I'm tired of trying, sick of crying, I know I've been smiling, but inside I'm dying.-Unknown.
Naruko sighed as she walked along the streets of Konoha. She's decided to go and see Sai. If anyone knew where she was going, they'd ask her, 'why?'. But she needed information and he would know best out of everybody she knew. She also ated to see how he was, after hearing from Jiji that he had gotten a girlfriend, which shocked her to her bones.
After her talk with Jiji, she'd realized a lot of things. A great many things. Jiji was great at explaining things and he had told her that, Karin and Futeki were right. He also mentioned many other things. Naruko now had to decide what to do.
She knocked on Sai's door. His address was given to her by Jiji and she wanted to get this out of the way immediately.
When he opened the door, his eyes widened. "You've returned!"
Naruko was shocked to hear the excitement in his voice.
"And you're not an emotionless zombie!" she countered.
Sai nodded sagely, "I am dating Ino. She has managed to change me."
Naruko could feel her brows go up. Ino and Sai? Well, if anyone knew about changing emotions, it was Ino.
"Would you like to come in?" Sai asked, moving aside slightly.
Naruko shook her head, "No thank you. I came to say 'hi' and ask a question. Where do you get you ink?"
Sai quirked a brow, "At a tattoo shop down the street. It's the only place in Konoha where I can get my summoning ink."
"I knew it! Is it a good tattoo shop?" she asked.
"If you are planning to get a tattoo, I'd suggest you go elsewhere. They are very expensive there. I could give you one for free."
Naruko looked at Sai in a new light. "You know how to tattoo people?"
He nodded, "I've given Ino plenty of them. Come inside, I'll show you some pictures."
Naruko shrugged and followed him inside the small apartment. She looked around, seeing many paintings on the wall. Most of them had no titles, but a few, which were all of Ino, were named. She smiled briefly. It was cute in a way. And maybe, Ino had become a real kunoichi in the three years she'd been gone.
Sai returned with some pictures, displaying Ino's tattoos. She had them on her shoulders and stomach. All of them were sick! Naruko looked at Sai, "You did them? Really?" She had to ask. The freaky dragon curling around the Yamanaka's shoulders was so detailed. And the large cat on her stomach that was hissing at whomever looked at it. Naruko couldn't help but hope that Ino never gained weight. That'd be a fat cat.
"Yes. What would you like to get done?" he asked, getting serious.
Naruko looked around, for reason, unsure if they were really alone. She leaned in and whispered in his ear.
His eyes widened. When she pulled away, he was smiling. "Finally."
"Oh shut up! Can you do it, or not?!"
Sai smiled, "Of course. Anything for my once teammate. The one who brought me to Ino."
Naruko didn't comment. She had no idea how to. So, she patted him on the back, "Thanks Sai."
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Naruko hissed in annoyance. One month to prepare for the Jonin Exams. Apparently, that was enough time, according to Sai, for her tattoo's to heal completely.
Technically, she had gotten seven, because six weren't connected even though they made up one whole and the last was a whole by itself. There was no pain in the actual procedure, because she had high pain tolerance. The pain came after.
Her spine, where the six were located, felt odd. Like a muscle she hadn't used in a long time. The dull pain was annoying as fuck and she wanted to curse aloud.
Instead, she walked a little straighter than normal and avoided bumping into anything.
Her body jerked as a hand patted her back. She squeaked and froze in place. Looking to the side,she saw Sasuke and sighed a bit. "Please remove your hand?"
He frowned, and even looked offended. Probably because she had never told him to do that in such a way before.
When he moved away she sighed, "It's not that you touched me. It's the fact that you touched me in the wrong place. I just got a tattoo on my back and I'm feeling some lingering pain."
The fact that he looked so relieved, should've made her feel awkward, but it didn't. In fact, she found it kind of sweet, that he felt the thought of not being allowed to touch her, was that bad.
"What is it?" he asked, unable to curb his curiosity.
She waggled a finger in his face, "You may find out after the Exam!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes but nodded in acceptance. "So did it hurt?" he asked as he followed her to wherever she was going.
"No. I have high pain tolerance. More now than three years ago."
"Is that why you could take two swords to the gut without shedding a tear and only uttering a curse?"
