Disclaimer: I own not Naruto…
Hope you enjoy the chapter…
Chapter 13 – The plot thickens…
Two weeks before the chuunin exams it was announced by the council that Naruto was adopted by Tsunade and that he was now a member of the Senju family. This had mixed reactions from the village. The council had tried to stop or break the adoption, but they were stopped cold by both the Hokage and the Daimyo.
Naruto ignored the politics of what was going on in favor of training. Tsunade had her hands full at the council meetings, but having Jiraiya there helped out quite a bit. The council continued to question why she had adopted Naruto. Her response was that she 'had her reasons' and left it at that even when pushed by the Daimyo.
Training continued, but also changed for each of them. All were given basic medical knowledge. This was for two reasons. First it would allow them to heal any comrades that might be injured, and second, it helped in identifying where a blow would do the most damage. Naruto had also succeeded in summoning Gamabunta and Katsuyu. He only needed to imagine the species of summons he was going to summon to change between the two.
Naruto also had found himself with a problem, he had come to the Senju compound on his day off only to accidently find his 'mother' and his grandfather both naked on the couch in each other's arms. He had a good clue as to what had happened because of the plethora of empty sake bottles around and their naked condition. He pushed his slight revulsion aside and covered them in a blanket. He left a note and left for home. He knew what they had done, but didn't want to push the issue. They were adults anyways, so if he ended up with a sibling, aunt or uncle in reality, who was he to question them.
He crossed the Senju property only to find a couple chuunin moving through the area. He watched them carefully from the shadows of a tree and saw that they were headed towards Tsunade's house. He followed, wondering what was going on. The chuunin eventually made it to the back door and then proceeded to break in.
Naruto watched them carefully. They looked around to make sure that no one had seen them and then quietly broke the latch the back door and entered the building. Naruto fearing for his grandparents followed them inside. He found the intruders chuckling quietly above the sleeping Sannin. They pulled out kunai and got ready to drive them into the unsuspecting sleeping pair.
Naruto quickly pulled out a couple of senbon and threw them at the assailants. His aim was true and hit them in the shoulder near a nerve cluster, thus causing them to drop their kunai. Naruto then made three Shadow clones and all drew their swords and charged with a yell.
The chuunin may have been surprised by the sudden attack of four Naruto, but quickly recovered and drew a kunai each with their off hand. They were able to block the first swipe of Naruto's sword, but failed to block the clone's swipe, which took out their left leg. Naruto then proceeded to cut their left arm and thus disarm both assailants.
Tsunade and Jiraiya woke in a poor mood. Both had bad hangovers and being woken by clashing metal weapons was not a good thing. Naruto and his clones stood over the invaders while a couple new clones began to both tie them up and administer first aid.
"What the hell is going on here?" Tsunade asked, as she sat up and looked at Naruto.
Naruto blushed, but kept his wits about him. "Kaasan put some clothes on. He might like to see you naked, but it's not right for me to see you naked," he exclaimed.
Tsunade blushed, but then realized that there was a sheet that wasn't there when they had fallen asleep. She quickly wrapped it around herself and asked, "So did you put this sheet on us?"
Naruto nodded and replied, "Sure did, don't want my kaasan catching a cold, even if she seems to have a thing for my godfather. I also caught these two entering your house and attempting to kill both of you."
"The demon, he made us do it!" One of the chuunin exclaimed.
Naruto chuckled at this and asked, "So you're saying that I want my own mother dead? That is funny, seeing as I could have killed them both just now and them a little bit ago. So what is your next story?"
Jiraiya pulled on his boxers and smirked at the chuunin. Tsunade left the room with a dark expression that promised pain.
"It's your word against ours demon," the other chuunin explained.
Naruto rolled his eyes, as he bit his thumb and ran through several hand seals. "Summoning jutsu," he said. Two toads appeared, and he explained, "I want you two to go get the Hokage and Ibiki. My mother has intruders which are currently being detained and are now waiting to be questioned. I could do it myself, but I'm sure Ibiki would be mad at me for taking his work away from him."
Both toads left the house and headed towards their destination. Jiraiya was now dressed and glared at the two captives. "So why are two chuunin attempting to assassinate the Sannin of the Leaf?" he asked in a happy tone.
