The Legend of Naruto
Chunin Exam arc
Kurama no Kyubi: We've finally gotten to the Chunin Exam arc, and in this arc another one of the Sages will be revealed, and the three Chosen Ones will get a greater understanding of the cycle which have been going on for thousands of years. There will also be several Zelda characters appearing, and someone from Kakashi's past will appear.
Stallion6 of Deviantart: The million dollar question arises...does the cycle continue...
Kurama no Kyubi: That depends on what Sasuke chooses to do with his life. Whether he'll stay good, or turn evil.
Guest: For the pieces of gear that our young hero should attain in the future I would suggest some sort of extendable spear for clearing gapes, immoblizing tough enemies and opening gates. As for the people that you've got attending the chunnin exam you read my mind about sending some of Ganondorf's force's to attend the chunnin exams to give our trio of young hero's an idea about what they're up against. As for when Naruto potentially obtains the master I should say the not only should he weild that sword but also the blade he obtained as a gift from the goddess who chose to bestow her triforce to him simultanously in terms of having an equal measure of offence and defense at his disposal. As for spells and other abilities that our triforce bearing hero's as result of the triforce's they possess for Naruto I would go with him possessing Farore's wind to enhance his speed and strenght in battle but also giving him the power to heal his comrades understanding the forces of nature I.E understanding the forces of nature and purifing that which has been poisoned by dark forces because of the fact that according to hylian legends 101 it goes like this Din made the world, Naryu gave the world laws while Farore created lifeforms to inhabit the world they created and live by those laws thus making the godess of courage the goddess of life and thus giving Naruto some power to help and heal his commrades and himself although it may not be a totally perfect means of healing but more than enough to ensure that his friends and himself have something to keep them together till either the battle's over and their out of harms way or professional help arrives to treat their injuries which ever comes first. where as for Sakura I would place hero magic as being more of a support\medic type in terms of healing her commrades and lending them an extra boost when they need it.
Kurama no Kyubi: Whoa. That's a lot. Oh, and by the way, I had already planned some of these things already. Though I must say that you also gave me some pretty good ideas, I'll keep them in mind.
Guest: when we get to the chunnin exams why don't we spice thing up a bit in terms of when orchimaru joins the party and trys to mark sasuke as his new potential vessal due to the young gennin possessing the triforce of power it cause orchimaru's curse mark to backfire in the sense that the snake sannin get's a bit burnt due to the pure power that the triforce possesses thus making it something that goes beyond the reach of the immortal mad man whose insationable hunger for knowledge, power and immortality and infuriating the snake sannin to great length that he decides that he should just kill the Uchiha and his teamates there and then without a second thought due the fact that his potential host is unattainable luckily our young trio manage to force that snake to make a tactical retreat via the power of their respective triforces.
Kurama no Kyubi: Actually, even with the combined powers of the Triforce pieces, at the level which team 7 is currently at, they still wouldn't stand a chance against a Kage-level ninja. But I liked your idea, however Orochimaru wouldn't want to kill Sasuke, he'd rather want to study him to unlock the secrets of the Triforce… and possibly even obtaining its powers.
Guest: since the sword hakko chakura to has a gemstone as apart of it should add other gems for Naruto to obtain over the course of the story to change the properties of that sword making it a very versitile weapon for our young hero.
Kurama no Kyubi: I had already fought of that.
Naruto Sakura Uzumaki: Who are Agahnim, Flare, Aqua, Ventus, Terra, Chilly, and Ray? And where are they from (what videogames)? I already know who Vaati is. He is from "The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap" and from "The Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords.
Kurama no Kyubi: Vaati actually has three appearances. But, anyway. Agahnim is from "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past", and as for the others, they're my own OCs.
Guest: you know compared to young link or any link when they start their journey for that matter your naruto is kinda weak and this story seems like a bash naruto story and praise sakura story she finishes tree climbing first then finishing water walking in half a day she has triforce of wisdom and is related to zelda when they are nothing alike she is a bitch none of the many zelda are not every other girl naruto deserses triforce of wisdom more than her she is a irredemable character she gets triforce of wisdom cause shes team 7 and you can't diverge from canon cause look at your team 7 copy and paste this ls fanfiction not canonfiction be original.
Kurama no Kyubi: I take it that you're one of the many Sakura haters, right? Well, the reason she got done with tree-climbing and water-walking so quickly is because of her excellent chakra control, which even excels Sasuke's. Also Naruto is not weak compared to Link, in fact, there's only ever been one Link to have faced a "Kage-level" opponent so early in his journey, the one from Skyward Sword, and he only won because Ghirahim pretty much let him win. Of course, you can't quite compare Zabuza to Ghirahim, but I would think that Zabuza at full power would be at about the same level as Ghirahim's 2nd form.
ChronoMitsurugi: Yes! We are finally on the same wavelength. Phew.
Keep up the great work.
Kurama no Kyubi: I never said that we weren't, I only tried to explain things from a logical point-of-view. But how the Triforce pieces ended up in Sasuke's possession will be explain during this arc, so you can look forward to that.
Thereviewer: This is a review of the 2nd greatest story on fanfiction.
Kurama no Kyubi: Really? Which one's the greatest?
ImagineBreaker7: This story is amazing I love it. I like the ideas that you brought into this story like giving Sasuke the Mangekyo now and giving Naruto Kakashi's tanto. (although that one I did not see coming at all) Fu being a sage is an interesting idea as well. I am curious about the pairings if you intend to make this a harem or you are not making this a Naruto x Farore pairing then can the pairing be Naruto x Fu? I love that pairing. Although I like the idea of Naruto with Farore as well I hope the pairing will be something like that.
Kurama no Kyubi: Well, Sasuke may have the Mangekyo, but he'll still have to learn to control it. As for the pairings, well, I am going to have it be Naruto x Farore.
"Triforce." Normal speech
'Triforce.' Normal thought
"Triforce." Biju and God speech
'Triforce.' Biju and God thought
Naruto: Kurama no Kyubi doesn't own anything.
Chapter 6: The Chunin Exams
"Hey! I think I can see the gate!" Naruto said as the four ninja finally approached the gates of Konohagakure no Sato after about a week of travel since they left the Land of Waves.
"About time." Sasuke said before thinking 'Now I can finally start deciphering the tablet at the Nakano Shrine with my Sharingan.' (Kurama no Kyubi: Note that he doesn't know that he's awakened the Mangekyo yet, since he pretty much have no memory of when he awakened it.)
"Before any of you start going off on your own, remember that you have to come with me to deliver the report to Hokage-sama." Kakashi said.
"Huh? Why?" Naruto asked.
"Did you forget already? Kakashi-sensei's already told us that we need to be there when we tell Hokage-sama about the Tri…" Sakura yelled, but she was cut off when Sasuke put his hand over her mouth.
"Shut up, will you? You almost announced "you-know-what" to any possible by-standers." He whispered so that no one outside of their group would hear.
"G-gomen nasai…" Sakura said after Sasuke had removed his hand.
Time-Skip, about 30 minutes later, Konoha, Hokage Tower
As they approached the door to the Hokage Office, they suddenly heard voices from the other side, though they couldn't make out what they were saying. Kakashi then knocked on the door.
"Come in." Hiruzen said from th other side, and Kakashi opened the door before walking in, followed by his students.
