Chapter 5: Test this!
Oh man up, pansy!
"But that was so embarrassing!" whined Naruto in his mind.
You've pulled worse pranks on strangers. They teased you a bit, but that was it. Grow up, Naruto-kun.
"Says the one that was teasing right along with them," grumbled Naruto as Anko and Yugao led him towards the Chunin stadium.
After the rather embarrassing start of his morning, Anko had guided Hinata and Mito out of the house wearing blindfolds. Once the girls were gone, Yugao quized him on his backstory, while they waited for Anko to return. The two women then donned their ANBU masks before the three of them headed for the stadium. It didn't take long to reach it, not at the speed they moved, but it was enough time for Naruto to put get a little nervous. Sure, he was an extremely powerful shinobi, but that didn't mean he couldn't worry about what was about to happen.
"We'e here," stated Anko, as the three of them leapt to the top of the stadium and then down to the center of field.
Looking around, Naruto had to laugh, if only a little bit. Standing around him was a gathering of old and new faces. Of course Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Mikoto was there, but so was Hiashi Hyuga. The stern looking Hyuga looked exactly the same as the last time Naruto saw the man in his world, the only difference being he looked slightly friendlier, though not much. Rather than the modified clothing he had seen everyone else wearing, Hiashi wore the traditional Hyuga clan robes, stiff and proper down to the last stitch.
In front of Tsunade and her advisors stood an assortment of shinobi that Naruto instantly recognized, except for one. From right to left they had Konohamaru Saratobi, then a pink haired boy he didn't recognize, and followed by Itachi Uchiha who waved at him. Next there was Gai Maito and Kakashi Hatake, Gai looked far to excited to be there while Kakashi had his nose buried in his infamous orange book. For the most part the entire group was dressed in light black linen uniforms, probably their official uniforms for out of village missions, except for Gai. Gai wore a modified version of his green spandex jumpsuit, this one missing the sleeves and having a zipper on the front that was open down to his collar bones. Other than that, he looked exactly the same.
"Naruto Uzumaki," called Tsunade, getting everyone's attention. "We are here today to test you for suitability to join this village. You will go through the standard testing for new shinobi and depending on whether or not you can complete each portion will determine your rank afterwards. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama," responded Naruto, though he had to force himself to be formal with her.
"Good, you will be starting off by demonstrating the three basic techniques required to graduate," she continued. "Afterwards you will demonstrate your weapons and Taijutsu skills through a series of increasingly difficult spars. No lethal attacks are allowed, so be mindful of your opponent at all times. When I say a spar is over, it's over. Got it?"
"Got it," he responded.
"Good, now, show us the Academy basics," ordered Tsunade with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Does she want me to prank them?
Sure looks that way to me.
Aiming a grin in Tsunade's direction, Naruto proceeded to do the Academies three basic techniques, but in reverse order of the normal testing routine. With barely a twitch of his hands Naruto created enough Shadow Clones to fill every seat in the stadium. This display of sheer power, because no one other than him could have come even close to doing it, left his examiners staring wide eyed at the stands around them. When he next transformed all of the clones and himself into copies of people from back in his original world, with himself transforming into a perfect replica of his father, the examiners were looking around as fast as they could to see the various versions of people they knew. The last technique, the substitution, was used to move all the examiners along with the Hokage and her advisors up to the Hokage's private box, leaving Naruto standing on the field with several clones of them.
"Smartass," grumbled Tsunade as she glared down at a waving Naruto. "Ok, you pass the Academy test, but can you pass the official test?"
"Bring it on!" shouted Naruto, dispelling the clones around him.
"He's not on a team, so he's going to run the gauntlet," stated Tsunade, more to herself than anyone else. "Konohamaru, you're up!"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" agreed the young boy, fresh out of the Academy, before he made his way down to the stadium floor.
"So, Konohamaru Sarutobi," Naruto said as soon as the young boy landed in front of him.
"How do you know my last name?" asked the boy, looking rather puzzled as he dropped into a standard Academy taijutsu stance.
"That, Kono-san, is a secret that I may tell you about someday," replied Naruto with a smile.
