An: I would like to thank all the people that reviewed as always. Well this is the Kiri Chunin exams, but I kind of condensed it all into one chapter instead of the two I originally planned. The reason for that is there will be an almost year and a half time skip before the start of the Star Village Arc. The reason for that is it will feature an Uzumaki. But not Naruto. After that it'll be the start of Shippuden timeframe, so again thanks for reviewing. Your humble author S. o. t. A.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit. Also, if you say to yourself I recognize those students you know I don't own them either.
Chapter 49: Kiri Exams
Temari arrived in Suna three days after leaving Konoha. She had sported a smile the entire time. Arriving at the entrance to the village she was ushered to the Kazekage's office in order to report herself ready for active duty. As she moved through the Mansion to his office she saw many of the changes that had already been made. Gone were the desks for assistants to handle the unimportant details, as her father had called them, of running a village. Sadly what her dad had thought of as unimportant had been many of the matters that the civilians of the village would wish to be considered. As such Suna had one of the smallest Shinobi to civilian ratios which led to why it had the weakest economy and relied so heavily on missions. The problem had been compounded by the fact that the people he had assigned to seeing to those matters had been corrupt, and thus saw fit to dip into the budgets allotted to them.
Temari vaguely wondered what had been the fate of the corrupted bastards that had contributed to the weakening of her home, but decided it didn't matter. Entering Gaara's office she half expected him to be buried in paperwork but apparently never sleeping meant he stayed ahead of the downside of being a Kage.
"Lord Kazekage," she said bowing not really sure of how to address him now, as he had changed so much since his defeat at Naruto's hands.
Reading her discomfort he said, "Titles are not necessary Temari."
Smiling she said, "I've returned from my time in the Leaf, Gaara. And I'm ready to resume my duties."
"Did you enjoy your time there?"
"It's different," Temari said, "But yes I did."
"And the Nara you seem to be interested in?"
Actually blushing she said, "I'll…I'll miss him, but we'll stay in touch."
"I see," Gaara said. "Then perhaps you'll be interested to know I have created an Ambassador Position."
Temari's eyes did light up at that but asked, "Who have you selected to fill it?"
"Unfortunately you cannot as you are now," Gaara said noticing how Temari seemed to deflate at that. Continuing he said, "Which is why I have summoned you here. The position requires you to be a jounin; however you have yet to lead a team since making chunin. Therefore I can't simply promote you, hence the reason for your return."
"But I did just lead a mission in Tea," Temari supplied.
"I have not received that mission report yet," Gaara said, "besides one mission for the Leaf will not silence any protests about unfair promotions."
Recognizing his point she said, "I take it there is a solution then?"
"You will lead one of our teams in the Chunin Exam," Gaara said. "I would also recommend doing a few missions in the month between now and then. Here's the file of your team. You can meet them tomorrow."
"Actually I think today will be as good as any day to start," Temari said smiling when she saw that that Kankurou was on the team with two girl's from the Academy. Bowing she left the room to collect her team. In the next month she'd have them well prepared for the Chunin Exams so that when she did get her promotion and position nobody would think to question why.
Gaara felt the corner of his lip rise a fraction of an inch indicating his amusement at his sister. He supposed he should thank Yoshino Nara for suggesting the idea. He wondered why it had never occurred to the villages before to create such a position but figured it was because they had not been committed to true peace but simply having an ally when war broke out again. He knew that the woman's ulterior motive was to keep her son and his sister together. That was why she even had dedicated a small guest house to be the future ambassador's residence. In any case, he believed that strengthening the ties that linked the two villages would only lead to good things so wished the Nara Matriarch plan to succeed. Besides he had never seen his sister look so happy and hoped to maintain her joy.
"Welcome back, Idate."
"Thank you Lord Danzou," the young Morino said kneeling before his leader.
"An excellent job as always," Danzou said, "The sword had been returned to Tsunade. Jirocho controls Degrashi port and another traitor has been dealt with. You do Root proud."
"You are too kind my Lord," Idate said before hesitatingly asking, "My Lord…why was I not informed of Ibiki's survival?"
"It was unnecessary to inform you of such a trivial matter," Danzou said, "Does his survival bother you?"
"Only that it meant the mission was a failure," Idate said.
"Do not worry. It did not reflect negatively on you," Danzou said. "That fool Aoi simply should have killed him as planned instead of getting greedy and trying to open the scroll himself. He should have handed over the scroll to Rain as planned. However that doesn't matter, for now your task is to remain at the compound to help train our next group of applicants for the Chunin Exam."
"Understood," Idate said standing to begin his next task.
Danzou watched Idate leave a ghost of a smile appearing on his lips. Idate was another of his recruits that was meant to act as a weakness to those who would align themselves with Sarutobi's idea of what Konoha should be.
Thinking of his primary weapon against the Sarutobi philosophy, as he thought of his enemies, he believed her training was progressing nicely. The status reports Sai sent him seemed promising. If Sai continued to perform admirably he may find himself promoted to the Inner Circle of which Fu and Torune were members. His intelligence alone made him an asset, as he had asked if his charge was under some sort of brainwashing. When Danzou had asked how he picked up on that, Sai had said she seemed conflicted by killing Naruto when the clones he made acted as the boy would. That Sai was considering such matters showed his intelligence and ability to think for himself which while Danzou did not encourage, he had to admit at times came in handy. He of course did not tell Sai how he suspected she had been brainwashed, but he had confirmed it.
But despite how well Sai seemed to be doing, Danzou would still require a test before he placed mother and son against each other. He already had scouted out several sites for the inevitable confrontation and the plan was set. All he needed was the boy to return and then the jinchuriki would be removed from play. It was a shame Konoha's weapon needed to be destroyed, but he had men looking into the boy's replacement. Soon Konoha would be on the true path it was always destined for and no weak-willed simpering fools would stand in his way to seeing that vision come to pass.
Hinata marked down on her calendar another day had passed. According to Tsunade, the date of Naruto's return was set in stone now. Apparently Jiraiya had given up on locating the last Jinchuriki with Naruto and he was taking him to a place where they could conduct special training. According to Tsunade she only needed to wait another year and a half before Naruto's return. At times it almost felt like she couldn't wait that long but knowing the expected date helped.
Tomorrow they would be leaving to compete in the Chunin Exams in Kiri and she was rather nervous, especially due to how her first had ended. She felt ready, but knowing who Konoha planned to send she couldn't help but feel a little underprepared. Team Gai had been nominated as had Teams Asuma, Kurenai, Anko, and her own. According to that morning's training so had another group of rookie teams to which Tsunade had grouched that that their jounin-sensei were simply trying to match the year before outstanding class. Instead of considering what was best for their students. It could also have been all the extra paperwork it had generated for the Hokage.
Thinking of paperwork made Hinata think of the new pictures they had received from Sai. There had been three. The first was of the demon boy facing off against a group of shinobi. There had been three, one was an ugly woman and the other two were male with their faces covered. One of whom was hefty and the other almost appeared to be asleep. Knowing what she did of Naruto's past she figured this was his confrontation with Team Ten. Her guess was helped by the smoke that the shinobi emitted obviously meant to represent Asuma. In the background there were a bunch of dead people obviously killed by the Demon they had come to think represented Zabuza due to its standing in the midst of all the corpses. Judging by the level of carnage Hinata supposed that Sai was trying to make the boy appear evil which she couldn't understand why.
The next one they had received had the boy facing a larger demon. The two girls from the picture with the killer again made an appearance, as did the sleepy ninja from the previous picture. This picture Sakura guessed and Hinata came to believe, represented his fight with Gaara. She also supposed that the sleepy ninja had been Shikamaru and his inclusion was meant to show the survival of Team Ten from the previous one.
The last picture represented him leaving with Jiraiya as it showed him walking with a dirty hermit who looked almost like a toad himself. The Demon Boy's eyes had the square like pupils that she remembered seeing Naruto's summons sported. She began to wonder if since Sai didn't know what Naruto was up too on his trip, would they stop receiving pictures. Sai's letter which had accompanied the last picture had been as vague as all the others so didn't say anything on the matter. But, if there were more on the way she wondered whose story they would tell.
Iruka was walking to the class where he would spend the next two years imparting his knowledge to a generation of Kiri shinobi. He was rather excited to begin since he had redone the whole curriculum from scratch. Having delved into the original academy's history, it did become apparent that there had been a lessening of the effort put into keeping the academy viable during the reigns of the Third and Fourth Mizukage.
He modeled his plans off of the Leaf's own style of teaching mixing it with the history and skills that Kiri valued. He passed a group of students who were sporting Bokken something that took a little getting used to for the teacher, since almost every student carried one. Well at least the male half, as he noticed a group of girls fawning over one of the boys. Chuckling he guessed fan girls were a problem for all shinobi villages. He supposed they'd grow out of it eventually.
Reaching the door to his new class he opened it and saw a sight that made all teachers' blood run cold, a classroom that had erupted into chaos. Unlike the normal chaos of children throwing things this was due to two of his students seemingly trying to do their best to kill each other.
"Think you're a bad ass, don't cha," the one student said sporting a red shirt with a white triangle on the back. He sported the blue bands of a member of the Ryukyu Islands to the south that the Third Mizukage had set up as a prison colony. He had wild unruly hair which seemed to match the untamed look in his eyes.
The boy he fought was his complete opposite as he seemed to favor the dress of a samurai. His shirt was blue which sported a large white rhombus shape that was split up into four smaller ones. The symbol marked him as a student of the Muju style of swordsmanship. Also since he already knew a great detail about his students he recognized the spectacled boy as Jin Enshirou adopted son of the current headmaster of the dojo that taught it.
