Chapter 7: Suspension it is
Enjoy the fic
Sabaku no Gaara, Gaara was the third jinchurikki of the Ichibi and the youngest of his siblings. He was the second son of Rasa, the fourth Kazekage. His mother died only a few moments later after she birthed him, on her deathbed she named him 'Gaara'.
Because of heavy cuts to Sunagakure's budget, the Fourth Kazekage wanted to make one of his children the jinchurikki of the One-Tailed Shukaku to serve as a weapon for the village. His first two children, Temari and Kankurō, had not been compatible with Shukaku. Rasa's third child, who would become Gaara, was compatible and Shukaku was sealed into him by Chiyo while he was still in his mother's womb. Gaara ended up being born prematurely, and from the ordeals of complications in his birth, his mother Karura died. Before dying, Karura vowed to always protect Gaara and he got the ability to control sand.
Gaara was raised in isolation throughout his early childhood, cared for only by his maternal uncle, Yashamaru. When he was allowed to roam around the village, Gaara would try to connect with the villagers, being kind to them and offering them any assistance he could. However, being a jinchurikki made the villagers frightened of Gaara. Adults avoided him and when they couldn't, they treated him delicately while children would run from him on sight. Gaara would try to assure them that he meant no harm, but in the process would unknowingly injure or even kill them with his sand.
Gaara did not understood the pain that he caused to others since his sand protected him from physical injuries. When he was six years old, Gaara asked Yashamaru to explain the meaning of pain to him. From Yashamaru's explanation, Gaara believed he did know pain i.e. the unbearable agony in his heart.
Yashamaru elaborated that physical pain, what causes one to bleed, could be cured with medicine and time. Whereas pain of the heart, like the one Gaara experienced, could only be cured with love. Yashamaru told him that he was loved both by his mother and Yashamaru himself. Gaara was pleased by this and went out into the village to show some love to those he'd harmed, but his efforts were met only with more fear and animosity.
Gaara was dismayed and went off to try and understand why he was treated as such a monster. While doing so, he was attacked by one of Suna's Anbu, his sand came to protect him, in his fit of confusion and rage he ordered his sand to attack the anbu. The sand fatally wounded his offender, when he unmasked the Anbu Gaara discovered it was Yashamaru.
Gaara was devastated that Yashamaru, the only living person to love him, would try to kill him and asked for an explanation. Yashamaru explained that it was a mission given to him by Rasa, Gaara's father. It had been decided by the Suna Council that Gaara was a failed experiment, who if allowed to live, would only continue to harm the village and its people.
Gaara tried to find solace in the fact that Yashamaru had been ordered to kill him, but Yashamaru declared in his last moment that he had volunteered and that he'd always blamed Gaara for Karura's death. He also falsely informed Garra that, Karura had never loved Gaara and he would befall as a curse upon Suna for what it had done to her. With his explanation done, Yashamaru pleaded Gaara to die before blowing himself up with explosive tags.
Gaara's sand shielded Gaara from the blast. Having lost everything he cared for, Gaara decided that he would, from that point on forward, live up to his namesake by loving only himself. To the extent that he used his own sand to etch the kanji for "love" onto the left side of his forehead. Overwhelmed with grief, he lost control over his Bijuu. Gaara transformed into Shukaku and wracked havoc in Suna.
Rasa would arrange five other assassination attempts on Gaara over the following years, but he was the undying legend of his village. A child that can never be harmed in anyway possible, a death angel who's venomous gaze were enough to freeze the blood of even experienced shinobis.
Gaara now lives alone, apart from his siblings and so called father, he has never considered him worthy enough to be his father and he never will. Gaara was a genin now, he was on a team with his siblings as no-one else was brave enough to live in the constant company of the undying genin.
Nevertheless, he was far more focused on protecting himself to notice the underlying care in the eyes of Temari. Temari didn't hated Gaara, they were forcefully kept aside from Gaara. From the lack of love, Gaara had turned into a mindless murderer, the situation was this worse due to her father's greed for power.
Gaara was perched up on the roof of one of the tallest building in Sunagakure, his eyes drifted toward the moon. The white ball of light, it was his constant companion throughout his sleepless nights.
The Ichibi had restricted him from sleep, if he dared to, the bijuu will take control of his body and cause destruction. He wasn't even a bit worried about destruction, he didn't had to preserve anyone but himself, but he couldn't let the bijuu take control as prolonged contact with Ichibi caused him severe headaches.
Suddenly, he sensed a chakra signature behind him, he turned around to see his father dressed in Kazekage robe looking at him with that same unhidden disgust.
"I have a mission for you. You're to go to the leaf village to take part in the upcoming Chunin exam and ..."
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
The last two weeks before Chunin exams were hectic for team seven, they had completed 2 C ranks and 1 B rank mission without halt. Kakashi hadn't let them rest for more than a day in between.
One of the C-Rank missions was a simple border patrol duty, while the second one was merely regarding extermination of 20 bandits around one of the small villages in the north of Fire country. The B-rank mission wasn't that primary either, the trader whom they had to escort to the capital was a just bit more paranoid for his goods.
It was the first day of the last week prior to Chunin exams, The sun was on top of the Village shining brightly. Naruto was strolling through village after completing his daily training for the day.
Sasuke and his other friends, even the renowned lazy ass, Shikamaru, was busy in training. Sarutobi sensei has suspended his training forth as he had to attend and make sure that the preparation for the Chunin exam were flawless. He had completed his self-training and team exercise with Kakashi and rest of team seven.
Tsunade was also busy at hospital, that eliminated his chance of pestering her for a bit company.
He was passing by one of the training grounds while walking toward the Hokage monument when he heard noises of someone training inside, the voice was a bit on the familiar side, losing to his curiosity and boredom he went inside to observe them train.
And with his good luck, non other but his long term friend Hinata was training inside the ground. She was dressed in a black t-shirt and same coloured trouser that made her movement look flawless. She was striking a pole with all her strength, resulting in several deep scruffs in the poor wooden structure. Her indigo-black hairs in high ponytail, and her face as elegant as ever.
Hinata was practicing her taijutsu katas, using her hands in the form of claws rather than palm to strike the poles. Planning to surprise her, he sneaked toward her. She had her eyes closed and her Byakugan deactivated, Naruto stood behind the pole and He peeked tentatively as she was about to hit it.
"Hey Hinata, What's up?" he asked chirply.
Hinata stopped her onslaught in middle, a little surprised by the sudden voice, but she knew the owner of this voice. She opened her eyes to see her hands mere inches away from Naruto's face, he peeked from behind it and smiled his best.
"Eeehh! N- Naruto-kun?" were the only words that came out of Hinata before she stumbled back and tripped on her own foot. She landed on the ground with a thud, this wasn't definitely what she was trying to do.
