You guys are awesome! Over 250 reviews and 500 follows!
I am aware that some of you guys felt that chapter 14 wasn't as high of quality as it should have been. And for that I apologize. It seems I still haven't mastered the art of time skips yet.
As for AU changes, there is one major AU change. However, given that I'd like to keep you guys guessing, I'm not going to say what it is. Granted, I'm sure that everyone will be able to figure out what I mean by the end of the chapter, I think what is really going on might surprise people once it comes to light.
Answers to all your awesome reviews are at the bottom.
Without any more delay, here's the next chapter. Chapter 15: The Strength of Will
"There's a lot of people here to take the Chunin exams." Naruto observed as he and the rest of Team Eight walked closer to the building. As they reached the stairs that connected each floor to the outside, they noticed a commotion at the second landing on the stairway. Several Genin were standing outside the door, seemingly arguing with the Chunin guards. Hinata and Sakura quieted, knowing Naruto appreciated silence when he attempted to listen to a faraway sound.
"...and explain how that's my problem?" One of the Chunin guarding the door to the exam room questioned the Genin in front of him.
The Genin looked aggravated. "We are supposed to go the third floor! That sign," He pointed to the sign on the door behind the Chunin guard, "Says 'Third Floor'! So you have to let me in!"
The second Chunin by the door chuckled. "We don't have to do anything!"
Naruto slowly reeled his senses back, readjusting them for normal everyday use. Sakura and Hinata waited patiently for Naruto to reopen his eyes. The blonde Uzumaki opened his eyes and relayed the information he had gleaned. "Those Chunin aren't letting anyone in the door. The sign on the door says 'Third Floor'."
Sakura tilted her head slightly as she thought. "Hinata-Chan, " Her voice was slightly distant as she continued thinking, "Could you check the sign on the door? The door is located physically on the second story, but it says it's the third floor. We need more information to figure out which section is telling us the truth." As Hinata concentrated chakra to her eyes, Sakura thought of the dilemma in front of her. One the one hand, they had been instructed to go to the third floor. On the other hand, it was never said they should go to the physical third floor...
Hinata concentrated, her Byakugan activating with barely more than a flicker of directed chakra. The blue-haired Hyuga focused her eyes on the door that was located on the second story. At first glance, the sign said 'Third Floor'. But the moment Hinata fully focused on the sign, her Byakugan detected that the sign was made of chakra. She stretched out her vision just a scant few inches more, and quickly realized what was going on. The Hyuga blinked, withdrawing chakra from her eyes.
"Naruto-Kun and Sakura-Chan," She spoke, gaining the attention of her fellow teammates, "There is a genjutsu on the second floor door. It changes the sign from 'Second Floor' to 'Third Floor'."
"It all makes sense now!" Sakura exclaimed, slamming her fist into the open palm of her opposite hand, "It's a information gathering test! We are supposed to figure out what floor to go to! Since the door to the second floor is false, logically the door on the third floor is the correct one!"
Naruto grinned. Hinata-Chan and Sakura-Chan were so smart and talented! "Well," Naruto decided, "Let's go to the third floor then!" Naruto dashed off, angling for the far side of the building with the stairs. Upon reaching it, Naruto applied chakra to his feet and continued running up the side of the building. Sakura and Hinata followed. The blonde Uzumaki ran all the way up to the third story and grabbed the stairway railing, vaulting onto the stairs in front of the third floor door. Two quiet thumps behind him informed the blonde that Hinata-Chan and Sakura-Chan had reached the stairs as well. Naruto opened the door.
The door slowly opened to reveal a large room. Two dozen tables lined the room in uniform lines. All of the various teams from the ninja villages had claimed spots for themselves, and each group sat close together for protection and comradeship. Locating the Konoha group, Team Eight headed towards the group from their home village.
"Hey Shino!" Naruto greeted as he joined the group, happily greeting the stoic Aburame.
"Greetings Naruto-San." Shino's voice was monotone, but if one knew the boy well, you could easily detect traces of happiness as he returned Naruto's greeting. "Is you team ready for the first exam as part of the test?"
"Yep!" Naruto nodded, not feeling even slightly intimidated by the exam. After all, he had to pass in order to better protect his precious people, so he would pass.
"You know," A grey haired ninja with glasses and a Konoha headband walked over to Naruto, "You shouldn't speak so loud. All of the other teams, " The grey-haired ninja indicated the rest of the room with a incline of his head, "Already don't like us since we are the 'home' ninjas of the exam. So you don't want to make it any worse."
"Eh," Naruto dismissed, "Don't worry about it. If they start something I'll stop them." Naruto's words were spoken casually, as if he knew that he was strong enough to deal with whatever the other Genin teams would throw at him. The blonde tilted his head at the grey haired ninja. "And who are you?"
"I am Kabuto Yakushi." The grey haired ninja introduced. "And I wouldn't be so sure of yourself. There's quite a few strong Genin this time around!" He glanced around before lowering his voice. "I have these special cards that allow me to see what missions other Genin have taken. Would you like to see them?"
"Sure." Naruto shrugged, not seeing the problem with Kabuto's cards. Sakura-Chan always said information was power, and he could always use the extra help.
"So who do you want to learn about?" Kabuto asked as he pulled out a stack of cards, his hands shuffling the cards with practiced ease. The cards shuffled and moved with an almost mesmerizing speed as he quickly began channeling chakra into the cards as they passed through his hands.
"Hmmm..." Naruto thought. He didn't know very many people outside of the Konoha group, and he knew most, of not all, of the abilities of his fellow Genin. "How about those three?" Naruto pointed over to the Suna group, specifically indicating the three that had almost attacked Team Eight just a little bit ago.
"Ah," Kabuto nodded, "The Sabaku trio. Good choice!" The grey haired ninja's eyes narrowed as he concentrated on his information cards. A moment later he stopped shuffling, and lifted the first card from the top of the deck. "So first up is Kankuro Sabaku. Let's see..." Kabuto perused the information on the card. "He has completed two A-Rank missions, fifteen C-Rank missions, and twenty-five D-Rank missions. He is listed as being part of Team Sabaku of Suna."
Kabuto slid the card containing Kankuro's information to the bottom of the deck. "Up next is Temari Sabaku. She has also completed two A-Rank missions, fifteen C-Rank missions, and twenty-five D-Rank missions. She is part of Team Sabaku."
The grey haired ninja placed Temari's card on the bottom and flipped up the next card with a well-practiced flick of his finger. His eyes widened in surprise as he quickly read over the card. "Well this is surprising and slightly worrying. Gaara Sabaku had participated in all of the missions that the other members of Team Sabaku did. However, there is a special note that say he has never been injured on any of his missions! Including the A-Rank ones!"
Naruto's eyed the three members of Team Sabaku with renewed interest. They seemed fairly strong, so he would have to remain cautious around them. He didn't fear them, but their records indicated that they were trained well. He wasn't too worried about the team's record, since Team Eight had completed one A-Rank mission and over two dozen C-Rank missions themselves. But Gaara's ability to somehow not get damaged was something the blonde would have to look out for.
