So it's finally here. Procrastination is a terrible thing but I'm trying to work on it. I'm working on chapter 7 right now. I'll be honest I wasn't thrilled about continuing this at all until I got a message from a reader that really enjoyed it. So it motivated me to continue to write this fanfiction. So I am happy to say that I am continuing Rise of Namikaze Naruto. So here is the very long awaited (6 months or so) chapter 6.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 6
The Crossing of Paths
Naruto yawned as the walked along the main street of Konohagakure.
It had taken half the time to get back to Konoha without having to walk beside Tazuna.
He glanced over at his two other teammates to find that they looked just as haggard as he felt.
"Well then you guys, I think I can handle the mission report…" Kakashi said as he glanced up at the sky.
"What say we just call it a day?" he asked as he looked down at his three Genin.
Naruto grinned. "Sounds like a plan to me!" Sasuke nodded in agreement while Sakura also vocalized her agreement.
"Well then, I'll just see you all tomorrow at the usual spot." Kakashi then vanished in his signature plume of smoke.
Naruto yawned yet again before waving goodbye to his squad mates.
"See you…" he mumbled tiredly as he walked in the direction of his house.
Sasuke nodded to his blonde team mate as he to turned and walked towards his own humble abode.
Sakura sighed as she watched her squad dissipate without hesitation.
'Are the other squads like this?' she wondered.
Naruto entered his apartment to find it just as he had left it.
'That's good… Fewer vandals lately…' he thought to himself as he kicked off his shoes before sitting down and taking his weights off as well.
"Well, that was definitely an interesting mission to say the least" he lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.
He closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to take him when it happened again. Gato's face flashed before his eyes, as if someone had plastered his picture on the inside of his eyelids.
The horrified expression that Gato wore on his face as Naruto had executed him.
Naruto sat up quickly, his eyes snapping open in the process.
It had been like this since he had killed him, haunting him whenever he closed his eyes or let his thoughts wander.
"Dammit… Why can't he just leave me alone…" he muttered to himself.
He looked out his window to see the nearing the horizon.
'I may as well get some air I guess…'
Leaving his weights behind, he put his sandals on before racing across the rooftops, intent on getting to the Hokage monument before sunset.
It didn't take him long with the weights back in his apartment. He wandered from head to head, considering which one to sit on today.
In the end, he chose the Nindaime Hokage.
He sat down in the lotus position as he watched the village go about its end of day business.
He spotted a few people he vaguely knew heading home from missions or shopping, but of course none of them spotted the blonde Shinobi watching them all.
He sighed as the sun finally began its decent and the shadows began to grow.
Then, he sensed someone nearby… Close. Someone he didn't know.
Naruto rocketed into the air, withdrawing kunai from his holster and with aim he had not possessed before, went for the kill.
However, whomever he had been aiming at had disappeared the moment Naruto had sprung into action.
Naruto made the cross seal for his Kage Bunshin when the wind picked up and pushed him down to the ground.
Naruto gritted his teeth as he landed and his knees buckled slightly.
'What the hell? Who the fuck is this guy?'
Naruto spun around, another kunai in his hand when it seemed to be knocked out of his hand.
'This guy's so fast I can't even see him!' Naruto thought to himself.
Naruto ran through a set of hand seals when the wind seemed to punch him in the gut.
Naruto was carried backwards by the force of the Futon Jutsu that had just been used and fell onto his back.
Then, a cane hit the ground next to his head.
"So, you are Uzumaki Naruto… I thought you would be better."
Naruto looked up at the owner of the voice and cane to find a man with bandages covering part of his face.
"Who the hell are you!" Naruto spat.
"My name? You may call me Danzo."
Naruto glared at the man.
"What do you want?" He asked.
Danzo took a few steps back, allowing Naruto to get to his feet.
"I was curious as to see how you were progressing…"
Naruto grit his teeth. "Well isn't that nice, but why should I trust what you have to say? I don't even see a Konoha Hitai-ate on you anywhere…"
Danzo brushed some dirt off of his sleeve.
"I do not need a headband. I am well known among important individuals within of our fine village."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Why would an 'important individual' like you even want to see how I was progressing…?"
Danzo opened his one eye and stared directly at the boy.
"We both know what you are Uzumaki, I was simply curious how you measured up to your father…"
Naruto felt his heart skip a beat.
'I thought no one else knew!'
To Danzo's surprise, Naruto sprung into action faster than he could have anticipated.
Naruto pushed himself harder than he had before and sent the older man flying with a well placed right hook.
'I don't know if this guy is a Konoha Shinobi, but I don't trust him. Something about him is off!' he thought as he sent a barrage of shuriken at the man.
Naruto used his superior speed to get into Danzo's blind spot.
Naruto launched himself at Danzo, using his unique Taijutsu with the aid of two other clones.
The first clone went for a leg sweep, which Danzo knocked away with his cane, using strength and agility that unnerved Naruto.
The second clone tore through the first clone and aimed for Danzo's solar plexus.
However, Danzo sped through hand seals faster than Naruto could trace, and the next thing the clone and the original Naruto knew, wind was blowing them backwards.
The clone dissipated upon the activation of the Jutsu, while Naruto was hurled off the side of the Hokage Monument.
Naruto grunted as he made the cross sign again. Clones appeared around Naruto. The original used the various clones as either stepping stones or for the clones to hurl him closer to the enemy.
'This is bad… I don't know how to fight in midair!' Naruto thought as he was tossed by one more clone before landing on the ground before Danzo.
"I will say this; you surprised me with your speed. However, I now realize just what you are capable of."
Naruto stood up tall and glared at the man.
"How do you know who my father is…" the Uzumaki asked angrily. "Nobody other than the Hokage and a few others should be privy to that information!"
Danzo continued to glare. "Knowing secrets is part of a Shinobi's trade young Uzumaki, whether it concerns an enemy, or an ally."
Naruto scoffed. "But that information is top secret."
"Indeed it is… But I've known of your lineage since your father saw fit to seal the Kyubi No Kitsune within you."
Naruto threw a kunai once more which Danzo skillfully caught.
"You should know by now that it's useless to attack me…"
Naruto grinned. "I disagree."
Suddenly, the kunai in Danzo's hand exploded. Naruto watched as the smoke slowly cleared to find that Danzo had been unaffected.
"I told you, it's useless."
Naruto ground his teeth in frustration.
'This guy is REALLY good. I definitely don't stand a chance. He seems stronger than Kakashi even.' Naruto thought as he looked behind him at the village.
"So what else did you want?" Naruto asked, looking back at Danzo.
Danzo chuckled. "Nothing else Uzumaki… Or should I call you Namikaze?"
Naruto glared. "I'm not sure whether you're trying to rile me up or not… But if you are, it's working."
Danzo frowned. "I'm being serious boy. Then again, I suppose you haven't earned the right to call yourself a Namikaze."
Naruto turned around and looked down at the village.
"You were so cautious of me being an enemy earlier… Yet you turn your back on me now. Very unwise" Danzo said as he took a step closer to Naruto.
"If you truly are a Konoha Shinobi, then you wouldn't dare attack me" Naruto said as if it were as simple as that.
"For a Genin, you are wise… Much wiser than you were in the academy."
"I know that a high ranking Shinobi wouldn't simply check in on a Genin, regardless of who his father was… What do you want?" Naruto asked, getting sick of asking so many times.
Danzo walked up next to him, looking down at the village as the sky grew darker and darker.
