Author's Note: The reviews of chapter 19 (what I call chapter 18) are not showing up. I contacted support and read the forums and am concerned they may never appear. So instead, I decided to post them at the beginning of the story - since I do receive them via email.
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They are posted at the bottom of the story, after the "Special Episode".
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After the laughter died down, Lee and his two teammates, who they learned were Hyuuga Neji and Tenten, took off to find their own scroll.
At the mention of scrolls, Kanoko pulled out the Heaven Scroll and tossed it to Shikamaru. He looked at, then reached into his own bag and tossed Kanoko an Earth Scroll.
Kanoko almost laughed at the coincidence.
"Sakura, where did you learn to do that?" Kanoko heard Ino ask Sakura, as she was healing a few of Sasuke's wounds with the Mystical Palm Technique.
Sakura moved her shoulder to gesture at Kanoko, since her hands were preoccupied. Kanoko just shrugged at Ino's stare. Ino then turned to Shikamaru and glared at him.
Shikamaru's eye twitched, "What, troublesome woman?"
Ino's eyes narrowed further, "You're holding out on Choji and I! Your sister can use wind, water, and yin jutsus, advance sealing techniques, and can also heal?! There has to be more you can do than the Shadow Possession Jutsu!"
Kanoko opened her mouth to say that she never actually took the time and effort to learn healing jutsus; she just knew the basic principle and shared it with Sakura. From there, Sakura just ran with it. Sakura really learned it all by herself with minimal assistance from Kanoko, but Kanoko didn't get the chance to say anything before her brother spoke.
Shikamaru scoffed and crossed his arms, "Maybe my sister's just amazing. We can't all be prodigies."
Ino's glare turned into a giggle, "Oh I see."
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "What do you mean by that…?" Kanoko looked over, curious as well.
Ino just covered her mouth with her hand and giggled again, "You're sister's something special, isn't she?"
"Of course she is." Shikamaru said firmly – no room for question.
Kanoko turned away, knowing where this is going. Instead, she placed her hand on the ground, searching the area for chakra signatures.
Northwest.
Kanoko turned to Hinata, "Hinata, I believe there is a team northwest. Can you confirm?" Kanoko didn't really need her to confirm, she just wanted the others to listen and shift gears to the more pressing concerns: Like getting out of here.
Hinata answered, "Hai." She activated her Byakugan and affirmed the presence of a team.
With that Sasuke got up, "Then let's head out."
They all filed out after that.
Not before a, "Who put you in charge, Teme?!" from Naruto.
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Standing where the rookie nine were previously stopped was a ninja of the Leaf Village. Taller than most genin at the exams, he had light gray/silver hair in a short ponytail.
He adjusted his glasses before speaking lowly, "Orochimaru is not going to be pleased…"
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Kanoko opened her eyes slowly before letting out a low yawn. She rolled out of bed and walked towards the window in her room. She placed her hand at the top of the windowsill, leaning against it. She took a look outside, watching the villagers walk down the streets.
She stretched her arms before starting to get dressed. While she was getting ready for the day, she thought about the second phase of the exams.
After gathering the last scroll, the rookie nine made their way to the tower – not before running into a few of Suna's famous beasts. They made it there, though, just in time.
Now they were waiting around for the final stage.
Kanoko stared at herself in the mirror, thinking back…
Flashback
Kanoko walked into her room. She knew Sakura and Naruto would be out partying with the rest of the genin in celebration for a while, so she used the opportunity to sneak away.
"Flying Thunder god Jutsu."
Kanoko teleported to the Nara forest, and from there, made her way to the Hokage's office henged as Konohamaru. Once she got close, she pushed out her senses – looking into the Hokage's office: The Hokage and Two ANBU.
Oh well, this was important.
She teleported into the Hokage's office, surprising him. She saw the ANBU make a move when the Hokage stopped them, "Leave us."
The ANBU paused before teleporting away.
The Hokage looked back at "his grandson" before saying, "That was a risky move. I hope whatever you are bringing me is important."
Kanoko nodded, "Orochimaru was in the second round."
The Hokage nodded, "I am aware. It was Kakashi that found the… mess… Orochimaru left, and notified the Sand Village officials."
Kanoko continued, "There's more. He placed a curse seal on Uchiha Sasuke's body. I've never quite seen a seal like it. Orochimaru's own soul was sealed inside – as if he planned on taking over the Uchiha's body."
