35Author's Note: Well if this chapter is up it must mean people liked the first chapter, which was more or less a prologue. It served the purpose of setting the stage, so to speak. I hope that this chapter will kick things off.
Disclaimer: Naruto and Co. are the exclusive property of Masashi Kishimoto.
Rise of the Uzumaki: Fall of Konoha
Chapter Two: The Academy Graduation Exam
Naruto didn't like his current situation. It was dangerous, that much he knew, but it was necessary. He knew he would die if he was caught, but if he didn't finish his current task he would be punished so badly he'd wish he was dead. He chanced a quick glance around his cover and pulled his head back before he was seen.
'Okay, looks like I haven't been noticed, yet.' he thought, hands trembling in apprehension. Reaching into his kunai holster, he pulled his equipment out and steeled himself to finish his objective. 'Calm down, you can do this.'
He began a mental countdown. Five. He made sure his target didn't suspect anything. Four. He calculated the distance to his target and did the guess work in his mind for how much strength he would need to use, also taking into account all the variables such as wind speed and direction. Three. He made sure there were no witnesses able to see him; for if there were, even if he was successful in his task he'd be punished severely. Two. He reviewed his escape plan, making sure he would be able to leave safely. One! He leaned out of cover and threw the item in his hand, the object flying perfectly toward its intended target.
Upon impact, it went into a series of explosions, startling the target, who yelped and flailed around in his position, trying to find the cause of the commotion. In his panic, the man failed to notice the numerous pairs of eyes that had settled upon his form, or the shrieks that followed. He did however feel the killing intent directed at him. As if sensing his life was in danger the man slowly turned, his eyes closed as a smile inched onto his face.
"Hello, ladies." he said optimistically, as if doing so would prevent the punishment that he was sure to receive. The women bellow him were not as optimistic.
"Hentai!" yelled a towel clad pink haired girl before she threw a bucket at the white haired man hiding in the tree branch above the public bath.
From his position outside the public bath's entrance, Naruto grinned. "Mission success."
"That was very cruel of you, Naruto." muttered the white haired elderly man as he walked beside the blond, his cheek swollen from where Sakura had punched him. The blond teen shrugged, his arms crossed behind his head.
"I told you a million times not to peep on Sakura-chan, Ero-Jijii." Naruto replied, ignoring the calls of some of the store vendors trying to sell him things.
"It's not as if I went in to peek on her specifically, she just happened to show up." Jiraiya defended himself honestly for once. It was mere coincidence that the rosette had showed up, but Jiraiya wasn't going to cut his research short just because his godson's friend had showed up. Especially once he saw her in nothing but a towel. "She has quite the ass, though, if I do say so myself."
Not amused, Naruto glared at his godfather, though his blush diminished its effect greatly. The man chuckled at the blond's reaction.
"Why so defensive, anyways? She's not your girlfriend. In fact, if I remember you guys aren't even all that close anymore." judging by the way Naruto turned away, Jiraiya figured he had struck a chord.
It was true though. Naruto and Sakura had had somewhat of a fall out almost a year ago. She wanted to spend her time pampering herself with Ino and he had begun training more seriously, seeing as their last two years in the academy had become much more combat oriented, and the last half year had been spent completing E-rank missions to build experience in dealing with customers. He still remembered the fight they'd had before they stopped being friends.
- Eight Months Ago –
Naruto sat in the public training ground behind the Hokage Monument. He was resting under a tree after his latest training session, his bare chest heaving as he panted, and his blond hair clinging to his face due to his sweat. He had been practicing a new technique and had thus far been unsuccessful.
'Why is this so goddamn difficult? I learned the Kage Bunshin in less than an hour so why can't I perform the Shuriken Kage Bunshin?' he pondered, running his hand through his hair in aggravation. His father had told him that making shadow clones of non-living objects was difficult, but he had declared he would learn it as easily as he had learned the Kage Bunshin. 'I suppose I learned that so fast because the main obstacle most face when learning it is the need for enough Chakra to supply them with.' he figured, expelling Chakra out of the palm of his hand like it was nothing.
Had someone seen him, they would have complimented him on having such remarkable control of his Chakra, even though that was not the case. His chakra control was lousy, by his master's standards. The only reason he was able to accomplish the feat was because he had so much abundant Chakra. Thus it was not unexpected when his very first Shadow Clone came out perfect.
The Shuriken Kage Bunshin, however, required much more precise Chakra control in order to prompt the inanimate object to replicate itself using his Chakra. Too little and nothing would happen, too much and the shuriken would simply morph, as if it wanted to replicate but was stuck together, sometimes resulting in multi-pronged shuriken.
'Shuriken that I have no idea how to revert back to normal.' he thought bitterly as he leaned backwards in defeat. "Stupid academy, making us pick a Chakra control exercise."
In truth, no one was making him learn the technique; he had been the one to pick this particular Jutsu to help him refine his control, figuring that the increased difficulty would allow him to reap better results. Most of his classmates had opted to learn tree climbing while others were learning wire control or other forms of Chakra control. He had refused to learn any of those, instead proclaiming he would learn something much more difficult. The instructors knew better than to try to talk him into following the curriculum by now so they allowed him to do as he pleased. In the end he always managed to keep his word, though it appeared he might not this time.
"The deadline's in three days and I still haven't even executed this technique once!" Sapphire eyes stared at the tree that provided him shade, tempted to ask his master for help but refusing to look week. With an aggravated sigh, he sat up, ready to continue his training when he heard someone call him from his right.
"Naruto-kun!" he heard Sakura's voice, the kunoichi in question standing a couple of meters away. "Are you busy training?"
Naruto shook his head, his blond hair shaking slightly as he did so, and he motioned her over. The rosette complied after gaining permission, having grown weary of approaching him suddenly as he was often training with his Shadow Clones and they typically used her to get him to surrender, sometimes by taking her captive, much to her irritation.
"What's up, Sakura-chan?" he asked when she was close enough. The girl blushed slightly as she took in his appearance before regaining her composure.
"Nothing much. I'm just bored since everyone's still practicing their Chakra control exercises." she shrugged, leaning against the tree he was under. "Just came to see if you wanted to hang out."
Naruto glanced at the girl quickly—noting in the back of his mind how much she had grown in the last eight years since they began the academy at the age of six—reminded that she had chosen to learn the tree climbing exercise and had mastered it within an hour. Sakura, unlike Naruto, had perfect Chakra control, sometimes revered by their sensei as the model of a perfect student for her intelligence and ability to grasp the knack for any of the Jutsu they had taught throughout their years at the academy. Her only drawback was that she seemed to have trouble building her chakra reserves.
