Chapter 12
"Where the hell are we going Sensei?" Naruto asked as he laced his fingers behind his head. Kakashi had been leading them up a set of spiraling stairs to the top of the tower. "It's been a long two days; can't we just get some rest?" He grumbled as he Kakashi led them out onto walk way that overlooked the tower and down into what looked a makeshift arena.
"The Hokage wants to speak with you about what happened in the forest." Kakashi said with a shrug.
"What's there to talk about?" Naruto asked as preceded across the walkway. "His demented student tried to kill me, and abduct Sasuke."
"Naruto…" Sakura muttered as she glanced at him from the side.
"He has a point," Sasuke muttered as he rolled his neck. "Nothing else to really talk about."
"Look, I'm just doing what I'm told." Kakashi said as he stood front of a door. "Naruto…try not to be…. you…" Kakashi finished halfheartedly before he opened the door.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked loudly as they walked through the door. "What's so wrong with me?"
"Well, you can be pretty obnoxious when you want to be."
Naruto's head turned to see Jiraiya sitting a small couch pressed against the wall. His arms were folded across his chest and a small smile on his face.
"Good to see you kid."
Naruto resisted the urge to grin, "better late than never old man."
"I'm happy to see you're all doing relatively well." Hiruzen said as he stood up from behind his desk. "When I'd heard what was happening, I feared the worst."
"Oh yeah! I bet you were really scared, canceled the exam and everything too I bet, even sent your best ninja after him, right?" Naruto asked as his blue eyes slid over to the old man. His hat was resting on his desk and his pipe was being held loosely between his lips.
"Naruto," Jiraiya snapped as he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed loudly. "Show some respect to the Hokage."
"It's fine Jiraiya," Hiruzen said as he waved Jiraiya off with his hand. "Would you like me to cancel the exam? I could, but it'd be at least a year before you eligible to take another one. Another year of being Genin in the village under Kakashi."
Naruto sucked his teeth and didn't make eye contact with the Hokage resisting the urge to say snap at the old man.
"I just wanted to see with my own eyes that you three were okay. I'm sure Orochimaru's goal wasn't to kill any of you, otherwise you wouldn't be here right now. Either way it's an impressive feat to survive an encounter with him. From what Kakashi and Jiraiya told me it seemed like you three put up an impressive fight." Hiruzen took a soft drag from his pipe. "Though I think it's important we discuss why Orochimaru is here. We have intelligence that suggests he's here for you Sasuke."
"Yeah, we've already talked about this. He wants my body." Sasuke replied stoically his arms crossed as he looked at the Hokage. "Is there anything else we should know?"
"Just that you should remain vigilant. We don't believe Orochimaru is still in Konoha, but his agents remain. Those sound shinobi will likely finish the second part of the exam. We'll be keeping a close eye on them ourselves."
"Then let's get out of here," Naruto grumbled as he turned around to leave. Kakashi was standing by the door giving Naruto an exasperated look.
"You haven't been dismissed Naruto."
"It's fine Kakashi," Hiruzen said with a soft smile. "It seems Naruto's caught them all up. They should all go get some rest."
Naruto walked over to the door and could feel Sasuke and Sakura following behind him, his hand was on the doorknob. Gritting his teeth he let go and turned around to face the Hokage. "He's here because of you, you should have put him down when you had the chance. Whatever happens now that's on you, and if you can't do it I will."
Kakashi sighed and turned to admonish Naruto, and opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't. Naruto was right. His dark eye darted around the room, he could tell everyone knew it too.
"You've grown stronger than I ever could have imagined when you left Jiraiya all those years ago." Hiruzen said as he sat down behind his desk and rubbed his eyes. "You're upset about what happened I don't blame you. It is my fault. You're right, but don't make the mistake of thinking you could take him on Naruto. He'll kill you without a second thought."
Naruto turned around and threw the door open and walked out Jiraiya broke the silence with a loud sigh.
"I'll go talk to the brat," Jiraiya muttered as he stood up and made his way out of the room.
