The next Chunin exam was set to be in another month, and invitations were sent to the different villages around. Naruto informed the others about this matter as well, making quite a few of them tense up.
"It's in just one month? What if I don't pass" Sakura muttered
"Seriously? Your current capability is beyond even some Jonins, and you're worried you can't beat up some genins to become a Chunin?" Naruto lifted a brow and asked
Sakura glared at him
"Times like this, I wish my teammates would be a bit more encouraging" She huffed
"Encouraging? If a muscle maniac like you can't beat some genins, then what's the point of becoming a Chunin? Just stay as a genin forever" Naruto rolled his eyes and replied
"Grr, fight me" She snapped at him
"Try me, who's scared of you?" Naruto snapped back as the two took a fighting stance immediately
The two stared at each other in a stand still, but moments later, dropped their fighting stances when they saw Ino approach.
"Guys, is it true that the next Chunin exam is next month?" She shouted
"Yeah, I just finished a meeting with the representatives of Sunagakure earlier" Naruto replied
"Urgh, seriously? I feel underprepared"
Naruto's lips twitched, both Sakura and Ino are acting as if they aren't ready, when he knows that they may be one of the strongest within the entire exam.
Not to mention, no one knows that Ino uses puppets yet, except for those close to her, so if necessary, she has the element of surprise. As for Sakura, her monster strength leaves him a little scared if he takes a direct hit, so he really isn't worried about them failing.
"No wonder you two are friends" He muttered
"We're not friends, we're besties" The two hugged each other and giggled
"Right, there is one more thing, the first exam requires a team of three, since Shiki is going to be part of the group overseeing the first exam, your team is down a member, which is perfect since Sakura is in need of a team as well" Naruto said
"Really? Is it okay to reveal this information" Sakura asked
"This is something every genin should know, sis put me in charge of informing those who have yet to receive the memo" Naruto responded
"Oh, and here I thought we can get inside information" Ino sighed
"Oh please, as if you two need my help to ace the Chunin exam" Naruto replied
"Dunno, I still feel underprepared"
"Ino, if you feel underprepared, I'll need to, and very disheartedly, fail you" Naruto sighed
!!!!!
Ino quickly switched faces as she nudged his arm
"Na-kun, come on, don't be like that~" She said with a flirty smile
"...." Naruto took out a small notebook
"Yep, attempted seduction, loss of qualification" Naruto said as he wrote it down
"Wait, no!"
Naruto chuckled
"Ino, there are some things that I cannot allow for you, becoming a Chunin is taking on responsibility as a senior Shinobi, you can't half heartedly go through it, kay?" Naruto said as he tucked the notebook away
"Sometimes I think you have a personality disorder, you either say the most random and bullsh*t thing, or you sound like an old man teaching his kids" Sakura said
"Hahaha, Sakura, I do have a personality disorder, you see, another voice is in my head, telling me to fail you and strip you of your qualifications to become a Chunin, now that you found out, perhaps I should listen to that voice" Naruto smiled
"On second thought, Naruto is so healthy and strong, how can he have a personality disorder" Sakura coughed
The three laughed, and Naruto went off to inform other groups of this matter.
"Yo Shiki, you read the memo on your part?" Naruto appeared next to Shikamaru and asked
Shikamaru nodded as he passed a thick stack of paper to Naruto
"It was a pain, but I managed" He sighed
"Damn, you thought of all of this? Sis will be quite happy to see this section complete"
"Urgh, don't bother me with this crap again" Shikamaru sighed as he sat down on the ground
Naruto laughed
"Give up on trying to avoid work, like your old man, your head is too good for your own good, so the village will certainly make use of you as much as they can" Naruto replied
He then snapped his fingers
"Right, sis also put you in charge of guiding the representatives of Sunagakure, Gaara and the old lady left already, but Temari stayed back to help with organising the first exam" Naruto added
"....hah, I can never catch a break, can I?"
"Nope~" Naruto laughed
Shikamaru let out another sigh as he stood up
"Where is she?" He asked
"Haha, that's the spirit, I'll take you to her right now" Naruto winked as he teleported Shikamaru with him
Temari was seated by the side of the academy, watching the kids learn the transformation jutsu. Seeing them laugh and train together made her remember how she used to be when she was their age, laughing with her peers, returning home to the smiles of her parents...
"How nice" She muttered
*Whoosh*
A golden light flashed by, and the kids who were training turned over to see what it was. But upon seeing who it was, their pupils shrunk as they all began running.
"It's the demon fox"
"Run!"
