CH 24
b) Chunin Exam – Phase II
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
'Stay alive she says,' Sasuke looked at the consent form. 'This is really going to suck, if there are some hunting us down, just they'll see us as weak.' Kasumi was flying over the forest, but she didn't go far. There were a lot of natural enemies of her kind in there. She flew back to her bond mate and told him what she'd found.
Naruto leaned against him back-to-back and made notes as the black haired boy tapped out coded information on the Fujin seal that was still aimed at the palm of his hand. Team Seventeen had chosen to wear gloves similar to Risa in support of her need for them. It was just like Sasuke was wearing earrings to feel that sense of belonging he'd needed even if he didn't show it.
The blond's notes were basic, but also included a semi-detailed map that he been able to draw from memory after having seen the one that the second Chief Examiner had shown them. From it they knew approximately where they wanted to begin. 'This is so different from the first time around,' Naruto thought. 'We're going to have to be on the look out, but I think that this will call for Shadow Clones to be used to find that Snake.'
The three gathered around and looked at the information, including the map. "Here," Risa said, pointing at two entrances down from where the river passes through the forest. "It'll get us into the trees quickly and we can stay in sight of the river."
"Good plan," Naruto said rolling up the map and notes he'd made. "Teme make sure you note the teams that are at the gates close to the one we choose."
"Of course," Sasuke said. "We need to know who thinks we're pushovers and who we can target."
"We'll have to be careful because I know some will be coming after us thinking that we're weak," Risa said. "Easy targets, perhaps they'll even think we're easy to kill."
"They're going to be in for a surprise," Naruto said with a hidden grin.
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
Morino Ibiki looked at the small piece of paper that had the image of a mouth on it surrounded by several Fujin symbols. The purpose was not hard to interpret from the sound coming from it. Every time someone whistled or hummed the tune to "99 Ninjas" the paper would play the song through, all the way down to "1 Ninja" and at the same time of the whistling or humming of that tune, it activated all others.
It was also chakra activated so that anyone putting out chakra in the area of the paper would start the song from the beginning at "99 Ninjas", again, and for all posted Fujin patches.
'Clever,' Ibiki thought. 'You spread a couple of these out at random and anyone using chakra to search for the source activated it and re-set all others. Once activated it completely disappears from normal human sight too.'
The Proctor he sent looking for it had found it stuck on the wall outside of the testing room and he had been one of the ones affected the night before. The man had then gone to his home and found three of the tags of the same size with the same markings.
Ibiki had everyone that had been affected go to their homes and bring back any suspicious looking three inch square pieces of paper. He too went to his place and found four. He returned to find that everyone that had had a sleepless night, the night before were Proctors for the written test.
"Bold," Ibiki said. "Whoever it was that did this, knew who the Proctors were. I want to see all the written tests for the Konoha teams that had passed. It's someone from that group."
"Why not just talk to the kid that started it," Spiky, whose real name was Hagane Kotetsu had asked. (…ii…)
His partner in crime, named Kamizuki Izumo, nodded in agreement, "The blond brat started it."
"The one that changed the number of those dropping out," Ibiki muttered. "Give me their tests." He was then given Team Seventeen's tests. He quickly looked over them and noticed that they had all left only one question, completely unanswered. It wasn't the same one for any of them, but all three had answered every other question on their sheet with the exact same answer as their teammates.
"We didn't detect and cheating," Izumo said. "I even asked a couple of others that had their eyes on them. It was easy to see how the other Rookies and Gai's teams cheated, but there was nothing to note on these three. Technically they all keep their points because we detected no cheating."
"I think that I need to speak to their senseis," Ibiki told them. "Double check which ringer they were copying from, after that give their tests to me."
It was quickly done and Morino Ibiki strode down the corridors to the room where the Jounin teachers were waiting to hear about how their teams were doing. He paused by the door to listen to a conversation that was taking place.
"It's not like Suna," Tokuma said. "All the teams left the testing building and told us if they'd passed or failed. We could at least travel to that area with them. This time Anko just took them all out to the testing area."
"They're not babies," Kakashi said. "We don't need to hold their hands for them to follow orders, can we help you Ibiki?"
"Figures you'd know that I was there," the large man said striding into the room. "I'd like an explanation for the test answers and these." He tossed the tests to Tokuma and dropped about three hundred and fifty paper squares with the Fujin prank on them. "How did they do it?"
