After a few minutes on walking through Konoha, Naruto and Yugito arrived at Ichiraku Ramen Bar.
When they arrived at the Raman Bar, Teuchi's immediately greeted Naruto, who was one of his two best customers.
"Ah Naruto-san it's good to see you, you just missed Kushina, as she just left a few minutes ago."
"That's alright, I'll be seeing her later on anyhow" Naruto answered as he and Yugito sat down at the bar.
"Oh hello Naruto, who's your pretty friend here?" Ayame asked who had just come from the back of the stand and saw Yugito with Naruto. "You two wouldn't happen to be on a date now would you?"
"We're not!…we're just friends!" both blondes said quickly at the same time, where they both blushed slightly in embarrassment.
Naturally when Ayame saw this she giggled in amusement as she thought that the two of them were quite cute together.
Eventually though when the embarrassment of the two Genin died down, and they ordered their meals. Yugito ordered a bowel of Tonkotsu Ramen, while Naruto ordered twelve bowels of Shōyu Ramen.
When Yugito heard Naruto's ordered, she looked at him with a raised eyebrow, where in response the Blonde boy just shrugged his shoulders saying he was hungry and liked Ramen.
As they waited for their Ramen, Naruto turned to Yugito, "So Yugito-chan, while we're waiting, maybe you could tell me about Kumo?"
At this question, Yugito frowned slightly, "And what exactly do you want to know Naruto?"
"Hey don't look at me like that, I'm not asking for any secrets or anything" Naruto said as he raised his hands up in defence when he saw Yugito stare at him. "I'm just asking what it is like to live in and what the people are like."
Naturally Yugito remained sceptical, since regardless of the fact that she liked him as a friend, Naruto was still a Shinobi of Konoha, the biggest rival of her village.
Seeing that Yugito was still conflicted, Naruto decided to make her an offer. "Okay how about this, if you tell me a bit about Kumo, I'll tell you a bit about here and we both agree that we only ask about general stuff and if gets to uncomfortable we say that we can't answer."
Yugito contemplated Naruto's offer for a moment before deciding to accept Naruto's deal. For the next twenty minutes the two Blondes talked about different things in their respected villages, like what the people were like. What kind of restaurants and shops they each had, as well as the similarities and differences there were. They even talked why each of them weren't training today, where Yugito explained that like Naruto, she and the rest of her team had been given the day off by Killer Bee.
As they continued to talk, Yugito found that she was enjoying her conversation with Naruto, since Naruto had this sort of calming presence around him, which made her feel comfortable.
Eventually Teuchi and Ayame brought their orders over to them. When Yugito started eating her Ramen, she found that Ichiraku's Ramen was actually quite nice.
"Hmmm, this is very good, it's much better than Hakkaku's Ramen in Kumo" the blonde Kunoichi commented as she continued to eat her Ramen.
"Of course" Naruto replied who had just finished eating his first bowel of Ramen and was starting his second one that Ayame handed to him. "Ayame-chan and old man Teuchi's Ramen is the best anywhere."
Teuchi was quite pleased to hear this, as he always enjoyed hearing that people enjoyed his Ramen.
"That's very sweet of you to say Naruto-kun" Ayame said with a smile, where she gave the young Senju a small kiss on the cheek, which made Naruto go red.
When Yugito saw this, the female jinchūriki felt slightly irritated by what Ayame did, despite the fact that she didn't know why.
Sensing Yugito's irritation, Nibi decided to have a little fun with her host.
"So kitten, having fun on your date?" the Monster cat asked in a teasing tone.
"This isn't a date, we're just having lunch together, that's it" Yugito responded with a small blush at the thought of her and Naruto being on a date.
"The two of you by yourselves having lunch together, looks and sounds like a date to me" the Nibi replied in an amused tone.
"I told you, it's not a date" Yugito replied with annoyance, "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't think of Naruto that way."
"Really, well if that's true, then why were you so annoyed when that girl kissed him?"
Naturally Yugito didn't have an answer to this question right away and by the time she came up with one, the Nibi continued.
"If you ask me kitten, you better make a move on him soon, you already have quite a bit of competition, not counting this one."
Annoyed by how things were going, Yugito decided to ignore her Biju's comments and focused on eating her meal.
After a little while, the two Genin finished their meals, where Naruto attempted to try and pay for both their meals. But Yugito refused on principle, stating that she would pay for her own food.
After leaving the Ramen stand, the two walk through the streets of Konoha and continued to talk, where eventually Naruto decided to ask Yugito a question that had been on his mind for a while.
"If it's alright with you Yugito-chan, I would like to ask you something."
"And what exactly do you want to know?"
"I want to know your orders regarding me?" Naruto asked with a serious tone.
"What are you talking about Naruto?" Yugito asked, since she was naturally surprised by Naruto's question.
"Look Yugito I know like a lot of people here in this exam, you have orders regarding Sasuke and me. Both of us are the last heirs to the founders of Konoha and both of us have gained a lot of attention lately, especially me, given my sudden appearance. It's no coincident that you and the others enter the Chunin exam at the same time as me. My Sensei Kushina and my family believe you're out to kill me, like Mai was. But I've defend you, since I don't believe you would do that. So I want you to tell me what your orders are. It's not going to change anything in the exam and it won't change how I regard you and the others, since I know you are only doing it because you were ordered to and because you are loyal to your village. I just want you to be honest with me, since regardless of our villages' rivalry, I still consider you and the others my friends."
After hearing this Yugito remained silent for a moment and thought about what Naruto said. At first she thought about denying it and saying that she had no orders regarding him, but figured that it would be pointless, as Naruto would know that she was lying.
"Huuuu" Yugito sighed, before she decided to come clean with Naruto, knowing that there would be no point in lying to him as it would change nothing. "You're right, the others and I do have orders regarding you and Uchiha Sasuke. But it's not what your sensei or your family think our orders are simply to defeat both of you."
"What do you mean, exactly?" Naruto asked.
"Originally Samui, the others and I were supposed to enter the Chunin exam last year, but the Raikage denied our sensei's request. The reason was because he knew that this year, Uchiha Sasuke would most likely be entering the Chunin exam and the Raikage hoped he could use the Chunin exam as a way to humiliate Konoha. By having one of us defeat Uchiha Sasuke in the exam finals in front of everyone and winning the Chunin exam. Thus showing that our village has the strongest Shinobi and improving our village's standing. But when you revealed yourself in your village, you became our primary target, given your heritage, with Uchiha Sasuke being secondary."
