Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Return of the Bijus ❯ Jounin Exams Part 1 ( Chapter 2 )

A/N: Ok, time for the second installment. I'll get straight onto the questions/comments/reviews:

 

Conceptor: YES! GODLY WRITER!!! Thanks :P

 

Sabboth: Yeah, I was starting to think something was wrong with his brain. I thought Lee and Gai had some sort of Uber Rare uncurable disease that turns you into a shouting, hyperactive, green spandex wearing retard. Just my two cents, but eh. Thanks for picking me up on that too.

 

Solar Guadian: Glad you enjoy it.

 

MagusKyros: Thanks.

 

Naruto's-Shandow: Thank you. Good to hear you'll keep reading.

 

catastophy: Thanks. Glad you like the pic. Saya's a very tallented girl, as I have told her many times. If you're reading this Saya, HALLO!!!!!!!!

 

Grey Grog of the Leaf: You went hyper while reading my fic? O.o Ok, well good to see you enjoy it.

 

Shinku Naito: Oh Kami, that was even more... Gai/Lee like then they are... 'Shudders'...

 

NekoGuyFan: Yo, don't feel pressured because I update at inhumane speed. I have all day every day to write these, unlike you, which gives me a huge advantage. The majority of my time is split 50/50 between 'information gathering' of the non perverted kind, mainly research, and the other 50 is spent writing. Update only when you're sure it won't impact on your education. I made the mistake of doing the exact opposite, and ended up with only decent grades in the finals with practically no study, and now I'm paying for it.

 

White Alchemist Taya: Knights are cool. I used to be able to kick knight's asses all the time, except for my guild's main tank, he was a monster of a knight. Genko Hayate did die in the anime, however, in my story, all the Jounins were informed of it, and Kabuto had already escaped Orochimaru's clutches, meaning the meeting never took place, meaning there was no one to spy on. After seeing episode 101 of the anime, are you sure that Kakashi has a normal face? Especially after the way that Ayami and Teuchi looked at him? Also, I'm definitely going to refrain from doing anything Lee-like again.

 

God in a box: Lol, being annoyed by your brother? I know EXACTLY how you feel. Tell me, is your brother younger or older than you? My younger brother's a pain in the ass.

 

BTW, Prepare to see everyone's favorite jutsu this chapter, but used in ways you never immagined possible. If you don't think it fits in this story, too bad. I think it suited the moment perfectly.

 

As always, I hope my creativity gives you some semblance of pleasure to read.

 

Legend:

 

'...Thoughts...'

 

“...Japanese...”

 

“...English...”

 

'...Biju Thoughts...'

 

“...Biju Talking in Japanese...”

 

“...Biju Talking in English...”

 

&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&

 

The Return of The Bijus:

 

Chapter Two:

 

Jounin Exams, Part 1:

 

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Next Morning, at the Hokage's Office:

 

Just before addressing the Chunins who had assembled, Sarutobi had assessed Sora's skills and decided to register her as a Chunin, just to make sure that Team Seven could compete in the Jounin Exams. After this, the Hokage entered the waiting room and stood in front of all the hopeful Jounin exam applicants. All Chunins, reguardless of whether or not they wanted to take the exam or not were required to attend. Around the edge of the room were the Chunin's former Senseis. Yukiko looked at the Jounins and noticed a few new ones. One of which caught her immediate attention. He had white hair, with a rather lanky body and he wore glasses. He looked at Yukiko, smiled and waved. Yukiko couldn't contain herself any more and latched herself onto him, causing him to grin sheepishly at the attention he was gathering from the others. Yukiko disentangled herself and smiled at him before going back to Naruto's side, waving as she did, mouthing 'we'll catch up later', to which Kabuto nodded. The Hokage began adressing them.

 

“Greetings ladies and gentlemen. As you know, the yearly Jounin exams are upon us again. I would like to know if you wish to compete this year. I presume that the former Rookie 10 won't compete this year-”

 

At this point, the Hokage was interrupted by Naruto.

 

“Oi! Who said we weren't competing, old man? Everyone was waiting for us to get back so we could compete.”

 

This caused murmurs to start. They had not competed since they got the rank of Chunin. Was this really the reason they were not competing the past 4 years? Eventually, the murmurs died down, and the Hokage looked to the three former rookie 10 jounin senseis.

 

“Do you agree to let them participate?”

 

Each of them nodded, and the Hokage's assistant scribbled the names down on his clipboard. Once the other Chunin team had been taken account of, the Hokage nodded and took a drag of his pipe.