"Ah...Hinata, I am sorry. Did I scared you? I just wanted to surprise you" said Naruto rubbing the back of his head. He gave her a hand, she blushed a little at the contact but stood up nonetheless.
"No, I just thought that my h-hand hit you" replied Hinata while poking her index finger together.
"Wow, you're stuttering has decreased allot" complimented Naruto.
"Really?" questioned Hinata excitedly.
Naruto nodded his head in response. "Yep...By the way, Have you completed your training?"
"No, I'll t-train for another one or t-two hours. Why?" asked Hinata.
"If you don't have any problem, may I join you? All of our friends are busy in their training, I don't have anything else to do and beside it looks cool" Naruto smiled without even knowing what effect it spurred in the meek little girl's heart.
"Y-Yeah sure. Also, I w-wanted to try out my new weapons against another weapon. Since you use one, we could do that" responded Hinata.
"Your new weapons? What are those Hinata?" questioned Naruto intrigued at the prospect of her using some fancy weapon.
"I'll show you, wait just a moment, I have only got them a week ago" replied Hinata.
Naruto nodded his head and tapped on one of the seal on his wrist, the seal was a newly inscribed storage seal for his Bo. it appeared beside him in a poof of smoke and he grabbed the weapon firmly.
Hinata went back toward the tree where she had left her bag, she picked a belt and tied it around her waist. The belt had two pouches at it's side that held two daggers, taking her focus toward close ranged taijutsu in consideration she had chosen two medium sized daggers.
The blade of daggers were silvery-white and inertly curved at the end, while the handles were dark blue in colour and had tigers' head as end. The tiger symbolized strong willpower, courage and generosity.
Hinata and Naruto stood affront eachother, contemplating on who would make the first move. Hinata dashed toward Naruto initiating their spar, adjusting her hold on dagger in reverse grip. An upward swipe was the first attack of Hinata, Naruto placed his foot back to avoid it. A left-hand swing was the second attack that came, Naruto rotated his ankle and twisted out of the strike.
Hinata ducked a little and targeted Naruto's stomach, Naruto brought his Bo infront to block the attack. Hinata again tried an uppercase swipe, Naruto rotated his Bo a little and deflected the dagger strike. The Bo was a long to medium range weapon, Naruto had to use it delicately to avoid any mistake in close range fights.
Hinata jumped back, The Bo added with Naruto's defensive reflex was amazing, no extra rotation or movement than required. Since, She had been only training for past two weeks with her dagger hence she wasn't able to synchronise her taijutsu with her daggers completely.
While Naruto was able to see why other shinobis were advised not to engage with a Hyuga in close combat, Hinata's strikes were accurate and to the point. She had allot of room to cover before she would be able to fully counter his Bo-Jutsu, still she definitely had potential to do that. Her close combat prowess were at par with Uchiha Sasuke, it was just her reluctance to harm others that held her back.
This time he sped forth aiming his Bo toward her solar flex, she deflected the bo with a strike of her dagger, the bo went upward and she moved to slash Naruto's stomach.
~Clench~
~Poof~
The dagger contacted with Naruto's skin but he went into a puff of smoke, Hinata activated her Byakugan and could see the chakra dispersed from the clone, a Ninjutsu. Naruto hadn't displayed his shadow clones publicly and neither had Hinata seen them before. He appeared behind Hinata, it was only due to her reflex that she developed while sparring with Hizashi, that she dodged the attack of Naruto. He smirked and advanced forward, sparring with people of his own age was more fun than sparring with senior shinobis.
Both of them continued to spar for the rest of the afternoon, what they failed to notice were the two pairs of white eyes following each of their movements.
It was late evening when both of them ended the spar, Naruto sealed his Bo back inside his sealing tattoo. Hinata too took off her belt and packed it inside the bag.
As the two teenager stood side by side after the spar Naruto's attention drifted toward the girl beside him. Hinata's face was shining due the sweat, her hairs a little messed up, sweat rolling from side of her pink waxen cheeks traveling toward her neck.
She huffed out a little after taking a sip of water, the droplets stagnant on her rosy malleable lips. She didn't had much of baby fat on her face due to constant training, pearly big eyes stealing glances toward Naruto. She adjusted a strand of hair that fell out to the back of her ears, and looked up toward Naruto.
"Beautiful" was the only word that came in his mind. Not intending to stare at her face he averted his eyes the other side.
Sound of someone clearing throat disrupted his chain of thoughts, his eyes quickly turned toward the source of the sound. A man wearing black kimono stood there looking upon them with neutral expression.
"Good evening, Oji-san" greeted Hinata with a nod.
"Good evening, Hizashi-san" Naruto copied her. He had been taught about the clans that resides in Konoha, Hyuga clan was one of the primary ones, he knew that Hinata's father had a twin brother.
Hizashi Hyuga, also know as the Fast palm Hizashi. He was the fastest hand to hand close combatant in the entire Hyuga clan. He was only shadowed by his brother, Hiashi Hyuga was the current head of the Hyuga clan, also known as the Iron Fist Hiashi. In contrast to his brother, Hiashi was the strongest hand to hand close combatant in Hyuga clan. They together formed "The Perfect defence of Hyuga clan". The last war displayed the both of them as a unit of perfect defense for Konoha ninjas.
"Good evening, Uzumaki-san. It's nice to see that Hinata has some good friends who cares for her and helps her in training" accosted Hizashi without any malice in his voice.
The Hyuga clan as whole didn't held the Jinchurikki as favourable, but that same expression was not shared by the two brothers. The clan head and his brothers were acquainted with Namikaze Minato, they knew that the man was a fuinjutsu master when it came to that. They didn't resented the boy, he was not at fault at the first place. He hadn't volunteered to be put under such rituals, nonetheless he wasn't either as aloof as villagers made him to be.
"It's nothing, I'll always try and help my friends" Naruto downplayed his role. He was oblivious to such norms of receiving credit or praise, while his sensei treated him with ramen or any other delicacy when he performed exceptionally it was indirect praise.
Hiruzen had taken up the duty to teach him formal discipline, politics of words, history and understanding of diplomatic conversations though.
"It's quite late for training, you were to return around 4 o'clock, you're two hours late" stated Hizashi.
"I am sorry, Oji-san. The spar was intense thus I lost the track of time" replied Hinata picking her backpack.
"Acceptable, now let's go. Don't make this a habit, you know how much your father values time" said Hizashi leading her out of the training field.
Hinata nodded and turned toward Naruto "It was fun sparring with y-you Naruto-kun, if you want to do this again, you could find me in this ground in a-afternoon"
Naruto smiled and nodded, he would surely like to meet Hinata again, for spars of course.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
He was halfway toward his house when he saw Shizune attempting to carry eight shopping bags together, trying being the keyword, as the bags kept falling. He walked to her and shared half of her burden taking four of the bags from her.
