Kapitel 21: Chapter Eighteen: Chunin Exams.
Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters!
-Konoha Academy-
After meeting up with team seven outside the Konoha Academy Naruto and the rest of team seven entered the building and headed for the room where the exam would be held.
As they walked up the flight of stairs to the floor where the exam was going to be held, they saw a large crowd gathered outside the room on the second floor, where the exam was said to be held. As they got closer they saw a boy in a green outfit being pushed back by two tall looking Genin, who were blocking the way into the room.
"You're actually trying to take the Chunin exam at your level?" mocked one of the Genin.
"You kids should quiet while you still can, as you won't last in the exam" said the other Genin.
"Please just let us through" spoke Tenten as she helped Lee back up and then tried to walk though, only to be pushed back by one of the two boys.
"Hey there no need to do that!" spoke another Genin in the waiting crowed.
"Huh! We're doing you all a favour by keeping from doing the exam, as it is extremely difficult and we've seen people get seriously injured in it, since they weren't ready for it" spoke one of the two boys who had two bandages on his cheeks.
"He's right, as a Chunin is a leader of the squad and it's his job to make sure that his subordinates come back alive from a mission, so what's wrong with weeding out the weaklings, as they aren't going to pass anyway if they can't get by us" said the other boy.
"That's a pretty sound argument, but I'll pass" spoke Sasuke as he stepped forward, "Also undo this field that you created by using Genjutsu, as I want to go to the third floor where the exam is being held."
At hearing this many people in the crowd grew confused, not understanding what Sasuke was talking about.
"Oh so you notice?" spoke the boy with the bandages on his face.
"Yea, you guys also noticed earlier?" said Sasuke where he looked back at Naruto and Sakura, "As both of you've have the best analysing skills and Genjutsu know how on our squad."
Naruto of just nodded, as he had indeed notice upon coming to the second floor. While Sakura, who hadn't really notice at all just pretended to have and take any praise she could get from Sasuke. Sai had also notice the weak Genjutsu, but like Naruto had said nothing, not wanting to draw attention to himself.
"You're pretty good, but just being able to detect isn't enough" spoke the boy with the bandages on his face, he quickly flipped forward to kick Sasuke, who saw it coming and prepared to block the kick with a kick of his own.
But just as the two were about to hit each other, Lee suddenly appeared between them and caught both their legs.
"He's fast" thought Naruto with some surprise, as he only noticed Lee right when he appeared between Sasuke at the other Genin, "He's a completely different person, that he was a moment ago…he must have been only letting those guys push him around so to keep his real skill level from everyone else so they would underestimate him."
"He stopped by kick" thought Sasuke with some surprise and annoyance at how easily Lee had caught his kick.
Soon after Lee let go of both Sasuke and the other boy, where when he did, his team-mates walked up to him.
"You broke our promise" spoke Neji, when he a Tenten came up to Lee. "You're the one who didn't want to gain people's attention, by doing something to stand out."
"I'm sorry" spoke Lee, where the then turned to look at Sakura and blush a little.
Upon seeing this Neji scoffed as he figured Lee had done what he did to impress Sakura.
After being scolded by Neji, Lee then walked up to Sakura, "My name is Rock Lee, Let's go out together! I'll protect you till the day I die!" spoke Lee, where he then did his nice guy pose.
Upon hearing this, Naruto had to bite down hard on his own lip to keep from laughing at the look on horror on Sakura's face, after hearing Lee. But even still he could not help but let a few snickers out.
"I guess it's true was Nee-san said…there is always someone out there for someone else" thought the young blonde with a slight chuckle.
Even the emotionless Sai found the situation funny, where a slight smile appeared on his face at the sight of Sakura and Lee.
Thankfully though Sakura let Lee down easily, stating that he was too unique for her tastes, which of course made the young green wearing youth fanatic depress, but it was still better than how Naruto thought Sakura would do it.
"Hey, you there" spoke Neji as he walked towards team seven and looked at Sasuke, "Identify yourself".
"You're supposed to introduce yourself first, before asking for someone's name" replied Sasuke coolly, as he stared back at the young male Hyuga.
Neji of course frowned at little at Sasuke's remark,
"You're a rookie aren't you? What age are you?"
"I'm not obligated to answers that" answered the young Uchiha.
Tenten of course giggled at this, as it wasn't every day that someone would act so definitely towards Neji.
"He's cute" thought the bun haired girl, as he looked at Sasuke.
Angered by Sasuke's blatant disrespect towards him, Neji quickly moved forward towards Sasuke, but before he could take more than a single step forward. He was blocked by Naruto who stepped forward between Sasuke and Neji, stopping what he knew could turn into a fight.
"Easy there wide eyes, no need to start something that gets us all in trouble"
"And who are you?" asked Neji as he stared at Naruto.
"He's team-mate, as well as the person who knows that none of us really have much time to play around, especially if we want to enter the exam room before the exam starts" said the blonde boy.
At hearing this Neji frowned a little with annoyance, but knew that Naruto was right. Knowing that they did not have much, Neji just huffed with annoyance, where he just stepped back.
"Come on guys let's go" spoke Naruto, where he lead Sasuke and the others to the stairs so to reach the third floor.
As they headed for the stairs, Sasuke looked to Naruto "You didn't need to interfere Naruto, I could've handled him."
"Well better safe than sorry teme, besides like I said we don't have much time to waste before the exam," replied Naruto, where the young Uchiha just nodded.
As Naruto and team seven made their way to the third floor, the two Genin boys, who had been fighting with Sasuke and Lee, watched the members of team seven head up to the next floor.
"Those older kids must be the students of Gai and the blonde and raven haired kids must be the Uchiha and Senju Clan heirs that everyone has been talking about" spoke the bandage wearing boy.
"Yeah, and I guess they all pass the application turn-in phase" replied the other boy.
"Oh yeah" replied the bandage wearing boy, where he and his partner, quickly turned into two more older forms of themselves and revealing that they were both actually Chunin examiners.
"Looks like we can enjoy ourselves with the candidates this year, Kotetsu" said one of the two Chunin's to his partner.
"That we can Izumo," replied Kotetsu, where he and his partner then disappeared in a puff of smoke.
As Sasuke and the others walked down the hallway, Neji notice the Uchiha Clan symbol on Sasuke's back and quickly realized who he was, "Uchiha…Uchiha Sasuke"
Neji was of course not the only one who notice the symbol on Sasuke's back, as Lee also noticed it as well.
"He interests you?" asked Tenten,
Neji of course did not respond to Tenten question and simply walked away.
"Come on Lee lets go" spoke Tenten, as she turned to her team-mate, as she planned to follow after Neji.
"You guys go ahead, I have something I want to check out…I'll catch up with you later" spoke the boy, as he turned to the direction that Naruto and team seven went.
"What's all that about?" asked Tenten as she turned to Neji.
"Tsk, how would I know" scoffed Neji, not really caring, where he just continued on, with Tenten following closely behind.
As Naruto and team seven headed to the exam room, they entered a large hallway, where Lee caught up to them and called out to them.
"Hey you with the sharp eyes"
Upon hearing Lee's call them, Naruto and the others turned around and saw that Lee was the one who had called Sasuke.
"What is it?" asked Sasuke
"Will you fight me here and now?" asked the green jumpsuit wearing boy.
Upon hearing this, Sasuke raised his eyebrow, unsure whether to accept Lee's request or not, although as he stared at Lee, he remembered how easily he had caught his kick earlier.
"Fine I accept" said Sasuke with a smirk, as he was eager to have another go at Lee.
"Don't Sasuke, remember we don't have time for stuff like this" said Naruto
"Don't worry Naruto, this won't take long" replied Sasuke confidently, where he then charged straight at Lee, who waited for Sasuke to come to him.
"I'm sorry Gai-sensei, but I fear I must break my promise and use "that" move" thought Lee, as he saw Sasuke charging at him.
As Sasuke neared Lee, he quickly brought his right fist forward and went to hit him, but just as he did, Lee disappeared right before his eyes, much to his shock.
The next thing Sasuke knew, Lee appeared in mid-air behind him and cried out "Konoha Senpū (Leaf Whirlwind)!" as he did a spinning mid-air kick.
Sasuke although quickly ducked under the kick, but as he did, Lee came around again with another spinning kick.
Knowing he couldn't avoid the second kick, Sasuke quickly brought up his right arm to block it, but somehow Lee was able to pass through Sasuke's guard and hit Sasuke dead on the side of the face, sending him flying.
Naturally Naruto, Sakura and even Sai were surprised by this, as they had seen Sasuke bring his guard up.
