We are back with chapter 11 dear readers and we are finally setting off with the big bad chunin exams. I hope you all enjoy it, because I've been planning some stuff that's gonna happen in this arc since the beginning of this fic.
Please comment/review your thoughts.
Hidden leaf village, Uchiha clan district training grounds
Since they got back to the village team seven was luckily excused from D-ranks by Kakashi to train for the upcoming exams, sadly he was busy helping with the preparations and some paperwork for the three of them to enter to train them personally but he have them each pointers on where they could improve given the short time frame of a single week.
Satsuki had been told to improve her Sharingan as she had just gotten it and it would be an invaluable tool.
Naruto had been told to improve his physical skills, while some offensive jutsu would be useful they lacked time and improved physical ability and taijutsu would make his clones much more useful then just worthless fodder. Naruto agreed but did find issue with the term 'worthless fodder'.
Sakura had been told to do the same as Naruto and work on her physical ability.
Currently Naruto and Satsuki were combining their efforts, multiple clones were engaged in taijutsu with Satsuki with her Sharingan active, she had also been trying very hard to master a new fire style jutsu within time for the exams, it was slightly difficult as the chakra it took was very advanced for ninja as young as Satsuki. While many factors such as genetics, physical condition, overall health and a giant cataclysmic fox held sway over one's reserves of chakra one of the most significant was age, while Naruto knew Satsuki had a decent amount of chakra not to mention the vast amounts he himself possessed they were still both thirteen years of age, as they grew older and puberty took its course their chakra would grow and grow until it reaches its peak when a shinobi is around twenty-five. Naruto didn't really understand but Satsuki seemed to know what she was talking about.
Honestly as Naruto spared with Satsuki, which was mostly her reading his every move and beating him and his clones down, he kinda missed the vacation even though he wanted to get back, the last few days were just spent relaxing and ideally chatting with his team, honestly, he'd like to go again after a big mission, maybe when all three of them made chunin or jonin, he could see why the first Hokage liked the place so much.
After they got back however.
Flashback mission office once team 7 returned to the leaf village
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*tick tock*
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Three genin, one jonin and one Hokage all looked at each other in an uncomfortable silence until the Third finally broke it.
"I'm not sure whether to congratulate you, or bar you from missions that have you leave the village in case this happens again." Hiruzen spoke, being extra generous with the tobacco in his pipe, he needed the extra nicotine for Naruto alone, not to mention the other three.
"Well it seems you've once again had a mission that has evolved in rank based on lack of information and due to the risk involved with two of you being captured and the enemy expecting you. I'd call this another A-rank, well done team seven, you definitely earned that week of rest too. With the prisoner your clones brought back Kakashi we were able to decode the ledger with some 'help' from Ibiki, we have sent multiple ninja to make arrests and investigate other leads, it seems you three are developing a talent for liberation." The Hokage chuckled.
"Well, I'll sort out the fine details with Kakashi, you are dismissed team seven." The Hokage spoke as the three left the room leaving just the Hokage and Naruto.
"So. How are they taking it?" Hiruzen asked, in all honesty he hoped to avoid the topic of Satsuki and especially Naruto's first kills for some time but it seemed this ninja world of theirs was cruel as always.
"Alright I think, they seem to be leaning on one another for support, Satsuki definitely had it more together then Naruto I'd say, Naruto was under the influence of the foxes chakra again during, but that may end up with him holding himself more accountable for his actions rather then alleviating any sense of guilt." Kakashi said, honestly he'd seen young ninja break into tears and just shatter at the thought of taking another human life, they were handling it okay as far as he was concerned.
"Hmm, that's good, unless one of them falls down and brings the other with them if they are supporting one-another as you said. Just keep an eye on them, she'll internalize a lot of her emotions. Its who she is so it'll be difficult to tell what's on her mind." Hiruzen spoke, Naruto and Satsuki were two of the most vital and promising ninja in the village, aside from being the only other ninja with experience with Sharingan he'd given them both to Kakashi, as there were few ninja he knew to be more reliable, even if his timekeeping could use work.
"I was wondering if my team could be excused from D-ranks for a week, they need some time to train while I sort out the paperwork." Kakashi spoke to the Hokage, making his widen slightly.
"Kakashi, I know they have potential but are you sure it's wise to do this?" Hiruzen asked, fully knowing what Kakashi's intentions were.
"Yes, Don't misunderstand. I don't believe any of them are chunin material yet, but they need the challenge, the push, these kids can't be stagnant, it'll drive them up the wall, I thought they may even ask me if we could leave the land of steam early. They'll go through the tests and they'll suffer for sure, but they'll emerge better ninja for it, trust me." Kakashi spoke, knowing that these exams could make or break a ninja, and he knew Naruto and Satsuki wouldn't break, not for anything, he was slightly worried about Sakura however.
"Very well, I'll allow it but make sure they all understand this isn't going to be easy for them, I just got the forms back, a team consisting of the Kazekages children is competing in the exam, they'll be strong, I have little doubt." Hiruzen warned, this exam promised to be one of the most tense in years, but that's exactly what Kakashi wanted, they'd either bend into better shinobi, or break.
Flashback end
Since then Naruto and Satsuki had been doing all they could to get stronger before the exam, Naruto had even dug out some training weights in the Uchiha's weapon storehouse which he'd been wearing every chance he got although he wouldn't bring them the day of the exams.
"Fire style:dragon flame jutsu!" Satsuki yelled as she spat out fire that surged forth in a more controlled line and then dissipated into a small blaze as I engulfed two clones but didn't burn them that badly before they were destroyed.
"*pant* it's power still keeps *pant* falling off, need to." Satsuki said, at the very limits of her chakra as she fell down, the original Naruto and a clone caught her and lifted her up, Naruto took Satsuki into a piggyback and started to walk to her house.
"Still need…to train." She mumbled weakly into Naruto's back.
"Well not like that, if you keep going like that you'll be totally out of chakra and be useless for a whole week like Kakashi-sensei was in the wave and you won't be able to take the exams." Naruto spoke, obviously he could keep going but Satsuki didn't have the chakra he did, and it wouldn't be the same doing the exams without her.