Any other information Kabuto may have given Naruto was abruptly interrupted as Ino suddenly appeared next to Naruto. "Naruto-Kun! How are you doing?" She asked brightly.
Naruto blinked before smiling. "I'm doing good Ino-San!"
"Ino-San?" The blonde Yamanaka pouted prettily, "Am I not important enough to be called Ino-Chan?" Naruto was saved from responding by Hinata, who casually called the blonde over to discuss his newly learned information on Team Sabaku. As she lead the blonde away, Sakura moved next to a still pouting Ino.
"What are you doing Ino-Pig?" There was a certain forced casualness to her tone.
"I'm just seeing if Naruto-Kun will call me Ino-Chan..." Ino replied, her tone innocent.
Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Well he won't be calling you that any time soon!" Sakura's voice was final. "Or ever if I have anything to say about it!" Sakura took a deep calming breath before continuing, "Besides, what happened to 'your Sasuke-Kun'?"
"I'm still for Sasuke-Kun." Ino dismissed, "But it never hurts to have a back-up! Especially a hot boy who can hold you close and protect you!" Privately, the blonde girl wondered, and not for the first time, if Sasuke wanted to have a relationship with anyone or if he solely wanted revenge on his brother. Ino was still disgusted by how she used to act, ignoring her training as a kunoichi in favor of chasing after some boy. She still liked Sasuke, but after training beside Sakura and Hinata, the Yamanaka heiress had decided to take her training seriously. After all, not only would Sasuke perhaps pay attention to her if she was strong, she would also become a successful kunoichi if that failed.
"All right!" A deeply scarred Jonin shouted from the front of the room, "Shut up and sit down!" After the various teams of Genin had sat down and quieted, the Jonin continued. "I am Ibiki Morino and I am the proctor for the first portion of the Chunin exams." Ibiki waited a moment before continuing. "My assistants," He indicated the two Chunin standing beside him, "Will be passing out a randomized seating list for everyone. This is non-negotiable. Once you are seated in your correct seats, we will pass out the test paper for the written portion of the test."
It took perhaps ten minutes to get all of the Genin seated in their new seats. When the room had quieted, Ibiki motioned for his assistants to begin passing out the test papers. As the papers were being passed out, Ibiki began explaining the rules for the test. "There are several rules for this portion of the Chunin exams. First: No Questions!" Stunned silence greeted him. "Second: No Cheating! If you are caught cheating five times, you will be kicked out of the entire exam!" The slightest whispers began to be swapped by those who were lucky enough to sit close to someone they knew. "And lastly, the scores of all three tests completed by each member of the Genin team will be added up to form a total score! This score, " Ibiki grinned, savoring the worried looks from the Genin present, "will determine if you and your team will pass this portion of the exam!" Worried murmurs broke out.
Ibiki let the murmurs continue, knowing that some of the Genin would worry themselves into a state of uselessness. Once the papers had been passed out, Ibiki suddenly barked out, "All right! Shut up! The first part of the Chunin exams start now!"
"Well...shit." Naruto couldn't think of a better way to describe the situation as he looked down at the test paper in front of him. While Naruto didn't consider himself stupid by any means, the test was asking for things he had no idea how to answer. In fact, one of the questions used words he had never even heard before. "Come on brain! Think!"
Hinata was carefully considering her options. There was something odd about how the proctor explained the rules. Why make five the number of times you could be caught before you were kicked out the exam? It didn't make sense...unless...Hinata's eyes widened as she realized the hidden meaning of the test. "So they want to test our information gathering skills. Now to look for someone who knows the information I need. I hope Naruto-Kun can find a way to gather the information he needs!"
Sakura fought the urge to grin in a very Naruto-like fashion as she glanced over her test. This was going to be easy! The test was entirely theory-based questions, and Sakura enjoyed theory. The pinkette happily began to write her answer to the first question, making sure to write small so she could include all of the information she needed.
Naruto was getting decidedly nervous. He had thought about sneaking a glance at someone else's paper, but the person behind him got kicked out the exam for cheating, so that was out. Currently he was attempting to solve problem seven, the only problem that looked vaguely solvable. The blonde wondered if the answer 'blanket the area with clones' would suffice. He tilted his head as he thought about the issue. No, in order to take out a force that big he would need to make all of his clones explode...
Hinata carefully watched the Genin she had selected out the corner of her eye. The Genin she was watching with her Byakugan seemed to know the answers, so she was carefully coping the answers as he finished them. She wished there was some way she could talk to Naruto, to give him the answers to the test questions. She knew that theory was Naruto's worst subject, given that there was no way to interact with a theory.
Sakura carefully completed the last character for problem seven. While her strategy wasn't perhaps the quickest or the boldest, it did provide for the most amount of team safety as well as the most statistical chance for success given the personnel the question gave her to work with. As the pinkette was about to start question number eight, a sudden terrible thought occurred to her. This was all theory! Naruto wasn't good with theory! Sakura bit her lip and fought the urge to turn around, the urge to help Naruto almost overwhelming.
Naruto glared at the page. "Think! THINK! I need to figure these out! I have to!" Naruto concentrated on the first question, racking his brain with every ounce of mental strength he had. Suddenly, without warning, a migraine spiked Naruto's head. It was intense enough for the blonde to flinch, his eye closing involuntarily. A moment later the blonde Uzumaki forced his eyes open, determinedly ignoring the throbbing in his head. As his eyes refocused on the test paper, Naruto was surprised and shocked to see the paper was completed, each answer written in neat, precise handwriting. The blonde knew that his normal handwriting was by no means this neat. The migraine spiked again. Naruto couldn't help but flinch, the pain surprisingly more intense than any headache he could remember. It built and built, until he had to close his eyes in hopes to relieve the pain. As he squeezed his eyes shut, the pain slowly moved from a throbbing roar to a dull whisper.
The Last Uzumaki opened his eyes and was surprised to see his test paper was blank, no answers on it. But as he gazed at the first question in utter confusion at what just happened, he somehow knew the answer to the question. It was as if he always knew the answer to the question, but had forgotten it until now. Naruto gave a mental shrug. If a bit of mental pain was the only price to learning the questions to the test, he would gladly pay it!
"All right!" Ibiki ordered, "Put down your writing implements! Any questions not answered will be counted as a zero percent for that question." The scarred ninja waited for the Genin to comply before continuing. "Now I'm sure you all noticed that there was only nine questions on the test. The tenth question is a bit different. You see, if you pass the tenth question will pass the entire written exam." Excited whispers emerged. Ibiki ignored them as he continued, "However, fail the question or even fail to answer it and you will never be allowed to try for the Chunin exams again! In addition, if one of you fail the tenth question, the other members of your team automatically fail as well. Shocked silence blanketed the room. "However," Ibiki's voice didn't give any clues to his thoughts, "There is a second option. If you decide to give up and not take the tenth question, you can retake the Chunin exam next year." Ibiki paused, wanting to savor the moment before he continued. "And also if you discuss your plans for the tenth question with anyone else, you and your team will never be allowed to take the Chunin exams again!" "Ah...There it is!" Ibiki mentally chuckled at the sight of the paling faces on the Genin.
