Chapter 8
The Chunin Exams – Part I
The hand of the clock strikes midnight. Another night of tossing and turning in my bed. Another night of no sleep.
It's been like this for the past several months now ever since the King of Rats showed me the massive cavern that laid underneath the Hokage Mountain. Every time I close my eyes I can see the horrors that reached out from the dark abyss.
Every time I close my eyes I remember losing her in that dark expanse, only seeing a bright light that was quickly extinguished.
What secrets did Konohagakure held in its foundations? There was something more that certainly meets the eyes.
Over the course of several months, Merem and I were able to learn several things that would explain some unanswered questions. Questions that have gone unanswered for over a decade.
It explained how Kiritsugu showed up on this side of the world. There was suspicion but never any solid proof of why the Grail had chosen this place of all things. Konohagakure and Fuyuki City shared a two-way ley line connection between one another.
We shared several theories as to why these two places even shared a ley line. It was almost unheard of really, even for Merem.
One of them was that by pure happenstance that they both somehow formed a similar set of caverns that ended with a massive chamber coupled with a keystone in the middle. The odds of it being formed naturally were ludicrous really, but still a possibility nonetheless. Although if you looked on a globe Konoha and Fuyuki were situated opposite of each other, so maybe? But there were no recorded evidence of this happening anywhere else in the world.
The other was that maybe, just maybe, the ritual for the Third Magic was here as a prototype emplaced by Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, Matou Zouken, and Tohsaka Nagato. It was another possible idea that they had initially chosen this place as it was far from the reaches of the Mage's Association and the Holy Church. They would have free reign to do as they please to experiment with their rituals and magic, but with the rising presence of shinobi and their wars scared them off to find another suitable location.
Either one could be right, we'd never know unless we had a journal or diary to know what was going on three hundred years ago.
I took the time to go through Dad's old belongings and happened upon journal. After he passed away, I never bothered to go through his stuff out of respect but looking through it was rather informative of his own opinions on how he ended up here.
Kiritsugu shared the same sentiments that the Grail opened a connection to Konohagakure out of spite and to inflict damage on not just one location, but two at the same time. It took a dying man's wish to instill as much pain and death as possible in revenge against my adoptive father. Sending him here was just the cherry on top of everything.
I believed it.
I know on firsthand account on how vicious and wicked the corrupted Grail was. The thing was not something any living being should take lightly.
Never once I questioned the how's or why's of things. I never asked him how the fire started. Why he adopted me or how did he get here. Why he was a magus, not a shinobi like everyone. Nor did I ever ask him why he never tried going back.
I had merely accepted everything as is.
Surviving that fire was a miracle.
Being adopted by the man who saved me was a grace.
At that time I was too happy to question anything.
As I read through more and more of dad's journal, it was clear that he missed his homeland but more importantly. He missed Illya. He missed his biological daughter.
My step-sister.
There were tear marks that stained the pages. He cried while writing that. Never once had I ever seen him emotionally break down. Kiritsugu always seemed like an unbreakable person that kept his cool in all situations.
Dad's journal changed that.
It was heart wrenching just trying to read it all. Rolling over to my side, I grabbed the book and flipped it to an abnormally long entry that was made about a year after he adopted me.
October 10
It's been about a year so since I've arrived on the other side of the world in the land of the shinobi. It'll also be over a year since I adopted a little boy that I saved from the fires named Uzumaki Naruto.
He's a bright and quiet little kid. Apparently he used to be a little troublemaker but so far I haven't had any trouble with him at all. It was far from it actually when I adopted him. In a way he reminded me of myself when I was a child with Natalia. A precocious, solitary child that seemed far more mature for his age.
But I wasn't complaining.
We celebrated his fifth birthday today. The Hokage had stopped by to visit to wish him a happy birthday although that wasn't the only thing he was here for. He was here for an update on the records that I was compiling for him about the "Far West." It was an agreement between him and me for my asylum here.
Anyways… that's not the only thing to mention. I… I love my new adopted son Naruto with all my heart but I can't tear my mind away from Illya…
Irisviel's greatest gift to the world.
My precious daughter.
She is alone right now.
She is alone with that monster Jubstacheit.
There's an untold amount of things that I know he's doing to Illya. That monster is undoubtedly experimenting and torturing my precious girl.
It pains me to say that I am utterly powerless to do anything. My plight will go unanswered, to die quietly into the night. I would attempt to leave but even that is an impossibility. Trying to leave the village from its walls would prove difficult with my deteriorating rate of health along with no means to get off the continent and travel back.
The frustration is unbelievable. The pain is unreal knowing that my daughter is suffering right now. It is indescribable to feel so utterly incompetent to do anything.
I… I wish I could see my sweet Illya one more time.
I wish I could see her smile once more.
I wish I could hear her joys of laughter.
I write this knowing that I will never be able to see her again.
I pray that I will have at least the ability to take care of the boy who survived the fire which I invariably caused. I've already ruined one of my children's lives, I'll do my best to not ruin his.
I don't want my adopted son tangled up in my mess. It is my burden to deal with, the weight upon my shoulders are mine to bare. My sins are mine alone, not his. He's an innocent child that shouldn't have to witness his adoptive father lie in anguish.
I'll do my best to smile often at him.
I'll do what I can to be a good father to him.
I'll make sure that I can make that boy live a decent life.
After all… it's the least I can do for the atrocities that I've committed.
Snapping the book shut I rolled over onto my back, rubbing my forehead all the while. This coupled with everything else was the primary reason I can barely sleep nowadays.
I huffed, "It's not like I get any rest from sleeping either."
A thought crossed my mind if things would have played out differently if I had read his journal after he passed away. There were things he had written that would've helped immensely years before coming to Fuyuki City or at the very least gave me a heads up into what I was getting into.
"Ughhh," now my mind is venturing off to what ifs and other things. Rolling over to the clock near my futon, it blared in annoyingly neon red numbers 4:00 A.M.
Only another four more hours until I have to meet up with Kakashi's team for the first part of the Chunin exams. I wasn't going to catch any decent amount of sleep. I'll just read through dad's journal again.
"Hhaauwwhh!" A loud yawn escaped from me as I walked to the building where team Seven was.
I was late.
It wasn't by much, but it was enough to where I'll probably miss the pep talk that Kakashi would give. He'll do fine without me either way, I didn't have much of an input except maybe some tips about the things they do in the examinations to flunk people out.
The plain multistoried building came into view as I yawned once more. A part of me was regretting not trying to get some sleep. Walking into the building and going down the main hallway I immediately heard fighting that was going on in one of the nearby open rooms.
"What idiots are fighting before their exams?" I questioned. It better not be Team Seven, most importantly it better not be Sasuke being a moron.
My head peaks through the door way, low and behold it was Team Seven. Daisuke, Sasuke, and Sakura were all down below with another trio of genin from Konoha. Thankfully it wasn't her that was fighting, it was Daisuke going up against someone that had quite possibly the funkiest hairstyles that I've ever seen.
It looked like a bowl haircut that was reminiscent of-
The train of thought stopped right there. That kid in the green spandex and orange leg warmers was a spitting image of Might Guy. Wait was this his son? I blinked and rubbed my eyes to be sure.
It had to have been. The kid was a spitting image of him.
A sparring match was going on between the two, but things weren't going so well for Daisuke it seems like. He was on the back foot from the Guy lookalike with his aggressive pressure. Everything that was coming from him was pure brute force.
