Johnny: Wow...it seems like forever since i posted anything new on my story...and here we are. -Grins- So here we go again in our moment of truth again in my writing.
Naruto: Oh my god it's a miricle!! i never thought i'd see the day your lazy ass would finish
Johnny: ...you are a jack ass...
Naruto: -gives a fox grin- i know!
Johnny: Alright then..hehe..let the new chapter begin folks! remember i don't own Naruto or any anime...AT THE MOMENT!
Ch. 6: The Sand Jinchuuriki! The Chuunin Exam's Return
It had only been two weeks since the battle at Kemurigakure, and things have begun to return to normal. Squad Seven has gone on a couple of missions since their A-rank mission, but nothing past a C rank. Since the mission, Shikamaru and Ino have made full recoveries from their injury's and Kakashi has done all he's been able to for Kurai.
It had been a difficult route, from not only dealing with the reluctance of Kemuri not wanting to lose their strongest weapon, too the Council of Konoha not wanting to invite this second 'demon' into their village. In the end however, Kakashi found himself adopting young Kurai, said girl not remembering anything about her life as the Shichibi said she wouldn't. Thanks to the Sandaime however, Kakashi was able to adopt her without a problem, and help convince the girl that she had been Hatake Kurai the whole time.
For the members of Team Seven though, their days were considerably easier. Shikamaru had been enjoying his time to relax, but Naruto and Ino had seemed to kick their 'friendship', as they called it, into high gear. It had become almost impossible to find one of the pair without the other let alone not to find her not all over him. It had become the little joke by Shikamaru and Kakashi, that Naruto had become Ino's new Sasuke, but the latter didn't see it that way. To the two of them, it was just an enjoyment to have the other's company, more so for Naruto.
To him, he was finally able to experience these times with Ino, which he regretted never being able to have in his time. It felt relaxing, knowing that he would have much more time with Ino then he had in his future. Then again, Naruto's mind was also fixed on the up coming Chuunin Exam's and had been training in secret for it. He had been setting up plans for it since their return from Kemuri, but decided it was best to hide his knowledge of it for now. Doing too much could have drastic changes to the future, and he felt like existing for a while. It was today though, that all his decision would come into play, hearing a loud young voice call out to him as he walked down a long walkway.
"Boss!" he heard, turning to see young Konohamaru and his two closest friends and teammates, Moegi and Udon running up to him. He had been going to visit Ino at this particular moment, and he already knew what they were going to ask.
"Boss, what do you think your doing?! You promised to play ninja with us today, you have for a week now and you always weasel your way out of it!" Konohamaru yelled, obviously annoyed.
"Yeah Boss, you shouldn't ditch us like that," Moegi said, Udon nodding in agreement as Naruto started laughing a bit out of stress.
"Aww come on guys," he said, pulling out a small box from his pocket. "I was gonna give this necklace to Ino-chan as a gift," he added, looking away so they couldn't see the annoyed expression on his face.
"If I play with these guys, I'll be stuck with them all day," he thought, not noticing Konohamaru run up and snatch the box from his hand.
"If you're gonna ditch us then you're gonna work from your little box!" the little child yelled, running past his friends, the two turning to follow as they heard their 'boss' finally notice his lost treasure.
"HEY!" he yelled, running after the little ninja's in training, the said three picking up speed as he began to catch up. "Give me back my necklace you little brats!" It wasn't the longest chase in the world however, as Naruto slowly came to a stop when he saw someone lifting Konohamaru up into the air; someone he hadn't want to see so soon
The first figure he knew as Kankuro, wearing his face paint and black body suit as usual. Naruto could also see the large wrapped object on his back which he knew was his puppet, Karasu inside. Behind him, was his sister Temari that Naruto also knew very well. They had dated in his time long before he later married Ino, and Naruto knew a lot about her. She seemed so different then she was in his time, wearing her old pink dress with fishnet beneath it. Just like in his time though, she had the same four ponytails that she always had, and even here in this time, still looked gorgeous.
"That hurt, brat" Kankuro said as he held Konohamaru higher, reminding Naruto of how he needed to handle this situation.
"Put him down Kankuro, you know you're only gonna get scolded later," Temari complained, annoyed at her older brother for being so violent for no reason. Naruto felt his blood boiling as he watched Kankuro hold Konohamaru up as he was, but managed to keep his cool.
"Put him down…" Naruto said lowly, glaring at Kankuro who returned it back instantly. To Naruto it seemed odd to act this way to someone who was a dear friend in his time, but he had no choice but to keep up appearances.
Kankuro, not even bothering to respond to Naruto, turned back to Konohamaru, speaking to Temari as he held him up higher. "We have some time to spare, let's fool around with these little punks before he shows up," he said, Konohamaru kicking at him to try and get free.
Naruto knew exactly who he was talking about, and Naruto decided that it would be best to put his old friends in line this time around before the Chuunin exams. "That's it!" he yelled, rushing towards Kankuro, watching Kankuro react by moving his fingers.
Naruto already knew about Kankuro enough to know he used chakra strings for his puppets, jumping up them as he timed Kankuro's movements. This shocked both sand ninja's, mostly Kankuro, as he was forced to drop Konohamaru in order to block Naruto's incoming kick.