"Whatever," Konohamaru said with a smirk. "You'll have to get by me first and that won't be easy. I've been taught all the short-cuts to become Hokage and I won't let you beat me."
Glaring up at the Hokage's box, Naruto couldn't help but notice several of the people there cringe. "Short-cuts? You let someone teach him 'short-cuts to becoming Hokage?' Were they trying to get the kid killed, or was his teacher just a fucking moron?"
Looking a bit ashamed, Tsunade was the one to answer. "I didn't know about it until recently. His grandfather contracted a supposedly 'elite' Jonin to train him, but the man was a little too awestruck by the privilege of teaching the Third Hokage's grandson. He's since been demoted to Chunin and Konohamaru and his friends were returned to the Academy to finish their training."
"Don't talk about Ebisu-sensei like that!" shouted Konohamaru, looking mutinous as he glared at Naruto. "He taught me lots of stuff to make becoming Hokage, like my grandpa, easy."
"No, he just taught you how to die fast," countered Naruto. "I'll prove it and when I do you will start training with me, daily, got it?"
"Yeah, like a loser like you can defeat me, the grandson of the Third Hokage!" roared Konohamaru.
What followed was not only embarrassing, but eye opening for the young boy. Naruto never once moved to attack him, instead he just dodged Konohamaru's ever attempt to hit him. This lasted for five minutes before the young boy managed to trip over the ridiculously long scarf he had around his neck. Naruto waited for the boy to get back to his feet, something a real enemy would have never done, then continued to doge the boy's attacks until the kid could barely stand due to exhaustion. Konohamaru finally stumbled, his body too tired to continue, before Naruto caught him by the font of his shirt and lifted him off the ground to hold the boy eye to eye with him.
"Your grandfather would be ashamed of you right now," Naruto whispered to the boy. "Hiruzen Sarutobi was a great man, but he never once boasted about his own greatness. You on the other hand came into this spar thinking your so-called training and your grandfather's reputation would win you this fight. Neither of those thing mean a damn in the real world. In the real world you either fight for everything you have, shedding sweat and blood as you work hard for your goals, or you die in a field. That's what your short-cuts got you, an over inflated ego that is going to cost you your life unless you get serious about your training."
Setting the boy down on unsteady legs, Naruto sighed and wiped a hand over his face. "You remind me of another kid I knew back home. He started off with an ego like yours, but he became a great shinobi once he started really working and forgot about short-cuts and crap like that. You want to be Hokage, you have to work for it. You want to be a leader, you have to bleed for it. There is no easy path to reach your goal!"
Konohamaru looked like someone had just slapped him once Naruto was done speaking, he wasn't the only one either. The pink haired Chunin that Naruto had noticed earlier was also looking a bit green, probably because they had believed much the same as the youngest Sarutobi. It didn't matter to Naruto, he had said what he needed to say, what people made of it was their own business. Still, he needed to drive the point home to the kid and there was only ever going to be one way to do that. So, gathering his chakra into his hand he created a perfect Rasengan before driving it into the ground between him and Konohamaru, knocking the boy off his feet.
"That is the result of hard work, blood, and sweat," he said as Konohamaru stared at him in awe. "There are no short-cuts to this and there are no short-cuts to being Hokage. Got me?"
"Gotcha!" shouted the boy, jumping back to his feet with a newfound determination. "I'll show you! I'll become the greatest shinobi in the village by working hard!"
"Yeah, you will, cause I'm going to be training you from now on," stated Naruto, glancing up at Tsunade and getting a nod from her. "You meet me at the Hokage Tower bright and early tomorrow and we'll get you started. Bring your friends, if you want."
"Will do, Boss!" shouted the boy, right before he passed out from exhaustion. Naruto created a clone to carry the boy up to the Hokage's box. "I want to talk to this Ebisu he mentioned. I think he needs a bit more than a demotion. Konohamaru's taijutsu is a mess, he never even once thought of using a Jutsu, and he has no stamina. The only short-cut he taught that kid was to kill him faster."
