Disclaimers: I don't own Naruto. If I did, I would have taken Itachi and Neji all for myself. XD
Author's notes: Geez… I'm sorry if this took so long. I have a long list of stories to work on so I really didn't have that much time to work on this. Gomen nasai…
LEGEND
"talking"
'thinking'
-telepathic talking-
Chapter 15:
PREVIOUSLY…
They nodded at each other, as no words were needed to tell them the sub-mission at hand. Each akatsuki member knew that with the snake around, there is a possibility of the snake being a nuisance. Actually, the akatsuki team didn't really care on who the coming-to-be-victim is. But since the coming to be victim is their only possible connection to the snake, they have no choice but to protect that person… whoever that person is.
The only problem was they didn't know who the person that they need to protect is.
Naruto just didn't know that the coming-to-be-victim that he needed to protect was closer to him that he expects.
CURRENTLY…
Sasuke glanced at the ninjas that came from all places that were all inside the room. There were from Hidden Rain, Hidden Sound, and others. There was also the trio from Hidden Sand. The team of the taijutsu specialist was also there. He suddenly glanced at his blonde teammate who was currently looking at one team settled on the corner of the room.
His eyes narrowed as he noticed that the team was also looking back at the blonde. The younger red head snickered – not at the blonde, but at him. He suddenly somewhat flared up and threw a kunai at her, but the only guy in the group interfered and deflected the kunai with his own.
He growled under his breath.
"Oi. You're rookies, right? I suggest that you quit yapping around and become serious. There are a lot of strong people around here." A grey haired guy with glasses said, walking towards the group.
Naruto then diverted his attention towards the guy. He narrowed his eyes. 'No matter how much you try to hide it, this guy has very strong chakra reserve. He's not a genin.' He thought.
-I see that you figured it out as well, Naruto-kun.- The voice of the older red head boomed on his head. The blonde forced back the urge to roll his eyes. –He is far from genin level. He shouldn't be in the chuunin exams. I can feel that he has another reason for joining this exam.-
Naruto sighed inwardly. -And so do we. We are all far from genin level, Rae-san. And we also have another purpose here. Though I still don't understand the point. Why is that snake a threat to our plans?- He asked.
He felt Rae shrug. –We don't know. Even though I'm one of the superior ones in the organization, even I don't exactly know what our higher ups are thinking about, nor are their real motives for trying to stop the snake for taking over this village. It is none of our concern.- She thought back.
Naruto nodded inwardly. -Whatever, Rae-san. How do you think Narue-sensei is doing? Don't tell me that he's posing as a female jounin from the mist.- He thought.
Rae chucked. –Nah. He won't play Guess What Gender Am I this time. He knows when to get serious. Narue-san's just unpredictable sometimes.-
-And downright weird.- Naruto added.
Rae chuckled once again. –You're right. Anyway, you better pay attention to your teammates now. I think that grey head leaf nin may suspect something already. I'll contact you later.- She said.
-Sure.- At that, Rae's voice faded from his mind.
He placed his attention back to the other genin teams as he listened to their conversation. It turned out that the guy's name is Yakushi Kabuto and this was his seventh (?) try in the chuunin exams. However, something made the blonde akatsuki think otherwise.
Sasuke then asked information about the thick eye browed guy who challenged him a while ago. Naruto inwardly shrugged. So he is a taijutsu specialist. He saw that Sasuke was somewhat gritting his teeth. The blonde placed a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Sasuke. That's all right. Though I got to hand it to you, if he managed to defeat you, he may really be strong." He said.
He grinned under his mask as Sasuke had managed to calm down. Then Sasuke asked about biodata about Gaara of the Sand. Naruto just closed his eyes and smirked as Kabuto read Gaara's records. It really wasn't that surprising for him since he knew Gaara when they were young and thus knew about his absolute defence.
He thought that Sasuke was done about his 'research' when he suddenly asked another one. "What about that girl on the corner with red hair – the one from the mist?"
At that, Naruto noticed the three tense up as he suddenly slightly winced as he heard Yuumei curse. –Damn it!- He heard her shout.
-Yuumei! Don't curse on my ear! What's wrong!- He asked telepathically.
-We haven't arranged what our shinobi records would be as shinobis from the mist yet!- She said. –This Kabuto guy was not in our calculations!-
While Kabuto was looking at his nin-cards, Rae stood up and threw a kunai at Kabuto's direction, almost hitting him in the face. The leaf nin rookies and Kabuto glanced at their team's direction. Naruto fought the urge to slap his forehead and fall down anime style. 'I swear. Among all the akatsuki members, why did the higher ups choose them for the job?' He thought.
"I'm sorry. But we don't like it whenever someone gives out data about us to another person. We know that it's one of the shinobi skills to get data about other opponents. But it is also a shinobi's duty to prevent data about them from falling into another shinobis hands." Rae said.
