Hello everyone I'm back once again to bring you another chapter of my story; if you are enjoying it please keep on supporting me and my other works. Now with nothing else to say lets begin.
Legacies and Lightning: Chapter 16
(6 Months after the Land of Waves) In Kumo: With A
A was sitting behind his desk with his assistant Mabui standing by his side as overlooking the 20 jonin stood in front of him at attention; A had been dreading this day and now it has finally come. A took a sip of water from a cup in front of him and spoke.
"Alright you mouth breathers; listen up because I'm only going to say this once" A said gaining their attention "in two weeks we will be hosting the Chunin Exams here in Kumo; fifteen of your teams will be participating so we will have the majority of applicants of forty five in total". "This is not only a economic opportunity for us but a diplomatic opportunity" A said "with us holding the exams we can once and for all bury the dark past of Kumo and unearth another one".
A female jonin raised his hand and spoke "Lord Raikage, are you sure this is wise?" The jonin spoke "I mean, Kumo hasn't hosted a chunin exam in over forty years; this is new territory for us". The woman who spoke was a young voluptuous woman of average height with dark brown hair done into an afro and light brown skin; she wore a white long sleeved shirt with a low neck line showing off her generously busty chest, black flared trousers, black sandals and she carried two red oak tonfa's on her hips.
"I get your concerns Suzui; but rest assured this is for the best" A said to the now named Suzui who nodded her head.
Another jonin spoke up "if the Raikage says we're gonna do something then damn it we're going to do it" the jonin said crossing his arms "and I'll be damned if I allow any of you to fuck up the bosses plan".
"I appreciate that Tonoi; I knew I could count on you" Raikage said and Tonoi nodded.
Tonoi was a tall, dark skinned, muscular man wearing a sleeveless muscle shirt under his jonin armor showing off his arms; he had a short coal black afro, a mustache that looked like it was custom made for his stern, cold and unflinching face. He had an air of quiet and stoic power, like he could go from calm and collected to kicking ass and taking names in a split second. He had a pair of nunchucks in the waistband of his black combat pants.
"Of course boss; if you need me to keep these turkeys in line I'll be their shepherd " Tonoi said and a jonin next to him spoke up.
"Umm… turkeys don't have shepherds" the jonin said "they usually roam free and-"; the jonin didn't get a chance to finish when Tonoi sent a quick but powerful punch to the jonin face knocking him out and sending him to the ground.
"Don't interrupt me when I'm talking to the boss mothafucka" Tonoi shouted and the other jonin gulped in fear except for Suzui.
"Still the hot head as ever" Suzui said shaking her head with her hands on her hips "how you're a jonin sensei, I'll never know".
"Speaking about that" A said getting back on track "Tonoi, get Yuui and her team ready for this exam to the best of your abilities". "This is going to be her fourth try and I want her to pass" A said and Tonoi nodded.
"Of course boss; but to be honest she just had really shit luck the last three times" Tonoi said and Suzui looked at them wide eyed.
"Shit luck?" Suzui said "you two dumbasses mixed up the dates for her teams first exam; you were off by two days".
"I swear on my life, I thought that six looked like an eight" A said speaking up and making everyone sweat drop; A cleared his throat and spoke again "but I have high hopes for Yuui this time; I know she'll pass come hell or high water".
"So who else will be participating in the chunin exams?" Suzui asked curiously and Mabui handed a piece of paper to A.
"The list is not complete yet but this is who we have so far" Mabui said as A took the paper and looked at it.
"Alright then so far we have: fifteen Kumo teams, twelve Iwa and Suna teams, five Kusa and Taki teams, four Ame teams and one Oto team" A said reading off the list "so far Konoha, Kiri, Kawa haven't sent their lists yet". All the jonin began to chat amongst themselves about how many more teams will be joining the exam and A spoke up "with that being said we have 2 weeks to get ready; so get in some last minute training for your brats and get them ready" he said.
"Yes Lord Raikage" the jonin shouted before walking out; as they walked out A looked on the ground and saw the jonin that Tonoi knocked out.
"Hey! Someone pick that bastard up off my floor" A shouted out the door.
Meanwhile in Konoha; in the Hokage tower: With Hiruzen
Hiruzen was standing in front of the 30 or so jonin instructors explaining to them about where the chunin exams are being held; Anko, Kurenai, Kakashi, Asuma, Guy and Hayate all payed close attention.