The Hokage exhaled deeply, "From what you are describing, I am familiar with this seal. He placed a few on his students while still a leaf nin. Many died, but one still lives: Mitarashi Anko – although she is no threat, we were never able to remove the seal. If Sasuke falls victim to it-"
"I removed it." Kanoko said plainly.
The Hokage looked back, shocked, "Y-you removed it?" He sat down before shrugging, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Orochimaru based nearly all his jutsus and seals from the work you left behind for Leaf ninja to study."
Kanoko raised an eyebrow, "That's why I couldn't find my scrolls when I first started searching the common archives."
Hiruzen sighed, "After what Orochimaru did, using your work, we placed them in the vault – dubbing them forbidden."
Kanoko considered if she should feel ashamed that her work caused such pain, but she also was taught that it is not the kunai that kills, but the one holding it.
The Third Hokage got up and looked outside with his arms behind him, "At least now we understand Orochimaru's intention and have prevented it."
Kanoko considered what her former student said, before asking, "What is more important to him: His search for immortality or his hatred towards Konoha?"
The Hokage didn't hesitate, "His hatred for me. That is what is forefront in his mind. To him, I have denied him too much. He may thirst for power and immortality, but his hatred for me is first and foremost."
Kanoko nodded, "Then that is his true intention. Focus on that."
Before teleporting away, Kanoko added, "Do not put me in a position of out-living my student. That is a pain no sensei ever wants to experience."
End Flashback
Even after that discussion, Kanoko still felt as that was the last time she would speak with her former student.
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"Please! Please! PLEASE! PLLLLLEASE!"
Naruto had been begging Kakashi-sensei for the last hour to teach him new and powerful jutsu. The fight in the desert had been hard on all of them, and Naruto wanted to become stronger. The problem was, Naruto always equated strength with jutsus – particularly powerful ones with cool names.
In an effort to keep her sanity, Kanoko offered to teach Naruto a jutsu or two. He almost took her offer too, but then Sasuke showed up out of nowhere asking for Kakashi-sensei. After further questioning, they learned that Sasuke's sensei, Kurenai, told him to ask their sensei to teach him a lightening jutsu – since he had an affinity for it.
Now, Naruto only wanted to be taught by Kakashi-sensei.
"Thank you Sasuke-teme, I should have let you DIE." Kanoko thought, her headache growing.
"PLEASE KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto pleaded in a high pitch this time.
Kanoko stood up and ripped Kakashi's book from his hand, "FOR ALL THAT IS HOLY IN THIS WORLD! EITHER TEACH HIM SOMETHING, FIND SOMEONE WHO HE'LL LEARN FROM, OR PUT HIM OUT OF HIS MISERY!"
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"U-u-hh-hh… Kanoko… You… book…" Naruto said with uncontrolled fear in his voice. Even Sakura was making a run for the exit.
Kanoko looked at her hand.
Icha Icha Paradise.
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She blamed Naruto. He's the one who drove her insane.
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A dark aura took over the room.
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Thankfully Kanoko used the Body Replacement Jutsu with Naruto and high-tailed it out of there while Kakashi beat up "Kanoko".
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"Ahhhh…" Sakura said, sinking down lower in the hot water.
"I agree, this is the best!" Ino nodded, laying back against the edge of the hot spring. She jerked her head up, "Come on Hinata! Get in here!"
Hinata held her towel tightly around her, "Coming…"
"You know, it's nice to officially meet you guys. Even if we have to face each other in the final round, we're still leaf ninjas, and it's nice to hang out with fellow kunoichi!" Tenten said from the entrance as she got in the water.
Sakura nodded, "I can't even imagine what it must be like to be on a team with three guys, Kakashi-sensei and Naruto are bad enough…" Sakura sighed in relief, "I don't know I would do if Kanoko wasn't on my team."
Ino tilted her head, "Where is she anyways? How long does it take to get undressed?"
Hinata, now submerged replied, "She started talking to cloud ninja… I think she said her name was Karui…"
Sakura sighed, "Of course. Four years in the academy and Kanoko doesn't make one friend, and then she goes to a completely foreign village and starts chatting up the competition."
Ino wagged her finger at Sakura, "Maybe that's why she's talking to her. You know, Shikamaru did the same thing with this team from the rain. Maybe it's a Nara thing?"
