Chapter 9: Chuunin Exams: Part 3

Naruto examined the scroll in his hands and yawned.

"Neh, Kyuubi," he said, leaning into one palm. It was a habit of his to speak aloud to the fox when there was no one else around. "Wanna go get some ramen?"

I don't care what you do, brat.

"Hmph. Be that way."

Naruto stared down at the letters on the page, eyes slowly closing.

A familiar giggle caught his attention. Wearing a small scowl, he wrenched himself to his feet and stormed towards the bath house down the road. He'd been nestled in the trees near the path, but apparently, Jiraiya felt the need to pick the hot springs near him.

Jiraiya sat cross-legged on the ground where Naruto knew there was a hole in the wall. Rolling his eyes, he strolled up behind the man and tapped him on the shoulder. "What're you doing, old man?" he drawled.

Jiraiya gave him a glare over his shoulder. "Research. What do you want, brat?"

"I'm trying to train," Naruto said, jerking his thumb in the direction he'd come from. "Your inane giggling distracts me."

Jiraiya's face shifted into something like a pout. "Go find another hot spring. We have, like, eleven of them," Naruto said.

"Maybe I like this one."

"Maybe I'll go somewhere else, then."

"Hmph! Do I annoy you that much?" Jiraiya challenged.

"Yes," Naruto deadpanned. Jiraiya faceplanted.

Naruto walked away. "H-hold it!" Jiraiya yelled, leaping up. It wasn't as if he wanted a brat around to impede his research, but…now that he knew Naruto knew he was his godfather, he felt slightly responsible. The boy hadn't even mentioned it once! It made him indignant. And a tad wary.

It was also slightly depressing and nostalgic to see the blond in a white hoodie that made him look just like Minato had as a child.

"What?" Naruto called over his shoulder, not stopping.

"Oi! Jiraiya the Gallant is speaking to you!" True to his dramatic tendencies, he had the toad he'd used to body slam Ebisu appear in a puff of smoke, leaping theatrically into the air to wrap its tongue around the boy's midsection. "Eh?!" was all he got out before the toad swung him back around. He skidded to a stop at Jiraiya's feet, and the man gave him a triumphant, trolling grin.

Naruto narrowed his eyes from his place on the ground. "If you're going to bother me…" He summoned two blue orbs to his hands, the pentagram he used for such actions glowing on the palms of his hands. "Be prepared to get bitten by a fox, ero-sennin!"

The occupants of the hot springs screamed and began fleeing in nothing but towels and robes as explosions rocked the bath house. Jiraiya came crashing through the women's side wall, slamming into the wall and grinning when his dizziness faded. "Hello, ladies!"

"Eek!" A woman shrieked, punting a stool into his forehead and running out.

Jiraiya groaned. "Seriously?"

Naruto landed on the part of the roof that was intact, crouching with his hands full of exploding tags attached to kunai. His eyes landed on Jiraiya and narrowed, even as the sannin pulled himself up with a smile. "Why are you grinning, you old pervert?!" He sent three kunai into the wall behind Jiraiya, as he'd disappeared before they connected.

The walls shook from the force of the explosion. "Say, those are a lot stronger than run-of-the-mill shinobi tags," Jiraiya said from beside him on the wall, rubbing his chin. "Where'd you get them?"

"Gah!" Jumping in surprise, Naruto grabbed for his katana, striking out at Jiraiya's chest.

"Geez! No need to be so stabby with that thing, you brat!" Jiraiya yelled, dodging backwards.

"I'm sure you can handle it!" Naruto retorted. He leapt to the ground to gain distance, dropping tiny yellow balls the size of marbles as he went. As he expected, Jiraiya followed, and he snapped, detonating them all at once.

He'd gotten so irritated he didn't even think of the damage to the cobbled ground and how much it would cost to replace it, only focusing on teaching Jiraiya a lesson. Perhaps he was annoyed his favorite author had turned out to be such a lecherous perv. Perhaps he was bored. The world would never know.

"Aaahhh!" Jiraiya skidded, jumping around frantically to avoid the explosions. "What the hell?!" It was a comical sight, really. Naruto snickered.

Water rained down on them, as his traps had taken out part of the outdoor springs. Jiraiya stood there, soaked, giving him a flat look, as Naruto was completely dry. "Okay, brat. The gloves are coming off."

"Are they?" Naruto snarked. "You're the one who started this, ero-sennin."