"I know of your dream to become Hokage… If you are serious about that dream, you will eventually need to out yourself as both a Jinchuriki and a Namikaze. If that day comes, I will assist you."
"But you'll want something in return… Am I right?" Naruto asked before Danzo could continue.
"I will not lie to you Namikaze; I will be required to ask for your assistance when the time comes."
Danzo turned heel and began to walk away.
"If you want my assistance that is…"
He stood there, waiting for Naruto's answer.
"If the time comes, I'll take it under consideration." Naruto finally said.
Danzo grinned before disappearing in a Shunshin.
Naruto shook his head. 'I go out to clear my head and some freak decides to test me… Why is this village full of freaks?' he wondered as he left the monument.
"So Kakashi, what do you intend to do about Naruto?" asked the Sandaime Hokage.
Kakashi sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. He had just given his report to the Hokage, including all the details he knew of about Naruto accessing the Kyubi's chakra.
"Well, all I can say is continue to train him so that he isn't overcome by the demon's influence" he said as he stared out the window and watched the sun set.
"Are you sure you can handle this Kakashi? I know that you are quite drawn to training young Sasuke. Training Naruto will be much more difficult for you."
"It's true that training Sasuke would be much easier as he has a knack for learning Ninjutsu quickly and efficiently. Plus, now that he has awakened his Sharingan, training him will be that much easier. I'll be fine with Naruto." Kakashi said, taking a seat across the Hokage.
"What of Haruno Sakura? You cannot neglect her training Kakashi, she is a part of your team, and a team is only as strong as its weakest link" stated the Hokage as he pulled out dossiers of the team.
"I'm not saying she is a lost cause, but so far I haven't been able to motivate her with our training exercises. One way may be to show her the harsh truth. I know Naruto has been giving her a lot of… 'Tough love'…" Kakashi said, unable to find words that described Naruto's erratic emotions.
"So I've heard. I do encourage you to try this approach, but change your regime if it doesn't work out."
Kakashi nodded. "Yes sir."
Naruto awoke with a start the next morning, having seen Gato again.
'Why can't I stop obsessing over it…? I'm a Shinobi, we kill…' he thought to himself.
He looked out his window to see the sun rising to the east.
'I may as well go see if Lee and Gai-sensei are out training today…' Without wasting anytime, Naruto gathered his training gear and donned it all.
He jumped out the window and into the street.
He winced slightly as he landed and his knees buckled slightly.
"At least I'm not breaking anything anymore…" he breathed.
He then took off down the street at a decent pace as to not tire himself incase they were training today.
While running, he caught sight of Aburame Shino, who nodded to him.
'Huh… Haven't seen him around much…' Naruto thought as he nodded back.
He quickly reached the training grounds where he would meet Gai-sensei and Rock Lee.
He scanned the area and saw nothing.
"That's weird… I thought maybe they'd be here. Guess they're off on a mission or something."
Naruto turned to leave when he heard the whistling of a kunai.
The blonde Genin jumped out of the way as the kunai embedded itself where his foot had been just a moment ago.
Naruto looked at the attacker to find a girl that seemed to be his age.
"Uh… hi…" Naruto waved.
The girl looked confused. Naruto looked her up and down, wondering who this could be.
She was wearing a pink Chinese styled top, Shinobi pants and sandals. Her hair was done up in two buns, reminding Naruto of cinnamon buns.
"Who are you?" the girl asked as she tossed a kunai in the air before catching it.
'Just because she didn't know doesn't mean she had to attack me' Naruto thought, an irritated expression on his face.
"The name's Uzumaki Naruto. Who are you?" he asked, taking a step forward.
"Tenten and I would prefer if you stayed where you are" she said, gripping the kunai and taking a step back. "Mind telling me what you're doing over here?"
Naruto sighed. "I was looking for a kid named Rock Lee. He's a got a bowl cut and wears a green leotard."
Tenten raised an eyebrow. "Lee? What do you want with him?"
"You know him?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah, he's one of my teammates." Tenten said.
"Meaning… Gai is your sensei?" he asked again.
Tenten nodded. "What do you want with Lee though?"
Naruto grinned. "Oh, I just wanted to train with him was all. I've been training with them every morning for a while."
Then it hit Tenten. "Wait… I remember them telling Neji and I about that… I completely forgot your name! I'm so sorry! If I had known, I wouldn't have thrown that Kunai after you."
Tenten stowed the kunai in its holster before approaching Naruto and offering him a hand.
"It's good to meet someone who can keep up with Gai-sensei and Lee!" she said with a smile.
"It's good to meet one of Lee's teammates finally!" he said as he took the hand and shook it.
"So…From what Lee told me, you know Goken?" Tenten asked.
Naruto nodded. "For the most part. Gai-sensei is helping me tweak it to fit my personality and my Jutsu."
Tenten smiled.
"That means you're wearing weights, right?" she asked.
"Uh… yeah! That's right! Why?" he asked curiously.
Tenten grinned. "I say when Lee arrives; we try a sparring match… All three of us."
Naruto sped through the forest, panting heavily.
"Why the hell did I agree to this?" he wondered as he dodged a hail of shuriken.
Leaping up, he grabbed a branch and swung around and began tree jumping in the opposite direction.
He pulled out a kunai and used it to block a second barrage of throwing stars.
'She's really good! If I slip up, I'll be like one of those training dummies used for target practice!'
He jumped down only to find himself dodging strikes from a green blur.
'Fuck!' he screamed mentally.
He lashed out with a kick only to have it caught and him thrown into the path of an oncoming kunai.
The blade pierced Naruto's chest, only to have the blonde burst into smoke.
The real Naruto leapt from the trees above with speed nearly equal to Lee's.
Now simply a blur to Tenten, Naruto aimed for Lee.
'Gotta get him first…'
Suddenly, the blur seemed to turn into two blurs, both heading towards Lee.
'So this is the difference between Lee's Goken and Naruto's…' Tenten thought as she watched for an opening.
The two Naruto's fought vigorously against Lee, but none of their strikes were landing.
"Impressive Naruto-kun!" Lee yelled as he jumped up and backwards over the Naruto clone and avoiding a roundhouse kick from the original.
"You have gotten faster without your weights on. However, you are not the only one who has been training!" Lee announced.
Then, Naruto's jaw dropped when Lee seemed to disappear.
'MOVE!' his mind screamed.
Naruto took a step back, lessening the blow that quickly followed.
Naruto was flung backwards and slammed into a tree. Before he had time to recover, he had to dive to the left as Tenten used this as an opportunity.
Naruto winced as one kunai nicked his shoulder.
'Just a scratch…' Naruto thought as he jumped out of the way off a powerful kick from Lee which shattered the ground it connected with.
"Guess I'll have to use everything I've got!" Naruto said as he pushed himself to keep up with Lee's speed.
The two Shinobi clashed, landing only small blows. Lee however, had an advantage with his superior speed, and was therefore able to land more blows than Naruto could.
Lee smirked. 'I shall win this match with Naruto-kun!'
He then began to drive Naruto back, using a variety of different moves he had learned recently to throw an opponent off their game. Naruto was able to just keep from being outclassed and continued to either avoid or block the major strikes.
Then, Lee saw an opening.
Lee lashed out with an open palm strike to Naruto's knee, causing him to fall to the ground and cry out in pain.
Lee was about to deal the finishing blow when he saw Naruto's smirk.
"I win…" the blonde said.
