We are back with the long overdue update for Senju Scion. Pretty excited to finish up this arc surrounding the chunin exams in this chapter. Not cause I dislike the arc or anything, I am just really looking forward to progressing our storyline.
Anyway let's handle business and then dive in.
A Review by Darkdoom III said:I liked the fights, but I thought that kushina would be able to take more damage than that. She has kurama to help her heal and supply chakra too right? Together with absorbing the opponent's chakra she should have been able to win. Otherwise good chapter. Do you have an update schedule? I would like to know when the next chapter comes out
My response: Honestly I agree with you. Kushina can tank quite a bit. Out of her generation of Shinobi probably only Naruto and Choza can do better. Choza is arguable at that. That being said, Kushina's knockout was less overall damage done to her and more the sheer pain and shock of being impaled through the guts with a sword. She will be perfectly fine between Tsunade and her own regeneration factor but having steel violently rammed through your middle is, in my opinion, more than enough to cause a hard reboot for someone. Hiruzen and her team actually expected her to pull out the win, and as Naruto and Minako pointed out the matches are not actually random at all. Kai is just surprising everyone by just how developed his family technique is. Given a bit more time to drain him and hack him up, Kushina would have had the match in the bag. Already the boy was having to go to the infirmary after the damage she did to him. As for my update schedule…there was a time when I had one. Unfortunately trying to schedule my hobby is difficult especially when I spread my time spent on it over so many stories. I do it to myself but it is what it is.
A review by BJJPanda said:You dropped the names of the opposing genin out of nowhere, it felt like there was a missing interaction where Naruto learnt their names
My response: to an extent yeah, but Naruto is learning the Kiri competitor names more or less from the announcement, he and his team know the Konoha Shinobi by name only simply because they are fellow Konoha genin, and lastly they learned the names of the Kumo Shinobi when they first encountered them earlier in the story. So there was not really another interaction needed for that.
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Let's get going.
Chapter Seven
Overprotective Nature
Minako had left Naruto to go check on Kushina in the infirmary while he made his way into the arena. She met Tsunade halfway to the medical center and took a place following after the woman as she marched past the suddenly anxious looking medical ninja.
They swept into the room and Tsunade immediately began commanding the others around her. Most went scurrying about to do whatever she told them to, however one either very bold or very idiotic young woman was still standing still as she slowly and carefully removed the sword that was buried in Kushina's stomach.
The sight made Minako feel a bit sick. She had seen such injuries before, rarely with full blown swords but kunai and other smaller weapons were best used to stab more often than not. Sitting and staring at the sight and considering how strange it was to see Kushina so…still made her feel nauseous.
"What are you doing?" Tsunade's harsh voice demanded.
"I am the head of this infirmary, Lady Tsunade. I have already begun treating the girl so-" Minako decided that it was definitely a bit of both idiotic and bold.
"Shut up. Listen, I get you have your professional pride, but this is Konoha and if it's something medical in Konoha, I'm running the show. Even if I'm not there, I'm running the show. Go make sure that Kumo brat is in tip top shape to be busted up by my son while I do this the proper way." Tsunade said as she literally picked the woman up and set her aside before turning her attention to Kushina.
Minako stared at the medic who simply stared at Tsunade for a moment before she turned and left toward one of the other patients, probably the Kumo genin just as Tsunade had commanded.
Unlike with the other woman, Tsunade pulled the blade out of Kushina's belly in one single smooth motion. It clattered onto the floor while Tsunade's hand rapidly began going to works. In moments the bleeding stopped and the wound closed before it faded to a tiny, barely noticeable pair of scars that mirrored one another on Kushina's front and back.
"There we go, she'll even be able to enjoy wearing two piece swimsuits still." Tsunade said, much calmer and more friendly than before.
"So she's fine then?" Minako asked as she picked up her friend's sword from the floor and began cleaning it off.
"Heh, she's tough." Tsunade said softly as she brushed some strands of red hair out of Kushina's face. "There was some internal damage but nothing I couldn't have handled. Would have been a bit of a bigger issue if it was you or Naruto though."
