[Naruto] "Never Ever" 03/15
Title: Never Ever (03/15)
Rating: PG (OOC, AU, Language)
Archived @ Master List
Summary: What if Naruto had sided with the Sand in the Konoha invasion?
Chapter 03: The Mission
The years passed by quickly and peacefully. They graduated and became Genin, starting with Temari, then Kankurou. Gaara became an automatic Genin when he turned twelve and Naruto passed in an exam with Baki.
Unlike the Leaf Village, the Sand Village did not have three-man Genin teams because there were simply not enough Jounin to go around. Ever since the Wind Country's foolish Prime Minister cut down on all Shinobi funds, working to survive became a needless chore.
The usual system was that each Jounin would have an apprentice Genin and once the Genin qualified for the Chuunin exam, they would be paired up with two other Genin and one of the three Jounin instructors, usually the best, would be chosen to lead the squad. On the bright side, each of the Genin would be powered up because they had their sensei's undivided attention. On the other hand, it cut down greatly on teamwork.
Of course, Kazekage wasn't about to just stand around while his precious Sand Village went down in ruins with the Leaf getting all their customers, no. Now he was even more thankful that Baki brought the young little demon child to him eight years ago. Having two demon vessels would serve a magnificent purpose.
---
"We're going to invade the Leaf village?" Temari asked incredulously. "But why? The Sand and the Leaf are allies, are we not?"
"The Leaf has been drawing the Sand Village's clients since the Minister of the Wind Country signed that alliance." Baki growled. "We must take back what is ours."
"But-" Temari started, and then cut off.
"It was the Kazekage and the Sound Village's idea. And it was also his idea to send the four of you." That comment got the four of their attentions quickly.
"Listen up; this is an 'S' class mission. You are to invade the Leaf Village in the next Chuunin Exam along with another team from the Sound. The four of you will split into two teams. The first team will attend with me as the instructor. The second team will take the exam with two other Chuunin-level shinobi. Your goal is to get up to the Final Exam. Then on the third exam, the second team's add-ons will withdraw from the exam and regroup for the invasion. Understand?"
The four of them nodded. "Now decide which one of you four will be the one on the remaining team."
There was a split second pause.
"I will." Naruto said.
"No, I will." Temari said.
"No, Temari-san." Naruto said quietly, but firmly. "I'm not making fun of your skills, but if you go on the remaining team, there's no guarantee that you'll pass. If I go, there’s almost no chance for failure.”
Baki glanced at his student. Naruto had really grown up in an odd way and his relationship with the three Sand siblings was exceedingly unique. He got along with Temari and Kankurou just fine, which was expected, but the fact that he manages to get close to Gaara and the face that Gaara actually respected Naruto made him very special.
"So the teams are decided." Baki said. "Remember that. And Naruto, your teammates will meet you on the day before the exams when we go to the Leaf Village. Understand?" he waited for the sea of nods. "We leave for Konoha in three days. Start packing."
---
Temari polished her fan lovingly before strapping it on her back. When she first became a Genin and decided to have the fan as a weapon, she didn't anticipate how heavy it would be and consequently, rarely ever used it. But a few years later, it had become part of her image and she rarely went anywhere without it.
Kankurou wrapped his favorite puppet in bandages. Karasu would be a major part of the plan, he was told. If all things didn't work out, then its pre-installed poison gas would enable their immediate escape. Only as a precaution, of course.
Personally, he didn't like using Karasu as much as he did some of his other marionettes. But then again, Karasu was his most powerful and could hold the most weapons.
Gaara stood in the middle of the desert, holding out his hands and mumbling under his breath. The sand around him immediately began grouping and swirling and compacting together into the shape of a gourd. Once he was certain that it was solid enough, he filled the gourd with regular sand and tried it on for size.
It was insanely heavy. He had to admit; perhaps a six-foot gourd was too big. Something about half that size should do the job just fine and should also be a lot lighter...
---
"Are you sure it's wise, Baki-sensei?" Naruto asked his teacher. "Registering me as 'Uzumaki Naruto'. Wouldn't it be wiser to put some fake name?"
