Naruto's answer
(The Land of Waves, Nami No Kuni, in a small house by the water)
A moment went by, then another, and finally a minute made its appearance, all in silence.
The large man in the room was starting to get irritated. He had heard that the Kyubi's Jinchuriki were an idiot, not that he was slow, and answering a simple question should not take this long. A while ago he had asked the boy if he wanted to become a Chunin, the answer should have come immediately, yet instead he found himself waiting for this blond fox-kid to make up his mind/connect the dots/respond in any way!
Assuming that The Boy in front of him had not understood the whole situation, he decided to reformulate his sentence. Something along the lines of: "Me: Choku Wani, You: Genin-Jinchuriki-idiot-brat, Me, give You: pro-po-si-tion! You, become, Chunin, Okay!" it sounded pretty good in his head so he decided to go with it.
Leaning forward, Choku prepared his simplified speech, closing his eyes and smiling, trying to look like a the Third Hokage (much could be said about him but he had had charm) and opened his mouth to start speaking:….
"HELLYEAH! WHENDOWESTART? COMEON! BRINGIT! 'Ttebayo!"
The sudden loud noise and the incoherent mass of words shouted directly into his face made Choku temporarily believe that he had opened a door to a storm, which made him react in a "fairly" natural way: Slam it shut! An act he partially regretted later on as he would have to wait for Naruto to wake up, yet again.
Luckily Naruto did react well to the old Water-splashed-into-face trick, awaking immediately, complaining shortly after and receiving yet another splash of water to shut him up. Much to Choku's dismay that didn't help one bit. Deciding against yelling back, he stayed his hand and waited for the boy to stop.
Only minutes later he changed his mind and slapped him to make him shut up. Yet again he was dismayed to find that such was not a successful way to end his endless jabbering. Quite the controrary.
Finally Choku managed to shut him up with a piece of bread slammed into his mouth, making him silent enough to hear Choku's answers:
a: That he wouldn't be alowed to fight yet!
b: Choku was not in charge of it.
c: Stop trying to speak with your mouth full!
Despite a sore start Choku was starting to like the boy, even after he had been hit several times and endured what ever it was Ureshii had been doing, he still just kept on going. Either by stupidity or sheer determination, Choku didn't really care, he simply couldn't wait to see what would happen under the examination!
(Outside, in the village)
Looking up at the sky made her feel at ease. The weather had cleared up and even The Kiri-guards had begun to relax as the storm had become a gently crisp evening breeze. Clutching her Knees to her chest assured that she would not freeze too much as she enjoyed this quiet moment.
Aside from Sakura-chan trying to cheer her up, fate had been rather fortunate for Hinata the last half-an-hour. Being reminded of being angry is not everyone's favorite exercise and bottling it up by saying that "it was nothing" didn't help much either.
Deciding she needed some Hinata concentrated her Byakugan to take in the entire area, to check for enemies or any other unusual activities. Some Iwa and Kumo-nin stood and compared weaponry, Iwa brandishing heavy spiked clubs while Kumo showed equally impressive blades of different shapes. Kankuro and Temari were eating and discussing something with Shikamaru (Hinata couldn't help but think that the scene would be prettier without Kankuro).
Focussing on higher ranking people, Hinata found herself getting surprised at the Raikage's ferocity as he smashed a table in two and yelled something at his attendants, causing them to swiftly scatter and do whaqt ever their leader just ordered them to. Seeing the Raikage starting to prowl the room he was in, looking like a caged animal made Hinata change the scene.
In a building not much further away, The Candidate Tsuchikage was also angry, yet she at least didn't smash a table or the one bowing in the dirt in front of her, the Iwa-nin Oshi Fushizen. Taking a searching look at Oshi revealed that he didn't look much pleased either, seemingly apologicing for some slight before bringing a peace offering of Dango and assorted fruits. Seeing them the Kage Candidate lit up in a happy(hungry) smile. As She accepted the treats, she soothingly patted Oshi's shoulder, in turn causing him to brighten up as well.
Becomming dissatisfied over this scenery, Hinata focussed on the Candidate Mizukage, who at the time was talking to a man she had not seen before, a man with a conical hat and a dark shirt with a grey apron looking flakjacket over it. A Kiri-headband hang around his neck and a scarbarded canesword lay in his lap. unlike his anxious companion this man seemed overtly happy, despite that he was obviously drying off from the rain. The Candidate Kage however was cold sweating while he instructed his companion, but by the end of the conversation, he smiled grimly in satisfaction, like a predator, assuming predators were scared egomaniacs. Hinata scolded herself for not learning how to read lips sooner, it really would have helped her alot, her cousin was so skilled at reading body language, but she wasn't. Yet! she reminded herself, reminicing that she had begun to learn it, but just had to focus on the whole Akatsuki thing and were forced to put it on hold.
