427 Chapter 27

Read extra 20-50+ Chapters on my Patre@n

patreon.com/JoshRichie2.

...

Title: Info

....

"Hey, Naruto, Sasuke." Sakura finally caught up to the duo.

"Oh, Sakura, wondered where you went." Naruto greeted back with a goofy smile.

"You! You both left me behind."

"Eh? Did we Sasuke?"

Sasuke merely looked away cooly to Naruto's annoyance.

"Anyways, Sasuke, are you okay?" Sakura asked. "After you both left, Lee's Sensei came and apologized for him."

"Eh? Bushy Brows Sensei?"

"Yeah. He's even got a bushier brows than Lee, and according to him, he's sensei's rival." Sakura recounted.

"For real? He's that strong?" Naruto asked to which Sakura nodded seriously.

"One moment he was punching Lee at the end of the hall and the next, he was bowing in front of me in apology. Even Kakashi doesn't move that fast. And to make matter worse, there wasn't any Chakra fluctuation."

Listening to Sakura, both Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other in amazement. "Then he's like Lee?" Sasuke asked and Naruto nodded

"Probably. Remember Shun-Nii?"

"Yeah, he could beat Hana-nee and Izumi-nee with only his body..." Sasuke replied. "Are you sure we can impress him enough?" He muttered, only to receive another punch to his face.

"You don't get to doubt yourself now Sasuke. We're here to win, got that?" Naruto asked with his eyes blazing with determination.

"Hn. Next time we meet, I'll win!"

"That's the spirit."

Sakura watched the two with a fond smile. Despite her best efforts, no matter how much stronger she feels she's gotten, she always find herself falling short in front of the the two.

'One day...' she thought as she clenched her fist.

...

As they reached the door marked with the number 301, they found Kakashi standing there with his hands in his pocket.

"Oh... so, Sakura, you came too?" He asked faking surprise, though he was mildly surprised she actually came considering...

"Now, we can properly take the exams."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked and Kakashi went on to explain how they would've been disqualified if only Sasuke and Naruto came without her.

He also explained why he gave them the registration paper separately as there was a possibility she would've been pressured by either Sasuke or Naruto.

"But since you came of your own freewill, you guys are my proud team. Now go." Kakashi said with an eye smile causing the three to also smile and cheer: "Yeah! Let's Go!!"

...

The very fact that one was a Shinobi meant that at one point in their life, they had shed a substantial amount of blood. In the cruel world that was this one, killing was a normal occurrence.

And with every death, killing intent is born. The fairly experienced Shinobi have mastered this intent, knowing when and when not to expose it.

However, as Genins ranging from the ages of 12 to 17, control over this particular intention was still amateurish.

A slight show of hostility was enough to put pressure on whoever such hostilities are being directed to...

This was the particular pressure the team Seven felt as soon as they stepped into the hall filled with kid killers and assassins.

Being this late, the very fact that they opened the door was enough to draw attention, and to add to the mounting pressure of having to wait for an exams they've been told was a life and death one, hostilities were expected to fly around.

"W-wow." Naruto said as cold sweat dripped down his face.

Sasuke merely frowned as he glared back at everyone in the room, refusing to be out in the passive position. This however, didn't hide the cold sweat on him.

"What's this...?" Sakura also managed to speak up. 'What numbers... They're all taking the exams?'

"SA-SASUKE-KUN!! YOU'RE KATE!!" As though unaffected by the pressure in the room, Ino ran up to Sasuke and hugged him from behind much to the annoyance of the Uchiha.

"I haven't seen you in a while so I've been waiting in excitement." Ino said with a blush.

"Get away from Sasuke you Ino-pig!" Sakura said, not forgetting to insult her former best friend.

"Oh? If it isn't Sakura... big ugly forehead as always." Ink snapped back

"What did you say?"

"Bleh." Ink stuck out her tongue, still hanging behind Sasuke.

"You guys are taking this stupid exams too? Don't die.... Shikamaru said with a smirk as he regarded Naruto.

Naruto smirked back and replied. "Well, if it isn't the idiot trio."

"Don't call us that!" Choji, snacking on his chips retorted.

"Man, this sucks." Shikamaru said with his usual lazy voice.

"YAHOO!! Found you!" Another raucous voice broke their short reunion.

"Oh... it's just you Kiba..." Naruto turned and said casually before turning to Hinata. "Hinata-chan, longest time."