She nodded, "Yep! But just because I don't react, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. If I curse, that means it really hurts."
"Why did you get a tattoo?"
Naruko flushed, "It was something I needed to do. I wasn't feeling very good about the end of the Jonin Exams, so I gave myself courage with a few tattoos."
She didn't tell him why she was worried. It had nothing to do with the possible fighting or anything like that. She had a plan, but the thought actually had her scared. So, she found her courage in the form of a tattoo. A tattoo of something that always gave her encouragement. And she loved how it turned out!
A very special tattoo indeed.(A/N: Can anyone guess what the tats are?)
Sasuke shrugged, "I don't know what you could possibly be afraid of. You can kick anyones ass just fine. But, if it helped you, then I'm glad you're feeling better about everything."
Naruko smiled to herself. There he went again. Worrying for her sake when he didn't have to.
"Just because I'm the physical manifestation of the word 'awesome', doesn't mean that I'm not human. I am Kage level, true, but I still have emotions and I can get down on myself quickly. My skills rock, but that's not where I get self concious. It's mostly inward for me. And in this case, it is."
Sasuke stared at her. "You just called yourself awesome. I think I'll add 'humble' as well."
She punched his arm, "Shut up! I was speaking the truth!"
He rubbed the sore spot on his arm. "Uh huh."
She glared as they walked. He followed her to the library, where he watched as she created a thousand Kage Bunshin and sent them to study.
"You never did that to such an extent while training," he mentioned as she grabbed a book and took a seat in the back of the third floor.
She nodded, remembering her special training.
"Ero-Sennin limited me to ten Kage Bunshin. He didn't want me to breeze through everything and make it seem easy, because you and the others were there. Of course when he was gone, I used more Bunshin, but no more than a hundred. He's got great senses. It's how he survives peeping on women in the hot springs."
"Aren't you offended that he does that? I thought women didn't like his books."
Naruko gave a giggle and brought the book she was holding up to her face.
He read the title.
Icha Icha Tactics.
He couldn't hide the blush that swept over his face. She was reading that?!
"You really…..read…..that?" he struggled with the words.
Naruko nodded, "He's really good at description! I just replace the characters. I mean, it's sweet how he loves Ba-chan so much, but the fact that every Icha Icha is based off of characters that resemble my godparents, isn't appealing. Cause it's pretty much Ero-Sennin and Ba-chan and I don't want to think of that. So, I change the names and appearances to fit my preferences."
Sasuke took in the information. Naruko read porn! He had never once touched Icha Icha, and then he finds out that the girl he loved, was an avid reader! For some reason, he wanted to know who she replaced the characters with. But then he worried about who it was and decided he didn't want to know.
Naruko was nodding her head, "Yes. It's actually a great story. I still like Icha Icha Violence though. The violence is what gets me."
Sasuke watched as she looked down at her book as she sat on the edge of her chair.
He didn't realize that she wasn't wearing any of her normal clothing. Over her mashe was dressed in a plain black battle dress with black fishnet knee highs and black shinobi sandals. She had a shuriken holster on her left leg and a hip pouch on her lower back. So she actually had civilian style clothing. He had to admit, he liked the color black on her.
He went and retrieved a book for himself and returned to her side a moment later.
After three hours of reading Naruko finally stood. She then went through the process of dispelling her clones one at a time. Each having read a book and each having memorized said book. She had to give herself a chance to gather all the information. She also didn't want to suffer a big headache in the long run.
Naruko dragged him to Ichiraku's when they were done. He then had to watch her inhale three bowls of ramen in under five minutes while he had only just finished his.
She glared at him, "Do you have some kind of fascination with watching me eat?"
He smirked, "Yes."
His honesty shook her. "What?"
He shrugged, "You don't care about appearances when you're here. You're just yourself. You don't have to show amazing manners to anyone and you obviously enjoy yourself. I like watching how happy you get, when you eat Ichiraku Ramen."
She flushed looked back at her bowls. Damn him and his way with words!
"Glad to know that I'm so interesting."
She placed her money on the bar, as did Sasuke and waved to the owners before leaving, the Uchiha following behind.
"Now what?"