Lee looked down at Naruto's palm. 'Ninjutsu!' he realized.
Lee was lifted off of his feet by the power of Naruto's Suiton: Hahonryū Jutsu that he had come to depend on lately.
Smirking, Naruto stood up.
"You nearly had me… But if we keep this up, I will lose Lee."
The green clad Genin stood up, nearly unfazed. "Another time I suppose Naruto-kun. You, like myself, are a genius at hard work! You can conquer anything!"
Naruto nodded.
'I don't think he was even going all out… I need to up my training if I plan on beating him or Sasuke.'
Tenten jumped down and walked over to the two of them as Gai also seemed to appear out of thin air.
"Fantastic sparring session, all three of you! The flames of youth burn brightly within you!"
He went through his usual routine of posing, his arm extended, thumb up, and the glimmer in his eyes and teeth.
'Amazing how he can do that so often…' Naruto and Tenten thought at the same moment.
Lee however had joined his teacher and had struck the exact same pose.
Naruto walked over to Gai, whom had his weights and had placed them on the ground next to him when he had arrived.
"Thanks again for everything. I should get going so that I get there before Kakashi-sensei."
This peaked Tenten's growing interest in Uzumaki.
"Kakashi? As in Hatake Kakashi?" she asked the blonde.
Naruto nodded as he strapped his leg weights on and began putting his arm weights on as well.
"Yeah. The thing that bugs me about him is how late he always is" he said as he finished with his weights. He did a slight hop to test how they felt.
'Seems fine to me.'
Tenten looked over at Gai, then at Naruto.
'Interesting… So Gai-sensei is teaching a student of his 'rival' Kakashi…' she thought as she began fiddling with a shuriken in her pocket.
Naruto stretched before glancing around. "So do you guys have anything going on tomorrow morning, or are we all up for another training regime?"
Gai glanced at his two students.
"I apologize Naruto, but our time with you shall be less frequently for the next few months. The Chunin exams are coming up, and we must prepare for them as a squad as I am sure Kakashi will do for his own."
Naruto laughed. "Ok. But I doubt that Kakashi will actual train us, and if he does, I doubt he'll have his nose out of that orange book."
Gai sighed at this. "It is most unyouthful of Kakashi to read that when he should be advising his students… Alas, he will not listen to me. Anyways, we must be off Naruto-kun! Hopefully you too shall be entered into the competition!"
Naruto nodded and turned. "Hopefully!" he said with a wave.
"It was nice meeting you Tenten, we should spar again sometime!"
Tenten simply grinned.
Kakashi looked over his three students. As usual with these sessions, Naruto seemed tired already, indicating that he had been training with Gai and his student.
"Well then, even though we did a good job with our 'A' ranked mission, we will be doing a few more 'D' ranked missions today as well as a training session."
Sasuke and Naruto, who had both been staring off, snapped to attention when Kakashi had said, training session.
"Why the sudden change in regime?" Naruto asked.
"After seeing all of your strengths and weaknesses in the last mission, I've come up with a regime that I think will do wonders for you careers as Shinobi" Kakashi said as he flipped to a page in his ever present Icha Icha Paradise.
'Bull… It's about the exams I bet' thought Naruto with a sneer.
"So what will we be doing first?" Sakura asked.
Kakashi smiled.
Naruto and Sasuke had been keeping up a good pace for the past two hours of training. First, Kakashi had them run a few laps around the training field for a warm up.
He then had them spar one another.
Sasuke and Sakura were paired while Naruto fought Kakashi.
Kakashi had been presently surprised to find very few openings as Naruto fought. Of course, none of the blows had actually made contact, but the boy had gotten an A for effort.
The spar between Sasuke and Sakura had been pathetic in Kakashi's opinion.
Sakura seemed to be torn between fear and obsession.
She was obsessed with Sasuke, and would not actually fight properly. She was afraid of what Sasuke was capable of and constantly kept backtracking.
Sasuke of course, didn't deem Sakura much of a sparring partner when this started up, which didn't seem to help his mood.
'Next time… Maybe Sakura should either spar me, or Naruto…' Kakashi thought to himself tiredly.
Then, basic exercise came around. Push ups, sit ups, squat thrust… the whole shebang!
Then, it was back to jogging.
Then, came water walking… It was the next step in chakra control for Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto had already learnt it, but had insisted that he do it as well, stating that he needed to practice it.
By that time, Sakura was completely worn out.
Now, they were practicing kunai throwing. Their targets were various Kage Bunshin provided by Naruto and Kakashi, disguised as many things and moving at different speeds.
Sakura had gotten sloppy with her fatigue, while Naruto seemed to be having some trouble courtesy of both his earlier spar, and how much effort he had to put into the training thanks to his weights.
Finally, Kakashi called for them to stop.
"Well, I think that covers training for today" he said as Sakura and Naruto sighed in relief.
"Now it's time for a mission!" Kakashi said in a sickeningly sweet voice.
"So what's today's mission?" Naruto asked gloomily.
"Well, it seems that we have some type of thief wandering the city at night. Normally, we'd let the police division handle this, but they haven't come up with too much. The Hokage has this classed as a 'C' ranked mission."
The Genin all nodded in acknowledgement.
"So we're to pick this guy up?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi shook his head.
"No. We need to find out who else he is working with. We know he's not a Shinobi from what he's taking, but there's no sign of forced entry and mind you, that all of the places robbed so far have been Shinobi residency's."
"So that means that he may have an accomplice?" Sasuke asked.
Kakashi nodded. "So, in that case, I want you all to get your supplies together. We may or may not have a fight on our hands."
The three Genin nodded.
"All right, meet me back here in two hours with all of your supplies." Kakashi ordered.
Before the other Genin could reply, he continued.
"However, Sakura, I need to speak with you quickly."
The two males of the squad looked over at Sakura.
'Wonder what Kakashi wants to talk to her about…' Naruto wondered through squinted eyes.
'Whatever…' Sasuke thought as he turned around and walked.
Naruto followed, shrugging away his curiosity for the moment.
Kakashi beckoned for Sakura to follow him.
'I didn't do anything… did I?' Sakura wondered.
'Shannaro! He better not try anything!'
Kakashi had Sakura follow him through a few crowded streets without speaking a word, and Sakura could not see any type of expression on his face other than boredom.
Finally, they stopped in front of a restaurant.
"Do you like this place by any chance?" Kakashi asked as he looked back at Sakura.
'That's all he had to ask me?' she wondered in amazement.
"Shannaro! This was a waste of time!'
"Uh… I guess…" she said.
Kakashi sighed. "Well, follow me then." He went inside the small restaurant and Sakura followed.
'I'm not getting kicked off the squad am I? I can't be away from Sasuke-kun. I'll gladly endure Naruto-baka if it means time with Sasuke!'
Her teacher found a booth and sat in it, motioning for Sakura to sit across from him.
Sakura sat down, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
The waiter swooped down on them.
"What will it be today?" he asked politely.
"Two bowls of miso soup please" Kakashi requested.
The waiter nodded. "Anything to drink?"
"Green tea" Sakura asked.
The waiter looked at Kakashi.
"Water is fine" he said simply.
The waiter wandered off to deliver the order.
"Um… Kakashi-sensei, why are we here, and why aren't Naruto or Sasuke?"
Kakashi scratched the back of his head.
"I really didn't want to have this conversation, but the more I thought about it, the less likely I thought it would all just work out" Kakashi mumbled.
