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Faith in Humanity by karrafear

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Title: Faith Arc - Faith in Humanity (PG-13)

Title: Faith Arc - Faith in Humanity (PG-13)

Author: Karrafear

Summary: AU. What if Naruto survived a murder attempt on his life at the age of 6 and had to leave Konoha for his protection. Now 12, Naruto and Jiraiya returns to face the genin test. Chapter Six: Chuunin Exam Part 1!!!

Warning: Naruto OOC. PG-13. PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T READ NARUTO BOOK 4 AND 5 WILL HAVE PROBLEMS FOLLOWING THIS CHAPTER!! I’m trying to cut back on retelling the story so I’ll be cutting out a lot of conversations and plot sequences that has already occurred in the manga/anime. Please for those who have NOT read the book, don’t feel discouraged, give me an email and I might find a way to retype the chapter and send it to you directly with all the holes filled in.

Um… you might find that the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke is NOT a bitter rivalry of any sort. Lets just say they both respect each other and learn from one another. They may not out right say they CARE for one another but they do watch each other’s backs and fully trust one another.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Uni started again… I’ll be busier than I was before so I WILL be slowing down with my written. I know it’s not fair to you all but please; I don’t want my head to split trying to do so many things at one go. GOMEN!!

""..."" means "thoughts"

xxxxxxxx means "time passed"

((...)) Author’s interruption


Chapter 6

Monday found Naruto sitting at the local Ninja hospital early in the morning, awaiting his weekly Medical check up since being listed on the “injured” list of available Shinobis. A full month had passed since his return from the Wave country and everyone seemed to be busy except for him.

Proving himself useful, Haku had been put under more and more workload, resulting in the lessening of contact between him and Naruto. Jiraiya was still around causing havoc with the local female population, while Naruto tried his very best NOT to be associated with the Pervert Sennin at all times, especially during the day. Iruka was busy with the next batch of students at the academy and rarely have time to even go out for dinner, let alone spend time with Naruto. Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura had visited him once (Sasuke had to be dragged there) but the time spent in their presence was short and ever since, each of them seemed to have their own things to do. 

Bored out of his mind, Naruto could only hope that he proved to the doctors soon that he was fit for duty again. Even doing boring missions had to be better than staying home all the time doing nothing. Startled by the nurse calling his name, Naruto moved gracefully into the doctor’s room for his check up, hoping against hope that he’d be put in the “active duty” list again. Fortunately for him, lady luck seemed to be with him today.

After a few minutes of analysis, the doctor gave him the all clear for active duty. However, Naruto was thoroughly warned by the doctors not to exert himself too much, because his right wrist and arm was still in the healing process. If the strain put on them exceeded their limits, especially when performing dangerous Jutsus, then the ligaments and muscle tissues may well be completely destroyed the next time around, leaving Naruto paralysed in one arm for the rest of his life.

Ignoring the much-emphasized warning, Naruto skipped happily away from the hospital. Looking back at the rising sun of the morning, Naruto realised that if he hurried, he could still catch up with Sasuke and Sakura for today’s mission.

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Running towards the bridge area where his group usually met up for missions, his arrival surprised both Sakura and Sasuke who were already there waiting for their errant and late Sensei.

“Naruto! What are you doing here?!” asked Sakura in a happy but still slightly concerned voice. In the background, Sasuke merely arched an eyebrow at his entrance but the dark haired boy smirked nonetheless.

“I’ve been released into active duty again. As long as I don’t over exert myself, I’ll be fine!” smiled Naruto. Ever since his return to Konoha, it has been easier for him to smile at people, which made both him and the people surrounding him feel more welcomed and at ease.

“That’s great Naruto!” Sakura smiled sincerely. “Welcome back!”

“Hai! Hai. Welcome back, Naruto-kun.” A voice from above startled them all. The genins of team 7 looked up in surprise at Kakashi. It seems, as he’s earlier than usual today. He smiled encouragingly at his favourite team for a long time. “Well, let’s get going then.”

And for the rest of the day, Naruto had a small smile stuck on his face. No matter how insignificant and stupid the boring D rank mission was; it was still satisfying to be doing something. Although Naruto had done the least amount of work in this particular mission, he had spent most of the time analysing how far Sasuke and Sakura had come with their training.

Naruto was silently impressed, both of them had improved from their time in the Wave country, seems Kakashi-sensei had spent some time teaching them new Jutsus.

Taking a break during the mission, Naruto asked them what they had learnt. Sakura explained to him that Kakashi had been mainly focusing on teaching them what he believed were things that suited their physical and mental stamina at the moment.

Sakura, herself had been learning more Genjutsu techniques and improving her physical stamina and Chakra control so that more sophisticated Jutsus could be mastered later in time. Sasuke had been learning more elemental Jutsus, mainly of the Katan and Doton variety (Fire and Earth types).

Naruto nodded in excitement at his team member’s improvements. ""They’re really growing fast, especially Sasuke.""

When asked what he had been doing the whole month he’s been away on the “injured” list, Naruto answered that he had been very bored. Sometimes, he would purposely seek out the infamous Konohamaru Corps to find some entertainment; sometimes he would visit the Library and just spend the day reading up on history or Ninja techniques. Other times, when Haku was with him, they would spend it trading Jutsus.