Gennai desperately shoved the feelings of despair away from himself at Ibiki's words. The young adult Genin wasn't sure he had gotten the first nine questions completely right, and now this! Being barred forever from taking the Chunin exams! Or he could just quit the exams and try again next year. "What should I do?" He hoped his team leader, Komugi, would know what do to!
Komugi slowly raised his hand. The twenty-three year-old Genin knew that he wasn't the best ninja, but he was determined to make Chunin before he died. But the chance that he could never again take the Chunin exams was too great a risk. There was always next year. "Proctor, I quit."
Ibiki nodded, his face impassive. "Team Komugi, you are disqualified. Leave the room." The departure of Kumugi and his team sparked a small exodus of teams who also quit. As he watched another team leave, Ibiki had to fight to keep the disgust off his face. "Those cowards. Fleeing at the first sign of trouble. Never wanting to take a chance. Hell, I'm sure the first time they would get captured they would spill everything they knew." Ibiki paused for a moment to consider before dismissing the teams. "Bah! They would have made terrible Chunin anyway!"
Ibiki glanced up from his internal ruminations to notice that the slow stream of leaving Genins had temporarily stalled. While there was quite a few nervous Genin, they all seemed to be holding onto their metaphorical ground. Given that this wasn't the first exam he had proctored, the scarred Jonin knew that there was always one Genin that the others would rally behind. And if you got the leader Genin to break, they all would break. Ibiki scanned the room for the one that was the most confident. There was a pink-haired girl that wasn't very worried. But she wasn't inspiring others. A blue-haired Hyuga that seemed torn between confidence and utter worry. So she wasn't the one. Then Ibiki saw him. The blonde two rows from the back. Unlike the others, the blonde was watching the proceedings with an easy confidence; as if there was no chance of failure. This was the leader.
"Now some of you might be thinking 'I'll pass this tenth question! I'll go on to become a great Chunin!'" Ibiki began to slowly pace in front of the classroom, each movement engineered to increase the nervousness of those present. "But," Ibiki locked his eyes on Naruto, who the scarred Jonin now recognized, "You'd be wrong. The Chunin exams aren't for the weak, the scared, the easily broken. You will face death itself! You are not prepared!" The Jonin attempted to stare the blonde Uzumaki down; to break him; to force him to give up.
The scarred Jonin couldn't have picked a worse person to try to break. From the time he was born Naruto fought for right to live each day, surviving what would have killed anyone else. He taught himself when all others refused. He lived each day with more hate and rage directed towards him then most ninjas would experience in a year. He had faced the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox itself. Compared to that, Ibiki never stood even a chance of breaking Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto slowly stood, the sound his chair scraping the wooden floor echoing across the suddenly silent room. His hand slowly rose, and as it ascended, the feelings of confidence of those in the room began to fall. If Naruto had lost confidence, had lost hope, what chance did they have? Naruto's arm suddenly stopped it's upward motion. The Last Uzumaki smiled, his grin informing Ibiki how badly he had miscalculated. Naruto's hand suddenly slammed into the table in front of him with a loud bang! The sound echoed in the room as Naruto began to speak.
"That's what I think of your next question! I'm ready! I've had worse." As easily as the feelings of confidence had left, so too was it reignited. The young ninja around Naruto began to straighten, remembering the reason they wanted to pass the exams in the first place. The aura of utter confidence that Naruto excluded bolstered the remaining Genin, steeling their nerves for the road ahead. Ibiki almost smiled. "Very interesting..."
"Last chance!" Ibiki waited for any of the teams to give in. But none did, such was their bolstered confidence. "Very well." Ibiki let the silence build and stretch. "The Tenth Question is..." The Genin leaned forward in anticipation, "There is no Tenth Question!"
"What?" Temari called out, outraged that she had felt nervous about the tenth question until the blonde haired kid had stood up and given everyone confidence. "What do you mean there isn't a tenth question?"
"Well," Ibiki began, clearly enjoying the room's hostility, "The tenth question is not a real question; not exactly. It tests to see if you have the drive to become Chunin in the face of certain failure." The scarred Jonin's voice grew almost passionate as he continued. "You will face many dangers as Chunin. If you are too scared of failure; too weak of will to take a risk to complete a mission, then you are not Chunin material." Any more words of wisdom from Ibiki was cut off by the abrupt sound of the outer window shattering.
A yellow and red banner flew through the broken windows before being pinned to the wall. On the banner read the words "Introducing the Sexy and Talented Anko Mitarashi!" Before any of the gathered Genin could really understand what was going on, a brown blur shot through the window to land directly underneath the hanging banner. Anko rose from a crouch as she landed and swiftly stood, raising her hands outward like a performer basking in the adoration of her fans.
After a few moments of waiting, the purple-haired Tokubetsu Jonin abruptly dropped her hands and adopted a serious expression. "So are all of you gakis ready for the second test? If not, too bad!" Anko gestured towards the door. "Follow me to your doom!" The Genin in the room turned their heads uncertainly in Ibiki's direction, uncertain if this was part of the exam. The scarred Jonin sighed. "Goddammit Anko." To the Genins, he assured them that this was part of the exam. "Anko Mitarashi is the head proctor for the second portion of the Chunin exams. Go follow her!" The Genin quickly pushed their chairs back and hastened to follow the seemingly cheerful proctor of the second portion of the Chunin exams as she skipped out of the classroom.
Eventually Anko stopped in a large field, the gathered Genin gathering in loose groups behind her. "Welcome to the Second Portion of the Chunin Exams!" Anko introduced, "The goal of this portion is two-fold. First, you must survive the exam. Secondly, you must find the scroll opposite your own scroll." Anko adopted a professor-like tone. "Each team with receive either a heaven scroll or an earth scroll. The objective is to have both scrolls by the time you make it to the tower in the middle of the forest. You can use any method you want to gain both scrolls. And what is the name of the forest you may ask?" Anko's grin grew bloodthirsty and ominous. "It's called the Forest of Death!"
The purple-haired ninja abruptly cheerful again. "But before you can go and fight to the death, all of you cute Genins have to sign this consent form." Anko held up a paper form with numerous lines of text on it. "This form basically says that Konoha is not responsible for your death, dismemberment, maiming, starvation, or anything else." Anko cheerfully ignored the stunned looks she was getting and pointed towards a small tent. "Form a line over there to get your forms!"
Naruto and his team watched the various other Genin slowly gravitate towards the tent with the legal forms. Naruto spied - not that she was trying to hide - Anko heading in Team Eight's direction. Upon reaching her favorite team of Genin, Anko quickly skipped over to Naruto before carefully scanning him. "Well well Naru-Kun! You're looking better than ever! All strong and muscly!" She leaned forward to whisper in his ear, "I'd take either Hina-Chan or Saku-Chan with you when you go drinking. Don't want you getting an extra special drink..." Anko leaned back from the confused Naruto and grinned wildly at the twin glares being directed at her from Sakura and Hinata.