'Conversation? What happened? Please don't kick me off the team!' Sakura screamed mentally. Her inner self seemed quiet at this moment.
"Well, Sakura… Let me ask you a question. Other than today and in Nami no Kuni, have you trained at all since you graduated from the academy?" Kakashi asked, looking her straight in the eye.
Sakura was taken aback by the question.
"Uh… not really. I mean we've been busy with missions and all, I just focus on those" Sakura stammered.
Kakashi shook his head at this answer.
"That's not a very valid excuse Sakura. Naruto and Sasuke both have the same duties as you, and they both find plenty of time to train vigorously. They've both improved since I first gave the three of you the bell test."
Sakura gulped, knowing what was coming. She did not enjoy being chewed out.
"Sakura, the only thing that's improved with you is your willingness to work with your teammates."
Sakura hung her head. "Sensei, I…"
Kakashi held his hand up. "Sakura, if you truly want to become a successful Kunoichi, you're going to have to start working harder. I understand that your grades in the academy were superb, but this isn't a simulation or test. This is real life. Knowledge can only get you so far as a Shinobi, just as strength will only get you so far. The same thing goes for skill."
Sakura bit her lip.
"Sakura, all I am saying is that you need to start training on your own and not rely on me and my training. Sasuke and Naruto already know this."
Sakura nodded. "I'm sorry sensei."
Kakashi shrugged. "For now, let us enjoy our food." As he finished saying this, two bowls of miso soup were placed in front of both Kakashi and Sakura.
"Two bowls of miso soup, green tea for the lady, and water for you sir" the waiter said as he placed the items in front of them.
"Thank you" Kakashi said a smile on his half hidden face.
"If you need anything else, please feel free to ask" the waiter said as he left.
Sakura stared at her blurry reflection in the bowl of soup.
"Eat up before we head out, you'll need your energy" Kakashi said.
Sakura looked up to see that his bowl was already empty. She then looked at his face, only to see that his mask was still on.
'How does he do that?' she wondered.
Naruto and Sasuke walked along, side by side.
"So what do you think Kakashi-sensei wanted to talk to Sakura about?" Naruto asked Sasuke, his hands behind his head as he walked.
"Hopefully he's asking her to get her act together…" Sasuke said, hands in his pockets as usual.
Naruto sniggered. "I dunno… I don't see Kakashi-sensei actually acting like a sensei for once."
Sasuke said nothing, but his mouth did twitch slightly.
"Not that Sakura would listen to him. She'd just say that her love for you would be enough or some bullshit like that" Naruto snorted.
Sasuke sighed. "Probably."
Naruto looked over at his team mate. "You know, I don't really know a ton about you."
Sasuke looked over at him. "Are you just realizing this?"
Naruto smiled his wide smile. "Nah, just vocalizing it. I mean, we're teammates now, we should now more about each other!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I know enough about you… You're an idiot with an affinity for ramen."
Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke. "Well you're an antisocial jerk who's constantly stalked by either Ino or Sakura."
Sasuke chuckled. "This is the most we've said to each other" he said.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Never thought you'd make an observation like that."
Sasuke shrugged. "So, how long have you been wearing weights?" he asked the blonde Genin.
Naruto grinned. "When did you notice?"
"Back in Nami no Kuni when you showed me how to do the tree climbing exercise. The landing you performed from jumping off that tree left a deep impact in the ground. Again I noticed an extreme weight change from the academy when you and I sparred again on that mission."
Naruto was surprised. "Wow, even before your eyes got even more retarded you could perceive all of that. Nice."
Sasuke glared at Naruto for the retarded eyes comment.
Naruto continued to grin, knowing that he had gotten the reaction he had aimed for.
"Look, I'm going to go grab my things and meet up with you later" Naruto said as he waved before jumping up onto a building and taking across the rooftops.
Sasuke continued to walk at his own leisurely pace.
Sakura left the restaurant in deep thought.
'This is the second time he's brought that up, but he went into more detail this time…' Sakura sighed, feeling a weight in her stomach.
'He's right, Sasuke and Naruto have been getting stronger, but I haven't really progressed at all.'
Her inner persona had nothing to say at this time.
She rounded a corner when she heard her name being called.
"Forehead! Earth to forehead!" Ino said next to her.
"Huh? Oh, Ino…" Sakura said quietly.
Ino looked at her one time friend in confusion.
"Hey, you alright there Sakura?" she asked.
Sakura was silent for a moment. "It's none of your business Ino-pig…"
Ino grinned. "Did Sasuke tell you to back off finally? I guess he realized who the prettier of the two of us is."
Sakura laughed at this. "From what I remember, you've never gone a three week long trip with him."
Ino rolled her eyes. "Oh please forehead, I know it was a mission otherwise you would have hunted me down to smother it in my face. Besides, Naruto was there as well, couldn't have been that great could it."
Sakura frowned when Naruto was mentioned.
"That bad eh?" Ino commented snidely.
"That's not it Ino…" Sakura said as she remembered what Naruto had to do on the mission. She wasn't conscious for it, but Kakashi had informed her and Sasuke of what had happened. She didn't really remember how she had ended up knocked out, but she did remember how Naruto had acted when he had come to.
She heard him groaning in his sleep, the nightmares that were plaguing him. She had heard him wake up in the middle of the night with a start, and not going back to sleep. She had even spied on him and Kakashi talking about how he was coping with it… It wasn't well.
"Something happened on the mission…" Sakura said solemnly.
Ino raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"
"One of us had to kill someone…" she whispered.
Ino stared at Sakura. 'It couldn't be that hard… I mean, we're Shinobi, we're trained to kill.'
"So Sasuke finally did it… he's the first out of the nine graduates to do that" Ino said, assuming that her precious Sasuke-kun had done it.
Sakura shook her head. "No, it wasn't Sasuke… it was Naruto."
Ino's jaw dropped. "Who was it? Some weak old man?"
Sakura gritted her teeth. "He killed more than once Ino."
"What's the big deal? We're Shinobi; we're supposed to kill, right?" Ino asked as they both halted and stood in the deserted street, only a few people walking by.
"That's what I thought Ino… But I guess it gets to you more than it ought to. He's suffering" Sakura said.
"Are you actually worried about Naruto?" Ino asked.
"A little, but I'm more worried about when I have to finally do it…"
Ino raised an eyebrow.
"I heard Naruto talking to Kakashi-sensei about the aftermath of it all… Apparently he's been having nightmares of the people he had killed. He told him that he couldn't stop thinking about the blood on his hands and that they were people just like him…" Sakura said shakily.
"Don't you think he's being a bit overdramatic about this? I mean, it's Naruto after all" Ino said.
Sakura nodded. "That's what I thought too, but then Kakashi told him that that's normal… That taking a life isn't something that will ever come easily. Apparently Kakashi had a rough time after his first kill…"
Ino looked down for a second. "I don't know… Maybe it's just not a big deal to me because I haven't been exposed to it yet. Just seems a little silly to me."
Sakura sighed. "Maybe you're right Ino-pig…"
Ino grinned. "Of course I'm right forehead
Ino watched as Sakura strode away, heading home for a mission that squad seven had just received.
'So Uzumaki was the first one to take a life… That was a surprise. I would have thought for sure that it would've been Sasuke-kun.' Ino looked to the sky.
'I wonder if we're all changing… Naruto included…' Suddenly she had an image of the orange clad idiot that would constantly pull pranks in class.
'I doubt that…'
Kakashi watched as the front door opened.