"You will never get us to answer your questions, traitor," the first said angrily.
Jiraiya laughed and then asked, "So how is Orochimaru-teme doing?"
Both men paled at the question.
Naruto smirked and then said, "So he wanted to get rid of his old teammates. Good plan, but poor execution. Too bad it wasn't Sasuke-chan who sent you."
Both looked at Naruto in confusion.
"Oh, you don't understand?" Jiraiya asked. Both men shook their heads, but then he explained, "You see, if Sasuke-chan had ordered this attack then we could just go straight after him and kill him without any care in the world. Clan wars are fun that way."
There was a knock the door, Jiraiya was about to get up when he heard Tsunade open the door and let the people in the house. Sarutobi, several ANBU and Ibiki accompanied her into the room.
"I see you captured a couple of annoyances. They aren't our chuunin, so Ibiki you can do whatever you deem necessary to get information out of them," Sarutobi explained.
The ANBU took the men away with Ibiki. "They are gifts from Orochimaru," Jiraiya explained. Ibiki and Sarutobi both nodded.
"So how do you want to do this?" Sarutobi asked.
"I want that teme's head on a pike, but what were your plans?" Tsunade replied.
"I was thinking that he might make a move during the final exams, either an attack to get Sasuke or a full out invasion. Either would hurt the village, and if he could get another village to help him it would be quite a while before we could recover. The Raikage also sent word that he 'won't' attend, but that only means that he knows something is up and will attend. He will want to protect his jinchuuriki, Nii Yugito. So I say we either mark you both as dead or have you both leave the village until the finals," Sarutobi explained. He then turned to Naruto and said, "Good job Naruto-kun, keep this up and you will most certainly make chuunin."
Naruto nodded, but also wore a scowl.
"Tsunade, I have a question for you and would like for you to consider this offer," Sarutobi said. He waited until Tsunade nodded before continuing, "After the exams, I'm thinking of retiring. I would like for you to take my place as Hokage. Now before you shoot it down completely, hear me out. I'm getting too old for this job and would like to make it up Naruto-kun over there. I can tell that he is either ready or nearly ready to be chuunin. If what I think is the case then he will be ready to take over your place on the council as the head of the Senju clan. This will be the ultimate slap in the face for those who have hurt Naruto-kun. I will personally see to it that Naruto-kun is made chuunin."
Naruto growled at this. "I don't want to be chuunin if I don't deserve it," he explained.
"You have several factions against you Naruto-kun, but there are also allies which will help you. Also with Sasuke away, I have gotten your reparations from the Uchiha clan. I'm sure that Sasuke-kun will not be happy. The civilian council opposed the monetary amount, but had no say in it when we went to a tribunal. Hiashi and Shikaku both found in favor of you. The Yamanaka also have sent that woman to prison and have offered you a smaller sum as reparations. Here are the documents for you to go over," Sarutobi said, as he handed Naruto a couple of scrolls.
"Now I will let you get back to cleaning house, Senju family," Sarutobi said, just before he used a Shunshin jutsu to leave.
Naruto looked at his grandparents and decided to ask, "You guys did what I think you did last night or early this morning didn't you?"
Tsunade and Jiraiya blushed, but both nodded.
Naruto smiled and asked with a huge smile on his face, "So if you have another kid, will it be my brother, sister, or my uncle, aunt?"
Tsunade blushed even deeper, but then put a finger on her chin. "For now it would be either your brother or sister, we can figure out the family planning later. You are currently considered the heir to the family, so their status wouldn't matter in that respect. That is if I actually get pregnant. I'm a little old to be getting pregnant, Naruto-chan," she explained.
Naruto smiled and replied, "Even if you're fifty, you're still young to me, Kaasan."
Tsunade smiled warmly and wiped tears from her eyes. She then embraced Naruto in a hug, and said, "I love you so much Naru-chan."
"You have two weeks left Naruto, so how are you going to spend them?" Jiraiya asked.
