Hello again everyone I'm back once again to bring you all another chapter of my story; I know some of you are wondering about the update you guys received. It's my fault, I meant to update 'Money and Malice' not this story ,so sorry for the confusion. Now then if you are enjoying the story, please keep on supporting me and my other works. Now with nothing else to say let's begin.
Sabaku no Kitsune: Chapter 18
Kiri obstacle course: With Naruto, Kurumi and Karin.
Naruto, Kurumi and Karin were running through the woods as the mist got thicker the further, they went into the training grounds "damn this is some thick mist" Naruto said "hey guys slow it up; I'm having a hard time seeing what's up ahead" Naruto said.
"Hey Karin can you use your mind's eye to see up ahead" Kurumu asked and Karin nodded.
"Sure" Karin said as she made a hand sign and activated her sensor ability; Karin looked around for any chakra signatures "I see a team about 100 yards to our east; I think they are Iwa ninja" Karin said and Naruto and Kurumi nodded "we will cross paths with them if we keep going in these directions so we should- stop, stop" Karin said stopping both Kurumi and Naruto.
"What? What is- "Naruto began until he heard a thunder clap from the direction Karin said the other team was "what the hell was that" Naruto shouted.
"Don't move" Karin said as she got down on her knees and took out a kunai; Karin began to crawl to Naruto while poking the ground in front of her as she approached Naruto, she stuck the kunai in the ground and heard a *clink*. Karin wiped away the dirt and found a 1-inch-thick metal disk with a seal on it that said 'Lightning' on it "yep just what I thought" Karin said as she stood up "we are in a mine field" Karin said.
Naruto and Kurumi both paled at this "what" they both shouted.
"These are chakra mines; you infuse a chakra of your choosing and it charges it" Karin said "in this case these are lightning mines; so, if we step on one we would be hit by lightning chakra" Karin said.
"Holy crap we can die from these" Naruto said and Karin shook her head.
"No but it would either knock us out or injure us to a point of not advancing" Karin said; Karin then brought Kurumi over and put her behind Naruto "ok this is going to be tricky; so, stay behind me" Karin said as she got to her knees and began stabbing into the ground trying to find more mines. "I'm going to make a path; so, follow my trail" Karin said and both Naruto and Kurumi nodded.
"Ok, ok, ok" Naruto said trying to calm himself down "calm down Naruto; Karin's smart, she can figure this out, she can- "Naruto began until another thunder clap from the west sounded and made all 3 jump.
"I guess another team is down" Kurumi said.
"Oh shit" Naruto said.
"Umm Naruto" Kurumi said.
"Yeah" Naruto said.
"You can let go of my hand now" Kurumi said as Naruto looked down; he blushed and pulled his hand away.
"Sorry I'm just not a fan of lightning" Naruto said "after all I did get a lightning jutsu rammed through my ch- "Naruto began until another thunder clap. "Gah fuck" Naruto shouted as he grabbed onto Kurumi and held onto her for dear life.
'Oh my god he's afraid of lightning' Kurumi thought as she held the shaking Naruto 'ok I'll admit it; it's kind of cute' she thought
In a viewing room: With Temari, Katsu and Mei
Temari, Mei and Katsu were looking at a screen of Naruto
"Oh man lightning; of all things it had to be lightning" Temari said as she rubbed her temples; both Mei and Katsu looked at her in confusion.
"What's wrong with Naruto" Mei said "is he alright" she asked.
"Naruto has a fear of lightning" Temari said "it happened when his former teammate Sasuke rammed 2 lighting Jutsu's through his chest" she said. "He had nightmares about it for a good while but it got better" Temari said "although he still gets uneasy when lightning strikes or someone uses a lighting jutsu" she said.
"Damn really" Katsu said "how much punishment has he been through" she asked.
"He's been through a lot" Temari said "but at least Kurumi and Karin are there with him" she said.
"Huh" Mei said looking at another screen "isn't that your pink haired friend and her 2 teammates" she said; Temari and Katsu looked over and all 3 women had the same reaction.
"What the fuck" all 3 women said.