Tenten looked impressed before looking up and speaking her thoughts, "You know, Kanoko's not really like most kunoichi. I mean, when you guys were fighting those grass nin, Neji was watching with his Byakugan as we approached. He said that she used both a wind and water technique. And then, later we saw her save that one boy, Sasuke, with fuinjutsu. I've never seen fuinjutsu used like that before. Most of us just store things in our scrolls…"
Sakura put a finger on her chin, "Now that I think about it, in our first C-rank turned B mission, Kanoko used…" Sakura started counting her fingers, "Three water jutsus? She also invented her own seal on her arm…"
"Sakura." Kanoko called to Sakura in a stern voice. She turned her head up. Kanoko continued, "You can brag about me after we complete the chunin exams."
Sakura turned red as Ino chuckled, point her tongue at her.
Tenten apologize, "That was my fault! I promise, I wasn't trying to spy! You're just interesting! You're different than most ninja around here."
Kanoko wasn't listening, her head was turned, with her eyes narrowed at the fence.
"Kanoko…?" Sakura asked, concerned.
Kanoko calmly walked over to the fence before kicking it roughly down.
"KANOKO!" The girls yelled, diving into the water.
On the other side was a long, white haired old man with a headband with the kanji word for "oil" on it. The fence had hit him in the face, causing him to fall onto his back and his nose to bleed. Kanoko also saw Naruto off to the side, staring bewildered.
Kanoko turned to Naruto, still fully clothed and sword in hand, and gave him a dark look, "I'll deal with you later…" she finished with a low tone before walking up to the old man.
Kanoko looked down at him, but before she could beat him up, he jumped up and put a hand out in defense, "H-H-Hold on there! You see, I'm a novelist, and I was doing research on my next book!" He stuttered out.
Kanoko raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, "You. Are peeping on twelve-year old girls. For research. For a book." She finished.
He scratched the back of his head, "Well, when you say it like that…"
Kanoko drew her sword and pointed at his face, inches from his nose, she darkly said, "This is your only warning: There is no jutsu, seal, technique, or ability that will mask your presence from me. If I find you here again, I will remove your eyeballs. One. At. A. Time."
He went white before nodding vigorously, grabbing Naruto and making a run for it.
Kanoko watched them leave, "Please don't tell me that's Naruto's new teacher."
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Black smoke cleared, revealing a rather large hole in the rock.
"Not bad…" Kakashi said, jumping over to his "student", "But, it would work better if you focused." Kakashi finished wistfully.
Sasuke huffed at Kakashi's words.
"Now, now. No need to go all emo on me. I'm just saying you have something on your mind… Something distracting you from training."
Sasuke looked away, staring at his hand in irritation. He knew he was close to completing the jutsu, but Kakashi-sensei's "words of wisdom" were driving his last bit of patience into the ground – not that he had much to begin with.
His own sensei was blunter than Kakashi – actually providing him with insight, rather than him having to decipher the meaning. Not that Kakashi's last statement wasn't plenty blunt. Sasuke knew that his mind was wondering.
Staring at his hand again, he thought back to the Demon Desert.
He was so weak.
He needed both Sakura and Naruto to protect him.
And Kanoko…
…How could she be so much more advance then him? He remembered sharing the number one spot with her in the academy. They were even in ninjutsu and genjutsu, and he even had an advantage over her in taijutsu.
Now…
It was like she was a different person. Having skill in not one, but two basic natures? Add in her clan's shadow jutsu and her clear skill with seals…
Sasuke's fists tightened, this time drawing blood.
It was no wonder that the dead-last, Naruto, was becoming something more than a loser – with a ninja like Kanoko on his team. Of course, he didn't know that Kanoko hadn't worked with Naruto much on his skills – Naruto learned best doing his own thing.
Sasuke stared at his bloody hands. When did the gap get so big? Was he not progressing as fast as he thought he was?
He looked up at the mark he created, from his lightening jutsu.
He needed to get stronger.
He couldn't afford to be this weak.
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Not with him still alive.
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"So? What does it say?!" Naruto asked, leaning against Kanoko, trying to get a look at the paper sent to them by the Chunin Exam board.
Even Sakura was trying to stick her head over Kanoko's shoulder to look.
Couldn't she have been given as least one team member that respected the personal bubble concept?
Kanoko shoved both of them off her before saying, "It's going to be a team matchup: Three on three." Her eyes ran over the next few lines, "All three must participate in each fight to continue – the knockout of one of your teammates won't disqualify you, but if they aren't able to fight by your next match, you will be disqualified."
She paused, "The following teams have made it to the final round: Team Kakashi of the Leaf, Team Kurenai of the Leaf, Team Asuma of the Leaf, Team Gai of the Leaf, Team Bee of the Cloud, Team Baki of the Sand, Team Shigure of the Rain, and Team Dosu of the Sound."
