Declaimer: I own nothing in this fanfic, but my created characters they abilities and Jutsu and that is about all I own "Goes to corner and starts crying"
Writing: Italic: thought, Bold: Bijuu or summoning speaking.
"Sometimes there are no words...no clever quotes to neatly sum up what's happened that day. Sometimes...the day...just...ends." - Unknown
"Friendship and loyalty? Yeah, I know about that. My burns show for all to see how loyal I am to my friends. Can you beat that friendship? There isn't a single soul alive who can beat the power of trusted allies, because they're just that, a single soul. True power lies in the bonds you create, in the hearts of those you've shared your good times and the bad. So, even if you do defeat this body, someone even stronger would surface and take my place. That's because I have allies I am honoured to have stand beside me and call me "friend". So bring it! You said you wanted to kill my friends, right? I won't let you, because those bonds are all I have! " - Unknown
Naruto watched as the forms of Gaara and his father disappeared into the crowd. With an air of determination, Naruto turned back to his team. "So when do we start," Yamato smiled at Naruto as he pointed towards the training grounds.
"We start now."
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and began to head out. As they left Naruto saw the one thing he didn't need to see. Walking a few feet ahead of them, were three ninjas from Kumo. Before Naruto could hide, one of the Kumo nins noticed him. In an instant Naruto knew he was found. The boy stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Naruto with death in his eyes. He was a thin boy, looking as if he hadn't eating in days, but Naruto knew that was a faux appearance. The kid in front of him had an air of authority around him, as if he was commanding the air around him. He wore a standard Kumo flak jacket, but had strange metal hooks on his right side. The hair was as dark as dirt, but his eyes were as clear as water. His team soon noticed he wasn't following and looked back. It was then that they noticed Naruto as well, but just as their bodies twitched towards the Uzumaki, their Jonin came in. "What's going on here," The man had a bored expression as if this was the last thing he wanted. He had a tattoo for lightning on his left shoulder. The team just stared at Naruto. As the Jonin followed their glares, Naruto saw the look of recognition, but it quickly vanished. The man gave the team a friendly smile, but Naruto's team saw the same looks. "Sorry, but my team is very jumpy. This is they're first time competing in the Chunin exams." The man slowly approached Yamato as he held out his hand. "Name is Darui."
Yamato accepted the offered hand, but Naruto could feel his muscles tensioning. "I'm Yamato," Darui gave a slight smile as he stared at Naruto and the others. "This is Suigetsu Hozuki, Haku Yuki, and Naruto Uzumaki." Darui nodded his head, but his eyes never left Naruto.
Having enough of Darui's stares, Naruto instinctively created a small wind blade. It was small enough that Yamato didn't see it, but it was directly in Darui's line of sight. "Sorry, I don't mean to stare," Darui apologized with a sly smile. "You just remind me of somebody else." Naruto gave Darui a smile, but it contained a deep warning; I'll fight back. As Darui returned to his team, he gave Yamato's team one last nod, before disappearing. With Darui and the other Kumos gone, Naruto felt Suigetsu's hand on his shoulder.
"They knew," Naruto didn't need to turn around; he could feel Suigetsu's concern. "Didn't they?" Naruto nodded slowly as he stared at Yamato.
"Is this going to be a problem?"
"It could turn out that way," Naruto answered back as he looked at the spot the Kumo team was standing at, moments ago. "But we won't know until the exams."
XXX
Darui watched with an inquiring eyes, as his team stewed in they're anger. The one he was most worried about, was Makaze (Storm caused by the Devil). Ever since he saw Naruto, a dark aura had taking up his air. "Listen up," Darui called out with his bored tone gone. His team reluctantly turned their heads towards Darui. "That is Doukaku, but he is now a Konoha nin, also his real name is Naruto Uzumaki." Makaze's eyes darkened at that point as lightning danced around his body. That bit of info didn't seem to sink in to his team, so Darui continued. "This means, we can't touch him, unless we want to start a war." At that point Makaze couldn't take it anymore. He jerked up as he stared Darui down.