"I'll arrange for him to be there tomorrow morning when you pick the kid up," stated Tsunade, finding she wanted to see the former 'elite' Jonin taught a lesson. "Just don't kill him."
"I won't," agreed Naruto, "but there is a lot you can live through while wishing you were dead."
Tsunade nodded, then gestured for the pink haired Chunin to enter the ring. "Chunin Ichigo Haruno, you're up next."
"No way! A male version of Sakura?"
Well, he does sort of look like her, so maybe a brother that didn't exist in our world?"
"Watch me fight, Itachi-kun!" shouted the rather efeminate boy as he awkwardly leapt from the Hokages's box.
"Are we sure that's male?"
It has an adam's apple and only males have that.
"I'm going to beat you up, you big meanie!" shouted the pink haired boy, causing Naruto to role his eyes. "Don't you underestimate me, I'm way stronger than that little boy was!"
Looking up at Tsunade, Naruto just asked, "Can I?"
"No, you can't," she replied, knowing instantly what Naruto meant.
"Please?" begged Itachi.
"No, he can't kill him," Tsunade stated firmly, or as firmly as you can while watching a pink haired boy blowing kisses to another boy.
"Damn!" shouted both boys together, getting a smug smile from Ichigo.
"The Hokage knows I'm too powerful for you to try that will, so she's protecting you from me," stated the boy before sticking his tongue out at Naruto.
"Oh that's it, start the match," groaned Naruto, ready to end this farce.
"Begin!" commanded Tsunade only to blink as a second later the pink haired boy was flying across the stadium. A moment later the boy hit the wall with enough force to crack the concrete, then falling to the ground unconscious. "Winner, Naruto!"
Those with the training for it saw Naruto take one step forward, striking Ichigo in the chest with enough force to send the boy flying. To anyone else it would have looked like he just shifted his feet, that's how fast the blow had been. Even Gai with his years of training had to admit Naruto was no one to mess around with. Kakashi on the other hand was looking rather ashamed, trying for all he was worth to hide behind Gai.
"Was that supposed to accomplish something?" asked Naruto, looking up at the Hokage's box with a puzzled expression.
Tsunade, who was busy glaring at Kakashi, shook her head saying, "Ichigo is Kakashi's student. He assured me that the boy was a highly trained shinobi, much improved over his previous test results during his first Chunin exam. Obviously, he was full of shit."
"Well, he has perfect chakra control and was the smartest student in his graduating class at the Academy," argued Kakashi still looking ashamed.
"Of course he's got perfect chakra control," yelled Naruto, glaring at the one eyed Jonin, "he's got smaller chakra reserves than Konohamaru had. Hell, I've got more chakra in my right nut than that kid does in his whole body!"
"Your testicles aside, I'll be personally reviewing Ichigo's current skill level and rank," Tsunade said, finally turning away from a nervous looking Kakashi. "I knew letting you field promote that boy was a mistake, Kakashi."
"Sorry, Hokage-sama," apologized the silver haired man.
"Anyway, your next challenger is at least a known fighter," said Tsunade, focusing back on why they were there. "Itachi Uchiha, you're up!"
Itachi, unlike the previous two combatants, used a Shunshin to appear in front of Naruto. "Let's have a good fight, huh?"
"Sounds good to me, Itachi-san!"
"Begin!" shouted the Hokage, and the boys were on the move.
To the untrained eye the two boys just seemed to vanish, but to the Hokage and her advisors along with the Jonin present, the boys were fighting a tremendous battle. Tsunade watched closely as the moved from taijutsu, to weapons, and finally a combination of both as they dashed around the stadium floor at top speed. Itachi favored a ninjato, while Naruto stuck with kunai, but they both showed great skill with their weapons of choice. The fight continued for several minutes, sparks and blurs of color being the only thing a civilian would see, before they jumped away from each other.
"You're very skilled, Naruto-san," Itachi said with a smile, not looking the least bit tired.
"Same to you, Itachi-san," complimented Naruto, also looking as if he had not just fought an intense high speed battle. "Shall we take it up a notch?"
"By all means, but I should warn you," Itachi said with a smile, "I'm the village's Genjutsu Master."