"You should have asked for help, Shizune-nee" He said picking up the last bag.
Shizune just smiled in reply and lead him toward the Senju manor.
They reached the manor, the house was huge in proportion, atleast in respect to Naruto's house. Though, you can't compare it to Hyuga mansion as the latter one was simply built to house a clan of nearly Two hundred members initially. While this manor had been used to accommodate only the families of Shodai and Nindaime Hokage, the rest of Senju clan lived in an another manor, which was transformed into an orphanage after the decimation of Senju clan in the first shinobi war.
Naruto followed Shizune inside, the house was beautiful and spacious from inside. The walls were painted brown while the roof was black, it was a two story building with a backyard. The backyard included a garden cornered to a small pound, the two floors had a total of 36 rooms. 20 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 3 living room, 2 kitchens, 3 storerooms, 2 libraries and one training room.
The duo with their edible luggage entered the kitchen at the ground floor, Naruto dropped the supplies on the table beside Shizune's.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun. You were a great help, I couldn't have carried this many bags back to the manor on my own" said Shizune.
"Don't mention it, Shizune-nee. I just saw you struggling with supplies, so I helped you" Naruto expressed while smiling.
"Are you returning from a training session? You look quite flustered" Shizune asked passing a glass of water to him, with a nod he gulped it down.
"Wait here then, I will brew fresh juice for you" said Shizune and took the glass from him to drop it into the basin.
Ten minutes later, Shizune took a seat beside him handing him a glass of freshly brewed juice. He begun drinking the juice periodically, it was indeed refreshing and tasty.
Before he could finish his juice though, Tsunade entered the kitchen, she had several files tucked under her arms. Her face brightened as she laid her eyes on the blonde gaki seated behind the kitchen table, drinking a glass of juice. She put down the files on one side of the table and settled down beside him ruffling his hair in the process.
Shizune handed her a glass filled with same coloured juice as Naruto. Tsunade has been searching for the blonde the whole last week, his house was occupied by that stupid woman Anko only. After questioning at the mission desk she came to know that Kakashi had been picking up one mission after another for his team. That one-eyed scarecrow was always annoying, not mention his perverse affiliation with those smuts that Jiraiya advertised as 'Novel'.
"I haven't been able to find you for last two weeks, Brat. Is Kakashi a slave master? Even Hiruzen sensei used to give us time to relax" Tsunade said handing the glass to her subordinate.
"It isn't like that, He is quite lax and aloof when he needs to be. It is due Chunin exams, he wanted us to have a great mission record to flaunt" Naruto replied shaking his head.
"Ah...The Copy ninja is building quite a track record in trail of his team, Believe me it'll only benefit you in near future." She cleared nodding to her self.
"Apart from it however, you will inform me about your missions from now on. I don't want to search around for you only to discover that you're not in the village, If I ever need you. Do I make myself clear?" questioned Tsunade standing up.
Naruto nodded slowly, this only meant that he'll have to deal with Tsunade before his missions much like Anko. It wasn't problematic per say, but it was definitely dependent on his memory.
"Now as you know I was searching you, It was merely for an offer that I want to present infront of you." Tsunade spoke forth.
"It has been decided by me and Shizune that we want you to move into this house from that lonely building. I wasn't able to raise you due to some known circumstances, but as I have returned to the village, you will not live alone from now on" stated Tsunade in a firm voice.
Naruto looked toward her with an expression akin to adoration, the same feeling as before dwelling inside him, he had always wanted to live in a house filled with his loved ones. Kakashi and Anko regularly slept at his house, it wasn't like he was all alone there. Still, sometimes when he would return to the house and if both Kakashi and Anko were on missions, silence and loneliness would welcome him.
He nodded and said "I would love that, Baa-chan, but I have one condition. You'll allow Ero-Ojii, Kakashi nii-san and Anko nee-chan to visit me anytime" demanded Naruto.
Tsunade looked at him critically before smiling wholly.
"Anko is allowed till she wears decent clothes around here, Kakashi is also allowed soon as he forsakes his books while he's here and as for Jiraiya, I would beat him to pulp if I find him doing any misdeed inside my house, apart from that he's also allowed" said Tsunade.
"Awesome! I will move in tomorrow morning. I will take the help of my friends to seal my furniture and other things and then move here" contemplated Naruto.
"Good to hear that, you will take the second room to the left from mine. It has a bathroom attached to it and you're also to follow some house rules." Tsunade begun counting the rules on his fingers.
"First and foremost, You're to inform me whenever you go on a mission. Second, You will only cook food in either my or Shizune's supervision, I don't want my house to burn down" said Tsunade.
"Hey! I know how to cook" replied Naruto and went on to bicker with Tsunade.
He returned to his house in late evening to see Anko sprawled across the futon inside one of the bedrooms, he walked to her lying form and covered her with a blanket before going on to sleep in his room. He never saw Anko opening one of her eyes and smiling fondly at his back.
The next morning he gathered all his friends, namely Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Haku, Sakura and a reluctant Sasuke joined him. He handed them sealing scrolls and instructed them on 'how to seal' the items inside it. It took them two hours but the needed furniture was packed and ready to move, quite seamlessly by the way.
They sealed all the items separately and marked them to avoid confusion, the group then took the ways on roof toward the manor of the famed clan. They reached the manor in half hour, Naruto led them inside the manor and toward his room after greeting Shizune in the hall.
The room had wooden flooring and walls, the roof was painted in white and a light bulb hung down from it. Tsunade had already left for her duty at hospital as she had some early appointments. Shizune treaded toward the kitchen after greeting Naruto and his friends. Her duty at hospital was reserved to surgeries and Tsunade guided her through all of them. Alas, there were no surgeries today.
The group of genins started laying down scrolls at instructed places in the room to unseal furniture or items from them. They had benefited from today's class in sealing from Naruto. As of now, they could seal their supplies on missions reducing their luggage and load, that would increase their pace in missions.
Although, Sasuke and Sakura had already learnt a little bit of sealing from Naruto during their missions and combined training sessions. Naruto wasn't that good of a sensei as his method comprised of do and error method rather than the theory then practical method.
Additionally, He has drawn weapon storage seals on their arms for their respective needs. Naruto was developing his fuinjutsu skills at an alarming rate and Jiraiya suspected it was due to his Uzumaki genes. After all, the clan was known for their complimentary control over the sealing art.
It took them another hour and half to unseal all of the furniture. Kakashi and Anko were already informed by Naruto about his change of residence by a message note. They didn't had much of an issue with it, they have received the permission to enter the house till they abide a few rules.
