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Chapter Six:
Pulling the Strings
Sarutobi was growing too old for this.
"So, Fuu-san, Han-san-"
"The Han, Hokage-sama. With a the."
"The Han-san," the Hokage corrected himself, refraining the urge to slam his head against his desk. "I am sorry to say Roshi was not sighted anywhere near Konoha. This is a shame, but I cannot help you."
"The Han is disappointed," the giant madman whispered with a deep voice. "But the Han is content to have met the Nine Tails' vessel. He is a good boy."
"I'm right here!" Naruto complained, sulking in a corner. "And how did you know about me?"
"The Tsuchikage gave your photo to the jounin of the Village," the Han snorted. "They had orders to kill you on sight if possible should they run across you, as enemy Jinchuuriki are by default considered S-Rank threat to national security."
While the blonde blanched, Sarutobi was barely surprised. After all, he himself had sent spies to monitor foreign demon vessels. His spies in Iwa, however, failed to mention the Gobi's… peculiar personality. Fuu's jaw dropped. "You're a jounin?"
"No. The Han never made it past Chuunin, but the Tsuchikage thought the Han, as awesomely powerful and marvelously spectacular as he was, would better be ready to fight Konoha's own demon weapon." The giant shrugged. "Sucker."
Sarutobi wasn't privy in the circumstances that had led to the Gobi's desertion, and to be honest, he doubted the demon vessel would ever enlighten the old man. "However, I must ask you something… are you certain these letters were from Roshi?"
"The writing was his own," Han shrugged. "Why is the Hokage doubtful? Is there something the Han should know?"
The old man glanced at the people present in his office. Naruto, Fuu, Han, and Yugao. The first three were directly concerned, and the last one could be trusted. The Hokage briefly hesitated, before deciding perhaps it was time to share some information. "What I am about to reveal you is extremely sensitive."
The four ninja tensed slightly, ready to listen. Sarutobi inhaled from his pipe sharply, releasing its smoke into a small cloud. "The information will not be made public, but multiple attempts to abduct Jinchuuriki have happened in the past few months. We suspect at least one, Kirabi from Cloud, has been captured and his Bijuu forcefully extracted." The Raikage's attempts at recovering his brother had not been especially subtle, although he had no idea who or what was the source of the kidnapping. "The Sanbi and the Rokubi might have been captured as well, but the information as of this moment unconfirmed. And then in the last weeks, Naruto, here present, has been the victim of such an attempt."
"Orochimaru?" Naruto frowned. "He's trying to collect the Bijuu?"
"The organization he belongs to," Sarutobi corrected, drawing everyone's attention. While Han and Fuu were foreigners, the infamous reputation of the Hokage's former student was international in scoop. "Has any of you heard of 'Akatsuki'."
Han, surprisingly nodded. "They're a band of S-Rank missing-nins secretly working as mercenaries for the Tsuchikage," he explained. "He offered them lands in exchange for their service, if the Han remembers. It was one of the Sandaime's dirty little secrets the Han uncovered."
Sarutobi filed the little tidbit of information in a corner of his mind for a later use. He had briefly considered informing the rest of the Kage of the threat presented by Akatsuki, but apparently, at least a few of them were working with Pain. Which was bad news for the future. "This is a cover for much more nefarious purposes. The Akatsuki is an international crime syndicate working to topple the current powers of the ninja world… and they have a particular interest in the Tailed Beasts. Their members include, among others, my renegade student Orochimaru, Deidara of the Rock, and Kakuzu of the Waterfall."
"Kakuzu? The Kakuzu?" Fuu gasped, as if the man was some kind of boogeyman. Which wasn't surprising, since the man had a nasty hobby of hunting Taki-nin and looting them afterward. "The Heart Reaper?"
"The Han is not surprised the psycho bomber decided to work for an anti-government faction," the giant shrugged. "He always liked his explosions loud and flashy."
