Chapter 9- Black Nightshades, White Snakes
"As you all know," Sarutobi began to inform the crowd of jounin in his office, "the time has come once again for our biannual Chunin exam. If any of you wish to allow your genin to enter, all you need to do is stand."
Kakashi and Yamato had been in heated discussion about it since yesterday on whether or not they should enter their team. Though the group was above what an average genin team, Naruto and Sakura were fledgling Bloodline users with no clan to teach them, especially Naruto since he still had a tender grasp of what he could do. Either way, it still would be a good experience for them.
"I, Hatake Kakashi," said the scarecrow as he stood up, "nominate Team Seven for the exam."
"As secondary team captain," the Mokuton user said as he joined the masked man, "I second that notion."
Maito Gai was not going to take that rolling over. If his rival was going to enter his students, then he would as well.
"I, Maito Gai," the Green Beast yelled in his usual manner, "nominate Team Nine for the Chunin exam!"
"I, Sarutobi Asuma," the chain smoker said, getting in on the action, "nominate Team Ten."
"I'm going to do the same," Kurenai stood up as well. "I nominate Team Eight for the exam."
Everyone raised eyebrows and the chatter among the senior ninjas began as they heard three rookie teams heading to the Chunin exams, something nobody in their right mind would do. Sarutobi even followed the crowd in surprise. It looked like the exam was going to be very interesting to watch this year, especially since Naruto was going to be there.
"Are you sure that is smart, Kakashi?" all the occupants turned their heads towards the origin of the voice, finding Mitarashi Anko leaning on the doorway with her arms crossed. "Do you really think your team is ready? I know this exam inside and out and it's never pretty."
The silver-haired man knew what she was leading onto. He knew how close the woman and Naruto became and it didn't come as a surprise to see there was an underlying sense of worry, which only got worse when you added the Kyoukagan into the mixture. She had every right to worry, but it was an experience his team needed.
Kurenai was also caught off guard by Anko worrying about a particular team and suggesting them to stop. If anything, the crazy lady should be licking her chops at the thought of messing around with a bunch of rookies. She, in all honesty, thought for sure Iruka would be the first to try to deny a rookie team a chance to take the exam, not the psychopath.
"You surprise me," Kakashi said in his usual lazy manner. "I thought for sure you'd enjoy it."
"I have my reasons," the purple-haired woman replied.
"Yes, I imagine you do," the man told her, lacing his voice with finality, "but they are my team and I'm the one that makes the call. Besides, you need more faith in them; they're very capable."
Anko knew she was fighting an uphill battle that was only going to get steadily worse the more she tried to push. She was already simmering on the inside at the thought of her surrogate little brother coming into harm's way, but she could only begin to imagine how much hell Iruka was going to raise once he got whiff of this.
"Your funeral," she muttered under her breath just enough for the Kakashi to hear.
Hearing that, Kakashi immediately knew he had opened up a can of worms with Iruka.
Even though there was not a single cloud in the sky, Konoha's skies were being lit up by a light show of epic proportions, a side effect of the lightning bolts coming from a nearby training area.
If one were to take a closer look at what was going on, the person would see a wide eyed, silver-haired man running around while dodging the mad electricity, all of which was coming from a thoroughly pissed, scarred man with hair in the style of a pineapple. Two other jounin watched the action, one a woman and the other a male with a headpiece. The male spectator watched with a hint of amusement, but the female on the other hand wore an upset look that seemed almost as if she wanted the victim to suffer severe electrocution.
"YOU IDIOT, DO NOT GIVE THOSE FORMS TO THEM!" Iruka shouted, allowing his Hyakurai full freedom.
Kakashi was willing to admit that the normally docile man could be very dangerous when mad, especially when Naruto's safety was thrown into the mixture.
"Could I please explain!?" Kakashi tried to reason as he dodged a lightning bolt that came too close.
"You got five seconds!" Iruka shouted, suppressing his Limit to allow the copy-cat to explain himself.
"I'm doing this to get my team some experience," Kakashi said, trying his best not to figuratively step on any thin ice –or in this case: a set of dangling power lines. "You know as well as I do it'd be good for them to see other ninja and not just keep doing these missions. It'll give them a reason to get stronger."
"What about Naruto?" Iruka asked, narrowing his eyes. "If any ninja from another country finds out about the Kyoukagan, a lot of things could happen. It's too risky."
"Yes, I would agree," the silver haired jounin replied, taking a cautious step backwards "but Naruto would also be able to copy many more Bloodlines at the same time. It would only make him stronger. Besides, if anyone finds out…"
He jumped out of the way with his single eye the size of a dinner plate as another lightning strike hit where he formerly stood. Kakashi couldn't tell, but he had a gut feeling that particular bolt was aimed for his manhood.
"…If anyone finds out," Iruka finished for him, charging the air with a massive amount of chakra as his temper started to get shorter, "the Fourth Great Shinobi War could begin! It's too much of a temptation for other countries to kidnap him, and there is no way in hell I'm going to let anyone near him!"
"He does have a point," Yamato announced as he raised his index finger in the air, attracting everyone's attention. "Think about it for a minute; Naruto adapts. It may seem like something simple at first glance, but the way he's learning the Bloodline Limits… it's at a speed that none of us could've dreamed. His Hyouton is already at a high level as it is already. Why not throw a couple more things out there for him to grasp?"
Iruka slowly picked apart everything he had heard. Yamato made a point. The way Naruto adapted and grasped learning Limits; he was like a sponge. His growth rate surpassed so many people his age that they were starting to have a trouble trying to keep pace with him.
Kakashi stood nearby on antsy toes, ready to dodge another lightning bolt in case. Lightning may be fast, but a copy-cat that was being targeted by said source of energy was faster, especially when it was a piece of his anatomy at stake –he still couldn't tell, but he was willing to bet money with Gai that Iruka was aiming for his testicles.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity in Shingami's stomach, Iruka sighed in defeat. The scarecrow was about to relax, but went back on guard as the teacher walked up to him, a threatening smile on his face that made Anko proud.
When he walked up to his face, Iruka gave his warning that sent a chill down the silver haired man's back. "If he gets a single scratch, I will not kill you. Instead I will grab your head and send every voltage my body can create through your face, and after I'm done with you, not even your mask will keep your face from melting off your head."
Anko let a Cheshire cat grin come across her face as she heard a warning that done her so proud. She really was beginning to rub off onto Iruka.
Yamato, on the other hand, just sighed. This is what happened when dealing with other ninja that thought of the blond as their sibling. Both of them wanted nothing more to protect their little brother, even if it meant torturing the idiot stupid enough to harm him.
Naruto sat at Ichiraku's as he waited for his ramen, thinking about what he had seen with Gaara earlier that day. Jikiton… it was powerful, enough so to maybe rival Hyakurai at full release. Ice and Wood were powerful and had strengths many other elements didn't, but Magnetism had so many advantages it wasn't funny.