When Naruto heard this he couldn't help but snort a little, since he knew that if Sasuke heard that he had become secondary to Naruto, he would've been greatly annoyed by it.
"So you don't have any orders to kill me or anything?" asked Naruto.
"I've received no such orders and that is the truth. But regardless of my orders, I intend to defeat you in the finals" Yugito answered as she looked at Naruto with determination and confidence.
"I'm glad to hear that" Naruto said with a smirk as he stared back at his fellow blonde. "But you should know that I have no intention of losing either."
"Heh, I would expect nothing less and have it no other way" Yugito replied with a smile.
"Also let's promise that we'll face each other in the finals and when we do, we give it our all and we hold nothing back from one another", after which the young girl offered her hand.
"Sounds good to me" Naruto replied with a grin as he took Yugito's hand and shook it. "We'll make it the fight of the decade."
"I look forward to it" the female blonde responded before she bid goodbye to Naruto and headed back to her hotel to meet up with her team.
As soon as Yugito had left, a familiar voice suddenly spoke from behind Naruto.
"My, my, my Naruto, you've become quite the Casanova these past few months, not to mention, you've become a lot sneaker."
When Naruto heard this, he quickly turned around and was surprised to see Shizune holding a bag full of groceries and having a devious looking smirk.
"Nee-chan, why are you here and what do you mean by that?" Naruto asked.
"Oh, come on Naru-chan, don't try and deny it, I've been watching you two ever since I saw you at the Ramen stand" Shizune replied with a knowing look, "I would've said hello. But I didn't want spoil your little date."
"D-D-Da-Date" said a now blushing Naruto, "It wasn't a date, we were just hanging out and talking, that's all!"
"There's no need to be embarrassed Naruto" a giggling Shizune said. "The two of you are quite cute together. And I have to admit, you're more capable when it comes to girls than I thought. I never would have guessed that you had arranged for a secret date with your new "girlfriend" on your day off."
"She's not my girlfriend!" said a blushing Naruto who had now turned a shade a red that rivalled a certain Hyuga heiress, "We're just friends and we were just hanging out!"
"Really, well you spent most of the day with an attractive young girl and had lunch with her. So I believe that technically makes it a date, but we can always ask Tsunade-sensei and Jiraiya-sama, I'm sure they could tell us."
"Noooo you can't!" a now panicking Naruto cried, "You know what Kaa-chan will do, once she hears about that. Not to mention Ero-sennin will hound me for months over it."
"Well you should've thought about that before you went on your secret date with that Kumo girl" a smirking Shizune replied before racing off to find her sensei.
"AAAhhhh, No wait Nee-chan!" yelled a fearful Naruto before he raced after his elder sister figure in the hope of stopping her and saving himself from nightmarish training that was sure to follow if his mother heard of his "date."
-Two Weeks Later-
On the day before the start of the Chunin finals Naruto was current lying in the local hots spring, trying the rest his aching body. The reason his body was so sore was because of the intensive training he had gone through for the past two weeks, which Naruto called the fortnight of hell. Mainly because of the torment he received from his family and his sensei Kushina, where Jiraiya, Shizune and Kushina teased him relentlessly over his date with Yugito, regardless of how many times he denied that it was a date and that they only met by chance.
But as bad as the teasing was, it was nothing compared to what his mother did. Who was far from pleased after learning that her "baby" boy had spent most of the day with a girl alone without her knowing about it or her supervision.
After learning about the "date", Tsunade had kept an even closer eye on her son and tripled the training regimen once they arrived back at their camp. By the end of it, Naruto was certain that it was nothing short of a miracle that he was still alive. Although funny thing was, the pain that his body was in now was the least of his concern, since he couldn't stop thinking about what happened last week when he was training.
-Enter Flashback-
After dodging another sword slash from his sensei Kushina, Naruto jumped back to gain some distance from his female sensei.
"Too slow Naruto, you need to be faster, your blonde girlfriend is no slouch and that Suna Genin's sand is just as fast" Kushina said with unusual seriousness as she stared at her student, who was panting slightly.
Not far from them, Tsunade, Jiraiya and the others watched as Kushina continued with her Kenjutsu training with Naruto. But just when Naruto was about to re-engage the former red headed ANBU captain, she turned towards the tree line.
At the same time, Naruto notice that his mother and the others were all looking in the same direction, as if they were sensing something.
Before Naruto could even ask any of them, his mother suddenly spoke, "We know your there, you've shown impressive skill to have found us and sneak this close without us sensing you. But your location is obvious with that murderous intent of yours, so I suggestion you come out and show yourself before we make you."
Knowing that he had been found out, the spy decided to come out from behind the tree he was standing behind.
When he stepped out, Naruto was surprised to see that the spy was Gaara.
"I knew that killing intent felt familiar" Jiraiya thought when he saw the red-headed Suna Genin, who slowly walked towards Naruto.
"What do you want?" Kushina asked, as she stared at the Suna jinchūriki with a guarded look. "If you are here to start some trouble, then you've come to the wrong place."
"I did not come here to fight, I came here to ask him something" Gaara replied as he gave Naruto an intense look.
"What do you want to know?" Naruto asked.
"What is your goal?"
"What?"
"Why do you seek power?"
For a moment Naruto said nothing and just stared back at Gaara, unsure why he had asked him this. But eventually he spoke, "I want to become strong because I want to protect the people I care about."
After hearing Naruto's answer Gaara just looked at Naruto with the same intense look, as if he was trying to figure Naruto out.
"You have your answer, so if there's nothing else I would like you to leave, since you're interrupting my training" Naruto said, since the Suna Genin was starting to creep him out.
At first Gaara did not respond to this and continued to stare at the Naruto for a minute or two. But eventually he finally spoke, "You perplex me, you are clearly strong and have the eyes of someone who seeks power, yet you have no hate or murderous intent in them. Not like Uchiha Sasuke or I…it irritates me to no end. I would much prefer to see that look you had when you tried to attack Hyuga Neji. In that moment I saw hate and anger in your eyes, it is the look I wish to see in your eyes again, it suits you, for it is only when you feel truth hate and anger that you truly become strong,"
"Well I guess that is where we differ, I believe the reason I am strong is because I have good teachers and because I have people I want to protect" Naruto replied.
