Capítulo 29: Chapter 29: Graduation Exam
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
"Hmm…"- Bijuu
Chapter 29:
Graduation Exam
"So there is nothing out of the ordinary tonight?"
"No. None that I could detect. And my sensory skills happen to be quite…..unique."
Uzumaki Arashi raised an eyebrow at the choice of word to describe that. After four years, he hadn't changed much. Only that he had gotten older. But a man his age wasn't exactly supposed to change anymore at this point. Only get older and older. A depressing thought, really. But such was the cycle of life. Not that Arashi was complaining. He knew that he was lucky than most people. After all, he had been born an Uzumaki. His body and health were at their peak. It was something that his clan was known for. As such, he had never suffered through any kind of disease like most people. Nor was he stuck to a chair like most people his age. So Arashi knew that he was fortunate.
But to a more important detail: just what was he doing in the middle of the night? A few years back, Arashi would have never considered himself to be in the position that he was currently in. And that position was none other than being in his office in the middle of the night while having a discussion with a stranger whose name he didn't even know. But unlike the first time that they had met, Arashi was willing to admit that he now had some level of trust towards his…companion. And he was using the word loosely too. Again, he knew nothing about this person. He didn't know his name, face, or allegiance. But Arashi could say that that he wasn't trying to bring any harm to Uzu. He had been suspicious the first few days after he had first appeared before him and his wife. How could he not? Someone, not part of his clan, had gotten inside the village somehow with unknown intentions. It was the worst thing that could possibly befall his clan. But Arashi wasn't an idiot either. He knew that informing the public wouldn't do him any good. It would only cause panic that would not help him in the least. So he had carried out a secret investigation to no avail. The cloaked individual was nowhere to be found. Until he reappeared before him again with the task of trying to convince him that he meant no harm. Seeing that he really had no choice for the moment, Arashi had opted to let the person speak. And thus, they had developed their current relationship. As he had put it: he was the eyes and ears of the clan. Since Arashi had yet to detect any deception from this person, he had agreed to it so far. But the fact that he was inside his village undetected and without anyone else knowing who he was scared Arashi since, if he wanted, he could share the information with other nations. In a way, he was in the person's mercy.
"Just how exactly are you conducting these searches of yours?" Arashi asked for what was the hundredth time. No matter how small the detail, he could use help in figuring out just what skills he possessed.
The cloaked individual let out a small amused chuckle. He had no doubt already picked up on Arashi's attempts at trying to figure out his identity and skills. "It's not something worth mentioning. But have I let you down so far? I think I've earned some level of trust, don't you?"
Arashi grunted in agreement. "Still, I can't help but be curious. Like I've told you, there have been a lot of you people popping up trying to help us."
Just like the first time that Arashi had mentioned of the mysterious Uchiha who had come to their aid on multiple occasions, the stranger went silent. Arashi didn't know what the silence meant. Arashi had asked him if he and the Uchiha were comrades, of course. But as always, he dodged the question. But that only made Arashi suspect that they were. After all, he could feel a similar chakra coming from him like the one he had sensed back four years ago during their battle against Kiri's fleet. It was too much of a coincidence for the two to not be related.
The cloaked person leaned away from the window inside Arashi's office. "What about the law you enacted? Is it still popular among the clan?"
Arashi sighed as he leaned back against his chair. That was another thing that was frequently brought up in their meetings. The aging clan leader didn't fully understand why, but it wasn't something that was harmful to the village if he knew about it.
"Yes. It wasn't something that was passed on a whim," Arashi explained. "It might have seem like we were acting out in our anger. And while that's partially true, it doesn't change the fact that the clan feels like getting involved with the other nations will only bring pain and misery to us. I have to admit that even I feel the same in some prospect…."
Especially with what he would have to do in the coming months. It wasn't a pretty topic. It was one that he had put off for as long as he could. Kazumi wasn't too pleased with his decision either. But he had known it was the best choice for a long time now. Even Kazumi realized this. That didn't mean that she liked it, though. Her motherly instincts prevailed over her shinobi side. Arashi felt the same way, of course. But he also knew what was riding on this. As such, his hands were tied. That was the way of the shinobi.
Arashi could feel a set of eyes boring into his head. He hadn't told the cloaked person anything of course. It wasn't something that was supposed to be made public knowledge. Not even the council in Konoha was supposed to know. But the father in him always spoke too much sometimes. As such, he knew that his associate was beginning to suspect that he was keeping something big from him. Which was true of course. But still. He couldn't have him thinking that.
"It's nothing. Running a village isn't easy, after all."