Shizune entered the room to check on them, as they had completed their unsealing and arranging items, she instructed them to rest in the backyard while she extract juices to refresh them. The sun was high up in the sky when they came out in the backyard, and the clock ticked at One.
Meanwhile, Tsunade had completed her morning shift and was returning to the house for a little rest. She entered the house and moved in toward the living house that was connected to the backyard, she entered the room to see two girls sitting on the perch facing the backyard. She moved closer to see Naruto, a boy with pony-tail- probably a Nara by his depressing facial expressions and a chubby boy sitting under the tree conversing amongst eachother. On the other side of the garden two boys, one with Inuzuka clan markings and the another with black hair and Uchiha clan symbols on back of his Haori were bickering amongst eachother.
Tsunade had seen the black-haired girl sitting on the perch previously, she was one of shinobis learning about medication and poisons with the help of herbs in hospital. Naruto's eyes landed on her and he bolted up, seeing him bolting all the attention shifted toward him.
"Baa-chan, I have moved all my furniture and supplies here" said Naruto enthusiastically.
Hearing the word Baa-chan from Naruto's mouth, everyone's attention turned toward Tsunade. Sakura stood up frantically, her idol and one of best medic ninja in elemental nation was standing infront of them.
"Baa-chan?" asked Shikamaru confusingly, he had been informed by his father that Naruto's parents had sacrificed their lives on the night of Kyubi attack, and he didn't had grandparents.
"Well..Yeah. She is my Godmother, but as she is too old I call her Baa-chan" said Naruto chirpily.
~Bonk~
"I am not old, Brat. Watch your mouth" Tsunade scolded after bonking him on the head. Everyone else sweatdropped at the antics of the sannin and her godson. She took a seat beside the table in the middle of room.
"Ow...Hey! Why did you hit me, I didn't say anything wrong" said Naruto indiligently.
Again, Everyone just sweatdropped. You could always trust Naruto to nickname legendary shinobis and he wouldn't surprise you. For him the Great Toad sage Jiraiya was 'Ero-Oji'. The slug princess Tsunade was 'Baa-chan' and The kami no shinobi Sandaime Hokage was 'Jiji', and surprisingly none of them seems to dislike it.
"You're related to Tsunade-Sama and you didn't even told us" argued Sakura.
"Even I came to know about this on my last mission with Ero-Ojii" replied Naruto.
Before the conversation could move forward Shizune entered the room with a tray of glasses filled with juice, she gave each one a glass of juice and went on to sit beside Tsunade.
Everyone just forgot about the conversation and moved on to drink their juice, but Sakura's eyes never left Tsunade for more than a minute.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
Kumogakure, Raikage Office:-
A boulder of man was seated behind the desk of Raikage office, his bulky form was imaginably hard to conceal behind the wooden structure. Another person with shabby white hairs cut short and a thin moustache above his lips was standing in front of the village leader in attention.
"Darui, You will lead two teams for upcoming Chunin exams" informed the Yondaime Raikage A.
"The exams are to be held in Konoha, would it be right to send our shinobis there?" asked Darui a little worried, the conflict regarding the Hyuga should be still fresh in the mind of Leaf shinobis.
"I can't let my father's action stain Kumogakure status forever, send our best teams to Konoha" ordered A, the Yondaime Raikage was a proud and stubborn man if nothing else.
Darui nodded and took his leave, he was none to refuse the orders of his leader. He would lead his team and will inform Killer B about this new development. Currently, no other team was skilled enough to be victorious in the chunin exams held in a rival village.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
The Grass Country-
"You're going to participate in the upcoming Chunin exam in Konoha with a team, Don't disappoint the village" said One old figure seated on a wooden chair that was at mercy of the village for a few decades.
'You Idiot, do you think I would return to this hell-hole? Never, I will be free' were the hidden thoughts of the girl, but she didn't let it flow through her mouth.
"I will not disappoint the village, Leader Sama" bowed the girl and moved out of the room, Her freedom was just a week away.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
The Jonins, Anbu and Chunins of the leaf village had gathered up in the Hokage tower, they were waiting in one of the large halls for the leader of their village.
The Hokage entered the hall with his two advisors and Danzo tailing behind him, He took his place infront of them as to address them
"I am here to announce that the Chunin exams will commence on Monday of next week. Any Jonin sensei wishing to let their genin squad partake in exam should submit the signed forms till the last day of this week" announced Hiruzen.
"Furthermore, the security around the village should be at it's best. None of the jonins are allowed to slack off in the Jonin station. If you're free, patrol around the village and ensure that the security is up-tight, keep an eye on foreign shinobis" added the aged leader.
He placed down several Chunin exams participation forms on the table Infront of him.
Jonins begun picking up required forms for their team. Asuma, Kurenai and Kakashi also picked up required form for their team, but the main surprise came when Danzo clutched three of the forms for himself.
But, Sarutobi didn't mind this as the team under Danzo wasn't unknown to him. Danzo had acquired the permission to teach three students in ninja arts. It was a win-win situation for Hiruzen, his childhood friend was being in state of inactivity since the death of his son. He didn't participated in the operations on regular as he did before. Not even the ones that could benefit Konoha, that too by approving methods. If Danzo was interested in training some of the shinobis in the art of shadows then Hiruzen wholeheartedly approved him, apart from his previous misconceptions regarding peace and methods to achieve it he was a fair mentor.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
Only two days were left for Chunin exams, Naruto had been training with Hinata for last four days. They had been trying to improve Hinata's Tanto-justu. In response to Naruto training with her, she had developed her dagger skills to level where she could easily handle Naruto in a weapon fight, though only with his restriction seals on.
Naruto had given her respite from training for now, he didn't wanted the Hyuga to spent all her energy in training. The chunin exams weren't pushover, they weren't a substitute of war for nothing. Being the student of Hiruzen, Naruto had unknowingly copied up many things from his master. He had even adopted the habit of chewing on the pipes of his master, even Asuma wasn't that brave. The blonde was unaffected by the drawbacks of tobacco, the tenant in his belly and his Uzumaki genes could easily handle that much strain on his health.
It was on suggestion of Kakashi who wanted his students to adopt a hobby to deal with their first kill. Sakura had taken up the habit to collect medical herbs that are spread all across the forest surrounding the village. Even ground 44 had some good specimen of good quality but Sakura wasn't able to encourage herself to enter the damn hellhole.
Sasuke had chosen exotic hobby for himself, as child Itachi used to teach him weapon forging. He was always interested in forging weapons but the materials that he chose to use for them were not metals. Rather, he chose exotic animals' parts to make knives, he has already created two knives. One out of the horn of a wild buffalo who was kind enough to struggle less while he sawed it's horn and other from the leg bone of a pet fox that had died due to age. He didn't wanted to kill a creature to lessen the effect of his duty, that would irony at an entirely wrong level. He collected bones from dead animals or sawed antlers or horns of animals without killing it to create his knives. On the side note, you could find him seated beside a water body with a long fishing rod occasionally.
