The More Things Change

Chapter Ten

Naruto followed his team mates up the Academy stairs. His emotions were in turmoil: a mixture of excitement and anxiety, along with a healthy dose of fear. That Gaara guy was going to be participating and he gave the blonde chills. Even worse, Naruto and Sakura's encounter with the sand Genin had made Team Seven targets for the obviously disturbed Suna Genin. If the rest of the contenders were as dangerous as the red-haired ninja, then he knew that his team would have a lot of trouble surviving, much less passing.
As the group left the stairwell, they saw a crowd of Genin trying to enter the exam room, only to be rebuffed by a pair of leaf Genin. Naruto burned in anger. He didn't know who these guys were, but they were giving the Leaf Village a bad name.
"Please, let us pass," a tall boy in green spandex shouted. He had a horrible bowl cut and some of the largest eyebrows that Naruto had ever seen. His bright orange leg warmers clashed horribly with his spandex, and his hands were taped up to the elbow.
The Leaf Genin guarding the door just laughed. "If you can't get by us, then you have no right to be here in the first place."
Rolling his eyes, Naruto stepped forward. "You're disgracing the village. Stand down."
"Who's going to make us, pipsqueak? You?" the older boy sneered.
"Maybe," Naruto shrugged and slid a kunai knife from his pouch, twirling the silver blade before balancing it on his index finger.
"Naruto, it's not worth it," Sakura said, sidling beside her team mate. Satsuki stood on his other side, glaring at the two bullies.
"What do you mean? We have to get through the door to take our exam!" Naruto couldn't believe her. He knew that she hated unnecessary fighting, but Naruto wasn't about to be pushed around by a couple no-name Genin.
Satsuki rolled her eyes. "You're so gullible. We're not even on the right floor. Surely you noticed that we only went up one set of stairs? We're in a Genjutsu."
The other prospective Chunin groaned, Naruto among them. How could he have made such a fool of himself? Before he had a chance to retort, however, the boy with the crazy eyebrows dashed to Satsuki's side, professing his undying love and complimenting her "youthful beauty," whatever that meant.
Naruto was surprised that he didn't feel jealous. Maybe it was because the boy wasn't a threat. Maybe it was because he was finally moving on from his raven haired teammate. Whatever the reason, watching Satsuki back away in terror and revulsion was one of the funniest things he had ever seen. He managed to suppress the urge to laugh, but it was a close thing. His mirth did not go unnoticed by the boy, who turned to glare daggers at Naruto. It would have been more intimidating if his eyebrows didn't take up half his face.
"Is the youthful expression of my feelings funny?" The boy was obviously pissed. "Who do you think you are?"
Naruto's first instinct was to kick the boy's ass up and down the hallway. However, he managed to control himself and instead just shrugged. "I just think it's funny that you claim to love her. I've never even met you before, Bushy Brows, and she and I hang out all the time."
The other boy seethed. "I am Rock Lee, the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha!"
"Never heard of you," Naruto quipped. The boy was really getting on his nerves.
"Come on, Naruto, let's get out of here. We still have to check in," Sakura said, latching onto the blonde's arm. He let her lead him back towards the stairwell, ignoring Lee's shouts of a rivalry. Naruto already had a rival.
Satsuki and the rest of Team Seven finally made it to the correct room. She was still in a state of mild shock. Some odd boy had just announced his love for her in front of everyone. She had never met the boy before, and if she never met him again it would be too soon. It had been a long time since anyone had fallen all over her like that; all of the boys at the academy had learned better a long time ago.
What really bothered her was that Naruto had laughed about the whole thing. He hadn't cared that some other guy was hitting on her. In fact, the blonde had seemed to find the entire situation humorous. She was ashamed to admit that when she had seen Naruto's reaction, she had been tempted to take the odd boy up on his offer of a relationship if only to see the blonde's reaction. Thankfully, she had managed to control that particular impulse.
Satsuki watched Naruto greet his friends Choji and Shikamaru. The three of them started chatting and laughing. Even Sakura and Ino had started up a conversation. The raven haired Genin couldn't help but feel a pang of loneliness. They were supposed to be her team mates; they shouldn't be fraternizing with the enemy, and for the sake of the exam, anyone outside of Team Seven was an enemy.
An older teen with glasses and silver hair had tried to catch Satsuki's attention, but she pointedly ignored him. She knew she was being an unreasonable bitch, but she honestly didn't care. She'd rather brood in silence than talk with some guy she didn't know.
Satsuki's attention was diverted when a smoke bomb went off at the end of the room. All conversation in the room halted as the Genin waited with bated breath for the smoke to clear. After a few moments, a figure stepped out of the smoke cloud. He was dressed all in black, his face heavily scarred.
