What If Konoha Honored the 4th Hokage's Dying Wish
Chapter 13
The following day, Naruto was walking around the village with Anko and team 7. He wanted to spend time with his team before the exam and get a general plan of action. Of course, Anko saw them and crashed the party. This led Naruto to treating all parties at Ichiraku's, which now had an expanded menu. When Naruto told Teuchi about Anko's proclivities for dango, he immediately added it to his menu. He also got his liquor license and added a collection of sake, whiskey and beer to his menu. Then, Naruto mentioned to him how much Samui liked sushi, so he hired a sushi chef. The once bar stool restaurant was now full-blown and was constantly packed with customers.
After eating the meal and discussing the exams, while warding off Anko's public displays of affection, Naruto was walking through the village with his group and ran into Sakura. Sakura squealed and glommed onto Sasuke immediately, much to Sasuke's disgust. The Uchiha had been spending all his time training and enjoying the absence of fan girls. Then the Konohamaru corps showed up and spiced things up a bit.
"Naruto-Nichan! It has been forever since I have seen you. You still owe us, so I am here to cash in. It is time to play ninja!" His excitement was palpable, and it looked like to two behind him, Moegi and Udon, also wanted to play.
Sakura took a break from suffocating Sasuke and responded before Naruto could. "Why would a ninja play ninja? That's just stupid. Run along kiddos and let the adults talk."
This earned an immediate and ill-thought-out response from Konohamaru. "Hey, pinkie, nobody asked for your opinion. This is between me and Naruto-Nichan. So why don't you, your giant forehead and your flat chest take a hike!"
A demonic aura appeared behind Sakura and the air temperature lowered a few degrees. Before Sakura could lunge forward, Naruto and Hinata restrained her. He turned his head and addressed the group of kids. "Run, now!"
A chase commenced for the next five minutes. Naruto hopped up onto the rooftops with the others and enjoyed the raucous display. That was until Konohamaru turned a corner and ran into somebody. A second later, Naruto heard him squeal for help. Naruto dashed to a nearby roof and took in the scene. Konohamaru was being held up by a boy wearing makeup in cat pajamas that had a wrapped bundle on his back. Next to him was a beautiful kunoichi with sandy blonde hair and her hair done up in four buns. She carried a big metal bundle with her. Naruto also sensed an ominous presence in a tree across the road, but he would worry about that later.
Naruto used a burst of speed to appear behind Kankuro and he had storm's edge pressed against the boy's back with one hand. His other hand pressed a kunai to Temari's throat. Anko had also appeared behind the sand kunoichi and was placing her ample assets against her back while holding a kunai to the other side of her throat. Both sand ninjas were startled by the sudden presence of the two powerful shinobi. Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, Udon and Moegi had just rounded the corner to witness the scene.
"I would suggest you let the kid go. Konohamaru, if you are okay, apologize to these people and go join my team."
"Yes, boss, I'm fine. I really am sorry about bumping into you, mister, or is it missus?" The innocent confusion broke the tension and all Konoha shinobi started laughing. Temari was snickering, despite the kunais to her neck.
Kankuro was furious but he knew he was outmatched. He released the kid and screamed at him. "I am a man. This is battle-paint, Kami Damnit!"
Another round of laughter greeted the outburst. Naruto withdrew his weapons and said in a playful voice. "Can't blame the kid. It's not everyday you see a boy wearing his sister's makeup and wearing a costume."
The public shaming of Kankuro was now too much. The ominous presence in the tree appeared in a swirl of sand in front of the group. "Kankuro, you are an embarrassment to the sand. You, what is your name? Mother is wary of your blood."
Naruto knew he was talking about him. Kyu informed him about his brother Shukaku contaminating this boy. "Naruto. You can find out the rest in the exams. Tell the little tanuki we say hello."
All sand shinobi's eyes widened at this. Gaara directed the group to leave, and they left the scene without another word. After recollecting themselves, Naruto's group also split up and returned to their homes. Kurama had a discussion about his brother with Naruto that brought up some major concerns with Naruto.
The next day, Naruto showed up in front of the academy at 1230. He saw Hinata and Sasuke waiting for him.
"You ready to do this bro?" He asked in a cocky manner with a smirk on his face. Offering his forearm.
"Sure thing, Ruto. Let's go kick some ass." Sasuke replied with a matching smirk. Clasping Naruto's forearm firmly.
Both boys turned and looked at Hinata, "Um, I am ready too.. I won't let you down." Her typical reply made both boys laugh.
Naruto threw an arm over her shoulder. "You got this, Hinata-Chan. You have to believe in yourself more. You are way stronger than most of these other kunoichi. You have kept up with Sasuke and I. You have trained your ass off. So, believe in yourself, we got your back."
"Hn" came from Sasuke. Naruto and Hinata translated it into 'what he said'.
The three entered the building and walked straight past the crown of genin and cheap genjutsu. They maintained a low profile as they walked up the staircase to the third floor. They got a bit of encouragement from Kakashi before they entered the classroom.
