Chapter 16: Blazing Youth

Chapter 16: Blazing Youth

Naruto slowly opened his eyes as the sun shone brightly through his bedroom window. His vision focusing; he realised that he wasn't alone in his small bed. Looking down he saw a head with pink hair resting against his chest. Memories from the previous night flushed his mind as his face acquired a tinge of red. The minutes passed as he continued staring at the kunoichi who was wrapped tightly around him under the blankets. A smile was across his face as he felt relatively peaceful inside.

He diverted his attention from the girl, staring at the ceiling as he began to think of where he could train for the day. Due to his bout with Jiraiya his current training ground was going to be unfit for use for at least another 2 days. He was broken from his thoughts as he felt the kunoichi stir.

Sakura awoke into consciousness becoming aware of her surroundings. Her head was resting on something hard as she relished the warmth she was receiving. Her eyes shot open in realisation noticing the body she was lying on. Lifting her head her eyes came into contact with a sapphire colour gazing right back at her.

Naruto gave the kunoichi a foxy grin, "Finally woke up, huh?"

Sakura rose oblivious to her undressed state replying, "Hai…"

Naruto looked away as he felt a nose bleed beginning, "Uh…Sakura-chan, not that it really matters anymore but…" He stopped to point at her naked state.

Sakura quickly realised his implication, their night of passion replaying in her mind. She moved back sitting next to Naruto putting the blanket over herself. She moved inwards to Naruto deciding to tease him, "What's the matter…can't contain yourself?"

Naruto gave an awkward laugh shaking his head, "I'm just not used to these types of things."

Sakura looked at Naruto who was calmly staring through the window at the village outside. His revelation from the previous night quickly clogged her thoughts as she began to understand how serious things were. She knew time was of the essence and she wanted to find out anything possible to be able to help.

Naruto tapped his chin as he began to speak, "Sakura-chan."

Sakura turned to the blonde upon being addressed, "Hm?"

Naruto continued in a contemplative tone, "Aren't the chuunin exams starting today?"

Sakura eyes widened as she realised the genin was indeed right. She looked through the window as the sun was quite high in the sky, "I think they've already started."

Naruto looked at his clock, it was late in the morning, "You're a chuunin right? Won't they need you?"

Sakura nodded her head but her mind wasn't currently on whether she had to be at the exams, "They do but…"

Naruto placed his hands behind him before tilting his head in Sakura's direction, "But what?"

Sakura sighed, "But first…I want you to tell me…" The jinchuuriki raised an eyebrow before the medic continued, "…everything about your condition."

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke observed all the genin preoccupied with their written exam, with keen eyes, as he tried to locate the ones obviously cheating. He was one of many people seated on the side, who were overlooking the written exam. The sharingan wielder noticed a boy attempting to take a look at the paper of the girl next to her. Instantly, he threw a kunai which landed on the desk startling the boy as well as others seated around him. He didn't say anything instead staring with an intimidating look. The genin rose from his position with his team mates before leaving the classroom.

The black haired teen's mind was still in disarray from the previous night. His encounter with Naruto was deeply engraved in his thoughts and he could remember every detail of it. He shook his head in order to rid himself of any drowsiness as he hadn't been able to sleep at all during the night. He found it difficult to remain on task with so many issues dominating his thoughts. He still didn't know why Naruto was training so much especially if he had such little time left. However the one thing he still couldn't come to terms with, was the fact that Naruto was gong to die. Scanning through the crowd of examinees he drew two kunai, throwing them to the desks of a few more genin he had caught.

Watching them leave, he knew that his presence as a proctor was unfair since he could easily see how the majority of the class was attempting to cheat. He singled out those whose methods of information gathering were not up to a sufficient degree. Feeling himself being watched, he turned to the front of the classroom and into the eyes of Nara Shikamaru.

Shikamaru diverted his concentration elsewhere upon being noticed. He could sense the lingering eyes of the Uchiha on him. He coughed as he kept his lazy demeanour, staring at the participants of the exam. The number of people left had been drastically reduced mainly due to Sasuke. The exam had started with over 40 teams but they were now down to only 13. His mind quickly left the genins taking the exam and started to analyse the actions of the Uchiha.

He was indifferent to the sharingan wielder. The retrieval mission of Sasuke from 3 years prior was something he wouldn't forget anytime soon. He had almost lost his best friend as well as coming close to being killed himself. He wasn't concerned that Sasuke returned after his betrayal because it had ultimately bought calm to Naruto, who he saw as a friend. Even though most people couldn't realise, he knew the blonde was finally happy that he had returned his best friend.

