Chapter 11

-Day of the Chunin exams-

Naruto was lay in his bed yawning as he just woke up, he looked out of his window and saw the blue sky filled with small clouds, he turned his head to the clock and saw the time as he got out of bed, he still had 2 hours before the exams even started so that was enough time for a small amount of training, he walked to the bathroom as he remembered a interaction he had with Temari on the street, said interaction turned into a small date with Naruto taking her around Konoha and the two getting some lunch together and promising if Naruto ever went to Suna it would happen again, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't excited for the next time they saw each other. He also remembered how she was telling him of when the council met in Suna and called off the invasion.

(Flashback)

-Suna Council Room-

In the room there were all the councillors from Suna's academy teachers, the elders, the Jonin and Anbu commander and a spot left open for the 'Kazekage' at the elders seats were the elder siblings of Suna Chiyo and Ebizo, they were sat in there seats before one of Temari's Itachi (Weasel) summons appeared in the centre holding a letter in it's mouth and dropping it infront of the elders then waiting for them to read and come to a response. Both the elder siblings read the letter and their eyes widened ridiculously as they paled slightly getting the attention of the council.

"What is it Chiyo-sama?" Asked Yura the Jonin commander, Chiyo looked at him then to her brother who nodded and she sighed.

"It seems we were tricked by a snake into believing that Kazekage-sama was the one who made the decision to assist Otogakure in the invasion, in reality he replaced Rasa-sama after killing him and made us believe he was the Kazekage to make us assist Oto" as Chiyo finished the council exploded into outrage and then were silenced when Ebizo spoke up.

"What my sister says is true, apparently he was assassinated by the snake when he was going to Konoha to finalize the teams going to the exams and the Kazekage's personal guards are actually some ninja form his village" finished Ebizo making the Anbu Commander wearing a dragon mask gasp then seem to think before nodding and replying.

"Yes his guards have been acting really different recently now that you mention it Ebizo-sama" the Dragon masked Anbu said as Ebizo nodded getting gasps from all of the council then Yura spoke up again.

"What will we do?" With that question now asked Chiyo spoke up.

"All of our shinobi on standby near Konoha shall return home and we shall call off our half of the invasion, to top it off it seems that Gaara made a new friend according to the note, even had a better seal placed over my own which the person said was amateur and filled with mistakes" Chiyo said with some relief in her voice at first which turned somewhat depressed as Ebizo started to write the response letter.

"I wonder who it is" muttered Ebizo and Yura, Ebizo continued "To be able to seal the Shukaku away enough so that Gaara can sleep without worries" he mumbled aloud shocking everyone.

"It must have been Jiraiya-sama" said the Dragon Anbu, after he said that they heard a sneeze from outside on one of the roof tops and saw Jiraiya who was about to knock on the window, Yura opened it and Jiraiya entered.

"Someone talk about me?" Questioned the toad sannin as Chiyo nodded and pointed to the Dragon masked Anbu who seemed in awe. "What about?" Asked Jiraiya as the Dragon Anbu pointed to the note Chiyo handed the council, Jiraiya skim read the note and chuckled "It seems the Gaki is better than me now" chuckled out Jiraiya getting surprised looks from the council.

"Who is better than you Jiraiya-dono?" Asked Chiyo.

"Well..." Jiraiya continued

(Flashback end)

"Naruto!" Shouted up a voice Naruto loved hearing, his Grandma, he ran to the door after finishing his morning rituals and opened it to see Tsunade, Shizune he started to call his big sister and Tonton the family pet, he smiled at them as she walked in. "Well Gaki, Suna has backed away with it's forces and apparently gave an excuse to Orochimaru, I have my bets placed on the Chunin exams and I'll be damned if I lose these ones, oh and you're getting ready for them" Tsunade said to Naruto getting a nod as he checked his kunai pouch, his eyes seemed to linger on the antique room making Tsunade sigh "Why don't you use it this time?" Tsunade asked referring to the Gunbai.

Naruto shook his head and looked at her "I'm not good enough to be able to use Madara-jiji's weapon, anyways Baa-chan, who did you bet on?" Naruto said trying to change the topic of conversation.