"Hello Naruto" he greeted from behind his book.
"AHHH!" Naruto screamed as he jumped backwards in surprise.
"K… Kakashi-sensei! What the hell are you doing in my apartment!" yelled Naruto.
Kakashi snapped his book closed. "For one, I'm here to tell you to leave your weights here for this mission."
Naruto glanced down at his legs then back up to Kakashi.
"Why? I thought this was only a 'C' ranked mission" Naruto said before walking into his apartment and closing the door behind him.
"It is, but I'd rather you keep them off incase we need to chase after somebody" Kakashi said from the couch.
Naruto shrugged. "Could I just reduce the weight in them so that I can keep up with you and Sasuke?"
Kakashi stood up. "If you can keep up, than that's fine, but don't keep them too heavy."
Naruto nodded. "Don't worry… After the last mission, I tinkered around with these weights so that I can easily take them off in the middle of a fight."
Kakashi seemed intrigued. "What happened during the last mission with your weights?" he asked.
"Well, when Sasuke and I were fighting Haku, the weights kept slowing me down along with the pressure points Haku kept hitting. I figured that if I could get the weights off, I could move around a lot better and avoid more strikes. But it took to long to undo the weight's straps, so Sasuke nearly paid the price for it."
Kakashi nodded, signaling for him to go on.
"So, when we got back yesterday, I took off my weights and tried to figure out some sort of quick release latch I could make."
"I take it you figured one out then?" Kakashi asked.
Naruto nodded. "I had to get some help from Gai-sensei, but we got something to work."
Kakashi rubbed his chin. "Mind showing me?"
Naruto shook his head. "That's fine." Naruto formed the ram seal. "Just want to decrease the weight so that I don't dent the floor or something."
Naruto sighed as he felt his weights lighten significantly.
Then, Naruto put his arms to his sides. He took a deep breath before moving as fast as he could.
He brushed his hands along the weight underneath his pants.
Just as he brushed them, the weights fell off, as if they had been undone.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. 'Interesting.' Kakashi walked to one of the weights and picked it up before examining it.
"So you painted a seal on it… a release seal that need just a small amount of chakra to activate. I must say it is a bit rough, but otherwise it can work." Kakashi said before setting it down.
"Yeah, the only problem I have with it is that I have to actually touch the seal with my hand otherwise nothing happens" Naruto said.
"Well, if you want me to take a look at it sometime after this mission, I can help you with that. Gai may be a talented Shinobi, but he is not as proficient with seals as I am" Kakashi said with some confidence.
Naruto smiled. "Really! That would be great!"
Kakashi nodded. "Well, I guess just keep the weight minimal enough that it won't deter us during the mission."
Naruto nodded.
"Well, get your weapons together and a small amount of rations… This may be an overnighter" Kakashi said before disappearing in a plume of smoke.
'I really have to learn that technique…' Naruto thought.
Sasuke sighed as he sat near a pouting Sakura while waiting for Naruto and Kakashi.
'Naruto's usually good about being on time, so why is he late?' he wondered.
He glanced over at Sakura who continued to stare down at her shoes.
"Sorry I'm late guys!" Naruto called out as he landed beside Sasuke.
Sakura glanced over at Naruto before looking back down, sulking.
Naruto ignored her as he stretched out. "This should be an interesting mission."
"I'm glad you think so Naruto" Kakashi said above them.
The three of them looked up to find Kakashi sitting on a balcony reading his orange book.
"So let's go over the information that I have so far on these robberies."
He slipped his book into his pouch before pulling out a scroll and tossing it to them.
Sasuke caught it and unrolled it. The other two Genin looked over his shoulder.
"There's a pattern" Sakura said.
Kakashi nodded. "I'm glad to see you noticed it."
Naruto scratched his head. 'I'm getting smarter but… where's the pattern?'
The scroll showed a list of the victims and where they lived along with a report of what was missing.
Sasuke stared for a moment before grinning.
"What do you know…? There is a pattern." He said.
"We suspected that there was a pattern at first but weren't sure until the last break in. Every other day he strikes a certain neighborhood. One day he'll go for the Shinobi families with Jonin in them while the next day will be a Chunin before going back for a Jonin." Kakashi said.
Naruto's eyes widened. "Jonin? And they don't catch this person?"
"No, because it happens when the Shinobi are out on a mission" Kakashi stated.
"So who do you think will be hit next?" Sasuke asked.
Kakashi then pulled out another scroll. "I have a list of all the Jonin who are currently out on missions, including myself."
He tossed the list to them. "Last time was a Chunin's apartment, but to be sure, I got a list of all the Chunin who are away on missions as well."
Naruto scratched his head.
"This is all helpful but how are we going to keep an eye on all of these places. There are at least 45 places unattended."
Kakashi grinned. "That's why the Hokage and I thought this mission was right up your alley Naruto."
Naruto blinked before it hit him. "Kage Bunshin… Of course."
Naruto sighed as he walked along a road under a Henge of an old man.
'I hate this…' Naruto thought to himself as he tried sensing for any other chakra signatures.
'Nothing out of the ordinary' he thought as he walked past Ichiraku's.
Naruto's stomach rumbled slightly.
"If only…" he sighed.
"Naruto? Anything where you are?" Kakashi's voice came over the communicator in his ear.
"Not yet" he whispered.
"Same here" Sakura said before Sasuke repeated the same thing.
"Keep looking. Kakashi out" the communicator was then silent.
Naruto turned a corner and nearly ran into Iruka.
"Oh I'm sorry Iruka-sensei!" Naruto apologized, still under the Henge of an old man.
"Oh it's fine… Do I know you?" Iruka asked, looking slightly embarrassed and put off.
Naruto felt like smacking himself. 'Idiot!' he mentally berated himself.
"Well, I do know that you are a teacher at the academy! My neighbor's children always speak about you! Unfortunately we have never had the pleasure. I do apologize though I must be on my way." Naruto bowed before Iruka before walking past him.
"You're fine sir, be safe out there." Iruka said before walking away as well.
Naruto kept walking on, feeling totally embarrassed.
'I can't believe I nearly ran into him! I would have broken the Henge and been exposed, especially if the person we're looking for saw me! I nearly botched the entire mission. I should have sensed… him…earlier…'
Naruto looked around and saw Iruka walking along.
Naruto closed his eyes trying to sense Iruka's chakra.
'I can't sense anything… This could be it.'
He tapped his communicator.
"I may have something… Sakura, could you check to see if Iruka is at his apartment? I know you're close by."
"What is it Naruto?" Kakashi's voice came through.
"I'll let you know when I'm entirely sure… Sakura, please check on that for me" Naruto said. He tapped the earpiece again switching it off before dropping the Henge and leaping on top of a building.
"Naruto its Sakura. Iruka is just getting home… drunk I think…" she giggled slightly.
"Are you sure it's him?" Naruto asked.
"Positive" was her reply.
"Kakashi, I need you to back me up, I'll send a clone to replace you're position" he said as he made the cross sign and a clone poofed to existence behind him.
"Copy that" Kakashi replied.
The Naruto clone set off towards the neighborhood Kakashi was patrolling. The original Naruto continued trailing the Iruka he had spotted.
'Who the hell is this guy? I can't sense him at all.'
Naruto then sensed Kakashi coming towards him.
Kakashi walked up to Naruto as they watched the fake Iruka. Kakashi quickly raised his Hitai-ate revealing his Sharingan.