 

“For those of you who do not know how the Jounin exam works, or for those of you who want a refresher, I will explain. There will be two parts to the exam this year. The first part is always a local test to see if your team is up to scratch. The second test is exactly like the final test of the Chunin exam; namely, a battle royal in front of a stadium full of very important people. However, this battle will be done in teams of five instead of one on one. The first test we use is watching over this semester's first Chunin test, which will be held in a week from today. I'm sure you all remember the assistants that were used to check if you were cheating? Those 'assistants' will be you this year. We will not make our marking system public, but we will let you know by the end of the test if you will be allowed to pass onto the finals. The judges will decide who becomes a Jounin in the finals. Be warned, only 10 of all entrants will be promoted, and it will not necessaraliy be a whole team. Are there any questions?”

 

Narturally, Naruto's hand shot up and the Hokage sighed.

 

“Yes, Naruto?”

 

“Do we have to wear those stupid grey jumpsuits?”

 

Naruto's friends snickered at this attempted ice breaker. The Hokage sighed and took another drag, making Yukiko wonder about his health.

 

'I'm surprised he hasn't died from the effects of chain smoking yet...'

 

“Yes Naruto, you have to wear them.”

 

Yukiko was brought out of her line of thought by the Hokage dismissing them when he saw there were no more questions. They had the rest of the week off to train/rest or whatever. Naruto motioned Sakura and Sasuke over to him and they walked out of the Hokage's office towards their old training area. Naruto looked thoughtful.

 

“Brings back memories, doesn't it?”

 

Yukiko, Sasuke and Sakura nodded in agreement. Finally, Naruto turned to his team while removing some things from his pocket.

 

“Guys, when we were in the west, we got armour parts that will respond only to your chakra or someone who doesn't have a hostile intent towards you. While we were getting ours made, we managed to get some for you. The guy who made them was really smart, and he was somehow able to figure out the differences between your chakra and mine by our descriptions. Sakura-Chan. This is yours.”

 

Sakura caught an object wrapped in cloth that Naruto lightly tossed to her. She looked at Naruto in question before he smiled, giving her the signal to unwrap it. Once she had, she saw an odd piece of silver metal that had a very natural shaped curve to it. She flipped it over to see the main part of it was almost shaped like a rectangular pyramid, ending in a lime green lense of some sort. She looked at Naruto in confusion, who smiled.

 

“It's a Genjutsu amplifier and dampener. It will amplify your own Genjutsus and dampen enemy ones. I remember you had really good Genjutsu capaeabilities before we left, so I was kinda counting on the fact that you developed them further. Try it.”

 

Sakura raised it to her eye and gave an 'eeep' as it made a sucking noise when it stuck to her head. Naruto laughed at her.

 

“It's ok, Sakura-Chan. It's just clamping itself to your head so it won't fall off. If you want to get it off, just do what you would to dispell a Genjutsu. The guy who made them for us said you would understand how it works when you try it.”

 

Sakura decided to try a simple Genjutsu, and was supriosed at the fact that it only needed a quarter of the chakra she regularly needed to do it, while still maintaining the effectiveness of the normal version. She stopped it and stared at Naruto in shock.

 

“They have these sort of things in the west?”

 

Sora shook her head.

 

“All of these pieces are pretty much one of a kind. Prototypes, if you will. However, they work perfectly.”

 

Sakura nodded dumbly, as Naruto turned to Sasuke.

 

“Sasuke. Picking a piece for you was damn hard. I finally narrowed it down to two pieces. A gauntlet like mine, or a Genjutsu piece like Sakura's. Eventually, I figured it would be more practical to get you a specialised Genjutsu headpiece which specialised in fighting the Mangekyou Sharingan. I described the effects to the guy who made ours, and he was baffled at what I described and went researching the records of all Genjutsu users in the west. The weird thing was there was a Genjutsu user who had the ability to warp time in the target's mind and do things simmilar to the Mangekyou Sharingan about 160 years ago. Luckily, all Genjutsu users in the west since Kami-Sama knows when were required to explain to the research institute how their Genjutsu worked before they were allowed to use it because of an incident that is top secret that involved Genjutsu going wrong. This allowed the guy to make a Genjutsu headpiece specifically for when we kick your brother's ass. It can still work with normal Genjutsu, but just wait 'till you try it on Itachi.”

 

Naruto handed another headpiece to Sasuke. However, unlike Sakura's, this piece was pitch black, and it had a crimson red lense. Sasuke smiled at Naruto and hugged him.

 

“You really know how to choose the right presents for others, don't you Naruto?”

 

Naruto grinned sheepishly as Sasuke pulled back and Sakura latched on.