Kakashi picked up one of the squares to look at it closely when it suddenly turned to ash in his hands. He picked up another one and it too turned to ash before he could read the markings. "Interesting," he said. "Tokuma you pick up one."
The Hyuga did and it too turned to ash in the man's hand. All others on the table turned to ash and the secret was gone. "What the…"
Ibiki huffed and then explained the whole story behind the now large looking pile of ash. "They were planted outside of the exam room and in the homes or barracks of the Proctors," the man told them. "Any other Ninja were not affected because, and I'm guessing here, they had to be mission ready today."
"There's not much that we can do about this now," Kakashi-sensei told the man. He glanced at his co-teacher and then asked, "What's wrong with the tests?"
"The answers are all the same," Tokuma-sensei told him. He looked up surprised and said. "Word for word the same. They all left one question unanswered, but the ones that had been answered look to have been copied word for word from each other."
Kakashi then looked at the scarred man's irritated face and the grinned. "They weren't caught were they?"
"Not one mark against any of your three," Ibiki confirmed. "I couldn't see anything and the Proctors couldn't see it how it was done. I want to know just what the hell you've been teaching them."
Kakashi looked at the Hyuga with a confused look. "I didn't teach them anything to cover this," he said. "Do you know of something?"
Tokuma looked at the ash and then looked at the tests. He looked just as baffled as his co-trainer and said, "No I do not." He sighed and then said, "We might have to talk to them after they get out of the forest."
Ibiki snorted and then asked, "How do you think they are going to do in there?"
"They were mission ready when I wished them luck at the doors," Kakashi-sensei told the man.
"Mission ready," Ibiki said in a questioning tone.
Tokuma smiled and explained, "They were dressed as though they were about to accept a C-Rank mission." He paused for effect, making many pay attention to his answer and continued, "You know, something that would take them outside of the village."
This information shocked every other Jounin in the room. One of the foreign Jounin actually accused him, "You told them."
"Nope," Tokuma said.
"Two members of my Team had already been to the Chunin exams in Suna," Kakashi told them. "So they had an idea of what to expect, what's wrong with that?"
Asuma looked over and asked, "That was enough for them to interpret what they needed to bring with them to a paper test and prepare for the next phase?"
"Mission ready means mission ready," Tokuma told the other Jounin in the room. "It doesn't matter if it's a paper test, baby-sitting or escorting someone. They were always mission ready for anything within Konoha and only truly needed five to ten minutes in order to be mission ready for anything else."
"I want answers to this," Ibiki said pointing to the tests. "The Council and Hokage are going to want answers too…" He didn't have to finish that statement to anyone else in the room.
'If they developed a new technique to gather information in the field,' Kakashi thought. 'Without all of them needing to be in the vicinity…'
'We need to make sure that no one else knows of this,' Tokuma finished. 'Not until it's been field tested too.'
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
Team Seventeen had selected Gate 12 and Sasuke immediately noticed the creepy group from the Village Hidden in the Grass, a few gates down at Gate 15. He didn't like how the tall one with the long hair kept looking in his direction. The looks were very subtle, but he'd noticed them and instantly didn't like it.
At Gate 16, there was Cell 8, Kiba's team. Their reason was simpler than anyone else's because they knew part of this training ground, due to Kurenai's unforgiving teachings. They were ready for this type of mission. They also noticed that some of the foreigners were not going to be ready for what could be found in there.
Not too far from them was the second creepiest team. The team from Sound were at gate 20. Using the Fujin note relay technique that they'd perfected without notifying their senseis. They had wanted to surprise the men with it, only after they successfully completed the second part of the Chunin exam.
'Two creepy teams too close,' Sasuke signalled. 'Grass and Sound, do we engage? Do we fight to survive or take out enemy?'
'Sound use sound waves to attack,' Naruto said and Risa agreed. 'Have to ready seals to protect ears and other parts of body from vibration damage...Are you ready to kill?' His teammates both looked at him to gauge his seriousness in this matter.
Risa gulped, but knew that if someone came at her with the purpose of killing, she'd have to defend herself. In Suna they never had to truly kill because they'd figured out the shifting walls. This was a different test and there were too many factors to not engage in some kind of battle to the death at some point.