With that, Kanoko turned to the next page: The matches.
First Round:
1. Team Gai v Team Kakashi
2. Team Asuma v Team Bee
3. Team Shigure v Team Baki
4. Team Dosu v Team Kurenai
Semi-Final Round:
5. Winner of Match 1 v Winner of Match 2
6. Winner of Match 3 v Winner of Match 4
Final Round:
Winner of Match 5 v Winner of Match 6
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After Kanoko finished reading the match line up, she looked over to her teammates.
Naruto was clenching his fists tightly with an angry expression. He stared down at the floor as Kanoko thought, "That's right. This is the team that the Hyuuga is on."
Kanoko thought back to the incident…
Flashback
Kanoko was out walking around with her team, down the streets of Suna. Naruto was hunched over, looking half dead and even Sakura was holding her stomach.
They had just finished a particularly painful and long training exercise with their sensei, who – guess what – showed up on time. That should have been the first clue…
From 4am to 3pm they ran drill after drill. Pushups, laps, kunai throwing, running with clones of Kakashi-sensei on their backs – everything you can think of. Kanoko wasn't entirely sure what sparked such drive in their sensei all of a sudden, but she wasn't really complaining. All this training was going to increase her and Sakura's reserves. And Kakashi had Naruto focusing on basic ninja skills – throwing, dodging, hitting – the areas he is still the weakest in.
Kakashi, however, was feeling particularly drill sergeant like and didn't feed them.
So here they were, looking for a place to eat.
Kanoko wasn't too upset about the whole "not being able to eat while training thing", but that might have to do with the fact that she pic-pocketed his wallet before heading out to find a restaurant.
Lunch would be on Kakashi-sensei today.
Just as they were about to round a corner, they heard, "A word of advice. Withdraw now."
Team 7 turned the corner and saw Team Gai and Team Kurenai facing each other. Neji was standing ahead of his two teammates with his arms crossed and a firm frown on his face. Opposite from him was a shaking – with anger it seemed – Kiba, a glaring and arms crossed Sasuke, and Hinata in the middle, shifting her eyes to the ground in sadness.
Neji continued, "You know you were never meant to be a ninja." Hinata looked up, shocked at his statement. Kiba growled, "What did you say?! How dare you!"
Hinata looked over to her teammate, "Kiba. Please. Don't…"
Neji wasn't done though, "You're too kind and gentle. You avoid conflict… And you allow yourself to be easily swayed by others. Admit it. You have no confidence and you feel inferior to everyone else here. You would have stayed a genin forever, but to register for the chunin exams, three member squads are required. You never even wanted to be here, but Sasuke and Kiba did. And you couldn't bear to let your teammates down."
Sasuke and Kiba looked worried and a little guilty as they looked over to their teammate.
Hinata sensed their guilt and quickly stuttered out, "N-no! I… I want to be here! I know… That I'm not the strongest, but I thought… If I tried… I could change… That I could be stronger."
Everyone was silent for a moment, thinking about Hinata's words.
Neji scoffed, interrupting the silence, "Hinata. You are the spoiled offspring of the Hyuuga's main branch. People can't change no matter how hard they try!" Kanoko looked over to Naruto, knowing these words could affect him.
He was gritting his teeth.
Neji ruthlessly continued, "They can't run away from their true nature! A failure will always be a failure."
Naruto started growling lowly now. Even Sakura was looking at Naruto concerned – she knew as well how much the conversation hit home for him.
"Despite your brave words, what you're really thinking is that you would like to run – run as far away from here as you can!"
Hinata quickly yelled back, "No! You're wrong! I would never run away and abandon my team!"
Neji scoffed again, looking away disgusted, "There you go again – bending to another's will. Just admit you fear, your panic. You can't do this. You can't even face me – your own cousin – without getting frozen in fear. You will always be, what you were always meant to be: A mistake – a failure!"
"THAT DOES IT!" Naruto yelled, stepping up to Hinata's side. "Who gave you the right to tell her what she can and can't be! Go on Hinata! Show him he's wrong!"
Hinata stared at Naruto, in complete shock.
Growling louder, "Hinata! Are you just going to stand there and take that?! Do something!"
Kanoko's eye went a little wide. She was certain he would just sock Neji and get into a fight, but to tell Hinata to defend herself? Kanoko chuckled and thought, "Maybe Naruto is wiser than I give him credit for."
