Still don't own Naruto
Chapter 40: Plea from a Dead Man
Naruto followed the crow for around half a mile before he lost sight of it as it entered a clearing.
Itachi watched as Naruto walked into the clearing in front of him, knowing he was well hidden he made a clone to go intercept the blond.
The Itachi clone intercepted Naruto who immediately hit it with a punch before it scattered into crows.
"You know your Ocular genjutsu are really something else Itachi" a voice came from behind the real Uchiha's ear. Itachi's eyes bulged, he recognized the voice. 'how did he get around me so easily, all my defenses I set up, were they useless against him?' Itachi thought as he recomposed himself and turned to see Naruto casually leaning on a tree behind him already in sage mode.
"Most impressive Naruto-kun, I can see why we were told to avoid you at all costs" Itachi said attempting to mask the shock he felt at seeing the blond so relaxed behind him.
"Why thank you Itachi, that actually mean's a lot coming from a genius such as yourself... although I am forced to question just how much of a genius you really are if you came here alone, I can already tell Kisame is not around. I can only theorize you don't want to attempt to capture me, so tell me why you are here and I might just let you live" Naruto said making sure not to make eye contact with the dangerous eyes of Itachi.
"I came to ask you a few questions" Itachi said in a monotone.
"Of course you did, but why should I answer any of them" the blond said blankly.
"Because I am desperate" Itachi said and bent down on one knee before Naruto. "Please tell me... what do you think of Sasuke... he can still be saved, I know he can... but if he falls further what would you do, would you stop him before he could bring harm to Konoha" Itachi almost begged the answer out of Naruto.
"What the hell, why do you even care" Naruto said curiously.
"I care because I love Konoha more than my life... but I also love my foolish little brother... he is still a blank canvas that can be painted any color, but should the wrong people get to him he will loose himself" Itachi said still on the ground at Naruto's feet.
"I don't get it, your the reason he is so obsessed with revenge. Something is going on here and I want to know what" Naruto demanded.
"I cant tell you it involves a S ranked secret, I swore never to speak of it" Itachi said.
"S rank secret but they can only be made by the Hokage... I see so this has something to do with why your clan was massacred" Naruto said knowing a thing or two about S class secrets, there were a few involving him after all.
"Yes but I will not say anymore, now please tell me about Sasuke what do they plan on doing with him if he is captured and returned to Konoha" Itachi said.
"He has a capture alive order at the moment but I believe that is just so they can get a gene sample for the continuation of the sharringan in Konoha, no doubt Danzo has his hand in it somewhere... as for myself I find him arrogant and unsociable, all in all he is a complete teme, however should he return to Konoha willingly and repent I have no problems with him. But should he ever try to harm anyone I care about or my village, I will not hesitate in destroying him and any hopes you may have had for him"
"I see... Thank you Naruto-kun, I have a gift for you... I hope you will never need it" Itachi said and a crow flew into Naruto's mouth shocking the blond.
"Hey what was that" Naruto demanded.
"I gave you some of my power, should Sasuke ever turn on Konoha I want you to have some extra help" Itachi informed the blond.
"You want him to kill you don't you" Naruto said sadly, it was a statement not a question.
"Yes, I need him to kill me, I need to pay for killing my family, it is why I left him alive" Itachi replied.
"Then why did you agree to do it, it was obviously a mission if it became a S rank secret along with Kyuubi and my parents.
"Because like I said I loved Konoha, what the Uchiha were planning was unforgivable, and if I didn't someone else would have" Itachi said.
"Yes but there were innocents, there were children who had no idea what your clan was planning" Naruto reasoned.
"They were not killed by me but another" Itachi said expressionlessly
"Another... Who?" Naruto asked.
"Someone who has been playing a game with Konoha before you were even born" Itachi said.
"That doesn't answer my question" Naruto said.
"I suppose it doesn't, but you will find out soon enough I'm sure of it" Itachi said.
This seemed to satisfy Naruto, for awhile anyway. "I don't understand you at all, you claim to love Konoha and want nothing more than to save it, so why join the Akatsuki" Naruto asked.
"I joined and stayed with the Akatsuki for many reasons, somewhere to belong was part of it, but mostly I knew that while I was a member I could keep Konoha safe from the inside, however in order to do that I needed to commit crimes and cause harm to innocent people, even more reason I want Sasuke to kill me and reform the Uchiha clan" Itachi said.
