Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles Re-Version:

Arc VI: Chunin Exams:

Chapter 34: Visitors, the Exams Begin!

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– 997 A.S., June 17th, Hokage's Office –

The setting sun shone behind the windows, bathing the office orange. He could still hear the fading footsteps of his teammates. Naruto and Kakashi had asked to stay behind following their briefing.

Hiruzen took a long drag from his pipe and exhaled slowly. He peered at them with interest underneath the brim of his diamond-shaped hat. "What is it you wished to discuss?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. He met Kakashi's eye briefly, who gave him a subtle nod. With a sigh he took a breath and began to recite his story about discovering how Hiroshi had gotten the scroll to them, and the mysterious man he'd seen with the musical note headband. By the end, Hiruzen had a most perturbed look on his face.

"… I see. This is troubling indeed. Naruto, I need you to tell me something." The old man pulled out one of the squeaky drawers to his desk and began to flick through file folders. Three thin tan folders were brought out. Laying them on the desk, the old man flipped one of the folders. The first page was what looked like a more detailed Chunin Exam application form. Pinned to it was the picture of a cocky looking black-haired boy wearing a happuri-style headband. Engraved on the gleaming plate was a musical note.

He let out an involuntary gasp. "That headband, it's just like the one in Koroshi's memories!" He exclaimed.

The Hokage sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that." He muttered.

"Care to elaborate, Lord Hokage?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hiruzen's forehead wrinkled in consternation. He chomped on the end of his corncob pipe, taking a deep soothing drag of the tabaco. He sighed, exhaling a cloud of smelly grey smoke. The tendrils of smoke tangled about, getting sucked through the open windows.

"That genin is from the Hidden Sound Village, the musical note is their symbol. It's a relatively new village, established two years ago in the former Land of Rice Paddies. This year they put forth applicants for the Chunin Exam." He explained.

Kakashi's eye narrowed, like a perched hawk who'd spotted a scurrying mouse. "Can we deny their entry?"

"We've already accepted the request. To cancel now would alert them, and there's no telling what damage a spy could do when we have no idea where they're placed." Hiruzen said, shaking his head in regret.

Naruto's head buzzed with this new information. A new village that was trying to steal bloodlines and placing spies in one of the major villages? It shouldn't be possible. Most new shinobi villages took a lot longer before they even thought of acting against one of the five major villages. For the Hidden Sound to feel that confident, they were either stupid, or more likely incredibly well organized and stronger than they let on.

"I see what you mean. If we suddenly deny them entry, at best their spy will go underground, and we'll likely never find him. At worst they might already have a trap to set off at the slightest hint of exposure." Kakashi said grimly.

"Indeed." Hiruzen concurred. Mouth set in a rigid line, his serious dark eyes pinned them in place. "For now, I'm ordering you both to keep this in the strictest confidence. We'll monitor the Hidden Sound Genin as soon as they arrive, while also looking for the spy. Am I understood?"

The undertones in the Hokage's voice grabbed Naruto's attention. Though Hiruzen put up the front of confident leadership, somewhere beneath the hard surface the idea of an unknown spy roaming the village clearly disturbed him greatly. "Understood." Naruto and Kakashi chorused.

"Good, you're dismissed."

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– 997 A.S., June 6th, Naruto's Training Ground –

Naruto's stomach swooped unpleasantly as the ground disappeared out from under him. The hard dirt floor came up to greet him. His chin hit first, forcing his neck into an awkward angle. Stars exploded in his vision and Naruto stumbled to his feet cursing. The sting of the scrape on his chin was ignored. It would be healed soon. More annoying was the fact his jutsu had failed.

"Dammit, I got distracted. Flash Step barely works as is when I'm concentrating." He grumbled to himself.

In the rare bit of down time he got, Naruto had been working to advance his original speed jutsu. The progress was beyond slow without the Nine-Tails chakra. He could use it, but what was the point of never being able to use it with his own chakra? Naruto hated leaving a jutsu half-finished. As of now he could just barely use it with his Sharingan. Any slight lapse in concentration and the jutsu failed. That was unacceptable. And matters weren't helped by distractions.

Even though he knew he had to stay focused, his mind kept wandering. The issue of the Sound Village crept into his mind. Part of him was eager to face the Sound genin in the exam. The other part, the part that wanted to protect Sasuki, wanted to stay as far away from them as possible. As it was, he wouldn't be making much progress.

'I'll take a walk and clear my head.' Naruto thought. With a sigh, he prepared to leave his special training area.