"What do you mean by that?" Gaara asked not fully understanding what Naruto was saying.
"A friend once told me that when a person has something important they want to protect, that is when they can become truly strong and it is what I believe in as well."
When Gaara heard this he frowned slightly "I find your reasoning not only foolish, but also naïve, as I would never risk myself to protect others."
"If that's true then I pity you, since if you have no one to care for and have no-one you want to protect, then you're all alone with nothing."
When Naruto said the the Suna Genin frowned, as if angered by want Naruto said and after a moment of staring at the blonde Senju, he decided to take his leave. But as he started to walk away, he suddenly stopped.
"Make sure that you survive up until the final round, for you are now my prey" the red-headed boy said without even looking back at Naruto. After which he disappeared in a whirl of sand.
-End Flashback-
After his conversation with Gaara, Naruto could not shake off the look he saw in Gaara's eyes, which had been filled with nothing but anger and hate.
Remembering the look, Naruto also remembered what he had read about Jinchūriki's and how they were naturally hated, despised and feared by people from their own village and were made outcasts due to people's fears of their Demons.
This of course made Naruto wonder what kind of life Gaara must have had when he was growing up where he could not help but pity the Suna Genin. He even felt somewhat responsible, since it was his ancestor the Shodai that gave Gaara's village the Ichibi no Shukaku (the One-Tailed Shukaku), which resulted in Gaara later becoming a Jinchūriki.
The more Naruto thought about Gaara and his life as a Jinchūriki, the more he began to wonder what life would've been like for him, if he had grown up in Konoha with people knowing that he held the Kyuubi within him.
Eventually Naruto decided to leave the matter of Gaara for later and rest while he could.
After leaving the hot spring and changing back into his regular clothes, Naruto decided to see how his mother was doing, who had gone to Konoha Hospital to see how well Lee was recovering.
As he made his way across the street, he suddenly heard a familiar male voice coming from an isolated street to his right.
When he turned he saw Furyoku Gouzen with his two friends/goons bothering a girl with short dark hair. (6)
"Hey come on, I can take you to any place you could want to go and show you places you've never heard of" Gouzen said as he placed his arm around the girl.
"Don't touch me!" the girl yelled angrily as she glared at the boy and pushed his arm off her shoulder.
"Ah come on, don't say that, we can have some fun if you just let me" Gouzen said as he tried to take hold of the girl's hand, only for her to slap it away angrily.
"If you know what's good for you'll push-off and leave me alone" the girl said as she glared at Gouzen. Since she was losing patience with him and was about to lay a beat down on the arrogant prick.
Before Gouzen could respond to this, Naruto quickly walked over to the group and spoke.
"It seems that you didn't learn your lesson the last time Gouzen-teme, maybe I should do the gene pool a favour and fulfil my promise."
When Gouzen and his "friends" heard Naruto's voice they quickly turned to his direction and upon seeing the Senju heir, they all took a step back in fear. Remembering the last time they had a run in with Naruto.
Gouzen of course was especially fearful of Naruto, since he remembered what Naruto promised to do to him. Not to mention he was afraid of what his father would do to him, since Gouzen's father had been furious after learning that he had gotten into a fight with Naruto, ruining any chance of good relationships with the Senju family.
"Senju what are you doing here?" Gouzen asked nervously.
When the girl heard Gouzen call Naruto Senju, a look of surprise appeared on her face.
"Oh nothing much, I was just passing by, but then I saw you and your friends brothering this girl, I decided to come over here" the Senju heir replied with a smile that was all too sweet.
Gulping at this, Gouzen and his "friends" slowly started to walk away, "W-W-We weren't, she was j-just lost and we were just helping here to find her way, that all."
"Well clearly she doesn't need your help" Naruto replied, "So why don't you three get lost instead."
Needing no further orders, Gouzen and his goons quickly turned and fled as fast as their legs could take them, not knowing that Naruto had saved their hides.
"Are you alright miss?" Naruto asked as she turned to the girl.
"Yea I'm fine, but I didn't need your help, I could've handle those losers by myself" the girl replied with a small frown, as she wasn't a big fan of guys who thought they needed to save a girl. Since it made it seem as if all girls were weak and helpless and always needed to be saved or protected.
"Oh I have no doubt that you could have handled yourself, I just intervened to save those idiots from both you and themselves, as well as to remind them that I'm watching them. So is what Gouzen said true, are you lost?"
"Sort of" the girl replied, "I came here with a friend and he went on a head to our hotel while I went get some groceries. But I kind of lost my way when I was walking around."
"Well if you like I can help you find the place, I know my way pretty well around this place."
"Thanks"
"So what's your hotel called?" Naruto asked
"The Green Leaf"
"Ah I think I know where that is, it's not too far from here" Naruto answered as he led way.
After walking together for a few minutes, the girl decided to engage in a conversation with Naruto.
"So I'm guessing from your headband that you're a Shinobi here."
"Yeah I am, so why are you and your friend here?"
"We're here to watch the Chunin exam, since we heard that this year's exam is supposed to be pretty exciting."
"Really?" Naruto asked as he raised his eyebrow, feigning ignorance.
"So have you lived here long?" the girl asked.
"Not that long a couple of months, for the most of my life, I've been traveling with my family. We only recently came to live here" answered Naruto.
"That must be nice; you must have seen many different places and met a lot of different people."
"Yeah I've seen a lot on my travels."
"What sort of places did you visit on your travels?" the girl asked, but never got an answer.
"Well we're here" Naruto said when they arrived in front of the Green Leaf Hotel.
"So we have, thanks for helping me out"
"Not a problem, glad I could help…eh"
"Yurasu, my name is Yurasu"
"Well Yurasa, my name is Naruto and it was nice meeting you" the Senju heir replied as he shook hands with Yurasu and walked away.
But when he walked away, a frown suddenly appeared on his face. "Whoever she is she is not a regular person and has been trained in fighting" Naruto thought as when he found her with Gouzen and his goons. Naruto notice that she was subtly moving into a fighting stance, which was why he intervened, in the hope of figuring out who she was.