Deciding to focus on Naruto's safehouse, Hinata found herself unable to scan the insides of the building, problably due to a seal or barrier or something like it to prevent detection. She however could see the outside of it and as she watched the door oppened to reveal Choku Wani's large form leaving, rudely shutting the door behind him before stomping off, seemingly growling somthing beneath his breath while looking angrily at the ground.
Remembering his fondness for her, it seemed to Hinata that she could talk to him about what might be going on amongst the Kage.
Sitting back in the couch, Tsunade sighed in frustration. Dumb like a brick Naruto didn't understand that this proposition of a chunin-exam Kiri-style was not a chance for him to advance in rank, but a shot of prestige for Kirigakure, and thus the power position of Ureshii would sky rocket. He didn't care one bit for Naruto's rank only cementing his own power position and putting Konoha down. The other Kage were sure to not object, a defeat of a konoha-nin meant defeat of the village in one way or another.
Yet the opportunity for Naruto to actualy win was not completely out of the picture, even despite the new seals that Ureshii had applied, which obviously took a good tool on his chakra and the access to the vast amounts of the Kyubi. A victory to Konoha would help boost morale even with Naruto being unpopular. It would also put Kiri down a notch and perhaps make Naruto's stay in the village a bit more comfortable.
Remembering how Naruto looked when she had come to check up on him, she was sure that he had been hit more than one time too many, not just by Ureshii's goons but propblably also by Choku who had given him the proposition. He had gone to tell Ureshii that Naruto had accepted and was very enthusiastic about it. Tsunade briefly wondered about who were going to precide over the examination and where The candidate Kage intended to set it up. Exactly what the Exam incorporated was a bit of a mystery, Tsunade had heard rumors of what it enticed but nothing was certain after it had been through enough mouths, even a firsthand source could easily be unreliable, it all depended on situation.
The rumours spoke of a duel, the exact rules had not been off, Ureshii had been tightlipped about it, only revealing that "all would be made clear" when the examination began. Tsunade had also been told that Sa-do had arrived on the island, she were certain to meet him soon enough, perhaps that old womanizer could reveal more of the puzzle.
Swearing inwardly at the task he had been given, Ittan proceeded to use his Doton: Chidokaku (Moving Earth Core) to lower yet another piece of land down a further 30 feet. He didnt' get why he had to do it, he just knew he had to follow orders from the candidate Tsuchikage after a request (and several servings of highclass food) from the candidate Mizukage.
Looking around the wooded clearing he had lowered so far he noted the surroundings: Middle sized trees, nice big rocks, some small waterpuddles, a little lake with waterplants in it and a few patches of grass amidst a majority of muddy dirt. Nothing special really. Just a piece of land in the woods not far from town.
Around the area he had lowered however, some of the Kiri shinobi had started to put up benches and small pieces of fence at the edges of the hole he was making.
Scratching his head Ittan took a sip of water before he resumed his task, muttering under his breath: "What the heck do they need an arena for anyway?"
Walking swiftly through the village's street while monitoring her quarry's movements, Hinata slowed down, so as to "accidently" bump into Choku Wani and then subtly pump him for answers.
Turning off her byakugan just as she rounded the corner, Hinata expected to smack into the larger man's abdomen, instead she fould herself hanging by the neck in an iron grip. Surprising another Shinobi was seldom a wise action, and to deliberatedly do so would be considered foolhardy at best. Deep-in-thought, Choku had been taken by surprise and had reacted accordingly, a talent that had saved his life more than once over a long and eventful carreer.
Choku's face were a mask of fury, eyes shining a bestial Yellow in the night. His other arm were poised to strike, fist balled, and without a shadow of doubt, capable of pulverizzing her head with minimal effort.
"Wani-sama!" Hinata's surprised outbust brought him back to his senses just as he was about to smash her face into the next month, startled he released his grip on her, giving her a long accusing stare while doing it.
"Dumb move, Hyuga-girl, very very dumb move, had I smashed your face in, you couldn't have been much fun later on!" shrinking beneath his berating tone and stare Hinata almost forgot why she had bumped into him.
"What the hell are you doing in this part of the village anyhow? this is way of the main street" seeing an opprtunity to riffle him for answers, Hinata recalled the cover she had rehearsed
"I-I came to see how Naruto-kun was doing, I was in a hurry and bumped into you Wani-sama, I'm deeply sorry!" bowing to hide her body language and her flustered features, Hinata waited for Choku to have the wished reaction, she did not need to wait long
"Save your time girl, You're not getting close to him any time soon"
"Why is that? Wani-sama"
"I told you not to call me that! no need for the damn honorifics with me girl, just Choku is fine"
"Sorry... Choku"
"And stop with all the stupid apologies! That's for the weak, proving oneself, are the way of the strong"
"Yes Choku, understood"
"Good, now where were we?"