"Weird… It's not a Henge… Are you sure it's an imposter?" Kakashi asked.
Naruto nodded. "There was something off about him… Plus, I can't sense his chakra at all. Not even a blip on my radar. Even with civilians I can sense them."
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. Tapping his earpiece he spoke quietly, "Sasuke, Sakura, come straight to Naruto's position."
There was no reply.
"Kakashi, I couldn't hear that on my communicator" said Naruto.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "You didn't sense any fluctuation in any chakra source nearby did you?"
Naruto shook his head.
Kakashi sighed. "Stay on top of him but don't do anything until I get back."
"Where are you going?" Naruto asked.
"To check on something and to get Sakura and Sasuke" he replied.
Naruto nodded as Kakashi seemed to vanish.
Naruto looked down at the fake Iruka who had stopped and began to look around.
Naruto grit his teeth. 'Why the hell can't I sense this bastard?'
The fake Iruka then walked over to a door to a house.
Naruto drew a kunai. 'Sorry Kakashi, I may need to do something if you don't get back quickly enough.'
Suddenly, he heard something whizzing through the air. Naruto jumped out of the way just as a kunai landed where he had just been.
He looked around and saw nothing.
"Dammit, where the hell did that come from?" He whispered to himself.
He then heard running from below. He glanced down to see that the fake Iruka was running down the street, looking up at him.
"Dammit!" growled Naruto.
Suddenly an ANBU appeared in front of him.
Before Naruto could say anything, the ANBU had struck him with a powerful punch to the chest and sent him flying through the air and into the alley below.
Naruto landed painfully on his back.
Naruto jumped backwards and landed on his feet as a kunai hit where his head had just been.
He looked up to see the ANBU staring down at him.
'I don't think this is an even fight…' Naruto thought. Then he saw another kunai whiz towards the ANBU.
The masked man jumped out of the way just as Kakashi appeared before him.
"Are you okay Naruto?" he called out to his student without taking both his regular eye and his uncovered Sharingan eye off of the ANBU.
"Yeah I'm fine" replied the young Genin.
"Good, go after the imposter" Kakashi ordered.
Naruto nodded as he ran down the street as fast as he could in the direction he had seen the fake Iruka run.
Kakashi stared the ANBU down.
"Very clever, using seals around the perimeter to block all communication devices within a certain range. But what exposed you was the second set of seals around an even larger perimeter blocking any sensor type of Shinobi from using their abilities. It even watered down the effects my Sharingan had. But another clue that an ANBU was involved was the fact that your thief wasn't under a full Henge but was also disguised using makeup which was why my Sharingan couldn't see through the charade."
The ANBU said nothing as it stared at Kakashi.
"So, the silent type I see. That's fine by me." Kakashi drew a kunai from the pouch.
The ANBU then sprung into action, forming seals quickly.
Kakashi mimicked the same seals, already having copied it years before.
Lighting shot from between their fingers at each other.
"Not many lighting elements in Konohagakure… Meaning you aren't from around here."
The ANBU chuckled.
"I may as well ditch this then" he said as he pulled the mask off revealing a darker man underneath it.
"I'm guessing you're a Shinobi from Kumo… Correct?" Kakashi asked.
"I was… I'm a missing-nin now though. I left my village years ago."
Kakashi nodded. "Then seeing as you're from Kumo, you must know who I am."
"I do Kakashi…"
Naruto sped down the street and reached a fork in the road. Without hesitation he produced a clone, taking the left, while the other took the right.
Naruto grit his teeth as he sped down the street avoiding a few people here and there.
'A fucking ANBU? This is more like another 'A' ranked mission…' he thought angrily.
"Why do we always get the bad intel?" Naruto growled to himself as he rocketed forward.
Then, something caught his attention in his peripheral vision.
He skidded to a halt and backtracked to see the fake Iruka running down a side street.
'Not on my watch asshole' thought the blonde Genin.
Naruto jumped up onto the building tops and began to chase down his target.
He quickly gained on the man and before he knew it, he was ahead.
He jumped down into the alley below.
"Who the hell are you?" Naruto yelled.
The fake Iruka glared as he withdrew a few kunai and threw them at Naruto.
The Genin jumped out of the way as they flew past him.
'I don't think this guy is a civilian… He was dead on target right there' he thought to himself.
He landed as he created two clones with him.
Suddenly his communicator crackled to life.
"Naruto, Kakashi do you copy?" came Sasuke's voice.
The two Naruto clones ran towards the imposter.
"I'm in the market district and need backup. Sasuke you get over here now!" He said as he grabbed a kunai and threw it into the air. It exploded above the buildings.
"I see you" Sasuke said.
Naruto then joined the fray with his clones.
Kakashi dodged another lightning attack before going through the same seals and using it on him.
Kakashi flipped over a swipe from the opposing Shinobi's blade.
He ran through a few more seals before he had to stop and jump out of the way from a Bunshin that attacked him.
'Just a few more minutes…' Kakashi thought to himself.
The missing-nin halted his attack for a moment and looked across the village to see an explosion.
'They found him… Meaning they're calling for backup' the Shinobi thought with narrowed eyes.
"I'm sorry Kakashi but this fight is over." He began to run through hand seals when he sensed his seals being broken suddenly.
He looked at Kakashi as he stopped his hand seals.
"So you actually did call for backup after all…" he said with a scowl.
Kakashi shrugged. "ANBU have been notified and are surrounding the area. No way in or out."
The Shinobi chuckled. "Very clever Hatake… I guess that leaves me no choice but to this."
He smiled before clenching his jaw. Suddenly, he was on the ground convulsing, blood began dripping from his eyes.
"Damn it." Kakashi said aloud.
'Suicide pill… He wasn't a free agent it seems. The only reason to do that is to protect information.' He walked to the dying man and saw the tears of blood.
'Clever… The pill must have destroyed his brain, turning it to mush. That way Yamanaka couldn't go in and pry the information.'
He sighed as he lowered his headband. An ANBU appeared behind him wearing a cat's mask.
"Take the corpse to Ibiki, he'll figure something out with it" Kakashi said.
"I'll go help my student's with the thief."
Naruto grinned as the fireball barely missed his opponent.
"It's about time you got here Sasuke!" he called out.
Sasuke landed next to him. "Don't complain you idiot."
The fake Iruka gripped his kunai even tighter. After all, it was now two against one.
"You may as well just surrender now" Sasuke said as he withdrew his own kunai.
The imposter said nothing as he took a step backwards.
Then, something fell out of his pocket and hit the ground. Suddenly, smoke engulfed the area.
"Damn! A smoke bomb!" Naruto exclaimed as he began to cough.
Sasuke ran forward through the smoke.
Just as he ran out of the large cloud, he found the man on the ground, bleeding from his eyes and frothing from the mouth.
'Is he having a seizure?' Sasuke thought in surprise.
Naruto appeared next to him, his eyes tearing up from the smoke.
"What the hell?" Naruto exclaimed. He knelt beside the man and felt for a pulse.
"I think he's dead…" Naruto said slowly. "Did you do this?" he asked Sasuke.
The Uchiha shook his head. "I just found him like this."
"Where's Sakura?" came Kakashi's voice.
They turned around to see him walking through the disappearing smoke.
"Right here" came her voice as she ran up to them all.
They were all silent for a moment.
"Kakashi-sensei, do you know what happened to him?" Naruto asked suddenly.
"Suicide pill. It's a last resort for Shinobi who are caught by the enemy to protect information" he sighed as he scratched the back of his head.