With Sakura, Hinata and Lee
"By the power of youth, I will carry you 2 ladies to victory" Lee shouted as he carried Sakura and Hinata over his shoulders running through the mine field at max speed. All around them lighting was erupting but Lee was running fast enough for them to not be hit.
"Lee, you fucking psycho" Sakura shouted from Lee's left shoulder; Hinata was on Lee's left shoulder with her hand covering her mouth.
"Almost there" Lee shouted as he ran faster; after running for a few more seconds Lee saw there was no more lighting so he slowed to a stop. Lee let down both Sakura and Hinata and cheered "yes we made it; Guy sensei if you were here you would-"Lee began until Sakura smacked him on the back of the head.
"Lee you idiot; that was risky" Sakura shouted as Lee nursed his bump "Hinata are you- "Sakura began as she turned to Hinata. Hinata was currently throwing up from the motion sickness "Hinata hold up; let me hold your hair back" Sakura said as she ran up.
Sakura held Hinata's hair as she emptied her lunch onto the ground; Hinata finished and looked at Sakura "t-thank you Sakura" Hinata said wiping her mouth.
"It's fine Hinata; why don't you rinse out your mouth" Sakura said and Hinata nodded.
"Sakura, Hinata" Lee said gaining both of their attentions "I'm sorry, please forgive me for my actions; I didn't mean to make you upset or sick" Lee said. Both Sakura and Hinata chuckled at this.
"It's fine Lee; you did a good job" Sakura said "just warn us next time before you do that again" Sakura said. 'Oh god I hope he never does that again' Sakura thought.
"It's ok Lee" Hinata said softly "just please be more courteous and think things through" Hinata said; Lee stood up and saluted.
"Yes mam" Lee said with vigor.
"Ok then; lets go we need to continue" Sakura said and both Hinata and Lee nodded; they all began running once again heading to the finish line.
Sensei waiting area: With Kakashi
"Oh god he's turning more and more into Guy everyday" Kakashi thought as viewed his team on the monitor.
"Yay" came a cheer; Kakashi looked over and saw Tobi looking at another screen "my baby girl and her friends have made it through the mine field; Tobi is so proud" he said.
'Damn it; I feel like I know that guy' Kakashi thought 'but from where' he thought.
With Naruto, Kurumi and Karin
"Thank god we made it through" Kurumi said "good job Karin; but why did you take those mines" Kurumi said; Karin had deactivated a few mines and put them in a scroll.
"You never know what you're going to need it for; you just know you're going to need it" Karin said with a smile.
"Yeah, I feel the same way about my rope" Naruto said pulling out a scroll where he keeps his rope "I have 400 feet of this stuff; got it from an army surplus store in Suna" Naruto said.
"Seriously; dude, you will never, ever have a need for 400 feet of rope" Kurumi said; as they ran forward, they encountered their next obstacle a large cliff with a smooth surface "huh this should be easy" Kurumi thought as she began to run to the cliff. Kurumi put her foot on the cliff to use the wall walking technique but immediately slipped and fell down "what the hell" Kurumi said as she got back up and tried to do it again with no luck "I can't use the wall walking technique" Kurumi said.
"This stone might not be reactive to chakra" Karin said as she studied it "if so, we can't just walk up it" she said.
"Crap now what do we do" Kurumi said tapping her foot.
"Well, what do you know" Naruto said making Kurumi turn around; Naruto had the biggest shit eating grin on his face "sounds like we need to climb the cliff with no chakra; I wonder how we could possibly to that" Naruto said as he pulled out his scroll.
"Menma" Kurumi said "come on" she said.
"Say it; I wanna hear it" Naruto said holding his hand up to his ear; Kurumi mumbled something incoherent "huh… sorry could you repeat that" Naruto said and Kurumi breathed in a large breath.
"Menma" Kurumi groaned out "can we use your… rope" she said trying not to clobber Naruto.
"Of course, my precious teammate" Naruto said with a smile opening the scroll revealing his rope "I will be honored to let you borrow my rope" he said; Naruto then took out a giant shuriken and began to tie the rope to it. "Just one second; I need to tie my rope to the shuriken" Naruto said.
Karin was looking at Kurumi who had an evil aura floating around her; 'Or how about I take that rope and shove it up your ass' Kurumi shouted in her mind.