"I bet on you of course" she said before laughing and then sat down on the couch. "But in all seriousness, you should take it, at least keep it on you in a seal like you do with Muramasa and maybe you'll find someone who can teach you till you believe you are good enough to use it" Tsunade finished as Naruto looked at his hands and then sighs, he got up and walked to the door, deactivated the seals and walked to the Gunbai, as soon as he picked it up he placed it over the seal he kept his mother's eyes in and sealed it away then looked to Tsunade.

"So you bet on your Grandson to win the tournament?" He asked with a tick mark as she nodded and sighed "Damnit Baa-chan, now I won't win" Naruto whined as Tsunade gained the tick mark, after a small amount of time they heard giggling and looked to Shizune who was laughing at their antics. "Tell her nee-chan, I don't wanna lose the Chunin exams because she bet on me" Naruto whined again making her laugh more and shake her head.

Naruto pouted as he then started to laugh, not long later joined by Tsunade as they walked back to the living room and sat down opposite each other "How's Temari-chan Naruto?" Asked Tsunade with a teasing grin making Naruto blush and look away.

"She was alright when I saw her two days ago, I haven't seen her since" Naruto mumbled as Tsunade seemed to laugh before kissing his head.

"It's time to take the Chunin exams by storm, little Maelstrom" Tsunade said referring to the nickname that she gave him, Naruto seemed to smile and nod.

"Yeah let's go!" He exclaimed excitedly, after saying that he vanished in a Shunshin and thought 'Ready Kurama?' in response he got a deep grunt of acceptance as they appeared outside the academy and he stood there waiting for his teammates, as they arrived Naruto seemed to sigh "Y'know if you two are in a relationship Sasuke at least tell Ino" Naruto said while pointing to their disheveled looks making them growl and Naruto laughed as he walked into the academy, upon entering he saw the room they were meant to go to was 301 and started to walk to the stairs his teammates following him, one with a scowl (Sasuke) and the other fawning over the scowling one (Sakura), after reaching the second floor Naruto noticed a genjutsu on the floor and was about to walk up the stairs to the next floor until he saw Sasuke about to shout about the Genjutsu, Naruto went to cover his mouth but Sasuke shouted before he could making Naruto sigh "Damned idiot" Naruto muttered as he walked up the stairs to the 3rd floor, followed by team 7 and what he could guess was team Gai, he guessed from the jumpsuit.

"Are you Sasuke Uchiha?!" Asked the one in a jumpsuit looking like a mini-Gai making Naruto shiver and look to the teammates, he noticed one from the store he goes to for all his ninja tools.

"Tenten?" Naruto asked certain it was her making her turn around and look at him critically before she nodded "Oh thank god! I need to ask your tou-san for an order but I haven't had free time" he said making Tenten realize who it was finally.

"Naruto, how have you been, it's been a while since you were in the store" Tenten said making Naruto look sheepish and nod "Yeah sure after the exams come round, tou-san will be happy to take an order for you" Tenten said as Naruto smiled, that all changed as Naruto turned around and shivered more.

"Oh god" Naruto whispered getting a 'what?' from Tenten "Gai's here" Naruto whispered as he closed his eyes and covered them for double protection from the Genjutsu the taijutsu duo have, as soon as Naruto assumed the Genjutsu was over he uncovered and opened his eyes as he looked to Gai "Ah man, Gai you knocked out my teammates" Naruto groaned as he tapped their heads with his foot before dragging them away "I best get going" Naruto muttered as Gai seemed to realize him.

"Oh yes, team 9 head on off to the Chunin exams and Lee don't use it without my permission" Gai said seriously for once before he vanished, after a while Naruto walked to the door of room 301 and dropped his teammates ankles, they seemed to wake up to that as Kakashi appeared.

"Congrats all three of you on entering, now go on and enjoy the exams" Kakashi finished as he vanished in a small swirl of leaves, Naruto sighed as he walked into the first exam room followed by team 7, upon entering they were hit with a tiny amount of KI compared to what the Kyuubi has tested Naruto with anyways, Naruto just looked unfazed as his teammates seemed to be sweating a little.

"Don't tell me the Clan head family never gets taught how to withstand killing intent Sasuke" Naruto said with a sigh after saying that Sasuke's superiority complex kicked in and he growled.

"Of course we do dobe, I was sweating at how little this was" Sasuke said with his nose lifted in the air as Naruto just sighed and spotted Temari looking at him, Naruto smiled and walked over while the rest of the rookie teams spoke to his own

"Hey Temari-chan, Kankuro and Gaara, how has the exam been so far? And you sleep as well Gaara?" Naruto asked while standing in front of them, Temari smiled as Gaara replied.