"So does this mean the mission was a failure?" Sasuke asked.
Kakashi nodded. "But this mission turned out to be at least a B rank, so the Hokage may be more lenient with us… I wonder though, why do we always get the faulty information?"
Naruto and the others shrugged.
Naruto woke up a few weeks later, ready for another day of training.
'Stupid D ranked missions… Why can't we do more C ranks?' he thought to himself as he ate a bowl of ramen.
He smiled as he finished the broth.
"Couldn't help but cheat on my diet" he sighed.
He stood up and stood underneath the door from and marked his height.
He frowned. "It's only been a week but shouldn't I have grown a bit more?"
He walked away and took his shower before getting dressed and leaving.
He walked along seeing the various types of villagers going about their business.
A few of them nodded towards him or even said hello, but a majority of them simply glared at him.
'Well, one good thing about D ranked missions is getting the villagers opinions of me to change one by one.' He smiled slightly as he remembered helping out at the Inuzuka kennel and having Hana call him moderately attractive without the orange suit.
He arrived to find Sasuke and Sakura already waiting for him and Kakashi.
He nodded to Sakura and Sasuke. Sasuke nodded back as usual while Sakura looked away.
They waited in silence for only a few minutes when Kakashi suddenly poofed before them.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at his quick appearance.
"Didn't feel like keeping us waiting eh Sensei?" he smiled at his teacher.
Kakashi chuckled. "Well, today I figured we'd take the day off from missions and training and celebrate."
Squad seven all looked confused.
"Celebrate what?" They asked in unison.
Kakashi held up three slips of paper.
"Well, you've all been doing so well, that I figured that I'd enter you into the Chunin selection exam."
This grabbed their attention.
"The Chunin exams? Are you sure?" Naruto exclaimed happily.
Kakashi nodded. "So let's all go to a restaurant my treat."
Ino Yamanaka sighed as Choji drooled over the barbeque pork that was currently cooking in front of them.
Asuma smiled to the three of them. "I hope the three of you all do your very best in the exams tomorrow!"
Shikamaru yawned and nodded. "Sure sure…"
Ino glared over at Shikamaru. "Shika! Stop being so unmotivated about everything! We need to pass these exams!"
"Why? So Sasuke will finally notice you?" he asked.
Ino glared at the lazy Genin. "Maybe!"
"Well, why don't you just go say hi to him, he just walked in." Choji said as he snatched on of the sticks of pork and devoured it.
Ino whirled around to see Sasuke walk in with a blonde kid wearing a red coat with black flames adorning the bottom of it.
Sakura was right behind them looking slightly depressed followed by a taller man wearing standard Jonin garbs and a face mask. Only one of his eyes was visible and his shock of silver hair stuck up at a strange angle.
"Sasuke!" Ino cried out as she jumped out of her booth and tackled Sasuke with a hug.
The blonde next to him laughed slightly and continued forward without another word.
Ino looked over at Sakura who was currently staring daggers at her rival.
"Oh hey there forehead! I can't believe I didn't see you there, I mean who could miss that giant forehead?" Ino chuckled.
"Try not to break Sasuke's back Ino-pig." Sakura seethed.
Kakashi slid past the small feud, slightly chuckling as well.
Ino continued to hold onto the raven haired Sasuke who was looking for a way out of the situation.
"So where's Naruto?" Ino asked as she looked around.
Sasuke saw his chance and slipped through Ino's grasp before walking away, mumbling under his breath.
Ino didn't seem to mind too much.
"He's sitting over there with Kakashi-sensei" Sakura said as she glared at Ino.
"Really? Where? I don't see that orange get up of his." Ino looked around for it.
Sakura said nothing and decided to walk towards her team. Unfortunately Ino followed.
"So are you going to be in the Chunin exam as well? Or is your team not good enough, after all, the only good member is Sasuke."
Sakura walked up to Kakashi who was currently speaking with Asuma.
"Of course we'd love to sit with you guys!" she heard him say.
'Shit…'
'SHIT!'her inner self exclaimed.
Soon, they were all cramped together in the booth. Ino sat next to Sakura but across from the blonde kid.
"Hi there I'm Ino Yamanaka" she introduced herself.
Sasuke chuckled as did Shikamaru and even Choji. Sakura just looked at her strangely while the blonde kid began to laugh.
"What? What's so funny?" asked Ino as she looked around them all.
"I already know you" the blonde boy said.
"You do?" she asked surprised.
The blonde nodded as he went back to talking to Sasuke who was sitting beside him.
Ino leaned over to Sakura. "Who is that?" she whispered.
"Naruto…" Sakura said with distaste.
Everything seemed to freeze for a moment.
"Naruto?" she exclaimed.
Naruto looked up at her. "What is it?"
She stared at him in disbelief. Naruto shifted uncomfortably.
"What happened to you?" she asked.
Naruto felt confused. "What is there something on my face?" he felt around his face awkwardly.
'No way this is that annoying brat from the academy! He seems quiet and composed. He even looks slightly attractive! Plus he's talking to Sasuke-kun! What the hell!'
Naruto shrugged and went back to talking to Sasuke as Ino stared at him.
A few seconds later, she laughed. Again, Naruto raised an eyebrow at her behavior.
"To think that the Dobe is getting his act together" Ino laughed. "You were even the first to kill out of the rookie nine."
Sasuke glanced over at Naruto whose eyes were currently hidden by his bangs.
Shikamaru glanced over at Naruto at this. Sakura didn't react at all.
Choji had halted his eating and stared at Ino, completely dumbfounded. Kakashi shook his head while Asuma was coughing, accidentally inhaling too much from his cigarette.
Ino slapped a hand to her mouth. 'Oops… Need to think before thinking…' she thought, recalling what her father would often say to her.
"I'm so sorry Naruto I didn't mean to bring that up I just…" Naruto interrupted her though.
"It's fine Ino-san. If you'd all excuse me I don't feel very well." He stood up and ran out of the restaurant.
Ino felt horrible. 'Oh my god I'm such an idiot.'
Naruto threw up in the alley way, Gato's face floating to the front of his mind again.
'Dammit… Why can't I get over this?' He wiped his mouth the taste still lingering.
He wiped the sweat from his face that had appeared.
He looked around the alley he was in. "I'd better go home and change… Plenty of time to train."
He walked out of the alley to find Kakashi waiting for him.
"You didn't have to leave as well Kakashi-sensei" Naruto scowled.
"I just wanted to let you know that if you do want to compete in the exams, be at this address tomorrow at nine" he said as he handed him the piece of paper that Naruto must have dropped in the restaurant.
"Oh… Thanks" he said as he took the paper and placed it in his pocket.
"I'll let Yamanaka know that you aren't mad… Just… not feeling well."
Naruto shrugged. "I don't care about her mentioning Gato… but let her know that I'll get her back for the Dobe remark." He turned around and walked towards his apartment.
Ino said nothing as everyone remaining continued to talk. Sakura was busy talking to Shikamaru about a few missions they'd had recently while Choji slept on the bench upright after consuming as much food as was allowed.
Asuma pat her on the back. "I'm sure he's okay" he told the Yamanaka.
She said nothing until she noticed Kakashi enter.
"Is he mad?" she asked.
Kakashi looked over at her. "About the killing comment? No… But I'd watch my back if I were you" he said.
"I thought you said he wasn't bothered by my comment" Ino said, feeling irritated at Kakashi.