She shrugged, "I think I'll go and see Ba-chan!"
Sasuke had to Shunshin when she disappeared. He was standing next to her in a second, outside the Hokage's office.
Naruko raised her fist to the door and knocked.
"Come in!"
She barged in the room, with Sasuke shaking his head.
"Hey Ba-chan!"
Tsunade never looked up as they entered. She was busy staring at something in her hand.
Naruko walked around the desk and read the card over her shoulder.
"You won!" Naruko froze at the thought, "Oh Kami, someone died didn't they?!"
Tsunade shrugged, "I sure hope not."
Naruko looked at the worry on her godmothers face. She had only meant it as a joke, but apparently, Tsunade's luck was so bad, it could be considered a bad omen.
Someone rushed into the room. A woman with short black hair.
"Hokage-sama! We've just received a distress call from Sunagakure! The Kazekage, Gaara, has been kidnapped by two men in black cloaks with red clouds. It's the Akatsuki!"
Naruko stiffened and Sasuke's brows rose. Gaara actually got kidnapped?
Tsunade looked at Naruko, "I know you have the Jonin exams soon, but I'm sending you on a mission. Pick five people to go with you and get...him...back!"
Naruko nodded and moved over to the window, "Hey Kaka-sensei, get ready for a mission!"
Said man jumped in the open window, "It's nice to see you too Naruko! Who me? I'm doing fine thank you for asking. Will I go on a mission with you, why not? I have nothing better to do!"
Naruko rolled her eyes and threw something at him.
He expertly caught it and his eye bugged. "You are my favorite student forever and always! I'll be at the gate!"
"What did you give him?" Sasuke asked.
"The newest Icha Icha, signed by Ero-Sennin himself. Now give me a moment. I'm going to enter Sennin Modo to find everyone else."
She stood still as she absorbed the nature energy.
"Hinata is at home. Shikamaru is coming to the door with Temari of all people! And Karin is at the hospital."
She stood and opened the door to the Hokage office and waved at the two who were getting ready to knock, "Hey! Sorry to cut this short, but Shikamaru, I need you for a mission. Temari, you'll have to come back to Suna with us, Gaara has been kidnapped by the Akatsuki."
Temari gasped in horror and clutched Shikamaru's arm. Naruko smiled slightly at the cute couple, but shook herself. She then made two Kage Bunshin who went off to find their people.
"Who have you chosen?" Tsunade asked as she started writing something down in a scroll.
"Kakashi Hatake, Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuga, Shikamaru Nara and Karin Uzumaki."
"Are you sure about whom you've chosen?" Tsunade asked.
Naruko nodded, "Two Sharingan users, one Byakugan user. Shikamaru is like me in the genius department, but he's faster at coming up with strategies. Karin just became a Chunin and is your apprentice. I think having a good medic on hand will be helpful. Her sensory abilities will help as well."
Tsunade nodded, pleased at Naruko's reasoning.
Hinata and Karin burst through the door. Hinata looked to be crying, "Did they really get Gaara?"
Naruko nodded, "Yeah, and I figured that you'd like to come and save your fiance. Also, your Byakugan would be a great help."
Hinata hugged her friend, "Thank you!"
Naruko briefly noticed, that Hinata hadn't stuttered once. Impressive. She wondered what Gaara was like now, if Hinata had changed that much.
She then turned to Karin, "I know you're a Chunin and that Ba-chan has been teaching you. You'll be our medic. Your sensory ability will be a great help."
Karin nodded and gave Naruko a look. The blonde rolled her eyes and whispered something in the miniMaki's ear.
She was promptly hugged, "Good for you! I'm so proud!"
Naruko sighed, "Are we okay now?"
The redhead nodded and grinned. "Now I can show you what I'm made of!"
The blonde was tempted to say something along the lines of 'rainbows and ponies', but decided not to.
Naruko looked at Tsunade, "We're all ready Ba-chan. Can we go now?"
Tsunade tossed her a scroll, "Get out there!"
Naruko and Sasuke took the window and the others followed.
"We've go to get there soon, so, we'll only stop if completely necessary."
They met up with Kakashi at the gate and after signing out, left the village at top speed.
