50

Jonin Exams… Start!

Naruto woke up the next morning despite having spent most of the night having sex with Temari. She was still in bed with him, cuddling with him as though he were a body pillow. Her naked body against his was one of the most glorious feelings he knew.

Temari was only the second woman he'd ever slept with. The first had been Koyuki. However, where Koyuki had been a one-time thing, a moment of weakness for her and acceptance for him, he and Temari had slept together at least five other times. That time six months ago had been just one of their trysts.

Extricating himself from Temari's hold, Naruto crawled out of bed, ambled out of the room, and made his way to the bathroom. He took a quick shower to freshen up. After getting dressed, he created a Shadow Clone and sent it to go shopping. He hadn't lived here in three years, so he didn't have much in the way of groceries. Temari had only been able to cook because she had gone out of her way to buy groceries for dinner.

Checking the pantry to see if he had anything, Naruto sighed when he realized that even his tea leaves were expired. There was no way he could give Temari expired food.

Frowning, Naruto looked out the window. The sun had already risen, mostly, and so the store should be open. He hoped it wouldn't take long for his clone to finish shopping.

Roughly ten minutes after his clone had left, it returned with a bag of groceries and, to his surprise, two cups of coffee.

"You bought us coffee?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I figured all of our tea leaves would also be expired." The clone shrugged.

He thought about that for a moment before nodding his approval. "Good thinking."

Naruto and his clone shared a thumbs up before the grocery bag exchanged hands. The clone then disappeared in a puff of smoke, vanishing as though it had never been, leaving only the groceries and coffee behind.

"Conversing with your own clone first thing in the morning?" a voice said behind him. "You always were an oddball."

Naruto turned around to face Temari, who had thrown a shirt over her body. It was at least one size too small, having been one of his old shirts from three years ago. He took a moment to appreciate the way the shirt outlined her bust. Then he grinned at her.

"You say that, but you're sleeping with this oddball."

"True enough."

Temari wandered into the living room with short, surprisingly feminine steps. Her walk seemed daintier than normal. Then again, he mostly saw her on missions or when training, and when they had slept together, they usually didn't have time to enjoy the next morning because they were on a mission.

While Temari sat down in a chair, Naruto boiled some water and ground the coffee beans. It was fortunate that he had experience in brewing coffee. It had been one of the things Jiraiya had taught him about. The old perv had said that it was an important survival trait.

"I got you some coffee," Naruto said as he walked up to her, holding two steaming mugs of coffee.

She took one of the mugs from his hand and grinned. "You mean your clone got me some coffee."

"My clone is me, so it's the same difference."

"Right. Right. Same difference."

Naruto gave Temari the evil eye, but she just smiled at him, her lips stretching so wide that her eyes were forced close. He'd seen that look before in the mirror. It always came after a good prank. The realization that she was stringing him along made him sigh.

Already knowing what was inside the bag because of his clone, he asked, "how would you like your eggs?"

"Unfertilized." Came the immediate reply.

"Funny girl. Scrambled or sunnyside up?"

Temari tilted her head in thought as she sat down at the table and nursed her coffee. "Let's do scrambled. It'll make things easier."

"Scrambled it is."

Naruto went over to the stove, pulled the eggs, salt, and cheese out of the grocery bag, and then set about making breakfast. As he cracked open several eggs and placed them in the pan, he watched Temari. She had drawn her legs up on the chair, small feet resting against the edge, toes wiggling. For just a moment, barely even a second, he allowed himself to imagine what it would be like if he and Temari were a married couple. It would probably be a lot like this, he guessed. It was… a nice dream.

But that's all it is. Just a dream.

He dispelled the dream with a shake of his head. Dreams were nice, but there was little point in dwelling on them.

Naruto finished cooking the eggs, having added salt and cheese before stirring it all together, and then walked over to the table alongside a clone that was carrying two plates filled with the food he'd made.

"That's a good look for you," he said as he sat down, referring to both her choice in clothing and the messiness of her hair. Consequently, her frazzled hair was the result of him running his fingers through it during last night's passionate tryst.

Temari grinned as she gratefully accepted a utensil from the clone. "You like it? This shirt is one of yours."

"I'm aware." Naruto took a bite out of his eggs, chewed thoughtfully, and then swallowed. "Any plans for today?"

"I'm still in the process of getting ready for the Chunin Exams, so I'll probably have to walk around with that lazy bum you call a friend," Temari began. "That's why I'm here in the first place. I'll probably stick around for another day or two."

"Which means you'll be here until it's time for me to take the Jonin Exams," Naruto muttered.

"Yep."

Tsunade had said that it would take two days to prepare for the Jonin Exam. Naruto didn't know what the Jonin Exam entailed, though it would definitely be far more difficult than the Chunin Exams. He was confident that he could succeed and become a jonin, though. Jiraiya hadn't just trained him to become stronger.

After breakfast, Temari headed for the shower. She had asked Naruto if he wanted to join her, but he had politely declined, though not because he was reticent to the idea. He didn't want to become too use to her presence in his apartment. It might cause him to wish for more out of their relationship than he already had.

While he was washing the dishes, the doorbell rang, making him frown as he wondered who the heck would come at this time in the morning. It wasn't Jiraiya. He slept in late. It probably wasn't Kakashi either. He would be too busy reading porn. That left just Sakura or Tenten.

He sighed and, after he finished drying his current plate, he set it down and wandered to the door. Looking through the eyehole confirmed that it wasn't Tenten. It was Sakura. He opened the door.

"Morning, Sakura," he greeted. "Something I can help you with?"

"Naruto, good morning," Sakura said in a bright, cheerful voice as she placed her hands behind her back. "There's nothing you can help me with. I was just wondering if you'd like me to show you around Konoha? A lot's changed since you've been away, you know."

Well, that was a nice gesture from Sakura, though he didn't think he needed her help. He did at least consider the possibility of letting her show him around. Then again, he could also spend that time with Ten-chan or Yugi-chan, which had been his plan after Temari left.

Before he could make a decision, or rather, give voice to his decision, Temari wandered back into the living room. She was only clad in a towel, so a good portion of her body was exposed. The towel wrapped around her middle, showcasing and pushing together her modest chest while also revelling in the curvature of her hips and waist. Several marks on her neck from where he'd sucked too hard shone visibly in the natural sunlight filtering in through the window and doorway.

