EXCERPT FROM 'AMES NINJA REVISION GUIDE':
'...The chunin exams are an internationally recognised competition, hosted twice a year by different foreign nations, that utilise a variety of purposes. The obvious purpose is the very stated name of it - to allow genin to impress the Kage at the exams, and have an opportunity to be promoted. The other, not so obvious purpose that interlocks all of the remaining purposes is that of a competition between nations - to send a statement of a country's strength by how well the strength of their genin is; and to receive a boost in economy by impressing the gathered nobles who will likely give missions to the stronger nations.
There is usually three stages to a chunin exam - the first being a test of some sort to assess the knowledge of a chunin hopeful, with an underlying further test into the attributes of a genin, such as loyalty. The second is that of a clear survival round, to actively test a genin's ability in a field environment whilst reducing the number of participants for the third round. The third round is almost always a gladiatorial style round - fights between genin in an arena where they are judged by the participating Kage.
Killing is allowed in the second and third stages...'
NOTIFICATION FROM THE SPECTRE DEPARTMENT:
Ame genin are attending the current genin exams hosted in Sunagakure, for the first time since the Third Ninja world war by order of Lord Pain. All available Spectre teams are to be kept on active standby until Lord Pain leaves, as random selection of three teams shall occur on the day to accompany him as his protection detail. Pack for both a stealth and heavy assault operation - only one team shall be his visible escort.
WESTERN REGION OF THE LAND OF FIRE.
Shino opened his eyes instantly as his senses flared, rousing himself from the slumber of unconsciousness in a split second as he had been trained to do when the last active memory was still that of combat. Unaware of the situation, he made only minimal movements as he regarded his surroundings - having the unique ability to send out his nano insects to scout instead of actually moving his head.
"You did not have to take some of my chakra through your insects just to validate it was us, Shino." Came an amused tone of voice - making Shino sit up and open the helmet up to properly see as he recognised the voice.
Naruto and Gaara both sat close to a campfire that had been set up outside of the field tent Shino was currently sat within, both red-heads cooking a set of rations over the small fire as it lit up the surroundings in the dark sky. Small trees covered the area, the tent having been set up against a particularly thicker tree as the other two took the chance to rest after having spent the past few hours travelling.
A grunt left Shino in acknowledgement, before he simply moved on with business. "How long have I been asleep?" He questioned.
Gaara gave a small laugh as he swilled the vegetables around in the boiling pan for a second, before answering for them. "Unconscious, you mean. I didn't ever think I'd see the day Shino gets knocked out." He stated, before then seriously answering. "It's only been about four hours since we met that Leaf genin team. You only became unconscious because you strained your body too much with those chakra pills you were taking. I can only advise you rest as much as possible in the next couple of days, use as little chakra as possible and to eat and drink properly."
Shino's canteen was thrust into his hands by Gaara, having been refilled in anticipation for when he got up. "Right." Shino merely answered, before doing as Gaara had said as he tipped his head back and drank.
Naruto decided to flip Shino's personality back onto him by providing a meaningful message in only a few words. "Chicken tonight." He happily announced, and grinned slightly as Shino stopped drinking, and instead eyed Naruto, before narrowing them.
With the Rain still acclimatising to the sudden increase in food production for their populous dense nation, and food sectors like the meat industry having a slower growth than crops, much of the rations were still heavily industrialised. Chicken in particular, as the stable meat of the country, was massively processed - with chemical methods and substitute food parts being added to increase the density of the rations.
It fouled Shino's delicate tastes, and he hated it - unlike Gaara who had often eaten the average quality of food of the food-constrained nation of Suna (given his family situation), he had eaten good food as accompanying being part of the Leader's family his entire life. And unlike Naruto, who could burn away any foul tastes using the unnatural chakra saturating his entire body, he had to eat the processed with a full set of taste buds. Given how it had only been a couple of weeks since they had gone full onto a ration diet, he wasn't getting used to it anytime soon - as shown by his preference to pull out an energy bar and to eat the cardboard construct than than the chicken.
Gaara merely turned his head so he didn't see Shino's glare as he began to laugh.
PAIN'S OFFICE.
The Deva Path slowed in his writing on the documents before him, instead seeking to finish exactly what he was doing on the current document rather than start another - signing it before turning around quickly in the office chair. This was done just as a fairly large bird swooped into visible range in the thundering rain through the large floor to ceiling windows Pain had installed in his office, before angling its descent perfectly right to land on the metal bar that jutted out from the building outside of the left-hand window. Having felt the chakra signature of the animal flying into the clouds of the city a minute before it reached his office, Deva was prepared as he stood up and walked to the window, observing it.
The bird had taken the chance to prune its very wet feathers in the shelter it momentarily stopped at, yet stopped smoothing its wing feathers as it saw the Deva Path come clearly into focus in the window - as the corpse looked back. It was a sandy-coloured bird, with a range of attributes such as short, spaced-out feathers that meant it was uniquely disadvantaged in the wet conditions it had flown in than the dry conditions it was used to. Which gave Pain an idea of where it came from, and confirmed to him that the barrier corps were still doing their job properly.
A hand slipped out from the Akatsuki robe the Path always wore, taking a moment to channel chakra onto the glass which visibly brought up a range of seals imprinted on the window, and then merely swinging it open. The messenger bird was entirely used to the transference of messages between village leaders, having been specifically trained for that purpose, as it merely hopped onto the edge of the window that had been opened but not daring to go inside - and then bowing with a widespread posture. This allowed for two things - for easy access to the scroll strapped to its back, and for more of its body to be exposed so observers could see more of the bird to check for any tricks.
Pain had already made his observations through the rinnegan and his own sensing abilities, as he didn't bother spending a moment to check as he instead with one hand offered bird feed which was received with a grateful chirp, and with the other smoothly took the scroll from the back of it. As soon as the last remnants of bird feed had been scooped up, the bird had raised its head to check if the human had any scroll they wished to send back.
"No." Was the only word that Pain spoke, and the bird immediately took off back into the gloomy weather.
Closing the window, Pain resumed his seat at the desk as he merely deposited the scroll into a scanner sitting in a bottom section of his desk, and then clicking the approving command on the window that automatically popped up. Only ten seconds later came back a message giving the all clear, which prompted Deva to pick the scroll back up to see what Rasa had to say as he unfurled it. It was, after all, a scroll - the means used by nations to securely pass messages, albeit more slowly, rather than via a radio message which any nation could listen in on if they had the right technology. Which meant it was important.