“Trading Jutsus? You mean, he’s been teaching you some of his own techniques?” Sakura exclaimed and though not seeming to, Sasuke was also listening on the conversation.

“Well, not the ones supported only by his bloodline limit. So I can’t do the Special Water needles attack or the Demonic Ice mirrors but I have been learning some of the more normal Water jutsus.” Naruto answered calmly.

“Like what?” Sasuke asked for the first time, curious as to how much Naruto had grown even though he was suppose to be taking it easy while on the injured list.

Naruto smirked at him. “Not telling.” Sasuke glared back.

Actually, Naruto had been slightly busy trying to master the new Water techniques. The list of jutsus that have been taught by Haku includes: Mizu Bunshin no jutsu (Water clone), Water Dragon Blast no jutsu, Water Explosion no jutsu, and Water Barrier no jutsu. Another more unique jutsu was a combination of the Water needles attack that Naruto mixed it with air temperature (of which he is able to manipulate) and created his original “Aisu Shin no jutsu” (Ice needles attack). (1)

In exchange, Naruto had taught Haku some of his own jutsu (either taught to him by someone else or some his own creation) such as: Bakuretsu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Explosive Clone), Raiten Misu Bakuhatsu no jutsu (Lightning Water Blast), RaiKan Mahi no jutsu (Lightning Paralysis), Chiyute no Jutsu (Healing jutsu), and some common Fuiin jutsus (Sealing Jutsus) and Fuiin Kai jutsus (Seal Release Jutsus). All of which helped Haku in his new profession as a Medic Nin.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

By the end of the day, all members of Team 7 were tired and ready for a rest, all except Naruto. He had been resting for a full month and would rather spend the rest of the day training. However, with Sasuke refusing (“I’m going home.”), Sakura apologetically busy (“My mom needed my help with something, I’m sorry, Naruto.”) and Kakashi just disappearing (“I have to submit the mission report”); Naruto was left alone again. Sighing, he decided to seek out his fan club, the Konohamaru Corp.

Finding the gang of brats, they somehow managed to convince Naruto to participate in a game of Tag! Naruto didn’t even know what the game was about let alone wanted to participate in it, but somehow, he could never refuse Moegi’s puppy dog eyes. So there he was, chasing after the three brats. Though he didn’t show it, Naruto was actually very happy playing such a ridiculous game. Considering this was probably the first childhood game he had ever participated in. Since his childhood years, with no friends and family, Naruto had never played any of these children’s games mainly because nobody had wanted to play with him. Now, at least, he could indulge in these particular games and imagine as if he was still a child himself.

However, the game came to an abrupt halt when Konohamaru, not looking what was up ahead of him, ran into someone dangerous. The boy looked up from his position on the ground to gaze at the irritable look on a black clothed person. The emblem on the person’s head protector declared him one of the Sand Shinobis, same with the female companion standing next to him.

“That hurt kid! You’ll pay for that” The dark clad boy, a few years older than Konohamaru growled and picked up the scared boy by his long scarf and held him in the air. Konohamaru struggled but with his short arms and legs, he couldn’t do much to the older boy.

Moegi and Udon immediately shouted at the boy to let Konohamaru go, but when the older boy glared at them too, they quickly retreated behind a calm and composed Naruto. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the scene but decided to be civil for the time being, however, his anger was on a short leash.

“Let him go, he meant you no harm.” Naruto softly but firmly ordered the other boy.

The other boy glared at Naruto, then smirked. “And if I don’t want to?” Holding tightly to Konohamaru’s scarf, he lifted the younger boy higher as if to threaten Naruto.

“Hey. We should go, Kankuro. We don’t want to cause any trouble.” Warned the older looking girl beside the dark clad boy but he didn’t seem to be listening.

Naruto threw a shuriken quickly at the boy named Kankuro, then started performing a seal. Kankuro, seeing the shuriken flying at him at high speed, immediately let go of the hanging child and threw himself into a defensive position. He tried to use his Chakra strings to grab hold of the shuriken but to his shock, there suddenly appeared hundreds of shurikens in the air, instead of just one, and all of them were flying towards him.

“Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” yelled Naruto as all the replicated shurikens all hurl themselves at the defensive Sand Nin.

Kankuro’s eyes widened in slight fear at the number of shurikens he now had to deal with. ""There’s no way my Chakra strings can handle this! I’ll have to use Karasu!!"" But even as he thought of the idea, the female Sand Nin beside him reacted quickly.

She pulled her cloth like belt away from her waistline and released a ninja weapon that looked very much like a large fan. Once released, the female Nin held tightly to her weapon of choice, opened the fan half way and swung it in a full circle arc as she twisted her body in a full circle and finally stopped on bent knees facing her original direction.

The fan weapon created a large gust of wind that threw all the shurikens into disarray as well as the surrounding people and objects too. Udon and Moegi hiding behind Naruto grabbed tightly onto his pants, and were able to withstand the wind and stay in position. This was because Naruto had concentrated enough Chakra on his feet to keep him stuck on the ground. Konohamaru on the other hand, had been blown away by the fierce wind, but was quickly caught by a Naruto clone and also held into position until the wind subsided.