Upon entering the classroom, everyone looked to team 7. There were 150-200 genin hopefuls that stopped talking and stared at them. There was a bit of killing intent aimed at them. Naruto and Sasuke met eyes before flaring their chakra. After breaking the effects of the paltry KI, they let off a sustained blast of their own. A genin from Taki fell out of his seat and multiple genin started panting. Most genin looked away and tried to avoid antagonizing the team further.
Naruto saw Kurotsuchi, Samui and Haku. They gave him approving nods from his display of power. He locked eyes with each of them and hit them with his trademark smile. He was about to go and talk to Samui when the rest of the rookie 9 showed up. Sakura squealed and yelled out to her Sasuke-Kun. The room broke out in fits of laughter when he spun out of the way of her hug. Sakura tripped and was caught by a green blur. The genin dressed in a green body suit and orange leg warmers gave her a blinding smile and an exaggerated thumbs up. Before he could speak, Sakura hid from his thick eyebrows and black bowl cut behind Sasuke. A girl that reminded Naruto of a panda attempted to pull the green clad genin over to her other teammate before he could begin moping.
Naruto saw Lee and a devious smirk appeared on his face. "Ah, Lee-Kun, my rival. Care to answer my challenge for these exams?"
An exuberant Lee broke out of Ten-Ten's grasp and sprang over to Naruto then gave him a thumbs-up, complete with a wink and smile. "Of course, Naruto-Kun, you are one of my eternal rivals. What is your challenge, my friend?"
"Whoever gets further in the exams wins. The loser must do whatever the winner says for a whole month, within reason, of course." Replied Naruto through a chuckle.
"Yosh! Very well, Naruto-Kun! I accept. May our flames of youth burn bright!" Yelled Lee in a jubilant voice.
During all that, Ino had jumped on Naruto's back and given him a big hug. She whispered in his ear, "I know about the CRA. It doesn't change how I feel about you. We will talk later." She planted a kiss on his cheek, which wasn't missed by the girls from Iwa, Kumo and Kiri.
"You are in quite the pickle, Kit." Kurama pointed out the obvious from the back of his mind.
"I know, Kurama. I am at a loss for what to do. They are all absolutely amazing. I know you can feel my guilt. It has been eating at me for a while now. What should I do?" Naruto thought in reply.
"Be yourself, Kit. Don't overthink it. Just be yourself and that should prove it to them. The whole point of them coming to the exams was so they could get to know you. Show them the Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze that I have come to respect. It all starts with these exams, so get out there and do you, Kit."
"Thanks, Kyu. I don't know what I would do without you."
Naruto was broken from his thoughts by a silver haired genin from Konoha that was talking to the group of rookies.
"I want to help my fellow Konoha ninja so I will give you a freebee. Name any genin in this exam and I will give you information on them. This is my 7th attempt at the chunin exams, so I have quite a bit of information that could help you all." The bespectacled ninja said in a sly voice.
The group looked around at each other, but it was Ino that spoke first, "Kabuto-San, I want to know about those two." She pointed at Kurotsuchi and Samui, who had been giving her the stink eye since Ino kissed Naruto on the cheek.
Sasuke cut in, "I want to know about the little redhead with the sand gourd over there." Gaara's scowl and spike of killing intent made the group of rookies take a step back.
"Kit, that is my brother, Shukaku. He isn't exactly stable. He was the first one captured and he hates humanity even more than I do. You can feel him fighting that boy's will, and by the feel of it the kid is barely hanging on."
"Gotcha Kyu, I feel the same thing. Bloodlust and an instability that points toward insanity. Is Shukaku that strong?"
"Nah, Kit. You would have a good fight on your own. With my chakra we could destroy him. I believe the seal is poorly done. I can't feel much separation between the two personalities."
The confidence in Kurama's tone reassured Naruto. "Gotcha, Kurama. We will look into the seal when we get a chance. I have many options from the Uzumaki scrolls."
"I appreciate you looking out for my little brother, Kit. But if he breaks out, we are going to give him a beatdown. That little shit never stops popping off at the mouth."
With an inward nod of his head, Naruto caught the information that was given on Samui, Kurotsuchi and Gaara. They were each first-time applicants, so how did this Kabuto character have information on them? Something didn't feel right with Kabuto, so Naruto channeled some of Kurama's chakra to his nose. The man smelled of snakes, which immediately put Naruto on guard.
"That is quite interesting Kabuto-San. However, that information seemed pretty generic. How about you tell the class about me? I will verify if what you have is accurate." The calm and confident tone Naruto used carried across the classroom.
Kabuto looked to Naruto and smirked at the boy's challenge. "Very well, Naruto-San. I found the information on you the most interesting anyway." Kabuto pulled out another card and channeled some chakra to it.
