All of the Jonin Sensei and several other Jonin stood before the Hokage in the Mission Room with Iruka sitting next to his leader ready to write down which teams would be joining the Chunin Exams and who wouldn't, "The time has once more arrived for the Chunin Exams," Hiruzen said before talking a pull from his pipe, "I have also decided on who I would like to become the next Hokage."
The room was silent for a moment before everyone in the room except Hiruzen said in unison, "I'm sorry… What?!"
Hiruzen smirked, "I suspect many of you will expect me to choose one of my students. However Jiraiya has never wanted the job and Tsunade wants to focus on improving the hospital and starting her new Med-Nin course."
A low chuckle filled the room as Zabuza slid out of the wall, wearing his old Kirigakure arm and leg warmers, a black shirt and pants along with new Konoha Flak Jacket and forehead protector. Kubikiribocho on his back as usual, "I just joined Konoha and we already have a passing of the torch huh? Hope your replacement does a better job than Yagura did."
Many of the Jonin Sensei muttered to themselves knowing just how much damage Yagura's war against those with Bloodlines had weakened Kirigakure. Two weeks earlier the Mist Rebels led by the Low S-Rank Kunoichi Mei Terumī had won the war with Mei as the new Mizukage. Mei had also sent a couple emissaries to Konoha to inform the Hokage that once she has Kiri back on its feet she'd like to get talks going for a new peace treaty. With part of the talks being with Zabuza about what he wanted to do, though the swordsman had already decided he liked how Konoha worked. He might never have the same emotional connection to the village but the place was now his home. Haku had friends here, and the Demon Brothers had found a surprising pair of friends and rivals in Kotetsu and Izumo.
Hiruzen gave the swordsman a small smile, "I think you'll approve of my chosen successor. However, let's get to who will be joining the exams first shall we?" As Teams One through Five were still new and hadn't had any problems with their missions to test the Genin. None of the Jonin Senseis felt their students had grown enough to make it through the First Stage of the Exam.
"I Yūgao Uzuki, nominate Team Six consisting Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga and Naruto Uzumaki for the Chunin Exams," The purple haired Jonin said, making Iruka and most of the other Jonin look at her in shock.
"You can't be serious!" Iruka said as he dropped his pen, "They've only been Genin for six months! How the hell are they ready for the Chunin Exams?!"
"I'm surprised you didn't hear," Kakashi drawled form his spot on the wall near Zabuza, "Team Six's Genin defeated not only two Mid-B Rank Chunin Nukenin they also held off Haku Yuki-Momochi who's an Elite Chunin."
"With perfect teamwork I might add," Zabuza snorted, "I don't know what you did to train them Yūgao but I'm damn well impressed. Until that fight I was the only one who was able to push Haku that far."
Yūgao gave her occasional training partner a nod and looked to Asuma, "I Asuma Sarutobi, nominate Team Seven consisting of Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara and Sasuke Uchiha for the Chunin Exams. I can't say they have the same track record that Yūgao's team do but they did manage to beat the Demon Brothers," Looking at Zabuza the Wind user smirked.
Zabuza snorted, "And that's pushed Gōzu and Meizu to train more. I'm willing to bet those two will make at least Tokubetsu rank within the next couple years."
Ensui then cleared his throat, "I Ensui Nara, nominate Team Eight consisting of Choji Akimichi, Sakura Haruno, and Ino Yamanaka for the Chunin Exams."
"Really?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow as Iruka just looked dumbstruck at three of the Rookie Genin Teams being nominated, "Last I saw they were nowhere near ready for this."
Ensui smirked, "True, but we only had one group training session. They've grown tremendously since then. Honestly it wasn't until their last C-Rank where they defeated Miyako The Blazing Storm that I felt they were ready for this. Even if the main reason they won was the woman wasn't taking my team seriously."
Everyone in the room prepared for Might Guy's normally loud voice however instead he spoke in a firm but normal volume, "I Might Guy, nominate Team Nine consisting of Tenten Higurashi, Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee for the Chunin Exams," One by one other teams were nominated with a still shaken Iruka writing everything down.
Once every team was nominated Hiruzen said, "Now onto my successor. Yūgao Uzuki please step forward," The purple haired Kunoichi was shocked before Might Guy put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a smile and thumbs up. Glancing up to the ceiling where Gekkō was hidden she could feel his proud smile. Stepping forward the Ex-Anbu stood before her leader, "You have proven time and time again you have not only the Will of Fire but the power, wisdom and courage to see yourself and your comrades through dangerous missions. You have raised a marvelous trio of Genin to the point they can easily hold off an Elite-Chunin through their own power and teamwork. You are amongst the strongest Shinobi in the village. Do you accept the role of Hokage?"