 

“Thank you so much, Naruto. I've been training with a lot of people after you left; Kabuto-Sensei trained me in medical techniques, while Kurenai-Sensei and Anko-Sensei trained me in Genjutsu. This is perfect.”

 

Naruto nodded and hugged Sakura back. He looked around to see Gaara nad Hotaru approaching. Naruto waved to them as they joined up, and they began talking about everything and nothing at the same time. Finally Gaara stood up, causing everyone to look at him.

 

“I've asked the Hokage if we can leave for Suna by midday. I've also requested that you all come with us to see us off, to which he agreed to.”

 

Naruto jumped up and ran off, yelling things like 'what are we waiting for?' and 'let's go!'. Everyone sighed as they headed to pack their things up and get ready to leave.

 

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About Midday, at the South Gate:

 

Naruto and his friends had assembled to escort Gaara and Hotaru home. Once they had left, they set a good pace towards Suna, reaching it in 3 days. When they were there, they saw that Kankuro, Temari and Baki had come out to meet them. Obviously, the Hokage had told them when to expect them. Gaara ran at Temari and latched onto her, which caught everyone but Naruto, Yukiko, Hotaru and Sora by suprise. Gaara looked up and smiled at Temari.

 

“It's good to see you again, Temari.”

 

Temari nodded dumbly, still trying to accept that her brother had initiated a HUG. Gaara turned to Kankuro and smiled.

 

“Good to see you to, Kankuro.”

 

Gaara settled for a hand shake for Kankuro, before he turned to Baki.

 

“Baki-Sensei. I trust you are well?”

 

The sand siblings and Baki were now more confused than ever. Temari turned to Naruto and glanced at him fearfully.

 

“What did you do to our brother?”

 

Naruto smiled a very toothy grin at them, causing them to raise their eyebrows.

 

“Well, you wanted me to bring him out of his shell, so I did. Trust me, you haven't seen half of it yet.”

 

Gaara smirked at them.

 

“Oh, by the way, I'd advise you not to turn around.”

 

For some strange reason, their minds made them turn around, only to cop an exploding paint can in the face, which Naruto, Gaara, Yukiko, Hotaru and Sora laughed at. Everyone else was completely stunned at the fact that Gara had pulled a prank. Gaara gave Naruto a high five.

 

“That's another 20 points to me, Naruto. I'm catching up.”

 

Naruto chuckled.

 

“You still have a long way to go until you catch up with the king of pranks, Gaata.”

 

At this point, Temari turned around, litterally FUMING at Naruto.

 

“WHAT. DID. YOU. DO. TO. GAARA?!?!?!”

 

Naruto laughed.

 

“Be careful what you ask others to do. When you asked me to pull him out of his shell, I found that like me, he was a natural born prankster. Naturally, I developed it to rival my own-”

 

At this point, Naruto felt three sets of killer intent washing over him. Naruto sweat dropped and decided right about now would be a good time to run, however, before he had a chance, Hotaru sighed and walked over to Gaara, putting her hand on his shoulder.

 

“I'm actually rather thankful Naruto did that. Otherwise, Gaara would still be unreachable.”

 

Gaara smiled as Hotaru hugged him, causing the still surprised people to practically faint. Naruto grinned and chuckled.

 

“Oh yeah, I forgot to say that I completed the other part of your request to. I managed to get him out of his shell enough so that he could find a girl he likes.”

 

Temari sighed. She begrudingly admitted that Naruto had done everything she had asked him to do, down to the letter. However, she made a silent promise to herself to watch how she worded her requests to Naruto from now on. She sighed as she looked over herself. Yukiko giggled and looked at them with an innocent smile that her friends knew hid very uninnocent intentions.

 

“Would you like me to get rid of the paint? Cleaning up after Naruto's and Gaara's pranks meant I had to learn Jutsus to help deal with the mess.”

 

The three of them nodded, and Yukiko began forming hand seals before announcing her technique.

 

“Suiton: Teppodama!”

 

Yukiko shot three large, but weak blobs of water at each of them, completely drenching them. As she had said, it removed the paint perfectly, but it left them completely soaked. Naruto, Gaara and Hotaru laughed at the spectacle while Yukiko and Sora resorted to giggling. Temari growled as she detached the fan from her back, making everyone alert. She spread it open and released a gust of wind at them. Naruto and his friends body flickered out of the way. Gaara and Hotaru arrived by Baki's side while Naruto and his friends were a safe distance away. Naruto waved and yelled out to them.

 

“We'll see you two at the Jounin Exams, right? I would come and shake your hands, but I think your sister wants to kill us right now. See you soon!”