Naruto flashed to Kabuto and took his own card; in a loud voice he called out. "Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. Officially a genin of Konohagakore, but it is suspected …" Naruto's friendly tone died as he read down the car. How did Kabuto link him to Kitsune? That was a very select group of people. How did he know about Naruto's solo missions? This card was way too detailed for any ninja, even more so for a genin ninja.
"Spy." Was the single word Kurama used to sum up his thoughts from the lakeside in Naruto's mindscape.
Naruto plastered a fake smile on his face and made eye contact with Kabuto. Kabuto couldn't react in time as Naruto grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the wall. A shadow clone was conjured that grabbed a tag out of Naruto's pouch. The clone applied the seal to Kabuto's forehead. Naruto was about to begin questioning Kabuto, but he was interrupted.
Shortly after, a bang accompanied by multiple puffs of smoke filled the classroom. Ibiki Morino was at the head of 10 chunin exam proctors that were decked out in Konoha's chunin attire. Ibiki took in the classroom and noticed a crater in the wall. He observed Naruto holding Kabuto by the neck and watched as the shadow clone walked over to him.
"Good afternoon, Ibiki-San. I have apprehended a likely spy. In the event that I am wrong, I will take Tandi out for drinks on me." Naruto then filled Ibiki in on the events preceding his arrival.
Ibiki's eyes went wide as he listened to Naruto, especially when Naruto suspected Kabuto to be linked to Orochimaru. He thanked Naruto with a nod and ordered a chunin to get an ANBU squad. The ANBU squad showed up a couple minutes later. Naruto had removed his hand from the paralyzed Kabuto's throat. Kabuto's teammates were also apprehended and taken to the jail in the torture and interrogation department's basement.
Ibiki cleared his throat loudly to get the rooms attention. "Okay brats, listen up. That little side show was not planned, but you will deal with far worse in your ninja careers. So, find your assigned seat, sit down and shut up."
The genin scurried to find their assigned seats. Every team was separated by more than a couple seats. Once everyone was settled, the proctors placed a paper test face down on each desk. Nobody noticed a tiny puff of smoke and the appearance of an 11th 'chunin proctor'.
"Listen up brats. Here are the rules of the exam. This is a team test, anybody fails, the whole team fails. You have 9 questions now and will get a final question at the end of the hour. You each start with 10 points and will lose a point for each answer you get wrong. If we catch you cheating, you will lose two points. Each team will need a team score of 9 to make it to the next part of the exam. There are no questions allowed." Throughout Ibiki's whole explanation, he was flaring killing intent at the class. Most genin could be seen sweating or shaking a bit. "Now, are there any questions?"
An older genin of Konoha raised his hand and started to ask a question. Ibiki cut him off.
"Applicant 154 and his team fail. Please leave my room." The boy continued his rambling protest the whole way out of the room. Once they left the room, Ibiki began the exam.
This part proceeds much like the canon, so I, the god and author of this Narutoverse, will not write it out except for a few key details.
Naruto answered a couple of the questions on his own but knew the point of this exam was information gathering. His clone that was acting as a chunin proctor walked down the rows of students peering at the tests. The clone then excused himself and left the room. Nobody noticed that particular proctor was Naruto's clone. When the clone dispelled, Naruto filled out the rest of the answers. He finished in 15minutes, so he had a nice chat with Kurama.
"Thanks for the help earlier, Kurama." Naruto had appeared by the lake in his mind. "I would like you to stay with me for the next part of the exams as well. Kabuto being here has me on guard. If he is indeed linked to Orochimaru, why is he at these exams?"
"No problem, Kit. I wanted to watch you crush these exams anyway. The spy worries me too. I have scanned each person here and can't feel anything unexpected, aside from my brother's presence."
"Isn't a jinchuriki taking the chunin exams without prior authorization against the rules? Do you think GiGi knows?" Naruto's tone was pensive. Whenever Naruto was in a mood like this, wind blew across the mindscape like a stormfront. The sun in the mindscape was hidden behind clouds and thunder started rumbling.
"Relax, Kit. We will deal with anything these exams throw at us. If the snake is involved, we will deal with it. He can't touch us. Just keep your guard up and the rest will work itself out." Kurama's soothing tone was a far departure from the tone he first used with Naruto. As one of Kurama's tails wrapped around Naruto, the stormy mindscape faded away and returned to normal.
"Now, get out of here Kit. I was in the middle of sunbathing, and it sounds like you are needed." Kurama said in a firm tone.
With a squeeze of the tail in appreciation, Naruto took in current events. There were multiple teams on the way out of the room. Naruto picked up on Hinata's nervous behavior and saw her starting to raise her hand. He immediately flared his chakra and stood up.
"Bring it on, Ibiki. Anything you throw at me; I will deal with it. So, what if I don't know what your stupid question is, nothing will stop me from achieving my dreams. Not a question, not a jonin, not even a biju could stop me from becoming Hokage and bringing peace to the ninja world. So, bring it on." Naruto's proclamation echoed across the room and removed most of the anxiety in the room. The four girls that were falling for Naruto started to smile at him and Hinata's hand clenched into a fist.