Lastly, Naruto had adopted the habit of his master. The woody smell of the pipe and tobacco inside it calmed his nerves, his sensei was kind enough to lead his own Tobacco supplier to the gate of his student. If Naruto was keen on smoking tobacco then he should get the exotic quality not some cheap unqualified grass, after all Naruto's choice represented his personality and ultimately represented Hiruzen. Also, Naruto was interested in the art of inks. Fuinjutsu was the another peak Naruto was ready to climb. You can find the blonde perched on the head of either the first or fourth with a pipe in mouth and a scroll with various pattern inscribed on it.
Nonetheless, Naruto and Sakura were strolling across the village as they didn't had to worry about a training session. Kakashi had restricted their training for last three days prior to Chunin exams. It was with the thought that it would replenish their chakra and avoid any chance of injuries to hinder or stop them from entering the exams. Many shinobis over trained before the Chunin exams resulting in either drained chakra system or unwanted injuries, chakra systems could be replenished in one or two days but injuries could take a lot of time to heal properly.
They were conversing amongst each other while passing through one of the streets that led toward the marketplace. Their destination was the Higarashi weapon shop, Naruto had pursued Sakura to buy an additional set of small blades for close combats. Suddenly, they came face to face with Konohamaru and his two minions, he started demanding Naruto to train him. Naruto tried to reason with him, but Konohamaru wasn't in a mood to take no as an answer. At last he accepted his fate and instructed Konohamaru squad to hide somewhere as he would track them, it would be a good training exercise in stealth and deception for the .
Konohamaru, as enthusiastic as he was, ran off hastily leaving a dust cloud behind. He turned at the corner abruptly, and the results was a collision and some swear words. Naruto and Sakura ran toward the corner Konohamaru has ran off toward, as Konohamaru had a habit of attracting problems, they turned at the corner to see two foreign shinobis standing infront of a downed Konohamaru. Their hitaiate displayed Sunagakure's symbol, Suna was an ally of Konoha.
A boy and a girl. They both looked related even though their hair colour didn't matched. The girl had teal eyes and sandy blonde hair, which were gathered into four consecutive pigtails. She wore single light purple-coloured off-the-shoulders garment that extended halfway down her thighs, with a scarlet sash tied around her waist. Additionally, she wore fishnet over her shoulders and legs and was carrying a battle fan on her back too.
The boy had brown hair and small black eyes, he wore a black baggy full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front. The suit had a black cat-ear hood which covered his head, he also had war paint on his face and a distinctive bundle on his back.
He picked up Konohamaru by gruff of his shirt, it was evident that they didn't knew who he was. I mean no-one would be stupid enough to take a beef with family of the Kage of the village you're visiting. Naruto and Sakura moved forward to avoid any problematic situation, if things went wrong they would have to interfere, and sure they did.
"Watch where you're going, brat. If can't see with your two eyes, I will carve a spare one on your forehead" chuckled the boy.
"You shouldn't mess with a shinobi of your host village, it could prove quite strenuous for you" voiced in Naruto in a stern voice.
Temari and Kankuro looked up toward the voice, two Konoha Ninja -a blonde and a Pinkie- were standing there. Temari eyes landed on Naruto's face, he didn't had much of baby fat on his face giving it a lean look with sharp jawline, his hair spiky and he wore orange half jacket over his black tee and trouser. Light blush adorned her cheeks, the boy was definitely a cutie.
"Shut up, kid. This brat needs to learn some discipline" retorted Kankuro and decked a fist to punch the small boy
Before he could touch a strand of hair on Konohamaru's body however, a cold sharp metal tip was pointed at his jugular from behind. His eyes drifted up but none of the genins were at their previous spot, he side glanced toward his sister, she had her fan blocked by a cleaver like sword.
"When I advised you to leave him alone, you should have. I don't like repeating my self" warned Naruto from behind the boy in an emotion less voice.
Kankuro was surprised, these lowly genins were fast, unexpectedly fast. Naruto had taken his place behind him in an instant, while Sakura had vanished a second just to block Temari's attempt to protect her brother. The Needle like tanto Naruto had in his grasp was fairly sharp, it can easily puncture someone without any effort.
It was a gift from Kakashi, he had observed Naruto's problem in close combats with his Bo. It was specifically made for quick and precise strikes, sharp enough to plunge deep inside the victim's flesh at the first strike, but it was strong enough to defend against chakra metal.
Kankuro let go off Konohamaru's shirt, the youngster landed safely on the ground with wide eyes looking toward Naruto, his brother was so cool. Naruto instructed them to go and play somewhere else, Konohamaru didn't argued and rushed off with his two friends.
Naruto relaxed a little and let off Kankuro's jugular, Kankuro staggered forward and stood at a distance. Evaluating the situation Sakura too recalled her sword back. Temari moved on to stand beside Kankuro. She had seen the blonde move, her brother had a habit of underestimating his enemies, she didn't. She had noticed the slightly ripped fabrication of Naruto's muscles, moreover he moved with a speed that didn't belonged to an average genin.
What Temari or many of shinobis didn't put to thought was that the rank of a shinobi meant nothing particularly, a rank was merely a name for some of the shinobis. Konoha had birthed some shinobis who had surpassed their ranks through their skills.
One of the example was the Might Duy, father of Might guy. He was considered as an eternal genin but he killed four of the seven swordsmen of the Mist while protecting his son and two other genins.
Another example was Kushina Uzumaki, she was a jonin but her skills exceeded even that of Tsunade herself. Not every kunoichi could boast about chaining a tailed beast, no guess the strongest of them all. Kushina was able to chain down the beast in death like state, additionally she was the one who had refined Minato's sealing.
And how could anyone forget the White fang, Sakumo Hatake was a jonin in rank but he could outperform the Sannins combined. He was considered as one of the strongest and most fierce shinobis Konoha had ever birthed.
"You don't know but we saved your ass and your village from an gruesome disaster, the kid you were harassing was the beloved grandson of the Sandaime Hokage" Naruto informed them smugly.
"You mean that brat was the g-grandson of the H-Hokage?" asked Temari stuttering a little due to fear. Naruto just nodded his head.
"You, Baka. This could have proved catastrophic for us and our village" exclaimed Temari and hit Kankuro on head with her fan.
"OOOW! Hey! I didn't knew that before" defended Kankuro rubbing the bump on his head.