Silence followed. Arashi didn't know why, but he could almost call it comforting. It was a weird thought since they were pretty much strangers. What was worse was that this person knew more about him than he did of him.
"If that's all for the night, I'll be seeing you next time."
"You really aren't going to tell me why you're doing this, are you?"
The cloaked individual stopped by the window just as he was going to jump through it. "We've been over this. My identity isn't important. I haven't deceived you in any way either. So you should at least understand by now that my intentions aren't malicious. Just know that there are enemies out there that wish to take you out for their own reasons. I wish to help you. Nothing more. Even if you were to reject my help and hunt me down, I would still do it."
"But why?"
"Because I made a promise."
Of all the answers that Arashi had been expecting, that was not the one. For the first time, though, he had gotten an answer.
But the man wasn't able to get another word in as the cloaked man vanished in another swirl of sand just like he always did.
Arashi merely watched the sand fly through the window and out into the outside world.
Uzumaki Aika hummed a tune to herself as she entered her classroom. She was in high spirits today. And how could she not? Today was the day that she was finally going to take her graduation exam so that she could be a genin, officially a shinobi of her village. She had been waiting for this moment for a long time now. A small pang of sadness ran through her heart when she thought about her mother and how she wasn't here to share the moment with her. That was how she had originally envisioned it, after all. But she shook those thoughts away. Aika knew that she had to be strong. She did have others in her life that she now had to live for.
A few set of eyes followed her figure as she went to take her usual spot, some of them from some of the boys that were obviously interested in her. The last four years had been kind to her, after all. But she had changed her outfit from her normal ones as today was a special day. She now wore light blue and sleeveless qipao shirt with a pair of long purple arm warmers, a pair of white shorts, and a pair of black, low heel, calf-high boots. Her hair had grown longer now too, reaching down her back. The Uzumaki clan crest was proudly displayed on the back of her shirt. She knew that she wouldn't fail today. Even if her father wasn't here to see it either.
Just as she sat down, her eyes lit up when she caught sight of Haru walking into the classroom. Like her, he had also gotten taller. The boy now wore a baggy forest green jacket with a skin-tight black t-shirt underneath, brown baggy cargo pants, and black shinobi sandals. At first, Aika and Naruto had wondered why he would go with such an outfit since it would resist his movements with his bow. The only answer that they received was that they would see why one day. That translated to him working on some sort of jutsu or something. At least, that was what they figured it had to be. Although, their original point was made invalid when he showed them how he still had perfect precision with his weapon while wearing his clothes. So they didn't ask any further questions.
"Morning, Aika," Haru greeted with a smile.
Aika could still recall just how much the boy stuttered when they had first met. "Morning, Haru. Looks like whiskers is the only one that hasn't gotten here yet."
"It's probably because he's with Kushina-san," Haru guessed as he took a seat next to her. "You know how she always likes to be the last one to show up."
That was another thing. Haru only dropped the -san with both Naruto and her. Anyone else, he used it. When Naruto had asked him about that a few months back since he had been the one to catch up on it, Haru had simply answered that they were his only true friends. As such, he knew that he could be relaxed around them. The answer had put a big smile on the blond's face.
Aika rolled her eyes at the reminder. It was obvious to everyone in their class that she and Kushina still didn't get along. They were pretty much rivals in everything but spoken words. Aika had never really bothered to try all that much in the Academy before. But now, she had the number one spot in their class. It was something that irked Kushina to no end since, while she could keep up with Aika physically, studies were a different story. And at the academy, they were measured in both aspects.
Something that did irk Aika, though, was how Naruto had never bothered to change his position as the lowest ranked student in their class. She had suspected that the blond had been holding back ever since she had watched his spar with the popular kid in the class. But now knowing what she did, she knew that he could easily defeat her. Not to mention that she knew that he wasn't an idiot. Okay, he was. But he wasn't unable to learn stuff either. He just never bothered to discipline himself. And still wasn't no matter how much she asked him to. As he put it, it was 'useless stuff that wouldn't help him in real life.' While she did agree with him, she didn't want him to be the dead last of their class either. But Naruto had shrugged that off too, saying that titles didn't mean anything. He had then told her how he had accomplished everything that he had while still being a genin. Did that diminish anything that he had done? Aika hadn't been able to answer that. Which had instantly brought that argument to a close.
The two continued to a chat a few more minutes in order kill some time. Even so, they were both excited to get the day started. They each had their own reasons for wanting to become a shinobi already.
It was then, after just about the whole class had arrived, that the door opened again. Both Aika and Haru shifted their gazes towards the door just as Kushina walked in with Naruto in tow. As usual, Kushina was beaming with excitement, one that was equally matched with Naruto's. Hers was extra special today, though. Not that it was much of a surprise. She was just as happy to finally be taking the exam as the rest of them.
