Gathering Before the Chunin Exam Begins

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

May 26, x788.

As the sun rose on the eastern horizon, the atmosphere in the Village Hidden in the Leaves was slightly different than usual. The Genin teams eligible to participate in the Chunin Exams were all more energetic than usual, their anticipation palpable.

Meanwhile, the wizards of Fairy Tail were also getting ready for the day. Though the sun had just risen, Alfonzo was already in the backyard of the residence getting ready to do some training before breakfast.

"Good morning, Alfonzo." Wendy said as she stepped out of the house. "Do you mind if I join you for training?"

"No, not at all." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "In fact, you're just in time. I was just about to put up a gravity field. So, I'll set it to what you can handle."

Nodding in response, Wendy approached Alfonzo. Meanwhile, Carla, who looked like she was still half-asleep, sat on the veranda and watched the two.

"So, how much gravity can you handle?" Alfonzo asked.

"Um... about fifty times normal." Wendy replied. "I can probably do more, but I wanna wish Lee luck before the Chunin Exam starts."

As she spoke the last part, Wendy blushed while looking down, trying to avoid the smile Alfonzo was shooting her way. Alfonzo, on the other hand, although he was smiling at Wendy, he had no intention of teasing her. Instead, he patted her on the head and spoke cheerfully.

"That kid is really lucky." Alfonzo said. "To catch our little Dragon Slayer's eyes is really a blessing for him."

Hearing that, Wendy lowered her head even further. At the same time, Alfonzo tapped the heel of his left foot on the ground. Then, a sheet of metal stretched out over the backyard with a number of sigils engraved into it that had the purpose of augmenting the gravity in the surroundigs.

After the stage was set, Alfonzo and Wendy started with a warm up. And not long after they started, Laki and Saeko joined them. From there, the quartet trained until it was time for Alfonzo and Miyuki to start preparing breakfast.

After a good meal, everyone in the house left, wanting to meet the people they knew before the Chunin Exam started. However, while they were talking, not only Alfonzo, but Laki, Wendy, and Saeko each raised an eyebrow as they had all picked up something strange with their [Magic Power Detection].

"Did two people just teleport into the village?" Saeko asked as she furrowed her brows.

"That's what it feels like." Laki replied. "And one of them is at least S-Class in strength."

"Yeah, and I know exactly who that is." Alfonzo said with a solemn expression on his face. Then, he turned to Laki as he continued. "Do you remember when I went on that quest from the kingdom with Mira and Marin?"

In response, Laki nodded. At the same time, Wendy, Carla, Saeko, and Miyuki all focused their attention on Alfonzo's following words.

"Well, one of the scientists I was sent to bring in was a rogue shinobi from this village." Alfonzo continued. "His right-hand man was a traitor of this village, too. And the two magic power signatures that just appeared in the village are those two, Orochimaru and kabuto Yakushi."

"Really?" Wendy asked, sounding slightly panicked. "But you caught them, right? Does that mean they broke out of prison?"

"Yeah, it happened a while ago." Alfonzo replied.

"Then, What should we do?" Carla asked in a solemn tone.

"For now, nothing." Alfonzo said while shaking his head. "If we act on our own, it will damage the Leaf Village's reputation. And with so many foreign shinobi here, that could be disastrous for them."

"Indeed." Saeko said with a nod. "And the information that they could not even handle one of their own fugitives will definitely make it to their enemies."

"Right." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "Anyway, I doubt they'll do anything right away. So, we should have some time to talk to the old man and make a plan."

'If I had to guess, that's probably not the real Orochimaru, though.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'It's probably a clone using the Second Tsuchikage's [Splitting Technique]. Still, if I can kill that clone, it should greatly weaken him. So, he won't be as dangerous during the invasion.'

"How will we handle this situation, Alfonzo?" Saeko asked, seeming ready to fight as she raised her left hand to her hip where her katana usually hung.

"We'll probably have to be covert." Alfonzo replied. "After we talk to the kids, I'll go see the Hokage and come up with a plan. Then, I'll let you all know what our next move will be."