Their reactions took Temari by surprise, while Shikamaru, who arrived with Naruto, frowned upon seeing this.
Though many have changed their opinions of Naruto, most of the kids grew up hearing stories of Naruto's bad reputation, resulting in this deeply imprinted image. Now, even if the adults tell them otherwise, they still hold some sort of prejudice against Naruto.
"Hey, they was fun, I should do this everyday" Naruto pointed at the kids running in fear as he grinned
Shikamaru lifted a brow, seeing how Naruto wasn't bothered by it, he smiled
"Are you that bored?" He asked
"Hahaha, no, but it's a fun sight" Naruto laughed
Temari was a little speechless
"Hey Temari, this is Shikamaru, the only Chunin in our generation, and Shiki, this is Temari, a Chunin like yourself" Naruto said as he pushed Shikamaru up
The two stared at each other
"Hey" They greeted simply
Naruto seemed a little upset with the way they greeted
"Boring, at least smile when you say hi, you two will be working together for the next month" Naruto said
"We'll talk at our own pace" Shikamaru replied calmly
Naruto shrugged
"Anyway, show her around the village, and later start going through the details for the first examination" Naruto said
"Yeah, yeah" Shikamaru sighed
"This is such a pain, we have so many chunins, why am I in charge of this" He muttered
Naruto slapped his back
"Hope you don't act like this when you two actually get to work, cause this is quite literally the chance for Sunagakure and Konoha to rebuild trust" Naruto said
Shikamaru rolled his eyes
"Lay off me, I know what I need to do" He replied
"Well, even if things fall through, I'll just threaten the elders into shutting up and proceed with having our two villages cooperate" Naruto laughed
"...."
Shikamaru felt as if he didn't have the energy to deal with Naruto at this moment, and judging by Termari's expression, she was fed up with it already as well...
"I'll leave you two be now, cya" Naruto waved before teleporting away
Shikamaru sighed as he sat down next to Temari
"He really comes and goes like the wind" He muttered
"Like you wouldn't believe" Temari nodded
"You met him before?" Shikamaru turned to her and asked
"Uh, quite often actually...he visits Sunagakure to see Gaara and Kankuro" Her lips twitched at the thought that another village's jinchuriki is running around so freely
Shikamaru was stunned, Naruto goes to Sunagakure very often!? How come the village doesn't know about this!?
Seeing his shocked expression, Temari chuckled
"While we're on this, care to tell me why the kids ran from Naruto?" She asked, though, as Gaara's older sister, she got a gist of it already.
"People thinks he's the bad omen that brought upon the nine tail fox" He replied
"Hm?" Temari furrowed her brows, this was different from what she expected
Shikamaru noticed her shock, and knew why
"Surprising, right? It's even more shocking because of how unjust his treatment is, don't tell anyone else, but his father is the village hero, the fourth Hokage, both parents lost their lives to seal the nine tails away inside him, yet he was treated as if he is the one who caused the destruction" Shikamaru sighed
Temari lowered her head
"With the tailed beast inside him....they see him as the nine tails itself, right?" She asked
"No"
"Huh?" She was taken aback by this answer
"They don't even know he is the jinchuriki, nor do they know he is the son of the fourth Hokage" He replied
!!!!
Shikamaru ruffled his hair and sighed
"Don't go telling other people about this, I'm only telling you this because you seem to see him often, and because you're Gaara's sister" Shikamaru said
Temari nodded, but she was still in shock. She thought Naruto and Gaara's situation were the same, but both just had different attitudes growing up...but it seems their situation isn't as similar as she had thought.
"Why do they treat him this way if they don't know he is the jinchuriki?"
"....ask Naruto if you want to know about this" He replied, any further than what he told Temari, it'll be breaching Naruto's privacy too much.
With his rejection, Temari also stopped asking about it. Instead, Shikamaru took her around the village to show her the key areas before bringing her to an inn that she can stay at. Of course, the village covers the cost of the inn for her as she was there as a guest of the village.
In the following days, Shikamaru visited Temari often in order to finalise the first exam for the upcoming Chunin exam.
During these days, Temari came to understand Shikamaru's personality much better. A very lazy person....in words. He complains about wanting to quit the job since the first day, but persisted through, working at very fast pace, unlike his words.
"This should be fine, having the rooms all next to each other is part of the challenge, with multiple teams, it's their jobs to distinguish which one is their own" Shikamaru responded
Temari nodded by the side and continued to look through the plan for the first phase.