"It would." Baki said. "But Kazekage-sama said that the Leaf never registered you as missing and so as far as he's concerned, you were fair game. Either way, it's meant to cause them grief."
'Kazekage and his sadism.' Naruto thought dryly. 'Never get tired of it.'
Aloud, he asked, "Do you think I'm ready for it?"
Baki regarded him seriously before at last saying, "If we weren't planning an invasion along with this exam, I'm certain you would have become a Chuunin easily."
Naruto smiled. "Thanks Baki-sensei."
---
But what Baki said wasn't meant to praise Naruto. As some of you may not know, Baki has a hard time giving out compliments, something Naruto has learned over the course of the years. And he was a harsh taskmaster too.
When Naruto mastered the Bunshin no Jutsu, Baki had wanted him to learn the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu through reading because he himself could not demonstrate it. And it had taken Naruto weeks to learn that along with yet another technique, Gokkan no Jutsu, a technique that sharpened the body's five senses.
But learning multiple techniques at once had enflamed Naruto's thirst for knowledge, until one day, shortly after he became a Genin, he simply read up on the scrolls in Kazekage's library. Thus, learning even more techniques and stopping only when the Kazekage found out and though he wasn't mad or anything, he told Naruto not to go near that collection until he was older. Much older.
Unlike the Sand trio, Naruto didn't have a particular way of fighting like Gaara's absolute defense, and he didn't have a weapon that corresponded with an element like Temari's fan, and he didn't have good enough chakra control to master Puppet no Jutsu like Kankurou.
He had two distinct styles. The lesser-used one would be when he engaged the opponent in a fair fight. Then, usually, he would just wait for the opponent to waste up all his chakra and then pound the opponent through taijutsu, ninjutsu, or whatever technique he had planned in his vast library of knowledge. But he hardly ever got into a fair fight so he never used it.
When he was small and before he got kicked out of Kazekage's library, he read up a scroll on the most vulnerable and sensitive points on the human body and he remembered it all. That eventually led to his second and more used method of fighting. His second was speed combined with the contents of that scroll. A fast attack in which he would strike all of the body's pressure points and cause a great deal of pain to the enemy. It was quick, efficient, and always worked unless the adversary was faster than Naruto himself. There were very few people who were faster than Naruto.
The Kyuubi was a major part of Naruto's upbringing. The time he broke through the seal managed to leave a crack open big enough so the two of them could communicate. The Kyuubi was a permanent comrade and his personal healer, so he, too, usually returned from missions seemingly unharmed.
But the Kyuubi didn't usually come out and was usually dormant because if and when they wanted to talk, it caused stress inside Naruto's body because the seal would interfere with the body's natural functions. So usually they only talked if it was absolutely necessary.
He learned that lesson two years ago. When Naruto turned twelve, he had a sudden desire to learn a summon but didn't have an animal to contract with. The Kyuubi had offered to teach him a summon and he had accepted. Which one was it, you ask?
A fox, of course.
It didn't take him a long time because of the fox entity within him. It had taken him two weeks to learn how to summon the most basic fox and a month to learn how to summon the six-foot one with a contract if he wanted to teach anyone in the future.
Temporary paralysis in his legs was an insignificant side effect.
---
The moon was big and bright this night.
Usually, a full moon is looked upon as a sign of fortune, but if it occurs on the night before a great journey, it could also be a bad omen.
Naruto was on the roof of a random building with a great night watching spot pondering this thought when he heard a presence of someone appearing behind him.
"You shouldn't do that," he said, not bothering to turn around. "One day you're going to actually scare someone so bad they wet themselves." He finally looked at his visitor. "Gaara."
Gaara said nothing, but sat down next to the blonde. They said nothing. It was what their 'connection' was composed of. Long, but comfortable silences.
"You okay with this mission?" Naruto asked, finally breaking the silence. "Shukaku and everything?"
"..."
"Are you really? Because I don't think I'd be okay if I was up for a mission just because of the Kyuubi."