"Fine. I'll rest a bit but then I'll do more training." She spoke as she was carried back.
A memory of being brought back like this by Itachi wormed its way into her mind.
He was scolding her for getting hurt trying to imitate his training as he carried her back.
It was when Itachi was her awesome older brother who could do anything, before he lost his mind and murdered everything she loved saying he only pretended to care about her to gauge her power, saying he murdered everything she loved to give her true motivation for killing him, to give him a real challenge. What else was that if not madness.
As her memory bleeds over into reality 'Itachi' turned to her and spoke.
"I'll take him from you too. Foolish little sister." 'Itachi' spoke as Satsuki's eyes widened as she woke up in her bed, she looked at the time to see it was about half an hour after she exhausted her chakra, she must have nodded off.
She looked at the photo of team seven in her room, honestly she didn't want to get the picture taken, a moody look on her face as Kakashi ruffled her hair, a polar opposite to Naruto who looked especially happy, still on an emotional high from passing Kakashi's test. She found herself smiling as she looked at the photo.
"I'll never let you take anything close to me again brother." Satsuki spoke, even more convicted to slay her brother, the looming shadow of his crimes and paranoia of his further robbery of what mattered to her having the young girl in a vice grip.
She walked downstairs still pretty weak to hear the soft bubbling of water boiling.
Naruto had seemingly taken some initiative and was making some instant ramen…well she was pretty hungry, and too exhausted to argue she didn't want the ramen and cook something herself, man being wiped on chakra sucked.
"Hey loser." She spoke as she sat down at the table as Naruto turned to her.
"Hey you're awake! Made you some food." Naruto spoke as he poured the boiling water in the cup and waited for it to be done.
"Thanks I guess. I need to get this jutsu down, but it takes too much chakra so I only get a few attempts to practice before I'm tapped." Satsuki spoke, her done dull and full of exhaustion, he remembered Naruto ranting about the three minute wait time for the instant ramen to cook, she thought he was being ridiculous, didn't seem so ridiculous now, she needed foooood~.
Finally her wait was over as Naruto placed the disposable plastic cup of ramen in front of her. Satsuki eagerly dug in, if she wasn't to busy eating she'd be able to point out the irony of her digging into a serving of ramen with such gusto while Naruto sweat dropped at the display before digging in himself.
Satsuki sighed happily as her stomach was filled with noodles and broth, man she needed that.
"I'm supposed to be the ramen fiend Suki, not you. Although I can't blame you, it is the greatest food ever created." Naruto said chuckling at his friend's behavior, but then again, you weren't you when you were hungry.
"Shut it loser. Would have eaten anything." Satsuki mumbled into the table, face down in exhaustion.
"Yeah I get ya." Naruto said, chuckling.
Satsuki smiled at her friend's antics.
"I'll never let you take my happiness again brother. Not ever, I'll do whatever I have to." Satsuki knew she had a hole in her heart, she always would, but the small bits she'd managed to patch up, she'd do everything she could to protect that, lest that hole in her heart turn into an even darker abyss.
A few days later, team seven meeting spot
Team seven had been summoned by Kakashi, while Naruto and Satsuki wanted to do more training Kakashi said it was important for the exams so they begrudgingly went along, however they did show up two hours late because surprise surprise Kakashi was even later.
Sakura it seemed had not learned her lesson and had seemingly been waiting a while.
"Hey Sakura!" Naruto said waving enthusiastically with Satsuki saying nothing and giving a small wave.
"You two are late, you know." Sakura spoke as she closed her book, it seemed she was reading up on medical ninjutsu of all things, Satsuki had to admit Sakura seemed to have very skillful chakra control if the tree walking exercise was anything to go by, her learning medical ninjutsu may make very a valuable asset, that or genjutsu although now with her Sharingan Satsuki would surpass many ninja in genjutsu with little effort.
"Yeah and so is Kakashi as always, no point showing up on time for a person who is never on time." Satsuki spoke, she was honestly fed up with Kakashi's tardiness already.
"Oh you wound me so Satsuki." Kakashi spoke, suddenly appearing crouched on a tree branch. Giving a lazy wave.
"We still need to train for the exams, what do you need Kakashi?" Satsuki spoke rudely, in no mood for games.
"Well I'm afraid you're going to have to call your training there. The exams are tomorrow and I've finally officially nominated you three, here are the application forms. Take them to room three-oh-one in the academy building tomorrow before the cut off, you miss it and you're out, nothing I can do." Kakashi spoke, handing the genin a form each.
"Now it's your decision whether or not you compete, you won't hold your team back if you feel you aren't ready." Kakashi spoke, giving a subtle side to Sakura.
"It goes without saying but no more training and get a good hearty meal, good nights rest and everything, you need to be at one-hundred percent for this." Kakashi spoke, Satsuki huffed at no more training, she'd basically mastered her new jutsu but there were still a few things she had to iron out, but she knew Kakashi was right, she couldn't be lacking in chakra at all for this, whatever it may be.
"Well that's everything, have fun." Kakashi spoke as he left, leaving the three genin alone, they soon split up, Naruto and Satsuki opting to chat as they walked around the village.
Some time later they encountered Sakura again however she was a lot worse off, two people, a sandy haired girl and a boy wearing makeup and some sort of black uniform were standing across from Sakura and two young children, with a third being held up by his blue scarf, seemingly in pain.
"Shit that's Konohamaru. Old man thirds grandson." Naruto spoke to Satsuki, while she didn't much care who the kid was related to, he was the relative of her Kage being attacked, as they were ninja, duty dictated they should respond in kind.
Naruto took out a kodachi and passed it to Satsuki while he held one himself. They pounced from the shadows, Satsuki holding a blade to the girls neck, Sharingan active, ready for anything while Naruto in speed that surprised Satsuki held his own blade to the throat of the oddly dressed boy.
"Drop him." Naruto spoke, tone far more serious, inside he was quite giddy, he only wore them for a short time but his speed had improved from those weights he wore while training with Satsuki.
"N-naruto?" Konohamaru managed to speak out in a pained tone.