"Naruto, how've you been?" Hinata greeted the blond before also greeting the others.

"Well, well, well, everyone is assembled." Kiba said after reeling from the shock of Naruto's casual greeting. But seeing the smiling Hinata, he didn't dare to retaliate.

"Geez, you guys too?" Shikamaru said, his voice getting more annoying.

"I see all nine of this year's rookie Genin are taking this exam." Shino inputted in his usually low voice which made everyone ignore him.

"I wonder how far we'll get... Eh, Sasuke-kun?" Kiba asked trying to show his dominance over Sasuke since he couldn't do the same to Naruto with Hinata around.

"Pfft... You seem rather confident, Kiba." Sasuke sneered at the Inuzuka.

"Hehe, we did a lot of training. We won't lose to you."

"Haha..." Naruto laughed but surprisingly didn't say anything. Hinata also laughed and said. "Don't mind him Naruto. But we'll be doing our best."

"Of course, Hinata, with you in the team, it'll be more challenging." Naruto said with an encouraging smile.

The group then went on to exchange some pleasantries amongst themselves as well as some mockery.

"Hey you guys... You should really be more quiet." A mild voice sounded from the side. Turning to the origin, they saw a lean young boy walking towards them.

"You guys are rookies just out of the academy right? Screaming like school girls... geez." The boy said as he came to a stop. "This isn't a picnic."

"Who do you think you are?" Ink asked angrily. She was miffed at being referred to as a school girl even though she really was of the age.

"I'm Kabuto. But that isn't the matter at hand now, look behind you." Kabuto said after he introduced himself.

"Behind?" Ino and the eight other rookies looked only to see the glaring bloodthirsty eyes of their fellow examinees causing them to feel the earlier pressure once again.

"Those guys are from the hidden Rain. They have short tempers. Everyone is nervous about the exams, quiet down before you cause a scene." Kabuto said.

"Well, I can't blame you, you're all clueless rookies. You remind me of the past me." Kabuto said and pulled out a deck of cards from his pouch.

The scene went according to how it was supposed to go as Kabuto's task this time was to get the kids trust and learn all he could about them.

Despite agreeing to help out a little pressure on the kids, Orochimaru didn't believe it was just merely this.

Having heard of Shun and the Tengoku clan's mysteriousness, there was no way Orochimaru wouldn't investigate to find if there was anything special about the two.

Despite knowing they were merely an Uchiha and the son of the Fourth Hokage, he felt there was still something more.

He already knew Naruto was the Jinchuriki, and that was special in itself, however, he only saw Naruto as Konoha's dispensable weapon. This was the fate of every Jinchuriki.

Kabuto went through the cards and exposed all the info he had on all the notable Genins to look out for during the exams.

"Eh? Who's that?" Naruto suddenly asked as he saw a familiar symbol of a four leave clover.

"That? That's Hagane Masaru, Rinha Haruta and Shirogane Takashi. I have no information on them other than their sensei's name." Kabuto said with a wry smile

He had only gotten those three cards due to seeing them and wanting to know about them. However, despite stalking them for as long as possible, he managed to get nothing from them other than their teacher's name.

"Tengoku Shun." Kabuto said. "Famously known as The Ghost."

"Shun-nii? For real?" Naruto exclaimed. "Then they must be real strong, right?"

"Hm. They're one of the favourites to win the exams. From what I know of their clans, they should be strong." Kabuto said

"What do you know." Sasuke demanded.

"This one." Pointing at Masaru, "is from the Hagane clan, a clan know for their Kekkai Genkai, the Metal Release. The next, Haruta from the Rinha clan, known for their expertise in Medical Ninjutsu and finally Shirogane Takashi, from a clan known for their Crystal Release."

"According to Rumours, the three all possess their clan's Kekkai Genkai." Kabuto said and the group were awed, other than Naruto who just asked.

"Is their Kekkai Genkai strong?"

"Eh?" Kabuto was caught unawares at the question.

"I mean, how powerful is the Kekkai Genkai?" Naruto asked again but Kabuto shook his head.

"I dunno, no one does as the last time this Kekkai Genkai surfaced was during the second Shinobi world war. But considering who their Sensei is..."

Sasuke and Naruto smirked as their gazes searched the hall for the trio.

As they eyes met their targets, they found the trio also looking at them, but unlike their fierce gazes, the trio smile warmly at them and waved.

"They're dangerous." Sasuke concluded.