"Hmph!" Jiraiya crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air. "You weren't listening to a word I said!"

He's such a child, Naruto thought, twitching. Unfortunately for him, so am I.

He reached into his bag and pulled out a large red orb the size of a baseball. It had enough firepower to take out several miles of forest, but it was made to concentrate it to a small area, going up instead of out. With a hidden smirk, he took off for the forest, leaving Jiraiya to yell and start after him.

Naruto skidded to a stop in a clearing, leaving the ball in the grass. Jiraiya came crashing after him, still yelling, and Naruto tossed a few shuriken in his direction.

"Shuriken kage bunshin no jutsu!"

A few became a thousand. Jiraiya's eyes popped out, and he screamed frantically, evading the jutsu by a hair's margin. Naruto stared with a deadpan expression.

He raised both hands as they glowed, grinning widely. "Good luck, ero-sennin," he yelled.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. The next moment, Naruto disappeared, and the sannin jumped and looked around wildly.

"What the-?"

The orb pulsed, glowing bright in the clearing, and Jiraiya froze.

"…crap."

Naruto lounged on the rooftop of his old apartment building, whistling.

"That probably didn't kill him," Izuna said, sounding disappointed.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I would assume not."

Izuna gave a bland look towards the sun. "Incoming."

"Eh-?" Naruto blinked.

An instant later, Jiraiya crashed into the roof, screaming. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"Would you quit harassing me?" Naruto screamed back, swinging his feet back to the floor and stomping up. "What is your problem?"

"You're the one with a problem!" Jiraiya pointed a finger in his face. "Disrespectful little brat!"

"Yeah, whatever." Naruto attempted to leap off the edge. Jiraiya snatched his collar, dragging him back.

"Oh no no no no," he said darkly, "you have to pay me back for all the trouble you've caused!"

"Pay YOU back?!" Naruto shrieked, once again losing his cool. He seemed to do that a lot around the insufferable man. "You should be paying me back! You've made me lose a whole day of training!"

"Hmph!"

"Yeah, how're you gonna pay that back, ero-sennin!"

Jiraiya was silent for a moment before his toad popped into existence with a puff of smoke; he leapt onto it and struck a pose, grinning. "Simple! I will give you instruction!"

"What."

"Take you as my student!"

"No."

"EH?! There are people who would kill for a chance to train with Jiraiya of the Sannin!"

"There are people I would kill to get you to leave me alone!"

"Come on, you brat! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

"This is the only opportunity I'll give you to leave me alone before I send you into the next life!"

"Hmph! Be that way, then!" Jiraiya turned his back, crossing his arms with a huff.

Naruto stared at his back before shrugging and leaping over the edge.

"H-hey! You get back here! THIS ISN'T OVER!"

Naruto had been dodging Jiraiya for going on two days.

At first, he thought it must have been a pride thing. Someone didn't want a great sannin's instruction, so he was going after Naruto to help ease his ego.

And in the beginning, Jiraiya's doggedness did stem mainly from Naruto scorning his abilities and besting him in the forest. However, as his attempts devolved into trickery, bribery, and trying to convince him he had no other options that were better, it started to become apparent the man wasn't giving up. How troublesome.

"Maybe you should just train with him. You've lost a whole week already," Izuna said. Naruto ignored him.

First Jiraiya had tried to bribe him with helping with his 'research' (seriously, who would want to be that man's assistant?), money, taking him out for ramen, and then came the kicker. He attached himself to Naruto's ankles as he struggled to walk in the street, attracting a crowd. "It's what Minato would have wanted!"

"Why is this so important to you?!" Naruto thundered. "You haven't been around for twelve years and suddenly want to come be buddy-buddy?!" It was the first time he'd let his frustration leak out.

Guilt flashed across Jiraiya's face, and Naruto stiffened before kicking him in the nose. "That's all this is, isn't it?! You just feel guilty! You want to train me so you won't feel that way anymore and then run off so you can peep on women in peace and not be bothered by poor, pathetic me!"

"No! That isn't-"

"News flash! I've been fine on my own!"

"Just let me train you!"

"I said NO!"

"Please!"

"No!"

"Just let me train you!"

"ERO-SENNIN," Naruto screeched in frustration.

He was stuck, unable to pull the man's weight; he was nearly six-foot-three. Naruto himself was less than five feet tall, ninety pounds soaking wet, weighing over a hundred pounds less. A tick growing on his forehead, Naruto simply let himself fall over.