"Hey Konohamaru, don't worry, we got you." Naruto turned to the kid, speaking in a friendly tone.
Naruto had met one Konohamaru Sarutobi when he just became a ninja, he was a snot nosed little kid who wanted to succeed his grandfather as Hokage, however trying to 'assassinate' him with a wooden shuriken wasn't what Naruto would call smart or effective.
Long story short he told Konohamaru there was no shortcut to becoming Hokage unlike what his 'sensei' told him, some joke of a jonin whom he knocked out with his harem jutsu. Sure it was immature but it definitely worked on closet and full blown pervs, other then that, not much application.
Point is while Konohamaru hated living in the shadow of his father as the 'honorable grandson' he was still of direct relation to their Hokage, this was serious.
"T-thanks boss." He choked out.
"Wanna explain why you and your friend here are attacking a resident of our village." Satsuki spoke to the girl, she glanced down to see her headband hanging around her neck.
"Sand ninja? Aren't we allied with them?" Satsuki thought the hidden sand was a known ally of their village. Why would they be doing this?
"Hey I'm only having a bit of fun. What's it to you if some little runt gets a bit roughed up?" The man said, a sadistic tone in his voice.
"Because while he may be a runt he's still the Hokage's grandson, but we'd step in even if he wasn't." Naruto spoke, he was pretty clueless in the whole village politics department but ninja with headbands different from theirs was attacking someone important to the village, even Naruto could pick up on that major red flag.
"Shit. Kankuro let him go dammit!" The girl said to the now named Kankuro, she clearly understood they were way over the line, this could get them barred from the exams, Kankuro's shits and giggles was endangering the whole operation.
"I'd listen to your sister Kankuro." A deep emotionless voice spoke, all parties turned to see another ninja hanging upside down on a three overlooking the confrontation. None of them heard or even knew he was there, even Satsuki with her Sharingan, which worried her slightly, while Naruto got a really off vibe from him. Like really really off, like a sixth sense was telling him something about him.
"G-g-garra. Of course, hahahaha you know me, always playing around." Kankuro said as he instantly dropped the child who Naruto caught.
In a swirl of sand he appeared next to the other sand ninja who appeared to be his teammates.
"Please remove your blade from her throat." Garra spoke, Satsuki reluctantly did so, still keeping her Sharingan on all three sand ninja.
"Please accept my apologies, Kankuro happens to be a bumbling fool and a general embarrassment to our village, his actions present no ill will towards your village nor Hokage." Garra spoke, he was the shortest of the sand ninja but he was clearly the one calling the shots, with the enhanced perception of her Sharingan Satsuki could see Kankuro was terrified, cold sweat was forming on his brow, it was clear this guy scared him, no doubt about it. She looked closely at the three.
Kankuro was quite odd looking, with his odd get-up and face paint, what intrigued her was whatever he had on his back wrapped in cloth, some kind of weapon?
The Kunoichi who was apparently Kankuro's sister wore a white outfit with some mesh parts, her hair up in an odd quadruple tail style. She also carried a large object on her back she couldn't say for sure but it looked almost like a large fan.
Then there was the most odd and interesting of the three, he had short red hair and green eyes, he also had a blood red tattoo of the kanji for 'love' on his forehead. She looked to see that in fact the rings around his eyes was not just makeup, it was there to hide the immense bags she noticed, even while being that sleep deprived his teammates were still scared of him? He wore a plain looking outfit for someone from a desert Satsuki supposed, it seemed this team liked wearing stuff on their back as this Gaara had a gourd made of seemingly sandstone across his back, his headband wrapped around the strap. Satsuki also noticed that Gaara had a lot of chakra, maybe more then both of his teammates combined. One thing was clear, these three were definitely a team they had to keep an eye on in the exams.
"Yep hahahaha. Village idiot me, no hard feelings?" Kankuro said, chuckling nervously. Inwardly he was terrified, if he screwed up the mission by getting them thrown out of the exams dad would kill him, that's if his psychotic little brother didn't do it for him first.
"Please excuse us. Kankuro, Temari, let's go." Gaara said as he walked away with his team obeying orders. They knew better then to talk back.
"Wait, just who are you? It's obvious you're here for the chunin exams." Satsuki spoke, information could be a ninja's greatest weapon and having info about these three or more specifically Gaara would definitely be useful.
"I am Garra, of the desert. I'm curious about you two as well, you and the blonde one." Garra spoke emotionlessly as he seemingly always did pointing at them.
"I'm Satsuki. Satsuki Uchiha." Satsuki spoke, placing a tone of pride on the word 'Uchiha' as she always did.
Naruto sheathed his blade across the bottom of his back where he kept them.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, I guess I'll see you all in the exams." Naruto spoke, still quite wary of these guys, that Gaara guy still felt off.
"I see. Uchiha…and Uzumaki, I'll be keeping an eye on you two." Gaara spoke, seemingly having the same thought train as Satsuki.
The tension now broken as the sand team left Satsuki tossed Naruto his other blade back which he quickly sheathed like its double.
"Man, thanks you guys, I was really worried there." Sakura was clearly quite stressed out by the situation.
"It's no worries, those guys are definitely ones to look out for." Satsuki spoke, turning to Sakura, Konohamaru and his two friends.
"I was just asking your teammates if she'd seen you Boss, then I may have accidentally ran into that guy. Why are sand ninja here anyway?" Konohamaru asked Naruto, he knew there were sand ninja as Iruka had just given a lesson on other nations' ninjas and what headbands they wore.
"They are probably here for the chunin exams right?" Naruto asked his two female teammates and they both nodded, no other reason for foreign ninja, even from an allied village to be here.
"A chunin exam? What's that?" Konohamaru asked Naruto with his two friends nodding at Konohamaru's question.
"Well it's an exam they hold twice a year apparently to decide who will be a chunin, we are all taking it too." Naruto answered, looking proud of himself.
"Really you're gonna be a chunin boss?" Konohamaru asked, eyes bright along with the other two.
"Well all three of us hopefully. Also who are your friends?" Naruto said giddy, having gaith in their ability to pass these exams but also wondering who the young girl and the kid with glasses were.