Sasuke, for all his need to kill his brother, he had not really once thought about the act of killing. He'd thought about getting stronger to defeat him, avenging the death of his kin. Killing in defence of one's self is different from actively seeking out someone to kill. His blond teammate's eyes were different at this moment and that's when he realized that the blond had killed before. He didn't know the circumstances, but he knew that the blond boy had taken human life at some point during his short twelve years in the world.
'I don't know,' Risa replied honestly. 'I promise to do everything in my power to overcome this wall, but right now I don't know.'
'Same,' Sasuke told them honestly.
'I'll make twenty-six teams of Kage, once we're through the gates,' Naruto told them. 'They'll bring us the scroll we need to us. We'll defend our lives and fight to the death if we have to. Team Seventeen will be tried in the Forest of Death. It's the one place we can kill and know we won't be penalized for it.'
There was that. They had permission and everyone had signed similar consent forms.
"Agreed," Risa and Sasuke said together. Then they grinned because that had been said at the same time.
"TIME," the second Chief Examiner said. All gates were opened by an unlocking technique using chakra.
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
Konoha's Team Eight flew through the trees seeking out one of the interesting areas of the Forest of Death. Their coats were specially ordered or made for them by the sensei and their parents. It was their sensei that had suggested they get them in order to regulate their body temperatures or at the very least hide them.
A random team from Konoha had followed these particular Rookies. They flicker-flitted to the location, paused in the trees above them to listen to the conversation that they were having.
"The Tower's where everyone is ultimately going," Shino told his team. Hinata nodded.
Kiba then added, "…So we might as well set traps as close to there, as possible." His ninja-dog companion indicated that he heard something. "Found them already, huh? Where are they?"
The leader of that particular group said, "Stupid kids…they might as well be shouting, 'capture us!' from the sound of things they know we're somewhere nearby, but they haven't figured out where yet."
The leader then paused, felt something on him and he didn't know what it was. One of his team members asked, "What's wrong? You're as white as a sheet."
"ARGHHH," the leader shouted. Then the other two saw something attached to the back of the guy's neck.
"What IS that thing?" Another said loudly. It was then that they heard the rustle from the trees, they looked up and there was a bunch of things falling that looked like foot long slugs.
"AAAAGHHH!" They all screamed from the terror of the unknown.
Team Eight only looked on in the direction of the sounds and waited patiently for the inevitable.
The other Konoha team fell from the trees using their weapons to kills all of those things. "Eeewww," one groaned. "Gross."
"Ick," another said with a shudder. "Hunh," his voice a questioning tone as his hand tripped a hidden line of ninja wire.
Kiba grinned and said, "The flying leeches of Konoha Village can sense perspiration and body heat. They fling themselves en masse! If you can't get them off your body in five minutes, you're finished and if you panic trying to get away from them…you really should have known about them… That's one team down!"
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
The panicked sounds of; "AAAAGHHH!" could be heard all through the forest and at the place where the examiner had first told them the rules of the second phase of the exam.
"Well," Anko said with an evil grin. "That didn't take long."
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
The team from Sound had their orders. Kill Uchiha Sasuke and any that were with him. They didn't care about the stupid test to become Chunin. They had personal orders from their Kage that they were pleased to carry out.
The team from the Village Hidden in the Grass was a fake team that had been body switched or face peeled by Orochimaru, who was known as the Snake Sannin. They were there to kill and the Sannin was there to test a few of the children for the growth potential. It was either that or to test their potential to become vessels for him.
This was what Naruto knew from his past life. This is what he felt was going to happen in this life too, however this time his team was prepared as much as they could be. They had access to their elements, they had different skills then they'd ever had in the past and he knew that he didn't have to tap into the Fox's chakra to do more than he'd ever done in the past either. So Orochimaru couldn't put a five gate Seal on him this time to disrupt his Chakra flow because he'd never know that the blond boy was the Jinchuriki of Konoha.
As soon as all gates were opened, they flicker-flitted quickly through the trees finding a hiding spot where Naruto could summon his Kage Bushin. Three teams received a scroll from him. They had their instructions already. They quickly took off to find Gaara and his siblings to deliver the information on their father and who was really behind the broiling war issues that were floating around their village.
