shocked at this sudden need to learn jutsu. But her Naruto needed her. He even told her so. "Of coarse I'll help you, who do you think could teach us elemental jutsu? Someone who has an average in all jutsu…do you know someone?"
Naruto looked toward the sky as if they would answer him, and then he had the answer.
"Oh! I know!"
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Iruka slightly hummed at the proposition his former student asked of him.
"You want me to exploit your affinity and teach you a jutsu accordingly hm?
The two genin nodded. They were determined.
"I guess I could do that. Just remember the jutsu I teach you won't be very impressive since you've only got a week to learn them. But I'm sure they can prove useful in their own way."
"What do they do?" Hinata asked. Iruka pulled out a book with an actually dffinition of many jutsu.
"First, take this paper and channel your chakra into it. It will tell me your affinities."
Hinata and Naruto took the paper and split it in half between them. Naruto channeled his chakra and the paper split in half, it cut the tip of his finger slightly as well. Hinata's paper became soggy and wet.
"Wind and water? Interesting, only a few other people in his village possess the wind affinity. Anyway, I have the perfect jutsu for both of you. The wind jutsu for you Naruto, is a technique that blows wind out of your feet, propelling you in the opposite direction. Not only does it force chakra out of your feet like a fan, but it pushes wind out of your hands and chest in a forward motion to repel close by enemies. Witch is why this technique is considered more defensive. But the feet propel bonus gives it other uses, those uses are up to you though."
Naruto nodded.
"Hinata, yours is more offensive. By gathering the water particles in the ground and around you, you can force icicles out of the ground to attack enemies. It's a rather simple attack, but very effective as you can send the icicles in any direction."
She also nodded.
"Alright, come here to learn thee techniques tomorrow, until the week up until you start the exams."
"Thank you Iruka". Naruto exclaimed happily and turned and walked off. Hinata was about to follow suit but Iruka put a hand on her shoulder to catch her attention.
"Good luck with him eh?" He winked and she blushed.
A week later
"Alright, the nomination for the genin of the chuunin exams is in order. We shall start with the rookies. Would the three jonin of these teams step forward, and tell me of your decision.
"I Kakashi Hatake, Nominate Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata hyuuga, and Sasuke Uchiha all for the chuunin exams."
"Kurenai Yuhi taking the field. I am sensei for Sakura Haruno, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka, I nominate all 3 as well.
" I Asuma Sarutobi nominate my all famous new Ino-Shika-Cho trio for the exams." He chuckled slightly as he said this.
The Hokage turned to Iruka. "You were the former teacher of all these students, do you want to share your opinion.?"
"Yes Hokage-sama". He cleared his throat and turned to him. "I believe these teams will be a standout in this generation." He smiled.
The Hokage chuckled. That would certainly get the other jonin's attention.
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"Alright students! Today is the day of the chuunin exams, are you all excited?" Kakashi asked with a smile.
They all nodded.
"Heh, you certainly don't sound like it"
"Yes SIR!" They all shouted. Kakashi was surprised; even Hinata shouted.
"Alright, I'm going to give you one final chance. If you want, you can wait for next year to do this. Or would you like to enter now?"
The genin said nothing, Kakashi knew the answer.
"Alright, good luck in there."
The three genin entered the room and were greeted by a room full of genin. They were approached by the other rookies and exchanged salutations. A boy with white hair approached them.
"Hey, are you all the rookies?" He asked them.
Kiba crossed his arms. "Who asked you"? The boy chuckled.
"No one did, I asked you, but fro your reaction I can tell you are the rookies. It's nice to meet you, my name is Kabuto Yakushi. I know what it's like to be the rookie. I'll help you out. Do you have any team you want information on?"
The genin were silent, none really knew of anyone dangerous.
"No, instead, I'd like information on the teams we should look out for. Give us your top 5 most dangerous teams." Sasuke asked.
"Sure". He unconsciously grabbed his ninja cards in a flash.
"Neji Hyuuga's squad, consisting of Neji, Tenten and Rock Lee, Dosu Kinuta's team, has Dosu, Kin, and Zaku, and Garra's team. They have Garra, Temari, and Kankuro, they are new this year also but their danger is inevitable. Kimiten Ishoya's team with the Ojuda brothers of the sound also, I don't have much info on them other then their names. But word is they are quite dangerous. And…"
The rookies gasped.
"Looks like the 5th team on the list is yours Sasuke's."
"How'd you know my name?"
Kabuto chuckled. "It's on the card." Only he would know that wasn't true.
"Alright maggots! Listen up and get seated, the chuunin exams starts now!" Anko Mitarashi entered the room and the exams now begun.
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And that concludes this chappie! Kimiten's team is an OC team I made to add a twist to this story of coarse. I hope I made this chappie interesting and if I made any writing errors please let me know and ill get to fixing it, YOUR ALL MY BETA'S NOW MUAHAHAHAH!
Next time! Let the battle begin!