"Huh I guess we all owe you a thank you... you deserve to be cheered as a hero in Konoha not as a villan. But I do wish you picked a better person to avenge your clan, I am believe you have seen how arrogant and power hungry your brother can be, I have the scar to prove it. Naruto said and subconsciously rubbed the scar on his left chest where the Chidori pierced his chest.
"Perhaps but you know the saying you cant choose your family" Itachi said with a small smile.
"True, so what are you going to do now, head back to the Akatsuki?" Naruto asked.
"No I was thinking of sticking around to watch the first two tasks closely, that way I can tell our leader I just wanted to observe you for myself rather than relying on reports from others... I will try and stay out of the way, but if things get too boring be ready to defend yourself" Itachi said with a small smile.
"Well see, you think you can keep up with me?" Naruto said with a cocky smirk.
"Now look who is arrogant" Itachi replied with a smirk of his own before they both gave a small laugh. "I would appreciate it if you did not tell anybody about this meeting, our spy's are very good and well informed I cant have this getting out"
Naruto smiled at this "Sure no problem just remember if you do intend to attack me some time during the exam's I intend to make it believable and at least one of us will be roughed up quite a bit" Naruto said.
"Very well, and Naruto-kun... thank you" Itachi said before he shunshined away.
Naruto stared at where Itachi disappeared for a moment before heading back to the hotel.
Over the next couple of day's Naruto continued to train the small orphan boy Iwaka, and watched with interest as more teams arrived from other country's. Naruto had a rather interesting conversation with a man from Kiri who appeared to have a byakugan eye implanted much like Kakashi's sharingan. It was not a very long conversation as he had left grumbling about back in his day ninja showed more respect to there elders. Naruto wasn't sure what he meant but assumed he was a sensei for a group of Kiri ninja.
Naruto also met Samui's brother, Atsui. He was a polar opposite to Samui, and had a rather hot blooded temper compared to Samui's relaxed attitude. It turned out he was acting sensei for the other team from Kumo that was competing.
It did not take Naruto long to realize that there were nowhere near as many people competing in the jonnin exams than competed in the chunin exams, Naruto guessed it was because so many ninja did not want to move up and take on riskier missions.
The day of the exams finally came and Naruto went down to the lobby of the hotel to find it packed with ninja from the various villages, Naruto could see one team from Kiri that was identifiable by the short glasses wearing ninja with a large sword and pointy teeth that reminded him of Kisame.
There were the two teams from Kumo, one led by Atsui the other being lead by both Samui and Yugito, then there were several teams from other villages but nowhere that had sent more than one team. Konoha seemed to have sent the most teams with teams Gai, Asuma, that was being led by Yamato while Asuma was unable to serve as a ninja for another six months after his injuries at the hands of Hidan. The final team was team Kurenai and Genma was acting as there sensei while she was on maternity leave.
The teams and there allocated sensei's walked through the streets towards the testing center hoping to get there early to scout out what other teams would be competing.
On arriving at the testing center there was a short man only slightly taller than Oonoki waiting with a pad and pen. "Hello please sign your names and collect a number for your individual tests before taking a seat in the stands to watch the participants" the old man said and he handed out a sheet that had different teams and the competitors in each team.
Naruto found his name, then froze when he saw the name in a team several spots above his own. 'Sasuke Uchiha... What is the teme doing here, this cant be good' Naruto thought signing his name before heading over to Gai.
"Ah Naruto-kun why haven't you gone to collect your test number yet" Gai asked
"Because I think something might be going on, there is a team from Oto here and one of there members is Sasuke Uchiha" Naruto informed Gai quickly.
"This could be serious, make sure you keep your guard up I need to get this information to Jiraiya-sama. This is something he needs to hear maybe he can shed some light on why they would be here" Gai said.
Naruto gave a nod and then went off to get his test order number. When he arrived he saw several older Iwa ninja were sitting at a large desk. "Name?" the first one asked not looking up from his papers.
"Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze" Naruto replied. The older ninja who was reading through the papers stopped at the name and looked at Naruto.
"So you are, you look just like that man... Anyway you will be given the standard test as you have not requested special circumstances. Is there any other area's you would like to test for bonus points other than Gen Nin and Taijutsu, you can choose to add Medical Ninjutsu, Fuinjutsu, Kenjutsu or kekei genkai skills" the older man said.
