Chapter 33

"We have a final number. Fifty-one teams total. Twenty-three of those teams are from foreign villages. We are increasing our initial standing number of ANBU to fifty. Foreign teams will arrive in the next few days. You have the teams your watching in your scrolls. You'll be informed as they arrive. Dismissed." After Dog finished speaking, many of the ANBU left the room.

Fox started to leave the room, when Sora the fox ran up to him and started curling around his legs. Fox let out a sigh, before handing the fox a treat. Hare walked over to the pair and spoke, "You know, the irony is just too much."

Fox replied, "I could say the same about you." Hare let out a small chuckle in response. "So were the fox trio I guess."

Hare replied smiling, though it was unseen, "You could go so far as to say the fox quartet."

Fox stood in contemplation for a few moments before nodding. The fox then commented, "It feels so nice to be included.

Fox then asked, "Which team are you assigned to? Any of the important ones?"

Hare checked his scroll before shaking his head. "None of the above, I'm on constant standby and patrol. The woes of being a sensor. Then again, I don't have to stand around all day."

Fox muttered about how lucky Hare was before continuing, "Looks like I'm a part of the Rock team, and particularly assigned to Kazudo himself. Lucky me," he groaned.

"I'd join you for a part of it, but he may recognize me. Then again, with how as good as he suppose to be, he'll sense me anywhere I am within fifty miles of the village with accuracy," Hare replied.

"So join me? Totally ignore stealth and instead just lay back and watch the sky, play some shogi, eat dumplings," Fox pleaded.

Hare chuckled to himself, before replying, "Sure. He already does know I'm an ANBU from the summit a while back. Maybe even invite his team to join us. We could bring Sora while we're at it."

Fox seemed to be contemplative for a few moments before saying, "Sounds interesting...Dog might get mad at us though. I'm not sure I would want to dine with Kazudo either."

Hare shrugged before saying, "He's really no so bad. I had a couple conversations during the summit. Seems like a relatively nice guy. About as nice as the Fire Shadow is."

"Nice enough to say hello while stabbing you in the back," Fox stated blandly. At Hare's affirmation, he then said, "Maybe he really isn't all that bad. Well, we'll see.

There is a massive presence is the distance. I don't remember one this large since Kazudo, so it's likely him as were don't have any other high profile jonin other than Sand's Baki.

After a short while, over an intercom in the ANBU headquarters, a voice announced that the Rock Delegation had arrived. Fox and his team left at the announcement. Sora meanwhile yawned while lying on Hare's lap.

Ah, Crow's finally back from his mission.

Indeed he was. Crow entered the room, as chirp as ever. "Greetings Bunny! How has your time been?"

"Good," Hare replied, "Things have been quiet without you, why'd you take so long."

"I'm hurt," Crow cried out, feigning injury, "No questions regarding my well being? You are as caring ever Rabbit."

Hare rolled his eyes, the gesture unseen by all, but then asked, "Are you dying?"

"I don't think so," Crow responded contemplatively.

"Then you're fine. What took you so long," Hare responded.

"Well, as you know, my mission was to start a revolution in some country across the sea, and set up a favorable government for the Leaf village. The first part was easy. I started a revolution in the entire continent. A little excessive, but it worked. As it turns out, they hate ninjas. For stupid reasons too. So I had to start another revolution within the first revolution, and then have a seemingly evil power crush both. From there, I started a third revolution, fighting against the seemingly evil power. They succeeded, only due to the help of ninjas. Me. I then created a fourth revolution, that resulted in them loving ninjas. As I was the first ninja to talk to, they are starting trade with Leaf and Fire first. How awesome is that?"

All the ANBU in the room were staring at Crow. Hare then asked, "How did you start four revolutions in the span of three months?"

"Never underestimate the power of ninja speed," Crow replied. "So, what's going on?"

"Chunin exams, Rock sent a team, Arido Kazudo's. We have six ANBU watching them," Hare answered.

Crow's demeanor suddenly became a lot colder, "Kazudo eh, I'm not sure six ANBU could do anything. I'm not sure anyone from Leaf village could do anything." The pair stood in silence for a few moments before Crow cheerfully said, "Well, enjoy yourself! I must be off!"

That was unusual of him. He was filled with hate at the mention of the name. He obviously doesn't like Kazudo.

Hare left ANBU HQ and started lightly jogging through the village on the roofs, feeling the presence and emotion of the populace. After a while, he came to rest on top of the Shadow Monument. He let out a small sigh of contentment.