"Here you go Naruto," Ayame said as she put Naruto's normally large serving of his favorite comfort food in front of him. "How you've been lately?"
"Pretty good," the sun-kissed boy answered as he broke his chopsticks and began to take a couple test bites of his food.
"That's good," Ayame said as she leaned on the counter. "I'm glad to see that so many people are now looking out for you."
He stopped his eating as he took in what she'd said. It was true. Compared to when he was at the academy, so many more people had become precious to him. Yamato, Anko, Kakashi, maybe Sasuke and Sakura, and Haku when he had been alive. A sad smile painted his face as he saw how things were beginning to slowly change.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," he said as he dug into his ramen.
Ayame shook her head at his table manners and walked back into the restaurant to help her father.
Naruto was just about to finish his second bowl when it hit him. His Kyoukagan picked up a signature nearby and ready to pass by. He spun around on his seat as he tried to decipher whether it was someone he knew or if it was someone completely foreign. It wasn't Jikiton –Gaara had a bloodlust mixed in with the feeling- as a matter of fact, it wasn't even any that he had ever sensed before.
After a couple seconds, the crowds moved out of the way of his eyes, greeting him to the sight that made his mouth drop and all the ramen noodles in there fall out as well.
The owner of the Limit was walking beside two of his classmates he recognized as Shino and Kiba, alongside a female Jounin he couldn't identify. Alabaster skin, navy-blue hair, about the same height as him, and wearing a fur lined jacket. No, it wasn't those traits that made his mouth drop; it was the fact that she was a girl, and a very pretty one at that. What really caught his eyes, though, were her moon-like eyes, a Doujutsu he had never seen before.
The girl stopped as she felt a set of eyes on her, a second sense she learned from being watched by her family so much. She turned, and the moment she did a ruby blush crossed her face. Naruto, her idol, was staring at her and with his mouth slightly agape at that.
She didn't know how to react to that, so she did what instinct told her to do: squeak and then hurry away ahead her team.
"Whoa!" Kiba shouted as Hinata speed-walked ahead of him. "What's the matter Hinata?"
The said girl didn't answer the question and just kept walking. Kurenai looked back to see what spooked her student and felt her eyebrows shoot past her hairline as she saw a curious Naruto trying to look past the crowds of people. Was he being curious about her student?
Before she could answer her question, a platinum-haired girl that she recognized as a Yamanaka stomped past her, looking outright agitated.
Naruto saw her as well and paled in horror. Whatever happened was somehow linked to him; and whatever it was must've pissed Enma off enough to unleash his worst demon. Hell would freeze over before he stuck around for this.
"I'M INNOCENT!" Naruto shouted as he took off like a fox that caught sight of a pissed-off bloodhound.
"GET BACK HERE! WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A REMATCH!" Ino shouted as she began to chase her quarry.
"No way! It's my day off; I'm not wasting it!" he shouted back to her, not paying attention to where he was going.
Kurenai watched the exchange and tried to figure out what that had been, but instead settled for shrugging her shoulder. When she thought back at the thought of Naruto getting curious about her student, she thought of how cute it was. Maybe she could get it to where the two could meet up…
Naruto turned the corner with the hopes of losing his tracker, but instead ran into a hand that gripped him by the neck. Naruto regretted looking at the face of his capturer, his eyes meeting the wine-colored ones of his surrogate big sister and house mate, Anko, with an evil grin that didn't bode well with him.
Ino turned the corner and immediately stopped as she saw who got her target before she did. She gulped as she recognized her father's coworker.
"Somebody, save me! Anybody!" Naruto shouted as he tried to pry her grip off.
He looked towards Ino with hope, only to have it shattered under his feet as she shook her head and stared at him as if she was staring at a funeral about to take place.
"You don't have to be so dramatic," a male voice jokingly chastised as the owner stepped next to the crazy kunoichi, revealing Iruka with an amused smile. "I think you should let him go; you're scaring him and it's already bad enough he's living with you."
Anko thought about it for a minute and then finally let go. "Yeah, you're right."
Both them turned their attention to the other present blonde to see her with a look that was a cross between being caught in front of a set of headlights and sheer fear.
"What brings you here, Ino?" Iruka kindly asked.
"Nothing," she squeaked and then ran away as if the devil was chasing after her.
As she was running away, she couldn't help but repeat in her mind what she heard. He's living with that crazy bitch?! She shouted in her mind. It was going to have to be another day before she could finish that match.
Naruto muttered something about a 'crazy-ass bitch' as he turned to the two.
"You wouldn't be talking about me would you?" Anko almost looked touched.
"I wasn't talking about you, and besides, it would be giving you too much credit," Naruto told her as he crossed his arms, inwardly proud he had delivered that pun without getting his face beaten in like normal. Anko actually blinked in slight shock as she realized that set of words was intended for Ino.
"So, what're you guys doing here?" the blond questioned while putting his hands on the back of his head.
"What does it look like we're doing?" Anko answered as she put her hands on her hips. "Iruka and I are going to take you shopping."
"Huh?" Naruto intelligently asked.
Iruka shook his head as he felt the weight of explaining it in a bit more detail. "Something came up, and because of it you need new clothes."
Naruto stared at his former teacher as if he had grown two heads and then busted out laughing. Iruka frowned, but said nothing. Anko just wore an evil smile –she loved to rain on her little brother's parade.
The blond looked at the two again and saw how they were still being serious. "Oh. You're guys are being serious?"
"Uh, yeah," Anko answered as she leaned forward with a toothy grin.
"Um, could we please talk about this?" Naruto pleaded as he nervously smiled, taking a step backwards. If they wanted the orange jumpsuit off, they were going to have to chase him and rip it off.
"You don't have a say in the matter," Anko continued, standing up straight once more to take in how much work they needed to do. "Safety orange to ninjas is not very safe. So were going to remedy that."
He pointed a pleading shock-filled look to Iruka hoping his former teacher would save him, only to see the man stood behind every word the witch had spoken.
NOOOOOOOOOO! Naruto shouted in his mind.
Sakura walked to bridge and sighed in satisfaction as she sat on the railing. She spent the rest of the day yesterday working on a new Kinzokuton technique. The attack was incomplete and required chakra that she didn't have yet. She now had just enough chakra to pull out at least one poled weapon, her favorite naturally being the spear.
Her eyes traveled to a nearby tree, casting her sight on the last Uchiha lazily reclining on a branch. What piqued her curiosity was the package he was holding under one of his arms.
"Hey Sasuke-kun!" she greeted while waving her hand. "Is that what you needed to pick up yesterday?"
He nodded his head and then leapt from his perch. Before she could ask what he was doing, he walked up to her and held out the item, looking away in slight embarrassment, though not enough to stain his cheeks any shade of red.
"What is this for?" she asked, unsure what the occasion was.
"I had it made for you when I learned you were learning kinjutsu," he simply answered.
Allowing her curiosity to get the better of her, she took the package. Sasuke looked back at her to see what her reaction would be –gift giving was something still relatively new to him.