"Once this is over, they'll need to get over my dead body to make me work like this again" Shikamaru muttered
"That'll be the fifteenth time you've said that now" Temari replied
"You actually counted?" Shikamaru asked
"Think of it as a little game, I count how many times you've said certain complaints" She chuckled
"That is a total drag"
"That'll be eighteen times for that line" Temari said
"...."
While they worked on these, Naruto was used as a messenger by Tsunade to go to the different villages to invite them to the Chunin exam.
Over the days, he now only has one last stop, which was Takigakure, the village of the hidden waterfall. Of all the villages, this one was the smallest, and also the furthest away, which took him days to reach.
"Hah, dammit, Shikamaru complains about his work, but I need to run everywhere, I don't even have raijin marks at those villages, yet sis insists that I'll be the fastest" He grumbled, but he knew why.
In terms of delivering news by word, he is indeed the fastest as he could immediately teleport back to the village once the delivery was done. And the reason why it is delivered by word directly was actually his own suggestion.
If it was done through a normal method, the news can be intercepted, possibly cause interferences during the exam if it was leaked, so he is only speaking to the ones in charge to ensure minimal leakage of this information.
He also used the transformation jutsu to ensure he is not recognised by anyone outside the village.
"Phew, last stop, and I can finally go home" He muttered as he walked in
He directly headed for the village leader's resident. How did he know which one it was? It was the one furthest down, and was sizeable with a different design to the rest. In short, it looked richer than the other buildings.
When he stopped at the front door, the door crashed open as a light blue colour flashed towards him.
He was caught off guard and stepped to the side, barely avoiding crashing into that figure.
"Woah! Sorry!" A playful voice rang in his ears as he heard the fast beats of an insect's wings.
"Fu, get down right now!"
"Yikes! I'll get scolded if I go down" The playful voice spoke again
Naruto looked up, and in the sky, he saw a young girl. Her skin was tanned to be light brown, with a minty blue hair. But what truly caught his attention was the wings behind her, flapping rapidly as it kept her in the air.
"Sorry, are you hurt?" The man who shouted earlier walked out, and gave Naruto an apologetic look
But he narrowed his eyes upon realising he didn't recognise this person.
"You are?" He asked
Naruto turned back to him
"I'm here on behalf of Konoha to invite Takigakure to our upcoming Chunin exam, it will happen in a little under a month" Naruto said
"Ah? The Chunin exam? And with so little time?" The man gasped
Naruto sighed helplessly
"The elders were arguing so much over this matter than Hokage-sama directly finalised it so they'd all stop the argument" Naruto said
"We do apologise it took so long to get word here, after the last village attack, we decided to be more discrete with spreading the news" Naruto said politely
If his friends were here, they'd all stare at him in shock as they wondered who this person is, and what did he do to Naruto.
The person in the air, Fu, suddenly landed next to Naruto
"The Chunin exam? Is that something fun? Can I go?" She asked
[Fufufu, I sense something familair] Kurama said, which made Naruto's heart skip a beat. If Kurama says this, then it can only mean one thing.
Naruto stared at Fu, who leaned over with excitement shining brightly in her orange eyes.
He smiled
"As fun as you want it to be" He replied
"Really!" Fu's eyes lit up even more
"Ahem" The man, who was the village leader, Shibuki, let out a cough to bring their attention to him.
"About the Chunin exam, will it pose any danger?" He asked
His gaze lingered on Fu for a moment as worry flashed past his gaze.
"Sir, every Chunin exam will have elements of danger, it's how we, as Shinobis grow" Naruto replied
"Right..." Shibuki sighed
"Hey, what's your name?" Fu poked Naruto's cheeks and asked
Her overly enthusiastic personality made Naruto smile, reminding him of himself. Since they would meet later, he undid his transformation, revealing his blonde hair and whiskers.
"Woah, you look totally different" Fu gasped
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, like you, a jinchuriki" He reached out a hand and smiled
"....eh?" Shibuki's eyes widened when he heard what Naruto said
A-A jinchuriki!? Wandering so far away from his village at such a young age!?
"Wow! No wonder you felt somewhat familiar, which one is it?" Fu jumped up and down out of excitement as she asked
"The nine tails" He replied
"Awesome! Mine is the seven tails, Chomei, let's be friends, Chomei says he wants to be friends as well" She said with a big smile
Naruto chuckled, he didn't expect that by being a messenger, he'd come in contact with another jinchuriki.
"Sure" Naruto replied
"Yay, hahaha, if only you all can meet, I'd love to see the nine tails as well" Fu said as her eyes dimmed somewhat
Naruto rubbed his chin
"It's not hard to meet" He said
"Really!" Fu's dimmed eyes reignited with joy
Naruto nodded, he turned back to Shibuki and passed him a letter.