"Well, there's still three days left for the second part of the exam. Some of the rooms in the tower have been turned into living quarters. Let's get you two settled in." Kakashi muttered, gave a small wave to the Hokage and got behind Sakura and Sasuke. "Come on you two." Kakashi waved his arms at them and Sasuke and Sakura left the room.
"You know you really shouldn't talk to him like that."
Naruto was sitting in the middle of a stair case in the back of the tower opposite of where they came in. Jiraiya took a few steps down and sat down behind Naruto and leaned back. "It was hard for him, for all of us when Orochimaru betrayed us." Jiraiya's dark eyes were staring at the plain grey ceiling above. "You've only known Sasuke and Sakura for a few weeks, do you think you could kill either of them?" Jiraiya sat up and looked at the top of Naruto's head and smiled softly. "You're a good kid, Naruto. You see things as good or bad, you see justice and injustice. I know you don't believe me but one day especially in this line of work that will change."
"Give me the scrolls." Naruto said without looking back at Jiraiya. He was staring off at the ground. "Give me my father's scrolls."
Jiraiya's eyes widened briefly in shock, he schooled his features and reached behind him into his pouch. Pulling out four scrolls he bent over and set them down next to Naruto. "Some of those aren't complete. He gave them to me a few months before you were born, for safe keeping and to pass down to you if something ever happened to him." He watched as Naruto reached out and collected them holding them in his hands for a moment before sliding them into a large pouch on his left leg.
"Thanks," Naruto muttered as he stood up, and looked back to Jiraiya. "Will you be sticking around for the third part of the exam?"
Jiraiya looked at his blond hair student, and smirked. "I've taught you well kid." He let out a low laugh and stood and stretched. "Don't forget, when you steal intel that information's always subject to change." He turned to head back to up the stairs, "I'll be around for a few more days, but I have to leave again soon. Kakashi will help you prepare for the third part of the exam, but I'll do my best to be here to see you pass."
Naruto watched as Jiraiya went up the stairs and turned the corner and presumable return to the Sandaime's office. Ever since Naruto returned to Konoha he'd barley seen his master. He'd been hoping to spend the month between the second and third parts of the exam training with him like before. Naruto sniffed and let out a sigh then closed his eyes for a second, there was a small pop and a shadow clone appeared next to him. Reaching into the pouch on his left leg he pulled out the scrolls and handed them to his clone.
"Memorize them, then seal them away. You know what to do after that."
"10-4 boss!" The clone seemingly a lot cheerier than the original grinned and then disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
"Jeez guess I really being downer," he muttered as he laced his fingers behind his head. "Alright time to find Sasuke and Sakura."
Naruto began walking down the stairs, when they'd arrived, he'd sent a shadow clone out to scout the entire tower. Naruto had a pretty good idea where his team would be. It looked like the western part of the tower had been modified into a sort of living quarters, probably until the five-day time limit was up.
'Orochimaru,' Naruto thought to himself. 'Things have gotten a little complicated the last few days. I was hoping for a smooth exam, and I could collect my vest and get the hell out of here.' The faces of Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Sakura, and Kakashi flashed through his head. 'Even that's not as simple as it was before.'
Naruto made it to the ground floor and walked around the walls that sealed off the make shift pit in the center of the tower until he got to the west side. There were two double doors in the center of the west wall and Naruto walked through them. There was a long corridor with doors lining the walls that turned to the right at the far end of the hallway. Sitting at a desk tucked against the wall was a young woman a few years older than him with a Konoha head band hanging loosely around her neck.
"Congratulations on making it through the Forest of Death alive. While we wait for all contestants to arrive or the fifth day all contestants will be staying here. Konaha shinobi will be staying in the rooms in this hallway. Foreign shinobi are just down the corridor and to the left past the cafeteria and training center."
"How many are here?" Naruto asked as he walked up to the desk and flashed her a grin. "I bet we were the first ones!"
"Nope!" She replied with a grin as she grabbed a key hanging off of a hook on the wall next to her. "Assuming you're with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha your team was third. The first team in was that team from Suna."