What entailed was a childish introduction with too many smoke bombs introducing Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon as the 'Konohamaru ninja squad' complete with poses. The secondhand embarrassment team seven had was immense.
"Naruto, you didn't tell me you were starting a shinobi circus with these three?" Satsuki said with a mocking smirk, taking a friendly jab at Naruto.
"Oh shut up!" Naruto said loudly back to her, while he appreciated how Konohamaru seemingly idolized him now he could be less embarrassing about it, they had even gotten copys of the goggles he used to wear before he got his headband.
"Woah is this another member of your team boss? Is she your girlfriend? I asked the pink one and she just tried to hit me." Konohamaru said with zero tact.
"G-g-g-girlfriend?!" Satsuki stammered out quite shocked by the implication, she and Naruto blushing up a storm.
"You little!" Naruto and Satsuki repeated at the same time, both their shock at the statement giving way to anger. I mean the idea that they would like each other like that?! Utterly nonsensical. I mean sure Satsuki had some moments where she was really cool and kinda pretty and yes Satsuki knew that underneath all the idiocy there was a skilled ninja that was reliable and treated her like a normal person, but to be interested romantically in that person?! never!
What entailed was a very short chase of Naruto and Satsuki hunting down the feeling Konohamaru and leaving him hanging underside down from a tree covered in neon pink paint supplied by Naruto with a hat that read 'dunce' attached to his head with shinobi grade chakra adhesive.
Afterwards, Naruto and Satsuki admired their work and smiled.
"I mean what an idiot. Saying something like that." Satsuki spoke, a light dusting of pink on her cheeks as she thought about what he said.
"Yeah I mean you'd never." Naruto agreed, his tone growing more nervous as his words trailed off into inward thoughts.
"Never what?" Satsuki asked him, not exactly sure what Satsuki was getting at.
"Well you're not the type to care about romance or anything like that, your so focused, so kinda impressive." Naruto spoke, meaning his words as a compliment.
"Yeah! I mean I would never…care about any of that stuff." Satsuki said, trailing off with her words near the end, knowing it was a lie, when she had move of her family home to another house in the Uchiha district, the memories were just too much, she'd found her mother had a collection of romance novels, they were pretty cheesy…Not that she'd enjoyed them! Or read them! Shut up loser!
After admiring their handy work or a while longer they walked off leaving Konohamaru to his punishment, they idly chatting about all sorts of things, mainly theories about the exams, Naruto hoped it some some kind of battle exam where he could really show his skills, Satsuki affirmed that it most likely would have something like that but may also have a written part, that stopped Naruto dead in his tracks as a feeling of dread washed over him at the thought of a written exam, the only reason he did so well in the academy exam was because he'd taken it twice before so he had some idea of what the questions would be about. But oh God what if he totally bombed it on his written scores.
"Oi?! Earth to loser?!" Satsuki spoke as she snapped her fingers in front of his face as Naruto was frozen in his internal panic.
"I swear I can't even with you sometimes, Naruto. You can be helpful one minute and the Kage of the hidden moron village the next." Satsuki muttered under her breath as the stunned Naruto just stood there.
"Well then maybe I'll just alleviate you of his burden." a sinister gravely voice spoke, Satsuki turned to see a masked ninja, she could only see his blank white eyes but he had a metal plate woven into his hat, it was the mark of the hidden rain.
"Just what's your business?!" Satsuki spoke, as she shifted her stance to a more ready position, her kunailess hand itching to draw steel.
"Well I'd like to weed out some of the competition!" The masked rain ninja spoke, punctuating his final word as he swung what looked like an umbrella only for it to launch a hail of senbon at Satsuki and Naruto.
"Oh I'm definitely not doing this again!" Satsuki shouted in her mind as her Sharingan flared to life, she channeled chakra into her body, grabbed Naruto breaking him out of his daze and leaped, easily dodging all the senbon, getting riddled with senbon sucked, she'd like avoid it if at all possible going forward.
"Wha?!" Naruto said snapping out of his trance of dread he he realized Satsuki was carrying him through the air with her Sharingan active, he instantly understood she wouldn't do so without reason and looked to see the masked ninja with a plate that signified he wasn't from their village, he wasn't such what village those lines represented but it definitely wasn't the leaf, and if the senbon Satsuki had just gotten them away from was any indicator, he wasn't a friend.
"Thanks, Satsuki. What's this guy's deal?" Naruto spoke as he got out of her grip and drew both kodachi while Satsuki drew a kunai.
"All this rain ninja bastard said was he was weeding out the competition, so it looks like he knows he can't beat us in the exams." Satsuki smirked, not only had Naruto and Satsuki brought down chunin together but if this guy was attacking them outside of the exam that meant he knew he couldn't beat them in the exam, in other words, he was afraid of them.
"I'll use clones, get you an opening." Naruto spoke and Satsuki nodded, with her Sharingan, she wouldn't miss any opening Naruto gave her.
"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto yelled as ten clones formed totalling eleven Naruto's in all.
"Shadow clones huh? Well that's quite an advanced jutsu for a little brat like yourself, but zero multiplied is still zero." The rain ninja spoke cruelly as he swiped his umbrella again launching more senbon at the Naruto's, while most of them managed to dodge and deflect the needles two were popped but the remaining nine Naruto's were closing distance, the recent physical conditioning he undertook while helping Satsuki train improving his speed.
"Fine then. Take this!" The rain ninja spoke as he tossed his umbrella into the sky and doing a quick hand sign, the umbrella unfurled and unleashed and unending shower of senbon over the clearing, there was no way they could dodge them all, not even Satsuki with her Sharingan.
"Satsuki! Shadow clone jutsu!" The original Naruto yelled as he rushed back to her, the image of Satsuki entering a death like state in his arms, covered in senbon and blood flashing in his mind, like hell he'd let that happen again. About forty Naruto's appeared surrounding Satsuki and the original Naruto, forming a shield of shadow clones, they took blows and deflected senbon until the senbon rain stopped, Naruto had successfully defended them both from harm. Multiple clones popped in that moment filling the clearing with smoke and while said was laced slightly with chakra and thus was effective in obscuring Satsuki's vision she knew where in the smoke screen the rain ninja was. So she channeled a burst of chakra into her feet and took full advantage of the opening.