To the leader of Ame,
I write this scroll with two messages in mind. The first is a mere reminder and informing principle - the chunin exams hosted by my nation are only a week away, and as you have already confirmed your presence to it, please find attached an approved route through the Land of Wind that will see you not be questioned after the initial border passing. A map has been imprinted on the bottom of this scroll.
The second message I wish to ask is that of a military favour. We both know of the asset stolen from my nation, but given your acquisition of a similar asset recently, I wish to ask you bring it with you to the chunin exams. You need not worry about identification of the asset, as I have ordered for sensing disruption seals to be placed around the stadium - the actual arena floor being the only exemption for the genin fights. It would be well received as one ally to another.
I wish your nation well.
With sincerity,
The Fourth Kazekage of the Land of Wind, Rasa Sabaku.
Deva put the scroll down in thought as he considered what he'd just read. It was obvious what the main purpose was for - Rasa wished to have a jinchuuriki there at the exams at least so he didn't look weak in front of the foreign parties who would undoubtedly bring sensor ninja to scout the competition. So long as a jinchuuriki was there that looked to part of the Sand - or in this case, allied to them - it would shore up the deterrence policy of the tailed beast system set in place a century ago.
It would undoubtedly appease their ally, and would help him in the long run - as the direct wording of 'favour' meant that Rasa was acknowledging this as a direct request for help. The problem was that the Seven-tails alluded to within the scroll had long-since been sealed away, and he wasn't willing to bring it out just on the whim of a request. But fortunately, there was an alternative - as he picked up the phone to the barrier corps department to first seek out reassurances on sensing disruption seals.
FOURTEENTH EASTERN RAIN BORDER OUTPOST.
"Please hold." The chunin held up a hand as they quickly wiped the details they had been inputting for a minute onto the screen of the computer. "Make way for the Ame ninja behind you."
"Now hold on just now-" A man barked out angrily from the trade group that had been in the midst of being processing just then, but unfortunately for them it was near noon - the busiest time of day for border crossings. Given how trade groups and caravans were only allowed into the Land of Rain at two border points from the Land of Fire, this made it extremely busy at times. Though military troops were not allowed into the nation of Rain, trade was still highly moving between the two countries. "You can't just force us out-! I've waited a while for this!" He raised his voice.
But it also meant traders had to put up with the rules Rain laid down at their border points, which included that active troops received top priority in processing so they could quickly go about their missions. And at this time of day, it meant that some spaces had to be manually cleared temporarily to allow room for such happenings.
Two chunin guards were instantly there, shutting the man up instantly at the appearance of the border guards. "Back of the line." One of them spoke as they pointed to the back of the processing queue at the border outpost. "We will not be tolerant of such behaviour to personnel. Make way for military troops or face imprisonment in a foreign nation."
That was more than enough for the man, as the entire group cleared out from the front of the processing desk, as another chunin guard quickly escorted three black armoured figures to the space that had been formed.
The chunin at the desk gave a small look to the appearance of elite departmental figures at the outpost, as they instead loaded up a different program to process the figures. Given the classification of the entire elite department, they had different processing methods they undertook - like the complete bypass of questioning them for purpose and destination; instead asking only for-
"Identification and movement papers please." The chunin simply requested as a small drawer opened up in the dividing barrier between them, to allow for the three sets of licensed IDs and travel passes to be dropped in. The chunin merely swiped the documentation through a scanner to confirm their authenticity, as the movement of elite ninja were not logged on lower security servers.
A printer also spat out a missive with the bold word of Classified at the top, from which the chunin automatically averted their eyes and instead folded it, and dropped it into the drawer with the documentation to pass through to Team Foxtrot as the computer had labelled them. "Squad leader, everything is in order. You also have new orders."
Naruto merely gave his thanks to the chunin, before his two brothers followed him silently from the border outpost, stopping just outside of it to flip the missive open.
Gold Ranking movement order.
Join Gold ranking operative in Sunagakure as part of protection detail. Board the next immediate train to the Land of Wind, and liaison with Spectre Team waiting at transport depot. Over.
"Sunagakure?" Naruto voiced out as he lowered the missive, before he and Shino looked to Gaara.
Gaara looked slowly to Naruto, the expression he was making in the opened helmet that of forced neutrality. "My old home." He merely stated.
The nine tails jinchuuriki didn't quite know what to say, but Shino continued forth with his usual blunt mannerisms. "Do you remember anything good about it?" He asked.
Gaara's gaze just switched from Naruto to Shino. "No." Came his simple answer.
Shino's equally simple response ended the conversation as he usually did. "Then the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we get back to Ame."
ON THE TRAIN, SOUTHERN REGIONS OF RAIN.
The locomotive noticeably began to hurtle to the left in its high speeds, following the gently left-sloping tracks as it switched from its westerly direction from its departure at the border of the Land of Fire to begin a new course of heading south. Given the completion of the tracks seven years ago, it still had not been ridden on by most occupants of the Land of Rain, thus still receiving a fair share of ogling civilians at the sheer speed that eclipsed the usual horse-drawn caravans.
Team Foxtrot sat in the first metal carriage, which was as protocol for the Land of Rain, took only military personnel. Rain lashed against the window as it usually did, much more than the north of the country as the climate received a lot of water from the expansive wetlands to the south and then moved further north, raining all the while. It was a unique contributing factor to the geography of the region, as the soil type and ground from the geography of the Land of Wind met the incoming, large rivers from the West as well as the fertile soil of the Land of Fire to create what was the Land of Rain.
Naruto just sat watching the rain with his head against the glass, helmet on his lap as the water smacked into the hurtling train; both still in slight wonder of the train and in a passive mood, the tiredness of the events being felt now that it was all over. Shino was fast asleep in the cushioned bench of the booth opposite them, definitely needing the rest out of all three of them. Gaara sat next to Naruto, having fallen asleep as well onto Naruto's arm at some point - who had merely reciprocated by undoing the armour on the right arm and allowing his brother to stay there on the bodysuit covered limb instead. Whilst he would certainly love to sleep as well, it was something that had not quite happened yet - and they still had four hours to go anyway.
It was decided for him as he blacked out.