The sight that awaited them was… unexpected, to say the least. There were three small balls of light with four insect-like wings each on Hiruzen's desk. One of the balls was blue, another one was yellow, and the last one was purple with a hint of red at the edges of the light.
Upon closer inspection, however, it appeared that the three balls of light actually were tiny, humanoid creatures that were glowing. The blue and yellow ones were apparently female while the purple one was male. Another thing that caught the four ninja's attention was the fact that the three creatures were all completely naked. (Kurama no Kyubi: Fairies don't actually wear any clothes, the only reason why they do in stories like the Legend of Zelda is so that those stories will appear more kid-friendly.)
"Are those the ones?" The blue one asked with slight skepticism in her voice as she and the other two turned to look at the team of three Genin and one Jonin as Kakashi closed the door behind them.
"What the…?" Naruto said dumbfounded at the fact that she could talk.
"Hokage-sama?" Kakashi said as he looked at his leader with a questioning look.
Hiruzen then took a puff of his pipe before saying "I'm not entirely sure myself. These three "Fairies", as they call themselves, came here a short while ago and said that they were sent here by the Great Deku Tree to watch over the "Chosen Ones"."
"Wait, back up a little, will you? Fairies? I thought those only existed in Fairy-Tales!" Sakura said.
"Well, apparently you were wrong." The purple one said.
"I was surprised about that too. And I don't know anything about these "Chosen Ones" other than what the Legend of the Triforce say, but the Great Deku Tree is a large tree which lives at the center of the forest, and it is said that all of the other trees in the forest grows from the same roots as it." Hiruzen said.
"That's Great Deku Tree-sama, alright." The yellow one said.
"Those "Chosen Ones", could they be the wielders of the Triforce pieces?" Sasuke asked with narrowed eyes.
"Why, yes." The yellow one said.
"Well, that'd be us." Naruto said, causing Hiruzen's and the three Fairies' eyes to widen before the Fairies started laughing "Hey, what's so funny?"
"The three of you? That's ridiculous, you three look like total dimwits!" The purple one laughed.
"What was that?" Naruto yelled as he raised his fist just before the Triforce mark appeared.
"That's…" Hiruzen said, having hardly believed Naruto himself. This also caused the Fairies to stop laughing as they looked at the back of the boy's hand.
"The Triforce of Courage…" The blue one said before Sasuke and Sakura both raised their hands so that they showed the back of said hands as their respective Triforce marks appeared.
"The Triforce of Power…" The purple one said.
"The Triforce of Wisdom…" The yellow one said before the three Fairies looked at each other and nodded before each of them flew up to the head of each of the Triforce wielders. The blue one flew up to Naruto, who seemed to have calmed down, the purple one flew up to Sasuke, and the yellow one flew up to Sakura.
"From now on, the three of us will follow you wherever you go. The name's Navi, by the way." The blue one said.
"Hello there, buddy, I'm Tael." The purple one said.
"And I'm Tatl." The yellow one said.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the man who'll be the next Hokage!" Naruto announced.
"Keep on dreaming." Tael said as he looked towards the blond.
"Tsk. Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke said.
"And I'm Haruno Sakura." Sakura said.
Shortly afterwards, the three Genin were walking through the streets of Konoha as the Fairies were hovering near their heads.
"I still can't believe that Fairies actually exists." Sakura said.
"And it's more believable that the three of us have the power to change the world?" Naruto asked.
"Hmm… You've got a point there." Sakura said before Sasuke went off in another direction.
"Hey, Sasuke-kun, where are you going?" Sakura asked.
"There's something I need to take care of." Sasuke said without looking at her as he kept on walking.
"Hey, Sasuke! Wait up!" Tael called out as he flew after the boy before landing atop said boy's head "You know – just between the two of us – I think that pink-haired girl likes you."
"Tsk. I couldn't care less about how she feels." Sasuke said.
"And… they're gone." Tatl said as she landed so that she was now sitting on Sakura's shoulder before she turned her head to said girl "What now?"
"Well, I don't know 'bout you, but I'm gonna go and get some training done." Naruto said as he started walking away and towards the training fields, but he hadn't gotten far when Navi noticed something strange.
"Hey, Naruto, listen." Naruto turned to her to see that she was pointing at something behind him, and turning around, he saw that there was a small rectangular rock behind him with perfect angles, perfect corners, and even eye-holes.
"What rock has perfect angles, perfect corners, and eye-holes?" Navi asked.
"Hmm… I don't know. A fake one…?" Naruto suggested before three kids suddenly crawled out from the… box.
One of them – the one who seemed to be the leader of the three – was obviously a Hylian, as shown by his long and pointy ears. The other boy of the trio was a Human, and the sole girl of the group seemed to be of the avian Rito-Tribe as shown by her feather-covered body and beak-like nose. (Kurama no Kyubi: Don't ask why I had Moegi be a Rito. I actually wondered whether I should make her a Rito or a Zora, though I eventually went with the former, figuring that I could do something with that later.)
"Leave it to the man I have acknowledged as being almost my equal! Your skills rival my own." The single Hylian boy amongst the trio said.
"Oh, it's you guys." Naruto said.
"Your skills rival his?" Navi asked as she looked at Naruto while pointing at Konohamaru before saying "I had a feeling you were weak, but this is just ridiculous." Naruto was about to retort, but Konohamaru interrupted him.
"Huh? Hey, what the heck's that thing?" The boy asked as he pointed at Navi as Udon and Moegi also looked up at the small Fairy.
"How rude. I'm not a thing, I'm a Fairy." Navi said as she landed on Naruto's shoulder.
"A Fairy?" Konohamaru asked.
"But I thought that Fairies only existed in Fairy Tales." Moegi said.
"Well, you thought wrong." Navi said.
"What do you guys want anyway?" Naruto asked.
"We'll show you, boss. Can you come now?" Moegi said.
"Nope! I have to train." Naruto said.
"But… but you promised to play ninja with us! Right?" Konohamaru said.
"A ninja… playing ninja?" Navi said before she burst out in laughter "That's… the… stupidest thing… I've ever heard."
"So… just what is a ninja doing "playing ninja", hmm?" Sakura asked as she approached them as Tatl was sitting on her shoulder.
"Hey, who's the pretty girl with the huge forehead?" Konohamaru asked, and – sensing danger – Navi stopped laughing before flying over to Sakura and sat down on the opposite shoulder from where Tatl was sitting.
The next thing anyone knew was that Naruto and the three academy students were running for their lives as Sakura was chasing them, well that is until Konohamaru bumped into none other than the Suna-nin, Kankuro.
"That's gotta smart." Kankuro said.
Nakano Shrine
Sasuke and Tael walked up towards the entrance to the Nakano Shrine, where the Uchiha clan used to have meetings. Well, that is, Sasuke walked, Tael on the other hand was sitting in the boy's hair.
"Wait out here." Sasuke said as he stopped before the entrance.
"Huh? Why?" Tael asked.
"Because I tell you to." Sasuke said as he grabbed the small Fairy and put him down on a small rock before he entered the shrine.
After entering, Sasuke walked over to the seventh tatami mat on the far left of the room before moving it away to reveal a secret stairway. He then walked down the stairs until he eventually reached a small chamber with a stone tablet hanging on the wall.