Once the wind had stopped brewing, the two Sand Nins looked up in surprise because the shurikens (after being blown away) returned to advance towards Kankuro. What the two didn’t know was that each and every shuriken clone created by Naruto were also Chakra enhanced with better control, so they will continue to advance towards their intended target, which in this case, is the dark clad boy.

Seeing that his sister’s fan had little to no effect against the Konoha Nin, Kankuro was about to get ready to unleash his Karasu when a new voice entered the fight. “Kankuro. Stop it. You can’t win against him.”

Narrowing his eyes to disguise his surprise at a new presence and watching how the dark clad boy flinched at the voice and stepped down from his battle position, Naruto released his Jutsu and all but one of the Shurikens disappeared. He commanded using his Chakra signature for that particular shuriken to disable its original order and return to him, which it promptly did. Then, moving slowly and deliberately, he gazed behind him and looked upon another Sand Nin, this one hanging upside down from a tree with a big gourd strapped to his back. ""His Chakra! It’s…. abnormal!"" Naruto concluded as he watched the exchange between the smallest, yet obviously the leader of the Sand team scold, or more appropriately, threaten his own team mates for their lack of discipline.

Accepting the nonchalant apology from the red haired Sand Nin, Naruto was surprised at how easily the other boy manipulated the sand to transport himself down onto the ground. Curious, he asked them before they left the scene: “Why are you Sand Nins here in Konoha?”

“We’re here for the Chuunin Exam. Don’t you even know?” Answered the female ninja arrogantly, but Naruto had already received his answer and let the sarcastic comment slide. He nodded in acknowledgment and turned around to start moving away, calling Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon to his side as they left, but was suddenly interrupted by the red haired boy’s inquiry.

“Wait. I am Gaara of the Sand. You? What’s your name?” The boy asked in a monotone voice.

Naruto continued on his way without pause and simply replied back without turning around to face the dangerous Sand Nin. “Not interested. We’ll be meeting each other again at the Chuunin Exam anyway.”

And with that said, both groups left on their merry way.

The next day, it was confirmed by Kakashi that the members of team 7 was nominated for the Chuunin Selection exam.

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The day after Kakashi’s announcement was the day of the Chuunin selection exam. All three members of team 7 had gathered together early that morning outside the official Ninja Academy and started to head towards room 303 for their registration.

Upon arrival, team 7 was met with a large group of people gathered around a door with the label on it stating it was room 301. Watching the commotion between two Genjutsu highlighted Chuunins and two Konoha Genins (both hiding their true potential), Naruto opted to stay out of the battle and watch from the sidelines. ""The girl’s a weapons specialist if the amount of scrolls on her with summoned weapons is any indication.""(2) Naruto smirked to himself as he watched the girl’s reaction to the two hidden Chuunins. ""Heh. Looks like I’m not the only one that actually summons weapons instead of just carrying a lot."" Looking at the other Genin, a boy in green with very thick eyebrows. ""A Taijutsu specialist, probably faster than me."" Naruto thought, intrigued.

Naruto was happy to stay outside of the commotion; unfortunately for him, Sasuke didn’t feel the same. “Get out of my way. I’m going to the third floor.” He said in an arrogant voice.

Some of the surrounding Genins looked back at team 7 in confusion. Whispered conversations of ‘What’s that guy talking about?’ and ‘uh?’ can be heard easily. Naruto shook his head in exasperation. ""It’s a good thing I got stuck with Sasuke and Sakura. If it had been some of these other Genins… God help me. I think I would have killed them before the damn enemy!""

Taking her cue, Sakura stepped in to explain. “This is the second floor, people. Or have you all not noticed?!” With that said, all members of team 7 started to move through the crowd towards the other end of the corridor.

However to all their surprise, one of the disguised Chuunins suddenly advanced on Sasuke. Sasuke in turn, reacted to defend himself; but both were quickly stopped by the green clad youth from before.

Wondering why the boy would interfere in the fight, Naruto’s own eyebrow slowly but surely arched upwards at the following answer of display. ""He… he has a crush… on Sakura!!!"" Naruto thought in pure surprise and a little bit of trepidation. ""Damn… this gonna be complicated…""

Sakura, of course, refused the invitation to go out with the boy. ""HELLO! WE’RE AT THE BLOODY CHUUNIN EXAM!!! We should be concentrating on passing the stupid exam, not on superficial infatuations!!"" Naruto thought in slight disgust and frustration, very glad that he himself had not fallen for such an ironic circumstance.

On one end was Lee (the boy introduced himself) and Sakura’s current problem; on the other, Sasuke had just practically insulted a Hyuuga. ""A HYUUGA!! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!! Sasuke! Are you trying to make a strong enemy?!!"" Naruto thought in slight panic. ""Hyuuga’s are NOT to be underestimated. No matter WHAT the circumstance!"" Luckily for poor Naruto’s sanity, both his team mates were able to break up from their awkward situations and all set off to the correct room of 301.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Upon reaching the lower floors, Naruto was surprised once again when he felt the Chakra signature of that Taijutsu Specialist Genin again, this time following his group. Slowing down and eventually stopping at the other Genin’s call, team 7 looked up at him in surprise and confusion when he challenged Sasuke into a fight.