Nonetheless something about Naruto's recent behaviour had made him suspicious of what was going on. The mission to defeat Orochimaru was something that he could explicitly remember. It was his second time crossing paths with Akatsuki and the first time he had seen the legendary snake sannin. His mind loitered on the notorious organisation whose motives were unknown to him. It was apparent on that day that they were there to kill Orochimaru but when they realised the presence of Naruto, they wanted to capture him as well.

He didn't know what made the S-class criminals want to capture his friend but he thought it might be to do with his transformation. The frightening sight of Naruto once he had undergone that radical change made him freeze with shock. The power he had seen being radiated was amazing but the most disturbing thing was that the chakra surrounding him gave a menacing vibe. He quickly glanced at Sasuke to see that he was once again resuming his duties.

Shikamaru knew that the Uchiha was being bothered by something. He had never seen Sasuke seem so troubled. His mind analysed the recent events with Naruto as well as the uneasy presence of Sasuke. He couldn't help but feel that they were connected in some shape or form. He needed some more evidence in order to be completely sure of his speculation.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto and Sakura walked towards the Hokage tower. He had told her everything about his condition as well as the amount of time he had remaining. After having gotten cleaned up and getting something to eat, he decided to go with Sakura to see Tsunade since there was a possibility of him getting a training ground which was out of the way.

He had his hands behind his head as he walked side by side with the kunoichi. Sakura had a neutral expression on her face but she was inwardly trying to think of anyway to solve Naruto's problem.

They continued walking until they saw three figures heading towards them in the distance. Naruto voiced his thoughts, "Who's that?"

Sakura looked closer as she could make out the boy in the middle waving at them. She couldn't believe they couldn't tell who it was since the large white dog was a dead giveaway.

Naruto took a step back as he realised a rushing white blur heading for him. "Woah…wait." He put his hands out as Akamaru stopped immediately in front of him.

Kiba jumped off the back of his companion as his team mates caught up to him. Looking at the blonde, he gave a greeting, "Oi, Naruto. Where have you been, eh? You should keep in contact with your friends."

Hinata gave a short bow to the 2 shinobi, with a red face, "G…good to see you…N…Naruto-kun, Sakura-san." Shino merely gave a nod acknowledging their presence.

Naruto patted Akamaru's head as the dog enjoyed the feeling, "Gomen, I don't get much time these days."

Kiba not really understanding what he meant looked at Sakura to his side. A grin formed across his face, "So, looks like you've finally hooked up." He rubbed his nose trying to get a rise out of the jinchuuriki.

Hinata gave a small gasp believing the words of the dog user. Shino turned to Kiba, speaking, "Kiba, this mission is time based. We should get going."

Kiba waved off the bug user, "I know. We can spare a few minutes."

Shino looked nonchalant behind his hood and glasses, "No, we can't."

Kiba ignored the Aburame and was about to tease the blonde again before he realised a red mark on Sakura's neck. He pointed realising the obvious bite mark, "Wait…you really have hooked up."

Naruto had a smirk across his face whereas Sakura had a blush across hers before pulling up her vest as much as she could, to cover up the tell tale sign. Hinata looked at the couple understanding that they had actually gotten together as well as the bite mark, a sign of their intimacy. She could feel herself becoming light headed before falling backwards, fainting from the shock.

Kiba quickly caught the Hyuuga stopping her from making contact with the ground. Naruto was surprised with what was happening, "Hinata."

Kiba gave a laugh, "Don't worry she'll be fine."

Naruto sighed oblivious as to why she fainted. Shino stood indifferent to the odd occurrence before speaking, "Kiba, need I remind you…"

Kiba, struggling to place Hinata on Akamaru's back properly, quickly answered interrupting him from finishing, "I know."

Shino remained calm as he watched alongside with Naruto and Sakura. Kiba, finally having appropriately positioned Hinata, realised his dog's awkward demeanour. Akamaru was looking at Naruto intently with disturbed eyes before he gave out a whimper, "What's wrong Akamaru?"

Naruto looked at the dog who was staring at him. He sweated knowing that this was bad. Moving down he stroked Akamaru's fur, "Don't worry. I'm going to be fine."

Kiba had a raised eyebrow questioning the genin, "Eh? What are you talking about?"

Naruto grabbed Sakura walking past their friends. Looking back he gave a wave, "It's nothing. We should get going; you don't want Shino reminding you again."

Shino felt a sting at the remark but stood with a calm manner. Kiba scratched the back of his head, "That's weird. Come on, it's time to leave."

Shino looked at his friend take off with Akamaru following. Turning back towards Naruto's direction, he saw him nearing the Hokage tower. He wasn't used to seeing Akamaru act in such behaviour, but when he did then there was a cause for concern. Shrugging it off for later he went in the direction of his team mates.