The spandex wearing teen didn't bother trying to maneuver around a block, he simply smashed his way through it. In a way, his fighting style was reminiscent of my own except without the whole leaving glaring false openings to bait an attack. Everything was well guarded, keeping himself tight from all angles and preventing a hard offensive onto him.
Probably a tough opponent in close-combat, but abysmal at even medium or long ranges. An arrow around three or four kilometers out would take care of individuals like him.
An irritated sigh escaped from me.
Part of me says I should break this up, the other said to leave it as be and let the guy get his ass beat. But if he gets injured before the exams and somehow disqualifies them, then Kakashi's going to be breathing down my neck about why I didn't stop it. And if he starts breathing down my neck, then I'm going to breath down their necks for being a bunch of idiotic morons.
"Screw it, I'll stop it so I don't get an aneurysm from all of this." Moving from my position that overlooked the two teams, I jumped in between them. Just before they could clock each other's heads in I grabbed their fists and pulled it behind their backs, locking it into a hold where if they tried to move would serve to dislocate their arm.
"You morons," I started, "are you trying to get yourselves disqualified early? By the Root you two are a pair of idiots in a pod. Just thinking about how moronic your actions are gives me a headache."
"Ouch! Ouch! Shit! Let go off my arm you asshole!"
I gave him a scornful stare. "I bet you're the moron that started the fight didn't you?" My hold tightened causing him to yelp in pain. They both struggled equally to be free but I wasn't about to let go just yet.
"And you!" I rounded on the other person. "Why are you even sparring in the first place when the exams are about to start? Are you that excited that you have to fight someone? Did you know that you can be expulsed from the exams because of reckless behavior? What would your teacher think of you?"
The person I was holding stilled. Thank god, he was starting to become troublesome just to hold down. That kid's strength was monstrous.
"Jesus Christ you guys are a bunch of idio-"
I stopped midsentence half-way into calling them idiots. There was something that was making the hairs at the back of my neck stand on end. A rush of air was heading towards my head as a roar was heard behind me.
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"
Shoving the two away from me, I barely dodged the kick as it flew overhead. Pivoting on the heels of my feet I traced Kanshou into existence to cut the person down.
To my utter shock the person who attacked me had stopped the blade by clamping two hands onto either side of the blade.
"N-Naruto?"
Huh?
The man who sputtered out my name broke me out of my combat mode sending me back into normality.
Shit. Was I really about to cut someone down because of a surprise attack?
Yeah… I don't really respond well to surprises.
Getting a better look at the person who tried kicking my head off from behind. I saw that it was Guy in all of his green spandex glory coupled with a flak jacket to distinguish himself from his lookalike.
Well you certainly don't see that every day now do you?
"Guy?"
He perked up immediately bring me into a bear hug that almost crushed my ribs. "NARUTO! IT IS YOU! MY VERY FIRST STUDENT! IT'S BEEN AGES SINCE I'VE SEEN YOU!"
"GUUAHHCKKK!" the hug from him forced the air out of my lungs. Holy hell I forgot how freakishly strong Guy was!
"What? Oh! Sorry Naruto-boy!" He let me down sending me to my knees as I gasped for precious air. "In my excitement I might've applied a bit too much pressure!" A nervous laughter escaped from him.
"Y-Yeah… h-hello to you too Guy!" I rubbed my sides trying to ebb away the dulling pain. "What the hell was that for? Trying to kick my head in and all…"
"Haha – sorry, sorry Naruto-boy! I saw a stranger manhandling one of my students so I reacted accordingly as punishment!"
I gave him a blank stare. Guy tried kicking me in the head as punishment?
"Oh I see you and Guy have finally met." Kakashi's voice came from up above sounding uninterested and laidback as usual.
"Kakashi? I got here pretty late, so I thought you'd be gone by now."
"Late? What do you mean? You got here just in time actually."
What? Really? I could've sworn I was late.
"Huh… alright then. Well the first stage is starting soon, so we should probably get going don't you think?"
Kakashi looked to Guy's team. "Don't you want to introduce yourself to Gai's team?"
A single glance was all it took to see Guy with his team as he used his patented smile along with the copycat of his. An awkward, forced smile formed on my face. "H-Hi?"
"NARUTO-KUN! IT IS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU! GUY-SENSEI HAS TOLD ME MANY STORIES OF YOU! MY NAME IS ROCK LEE!"
I winced at how loud he shouted. Wait – reverse that back a bit. Stories? About me?
"H-Huh? Say that again please?"
"GUY-SENSEI HAS TOLD US STORIES OF WHAT YOU WERE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH WITH YOUR HARDWORK! EVER SINCE THEN YOU HAVE INSPIRED ME TO DOUBLE. NO! TRIPLE MY TRAINING TO CATCH UP TO YOU!"
Yeah. This can't be Guy's son. This has to be a clone through and through.
"Indeed. Our sensei has preached about your capabilities causing us to push ourselves to meet those standards. Excuse me, I've yet to introduce myself. My name is Hyuga Neji." Ah – well he sounds respectful enough. He even bowed which I returned. The man wore a white-kimono shirt with long, loose sleeves, matching pants, a navy-grey apron around his waist, and standard black shinobi sandals. A fair conservative look for a shinobi.
"Ah well… they might've been exaggerated a little bit-"
"Nope!" I was interrupted by their female teammate. "We all know Guy's not the type to do that since he's pretty much literal with everything. Hi! My name's Higurashi Tenten by the way!" The woman beside Neji sported a long-sleeved, high-collared white blouse with maroon edges, black fingerless gloves, low-heeled sandals, and a standard black forehead protector. She seemed easy on the eyes with her black hair stylized in two Chinese-style buns on her head with short fringe-bangs framing her face. "I like that sword of yours by the way! Is it some sort of falchion or dao? Maybe a mix of both? We should spar one day!"
There goes that, I tried putting what I did down as insignificant but I apparently forget Gai doesn't tell lies.
"Well then," scratching the back of my head to hide my embarrassment. "My name is Emiya Naruto, but you can call me Naruto. Nice to meet you all. And uh… yeah it's a bit a mix of both and… sure maybe one day?"
"Naruto and I will meet with you at the lounge once our teams are in the room Gai. Let's just forget this altercation happened between our teams alright?" Thank goodness for Kakashi playing peacemaker.
"AGREED MY ETERNAL RIVAL!" I winced. I really forgot how loud Gai can be. "LEE! MY WONDERFUL, BEAUTIFUL STUDENT! YOU SHOULD'VE KNOWN BETTER THAN TO GET INTO A FIGHT WITH YOUR COMRADES! LET ALONE BEFORE THE EXAMS START!"
"GUY-SENSEI! I APOLOGIZE FOR MY ACTIONS! I WILL RUN A HUNDRED – NO, TWO HUNDRED LAPS AROUND KONOHA WITH MY BARE HANDS!"
"LEE! AS YOUR SENSEI I WILL DO THEM WITH YOU AS WELL FOR BEING NEGLIGENT!"
"GUY-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
"GUY-SENSEI!"
My face slowly morphed into utter horror as I watch the spectacle play out. In my head, it was screaming to look away before any damages could occur but I was fairly sure it was too late. I don't think Avalon could ever repair the mental scarring from this.
"Hey psst – come on Naruto let's go before they turn to us. You know how Guy can get," whispered Kakashi as he grabbed my collar effectively dragging me out of the room. "Phew that's a close one… any longer and he'd drag me into that mess."
"W-When did… Guy…?"
"Oh no that's just a student he picked up that got enamored with the whole get up. Not actually his son but he might as well be really." Well that certainly explains it enough. I wasn't going to ask for any more details.