Naruto’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance. ""What was WRONG with his team today?"" Sakura practically fainted because of a few flying kisses that the boy was giving her. ""Well, I have to admit. I wouldn’t like it either if the guy was giving me those looks…"" Naruto thought in disgust. ""But still… this is going a bit extreme, don’t you think?!""

Looking at Sasuke about to accept the challenge, Naruto decided to intervene, if only to keep his sanity and temper in tact. “Sasuke! Stop. This guy is too strong for you. He’s a Taijutsu specialist, faster and physically stronger than both you AND me.”

Sasuke looked back at Naruto with narrowed eyes, as if telling him NOT to interfere. Naruto huffed in frustration. “FINE! DON’T SAY I DIDN’T TELL YOU SO!”

Turning abruptly, Naruto started to stomp away in irritation, ignoring what Sasuke had gotten himself into. As he turned, Naruto continued to grumble to himself. “Stupid Sasuke! We only have 30 minutes before the exam even begins! Wasting valuable time fighting an opponent you’re gonna have to fight later anyway. A waste of energy too…” However, out of the corner of his eye, Naruto did watch how Sasuke fared against the Taijutsu master.

The speed difference between the two was obvious. ""Sasuke may be faster than he was before, but nowhere near as fast as that Lee boy. Even though Sasuke has the Sharingan on, he can’t catch up to Lee if his own body was not built for that kind of speed."" Naruto thought in disappointment. ""Damn! He’s just setting himself up for failure… and then I’m gonna have to deal with a depressed and arrogant bastard. Shit! This day just can’t get any worse.""

Frowning while he watched Lee perform a new and dangerous stunt, Naruto realised that the move must have been some sort of forbidden Jutsu. ""The way he moves… it must damage his muscles a lot to be making moves like that."" As Naruto watched worriedly at his friend… no,  comrade? or team-mates? He suddenly sensed another presence coming into the room.

A summoned turtle interrupted the battle and Naruto continued to stare at the interaction between turtle and Lee with a very baffled expression on his face. ""There’s no way today can get any weirder than this, right?"" As if fate wanted to torture him, atop the turtle suddenly appeared its summoner, another green clad person with very thick eyebrows. ""That’s it! I’ve officially reached my weird shit tolerance limit for the day!""(3) Naruto thought angrily.

As if to smite him, fate turned even more ironic. The interaction between the boy and his sensei (obviously) was even stranger than his interaction with the turtle, if that was even possible. Naruto’s eyebrow hadn’t stopped twitching for a while now and he didn’t think it would be a good idea to have it twitch constantly through out the entire exam.

As the man disappeared and reappeared directly behind team 7, all members of Kakashi’s team was surprised at the jounin’s apparent speed, even greater than that of Lee. Blinking in shock, Naruto realised belatedly that Lee’s Sensei must also be another Taijutsu expert, with the same amount of speed. Weary of the strange man’s relaxed pose and ignoring the man’s arrogant statement of him being stronger than Kakashi, Naruto just felt tired all of a sudden and wanted to go home and sleep his frustrations away.

However, looking back at Lee’s scarred hand just exposed by his sensei, Naruto also realised just how much the boy must have trained to get his body so fit in the first place. Looking back at Sasuke’s angry and frustrated face, Naruto wanted his team mate to understand that there are people out there stronger than them, and that these people are not to be envied. ""Perhaps this will help Sasuke with his superiority complex."" Thought Naruto hopefully.

Once the two green clad people were gone, Naruto concentrated his efforts on Sasuke. "" Knowing him, he’ll need a bit of encouragement, even though it had to come out in a very round about way"" “Looks like the Sharingan ability is useless against someone like him. And the Uchiha blood isn’t that powerful either.” Naruto said snidely.

“Naruto!” Sakura looked at him in alarm and shifted her gaze back at a visibly shaking Sasuke. “Naruto, Please! Just shut up about it!”

“Heh.. I bet you’d just get your ass kicked again if you challenged him.” Naruto continued his barrage of insults, ignoring Sakura’s pleading eyes and alarmed voice. ""Come on Sasuke, don’t disappoint me again. Channel the anger into power, but not the hate! I know you can do this. Change the anger into determination, not desperation."" Naruto watched Sasuke’s reaction carefully. “You saw it too. He must of trained harder than you. That’s all it is.”

Finally, Sasuke stopped shaking completely and smirked back at his two-team mates. “Yeah... well... It certainly will be interesting to fight him again. Let’s see what this Chuunin Exam have in store for us all.” The smirk softened into a small smile directly slightly at Naruto, a silent ‘thanks’ sent as a message through the eyes.

Naruto nodded slightly in response, acknowledging the silent thanks. “Let’s go guys.” And all three members of team 7 walked towards their destination, room 301, without incident this time.

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Upon reaching the correct room, Naruto slid the doors open but all three were shocked at the number of people participating in this year’s Chuunin exam. ""There has to be more than a hundred Genins here in this room!"" was the thought that went through all three member’s of team 7.

Staring wide eyed at all their competitors; Naruto started feeling slightly excited about the prospect of fighting all these people. ""I wonder what challenges they’ll give us…"" however, his thoughts were rudely interrupted by a female screech beside him that made him jump slightly at the unfamiliar voice.