Naruto stared a little longer at Hinata before she slowly turned to Neji. She focused her eyes on him and firmly spoke, "I won't run away… I won't back down… I won't hide anymore! Byakugan!" Hinata finished taking a fighting position.
Kanoko sweat-dropped, "Only Naruto could take the most docile of people and encourage them to fight in the streets of a foreign village."
Kiba and Sasuke made no moves to stop Hinata. In fact, they were smirking and looked ready to get in on the action.
Neji gritted his teeth at Hinata, "I'm not going to waste my energy on you. If we face off in the final round, so be it. But right now, you're not worth my time."
And with that, Team Gai turned and left.
"That…! Bastard!" Naruto roared out.
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Now Naruto was determined to face Neji in battle – and beat him of course.
Kanoko thought about Team Gai.
Hyuuga Neji: Prodigy of the Hyuuga Clan – A problem.
Tenten: Skill in weapons and storage seals – Difficult, but so long as her defense was poor, Kanoko wasn't too worried.
Rock Lee: Mini Maito Gai – Big problem.
She recalled the incident in at Konoha's gates. That boy said Lee had no skill in ninjutsu. There was the possibility that that was no longer true – as people change and improve. It was evident, though, that Lee had skill in taijutsu. From what she knew about Maito Gai, it didn't surprise her.
Now that she thought about Maito Gai, she realized that he was highly competitive to one Hatake Kakashi – her sensei.
That posed an even larger problem.
His team will have additional initiative to defeat them (being his sensei's rival's team) and Team Gai is likely being trained harder for this purpose.
Kanoko placed the paper down on the table before grabbing Sakura by the arm and dragging her out of the room. She faintly heard the a yell of confusion from Naruto as Kanoko dragged Sakura out of the building.
"K-Kanoko! Where are you taking me?!" Sakura yelped.
Kanoko didn't look back, just responded plainly, "Somewhere to train."
Sakura just stared at the back of Kanoko's head, confused.
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The Sand Village had set up sectioned off areas for the genin could train in private for the upcoming matches.
And one of those spots was exactly where Sakura found herself, sitting cross-legged staring at Kanoko as she rummaged through her bag. Finally, Kanoko turned around and pulled out two pieces of paper. Sakura leaned in to take a better look: They were small and square, with no writing on it.
"What are these?" She asked.
Kanoko gave one to Sakura and held the other one in front of Sakura, "These are called Chakra Papers. When you push some of your chakra into them, they tell you which chakra nature you have an affinity for and as such, the strongest potential to master." Kanoko paused before continuing, "For fire, the paper will ignite and turn to ash. For wind, the paper will split in two. For lightning, the paper will wrinkle. For earth, the paper will turn to dirt and crumble away. And for water, the paper will become wet/damp."
To demonstrate, Kanoko pushed some chakra into the paper she was holding and it dampened.
Sakura looked at it surprised before looking down at her own paper.
Kanoko calmly continued, "Once we know what nature you have an affinity for, I will teach you a jutsu with that nature."
"I thought you said learning nature jutsus wasn't the best route for me, since my reserves are low and they require a lot – even with my chakra control." Sakura questioned.
Kanoko nodded, "I did say that, however, we still haven't figured out an alternative assault tactic for you besides explosive kunai, paper bombs, and traps. All of those are good, but in a three on three match with no ability to prepare the field, you'll be at a disadvantage."
Kanoko placed her hand on her chin and looked down at the papers before continuing, "Our best shot at improving your defense is through nature jutsus. Naruto and I can handle the main assault from there."
Sakura nodded, feeling bad that there wasn't more she could do.
Kanoko just shook her head, "Don't be discouraged. We're going to find the right technique for you, and when we do, you're going to be a force to be reckoned with." Kanoko finished with a small smirk.
Sakura nodded, a little happier.
"Now let's see what nature you are."
Sakura looked down at the paper and filled it with chakra.
Both Kanoko and Sakura stared at the results.
Kanoko rubbed her chin, "Well. I guess I shouldn't be surprised." Then she smirked and looked at Sakura, "I got the perfect jutsu for you."
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Sakura and Kanoko were walking down the streets of Suna again, looking for a place to get dinner. It was fairly dark out now and the lanterns on the street were glowing dimly.
Sakura place a hand over her opposite shoulder, moving her arm around to loosen the muscles, "Man! I'm beat! You really know how to run someone into the ground, Kanoko."
Kanoko just shrugged, hands in her pockets, looking ahead. Her attention was caught when she saw a familiar patch of spikey blonde hair. Towering over her teammate was the white-haired pervert from the hot springs. Kanoko's stare caught the old man's attention, causing him to look her way.