"I do Hokage-Sama," Yūgao said seriously.
Hiruzen nodded, "Then when it's time for the Third Round of the Chunin Exams we will announce you as Yūgao Uzuki Fifth Hokage!" The rest of the Jonin burst into applause. Once the applause died down Hiruzen smiled, "Until then please keep this under wraps. We don't want to ruin the surprise now do we?" Yūgao chuckles, this would be one prank that would take Naruto years to beat.
A few hours after all the Jonin had been summoned, Team Six were in Training Ground Six.
Shino and Hinata were meditating while Naruto was recounting some of his favorite pranks to the Kyubi when a vortex of water appeared and burst revealing Yūgao-Sensei, "Hello everyone."
"Yo Sensei," Naruto said with a lazy wave, "How'd the meeting go? Also felt like being fancy with that Water Shunshin?"
"Yes I did and very well," Yūgao-Sensei smiled, "I have nominated the three of you for the Chunin Exams."
Naruto fist pumped while Hinata asked, "Anyone we know who will be joining us?"
"Teams Seven, Eight and Nine have been entered along with some older Genin teams," Yūgao-Sensei replied.
"Makes sense," Shino stated, "From what I've heard the other Genin Teams from our year with the expedition of Seven and Eight haven't been training as hard as us."
"I want you three to know that no matter the outcome I am extremely proud of you," Yūgao-Sensei said with a smile, "The exams start in four days at Training Ground Twenty Five. Now even though you've been nominated for the exams you'll need to enter the training ground at the same time. In other words as a team," The Genin nodded. The exams did test the entire team so it wouldn't make sense for a team to be allowed in if the entire team wasn't there, "During the next three days I want you to rest with only some light training. That way you'll be at your best during the exams."
"Yes Sensei!" The three saluted and the four split up. Naruto went home to read some advanced scrolls on Fuinjutsu he'd gotten from some humans who were allowed to live in the Dragon Realm. Hinata went to spend time with Hanabi while Shino went to work with some of his clansmen who were having a little trouble with adapting to having a hive of Elemental Kikaichu.
The next day Naruto spent time with Yakumo, Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon. The three kids exited their Big Bro and Big Sis were spending time with them. At one point Konohamaru ran around a fence corner before letting out an "Oof!" Turning around the corner they saw he'd run into a young teenage boy in a full black outfit with a Suna Forehead Protector sewn into the black cat eared hood and purple warpaint with a cloth covered bundle on his back as tall as he was. Next to him was a sandy blond girl with her hair in four round pigtails, her Suna Protecto around her neck, a light purple garment that Naruto had never seen before and he noticed a fishnet shirt covering the open skin form her protector to the garment, black shinobi sandals and what he guessed was a Suna Great War Fan on her back.
"Sorry," Konohamaru said as he got to his feet, "I wasn't looking where I was going."
The black clad teen grunted, "Just make sure it doesn't happen again brat. You're lucky you caught me in a good mood otherwise I'd have pounded ya."
"Unwise thing to do considering Konohamaru's the Hokage's Grandson," Naruto smirked, making the two teens pale.
"Yeah… really glad I didn't do anything now," The male teen said shaking his head, "The name's Kankurō of the Desert and this is my older sister Temari."
"Are you the Kazekage's children?" Moegi asked with a tilted head, "From what Iruka-Sensei said only the Kazekage's family have 'of the Desert' as a last name."
"He's right," Temari said with a small nod, "Honestly I wish we had a surname like everyone else. 'Of the Desert' always felt a bit too egotistical to me."
"Try being named after the village you live in… and barely anyone remembering your name," Konohamaru grumbled making the two Suna Genin give a sympathetic wince, "Apart from my family only, Moegi, Udon, Big Bro Naruto, Big Sis Yakumo and their friends call me by my name."
"Yeesh," Kankurō said as he ran a hand down his face, "That's got to suck. You've got my sympathy kid," He then turned to Naruto and Yakumo, "Are you two going to be in the Chunin Exams?"
Yakumo shook her head, "Perhaps later on. I was born with a weak body so I wasn't able to go to the academy. Recently with some help that's been corrected so I have some competency tests scheduled for after the Chunin Exams. I am Yakumo Kurama Heiress of the Kurama Clan by the way."