"You were about to tell me why I could not go see Naruto-kun" Hinata dearly hoped that it worked and that Choku-san did not get suspicious, she had no intention of ending in that grip again
"No I wasn't" cursing inwardly at his response Hinata struggled to come up with another plan, and fast, while Choku seemed rather simple that by no means, meant that he was stupid, outsmarting him proved slightly tricky
Chuckling in front of her, Choku began to laugh deeply, boomingly even. Realizing that he had played a trick on her, Hinata relaxed a smiled gently as the elder man began to assert some selfcontrol. finally stopping, whiping a tear from his eye, Choku looked at her in an appreciating way.
"Already proving to be entertaining eh Hyuga?" still snickering Choku had begun to relax as well, his form looking like a piece of solid rock in the dimming light.
"But back to the status of Fox-kid" He said his words with an teasing glint in the eye, testing her yet again.
"His name is Naruto!" Hinata wasn't pleased, the older man still refered to him by that moniker, surely he had met him at this point.
"Is it now?" Smiling, Choku's form changed from relaxed to poised, clearly taking joy in pushing Hinata's buttons, perhaps even making her attack him.
"Naruto Uzumaki" the words came a little loud but Hinata didn't care. This constant talking back and forth did nothing to give her the answers she craved.
Chuckling at her tired and impatient expression, Choku waved a hand in the air, a simple gesture to ward off foul things
"No need to get upset youngster, your friend is all safe and sound with the Hokage, getting further treatment"
Looking relieved for a moment, before a thought hit her, Hinata quickly questioned him again
"For what injuries, Naruto-kun looked fione when I last saw him"
"Well... Ureshii's a bit rough when it comes to putting up seals, that's all, besides: that Kid's noisy like hell"
"Seals? What for?"
"Let me give you the whole story Hyuga..." a quick explanation about how seals could weaken and why it was neccesary to repair them later, Hinata wasn't much relieved. Much distressed was so much more like it.
"So, Naruto-kun is currently resting from the sealing performed on him by Mizukage-sama?"
"He's not Mizukage, he's a candidate for the job, aside from that: Yeah, he's supposed to be resting right now, no visitors, so knock it out of your head before it begins to fester"
blinking at him for a second, hinata realized that she was right before, the man wasn't stupid, simple and direct, but by no means stupid.
"Naruto-kun have been through a lot over the last few weeks..."
"Yeah, that too, but he needs to freshen up soon, he's gonna need all the strenght he got"
"Why, Choku?"
"oh yeah, you regulars havn't been told yet, have you, Boy's going to be tested" Smilling broadly, several spires of sharp teeth sparkled in the light, making Choku appear even more savage and animalistic. Hinata reminded herself that the man had taken a shine to her before proceeding.
"Testing? In his condition? When? Why?"
"Yeah kid was all up for it too, gotta like a knucklehead that want's to fight right off the bat"
Of course, Hinata thought inwardly, Naruto just had to go for it immediatly, that part (Nevermind, one of the them!) of him that made her shake her head the most and what made him ever so appealing in her eyes, he just didn't know when to stop. Alot like herself when she had stalked (followed) him.
"As for when: as soon as we're ready to start. As for why: reputation thing" Choku's further elaboration made Hinata cringe inwardly, Ureshii-sama really was a twisted person, putting a wounded shinobi through gruesome testing simply because he wanted his village/himself to look good in the eyes of others.
Gulping all the gall she felt at the moment, Hinata prepared for the question that had been nagging her for a while now:
"What is the test about?"
"Basically it's a Chunin exam, Kiri-style"
"Chunin exam? But that can take months! You don't have that many shinobi wiht you to form a whole paseable class do you?" puffing his chest a this Choku folded his arms over his chest, omiting a distint air of self-rigtheousness about him. He even scoffed at her before starting to speak(or lecture her, hard to know the difference really):
"Not being allied to any ather nations got it's advantages, for one: our Chunin exams can be performed for teams of genin, a team or for a single one, no problems at all!"
"I see... but do you have what you need to perform it here?"
"We will soon, I was on my way to see how preparations were going, come on, you look like you need something to do" He didn't wait to see whether Hinata was following him or not as he eagerly started to walk down the street in eastern direction.
Hinata had to agree, she needed to keep her mind off things and seeing what the preparations included would deffianetly calm some of her nerves. Yet, as she hurried after the larger shinobi, she realised, having said knowledge would most likely increase her stemming sense of foreboding.
end of chapter 2, to those who enjoy reading this story, I'm sorry I havn't updated as soon as I said I would, had a lot of work with university and all so I couldn't always find the time of day to write, I won't promise when next update will be, given that I have an obvious problem with keeping deadlines
Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, next chapter will most likely be shorter than this one, Title: Sa-do, The Examinator!