Chapter 9: The Shinobi Test!

Normal POV

Location: Konoha Academy

Sighs

Naruko released yet another sigh from her mouth as she decided to look in the window to stare at her own reflection, the exam paper on the table in front of her, was filled with writings and what not, had been long done ago with plenty of time left to spare. Compared to all the Fuuinjutsu she had to learn since young, the tests the Academy handed out was nothing more than child's play. Thus, with all the extra time she had, it allowed her to think about the things which had been occupying her mind.

Specifically, about her friend, Natsu Dragneel.

She had been suspicious of him way back when he first joined the Academy ever since his battle against Sasuke. While her Uchiha friend would always look down at others, his strength could rival against that of a Chuunin with all of the training he received from his family. So for him to dominate the match against him really said a lot about him.

Though her suspicion of the pinkette had died down the moment she befriended him, that didn't mean it had died down completely.

On the surface, he may act like a happy and cheerful student like everyone else in the Academy, albeit a tad bit lazier, and from his way of going through each day, it seemed like he had no worries about life whatsoever. However, that wasn't the same case when she looked at his eyes. While they remained bright, there were times when his eyes would become distant and lose all of their shine.

And she had seen those eyes in her surrogate older brother, Kakashi, before. Those eyes were belonging to someone who lost someone important in their lives.

And surprisingly no one had noticed it…all except her. After all, she wasn't the daughter of the Fourth Hokage for nothing!

However, while she could most definitely say that Natsu was one of her closest friends in the recent months they spent time together, she didn't have the heart to ask and invade his privacy.

"Alright, time's up!" Iruka's voice boomed through the classroom, breaking the blonde girl out of her train of thought.

'I can't believe I've been thinking about this during the entire test.' Naruko thought to herself looking at the other students. There were some of them looked relieved while the others looked disappointed.

Of course, even after finishing the exam, there were still other tests that needed to be done, such as the kunai and shuriken exam as well as Final Exam, which required every student to perform the Academy Three which consisted of: the Clone Jutsu, the Body Replacement Jutsu and the Transformation Jutsu.

However, before the girl could get lost in her thoughts once again, she felt someone nudge her sides, and when she turned her head to meet the person responsible for the act, bright cerulean eyes met cold black orbs.

"Oh, hey there Sasuke, how was the test?" Naruko asked her childhood friend who snorted in response,

"As if something like this would be challenging for me." Naruko couldn't help but frown at his response, but decided not to say anything, knowing that it would lead to another debate between them again.

Then his eyes stared at her curiously, "Also, I saw you looking out the window again, and you only do that if you were thinking about something, so what's up?"

"Aww, was the little Uchiha too busy staring at little ol' me during the test? I feel so honoured." Naruko teased with a grin and fortunately for Sasuke, he managed to resist the blush from appearing on his face.

"D-don't be ridiculous." The Uchiha said, sending a small glare at the blonde who was hardly affected by it.

"Anyways, don't worry I was just thinking about how the exams will go is all." The blonde lied.

While she normally wouldn't lie to her friend, Naruko felt that it was the right thing to do at the moment seeing as Sasuke clearly disliked Natsu based on all the stink eye she saw him giving the pinkette whenever they hung out.

"Hmph, as if the rest of these tests would prove to be a problem to me." The blonde frowned and was about to reprimand the Uchiha but,

"Alright everyone, we're about to start the kunai and shuriken test soon. Please head outside so that we're able to conduct it!" Iruka called out after handing over the test papers to his assistant.

The entire class instantly got up from their seats as they began heading out so that they'd be able to start their next test with Iruka was ushering them outside and as Naruko was walking out, she couldn't help but hope that whatever exams her pink haired friend was currently doing, he'd be able to pass it all.

With Natsu

"So this is the room, eh?" Natsu thought out loud, staring at the plain brown door in front of him before looking at the slip of paper in his hand in order to make a confirmation.

Upon confirming, the Dragon Slayer then pulled the door open, to see a spacious room with a lone figure standing in the centre of the room. The figure had short brown hair and was wearing a black outfit and a Chuunin flak jacket over it.

"Ah, you must be the special student Lord Hokage was talking about." The brunette greeted with a smile on his face and the pinkette raised an eyebrow after scanning the room around him.

The size of the room was roughly around the same as his classroom, just without all the tables and chairs.