"Ha!" Jiraiya yelled into the ground.

"Weirdos," someone muttered as they passed by.

Naruto jammed his foot into Jiraiya's eye, making him let go with a yell. The two retreated and resumed glaring at one another, Jiraiya with one hand over his eye.

Naruto felt exhausted. Physical activity could tire him, but stress had always taken a toll on him. Suddenly, Jiraiya seemed to be asking much more than just to train him- what would training him entail? Did Jiraiya actually want to be a part of his life now? Was he only motivated by guilt? Would he run off after the exams and never be seen again?

Still…he could learn a lot from the man. Naruto had initially refused out of spite and a bit of childish anger, having been annoyed by Jiraiya from the start- but he was cooling down now. He hadgotten an autograph out of him…

Would you just go train with him already? I have a headache, Kurama groaned, paws over his eyes.

"Aw, come on, look at how pathetic he is. Like a puppy," Izuna piped up.

Naruto sighed, slumping. "Fine."

Jiraiya's face lit up, and he shot into the air, screaming. "Yes! I win!" He proceeded to perform a ridiculous dance in the street.

"On one condition," Naruto added wryly.

Jiraiya froze. "Which is?"

Naruto waved his hand to encompass the village around them. "We go somewhere I can actually practice with my bombs. Jiji says I 'can't blow up the forest'." He wrinkled his nose and used air quotes. "Because it 'causes trouble for people'."

A wide grin appeared on Jiraiya's face. "Oh, I know a place we can go. Hold on- do you mean you made those bombs!?"

Three Weeks Later

Naruto slid into the seat on Sasuke's right, drumming his fingers on the back of the empty seat in front of him. "How'd training with Kaka-sensei go?"

The exam had kicked off with an intro ceremony in the arena, where Hayate read off every match that would take place. Naruto was buzzing with suppressed energy, itching to plant his boot in Neji's face. Fortunately, his match was second- after Sakura and Lee's.

Sasuke's appearance hadn't changed much; he still wore grey shorts and a black jacket with innumerable pockets. The only additions Naruto could see were the gloves he wore with metal plating on the knuckles.

"He almost made us late," Sasuke said dryly. Now that he looked closer, Naruto could see there was something else he'd changed; instead of wearing the Uchiha crest anywhere conspicuous, he simply had an earring copy in his left ear. "The training was beneficial. What've you been doing?"

Naruto sighed. "Been training with my godfather. Jiraiya of the Sannin?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Another sannin?"

"Don't worry. He's nothing like Orochimaru…and I'm ninety percent sure he's not training me just because he feels guilty about not being around basically ever."

Sasuke crossed his arms, clearly unhappy. He was never happy with new additions to their group he knew nothing about. It was probably the reason there had never been a new addition to their group outside of Kakashi (and Iruka, but he had been there before the group and had immunity as Naruto's unspoken older brother). "I see."

Naruto sweatdropped. He watched Sakura do some warm-up stretches in the arena below. "He did teach me how to use senjutsu chakra," he commented. "He seemed put off I got it so quickly. His sennin state is imperfect, so to say."

Sasuke snorted in amusement. "Shikamaru told me the person you ran off with was seen begging you like a child in the street." Depression lines slammed down over Naruto's head.

"I…I know…all my sensei embarrass me sometimes…"

Hayate's shout caught their attention. They both straightened, smirking.

"Match is starting."

"Ready yourselves," Hayate called out.

Sakura raised her fists in front of her, wearing a smirk that matched her teammates'. "Don't go easy on me, Lee."

Lee appeared conflicted on whether or not to go all out against her or not.

"Match start!"

Sakura released the chakra she'd been building in her foot, making a small indent in the ground as she blasted forward. She slammed her fist into Lee's cheekbone, launching him into the stadium wall.

For a moment there was silence, parts of the audience going 'ooh'. When the smoke cleared, Lee got to his feet, rubbing his cheek.

"I see," he said, nodding. "Sakura-chan is a worthy opponent. I will come at you with everything I have!"

"You shouldn't keep a girl waiting like that," Sakura grinned.

