Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Way We Change ❯ The Test Begins ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter Five

It was a straight shot through River Country due Northeast from Suna to Konoha. As the party traveled farther north and out of the desert the climate started to change. The humidity rose and the temperature dropped.

The first time they had taken the Chuunin Exams in Konoha it had been late spring. This time it would be early winter. Though it rarely snowed in Konoha, it did get colder during this time of year. They all felt the chilly winds on their faces on the last day of the journey as the great gates of Konoha loomed out of the forest. The gates stood open as was normal during the day and the ten shinobi entered their home village.

"Ah... it's good to be back, ne Sakura-chan?" Naruto said as he stretched his arms above his head.

"Yeah. It's still nice to travel outside the village sometimes though. But I guess you've been doing that for the last two and a half years huh?"

"Yup. Hey let's go get ramen from Ichiraku! I'm starved."

Sakura knew he wouldn't leave her alone until she said yes, so she she sighed and relented under the condition that it would not be a date. He agreed and they said goodbye to Kakashi and Gai's team. Tsunade left to return to the Hokage tower and Jiraiya snuck away suspiciously in the direction of the baths once she was gone. Shikamaru strolled away lazily to find his team.

Naruto grinned happily as he and Sakura walked slowly toward Ichiraku. There was a surprise waiting for them when they got there.

"Ah! Kiba! Shino! Hinata-chan! Hey guys!" he called out to the members of Team 8 minus Kurenai. The three had taken to eating in town together regularly after training. Naruto suddenly blinked in bewilderment. "Holy crap! Is that Akamaru!?" he exclaimed. The once cute puppy that had ridden in Kiba's jacket for as long as Naruto could remember was now at least three feet tall at the shoulder. Considering his size though, he was still cute and puppy-ish. Kiba himself had ditched the hoodie in favor of fitted black pants and a black jacket, and even less of Shino's face was now visible than before due to a high collared coat, a hooded jacket and the usual sunglasses. But Sakura smiled at Naruto's reaction to the member of Team 8 that had changed the most, if not outwardly.

Hinata had grown a few inches taller since Naruto had last seen her. Her hair was no longer cropped short in the back, but was long and draped over the back of her chuunin vest which she wore over a long-sleeved purple shirt. She liked the vest very much. Her father had grown so proud of her when she had received it. He and Neji had even started training her in the more advanced techniques of the Jyuuken style as well as helping her to further develop her own style. But most importantly, she had gained a bit more self confidence since Naruto had recognized her during the mission to find the Bikouchuu.

Hinata immediately blushed and smiled when she saw Naruto. "Hello N-Naruto-kun," she said.

"Hey Hinata-chan! I haven't seen you in so long! You're even a chuunin now! You look great!" Naruto obviously had no idea of what such a compliment would do to her and she immediately started stuttering incoherently.

"Hey, hey, Naruto!" Kiba shouted. "What about us!? Don't we look stronger too? Me and Akamaru are chuunin too." Naruto scoffed and stuck out his tongue.

"Maybe Akamaru. But you still look as weak as ever Kiba!"

"Look who's talking! Aren't you still a genin? Its been so long. Where have you been eh, Naruto?"

Naruto brushed off the genin comment in favor of telling them all about where he had been with Jiraiya and the mission to save Gaara. Kiba whistled in awe and complained about not having been assigned to help as well. Sakura added her parts of the story where necessary and the five teenagers ended up spending a good few hours at the ramen shop trading stories about what had happened in Konoha while Naruto was gone.

"Naruto," said Shino, who had up till then, said nothing other than 'hello'.

"Hm?"

"You are going to enter the Chuunin Exams this time correct?"

"Yeah. I was away for so long that I've gotta catch up with you guys."

"You were being trained by a Sannin. I'm sure you have enough strength to pass, but don't forget to work on strategy. Remember that Shikamaru was the first one of us to become a chuunin and he forfeited his match in the finals."

"Don't worry! Ill pound some sense into him!" Sakura shouted as she pulled Naruto into a headlock.

"Ahh! Sakura-chan! Come on! I didn't put up with the old pervert all this time for nothing! Owww.... let go!" he wined.

"So you learned some sense from him eh, Naruto?" Sakura asked mockingly. "Not just how to be an even bigger pervert?" Naruto pouted indignantly.

"No! I learned stuff from him! And I'm not a pervert!"

"Sure. And the Sexy no jutsu is a super non-perverted technique right?"

"Hmph," he pouted and crossed his arms stubbornly.

"N-Naruto-kun... um..."

"Eh, Hinata-chan?"

"What are you going to do about a team?"

"Huh?"