Ibiki saw the shift and sighed. Anko would never let him hear the end of it for letting this many genin pass. "Very well, you all pass."
The outburst from the room made Ibiki smirk. If Naruto hadn't spoken up, he could have knocked out another 5-10 teams for sure. At that moment, a blast went off and a window in the room shattered. A blur flew through the window. The blur transformed into a big banner that was pinned to the ceiling with kunai and a beautiful purple-haired woman. The banner read "The sexy and not so single Anko Mitarashi. Sorry boys." The chibi fox playing with a snake in the bottom right corner of the banner made more than a couple people raise their eyebrows. Four heads turned to look at a sheepish Naruto, who was rubbing the back of him head while laughing sheepishly. All four faces gave him looks that screamed 'you will explain this later'.
"Alright, kiddies. I am Anko and I will be your proctor for the next part of the exams. Damn, Ibiki has gone soft. 78 genin left. You have one hour to pack your bags for a weeklong camping trip to training ground 44. You will be there within the hour or lose your right to continue in the exams. Go!"
Anko laughed in glee at the clusterfuck that followed her statement. Genin were trying to push their way out of the classroom. Naruto walked over to Anko and Ibiki.
"Ibiki, have the Hokage redirect multiple ANBU squads. I have a feeling that the snake is going to rear its ugly head. Now knowing that we are going into the Forest of Death, I believe Orochimaru will make his move there." Naruto put his hand on Anko's shoulder when her face darkened upon hearing that man's name.
"What makes you think that Naruto-San?" Replied Ibiki in a serious tone.
"Well, that Kabuto guy had the smell of snake's all over him. I believe that means he hangs around Anko or Orochimaru, the only two snake summoners. I have never seen him with Anko, so I believe it to be the latter."
"Okay, I will go see the Hokage right away. Keep your eyes open in there, kid." With a swirl of leaves, Ibiki was gone to visit the Hokage.
Naruto lifted Anko's chin, "Hebi-Hime, chin up. If he is here, we will get him."
Anko met Naruto's beautiful baby blues, "Thanks, Ruto. I can't stop the rage that fills me when I think about that man."
Anko's tone and emotions concerned Naruto, so he pushed on. "Anko, promise me you won't go after him alone. I won't tell you not to try, but do not do it alone. I am always here for you."
Anko took the three-pronged kunai that Naruto was holding out. "Fine, Ruto. If I find him, I will call you. Now, let's go to the playground." She gave Naruto a passionate kiss before they both jumped out the previously broken window.
72 genin were gathered in front of the flimsy fence that contained the monstrosities of the ominous forest. They had split up into groups, with the rookie nine talking to the Kumo team. It was Ino that cut through the polite introductions.
"How do you know Ruto-Kun?" Her tone was not the normal warm and playful Ino. It was cold and calculating. Her eyes locked with Samui. The rest of the rookies looked awkwardly at Ino.
Samui replied cooly, with a hint of challenge in her voice. "Ruto and I are good friends now. We may soon be betrothed though. What's it to you?"
Ino was taken aback. Betrothed? What had Naruto been up to? She knew about the CRA, but for him to be engaged to a kunoichi from another village caught her off guard. "What do you mean, betrothed? Why would Ruto marry someone from another village, especially Kumo?"
Samui gave her a shrug of annoyance in response. "It's a secret. Ask him if you need to know. If we are just going to talk about my personal life, I would rather not. It was cool to meet you all, see you around." She directed her team away from the group of Konoha ninja and sighed. She knew things with Naruto wouldn't be normal or easy, but this was a lot to take in. By her count, there were four others that she noticed. She guessed that Naruto was just too nice to tell any pretty girl no. She would talk to him about it later.
Naruto showed up with Anko just as time was up. He walked over to his team ang gave a fist-bump to Sasuke. He stayed with his team as Anko gave her spiel.
"Alright, kiddies. This here is my playground, the Forest of Death. You will go in as teams and make your way to the tower. If you can't read a map, that's too bad, figure it out. Each team will be given a scroll, heaven or earth. Your job is to find both scrolls and bring them to the central tower. Open the scroll while in the forest, immediate disqualification. Make it to the tower without your team, disqualification. You die in the forest, disqualification. Other than that, there are no rules. Now sign these forms and bring them to the tent to get your scroll and gate assignment."
The genin signed their forms and lined up in front of the tent. Naruto kept looking at a particular genin girl from Kusa. She was masking her presence, chakra and scent. Skills that a genin, aside from himself, shouldn't know. What concerned him was why would a genin be going to these lengths to conceal their presence? The one thing that Naruto could feel was a dark bloodlust radiating from her and she kept looking at Sasuke. This put Naruto on-guard. When he got into the tent, he created a clone that used 'henge' to transform himself it a fly and it rested on the roof of the tent. His team exchanged their waver for a heaven scroll and got assigned gate 14. When the final team was assigned their gate, the Naruto clone dispelled and sent the information to Naruto, who was waiting at gate 14.
