Chapter 6: Help From an Angel

The morning of the Chunin Exams finally dawned. The Fox, who had watched over Naruto all night, gently waked him so he would not be late. Despite it all Naruto managed to sleep when he got home.

The night before he was a wreck. After leaving the mountain top he was a hurricane of emotions. He had spent hours just walking about the village playing the events over and over. He didn't even know he had come home until he was standing inside his apartment. He walked over to the couch, fell over, emotionally drained, and beyond exhausted he slept deeply.

All night long the Fox sat and watched over Naruto and worried. She was scared for him. Something was wrong with him. Never before had she seen Naruto loose control like that. In the past he had become enraged, even to the degree he was last night, but always he was in control. Always he was in a clear sate of mind, having a purpose, a goal. The confrontation with Gaara was different. It had set something in motion that was changing Naruto. Neither one of them knew what was going on.

"I'm not going to talk about it," Naruto said referring to the events of the night before.

"I see," the Fox said solemnly.

"Mom, I know you're worried." Naruto rarely called her Mom. While he thought of her as one he just normally called her the Fox. Calling her mom meant he needed her to be that right now and nothing else. "I know there is something wrong with me. Something is going on that neither of us understands. We can do nothing but wait and deal with things as they happen. Take it one day at a time as we always have."

"You have no idea what it's like in here. I can only sit and watch as my boy is being torn apart inside. No amount of my power can heal those wounds. To sit and watch as someone you love is being hurt is more torture then you know. I walk these bars and rage against my cage unable to do anything. Damn that man! DAMN THE FOURTH FOR DOING THIS TO YOU! IT'S HIS FAULT YOU SUFFER NOW LIKE YOU HAVE ALL YOUR LIFE!"

Naruto closed his eyes. He retreated into his mind. To the place that the Fox lived. He did not come here often. Not as much as he would have liked to. When he was young it used to be a dank sewer with pipes and rusted walls. As their relationship grew he changed it so she would not be alone in the dark. Now it was an open green field with trees, blue sky, and unlimited sunshine. The cage was still there but it was no more then bars over a cave.

"Mom, please calm yourself," Naruto said once he stood outside the bars.

On the other side stood the Fox, but not in the form one would expect. She was a beautiful woman. Her eyes were a fiery red and on her face were the same whisker marks that lined Naruto's. Her hair was extremely long and burned a bright orange. Moving about her were nine orange and red tails. She was dressed in an elegant white kimono with black and gold accents to mirror Naruto's color style. Had she been a woman in the real world her beauty would be unmatched.

"I'm sorry my son," she said apologetically. "I know how my moods can affect you."

"Right now we don't need rage. Yesterday is over. What's done is done and now we have to face today. What ever happens will happen. Let us be ready for it but not dwell on what could be."

The Fox smiled. She wanted to reach between the bars and take hold of her son. He had grown so much so fast. If only the seal would let her. "How did you come to be so smart? Saying all the right things, acting so grown up."

Naruto smiled wide. "I have a good role model." They both laughed "Ok, no more of this sappy stuff. I need to get going. Don't feel like being yelled at by Sakura for being late."

Naruto left the field and was back in his apartment. He gathered his things and set out to meet up with his team. Despite what he said the events of the pervious night weighed heavy on him. But it wasn't going to stop him. He met up with Sakura and Sasuke and they headed to the Academy where the first part of the exam was scheduled to take place.

They arrived at the Academy and made there way inside. They soon came to a crowd of people standing around a door that was being guarded. A young man with a black hair, very bush eye brows, and wearing a tasteless green leotard had just taken a couple of punches from the two guarding the door. A girl with brown hair steeped forward.

"Please, let us through," the girl with brown hair said. "We need to go in there."

As she took another step forward she was punched in the face by one of the two guards in the door. She fell back like her teammate had just a moment before. There were murmurs from the crowd. Sasuke's eyes lit up with excitement. Sakura stood there with a small grin on her face like she knew something the rest of them didn't. Naruto looked at her confused.

"Listen up fools," one of the door guards started to say. "We're doing you a favor here. If you can't get past us then you have no hope of surviving the exams. So just go home and save yourself the pain."

Sasuke made his way through the crowd of onlookers. He approached the two in front of door and he was smiling. Sakura was still smiling too. Naruto was confused as to what was going on. He wondered if Sasuke was going to fight them both. Trying to prove how strong he was.

"So, you think your getting in here punk?" one of the two questioned.