"Currently, our information on Akatsuki is truly limited," Sarutobi scoffed, "And as such no coordinate international response is in the works. The Jinchuuriki are completely unprotected for the time being. I would suggest you to travel together or stay in cities instead of wandering alone in the wilderness."
"Roshi might be threatened…" Han crossed his arms. "The Han must inform him."
"Hey, if you want to stay in the Village, my door is open," Naruto pointed out cheerfully. "It would be an honor for me to welcome you under my roof for a few days."
Han and Fuu locked eyes briefly, before the girl bowed respectfully. "Thank you very much! We won't be too bothersome I promise! Well… in my case anyway…"
"The Han is going to honor you with his presence," the giant told him, before grabbing both teens by the collar and dragging them outside. "But first, the Han wants to go on a walk!"
Sarutobi grinned briefly at Naruto's discomfort, before glancing at Cat. "Please stay here for a minute," he told her.
"Hokage-sama?"
"Did Han say anything else of note on Naruto?" As the ANBU shook her head, Sarutobi shrugged and dismissed her. "Keep an eye on them. They may be unaffiliated with our enemies, but it does not mean they are allies."
As the woman vanished with a shunshin, the Hokage frowned.
If Onoki knew about Naruto's demon… did he know about his family's legacy as well?
This was going to be a long day.
"That's Ichiraku's," Naruto explained, continuing the visit. "The best Ramen stand of the town. You wanna eat? Go there." He stopped briefly, upon realizing Han wasn't listening. "Han?"
"The Han." The giant was writing a letter, which he rolled into a scroll. "Here we go."
"That's a message for Roshi?" Fuu asked.
"A warning about Akatsuki and a demand he hurries meet the Han in Konoha," the ninja replied, before beginning a jutsu, cutting his finger to get some blood. "The Han's Beautiful Summoning!"
Apparently, his inflated opinion of himself applied to his techniques as well. As he slammed his hands to the ground, Naruto narrowed his eyes, curious. As the smoke vanished, he prepared to see what kind of creature the Han could summon.
… it turned out to be a dove. With a strange engine on its back. As both Fuu and Naruto face palmed, the giant gave it the message. "Bring this to Roshi and then his answer," he said, as the bird caught the scroll with its claws.
Suddenly, the engine on the bird's back activated… and in a deafening explosion sound, it sent the dove high in the skies, where he vanished before the other Jinchuuriki could blink.
"You… you put a reactor on a dove?" Naruto's jaw dropped, amazed by the insane action.
"The Han prefers the term of flying feathered dinosaur," the red man shrugged. "To answer your previous questioning, no, the Han does no feed on ramen, but on fear."
"Liar," Fuu crossed her arms. "Anyway, I admit I'm not such a fan of ramen… or eating, in fact. Is there a training ground nearby? Or organized tournaments?"
"Tournaments? There is the Chuunin Exams that is scheduled to start tomorrow, but I doubt you can enter it." Many foreign genin teams had already arrived with their instructors, forcing the Inuzuka police force and the ANBU to patrol the streets repeatedly. Even the Ichiraku's was crowded.
"You don't do tournaments in Konoha?" Fuu raised her eyebrows. "In Taki, genins, chuunins, and jounins do scheduled tournaments every three days to keep their skills sharp."
"Konoha prefers building its teams, cooperation exercises, and D-missions for this," Naruto told her. "The Leaf thinks organized competition leads to resentment and in-fighting." As she lowered her head in disappointment, he decided to cheer her up. "But we can beat up each other, if you want. There's a place called the Forest of Death dedicated to that."
"I'm afraid this is impossible," Yugao told them, as she manifested next to them with a shunshin. "The Forest will be the place where the second part of the Exams is going to take place. The ANBU closed the place until the end of the Exams." She crossed her arms. "However, the Third Training Ground is unoccupied, as far as I know."
Fuu frowned slightly at the arrival of the newcomer. "You're an ANBU, right?" she guessed, although Yugao was wearing formal clothing and hadn't her mask over her face. "Are you his handler?"