The mage's eyes then returned back to the brunette in front of him and he could immediately tell that while he was stronger than his classmates, he definitely wasn't at Izumi's level.

Which meant he had no reason to fight at full strength and gather more attention towards himself.

"So… what sort of exam will I be doing?" Natsu asked curiously and the brunette scratched his chin as he tried to recall what the Hokage had told him.

"Let's see, your exam will consist of four parts where you will be tested in your abilities and intelligence in what you've learned so far, and after accomplishing each test, you will be given a scroll which will direct you to another room where your next text will take place in." Natsu nodded his head in understanding, though he internally cringed when he heard the bit about his intelligence being tested.

"And first up, we'll start off with your Ninjutsu. All you need to do is land a hit against me with any Ninjutsu that you know within five minutes. Any longer than that and you fail the test, got it?"

"Got it!"

"Alright then, are you ready?" Natsu quickly got into his battle stance as a look of determination found its way towards his face.

"Begin!"

The pinkette immediately took off, closing the distance between him and his opponent.

Despite it being a Ninjutsu test, Natsu quickly sent in a barrage of punches and kicks at the Chuunin who was able to block them all. However, the final punch had enough strength to push the brunette back.

"Wind Style: Wind Blade Jutsu!" After going through the hand signs, the Chuunin then fired blades of wind at the pinkette who quickly jumped away from the attack.

'Fire Dragon's Roar!' The Dragon Slayer immediately retaliated by firing off a massive torrent of flames from his mouth at the Chuunin who was engulfed by the attack as he screamed.

However, the moment the smoke cleared, rather than the brunette, a burnt log dropped to the ground where the man once stood. Natsu's eyes widened in shock as said Chuunin appeared behind him.

'I got him!' He thought confidently in his head and just as he was about to send a finishing blow towards the Academy student. While it may have worked against other students, unfortunately for him, his opponent was none other than Natsu Dragneel.

The Dragon Slayer ducked under the attack before quickly jumping back in order to create some space between them.

The Chuunin quickly fired the blades of wind at Natsu again, who quickly dodged the attack once again. However, the brunette kept with the attacks in order to pressurise Natsu who was now forced to be on the defensive.

'Fire Dragon's Roar!' The flames quickly engulfed the blades before it eventually dispersed.

Natsu then looked back at the clock and realised three minutes had already passed, and it was evident that his opponent was aware of this as well.

'If that's how it's going to be…' Natsu charged back into the fray in hopes of closing the distance.

"I'm not letting you!" More and more blades of wind were fired at the pinkette's direction, however, none of them was able to find their target as the Dragon Slayer kept shifting from side to side, yet at the same time kept on going forward.

In a desperate attempt, the brunette threw down a smoke bomb in hopes of shielding himself, but that proved to be ineffective as Natsu appeared right in front of him, much to his surprise.

'This is the end! Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!'

Natsu then brought out his two hands and flames start to gather around his hands which then resembled a Dragon's wing, the Dragon Slayer then swung his hands, causing the flames to be fired at the brunette's direction, and this time, he wasn't quick enough to avoid it as the flames engulfed him causing him to scream in pain, dropping to the ground with a thump.

"So, did I pass?" Natsu asked with a giant grin on his face and the Chuunin he had defeated slowly got up, his clothes now slightly burnt, and his exposed arms now had second degree burns, but he ignored the pain he was feeling and stared at the pinkette in astonishment.

How on Earth was a child capable of producing such strength? And what was that Jutsu he had just used on him?

'Was this the reason why Lord Hokage formed such a test just for him?' he thought before shaking his head and produced a scroll from his back pocket before tossing it over to the pinkette.

"Head over to this room for your next test." The brunette said before he decided to Shunshin out of the room.

Natsu let the words process in his head before a smile found its way towards his face.

'That's one down.'

The pinkette proceeded to open the scroll and began walking after finding out the room he was meant to head to. It took a while, but after finding it, Natsu entered the room, expecting to see someone standing in the middle, greeting him. However, that hadn't been the case at all.

"Huh? Is the person in charge late or something?" The pinkette questioned himself in confusion as he began walking over to the centre of the room.

However, unknown to him, standing right behind him was a Chuunin with short black hair, slowly approaching the Dragon Slayer.

'So this is the boy Lord Hokage was talking about? He doesn't look like anything special.' He thought to himself as he continued his march towards the boy in front of him. When all of a sudden the pinkette stopped in place, alerting the ravenette.