"Damn, whoever this guy is, he's good!" thought Naruto, as he couldn't tell how Lee did it.
"What the hell was that? Did he use some kind of Ninjutsu or Genjutsu to get by my guard?" thought Sasuke he slowly picked himself up.
"Impressive, even after I delivered a direct hit, he is still able to stand up, but I expected this none the less" thought Lee as he watched Sasuke pick himself up.
"Hmph! I guess this is a good a time as any to use to my "things"" stated Sasuke, where he then channelled Chakra to his eyes and activated his Sharingan.
"Sharingan!" thought Sakura when she saw Sasuke eyes.
"So Sasuke has finally learned how to activate his Sharingan at will?" thought Naruto when he saw Sasuke's eyes.
"Intriguing, Danzo-sama will be interested to know this", thought Sai, as he knew that his master would be interested to know that Sasuke had learned to activate his Sharingan at will now.
"So those are the famed Sharingan, I've heard about" thought Lee as he got ready, as he knew what to do next.
"Yes Sasuke-kun can win now, as with the Sharingan he can see through whatever technique that bushy eyebrow guy is using, just like Kakashi-sensei" thought Sakura, "You're amazing Sasuke-kun."
"Now I will know your secret!" thought Sasuke as he readied his eyes and charged at Lee again.
But just as he neared Lee, the bushy eyebrow boy disappeared right before his eyes again. After which he reappeared directly underneath Sasuke and cried out "Konoha Shōfū (Leaf Rising Wind)!", where he kicked his leg upward and set Sasuke flying up into the air, much to the horror of Sakura and surprise of Naruto and Sai.
"His moves…I couldn't detect them with my Sharingan" thought Sasuke, as he floated in mid-air before landing back on the ground. After which Lee then charged at Lee, where he engaged Sasuke in a fierce Taijutsu fight, where he was forced on the defensive, since Lee avoid every strike that Sasuke tried to hit him with.
After a minute or so of fighting Lee quickly ducked under another punch from Sasuke, where he then delivered a power elbow to the stomach, causing the young Uchih to stumble back a bit and hold his stomach in pain.
"As you can see, my moves are solely hand to hand" spoke Lee, where he once again disappeared and reappeared behind Sasuke, who spun around and tried to hit him, but missed again, as Lee jumped back to avoid the punch.
"I' am well aware of the abilities of your Sharingan, where it can see through, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu, but unlike the first two, Taijutsu is a little different. As unlike Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, there is no requirement for forming seals or kneading Chakra."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Sasuke, who had gotten over the shock of Lee knowing some much about his Sharingan.
"What I mean, is that although your Sharingan allows you to see my movements, your body does not have the speed to keep up with my moves, which is why you cannot beat me" spoke Lee confidently, which of course angered Sasuke.
Naruto on the other hand found this little bit of information, very interesting, as he was unaware of this limitation involving the Sharingan, this of course also made him wonder even more who Lee was.
Infuriated at how Lee was beating him with little to no trouble, Sasuke charged at Lee, swinging wildly in the hopes of hitting the older boy.
But each time Lee easily evaded Sasuke's attacks, "Your Sharingan and my superior hand to hand fighting skills are a bad combination", spoke Lee as he avoided more of Sasuke's punches. After which he moved forward to attack Sasuke, who tried to block, but was too slow and once again and was kicked into the air.
After which Lee then used his Kage Buyō (Shadow of the Dancing Leaf) to appear right behind Sasuke. "Now I shall prove to you with this move, that hard worker such as myself, can surpass natural geniuses like you" spoke Lee, where he then loosed his bandages around his arms.
"I win" stated Lee, where just as he was about to deliver the final blow, he notice an object at the corner of his eye, flying through the air a great speed, where it pierced the ends of Lee's bandages and pinned them to the wall, stopping Lee from doing his final move.
When the object pinned the bandages to the wall, those watching the fight saw that the object was a paper windmill. After which a person suddenly yelled out "Stop right there, Lee!" where when everyone turned they saw a large red Turtle with a Konoha headband around its neck.
Seeing the turtle, Lee quickly moved away from Sasuke and quickly reappeared on his knees in front of the turtle.
At the same time, Sakura quickly jumped forward and caught Sasuke, who had been falling to the ground, after Lee moved away from him. Sakura of course asked Sasuke if he was alright, but the Uchiha did not acknowledge her question and just continued to stare at Lee who was still kneeling in front of the large red turtle.
Looking at Sasuke, Naruto could tell that he was still in shock over what just had happened, something that Naruto couldn't fault him for. Since Lee had utterly overwhelmed Sasuke with his superior speed and combat skill. Even Naruto had to admit that Lee was an extremely dangerous person to fight, where he was unsure if he could beat Lee without going all out, given what he just seen.
Quickly turning back to Lee, Naruto saw the large red turtle scolding Lee over using the move that he was about to do. Saying how it was forbidden, this of course made Naruto all the more curious as to what the move was.
At the same time, that the turtle was scolding Lee, Sasuke was glaring daggers at the back of Lee's head, as he couldn't believe that he got beaten by a weird guy like Lee.
After scolding Lee the red turtle then said "Gai-sensei please take care of the rest", after which a large puff of smoke appeared on top of the turtles shell. Once the smoke dissipated an adult like version of Lee appeared on top of the turtle, doing a ridiculous looking pose, one that not even Naruto's Godfather Jiraiya would do.
"You guys are in the springtime of your life, aren't you?" cried the man named Gai when he appeared.
Naturally upon seeing Gai, all the members of team seven (including Sai) were completely freaked out by the man.
"This guy is an even bigger weirdo than that other guy" stated Sai, where for once Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke were in complete agreement with him.
"Hey don't make fun of Gai-sensei!" cried Lee angrily, as he turned around for look Naruto and the others.
"Kind of hard not to, with all these weirdoes around" replied Sai with his normal emotionless tone.
"What did you say…?" cried Lee out angrily, as Sai had a real knack for pissing people off.
"Lee, cut it out" said Gai, not really caring what Sai had said, where once Lee had turned around he slugged the you boy right in the face, calling him an idiot and sending him across the room, which freaked the members of squad seven even more at what Gai had done.
After punching Lee, Gai then went over to his student, where out of no-where a sunset background appeared out of no-where.
-Enter Naruto Sexy theme-
"Sensei…I…I" said Lee who was crying anime tears of sorrow.
"It's okay, Lee, don't say any more" spoke Gai as he knelt down next to Lee.
"Sensei!" cried Lee as he jumped into his Sensei arms.
"Lee!" cried Gai as he hugged his student, after which a giant wave appeared in the background.
Naturally upon seeing this sight the members of Team seven were horrified beyond words.
"Aaaggghhh! What the hell is this thing, it has to be some kinds of Genjusti" cried the horrified Naruto, as he tried to cancel the cursed thing, but found he could not.
I take back what I said, those two aren't weirdoes, they're full blown freaks" spoke an equally horrified Sai, who found this sight more horrible than his own training in ROOT.
"Someone stop it, please for the love of Kami, stop it!" cried Sakura.
"I can't believe I actually lost this this guy" thought Sasuke as he watched the horror show that he was witnessing right now.
"Yes this is Youth" spoke a crying Gai as he continued to hug Lee, which made Naruto begin to wonder if this was crossing student sensei relationship.
"Sensei!"
After a minute or so, Gai let go of Lee and stood up, "It's okay Lee, it's normal to make mistakes when you're young."
"You're too kind Sensei."
"Now, run one hundred laps at the training ground in the sunset!" said Gai a still crying Gai, as he pointed to the doors outside, where somehow the sunset background appeared again.
"Hai Sensei!" replied a still crying Lee.
"Let's go!" spoke Gai
"Yes sir"
-End Naruto Sexy theme-
"Wait! You can't go, the Chunin exams are about to start, if you leave now, you'll miss it!" cried Naruto.
"What? Oh yeah…" said Gai as he scratched his head out of embarrassment, as he had forgotten about the exam.
Turning back to Lee, Gai spoke to his student, "Lee, I going to punish you for fighting and for breaking a promise after the exams, Okay?"
"Hai!" replied Lee, where he saluted his Sensei.
"They're idiots" thought all four member of squad seven at the exact same time.
Soon after though Gai turned to the four Genins and finally took notice of them, "Hhhhmmmm, They must be Kakashi's…but the blonde boy, could he be?" thought Gai.
"Crap he's looking our way" thought Sakura with worry.
"You young boy" spoke Gai as he pointed at Naruto, "Are you by chance Senju Naruto?"