"Okay, guys, my clone just dispelled. The sand team at gate 12 has an earth scroll. I say we head toward them and pick up their trail. We will grab their scroll and get to the tower. I got a very bad feeling from the Kusa girl, and I don't feel like dealing with that trouble. Hinata, we are going to be relying on your eyes in the heavy cover of the forest. Sasuke, I want you to hold the scroll. Everyone is gunning for me, so they won't expect you to have it. My clones will form a diamond formation around us for security. Any questions?" The command presence of Naruto really left no room for any disputes.
Sasuke took the scroll and asked. "Ruto, why don't we hang out in the forest for a few days and knock out as many teams as we can?
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Hokage-GiGi doesn't want me to stick out too much. It isn't exactly fair that I am in these exams and Kumo and Iwa know about me. If I affect the results too much, it could lead to political issues. Anything else?"
"Umm, Naruto-Kun. Why are those girls from Kumo and Iwa so interested in you?" Hinata asked shyly. Her hopes of being with Naruto were being dashed. Naruto was such a good guy that there was no way Hinata would be the one he chose.
Naruto gave a big smile and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, Hinata-Chan. It is a secret for now. You should find out after the exam finals."
Sasuke and Hinata were annoyed by Naruto's response, but they were used to the blonde enigma. Suddenly, Anko's voice came over the speakers and the gates flew open. Naruto dropped his resistance seals to level 3 and created 20 clones to be the mobile security detail. The group took off southwest toward gate 12 for 5 minutes before Hinata spotted the sand team. It looked like the sand team was grouped in a hollowed-out tree and planning.
Naruto gave some hand seals that said, "Set up, Ambush, Outside, Tree." His two teammates nodded and positioned themselves in a branch above where the sand team was grouped. Ten minutes later the sand genin walked out of the hole in the tree. They were immediately placed into a 'demonic illusion – hell viewing technique' genjutsu that Sasuke cast. Before they could break it, Naruto and Hinata hit them with paralysis seals. Naruto dragged them back into the hole in the tree then stripped them of all their weapons and supplies. Hinata found the Earth scroll on the nondescript sand kunoichi. Sasuke was outside overlooking the hole pulling security. After a couple minutes, they were all done, and Naruto spoke to the motionless group.
"Sorry about this, guys, it's nothing personal. I am leaving each of you one kunai and your rations. The seals will wear off in a couple of hours. I will put a genjutsu over this place so nobody else messes with you. Best of luck!" He finished in a voice that was excited and a little jubilant.
The sand team was allowed to speak after Naruto finished. They cursed the 'Konoha scum' as they left. Team 7 departed immediately for the tower and that is when Naruto felt a terrible presence.
"Hinata, eyes up at 11 o'clock. Tell me what you see."
The urgency in Naruto's voice worried Hinata. "It is that Kusa girl, 300 meters out and coming fast."
"You two, put cloaking seals up now and hide, please trust me. I need you to mask your presence and not make a move. I will draw her attention. This is the one person I didn't want to deal with. Don't worry bro, I will be fine." Once again, Naruto's commands left no room for discussion. Sasuke didn't like it but her trusted Naruto.
"If you are in danger, we will be there, Ruto." Was Sasuke's reply as him and Hinata activated their seals and shimmered out of sight.
Naruto saw them take refuge high up in the canopy overlooking him. He created two clone captains, had them 'henge' into Sasuke and Hinata, then applied the stabilization seals. He took a deep calming breath, released all gravity seals and acted like he was talking to Sasuke and Hinata.
Orochimaru was having a bad day. The genin team he had planted in the exams, which included his most loyal subordinate, failed to report in. He found out they were taken to Tandi before the exams even started. It was all that brat's fault. He was jumping through the trees and sensed Naruto and his two clones. He summoned a giant snake to distract Naruto so that he could get what he came for.
Naruto felt the chakra spike and sensed the giant snake summon launch itself at him. Naruto jumped to avoid the snake and sent a Kurama empowered 'futon - wind cutter' through the snake's neck. It partially severed the snake summon's head before it disappeared back to its realm. That settled it, this is Orochimaru.
Orochimaru in disguise sounded off, "Ku, ku, ku, to think a mere genin can one-shot my snake summon. I think I will…"
Suddenly, hundreds of Naruto clones popped in existence and began running around the battlefield. Some jump at Orochimaru, others launched kunai and shuriken, Naruto himself threw three flash tags and some left off wind and fire jutsu. It was all a big distraction. The real Naruto hid behind a tree, left a 'hiraishin' seal on the tree, created some reinforced clone captains to protect Sasuke and Hinata and then Naruto flashed to his tag outside the Hokage office.
Naruto kicked open the office doors and saw a startled Hiruzen and an on-guard Danzo. The ANBU guard was standing in front of the Hokage. "Forgive me, Hokage-Sama. A snake is the forest. My distraction won't last long. Need you now. Hinata and Sasuke still out there."