"Um add the Fuinjutsu, but I doubt the examiner will be able to understand half of my own seals" Naruto said confidently earning a small scoff from the examiner.
"very well we will test you in Fuinjutsu, the test will run in groups of 9 you will be in group 3 of 6 your results will be shown on the board under each category. Good luck Namikaze-san" the older man said but he did not sound like he meant it.
Naruto entered the arena and was joined shortly after by Lee and Tenten. "Did you see the team from Oto" Tenten asked seriously.
"Yosh, it seems that Sasuke-kun has decided to enter the exams, this is a most puzzling occurance" Lee said.
"Forget about him, we cant touch him outside of the exam while he is here in Iwa, lets forget about him and just do our best" Naruto suggested.
"Well it looks like the dobe has a brain after all" came a calm voice approaching from behind them.
Naruto turned calmly to see Sasuke standing there with his team. "Well well teme, you haven't changed much.. still the pathetic weakling you were before you left" Naruto taunted.
"Big words for a freak like you, considering last time I saw you, you were being dumped into a river after I sent a chidori thorough your chest" Sasuke said arrogantly.
"I don't know what you three are really doing here, but think about it first teme, if you commit a crime against another country for Orochimaru you become a international criminal and will be as good as throwing away any chance you ever had of returning to Konoha" Naruto said seriously.
"Hn what ever dobe don't presume you know anything" Sasuke snapped and and walked away followed by Suigetsu and Karin who seemed to be having second thoughts. After she had seen Naruto.
'He just exudes power, it even dwarfs Sasuke-kuns it even makes Orochimaru-sama pale in comparison. But at the same time his aura was so happy and warm, yet serious. I couldn't sense any doubt he knew he could beat Sasuke-kun, how are we supposed to fight that... I just hope we can avoid him' she thought but followed Sasuke anyway.
Naruto and his team went up into the stands and found Shikamaru and the other former rookies. "Hey guys you are never going to guess who we just ran into" Naruto said as he sat down next to Ino and Choji.
"Troublesome, I would say Sasuke, we also had the displeasure of meeting him and his team" Shikamaru said lazily.
"Damn I guess you can guess, yeah we just ran into the teme, that snake Orochimaru is planing something I just know it" Naruto said.
"As troublesome as it is, I agree he would not risk sending Sasuke to a place where he knew that Konoha ninja would be unless he wanted something" Shikamaru theorized.
"Yes but its not like we can do anything about him now... I say we find him during the next task and take him out for good" Kiba said.
"Kiba he is still our comrade he is just been twisted by Orochimaru, Sasuke-kun will remember who he is eventually and return to us" Ino said.
"Perhaps but if Sasuke is involved in what ever Orochimaru is planning he will become a criminal in Iwa and Konoha cannot just welcome back an International criminal, he is already wanted for treason and desertion, he still has a chance to redeem himself, but if he completes his task here and it will be an act of war on Iwa" Naruto said sadly. He was slightly aware of a small crow sitting on some scaffolding watching the group and taking in there conversation before it disappeared.
'How can you save Sasuke now Itachi, I cant help him if he wont help himself' Naruto thought as he watched the crow fade away.
After about half an hour the first group of 9 ninja were called Naruto was greatly amused to see Lee's excitement as he had evidently been pick in group 1 and ran off in typical Lee style screaming about how he was going to prove that he could be a splendid ninja with just taijutsu.
Fifteen minutes the scores came up, Lee had of course scored through the roof in taijutsu and made it onto the all time taijutsu scoreboard at fifth place behind the current Raikage A, Gai, two other ninja from Kumo and Minato Namikaze.
Lee's other scores were nothing to write home about, he was able to dispel most genjutsu but unable to cast them and he was exempt from the Ninjutsu test because of his illness. Overall he placed in the middle of the pack but he had passed, something which three of the nine did not.
"Hey what happens to the teams that loose people to this first round" Naruto asked curiously.
"The teams have to continue minus the people who fail" Shino said calmly.
"So who is winning at the moment" said a voice behind them and they turned to see Kakashi sitting looking slightly downbeat.