"Eh, why?" Ino and Sakura asked as they had waved back seeing as the two boys among them were handsome.

"They are handsome," Naruto replied causing the group to look at him strangely.

"Idiot. That's not it. Do you se how docile those around them are?" Sasuke remarked causing everyone to look and see the look of fear among the group surrounding the trio

"Now that you mention it..." Kabuto said as he tapped his glasses, causing it to reflect light from some angle. 'Interesting.'

"Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall, Sound and Flowers. Many outstanding genins from various villages are here to take the exams." Kabuto began.

"Well, the hidden sound is a new and small village just created last year so there isn't much info but... The rest of the hidden villages are filled with talented youngsters."

"Makes you lose your confidence." Hinata remarked.

"So basically...all the people here are..."

"Yup. Like Lee and Gaara. They're the top elite genins from various countries. This isn't going to be easy." Kabuto answered.

The group of nine rookies all fell silent as they felt the gravity of their situation. Even Kakashi who was eavesdropping on their conversation felt the same but...

"MY NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO!!! AND I WON'T LOSE TO YOU BASTARDS!!"

A certain blond declared fearlessly

"YOU GOT THAT?"

He asked to make sure they people in the room were following.

"Mah... It's Naruto afterall." Kakashi sighed in relief and left. It was a good thing the weren't breaking down due to nervousness after all.

"Hey! What is he!?" Ino shouted at. Sakura while pointing at Naruto who was laughing.

"Ahhh. That felt Great."

Sasuke on the other hand simply smirked. "Heh."

Even if Naruto didn't do what he did, Sasuke wasn't really thinking of backing down. After all, he has to test his limits and know where they lay.

Kabuto also smiled imperceptibly while everyone in the room glared at Naruto, especially a red haired Genin who had the word 'Love' inscribed on his forehead.

He couldn't possibly fathom how someone could be so raucous in a hall filled with killers.

He really couldn't.

Meanwhile...

"Hehehe, the hidden sound is a minor village?"

"Is that so?"

"Let's play with them a little bit, yeah?"

"Hehe, good idea calling us leftovers. Let's help him add to his data...that hidden sound Shinobi, can be quite vicious."

"Ehh? Is that so?" A giddy voice interuppted their little villain moment. Turning to the source of the voice, they saw a boy squatting on their bench looking at them with an amused expression.

"Why do you feel offended? Could it be possible that the hidden sound really is a small village?" The boy asked with a genuinely curious expression.

"What's that to you?"

"Oh nothing. I just felt like you fit what Sensei calls 'stepping stones'." The boy said intuitively.

"What? You're Sensei's boy?" One hidden sound Shinobi taunted in hopes of riling the boy up but the boy tilted his head and asked

"Is that an attempt at provoking me? Please, I heard worse. It seems the hidden sound really is a small village considering your lack of... experience."

"You-!" One of the boys, Dosu stood up and made to punch the boy however, the boy simple created a crystal wall around the trio, causing the sound emitted from the sound nin's hand to be reflected back to him, causing him to vomit blood

"Oh? Seems like you take your Village name quite literally... Sound release, huh?" The boy said and jumped back as another sound wave made to attack him.

"Hey holdup, I don't think we're permitted to attack in here you know. It's a class room, a place of learning." The boy said as he somersaulted through the many benches and made it back to his teammates who all glared at the other boy attacking, causing him to stop ans snort before turning to his teammates.

"You know you should cultivate the art of minding your business right, Takashi?"

"Come now Haruta. I couldn't allow that four eyes to make use of those kids now can I?" Takashi replied with a smirk.

"And I also don't believe it's any business of yours whether they're used or not. Sensei would say it's part of the learning process of life." Haruta reprimanded.

"Gasp! For a moment there you almost made me feel you were the female version of Sensei." Takashi said.

"Humph."

PUFF!

A large cloud of smoke appeared suddenly in the room as a large group of Jounin appeared together with a more intimidating man leading them.

"Thanks for waiting... I am Morino Ibiki..."

****

A/N: That's it for the Chunin exams guys. I hope you guys enjoyed the minute or drastic changes in both personalities of Naruto and Sasuke as well as the change in plot.

Well, I'll be skimping over the written Chunin exams as I believe we all know how this particular one went. I wouldn't want to repeat everything right?

We'll move directly to the Forest of Death part in the next two chapters as well as Orochimaru and Team Seven fight.

Also, don't forget that this Novel has officially come to an end on Patre@n.

Enjoy...