'Did he notice my presence?' he thought cautiously. However, that thought went out the window when Natsu suddenly dropped to one knee, gripping his chest painfully as he gritted his teeth.

'Is he alright? Did the previous instructor hurt him that much?' the Chuunin wondered to himself, deciding that it was best to just end the test before walking towards the boy once more.

However, just when he was an inch away from him, Natsu's head shot up to stare at him straight in the eyes and the next thing the ravenette realised he was on the ground with the pinkette standing over him.

"So I take it, I passed the test?" The Chuunin grunted as he slowly got up and nodded his head.

"Yup. Break the Genjutsu that was placed on you and prevent me from touching you, that's the requirement for you to pass the test and you succeeded."

"So, are you feeling alright? You looked like you were in pain before."

"Yeah, I'm fine! It was just something I thought of to lower your guard down." The pinkette smiled which caused the Chuunin to sigh.

"To think I'd get outsmarted by an Academy student of all things…Well, good luck with the rest of your tests kid." After tossing the proper scroll at Natsu, the instructor Shunshin'd out of the room, leaving Natsu alone to his thoughts.

'What on Earthland happened?'

How did he figure out that the instructor was behind him? He had no idea that he was even behind him the entire time. He was sure that he would've failed had it not been for the sudden pain. And immediately after the pain faded away, the instructor's smell suddenly entered his nose which was the main reason he was able to pass the test. However that begged the question, where did the pain come from?

Perhaps the pain was somehow associated with the voice he heard a while back?

The pinkette shook his head, deciding that it was best to forget about it at the moment. After all, he still had a test to finish.

After walking around for a few more minutes, the pinkette was now face to face with the door leading towards his next test.

Opening the door to the room and this time, there was another brown haired Chuunin standing right in the centre waiting for him. Upon seeing the Dragon Slayer, the instructor grinned.

"Welcome your next test! I'm sure you can tell what kind of test you'll have to do, am I right?"

The pinkette nodded his head, "This is a Taijutsu test, right?"

"That's right! And all you have to do is land one good hit against me in order to pass the test. Think you can handle it?"

"Bring it on!" Natsu punched the palm of his hands, creating small sparks in the process as a smile appeared on his face. At the very least it wasn't something complicated like the previous one.

"Alright then, let's start!" with that, the instructor instantly charged in to the fight with Natsu following in suit. The no-named Chuunin instantly sent a punch aiming for the pinkette's head, but he managed to shift his head to the side in order to avoid the attack before sending a kick in response.

Though the brunette managed to jump back in order to avoid the attack while also maintaining a suitable distance from the pinkette. However, that didn't turn out to be the case when the boy closed the distance within an instant and carried on with the offensive, sending a barrage of punches and kicks at the instructor who was having slight difficulty in blocking them all.

'Tch, is he really just an Academy student?' the Chuunin thought to himself, feeling his arms start to bruise after continuously blocking his opponent's attack before deciding to send a right hook at the student. Unfortunately for him, it didn't turn out the way he planned it when the Dragon Slayer parried the punch away from him before retaliating with a direct spinning heel kick at his opponent's gut which sent him crashing into the ground.

The brunette attempted to get back up, only to feel something placed on his chest and looking up he saw the Dragon Slayer with a smile on his face with his leg on his chest, pressing the instructor down to the floor.

"It looks like I lost too." Said instructor chuckled as Natsu removed his leg, allowing him to get up before pulling out a scroll from his pouch and handing it to the pinkette.

"Here you go, you deserve this."

"Thanks." Natsu said with a smirk and was about to leave the room so that he could head over to complete his final test when,

"You better be careful when facing the next instructor." the brunette warned causing Natsu to halt before turning back, only to realise he had already left the room.

The pinkette thought back to his words before ultimately shrugging and exited the room.

With the help of the scroll, Natsu was now face to face with the door where he would be taking his final test, and without any hesitation, he slid the door open and walked in.

"Hoh? You actually passed the other three tests? With the amount of time you took, I assumed you already failed." A voice greeted which caused the student to turn his head towards the source of the voice.

There, he saw a brunette and like the others, he was wearing a Chuunin vest as he leaned across the wall. He then pushed himself off the wall and began staring at the pinkette from head to toe.

"I expected to see someone much more intimidating, but all I see is a boy with pink hair?" a comical tick mark immediately formed on Natsu's head.