Naruto suddenly looked behind his shoulder, he could feel an entity on the tree behind him. His senses had intensified since he had granted Kyubi the permission to use his senses. Anger, loneliness, bloodlust and malice all mixed together. A person feeling loneliness, anger and bloodlust at this wasn't someone to be eased about, the person might be a danger to himself and the people around him.
This wasn't something Naruto was un-hinted about, he knew what these feelings could turn a person into when mixed together. Hatake Kakashi was the prime example of that. Kakashi was also know as 'Kakashi the cold hearted' during his career in Anbu after the death of his teammates. Mercy was your last hope that wouldn't be sufficed if Kakashi Hatake decides you as his enemy. Such mad-drive and passion could be forte of a broken man only and Kakashi was not any different from that.
"Whoever you're, come forward" demanded Naruto without any emotion in his voice. Sakura quickly decided that something was wrong, if Naruto was tense then there were probably dangers lurking nearby.
Sand swirled around one of the branches of the tree growing out of the railing parallel to the path. Shadow of a small boy emerged out of that sand. The dust cleared to reveal a boy with auburn hairs and green eyes indifferent from the blonde girl. He had fair skin and a distinctive tattoo itched on his forehead that read 'Love' in traditional Kanji. A big gourd was tied behind his back probably containing some liquid, he also had black marking around his eyes and the aura of the boy wasn't that comforting either.
"What're you both doing here? You are disgrace to our village" the boy spoke stoically.
Naruto noticed that the blonde girl and the boy flinched at his tone, as if he would kill them for something like this. He wouldn't, would he?
"Shukaku" heard Naruto in his mind suddenly.
'Kyubi?' asked Naruto in his thoughts.
"Who else, brat?" said Kyubi from inside his mind.
'Do you mean to say that this boy has Shukaku, the one-tail, sealed inside him?' asked Naruto.
"You're a dumb brat. For all the knowledge you're able to soak from that old man, you're still a brat" stated Kyubi irritatingly.
'Don't be so grumpy, fox. I just didn't expect to meet someone like me this early' thought Naruto.
His musing was interrupted by the appearance of Gaara behind Temari and Kankuro in swirl of sand, Gaara moved in front of his group to inspect Naruto as his siblings him his space. Even Gaara could feel a similarity between himself and the blonde boy.
Suddenly, Leaves swirled beside the blonde jinchurikki. Sasuke emerged out of the tiny leave tornado, a normal leaf shunshin, a technique commonly used by Chunins or above in Konoha.
"You have to make a flashy entry. Don't you, Uchiha?" asked Naruto sarcastically.
"Well, I am the strongest one of the three. I need to uplift my team status" Sasuke replied smoothly as he smirked.
"Strongest my ass, Bastard" mumbled Naruto.
Before they could bicker forward, Gaara's gruff voice interrupted them. "What's your name?" asked Gaara pointing his finger toward Naruto.
"Uzumaki Naruto. Well, it's...disrespectful to ask another person's name without telling yours first. But...still, What's your name?" Naruto questioned back.
"Sabaku no Garra. You're my next target, Uzumaki, your blood will please my mother" said Gaara smirking, a very small amount of malicious chakra leaking out of him.
"Mother?" questioned Naruto confused.
"Don't tell me, this boy thinks Shukaku is a girl. Serves the bastard right" laughed Kyubi from inside.
Naruto was a little taken aback by Kyubi's laugh, it was the first time he had heard the fox being amused.
Nonetheless, Naruto didn't sounded his guess immediately, he glanced toward Sasuke and Sakura with a look that said he would explain them later.
Gaara's eyes focused on Sasuke for a moment next, he looked at the Uchiha up and down for a period of time and said "You appears to be a good prey too, Uchiha. Two members from same team, the exams are proving fruitful for me" chuckled the redhead dangerously.
Sasuke just stood stoically without responding to Gaara's unusual etiquettes, not everyone deserves to be answered.
Gaara and his teammates moved forth toward the hotel which the village had booked a room in for them.
"Is it just me or this boy's chakra was most malicious chakra we've ever encountered, the malice in Zabuza's chakra was like the tip of the iceberg in front of this" asked Sasuke.
"Well, He is dangerous. I advise both of you to be wary of him. He is capable enough to kill us, even if he looks small he is pretty much a powerhouse. Don't ask me why I know this, but I do" explained Naruto as they moved on toward their training ground as Kakashi had called up them today for some announcement.
Unseen to their eyes a team with lightning Hitaiate on their foreheads was observing both the teams from afar.
"I think we should be mindful around the Uchiha and the red head from Suna" said a boy with lollipop in his mouth.
"Yep, it's the first time your paranoid ass had said something right" said the red headed female of the team.
"I suggest, We should be alert around the blonde brat too. Something tells me he's much more dangerous than the Uchiha" said the last one of the three. A Girl with long, straight, blonde hair bound with taut bandages, dark eyes and fair skin that was not so common in Kumogakure.
She wore a short-sleeved black and purple blouse and black pants, both of which had a design similar to clouds on them. Purple fingerless gloves and a chain of blue beads wound around her left hand. Black shinobi sandals and a kunai holster, which was strapped to her right thigh. She also wore bandages around her arms and legs as well as a red belt around her waist.
The girl was Nii Yugito, the jinchurikki of Nibi, she was an elite Genin of Kumogakure. She would have been Chunin, but the fourth Raikage had refused to promote her, his reasons being that she needs more training before she could move on to do higher rank missions alone.
Yugito was quite ecstatic to participate in the Chunin exams for the first time, she wanted to prove A that she was capable enough to do higher rank missions alone. As the solo missions would decrease the risk of her losing control on her teammates since she wasn't able to manifest or control the Nibi chakra fluently untill now.
They ended their conversation and moved on toward their hotel, the Chunin exams would commence in two days time.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
The genins reached the training ground to see Kakashi already present there, leaned against a tree reading his so-called romantic novel. They moved closer to their sensei, his eyes drifted up and locked on the genins. He closed his book and stood a little straight.
"Good morning, my cute little genins" said Kakashi chirpily while he eye smiled at them.
"Good morning, sensei" chorused all three of them without the same enthusiasm.
"Is the sun has risen opposite" Naruto quipped glancing up to the yellow ball of fire.
"Why would you think that, Naruto?"
"You're punctual, that's why of course" Sasuke answered the question.
"Your words hurt me, my juniors" Kakashi shoulders shagged a bit.
"Hold your theatrics, Sensei" Sakura interrupted with a lazy attitude. "What's reason you've called us?"
"You're no fun, nonetheless, I have decided to let the three of you participate in upcoming chunin exam" Kakashi said with an eye smile of his.
"Hence, take these forms and sign here" said Kakashi as he gave them the form and retook it after the signature.
"The first exam will be in two days from today in the academy at 10 am" addressed Kakashi. "Don't be late" He added and vanished in a shunshin.