"So my little kunoichis," Anko directed her words at Hinata and Sakura, "You're going to be all alone with Naru-Chan for the next few days..." The purple-haired woman walked close to the two kunoichi from Team Eight and whispered in a conspirator tone, "And what happens in the woods stays in the woods..." Hinata instantly turned red and almost fainted. Sakura's brain temporally froze as she was assaulted by images that were of the more adult nature, aided unhelpfully by a memory of Naruto's shirtless form.
"No!" Sakura shook her head, dispelling the tantalizing images, "I'm not a pervert!" Spotting Anko's knowing grin, the pinkette cursed in her mind. Training with Anko-Sensei was going to be even harder now!
"Whelp kiddos!" Anko waved as she began to able backwards, "It's time for me to do official proctor stuff! Make sure you sign those wavers!" The purple-haired kunoichi waved one final time before heading to a different tent. The tent was shielded, meant to keep the other teams from learning what type of scroll each team had gotten. Soon it was Team Eight's turn. After the team entered the tent, the door way was sealed, keeping the team from the prying eyes of the other Genin teams.
"Here you are!" Anko handed Naruto an Earth Scroll with a flourish, who promptly sealed the scroll onto a special tattoo-like seal on his arm. "Now all you have to do it take one of the other teams' Heaven Scroll!" Anko continued before pausing, considering something for a moment. "Then again, you could always be an over achiever like some people in the past and take everyone's scolls..." She shrugged before shooing the team away. "Either way, off you go! There's still more teams who need their scrolls!"
As Team Eight exited the tent, they passed the next team who was waiting to enter. As they passed, a extremely pale white boy from Konoha gave Naruto a rather fake-looking smile. "I hope we will get the same scroll Naruto-San. I do not want to fight you."
The blonde Uzumaki blinked. "Ok...I hope so too?" He ventured, still finding the pale boy more than slightly odd. Naruto hurried to catch up with his team, and Team Eight headed back towards the loose group of Konoha Chunin hopefuls.
As Team Eight approached, Ino caught sight of Naruto heading towards them and couldn't help but blush. Before the exam she had been interested in Naruto, much the same way she was also interested in just about every cute boy. But when she was on the verge of giving up, giving in to the pressure, Naruto had stood up. He had slammed his hand on the table and declared that he would never give up; never give in. And Ino had seen him for what seemed to be the first time. From his cute yet messy sun-kissed blonde hair, to his chiseled face and well formed cheekbones, to his endless ocean-blue eyes, to his confident smile, and let's not forget his muscled form! And perhaps the greatest thing about Naruto-Kun, Ino decided, was his confidence that overflowed him in waves, giving others hope and bolstering their own confidence.
Sakura noticed Ino's blush as the blonde girl looked in Naruto's direction. The pinkette frowned. Perhaps she should have a long...talk with Ino. Then again, Sakura really couldn't stop Ino from looking. Perhaps it would be a more friendly talk. Sakura sighed ever-so-slightly. She did miss Ino as her friend.
Before Sakura could confront Ino, Anko's chakra enhanced voice rang out, drawing the attention of all those gathered in the field. "All right! There are fifteen gates behind me. Each team will be starting at one of the gates. Once they open, you have five days to reach the tower in the center of the forest with both scrolls. You are not allowed to open the scrolls until you reach the tower, and only then if you have both scrolls. You can acquire the other scroll you need by any means necessary."
A few Genin teams shoved and pushed their way to the centermost gates, believing that the center gates would grant them the quickest route to the center tower. Eventually all of the teams claimed a gate, with Team Eight taking the farthest gate to the left, reasoning that it would let them bypass a majority of the teams and give them options in how to deal with a team they needed to take down.
And with a loud wraaagh noise, the large gates to the Forest of Death swung open! The second stage of the Chunin exams had started!
Team Eight shot off through the gate, ignoring the sounds of fighting that had erupted as soon as the various teams had entered the Forest. Team Eight made good time, having reached a considerable distance from the gates within a few short hours. It was then that the soon-to-be-legendary Team Eight began to plan.
Kakashi watched Anko talk with Kurenai, the purple-haired kunoichi gesturing adamantly to her red-eyed friend. Kakashi sighed inaudibly to himself. While the grey-haired ninja was aware that some, or perhaps most, of the times that he and Anko had met for dinner to discuss various plans or to just relax could be considered dates - he had read enough of Icha Icha to know that - and he also suspected that Anko wanted them to be dates as well, Kakashi had pretended that they were mere meals that two friends got together.
Over the top of his latest Icha Icha book Kakashi spotted Anko whisper something to Kurenai, who promptly flushed red. Anko instantly began cackling at her friend's expression. Kakashi knew that Anko deserved better than him. After all, the grey-haired ninja knew there was something inherently broken about himself; broken beyond repair. He was shattered shell of a man, with pieces held together by iron bands made of will and duty.
Kakashi wondered when he had started to break, to fracture into something less than a good man. Perhaps it was when his father had committed suicide, or perhaps when his first teammate, Obito Uchiha, had died. Perhaps it was when his second teammate, Rin Nohara had...died. "No." Kakashi told himself sternly, "Don't go there. Don't go down that path." Kakashi banished that train of thought with only a supreme act of willpower. Regardless, Anko deserved better. And Kakashi would always be there, protecting her; protecting his precious people, no matter the cost!
Hinata swept the area again, her vision extended out to a mile. "I don't see anyone." In one of the trees overlooking the Hyuga, a Komo Genin couldn't stifle a triumphant grin at the thought that they, he and his team, had evaded the sight of the legendary Byakugan. He turned to point out how clever he was to his teammate when only to blink. Where had his teammate gone? The Komo Genin turned to signal his other teammate only to pause in confusion. Where had either of his teammates gone?
The Genin glanced towards the clearing, only to freeze. A chill ran up his spine as he glanced around wildly, his heart pounding. The Hyuga had disappeared too! The Genin was so intent on finding the Hyuga that he never noticed that the "clearing" shimmer, or that the leaves had fallen in the same pattern several times over. He never felt the sudden pin-point blow that knocked him unconscious.
Sakura watched the Komo Genin slump over onto the ground with a sort of clinical detachment. She knew that it was wrong to be disappointed, but she had honestly expected at least one of the three Komo Genins to break out of her Genjutsu. Granted, it wouldn't have mattered since she had double-layered it, but they didn't even realize that they were in a Genjutsu...much less have time to react to Hinata's lightning-quick hits that had rendered them unconscious. Spotting Hinata hold up another earth scroll, Sakura sighed. The pinkette wondered if Naruto-Kun was having any better luck at finding a heaven scroll...
Naruto grinned as he punched another water clone, causing it to explode into water droplets. This was great! The Genin hiding in the bushes off to his far left kept creating new clones to hit! While the clones weren't very fast or strong, they did explode!
Hidden from view, the leader of the Ame team grunted in frustration and flashed though several handsigns, creating five new water clones to attack the lone Konoha ninja. Suddenly the other two Ame team members attacked the lone blonde ninja, their water attacks slicing through the air towards the seemingly distracted Konoha Genin! But it was all for naught. With almost inhuman speed, the blonde ninja flipped over the deadly water techniques. At the apex of his spin, the Konoha ninja spat out two massive air bullets, each bullet taking out one of the Ame Genin. The leader twitched back involuntarily at how quickly his teammates had been taken out as they crashed to the ground.