"It's salmon! Not pink!" he roared out angrily as the brunette waved it off and pulled out a clock from his pouch before adjusting it.

"Well whatever the case, this is your final test. I'll be asking you a series of questions around the things you've learned in the Academy all the while you have to last against me in a fight for ten whole minutes. Failure in answering my questions or lasting ten minutes and you can say goodbye to being a Shinobi. Understand?"

"Got it!"

"Well then, as soon as I place this clock down, the test will begin. Better get yourself prepared." He voiced out as he leaned down in order to place the clock on the floor.

The moment the clock touched the floor, the brunette disappeared from sight and Natsu's eyes widened in shock before quickly ducking in order to avoid the punch that was sent at his direction.

The pinkette immediately jumped back in order to create some distance between the two, however, the instructor appeared behind him, as if he predicted it before sending a kick at the student, who was barely able to block it by crossing his arms in an 'X' shape though he grunted in pain despite blocking strike.

The Dragon Slayer retaliated with a roundhouse kick though it was easily avoided by his opponent who quickly charged back in for an assault, sending punches after punches at the pinkette.

'He's definitely stronger than the other three I faced!' Natsu thought, blocking another attack from the brunette before eventually sending a punch of his own to counter his opponent's. Neither one of them moved as they were in a power struggle.

"First question! What are the three basic types of Jutsu out there?" the instructor yelled, catching Natsu off guard which gave his opponent the chance to trip him with a sweeping kick but the Dragon Slayer managed to roll away before he could land another strike.

'This is insane, and I'm meant to answer questions at the same time? How am I meant to think of the answer when I'm in the middle of fighting?!' Natsu's eyes immediately widened, realising the true extent of the test.

When he saw his opponent charging towards him, the rosette inhaled some air, his cheeks puffing.

"The three basic types are Genjutsu, Taijutsu and Ninjutsu!" Natsu answered before firing out a torrent of flames from his mouth at the Chuunin who quickly replaced his body with a log and appeared behind the pinkette, preparing to land an attack on the student.

Though, with his enhanced smell, it proved to be useless as the pinkette turned back and blocked the attack before sending a kick directly at his opponent's gut, causing him to spit out some saliva.

The man quickly got up and narrowed his eyes at the pinkette before asking the next question.

"How many Kages are there in the Elemental Nations?"

The brunette quickly charged back into the fight, sending a punch at the rosette.

"The answer to that is five!" Natsu responded, parrying another attack before sending a roundhouse kick at the instructor who blocked it. However, Natsu kept at the offensive sending a barrage of punches at his opponent, with no signs of stopping. Just when it seemed like his fist connected with his target, the Dragon Slayer realised that his "opponent" turned to smoke.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow Spears!" the no-name Chuunin called out from behind, sending several spears made of earth towards his target.

'Fire Dragon's Roar!' Natsu quickly turned back before firing a torrent of flames in retaliation which managed to burn away the spears as it continued heading towards its target.

"Water Style: Raging Waves!" The instructor quickly fired out a torrent of water which managed to wash out the flames out with ease.

'Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!'

However, the attacks had yet to end when Natsu brought out his two hands and flames start to gather around his hands which then resembled a Dragon's wing, the Dragon Slayer then swung his hands, causing the flames to be fired at the brunette's direction.

"Now that's some impressive firepower." The brunette exclaimed with a smile on his face, adrenaline coursing through his body after ducking under the attack as he stared at the student in front of him.

'I guess I finally understand what the Hokage was thinking when he asked us to watch this brat.'

The brunette had been watching the pinkette thoroughly throughout the battle, to understand what their Hokage had seen in the boy, and as their fight went on, he could somewhat get a glimpse of it. Asides from his unique abilities, the boy was also able to adapt to the battle quickly. While he may have struggled earlier on, it was now much tougher to land a blow, much less block his attacks.

When facing against a much stronger opponent, most would throw away everything in their arsenal in hopes of defeating their enemy, and if it failed then they would lose their will to fight.

However, the same couldn't be said for the boy in front of him. While he seemed reckless, he was also observing the battle before using whatever he has in order to execute his idea in the battle. It was definitely a form of intelligence that was much different in comparison to the Nara Clan.

"Final question! What were the two clans which founded Konohagakure?"

The instructor charged in for an attack, yet the Dragon Slayer made no movements, only choosing to stand in place, and just when he was about to land a strike to the rosette's face, Natsu managed to catch his opponent's punch and grasped onto it tightly as a smirk found its way towards his face.