'Probably because she spends her time worrying about her looks when she should be training.' Naruto thought, though he didn't dare voice his opinion. "So what have you been doing this whole week?" he asked instead.
Sakura cast him a quick look before sighing. "Nothing really, just running errands for Okaa-san, mostly." she responded, sighing. "What about you, still working on how you're going to upstage Sasuke-kun?" her question made him grin.
After his master had taken him under his wing, he had instructed Naruto to stay out of the spotlight at all costs; don't excel but don't be a failure, for that could bring him just as much unwanted attention. Just be another run of the mill ninja. At first, Naruto had tried to follow his order, but that began to become more and more difficult when Sasuke-or Teme-had begun to taunt Naruto with his successes, baiting him to try to surpass him.
The blond could only take so much and in the end he finally caved in. Afterwards, whatever Sasuke would do, Naruto would make sure to outshine him. If Sasuke would complete an obstacle course in four minutes, Naruto would complete it in three minutes and fifty-nine seconds, something that irritated Sasuke immensely, especially when Naruto would finish earlier and would wait just short of the finish line until a second before Sasuke's time.
Eventually they got to where they were now, with the raven-haired teen opting for the most difficult lessons the academy provided while Naruto would substitute his own.
"What makes you say that, Sakura-chan?" he asked, receiving a look from the girl that said, 'Do you really want me to answer?' making him chuckle. "Alright, yes, I'm trying to learn something that will blow Sasuke's water walking out of the water." he had to dodge the rosette's slap that she aimed for the back of his head.
"You are so corny, Naruto-kun." she said between her giggles. Then she ran her hand through his hair when he returned to his sitting position, gaining a hum of appreciation from the blond. She had found out when they were eleven that he went into a sort of trance when she massaged his scalp and often used it to get her best friend to relax. "Why don't we go hang out for a while, Naruto-kun?" she asked after a while.
Naruto reluctantly and with much effort grabbed her hand and pried it out of his hair. "Sorry, Sakura-chan, but I really need to perfect this Jutsu." he replied, watching her frown. "Maybe after I'm done."
"Come on, Naruto-kun, you're always training." Sakura whined as he stood up, blushing as she noticed the way his toned muscles moved under his skin.
"Yeah, well, at least one of us does." he muttered, not realizing he'd said that aloud, missing the look she shot at him, a mix of anger and confusion.
"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Sakura, making him blink in confusion at the change in her tone of voice and atmosphere.
"What?"
"You just said, 'At least one if us does.' Are you insinuating that I don't train?" she asked, clearly frustrated. The blond merely blinked a few more times before realization flashed in his, still brilliant, sapphire eyes.
"Just ignore what I said, Sakura-chan, you know I don't know what I'm talking about half the time." he tried to convince her to drop it, hoping to avoid a spat with his best friend.
"No, Naruto-kun, if you have something to say to me, say it." by now she was glaring daggers at him, her hands on her hips as she leaned forward slightly, not noticing she was giving him a marvelous view down the front of her shirt, which she usually left zipped up to just slightly over the middle of her small but still moderately sized bust.
"It's nothing, Sakura-chan, just, please, drop it." he responded, trying to keep serious even though he'd normally already be teasing her, trying to get a playful grope while shouting, 'Sakura-chan has boobs!'
"It's obviously something, otherwise you wouldn't have said anything." it was clear that she was not going to drop his slip of the tongue. "Spit it out, Naruto." the fact that she dropped the ever present '-Kun' meant that she was serious, similar to when he referred to her without the '-Chan.'
Letting out a sigh, Naruto gave in. "Fine, you wanna know what I mean?" Sakura nodded, still glaring at him. "I just think it wouldn't kill you to put more effort into training instead of pampering yourself so that Teme will notice you, or hanging out doing nothing all the time."
"Well excuse me for wanting to spend time with my best friend doing things normal teenagers do, like watch movies, or try new food, or go out on da—"
"That's the thing, though, Sakura-chan," Naruto interrupted her, much to her silent appreciation, "we aren't normal teenagers. We're Shinobi. We gave up the luxury of doing those things when we decided to become Shinobi. Sometimes I wonder if you understand that." There, it was out. Whatever happened now wasn't his fault.
When the explosion of anger he had been expecting didn't come, he chanced a glance at the rosette, taking in her trembling fist clenched tightly at her side and the way her head was tilted downwards. So maybe the explosion was only being delayed.
"Sakura-cha—"
SLAP!
A stinging sensation on his cheek confirmed to the blond what had just happened. Sakura had slapped him. He glanced down at the rosette to see tears streaming down her face, while still glaring at him.
"How dare you." she spoke, surprising him with how hurt she sounded. "I put my all into my training. So I like to take care of myself; excuse me for thinking that someone might compliment me for once!" her shoulders were beginning to shake but she didn't let that affect her anger. "Maybe inside that thick skull of yours you've convinced yourself that we need to stop being human to be good Shinobi but I refuse to do so."
Naruto said nothing as she turned and walked away, not able to hear the debate happening inside his mind.
"Let her go, brat." the Kyuubi said, watching through Naruto's eyes as the rosette walked, noting she was walking slightly slower than one would, obviously hoping the blond would catch her and apologize.
Naruto gritted his teeth, conflicted between listening to his master's order and wanting to catch Sakura. 'But I have to make things right with Sakura-chan.'
"No. For years now she has been a hindrance on your progress."
'But, Kyuubi-sama, Sakura-chan—'
"I said no, Naruto. Now continue your training."
With a final sigh, Naruto obeyed, resuming his training, ignoring the odd sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
After that, they had all but stopped talking; only talking when it was unavoidable. People noticed but most didn't ask, figuring that friends as close as them would settle things quickly. They hadn't.
Naruto didn't care about whether or not she considered him a friend or not, he continued to keep a silent eye on her with his shadow clones, as he always had, much to his master's annoyance.
"So, why did you interrupt my research?" Jiraiya questioned, watching his godson. "It couldn't be just because of that girl, right?"
"While I would have stopped you regardless, I came to tell you that Tou-san wants to talk to you. Something about having a quick meeting while you're in town. I don't really know." the blond waved his hand in a manner that meant it didn't concern him before he began walking off towards the academy.