Kushina had grown taller in the past four years. Her face had become rounder, however. And with her hair fanning out around her face, it gave her the look of a tomato. It was something that they all knew but didn't comment on. Well, Aika almost had. But after Naruto had begged her not to with the promise of taking her out for lunch here and there, she hadn't. She had also changed her outfit. Now, she wore a dark purple short-sleeved style kimono blouse with whites sleeves that was held closed by a black obi over a short-sleeved mesh shirt, a black skirt with black stockings, and a pair of brown shinobi sandals.
Out of their small group, Naruto was the one that had grown the least. It was something that Aika teased him the most about. He was, after all, the shortest one of them all now. The blond simply huffed each time, trying to act indifferent about the matter. But the blush that appeared on his cheeks each time gave him away. The blond had also changed his outfit in these past years. He now wore a black skin tight one piece jumpsuit with short sleeves, similar to that of Lee's except with the sleeves shortened. He had small, round orange shoulder pads over his jumpsuit as well as similar ones on both of his knees. He also a rectangular one over his chest. It was used mainly for defense. Not to mention that he thought it was cool. The blond now also wore a pair of fingerless orange gloves. Finally, he had a pair of black shinobi sandals. The Uzumaki clan crest was also displayed on his back.
Kushina headed to her flock in a heartbeat while Naruto watched her go with a small smile before he turned his attention to Aika and Haru who were already seated in the back of the classroom. Naruto headed towards them with a big grin, both of his arms over his head.
"Wassup, guys!"
"It looks like you're pumped about today too," Aika commented with a smile.
Naruto chuckled as he scratched his cheek. "Well, you can't blame me. I had to go through this twice now. Forgive me if I already want to start taking missions." 'I just hope that they're not the same stinky D-rank ones I had to start with, though,' he finished in his mind, remembering the first few weeks as a member of Team Seven. It had been a struggle, really. He was only thankful that he finally brought it up before the old man and gone to Wave. It had turn out to be an irreplaceable experience.
"But Kurama-chan also went berserk on you too!" Saiken exclaimed in his usual cheery tone.
"Who the hell are you calling -chan now!?" Kurama's loud voice boomed out in extreme annoyance.
"It's been like that for months now," Gyuki said with a sigh. "Just accept it. It'll be easier on you, you know."
Naruto chuckled to himself as the bijuu had their own little discussion. It had taken some time to get used to having nine different entities inside of him. But the blond had managed. Not to mention that Kurama was never lonely now.
The blond jinchuriki took his spot on the other side of Aika, the girl now sitting between the two. The three were all expressing their own excitement at hoping to get their final exam started. Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long as their chunnin instructor walked into the room. He was accompanied by two other chunnin that the students had never seen before. They were most likely there in order to help proctor the exam and in turn make the process much faster.
"As you all know, today is the day that you all finally take your exam that will determine whether or not you'll become a shinobi of our village," the chunnin began as he stood in his usual spot in the front of the room. "These have certainly been some fast years. I'm also pleased to let you all know that you are one of the better classes that I've had the pleasure of teaching considering the curriculum that you were made to follow. But as a result, you all have learned much more than previous classes. So take that to heart as you proceed with this exam. I wish you all good luck."
The students clapped for a moment, also feeling a sense of thankfulness towards the chunnin. Even if he had been strict on them on multiple occasions, they had grown quite a bit as a result.
"That being said, we will now being with the first portion of the exam," the chunnin concluded as he signaled to the two other chunnin.
Naruto's face went white when his eyes picked up a stack of papers that each chunnin now had. That could only mean one thing…..
Aika chuckled in amusement when she saw Naruto's aghast look. "Hahaha getting cold feet already, whiskers?"
"You did remember to study last night, right?" Haru asked with a raised eyebrow.
Naruto's face hit the desk, a groan escaping his lips. "No….."
Of course he hadn't. He had had more important things to take care of last night. And studying for their final exam was not one of them. But seriously. Why did they need this crap? He had never used it in his own time. The ninja academy system was messed up all right.
Aika patted his back with an amused look. "There, there. Just try your best, whiskers. Who knows? Maybe Kami will smile down on you today!"
"Not funny, Aika-chan," Naruto said with a small pout. That only caused the girl to giggle while Haru shook his head.
"It can't be that hard," Son Goku spoke up. "I'm sure you'll be able to score a decent grade."
"This is precisely why I said that we shouldn't have dragged our meeting with your grandfather," Matatabi said with a sigh. "But did you listen?"
