Chapter 8

A/N: Several reviewers have asked about Naruto's age. Naruto is now 14 (and his students are either 13 or 14). Taro has been the team's sensei for more than two years. Yes, they will be entering those Chuunin Selection Exams. I will leave what happened to Gato to your imaginations, although hints will be coming quite a few chapters in the future.

The Kimmimaro 'cameo' last chapter didn't dispose of the 'capture Sasuke' arc. Kimmimari served Orochimaru and the young Hidden Sound long before the Chuunin Selection Exams. In this AU, he is already dead, killed by Taro.

On superpowering various ninja techniques, I hope Naruto's ideas and techniques aren't ridiculously strong, but even if they are, he knows the weaknesses of his techniques. For example, Naruto will have a technique for raising an army of Puppet Clones out of nothing. The technique, if used under perfect conditions, will be as unstoppable as the Yondaime Hokage's Flying Thunder God. But it has problems and drawbacks, namely needing time to prepare and a high level of surprise to be effective. One could have destroyed or mutilated the tri-pronged kunai necessary for the 4th's technique…or, as you will see, one could move out of the range of the preparations Naruto needs to make for his Puppet Clones. Both techniques depend upon surprise. If the surprise is gone, then the technique isn't so unstoppable.

How to construct micropuppets? Yes, they are very, very small. And Naruto won't get anything smaller than lice. In the beginning, Naruto made them with great difficulty. At some point it would have occurred to Naruto to create shadow clones and to henge them into smaller and smaller shapes. Smaller eyes and hands would have an easier time make tiny creations.

I'm glad people are enjoying the story so far.

Chapter 8

Taro Mark Nine guided his three genin to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. For the first time in years, Naruto rode in the belly of his puppet. That had necessitated a return to a hollow puppet design. But, the overall puppet was a far cry from the Taro Mark One.

Fools who thought puppets could only be made from wood were wrong, like those performers in Suna so many years ago. The experiments on animals had been sickening, but this new Taro had a living skin and functioning blood vessels and a perfect chakra network.

Naruto was now fourteen, but he thought of himself as a father figure for his genin. He was a short little teenager inside the puppet, but he appeared a towering figure of knowledge. He didn't act young; he couldn't afford such a luxury.

This whole enterprise, primarily hiding so long inside and behind puppets, was the work of a madman, Naruto liked to think to himself. There were moments when he reveled in the notion that he was different from anyone else in the whole world.

He had been gone from his homeland for six years (and had not spoken to another person in his true guise since then). It was painful in so many ways to return, but he couldn't send his genin into Konoha without venturing there himself.

He knew his own mind was broken, that he was dangerously insane. That his techniques and ideas were beautiful and horrible in the same instant, as glorious as stripping bald rabbits of their skins in order to give a puppet the appearance of life.

His biggest concern: he had no idea what he would do when he saw the Old Man. Would a finger twitch, a heartstone'd Puppet Clone spring up and decapitate the Hokage? He didn't know.

That anger still festered inside Naruto. It had fermented into obsession, probably, and into the kind of genius that didn't appear very often. He would gain strength; he would prove the Hokage wrong; no matter the cost.

Taro turned to look at his single file of genin behind him. Rough and weak in the beginning; the 'dregs' of what Grass had to offer. Throwaways. Not anymore.

Taro and his genin team were the only team selected to represent Hidden Grass Village in this tournament.

In the years since Taro had been a jounin, Grass's reputation had risen. They still didn't qualify to have a leader considered a Kage (nor did they want one), but they were a rising power. It was necessary to continue to show power; send only the best! Fourteen other active genin teams would wait until the Chuunin Selection Exam was hosted by Grass in six months.

Taro and his team were deemed strong enough to hold up to whatever underhanded tricks would were likely in a foreign tournament like this. (In fact, in the jounin lounge, Taro's genin team was referred to as 'that pack of animals.')

They'd all come a long way. First off, they learned to cease the pointless chatter when traveling or training. They were ninja, not gossipy traveling salesmen. Then Taro had broken every one of their bad habits from the Academy, ranging from lazy taijutsu stances to an inability to move silently through the grass or the sand or over the water. Finally, he had each of them test out a wide range of techniques and styles. He wanted all of them to find the best things for them…in addition to having at least a passing familiarity with the entire range of ninja techniques.