Gaara closed his eyes. The insomniac lines around his eyes were becoming more defined everyday and were slowing ebbing away his sanity. Naruto saw that and knew it. He was also afraid that this mission would be the one that broke and shattered what remained of that precious sanity. What he didn't know was that he was also one of the few people that kept the sanity intact.
"I'll be fine."
There was yet another long and comfortable silence. Finally, Naruto got up and said, "I better get back. Temari's probably going to kill me if I don't get some rest before the big day. Later."
Gaara nodded, making no effort to turn around and say farewell to Naruto's retreating back. They were both demons and they both understood each other. That was enough.
---
Naruto slipped into the living room silently and was surprised to find that Temari and Kankurou were still awake.
"What're you guys doing up?" he asked, surprised. Then he grinned. "Excited?"
They nodded. "This isn't an easy mission, Naruto." Temari said. "This could be the one that makes or destroys the Sand village. And it's all on our shoulders." She shivered in anticipation. "I'm nervous."
"Don't be." Naruto said.
"You should talk," Kankurou replied. "You're not the one who's on a team with Gaara. In fact, why don't you switch places with me? If that doesn't work, I'm sure you could switch places with Gaara. That'd be the best."
"Nah." Naruto said. "Those two other Genin are probably going to get killed if they're on Gaara's team. Trust me; the arrangements right now are the best it's going to be. Besides, we already submitted our registrations. So it's a little late." He laughed and headed upstairs toward the bedroom. "Come on, both of you. Let's not worry and go get some sleep. We have to get to the Leaf tomorrow and we need the energy."
Temari gazed at him. "What about you, Naruto? How do you feel about going back to the Leaf Village after so long?"
Naruto paused, mid-step. "I was too little to remember anything." He said. "But I feel nothing for it and I have nothing against it. That's all."
---
He tossed. He turned. He rolled over. Nope. Couldn't fall asleep. He sat up and looked out the window at the full moon.
'Oy, baka kitsune. You there?'
There was a slight stirring in the back of his mind. Then he got a reply. 'What's this?’ sneered the Kyuubi, ‘Don't ye have some top-secret mission tomorrow? Get some damn sleep ye stupid brat.' Naruto grinned. He was as nice as ever.
'Nah, can't get any sleep.'
'Ye talk right now, ye not gonna be in full health for the exam. And I want some sleep too. So go away.'
'We got an entire day to rest up in Konoha before the actual test takes place. Besides, since when did you ever sleep?'
'Since now. Ah, what the heck. Whaddaya want, kuzo?'
'You're going to help me during the exams, right? Healing and everything?'
'...THAT'S what ye woke me up at to tell me? Have I ever NOT fixed ye? Show some damn faith little human."
Naruto was about to laugh when suddenly his left arm flared up painfully.
'See? What I tell ye? Talk for no reason and ye get hurt. Now go to sleep you stupid, stupid child.'
Naruto smiled to himself and rubbed his left hand as the link was severed. The Kyuubi didn't show it, but he cared.
---
There were actually more than ten teams of Genin going to Konoha. But since only two teams were expected to make it up to the final exam, only those two teams were informed of the mission.
Each team made their way South toward Konoha separately on foot.
Naruto's team was composed of two generic Sand Nins. One, Kurosaki Uematsu, had half his face covered in a cloth. The other, Nubuo Wataru, had his entire face bandaged so only a pair of sunglasses was showing. Both were years older than he was and both were about two heads taller than he was.
---
As they entered the gates, they received their passports and invited to wander around the village.
The majority of the Sand Genin took up the offer. The three of them were no exception. Gaara had excused himself to the hotel, leaving the rest of them to explore (in Naruto's case, re-explore) the Leaf Village.
Temari and Kankurou headed for the BBQ restaurant. And Naruto, having nothing better to do tagged along with them. After all, it had been a whole day and he was hungry.
---
Team Ten had been enjoying their barbecue happily and without incident until the café received visitors. Foreign visitors.
There was a girl with sandy hair in a purple dress with a fan buckled to her back. There was a boy dressed in black with purple face paint carrying something that looked extremely heavy. Then there was a blond boy with blue eyes a few years younger than the first two.
Their forehead protectors, though located elsewhere than their foreheads, all confirmed that they were from the Sand Village.