"Listen up, you maggots! My name is Ibiki Morino. As of this moment, I am your worst nightmare." The man's voice was gravelly. "I am the proctor for the first test of this year's Chunin Exams. You'll all be happy to know that this year, the first exam is a written test. Follow me."
The Genin all followed the man into an adjoining room. The room was large, with long tables in neat rows. As the Genin entered, they were given a seat assignment. Satsuki noticed that each team member was seated far away from their teammates. Naruto was sitting near the front, while Satsuki was on the far right about halfway back. Sakura was in the back row on the left. Chunin were lining the left and right walls, clipboards in their hands.
"When I call for you to start the test, turn your papers over and begin. You start the test with all ten points. For each wrong answer, you lose a point. If you are caught cheating, you lose two points. If you reach zero points, you and your team are disqualified from the exam." Ibiki took a look around the room. "Begin!"
Satsuki turned the paper over and read the first question. Then read it again.
What the hell? It was a complicated mathematical equation based on kunai flight speed and trajectory arcs. She was sure she could solve it, but it would take her awhile. It'd be best to move on and come back to it. However, the next question was even more complicated, and each of the following questions were more difficult than the last.
There's no way in hell that Naruto could solve any of these, Satsuki thought. It's not that she thought the blonde was stupid, far from it. However, she doubted if anyone in their year besides herself, Sakura, and maybe Shikamaru could answer any of these questions. There had to be something more to this test. Then it came to her like a bolt of lightning. They were supposed to cheat. The test wasn't about knowledge. It was about information gathering. Satsuki activated her Sharingan and started copying from some geeky older Genin.
Sakura had divined the true intent of the test almost as soon as it begun. However, the pink-haired kunoichi didn't have a single Jutsu that would be effective in this situation. She'd have to do her best to answer the problems honestly. She tried not to think about Naruto, who also didn't have an information gathering Jutsu. Sakura started to think that it was a flaw in their training. However, she saw Naruto writing diligently up at the front next to Hinata. Hinata could definitely get the answers with her Byakugan, and she was most likely letting Naruto copy from her paper.
Team Seven didn't so much as flinch when the proctor, Ibiki, announced that the tenth question would be all or nothing. Sakura did feel a bit nervous when he had said that failure would eliminate them from ever being advanced, but she quickly realized that he was bluffing.
The most surprising of all was that some students actually believed him. Surely they knew that no proctor could disqualify them from promotion forever, right? After more than half of the remaining teams filed out of the room, Ibiki gave everyone a final chance to quit. Two more teams raised their hands and left, leaving only a dozen or so teams left. Finally, Ibiki called the exam over and explained that they had all passed.
Naruto rolled his eyes, thinking about how stupid this exam was. He hadn't needed to copy from Hinata at all. If he had left the page blank, then he could have just stuck around for the tenth question and automatically pass. Now he owed the lavender eyed Genin a favor, and he had no doubt that payment would involve some sort of date. He decided he'd wait for her to ask. After all, there was no point in looking for trouble.
Not that that has ever helped, he thought uncharitably.
Out of nowhere, a loud crash split the air as someone smashed through the window. The Genin all craned their heads to see a kunoichi whose outfit consisted of little more than a jacket, a mesh bodysuit and a skirt that covered practically nothing.
"All right, twerps! No time for celebrating! I'm Anko Mitarashi, the proctor for the second exam! Follow me!" The kunoichi was very high strung, waving her arms as she talked.
"You're early." Ibiki said, though there was no real malice in voice. "Again."
After some friendly banter between the two Jonin, Naruto and the rest of the Genin followed Anko towards the training grounds. He quickly fell into step beside Satsuki and Sakura.
"Was that the dumbest test ever, or what?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood. Satsuki was being her usual moody self. The two girls' rivalry had not abated in the slightest and it was really putting a strain on their group dynamic. Naruto finally started to lose his cool.
"Could you two get along for two freaking minutes? We're never going to pass if you guys are at each other's throats nonstop." He kept his voice low to keep from drawing unwanted attention.
"I don't know about Satsuki, but I'm perfectly fine. I don't have a problem with anyone. I guess it's because I actually have a personality," Sakura sniped. Naruto had to resist the urge to facepalm.
"Hn."
Naruto was relieved when the remaining Chunin hopefuls arrived at a large, fenced in training area. His relief was short lived, however. Not only was Training Area 44 nicknamed the "Forest of Death," but that Gaara guy was staring at him again.