Another reason he found her suspicious was her reason for getting lost, since when people usually visit a place, they go to their hotel first not get groceries. He also found it odd that he didn't find her with any groceries, which made him believe she was a spy from another Shinobi village.
He also figured given how interested she was in learning where he had been before he came to Konoha, that she had come here to learn more about him and what he could do.
"I going to have to tell Jiji about her, as there might be more to her mission that just learning about me" the spikey haired blonde thought.
After Naruto had left, the girl named Yurasu went into the hotel and went up some stairs and down a small hallway before stopping at a door, where she then knocked on it before entering the room.
When she entered the room, the girl found her partner sitting on his bed waiting for her to arrive. Her partner was a large hefty teen with dark eyes and hair, he had big cheeks and a plump nose and wore brown shirt with red pants.
"I'm glad your back, I was starting to get worried" the young man said. "Did you learn much while you were out?"
"Not much I'm afraid, as I ran into a little trouble with some guys trying to hit on me. But I did happen to have some luck, where I ran into our target."
"Senju Naruto?" the teen asked, where the girl nodded.
"Were you able to learn anything from him?"
"Afraid not, as we didn't talk for very long, although I did learn that his mother is here as well. Since when we were talking, he said "we" when he mentioned living here, meaning that his mother is also living here now with him."
"Not surprising, but I guess its something, so what should we do now?" asked the pulp teen. "Should he continue walking around and gathering more Intel?"
"No, I think we should lay low for now, as we don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves as the finals start tomorrow. We'll see what he can do then, along with that Uchiha kid."
"Sounds good, if it alright with you I'm going to down and have some lunch, do you want to join me?" the young man asked.
"Nah I'm fine, I going to have a shower and rest up."
"Ok, I'll see you later then Kurotsuchi"
"Yeah seeya Akatsuchi, and watch yourself" the Tsuchikage's Granddaughter replied, where she and Akatsuchi left the room and went their separate ways.
-Hokage's Mansion-
Currently sitting at his desk, the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, Sarutobi Hiruzen was in deep thought.
He had just finished speaking with his surrogate Grandson Naruto, who had just left after telling him that he discovered two possibly spies in the village.
When the Sandaime asked what made Naruto believe that there were spies in the village, he told him about the girl named Yurasa, who he had met and why he was suspicious of her.
Now under most circumstances the Sandaime might have told his surrogate Grandson that he was being paranoid. But the Sandaime knew from past experience that a little paranoia could often save a Shinobi's life. Plus there was also the fact that the Chunin exam was tomorrow and hundreds of people from all around were coming to watch it. Security would be hard pressed to watch everyone that came into the village and it wouldn't too difficult for one or two spies to sneak in to the village.
After a moment or two of deep thought, the Sandaime decided to have one of his ANBU watch the girl Naruto met and her friend, just to be on the safe side.
Once the Sandaime had thanked Naruto for alerting him to the girl and her friend, he wished him luck in his match tomorrow, after which the blonde left.
When Nauro left, the Sandaime looked back down at the amount of paperwork that was on his desk, which had doubled in the past month, after the Preliminaries matches had ended. However thankfully he had Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique) to help him out, where he created two clones and divided the work between them.
Most of the paperwork was of course from different Daimyos and Feudal Lords who sent their letters to notify him of their future visit to attend the finals. Among them as well was a letter from the Fire Daimyo, stating that he and his family would be arriving in Konoha tomorrow. Now in most cases this would be a good thing for Konoha, since it would mean a lot of business, but the thing that concerned him were two letters that came last week.
Hiruzen picked up the letters and narrowed his eyes as he reread them.
The reason these letters concerned him so much was because they were from the Yondaime Raikage A and the new Godaime Mizukage Terumī Mei. Although Hiruzen knew he shouldn't be surprised, since several Gennin from their respected villages had managed to advance to the finals. Therefore they were permitted to attend the finals and observe them as they competed. But regardless of their right, he was still surprised by everything that was happening. Four out of the five Kages from the five greatest Shinobi Villages would be together in one place, something that has never happened since the armistice treaty that ended the First Great Shinobi World War. Although Konoha and Kiri have a neutral relationship, there was some tension between them and Kumo from the Hyuuga incident that occurred several years ago.
And if that wasn't enough he also had to worry about the four jinchuriki that were now in the village. Killer Bee who just so happened to be the adopted brother of the Yondaime Raikage, Yugito who was Bee's student, Gaara who was the Yondaime Kazekage's son.
This meant that not only four of the five Kages will be together in the same place, but also four of the nine jinchuriki when you add Naruto, whose status as the Kyuubi's jinchuriki remained unknown.
It was like a gathering power and it worried greatly him, since normally when such powers gathered together in one place, disaster was never far behind and if that happened, Konoha would be ground zero for it.
Eventually though, the Sandaime's train of thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on his door. Quickly placing the Kage letters with his completed papers and dispelling his clones, he answered "Enter!"
When the door opened, to his surprise Iruka entered.
Smiling kindly at the young man the old Hokage spoke, "Iruka I wasn't expecting you, you usually make an appointment before you see me."
Iruka bowed before he gave a sheepish grin as he scratched his head in slight embarrassment "Yeah this visit is sudden for me too" he walked forward until he was in front of the desk.
"So what can I do for you Iruka?" Hiruzen asked, as he saw Iruka take a slightly more serious but with a happy outlook.
"Well today in class I saw Konohamaru talking to everyone about how Naruto managed to make it into the Chunin exams finals and how Naruto was going to emerge victorious, where he then told me his idea".
"What kind of idea?" the curious Hokage asked
"Well he asked if it was possible if the entire class could go on a field trip to see the Chunin finals tomorrow."
When Hiruzen heard this he raised an eyebrow as he wasn't expecting to hear this; before he answered he first wanted to check something. "And what's your take on this idea of his?" The reason he asked is because he first wanted to hear Iruka's opinion on this before he gave his thoughts.
Iruka had a thoughtful expression for a moment before he answered with an amused smirk "Well if I had to guess I'd say Konohamaru recommended this idea because he wants to skip one day of school and wanted to see Naruto and the others fight in the finals".
The Sandaime let out a sigh, as that definitely sounded like his grandson, he had been constantly saying how Naruto was so cool and how he had to train hard to beat him for the position of Hokage. Before he could reply however Iruka spoke again.