The aged Sennin, wondering what his student might want to talk about, was about to jump on a rooftop when he glanced at the blond.
"Naruto," he called, getting the young teen to stop and look at him, "in case I don't see you tomorrow, good luck on your graduation exam."
The blond smiled slightly. "Arigatou, Ero-Jijii." With that, Jiraiya jumped off, leaving Naruto alone.
He continued on his path towards the academy, wanting to submit his latest mission report, though in reality he thought they were more like chores. He knew they weren't real missions, and that they served the purpose of allowing the Genin hopefuls a chance to get used to the manual labor involved with being Shinobi, and to make sure they could hold their cool against particularly nasty clients. He was relatively lucky, being the Hokage's son everyone treated him respectfully, but he had heard Shikamaru mumbling about troublesome women he had been assigned to. Though seeing as the brown haired teen thought everything was troublesome, he didn't know whether or not to believe him.
"I wonder how Sakura-chan's doing?" he thought aloud, stopping at the swing in front of the academy that he and Sakura use to play on as children. They had planned to complete these missions together, but that hadn't turned out as planned.
"You need to stop worrying about that female and focus on perfecting your Fūton Jutsu." the Kyuubi ordered, attempting to keep him from thinking too much about the pink haired girl. She was pretty much his only and largest weakness.
'Alright.' the blond responded, continuing his trek to submit his so called report. It was really just a signed piece of paper with a rating chart, which the client filled out. 'We would already be Genin, if I wasn't for Tou-san extending the academy curriculum.' he thought tiredly.
It used to be that at twelve they would be given a simple exam, and if they passed they would be thrown out into the world as Genin. His father had changed that, and Naruto couldn't help but think it was because he was going to become a Shinobi. Five years ago, his father had ordered that all academy students would receive an extra two and a half years of training, two years of which would be used to teach them extra low level Jutsu and perfect their Taijutsu. During the last six months, it would be up to them to them to complete E-rank missions. They could also approach almost any Jōnin for private lessons, where, depending on the Jōnin, they might be able to learn stronger Ninjutsu.
Today was the last day for them to complete and submit any last E-rank missions, which, along with their sparring records and their upcoming final exam, would help determine their rank amongst their fellow Genin. Namely, who would be the Rookie of the Year.
Thus far, Naruto held the lead in regard to completed missions, having completed three hundred sixty-two missions, soon to be sixty-five. His shadow clones helped him complete most missions quickly, giving him a completely unfair advantage, as Kiba put it.
The closest person to him was Sasuke, with ninety-two missions completed. Then came Aburame Shino, with seventy-nine. Kiba was in sixth, with seventy-two, followed by Sakura in seventh and Yamanaka Ino in twelfth, with sixty-five and sixty-one, respectively. Chouji was in fifteenth place with forty-nine and The Hyuuga heiress, Hinata, came in twenty-first having completed forty. Shikamaru held last place with three completed missions. Not that the young Nara cared, he was the smartest one of their age group and held fourth place in number of wins in ranked spars.
Naruto took his eyes of off the chart that listed their ranks, continuing down the hall until he reached the moderately sized indoor gymnasium where the instructors where waiting for any last minute submissions. Also in the room were a few of his classmates, waiting to hand in their last mission slips before the cut off time.
After a few minutes of waiting in line, Naruto reached the front. "Hello, Naruto." greeted his instructor, Umino Iruka. "Handing in more mission reports?" he asked, accepting the papers Naruto handed him. "I would have thought that with the enormous lead you have you wouldn't have felt the need to complete more."
Naruto shrugged, glancing around the room. "It's a good way to pass some time, y'know?" his teacher nodded, updating his overall rating, changing it from a four point two to a four point three out of five. "Besides, one can never complete enough missions."
"I just wish you'd have shown this much enthusiasm about submitting your homework assignments a few years ago." Iruka chuckled, gaining a pout from the blond teen before him. "I must say, you've set a rather high record for most E-rank missions completed that I doubt anyone will beat any time soon." the instructor did not miss the grin that formed on the boy's face, clearly proud of his accomplishment.
Iruka felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth as well. While he had initially had mixed feelings about how he felt towards the Hokage's son due to what was sealed inside of him, he had learned to judge the boy for whom he was and not what he was. It wouldn't be fair to hold a grudge on the blond for keeping the creature that had killed his parents at bay, ensuring that it couldn't run rampant, even if only temporarily.
"Ne, Iruka-sensei, will tomorrow's exam have a written portion?" Naruto questioned, hoping that there wouldn't be as that was the only area that he was never adept at. The brown haired teacher couldn't help his grin at the boy's question.
"I'm sorry, Naruto, you know we aren't allowed to tell you that." Iruka responded, filing away the papers the blond had given him, the folder he put them in being the thickest in the box. "I'm sure you'll do fine, though. As it stands you're a shoo in for rookie of the year." the way the man whispered the last part Naruto figured it was supposed to be a secret.
Offering him one last grin, Naruto bid Iruka farewell and left the Academy, pausing slightly as he saw a flash of pink walking near the markets but continuing at his master's command.
"Thank you, Kaname-san." Sakura spoke as she exited the produce stand, the vegetables her mother had sent her out for in the bag in her hands. Though her mother had told her she needed the items quickly, Sakura found herself walking back in a leisurely pace.
'Tomorrow's the graduation exam... I wonder how I'll do.' she wondered, catching sight of two kids playing in the park to her left.
"How dare you put a beetle in my hair, Daichi-kun!" a young girl shouted, chasing the boy, Daichi.
"I don't know, please stop chasing me! I'm sorry!" the boy shouted back, running for his life, and for a moment the two kids running around changed, the boy's hair turning blond while the girl's turned pink.
"Ah! Sakura-chan, I'm sorry! Please don't hit me!" a young Naruto yelled, running for his life, not having learned his lesson the first time.
"You put a worm down my shorts, again!" Little Sakura yelled, chasing after the blond, a fire burning in her eyes. "You better hope I don't catch you, Naruto-kun!"
However, just like the girl running around in the playground, Sakura had caught Naruto, like she always did, and tackled him to the floor, grabbing something—typically dirt or mud, anything really—and shoving it in the boys face as payback.
'I wonder if Naruto-kun's nervous about tomorrow's exam?' her eyes widened at the thought, surprised yet not surprised, that it would enter her mind. She was surprised because she had not had a thought on the blond in well over two months, when she accepted that he must not value their friendship as must as she had if he had not tried even once to talk to her since their argument. Yet she was not surprised because he had been her best friend for so long, she supposed he would always be on her mind, in one way or another.