"Well, the himes and I think we have the basics of our training down pat now. If you two want to go have a honeymoon, then be my guest. We should be ready for it. I have my chakra control up to about mid chuunin level and should finish that jutsu before the exams start. Hinata-chan says she has a big surprise for her Niisan and Haku-chan has a new jutsu that will surprise even Shika. I also have a plan to beat that Suna kunoichi, Temari. I do worry about Gaara. He seems a little unstable and might allow his Bijuu loose on the village if he doesn't get what he wants. Also it seems a little off that the Suna team hasn't become chuunin before this point. It's almost like they have been waiting to take this particular exam. Almost as if they were up too something…" Naruto said, but trailed off.
"Orochimaru might have a contact or be having Suna helping them if they decide to invade. Which village do you suspect Naruto?" Jiraiya asked.
"Well it isn't Taki, or Kumo, so it would either be Kiri, Ame, or Suna," he replied.
"Why wouldn't it be either Taki or Kumo? They both have brought a jinchuuriki into the village," Tsunade said.
Naruto put his hand to his chin and took a thinking pose. "Well, Yugito-san is well known for her abilities as a jinchuuriki and is a jounin sensei right now. Raijin-san seems to be actually interested in making chuunin so that takes them off the list and we know the Raikage is coming, but I think it is more to do with protecting Yugito-san and Raijin-san then to be the spearhead of an invasion. While the Byakugan is highlighted in this tournament, all are sealed. Also take into take into consideration that Sasuke has been marked by Orochimaru, we don't have much to worry about from Kumo. As for Taki, they have two in the finals including their jinchuuriki. She also seems to have made a friend of Shino-san and that wouldn't be logical to make a friend only to have to fight them in an invasion. My last point is the only large village that has a full team in the finals other than Konoha is Suna, so I would conclude that it was Suna that was going along with Orochimaru. Added to the fact that Gaara is more unstable than Sasuke-chan," he said with a huge amount of mirth in his voice.
Jiraiya and Tsunade both shared a smirk. "He does have several points. I can also add some information to the mix. Suna is suffering from bad relations with the Wind Daimyo," Jiraiya said with confidence.
"So we might be invaded by Sound and Suna during the exams? This could be interesting. We have three jinchuuriki and they have one. Even with both Sound and Sand, we have home field advantage. We also are defending, so they would have to be setting up preparations outside the village. The best time to attack would be during the actual third part of the exams," Tsunade explained.
"So even if the invasion failed it would give Konoha a bloody nose politically and if Suna did well then it would boost the relations with their Daimyo," Naruto said, explaining his thoughts out loud.
"Good, your mind is starting to think more strategically. So should I accept the offer?" Tsunade asked.
"Well… it would be nice to put the temes on the council in their place and you could do more for us and the village as Hokage then as head of the clan. My only concern is if you get pregnant from the pervert over there," Naruto explained, as he pointed with his thumb at Jiraiya.
"Hey, I'm right here you know," Jiraiya exclaimed.
"Why are we talking about me being pregnant?" Tsunade asked in an indignant tone.
"You smell different Kaasan. I don't know how to explain it, but you smell different," Naruto explained.
"Well, then we shall see in a few weeks if your nose can tell things that could of only happened last night," Tsunade said with a smirk. She then turned to Jiraiya and said, "And you can be interim Hokage while I'm near my term to give birth and for a little while after."
"Will I still get to do my research?" Jiraiya asked, almost sulking.
"You will take responsibility for any children we might have from this point forward. That is if you ever want to be with this woman ever again," Tsunade explained.
"Okay… I'll look, but not touch if you're with child. Deal?" Jiraiya asked.
"That works. So we should probably inform sensei about Suna's possible betrayal. We're going to leave the village until the finals, but tell everyone that we might miss the finals for whatever reason," Tsunade explained.
"Okay, but are you going to take Shizune-oneechan with you?" Naruto asked.
"To keep up with appearances we will have too. Keep up with the training and take the last two days before the exams off to rest up and ease your minds. We will need yours and your fiancés' strength after your matches to help fend off the invasion, if there is one," Tsunade said, as she bit her thumb nail.