"Ah, clueless as ever," Kiba sighed. "You have to have a three man cell to participate in the exams, right? Sakura's the only other one on your team and she's already a chuunin, so you cant take the exam with her."

"He's right," said Sakura. "You'll have to combine with a team that's already had one of their members become a chuunin."

"So I'll be on a team with people I don't even know?"

"Yeah. Sometimes they have to rearrange teams just for the exam. But its only temporary," she said. "If Kakashi-sensei knows that your gonna take the exam, he'll find a team for you."

--

As it turned out, the team Naruto was placed with consisted of two other boys who were a little over a year younger than him. The only girl on the team had graduated at the previous exam (which had also been their first exam) in Amegakure, the village hidden in the rain. She wasn't talkative, but she was a good leader and could keep both her teammates in line without too much trouble. Naruto wasn't so lucky. He didn't have the patience for the other two and nearly three days were spent simply trying to get along with them.

The first was Takero, who came from a small clan called the Nokeda clan, which was know for talent in genjutsu. He had sleek brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail and light brown eyes with a fairly pleasant demeanor. The other was named Naota and he came from the Owaru clan. He emitted a cool, detached aura, always calm and seemingly disinterested. His clan was known for espionage and silent killing. In accordance to his family's chosen area of expertise, he wore all black and his jet black hair was cut short for practicality. Naota loved to be able to blend in and work undetected. The only unique feature about him was his eyes, which were a striking ice blue. Their unusual color sometimes made him more distinguishable in a crowd and it bothered him a little, but he still generally managed to remain covert and that was how he liked it.

At first they had mocked Naruto because he was older than them and still a genin. Naruto practically exploded in anger and told them he had been training with one of the legendary Sannin for two and a half years. He then proceeded to rip right through the bark of a huge tree with a Rasengan, sending the top of the tree crashing to the forest floor.

That shut them up.

Takero and Naota soon realized what an asset Naruto was. Firstly, he had taken the exams in Konoha before. The exams differed in Amegakure so without him they wouldn't have known what to expect. Secondly, he was replacing their other team member, Sonata Chihiro. She was usually the one in their team with the strong ninjutsu attacks and Naruto could certainly compensate for her loss.

With the knowledge of the exam that Naruto brought with him, they were able to devise a strategy for the first part of the test. Takero and Naota pounded strategy and planning into his brain for days before the exam.

Once Naruto had gained their respect, the three boys became friends. Takero took to calling Naruto "Boss" while Naota called him "Naruto-sempai."

There were twelve teams participating from Konoha. Ten teams had been sent from Suna as well as five from Hidden Rain, two from Hidden Grass, and one from Hidden Waterfall. And for the first time in years, Konoha had invited teams from Hidden Cloud to participate as well. A few years ago, a new Raikage had been elected and the political strife between Konohagakure and Kumogakure had abated drastically. Two teams from Hidden Cloud were sent as a gesture of good will.

Sakura, the Rookie Nine, and Gai's team all came to wish Naruto good luck on the day of the first exam. Sonata Chihiro and her jounin sensei came to support Naota and Takero.

The first part of the test was the same as it had been when Team 7 had taken it, but Ibiki was not proctoring this time. Instead it was none other than Shikamaru who stood at the front of the exam hall explaining the rules.

The plan that the three boys had developed worked extraordinarily well. First Naota used his skills to determine which of the test takers were plants. Once that had been established, he signaled silently to Takero, who was sitting several seats to Naota's right and two rows down. Then Takero used one of his clan's advanced genjutsu techniques. Since genjutsu primarily worked with the senses of the brain, Takero could connect his sense of vision to that of one of the fake test takers in the examination hall. Once he did that he cast an illusion in front of Naruto and Takero's eyes so they could see what he saw. All that was left after that was to copy the answers and wait for the trick tenth question. Needless to say, the first part of the test was a snap for the three boys.

Of the twelve teams from Konoha, seven teams passed the first part of the exam. Five teams from Suna passed along with two of the teams from Hidden Rain, both teams from Hidden Cloud, one team from Hidden Grass and the one team from Hidden Waterfall.

The boys soon found themselves standing outside the gates of the Forest of Death. Anko was proctoring again. She seemed to enjoy sending kids to their possible demise.

All the teams filled out safety waivers in exchange for a scroll. Takero hid their Heaven scroll in his pack. They were stationed at gate 36 and when the signal was given, they took off.

--

"Aw geez! It's been three whole days and we still haven't found a team who still has their Earth scroll!" Naruto cried in frustration.

"Chill boss," said Takero. "We just have to wait for Naota to find one."

"Yeah. How long has he been gone anyway?"