With Temari, Mei and Katsu
"Oh my god" Temari said in frustration "him and his fucking rope" Temari said as she looked at Katsu and Mei. "And the thing is; he got that damn thing because of a video game he likes to play" Temari said.
"Hey don't knock the rope" Katsu said "it's one of the best weapons in Red Dead Ronin; also, you can hog tie people" she said crossing her arms.
"Well, it came in handy didn't it" Mei said and Temari groaned.
"But now I need to hear 'hey Temari; you won't believe what I did with my rope' when he's done with it" Temari said and the 2 other women chuckled.
"Now let's see who else made it to the wall" Mei said as she scanned the screens "huh… look at that" Mei said pointing towards a screen.
"What is it" Temari said; Mei pointed at the screen and spoke.
"That Konoha team there; the one's in the alligator marshes" Mei said as Temari and Katsu looked "Konoha ninja have a habit of dressing differently show individuality; however, they are wearing similar clothing" she said.
Temari looked at the screen and felt a chill roll down her spine 'wait, those cloths; they look similar to those anbu me and Naruto fought all those years ago' Temari thought.
With the Root team
The 3 root ninjas were running along the water of the marshes as they made their way towards the finish line; as they ran along the water an alligator jumped out of the water heading towards the leader. The leader seeing this grabbed his tanto and drew it from its sheath; he sliced the alligator in half from snout to tail.
The alligator fell back into the water and the team kept on running; as they ran, they saw a ninja up ahead in a tree. Under her there were about 6 alligators all jumping up trying to bite her but fell short by 2 or 3 feet.
"Help, help" the Kumo kunoichi shouted waving them down "these things killed my teammates; please, get me out of here" she begged. The leader looked behind himself and nodded to his 2 teammates; his 2 teammates nodded and split off towards the kunoichi.
The boy began to go through hand signs 'Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique'; the boy fired a large stream of fire from his mouth hitting the alligators making them duck back under the water. The Kumo Kunoichi in the tree let out a sigh of relief and looked down as the female of the group ran up the tree towards her.
"Thank you so much" the Kumo Kunoichi said "I thought that I would've- "she began but she was stabbed through the eye socket by the female; being killed instantly she fell from the tree and down into the water down below. She floated for a few seconds until her body was dragged down by alligators.
The Kunoichi jumped down from the tree and began to run again with her team "weakling" she said and her 2 teammates nodded.
"Someone like her wasn't worthy of being called a shinobi" the other boy said "what say you alpha" he asked.
"I agree Beta" Alpha said "good work Gamma; now let's continue, we need to find that Suna team" he said and both of his teammates nodded.
With Kakashi and Tobi
"What the fuck was that" A Kumo jonin sensei shouted "they didn't have to do that; she was helpless" he shouted. He immediately turned and looked at Kakashi who was stunned as he and the other jonin saw what just happened; he grabbed Kakashi and turned him to face him "what the hell are you Konoha ninja teaching those kids; this isn't a war" he shouted.
"Back off" Kakashi said swatting his hand away "they are not my team, and I had noting to do with it" he aid as he got up.
"Fuck you" the Kumo jonin shouted "you- "he began until a vortex appeared in between Kakashi and the Kumo ninja.
"Do not fight" Obito said using his deep voice making Kakashi, the Kumo jonin and everyone else freeze "your anger is misplaced; while it is terrible it is not outside of the rules of the exam" he said looking towards the Kumo ninja. "I suggest you file a formal complaint for excessive force" Obito said; the Kumo jonin clenched his fists before opening them.
"Yeah" The Kumo jonin said "yeah, I-I- "he began until 2 more Kumo jonin walked up.
"Come on man" the other jonin said "let's go" he said as he walked his friend out.
"Hey, thanks for calming him down" the other Kumo ninja said as he followed his 2 friends.
Obito turned to Kakashi who flinched while looking at his swirl mask "oh boy that was scary" Obito said using his 'Tobi' voice making the tension disappear "I'm thirsty" Tobi said as he skipped over to the bar. "Oh, bar tender 1 beer, 1 sake and 1 bloody Mary please" he said waving towards the bar tender; everyone in the room sweat dropped except for Kakashi.