Number One, the silver haired young man, had become highly proficient in weapons techniques and genjutsu creation, all in pursuit of becoming a trapping expert. Unlike his first experience failing at hiding in a stand of bamboo, Number One was now good enough to give Taro some difficulty locating the boy's traps (if Taro didn't use his unfair advantage with micropuppets as scouts). He was superb at hiding a variety of weapons and then covering them naturally and with subtle genjutsu. More than one missing-nin had fallen victim to Number One's efforts.

Number Two, the formerly mouthy girl, had pored through Konoha's stolen medical scrolls. She turned her nose up at the chakra scalpels that many medic-nins used to protect themselves on the battlefield. Instead she preferred longer range attacks. Jutsus to repair horrifying battlefield wounds were perverted into jutsus that gave horrifying battle wounds. The mouthy girly girl was now more vicious than any chuunin Grass currently had…and a better strategist.

Too bad for the other genin here that, in Grass, a genin could not become a chuunin without participating in the Chuunin Selection Exam at least once. Few rarely returned a second time, even if they hadn't been 'passed' by the official Exam criteria. The whole 'Exam' was a farce staged for Daimyos and the wealthy to watch 'civilized' gladiatorial games every six months. It was entertainment, with no other true value. Taro and his team all knew it.

Number Three, the formerly somnolescent young man, was an even bigger 'heavy hitter' than Number Two. All of his uniquely crafted jutsu (with Taro's assistance), utilized his affinities of wind and water. In most cases, Number Three deployed devastating area-affect techniques with superheated steam. Even getting tagged by any of Number Three's techniques was enough to break most ninja.

They'd been Taro's team for more than two years. They were long past D-ranked missions; rather they were the only genin team regularly running hunter-nin type operations. The bounties on runners from Iwa and other Hidden Villages were substantial and now made up a good deal of the budget in Grass.

Naruto was proud of them. They were superb. As a team they'd be able to take down any single jounin in Grass or Stone or even Hidden Leaf.

Of course, he never told them that. He found that insults and impossible training regimes worked better. Instead of breaking like cheap glass, these diamonds in the rough had the crisp faces of a beautiful stone.

Taro held up his arm and the four of them stopped moving. He turned to face his students and motioned them off the road.

"We are within five kilometers of Hidden Leaf. Once we enter the walls, we will speak only in code or through hand signals unless absolutely necessary. Understood?"

One, Two, and Three all nodded.

"This village will seem very welcoming. In my own time here, I have observed that failing. People who enter Hidden Leaf believe they are safe because Hidden Leaf is supposed to be invulnerable, the strongest of all the Hidden Villages. People, even experienced ninja, relax their guard here.

"Let me remind you to always be on your guard. Hidden Leaf is deceptively welcoming. It is a dangerous place, especially when it opens its doors to the jounin-genin teams from other villages during a tournament like this one.

"I will be very displeased with all of you if any of you is harmed in this place. You are genin of Grass and have proven satisfactory in your acquisition of skills…."

Number Two raised her hand. "Number Four, you sound like you dislike this village?"

Taro nodded. "That is correct. It is the reason I am giving you this warning."

"Why, Number Four?"

Taro was quiet a moment. "A ninja village is a military installation, by definition. In this place, they have forgotten that. They proclaim open principles; rule by military and civilians; a respect for peace and prosperous life and well-treated ninja. The truth, in my infiltration work, is very different. The Tsuchikage is a hard, horrible bastard; everyone knows that. The Hokage, known as the God of Shinobi in these parts, is a kind, powerful, respectable gentlemen…but he's done things even worse than the Tsuchikage would even dream. We're ninja, but we're often taken in by surface appearances. I despise this place and I would be sure that none of you are hurt here."

Number Two wasn't done with her questions yet. "If you hate this place, why did you agree to bring us here?"

"Because we're the best. Grass must live up to its fine reputation."

That gave slight smiles to the genin team. It was as close to a compliment as they would ever hear.