"Hmph," Kurama scoffed. "This guy is too much of an idiot to try and read a book. Your preaching will fall on deaf ears, Matatabi."
"Oh, hush up you," Matatabi retorted. "You and Shukaku were the ones that wanted to keep patrolling longer than necessary."
"Hey!" Shukaku said in an indignant tone. "It was a full moon last night! The monkey and slug also agreed with us!"
"They're like children, I swear," Kokuo muttered.
"Definitely not lucky," Chomei agreed.
"We should all just chill and take it easy for now," Isobu said.
"Yes! That's definitely for the best!" Saiken exclaimed in childish glee.
Kurama sighed. "Why the hell are we even arguing about this?"
"Because that's who we are," Gyuki stated with a chuckle.
'Yeah, really appreciate the support, guys,' Naruto said with sarcasm.
"Just try your best, Naruto-kun," Matatabi encouraged. "We'll give you some of the answers, if we can."
"Or you can just use some of my sand in order to cheat," Shukaku suggested.
He was immediately whacked in the head by both Matatabi and Kokuo.
"No, he will not!"
"Why, you little-"
Naruto tuned out the rest of Shukaku's rant as he focused his attention to the test that was now being handed out. While he did appreciate their help, if it could be call that, Naruto wanted to do this on his own. He either sailed or sunk by his own.
'Bring it on!'
"Calm down, whiskers. It wasn't that bad."
Naruto held his head as he and the rest of the class lined up outside in order to continue with their exam, feeling a headache coming.
"It's easy for you to say that, Aika-chan. You actually knew the answers," Naruto said with a sigh.
Haru shook his head. "You really need to learn to pick a book once in a while."
The blond chuckled as he waved the suggestion off. "Maybe once I'm in my nineties when I can't move."
Both Aika and Haru shared a look of exasperation with one another, knowing that they weren't going to persuade their blond friend on the matter. But that was just one of the things that made Naruto Naruto.
The trio turned their attention to the next portion of their test. It was a simple one: the shuriken test. This was designed to test their accuracy and skills with the weapon.
"Man, you sure are lucky, Haru," Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head. "The first test was just right up your alley. And now so is this one. I wonder if the next one will too…."
Aika shook her head. "You seriously never paid attention in class, did you?"
Naruto gave her a confused look. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"She means that Shiba-sensei already explained all four tests to us yesterday during class," Haru answered.
"Oh," Naruto said with a blank look before shrugging. "Oh well."
Aika and Haru decided to not dwell on this lest they be too paralyzed by astonishment to move.
Naruto turned his attention to the second test just as his mother's name was called out. The girl stepped up with confidence shooting out of her. Not that Naruto could blame her. He had been present when his grandparents had actually begun to teach her stuff, especially with mastering her element. They had offered him help too, of course. Which he had taken. He didn't want to seem rude or anything. But there really wasn't anything that they could help him with. The things that he had been trying to master at the time weren't the kind of stuff that they knew. Save for fuinjutsu. That was the only part that Naruto really did pay attention to. Since it was the specialty of his clan, the blond wanted to master the art as soon as possible. But he had already come to realize that fuinjutsu was much more delicate than ninjutsu. And he wasn't known for delicacy. Which sucked.
The blond refocused his attention back to his mother just as she hit the targets almost perfectly. She still needed some work, but it was still leagues ahead of most students here.
This continued for several minutes. In that time, both Aika and Haru had been called up. Aika had pretty much scored the same as Kushina, which only aggravated both girls. Haru had gotten a perfect score here, which was of no surprise to Naruto. The whiskered blond would have been shocked if he hadn't.
The blond was finally called up, one of the final students to take this portion of the exam.
"So, what are you going to do this time, brat?" Kurama asked with a chuckle. "Are you going to get a low score on purpose?"
'You already know the most important reason why I've done that, furball,' Naruto said in response.
Kurama rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Because you want to be put in the same team as your mate and that other boy. But you never bothered to learn how they set teams up here, did you? It's not like Uzu has the same system as Konoha."
Naruto t'ched to himself at the first part of the bijuu's statement but also knew that he had a point. 'I'm like, 86 percent sure here. I'm pretty sure I've heard Haru mention it before…..'
"…You really don't like reading, do you?" Gyuki said in a calm tone.
Naruto didn't respond. There was no need to.
'But I guess I wouldn't mind showing off a bit today. There is no harm in it.'