"So I'm suppose to let that monster live," Makaze stated with rage in his voice. "That specific individual had a hand in my father's death." Darui's eyes turned towards the ground as he remembered the day the Kinkaku Butai, or what was left of them, returned. Many had died, but the one that truly came as a shock, was Tokkan's death. Ever since then Makaze wanted to find Doukaku and exact his own revenge, something the Raikage, almost, encouraged. It wasn't because he didn't care for Makaze, but he knew that the boy's anger would make him train all the harder.
"We have no choice," Darui answered back as he studied his team. "You all are not to make a move towards Naruto or anybody in his team." He looked around as his team nodded their heads, but Darui knew that once the exams start, they were going hunting. "I'll tell the Raikage about Doukaku being in Konoha, but until stay low and don't attract attention." With that the man left, leaving behind a team that had one thing on their minds; kill Naruto Uzumaki.
XXX
Naruto ducked underneath a woodened branch that Yamato had thrown at him, but couldn't dodge Yamato himself. Yamato delivered a swift kick to Naruto, sending him skidding backwards. As he regained his balance, Naruto noticed the shadow on top of him. Looking up, Naruto saw a giant wooden block falling towards him. The ground shook from the impact, but Naruto was pulled away by Suigetsu at the last second. "Naruto, you need to focus," Suigetsu berated, but Naruto just glared at the boy.
"How can I stay focus," Naruto questioned as he got out of Suigetsu's oily water. "Kumo knows who I am. It's only a matter of time, before they try and kill or capture me." Before they could continue, new faces entered the training grounds. As the two teams stared at each other, Naruto immediately recognized the clan traits they had. One had a pineapple type hairdo, the girl had blonde hair with green eyes, and the final member was a roly-poly looking boy with red swirls on his cheeks.
"So, you are the new team," The girl spoke with a satisfied smile. Naruto stood to his full height and looked towards theNara.
"What's your name,Nara?"
Either, Shikamaru didn't hear Naruto or he didn't care, but the boy just stared lazily up at the sky. The Akimichi of the group was currently eating a bag of chips, but still gave the opposite team a smile. "Hey," The boy said with a mouth full of chips. "My name is Choji, this is Ino, and this is Shikamaru." Naruto then introduced his team. As the groups talked further, Naruto saw a man approach them.
"It's time to get started," Naruto assumed he was other team's sensei. This was confirmed when the three nodded and walked towards the Jonin. Yamata gave the other sensei a polite bow, receiving a nod in return.
"That was Asuma Sarutobi," Yamato answered, seeing Naruto's questioning gaze. "He is the son of the Hokage." This didn't answer Naruto's question, however, before he could ask his question, Yamato spoke. "Okay, back to training!"
XXX
1 day later
In Kumo, a hawk flew overhead, screeching it's presence for all to hear. As the bird flew towards the Raikage's office, a giant arm reached outside the window. The bird took its new perch in an instant. As the Raikage pulled his arm back inside he retrieved the message tied to the hawk's back. With its burden gone, the hawk released one last screech, before taking off. E opened the scroll and immediately recognized Darui's handwriting. As he began to read the message, electricity began to bounce of his body. Once he finished, the paper crinkled up. With a roar of rage, E punched his desk in two, but wore a smile as if he won a victory. "Finally found you," E mumbled to himself. He glanced towards his wall. Hanging there were two pendants, one gold and the other silver, and both had the kanji for family on it. "I think it's time we complete the set." With that said, E stormed out, with thunder erupting behind. E knew he had to lure Naruto into attacking and he knew the perfect way. Reaching up, E grabbed the pendants just as he left his office.
XXX
The Chunin exams were starting today. Excitement buzzed around Konoha, as if everyone was filled with electricity. Yamato placed his team under a strict training regiment, but was surprised by how accustomed they were to it. He knew Naruto and most likely Suigetsu trained with Kinkaku and Ginkaku, and Haku with Zabuza, but the training was close to what Yamato did to get assigned to ANBU. It brought a smile to his face. Knowing that his team was already well adjusted to strict training just made it all the easier to train them. He had no problem in believing that they would be fine in the exams. "Hey, Yamato," Yamato looked down at Naruto and saw his mischievous grin. "How about we place a bet on this exam? If we all pass you buy us some ramen, but if one of us fails, I'll buy the food." Ever since coming to Konoha, Naruto had taken a likening to the ramen from Ichiraku's store. The owner, Teuchi and his daughter Ayame, watched in amazement as Naruto continued to devour bowl after bowl of ramen. It was almost like Naruto had an endless void in his stomach. Even though he was one of their best customers, he tended to make them close up early.