"Who was second?" Naruto asked as he took the key from her, he glanced at the number and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"The other Konaha with that guy with the weird eyebrows and the Hyuga."
'They made it after all I guess,' Naruto thought as he fingered the tag on his key. "Thanks," he said with a smile as he walked past the desk. Naruto walked by three doors before he got to his. Right in the center of the door was the number four. Sliding the key into the lock he opened the door and stepped inside.
The room was small and bear with plain wooden floors and grey walls. A folded-up futon was tucked into the far-right corner and there was a small table with two chairs pushed up against the center of the left wall. There was a door across from his futon, it only took him about five steps to cross the room and open it. It was a very small personal bathroom with toilet and shower with no bath.
"Glad to see they spared no expense." Naruto muttered as he threw the key onto the table and and started to strip. He needed a shower, and a long nap.
"You know we have 30 days before the next part of the exam, right?" Naruto asked as he leaned his head up against the trunk of a massive tree. Naruto and everyone had been in the tower for almost three days now. They weren't allowed to go too far out from the tower, around the tower were several kunai with green tags on them sticking out of the ground. If they crossed the imaginary perimeter those kunai made, they'd be disqualified from the exam.
"I know," Hinata replied softly. She was dressed in a pair of dark shorts and light blue tank top her normally long dark blue hair was tied into a tight bun. "But you're going to have to train too, you can't spend all your time helping me learn this."
Naruto let out a groan and pressed his head up against the tree. A flash of pain like frozen needle being rammed right through the center of his forehead and out the back flared up. 'Another failure,' he thought as he grit his teeth and sighed.
"Are you okay Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked turning to face him. He was sitting against the tree dressed in pair baggy orange shorts and plain black t-shirt. Since they'd been here, she hadn't seen him train once. He spent most of his time with her, and helping her with the jutsu she'd been trying to learn. 'He's getting frustrated with me, just like father…'
"I'm fine," Naruto said as he rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger. 'I've never used this many clones when training before, this must be what Ero-sennin was warning against.' Naruto looked at Hinata and gave her a weak smile. "Don't worry, it's just a headache, I'm doing something different with my training I've never tried before."
"Training?" Hinata asked as she frowned in confusion, "but you haven't trained once since we got here."
"I'm just not doing physical training." Naruto said as he stood up and brushed his hands on his shorts. Naruto walked over to Hinata and looked down with a smile. Gently he placed his hands on her pale shoulders and turned her around so she was behind him.
"N-n-n-aruto-kun?" Hinata stuttered her face turning bright red as she felt his fingers on her shoulders.
"Just call me Naruto," he said as he slid his hand down and grabbed her right wrist. "Let's try it again."
"S-sure," Hinata muttered as she lifted her arm up in front of her, Naruto's arm followed gently his hand still on her wrist. Hinata closed her eyes and gathered her chakra into center her palm, 'left, right, left, up, down.' Hinata thought to herself as she started spinning the chakra. As the chakra spun her palm, she pictured her chakra coming out of her hand around the center of her palm and encase the spinning chakra. Then she felt it, the chakra bubble faltered and the chakra in her palm started to pulse wildly again. 'I can't control it; I can't keep it together it's going to fail again.'
Naruto watched as the chakra in her palm spun rapidly in multiple directions. This part Hinata had mastered within a few days, and it made sense her taijutsu relied on precise chakra control and being able emit it form her any of her chakra points when needed. He narrowed his eyes as the chakra around her hand forming the shell became visible, it was weak and thin. Naruto let go of her wrist and placed his hand over thin shell. Pooling his chakra in his hand he added it to hers.
Hinata opened her eyes, and they widened in shock, she lost concentration and the shell collapsed and the chakra exploded causing a small shockwave and burning her hand and wrists. She grimaced, but quickly looked up Naruto who was grinning.
"You need to use more chakra, that's all." Naruto said as he took a step back and placed his hands on his waist. "You're being too cautious; you're scared of losing control of the chakra rotating in your palm. You don't have to be though, its stable. Rotate the chakra, then pump as much chakra as you can into the shell. Eventually you'll be able to do it at the same time."