"Yeah that's me" replied Naruto, which of course got a surprise gasp from Lee, who had been unaware of whom Naruto was, as he had never bother to ask.
"Yosh! I am honour to meet the son of the Slug Princess Tsunade-sama" cried Gai as he walked towards Naruto and took his hand and shook it. "I've also heard a great deal of your exploits, especially your defeat of Kakashi and passing his test, along with your team-mates here."
"Eh trust me Gai-sensei, most of the stories about me defeating Kakashi are a bit exaggerated, as Kakashi-sensei didn't go all out on me and I had a few aces in the hole that he didn't know about, I only beat him because I got lucky", replied Naruto.
Upon hearing this Gai smiled, where his teeth gleamed brightly, making the members of team seven wonder if he bleached his teeth. "Yosh! I can see that you're indeed in the springtime of your youth, given how humble you're, for I' am well aware that Kakashi, would not have fought you seriously in his test. But even still to defeat him is no small feat."
"Eh excuse me Gai-sensei, but do you know Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura.
"I don't just know him…People call us eternal rivals."
Upon hearing this, all four Genin gave Gai as weird look, not believe that in the least, as it sounded completely fake.
"These guys are complete idiots" thought Sai.
Naturally seeing the sceptically looks on the four Genin's faces, Gai decided to prove himself, where within the blink of an eye, Gai disappeared and appeared directly behind them. But none of the Genin knew this until Gai spoke from behind them, making all four of them jump slightly.
"Currently now the record stands with fifty wins and forty-nine loses" spoke Gai when he reappeared behind team seven.
Naturally after hearing Gai's voice from behind and turning around to see, all four Genin's were shocked, as none of them had sensed him until he spoke up.
"But when did he….?" thought Sakura.
"What...? He's fast…" thought Sasuke.
"Shit this guy is fast" thought Naruto.
"As expected from the famed Maito Gai" thought Sai as he had heard of Gai from his master.
"Also let me tell you all that I'm stronger than Kakashi" stated Gai.
"Stronger than Kakashi?" thought Sasuke, who was unsure whether to believe Gai or not, "Well his speed is definitely better than Kakashi…damnit there's no way he can be bluffing, especially after what he just did?"
"Damn I need to gather some Intel on this Gai character, as I've never even heard of him, but he's clearly a powerful Shinobi and not someone to take lightly. Especially given what he just did and given how strong Lee is as well" thought Naruto, as he planned to do some Intel gather later on after the exam.
"Lee caused you all some trouble, but please forgive him, as he meant no real harm" said Gai as he looked at Naruto and the others, who just nodded. After which he then freed Lee's bandages from the paper windmill that he pierced it with, so to allow Lee to rebandaged his hands. As he did, Naruto notice the many bruises and cuts that were underneath Lee bandages, showing how hard Lee must have trained.
Once Lee was rebandaged, Gai then told them that both Lee and them should hurry to the exam or else they miss it. After which both Gai and the large red turtle puffed away in a puff of smoke.
"Sasuke-kun before we part ways let me say this, to be honest, the only reason I wanted to fight you, was to test my skills. You should also know that there is some else on my team, who is stronger than me and you've met him earlier."
"You're referring to that guy from earlier?" asked Sasuke, where Lee just nodded.
"I entered this Exam to defeat him, but you're also one of my targets, as are you Naruto-kun" spoke Lee, where he then looked Naruto when he mentioned his name, who just nodded, while Sasuke narrowed his eyes and greet his teeth in anger, as his defeat at Lee hands was still fresh on his mind.
"I suggest that you both prepare yourselves for the Exam!" finished Lee before he jumped away and ran to where his team-mates would be waiting for him.
"Well I guess that the Uchiha Clan isn't all that great after all" spoke Sai suddenly with his traditional fake smile.
"Sai!" cried Sakura angrily, where she was about to try and hit Sai for his remark but before she could Sasuke suddenly spoke up.
"Shut up… the next time I face him, I'll slaughter him"
"If you believe that, then I can assure you will he beat you into the ground, worse than he did a few minutes ago", spoke Naruto, which of course infuriated Sasuke even more.
"Naruto!" cried Sakura, as she couldn't believe how both Sai and Naruto were both putting Sasuke down.
"It's the truth, as I saw his hands, before he rebandaged them, they were covered in bruises and cuts from training, many of which were old ones by the look of them."
This revelation of course surprised both Sasuke and Sakura, as neither of them had paid attention to Lee's hands.
"Given that, this Lee guy has clearly been training more than you, and a lot more intensely, probably every single day to have all those injuries, it's that simple", stated Naruto.
At first, Sasuke did not take what Naruto had to say well, but soon realized that Naruto was right, after which he just smirked. "Well that's just fine, as this just makes things more interesting."
Naruto of course just smirked back, as he knew that his lose to Lee had made Sasuke all the more determined to do well in the Chunin Exam.
After a few minutes Naruto and the other final made it to where the room where the Chunin Exam was happening. But as the neared the doorway, they saw Kakashi along with Yamato and Kushina, waiting for them at the doorway.
"Ah so you all came, that's good, now you can all do the Exam" said Kakashi.
"What do you mean by that Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura, not understanding what Kakashi meant.
"Well you see the Chunin exam can only be taken in teams of three or more, where if you do not come together as a team then you can't enter. Given your past disagreements with one another, we were unsure if you could move past them and come together as a team, which we're pleased to see, since you came here together", spoke Yamato.
"So what would've happened if Naruto had come here without us, or if we had come here without him", asked Sakura.
"We would've stopped you here, and prohibited you from doing the exam" answered Kushina seriously, after which she then smiled, "But since that isn't the case, you can do the exam, so good look to all of you and kick some ass!"
At this Naruto and the others smiled and nodded, where they then went through the double doors of the room.
When they entered the room they found it to be full of other Genin from various Shinobi villages, who were staring at them as they enter the room.
Upon seeing so many different Genins that look strong, Sakura quickly became nervous and unsure of herself, fortunately though a distraction came in the form of a Blonde haired Girl.
"Naruto-kun, you're late!" cried the person, where a blonde blur quickly jumped up on top of Naruto on his right, making it hard for the blonde boy to keep his balance and keep standing.
When Sakura and the others looked they saw that the person was none other than Ino, who had her arms wrapped around Naruto and was hugging him tightly.
"I've been eagerly waiting for you Naruto-kun, ever since I heard about the Chunin exams. As I knew you be in it for certain, as I haven't seen you in ages", said Ino has she hugged Naruto tighter.
"But Ino, it's only been a fortnight since I last saw you" replied a slightly annoyed Naruto, since he didn't appreciate Ino jumping on top of him and nearly making him fall.
"But that's still a long time Naruto-kun" replied Ino affectingly, pressing herself closer to her crush.
"Ino get off Naruto, as he on our team and I won't stand for your sabotaging our team, you can cuddle up to him after the exam!" cried Sakura.
"Huh! As if I would do anything to Naruto-kun, you're just jealous that I'm closer to Naruto-kun than you am with Sasuke. No to mention, that Naruto-kun is way cuter than Sasuke is" said Ino as she let go of Naruto and got off him.
"No way, Sasuke-kun is a hundred times cuter than Naruto is" retorted Sakura, where the two girls got into an argument over who was cuter, much to the annoyance of said boys.
"Don't tell me that you guys are also going to take this troublesome exam, too?" asked an annoyed Shikamaru, as he and Choji walked up to Naruto and the others.
"Hey Shikamaru, hey Choji, you guys are all doing the exam as well?" greeted Naruto when he saw the two boys, who both greeted Naruto in response and acknowledged that they were indeed doing the exam.
"Huh so you guys are all doing the exam as well" spoke a new voice, where when everyone looked they saw Kiba, Shino and Hinata walking towards them.
Upon seeing Hinata, Naruto of course greeted the young Hyuga heiress with a friendly smile a wave, like he always would. This of course made you young girl blush bright red and stutter out a nervous hello, (while doing that thing she does with her fingers).
"Are you doing the exam as well?" asked Shikamaru in his usual board tone.
"Yeah, it seems that we're all going to do the exam together" replied Kiba, where he then finally took notice of Sai.
"And who are you, I don't know you?"
"This is Sai, he was the one who took Naruto's place on our team when he left it" said Sakura as she introduced Sai to everyone.
"Hello, nice to meet you all" replied Sai with a seemly friendly greeting and wave, which Naruto and the rest of team seven knew was fake, just like the fake smile he had on.