"I want a rundown of everyone's abilities. Sharingan, Byakugan, healing, sensory, summoning and any special jutsu!"
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"You know Karin, I'm impressed at how far you've come."
Karin smiled, "You haven't seen anything yet nee-chan!"
Karin had been able to heal Kankuro and create an antidote to the poison all in the matter of a couple of hours. After Kankuro was well again, they had left to find Gaara. Kakashi's ninken following the scent off the strip of cloth Kankuro had managed to get from his opponent.
Naruko gaped at the huge boulder in the way. She also glared at the seal on the face of it.
"Hinata, I need you to use your Byakugan to check for the other seals. There should be four others."
Hinata did as asked and pointed out the directions. Naruko created five Kage Bunshin. "I want four of you to go and follow Hinata's directions. You have ten minutes. Hinata will tell me when you make it to your seal. When I dispel this clone, you will all remove your seals, understood?"
The Bunshin nodded and spread out.
Hinata gave the nod when they all reached their places. Naruko ran up the boulder and took ahold of the seal. Her Bunshin exploded and she ripped the seal off.
Karin took a stance and ran forward, fist cocked back. Naruko jumped off the rock just as Karin's small fist connected, destroying the object.
Naruko whistled, "I'm never pissing her off again."
When the debris cleared, They took great care, when entering the cave. Inside was a large statue with hands and several figures were standing in the fingers. Each of them were glowing a green energy as a blue light that was coming from the statue, was surrounding something hovering in the air above them.
Hinata gasped, "Gaara!"
Naruko looked between the statue and the energy and Gaara. They'd have to break the thing.
"Karin, I want you to memorize their chakra signatures. You can sense people from several countries away, and this can help when we're trying to find them," she whispered to the girl who nodded.
Naruko moved forward a bit and told everyone to get back. "Let Gaara go now, or I break the statue and your balls!"
One of the cloaked figures, which didn't look fuzzy like the others, laughed. "What could a blond bitch like you do?!"
Everyone on Naruko's team took a large step back. The guy had just dug his own grave.
Naruko smirked to herself. "You know, when I got the Tsuchikage to agree to an alliance with Konoha, he decided to teach me some things. Things that I can only pass on to the Uzumaki Clan. I'd like to show you, if you don't mind. Onoki-Jiji let me in on the secret of the Jinton."
Kakashi gasped, recognizing where she was going.
Naruko made the small hand signs and put her hands together, pulling them apart slowly. A cylindrical shape formed between her palms, glowing a bright white color. Naruko aimed her hands at the statue. "Jinton: Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu!"
A beam of light shot at the statue, destroying it on contact. The blue light surrounding Gaara disappeared. His limp body fell to the ground. Kakashi got there before he hit and held the young Kazekage in a firm grip. He was beside Naruko the next second.
The Akatsuki members who were there in person, leapt away from the crumbling statue.
"He's still alive," Kakashi stated.
Hinata smiled and took her fiance's body from Kakashi, laying him on the ground as she tried to wake him.
Naruko couldn't help but put out, "Maybe a kiss will wake him up!"
Hinata flushed, but tested it out.
To her immediate pleasure, Gaara's teal eyes opened.
"Good, he's okay. Hinata, Karin, stay with him."
The Akatsuki members turned toward the intruders. The one with the freaky purple eyes, spoke. "Hidan, Sasori, deal with them and bring both Jinchuuriki when you're finished." His form began to dissolve with the few others, leaving two guys behind.
"I get to fuck someones shit up!" the one guy smiled and he pulled a tri-bladed scythe from his back.
The other man that was left, was on the short side, with a weird looking tail coming from under his cloak.
"Kankuro said that he was that best puppet master to ever come from Sunagakure. Akasuna no Sasori. He came up with that poison, which means, he probably laced every one of his weapons with it." Naruko informed everyone.
"The Jinchuuriki knows her information. Hidan, you take on Hatake Kakashi. I'll get the other Jinchuuriki." the small one ordered.
Naruko created several Kage Bunshin and had them take Gaara away from the cave.
"Kaka-sensei, Sasuke and Shikamaru. I want you three to deal with the scythe guy. We've got Sasori. I may need your help at any moment though, so be prepared."