The rest were to seek out an Earth scroll and bring it back to him. If a team of three found one, then one of them would pop out to notify the others and the rest would make their way to the area that Naruto knew was the place that a confrontation with the Snake Sannin was going to occur. Each Kage Bushin had enough chakra to do one E or D level elemental spell, including the Henge spell to look like Team Seventeen. This was a new trick that he'd learned and practiced. He'd told his teammates about it and they thought that it would be great to use as a tactic, especially with his amount of chakra access.
They paused in a clearing and sensed that someone was buried under the ground nearby. They used the Fujin speech patches that Naruto had planted to prank the Proctors, only this time the speech patches talked about simple strategy and passwords, while they were having their true conversation in sign language.
(…Who do you think it is…) Sasuke asked.
(…Grass…) Naruto said and the black haired boy grimaced. (…I think they're strong too…)
(…Suspect or know…) Risa asked.
Naruto sighed softly and signed. (…Know…)
(…Tell us…) Sasuke looked at him.
(…I've seen a couple of things that don't add up…) Naruto told them. (…I'm only a Genin so I don't know who to bring this up to and have them believe me, when I'm telling the truth…)
(…Senseis…) Risa said. (…They'd believe…)
(…Without proof?...) Naruto said. (…I have feelings, but no proof…)
(…That's why you push us to learn different things…) Sasuke said. (…Kenjutsu, Genjutsu, Elements, making us think of new ways to use them…)
(…Ninja wars are still going on…) Naruto told them. (…That's what the Chunin exams are for. A show of strength related to a Shinobi Nation. Skills are tested and proven. The real wars…) He paused and then continued. (…Real wars are happening from the shadows and covertly. That's the simple truth…)
(…We kill if we have to…) Sasuke said. (…We'll probably have to because the feeling I get…from my gut is that Grass will kill and same with Oto, they're not here gain Ninja Rank…)
Risa nodded and then said. (…Let me take care of the eavesdropper if I can. New spell…)
The boys nodded and then watched her focus her hand signs. She didn't shout her spell. A whisper was enough to activate it and the boys knew this too. Softly she said, "Earth Style: Mud Brick Coffin."
The area where the hose was sticking up out of the ground shot up in a solid brick, seven feet long, four feet wide and two feet tall. It was like a cement coffin had risen in piece of solid earth. The person in there couldn't move.
'Interesting,' the Grass Ninja thought. 'I wonder which child did this particular spell.' He backed out of the brick cancelling the Ninjutsu that elongated his neck to the position where he'd been able to listen to the conversation and get the password.
(…He's gone…) Naruto signalled. (…We're out in the open, beware of Genjutsu…)
They all looked up and jumped out of the way as a blast of wind came at them in a steady flow of leaves and dust. They hid in separate locations and waited to see who would be coming from the direction of the windblast. Unfortunately the blast didn't send any of the three towards the area where a snake had been laying in wait for a lovely free meal that it had been promised.
A Naruto Bushin stepped out of the bush and said, "Let's get out of here."
The others knew who it was that was guiding them and didn't question it. They didn't bother with the password game that the Grass Ninja had overheard. It was pointless since all their passwords were signal based and tapped into the palms of their hands.
Sasuke and Risa flicker-flitted following the Kage Bushin to another location where they immediately noticed some of the traps. Risa had her ninja goggles down and Sasuke had his Sharingan active in order to see such things, but no one could tell that because of the bound Henge and protection he had in place. They flitted to the tops of the trees and watched two of Naruto's Kage Bushin, Henge into them. The three Bushin huddled, as though to continue the conversation that they'd started when the windblast had hit them.
"Making me chase you is not my idea of fun," the Grass Ninja said. "I'll be taking your scroll now."
"No way," Naruto (B) (…iii…) said. "You give us your scroll."
"I'm guessing that you're prepared to steal it," the Grass Ninja said. Then the ninja stuck out his long tongue, wrapped in around the Earth scroll he'd been holding and swallowed it. He was delighted by the disgusted looks that he was receiving. Pushing the scroll down his throat he directed the kids' eyes to his own as he said, "We'll fight to the Death!"
The Bushins were attacked by a Genjutsu and with the most real simulation of death that the poor clones had ever felt, but they didn't dissipate. They remained solid because physically they had not been attacked. Naruto was directing them to act in the most logical way.
