The Pathless Sage

A/R: You guys have heard the excuses of writers so many times, it probably all sounds like bullshit to you guys. To be honest, we are normal people like you and we don't actually gain anything from writing these, so we don't actually owe the readers anything. It might sound like jokes, but to send death threats (however lighthearted they are) over not being given free entertainment is going a bit far.

On to the actual excuses. You know the normal deal, school, homework, exams. But ALSO! I went back to my country on a school trip for about a couple weeks, so that has taken up almost all of my time for the past few weeks or so. And I have been sick for a while afterwards. And dealing with jet lag for the first time (even though I have travelled cross-continent far over ten times) was a bitch. So apologies to the non violent readers for the delay.

On to the story!

Itachi, Naruto and Kisame were sitting around the small coffee table in the equally small living room of Naruto's equally small apartment. For three of them, it was rather cramped conditions and realistically, Kisame could have moved out ages ago. He liked it here though, not that he would admit it, and he would miss the constant banter with Naruto if he left.

Currently, the three were talking about an issue Itachi had brought up during Naruto's most recent training session. The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was one of Naruto's favourite techniques, and the most useful for training in his arsenal. He wasn't about to give up on regularly training with that technique unless he absolutely had to. Hearing Itachi's explanation, he was almost convinced that he needed to quit using the Jutsu for heavy training.

"So tell me, how does it actually harm me?" Naruto asked, looking every bit as skeptical as he felt. He hadn't gotten any less skeptical since they had started the conversation. In fact, he was becoming more and more suspicious by the second.

"For the last time, Naruto, it's whittling away at your life span!" Kisame said, looking utterly exasperated at the boy's stubbornness. He had lost a lot of his childish habits since having the Seal removed, but apparently stubbornness didn't count as childish in his books. Or something like that.

Itachi sighed. Naruto could be hard to convince when he didn't want to be convinced about something. "Due to the fact that the Shadow Clones send back memory and fatigue to the original creator, it causes your muscles great stress. In fact, you don't realise it since when you release your Shadow Clones, we use a forced sleep technique on you, but your muscles actually nearly liquefy every night. Since the Kyubi is within you and is helpful, he heals you up overnight. But the thing is, the Kyubi has to overload your system with his Chakra, and that constant cycle of damage and repair is slowly whittling away your life span."

"How bad is it?" When Itachi shot him a confused look, he expanded: "How many years do you think I have lost so far?"

"Considering you have been training for so long and hard with that method, I would say about 20 years." Kisame looked alarmed.

"So does that mean, Naruto will live till the age of 40, maximum?" After all, the average life expectancy of civilians was no more than 60, and ninja didn't even have a life expectancy.

"I suppose so -" Itachi began, before being cut off.

"40 years? No, no. I predict my life span to be somewhere in the 300s or the 400s." Kisame and Itachi looked at him like he was completely stupid.

"It isn't possible for a normal human to live that long." Kisame said with an agitated voice. He was willing to believe a lot of things in the world, but a life expectancy that insane? It wasn't possible.

"Who said I was a normal human?"

"Explain," Itachi ordered, in a voice that Naruto had dubbed his 'ANBU Voice'.

"I am an Uzumaki, a head family Uzumaki no less. We are notorious for our long life spans. An average Uzumaki male can live somewhere up to a 100 years if they have the bloodline, and up to around 175 if they don't have it." Naruto was sporting a grin at the gobsmacked expressions on his teachers' faces.

"Okay, that still doesn't explain being able to live somewhere between 300 to 400 years." Kisame said, doubt clearly colouring his voice. He wasn't even attempting to hide the fact that he wasn't believing Naruto. Itachi looked thoughtful though. "Seems like Itachi might have figured it out." Naruto thought.

"The fact that I have the Kyubi sealed inside me just doubles my vitality on top of my Uzumaki vitality," Naruto said, looking less amused than before. The Kyubi was still a touchy subject for him.

"How does that work? The fact that Kyubi both increases and decreases your vitality, that doesn't make any sense." Kisame said, looking less doubtful and more confused.

"I don't know. It's just what Kyubi told me, something about automatically strengthening my body to take the strain of its Chakra increasing my vitality as well."