No one argued with her decision.
Naruko created more Kage Bunshin and had them attack the puppet master. A can rolled out from under the man's cloak and exploded, a volley of senbon raining over the Bunshin.
Hinata activated her Byakugan again, "We're fighting a puppet! He's actually inside that thing!"
"Ah, a Hyuga! You'd make a perfect puppet."
Naruko created some more Kage Bunshin, who began to make their own hand signs in tandem with Naruko. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" "Futon: Daitoppa!"
Karin ran forward as the large fireballs blocked her from view. Something blew the flames away, but it was enough for Karin to get in close and break the puppet Sasori was hiding in.
She backpedaled, staying on her guard. Hinata gasped, "He's a puppet! The only living thing on him, is his heart!"
"So if we destroy that, then he's dead for good?" Naruko asked as they watched Sasori pull the black cloth covering his face off.
"You little girls, are no match for me. True, you may have defeated Hiruko, but I have many more tricks up my sleeve," he smirked.
Naruko glared and looked over to the guys who were arguing with the other Akatsuki member.
"Sasuke!"
Said Uchiha jumped back and got nearer to her position. "What?"
"Can you use you Mangekyo on him and use Amaterasu?"
Sasori moved quickly as his hand blurred. His body was then engulfed in purple flames. The body turned to ash.
Hinata looked to the side, "He switched to another body! His heart is over there now!"
"So we have to get the heart or else he'll keep switching bodies?!"
The Hyuga heiress nodded, "It seems so."
Naruko groaned, "Sasuke can you get me Kaka-sensei and you take his place fighting that dude?"
Sasuke nodded and unleashed a Katon jutsu on the Akatsuki member while telling Kakashi to help Naruko.
The Jonin was by her side instantly, "What do you need?"
Naruko was smirking. "Use your Kamui to send his heart to this other dimension of yours. Then, use it on one of my attacks and it should connect with his heart in this dimension right?"
Kakashi couldn't help but feel pride in his student. She'd come up with such a good plan immediately. He was proud that he had a hand in her training.
He nodded and focused on the puppet while Naruko started focusing her chakra into her palm.
Sasori could move as the air around him began to twist. Soon, he was an empty shell as his heart disappeared. Kakashi turned his attention to Naruko and gasped. "You learned the Rasengan?"
"I perfected the Rasengan," she informed him while adding her wind chakra into the spiraling ball. It grew blades as it's size shrank slightly and the spinning increased.
Kakashi focused on the jutsu. Using Kamui, it disappeared.
Naruko sighed, "Rasenshuriken, expands immediately to a two kilometer range in all directions. There is no way that heart survived. Hinata, could you check over everything to make sure he really is gone?"
Hinata approached the fallen puppet, "There's nothing living left. There are several scrolls though!"
"Get them and the body and keep them safe. We'll give them to Kankuro, since he fought so hard to keep the bastards from getting Gaara. I want you to take Karin and catch up with my Kage Bunshin. Leave the destruction to the rest of us. Karin, listen to Hinata."
Both girls nodded and began gathering the puppet body and scrolls and carried them out of the cave. Naruko looked to her sensei, to see blood coming from his eye.
"It puts that much of a strain on you?"
He nodded and closed his eyes, pulling his hitai-ate over it. "I wasn't born with it, so it takes a lot of chakra and energy from me."
Naruko patted his back, "How long before you pass out this time?"
He shrugged, "I can handle it for a while. But by the time this is over, you'll have to carry me out of here."
"Can we get some help here?!" Shikamaru yelled.
"You're lazy as fuck and you're not used to doing work, lazy ass!" Naruko yelled back.
"We should still help. That guy claims to be immortal, and he can't feel pain."
Naruko snorted, "Let's just cut his head off. One Jonin and three Chunin can take him on!"
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Gaara looked at the woman that brought him and his fiance together.
"Naruko Uzumaki, I'd like to extend my personal gratitude to you."
Naruko waved him off, "It was a mission Gaara."