Naruto (B) complained, saying, "What the Hell?" and looked so pale.
Risa (B) was still stuck in the illusion, but she was crying because it had been so overwhelming, it was like her own fears had been called up.
Sasuke (B) had to act like a tough guy, but threw up bile at the intensity of the spell.
The three originals were hidden and observing this happen. It was interesting to note that they had been able to hide, as long as they did nothing to draw the attention of the Grass Ninja. Sasuke stared at the person and thought, 'Who the heck is he? I bet that Naruto knows.'
Naruto (B) and Sasuke (B) were able to move and together they did what a team would do. They got their teammate away from their in a tactical retreat and avoided the flying kunai that were hurled in their direction.
"Interesting," the Grass Genin said. "I wonder how they were able to move from the fear." The Bushin were breathless together and huddled again only this time they were immobile as a gigantic snake came at them and swallowed them whole.
Naruto knew that the Snake Sannin was inside the thing using some kind of symbiotic technique. He used nin-wire attached to a shuriken and wind to direct the path of the wire. It wrapped around the snake pinning it to the limb it had been curled around. It ended at Sasuke, who'd just finished the hand signs for a Fire Style spell that sent the hot fire down the path of the wire.
The Grass Ninja escaped from the head of the snake as the smell of cooked snake fell in multiple pieces to the ground. "Fascinating," the man said. "So what did I eat? It tasted so real."
Sasuke had already hidden again and another set of Bushin engaged the Snake Sannin. They watched, as the body of the Grass Ninja was twisted around a branch and talking at the clones. "My compliments for destroying the snake," he said to them. "But you missed."
Naruto (B) then did, Wind Style: Vulcan's Blades, while the Sasuke (B) did, Fire Style: Phoenix fire, as that fire was five times hotter that his Grand Fireball. The Grass Ninja was so occupied that it didn't notice that they Bushin popped away and two more took the place of the two that had done the spell. He was too busy unwrapping himself from the tree and found that he was stuck.
Risa (B) had cast a D-Level spell called, Earth Style: Clay Adhesive. Once that spell had been cast she too, was replaced by another of Naruto's Bushin.
Vulcan's Blades actually managed to hit the Sannin, who howled from the pain because several cuts and the cauterizing amputation of one of the man's arms. The blades were actually directed to attack him by the original Naruto even if he wasn't the one to call them forth. However the blades also cut the tree limb and let the Grass Ninja fall to the ground.
Naruto didn't call forth more Bushin. He was only using the ones that he'd created for this purpose. As each one was attacked or destroyed, he was getting a better map of the training ground and the dangers contained within, not counting any of the Genin teams.
'Concentrated Sun Shower,' Sasuke tapped out in code. 'Flash Freeze?"
Naruto blinked and then looked at his teammate, nodding to indicate that he'd learnt that Snow Style spell. He did the hand signs for the Sun Shower spell and had it deluge down in a concentrated area following the Snake ninja. Then quickly on the heels of that he did the Snow Style: Flash Freeze that he'd learnt from the scroll he been given by Sasuke.
The result was a glued Snake Sannin with several severe injuries that wouldn't be healing any time soon. A sudden rainstorm that turned the entire area below the Sannin into a wet muddy mess, including fully drenching the man. After which everything that had been wet was suddenly encased in ice so cold that, if anything happened to be living after that, it would be a miracle.
Team Seventeen looked at one another. They stayed where they were, tracking chakra, movement and basically anything that would tell them that the person below them was either dead or dying or had cloned away.
'Send down Bushin,' Risa said. There were still a few hanging around with them. The blond nodded and three more took the place of the team to investigate the area.
Orochimaru had been surprised to feel the pain from wind hot wind blades that lit with fire. He'd been falling and Kawarimi'd not to far away to try and figure out the team of Genin he'd been facing, when suddenly he was drenched by a freak sun shower that had broken through the trees. He looked up and felt a cold blast, chilling him to the bone.
'This is not possible,' he thought. His body was frozen. He couldn't move, but he was able to watch the three descend from the trees. 'They're looking for my body,' he thought. 'They won't find…'
They did and were standing in front of him looking at him through the layer of ice. The girl leaned in and was looking at his feet and knew that he'd linked into ground. He was slowly sinking in when suddenly his feet were encased in some thing solid. He couldn't move.