"Ne, Asuma," Shikamaru said under his breathe, "Aren't Sand Nin usually forbidden to go to ally villages even though they are allies?"
Asuma remembers NOW why he brought them to a barbecue, even though Chouji already quintupled his tab.
"True, but these Genin are here for the Chuunin Exam. Which I've recommended you for."
"What?" Ino exclaimed in the middle of reaching for a particularly large piece of meat, "You recommended us for the CHUUNIN exam? Are you sure that we're ready for it?"
"Sasuke's team is going to be in it."
"Oh, then we're DEFINITELY ready." Ino said, suddenly full of joviality.
'Mention Sasuke's name and she's all over it.' Shikamaru thought sourly. "Women are so difficult."
---
That night, as he lay in bed, Naruto thought carefully about this exam. So far, the six of them had been told everything Baki knew about the exams. For the first test, it was information gathering. The second was survival, and the third would be an actual tournament. As the plan stated, Kurosaki and Nubou would withdraw from the third exam and assemble with the other Sand Nins.
All of them had to at least make it to the finals of the third exam. There was no need to tell any of the other Sand teams unless they, too, made it to at least the Finals. But since that possibility was unlikely, there was probably no need to do anything anyway.
He had also been told that all the Konoha rookie Genin would be attending this year. And if he calculated right, they would be the people he went to school with in that brief year. Would he recognize any of them?
Naruto held his left hand up in the moonlight. For some reason, talking with Kyuubi the night before had royally messed his hand up. Usually, it would only take about a night to heal and yet it still pained him. And he needed to be in full health for the upcoming exam.
He rolled over, fully intent on falling asleep. 'When this is all over,' he promised himself, 'I'll start working on some type of healing or numbing jutsu.'
---
Temari was about to go wake Naruto up when she heard a sickening splotch coming from behind the doors. She opened it and saw what appeared to be the crushed remains of a flower pot on the floor.
"Full health again?" she asked.
"Yea." He said, shaking the bits and pieces of hardened clay from his hands.
"Good. Let's go."
T . B . C
Rating: PG (OOC, AU, Language)
Archived @ Master List
Summary: What if Naruto had sided with the Sand in the Konoha invasion?
Chapter 03: The Mission
The years passed by quickly and peacefully. They graduated and became Genin, starting with Temari, then Kankurou. Gaara became an automatic Genin when he turned twelve and Naruto passed in an exam with Baki.
Unlike the Leaf Village, the Sand Village did not have three-man Genin teams because there were simply not enough Jounin to go around. Ever since the Wind Country's foolish Prime Minister cut down on all Shinobi funds, working to survive became a needless chore.
The usual system was that each Jounin would have an apprentice Genin and once the Genin qualified for the Chuunin exam, they would be paired up with two other Genin and one of the three Jounin instructors, usually the best, would be chosen to lead the squad. On the bright side, each of the Genin would be powered up because they had their sensei's undivided attention. On the other hand, it cut down greatly on teamwork.
Of course, Kazekage wasn't about to just stand around while his precious Sand Village went down in ruins with the Leaf getting all their customers, no. Now he was even more thankful that Baki brought the young little demon child to him eight years ago. Having two demon vessels would serve a magnificent purpose.
---
"We're going to invade the Leaf village?" Temari asked incredulously. "But why? The Sand and the Leaf are allies, are we not?"
"The Leaf has been drawing the Sand Village's clients since the Minister of the Wind Country signed that alliance." Baki growled. "We must take back what is ours."
"But-" Temari started, and then cut off.
"It was the Kazekage and the Sound Village's idea. And it was also his idea to send the four of you." That comment got the four of their attentions quickly.
"Listen up; this is an 'S' class mission. You are to invade the Leaf Village in the next Chuunin Exam along with another team from the Sound. The four of you will split into two teams. The first team will attend with me as the instructor. The second team will take the exam with two other Chuunin-level shinobi. Your goal is to get up to the Final Exam. Then on the third exam, the second team's add-ons will withdraw from the exam and regroup for the invasion. Understand?"