The last Uchiha in Konoha then walked over to the tablet as he activated his Sharingan and started reading the ancient Hylian letters that were on the tablet.
With Naruto and the others
"Konohamaru!" Naruto said as Kankuro was holding up the young Hylian boy by the collar.
"That hurt, snotface." He said.
"Knock it off. You're gonna get it as it is." Temari said.
"It was my fault. I was fooling around…" Sakura said before thinking 'Who are these people?'
"Put him down, you big ape!" Naruto yelled.
'These guys must be Genin from Konoha.' Kankuro thought as he noticed Naruto's Hitai-ate before saying "I just want to play with him a little… while we're waiting for the nuisance to get here."
"YOU…!" Naruto yelled as he charged towards the older boy, but then he suddenly tripped on something a fell down on his back 'What was that?'
"What a wimp. Is that the best Konoha's Genin can do?" Kankuro asked.
'Th-they're foreigners. Why are they here?' Sakura thought.
Hokage Tower, Hokage Office
In the Hokage's office in the Hokage Tower was Hiruzen currently seated at his desk as several Jonin – including Kakashi – were gathered before him.
"Seeing whom I invited here, you may be able to guess what we are here to discuss." Hiruzen said.
"Is it time already?" Kakashi asked.
"Have you informed the lords of the other lands yet? Because I believe I have already seen some of them in our village. When is it to be?" Genma asked.
"One week from today." Hiruzen said.
"Isn't this rather sudden?" Genma said.
"To make it completely official, I hereby announce… seven days from now, on July 1st, we shall begin conducting the Chunin Exams." Hiruzen said.
With Naruto and the others
"Konohamaru!" Udon and Moegi yelled.
"Hey! You in the black pig suit! Release him now and I'll go easy on you, goon!" Naruto yelled before Sakura suddenly held him in a head-lock.
"You're the goon! Do you want that guy to beat you up?" Sakura whispered.
"You're starting to annoy me. First off, I'm allergic to "shrimp". Bad enough that you're a short little kid… you're disrespecting your elders. You make me want to kill him." Kankuro said.
"Nani?" Naruto said in surprise.
"I… will not be held responsible for this…" Temari said.
"YOU…!" Naruto said.
'Who is he? This is so not good.' Sakura thought.
"So I'll finish with this shrimp… and move on to the jumbo shrimp over there." Kankuro said as he prepared to punch Konohamaru, but just then as he thrusted his fist towards the young Hylian, something or someone suddenly grabbed his wrist so hard that he was forced to release Konohamaru.
"Why don't you rather pick on someone your own size?" Kankuro – as well as everyone else – looked towards the one who'd grabbed him to see none other than the Tani-nin, Terra.
Hokage Tower, Hokage Office
"Now then… We'd like to hear first from those who have overseen the training of our newest Genin." Hiruzen said and Kakashi along with two other Jonin stepped forward "Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma. Tell us… do any of you have – among your charges – any Genin you'd recommend for this year's Chunin exams? … That before we even consider them, they must have completed a minimum of eight missions. Beyond that, employ your own judgment as to whether they are ready to aspire to the next level. To be truly competitive, candidates should probably have completed at least double the recommended number of missions…"
'He shouldn't be asking this yet… It's too soon for any of them.' Iruka thought.
"You may begin, Kakashi." Hiruzen said, and Kakashi held his right hand in in the spar sign.
"Team number 7 – led by Kakashi – consists of Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura. I vow upon the honor of my clan, the Hatake, that all three of them are ready for the Chunin Exam." He said.
"Nani?" Iruka said surprised.
"Team number 8 – led by Kurenai – consists of Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino. I vow upon my own clan, the Yuhi, that I am as certain as my esteemed colleague that all three are ready for the Chunin Exams." Kurenai said.
"Team number 10 – led by Asuma – consists of Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Choji. I vow upon my clan, the Sarutobi, that I am equally as certain that all three are ready for the Chunin Exam." Asuma said.
"How unusual for all three of you to have hesitatingly assented…" Hiruzen said.
"J-just a moment." Iruka said.
"Yes, Iruka?" Hiruzen asked.
"Hokage-sama. Please allow me to speak. Forgive me if I overstep, but all of the nine students just named were my students while they were at the academy. Certainly, they are all gifted and show both commitment and talent… but it's too soon for kids that young to be stepping up to the Chunin level. Only with time will they have the kind of experience and maturity those exams require. I don't understand why their supervisors can't see that." Iruka said.
"I was six years younger than Naruto when I attained the rank of Chunin, Iruka." Kakashi said.
"Naruto's not like you! Do you want to destroy those children? You know what they call the Chunin Exams, don't you?" Iruka yelled.
"They gripe about every detail of every mission. Just for once, I think it would do them good to find out what real pain is… Let's admit it. Breaking them would be fun." Kakashi said.
"Are you out of your mind?" Iruka asked.
"… It was a joke, Iruka. I understand you… and I'm sorry if my recommendation upsets you. But I stand by it." Kakashi said.
"But…" Iruka began.
"Kakashi… can we finish with this?" Kurenai asked.
"It's none of your business, anyway. They're not your students anymore, they are soldiers under my command." Kakashi said, silencing Iruka.
'What a pest.' Asuma thought.
With Naruto and the others
"Hey, Konohamaru, are you all right?" Moegi asked as she and Udon ran over to the young Hylian.
"Yeah…" Konohamaru said before looking up at Terra before he and the other two ran back over to Naruto and Sakura.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Kankuro asked.
"Who I am is none of your concern, but I suggest that you leave now." Terra said as he let go of Kankuro's wrist before said Suna-nin jumped back and grabbed the bandaged object which was strapped to his back before putting it on the ground.
"You're going to use the crow?" Temari asked, catching Terra's attention.
"Well, aren't you a pretty lady." Terra said as he was suddenly on his knees in front of the blond Suna-nin while holding up a rose "If it wouldn't be too much to ask, could you please tell me your name?"
"Uh… It's Sabaku no Temari…" Temari said.
"Hey, you. Step away from my sister." Kankuro said.
"Huh? Are you still here?" Terra asked as he looked at Kankuro with an uncaring look on his face, just then however, a wave of sand crashed into him.
"Nani?" Naruto, Sakura, their Fairies, and the Konohamaru corp exclaimed.
'Oh, shit!' Kankuro thought.
'Don't tell me.' Temari thought before everyone looked up towards where the sand had come from to see Gaara standing on the branch of a tree "Gaara!"
"Man, that stung." Everyone's eyes widened as they looked towards Terra who rose out of the sand.
'Impossible! He can still stand after being hit by Gaara's sand? He shouldn't even be able to move!' Kankuro thought.
Terra then noticed something and he immediately leapt backwards as the sand shot towards him. He had covered about half the distance between the people from Suna and Konoha before the sand managed to grab his right arm and then quickly managed to cover his entire body.
"Sabaku Kyu!" Gaara said before closing his open palm into a fist "Sabaku Soso!" The sand then imploded in on itself, seemingly crushing everything within.
"D-did he kill him…?" Navi asked.
"He must have… It doesn't seem possible that anyone could have survived that." Sakura said.
"Quite an impressive technique. It would have killed any normal person." Everyone's eyes widened as an arm suddenly burst out from the sand followed by the rest of Terra as the sand fell down to the ground "Just too bad for you that I'm not any normal person."