As the Bokken clashed against each other Iruka could see that Jin was surprised that he had yet to defeat the boy he faced. Iruka though wasn't, as the boy almost seemed to be chaos personified his style was none existent to the point that he figured the boy was fighting on pure instinct. The other students were cheering the boys on although most seemed to be rooting for Jin.
"All right that's enough," he said to absolutely no effect. Sighing that he would have to use that jutsu he placed the class under a genjutsu and then shouted, "I said that's enough." The jutsu did the trick as his head appeared to grow until it was almost as big as the rest of his body and the volume of his voice rose to a window shaking boom.
The whole class stopped what they were doing as did the two fighting students. Approaching the two he asked, "Alright who started this?" before either could answer the whole class pointed to the boy in red.
Generally he wouldn't take a group of students he didn't know at face value but he asked, "Is this true?"
He expected a quick denial as most kids often offered fearing punishment which was why he was surprised when the boy said, "Damn right I did, that four eyed bastard thinks he's better than me."
"You are the lowest of the low," Jin said put off by his fellow student's poor manners.
"You bastard," the boy said moving to attack again, but was stopped when Iruka snatched his Bokken in mid-swing.
"Look…um…"
"Mugen"
"Mugen, you can't go around attacking your fellow students simple because they don't like you. You don't act like that at home do you?"
"Hell yeah I do," Mugen said proudly, "Ain't no way I'd let some bastard get away with disrespecting me."
"Well regardless you will not act like that here, understand?" Iruka said holding the Bokken for Mugen to take back.
"Tsk, fine," Mugen said before retrieving the wooden sword.
Moving to his desk as the two boys took seats thankful as far from each other as possible. He began taking attendance from the sign in sheet he had left on his desk calling out the names to make sure the children were still in the room, "Fuu Kasumi…" As he called out the rest he had a feeling it would be a long two years.
Tsunade had seen Team Shizune off as well as all the other participants of the Leaf. Although to be honest she believed the teams that had participated in the previous Chunin Exams were the only ones with a chance of making it to the finals. Perhaps it was blatant favoritism but the Rookie Teams that had been nominated this year just didn't seem to stack up.
Walking by the Academy she saw Ebisu leading the class in a short run around the academy. She had heard from Sarutobi that Konohamaru hadn't been pleased to find his old trainer was going to be his teacher. Mainly because when the man had caught Naruto teaching jutsu to the young Sarutobi he had been easily defeat by that ridiculous Sexy Jutsu which Konohamaru had just mastered. As Konohamaru put it, "How was he supposed to learn from someone he easily beat?"
Apparently the two had found away to get by as Konohamaru led the pack of Academy students. She spotted a girl wearing a light blue shirt in the Hyuuga style with a yellow scarf hiding behind a tree watching them as well. Recognizing her as Hinata's younger sister she smiled as the girl ducked behind the tree as the students ran towards it only to reappear after they began heading away. Tsunade smiled as it became apparent that the girl's sudden shyness around the boy was due to a deeper understanding of her feelings. Luckily, it wasn't a crippling shyness as she had seen them still enjoying each other's company after school. However, she did sense a rivalry brewing between Moegi and her.
Sighing at the antics of youth, she made her way to the Hokage Mansion where piles of papers needed her signature. Entering her office she was reminded by her new secretary, the old one having retired, that she had an appointment in twenty minutes.
At the appointed time she put the file she was working on down and the secretary opened the door allowing the man in. Instantly Tsunade knew the man was anything but the merchant that he had made the meeting pretending to be. His dark eyes were the eyes of a shinobi and judging by his blonde hair and pale complexion she believed she was about to receive her answer from the Raikage. He stopped in front of her desk bowing as deeply as custom dictated as to not to appear rude and upon straightening said, "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is C and the Raikage sent me here to inform you of his decision."
"Before we get to that, why the deception?" Tsunade asked.
"Let's just say there are elements in Kumogakure that may not be pleased with a relaxing of the tensions between our two villages," C replied a little harshly.
"I take it you are one of them?" Tsunade questioned based on the man's tone.
"My opinion doesn't matter, only the Raikage's will," C answered.
"And that would be?"
"The Raikage wonders if you will be attending the Chunin Exams," C said.
"I intended to yes. I'll be leaving in the next few days to arrive during the end of the second exam. Why?"
"The Raikage recommends your path take you to Thunder Plains Village," C said before bowing again and leaving.
Tsunade sat there in shock upon realizing what that meant. The Raikage wanted to meet in person and bad enough that he would sneak into Fire Country. The village he picked would be slightly out of her path but not enough that it would go noticed by anyone expecting her arrival in Kiri. It worried her that there may be elements in Kumo that didn't want the two villages to be at peace, but was also thankful as the deception may have thrown Danzou off as well. Preparing a duplicate of the Akatsuki file she thought of the shinobi she would have to escort her to the meeting place. Once decided she sent a summons for Kakashi.
Sakura was excited as she stepped into the mist covered village of Kiri. The boat ride had been fun but standing inside Kirigakure was an experience most Konoha shinobi never would have expected to enjoy. The teams from Konoha had been greeted at the gate by Iruka, who had proceeded to take them to the hotel they would be staying in.
As Sakura unpacked her stuff she wondered how Naruto was doing since Jiraiya had forbade any letters to pass between them while Naruto trained. According to Tsunade it was because Jiraiya didn't want anyone to know what he was learning as he considered it Naruto's trump card. So for the next year and a half they could expect little to no new information on him.
However, when he came back she was sure he would be surprised by her as she spent a second to look in the mirror, liking what she saw. However, she frowned as she remembered her visit with her mom right before she left. Sakura tried to talk to the elder Haruno on several occasions, but they always degenerated into yelling matches. Her mother just couldn't accept Naruto as anything but the Kyuubi incarnate. She finally understood why though, as Sakura's father had supposedly been a victim of the Bijuu. Before the Kyuubi's showing up in Konoha, a village had been wiped out at the Land of Fire's border with River Country. Sakura's dad was a relief worker who had been dispatched along with quite a few shinobi to help the village's survivors, of which there were very few. Nobody knows what happened after that, but it was widely believed the Kyuubi had still been nearby and had simply finished off what it had started a few days later.
Her mother had told her that no doubt with the intention of making Sakura hate Naruto, but all it did was prove to her why Konoha owed him so much. Nevertheless her mom had wished her the best and they had parted on less hostile terms then some of their previous meetings.
She finished putting away the last of her things and ran to the training grounds assigned to visiting shinobi to meet up with her team as Shizune wanted them to be ready for the tests so insisted that they use the last day for training. Meeting up with them she wondered when Ami would unveil whatever it was she was hiding in the bundle on her back. Whatever it was she was quite proud of it. Watching as Hinata sparred with Shizune she vowed that she wouldn't be left behind by her rival and that everyone had better watch out in the finals.
Hinata had been wary entering the building assigned for the first test the day after arriving. However unlike in Konoha there didn't seem to be a pretest. Also unlike Konoha, the test takers weren't all put in one room, but were instead spread throughout the building. Inside the room they had been assigned was a single table that had a three dimensional puzzle on it. The three girls looked at each other in confusion before moving to the table. In the corner was a closed circuit camera that was probably how the proctors were watching them.
Since they had some time before the test was supposed to start they began inspecting the puzzle. At the appointed time the buildings P.A. system turned on. A calm voice announced himself saying, "Good Morning Chunin hopefuls. My name is Ao, and I will be your first proctor. As you may have noticed there should be a puzzle in front of you. Your task is simple. Put it together. That's it. Now for the rules, direct combat between teams is forbidden there are cameras to monitor you. Any team caught fighting will fail. You have one hour to complete your task. Upon completion bring the finished puzzle to room one hundred and one, good luck."
As soon as the PA system turned off, Ami said, "Why would we need to fight each other to complete this puzzle?"
Sakura who had been studying the puzzle longest provided the answer saying, "Because we don't have all the pieces to complete it."
"Why wouldn't they…" Ami started to say but the reason hitting her caused her to say, "That's why the rule against fighting, we have to get them from the other teams."
"Exactly," Sakura said already putting the puzzle together, "I'm counting pieces from three sets. I'll put together the puzzle that we have the most pieces for. That should give us the idea for the shapes of the ones we need."
"So how are we going to get the ones we need if we can't fight?" Ami asked.
"Probably the same way that we got the answers for the test in the first exam," Hinata said watching Sakura power through the puzzle.
As the puzzle took shape Ami could see the shapes of the pieces that they were missing giving Hinata a description of them the Hyuuga activated her bloodline ability to scan the building. Marking the three teams that had the pieces they needed they formulated a plan of attack. Sakura would remain in the room to guard their puzzle while Ami and Hinata moved to secure the pieces they needed.
The first piece was easy to procure as the group that had it didn't even realize the true objective to the test which was to get the pieces they needed without resorting to violence or being caught resorting to violence as the halls were free of cameras or proctors. Ami simply henged herself to look like a Kiri proctor walking into the room she informed them they had been given the wrong piece. She left them one of theirs but didn't know if that helped them or not.
The next piece proved more difficult as a pair of Taki shinobi tried to ambush them while on their way to it. Despite fighting being technically against the rules only the rooms and some of the hallways had cameras and since there appeared to be no proctors in the building it meant entering the halls opened you to being attacked. Luckily the Taki team proved no match for the pair of Kunoichi.
As they made their way to the next team Hinata began to understand the reason for the test. The first being to see how things fit together, a chunin was expected to be able to function on the bare minimum of information. The team that they had taken their first piece from proved that they weren't chunin material because they hadn't seen that they weren't even working with the same pieces of the same puzzle. The next part was how to go about getting the pieces that the chunin hopefuls needed to complete their own puzzles. Naturally most of the participants would see the true purpose of the test and would be looking for ways to complete their own sets. There were undoubtedly countless ways in which to pull that off. Trickery, bartering, and simply taking without being caught, was just three of the ways in which they could go about it. The final part was to protect your own puzzle much the way a chunin would be expected to protect documents or other important items. Hinata didn't doubt that there were teams waiting near the room they needed to bring their puzzle to. Hoping to take the easy way out by stealing others hard work.