Sakura opened it and felt her eyes widen in surprise at what was contained in the long box. It was a katana, and one that looked to be expensive. The hilt was a simple gold color while the handle was wrapped in a pale pink binding. A golden tassel hung off the end; over all, the katana was actually very pretty.
On the inside, she didn't know what to do. Swords weren't her forte, but she didn't want Sasuke to get hung over getting her the wrong thing. Sakura smiled as she looked at her idol; it looked as if swords were going to become her favorite for now on.
"Thank you," she softly told him, earning a slight scowl from him, but at the same time tinting his cheeks a very light pink.
"Your… welcome," he told her as he leapt back into his tree. Those were some of the most foreign words to ever slip past his lips.
Sakura didn't say anything, but continued to smile. She could tell Sasuke was a little new to things like this, but it didn't matter to her; he was kind enough to get her a little something.
After a couple minutes both of them felt the presence of another person. They turned to the newcomer to find someone they almost didn't recognize had it not been for his blond hair and whisker marks. Naruto looked pissed, but they attuned it to the fact he wasn't wearing his usual ugly orange jumpsuit.
In place of his old clothes was a black jacket he left unzipped, revealing a chain mail shirt with a red vest that was full of pockets for various items. He wore a set of black cargo pants with his kunai pouch where it would've been if he still wore his orange pants. To top off his look, he had red metal plated gloves with Konoha leaf on it along with a new set of red sandals. The only remaining piece of his old outfit was the goggles across his eyes.
"What the hell happened to you?" Sasuke questioned, curious as to what changed Naruto's sense of fashion.
"Anko and Iruka-sensei," he muttered and then pouted.
It was with effort, but after a long struggle the two managed to get their surrogate little brother to take off the jumpsuit –more like it was Anko tackling and holding him down while Iruka took off his clothes and used a low level fire jutsu to burn them right in front of Naruto's eyes. He later erected a gravestone for his favorite clothes when the two weren't around.
It was then that Naruto took notice of his teammate's new katana.
"Cool katana, Sakura-chan!" he said with a smile. "Where'd you get it?"
Sakura blushed lightly as she held her new sword closer. "Sasuke-kun got it for me."
It didn't surprise her how Naruto's foxy smile was quickly replaced by one of shock. He numbly looked to Sasuke and saw his teammate not even paying attention to their conversation.
Until the time their sensei arrived, the blond prankster was for once at a lost for words. Sasuke never gave anyone a present! What had brought this about!? If the dick-head was starting to fall in love with his crush then he'd have absolutely no chance to win her over!
His day was now sucking. First, he had to wear new clothes Iruka and Anko had bought him, and now he was beginning to lose the race for Sakura's love. What else could go wrong?!
Before he could answer his own question, two puffs of smoke blanketed the area, signaling the arrival of their senseis, Yamato and Kakashi.
"Yo!" greeted Kakashi with a lazy wave of his hand.
"We have some good news," Yamato told them as he walked up to the group. Before he could tell them what it was, he noticed the new duds that Naruto was sporting and the katana Sakura was holding. He first decided to guess what happened to the Kyoukagan user. "Let me guess: it was Anko and Iruka."
Naruto nodded and sniffled. "They burned my jumpsuit in front of me."
Yamato then turned to Sakura. "A katana? I thought you liked to use spears and the like."
Sakura winced as she heard Sasuke slip off of his tree and then land into the water. As soon as Naruto heard the splash and looked to see what happened, he fell off the railing and onto the bridge laughing. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but had an idea where Sakura got the sword from.
"Sasuke has been teaching me how to use them," Sakura answered meekly with a blush.
"Oh," Yamato said. He waited until Sasuke walked back onto the bridge –sopping wet and moodier than normal- to give them the message. "Anyways, Kakashi-senpai and I have signed you all up for the Chunin exams."
Naruto stopped his snickering and looked at his teachers as if someone said he was getting free ramen for life. Sasuke heard it and his bad mood instantly disappeared, but Sakura, on the other hand, began to look nervous.
"Now," Kakashi began to explain. "It's completely optional for you guys. If you want to do it, show up. Keep in mind that you don't have to, but I highly suggest you do because it will give you experience you need."
The blond felt like he hit pay dirt and smiled as if he really did. This meant people from other countries were coming and that meant a lot of Bloodline Limits for him to copy. His grin widened as his imagination took over, giving him random daydreams of what he was going to see.
"You all have the rest of the day off," Yamato continued where his former captain left off. "This is so you can think about it and if you want to partake in it, and so you can prepare as well. If you decide to do it, head to the academy."
Sasuke nodded his head and made sure to not subconsciously pocket his sheet knowing the water in his clothes would ruin it. As he walked away, his bad mood returned as he remembered he got Sakura the wrong type of weapon. What a way to screw things up…
Sakura left as well, frowning as she decided what to do. She was the weakest of the group after all, and she wanted to do her best to not drag her teammates down.
Naruto was about to leap away to tell Iruka what happened, but was halted as Kakashi's voice stopped him. "Naruto, Anko and Iruka know about this already. I think that's why they got you the new clothes."
"How'd they know!?" he yelled as he turned around.
"Anko was present at the meeting," Tenzo answered.
"Oh."
"Now," Kakashi cleared his throat, "for various reasons, I haven't been able to teach you how to properly use Byaku Chakra and at the least I would like to teach you to saturate the air with it. It is the basis for my stronger taijutsu form, and the cloud itself has many uses you might find handy."
"Like what?" Naruto asked, not bothering to hold back the excitement in his voice.
"Oh, like the extra sense of touch I told you about back at the Land of Waves, the ability to mess over some Doujutsu like the Sharingan," hearing that, Naruto was already bouncing on the balls of his feet at the thought of pounding Sasuke into the dirt, "and to be able to increase the power of you jutsu."
Naruto had enough as he bowed before his teacher and held out his hands. "TEACH ME!"
Yamato shook his head as Kakashi eye smiled. It was always a wild ride to teach Naruto.
It was nightfall and already Naruto was a happy camper. He was currently headed to Anko's apartment so he could prepare for tomorrow. This was going to be his chance to take one step closer to becoming the Hokage.
Controlling the chakra cloud was actually harder than it looked. Byaku Chakra when outside of the body was practically an extension of one's senses, and because of that, he needed to learn how to make it stop dissipating; otherwise, it'd be nothing more than a waste. It was difficult in the first place, though, since Naruto's reserves were so high it didn't feel like it was a strain on him.
Just as he landed on a rooftop, he stopped as he felt his Kyoukagan's sensing capabilities going off. His eyes shifted as he stood stock still, searching for the person.
He recognized the unique signature of an Elemental Limit mixed with bloodlust anywhere. What the hell was that guy doing here?
"Come out, Gaara," Naruto ordered as he turned to where it was originating from. "It's not hard for me to sense you."
From behind a cooling duct, a cascade of sand attempted to engulf him. Naruto's eyes widened briefly as he saw it, but then got his bearings straight at the last second as he leapt out of the way. He growled as he felt some of the sand cling to him like parasites, prompting him to wipe it off.