A sudden blow through the leader back, a groan of pain forcing it's way of his mouth as he began to slowly lose consciousness. "W-Who a-are you?" His trembling voice asked the person who so easily defeated him and his team, only now realizing just how truly outclassed he had been.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"
Naruto watched the Ame Genin fall into unconsciousness. The Uzumaki reached down and quickly frisked the leader, hoping for the scroll. "Boss!" One of Naruto's clones called, "This guy over here had it! And it's a Heaven Scroll!"
Naruto met his clone who handed him the scroll. "All right!" The blonde cheered, his enthusiasm shared by his clones. "Time to go find Hinata-Chan and Sakura-Chan!" He eyed his clones. "Do any of you guys know where they are?"
One of the lead Clones shook his head. "Nope. But we haven't tried sensing for their chakra yet."
Naruto nodded. "I'll do that. You guys head back to learn more about the other teams." The clones saluted their creator and headed off to follow his orders. Naruto himself sat down, crossing his legs. He breathed out, slowly closing his eyes. The Last Uzumaki focused. He reached out with his senses, looking beyond his sight and hearing. His senses expanded outwards, searching for Hinata's or Sakura's chakra signatures. Since he had first re-filled the girls' chakra, he had been able to, for lack of a better term, feel their chakra signatures. At first it was only from a few feet away, but with repeated applications, he was now able to feel their chakra signatures over a mile away.
Naruto 'felt' their signatures far away, and focused on it. A frown slowly bled onto his face as he couldn't pinpoint their exact location. "I need to see if they want me to give them more chakra!" Naruto decided as he sprung to his feet. The blonde disappeared in a slightly glowing shunshin towards the direction he sensed his two precious people in.
Shino prided himself on being able to think logically in even the most stressful situations. But he had never encountered a situation such as this. For some reason - he couldn't devote the time to figure it out - Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin, was attacking them. No, using the word 'attack' was not correct. The Snake Sannin was toying with them. Letting them think they had a chance, but then brutally crushing it. Currently Shino was balanced on a branch above the battle, desperately trying to figure out a semblance of a plan that could allow him and his teammates to flee the battle alive.
The Aburame glanced to his right at Kiba's unmoving form. Kiba had taken a bad hit from Orochimaru early on in the fight, and had been slowed enough for the Snake Sannin to smash the Inuzuka into the ground. Shino knew that Kiba was alive, but the Inuzuka was unconscious and wouldn't be waking up any time soon. And perhaps the worst part of all was that Orochimaru's goal wasn't clear, but he was interested in Sasuke for some reason. And while Shino didn't like his teammate, the simple fact was that the Last Uchiha was his teammate, so Shino would attempt to save Sasuke from someone neither boy had even a chance of touching, let alone defeating.
Shino gathered his chakra within himself, charging the insects that lived within him. He closed his eyes for the briefest of seconds, visualizing the technique he was about to use. It was a new technique the Shino himself had created from scratch. Shino prepared himself. And with the sound of countless tiny wings, he blurred from sight.
"Oh?" Orochimaru paused, his hand casually held Sasuke's fist, the Uchiha struggling to free his hand from the Snake Sannin's iron grip. Orochimaru turned, letting go of the Last Uchiha. Sasuke leapt away, his Sharingan glowing with confusion and anger. "So you think you can face me alone, Aburame?" Orochimaru asked, seemingly amused.
"Let me ask you a question:" Shino's voice was quiet, but somehow carried a current of undeniable danger. "Are you fast enough to dodge one attack?" The faint drone of tiny beating wings began to emanate from the Aburame. "How about ten attacks?" The sound of wings grew louder, the beating of wings undeniable. "How about a hundred?" It was now a dull roar. "How about a thousand?" It was a terrible, awesome sound. The beating of a thousand pairs of wings beating in unison, waiting to be unleashed. Shino raised his arms.
"Ichi Senbda no Dangan." Shino's voice was a death-knell.
In a deafening roar of countless wings, a thousand bullet-like insects surged from Shino's body towards the surprised Snake Sannin. Before Orochimaru could even think of reacting, his body jerked with the countless impacts of Shino's technique. Blood sprayed from the Snake Sannin's body as a thousand tiny holes perforated his body. The snake-eyed man hit the ground twitching, his body spasming as it seemingly breathed it's last.
Shino's knee hit the ground as a wave of utter exhaustion rampaged through him. Black spots danced at the edges of his vision as he breathed deeply, attempting to ignore the trembling caused by forcing almost all of his chakra to mold at once. Shino staggered to his feet and slowly moved towards Kiba and Sasuke. A glance told the Aburame that Kiba was still unconscious and Sasuke was angry, both towards himself and Shino. The Last Uchiha was angry with himself for not being stronger, while he was also angry that his teammate had succeeded where he, Sasuke UchihaΒΈ had failed.
A sudden sound from behind him caused Shino to freeze, the sound seeming like a wet ripping noise, like something was tearing through a piece of meat. Slowly, with dread crawling up his spine, Shino turned to face Orochimaru's corpse. The cadaver's head twitched violently before the mouth dropped open, stretching to grotesque levels. And then, with mounting horror, Shino watched a very much alive Orochimaru crawl out of his own dead body's mouth.
Orochimaru slowly stood up, ignoring the water and other liquids that clung to his skin. "Perhaps I was too hasty in dismissing the Aburame as a viable clan to experiment upon..." The Sannin mused to himself. His head suddenly snapped in Shino's direction with serpentine grace. "But that jutsu took just about everything you had didn't it?" A blur of motion that didn't even give Shino a moment to the true horror of what just happened sent the bug-user flying backwards to slam into a tree, joining Kiba in unconsciousness.
"Now Sasuke-Kun, where were we?" Spotting The Last Uchiha's Sharingan spin furiously, Orochimaru grinned, his smile all the more terrible. "That's right! You were showing me how weak you were. Especially compared to your brother." Sasuke gave an inarticulate roar of rage as he charged the Snake Sannin, intent on making the wanted criminal regret those words!
Orochimaru openly snickered as he casually dodged Sasuke's frontal assault. Any skill the Last Uchiha had displayed was lost as Sasuke attacked with furious blind strikes. After a few minutes of dodging or the occasionally blocking, Orochimaru was starting to get bored. While Sasuke's hate and anger made him so ridiculously easy to provoke, he lost all semblance of skill. "Once Sasuke-Kun joins me I'll have to fix his anger problem." Orochimaru thought, his mind already coming up with several plans on how to fix Sasuke's problem. The Last Uchiha needed to use his anger to fuel his attacks, not attempt to use it as a blunt club. "Ah well. I suppose I should finish this charade." Two quick blows stunned Sasuke, and Orochimaru slowly opened his mouth, preparing to give the black-haired Uchiha the cursed seal.