"Those two clans were the Uchiha and the Senju clans!"

'Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!' With his fist engulfed in flames, the Dragon Slayer sent a punch towards his opponent's gut which caused him to cough out some saliva and the force of his punch was enough to send him crashing into the ground.

It was at that moment when the clock in the room suddenly rang loudly which signalled the end of the test.

With that, the Dragon Slayer immediately dropped to the ground, panting slightly. While he would say that he's been improving himself over the past couple of months, he was definitely far from his best.

Meanwhile,

"While those tests you did before were to measure your strengths, this one was particularly more special. I'm sure you figured it out, didn't you?" the instructor smiled walking over to the downed student.

"It's to make sure that even in dire situations, I'd still be able to think clearly…right?" Natsu answered and the smile on the instructor's face widened.

"Heh, here take it. You've earned it after all." The brunette said, tossing the scroll towards the downed Natsu who caught it, before walking out of the room, but before he left, he took one more look at the pinkette.

'Heh, what an interesting brat.' He thought with a smirk before exiting.

Meanwhile, the Dragon Slayer merely remained at his current position, staring at the ceiling above him for a few more minutes before finally pushing himself up, grunting at the soreness his body was experiencing.

And the moment he left the room,

"Natsu!" a familiar voice called out to him as he turned around to face a mop of blonde hair.

"Hey there, Naruko." Natsu greeted the girl who immediately gasped after taking in his current appearance.

"What happened to you? You look like you just got into a fight."

'Well you're not exactly wrong about that.'

"Actually I was just going through my tests is all." The pinkette responded getting a confused look from the blonde.

"Tests? Weren't you meant to do the same as us? Why are you doing something different?" The Dragon Slayer only shrugged his shoulder in response, feigning ignorance.

"I'm going to have a word with father after this…" she muttered under her breath, but Natsu was still able to hear it and could only hope the blonde Hokage would be able to keep his secret knowing how scary and persistent his blonde friend could be.

"Anyways, I just finished my last test so I'll see you later then." With a wave, the pinkette walked off and while the blonde wanted to follow her friend, Sasuke called out to her.

"Hey Naruko, we have to head back to the class for the next portion of the test."

The girl could only sigh, deciding to get all the information out from the pinkette at a later date.

Natsu opened the door to the room once again, but this time, rather than seeing a Chuunin in the room, standing proudly in the centre of the room was none other than Minato Namikaze himself.

"Ah, Natsu it's good to see you."

"Lord Hokage? What are you doing here?"

"Well, seeing as I prepared this test specifically for you. Of course I wanted to see if you were able to pass or not." The Hokage then pulled out a hitai-ate from his pocket.

"Congratulations Natsu, starting today you'll be a Shinobi of Konoha." Minato said with a smile, handing over the hitai-ate over to the grinning pinkette who graciously accepted it.

"I'm not going to lie, but I was a bit sceptical as to whether or not you'd be able to overcome this test, considering who you really are but I can tell you that you've passed with flying colours!"

"Thanks a lot!"

"Also, now that you're a Shinobi, I won't need to pay for your food anymore." The blonde Hokage smiled, though there was a hint of amusement laced in his tone as he looked at the Dragon Slayer who now had a cloud of depression hanging over his head.

While he still had some doubts about the boy in front of him being a "universe hopper", but he was still glad that he was fitting in with the rest of his peers.

"Well, in any case, make sure to head over to the Academy for team selections tomorrow. You wouldn't want to find out that you're in a team with people you hate while on a mission, would you?" Minato chuckled when he saw the Dragon Slayer grimace, as if he had thought about it.

'To think he was able to overcome all those trials without even looking badly injured. Guess he really is no ordinary child.' Minato thought to himself before he used his signature Jutsu, the Hiraishin, to return back to his office.

Meanwhile back in the room, Natsu stared at the hitai-ate in his hand, gripping it tightly, 'I finally managed to reach the first step of my journey, and in order to succeed in my mission, I need to keep going…'

A look of determination found its way to his face.

'I'm all fired up!'

End Chapter

Just to note, all the Chuunin who appeared in this chapter were all OC's since I personally wouldn't want to include Kotetsu and Izumo so early on.

kofi.c om (slash) christopherdragkrow

Beta Read by: Earth Dragon Arnighte