'Heh, why don't you just do what I'd do? Crush the Sound Shinobi under your feet and think of consequences later.' The Nine-Tails said.

Naruto rolled his eyes. 'One, I'm not big enough ta do that. Two, didn't doing that get you trapped inside me last time? Doesn't seem like a winning strategy.' He fired back cheekily.

The fox growled, no doubt about to launch a tirade, but Naruto slammed the connection shut just before the fox got going. He couldn't help but cackle at the temper tantrum his tenant was likely throwing.

"Oh, I needed that. Now, a walk." Naruto paused, feeling his shirt–damp with sweat–begin to cool against his skin. He lifted his arm and took an experimental sniff, only to recoil at the stench. "Ugh, but first a shower."

Naruto picked his way. In the main house he took a quick shower, channeling fire-chakra throughout his body to dry himself off. The steam was still wafting off him when he pulled his powder blue shirt over his head. As Naruto strapped on his sandals, he felt Senbonzakura shift against his thigh. For a moment he hesitated. He wasn't planning to train or anything, perhaps it was best to leave it behind? The sword sent an unhappy feeling towards him.

"Guess that settles that." He said ruefully. Naruto tied a sash around his pants and tucked Senbonzakura into the sash.

With his preparations made, Naruto left his grandfather's old house after shutting everything off. The walk through the forest was pleasant. Cicadas buzzed in the trees as a light wind staved off the midday heat.

The streets were extra busy today. He could see vendors stocking extra products and putting out sale signs. Clothing stores had new, special designs displayed. Clearly the shinobi weren't the only ones gearing up for the Chunin Exams. The commercial district was positively buzzing with people looking to turn a profit from the influx of foreign shinobi that were due to arrive any time, and the spectators that would soon follow in the period leading up to the finals. Naruto himself had watched a few Chunin Exam finals. The idea he had a chance to participate was a bit surreal.

"Naruto?" His eyebrows shot up as he saw Sakura standing at a yukata stand where she'd been browsing. The blue yukata with white flower patterns she was looking at slipped between her fingers as she turned to greet him. She looked a lot more cheerful than he'd seen her recently.

"Hey Sakura, I was just taking a walk to clear my head. Wanna join me?" He asked.

"Sure." Sakura replied.

They walked through the market, pausing to look at any interesting wares on display. Somebody was selling decorative Anbu masks, another offered scrolls depicting famous battles hand-painted in jewel-like colors. As they were walking, Naruto and Sakura talked about the upcoming exams. She seemed nervous, but also excited for the opportunity.

"So, you think you're ready for the exams to start tomorrow?" Sakura asked.

"More or less," Naruto said with a shrug. She gave him a curious look, so he elaborated. "Just some things on my mind. It's nothing to worry about, I'll be ready." He said, much more assuredly.

"Comin' through, watch out Naruto!" On instinct, Naruto stepped to the side just in time for a brown-haired boy wearing a long blue scarf to go blasting by. His scarf flapped in the wind like a giant snake as his sandals scuffed across the stone street. A girl with her orange hair in pigtails, and a bookish boy wearing glasses trailed after the scarf-wearer with wooden ninja stars clasped in their fingers. The trio darted around the corner and out of sight.

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other for a moment, before busting out into laughter. "Looks like Konohamaru and his friends are gonna get in trouble again. That kids really gotta learn to watch where he's going." Naruto chuckled.

"True, he does seem a bit absent minded. Kind of reminds me of how you are with training." Sakura giggled as they rounded the corner Konohamaru, and his friends had just taken.

He scowled in mock outrage. "Oi, that's not fai r."

A spike in chakra drew his attention. Two, to be exact. Neither was remotely familiar to him. One controlled and precise, the other a storm of electricity. Somebody was preparing to fight. More worrisome, now that he focused, he could feel Konohamaru and his friends racing towards the two chakras.

"Come on, quick!" Naruto hissed to Sakura.

He took off without waiting. Sakura scrambled behind him, hot on his heels. They rounded the corner onto a quiet road with trees scattered along the fence-line. Halfway down the street, a slender, exotic girl with dark skin and vibrant red hair stood nose to nose with a grumpy looking older boy, the triangular painted designs on his face twisted as he snarled at the girl. Her beige frilly shirt and long grey skirt hung loose about a petite frame. It clashed with the black hooded bodysuit the boy wore, like the puppeteers in a puppet theater. A wrapped bundle the size of a man was slung across his back.