"Big surprise there," muttered Naruto.
You do realize that you're immune to Genjutsu now, right?
"Since when?"
Since the moment you absorbed me, silly. My chakra, combined with your own, prevents foreign chakra from being able to influence you.
As Momo was telling him this, Itachi seemed to vanish. Well, he would have vanished if Naruto hadn't seen him leave behind a translucent version of himself and walk calmly towards him. Naruto assumed, and Momo confirmed, that Itachi had cast a Genjutsu to make it seem he was still standing in front of him. Unfortunately for Itachi, Naruto could only see the chakra anchoring the Genjutsu, while still seeing the Uchiha clearly. Not to say two couldn't play at that game. Letting Itachi approach him, Naruto pretended not to notice anything was wrong. In the Hokage's box he noticed Tsunade and her advisors frowning, thinking he had fallen for the trick. Only Jiraiya was smirking as Itachi drew out a kunai and sliced at Naruto's chest.
What happened next had everyone stunned. Instead of seeing blood as Itachi struck, the Naruto he had been fighting suddenly exploded in a cloud of smoke. Everyone looked around to see where the real Naruto might be, but it wasn't until they heard clapping that they looked up at the roof of the Hokage's box. Sitting there, calmly eating a cup of ramen, sat Naruto. Itachi looked confused for a moment, then as comprehension dawned on him he started to laugh.
"The clones from the start of the test," Itachi finally said with a smirk. "You let one of them fight Konohamaru and Ichigo, didn't you?"
"Yep," confirmed Naruto, finishing his ramen. "Didn't want to waste too much chakra on the preliminaries."
"Such fires of youth," gasped Gai. "To think we saw one of his clones putting on such a youthful performance with Itachi-kun! You're fires of youth burn brighter than I could have imagined, Naruto-san!"
"Something like that," agreed Naruto, having a flashback of Gai and Lee hugging.
"I think that proves he's got what it takes to be a chunin, Hokage-sama," Itachi said as he Shunshined back up to the Hokage's box. "He used good planning to put himself in position of strength, never revealed his secrets, and planned ahead for future battles."
"I have to agree with Itachi-san, Hokage-sama," agreed Hiashi. "The boy used planning, stealth, and advanced fighting skills. He has my vote for chunin."
Mikoto and Jiraiya also voiced their approval, the old hermit giving Naruto a thumbs up as the blond leapt back down to the stadium floor with Tsunade explaining the next part. "Ok, I've got to agree with you on that one. Gai, you're up next."
"No need, Hokage-sama," objected the spandex wearing man falling into what everyone called his nice guy pose, with sunlight glinting off his teeth. "I can already tell just from watching that Naruto-kun has exceeded the skill level of most Jonin. I've personally sparred with Itachi-kun and he is a most youthful opponent, nearly matching myself with his fires of youth, so for young Naruto-kun to match him in battle, even a friendly spar, shows Naruto-kun is worthy of being a Jonin!"
One breath. What type of being is he that he can say all that in one breath?
"Also one sentence." added Naruto, looking up at the Hokage and her companions at they talked. "Not as much yelling as the Gai I knew, but still a lot of youth and crap like that."
"I agree with Gai," Kakashi stated, not even bothering to look up from his orange book. "The kid is already proved he's got the skills."
"Are you kidding me?" questioned Naruto, though he wasn't that surprised the Kakashi of this world would be as lazy as the one from his. "I had one decent fight and you think that proves I'm Jonin level? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd love it if it was that easy, but even I know you need more than a few flashy moves to qualify as a Jonin."
"I'll test him," offered Jiraiya with a cheesy grin. "If he's got half the moves I think he does, he's got this in the bag, but the kid is right. One decent fight does not a Jonin make."
Tsunade nodded, though she was glaring at Kakashi. "Alright, Jiraiya, make sure the kid is up to snuff."
Leaping out of the Hokage's box and landing as if he had jumped a foot down rather than twenty, Jiraiya walked over to Naruto with a grin on his face. "What are the rules, brat?"