In turn, Naruto looked over as well before grinning, "Sakura-chan! Kanoko!" Naruto proceeded to run up to them, "You gotta see this new technique pervy sage taught me!" Naruto closed his eyes, giggling at his achievement.
The man sighed loudly and walked over, "Stop calling me that kid! The name's Jiraiya!"
Kanoko raised an eyebrow, "Jiraiya? As in student of the Third Hokage?"
Jiraiya looked over a little shocked at actually being recognized in a positive light, "Yep! The very one! Though I'm better known for my genius writing skills and my knowledge of the inner workings of the female mind. Hehehe." He finished, with a hand on his chin and a perverted smile.
Sakura deadpanned, "You're the pervert from the hot springs! The one that Kanoko threatened."
Naruto started laughing, "Hahaha! That's right! She scared you shitless pervy sage!"
Jiraiya's eye started twitching, "How do you know these rude little girls anyways, kid? One of them your girlfriend? Hmmm?"
Naruto blushed and looked at Sakura from the corner of his eye, "Oh… you can tell she's really crazy about me, huh?" Naruto replied. Kanoko's eyebrow flew up, "He better be referring to Sakura."
"NARUTO!" Sakura growled, "If I had the energy to punch you, you would be in a world of hurt!" She finished raising a fist to his face.
Naruto paled before laughing nervously, "Sorry Sakura-chan…"
"We are Naruto's teammates." Kanoko told Jiraiya. Jiraiya looked at Naruto, then Sakura, then Kanoko, "Two kunoichi on one team? Wow, you are one lucky kid Naruto!" Jiraiya finished with a thumbs up to his student.
Sakura's stomach growled. While holding it miserably she said, "Can we just find a place to eat then go home?"
Naruto jumped up in excitement, "Yes! Food! Let's go find us some RAMEN!"
Kanoko smiled slightly, "I don't know if they have ramen here Naruto. I haven't seen any yet."
Naruto just crossed his arms and stuck his bottom lip out, "Then were just going to have to find something!"
"You kids go on ahead… I have some… research to do." Jiraiya said, drooling at the busty women passing the group.
"OH NO YOU DON'T! This one's on you!" Naruto yelled, grabbing Jiraiya by ponytail.
Yanking it from Naruto, he yelled, "Listen here you brat-" Everyone suddenly heard a loud rumble of a stomach. Kanoko looked to Sakura. Sakura shrugged, "It wasn't me this time."
Jiraiya blushed lightly before scratching his nose, "Well… I might join you kids. Just this once."
And with that, they made their way to the nearest restaurant.
20 Minutes Later
"UGGG! Why is everything full?!" Naruto yelled at the night sky.
The final round was getting closer and today was the first day a large wave of people came in to stay for the event. As such, many of the restaurants they went into were full. The rest, Jiraiya pulled them right out before he could be seen.
Apparently he had scorned a lot of women.
Sakura was dragging her feet at this point, looking ready to pass out, "Let's just find a place and eat… I don't care what it is!"
In the hopes of making Sakura happy, Naruto pointed at a place up ahead, "What about that place?"
Kanoko looked up, it was a standard restaurant that catered more to patrons looking for a good drink than food, but it looked fairly empty. Shrugging, Kanoko walked ahead, with the group following. After walking in, they were seated at a small table.
Folding her knees under her, Kanoko sat down and looked at the menu.
"Oo! That looks good." Naruto exclaimed pointing to the menu, "What are you going to get Sakura-chan?!"
Shoving him away, Sakura growled, "I don't know! Now let me decide in peace!"
Kanoko chuckled very lowly at her teammate's antics. Seated next to her was Jiraiya, who heard her, "I take it, that this is normal."
Kanoko nodded, picking up her tea for a sip.
Jiraiya leaned back on one of his hands, "You three remind me of my team, back in the day."
Naruto's head jerked over to Jiraiya, "Really?! Who were your teammates?" Even Sakura looked up from the menu, curious. She knew, from the stories, that Jiraiya was a powerful ninja, but not much more than that.
Chuckling, he answered, "Well, that's a story for another time."
Naruto gave up, not really caring and turning back to the menu, drooling.
Kanoko sat her tea down before asking Jiraiya, "Are you staying for the final matches?"
Jiraiya smiled sadly before speaking low, "Nah. I'm a busy man – got things to do and all that."
Kanoko raised an eyebrow at his quietness, "You don't want Naruto to know."