Gaara then shunshined down to the ground in front of his siblings before looking over his shoulder at Kankuro and saying "It annoys me that you'd lose control in a quarrel with children. Have you forgotten why we came here?" He then looked at the people of Konoha "I'm sorry about my teammates." He then turned around "I know we're a little early, but we didn't come here to play around. Let's go."
"Wait!" Sakura said, causing Gaara to turn back around.
"Yes?" He asked.
"According to your Hitai-ates, you three come from Sunagakure no Sato. Your country is one of Konoha's allies, but according to our treaty, your ninja are not permitted to cross the border without authorization. State your business. We can't just let you go your merry way." Sakura said.
"… Ever heard the old saying about it being darkest at the base of the brightest lighthouse?" Temari asked as she held up her travel papers "Weren't you informed? As you guessed, we're Genin ninja from Sunagakure. We're here to take the Chunin Exam."
"… What's the Chunin Exam?" Naruto asked.
"The Chunin Exams are a set of tests that are designed to point out candidates worthy of the title of "Chunin". The idea was originally established by your village's Shodai Hokage." Terra said, without taking his eyes off the Suna-nins "Twice a year, the exams are held in one of the many Hidden Villages for the Genin in both that village and the others to compete in, though I've never heard of a time when all villages have participated in it. Also, the tests always differ depending on who the proctor is."
"Hey, maybe I should enter this Chunin Exam too, huh?" Naruto said before looking at Navi "What do you think?" Then Navi punched him, though he hardly felt it.
"Get real. Like a weakling like you could even enter the exams!" She yelled.
"Hmm… by the way. I was wondering… Who are you?" Terra asked as he looked at Gaara.
"Sabaku no Gaara at your service." Gaara said before asking "And you are…?"
"Tsuchi Terra." Terra said with a smirk.
"Let's go." Gaara said as he turned around before he and his siblings shunshined away.
Terra then turned around before laying eyes on Sakura, said eyes suddenly turning into hearts as he was suddenly kneeling in front of Sakura as he held up a rose.
"Hello there, my princess. Might I offer you this rose as I ask your name?" He asked.
"Umm… Thanks…" Sakura said as she took the rose before saying "I'm Haruno Sakura."
"Sakura, hmm? What a lovely name. Say, what do you say to you and me…" Terra started, but he was cut off by Sakura as she punched him so hard that he was sent flying into the wall.
"In your dreams!" She said, having figured out what he was getting at. However, then she just realized that her hand now hurt like hell "Damn. It feels like I just hit a brick wall."
"That brick wall's my head. Ugh…" Terra said as he was lying on the ground.
What none of them noticed was that there were three people watching them from a tree.
"What do you think?" One of them asked.
"None of them are of any importance, except the Tani Lover-Boy and the spook from Suna. Keep an eye on them." Another one said.
On the roof of a building a little ways away were Terra's teammates, Chilly and Ray standing. Well, Ray was standing while Chilly was sitting at the edge of the roof.
"That damned Terra. I was hoping that that Suna-nin would kill that brat, I wanted to see some blood being spilt!" Chilly whined.
"Says a girl that finishes off her opponents in a way that makes it impossible to spill any blood." Ray said before taking a step forward "Besides, Terra hates to just stand by when someone weak is getting beaten. He even hates to fight those weaker than himself."
"But still, why does he have to ruin all the fun like that…" Chilly said.
"Hmm?" Ray suddenly felt something.
"What is it?" Chilly asked as she looked up at him.
"A storm is coming…" Ray said.
"A storm?" Chilly asked in disbelief before looking up at the sky "Don't be silly, the sky's completely clear, not a cloud in sight."
"Not that kind of storm." Ray said, catching Chilly's attention "It's still pretty far off, but when it hits, it's gonna hit like a hurricane." (Kurama no Kyubi: Can anyone guess what kind of storm Ray's talking about?)
With Naruto and the others
Later on, Naruto and Sakura were walking down a street as their respective Fairies were sitting on their shoulders.
"Naruto, did you see the mark on the Hitai-ate of that Terra guy?" Navi asked.
"Hmm? No, why?" Naruto asked.
"Now that you mention it… It was three triangles in a triangular formation, wasn't it?" Sakura asked.
"Nani? Are you serious?" Tatl gasped as she nearly fell off Sakura's shoulder.
"Huh? Is there something wrong with that?" Sakura asked.
"That's the mark of the Triforce! It's also the mark of Tanigakure no Sato!" Tatl said as she flew up in front of Sakura's face.
"NANI?" Both Naruto and Sakura exclaimed, causing a lot of people around them to look their way before shaking it off and continuing what they were previously doing.
"Are you sure?" Sakura asked.
"Mm-hmm. They used to have the image of a valley, but the Godaime changed it because he'd always believed that the Triforce rightfully belongs to him. Great Deku Tree-sama told us that Ganondorf would stop at nothing to attain all three pieces." Navi said as she also flew in front of them.
"So that guy was the enemy?" Naruto asked before looking over his shoulder, back towards where they'd come from "He didn't seem like a bad guy."
"That's true, he did feel different from what I'd imagined from one of Ganondorf's followers, but you still can't let down your guard around him. Plus, he might already know of who you are, and might be planning to get close to you, in order to lead you into a trap." Navi said.
"Really? He didn't seem like the guy to figure something like that out so quickly." Naruto said.
Time-Skip, 6 days later, Team 7 meeting place
"Argh! Where is that sensei of yours?" Navi complained as she was lying on her back atop Naruto's head.
The three Hylians and three Fairies had already waited there for over three whole hours for Kakashi to show up.
"Morning, guys." Kakashi said as he appeared before saying "Today, I wandered a bit from the path of life…"
"You are such a liar! Would it kill you to at least pretend to be sorry?" Naruto, Sakura, and the Fairies yelled.
"In any case… This may surprise you, but I've recommended all three of you for the Chunin Exam." Kakashi said.
"Say what?" Sakura yelled.
"Good one, sensei. You almost had us." Naruto said.
"You have to fill out applications." Kakashi said as he held out three sheets of paper.
"Kakashi-sensei, I love you!" Naruto exclaimed as he jumped up and hugged Kakashi.
"Get off… You're embarrassing me." Kakashi said.
Shortly after were the three Genin standing – or sitting in Naruto's case – in front of Kakashi as they were looking at the papers.
"If any of you don't wish to compete, the exam is entirely voluntary. The choice is yours. You needn't turn in those application forms unless you want to. If you do, report to room 301 at the school by 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. That's all." Kakashi said before shunshining away.
"Dum-di-di-duh… The Chunin Exam." Naruto said as he and his teammates were walking back home "I'll bet there'll be a lot of tough competition. Like him." He then thought of Kankuro "Or that other one." He thought of Terra before thinking 'I swear I am not gonna let anyone beat me.'
'The Chunin Exams… I bet there's gonna be a lot of tough competition.' Sasuke thought.
'The Chunin Exam… If we enter, then we might have to face off against those Suna-nins, or maybe even that Terra guy.' Sakura thought.
Time-Skip, the next day, Ninja Academy
The next day, they met outside the Ninja Academy before entering said building. As they reached the second floor, they spotted a large crowd gathered in front of a door with a sign that said "301". There were also two kids – presumably Genin – that were blocking to path.
