I'm finally back with another chapter of the story. Sorry for the wait. I got 40 reviews for the last chapter… something that's never happened before, so I'm pumped over that. Glad you all liked it. I'd been fretting over it for the battle scenes.
I decided for the reason to fight, it will be because Minato displays thoughts over how Team 7 may not be ready for the Chuunin Exams. It does seem to be the most plausible choice.
I know the story has been sticking a little closely to the original timeline but I was waiting for the Chuunin Exams to come around because this is where I want Naruto to really start to shine, where everyone can see him. I hope you can be a little bit more patient with me. We're almost there.
Darke wulf: I figured Kyuubi would act as a mediator as well. I can't see her really picking a side on this matter, can you? And I had been wondering about the Sasuke-Naruto matter… their animosity just kinda flew off on me. You make a valid point about and it and a good suggestion.
BratCat: I guess I did… oops. Guess I got a little too caught up on how to settle out the battle. Sorry, Sakuya…
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
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Chapter Eleven: Unexpected Visitors
~Naruto can't receive his inheritance until he becomes a Jounin or he turns 18… what on Earth was I thinking when I made that condition in my will?!~ Minato groused as he helped Naruto clean up the graffiti that covered the outside of his apartment. ~Nobody would have dared do such a thing to the Namikaze estate…~
~That's because they all love you… unfortunately, they hate Naruto by an equal amount,~ Kyuubi said, sounding displeased.
~Sometimes I almost wish I'd taken Naruto and just let the village go to hell,~ Minato muttered maliciously.
~Come on, Tou-san, don't be like that. They're just like scared children. They'll come around eventually. We just need to be a little patient,~ Naruto stated.
~For someone whose taken after his mother so much as you have, that ought to be hard,~ Minato commented.
~Oh shut up,~ Naruto shot back as he continued scrubbing.
They heard a yip and they saw Sakuya on the street below them. She now had a Konoha headband around her neck, making her an official Konoha nin fox. Kakashi was helping Naruto train her.
Noting that she had a note in her mouth, Naruto went down to meet her.
~What's it say?~ Minato asked.
"Kakashi-sensei wants us to meet him at the bridge," Naruto said. "Guess clean up will have to wait."
Two hours later, the irate Team 7 glared at the just arriving Kakashi.
"Don't tell me… you got lost on the road of life," Naruto said sarcastically.
"Actually, I was coming here when I saw a black cat go across my path, so I took the long route," Kakashi countered. The Genin groaned.
"So what were we called here for, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura queried.
Kakashi was about to speak when he noticed the bird flying above them. It looked like he'd have to cut the meeting off before it even started.
"I called you here to tell you… that we have no missions today. See you," he said brightly before disappearing.
"He called us here just for that?" Sakura exclaimed in disbelief. "What a waste of time!"
~Something must have come up,~ Minato mused, having noticed the messenger bird as well. ~Kakashi did tell me that the Chuunin Exams hosted here in Konoha are coming up. Most likely he was summoned for the Nominations period.~
~Cool,~ Naruto commented, looking intrigued, completely oblivious to the scene between Sakura and Sasuke in which she tried to convince the avenger to let her train with him. She was failing miserably.
It was a little while later that Naruto noticed a square rock with eye holes following him. Rolling his eyes, he turned and faced his followers.
"There's no such thing as a square rock. Come out now," he ordered.
"As would be expected of my rival!" Konohamaru's familiar voice rang out and in a violent poof of smoke, the Sandaime's grandson appeared with his two partners in crime.
They then proceeded to go through a silly introduction that amused Minato and Naruto and irritating the sulky Sakura who had been following them silently.
~I think they'd get along well with Sensei,~ Minato stated with a grin.
"You promised you'd play ninja with us today," Konohamaru reminded the blonde Genin.
"Oh yeah, that's right," Naruto recalled, looking a little sheepish. "I was going to train…"
"You promised, Boss," Konohamaru whined.
"Why would a ninja 'play' ninja?" Sakura asked, glowering at Naruto, wondering how Sasuke could believe he'd surpassed her.
"Who's she?" Konohamaru questioned before a sly look appeared on his face. "Is she your…" he faltered off as he displayed his pinky.
Naruto snorted. "No, she's not my type," he admitted frankly.