"Unfortunately, I won't be able to help." Wendy said, sounding slightly disappointed. "I already asked to have my shift at the hospital pushed back. So, asking to have the day off after that wouldn't be right."

"And I'll be at the hospital with Wendy." Carla added quickly.

"Don't worry about it." Alfonzo said. "Honestly, I'll probably be the only one to act."

"What?" Laki and Saeko exclaimed in discontent tones.

Even Miyuki, who knew she would not be a part of the fighting force for this operation, looked discontent with Alfonzo's words. However, she remained silent. Though, her glare on the back of Alfonzo's head made him feel rather itchy.

"Don't look at me like that." Alfonzo said while smiling wryly. "I'm the only one who can move without being detected. At least by sight. And as long as I talk to Hiruzen, the sensors among our observation detail won't act. And I'm almost certain that the Hokage will want our involvement kept as secret as possible."

"I know you can make yourself invisible." Laki said. "But if anyone notices you aren't in the house, they'll ask questions."

"Hehehe... Don't worry, I can do something about that." Alfonzo said with a chuckle.

'As long as there are no Hyuga in our observation detail, anyway.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'Now that I think about it, I should probably find Anko to talk to her. Maybe I can get rid of that [Curse Mark] she got from the Pedo-Snake, too.'

["If you do that, you'll have another woman throwing themself at you, you know."] Bedlam said. ["but since she's pretty hot, I approve."]

In response, Alfonzo rolled his eyes internally. However, he chose to not dignify Bedlam's statement with a response.

Around that time, Alfonzo, Laki, Wendy, Carla, Saeko, and Miyuki arrived at the Ninja Academy, the venue for the first test of the Chunin Exam. And when they did, they were just in time to see Guy leading his Genin team towards the door.

"Yo, Guy!" Alfonzo shouted as his group approached the entrance to the academy.

Immediately upon hearing his name called, Guy, along with Neji, Tenten, and Lee, stopped and turned around. And when they saw the group from Magnolia, Guy and Lee's eyes lit up. And to everyone's surprise, Lee actually took off towards the new arrivals even faster than Guy. Though, because of their difference in strength, Guy arrived first.

"Alfonzo, my friend!" Guy shouted energetically. "Have you come to wish my youthful disciples good luck?"

"Yeah, that's right." Alfonzo replied while side stepping Guy's attempt to hug him. "I've heard a lot about this Chunin Exam from Kakashi. So, I know it can be pretty dangerous.

"Indeed." guy replied with a nod. "Although I never took it, as I was promoted during war times, I've seen a lot of participants lose their lives over the years."

Meanwhile, Lee had arrived in front of Wendy with a wide smile on his face.

"Good morning, Wendy." Lee said enthusiastically. "I was hoping I'd get a chance to see you before the exam. And now that I have, I'm truly happy. Now, I will be able to let my youth explode splendidly during the Chunin Exam."

In response, Wendy blushed fiercely, mostly because she could feel Laki and Saeko's teasing gazes on her. Still, she smiled brightly at Lee's enthusiasm.

"Please be careful, Lee." Wendy said quietly. "Even though I can heal you if you get hurt, I'd rather that I didn't have to."

This time it was Lee's turn to blush. Feeling the care in Wendy's words made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"I promise, I'll do my best to not get hurt." Lee said while giving Wendy a thumbs up in a nice guy pose. "The last thing I want to do is make you worry about me."

Wendy nodded in response, though her blush intensified. At the same time, Kurenai and Asuma led their teams over just as Alfonzo's and Guy's groups finished their conversation.

"Oh, it's Alfonzo." Kiba said. "did you come by to wish us luck?"

"G-Good morning, Alfonzo." Hinata said in a quiet, shy tone.

Shino, on the other hand, only nodded in greeting to the wizards from Magnolia.

Seeing her students all greet the unfamiliar wizards, Kurenai looked at them with interest. As a Jōnin of the Hidden Leaf Village, she was aware that there were some guests in the village who received rather good treatment from Hiruzen. However, this was the first time she had ever met them. And although she was not a sensor-type shinobi, she could tell that they were all relatively strong. As strong as Jōnin, at the very least.