"Hey, Naruto," Temari began, "where do you put your sham… poo…?"

Sakura and Temari stared at each other, but while Temari appeared relatively unbothered by the sudden situation, Sakura was anything but. Her face was slowly turning the same shade of cherry blossom pink as her hair. Bright green eyes had already grown to the size of dishpans, and her arms were shaking as she clenched her hands into fists. It looked like Mount Sakura was seconds from violently exploding into extreme violence.

"Naruto…" Sakura muttered, "what is going on here?"

"I think that should be obvious," Temari answered for him.

Sakura looked like she needed a moment to digest this situation. She stared at Temari, who had crossed her arms and was giving the pink-haired girl an amused look, and then she switched her gaze to Naruto.

Had this been years ago, before he learned the secrets of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, Naruto would have already been cowering. He hadn't done that in years, however. He also wasn't about to start now, which was why he met her gaze with an even, calm expression of his own.

"I… I suppose I don't have any right to say who you can be in a relationship with," Sakura said at last, pressing a hand to her forehead and sighing as though admitting this was painful.

"You definitely do not," Naruto agreed.

"I also won't tell anyone about this," Sakura added as she gave him a stern look. "But I think you should at least let Yugito and Tenten know that you're dating Temari."

"Dating?" Naruto questioned, while Temari suddenly burst into loud, raucous laughter.

Sakura glared at her. "What's so funny?"

"S-sorry." Temari held her stomach as she continued snickering. "It's just that you seem to have the wrong impression about us."

"Huh?"

Sakura scratched the back of her head. Naruto could only sigh. He could already tell…

This is going to be an awkward conversation.

XoX

Temari left before Naruto even started explaining the situation to Sakura. She had work to do and didn't have time to sit around while he talked about their sex life. That left him to explain everything, which he did as he and Sakura sat around his table.

To his surprise, Sakura did not get violent or even angry at him after he finished explaining his unusual relationship with Temari. She had simply sighed and said that she wouldn't judge him for it.

Naruto had the feeling that she was judging him and just not saying it, but he couldn't fault her for that. Sakura was a lot more pure than he was. She believed that sex was all about love, that it was something you did only with the person you loved, the person you planned to marry. Given her devotion to a single person, Sasuke, he couldn't fault her for that line of thought.

Of course, all that said, it wasn't like he didn't love Temari. He did. They just couldn't have a normal relationship. It had nothing to do with being from different villages and everything to do with his immortality. There was no point in getting married to someone who would eventually die and leave him alone.

The next two days were spent re-familiarizing himself with the village alongside Tenten, who he had roped into coming with him. She had agreed to it when he asked, stating that she didn't have anything else to do. He figured that meant Team Gai wasn't taking any missions at the moment.

He eventually learned that the reason why she wasn't taking missions was because Neji had become a jonin. Since he was an elite who could take teams, he often worked with different chunin and jonin to familiarize himself with other squads. According to Tenten, Neji had said it was so he could learn what it meant to be a good leader. Naruto thought Neji was just a perfectionist who tried too hard.

While Naruto didn't do anything too strenuous, he and Tenten did spar a bit. He wanted to become more acquainted with her style of fighting in case they went on a mission together. Tenten had been all too happy to spar with him. He guessed she was feeling restless since she hadn't been on many missions in the past few months.

It was after one of those sparring matches that Naruto learned about Yugito.

"So she's Kumo's ambassador to Konoha, but she's currently off on a mission somewhere, huh?"

"Yep. She goes on a lot of missions, so she's usually only in the village for a few days before going back out on another mission. Sometimes she's gone for days, and sometimes she's gone for months, especially when she's called back to Kumo."

"That so…"

He and Tenten were sitting on the grassy field of the Team Seven training ground, eating a bento lunch that had been prepared for them by Tenten's mother. Her mother was a slender woman with hair similar to her daughter's, though she didn't have Tenten's signature panda buns, just long brown hair. It was surprising, but Naruto had never met Tenten's mother until just yesterday. The lunch she had prepared wasn't ramen, but it was still pretty good, a mixture of vegetables and fried chicken with a side of rice.

"You really have become strong," Tenten said.

"So have you. I'm impressed by how well you can use all those weapons. You used to only be capable of throwing them."

"Yeah, I've trained some, but you've really gotten strong." Tenten gave him a slight stink eye. "You were going easy on me."

"Well… yes, but I had the benefit of training under a Sannin." Naruto leaned back on his hands and looked at the clear, blue sky. "Jiraiya might be a pervy old man who peeps on women when they're bathing, but he's also stronger than anyone I know. Even after all this time, I still haven't beaten him in a single spar."

"Well, he's also got a lot of experience," Tenten said, picking out a piece of fried chicken and popping it into her mouth. "Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru… they've been ninja for longer than we've been alive, and they experienced war, while the most we've experienced was the small one-day battle against Suna during the Chunin Exam."

"I know. I'm not saying I don't know why I haven't been able to win."

"Anyway, this was nice." Tenten laid down on the grass, spreading her arms out. "It's been a long time since I've been able to really cut loose. Neji and Lee have been so busy with their own training and missions that they don't really give me the time of day anymore."

"Doesn't seem very much like a team." Naruto paused, head cocked to the side. "Then again, one of my teammates betrayed Konoha, so I'm not sure I have any right to talk about acting like a team."

"It's not like Sasuke betraying the village was your fault," Tenten said, sitting back up to place her hand over his. "Sasuke was always a loose cannon, from what I saw, and Orochimaru offered him power. It was only a matter of time before he betrayed the village. If he didn't betray it for Orochimaru, he would have betrayed it for whoever offered him the most power."

"Yeah… I know that."

Naruto didn't blame himself for Sasuke's choice. It wasn't his fault his friend didn't think he was gaining enough power. Sasuke had been impatient and took the perceived shortest path to power. That was on him and no one else, and it was why Naruto couldn't be blamed for whatever happened to him.

He and Tenten continued to talk, though their conversation was mostly about inane matters. They traded training tips, spoke of missions, and bantered about daily life. While they were discussing the merits between weapons and hand to hand combat, Kakashi appeared before them in a swirl of leaves.