"So then, are you planning on still using the Jutsu for training?" Kisame asked, preparing to ban his student from ever using the Jutsu again. If he knew Naruto, he knew that the boy would do anything necessary to get stronger. He was convinced that the young Ninja would give up a few more years for the sake of getting stronger, faster.

"Heavens no, I want to make sure that the Uzumaki clan becomes a powerful clan again before I die. That isn't going to happen in a single generation, so I plan to stick around for a long time. Plus, I want to be the Hokage for as long as possible." Naruto said. When he saw the doubtful look in Kisame's face, he started to get a little agitated. "For God's sake Kisame, I am not going to say I am not going to do something in your presence, then go do that exact thing when your back is turned. You can wipe that look off your face, thank you very much."

"Well, Naruto-kun, if you aren't going to be using Shadow Clones to train anymore, I suggest you get cracking on your Chakra control and Elemental Manipulation. Right away." Itachi said. The amused glint returned to his eyes as he watched Naruto drag himself out of the room, ready to train once again.

-TT-

(Timeskip: 11 months)

If Shikamaru was honest with himself, which he usually was, he had to admit that he couldn't have gotten a better Sensei if he had created the man himself. Asuma was laid back, cheerful and an all round awesome guy, but was also a good teacher. Everything Shikamaru could hope for. He didn't even have to train like a madman, something he feared his Jounin instructor was going to make him do.

So imagine his surprise when Asuma turned up to their meeting spot, one Saturday morning and told them to run like their lives depended on it. Poor Chouji would have to lose a few pounds soon.

"Asuma, what is going on? Why is it that you are suddenly insisting on building up our skills in Taijutsu?" Shikamaru asked, ever the suspicious Nara that he was. It didn't add up in his mind, Asuma never pushed them that hard in training.

"It's because the Chunin exams are starting up soon, and since it's in Konoha this time, I intend to let your first taste of the Exams be on home soil. It's much easier this way." Asuma said, leaning against a tree and taking a puff of his deathstick.

And indeed it was true. Due to negotiations taking far, far longer than they should have, the Chunin exams had been delayed a lot longer than expected. Even now, a few of the minor countries weren't participating, but a year was too long for the major countries to have gone without their entertainment. The customers were getting restless, thinking that the shinobi were becoming weak. Business had started to slow down, and that was something the larger nations could not afford. So, they decided, they were going ahead with the Chunin exams, whether the minor nations wanted to participate or not.

Of course, the prospect of not showing off their ninja, while others did, and looking weak had promptly caused the majority of the minor countries to agree to send their ninja along to participate.

All politics behind the Chunin exams sorted, the Hokage had decided to one day, exactly two months before the exams were scheduled to begin, to call in all of his Jounin-sensei to inform them of this fact. Normally, he would only allow one month for the Gennin teams to prepare, but this year was special. The Gennin he wanted most in the exams was a special case, and he wanted the boy to have a full squad for the exams, at the least.

-Flashback-

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind his oaken desk, puffing on his pipe. Before him, stood the legion of Jounin that had a Gennin team, that had taken up the honourable role of teaching the next generation. They were a bit confused though, by their calculation, the Chunin exams weren't supposed to start until 2 months later. They were Jounin, and even though they weren't expressly told when the exams were starting, they were well informed.

"As most of you already know, the Chunin exams are coming around to Konoha this time around, and it is set to start two months from now. Usually, I would only allow a month for the Gennin to get prepared, but there is a special case this year." The Hokage sat in his high backed chair, still smoking his pipe in an important meeting.

Kakashi and Gai raised eyebrows. Special case? As far as they were aware, the only special cases around was Sasuke, with him being the last Uchiha and all, but that wasn't any reason to give all the Gennin extra time to train. Unless…

"It's about Naruto, isn't it?" Kisame asked, looking as jolly as ever, with his standard Konoha Jounin outfit. He had recently taken to wearing a larger size, his old ones were too stuffy for his tastes, and it made his gills feel weird.

"Yes, with him being in a squad on his own, I'm afraid we may have some problems. And I'm sure, knowing him, he wouldn't want to forego an opportunity to finally show off what he is made off." The Sandaime smirked a little at that. He had been monitoring Naruto's activities for a while now, through the use of his crystal ball, and had a fairly good idea about exactly what the boy was capable of. Certainly, no Chunin would be touching a hair on his head any time soon.