Kabuto gave her a fake nervous smile. "I'm sorry. Though don't worry. I haven't gotten any data about your team yet." He said.
Rae glared at him before sitting down. Naruto chuckled inwardly, causing Yuumei to glare at him. –So what? We were careless.- She said in an angry manner.
-Sorry, Yuumei. Just… get on with the mission.-
Everything went well after that. A few more information about different other teams were given out, and it seems that Kabuto said something that quite offended the hidden sound nins so they attacked him. Naruto snickered inwardly.
'Trying to look weak, are you? Well… I know that you're better than that. You may have fooled the others, Yakushi. But not me.' Naruto thought as the examiner entered the room. He remembered the examiner as Morino Ibiki. He had managed to see the said shinobi a few times when he was still young.
"Listen up, punk! My name is Morino Ibiki and I am your first examiner. No fighting here, and if I even ever allow it, no killing is allowed. Now go and take a paper from this box and go to your designated tables." He ordered.
Naruto got table eighty five, which was quite near to Yomi but quite far from the other two. He shrugged. As the examiner explained the rules of the written exam, it would seem that the blonde and the akatsuki team has grasped the meaning of this exam. He glanced at Yomi who was looking at him through sky blue eyes. –Naruto-san, let me help you in this exam. I'll just tell you the answers telepathically.- He said.
Naruto snickered. -Shouldn't you be helping Yuumei and Rae instead?- He asked.
Yomi shook his head while keeping his face on his test paper. –There is no need for that. Rae is one of Akatsuki's best spies. She would be the one helping Yuumei out.- He replied.
Naruto nodded inwardly as he glanced at his teammates first. 'Hmm… Sasuke should be doing fine since he has the sharingan, and Sakura might be able to answer these since she has the brains for this thing.' He thought as he closed his eyes and waited for Yomi to tell him the answers.
Hyuuga Hinata, who was sitting beside him, glanced at her seatmate. She was silently confused about his behavior. 'What is he doing? He isn't even doing a technique for this exam. But he's so calm and serene looking. It seems that he's expecting something to happen… but what?' She thought as she glanced at the blonde boy with a mask.
Naruto opened his eyes and glanced beside him. The white-eyed girl glanced away as her white eyes met with sea blue orbs. Naruto shrugged it off and closed his eyes again. He then opened his eyes and started writing.
Forty minutes later…
The last question was given and Naruto just silently sighed. He could choose to give up and try again next year, which would lead to the akatsuki being angry with him for not going on with the sub-mission – which is, of course, to defeat the snake. And he wouldn't be able to accomplish that if he would fail the first exam. It was helpful enough that they don't even know who the snake's target is.
Sarcasm anyone?
Well… he could also choose to continue and take the risk. If he chose to continue and failed to give the correct answer, then he would become a genin his whole life. About that, he doesn't really worry. Shinobi ranks never really matters that much with the akatsuki organization. What matters more is the skill, not the title. And he was sure that he was at least jounin rank already or so.
If he continues and passes, then he would be able to go on with the sub-mission at hand, which would not only make the organization pleased. He would be able to test his own skills as well if he goes to test number two. He likes excitement.
Hmm… the odds are all going towards the word 'continue', so it was worth a shot. He glanced at the people around. They were all starting to panic now. The only people who are calm were Gaara, Yuumei, Rae, Yomi, another white eyed guy, the sound-nins, and other random shinobis that he didn't even bother to check.
So far, majority of the people were starting to panic, and that includes team seven. He resisted the urge to go fall down anime style once again. He sighed. He would be making a fool of himself if he does this, but he knows that it will be able to raise his team's confidence.
He stood up and then slammed his hand onto the desk harshly, earning the looks of the people around him. "Stop kidding me! I will take this exam! I don't care what the results may be! I'm taking it!" He exclaimed.
The examiner looked amused. "Are you sure about that?"
"Of course I am! I never take my back my words! That is my way of the ninja!" He exclaimed as he sat down.
The examiner sighed as he glanced at the remaining people inside the room. He sighed. "To all the remaining people here, you passed!"
Naruto and team seven were currently standing in front of a huge forest like area, which somewhat made the other genins freak out.
Their examiner, Mitarashi Anko, seems sadistic about this whole thing as she explained the rules of the next test. 'The forest of death, huh? No wonder. It looks rather creepy from the outside. But it's not really as creepy as the hideout. She said that this is survival of the fittest. And one team will have either a heaven scroll or an earth scroll.' He thought.
"So we need to fight for our second scroll." A random shinobi said.
The examiner nodded. "Yes. I'm going to explain how to pass this exam. Number one is to acquire both heaven and earth scrolls. And number two is to make your team pass as a whole without anyone from your team missing." She said.
Whispering started again.
"Listen up now! I'm going to explain to you the rules onto how you will get disqualified. Number one is when you fail to go back to the tower on the deadline. Number two is just as what I said in the first number two – if your team is incomplete, you fail."
Whisperings again.