"Okay," Hinata said with a determined tone. Turning away from Naruto and facing the tree in front of her Hinata held up her hand.
"It looks like your limit for now is the same as mine," Kakashi said as he leaned against the outside tower wall. In his left hand was a faded orange book but his visible dark eye was closely watching Sasuke. He was standing at the edge of the perimeter panting, all around him were thick tree trunks. The trunks were dotted with massive wholes twice the size of a normal fist. Smoke seemed to be wafting from Sasuke's right-hand curling in the air before dissipating.
"I can do one more," Sasuke grunted as he stretched and prepared to make hand signs. In an instant Kakashi appeared next to him and grabbed his wrist.
"This jutsu takes a lot of chakra Sasuke, it's a trump card or last resort. If you try to do one without enough chakra you'll be reduced to absolute 0 chakra, and it could kill you." Kakashi said as he slid his book into one of his pouches and let go of Sasuke's wrist. "The only reason I'm even teaching it to you is because the threat Orochimaru and his ninja pose to you right now. Only use it if you have to, the only purpose of this jutsu is to maim or kill."
"Fine," Sasuke muttered as he let his arms fall to his side.
"After the exam we'll have to work on your speed. You're fast, but you need to be faster to use this jutsu effectively. A faster ninja will be able to dodge or counter, but thankfully because of your Sharingan you'll be able to react to that."
"This jutsu…it can only be used safely if someone has a Sharingan." Sasuke replied as he realized the implications of using it without his eyes.
"When I first created this jutsu I didn't have the Sharingan, my sensei was able to counter it easily. The speed required and the blinding light produced by your chakra gives you tunnel vision. Only someone with eyes that can see and react to the smallest muscle twitches can see and predict those counters. If you use to much chakra and can't keep your Sharingan active you'll die trying to use it against an enemy."
'Naruto is off helping Hinata, and Kakashi-sensei is with Sasuke. What am I chopped liver?!' Sakura thought to herself as beads of sweat rolled down her nose and dropped onto the mat below. Sakura's arms were out in front of her, and her legs were resting on a stack of mats behind her. Lowering herself down again Sakura hissed as her nose almost brushed her the mat below her before pushing herself back up.
"Sakura, the best thing for you to do right now and for the next month is strengthen your body. Chakra potency and reserves come from a balance of mind and body. Based on your performance in the forest and our last bell test I'd wager you're already stronger than everyone here except for Naruto and Sasuke." Kakashi said, leaning against a wall his hands in his pockets. "Sasuke is in danger, and the jutsu I'm going to teach him could save his life. If I could teach it to you I would, but its basically a death trap for anyone who doesn't have a Sharingan. Work on your taijutsu and strengthen your body. Then we can work on improving your enhanced strength technique and there are some earth-style jutsu I can teach you."
'Kakashi-sensei is right, but still it'd be nice to have someone to train with,' Sakura thought as she completed yet another push up. Sakura started to lower herself down to the matt again and her arms started to shake, gritting her teeth she tried to stabilize herself. Letting out a few short breaths she tried to push back up, but her elbows collapse. Sakura closed her eyes as the floor rushed to her face and braced for impact, but it never came.
"Sakura-chan!" Sakura's eyes opened and she turned her head and glanced up. Standing over her in his bright green jumpsuit was Rock Lee. He wiggled his large busy eyebrows and grinned. "I see you too are filled with bright passion to improve and grow stronger!" Lee lifted Sakura by the back of her skin tight undershirt and set her on her feet.
'I know I'm not fat or anything but how strong is he?!' Sakura thought to herself as she got her bearings. 'In the forest, Naruto said he was the strongest genin in the exam. Did he mean literally?'
"Because you couldn't finish your pushup you should 200 squats!" Lee said loudly as he moved to stand next to Sakura. "Come on! I'll do with you! If we can't do 200 squats, we'll do 300 jump ropes!"
"200 Squats! Are you crazy!?" Sakura asked loudly as she stared at Rock Lee with wide eyes. "Who said I wanted to train with you anyway!?"