The sleepiness was instantly shaken from Naruto as he found himself in a whole new world, alarm instead creeping upon him as his hand flashed into the kunai pouch on his right leg, twirling out a kunai and letting it fall into the natural grip that had become second nature. A smooth, clear black surface extended for as far as the eye could see, lightly reflecting his own image from the light of the stars above as he almost couldn't help but momentarily dart his eyes upwards to look. It was a reciprocating dark, night sky, filled with dotted stars and constellation structures, rippling green universal lights and entire peach-coloured galaxies slowly writhing in the canvas above.
"Naruto." Came a soft reverberating voice, which still made Naruto flinch in shock before turning round completely to see who had joined him in the empty expanse he'd found himself dragged into.
His body completely dropped out of its tense stance as he recognised the figure, his fingers twirling the kunai back out of its clenched grip and instead slotting it into the leg pouch, before a small smile overcame his face. "Foxy." He let out just as softly, the nickname that he'd used since childhood flowing off of his tongue.
It was indeed the nine tailed fox, albeit in much more splendour than he was used to - standing at seventy five metres tall, the burning orange coloured chakra construct towering well over his jinchuuriki as the nine tails slowly waved back and forth in idle motion. A deep reverberation that sounded like a chuckle escaped the Fox, before he spoke. "Yes." He simply spoke as if to confirm that, before lowering his head right to the ground to better look at Naruto who took a couple of steps forth to meet him as he did that - completely unafraid. "Welcome to your mindscape."
Naruto raised both eyebrows in shock, as his tone took on some amazement. "That's seriously where we are...?" He trailed off for a moment, looking around some more as he did. "We're in my head? How's that possible?"
"The short answer?" The Fox reciprocated with a question, as he took a moment to properly lie down and put fold his arms to rest his head on, to properly observe Naruto with, whose full, armoured height was still dwarfed by the tailed beast. "The seal creates a place for us to talk since I have to exist somewhere. And since we are both unbound by any restrictions, we are both as equally as in charge here."
That took a bit of thought from Naruto as he consulted his sealing knowledge, tilting his head somewhat. "But isn't it my body?" He eventually questioned.
Another deep chuckle was let out. "Not according to the seal. That's an advanced feature of the world of sealing to grasp, Naruto. That unless a clear divide and restrictions are imposed, then every attribute will become one under the main sealing array which always boils down to the singular, dominant kanji." The nine tails explained with a knowledgeable tone, before then locking eyes with Naruto and lowering his head further. "But enough upon sealing, Naruto, I did not call you here to discuss that."
The curiosity within Naruto peaked as they began to directly address the main topic. "What is it?" He simply asked.
"Our relationship, Naruto." The nine tails spoke in a straight forward tone, his expression unmoving as a troubled frown emerged onto the whiskered face of his jinchuuriki. "The relationship that has never been properly addressed between us, that of the tailed beast and jinchuuriki."
"What do you mean?!" Naruto let out, his voice raising in pitch as some panic from the topic began to set in. "Nothing needs to change! We've been friends my whole life!"
"Stop, Naruto." The soft words, as deep and reverberating as they were, did stop Naruto's jumpy state as the Fox took on a friendlier expression. "Nothing will ever change about us being friends. That, I would swear upon each of my tails until the end of time." The reassurance clearly worked, as Naruto merely nodded before sitting on the black surface that acted as the ground, before the nine tails spoke again. "But you do have to recognise that the situation has changed. You have now had a proper taste of the ninja world you inhabit, and came out of it competently - which has convinced me that it is time I began taking a more proactive role in that."
A scratch of the head greeted that statement, before Naruto smiled. "You'll help us on missions? That'd be cool." He spoke.
A snort greeted that proclamation from Naruto, who looked puzzled to the nine tailed fox. "And that there is why we now need to discuss how we are going to go about our relationship as tailed beast and jinchuuriki, in the sense of how it will shape your ninja career." The Fox spoke, with some clarification at the end to stop a repeat of the earlier statement. "For instance, having the nine tailed Fox sighted within a foreign nation's borders would invoke the full wrath of that country to either claim or kill the host of the strongest of the nine. I know you understand how the tailed beast system works, Naruto."
Naruto's head dipped in acknowledgement of that, a frown on his face as he did that. "In basics." He responded. "It would be like actually being aggressive to that nation, to unveil a tailed beast within their borders."
"Exactly." The nine tail's mouth opened, words just coming out from the opened jaws as the tongue lay unmoving. "So I cannot join you as often as you or I would perhaps like, such as on the mission you just went on. Especially not within the Land of Fire, where you originate from and I supposedly 'belong' to."
It wasn't deliberate, Naruto could tell that, but anger had infiltrated the ending sentence of that bit of speech, and he could imagine why - instead seeking to move on. "So what did you want to discuss then?"
"What it always boils down to between a tailed beast and its host." The nine tails replied. "Chakra."
A nod came from Naruto then, as he perked up somewhat from his achievement in that realm. "I can handle a tail of your chakra." He spoke.
"Yes, a remarkable achievement for someone your age." The nine tails praised. "And I'm especially glad that you didn't fall back onto that. Whilst I don't care how you use my chakra nor how much you take since I'm not using it anyway, you need to understand that you shouldn't use it too often. The first tail you can handle without any harm to your body. But lose control of your emotions, and you will fall into an animalistic state of mind only I could drag you out of - which is bad in a fight."
Naruto's frown remained, as he posed a question. "Is there any way to avoid that?"
The Fox considered that for a moment, before smiling somewhat in challenge. "Only once you have mastered my chakra to the ninth tail, bringing it fully into sync with your own chakra."
Naruto let out a 'heh' in response to the challenge, before putting a thumbs up in the armoured glove and displaying a foxy smile. "Then let's work together to make that happen, Foxy!"
It took a second of a slightly shocked gaze at his jinchuuriki, before a smile overtook his own features as he held out his hand to fist bump, which Naruto gladly slammed against with the hand that had held up the thumbs up - not budging it in the slightest. "That's the spirit, Naruto!" He let out happily, before speaking again. "Although it's Kurama."
Naruto blinked at that, looking curiously to the tailed beast. "Sorry?"
A second's staring occurred between them, before a smirk began to curl at the corners of the mouth of the tailed beast. "My name." He let out more slowly. "It's Kurama."