With a sigh Sakura continued to her house, vaguely aware about an all too familiar Chakra signature that had stopped for a second as she walked home before continuing, making her bite her lip to distract herself from the ache in her chest.
"I'm back, Okaa-san." Sakura announced as she walked into her house, hearing her mother shuffling in the kitchen.
"It's about time." the elder Haruno woman replied teasingly, getting up from her chair to begin preparing the meal. When she went to take the bag from her daughter, however, she noticed something. "Sakura, are you okay?" The rosette stared at her mother curiously, wondering why she would ask that when the woman elaborated. "You look like you were crying."
Utterly perplexed, the young kunoichi moved towards the mirror in the hallway to see what her mother was talking about. Sure enough, her eyes were slightly red and the edges of her eyes held the traces of dried tears. Baffled, she licked her hand before moving to clean her face.
'I don't even remember feeling tears in my eyes.' was the last thought that passed through her mind as she went to help her mother finish preparing dinner, not missing the worried look she was casting her way.
Panting, Naruto stood hunched over, a triumphant smile on his face. He had finally done it. He had finally managed to execute the Kaze no Yaiba well enough that the tree he had been practicing on had split in two.
'That only took me two weeks longer than the Kyōryokuna Kaze.' he thought sarcastically, running his hand through his hair out of habit. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he missed the delicate slim fingers that used to massage his scalp, for no other reason than to offer him a few minutes of euphoric bliss and relaxation.
Sighing, the blond glanced at the night sky, noting the way the sensor dome flickered as someone's shift ended and another's began. That meant it was nearing eight o'clock and he was expected back home. Collecting his things, he jumped away, thinking of his master and how he had helped him. Mostly.
While the Kyūbi had been able to teach him how to direct its chakra to heal himself and to add it to his Jutsu to give them a power up, that had pretty much been the extent of what it could properly teach him. being a Chakra beast, it had no use for Jutsu. It shared with him the Jutsu that had been used against it and mentally showed him the hand signs required to perform them as well as what they should look like.
It was a crappy way of teaching, but Naruto could not argue with the result, the fact that he had learned several powerful Jutsu. In fact, it was actually the only manner that he could learn anything. He'd had extreme difficulty learning the basic Bunshin, but had no trouble learning the Kage Bunshin that the Sandaime had showed him.
For some reason if someone actually explained how to perform a technique step by step, he'd pretty much lose interest and then try to execute it just as described, trying to sense everything in the way he was instructed and would ultimately fail. However, if he was told nothing more than the hand signs needed and what the result would look like he could invest himself completely into learning the Jutsu and would not stop until he did.
Arriving at his front door, he walked in, announcing he was home before heading to gather his clothes so as to take a quick shower. Forty minutes later found Naruto meditating in his backyard, something his father had taught him to allow him to clear his mind of any unnecessary events of the day, so as to be able to remember more clearly the important things.
Although he had also found another use for it. He could clear his mind and actually talk to the Kyūbi, face to face, anytime he wanted instead of only whenever it wanted.
"So when am I gonna be able to use your chakra fully?" Naruto spoke inside of his mind, standing in front of the bars that held his mentor prisoner. Despite the fact that his master hated when Naruto lacked respect when speaking, because of Naruto's meditation, he was unable to lash out and punish him at the moment.
"We will have to wait until they formally begin your Jinchirūki training." the Kyūbi replied, ignoring the whine that came from its tenant. "If we start too soon they might think the seal is weakening and try to strengthen it. That may sever our link entirely."
Naruto huffed, wondering why his father went to great lengths to keep him under someone's watch or anothers. He had been made to remain in the academy for almost three more years than used to be the norm, likely to gauge whether or not he would be pressed to use the Kyuubi's Chakra under some of the more difficult spars he had been in, or so his master guessed. His godfather also made sure to keep a watchful eye on him, often taking him to hot springs to relax, but the way he often keep an eye on the seal on the blond's stomach made his intentions painfully obvious.
"On a more important note;" the Kyuubi started, bringing Naruto's attention back to it, "Why have you been having so much difficulty learning new Jutsu lately? I'm beginning to think you're just a failure who has gotten lucky up to this point."
Gritting his teeth, Naruto held back his retort, knowing he would be reprimanded. Although he wasn't completely certain, he had a guess as to why his progress was suffering. In his mind, his master was completely wrong to say Sakura held him back. In his opinion, she was part of the reason he could learn techniques so fast. He would always try his hardest so he could show her his newly mastered Jutsu, indulging in the way her eyes lit up when she saw it and feeling a sense of accomplishment when she would praise him.
But instead of voicing his opinion, he simply shrugged. "Maybe I just need a bigger challenge?" replied the blond, hearing his master's sigh before turning to leave. "Either way, I'm going to go to bed, wouldn't want to sleep through my exam tomorrow."
Walking inside, Naruto almost bumped into his father, who was reading a document, probably from work.
"Finished meditating, Naruto?" Minato asked, glancing up from the papers in his hands to flash his son a quick smile. The younger blond nodded, scratching his side as he yawned. "Make sure you sleep well tonight. Wouldn't want to fail tomorrow's exam because of sleepiness."
"Careful, Tou-san. After I become a Genin tomorrow, I'm gonna make a beeline towards the position of Hokage." Naruto declared, making his father grin before putting a hand on his head and ruffling his hair.
"I'm sure you will, son." Minato paused as he considered how to voice his next statement. "Your mother would be very proud of you, Naruto, just like I am." he patted his son's head one more time before he continued to his study, leaving the teen standing in the hall.
The emotion that flashed in the blond's sapphire eyes was something he hardly ever felt. The feeling of true acceptance and appreciation. It always made him freeze, reminding him that not everyone masked their resentment of him because not everyone harbored such feelings, as opposed to what his master often told him.
Although the number that did see him as the reason for the loss of their loved ones far outnumbered the ones who didn't, it made him question just how much of what his master—or anyone for that matter—told him was true.
The day of the Academy Graduation Exam, the Genin hopefuls were told to report to their classrooms for a final meeting with their instructors. Dozens of teens walked through the building for what would probably be the last time, reminiscing about the last couple years they had spent training for the exam they were about to take. Some were nervous, some were apprehensive, while others were confident enough of their skills to remain calm.