Tsunade lightly tapped her fingers against Kushina's forehead and stepped back as the redhead's eyes began to flutter and gradually open. She shot up and looked about ready to fight until Tsunade reached a hand out and grabbed tightly onto her shoulder.
"You're okay now. You're in the infirmary of the arena." Tsunade carefully coaxed the girl to calm down and lie back down.
"Kushina…" Minako said worriedly.
"Oh, Minako, you're here too. Did I miss your fight?" Kushina asked before her face fell. "I lost didn't I."
"I haven't fought again yet. Naruto's up there now against that girl from the Hidden Mist. If we hurry we could probably catch the rest of the fight." Minako explained.
"I'm not sure we can catch it before it's over girls." Tsunade.
"Why not?" Kushina asked only for a loud thump and to shake the room slightly.
"I didn't think it would last very long. Minako, you had better get back up there. Your own fight could start soon." Tsunade said as she took Kushina's blade from her hands.
"Right, I guess I will see you both up there. I'll let Naruto know you're okay Kushina." Minako said before jogging for the doors and down the hall toward the stairs.
As she climbed them and returned to the observation room she had to stop and stare at the arena.
Gone was the sandy floor, replaced by a tight gnarled floor of roots. Here and there wooden stakes extended from the ground with branches of wicked looking thorns stretching out from each of them. Naruto and his opponent had both already left the arena and it seemed like the proctor for exam was speaking with the representatives of the other villages as well as the Hokage.
Stepping over to Mujiro, she asked him what happened. The older boy looked a bit shaken by the obvious show of force from Naruto but managed to answer her still.
"That girl from most surrendered immediately after your teammate used…whatever technique that is. Clan kids are seriously unfair. I can't blame her for bowing out the moment all that started forming up and blowing away her mist." He said.
"Yeah, I wouldn't blame her either." Minako agreed, looking back down at the arena floor. She had no doubt it was far more than a simple cover for the battlefield's ground. It likely did something else too and the three village representatives speaking with the Proctor clearly knew that too.
A moment later the Proctor hopped back down to the center of the arena just as several Jonin and chunin filtered into the area as well, with Naruto in their midst.
"After a brief intermission to clear away the effects of the last match, we will begin the next match." The proctor said before turning to look at the screen which appeared to randomize names until it settled onto the next pair of competitors.
"Minako of Konoha and Mujiro of Konoha. You will both prepare for your next match." The proctor called.
"May the best Shinobi win." Mujiro said as he walked past the girl toward the arena floor.
Minako stayed a moment longer, watching as Naruto seemed to do a technique that caused the plant life he had previously created to rapidly dry out and die. As he did so the other Shinobi burned the plant life away to ash or used a technique that overturned the ground to bury the ash below the dirt, returning the arena back to its original sandy floor.
Deciding to ask her teammate exactly what that massive technique was good for after her match. For now she trailed after the older leaf ninja to the arena below. All the while planning out her best ways to handle the boy's fire jutsu.
By the time both of them had reached the ground level the arena had nearly been reclaimed though Naruto looked a little tired. He had been using his mokuton quite extensively today already but she doubted he was anywhere close to truly being exhausted.
As they passed one another on his way back toward the observation deck he shot her a small friendly smile and thumbs up.
"See you in the next round." He said simply.
Minako giggled at that. He didn't doubt her at all even against the much older and more experienced Shinobi she was facing off against. Then again she was pretty confident in the outcome herself.
Naruto returned to the observation deck to find that Kai had done the same. They both took opposite ends of the balcony and avoided interacting. Neither was very talkative. Anything they had to say to one another was better left for the arena anyway.
Down below Minako and Mujiro stood several places apart and awaited the green light from the proctor to begin. The moment he gave it both were already on the move. Minako showed off just how much she held back in her speed earlier. She avoided the rapid blasts of flame spewed from the older boy's mouth with ease.
As she drew close though, his other specialty forced her to back off and work at dodging his jutsu once again. In the brief intervals between his attacks with the fireballs, Mujiro began littering the ground in an intricate web of explosive tags. Enough so that Naruto was certain the boy made them himself. The price of so many tags otherwise would have been impossible on a genin's pay.