It took a second for Naruto's brain to process that, before he let out an outraged cry. "Your name?!" He shouted aloud, making Kurama laugh uproariously at that. "I've known you my entire life and only now do you tell me your name?!"
The laughter continued unabated as the Fox truly enjoyed the moment he'd waited a decade for, having never let Naruto know until now. "You never asked!" He let out between deep, loud laughs, which to Naruto's grumbling, angry demeanour, was a very good point.
SOUTHERN MILITARY TRANSPORT DEPOT.
Naruto sealed the helmet back onto the armoured sections of the neck, keeping the facial plates open before making a tilt of his head as the other two nodded to him. With that, Team Foxtrot stepped down off of the train into depot space, which was a simply constructed wooden platformed, varnished over to protect it from the wet elements. Taking a moment to look around at the bustling military site, which had two further trains there and streams of workers and ninja loading cargo onto one of them, Naruto turned to the other two.
"Let's go find the depot captain. See if anyone has seen another Spectre squad." Naruto spoke, as Gaara acknowledged in confirmation, Shino remaining silent before they made to move off. But they had barely taken a step before Naruto felt something instinctively behind him, and twisted his head sharply around.
"A sensor. How intriguing." A synthetic voice spoke then, clearly mechanically altered as it came out deepened and in a forced neutral tone. The other two members of Team Foxtrot turned around, to see that a fellow Spectre squad decked out in the black armour behind them, in good formation. Who was obviously the squad leader stood at the front of the triangle formation, arms crossed and facial plates closed so as to keep a slightly intimidating, black stare through the crimson eye pieces, with the other two of the squad stood behind. It was impossible to tell the characteristics or identity of the soldiers beneath the bodysuit and armour, but that was an integral design of the armour.
To hide the human, and leave only the elite soldier.
"Team Foxtrot." The squad leader spoke again, the robotic voice crackling through the speakers of the helmet. "You are the ones assigned to go to Sunagakure?"
Naruto took a moment to observe the two red bars on the shoulders of the black armour the squad leader wore, before swiftly enacting the national salute - the other members of his team falling into sync behind him. "Yes, sir." He confirmed.
The helmeted visage momentarily dipped, as if in approval to passing some judgement of theirs. "Good." They spoke. "You are temporarily assigned to this team for the journey to Sunagakure, before Lord Pain himself will give your orders there."
There was a momentary second in which time passed before Gaara asked a question. "Are you Team Beta?" He questioned out.
The squad leader looked to him before inclining their head. "Indeed." They merely confirmed, before looking back to Naruto. "Your team has five minutes to prepare to move off, squad leader. Then join us outside at which point we shall depart for the border, only a mile away, from which we shall move at chunin level speed for a four day trip to the Hidden Village in the Sand."
No further words were spoken, as the squad leader of Team Beta turned smartly around and moved off, watched by the three brothers who stood there for a second. Naruto looked back to Gaara though out of curiosity, as he asked his question. "How did you know what team they were?"
Gaara tapped a finger to his forehead. "It does pay to train under the commander of the elite departments." He answered. "In which case I learnt there are two squads constantly protecting Pain - Alpha and Beta. It was merely a 50% chance on which one it would be."
Shino raised his eyebrow. "So the protocol saying that the protection detail is randomised is..?"
"Bullshit." Gaara simply finished. "Just think of it as another way to throw off the enemy."
Naruto nodded at that. "There's been a lot of those protocols since they found out the chunin commander was a traitor."
Shino gave a nod, before making a remark. "They are good at their job."
Gaara looked to Shino, before shrugging. "That's a given, with the department they're in."
A small smile came over Shino's face as he explained himself. "I mean in the way that there was an obvious thing out of place, yet the subtlety of it meant none of us noticed at the time."
Naruto looked to his brother with a curious expression at that. "What do you mean?"
"Our team is an oddity, with a member less than the usual four-member squad formations." Shino answered, as understanding began to dawn on the other two. "Even now, they're utilising combat techniques in preparation."
SUNAGAKURE, FOUR DAYS LATER.
Hanzo of the Salamander stood in the archway that served as the entrance to the hidden village, three, the darkened visor that extended from the rebreather he wore watching as the two Spectre teams halted at the gates. Two further Spectre guards stood by his side, arms held loose as they too watched their fellow elites arrive. Upon seeing the leader of Ame before them, Team Beta first fell into a kneeling position and enacting the national salute, Team Foxtrot reciprocating quickly to the left of them.
"That will do." Hanzo calmly ordered, upon which the two teams rose and gave him their full attention. "It is good you arrived with time to spare. As to be expected of my elites."
"We thank you, my lord." The squad leader of Team Beta spoke, being careful not to actually say the black-listed name before the figure in front of them.
A nod from the Salamander summoner was the only response they got, before further orders came. "Register with the gate guards, and then we will all go to the hotel, where Team Beta may then rest up to then take over from Team Alpha for two days tomorrow. Team Foxtrot will accompany me."
"Yes, my Lord." The squad leader for Team Beta acknowledged, before then looking to Naruto and nodding their head - the only indication he received that meant their accompaniment detail to that team was now over. Instead, they all walked over to one of the booths set into the arch before the gates of the village.
"Licenses, travel documents and permission papers please-" The chunin sitting in the booth began, but was cut off as the visor of Hanzo swung towards them.
"I'm sure permission papers will not be necessary." Hanzo stated in a neutral tone. "After all, they are here as my protection detail, as allowed under international law."
The chunin didn't know what to say at first, before merely agreeing and making a note to bring it up with their superiors. "Yes, Lord Hanzo." They responded, before turning back to the two Spectre teams. "Just licenses and travel documents then please, one at a time."
SUNAGAKURE ROSE HOTEL.
The Rose Hotel was considered the best hotel within the Hidden Village of the Sand for a good reason - it was the only place within the entire country that purposefully undertook the effort in desert conditions to grow roses. It was on some parts natural, with the roses certainly growing naturally, but the soil itself was tended to with nutrient-rich fertiliser and the surrounding infrastructure deliberately built to keep the roses within their suitable conditions. Not to mention two chunin were paid every day to tend to the roses with earth manipulation techniques.