He shook his head, "Not just for saving me, but for keeping your word. Shukaku isn't blood thirsty anymore. He and I actually get along very well now. Not as close as you and the Kyuubi are, but close enough. You encouraged Hinata and I, and it's because of your warning and good words for me, that I'm going to be married soon. To someone who understands what it's like to be looked down on by her family and hated for not being what they wanted. She accepts me, and that is why I thank you."
Naruko looked a Gaara. The sincerity that was pouring out of him was stifling. "Your welcome I guess. Just know, I'll kill you if she's unhappy," she growled, getting very serious.
"I'd like to extend some advice. If you like the Uchiha, I suggest you tell him how you feel now. In our life, as shinobi, you never know when your last breath is. You don't know when your last day will be. He may die by unnatural means tomorrow and you'll regret not telling him how you feel. I can see, that you've finally accepted your feelings and I can also tell, that whatever it is that you're worried about. Whatever you think he won't accept, doesn't warrant your worry. He loves you and just like Hinata accepts me, he'll accept you."
Naruko sighed, "Everybody and their brother is giving me the same advice. Though you added something that no one had mentioned yet. Karin said he wouldn't care. Futeki said that I was leading him on and that it wasn't fair to him and you tell me he could die at any time and I'd never get to tell him. I know when I'm telling him, don't worry."
Gaara smiled, "I'm glad. He has it bad for you."
She rolled her eyes. "We'll be departing now Gaara. I hope Kankuro enjoys his new doll. And congrats on getting closer to your brother and sister. They no longer tremble at the sound of your name."
"Please give this to the Hokage. She'll be thrilled. And thank you again."
Gaara handed her a scroll and shook her hand, "Take care of yourself and your Uchiha."
Naruko nodded, "I will."
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"You managed to save the Kazekage from death, defeat strange clones of yourself, defeat two Akatsuki members and get love advice all within the span of two days. Impressive."
Naruko nodded. She had gone to give her report and explained everything to Tsunade.
"I have to say, I'm glad you're finally growing as pair. Sasuke has been waiting, which speaks volumes. He's a real man, so don't waste time and just tell him already. Then get married and finally help him relieve his stress."
Naruko flushed at the innuendo, "Ba-chan! Don't talk about those things!"
The busty women shrugged, "It's going to happen. Everyone has bets on when though. After that confession, we all got together and placed some money on when you'd finally give in. So far, Jiraiya and I are left. Everybody else lost."
Naruko gaped, "Where is this video?! Why does everyone and their brother know about that?!"
Tsunade smirked, "Mikoto watched over you and Sasuke. She dragged Iruka and Kakashi into it. Somewhere during your card game, he confessed and she got it all on video. It was so sweet!"
"Mikoto-san was the one who showed everybody? That was why when I went to Jiji, he kept using words that Sasuke had used that day?!"
The Slug Sannin nodded.
"That's so embarrassing!"
Tsunade smiled,"Sai informed me of your new body art and I'm impressed. Can I see it?"
Naruko rolled her eyes. "Just don't touch it. I'm still feeling some lingering pain."
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Sasuke looked over at Naruko, who was standing with her arms crossed.
It was the beginning of the Jonin Exams. He and Naruko, along with Shikamaru, Hinata, Kiba, Iruka-sensei, Kotetsu and Izumo, the gate guards, Ino, Choji and surprisingly the Anko woman who proctored the Second Chunin Exam three years back, plus nine others that he didn't know, had applied.
Imagine his surprise when they were told to meet outside the Forest of Death at five in the morning and that Kakashi was their proctor. He was actually on time too! That was the shocker.
"Okay, my cute little Chunin and Tokubetsu Jonin. You're all here applying for the position of Jonin. There are twenty of you, but only ten can possibly pass this test. You must get through the forest, which is riddled with Jonin who will fight when they see you, and get to the tower. Retrieve one of the ten scrolls there and get back to one of the gates before six tomorrow morning. However, the tower is filled with nearly every Anbu in Konoha. You must not be seen by any of them or you fail automatically. You cannot take more than one scroll, nor can you open them. You have to return to a gate without any injury as well. I will open these gates with a red flare, when you are all ready. My only advice, don't let your emotions control you. When you're trying to hide yourself and you pray that they can't find you, you begin to lose sight of the mission."
The Chunin were each directed to a gate and waited for Kakashi to give them the okay.