"Hello Hinata," the even tone of her cousin cut through her thoughts.
"Neji," Hinata said calmly but tensed in case he was there for a piece they carried and wanted to fight for it. "What is it?"
"I need one of the pieces you carry," Neji replied calmly before asking, "May I have it?"
"Okay," she said handing it over without a fuss.
"Thank you," Neji said, "a word of warning, a Taki team is attacking the other participants regardless of whether they need their pieces or not, figuring to eliminate future competition. I ran into a few teams that had the misfortune of running into them."
Sharing a look with Ami, Hinata smiled saying, "I doubt they'll be bothering anyone else for a while."
The corner of his mouth raised slightly prompting Neji to say, "Well good luck with collecting the rest of your puzzle."
"You too cousin," Hinata said before parting ways.
Arriving at the room where the next piece was located Ami asked, "How do you want to handle this?"
Activating her Byakugan Hinata watched the Kiri team occupying the room for a moment before the boy of the team looked at her almost like he was staring through the wall. His eyes began to glow before Hinata's vision of the room was blocked. The surprise must have shown on her face because Ami asked, "What is it?"
"He blocked my vision," Hinata said confused, "and they know we are here."
"Shit," Ami said since they may have to find a way to get their piece from an adversary on guard. "Maybe we can lure one out and I can use my Human Puppet Jutsu."
"Let's try another approach," Hinata reasoned sliding the door open and stepping in with Ami following her lead.
The team in the room consisted of the boy who appeared to have a dojutsu that could interfere with her Byakugan. A blonde kunoichi who seemed to favor buttoned blouses but wore them partially unbuttoned showing off her cleavage and a miniskirts. The last member was also a kunoichi but kind of reminded Hinata of herself before Naruto's leaving the village as she appeared to be rather shy and timid.
The blonde much as her choice of clothes suggested was pretty forward as she said, "What do you want?"
Hinata noticed that their puzzle was mostly finished as well, with the three pieces that didn't belong being off to the side. Hinata figured that meant they wanted to get the puzzle as completed as they could before moving as a team with it to secure the pieces they needed instead of splitting up as they had chosen. Getting to the chase Hinata said, "You have a piece we need, we would like it if you give it to us."
"Sorry honey, but I'm going to have to refuse," the girl said.
"Isako," the timid kunoichi said peeking out from behind the boy, "we don't need the piece we should give it to them."
"Forget it, Saya," Isako said a little harshly causing the girl to duck behind her male teammate. "However how about you go get us a piece of ours and then we'll trade."
"I'm afraid not," Hinata said eyeing the clock, "We have only a half-hour left and still need to secure one of ours." Activating her Byakugan Hinata scanned the building saying, "A team a floor above us has a piece you need."
"So," Isako said crossing her arms, "Can you give us a piece they need to trade for ours?"
"No," Hinata replied, "but I can provide you with the information that will lead them to one of their pieces."
"I think that is a fair trade," Ranmaru said activating his own Kekkei Genkai. Asking Hinata for the directions he confirmed that her information panned out so handed over the piece.
The last piece was almost as easy to procure as the first since the team that had it had left it behind as they made their way to the room to drop off their puzzle. The kunoichi figured they must have left them behind to insure they wouldn't be attacked by teams looking to complete their sets. Grabbing theirs, of the three spread out on the table, they had to take a long way back to their room as proctors appeared to physically removed two teams that had been foolish enough to get caught fighting on camera.
They were just about to their room when they heard Sakura shout, "Shannero," before expelling two shinobi from the room. Running in they found Sakura in the process of smashing the last ones head into a wall.
"What the hell," Ami shouted, "We're going to get kicked out now."
"Calm down," Sakura said pointing to their room camera. When they noticed the light that indicated it was on and running was off, she said, "I think now that time is running out the proctor is upping the ante by creating blind spots in the rooms. I've heard other battles breaking out around us and not just in the halls."
"Why did they attack us though?"
"I think they gave up on assembling their own, and since ours was most of the way done and you two were missing they…"
"Decided to take you out and lay in wait for our return with the missing pieces," Hinata said finishing. A moment later the light to the camera came back on. Using the time it bought them to assemble the puzzle in peace Sakura finished it quickly. With their completed objective they began to move to Room 101. Along the way they bumped into Team Asuma, since both their puzzles were done they headed to the room together. Reaching the room they dropped it off with a blue haired man who was in the room which was filled with monitors watching the various rooms. Even though he was facing away he called into the mike he wore spotting another team breaking his rule which made Hinata wondered if the patch he wore over his eye hid a dojutsu.
Before she could inquire he handed each of them a coin. Each team received a set of three which depicted a sword, a brain, or a torso. The two teams looked confused but the proctor simply informed them to take the coins to the village gate where they would be led to the next test.
Ino stood on a dock along with two thirds of the rest of the chunin hopefuls that passed the first test. After heading to the gate they were met by Zabuza who was the proctor of the second test. He led them from Kiri to the crown of Tang Mountain, a decent size extinct volcano located near the village. The crater of the dead volcano was now a lake in which a large island rested. Scattered all around the crater were docks which housed boats. The boats kind of looked demonic with the image being helped by the hooded figures in black that would row them.
The island itself looked like some blasted and cursed piece of earth. She could almost imagine that the beaches were covered in the bones of dead animals and possibly even people. However at the center of the island past all the dead trees she could just make out a lush forest. It was at that point that Zabuza had begun to speak.
"Welcome to the Island of the Damned," Zabuza said enjoying the slightly fearful looks being sent his way. "Each of you was given a coin in a set. Your goal is to protect that coin for seven days. Your team will need the entire set in order to buy passage from the island in order to continue on in your bid to become chunin. Now step forward to take a number and head to the dock that matches. You'll be taken over one at a time from your dock." Chuckling darkly he had finished with a, "Have fun."
The Grass shinobi that had been assigned to her pier had insisted on going first. Not willing to fight over it she and the Sand shinobi had agreed to allow him to go. The Sand-nin had then conceded to let her go next. While she waited she put her father's training to use. He had taught her the Yamanaka's particular fighting style which was much more reliant on in close fighting than the one taught by the academy. However it also relied on studying an opponent's psychological weak points.
The example her father gave was that although a fighter may recover from a broken arm he still tended to nurse it years after the fact. Her father had taught her the art of seeking out those points and then how best to attack him. Attacking the same point on a person arm that he had previous broken would make him more defensive giving the advantage to her.
The boat's return caused her to put her recollections on hold as she stepped aboard. The boat made for the same section of the island as it had on its first trip. Upon disembarking from the boat which began heading back to the pier to pick up the last shinobi, Ino immediately noticed that there were footprints all about the beach making it apparent that someone had been waiting impatiently.
Keeping her smile from her lips she began walking but suddenly jumped back from where the shinobi burst from the ground. Recognizing the Grass-nin who had left before her Ino frowned when he said, "I'm glad I decided to hang around. Now, how about you hand over your coin girlie?"
Smirking at the muscular older boy she said, "How about you try and take it?"
"With pleasure," he said charging in.
Shifting her stance she noticed that the man seemed to be wary of an attack to his left ribs. He threw a punch which Ino avoided before lashing out and attacking his ribs. He got in close which Ino was hoping for and used her elbows to devastating effect. Bringing her left elbow up, she smashed his chin and then spun around catching him in the ribs with the same one. She found out why he was wary of strikes to his ribs when she felt one give way probably as a result of a previous training accident or injury. Finding out that being in close to the girl was a mistake he tried to create room. As he leapt back Ino did a flipping kick which caught him in the chin knocking him on his back.
Dazed the man sat up only to be knocked out as Ino leapt at the man spinning like a corkscrew and caught him in the face with both feet. Landing beyond him she walked up to his unconscious form and after rifling through his pouch found his coin and took it. Ino moved on from the beach and was making her way to the center when she stopped tensing as she sensed a presence.
She relaxes slightly when she recognized Sakura's voice as she said, "Not bad Ino."
"You act surprised Sakura," Ino said turning towards her friend. "You haven' surpassed me."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Sakura said walking towards the blonde. However her completely relaxed way made Ino confident Sakura wasn't there to attack her.
"What's up?" Ino asked wondering why Sakura was there.
"I don't think there's any reason to fight in this test. So how about we link up our teams and ride out the week," Sakura said.
"What do you mean?"
"Basically we already have all the coins we need."
"And?"
"And, I think the real test is going to happen after the seven days. Right now is about just getting us to wear ourselves out."
"Sounds good," Ino said, "But I still have to find my team."
"So do I," Sakura replied, "We'll meet back here after linking up with them. Also pass the word to other teams from the Leaf that way if we form a big enough group, we should be left alone."
"Got it," Ino said taking off in the direction Isaribi's boat should have landed confident Chouji could take care of himself.
Tsunade stepped into Thunder Plains Village which was located halfway between Konoha and the country that divided the Land of Fire and Lighting. The village was rather small not much more than a one street town, making it an ideal spot for her meeting with the Raikage. As she had no doubt strangers were instantly recognizable by the way the villagers reacted. It was also how she knew where to look for the Raikage as the few villagers out and about kept looking at the tavern. Most likely due to the descriptions she had heard of him made him a rather intimidating man.
Walking calmly through the town she garnered a few second glances herself, but she doubted that they knew who she was. Especially since Kakashi while watching her, was making an effort not to be seen. Entering the tavern she made her way to the back spotting the man that although missing the robes of his station still gave off the air of a leader.