"Although I know this idea of his is just a one day escape plan to get out of class, I think it might actually be a good idea for the academy students".
Now Hiruzen looked a bit confused. "How exactly would skipping a day of class be good for them exactly?" he questioned to see what Iruka had thought of.
"Well it occurred to me that after reading the report from how the preliminary matches went I feel that our students and future Genin could use a sight of the real world" Iruka spoke with certainty.
"And just what exactly do you mean by a sight of the real world" the Saindaime wasn't getting were Iruka was going with this.
"Well you were there during the preliminaries so you should know about how some of our Genin performed poorly in the exams".
Now the Saindaime was beginning to see where he was going. "Yes I did".
"Well in regards to Sakura, Ino and Tenten's matches. I feel the academy could use an adjustment to help them improve themselves for when they graduate to become Genin".
The Sandaime thought about what Iruka said as he had to admit he might be onto something. He saw all the matches in the preliminaries and noticed that Konoha's Kunoichi seemed to be lacking skills. Since none of them were able to advance to the finals, while the most of the foreign Kunoichi advanced and seemed to have exceptional skills.
Although Hattori Mai lost her fight against Naruto, she had proven to be an incredibly strong Kunoichi. Although considering her Grandfather was Sanshōuo no Hanzō (Hanzō the Salamander), it was clear that she had recievd special training that helped her become as strong as she is now.
The Kumo Kunoichi Karui seemed to be hot headed like Inuzuka Kiba only with a bigger temper. But was clearly skilled in hand to hand combat considering how bruised her opponent Haruna Sakura was, and he was certain she was skilled in other ways as well.
The other Kumo Kunoichi Samui only showed some skill taijutsu but she had defeated the Yamanaka Clan heiress Yamanaka Ino with little trouble and without hurting her seriously.
But the thing that stood out about her to Sarutobi was how cool and expressionless she was. She didn't show any emotions and remained completely calm and took out her opponent with minimum effort or show of skill. It reminded him a lot of a certain young Uchiha Prodigy several years ago, and like him for whatever reason she keeps her emotions to herself, which was generally a good thing for a Shinobi since it meant that she could stay calm and focus in most situation.
Next there was Yuki Haku the apprentice of the Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist) Momochi Zabuza. Who apparently possessed the Hyoton (Ice Release) Bloodline limit of the Yuki Clan and was also a very skilled Kunoichi, according to Kakashi's report from Nami no Kuni. Not to mention from what he saw in the preliminaries, she defeated her opponent without any trouble and still kept her best skills hiding for the finals. Also according to Naruto's reports from that incident and in the Forest of Death, she had some medical skills, which she showed when she treated him.
After her there was Nii Yugito, who according to Naruto contained the Nibi no Bakeneko (Two-tailed Monster Cat) and was as strong as he is. Ignoring her status as a jinchuriki, the Sandaime knew that Yugito was a skilled Kunoichi on her own, given the way she defeated Inuzuka Kiba in her match against him without revealing too much of her abilities. Not to mention he was fairly certain that like Hattori Mai, she had been specially trained, and had probably been trained to use some of her Biju's Chakra by her Sensei Killer Bee.
Lastly there was the Yondaime Kazekage's daughter Temari, who ruthlessly overpowered Gai's student Tenten and even attempted to injure her further when she was clearly incapable of continuing anymore. Although Tenten did show some promise in Fuinjutsu and Weaponry and only lost because she was mismatch, not because of lack of skill.
He also recalled Zabuza's remark and insult to their academy for not knowing about Mai's Clan, the famed Hattori Clan or her Grandfather. This of course made him wonder if their academy system could use a change to help it improve, since he felt they may have gotten a bit sloppy in the peaceful years they've had since the last Great War and the Kyuubi's attack on the Konoha.
"Perhaps your right Iruka" the Sandaime spoke as he stood up and looked out his window to see the stadium where the finals would be held tomorrow and the academy. "It seems we've may have gotten soft with the years of peace our village has had which has made us slowly neglect our duty's to prepare our future Genin for the Shinobi world."
As he said this, Sarutobi's mind drifted to his memory of Tsunade's little brother Nawaki and how he died shortly after becoming a Gennin. He was someone who Hiruzen thought might become Hokage one day if he had lived, but sadly his dream was never realized. He recalled how he went to see his body, but found it was beyond recognition, (much to the distraught of Tsunade). He wondered if Nawaki might have survived if he had only received a bit more training to prepare him for the harsh life that comes with being a Shinobi.
"It's not just that Lord Hokage" Hiruzen turned back to Iruka when he suddenly spoke again.
"You also you need to take into account that our students are children, kids today live innocent lives, where the only thing they worry about is passing their test to become Shinobi. They don't know what real battles are like and what it's like to fight for their lives or stay calm in stressful situations. The fact is while they learn how to be Shinobi's, they don't experience the reality of what we sometimes have to do to protect our village. They also don't understand why they have to master the basics first or train so hard. I'm hoping that by allowing them to watch the Chunin finals and the competitors fight one another. The kids will see how strong Shinobi from other villages can be and be inspired to work harder in their training, as well as understand that Shinobi life is not all fun and games and that it is serious work."
Sarutobi smiled at hearing Iruka's words "Your words carry wisdom beyond your age Iruka, very well then, I'll approve of the class field trip to attend the exam finals. Just send in the submission papers and I'll sign it as soon as they arrive".
Iruka smiled at hearing this and bowed again. "Thank you Hokage-sama" he stood up and left to return to his work at the academy and to prepare to tell class tomorrow that they would be watching the Chunin finals."
As Iruka closed the door and left, Hiruzen sat back onto his seat as he let out a sigh and turned to look at the pictures of the Hokages on the wall before he smiled again.
"It seems like it's time for some changes my old friends" he spoke to all three pictures before he pulled the Kage letters out and returned to work.
"Things are definitely going to get more interesting for Naruto and the other Genin" the Sandaime though with a smirk.
-With Naruto-
After meeting with his surrogate Grandfather and telling him about the possible spy in Konoha, Naruto left the Hokage's office.
The Sandaime was of course grateful for the tip and told Naruto that he would have some of his people watch the girl and her friend and see if they really were spies.