"Hmph, he's not bad looking and he's kinds of looks like Sasuke a bit, but still he's no-where as near as cute as "my" Naruto-kun is" thought Ino. As she then wrapped her arms around Naruto's right arm, which made said boy roll his eyes at her antics.
"Hmph, you don't look like much" scoffed Kiba, as he wasn't impressed with Sai.
"That's funny I thinking the same thing, especially with the flea bag on your head" spoke Sai, who still had his fake smile on.
"WHAT?" cried Kiba and he took a step forward and looked ready to attack, while Akamaru growled angrily at Sai at being called a flea bag.
Luckily though before things could get out of hand, Naruto intervened and stepped between Kiba and Sai.
"Whoa, easy there Kiba, I admit Sai is a real jerk, but just let it go, as this isn't really the best place to start a fight."
"Naruto-san is correct Kiba" spoke Shino suddenly as he placed his hand on Kiba's shoulder. "We cannot afford to start an incident here that would prevent from doing the exam."
At this Kiba relented, but still glared angrily at Sai, who just smiled and ignored Kiba's glares.
"It is good to see you again Naruto-san, I assume that you are ready for the exam" spoke Shino, as he turned to Naruto.
"Yep, I'm as ready as can be, are you?" replied Naruto.
"Of course we are!" stated Kiba, "As we've been training like hell, especially when you weren't working with us and we won't lose to you."
"Good, because I hate to have trained so hard recently, for a first round knockout", stated Naruto with a smirk.
"So would that mean that you've become even stronger now Naruto-kun?" spoke a new voice, that sounded familiar to Naruto and the members of team seven. When everyone turned around, they saw three Kiri Genins walking towards them, one of whom Naruto and team seven immediately recognized.
"Haku?" spoke Naruto in surprise when he saw the apprentice of Zabuza, who just nodded when she heard her name.
Haku of course hadn't really changed much since Naruto and the others last saw her, the only real change was her outfit, (although her hairstyle remained the same). Instead of wearing the same uniform that she had at Nami no Kuni (Wave Country). Haku now wore an outfit that showed her feminine figure, she wore simple sandals and kneepads along with a short skirt, which just stopped below her hips. She also wore a loose shoulderless top, with a fishnet shirt underneath it and had a long black scarf around her neck, which fell down to her lower back. On her arms she also wore a pair of armbands, elbow pads and fingerless gloves. (1)
"It is good to see you again Naruto-kun…all of you" spoke Haku with a smile.
"Holy crap she Hot!" thought Kiba as he eyed Haku up and down.
"Are you entering the Chunin exam as well Haku?" asked Sakura.
"Yes, both my team and I are participating in the Chunin exam" spoke Haku where she then introduced them to her two team-mates Chōjūrō and Saito.
Chōjūrō had short tufty blue hair, and dark eyes. He wore square, black-rimmed glasses connected to what appear to be headphones, a blue pin-striped shirt and camouflage pattern pants. Also, he wore his forehead protector on the front of his holster which he uses to carry Hiramekarei. The sword itself is wrapped in bandages leaving only the double hilt visible. He also has shuriken holsters strapped onto each of his legs.
Saito had short spiky black hair, and dark eyes. He wore a sleeveless dark blue coat and black long sleeved shirt underneath it and carried a medium length chokutō blade on his back. He wore a paring of black gloves on his hands and wore his forehead protector around his waist, along with a long sash with the symbol of Kiri. He also wore a simple black shinobi pants and a pair of simple shinobi sandals.
Saito of course greeted Naruto and team seven, with respect, but studied Sai, Sasuke and Naruto closely, as he had heard how skilled they were from his sensei Zabuza and his team-mate Haku. (2)
Chōjūrō also greeted Naruto and the members of team seven nervously, as like Saito he had heard much about Sai, Sasuke and Naruto from Haku and Zabuza. He was especially worried he would've to face them in the exam at some point, since he was unsure if he could stand up to any of them. Especially Naruto, as he had heard from both his Sensei and Haku that out of the four Genin, Naruto was the strongest among them. As he was able to use the superhuman strength of his mother Tsunade to a great degree, and could use the sword fighting style of his sensei, the famed Buraddi Shinku no Ikari (Bloody Crimson Fury).
"Naruto-kun who exactly are these people?" asked Ino as she held tightly onto Naruto's arm and narrowed her eyes when she saw Haku and heard her use the "kun" suffix and although Ino wouldn't admit it. She was also slightly threatened by Haku, especially given her beauty, which rivalled her own.
Even Hinata who was a few feet away became concerned, as she already doubted herself in trying to get closer to Naruto, since Ino was also after Naruto. The reason why Hinata doubted herself when compared to Ino was because she did not think she could compete with someone like Ino. Who was attractive, popular and confident, everything that she (Hinata) wasn't. But now with Haku, Hinata fears of losing her chance with Naruto only grew, as Haku was extremely beautiful and by the way she held herself, Hinata could tell that Haku was both a confident and strong Kunoichi.
"Oh yea, everyone this is Haku, we met during our first mission outside the village, where we fought each other", explained Naruto.
"So you guys were enemies" stated Choji, as he munched on some crisps he was eating.
"Yea, that is until Haku and her Sensei were betrayed by their employer who tried to have them killed along with us. Obviously he failed and after he was dealt with, we called a truce and came to an understanding and we became friends, and later on Haku and her Sensei returned to their village."
After hearing this many of the others had curious looks and looked to Sakura, and Sasuke to see if it was true, where the two just nodded confirming what Naruto had said.
Once the others knew the story behind Haku and team seven, Naruto decided to ask Haku something he had been wondering.
"So Haku-chan, if you're here, am I right in assuming that Zabuza is your team sensei?" asked Naruto. As he highly doubted that Zabuza would allow anyone other than himself to train Haku, and Haku would only recognise Zabuza has her sensei.
"Hai, Zabuza-sama is our team sensei", replied Haku, after which Naruto nodded and then introduce Haku to the rest of the rookie Genin and got to talking with her.
-With Yugito and her team-
As Naruto continued to talk with Haku and her team, Yugito and the rest of her team watched them from the other end of the room.
As they watched them Omoi spoke up, "Man Naruto certainly popular with the girls here."
"How so?" asked Karui
"Well look at how that Kiri girl is chatting him up, and that Hyuga girl staring at him, not to mention that hot blonde girl who literally jumped him when he came in"
"Hmph! As if he be interested in a floozy like that blonde" scoffed Yugiro with a slight frown on her face.
"Agreed" replied Samui, with her usually cold and emotionless tone.
At this Omoi smirked a little, "How would you two know what Naruto's type is?"
"We would not, but given Naruto personality it seems unlikely he would be interested in girls like her" responded Samui.
At this Omoi just smirked more "If I didn't know better, I would think that you two were jealous."
At this comment Yugito and Samui both snapped there her heads to turn to Omoi,
"Jealous!...Us!" spoke the Yugito in surprise, while Samui just stared emotionlessly at the dark skin boy.
"Well, it's just an observation, since before we found out the truth about Naruto, you Yugito often talked about him and how you liked to see him again and how you admire him."
"I only said that, as I wanted to fight him again and I admire his fighting skill, as he is the only person around our age that has ever really challenged me and the only person other than Bee-sensei to beat me" stated Yugito.
"Well I'm just saying that's how it looks…" replied Omoi.
"You know he has a point Kitten" spoke the Nibi inside Yugito's Mind, "The boy is strong, kind, loyal and has an essence of mystery about him, where I can still sense that familiar power from within him. Yet I still cannot place where I have felt it before, not to mention you've stated so yourself from time to time that he isn't bad looking."
"Shut it Nibi, it's nothing like that, I just admire Naruto as a shinobi and a worthy rival, nothing more" stated an annoyed Yugito in her mind.
"Hey I just saying kitten" replied the cat Biju.
"…Not to mention Naruto, is the only guy that was able to cop a feel of you Samui and not get beaten to near death for it. Hence it makes one wonder, why you let him go so easily", continued Omoi, where as soon as he was finish, he was met with an icy stare that made the young boy flinch.
"I suggest that you be careful what you say Omoi, as I warned you want would happen should you ever mention that incident again" spoke Samui in a cold and dangerous tone, which made you young boy shiver slightly. Especially when he remembered what Samui promise to do to him, should he ever tell anyone how Naruto groped her by accident when they first met.
Upon remembering the threat, Omoi decided to remain silent, after which the four of them waited patiently for the exam to start, while at the same time watching Naruto and his friends, since bother he and Sasuke where their assigned targets for the mission.
-With Neji, Lee and Tenten-
At the same time, as when the Kumo-nins were talking amongst themselves, Lee was finishing telling Neji and Tenten who Naruto really was, where upon learning the truth, both of them were naturally surprised.