"My final words on this topic. Be careful here. This place is more political than any other village I've been in…and I've been to all of them. They will sacrifice a ninja or a hundred ninja to save a civilian if it would make them look good to the eyes of the wider world. They claim to have a will of fire, but their strength is a sham. When you come up against them in battle, you will find them weak. Do not kill them; do not martyr them; rather, expose their weaknesses and hobble them. Questions?"

The genin had nothing to say. They had their orders. Maim and wound the others in the tournament; expose the weakness.

The four ninjas arrived at the main gate at noon. A bored chuunin looked at them and then demanded papers. Taro handed over the invitation. In exchange, the chuunin gave each of them a pass to be in Konoha for the exam.

Taro gestured that he would give the team a brief tour through the village before taking them to their quarters. Taro passed by the Ninja Academy, site of the first part of the exam, the Hokage Tower, several training fields, the famed Konoha Bathhouse, and several markets and grocery stores.

The quartet returned and took up a single room in the Running River Hotel. Once inside, the place was scoured for surveillance…and several types were discovered. They left the bugs in place and continued using only code and hand signals.

This was not unexpected.

The three genin and their jounin-sensei assembled tents in the room and slept peacefully through the night.

The exam starting the next day would mark a change in the status quo. It would be a great, terrible, perfect day.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

His genin team easily passed the written and psychological portion of the test. Taro had actually done worse things to his genin than this Ibiki fellow ever promised to do.

Taro had suggested several out of the way locations for his genin to train. Taro, and Naruto inside of him, were walking up the Hokage Monument…a place Naruto had once loved.

He stood on top of his father's head and speculated. What would a normal life have been like? What would he have been like with a human leg and a Konoha Ninja Academy education? There were no answers, no surety.

His mind wandered until he felt a tingle come up a chakra string. Then a few more. Then a lot.

The micropuppets watching over his genin reported a massive disturbance.

Taro ran down the face of the monument and followed his chakra strings back to the source of the disruption. The closer he got, the better he could feel the foreign chakra. It was stronger than he'd ever felt before…an order above anything else. Not even the Old Man felt like this, but then Naruto had never seen him in a battle mode.

When he arrived in an odd cemetery near to a training ground, he had to smile. His three genin were dishing out everything they had. They weren't winning, but they were holding back a ridiculously strong opponent. Hell, it was one of the Sannin. The Snake Lord, Orochimaru. He looked uncannily like his last Bingo Book photo, like he hadn't aged a day.

Taro was worried now. He'd been confident his team could overwhelm any jounin, but battling a Sannin to a standstill was a ridiculously impossible task. He wondered if he would be up to this task…he'd certainly never experienced anyone that challenging.

Taro leapt between his exhausted students and the Sannin. As he made the distracting move of drawing his sword from his back, dozens of micropuppets the size of fleas slammed into the Snake Sannin and injected small doses of chakra poison.

One of Number 3's steam attacks managed to nick the temporarily stunned Sannin. Then Taro's sword, enrobed in vigorously swirling wind chakra, drew blood. The Sannin tried to make the handseals for some technique, but realized quickly that his chakra wasn't flowing right.

Anger coursed over his face. He had apparently mastered a seal-less shunshin as he disappeared seconds later.

Taro remained vigilant. The Snake Sannin was known as a tricky bastard. Perhaps he had a way to overwhelm the chakra poison…. After two minutes, Taro relaxed his guard and dropped down to check on his students.

His genin were wrung out, but otherwise unharmed. Taro cautioned them not to speak until they were someplace safe. He set them off at a rapid pace and kept track of their general health. None of them were injured or bleeding, although Number One seemed to realize the very high level of difficulty of the person they'd just fought.

Naruto led them to one of the training fields packed with tall trees and dense vegetation. It wasn't far from the Forest of Death, site of the next portion of the Chuunin Selection Exam.

He motioned his team to sit. "Are you all well?"

Number One seemed to be going into shock. "I thought we were going to die…."

Taro nodded.

Number Three was breathing hard, having consumed a lot of chakra in the battle. "Who the hell was that?"

"One of the Sannin, Orochimaru…."