The chunnin instructor waited patiently for the blond to carry out the test. In the crowd of students, both Aika and Kushina were expecting Naruto to do poorly here. For different reasons, of course. Kushina wasn't aware of the blond's true skills like Aika was. And Naruto had made a point to never show them in front of his grandparents and uncle. But to their surprise, as well as for the rest of the class and even the chunnin instructor, Naruto threw the shuriken perfectly at the targets, getting the second perfect score next to Haru.
Said Uzumaki raised an eyebrow in surprise, obviously not having been expecting that. 'I wonder what brought this on?' he asked himself while glancing at Aika who came out of her shock only to grin.
"It's about time the idiot showed his skills."
Haru smiled to himself. Unlike Aika, he agreed with Naruto in hiding his skills. While he did think that his friend deserved recognition, especially with what he was trying to accomplish, he knew that it wasn't a very smart move to let the world know of his existence and skills like that. While Naruto had already told them of what he had done during the previous war, namely stop an entire Kumo army along with the Raikage, he had hidden his identity. So it wasn't the same as showing off as Uzumaki Naruto.
The chunnin instructor smiled to himself a few moments later, coming to the realization that the blond had hidden his skills from him.
'Ah, so it seems like he's not that much of an idiot, after all,' he thought. 'But I wonder why he would show them now?'
Naruto walked back to Aika and Haru while scratching the back of his head, the eyes of the entire class following him along the way.
"So what did you guys think?"
Aika grabbed his hands as she stood before him, her eyes beaming with excitement. "It's been long overdue, whiskers!"
Haru only smiled.
Meanwhile, Kushina watched the interactions with a frown on her face.
"Tch, something doesn't feel right about this….."
The third part of their test was the taijutsu portion, which basically meant that they would have to sprat with one another once more. Which wasn't as boring as the first two tests. Except that Naruto had just been paired with Kaoru, the most popular boy in class as well as the one who held the number two spot below Aika. Incidentally, he was also the first person that Naruto had been paired up with during their first sparring session.
The blond glanced towards the chunnin who looked back at him with a small smirk.
'Why, you son of a…..'
"Looks like he's on to you, boy," Isobu said.
"Definitely not a lucky day," Chomei added.
"Hahaha!" Kurama laughed. "Looks like he wants to see just how skilled you are, brat. Not that I can blame him. You suddenly start showing good skills after years of being here. It's no wonder he's curious."
Naruto rubbed the back of his head in annoyance as he walked towards the center of the makeshift circle, both Aika and Haru cheering him on from the sidelines.
"So what are you going to do?" Gyuki asked. "Are you going to go back to losing or…..?"
Naruto didn't respond as he stooped in front of Kaoru. All around them, Naruto could hear all of the boy's admirers shouting out his name. He supposed every village was like that. The blond did glance at his mother who was looking at him with a blank look. Meeting his eyes, though, she did give him a small smile and a nod.
That was all that Naruto needed.
Kaoru looked at Naruto with a small huff before he got into the stance that they had all been taught. Which was the basic one. The whole purpose of this was for the students to then develop their own style based off of this.
But Naruto wasn't one for taijutsu anyway. His whole style was based off on his clones. Except when he went through senjutsu training when he did acquire one. But the Kawazu Kumite was better for when he was actually in senjutsu since it took into account all the abilities that being in sage mode provided him with. Still, it wasn't like Naruto had been born with a taijutsu skill set like Sasuke with his Interceptor Style. Nor was he a taijutsu specialist like Lee or Guy. He really did prefer ninjutsu.
The chunnin started the spar, waiting to see just what he would get to witness here. Most of the students in the class were pretty much waiting for Kaoru to finish Naruto off quickly. Even if he had scored perfectly in the previous test, it didn't mean that he was suddenly going to be able to win against their number two.
Thinking along the same lines, Kaoru rushed at Naruto, intent on finishing this off quickly.
But to his surprise, and everyone is in the class, Kaoru found himself on his back while looking up at the sky. For a moment, he wondered what was happening before great pain started to course through him.
Meanwhile, Naruto was standing with both his arm and leg stretched out since, at the second that the boy had come within distance, Naruto had delivered a swift punch to his gut before tripping him and sending him flying back to the ground on his back.
"You really aren't good at holding back, are you?" Matatabi said with a sigh.
But it wasn't the blond's fault. He had been fighting against strong opponents his entire life. Zabuza, Haku, Gaara, Neji, Orochimaru, Itachi, Nagato, the Akatsuki as a whole, Madara, Obito, and Sasuke. Holding back wasn't exactly in his vocabulary. So the blond congratulated himself for being able to pretend to be a dead last this whole time.
The chunnin hummed to himself at seeing one of his star pupil get taken down in a single move. But he understood why that was. Kaoru had never experienced pain before. As in, actual combat pain. As such, the shock of it was making him unable to properly function at the moment.