"-So with that being said; the chunin exams will be held in Kumo for the first time in over forty years" Hiruzen said "ironically I was at the last one with my genin squad; Orochimaru and Tsunade both made it their first try, Jiraya… he did his best".
'Kumo huh?' Anko thought with a smile 'well isn't this going to be a treat for Naruto'.
"Now then; who amongst you are going to nominate your genin" Hiruzen said; Kakashi was the first to walk forward.
"I Kakashi Hatake, nominate my team of Sasuke Uchiha, Sai and… Sakura Haruno" Kakashi said with little enthusiasm; Guy sensei then walked forward and spoke.
"I Might Guy, nominate my team of Rock Lee, Neji Hyuga and Tenten" Guy said with a bright smile; Asuma walked up next and spoke.
"I Asuma Sarutobi, nominate my team of Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi" Asuma said with little care; Hayate walked up next and spoke.
"I Hayate Geko nominate- *cough*" Hayate began to cough for a few seconds before regaining his composure "I Hayate Geko nom- *coughing*". Everyone in the room sweat dropped at this and Hiruzen spoke up.
"Do you nominate your team of Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame; just give me a thumbs up?" Hiruzen said; Hayate gave him a thumbs up and Hiruzen sighed "thank you". 'Damn it Hayate; just take some time off' Hiruzen thought 'that cough isn't getting any better'.
Anko and Kurenai both walked up next and Anko spoke first "I Anko Mitarashi, nominate my student, Naruto Uzumaki to participate as a two man team with Kurenai Yuhi's student" she said shocking everyone.
Kurenai spoke up after her "I Kurenai Yuhi nominate my student Yakumo Kurama to participate in the chunin exams along side Naruto Uzumaki" she said; as soon as those words left her mouth the room began to whisper among itself.
"A two man team?" "that boy and the Kurama clan heir?" "Is that even legal?" The other jonin whispered amongst themselves.
"Everyone be quiet" Hiruzen stopping the chatter; he looked at Anko and Kurenai and spoke "this is a big deal you two; just the two of them it'll make their attempt even more harder, are you sure they can handle it?"
Anko and Kurenai both looked at each other and nodded "yes we're sure" Kurenai said "I'm willing to bet my rank of jonin on them".
"I'm willing to bet every cent in my bank account" Anko said "I'm sure they'll pass".
"Anko I've seen your tax records; I know damn well you don't have two ryo to rub together" Hiruzen said making Anko gain a tic mark "that being said, I'll allow it; but be sure to let them know the risks".
"Yes Lord Hokage" both Anko and Kurenai said at the same time; they both then looked at each other and smiled.
"Now then; who else thinks their teams want to participate" Hiruzen continued as several jonin began to speak; Anko and Kurenai were not listening as they were having a private conversation.
"Naruto is going to freakin' flip when he hears this" Anko whispered "do you know where he is?"
Kurenai nodded and whispered back "yeah, remember; he has that D-rank mission with Yakumo" she said.
At the academy: With Naruto and Yakumo
"-In conclusion" Naruto began as he pointed towards the chalk board "in case of werewolves use silver weapons, for vampires use holy weapons or sunlight, and zombies always aim for the head". On the chalk board there were multiple horribly drawn images of chibi Naruto's, Yakumo's, Anko's and Kurenai's fighting monsters.
Yakumo was sitting in a chair rubbing her temples as a migraine was setting in, the class of little children were looking on at Naruto in wonder and Iruka was pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Naruto…" Iruka said gaining his attention "you were suppose to give a presentation on something that will help them in the future; not teach them about mythical creatures". Naruto's jaw dropped and he spoke.
"Thirteen years ago a nine tailed fox the size of a sky scraper went on a rampage in this village" Naruto said incredulously "and you're jumping on by ass about teaching them about the undead?"
"He does have a point there sensei" Konohamaru said speaking up "I mean if that happened, who knows what else could come".
The entire class of children all began to shout in agreement and Iruka began to grow red "damn it children" he shouted with his head growing bigger "there is no such thing as zombies".
Meanwhile
(In an alternate universe) In Konoha
Naruto snuck through an alley way trying to keep as quiet as possible as he gripped his kunai; Naruto as been up for the past 24 hours trying to avoid the monsters running through the streets of his village. The entire village was on fire and the sounds of screams echoed through the air.
'Oh man just my luck' Naruto thought nearly pissing his pants 'I come back from the land of waves to this shit'. Naruto got back up readjusting his backpack and ran through the back alley way; after turning another corner he saw one of the monsters standing in the alley.