"Well, this is an interesting get together," Kakashi said in greeting. His nose was buried in a book, which Naruto recognized as Jiraiya's latest Makeout Paradise volume.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto and Tenten greeted at the same time.

"Hello, you two." Kakashi's only visible eye curved upward in his famous u-shaped eye-smile. "Naruto, I have come to tell you that the selected time for you to take your Jonin Exam is going to be tomorrow at four am sharp. Meet us at the ANBU headquarters."

"Jonin Exam?" Tenten gawked at Kakashi before turning to Naruto, her face slowly morphing into a pout. "You didn't tell me you were taking the Jonin Exams."

"I couldn't really find a good time to slip it into conversation," Naruto admitted with a reluctant shrug. "So, tomorrow at four, which in Kakashi time means I should meet you at around noon, right?"

"Very funny," Kakashi said. "Unfortunately, I'm not the only one proctoring this exam, so I can't come late like I usually do."

"So you admit to arriving at all of our meetings late on purpose," Naruto said with a sigh. "All right. Four in the morning. I'll be there."

"I'll be waiting."

As Kakashi disappeared within a puff of smoke, Naruto thought about what he would be doing—the Jonin Exams. Knowing that he was on the verge of becoming an elite should have made him ecstatic. The village was recognizing him for his talent. That should have been a great thing. He should have been happy.

But he wasn't.

Naruto was immortal. While he had come to accept what that meant, he had also resigned himself to the many things in life that he couldn't have. Marriage. Family. Hokage. Almost all of the goals that Naruto had set for himself when he was younger were now out of his reach. He had accepted that. However, in accepting this, the emotions that he had once felt, the joy he would have experienced at getting closer to his goals, was diminished. What was the point in being happy when climbing the ninja ladder no longer led to Hokage?

Beside him, still pouting, Tenten said, "I can't believe you didn't tell me about this. I should have been the first person you told."

"… Sorry."

"I somehow get the feeling that you really aren't all that sorry."

"…"

XoX

Not many people knew where the ANBU headquarters was located, and in fact, its location was technically not even known to the ANBU themselves, though not for reasons one might imagine. Since the ANBU were the black ops of the village, no one could know the location of their base. There were many secrets stored inside. If these secrets were to be leaked, then the results could be catastrophic.

To that end, the ANBU headquarters required ANBU members to take a secret route that led them there. However, the route was said to be so dizzying that not even the ANBU knew where they were going. It was sort of like being led somewhere while blindfolded. This was what Naruto had learned from his preliminary investigation.

Naruto walked into a bar called The Rusty Kunai. His shinobi sandals thumped against the wooden tiles.

While the name sounded ominous and dingy, the bar was anything but. Warm lighting. Polished tables and booths. Music playing in the background. It looked like a perfectly legitimate establishment, and the many patrons present who were drinking, laughing, and having a good time, seemed to agree.

Naruto looked around for a moment. No one was paying attention to him. Why would they? To them, he must have just been another patron. He walked up to the bar uncontested, sat down and waited until the barkeep, a bear of a man with a bald head and several scars running down his face, finished with his last customer.

"I've been told that you have some good drinks here," Naruto said.

The bartender grunted. "We've got a few things. What'll ya be having?"

"The Diving Crow on the rocks."

The bartender paused. "We don't sell that anymore. If you want that kind of drink, you'll need to make your way down the alley off to the side here. There's a bar called Ninja's Paradise. Go in there and ask the barkeep that I recommended you. Careful not to get lost."

"Thank you."

Now that he had the information he wanted, Naruto left The Rusty Kunai and traveled into the nearest alley on the right. All the while he was cursing Kakashi.

Kakashi had told him to meet him at the ANBU Headquarters. The problem was that he didn't know where the ANBU Headquarters was. In fact, no one really seemed to know where it was. Upon realizing this, he'd gone to Tsunade and asked her about the ANBU Headquarter's location, but the Hokage had just smirked and told him to find it himself. The fact that she had not given him the location meant only one thing.

The test had already begun.

This was a lot like the first stage of the Chunin Exams. Naruto remembered how he, Sakura, and Sasuke had gone to the academy and run into that door with the genjutsu over the door number to trick people into thinking they were on the third floor, when they were really on the second. A lot of genin not worthy of even taking the test had been weeded out by that. More would have disappeared if it hadn't been for Sasuke. This was similar to that. If Naruto couldn't find the ANBU Headquarters on his own, he wasn't even worthy of taking the Jonin Exam.

As Naruto moved down the alley, he realized why the barkeep told him to be careful about getting lost. This place wasn't an alley so much as it was a maze. There were multiple turns that branched off in numerous directions and more lateral passages than he knew what to do with, which branched off into even more lateral passages.

When Naruto tried to climb the wall with chakra, he slipped. He tried again, but his chakra disappeared and he fell back down.

The walls were made out of a chakra absorbing material that made it impossible to cling to the surface with chakra. Well, if this was the ANBU Headquarters, they had probably done this to keep people from getting a bird's eye view of the place. It made sense, but it still galled him.

Naruto was forced to make his way through this convoluted maze, taking turns at random, marking the place he passed so he would know where he was going. No matter how many places he traveled, the Ninja's Paradise bar never appeared in his sights. It felt like he was going around in circles.

I think that's because I am going around in circles…

Naruto looked at the place on the wall that he was sure he had marked. It wasn't marked anymore. However, he had left a seal underneath the mark. It had been a Echo Location Seal that let him know where he was in correspondence with it. When it was wiped away, he had felt the seal disappear.

Someone is making things difficult.

Knowing better than to let himself be led around, Naruto unrolled his scroll and released the contents with a "Fuin Kai!" As smoke from the seal being released engulfed him, he created a shadow clone that transformed into a crumpled can. The smoke cleared. Naruto stood up with calligraphy brush in hand and marked the spot again.

And then he left. He didn't look back. He kept walking—until his clone dispelled to send him information that someone was, in fact, wiping away the seal. The clone had been dispelled before it could look at whoever had destroyed it, but that also told him a lot. One: This person was definitely a jonin. Two: They were skilled at detecting chakra. From this, he concluded that whoever had attacked him was probably a Hyuuga. There were no skilled jonin sensor ninja.

I can't advance until I defeat this Hyuuga.