Just like his Pervy-sage back home this Jiraiya knew that if they went all out in such a small area there would be tremendous damage. That was why Naruto and his mentor had always setup rules for their spars, unless they were someplace where they could completely cut loose. Thinking about it, Naruto figured they should avoid anything past Jonin level, though a bit of flash wouldn't be out of place. With that in mind he smirked at the old man.
"No Sage-mode, nothing over Jonin, and no lethal attacks," he stated firmly, though he was still smiling.
"There's a lot of leeway there, kiddo," countered Jiraiya. "Like you said, there's a lot you can do to someone and not kill them. So, no crippling moves either."
"Deal," agreed Naruto as both men looked up at Tsunade to start the fight.
Raising her hand, still glaring at Kakashi, both men prepared. When she dropped her hand a moment later they vanished in a cloud of dust. This was not just a Taijutsu battle however, so speed was only needed to provide room between them to prepare. For Naruto this meant creating a horde of Shadow Clones to use as a distraction. On the other hand Jiraiya used the distance to summon several mid-sized toads to attack the clones. Both men were standing at far sides of the stadium floor, looking more like they were playing a game of shogi rather than fighting a battle.
"The toads cancel out the distraction of the clones," admired Mikoto, her Sharingan active as she observed the fight.
"Not really," argued Itachi. "Naruto is replacing the clones as fast as the toads are destroying them. In a battle like this is would come down to who has the most chakra, which we already know from his earlier display Naruto has plenty of."
As they had agreed on no lethal of crippling moves, Naruto picked up a pebble off the floor and threw it into the air in Jiraiya's direction. Making several hand signs he used a clone technique normally for increasing the number of kunai you threw at someone. In this case it turned one pebble into several thousand pebbles, each of them raining down on Jiraiya's location. The older shinobi saw this and substituted himself with one of Naruto's clone, letting it take the hit while he destroyed several more clones with several quick punches and kicks. Naruto tried several times to get his clones in to a position where they could attack the more experienced man, but not wanting to hurt the toads he was rather limited in options.
The crowd above was watching closely, surprised at how equally matched the two shinobi below them were. Obviously Jiraiya was limiting himself, they had all heard the rules the boy had set for the match, but even then it was fairly even. Most of them realized fairly quickly that Naruto was limiting himself as well, but the question was really how much was he limiting himself by. Tsunade, being the most familiar with Jiraiya's abilities, knew he was holding back a great deal. Mikoto and Hiashi were also aware of this, but still rather surprised that a young unknown shinobi could keep up at this level given his young age.
"Take it up a notch?" yelled Jiraiya.
"You got it, old man!" replied Naruto with a grin.
Suddenly the clones all started creating Rasengans, driving them into the ground to create a massive cloud of dust that obscured the stadium floor. For his part, Jiraiya suddenly faded from sight, leaving everyone wondering what the two of them were up to. A moment later the dust was blown away by a massive clash between the two figures going toe to toe in a Taijutsu match. Blows were struck back and forth, each looking for an opening as the other expertly blocked or countered. Jiraiya may have had the advantage of a longer reach due to his height, but Naruto made up for it with his speed. The two of them clashed for several minutes, only finally breaking apart when Jiraiya managed to land the first true hit on Naruto since the started.
It wasn't a powerful kick, but Jiraiya had managed to sweep Naruto's legs out from him, dropping the boy to the ground where a follow up leg drop hit the boy's chest. Leaping away as Naruto recovered and rolled away from him, Jiraiya's hands flew through a series of hand signs before he slammed the ground with one hand. Instantly four rock walls sprang up around Naruto to trap him. At least it would have trapped him if Naruto hadn't responded with a Rasengan to the wall between them, followed by wave of wind that knocked Jiraiya from his feet. Jiraiya recovered quickly, using another earth based technique to block a second wind blade thrown at him by the blond.
Thinking he had a second to recover, Jiraiya was caught unaware when a clone of Naruto suddenly burst out of the ground at his feet and delivered a massive haymaker to his chin. Sent flying into the air by the force of it, Jiraiya was surprised to see another Naruto falling towards him. He only had a second to concentrate, replacing himself with a rubble from his previous attempt to trap Naruto. He reappeared behind Naruto, ready to go back on the attack, but was once again surprised when Naruto unleashed another wind blade at him. The blade would have seriously hurt him if not for Jiraiya dropping to the ground under it and rolling away before Naruto could follow up his attack.