Gaara stepped out of his hiding place, his emotionless eyes keeping Naruto within his sight. The blond watched with horrid fascination as the sand returned to the gourd the boy had strapped to his back and then to be plugged by a large cork.
It was then all the metal began to come to life, slowly crawling towards Gaara as if he was a super magnet. Naruto shattered his eyes and quickly changed to Hyakurai, allowing his electricity full reign. It was obviously something that the redhead wanted because his face split into a bloodthirsty grin.
"You need to calm down," Naruto told him with a smirk. "Mind telling me what brought this about?"
"Are you going to take the exam?" Gaara questioned.
"Yeah."
"Good." Naruto could feel the strain pulling his weapons to Gaara suddenly stop, signaling he turned off the Jikiton. "It looks like I don't have to kill you right now."
"That's going to help me sleep better tonight," the whisker-faced boy sarcastically said. "And what if I had not chosen to take the exam?"
"I would have killed you right here. I don't understand why, but Mother calls for your blood more than any other person."
"Huh?" Naruto tried to ask, looking confused as he tried to decipher what the boy across from him said. "Who's this 'Mother'?"
"The demon inside of my head: Shukaku, the Incarnate of Sand," Gaara coldly answered.
Gaara slowly turned away and began to walk across the rooftop. Naruto made an attempt to call out to him and ask him to explain more, but the words were caught in his throat a growl echoed from the back of his mind. Kyuubi evidently had a bone to pick with this guy, but as to what reason, he didn't have a clue.
This Gaara… just the thought of him unsettled Naruto. There was something about him, an air of familiarity, but the alikeness stopped at the aura of bloodlust the redhead bathed himself in. Everything in his being screamed at Naruto to stay away, but he knew that there was going to be an encounter in the future.
After he watched the Suna genin leave, Naruto slowly turned around to continue his journey home. He couldn't tell why, but he had a feeling tonight was going to be one those nights.
His fear of it being 'one of those nights' was not unfounded as he found himself in a hallway of silvery water and broken mirrors. Naruto always hated the feeling of walking inside his mindscape. It was like walking through a mirror house at a carnival, only there was demon at the end of the road.
With a sigh, he waded through the shin deep water, following the red glow to the antechamber. It seemed like such a short walk this time, but he could attest that to the fact he been here a couple times, most of which involved a nightmare of some kind.
"If you had accepted my offer," a voice rung through the huge room. "I wouldn't give you them."
He scowled as the redhead walked out of the shadows, wearing a mischievous smile that seemed to be malicious as well somehow.
"The nightmares that is," she continued as she put her hands against the clear barrier. "How about you walk a little closer?"
"How about hell no?" Naruto told her as he stopped a good distance away. "What do you want bitch?"
"How rude!" She crossed her arms and looked away like a child made upset by something a parent said. "I was going to let you in on a little info, but after that, I might just go away."
"Wouldn't that be nice," the blond muttered to himself. "You're about as mature as that Gaara guy."
Out of the corner of her eyes, she peered at him with a piercing gaze that seemed to peer at him for an eternity. Naruto could see the pure hatred practically cascading from her eyes like a waterfall. Slowly, she turned her head to him and walked up to the barrier, slowly pressing her forehead and setting her hands against it.
Naruto could then feel the entirety of the room become saturated with a killer intent so great the air became distorted. It became hard to breathe, a cold sweat covered the back of his neck, and all of his limbs locked up. His wide eyes slowly looked to his prisoner watching as her form slowly changed like it did whenever she got angry or mischievous.
Kyuubi's cat-like, glowing eyes narrowed dangerously as her hair became messy and her nails lengthened to become claws. Slowly, a fox shape aura began to surround her, until a single tail made of chakra angrily swayed from behind her.
"Do not think so low of me." Her voice became backwards and almost sounded as if she was underwater. "Do not ever compare me to that trash, or any lower being for that matter. If you do, I won't be as friendly."
Kyuubi angrily struck the barrier, making Naruto fall onto his bottom and into the cold water. After that, the aura began to dissipate, lifting the killer intent in the air. It wouldn't do for her to lose control; otherwise, she might lose her sex appeal, making it all the more difficult to bring her container any closer to setting her free.
Despite her fear tactics, Naruto merely stood up and stared her in the eyes. He didn't fear her and nothing she was willing to pull was going to change that simple fact. And she knew it as well, and narrowed her eyes even more.
"Quit playing the hero," she simply said. Without another word, she turned around and began to walk back into the darkness.
"Didn't you have something to tell me?" Naruto asked, still wearing his serious look. When he was around Kyuubi, it was never a time to be goofy and carefree like normal.
She lazily looked over her shoulder at him and grunted. "Watch out for that Suna kid. He's the container of Ichibi no Shukaku. First chance he can, he'll feed you to his sand."
"Ichibi no Shukaku?" Naruto repeated to himself as he looked down to the water in thought. "You mean a tailed beast like you?"
When he looked back, he found her already gone. Even her normally glowing crimson eyes couldn't be seen. He smirked knowing that he must've really pissed her off this time. Comparing her to Gaara was like comparing her to Shukaku, a demon weaker and more psychotic than her. It was obvious she didn't like to be called weak.
The world around twisted and lurched, signaling the end of his escapade. The blond was very thankful his visit with Kyuubi was faster than any of his past visits. Maybe it was because he pissed her off so much she wanted to get rid of him; if that was so, every time he could, he was going to press her buttons.
Naruto looked to his alarm clock to see that it was still early in the morning. More than enough time to meet up with his team.
Sasuke leaned on the front wall of the academy as he patiently waited for his teammates. Today was the first part of the Chunin exams, and he hadn't wanted to be late.
He was still simmering on the inside over the fact he didn't get Sakura something that better suited her fighting style. All night long he banged his head against a wall with the hopes that maybe the pain would dislodge the embarrassing memory from his head.
He looked up the path to see Naruto walking towards him with a game face on: a foxy smile that announced to every living person that he was going to kick everyone's ass. A prideful and arrogant little bastard the blond was, mainly in Sasuke's mind, because to him, the Dobe would always be just that: a dead last.
"Morning, dick head," Naruto greeted with a wave of his hand.
"Bird shit," Sasuke countered coolly.
"Ah, Sasuke got jokes today." The blond smiled as he came up to him, still wearing the clothes he sported the day before, including the goggles that infuriated Sasuke to this day.
Naruto turned back to the path he formerly walked from as his Limit sensed the only Kinzokuton user alive, walking towards them with her katana strapped to her back.
"I decided," Sakura took in a deep breath as she continued, "that I'm going to do this as well. I just hope I don't hold you guys back."
"Great!" Naruto shouted.
The team quickly walked up to the door with Naruto excitedly rushing ahead to be the first to open it. As he grasped the door handle, he could already feel the adrenaline running through his body as his Kyoukagan sensed all of the Bloodline Limits practically begging to be copied.