As both Naruto and Yugao frowned, Han decided to enlighten them. "It is a custom for most Jinchuuriki to have an ANBU watching them all the time, to prevent them from releasing their Bijuu and going on a rampage," he explained. "The Han had many, but for some obscure reasons they always ran away from the Han. Strange."
Naruto had a fairly good idea why, but kept his mouth shut. "Nah, Yugao is a friend, and a bodyguard. I almost got kidnapped some time ago by Orochimaru and Akatsuki, so the Hokage decided to increase my security. Nice stuff."
"What happened to your handler?" Yugao asked Fuu with a frown.
"He… tried to kill me during my sleep," Fuu admitted, "The Nanabi took over and ripped him in half."
Banishing the disturbing image from his mind, Naruto shrugged. "He had it coming," he said, before deciding to switch subject. "Well… why not head to this training ground?"
Anko's first mission as ANBU was boring and uninteresting. Even her newest awesome snake mask did not improve her mood.
She and her new team had been tasked to investigate on the Genins arriving for the Chuunin Exams. In itself, the mission was important: more than one Hidden Village had tried to disguise Jounin or ANBU among the candidates in the past, to infiltrate their enemies, and with the current international troubles, the Sandaime expected a recrudescence of such actions.
But it was so goddamn annoying it hurt.
Anko lived for excitement, and missions like this were dull. Observe team, check their behavior, see if they were suspect… so far, none had been extraordinary, and the snake woman longed to return to Konoha and meet her student again. The routine was killing her.
Anko was actually surprised by the thought. A few months ago, she wouldn't have thought twice about anyone else but her few friends, who could be counted on one hand… and now she cared about Naruto enough to look forward to seeing him again. Beyond their similar personalities, she guessed they had managed to form a sort of bond over the last few weeks.
Anko banished the thoughts. She had to focus. Her newest target, a team from Kusa, was within sight.
… mangled and laying on the ground, drowning in their own blood.
The ANBU stopped, carefully glanced around her, just in case it was a trap, and upon seeing nothing was wrong, she stepped in to check the bodies. The damage done was… their skin had been ripped off their muscles, harvested for a sinister purpose.
"The face stealing jutsu…" Anko blanched behind her mask. There was only one person sick enough to use this shit and-
"It appears the rumors were true," a cold, emotionless voice reached her ears, nearly causing an heart attack. "You are fond of flirting with death."
Upon arriving to the training ground, the group learned that, no, it wasn't unoccupied.
"Repeat after me: never apologize when you can criticize!" Tenten told Hinata.
"N-never apologize when you can criticize!"
"You apologize I penalize!"
"Y-you apologize, I penalize!"
"You're getting better," the weapon master nodded confidently. She pointed an index at a perfect copy of Hiashi Hyuuga. "Now I want you to hit this Bunshin with everything you have. Kick him between the legs."
"B-but it's my-"
"He treats you like a pushover, so give him the once-over!" Tenten shouted the slogan, and Hinata timidly approached… before kicking the Bunshin as hard as she could, looking like she was enjoying herself.
"That's the spirit!" Tenten nodded, creating a new clone to replace the old one. "Now you're going to call him out on everything he ever did to you-" It was at this moment she noticed the newcomers. "Oh, hey Naruto! Who are these guys? Your new team?"
"It's… complicated, but they're friends," the blonde grinned, as Hinata shyly waved at him. "I see you're taking her training seriously. Nice…"
"Oh, and I'm working on your debt," Tenten chuckled maliciously. "Come to see me after the second part of the Exam. My team and Hinata's are going to obliterate the competition."
"I see…" Naruto crossed his fingers behind his back, hoping she wouldn't turn him into a guinea pig or something worse. "Euh… do you intend to keep the training ground? We were hoping to spar between each other."
"Nah, we're going to relocate." Tenten grabbed Hinata by the collar and dragged her away. "Don't forget to introduce your new friends to me next time!"
"I like her," Fuu whispered. "She's your girlfriend?"