The Hokage jumped up from behind his desk. "Lion, Hawk, Cat with me and Danzo. Bear, go alert the ANBU commander and root operative codename Sai. Set up a cordon around the forest. Do not let him escape." Hiruzen formed some hand-signs and appeared in his battle armor.
Danzo simply nodded at his commands. "Sai will be in room 212 of the Hokage tower. Tell him it is an order from me."
The Hokage, Danzo, Lion, Hawk and Cat each grabbed onto Naruto. The room was filled with a brilliant yellow flash then emptiness. The six shinobi appeared among an ongoing melee. It seems Orochimaru had yet to deal with all of the Naruto clones. There were 10 or so clones left still putting up a fight while guarding the fake Hinata and Sasuke. The Hokage, Danzo, Lion and Cat surrounded Orochimaru.
"Well, well, well if it isn't my prodigal student. What brings you out to these woods, Orochimaru?" Hiruzen addressed his student in a taunting voice.
"Ku, Ku, Ku. If it isn't sensei. Did you miss me? How did you get here so fast, old man? I didn't think those legs of yours were good for running anymore?" Orochimaru's voice masked his hesitation. He didn't know for sure if he could beat his sensei, let alone his sensei and three other high-level shinobi. He tore off the face he was wearing and grew back to his hideous original form.
"Give up and come quietly, Orochimaru. We have much to discuss."
Orochimaru ignored Hiruzen's response and looked at Danzo. "My, my Danzo. Don't you look like a new man. Are you taking orders from the old geezer now?"
Danzo grunted at this but prepared himself. He saw Lion and Cat going through hand signs. Moments later, condensed shots of fire and water collided with Orochimaru's position. A collapsing heap of mud was left in its place. The group saw Orochimaru jumping through the canopy a gave chase.
Naruto grabbed Hawk, better known to the reader as Shisui, and took him to where Hinata and Sasuke were hidden after the group chased off Hiruzen. He could hear explosions and fighting getting further and further away. He hoped his gramps, instructor and fellow ANBU could handle Orochimaru. Naruto called out the 'all clear' to Hinata and Sasuke.
Sasuke opened up in a spastic tone, "Ruto, what the hell was that? That man fought off over 100 of your clones. I mean, look at the forest." Sasuke pointed to a destroyed section of forest that spanned about 100 square meters. Broken trees lay on top of other broken trees. Their canopies creating a world of chaos on the ground level. Fires could be seen burning brightly with smoke billowing up into the thick jungle canopy.
Hawk took this opportunity to throw some water jutsu at the fires and put them out. Then he spoke.
"Naruto-San, I am not allowed to help you in this exam; however, I will observe you until you get to the Hokage tower. Good luck." Hawk used shunshin and took up an observational position over team 7.
"Sasuke, that was Orochimaru. Don't know why he was here. Right now, I don't care either. We are moving to the central tower at full speed. We should be safe from the snake there. Hinata, eyes up please. With still have about 8 clicks to go before we get to the tower."
Hinata nodded and activated her Byakugan. The group took off at a quick pace and traveled about four kilometers before anything interesting happened. The group heard a feminine scream ring out and it sounded close. Naruto inclined his head to Hinatato get a situation report.
"There is a Kusa girl being attacked by a bear. It seems like her two teammates are dead. The bear is closing in on her." Hinata pointed in the direction and team 7 sprinted off.
Team 7 watched as a bear was charging a redheaded girl with glasses, who was trying to limp away. Naruto used 'shunshin' to get in front of the bear and hit it with a 'futon - great breakthrough'. The bear went flying, quite literally, into the distance where a loud crack sounded. Naruto turned around to the scared redhead, still holding the bird seal. He smiled at her and held up his hands in a disarming gesture.
"Hi, I am Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. I am not going to hurt you. It looks like Titan got you a little bit. Would you like me to heal you?"
The girl stuttered out, "Are you really an Uzumaki? I thought they were all dead."
Naruto nodded as his hand glowed green. "Yup. My mom was Kushina Uzumaki, last princess of whirlpool."
The girl's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe she found a living family member. Not to mention, her first cousin. "I, I, I am Karen U... Uzumaki. Daughter of Krishna Uzumaki, your mom's younger sister."
Now it was Naruto's turn to be stunned. He could tell she wasn't lying. Now that he felt for it, he could feel the unique density of the Uzumaki chakra. "Wow, to think I would meet my cousin here of all places. So, what were you doing in Kusa? Is your mom still there?"
Karen shook her head sadly. She told the group how her mom had died three months ago from infection and chakra exhaustion. Karen and her mother possess a unique Uzumaki healing factor that is carried in their blood. Their blood, even in small quantities, can heal significant wounds. The barbarians in Kusa used Karen and her mother as mobile healing stations. Karen lifted the sleeve of her shinobi jacket and showed team 7 the bite marks that covered her forearm. Sasuke and Hinata were pissed, but they had to put comforting hands onto Naruto's shoulder. He was visibly shaking in a fit of rage and blood was leaking out from his clenched fists.