We arrived at the double doors that lead to the examination hall, their first stage to become Chunins. I wonder how they're feeling right now. Anxious? Apprehensive? I looked to study their faces.
They all showed confidence of themselves. Team Seven had made leaps and bounds over the course of three months. My relationship with some of them have been rocky at best, but it was a favor owed to Kakashi so I sucked it up to do my best. The information I gained from my research all but confirms who Orochimaru really was. Now I just had to close the house down, tie up some loose ends with the estate and I'll be on my way back home with Merem.
Hopefully Tohsaka won't tear me a new one when I see her again.
"Alright you three, I'm not one for speeches really, but I know you three will make it to the finals. Show the people in that room what you're made of. Don't be afraid to flex your arms a bit, that also goes to say to be mindful of how much attention you attract." That last bit was geared towards Daisuke.
His character was a braggart through and through so it was up to Sakura mainly to reign him in to keep a low profile when need be. I don't expect Sasuke to do too much since she's been keeping quiet to herself nowadays which was odd since it was unlike her when we first met.
"Remember, teamwork is key in here. Watch each other's backs alright? I expect to see every one of you at the finals, so does Naruto right?" he elbowed me. I guess he expects me to add something in to his little speech.
"Uh," I sounded so intelligent. "Yeah um… first part is no sweat really so every one of you should pass with ease. Last time I took my exams they had some ten question long test that wasn't really a test at all. Just an exercise to see how well you gather information and stuff. So really you can just sleep through the thing if you wanted," shrugging at the end.
Turning to my left, Kakashi was palming his face.
Oh… oops? I guess they're still recycling the old method since way back then.
"Um… yeah just pretend like you didn't hear what I said alright? I… probably shouldn't said that." I muttered while looking off to the side.
A tired sigh came from Kakashi as I looked at him sheepishly. "Alright you three, get in there and do your sensei proud. Also try not to step on too many people's toes ok? Come on, let's get to the lounge Naruto."
"Yeah good luck, don't sweat it. It's really easy trust me, they love to play mind games so just uh… yeah I'll shut up now. Good luck!" I waved to them as I caught up to Kakashi. I swore Sakura giggled on my way out and Sasuke smiling at me.
I huffed. I'm in need of some serious sleep.
We entered the private lounge area that was quite spacious and relaxing to be in.
"Jonin lounge huh? You know… I never did get the chance to come here when I got that promotion." I said it out loud more to myself than to Kakashi.
"Well that's because as soon as you got promoted you pretty much retired a month later, you didn't even get to receive any benefits from the rank," replied Kakashi as he lead me to a large sectional sofa that had three people seated.
I recognized Anko from her purple hair, but failed to know who the other two were.
"Oh? Kaka-kun! About time! I see you've brought Naru-chan here as well!" Anko waved to us. "Come! Come! Asuma and Nai-chan are excited to finally meet you!"
Nai-chan?
And is that the Old Man Hokage's son?
With how close they were seated to each other, one could make the assumption that they were dating.
"Yo," was Kakashi simple greeting accompanied with his lazy wave.
"Hello." I bowed slightly, somewhat formally greeting myself to Anko's friends.
"So this is the vaunted Uzumaki Naruto huh?" said Asuma. "Ouch! Geez woman, no need to dig your elbow into my ribs that hard!"
"Control yourself Asuma! You don't have to sound so rude greeting him!" chastised the woman next to him.
I coughed into my fist. "I'd actually prefer if you called me Emiya Naruto, I haven't used Uzumaki in a long while." Except for that time I introduced myself to Kakashi and his team back on that island.
"Huh – alright then, allow me to introduce myself and my partner. I'm Yuhi Kurenai, the man next to me is Sarutobi Asuma." She was a fair-skinned woman of slender build from what I could tell. Along with black untamed hair reaching her upper back, and very unique set of eyes that were red. Her outfit was a strange one as it was both revealing yet not. Must be a kunoichi seduction thing or maybe it was a fashion statement?
The man next to her wore the standard Konoha ninja uniform except that he had a sash with the kanji for fire marked on it around his waist. That meant he used to be a part of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, elite individuals who pledged their lives to protect the daimyo of the land. He appeared to be a tall man, with brown eyes, olive-tanned skin, short black spiky hair, and a beard.
"Sup," was all he said. He sounded rather laidback like Kakashi.
As we sat down, Anko resumed her conversation with them by including the two of us.
"Now with that out of the way, back to the betting at hand. How many do you think are going to be eliminated at the first stage?"
Huh? I didn't know Anko was a betting person.
"How many were there again? Wasn't it like… over a hundred or something for this year's exams?" asked Asuma.
"A hundred and fifty-three to be exact for this year, so a rather large showing this time around," Anko answered. "Since we have home field advantage, there's around 72 representing us for the exams along with teams from the Sand, Stone, Grass, Mist, Rain, and… well one team from Sound." She almost spat the last word with disgust.
I perked up at hearing that Orochimaru was fielding a team for this year's exams.
In front of me I saw Kakashi's exposed eye look towards me to gauge any reaction out of me. He was still interested in my business with the village's greatest traitor. Earlier on I had spoken with Merem about letting Kakashi know, but he was rather adamant in making sure they were ignorant of who his real identity was. So in the end it was decided to leave half-truths saying Orochimaru had some illegal dealings with the Far West, leaving it at that.
"Sound huh? Why's that traitor's genin team allowed in the exams?" questioned the cigarette smoking man.
"That's a damn good question," she bit out, crossing her arms. "What the hell was the Hokage thinking to allow that team in?"
Asuma took a puff from his cigarette. "I don't know what Dad was thinking. Maybe it's a trap to lure Orochimaru in?"
My lips pursed together. That wasn't a good idea. It was a terrible one, but I abstained from saying anything.
"Whatever the reason is, I hope Ibiki eliminates them on the first phase, else I'll do it myself if they make it to the second phase."
My eyebrow rose in question. Damn – Anko really, really hates anything associating with Orochimaru.
"Four out of the five great village's teams are here huh?" Kurenai was changing the subject to something else. "This hasn't happened in a long time if I remember correctly. Security is going to be a nightmare the next couple of months."
Kakashi looked up from his book. "Yeah… ANBU has been going nuts lately bolstering up security and defensive measure to take precaution for the sudden influx of foreign shinobi entering the village. Everyone's on edge about any of the participants stepping out of line."
A scoff came from Asuma. "Wait until the foreign dignitaries start piling in for the finals. All those lords and nobles are going to be annoying to keep track of. Especially with the summer festival happening right before the tournament."
I covered my mouth with my hand to hide the yawn as the conversation turned to gossip among the active jonin. I didn't really have much to add in, so I opted to stay out of their chat. Taking a moment to look around the room, I searched for anything that could bide my time until the first part was over.
Surprisingly the jonin lounge was rather well accommodated with a bar, fridge, snacks, and entertainment pieces. Seems like there were quite a lot of perks to being an elite shinobi.
Typical.
In the corner of the room, my eyes spotted something that grabbed my attention. For me, it felt rather out of place in a land where people learned how to kill rather than playing a musical instrument.
Situated against the wall was a piano. An upright piano to be exact. Looking at it made the corners of my mouth go up in a small smile.
Memories of learning how to play the piano with Tohsaka while Saber watched filled my head. They were good memories. Happy ones that I would love to live over and over again.
Seeing as how I wasn't contributing anything to the group, I got up and made my way to the piano.
