Last time, Yugito and team 9 of Kumo had entered Konoha. Once they settled on a hotel, everyone went their separate ways where Naruto met up with Hinata. Later, he and his team (Samui and Karui) snuck into his parent's home to get every scroll and jutsu that was inside the house, where he also found 2 letters written to him by his parents. What was in the letters? Could these letters change his decision about Kumo and Konoha?
Exam day
It's been 2 days since Naruto ransack his parent's home, where he had the last 2 days to think about what his parents wrote to him. From the letters, he figured that these letters were written before he was born, assurance to make sure that they at least left some words to him. As he thought about it, Samui and Karui were walking in front of him since he's still deep in thought.
After a few minutes of walking, team 9 made it to the exam building, Konoha Shinobi Academy. They walked inside to see a lot of other genin teams from other villages going in as well. As they walked, the made their way to the third floor, where the first test of the Chunin Exam is being held. Naruto put the thoughts about his parent's letter at the back of his mind since he needs to concentrate on what needs to be done, "Pass the Chunin Exams."
As he continues to walk towards the exam room, he thought about what happened yesterday morning, where he met up with Sasuke and Sakura with some konoha kids, which one of them was the Sandaime Hokage's grandson.
Flashback
Naruto was walking around Konoha, remembering what has or hasn't changed. As he calmly walked around, like a tourist, he heard some noise and decided to investigate. He decided to check by roof which he leapt onto the closes roof near the commotion
Once he looked down at the commotion, he saw Sakura standing in front of some kids smaller than her. He saw her trying to calm down the situation with some Suna ni, which he saw that the older boy was holding a young boy by his collar. He can see that the Suna boy wants to beat the living day lights out of the boy. He decided to end this little quarrel. He unsealed his bow from his left thigh and unseals an arrow behind his neck. Before he launches his arrow, he saw someone throw a pebble thrown at the Suna boy, but it didn't make him drop the boy. It was then that he saw in the trees that it was Sasuke.
He can clear see that Sasuke was threatening the Suna boy, which he didn't like. He can see that the Suna boy was about to do some injury to the boy before moving towards Sasuke. He decided to go with his original plan and end it. Naruto took got his bow and arrow while adding his wind chakra to it, aimed at the Suna's boy's left hand, where he held the boy. Naruto took a moment to make that the boy arm stood still long enough to insure he didn't miss. When he saw his chance, he fired.
As Sasuke and the Suna boy glared at each other, while everyone else paid attention to what was happening; they were surprised on what just happened. Out of nowhere, a arrow went right between both the Suna boy's left hand the boy and the neck of the boy whose collar was being held by the Suna boy. The arrow, with wind chakra, went between this area and cut the boy's collar in half. With the collar cut, the boy was free from the Suna genin's grip, where he fell to the ground on his butt. The arrow continue to move forward and landed on the street, deeply embedded into it, only showing the end of its tip.
The Suna genin flinched back as he looked as his hand to see if the arrow injured him. The boy that fell down on his butt heard his friends call out to him to come to them which he did. They then heard the Suna genin teammate call out to him.
"Kankuro! Are you alright?" asked the Kunoichi
"Yeah… I'm alright Temari. The arrow didn't hit me or anything. But where did it came from?" Asked Kankuro
Temari was about to figure it out, when they heard someone walking behind both Kankuro and Temari. They turned to see who it was, which both Sakura and Sasuke knew who it was. It was a boy wearing a black mask that covered his head with the Kumo headband on his forehead.
"N! Is that you?" Sakura yelled out
"It's been a while Sakura. I'm curious on how long you were going to let this little drama continue on." Naruto said
Both, Kankuro and Temari, looked at the newcomer, which Kankuro saw the bow in his left hand. It was then that he figured out that N was the one that fired the arrow at him. Before they can say anything, Naruto looked at the tree where Sasuke was sitting on.
Naruto narrowed his eyes as he then spoke louder, "I asked you a question, were you going to just watch this little drama or were you going to stop it."
Everyone thought that N was talking to Sasuke, but that thought ended when they heard someone say, "Don't worry, I was going to stop it since he's embarrassing our village right now."
They turned to see behind Sasuke, a red headed boy, as old as Sasuke, looking at everyone with his eyes narrowed. They then heard Kankuro called out his name, "Gaara."
As they watched, Sasuke thought at the fact that this red headed guy's stealth level was on par with Kakashi's.
Gaara looked at his siblings as he said, "Losing yourself in a fight, how pathetic. Why do you think we came to the leaf village?"