Asuma, on the other hand, saw that Kurenai was looking at the visitors with an interested gaze and felt a bit uncomfortable. Mostly because Alfonzo was among them. As he had been in a rather ambiguous relationship with Kurenai for a while, it was only natural. Even so, he managed to keep his uncomfortable feeling in check and turned his attention to Shikamaru.

"Hey, Shikamaru, this is the guy who helped train you before you graduated from the academy, right?" Asuma asked in a nonchalant tone.

"Yeah, and he made us work so hard, too." Shikamaru replied listlessly. "It was such a drag."

"But he fed us a lot, too." Choji said with a smile as he stuffed his hand into a bag of potato chips. "And his cooking is really good. Even my dad had nothing but good things to say about it."

Hearing that, Asuma nodded. Though, he did not take it all that seriously. The Akimichis were known for having healthy appetites because of their family techniques. And they pretty much said that just about everything was good.

"On top of all that, his wife, Elicia, is the owner of the Taylor Shop, the most popular clothing store on Ishgar." Ino added excitedly. "She even gave us all the clothes we're wearing."

As she spoke the last part, Ino twirled on the spot, showing off the clothes she was wearing, which were similar to her canon outfit with a few more stylish points and protection built in.

After Ino spoke, Kurenai looked at her with wide open eyes. Then, she snapped her head in Alfonzo's direction.

"If you're wife is the owner of the Taylor Shop, then that makes you Alfonzo Marcus, the inventor of all those household magic items that have made life much easier for everyone on the continent, right?" Kurenai asked in an amazed tone.

"Yeah, that's me." Alfonzo replied. "And the two of you are?"

"Oh, that's right, we haven't introduced ourselves." Kurenai replied with a smile. "I'm Kurenai Yuhi, the Jōnin Instructor of team 8. It's nice to meet you."

'If I can become friends with him, maybe there's a chance his wife can make me some custom outfits like she did with the kids.' Kurenai thought to herself with determination burning in her eyes.

Seeing the expression on Kurenai's face, Asuma's uneasy feeling got more severe. Still, he knew it was not a good idea to lash out. So, he put on a stiff smile and introduced himself as well.

"And I'm Asuma Sarutobi, the leader of Team 10." Asuma added as he stretched out his right hand for a handshake. "It's a pleasure."

Accepting Asuma's handshake, Alfonzo could only smile wryly on the inside. From the glint in Asuma's eyes, he could tell that he was getting jealous at the fact that Kurenai seemed so interested in him. However, as a man who has lived for nearly fifty years if you added up his two lives, Alfonzo was certain that she was only so interested because of the fact that Elicia was his wife.

"Sarutobi, huh?" Saeko asked as she put on a contemplating expression. "Isn't that the surname of the current Hokage?"

"Yeah, that's right." Asuma replied as he retracted his hand. "He's my father. I'm his second son."

"Oh, that makes sense." Saeko replied with a nod.

"Hey, Asuma, I can call you that, right?" Alfonzo asked with a smile.

"Sure." Asuma replied with a nod.

"So, Asuma, I heard you use a pretty unique pair of weapons." Alfonzo continued. "Kakashi told me about them when we were talking a while ago. Would you mind letting me see them? You see, I'm kind of a weapon crafter. And I like to see unique and interesting weapons."

Although it was true that he heard about all sorts of interesting weapons used by the different notable shinobi from around the continent, Alfonzo actually already knew about the Chakra Metal bladed knuckle dusters Asuma used from the Naruto anime and manga. Still, he always wanted to see them up close.

"You make weapons, too?" Asuma asked in a surprised tone.

"Yeah." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "You've heard of Titania, Erza Scarlet from my guild, Fairy Tail, right?"

In response, everyone from the Village Hidden in the Leaves who were gathered outside of the academy's entrance nodded their heads.