The four of them nodded. "Now decide which one of you four will be the one on the remaining team."
There was a split second pause.
"I will." Naruto said.
"No, I will." Temari said.
"No, Temari-san." Naruto said quietly, but firmly. "I'm not making fun of your skills, but if you go on the remaining team, there's no guarantee that you'll pass. If I go, there’s almost no chance for failure.”
Baki glanced at his student. Naruto had really grown up in an odd way and his relationship with the three Sand siblings was exceedingly unique. He got along with Temari and Kankurou just fine, which was expected, but the fact that he manages to get close to Gaara and the face that Gaara actually respected Naruto made him very special.
"So the teams are decided." Baki said. "Remember that. And Naruto, your teammates will meet you on the day before the exams when we go to the Leaf Village. Understand?" he waited for the sea of nods. "We leave for Konoha in three days. Start packing."
---
Temari polished her fan lovingly before strapping it on her back. When she first became a Genin and decided to have the fan as a weapon, she didn't anticipate how heavy it would be and consequently, rarely ever used it. But a few years later, it had become part of her image and she rarely went anywhere without it.
Kankurou wrapped his favorite puppet in bandages. Karasu would be a major part of the plan, he was told. If all things didn't work out, then its pre-installed poison gas would enable their immediate escape. Only as a precaution, of course.
Personally, he didn't like using Karasu as much as he did some of his other marionettes. But then again, Karasu was his most powerful and could hold the most weapons.
Gaara stood in the middle of the desert, holding out his hands and mumbling under his breath. The sand around him immediately began grouping and swirling and compacting together into the shape of a gourd. Once he was certain that it was solid enough, he filled the gourd with regular sand and tried it on for size.
It was insanely heavy. He had to admit; perhaps a six-foot gourd was too big. Something about half that size should do the job just fine and should also be a lot lighter...
---
"Are you sure it's wise, Baki-sensei?" Naruto asked his teacher. "Registering me as 'Uzumaki Naruto'. Wouldn't it be wiser to put some fake name?"
"It would." Baki said. "But Kazekage-sama said that the Leaf never registered you as missing and so as far as he's concerned, you were fair game. Either way, it's meant to cause them grief."
'Kazekage and his sadism.' Naruto thought dryly. 'Never get tired of it.'
Aloud, he asked, "Do you think I'm ready for it?"
Baki regarded him seriously before at last saying, "If we weren't planning an invasion along with this exam, I'm certain you would have become a Chuunin easily."
Naruto smiled. "Thanks Baki-sensei."
---
But what Baki said wasn't meant to praise Naruto. As some of you may not know, Baki has a hard time giving out compliments, something Naruto has learned over the course of the years. And he was a harsh taskmaster too.
When Naruto mastered the Bunshin no Jutsu, Baki had wanted him to learn the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu through reading because he himself could not demonstrate it. And it had taken Naruto weeks to learn that along with yet another technique, Gokkan no Jutsu, a technique that sharpened the body's five senses.
But learning multiple techniques at once had enflamed Naruto's thirst for knowledge, until one day, shortly after he became a Genin, he simply read up on the scrolls in Kazekage's library. Thus, learning even more techniques and stopping only when the Kazekage found out and though he wasn't mad or anything, he told Naruto not to go near that collection until he was older. Much older.
Unlike the Sand trio, Naruto didn't have a particular way of fighting like Gaara's absolute defense, and he didn't have a weapon that corresponded with an element like Temari's fan, and he didn't have good enough chakra control to master Puppet no Jutsu like Kankurou.
He had two distinct styles. The lesser-used one would be when he engaged the opponent in a fair fight. Then, usually, he would just wait for the opponent to waste up all his chakra and then pound the opponent through taijutsu, ninjutsu, or whatever technique he had planned in his vast library of knowledge. But he hardly ever got into a fair fight so he never used it.
When he was small and before he got kicked out of Kazekage's library, he read up a scroll on the most vulnerable and sensitive points on the human body and he remembered it all. That eventually led to his second and more used method of fighting. His second was speed combined with the contents of that scroll. A fast attack in which he would strike all of the body's pressure points and cause a great deal of pain to the enemy. It was quick, efficient, and always worked unless the adversary was faster than Naruto himself. There were very few people who were faster than Naruto.
The Kyuubi was a major part of Naruto's upbringing. The time he broke through the seal managed to leave a crack open big enough so the two of them could communicate. The Kyuubi was a permanent comrade and his personal healer, so he, too, usually returned from missions seemingly unharmed.
But the Kyuubi didn't usually come out and was usually dormant because if and when they wanted to talk, it caused stress inside Naruto's body because the seal would interfere with the body's natural functions. So usually they only talked if it was absolutely necessary.
He learned that lesson two years ago. When Naruto turned twelve, he had a sudden desire to learn a summon but didn't have an animal to contract with. The Kyuubi had offered to teach him a summon and he had accepted. Which one was it, you ask?
A fox, of course.
It didn't take him a long time because of the fox entity within him. It had taken him two weeks to learn how to summon the most basic fox and a month to learn how to summon the six-foot one with a contract if he wanted to teach anyone in the future.
Temporary paralysis in his legs was an insignificant side effect.
---
The moon was big and bright this night.
Usually, a full moon is looked upon as a sign of fortune, but if it occurs on the night before a great journey, it could also be a bad omen.
Naruto was on the roof of a random building with a great night watching spot pondering this thought when he heard a presence of someone appearing behind him.
"You shouldn't do that," he said, not bothering to turn around. "One day you're going to actually scare someone so bad they wet themselves." He finally looked at his visitor. "Gaara."
Gaara said nothing, but sat down next to the blonde. They said nothing. It was what their 'connection' was composed of. Long, but comfortable silences.
"You okay with this mission?" Naruto asked, finally breaking the silence. "Shukaku and everything?"
"..."
"Are you really? Because I don't think I'd be okay if I was up for a mission just because of the Kyuubi."
Gaara closed his eyes. The insomniac lines around his eyes were becoming more defined everyday and were slowing ebbing away his sanity. Naruto saw that and knew it. He was also afraid that this mission would be the one that broke and shattered what remained of that precious sanity. What he didn't know was that he was also one of the few people that kept the sanity intact.
"I'll be fine."
There was yet another long and comfortable silence. Finally, Naruto got up and said, "I better get back. Temari's probably going to kill me if I don't get some rest before the big day. Later."
Gaara nodded, making no effort to turn around and say farewell to Naruto's retreating back. They were both demons and they both understood each other. That was enough.
---
Naruto slipped into the living room silently and was surprised to find that Temari and Kankurou were still awake.
"What're you guys doing up?" he asked, surprised. Then he grinned. "Excited?"
They nodded. "This isn't an easy mission, Naruto." Temari said. "This could be the one that makes or destroys the Sand village. And it's all on our shoulders." She shivered in anticipation. "I'm nervous."
"Don't be." Naruto said.
"You should talk," Kankurou replied. "You're not the one who's on a team with Gaara. In fact, why don't you switch places with me? If that doesn't work, I'm sure you could switch places with Gaara. That'd be the best."
"Nah." Naruto said. "Those two other Genin are probably going to get killed if they're on Gaara's team. Trust me; the arrangements right now are the best it's going to be. Besides, we already submitted our registrations. So it's a little late." He laughed and headed upstairs toward the bedroom. "Come on, both of you. Let's not worry and go get some sleep. We have to get to the Leaf tomorrow and we need the energy."
Temari gazed at him. "What about you, Naruto? How do you feel about going back to the Leaf Village after so long?"
Naruto paused, mid-step. "I was too little to remember anything." He said. "But I feel nothing for it and I have nothing against it. That's all."
---
He tossed. He turned. He rolled over. Nope. Couldn't fall asleep. He sat up and looked out the window at the full moon.
'Oy, baka kitsune. You there?'
There was a slight stirring in the back of his mind. Then he got a reply. 'What's this?’ sneered the Kyuubi, ‘Don't ye have some top-secret mission tomorrow? Get some damn sleep ye stupid brat.' Naruto grinned. He was as nice as ever.