Kakashi looked at 'Tobi' in suspension 'who is this guy; and what was that jutsu of his' Kakashi thought; 'I have to find out more about him' Kakashi thought.
With Naruto, Kurumi and Karin
"Shit" Naruto shouted as he dodged to the side as a pillar came out of the wall nearly hitting him "I hate this crap" Naruto shouted.
"Well move your ass and get to the top" Kurumi shouted from under Naruto; Naruto threw the large shuriken with the rope attached towards the top of the cliff. It wasn't until him, Kurumi and Karin were half way up that the wall began to attack them.
The cliff randomly began to shoot out pillars of differing sizes towards Naruto and his group; Naruto got hit twice, once in the foot and once in the shoulder. Kurumi got hit in the abdomen by a large pillar but managed to hang on despite having the wind knocked out of her. Lastly Karin got hit in the face knocking her glasses off; currently she was focusing on Kurumi's shorts as she could make out the color despite how bad her eyesight was.
As Naruto climbed up a pilar about 10 feet long shot out from his right; when this happened, Naruto had an idea "hey girls lets use the pillars" Naruto said as he grabbed onto the pillar and stood on it "come on we can use them to hop up.
"Ok" Kurumi said as she climbed up and stood next to Naruto.
"Um guys" Karin said climbing up "where are you" she said a little worried.
"I'm on your right; keep on climbing" Naruto said and Karin nodded; Karin climbed up a few more feet until she felt a hand grab her "got you" Naruto said. Naruto helped Karin get onto the pillar "ok then Karin, hop on my back, I'll carry you to the top" Naruto said and Karin nodded.
"Ok" Karin said as she hopped onto Naruto's back; Naruto reached behind him to grab Karin and she 'eeped' "hey get your hands off my ass" Karin shouted.
"Sorry, sorry" Naruto apologized as he adjusted and put his hands on Karins thighs "ok you good" Naruto said and Karin nodded. "Ok now then we just have to time the pillars and hop up" Naruto said and Kurumi nodded.
A pillar shot out from the left about 6 inches long and Kurumi jumped and landed on it with her right foot keeping her back to the wall; a pillar shot out above her head and she reached up and grabbed onto it pulling herself up.
"Ok out turn" Naruto said; a 2-foot-long pillar shot out from the right and he jumped on it. Naruto looked 30 feet above him and saw a 5-foot-long pillar shoot out; Naruto jumped up and was about to land on the pillar but realized he made a mistake. The pilar went down at a 45-degree angle "oh fuck" Naruto shouted as he lost his balance; Naruto realizing he was about to fall decided to do a risky move.
Naruto grabbed Karin off his back and threw her into the air; Karin screamed and Naruto grabbed his big fan and opened it. Naruto swung it creating a gust of wind that propelled Karin up; Karin flew up and landed at the top of the cliff.
"Naruto" Kurumi shouted as she looked at her falling teammate; Kurumi jumped back to the right towards Naruto's rope. Kurumi grabbed it with one hand using the momentum to swing; Kurumi swung towards Naruto who was falling from the cliff. Kurumi with her free hand caught Naruto by his ankle barely able to keep a hold on the rope "Naruto- wind jutsu -hurry" Kurumi strained.
Naruto using his fan created another gust of wind propelled both himself and Kurumi up towards the summit of the cliff; both Naruto and Kurumi landed on the ground Naruto flat on his face and Kurumi on her butt.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit" Naruto panted; Naruto looked over to Kurumi who was also panting "Kurumi… thanks" he said and Kurumi nodded.
"No problem" Kurumi said a little light headed.
"Girls" Naruto said and both Karin and Kurumi looked at him.
"Yeah" Kurumi said.
"What is it Naruto" Karin asked.
"Don't tell Temari about what just happened" Naruto said.
With Temari, Mei and Katsu
"Oh, thank god" Mei said looking at the screen "they made it; they're ok" she said turning around. Temari was sitting in a chair breathing into a paper bag with Katsu beside her.
"He's ok, Naruto's ok" Katsu said and Temari nodded as she continued to breath into the bag.
"Ok, ok; I'm good" Temari said as she spoke "I just… holy shit I got scared there for a moment" she said.