Naruto frowned and quickly went through a mental checklist of everything he knew about the Hyuuga clan. They relied on the Byakugan, which gave them 360 degrees of vision, allowed them to see through walls, and gave extraordinarily gifted individuals the ability to see tenketsu—the points where chakra was expelled. Their fighting style relied heavily on the use of their eyes.

Sneaking up on them is going to be impossible, Naruto thought as he kept walking, not giving any indication as to whether he realized the clone had dispelled or not. That means I can only assault them from the front, but to do that, I need to find them, and it's clear that this person is using passages in the walls to follow me. I would have spotted them long before now, otherwise.

If this person was a Hyuuga, then simply hiding wouldn't work. A Hyuuga could see chakra. They would notice if he tried to hide simply by the chakra he emitted.

But what if I spread the chakra evenly through this maze?

It was worth a shot.

Naruto finally stopped walking and closed his eyes. He created a single hand seal, tori, or the bird seal, and then channeled his chakra. A soft breeze emitted from his body and spread out in all directions. It flowed along the maze, spreading quickly and carrying his chakra across the entire area, evenly distributing it so no one place had anymore or less chakra than any other.

If this person is a Hyuuga, that should keep them from finding me.

Naruto then created several shadow clones and had them spread out. Him and his clones then used the camouflage technique and hid themselves.

Seconds later, a wall opened on his left and a figure emerged. Donning a tan cloak and a mask, Naruto could see nothing of their face. ANBU? Or someone disguised as ANBU?

The person looked around. Naruto could almost detect the frown they wore. His clones already knew the plan, so Naruto counted down to three before, like lightning, he burst from his hiding spot with the other clones.

Naruto had to give this guy credit; he was good. Immediately after he and his clones appeared, this person sprang into action, adopting the traditional Gentle Fist stance of the Hyuuga clan. Four of his clones were quickly dispatched when they tried to surrounding him. One had pain shoot through its chest from a finger poke. Another was dispelled by a shoulder jab. The second to last received a backhand, while the last clone got hit by a double palm thrust.

On any other occasion, this would have been the time for Naruto to retreat, but not today. The Hyuga was still blind thanks to his jutsu. They couldn't see chakra since he'd cloaked the entire area in his chakra. That meant they were vulnerable. It was easy to see from how this Hyuuga wasn't attacking his tenketsu, but simply injecting chakra into his clones.

Several chakra chains shot from Naruto's sleeves before his opponent could recover. They wrapped around the Hyuuga. Before his opponent had a chance to break them with their chakra, Naruto leapt into the air and drilled them with a hard double-heel kick that sent the person flying backward, where they crashed into a wall and slowly slid down.

While they were disoriented, Naruto knelt beside this person and pressed a kunai to his neck.

"Where is Ninja's Paradise?"

The figure on the ground paused. "There is no Ninja's Paradise. To get into the ANBU Headquarters, you have to travel through the passage that I just opened."

Now it was Naruto's turn to pause. "Neji?"

The figure froze. "I don't know who that is."

"I'm sure," Naruto chuckled. Now he realized why Team Gai hadn't been on many missions. Neji was an ANBU. His team probably didn't know that because ANBU weren't allowed to reveal that they were ANBU… unless they were retired like Kakashi. "Anyway, you said to head through this passage?"

"… Yes."

"Okay. See ya later, Neji," Naruto said as he wandered into the passage.

"I'm not Neji!" the shout came to him just before the door closed.

Chuckling, Naruto continued on his way.

XoX

In a room with a moderate amount of light, Kakashi stood alongside Kurenai and Asuma as they watched Naruto enter through the passage that Neji had exited. They were watching Naruto through a television. Since televisions and cameras were expensive, being a form of technology that had only been created a few years ago, they were only borrowing it for this test.

"Well?" Kakashi looked at his two compatriots. "What do you two think?"

"He's pretty good," Kurenai admitted. "Not only did he realize that someone was following him, but he managed to neutralize them in an expedient manner."

"That's marginalizing Naruto's accomplishment," Asuma declared. "He not only figured out that someone was following him, but he figured out they were a Hyuuga after only a single incident, and he discovered a way to blind the Hyuga's Byakugan. That technique he used right before Neji-kun came out was a wind technique that evenly distributed his chakra through the entire alley, which made it impossible for Neji to continue following him through the wall and forced him outside. Not only is that a jonin-level tactic, but the kind of control necessary for wind manipulation of that nature is something a regular chunin could never obtain."

Kakashi had to agree with Asuma. Naruto had definitely grown a lot, and it wasn't just in strength. His tactics, the way he used his head instead of just brute force, it was proof that he'd grown as a person since the Chunin Exams.

"Well, I'd say he passed the first test, wouldn't you?" asked Kakashi.

"Yes, he did well," Kurenai agreed.

Asuma blew out some smoke and said, "I third that."

"Then let's go and greet him," Kakashi said. "He'll be coming down this way any second now."

XoX

The hallway that Naruto found himself in only had one direction he could go. Down. It was a good thing because he had no desire to run around anymore, especially not after that maze. He went down several flights of stairs, a couple ladders, and eventually found himself wandering through a long hallway composed of gray, dull cement. When he reached the end, Naruto was met by three people.

"Kakashi-sensei. Kurenai-sensei. Asuma-sensei," he greeted, staring at each of them in turn before focusing on the two who weren't his senseis. "I'm guess you two are the remaining proctors."

"That's right," Kurenai said with a smile.

"Congratulations on passing the first test," Asuma added.

"Follow us, Naruto," Kakashi said. "We'll lead you to the second portion of the Jonin Exams."

"Okay."

Naruto looked up at the ceiling as they walked. Having gone so far down, Naruto understood that they were now underneath the village. He never imagined there would be such a vast network located under Konoha, but when he thought about it, Naruto realized that these underground networks were likely a way to defend against hostile invasions. Attacking ninja would come in, and Konoha would use these networks to hide and ambush their enemies. It was a great strategy.

They walked through a door, which opened into a massive, circular room. Pillars surrounded a raised platform, stretching up to a ceiling that he couldn't see, disappearing into darkness. It made him wonder how far below ground he was. Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma directed him toward the raised platform, where someone else was waiting for him.