"Why would I?" Sasuke replied coolly. "We are supposed to go to a room on the third floor, this is just the second."

The crowd again began to talk among themselves again. They were very confused as to what was going on. The sign above the door said 301, the room they all were told to go to. It was then that Naruto got what was happening. Until then had not bothered to look at the number over the door. He knew they were on the second floor. He was more interested in the fight that was happening when he got there and not why they were fighting.

"Tell them Sakura," Sasuke continued. "You have the sharpest eyes and analytical skills on our team. I bet you saw the weak genjutsu the second we got here."

"Your right," Sakura said while stepping forward. "I did see it. This is the second floor not the third. I'm sorry there boy but you will need to do better then that to keep us out of the exams."

"So you saw through a simple genjutsu." It was then that the sign numbers changed from 301 to 201. "Now try and get through this."

The one that had been talking began to throw a punch at Sasuke. Sasuke began to counter with a kick to the face. They were both interrupted by an unlikely source. The young man in the green leotard suddenly appeared in between both combatants. Stopping each with just his hands.

Sasuke backed off. He was clearly impressed with what the guy in green had just done. His teammates on the other hand were not so pleased.

"Good job Lee," the girl with brown hair said. "It was your idea to hide our true skills."

"I know," he said sounding embarrassed. "I'm sorry. It's just . . . bah."

"Come on, let's get out of here," said there other teammate who had long hair and pearl colored eyes.

The three of them walked off. The rest of the people that were there began to disperse as well. Sakura who was still very pleased with herself walked over and took both Naruto and Sasuke by the hand.

"Come on guys," she said flashing them both a smile. "Let's get going. We have an exam to ace."

Naruto was still a little uncertain about what had just happened but didn't care. Sasuke was a little embarrassed to be holding hands with Sakura but she had and iron grip and walked slashed dragged them both down the hallway.

On there way to the correct room they were only interrupted one more time. The young man in green stopped them. He introduced himself as Rock Lee and challenged Sasuke to a fight. Sakura was concerned about being late for the exam. Sasuke was sure he would beat him in no time at all. Naruto stood around bored hoping that they could get this over with. It's not like anyone wanted to fight him so this was just a waste of time.

The fight was over quickly. Sasuke lost. Now Naruto was interested. He had beaten Sasuke with only taijutsu. Naruto wanted to fight him now and test his power against someone as fast and strong as Lee. It was a shame that the fight was interrupted by a giant talking turtle. Things took an even sharper turn to the extremely weird when Lee's sensei showed up.

Just outside the room they were supposed to be in Sakura noticed that Naruto did not look too well. He was a little pale and she saw he was shaking ever so slightly.

"Hey, Naruto," she started to say. "Are you ok?"

"That guy back there. What he did, it . . . it was . . . disturbing."

"Hu?"

"All the crying and hugging and babbling about youth. Oh man . . . I think I just threw up a little in my mouth."

Sakura just sighed and opened the door to the room. Inside, the room was full of Genin. All of them staring at the new arrivals. All of them looking mean. As they walked in Naruto winced ever so slightly. The smell of all the different chakra mixing in the small room created a funky smell that Naruto didn't like.

"Well look who finally showed up," the voice of Kiba addressed them. He came walking over with the rest of his team, Shino and Hinata, in tow. "Looks like we are all here." He was indicating the other three rookie Genin, Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji.

"What, you guys are here too?" Shikamaru could be heard saying. "This is going to be a drag."

By this time Naruto was ignoring everyone. He could care less that everyone he use to go to class with was here. But there was one person there that he was happy to see. The only person in his class that he could ever stand being around.

"Hey Hinata," Naruto said to her as he walked over to where she was standing. "It's been a while."

"Oh, n . . .Naruto," she stammered out. When Naruto had walked up to her she had been deep in thought. Something was troubling her. She did her best to hide it. "It's good to see you."

"How have you been? Gone on any exciting missions yet?"

"No, nothing very interesting. Our team is mostly recon so we don't do anything all that exciting." Pushing her troubled thoughts aside she tried to relax while talking to Naruto. She was glad to see he was well.

"It's only a matter of time. We just got back from a big mission in the Land of Waves. It was the first time I had ever left the village. It was really something."

"I heard about it. It sounds like it was really dangerous. Um, Naruto, did they really name the bridge after you?"

"Oh you heard about that." It was Naruto's turn to be embarrassed. "Yeah they did sorta name it after me. Maybe one day I will show it to you." Naruto was babbling now. Hinata's face started to turn red a little. "So, the Chunin Exams, exciting stuff." Naruto was desperate to change the subject.