"What do you think of us..." Naruto wasn't able to complete his retort as Kakashi has already vanished.
"Save your energy, Dobe." Sasuke said with a faint hint of amusement in his voice.
"I am not light headed like you, Teme" Naruto retorted. The two genins moved on to argue for the better part of next few hours.
Sakura just shook her head, instead focused on the leaves of a particular plant stored inside the new seal Naruto was kind enough to draw on her second arm for her hobby.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
The day of Chunin exams came finally, Naruto had been excited for this the whole week. He and his team had been restricted to train for the weeks to avoid injuries or over exertion. He wasn't able to release his tension by training for the same reason, his meter of excitement was full and was about to explode.
He checked all the seal tags he was carrying, he also sealed a bottle of ink, bunch of papers and a few brush for emergency use. He had sealed his bo in the sealing tattoo, while his kunai and shurikens were sealed inside an another one on the opposite side. Haku had given him some antidote for poisons, healing potion for burns and antibiotics for wounds.
Naruto wore a full sleeves black tee with same colours sleek trouser, the sleeves of his t-shirt were rolled up till his elbow. A sleeveless orange jacket donned above his t-shirt and black shinobi shoes with orange lining.
As for Haku's and Naruto's relationship, their relationship was more inclined toward brother and sister. Haku shared a similar past as Naruto, while she was immensely beautiful, she wasn't the one Naruto desired for.
Their relationship was more like siblings, where they were same aged brother and sister, Haku was still reserved for some aspects. But She was far more willing to help Naruto and supported his right decisions, Naruto too cared for her and tried to keep her smiling through his goofy acts.
He rechecked all his supplies, tied his tanto to his waist and moved on to join his teammates outside the house. His teammates had least of supplies on them as both of them had sealed theirs inside scrolls, they too had sealing tattoos for their primary weapons though. The group after a brief nod moved on toward their designated exam point.
Sasuke was in his regular attire, while Sakura had changed her clothes for better movements. She had adopted a dark red long top with black leggings, her hairs cut short and tied up by a black cloth, while she wore dark blue shinobi sandals.
Her physical structure had morphed allot, due to heavy calories intake with adequate exercises she was more on the healthier side than before.
They reached the academy building before the clock hit 10, a big poster was hanging on the frontier of building. "Chunnin exam: phase 1" written across it. Ninjas were going inside the building in the groups of three normally with a few exceptions, Jonins and Chunins were either instructing or keeping an eye out for troublesome ones.
They found the way inside the academy easily as they had been running through these corridors from a very young age, a nostalgic feeling hit them with a full force.
Deciding they had little to no time to waste they approached the notice board for further instructions. "Chunin exams: Room no- 6" was written on the notice board with big and bold letters.
They took the stairs beside the board to second floor, not only the academy building was jam-packed with participants, Jonin and Chunins weren't exception either. The participants without the required number of missions in their resume were disqualified and instructed to return to their villages respectively on the ground floor itself.
As they set foot on the second floor, they were surprised to see a huge number of participants gathered around one of the rooms. That particular room wasn't the chosen room for the first, they knew that because the building had been a second home to them in their childhood.
"Please let us in, We have strived too much to participate in this exam" begged one boy on the floor wearing an eye-catching green spandex, his hairs styled in bowl cut and his brow as bushy as the three of Team 7 combined.
"Yes, please let us in. Don't hinder our chance to enter the exams" a girl from beside the green spandex guy added with joined hands, she had her hairs in two distinctive buns.
"T'ch weaklings" said one of the ninjas from the group behind Team 7.
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura didn't shared their opinion though. Even Sakura, who wasn't as adept or trained as Naruto and Sasuke, was able to notice the slight muscle creases on the jumpsuit of the boy. And it didn't helped that the girl also had almost unnoticeable training scars on her uncovered arms, they shifted their attention toward the door. Two shinobis were standing guard, they both looked a little familiar. The duo restricted anyone from entering the room which read...Room no.6?
'Genjutsu' thought all three of them together, it was the best argument they could come up with. Sasuke nodded toward Naruto and Sakura as a sign for confirmation, since he was able to recognise genjutsus due to his do-jutsu.
The three of them chose to take the lead up to the second floor, It was clear that the two genins were playing along with the guards. The act would cut off unwanted weaklings. This would certainly decrease competition, not by much but still a bit, so they didn't bothered or interrupted them.
But before they could reach the assigned room, they were stopped in the track by a green blur. The spandex guy from before was standing infront of them, his speed could rival or even outclass Naruto's without his weights. The strange genin was smiling brightly in the face of Team 7. The guy was odd, but Naruto knew that strong shinobis were often strange or odd, Kakashi and Jiraiya were perfect examples of it.
"I am Rock Lee of Team Guy, I am pleased to meet the three of you" beamed Lee in a happy tone.
Naruto smiled and shook his hand, while Sasuke and Sakura only nodded toward him. Rock Lee's eye landed on Sakura and a pair of hearts appeared inside them.
"Beautiful, You're Sakura-San, right? Would you go out with me? I'll protect you till my last flame of youth" declared Rock Lee pumping his chest.
"Eh..? No- I mean we could talk about that later, Lee-san. We have an exam to pass for now" dismissed Sakura waving her hands infront.
'He's too unique for my taste' thought Sakura in her mind, she didn't said it out loud as it would hurt Rock Lee's feelings.
"She is correct, Lee. We should also focus on our exams for now" the girl from before said walking beside the green clad genin.
"Hi, my name is Tenten" approached now recognised Tenten extending her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Tenten-san" greeted Naruto while Sakura shook her hand with a smile of her.
She smiled at them shyly and elbowed Lee to leave the Rookie team alone, the examination room was their first priority. Rock Lee would have asked Sasuke for a spar but Tenten was right, they would be late for exam. Moreover, Guy-sensei had warned him to not initiate any conflict before the beginning of exams.
The Two members of team Gai took their leave and walked on toward the examination room, soon followed by their white eyed teammate.
Neji's eye met that of Sasuke and he narrowed his eyes, but not for long as he passed a mock salute walking away.
Sasuke just rubbed the pinch of his nose, the Hyuga was here also. It was a week ago when Neji has revealed himself to the Uchiha in the training ground he was practicing a Jutsu taught by Shishui. Neji, as he had introduced himself, wanted a strong opponent to spar and placed the Uchiha in that circle by himself. Sasuke wasn't the one to decline a chance to test his limits against strong opponents, not leaving a chance to try his abilities on a Hyuga Sasuke accepted Neji's proposition.
Sasuke couldn't say Neji was a pushover, the boy possessed the level of grace that even experienced member of his clan failed to show. The boy was a prodigy in his own right, however not even Neji could boast that he was successfully dominating the Uchiha in their bout.
