Inheritance

The Chunin Exams I

Even now, he knew, Naruto had started to make friends and secure the loyalty and trust of several of them. Asuma was fairly certain the Nara heir would remain in whatever camp Naruto himself was in, that Naruto had already managed to inspire a large amount of trust and loyalty in the Nara. He was equally certain that the Akimichi and Yamanaka heirs would do the same, if not only because of Shikamaru. He had also become incredibly close with Inuzuka Hana, who while not the heir, was the daughter of the current clan head, and the eldest child, and thus held a lot of sway within the clan itself. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the current Hyuuga heir seemed to be incredibly fond of the blond, which would be vital in ensuring at the very least, that the village's most powerful clan would not support Danzou.

"You've already begun to make friends and earn the trust of a great amount of your graduating class. As you're probably aware, every Hokage has a circle of his most trusted Jonin, ANBU, and advisers; that he is certain he can trust above all others. My own currently includes the likes of Jiraiya, Kakashi, and my son Asuma. What I want you to attempt to do, is try and begin to establish your own, at first from those within your graduating class."

"Also," Jiraiya interjected, "you should keep in mind exactly how useful of a circle of people you can trust, and are ready and willing to help you out, can be. These aren't just the people that we want you to try and work with against Danzou's machinations - the are the clan heirs and important ninja that are going to support your drive to become Hokage, that will stand against your enemies alongside you. Of course, it's implied that you'll do the same for them - but I have a feeling that you'd help any of them either way. This is just another step towards you achieving your goal of becoming Hokage." Jiraiya paused before allowing a wry grin to emerge on his face.

"And another step towards me blowing away the ladies by being able to claim I was the man who trained two Hokage's. They'll be throwing themselves at me!"

* * *

Naruto exhaled slowly, trying very hard to centre himself and clear his mind, but it was a thankless task. There was so much going on. The Sandaime had essentially asked that he formed a semi-independent faction for a covert, long-term battle for control of the entire village, and the Chunin exams started in a mere four days - bringing a vast amount of foreign shinobi, including the maniacally homicidal jinchuuriki Gaara, and a whole heap of mortal peril to boot.

But most importantly, he was excited. Excited because one of his newest friends was about to arrive at his training ground, and they would begin their training together for the Exams. The Hokage had been unable to find a third teammate for him to take the exams, but because he had worked with the second member of his 'team' before with good results, he'd be able to take the exam as a pair.

He'd be taking the Chunin exam as a duo with Inuzuka Hana.

Who coincidentally, had just walked into the clearing that he and Jiraiya had monopolised to train in.

"Meditating, Naruto? Didn't think it's be your thing."

Naruto got up and turned to face the grinning medic, and gave her a sheepish smile.

"To be honest, it really isn't, but I spent some time recently training with my toad summons, and they insisted I learn. It's actually the first stage of learning a way of fighting that may well be strong enough to put me on a level above most Jonin at least. I won't be able to start learning it until my body is ready, but meditating will make it much easier when I start."

Hana blinked, dumbfounded for the briefest of moments, before bursting out laughing. "Only you, Naruto, could be so blasé about learning what seems to be such a powerful skill from the summons of Jiraiya of the Sannin and the bloody Yondaime of all people. I take it you've gotten a lot better since we last met up then?"