Jiraiya chuckled nervously, "You know the kid," He looked over to see Naruto ordering a list of foods from the waiter, "He would just whine and make a scene."
Kanoko shrugged before ordering her food as well.
After the meal had finished, they all walked out of the restaurant. Naruto and Sakura politely told Jiraiya goodnight, as the place Team 7 was staying at was in the opposite direction of Jiraiya's. Waving back at them, Jiraiya turned around and started to walk away as well.
"You should stay."
Jiraiya turned around to see the serious face of one Nara Kanoko. In response, he raised an eyebrow dramatically in confusion.
Kanoko just shrugged and walked away, towards her team.
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The room was barely lit and had an ominous feeling to it. In the middle of the room, was a large round table. Older men and one older woman filed into the room – taking seats around the table. There was a little bit of noise from the people in the room greeting one and another, some even going so far to ask the purpose of such a late meeting.
After everyone had sat down, an imposing robed man came in – immediately gathering everyone's attention.
A chorus of head nods and "Kazekage-sama" was heard lowly.
After sitting down, the Kazekage started, "Thank you for meeting this late." He paused, picking up a paper of the final round matches. "As you know, in the final round of the chunin exams, the Sand Village has only one team, while the Leaf Village has four."
One of the councilmen spoke lowly, but clearly, "It is understandable. This was the leaf's turn, so they had many ninja to provide for the exam. Statically, the odds were in their favor."
Another man joined, "I agree, but only on a statistical level. The Leaf didn't need to send so many genin and overwhelm the system." The councilman then to him nodded in agreement.
The Kazekage smiled internally, "In addition, I have received reports stating that some of the Leaf genin formed an alliance – guaranteeing their success through numbers."
"How dare they?!" One man shouted.
The only woman in the room scoffed and him, "We're ninjas, not samurai! They were well within their rights."
"I agree with Chiyo. The Leaf genin didn't violate any rules."
One of the men spoke with a thoughtful tone, "Even if we are upset by the circumstances, there isn't anything we can do about it."
The Kazekage spoke again, "We retaliate."
The room got silent, "What are you proposing, Kazekage?"
"The reason we even entered into this agreement with the Leaf Village was to present a strong force to our Daimyo. What better way, then making the Leaf look weak?" The Kazekage finished with a strong voice.
The members at the table looked at one and another, "We already have our best genin in the final round: Gaara. We know that he won't be beaten – especially by any Leaf genin. How else would we make the Leaf look inferior to Suna?"
The Kazekage chuckled lowly, "I've taken the time to research the leaf participates. Many of them are clan heirs. In Suna, on the day of the final round, will be clan heads and their body guards. If we were to remove these prominent members in the Leaf Village and their heirs, the Village Hidden in the Leaves would be severely weakened."
"You're talking about war with the Leaf!" One of the men said, slamming his hands on the table. After that, the whole room erupted with arguments: some pro war with the Leaf, some con.
"What about the agreement we made with the Leaf? Are we planning on going back on our word?"
"The Leaf went back on their word when they set out to make us look like fools!"
"What about the risk to the village and our guests? Not to mention the Daimyo!"
"We could warn the Daimyo ahead of time, keep him safe."
"Then what's the point of starting another war, if not to show the Daimyo our strength?!"
"And what if this backfires? Then both the Leaf and Cloud will see our weakness, not to mention our own citizens!"
"We need the money from our Daimyo! Our people are starving!"
"The Leaf Village has extended an olive branch with these Chunin Exams! They could have just continued to strangle us economically!"
"I agree! If anything, they were the ones taking the risk, allowing us to hold the Chunin Exams! That most certainly projected weakness to the other nations!"
"They did it to show that the Sand is on their side, should the other nations attack. It was not a selfless act."
"And what if the other nations decide to attack us?! We may be able to hold our own against the Leaf, but not against the Cloud!"
Orochimaru, henged as the Kazekage, gritted his teeth. This was not going as he planned. First, his seal was removed by some child. And now, his plan to kill the Hokage and permanently damage the Leaf by using the Sand Village's desperation is backfiring as well.
Orochimaru contemplated using his own village's resources and ninja to invade the Sand and enact his plan, but this was Suna, not Konoha. He wasn't as familiar with its defenses – natural and manmade. And then there's the fact that he would be battling the Sand and the Leaf (as if his luck continued down this path – the Cloud too).
He did have the advantage of being "Kazekage" but he couldn't start a war without the council's approval.
His fists tightened harder, drawing blood.
No.
NO.