"Ooohhh, I can't believe it, I had the perfect chance to talk to him and I let it slip right by" moaned a disappointed Tenten. Due to the missed the opportunity to talk to the son of her idol, especially after she planned so many different ways she would introduce herself to when she would meet him.
"I suggest you contain yourself Tenten, as regardless of his heritage, he is still only a person and just because he is related to famed and powerful Shinobi's. It does not necessarily mean that he will be as strong as them", replied Neji.
"But he is strong Neji-kun, as he even admitted that the story about him defeating Hatake Kakashi is true, although he did state that he got lucky and that Kakashi-san had not been serious when they fought", spoke Lee.
"Perhaps, but I still remain sceptical of the matter" replied Neji, although he did eye Naruto with a calculating look, as if trying to figure Naruto out.
"Well regardless, you've to admit, he is an interesting person" said Tenten.
"Indeed" replied the Hyuga prodigy.
-With Naruto and the others-
As Naruto and the others talked to Haku and her team, they suddenly heard, someone call out to them.
"Hey you guys!"
When the group turned they saw a tall silver haired young teen with glasses walk up to them.
"You guys should quieten down a bit and stop attracting attention to yourselves", spoke the silver haired youth.
"You lot are the Rookie ten that just graduated from the academy this year, correct?"
"Geez the way you're all yapping it up and chatting away without a care, you'd think you were on a field trip or something…and I can tell right here and now that if you think this exam is easy, your fooling yourselves", replied the boy.
"Who the hell do you think you're, to talk to us like that?" cried Ino, where she finally let go of Naruto's arm.
"I am Yakushi Kabuto, and just look around you…" spoke the boy named Kabuto.
When the Rookie Genin looked around they saw many of the other Genin in the room, staring at them with cold and serious looks.
"Everyone here is tense, since the exam is going to start soon", said Kabuto, where he then point to the left of the Rookie Genin and Kiri Genin. "Those Genin over there are all from Amegakure (Hidden Rain) and most of them have short tempers"
"The reason I warning you, is because I don't want any trouble to start before the exam" explained Kabuto. "Although I guess it can't be helped since you're all new here and don't know anything."
"So does that mean you have done this exam before?" Sakura asked when she turned to look at Kabuto.
"This is my seventh time doing the exam" replied the older boy, which of course surprised most of the group. "This exam takes place only twice a year and this is my fourth year doing the exam."
"So that would mean that you know a lot about what happens in this exam?" asked Sakura, where the boy just nodded.
"Yet, you haven't passed?" asked Haku, with a slight frown, as she found that there was something off about Kabuto.
"Eh yeah, that's true I'm afraid" replied the seemly embarrassed boy.
"Does that mean that the Chunin exams are that difficult?" asked Shikamaru.
"Pretty much" replied Kabuto, where the young Nara heir began to mutter how troublesome this all was.
"Well since you're all knew and all, and since I feel sorry for you I give you so tips, with these" spoke Kabuto, as he took out a deck of cards from his pouch.
"What are they?" asked Ino.
"They are my recognition card" answered Kabuto, where after seeing the confuse look on the Genin's faces, he went to explain further.
"In basic terms they're cards with information burnt into them using my Chakra. I've gathered information on this exam for the past four years. Meaning I've a lot of information on a lot of different people and places," stated Kabuto, where he then started to explain what the Chunin exam was all about.
Once Kabuto had finish explaining what the exam was about, Sasuke decided to ask a question.
"You say that you've information on a lot of different people, does that mean you've information on the combatants in this exam?"
"Yes I do, is there someone you're interested in?" asked the boy, with a ghost of a smirk, where Sasuke just nodded.
"Well the information I've on this year's examinees is not perfect, but I've burnt and saved them onto my cards, which includes all of you", stated Kabuto, where at hearing this, both Haku, her team and Naruto all frowned, as they did not like this.
"Now tell me what you can about these people you're interest in and I look them up for you" said Kabuto.
"Gaara of Sunagakure (Hidden Sand), Rock Lee of Konohagkure (Hidden Leaf), Nii Yugito of Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud) and Samui of Kumogakure" spoke Sasuke.
At hearing this Naruto looked at Sasuke with a bit of surprise, since he could understand why he was interested in Gaara, given their meeting, as well as Lee, since he had beaten Sasuke. But Naruto had not expected Sasuke to ask about Yugito and Samui, since he did not have any kind of confrontation with the girls.
Naruto's only guess as to why Sasuke was asking about them was because, they girls had left some sort of impression on Sasuke, after the Kumo Genin, "attacked" him (Naruto).
"Oh so you know their names, then this will be easy" replied Kabuto, where he took out four cards from his deck and then channelled Chakra into it. After which a small puff of smoke came from the card, where a profile and picture of Lee appeared on the card.
"Let's start with Rock Lee" said Kabuto, "Now he is one year older than you, he has done twenty D rank missions and eleven C rank mission. He's team sensei in Maito Gai, he has extremely high hand to hand combat skills, but all his other skills are terrible. He gained a lot of attention last year, as a highly skilled rookie Genin, but didn't take the Chunin exam. Like you this is his first time taking the exam, his team-mates are last year's top Kunoichi Tenten and last year's rookie of the year Hyuga Neji, who is rumoured to be a highly gifted prodigy like yourself"
At the mention of Neji's name a worried look appeared of Hinata's face, although no-one noticed it, due to everyone listening to what Kabuto was saying.
"Next Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Sand Waterfall), spoke Kabuto and he got another card and channelled Chakra into it. "Now he is the same age as you and has done eight C rank missions and…this is amazing he has done a B rank mission as a Genin…" said a surprise Kabuto.
Naturally after hearing this, the entire rookie Genin along with Haku and her team, became very concerned.
"…He is a foreign Shinobi, as you know and like all of you this is his first time doing the exam, hence I've no other information about him," continued Kabuto. "But there is one thing, he has returned from every single one of his mission, without as much as a scratch."
After hearing this everyone's concern about the red headed boy grew.
"He did a B rank mission as a Genin and came back from it unharmed?" spoke Shikamaru with surprise, as he had trouble believing what he'd heard.
"Crap, I knew this guy would be trouble, but not this much" thought Naruto with frown, where he was not alone, as many of the others like Haku and Sasuke also had frowns.
"Now the Kumo-nins", continued Kabuto as he channelled more Chakra into the card, where a profile and picture of Yugito appeared. "Nii Yugito, she is about two years older than you and like Gaara, Lee and the rest of you, this is her first time doing the exam. She gained quite a bit of attention for herself, two years ago, when she first became a Genin, where she graduated top of her class as rookie of the year and top Kunoichi. Her skill level is unknown but is believed to be very high. She is on one of only two four man teams, the other being you", explained Kabuto, where he looked at the members of team seven. "Her team-mates are Karui, Omoi and Samui and they have done seven D rank missions, twenty C rank missions and…oh my god" stated Kabuto with surprise again and gaining everyone's full attention.
"She and has done five B rank missions and two A rank missions."
At hearing this there were several more gasps of shock heard from the rookie Genin, as they were naturally all shocked.
"She could be trouble" thought Haku, as she looked at Yugito's picture on Kabuto's card
"Damn I knew Yugito-chan and the others had gotten stronger since we last met, but I didn't think she had become this strong, to be able to do two A rank missions?" thought Naruto with surprise.
Sasuke of course frowned even more, when he heard this, as it was quite possible that Yugito was even stronger than Gaara.
"This is getting ridiculous, what kind of Monsters are in this exam?" muttered Shikamaru.
After finishing, with Yugito, Kabuto then went channelled Chakra to his last card which had Samui's profile, which didn't tell much about her or her skill level. As like with Gaara and Yugito, the information was fairly limited, although it did state that Samui was highly skilled, where in her class she was second only to Yugito. The only other thing worth mentioning was that she did the same number missions as Yugito, which was of no surprise since they were on the same team. But it still proved that she was a highly skilled shinobi, since she did accomplish them with Yugito, along with the others.
Once Kabuto had finish telling about Samui, Kiba decided to speak up and ask Kabuto something, "What have you got on Senju Naruto?"
At the mention of Naruto's name the entire room went dead silent, where every eye was on the rookie ten and the three Kiri-nins.
"Damn you Kiba" thought Naruto as he curse Kiba for attracting so much attention on him, since he could feel all eyes were on him.