Preparing to use a fire technique, Jiraiya was just about to launch a fireball at the blond boy when he suddenly felt another set of arms around his waist. Feeling himself being lifted up into the air, Jiraiya tried to break loose from Naruto's hold on him, but it was too late. A second later his head made contact with the stone floor of the stadium and his vision was filled with stars. It wasn't enough to knock him out, but the impact left him dazed long enough for Naruto to dash forward and slap a chakra suppressing seal on his forehead. The moment he felt his chakra fade he knew he was beaten, even if he had been holding back.
"Winner, Naruto Uzumai!" bellowed the Hokage as she leapt down to the stadium floor to check on her husband and Naruto.
"Damn, brat, that hurt," groaned Jiraiya as Tsunade started examining him.
Naruto snorted, rubbing his tender ribs. "And that leg drop didn't? Think you cracked one or two of my ribs."
"That's what you two consider non-lethal?" barked Tsunade as she started to used healing chakra on Jiraiya's head.
"Yes!" both men replied with a smirk.
"I started him off at low Jonin and worked my way up to elite," explained Jiraiya as Tsunade worked. "He didn't hesitate and adapted well to the situation. Even when surprised he had a plan to escape along with a follow up attack. He also has a good mastery over his wind element, which he proved with those wind blades. Yes, they were powerful, but he blunted the leading edge to prevent serious injury. By the way, where did you learn that one, kid."
Tsunade had now finished healing Jiraiya and was moving over to work on Naruto as he explained. "I figured out how to do that when I was working on my advanced wind element training. I was trying to find the secret of how to cut a waterfall and stumbled across it. It's more of a stretched out wind bullet than a wind blade. Downside, it moves much slower than the blade, but can take out a large group standing together. I've used it to clear a path in enemy lines before, letting my clones deal with the people on the ground as I move forward."
"Good strategic thinking," voiced Hiashi as he joined them. "If you don't claim that as a Clan technique, it would be a fine addition to the village's repertoire."
"Nah, village can have it," Naruto stated as Tsunade finished healing his ribs. "I've got tons of techniques I've stumbled on over time, but most of them are ones I learned fighting other people. Those I'll hand over. I've only got a handful I'll keep to myself."
"That's fine, Naruto-san," with a smile, before he turned serious. "I am however curious as to how you learned the Rasengan. To my knowledge, that technique was only known to the Fourth and Master Jiraiya."
"We'll explain that one later, Hiashi," stated Tsunade, glancing around at the group now standing around them. "The answer is a village secret."
"Let him come, Tsunade-sama," Naruto said, nearly chocking on the honorific. "He's one of your advisors, so he should know as well."
Tsunade seemed to think about that for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "I think we'll add one more person, as they have a tie to this as well. Meanwhile, I am happy to announce that based on what I've just seen, you are now promoted to Jonin of Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki."
"Thanks!" shouted Naruto, bouncing around like a little kid at the news.
A short time later found Naruto sitting in the Hokage's office with several people. Obviously Tsunade was there, as was Jiraiya, Mikoto, and Hiashi. Mito was also there with, surprisingly, Hinata sitting at her side. Anko and Yugao were there, wearing their masks as they were technically on duty, but the other ANBU guards were absent. Naruto sat across from Mito, looking at her a little nervously, which in turn was making her nervous.
"Mito," Tsunade said with a warm smile, though it held a tinge of sadness. "What I am about to tell you is the complete truth. Some of it will come as a shock, while some of it will seem like a complete fantasy, but it will all be true. I want you to stay calm, hear me out, then we will discuss any questions you have. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, granny, I gotcha," replied the girl, causing Tsunade's eyebrow to twitch.
"I will start of then by telling you one of the most highly guarded secrets in the village," began Tsunade. "Seventeen years ago the village was attacked by the Kyubi, or at least that is the public side of the story."