"Hmm, so what do you have planned for him, Hokage-sama?" Kisame asked. He was appreciative of one thing, and that was that the Hokage was a lot more comfortable to be around. God knows he hated the Mizukage, the guy was far too uptight for anyone's good.

"I was thinking of placing him with a temporary squad, to help him through the first parts of the exam. I have a team in mind, and they are ready to accept him into their ranks as soon as they are given the order." The Sandaime paused, taking the time to take another long drag from his pipe. "The decision is up to you though, since it would mean you would temporarily have to give over the command of your Gennin to anther Jounin for the duration of the Exams."

Kisame made no pretence of contemplating on the notion. "Absolutely not. I refuse to hand him over to another Jounin, he is far to skilled a Gennin for me to just hand him over to someone else." More than a few eyebrows rose at that comment. Naruto Uzumaki, skilled? Blasphemy. The boy had barely scraped through the Academy on nothing but luck.

Kurenai didn't believe a word of it. "What is it with males and their egos?" She mentally shook her head. "No offense, Kisame, but I am sure that Uzumaki hasn't gotten good enough in a year and a half that he could take on the Chunin exams alone. There is no need to bluff to feed your ego."

Kisame just stood there silently for a while, raising his eyebrows and looking at Kurenai inquisitively. "Huh … so what I heard was true. You are a guy-hater, aren't you?" Kurenai glared daggers at him.

"I am sure you wouldn't have the same confidence in your student, had it been a kunoichi." Kisame shrugged.

"Can't be bothered." Kisame thought. "I suggest we just get along with the nominations as normal. Naruto will be perfectly fine on being treated as a fully manned team. I am sure he will do just fine."

"Well, it's your decision, and I will respect that, since you know the boy's strength the best," "And Itachi," Sarutobi added mentally. He was worried about Naruto, but he couldn't interfere in the situation. It was Kisame's decision as a Jounin-sensei. Taking one final puff, he put his trusty pipe down on his desk.

"Alright, let's get on with it. Starting with the Rookie teams, begin stating whether or not you want to nominate your team for the Chunin Exams."

"I, Kakashi Hatake, Jounin-sensei of team 7, consisting of Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Zaraki Kenpachi, hereby nominate them for the Chunin exams." The proclamation was met with surprised gasps, though many expected this to happen due to Sasuke being on the team.

"I, Asuma Sarutobi, Jounin-sensei of team 10, consisting of Shikamaru Nara, Chouji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka, hereby nominate them for the Chunin exams." More gasps, louder this time. Not one, but two rookie teams taking part in the Chunin exams?

"Males and their egos," Kurenai thought scathingly. "Why do they have to show off? Fine, I guess I will nominate my team too. I'll show you that kunoichi can teach just as well as shinobi." "I, Kurenai Yuhi, Jounin-sensei of team 8, consisting of Kiba Inzuka," Kurenai's lip curled slightly in disgust. She hated perverts, especially those that leered at their elders. "Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga," her face softened a little at the last name, "Hereby nominate them for the Chunin exams."

Iruka couldn't take it anymore.

"Now hold on a moment! Those were all my students at the Academy, and I know better than anyone else that these kids aren't ready to be Chunin. There's no need to endanger their lives just so that you Jounin can show off in front of you peers." Iruka, now being the head instructor at the Academy, was allowed to sit in on the meeting due to the fact that his opinion on the Gennin teams was valued.

"Iruka, understand that these Gennin are no longer under your jurisdiction. They are our responsibility, and you have no idea what we may have moulded them into. We have had almost two years to work with them," Kakashi looked as bored and as sleepy as ever. His small, orange book, however, was nowhere to be seen. "And frankly, this isn't your decision."

"Well, can we get on?" Silence met Kisame's question. "Good. I, Kisame Hoshigaki, Jounin-sense of team Kisame, consisting of Naruto Uzumaki, hereby nominate him for the Chunin exams."

Dead silence.

-Flashback end-

A/N: The next chapter may take a little long to come out. By long, I mean long by my ordinary standards, not my recent delay. That was rather unexpected.

The reason being that I am going to see if I can't do a little bit of work on my other fic that I have running, and also work on a new Naruto fic that I might be writing. I have recently encountered a lot of holes in my plot, and this story is rather lacking by my most recent standards, so I am seeking to write another story that fits better. This won't be discontinued, however.

Majin out!