Walking to the edge, he looked down upon the village. After a few more moments of contemplation, Hare walked over the edge.

The wind feels so nice.

After a few minutes, Hare did an air jump and pushed himself towards the cliff face. He caught it and still continued to slide for a bit before finally coming to a rest.

After a few moments, Hare muttered, "Crow still has a lead on me by ten meters. "

Hare was patrolling when his senses alerted him.

This presence...it is similar to mine. A jinchuriki? No foreign teams reported sending one.

Immediately, Hare called over the intercom, "Alert, alert. This is Hare. I am detecting a suspect jinchuriki. Presence is approximately three hundred meters outside the village, approaching at a slow rate. "

Immediately, Dog replied, "Hare, investigate the disturbance. All ANBU, high alert. We have a potential attack. Alert the Fire Shadow. All ANBU teams, except team Rock and team Sound, report to your battle stations."

Hare was immediately sprinting through the roof tops and exited the village. He took to the trees, and the concealed his presence as he got closer to his target. What he found was the Sand Delegation. The nine-tails then spoke, "Ooh, it's my brother. The crazy one."

The one that can control sand and wind. The one that hates humans the most, partly because he is the weakest one, and therefore can be thrown around by humans the most.

Hare spotted the jinchuriki, a small red-headed boy with a large gourd on his back, and then whispered, "Dog, the jinchuriki is a Sand ninja. Small red headed boy. Likely coming under the pretense of being a genin. He is the one-tails jinchuriki. Controls sand and has wind manipulation."

"Hare, greet our guest and confront them. Be prepared to pull on the fox's chakra if needed. If they end up being violent, go full power and eliminate."

"Aye sir." Hare then jumped down from his tree to greet the Sand ninjas. "Greetings," Hare said, "You forgot to mention you were sending a jinchuriki to participate in the exams. Did the letter simply never arrive?"

The group in general looked slightly shocked. The leader of the group, Hare recognized as the Jonin Baki, replied, "It is not the business of the Leaf to know who the Sand's jinchuriki is."

"It is the Sand's duty however to inform another village when their jinchuriki is visiting. Not doing so could easily be viewed as an act of war. That doesn't bode well for relations."

Baki narrowed his eyes, that is to say, his eye, and responded, "Then the Sand apologizes. We are bringing our jinchuriki. Any further questions?"

Hare then whispered, "Further orders?" Dog ordered Hare to keep them on standby. "I apologize, but we need to clear this with the Fire Shadow. It would be appreciated if you waited here."

Baki nodded, and relayed the order to the rest of the group. After several minutes, Dog spoke through Hare's radio, "They are clear, but the leader of the group is to report immediately to the Fire Shadow Tower."

"Aye sir," Hare muttered before returning his focus to the Sand ninjas. "The Leaf welcomes you. The Fire Shadow also request your presence," Hare said, the second part to Baki. Hare then disappeared from sight while the Sand delegation continued the rest of their journey.

"Hare, report to HQ," Dog ordered. Hare acknowledged the order, and hurried there.

When he arrived to Dog's office, Dog said, "Good job detecting the jinchuriki. It's good to know. With this development, while I can't afford to put you on constant watch of their jinchuriki, I also can't have you too far away. For rest of the time of their jinchuriki being here, you will remain in HQ unless ordered otherwise. You are relieved from all patrol work. Stay frosty."

Hare nodded, before leaving the room.

Well, things just got more interesting, and in a bad way.

Hare walked through the village, with a fox named Sora at his heels. In his hand, he carried three very large boxes of food. After walking for a long while, he finally came to his destination. Or at the very least, he came to a stop.

Hare then jumped up onto the roof of a building and placed the boxes down. He then fetched Sora the fox. Hare then opened one box to reveal it had its own four boxes. He pulled one out and slowly started eating, as well as opening one for Sora. Suddenly, six other ANBU also appeared, and started enjoying their meal.

After several moments, a large muscular man clad in Rock villages gear came out the window, and walked to them. That man was Arido Kazudo. He looked at the group of feasting ANBU before commenting, "You guys really aren't trying. Even my genin team has detected your presence."

Fox replied, "It's not really worth the effort. No matter how hard we try, you'll sense us. So we figured we'll make it easier on ourselves and just lay back and watch. Bento Box?" As he finished, he offered the man a Bento Box.