Takero glanced at his watch. "About two hours. He should be back soon."

Takero and Naruto sat in a small clearing in the space between two gigantic gnarled trees, sipping water from their canteens and waiting for Naota to return. They had agreed it would be Naota's job to find a team that had an Earth scroll using his stealth skills. Then the three boys would attack together.

"Hey guys," said a cool voice from behind them. Takero and Naruto turned to see Naota, slightly sweaty and covered in grime (just like the rest of them), but with a smile on his face. "Good news. I found a team with the scroll we need. They're from Hidden Cloud. They're close by."

"Great! Let's go!" Naruto shouted. The three boys were gone in a flash as they took to the trees.

Naruto saw the three Cloud genin first. They were sitting in a clearing, apparently resting. There were two boys and a girl. The girl had long dark hair held in a ponytail and one of the boys had short, spiky, blue-grey hair and a stern face. The other had short wavy black hair. The three Leaf nins crouched in a tree, listening.

"That was lucky that we found that team back there with an Earth scroll, eh Monji?" said the girl to the boy with the blueish grey hair.

"Ehh, but we still have to find a team with a Heaven scroll to replace the one we lost, Haruko," said the boy with the short black hair. She sighed and leaned back against the tree. Takero shifted in his seat on the tree branch and the blue-grey haired boy's head shot up.

"Did you guys hear that?" he asked.

"Huh?" asked the girl.

"Damn, they heard us," Naruto cursed. "Takero, do it now." Takero nodded and formed a few seals. The sight of the forest floor blurred and shifted as the illusion started to take effect. The black haired boy swayed on his feet and fell over with a thud, hitting his head on a rock.

"Ameru!" cried the girl as she tried to move to help her comrade, but the illusion was effecting her senses and disorienting her, slowing her down. The boy called Monji quickly put up a seal in front of his face.

"Kai! Release!" he shouted. "Haruko! Release the genjutsu! We're under attack!" The girl quickly made the seal to release the illusion and raced to stand over Ameru's limp body protectively, kunai in hand. Suddenly Naruto, Takero, and Naota burst from the trees and separated. Takero and Naota went to surround the girl and her unconscious companion while Naruto faced off against the boy called Monji. The girl, Haruko, tried valiantly to defend herself against Naota and Takero but she was outnumbered. She pulled out several blades and some good taijutsu moves, but while Takero distracted her from the front, Naota came up behind her and knocked her out with a clean blow to the back of the head. She fell, and Takero chivalrously caught her and laid her next to her other teammate.

"Haruko! Dammit!" Monji cursed. Takero and Naota knew they could leave Naruto to finish the job. Naruto charged head long towards Monji and swung his fist. Monji dodged and gripped Naruto's shoulder with one hand while making seals with the left.

"Lightning Style!" he shouted and electricity coursed from the Cloud-nin's hand and into Naruto's body. He screamed before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"A clone!? Damn! Where'd he go?" Several Naruto clones suddenly appeared and two skidded under Monji and kicked him upwards. The other clones joined in in the aerial assault.

"U!"

"Zu!"

"Ma!"

"Ki!" they shouted as each one landed a kick. Two more clones came from above and kicked simultaneously.

"Naruto Rendan!!" they shouted and Monji was delivered two powerful blows downward. He hit the ground with a sickening thud and the sound of breaking bones rang through the air as a crater formed from the impact of the body.

"Uuuhhgh," he moaned and shakily got to his feet, cradling his broken ribs. Naruto began to charge again.

"Wait! Stop!" he cried. "You... you won. I cant win against all three of you. Please..." he slowly fished the Earth scroll out of his pouch and tossed it to Naruto, who caught it with one hand. "...just take the scroll and let me get my teammates out of here..." The boy limped slightly over to his two comrades. Naota and Takero backed away cautiously as Monji gathered his two fallen teammates and slung their arms over his shoulders.

"Hey, kid..." Naruto called. The boy turned slightly to look at him. "That lightning thing was pretty cool. I bet you guys will pass the next exam if you don't make this one." Monji looked at Naruto strangely. "Come on Takero, Naota, let's go." They nodded and made their way over to him. Naruto took one last look at the Cloud shinobi before he leapt into the trees. Traveling in the direction of the tower, Naruto couldn't help but feel like the fight hadn't been very fair. Their opponents had been weakened from a recent fight. Then again, that was probably why Naota had picked them. Fighting a stronger opponent could have resulted in injuries. Besides, the job of a ninja was to accomplish the mission in the easiest and fastest way possible. It may have bothered Naruto a little, but in the end that's all there was to it.