"Well let's see" said Kabuto as he took out another card and channelled Chakra into it, showing a profile and picture of Naruto on it. "Senju Naruto, son of the famed Konoha no Namekuji Tsunade-hime (Konoha's Slug Princess Tsunade), who is also a member of the Densetsu no Sannin (The Legendary Three Ninja's). Also is the direct descendant of the Shodaime Hokage and Nidaime Hokage and sole heir to the Senju Clan. He has done twenty-two D rank missions and two C rank missions; he is the apprentice of Uzumaki Kushina better well known as Buraddi Shinku no Ikari and another Jonin sensei, whose identity is classified. But even though he is not on an official team he has been allowed, to work on joint missions with teams, seven eight and ten. His skill level and ability are also classified by ordered of the Sandaime Hokage himself, hence are unknown. He is rumoured though to be highly skilled in Taijutsu, Kenjutsu and Medical Ninjutsu. He is also rumoured to…oh my...! t-t-to h-hav-have been trained by both his mother Tsunade and her former team-mate Jiraiya the Gama Sennin (Toad Sage)".
Upon Kabuto saying this, the entire room, was so quiet that a person could hear a pin drop, where all eyes were on Naruto.
Many of course were not surprised that Naruto was trained by Tsunade, as she was his mother after all. But the fact that he was also trained by Jiraiya the famed Gama Sennin, the strongest of the Densetsu no Sannin, was shocking to say the least. Since it meant that Naruto was trained by two members of the Densetsu no Sannin.
Sasuke, Sakura and Sai were of course not surprised by this revelation, as they already knew this, as did Yugito and her team, everyone else though was shocked at the news.
"Naruto-kun is this true…were you also trained by Jiraiya the Toad Sage", asked Haku, as like everyone else she was stunned by the news. Her team-mate Chōjūrō took the news especially bad, since he was seriously doubting his chances of beating someone who was trained by two members of the Densetsu no Sannin.
Sighing heavily with frustration, Naruto knew this would put a large target on his head, where he silently glared at Kabuto, (who Naruto could've swore he saw smirking for a split second), and Kiba, (who was wide eye in shock at the news). After which he replied to Haku's question with a simply nod confirming the news, "Hai, he is training me, since he is also my Godfather".
"Shit, we're in serious trouble" thought Kankuro, where he began to understand why Naruto was so strong.
"Not good!" thought Temari, where her worries only grew when she saw a sadistic grin appear on her younger brother's face.
"Yes mother, his blood will be excellent…he will prove worthy prey and prove my existence to the world" thought Gaara. Since he could barely contain his sadistic joy of having the chance to face and kill someone that has being trained by two members of the Densetsu no Sannin.
"It seems he may indeed prove worthy after all" thought Neji and he continued to look at Naruto with his cold calculating stare.
"Yes! This proves that "my" Naruto-kun is better than your Sasuke, Sakura!" cried Ino inside her mind.
-With the Ame-nins-
Not far away from the Rookie Genin, three Ame Genin, who separated themselves from the other Genin from Ame stared silently at the Rookie Genin or to be more precise, they were staring at Naruto.
"So that is Senju Naruto" spoke the leader of the group, who wore a hooded cloak, just like the other two members of the team, covering their appearance, where only their lower faces could be seen.
"Do you believe we should take him out?" asked one of Ame Genin.
"Not yet" replied the leader of the group.
"Why not? You heard what that Konoha Genin said, he has been trained by two members of the Sannin, surely that makes him a threat and Hanzo-sama's orders are t-" spoke the other Ame Genin, but was interrupted by the leader before he could finish.
"Do not speak to me on what his orders are!" rounded the group leader in a harsh whisper, so not to attract attention. "I am well aware of them, as it was I who was given the mission of eliminating Senju Naruto should he be a threat on our village."
"So why not eliminate him now, when we have the chance, since given what we've heard he is clearly a threat or at the very least could become one very soon" said the first Ame Genin.
"Because the exam has not started yet, where if we attack him now, his team-mates may come to his aid. Not to mention if we did indeed succeed in killing him now, Konoha will know that our village specifically targeted him, and could declare war on us for doing so", explained the team leader. "No, it is better to wait until the time is right, besides I want to know what his abilities are, so that we know what he's capable of and what we're up against when we do attack him."
At this the other two Ame's just nodded and continued to observe Naruto and the other Rookie Genin.
-With Naruto and the others-
After everyone had gotten over the shock that Naruto had been trained by both his mother and Jiraiya, Kabuto then went on to explain how the top Genin from Konoha, Kiri, Kumo, Suna, Ame, Kusa, Taki, Getsu and a small recently new Shinobi village Oto were here.
After hearing this, some of the others like Hinata, were beginning to doubt their chances in the exam.
Seeing that Hinata was losing confidence in herself, Naruto placed his hand on the young girl's shoulder, "Hey don't worry Hinata-chan, you do great in this exam, I know it."
Upon hearing this and how Naruto was touching her, the young Hyuga girl blushed brightly and thanked Naruto for his kind words and for believing in her.
But it was after Hinata thanked him, that Naruto noticed several blurs out of the corner of his eye, which were heading for them.
Discreetly taking out several senbon needles, Naruto readied himself on the chance that they were coming after him.
He was of course not the only one, as Haku had also seen the blurs coming and like Naruto she discreetly took out several senbon needles and prepared to defend herself
Although those beliefs quickly diminished, where one of the attackers, a young boy with spikey black hair, jumped up into the air and threw two Kunai at his real target…Kabuto, who quickly jumped backwards to avoid them.
After seeing that the attackers target was Kabuto, both Haku and Naruto quickly placed their senbon needles away.
Normally Naruto would've helped a fellow Konoha-nin, when he was being attacked by someone, but the fact was that Naruto did not like Kabuto, especially since he made him (Naruto) a target to everyone in the room. But even still that would normally not be enough for Naruto to not help him. The other reasons why Naruto didn't intervene was because he didn't want to draw any more attention on himself than there was already on him. There was also the fact that there was something off about Kabuto, he didn't know what it was, it was just a gut feeling, which told him not to trust Kabuto.
After Kabuto avoided the first attack, another of the attackers appeared right in front of Kabuto. This attacker was another young boy, who had gauze covering most of his face, except for his left eye, when the boy appeared those watching immediately realized that the ones that were attacking Kabuto were from Otogakure (Hidden Sound).
When the gauze wearing boy appeared in front of Kabuto, he swung his fist to hit Kabuto, who took a step back to avoid the punch.
But after Kabuto avoided the punch his glasses suddenly shattered into pieces.
"What's going on? You definitely avoided that punch, why did you glasses break?" spoke Sasuke as he stood forward, with an annoyed and confused expression on his face.
This question was of course shared by many of the others, who were watching the incident.
But just when everyone thought that was it, Kabuto fell to his knees and threw up, which received many more worried and confused looks from all the different Genin's.
"It seems that you're not as good as I thought you would be, given that you are a veteran of the Chunin exam" spoke the gauze wearing boy named Dosu, who stood in front of Kabuto with the rest of his team.
"Write this in your card…the three from Otogakure will definitely make Chunin" spoke the black spiky haired boy named Zaku.
As Zaku said this, many of the others in the room stared at Dosu and his team-mates, with some curiosity over how Dosu took Kabuto out, after he dodged Dosu's punch.
"Baka's", thought Naruto, as she simply stared at Dosu. "They're clearly amateurs trying to make names for themselves. They should've left well enough alone and let people underestimate them, since it gives them an extra advantage. But instead, like fools, they draw attention to themselves by attacking someone and then showed off one of their techniques in front of everyone, just because of a simple comment. Now people will be on the watch for them, especially that guy in the bandages and that trick he use to take Kabuto down."
It was after Naruto thought this, that a large puff of smoke appeared in the front of the room, where a male voice shouted out "Quiet it down! You punks!"
Once the smoke appeared an intimidating man wearing a long black trench coat appeared with a large group of Konoha examiners behind him.
"My name in Morine Ibiki and I'll be your first examiner in this test of the Chunin exam, so I suggest you all shut up and listen", spoke the man named Ibiki.
-The Jonin waiting lounge-
After seeing off their teams to the Chunin exam, Jonin-sensei's Sarutobi Asuma and Yūh iKurenai went off to have lunch together, after which they then went to the Jonin waiting lounge
When they entered the room, they saw several Jonin sensei's many of them they knew, others they did not, as they were from various different villages. After looking around, they saw Kakashi, Kushina and Yamato together, where the two of them decided to go to them.
As they got closer, they saw that Kakashi was reading his Icha, Icha book as normal, Yamato was also reading a book, but unlike Kakashi, his book was "The Legend of the Gutsy Ninja", which both Naruto and Kushina had recommend to Yamato to read. Kushina on the other hand was silently staring at something at the other end of the room.