Satsuki burst through the smoke making the rain ninjas eyes open in surprise, only for Naruto to be following her, holding some ninja wire between the two of them, they moved in unison, Satsuki kicking the rain ninja into a tree and they both wrapped the masked man up again the tree, the thin yet incredibly strong metal wire digging into the ninja slightly, definitely causing a level of discomfort.
"Well well. Looks like you have some talent after all." The rain ninja spoke, His voice a bit different as Satsuki's kick had broken his nose.
"Give us one reason why we shouldn't either kill you or drag you before the Hokage for attacking leaf ninja when you're meant to be a guest?" Satsuki said threateningly, holding a kunai to his throat.
"Well I didn't wanna do this but you two really have come far." The rain ninja spoke and in a puff of smoke there stood Iruka, complete with broken nose.
"Wha?! Iruka sensei?!" Naruto shouted seeing their academy instructor and someone very close to Naruto standing there.
Satsuki took the kunai away from his throat and deactivated her Sharingan upon seeing it was Iruka.
"Start talking." She said harshly, not releasing him from the ninja wire just yet.
"Alright. I objected to Kakashi recommending you three for the exams, you're all gonna be amazing ninja one day but I didn't think you'd grown as rapidly as Kakashi said so I tested you, and you completely manhandled me. Guess I should have had more faith in you guys. I'm sorry." Iruka spoke, he knew Naruto and Satsuki were amazing but the biggest thing he knew about them from their academy days is that they were like oil and water, they could never work together in tandem, yet they'd instantly proven him wrong, working together beautifully in order to capture him, true he hadn't really been trying to hurt them at all but even still they'd made it out without a scratch.
Accepting his answer, Satsuki loosened the wire, setting Iruka free.
The first thing he did was clutch his nose and cracked it back into place.
"Motherfucker." Iruka whispered under his breath at the sharp stab of pain from setting his nose.
"Well, you two are more then ready. Good luck in the exams." Iruka said as he turned to leave only for Naruto to interrupt him.
"How did Sakura do?" He asked the man, causing Iruka to smile.
"Better then you might think." Iruka answered them, while Naruto and Satsuki had come the furthest the little bookworm who was only obsessed with the glamor of being a kunoichi was beginning to come out of her shell.
About half an hour prior with Sakura
Sakura was reading a textbook in a training ground, with the upcoming chunin exams it was important she was ready…or was there even any point, Kakashi sensei said these exams were very dangerous, was she ready? Maybe it was better she just let Naruto and Satsuki go ahead and left herself out of it.
She had a downcast look at her textbook, it was about emergency first aid if a proper medical ninja or the on hand medical ninja was out of chakra, she thought it could come in handy in the test, she still thought about how Satsuki was placed into that near death state and it was only by luck that her removal of the senbon saved her, it would have been easy for her to accidentally truly kill Satsuki. Not only that, he felt…right, bringing her back like that, performing first aid to a member of her team, ever since then she'd dived into researching about the role of a medical ninja, technically all teams were required to have a medical specialist,or at least someone slightly knowledgeable in first aid, although it seemed Kakashi-sensei circumvented that requirement with Tanba, his medic dog.
"Oi! Sakura!" A voice yelled out, Sakura looked up to see Satsuki walking over to her, no readable expression on her face.
"Satsuki?! What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, standing up and walking over to her fellow female teammate..
"I need to talk to you, it's important." She spoke, voice betraying no emotion.
"Important? What is it.?" Sakura questioned, eager to listen to anything the kunoichi she idolized said.
"The chunin exams. You shouldn't enter." She spoke harshly, making Sakura's eyes widen and face fall.
"W-what do you mean? Why tell me this?!" Sakura said, as her voice quivered slightly, did Satsuki have no faith in her at all?
"The exams are dangerous, people die in them and I don't think you're fully ready to undertake them like me and Naruto are. I value you as a kunoichi and teammat-." Satsuki went on to explain, only near the end of her sentence for Sakura to cut her off by throwing a kunai that cut her cheek.
"S-sakura?! What the hell?!" 'Satsuki' yelled in shock at the girl's attack.
"Oh please, you're terrible, Satsuki would never admit she valued me as a comrade or as a kunoichi, I mean she and Naruto are somehow friends now, yet she constantly calls him a loser, your transformation skills need serious work." Sakura proclaimed in confidence as she pointed at the fake Satsuki.
"You little." 'Satsuki' spoke as she clutched her cheek. In a poof of smoke a masked ninja appeared in Satsuki's place, his facemask slightly ripped from the kunai Sakura threw at him.
"A rain ninja?" Sakura thought as she saw the metal plate depicting four raindrops on his hat.
He weaved some hand signs and the area around them became covered in a mist as her vision blurred slightly.
"Sakura!" A familiar voice shouted as two handfuls of shuriken were launched at the rain ninja making him jump back onto a tree branch.
Satsuki then jumped down in front of her standing between him and Sakura.
"You bastard, going around and impersonating me! Stay out of this Sakura!" Satsuki spoke harshly as she clashed with the rain ninja, until he caught her off guard and used his umbrella ninja tool to rain down a storm of kunai upon Satsuki, putting her in a similar state to how she was on the bridge and Kakashi-sensei's genjutsu.
"Wait, that's it! My vision blurring and Satsuki going down that easily must mean that it wasn't some sort of mist jutsu but a genjutsu!" Sakura thought as she figured it out.
"Now you better not show up for the chunin exams tomorrow or the same will happen to you." The rain ninja spoke darkly as he pointed as he grabbed a second umbrella on his back threateningly.
"What? Nothing at all?" Dakura smirked as he expertly flared her chakra and the image of a dying Satsuki disappeared, now that she thought about it, she also couldn't smell anything from the bloodied illusion, back on the bridge there was definitely a coppery stink in the air from the battling, she'd have to remember that.