"Karen, do you wish to return to Kusa?" Naruto's voice was distorted because he was fighting the influence of Kurama's chakra and it came through gritted teeth.
The girl shook her head violently in the negative. "Okay then. I am going to have you live with me. I cannot leave a fellow Uzumaki out to dry. I am going to take you to my house while I think of the best way to handle this. Please take my hand and try not to throw up."
Karen was confused by the last part but decided to trust her cousin. She took Naruto's hand and then felt her world spin. When she reopened her eyes, she was woozy, but able to hold her nausea down. She looked around to see Naruto's bedroom. There was a queen-sized bed covered in orange sheets. A painting of a fox hung over the desk in his room, which was littered with scrolls.
"All right, Karen-Chan. You will be safe here. I will leave a clone with you to explain things to Tsunade and Tsubaki. I have to get back to my team now. Ja na!" With a wave and a yellow flash Naruto was gone. Leaving a stunned Karen and a Naruto clone to help get her cleaned up and show her around the house.
Naruto arrived back in the forest where he had left his kunai a couple minutes after he had left. Hinata and Sasuke had taken up positions around the kunai and were talking about Naruto and the way crazy stuff always happens when he is around. They didn't even bother to look sheepish when Naruto chimed into the conversations saying it wasn't his fault. Sasuke answered that statement with an "Hnnnnn" and Hinata rolled her eyes. The Hyuuga equivalent of an exaggerated 'yea, right'. The group made it to the tower without further incidence.
Upon entering the tower, team 7 saw a massive riddle written on the far wall that basically instructed them to open both scrolls simultaneously. They threw both scrolls on the ground at 8:16pm. All in all, it was a long five hours in the Forest of Death, but at least they didn't have to spend the night out there. As the scrolls rolled open, a big puff of smoke followed. Out of the smoke came Kakashi and his orange book.
"Well done, guys. You finished that faster than expected. Anything interesting happen?" Kakashi asked in a bored tone, yet the lone eye took in the three genin's appearance.
"Well, Sensei, the test was easy enough, but we did run into Orochimaru." Naruto let that hang in the air. He wasn't disappointed by Kakashi's reaction. The lone eye opened wide as it looked to the other two genin for confirmation. Sasuke gave a frustrated nod. He was still brooding over the fact that he hid the whole time and let Naruto handle it. Hinata nodded as she looked down to Kakashi's feet. She was glad they made it out unharmed, she had no delusions of her chances against a Sanin.
"Well then, I am glad you're all okay. Did he say why he was after you?" He asked with a tone of incredulity.
"Nope. I flashed to the Hokage tower and brought them to battle the snake. Speaking of, is Hokage-Sama here? I want to know if they were able to kill or capture Orochimaru."
"Dunno, I will have to go check. You should all go claim a room. Konoha teams have the 3rd and 4th floors. Cafeteria is on the 2nd floor. I will talk to you all tomorrow. Ja Na!" With a wave and a swirl of leaves Kakashi was gone.
Team 7 grabbed a bite and headed to their room for the night. Sasuke sat and brooded for a bit before strolling over to Naruto and reading the book over his shoulder. He couldn't make heads nor tails of the advanced fuinjutsu book Naruto was reading.
"Naruto, is fuinjutsu something I could learn?" He asked in a hopeful tone.
"Sure thing, Sasuke. It, however, is an art that takes a long time to master and a longer time to learn how to use it in battle. Take the intro book for now and if you are interested in learning more, I will teach you after the chunin exams." Replied Naruto in an aloof tone as he pulled out a big scroll and extracted a fairly thick book from it. "Quick tip, the basics are the most important. You can never forget the fundamentals in fuinjutsu." With that, he handed the book to Sasuke.
"Thanks, bro. I will give it a shot. What level are you on?"
"Ten. I was stuck on eight until I went to Uzushiogakore before we graduated. Jiraiya only had the material to get to level eight. Why do you ask?"
"Just wondering how far along you are and how long it took to get there." Sasuke said and Naruto could pick up on the hopeful tone.
"Well, brother, I have been doing fuinjutsu since I was … four … I think. It is a long road. When you are ready, I will teach you the shadow clone jutsu to help speed up your training. Although you would only to make a single clone with your chakra reserves right now."
Now Sasuke was excited. He had wanted to learn the shadow clone jutsu. He saw what Naruto could do with it and wanted it to help himself get stronger, faster. With a thank you, Sasuke went to his bed and dug into 'Inro to Fuinjutsu – by Mito Uzumaki'. The group drifted off to sleep late that night.
The next day, Kurotsuchi's and Samui's made it to the tower. Kurotsuchi found Naruto in the cafeteria during lunchtime. She sat down next to him while her teammates ate at another table to give them space. Kurotsuchi opened the conversation.
"Naruto-Kun, when did you get to the tower?"