"This is regarding the information about the upcoming Chunin exam, after discussing with Sunagakure, as a form of trust, the exam will take place in Konoha once more" Naruto said
"Ah? At Konoha again? Alright" He nodded
"Hey, I wanna meet the nine tails" Fu said as she poked Naruto's back, seemingly getting bored in the mere moments that Naruto turned around
Naruto smiled
"In a moment, it's better to find a better place" Naruto said
"The training ground?" Fu asked
"No, a normal room will do, I'm not summoning the nine tails, I'll directly enter your mindscape" Naruto said
"You can do that!?"
"Yep, I met the one tails through that method" Naruto replied
"The one tails!? Wow, you've met another tailed beast already! After this, I wanna meet the one tails as well, we can all be friends!" Fu jumped up and said gleefully
Naruto borrowed Shibuki's loungeroom, and he sat down in front of Fu, who was getting impatient.
He placed a finger on her forehead and they both closed their eyes.
*Splash*
When Fuu opened her eyes again, she was inside her own mindscape. She looked around to find Naruto, and when she turned around, a massive orange fox stood before her. On his head, was Naruto, who waved.
"Hey~" He grinned
"Wow! This so cool! Is this the nine tails?" She gasped as she stared at Kurama without an ounce of fear in her eyes.
Her gaze reminded Kurama of Naruto...kinda...
Naruto's gaze towards him was very impure (for his power), Fu on the other hand, was full of curiosity and excitement.
"I am Kurama, the honor is all yours to be before me" He smirked
"I'm Fu, nice to meet you, Kurama!" Fu said
Naruto patted the spot next to him on Kurama's head
"Come up, I can sense Chomei just up ahead" Naruto said
"Yes" Fu flew up onto Kurama's head without even checking for Kurama's approval, which left him speechless.
He didn't mind it too much though, as he treaded towards the seven tails in the distance.
"Eh? I sense someone familiar?" A buzzing and cheerful voice was heard
A prison came into view, with a large six winged beetle within. It's long tail stretched below itself as it hovered above the water. On each side of it were three legs, and a long horn above his armored body.
"Chomei!" Fu flew over to the cage happily
"Fu!" Chomei let out a happy buzz as it leaned towards the cage
Chomei's eyes then focused on the large orange fox that approached, and was deeply shocked.
"K-Kurama? Wow, how did you get in here? Wait, did you get sealed inside Fu as well? Will we become roommates? But why aren't you in a cage as well?" Chomei was extremely talkative, much like Fu.
Kurama smiled
"Chomei, it's been a while, you're as annoying as ever"
"Aw, come on, that's no way to speak of your younger brother like that" Naruto said, which attracted Chomei's attention
"Another person? Oh, you're the other jinchuriki Fu told me about earlier, nice to meet you, I'm Chomei, what's your name?"
"I'm Naruto, Kurama's jinchuriki" Naruto smiled
"Grumpy Kurama lets his jinchuriki ride on his head? Oh my goodness, I need to tell the others, grumpy fox isn't grumpy anymore" Chomei laughed
"Oi, drop that nickname already" Kurama growled
"Ah, he's back to being grumpy" Chomei gasped
Pfft
Naruto let out a faint snicker
"Grumpy indeed" He giggled
"Grrr"
Fu laughed as well
"By the way, how come Kurama can walk around with you? What about his seal?" Fu asked
"I removed it" Naruto replied
"What!" Both Chomei and Fu were shocked, Naruto actually removed the seal?
Chomei was in disbelief. He knew very well that Kurama is the one that held the deepest animosity towards humans, yet he and the human trust each other enough for the human to release his seal?
Doesn't that mean that if Kurama wanted, he could leave Naruto's body any moment? Yet he decided to stay...
"You undid his seal? You two must trust each other a lot!" Fu exclaimed in amazement
She and Chomei also trust each other completely, which is why she can use Chomei's powers so freely.
"Yep, I can break your seal as well if you want" Naruto smiled
!!!!
He left them in disbelief once more, he can break their seal as well!? Chomei trembled slightly, and turned to Fu.
"You can? Then let's do it! I want Chomei to be free like Kurama as well, not trapped in this little cage" She said
Chomei was quickly moved by how much Fu trust him. By removing the seal, the tail beast can leave any time they want, and the host will die immediately, so removing this seal is no different than putting her own life at the hands of Chomei.