It was only the decades of honed reflexes that saved Orochimaru from being decapitated as Naruto flashed towards him, the blonde's katana sweeping towards the pale man's neck. With inhuman grace the Snake Sannin leaned back, Naruto's blade passing a scant three inches from his face. As soon as the blade passed him, Orochimaru straightened up and leapt back a few feet, his terrible smile back on his face. "Ah, Naruto-Kun! I was wondering if you might show up!" Orochimaru's yellow slitted eyes glinted. "Now, I wonder if you will be more of a challenge then Sasuke-Kun was..."
A flicker of movement was the only warning Naruto had before Orochimaru was in front of him. If Naruto hadn't trained himself to the ground he would have never even seen Orochimaru move. But Naruto had done more than just train himself into the ground. The Last Uzumaki had pushed himself to his very limits and then broken his limits. Naruto's hand snapped across and upwards, driving the Snake Sannin's hand to the side. Naruto's body twisted, his muscles contracting as he brought the sword in his opposite hand slicing down on the Snake!
The Snake Sannin launched himself back, Naruto's sword drawing only a thin line of blood on his chest. Naruto blurred forward, seeking to draw all of Orochimaru's attention to himself, while the blonde's clones quietly helped Shino and his team escape. A blistering set of blows were exchanged between the Last Uzumaki and the Snake Sannin. A solid blow from the Snake knocked Naruto's sword away while the blonde's glowing hand blew one of Orochimaru's arms off. The Snake Sannin leapt back clutching his bleeding stump only for his eyes to widen.
A dozen lethal air bullets cut into the air around the Snake Sannin as he desperately dodged the techniques being fired by Naruto's previously hidden clones. Orochimaru stopped limiting himself for a moment and weaved through the attacks with fluid serpentine grace. He bent impossibly far back to avoid a sudden wall of razer-sharp wind chakra that sprung up in front of him, blocking access to Naruto. The Snake Sannin darted backwards only to find a wind wall blocking his retreat. He glanced up in time to see a shadow clone of Naruto finish the hand signs for a wind attack. Countless razor sharp wind blades sliced into the boxed-in area.
Orochimaru shoved his way out of his old corpse's mouth, a scowl now firmly in place. He had meant to see how strong Naruto-Kun had gotten, but he never planned on getting seriously injured. As he stood up, his slitted yellow eyes meeting Naruto's glacier cold ones.
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu."
Naruto's cold voice spat before a fireball rocketed towards the frowning Sannin. The moment the fireball hit the hyper-oxygenated air surrounding Orochimaru it detonated like a bomb with enough force to shatter the ground. Naruto watched the fire blaze into the sky impassively. "Never believe your enemy is defeated unless you see them breathe their last breath yourself." It was one of the lessons he had received from Bear before the large ANBU had died. And so Naruto readied himself.
Naruto was still unprepared for Orochimaru's speed as he charged out of the smoke. Naruto was barely able to block the first strike, but the second knocked him back; blood leaking out of the blonde's mouth from one blow by the now angry Snake Sannin. Orochimaru snapped forwards and grabbed Naruto's left arm in a vice grip; snapping the bone with an echoing crack. The Snake back-handed the temporally stunned blonde, sending him flying a scant few feet from the still recovering Sasuke.
Spotting the start of the caustic red chakra of the Kyubi start to form on Naruto, the blonde's arm already healing rapidly, Orochimaru rushed the Last Uzumaki. "We can't have you calling on the Kyubi now can we Naruto-Kun?" Orochimaru wove his hands through an intricate series of hand signs deliberately before exclaiming "Five Pronged Seal!" The fingers on the Snake Sannin's hand glowed with purple fire as he slammed his hand directly into Naruto's stomach! The Last Uzumaki felt his chakra abruptly fade as the seal took effect. Darkness enveloped the blonde. A blur of movement from Orochimaru destroyed each of the clones Naruto had created.
Sasuke watched his rival crumple to the ground in front of his eyes. "Now," Orochimaru's sickening voice snarled, "It's time to give you my blessing!" Orochimaru's head snapped forward like a viper and clamped onto the Last Uchiha's shoulder. Sasuke screamed as he felt a something burn like fire on his shoulder, the pain almost beyond imagining. Unconsciousness granted the Uchiha blissful respite.
Orochimaru retracted his fangs from Sasuke's shoulder, letting the Last Uchiha drop. The Snake's yellow eyes locked on Kiba's open and almost fearful ones. "Tell Sasuke-Kun to seek me out when he wants true power..." The Snake Sannin stepped back, slowly fading into the shadows.
"Wha-what the fuck?" Kiba's words summed up his knowledge of the situation rather nicely, if not the most eloquently.
Hinata Hyuga was nothing more than a blur as she rushed towards the clearing that held an unmoving Naruto. The blue-haired girl had seen the entire fight between her Naruto-Kun and a pale man who she assumed was Orochimaru, the legendary Snake Sannin. For a few minutes it had looked like Naruto would defeat the Snake, only for Orochimaru to charge out of the inferno unscathed. He had slammed a seal into Naruto's stomach, knocking the blonde unconscious. Orochimaru had then done something to Sasuke, but Hinata had more important things to worry about. Beside her, Sakura mirrored Hinata's look of worry as they rushed towards the clearing that held her Naruto-Kun.
Kiba jerked from his stupor as he heard two people rushing towards the clearing he was in. He heaved himself to his feet, ignoring the dull pain in his back and legs. "Akamaru?" Kiba called for his nin-dog partner, never taking his eyes away from the direction that the sounds were coming. A pained bark from Akamaru informed Kiba that he was on his own for now. Kiba eased a kunai out from his holster, readying himself. Naruto and Shino had protected him, and now it was time to return the favor.
The sounds grew louder, the two people growing ever closer. Kiba tensed, every muscle waiting the command to strike, to defend, to protect. Suddenly Hinata and Sakura burst through the tree line, instantly brushing past the stunned Inuzuka as they rushed towards their Naruto-Kun. Sakura dropped to her knees beside the fallen blonde, her hand already glowing green with the diagnostic jutsu. After a moment she signed in relief. "He's fine! The seal is just blocking his chakra from flowing somehow!" Sakura's hands blurred though several hand signs before glowing green. "I'm going to wake him up!"
Naruto groaned as he woke up, his head pounding. A soothing sensation slowly cooled the headache. Naruto slowly opened his eyes to the warm green glow of Sakura's healing chakra as she alleviated the pain in his head. After the pain had settled into a dull throb, Naruto sat up, noticing his surroundings. Orochimaru was gone, and Sasuke was unconscious. Hinata was standing close to Sakura and himself with her Byakugan activated, keeping guard. Naruto attempted to flex his chakra in order to finish healing himself, only for his chakra fail to move.
Spotting Naruto's attempts, Sakura quickly informed Naruto was what going on. "Naruto-Kun, there is a seal on your stomach that is blocking your chakra!" Naruto nodded in understanding, his mind remembering the seal that the Snake Sannin had placed on him. The blonde grabbed the bottom hem of his shirt and pulled it up, exposing the seal that stood out in black lettering on his stomach. As Naruto briefly studied the seal, he missed both Sakura's and Hinata's faces flaring up in a heavy blush.