As Naruto went down the stairs he began thinking more about the girl and tried to figure out where she could be from. He doubted Kumo, Suna or Kiri, since they already had Shinobi in the village who were participating in the exam. That of course left Iwagakure (Hidden Rock) or one of the other minor villages, although he willing to bet money that she was from Iwa. Since out all the five major Shinobi nations, it was the only one that didn't send any Genin to take part in the Chunin exam this year and they wouldn't miss out on an opportunity to see what the next Generation of Shinobi for their rivals were capable of.
Naruto also knew that if he was right he would have to be careful, since Iwa had a long rivalry with Konoha ever since the end of the Third Great Shinobi World War. There was also the fact that many Shinobi in Iwa hated his father for the many Shinobi he killed and defeats he handed Iwa. Even though no-one knew that Yondaime Hokage was his father, there was always a chance that someone could find out and if that happen. He might as well have a bull's-eye on the back of his head that said kill me.
Naruto's mind was so focused on who the girl was that he didn't pay attention to his surroundings, where he bumped into someone at the bottom of the stairs.
"Uwooh!" Naruto cried, after he bumped into the person and struggled to keep from falling.
"Sorry my fault, I wasn't paying attention of what I was doing and I…" Naruto said. But stopped before he could finish as when looked up to the person, he saw that the person he had bumped into was a woman.
The woman was tall and slender build and looked to be about in her early twenties. (7) She had bright green eyes and long auburn hair that was styled into a herringbone pattern at the back with short bangs covering her right eye. She wore a long-sleeved, dark blue dress that fell just below the knees and was closed at the front with a zip, while kept open on the front-right side from the waist down. The dress only covered up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts, allowing for a sizeable view of her cleavage. She also wore shorts as the same colour as her dress and underneath it, mesh leggings that reached down over her knees.
All in all, Naruto found that the woman was extremely beautiful, being on par with the likes of his mother and Hinata's sensei Yūhi Kurenai.
When Naruto first saw the woman he couldn't help but stare at her, but he was soon brought out of his trance when the woman smiled down at him and spoke.
"That quite alright…accidents happen"
When the woman smiled down at him, Naruto couldn't but blush as her smiled seemed to highlight her beauty even more and showed her pink coloured lips.
As the woman looked down at Naruto and looked at him more closely she noticed that his appearance was familiar to her, as if it matched a description she had heard. Before she could think on the matter further, she suddenly heard the voice of her escort.
"Mizukage-sama is there something the matter?"
When the escort arrived, Naruto immediately recognised him as Ao, the captain of the Hunter-nin group. Who had brought Haku and Zabuza back to Kirigakure (Hidden Mist), after the events in Nami no Kuni.
But as surprised as Naruto was to see Ao, he was shocked to learn that the woman he had bumped into was the New Mizukage that he had heard about from his Godfather Jiraiya.
"Shit! She's the Mizukage?" Naruto thought in surprise, "Ah man, I'm in trouble, why do things like this always happen to me?"
At the same time, Ao glanced over at Naruto, and like Naruto, who recognized him, he recognized the spikey haired blonde.
"You again"
"Do you know this boy Ao?" the female Kage asked.
"Hai, I met him at Nami no Kuni with my team when we were retrieving Zabuza and Haku" Ao replied. "This is Senju Naruto, heir to the Senju Clan and Tsunade-sama son."
When the Mizukage heard this, she was natural surprised, as she did not expect to meet Naruto like this. But eventually her surprise settled and she smiled again at Naruto.
"I'm pleased to finally to make you acquaintance, Naruto-san. I am a great admirer of your mother Tsunade-sama and I have heard much about you from Haku and Zabuza, who speak highly of your skill. I look forward to watching you in the finals."
"Arigato Mizukage-sama" Naruto replied in a respectful tone, "Also please accept by analogises again for bumping into you."
"There is nothing to be sorry about, as I said accidents happen, beside how could I be angry at such a handsome young man?" Mei replied, with a smile.
Naturally after hearing this, Naruto turned a shade of red that would've rivalled any that a certain young Hyuga heiress could've turned. If it he had been any redder, steam would've burst out of his ears.
"Mizukage-sama, we should get going, as I'm certain that the Hokage-sama has heard of our early arrival" Ao spoke suddenly, in the hope of getting to the matter as to why they were here.
At this the Mizukage let out a sigh, as she would've liked to have talked Naruto further but knew that Ao was right.
"Very well" Mei said before turning back to Naruto, "It was a pleasure talking to you Naruto-san, I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow, perhaps later we can chat again."
"I would like that, it was nice talking to you as well Mizukage-sama" Naruto answered as he slowly started to cool down. After which he stepped aside and allowed Mei and Ao to pass him by and head up stairs to the Hokage's office.
After they left, Naruto let out a deep sigh, and headed for the main door. "I gotta stop hanging around Ero-sennin so much; I'm starting to think like him."
"You should not try to get too friendly with that boy; he is a Konoha Shinobi after all and one of Haku and Chōjūrō targets" Ao spoke as they walked up the stairs.
"Oh stop your worry Ao, I was just curious about the boy, as I find him interesting. Besides I always did have a thing for blondes" Mei replied with a smile.
"You cannot afford to be so laid back Mizukage-sama," said Ao in a serious tone. "You need to be more mindful of things. This is why many people in the village do not think you take your duties as Mizukage seriously."
At this remark, Mei suddenly stopped walking up the stairs and turned around to look at Ao with a serious look on her face.
"I can assure you Ao that I take my duties as Mizukage very seriously. . " Mei drawled before an all too sweet smile appeared on her face, which made the one eyed man sweat nervously. "So kindly shut the fuck up, before I kill you."
Gulping at this, Ao slowly nodded and watched the Mizukage turn away from him and walk back up the stairs.
After the Mizukage started to walk back up the stairs, Ao let out a deep sigh and muttered "Women" before quickly following after his leader.
After his surprise meeting with the female Mizukage, Naruto decided to walk down the street to cool off a bit.
Eventually after walking around Konoha for about an hour or so, Naruto found himself at the memorial stone and it was then that he heard some talking and barking.
When Naruto turned to where he heard the talking and barking from, he saw Shino, Kiba and Akamaru emerging from the nearby treeline.
Naturally when the two boys and the pup saw Naruto they were just as surprised to see him as he was to see them.