Of course, Chomei has no thoughts of betrayal, all he wanted to was to be friends with Fu, and make more friends in their adventures together.
Naruto glanced at Kurama
"Is Chomei trustworthy?" he asked to confirm, he didn't want to realise too late that Chomei might be faking his cheerful attitude.
But Kurama laughed
"Trustworthy, annoying, but trustworthy" He replied
"Good" Naruto jumped off Kurama's head, and placed a hand on Chomei's cage.
"Before I break it, I want you two to make a vow, to be partners for life, and never betray one another" He said
"Of course" Chomei chimed
Chomei slowly leaned down, and placed his head in front of the cage so Fu can touch his head.
"I, Chomei, vow, to be Fu's bestest friend, and greatest ally, never betray her and make much much more friends with her!"
"I, Fu, vow to entrust myself with Chomei, becoming the bestest, bestest friends! Together, we will make more friends, much more friends!"
Naruto rubbed his chin
"Strange, why do I feel like I'm watching my kid get married off? Bah, no, why does this feel like a wedding?" Naruto shrugged, then focused on understanding the seal.
The seal on Chomei is actually quite weak, almost as bad as the one on Gaara, but since Chomei is so compliant and cheerful, it offered no resistance, so the seal had no issues containing Chomei.
*Bang*
Cracks began to form on the cage bars
*Rumble*
The cages trembled, and one by one, they started to collapse and fade away. Once it was completely gone, Chomei flew up, flying around in circles.
"Weee! I can move around so much more now, Fu, this is so fun~" Chomei laughed as he flew around in the mindscape.
Fu flew up with Chomei, and the two began flying around together, laughing happily. Their laughter filled the mindscape, and Kurama covered his ears.
"Like beast, like jinchuriki, they're both annoyingly loud" He grumbled
"Come on, you say that, but weren't you just as happy to see Chomei free?" Naruto gave him a light punch on his leg as he laughed
"Tch, none of your business"
"Aw, is big brother Kurama shy?" Naruto poked his fur and laughed
Kurama looked away, but hearing Chomei's laughter made his lips curve up into a faint smile.
After a bit, the two landed next to Naruto and Kurama
"Thank you, I can finally stretch my limbs" Chomei said happily
"Yeah! I'm so glad that Chomei is free now" Fu nodded
"Hahaha, as jinchurikis, we should help each other out after all" Though in his mind, another thought came to his mind.
'Now, how do I trick this little one into joining Konoha, unlike Gaara, this village is small, I'm sure I can somehow trick them into entrusting Fu to us'
He had two reasons for this, first, he simply wanted another nuclear weapon nearby, and the second, he was worried the Akatsuki might target her. Unlike Konoha, Takigakure isn't nearly as secure, so if they were attacked, they might not be able to stop Fu from being captured.
"Hey Kurama, what's your jinchuriki like in your opinion? I like him, do you like mine? Fu is so nice, and fun to talk to, what about Naruto? Is he funny? Does he talk to you often? Kurama, hey, Kurama" Chomei stuck to Kurama like glue, bombarding him with questions, to the point that he wanted to leave the mindscape.
But in the end, he folded, and started to answer Chomei's questions one by one.
Fu sat next to Naruto, staring at Chomei and Kurama talk.
"I...didn't think all this would be possible" She said
"Neither did I, but I wanted it to happen, so I found ways to do so" Naruto replied
Fu grinned
"You seem so mature, does your village...like you?" She asked
Naruto burst into laughter
"Mature? Me? Oh my goodness, in my village, I'm an absolute troublemaker, and the villagers mostly hate me, especially the kids, you should have seen the kids a few days ago, they ran faster than they did during training upon seeing me" He laughed
Fu was a little surprised, but then laughed with him
"My village also thinks I'm a troublemaker, they don't like me, but I don't care~" She grinned as her legs kicked up and down.
"That's a good mindset" Naruto chuckled
But then he revealed a sly grin
"You're joining the Chunin exam, right?"
"Yep!" She replied
"Wanna know a fun way to make sure people listen to you?" He asked
"What? What?" Fu asked
"Throw a beast bomb into the sky, anyone with half a brain will be scared and listen to you" He said with a grin.
"...this...sounds fun! A big explosion will surely make them surprised!" Fu said as she nodded her head
"Yep, and without the seal, you have less restrictions in using Chomei's powers, so you can actually have Chomei create a beast bomb size of your choice since he will have better control over it than you" Naruto said
"Wow, I didn't think of that, what else?"
Naruto's smile widened as he realised he can teach this blank slate every possible way to be an absolute menace in battle.