It was rather simple for Iruka to tell who was nervous and who was not as he walked into the classroom, staring at the faces if his students for what would likely be the last time.
"Ohaiyo gozaimasu, Iruka-sensei." the teens chorused, making the brown haired instructor smile as the crowd in front of him flickered for a second, changing back to the six year olds he'd met so many years ago.
"Ohaiyo. Are you guys ready to proceed into the world of Shinobi?" his response was a mixed reply, with even some of the kids who replied affirmatively sounding unconvincing. "Come on, kids, there's no reason to be nervous. I have complete faith that all of you are more than capable of passing this test with flying colors." Iruka's words were having the desired effect as most of the kids become much more confident than they were before. "Now, I'll ask again; are you ready to become Shinobi?"
"Hai!" the group of teens yelled in harmony, bringing a smile to their Instructors face.
"Then the next time we meet, I will be greeting you all as fellow Shinobi." he said as their first exam instructor entered. "I leave them to you, Saruyama-san." Iruka left, waving his students goodbye.
"The first part of your exam will be conducted in solitude." Saryama began, standing straight as his eyes swept the room, gauging them. "Each of you will be lead to a room to be given an oral exam. If I call your name, you are to follow me. Aburame Shino. Adaichi Yoihime. Fuujaku Tsumi. Habatsu Fuu. Haruno Sakura. Minami Renka. Orihara Ginta. Tomisuke Nobi. Ukitake Amy. Yamanaka Ino."
The selected teens rose and followed the man out, who left after telling them that they would be called out individually to take their exam.
One by one the students were called, led away by different Chūnin each time. They were led to individual rooms, inside of which they were told that they would be asked about anything and everything that they had learned in the academy. They were given freedom to answer however they wanted.
Naruto quickly figured out that they were being tested in an interrogative setting, likely trying to see if the Genin hopefuls were able to answer the questions without revealing anything that would give an outsider too much information. After twenty minutes he was allowed to leave with orders to head towards the obstacle field behind the academy.
"Alright. You are all here because you have been training to be medical ninja for the last five years. You're first portion of the Graduation Exam will differ from your peers." the man standing in front of the group of young Med-Nins proceeded to motion for them to lift the veils off of the objects in front of each of them, revealing rabbits. "Each of you will be required to heal your squad mates at anytime, sometimes without knowing what's afflicting them. Your goal is to identify what is causing your specific rabbit's slow but sure death, and prevent it. If you can succeed you will continue onto the next portion of the exam. However if you fail, you will be disqualified and sent home."
"How come we fail instantly if we don't pass the first part while everyone else is judged on overall score?" Amy demanded, frustration clearly on her face at the possibility that she might be declined the chance to become a Shinobi simply because she failed one part of her exam.
The proctor turned his gaze on the girl, his hazel eyes cold and unfeeling; a model example of how an accomplished Shinobi's eyes should appear. "As Med-Nins it is our job to save our comrades lives on a daily basis. If you can't even save a rabbit, which has been given a minor injury that was made painfully obvious for the sake of this exam, you don't deserve to have the lives of your peers entrusted to your care."
Any further comments were effectively dismissed as the teens received a glimpse at what they would be facing when they passed.
"By the way, each rabbit has a different injury, which should kill it in about forty minutes." the man moved to sit in his desk, turning to look over his shoulder as he spoke again. "And the exam began the moment you removed the cloth covering them, removing the stasis seal placed on them. I'd say you have just over half an hour."
With his final words, the teens scrambled to complete their task. The first person to finish was Shino, who used his insects to scan his charge before using them to numb the rabbit's leg, quickly setting and healing the broken leg that was bleeding internally. Two more of her classmates finished before Sakura did, having had difficulty finding her rabbit's injury—broken ribs and a punctured lung, which she healed quickly—and finishing at the same time as Ino. The two rivals glared at each other as they walked, soon beginning to run, towards the obstacle course as they were directed.
The second portion of the exam was relatively easy; they went through the course of slightly dangerous obstacles and if someone was injured, they would send one of the Medics in training to go through and heal them before completing it.
As always, Naruto had set the best time, though Sasuke had come surprisingly close, and Kiba came in third. Sakura had come ninth with Hinata completing it in time to earn tenth. Shino managed to secure himself into thirteenth place with Ino landing in seventeenth, much to the rosettes amusement. Chouji came in twenty-first while Shikamaru, as always, came in last.
"Now, would the students who placed in the top forty-five, please come with me?" another proctor called, waiting until the group had gathered before leading them away with an utterance of, 'Walk this way,' blissfully unaware of how Naruto and Kiba were walking behind him, mimicking the way the Chūnin walked, nose raised and back so straight their chests were puffed out slightly.
Sakura couldn't help the giggle that slipped out past her lips, joining her classmates, as she watched the blond teen act like, well, a normal teenage idiot.
The Chūnin led them out to the academy sparring grounds, on which a small group of teens waited, sitting on the benches around the large sparring circle. Turning, almost catching the two morons, before motioning for them to sit on the benches that were left, he began to explain.
"The final part of your Exam will be a spar against an active Genin. Your goal is to try to last past the five minute time limit." the way most of the boys snorted made the proctor grin. "You will be given permission to use any Jutsu at your disposal, but so will they. Please come up when I call your name. Aberai Mako."
A tall teenage boy walked into the sparring circle, standing in front of a teen just as tall dressed in a hideous green jumpsuit, his Konoha headband tied around his slim waist. His hair was cut in the out of style bowl cut and his eyebrows appeared thick enough to hide a pack of senbon.
"I apologize in advance, but I promised Gai-sensei that if I lose a single match today I would carry a boulder on my back as I scale the Hokage Monument eight hundred times." the greed clad boy stated, standing straight with one arm folded behind his back and one held out in front of him, gaining a grin from his opponent.
"You better hope you have enough chakra to hold yourself to the monument." Mako replied, slipping into his fighting stance.
"Begin!" the proctor shouted, signaling the start of the match. Mako quickly threw two kunai at Lee, hoping to distract the Genin long enough to perform a quick Jutsu. However, before the bald boy could even form a single hand sign, Lee was already behind him, giving him a quick right jab on his shoulder in order to turn him around and connecting a powerful left handed punch on the boy's stomach, knocking the wind out of him, making him double over before landing a quick elbow to the back of the younger boy's skull, knocking him out. A brown haired girl stuck her fingers through the loops on the end of the weapons as they passed her, catching the kunai that were thrown. "Winner, Rock Lee! Aberai Mako fails the third portion of the exam!"