Minako wasn't bothered though as she flew about the arena at speeds even Naruto had never seen her pull off before. What's more she seemed to be pausing to inspect a tag here and there whenever Mujiro briefly lost track of her.
Before long she began encroaching on his little perimeter again before screening from side to side forcing him to readjust his position.
That proved to be a mistake. Minako hadn't been simply running about and occasionally looking at Mujiro's tags. She'd been slowly adjusting their placement. They lacked the adhesion seal most purchased seals had on one side that helped them cling to surfaces, and she had recognized that as a weakness immediately.
Mujiro screamed as the ground around him detonated in a magnificent blast. Luckily he had made sure to lower the explosive power so that he didn't end up killing any of his opponents. Unluckily for him a dozen explosions was more than enough to knock him unconscious and Minako happily claimed her victory without showing off much more of her skillet.
The audience cheered at the sight of so many explosions as well and what they saw as the victory of an underdog. That idea nearly made Naruto laugh. Minako was easily the most frightening of the two ninja in the arena at the time. Most of the civilians enjoying the show just simply had no way of knowing that.
"That concludes the third round of the tournament. We will have a brief intermission before discussing how the final round will commence." The proctor then body flickered back up to the Hokage box to speak with the Hokage and other leaders.
Minako rejoined Naruto and Kai in the observation box though they both waved at Kushina who was now standing with the majority of other defeated contestants. A couple were too injured to be present and we're still being healed but the Hokage had wanted the audience to be able to see the fighters even after their defeat to help show them off a bit.
Unfortunately the hope of showcasing their talents was overshadowed by the likes of the Momuton being displayed beside them. Not that Hiruzen hadn't intended exactly for that. Naruto was his crown jewel at the moment. A prize winning stallion for his Shinobi stable.
Naruto knew that and while earlier in the day he had been petty about it, by this point in the tournament he could care less. He just wanted to hurt Kumo's prized stallion.
"Naruto?" Minako asked, causing him to turn to look at her.
"What is it?" He asked evenly.
"Lady Tsunade really did patch Kushina up like it was nothing. There is hardly even a scar left." Minako said.
"Did you know Kushina has never scarred before? Her own healing factor makes it so that only the most traumatic of injuries can manage that. If her stomach is scarred then it's because the healing focus had to be on her internal organs." Naruto said, causing Minako to grow quite as she finally noticed the small signs of fury splayed across his casually calm face.
"Like I said, your mother handled it perfectly." Minako said again.
"Of course she did. She is the greatest medic to have ever been born." He said before turning his eyes back to the arena as the proctor settled back onto the sandy floor before them.
Minako frowned but turned her attention to the proctor as well.
"In the interest of fair play, rather than the three way fight originally planned for this final round of the tournament, it has been decided that Naruto Senju of Konoha and Minako Namikaze of Konoha will face one another in a one versus one match while Kai Hyakuwa of Kumo will receive a by round. Naruto Senju and Minako Namikaze please return to the arena for your next fight."
Naruto and Minako shared a glance. Naruto smiled at her, though it was a tiny fake expression. That began her worry as they started down the stairs toward the arena.
"Good luck, Minako. I won't hold back against you though. I want to be the one to fight that guy from Kumo." Naruto said as they stepped out onto the sand.
Minako took her position but her eyes followed after her teammate. The boy was hard to read when he bit back on his emotions but she could still tell he was angry. Incredibly angry, however, the fact that he wasn't showing that in a normal way whatsoever was beginning to frighten her. She didn't want him to do something foolish.
It was all the more reason for her to win in this fight.
"Fighters ready?" The proctor asked.
"Yes." Naruto said simply.
"Yes." Minako agreed as she set her expression in a determined look.
"Begin!" The Proctor called before leaping away.
The two of them started out by launching kunai and shuriken at one another and screening away from one another. Both were among the fastest of the next generation, however Minako had been working herself to the bone to increase her speed. She out paced the younger boy and flanked around him. Naruto was smaller than she was though and slipped through her attempt to turn their fight into a grappling match.