"He isn't… But he didn't appreciate the 'Dobe' comment… So he told me to let you know that he'll get his revenge on you."
Ino gulped, her mind suddenly afloat of images of Naruto holding a bloody kunai.
Kakashi seemed to sense this. "He'll probably just pull a prank on you is all" he said as he sat down. "Hm? Where's Sasuke?"
"He left just after you did" Asuma said as he took a drag from his cigarette.
Kakashi nodded. "I see." He took a look over at Sakura. "Did you read the note?" he asked.
She nodded. "I'll be there tomorrow" she said.
"Good good… Well I'm going to get going." He said as he poofed out of existence.
Ino raised an eyebrow at this. "Couldn't he just get up and walk away?"
Asuma laughed.
Ino and Sakura walked down the road that afternoon.
"So that's Naruto's new look eh? Not too shabby. Beats that orange jumpsuit" chuckled Ino.
Sakura shuddered. "That was a pretty bad outfit. Remember the goggles?"
Ino laughed. "Those weren't too bad! So that's your team? Not too bad, but mine's better, even without Sasuke."
Sakura grinned. "I doubt that Ino-pig."
Ino sighed. "So Sasuke and Naruto are friends I take it?"
Sakura nodded. "Yeah, it's really weird. Didn't think that Sasuke would even give Naruto the time of day."
"They're total opposites" Ino said as she imagined the two side by side. "Sasuke's so much cooler and cuter."
"And stronger" Sakura added.
Ino nodded. "Naruto couldn't beat him on Sasuke's worst day."
"Hey shut up!" came a little boy's voice.
The two female Genin noticed two boys and a girl all wearing goggles glaring at them.
"Naruto-niisan is the best!" yelled the boy with a large scarf around him.
"You kids know Naruto?" Sakura asked.
"He's our boss!" Konohamaru proclaimed. "I'm Konohamaru, this Moegi and that's Udon!"
Ino chuckled. "So you don't know who Sasuke Uchiha is then. Because compared to Sasuke-kun, Naruto is second rate." Sakura nodded profusely next to her rival.
"As if two ugly girls would know anything about cool!"
Suddenly, an evil aura surrounded Ino and Sakura.
"Say that again…" Sakura growled. Udon and Moegi slowly backed away, but Konohamaru held his ground.
"You two are fat and ugly old hags!"
Naruto was walking home after practicing his newest Jutsu for most of the day when he heard Sakura's and Ino's voice cry out at the same time.
"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BRAT!"
Naruto saw the dust trail in the distance of a few people running at high speeds.
'This can't be good' he thought to himself as he went after them as well.
Konohamaru rounded a corner and looked back to see them gaining on him when he ran into something solid and fell to the ground in pain.
Konohamaru groaned painfully as he heard someone saying something about watching where he was going. Then, he was lifted off his feet by someone holding the front of his shirt.
He opened his eyes to see a boy in a black outfit and hood with some kind of war paint on his face.
"I should teach you a lesson" the boy said.
"Kankuro! You shouldn't do this! He'll get mad at you!" A blonde girl said behind him.
"Relax Temari, I'm just teaching the kid something!"
Sakura and Ino rounded the corner to see what was happening.
"We're sorry it was our fault" Ino said when she realized what had happened. "We were chasing after him and…"
"I don't care!" Kankuro said loudly as he raised his fist. "Kid needs to be taught manners."
Konohamaru closed his eyes when he heard the air whoosh around him before someone was carrying him.
He opened his eyes to see Naruto setting him on the ground.
"Niisan!" he exclaimed.
"Great more brats!" Kankuro exclaimed, a boot mark on his face.
Konohamaru now saw that Kankuro was kind of tall and was carrying something on his back that was wrapped in bandages.
Kankuro took the object off of his back.
Naruto glared at the man, prepared for anything as he drew a kunai when he sensed two presences in the tree to his left.
"Sasuke! Stop hiding and get down here… Same with the other guy up there!"
Sasuke's eyes widened as he looked to his left and saw a short red headed kid standing upside down on a branch not far from him.
'I didn't even notice him get here.' Sasuke thought worriedly. He then jumped out of the tree and landed next to Naruto.
The red head disappeared in a sand Shunshin and reappeared next to Kankuro.
"Very impressive" the red head said in a monotone voice.
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "That goes for the three of you hiding as well."
One of the trees further off rustled as three strange Shinobi appeared as well.
Naruto and Sasuke noticed that their headbands had a music note on it.
'Sound? Never heard of them' thought Naruto with a scowl.
"Mind telling us who you are and why you're here?" Sasuke asked a scowl on his face as well.
"My name is Gaara…" the red head said first, his eyes plastered to Naruto.
"Kankuro here is my brother and I'm Temari" said the blonde girl.
The three sound-nin said nothing but continued to stare at Naruto as well.
"Mind telling us why foreign Shinobi are in our country?" Sakura asked stepping forward.
Temari snickered. "The Chunin exams of course."
Naruto and Sasuke both looked curious at this.
"So all of you are participating as well then?" Ino asked.
Gaara made no indication that he was listening but his teammate Temari nodded.
Naruto stared at Gaara. 'Why the hell is he looking at me like that?' he wondered. Suddenly, a slight pain in his stomach made him wince.
'What the hell was that?' he wondered. Gaara noticed this for a moment and seemed to tilt back but other than that made no other indication that anything had happened.
'What is this feeling of…dread?' Gaara wondered.
Naruto clenched a fist. "Well, next time you grab any citizen on Konohagakure like that again, and I'll make sure you're properly handled." Naruto glared at Kankuro at this point.
"Especially if you handle the Hokage's grandson like that again" he spat out.
Temari, Kankuro, Ino and Sakura all gasped.
'We could have been in serious trouble just now…' they all thought.
The three sound-nin said nothing, but Sasuke did notice that they seemed unusually tense.
"Is something wrong?" he asked as he withdrew a kunai.
"Nothing" the one whose face was hidden in bandages said.
Naruto glared over at them. "Is there a reason why you were watching all of us?"
"Measuring up the competition and I've gotta say, I'm not worried" the other male said. The female chuckled at this.
"Then continue to underestimate us, it will give us the advantage" Sasuke growled.
Naruto turned around and began to walk off. "Just to be polite, my name is Naruto Uzumaki…"
Sasuke and Konohamaru followed Naruto as Sakura and Ino slowly backtracked before turning around as well.
"Let's go" Gaara said as he turned around and walked away, not even glancing at the sound ninja.
Temari and Kankuro both followed, eyeing the three other Shinobi as they passed them.
"Keep an eye on the boy without a personality and Uchiha as planned… But also that Naruto kid…" The bandaged Shinobi said.
Kakashi arrived at the Hokage tower with the rest of the Jonin to find he was only a half hour late.
"It seems that they have all assembled" Kurenai said.
"So begin the Chunin Exams" spoke the Hokage.
There you have it. So the exams are starting and I only slightly changed how everyone met each other. Chapter 7 is on its way and I'll be out with it soon.
And sorry for everyone expecting a meeting between Ino and Naruto with sparks flying. I just wanted them to slowly develop some type of friendship that will be slowly flushed out over the next few chapters. And no, there won't be romantic sparks flying for a while either. Ino and Naruto will clash, a lot.
Well, thanks again to the fan that motivated me to get back to this. Again it won't happen again.
Sorry for the very VERY long wait and it won't happen.
Have a nice day and please review.