"Why you…" Kankuro growled, throwing Naruto back while watching him grab onto Konohamaru as he flew back. Naruto couldn't help but feel a sense of pride, having saved his young friend and pissed off the older puppet ninja, as he landed back with the group, Konohamaru safely back on his side.
"Well…if you want to talk tough, let's see you act it," Kankuro said after a short while, pulling off his bag to stand next to him. This got Naruto into a battle stance, while finally getting Temari's attention as well.
"Y-You're gonna use Karasu?!" Temari asked as she watched the bag unravel some. Before anyone could speak however, Kankuro yelled out, pulling his hand away from his bag as a rock fell in front of him.
"A long ways from home aren't you?" a voice called out from the tree's behind Naruto, causing everyone to look up at them. Much to Naruto's dismay, and Kankuro's annoyance, they all saw Sasuke sitting on the tree, juggling a rock as he watch the two ninja from atop.
"What are you doing here Sasuke-teme!?" Naruto growled out angrily, bearing his teeth as the Uchiha smirked at him.
"Watching you cause trouble apparently," he replied, sitting up some as Naruto turned away from him, trying to ignore is presence to speak to Kankuro again.
"It seems our fight has been interrupted for now from both side," he said to Kankuro casually. Before the puppet ninja could ask what he meant, he heard another voice coming up from the tree. "You know…you should really keep your brother under control."
Everyone looked back up at the tree, Sasuke forced to turn, shocked to see another Naruto, standing with a red headed child on a branch behind him.
"G-Gaara…" Kankuro said nervously, pushing Karasu back against his back quickly. This however, seemed pointless as Gaara's attention seemed to be focused on the boy who knew he had been here.
"Impressive," he said calmly, watching Naruto through is black ringed eyes. "You knew I was here the entire time?"
"Yep!" Naruto's shadow clone replied with a grin, disappearing with a puff of smoke as Gaara appeared below next to Kankuro wrapped in sand.
"He made a shadow clone, and got behind me without even making a sound," Sasuke thought, glaring at Naruto. "How good has he become?"
"If you don't mind me asking however, how did you know Kankuro was my brother?" Gaara asked next, this scaring Naruto as he realized that he didn't find out the three were siblings much later on.
"Hehehehe…l-lucky guess?" he stammered, waving his arms some as he watched Gaara stared at him intently. Luckily, he bought it and continued his questioning, keeping his arms crossed still.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," he answered calmly, not even bothering to stay in character anymore as I stared directly into Gaara's eyes. "What's yours though?"
"Sabaku no Gaara," came Gaara's reply, the two seemingly totally concentrated on the other. The two stared each other down, until they were finally interrupted by Sasuke, who at this point was tired of being ignored.
"Hey…it doesn't matter who you are, what are you doing in our village with no purpose!" he yelled, watching as the three sand ninja's turned to look at him. Temari was about to answer, until she saw Naruto wink at her, causing her to blush and look away, letting him answer.
"It's obvious they're here for the Chuunin exams, why else would Sand Genin be here," he said cockily, earning another glare from the Uchiha. "You must be slipping since our days at the academy, Uchiha Sasuke."
"What did you say dobe…" Sasuke growled back in response, watching Naruto walk past him towards the Konohamaru trio, and turn to stare back at the sand ninja's once again. "I look forward to seeing you again…all of you," he said the last part with a smirk toward Temari, making her blush even more, which neither Gaara nor Kankuro seemed to notice or care.
"Agreed," Gaara said, turning with his two siblings and body flicked away. Sasuke though, had not had enough, pulling out a shuriken as Naruto glared at him, the three children getting behind him as they watched Sasuke intently.
"Do you really want to make a scene Sasuke, when the Chuunin exam's are so close by," Naruto asked, not drawing a weapon, but still being ready to counter anything Sasuke was going to try. Sasuke however, put away his weapon, turning to walk away with a scoff.
"I'll just defeat you then dobe, but don't think our fight is canceled," he said as he walked off, letting Naruto breath a sigh of relief.
"Glad that's over," Naruto said, feeling a tug at his pants as he watched Sasuke turn the corner.
"Nee-san are you really going to fight Sasuke-san?" Konohamaru asked, handing him back Ino's necklace. Naruto only smiled and pat Konohamaru's head, ignoring the disapproving look he got for treating the honorable grandson like a kid.
"Only if I have to Konohamaru," he answered. He was lying through his teeth though, as Naruto knew he would have to stop Sasuke from joining Orochimaru this time around, but there was no need to tell the young ninja cadet about that kind of information.
It didn't take long before Naruto lost the Konohamaru trio, when Naruto "accidentally" walked past the academy, and Iruka. It wasn't long before the three were herded in class; Konohamaru yelling out to Naruto as he ran off. Naruto decided he'd make it up to the little squirt later; right now he had to find Ino and Shikamaru, Ino just a little higher on Naruto's importance list.
In no time at all, Naruto was in front of the Yamanaka Flower Shop, and after regaining his composer and smoothing his image, walked inside with his fox grin on. To his luck, Kakashi and Ino were already speaking when he walked in, the two turning towards him as we approached.
"Ah Naruto, just in time," Kakashi said, putting his has in his pockets as Naruto put an arm around Ino, said kunoichi resting her head on his shoulder instantly. Kakashi chose to ignore it and continue, "I need the both of you to meet me up top in half an hour near the Hokage's tower, I have a little announce for all of you."