"Sakura-Chan," Naruto spoke slowly, his mind mostly still occupied with studying the seal blocking access to his chakra, "Could you check on Shino? I think he is still hurt." The pinkette hurriedly stood up, quickly moving over to help Shino. While Sakura still found the fact that bugs literally lived in Shino slightly disconcerting, Shino had proven to be a good friend of Naruto and the rest of Team Eight.
Naruto's face screwed up in thought as he examined the seal closer. "So there's five prongs on the seal. Each seal directs a portion of the chakra to another prong, but since it is a five prong seal instead of a four prong seal, it's creating an imbalance. Normally this would only cause fluctuations in my chakra flow, but since it is directly over the seal containing the Kyubi, and that seal is an even numbered seal, the five prong seal is almost completely blocking access to my chakra. I could remove the seal if I had chakra...but since I don't I can't remove it myself." Naruto slowly stood up and stretched. "As long as we can get right to the tower, I should be able to find someone to remove the seal." The blonde paused, considering who might know enough about seals in order to remove it. "Maybe Kakashi would know, given that not only did he give me the book on sealing, he was also the student of Dad." Naruto nodded to himself, satisfied with his plan.
"Naruto-San," Shino walked over the blonde he called his friend, "Now that Sakura-San has fully healed Kiba-San and I, we can watch over Sasuke-San." Shino paused, considering, "Naruto-San, you wouldn't happen to have an extra Earth Scroll would you?" Naruto grinned.
"Yep! I got an extra one! Let me grab it for you!" Naruto swiped his hand over his sealing scroll, only to frown when his chakra failed to surface. A moment later Naruto blinked as he remembered that his chakra was currently blocked. "Give me a moment quick." The blonde requested of his friend.
"Hinata-Chan," Naruto trotted over to his teammate, "Could you pull a Earth Scroll from this scroll?" Naruto held up the opened sealing scroll to Hinata. Hinata quickly replied in the affirmative and placed her hand on the scroll, closing her eyes as she thought about the item she wished to retrieve. With the Earth Scroll firmly in mind, Hinata pulsed her chakra. A small puff of smoke accompanied the Earth Scroll as it appeared in the center of the sealing array. "Thanks Hinata-Chan!" Naruto thanked the girl as he grabbed the Earth Scroll, and headed back to Shino.
"Here you are!" Naruto presented the scroll to Shino. He cast a quick glance at Sasuke who was still laying on the ground. "How's Sasuke doing?"
Shino shrugged. "Sasuke-San is currently unconscious. There is a seal of some kind on his neck. Sakura-San was unable to revive him." Naruto nodded in understanding as Shino finished his concise report.
"I'll take a quick look at the seal to make sure it's not something that will kill him." Naruto made his way over to Sasuke's side. "Hmmm...let's see...it looks like it's a container for someone's chakra. It's not Sasuke's chakra. And that's not good...It looks like this section here," Naruto indicated a small area on one of the three tomoes that made up the seal, "this enhances any negative emotions the person would feel. It also looks like there might be something else hidden inside the seal, but it currently doesn't seem to be killing him."
Shino nodded as Naruto stood. He understood why Naruto-San couldn't stay and fully examine the seal. Team Eight still had a exam to finish. "Thank-you Naruto-San. I look forward to seeing you in the finals."
Naruto grinned and replied, "See you there!" Team Eight quickly moved off, eager to reach the tower in the center of the forest.
"Well, damn Kurenai." Ibiki commented to the red-eyed woman as he finished grading the last test paper, "You're team of Genins are special." Spotting Kurenai's interested look, the scarred Jonin elaborated. "Hinata Hyuga was able to cheat off of the planted Chunin and copy him word for word. There wasn't a single misspelled word! Sakura Haruno didn't cheat, but she got a high grade anyway. Her tactics, while not very risky, are sound. And then there's Naruto Uzumaki..." Ibiki paused, considering the best way to describe the blonde's test results.
"Naruto Uzumaki's paper is flawless. Had I not watched him myself, I would have suspected that he swapped papers. Each question is answered with Jonin level of competence, and several times the tactics are downright brilliant. He names seals that I wasn't even aware existed." Ibiki shook his head in amazement. "Naruto Uzumaki, who exactly are you? And what are you hiding?"
So what did you guys think? Drop me a review and let me know!
To my reviewers:
Iceflame55: Bear was an awesome character to write. However, I knew from that start that he was going to die protecting those he cared about. His back-story didn't really allow for anything less once he adopted Naruto's drive to protect. So I tried my best to give him an epic sendoff, and I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Originally I had Bear referring Naruto as "Naruto-Sensei" because he gained the reason to protect from Naruto, but perhaps that wasn't enough for him to call Naruto Sensei.
acw28: Yeah, I was slightly sad when Bear died myself. And yeah...Team Eight has been training for much harder stuff then the exam. Granted, there isn't just other normal Genin in the exam...And as far as Wolf goes, he's a character that might be featured later on, but he's going to be in the background. I might write a short story about him at some point if there's enough interest, but that's not here and now.
Liedral: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Yeah...I may have misjudged the criteria to call someone Sensei.
Demoneyes87: Generally, I've always imagined ANBU as being a smaller (30ish) elite force. I've always believed that they take on the really high level missions only, when they aren't guarding the village. Given that there simply can't be tons of super-high level missions, there isn't a reason to have a bunch of ANBU. Jonin teams take most of the A-Rank missions, while Chunin Teams take B-Rank ones. I hope that I have explained how ANBU works. If not, feel free to let me know and I'll try to explain it in more detail.
Waldo Santiago: I'm glad you enjoy the story! Cat survived, but she didn't come out unscathed. You'll find out what I mean in future chapters, perhaps even next chapter. I'm glad that you feel that Bear's death was suitable. I tried my best to make his death meaningful and true to character, but it's hard to tell how things will be received sometimes.
loganhunter2: Heh. Well, Hinata isn't going to leave Naruto without a fight. That said, I still don't know for certain who will end up with Naruto. At this time I suspect it will be Sakura, Hinata, and Haku; but I can't say for certain, given that things sometimes even surprise me.
gilmaxter: I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Mr. Motivator: While I'm sorry you feel that way, let me explain the reasoning behind Neko and Cat. There is two separate ANBU members. Cat, who is Yugao. And Neko who is Komachi. Komachi is from one of the Naruto video games. Her character felt unique, so I used her. Given that she also has a cat-like mask, I had to find a cat-like code-name for her. And while Neko does mean Cat in Japanese, when someone says "Neko" the first thing I think of is a Nekojin, not a cat. Given that Nekojin often have more playful or teasing personalities, I felt that it was a good fit for Komachi.
fray100: While that would be completely awesome, sadly that is not what happened. From what we know of chakra, if someone has enough chakra it can manifest visibly outside their body. Given that Naruto has a metric ton of chakra, it was enough to manifest visibly as he pushed his body to its limits to escape.