“SASUKE KUN!!! You’re late!!” screamed a blonde haired girl at the top of her voice, currently strangling Sasuke. Naruto blinked in surprise. “I haven’t seen you in a while”, the girl said, trying to sound seductive but only managed to make Sasuke angry (if the twitching eyebrow is any indicator). “So I’ve been waiting in ANTICIPATION to see you again! I KNEW you would come!!”

“GET AWAY FROM SASUKE KUN! INO PIG!!!” screamed Sakura in retaliation. Naruto just watched from the sidelines as both girls go at it like a catfight, until he was interrupted once again by another unfamiliar voice.

“Oi. Oi. You guys are taking this stupid exam too, huh? Damn… it’s so troublesome.” Said another boy with black hair tide up in a short ponytail. Beside him, stood a rather chubby boy with brown hair, who was currently stuffing as much food (chips looks like) into his mouth as possible.

Naruto was just about to inquire who they were when he was interrupted once again by yet another unfamiliar voice directed at his teammates.

“Well, well… Seems like everyone’s finally here. All 9 of this year’s rookies are here to participate in the exam. Wonder which one of us is gonna even pass the first test.” The comment came from a boy with messy dark brown hair, with a dog on the top of his hood. Beside him stood another boy with dark glasses on and another one of the Hyuuga clan’s descendant, this time, a very pale looking girl with dark blue hair.

“Pfft. Getting scared already, Kiba?” Answered a smirking Sasuke as he finally got the blonde girl off his back.

Naruto watched the tense rivalry between Sasuke and the boy with the dog for a few seconds before finally deciding to inquire of his teammates who these people were. Pulling both Sasuke and Sakura aside for the moment, he asked them in a quiet whisper: “Who are these people?”

Sakura blinked at him in surprise. “You don’t know them?”

Naruto shook his head while Sasuke smirked again. “Of course he doesn’t. He was only here for one day at the academy before he passed into Genin.”

“Oh.” Sakura shook her surprise away and started introducing each and every one of the new Genin rookies of this year, as well as giving Naruto some whispered hints on their personalities.

“Well, this here is INO PIG!” Pointing at the still flirtatious blonde haired girl in discontent, Sakura continued. “A member of Asuma’s team 10, Yamanaka Ino is nothing but a stupid and annoying girl that…” 

“OH SHUT YA MOUTH! BIG FOREHEAD GIRL! Sasuke-kun is MINE!!!” the newly introduced Ino retaliated by sticking her tongue out. Naruto was able to conclude from their confrontation that these two girls were somewhat rivals, especially in the department of getting Sasuke’s attention.

Pushing her anger aside, Sakura continued to introduce team 10’s other members. “The one who is continuously complaining is Nara Shikamaru. I don’t know him very well, only that he isn’t one of the brightest students from the Academy and he’s also damn lazy too.” Sakura whispered to Naruto as if it were a secret. “The fat one next to him is Akimichi Chouji. Um… all I know about him is that he eats a lot. He usually hags out with Shikamaru, but that’s all I know.”

Naruto nodded in acknowledgement and looked over to the other group waiting Sakura’s explanations. “The one with the dog is Inuzuka Kiba with his dog, Akamaru. They’re both from Kurnai’s team 8. He’s an annoying idiot who thinks he’s better than Sasuke-kun (as if) and acts like he’s always the boss or something.”

Turning her attention to the other two members of team 8, Sakura paused for a moment to gather her thoughts then started her explanation again. “The boy with glasses is Aburame Shino, I don’t know anything about him except that he is a very quiet person. The girl is Hyuuga Hinata. She’s a rather shy girl and doesn’t really interact with anyone else. Oh... she also doesn’t have much self-esteem. Poor girl.”

Surprised, Naruto’s gaze once again fell onto the Hyuuga girl. ""Strange! Usually, heirs to these advanced clans are obnoxious in their pride, not this weak willed."" Suddenly noticing Naruto’s gaze on her, the girl, Hinata, started to move behind the more outgoing Kiba, trying to hide. Naruto frowned, surprised again by her obvious fear. ""If she’s so afraid then WHY is she here to take the Chuunin Exam?""

Feeling the presence of someone walking towards them, Naruto swung around to look at the advancing young man with grey hair and spectacles. “Hey! You guys! You should be more quiet!”

Naruto immediately narrowed his eyes at him. ""He’s suspicious."" Ignoring the young man’s words, Naruto analysed his body posture as well as what he could sense about the man’s Chakra abilities through the bond with the Nine tails (4). ""This man is strong. TOO STRONG to be just a genin."" Narrowing his eyes further when the man explained that this was his 7th try at becoming a Chuunin. ""His Chakra is as advance as Kakashi’s, there’s no way that this guy is still at Genin level… unless… he’s a spy… I’ll have to keep an eye on him.""

Curious about Kabuto (the man introduced himself as such) and his “Nin Info Cards”, Naruto decided to check out exactly how much information the man had when it concerned special Genins not of the Hidden Leaf, as that was what Sasuke asked about that Lee boy from before. “Hey. Do you have any information on a guy called Gaara, of the Sand?”