The two dashed forward, meeting in a flurry of fists and feet. Sakura feinted a right hook, ducking out at the last moment so she could sweep his feet out from beneath him. He landed on one palm, using his ankles to hook her neck and flip her overhead. She landed in a roll, swiftly getting to her feet in time to block his punch with one of her own. The resulting shockwave created a boom that had the younger genin, not counting Sasuke and Naruto, staring in awe.

Before either one had a moment to breathe, they were back in the midst of a wild flurry of blows, trading hits and trying to knock the other off balance. Lee went for a palm strike to her shoulder, but she twisted out of the way, hammering her knee into his gut. He surged up, going for a chop to the neck, and Sakura withdrew, placing distance between them. Panting lightly, they examined each other.

"I never expected Sakura-chan to be so strong!" he exclaimed, the fire of youth burning in his eyes. "Please forgive me for underestimating you!"

"I'll forgive you," Sakura said, wearing a shark-like smile, "if we step it up."

She leapt back, shrugging off her jacket. She wore a vest beneath; it slammed to the ground after she'd unclipped the shoulder straps, making a small crater. Next, she reached down and shrugged off the weights on her calves, tossing them aside. Two more large indents in the ground appeared, making the audience release sounds of awe.

Ino had blanched, looking ready to faint.

"Sakura-chan! I never expected you to use weights as I did!" Lee gasped. He reached down and took off his own, tossing them aside in the same manner. Ino let out a squeak when a similar result occurred.

Sakura slid into her stance, excitement boiling in her gut. "Let's go, Lee."

They rushed together again, moving too quickly for the civilian and genin eyes to see.

"Holy crap," Ino squeaked. "What kind of training has Billboard Brow been doing?!"

"Taijutsu has always been her passion," Sasuke said serenely as one of Sakura's punches left a crater the size of a large horse in the stadium wall.

"Kaka-sensei taught her much of the technique she knows, but her power and stamina has been something she's been cultivating for years," Naruto eye-smiled as one of Lee's kicks left two trees leveled.

"She is doing rather well, isn't she?" Kakashi mimicked Naruto's smile, leaning over the seat behind them. The genin jumped, and Kakashi wrapped his arms around Naruto's shoulders, alligator tears streaking down his face. "Naruto-chan, I haven't seen you in so long!"

"Don't be embarrassing, sensei," Naruto deadpanned. Gai looked on with a sweatdrop.

Sakura panted, skidding to a stop and leaving deep trenches as she went. They'd been all over the arena, leveling everything except for a sweating Hayate. "You're good, Lee."

"As are you, Sakura-chan," the boy replied, pausing to let her speak, polite as he was.

"Unfortunately," Sakura wore a secretive smile. "I have to end it here."

"Eh?" Lee blinked, before a glint caught his attention.

When he looked closely, he recognized the glint of wires hanging overhead, attached to kunai that had been driven into the walls. Sakura leapt onto one of the wires, balancing perfectly, before running through a set of hand seals at a nearly indecipherable speed. "Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu!"

A hurricane of leaves burst through the air, surrounding Lee as he braced for an attack. They fell anticlimactically to the ground, and he blinked in confusion.

When he glanced up, Sakura was no longer there.

"Sakura-san?"

He looked around, but the stadium seemed to be deafeningly silent.

"L-Lee," a voice gasped behind him.

On guard, Lee whirled around, freezing with horror in his veins. Gai leant against a fallen tree, kunai and shuriken littering his body, with a disappointed look in his eye. "You weren't good enough, Lee," he gasped. "Our team is dead."

Genjutsu, Lee's mind screamed at him. Heart pounding faster and faster, he leapt back, folding his hands together and concentrating on his chakra. If he could just get it to slow down…

"Doton: Tsuchi Nami no Jutsu."

The ground tossed him forward, writhing like a decapitated snake with the wildness of the currents of the sea. Lee toppled forward, managing to get his balance before leaves began whirling around him at such a pace he couldn't see out of it.

Well, if he still couldn't dispel the genjutsu-

He slammed his fist into his forehead. Pain reverberated through his skull, and he gasped, stumbling back. The leaves disappeared in a haze, leaving only Sakura's fist in their wake.

Sakura's expression was hard as Lee's head snapped back, both of them hanging there for a split second before he hurtled back through a tree into the wall. The ground fell silent, having been cheering at various intervals, and she waited.

Slowly, Lee rose to his feet, wiping dirt from his brow. He raised his face to hers, and she startled at the wide grin he wore.