'Gai must have told him about Sasuke' "A Kiri ninja named Chojuro, he scored high in ninjutsu with a several A ranked ninjutsu and his Kenjutsu was through the roof" Naruto said trying to give Kakashi something else to think about.
"Lee passed though, so that is a plus" Tenten said.
"I'm not till group 3" Naruto complained.
"that just means you will have more time to observe the competition before your turn" Kakashi said.
The next group was called soon after and Choji, Shino and Hinata left to complete there turns. After this round there was a change at the top of the leader board, Chojuro was now in second and by a long way replaced by Sasuke Uchiha.
"Well would you look at that" Naruto said.
"Those are good scores, he is nearly top of each of the sections, top in ninjutsu, with several high A ranked ninjutsu over two elements top ranked was Chidori nagashi and Chidori senbon... guess he altered your jutsu Kakashi sensei" Naruto said slightly impressed.
"It would seem so" said Kakashi who was interested in how they worked.
"He also scored well in Genjutsu and Kenjutsu also the second fastest after Lee" Naruto observed before grinning knowing it was his turn up next.
"Group 3 please make your way to the testing area" came an announcement and Naruto got up looking eager along with an unfazed Shikamaru.
Naruto waled down to see who was in his group and saw both Sasuke's teammates, the blue haired boy gave Naruto a small cocky grin with his sharp teeth before moving on to his testing area.
Naruto walked up to the proctor who told him what order he would be tested in, first up was Taijutsu.
"Ok Namikaze-san you objective here is to defeat the training dummies and then we will test your reactions and speed in an obstacle course that will involve multiple scenarios, you are to use taijutsu to defeat the targets, points will be awarded for speed strength and technique" the proctor said.
Naruto released his seals and then entered sage mode "So basically you first want me to run through the kata's of my style taking out the training dummy's, then run the obstacle course taking out the targets with taijutsu" the blond asked making sure he understood the test.
"That is correct, now if I may have the name of your taijutsu style you will be testing" the proctor asked taking out a clipboard to make notes on the style.
"My style if the Frog Kumite and requires the application of Senjutsu" Naruto informed the proctor who didn't know what senjutsu was but made a note of it anyway.
Several wooden dummy's appeared in font of Naruto and he began to run through his kata's. The proctor just looked on dumbly as the testing dummy's were destroyed completely, and it didn't even look like Naruto was touching them.
"Very impressive now if you would make your way to the start of the obstacle course we can begin testing your reactions speed and strength" the proctor said.
When the next part of the test started Naruto took off like a bullet and began decimating the targets along the way swiftly dodging the projectiles sent at him and with the added strength of his sage mode was able to move the blockades with ease it was with little doubt that Naruto set a new record for the exams past and present.
"Incredible I don't believe it" the proctor said in awe as Naruto finished his Taijutsu exam.
"Nah that was nothing, so whats next" Naruto asked eagerly.
"well next is the genjutsu portion "you are to find your way through several genjutsu that will become higher and higher rank as you progress and locate this ball in the room each time." the proctor said and began testing the blond who was completely unaffected by anything that was thrown at him.
"So what's next Naruto said as he picked up the ball for the last time casually walking over to t and picking it up completely unfazed by the high level genjutsu that was being cast on the area.
"Well as it says of your file you cannot use genjutsu because of your abnormally large reserves I guess we will move onto Ninjutsu" the proctor said and pulled out several pieces of paper. "Please take the chakra paper one sheet at a time so we may test your elemental affinities first" he said handing Naruto the first piece which tore through the center and the a second which soaked and became a wet mush.
"Have you completed the manipulation training for your secondary element." the proctor asked. Naruto nodded his reply. "very well have you used any manipulation on a third element" he asked but Naruto shook his head.
"Ok now please run through at least four jutsu with at least one from each element" the proctor said.
Naruto thought for a moment before deciding he would put on a show and formed two shadow clones.
"Ah the Kagebushin no jutsu impressive" the proctor said and made several notes. The original Naruto then formed a perfect rasengan and slammed it into a training dummy.
"My oh my I never thought I would be seeing that jutsu, even if you are a Namikaze" the proctor said observing the damage done to the dummy and wincing slightly, then his eyes widened and Naruto slammed an Oodoma rasengan into the next dummy ripping it apart.
"Very good, now that's three non elemental, how about some Fuuton jutsu" the proctor suggested.