"I'll definitely be there," Naruto grinned, "Name's Naruto Uzumaki and…"
He was interrupted by a small whirlwind of sand as a third Suna Genin appeared in a shunshin. He had short and spiky auburn hair, large black rings around his green eyes, the kanji '愛' or Love on his forehead above his left eye. He wore a black bodysuit, over a gray shirt who's long sleeves poked out, black sandals, a white sash going from his right shoulder down to his left hip and a large brown belt going from his left shoulder do right hip under the sash that held a large clay gourd. The two Suna Genin looked at the newcomer in fear as he said, "You said you're an Uzumaki?"
"Yeah?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow, "Can I help you?"
"Mother is demanding I have you fix my seal," Gaara replied, making Kankurō and Temari go stiff in shock. Shukaku was demanding something other than blood?! "She is being louder than usual. Simply repeating 'have him fix the seal' over and over."
"Heh," the Kyubi chuckled, "Would you look at that. That damn Tanuki is doing the smart thing and not trying to destroy something although…" Naruto could almost feel Kybui's frown, "If he's asking you to fix his seal then it must really be tortuous for him. He's one of if not the most stubborn of the Biju."
Naruto slowly nodded, "I… know what you're referring to and I honestly don't know if I'm advanced enough to. The damn Ero-Sannin ran off a while back and as far as I know he's not in the village. However I believe I know someone in the Dragon Clan that should be able to help."
"Fine," Gaara said, "As long as Mother is pleased with the results."
"Can… Can we come too?" Temari asked nervously, "Gaara is our younger brother after all!"
"Sure," Naruto said, "Yakumo do you want to join?"
"If you don't mind," Yakumo smiled, "I haven't had a chance to meet any Dragons apart form Milly, Prism-Scale and Lin-Lin."
Naruto chuckled and ruffled Konohamaru's hair much to his squawking protest, "Sorry to cut this short squirt."
"Nah it's cool," Konohamaru replied after escaping Naruto's grasp, "He needs help and you can give it. Hey!" He then turned to his friends, "How about we go see Iruka-Sensei and ask if he can help us get our calligraphy better so we can start learning Fuinjutsu?"
"Let's do it!" Moegi cheered, "We might not get to Big Bro's level but who cares? Even if we only get good enough for Sealing Scrolls it's still something!"
"I… I agree," Udon said nervously, "If we can learn how to make working Explosion Tags we might be able to sell them and get some extra pocket money."
"What are we waiting for?" Konohamaru cheered, "Let's go!" With that the three kids ran off while waving goodbye.
"Remember to watch where you're going," Kankurō called, "Other visiting Genin might not be as forgiving as I was!"
Naruto and Yakumo led the Suna Siblings to the Uzumaki Household. Once there he led them to the basement where his mother had made a room dedicated where high level seals could be worked on, "Take a seat and where is your seal located?" Naruto asked. As an answer Garra put his gourd next to a metal counter, with his sash and shirt on it revealing a seal over his heart, "A heart based seal?" Naruto hummed in thought before biting his thumb and going through a few hand seals, "Summoning Jutsu!" Once the smoke vanished it revealed a four legged serpentine dragon floating in the air who if he was spread out to his full length would be half as tall as Naruto. He has faded blue scales, very bright red hair that flowed in an invisible wind, and a long white beard that's almost as long as the dragon's body.
"Ahh Naruto. Looking for more information on Fuinjutsu?" The old dragon asked.
"I was hoping you could help me fix Gaara's jinchūriki seal Shirohige-Sensei," Naruto explained as he motioned to the redhead, "He's the jinchūriki of the Ichibi."
Shirohige nodded and turned to examine the seal. He was silent for a few moments before shrieking, "BY THE SAGE WHAT IS THIS?!" The five humans looked on in shock as the dragon was visibly shaking, "Young man. This seal should never have been placed on you OR used for Shukaku."
"Why?" Yakumo asked and the bearded dragon turned to the young Heiress, "Naruto is the only one in the room with any level of skill in Fuinjutsu so please keep the explanation simple."
Shirohige coughed into his three clawed fist, "To put in simply young lady. This seal is so badly put together that it is torturing both young Gaara and Shukaku. For Young Gaara he literally has Shukau's voice in his head ALL the time. On top of that his heart is now so closely linked to Shukaku that in a few years his heart will give out and Shukaku could either take over the body for some time or simply escape. As for Shukaku… well imagine stuffing ten gallons of water into a nigh indestructible five gallon bag, that then compresses further into a two and a half gallon bag."
Everyone's eyes went wide, "It's no wonder Shukaku is so bloodthirsty!" Temari gasped, "I only found out recently that Father ordered slight alterations to the Seal to allow Gaara better access to Shukaku's powers… even if Father knows nothing about Fuinjutsu."
"Who placed the seal then?" Shirohige asked, as Gaara said nothing trying to ignore Shukaku's screaming to get on with fixing the seal.