"Mind if I join you?" she asked.
In mid sip of a saucer of sake, he waited a few moments no doubt trying to test Tsunade's patience. However if anything her countless hours of meetings had made her willing to wait not willing to give her fellow Kage an advantage by being flustered. Taking the cup away from his lips he said, "By all means."
Wanting to show that he wasn't the only one able to throw an opponent off balance Tsunade slide him the Akatsuki file as soon as she sat. Her tactic worked as his eyes widened in surprise before he was able to school his features. Looking at the smirking blonde woman with a scowl the Raikage said, "Why make me jump through your hoops if you were willing to hand this over so easily?"
"I simply wanted to make sure you took the warning to heart," Tsunade said. The Raikage was about to reply but stopped when the young waitress approached to take Tsunade's order.
When she left he said, "Fair enough, now what makes you so certain they are after the jinchuriki?"
Tsunade considered telling him about Itachi's showing up in Konoha looking for Naruto, but instead settled for saying, "As I'm sure you are aware Jiraiya has probably one of the most comprehensive spy networks in the shinobi world."
"Yes, we reaped the benefits of it while he set up his Mr. J alias." The Raikage responded. The conversation was once again put on hold while the waitress brought Tsunade's bottle of sake.
"Well one of his contacts attempted to sell him information in exchange for knowledge on Naruto," Tsunade said causing the Raikage again to register surprise.
The Raikage chuckled for a few moments making Tsunade arch an eyebrow. Raising a hand he said, "Excuse me, it's just I've dealt with so many people that see the jinchuriki as simple weapons it is refreshing to see people treat them as human beings."
"Which is why we need to join forces against the Akatsuki," Tsunade said.
"I agree," The Raikage replied, "but I'm afraid as things stand my council and advisors will never allow it."
"The Akatsuki is a threat that needs to be taken care of now," Tsunade said earnestly.
"Again I agree. However your opinion is in the minority at the moment. You may not be aware of this but a group of foreigners attempted to stir up trouble in northern Lightning looking for something called the Stone of Gelel. Apparently a nomadic tribe had some connection to it. They were defended by men wearing Black Cloaks with Red Clouds." He paused to allow Tsunade to absorb the information before continuing, "To make matters worse the tale has spread making them something of local heroes to the people of Lightening."
"But obviously you don't believe them to be so benevolent," Tsunade said her tone making it a statement and not a question.
"Let's simply say… I'm a big believer of if something is too good to be true it probably is," the Raikage replied. "They keep their identities a secret, charge the bare minimum for their services, and if your information is correct are made up of S-class criminals. If that doesn't spell a recipe for disaster I'm not sure what does."
"Then stuff what your councilors say," Tsunade said getting agitated.
"Tell me would you find that so easy to say if our positions were reversed," the Raikage said angrily.
Sighing Tsunade conceded, "No I suppose not."
Standing the Raikage said, "For now we will simply have to agree to help each other in secret. As a token of good faith take this." He slid a file on the table before leaving enough to cover both their bills and made his way for the exit.
Waiting till he left Tsunade opened the file after making sure nobody was watching her. Inside the file was the bio on a terrorist from Iwa named Deidara. According to the file a member of an insurgent group based in the Land of Lightening that had been captured claimed the man had been working for them on a job, but had needed to bow out after being approached by men wearing the Akatsuki cloaks. A few months later the insurgent group was destroyed by Akatsuki hired by a local governor and one of the jutsus described matched the kinjutsu that Deidara was supposed to have stolen from Iwa.
Feeling a presence in front of her she looked up from the file to see Kakashi watching her. "Was it worth the trip?" he asked giving an eye-smile.
"At least as far as information goes it was," Tsunade answered, "But in securing another alliance… not so much. However his willingness to help us, even under the table as it were, is a positive sign for the future."
Nodding Kakashi said, "Well he seemed to trust you as he only brought two bodyguards to watch over the meeting."
"Have you given anymore thought to my proposal?" Tsunade asked.
"I have, but I have to decline," Kakashi said looking away, "I guess I'm just not Team Leader material."
"Okay," Tsunade said, "Then consider it an order."
Looking shocked Kakashi looked like he was about to argue till Tsunade cut in saying, "Listen Kakashi, you're one of my best jounin period. Your last team fell apart because of a traitorous piece of garbage, not through any fault of yours. I need somebody with your experience leading the team I have in mind because it will be facing Akatsuki. Besides according to Sarutobi-sensei you asked for Naruto to be put on your team once."
"Yeah, but a lots happened since then."
"Well man up and face it," Tsunade said standing, "Because when he comes back you'll be acting as his Jounin-sensei."
Naruto was awed by the home of the toads after climbing the mountain it sat atop of. "Wow this place is so cool Pervy Sage."
"Ha-ha isn't it," Jiraiya said, "Well it's going to be your home for the foreseeable future so I'm glad you like it."
"I still don't understand why I can't simply learn this technique from you while we travel though," Naruto said as they walked through the valley.
"That's because to learn the sage arts outside of this mountain would be far more dangerous," a voice said from above them.
"Mater Fukasaku," Jiraiya said bowing slightly.
"Who's this Pervy Sage?"
"Show some respect. This is the elder toad that taught me the sage arts," Jiraiya said embarrassed by his student's poor manners.
However the elder only laughed saying, "Pervy Sage, a name that suits you Jiraiya-boy." As Jiraiya hung his head the toad continued, "So this is young Naruto. You must have a lot of faith in him if you believe he can master our techniques."
"I do," Jiraiya said sincerely, "I also believe he is the one that the Great Sage Toad told me about."
Fukasaku looked surprise before eyeing the boy more sternly before saying, "You've believed that before."
"Well third time's the charm right," Jiraiya responded causing the toad to nod slightly while keeping his eye on Naruto.
"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.
Jiraiya ignored him saying, "Anyway, I'll be leaving him in your care for the time being. You'll find him a bit dimwitted, but his work ethic more than makes up for it."
"I'm not dimwitted," Naruto shouted.
"Come on kid face facts. You once made me explain the difference between elemental and normal chakra for six hours and only got it when I made some vague reference to ramen flavors." He smiled as Naruto crossed his arms before saying, "Regardless of that, you'll find him to be an excellent student. Now I'll be taking my leave looking into Akatsuki's movements for a while."
"Why the rush, I'm sure Shima wouldn't mind making extra for dinner," the elder toad said prompting the Sannin to shiver in remembrance of some of the meals.
"I think I'll be okay," Jiraiya said, "Give my regards to her for me."
As he walked away Jiraiya heard Naruto say, "He probably wants to get some research done," in response to Fukasaku's question. While that was certainly true, it seemed that Akatsuki had been quiet as of late popping up from time to time before disappearing again. An altercation in Lightening being the most recent. He'd look into it as well as the Stone of Gelel that seemed to be at the center of it as it may be one of the items of power that he had heard about Akatsuki searching for besides the jinchuriki. Not to mention he didn't think his stomach could survive any of the elder toad's wives's cooking as he wasn't as young as he used to be. Giving his apprentice one last wave Jiraiya took off down the mountain confident that the Sage techniques Naruto would learn would serve him well in the coming fight with Akatsuki.
The Leaf Genin arrived at the only pier on the island on the seventh day looking considerably better than most of their fellow genin. Sakura's idea to combine forces really paid off as almost all of the Leaf teams joined up thereby insuring they were left alone. The Suna team of Kankurou and his two kunoichi teammates Sari and Matsuri had also joined. The only other team from another village had been Team Dosu.
Ami turned to see her old friend Fuki glaring at her. The girl and her team had joined Sakura's alliance as it was called but had then turned around and bullied Ami. Fuki had traded in her spiky hair in favor of shaving the left half of her head while the right side was combed down. She wore black lipstick and eyeliner giving her a dark look. Which her outfit matched being made up of dark blue shirt much like Sasuke used to wear. The black shorts she wore completed the outfit.
Her anger was a result of running into Sakura bad side as a result of her mocking the former bully. Sakura had told her to stop once and when Fuki made a snide remark saying, "What are you going to do about it Foreheadasaurus?" Sakura had responded by attempting to set a distance record using the girl's body as the thrown object. Naturally, Fuki had wanted to fight but Hinata rendering her unable to move took care of that. So with arguably the two strongest young kunoichi in the Leaf standing up for her Fuki had been forced to vent her anger through dark looks.
A large boat arrived at the pier from which Zabuza disembarked with several proctors who collected the coins before allowing the genin passage. Once all the Teams who still had their set of coins were aboard the boat began heading for its dock. Upon arriving the genin found that this one had stairs that led down the volcano side. Following the trail the stairs let out on they arrived at a menacing field that was fenced in by a concrete wall with a steel fence and barb wire on top of that. Entering the area, they found their sensei's standing in the bleachers that surrounded the field.
Standing at the edge of the field on a raised platform was the Mizukage who was flanked by the Hokage and Kazekage. Ami smiled hearing the two girls on Kankurou's team speaking about how great the Kazekage was, imagining the puppeteer rolling his eyes as he had complained about the two constantly for the entire time they had been on the island. She also spotted some other official looking people and imagined that they were people of importance in the other shinobi nations.
Once all the genin had gathered in front of her the Mizukage said, "Welcome Chunin hopefuls. Not long ago this village was called the Village of the Bloody Mist. The reason for that is simple, in this very field genin hopefuls were forced to fight each other in order to graduate the academy."
"What," one of the genin shouted. Ami recognized him from the Chunin Exam that had been held in Konoha. He was a Waterfall shinobi named Hoki. Although he hadn't been a part of Sakura's alliance they had seen his handy work as he had demolished several teams taking their coins. "We've been fighting for seven days and now you tell us we have to do so again."