The Genin hopefuls sat in complete shock, unable to take their eyes off the seemingly plain looking teen that had just destroyed their classmate, who held sixth place in ranked sparring wins. The students who were under him began to get nervous, wondering how they would survive against any of the other Genin that had gathered, especially since they all looked stronger. The ones who held higher ranks became eager, for the most part, to fight against the fuzzy eyebrowed Genin.
As Lee was turning to return to his seat, a flash of pink caught his attention. When he turned towards it, he was presented with the most beautiful face he had ever seen, accompanied by the most enchanting emerald eyes. In the blink of an eye he was standing before the girl, bowing.
"I know it is ungentlemanly to suddenly ask this but I must know your name." the green clad teen said, gaining a raised eyebrow from Sakura, and unknowingly a fierce glare from Naruto.
"Haruno Sakura." the rosette replied, embarrassed by the attention and trying to ignore the mocking laughter some of the girls were directing at her.
"Haruno Sakura-san, the most beautiful name for the most beautiful girl I have ever met." taking the blush on the girl's face as a good thing, Lee continued. "Please become my girlfriend?"
The students were quiet as they awaited the pink haired girl's response, but before she could, their proctor decided to cut the teenage drama short.
"Lee, we are in the middle of an exam. We will discuss your lack of professionalism later, but for now return to your seat immediately." the order left no room for refusal and the black haired boy returned to his seat. "Now, would Aburame Shino please step up?"
Shino stood and walked into the circle, standing in front of a gray haired teen wearing glasses and a dark purple shirt with matching pants.
"I hear you're the top student for this year's Med-Nin candidates." the Genin spoke, receiving nothing but silence from the coat wearing Aburame. "No need to be modest, I'm a Med-Nin myself. Though I'm not the best of my year." seeing that the boy wasn't going to talk, he dropped into his fighting stance.
Five minutes later, during which Shino held himself relatively well against his opponent, the proctor stopped them. "Enough. Aburame Shino, you've passed the third portion of the exam."
Time passed and several of the students had managed to outlast the time limit, though a few had failed. Chouji had managed to pass, though just barely. Kiba had been the first of the students to actually present a challenge to one of the Genin, earning him a pass and a compliment from the Chūnin proctor.
"Haruno Sakura. Step forward."
With a deep breath to calm her nerves, the pink haired girl stood, walking forward to stand before her opponent, a brown haired girl wearing a Chinese style pink shirt and dark blue pants, name unknown as the proctor only anounced the Genins' names when they won.
"Ooh, I like your hair. It's so pretty." her opponent commented, making the younger girl blush slightly. "I hope you didn't neglect your training in order to take care of it, though."
The words made Sakura stiffen slightly. She could just hear his voice. "—it wouldn't kill you to put more effort into training instead of pampering yourself—" Steeling herself, she became determined to show everyone just how much she really trained.
"Begin!"
As soon as the word left the proctor's lips, the brown haired girl sped towards Sakura, surprising her with her speed that she had yet to show in her other fights. Once she was close enough she aimed a punch at the stomach of the green-eyed girl, who managed to block it but failed to block the kick that immediately followed, sending her skidding across the ground. Flipping back to her feet, Sakura launched three kunai before running behind them, ready to strike the moment the girl dodged.
Smirking, the brunette swiped her hand the moment the kunai were close enough, catching them all with her index finger by their loops, and quickly sending them back, making the pink haired girl jump out of the way. While still in mid air, Sakura felt a knee connect with her ribs, changing her original flight path. Landing with a thud, Sakura heard a sigh.
"I guess you did spend more time brushing your hair than you did training." the older girl said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's girls like you that give Kunoichi a bad rep."
Standing shakily, Sakura glared at the Genin girl, furious. Going on the offense, she ran towards the older girl, making quick hand seal as she did. "Bunshin no Jutsu!" with a puff of smoke four Sakuras appeared, running towards the brown haired girl, kunai in hand.
"An academy Jutsu won't work on me, kid." waiting until the clones were close enough, the girl struck out at the Sakura in the middle right. "I can hear your footsteps!" to the older girl's surprise, her hand passed through her target, revealing the real Sakura behind the clone. She recovered quickly though; dodging the kunai the younger girl threw before moving to attack the girl herself. Her surprise when she heard a smoke cloud erupting behind her was to be expected as Sakura dropped on top of her. 'Crap, a Kawarimi with the kunai?'
Tacking her opponent to the ground, Sakura pressed her kunai to the girl's throat. When she saw the girl tried to reach for her own equipment, Sakura pressed the Kunai harder, drawing a small amount of blood.
"Winner, Haruno Sakura!" their proctor shouted, declaring for the first time a student winner. Upon his statement Sakura got off the brown haired girl, offering her a hand to help her up. The girl accepted it.
"I hope I proved to you that I do train." Sakura said, almost a whisper, making the older girl stare at her curiously, as she wasn't looking at her but at someone behind her.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have presumed just because I was jealous of your hair." the older girl said, snapping Sakura's attention from whoever it was on and back towards her, raising an eyebrow in confusion. With a point of her fingers, the girl directed Sakura's gaze to the two buns atop her head. "My hair is so damaged that I just hide it in these buns." she admitted, smiling.
Sakura smiled back. "If you want, I can tell you what shampoo I use. It saves me so much time that I used to spend having to brush my hair a million times." the girl giggled but stopped as she felt a sting on her neck. "Oh, let me fix that for you." putting her hands on the girl's neck, she channeled some of her Chakra to heal the small cut.
"If you two are done, we need to continue." the proctor said, making the two girls blush as they walked back to their seats.
The matches continued, with Hinata outlasting her time limit against a purple haired Genin boy who kept trying to catch her with spikes wrapped around his fingers. Shikamaru managed to catch his opponent in his Kagemane technique and managed to make him submit, seeing as the boy's weapons holster was on the opposite side as his own and made him pull out a kunai which he then forced him to hold against his throat, earning him the win.
Sasuke's match was rather exciting, and dangerous, due to the number of fire Jutsu the raven-haired boy used against his gray haired opponent, Kabuto, the same one who had fought Shino. The spectators had to jump out of the way often as the raven-haired teen's attacks missed. In the end the time ran out, something that aggravated him as he was looking for a win.