"Oh, yes it is. I wasn't sure I was going to be here at first. But I knew that I needed to give it a try." She knew Naruto would be there. She wanted to do well. She wanted him to see how strong she could be.

"That's the spirit. You never know what you are capable of unless your test yourself."

Hinata began to smile. It was almost as big as the one on Naruto's face. Suddenly they were interrupted by a commotion coming from the other side of the room. The Sound ninja had become upset by something said by a Leaf ninja named Kabuto. He had been talking to the others and showing them some cards. Naruto and Hinata turned in time to see Kabuto jump back and just barley dodge the attack. It looked like he was fine until his glasses broke and he then vomited on the ground.

"Interesting," Naruto thought to himself. "There is something more to that attack but I can't quite tell what they did."

His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the exam proctor.

"Ok maggots, enough fooling around." He was a tall man with a commanding voice. "Try that again and you three will get to spend a day with me." He said that with a sadistic smile. It was scary but he still had nothing on Naruto's. "My name is Ibiki Morino. I will be the proctor for the first exam. It will be a written test. Now follow me."

"A written exam?" Naruto thought to himself.

"Oh no," the Fox echoed his concerns.

They were each given a number that corresponded to a seat in the room. It took a little while but before long everyone was seated. Naruto had no idea where his team was. The room was huge and full of people. Hinata had been seated next to him. They all sat quietly while they listened to Ibiki explain the rules of the test.

The rules for the test were far more complicated then any test Naruto had ever taken. It had ten questions but the tenth question would not be given out until the last fifteen minutes. You start the test with a perfect score and for every question you miss you loose one point. The real odd part was that if you are caught cheating then you loose two points. Cheat five times then you and your team are gone. No pressure.

"I am so boned," Naruto thought to the Fox. Naruto was not the best student but he was never the worst. He held back so not to be noticed. But still he had his problems in school. Written exams were always his weak point.

"It may not be so bad," the Fox said not only trying to reassure him but herself as well. "Just read through the questions and answer the ones you can. If you get a couple then you should be ok." She read through the test with him. "You're right, you are seriously boned."

"Come on, don't say that. I mean you're the great Nine-Tailed Fox. You've been around forever. You should have vast amount of knowledge. This test should be cake for you."

"Naruto, hon, I don't even understand half the words used to make up the questions. Solving math problems and deciphering codes was not something I ever did"

"Ok, I'm going to be sick again."

"Wait Naruto, just calm down. Deep breath. It's time to think. Time to be rational."

"Right. Ok, let's forget the questions. Remember the bell test. Shinobi tests are always more then they seem. So, what's the trick here?"

"I think it has something to do with cheating."

"That has to be it. Normally if you get caught cheating on a test then its game over. Here you can get caught up to five times before getting the boot. And the questions are so hard that you have to cheat in order to answer them. That's it."

"It's a test of information gathering, not knowledge."

Yeah, so if that's the case, I'm still boned."

"Yup."

"I never learned any information gathering techniques. I'm not very subtle. My answer to most things is to punch it in the face."

"I know. But look at that. Hinata is tearing through this thing."

"Of course she is. She is on a recon team. I bet she knows all sorts of ways of getting the answers to the test. I mean she is really smart."

"Maybe you should spend some afternoons training with her. I know she would enjoy it." The Fox was hinting at something that just flew right over Naruto's head.

"When this is over I plan to. I bet she could teach me lots of things."

"Oh, I'm sure of it."

During this entire exchange people all around Naruto came to the same conclusion as to what the real test was here. Most people seemed to have a way to answer the questions. The ones that did not were being caught left and right by the sentinels. Naruto just sat there unable to do anything. All hope seemed lost.

"Uh, n . . . Naruto?" Hinata whispered trying not to be heard by anyone else.

"What is it Hinata?" Naruto answered back just as quietly.

"If you want, you can look at my test for the answers."

"You're an angle. Truly you're my angle."

Hinata didn't say anything. She couldn't. Her face was a bright red and she knew if she tried to say anything nothing would come out. She just sat there as Naruto carefully copied the answers from her paper. He did so quickly to cut down the chance of being caught.

"Thank you Hinata," he said once he was done. "You took a big risk. Had you been caught it would have meant your team as well."

"Oh, no, it . . . it was nothing. I, uh . . . I just wanted you . . . I mean . . ." Her face became even redder then it had be before.