"Is someone as talentless as you really planning to take the Chunin Exams? Why bother? Bunch of wet-behind-the-ears snotnoses." One of them said as he had just pushed away one of the applicants from Konoha.
"You said it." The other one said.
"Please… We're begging you… Let us in." A girl said before walking towards them, but she was just smacked aside.
"… That's just cruel…" One of the others in the crowd said.
"What did you say?" One of the kids asked before saying "You misunderstand. We're just trying to spare you… The Chunin Exam is incredibly difficult… and we should know. We've failed three times so far. There are people who made it, then immediately gave up being shinobi… others who ended up crippled… some reduced to vegetables… we've seen it all. Besides that, Chunin are team leaders. They lead their units. The responsibilities for failed missions and dead shinobi rest firmly on their shoulders. And you little punks have the nerve to apply? We're saving a step by weeding out the obvious losers beforehand."
"That sounds good in theory, but you'd better let us through. And drop the Genjutsu you've created, while you're at it. We have business on the third floor." Sasuke said as he and the others approached.
"So you figured that out, eh?" One of the kids said.
"It was easy. Right, Sakura?" Sasuke said.
"Of course. Obviously we're still on the second floor." Sakura said before the Genjutsu was dropped to reveal that it was actually room 201.
"Hey… Not bad. But just seeing through it isn't… ENOUGH!" One of the kids said as he came at Sasuke, preparing to kick him, and Sasuke moved his own leg to block the guy's kick with a kick of his own. Just then, however, the one who'd been pushed away when team 7 first got their appeared between them and blocked both of their kicks with his hands.
'He's so fast. He perceived the attack patterns on both sides and planted himself at the nexus of both their kicks… is that even possible? He's a completely different person from the boy who was getting beaten up just a minute ago.' Sakura thought as the boy let go of both of them.
'He blocked my kick. But there's something weird about his chakra.' Sasuke thought.
"Hey… That's not what we agreed. You're the one who insisted we should avoid from drawing attention to ourselves." A boy with pale eyes said.
"… B-but…" The boy who had blocked Sasuke's and the other kid's kick earlier said before he looked towards Sakura and blushed.
"Here we go again…" The girl who'd been smacked away by one of the two kids earlier said before the boy walked over to Sakura.
"Hi. My name is Rock Lee. You're Sakura, aren't you? Would you like to go out with me? I'll protect you with my life." The boy, now identified as Lee said.
"No… way. You are way out of hand." Sakura said, causing Lee's head to slump.
"Hey, you." The pale-eyed boy said as he approached Sasuke "What's your name?"
"Huh, me? I'm Tael." Tael said as he flew next to Sasuke's head.
"It's common courtesy to give your own name first." Sasuke said as both he and the other boy were ignoring the Fairy.
"You're a rookie, aren't you? How old?" The pale-eyed boy asked.
"I don't have to tell you a thing." Sasuke said before both he and the other boy turned around and walked their separate ways.
"Hey, don't you want to know how old I am? Hello, anyone?" Tael asked as he looked around before grumbled something in Hylian as he flew after Sasuke.
'This exam… is turning into a freak show.' Sasuke thought.
"Now. Sasuke-kun, Naruto, let's go." Sakura said as she grabbed Sasuke's and Naruto's hands before pulling them with her.
"Let's go, Lee. What are you doing?" The female member of Lee's team asked as she noticed Lee looking at the retreating backs of the members of team 7.
"You guys… go on ahead. There's something I want to check first." Lee said.
What none of them noticed, however, was that among the crowd there were three people that'd been watching them the whole time, the Tani-nins, Ventus, Flare, and Aqua.
"So, it seems that the Triforce wielders are taking part in the exams after all." Ventus said.
"Heh, yosh. I can't wait till I get to fight them." Flare said.
"Calm down, Flare. We can't go and kill them yet." Aqua said.
"When can we kill them, then?" Flare asked.
"When the exam proctors gives us permission to kill." Ventus said.
"Like that'll ever happen. I heard that the shinobi of Konoha are a bunch of big softies." The three of them turned around to see that the one that had spoken was none other than Chilly, and next to her were Terra and Ray.
"Terra…" Ventus said as he glared at his fellow pre-teen.
"Ventus…" Terra said as he returned the glare and the others could have sworn that they saw sparks of electricity fly in-between them.
"What're you doing here, Chilly? We don't need help, especially not yours." Flare said as he glared at Chilly.
"Funny. I was just about to tell you the same thing, Flare." Chilly said as she returned the glare.
"Why do they always have to act like that, whenever they run into each other?" Ray asked as he and Aqua were standing on the side-lines.
"I know how you feel." Aqua said as she slumped her head.
Training hall
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were walking through the training hall in the academy as each of their Fairies were either sitting on their shoulders or on their heads.
"Hey, you with the scowl… wait up!" They turned towards the voice to see Lee standing above them.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked.
"You and me, here and now… want to fight?" Lee said.
"You want to fight me… here and now?" Sasuke asked.
"Man, he's gotta have a death wish." Tael said.
"Yes." Lee said before jumping down and landing in front of them before saying "My name is Rock Lee. Among sticklers, etiquette requires one to introduce oneself before asking the name of another… Uchiha Sasuke."
"Huh… So you knew who I was all along." Sasuke said.
"I'm calling you out. I want to test the effectiveness of my techniques against the last surviving member of your legendary clan." Lee said.
"So you're challenging me, even knowing my lineage? In other words, you're a fool. So, dog-brow… do you really want to learn… what it means to be an Uchiha?" Sasuke asked.
"Absolutely." Lee said as he assumed a Taijutsu stance before thinking 'I can hardly wait. I'm going toe-to-toe with the cream of the rookie crop, first time out. Now you'll get the proof you require, Guy-sensei.'
"I got a better idea." Everyone looked towards the new voice to see Flare standing where Lee had been just moments ago "How about the four of you against me?"
"Ah! Naruto, his Hitai-ate…" Navi said.
"Yeah, I noticed. He's from Tani." Naruto said as he gritted his teeth and put his hand around the hilt of his tanto, preparing to draw it.
"Who're you?" Sakura asked.
"Me? The name's Flare. And as you can see, I'm a Genin from Tanigakure no Sato." Flare said as he pointed at his Hitai-ate before everyone's eyes widened as he suddenly burst into flames and shot down like a meteor and impacted into the floor in front of them.
"I know they said I shouldn't fight you, but I can't hold back any longer. If I wait, I might end up killing someone else." Flare said as he walked out of the fire though he was still burning.
"Wh-what the hell is he?" Sakura asked.
"Hey, back off. I'm the one who'll fight Uchiha first." Lee said.
"I don't think he's here to challenge Sasuke." Tatl said.
"The Fairy's right. I'm here for the three members of Konoha's team 7, you just happen to be an innocent bystander that was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and got caught in the fire." Flare said before he suddenly burst into flames again and shot past them.
'So fast!' Sakura thought as the four of them looked over their shoulders to see that Flare had cocked his right arm back as it was engulfed in fire.
"Hiken!" Flare called out before punching Sakura in the back, sending her through the air before rolling over the floor, the flames which started burning on her back being extinguished from the speed she went at, and from the numerous times she hit the floor.
"SAKURA-CHAN/SAKURA-SAN!" Naruto and Lee called out as the girl attempted to climb to het feet.