'I suppose that I should bring this up with Arashi-sama. It's something that we need to consider for our new students in the future.'
He wrote a note to himself as a reminder, all the while looking at Naruto with curiosity. He knew he would have to ask the blond some questions after this was over. He called the next two names as one of his fellow chunnin tried to help Kaoru get back on his feet.
Once more, the class looked at Naruto in shock, wondering just how the blond had such skills. Even Kushina was shocked. She had never known that her friend had such hidden skills. But why would he keep them hidden to begin with? It made no sense to her. Not to mention that he was able to defeat Kaoru so easily.
"I guess you really are going to blow right through us, huh?" Haru said with a smile as Naruto walked up to them.
"Don't worry about it," Naruto replied with a wave of his hand. "We both know that, in a real fight, you could beat him too. You just can't use your bow in the academy. Which isn't fair. But like I said: titles mean nothing. I already know that you're strong."
As the boys conversed, Aika watched them with her own smile. Even if she didn't know why Naruto was suddenly showing off his skills, she didn't care. She was just glad that the blond was beginning to get some of the recognition that he rightfully deserved.
Feeling a set of eyes on her, though, Aika glanced to the side to see Kushina staring at her within her own group of friends. The two girls locked eyes, silently having their own conversation.
Aika smirked.
Naruto stood in the back of the academy with the three chunnin as he stood in preparation for his final test. All other students before him had already gone. So he knew who had passed and who hadn't….so pretty much everyone had passed. Not that Naruto had been surprised. His class was well rounded. He knew that they were leagues above what he had been when he had first graduated. But that had mostly been his fault since he had preferred to goof around during his childhood rather than actually train. Except when he had tried to master the clone jutsu. Ah, the good old days of getting near death clones. Good times, good times.
He ignored the laughter of several bijuu inside his head.
Both Aika and Haru had already told him about this final part of the exam. It was pretty simple too: perform an elemental jutsu that you had learned on your own during your time in the academy. It was something that all students had been able to perform. And Naruto knew that he could do it too.
"All right, Naruto," the chunnin began as he looked at this clipboard. Behind him was a table full of headbands with the Uzumaki clan symbol on them. They also came in three colors: black, red, and blue. Aika had gone with blue while Haru had chosen red. "All that you need to do is perform an elemental jutsu, and you'll pass."
Naruto sighed in relief in his mind. It seemed as if doing well on the other two portions had made up for failing the written exam. That was a load off his mind. Still, what jutsu could he use?
"Do you want to use my chakra for this?" Kokuo asked.
'Nah,' Naruto replied. 'It'll look weird if I can suddenly use earth style or something. As far as they're concerned, I can only use wind style. So I'll stick with that.'
"Heh," Kurama said with a scoff. "Like this whole situation isn't already weird enough. But keep going with your brilliant plan, brat. I'm sure nothing will go wrong."
One of Naruto's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly. He could always count on the furball for morale support all right.
Facing away from the chunnin, Naruto brought his hands together in order to prepare the necessary handseals. Locking his hands together by the end, Naruto focused his chakra in order to output the lowest amount.
"Futon: Daitoppa!"
The three chunnin watched the sudden gust of wind tear through one of the nearby trees with relative ease.
The chunnin instructor in charge looked at Naruto in a new light. This particular jutsu was relatively easy. But its power depended on the user. The more powerful the chakra of the user, the stronger it was. It was why the Uzumaki clan were perfect users since their chakra was so powerful. But for someone of Naruto's age to already be able to do what he just did…..it was no small feat.
Meanwhile, Naruto sighed when he saw that he hadn't been able to hold back as much as he had wanted. While his body had been reverted back, his chakra had not. Hence, his chakra had continued to grow from where it had been during the war. So it was now much larger than before. He was certain he had about the same level as the Shodai Hokage now. Perhaps more. He was sure that Sasuke was going through the same thing too.
"It seems like you've really been hiding your skills from me," the chunnin said as he walked up to stand next to Naruto. "May I ask why?"
Naruto shrugged. "I don't really care much for being number one in the class or anything." Unlike how he had been when he had first entered in the academy in Konoha. "But I guess I wanted to show you today that your lessons did pay off, sensei. So you don't have to be worried about me anymore."
The chunnin instructor sighed. 'I really do have some troublesome students.'
"Well, in any case, you passed. Although I guess you still don't like your academics," he added as an afterthought, having already graded Naruto's paper.
The blond chuckled uneasily for a few moments until the chunnin stepped to the side, giving Naruto access to the table.
"Take your pick, my boy. You've earned it."