"The exams have seemed really simple, a small genjutsu and my sleep has been amazing I'm just glad me and Shukaku came to be friends in a sense" Gaara said loud enough for only Naruto to hear, Naruto nodded as he looked to the rookie 9.

"So team 10 did end up coming, I half expected Shikamaru to stay in bed and Choji to just eat" Naruto muttered to himself though Temari heard.

"Who are Shikamaru and Choji?" Asked Temari as Naruto looked at her.

"Well Shikamaru and Choji are my bestfriends from the academy, Shikamaru just so happens to be the Nara heir and Choji the Akimichi heir, their names are so similar to their parents you would have thought they were both extremely lazy, they're this generations InoShikaCho along with Ino the heiress of the Yamanaka" Naruto said as if talking about the weather and Temari nodded silently thanking him for the intel, "But don't get me wrong they're all amazing in their own right, Shika with his smarts having an IQ of over 200, Choji with his families jutsus even if he only knows a couple and Ino with her mind transfer techniques, even if she is a failure as a Kunoichi and chose to be a fangirl" Naruto said again as Temari looks at Naruto.

"What's your IQ?" Temari asked as Naruto looked at her before looking away and chuckling.

"Well I've never taken an IQ exam before but I know I'm smarter than Shika" Naruto said surprising Kankuro, Temari nodded and Gaara seemed to have a small smile as he nodded, that's when a smoke explosion happened and Naruto reached for his Kunai pouch until he felt Ibiki's chakra and smirked thinking 'Mind games with Ibiki?' Naruto walked over to his team and they started the first exam.

(Canon events)

After the final question was asked teams were leaving left and right though Naruto seemed even more relaxed making Ibiki smirk as he walked over and slammed his hand on Naruto's desk, "So you're that confident huh? Runt?" Ibiki asked with a smirk as he started at Naruto who looked at him and yawned.

"Yeah sorry but I already know what the point of theses tests are" Naruto muttered tiredly making Ibiki motion for him to continue. Naruto sighed as he muttered "Troublesome" making Shikamaru laugh slightly before he continued "The first exam was a information gathering, you had about 9 to 15 Chunin throughout the room posing as exam takers though they had the answers, I was lucky enough to sit behind one as well as know the answers already" Naruto said surprising the other exam takers but the henged chunin, Naruto then continued "And currently you're using mind games with a hint of killing intent to break the wills of the other exam takers and make them leave, right now the 10th question is happening and the question was whether we wish to continue or not, oh and to top it all off you had a couple of the chunins in here drop out to not only make the others scared but to lower the numbers for part 2 and the cherry on top is this whole question is to see if someone is willing to go through torture if it meant keeping the mission alive" as Naruto finished Ibiki started to smirk and walk away as he nodded.

"Smart gaki" Ibiki said and Naruto smirked.

"I know or I wouldn't have also planted multiple seals around the room that had been connected to someone's kunai which showed them the chunin's test papers" Naruto said as he then continued "Biggest example is, Sakura care to show the chunin 3 seats next to you your 4th Kunai?" Naruto asked as Sakura seemed confused until the chunin stood up and walked over, she handed him the 4th kunai "Now channel chakra" the chunin did so and it was showing his paper on the kunai's handles "The power of seals huh?" Naruto asked making Ibiki laugh, until a purple ball came through the window.

"Anko" Ibiki said getting a hum from the poster as Anko walked out "You're early by 10 minutes" he finished as Anko looked at the clock and shrugged.

"You were talking too long Ibiki" Anko said as she looked around the room "13 teams left? Ibiki you're losing your touch" Anko said and Ibiki grunted as he stared at Naruto.

"Or they're getting better" Ibiki said making Anko stick her tongue out and then turn to the examinees.

"Alright head to training ground 44 in 15 minutes" Anko said and left making Naruto smirked.

"The forest of Death huh?" Naruto asked aloud looking to Ibiki who nodded and the examinees shuddered at the name, Naruto just nodded and vanished as the other teams started to run there, Ibiki collected the exam papers before getting to Naruto and reading the note that was warning him about Kabuto Yakushi, Ibiki went to the Hokage's office to inform Hiruzen before he left to be in the tower in the middle of the forest of death.