"Heh. There's a rule in Tani which states, "If you're fighting more than one opponent, always take down the weakest ones first, so that they can't get in the way"." Flare said as Tatl flew over to Sakura.
"Sakura, are you all right?" She asked as she landed in front of the girl who had just gotten up on her knees.
"Yeah, don't worry. I'm all right." Sakura said before she stared towards Flare who was still covered in flames.
"You won't be for long." He said as he charged towards Sakura – fire consuming his whole body except for his face – but just then, however, Lee appeared in front of him in a burst of speed.
"Konoha Senpou!" He then delivered a roundhouse kick to Flare's face, but Flare smirked just before the leg hit him, and Lee's eyes widened as his leg went right through him.
"Nani?" Lee exclaimed before Flare delivered a scorching hot punch to his gut.
"Hiken: Endan!" Lee was then sent flying backwards as his stomach started burning before the flame suddenly blew up in a large explosion.
"Ah! Lee!" Sakura yelled before Lee was sent flying out of the smoke from the explosion and went straight into the wall.
"Katon: Goukakyo no Jutsu!" Sasuke called out as he sent a large ball of fire at Flare, but as the ball of heated oxygen hit the Tani-nin who then looked towards Sasuke while the Goukakyo was seemingly absorbed into his flame-covered body.
'Nani? My Jutsu didn't work?' Sasuke thought.
"If you're wondering why your fire Jutsu had no effect… it's because I AM FIRE ITSELF!" Flare declared.
Two shuriken then suddenly came out of Flare's chest, and he turned around to see that the one who threw them was none other than Naruto.
"You wanna be the first to die, then?" Flare asked before he suddenly appeared in Naruto's face, but the blond quickly reacted by drawing the Hakko Chakura To and blocked Flare's open palm as said fire user was about to slam his palm into Naruto's face.
"Ha! You think you can stop me that easily? I'll just melt the blade!" Flare said, and Naruto felt as though his tanto was getting a lot hotter as the fires covering Flare went from a deep orange to red.
'Ugh. I don't think I can hold out much longer!' Naruto thought before the sound of a familiar voice rang through his head as he closed his eyes.
"Naruto-kun, hear me. There's a great evil approaching, and the world needs a hero, it needs you." Naruto then opened his eyes as the green gem on the hilt of his tanto started glowing, and the blade was suddenly covered by green winds.
"Nani?" Flare said before Naruto swung the sword downwards, cutting his opponent in two before jumping back. Flare just stood there, however, not at all bothered that his body was split in two down the middle.
"Whoa. Talk about a split personality." Tael said from behind the pillar he was hiding behind together with his sister and Navi.
"How can he still be alive?" Tatl asked.
The green winds covering Naruto's blade then extended until they reached two meters. And Naruto then pointed his blade towards Flare who suddenly started laughing.
"You really think you can win? How hilarious! Well, then. Let me show you just how futile your efforts truly are!" Flare said before both of his halves charged towards Naruto before coming together as they turned into a ball of fire.
"Nin Kagan!" He called out just before he went straight through Naruto, causing the blond to catch fire, and said blond started rolling around on the floor to try and put out the flames.
"Aaaaaaahhhh! Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!" He said.
"And now for the kill." Flare said as he held out his open palm towards Naruto as his hand suddenly burst into flames.
Before he could do anything, however, he was forced to jump backwards as Sasuke had attempted to punch him. Flare then noticed that the Uchiha's Sharingan were activated, causing him to smile.
"The Sharingan, eh? So you think that those extremely over-exaggerated eyes can help you here? Think again!" Flare said before bursting into flames, and before Sasuke could even react, he found Flare's fingertip at his chest "Hishigan!"
A beam of fire then shot out of Flare's fingertip and went straight through Sasuke's chest as the Uchiha let out a loud scream of pain.
"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura yelled as Sasuke fell to the floor.
"Well, that's one down." Flare said before looking towards Sakura "And now, you're next."
Before he could do anything more, however, Lee suddenly appeared beneath him before kicking him so hard in the jaw so that he was sent up into the air.
"Nani?" Flare asked before Lee appeared behind him in the air.
"You've managed to knock us around quite a bit. But now you're completely at my mercy." Lee said as the bandages on his arms wrapped themselves around Flare.
"Heh. You really think that this'll be enough to stop me?" Flare asked before and explosion of fire suddenly burst from his body, burning through the bandages as Lee was pushed back.
'N-nani?' The Taijutsu user thought in surprise before his eyes widened as Flare appeared just above him with his right arm cocked back.
"Karyuken!" His arm then morphed into the shape of a dragon made out of fire before he punched Lee in the gut, sending the boy crashing into the floor as Flare landed over him.
"And that's two…" He said before noticing something.
"Dainamikku Entori!" Before Flare could do anything, he was suddenly kicked into the wall. As he managed to climb out of said wall, however, he spotted a man that looked like an older version of Lee standing over said boy.
"Huh? And who are you supposed to be?" Flare asked.
"I am Konoha's noble blue beast, Might Guy!" Guy said. (Kurama no Kyubi: The Japanese can't tell the difference between green and blue.)
"Well, then. "blue beast", get out of the way or I'll kill you too." Flare said as he got ready to attack.
"FLARE!" A familiar voice called out and Flare instantly started sweating as he slowly turned his head towards where the voice had come from to see Aqua running towards him.
"A-Aqua-chan…" He said.
"YOU BAKA!" Aqua yelled as she punched Flare so hard that he was sent flying into the wall "Ventus-kun told us not to fight anyone until the proctors would allow it!" She then turned towards the others and bowed "I'm sorry if my teammate caused you any trouble. Gomen nasai."
'How was she able to hit him? Whatever we did simply just past straight through him.' Sasuke, who was currently trying to get up on his knees thought.
"Hey, Sasuke! You all right?" Tael asked as he flew over to the Uchiha as said Uchiha managed to get up on his feet.
"Naruto, are you all right?" Navi asked as she flew over to said blond as he got up on his feet.
"Yeah." He said.
"Sasuke-kun! Naruto! You're all right!" Sakura exclaimed as she ran over to the two.
"You all right there, Lee?" Guy asked as he helped his student up.
"Guy-sensei!" Lee said as he got up on his feet.
"Now, come on, Flare. Or we'll be late for the exams." Aqua said as she was dragging a half-dead Flare after his cape, causing everyone else to sweatdrop.
'Did that one punch really hurt him so much?' Sasuke thought.
"What's with those Tani-nins anyway?" Naruto asked, causing Guy to look towards the members of team 7.
'Hmm? Unless I miss my guess, those children… are Kakashi's.' He thought before asking "By the way… How is Kakashi?"
"You know Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.
"Do I know him? Heh heh…" Guy said before everyone's eyes widened as he suddenly vanished before reappearing behind them "I should say so. We're arch-rivals."
'He…' Sasuke thought.
"Hey. How'd he…?" Naruto asked.
"The score stands at fifty to forty-nine. I'm stronger than he is." Guy said.
'He's so fast. His speed is much greater than Kakashi's. Is he even human?' Sasuke thought.
"As you can see, Guy-sensei is totally amazing!" Lee said.
'Who is this guy? He claims he's better than Kakashi… and I don't think he's bluffing.' Sasuke thought.