"Uzumaki Naruto. Step forward." the proctor called, slightly shocked when the boy simply appeared in the middle of the sparring circle, before his opponent, the same person who had fought the Hyuuga heiress, entered.
"Proctor-san, I request to have my test conducted against Rock Lee." Naruto stated, staring the green clad boy square in the eyes. Upon the proctor's approval, Lee also shunshined into the circle.
"I am honored that the Hokage's son wants to spar against me personally." spoke Lee, bowing, missing the look the blond was giving him.
Naruto didn't know why, but he wanted to crush the teenager before him, wanted to show him that it was unacceptable to try to move onto another's territory. He idly wondered if Sakura had been oblivious to the boy's encouraging shouts or if she had been ignoring him, but between that and his earlier declaration, Naruto felt he needed to make an example of him.
"It's nothing, Lee. I just want to test myself against the strongest opponents." Naruto's words weren't complete lies. Thus far, every opponent Lee had faced had been quickly defeated and received a failing mark. Lee was basically undefeated.
"Yes, it is always good to test yourself against stronger opponents. I can see that your fires of youth burn strongly, Naruto-san!" the black haired teen's shout made Naruto wonder how someone so... weird could be so strong.
'Against stronger opponents?' Naruto thought as the proctor began the match and Lee vanished, only to appear in the air to the blond's right, a kick aiming for his head. 'I'm sorry, but no.' Naruto caught the kick and pulled the airborne boy, aiming his own kick at the boy's chin, not really surprised when Lee caught it.
The two boys jumped apart, landing agilely before sprinting towards each other again. Lee leapt into the air, spinning once as he yelled;
"Konoha Senpū!"
Unfortunately for Lee, Naruto had already seen the attack, from the few times he had spent the day with his father's former student when he was younger.
'Aim one kick up high to force your opponent to duck and hit them with the second kick from down low.' Naruto mentally reviewed what he remembered, crossing his fingers in front of him. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" with a cloud a smoke three perfect copies of the blond appeared, one moving to grab the high kick while the other caught the low kick. Naruto ran up the back of his last clone, somersaulting above the green clad Genin before bringing down his heel, aiming for the boy's face.
Without a second to spare, Lee pulled himself towards the clones, squatting in their hold and narrowly dodging the sandaled heel. Hitting the two clones that were restraining him with his palms he managed to dispel them before flipping forward to make some distance between him and his opponent, striking the last clone with a swift kick to the back of the head before he landed, returning to his fighting stance.
"This is proving to be an excellent spar so far, Naruto-san." Lee said to the blond boy across the field, who was kneeling. "I thank you again for requesting to spar with me."
Naruto grinned at the older teen, though inside he was rather annoyed. The fight was proving to be much more difficult than he had expected. Clearly the boy in front of him was stronger than the average Genin. Possibly Chūnin material.
"It's exciting because we're both giving it our all, so don't thank me." Naruto replied, eliciting a smile from the Genin, while he himself growled mentally. "Let resume, shall we?" Naruto suggested when his ankle had finished healing, going through a small series of hand signs. "Fūton: Kyōryokuna Kaze no Jutsu!" he shouted as a blast of air shot out of his mouth, lifting the surprised older teen off his feet, carrying him a few meters back before settling down.
Unknown to the two combatants, the powerful gust of wind had also caused the skirts of several of the girls to rise up, revealing their panties. The boys went crazy, offering their gratitude to the, 'Wise Naruto-sama,' while the girls turned red with embarrassment and anger, shouting, 'Ero-Naruto!'
One rosette in particular was furious, even though she had her trademark spandex shorts on under her red slit skirt, she was mad that all of the boys had seen most of her female classmates panties. All because of the blond's technique.
'I bet he planned that, that pervert.' Sakura thought angrily, glaring at the blond as he ducked under a fast kick before grabbing Lee's outstretched leg and throwing the teen over his shoulder and quickly following. 'If he wasn't in the middle of an exam, I'd punch him into next week!'
"Hell yeah, teach him that just because we're not around to keep him in line, doesn't mean he can go around being a pervert like his godfather!" shouted the voice inside Sakura's head that had appeared almost two months ago, after she had accepted the end of her friendship with Naruto. A voice which she had begun to refer to as Inner Sakura, for it only seemed to come out whenever she tried to restrain herself from being herself.
Choosing to ignore the voice, as she pretty much always did, Sakura focused her attention back on the match in front of her in time to see Lee duck under a roundhouse kick from his blond opponent and maneuvered himself behind the younger boy.
"Kage Buyō!" the Genin shouted, kicking Naruto up into the air as he turned before jumping after him, following the younger teen closely from behind. Once in place the bandages that had been covering his forearms had begun to unravel, moving to envelope the blond teen.
"Time!" shouted the proctor, interrupting the Genin's technique. "Uzumaki Naruto passes the third portion of his exam." he declared, motioning for the two teens to return to their seats in order to allow for the final spar to take place. "Yamanaka Ino, please step forward."
The blonde girl stood up just as her blond classmate sat down, a triumphant grin on his face. Inside however, Naruto was royally pissed off. Not only had he not beaten some sense into his opponent, he knew he had begun to be overpowered towards the end of the fight. Not to mention that only four minutes and forty-six seconds had passed when the proctor had ended the fight, and he knew that whatever the green clad Genin was going to do would've not only ended the fight but probably caused some serious damage as well.
He ignored the final fight, not interested in whether or not the Yamanaka won her fight as he had never much cared for her. Even when he and Sakura had been friends, he found the fellow blonde almost insufferable. If Sakura spent half her time worrying about needless things, Ino spent the whole of her time doing just that.
'Speaking of Sakura,' sapphire orbs glanced at the rosette as she watched her, now only, best friend try to hold her own against her opponent, 'what was with that irrational anger I felt towards that Genin?' Never in all of the years that Naruto had been friends with Sakura had he felt so possessive of her, not even when she would occasionally flirt with Sasuke.
It was strange. He knew that the green clad boy was clearly the strongest of the group of about nine Genin, and had he fought his original opponent he would likely have won. But something had all but possessed him to call the older male out, to fight him and demonstrate that he had no right to say anything to the pink haired girl who had not so long ago been able to make him do just about anything whenever she ran her fingers through his blond hair, soft hands usually gentle but occasionally giving him a playful tug, which would always elicit a hum of approval from him.
"Winner, Yamanaka Ino!" declared the proctor, bringing Naruto out of his musings only to discover he had a slight problem. Somehow, within the last couple of minutes, he had grown an erection, confusing him as to why.