 

With that, they ran off back towards the direction of Konoha, leaving a fuming Kankuro, Baki and Temari to stomp back into the village. Naruto turned to his friends and smiled at them.

 

“Wait for it... Wait for it...”

 

Sakura and Sasuke looked at him like he had just sprouted another head, but then they all heard what Naruto had been expecting.

 

“NANI?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T DO THE PAPER WORK?!”

 

They were a fair distance away from Suna by now, but due to the sheer volume of the voice, they could tell that Gaara was VERY peeved. They turned back to see the giant Tanuki towering over Suna staring intently at one particular place.

 

“YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT? I DON'T CARE! PREPARE FOR YOUR PUNISHMENTS!”

 

Naruto saw that the Tanuki was forming a tora seal. Naruto thought for a second before he broke out into a barely suppressed giggle, knowing exactly what was coming next. There was a gleam in the Tanuki's eye as he announced his technique.

 

“KONOHAGURE INSEN TAIJUTSU OGI: SENNIN GOROSHI!!!”

 

Naruto, Sora and Yukiko laughed so hard they lost their footing and landed face first in the sand as they saw a tiny black speck fly into the distance after the Tanuki launched him with the 'Uber Super Ass Poke'. They started rolling around laughing to their heart's content at the spectacle. Sakura looked at them, not understanding what was so funny about it, but actually thinking it was rather disturbing. Sure it was slightly amusing, but was it really this funny? Sora turned to Sakura.

 

“We...HAHAHAHA... We made a bet... Whether Kankuro and Temari had done the paper work by the time we got back... HAHAHAHAHA... We all bet against Hotaru and Gaara... If they won, we'd clean the public Konoha bathrooms for a week. If they lost... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... They had to clean the Suan ones for a week... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

 

Sasuke and Sakura burst into laughing besides them. Eventually, they managed to recover enough to slowly limp back to Konoha due to a lack of breath from the laughing fit. Soon enough, they had recovered enough to set the same pace they had come to Suna with.

 

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Day of the Chunin/Jounin Exams:

 

Everyone from Konoha who was participating in the Jounin exams were waiting ot see who the first examiner would be. After a while, the doors opened and they saw the examiner walk in. Everyone was surprised. The man wore a white Gi, black kilt and had long black hair with only the last part of it tied together by a piece of material. However, his most shocking appearance was his eyes. Pure lavender eyes. Naruto laughed, recognising the man immediately.

 

“They couldn't have picked a better person if they tired. Going to give them another of your speeches on fate, eh Neji?”

 

Neji smiled and laughed with Naruto and his friends.

 

“Indeed. If you ladies and gentlemen wouldn't mind, I'd like to get this underway. I assume you've all been breifed on what you can and cannot do?”

 

They all nodded and Neji motioned everyone to come to where he was. They lined up behind Neji in two rows. They all formed half a ram seal and 'poof'ed next door where the Genin were. Neji shouted out to the Genin to catch their attention, not that any of them hadn't noticed the huge explosion of smoke at the front of the room already.

 

“My appologies for keeping you waiting. Everyone line up and take one of these tabs and sit in the place the tab shows. You have 2 minutes to do so. Those of you who have not reached your seat by this time will be failed along with your teams! MOVE IT!”

 

The Genin predictably scrambled to grab a number, but managed to somehow maintain some form of order. Once they had all taken their seats, Neji noticed they had 3 seconds left to spare. He smiled cold heartedly at them.

 

“My name is Hyuga Neji, and I will be your examiner for the first test. There are some basic ground rules that you WILL follow at all times. I will explain these only once, so shut up and listen. I will write them on the board as I say them. Remember, if you question me or my fellow examiners, I will fail you and your team IMMEDIATELY!”

 

By now, the majority of the Genin were quivering in fear. Neji began writing the rules up on the board. The rules were exactly the same as the Chunin test they had all taken together. He turned back to them and stared at them, grinning evilly. By now, the other Chunin in the room had taken their seats as Neji explained the final rule.

 

“As you know, you have 10 points. Each time you're caught cheating, we will subtract two points from your score.”

 

Naruto nodded and grinned sadistically at them, deciding to scare them a little more.

 

“Remember, we see EVERYTHING you do.”

 

Naruto, Yukiko, Sasuke and Hinata opened their eyes to reveal they had engauged their Doujutsus. The Genini now were completely scared out of their minds. Neji tapped the chalk on the board and smiled evily at them.

 

“You have 45 minutes to complete the first nine questions. BEGIN!”

 

Not a single student failed to comply. Right of the bat, Naruto caught someone cheating, and marked it down on his paper. Soon enough, Naruto had caught someone cheating five times. Naruto picked a Kunai out of his pocket and hurled it at the boys, paper, causing everyone to stop and stare. The boy stood up.