Naruto snickered as he allowed his thoughts to be said out loud. "Forest of Death, huh? Looks like this exam is going to be a piece of cake." At that said, a kunai made its way towards him. He allowed it to slightly graze his cheek as he took his own kunai and stopped the other kunai that the examiner had in hand when she appeared behind him.
The examiner snickered. "Not bad, kid. But normally, people like you are the first one to die." She said.
Naruto smirked under his mask. "That's normally, Miss Examiner. But I can tell you that it's the skill that matters." He said. He narrowed his eyes as a long tongue slithered its way towards the examiner.
"Your kunai…" The shinobi with a long tongue said. "You cut through my hair… I won't forgive that…" He said as he walked away.
Anko smirked as she took her kunai. "A lot of people here are pretty good. I think I'm going to enjoy this. Anyway, I forgot another thing." She said as she went back to her normal standing position up in front. "You are not allowed to open your scroll. You will only open your scroll when both heaven and earth scrolls are both in your hands."
"What if we open it then?"
"There is a surprise waiting for you…" She said slyly.
"Naiki," Sakura started as she went towards him. "Why did you do that? You drew too much attention that time." She said.
Naruto laughed nervously. "Sorry."
"Sorry? Hello… you were making a fool of yourself a while back, and then you started to almost engage the examiner onto a fight. Do you want to get yourself killed?" She scolded.
"Well… you said almost. So it's alright. And besides… doing that was instinct for me. A shinobi wouldn't just allow someone to attack him, right?" He countered.
"Naiki, Sakura, the examiner just told us to sign these papers." Sasuke said as he gave both of them a paper each. "It will be like signing our death sentences." He continued. Naruto cocked his head.
He sighed. "Death is really going to occur in this exam if they even gave our papers like these to sign." Naruto said.
"All of them are determined to win. Killing is really going to occur in this exam." The raven haired Uchiha said as he engaged in a conversation with his blonde teammate. Sakura was feeling out of the team by that time.
'I feel like a total idiot now. My two teammates are both talking with one another. I know that I can talk to them as well, but what use am I? I don't know much about the stuff that they are talking about.' She thought.
As if he read her thoughts, Naruto glanced at Sakura and patted her shoulder. "Sakura-chan, you're the smartest among us here. Do you have any plans to contribute?" He asked.
Sakura smiled. "Maybe."
"I think I said everything that I was supposed to say." The examiner said out loud. "However, I would like to give you my final advice. Don't die!"
Ten minutes later…
Team seven was waiting at gate 45.
He smirked as he felt a familiar presence inside the forest.
-Naruto.- Yuumei's voice filled his thoughts once again. –Which gate are you and your team waiting at?- She asked.
-Gate 45. What about you and the others?-
-Gate 20. Seems like we're on the other side of the forest then.-
-Yeah. Looks like your team will have double mission here, huh? You're gonna look for the snake while trying to get another scroll.- He placed his hand on the heaven scroll that was in his pouch.
He heard Yuumei snicker from the other side. –We aren't really obliged to pass this test, you know. After defeating the snake, and protecting the snake food, we can fail ourselves all we want. We're here for the kill, not the mill.- She said.
Naruto laughed inwardly. –Alright though. But I'm sure that you feel that presence, right?-
-Hn. The three of us does. I'm sure that Narue-san feels it too… wherever he is.-
-Another group discussion later on?-
-I suppose. Naruto, it's almost time. Go and divert your attention back to your teammates now. We wouldn't want to make them suspicious now.- She said.
Naruto chuckled inwardly. –Fine then. Tell the other two I say hi.-
At that, the line went off.
Naruto chuckled inwardly. "Ei Sasuke, Sakura, both of you up for it?" He asked.
Sakura nodded as Inner Sakura was punching on invisible targets. 'YEAH! I'M UP FOR IT!'
Sasuke smirked. "I suppose all of us are up for it." He said.
Naruto grinned. "We won't fail on this exam." He said before turning back to look at the gate. This is it. This is where the sub-mission will spring into action. Snakes attack at the dark, and this place is dark enough for a snake like him to attack. The only thing that problems him is that he still doesn't know who he has to protect.
He glanced at Sasuke from the corner of his eyes. Another problem is that what if Sasuke…
He shook his head inwardly. Nah… it's alright. He knows how to mask his chakra well enough to not be detected.
"Start the exam!"
As the gates opened, all the teams dashed inside the gate, one of them being team seven. Well… practically, it was the blonde who started running, and his teammates just decided to follow him.
Naruto was smirking inwardly. 'Seems like the real action will start now.'
End of ChapterAuthor's notes: Geez… I'm sorry for the late update! SUPER LATE UPDATE! I'm very sorry! I have a lot of things in my hands and I still have a job order to do now. I can't say much any longer. I still have stories to update and job orders to finish. Sorry about that. Well… what do you think? I'm sorry if I offend the readers in anyway. Reviews please!