Vanishing Raptor: The Uzumaki bloodline is interesting. There isn't a cannon statement if all Uzumaki had the potential for the various abilities, so we don't know if there is another catalyst that is needed for each ability. I have a few ideas about that though...And yeah...Rest in peace Bear. You earned it.
Animaman: Yeah, Temari and Kankuro will quickly realize that they can't intimidate everyone. And if you look at the Naruto world as a whole (through a cynical perspective), basically each village treats all of its ninjas that way. And yeah, the council's secrets won't be hidden forever. I honestly don't know if the Kyubi's chakra/abilities can be passed on. While Cannon Naruto's kids have the same whisker-things, that might just be a visual choice. As far as the Council and the Hyuga go, the council has to be very careful. The Hyuga are very powerful politically, and so it's much harder to work against them compared to an isolated young boy. Granted, not all people think logically all the time. And you are right. The council isn't going to sit idly by forever. They are just waiting for the right moment to strike. As for Ino, her feelings are directed towards the idea of Naruto; a attractive boy who is the prince to her princess. I don't see her falling in love with Naruto, but she probably will develop a crush on him, if she hasn't already. I honestly don't know about Hanabi, given that she hasn't had a lot of contact with Naruto yet.
Shikamaru's babygirl: Thanks! Unfortunately for the other teams, Team Eight has been training to fight opponents a lot tougher and stronger then a bunch of Genin. As for Ino, you'll see how much she improved in the finals. I think you will be satisfied with her growth. As for pairings, I myself don't know who Naruto will end up with, well not completely.
LordTicky: I'm glad you liked this chapter. When high-level ninja clash, I always invasion it being this epic, fast paced battle. As the story goes on, you'll get more and more epic fights as the stronger ninja clash. Daiki's charge was one of my favorite parts of that chapter. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Guest: You are completely right if you look on the surface. However, given that Sakura knows water and medical jutsus, she can deliver the various poisons in a verity of ways. Plus these are poisons given to her by Anko...just wait until Sakura is faced with a group of enemy ninja...
SilentSambo88: It's all right. Stuff happens. As for Kakashi's teaching...better him the Jiraiya perhaps? I'm sorry you feel that way about Bear. I tried to make his death meaningful, but perhaps it wasn't enough. Personally, I don't see Haku "getting" Naruto first. At this point Haku still views herself as Naruto's servant, and given that Naruto would never ask for her to do that, Naruto's happy time with Haku isn't going to be happening anytime soon, if at all. (Still don't know who is going to end up with Naruto for certain). Yeah, looking back I could have done better with the time skips. Given that Naruto's actions really haven't effected Suna yet, there really wouldn't be a reason for a huge change from the Gaara encounter. I apologize for the chapter's lower quality. I hope this one is better.
drannakka: Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out exactly where the line between "this is an awesome clan ability" and "we should breed more of this" is. That said, I'm sure that some of the council will push for a CRA, even if Naruto isn't qualified for it. Given Naruto's relationship with the council however, I'm not sure how well that will go...
Fender Pick: You are welcome! And I must confess, I'm not sure which OC you are referring to. And yeah, less ANBU will have a huge impact on the Chunin exam arcs as well as the invasion. And given that they have to replenish the ANBU ranks, I wonder who they will recruit? As for pairings, I honestly don't know. I can see it developing into a Naruto/Sakura, a Naruto/Sakura/Hinata, or even a Naruto/Sakura/Hinata/Haku. Relationships like that are tricky, and sometimes I don't even know how a character is going to react until they are placed in a situation. As for Rasa, I think you might be surprised how that turns out. Rasa was a rather complex character, so he's a bit more smart this time around. Or is Orochimaru smarter this time around? And thanks man for the inspiring words. They really do help.
Fender Pick: While Neko and Cat mean the same thing in two different languages, they are phonically different enough that in the heat of battle no one will get mixed up. Given that the ANBU is smaller in HotE then in Cannon, having multiple people with the same codename wasn't needed. I hope that this explanation plus my explanation to Mr. Motivator explain the reasoning behind the Neko and Cat debacle. If not, let me know and I'll try to explain it better. Here's the next chapter!
vianmeor: Thanks! I tried to keep each character, for the lack of a better term, in character at all times. Given that they believe, falsely or not, that Naruto can only be with one of them; they are going to compete with each other for Naruto. I tried my best to describe Naruto's (newer views now that he knows about the female body) view on their relationships, given that Naruto appreciates who the girls are on the inside just as much how they look on the outside.
Godslayer221: I'm glad you enjoy it! Here's the next chapter!
bloodbrother18: Yeah, Bear was cool. Naruto didn't know Bear all that well, plus anyone who had hurt Bear was dead by the time Naruto learned of his death. However, Naruto is training harder than ever to protect his precious people. Given that he promised to not make Sakura and Hinata cry, he has to make sure he is strong enough not to die while protecting his precious people. You are correct in the fact that the Hokage's advisors have a lot of sway right now, but soon Sarutobi will be calling them out on it. As far as the Uzumaki clan goes, I think many people have forgotten just how powerful the Uzumaki clan was. And yeah, whatever village the Uzumaki stay in will prosper. However, Naruto doesn't stay in the village because he is loyal to the village. He stays in the village because all of his precious people live there. So the council will have to be very careful in how they proceed.
Dragon Noir: I'm glad you liked Kakashi's Talk with Naruto. Kakashi has currently distracted Kurenai with Asuma, but that's not going to last forever. Yeah, time skips still aren't my best writing element. You'll get a description of Naruto's looks this chapter, albeit slightly romanticized by Ino. Hiruzen has noticed Naruto's growth, but he really is in no place to say anything. The subplot with the ANBU trials and fallout will be revealed in the next few chapters. Yeah, it's safe to say that Naruto's mental problems have just started. Naruto's and the Kyubi's interactions are always fun to write, given that Naruto has a rather simple perspective on life and the Kyubi doesn't understand humans very well. (When it's not hating just about everyone minus Naruto).
dksamuri: Would you believe that most of the time I don't mean for it to be a cliffhanger? Most of the time I just run out of chapter space, given that I try to stay at about 9k for the story itself. Yeah, I try to proof read myself, but sometimes things slip through the cracks. Here's the next chapter!
Yobikir: At the time in Chapter 4, Hinata had been all but passed over for heiress status. She was getting stronger, but not at the level the Hyuga Elders wanted. That has since changed, but at chapter 4 that was where they were at.
BurningSaiyan: Well, I have no plans to add any more girls to the mix. That said, I don't know who all is going to end up with Naruto out of the three. Out of curiosity, why do you prefer Haku not be part of the pairing?
FirestarterFLCL: Thanks! Here's the next chapter!
CrazyTomboy679: Thanks! I think you'll like the interactions with Team Gai, the Suna ninjas and Orochimaru. You'll see Orochimaru this chapter, but you won't learn why Orochimaru acted the way he did for a few chapters. I've also enjoyed Naruto and Gaara being bros together, so you'll see that eventually. Perhaps even a epic teamup? And yeah, the invasion is a bit better thought out this time around. Or perhaps I should say that it has more ground work laid out for it. And Hiruzen hasn't escaped Karma yet...Here's the next chapter!