XXXXXXXXXX

Deidara jumped through the trees at an incredible pace, he could see the end of the forest approaching. The Akatsuki members were currently travelling through the Country of Grass.

Tobi who was trailing behind, and quite tired, quickly spoke, "Hey, Sempai, can't we use that "thing" to fly." He was referring to the bird made of clay.

Deidara looked back towards the orange masked man, "That "thing" takes a lot of chakra. Your legs are there for a damn reason yeah." The annoyance was evident by his speech.

Tobi sighed before pushing himself to catch up with his partner, "We've been running for a full day non-stop. We didn't even get time to recover from the fight with the Rokubi."

Deidara ignored the newest member's pleas staring straight ahead. "Stop complaining yeah."

Tobi tried again, "Why are you in such a rush anyway? We've got 4 weeks until the chuunin exam finals. There's plenty of time."

Deidara shook his head, "There isn't plenty of time. We've only extracted the Schichibi. There's still the Rokubi and the Hachibi left yeah."

Tobi scratched his head, "I know but Zetsu-sempai took the Rokubi from us yesterday. He'll be back at the base tomorrow and the Hachibi's been collected as well. Both the extractions together would only take around 6 days which still leaves us with 3 weeks." Tobi looked around before noticing something, "And I think we're going the opposite way from Konoha."

Deidara felt his anger build upon having the mask wearing member make such a detailed analysis. He was also a little perturbed as to the fact the normally idiotic criminal had seen through his lie rather quickly. Waving a hand at his partner he spoke, "We are going the opposite way. I thought we should head to the Country of Waterfall. We'll get some rest and relax for a bit before heading for Konoha."

Tobi's mood brightened however unfortunately due to his tiredness he ended up falling over the next branch and to the hard ground below, face first. Deidara landed next to his partner now having exited the forest. "Get up you idiot."

Tobi rolled onto his back, "I can't go on."

Deidara began to become irritated but knew that he was exhausted. The blonde criminal was feeling tired himself but he wanted to reach the Country of Waterfall by the end of the day. He kicked the lying Tobi in his side, "The hell you can't yeah."

Tobi cringed from the swift kick, "Why can't we rest here for a bit?"

Deidara walked towards the river staring at the various stones pointing out, "We have to get to our destination by the end of today."

Tobi sat up rubbing his side, "Sempai, what's so important that we have to get there this urgently?"

Deidara was fractious by the amount of questions his partner was asking but he knew that he would have to answer. Coughing he replied in a barely audible voice, "There's a…art exhibition taking place…" A smirk was across his face before he finished, "…the explosive kind yeah."

Tobi was confused as to what to think, "Huh? That's it?"

Deidara glared with anger in his eyes, "The hell? Stop pissing me off yeah."

Tobi was surprised as Deidara suddenly jumped at him grabbing his cloak. The art appreciating criminal began to drag his partner through the river making him bounce off the various rocks. Tobi quickly protested, "Gomen, I didn't mean it. I'm not tired…I can go by myself." His leg grazed the rock as his cloak was soaked, "Ahhhhhhhh."

XXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade rubbed her head as she looked through her paperwork. She began to stamp the papers approving of what she read. She heard a knock on the door before looking up. She heard a voice behind it, "Tsunade-shisou, can we…"

The voice was interrupted from finishing as the door flew open revealing Naruto and Sakura. Naruto walked into the office ignorant of the death glare he was receiving from the Hokage, "There's no need to be so formal Sakura-chan."

Sakura walked in knowing full well of Tsunade's tendency to become irritated when she wasn't treated with the proper respect. She slapped Naruto's head, "Baka! She's the Hokage!"

Naruto laughed, "She's just Tsunade-baachan."

Tsunade's eye twitched with anger upon being referred to like that, "What are you doing here Naruto?"

Naruto walked near the desk, "I wanted a training ground, since Ero-sennin's kind of ruined mine for the time being."

Tsunade looked at him quizzically before leaning back in her chair. She began to think of a suitable way to help him. After a few minutes she pulled out a piece of paper from her desk and began to draw on it.

Sakura and Naruto leaned forward curious as to what she was doing. They saw her scribbling on the previously blank piece of paper before looking up satisfied with her work. Naruto tilted his head trying to understand what she had drawn.

Tsunade spoke as the attention of the two ninjas was directed towards her, "As you know the chuunin exams have started today. The exam is split into three stages, the written test, the survival test and finally the main tournament."

Naruto folded his arms, "What does this have to do with me?"