Naruto managed to trip her up before putting some space between the two of them. His hands rapidly ran through hand signs but Minako was ready for the attack, a torrent of steaming mud sprayed out of the ground between them forcing her further back.
"I have to win, Minako. Sorry." He said as he already was running through another set of hand signs.
"I can say the same thing." She replied before completing her own series of hand signs. Afterall, it wasn't as if Jiraiya hadn't taught her elemental techniques too.
As the geyser of mud died away, a small cluster of trees, all under Naruto's control, began to break free of the ground around them. Their branches stretched out toward Minako trying to grab her. However they were met with a blast of high pressure water that shattered the weaker branches. The trees themselves weren't the targets though. Rather the ground they had spawned from was.
The audience roared in approval as the yet unbeaten mokuton was actually beaten back through simple tactics. The water canon tore away the dirt and stripped the roots out from under the wooden constructs toppling them one after another.
Despite collapsing the trees though and as far as she could tell rendering them from being able to directly attack her anymore they continued to grow until they budded up and began growing leaves and even small flowers. With them out of the way though she could close in to engage naruto once again.
Naruto began to fall back away from her as she crossed the space between them. Hurdling the fallen trees Minako launched into a vicious taijutsu combo that Naruto defended against as best as he could. Minako had the advantage both in reach and technique. As they fought however things began to change.
Minako slowly felt more and more dizzy. Her attacks slowed and slowly her vision began to blur. Putting distance between herself and Naruto before he could take advantage to counter attack, she stumbled slightly as she leapt over the fallen trees.
"What did you do?" She asked as she fought to keep her balance.
"It's the flowers. I planned on the trees trapping you and just dusting you with the spores the flowers made to force you to sleep. You pretty much rolled through them when you charged me though." Naruto said as she made the flowers wither and die rapidly.
Minako frowned as she quickly felt herself grow weaker and collapse as her vision blurred to the point of being impossible to discern her surroundings. The Proctor approached as she fell and checked her over to make sure that she was both alive and incapable of continuing the match.
"Winner Naruto Senju!" The Proctor, called as medic ninja retrieved Minako and cleared the field.
Up in the stands Tsunade had rejoined her fellow Sannin just prior to the start of the match. They had been surprised by the spore flowers that Naruto had used to knock Minako out with as not even Orochimaru had realized he was that advanced with his mokuton yet.
"He's been keeping secrets." Jiraiya grumbled.
"It's only natural. He's an artist and jutsu are his art. You can't expect him to simply show off everything he has without regard to that." Orochimaru said with a smile. She was pretty proud of her student for his achievement with the spores. She knew he had begun experimenting with various substances, poisons, medicines, hallucinogens, all merged with his mokuton in some way.
"I wonder what other changes to his style of fighting he made. Those spores almost seem like something you would do…just without the need to bite someone." Tsunade said with a look toward Orochimaru.
"I hope I was the inspiration for his new ideas. I would be even more proud." Orochimaru replied with a smirk getting a snort from the blonde as she began laughing.
"As if you need to guess. We both know he is most interested in learning from you. Even if I think he would be perfect as a medic ninja." Tsunade grumbled.
"He'll learn plenty of healing techniques in time, but you both know he is going to change ninjutsu forever. Just like Lord First and Second." Orochimaru said with a smirk.
Jiraiya liked that idea. He was a proud father at the moment and little else. Tsunade however caught the phrasing Orochimaru had used. Hiruzen used similar words at times when talking about Naruto and she could see why. Her son was emotionally complex at the best of times and preferred to bottle up his thoughts and simply act however he felt was right. It made him hard to keep up with as a boy but coupled with the rapidly expanding power that he had, Tsunade was worried just how Hiruzen and his old teammates saw her boy.
"They didn't give him much of a break." Jiraiya huffed as Naruto and his final opponent took up places down in the arena below.
"It won't matter in the end. After what that boy did to Kushina, Naruto might actually kill him." Orochimaru said.