Sakura was surprised by Naruto's statement. She had always thought he'd had a crush on her. It was a little off putting to find that the idiot who had seemed to worship the ground she'd waked on no longer deemed her worthy of his time. It was a blow to her self-esteem.
Konohamaru gave Sakura a critical look before nodding in understanding. "I can see what you mean… she's got too big a forehead and she's not all that attractive," he said bluntly.
~His lack of tact is going to haunt him,~ Minato declared, noticing the enraged look on Sakura's face.
"Konohamaru, as your rival and friend, I'm going to give you a piece of advice… run," Naruto said.
Konohamaru obeyed just as Sakura lunged at him.
"Come back here!" she yelled. "I'm going to kick your ass!"
Letting out a scream of fear, Konohamaru ran faster. "Who'd want a butch woman like you?" he yelled out.
"GRAAH!" Sakura roared, moving faster.
Yelping, Konohamaru raced forward until he bumped into a guy clad in what looked like black pajamas with a strange hat that made him look like he head cat ears and purple face makeup. He had what looked like a mummy on his back. A girl with blonde hair in four ponytails stood beside him with a large fan on her back.
The boy glared at Konohamaru and lifted him off of his feet. "That hurt, brat," he scowled.
"Let him go!" Naruto exclaimed, not wanting his young friend to get hurt at the older boy's hands.
~A Suna hitai-ite… these two must be here for the Chuunin Exams, but where's their third teammate?~ Minato wondered, eyes scanning the area before his eyes fell over a nearby tree. ~Over there.~
"Why should I?" This kid needs to learn a lesson in manners," the Suna nin stated.
"He's the Hokage's grandson! That should be enough reason to put him down unless you want to create a diplomatic incident!" Naruto scowled.
"Put him down, Kankurou. The last thing we need is trouble," the blonde companion said, looking nervous. "He won't like it."
"Oh, calm down, Temari. I just want a little fun," Kankurou stated, before looking at Naruto. "If you want to save him so badly, do it yourself."
"Fine, I will," Naruto declared, launching himself forward.
~Be careful, Naruto. He's a puppet user,~ Minato warned his son.
~Noted,~ the Jinchuuriki responded, using his wind chakra to sever the chakra cords that Kankurou had produced to try to trap Naruto.
… Or at least he was about to when he caught sight of three approaching Genin with Iwa hitai-ite. He ceased the use of his elemental chakra and got knocked off his feet by the puppeteer.
Kankurou guffawed loudly at Naruto's humiliation. "Who knew Konoha Genin were so weak?"
That was when a stone struck Kankurou's hand. Yelping, he dropped Konohamaru, who scurried over to Naruto.
Everyone looked to see Sasuke sitting on a branch of a tree, clearly the offender.
"What are you doing in our village?" Sasuke asked coolly.
'Chaa! Sasuke-kun is so cool!' Sakura squealed to herself, going into fangirl mode.
'Another annoyance,' Kankurou scowled.
'He's kind of cute,' Temari thought in approval.
~Stupid showoff,~ Naruto and Minato chorused together, snorting in contempt.
Konohamaru scurried off back to Naruto's side, looking petulantly at the blonde.
"Naruto-nii-san… you suck. I believed in you," Konohamaru sulked, disappointed over how Naruto had gotten humiliated at Kankurou's hands.
Naruto didn't bother to try to defend himself. He had gotten distracted by the sight of the Iwa nin that were approaching slowly but surely. He hadn't expected the Sandaime to allow them in for the Chuunin Exams.
"Hey, punk, get down here!" Kankurou demanded, glaring at Sasuke. "I hate showoffs like you the most." He then proceeded to put his bandaged up puppet onto the ground. Temari quickly reacted.
"You're going to use him?" she asked in disbelief. The puppet user didn't seem like he was going to listen to her when a cold voice rang out.
"Kankurou, stop," their third teammate ordered from behind Sasuke. Judging from the look on Sasuke's face, he hadn't been able to sense him.
A redhead with cold green eyes outlined by dark circles stood upside down, glaring at a now frightened Kankurou.
"You are an embarrassment to our village," he declared icily and Kankurou flinched.
"G-Gaara…" Kankurou stuttered, looking downright terrified.