"Hey Guys, funny meeting you here!" Naruto greeted after see his two fellows Genin.
"Senju what are you doing here? Don't tell me you were spying on us, so to have an edge over Shino!" Kiba accused after seeing the spikey haired blonde.
"Tsk Hardly" Naruto replied with a scoff. "I'm only here by chance, besides it would be pretty stupid to try on spy Shino here, since I'm pretty sure his bugs would detect me."
"Peace Kiba, Naruto-san speaks the truth, if he had been spying on us, during our training, the Kikaichū I released around our training area would've detected him. Besides, I do not believe Naruto-san is the type to spy on his comrades, even when they are his competitors."
Kiba frowned slightly after hearing this, but knew his team-mate was right, despite his dislike for the Senju heir, he knew that Naruto was an honourable person.
"I'm guessing given your current state, that you've been doing some last minute training?"
"You would be correct Naruto-san" Shino replied with a nod.
"Have you see Hinata-chan lately or heard how she is doing?" Naruto asked, since he had not seen or heard anything about the young Hyuga heiress since the preliminaries.
"We went to visit Hinata-san earlier in the week and from what we saw, she seems to be doing well. She is currently resting in her family compound; she even asked if we had seen you, when we visited."
"So are ready for your fight tomorrow Senju?" Kiba asked
"I am." replied Naruto with confident smirk.
"You should be weary of Neji-san, Naruto-san. He is a capable Shinobi, who is well regard even in the Hyugan Clan and is not someone to underestimate" commented Shino.
"Don't worry Shino-san, I've no intention of underestimating Neji-teme" said Naruto. "But that doesn't mean I won't intend to beat the hell out of him of him for what he did to Hinata-chan."
After hearing this, Kiba smirked, while Shino just nodded, as neither of the boys were big fans of Hyuga Prodigy, given how he nearly killed their team-mate.
But before they could comment on any further on the matter, they suddenly heard a female voice cry "Naruto-kun!" followed by a blonde blur that knocked Naruto to the ground.
When the two Genin from team eight looked down, they saw a blonde haired girl on top of Naruto and hugging him tightly.
"Naruto-kun it's so good to see you, I missed you?" said the girls as she hugged the blonde Senju.
"Eh sorry, but who are you?" Naruto asked, as he looked at the girl hugging.
"Don't tell me you forgotten about me Naruto-kun?" the girl asked, with a slightly annoyed looked, "Because if you have…then we are not amused." (8)
As soon as Naruto heard the girl refer to herself in the royal we term, Naruto's eyes suddenly widen in surprise "Rurichiyo!"
The girl in question of course just smiled and nodded confirming that it was indeed her, where she then got off Naruto and allowed him back up.
The Granddaughter of the Fire Daimyo had grown up quite a bit since Naruto had last seen her. She was now roughly the same height as Naruto now and her hair was much longer than before, where it fell down to the middle her back. She wore more simple clothing than she normally would, which Naruto guessed was to not attract attention. She wore a simple a red Kosode, a grey Hakama, with white socks and simple sandals. (9)
"Rurichiyo what are you doing here?"
"I came to see you win the Chunin exam of course silly." Rurichiyo replied with a giggle.
"When did you get here?" Naruto asked.
"Just this morning"
"Are your Grandparents here as well? Naruto asked, since he was surprised that he didn't hear anything about the Fire Daimyo arriving in the village.
"No, Sofu (more formal way in saying Grandfather) and Obaasan (more formal way in saying Grandmother) won't arrive until tomorrow, but they allowed me to go ahead of them."
"Well it's good to see you Rurichiyo-chan, I'm glad you came, it been too long."
As Naruto and Rurichiyo caught up with one another, Shino and Kiba watched from the side-lines, not knowing who the girl was.
At the same time Kiba couldn't help but notice how cute the girl was and wondered what her relationship was with Naruto.
"Hey Senju, who's the hot girl with you?" asked Kiba, "No way she can be your girlfriend, she's way too good-looking for you."
"Hmph, as if a vagabond like you would know anything" Rurichiyo said in annoyed tone. "Naruto-kun, is ten times the man you are."
"What!" Kiba cried in outrage.
Seeing that Kiba was close to losing his temper, Naruto decided to intervene and stepped between Kiba and Rurichiyo. "Kiba, calm down, there's no need to get angry."
Sadly Kiba was in no mood to listen, as he was as mad as a hornets nest and pushed Naruto and was about to give Rurichiyo a piece of his mind.
Seeing this Shino was about help Naruto stop Kiba from doing anything foolish, but before Kiba could even start to yell at the princess. The Young Inuzuka suddenly found two Long Katana's pointed at his neck.
When Kiba looked up he found two tall men in official looking uniforms flanking Rurichiyo and glaring daggers at him.
The first man was a tall thin man wearing a traditional uniform. He had blue-black hair and his eyes were icy blue and he had strong sculpted face.
The other man was a muscular built man and wore the same uniform that the other guard wore; he also wore a pair of large sunglasses. The man also had very little hair on his head as it was mainly bald except for the small Mohawk in the shape of a lightning bolt and a muscular face.
"I suggest you step away from her highness Rurichiyo-hime vagrant, or else you shall answer to us" spoke tall thin man, where his partner just nodded in agreement.
"Princess?" Shino and Kiba thought together in surprise.
"Kenryū and Enryū!" cried Naruto when he saw Rurichiyo two guards, who smiled when they saw the young Senju.
"It's good to see again Naruto-dono" said Kenryū as he glanced at Naruto.
After getting over seeing his old friends again, Naruto quickly asked the two guards to lower their weapons, saying that it was all just one big misunderstanding and that Kiba meant no harm.
The two guards were of course hesitant, but after glancing at Rurichiyo, who nodded. The two guards drew back their Katana's and sheathed them, although continued to glare at Kiba for disrespecting their princess.
Once the situation had calm down, Shino turned to Naruto. "Excuse me Naruto-san, but if I may ask, who exactly is Rurichiyo-sama? And how exactly do you know her?"
"Ah…well…you see…as I was trying to explain to you both earlier" Naruto said nervously, as he wasn't exactly sure how to say this. "The thing is…eehhh…like Kenryū said; Rurichiyo-chan is a princess, or to be more precise, she is the Fire Daimyo's Granddaughter. We kind of met a while back when we were younger, when my mom was helping to treat her uncle, when he was ill."