Tsunade shrugged, not really caring if the cloud genin died. Kushina was her daughter in all but official documentation by this point and really the betrothal agreement between her and Naruto could suggest otherwise. This boy Kai had a beating coming so Tsunade was looking forward to him being beaten down by an angry tree or something else as awe inspiring and brutal.
Jiraiya was worried, though not all that worried about the other boy's life. More so that his son being angry could cause him to make a mistake. He was far more methodical and meticulous than any child had a right to be but he was still incredibly young. It wouldn't take much to cause a slip and if Jiraiya had gotten a proper read on the Kumo nin his son was to face, he doubted that they wouldn't try to push Naruto emotionally.
"Our final fight is Naruto Senju of Konoha versus Kai Hyakuwa of Kumo! Will the opponents for the final match please take their places in the arena!" The proctor called.
The two young shinobi took their places opposite one another and got ready to fight. Kai was fully rested and ready. Naruto had been burning through chakra non stop for a while now, but still he looked to be fine. Strong and ready to fight the older boy.
"Are the fighters ready?" The Proctor asked.
"Ready." Kai replied with a smirk.
Naruto simply nodded.
"Begin!" The Proctor cried before leaving the arena.
Unlike most of the fights so far, neither Naruto or Kai immediately moved to attack one another. Instead they stared their opponent down with blank expressions, waiting for the other to make their move.
Up in the 'losers box' where most of the defeated genin stood watching the final fight, Kushina cheered for Naruto as loudly as possible. Now that she had returned to her senses since Tsunade had woken up, she had been practically baying for Kai's blood.
Not only did he beat her with what she considered a lucky shot, he left a mark. That annoyed her. Even more so being as she had issues with Kumo to begin with.
"You certainly are loud for someone who lost the same way she had just seen her predecessor lose." Mozoi said as he sidled up beside her.
Kushina frowned and glared at the tall blond.
"It was luck and that bullshit technique that got your friend this far. Naruto is going to crush him with ease. He'll probably humiliate your buddy too. For such a sweet kid he can be more vicious than me at times." Kushina said with a grin.
"You really think that technique is the only one Kai has in his arsenal? He is mostly a taijutsu specialist, yes, but he is actually rather gifted with ninjutsu as well. Enough that even the Raikage pays him special attention." Mozoi replied, matching her grin causing her own to falter.
She turned back to the arena and decided to ignore Mozoi for now. "Kick his Hidden Cloud ass, Naruto!"
Naruto and Kai continued staring one another down as the audience began to jeer and demand they do something. Neither paid them any mind though, that is except for the distinct voice of Kushina Uzumaki that could just barely be heard over the din of the crowd.
"Heh, looks like your little girlfriend managed to be patched up easily enough. Your mommy saw to her personally from what I understand." Kai said as he slowly began walking to the side.
Naruto mirrored his opponent but said nothing. He was above biting onto such obvious attempts to rile him up. He wanted to say it was because of his heritage but neither his mother or father were especially thick skinned. If anything he learned his colder temperament from Orochimaru.
"Don't want to banter? Afraid you might say something silly? You're just a little boy still after all." Kai continued proving him while they circled one another. Naruto only raised an eyebrow as an answer causing the Kumo nin to chuckle.
"You are an interesting kid. I guess you have to be considering who you are. One of the last Senju, son of Tsunade herself and Jiraiya of the Sannin to boot. I even heard you trained under the last member of their little trio for this tournament. I can't imagine having so much just handed to me. It must be great." Kai said.
Naruto would have rolled his eyes if he wasn't worried about taking them off of his opponent. That was why Kai was being so mouthy after all. They both knew that if Naruto got the opportunity to activate a jutsu then it was possible the fight would be over like that. The mokuton gave him an enormous advantage, however Kai's technique would let him capitalize on any slip from Naruto and in the fight almost immediately if given the opportunity.
So both were waiting for the tiniest slip to try and end the fight in a single strike.