 

“What... What the hell are you doing?”

 

Naruto grinned showing off his fangs.

 

“I caught you cheating five times. You and your teammates fail. Get out.”

 

The man obviously had some fight left in him as he sneered at him.

 

“Prove it.”

 

Naruto laughed.

 

“As you wish, gaki.”

Nartuo charged forward and picked the boy up, continuing without breaking his stride and slamming the boy into the wall, causing a crater. Everyone was on the verge of losing their sanity as they saw the waves of blood red chakra rolling off the Chunin.

 

“I'm a Chunin. This is a tiny fraction of the power I can bring out. If you think you have what it takes to be a Chunin, then do you think you can match up against my friends and me? If not, then leave. If you are foolhardy enough to think you can, then I'll show you how weak you really are.”

 

Naruto let the boy slump to the floor when the boy made no move to attack. Naruto checked his clipboard, letting his chakra fade away. He looked up.

 

“Number 37. Fail. Numbers 41 and 120 Fail also.”

 

Naruto returned to his seat. Shortly after, Yukiko pointed to a boy from the Grass village.

 

“Number 15. Fail. Numbers 78 and 94 fail too.”

 

The room was quickly losing it's occupants. The test still had 10 minutes to go and there was only 13 teams left. The others were good enough to cheat without being as painfully obvious as the others. The Chunins knew what they were allowed to define as cheating and what they couldn't, so they let it slide. Finally, 45 minutes had passed and Neji tapped the chalk board again.

 

“It's time for the final question. However, you must decided if you want to take it.”

 

One girl shouted out.

 

“What the hell do you mean take it? Of course we will!”

 

Sasuke laughed, causing the Genin to turn to him.

 

“You forgot the very first rule. Read the board, Usuratonkachi.”

 

The girl looked at the board and saw the the first rule. 'Never question me, or you will be failed immediately.'. The girl slumped and Sasuke called out their numbers before they left the room. Neji turned back to them.

 

“As I was saying, you have to decided whether or not to take it. If you don't, your teams points will be reduced to zero and you will be failed. However, should you decide to take the test and answer the question inncorectly, I will personally bar your team from taking the Chunin exams for the rest of your lives!”

 

The Genin only just contained themselves from screaming out and having themselves failed. Neji laughed evily at them.

 

“If you are even the slightest bit uncertain about taking the question, then I suggest you leave. There is after all, always next year to try again. I may not be your examiner next year, you never know. Anyone wish to resign?”

 

Everyone in the room were shaking from the stress. Finally, one man raised his hand and managed to get his voice to work.

 

“I... I can't do it...”

 

Sakura looked up and noticed his number.

 

“Number 68. Fail. 32 and 132 also fail.”

 

The pressure was on. After about 30 seconds, another person raised their hand and kept it there. Kiba smiled.

 

“Number 5. Fail. Numbers 63 and 59 Fail also.”

 

They left the room. Finally, one boy slowly raised his hand, however, Naruto noticed something. Just as Ino was about to fail him, Naruto sent a signal that meant stop what you were doing to the examiners. Neji smiled at the boy.

 

“Giving up?”

 

The boy slammed his hand down on the desk and stared at Neji.

 

“THE HELL I'M GIVING UP! I'LL TAKE YOUR STUPID QUESTION! EVEN IF I FAIL, I'LL WILL MYSELF TO BECOMING THE NEXT KAZEKAGE!!!”

 

Everyone in the room looked at the kid in pure and utter disbelief. Neji nodded and all the Chunin's agreed. Neji turned to the boy and smiled warmly.

 

“Reminds you of someone, doesn't he?”

 

Lee nodded.

 

“Those were the exact word's Naruto-Kun used when he was posed with this question. Know what the response he got was?”

 

They turned to Lee, who pointed to Neji.

 

“I'll let the examiner say it.”

 

“You all pass.”

 

The Genin froze, unsure if they could question Neji. Neji smiled at them.

 

“Since that technically meant this exam is over, I guess you guys can ask me any questions you have without repucussions.”

 

The boy who claimed that he was going to become Kazekage had one.

 

“Anosa.... Could you explain the meaning of this test?”

 

Neji laughed.

 

“Sure. I think my fellow examiners could explain it better than I could.”

 

Ino stood up.

 

“I'm sure you're all wondering why we said you pass for agreeing to take the question right?”

 

The Genin nodded dumbly.

 

“In a sense, the tenth question was the choice to take it or not. Both options had dire consequences. Don't take it and fail immediately.”