'They don't even know who I am,' he thought. 'I'll be able to escape sometime.'
(…Well what do we do with him…) Risa asked in sign language. Frustrating the Sannin because he couldn't hear them talking and they were barely making any movements.
(…The crazy examiner lady is in the forest…) Naruto told them. (…One of my Bushin found her and is guiding her and two ANBU here…)
(…Do we wait…) Sasuke asked.
(…We should, to make sure he doesn't escape…) Risa suggested. (…Naruto you might want to cancel a few of them to preserve your chakra to do that Freeze thing again, if needed…)
(…Point…) Naruto said and dispersed the ones that had found their way back to him. He still had a few looking for Gaara and a few were escorting the one that had the Earth scroll.
(…Let's set up temporary camp and guard schedule…) Sasuke suggested. (…Will you tell us more about who you think his is and what you think is going on, while we're waiting…)
Naruto nodded and began to dig a deep fire pit that could be covered. He had some herbs that when burned would turn the animals away from where they were.
They'd followed a routine that they'd used during their travels waiting for the examiner and the ANBU to arrive.
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
In another section of the forest, Team Eight had come upon a confrontation between the siblings from Suna and a group from the Village Hidden in the Rain. They'd been planning to steal extra scrolls, but something else happened. (…iv…)
They watched the brutal destruction of three Rain Genin and this had been done with only sand. Sand that had been in the complete control of the smallest of the three Genin from Suna and it was done without even the slightest hint of remorse or pity. Three of Naruto's Bushin had found them and were listening to the conversation and watching as the events unfolded too.
"Akamaru says that the sand stinks of blood," Kiba whispered to his teammates.
'Cool,' one of the Naruto's Bushin thought. 'This is the first time we can witness Gaara as he was before…'
"A wall of sand," one of the Rain Ninja asked. Stunned that his rain of a thousand needles failed.
"Exactly," Kankuro confirmed. "Infinitely malleable and an impenetrable defence. Only Gaara has ever mastered this art. He draws the sand within the sphere of his own massive chakra and then manipulates it in to the shape he needs and renders it utterly solid. Even more remarkable, it is completely done with no conscious effort and is independent of his will. Therefore any frontal assault on him is doomed to fail!"
"No way," the Rain Genin said. "Those needles should be able to pierce any wall even one of tempered steal five millimetres thick." The shield fell away and the needles to the ground. "Blast!"
"You're not even good enough to touch our Gaara," Kankuro concluded.
The large Rain Ninja was noticeably upset about this and ran to attack the red-haired boy. Kankuro watched his baby brother for the signs for one of his favourite Jutsu and thought, 'It's your funeral.'
Sand from the surrounding area, including some of Gaara's own converged on the hapless Genin.
'Sabakukyu: Coffin of Crushing Sand,' Gaara thought. Holding the Rain Ninja inside the sand blocked the Genin's control from the umbrella's that were still up in the air after they'd released the needles, so they fell to the ground.
Temari then said, "As you can see, he has total mastery over the sand in the ground and in the air as well."
"I can free myself easily enough," the Rain idiot said.
"If you don't stop yapping, I'll seal your lips and cut off your air," Gaara told him, as he picked up one of the Genin's abandoned umbrellas. "But you're hardly worth it." He popped the umbrella open and then he lifted his hand up and in doing so lifted his captive up in the air.
He closed his hand into a fist with the thought, 'Sabakusoso: Imploding Sand Funeral!' The sand surrounding the captive crushed the Rain student, popping him and causing a shower of blood and guts to rain down with a splattering sound.
"It's quick and painless," Gaara said. "I used far more force than was necessary to ensure that." Then he said something almost prayer like, "Bitter crimson tears flow from lifeless eyes and mingle with the endless sands, bestowing ever greater power upon the demon god."
The two other Genin that had watched their companion panicked and shaking in fear, they gave up their scroll. "Here…take the scroll… please…just let us go!"
Gaara was not in a forgiving mood or he wasn't quite the one in control. His two arms were out and soon the other two were wrapped in blankets of sand. The last thing that one of the saw was the blond girl with four pigtails, smiling at him, waving and saying, "Bye-bye!"