Naruto had to fight back his smirk as he watched Kakashi turned to walk over, hearing Ino asking him what he thought Kakashi was going to announce. He knew what was going on, and had been training in preparation for this. He had trained with Ino every now and then, but knew better then to push her to hard and incite any suspicion. Naruto had no time to answer her though, as right when he pulled her closer; he felt a tap on his shoulder and a voice in his ear.
"I take it you like my daughter Naruto-san?" came Inoichi's voice, making both younger ninja's pale. Naruto quickly took his arm from around Ino quickly raising his hands, nervously backing up as Inoichi kept a close distance to him. Naruto knew what was coming; he had dealt with this before.
"Well Inoichi-san…you see…" Naruto tried to explain, only to be cut off by Ino's father instantly.
"Oh no, Naruto-san, I know exactly what's going on here," he continued, pulling out what looked like an old cane from behind him. "You were simply here to molest and take my innocent little girl from me."
"Inoichi-san please, I would never…"
"LIES AND DECIET!!" Inoichi boomed, not giving Naruto the chance to explain himself. This had happened before, and even acting like his real self rather then his genin self, wasn't helping him at all.
"You came here…to defile and corrupt my little baby girl," he continued, backing Naruto up into a wall, and cornering him. Naruto expected to be beaten, until he watched Ino, who had been trying to pull her father back this whole time, step between the two.
"Daddy seriously, I'm not gonna let you hurt Naruto for just having his arm around me," she whined, this only infuriating Inoichi more.
"You've already corrupted her, YOU DAMNED DEMON!!"
SLAP!!
Before a shocked Naruto, stood an equally shocked Inoichi and tearful eyed Ino, the previous two astounded that Ino had just slapped her father. "Don't…ever call him that father!" she screamed, leaving the two stunned still.
"He's done nothing to hurt this village, and you have no right to call him that," she added, grabbing Naruto by his hand, and pulling him out of the shop.
Inoichi stood there for a while, his face stinging from where his daughter had hit him. He wasn't angry, how could he be? He had broken the Sandaime's wishes and spoke of the Nine Tailed Fox to the younger generation. Not only that, like many of the villagers, he disobeyed the Yondaime's wishes, and for only spending time with his daughter, had seen Naruto as the demon itself, and not the young hero who held the demon inside him. Inoichi sighed as he walked to the back of shop, contemplating to himself how to make it up to Naruto, and his daughter.
After a while, Naruto came out of his shock, focusing on Ino as she continued to pull him through the village to meet Kakashi. He watched her for a moment, before finally remembering the point of him going to visit her in the first place. It was when she stopped, and started growling to herself about where to go, that being where he made his move.
"Ino-chan…" he whispered, speaking just loud enough so it would mask the sound of him taking the necklace out of the box. She didn't seem to notice as she sighed letting go of his hand as she mumbled what sounded like a 'what'. Her sigh became a gasp in an instant though, as she felt Naruto reach around her neck and put on the necklace he had bought for her.
"Naruto-kun…" she breathed out, bringing her own hand up to hold the necklace, a brilliant green emerald that shined brilliantly in her eyes. "H-how did you find this?"
"I have my ways," Naruto said quietly, moving his hands from the necklace to her hips. Suddenly, the Chuunin exam's didn't matter, what Inoichi said didn't matter; nothing mattered except the two of them. That is…until Naruto heard a loud yelling in his head, which brought him back from cloud nine to earth.
"Your ways!? You mean mine you little brat!" Kyuubi roared, hitting the seal with his paw as he sat down, making sure he was heard. "Your ways, my left paw. Without me, you couldn't find dirt, let alone an emerald."
"Who asked you're opinion!" Naruto shouted back in his mind, he sighed though in real life as he finally pulled away from his embrace with Ino. She assumed she knew why, and nodded to the fact that the two of them had to be some place.
"We'll continue this later, Naruto-ku-u-n" she whispered with a seductive tone, turning to walk towards Hokage tower with her hips swaying, leaving a stunned Naruto and Kyuubi.
"What a vixen," the two thought simultaneously, before both sharing a grin and running after her. Both genin made it to the top of a building near the Hokage tower; both finding Shikamaru already there and asleep. Naruto chuckled lightly as he watched Ino about to go beat him awake, but was unable to as Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke, waking Shikamaru as well.
"Now that you're all here, I've come to tell you I've nominated all of you for the Chuunin exam," he said casually, watching his three Genin look at each other before back at him. "Of course this is a nomination, making this something you have to choose to do, so…" he tried to add, but was cut off by Naruto.
"Kakashi-sensei, this is definitely nothing the three of us can't handle!" he yelled, Kakashi watching the two teammates look at each other once more, before nodding at their teacher, both with a slight smirk. "Trust me; you'll be looking at three new Chuunin exams by the end of this, Dattebayo!"
After a moment, the three could easily see the smile under Kakashi's mask as he put his hands back into his pockets. "Very well," he said calmly, handing his three students their applications, watching them closely. "Take those to room 301 at 3 PM in six days. Be prepared, these exam's are not as easy as they sound," he added, disappearing in front of them.
"Well, then I'm off home," Shikamaru said, gaining the attention of the two blondes.