'Wasn't I just complaining about not having anyone to train with?' She asked herself before shaking her head.
"You've been in here working on physical conditioning for the last three days all by yourself. As a taijutsu expert, physical training is all I do. I can give you some tips!" Lee said excitedly. He lowered himself into a squat, his arms out. "Come Sakura-chan! A beautiful kunoichi such as yourself shouldn't have to train alone!"
Sakura's pale cheeks flushed with blood and she resisted the urge to snap at the thick browed ninja. Spreading her legs, she lifted her arms and tightened her stomach. She got lowered herself down into a squat and paused.
"Haha! Great Job Sakura-chan!" Lee said as she straightened back out. Sakura followed suit. "That's number 1! Only 199 more to go."
"Ugh," Sakura groaned as she set her tray down. Naruto, Sasuke, and Team 8 were already at their usual table where they all dined together.
"Tough day pinky?" Kiba asked with a chuckle as she shoved noodles into his mouth. Normally Sakura would snap back at the fanged ninja, but this time she just sat down in her seat.
"Even my ass hurts," She groaned as she laid her head on the table.
"Sakura-chan." Hinata said in surprise her eyes wide.
Naruto let out a loud laugh along with Kiba. Shino said nothing, and Sasuke smirked into his rice bowel.
"That bowl-cut freak is no joke," Sakura muttered as she lifted her head up. "I've never been so physically drained in my entire life."
"You know, you could just relax right?" Kiba said as he tossed a piece of pork down to Akamaru who snapped it out of the air. "You four are training like the next set of exams are tomorrow or something. They're a month away."
"Keep your voice down idiot," Shino whispered without looking at Kiba. "We're not supposed to know that."
"Sorry," Kiba muttered sheepishly as he looked around. The cafeteria had started to get busier and busier as teams completed the second exam slowly. "Either way come noon tomorrow this part of the exam is over, don't push yourselves so hard."
Naruto stood up and made his way around the table. He held his hand out under Sakura's nose palm side up. "Here, it'll help with recovery."
Sakura made a face, and was about to turn it down when she shifted in her chair and the muscles in her thighs burned. With a sigh she leaned up and bit down into Naruto's palm hard, green chakra seeped from the bite marks and Sakura inhaled the chakra. The effects were immediate, the pain in her muscles disappeared and she could feel herself become more energized, like perking up after a strong cup of tea. Sakura let go and the puncture marks healed and formed bright white scars, before even the scars faded away.
"That always looks so weird," Kiba said with smirk. "But it is super cool."
"It's useful," Naruto said as he moved back round the table to sit back down next to Hinata.
Hinata gave him a shy smile, and Naruto reached under the table discreetly and squeezed her hand. She tried not to blush focusing on the Udon in front of her.
"Thanks Naruto," Sakura said as she moved in her seat and stretched her arms. "I feel loads better, I could even go another round now."
"So, you were training with that Rock Lee earlier then?" Sasuke asked without looking at her. His eyes were fixed at the table across the room, where Rock Lee, Tenten, and Neji recently released from the infirmary were eating.
"Well not on purpose," Sakura replied as she started to eat. She finished a mouth full of rice and shrugged. "He was just there today, and gave me some pointers really. He said he was taijutsu expert."
"He'd have to be," Sasuke said as he looked back at his plate. His sharingan was active, like it always was as a part of his conditioning training.
"What does that mean?" Kiba asked as he looked back at Lee and then to Sasuke.
"The sharingan isn't as good at seeing chakra as the byakugan, but his chakra isn't as developed as everyone else's."
"Chakra is a blend of physical and mental energy," Hinata said softly, her the veins in her eyes were raised slightly as she looked over at Lee. "His chakra is unbalanced, its almost all physical energy. I'd be surprised if he could do any ninjutsu or genjutsu at all." The veins in her eyes relaxed and she looked back at the group and shrugged.
"You said he was the strongest genin on his team, or even in the exam." Sakura said looking at Naruto who'd just been eating, uninterested in the conversation about Lee.