Naruto walked up to the table filled with headbands, an excited smile on his face. It was finally time. He was now a genin of Uzu.
Both Aika and Haru waited for their friend in front of the academy entrance as parents crowded their kids with excitement. Aika's father wasn't here. Ever since her mother's death, the man had returned to the shinobi force, taking mission after mission in order to not stay in Uzu for an extended period of time. As for Haru's father, Kenji was due to arrive with Arashi in a few minutes.
Their eyes lit up when they saw Naruto walking towards them with his own headband. He had chosen the black one since it complimented them all completely.
"Looks like we all made it!" Aika exclaimed in excitement.
Naruto picked up that she was forcing some of it. Not that he could blame her. He had once been in her shoes. But that didn't mean that he was going to allow her to continue feeling like that.
Before Naruto could say anything, though, he could sight of his grandparents walking towards them with Haru's father in tow.
"Father!" Haru said as he ran towards him.
Kenji smiled when he saw Haru running towards him. "Looks like you're finally a genin, son," he said as the boy stopped in front of him. "Your mother would have been proud of you."
Haru smiled in return, fighting himself from crying. He was glad to hear those words.
Aika watched this with a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Aika-chan."
The girl turned to Naruto who placed a hand on her shoulder.
The blond smiled reassuringly at her. "I'm sure your dad is happy about this too. He just doesn't know how to express it."
Aika smiled in return, the words helping lift her mood.
"My, my. You're a sly one, Naruto-kun."
The blond blushed as Kazumi's words reached his ears. Both kids turned to look towards Kazumi as she walked up to them with a small smile, a hand covering her face as she giggled as well. Arashi stood next to her while chuckling.
'Why does everyone keep saying that dammit!?'
There were eight exact sighs within his head. Shukaku wasn't interested in what he called "humans mating." He just wanted action. And since there was none…..well, he wasn't interested in what Naruto was doing right now. Okay, maybe a little interested. But not enough to partake in the sighing. He was much too cool for that.
Kushina walked up to her parents, having had chosen the same blue headband as Aika. "Tou-chan, kaa-chan!"
Arashi immediately embraced her. "And you too. You're finally a shinobi of our clan."
Kazumi stood behind her husband while watching this. It was similar to what Arashi had done when Kaito had first graduated as well. Except he had been a bit more reserved. Not that Kazumi minded. It showed her that her husband was still human inside. It was a sentiment that was shared by the other parents as they watched their leader obsess over his daughter. It was one of those happy moments in life.
Naruto watched all of this with one of his big grins.
"I don't get it. It should have happened by now."
Naruto was currently sitting on top of Kurama's head as he and the fox, along with Shukaku, conversed about a pressing problem in their hands. The other bijuu had retired for the night. While they didn't really need sleep, it was something that they had enjoyed partaking in over the years. Not that they were to blame. They were either sealed in someone that had no interest in getting to know them or in some object. As such, it was one of the best ways to pass the time.
But on to the matter at hand.
The blond Uzumaki looked down at Kurama. "Why bring this up all of a sudden?"
"Don't tell me that you didn't find anything weird with your grandfather last night. He's obviously stressed over something. And it has nothing to do with the group that's opposing him right now."
That was another cause of concern. With the coming of the end of the war, a faction within the clan had formed that wanted Arashi out of leadership since they felt that he was too soft. In other words, they were clan members who wanted to cut ties with Konoha completely. No one was sure just who had founded the faction. But Naruto knew that it was problematic. After all, it was such things that eventually led to disunity. In this case, it could mean a civil war. At the moment, the possibility was small since the group didn't have that much power or many members yet. But given time, Naruto realized that it could become a major problem that could very well tear his clan apart. It was something that he wanted to resolve as soon as possible. The problem was, though, that he had no reason to take them out or anything. They were a part of his family. And they weren't really doing anything wrong either. So far, they were only excising their freedom to express their displeasure with Arashi's decision of not cutting ties with Konoha.
Not only that, but there was another issue that Naruto hadn't thought about until today when Kurama had brought it up. And that was how his mother was to become the next jinchuriki. According to Kurama, it should have happened already. But it was about two years late already. For the bijuu, it was a cause for concern.
Shukaku snorted. "What does it matter anyway? Didn't you say that it was also right before this place was destroyed? So isn't it good that it hasn't happened?"
"Maybe so," Kurama relented, "but if the timeline starts changing too much, we won't know what to expect. Maybe we've already changed it drastically since we ended the war before it was supposed to."
"Then don't worry about it," Naruto stated with his eyes closed. "If that's the case, then we should already be prepared to not rely on history. Our goal is to change things. So it doesn't matter if what we know as history changes. It'll just mean that we are doing what we set out to do."