"Well, hurry up and open the door!" Sakura shouted.
He obeyed and as the door swung open, the small group felt their mouths drop at how many people were there waiting to take the exam. There were people from Ame, Kusa, and so many other countries he had yet to hear about. It slightly upset Naruto to not see any Kiri ninja there, since maybe someone would have info on the place Haku had at one time hailed from.
The large number of people there also brought a problem he hadn't anticipated. He couldn't copy anybody without someone at least seeing his activated eyes just once. This wasn't what he originally planned. The prankster sighed knowing he wasn't going to get away with copying.
After several seconds, Naruto began to aimlessly walk through the area, attempting to sense where Gaara might be, but as he did, he sensed the familiar signatures of people with the same Bloodline Limit as the pretty girl he saw. Though, the major difference was all of them were pretty darn smug, especially the one towards…
Before he could home in on the guy, Sakura abruptly snatched his arm and dragged him like a mother trying to keep track of a troublesome little child.
"Idiot! Come on, I found where we're suppose to go!" she told him, bringing him to a door guarded by two Chunin.
At the moment, Naruto finally sensed Gaara's location, one story above them and in a different room than the one Sakura was leading to. Naruto abruptly jerked his arm free, catching Sakura and Sasuke off guard.
"That's not the right door," he told them.
"What makes you think that?" Sasuke asked him.
Naruto tried to figure out an excuse as his extra sense began to scan over the floor Gaara was. That was where the most Bloodline Limit users were located. He had to prevent himself from softly smiling as he sensed the familiar signature of the girl from the other day.
"Well?" Sakura rushed him.
He readied himself to throw out something, but stopped as he saw the sight of familiar Chinese buns. From his distance, Naruto could see she was struggling to get through the door, obviously thinking it was the real one.
"Hey, Tenten!" he shouted, waving his hand and putting on a friendly smile.
The said girl turned around and smiled as well when she saw him. "Oh! Hey, Naruto!"
"Hate to tell you, but this is the wrong room," he told her as he came up to her.
"Oh, I know, we were just pretending," Tenten informed. "We wanted to look weaker, you know, to hide how strong we really are."
"Smart idea."
The two guards looked at each other and then turned back to the kids walking up to them. That wasn't what they needed; now everyone and their dog (no pun intended for the Inuzaka clan) were going to head to the second floor now!
"Do you know this person, flower of my team?" a weird guy asked Tenten as the blond finished walking up to them.
Naruto turned to him, and immediately he wanted to grow a tree with his Mokuton and then use a stick from it to gouge out his eyes. Who in there right mind would wear such ugly clothing?! A green jumpsuit, orange leg warmers, a bowl cut, among other things, made up this guy. Even then, none of it could prepare him for the sight of the eyebrows, so large, so hairy it looked as if twin azalea bushes were growing from his eyes.
"Of course I do," answered Tenten to the ugly genin. "This is Uzumaki Naruto; he comes to my family's shop. Naruto, this is my teammate, Rock Lee."
Before Naruto could say properly say hello, the green-clad youth was already upon him, shaking his hand so rapidly the blond swore he was going to get whiplash.
"It is a pleasure to meet such a youthful friend of my teammate!" Lee excitedly greeted.
"You were right," Sasuke told Naruto as he walked up, his Sharingan fully active. The words felt like poison to him, but he had to give it to his annoying teammate this time around. "The door's number is covered with a simple genjutsu."
The two guards looked at each and quickly turned ugly as they rounded on the group before them. "How annoying," one of them said. "We were trying to separate the good from the weak, but you guys kind of ruined it. Looks like we're going to have to staple those mouths of yours shut."
One of the guys rushed forward to attack the nearest person, which happened to be Naruto. Seeing the oncoming attack, the sun-kissed boy wound up his own kick. Just as the attacks were going to meet, they were both stopped by Lee.
"Holy crap!" Sakura shouted. "I didn't even see him move."
Lee let go of his new friend's leg, but as soon as Naruto's foot touched the ground, his eyes narrowed. Before anyone could react, he pulled out a senbon and threw the needle at high speeds behind himself, hitting a guy that jumped backwards.
The newcomer had long, flowing ebony hair, but his eyes were what caught Naruto's attention: he had the same doujutsu that the shy girl had. The major difference between the girl and him: his were far more harsh and unfriendly, and also carried an 'I'm-better-than-you' attitude.
"So you're that uptight, smug asshole I keep sensing," Naruto announced to him as he pulled out three more senbon and placed them in between his fingers. "You know it's not nice to sneak around right?"
"You're quite the arrogant one, aren't you?" the guy told him as he pulled out the needle. He quickly got into a stance Naruto didn't recognize, but the blond wasn't going to get left behind as he took a basic stance of the Wraith Fist Style.
"Whoa, hold the show!" Tenten shouted as she got in between the two. She turned to Naruto first with a slightly embarrassed smile. "Sorry, Naruto, but this is my other teammate, Hyuga Neji." She then turned to the now named Neji. "Neji, this is Uzumaki Naruto; he comes to our shop a lot."
Naruto was the first to relax, putting his pulled out senbon back into their case. "Since you're Tenten's teammate I'll leave you alone for the moment."
Neji snorted as he turned to Tenten and Lee. "I told you guys that we aren't supposed to attract attention. We might as well head up to the next floor now since everybody is going to be aware of this now."
Team Seven watched Team Nine walk away, at least getting a good-bye wave for Naruto from Tenten and an over exuberant parting from Lee.
"What a prick," Naruto muttered to himself. "He makes you look all warm and cozy."
The blond pointed his thumb at Sasuke, earning a growl, but nothing else -it wasn't a good moment to kill Naruto and make a show.
They followed the route the older team took and climbed up the stairs to the second floor. Their sight was greeted once more with the green jumpsuit of Rock Lee, who had a determined, fiery look in his eyes.
"I challenge you, Uchiha Sasuke," Lee announced as he got into a stance, "so that we may find out who is the true genius: me, a genius of hard work, or you: a natural genius, like Neji. And I would like to prove my love for Sakura-chan at the same time."
He blushed as he blew a kiss towards Sakura who squealed in horror as she jumped behind her crush for safety.
"Nasty!" she yelled as she pointed at Lee from her crush's back.
"Alright, I'll…" Sasuke tried to agree.
He was interrupted as Naruto stepped forward, wearing a grin. "I want to fight you as well."
Lee smiled as he relaxed. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I must fight another genius in order to prove that we who struggle can be just as great."
Naruto cocked his head to the side as he tried to figure out what the older genin was talking about. "What is a 'genius of hard work,' and what do you mean by 'we who struggle'?"
Green Beast Jr. smiled as he answered, glad he could explain. "There are two types of geniuses: the natural born kind, and those that work hard for what they have. I'm a genius of hard work because I train so hard with the hopes that I'll be able to fight as good as a natural genius."