The Mizukage gave a slight smile saying, "Why did you fight for those seven days?"
"Because that was the test," the genin said.
"Really, I believe the test was to hold onto your coin for seven days while surviving on an island. Since you already had a coin there was no reason to fight."
The genin groused at that under his breath, but Mizukage ignored it in favor of saying, "This is the true test to determine who has what it takes to be a Chunin. There are a limited number of spots and only those left standing will fill them. You may begin."
The genin stood around for several seconds but Hoki understood first, sucker punching one of his own teammates before moving to attack the other.
Tsunade watched the genin beginning to attack one another. She was proud of the fact that most of her Leaf genin were only attacking those from outside villages and was making mental notes of the few that seemed not to care as those to keep an eye on. She had heard from the proctors watching the island how most of her genin had banded together to make sure they weren't picked off by enemies.
She watched as Sakura moved to cover Tayuya of Anko's team back from a Grass shinobi that had wanted to take advantage while she dealt with a Suna one. Smiling she said to the Mizukage, "It would seem my shinobi have seen through your ruse."
Giving a smile of her own, Mei responded, "So it would seem. Although to be fair I don't think they have. Only that they have been taught to behave that way for years."
Tsunade inclined her head at the point. A councilor from Taki and a man Tsunade was tempted to send into orbit for the way he spoke of their jinchuriki when she had approached him asked, "What are you talking about. Those Leaf genin are not fighting like this is a melee."
"Of course they are," Mei said, "They just aren't willing to attack their own in order to advance." Although proud of all her genin, she was a little disappointed that only Team Dosu seemed to be working together in order to advance. Her proctor's were keeping track not of the number of people but of teams that remained.
Her own count was interrupted when the Taki councilor said, "So what do you plan to do if the Leaf eliminates all the other villages but refuses to attack each other."
Giving a cryptic smile Mei said, "I don't know. Recommend them for promotion I suppose." The councilor scowled but Mei ignored it, noticing that only ten teams were left. Giving her husband a signal to wait until the number fell to nine she watched as Team Dosu took out the last member of a Grass team.
Zabuza called for the Teams to stop and began taking roll call of the remaining teams. Left standing intact for the Leaf was the Teams of Anko, Asuma, Shizune, Kurenai, and Gai. Preventing no team from Kiri appearing in the finals was Team Dosu. The Taki Genin that had spoken out earlier and had attacked his own team was still standing as were two members of a Leaf Team with a rather sever looking girl as well as another kunoichi that dressed like her. Finally Team Temari also made it to the finals intact.
Smiling at the finalist Mei said, "Well done, you do your villages proud. The final round will be held in one month's time. It will consist of Team on Team battles. However only those of you who remain standing right now will be allowed to compete." Mei paused as the Waterfall Genin complained, but she ignored it not feeling it necessary to explain why that was a rule in light of him attacking his own teammates. "I look forward to your performances in the finals good luck."
Ami watched as the Mizukage made her way down to compliment the Team from Kiri that made it. She watched as the Hokage also congratulated her teams before she noticed Fuki glaring at her again. The kunoichi ran a finger across her throat obviously indicating what she wanted to do to her.
Ignoring the threat she made her way to Sakura, Shizune, and Hinata who were standing in front of the Hokage. She arrived just as Sakura asked, "Why weren't we told which team we'll face off against in the finals?"
"The Mizukage feels you've had enough time to learn the weaknesses and strengths of the various teams. She wants there to be an element of surprise in the finals so will only post them a week before the matches," was the Hokage's reply.
Addressing Hinata, Tsunade asked, "What are your plans for the month of training Hinata?"
"My father is on his way to train Neji and me for the finals," Hinata answered.
Nodding she turned her head to Ami who said, "I don't really have anything planned."
"Alright Shizune and Kakashi should be free to watch over your training," Tsunade said. Before adding, "That is if they can keep their hands off each other." Having been awakened in the middle of the night by her first apprentice as she tried to sneak into the room she shared with the Hokage.
Blushing Shizune said, "I'm sure we'll manage."
"I'm sure I don't need to tell you what you'll be doing for the month Sakura," Tsunade said.
Looking a little sickly since she imagined that Tsunade was going to be even harder on her than normal Sakura nodded her head. "Alright, let's get started," she said dragging a protesting Sakura away.
It was two weeks into the training with Sakura when Tsunade received a visit from Yamato. Telling Sakura to take a run into the town near where they were training for some supplies. "Did you find anything on the mater I asked you too?" The Hokage asked hoping for a break.
"No Lady Hokage," Yamato answered, "However I did uncover something intriguing."
"Well what is it?"
"Perhaps you should read it for yourself," Yamato said holding a scroll up for her. On it was the Uzumaki crest.
Looking up from it at the Anbu she asked, "You found this in my Grandfather's library?"
"No milady, it was hidden in the great tree in the foyer of the Senju compound," Yamato said, "It was written by your grandmother."
Opening the scroll Tsunade read:
Dear Tsunade,
I write this letter knowing the date of my death is set. There is so much I wish to tell you, but find myself unable to say to you. I know the death of Nawaki and Dan has hurt you so much, as such I do not wish to burden you with the details of my own. Better to let you think it a sudden passing after a long and blessed life.
At that Tsunade paused wondering how her Grandmother could consider her life to be blessed considering she had lost her husband shortly after Madara's betrayal and had been bedridden since the fateful battle. Figuring the answer was in the scroll she continued to read:
You must be asking yourself how I can consider my life blessed especially in light of your own tragedies. The answer to that is simple, Konoha still stands. I know it must be different for you. But you grew up in the village and so I don't think you realize just how different your grandfather's dream has made the world of shinobi. True, it didn't end the fighting. However, it did bring about stability for many. I suppose that is how I can live with all the dead friends and family knowing that through their sacrifices Konoha has survived the many attempts to snuff the Will of Fire out. I can say that even as I write this the only remaining soul in a compound that once echoed with the joy and laughter of the Senju. Confident that even should the light of Senju fade from this world after your own passing that what they built will stand the test of time.
Tsunade felt tears gather in her eyes and looked up to the letter to see Yamato had left her alone probably knowing it would affect her so. Thanking the man for his courtesy she delved back in.
But listen to me going on about such melancholy things. The reason for this letter is to inform you of the truth behind my death. You see dear, I am what they call a jinchuriki. As a result of my Uzumaki upbringing I was always skilled in Fuuinjutsu. When Hashirama and Madara battled as I'm sure you know that traitorous scum tried to use the Kyuubi. What you may not know is, I was there and sealed the Kyuubi into my own body. That is the reason I have always appeared so sickly child. Oh how it used to both please and pain me to listen to you say how you were going to become a great medic to heal me. But despite reaching your dream, I'm afraid you could never heal the damage I did to myself in sealing the nine-tails into me. That is why children are used after all, as I was lucky to survive. Regardless, this letter is to let you know a new vessel for the beast has been chosen. I will not tell you her name, only because I wouldn't want you to bear her a grudge for taking me away from you and will hid this scroll away confident it will one day find its way into your hands. But if you do meet her and learn of her burden please treat her with love as she must already shoulder the burden of containing a being filled with an incredible amount of hate. Besides it may be distant but she would be family to you as well.
Love, Mito Uzumaki Senju
P.S. If you need someone to help you carry the burden of pain you shoulder you really shouldn't need to look any further than that fool that follows you around. You should know by now he thinks the world of you. Love Nana.
Tsunade laughed despite the tears running down her face at her grandmother's description of Jiraiya. Seeing the words of her grandmother after so long truly did help ease some of the pain she had felt at the woman's death. Gaining control of her emotions she wiped her eyes free of tears and began to think of all she had learned. What had happened to the Kyuubi had remained a mystery after the fated battle at the Valley of the End. Learning her Grandmother had been the host of the beast was quite the shock. It also raised so many questions, she had always assumed that the Kyuubi had simply decided to attack one day, but know that called everything into question. Had the host after her lost control of the beast letting it loose? She had heard tales of that happening in the other shinobi villages Kumo especially. Or maybe the host had died and the creature simply reformed? But that seemed equally as unlikely as she doubted Sarutobi or Minato would be caught so flat-footed. But thinking of her teacher made her realize he must have known the truth behind not only her Grandmother's death but who had been chosen to carry her burden.
There was a moment of anger at him but she pushed passed it sure it was due to her Grandmother's wishes as the Kyuubi had been seen as something horrible and evil even before its attack on Konoha. Simply for its association with the event that weakened her Grandfather to the point that he died shortly after.
The question was who did the Kyuubi get sealed into and then it hit her, Kushina. After all if she remembered correctly Kushina had joined the village about the same time her grandmother had passed. Not to mention she was the only Uzumaki she knew who as her Grandmother put it may be distant family. Had she been brought in specifically to house the creature? It also made a sort of sense about how the Kyuubi had attacked on the same day as Naruto's birth. Had something gone wrong with the pregnancy resulting in the beast's freedom? She'd have to ask Jiraiya, but imagined that he would be as surprised as her to learn that Kushina may have been a jinchuriki.
But it also left more questions such as how did Kushina survive having the Kyuubi escape. As hosts that lost their Bijuu always died. Some could hang on for a while, but for most it was over instantly. Something told her Kushina could hang on longer than most. Yet, she should still be dead. Although, it may explain why Sarutobi had though she suffered a nervous breakdown as it would have been an incredible strain on her.
Seeing her apprentice returning she put the scroll away. First, she'd see to getting Sakura ready for the finals and then after the Chunin Exams she'd talk to Sarutobi. Talk was probably too light of a word as demand would be more fitting. She understood her predecessor had to make a lot of tough decisions but she was getting tired of learning about them from other sources or when things blew up in her face.