 

Chouji stood up.

 

“Or take it and risk being a Genin forever. It was one of the types of decissions you will be expected to make frequently should you become Chunin.”

 

Hinata stood up and continued.

 

“As for the first nine questions, they had their purpose. This test was practically two tests in one. The first nine tested your information gathering skills.”

 

Shino stood up.

 

“Those of you who cheated poorly were cleaned out, because their skills were lacking.”

 

Kiba stood up.

 

“If we really wanted to, we could have failed every single team well and trully before the 10th question, as at least one member of each team was 'caught' cheating 5 times.”

 

Sakura stood up.

 

“However, our skills are at least Jounin level, meaning we had an unfair advantage. However, we marked the people down who cheated poorly, and they were booted out.”

 

Sasuke stood up.

 

“The ones left cheated with a decent level of efficiency, meaning that you posses Chunin level information gathering skills.”

 

Sora stood up.

 

“Now the 10th Question was the true purpose of the test. Should you be promoted to Chunin, you will be faced with many life or death choices.”

 

Naruto stood up.

 

“For example, should you be be promoted and you recive a mission to infiltrate an enemy base, where the number of Ninja, how well armed they are and their techniques are completely unknown, can you decline it simply because of the unknowns?”

 

Neji finished for them.

 

“The answer is NO! There will always be missions you cannot avoid as a Chunin, and those of you who think it's fine to throw away today's certainty for tomorrow's uncertain future, should resign as Ninja. Those fools have lost the honour of wearing their villages' hitai-ate, that's how we feel. Congratulations to all of you for passing the first part of the Chunin exams. We wish you all luck in the upcoming tests.”

 

They all started feeling prowd of their achievements, which they should, until the door was blown off it's hinges and a flash of green came through the door.

 

“DYNAMIC ENTRY!”

 

The Genins stared at the boy in complete incomprehension as to what they were seeing. Naruto laughed.

 

“Still haven't lost your lack of tact, Lee.”

 

Lee smiled as he surveyed the room before smiling to Neji.

 

“It seems our generation was truly gifted with the passion of youth. When we went through this test, 26 teams were left. By the end of the second exam, I'll have this number cut down by at least half. Seems there won't be any need for preliminaries this year. I am the second examiner, Rock Lee, Konoha's beautiful azure beast. Please meet me at the Forest of Death tomorrow morning for the second test! YOSH! YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHTLY!”

 

The examiners waited until the Genins had left the room before they burst out into pearls of laughter . Naruto smiled.

 

“I wonder who will be worse. Anko or Lee?”

 

Neji smiled at the prospect.

 

“They're both as bad as each other, but in their own ways.”

 

At that point, the Hokage walked into the room and smiled. They got up and bowed to the Hokage.

 

“I must commend you all on a job well done. We have been monotoring the entire test, and the results will be available for your viewing tomorrow on the wall outside room 24 in the Academy.”

 

With that, the Hokage walked back outside, muttering something about 'hooligans' and 'vandalism' as he saw the state of the doors. Naruto decided to invite the remains of the former Rookie 10 to his house to discuss the upcoming matches. As they walked outside, Naruto saw the boy from Suna who had immitated him perfectly, and Naruto walked up to him. The boy looked up at him. The boy had short brown hair that formed a mess of spikes on top of his head. He had hazel eyes and a slightly lankey body. He wore black pants with a red t-shirt. Naruto smiled down at him.

 

“Hey there. You're the kid who said he was going to become the next Kazekage right?”

 

The boy pouted and turned away.

 

“If you want to put me down for my dream, then I don't want to hear it.”

 

Naruto laughed.

 

“When did I say anything about shooting you down for your dream? I acutally think it's a great dream to have.”

 

The boy looked at Naruto in shock.

 

“You... Do?”

 

Naruot nodded and smiled.

 

“Yeah, Infact, I want to be the next Hokage. That's my dream. So work hard at it, alright?”

 

The boy nodded and smiled brightly at him. Naruto liked this kid.

 

“Say, what's your name?”

 

“Kyo. Akita Kyo. What about you?”

 

“Uzumaki Naruto.”

 

Kyo smiled and waved as he ran to catch up with his two team mates.

 

“I'll see you later, Naruto!”

 

Naruto waved at him as he dissapeared around a corner. Yukiko took that moment to hug Naruto from behind.

 

“His personality is the splitting image of you when you were younger...”

 

Naruto laughed and turned around, before hugging her properly.

 

“Yeah. He'll go far...”

 

At that point, the rest of the Rookie 10 and Team Gai had approached. Neji stopped in front of the others.