Number Two shivered and looked instantly pale. "We fought off a Sannin?"

"You did very well, Number Two. You held off a very skilled ninja for two minutes. It was good you maintained your active awareness protocols…."

"How did you know we were in trouble, Number Four?" Number One asked.

"You're my students. I wouldn't leave you in a potentially dangerous place like Hidden Leaf without some way of tracking you."

"Thank you," Number One said.

"I don't remember anything about the Sannin, Number Four. Who are they?" Number Three asked.

"A genin team trained by the eventual Third Hokage. They became very powerful and each acquired powerful summoning contracts. They are the kind of show-and-tell ninjas I warned each of you from becoming. They each have substantial skills, but when in trouble they rely upon outside power such as their boss summons."

Naruto could see the value of a summons; he knew his father had contracted with the toads. But, Naruto knew exactly who his godfather was, a godfather he'd never met before. He did not have any reason to feel charitably toward the Sannin. Jiraiya would have a lot to answer for should Naruto ever run into him.

His students were still trying to process all this. Taro continued with his explanation.

"Orochimaru, in particular, is a pox on humanity. He's not the worst thing out there, but he is another significant Konoha mistake that they never bothered to clean up. He's like toxic waste dumped into a pristine lake. Poisons everything he touches."

The group sat quietly and slowly came back to proper color. Heart rates went down. Adrenaline flows began to taper off.

"What do we do now, Number 4?"

"You tell me exactly what happened. Did he say anything to you?"

Number One shook his head. "The first I knew I heard a creepy laugh when we were walking back from training. I dodged to the right to avoid a kunai in the back."

The others added in their remembrances. Orochimaru neither said nor did anything to indicate his purpose in attacking Taro's team. He was going for the kill.

"Are you going to inform Konoha officials?" Number Two asked.

"Yes. I suppose I will. If I don't, Grass won't be able to lodge a protest after this fiasco is over. Konoha can't even keep its famed criminals out of its borders."

Taro escorted his team to their shared room in the hotel and set up several traps. Number One added his own traps to the mix. Taro also unleashed a variety of micropuppets to keep watch over his students.

"I will return with dinner in an hour or so. I'm sure I don't have to tell you to keep the door closed."

Taro made the familiar journey to the Hokage Tower and wondered if it would just be easier to inscribe a couple hundred exploding seals throughout the building – rather than talking to the beasts who worked there.

He stalked inside the building, ducking to get in the door. "I need to see the Chuunin Exam coordinator. Now!"

He was a foreigner, by his hita-ite, but his voice alone got people moving around. A few minutes later, he was escorted up to the see the Hokage along with three other ninja.

"Jounin of Grass," the Old Man said, "I am coordinating these Exams myself. My section heads were just in here discussing the event. How may I help you?"

"You can explain why my genin were attacked this afternoon….and by a former Konoha ninja."

The Hokage leaned forward in his seat. "This is a serious charge. Can you describe the man who attacked your students?"

"Yes, I drove him off in the end. It was your student, Orochimaru…."

Taro didn't get to say much more as he had to dodge a kunai thrown by one of the examiners.

"That Snake Bastard was here…and you, you nobody of all people, claim to have driven him off…."

After thirty minutes of pointless discussion, wherein this Anko person related many of her hatreds of her former sensei, Taro excused himself. "I must return to my students. I will be lodging a formal protest after the exam. Your security is pitiful."

The Hokage tried to stop Taro and apologize, but the tall ninja was surprisingly nimble and fast.

"If this is true, Orochimaru can't mean anything good for us," the Hokage opined. "Do we need to change the Second Exam? Or cancel the whole thing? He's here for a reason and now he's got some punk Grass jounin who managed to chase him off. He's got his ego bruised. He's not going away."

Ibiki consented to a change of exam. Anko proposed staging the Second Exam, but with Henged ninja, in order to capture or kill the Snake Sannin. Gekko Hayate had no firm opinion.

In the end, the Hokage talked himself out of changing the exam. "No, it's tradition to have a fight in the Forest of Death. We would not be able to create a satisfactory replacement in less than twelve hours. The Second Exam will proceed as designed. May Kami bless us and protect the genin."