"What are you gonna do?" Naruto asked, receiving a scoff as Shikamaru turned, putting his hands in his pockets.
"What else, sleep…"
"Lazy ass!" Ino yelled, jumping up onto Naruto for a piggy back, the latter simply grabbing on as soon as he felt the extra weight.
"Got nothing to do with being lazy," came his retort again. "We have six days before we have this big exam; I just want to enjoy myself."
"You know, he has a point," Naruto said soft voice, earning him a slap on the shoulder from the blonde on his back.
"Great, now you're on his side!" she screeched as Shikamaru continued to walk away, chuckling to himself as he heard Naruto try to defend himself. He knew it wouldn't be long though until the couple was back on the same side. He'd be out of sight though by the time that happened.
Six days passed by quickly for the trio. All the genin took Shikamaru's approach to the time they had off, though a little differently. Mostly, the trio spent their time together along with Chouji, who had told the three that they weren't alone in their exam, and in fact the rookie nine were all taking the exam, this not surprising Naruto though. Naruto used the time to relax though, except for the light training, he simply went on a date or two with Ino, played shougi with Shikamaru, which he lost every time, and just enjoyed this time of peace.
When the time did come however, Naruto had his plan ready. He told his squad members, that the Chuunin exam had a written part and a survival part; telling them this with a made up story about overhearing the Sandaime. Naruto explained calmly, what he knew to his teammates as they made their way towards the examination room, the future Hokage no surprised by the amount of questions Shikamaru had. Their attention was finally torn away though, as they made it to the large group blocking out the main entrance.
Naruto wasn't too surprised to see bowl haired teen he knew as Rock Lee, trying to get inside. Nor was he too surprised to see Izumo and Kotetsu trying to block everyone's path with such a weak genjutsu. It wasn't too surprising neither to see Sasuke also trying to stir it up with Kotetsu, but Naruto knew better then to but in, he had a different idea this time.
"Hey, this isn't our room…let's get out of here," Naruto said calmly, jerking his thumb towards a different door they could take to go up to the right floor. Both teammates nodded with a smile as the three headed up further. They had avoided getting under anyone's skin, and keeping a low profile for the time being, that is…until they made it in front of the examination room.
"YOU!!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing at three different genin in front of the door, about to walk in. This drew the attention of the three genin, but also the attention of his teammates as well. These three were Kirigakure ninja, and none that Shikamaru or Ino had ever met.
The first two, seemed almost inseparable, as one leaned over the others shoulder, both their faces hidden by thick masks, with their headbands attached, going around their eyes to their scalp. While these two wore thick torn black cloaks, the third party member dressed like a he was going to a masquerade, with a long brown kilt and green dress jacket, which went over his brown sweater. Covering his face was a mask with the symbol of the mist on it, which gave her the appearance of an ANBU ninja, but if you could see behind it, he wore the same puzzled look as everybody else.
"Y-You're Haku!?" Naruto bellowed again, pointing at him fiercely, forgetting the fact he wasn't supposed to know who Haku or Zabuza was. It wasn't until Haku fixed his mask so it fit better, that he remembered that fact.
"How do you know my name?" Haku asked, with a tilt of his head. For some reason, his voice sounded more feminine to him then he remembered, but at this point he had to make sure he didn't get caught.
"Oh…err…I-I saw your application when I checked in…hehehe…" he stammered nervously with a laugh, inwardly cursing at himself for blurting out about recognizing these three. Luckily for him though, the other two were far too stupid to want this to continue any further.
"Just leave it alone Haku," one of the mask Kiri ninja said. Naruto knew those two we're already chuunin, but he also was being smarter this time and wasn't going to blow his cover.
"I agree with Jouki," the other said.
"You two head inside then, Misuto," Haku answered them, not taking his eyes off Naruto as he removed his mask. Once again, Naruto was shocked, but this time kept his cool.
"Y-You're a girl..?" Naruto asked, trying to quell his curiosity nonchalantly. In his time period, Haku was a male, one that looked a lot like a female, but a male none the less. This one though was obviously a girl, mostly because as the mask came off, her jacket loosened to reveal a bust that could match Tsunade-obaa-chan.
"Of course…but who are you?" she asked, Shikamaru sighing that he had been forced to stand there, groups of other genin passing them to enter the testing area. Ino on the other hand, was more annoyed by this girl, having become more jealous since the incident with Kurai.
"Uzumaki Naruto and these are my teammates, Ino and Shikamaru," Naruto said, grinning only for a moment as he noticed her turn around to head inside. For a moment, he thought this new Haku was much ruder then his, until cocked her head to gaze at him once more, whispering the smallest comment almost under her breath.
"I look forward…to seeing you during these exams Naruto-kun," she whispered, before moving inside, making Naruto blush and Ino fume. There was no time to talk about this though, as Shikamaru had had enough.
"Can we just go inside already," he moaned, getting a nod from the other two, as their minds were still elsewhere. Upon moving inside the examination area, their minds were brought back to the Chuunin exams, as their eyes were greeted by over a hundred glares from opposing genin, and their ears greeted with a loud squeal.
"SASUKE-KUN!" they heard, turning their heads to see six easily recognizable genin.