Sakura listened to the exam instructions intently. They were to be given either an Earth Scroll or Heaven Scroll. Their job was to collect an opposing scroll from one of the other teams within a five day time limit. After they had possession of both scrolls, the teams were to make their way to the tower in the middle of the training area. All three members of a team had to be alive and conscious or the entire team failed.
She knew this wouldn't be nearly as easy as it sounded. Even if Team Seven were able to defeat a group of older, more experienced Genin, there was only a 50/50 chance that the team would have the scroll they needed. Even worse, they'd still have to make it all the way to the tower without being attacked. Simple math would eliminate half the teams automatically. She knew that some of the other villages might try to eliminate the competition. She doubted if more than half a dozen teams would actually pass this exam. Naruto volunteered to hold on to their scroll, and Sakura didn't see any reason to object. He'd be the hardest to take down of the team and he also had his shadow clones to mislead opponents or create a distraction.
Team Seven moved to their designated entrance in relative silence. Naruto had tried to start up a conversation about strategy, but a harsh glare from Satsuki silenced him. The exasperated blonde just threw his hands in the air, muttering under his breath.
About an hour into the exam, Naruto called for a halt.
"Alright, that's enough. I'm not going to put up with this for five fucking days. I don't care if you two are bff's, but it isn't too much to ask for you to get along. Kami, you girls are bugging the shit out of me!" Satsuki was startled. Naruto only swore when he was truly pissed off, and a pissed Naruto was a dangerous Naruto.
"Fine," she said evenly, turning to her pink haired teammate. "Sakura, I'm sorry that I find you annoying and immature."
"And I'm sorry that you're a colossal bitch!" Sakura was practically foaming at the mouth. Kami, it was almost too easy.
"At least I'm not hanging off one boy while dating another," Satsuki smirked. She knew that being calm and demeaning would piss Sakura off way more than a screaming match.
Sakura's glare could have frozen oceans. "Naruto and I are friends!" She looked to Naruto for backup.
The boy in question looked very uncomfortable. "Don't drag me into this. You're both my friends."
"So you admit that you're stalking him, then?" Satsuki sneered.
Sakura flushed. "NO! He's just a friend!"
"That's something you should keep in mind, then," Satsuki said triumphantly. "You're just friends and that's all you'll ever be. He's not going to date your best gal pal and you're not all going to live happily ever after."
"And you're just-" Satsuki wouldn't find out what she was, because a powerful blast of wind blew through the clearing. She threw her hands in front of her face to protect her eyes from flying debris. After a few moments, the gust of wind stopped just as suddenly as it had appeared. Peeking over her arms, Satsuki saw a deep trench cut into the ground, going as far as she could see in either direction… And Naruto was gone.
"Naruto!" Satsuki cried out, looking for the blonde Genin.
"I doubt he survived," a cold, slithering voice said from behind her. She and Sakura both whirled to see a strange Kusa ninja. She looked way too old to be a Genin, and just the sight of her gave Satsuki the chills.
"I must say, I'm disappointed Satsuki. Dropping your guard in hostile territory to argue over a boy? That's just…. sad." Satsuki's eyes widened. She had been so caught up in taunting Sakura that she had completely forgotten about the exam. It was a potentially deadly mistake.
Naruto lay battered at the base of one of the forests giant trees. He couldn't believe he'd been so careless. He hadn't even set a few clones as guards before stopping. Now he had no idea where he was, where his team was, and had no clue what had hit him.
"Well, I get the feeling that this is going to be a bad day," he said to himself, stumbling to his feet. As he lifted his head, Naruto's jaw dropped as he saw what had to be the world's largest snake. "Definitely a bad day!"
The snake was a dull greenish-brown with golden eyes. It was at least forty feet long and was eyeing Naruto like he was a particularly juicy mouse. In the flash of an eye, the monstrous serpent struck at him. The blonde barely had time to dodge, and the shock wave from the snake's strike threw him back. It followed up by trying to snare him with its tail, but Naruto managed to leap over the serpent's tail.
"If that's how you want to play, fine!" Naruto shouted, biting his right thumb and slamming his hand to the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu! Time to pick on someone your own size!"
An enormous cloud of smoke covered the area, slowly parting to reveal a red and black toad the size of a large house. The toad was armed with an odachi, the steel catching a ray of sunlight that had filtered through the trees. The snake seemed enraged to see the toad, but also halted its attacks.
"Gamahiro! Thanks for showing up!"
"It is my honor to fight the servant of Manda," the toad said primly. Naruto was nonplussed.
"Who's Manda?"
Gamahiro sighed, his great chest heaving. "He is the Boss of the Snake Summons. This particular serpent is called Slyther. We've traded blows before."