Tsunade smirked, "The written test will probably be finishing soon. The survival test is next. This time, we're going to utilize a test that hasn't been ever been used before and was created by one of Konoha's jounin." She pointed at the genin, "You're going to be one of the examiners."

Sakura had to stop herself from falling over as Naruto stumbled, "Nani? What does that have to do with me getting a training ground?"

Tsunade shook her head, "The location for the test is training area 56 or in other words…" She paused before continuing, "The Land of Doom."

Naruto's eyes widened, "What is it with these names, Forest of Death and Land of Doom? Why can't you pick normal names?" Naruto finished staring at the busty Hokage.

Tsunade coughed, "The creator of the test wanted to call it…the Land of Blazing Youth but I didn't think it was appropriate. Anyways, you'll meet him soon enough since he's the one who is the main examiner for the survival test."

Naruto was at a loss for words since he still didn't see how this solved his problem. Tsunade recognised the confusion etched across his face, "Baka! You wanted a place to train and I gave you one!"

Naruto stroked his chin realising that he would have a lot of space to train. However something else entered his thoughts as he smiled, "Sugoi, I'm the first genin ever to examine a chuunin test." He began to laugh.

Tsunade sighed, "Actually, you're not."

Naruto stopped his laughing, "Nani?"

Tsunade rested her chin on her hands, "Sasuke is." She ignored the stunned Uzumaki, "Since he can't take the chuunin exams until his punishment is completed, I put him as an examiner in the written test. There was nothing else for him to do."

Tsunade handed Naruto the piece of paper on her desk, "This is a map of the area you're going to be in for the next 5 days. Head for the academy and you can go with everybody to the training area at once."

Naruto glanced at the paper before bursting out, "You just drew this." He paused before shouting again, "And I can't understand this."

Sakura laughed at the Kyuubi vessel as Tsunade looked displeased. "Stop complaining brat. You're too stupid to understand a real map so I made it easier for you."

Naruto pouted before turning to leave, "Fine." He gave Sakura a smile, "I'll see you in 5 days."

Sakura stopped him from leaving and gave him a kiss. Naruto, initially surprised, relaxed into it before finishing. Tsunade watched the two happily knowing that they had sorted out their differences.

Naruto separated before coughing, "Laters."

He walked outside of the office with a shade of red on his face. Sakura turned towards the Hokage who had a grin across her visage. Tsunade spoke in a joking tone, "I see things turned out well, huh?"

Sakura nodded blushing, "Hai." Her face changed to a more serious expression, "Tsunade-shisou, I wanted permission to use your personal library."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at her request, "I see, so he's told you." She looked at the unresponsive form of the kunoichi taking it as a confirmation, "You have an idea then?"

Sakura replied in an analytical manner, "At first I thought that we could do an operation to fix his chakra coils. But his whole body has been damaged internally. To do such an operation, it would take over 15 hours." Tsunade nodded proud of her apprentice's diagnostic ability, "The real problem is that we would have to operate when the Kyuubi is not feeding him chakra however if he stops then Naruto would die within the hour. Thus we can't do that."

Tsunade let out a sad sigh since she already knew of this. Sakura continued, "But something Naruto said intrigued me." The Godaime looked at her apprentice, "The seal he has was meant to slowly merge his and the Kyuubi's chakra. Kyuubi could heal him but his body can't withstand too much of his chakra at its current state."

Tsunade smiled realising where she was going with this, "So if we were to somehow boost the growth of his coils to their fully matured state then the Kyuubi could simply heal him completely."

Sakura answered, "Hai."

Tsunade began to think deeply into the matter. She rested her elbows on the desk before speaking, "Something like this is unprecedented. It is also highly unlikely to be possible but…" She smiled as she realised, "There is still a small chance it could work."

Sakura felt her mood brighten knowing that there was a possibility. Her determination was as strong as ever and her hope had amplified.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto walked through the corridors of the academy bringing back past memories. He had taken a detour home to pick up some scrolls that he needed for training before eventually heading for the academy. Walking through the final corridor he came across a familiar set of doors. He had taken his own written exam in the same location.

Opening the doors he walked into the large classroom as everyone directed their attention towards him. From what he could see, there were less than 10 teams remaining. The doors shut behind him as he looked to the opposite side at the seated proctors, he found Sasuke with his attention on him. The troubled state of the Uchiha was clearly visible; Naruto noticing it adopted a smile and gave him a wave.

Directing his attention to the genins remaining, he was relieved to find the Konohamaru corps still seated and in the case of their leader a merry expression across his face. Scratching the back of his head, he greeted everyone, "Heh heh, how's it going?"