~There's no love between these teammates,~ Minato mused. He found it odd.
~That boy reeks of Shukaku's chakra…~ Kyuubi said. ~He's a Jinchuuriki just like you, Naruto, but his seal is nowhere as strong as the one Minato designed. It's driving both the boy and Shukaku insane. Looking at the dark circles under his eyes, he can't even sleep.~
~Thank Kami that you're a seal master, Tou-san,~ Naruto said, relieved that the same fate hadn't befell him. Nevertheless, he felt a sense of connection to the redhead. They had something in common, something big.
"Losing yourself in a fight… pathetic," Gaara sneered scornfully. "Why do you think we came to Konoha?"
"Listen, Gaara… they started it," the puppeteer insisted.
"Shut up," Gaara snapped. "I'll kill you."
Kankurou swallowed nervously and instantly began to plead for forgiveness, all of this being observed by the puzzled Konoha residents.
'So he's the leader,' Sasuke realized. 'He's got strange eyes.'
Gaara turned to Sasuke. "I apologize for my teammate's poor behavior," he apologized, eyeing Sasuke assessingly. 'He's good to have been able to land a hit on Kankurou…'
With that, Gaara vanished and reappeared between his teammates in a flurry of sand. "We may have arrived here early but that gives you no right to play around," he scolded in an emotionless voice.
"I know that…" Kankurou sulked.
"Let's go," Gaara ordered and his teammates looked quick to listen.
"Hey, wait!" Sakura called out. "You're Suna-nin right? You may be allies with our village, but you need permission to enter our village. State your purpose."
Temari scoffed derisively. "Talk about being clueless," she sneered. "We're here for the Chuunin Exams."
"The Chuunin Exams are happening now?" Sakura asked in surprise. She hadn't known that.
At that moment, Sasuke leapt in front of his teammates, glowering at the Suna nin.
"Hey, what's your name?" he asked Gaara.
"Subaku no Gaara," was the Jinchuuriki's simple reply. "And yours?"
"Uchiha Sasuke," the raven-haired nin smirked.
That was when the group was joined by another group… the Iwa team that Naruto had noticed and backed off because of.
"This is an interesting gathering," a boy with sandy brown hair and hazel eyes declared, eyes raking over everyone before his eyes fell on Naruto.
The Namikaze stiffened and glared. "What are you looking at?" he snapped.
"You," was the boy's blunt reply as he licked his lips in an unsettling manner.
"Why?" the blue-eyed youth queried. Within a blink of an eye, the boy was within Naruto's personal space, brushing his hand against Naruto's hair.
"No offense meant but you have such… exotic features. You don't see many blue-eyed blondes outside of the Yamanaka clan. You wouldn't happen to be one of them, would you?" the boy questioned.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, not a Yamanaka," the blonde Genin said.
"I'm Tanaka Daichi," the boy introduced himself in return. "I've never heard of an Uzumaki clan in Konoha, have you Kougyoku-sensei?"
Naruto looked at the sensei of the three Iwa Genin and felt his dad stiffen.
~What's wrong, Tou-san?~ he asked, sounding concerned.
~That man… he's Kougyoku Jin… I faced him during the Third Shinobi War,~ the Yondaime admitted.
~You faced him and let him survive?~ Naruto gaped.
~I was fighting him when my team got into the trouble that cost Obito his life,~ Minato explained. ~I left him wounded as I went to help them.~
~So the great Yondaime Hokage defeated this man but didn't bother to finish him… a humiliating loss,~ Kyuubi mused.
~Be careful around him, Naruto… be careful around them all for that matter,~ Minato said, worried for Naruto's safety in the case that the Iwa nin were able to discern Naruto's identity.
"Not that I know of," Jin stated. "There had been one in the former Uzu no Kuni, however."
"I don't have a clan," Naruto lied with an even voice. "At least not that I know of. I'm an orphan."
"How unfortunate," Jin remarked, not sounding remotely sympathetic. "I can't help but think, however, that you bear a great resemblance to the Yondaime Hokage. It makes me wonder if he'd had a child before he killed himself."
"He never had a kid, Kakashi-sensei told us that himself," Sakura said, flinching as the man turned to her.