Getting closer, I saw the golden stamped letters Yamaha. The piano's material was a black reflective material. There was a light film of dust coating its surface meaning it doesn't see much usage.
Lifting up the fall board to expose the keyboard. My fingers glided along the white and black keys. I couldn't contain the smile that was on my face. Lightly pressing down on the keys to test them, it resounded a miniscule off tune pitch from the strings. It was still useable but would be in need of servicing soon.
I could only imagine how Tohsaka would be comparing this piano to the Steinway grand piano she had back home.
"Ugh – Emiya-kun, you could've at least gone for a Kawai or a C. Bechstein or even better, a Steinway & Sons!"
I don't know why but that made me laugh a little bit. Just the thought of hearing Tohsaka berating me for my tastes in brands.
I licked my lips, as a feeling of sadness and regret welled up in my chest.
I shouldn't have just upped and left, leaving her all alone. It was a coward's move. It was a dumb move.
A heavy sigh was released as I continued marveling at the piano. All I know is that once I got back, there was going to be a whole lot of apologizing and groveling to do.
"Oh? Do you know how to play?" someone asked from behind me.
It was Kakashi.
"A little bit," I shrugged, "the person who taught me is a lot better than I am really. She knows a lot more than I do."
"Then would you mind playing something to bide the time?"
I thought about it before answering.
"I'm a bit rusty, but I can give it a shot." Sitting down in front of the piano, I gave all the keys a test run while I decided on a song to play. All the keys sounded relatively okay, the piano would suffice.
"Whoa – someone's actually playing this hunk of junk? Always wondered why they brought this thing in when no one really knows how to play it," commented Asuma.
"Ooo – Naru-chan going to play us a little song?" Anko teased. "Going to serenade us Casanova?"
All four of them were now crowding around the piano. Great. I have an audience now.
Well… I might as well play them a piece that I knew fairly well from heart. "It's called a piece not a song Anko-nee. A song requires a voice, a piece is strictly instrumental." It was a common misconception for the public and uninformed. I made the same mistake as well when I started learning from Tohsaka.
She broke down everything for me to know about pianos and classical music after that.
The song I'd play was reserved for a duet, a quatre mains. Funnily enough the piece was simply titled as Quatre Mains. (1)
I breathed out to relax myself, readying my posture by sitting up straight. Setting my fingers down gently onto the keys, I pressed down and remembered how Rin taught me the first time with her holding my hands as we played together.
"It starts off like this Emiya-kun."
"So… these are all the other participants for the exams huh? Doesn't look like much to me," said Daisuke as he scanned the occupants in the room.
"Shhh! Daisuke!" shushed Sakura. "Keep it down, we don't need to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves this early!"
Sasuke merely took the time to take it all in. Most of the headbands worn by the other genin were from Konoha, with a decent showing from the other great hidden villages. There were a couple of minor hidden villages thrown in the mix, but she doubted they'd get far into the exams.
Daisuke's boast caused most of the room to turn their attention towards the team. Everyone, including their fellow leaf shinobi, gave them a questioning look with some glaring.
"Oi! You guys signed up for the exams too?" In came another gruff voice from behind them.
It was Team Kurenai, a team that specialized in scouting that consisted of Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino. They were also their fellow graduate classmates from the shinobi academy.
"Huh? What are you losers doing here?"
"Hey you bastard, I see you're still that snide cocky asshole from the academy," Kiba commented hotly to Daisuke. "Bet you still think you're hot shit amongst us huh?"
A smug smirk was sent his way. "Duh – obviously. I can see you're still smelling like dog shit as usual."
"K-Kiba-kun… w-we shouldn't cause a scene," Hinata said timidly as she grabbed her teammate's arm to hold him back.
"Yeah, you better tighten that leash on that mangy mutt or else he'll get hurt." It was a threat more than anything else, one that he could back up against his classmates.
Akamura, Kiba's ninja dog and partner, growled from its position next to its master. "Down boy, we'll get this cocky ass hat later in the exams."
"Oi – you guys are sure making a ruckus geez. Here I thought I could get some shut eye in before the exams start, but I guess not." Complained a person from behind Sasuke.
"What? Whoa Shika! When'd you and your team get here man?" Kiba rushed up to give him a bear hug.
"Gwuakh! O-Oi let me go!" Kiba let him down while apologizing for the brutish hug. "We got here like ten minutes ago or something like that. Then moron over here," he jerked his chin towards Daisuke, "thought it would be smart to provoke everyone in the room."
In typical fashion he sneered in response, looking away from them.
"H-Hello! Shikamaru! Ino! Choji!" greeted Hinata.
"Well, well the whole rookie nine is in this exam huh?" sauntered over Ino. "Hi to you too Hinata! Love the longer hair by the way," she winked, "trying to impress Kiba here huh?"
The girl blushed in response, pushing her fingers together. "No! I mean… I just wanted… to try something different is all."
"Aww I'm just teasing girl! It looks fabulous on you!" she turned to Team Seven. "So I haven't seen you three in a while. How's the… oh so perfect, prodigy, wonder team going huh? Especially the mister and misses perfect?"
It was directed to Daisuke and Sasuke. The black haired teen flinched ever so slightly but held her ground. Old habits die hard as she slipped back into her haughty personality that was infamous back in the Academy.
"It's like what you said you blonde bimbo," smirked Sasuke, "perfect in every way imaginable. We're going to stomp you and everyone else in this exam out of existence." At this Daisuke wrapped his arm around her waist giving an equally cock smirk.
As usual he was asserting his position at the top of the totem pole among them all.
"Is that so?" Ino placed a hand on her hip. "You may have been the best in the academy Sasuke-chan, but a lot has changed since then. Don't cry too much when we knock you and him off that pretty high horse you've been riding on."
Sasuke's hands clenched into fists, but before she could return a scathing retort another voice cut in.
"Hey, you guys should really keep it down." The person that came up to the Rookie 9 was a bespectacled man with ash-grey hair. He wore a rather plain outfit consisting of a high collared dark purple shirt over a white t-shirt and dark purple pants. "You guys are the rookies that recently graduated in the spring, right?"
"Yeah? What about it?" answered an annoyed Sasuke.
"Well everyone's looking pretty green with how you're all just fooling around by causing a scene. You're representing Konoha here, its making the rest of us look bad." It was said with concern for not just him, but for the others participating as well.
"What?!" some of the rookies said in indignation.
Kiba muscled his way to the front. "Look here bub, who the hell are you?"
"I am Yakushi Kabuto," he flourished with a small bow. "Take a look around why don't you?"
And so they all did.
The occupants of the room that were participating in exams were either glaring or sizing the group up. A decent amount that represented Iwa held disparaging looks to the Konoha shinobi. They all felt like they were like hanging meats on display in a butcher's shop.
It was a dog eat dog world in this room.
"I just wanted to warn you guys to keep it down so you won't get picked on. Everyone here is tense since its right before the exams start." He was giving them a heads up, then he simply shrugged his shoulders. "Well… I guess it can't be helped though, since all of you are rookies who don't know anything about the exams."
The entirety of team Seven gave each other a funny look. Emiya Naruto had effectively given them a free pass for the first part of the exams so there was nothing for them to really worry about. It went unnoticed by the rest of their peers.
"Kabuto-san, did I get that right?" asked Sakura.
He nodded.
"So… is this your second time then?"
"Nope – this will be my seventh attempt!"
Huh?
The group stared on in shock. Were the Chunin Exams really that hard?
"The promotion exams take place twice a year, every year. One in the summer, the other in the winter. This will be my fourth year as a genin trying to be a Chunin."