"You and Lee should head up to the classroom now." Guy said before shunshining away as he said "Best of luck, Lee. Later."
"Yes, sir." Lee said before turning to Sasuke "By the way Sasuke. I don't think that you're the strongest Konoha Genin. The strongest Genin is a member of my own team… and I intend to take him down. That's why I'm entering. And by the way… you're on my list, too." He then leapt into the air as he said "Off to apply for the exam. Be ready for it, okay?"
"Interesting…" Sasuke said, causing the others to look at him "Things are starting to get interesting. This Chunin exam is bringing things to a boil."
"Yep." Sakura said.
"Well, yeah." Naruto said.
"Naruto? Sakura? Ikuzo." Sasuke said as they started walking.
"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Hey, did you forget about us?" Navi asked as she, Tatl, and Tael flew after them.
Ninja Academy, room 301
When team 7 entered the classroom, they were shocked at seeing all of the applicants in the exams. There was enough Genin in here from the different villages to fill the entire room, and it wasn't a small room either.
"Sasuke-kun! Where've you been, cutie? I could hardly wait! It's so exciting, seeing you again after all this time!" a girl with blond hair yelled as she jumped at the Uchiha from behind.
"Whoa!" Tael exclaimed as he was forced off of Sasuke's shoulder.
"Ino, you pig! Get your hooves off Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled.
"Hello to you, too Sakura. Still hoping the big, mutant forehead look is going to come into fashion, huh? How sweet." Ino said.
"What did you say?" Sakura yelled while raising her fist at Ino.
"Why don't you three save yourselves the embarrassment of flunking this test? Go die, okay?" A boy with black pineapple hair, Nara Shikamaru said as he came over to them along with a fat boy, Akimichi Choji who was currently eating chips.
"Well, if it isn't the three stooges." Naruto said.
"Stop calling us that." Shikamaru said.
"Hey! There you are!" Everyone turned towards the voice to see Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and Hyuga Hinata.
"Uh… hi…" Hinata said.
"Looks like the gang's all here." Kiba said.
"Including you… unfortunately!" Shikamaru said.
"So… I guess all three of this year's newbie trios decided to apply, huh? I wonder how far we'll all get. What do you think… Sasuke?"
"Trying to psych us by acting cool, Kiba?" Sasuke asked.
"Who's acting? The way we've trained, no way can you beat us." Kiba said.
"Oh, shut up! You guys won't even beat me, much less Sasuke!" Naruto said.
"I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun… Kiba-kun didn't mean that the way it sounded…" Hinata stuttered.
"Would you guys do us all a favor and just shut up?" A man asked as he approached the rookie nine.
The man wore purple clothes, he had silver hair and a Konoha Hitai-ate on his forehead. He also had pointy ears, showing his Hylian lineage.
"You three gangs of would-be hotshots are all Genin, right? Kids barely out of the local Ninja Academy? All wet-behind-the-ears and runny-nosed! This isn't a school field trip, you know. Who the heck do you think you are? Name's Kabuto. So what? You kids need to open your eyes." The man, now identified as Kabuto said.
"Why?" Sakura asked as she and the others noticed the Ame team behind them that looked rather annoyed to say the least.
"Watch out for the group behind you. They're Amegakure shinobi and they've got very short fuses. Everyone's on edge, waiting to take the exam. I wanted to give you a heads-up before someone snaps and beats the crap out of you." Kabuto said before reaching for his weapon's pouch as he continued "But it's probably unavoidable. Like all rookies, you think you already know everything. I remember what it was like."
"Kabuto-san?" Sakura said.
"Yeah?" Kabuto asked.
"Are you saying that this is the second time you've applied?" Sakura asked.
"Not second… seventh, twice a year for… hm, going four years now." Kabuto said.
"Wow… then you've got a lot of experience with what we can expect!" Sakura said.
"I guess so." Kabuto said as he pulled out several cards "Okay… the least I can do is give you sweet little babies some vital intelligence on what you're in for... with these shinobi info cards."
"Shinobi info cards?" Sakura asked.
"To put it simply, they contain information about the skills we use, transformed into symbols and burned into the cards using chakra." Kabuto said as he put down the cards on the floor. He then took one of the cards and laid it down in front of the rookies.
"It took me four years to collect all the intelligence needed for this exam. In all, there are almost 200 cards. They look blank, don't they? The only way you can read the data on the cards is by using my own personal chakra. Each set is linked to its possessor. for example, cards like this one…" Kabuto said before channeling chakra into the card.
"What's he doing?" Ino asked before a map of the elemental nations appeared on the card.
"It's some kind of combination map and bar graph, in three dimensions. What kind of intelligence is this?" Sakura asked.
"It shows how many applicants each shinobi nation is sending to this session of the Chunin Exams. There's a total of 159 applicants for the exams with 87 from Konoha, 30 from Suna, 21 from Ame, 6 from Taki, 6 from Kusa, 6 from Tani, and 3 from Oto!" Kabuto said before Navi landed on the floor in front of him.
"Do you also have dossier cards? Cards for each individual applicant?" She asked.
"What the heck's that?" Kiba asked.
"What? Never seen a Fairy before?" Naruto asked as he looked at Kiba.
"Wha…? Fairies don't exist." Kiba said.
"Sure they do." Naruto said as Tael and Tatl flew up next to his head, causing Kiba's eyes to widen.
"Are there someone that you have a particular interest in? I'll admit these are far from complete, but I've burned a set of dossier cards for the current pool of applicants, including your team. If you share any data you have on this person who interests you, I'll be happy to look him up and let you know what I have so far." Kabuto said, apparently not at all surprised that there was a Fairy in front of him.
"Terra and Flare from Tani, also Gaara of Suna while you're at it. No wait, scratch that first part. I want information on all six Tani-nins." Navi said.
"You know their names? No sweat, then." Kabuto said taking out seven cards.
"Let me see them." Navi said, and Kabuto laid down the card for Gaara first.
"First up is Sabaku no Gaara of Suna. 8 C-ranked missions… 1 B. wow. Not many rookie shinobi get B-ranked assignments. Since he's from way out in the desert, I have less on him… but it's interesting. He's come back from every mission but one completely unscathed." Kabuto said before laying down the other six cards.
"Next up is Kaze Ventus of Tani. 6 C-ranks, 4 B-ranks, and… wow… even 1 A-ranks. I've never heard of a rookie getting an A-rank before. I don't have much more on him though. Then there's Hi Flare. He's Ventus' teammate, so they've had the same amount of missions. I don't have much more on him though. Next up is Mizu Aqua. She's also Ventus' and Flare's teammate, so she's had the same amount of missions as well. Other than that though, there isn't much I know about their team except…" Kabuto said.
"Except, what?" Sasuke asked.
"Their Jonin sensei is Kazemajutsu no Vaati. One of the strongest shinobi of Tani." Kabuto said.
"Tell me what you know of the other three." Navi said.
"Right. Next up is Tsuchi Terra. He's taken 9 C-ranked assignments, 3 B-ranks, and 1 A-rank. That's about all I have on him. Terra's teammates are Yuki Chilly, and Kaminari Ray, I don't have any other information on any of them other than the amount of missions they've taken. However there's one thing that all of the Tani-nins have in common, apparently none of them have ever been as much as scratched on any of their missions." Kabuto said, causing everyone who heard that to gulp. If someone would come back from an A-rank mission without getting as much as a scratch, then they're bad news.