Sakura and Hinata smiled at each other as they stood in the newly erected stadium that had been built to house the Chunin Exam finals. Unlike Konoha's however, instead of a grassy area with trees lining the area. It was filled with water with several small islands, some with a few trees or others simply being nothing more than a sand bar.
It had been the week before that they learned their first match would be against Fuki and her remaining teammate. Whoever emerged victorious between Team Anko and the only Waterfall-nin to make it to the finals would face the victor of their match. Naturally, Team Shizune believed they would be the victors of their match, and they expected Team Anko to make quick work of the Taki genin, since he would be facing three on one odds.
Team Asuma would be facing the Kiri Team Dosu in their first match. While Team Gai would be facing Team Kurenai in the first round. The winner of the Team Gai versus Team Kurenai match would then have to immediately fight again against Team Temari before getting a rest.
The proctor for the match was a jounin named Minaka Takahara. She was probably the most muscular woman Sakura had ever seen. As she looked like she could crush a man's skull between her forearm and bicep if she wanted. The proctor directed her attention to the Kage box where Sakura saw the Mizukage appear flanked by the Kazekage and her master.
Addressing the crowd the Mizukage said, "Welcome honored guests. I would like to begin by thanking Suna for allowing us the honor of hosting the Chunin Exams. Where this stadium stands once stood the headquarters of the Anbu Black Ops and Death Squads behind the purges. Let us think of these exams not as a means to forget our past, but to move forward along with our allies. With that said I now announce the finals to commence."
Minaka taking over said, addressing the teams, "The Finals is a Team on Team match. If your teammates were defeated in the second exam then you will be fighting at a disadvantage as all three members of a team can attack if they chose. If during a match a member of a team is incapacitate but that team wins then that person is eliminated. Will the participants of the first match remain while the others take their place in the waiting box?"
Ami stood across from Fuki flanked by Hinata and Sakura. Watching Fuki take her place across from them Sakura marveled at how much the girl had changed. Also her teammate seemed to dress similarly. All Tsunade had told her was the girl's name was Tu not wishing to give her apprentice an unfair advantage.
"I'm going to look forward to pounding your face in bitch," Fuki said her hands going to the two whips rolled up on her side.
"I'll like to see you try," Ami responded with a snare.
"Ah did your two girlfriends give you some confidence. How sweet." Fuki said glaring at the girls behind her old friend. "I guess it's easy to pretend to be tough with an apprentice of the Hokage and Former Rookie of the Year on your team."
"You seem to forget you followed me around like a little puppy bitch," Ami shot back.
"Not anymore."
"Fine I'll take you both on," Ami said angrily.
"Ami…" Hinata said concerned.
"I can take her and her little tag along," Ami said looking at Hinata who nodded.
Both Kunoichi jumped back giving Ami room as she removed the bundle from her back as the proctor announced the start of the first fight. As soon as the proctor said, "Begin," Ami was jumping back the bandages falling away from the puppet they concealed. The puppet looked almost like a suit of Samurai Armor made up of a few of the items she had taken from enemies during her shinobi career. The back of the puppet was the chakra armor she had taken from the snow ninja she had beaten. With the gauntlets of the puppets hands being the ones she took from the Demon Brothers.
"A puppet," Fuki said pulling her whips which had small metal plates running along them, "How pathetic." Channeling her lighting elemental chakra into the whips they began crackling with energy.
"Crap," Ami thought realizing that if she tried to run across the water she'd probably get fried. Moving her fingers the puppet responded raising its right arm and fired a kunai from the gauntlet which she had modified.
"Too easy," Fuki taunted hitting the kunai out of the air with a whip.
Ami was forced to dodge as Fuki's teammate raised the sleeves of her shirt to reveal she wore two gauntlets. Atop them were small narrow tubes which began spitting out senbon rather quickly. The attack forced Ami back towards the water of the large island they fought on. Both of her opponents slide apart leaving the area between them wide open but Ami knew it was a method of drawing her in.
Eyeing the nearest island she could probably just make leaping to it but was afraid the Fuki could catch her with her whips and hitting the water would pretty much end her. Cursing her pride for getting her into the two on one fight, since she hadn't want to reveal her trump card so soon. She sighed, but decided to hell with it.
Moving all her fingers she separated the puppet into several pieces. Fuki and Tu obviously heard about how a puppeteer could control them all as they stepped back waiting for all the weapons to deploy. However that didn't happen as the inside of the puppet was hollow. Pulling them towards her the pieces slipped on over the one piece jumpsuit she had worn since coming back. Looking through the crying woman face plate of her puppet/suit she said, "Let's play bitch."
To respond Tu raised both her gauntleted hands firing a large number of senbon but wings sprouted from the chakra armor on her back allowing Ami to take flight. Although the anti jutsu element of the armor had long since stopped working, being as temperamental as Kakashi had said, the wings worked just fine.
Swooping down she raised he right arm firing several kunai at Tu, who dodged them, trying to get a bead on Ami while firing her gauntlets. Avoiding the senbon, she raised her left arm and from it a cord shot out which wrapped around the girls arm. Flying away from the island she dragged the girl behind her almost making her ski as she hit the water. Disengaging the cord the girl skidded across the water landing on the sand of the island they had been flying towards. As she tried to pick herself up Ami hovered over her cutting the chakra to the wings causing her to drop right on the girls back. The girl collapsed under her, coughing up blood before sagging into unconsciousness.
Ami turned to see Fuki closing with her running over the water. The whips weren't sparking as she ran indicating she wasn't pumping them with chakra. Fuki reached back cracking one of the whips at her which Ami caught. Fuki smiled obviously sure that Ami had made a mistake as she charged it with chakra. Ami was blown off her feet as the electricity hit her.
Getting in close as Ami tried to get back up Fuki said confidently, "Any last words before I peel you out of the suit with my whips."
"Sure," Ami said stopping her struggling, "Good night." From nozzles on the bottom of her feet a cloud of smoke blew out sweeping over her opponent. Fuki tottered for a moment before falling over passing out from the sleep gas she had been hit with.
Getting back up without any problem she walked over to the downed Fuki picking up her whips saying, "Oh I like. Thanks Fuki," before walking to join her two teammates as Minaka called the match. Joining her teammates who congratulated her on her victory Ami decided to remain in her suit.
Tsunade smiled as Team Anko made its way down proud of Team Shizune, although she wished they had all fought since she really wanted Sakura and Hinata to make chunin. However she understood sometimes exams such as these were sometimes the places where bad blood spilled over.
She tried to ignore the Taki councilor that was once again complaining about the unfairness that Waterfall's prized genin was forced to fight a three on one battle. However his complaint fell short as Team Anko began playing rock, paper, scissors, to determine who would fight the boy. Tayuya won grinning victoriously as she approached the proctor and lined up across from him.
As soon as the fight began Tayuya shot forward probably catching Hoki a little by surprise but he recovered quickly blocking her punch and striking out with a kick in retaliation. Tayuya was caught in the stomach causing her to fall back a little. Hoki followed up with a punch to her chin that sent her to the ground. But he was surprised as she almost immediately got back up hitting him with a right cross of her own.
Shaking his head, Hoki believed that outside of his sensei, he had never been hit so hard in his life. Her follow up was a spinning kick to his stomach that practically folded him around her foot before he flew backwards even skipping over the water he hit once.
"Water Style: Water Snake Jutsu," Hoki shouted upon regaining his footing on the water causing a large and fast moving snake to shoot from the water at Tayuya. Opening its mouth it appeared to want to swallow her and would then probably trap her in some sort of water prison if Tayuya had to guess. Rolling out of the way at the last second. The snake swallowed a piece of the ground where she had just been standing. The snake rounded around ready to make another pass, but exploded as the tag Tayuya made placed on the bit of earth it swallowed did its thing.
Cursing Hoki performed the hard water jutsu creating a sword and closed with the smirking Tayuya who pulled a kunai. The two made several passes against each other but eventually Hoki gained an advantage by knocking her kunai away.
Grabbing her from behind, he held across the chest with one arm and held the point of his blade against her chin. "Not bad, you almost made me break a sweat," he said smugly into her ear, "Now be a good bitch and surrender for you team and I'll show you a real good time later." The end of his sentence was punctuated by him rubbing his groin against her rear loosening the grip he had on her slightly.
Feeling her temper boil she said, "I don't know about the cunts from where you come from," pushing the tip of sword away she spun in his arms glaring at the boy, "but don't ever underestimate a leaf kunoichi." She ended her sentence by throwing his arms of her using her own and then grabbing a hold of him brought her knee up using all her strength smashing the offending appendage that he had been rubbing against her moments before.
Zabuza watching the fight from behind his sitting wife winced saying, "That's too much."
Moments later the high pitched scream was heard from the Taki genin as his hands shoot to his package and he wondered why he couldn't feel the two items that should have been hanging there. Minaka called the match on account of her doubting the boy would be standing anytime soon.
Ino made her way down watching as the medics carted the Taki genin from the arena thinking it served him right for the fresh way he had held Tayuya. Lining up across from the Kiri team she frowned angrily when the Blonde girl of the opposing team said eyeing Chouji, "Aw, I was hoping to fight that hard bodied hunk Lee. Not this fatass."
Before Chouji could snap or even ask her what she said, Ino snapped, "He's not fat, he's husky."
Chouji was clearly surprised but focused again on the opposing team as the blonde girl leaned in saying, "Aw does somebody have feelings for fattie."
"I'm going to knock your face in," Ino said getting into her stance.
"Oh yeah honey, I'd like to see you try," Isako said getting into her own stance.