"So you even saw through my genjutsu? Huh." Well maybe you'll make the exams more interesting." The rain ninja spoke as he dodged a kunai Sakura threw and threw down a smoke bomb, disappearing before Sakura could give a follow up attack.
"While I may not be as strong as Satsuki or Naruto yet, I'm a ninja in my own right, I won't back down." Sakura said forcefully, looking at the slight discoloration on her shoulder where she sustained her wound, it didn't stop her, some simple illusions wouldn't either.
"Hmm, it seems you're growing too, Sakura." Iruka thought as he transformed back into himself and left to track down Naruto and Satsuki.
End minor flashback
"Well, it seems the days of me teaching you things are long over, I'm very excited to see how you three do in the exams. But all the warnings about how dangerous they are aren't a joke, I don't think we've ever had a chunin exam in all my time competing or onlooking without at least one casualty, be careful." Iruka spoke, his tone deadly serious.
"Got it." Satsuki said simply, she understood the risks, but she needed to keep pushing herself, lest she stagnate.
"Don't worry Iruka-sensei. We'll ace this thing." Naruto said enthusiastically.
Him and Satsuki then left their academy sensei who waved them off.
"You say that. But Neji's competing, he may have even more talent then you do, Satsuki." Iruka said to himself, while Neji was definitely not his favorite student, that privilege belonged to Naruto, Neji might be the best student he'd ever taught, it was hard to say who was better, Neji or Satsuki as they both got a perfect one hundred percent on their exams, but Neji had a whole year under Guy, his already masterful taijutsu was definitely even more potent now.
The next day
It was early in the day that Satsuki let Naruto into the Uchiha clan district and headed straight over to the supplies warehouse. During the downtime in their training, mainly Satsuki having to rest in order to restore her chakra, Satsuki had introduced Naruto to the beauty of storage seals, she said she'd been meaning to learn how to use them for some time now she had Naruto learn with her.
From what Naruto understood, a storage seal was some kinda large space, contained in some special squiggles of writing using special ink. He didn't really get how it worked but it allowed him to store a large amount of stuff in a small and light scroll, normally Naruto would be unable to bring ramen with him on missions because they weren't 'space efficient' now he had no such problems.
Satsuki had been highly surprised when Naruto, even with his lack of understanding of the subject, had managed to grasp the admittedly basic fuinjutsu quite well, like instinctively well, is this what an idiot savant was? Either way they both quickly learned to use the storage seals effectively, while they were not fast enough to use them mid fight like some ninja did, for their current purposes they would be fine.
They both loaded up two scrolls worth of items, one for food and other survival supplies and the other for weaponry of all kinds, either way both were set, Naruto also had a clone get two scrolls ready for Sakura, Satsuki was slightly standoffish about giving Uchiha supplies to Sakura, she got a small jab about how Sakura would prefer a scroll full of beauty products and not ninja tools, but Naruto appealed to her sense of reason that Sakura having an abundance of supplies too was good for everyone.
They placed their scrolls in their pouches and headed off towards the academy.
The walk was silent, both too focused on what would come soon so make idle conversation.
Eventually they met up with Sakura outside the academy.
"Hey guys!" She said loudly as she walked up to them with a bright smile on her face.
"Hey Sakura, here these are from me and Satsuki, storage scrolls with gear inside." Naruto happily said as he passed Sakura the two scrolls.
"Really? For me?" Sakura said in wonder as she took them, while she had packed some essentials obviously, but there would definitely be way more gear inside a storage scroll.
"Let's go, I'd rather sign in as soon as possible." Satsuki spoke, walking towards the academy.
Both Naruto and Sakura followed suit as they entered the familiar walls.
Upon reaching the second floor team seven were stopped by a large crowd that had formed outside the room with the sign '303' their destination.
A rather odd looking leaf ninja was thrown on the floor by two other ninja, blocking the entrance.
"Listen here newbies, this exam is not a joke, honestly we are probably doing you all a favor. This way you won't die in the exams *sniff*." They spoke mockingly, the one with fabric running across his nose sniffing after he spoke.
"We understand that, please step aside." The ninja who was thrown off said back, to be perfectly honest to call him odd was an understatement, his was wearing green spandex, orange leg warmers, his headband across his waist and had a bowel cut to add to the fashion travesty and dear god his eyebrows! Were they alive!?
A kunoichi with two buns in her hair and a pink shirt along with another ninja who wore no expression had long brown hair and odd eyes, those were the same as Hinata weren't they?
Satsuki decided she'd had enough of this farce.
"Really? This is the best you've got? We are only on the second floor, pretty obvious genjutsu." She spoke smugly, making the two bullying ninja gain sour looks at the Uchiha girl.
They relented and the sign saying '303' morphed into '203'.
"Of course we were only on the second floor!" Sakura thought in her mind, finally catching what Satsuki had.
"I would have never noticed that, nice one Satsuki." Naruto said, giving Satsuki a thumbs up as she smirked smugly.
The two ninja trying to play gatekeeper the exams were having none of it as one of them sprang into action, Satsuki noticed it instantly and went to meet his kick with her own. Only for the one in green spandex to move in-between them and catch their kicks with ease, they didn't even see him move, had Haku even moved that fast?!
"Please. We are all leaf ninja, there is no need to fight." He spoke as he let both of their legs go.
"Just what the hell is this freak show?" Satsuki thought, she originally didn't even look his way, just some poorly dressed extra who wouldn't go far in the exams, but they way he stopped her kick and how he moved, there was something more to this guy, no matter how ridiculous he looked.
"So your Satsuki Uchiha." The pale eyed one spoke, he and the bun haired girl seemed to be the odd ones teammates.
"Yes I am. Hyuga." Satsuki spoke, she definitely recognized those pale eyes, a member of the Huyga clan, this one seemed very different from her old classmate Hinata, a lot more sure of himself.
"Well I look forward to seeing you in the exams, see who's dojutsu is more advanced." The Hyuga spoke confidently.
"It'll be the Sharingan, no question." Satsuki spoke, she knew the Hyugas Byakugan was indeed mighty, but better then the Sharingan? No way, although she was definitely biased.