"Probably," Naruto said as he slurped his noodles. "I spent weeks under Kakashi's weighted seals, I know what its like to move under them. I don't think he's using seals like I was but he's weighed down by something, and its more than what I had on me."
"So, you're just guessing then?" Kiba asked as he looked at Naruto with a lifted eyebrow.
"It's a good guess," Naruto replied as he looked at Rock Lee for the first time since the conversation had started. "I've heard about his sensei, Might Guy, he's the strongest taijutsu specialist in the village, maybe the world."
"That's probably why he was helping me then." Sakura said as she moved her rice around with her chopsticks. "He isn't worried about me beating him or being competition."
"What that idiot? I doubt he's thought that far in advance." Kiba said as he stood up to clear his empty tray. "He probably just has a crush on you or something."
"Don't say stupid things," Sasuke said as he stood up and picked his tray up. Sakura looked at Sasuke for a second before she blushed and looked down.
"Scared of a little competition Uchiha?" Kiba barked before laughing at his own joke.
Sasuke sucked his teeth, and walked away from the group without looking back.
"Guess he is," Naruto said loudly enough for Sasuke to hear him before laughing and turning back to Sakura. "So, which one would you rather go out with?"
"What kind of question is that you blond moron!" Sakura shouted before she lowered her head and voice. "You know the answer stupid."
Naruto, Kiba, Hinata, and even Shino laughed at Sakura's response. The five of them went back to the meal, and conversation turned into speculation about the other genin in the exam, and their training plans over the next month.
"Obviously I'll be training with Mom and Sister," Kiba responded with a shrug. "I have some jutsu with Akamaru I need to master."
"I'll probably spend most of my training with my dad," Shino responded quietly. "We're breeding some new and interesting bugs that might be helpful. I'm sure Kurenai-sensei will have some things for me to work on too."
"What about you Hinata?" Kiba asked as he spun on of his chopsticks around his fingers lazily.
"I don't really know," Hinata's eyes darted towards Naruto and then back down at her tray. "Maybe father will help me train."
"What about you Naruto?" Hinata asked softly. She wasn't sure what answer she was expecting after what she'd overheard in the forest, but her stomach sank a little as she asked.
"Not really sure," Naruto said as he leaned back in chair and laced his fingers behind his head. "Ero-sennin won't be around, and truthfully, I don't think I need much training to get past the next round. I was thinking about going somewhere I've always wanted to visit."
"Where is that?" Sakura asked here eyebrows raised. "I thought you'd maybe stick around to help me and Sasuke some more."
"I'm sure Kakashi-sensei can handle it; he is an elite jonin after all." Naruto looked back at Sakura and smirked, "besides you and Sasuke could use some alone time am I right?"
"Shut up!" Sakura shouted as she waved a fist at him. "You didn't even answer my question!"
"Well, I am an Uzumaki, at least my mother was." Naruto said as he looked back up at the ceiling. "There has to be something in Uzushiogakure for me to see. Something for me to learn."
"Uzushiogakure?" Sakura asked with a frown as she looked at Naruto. "I've heard of that village before, but I can't remember where I've heard about it."
"From the academy," Hinata said softly. "When we learned about the second shinobi war, Uzushio was destroyed, it was one of the last acts of the war."
"Oh yeah I remember now," Sakura said softly her green eyes glancing at Naruto sadly. "Didn't they seal the whole island off? No one can get to it."
"I can," Naruto said as he looked at Sakura with a small smile. "Ero-sennin said an Uzumaki descended from the main clan should be able undo the barrier. I'll just have to figure out how."
"Maaaaan no offense but this is kind of depressing. Sakura what are you going to do for training?" Kiba asked as he avoided eye contact with the rest of the group.
"You're so insensitive," Shino replied as he turned his gaze towards Kiba.
"It's okay," Naruto laughed loudly. "It's totally depressing."
"Kakashi-sensei said I needed to strengthen my body to strengthen my chakra. After I do that, he said he has some jutsu to teach me."
"It's getting late," Shino said has he looked around, they were the only team left in the cafeteria aside from a team of genin that had just arrived a few minutes before. They were wearing mostly black with long strips of black cloth covering their mouths. There was another one with silver hair that had large round glasses but wasn't wearing the same masks as the other two.