The man agreed and performed the same moves he had done with the card of Rock Lee. Naruto could feel his two team mates look at him in slight curiosity, wondering who this Gaara person was. Finally complete, all of the Rookie genin groups gathered around to look at this Sand genins information. What they say surprised all of them.

“Wow! Mission History: 8 C rank missions and 1 B rank mission. This kid is good, for a Genin to take on a B rank mission. I don’t have any other information on him except that he returns from every single mission without a scratch on him. This is amazing.” Kabuto commented with amazement in his tone of voice (it wasn’t faked either, as far as Naruto could tell).

“Where did you come across a guy like him, Naruto?” Asked Sasuke, now feeling more excited about the prospect of fighting a strong person like this Sand kid.

“Oh... I just ran into him the other day.” Naruto commented as nonchalantly as possible.

Sakura looked at Naruto curiously but decided not to push for questioning, if Naruto didn’t want to answer, nothing less than God himself could make him talk. Looking back at Kabuto, she asked: “Does that mean that everyone who is participating in this current Chuunin Exam is like those two Genins?”

“Yep.” Answered Kabuto honestly. “Everyone here are the elite Genins of their country, so they’re all probably very strong.”

“M…Makes you lose your confidence… I… I don’t think I want... want to do this anymore...” Hinata spoke for the first time, visibly shivering in fear.

Sakura took pity on the pale girl but understood exactly what she meant. ""We’re the rookies among all the Genins… do... do we even stand a chance?"" She thought depressingly.

Naruto looked back at the two insecure girls and frowned. “If you’re sensei’s didn’t believe in your abilities, then they would never have nominated you to partake in the Exam in the first place. The whole point that you are here and not at home means that you’ve got something in you all that your sensei’s are proud of. If you don’t believe in your ability, at least believe in your Sensei’s judgement. They probably know you better than you know yourself.”

Done with encouraging the rookie Genins, Naruto turned around to face Kabuto again. He did not notice that his words gave both the girls more confidence in themselves then they normally felt. Sakura smiled behind Naruto. ""Thank you. Naruto-kun. I know that even though you didn’t say it out loud, but you of all people believe in me... I won’t disappoint you or Sasuke-kun.""

As for the other girl, Hinata looked towards Naruto with a new light in her eyes. ""Naruto…Kun… Arigato. I… I should have more belief… in Kurenai Sensei’s judgement… and I should have more confidence in myself.""

Unbeknownst of the current developments behind him, Naruto was currently narrowing his eyes in slight suspicion as he asked Kabuto another question. “Do you have any information on me?”

Kabuto looked up at Naruto in surprise, while the other Genins all tensed slightly and gathered around even closer to look at the information present. Even Sakura and Sasuke wondered at the extent of Naruto’s ability while Naruto was only curious as to what Kabuto had on him.

Calling up the card, Kabuto looked into Naruto’s information. To his surprise, there wasn’t much there either. “Mission History: 10 D rank missions, 1 C rank mission. Team mates: Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Sensei Hayate Kakashi. I don’t have any information on your abilities at all since you’ve only been here for less than 6 months and this is your first time participating in the Chuunin Exam… Let’s see, special note… what the hell…”

Naruto narrowed his eyes at that little special note placed by the side of the card. ""DAMN IT! WHY THE HELL IS THAT THERE!!??""

Kabuto told the rest of the group what was written in the card uneasily, since he had forgotten about that little note he had written to himself on this specific candidate. “It says here you’ve been the unofficial student of one of the legendary three Sennins - Jiraiya-sama, for the past 6 years.”

All the eyes of the other Genins widened in shock and looked at Naruto in awe, while he, himself was thoroughly annoyed at how that information was leaked out in the first place. ""No one is suppose to know about that at all!"" His eyebrow twitched continuously. ""When I find out who leaked that information, I’m gonna kill them…""

Just them, a big burst of smoke appeared from the front of the classroom. Once the smoke cleared, it revealed behind it a group of Advance Chuunins (5) all ready and waiting to start the first stage of the Chuunin Exam. The Examiner for the First Stage was Morino Ibiki, a very harsh man who immediately commanded complete attention from all the Genins.

Following the instructions given by the Examiner, all the rookie genins of the leaf were separated when they were seated according to the number they drew out of the box (6). Naruto found sat at his seat #53, next to the Hyuuga girl and an unknown leaf Genin who is a lot older than both him and Hinata.

Settling down, he gave the girl… ""HINATA… I’ve got to get use to these people! It’s not that they’re virtual strangers or anything! Hell, we’ve already been INTRODUCED!"" Naruto gave Hinata an encouraging smile and she blushed in return then turned away from his scrutiny. Naruto could only blinked in confusion. ""What did I do??? I hope I didn’t scare her or anything."" (7) Sitting down, Naruto turned his attentions away from Hinata and looked towards the front of the room where the Examiner was currently writing out all the rules to the written exam.

“Um… Naruto…kun?” A soft voice from his right side spoke to him. Moving his attention away from Morino back to Hinata, Naruto was surprised to see her face still slightly red. “Um… good luck... Let’s do our best, ne?”

Naruto gave her a confident smile and replied back in a whisper. “Nothing to worry about. This will be easy.” She nodded in return and both of their attentions were once again directed at the front where the Examiner had just finished listing out all the rules.