That certainly placed it into perspective for most of the group with the exception of Team Seven.
Sakura pressed on to find out more about the exams. Any extra information would be helpful. "Then that means you should know the ins and outs of this exam, correct?"
"Indeed!"
"Whoa – alright! So you gotta be an expert at this for surviving every time right?" Kiba said excitedly.
"Eh-heh well… sort of I guess?"
"But… he hasn't passed any of them," lazily added in Shikamaru. "Oh man… that means the Chunin Exam really is difficult like Asuma-sensei said… damn it this is getting to be more troublesome than I thought…"
"Maybe I should give my cute underclassmen some information then? A sign of friendship and trust between us going forward to the exams!" He dug into his utility pouch before producing a deck of cards. "These… information cards should interest you a fair bit!"
"Information cards? What are those?" questioned Sakura.
"Well… in simple terms, they're cards that has information scanned into it using my chakra. I was able to nab some good information on people when I worked in the hospital!"
Right then and there Sakura narrowed her eyes. This person worked in the hospital? It was impossible as she too worked there and not once had she ever seen him. In all her time working for various shifts ranging from morning to night, Haruno Sakura had not once heard of a man named Yakushi Kabuto working in the general hospital.
"What's with that look?" he cocked an eyebrow at her.
She feigned innocence, "Oh nothing! Sorry just a bit jealous that I didn't thought about doing that really! I work at the hospital too so yeah! Haha-ha…"
"Ah! A fellow practitioner of medicine and healing! Good to know!" He smiled. Kabuto took a knee to place his deck of cards onto the ground. "Anyways, I have about two-hundred cards here that has information on almost anyone that you can think of. So for my first magic trick, I'll be taking requests on anyone in particular!"
Sasuke who was taking it in silently immediately jumped in first. "I got one!" she almost shouted it. "Er – I mean yeah… I have a request for a person in mind." Everyone looked at how out of character she was for a moment.
"Oh? So who is it?" he asked amusedly.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
The group tilted their heads in confusion at the name. Why was Uchiha Sasuke asking for some random nobody?
"Who the hell is he?" asked Kiba. "Was he from our class or something?"
"Hmm…" Kabuto rubbed his chin, he started flipping through his deck of cards before finally landing on one and activating the card. "There currently isn't a… Uzumaki Naruto but I do have information recorded on one Emiya Naruto. Is that the same person perhaps?"
Sasuke looked confused for a brief moment, but nodded anyways.
Daisuke gave her an odd look, levelling a stare at Sasuke with a frown.
"Ask and you shall receive!" Flipping the card onto the ground, everyone gathered around to see the information written on it.
"Emiya Naruto, same age as you all. Oh? Retired at the rank of Jonin huh? That's pretty interesting. Mission experience, 89 D-ranks, 12 C-ranks, 11 B-ranks, 7 A-ranks, and 3 S-rank ones. Hatake Kakashi apprenticed him, therefore he had no teammates." Kabuto whistled at the next tidbit. "Man this guy was just plowing through everything. Promoted to Chunin and Jonin all within a year before retiring for some reason."
After that he rattled on other miscellaneous information about Naruto. "Apparently in both his promotional exams he came out of it completely unscathed, resorting to simply sniping his opponents from afar. There wasn't a single opponent that touched him. Man… what a scary guy huh?"
Sakura was frowning. It looked as if she swallowed something sour. There was something awfully suspicious about this. Some of the things he listed out were information you couldn't just grab from hospital records.
He was lying.
Yakushi Kabuto had to be a spy.
And yet no one was picking up on this. They were all too enamored of hearing someone complete an almost legendary achievement of dominating their promotion exams that was the same age as them.
"They called him the Archer because he used a bow to fight his battles. Now that is just crazy. What kind of shinobi uses a bow nowadays?" He sounded skeptical, border lining derisive of it.
Team Seven grimaced together at the mentioning of a bow. They too shared the same sentiments as Kabuto on their first day of training with Naruto. He made sure to dispel any notions they had along with giving them an innate fear for arrows and a black bow. As one they rubbed their midsections, remembering the feeling of being propelled into the air from getting shot by one of his arrows.
It was an action everyone noticed.
"What's up with you guys?" asked Ino.
"Kakashi-sensei… called in a favor from Naruto-kun… and let's just say he knows how to use a bow," responded Sakura.
"Oh? How good is he then?" Ino inquired further.
"We… never touched him once." It was embarrassing to admit to a degree, but it wasn't without its merit to say they did get close to hitting him every so often.
Everyone's eyebrows rose up in surprise. The best team in their graduating year was beaten that easily by one man?
Ino looked back at the card on the ground. "Well at the very least he looks incredibly handsome, though he could stand to learn how to smile. The whole stern and apathetic face is a bit off putting." After a moment she shrugged. "Eh – who am I kidding I'd still date him."
Sakura shot an irritated look to the blonde next to her. "Geez, what is up with you and dating people you've never met before huh?"
"Hey what's the matter? Afraid I'm gonna take your man hmm? Don't think I didn't notice you adding that affectionate –kun at the end of his name." Ino teased, poking and prodding at Sakura for information on her crush.
"I- I don't- I'm not afraid of anything! Besides Naruto-kun and I are very good friends! Besides you don't even know anything about him so I doubt it very much that he'd even date you! He's not that type of person to just date a person just because you asked him out on a whim."
"Whoa, whoa!" Ino backed up with her hands in front of her chest. "Calm down, I was just teasing Sakura geez! I didn't know he meant that much to you!"
In response the pink haired girl blushed, muttering an apology for raising her voice before looking away.
"We haven't seen you guys in months and look how much you've all changed! I guess that means-"
"Hey – why don't you try looking up some real shinobi huh?" A hunched back individual meandered over with two of his teammates. Sported on their foreheads were Sound headbands. "He doesn't look like much, some flaky blonde has-been sounds more like it."
"Ah, sorry shinobi-san, but I don't have any information on small fry like yourselves. I only carry information on people who are of note, you," he pointed his finger at them," and your teammates are pretty much insignificant."
The hunchback shinobi growled, "Why you… I'll show you what it means to talk down to shinobi of the Sound!" He pulled back on his right sleeve to show a metal arm brace that had several large holes in it. He reared his arm back to punch, but was stopped just in time by a door being slammed open on the other side of the room near the chalk boards.
A group of people dressed in a grey uniform filed into the room following a tall foreboding man whose face was heavily scarred. Everyone silenced immediately, turning their attention to the presumed proctors.
"My apologies for starting things late." He had a baritone, gruff voice as he addressed the room. "My name is Morino Ibiki, I'll be your lead proctor for the first phase of your promotional exams." His piercing black eyes scanned the room, it quickly spotted a trio of Sound shinobi looking ready to assault a Konoha shinobi. "You three," he called out, "from the Hidden Village of Sound, are you asking to be disqualified before the exams even start? Because I can do that right now if you'd like."
Immediately backing off, he placed his hands in the air in surrender. "Sorry, just the nerves and excitement getting to me in all those commotion."
The stony faced man at the front merely looked at him for a little while before accepting the obviously lame excuse.
"Everyone, please head to a proctor for your assigned seating. Once we have everyone situated we will distribute the papers for your first test.
The Rookie Nine of Konohagakure all breathed in to calm themselves with the exception of Sakura, Sasuke and Daisuke. They had nothing to really worry about for their first test as Naruto had inadvertently gave them a free pass.