Kurama sighed, realizing that the Uzumaki had him there. It was just that he preferred to know what to expect so that he could be better prepared.
"Even so, from the vibe that your grandfather was giving off, it looks like it's about to happen soon. What will you do in that case?"
"I'll do what I can," Naruto answered without hesitation. "Even if I'm not in Konoha, Sasuke is there. The teme is smart. He'll pick up that she's my mom soon enough. So I can count on him to watch over her until I can get there."
"…..you really do have faith in that Uchiha, don't you?" Shukaku questioned in a quieter tone than usual.
Naruto chuckled as he sent the one tailed bijuu a smile. "But of course! We're friends, after all! Just like Gaara!"
Kurama glanced at Shukaku, knowing very well that his fellow bijuu was pleased with that answer even if he didn't show it. That was one of the reasons why he was still up with them. He wanted a bit more reassurance from the blond, which he always got. At this point, Kurama knew that Naruto had the trust of all the bijuu. The first one to ever do that since the Old Man.
'I wouldn't expect anything less from you, brat…..'
Outside of Uzu in the mainland stood the thriving town that Sasuke had gone to and had accidentally stumbled upon the Kiri spy. In this town, Uzu owned a few harbors in order to collect resources from other lands that they didn't have in their own island. It was also in places like this town where people submitted missions to the clan before they were sent to Uzu via ships. It had to be done this way since Uzu rarely allowed outsiders to enter their village. It had mostly to do with security reasons.
But it was also here that Aika's father, Uzumaki Hiroshi, was currently in after he had completed another mission on his own. Many thought that it was because he was trying to get over the grief of losing his wife. It had been because of that in the beginning, but that wasn't the case now. He was doing as many missions as he could because he had a reason to: money. He needed to collect as many of it as he could so that he could support his family after this whole mess was over. The man had also grown a lot skinnier since his wife had passed away. He didn't eat as much as before since he was always on missions.
The man looked up at the night sky for a moment before he entered one of the bars in the town. It was one of the smaller ones, but the man didn't care. This was where his meeting was supposed to be, so he had no complaints.
Hiroshi walked to the back where one lone table stood with one man already there. The Uzumaki jonin recognized him easy enough. It was Shimura Danzo, one of the most powerful men in Konoha in terms of both power and political prowess. But that didn't interest Hiroshi. Only that the man possessed something that he desperately needed.
"You're late," was Danzo's simple greeting as Hiroshi sat down. "I already told you that I can't be here for long. The Sandaime has been keeping a closer eye in these parts than he did before."
"My mission ran a bit more late than I had expected," Hiroshi replied. "But let's move on. You've been promising this for a long time now. And I have yet to see one move from your supposed plan."
Danzo was silent for a few moments. Usually, no one talked to him like that. But the man didn't care. He could put up with some disrespect in order to achieve what he desired. "It's taken longer because of that incident four years ago. The Kages don't want to endanger their shinobi against something of that caliber. Especially since I had yet to present something solid to them. Until you came around. But it's only been a few months. It's not as easy for me to move as before as the Sandaime is keeping a closer eye on me as well."
"Does he suspect you?"
"I'm not sure, but it doesn't matter," Danzo answered. "Iwa and Kumo have already agreed. Suna is out of the question since their Kazekage is as peace loving as the Sandaime. Kiri is the only remaining factor in the equation. But I should be expecting their reply soon. Just a few more months and you'll have what you desire."
Hiroshi t'ched. "Months? That's-"
"Calm yourself," Danzo interrupted in a calm tone. "These things take time. But a couple more months is nothing compared to the happiness that you will receive once you have your wife back. Isn't that so?"
Hiroshi didn't reply for a few seconds, already aware that Danzo possessed the jutsu that could bring his darling wife back. Then his family will be whole once more. He didn't give a damn about Uzu anymore. It was infested by a leader that only dragged them into conflicts that weren't theirs to fight to begin with. That was why his wife had died. And that was why he formed the group that wanted Arashi removed. But no one listened. He had been in the verge of giving up. It wasn't until Danzo contacted him that he realized that he could have his happiness once more.
"I'll be waiting then."
Danzo didn't say another word as he watched the Uzumaki get up before making his way out of the bar and to one of the hotels so that he could spend the night in the town before he caught a ride back to Uzu.
The pieces were falling in place at long last.
'It won't be long now,' Danzo thought before he too got up and headed out of the bar as well, all the while thinking back to what he had been told all those years ago.
Dark clouds were gathering around Uzu.
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