Naruto left the house after given both his grandparents hugs and a kiss to his mother on the cheek. He also wished them luck on their hunt and told them to be careful. Tsunade gave Naruto several scrolls for all three of them to study and work on for their training for when they were supposed to be with her, but since she would be out of town the scrolls would be their training.
-----------
The next week and a half went by quickly. All three genin pushed themselves harder than before. Naruto and Haku found out that she had become a special partner with a certain toad who worked well with ice. Naruto continued to work with the jutsu that Jiraiya had showed him, but thought that even with the Shadow clones he might not get it. Hinata changed her outfit and wore several water skins on her outfit. She also had Naruto make all three of them some special scrolls. They had checked out the arena and found it lacking in water of any kind, thus the reason for the scrolls and water skins.
They met up with Fū, Shino, Rock Lee, Nijiko, and Shikamaru over the last week before the exams were to take place. Everyone wished the other good luck. Noticeably absent were the Sand genin. This seemed to reaffirm Naruto's suspicion that they were up to something. He passed his conclusions on to both the Hokage and his 'parents'.
-------------
The day before the finals was a bluster of activity, but Naruto felt a presence follow him around from early morning till he met his brides-to-be for lunch. He finally turned into a known dead end alleyway. He turned to find Gaara standing there with a maniacal look on his face.
"Why is it that mother is afraid of you?" Gaara asked.
"You have the Ichibi sealed within you, right?" Naruto asked in return.
Gaara nodded. "Yes, but what does that have to do with why mother fears you?" he again asked.
"Ichibi is only one tail, I have a demon with more tails sealed within me," Naruto said without emotion, but a huge smile plastered on his face.
"So you too are a weapon for your village," Gaara said, while the grin faded from his face.
"Nope, they don't really like me here. I remind them too much of their pain," he explained.
"How do you not want to kill them all and prove your existence?" Gaara asked.
"There are other ways to prove your existence. I have people who are precious to me and I will do anything to protect them… anything," Naruto said. His facial whiskers darkened, his eyes turned red with slits for pupils, his hair became even messier, and his canine teeth became fangs. "You see, I can and will use the power of my demon to protect those I hold dear, the rest can just stay out of my way. So what will it be? Do we decide it here or in the arena?" Naruto asked.
Gaara appeared visibly scared and sweat was flowing down his face. "We can wait until the matches tomorrow, but I will not cease to exist," he said with much trepidation in his voice.
"I won't kill you unless you are a true threat to those I care about. Otherwise you're free to do as you like, unless it is breaking the laws and killing for no reason," Naruto explained.
Gaara backed away and then disappeared in a swirl of sand.
Naruto smirked at the hasty exit that Gaara did. Getting this much control of the Kyuubi power had not been difficult, but very taxing.
(Flashback)
Naruto again sat below the waterfall with Hinata watching over him. This was his first chance to try to access the Kyuubi's power. He figured that if he might need it, he should figure out a way to have more ready access to it. Naruto slowed his breathing and closed his eyes.
----------
Naruto open his eyes to find himself in a dungeon like setting, as opposed to the sewer he was in before. The hallways looked familiar, but then again they were different. He walked down to a door and opened it. What he saw surprised him, but only a little.
Before him was a fox chained to the walls, but asleep. He walked up to the fox, but kept out of reach of the either the tails or the paws. Naruto watched intently at the fox and noticed that it would sniff occasionally and a grin appeared on its face.
He sat down and waited for the fox to rouse or at least to stop faking that it was asleep.
The eye of the fox opened and came into focus, as it eyed Naruto. Naruto felt killing intent rise to extreme levels and he began to have trouble breathing. Through effort of his mind he stared back at the fox. The battle of will continued until the Kyuubi attempted to push it's chakra out towards Naruto. He released his own chakra and it hit the chains and the chains began to glow. The red chakra receded back to the Kyuubi.
"So are we going to fight like this forever?" Naruto asked.
"Shut your mouth meat bag. I will kill you. Come here so that I can do it," Kyuubi said with a crazed look in its eyes.
"Not likely. You would be more able to get me to come closer if you hadn't threatened to kill me," Naruto explained.
Kyuubi roared in anger. "Let me loose, I will destroy this accursed village!" it yelled out in anger.
"No, it would kill the people I care about and me along with it," Naruto said forcefully.