Yamato just shook his head, but had a look of glee on his face. Even though he was under specific orders to observe the three, he couldn't help, but like his team. He had a boy who was a mischievous as a fox, a girl who was as polite as she was strong, and the other one was always trying to provoke reactions from everyone. "I'll think about it," Naruto frowned, knowing Yamato wouldn't accept the bet, but still kept a merry attitude. As the team stopped in front of the building that held the Chunin exams, Yamato turned around. "I may have only trained with you for one day, but that is all I need too see that you all are a great team." Naruto crossed his arms and gave Yamato a smile that said 'As if there was any doubt'. Suigetsu just scoffed and looked the other way, but kept one eye on Yamato. Haku just smiled, while thinking Yamato for the compliment. "But don't get overconfident. I've seen many teams, like yours; go into the exams only to lose."
"Hey, don't sweat it sensei," Naruto's voice rang out with confidence. "We're not overconfident, we're just confident that we will pass." Yamato blinked a few times, before shaking his head. With a solemn expression, Yamato watched as his team entered the building.
"Good luck."
XXX
As they entered the testing room, Team Yamato received a shock. The entire room was filled with ninja. Each from a different village, they were all giving them the same stare, the stare of death. Naruto couldn't help, but chuckle. "This is going to be a snap," Naruto declared as loud as he could. The stare intensified, with the added effect of some killer intent. Still, this did not affect the Uzumaki. Before he could continue, however, Hinata's team walked through the doors, followed by Sasuke's team. The teams stared at each other, some offering kind smiles.
"I can already tell you're causing trouble," Naruto turned towards Kiba and gave the Inuzuka a wide grin.
"It's what I do best, Kiba."
The dog nin let out a quiet chuckle as Akamaru let out a bark. As the group talked more, a lone shadow crept from behind. Sasuke never saw Ino, as the blond grabbed Sasuke from behind. "I got you, Sasuke," The girl let out her cry. Naruto turned and saw Shikamaru and Choji standing as far back as possible, with a look that plainly stated, they had no part in this.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Naruto looked towards the shout and saw Sakura with a blazing look in her green eyes. This was the first time Naruto saw Sakura this anger and it was a strange sight to behold. As the two continued their fight, Naruto set his sight on a new figure. A man with gray hair, black eyes, and wearing circular glasses was approaching them. "A bit of advice," The man said with a sweet natured voice. Naruto's eyes narrowed into silts as he tried to get a read on the man's emotions, but to his great surprise; he couldn't feel a thing. "Some of these guys are a bit cranky. As such they don't need a bunch of first-timers making a bunch of racket." As the different teams gave the man death glares, he put his hands up, in a submissive gesture. "Hey, I'm not here to start anything. I'm actually here to lend you a helping hand." Saying this, the stranger produced a stack of cards. "My name is Kabuto Yakushi and these are my ninja info cards, that contain info from everyone in the exams."
Everyone, except Naruto and Hinata leaned forward to get a better look. It was Sasuke who spoke first. "What type of nonsense is this," Sasuke demanded as Kabuto placed a blank card on the ground. "There is nothing on them."
"Well, they wouldn't be much of a secret if everyone could see them," With this cryptic message, Kabuto placed a single finger on the blank card. With fascination gleaming in their eyes, the card spun, but as it spun around the info began to appear.
"It's activated by chakra," Naruto blurted out gaining the attention of Kabuto. The smile Naruto received from Kabuto, caused the boy to tense up. Kabuto gently pulled another card from the pile and placed it on the ground.