It's rotting flesh was handing off in chunks as what remained of a woman turned around and looked at Naruto it's mouth opening to show black teeth and milky white eyes.
"Oh fuck" Naruto said as he held his kunai at the ready the monster began to run towards Naruto growling and snarling; Naruto got ready to kill the monster when a crossbow bolt hit it in the back of the head.
The monster fell to the ground and skidded to a halt and Naruto looked at who fired it; there was a girl around his age with a Konoha headband.
She had her brown hair done into 2 buns that looked like panda ears, wearing a blood stained pink Chinese shirt and carrying a compound crossbow.
"Oh shit, thank god" Naruto said relived as the girl ran over.
"Who the hell are you; what are you doing out here?" the girl said "are you trying to get killed?"
"I-I'm Naruto; I just got back from a mission, what the hell is going on?" Naruto said and the girl spoke.
"My name is Tenten and to be honest… I have no idea" Tenten said "ever since these 'things' started attacking my chakra control has gone to crap; but luckily I have plenty of weapons". "We need to leave the village, it's not safe" Tenten said and Naruto nodded.
"Ok, I'll follow you" Naruto said as he followed Tenten as they ran down the alley "by the way, how do you kill these things; I've stabbed one like a dozen times and it won't die?"
Tenten looked at him like he was stupid "you have to kill the brain" she said "where the hell have you been for the past three weeks?"
"Coma" Naruto said "I woke up three days ago"; Tenten looked at him wide eyed.
"Seriously?" Tenten said.
Back to the main story
Anko and Kurenai both opened the door to the class room and spoke "Hey Iruka, sorry to interrupt, but we came for Naruto and Yakumo; we have some news" Anko said before looking at Naruto and Yakumo "come with us".
"Oh thank Kami" Yakumo said "I don't think I can handle anymore talks about zombies and werewolves"; Kurenai looked at her and spoke.
"Wait, what?" Kurenai asked confused.
30 minutes later at the training ground
"Naruto, what were you thinking about teaching children about that?" Kurenai said, scolding Naruto who was smiling and rubbing the back of his head "do you have any idea what you've done?"
"Umm… teaching them how to fight the supernatural" Naruto said before Kurenai lightly karate chopping his head leaving a "oww; oh come on".
"Yeah, Naruto, what were you thinking?" Anko said placing her hands on her hips "you forgot to teach them about how to fight ghosts and how to identify skin-walkers".
"Yes you-" Kurenai began until she looked over at Anko who was laughing at the situation "oh… just forget it".
Anko's laughter died down and she spoke up "oh man I just love messing with you" she said; Anko cleared her throat and spoke "anyway I just wanted to let you two know that me and Kurenai entered the two of you into this years chunin exams".
Both Naruto and Yakumo went wide eyed and Naruto spoke up "no way, you entered us into the exams?" Naruto asked excited and Anko nodded.
"That's right; we entered the two of you to in the exams as a two man team" Anko said with a smile and Yakumo raised her hand.
"Don't you need three members to go to the chunin exams?" Yakumo asked and Kurenai spoke.
"Normally yes; but you two are different cases" Kurenai said "you both are separate apprentices to me and Anko; so that kind of skirts around the rules since you were never officially part of a team, you just worked together a lot".
"Alright, this is awesome" Naruto cheered before asking the next question "so where's it going to be at?"
Both Anko and Kurenai smiled at him and Kurenai took out two small booklets and handed them to Naruto and Yakumo "these are your foreign visas" Kurenai said "check where you're allowed to enter for the remainder of the chunin exams".
Naruto and Yakumo opened the booklets and Naruto's jaw dropped "Kumo?" Naruto said astonished as he looked at Anko and Kurenai "I'm going to Kumo?"
"That's right brat; you're going to Kumo for the first chunin exams in over forty years" Anko said; Naruto suddenly jumped forward and grabbed both Anko and Kurenai giving them the biggest hug he could muster.
"No freakin' way" Naruto cheered before letting them go "I'm going to Kumo, I'm going to see Yuui, Uzui, and Doki again".
Anko, Kurenai and Yakumo all looked at Naruto with happiness filling their hearts; Naruto constantly talked about his 3 long lost freinds and knew he would give his left hand to see them again. Now his wish had come true; this was one of the very few times in his life Naruto was truly happy.
"When are we going?" Naruto asked and Anko spoke.
"We leave in three days; the exam starts in two weeks and all participants will leave at the same time" Anko said "so go home, pack your crap and lets get ready to roll".