'What the hell is going on!' he mentally berated himself, deciding to remain sitting when the proctor instructed them to return to the gymnasium to find out whether or not they had passed the exam, offering an excuse about how his ankle hurt from when he'd missed his attack and he'd catch up.
"Sakura-san." called a voice that made the blond clench his teeth. "Now that this portion of the exam is complete, would you be so kind as to answer my earlier request?" Lee was standing before the pink haired girl, bent over in a low bow.
Sakura stared at the boy, a light pink blush on her face at receiving her first ever date request. Although she had no real reason to reject him, she found herself unable to answer. 'What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?' she kept repeating in her mind, hoping for once that Inner Sakura would respond. Unfortunately, it didn't work like that. The voice popped up whenever it wanted, not the other way around. A clatter to her right brought her out of her frantic train of thought.
"Sorry, dropped my kunai." Naruto explained, picking up the mentioned equipment before turning to leave. "You shouldn't take too long, Sakura-chan, or they might be offended enough to fail you." he said before leaving, holding her gaze with his own for the first time in months, making the girl grow weak in the knees while she lost herself in the forever brilliant sapphire eyes that had haunted her wet dreams since she was old enough to begin experiencing them.
"Lee, let's go. We told Gai-sensei we'd return as soon as we were finished here." the brunette girl Sakura had fought called, noting the longing way the rosette was staring at the blond boy her teammate had fought, hoping to spare him the rejection by leading him away.
"But, Tenten—"
"Come on, Lee, do you really want Neji-kun to get solitary training from Gai-sensei?" Tenten cut him off, releasing a sigh of relief when she saw her teammate's eyes glow with determination.
"We must return a once; who knows what super powerful techniques Gai-sensei has taught him while we've been gone!" he shouted, taking off towards the training fields yelling, "I'm coming, Gai-sensei!"
Shaking her head at her teammates actions, Tenten turned to tap Sakura on her shoulder, seeing as the girl was still staring at where the blond had been a few moments ago. 'She must have it bad.' the brunette thought as the girl snapped out of her stupor. "You might want to head inside before they really do fail you in absentia."
The look on the rosette's face as she realized that she had been in a small trance was humorous to say the least. "I should go, then." she said, running into the building.
Once inside, Sakura made her way towards the gymnasium, getting there just as they called her name. "I'm here, don't fail me!" she shouted, receiving confused looks from the exam directors.
"What are you talking about, girl? You passed. Come pick up your headband."
With a smile bright enough to make a star jealous, Sakura went and received her headband, bowing to the Chūnin who gave it to her in gratitude.
"So, how's it feel to be a Genin?" Minato asked his son, smiling widely at the young blond, who rolled his eyes before drinking from his cup.
"It feels good, Tou-san. Just like the last time you asked me. And the time before that. And the time before that." Naruto replied, tiredly, though the small smile on his face made it clear that he wasn't really annoyed.
"I'm just proud of you, son. Out of the sixty students that took the exam, only thirty of you actually passed." Minato couldn't help the feeling of pride that he'd felt since the moment his master had told him that his son had passed, having been silently watching the final portion of the exam. "And to be named Rookie of the year. Maybe I should be worried about you taking my title soon."
"They told us that we would get a summon when our teams were decided. How long should that take?" Naruto asked, changing the subject.
"So long as nothing get's in the way, it should only take about a week." Minato replied, leaning back in his chair at the table. "I'm going to have to decide which kids would work best together, and then I'll need to request whatever Jōnin I feel would be able to teach them what they need to learn. Though in the end it's up to them whether or not to accept."
"But you're the Hokage, isn't an order from you absolute?" Naruto questioned, eyebrow raised in confusion as he watched his father shake his head.
"While that may be true, I don't want to assign the lives of the villages children to someone who isn't completely committed to protecting them." the response made Naruto wonder if his father was referring to him and how some Jōnin might be hesitant to protect him should they run into a life or death situation.
"I'm so bored!" a pink haired girl yawned, stretching out on her bed, not having anything to do. Five days had passed since her Graduation into the life of a Shinobi and besides training every once in a while she was finding her days become more and more dull as they passed. For a second she felt like searching for her former best friend so she could apologize for overreacting so many months ago. That thought was quickly stomped out of her head by her sense of pride, reminding her that he had been the one to talk about her as if she was one of Sasuke's fan girls.
She had to muffle her groan as she remembered that at one point she had been one, though only for a few weeks, and then she had donned the persona again when she tried to make Naruto jealous, though when it hadn't worked she had dropped the act. Sometimes she wondered if the blond was as dense as he seemed. That was certainly better than thinking that he knew of her crush and simply didn't feel the same way.
Sighing, Sakura sat up when she heard a tapping noise on her window. Shifting her emerald orbs towards the noise, she found a carrier pigeon with a scroll attached to its back. Once she had removed the scroll, the bird flew away, returning to its coop, leaving Sakura to open her letter.
Haruno Sakura, as per regulation of the Hokage's last decree, you have been given the position of medic to team seven, led by Jōnin Hatake Kakashi and consisting of Genins Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and yourself.
Please report to training ground seven at oh-five-hundred hours on December eight, for a formal team meeting. Upon your Jōnin sensei's request, it would be in your best interests to skip breakfast.
Many questions filled her head as she finished reading the letter. Why was she advised to skip breakfast? Why were Naruto and Sasuke on the same team? Besides the fact that they were the two best Genin of their year, their rivalry was known to have escalated to the point that they were not allowed to spar against each other anymore. And now they were being placed on the same team, where they'd train together? They had to know things would get ugly, fast.
Checking the date on her calendar, Sakura noted that her first team meeting would be in three days. Strapping her equipment pouch to her thigh, she jumped out her window to get some training done; becoming determined to show Naruto, and everyone, that she wasn't going to be the teams weakest link, even if her two teammates were the two best students in the academy.
'We aren't in the academy anymore. This is the real world and everyone has been given a clean slate.' the rosette thought as determination flashed in her eyes.
To Be Continued...
Author's Note: Oh, look. I'm done. Wonder when that happened? Oh well, in case any of you are wondering why I didn't make this chapter about Naruto growing up, it's because I wanted to get to the real action quickly. I didn't feel like writing a chapter or two about the child adventures of Uzumaki Naruto. I'll just go from here and have the occasional flashback if I think something needs to be explained.