"Hey guys, been a while" greeted Asuma, as he and Kurenai walked up the three and sat next to them.
"Yoh!" greeted Kakashi with a wave, as he looked up at them, before going back to read his book.
Yamato of course greeted them both respectfully, after which he went back to reading his book, Kushina replied with a simple "hey" before going back to staring at the other end of the room.
Deciding to see what Kushina was looking at, both of them turned to see who Kushina was staring at. When they turned, they saw that Kushina was staring at a tall dark skin muscular man, with a Kumo forehead protector, sunglasses and seven sword swords on his back. The person in question was seemingly writing on a notepad book and muttering out rhymes.
Upon seeing who Kushina was staring at, both Jonin-sensei's raised their eyebrows.
"Excuse me Kushina-san, but why are you staring at that man?" asked Kurenai curiously.
"Yea Kushina, don't tell me you're actually into that guy?" mocked Asuma.
At this remark, Kushina scoffed, "Please, I do have certain standards; beside I would never think of dating a Kumo-nin."
At this Asuma just nodded, while Kureani had a confuse look on his face, until Asuma explained how back when she was younger, Kushina was kidnaped by Kumo. Who kidnaped her so to use her unique Chakra abilities that allow her to subdue Biju.
After hearing this, Kurenai nodded in understanding, before she then turned back to Kushina. "But that still does not explain why you're staring solely at him, as there are several other Kumo Shinobi's here."
"The reason why I'm watching him is because he is no ordinary Jonin. His name is Killer Bee and he is the adopted younger brother of the Yondaime Raikage as well as the jinchūriki of the Hachibi no Kyogyū (Eight-tailed Giant Ox)."
"You're kidding?" Asuma asked in shock, while Kurenai gasped.
"I'm afraid it's true" spoke Yamato as he looked up from his book. "Not only that but, he is also considered by many as the perfect jinchūriki, as unlike most, he has complete and utter control over his Biju."
"Man who would've thought that Kumo would've let one of their jinchūriki come here with his Genin to take the Chunin exam. They're usually paranoid when it comes to one of their jinchūriki's, normally they've them stay nearby their village as much as possible" stated Asuma.
"I'm afraid it's much worse than that" spoke Kakashi, as he looked up from his book.
"What do you mean?" asked Kurenai.
"He means that there is a rumour we heard from our intelligence, they say that the jinchūriki of the Hachibi no Kyogyū is also training the jinchūriki of the Nibi no Bakeneko (Two-tailed Monster Cat). Meaning that one of Killer Bee's students is the jinchūriki of the Nibi no Bakeneko" said Kushina with unusual seriousness in her voice.
"Ah hell", mutter Asuma, "Does the Hokage know about this?"
"He does" replied Yamato.
"But why would Kumo risk sending both their jinchūriki's into the Chunin exam?" spoke Kurenai, as having more than one jinchūriki in the Chunin exam was just inviting a disaster to happen.
"My only guess is that it's about Naruto" replied Kushina.
"Do you mean that they know that Naruto has the Kyuubi or he has Mokuton ability?" asked Kurenai.
"Neither, since besides us, only the Sandaime, Jiraiya, Shizune, Tsuande and Naruto himself know about Naruto being the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Yōko (Nine-tailed Demon Fox). I also do not believe that they know about Naruto having Mokuton, as none of us have mentioned it to anyone. The Sandaime has also made certain that the council has kept quiet about it, so I don't think we've to worry about them", said Kushina.
"So then why are they sending one of their jinchūriki's into the Chunin exam?" asked Asuma.
"My best guess is that they sending the Nibi jinchūriki to take Naruto out, as they fear that he may one day become as strong as Tsunade-sama or the Shodaime Hokage or the Nidaime Hokage, if not stronger than them. Hence they want to take him out before that happens", explained Kushina.
"But they can't if they do that they could start a war!" said Kurenai.
"That would be unlikely, as remember Kurenai, killing is not forbidden in the exam, so they could easily kill Naruto in the Forest of Death without incident or during the finals. As if they did kill him, they could easily just say it was an accident, where there would be nothing we could" stated Kakashi. As he had to hand it to the Raikage, this was probably the perfect way to eliminate someone like Naruto, without starting a war between Kumo and Konoha.
"We have to do something!" stated Kurenai, as she had no wish of seeing Naruto being killed, as she had grown quite found of the young Senju boy and found him to be a kind and caring young man.
"There is nothing we can do Kurenai-san" said Yamato, who understood where Kurenai was coming from. "As we cannot remove Naruto from the exam when it has already begun, at least not without good reason, like having a serious injury or something, as if we took him out of the exam, it would be a great embarrassment to Konoha."
"Damn…things look pretty bad for the kid" said Asuma as he puffed smoke out from his cigarette, as like Kurenai and the others he was worried about Naruto, as he had started to like the young blonde as well. Especially since Naruto started teaching him his Surasshu-fū (Wind Slash)!
"Well I'm afraid it only gets worse" spoke Kushina, causing Asuma, Kakashi and Kurenai to look at her.
"How so Kushina-san?" asked Kurenai.
"Well it seems that Naruto knows Killer Bee and his Genin team or to be more precise, he is friends with them", explained Kushina. After which she then told Kakashi and the others about Naruto's meeting with Killer Bee and his team. She then further went on to explain her fears that the Kumo Genin, may use their "friendship" with Naruto to get close to him and get him to let his guard down and kill him.
At hearing this, the three Jonin-sensei's frowned, as they knew that what Kushina said was indeed possible and it would not beyond Kumo to try something like that. As they had done something very similar nine years ago, when they used the peace treaty between Kumo and Konoha to have their head Shinobi enter the village and try to kidnap Hyuga Hinata. It was even more possible, given the fact that Naruto was a trusting person. A fact that Naruto proved at Nami no Kuni, when he attacked Kakashi to save Zabuza's apprentice/partner Haku, who Naruto had befriended earlier on.
"Man and I thought the kids had it tough before" commented Asuma.
"What do you mean Asuma-san?" asked Yamato.
"Well I heard that this year the first examiner is Morine Ibiki."
At this Kakashi frowned, "That Sadist…? Well it seems things will indeed be difficult for the kids."
"Sadist, what do you mean? Who is Ibiki?" asked Kurenai as she had not heard of the man.
"I'm not surprised that you have not heard of him Kurenai, since you are a rookie Jonin after all" commented Asuma. "Ibiki is an expert in the Human psyche, where he can easily find you smallest weakness and get inside your head and break you and make up give up. He is also the head of the Torture and Interrogation division, making him good at what he does."
At hearing this Kurenai became worried for her student and frowned slightly at the news, "So what should we do?" she asked.
"The only thing we can do…" spoke Kushina, "…wait and believe that we've trained them well enough and that they can get through this test."
-With Naruto had the others-
After Ibiki and the other Chunin examiners arrived, they quickly took charged of the room, where they had everyone quickly take seats. When Naruto's name was called out, he found himself being seated next the Hinata, which of course he did not mind, although the young Hyuga girl did blush a bit at being seated next to Naruto.
After everyone was seated Ibiki began to explain the rules of the test to everyone, where much to everyone's surprise they found it to be a written exam. Ibiki also then went on to explain that cheating was strictly forbidden, where the other Chunin examiners would be watching them closely and if they were found cheating, three times, then they would be disqualified from the exam.
Once he had explained the rules, Ibiki then handed out the exam sheets and stated that they had one hour the do the paper, where upon hearing this, all the Genin immediately began writing.
When the exam started Naruto looked over the questions and found that there were very few questions that he could understand. As many of them the questions required advance mathematics to understand, while others could only be answered by senior Chunin and Jonin shinobi's.
Answering whatever questions he could, Naruto then looked around the room to see how everyone else was doing. It didn't take Naruto long to figure out that nearly everyone was cheating in the exam, as when he looked around he saw that Hinata was using her Byakugan to see through people and look at their answers. He also saw Haku, who was a few seats ahead of him; creating ice mirrors above herself and her team-mates and positioning them in angles that allowed them to see the answers of other people.
Seeing this, Naruto then realized that the only way he was going to pass this exam was to cheat and not get caught by the examiners.
After thinking for a few minutes, Naruto finally thought of a way for him to get the answers without getting caught, where he asked Ibiki to use the bathroom.
Ibiki of course nodded, but had one of the Chunin examiners accompany Naruto, so to make sure he didn't cheat. When he reached the bathroom, Naruto stated he needed to use one of the stalls. The Chunin of course checked the stall that Naruto was going to use, so to make sure that there were no communication devises or sheets with answers in the stall.