"No, but I consider her one of my best friends." The Nanabi's vessel seemed slightly disappointed he didn't flush or something. You green-haired sadist. "Anyway, you want a fight or not?"
"Perhaps we should do the traditional introduction first, since you're going to stay there for a few days," Yugao suggested. "Likes, dislike, hobbies, goals in life."
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki," the blonde gave the example, "I like ramen, the orange color, chemistry, weapons, and my pals. I dislike pricks, laziness, and when Anko decides to train me. My hobbies are training, pulling pranks, inventing stuff that never works, botany, blowing up walls, and going on walks with my platypus. My new goal in life is to one day kick the Hokage's ass, which I'm working on."
"Who's this Anko?" the Han asked. "Someone nice?"
"You've got a platypus as pet?" Fuu raised her eyebrows. "You're… alright. Just alright."
"I'm totally not going to answer any of these questions."
"My name is Yugao Uzuki," the woman cut in, ignoring the blonde. "I like sword fighting, cats, and reading. I dislike smoke and parties. My hobbies are viewing the moon, sharpening my skills, and collecting rare blades. My goal in life is currently to kill a certain person."
Naruto didn't need a memo to guess who it was. Han snorted. "The Han is the Han. Not Han, the Han. The Han likes drawings, paintings, and racing against fast people. The Han dislikes Iwa and waiting. His hobbies are painting, catching, and trying to solve the greatest questions in life. His goal in life is to answer these questions."
"… which is?" Naruto fearfully asked.
"Is the world born to welcome the Han, or is the Han born to enlighten the world?" The giant crossed his arms. "Why is the Han wonderful and marvelous when others are not? Why is the Han so awesome? Could it be possible the world exists for the Han only?"
Three people loudly palmed their face in unison.
"Anyway," Fuu shrugged. "I'm Fuu. I like fighting things, especially when they fight back, and flying when the Nanabi lets me do it. I dislike what most girls like, aka fashion, shopping… my hobbies are collecting headbands of defeated foes, and traveling. My goal in life is to become the strongest kunoichi ever by wasting everyone else."
She slammed her fist against her palm. "So let's go."
"Nice apartment," Fuu commented, upon sitting around the table. "You own the entire building?"
"I'm hoping to turn it into a casino next," he deadpanned, putting ointment over his bruises. "I've got beds ready in the other rooms. In case you want to take a rest." He handed her the herbal ointment. "You should use it. It's extremely effective, and I made it myself."
Fuu groaned and accepted it. She was equally bruised, although most of the blows had come from Han instead of Naruto.
The blonde shuddered. He had thought the guy's ego was inflated, but as it turned, he could back his boasting up. Han was basically Gai by another name. No distance attacks, only punches and kicks… strong enough to shatter bones and dished out at the speed of lightning.
Han could use steam-based jutsu to propel himself, create a mist to hide his moves, and power up his blows. Naruto and Fuu had fought him together every time and had been promptly wasted during most encounters. Han had shrugged off their hits as if they were nothing, and the blonde had considered using explosive tags, although it was merely a spar.
The record was currently three to one in Han's favor, Naruto having managed to sedate him during a fight, while Fuu had blinded him with her special powder. Together, they had managed to subdue the man, while Yugao had cheered them on from the sidelines. But both teens knew in a serious fight, Han could have probably crushed their skulls without much effort.
Fuu herself was no pushover either. Naruto was fairly certain she could give some jounin a run for their money, although her fighting style didn't focus on pure power. Instead, she relied on blinding powder to dazzle her opponents, before using it as a combustible agent next. She had mastered at least a few Fire and Wind techniques, and her agility allowed her to dodge most attacks. Like Tenten, she was heavily oriented toward fighting from distance.
Having experience with that kind of opponent, Naruto had managed to tie, the record being of two wins for each of them. Fuu was fairly dangerous, yes, but she had little to no experience fighting against a trap-oriented ninja who could trick her and launch surprise attacks.