"Let's see who we have here," The card spun as the info slowly began to reveal itself. The person on the card was Sasuke. "Sasuke Uchiha, Genin, Team Kakashi, and your teammates are Sakura Haruno and Sai." Kabuto held the card in front of him, as if it held Sasuke's life. "With this bit of info, I know everything about you." This reply unsettled a few people, but Sasuke remained as stoic as ever.
"Can you look up other people," Sasuke's eyes glanced towards Naruto, but the blond chose to ignore it. Kabuto nodded his head as he placed the cards back. "I would like Rock Lee and Naruto Uzumaki both from this village." Kabuto nodded his head and pulled out two cards. The first one up was a kid in a green jumpsuit.
"Okay, first up is Rock Lee," Kabuto stated as he held the card up. "Rock Lee, Genin, Team Guy, teammates are Tenten and Neji Hyuga." At the sound of Neji's name, Naruto saw Hinata flinch slightly. "He doesn't have any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, but he seems to be very proficient in Taijutsu." Sasuke gritted his teeth in frustration. He was hoping to learn some sort of weakness to the green clad ninja, but he had to deal with what he had. "Next, we have Naruto." As the card spun, everyone watched with baited breath, waiting for the info to be revealed. "Okay let's see here. Naruto Uzumaki, Genin, team Yamato, teammates are Haku Yuki and Suigetsu Hozuki…" Kabuto stopped and placed his card back into his deck. This earned him puzzled looks from everyone, but Naruto just smiled. "It also appears that he is shrouded in mystery. After that there is nothing more on you."
"But you said this contains info from everyone in the exams?"
Kabuto turned his eyes back to Sasuke, pushing up his glasses as he did so. "What I meant to say was this," Kabuto spoke in a very narrow voice, as if he was choosing when to attack. "My collection is far from complete and you can't expect me to have info on Naruto. I mean the kid just got here, right Naruto." Kabuto's smile was back, but Naruto didn't say a word. Instead, his attention was diverted when three figures charged towards Kabuto. A boy, who resembled a mummy with a gauntlet, took a swing at Kabuto, but just as the attack was about to hit; Kabuto jerked his head back. Smiling to himself, Kabuto went for his attack, but stopped when his glasses broke. Collapsing onto his knees, Kabuto vomited the contents of his stomach on the ground.
"Looks like you underestimated us," The bandage wrapped nin stated, raising his gauntlet above his head, but just before he could deliver the intended punch; an explosion rocked the room.
"Alright, break it up you maggots!"
Everyone turned towards the new voice and saw a giant of a man. In fact man didn't do him justice; the man was a walking and talking grizzly bear. Naruto could tell from the way the man presented himself, he was not one for disobeying the rules. "Sorry, couldn't help ourselves," The sound nin stated as he backed away from Kabuto. "We've been itching for a good fight, ever since we got here."
The man gave a deep grunt, which sounded more like a growl from a predator. "My name is Ibiki," Ibiki stated, with a tone that said one thing; interrupt me and you are gone. "I'm your proctor for the first exam. Now, step in here so I can see what you brats are made of." With those encouraging words, Ibiki swept out of the room with the teams right behind him. As they entered another Jonin was waiting on them. He handed pieces of paper that had numbers on them. "Find the seat with your number and sit down." Ibiki watched with narrowed eyes as each Genin took their respective seats. Naruto took this opportunity to look around the room. He noticed the other Jonin seating in seats at the far-side of the room with notepads.
"Strange," Naruto thought as he turned back to Ibiki. "Why do we need so many Jonin for the first exam?" The answer came from Ibiki.
"Now the first part of the exam is this," Ibiki reached into his desk before pulling out a stack of papers. Almost, everyone let out a groan when they realized what was on Ibiki's desk. "The first exam is a test to see how intelligent you all are. Now there is just one rule; no cheating. If any of us catch you cheating three times, you and your team will be expunged from the exams." Ibiki looked around and saw many Genin looking towards they're own teammates. "Now there is another question after this test, but that one will be saved until this part is over."
As the papers were passed out, Naruto caught his first glimpse and came to one conclusion; it was impossible. The questions were meant for Chunin and higher. Taking a quick glance around, Naruto noticed an interesting sight. Sasuke had his Sharingan active and was copying the boy in front of him. "Number 82 you're out of here," Naruto turned towards the proctor's voice and saw a anger looking Iwagakure team being lead out of the room.