"Kakashi… as in Hatake Kakashi?" he asked, eyes burning with interest. "You're his students? How interesting. Given his reputation, I would have thought you all would have impressive abilities, but looking at you, I'd say you don't."
Sasuke snarled at the insult. He was about to lunge at the man when Jin appeared behind him, forcing Sasuke to his knees.
"You would think that the Last of the Uchiha clan would know how to control his temper better," Jin drawled. "Pathetic."
The Suna nin were merely observing the situation, too curious to just walk away.
Jin proceeded to turn to Naruto and he was about to approach him when Sakuya burst out of nowhere and stood in front of her "mother" protectively, snarling in a threatening manner.
Naruto turned to see Team 10 standing there, looking surprised at the large group.
~Sakuya must have been with your mate this entire time,~ Kyuubi mused.
~For the last time, Shikamaru isn't my mate!~ Naruto protested.
~I never said Shikamaru,~ Kyuubi said, sounding sly. Naruto flushed as he realized his mistake.
~Well… who else could you be talking about?~ Naruto muttered to himself.
Seeing that any more attention would prove to be troublesome, the Iwa nin backed off.
"Daichi, Michiru, Osamu… it's time to go," Jin stated as he turned to leave. He gave Naruto one last look. "You really do look like the Yondaime Hokage… you have the same striking appearance that he had."
Daichi snorted. "Save for that horrid orange jumpsuit."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at that, ignoring the insult. Minato looked chagrined.
~Let's just say… he's a little queer,~ the ex-Hokage stated, remembering how it had been to fight the infuriating Iwa Jounin.
Kyuubi suddenly let out a large wave of killing intent as she glared at Jin through Naruto's eyes.
~Back off, bitch, he's mine,~ she growled, wrapping her tails around Minato possessively.
Minato gazed at her in amusement. ~I didn't know you felt so strongly for me, Kyuu-chan,~ he stated teasingly.
~Damn straight,~ Kyuubi snarled, surprising the blonde Hokage as she dragged him off to her den.
Figuring that he didn't want to know what was going on between his dad and his maternal figure, he mentally blocked them off and he became aware of Gaara staring at him.
"What?" he asked in confusion.
"You… are like me," the green-eyed Jinchuuriki stated, seeming intrigued by him now, when he had seemed bored by him before.
Team 10, Sasuke, Sakura, Temari and Kankurou raised their eyebrows at this. It was the last thing they'd expected the frightening Genin to say to the village idiot.
"It would seem so," Naruto said, not sounding remotely surprised as he went to pick Sakuya up. "I suppose I'll be seeing you later, Tanuki-san." Temari and Kankurou paled as they understood just how Naruto and Gaara were similar.
With that, Naruto turned to leave.
"Wait," Gaara called out, causing the blonde to pause.
"Yes?" Naruto inquired curiously.
"Which one are you?" Gaara questioned. Naruto smirked as he stroked Sakuya. He looked down at her and back at Gaara.
"Isn't it obvious?" he responded and Gaara's siblings began choking in fear. "You and I have a lot in common, Gaara. If you ever want to talk, you'll know where to find me."
Naruto walked away without another word.
"We're leaving," Gaara told his terrified siblings and the Suna nin left, leaving a group of confused Konoha nin behind.
"Did anybody understand what's going on?" Ino asked.
"Other than the fact that Naruto has got the dangerous attention of Iwa nin who think he's related to the Yondaime Hokage and he and that creepy redhead think that they're similar to one another in some way, not much," Shikamaru stated.
"How could someone like Naruto have anything in common with someone like that?" Sakura queried. She still had shivers running down her back from being in Gaara's presence.
"Who knows? Naruto has always been an enigma," Shikamaru stated with a shrug. 'Ironic for one we all thought wore his heart out on his sleeve.'
"That dobe? An enigma? Don't make me laugh. He's only trying to act cool," Sasuke snorted, still peeved over the entire incident.
Shikamaru frowned at Sasuke before sighing. "It would be too troublesome to argue with you, so I'll let you keep your biased beliefs for now. Don't blame me when Naruto pulls a fast one on you some time in the future," he said coldly as he left as well.
"Don't be mean to Sasuke-kun!" Ino scolded Shikamaru, who merely ignored her.
The lazy genius looked up at the sky and frowned.
'A storm is coming… and that's not necessarily a good thing.'