"Well," Naruto began with a foxy smile, "how about a battle between geniuses of hard work. We're a lot alike; I had to work hard for all that I know." Naruto took a basic Wraith Fist stance and shattered his eyes, readying his Byaku Chakra, mainly because he didn't want Sasuke to copy his moves. "It would be rude to turn down such a fight."
It got what Naruto wanted as Lee's smile turned ten miles wide. "Yes," he said as he got into his own stance, "it would be rude."
Sasuke was miffed that Naruto was getting to fight early, but settled for using his Sharingan to copy anything they'd show. Sensing a chakra spike from the Uchiha, Naruto let loose a cloud of Byaku Chakra, invisible to the naked eye, but as bright as a sun to a Doujutsu. It gave him satisfaction to see Sasuke look taken back at the sight of it.
"What the hell?" the Uchiha asked himself.
"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.
"There's a chakra cloud surrounding Naruto; it's making it hard to read him. Wait, is that chakra white?!" he said leaning forward with a disbelieving look.
"What?!" Sakura asked.
The two then turned to the two combatants as their battle went underway. Lee charged forward first, faster than the human eye could track. Much to the surprise of Sakura and Sasuke, Naruto blocked the attack, only increasing the size Lee's smile. The older genin disappeared once more, but was suddenly blocked by Naruto's arm again. Before he could get away, Naruto grabbed his wrist and sent a punch into Lee's cheek, sending the boy backwards.
Rock Lee slowly stood up, rubbing where Naruto had decked him a good one. Even with such a hit, he continued to smile.
"It seems I have underestimated you, Naruto-kun," Lee said as he took another stance. "I shouldn't hold back so much anymore, it would be just as rude as turning down a battle with you."
Just as Naruto was about to ask him what he meant, he was sent flying across the hallway, courtesy of Lee who was standing in the spot the Uzumaki formerly occupied with a leg arced up into the air. Naruto quickly did a handstand as he landed, but just as he was getting ready to correct himself, another kick was sent into his stomach, launching him into the wall and cracking it from behind him.
Lee bounced on the balls of his feet as he watched Naruto step up and take another stance for battle.
I'm going to have to add chakra to my muscles if I want to keep up, Naruto thought to his self. Thankfully, he had a huge reserve of the spiritual energy at his disposal.
He added Byaku Chakra to his muscles and, faster than before, charged at Lee, taking his turn on offense. Naruto sent a flurry of kicks at Lee, giving him hits harder and faster than ever. Taking advantage of a crack in his opponent's defense, Naruto did a roundhouse kick that sent Lee backwards, but he wasn't done as he sent another kick to his side.
Much to his chagrin, Lee caught his foot.
"This is going to hurt, isn't it," Naruto playfully asked, though not really looking forward to the pain about to come.
"I'm afraid so, Naruto-kun," Lee answered.
The taijutsu expert swung Naruto around and slammed him into a wall and then threw him up into the air. Before the blond could hit the ground, Lee painfully kicked him even higher into the air.
Sasuke watched everything. Although Naruto's white chakra made it difficult to read him, he was memorizing every move Lee made. The kid may've been weird, but he was a fountain of taijutsu techniques.
Before Naruto could right himself in the air, his opponent performed Shadow of the Dancing Leaf, getting behind him.
"Naruto-kun, you're much stronger than I thought," Lee complimented. "For that I will show you one of my strongest moves."
Naruto could tell shit was about to hit the fan just for him when he felt Lee's bindings undo themselves and begin to wrap around him. Just before Naruto could figure out what was happening, another green blur entered the area and hit Lee into a wall, saving the blond from disaster.
"Man, I would've felt that in the morning," Naruto said to himself as he landed.
He turned to the intruder and immediately wished he hadn't. If one Lee was bad enough, a bigger, older and uglier version of him was a nightmare made real.
"Lee, my youthful student!" the bigger shouted to the miniature. "If you had used that move on Naruto-kun, he would have been hurt!"
"Who the heck is this guy, Fuzzy Brows?" Naruto asked the obvious as his Kyoukagan returned to normal.
"Forgive me, this is my beautiful sensei," Lee answered, introducing his teacher, "Maito Gai, the Green Beast of Konoha!"
"Okay," Naruto drawled. "This is turning out to be one weird day."
His eyes began scanning the area for any liable escape routes. He had to get away from this freak show! Already, he could feel his brain cells committing mass suicide from just watching the two. Naruto noticed something else: Sakura and Sasuke already made their escape.
"Damn it!" he muttered to himself. "They left without me!"
Just as he took a step backwards to run away, he watched as Maito Gai punched Lee into the wall. "Lee, my beautiful student, you should not have used that move. You could have harmed Naruto-kun!"
"Forgive me!" Lee yelled as a fountain tears came from his eyes. "I owed it to him. It was a battle among geniuses of hard work!"
"Naruto-kun? A genius of hard work?!" Gai asked himself in amazement. "Is it true that my rival has a student who wishes to work for glory?!"
"Yes, sensei!"
"This requires celebration! Naruto-kun…" Gai turned to where Naruto stood, only to see him not there. "I wonder where he has gone to."
Naruto huffed as he ran down the halls to escape the madness that was the crazies of Konoha. He stopped as he came up to Sakura and Sasuke standing in front the door to the next room with his sensei, Kakashi, standing over them.
"I was wondering when you'd get here," Kakashi said as Naruto walked up to them.
"Sorry, got hung over by a couple of fruit loops that escaped the nut house," the blond told him as he pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "But I wonder about something, throughout the entire battle, Lee didn't use a single jutsu, nothing but hand-to-hand combat."
Sakura and Sasuke looked at their teammate as if he was crazy. With taijutsu like that, who would need Ninjutsu or Genjutsu?
Then again, Sasuke thought to himself, those two didn't see what I did. True to what he said, his Sharingan picked up the calluses, bruises, and cuts adorning Lee's hands. He was only able to see it for a split second, but it was enough time to tell him there was something off about that boy.
"A very keen observation, Naruto," Kakashi complimented him. "The reason he didn't use Ninjutsu was because he simply can't."
"That doesn't make sense," Sakura voiced her thoughts. "Isn't everyone able to use chakra?"
"Well, that's not really the case with everyone," her teacher explained. "Lee suffers from a rare disease that only allows him to produce enough chakra to live. Because of that, he was made the dead last of his class, but on a brighter note, ever since he graduated he's been working hard, mastering taijutsu to levels many shinobi dare not match. You could say him and Naruto are a lot alike."
Hearing that, Sasuke and Sakura turned to their teammate with a little surprise. For Naruto, he could understand Lee well, to be looked down upon because you were the worse. They both had to work for everything.
Kakashi quickly went back to teacher mode as he looked at the three, clearing his throat to capture their attention. "Alright, now that you're all here, you can take the exam. All three of you had to come or you wouldn't be able to enter."
Hearing that, Sakura was really glad that she came. If she hadn't, then she would've royally disappointed them both.
"Some advice for you three," Kakashi began. "Don't show off; the last thing you need is to have a target slapped onto your back for doing something stupid."