"Alright sweet" Naruto said "I got to go and get Yuui, Uzui and Doki some presents from Konoha; like things they can't get back in Kumo". Naruto ran off back into town and Anko, Kurenai and Yakumo all looked on amused on how excited he was.
"I told you he'd be happy" Anko said.
At dusk; Naruto's apartment: With Naruto
Naruto gathered a bunch of stuff on his bed and was organizing it into gifts for Yuui, Uzui and Doki; Naruto looked at the pile and nodded.
'Alright; i think I got everything' Naruto thought 'I got jerky, cheese, candy, soda and chips for Yuui, I got lotions and other beauty crap for Uzui and I got some of Konoha's finest Sake and whisky for Doki'. Naruto got them all the stuff they stockpiled the last time they were in Konoha; he especially remembered going to the candy store with Yuui and seeing her buy the candies that weren't available in Kumo
Naruto smiled at this 'Yuui, I finally get to see her again; it's been so long' he thought 'I wonder how much she's changed; well she's four years older than me so she's seventeen by now, I wonder is she looks like her mom?'
Naruto imagined Yuui now being as tall as Uzui and rubbed his chin 'hmmm… I don't know… her mom is pretty short; she was definitely shorter than Anko sensei and Kurenai sensei' he thought. Naruto was brought out of his mind when there was a sudden knock at the door 'wonder who that is?' Naruto thought as he walked over to the door.
Naruto opened the door and saw Danzo, Sai and a masked root anbu next to him "hello Naruto, it's been a while" Danzo said and Naruto's eyes furrowed.
"What the hell do you want Danzo?" Naruto asked as he stepped aside letting Danzo and the others in as there was very little he could to to keep them out.
"Straight to the point; I like that" Danzo said as Naruto closed the door "as you know going to Kumo for the chunin exams is a great endeavor for Konoha". Danzo turned around and looked at Naruto "we are putting a great deal of trust in a nation that was up until ten years ago a belligerent nation" he said "have you heard about the Hyuga incident?"
"Kind of" Naruto said "Neji's dad died because of it and he's been a prick ever since".
"Hizashi Hyuga, younger brother of Hiashi Hyuga was sacrificed after a Kumo ambassador was killed trying to kidnap the heiress; Hinata Hyuga" Danzo said and Naruto went wide eyed.
'Wait, Hinata… Hinata from my academy class?' Naruto thought.
"Hizashi was sacrificed by Hiashi Hyuga and Hiruzen in order to avoid war; even though it was clearly Kumo's fault" Danzo said "if it was up to me we would've retaliated in full and wiped that nation of the face of the earth; but Hiruzen was too weak and foolish to do so".
"What does this have to do with me going to Kumo?" Naruto asked and Danzo looked at him.
"There are ten teams going to Kumo; and four of those teams have clan heirs or important members of certain clans" Danzo said "Sasuke Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka. Choji Akimichi, Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka and Yakumo Kurama are all clan heirs; Hinata Hyuga is an unsealed Hyuga and former heiress and Neji Hyuga is a sealed Hyuga and future head of the branch family".
"Wait, Hinata isn't the Hyuga heiress anymore?" Naruto asked and Danzo nodded.
"Correct; she's timid, weak and frankly unfit for shinobi life" Danzo said before letting out a chuckle "ironic isn't it; Neji's father died due to Hiashi protecting Hinata and then he kicked her to the curb".
"No wonder Neji's an ass" Naruto said "so what do you want me to do?"
"Simple, I want you to watch over them and if necessary protect them" Danzo said "I don't care how much Kumo says they've changed; I will not let valuable military assets walk freely among them". "And if all else fails, if there's any risk of capture, I expect you and Sai here to ensure they… don't fall into enemy hands" Danzo said.
This hit Naruto like a ton of bricks "you want me to kill them to prevent capture?" Naruto said and Danzo nodded "Yakumo and some of the others are my friends".
Danzo got up and raised his cane and smacked Naruto across the face with it, knocking him down "this is the way the world on the ninja works boy" Danzo said "there are no friends or enemies, no right or wrong; there is only victory or defeat". Danzo began to walk away as Naruto nursed his bleeding cheek as a six inch gash was made "these are the type of choices that a Hokage must make; save your friends… or save the village, choice is yours" he said.
Naruto got to his feet and spoke "I swear I'm gonna fucking kill you one day" Naruto said and Danzo smirked.