She had dark hair in a similar pineapple style to Shikamaru, though hers wasn't quite as lazily done. Her outfit was the same as he remembered. She wore a tan trench coat over fishnet, a skirt that gave tantalizing glimpses of bare leg, and heeled shinobi sandals. On her right thigh was a kunai pouch.

"Anko-nee-chan," Naruto said in surprise. "Are you part of this test?"

"That's right." Anko nodded. "When Kakashi told me what was going to happen, I just knew that I had to be a part of it. After all, I wanted to greet the guy who couldn't even be bothered to say hi to me after returning from the village."

"Erm…" Naruto took a hesitant step back as Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma stood off to the side. "You know… it's not that I didn't want to see you. It's just that you weren't around when I did go see you."

"You mean when you're clone came to my place?" Anko's smile widened. "That's not you coming to see me. That's you being so lazy that you couldn't be bothered. What's more, you've had two days to come and see me, but you didn't." A kunai flicked out of the sleeve of her left arm and into her hand. She raised it to her lips, stuck out her tongue… and licked it. "Well, I'm going to show you what happens when you decide to ignore this 'nee-chan'."

Naruto gulped.

"Your second test is a no-holds barred match against Anko here," Kakashi said. "While the no killing rule applies just like it did in the Chunin Exams, anything else goes."

Naruto gazed at Anko as she licked her kunai while giving him a look that would have been seductive on someone else but was frightening on her.

Well, shit.

"Are you two ready?" asked Kakashi. Anko grinned and nodded. Naruto was not ready, but he nodded anyway. Kakashi raised his arm. "Then…" and dropped it. "Start!"

Naruto wasn't even given time to think before Anko held out her sleeves and unleashed several white serpents at him.

"Sen'ei Jashu!"

With his speed and fleet-footedness, Naruto was able to dance around the snakes. He performed hand seals at the same time.

"Kaze no ken!"

Wind gathered in his hand, condensing, sharpening, forming a blade, which Naruto used to cut down the snakes after dodging them. He spun left. A snake lost its head. He shuffled right. One of the serpents was split down the middle. Naruto continued to dance, moving in a ceaseless flow until all the snakes had been destroyed.

Anko hadn't been idle. She had used that time to close the distance between them. Naruto leaned back as her hand flashed out quicker than a coiled snake striking at prey. His hair ruffled as her fingers flew past him, their shape reminiscent of a snake. Already knowing what was coming, Naruto twisted his body away before Anko brought the hand down, and then gently nudged her fist aside so it went wide.

Now's my chance.

Spinning on the ball of his left foot, Naruto lashed at Anko with a spinning heel kick, which she blocked by raising a forearm. The power behind his strike made her grunt. Her feet slid back before she applied chakra to the bottom, sticking her to the floor and making it impossible to move her further.

Naruto launched himself off her using the momentum from his kick. He spun around and came in with a rasengan. Anko's eyes widened, but she still had the sense of mind to leap backward, avoiding the attack, and then throwing an attack of her own in the form of several kunai.

"Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Two kunai became twenty kunai.

Naruto ran through a series of hand seals.

"Futon: Tsuin Senpuken!"

Thrusting out both fists, Naruto infused them with wind chakra and sent a massive blast that slammed into the kunai, dispelled them, and continued on. Anko leapt into the air to avoid the attack. Naruto went through more hand seals.

"Futon: Renkudan!"

Naruto's chest swelled as his lungs were filled with wind chakra. He raised a fist and slammed it into his stomach, forcing the air out of his mouth in the form of a bullet. It soared toward Anko, struck her in the chest, and made her body explode.

Her mud body.

A mud clone.

"Sen'ei Jashu!"

More snakes came from Anko's sleeves as she appeared several meters behind him. She must have replaced herself with that mud clone, and then used a camouflage technique to hide her presence.

Turning around, Naruto waved his hand to unleash a blade of wind that sliced into the snakes with ease. However, when all of the snakes burst like overripe fruit and released a thick gas that made him gag, Naruto realized she had been anticipating this. She had wanted him to destroy those snakes.

Knowing Anko as he did, Naruto knew that her next attack would come from below. He leapt into the air to avoid her Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu. When no hands came up from the ground, Naruto frowned.

"Where are you looking?" a voice asked. Naruto's eyes widened. It came from above him!

Looking up, Naruto realized that Anko had used his knowledge of her own tactics against him. Instead of trying to bury him in the floor, she had leapt into the air and was now coming down from above.

He blocked her heel drop. However, doing so caused him to plummet. As wind rushed around him, Naruto turned his head and looked down at the gas still floating in the air. He didn't want to find himself in that again. While it wouldn't kill him, having his lungs choke and burn was not a pleasant feeling.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Naruto created a clone and used it to hurl himself upwards and toward one of the pillars. He landed on it and crouched there, watching Anko as she fell into her own poison. It probably wouldn't hurt her. Anko was immune to all of her poisons. Going through several hand seals, Naruto placed his hands against the pillar.

"Futon: Suiryoku!"

Wind blasted from his palms and launched him through the air, sending him hurtling toward Anko, who was looking right at him with a grin on her face. He frowned. Naruto pulled out several shuriken and tossed them at Anko, then went through several hand seals.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Five shuriken became twenty-five shuriken. Naruto went through more hand seals.

"Futon: Repusho!"

Wind emitted from his palm and hit the shuriken, not only increasing the speed of their rotation, but also increasing the speed they flew. He watched as Anko went through several hand seals and raised a wall from the earth to block them. Since she could no longer see him, Naruto created a shadow clone, replaced himself with it, and then went through several more hand seals.

"Futon: Kaze ni Kakureru," he whispered.

Wind Release: Hiding in the Wind was a technique that Naruto had created for stealth purposes. Creating a stream of wind that distorted the light around him, Naruto became practically invisible. It had its limitations, of course. For one thing, the technique could be seen through if someone looked directly at him and noticed the distortion. For another, it didn't last very long. However, during quick surprise attacks, when an enemy ninja was focused on something else and not him, it worked like a charm.

His clone ran around the wall and engaged Anko in a taijutsu battle. Because a single hit would dispel it, the clone had to be extra cautious. It couldn't even block thanks to that. Anko's kicks were fierce and would cause the clone to break.

While the clone was keeping Anko occupied, Naruto snuck up behind her with a seal tag in his hand. He slapped the seal on Anko. He had to give her credit. She responded the second he touched her, spinning around and nailing him in the face with a heel kick. Naruto's body spun through the air before he hit the ground hard.