"I think I get it now," Naruto's smile crept along his features, with an uneasy slowness. "The point is to cheat without being caught." Tapping his finger on the table Naruto began to contemplate his strategy, but was coming up with a blank. Despite, his fox-like traits, there was one thing Naruto wasn't; stealthy. That was when he felt a wet feeling on his leg. Looking down Naruto saw himself looking at a trail of moving water, which slowly began to take a shape. Smiling at the genius plan, Naruto quickly wrote the answer down for the first question. As he lend back, the water slowly retracted, before returning with a new answer. Moving his eyes in a slow and calculated manner, Naruto managed to avoid detection, but Ibiki was giving him an eerie smile. "If he knew then my team would be kicked by now." Naruto reassured himself as he continued with his info gathering.
"Okay, pencils down!"
Everyone followed the instructions as they awaited the final question. Ibiki stood there, observing the teams' reactions. Naruto began to grit his teeth, as Ibiki continued to stall. "Get on with it," Naruto yelled out in frustration, earning him a glare from the proctor. "Some of us have an exam to win." This show of bravado gave Naruto several different reactions. Ibiki cracked a slight smile, Haku and Suigetsu just stared at Naruto anxious, and the others were either giving him death glares, or laughing to themselves.
"Fine then," Ibiki stated with an amused tone. "But first I have to go over a two new rules or more along the lines of... guidelines," This stirred up an uproar from the participants, but was quickly quieted from a swift glare from the giant. "Okay, now rule number 1 you can choose to take the final question or not." This got nods of approval from most of the Genin, but that was before Ibiki released the bad news. "But if you choose not to take it, your answers will be thrown away and you and your team will be removed. However, if you take the question and fell it, then not do you not move on, but you will be forbidden from taken place in the Chunin exams again." Silence was all that was heard. Nobody was breathing; the only thing making a single sound was the wind blowing through the open window. "Now, make your choice."
"There isn't much of a choice," Naruto's thoughts echoed in his mind. If they leave they fell, if they take the question and don't get the right answer, they fell. One by one, Naruto and everyone else watched as people began to raise their hands and leave. "This makes no sense. Why have we gone through all of this, if they were going to fell us anyway?" As Naruto continued to think on this, he final noticed the person seating next to him; Hinata. One quick look and Naruto saw the nervous look in her eyes. "Well, I guess it's time I do something stupid."
With a collective gasp, everyone watched as Naruto's hand slowly rose. Ibiki's smile grew, but stopped when Naruto slammed his hand on the desk in front of him. "I don't give up," Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs. "I may not be the brightest bulb, heck I may not be the quietest person here, but I have one thing on my side… the guts to never give up!" Ibiki took a quick glance around and noticed that the individuals who were about to quit, stop themselves. "We all came here to do to prove something, that we are worthy. How do you think your village will think if they found out you just quit? I don't know about the rest of you, but I will fight to the end. Now, how about we hear the final question Ibiki."
Ibiki continued to look around and saw nothing, but determined eyes. "This kid actually stopped them from giving up," Ibikia stared at Naruto, who was still standing with his arms crossed in defiance. Seeing this Ibiki couldn't help, but begin to laugh. Hearing this, everyone's eyes became confused and worried at the same time. "I guess I can tell you now." The participants all waited for the question that would decide their fate, but only for Ibiki to look at them all with the biggest grin ever. "You all pass." The looks of pure confusion were too much for Ibiki to take, as he began to laugh once more. "The point to this test was to see how good each one of you could gather info. The true point to this test was to see if you could gather the info without being caught." Suddenly, a dark blob covered the window. Ibiki turned his head towards the shape, but only for a giant banner to be thrown in front of him. Naruto looked at the banner and saw a name scrawled on it, in big flamboyant letters.
"Hello, you maggots," The woman shouted as she appeared in front of everyone in a puff of smoke. "My name is Anko and I'll be torturing you next."
With the first exam done, what awaits Naruto in the forest of death? Find out next time.