Naruto's eyes widened. "This is a Snake Summon? That means my friends are in danger! I'm sorry to split, but I've gotta go help them!" Naruto dashed through the trees, leaving the mighty Gamahiro to battle Slyther. He had to help Sakura and Satsuki! He didn't catch Gamahiro's parting words.
"They're in more trouble than you know, young Summoner."
Sakura was paralyzed in fear. She didn't know how the Kusa ninja's blood lust had overwhelmed the two kunoichi of Team Seven, but she couldn't even move. The killing intent emanating from this woman was more intense than anything she'd ever felt. It put Gaara's and even Zabuza's to shame.
Satsuki was equally paralyzed, her eyes wide. Sakura didn't think she'd ever seen Satsuki so afraid, which only confirmed her own fears. They were in serious trouble, and Naruto could already be dead. Without him, Sakura doubted her and Satsuki's chances of survival against a superior foe. While each member of Team Seven had their strengths and weaknesses, Naruto was the glue that held it together. Without him, no one would take charge and make Satsuki work with the team.
"Satsuki, what do we do?" She loathed letting Satsuki take the lead. However, if the ebony haired princess thought she was in control then she was less likely to fly off like a loose cannon.
However, said princess wasn't even responding. She was just staring at the Kusa kunoichi. The older woman seemed to revel in their fear. Sakura knew she was about to die, but she couldn't even bring herself to move. What would Naruto say if he knew that they'd gone down without a fight? The thought of Naruto's reaction freed her from her paralysis just in time to dodge a pair of kunai. Grabbing Satsuki around the waist, she leaped into the trees. Satsuki broke her own paralysis as soon as they were out of sight of that… monster. Sakura had serious doubts that the Kusa kunoichi had even been human.
"Thanks," Satsuki said, though it seemed to take every ounce of willpower to convey her gratitude.
"Don't mention it," Sakura replied. "I may hate you, but we're still teammates. That bitch was seriously freaky."
"Hn."
The pair was stopped dead in their tracks by a giant snake and Sakura knew that this was no coincidence. The Kusa bitch wasn't through with them yet, and she had a feeling that things were about to get a whole lot worse. The same question kept running through her mind: Where the hell was Naruto?
Naruto crashed through the trees at top speed, heading back towards the clearing where Satsuki and Sakura had been arguing. A feeling of dread had set over him. The colossal Snake had been a summon, which could only mean one thing: Someone had intentionally forced him away from his team mates, then tried to finish the job by sending a snake summon after him.
The only real question was: who's the target? Was the mysterious summoner after Naruto and wanted to isolate him from his team? Naruto didn't think so. He was almost positive that someone was after Satsuki. Sakura wasn't really powerful or well known or enough to warrant so much trouble. Satsuki, on the other hand, was the last Uchiha. There were a lot of people who'd like to get their hands on the Sharingan and Satsuki was their only hope to do so.
Naruto pushed himself to go faster. Whoever the summoner was, they were powerful. To just blow him away with a wind Jutsu AND summon a Snake that size? They had to have a massive amount of chakra.
As he reached the clearing where he had last seen his team mates, Naruto heard an earsplitting crash to his right. I hope I'm going the right way.
Satsuki dodge another earth shattering strike from the snake. She knew she couldn't keep this up for long. Sakura was already on her last legs, having used a majority of her meager chakra to place the snake under her depth perception Genjutsu, saving both of their lives. Satsuki had tried several fireballs, but none of them had any effect on the gargantuan serpent.
The last Uchiha knew that her death was imminent. The snake was too fast, and Satsuki was tiring quickly. She was more of a technical fighter and lacked the knockout punch that would kill the snake. That was Naruto's job. Sakura was mainly there to support her team mates with Genjutsu and medical Ninjutsu. Together they were a well-balanced and formidable team. Separated, they each had glaring flaws.
Without Sakura and Satsuki, Naruto could easily be defeated by a Genjutsu user. Sakura, on the other hand, needed to get her own Genjutsu off or she was toast. Satsuki could be overwhelmed by aggressive opponents, just like what was happening now. The Uchiha heiress flipped over the serpent's head as it struck yet again, demolishing the tree limb that she had been standing on just a moment before.
"Summoning Jutsu!" An enormous blue toad appeared from a cloud of smoke and tackled the snake. Both creatures fell towards the ground, each fighting for dominance. They landed with an earth shaking crash and both creatures disappeared in a cloud of smoke that obscured the forest floor.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried out, her voice a mixture of joy and surprise. Satsuki turned to see the blonde boy, his right hand still planted firmly on the ground. His clothes were looking pretty ragged, but she couldn't see any injuries.
The dark haired kunoichi smirked. Things were finally looking up for Team Seven.