"Yeah. I would just keep quiet too. I mean from what I hear you even had that Uzumaki girl handed to you. Maybe you are too young to really understand that but really you lucked out. I kind of wish that they had managed to nab her a while back. If she had been brought to Kumo back then maybe she would be betrothed to me instead. I would have loved having her all to my- what's wrong kid?" Kai smirked as Naruto stopped mirroring him and instead stood still while staring across at him.
"Only one of us gets to walk out of the arena right?" Naruto finally said something causing Kai to blink before breaking into laughter.
"Yeah. Dead or unconscious only one of us leaves under their own power." Kai replied.
Naruto nodded. After a moment Kai sighed before smirking.
"Back to my topic of conversation though. I don't suppose she would have been betrothed to me. More like I might get to have a go at her after Lord Raikage got bored." He said before quickly reacting with a lightning technique that blasted apart the massive clawed hand made of wood that burst from the ground where he had been standing.
"So little red is a bit of a touchy subject for you then?" He cackled as he and Naruto began their battle for real.
The audience roared in excitement as the boys closed on one another and exchanged a fast series of taijutsu blows before both made space and launched a new set of ninjutsu at one another. A set of stone dogs burst forth from the base of the arena wall at Naruto's command, only to die a quick death as a chain of lightning arced between them and blasted them to bits.
"You are just filled with all sorts of tricks. I heard that mokuton came along with earth and water techniques. I guess it's true." Kai said as he charged toward Naruto who quickly formed a wall of earth between them to buy time for his next technique.
"You talk a lot more now than you did earlier." Naruto shouted as his hands ran through a series of hand signs.
Whatever the technique was never came to fruition as Naruto was forced to retreat. Rather than go around the wall like he had expected him to, Kai smashed through it with arcs of pulsing electricity twisting around his fists.
His body was beginning to bruise up and swell slightly as he used the same technique he had in all his earlier fights as well. Naruto guessed that was the only reason that Kai could maintain the bastardized version of the Raikage's signature technique.
"Come here." Kai snarled as he hurled himself toward his target.
Naruto avoided the lightning coated punches and managed to lash out with his own counter. A hard kick directly to Kai's face that staggered him and gave Naruto enough space to escape being boxed in entirely.
Kai had to pause a moment as Naruto's attack had actually done some damage. With his family technique active though, Kai hardly felt the blow and simply popped his dislocated jaw back into place and turned to find Naruto with a cold smile on his face.
Naruto hadn't wasted the short pause in the fight though. Running through a new set of hand signs he had slammed his palms down onto the ground just as Kai turned to look at him again.
This time a single plant emerged from the ground. It was a twisted thing. Covering in horrendously large dripping thorns each coated with some purplish substance. The plant moved as if it was a living creature before swinging forward and embedding a thorn into Naruto's side.
Kai stood in shock as Naruto winced painfully from the stab, but seemed to have been expecting it. The plant itself began to wither and die almost immediately after it did it's job leaving the boys squaring off once again. Something was different now though.
Up in the stands the Sannin stared at Naruto in a mix of worry and confusion. None of them, not even Orochimaru had seen that creation before. It appeared Naruto had been taking his private studies further than she thought.
"Something is wrong. He hurt himself with that one." Kushina worriedly said in the 'loser box' below.
"Probably nerves after Kai blew apart his little wall…wait." Mozoi mocked until he sensed the change taking place down below.
For most of the viewers Naruto began to rapidly pale and sweat. His breathing became somewhat labored and his pupils even dilated while a purplish pattern began tracing along the veins of his neck and into his face.
"What did he just do? His chakra is becoming so much denser." Mozoi muttered.
Kushina had no answer for him, but she was starting to get worried. Kai looked about as bad as before. His body turned an ugly red as his clan's technique took full effect.
She didn't honestly care for the health of that boy. More that she knew it increased his durability incredibly, but Naruto was trying something new against him in that state.
"Did you just accidentally poison yourself?" Kai asked with a scoff. "That ability is wasted on you."
"Kai! Something's wrong!" Mozoi screamed from up in the stands but the reddening Kumo nin ignored his teammate and began his charge.