Kankuro tried to explain to Gaara, but he didn't want to hear any lame excuse, which Kankuro and Temari started to apologize to him about how they acted. Gaara then looked at Sasuke and apologize for Kankuro's act, which he then shunshin towards his siblings. Before he went to his siblings, he thought "To be able to hit Kankuro with a stone… and that Kumo shinobi… to be able to launch an arrow from such a distance without causing any injuries… they're both good."
Once Gaara landed between his siblings, he told them that they were leaving, but Sakura stopped them saying something about foreign shinobi being inside their village without permission. Temari explained to them that they have permission since they were here to compete in the Chunin exams. Once it was explained, they were about to leave until Sasuke spoke up.
"Hey you, what's your name?"
Temari blushed as she said, "Huh… you mean me?"
"No… you with the gourd." Asked Sasuke, which Temari got depressed about it.
Before Gaara could introduce himself, Naruto spoke up, "My, my Sasuke… I thought you would have at least learned some politeness since the last time we saw each other. Even if it was a mistake, you should have at least been more polite to a lady and said 'My apologies miss, but I should have a been more accurate when I asked about your companion," Naruto showed
Sasuke glared at him as he was making fun about him, not acting like a gentleman. Temari only blushed at what N said about her being a lady. She thought, "My, my… it seems that some Kumo shinobi know how to act like a gentleman. I kind of wish I could see what his face looks like." With a grin
Sasuke then focus on Gaara and asked Gaara one more time. Gaara answered, "I'm Gaara of the Desert. I'm also interested in both your names?" asking both Naruto and Sasuke
Sasuke answered, "Uchiha Sasuke."
Naruto stated, "N from Kumo."
After getting their names, Gaara told his siblings that they were leaving. Before they pass Naruto as they left, Naruto spoke out, "Also, I would like to extend my apologizes on what I did to your teammate, but I have a thing about bullies."
Gaara accepted the apology and left with his siblings following, while hearing Kankuro muttering something about getting even with him. Once they left, Naruto also got ready to leave as well, but Sasuke stopped him and wondered why N was here too. Naruto said gave the same answer that Temari gave them, saying that he was here for the chunin exams. It was then that he left to go meet up with his team, where he also apologize to the boy, where he learned it was Konohamaru the old man's grandson, about shooting an arrow so close to his face to free him from Kankuro's grip. Once that was settled, Naruto took his leave right after he resealed his bow to his left leg.
End Flashback
As he remembered, he put what happened yesterday at the back of his head. It was then that they arrived at a hallway, where there was plenty of genin trying to enter the exam room. They all saw 2 shinobi blocking the door way into the room, but he and Samui notice the problem. Karui was about to make an attempt when Samui grabbed her shoulder and indicated they needed to go somewhere silently. Karui understood and left. It was then that Naruto overheard Sasuke voice speaking outloud.
"Could you remove the genjutsu that you created around the area? I'm going to the third floor." He stated
This got many other genin confused about what he met, which they then notice the room number changed. Instead of seeing on what was going to happen next, he signaled Samui and Karui to get moving. It was when he got near the exam room that he stopped for a moment and looked back. Karui and Samui wanted to know what was up, but he said that he wants to check on something.
With Team7
They were still on the second floor, about to go the third when they were stopped by one of the genin. It was then that Sasuke asked on what he wanted which the genin asked, "Will you fight with me, right here?"
Sasuke replied, "A fight right now?" which the other genin said yes. He then leapt down onto their level and prepared himself. It was then that the genin introduced himself, "My name is Rock Lee. When you want to learn a person's name you introduce yourself first, right?"
Sasuke introduced himself, which Lee started to explain on why he wanted to fight Sasuke, to test his skill and earn some affection points from Sakura. Once Sasuke began to show his Uchiha ego, Lee got excited because he wanted to face an opponent who was known as a genius/prodigy shinobi.
Sasuke and Lee began to square off while Sakura and Ko just stood at the sidelines. In the beginning, Lee had the advantage, where he got pass Sasuke's guard against him. It was then that Sasuke revealed his Sharingan. This got Sakura and Ko surprise since they didn't know that Sasuke activated the his bloodline. Sasuke then went in to attack Lee while Sakura thought about the advantages that the Sharingan gave Sasuke.
"Sasuke-kun is getting stronger and stronger… the Uchiha clan is great! Yeah, Sasuke-kun can't lose to this guy now." Sakura smiled at the thought
That thought ended when Lee upped kicked his chin and sent Sasuke flying into the air. It was there that Sasuke heard Lee explain the differences and weakness of Nin-Gen-Taijutsu, along with Lee's Taijutsu against Sasuke's Sharingan. The fight was stopped when Lee's sensei summoning, then later Lee's sensei, Maito Gai came into the picture. As Gai and Lee talked, no one, not even Gai notice that someone else was overseeing the fight and leaving unnoticely.