The hotel had a foreign dignitaries wing in which important ambassadors and Kage alike stayed, both in the luxurious conditions that their titles and positions demanded - and heavy security. Naruto could tell from the way his skin prickled as they walked by, that he was sensing all of the seals lining the walls as they merely walked down the corridor. It wasn't even the obvious jonin guards that stood at attention as they walked by, but also the chakra signatures in the ceiling as well. ANBU level. Two squads worth just following them alone.
Certainly not enough to deal with the legendary Hanzo of the Salamander, especially with two elite squads of his own guard, but that wasn't the intention. The intention was to stall - given the copious amounts of guards, ANBU, and defensive seals, it would both alert and give Rasa enough time to rush out from the Kazekage Tower just across the same square the hotel was situated in.
"Your assigned room, Lord Hanzo." The jonin leading them informed, as they stopped before a posh-painted white door in the corridor, the other jonin of the escort squad stepping to the side to allow them through. "It is with respect that we remind you that there is a dinner scheduled with Lord Kazekage at his residence at 6pm tomorrow, and the Chunin exam finals begin directly the next day after. Lord Rasa has requested you please be there for 7am to allow for discussion with the Kages before the actual proceedings at 9pm."
Hanzo stopped and looked at the jonin through his visor as they said that, marking them from their stance to be an elite jonin - Rasa really did not wish to skimp out on his escort detail. "Yes, tell the Lord Kazekage I will acquiesce to both of his scheduled requests."
A short bow from the elite jonin signalled the end of the short exchange. "Thank you, Lord Hanzo." They simply stated, before looking to the elite squads. "There is room for one squad of guards within this hotel suite. We have another room booked for the other squad."
A hand signal stopped anyone else speaking as the leader of Ame gave orders to the elite squads. "Team Alpha is already next door, your squad will swap with them tomorrow Beta. I want Team Foxtrot to accompany me."
A salute from the squad leader of Team Beta showed their compliance. "Yes, my Lord." They responded, remaining in that position until Hanzo and Team Foxtrot had disappeared into the hotel suite, before then turning to their jonin escort.
Naruto was the least shocked out of the three of them when Hanzo collapsed onto the bed, all animation ceasing in his body as if strings were cut from it - leaving the corpse to just lurch onto the fabric. Having spent the most time with his Uncle and being as adept with the sealing arts as he was compared to others, he could just about begin to sense his Uncle's chakra signature in the Paths he controlled, no matter the disguising seals placed upon them.
"Every time I use that body, it brings me nought but revolting disgust." A voice spoke then, making the three brothers turn to an open doorway. "Seal that body away please before I have to even look at it."
Hearing the mechanical sounds of his Uncle unstrapping himself from the transmission machine he'd taken along with him to Suna, Naruto stepped forth to complete that. A small pulse of chakra to a specific seal on his arm got it to enact upon the dominant kanji first before passing to the array around it; from out of a small poof of smoke simply emerged a strengthened brush, a solids-based ink tub and small, 15cmx15cm sheets of paper.
Pulsing chakra along the brush, he slid the bristles of the brush along the solid ink in the open tub with no lid. An emulsion based, solid particulate mixture, the ink reacted with chakra to become more fluid - but only with chakra. This allowed it to be drawn onto paper, but as soon as the brush moved away with the source of chakra, it reverted back to its solid state instantly for a instantaneous finish. A chemical invention of Ame's R&D department. It was thus the work of only ten seconds from unsealing the supplies to applying the last kanji in a singular ring array around the dominant 'storage' kanji in the centre.
Flipping the paper upside down and releasing a singular pulse into the chakra-conductive paper, the corpse disappeared into the storage and preservation array.
"As brilliant as ever with seals, Nephew." Came a praising voice, making Naruto look up to see Nagato Uzumaki leaning against the doorway that led to the second bedroom.
"I'm not that good." Naruto responded. "Minato Namikaze could do it much quicker, likely in just a couple of seconds."
"And that is what you should aspire to surpass then, Nephew." Nagato countered as he then walked over stopping before them as he looked over the team. "First of all, congratulations on succeeding on your first mission, Team Foxtrot. As a reward for doing so well, I have waived the standard protocol of the state claiming half the bounty and will allow you three to collect the entire bounty of the body."
"Thank you, Uncle." Naruto replied, before tilting his head slightly with a curious expression showing through the opened helmet. "Though how do you know we completed the mission, or even have the body?"
Nagato merely smirked, as he provided an illusive answer. "The elite commander has his ways, and whatever he knows, I know." He proclaimed, before looking directly at Naruto. "Besides, you wouldn't be here if you had failed the first time, Nephew, that just isn't like you. Not unless it permanently failed, which is unlikely on such a mission." Nagato didn't miss the small twitch in Shino's fingers, even if his face remained stoic through the opened facial plates.
Naruto instead looked to Gaara at the first sentence, and was surprised slightly when Gaara merely shrugged back to him. Looking back to the leader of Ame, he spoke again. "I suppose."
Crossing his arms, Nagato then got on with what he wanted to discuss. "The second point is why you are here. I ordered your team to Sunagakure because of what you already know - the Land of Wind is missing its jinchuuriki."
Naruto looked again to Gaara, who had visibly clenched his gloved fists as he stared at Nagato resolutely. "So." He began in a quieter tone of voice than he normally used. "With all due respect, why did you bring us here?"
"I did not bring you here to reopen old wounds, Gaara. You are an Uzumaki now, not a Sabaku - which means that unlike the hypocritical blood traitors sitting in Konoha, you follow your family." Nagato spoke back, just as resolutely. "On top of that, you have also become a soldier. Which means you go where you are needed, and in this case, your squad was needed for the tragic topic of international politics."
Naruto already had an understanding as he merely put a hand on Gaara's shoulder and squeezed it slightly, getting a thanking gaze from Gaara before he spoke up. "It's because of me, isn't it?" He questioned.
"Rasa wants to show that he does have a jinchuuriki, even if they are in an allied nation." Shino stated too.
A folded pair of arms was the only way Nagato showed his displeasure at it. "Precisely on both accounts." He confirmed, before moving on. "But enough on that. Naruto will accompany me tomorrow with Team Beta to the dinner, and Shino will stay here with Gaara so as not to look suspicious. You three otherwise have this evening and tomorrow to rest before the chunin exam finals, for which all three Spectre squads will be joining the protection details of the Kage box in the stadium."