The girls teammates tried to calm her but it was no use. She gripped the sword at her waist, prepared to draw it. Any second a fight would break out.

Konohamaru and his friends were oblivious to the danger. He sprinted down the street, giggling as his friends tried to tag him with the wooden shuriken. Busy looking over his shoulder, he had no way to notice the older boy in front of him. With a pained cry, he ran headfirst into the boy's side. Bouncing back onto his rear, Konohamaru sat in the dirt massaging his sore head. Konohamaru, face screwed up in pain, looked up at the older boy and tried to apologize

"Sorry about tha –" His apology cut off in a panicked gasp when the older boy reached down and snatched the front of his shirt, hauling Konohamaru into the air. He wore an annoyed expression as he glared at the child.

"You got a problem punk? Can't you see I was in the middle of something?" He said with a growl.

In grabbing Konohamaru, the boy had turned towards them. With a clearer view, Naruto spotted the gourd symbol engraved on the silver plate attached to his hood. 'Sand shinobi?' His eyes slid to the redhead and her teammates. Judging by the clothing he'd guess they were foreign too. Most likely both were here for the chunin exams.

Behind the bodysuit wearing boy, a beautiful girl stepped forward. A lavender battle dress hung about her shoulders, hints of a mesh bodysuit underneath. Her hair was bound into four pigtails. Unique, in a tomboyish way. She looked concerned, and slightly annoyed. "Kankuro, you're going to get us in trouble!" She said.

"Relax Temari, I'm just gonna teach this punk a little lesson, then I can deal with this Cloud chick." Kankuro replied.

"Who're you thinking you're going to deal with dipshit?" The redheads yellow eyes flashed dangerously. She inched her blade slowly from its sheath. In response, Kankuro gripped the strap to his bundle.

Naruto's heart leapt into his throat. If they got in a fight, Konohamaru and his friends would be caught in the middle. Before either party could act, he performed a Teleportation jutsu and reappeared between the two. With his left hand he prevented the redhead from drawing her sword, and with the right he gripped the wrist of the hand holding Konohamaru tightly. Neither of them even realized what was happening at first. He noticed a regal looking buxom girl–presumably one of the redheads teammates–with bob-cut blonde hair grip a tanto at her waist. Interesting, but not important.

"That's enough, from both of you." He growled. His eyes darted to the redhead first. "Leave the sword where it is. And you," Naruto glared at the face-painted boy and squeezed his wrist. Hard. The bones creaked ominously under his hand. "–release him." The sand shinobi yelped in pain and instinctively dropped Konohamaru, who landed on the ground with a look of shock. "Go to Sakura Konohamaru, you too, Moegi, Udon." Naruto ordered.

The children obeyed his command and quickly retreated down the street to Sakura. She stood in front of the children, her eyes watching the foreign shinobi for any movements.

Naruto's attention returned to the quarreling pair. The redhead had heeded his warning and taken her hand off her sword. He let her go and she quickly backed up to her teammates, the blonde, and a dark-skinned boy with shocking white hair who seemed rather anxious. As for the sand ninja, he yanked his hand from Naruto's grasp and grabbed for the object on his back. It hit the ground with a heavy thud and Kankuro gripped it just below the tuft sticking out of the top.

"You're not honestly going to use the Crow, are you?" Temari gasped.

Kankuro glanced back at her. "Come on, lighten up. We got plenty of time til he get's here. Besides," The face-painted boy narrowed his eyes and glared at Naruto heatedly. "This guy is the type I hate the most. Acting like he's so cool."

While those two talked, Naruto's gaze narrowed in on the bundle. Having read all the books his grandmother used to own on the ninja arts of the Hidden Sand, it wasn't too hard to guess what the bandages concealed. Especially with what Temari had said. Unless he was incredibly wrong, that was one of the famed Ninja Puppets the Hidden Sand was known for. 'A puppet user, huh?' Naruto gripped the hilt of Senbonzakura and drew it from the sheath just slightly, revealing two inches of gleaming silver blade. The sharp ring drew the gaze of the bickering teammates.

"I'd put that doll away, makeup boy. If you make me draw this sword … I'll destroy it before you even blink." He warned. The two sand shinobi's eyes widened.

"How did you …" The words died in Kankuro's throat.