"Well, well, well…looks like the rookie nine are here just as we thought," Kiba yelled out loud, from behind Sasuke, who was glaring annoyingly at Sakura who had latched onto his back. As squad seven walked closer, noticing the rest of the rookie nine here, Naruto's scope being a little larger as he notice the Sound Genin, Team Gai, Team Kabuto and the Sand Trio. He couldn't tell what the latter groups were doing in the crowd, but he could see in front of him the rookies
Sasuke was still arguing with Sakura who continued to stay attached to his back like a backpack, while Shikamaru walked up to Chouji to chat while the Akimichi wolfed down on some chips. Shino seemed to just stare blankly, every so often glancing at what appeared to be empty spaces in the room, while Hinata blushed and tried her best to not let Naruto know she was staring right at him, much to his amusement. Kiba was too busy gloating around the rookies when Ino appeared at his side. Naruto refocused after taking this, stepping in front of Chouji; gaining everyone's attention in the process.
"What's wrong?" Chouji asked, watching Naruto just grin and point down at a small beetle crawling past Naruto and right up to Shino.
"Didn't want you stepping on her," Naruto replied with a grin, getting a confused look from Chouji, and a relatively shocked look from Shino.
"You noticed her?" Shino asked in curiosity, wanting to know how Naruto had noticed his Kikaichu beetle, his response was just a grin.
"Yep!" Naruto chimed in simply, putting his hands into his pockets; they were interrupted by someone familiar to Naruto, and someone he had not wanted to see.
"Could you guys do all of us and yourselves a favor and quiet down," the young man said, placing a hand on his hip as he scolded the rookies in front of him. He never noticing the glare he was getting from Naruto, and only smirked when he had all their attention, letting the glasses gleam on the lights above them.
"And just who are you supposed to be?" Ino asked, not even bothering to glare at Sakura as she grabbed onto Naruto's arm.
"Name's Kabuto, and if you guys are all smart you won't make yourselves stand out so much with all these ninja from other countries already on edge," Kabuto answered, smirking some as his hands dove into his pockets.
"Kabuto, is this your second time taking this exam?" Sakura asked; pouting slightly as the question gave Sasuke the opportunity he needed to wrench himself out of her grip.
"My seventh actually," he answered casually. "These exams are held twice a year, so I've been going on for what must be my fourth year now."
"Then you must have a lot of information on these exams I take it?" Sasuke asked, watching Kabuto smirk and pull out a deck of cards.
"Yep, everything you need to know about the ninja attending the exams is all here on these Ninja info cards. If you guys want I can give you guys a sneak peak," he said, a sparkle in his eyes about using his cards. Naruto knew though the only one that would take up on his offer was a certain Uchiha.
"Yeah, there are a couple of ninja genin I have in mind for this…" Sasuke added, keeping his eyes on the cards as Kabuto began to shuffle.
"Well ask away…I happen to know that there happen to be one hundred and fifty-six ninja attending this years Chuunin exams, most of which are here from the sand and leaf villages. There are a couple from the waterfall and rain villages, and only one group from Kirigakure and Otogakure, but Oto is a relatively new and small village, but I have some info if you need to know," Kabuto explained, getting an unnoticed scoff from Naruto. Oh yeah, he knew about Otogakure alright, being a spy and all…but Naruto wasn't going to make the mistake and call him out on it at this moment; he'd wait for his chance.
"I want to know about three people," Sasuke said, getting looks from Naruto and Kabuto. "I want to know about Sabaku no Gaara, from the Suna, and I also want to know about Rock Lee and Uzumaki Naruto from the Konoha," he continued, this time glancing at Naruto as the two stared each other down, everyone around them feeling the intensity from their stare down while Kabuto fished out the cards.
"Here they are," Kabuto said, moving the first one within view of the Genin, all of them watching intently as the picture of Rock Lee appeared.
"First up is Rock Lee. He's only a year older than you and was considered to be a stand out in last year's genin, but this is his first time taking the exams. His current mission status is twenty D ranked missions and eleven C rank. The only real incredible thing about this kid is his taijutsu, and his team consists of Hyuuga Neji and Tenten, with their sensei being Maito Gai."
"Next is Sabaku no Gaara. His current mission status is eight C rank missions and…whoa one B rank mission, that's pretty high for a Genin, especially to come back from it without a scratch. His teammates are his siblings Kankuro and Temari, with their sensei being a man named Baki. I don't have much more info than that."
"Lastly we have Uzumaki Naruto. His current mission status is fifteen D rank missions and four C rank missions, one that was changed into an A rank mission upon his return, can't imagine how he got through that one. Since becoming a genin his ninjutsu and taijutsu have increased dramatically, with his genjutsu becoming a little more adequate then it used to be. His teammates would be Yamanaka Ino and Nara Shikamaru with their jounin sensei being Hatake Kakashi."
Upon finishing his explanation, Naruto could feel the eyes of everyone who heard Kabuto on him. All Naruto could do was sigh and think about how he just had this giant bull's-eye painted on his back. His thoughts were interrupted quickly though, as he watch three grey blurs dart through the crowd. Naruto knew this was coming though, and was about to bring a little suspicion down upon the village rat.