"Lady Chiyo," Kankurō answered, swelling up in pride, "She's a master of the Puppeteer style of Ninjutsu as well as a highly competent Med-nin."
"But is she a Master of Fuinjutsu?" Naruto asked.
"She's… not," Kakurō deflated, "She's no slouch but I don't think she's an official Master of Fuinjutsu."
Shirohige growled before shaking his head, "I'll worry about that later. For now we need to help this young man. Naruto front and center. I'll be instructing you though what you need to do as you are the only one here with enough Chakra for this," He then turned to the red headed Genin, "Young Man is Shukaku willing to work with us for this? Should he try to escape right now it's very likely he wouldn't survive the attempt. Even if he would reform in a year or two it wouldn't be a pleasant death."
"Mother is willing," Gaara replied, "She will not fight against you while the seal is being corrected."
"Thank you," Shirohige said, deciding not to approach the 'mother' topic. There were far more important issues on hand. He then turned to Gaara's siblings, "One of you might want to inform your Sensei about the seal being fixed as it will most likely take the rest of the day. Naruto and I will have to take this slowly and carefully to make sure there are no mistakes."
"I'll do it," Kakurō sighed, "You stay with Gaara," As he left Kakurō muttered, "Sensei is not going to like this…" Naruto quickly made a clone that ran after Kakurō to let him know how to contact the household from the front gates before the clone ran off to inform the Hokage about Gaara and the problems with his seal.
The next morning Kakurō and his Sensei Baki stood before the Uzumaki Household, with Kakurō's hand on the right pillar. He'd been trying to gain access since Kankuō told him about Gaara but no one answered, he'd even gone to the Hokage to demand that the Kazekage's children be returned to him, but the Old Monkey had simply smirked and asked if Suna didn't want their jinchūriki's seal repaired.
While on the surface he was calmly waiting for someone to answer the door internally he was furious. How DARE Gaara unknowingly put the planned invasion in jeopardy! The plan was to let Shukaku run rampant and take most of Konoha's attention while Suna and Oto took advantage of the distraction. Baki didn't buy for a moment that it was Shukaku's idea. This was nothing more than Suna's Weapon being rebellious. At least Gaara and his siblings hadn't been told about the invasion plans yet so they couldn't reveal anything. The other bit is that Baki didn't believe that the Uzumaki had the Dragon Clan as summons. Dragon's only existed in children's fantasies.
When the gate opened Baki took a single step before the front door burst open and a blue, red and white blur shot out of it. He leapt back preparing for attack when his eyes widened as an honest to Sage DRAGON floated before him, "Young Gaara is currently sleeping off years worth of abuse. And as I am unable to speak to his failure of a father oe this Lady Chiyo at the moment… you as his Sensei will have to do instead," Baku gulped as an almost evil glint that promised hours of misery appeared in the dragon's eyes. Kakurō slipped past the pissed off Dragon who paid him no mind and ran into the house to speak to Temari as Baki tried to disperse the Genjutsu the Jonin was sure he was under. When nothing happened Baki went pale as the dragon gained an air about him that was very recognisable. That of an old man about to give a long lecture.
The next day Gaara woke up at the crack of dawn, and after waking Temari and Kakuro who slept in the same room both to look after their younger brother and to avoid their Sensei having no idea what he'd do after the lecture Shirohige had given him. After a good breakfast the three Suna Siblings thanked Naruto and headed back to their hotel to prepare for the next day. Tayuya smirked as Naruto got his own final preparations started having had no time the day before.
The next day ten minutes before eight in the morning, the Genin of Team Six walked towards Training Ground Twenty Five in new outfits. Hinata was wearing a blue Land of Earth styled dress that let the sides of her legs bare so she still had full unimpeded movement. The dress had wisteria tree imagery, brown leggings, white boots, and new black gloves which contained wires twice as long as her old ones.
Shino's new outfit consisted of a dark brown shirt under a dark blue vest, and dark blue dress pants made of special silk from the Land of Weaving to the north that's tough enough for normal Shinobi work. Dark orange fingerless gloves, a dark blue scarf he uses to keep the lower part of his face hidden, and thin silver chains around his wrists with Fuinjutsu so they don't reflect light, and with small storage seals that can hold extra equipment, rations and more.
Naruto being the most flashy of the three had a long red trench coat with an azure blue dragon curled to look like the Uzumaki Swirl on the back and shoulders of the coat. A dark orange shirt, pants and fingerless gloves with metal plates on the backs with seals to hold his swords, a belt with the bronze belt buckle looking like a fox head.