"Last night around eight. How was your trip through the 'playground'?" He asked in an attentive tone.
"Not too bad. Got attacked by some giant leaches, but we made some quick work of them. Then we ran into a team from Sound and took their scroll, didn't kill them, just roughed them up a bit." She replied.
"Oh, yeah? Which team?" He asked in a hesitant tone.
"A hunch back, some dude with arm cannons and some girl. They were strong, but we got the jump on them. I burned the hunch back pretty good with my lava jutsu. I don't think they will recover in time. We tied them up pretty good before leaving." She said while laughing at the memory of Zaku screaming profanities at her.
"Better them than my friends. I am glad you made it safely." He said while flashing her a sincere smile.
"Aww, shucks, Ruto-Kun. I couldn't miss the finals if you are going to be in them. Anyone else here yet?"
"Just the sand team with the crazy redhead. Kuro-Chan, if you have to fight the redhead, please be careful. He is the jinchuriki of the one tail Shukaku and he isn't right in the head. I have a plan for him, but I don't want you getting hurt." He took her hand in his while he said this, which earned a brilliant blush.
"Okay, Ruto. Thanks for the heads up. With ninja stuff out of the way, can I ask you a personal question?" Her look fell a little bit when she asked this, which concerned Naruto. He gave her hand a squeeze to urge her on. "Could you tell me about the other girls? I am not going to lie, I got jealous seeing them with you. I know I have to learn to share if we are going to make this work, but the unknown is eating at me right now." The sincerity of her tone surprised Naruto.
"Kuro-Chan, I am not going to lie to you. It all kind of happened at once. I am struggling with it as well because each one of you is so amazing and deserves the world. I will tell you that I planned on sitting down with everyone and getting everything out in the open. You know about Samui, she is the kunoichi from Kumo and is in the same situation you are. Then there is Anko, the proctor for the 2nd exam. She and I were in the same ANBU squad, and I recently removed a curse mark that Orochimaru put on her. We had always been close, but after that she confessed to me, and we love each other."
Naruto paused here to pull Kurotsuchi on to his lap, he could feel her withdrawing a bit from the conversation and didn't want to leave before he could finish. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a sincere hug before continuing. "Kuro-Chan, I haven't known you very long. However, I feel myself getting closer to you. If you will have me, I know we can make this work. Anko is very open to sharing and I think Samui is cool with it, which brings me to Ino. Ino and I have been friends since we were three and have always been close. It had never really been romantic until recently. When you saw her give me a kiss on the cheek, she said that she didn't care if she had to share, she just wanted me. I want you to know that this effort started in an attempt to help our two villages, but I sincerely believe that my life will be better with you in it."
He was whispering in her ear this whole time. Her head had migrated to his chest where she could feel the rhythmic beating of his chest. She felt so warm and safe in his arms. "Ruto, I like you, a lot more than I thought I would. Promise me you will love me, as much as the others?" She asked this with a tsundere tone while looking up into his eyes.
Naruto gave her his answer by placing a short and sweet kiss on her lips. "I promise, and I never go back on my word."
Team Samui entered the cafeteria a couple minutes later to find Naruto talking to Kurotsuchi at the table. Team Yugito grabbed some food and sat down next to them. Kurotsuchi's teammates joined the table as well. After exchanging welcomes and battle stories from the forest, Karui cut into the pleasant conversation.
"Naruto-San, I don't get you. How did you get all of these girls when you are only 13?"
"Well, Karui, it was never really my intention. I just stay true to myself. It all kind of happened simultaneously and it started after I went to Uzushiogakore. I will tell you what I told the Raikage, in order to honor my ancestors and restore my clans, I will need to take multiple wives. I will not force anyone into this. I will love each person that gives me the opportunity. I will love each of them equally. If I have the chance to bring a little peace to the world while doing that, then why wouldn't I try?"
The table entered a stunned silence until Samui did something extremely out of character for her. She got up and placed herself on Naruto's lap. She then placed a chaste kiss on his lips.
"That's cool with me. I am going to hold you to that, Ruto-Kun."
Kurotsuchi, not wanting to be outdone, leaned up and pulled his head to her. She gave him a similar chaste kiss and said, "Me too. You better not forget about me."
Omoi was shocked. He normally spun off into worst case scenarios. In his head, his imagination was going wild with all the ways this could go wrong for the intrepid blonde. So many different ways this could blow up and cause a world war. He couldn't pick one to say out loud. Karui, seeing the look in her teammate's eyes, bumped him on top of the head before he could start. The group enjoyed an entertaining conversation before splitting off.
Before they left, Naruto created a clone, disappeared with the clone around a corner and then returned with the clone. "Now you don't know which one is the real me. I want to spend as much time as I can with each of you while we have the time." The teams from Iwa and Kumo split off, each accompanied by a Naruto. Naruto showed off his skills in massage therapy, which Samui and Kurotsuchi took full advantage of. Funny enough, not knowing which Naruto was the real one made it easier to just accept his presence and not think about it.