Yugao had fought each of the three Jinchuuriki separately and won against Fuu and Naruto, while she tied against Han. Using a dulled training sword to avoid inflicting serious harm, she was a truly dangerous opponent, who relied mostly on speed and lighting-fast strikes to stun her enemies, and using occasional Wind-techniques to push away the dust and steam the Jinchuuriki could produce. If she had been allowed to use her sharpened tanto, there would have been a lot of blood.
"Why didn't you use jutsu?" Fuu's question snapped Naruto out of his thoughts. "You never once used illusions nor ninjutsu. Why?"
"It's…" The Kyuubi's vessel interlaced his fingers. "The Nine Tailed Fox… kinda destroyed my chakra network when I was young. It wanted to screw with me as petty revenge for its imprisonment, and make me dependant on it. It granted me advanced regeneration, true, but… he crippled my ninja skills."
Both Han and Fuu glanced sadly at him. "Your Bijuu is a jerk," the giant pointed out.
"The understatement of the century." Naruto shrugged. "And yours?"
"The Nanabi is pretty passive," Fuu scratched the back of her head. "It is a destructive creature, make no mistake, but it doesn't bother to attack people unless directly threatened. It reacts violently to threats, but most of the time, it just wants to fly, eat, and sleep, or hold civil conversations when bored. The golden powder I use was an ability it passed to me so I could properly defend both of us against assassinations."
"The Gobi is the Han's sidekick," the former Iwa-nin proudly boasted. "It gives the Han its steam, the Han teaches it how to be cool with the cosmos."
"I see…" In truth, Naruto had no intention of learning what the giant meant by that. It was probably too weird for his sanity to handle and remain intact.
"The Han has to ask you something," the giant said. "We're leaving as soon as the Han gets an answer from Roshi. Would you like to travel with us?"
Naruto's jaw dropped at the suggestion. "You mean, going missing-nin?"
"It would be awesome if you could travel with us," Fuu nodded cheerfully. "Plus, it wasn't as if it was risky. Your fox may be an ass, but the two of us could shield you from pursuers. With Roshi, we could probably fend off this 'Akatsuki' anytime."
Naruto wasn't as confident, and the Han probably noticed it, for he locked eyes with the teen. "The Han noticed the many glares you received from passer-by," he spoke with his usual guttural tone. "The Han doubts you would be missed, or miss this place. Wouldn't it be better if you were to join people who can accept you for what you are?"
"It's… tempting, but I must refuse." The boy scratched the back of his head and grinned. "It's true I'm not liked here… but I have real friends who do not mind the Kyuubi. Not many, yes, but I want to keep my bonds with them. That, and Orochimaru is not to be underestimated. It would be safer for me to stay in the Leaf to hone my skills."
Both Jinchuuriki looked somewhat disappointed, and an opening door interrupted the conversation. "Naruto, I've a message from the Hokage," Yugao Uzuki said. "You're going to be among the proctors for the Chuunin Exams tomorrow."
The news made him jump on place. "But I'm only a genin!"
"Sarutobi-sama believes your evaluation skills will partly affect your promotion to chuunin," Yugao scoffed. "That, and he is worried. The teams present come from Konoha, Suna, Kiri, and a few minor Villages… and he wants you to observe them. With the current political climate and both the Kazekage and Mizukage arriving in town after the second part, he does not desire any incidents."
"Alright…" The reasoning made sense. Some teams from Suna might react badly, especially the news of the massacre had been made public. Most of the population wanted an explanation, and a large part of it, blood. "I've prepared your bed by the way. Since you're going to 'guard me' for a long time…"
"Thanks."
"Could the Han be a proctor?" The giant attracted everyone's attention. "The Han thinks it would be nice, and the Han and Fuu can be good at the job."
The question amazed everyone present, especially Yugao. "I will ask the Hokage," she said.
Naruto frowned slightly. What did the giant have in mind?
"You're a proctor, Naruto? How?"
"Because I'm better than you and kicked your ass," Naruto told Sakura, as the different teams each sat behind a desk for the written exam. He relished in the kunoichi's infuriated reaction, which made his day. "I hope you appreciate the irony. You had better written results than myself… except now it's me who's going to test you!"
"How can we be sure you won't favor anyone?" Someone from Kiri asked.
"Oh, don't be naive," Naruto pointed a finger at the different watchers. "This one from your Village is the uncle of a participant. The Suna proctor is the instructor of one team present here. And let's not talk about the rest of them. Everyone is going to be guilty of favoritism… but as long as you behave and do not cheat, none of us will have the legal evidences to act upon it." He grinned sadistically. "Don't worry. I'm going to keep your back in sight…"
The genin closed his mouth and did his best to go unnoticed.
"No one from Taki…" Fuu whispered to his ear. She had traded her former slashed headband for a Konoha forehead protector. "They aren't participating?"
"Nah. Kumo and Iwa organized their own Exam and Taki decided to participate in that one instead." As Ibiki Morino finished explaining the rules and distributing the tests, both teens focused.
As expected, everyone cheated, some better than others. Naruto repressed a grin upon seeing his former classmates blatantly violate the rules. Hinata and Neji used their Byakugan; Sasuke the Sharingan; Ino took over Sakura's body to see her answers, as the latter was smart enough to figure the answers on her own; Sai used ink-based ninjutsu to copy the answers of the chuunin infiltrating the classroom; Tenten, that resourceful smartass, had secretly placed a mirror system on the ceiling to steal answers both for herself and the helpless Lee; Shino had his insects steal answers from him, as Kiba did with Akamaru.
Of course, Naruto ignored these attempts. The old man had been clear: the watchers from Konoha had orders not to penalize their countrymen or the ninjas whose lands were allied with the Leaf. Of course, the proctors from the other Villages had obviously received similar instructions.
Shikamaru and Chouji bothered him the most, however. None of them had written anything since they were put side by side. Either they were lazy or…
The Nara figured it out and informed Chouji as soon as he could, Naruto realized, guessing Ino was too far away to have received the info. Due to secret rules, anyone could pass if he stayed for the tenth question… meaning the two would pass without having to write anything. I have the feeling Shikamaru at least is going to make Chuunin by the end of this ordeal…
Other teams were noteworthy. A guy from Suna could manipulate sand to spy on others, while his teammate used a puppet to transfer information to the girl of the group. A Kiri-nin could turn his body into water to steal a copy…
And a Kusa-nin was glancing at both Naruto and Fuu.
The gaze was especially disturbing. The boy's emotionless face betrayed no intent, but the eyes conveyed pure, deadly fascination. The blonde shuddered when the boy switched targets, answering the test's questions as if they were a little inconvenience instead of the insanely hard problems they were supposed to be. His teammate, who looked like a transsexual, noticed the Jinchuuriki duo as well and faked a kiss, creeping them out.
"Better keep an eye on those two," the Kyuubi's vessel told his friend.
She nodded, before smirking. "I noticed a lot of cheating here. Wanna see which of us can eliminate the most twits?"
"Be my guest."
When the test was over, half the participants had been expelled. And a quarter of the teams owed it to Fuu and Naruto. "You won," the girl admitted. "It was a close call, but you got one more team than me."
"You weren't bad at all," he chuckled, as their victims sent them one last glare before leaving. Ibiki finished acting out his comedy play, and later, explained the hidden motives of the test. "Three, two, one-"
The window exploded into shards, and steam filled the room. Many genin put themselves on guard, before the mist dissipated, revealing a familiar giant.
"The marvelously beautifully awesomely wonderful GOD known as the Han shall explain your next test!" The Gobi's vessel proclaimed loudly, having written his name with red paint on the wall behind him... and over the top of a few frozen examiners. "Battles to the death in the Forest… of DEATH! Blood will be shed! Bears will eat your intestines! And the proctors shall gamble on who dies! Which will be everybody who doesn't exit this classroom in the next minute!" He cracked his fists. "DEATH!"
Instantly, the qualified teams exited the place as fast as they could, running away from the crazy Jinchuuriki. As he saw them leave, Naruto proudly waved at his former classmates. They had all managed to pass.
The Kusa team as well.
"Hey, the Han," Naruto asked him, once the proctors were the only ones left. "Why did you ask to be a proctor? Tell me the reason."
"Did you notice the red-haired tanuki who could control sand?" As Naruto nodded, the giant explained himself. "He's Gaara, the Ichibi's vessel. The Han got info on him before he left Iwa, and wanted to examine him."
The teen blinked briefly, before correcting his expression. "He looks quite cold."
"The rumors said he was mad, and the Han wanted to confirm them or not." The giant shrugged. "The Han wants to speak with him, if he turns out to be a nice guy."
"I see…" Naruto frowned. "Did you receive info about one of the Kusa-nin teams? One duo especially disturbs me."
As the Han shook his head, the ninja got a bad feeling about it.
"This is boring!" Fuu complained loudly, as the Jinchuuriki trio waited before the screens. "It has been one hour and no amazing fight yet!"
"Guess we will have to wait a bit." Naruto shrugged. "Wasn't Gaara's 'fight' awesome enough?" he deadpanned.
The girl shuddered. As it turned out, the rumors of his mental instability weren't rumors. The guy had gruesomely slaughtered a team from Ame, after they had surrendered their scroll to him. And if his face was to be believed, the Suna-nin had deeply enjoyed the experience. Perhaps in a sexual way.
Han had decided not to get anywhere near him.
"Ah, my shining friend, here you are!" Gai loudly announced as he opened the room's door, a big grin written over his face. "Salutations! I see you have brought new youthful friends to the party!"
"Gai-sensei!" Naruto politely waved at him, before giving a light tap to the other Jinchuuriki. "This is Fuu, and the Han. The Han, Fuu, this is Gai, the strongest taijutsu user in Konoha."
"The Han heard of him," the giant said, "He was the champion of the international wrestling league before retiring to teach. An example for all of us."
"Oh, a fellow taijutsu user?" Gai gave them the nice guy pose. "If you wish, we can make the fires of your hard work shine like the sun!"
"The Han is pleased to see you have such wonderful friends, Naruto," the former Iwa-nin said.
"Oh no…" Fuu almost cried. "There are two of them!"
"It sucks to be sane," Naruto confirmed. "Hey, Gai-sensei, congratulations! Your team passed with flying colors!"
"Indeed! I am so proud of them… one year of tireless work paid off." He sat next to the trio, smiling. "I hope they will all make Chuunin. They all deserve such a promotion."
"Those three together will probably waste anyone in their way to the tower," Naruto whispered. "Except perhaps Gaara. But they're in opposite areas on the map, so a confrontation is highly unlikely."
"I told them to seek-out Kakashi's team in priority!" Gai chuckled happily. "This way, I shall prove to my rival my students are better than his!"
That shouldn't be too hard. In serious combat, Team Gai was a juggernaut, and while Sasuke was very good, the Sharingan wouldn't be enough to keep up with Lee. Sai would be a difficult opponent, if Naruto's suspicions were correct then he would keep his strength hidden to deal with more dangerous threats to the Uchiha's life.
"Speaking of Lee…" Naruto pointed a finger at one of the screens. "It appears he has engaged an opponent."
The green wild beast of Konoha was currently dodging explosive kunai, while Neji and Tenten were hiding in the trees, using their teammate as bait to catch their attacker. "Their enemies seem fond of bows," Fuu pointed out, as arrows flew before the camera.
Naruto found the scene strange, but couldn't explain why… until the attacker walked into the camera's field of view. He was an archer, clad in a camouflage outfit… one of Naruto's.
Team Lee was fighting him.
"The hell?" Fuu voiced his thoughts. "What's happening?"