A surge of bloodlust bathed the street. Like the presence of a deadly predator, it froze you in place. At the same time, Naruto belatedly sensed a terrible chakra. Like an oily reeking wind and blood-soaked dirt. There was also something … else, beneath the surface. It was impossible to put his finger on. He looked around hurriedly, finally settling on a boy hanging upside down from the limb of one of the trees, with a massive gourd on his back. His short rusty hair hung in the pull of gravity. Naruto met the boys aquamarine eyes and had to suppress a shiver. Dark rings lined the icy eyes. Nothing, there was nothing behind them save for a shallowly hidden bloodlust.

"Kankuro, that's enough. You're an embarrassment to our village. Have you forgot the reason we traveled all the way here?" The redhead said in an emotionless drawl.

For the first time, Kankuro was shaken. There was a look of terror in his eyes when he looked at his fellow sand ninja. In stuttering breaths, he said, "Um, no, Gaara, it's just, they challenged us. I had no choice, ya see. See, here's what happened–"

The redhead narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"Shut up … or I'll kill you." Gaara growled.

"Uh, yeah, you're right, I was totally out of line." Kankuro agreed quickly.

The redhead turned his head towards the rest of them eerily. "I'm sorry for any trouble he caused, it won't happen again." With that, the boy disappeared in a swirl of whispering sand, reappearing silently behind his teammates. "Kankuro, Temari, let's go."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the Sand shinobi as they hastened to follow Gaara. There was something familiar about the boy's chakra. An ominous feeling he'd only gotten from one person. Though not nearly as intense. Without asking, he drew on a sliver of the Nine-Tails chakra and directed it at the boy along with some killing intent. As expected, the boy came to a halt. 'Just like I thought, another jinchuriki, right Nine-Tails?'

'Indeed. Shukaku, that mad Tanuki.' The fox said with a growl.

"Just a word of warning. I don't take kindly to mindless violence in my village. Make sure to keep a tight leash on it." He called out.

Gaara turned slowly and regarded Naruto with a renewed interest. "What's your name?"

"Naruto. Just Naruto for now. You can learn my last name during the exams." He responded.

The redhead nodded sharply. "Very well, I look forward to seeing what you can do."

Gaara turned and walked away, the puppeteer Kankuro following on his flank. Temari paused and threw a flirtatious wink Naruto's way.

"I'll look forward to seeing you too. Hopefully my little brother doesn't kill you, that'd be a waste." She said with a giggle.

Naruto's cheeks burned as the older girl turned and followed her teammates with an exaggerated sway in her gait. He shook his head of distracting thoughts. She was precocious, with a touch of sadism.

Once the Sand shinobi were around the corner, and he could feel their chakra fading, Naruto turned back to the team from the hidden Cloud. The air was a lot less tense now, though he noted they looked like they were still ready for a fight. He shoved thoughts of flirtatious kunoichi and bloodthirsty jinchuriki aside.

"Sorry about that. Seems some people are on edge what with the exams tomorrow." Naruto said with a grin, trying to lighten the mood.

"Tch, that guy's a jackass." The redhead said bluntly.

Her blunt answer drew chuckles and snickers from everyone except her white-haired teammate. He seemed to be worried over the potential results of their confrontation. "Jeez Karui, did you have to get in a fight? What if that guy was super strong, and he beat you? Then Samui might have to step in, and she'd get beat too, which would leave just me …"

Naruto's eyebrows rose as the white-haired boy descended into increasingly pessimistic and unrealistic mutterings. Scenarios of somehow being blamed for the incident and a new World War being triggered. He rose an eyebrow and jerked his head at the boy while looking at the third team member–the redhead seemed to be getting annoyed by the other boys' antics.

"He do that often?" He asked. The blonde sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

"Unfortunately, yes. Thank you for your assistance. You handled that very coolly." She said.

"Eh, no big deal." He shrugged off the praise.

The blonde smiled. "No big deal or not, I'll keep my eye on you … Naruto. My name is Samui, and these are my teammates Omoi, and Karui." She said, motioning towards the pessimistic boy and the fuming redhead. "We'll see you in the exams. Good day."

Samui bowed slightly, and Naruto found himself fighting not to look at the way her top was partially open and her well-developed bosom dangled precariously. 'Geez, what's with all these pretty girls, it's not time to be thinking about these kinds of things!' He cursed his hormones for acting up.

"I'll watch for you as well. This is the first time we've had genin from your village in a while. Good luck." He said in return.

She gave him one last acknowledging nod, turning and motioning for her teammates to join her. Together they walked the opposite way the Sand shinobi had, back the way Naruto and Sakura had come from.