All three of them walked confidently to their seats, yet for Sakura when she sat down. A pensive look had befallen on her face. There was something amiss with the new character Kabuto showing up out of the blue with rather sensitive information about Naruto.
It was all too detailed.
'There's just no way can a person have access to that type of information from hospital records and I work there. I've worked there for a good couple of years now, not once have I ever seen him too. Something's not adding up here… I should… I should tell Kakashi-sensei or Naruto-kun when I have the chance.'
A sheet of paper was placed in front of her. She made no move to touch it, the loophole to passing the first exam was that you didn't have to do it at all.
'I hope this isn't a sign of worse things to come…'
Haruno Sakura was preparing for the worst. A horrible knot was forming in her stomach causing her to furrow her eyebrows.
Sadly she wouldn't know what would await for their team in the next phase of the exams.
"Wow Naru-chan! That was absolutely amazing!" said Anko.
"ALRIGHT! MOST YOUTHEFUL OF YOU NARUTO-KUN!" In typical Guy fashion, he gave me a patented thumbs up and smile.
I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment. "Well it's nothing really, the piece actually sounds better if there was another person to play with me. It's a duet piece in the first place so I just sort of… winged it with some parts."
Honestly it felt nice to almost zone out on the piano and letting my fingers dance on the keyboard. A small smile wormed its way onto my face when I finished. That piece would hold a special place in my heart playing with Tohsaka and having Saber as our audience.
"You're thinking of her I'm guessing?" asked Kakashi.
"Huh?" was my intelligent reply.
"That girl of yours I mean."
That damn rat telling them things about me again behind my back. I sighed, "Yeah… her name's Tohsaka by the way. Tohsaka Rin. If you were curious or anything."
"Rin?"
I hummed in confirmation. I looked at him strangely. "Is something the matter?" Kakashi had momentarily stared off into space when I said her first name.
"N-No, just some coincidences that doesn't really matter right now. Anyways how'd you get into playing the piano?" He waved me off, steering the conversation back onto me and her.
"Funnily enough I just happened to be in the right place at the right time when she was playing. I was so enamored by the sound and the way she played was just… magical." I winced at the unintended pun. Kakashi and Anko caught onto it and gave a little laugh. "She offered to show me how to play. It was frustrating at first, but well worth it once I got the hang of it."
"Ha – that girl must have an incredible amount of patience to teach you then," Anko teased to me.
My eyes rolled in exasperation. "Tell me about it, she's a… very demanding person and quite the taskmaster. It was great really. She knows how to teach really well even if she denies it. Although… she can be really bossy and stingy, but I think that's the main thing that I love about her."
"Sounds like you two were a wonderful couple, makes me wonder if something happened between you two for you to be all the way over here and not with her."
I looked away just in time to hide the flash of pain across my face. "Anyways Kakashi I got something to ask of you that's been on my mind." I changed up the topic. I really didn't want to go down that road just yet.
"Oh? Sure – shoot away."
"Do you know of any cave systems in or around Konoha? Besides the ones ANBU uses and the civilian shelters in the Hokage Mountain."
It was a question that's been poking at me for a while. Surely someone would've known that there was a ginormous cavern system underneath their feet. Especially one that had a massive chamber that stretched on for kilometers on end.
"Nope. Why? Thinking of going spelunking down into some uncharted cave?"
Another grimace. "N-No nothing of the sort really. Was just wondering, but thanks for answering."
Just more questions with very little answers so far. A contemplative look befell on me before I got up from the piano to make my way to the bar.
Maybe some tea would do some good? I wonder if they have any milk teas in particular. (2)
As I rummaged through the bar, the door to the lounge was opened. In walked six individuals, presumably of Jonin rank as the lounge was restricted as such, making quite a bit of noise as they did. I gave them an agitated look at their rowdiness. They looked to be maybe around my age if not a little older by a couple years or so. Early twenties at the very least.
Three guys and three girls of varying looks. I paid them no mind as I kept to myself. Unfortunately for me, they went straight to the bar of the lounge. My eyes rolled again in exasperation, I didn't appreciate the loudness coming from them.
I preferred being in peace and quiet.
Grabbing my bottle, I did my best to avoid contact.
"Hey you!"
Oh for the love of the Root and all that is thaumaturgy, why?
Maybe they were talking to someone else in their group? It would be best if I ignored them.
"Hey! We're talking to you blonde guy!"
From where I was standing I could see Kakashi and the other Jonin instructors looking towards my way in distaste at the group behind me. Rivals perhaps with each other? Conflicting interests within the ranks of Jonin?
I slowly turned around to address the person calling me out. A cocked eyebrow was my acknowledgement of whoever called for me.
"Are you uh… hey quit it! I'm trying to deliver a message for Tsubasa-sama!" One of the girls was poking at him playfully, acting coy when he admonished her. "Are you one Uzumaki Naruto?"
"No. Sorry you must've gotten the wrong person." I turned and walked away. That damn head of METI was trying to get in contact with me. I guess he got tired of just sending scrolls and decided to send in someone to actually get me.
"But you are Naruto… correct?"
Damn. Looks like I'm not going to be getting out of this one so easily. They were more perceptive than I thought.
I could feel that smug grin on the man's face behind my back. 'Tch – how annoying.'
"Yes. What of it?" I turned around to see all six of them looking at me. These were Sasuke and Daisuke's friends. People I didn't like to be around with or converse.
"I got a message for you." He threw a scroll with a bit of force which I deftly caught.
I looked at them with an apathetic and disinterested expression.
"It's from the Head of METI. You know who he is right?" His tone was condescending.
"And what does he want?" I replied evenly, leveling a stare at him.
The guy leaned forward, "Why don't you read the scroll stupid. It's why I gave it you." He was trying to futilely antagonize me for a reaction.
It's obvious that Daisuke has been talking to his friends about me. Typical gossip, trying to vent his pettiness to anyone who would listen that would agree to his opinions. Self-gratification really.
Shinji annoyed me with his gossiping back then and it still annoys me to this day. At least I got better at dealing with inane childish schoolyard talks. The first time when I encountered that two-faced bastard I broke his nose with my fist. I was suspended from Homurahara Academy for an entire week, but it was worth it.
And just like that I turned around to head towards the other side of the lounge.
Opening up the scroll, it was the usual message of the councilman expressing his wish for us to meet. Except this time, there was a threat that was slipped in subtly. It dealt with Sakura and how she would be unable to receive her proper medical license if I didn't talk with him. He had the power to influence the medical board if he wished to do so.
Of course.
Don't go for me, but go for others who would be defenseless in the realm of politics. Haruno Sakura was an orphan. Her parents were simple civilians who had perished in the fire. She didn't have the backing of a name, clan, or organization to protect her.
How typical.
The scroll in my hand crushed into chunks.
"Naruto what's wrong?"
"I have to go meet with a certain… meddling bastard." I tossed the remains of the scroll aside onto the ground. "It shouldn't take too long, I'll just get it over with and see what he wants. Anko-nee, the second part of the exams is at Training Ground 44 right?"
"Yup… there's about 45 minutes left for the first part."
"Naruto," Kakashi got up, "do you want me to come with you? The Head of METI isn't a person to take likely."
That made me frown, it looks like even Kakashi is wary of that man. I wonder why?
I shook my head.
"No. I can handle myself Kakashi, no need to worry about me. Just keep me informed if I happen to miss anything alright?"
He looked as if he wanted to insist on coming, but relented. "Alright then, just… be careful. He's not a person you want to stick around with for very long."
I nodded slowly. I'll have to play this one close to my chest.