Chouji guessing that was who Ino planned to fight was going to pick the boy but saw Isaribi target him. He felt kind of guilty lining up against the small timid girl, but guessed she was probably there for a reason so prepared for the proctor to call, begin.
As soon as the sign was given Ino charged right at the girl Isako getting in close. She was force to move back as she realized that the girl's fighting style relied primarily on grappling. As soon as she created some distance between them Isako taunted her by leaning forward exposing more of her cleavage saying, "Let me guess you're one of those phony kunoichi that's afraid to mix it up."
"No, I'm just not some brainless floozy like you," Ino replied. "I recognize that in close you would have the advantage."
"Honey, I have the advantage no matter the range," Isako said disappearing before appearing behind her using a burst of speed. Isako hit Ino with a backhand causing her to spin away before reassuming her stance and preparing for the next attack.
Chouji cursed as he watched Ino get hit, but had his own problems having to avoid a plant in the shape of a lion that had grown from in front of the girl he had been preparing to fight. Growing his arms to longer lengths, he caught it as it pounced at him and then ripped it in half. Tossing the two pieces away he was about to move against the girl, when she raised her hands again with her eyes growing green. He sighed as two more sprouts grew from the ground before growing more vines which took the shape of some sort of giant prehistoric lizards that towered over him.
Both creatures roared angrily before charging at him opening their wide mouths as they came. Popping a food pill he grew to a similar size and smashed one of the creatures' heads into the ground before catching the other one by the jaws of its mouth. Forcing the plant creature's jaws wider apart he pulled the top part of its head off throwing it away as the creature wilted. Moments later he was hit across the back by the other ones tail, knocking his headband loose causing his hair to spill out which he wore longer know due to some of the jutsus his dad taught him.
Using one of those jutsu he shouted, "Spiky Human Boulder." His longer hair grew pointy and spinning he tucked into a ball, he headed straight for the creature which he shredded into mulch as they hit. Continuing on towards the girl who put her hands to her head turning away as she fell to her knees and said, "I'm sorry," as if that would stop the large human boulder coming at her.
Chouji did swerve out of the way stopping behind her before returning to normal size and asked, "Are you giving up?"
"I'm sorry," Saya responded her eyes turning green again.
Chouji guessed that was a no and winced as he bopped the girl on the head causing her to wobble slightly before losing conciseness. Turning away he looked to see which of his teammates needed help more.
Isaribi couldn't see or hear but she could still feel despite the genjutsu that Ranmaru put her under. As they were standing on the water at the time, she cut the chakra to her feet sinking beneath the surface before transforming into her Kaima form. Focusing her abilities to feel in the water much the same way a shark could to feel a floundering fish she swam towards were Ranmaru was standing
While Ranmaru could move he was unable to use his abilities to track her while using the genjutsu, so it came as a surprised when he felt a hand grab around his ankle. Looking down in shock he cut the genjutsu. But before he could attempt to break free Isaribi used an ability of her completed Kaima form charging herself with electricity like an eel thereby taking Ranmaru out of the fight.
Ino and Isako parted again after exchanging another round of blows. Breathing heavy Isako said, "Guess you aren't as useless as you look."
Ino gave a simple grin in response. Since, although she was loathe to admit it, the girl was pretty good. But she took some measure in pride in knowing that if they had met in the first chunin exams she'd probably have been taken out already.
Suddenly Isako was caught in the large hands of Chouji who shouted, "Do it Ino." Forming the unique hand-sign of her family's jutsu Ino projected her spirit into the girl. As soon as her body sagged to the ground Chouji let go.
Isako stood there for a moment before raising her hand and saying, "Proctor I wish to forfeit."
Minaka looked a little down at that but nodded saying, "Team Asuma advances. Will the next two teams please come down?"
Ino was helped back to her feet by Chouji after she released he jutsu. Noticing he was no longer wearing his bandana and liking the way the longer hair looked on him said, "I like. You shouldn't wear that bandana anymore."
"Really," Chouji said, "Why?"
"Well it kind of makes you look like your wearing underwear on your head," Ino said causing Chouji to blush in embarrassment. It intensified as she added, "Besides you look cuter without it."
Kurenai leaned against Gai saying, "Well looks like this is it." Although she had been a little worried that their two teams fighting in the finals would ruffle some feathers depending on who's won. She admitted that she was a little curious to see whose protégé won, and by proxy whose team, as Yakumo had been taking after her almost as much as Lee took after Gai.
"It will be a most youthful contest," Gai said simply caught up in the competition of it all.
"It won't matter," Anko chimed in, "Because whoever's team wins is going to get creamed by mine."
"Aren't you being a little hasty?" Shizune asked sitting with her fellow sensei as Kakashi was up in the Hokage's box as a bodyguard, "They still have to get by mine."
"I know they've got Tsunade's apprentice and the Hyuuga princess, but they're going down," Anko said with a smile. She wished Iruka was there to cheer her girls on, but he was stuck in the Academy as it was still a school day.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Shizune said with a smile of her own.
"Oh yeah, do they have another trump card like that puppet?" Anko asked curious.
Nodding Shizune said, "Yes."
"What would that be?" Kurenai asked getting curious as well since she imagined her team may be facing Team Shizune.
"Lady Tsunade's track record with gambling," Shizune answered with a smile. "Before the matches started she placed bets on all of the teams but mine."
All of the other sensei stared at Shizune and her too pleased smile before Anko shouted, "What, that's not fair. How are they supposed to overcome that?"
Up in the Kage's box Tsunade looked at another of her losing tickets with a smile before tearing it up. She watched Mei sag a little in her chair at the defeat of Kiri's only participant in the finals no doubt having hoped for a Kiri team to emerge victorious in the first Chunin Exam held by them. But she had little doubt that the top spot was going to be claimed by Team Shizune. As the proctor started the next match Tsunade focused on the fighting genin.
Lee avoided the two fang over fang that tried to hit him from opposite directions. Although far faster than the genin he was sporting a few cuts and bruises as Kiba and Akamaru's teamwork more than made up for it. He would also find from time to time that when he committed to an attack that if it was Akamaru the puppy would drop his henge throwing him off balance allowing Kiba to take advantage.
Catching the claw swipe by Kiba by the wrist he lashed out with a kick that sent the genin flying but was immediately put on the defensive by Akamaru in henged form. Blocking several of the nin-dogs attacks he dodged a claw swipe that over extended the puppy and before it could drop the henge he hit it with an elbow in the side of the head that sent it skittering across the island they fought on. The henge dropped and the puppy, which was twice as big as it used to be, attempted to stand before collapsing. Confident it was out of the fight Lee was sure that defeating Kiba would only be a matter of time.
Neji found Shino to be a difficult opponent to read. Although his Byakugan allowed him to see the many ways that the insects had attempted to surround and entrap him, he was having a difficult time closing the distance with him. Charging the Aburame he leapt over the pit his bugs had dug while he was forced to defend himself with rotation. Shino wasn't surprised no doubt having fought Hinata many times as a wall of insects appeared in front of him, which tried to collapse on top of him. Using Rotation Neji threw them off, but was forced to retreat again as the jutsu ended. Wondering how Hinata would beat him he realized that it was probably through ninjutsu as he was finding it difficult to find a way using strictly Taijutsu.
Tenten was lost in an endless forest which she knew was impossible but when she had tried to break the genjutsu it had simply reformed moments later. Wondering how she was going to break the genjutsu a skeletal hand broke free of the ground followed by many more. As the undead skeletons began converging on her she smiled as she figured Yakumo was going to make her move. Concentrating the Dragon Fangs began glowing before she pointed them straight into the air. A moment later electricity began traveling around her passing through many of the skeletons before hitting one that reacted.
The genjutsu faded replacing the skeleton with a singed and panting Yakumo that brought her kunai up. However Tenten quickly disarmed her before bring the hilt of her blade down on the girl's neck knocking her out.
Shino watched Yakumo fall followed shortly by Kiba. Although the other Leaf Teams had sat back allowing for one on one matches when appropriate. He knew he could not defeat all three concurrently so creating some space between him and Neji held up his hand before forfeiting the match.
Kankurou rolled his eyes a habit he was forming as he listened to Sari and Matsuri argue over who Gaara liked more. Having to face the team he just watched fight, he turned to them annoyed and said, "I doubt he likes either of you, so can you simply concentrate on the match." He took a step back in fear as the two Gaara fan club members glared at him darkly.
"Hmph," Sari said pushing past him, "Excuse me, I'm going to impress my future husband."
"Oh no you don't," Matsuri said, also shoving by the still frozen Kankurou, "Besides, he saved me when I was taken hostage, so it's obvious he likes me better."
Kankurou could just make out the reply of, "No way the Kazekage would want a woman that needs saving." Getting his feet moving he really hoped that he would be made chunin as he didn't think he would survive being on those two girls' team much longer.
Tsunade watched as Team Gai once again handed another team a defeat. Although Kankurou had put up a terrific fight, his two teammates had shown that they were still relatively fresh from the academy. Leaning towards the Kazekage she asked, "Why not simply promote your brother to chunin the same way you did Temari?"
"I had no hand in Temari's promotion to chunin," Gaara replied. "But I suppose that they hoped Kankurou would be able to carry his teammates into the finals since there was a lack of quality teams."
"So I take it he will probably be promoted then." Tsunade said. "Yet, what of those two kunoichi?"
Tsunade thought she detected a hint of a blush on the boys face and the way he looked away made it clear that something was up but he calmed himself saying, "They are still too new, but they have potential."
Nodding Tsunade focused on Team Shizune as they entered the arena along with Team Anko. Apparently the girls had selected their opponents while they had waited and as soon as the match begun charged their respective opponent. Tsunade frowned as she had been attempting to drill into Sakura and Hinata a sense of teamwork. Seeing them fighting solo was a rather harsh blow since she may have to revaluate the team she had planned for Naruto's return.