"That was close." He muttered to himself. Straightening up, he glanced at the tree Gaara had hung from and acknowledged a presence he'd felt when sensing the boys chakra. He was shocked she hadn't intervened at any point. " You can come out now, Sasuki,"

After a moment, Sasuki stepped out onto the branch below where Gaara had hung. She pouted and leapt down to the street. "Did I embarrass you by ruining your cool entrance by handling things?" Naruto asked teasingly.

"Shut up, dummy." She said gruffly.

Sakura giggled. "Don't let him bug you Sasuki. Naruto's one to talk about embarrassing, he was making googly eyes at those foreign kunoichi."

For some reason, Sakura's joke seemed to just annoy Sasuki more. She gave Naruto a nasty side eye and stood well to the side. The kids on the other hand, had no problem pointing and laughing.

He tried to force down his blush. Naruto cleared his throat, and looked at the young academy students. "Hey, Konohamaru, why don't you three get going. Just be careful. There's a lot of foreign shinobi in town who won't be very understanding of being messed with." He said abruptly, shooing the kids away.

Konohamaru huffed. "See you later big bro. Try not to pick up any foreign kunoichi!"

The boy blew a raspberry at him, turning and racing away with his friends as they laughed at Naruto's expense. He shook his head ruefully at the cheeky boy. Konohamaru reminded him of himself at that age, though perhaps not as focused on his studies. Once the children were gone, he sighed deeply.

With a much more serious expression, he turned to his teammates. The girls were giggling at his embarrassment. "Listen up, be careful around Gaara. He's a jinchuriki, like me, and much more dangerous."

All the laughter died as the girls remembered the tense confrontation, and the fact these shinobi were about to be their opponents in the exams.

"A jinchuriki? I'll keep that in mind." Sasuki replied. Though she didn't speak, Sakura nodded her understanding.

"Good, I'll see you two tomorrow. I need to go prepare some more. See you later," He said.

Sakura and Sasuki gave similar goodbyes and prepared to leave for their own training. The three parted, the next time they saw each other it would be time for the exams. As he left, Naruto subtly glanced at a set of trees behind the fence. He could have sworn he'd sensed three more chakra signatures there. There wasn't anything now. Dismissing it as his imagination, he shrugged it off.

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The day the chunin exams started was a perfect day in the Hidden Leaf. Sunny and bright, but not too hot. Upon waking up, Naruto quickly ate a simple breakfast and showered. Afterwards he placed his equipment on his bed in neat lines and went through it methodically.

He laid out bundles of ninja wire, dozens of kunai and shuriken, stacks of explosive tags, even blank seal tags with a brush and bottle of ink in case he had to make a seal on the go. Flash bombs, smoke bombs, bandages, a needle and thread, some basic medicinal salves. Anything he could think he might need. He inspected the lines for any frays, checked for smudges on the seals and made sure the salves were closed tightly. It all had to be functional. There was no telling what the exams would entail, so he had to be ready for anything. When Naruto was completely satisfied that everything was in order, he sealed the tools up and laid out several sets of clothing. The pants and protective mesh shirts were sealed up quickly enough.

When he got to the shirts, he hesitated. One of them was a shirt left behind by his grandfather. An old-fashioned black kimono top with the Uchiha crest on the back. Naruto hesitated a moment. Finally, the shirt was sealed in his armband alongside the rest of his spare clothes. He was ready.

There was an excited buzz in the air as Naruto made his way towards the academy. Civilians chattered about the numerous ninja they'd seen. It had been a common sight the past few days to see them here or there, but now they were out in force.

Naruto finally ducked inside the secluded courtyard where the Academy entrance lay. The old oak tree stood against the fence, it's creaking swing swaying in the breeze. He could already see Sasuki and Sakura at the foot of the steps to the entrance. His pink-haired teammate wore a sleeveless version of her usual qipao dress, probably for flexibility.

"About time you got here. I was wondering if maybe you'd chickened out." Sasuki called with a smirk.

Naruto shook his head with a smile. "And leave you two to try and pass on your own? Please, you'd never make it without me!" For a moment, the three of them stood before the academy entrance and looked at it fondly.

"It's been a while since we've been here." Sakura said.

She was right, of course. They hadn't been to the academy portion of the administration section since the day they were assigned teams. It felt like a lot more than six months ago when they'd last been here for team assignments. If everything went well, by the end of this they'd all be chunin.

"Let's do this." Naruto said.

Together, they walked through the large double doors, towards the first stage of the Chunin Exams.

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Hey everyone, hope you enjoyed that. We're seeing some familiar faces appearing early, and the First Exam is about to commence.

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