The man accepted it and commented, "I hope it's not poisoned. Who are the other three for?"

Hare then spoke, "The rest of your team should they choose to join us." At that, the man shrugged and let out a whistle. The genin came out the same window, and quickly arrived on the scene.

Arido then spoke, "Hey team, would you like to join us for a meal?" gesturing the remaining three bento boxes. They gave a nervous affirmative, and sat down. Arido then continued, "The short black haired kid is Tarin, the tall brown haired girl is Akira, and the lanky brown haired boy is Kenta."

Fox then asked, "Isn't Kenta suppose to mean stout?"

The said child then buried his face in his palms. Kazudo then said, "He gets overemotional about that. I think it's stupid. It's just a name. But whatever. So...are you Fox?" Fox simply nodded. He looked over the group and then said, "The irony is killing me."

Hare and Fox nodded in response. Fox then introduced the ANBU there, by their mask. The lunch meal continued, with casual talking between the ANBU and Kazudo. Kazudo's team stayed silent throughout the entire exchange, partly out of shock of eating with a group of ANBU.

Near the end, the genin Tarin asked, "Sensei, who is better? The Reaper Force of the ANBU?"

He replied, "On a one for one scale, I'll give it to the ANBU. We're even at two on two, and anything beyond we completely destroy them."

A certain caravan team would love to disagree. However, we still need plausible deniability.

Fox then said, "Your sensei is biased due to being the Reaper Chief. ANBU are superior to the Reaper Force."

Tarin then asked, "Wouldn't you be biased too?"

Hare then said, "Well then why are you asking us? Ask a Lightning ninja. They can be your unbiased opinion." Tarin pouted in response. The lunch ended with good feelings, and the ANBU team under Fox went back to lazing about while Hare went on his way.

There was silence. After a few moments, Dog spoke, "And now the first test has begun."

On multiple TV screens, showing multiple angles of genin taking their first test. Fifty-two teams were taking a written test that was made so difficult that it forced them to cheat. At least for most of them.

Iguana spoke, "No surprise that the Naras don't even need to cheat." Everybody else in the room rolled their eyes at his statement. Iguana had shoulder length black hair.

Other than Iguana, in the room was Crow, Dog, Hare, Wolf, and Tiger. All being ANBU Captains except Hare and Dog. Dog being the Commander, and Hare being the designated chakra sensor for the duration of the chunin exams. There was only one other chakra sensor in ANBU, that being Pug.

As they watched the screens, they continued to point out times that the people cheated. Crow picked out the most, mainly due to him making it his sole purpose for the time. The rest were only casually pointing out cheaters.

After the final question was asked, in which resulted in scaring away a large amount of people, only eleven teams remained. Crow then said, "It was a good cutting this year. Imagine the logistical nightmare it would be if something like twenty-seven teams passed."

Dog replied, "We would likely hold some kind of preliminary to cut down the number of participants. If we have a perfect second round, then we might still need to do that. It looks like we will be using the balance scroll this year."

The balance scroll being the one that would count as either a heaven or earth scroll. Of course, a Leaf team would randomly receive it. The teams were eventually led away by Anko, and the camera screens switched over to the area outside the Forest of Death.

After the scrolls were handed out, Crow commented, "Why is it that the team with a Nara gets to have the balance scroll. It gives them an excuse for laziness."

The second exam began, and teams ran into the forest for rank and glory. It was at this point, that Hare scrunched his eyebrows. Nobody noticed. Hare then asked, "Dog, do we have any patrol teams actually in the forest?"

Dog shook his head while saying, "No. Why do you ask?"

"There is a high level presence within the forest. One I don't recognize. I didn't think much of it, attributing to a patrolling ANBU, but as I said, it's now in the forest. It is certainly not genin level, Hare answered.

Dog contemplated a few moments before saying, "We can't interfere right now. Rock will throw a fit. Crow, take two teams and keep them on standby for now. Until we know what were up against, we're not going to interfere. Inform the proctor."

Crow saluted, but before he could exit, Hare added, "It's level of power is increasing, and now it's more powerful than Crow."

Dog quickly asked, "Is it Kazudo?"

"No, the presence is different and much weaker. However, it's now near as powerful as the Fire Shadow. Kazudo is currently near his designated apartment," Hare replied.

Dog them immediately spoke, "Wolf, Tiger, Crow, the three of you will go with Hare and I to investigate the disturbance. Iguana, notify the Shadow. We leave now. Hare, lead the way."