"Yeah," Naruto said as he jumped out of his chair. "We should get some rest, doesn't matter at this point. Regardless of who finishes or not the test is over at noon tomorrow, and we get to get out of here finally." With that Naruto and the others got up and shuffled off to their rooms ready to relax and get some rest before the next day.
Naruto was kneeling over a large open scroll. About two feet of it was rolled out and covered in hundreds of formulas. 'Yeah, this will work for sure.' Naruto brushed his thumb over his bottom lip as his blue eyes scanned the formulas again and again. 'Well, I guess the truth is I know it works. Between me and my shadow clones I've read over this, double checked it, and tested it almost a hundred times now.' There was another sharp pain in the back of his head as another clone vanished, and his memories became one with Naruto's.
'Still not really good at doing it yet. The whole process is just taking me way to long. I guess for now its good in an emergency or as a surprise.' Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by a banging on his door.
"Come in," Naruto called as he rolled the large scroll up and placed it in the middle of sealing formula of another slightly smaller scroll. His door opened just as the larger scroll was sealed away.
"We're being called out into the middle of the tower." Sasuke said from the doorway as he watched Naruto roll up his single scroll. Naruto was once again wearing his baggy orange shorts, but this time he had on a dark blue shirt with an orange swirl on the back. "You're not wearing your gear?"
"Why would I?" Naruto asked as he slid the scroll into one of two pouches he had strapped to the back of his pants. One pouch contained a few of his sealing scrolls, and the other some shuriken and smoke bombs just incase of an emergency. "We're just being dismissed. The next part of the exams isn't for another month." Naruto grabbed his headband from the table, and threw it over his head and onto his neck uncaringly.
"We're taking ninja exams; you should be prepared for anything." Sasuke said as he moved out of the way to let Naruto out of the door.
"I have everything I need right here," he replied patting the pouch that was filled with several summoning scrolls. Sakura was standing out in the hall with Hinata and her team. Everyone but Naruto was wearing their ninja gear. "Do you all just assume we're going to be attacked or something?" Naruto asked as Shino and Kiba started to lead the way. Naruto fell into step next to Hinata. "You know we're all just being dismissed right."
"Dummy," Sakura muttered under her breath. "You need to always be prepared. This is what happens when you don't go to the academy."
"Maybe Naruto is right," Hinata muttered. "Just because we've been summoned doesn't mean anything's going to happen. It's almost 12 the exam is over soon."
"Hmmm, taking Naruto's side," Shino muttered as they walked through the double doors and into a larger hallway. "Could there be a reason for that?"
"Shino!" Hinata said loudly her face turning bright red.
"I think we all know why she's taking his side!" Kiba replied with a sharp grin.
They walked through down the hallway and around the corner leading to a staircase. Instead of going up them they took a left and walked out between two walls that lead out into large open area. The floor was covered in large green stone slabs. On the far side were two large green- and copper-colored ornate statues shaped like arms that came together to from the Ram seal with their hands.
Lining the outside of the walls just above the ground level about even with the second floor were two large walkways on either side. They looked almost like balconies that overlooked the room they were standing in right now. The ground in front of the statues seemed to be carved out to look like a stage just slightly higher than the rest of the ground floor.
Standing on the edge of the half-moon shaped platform right in the center of the raised section was the Third Hokage, dressed in his formal robes and hat. Behind him were what looked like the jonin instructors of what Naruto guessed were the remaining teams, and just below the raised platform were several of the chunin proctors. Naruto's team and the others slowly made their wait to the center of the room and stood in front of the Hokage all grouped together. After a few moments of quite muttering the Third Hokage raised his hand and cleared his throat.
"First off, I would like to congratulate every single one of you here today. You've all worked very hard to get here, and have proven to be excellent shinobi any village could proudly call theirs." He cleared his throat again and lightly stroked his grey goatee. "In fact, we've never had this many genin make it past the second exam before. You are all extraordinarily talented, because of this we've decided to hold some preliminary matches to thin out the number of contestants going into the third round."