It took several hours to reach the tower. There were still two days left of the test and Naruto, Takero, and Naota had no choice but to wait. Naruto practically went stir crazy with nothing to do and no ramen to eat. The only way to pass the time was with a deck of cards Takero had brought, but Naruto got tired of playing Go Fish very, very, quickly. His only recourse was one of his old favorite hobbies: pranks. The old favorites came back in full swing; water buckets and erasers in doors, and trip wires that could hang a ninja from the ceiling by his ankle if he wasn't careful. Most of the ninja in the tower were skilled enough to avoid the traps but there was still a collective sigh of relief when the five days of the test were up and Naruto stopped pranking people.

And so, Naruto, Takero, and Naota found themselves lined up in front of chuunin and jounin proctors including Shikamaru. Naruto tuned out the Godaime's speech since he'd heard it from the Third before and took the time to scan the people in the room. Only four teams had made it out of the forest; his own, another Konoha team he didn't recognize, one from Suna, and one from... Naruto did a double take. There was Monji and his team. Monji was supporting his ribs, and it looked like the girl had broken her arm, but they had somehow managed to get two scrolls after Naruto's team had attacked them. They had apparently just made it under the time limit and Monji's hair was matted with dirt and leaves. Naruto realized that Monji was glaring right at him.

There were only four teams this time, which meant preliminaries would not be necessary.

Once the Godaime's speech was over, ANBU squads escorted the teams out of the forest. Shikamaru went along with Naruto. Sakura, Lee, Ino, and Chouji were waiting for them outside the forest.

"I'll see you guys later!" Naruto shouted and waved as Takero and Naota left, before walking over to join Sakura and the others.

"Well I see you guys got through the second part of the test ok, eh Naruto?" said Sakura as they began heading back towards the village.

"Yup," he grinned. "Now all that's left is the finals."

"H-hello Naruto-kun," said a soft voice.

"Oh hey, Hinata-chan!" he cheered, bounding over to her. Sakura was pleased to see the girl wasn't stuttering as much around Naruto as she used to or fiddling with her fingers. Her hands were still held up in front of her body, but she wasn't poking the fingers together or averting her eyes from Naruto's gaze. Naruto, you have no idea how much you've helped her.

Naruto began telling Hinata all about what had happened in the Forest of Death and she listened with a smile on her face. Then Inner Sakura got an idea. A wonderfully devious idea. She would play match maker. Inner Sakura cackled evilly. Muahahahah! They'll never see it coming! Ok maybe they will, but it wont matter! By the time they realize it, it will be too late! Buahahaha! While Sakura was plotting deviously, Hinata had gone home and Naruto came over and interrupted her inner dialogue.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, you in there?" he asked, waving a hand in front of her face. She snapped back to reality.

"Oh... ah, heh heh. Sorry Naruto, I zoned out. So, what were you and Hinata talking about?"

"Oh, the exam, random stuff..." He linked his fingers behind his head and squinted up at the sky with a contemplative look on his face. "Is it just me, or is Hinata-chan more... I dunno... different?"

Yes! Time to put my plan into action! Inner Sakura ranted to herself. "Well... while you were gone Hinata got a lot stronger and more confident. She's really proud of being a chuunin now and she looks really good in that chuunin vest, ne?"

"Yeah, I guess," he said as he cocked his head to the side.

"Plus, you know, she's a really nice person."

"Well I knew that."

Haha! You are falling into my trap Naruto! "And she always listens."

"Yeah."

"You should ask her out."

"Eh!?!?" He turned to her in astonishment.

"Yeah. I think you should do that."

"But, but... what... Hinata-chan doesn't..."

"Well you'll never know if she does or not if you don't ask. Just ask her to go get ramen with you or something." He scrunched up his face in deep thought, scratching the back of his head.

"Well... I dunno... maybe..."

"Well, see ya later Naruto!" she shouted suddenly and began walking briskly toward her home.

"Huh? Oh... see ya Sakura-chan!" he called after her. He could have sworn he heard her laughing maniacally as she sprinted away, but he must have imagined it. He slowly headed back to his tiny apartment with a lot of things on his mind. Hinata was one of them, but before he could worry about that, he had to concentrate on what was coming in a month. The Chuunin Exam finals. He smiled to himself. In a month he would become a chuunin.

------

Ah, there you have it. And you guessed it! The minor pairing will be Naruto/Hinata! Yay! They're so cute together.

I'm sorry this chapter was pitifully short. I apologize. Wow... I made Inner Sakura psycho O.o By the way, "sempai" is a respectful term for an upperclassman or someone older and more experienced.

Anyway, next chapter will have Gaara! Yay!!

Please read and review! It makes me squee, not to mention write more.