Sakura and Naruto knew what that meant: no Bloodline unless it was absolutely necessary –especially Naruto, who was highly prone to showing off.
"Lastly," Kakashi told them, finishing up his speech, "work as a team. Beyond here, you three are really going to rely on each other. Other than that, good luck and I'm proud of you."
All of them nodded as he opened the door. Slowly, the trio stepped through the portal to the first part of the exam.
Naruto could feel his Kyoukagan going crazy as he stepped into the room, but he understood why, since most of the people in the building were here. He just didn't realize there were so many. All of them felt their eyes widen at just how many people were crammed into the room. There had to be close to quadruple of what they saw earlier.
Naruto felt a familiar signature laced with heavy killer intent aimed at him from a corner of the room. He turned to meet the sea-foam green eyes of Gaara staring at him with his usual hatred.
Temari and Kankuro noticed their brother's fixation on Naruto, but kept it to themselves. They didn't need to take the brunt of his anger; best leave that to his new chew toy.
It was then that his Kyoukagan picked up a signature Naruto engraved into his mind on that day at the ramen stand. He turned around to see Team Eight. Kiba was talking it up with Shino –the bug was ignoring him in favor of talking to one of his bugs- and the last member, the quiet girl, sat quietly at a desk.
Naruto stared at her for a minute as a sense of familiarity hit him at the sight of her. Where had he seen that hair before? Her coat also reminded him of someone he met, but for the life of himself, he couldn't place a finger on the right person. It was then he remembered her: it was Hinata from class! Why hadn't he recognized her from the start!?
Finding he wanted to get to know her a bit more –and maybe determine whether or not he could trust her with his secret; he really wanted to copy her Doujutsu as well- he walked over to the small group. Kiba stopped his talking and put on a feral smile at the sight of his former favorite chew toy from the academy.
"I didn't know they let losers into this place as well," Kiba greeted him.
"Hey, Hinata-chan!" Naruto greeted as he hopped next to her, ignoring Kiba, who grinded his teeth, and Shino who raised an eyebrow at the intrusion.
The Hyuga heir turned to the person who said her name, and immediately a blush lit up her face like a morning star. Normally, she'd make a quick retreat, but due to circumstances beyond her control, she wouldn't be able to sneak out of this one. Oh by the gods, she hoped she wouldn't faint!
"Oh, h-h-hi N-Naruto-k-kun," she stuttered while shyly waving her hand. Hinata couldn't help it as she let a small smile play on her face; she loved his foxy smile –it always made her melt in its presence.
"Hey, I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by and say hello," he said as he stood next to her desk. "By the way, I never noticed your eyes before. They're really cool."
He thought her eyes were 'cool'? She hated her eyes; they were the reason her clan looked down upon her, but Naruto thought they looked awesome? This was a new concept for her.
"Thank you," she quietly said, earning another foxy smile from him.
"Hey, don't ignore me when I'm talking to you!" Kiba shouted, trying to get Naruto's attention back onto him. "Did you hear me, dead-last?"
"Close your mouth! I can smell you dog-ass breath all the way here!" the prankster told him, holding his nose for extra effect. It made him smile hearing Hinata giggle, though it was at Kiba's expense.
"Oh, I'm going to beat your…" Kiba tried to tell him as he rolled up his sleeves.
"Stop fighting," Sakura butted in as she and Sasuke came up to the small group. "Sorry, Naruto's been a pain in the ass lately. We've had trouble trying to keep him on his leash."
She turned to her teammate to see him pull down his eyelid with one of his fingers and then stick out his tongue towards Kiba, all the while giving the feral boy the bird with his free hand.
"You dirty son-of-a…" the dog master told him through clenched teeth, Akamaru barking in agreement.
Naruto's laughter and Kiba's threat was abruptly cut short as a banshee scream rung through the area. "NARUTO!"
The said blond blanched in horror and quickly hid under a desk near Hinata –making the said girl blush even more- as Ino stormed towards the group, stomping and all.
"You guys are here too? How troublesome…" Shikamaru told them as he followed.
"Why is Ino so mad at Naruto?" Sakura tried asking, watching as her former best friend began looking all over the place with a religious zeal for the absent member of Team Seven.
"She's been that way for a while," Chouji answered past a mouth full of food. "Ever since the battle the two had, she's been calling him her rival and tries to call a rematch every time they meet."
"Wait, I thought Ino was my rival," Sakura whined. "Hey Ino-pig!" she shouted, hoping to get the blond girl's attention. It worked as Ino turned to give her a look of utter annoyance. "I thought I was your rival."
"Forget you!" Ino yelled back. "You couldn't fight your way out of a paper bag."
Sakura's mouth dropped. Did Ino just call her weak?! She preferred a fight with Naruto over her!? How did that work?! The Yamanaka never even paid attention to him at the academy, so what was with the change of heart?
"Calm down," Kiba told her. "Naruto's not that strong. Remember, he's the dead last. The worst grades in class and the weakest of the whole group, you know?" Akamaru barked in agreement.
Under the desk, Naruto was ready to jump out and deck Kiba a good one.
Ino turned away from her fox hunting and gave a withering look to Kiba, making him shrink a bit under her gaze. "If Naruto is the weakest of us all, I'll eat my shoes."
"Then how do you want them?" Kiba continued with a knowing smile. "Boiled or grilled?"
"How about you eat yours if you fight him and lose?" she told him as she crossed her arms, but then went back to hunting her newest rival.
Sasuke watched Ino with a raised eyebrow.
He couldn't help agreeing with her observations. Naruto was much stronger than many made him out to be. He had been at the end of the stick in a battle with the blond; there was no way in Hell Naruto was that weak.
Another thing that caught Sasuke by surprise was the blond pig had yet to latch onto him. As a matter fact, she had yet to acknowledge his existence. Part of him was confused about what changed, but his other half was relieved nonetheless to have gotten rid of a fan girl.
The Uchiha looked towards Sakura to see her looking dejected and horror struck. This wasn't going to help her confidence levels later…
"Hinata, do you know where Naruto is?" Ino asked Hinata, making her wither under her harsh voice. "Never mind."
She then continued to look and grinned as she finally found his tuff of blond hair from under the desk next to the blushing girl.
"There you are!" she yelled in victory as she pulled him by the hair, making the boy wince in pain. "You and I: a rematch, but this time, winner take all!"
"Could you let me go, and maybe I'll think about it!?" he yelled at her. He sighed in relief as she let go, looking at him expectantly.
"You should've never pissed her off, you know that right?" Shikamaru asked from the seat he took.
"What the hell did I do?" asked Naruto, confused as to why everyone wanted a piece of him.
First it was Ino, then it was the bloodthirsty Gaara, he couldn't care if Kiba saw it fit to do battle with him, but the one person he really considered a rival was Sasuke. So why was everyone after his head!?
"I don't think it's a good a time for a battle," Shino told Ino, making Naruto thank the gods he didn't need to come up with an excuse –he seemed to be doing that a lot lately.