 

“Not interrupting anything, are we?”

 

Naruto laughed.

 

“No, just some quality time together.”

 

Neji laughed as Naruto and Yukiko broke apart. Naruto looked at everyone.

 

“Shall we get going? I'm sure among us, we can cook enough food to feed us for lunch. I'm all for helping out. I might even cook some food I learnt to make in the west.”

 

Everyone who had not come with Naruto looked at him in interest. Kiba spoke his mind.

 

“What sort of stuff were you thinking of?”

 

Naruto thought for a moment.

 

“Hmmm... Maybe some toasted jaffas, sandwiches and hash browns.”

 

Yukiko and Sora groaned. Ino looked at them in confusion.

 

“What are... Hash Browns?”

 

Yukiko sighed and rolled her eyes for dramatic effect.

 

“They were Naruto-Kun's favorite food in the west. They're mostly considered a breakfast only type of food, but Naruto would eat them as regularly as ramen if he had half a chance...”

 

Naruto pouted in mock anger before leading them through the village to their home. Once they reached the front doorstep, the people who had not seen their house yet, namely Kiba and Ino stood in shock.

 

“This is your house?”

 

Naruto nodded.

 

“I was like that when we first got it to. It's my dad's old house, so please try not to trash it too much.”

 

They nodded and walked it. Naruto went to the kitchen and saw that the deep frier that he had commissioned the day he got back had been installed. Yukiko checked the window sill to see that the western vegitable trays were still there and that the vegitables were all fine. Naruto turned back to them and smiled.

 

“Alright, who wants to learn how to make western food? It's really easy, even for me!”

 

Hinata stepped forward. Hinata had grown a lot during the 4 years away. 'She basically looks like she does in the manga after the time skip.' She had also apparently lost her stutter.

 

“I'd like to try.”

 

Sakura decided to try her hand as well. Naruto turned the heat on for the deep frier and went to the fridge and pulled out a square block of pure fat. Kiba uncounciously began drooling.

 

“Is that... Fat?”

 

Naruto nodded.

 

“A block of pure fat. Although this is not what you're going to be eating.”

 

Naruto dropped it into the water and watched the fat hiss and bubble, letting off a dilecious aroma. 'If you've ever smelt boiling fat, you'll know what I'm talking about.' Yukiko motioned for Sakura and Hinata to come over to her so she could begin to teach them to cook. Naruto turned to Sasuke and smiled at him.

 

“Sasuke, could you take everyone into the living room? I'll bring some drinks out in a bit.”

 

Sasuke nodded and they followed him, however, Kiba stayed behind. Naruto raised an eyebrow at him.

 

“Want to learn how to cook hash browns? Trust me, you won't regret it.”

 

Kiba shrugged his shoulders and walked up to Naruto. Naruto looked at the fat in the water.

 

“I have to go make everyone a drink and then get the potato out of the fridge. If the block of fat melts, call me ok? By the way, if you stick your hand in there, you'll lose the ability to ever use it again.”

 

Kiba nodded dumbly and watched the block of fat slowly disolve. Naruto had pulled out some bottles of various types of soda ranging from creaming soda right through to a western drink he particulalrly liked called cola. Naruto poored the drinks and put them on a tray before making his way out to the living room where everyone was waiting. Naruto put the drinks on the table and everyone looked at them then at Naruto who smiled.

 

“The brown stuff is a western drink called cola. It's extremely sweet and fizzy. The red one is called creaming soda, also a western drink. I was told if you put ice cream in it, you get a type of desert called a 'spyder'. I've had one and it was rather interesting. The orange stuff is just your regular soda from around here. The non fizzy clear liquid is just plain water and the fizzy one is lemonade. None of them will kill you, I can assure you.”

 

Neji decided to be bold and go for one of the 'cola' drinks. He took a sip and swallowed while everyone looked at him expectantly.

 

“Not bad. Naruto wasn't kidding when he said it was sweet.”

 

Everyone one at a time took a drink. They all decided that they could get used to drinking it. Naruto decided to put some music on, and he went to the sound system stored in the cupboard on the side of the room. Naruto unconciously put on one of his favorite songs, Almost Dead 'This is a real song, and I don't claim ownership for it.'. They others stared in disbelief at the odd noises coming out of the speakers. Naruto looked back at them and shrugged.

 

“I got bored of eastern music. This is a type of western music called grunge. Very... Angsty. I like it though.”

 

Shino looked at Naruto.

 

“Naruto. My bugs find this music disturbing.”

 

Naruto sighed and changed it to some soft rock. Ino smiled when she heard it.

 

“Different, but I like it.”