Once the Chunin had finish checking the stall, Naruto went into it and locked the stall door behind him, where he then pretended to go be in the toilet. After a few minutes, Naruto then silently created a wood clone of himself, where he then had the wood clone quickly merge with the wooden wall of the bathroom.
After the clone had merged with the wall, Naruto then pretended to finish up and leave the stall, where after washing his hands he and the examiner returned to the exam room.
For the next few minutes Naruto pretended to do the written exam, all the while silently waiting for his clone to return to him, which was merged with the ceiling of the room and looking down on the examinees and their answers.
Once the clone had gathered all the needed answers, the wood clone then fully merged with the ceiling. After which it then re-emerged from the floor underneath Naruto's desks and touched his leg, where Naruto reabsorbed the wood clone and received all the information it had gathered.
When he received all of the clone's information, Naruto immediately began to write down all the answers to the questions. As he did this, he silently thanked his Sensei Yamato for telling him about the unique abilities of the Moku Bunshin no Jutsu (Wood Clone Technique).
After finishing writing down that answer Naruto then patiently waited for the tenth and final question which was left blank, as Ibiki had explained that it would not be answered until the last few minutes of the exam.
As Naruto waited, he watched several other teams being caught by Ibiki and the Chunin examiners, where they were automatically failed and sent out of the room. By the time of the last five minutes of the exam, about a third of the room had been emptied.
When the time had come for the final question had come, Ibiki spoke, "Well now it seems that it time for the final question, although I've to say there are more of you than I thought there would be. But still there is one thing, that I did not mention earlier when I explained the rules of the test to you, that rule being that you can choose to take the tenth a final question or not."
Upon hearing this, the examinees were of course surprised and slightly confused at what Ibiki was saying.
"Choose, what the hell do you mean by that?" asked Temari.
"It's simple really if you choose not to take the exam your points from this exam will be reduced to zero, where both you and your team-mates will automatically fail the test", explained Ibiki.
"Then what's the point of giving us the choice, of course we're going to take the question" stated a Genin from Kusa.
"Well you see there is actually more to this rule", replied Ibiki, which made the examinees more nervous. "For if you do the tenth question and you get it wrong, you'll not only just fail the exam. But you'll also lose your privilege for taking the Chunin exam forever."
"What the hell kind of dumb as rule is that", cried Kiba as he stood up and pointed accusingly at Ibiki. "There should be those here who have taken the Chunin exam in the past!"
At this Ibiki just chuckled darkly, making many of the Genin nervous.
"You I' am afraid were unlucky, as this year I'm the one making the rules, which is why I am giving you all the option of quitting", replied Ibiki and then continued.
"Those of you who're not confident in answering the final question can quite now and take the exam next year and the year after that", stated Ibiki, before chuckling darkly again.
For the next few minutes, the room was filled with an intense, atmosphere, caused by what Ibiki had said, where the doubts of many of the Genin started to creep into them slowly.
Soon enough several Genin who could no longer take the pressure raised their hands and stated that they were giving up, where they were then joined by their team-mates.
One by one, more and more Genin teams left, where after a little while the number participants of the Chunin exam had been cut down in half.
Seeing that the number had now been cut in half, Ibiki decided to add just a bit more pressure to see if there were any more to be weeded out before giving out the tenth question.
"This is your final warning now! If any of you have any doubts in correctly answering the tenth question, I suggest you leave now. For if you don't leave and you fail to get the tenth question you will never enter this exam again!"
At this, the weight and pressure of the decision that they had to make began to weigh more and more on the remaining Chunin hopefuls, who were doubting themselves more and more as they watched other participants give up.
This pressure became especially hard on Hinata, who was already insecure and doubtful of herself to begin with, where after another few minutes; she could no longer take it and slowly raised her hand.
"I'm sorry, Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, Naruto-kun…I'm just not strong enough" thought the young Hyuga girl as she raised her hand up.
Seeing what Hinata was going to do, Naruto quickly grabbed hold of Hinata's hand…stopping it before it could fully go up, while at the same time lifting his up, but then suddenly smacked his hand down onto the desk and stood up.
"Screw you! I'm not gonna run away like some coward!" cried the young blonde. "I'm taking this question and even if I fail and remain a Genin, it won't stop me from achieving my dream in become Hokage one day. So just give us the stupid question, as none of us are afraid!"
"Are you certain about? As this question can affect your entire life, you still have the option to give up no?" asked Ibiki.
"I told you I've no intention of giving up and once I say something, I'll do it no matter what!" replied Naruto.
After hearing this, Ibiki looked around the room since after Narurto's little speech, the frighten and uncertain looks that were on many of the faces turned to looks of confidence and determination, the direct opposite of what they were a moment ago.
Even Hinata, who had been ready to give up a moment ago, drew confidence from what Naruto had said and gained the courage to take the final.
Upon seeing how the atmosphere had been completely changed by Naruto speech's the Konoha interrogator couldn't help but smirk. "So that's the Senju brat that everyone has been talking about recently…pretty interesting kid, he completely wiped out everyone's uncertainty."
"Eighty Genin, eh? More than I expect…but still, since you all seem ready to take the question, I've only one thing to say… you all pass!"
After hearing this, the Genin were of course surprised and confused at what Ibiki had said.
After getting over her surprise, Sakura imminently took up and spoke, "Wait, what do you mean by we passed? What about the tenth question?"
At this Ibiki smiled, "The choice to take the question was the tenth question, as there was no actually question to begin with."
"So what were all those other questions, were they all just a waste?" asked Temari, with annoyance, at how they had been all duped.
"No, they had a purpose as well, they were all to test you information gathering skills" explained Ibiki, where after seeing the slight confuse look on some of the Genin's faces. He went on to explain the objective and goals of the first test, and how they were all tested and how the test involved skills needed to be a successful Chunin.
During the explanation, Ibiki even removed his bandana to reveal all the scars on his head that he received from being tortured, showing what you've to go through, to keep the secret of your village from its enemies.
Once the explanations were finished a round object suddenly burst though one of the windows, after which a large banner with the words "Second examiner, Mitarashi Anko is here!" appeared in front of Ibiki along with a tall violet haired woman. Who wore a tan overcoat, complete with a fitted mesh body suit that stretched from her neck down to her thighs along with a dark orange mini-skirt.
Upon her arrival the woman named Anko cried out "I' am the second examiner Mitarashi Anko…Now let's go to the next exam!" after which Anko then pumped up her fist into the air and shouted out "Follow me!"
At this everyone in the room just stared at her, with looks of disbelief.
"You really need to learn to grasp the atmosphere, Anko" stated Ibiki as he stepped out from behind the banner, with a dull look on his face, where the violet haired woman blushed in embarrassment.
Naruto of course could not believe it when he saw Anko, as the way the woman had introduced herself, with crashing through the window with the banner behind her, would be just like something a certain Sannin he knew would do. Not to mention the way she was dressed, made Naruto wonder if she had modelled herself after one of Jiraya's female characters in his Icha Icha books, as it was definitely skimpy enough to be.
At this same time, Naruto also had a nagging thought at the back of his mind, as the name Mitarashi Anko had rang a bell with him, since he was certain he had heard the name somewhere before.
After getting over her embarrassment, Anko counted the number of remaining Genin, where she found that there were eight Genin left. "Ibiki you let twenty-six teams pass? Your test must have been too soft"
"Or that there were quite a number of excellent Genin this year" replied the scared head man.
"Huh! Well it doesn't matter…" replied Anko, "…as I'm going to make more than half of these teams fail the next test."
Upon hearing this many of the Genin became nervous; especially give the sinister looking smirk that appeared on her face.
It was when this look appeared on Anko's face that Naruto suddenly remembered where he had heard Anko's name before.
"Now I remember her! Ero-sennin, once told me about how that teme Orochimaru once had a female apprentice back before he was forced to flee Konoha, she Orochimaru's former student."
"Now then tomorrow, we'll be going somewhere for the second exam, so ask your Jonin-sensei for the rallying point and time", spoke Anko in a serious tone. After which she then dismissed the Genin.
After being dismissed by Anko, the remaining Genin, began to walk out of the room to talk to their Jonin-sensei.
As Naruto was about get up from his seat, Hinata suddenly speak.
"A-A-Ar-rigato Naruto-kun"
Upon hearing this Naruto just nodded and smiled, after which he left with Sasuke and the others and met up with their sensei's to find out about the next round of the Chunin exam and prepare for it.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein