Chapter 10

The Chunin Exams: Break

[Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. This fiction is just for fun, not for profit.]

"Character Talking"

Character Thinking

"Telepathic Conversation"

"Jutsu!"

"Demon or Summon"

With Naruto and Lee's match was over, the preliminaries were officially finished, but given the state of the arena, Minato could not give his explanation on what was to happen next. Hence Hokage and the other examiners led them to another room.

Once everyone had entered the room, Hayate started to speak, "Congratulations on passing the preliminaries. (Cough) If you would all come and draw a number from this box."

Anko stepped forward and stopped in front of each Genin, allowing them to pick their piece of paper. Once all of them had a paper, Ibiki took a step forward and Anko walked away.

"Please tell me your number, starting with you," Ibiki said, as he pointed at Sasuke, who was at the end of the line.

"Three," Sasuke said.

"I've got thirteen," Akatsuchi said.

"Ten," Kurotsuchi said.

"I've got eight," Karui said.

"I have a number four," Omoi spoke.

"Twelve," Temari said.

"Troublesome, Number eleven," Shikamaru said.

"Two" Kankuro spoke

"I have nine," Natsumi stated.

"Five," Gaara said.

"One," Shino said, looking at his number.

"Six," Neji said.

Naruto looked at his paper, "My number is seven."

Ibiki then held out a clipboard showing the matches.

Shino Vs Kankuro

Sasuke Uchiha Vs Omoi

Gaara Vs Neji Hyuuga

Naruto Uzumaki Vs Karui

Natsumi Uzumaki Vs Kurotsuchi

Shikamaru Nara Vs Temari

Akatsuchi

"Sweet, I got a free pass," Akatsuchi said.

"You have a month to train before the main matches," Minato said, "I suggest you use that time well."

"Why a month," Shikamaru asked.

"Because we have to send out invitations for everyone who has to be here to witness the exam," Minato replied, "The judges will decide who becomes Chunin and not."

"Judges," Shino asked.

"This tournament is judged by multiple judges," Minato said. "Myself, Kazekage-dono, Reikage-dono, Tsuchikage-dono and some of our clients are a few names in it. If someone is decided to have the qualities, in which we believe, declares him fit to be a Chunin. Then that person will be promoted even if he or she lost in his or her first match."

"So, that means we all can become the Chunin," Temari stated.

"Or none of us," Naruto said.

"The second exam is finished," Anko barked, "Meet in the main arena in a month. Dismissed."

"Naruto, stay here," Minato ordered.

All of the ninjas left the chamber. A few minutes later Kushina, Jiraiya and Hiruzen marched in and stood next to Minato. There were a few minutes of silence as both Minato and Kushina were trying to find words to start this conversation.

Jiraiya beat them. "Gaki, where did you learn to control the shadows?" he asked in his as usual carefree attitude.

"And why should I tell you? You're not Hokage or my teacher," Naruto said. He absolutely hated the Toad Sannin and had a good reason after what he had done. He was beginning of his every problem...every suffering. Prophecy, My Ass.

"Hey, I'm your godfather," Jiraiya pointed out.

"Never talked to you in my life," Naruto countered. He had never talked to his so-called Godfather before.

"Listen you, brat," Jiraiya growled, His godson was getting on his nerve. "I am a sannin. I outrank you."

Naruto scoffed. "Sannin are a bunch of losers who are only gotten famous because one old-nin decided to be merciful towards them."

"Why you?" Jiraiya's face turned red in anger, but he controlled it by taking a deep breath.

"Jiraiya, that's enough," The Third Hokage said. "Let Minato, Kushina handle this."

Minato sighed as he knew his teacher had made it worse. "Naruto, who taught you the advance shadow manipulation?" he asked.

"The things you can do with the shadow are impossible even for Nara clan's members," Kushina asked, carefully. "Where did you learn it?"

Suddenly, everyone heard Natsumi's voice as she shouted, "What the heck? Let me go!"

An incredibly huge and muscular a man dressed like a shinobi dragged Natsumi inside the room through the close door. He lifted the Nine-Tails' container off the ground by her collar. Natsumi was trying to get herself free from the man's garb, but he was incredibly strong. He had caught her by surprise when she had been trying to spy on her brother and parents' conversation.

Both Hokage, Kushina and Jiraiya immediately got in the fighting stance. They had to handle this very carefully as the man had Natsumi as a hostage. He had greyish-blue skin and red eyes, very unusual characteristic for human. But then again the Ninja-world filled with weirdo. The example was Kisame Hoshigaki, who had blue skin and gills.

"Who are you?" Hiruzen asked, his eyes narrowed.

When they didn't get an answer, Minato spoke, "Just let my daughter go. We can solve the matter peacefully."

"It is your answer," Naruto said, suddenly.

"What do you mean, brat?" Jiraiya asked, he was still angry and the student's son had decided to open his mouth wrong time.

The man dropped Natsumi. The red-headed girl fell down on her butt. Minato quickly appeared next to his daughter. Grabbing her, he flashed away while Kushina's sword slashed downward at her daughter's kidnapper. The man simply melted into the shadow, shocking everyone, and came out beside his master Naruto.

"Hold on! He is my summon," Naruto said, before they could on any conclusion.

"Summon? What kind of summoning animal is he?" Jiraiya asked, smelling something fishy about this.

"A very rare one, I think," Naruto answered before looking at Minato. "And you already know that with a summoning contract comes with their special Jutsus. Shadow manipulation is one of them."

"Where did you get this contract?" Minato asked.

"I found on the Wave Mission," Naruto said, lying through his teeth.

Minato looked at his son with a critical eye before he accepted it. If he forced him to tell everything, it would destroy their already fragile relationship.

"Can I go, Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked he couldn't stand another minute here. If his former family wasn't enough, Jiraiya was also there.

"Yes, you can go," Minato said.

The shadow raised up and wrapped around Naruto and his servant, pulling them down into the floor. After they were gone, Hiruzen looked at Minato.

He lit his pipe and puffed at it twice. "Do you believe him?" he asked.

"For now, yes," Minato said, "But I'll talk Toads. Probably, they know about his summoning contract."

"Nii-chan has cool summons," Natsumi commented.

"You also have a cool summons, Natsumi. Remember Toads," Jiraiya said immediately.

"Toads are lame," Natsumi said, folding her hands.

"Don't let Gamabunta hear you," Minato said, knowing the chief toad would take it offensively.

"Who is Gamabunta?" Natsumi asked.

"He is the Toad-Boss. He is big as Hokage Mountain," Jiraiya said, trying to show his summon in a new light.

"He helped me fight with the Nine-Tailed Fox," Minato said and looked at his teacher. "And Jiraiya is going to teach you to summon him."

"Then maybe they aren't lame," Natsumi said.

...oOo...

Deep inside a dark forest, Naruto stood silently, simply watching work of White-Zetsu's clone who was feasting on a headless body of an ANBU. Two tall men with pointed heads and a single glowing, red-eye stood both sides to him, protectively. Clad in black clothing with dark red belts, they had five, giant, razor-sharp claws, instead of fingers. Their legs were also pointed.

"As if Minato's dogs weren't enough, now I have to deal with Danzo's dogs also," he said. His servants, they had not only caught Natsum, but also Danzo's little spy at the outside of the room.

"That old war-hawk is a pain in the arse sometimes." Black Zetsu rose up next to Naruto. There was silence between them for a moment before the will of Kaguya spoke, "Why do you want to meet me?"

"I want you to tell Tobi about my wood release bloodline," Naruto said, shocking Zetsu.

"Why?"

...oOo...

The Third-Hokage and his guest looked at each other momentarily with no words being exchanged between them. After a brief moment of silence between the two of them, he spoke, "Tsunade, it's a been a long while."

"Yes it has, Sarutobi-sensei," Tsunade replied to her former sensei. She had looks of her late thirties and was known by many as the Sucker, one of the legendary Sannin. She had brown eyes and straight blonde hair that parts above her forehead. Her hair had shoulder-length bangs that frame her face and the rest reaches her lower back.

"Where is Shizune?" her teacher asked.

"Out, to meet her friends," Tsunade replied. "Tell me, sensei. What's so urgent that you sent this pervert to look for me?" She jerked her thumb over her shoulder.

"So you've been aware of me since the beginning," Jiraiya said.

"I can sense your lust from here."

Jiraiya's face faulted.

Sarutobi sighed. There is something wrong with my teaching. Tsunade is a gambler and heavy drinker. Jiraiya is...a pervert. And his last student, Orochimaru... I can write a book about him.

"Sensei!" Tsunade called her teacher.

"Wait for a minute, Tsunade," Hiruzen said.

There was a knock on door and Minato and Kushina entered the room.

Minato smiled. "Tsunade-hime."

"Nice to see you again, Tsunade," Kushina greeted.

"Minato, Kushina, it's good to see you again." Tsunade smiled. "How are your children? Their names are Natsumi and Naruto, right?" She got a nod from her relative. "I really want to meet them." Kushina and her children were the only reason she had agreed to come back to the village. They were her last living family.

"You will meet them later, but first," Hiruzen said and made a couple of hand seals. The room glowed purple for a brief second.

"Silencing Jutsu?" Tsunade said, recognising the Jutsu. "So this is serious."

"Yes, it is," Hiruzen said in a serious tone and motioned Jiraiya to tell her.

"My spy network in Sand-village has informed me about their upcoming attack on our village," Jiraiya stated.

"Sand alone don't have enough strength or manpower to do that," Tsunade said, "so who are helping them? Iwa? Kumo?"

"Sound village," Minato informed her, "They've planed to attack us in the Chunin exam's final."

"Never heard about Sound Village before, who is the leader?" Tsunade asked, looking at the Leaf's spymaster.

"I suspect it is Orochimaru," Jiraiya said. "It's been difficult keeping an eye on his activities. The dammed snake knows ways of covering his tracks, and he often relocates from one base to another."

There was a moment of silence among everyone in the office. The Senju-Princess was trying to process all information. She looked at her teacher. "You should've killed him."

"It's not easy to cut bonds you made," Hiruzen said, looking down. Orochimaru was his shame... greatest mistake in his life.

To change the subject, Minato decided to speak, "Tsunade-sama, I want you to retake the position of Head of Leaf's medical department. Your village needs you."

"Minato, I don't know if I can do that. In this village... I've very painful memories. I'm sorry," Tsunade said. "But I'll help you in the upcoming invasion."

"It's ok. You have a month to think about it," Minato said.

"And you and Shizune are staying with us in our clan compound," Kushina said happily. "Natsumi-chan will be happy to meet you."

"What about your son? Isn't he going to be happy to meet me?" Tsunade asked. "Or Jiraiya is his favourite." She narrowed eyes at her teammate. "Did he corrupt my godson with his perverted antics?" She clenched her fists, ready to give Jiraiya beating if Kushina said Yes.

"He doesn't live with us anymore," Kushina said, sadly.

"Why?"

"Tsunade-sama, there is something, I want you to do for me," Minato said as he handed her a file. "I want you to perform a physical examination on him."

Tsunade looked at the file. It was a medical file of Naruto, her godson. She began to read the file. As she flipped the pages, various emotions appeared on her face. Finally, it settled on anger when she finished. "What is this, Minato? Chakra poisoning, blood loss, head injuries, and many more. With all of this, Naruto shouldn't be alive or completely healthy." She turned to Kushina. "Kushina, where is your son?"

"Tsunade, clam down. I'm assured that Naruto is alive and perfectly healthy," The Third said. He knew an angry Tsunade equivalent to collateral damage.

It calmed her down a bit, but she was still angry. "Kushina, how did this happen?" she asked.

"It's all started with Toad's prophecy," Kushina started from the beginning. As her story processed, tears began seeping down her cheeks. When she finished, she was literally crying in her husband's hands. "He hates us."

Tsunade wasn't angry anymore; she was furious. "Both of you deserve it," she said, angrily.

Jiraiya tried to protect them, "Tsunade-hime, it isn't—"

"Shut up, Idiot. It's all happened because of you and your stupid prophecy," Tsunade cut it. She turned to both parents. "Minato, I thought you were a genius, but you are more idiot than your teacher. And Kushina, you are an Uzumaki. If Grandma Mito was alive, what would she think about you? It's perfectly normal for parents to favour one child or another at one time or another, but both of you just ignored one. You rejected his existing. For what? A Stupid prophecy."

"But Prophecy has changed. It—" Again Jiraiya was cut by Tsunade.

"Shut up, Jiraiya! Prophecies aren't predictions of the future!" the Slug-sannin shouted.

Hiruzen didn't say anything. Minato, Kushina and his student Jiraiya needed to hear that and Tsunade was the perfect person to tell them that.

Tsunade turned towards her teacher. "Sensei, where is Naruto, now? I want to check his physical and mental health. There is no way anyone can get up from that accident without any mental and physical ensue."

"He is training with one of his teachers," Sarutobi said. "There is one thing you should know about him."

"What is it?"

"He can use the wood release like Hashirama Senju."

"What?"!

...oOo...

Naruto went through the handseals. "Wood Release: Tracking Fang Technique!" Several wooden pillars shot out of the ground and morphed into five ninja hounds. The dogs growled at their target before sinking into the ground.

His technique name is very similar to Kakashi's, Yamato thought as he narrowly dodged a wooden dog's attack. He jumped back and another wooden burst out of the ground and went to attack him. The third dog came from behind him but was quickly slapped away by a wooden plank.

"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall"

Wooden pillars appeared out of the ground and created a dome around Yamato. But it turned out ineffective against the wooden dogs as they phased through the wooden wall and bit on Yamato's shoulder hard. Soon another three dogs joined him and held him down with their fangs.

They are absorbing my chakra, Yamato though, before he turned into the wood.

"Wooden clone," Naruto said. He felt the tip of kunai on his neck.

"I admit you're good, Naruto, but not that good," Yamato said, standing behind his student with kunai in his hand.

Naruto smirked. "Sensai, I made five wooden dogs, not four."

Yamato's eyes widened as Naruto also turned a wooden clone and the last wooden dog burst out of the ground. Yamato quickly disposed of the dog, but it gave the real Naruto enough time complete the last handseal.

Naruto clapped his hands. "Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!"

Yamato's eyes widened in a shock. Several large trees emerged from the ground, turning the training ground into a dense forest in a less than a minute. Naruto's technique wasn't finished just there. The Trees started blooming into beautiful pink flowers. They were exactly like roses, beautiful and yet deadly.

As the flowers bloomed, a thick yellowish mist enveloped the whole field. The flowers had released their pollen that spread through that battlefield. Anyone that inhaled even the smallest amount of it, would be rendered unconscious.

You have come so far, Naruto, Yamato thought before falling unconscious.

...oOo...

When Yamato woke up, he found himself in the same training ground. But the training ground wasn't a training ground anymore; It had become a part of the forest that covered it all side.

"It looks like, form now, Leaf-Ninjas have one less training ground to train." Yamato looked up at Naruto, who was sitting on a tree branch. "What did you do with the giant flowers?"

"I cut them off," Naruto said as he jumped and landed softly on the ground.

Yamato smiled and said, "Naruto, there's nothing I can teach you. Your wood release skills have already suppressed mine. Be careful, when you fight with a tailed beast container. Suppressing the power of a Tailed-Beast is no easy task for anyone, regardless of your Bloodline limit."

"Thank you for everything, Sensei," Naruto said. "And I'll remember your advice."

There was a small puff of smoke. When the smoke dissipated, there was a slug, the same size of a house-cat, carrying a scroll under it. The slug was predominantly white in colour with three blue streaks that ran vertically down the middle and side of its body from its head and tapering off at its tail. Its optical tentacles had a slight tint of grey to them and it also had two sensory tentacles on either side of its mouth.

"Are you Naruto-sama?" it spoke in a soft and gentle voice.

"Yes, I'm Naruto. And who are you?" Naruto said. He pretty much had clues who the slug was. There was only one slug summon in the Element Nation. Tsunade Senju.

"I am Katsuyu. I have a message for you from Tsunade-Sama."

...oOo...

Naruto was in the hospital. He didn't have a good memory here. The last time, he had visited this place on the stretcher. But this time, he was visiting on his feet.

Good progress, he thought.

"Naruto?" A very familiar voice called his name.

Naruto turned around to see the familiar face of his pink-haired teammate. "It's been while, Sakura," he said.

"It's only fifteen days," Sakura said. She had several books in her had and was wearing a white coat as the doctor wore. "I thought you forgot about me."

Trust me, I can forget your face, but not your loud voice, Naruto thought before looking at Sakura. "Do you work here?"

"No, I'm actually an intern here," Sakura said. "And congratulations, I heard you, Natsumi and Sasuke-kun got into the final."

"Thanks."

"Sakura," a voice called her name.

"Shizune-sensei," Sakura called the newcomer.

Shizune was a fair-skinned woman of average height and slender build with onyx eyes and jet-black hair; her hair was straight and shoulder-length with bangs that covered her ears and framed her face. She wore a long bluish-black kimono with white trimmings that held closed by a white obi and open-toed sandals with low heels.

"Bed Number forty-seven patient needs medical help," she told her.

Sakura left after saying goodbye to Naruto.

"You're Naruto-kun, right?" Shizune asked the pale blond-haired boy, who matched the description of the Fourth's son.

Naruto gave her a nod.

"I am Shizune, Tsunade-sama's apprentice. She is waiting for you."

Naruto followed Shizune. She directed him to the stairs. They made it to the office on the first floor. Shizune knocked on the door. When they heard 'come in', they went inside.

"Ah, Shizune," Tsunade said, she looked up and saw Shizune and the blond boy, whom he recognised her godson Naruto. "And you must be Naruto. Take the seats."

Naruto nodded and took a seat in front of the desk. Shizune sat next to him. Naruto looked the Senju-Princess. She looked much younger than her age. He didn't know what to think about her. She was his godmother, but unlike Jiraiya, he had never met her before. At that time, his opinion about her was neutral.

"A Physical Examination? But Why?" Naruto asked, confused as he got straight to the point.

"It is a regular protocol," Tsunade said, lying.

"Never heard about it before," Naruto said, suspecting something.

"It's only for Leaf-genins who has moved to the final."

"Then where are the others?"

"I have sent them a message. They will be here soon."

Naruto narrowed eyes at Tsunade. The whole thing feels suspicious to me. The door swung open and there she was.

"Hey, where is grandma Tsunade? She—Nii-chan?"

"Natsumi," Naruto said, seeing his Ex-sister.

Perfect timing, Natsumi, Tsunade thought before she realised what that brat had called her. "Stop calling me Grandma, Brat!" she shouted.

"But you're old," Mini-Kushina countered.

"Stop calling me old!"

Both Shizune and Naruto sweatdropped seeing their behaviour. Shizune stood up and decided to stop this pointless argument.

"Let's go for your physical examination." She grabbed Natsumi's hand and dragged her out of the room.

"Hey! Stop pulling me!" Natsumi shouted.

Tsunade took a deep breath to calm herself down. She definitely takes after Kushina. She turned and looked at her godson. And Naruto takes after his father. He has Minato's brilliant mind. I hope Natsumi's presence has clarified his doubts about this examination.

"Are you ready for your physical examination?" she asked.

"Yes," Naruto said. He mentally sent a signal to his shadow-servants to keep eyes on the process.

...oOo...

Pointless and waste of time, Naruto thought about the physical examination.

He jumped onto the roof of a nearby house. Jumping from one house onto another, he was moving toward his home. It was already night. He leapt into the air. He unsheathed his sword Kurami. Stepping on a shadow platform, he swung it around, sending an arc of black energy towards an unknown stalker. He looked down and saw marks of splattered ink on the ground.

"Ink?" Naruto said before his form melted into the platform and he appeared in his living room.

"You can come out now," he said.

A man stepped out of the shadow. He was a tall man with black hair. He wore a simple purple lined kimono, bandages all over his body, and simple sandals. His most distinctive feature was an orange mask with a spiral pattern focused around his right eye.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, but he already knew who he was.

"Hi, I am Tobi... And Tobi is a good guy," the masked man said in a childish almost high pitched voice.

"I highly doubt that," Naruto said.

A chakra chain pierced through the back of Tobi and came out the front. The masked man instantly dropped his childish ways and took a completely different stance. He glanced down, noticing the chain had come out of his shadow.

"You're full of surprises," Tobi said, His voice was deeper, but there was no pain in it. He stepped forward. There was no remnant of any stab wound or any stabbing hole in his cloth.

"So you have done playing around," Naruto said and his chain vanished. "So who are you again?"

Tobi smiled inside the mask. "I'm… a ghost of the Uchiha," he said with his lone Sharingan glowing. "Uchiha Madara."

"Impossible," Naruto said, emitting a fake shocked expression. "You should be dead by now. We're talking about a faraway era."

"Believe me or not, I am alive."

"What do you want from me?"

"Let's talk in my place."

Before Naruto knew, Tobi was in front of him. As the masked man grabbed his shoulder, the world around them began to swirl. When everything went back to the normal, Naruto found himself in front of a giant, earthen-coloured humanoid entity rested upon a giant flowering tree. The Demonic Statue had a decayed appearance, a body shaped into a robe, and a number of spike-like protrusions on its back. The tree, it rested on, was huge, much bigger than the statue itself. The giant tree had spike-like branches, which jutted out all along its stem, and a gigantic network of roots extending into a massive flooded cavern. An abnormal thing about that tree was its trunk that bore a strong resemblance to First Hokage Senju Hashirama.

I can feel mom's chakra trying to connect me, Naruto thought to look at the husk of the Ten-Tails. He felt much stronger than before as his chakra became instantly full.

"Beautiful isn't it," Tobi spoke.

"Yes. I can feel its sheer life force from here," Naruto said.

"Tell me Naruto, what do you think about this reality and Peace?" Tobi asked. He needed to know if he was going to coerce the blonde to help him.

"There is no such thing as peace in this world, that is reality," Naruto said immediately.

"This reality is completely worthless, isn't it?" Tobi said. "People don't get what they wish most, and that is a fact... We are subjected to the whims of this reality, that is filled with pain, suffering, emptiness... loneliness and negligence. Whenever there is light, there are also shadows. One cannot exist without the other. This world is full of pain and futility those are the only things that exist in this reality.

"There are only winners and losers in this world along with the selfish desires to create a lasting peace... but there can be no peace when the world is flooded by rage. The selfish desire of peace will only be temporary and war will rise, hatred is birthed from the protection of love and more hatred will follow after it like vultures, everything I have said is nexuses, bound together by an unbreakable chain that keeps adding on to its links, the chain cannot be broken for we all wear it... there is no wear to break the chain... normally."

Naruto didn't say anything. He stood there and listened.

"I have the plan to break that chain, I call it, the Moon's Eye Plan," Faked-Madara said. He began to explain to him his master plan. The plan according to him would bring everlasting peace in the world. "Anything you ever wanted would become reality. You can create people, manipulate landscapes, even gain acceptance and love of your parents."

Naruto closed his eyes and clapped his hands. Tobi watched sheer outstanding when giant trees grew out of the ground. They twisted, turned, wrapped around the huge tree, Hashirama's Artificial Body. The huge tree began to grow, stretching its branches, sprouting leaves.

This is the true power of the Wood Release, Tobi thought.

"I don't need anything from them," Naruto said. "What I want is crush their dreams they work for."

This is better than what I expected, Tobi thought, smiling under his mask. "We can help each other. I will train you... I will give you the power you desire. You will be a force of nature under Uchiha Madara's teaching. But in the return, I expect your help in my plan."

Naruto was silent for a minute before nodding. "I will help you only if you fulfil your word," he said. Everything had gone according to the plan. He was inside the little group that Black Zetsu had created to their mother's revival.

"Very well... from today you are my student... Naruto," Tobi said with a small smile. "The Leaf Village is far away from here. Let me give you a lift."

"Don't worry I will manage," Naruto said. His shadow wrapped around his body.

Tobi watched his new student leave through a portal. "Another pawn has joined the chessboard," he said, "Don't you agree?"

Black Zetsu rose out of the ground beside. It didn't say anything, just kept an eye on Tobi. You are a fool. My brother has always been on the board, not as a pawn but as a queen.

(TBC)

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