With his technique speeding up his attack combined with the cheap version of the Raikage's Hell Stab, Kai was upon Naruto in the blink of an eye. In that same moment though Kai's eyes widened as suddenly Naruto reacted to his speed.
The golden eyes of the Senju boy followed his attacker as they moved toward him. His own body was already reacting by the time Kai had taken his second step and Naruto had twisted around fully to let the attack easily sail past him.
That wasn't the full extent of his react however. Kai couldn't respond fast enough to stop it as Naruto snapped a hand out to grab his wrist while planting his other elbow into the back of Kai's own.
A sickening snap echoed around the arena followed immediately by the sound of flesh tearing as Naruto forced Kai's own attack up into his stomach in a gory show of dominance that no one in attendance would soon forget. Least of all Kai.
There was a single beat of silence before Kai began screaming in pain and the audience joined him as several of the civilian attendees tried to look away from the sight.
Naruto didn't waste any time as he immediately began doing what he could to render aid to his clearly defeated opponent.
"You jutsu is strong but nothing is perfect. My mother will heal you better than I can but I can make sure you don't die. You didn't kill Kushina so I won't kill you either." Naruto said as he worked.
He wasn't certain how much Kai heard or understood though. He didn't stop screaming until his voice went hoarse and he passed out from the immense pain of having his arm folded backwards and having his stomach torn open like a paper bag.
Soon medic ninja intervened and rushed Kai off the field while the proctor awkwardly held Naruto bloodied hand up and proclaimed him the winner.
Despite the sight they had seen moments ago, the audience roared in approval. Kushina among them. Naruto could see his parents and Orochimaru were already headed down to meet him but unfortunately as much as he had been experimenting with the technique he had used to win the tournament he hadn't perfected it as much as he had hoped.
"Proctor…" He said turning to the man beside him.
"I need to be taken to the medics too. I miscalculated the dosage on the chakra steroid I gave myself." Naruto said, causing the man to blink until Naruto pivoted in place and vomited onto the arena floor and stumbled slightly.
"Okay then. Hold on." The proctor said before body flickering to the medical wing followed closely by the Sannin as they saw what had happened.
Kushina rushed after them as well, worried that something had happened or that he actually had accidentally poisoned himself somehow.
As it turned out the body flicker had made things much worse for Naruto who proceeded to pass out after that. Thankfully it was short lived and the boy woke up in time to explain to his mother and Orochimaru what exactly he had done to himself.
"You synthesized your own chakra stimulant using your plants?" Orochimaru asked him as Tsunade busily worked to purge her son of the drug he had recklessly injected into his system.
"Orochi, not now." She hissed. Only for both of them to ignore her entirely.
"I based it on one of the Akimichi food pills that I…found." Naruto nodded.
"That you found? Jiraiya what the hell have you been letting him get up to as your genin?" Tsunade growled.
"Hey don't blame me. I wasn't the one in charge of him over the last month." Jiraiya argued before looking toward Orochimaru with judging eyes.
"I don't know why you two are reacting so badly. He just used a little too much." Orochimaru shrugged.
"Too high of a dosage of that stuff could kill a fully grown man. Naruto is still…" Tsunade shouted only to stop herself with a huff at her son's stare.
"I didn't use that much." He weakly argued.
"You passed out." Jiraiya flatly replied.
"Cause of the body flicker. I was really nauseous." Naruto argued once again.
"You are not putting anything like that into your body without my express approval again. I don't care if you are the Hokage's age when it happens you come ask me first." Tsunade lectured as she held up a trash can for her son to empty his stomach a final time.
After he finished puking the last time he tried to pout as much as possible but it was clear that the heaving had taken it's toll and he was starting to feel pretty tired.
"I'll go talk to sensei. Probably hand out vests and everything tomorrow when the visiting groups are gone." Jiraiya said as he headed for the stairs.
Tsunade didn't even glance the man's way as she stopped running a diagnostic jutsu over her son and began to run her fingers through his hair as she sat next to his bed. He had been through worse but she was still frightened by what happened.
Before Orochimaru could continue asking Naruto about his new technique, the rest of his little team burst into the room and surrounded the bed.