Naruto just shrugged and held out his hand one one more time this time his clones he had made earlier began helping him.
A loud bell like screech could be heard ringing around the testing center and all other tests stopped to see what had caused it.
Up in the stands Kakashi and Gai were staring at the jutsu in awe, meanwhile Jiraiya who was watching from further was just shaking his head "That's overkill Naruto, why couldn't you just use some of your A ranked jutsu but no you had to go and show off" he said to himself as Naruto proceeded to throw the spinning disk of wind.
Everyone in the arena watched in awe as the Fuuton: Rasenshuriken slammed into a group of seven dummy's and expanded, seeing this Kakashi uncovered his sharingan and Sasuke who was absolutely seething on the sidelines activated his own but then just became even angrier when not only could he not copy the jutsu he couldn't even count the number of attacks it made.
The proctors all watched as the large dome of Fuuton chakra subsided and where it once was left not one sign of the targets and a crater in its wake, they were then even more shocked to find Naruto was not even slightly winded after using such a powerful jutsu.
"Uh, um, well yes that was most impressive now if you would just perform a Suiton jutsu and if I may ask you keep it below S class this time" the proctor asked shakily.
Naruto complied and just performed the Water Encampment Wall jutsu and left it at that, satisfied he had made top spot on the ninjutsu list.
There next test was in Fuinjutsu, Naruto had to complete several unfinished seals that ranged from intermediate to master level. Once again Naruto with all the mastery of his years of practice, century's if you count the work his clones had done on the subject Naruto was able to complete all the seals with little difficulty.
He then had to draw from scratch and activate a seal from each level of sealing, needless to say Naruto had the proctor stumped when he produced a working Time space absorption barrier seal. So much so that Naruto had to explain how it worked.
Naruto finished his test and went up into the stands to await his scores. He didn't have to wait long as they began to appear, Taijutsu he placed first, top speed, top strength and on the All time scoreboard replaced A's time for the obstacle course.
For Genjutsu he scored average, not being able to cast a simple genjutsu worked against him but being immune to them helped him out a lot.
Next was his Taijutsu scores he topped this section as well with two B rank jutsu two A rank and an S rank. Naruto was quite disappointed that they didn't have an all time top scores on this as Naruto felt he could have gotten on there with the rasenshuriken.
Finally there was his Fuinjutsu scores that were more than triple his nearest competition. And this had gone onto a list of all time top scores but Naruto was shocked, not only was he not first even with one of his fathers most prized seals, but all the names on the board were familiar is some shape or form. The reality was he only really knew of one person on the list and that was his father at third just below himself, but every other ninja on the list of top sealers was an Uzumaki and the seal provided for the top score was one that Naruto knew of very well after all he had the effects of it on his stomach as evidence. The top sealer, an Uzumaki had used the Shiki Fuin, death demon summoning jutsu, and he had done this before he became a jonnin. 'How is that possible it requires a payment to use that jutsu, he must have had a soul to trade or maybe he wasn't required to activate the jutsu' Naruto guessed as he contemplated the abilities of his fellow Uzumaki.
Getting over his shock at seeing the names of past Uzumaki, Naruto then checked his overall score and was happy to see that he beat Sasuke quite comfortably for top spot.
Sasuke however was not happy he was fuming 'how dare that dobe embarrass me an Uchiha like this, he will pay for this embarrassment' Sasuke seethed as he looked at the scoreboard, the only area Sasuke had beaten Naruto in was Genjutsu as he hadn't taken Kenjutsu.
"Just you wait dobe you will be the perfect test to see if I am ready for him" Sasuke said to himself as he began to brood about how he wanted to kill his brother.
After the final three rounds Naruto remained on top with Sasuke second, Chojuro had remained in third. There had also been a rather large number of people fail and several teams pull out as they found in unsafe to continue without the full team.
Down in the arena floor the head proctors had gathered. "To those that have passed congratulations you will move onto the next round that will be held just outside the village in a large maze like valley that is home to a dormant volcano, however there are still many large unsafe area's in the valley where larva and steam will burn you alive. With that said the second task will be held tomorrow, so return to your hotels or homes and get some rest for the days ahead, the exams will be serious now" the proctor said.
End Chapter!
Kinda a little worried I made Itachi out to be weak or a Naruto's bitch, that was not my intention. Other than that hope you liked my idea for the first task.