Sasuke looked at the optimistic blonde. He could feel his insides becoming distressed with the demeanour his friend was displaying. Ignoring everything else in the room, his attention was solely focused on the jinchuuriki. He knew that Naruto was bothered by what he was going through evident by their encounter the day before. However he didn't understand why he was acting overly happy around others.

Shikamaru, inwardly confused by Naruto's unexpected appearance, kept his lazy posture. Glancing around the room his eyes fixed on Sasuke who, visibly, seemed upset upon seeing Naruto. His previous speculation was proved correct as he realised that the Uchiha's state was connected to Naruto. He began to dwell on his thoughts, thinking of what could be happening with Naruto that would make the unflinching sharingan wielder show any signs of disturbance.

He was broken from his trance as Naruto addressed him, "Oi, Shikamaru. What's going on, have you finished?"

Shikamaru turned to the genin, "Yeah, we're waiting for the second examiner. What are you doing here?"

Naruto grinned but was interrupted from speaking as a yell of "Dynamic Entry" filled the air. The doors behind Naruto blasted open making contact with the unsuspecting vessel sending him rolling across the floor.

Naruto sat up rubbing his back as his vision was blinded by green. In front of him stood the unfathomable Maito Gai with his hands on his hips and his trademark smile. The participants in the room sweat dropped upon seeing the awkward display in front of them whereas Naruto seethed with anger.

Gai spoke, unaware of what he had done, "The time has come, for I Maito Gai, to see…"

He was stopped from finishing as a wooden piece, of the now broken entrance doors, connected with his head. "At least apologise."

Gai rubbed his head before facing the standing offensive leaf-nin. His eyes widened as he saw Naruto glaring at him, "The youthful shinobi that is Naruto, what are you doing here?"

Naruto shouted at the jounin, "I was going to say what I was doing here until you broke that door on my back."

Gai gave a nervous laugh at the accusing teen, "Gomen. But, we must not let such little things take away from our prideful selves."

Naruto ignored him before turning to Shikamaru. Gai nearly fell over as he saw the disregard for his comments shown by the ninja, "CURSE YOU KAKASHI! YOU HAVE PASSED ON YOUR HIP WAYS TO YOUR STUDENTS!"

Naruto talked to the shadow user, "Like I was about to say, I'm a proctor for the second exam."

Shikamaru lost his usual demeanour upon hearing that as Gai stopped with his animated rant. The green spandex wearing jounin swiftly spoke with a loud voice, "I see, so you are the youthful third examiner for my brilliant creation."

Naruto instantly faced the taijutsu specialist, "Nani? Your crea…wait, you're the main examiner."

Gai gave a thumbs up followed by a sparkling smile, "Of course."

Naruto was left speechless as Gai walked past him to address the whole of the class. "The remaining genin in this room are the ones who have passed onto the second stage. This first test assessed your information gathering skills and how effective they are." He pointed his finger out at the participants, "But this next exam will determine who truly possesses the passion to ascend to the next level of ninja and maybe one day become as youthful as even I." He pointed at himself with his thumb upon finishing and gave a smile.

Naruto had to stop himself from faltering as Konohamaru began to speak, "What's the point of the second test."

Gai laughed before answering the Sarutobi's question, "A brilliant question. It is simple, for the next 5 days you are going to survive in a dangerous environment without any outside assistance and your objective is…" He pulled out three scrolls from his pouch holding them up for everyone to see, "…to obtain a scroll from one of the three examiners. Whoever still has a scroll at the end of 5 days, proceeds to the final test."

Everybody listened intently as the jounin continued in a serious manner, "This test will pit you against other ninja, and in the case of some of you, against your fellow leaf comrades. You are ninja however do not kill each other meaninglessly. Hopefully you will take this advice to heart."

Naruto listened to the taijutsu specialist impressed with his words. Gai nodded to Shikamaru as a signal to begin handing out forms which would take the responsibility off the Hokage if any of the shinobis were to die. Walking to Naruto he gave him a scroll, "Your task is to protect this scroll from falling in their hands. If they are able to retrieve the scroll from you then you're not allowed to try and get it back. How you decide to test these candidates is entirely up to you. They don't necessarily have to defeat you." Naruto nodded pocketing the scroll.

Naruto felt proud of having such a responsibility upon his shoulders. A smile was across his face as Gai began to speak, "Follow me, to our destination where the strength of your inner passion will be determined. Let us go to the Land of Blazing Youth." He gave a sparkling smile.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the last statement, "Eh? Isn't it meant to be the Land of Doom?"

Gai laughed nervously, "...Yeah…it is."

Naruto ignored the weird jounin as his insides buzzed with excitement. He knew that the next 5 days were going to be interesting.