Kushina and Minako both seemed intent to check their younger teammate over themselves as they made sure he was alright. The Snake Sannin was a bit surprised that Tsunade let them do as they pleased but she noticed the small smile as the girls crawled up onto the bed with him after getting her okay to do so.
She decided to wait to ask more. After all if she got her own sensei's approval she would have plenty of time to exchange ideas with him for the next few years.
"I need to talk with sensei too. Catch you later Tsunade." She said getting a nod from Tsunade who was checking all three of the children over again.
She was far more motherly than she was ever going to admit.
The next day Naruto and his teammates were practically good as new. Some new scars and a little bit of soreness aside they were in top form.
Along with the other team of genin that had participated in the finals of the chunin exams, they had been gathered Naruto, Minako, and Kushina all stood beside the Hokage across from a gathering of dozens of Shinobi, including Naruto's parents and their friends.
Kushina eagerly waved to Sakumo Hatake who smiled back while pointing her out for the babbling Kakashi. The little boy waved toward Kushina as well causing the red head to coo at the baby in joy.
"Welcome everyone. I am certainly proud to be calling this gathering together to award several very deserving young ninja the promotion they have all earned." Hiruzen announced getting respectful applause from the group at large.
"Most of you saw the skill and talent these youngsters all had during the tournament yesterday so I think we can all agree that these vests are well earned." He continued as a chunin aid stepped forward and handed each of the newly promoted chunin their vests.
"Nothing brightens my day more than to see our next generation advancing into the ranks and responsibilities expected of them. I want you all to know I am immensely proud of you, as if our village as a whole. That being said, now let's declare your first official assignments." Hiruzen began walking to the end of the line and started with shaking Awaken Hyuga's hand.
"Nawaken has been assigned to perimeter defense." Hiruzen said, getting polite applause for the boy. It wasn't unexpected. A Hyuga was perfect for the perimeter patrols in the forests beyond Konoha's walls.
"Yukumi will also be joining the perimeter defense units." Hiruzen said as he shook her hand. That was a little more surprising though considering her talent for earth jutsu she could easily conceal herself or set up a defensive position in the area near their home.
"Mujiro will be joining the mission corps." Hiruzen said, getting louder applause. The mission corps were Shinobi used most often for offensive operations during wartime and during peace took missions more often than any other branch of the Shinobi forces. It was in the name after all.
"Next we have Kushina Uzumaki. This young lady will be joining the barrier defenses." Hiruzen said with a smile. While the group applauded, Kushina herself tried to keep her smile on her face as best as possible. While the Barrier corps were some of the best in the village as far as skillets and training, their main task was defending and fortifying the village itself. It meant Kushina was more or less being restricted to the village itself.
Somewhat expected now that Naruto thought about it. She was the last Uzumaki and the village Jinchuuriki. The fact they had allowed her so much freedom as a genin had been surprising. Now though her place was being made clear by Hiruzen and his advisers.
"For our last two new chunin things are a little different. Initially I had some difficulty placing them however last night I had two Jonin come to me expressing a desire to acquire very specific apprentices. Jiraiya, Orochimaru, retrieve your apprentices." Hiruzen said with a proud smile.
Despite all his manipulative nature. He truly loved his village and his citizens. None more than his students and grand students.
Jiraiya happily stepped up to Minako and planted his massive hand on her head where he ruffled her hair getting a playful glare from the girl in response.
Orochimaru similarly stepped over to Naruto and smiled as she set a hand on his head. It was cool to the touch but Naruto couldn't stop the smile that spread on his face at the thought of time spent apprenticing with her.
"Thank you all for supporting these young ninja, let's all work together to continue supporting them as they continue to grow into legends that can show the world their Will of Fire."
The audience cheered as they were dismissed. Each of the young chunin led off by their family or in Naruto and the girls' case led off by Orochimaru and Jiraiya to where Tsunade stood waiting.
They all headed back toward the Senju compound for a meal together. One of the last they would have all together for some time.
That is that. We are set up for Naruto to head off with his new teacher and an upcoming time skip. I hope you enjoyed.
Till Next Time