Exam room
Naruto was now leaning against a wall near the entrance with Samui and Karui, where he saw team 7 walk in. He could Sakura's nervousness, but that stopped when a long hair blond jumped onto Sasuke's back. He then saw other Konoha genin walked towards them, which he can tell, like his team; they are rookies, the rookie 9 as well as learned their names from their chatting. As he observed them, he couldn't help but think if he actually think if the incident never happen, would these guys be his friends. He shook that thought out of his head since he knew he couldn't change the past for anything.
As Naruto was observing, Naruto notice Hinata spotting him, where she silently greeted him with a smile, and acted fidgety with her fingers. Naruto acknowledged Hinata's silent greeted where he closed his eyes and nodded his head to her. For the past couple of days, Hinata has been thinking about N (Naruto) on how sincere he was as well as how he acted, which she started to day dream about him to the point she actually started to have a crush. This didn't go unnoticed to Kiba and Shino. That reaction got all their friends to look at him and his team, who were acting calm and collective. Sasuke notice N was here, which he smirked about it since he would get a chance to fight and humiliate him from the disrespected N gave him back in Nami no Kuni.
The rookie 9 conversation ended when a guy name Kabuto showed up in front of them and explained some things to them, where he told to look at the crowd, which the crowd was looking at them with dreadful narrow eyes. After Kabuto explained some things about himself as well as the purpose of the Chunin Exams, he told them that he has info on all the participants, including themselves. It was then that Sasuke asked Kabuto to show him the information about a few people. Kabuto asked for any information on them to look them up where Sasuke gave it to him.
"There's Gaara of Suna, Rock Lee of the Leaf, and… N from Kumo." Where Kabuto gotten all three info cards on them which Sasuke wanted to see.
Kabuto gave out the information to Sasuke about Lee and Gaara. Everyone was impressed already on what they heard from the both of them, especially Gaara when they heard he came back from his missions without as much as a scratch.
"Alright, not to N of Kumo…" where Sasuke paid close attention, "… since he is a foreign shinobi I don't have much info on him, not even a picture of his face, however it doesn't mean I don't have anything on him like that his name is a codename, not his real one." Kabuto first told them that N (Naruto) has done multiple D-ranks, a few C-ranks and 1 A-rank level mission over the last 6 months as well as his team sensei (where they were shocked to learn it was the Raikage's adopted brother) and his team members. Kabuto said, "Like all of you guys, he just graduated from the academy, making him a rookie, however from my information, he could have graduated 2 years earlier but stayed in the academy to assure he skills were top notch. He's also this year "Rookie of the Year" for Kumo, like you Sasuke Uchiha. From what I have been able to gather, N is especially skilled in fuinjutsu (art of seals), where Kumo is hoping to have a true fuinjutsu master for the first time in the village. The last thing I got is from what the Raikage boosted about before the exam started. Out of any participants, including his very own genin, that N would pass and win the entire Chunin exams since he called N as Kumo's 'Yellow Blade.'"
This got them to pay attention to N (Naruto) as they looked at him as he still leaned against the wall, unfazed or anything. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at N, since just by the info, N was probably a lot stronger than he's letting on. As Kabuto continue to speak, Naruto looked up and turned to his right, where he spotted a familiar face. Samui and Karui notice it and looked at where Naruto was looking at. Karui was wondering on who it was, but Samui knew who it is.
"Ha-Haku… is that you?" Naruto walked towards her. Samui and Karui followed, where Samui and Naruto were, along with getting Sasuke and Sakura's attention, surprise to see Haku here, wearing a Kiri headband. She was wearing the same outfit back in Nami no Kuni, but it was altered to a bit to reveal her feminine figure. Haku's robes, over her shirt, were now sleeveless and weren't as loose, but tighter to show her figure. She wore tight, brown shorts that lay above her knees, showing off her attractive legs. Her stash that acted like a belt had been altered as well being only half the size it was to show off her waist. Her hair style was the same except instead of a bun, she had her hair tide into a ponytail with her hair bangs still remained the same.
Naruto and Samui talked to Haku about what happened to her. Haku explained that they left to get to more secure area to recover since Kiri Anbu was still trailing them. Once they recovered they learned that Kiri civil war has ended for a while, where the rebels won with a new Mizukage. When they returned to Kiri, the Mizukage went easy on them and assured them since they only committed crimes against the Yondaime Mizukage, they were left of the hook, where Zabuza was made her official sensei along with getting 2 more students for him. That is where they went to the Chunin exams. Of course, another reason was for her to defeat Sasuke to improve the village stance and earn new clients.