"Ok I made up my mind" Mei said turning around "we are never using that cliff again for a chunin exam; I'm cordoning it off for jonin and anbu use only" she said and the 2 other girls nodded.
With Naruto, Kurumi and Karin
Naruto, Kurumi and Karin were running through the forest nearing the end of the obstacle course; Karin wearing her spare pair of glasses was scanning around for enemies using her minds eye. As they all ran forward 3 chakra signatures appeared behind them and gaining fast.
"Hey we got 3 signatures behind us" Karin said as both Naruto and Kurumi turned around to look at her; while still running Naruto spoke.
"Ok then; should we out run them or ambush them" Naruto asked "I down with either" he said.
"I think we should take them out; might as well eliminate some competition" Kurumi said.
"I was thinking the same thing" Karin said "so how do you want to play this" Karin asked.
Kurumi thought for a few seconds until she got an idea "do you still got those mines you disarmed earlier" she asked and Karin nodded "ok I have an idea" she said.
Random Iwa team
"Ok boys; you ready to do this" the leader of the Iwa team asked his 2 teammates.
"Hell yeah" another boy said "lets fuck up those Suna clowns" he said.
"Keep your head" the last one said "that guy and those 2 girls are unknowns" he said. "I say we scout them out before engaging" he said and his 2 other teammates scoffed.
"It's one guy and 2 chicks" the leader said "we could beat them no- "he began to say before they all heard something 'swooshing' through the air. "Shit, dodge" he shouted.
3 giant shuriken made their way towards the team at an alarming pace; the leader and one of his friends ducked at the shuriken went over their heads. However, the last Iwa ninja being cocky attempted to catch the shuriken.
"Ha it will take more than a shuriken to- "he began to say until he realized what was tied to the shuriken; it was one of the lightning mines they had to avoid earlier. The Iwa ninja had no way to avoid the attack as the lightning mine went off and electrocuted him; he was shocked for a few minutes until he fell down unconscious.
"Crap spit up" the leader shouted to his other teammate; he went right while his other teammate went left. The leader attempted a flaking maneuver to try an get an angle on the enemy team; as he ran around a tree he was hit by a powerful gust of wind.
The Iwa ninja was sent into a tree hitting his back against the tree trunk; he quickly regained his bearings and dodged a blade of wind coming towards him. Naruto was running towards him with both his small fans in either hand; the Iwa ninja took out a kunai and charged at Naruto.
The Iwa ninja slashed at Naruto aiming for his throat; Naruto ducked back and used the closed fan in his right hand in order to parry the kunai. Naruto followed up swinging his other fan at the boy's head; Naruto hit the boy in the temple making him see stars. Naruto then proceeded to drive the fan into his stomach making him cough up blood; Naruto finished his assault by sweeping his legs sending him to the ground.
Naruto raised up his foot and stomped down on his face knocking him out; Naruto put both his fans back into his holsters and made his way back to his teammates.
The last Iwa ninja was trying to flank the squad him and his team were trying to take out; as he ran forward, he stepped on something that made a crunch sound. Just as his foot lifted up, he had to stop as a barrier appeared in front behind and beside him.
"Damn" he said not even mad; a second later Karin walked out from behind a tree and spoke.
"The barrier will come down in an hour" Karin said walking up to the barrier to speak to the Iwa ninja "I have to say you are a lot smarter than your teammates" she said.
"I can say the same to you; it's not easy being the smart level headed member of the group" he said and Karin smiled and nodded "well you won; and thanks for doing it non-violently" he said and Karin nodded.
"No problem; take care" Karin said as she turned around and ran off to join her teammates; Karin ran for a few minutes until she found Naruto and Kurumi waiting for her. "Well Kurumi; your plan worked" Karin said and Kurumi smiled.
"Gotta think on your feet" Kurumi said "come on lets go" Kurumi said as she took the lead with Naruto and Karin following behind.
20 Minutes later
"There it is" Naruto said as he Kurumi and Karin approached the rallying point; there was a gathering area where there were several other teams; there was Sakura's team, 3 other teams from Konoha, 4 from Kiri, 5 from Kumo and 6 from Iwa and 1 from Taki, Spring and Ame.