"Konoha, Suna, Ame, Kusa, Taki, Tani, Oto… this year every hidden village has sent outstanding Genin here to compete. I don't know much about Otogakure no Sato. It's part of a new, small nation, so intelligence on it is lacking. Every other competing village is well-respected, home to some formidably powerful shinobi." Kabuto said.
"Anybody besides me suddenly feeling kind of outclassed?" Hinata asked.
"What you're trying to tell us is… everyone here…" Sakura said.
"Oh, yeah. They're all like Gaara and the Tani-nins… elite hand-picked shinobi, the best young ninja in the world. They have to be. The test is pitiless." Kabuto said.
Sakura then noticed that Naruto was shaking and she thought 'Looks like even our team's overconfident butthead has the shakes. And who can blame him? We're all Genin here… but we three are the youngest… absolute beginners. Still, it's not like Naruto. Maybe if I give him a little pep talk…' She then put a hand on Naruto's back before saying "It's all right, Naruto. Nothing to worry about."
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! And none of you are gonna beat me! You got that?" Naruto suddenly yelled.
"What's his problem?" Ino yelled as she pointed at her fellow blond while looking at Sakura.
'Typical. Too stupid to know he's got problems.' Sakura thought.
"Yeah. That felt great." Naruto said.
"Oh, please." Sasuke said.
Naruto's declaration pretty much caught the attention of all of the other Genin in the room including the Suna-nins, the Tani-nins, and team Guy.
"So… According to this dossier, our town is an unknown little village in a back-water country. Mortifying, isn't it? Want to have some fun with them?" One of the Oto-nins, Zaku Abumi said.
"Sounds good. That twit, treating us like some kind of afterthought. Let's give him a little data for his dossier. His understanding of Otogakure no Sato is… unsound. We'll see where the intelligence is lacking…" Another one of the Oto-nins, Dosu Kinuta said.
""And none of you are going to beat me!" The nerve of that kid. Little show-off." Kiba said.
"That idiot turned a room full of strangers to a room full of enemies with just one sentence." Shikamaru said.
"What are you blathering about?" Sakura asked as she brought Naruto into a head-lock.
"I'm telling the truth." Naruto said before Sakura noticed all of the annoyed stares they were getting from various Genin.
"Pay no attention to my friend… He's… you know… a special-ed ninja…" She said.
The three Oto-nins then quickly moved through the crowd, though Kabuto seemed to be the only one to notice them. Zaku suddenly jumped into the air before throwing two kunai at Kabuto, but he easily dodged it. However Dosu then came up in front of him and swung his right arm.
'They're from Oto…' Kabuto thought before dodging the Oto-nin's arm.
'He dodged it!' Naruto and Sakura thought.
'So quickly I barely saw him move.' Sasuke thought, but suddenly Kabuto's glasses shattered and he took them off.
'I see, this kind of attack… is… hmmm…' He thought.
"What's going on? He dodged the blow, but something broke his glasses." Sasuke said.
"His nose probably got grazed… serves him right for acting all superior." Shikamaru said.
Kabuto then suddenly collapsed on his knees and vomited. Everyone in the room that saw it was taken off guard by it, having thought that the guy had dodged the blow.
"Are you all right?" Sakura asked as she got over to him together with Naruto.
"Yeah… I'm fine…" Kabuto said.
"You don't look fine." Naruto said.
"You're a pushover, aren't you? Pretty sad for someone who's been an applicant for four years now." Dosu said.
"Better add this to your cards. The three applicants from Oto will all make Chunin this year." Zaku said.
'I know Kabuto ducked that blow… so what happened to him? Why did he vomit?' Sasuke thought.
Throughout the crowd were people trying to figure out what had just happened.
"Lee, what did that look like to you?" Lee's white-eyed teammate asked.
"Kabuto-san saw through the attack… so there must have been something else to it, some trick they used to make him sick." Lee said.
"Heh. How pathetic. If he wasn't able to dodge an attack like that, then there's no wonder why he hasn't passed the Chunin Exams yet." Flare said.
"No. There was definitely something more to that attack." Aqua said before looking at Ventus "Ventus-kun, what did you see?"
"There was something more to that attack, alright. The moment the Oto-nin swung his arm, I could feel the vibrations in the air shift, and went straight into Kabuto's ear. An attack like that could've even been bad for us." Ventus said.
"Hey, what happened? Didn't he dodge it?" Chilly asked.
"He did, but there must've been some kind of trick to it. Terra, what do you think?" Ray said before he and Chilly looked towards Terra who had hearts in his eyes as he looked towards the female Oto-nin.
"Man, have you ever seen something so beautiful? Such perfect long black hair, smooth skin, and what a nice figure." Terra said as – in his imagination – the female Oto-nin looked towards him and winked. Chilly though couldn't help but face-palm.
"He didn't even see it." She said under her breath.
"Would everybody please just shut up?" A voice called out through the room as there was an explosion of smoke at the front of the class-room, and as said smoke faded, it revealed the proctors.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting. My name is Morino Ibiki. I'm the proctor and chief examiner for the first part of the exam." The proctor at the head of the group, now identified as Ibiki said.
Chapter preview
Ibiki "Then it's high time someone laid down a few ground rules. From this point forward, there will be no more fighting without the express permission of the examining officer… And even if that permission is granted, anything that endangers another applicant's life is forbidden. Any of you little piglets who break that rule are out. Disqualified. No second chances. Got that?"
Sasuke 'Unbelievable… This is an "intelligence" test… in more than just the academic sense.'…'They're also testing our information-gathering skills. They want us to cheat… like shinobi. Without getting caught.'
Asuma "That Ibiki understands the human heart completely. It's what makes him so terrible. He uses his insights mercilessly to manipulate his foes… bringing their human weaknesses to the surface… and using those weaknesses to make them crack."
Ibiki "Next time on The Legend of Naruto: Exam 1: The dreaded paper test."
Navi "Naruto, there's no way that you can answer any of those questions on your own… So why not let me help you cheat?"
Character status
Naruto: Level: 13
Hearts: 4
Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Oiroke, Harem, Kage Bunshin.
Weapons: Hakko Chakura To, kunai, shuriken, vine-whip.
Race: Hylian.
Triforce: Courage.
Sasuke: Level: 13
Hearts: 4
Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Katon: Goukakyo.
Weapons: kunai, shuriken.
Race: Hylian.
Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan, Mangekyo Sharingan.
Triforce: Power.
Sakura: Level: 4
Hearts: 3
Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi.
Weapons: kunai, shuriken.
Race: Hylian.
Triforce: Wisdom.
Rock Lee: Level: 16
Techniques: Konoha Reppu, Konoha Senpou, Omote Renge.
Weapons: kunai, shuriken.
Race: Human
Flare: Level: 17
Techniques: Hiken, Hiken: Endan, Nin Kagan, Karyuken.
Weapons: none
Race: Hylian.
Kurama no Kyubi: Finally done. This chapter took me a lot longer than I thought it would, but at least I got done with it. Now, I would like it if you guys were to review, and I'll try to have the next chapter up much faster. Oh, and I would also like your opinions on Flare's rather unique powers. Oh, and you're free to guess which Sage I'll reveal in this arc, and also who it is.