Everyone that new Haku, listened in except the last part. Naruto was glad to see an old friend of his, while Sasuke grinned at the possibility to fight Haku again. Before things could continue to relax, three Oto nin came in and attack Kabuto. Kabuto was able to avoid any physical hits, but something went wrong when he fell to his knees and threw up. Before things could escalate any further the proctors for the first part of the Chunin exams came into the room and demanded silence. It was then that the person in charge, Ibiki, made his stance known. Once Ibiki explained about the paper test and seating charts, everyone went to their assigned seat. Karui sat at the far back left side of the room, while Samui sat in the center, and Naruto sat in the center, but near the front of the room. Of course, he sat next to Hinata, where she greeted him and he did the same. Naruto looked at Hinata with some sadness in his eyes, since he found out from Yugito that Hinata has an arrange marriage to Sasuke once they turned 16, but he decided not to bring it up in case she was sad about it.
Once Ibiki got everyone seated, Ibiki explained the rules (which everyone here knows). As Ibiki was explaining, Naruto heard what Ibiki was saying, as he laid his head on his left hand for support. He then smirked at what he figured out at the moment, which he signals Karui since she can see him clearly from the place she was.
Karui was getting nervous at what Ibiki was explaining, where she doesn't know what to do. She saw Naruto and then went a bit wide-eye, where she then started to smirk on what she notice. Karui thought, "Hohoho, Good thing for me that I'm the best when it comes to test like this."
Ibiki then started the test, where Naruto straighten up and started to do the test. He focus hard, then started to write down the answers like it was an ordinary walk through a park. As Naruto was working through this, every high class genin is starting to get the meaning of the test, where they worked on cheating and not get caught.
While looking over the possible chunin candidates, Ibiki only view 2 promising choices. One was Gaara, who used his sand to look at someone's test answers. The reason why Ibiki was noticing Gaara was because he doing this tests completely focuses, cool, and unfazed. The second is N. He saw that N was completely the opposite of what Gaara was doing. He completely went 180 from the beginning of the test.
45 minutes have passed since the test began, at that time many teams were failed because they cheated pathetically or something. Ibiki then started to tell them about the 10 question which was making or break question. He explained that if you don't take it, you failed. If you take and fail, you'll be barred from the Chunin exam ever again. With that, many team disqualified themselves since they couldn't take the pressure anymore. After a couple of minutes, Hinata was about to break and started to lift up her left hand to give up while inner apologize to Kiba and Shino. Before she could lift her hand, Naruto grabbed it and firmly place it on the table. Hinata looked at N, which she then saw his piercing blue eyes staring at her, like he was telling her to not give up, stand up now and start walking forward. Hinata read his eyes, which she smiled at him for the confidents that he was giving her.
A bit more time, Ibiki told them the 10 question where he said, "You all Pass." Everyone in the room was quiet for the moment, until Sakura spoke up and asked what he meant. Ibiki told them about the tenth question just being able to accept or decline it. Some wanted answers on why there was a question like that, also complaining if the rest of the questions were just a waste of time. Ibiki explained to them what the purpose of the first nine questions (which you already know). Ibiki then explained on what it means to be a chunin squad captain and such which. Once he finished explaining, Ibiki wished them luck on the next part of the exam.
Before the genin could relax from the exam, something came bursting through the window covered in a dark sheet. It then spun around placing kunai around the area and hung the sheet like a banner. Banner revealed the name of the second proctor, where she introduced herself to everyone.
"You guys! This is no time to be celebrating! I'm the second proctor for your next exam! Mitarashi Anko! Now if you ready, FOLLOW ME!" as Anko raised her fist into the air as she finished talking.
Everyone was stunned and unresponsive on what to say, while Ibiki told her to grasp the moment, which Anko blushed in embarrassment. It was then that Anko notice that 26 teams pass Ibiki's test. Ibiki said that these candidates show more promise.
"Oh don't worry; I'll at least cut more than half of them at the second part." Anko stated
This got everyone nervous at what Anko said about taking out half of the participants. Once Anko finished her statement, she told everyone to follow her to the next exam sight. Everyone nervously followed her and thought what was going to happen in the next exam.
Till Next Ch.
P.S. New poll on Elemental Master Naruto, with the final girls with the top picks. I also place a new candidate in the poll. Can only vote once, vote now.
P.S.S. It's been brought to my attention that some of my links for the pictures for the picks of the candidates on my poll aren't working. So I've just updated it so you can see the pics now.
Plus, for all those who keep sending me messages of getting a beta reader. Stop sending it since even though sometimes i might give a bad review from even worse typing than me, I at least don't tell them to get a beta since like some writers, they have pride on what they write or type down and prefer not to let someone else to tamper with it.