Kankuro stepped up to the scroll and said, "Lucky us, we needed the Heaven scroll. Now we can head for straight for the tower. The sooner we're out of the forest the better!"
"Not yet," Gaara said turning to look in the direction of the hidden Team Eight. "No…" The red-haired boy said. "I'm still not sated."
"Come on, Gaara," the painted Kankuro said. "Let's just go."
"Are you frightened?" Gaara asked. "Coward!"
"Gaara! Maybe you'll be fine," Kankuro said. "But Temari and I can't afford to take chances! One set of scrolls is all we need, we're done."
"Fool…" Gaara said. "I don't take orders from you."
Naruto's clones were looking at them. One decided to drop down and take a chance at being able to relay the message. "Awesome technique," he said, stepping up to them. "How you doing Gaara?"
"Uzumaki Naruto," Gaara said. "You are lost?" He blood lust was lost at the sight of the one person that had never reacted in fear to him. He formed a sand cork and pulled back all his own sand back into his gourd and sealed it.
"Nope and just call me Naruto," Naruto (B) said. "I came to deliver something to you."
"What," Gaara asked and watched with widening eyes as the boy got really close to him. He noticed that the boy was kept his angle so that those in the bush did not see what it was he was delivering. A small scroll was slipped into a hidden pocket of his front sash. "Come any closer and I'll kill you."
"I'll let you," Naruto (B) said with a smirk. "Do what you will with this information," then he leaned in closer, almost hugging the other boy. He whispered in the closest ear, "My original, will Seal Shukaku properly before or during the next phase of this exam." Just as spear of sand pierced his heart and dispelled him.
"That was a Bushin?" Temari said, "He seemed so real. I could even sense his presence."
They walked away leaving Team Eight breathing heavily in fear. "No wonder Akamaru was so upset, he was trying to warn us about that boy."
Shino looked at him and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Akamaru was trying to tell you not to mess with Gaara," Naruto (B) said, hopping down from the tree that he was in. He was the last one there as their job had been done. Any others were still popping out after having mapped some section of the Forest.
"What the hell?" Kiba said looking at the blond idiot from his old class. "How'd you get here?"
"Hm," Naruto (B) said. "I walked?"
"H..how d..do you know Gaara," Hinata asked him.
"Met him about six months ago in Suna," Naruto (B) said. "Even his own sister and brother are afraid of him. Poor guy probably doesn't have a friend or anyone to believe that there's good in him. I thought he was pretty cool though."
"You're not Naruto," Shino stated. "Who are you?"
"Nobody," Naruto (B) said. "If you have two scrolls, don't be stupid by waiting til the last minute to get to the tower." He put his hands together, which they all noticed he was about to cancel a Jutsu.
"W…wa…wait," Hinata said and notice that the Bushin was focussed on her. She pushed her two forefingers together and asked. "Can you give him a m…m…message?"
"Yes," Naruto (B) said.
"T…te…tell that he'd better stay safe," Hinata rushed out and continued quickly before she lost her nerve. "Wish him and his team luck."
"Believe it," the blond Bushin said with such conviction that they almost believed that it was really Naruto there, until he popped away in dispelling smoke and a soft, 'Poof'.
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
Naruto grinned at the words that Hinata had said to his Bushin. He was making notes on his map as his other Bushin were popping back to him. "Hinata wishes us luck," he told his teammates. "They have two scrolls and so does Gaara and his siblings. I think they're headed for the tower now."
"Heh," Risa giggled. "That's nice of her."
Sasuke smirked and said, "She's one of you fan girls."
"I know that there are a couple out there," Naruto said. "I don't encourage them and frankly I'd rather have them then ones that hound you."
"Ugh," Sasuke said. His teammates snickered.
"Interesting sculpture," Bear ANBU said, as he dropped down and stared at it, knowing that someone was in there and whoever it was, was still alive.
"Personally I think it's ugly," Sparrow ANBU commented. "Nice sealing technique, but it's not a normal one is it?"
"All right Blondie, what's this all about," Anko said. "That's just a block of ice, we have something more important to do than take care of some blockhead you've captured."
"Are you looking for this person," Naruto said holding up a drawing of the Grass Ninja that had attacked them and was currently inside the block of ice.
"How do you know," she growled trying to intimidate him. "What do you know?"