Naruto and his team passed the finish line and a proctor was there to track them "ok Suna team has arrived with 35 minutes to spare; total amount of teams right now is 23" he said and Naruto and his team sighed in relief.
"Oh man I'm glad" Naruto said breathing heavily along with his teammates "man that was nerve racking" he said.
"I hated that damn cliff" Kurumi said "I don't want to do that again" she said.
"At least you didn't have to disarm land mines" Karin said and Kurumi rolled her eyes.
Over the next 35 minutes only 1 more team from Kiri crossed the finish line; so now Naruto, Kurumi and Karin were one among 24 teams remaining.
"I guess Temari was right about cutting the numbers down" Naruto said and Kurumi and Karin nodded in agreement; a few seconds later a pillar of earth came out of the ground to form a stage.
Naruto and the other looked over to see what was about to happen; as he did so he saw someone that made his blood run cold walk up and take center stage.
"My name is Shikamaru Nara and I'm going to be the proctor of the second exam of the chunin exams" Shikamaru said sternly; Naruto looked at him and he could not believe it was Shikamaru.
'Shikamaru; what the hell happened to you' Naruto thought until he shook his head to refocus on what Shikamaru was saying.
"As you can all see there is a total of 24 teams remaining; from the first round of the chunin exams" Shikamaru said "now it's time to chop that number down even more" he said as he took out a scroll from his back pocket. And opened it up "the next exam with be a 4-way team battle" he said "4 teams will enter a battle area 1 mile in circumference and fight until only 1 team remains" he said.
Kurumi raised up her hand "what are the rules" she asked.
"If a teammate dies, becomes incapacitated or knocked out it will not disqualify the entire team" Shikamaru said "the battle will end with the last man or woman standing; the last person of a team standing will advance his entire team regardless if his teammates are incapacitated or killed" he said.
"So, if my 2 teammates get knocked out I can still advance them if I win" Naruto asked and Shikamaru nodded.
"This will be the roster for the battles" Shikamaru said as he opened the scroll; when he did Naruto and his team went wide eyed. Him and his team had to fight a Kiri team and 2 Konoha teams.
'Huh so that's Lord Shikamaru's plan' Alpha thought 'he's going to send us in with Delta, Epsilon, and Zeta in order to take out the Suna team' he thought. He turned over to see his fellow root team; he made eye contact with Delta and nodded making a silent agreement 'very well then; it will be done' he thought.
Naruto looked at 3 teams him, Karin and Kurumi were going to fight and felt a bit put off; the Kiri team looked normal enough but the 2 konoha teams looked a bit off. 'I don't like the look of those guys' Naruto thought.
"Menma" Karin whispered to Naruto "those guy's chakra signatures are all screwed up; they are not normal… it's… well… I can't explain it but they are not right" she whispered. Naruto nodded at this and whispered back.
"Yeah, they seem weird; I cant put my finger on it but- "Naruto began until he saw Sakura walking towards him; "Hey Sakura right; how's it going" Naruto said but immediately saw Sakura was serious.
"Hey guys listen to me" Sakura whispered to Naruto, Karin and Kurumi "those guys aren't normal ninja from Konoha" she said. "About 2 years ago a new academy in Konoha opened producing new genin at an alarming rate" Sakura said "more and more kids are going there than the traditional academy; they are skilled but- "Sakura began but paused.
"What is it" Naruto asked.
"They are psycho's" Sakura said "a lot of the reports have been watered down; there have been reports of them killing unnecessarily, torture and all kinds of horrible stuff" Sakura said. "But their commander Danzo and the council have been over ruling the Hokage keeping them around and letting them operate" Sakura said making Naruto freeze "just watch yourselves and don't be ashamed to surrender and quit the exams; they are merciless" she said as she turned and walked away.
Naruto stood there for a few seconds his heart racing and his mind going into over drive 'Danzo the guy who tried to control me, the guy who sent those anbu to that village a couple years ago' Naruto thought as he looked over to the 2 konoha teams. 'What the hell is going on here' Naruto thought.
Ok another chapter done I hope you all enjoyed it; and if you did please like comment and share with your friends. And until next time bye