"I'm ready whenever you are boy" Danzo said as he reached the door "either prevent capture or terminate if necessary; I don't care which you pick, just ensure no one falls into enemy hands". "Other wise you can forget coming back to this village; I will brand you a traitor and hunt you down for the rest of your life" Danzo said; Danzo opened the door and walked out followed by the masked root anbu.
Sai stood there and put on his fake smile for Naruto "don't worry Naruto; if it comes to it I'll kill them" Sai said "I've done it before, it'll be easy for me; you just try and save them". Sai walked out and closed the door and Naruto got back up to his feet.
'Fucking Danzo, one eyed asshole' Naruto thought 'I won't kill any of them; I will protect them'.
Meanwhile Danzo and his anbu walked down a dark alley "my Lord, don't you think you should've told him about the deal between Lord Hokage and the Raikage?" The anbu said and Danzo looked at him.
"Sadly that's one thing that's out of my hands Tenzo" Danzo said to the now named Tenzo "if that deal comes back and bites Hiruzen in the ass it's his fault, not mine". "He signed that damn agreement with the Raikage against my orders; if anything happens to those boys it's on him" Danzo said as he and Tenzo disappeared into the darkness.
2 Days later; Konoha North gates: With Hiruzen, Anko, Kurenai and Yakumo
Hiruzen, Anko, Kurenai, Yakumo and all other teams from Konoha were waiting at Konoha's northern gates along with all the other teams that will be going to Kumo; there was team 7, 8, 10, team Guy and six other teams all intermingling among each other and saying goodbye to their families if they had any.
Hiruzen walked over to Anko and Kurenai and spoke "Anko, Kurenai; where's Naruto?" Hiruzen asked "I thought for sure he'd be the first one here".
"I don't know" Kurenai said slightly concerned "we leave in an hour; should we go look for him?"
"He's probably taking a shit before we hit the road" Anko said being blunt; Kurenai and Yakumo both looked at her in disgust "oh come on, he always goes and takes a dump before we leave the village". "Look, there he is now" Anko said pointing; everyone turned and saw Naruto walking up with his backpack over his shoulders.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late; had to use the bathroom real quick" Naruto said and Hiruzen, Kurenai and Yakumo all sweat dropped.
"See, told you" Anko said.
"Alright, that seems to be everybody" Hiruzen said to them "I'll do one more head count and then we can go"; Hiruzen walked off and Yakumo looked at Naruto. He was wearing his regular clothes and but there was a piece of white paper sticking out of his trench coat pocket.
"Hey Naruto, what's that?" Yakumo asked as she pointed at his pocket, Anko and Kurenai also looked and Naruto reached in.
"Oh this?" Naruto said as he pulled it out "just a picture from a long time ago"; Naruto handed them the picture and they looked at it.
It was a picture of Naruto, Yuui, Uzui, Doki, Teuchi and Ayame at the Ichiraku ramen shop from over five years ago; everyone looked at it amazed as they never knew Naruto had a picture.
"Oh wow, look at how small you used to be" Kurenai said and Naruto chuckled while rubbing his cheek.
"Woah, that dude is built like a brick shit house" Anko said pointing at Doki.
"That's Doki, he was Yuui and Ms.Uzui's bodyguard; he was like a super anbu" Naruto said remembering how Doki trained him all those years ago.
"Who's the blonde woman; is that Ms.Uzui?" Yakumo asked and Naruto nodded "wow she's so beautiful "; Yakumo then looked at the dark skinned girl that looked to be around their current age and spoke. "Ooooh and that must be Yuui right?" Yakumo said and Naruto nodded "she looks so exotic and pretty".
"Yeah that's Yuui; my first friend ever… well first female friend, I say Lee is my best guy friend, with Guy being second and I guess Sai's third" Naruto said making them all chuckle "I'm sure you'd like Yuui, Yakumo; she's super cool and you guys can probably do girl stuff together".
"That'll be wonderful" Yakumo said with a smile.
……
About an hour later Hiruzen began to lead the ten teams outside the gates to head north to Kumo; as they walked along the road in a defensive formation Naruto looked at the picture one more time and smiled.
'Watch out Yuui, it's time for me to show you what kind of ninja I've become' Naruto thought as he pocketed the photo and continued walking along side his team to Kumo and the chunin exams.
Ok another chapter done; I hope you all enjoyed it. Yep, next chapter is going to be the Naruto and Yuui reunion; and trust me, when I say there will be a twist and it'll be good. Also yeah Danzo continuing making Naruto his unofficial subordinate will come into play. Anyway please like, comment and share with your friends; and until next time bye.