Ouch, he thought to himself as the clone found itself being dispelled after it was stabbed through the chest with a kunai.

XoX

Kakashi stood with Kurenai and Asuma as they watched the battle proceed. He thought Naruto was doing pretty well. Anko was a tokubetsu jonin. Contrary to popular belief, tokubetsu jonin were not a rank below jonin. They were jonin with unique talents or special skills in a specific field that was ranked above jonin. Anko's was interrogation. However, her skills in combat were still on the rank of an elite jonin-level ninja.

For Naruto to be capable of fighting her on even ground after only three years of training is impressive.

"He's doing a good job of keeping up with Anko," Asuma said, taking a puff of his cigarette and blowing out smoke. "He has a pretty good range of jutsu, too. Those wind techniques he's been releasing are subtle and hard to pull off because they require careful chakra manipulation."

"But that's all he's doing," Kurenai said. "If he can't defeat Anko, then does he really deserve to be a jonin?"

"The battle still isn't over yet," Asuma said.

"No," Kakashi interrupted, "the battle is already won."

He had been watching the entire battle from start to finish with his Sharingan, so he'd seen everything that Naruto had done. The way he'd snuck up behind her and placed that seal on her back. Kakashi didn't know what that seal was, but he knew that Jiraiya was a seal master, and the man had to have taught Naruto about seals. If he was using a seal for this battle, then it was probably going to be the game changer.

"What do you mean?" asked Kurenai.

"Just watch," Kakashi said. "It's about to end."

XoX

Ninja battles were generally quite short. A protracted battle between two opponents who were nearly equal rarely ever happened, and while Naruto had experienced a few of those, it was only because their skills had been so even and neither side was willing to give up that those battles lasted as long as they had. In most cases, a battle between ninja lasted for a handful of seconds.

This battle lasted about five minutes.

"Kai!" Naruto shouted as he created a seal with his hands.

Anko, who had been in the process of turning around to confront him, suddenly froze as numerous chains shot from the seal on her back. They encircled her. They tightened around her body. They left her immobile. She struggled to break free, but the more she fought, the tighter the chains became, until at last, she was no longer able to stay standing and fell to the floor with a thump.

"D-damn it! What are these things?!" asked Anko.

Naruto knelt next to her, pulled out a kunai, and placed it against her neck. "This is a seal that I created based on my mother's ability to create chakra chains. When the seal releases, all of the chakra stored inside is converted into chains, which I then use to restrain whoever has the seal attached to them. It can be broken, of course, but it requires you to expel more chakra than I put into the seal."

"Which is probably impossible for someone who isn't a chakra monster," Anko muttered with a sigh. "All right. You got me, brat. You did pretty well. Can you release these chains now?"

Naruto hesitated. The "of course I can" that he wanted to say was on the tip of his tongue, but he knew Anko quite well, and so he knew that she might not let what he'd just done to her go.

"You're not gonna get back at me for tying you up in chains, are you?" he asked.

"Naw," Anko said. "Getting tied up and pulled down by chains is kinda kinky, so I'll let it go this time."

"Okay then." Naruto made a hand seal. "Kai."

The chains disappeared, bursting into chakra particles, as Naruto released the jutsu. Anko sat up and stretched her arms out, testing them to make sure she hadn't pulled anything. Naruto held out a hand. Once Anko had confirmed that everything was in working order, she grabbed his hand and let him pull her up.

"I gotta hand it to you, Naruto, you've really improved a lot," Anko said. "Hard to believe you've grown strong enough to beat me in just three years."

"What are you talking, Anko-nee-chan?" Naruto grinned. "I was always this awesome."

"Whatever you say, brat."

Naruto was feeling pretty good about this battle. Sure, Anko hadn't been going full tilt and had totally underestimated him, but that wasn't his problem. She should have realized he wouldn't be a pushover by now. He had trained with Jiraiya of the Sannin, after all.

"Well done, Naruto. Congratulations." Kakashi walked up, clapping as Asume and Kurenai followed behind him. "You've passed the second test. You've only got one more left."

"Wait? Really?" Naruto blinked. "But these tests are so easy!"

"That's because we didn't spend much time on the first two," Asuma admitted, blowing smoke from his mouth. "We just wanted to see what you were capable of by watching you."

"You did a good job finding out where the ANBU headquarters was located," Kurenai added. "And watching you fight Anko has given us a good estimation of your skills in combat. Now it's time to see if you have what it truly takes to become a jonin."

Naruto straightened his spine. He had no idea what sort of test this would be, but if the others were just to see whether he had the physical and deductive abilities of a jonin, then it sounded like this last one would determine if he had what it took to actually be a jonin. In other words, it would test his ability to lead others.

"I'm ready for whatever you guys throw at me," Naruto said.

Kakashi eye-smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. You're next test is going to be leading a group of shinobi on an A-ranked mission. As you know, jonin are not only the most powerful ninja in our forces; they are also the ones most capable of leading squadrons. That's why talented jonin eventually go on to take a squad of genin."

"Jonin who haven't taken on a squad of their own are often given the hardest missions," Kurenai said. "A-rank missions are some of the most difficult a ninja can get. Only S-rank missions are harder, but those are rare enough to be practically non-existent. The chances of you getting one of those is slim."

Naruto could already see where they were going with this, but he didn't interrupt them. Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma seemed excited to finally be explaining something like this. Perhaps this was their first time proctoring the Jonin Exams. Naruto didn't know. However, he was loathe to not let them have their fun.

Beside him, Anko was grinning as though enjoying a show.

"That is why you're going to take an A-rank mission tomorrow," Asuma said. "You'll pick out your squad from a list of jonin and lead them on this mission. Meanwhile, the three of us will shadow you and watch to see if you're capable of while leading a squadron of elite ninja. I should warn you: if these ninja don't think you're fit to lead them, you'll get left in the dust."

"Good luck, brat," Anko said, her grin never leaving her face.

"Thanks, nee-chan," Naruto said, already trying to imagine what kind of mission he'd be sent on. Assassination? Information gathering deep into enemy territory? Maybe he'd have to protect a VIP like he and Jiraiya had done for Koyuki and Prince Michuru. Whatever mission he was given, Naruto knew one thing for sure.