"Sakura-chan, this fight is one I'll never forget! You are the toughest opponent I've faced that uses a style like mine and Gai-sensei's Strong Fist!"

Sakura smirked. They were each littered with bruises and bumps, having used only their fists in the fight. "However," Lee continued, "I am not losing here!

"Third Gate, open!"

Startled, Sakura quickly shot through a set of hand seals. "Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu!"

A stream of water shot out of her mouth with the speed of a racing bullet. To her shock, Lee rocketed right through, elbow slamming hard into her stomach. She gasped, both at the pain and the sight of his skin, as it had turned red.

Blows rained down on her from every direction. Sakura was no stranger to pain, having had both Sasuke and Naruto as training partners for years, but she'd never taken a beating like this. Something like respect built in her chest- she could tell Lee had been hesitant at hitting her, but he was going all out.

It was the most fun thing she had ever done.

The crowd was silent as Lee pummeled her, making his way across the arena until a punch sent her sprawling into a pile of rubble. He panted heavily, hair easing down, skin slowly returning to its natural complexion.

"Holy crap," Kiba said, voice wobbling.

"The winner…" Hayate began.

A cough caught everyone's attention. Slowly, Sakura pulled herself up, a green glow surrounding her body, emanating from her hands. She took one stubborn step forward, slumping over and panting, but still conscious.

They stood facing each other, exhausted, barely standing.

"You are a worthy opponent, Sakura-chan," Lee coughed.

"You too," Sakura replied with a deep breath. "I might just have to date you after this."

Lee's eyes lit up. "Really?! Oh, the power of youth prevails!" He went into a Gai-like tangent.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "All right then, bushy brows," she smirked, leaning forward. "One final round."

He went serious abruptly. "Yes," he agreed, lapsing into his stance. "One final round."

The two dashed forward, fists reared back for a final punch. They slammed into each other, and for a moment, not a cricket could be heard.

Naruto snickered. "This is the best," he gasped out.

Sakura and Lee each fell back simultaneously, toppling to the ground. As they lay on their backs, Hayate went over to them and checked them both. "Double knock-out," he yelled. "It's a tie. Neither move forward."

"Darn," Tenten sighed.

Medic nin toted the two out of the stadium. "She did well," Kakashi said, with a note of fondness in his voice. "Even if she didn't win, she showed herself worthy of chuunin status. What do you think, Gai?"

He turned to the other jounin, but stopped when he saw the state of him, sweatdropping. "L-Lee!" Gai screamed, tears streaming down his cheeks. "You've done me proud, my youthful student!"

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. Naruto slid out of his seat with a grin, returning his book to the storage seal on his wrist. "I'm up next," he said.

A gleam appeared in Kakashi's eye. He hadn't gotten there in time to advise Sakura before her match, but- "Naruto," he said, a creepy smile on his face as he grasped the boy's shoulders. "Make sure to beat Neji."

Electricity crackled between Kakashi and Gai, with Gai side-eying him and Kakashi wearing a fake eye-smile and refusing to look at him. "I'm sure my student will win," Gai grinned.

"Hmph. Geniuses are overrated," Sasuke yawned.

Naruto started to sweat. Kakashi shoved him towards the stairs, waving with the smile still in place. "Good luck~" Kakashi called.

"I feel like if you lose there'll be hell to pay," Izuna chuckled.

"Shut up," Naruto retorted.

Notes:

1. Part I Naruto (aka 12-13 year old Naruto) is seen learning Sage Mode in the latest filler arc of the anime. This takes place in the Infinite Tsukoyomi I think? And is basically a what-if alternative universe where he had Minato and Kushina growing up. I assume Tuna Fish's version of Naruto, with how advanced he is, would be able to learn senjutsu. I don't know when Jiraiya achieved Sage Mode, but he also started learning when he was a kid.

2. Before you go calling Sakura OP for being able to keep up with Lee, consider: she's been training since she met Naruto, aka around 5-6 years old. That's almost six years of training to be a serious shinobi, instead of being as weak as she was in Part I of the anime. She's also had a few months of being under Kakashi's tutelage, and he was pretty serious about training his team to be a heavy hit squad. Not to mention she was training harder than anyone in the month before the finals. xD So there's really no reason, with Tuna Fish's version of Sakura being the taijutsu nut she is, that she shouldn't be able to keep up with Lee. If your only reason for saying she shouldn't be able to do so is "she's a girl", then get out. :P