Gaara shook his head clear of unwanted thoughts as he instead voiced his curiosity. "Why would they allow foreign ninja to guard the Kage box?"
Nagato had a little bit of amusement at that as he looked to Gaara. "You wouldn't be guarding anything the Sand didn't want you to, which is anywhere other than where other foreign ninja are going to be, so it doesn't matter anyway." Nagato answered. "In appearances, it will be the Sand and Rain working together as steadfast allies. In actuality, it will be a place where they're keeping all the strong foreign ninja together to keep an eye upon."
"Right." Gaara spoke, before dipping his head. "Well, thank you, but I think I want to rest now. It's still been four hours since we last sat down from running across the desert and arriving."
"Very true." Naruto agreed, looking to Nagato. "Thanks a lot, Uncle, but I'm sure we can speak tomorrow. I would like to properly rest in a bed for the first time in two and a half weeks now."
"With all due haste then, Nephew." Nagato responded with an eye-smile, seeing the other two go to the bedroom meant for the three of them. "We shall speak tomorrow."
Naruto looked to Shino, who remained in the room behind them, a little surprised before then closing the door as he realised he wished to talk to Nagato. The Uzumaki looked like he was properly analysing the insect user, before simply taking a step toward the window.
"Shino." Nagato spoke. "You haven't joined your brothers." The only non-red-head there took a cursive glance at the Uzumaki, before voicing what had concerned him since they had arrived.
"With all due respect." Shino simply began. "Why are you simply using my brother as another one of your pawns?"
A moments silence passed, before Nagato slowly looked round to Shino, rinnegan flaring slightly. "Excuse me?" He questioned softly.
"You heard me." Shino spoke, still in a quiet tone of voice so the other two didn't hear from the other room. "I know your planning something big. We all do. But never did I think you'd actually use your own Nephew as a mere symbol just for something like international politics."
The icy stare from Nagato continued for a short moment at the end of Shino's speech, before Nagato's expression softened, and he even chuckled faintly. The insect user frowned at that, not expecting the occurred reaction at all. "Sometimes." Nagato began. "I forget you are only just becoming a teen, Shino, with your great intellect. You still do not understand."
Shino's frown locked itself into place as he continued to mull that over. "Pardon?" He merely questioned.
"See? Even now, you do not understand. Understanding does not come from books, or academic literature, Shino. It comes with experience and practice." Nagato informed the twelve, almost thirteen year old. "This is the major downside to our world where child soldiers can become S ranks with enough talent and skills. They do not understand. Because..." Nagato trailed off as he crouched somewhat to look Shino dead in the eyes. "If you did, you would understand that by doing this, it not only helps my plans, but helps make the nation of Rain safer."
"By placing a massive target on his back for everyone to see?" Shino let out somewhat angrily, letting slip some of what he felt.
"No." Nagato responded instantaneously, silencing Shino at the quick and honest answer. "By playing the elemental nations at their own game. The elite department is classified to the highest degree in Ame, your three profiles even more so, with the only distinguishing features being the armour. It is hard to exploit that feature when the location of your squad is heavily restricted, and when any Spectre squad could have the jinchuuriki, hence the main reason for your joining of the anonymity-guaranteed section of the military."
Shino's face hadn't changed from its forced, blank expression, but Nagato could tell he was calming down. "And by bringing him here, your exploiting the unofficial tailed beast system?" He questioned, making Nagato evaluate him before nodding.
"So you do understand a little at least." Nagato remarked. "Even if Naruto himself naturally gets it better than you. Yes, by being here, it shows that we have a tailed beast, which should force the other nations to back off. And you need not worry at all about the identity issue, for even Rasa himself believes we've brought the seven-tails along, rather than the nine-tails."
That piece of information finally caused Shino to fully understand Nagato's plan. "And your going to unveil that misleading piece of information to the other Kage, as a show of power that you've somehow inserted a tailed beast from the upper echelons already into a ninja than a baby. Providing an instant deterrence rather than waiting years, during which other nations would seek to target them."
"Now you get it." Nagato commented as he stood back up to his full height. "Fewer nations will seek to stick their nose into Ame about a tailed beast if we show that we are already capable of deploying one - making Naruto and the nation safer as a whole. As I have said, Shino, understanding comes with experience and practice." Nagato turned back fully to the window, placing his hands behind his back. "So do not make the mistake of confronting me angrily on misinformed, personal topics again, lest we both then regret it."
Little did Nagato know that Shino took those lessons on board even further than he thought the boy would, as not even a twitch overcame Shino from the rinnegan user's threat.
KAZEKAGE RESIDENCE.
"Lord Pain." Rasa greeted as they stood in the dining area of the mansion that was given to the standing ruler of Sunagakure, an ornately decorated room with velvet carpeting and polished wooden furniture. "I'm appreciative that you could join me for dinner."
"It's a pleasure, Lord Kazekage." Deva responded as he gave a nod of respect back to the Kazekage. As always in the ninja world, no physical contact was actually made unless implicit trust was made between the two parties. That was not the case.
Th black armour of Spectre adorned the Path's body this time, as he simply passed over the traditional cloak to the attendant waiting to take it as he kept his gaze on the Kazekage. The two members of Team Beta who had come into the mansion remained in the living area with the remainder of the Kazekage's guards, as Naruto made to join his uncle in the dining area.
A jonin darted in front of him at that, a scowl on their face as they held out a halting hand. "Stop!" They commanded forcefully. "You will not interrupt the meeting between the Kazekage and your own-"
"I do not appreciate this blatant display of authoritarian power, Lord Kazekage." Deva spoke as his eyes narrowed angrily onto the head of the commanding jonin, whose face looked back and adorned a surprised expression at the speech from one of the leaders. "Just because we are in your nation does not give your ninja the right to so liberally command my own, especially when they stop the very person you specifically requested."
An expression of understanding overtook Rasa's face for a moment before it once again became the polite but neutral face he employed for more important people. "It's alright, jonin. They are to join us for the discussions."
The jonin immediately backed down as the order came right from their Kazekage, instead stepping back as they already were feeling awkward from being criticised by a nation's leader. "Yes sir." They complied.
The three moved to the dining area, where a small, furnished oak table sat in the centre - at both ends of which sat the two leaders. Naruto merely did as the squad leader of Team Beta had instructed him to do, positioning himself behind Deva and to the right, closer to the window. The room behind the door was handled by the two agents already in there.