Kakashi looked up at the sky and sighed. He held up an object, and pulled the trigger. A red light shot up into the air and exploded. "Go," he whispered.
A/N: Another one bites the dust!
So people, what did you think of this chapter? More stuff is coming up!
But, I have something important to tell you all!
Only those who actually care will read this, will find out.
Well..
I just wanted to say…
That the chapter isn't over yet!
XD Am I an ass?
Naruko looked at the flare and grinned. This would be awesome! She made a hand sign, "Meisaigakure no Jutsu!"
Her body immediately became invisible, blending in with the night. The jutsu was considered an A rank and she planned to use it well. Coupling it with another jutsu she learned from the Tsuchikage, she would breeze through this test easily. Meisaigakure's no jutsu erased sight, sound, scent, shadow and even masked the users chakra.
On top of her invisibility she added flight. Onoki had actually taught her Iwagakure's Maiagaru no Jutsu! It was what they did that allowed them to because she had saved his granddaughter Kurotsuchi from some blonde bomber dude who was angry at her for insulting his art. It turned out that Deidara was a missing S class ninja from Iwagakure and Onoki repaid her with some jutsu and an alliance with Konoha, so long as she only taught her clan the jutsu's and the Uzumaki remained in Konoha. Deidara had stolen some Kinjutsu and they'd put a lot of money on his head. She didn't want to bounty though. She asked for an alliance and the jutsu were just thrown in. One of her many expeditions on that training trip, that yielded such great results.
"Maiagaru no Jutsu!"
Her feet left the ground and she flew over the forest, noticing how deathly quiet it was. Flying to the tower was so much easier than walking. She would've used Hiraishin, because she had covered the buildings inside with the seals, but what if she popped in in front of an Anbu and failed? Not a chance she was willing to take.
The tower was much smaller from an areal point of view. Standing beside the door made people feel small, but looking down at it, she was no longer impressed.
Pulling a paper bomb from her pocket, she descended to the roof of the building and shoved the explosive in a pipe. She then followed suit with out pipes.
She hovered over to the door an activated the tags, letting them go off. The door burst open a moment later and several Anbu scattered over the rooftop, Naruko floated through the doorway and down the stairs at her own pace. She'd check the top floor and work her way down.
The top two floor were clear. Nothing important. The third was filled with Anbu and she glided past them and they never noticed her presence. The fourth floor on her way down, had almost no Anbu, which she found odd. Was it a boring floor or something?
To her pleasure, it was actually where the scrolls were. Hidden of course, in plain sight though. Most would assume that the floor with the most Anbu, would be the one to watch out for, but it wasn't. Naruko got a devious idea and made some Kage Bunshin, having them transform into scrolls identical to the ones for the test and she placed them all over the room, moving the originals to harder places.
Someone would grab a scroll and get back to their gate in time, only to find out that their scroll wasn't a scroll and they wouldn't be able to continue to the next exam.
Sometimes, she really loved her Kage Bunshin. They were so useful.
After she collected her scroll, she returned the way she came, leaving through the open door on the roof and flying over the forest again. She was pleased with herself. There was no way that someone had ever done the exam in an hour. This was truly a momentous occasion. She loved doing the impossible.
As she neared a gate, she could see Kakashi sitting on the ground reading Icha Icha.
"Hey sensei!" she called out.
He turned and looked around, "Naruko, where are you and why aren't you in the forest?!" he called back.
Naruko released the Meisaigaukre no Jutsu and Kakashi gaped when her form was revealed. What was even more shocking, was the fact that she was flying!
"I got my scroll!" she chucked hers at him and he caught easily.
She touched the ground and plopped down beside him. "That was easy!"
He stared at her in wonder. She was definitely coming out of this exam a Jonin. She may even get an invite to Anbu with how well she was doing.
"Just so you know sensei, I messed with the other scrolls by adding some more to the mix, if you know what I mean."
He shook his head, "Only you Naruko."
She shrugged and rummaged through her pocket. She pulled out her own Icha Icha and settled into a nice silence, completely ignoring her sensei's wide eyes stare.
I like this exam!
You're quite the human and that trick with the scrolls was great!
I know right!