Ami and Sasame ended up fighting each other with Sakura taking Tayuya and Hinata fighting Kin. Ami using her puppet suit scored a glancing hit with a kunai launched from her gauntlet but was in turn hit by one of the daggers thrown by Sasame. The dagger hit her arm and appeared to pierce just far enough that the tip hit flesh. Sasame began to wobble a little making Tsunade guess the kunai had poison on it. After her opponent collapsed Ami removed the dagger tossing it aside before staggering a little herself before falling apparently poisoned as well.
All the kunoichi separated before asking the proctor to allow medical personnel to see to their poisoned teammates. Sakura and Hinata moved next to each other but didn't talk unlike Tayuya and Kin. However, as soon as the match began again only Hinata ran to engage the two kunoichi.
The fight was fierce and eventually moved over the water as Hinata did her best to keep the two women occupied. Sakura however simply moved towards the edge of the island before shouting out to Hinata. Spinning in Rotation Hinata knocked both girl back before leaping to Sakura's side. Kin and Tayuya recovered and were about to charge but Sakura punched the ground causing a huge wave of water to rise up due to the seismic wave that it created. The water picked up and slammed the two members of Team Anko against the far wall of the arena. As the water pulled back it was easy to see that they wouldn't be getting back up.
The next match also proved impressive but was a little disconcerting for Tsunade as all of Team Gai managed to make it to the finals aided by Neji's gentle fist which after defeating Ino with it, freed him to aid the others. Chouji was the last to fall but proved no match against the combined might of all three members of Team Gai despite growing to a monstrous size. Hoping her rotten gambling luck held up she told Kakashi to go place a bet on Team Gai for her.
Hinata smiled as her cousin said, "It must be fate that we meet again in the finals Hinata."
"I guess, although I hope it does not end the same way our last meeting turned out," Hinata said assuming her Gentle Fist stance.
Mirroring it Neji said, "Prepare yourself," before charging his cousin.
Sakura was growing annoyed with having to fight Lee and Tenten at the same time avoiding a lightening ball from Tenten. Before she even finished coming up from her roll she found Lee in her face. Blocking the several punches he threw, she managed to kick him away, but had to avoid the dozen or so kunai that Tenten threw at her.
Sakura snatched one of the kunai up blocking Tenten's sword strike with it. Noticing the blade beginning to glow she pushed Tenten off balanced, but before she could exploit the opening was forced to avoid Lee as he charged to the rescue. Swing at him with a fist he avoided the blow completely obviously fearing what even a glancing blow could due.
Sakura had to hand it Tsunade's training which was the only reason she was faring as well as she was. Putting all of the avoidance training to use she dodged all of the thrown weapons that Tenten lobbed at her.
Going on the offensive she punched the ground throwing up a huge dust cloud to obscure her movements. Tenten and Lee immediately went back to back to wait for Sakura's next move. Now close together as she expected Sakura appeared out of the smoke charging the pair. Tenten reacted immediately lashing out with her blade catching Sakura in the chest who didn't even try to avoid it. Both Genin stared in shock till the girl smiled at them bursting into smoke and dropping the pellets she held in her hands. The pellets exploded into a sleeping gas that engulfed and rendered the pair asleep in seconds. As the dust and gas cleared Sakura laughed as Tenten and Lee fell asleep hugging each other. Turning her attention to Hinata she decided to sit back and observe to let the cousins finish their delayed mach from the previous Chunin Exams.
Hinata hated to admit it, but Neji was stronger than her in the gentle fist. Although she could attempt to fight him using the Hard Fist it would open her more to his attacks against her Tenketsu Points. Pushing one of his attacks to the side, she leapt back hoping to create some room to think up a strategy. Neji however, obviously figured that if he could keep the pressure on her she'd make a mistake first so quickly closed. Hinata remained on the defensive pushing Neji's attacks away. Neji opened a slight gap in his defenses that Hinata was almost positive was an attempt to lure her in.
Instead of biting, she fell back and forming the hand-signs brought a hand to her lips before breathing fire at him. She heard Neji curse as he couldn't dodge instead forced to use rotation which while good against almost any attack was weak against a constant fire jutsus like the one she was using. The reason for that was the spinning, which caused the fire to begin following along the outside of the chakra and could be whipped up into a mini-firestorm that would suck the oxygen from the center.
The fire jutsu ended and Neji quickly ended his jutsu. Sweating he leap towards the wall of flames using an air-born rotation that he canceled as soon as he was through. Landing in front of Hinata he found her in the stance to perform Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms.
Smirking he got into it as well saying, "I'm afraid you lose cousin. You've misjudged the distance between us and my divination is slightly larger than yours."
She returned the smile saying, "I'm afraid you are the one that miscalculated cousin as my jutsu covers a larger area then yours."
To prove her point three other Hinata's appeared around him as they dropped the henge to look like rocks and were all in the same stance as Hinata. He realized this was the true trap and the fire was to blind him while she created the clones. But he still had a chance, since he figured if he could get to Hinata before the clones got to him. Charging his cousin as she charged him he batted aside her attack hitting her with the jutsu. He hit her three times before she burst into smoke. He didn't have long to revel in surprise as moments later the other Hinatas converged hitting him over and over again. His points shut down, he remained conscious long enough to see that the Hinata that had been behind him had been the real one before toppling over but was caught by Hinata.
Hinata helped place Neji on a stretcher before standing in front of the Kage box with Sakura as the Mizukage thanked the people and participants. Hinata smiled and hugged Sakura as they celebrated their victory feeling closer to their goal of protecting Naruto from Akatsuki.
Jiraiya smiled as he looked at the letter from Tsunade. Although it contained a great deal of news, he couldn't help but smile at the pride which with she wrote of Hinata and Sakura. Leaning against the tree he was sitting against, he guessed it all made a sort of sense about Kushina being a jinchuriki. He remembered a short time after the fiery red-head had been kidnapped by Kumo and Minato alone had found her. Jiraiya had been working on a seal when Minato had approached him in his home.
"What are you working on Jiraiya-sensei?" Minato asked staring at the items which had rested on his table.
Smiling at the boy Jiraiya said holding up a pair of glasses with paper seals in the lenses. The seal was in the shape of repeating circles with each one getting smaller as they moved towards the center. "I'm working on a way to see through objects using these seals, similar to the Byakugan," Jiraiya said. "He-he, and through Tsunade's clothes," which had been the thought that ran through his head.
"Seals are truly incredible things are they not Jiraiya-sensei," Minato had said, no doubt suspecting his true motive while sitting at the table with him.
He had been surprised since Minato had never shown interest in the sealing arts before. Saying so he asked, "Why the sudden interest?"
"I…I guess…I suppose I just always took them for granted," Minato had said appearing a little uncomfortable.
"Well that's easy to do since most people use them for simple things," Jiraiya had said sitting back in his chair. "But they are capable of so much more."
"Tell me about it," Minato had said with a weak smile. Getting serious he said, "Jiraiya-sensei will you teach me about Fuuinjutsu."
Laughing in his over the top manner Jiraiya said, "Boy I told you. All's you need is the drive to never give up and I'll make you into a Hokage like no other. Hell I'll make you a Seal Master to boot."
Looking back on it, Jiraiya was sure Kushina had told Minato of her burden which is what prompted his desire to learn about seals. Granted the boy was a true genius and had quickly surpassed anything he had ever dreamed of accomplishing with them. Although the glasses might have worked had he been able to keep his pervetedness in check as they had attempted to focus in on Tsunade. But she had sensed he had been up to know good and pounded him into the ground. Unfortunately, since he hadn't wanted to create a paper trail, he had kept the formula in his head and the beating had caused him to forget.
Getting back on topic, he guessed that there was a possibility the seal failed due to the pregnancy since it was weakest for female jinchuriki at the moment of birth. But he rejected that as foolish. There was no way Minato would let something happen to Kushina, unless someone had interfered. Going over what he remembered of that night, having arrived after the incident. If he remembered correctly Minato had been the last to arrive. Which if Kushina had been the jinchuriki of the nine-tails would have been completely backwards. Not to mention, it had appeared in the middle of the village. Was it summoned by whoever took the nine-tails from Kushina? Her survival was also a mystery? Had she been kidnapped by whoever was behind the Kyuubi attack? He rejected that theory quickly as he doubted they would have a use for the mother.
But who could have known about where the nine-tails had been kept? The only people had been Minato and apparently Sarutobi and his wife. Even he hadn't been told. Was the masked man who controlled Yagura behind it? Unfortunately, there was only one witness who knew what happened that night and she was under a genjutsu. Not to mention they didn't know who had taken her. He'd dedicate some more time to locating the last jinchuriki and tracking the few reports of Akatsuki that he received, since it appeared the group had gone to ground for a while. If he received no new information on that however, he'd begin directing his attention to finding Kushina before retrieving Naruto. Now with a plan for the next year and a half he ignored the scantily clad women playing in the waterfall behind him to begin placing feelers out for any information on Kushina.
Sai looked smiled at the picture in the next arc of his story. It was relatively simple featuring the mother figure from his first one. She was laying in a bed much as she had been in the few she had shown up in before except this time it was a close-up of her face. Also unlike the others her eyes were open. Placing it into the large envelop he got up to bring it to the root officer in charge of the ingoing and outgoing mail.
As he walked he wondered what was going on in Kushina's head. There were moments of doubt that appeared every now and then but they quickly faded as a result of whatever hypnotic suggestion had been placed on her. What he truly hoped was that when mother and son met it would be at one of those moments. Otherwise one may be forced to kill the other and he believed that would destroy them both in the end.