"What's your point?" she countered, crossing her arms.
"Actually, Abarume-san has a very good point," agreed a new, overly polite voice. "You rookies are attracting way too much attention than what is considered safe."
The silver-haired, glasses wearing newcomer pointed towards a particular group of ninjas that eyed them with annoyance and hatred. Each of them had a sound note on their headbands, and looked to be downright pugnacious compared to the many other competitors.
"They're from Otogakura, the Village Hidden in Sound. It's a fairly new village; I believe it was just formed just little over a year ago."
"And you are…?" questioned Kiba.
"Oh yes, how rude of me!" the person pushed his glasses further up onto the bridge of his nose. "My name is Yakushi Kabuto. It's a pleasure to meet the Rookie Nine, the only rookie ninjas entered. This is my eighth time taking this exam, and I highly suggest you all watch your backs; it is quite difficult."
"Hah! Man you must suck to have failed it that many times!" Naruto bluntly told him, earning a punch from Sakura to the side of his face.
"Ah, I may not have passed this exam, but my trials have brought much fruit."
Kabuto pulled out a stack of blank cards. He pulled off the top card and channeled a little chakra into it, turning it into a miniature map. All of the rookies leaned forward to look at the small map, and felt their eyebrows rise at the sight of it.
"You all are very fortunate; not many get to look at a world map of all the current shinobi nations," he said as he put the map card at the bottom of the deck. "These cards reveal the public information of a person, including stats, number of missions completed, team members, and etcetera."
"Really?" Sasuke asked, sounding interested. "I want some information."
"Okay. On who?"
"Rock Lee."
"By knowing his name, it makes it easy on me."
Naruto gave a withering look to his teammate as Kabuto pulled out the card. He wasn't interested in such a way of spying on an opponent, even if the info was public. It just wasn't his style, but then again, maybe a little information never hurt anyone…
Kabuto looked at the card over and raised an eyebrow. "How interesting. It says he was the dead last of his class and is teamed with the rookie of the year, Hyuga Neji, and Tenten. It also says that his genjutsu and Ninjutsu are nonexistent but his taijutsu… my, my, my, its way off the charts!" He put away the card and returned his attention to the others. "Is there anyone else you all want to look at?"
"Yeah," it was surprisingly Ino who spoke. "Got anything on Uzumaki Naruto?" She pointed her thumb towards her intended target, making the whiskered boy growl at her.
"Give me a second." Like last time, Kabuto took a card from his deck and channeled a small bit of chakra into it. "Well, it says here that you were the dead last as well," the four-eyed ninja told Naruto, earning a grimace. "It says your genjutsu is below average, taijutsu is average, but you Ninjutsu is above average. No Bloodline Limits of any kind, but how amazing! It says that you and Team Seven completed an A-ranked mission. How splendid!"
Teams Eight and Ten looked at Seven with a slight bit of reverence in their eyes, but Sasuke was unsatisfied. The information was way too far off; he knew how strong Naruto could be and he had no doubt in his mind that the blond was much stronger.
"Bullshit," Sasuke said, catching everyone's attention, including Naruto. "That information is too old. Naruto and I once had a mock battle, and if recall correctly, Dobe was fighting on par with me."
"You're joking!" Kiba yelled. "There's no way that the village idiot could get that good that fast!"
Naruto narrowed his eyes as he caught what Kiba had called him. "Can it bastard! I could take you on any day of the week! Hell, you stink so bad I could do it blind folded!"
The group from Hidden Sound finally had enough of their carefree yapping. Dosu walked up to the rookies, making them tense up in preparation for a coming conflict. Kabuto interestingly enough remained calm, adjusting his glasses as they came.
"You all are starting to annoy the hell out me," the Cyclops told the group in a threatening voice. "Let it be known that we, from Sound, are better than all you little wimps."
Kabuto smirked from his position, grabbing all of the Sound ninja's attention. "I would have to disagree with that one."
It pissed off Dosu, enough so that he charged the genin. Kabuto quickly leapt out of the way of the armored fist, but as he landed, he fell to his knees and puked. His glasses fell off of his face, cracked from whatever strange phenomenon occurred.
"What the…?" Ino questioned. "What was that?!"
Naruto knew, as noted by the narrowing of his eyes. He had to hand it to the Kyuubi –even if he hated her guts with something comparable to a thousand suns- he really liked the advantages of having advance, animal-like senses. His ears caught a single high pitched sound when Dosu punched, created from the armored gauntlet on his arm.
Before he could let everyone know his observations, a new, commanding voice rung through the entire room. "Alright you shits, get to your seats!"
Everyone turned to see a man walk into the room with numerous scars all over his face, almost to the point of disfiguration. A single bandanna covered his head and a large trench coat covered his body.
They also noticed a large number of Chunin appear on the floor above them, snickering at the mayhem and hell they were going to inflict upon the unsuspecting genin. Their numbers also happened to include the two wannabe genin guarding the door earlier, who were currently glaring daggers at Naruto. He noticed and tried to put on a friendly smile, only enraging them even more.
"You all have exactly sixty seconds," the man down at the bottom of the room told everyone, wearing a sadistic grin that reminded Naruto too much of his housemate, "to get to your seats, starting from the moment I spoke, or everyone will fail."
It was like magic. Every living person got into a seat and sat there while being quiet, including the normally noisy Naruto and Kiba.
"Your first exam will include a seating arrangement," some people groaned while others just shrugged or ignored it. "The reason why is because this is a written exam. Come up here in a line, grab your number and a test sheet, and get back to your seat. You all may begin when I say so."
Naruto's eye twitched when he heard that it was a written exam. Above him, Sasuke paled while Sakura's mouth dropped. This just blew their chance away at passing the exam; Naruto sucked something awful when it came to written tests.
They were screwed!
Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): I'm back! Because of my long absence (for which I have perfectly good excuses) I have given you all a long chapter. My original goal was to get past the initial part of the exam but the chapter was starting to get too long and I didn't want this to become too monotonous for you guys. The good news is that the Chunin exam has officially begun.
My excuses for not getting this chapter posted: I got grounded (yes, I haven't graduated high school yet, but my English skills are said to be some of the best in the entire school), my computer hit the weenie and the finally, my family lost our internet for a while. Yes, I was starting to have withdrawals after the first couple days of this madness. I even went to cafes that had free internet, but it still sucked because they don't allow foreign USB drives on their computers.
Naruto will copy the Byukagan in the next chapter. Look forward to it as it will seriously help, because next chapter, Orochimaru makes his grand appearance and the battle will have unexpected results than many of you wouldn't think of. It will also reveal the final ability of the Kyoukagan.
Let's go over this again: THERE ARE NO CONFIRMED PAIRINGS! I know some of you are going to complain that I'm setting it up for a Naruto/Hinata pairing, but please know that it is not confirmed. It won't be until the sequel; I mean for crying out loud, there only like twelve!
It is official; this is the longest chapter I have ever written. Sweet!