Nothing was said between the two leaders as instead two waiting staff came in and placed two dishes of food in front of the leaders, before then departing back through the door and leaving them alone. Once a few moments of silence passed, the Path reached up and grasped the helmet, undoing the connectors in the neck section and depositing the metal device on the table. The purple and black eyes were revealed to Rasa, who shifted somewhat as he looked upon the sheer indifference displayed within the metal-pierced face.
"I hope the food is to your liking." Rasa commented, as he picked up a fork and used to pick up a slice of freshly prepared beef that was the main part of a fancily prepared, sauce-filled dinner.
Deva's eyes looked down to the dish, which whilst certainly an elegant and flavourful dish, was small - which spoke all about the attitude of the Sand to him. Wanting to appear as great hosts, but not wanting him around for long, he mused as he looked back up. "Yes, Lord Kazekage." He responded. "I apologise in advance if I don't eat too much, but I do wish to get right down to business."
"Oh?" Rasa mused, before nodding. "Then let us discuss."
"Very well. I'll raise the first point." Deva idly stated in a neutral tone, devoid of emotion as he was dead. "You have asked to allow farming of your own to occur by your own forces and civilians within our vassal state that was the former Land of Grass. We have decided to accept this, with a map right here of a proposed allowed area for your own farmers, provided that two conditions are met. That you manage the security concerns of all areas your forces inhabit whilst still recognising it as Ame territory, and to provide enough military advisors to train a division in your tactics."
"An entire division?" Rasa questioned, before tapping the table. "That is doable, but I would first like to see this map." Deva merely nodded at that as he withdrew a folded slip of paper from within a pocket attached to the armour with his index and middle fingers, before twirling it around and pushing it across the table. With a flourish as no kanji appeared on the paper, Rasa picked it up and glanced at it. "Yes, this is certainly acceptable. I would agree to your two requests quite readily."
"We can work out the details later." Deva spoke, as he merely flipped over a piece of beef on the plate without looking at it.
"After the chunin exams, I'm sure. You have your own talk with the Namikaze, after all." Rasa replied.
Deva's eyes locked onto Rasa's at the mention of the name, before a dead chuckle sounded out. "It will be brief, I can assure you."
Rasa gave a seconds consideration to that as he looked to Deva, before shrugging. "That is between your two nations." He commented, before moving onto a subject he wished to discuss. "Now, about the jinchuuriki...?"
A slight tilt of the helmet was the only visible reaction Naruto gave Rasa, as Deva spoke up for the both of them. "The Seven tails is here and standing next to me. They shall accompany me as part of my guard to the Kage Box, where they can be detected as you wish."
A grateful nod came from the brown headed Kage. "Do I get to find out more?" Rasa asked. Not hopefully, but he had long since learnt that missing an opportunity was more times than not more detrimental than being denied.
"Yes, actually." Pain stated, making Rasa lift an eyebrow, but he remained listening. "That you can request for them as per the policies outlined in our alliance treaty, under the section of trading ninja for expertise and temporary allocation, only if it is a direct call for help from an ally."
That made Rasa's eyebrow go back down as he heard himself being denied whilst at the same time being firmly reminded that they'd only allow the jinchuuriki to aid them if they absolutely needed it.
Deva did nothing, as Nagato himself smirked from the hotel room. It was just as Rasa had wished to treat their dinner - brief in their topics.
THE NEXT DAY, SUNA ARENA.
Rasa merely put his head on his hand as the elbow was propped onto the armrest of the chair he sat in, his eyes looking away from Minato to observe the fight beneath them. "You know how it is." He responded in a simple, casual manner that reflected how much he couldn't care for their topic of conversation. "The two major nations send their apologies for unfortunately not being able to meet us, given their own busy schedules - so on and so forth, like it has been for the past decade and more when it's not their own nations hosting it."
The Hokage was more of a tactful mind as he didn't join in with Rasa's criticisms of the other Kage. "I see." He instead let out.
Hanzo himself just looked to the Namikaze as he'd said that, but didn't add in any input. The only time he had spoken with the man was at the start, where they had exchanged greetings, and then remained silent to one another. Whilst Rasa and Minato had known each other for longer and thus could make pleasant conversation, albeit with an undercurrent of tension given that they were no longer allies, the lack of even remarks between himself and the Hokage showed Ame and Konoha's relations perfectly. Frosty.
The leader of Ame instead turned his eyes towards the ongoing match being undertaken on the arena floor beneath the Kage Box which was situated in the highest point of the stands overlooking the entire stadium. It was between an Ame genin and a clan heir genin from the Leaf - with the Rain genin wearing a rebreather themselves and having donned a wetsuit, which whilst would help with camouflage given its colour scheme, was only a layer of protection in the wide arena floor space. They would be a genin from the Second Army's fifth division clearly, who extensively utilised wetsuit equipment in the Southern wetlands of Rain.
The clan heir of the Leaf was an Inuzuka, from the red fang marks on their cheeks. All the Rain leader bothered to put a fact to the boy was that they were called Kiba, if he remembered correctly.
Hanzo didn't need to see all of the match to know the outcome. Although a genin in the Ame forces was trained to a much higher standard than a regular genin in a major nation's army, in this case, there was a steep difference. Pain had deliberately chosen strong enough genin to get to the final so he had an excuse to properly come to Sunagakure to meet his own ends, but that was all he wanted. The genin were to lose after that, for if they won and impressed the nobles watching, they would receive an increase in interest for mission allocation - and thus attention.
Trade was fine, necessary for a healthy economy which was crucial to his plans actually, but mission allocation was not. There was enough internal missions in Ame, and international bounties, for his troops to utilise for experience than playing bodyguards to nobles.
That was also to mention that a clan heir to a prestigious Konoha clan would receive more training than even a standard Ame genin. With their own budgets, hundreds of members who all held experience and skills, and guaranteed prestigious title as clan head that would be theirs in future, Pain fully expected his genin to lose here.
What he did not want was for them to die, as he leant forward as Kiba Inuzuka fluently disarmed the poisoned kunai from the grip of the Ame genin with a skillful strike to the wrist, grab the kunai out of mid-air and thrust it back.
"Stop him." He merely ordered, which was followed by an audible crack as Minato looked over himself, recognising the audible signs of a body flicker.