"Well, I made all her weapons and armor." Alfonzo said, sounding proud of his accomplishments.

"Wait, Erza Scarlet has a whole armory of weapons and armor in the [Requip] space of her magic." Shikamaru said in an amazed tone. "How is it possible that you could have made them all?"

"Well, you know that one of the types of magic that I use is [Metal Magic], right?" Alfonzo asked instead of answering Shikamaru's question directly.

Even before Alfonzo asked his question, Shikamaru had already realized that. He was just surprised at the amount of weapons Alfonzo must have made over the years.

"Anyway, Asuma, for the right price, I could probably upgrade your weapons." Alfonzo said, turning his attention back to Asuma. "and since I'm not gonna be making them from scratch, the price won't be that high, either. And because you'd be showing me something unique, I'd be willing to lower the price even further."

Hearing Alfonzo's tone, Laki, Wendy, Carla, and Saeko all sighed in unison. Alfonzo had slipped into his money making mode. And there was a good chance that he would not come out of it for a while.

Meanwhile, Asuma was dumbfounded. His weapons were the best of their kind, granted they were not widely used. Still, he had heard of Alfonzo, the man known as the best magic item crafter on the continent. So, he knew what kind of opportunity he had just received. But because he was wary of Kurenai's interest in Alfonzo, he hesitated to agree.

Seeing the struggle in Asuma's eyes, Alfonzo smiled. Then, he stepped forward so he could whisper to Asuma.

"Take it easy, Dude." Alfonzo said at a volume that only Asuma could hear. "She's only interested in me because of my first wife. She wants to get close to Lici through me so she can get Lici to make her some clothes. Trust me, I've seen this happen a lot ever since Lici opened the Taylor Shop. Besides, I would never scheme on another man's woman."

Asuma was completely taken aback by Alfonzo's whisper. As a shinobi, he was trained to hide his thoughts from showing up in his expression or body language. And as an Elite Jōnin, he was confident that he was quite good at it.

Despite that, Alfonzo had seen through not only him, but Kurenai's thoughts quite easily. And this caused a seed of respect to be planted in Asuma's heart.

"Alright, if we have time later, I'll let you see them." Asuma replied with a much more genuine smile. "I probably won't have time until the Chunin Exam is over, though."

"That's okay with me." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "I'll probably be here until November or so, anyway. So, just come find me whenever."

"Whoa, there sure are a lot of you gathered outside the academy." The lazy sounding voice of a male could be heard from a short distance away.

In the next instant, in a swirl of leaves, Kakashi, with his nose buried in his little orange book, appeared next to the group of wizards and shinobi.

"Kakashi, my rival!" Guy shouted energetically as soon as he caught sight of Kakashi. "Come, let us compete. How about a race around the village while running on our hands?"

"Not today, Guy." Kakashi said without even looking up from his book. "Today is too important for that."

"I'm actually surprised that you showed up before the Exam even started, Kakashi." Kurenai said in a slightly ridiculing tone. "I don't' remember the last time you showed up on time for anything."

Looking up from his book to glance at Kurenai for a moment, Kakashi eventually shook his head without replying. The fact that Kakashi had surpassed her in everything ever since their academy days had always been a sore spot for Kurenai, who always wanted to be the best. And he knew there was no point in engaging her over this.

"Anyway, where is the rest of your team, Kakashi?" Alfonzo asked curiously, though he already knew they were on their way.

"They'll be here on time." Kakashi replied, still not looking up from his book as he did so. "Anyway, I'm gonna wait for them inside. I'll see you all later."

With that, Kakashi walked into the Ninja Academy without another word. Not long afterwards, Team 8, Team 9, and Team 10 bid farewell to the visitors from Magnolia and made their way into the academy, as well.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo and the ladies waited outside for Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. And the trio arrived only about fifteen minutes before the exams started. Meaning, they did not have much time to speak to them. So, after a short round of well wishes, Alfonzo headed towards the Hokage Tower, Laki, Saeko, and Miyuki returned to the residence, and Wendy and Carla made their way to the Hospital.