"Who do you think is inside that block of ice," Sasuke asked her in a tone that questioned her ability to actually think clearly. "That's the one that attacked us."
"What," she whirled to look at the person. She noted that there was a cement block at the bottom. "What's this?"
"He was trying to escape by traveling underground," Risa said. "We just stopped it. The seals prevent the Jutsus from breaking down, especially the ice, since it is kind of warm out."
"Why preserve him and not kill him," Bear asked.
"We're Genin," Naruto said. "We weren't sure that we could successfully kill that person."
"Why did you suspect that person of being stronger than the average Genin," Sparrow asked.
"His face is peeling and his tongue is way too long to be normal," Risa said with a shudder. "He could command snakes and he was actually inside one guiding it around, until we did this."
"His body moves like one too," Sasuke continue. "He twisted around the tree limb just like a snake. It was disturbing."
"Here," Naruto said, tossing a cauterized limb at them. The Sparrow ANBU caught it, looked at it and then looked at his companions in shock. "That belongs to him. As you can see, the over skin is peeling and there's an interesting tattoo underneath."
During all these explanations, the ANBU and Anko watched the Genin pack up their camp. "Where do you three think you're going?"
"The Tower," Risa said. "Why?"
"You can only go there if you have two scrolls," Anko said.
"That's not true," Naruto said. "We can go there, set up ambush for those that have their scrolls and steal them."
"Smart thinking," Bear said. "Tell me, what do you know of Orochimaru?"
"He's a missing-nin," Sasuke said. "One of the three Sannin from Konoha."
"His head's worth a lot in the Bingo Books," Risa told them. "Really a terrible a person."
Naruto scratched his cheek and told them all. "I think he's got followers in Konoha."
Everyone looked at him in shock. How could a Genin find out something that even the Hokage didn't know?
"Kabuto," Naruto told his teammates. "The geek with the cards. He's a medic of some sort, but is really twisted in the head."
"How do you know of this," Sparrow asked. "We'll need to check this information before acting on it."
Naruto sighed and then he pulled out his small drawing pad. He wrote something down on it and added an eyes-only seal to it. "I need a drop of your blood to lock this information," he said to the ANBU. The two only shrugged and did as asked. They watched the words disappear. "Since Kabuto is in the forest right now, you'd probably be able to investigate this quickly. To reveal the information on the paper push your Chakra into these two spots where your blood was absorbed. It'll take both of you and you can only reveal this information six, maybe seven times before the paper turns to ash from overuse."
The ANBU were surprised at that, but then they nodded and tucked away the small scroll. "You three had better leave now," Bear said. "We'll take care of this person and the issue you've entrusted to us."
"Konoha is my home," Naruto said. "I don't want to see it fall in a real war."
Sasuke and Risa were waiting for him at the edge of the clearing. As soon as he joined them, the three adults watched them flicker-flit away with surprising speed and ease.
"You two guard this piece of shit," Anko said. "I'll notify the Hokage and the another ANBU squad. I'm sure the Ibiki is going to love having a chat with this one, unless there is an order for instant execution."
The two ANBU looked at one another, shrugged and waited keeping an eye on the block of ice was easy, but they really needed to check out the kid's information. Sparrow knew that Anko would become distracted by the exam, so he used his summons to send a note to his squad leader, just in case.
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
TBC…(…i…) Several conversations will be taken from the manga or animé depending, which is cooler – starting Vol. 5, pg. 178. (Note, storyline will deviate a bit, perhaps not who fights who, but the snake issue…well you'll see)(…ii…) www dot leafninja dot com/ biographies - (change the word dot and remove the spaces), Hagane Kotetsu, Kamizuki Izumo.
(…iii…) The (B) next to a character name means it's a Bushin or Clone. This will be used for the remainder of this story.
(…iv…) Vol. 7, pg. 71
Gate 16 – Kiba, Hinata, Shino
Gate 27 – Shikamaru, Ino, Choji
Gate12 – Team Seventeen (Heaven Scroll)
Gate 20 – Team from Sound – furry guy, girl and loud mouth poser
Gate 38 – Kabuto's team
Gate 6 – Suna Siblings
Gate 15 – Orochimaru & Killers
Gate 41 – Gai's team, Lee, Neji, Tenten