He would see his former sensei burn!
One way or another.
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This whole village would burn, if that's what it took.
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00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Special Episode:
"I don't like it here."
Kanoko looked over to her brother. Both of them were on top of one of Suna's tallest buildings. Kanoko was sitting cross-legged, working on several sealing scrolls while her brother was flat on his back next to her.
"Is it the heat?" Kanoko asked, not really caring, just deciding to reply.
She watched as his eyebrows wrinkled slightly, "Not really." He didn't further explain, so Kanoko turned her attention be to her scrolls.
She was trying to figure out a way to combine the two scrolls she had of the Nine-Tails' chakra from Naruto. She could always absorb both, and then seal it back into one scroll, but that would be both painful and noticeable.
One thing Sakura she noticed both times she absorb the chakra from Naruto was the red/orange tint that appeared around her. It was possible that this colored aura was only noticeable to sensor ninja, but that was already more attention than she was willing to risk.
And it hurt. Mostly that.
"It's because there's no clouds."
Kanoko looked over to her brother, confused. It took her a moment to remember the first thing he had said: That he didn't like it here.
Kanoko nodded, "Well, they rarely see rain, so it would be expected – the lack of clouds that is."
Shikamaru was silent again, before tentatively asking, "Do you like it here?"
Kanoko looked at her scrolls, wondering if she should just give up on them for now and appease her brother with a "brother, sister" moment he seemed to be requiring.
Sighing internally, she rolled them up while answering, "The lack of water makes using jutsus difficult." Kanoko praised herself internally for finding a logical answer to his emotional question.
In the corner of her eye, she saw his eyebrows frown again.
"So… You would like it in the Village Hidden in the Mist?" Shikamaru asked thoughtfully.
Kanoko raised an eyebrow, wondering what he is getting at, "The Village Hidden in the Mist is highly volatile right now. Even more so for foreign ninja."
"Well, what about the Rain Village?"
"The same, but worse."
There was another moment of silence, and Kanoko thought that perhaps the conversation had ended, so she reached in to grab the scroll she was working on.
"How about-"
"What do you really want to know, Shikamaru?" Kanoko asked a little roughly, leaning over her brother and getting close to his face.
Shikamaru's cheeks went a little pink before he turned his head away from her, "Do you like it in the Leaf Village?"
Kanoko looked Shikamaru a little bewildered, "Of course. I couldn't think of another place I would prefer to be." Kanoko finish without hesitation.
"Oh." Shikamaru said, turning onto his side, his back to his sister.
Kanoko gave him an annoyed look before poking his back with her foot, "Oi. What does that mean?"
She saw Shikamaru shrugged. Sighing lightly she asked, "Do you like it in Konoha?"
"Of course I do." Shikamaru said, a little roughly – like Kanoko was insane for even questioning it.
"Then why are we having this conversation?" Kanoko plainly asked.
The was another moment of silence, so Kanoko extended her legs out and leaned back on her hands to get comfortable. She then looked up at the sky, thinking, "A cloudless sky… It is a little depressing, but I never understood his fascination with the clouds anyways, so it's not it matters to me."
Kanoko looked down when she felt a weight on her lap.
Her brother had used her distracted and relaxed state to quickly acquire her lap as a pillow – snuggling in for the most comfortable position.
She gave him an annoyed look before saying, "I'm going to be mad if you started that whole pointless conversation just to get a prime spot on my lap for that overly large head of yours."
She saw him yawn before closing his eyes – neither confirming nor denying anything.
"Brat." Kanoko thought before laying back, to take a nap of her own.
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Reviews from Chapter 19 (what I call Chapter 18):
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From: Vault166
My mind keeps getting pulled to the Edo tensi scene in the invasion. But instead of it failing or whatever because shes been reincarnated, her conciseness is sucked into the edo tensi.
I can't help but picturing Tobirama yelling about it was nice to be a guy again.
Sorry about the rant-very good chapter though, Can't wait for the next update!
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From: KassieJean
I love this so much and am excited for more. I especially loved what you did for sasuke.
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From: Guest
:This is an awesome story XD
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From: Madara's Queen
nice and cool story bro :D
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From: moonlightkiss1515
Take that you lovin' snaky with Kazekage birthing suit slash wannabe transgender! oh yeah! ruin that plan huh?! Tobi-kun is really stepping on his plans!
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From: bonitalito
I'm so glad I found this story! It's well written, thought out and stays fairly close to the characters personality.
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From: NightlyRowenTree
Awesomeness:3 thanks for the update