Team seven then broke away from the crowd, deciding to possibly try and scout out any other chunin hopefuls, it seems the odd one in spandex was of the same mind.
"You! With the attitude!" He spoke out to them.
Satsuki turned to look at him as he walked up to them.
"Damn. He's got you there Satsuki." Naruto jokes, sniggering slightly.
"Shut it." She jabbed back at him, smiling slightly, she always could rely on the back and forth between herself and Naruto, it was oddly comforting in some ways.
"What do you want?" Satsuki spoke, staring at the fashion disaster.
"Greetings. Satsuki Uchiha, I am Rock Lee, I request that we battle, right here and now." The now named Lee spoke the picture of politeness as he requested a battle with the last Uchiha.
After he spoke he turned to Sakura and blushed slightly.
"Ah, Sakura." Lee said as he walked up to her and flashed a smile, so bright it twinkled slightly.
"I promise to protect you with my life. Please be my girlfriend." Lee spoke with absolute confidence as he confessed to the pink haired girl.
"Wha?" Sakura spoke dumbstruck as Lee confessed to her. Naruto and Satsuki looked on shocked and wide eyed too. This guy just shows up, challenges Satsuki to a fight and before she can respond just asks Sakura out?! Well there was little doubt these exams would be interesting at least if this happened when they hadn't even officially started yet.
As she processed the request a critical error struck and she fainted.
"*long drawn out sigh*" Satsuki just shook her head at her fellow kunoichi.
"Is she going to be alright?" Lee asked as the pink haired girl lay there.
"She'll be fine. Satsuki, I got this guy." Naruto spoke as he stood in front of Satsuki and stared down Lee, who took a pose with one arm in front of him and the other behind his back.
"No thank you, the one I am interested in fighting is Uchiha." Lee said simply. Satsuki was less enthused about fighting Lee.
"Well get interested. Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto spoke, creating a single clone who jumped behind Lee and they begun a two man taijutsu assault, while Satsuki could definitely see improvement in Naruto's taijutsu it was still riddled with hole, that allowed Lee to weave through the attacks like wind through trees, nothing was connecting. Lee finally counted by grabbing both Naruto's by the back of the head and slamming them into one another, Naruto was quick on dispelling his clone however and avoided the collision, though Lee didn't miss a beat and instead flung Naruto into a wall with some force.
"Bastard." Naruto said standing up only for Satsuki to thrust out her arm to stop his advance.
"Naruto, save your chakra, this will only take a moment." Satsuki spoke, as she rushed Lee, only for any attempt at attack to be halted as Lee sent her flying with a kick, he'd gotten past her guard like it wasn't even there.
"Satsuki!" Naruto said rushing over to her, he offered his hand to help her up but she denied it and stood on her own, Naruto didn't know what to expect, that was completely on brand for her.
"Just what was that, some kinda genjutsu or ninjutsu? He passed by guard like I didn't even have one. Fine then." Satsuki thought as she realized there was something a bit extra about this Lee guy, no matter she'd see it all.
"You good?" Naruto asked her as she just nodded, Naruto looked to see Satsuki's Sharingan blaze, looking right at Lee.
"Riiiight. With her Sharingan Satsuki can see jutsu and everything about it, whatever kinda jutsu this Lee weirdo is using, she can see right through it." Natuto thought. He'd become more and more familiar with the Uchiha dojutsu over the past week, he thought Satsuki's skills were sharp before, now she could see and understand everything you did as soon as the idea of it popped into your head, it was frightening how effective it made her, even more frightening still, she told him that her Sharingan wasn't even fully mature yet, apparently three little tomoe dots were meant to be in each eye, she currently had two in each.
She went on the offensive against Lee and Satsuki knew she'd come about ahead with her dojutus now breaking down every little movement and use of chakra Lee made. Only for her to be sent flying again, shocking them both as well as the now rebooted Sakura.
"Satsuki!" Naruto said yet again, this time Naruto didn't take no for an answer and picked the girl up to her feet, she let out a pained groan as he did.
"I couldn't see his jutsu? Just what the hell is it?" Satsuki spoke angrily, she thought it might be some kind of genjutsu that allowed him to strike unexpectedly but it definitely wasn't that, she also saw no flares or irregular movements of his chakra so it wasn't ordinary ninjutsu.
"That's because there is no jutsu. There is no trick or hidden ninjutsu, just plain ordinary taijutsu, while the Sharingan is indeed formidable, and it's ability to predict movements makes it ill advised to face an Uchiha in taijutsu but, my taijutsu is too far ahead of yours, while you may be able to see my moves you do not have to ability to block or dodge them, your eyes may be fast, but your body just lags behind it." Lee spoke.
"How the hell?! Could someone like him be this good?!" Satsuki thought on a surface level this Lee seemed to juts be a fool, but now she saw he was an expert taijutsu specialist, his physical ability was just beyond her, her Sharingan was useless.
"I came here to prove something to you, Satsuki Uchiha. There are two types of ninja in this world, ones like you, born a genius of a great ninja clan who grasp chakra and jutsu as easy as breathing. And those like me, who lack natural talent and have to work everyday of our lives to keep pace with you, but I am here to prove…that hard work beats out any genius!" Lee shouted as he rushed Satsuki and kicked her into the air. For a brief second she saw the chakra in Lee's head explode and his muscles strain themselves oddly with her enhanced perception.
"Suki!" Naruto shouted as he saw his friend and teammate become airborne.
Lee then appeared under Satsuki in a move she recognized.
"Dancing leaf shadow?!" She spoke as she witnessed the technique and the sight of it was unknowingly ingrained into her memory with her Sharingan.
"Good eye. But this is over." Lee spoke as the bandages on his arms unfurled and moved to wrap around Satsuki.
She was saved however as a pinwheel pinned a bandage to a wall, disrupting whatever jutsu Lee was about to perform.
"LEE! Just what in the name of the Hokage do you think you're doing?!" A voice yelled out, Naruto just managed to catch Satsuki from falling on the floor.
"You good?" He asked her kindly. Only to be met with a sour look.
"No. I can't believe he beat me like that." Satsuki spoke sadly, she thought she'd come so far, yet it was clear that other genin in this village still outmatched her.