"No, it is a big deal." Naruto completely miss her slip of the tongue. "I owe you big time. I promise to make it up to you, and I always look out for those who are kind to me."

The rest of the time, until the tenth question was given out, was spent in silence. Hinata couldn't speak. She was too excited. All of the kind word he had said to her. She was so happy, but at the same time she was also still worried about something. She knew something but didn't want to let it out. She didn't want things to change. She just wanted to be happy right then.

"Ok everyone, listen up," Ibiki voice boomed across the room startling some. "It's time for the last question. But there are some more rules you need to know. You are all free not to hear the last question. If you choose not to then you fail and your team fails. If you take the last question but get it wrong then you will never be allowed to take the Chunin Exam again and never pass Genin level. Decided now."

There was a great deal of talk going on. Some yelled out about how unfair it was. But Ibiki was adamant about his rules. It started slowly at first. Then gradually more and more people raised there hands. The room was thinning out. Ibiki kept trying to psyche them out. Naruto was getting irritated. He didn't care about never passing Genin. That was not in his plans. But his nerves were shot. Last night and the stress of the written test had him on edge and he needed to explode a little.

Naruto raised his hand. He could hear small gasps from the people who knew him. He then slammed it hard on the desk in front of him and stood up.

"Just get on with it!" he bellowed "You're not going to scare me off with your big talk. I'm tired of sitting here, I'm hungry, and I had a really bad night last night. So if you don't mind hurry it up!"

Naruto's words untied the rest of the class. People were all nodding in approval and the ones who were thinking of wavering were now committed to staying. No one else would raise their hands. No one else was going to quit.

"Ok then," Ibiki started to say realizing it was time to do it. "Then there is only one thing left to say. You all pass the first exam."

The wave of relief and confusion could be felt through the entire building. Most sat wide eyed at what he had just told them. How did they all just pass?

"Let me explain," Ibiki addressed their confusion. "The first part of the test was to see how well you could gather intelligence. You passed if you didn't get caught. What could be worse then gathering no information is being fed disinformation. Only exceptional shinobi could pass that test. The second part of the test was a test of your resolve. There will be time when you are sent on a mission that there is a good chance you won't be coming back. Do you play it safe and go home placing the lives of your village in danger, or do you do what you have been trained to do and continue on. Everyone still here chose correctly."

There was still some uncertainty in the room. But for the most part everyone was glad the first part was over. It was time to relax a little and catch their breath. They were wrong.

"Incoming," both the Fox and Naruto said at once.

It was just then a giant tarp ball broke through the window. It unfurled in to a banner and standing it front of it was an odd woman. A very excitable woman.

"Ok listen up kids," she began to yell like a cheerleader. "You guys have had it easy up till now, but that's going to change. I'm Anko Mitarashi, the proctor for the second exam. So everyone lets go!" She pumped her fist into the air to rally everyone around her.

Everyone in the room just stared on in amazement. Their eyes wide and they were still confused. Who is this woman and what the hell is she doing?

Ibiki stepped out from behind the banner. "You're early."

Anko just kept standing there in her power pose except the smile gone and her face was bright red. Ibiki and Anko had a brief talk and then they dismissed the groups for the day. Their group leaders would tell them where to meet for the next exam that was scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Naruto walked with Hinata out of the room. They were both going outside to wait for their teams to show up. Sakura and Sasuke showed up soon. Naruto turned to Hinata before he left with them. "Thanks again for the help in there Hinata."

"You're welcome Naruto," she said sounding a little sad that he was leaving.

"Hey Hinata, can I ask you something? I feel a little odd asking this after you helped me out in there."

"Wh . . . what is it?"

"I realized I'm lacking in some areas and could use some help. Do you think we could spend some time training together? After the exams that is."

Hinata didn't say anything at first. She just held her breath till she nearly passed out. Naruto looked worried. "YES!" she yelled not meaning to. "I mean, that would be fine. I would like that very much."

Naruto started to smile again. "Great. That's two I owe you now. Good luck on the rest of the exam." Naruto then walked off with his team.

Hinata stood there. She was nearly delirious with joy. Naruto wanted to spend time with her. He wanted to train with her. He wanted her help. He thought she was strong. But not strong enough to tell him how she feels. Then her mind drifted. She knew something she wasn't suppose to and she was suddenly a little scared. What she knew could change things. She didn't want them to change. She just wanted to be happy. She wanted him to be happy. He deserved to be happy she knew.