"Gotcha… I'll be fine. Thank you for the heads up nonetheless. I'll see you all later."
Just as I was walking out of the room, I gave one last look at them. Kakashi looked to be glaring at the group of six that was situated at the bar area. That was strange as I've never seen him look at a group of people before as such.
Like a mixture of annoyance and contempt.
I sighed. Hopefully things don't turn complicated.
There were relatively few people out and about on the road to the government office building. Lunch break was still a couple hours away thankfully.
I had just reached the steps of the relatively large building when I heard someone call out my name.
"Emiya-kun!"
It was Merem that popped out of nowhere.
"Merem? Where've you been all day?" When I left the house I hadn't seen him in his usual spot on the dining table.
"Busy sorting out information. I presume you're going to meet with that human department leader correct?"
"Yeah? What about it?"
"Good, take me with you," It requested of me. "I'll keep an eye on your back for you."
I gave him a strange look. "Merem, I appreciate it, but I can take care of myself."
"No, it wasn't a request. It's an order. This human, Tsubasa Toshiyuki, is an interesting fellow. There was some inconsistencies on his files on some acquisitions he made years back. It deals with the church." Merem's Left Arm was being rather forthcoming in his explanation. Usually he liked to play things in riddles, but not this time. So it must be a serious matter.
"Alright, climb on and stay hidden. Enthrall people if you have to if they get suspicious and I can't shake them off." I looked around real quick before picking the small rat up, letting him scurry up my arm and nestling himself in my jacket unseen.
I entered the building, walking up to the front desk to check in. My visitation has been expected apparently for months, so I was let through with an ID clipped on as a guest to the Head of METI's office room.
Coming up to the double doors leading into the room, I knocked on the door out of courtesy.
"Enter!" the man had a rather gruff, commanding voice that was muffled through the door.
I stepped through the doors immediately being introduced to a surprising sight on my part. In my head I was imagining it was going to be some overweight, snobby minister. Instead it was a well-dressed man in a black and white kimono. He looked like some sort of samurai or a regent lord. From where I could see, there was the hilt of katana propped up against his desk meaning he was capable of fighting.
"At last… we finally meet Uzumaki Naruto," he greets me. It sounded as if he were pleased at that prospect. "I was getting worried that we would never get to talk face to face."
A look of indifference was on my face.
"You've got your wish for an audience with me. Speak your terms." The pleasantries that he was trying to set up was brushed aside. I didn't have time to waste speaking with a politician. That was Tohsaka's forte, not mine. She was always the better of us with the usage of words.
"Ah – getting right to the business! I like that! If only my son were a little bit like you, I wouldn't have to be such a disappointed father." He clapped his hands together. "Please, sit down, make yourself comfortable."
"No thank you, I'd prefer to stand."
"Oh? Then can I at least offer you some refreshments? Tea? Coffee? Alcohol?"
"No thank you."
He crossed his arms, leaning back into his chair. "Suit yourself then. You must be wondering why I've been rather insistent in meeting with you. Don't you?"
I shrugged in disinterest. "Not really. It was more like getting spam mail than anything else really."
The man frowned. "How awfully rude of you. Ignoring your biological father's best friend like that. Minato and Kushina would be disappointed."
An eyebrow went up.
"What's that supposed to mean to me?" I didn't care what type of connection he had with them.
He smiled leaning forward, thinking as if I took the bait. "Why I was a good friend of both Minato and Kushina. I had the fortune to be placed on a team with your father under the tutelage of Jiraiya, one of the three legendary shinobi."
That still didn't answer my question. He was just talking about himself at this point to inflate himself of importance to my eyes which wasn't working.
"Again, what does that supposed to mean to me? Am I supposed to be surprised that you knew my biological parents? Or was I supposed to be shocked that I am the son of the Yondaime Hokage and one of the last Uzumaki?"
"Hmph. I suppose so on both accounts. I bet you are eager to know about your true heritage huh Uzumaki-kun? I have a wealth of knowledge of them for you to get to know them better. They were-"
"No."
"What?"
"Not interested."
The Minister of METI recoiled in shock. I guess the man wasn't expecting that answer.
"What do you mean not interested? Your family's heritage stretches back for centuries, even sharing ties with the foundation of Konoha! You are practically royalty to this village boy!" He was doing his best to convince me of something that I didn't need nor want.
"And that means nothing to me."
He narrowed his eyes at me. "Nothing? How can you say that Uzumaki-kun? You have the blood of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato flowing through you! You are-"
"I don't care." I can see what he is trying to do now. He's attempting to tie me down to the village. For what reasons? I do not know, but it's obvious what his intent is.
"What would your parents think of you treating them with such disrespect?!" he raised his voice in indignation.
"They're dead. Therefore, they're not thinking at all. They've moved on. I've moved on. It's simple as that."
It was cold hard logic.
I held no memories of them except for the pictures that Kiritsugu showed me and even then I gave him a detached shrug at them.
A normal person would usually be curious to know who their real parents were. Emiya Naruto was the furthest thing from normalcy.
"How… How could you discard them like that?" the man was visibly shaking as he glared at me. "You meant so much to them! Minato and Kushina were willing to give the world to you! Pushing them aside so callously like that is revolting."
"I apologize, but it's as simple as that. I am grateful for being born, but I am even more grateful for being saved." For all his faults and sins, I valued Emiya Kiritsugu over my biological parents. Even if he was seen as nothing more than an adoptive father, he was the person who saved me from that hellish fire.
"Saved?" He said with incredulity. "What do you mean by that?"
"It's just like that. Emiya Kiritsugu saved me from that fire over a decade ago. He gave me a home. He gave me a life. He gave me a second chance to live."
"So some stranger is more important than your real parents? More important than some fake?"
I frowned visibly in displeasure. "Kiritsugu was most definitely not a fake. He was as real, as real could be. Just because he wasn't my real father doesn't diminish anything of him. And yes, to me he is more important than them."
"Uzumaki-kun… I see you've been misguided."
I'm getting tired of him calling me Uzumaki. That wasn't my name anymore. "It's Emiya by the way. Emiya Naruto. Not Uzumaki."
The man sent an ugly scowl. As if he was disgusted at the thought of saying that name. "Very well… then."
There was a moment of silence as we stared at each other down. Neither one of us backing down.
I was being defiant for the sake of my ideals that I was given.
He was being defiant for the sake of preserving his friend's image.
'Emiya-kun… do you sense what is emanating from his desk?' It was Merem speaking to me telepathically.
'No, sorry. What is it am I supposed to be picking up?'
'His desk. To the right of him. In the top drawer. He has a Bible.'
A Bible? Why does he have a Bible out of all things in his desk? More importantly where the hell did he get one?
'Only Executors and Burial Agency members are allowed here over on this part of the world. Not a single one of us has yet to contact a greater hidden village. We've only been able to communicate with the ruling lords of the land and maybe roam a bit about the land.'
While it was a peculiar item to have, it wasn't anything special. So why was he sounding so concerned?
'Merem. It's just a Bible. A Holy Book yeah, but it's just that. A book.'
The rat sighed. 'Emiya-kun, concentrate a little harder for me please. '
Doing as instructed, I expanded my senses outward to pick up on anything. Right away I picked up on the natural holy signature that the book was giving off. As soon as I picked up on that, there was another thing that bleeped on my proverbial mental radar.
'Is… is he wearing a Holy Shroud Merem?'
'Mhm – to be exact he's wearing the Shroud of Miki, the first saint to arrive on this continent over four hundred years ago.'