"Don't worry, you'll get stronger, I just know it." Naruto spoke, supporting her drive to get stronger, he'd just get stronger faster, and finally surpass her.
"Thanks, loser." She smiled softly as he helped her up. They turned to see Lee getting chewed out by…a talking turtle?!
"Just what madness has overtaken you Lee?! The lotus is a technique only to be used in dire circumstances, and against a fellow leaf ninja before the exams?! I trained you better then this!" The turtle yelled at the boy who hung his head in shame.
"Is his sensei…a turtle?!" Naruto blurted out, Satsuki could hardly believe it herself. Luckily that was not the case as in a puff of smoke an older man appeared on top of the turtle doing a pose.
"Hey there everybody how ya doing." The seemingly adult version of Lee spoke, teeth creating a twinkle as he smiled.
"His eyebrows are even bigger." Naruto spoke in horror, these two were certified madmen.
"Guy-sensei, please forgive me. I got carried away, there was no need to use the lotus." Lee said bowing to the now named Guy-sensei.
"I'll decide on a proper punishment after the exams, Lee but I warn you it will be harsh." Guy spoke, clearly disappointed in his student more attempting to use whatever technique he was planning on using.
"Yes sir, I understand and fully accept any punishment you deem necessary!" Lee spoke, tears falling from his eyes as he fell to the floor.
"It's alright Lee, you're young, your youth is exploding onwards so you'll act rashly and make mistakes sometimes." Guy spoke as he kneeled down with Lee, tears in his eyes too.
"Oh Guy-sensei!" Lee spoke as a sunset and waves crashing into rocks appeared behind them in some sort of odd genjutsu.
"Oh Lee!" Guy spoke as they embraced, crying into one another.
Naruto and Satsuki looked on in utter bewilderment at the scene.
"What in the world is happening?" Naruto thought to himself as he understood none of what was happening in that moment.
"I lost…TO THIS?! Satsuki screamed in her mind, she'd never live this down.
Their display over Guy walked up to still dumbstruck Naruto and Satsuki, Sakura was also watching from the sidelines utterly lost.
"I deeply apologize for my students actions, if you look into my youthful gaze you will see I am sincere." Guy spoke, flashing them another smile that twinkled.
"Uhhhh." Naruto just spoke dumbly, not really having words to react to this, Satsuki didn't either.
"Ah you are Kakashi's team are you not?" Guy spoke emphasizing the 'ka' in Kakashi's name with his pronunciation.
"You know Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, this guy knew their sensei?
"Of course I know him, he and Kakashi go all the way back to the academy, I am his greatest rival and he is mine. The current store between us is forty-nine losses and and fifty-one wins, to me." Guy spoke, giving another smile and a thumbs up.
"This guy…is as strong, or maybe even stronger then Kakashi?!" Satsuki thought she'd had it proven to her that Kakashi was an immensely skilled ninja, maybe one of the best in the village, but this jonin who's eyebrows generated a gravitational pull and was the height of weirdness, was just as strong!
"Your as strong as Kakashi-sensei?!" Naruto shouted pointing at him.
"Well of course, we wouldn't be very good rivals if I wasn't. Now you and Lee should go and register for the exams you don't want to miss them. I wonder who will come out on top, Kakashi's students, or mine." Guy spoke as he disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving just the genin there.
As Satsuki looked about seething at her defeat Naruto saw something very interesting as Lee reapply the bandages on his hands and arms, his hand was covered in scars and imperfections where he'd had stitches, it was instantly clear he had trained to get those marks, broken himself training day in, day out and with his words about hard work, it was clear he'd gained his strength through sheer force of will, guts and endless training. For that alone, Naruto had to respect him.
"Satsuki, Naruto. I apologize for my rash action in fighting you, in truth, it is not you I wish to fight, it's the idea of the perfect genius ninja with all the talent who never have to work at anything, a member of my own team us maybe even more of a genius then you are, he is maybe the strongest genin in this village, and the one whose I will surpass on the road to becoming chunin." Lee spoke before bowing politely and leaving.
"Does he mean that Hyuga?" Satsuki wondered as she thought about what Lee said, while it was true she and all other Uchiha had great gifts as ninja and were all naturally talented, but the idea that she didn't try hard, almost pass out from stretching her chakra too far was ridiculous.
"Hey Satsuki? Did you see Lee's hand?" Naruto asked her, his face serious.
"No? Why?" She asked, had Naruto seen something she maybe missed while she was in her own thoughts?
"His hand, it was so beat up, that hard work he was talking about, he definitely stands by it, he must have broken himself a hundred times over to looks like that, he trains harder then both of us, that's for sure." Naruto spoke, while he may look like a fool at face value, Lee was a serious ninja, his taijutsu was no joke, he was definitely someone to look out for, along with that guy from the sand.
"Well then, I guess we'll just have to step up to the challenge then." Satsuki said smirking, as team seven huddled up.
"These exams are getting interesting. Let's go." Satsuki said with a confident smirk on her face, she wanted new challenges and to fight the best, it seems she got her wish.
Sakura and Naruto smiled and nodded as they headed off to the starting point for the exams, all committed to take the challenges head on.
Annnd there we go! Officially off to the chunin exams, as seen we are starting to deviate more and more, few examples are Naruto and Satsuki training together for the exams, properly threatening Kankuro and Temari (the children of a Kage attacked another Kages grandkid, that's an international incident if I've ever heard of one) and Naruto not being completely embarrassed by Lee but still not being able to touch him.
Like to point something out, while Naruto is a bit of an idiot savant with seals, doesn't mean he'll be some kind of instant seal Master, storage scrolls are beginner easy seals they could teach in the academy if they wanted. So don't ask for that, while he may get some more seal type jutsu, he won't be recreating the flying raijin or anything like that.
Also realized an error I made, I stated that Naruto didn't know about Satsuki loosing her family while he definitely does in like his first academy year, so I'll probably have to edit that at some point, but yea, he knew that she was alone too just not the exact details.
Anyway I hope you all enjoyed, see you in the next one.