When the two boys heard this, both were shocked beyond words and thought the exact same thing "The Fire Daimyo's Granddaughter!"
After Rurichiyo's identity was revealed, the normally stoic Shino went wide-eyed with disbelief, while Kiba was gaping like fish out of water and as pale as a ghost, knowing he was in trouble.
"Shit! I'm dead…I am soooo dead" the panicking Inuzuka thought, "I got into an argument with the Fire Daimyo's freaking GRAND-DAUGHTER!"
Seeing the situation that his team-mate was facing, Shino decided to step in, in the hope of saving his team.
"Rurichiyo-hime, it is a great honour to have you here in out village and please accept our sincere apologies, my team-mate Kiba meant no disrespect. He can just be rather brass and does not know what he says at times."
"Yea I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry" Kiba said, who was seriously hoping that Rurichiyo wouldn't go to her Grandfather and complain to him.
Seeing how nervous Kiba was, Rurichiyo decided to let the matter go, as it was obvious Kiba now regretted his earlier comments.
"Very well, we shall let this matter go, but in return we would like you Naruto-kun to show us around Konoha, as this is our first time coming here and we would like to see all the sites."
"Sure, I would be happy to" replied Naruto, since it allowed him to catch up with his friend and at the same time allow them to move past the whole event with Kiba.
Pleased with this, Rurichiyo quickly grabbed hold of Naruto's right arm tightly and had him led the way, leaving a bewildered Kiba and an intrigued Shino. As who would have guessed that Naruto was friends with the Fire Daimyos Granddaughter?
N/A.
Well I'm back everyone, sorry about the long wait, but I've been busy with my last year of collage and I had to focus on studing and working on my projects and thesis, as collage comes first. Plus after that I needed some down time to relax and cut lose from all the stress of collage. But still now that collage is out of the way I have some free time to start on my fanfic writing and have started things of with this story. I will of course update another story next week, so you won't have to wait too long for me.
Also please Note that given how Fanfiction has disabled the link settings on our profiles, you will have to highlight and copy the web address for any of the pictures on my profile and paste them on the task bar, this is the only way I know how to allow you to see the images of any characters or places in my stories. Please also note that adresses are correct and if you are having problems with them, tell me and I will do my best to help you.
Now I hope you all enjoyed how Naruto gained the Slugs and the Toads, as well as his interaction with some of the girls. Now as you can guess the next Chapter will be about the beginning of the Chunin exam, which will also involve the battle between Naruto and Neji, which I know is something that you're all looking forward to, so I will update this story again when I can, that's all I will pomise.
Now as always Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.
As for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be help and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.
Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.
Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.
Author's Note:
(1). Less formal way to say Great Grandfather in Japanese
(2). For those of you who are unsure of what the Kyuubi is referring to. In this story after the Shodai defeated Madara and captured the Kyuubi he and his wife Mito tried to seal him into Mito. But before they could, the Kyuubi escaped, where later Madara regained control of the Kyuubi and tried to use him again to destroy Konoha, but was stopped by Minato where he was sealed within Naruto.
(3). Go to profile for the address of this image
(4). You know those little cat toys that people use to play with cats.
(5). Don't forget people Yugito is one of Naruto's biggest obstacles in the Chunin exam and is one of the strongest Genin in the finals.
(6). The guy who Naruto sent running after he kept trying to hit on Ayame in Chapter Nine.
(7). Just in in case any of you have forgotten, in this story Mei is twenty right now.
(8). Rurichiyo is using the Royal we term that some royalty use
(9). Go to profile for the address of an image of Rurichiyo
Custom Jutsu:
(A). Haja no Kokuin (Seal of Wickeness): A seal that Jiraiya placed on Naruto, which activates in the event that Fūja Hōin (Evil Sealing Method) fails. Once activated, the seal's markings spread around the opponent's body, paralyzing them and prevent them from attacking anyone. However, one can break free from the seal with a strong enough release of chakra. Also once activated the seal will alert the user and anyone connected to it.
Stats
Note: This is a little stats note of Naruto and some of the others for the Chunin finals, since I know many of you are curious as to what level Naruto is at. These stats are out of five like the Naruto Database, also Sasuke, Neji Gaara and the others are all the same level they are in the canon.
Hattori Mai
Taijutsu: 2.5
Ninjutsu: 4
Genjutsu: 1
Intelligence: 3
Speed: 2.5
Hand Seals: 4
Strength: 2
Stamina: 3
Total: 22
Ni Yugito
Taijutsu: 3.5
Ninjutsu: 3.5
Genjutsu: 1.5
Intelligence: 3
Speed: 3.5
Hand Seals: 3.5
Strength: 2.5
Stamina: 4
Total: 25
Haku
Taijutsu: 2
Ninjutsu: 4
Genjutsu: 1
Intelligence: 4
Speed: 4
Hand Seals: 4
Strength: 1
Stamina: 2
Total: 22
Samui
Taijutsu: 3
Ninjutsu: 3.5
Genjutsu: 2
Intelligence: 4
Speed: 2.5
Hand Seals: 2.5
Strength: 2
Stamina: 2.5
Total: 22
Senju Naruto
Taijutsu: 3
Ninjutsu: 4
Genjutsu: 1.5
Intelligence: 3
Speed: 3
Hand Seals: 4
Strength: 3.5 *
Stamina: 4
Total: 26
Omoi
Taijutsu: 3
Ninjutsu: 2
Genjutsu: 1
Intelligence: 4
Speed: 2
Hand Seals: 2.5
Strength: 2
Stamina: 2
Total: 18.5
Karui
Taijutsu: 2.5
Ninjutsu: 2.5
Genjutsu: 1
Intelligence: 2
Speed: 3
Hand Seals: 2.5
Strength: 1.5
Stamina: 2.5
Total: 17.5
Chōjūrō
Taijutsu: 3
Ninjutsu: 2.5
Genjutsu: 1
Intelligence: 2
Speed: 2
Hand Seals: 2
Strength: 3
Stamina: 2.5
Total: 18.5
Sai
Taijutsu: 2.5
Ninjutsu: 3.5
Genjutsu: 2
Intelligence: 2
Speed: 3
Hand Seals: 3
Strength: 2
Stamina: 2.5
Total: 20.5