'Shroud of Miki huh? Is there anything special to it like the Shroud of Martin?'
It stayed silent for a moment before answer. 'Saint Paul Miki was a martyr that was canonized by Pope Pius IX. Therefore the shroud that was used to wrap the remains of the saint was imbued with whatever conceptual thought that was given at the time of death.'
'So what you're saying is that you don't know.'
I could feel him rolling his eyes. 'Of course that's what I meant you moron! Where's that Tohsaka girl when you need her to reign that mouth of yours in.'
A grin tugged at the corners of my mouth. It must've looked strange as the minister in front of me looked away.
"Then it seems we are at an impasse Naruto-kun."
"I suppose so."
"Is there any way for me to convince you otherwise?"
"No."
He laced his fingers in front of his face in consternation.
The man in front of me thought I was nothing but a lost boy who had sought to regain his roots. What he met was a boy who had casted away those things for something else.
Emiya Naruto's desire was to be a hero like Emiya Kiritsugu.
Not a shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato like his birth parents.
"Very well then… Emiya." He spits out the name like it were venom. "I have nothing more to say to you."
Toshiyuki Tsubasa turns around. I have a feeling he can't bare the sight of me anymore.
To him I must look like a traitor.
I turned around to exit the room. As I gripped the handle of the door, I turned around to give him a warning. "By the way minister… just a friendly warning, but I'd refrain from threatening my friend. I'll hear about it if anything suspicious comes up with her… and you won't like my response."
And like that I left the room for him to mull over our conversation.
The man received his answers to his questions. They were just answers that he wasn't expecting nor wanted.
"He seems to hold your real parents to an almost… unreal level of fanaticism." Merem commented quietly. "It's quite disturbing how utterly devoted he is to them. Perhaps he's blinded from nostalgia of them and wishes for things to be how they should be. How he had once envisioned it to be maybe?"
"I don't know and I don't care, but if he thinks he can get away with threatening a friend by manipulating the system… then I'll just bring it crashing down on his head."
"Oh? You care for that pinked haired girl that much? You've barely known her for less than a year. You seem quite smitten with her Emiya-kun. I wonder what Rin would think."
"Ha – no you're reading into things too much again King of Rats. Sakura has proven to be a very good friend so far, so I'm merely making sure she doesn't run into any trouble because of me."
The ruby eyed rat crossed its arms. "Fine, fine. Anyways I'll be investigating this minister a little further. He's a crafty one I'll give him that. You should proceed with caution from here on out Emiya-kun."
"Oh?" It was my turn to tease it. "The great Left Arm of Merem Solomon, master of espionage, was unable to uncover this mystery of a simple human? How the mighty have fallen!"
It grumbled in response. "If you weren't such an amusing and peculiar human I would've grinded you into a fine red paste all over the floor."
"I'm so thrilled to be an entertainment piece for a dead apostle ancestor."
I stifled a yawn as I casually made my way towards Training Ground 44.
The first phase of the exams should be finished by now and Anko should be giving them the details about the second phase.
If I remember correctly this was to test one's survival abilities stylized in a battle royal to cull the number of prospects going into the final phase. In order to pass, one's team had to acquire a paired item that another team had to present to the proctor. This was guaranteed to cut down the number of teams in half immediately.
I passed a sign saying that I was about to come up on the "Forest of Death" which I rolled my eyes at.
"Forest of Death my ass. Apparently they've never heard of the Forest of Einnashe, now that's a real forest of death."
Training Ground 44 was peanuts compared to the Disemboweling Sea of Trees.
Literally everything in there would try to kill you. From the trees to the grass itself, it was out for blood of any kind, be it human or non-human.
Although I will concede that Konoha's infamous training ground was rather foreboding if a person were to see it for the first time in their lives.
The chain linked fence that surrounded the training ground came into view along with the main gate with its booth. And sitting lazily in front of the booth was Anko chewing on a stick of dango.
Konoha's finest eh?
There was a telephone pole that had over a dozen bamboo sticks embedded in it that formed the symbol of the leaf village. Pretty impressive.
"Ooh? Naru-chan is that you?" she called to me while waving a stick of dango at me.
I looked around as it was completely desolate. "So… I'll just assume I'm late?"
"Mhm," replied Anko with a mouth full of dango.
"Did it just start?"
"Mmm mm-mm." That was a no.
"Uh… how late am I?"
She raised a single finger in the air.
"An hour? Are you serious?"
"Mhm!"
I gave her a dry look at how we were communicating.
"Ahh! Now that hits the spot!" she patted her belly for effect. "So how'd the meeting go with the minister?"
I summed it up in one word. "Annoying."
"Expected. The Minister of METI is a rather… unscrupulous guy once you peel back the layers. He's got a lot of clout for the things he was able to accomplish back when he was an active shinobi. Did you know he was also on-?"
"The Yondaime' genin team? Yeah he told me about that plus a bunch of other needless things," I muttered out annoyingly.
"Like what?"
So I explained to her how he had tried influencing me to stay in the village with the hinted promises of accessing the Yondaime Hokage's inheritance along with the Uzumaki family, or rather what was left of it. I neglected to mention that I had left an underlying threat to the minister.
Anko-nee didn't need to worry about my problems when she had to help oversee the promotion exams.
After that she filled me in on some more details about what I missed in the last hour or so. Out of the fifty-one teams that were present for the first stage, only twenty-four made it to the second stage. There was a small comment about how Ibiki did a poor job at culling the numbers and how it was now up to her to thin the herd even more.
I glanced to the side to stifle a laugh as she hasn't done much of anything except explain the objective of the second stage and munch on dango.
Apparently just after she finished detailing everything out to the remaining teams. Daisuke had made an offhand comment about something which I rolled my eyes at. Of course being Anko, she had almost made the boy piss his pants by throwing a kunai, cutting his cheek and at the same time catching it to hold it against his neck.
That must've been quite an amusing sight to witness as Anko was cracking up at describing it to me in detail.
A shame I wasn't there in time to see it.
"Mitarashi-san." A squad of Konoha Chunin appeared from behind me.
They looked apprehensive and nervous. All four of them were panting from exertion.
My eyes narrowed. What was so important that they sent a squad to Anko-nee?
"What is it?" she said seriously.
"There's… been an incident just outside of the training grounds. We need you to come look at this yourself."
"Spit it out then for crying out loud!"
"A genin team representing Kusagakure was found dead with their faces missing along with one of the proctors," he reported gravely.
This didn't sound good at all.
"Take me there now. Naruto, come along." And like that they body flickered out of existence.
This definitely didn't sound good at all.
I give the forest before me a parting look. An ominous feeling was starting to generate from that area.
As I sped off to catch up with them, I couldn't help but think back to what Asuma said.
"Maybe it's a trap to lure Orochimaru in?"
I hope Asuma was wrong.
Because if he wasn't… everything's going to hell in a hand basket.
(1) Evangelion Q – Quatre Mains
(2) Tohsaka Rin's favored drink.
Author's Note: So… we finally get to the Chunin Exam Arc after like essentially 2 or 3 chapters of character building and interaction. If you haven't already figured out, this story is fairly dialogue heavy considering I'm drawing more upon from Fate/Stay Night then Naruto. But I'm super excited to finally get to this point in the story!
The highlights for this chapter was to introduce the rest of the Konoha 11 along with their teachers, setting up the reveal for the next chapter, and the start of throwing major characters under the bus.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in the review or directly PM me! As always thank you for reading my story! If you can, please leave a review on the chapter about anything so that I can get better!
Word count before A/N: 12,796