""Let’s see… A subtraction point system… seems easy enough. Team event, duh... why do they think we could only enrol in teams... Now this is interesting… Be a proud Ninja, huh? If I didn’t know better, I’d think Morino is actually egging us on to try and cheat. He must have a reason for that. And that final rule is obvious. There can’t be any losers in a team effort or else the entire team suffers. Logical enough.""

Naruto, sure that he had deciphered all there is to decipher from the test rules, began flipping over his test and looked at each question in detail. ""Hm… this is certainly interesting."" Naruto smirked as he could feel many people in the room tensing after they’ve read all the questions. ""No Genin would be able to answer all these questions... so there must be a plant here somewhere.""

Deciding to take his time, Naruto looked through all the questions again, confused at question number 10, but leaving it for now. He completed all the ones he could, using all his background knowledge gathered from more than 6 years of travel with Jiraiya, but even that only gave him about four or five answers to the 9 questions left.

After completing all the ones he, himself, knew the answers to, Naruto started looking around the classroom to see what everyone else is doing to cheat their way through the test and not get failed by a loss of points. He was very surprised at the amount of jutsus and skills being deployed in the room. There were a huge variety of techniques currently in use and the range of skill levels could tell you immediately who were at the Chuunin level and who weren’t.

""Gaara… he’s doing something really weird with his Chakra and sand that I just can’t quite understand, oh well. Heh. That Kiba kid is using his dog… Just how in the hell can a dog distinguish the answers from a page of writing, I will never know. That Shino guy is using… hm… bugs?"" Naruto thought curiously.

""Damn, those Byakugans of the Hyuuga’s gave them so much leverage it’s almost unfair!"" Naruto grumbled to himself but then started thinking about what his own team members would be doing. ""Sasuke has probably figured it all out by now, he’ll be using his Sharingan to copy all the moves of one of the hidden Chuunins in the room. And Sakura is smart enough to not need to cheat… so that only leaves me... What to do? What to do? Decisions. Decisions.""

Tapping a finger on his chin as a sign of thinking, Naruto brightened suddenly when an idea struck. ""I wonder how many people in this entire room will even recognise the Jutsu I’ll do. I don’t think many people have seen it before. Well, it’s worth a shot."" Closing his eyes in concentration, Naruto dropped both of his hands underneath the table and quickly formed a complicated seal. Releasing his breath, Naruto silently activated the Jutsu. At the same time, a lot of his Chakra escaped his body and start moulding the air around him to create a replication, in the Astral plane, of himself.

""Heh... let’s see if anyone even noticed.""

Hinata tensed when she felt a large amount of Chakra leave Naruto’s body. She discretely used her Byakugan to see what he was up to, but what she saw only confused here even more. ""What is that Chakra doing?"" She thought as she watched the enormous about of Chakra just stood still in the air. It wasn’t moving at all or doing anything physical. Soon however, the Chakra ball (or that’s what Hinata came to call it) started flouting away from Naruto. It began travelling from row to row, moving through people, chairs and tables alike as if it couldn’t be felt or seen, stopping now and then beside someone writing and then moving on. ""Just what is that thing?"" Hinata thought exasperated.

At the front of the room, Morino Ibiki narrowed his eyes. One of the Chuunins sitting by the side also caught his eye and sent him a silent message in question. ‘What did that kid do? I saw the hand seals but nothing happened!’ Morino looked back at the calm and complacent Naruto, looking to the world as if he was waiting for his present on his birthday. ""That... was a Ki Bunshin.(8) I haven’t seen one of those in almost 20 years!"" Indeed, the Ki Bunshin is not a technique native to Konoha, in fact, it’s a very rare technique only taught to ninjas belonging to only one strand of Hidden Village, the Hidden Air Village (9). ""This is not a technique Jiraiya-sama would of known. Just how did Naruto get to learn this technique?""

Looking around the room, Morino noticed that a lot of the Elite Chuunins in the room had also noticed Naruto doing the seals, but not deciphering the effects of the Jutsu. Morino smirked. ""Heh... to be able to play us Chuunins and Jounins so well, the kid has got guts, I’ll tell ya that!"" Looking around the classroom, Morino also detected a few people noticing the Jutsu but not the effects. ""Sasuke Uchiha and his Sharingan won’t be able to copy this Jutsu, no matter how much he wants to. The Hyuuga’s are confused as hell to watch such a ball of Chakra flouting around the room. And… that Sand kid, he also noticed the Ki Bunshin but probably doesn’t know what it does.""

Naruto, on the other hand, was thoroughly enjoying himself watching all the confused gazes being flipped around by the Chuunins. Yes, he was very satisfied, almost patting his back for a job well done. ""This is fun. But let’s get back to business, shall we."" Silently, he commanded his Ki Bunshin to return to him. Slowly, Naruto lifted his pencil and got ready to write in the answers of the questions he were unable to answer before hand. Listening to the invisible Ki bunshin standing beside him narrate all the answers, Naruto quickly jotted them down on his page. Once all 9 questions were answered, he silently released his Ki bunshin and felt his Chakra return to its rightful place, within his own body.