That mission was as good as aced.

XoX

Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma hadn't been the only people watching the Jonin Exams. Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune were sitting in the Hokage's Office, watching Naruto as he navigated his way through the maze to the ANBU Headquarters, and then as he fought against Anko. While Tsunade and Shizune looked impressed, Jiraiya felt like smirking.

"Well, what did I tell you?" said Jiraiya. "He's improved a lot, hasn't he?"

"He has," Tsunade agreed. "I'm impressed."

"I knew he would be stronger after he returned from his training, but I didn't expect him to be this capable," Shizune agreed. "Anko is one of our better ninja. It's impressive that he can not only fight her on even ground but even defeat her in single combat."

"If you think this is impressive, wait until you see him fight someone like Kakashi," Jiraiya said. "Naruto is a lot stronger than he can showcase in a battle against Anko."

Tsunade turned her head to give him a stare, one of her delicate eyebrows raised. "Are you telling me that Naruto is even stronger than that without using his Hybrid Mode?"

"Way stronger." Jiraiya crossed his arms and stared at the television screen. "While I still win in most of our spars, Naruto beat me one out of every five times. It's not just his physical abilities that have improved. His tactics, intuition, jutsu, and knowledge of how to use those jutsu, all of it has improved to the point where it won't be long before he's defeating ninja that would have given us trouble back in our hayday."

He and Naruto had spent the last three years training. While the first few months had been rocky thanks to the knowledge about Naruto's lineage, which Jiraiya had kept hidden, no longer becoming a secret to Naruto, the rest of their training had been productive.

"Naruto absorbs knowledge like sponge when he sets his mind to it," Jiraiya continued. "I've already taught him all the jutsu I know. He can't use some of them because they don't match his fighting style, but he has enough practical knowledge that he can use them to create his own ninjutsu."

Tsunade would've choked on her sake had she been drinking it. "Hold on a second, Jiraiya! Are you telling me that Naruto is actually capable of creating his own jutsu?!"

"That's… not possible!" Shizune said in shock. "Naruto might be an amazing shinobi, but creating a jutsu is something that even jonin struggle with. Only a kage on the same level as Hiruzen Sarutobi could possibly create their own jutsu!"

"What makes you think Naruto isn't that good?" asked Jiraiya, crossing his arms and presenting the two with his best smirk. "Naruto might not have the same intellect as Hiruzen, Orochimaru, Kakashi, Minato, or even Shikamaru, but don't underestimate him just because of that. What Naruto lacks in intelligence, he more than makes up for in diligence and creativity."

Jiraiya took a moment to let his words sink in. It wasn't surprising that Tsunade was shocked by this news. Creating jutsu took great knowledge of chakra theory and hand seals, which was not something that the average jonin knew. Kakashi was a genius, but even he had only created a single jutsu without aid. Likewise, Minato had only created the rasengan. Hiraishin was a reinvention that he took to new heights, not an original technique.

"Minato Namikaze was a bonafide genius," Jiraiya continued. "Naruto doesn't have Minato's knowledge on chakra theory and ninjutsu, but he's pretty inventive. He's even better than Minato was when it comes to fuinjutsu, and his ability to find creative uses for ninjutsu is astounding. Give him a few more years, and I'm pretty sure Naruto will have at least twenty—no, thirty original jutsu under his belt."

"If what you say is true, then Naruto will be an even greater force in a few years," Tsunade said. "It looks like my decision to let him take the Jonin Exams was a good one."

"Speaking of, do we know what Naruto's last test is going to be?" asked Shizune.

"Naruto will be taking an A-rank mission tomorrow," Tsunade leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. "I already have a mission picked out. It's a difficult one, too. That should let us see if his ability to lead is up to par with his ability in combat."

"Believe me, Naruto is definitely ready," Jiraiya said. "I'll never say this to his face, but Naruto is easily my best pupil."

"That's high praise indeed," Tsunade said. "Considering your pupil went on to become Hokage."

"Yeah, well…" Jiraiya shrugged. He couldn't put into words what he felt about Naruto. He just had this feeling that Naruto was going to surpass his father.

"I believe I understand how you feel," Tsunade said when Jiraiya said nothing. "There's something about Naruto that just makes you want to believe in him."

"Something like that."

XoX

Naruto woke up early the next morning, though he technically didn't need to. After taking a quick shower to freshen up, he got dressed for his mission, putting on his black pants, followed by a black sleeveless shirt, which went under a long-sleeved, dark orange shirt. He bandaged his legs with white medical tape, then stuck his feet into his black ninja sandals. After that put on his fingerless gloves, his black haori with an orange Uzumaki spiral on the back, and finally, his magatama.

Naruto now had a total of seven magatamas. He stared at the comma-shaped stones, which hung from a simple necklace. There was no telling how many more of these he had to gather, or if he even needed to gather them at all. Before she had gone silent, Kyubi—Akane—had seemed to know something about these magatama, but she never told him what.

I want to know…

Naruto wanted to know what it was about these magatama that made him so drawn to them. He wanted to know if this was simply idle curiosity, or something more.

After putting the magatama around his neck, Naruto left his apartment and headed for the Hokage Tower, where he would be given an A-rank mission for his Jonin Exams. He wondered how this was going to work. Would they at least let him choose his own team, or would the team and everything else be selected for him?

"Naruto!"

Stopping in the middle of the street, Naruto turned around as Sakura ran up to him. She was wearing what she had been dressed in yesterday. Naruto waited until she was beside him to begin walking again.

"Are you heading to the Hokage Tower?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah," Naruto said. "I'm getting an A-rank mission today for my Jonin Exams."

"Sounds tough."

"You think so? I guess."

"Anyway, I'm heading to the Hokage's Office as well, so I'll walk with you."

"Sure."

Beginning their way to the Hokage's Office, Naruto thought about what kind of mission he might get as he conversed with Sakura. It would probably be something that was designed to test his skills in leading. That meant it would be a mission he couldn't solve without teamwork. Granted, most A-rank missions were, but there were a number of them that a jonin could do on their own.

"What kind of mission do you think you'll get?" asked Sakura as though she'd been reading his mind.