"What do you care? They have harmed both of us," Kyuubi said in rebuttal.
"I want us to get along…" Naruto said, but was interrupted.
"I hate you!" Kyuubi yelled back.
"I love you too, but we need to come to a compromise. I might need your power, so let's just call it rent. If I need your power, you give it to me. If this goes well then I might find a way to give you some limited freedom," Naruto explained.
"You would never release me," Kyuubi said in an accusatory tone.
"You're right, I wouldn't let you go free, but I might allow you more freedom than you have now inside of here," Naruto explained, as he moved his hands in an opening motion.
"Why would you do that? If, I'm the reason, that your life was so bad?" Kyuubi asked.
"Because there was a reason you attacked and I want to know why a spirit is sealed within me," Naruto explained.
"No! Get out, I will give you the chakra, but you will not know my secrets!" Kyuubi yelled.
Naruto smiled and nodded. "Good enough for now. We have to live here together, so we might as well get along," Naruto said, as he turned and left the room.
--------
Naruto opened his eyes and saw a relieved Hinata. "So how did it go?" she asked.
Naruto smiled and said, "About how I figured, it is still mad and might take a few years to calm down."
"Naruto-kun, your eyes haven't returned to normal, they still have slits for pupils," Hinata explained.
Naruto sighed and replied, "Must be something that Kyuubi did." He was very tired.
(End of flashback)
Naruto laughed, because he knew his eyes would continue to look similar to an Inuzuka for a while. He went about his own business, but noticed an individual following him. He knew this time it wasn't Gaara, because his chakra was nowhere around. He continued to walk, but then suddenly jumped up onto a vendor's roof and to the roof of a building. He looked back and saw that there was a single kunai in each of his previous positions. He grinned widely and then said, "You can come out Anko-chan."
Anko appeared next to Naruto, with her arm wrapped around his shoulder. "So gaki, good evasion, do you think you're ready to take on that Suna chick?"
"Are you planning to rape Gifu?" Naruto asked with a knowing smirk.
"Who says I haven't already done that?" She asked with an equally sly smirk.
"So that is what happened when he came home the other night with tattered clothes and a stupid grin on his face?" Naruto asked only to see Anko blush profusely. Naruto wore a look of surprise and said in an astonished tone, "No way. You didn't!"
Anko nodded meekly and said, "Well it wasn't rape. More like an agreed…"
Naruto pushed Anko away and shook his head. "I didn't need to know that. What you two do in your apartment is your own business. If you become my mother-in-law great and if not we're still friends," he admitted happily.
Anko nodded and again wrapped her arm over his shoulder. "You know gaki. We're going to get along just fine. So why aren't you with the girls?" she asked.
Naruto sighed and replied, "They're fighting again over of all things, me. It's not like they won't get equal time from me."
Anko smirked and said, "Don't take it too hard. They're just setting up the pecking order for who is first wife and who is second. Most guys have problems with one girl. I would hate to see the problems you'd have if they didn't like each other."
Naruto nodded, as they both jumped down to the street level and continued through the market.
---------
A/N: Well next chapter is the beginning of the chuunin exams. I'm glad I didn't scare off my readers. Now to address some of the readers…
Annon: Yes, sure, I added some clichés. What author hasn't? At least you had some useful input unlike another flamer. I do thank you for your insight, as an up and coming writer-to-be I take your input and try to improve the story.
Neoslucius: You're right about it being sixteen fighters. This will give me a chance to work on some fights and see if I can actually write them. Fights aren't easy to write and I'm going to give it a try for the next couple chapters. The cannon chuunin exams were only about an hour or so. If these go to their fruition they would take most of the day, thus giving the contestants time recover some from previous fights. Also you're right the weak ones are out of the running.
Dragon Noir: Hiruzen is human and is more of a political animal now, than a fighter. Naruto is a glaring example of his failures and is now trying, not always successfully, to try and remedy or level the bad decisions. Tsunade is now on the council and with her presence they have been reined in. As for the jinchuuriki not telling… as for Shino and Fū, not telling that either.
Iwannabeahero: The only seal left on Naruto is the Kyuubi one.