Naruto frowned, and focused. These moves… these reactions… "I get it," he told the three others, "It's the recording of one of our old training sessions. Someone messed with the camera of the area to fool the watchers. Pretty wicked."
Gai instantly dropped his usual cheerful demeanor and adopted a serious pose. "This means something bad is happening," he whispered, "Something the responsible party does not want the Hokage to know."
"Gai-sensei, you would better warn the rest of the jounin," Naruto told him, "Fuu, the Han, you wanna see what's going on first? If we hurry, we could interrupt whatever is happening, and then get back-up later."
The two Jinchuuriki simply nodded and rose up from their seats.
Sasuke could never forget this scent. Blood. Fresh blood. His blood.
Sakura had fallen first, her body torn apart by a volley of explosive kunai. Sai and Sasuke had managed to last slightly longer, the former showing depths of talent the Uchiha had never suspected. His paintings grew to colossal size and in combination with fireballs, the duo seemed, for a brief instant, to have turned the tide of the battle in their favor.
Their attacker shattered the illusion the hard way. By tearing Sai in half with pressurized water, before burning his remains with a flamethrower. And then he assaulted Sasuke in close combat.
While Sasuke simply wasn't good enough to block the blows, each powerful enough to shatter his bones, the Sharingan kept track of each and every strike. The first broke his left arm, as he tried to block. A kick dislocated the bones in his right leg. And two punches ravaged his chest and face.
The last blow had been powerful enough to dislocate Sasuke's jaw.
Strings of chakra restrained him against a tree's trunk, preventing him from moving. "Easy, Sasori," a man with a deathly pale skin and reptilian golden eyes whispered softly. "That may be my new vessel you're damaging there."
"You will find a better one, Orochimaru," the vicious ninja snorted. It was a redhead teenager looking slightly older than Naruto, with beautiful, yet cold, green eyes. Both he and his partner were wearing black cloaks and hoods. "This Uchiha is nothing impressive. I'm beginning to wonder if Itachi was truthful when he told us he spared him for being a waste of his time."
Sasuke's rage awakened at the mention of his hated brother, but the pain prevented him from acting upon it. Orochimaru of the Sannin chuckled at the spectacle. "For an Uchiha who wasn't trained in the use of the Sharingan by relatives and forced to study under that failure Kakashi, he is remarkably dangerous. He has potential, which Sarutobi-sensei foolishly let go to waste."
"Well, I guess it is time for Tobi to pinpoint our location and evacuate us," the puppeteer shrugged. "I do not like to wai-" He stopped.
Orochimaru grinned wickedly, which alarmed Sasuke. "Naruto-kun…" he said to the bushes mirthfully, "It is truly bad of you to listen in on private discussions. And insulting of our skills."
The Uchiha heard a groan, and much to his surprise, Naruto Uzumaki walked into sight, looking positively annoyed he had been noticed so easily. Sasuke wanted to shout him to flee as fast as he could, but he couldn't even open his lips. "So… two S-Rank missing-nin ganging up on a genin team…" he glanced at the mauled remains of Team 7. "You're not really big on fair-play are you?"
"The single most important rule in battle is to win, point," Sasori replied, turning on himself to better face the newcomer. "But you know this the best, out of all of us, don't you? I guess it runs in the family." He glared at Orochimaru. "I told you not to attract his attention with your mockeries."
"Admit it, the face he did upon seeing me fake a kiss was priceless," the snake chuckled.
"So you were the creepy Kusa-nin… I'm very curious how you managed to keep your disguise for so long and did not pay me a visit…" Naruto glared at Sasori in distaste. "The displeasure is all mine… cousin."
A/N: thanks ABitterPill for betaing.
I originally planned to add a scene with Han giving a pimp slap to Orochimaru before the Second Part, but I guess a kiss from the Sannin was creepier.
I think new chapters will be this size instead of the previous 8,000/9,000 words. This way there should be one/two update per month while I work on my other stories.
Would you kindly leave a review?