'Nah, can't get any sleep.'
'Ye talk right now, ye not gonna be in full health for the exam. And I want some sleep too. So go away.'
'We got an entire day to rest up in Konoha before the actual test takes place. Besides, since when did you ever sleep?'
'Since now. Ah, what the heck. Whaddaya want, kuzo?'
'You're going to help me during the exams, right? Healing and everything?'
'...THAT'S what ye woke me up at to tell me? Have I ever NOT fixed ye? Show some damn faith little human."
Naruto was about to laugh when suddenly his left arm flared up painfully.
'See? What I tell ye? Talk for no reason and ye get hurt. Now go to sleep you stupid, stupid child.'
Naruto smiled to himself and rubbed his left hand as the link was severed. The Kyuubi didn't show it, but he cared.
---
There were actually more than ten teams of Genin going to Konoha. But since only two teams were expected to make it up to the final exam, only those two teams were informed of the mission.
Each team made their way South toward Konoha separately on foot.
Naruto's team was composed of two generic Sand Nins. One, Kurosaki Uematsu, had half his face covered in a cloth. The other, Nubuo Wataru, had his entire face bandaged so only a pair of sunglasses was showing. Both were years older than he was and both were about two heads taller than he was.
---
As they entered the gates, they received their passports and invited to wander around the village.
The majority of the Sand Genin took up the offer. The three of them were no exception. Gaara had excused himself to the hotel, leaving the rest of them to explore (in Naruto's case, re-explore) the Leaf Village.
Temari and Kankurou headed for the BBQ restaurant. And Naruto, having nothing better to do tagged along with them. After all, it had been a whole day and he was hungry.
---
Team Ten had been enjoying their barbecue happily and without incident until the café received visitors. Foreign visitors.
There was a girl with sandy hair in a purple dress with a fan buckled to her back. There was a boy dressed in black with purple face paint carrying something that looked extremely heavy. Then there was a blond boy with blue eyes a few years younger than the first two.
Their forehead protectors, though located elsewhere than their foreheads, all confirmed that they were from the Sand Village.
"Ne, Asuma," Shikamaru said under his breathe, "Aren't Sand Nin usually forbidden to go to ally villages even though they are allies?"
Asuma remembers NOW why he brought them to a barbecue, even though Chouji already quintupled his tab.
"True, but these Genin are here for the Chuunin Exam. Which I've recommended you for."
"What?" Ino exclaimed in the middle of reaching for a particularly large piece of meat, "You recommended us for the CHUUNIN exam? Are you sure that we're ready for it?"
"Sasuke's team is going to be in it."
"Oh, then we're DEFINITELY ready." Ino said, suddenly full of joviality.
'Mention Sasuke's name and she's all over it.' Shikamaru thought sourly. "Women are so difficult."
---
That night, as he lay in bed, Naruto thought carefully about this exam. So far, the six of them had been told everything Baki knew about the exams. For the first test, it was information gathering. The second was survival, and the third would be an actual tournament. As the plan stated, Kurosaki and Nubou would withdraw from the third exam and assemble with the other Sand Nins.
All of them had to at least make it to the finals of the third exam. There was no need to tell any of the other Sand teams unless they, too, made it to at least the Finals. But since that possibility was unlikely, there was probably no need to do anything anyway.
He had also been told that all the Konoha rookie Genin would be attending this year. And if he calculated right, they would be the people he went to school with in that brief year. Would he recognize any of them?
Naruto held his left hand up in the moonlight. For some reason, talking with Kyuubi the night before had royally messed his hand up. Usually, it would only take about a night to heal and yet it still pained him. And he needed to be in full health for the upcoming exam.
He rolled over, fully intent on falling asleep. 'When this is all over,' he promised himself, 'I'll start working on some type of healing or numbing jutsu.'
---
Temari was about to go wake Naruto up when she heard a sickening splotch coming from behind the doors. She opened it and saw what appeared to be the crushed remains of a flower pot on the floor.
"Full health again?" she asked.
"Yea." He said, shaking the bits and pieces of hardened clay from his hands.
"Good. Let's go."
T . B . C