Training Ground Twenty Five was a large area of flat empty earth that was mostly used for combat training. When the three entered they saw Genin from all over the world with the exception of Iwa and Kumo. From the sheer amount of Genin the three guessed there were at least a couple hundred Genin in the Training Ground making it if not the largest Chunin Exams ever it was at least in the top five. A couple teams released Killing Intent at Team Six to intimidate them but the three just ignored them. Yūgao had taught them how to ignore Killing Intent before taking them on their first C-Rank, and even then the Killing Intent the Genin were releasing was nothing compared to Zishi's and Zabuza's.
They didn't see any of the friends so moved off to one side to wait, "What do you think the first task of the Exams will be?" Naruto asked.
"I am… unsure," Shino said adjusting his glasses, "There is very little they can do with this Training Ground so I am interested in what they come up with."
"Same!" A new voice said and turning around they saw a tan-skinned kunoichi perhaps a year or two older than them and a little taller than Shino with mint green hair and eyes. She wore a white sleeveless shirt with some fishnet armor underneath, and a white skirt leaving her stomach bare. On her back was an odd cylindrical case being carried on her back with the orange straps making an 'X' on her chest, white armlets that went from her wrists to above her elbows, white sandals and a Takigakure Protector around, her right arm, "Names Fū and Chōmei was wondering if we'd meet the partner of one of her siblings today!" Naruto chuckled while Shino raised an eyebrow and Hinata giggled.
"Well there's another of us around here somewhere. Gaara from Suna has the Ichibi," Naruto said, as he held a fist out, "Naruto Uzumaki. Heir of the Uzumaki Clan and Future Hokage!"
Fū grinned and met his fist bump. Both were surprised when they suddenly appeared in a giant white room with the Nine-Tail Fox behind Naruto and a giant unique lookin insect with six large wings and a single long tail behind Fū.
"Well this was unexpected," Naruto said as he looked around while Kyubi chuckled.
"What do you expect when you accidentally let your soul speak to someone else? Chōmei, it's been a while."
"Sure has!" The giant insect said in an upbeat and cheerful voice, "It's been… What just under a century since we last saw each other?"
"About that yeah," Kyubi said as he looked down at Fū, "At first impressions it seems like you got someone just as upbeat and peppy as you."
"Yup!" Chōmei giggled, "Fū's been great but she's got Lucky Number 7 with her so why should she be down?"
"Eh. If she was treated anything like I was, then there's got to be a few things," Naruto shrugged, "But we pushed through it and here we are. About to take the Chunin Exams!"
"Hell yeah!" Fū cheered, "So when did you become a Genin? From the looks and feeling from you and your team I'm guessing a year ago?"
"Nope! Six months," Naruto chuckled, "Yūgao-Sensei pushed us really hard. It helps that she was trained by my mom Kushina Uzumaki so she knows a few tricks that really helped."
"Your mom's the Red Death and your teacher's the Violet Reaper?!" Fū asked, eyes shining, "Big Bro Shibuki told me a little bit about them! They're two of the Kunoichi I look up to the most!'
"Once we get the chance I'll introduce you to Sensei," Naruto said, "Along with my sisters Karin and Tayuya."
"Sounds good!" Fū replied with a smirk, getting giggles form Chōmei.
"Looks like you got a good one too Kurama!" Chōmei cheered, making Kurama growl in annoyance.
"Don't let my name out so easily Chōmei," Kurama muttered darkly.
"Oh I already knew what your name was," Naruto shrugged, getting a surprised look from the giant fox.
"Why haven't you used it then?" Kurama asked.
"You haven't given me permission to," Naruto replied, "Mom's notes said you preferred giving your name out to those you approved of and the journal she wrote it in is protected by a Blood Seal… Aunty Tamamo also told me."
Kurama was stunned. Naruto had known his name the entire time but had said nothing out of respect for the giant fox. After a few moments Kurama grunted, "In private or with the Foxes and Dragons you can use my name but otherwise stick to Kyubi."
"Alright. First, we'll take these exams and then the world by storm!" Naruto said, thrusting a hand up, "One day the world will know that Naruto Uzumaki became the Hokage AND rebuilt the Uzumaki Clan while working with Kurama the Kyubi-no-Yoko!"
"I said NOT to use my name!" Kurama groaned to howls of laughter form Naruto, Fū and Chōmei.
Author's Notes:
Hinata's new outfit is based in Chun-Li, Shino's from Young Walter from Hellsing and Naruto's is Dante from Devil May Cry Four
And so… it begins. As for making Yūgao the next Hokage, that was literally something I decided to do while writing the first segment.