"Yeah, That team is surely on a level not-so-below us" Sasuke voiced out tiredly.
"Why you say that, Teme?" Naruto asked quizzed.
"The Hyuga had a spar with me a week ago, he wasn't a weak minded individual and his taijutsu was seamless on many fronts" Sasuke replied adjusting the stash on his waist.
"The one in green is fast, that's for sure. The exam is not easy as we have considered it before, we have to be wary of the other teams" Naruto agreed with a shrug.
Sakura nodded her head in reply, it was more definitive now that they need to be alert and careful while they took the exams. They too took the route toward the rooms assigned to them, as they arrived at it's door they were surprised by the presence of Kakashi leaned against the wall.
The one eyed jonin looked up toward his team, straighten himself and walked up to them.
"You know, I never gave a Chunin or a Jonin exam. The third shinobi war was still ongoing when I graduated as a genin, I was promoted for both the ranks on the field itself as my performance was excellent in the eyes of Hokage." The man begun with a eye smile. "It could be our last day as a team. If even one of you'll pass this exam, and I believe you will, then Team 7 would change allot. Be careful and Good luck" said Kakashi.
Kakashi didn't show it but he had formed an unique bond with his team, he never thought he would accept any other unit as his team. Nonetheless, these three little Tasmanian devils had been able to accomplish that and Kakashi again had formed the drive to protect his people.
Naruto and Sakura both smiled brightly while Sasuke grunted at him. With a last wave they moved inside the room as Kakashi shunshined out of the building.
As they entered the room none of the team deemed to acknowledge them, neither their clothes nor their actions were distinctive from others but still there was an aura of confidence around them.
Apart from them, in the corner of the same room, three genin stood erect conversing amongst each other.
"So, This is the team we were informed by Danzo-sensei" said a boy with purple hair.
"Yep, this is the best squad of this year. They are being trained under the famous 'Copy ninja' Kakashi" agreed the girl with light brown hair.
"We will do as we are ordered, Team-Move" ordered the last boy with black hairs.
Team 7 who was standing across the left side of the room, suddenly found themselves trapped in a genjutsu. Sasuke quickly activated his two tomoed Sharingan and observed his surrounding, the genjutsu should have been dispelled, but it didn't.
This was uncommon as only a Sharingan wielder could cast an unbreakable genjutsu that can fool even the famed do-jutsu, and as per Sasuke's knowledge no other Uchiha except himself had participated in this year's Chunin exam.
He increased the flow of chakra in his eyes and the last tomoes appeared in them, the visage started to flicker as a resulted. On the other hand, Naruto hated Genjutsu simply. He wasn't able to cast one due to his massive chakra reserve but he was able to dispel most of the genjutsu upto B-rank. Hiruzen had spent a month time on him so he could learn to dispel genjutsu, he couldn't cast one but could become immune to them. He fluctuated his chakra networks, the genjutsu started to dispel but it was rather slowly.
Only one of the three that had the most ease while dispelling it was Sakura, with her small chakra reserves it was in no matter of time that she made the illusion fade away.
As they dispelled the genjutsu, a chokuto was speeding toward Naruto, before he could move to dodge Sasuke countered the strike with his Katana. Before the purple-haired boy, who had swinged the Chokuto, could regain his footing Naruto had jumped up in the air. He unsheathed his tanto, flipped in the air and landed on the boy shoulders in mere seconds. Sasuke and Sakura glanced back to see Naruto perched up on the purple-haired boy's shoulder, pointing his tanto toward his head.
The black-haired boy and the girl were about to move when the both of them were trapped by their own shadows.
"You know, it's troublesome to attack shinobis from your own village" came the calm voice of one and only Nara Shikamaru. He was in a crouched down position holding his hand in rat seal, his shadow expanded toward the duo. Ino and Choji stood firmly beside him, as if guarding him.
'Is he a monkey or something?' thought Ino as she saw Naruto's position.
"We weren't attacking them, we were just evaluating their capabilities, as the competition is too high this year" said the purple haired boy, the brown haired girl nodded her head in support while the black haired boy stood stoically.
Before the situation could escalate a white haired guy with round glasses interrupted them, He was also wearing Konoha's hitaiate.
"We, Konoha's ninja, shouldn't fight amongst each other. It could send wrong messages to our competing nations" said the boy trying to diffuse the situation.
"They attacked first" said Naruto from atop the boy, his position would surely result in cramps for the boy.
"Whoever did it, it was wrong and please get down from the boy's shoulder and recede whatever you're leaking genin-san" said the white haired boy looking toward Shikamaru.
"We're sorry, we didn't mean to harm you. It was just a way of testing you" said the girl from the Group.
Sakura too nodded her head to diffuse the situation, Naruto contemplated for a moment but jumped down at last. He took his place beside Shikamaru and nodded toward him, Shikamaru receded his shadow back as he got the signal from his friend.
Team eight entered the room at this moment, Kiba in front while Hinata and Shino in tow. Hinata had a new tattoo of tiger's fangs on her left forearm, it was a weapon storage seal inscribed by Naruto for her daggers. Kiba had a same belt as Hinata, two handles peaking out of the pouches, while Shino had a tanto tied to his waist.
"What's up, Uchiha? Fairing good?" Kiba asked as he patted on Sasuke's back, an annoyed Uchiha swatted his arm away with a glare.
Naruto and Shikamaru nodded their head in sync while smirking, Hinata moved on to stand beside Ino and Sakura, who were conversing among eachother.
"Good afternoon, Ino-san and Sakura-san" Hinata greeted her classmates politely.
"No Sans, Hinata. Call me and Ino by our names only" Sakura corrected her with a smile.
Hinata just nodded in response and stole a glance toward Naruto.
"Nice to meet you -Umm?" Naruto tried to initiate a conversation with the boy in glasses, but didn't knew his name.
"Kabuto, My name is Yakushi Kabuto" said the boy.
"Thank you, Kabuto San" responded Naruto.
Before they could Converse forward, white smoke started to rise around them. A tall shadow lurked in the smoke before taking a step outside, the man was convincingly the tallest shinobi you could find in Konoha.
Long black coat draped over shoulder above black shinobi shirt and trouser. Black high boots with metal tip on the end, the man's face was littered with scars that can only be inflicted by enemies. The man was truly a legend even if most of the genins didn't knew him, his scars told the stories of his resilience and dedication.
"Sit down on the seats assigned to you, maggots. I am Ibiki Morino, proctor of the first phase of Chunin exams" boomed the scarred man in his rough and deep voice, sending shivers through many genins spine.
Disclaimer:- I don't own Naruto, All rights are reserved to Kishimoto.