"I'm not sure," Naruto admitted. "It's not going to be espionage or anything of that nature since there isn't an enemy we need information on. I imagine Tsunade-oba-san will give me a bodyguard mission for a VIP. Those are the most common missions right now."

"Yeah, there aren't a whole lot of A-ranked missions, are there?" Sakura said.

"No, there aren't."

As they kept walking, Naruto looked up when a shadow passed over his head. It was an eagle. Naruto frowned. That wasn't just any eagle. He recognized it as the kind used by Suna to send messages expediently. That was the fastest type of eagle they had, which meant that Suna was sending Tsunade an urgent message for some reason.

Has something happened in Suna?

"Come on, Sakura," Naruto said. "I have a feeling something major just happened."

"Huh? Major? Naruto, what are you—hey! Wait up!"

As Sakura ran to catch up with him, Naruto raced toward the Hokage's office. He really hoped nothing bad had happened. However, after seeing that eagle, an unsettling feeling had wormed its way into his gut.

Nothing seemed out of place when he made it to the Hokage Tower. Kakashi was standing by the entrance, waiting for him while reading his book. He looked up when Naruto and Sakura entered his field of view.

"Naruto, good to see you're so prompt," Kakashi said.

"I'm not you, sensei," Naruto retorted.

"It seems I'm losing respect with my cute pupils," Kakashi murmured before looking at Sakura. "Hello, Sakura. Are you also here to see Tsunade?"

"That's right," Sakura said. "I've got some reports to file as well, but I needed to ask Tsunade something regarding my studies."

"Then why don't you come with us?" he suggested.

"That's the plan."

Naruto entered the building with Kakashi and Sakura. As they walked down the hall to the Mission Office, someone rushing from the other side screamed at them to move, forcing them to split apart so the woman could run through. Frowning for a moment as he watched the woman disappear, Naruto ignored the way his gut squirmed and made it to the Mission Office.

Tsunade was already there when they arrived. Sitting at a long table were several chunin filing mission reports. Iruka was one of those people.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto greeted with a shout. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"That it has, Naruto," Iruka said. "I'm glad to see you're doing well. I hear you're in the middle of your Jonin Exams."

"That's right," Naruto said with a grin. "Pretty soon, I'll be ranked higher than you."

"Iruka," Tsunade began, "why don't you find an appropriate A-ranked mission that we can use to test Naruto's growth?"

"Will do," Iruka said as he went to the file of A-ranked missions and began shuffling through them.

As this was happening, the door to the Mission Room burst open and the woman who'd rushed past him, Sakura, and Kakashi ran into the room. She was breathing heavily. Sweat poured down her forehead. Her skin was pale, which Naruto thought was from exhaustion.

He soon found out otherwise.

"We've received an urgent dispatch from Suna!" the woman shouted.

Tsunade frowned. "Let me see it."

The woman stumbled over to the table and handed a sheet of paper to Tsunade, who read it over, her frown growing more prominent, brow creasing. Iruka and Shizune looked over Tsunade's shoulder to see the contents. Naruto didn't like the way their eyes widened.

"N-no way…" Shizune mumble.

"It can't be…" Iruka said.

The feeling inside of Naruto's gut grew even more prominent. "Tsunade-oba—Hokage-sama, can I know what the contents of that message are? Has something happened in Suna?"

"It seems… Gara has been kidnapped by the Akatsuki," Tsunade said.

Naruto took in a deep breath to hide his shock. This had always been a possibility. The Akatsuki were after jinchurikki, which meant Gaara was a target, but his fellow jinchurikki had seemed so strong that the idea of the Akatsuki beating him in a fight was unfathomable. Well, it would have been if Naruto hadn't already seen their strength. S-ranked ninjas specifically gathered for the purpose of capturing jinchurikki. Yes, even Gaara couldn't defeat people like that without prior planning.

Gaara was strong; Naruto knew this from having sparred with him several times in the past, and when he fought in the desert, Gaara was nearly invisible. However, nearly invincible and completely invincible was a very large gap. There were plenty of weaknesses that Naruto had discovered during their spars.

THe Akatsuki was made up of S-ranked ninja. They had been specifically selected due to their unique abilities, which aided them in defeating jinchuuriki. What's more, they acted in pairs. A jinchurikki could possibly defeat a member of the Akatsuki on their own. However, defeating two S-ranked ninja of that caliber at the same time was impossible.

"So the Akatsuki are finally making their move," Naruto said, clenching his hand into a fist.

"Suna has officially requested our help," Tsunade added. "Naruto, I'm sorry to say it, but your exams are being put on hold until we can deal with this situation."

"I understand," Naruto said.

"Also, since we don't have time to gather a team, I'm going to be sending you three," Tsunade continued.

"Wait!" Shizune interrupted. "You aren't seriously suggesting we let these three take such a dangerous mission, are you? Never mind an A-ranked mission, this one is easily S-ranked!"

"That may be, but we don't have a choice," Tsunade said. "It would take too long to form another team. Given that Akatsuki is made up of S-class missing ninja, the trail could easily grow cold by the time we create another squad that would stand a chance against ninja of this caliber. What's more, Naruto and Kakashi both have experience fighting the Akatsuki."

"That may be so, but…" Shizune trailed off as she perhaps realized that there really was no other choice.

"All right." Tsunade placed her hands on the desk and fixed them with a stern look, eyes gleaming with determination. "As of this moment, you three are Team Naruto. Naruto, you're in charge. Kakashi will be acting as your support. Your mission is to travel to Suna and find out anything you can, aid them in anyway you can, and follow their orders. Give them whatever backup you can."

Naruto slammed his fists into the each other and gave Tsunade a confident grin. "You can count on us! We'll travel to Suna and do everything we can to help rescue Gaara. Count on it!" Naruto paused as an idea came to him. "Oh! Would you mind if I requested someone else to join us on this mission?"

"Who did you have in mind?" asked Tsunade.

Naruto didn't say anything.

He just grinned.

Sorry for the late posting. I was so busy editing my next story that I forgot to upload this.

Here is the next chapter of Shifts in Life. As you can see, it's very canon. Gaara has been kidnapped. No surprise there. Naruto and the others are going to rescue him. There will be a few minor differences from the canon, which most of you will probably recognize the moment they happen. Other than that, the arc is pretty much following what happened in the original series for the moment. I still hope you enjoyed the chapter.