Kabuto jumped back as he watched two kunai hit the ground, looking up to notice one of the sound ninja known as Zaku in the air from throwing them. Kabuto then turned quickly to take his attack from the genin Dosu, only to watch him taking a kick from Naruto, sending him right into Zaku has he landed, shocking most of everybody who knew him, and catching the interest of those who didn't.
"What's wrong Kabuto…I thought you were a veteran at this?" Naruto asked as his eyes looked at Kabuto, before resting on the sound genin as they stood, their third partner Kin coming up behind them.
"Why you little…" Zaku started to growl out, only to be interrupted by the loud bang of multiple shinobi entering the room at once, followed by a deep voice arising from within the smoke.
"Everybody…shut up!" the voice called out as the special jounin slowly appeared, with a certain, easily recognized by Naruto at the very least in his large black trench coat and bandana.
"It's time to begin the first exam. My name is Morino Ibiki, your proctor for the first exam, and from this moment forward your worst nightmare," he said with a smirk, right before pointing his finger out towards Naruto and the four sound ninja surrounding him (this including Kabuto, which only Naruto knew was from another village).
"First off!" Ibiki boomed as he pointed, sending a feeling of dread through all the other candidates. "You sound ninja! Who told you, you could go around and begin fighting here? Do you want to be disqualified already!?"
"Sorry…" Dosu answered him, picking himself up looking over at Naruto for a split second before turning back to Ibiki. "It's our first time so I guess we got a little anxious."
"And what about you Leaf Ninja!" Ibiki yelled again, looking at Naruto himself this time.
"What can I say, I'm a rookie and I'm just a little jumpy!" Naruto said with a grin, raising a hand in apology as Ibiki just smiled, deciding just to drop the subject and continue on with his purpose.
"We will now proceed to the first part of the Chuunin Selection Exams, please turn in all of your applications and retrieve your assigned seat. We will soon begin the writing portion of the exam," Ibiki said, crossing his arms as everyone began to rise to do as instructed, unaware that as they began, one certain blonde ninja was already passing the test.
As everyone found there seat, it was only minutes until they all heard a tapping to the chalkboard, with Ibiki speaking up as loud as he could. "Alright, now keep your papers down as I go over the rules. Alright, the written part is conducted as point reduction with a perfect score of ten to begin with. You will lose two points for every time you get caught cheating and your final score will be judged as your team's score. You have one hour, with your final question not given out until fifteen minutes before the end of the test. So show to us what fine shinobi you can be in this exam. NOW BEGIN!"
As he finished, the room was riddled with question asked in the thoughts of the genin, all of which flipped their papers over and began writing. The test continued that way for ten minutes, with different genin coming to different outcomes about the test, and only one knew from the beginning the purpose of this test.
Naruto sat in his chair, watching Ibiki as he stood watching the other students, once in a while catching the proctors' eyes before looking away at the others students. Naruto was able to catch and notice all the tricks the genin were using in this test this time around, and was actually quite impressed. He was able to notice Shino using his insects, while Kiba used Akamaru. He was also able to catch much smaller ways, barely catching onto Sasuke's Sharingan and Neji's Byakugan activated. He could even notice Haku's ice mirrors and Gaara's third eye, but he knew that the only other one seeing those last two was Ibiki. His thoughts though were interrupted by a loud shout by one of the scouts.
"Number 48, fail!" the scout yelled out. "Numbers 69 and 54…fail!" came another voice as the three calmly stood and walked out. The smirk that followed went only noticed by Ibiki.
He had been watching the blonde ninja every now and then, and had yet to observe him lift his pencil once for this test. That is…until after the three genin left the examination area.
(Outside)
"Well that went well…?" the genin number 69 growled, shoving his hands into the pockets of his baggy black pants, his black robe with the leaf symbol on it shifting slightly by the sudden movement. "Well…at least I got the answers to numbers two, four and six like I was supposed too."
"That's good," number 48 responded to 69's complaints. "I got one, three and five also as planned."
"And I got seven, eight and nine just as ordered," number 54 finished with a smirk.
"I guess the mission was accomplished, just wish I could have gotten a few more answers to compare," number 42 answered back with a whine of his own, sighing as the three walked up to door within the academy, opening it to find three genin, tied up and gagged just about as badly as you can be…and looking completely identical to the three failed genin.
"Sorry guys…better luck next year," 69 snickered as he cut the middle one loose. "But it's time for us to report back," he added as the genin that resembled number 42 began untying himself quickly, watching helplessly though as the three genin that tied them up disappeared in a puff of smoke
(Back at the Exam)
Naruto let out a fox grin as a wave of knowledge rushed into his mind. The genin that failed first were actually his shadow clones, created right as the written exam was announced. He had immediately ordered them to take on the likeness of another squad, and detain them out of view. After that, gathering information on the written exam had no consequences, allowing Naruto to still get the answers and not lose any points. He immediately began writing down everything his clones had gathered, and when he finished the ninth question, moved his headband down to cover his eyes and laid his head on his desk. Not a moment later, Ibiki noticed his female teammate do the same.
(Naruto's mindscape)
So, did it work?" Ino asked, kneeling down near the Kyuubi's cage, watching the fox with wide eyes as it grinned back at her.
"Yeah, I got them," Naruto replied, standing behind her in case the fox felt like taking advantage of Ino's newfound curiosity. "Where did your answers come from?"