'God damn it,' Naruto thought as he rolled his eyes and groaned. He glanced at Sasuke who was looking at him with a smug smile.
"Some of us have just arrived here last today," A voice called out from the crowed. "We might have to fight shinobi who've had days to rest."
The voice of reason was coming from Nara Shikamaru, Naruto turned to look at him, and his team. They all looked a little worse for ware, but it didn't seem like they'd seen a lot of fighting. 'Is this a strategy to get his opponents to underestimate them? Or is he really just trying to get out of this?'
"Missions don't always go as planned, sometimes shinobi maybe forced into combat at the most inconvenient time. They have to adapt to that situation and plan accordingly." The Sandaime said as he looked over the crowd. "Anyone who feels that they are unable to participate may back out now, you can always take the test again next year."
The crowd was silent for a few moments, and then a voice called out. "I haven't had enough time to recover my chakra. I'll be withdrawing for now." Naruto turned again to see the silver haired ninja at least five or six years older than him lower his hand. He pressed his large round glasses up his nose and turned around to leave. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the ninja's back and tilted his head. Glancing back, he locked eyes with Sasuke who was also staring at the silver haired ninja's back with a confused look on his face.
"He has plenty of chakra, doesn't he?" Naruto asked through the corner of his mouth.
"Almost as much as Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke replied back quietly. They both shared another look before turning back to face the Hokage.
"Alright, the matches will be one on one fights. The winner will precede to the third and final round of the exams. This screen right here will randomly select the opponents," he raised his hand to a blank black monitor above one of the walkways to the left of the statues. "Gekko Hayate will referee the matches."
A sickly-looking ninja with pale skin and bags under his eyes broke rank from the rest of the proctors below the platform. He took a few stops forward coughed a few times and cleared his throat.
"The matches will be chosen at random. All forms of ninja tools will be allowed during these fights. If a contestant is unable to proceed, I will call the fight. If I believe a contestant's life is in danger, I will call the fight and declare a winner. While killing of an opponent is not prohibited, it will be stopped when possible and is discouraged."
"Shame," Naruto said, "I was looking forward to chopping off someone's head." Kiba let out a chuckle and Sakura elbowed him in the ribs.
"Shut up," she hissed.
"He said it's only discouraged," Sasuke replied back dryly. "Surely your fast enough to not be stopped."
Naruto snorted and Sakura elbowed him again. Naruto winced and rubbed his side, and for the first time his blue eyes with the black haired jonin from the Oto. He was standing to the left of the Hokage behind him in line with the other jonin instructors. Naruto's blue eyes met his pale green ones and a shiver ran down his spine.
'Theres no way, he isn't that bold…is he?' Naruto thought to himself as he peeled his eyes away from him and locked eyes with Kakashi. Kakashi's visible eye flicked towards the Oto instructor and he shook his head subtly.
"All right, we'll begin with the first match." Hayate said with a small cough. He turned and faced the black screen and suddenly it lit up. On the top and bottom of the screen several names started to flash as it cycled through the names. Each time a name flashed by it let out a small beep. After several seconds it started to slow down and the beeps became farther and farther apart. Then finally it stopped.
"Fuck," Hinata said softly as Naruto stared at the screen his features schooled into a calm mask.
Hyuga Hinata Vs. Hyuga Neji
Authors Note: I'm back finally. Sorry for how long it's been. I never forgot about this, but I went through a lot the last couple years between losing my old chapters and outlines, the deaths of some close friends and family members and having to find a new job. However now that life seems back on track this story is still in the back of my mind, and even though I lost close to ten chapters of it when my HD took a dump, I still remember how I wanted it to go and it hasn't changed much.
I'm sure a lot of people are going to find this chapter in particular kind a slog to get through, but I didn't want to skip over it. I wanted to provide a transition into the preliminaries and try and build their characters out a bit more. I don't know when this will be published, but there will be more to come and it won't take over two years again.
Please feel free to leave reviews, and bear with me a bit on this chapter as I reestablish the tone I was going for and get back into the swing of things.