The dust began to settle onto the arena floor from where it had been massively displaced by the sudden appearance of a Spectre agent utilising the body flicker to instantly arrive between the two genin. No bias was shown, as with a forceful, armoured grip, both forearms of the genin had been hauled upwards by the superior strength of the elite ninja. The Ame genin stopped resisting from the defensive arm stance they'd taken as they fully recognised the elite departmental ninja with wide eyes, but Kiba did not stop struggling. In fact, he tugged with all his worth given the sudden interruption to his win.
"Oi!" He let out. "Let go, ya bastard!-" He proclaimed as he now used his free hand to strike at the armoured fist tightly clenching his forearm painfully - without regarding the consequences for striking at an experienced ninja. Before the punch even landed, the red lens of the helmet had blurred round as the Spectre agent responded instinctively - letting go of the forearm they clenched to allow for an unimpeded strike to the jaw of the Inuzuka.
Faster than Kiba could blink, in a split instant it went from just feeling the cool air on his arm to the very next split instant feeling the full might of a powered, metal encased dorsal side of the hand thundering into his lower jaw. The genin was back handed powerfully to the extent that he was lifted off his feet - flipping through the air and smacking against the side of the arena wall. Blood splattered from the impact point with the collision to the solid stone, indicating a skull fracture and a knockout as the Konoha ninja crumpled to the floor.
Silence reigned as the Spectre agent instantly recognised they had acted too rashly with their instincts, standing up fully and loosening their grip on the Ame genin. Minato himself had paid keen attention as soon as the elite ninja had appeared, before standing up as quick as the flash he was as soon as the Spectre agent's arm started to swing. The only reason he didn't intervene was because he could feel Hanzo's eyes watching him. Whilst it was one thing for a ninja to intervene in a match, it was another for a Kage to intervene - it would've started something with Hanzo he knew wouldn't be feasible for any of them.
That didn't mean his ninja couldn't intervene, however.
"KIBA!" Came a feminine, uncontrolled scream from the right side of the stands of the stadium, making Naruto turn his head from staring at his father to the commotion that was now occurring following the incident. A female jonin had flung herself down the steps of the seats, seeking to jump over the metal fence that divided the seats from the arena floor, but was stopped as two Suna chunin sprang from their guard posts and grabbed her arms to halt her advance. "KIBA!" She screamed again as she struggled ferociously against the two chunin, and after a few seconds managed to succeed as she threw them off of her and leapt over the fence.
The female jonin, with a snarling visage that was made all the more feral by the similar red fang tattoos emblazoned on her cheeks, stopped momentarily as she watched the Spectre agent let go of the Ame genin and sink into a defensive stance. "I'LL KILL YOU!" She screamed out in a wild rage. Two more Leaf jonin, elite level jonin from their appearances, body flickered next to her - as to whether they were there to help or stop her remained unseen as several things occurred.
The remainder of Team Beta hurried forward to the Kage Box's edge, a couple of them already seeking to body flicker down to assist their comrade, but were stopped by Hanzo's outheld hand. The metal clanking of their hurried steps was enough to alert one of the elite jonin, whose singular eye almost hidden under sloped, grey hair widened at the grim look on Minato's face. It wasn't just the way he angrily gripped the bannister, held back only by international politics, but the look of disappointment in his eyes too - that their ninja were now as visibly to blame for continuing the incident as Ame was now. But neither he nor Hanzo said anything, as they sensed they didn't need to as soon as Rasa stepped up to the mark.
"Enough!" He roared out, his voice carrying across the stadium and silencing all commotion, the five ninja in the arena floor certainly giving him their attention. "All ninja will now leave the arena floor!" He ordered tersely, eyes of steel glaring at the intruders to the sanctioned match, which was responded to instantly by the Spectre agent, who merely took hold of the genin and body flickered back to Hanzo's side. They immediately fell into a silent bow as soon as the gaze of their leader fell upon them, but nothing more was said as two medics instead raced out into the arena to help the injured Konoha genin. "There will be a short interlude as this incident will be resolved." Rasa finished, before turning his back on the stadium and its rising noise to slowly alternate his glare between Minato and Hanzo.
"I trust." He merely commented with a steadfast tone. "That this will not happen again, nor will two nation's animosity for one another again interfere in my chunin exams?"
Minato instantly wanted to respond, but was beaten by Hanzo who resolved the situation on his terms. "No, I can promise you it will not." His deep voice spoke out, rebreather sucking in air between his sentences. "I am withdrawing my genin from the finals, and will depart with all my ninja back to our accommodation. I have ninja to discipline, nor will I remain to hear of any more Konoha ninja wishing death upon my forces."
"With all due respect." Minato spoke out, having now stood to his full height and ready to defend his own ninja, but was interrupted by Rasa.
"Neither will I remain to hear this." He stated, before striding out from the Kage Box followed by four of his own guards. "Sort this out amongst yourselves before you come to blows."
The icy blue orbs settled firmly upon Hanzo's visor, before he merely let out a statement. "Your ninja was out of line, Hanzo."
A rasping breath from the rebreather showed the Ame leader's contempt for the situation. "And so were your own ninja, Lord Hokage. At least mine showed restraint when being hit from behind from a weaker ninja who should've known when to give up." He spoke. "I wonder, is it arrogance that fuels the hypocrisy of the Leaf? To not only go straight for the kill of a more defenceless genin, then go to strike a superior ninja in a show of utter incompetency, then have three jonin go down to start hurling death threats at my ninja who didn't even instigate the situation?"
A few moments of tense staring passed between them, before Minato sought to bring an end to it. "I will bring no complaint against your ninja based on the grounds that the instigation was clearly provoked, and then my own ninja acted in an unruly manner."
"Acceptable. I will bring no complaint against yours as my own acted in a harsh manner." Han zo agreed, before finalising their conversation with only another two sentences. "But there will be no talks between us. I cannot trust our ninja to cooperate in any such non-aggression pact you undoubtedly wished to bring."
Minato did not bother to speak beyond what he already had, as he watched the armoured elites form up behind their leader and depart, before casting his glare towards his own ninja from where he stood. As if somehow sensing their leader's utter disappointment, the female Inuzuka turned from where she stood over her son to look into the icy glare of her own leader, and shivered. He had his own ninja to discipline.