Naruto, Konohamaru, Hiruzen, and Asuma had reached Suna. The journey which should have taken over 2 days was completed in just half a day thanks to Sai's birds.
As they reached the entrance of the village, they were met by the sight of a grinning Gaara and Kankuro, standing with Baki.
"Greetings Kazekage sama," said Asuma with a slight bow as Gaara curtly nodded.
"Greetings Asuma san and Hiruzen sama," said Gaara as he put his hand towards Hiruzen for a handshake.
After a firm handshake, Gaara turned his attention to Naruto who was smirking.
"Sup," he said as Gaara put his hand around his shoulder.
"Let's go, there's a lot to show you," he said dragging him.
"Yeah, most of my visits in Suna were occupied by training or other tense things. You gotta gimme a tour Gaara," he said while being dragged.
"Yeah... just ignore us," said Sai with his fake smile causing Kankuro to crack up.
"... Wow, I know he was Kazekage sama's friend, but not to this extent," said Asuma with an open mouth.
"Asuma sensei, don't bother. Naruto was Gaara's first friend, and we all owe a lot to him. He and Shikamaru are practically family," Kankuro explained as he ruffled Konohamaru's hair.
"So you're the brat Naruto's training. Gotta say, I have high expectations from you. So, no pressure," Kankuro said with a grin.
"Yeah... no pressure," said Konohamaru, not really meaning what he said.
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Sasuke and Suigetsu were summoned by Orochimaru, who was pissed.
"W-what's the matter Orochimaru sama?" asked a scared Suigetsu.
"Three of our bases were raided yesterday by Konoha ninjas. This has dealt a huge blow to my plans. I want you both to go to the Iwa base and evacuate it before that too gets raided. The experiments there are far too important," said Orochimaru as Kabuto grimaced.
"Fine, Orochimaru. However, I feel like you should know that my priority is Itachi, and if this interferes with it, I won't think for a second before abandoning the mission," said Sasuke as he arrogantly walked out followed by a 'scared' Suigetsu.
"Orochimaru sama, it's about time, I think you should switch bodies soon. Sasuke has become way too cocky," said Kabuto gritting his teeth.
"Let him be, Kabuto. The negative emotions are what allow me to possess them. The more arrogant he is, the more his mental defenses will be down for me to possess him," Orochimaru said while licking his lips creepily.
Outside, Suigetsu chuckled as Sasuke smirked.
"Let him think that I'm arrogant and you're a coward, that'll make our job easier," Sasuke said as Suigetsu nodded.
"I guess I'll hide my skills with swords for a little longer. Though I really want to go to Kiri," said Suigetsu, adding the last part with a sad sigh.
"I know that the bloodline purge is still going on there, but we cannot do much. I'll just trust Haku and Zabuza to keep the casualty to the minimum," Sasuke said with a sigh. While he knew two ninjas won't make much difference, he had to trust Zabuza and Haku. Haku had a very powerful bloodline, and Zabuza was a low S-rank ninja. S-rank ninjas were very powerful so they were sure to at least do something. Though he wished that the two ninjas could be him and Naruto.
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Itachi was currently standing in front of one of his greatest enemies. Eggs.
'Today is the day I'll defeat you, egg!' he thought as he activated his Sharingan and picked the egg to crack it.
As he turned on the stove and cracked the egg, he carefully looked at the falling egg to see if there was any shell in it.
'Good, nothing...'
He then gripped the handle of the pan in anticipation as the egg made contact with the surface.
'YES!'
The egg sizzled as Itachi for the first time in a while, grinned.
'Now, the water...'
He grabbed the kettle and prepared to just splash a little bit of water as the door was slammed open by Kisame.
Itachi's eyes widened as a large stream of water fell on the yolk, completely destroying it.
"Itachi, Pain sama has summ- WHAT THE FUCK!" yelled Kisame as a knife embedded itself in a wall next to him, missing only by a sliver.
Kisame looked towards him to see that Itachi was glaring at him, with his killer intent leaking to an extent that it made Kisame want to run.
"P-Pain Sama s-summoned us..." he said nervously as Itachi just stood there, his Sharingan active.
'Am I... scared of him?'
"... Let's go," said Itachi as his Sharingan deactivated and he walked next to Kisame to retrieve the knife and put his apron back.
"Y-yeah..."
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Overall, Naruto could say that this was one of the most fun days he had. A trip to an oasis, the Suna greenhouse, the Suna ninja Academy, lunch at one of the best restaurants in Suna, followed by a match of Shogi with Gaara while Temari, Kankuro, Konohamaru, and a freshly arrived Shikamaru watched them.
Right now, however, they were in the Kazekage office with Hiruzen, Temari, Shikamaru, and Kankuro. Baki had taken Konohamaru and Asuma to show them the Hotel they would be staying at with Naruto, who had declined the offer to stay with the siblings as it would be a preferential treatment which he could not accept as a Jonin sensei.
"So, you think they would do something during the genin exam?" asked Gaara with his hands on the table.
"I wouldn't put it past them. After all, not only do they want to collect all the Tailed beasts, but they also want to get rid of all the hindrances. The biggest one being me and you. We're one of the strongest shinobi and we're the ones who're the most active in the attempts to stop them. Since we both are in the same place, they'll either want to distract us so we can't aid the other Jinchuriki or totally eliminate us. And the way to keep us distracted would be the chunin exam," explained Naruto as Gaara nodded.
"Yes, it would make great sense since we both are, as you said, some of the strongest ninjas, so attacking us even with a team when we are together would be foolish. However, attacking a bunch of Genin who are fresh and not seasoned would make more sense since we're the types who don't abandon anyone," muttered Gaara as Shikamaru sighed.
"Thankfully our next Jinchuriki is in Iwa, Roshi the holder of four tails and Sasuke is heading there to do the dirty work of Orochipedo. However, we need to maximize the defense for the exams as the people from Iwa and Kumo would also be attending," Shikamaru explained.
"Right, thankfully I have done preparations for that," Naruto stated as he pulled out a large sheet from the seal on his hand.
"What is this?"
"A sensor seal. Thankfully, on my way here, the professor gave me some tips and now, we can actually sense whoever enters or leaves Suna," Naruto said with a grin as Hiruzen chuckled.
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Hello everyone, so I'm back with another chapter, hope you all enjoyed it.
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