"Oh…here and there," she answered casually, standing up to move away from the cage. "Most of my answers came from Sakura, with only two coming from Shikamaru."
"Alright good, he's going to be giving out the tenth question soon, so make sure ya think careful about what you want to do here. I don't want you getting hurt," Naruto said softly, watching Ino's eyes shine as he spoke, moving closer to him.
"Naruto…" she whispered lightly back, looking down and giving the impression she was going to cry. Naruto moved close and took her in his arms, but felt immediately a chaste nip of teeth on his neck as soon as contact was made. "But you should know by now that I'm not some innocent little girl." Moving back, he now noticed the mischievous smirk she had on, and watched her wink at him before releasing her jutsu and returning to the real world.
"You know, I think she might be even more of a pervert now then she is when she's older," Kyuubi chuckled, hearing Naruto mumble and agreement, watching his vessel returning to the real world, still chuckling the whole time.
(Reality)
"Alright everyone listen up!" Ibiki yelled, focusing everyone from their exams onto him. "It's time for the tenth question of your exam."
Naruto kept his eyes focused Ibiki as he spoke, knowing himself what was coming and would be smart as to when to calm the nerves of the other students. As much as he wanted to be good about this, he wanted to have some fun with the fights in the Chuunin exams.
"Be warned that you can choose to not take this tenth question and try again next year, but if you take the question and get it wrong…you will be forever barred from ever taking the Chuunin exam's again!"
Both Naruto and Ibiki watched as a couple of teams raised their hands and left, while others began to complain and silence themselves as they went through their minds whether or not to quit. Naruto sat still, counting how many teams remained, trying to figure out the best time to make his move. When he noticed the ninja dwindle down to about sixty, he made his move, raising his hand slowly in the air. Out of all the ninja shocked to see him raise his hand, his team and Ibiki were the most shocked, not expecting this from Naruto. Before anything could be said though, all of them watched as his hand came slamming atop the table, gaining the attention of every single person in the examination room.
"If you think that I've come all this way just to quit now on one stupid question you're wrong!" he boomed, getting looks of shock from everyone. "Even if have to be a genin forever, I'll still become strong and be Hokage someday!"
Upon finishing those words, the look of shock from the genin had become confidence; no one seemed ready to give up now. Ibiki and Naruto held a gaze on each other, both challenging the other until Ibiki couldn't help but chuckle.
"There's something special about this one…" he thought, looking around and asking once more for any quitters. Ibiki counted seventy-eight students remaining, twenty six teams. It seemed they had a lot of strong candidates this year, and it would only get harder for them.
"Very well then," Ibiki started, watching many of the students swallow the lumps in their throats as he continued. "Everyone who is now in this room…has just passed the first exam!!"
"WHAT!?" most of the students yelled out loud, Naruto fighting hard not to burst into laughter as Ibiki grinned.
"What do you mean we passed? What about the tenth question?" Sakura called out, only to be responded by Ibiki's grin.
"There is no tenth question, beyond accepting or rejecting it…" he said, chuckling some as Temari growled out loud.
"Then was the hell was the point in the other nine questions, just a waste of our time!?" she howled, this outburst making the interrogation expert smirk as he prepared to explain himself.
"It was to test your expertise at spying," he answered. "If you remember the rules, it was extremely difficult to answer these questions on your own, and with that in place, you were forced to cheat and find the answers amongst the other candidates. Even then though, the prospect of losing and forcing the rest of your team to suffer also, forced you to be even sneakier."
As he continued his explanation, the students watched in fascination as he removed his bandana, showing to everyone his head, being horribly disfigured with a number of scars, burns and puncture wounds. "Of course, just like in real life, anyone foolish enough to be caught failed. In the real ninja world, being caught in espionage can mean a lot more than just a simple failure."
As Ibiki tied his bandana back on, Naruto lost focus on what he continued to saying; his eyes focusing now on a brown jacket way off in the distance in some trees. He sighed to himself, knowing exactly what was coming as he watched a Miss Mitarashi Anko, slowly start wrapping her banner around herself, stepping back slowly on the branch as she prepared to launch herself.
Naruto snickered, raising his hands in the air counting down from ten, catch Ibiki's eye. Nine, eight…seven…six…five; the numbers slowly dwindled down to three when Ibiki finally took notice. As Naruto's final finger went down, the rest of the genin jumped out of the seats as Anko came flying in, throwing her kunai to attach the banner to the front of the room.
"Spare me…" Ibiki mocked, shaking his head with Naruto as Anko finally presented herself in front of everyone.
"Don't even think about celebrating! For your second Chief Examination Officer, Mitarashi Anko is here and won't wastin' any time!" she called out, grimacing as Ibiki slowly came out from behind her banner, giving her a disapproving look.
"Can you NOT sense the mood in here?" he asked her, watching her ignore him to start counting the teams.
"Apparently not…" Naruto mumbled, inciting a chuckle from Ibiki which still went ignored by snake kunoichi.
"Seventy-eight genin are still here…how could you pass twenty six teams!?" she boomed, wanting to know why so many were still left of these rookies.
"This year…we have applicants of exceptional caliber," came is simple answer, making Anko scoff as she crossed her arms to look back at the genin.
"Suuuuure you do…"
"You'll see, Anko…just wait to you test them."