The group immediately left ANBU Headquarters in a hurry. Hare was going a fast pace, which due to his increased stamina didn't inhibit him greatly. Four ANBU, three in white cloaks, and one in a black one entered the Forest of Death. Hare then spoke up, "The ninja has engaged on a genin team. The quartet increased their pace at the words. "Three minutes out."

"Make it less," Dog ordered. Hare in response started enhancing his speed with chakra. The others didn't need to. With his pace more than doubled, they quickly approached. "Hare, you open up the attack, then ensure the genin get out of there. Avoid direct contact if you can. Once they leave, use the fox's chakra and join in with us. Crow, your long range support. Tiger, Wolf, close range with me."

Hare formed a shadow clone, and the two started gathering their chakra. Seconds later, Hare released his Inferno Technique. The attack forced the unknown ninja away from the genin group.

Hare quickly ran up to the genin in question, team seven, and shouted, "Get out of here now!" All the genin had minor injuries, but it seemed they would be fine. The trio of genin quickly made a break for it, and Hare quickly entered his mindscape. "Can I use your chakra?"

"You will need it Naruto. Your opponent is extremely powerful," the fox replied.

Hare immediately exited, drawing on a great amount of the fox's chakra. A foxy red aura and three tails spouted from Hare's form. In less than a blink, he was on the ninja. Said ninja snarled with disgust and summoned a large snake.

Orochimaru! This is bad!

Hare stabbed the snake in the head with his tails, quickly taking it out of the fight. As he continued his engagement, Dog was calling over the radio of the threat. Hare reengaged, faster than any of his fellow ANBU. He threw a swipe at Orochimaru, who dodged the attack by leaning back.

Then, Dog and Wolf leapt upon him with Tanto's in hand. The man kicked back off of Hare to dodge the attack. Hare was barely thrown back, and Tiger came upon Orochimaru the rear. Orochimaru snarled again, and swiped at Tiger. Tiger flew back many meters.

Orochimaru then threw an punch at Wolf. Wolf ducked under the attack, and sidestepped as a flurry of wind blades came upon the snake summoner. A few of the blades hit the snake of man, slicing him in several places. Hare drew his tanto and engaged upon his opponent. A long red aura blade extended from the tanto as he swung.

The snake sannin jumped over the attack while sending a flurry of snakes from his arms towards Hare. The snakes descended upon the Hare, but disintegrated as they did. Everyone paused for a moment. "Interesting," Hare commented.

Hare and Tiger then engaged the man with their tantos. The man snarled, and jumped back from the attack while biting his thumb. He then slammed his hand to the ground, and then there was an extremely large puff of smoke.

Out of the smoke, came an extremely large snake. "Dog, Orochimaru is escaping," Hare called out.

"Ignore him, eliminate the snake," Dog replied!

Hare jumped onto the snake and ran up its body. As he did so, he cut into the snake with his tanto, empowered by the nine-tails chakra. The snake writhed in pain as Hare did so, and was forced to dispel when Hare reached its head.

Hare then fell from the air, and softly landed on the ground. "He's retreating, and at an extremely fast rate. I'm not sure we can catch him."

Dog simply nodded, as he stared at Hare. So did the other ANBU. After a few moments, Hare asked, "What?"

"Very impressive Hare, very impressive," Dog said.

"You did well today," Crow added.

Hare swelled up on the inside.

They're proud of me.

"Good news," Iguana said to the quartet of Orochimaru battlers, "Rock isn't pissed. Well, they were pissed, but then when the giant snake appeared in the distance, they eased back. They just ask that they review all tapes to ensure we ourselves kept interference to a minimum."

"That's fine. Allow them to view the videos, but they are not allowed to keep them," Dog replied. Iguana saluted before leaving.

Crow then said, "It's not every day that you fight a sannin. Not to mention no casualties."

Tiger moaned, "His slap hurts a ton. I shudder to think what his punch would be like."

"You're not shuddering," Crow pointed out.

Tiger responded with some unsavory words. Hare on the other hand chuckled.

And cut.

There you have it, chapter 33. Unfortunately, their are two options. Either wait a probably for a week for a long chapter, that ends the chunin exams arc, or get a small chapter ~1500 words that encompasses the month long break, and get the the third exam and konoha crush part a little later.

We have now seen Crow again, and he has been up to his revolutionary ways. The Leaf village is also more aware than they were before.

Make sure to review!