 

The others either agreed with her or showed it was acceptable. At that point, Kiba's voice came from the kitchen.

 

“Oi, Naruto! The fat's just melted.”

 

Naruto smiled at them before dissapearing into the kitchen. Naruto saw that Kiba was right and decided to give him some simple instructions.

 

“Kiba, you see that dial on the front of the deep frier?”

 

Kiba pointed to it, looking up to see if he was right. Naruto nodded before continuing.

 

“Can you please turn it slightly to the left? Each time you hear a click, it's changing the temperature by 10 degrees celcius. Can you turn it exactly 6 clicks to the left?”

 

Kiba turned the dial exactly six clicks to the left and let go, waiting for the next set of instructions. Naruto pulled a bag out of the freezer with markings on it that Kiba had never seen before.

 

“Oi, Naruto. What's with the markings on the bag?”

 

Naruto looked at the bag and smiled.

 

“That's the langauge they use in the west. It's called English.”

 

Kiba nodded and Naruto ripped the bag open to reveal frozen ovaloid shaped pieces of white mashed stuff that Kiba guessed was the potatoes. Naruto looked around and found what he was looking for. Naruto pulled the metal container that was made out of a very widely spaced lattice of metal wires towards him. This one seemed to have multiple layers to it. Naruto turned to Kiba.

 

“This is easily the hardest part of cooking them. Each hash brown has to sit on it's own separate tray, or they'll get stuck together. So you put one on each layer and then you put the strainer into the oil and hook it up so you don't have to hold it there. Now all you have to do is leave it for 2 minutes to cook.”

 

Naruto looked down and set the timer for two minutes. Naruto watched the timer count down until it got to 10 seconds. Naruto didn't know if this was going to have one of the timers that are found on all industrial deep friers or a calmer one considering this was a lesser one. He called out to everyone.

 

“Guys, if you hear an alarm, just ignore it ok?”

 

Naruto heard a chorus of 'ok's from the living room. Sure enough, as the timer reached zero, a shrill alarm went off and Naruto sighed as he pressed a button to stop it. Naruto then pulled the strainer out and showed Kiba the finished hash browns.

 

“That's all there is too it.”

 

Naruto put the hash browns on a plate and slapped Kiba's hand away when he tried to pinch one. Naruto turned to see that Sakura, Hinata and Yukikoad prepared a few plates of jaffas and sandwiches. Naruto looked at Kiba.

 

“Kiba, could you bring the drinks out?”

 

Kiba nodded and gathered the drinks up and brought them out to the dining room which opened into the living room. Yukiko called the others over.

 

“Guys, lunch is here.”

 

Everyone grabbed their either empty or near empty glasses and sat down at the dining table. Obviously, the table was meant for large gatherings, as they all had a seat. Naruto pointed to a stack of plates that Hinata had brought out.

 

“Grab a plate each and grab something from the other plates. All of these types of food are meant to be eaten with your fingers, but you can use these if you want.”

 

Naruto brought out knives and forks, which everyone stared at. Sora chuckled.

 

“They're the west's eating impliments. Instead of chopsticks, they use kinves, forks and spoons.”

 

Sora, Naruto and Yukiko grabbed a pair of knives and forks each and pulled a jaffa, hash brown and a sandwich onto their plates. Everyone decided to follow their example. Everyone said their usual 'itadakimasu' and began eating. From the first bite, everyone noticed the food was filling. VERY filling. Yukiko smiled at them and explained.

 

“In the west, they believe in quality over quantity. Most of the food is full of fat, meaning you eat less and still remain full. The yellow stuff that is on most of the jaffas and sandwiches is called cheese.It's considered a staple in the west. It consists of about 70 percent fat.”

 

They took this information in and just managed to eat everything. They enjoyed the meal over friendly conversation. When the conversation got onto relationships, Ino turned to Yukiko with a sly look in her eyes.

 

“So, Yukiko. When's the big day?”

 

Yukiko and Naruto blushed. Before Yukiko answered.

 

“We're not sure yet. We're also not sure if we should hold it in Konoha.”

 

They all understood why. There were still a small group of people who hated Naruto and Yukiko. Naruto smiled.

 

“Even if we can't hold it here, Gaara insisted we have it in Suna. Naturally, all of you would be welcome to come.”

 

They took this in and remained silent for a mement, considering the possiblilites. After almost a minute, Naruto threw his hands up in the air.

 

“There's no use worrying about it now. When it comes closer to the time, we'll worry about it. Until then, we'll just enjoy ourselves.”

 

Everyone nodded in agreement and started discussing what should be done if they were to get to the finals.

 

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