"Yeah right, I'll cut the number down by half before the test is finished! All of you follow me to our new location!" she yelled, waving her arms as the genin stood up. Naruto knew what was coming, and was prepared for the most interesting show he would see in the Chuunin exams.
"I'd like to personally welcome you all…to Training Ground #44, otherwise known as the Forest of Death!" Anko said with glee, turning to look at the genin who grimaced at the sight of the dark looking jungle in front of them.
Every genin in the area took notice of their new test, some noticing the trees, others noticing the beasts within sight, and only a few taking notice to the remaining genin. Naruto was one of these few, looking to see who was left…and who to avoid for this exam. He wasn't able to concentrate too long as he was brought back to pay attention to Anko, who was snapping her fingers to get everyone's attention.
"You are all about to learn first hand, why they call it the Forest of Death," she smirked.
"Oh…this is gonna be good," Naruto thought, putting his hands on his hips as he swayed them back in forth. "OoOo you're about to find out why they call it the Forest of Death!" Naruto mocked before shoving his hands in his pockets with a cocky sneer of his own. "Please, like this is even going to be a problem."
Oh yeah, Naruto was baiting Anko like a catfish. He knew her very well, and knew that she could never turn down a challenge, especially one that poked fun at her sexuality like shaking his hips like her. When he saw her give a kind smile, he couldn't help but think "hook, line and sinker."
"So we've got a tough guy here huh?" she replied calmly, wasting no time to draw her kunai and chuck it at Naruto, cutting his cheek and moving at blinding speed to appear behind him…as expected. "It's the ones like you that usually spill their blood all over this forest," Anko cooed, noticing Naruto's calm and amused expression before realizing she never heard the kunai hit the floor. This realization came too late as she felt the tip of her knife at her throat, also noticing another in front of her sliding up her thigh.
"You know…" Naruto started, smirking as he turned to face her, keeping his kunai against her leg. "…I highly doubt that," the shadow clone finished, purring in her ear as she gave him an angry, yet aroused look.
"Hmm, maybe you guys are exceptional after all," she mewled back, licking the blood off his cheek, hearing his shadow clone disappear and sending her knife in the air. Naruto caught it without much trouble, putting his away as he handed it over to her.
"Guess we're just full of surprises huh?" he teased back, leaning forward as he tongue disconnected with her cheek to nip at her collar bone, a move that went only noticed by the two ninja and a particular 'grass' ninja that had been eyeing Naruto for a while.
"He, alright then," Anko sighed, walking back to the front of the group, trying to shake off the little encounter with Naruto. "While I explain the rules of this exam, make sure you all sign these consent forms so I won't get in trouble ok?" she said with a grin, making Naruto laugh, a joke that only he found funny.
"To make this simple, this is a no-holds-bar survival examination, in which your main objective is to collect two different scrolls, a heave and earth scroll, and then deliver them to the tower in the center of the forest," she explained.
Naruto once again stopped paying attention, looking around to try and remember who to watch out for and you would pose a threat to his squad in this forest. Keeping Shikamaru and Ino away from Gaara was obviously self-explanatory, but he also wanted to avoid any of the other teams to keep his team from getting eliminated, and especially avoid…Orochimaru.
"And one more piece of advice for all of you!" Anko's voice rang, once again ripping Naruto from his racing thoughts. "JUST DON'T DIE!" she yelled out, all the genin nodding as each team grabbed their scroll and headed to the appropriate gate.
Half an hour went by, the only sound being the muttering of voices from different teams and the clicking of Anko's watch. The ticks went by slowly, until…"PART TWO OF THE CHUUNIN EXAMS…BEING!!" Anko yelled, sending all the teams rushing into the forest in hopes of heading to the next round.
"Alright guys, let get too it!" Naruto yelled out himself as the three of them jumped trough branches looking back at his two teammates, shocking them that he was moving this fast without even needing to look. "Any plans on how to get that other scroll?"
"I may have one or two…" Shikamaru smirked, unable to resist the idea of trying out a few tricks on these other contestants. This brought a smirk to Naruto and Ino at the concept of what their third had up his sleeve. Naruto was right…these Chuunin exams were going to be a lot more interesting.
Johnny: Okay everyone...-takes a bow- at the end of this chapter i have a couple of ideas to help lead me into the next chapter much easier.
Naruto: Now...your not just saying that to help you forgive yourself for having to rewrite the forest exam is it?
Johnny: NO!...MAYBE!...ok fine yes...
Shikamaru: -sighs- so troublesome...just finish already..
Johnny: Alright...now i have two questions i have for you all...One would be that i have been thinking about making this a NarutoIno and one more girl for our main character. If you guys think i should...please vote on the other girl for Naruto...no limit in this cause every femail is up for voiting, if you dont want another...just let me know to leave at Ino..
Ino: -gives the audiance a pleading look- please...please say just me...
Johnny: Yeah...anywho...the second one will be decided specifically for the next 2 chapters, (the first one will be decided after the Chuunin exams), I want you guys to go ahead and give me matches for the preliminaries that you would like to see! -grins- just keep in mind it is impossible for me to stick Naruto, Sasuke or Gaara against each other in them...kills the story line. Well...until next time!
Naruto: Next time on Back to the Past..."A Dark Forest...Naruto vs Orochimaru" Don't miss it Dattebayo!!