Finally, with all the available questions answered, Naruto waited patiently for the final question to be given out. Soon, the time had come for Morino to present this mysterious final question but Naruto immediately narrowed his eyes as Morino added a rule to the question. ""There’s no way he can do what he says! He can’t make a person lose their right to ever become a Chuunin! It’s preposterous!"" Standing his ground, Naruto watched in shock and disappointment at all the weak minded people who slowly but surely left the exam. ""WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE!? HAVE THEY NO FAITH IN THEMSELVES AT ALL!!""

Naruto watched in silence as people began to flitter away, leaving only a few Genin teams left in the room, possessing the confidence to risk the final question. ""No matter what, I am NOT going to back down! No way in HELL! I’m going to pass this stupid CHUUNIN EXAM and then I’m GONNA AIM FOR HOKAGE! I’m not going to be stopped here!"" Naruto thought angrily.

Finally, when all those who wanted to leave had already left, Morino paused for a moment of suspense before suddenly declaring to everyone that they passed the first stage of the Chuunin Exam. Naruto blinked in shock as many of the others in the room retaliated and demanded an answer to their questions.

It seems, there never was a question 10 to begin with. Naruto grinned to himself. ""I knew there was no way he could create that ruling!"" But his relief was vanished when he felt a new presence flying towards the classroom at top speed. Ducking slightly to avoid the pieces of glass flown about due to the impact of that unidentified flying object (UFO) smashing its way through the window, Naruto was stunned by the entrance of none other than the second examiner, Mitarashi Anko-sama.

Blinking back his shock, Naruto and the rest of the examinies slowly drudged behind a very energetic Mitarashi Anko towards the location of the second Chuunin exam. Though still conservative, even Naruto had to admit his excitement at finding out their next exam would be held in the Forest of Death. It was the forest itself that he was looking forward to. On the contrary, been forced to stay put for a month and a half, Naruto was all for it when it came to more combat and ninja battles. He was starting to get rusty anyway.

((End))


(1) The Water needles attack is strictly Haku’s, but Naruto understands the concept of how it is done and he mixes it with his other techniques to create the “Ice needles” attack. The Ice needles is very similar to Haku’s but it takes longer to do because you have to collect the water molecules first then freeze them before you can use them. The good thing about this attack is that it is invisible. Naruto is STILL unable to do the water needle attack and he will never be able to learn that technique but with the Ice needle attack, he has come pretty close to copying Haku’s technique.

(2) Sorry, this might sound very much like Shattered Illusion, but I can’t help it. I apologies in advance to the author of Shattered Illusion for stealing her idea, please don’t sue me!

(3) “Weird Shit Tolerance Limit”! Copied from one of the chapters in Demon of Justice, a Gundam Wing story by Mel and Christy, one of my favourite stories. I’m really sorry for copying your idea and even the exact words but I absolutely loved how ironic the phrase sounds and it just fits so perfectly into this story. I apologies again, so please let me get away with this one, please!?

(4) Will be explained later. As you guys probably guessed, Naruto and Kyubi have already met under other circumstance and have come to some kind of compromise. I won’t spoil it here but I will give you a hint. Kyuubi and Naruto has made some kind of deal in which Kyuubi no longer need to interfere with Naruto’s life, however, this agreement has also left Naruto free rein over the use of Kyuubi’s original Chakra.

(5) When I say “Advance Chuunins”, all I mean is that the Chuunin is quite powerful, close enough to become a Jounin, but lack enough experience or expertise, stuff like that. I’ve always thought that for a Chuunin, Iruka and Mizuki were rather weak, so I’ve kept those two Chuunins as normal Chuunins, while Chuunins (namely the ones in the exam) are called Elite Chuunins or Advance Chuunins. 

(6) Um… you don’t actually SEE the box but lets just say that’s how they pick their tabs, okay? nn;;;

(7) Hurray for all the NarutoXHinata fans!!! Yes, HERE is where Hinata finds herself STARTING to form a CRUSH on Naruto, but this NARUTO is probably JUST AS CLUELESS as the original, especially when it comes to his own love life. He’s not stupid! By NO means is my version of Naruto stupid.. he just doesn’t expect anyone to like him… in that way, that’s all. I mean, with a childhood as his, he’d be more suspicious than ever, but currently, he’s just a bit dense, that’s all. n_n

(8) “Ki Bunshin” or “Chi Bunshin”, based on but different to the “Chi Bunshin” in the story Return of the Unforgettable, wonderful story, that one. A must read if you ask me. I apologies to the Author of Return of the Unforgettable if I’ve used your term without your permission, but this is very different from the one you used in your story, only using the same name. Gomen ne! Oh.. The effects of this version of Ki bunshin will be explained later. n_n Please be patient!

(9) Again, a name based on the story Return of the Unforgettable! Please don’t be angry at me, I swear this version of the Hidden Air Village is very different from the one used in Return of the Unforgettable! The “Air” in this sense actually means “ku” in Japanese or “Kong” in Chinese (which means “Empty” or “Space” all at the same time nn;;). The village itself will be explained later when my OC comes.

This was a damn loooooonnnnngggg chapter. Well. Give me a short break before I start the next one okay. n_x

Um… more questions:

During the Preliminary Third Chuunin Exam, Sakura Vs Ino, do you guys want Sakura to win? Or lose? Or draw? (keep in mind that she’s different from the anime/manga)

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