Author greeting: So I'm doing another Naruto recap chapter. Since we don't have many episodes left to adapt until the start of Book 2, I wanted this update to be written so I can plan out the twist and turns Book 2 will get.
As Appa flew in the air, Naruto was charging his Toad Stone again, but he got bored and put it in his ninja tool pouch. Naruto's mind started to wonder... he wondered how Shikamaru and the others who chased down Sasuke alongside him were doing.
"Something on your mind, Naruto?" Aang asked. Naruto nodded.
"Just thinking of the past." Naruto replied.
"You know, the last time you spoke about your past, we learned of your first ninja mission in the Land of Waves. What happened after that?" Katara asked.
"The Chunin Exams." Naruto replied as he remembered what he went through during those days.
"Chunin Exams?" Sokka asked.
"Yeah. Back when I told you about my adventure in the Land of Waves, I also explained ninja rankings. We have Ninja Academy students, Genin: Beginner Ninja, Chunin: Experienced Ninja, and Jonin: Master Ninja. After Genin gain some experience by going on missions, they can take the Chunin Exams." Naruto explained.
"Test? That doesn't sound fun at all!" Sokka whined.
"Well, these exams were not like normal test at all." Naruto replied.
"How does the exams work?" Katara asked curiously.
"Ninja from all over the world travel to the village where the exams are at. These Genin will compete against each other throughout the exams. Not just anyone can compete in the Exams, they need to fill out test forms given to them by their senseis first." Naruto explained.
"Let me tell you about my time experiencing the Chunin Exams..."
Flashback:
The Chunin Exams were starting. The first exam would take place at the Ninja Academy. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were going to room 301 on the third floor of the Academy. But on the way there, two Leaf ninja were blocking the way. As Team 7 were walking towards them they heard what the saying.
"The Chunin Exam is incredibly difficult... and we should know. We failed three times so far. There are people who made it, and then immediately gave up being shinobi... others who ended up crippled... some reduced to vegetables... we've seen it all! Besides that, Chunin often take the role of Squad commanders. They lead their units. The responsibilities for failed missions and dead shinobi rest firmly on their shoulders. And you little punks have the nerve to apply? We're saving a step by weeding out the obvious losers beforehand." they explained.
"That sounds good in theory... but you'd better let me through. And drop the genjutsu you've created while you're at it. I have business on the third floor." Sasuke stated as he and Team 7 walked towards them.
"What's he talking about?" a Genin asked.
"Who knows?" replied another confused Genin.
"Heh... so you figured that out, eh?" said one of the two ninja blocking the way. Sasuke smirked.
"It was easy. Right, Sakura? You were probably the first to notice it." Sasuke pointed out, noticing that Sakura looked nervous.
"Huh...?" Sakura said, not expecting Sasuke to speak with her, but she had indeed caught the genjutsu.
"You're the most analytical and the best in our squad at understanding the art of illusion." Sasuke pointed out. Sakura blushed then her face became one of confidence.
"Of course I noticed it. Obviously, we're still on the second floor." Sakurs replied confidently.
"Of course!" Naruto added pretending to have noticed. The genjutsu was dropped, revealing that they were indeed still on the 2nd floor of the Ninja Academy.
"Hey... not bad. But just seeing through it isn't.... ENOUGH!!" One of the ninja blocking the way said before he went to kick Sasuke. Sasuke raised his leg for a counter attack when suddenly a boy in green moved quickly, blocking both attacks, stopping them. That boy was Rock Lee!
"Hey... that's not what we agreed! You're the one who insisted we should avoid drawing attention to ourselves." Neji Hyuga reprimanded.
"B... But." Lee said looking at Sakura with a blush on his face. Lee walked over to Sakura.
"Um... Hi. My name is Rock Lee. You're Sakura, aren't you? Would you like to go out with me? I'll protect you with my life!" Lee said.
"No... Way... You are WAY out of hand!" Sakura responded. Lee looked down to the ground in disappointment while Naruto chuckled.
"Hey, you!" Neji said to Sasuke, getting his attention. Sasuke looked at him.
"What's your name?" Neji asked.
'IT'S ALWAYS SASUKE, SASUKE, SASUKE, SASUKE!' Naruto thought in outrage.
"It's common courtesy to give your own name first." Sasuke pointed out. Neji was unamused.
"You're a rookie aren't you? How old?" Neji asked.
"I don't have to tell you a thing." Sasuke replied. Then both Sasuke and Neji turned their backs on each other.
"Now! Sasuke, Naruto, let's go!" Sakura said with a cheerful smile as she grabbed the hands on both her teammates and started to walk with them. Naruto sighed as no one seemed to notice him, Sakura cheerfully hummed, and Sasuke whispered to Sakura to stop pulling them. Rock Lee kept his gaze on Team 7.
"Let's go, Lee. What are you going?" asked Lee and Neji's female teammate, Tenten.
"You guys.... go on ahead. There's something I want to check first." Lee replied. Sakura let go of her teammates hands and the three continued to walk beside each other as Lee went to catch up.
"Hey, you with the scowl.... wait up!!" Lee called to Sasuke. Naruto was surprised and Sakura let out an eep, startled by the sudden voice of Rock Lee appearing out of nowhere! Sasuke calmly looked up to the higher floor where Lee was.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked calmly.
"You and me, here and now. Wanr to fight?" Lee asked.
Present day:
"And did Sasuke fight this 'Bushy Brow' Rock Lee guy?" Katara asked.
"Yeah. But first I wanted to try to fight him. He had no interest in me at all. But I still charged him anyway, and let's just say... it did not end well for me. I was not as strong as I am now. Now, I could beat Bushy Brow, but it would still be a hard fight... but back then.... I was no where near Bushy Brow's level... though if you ever tell anyone I said that, I will deny it!" Naruto replied honestly.
"So what happened after you lost?" Sokka asked.
"Sasuke tried to fight him. He struggled big time and decided to use the Sharingan he awoke in our first mission to give him an edge. But even with the Sharingan, Bushy Brow's skill was too much for Sasuke. It was a good thing in the long run... since Sasuke and I both took a move from him in later battles." Naruto replied with a smile as he remembered when Sasuke performed the Lion's Barrage, only for Naruto to perform his own version of it with the Naruto Uzumaki Barrage.
"So Sasuke lost." Aang said. Naruto nodded.
"But the fight didn't get to reach it's end. It was stopped by Bushy Brow's sensei, Might Guy... or as I call him Bushier Brows Sensei, he's like a grown up version of Bushy Brow!" Naruto replied.
"How strong is this Might Guy?" Sokka asked.
"He's Kakashi Sensei's rival. Just like Sasuke is my rival. And considering how strong Kakashi Sensei is..." Naruto said before he stopped, it hurt his brain to try to think about it.
"Even after we lost to Bushy Brows... Sasuke and I.... were excited at how much stronger we could become... competing against such powerful ninja." Naruto thought as he remembered how Sasuke lead them to the first exam. The smirk on Sasuke's face and the excitement that Naruto felt.
Flashback:
When Team 7 made it to the classroom, they found Kakashi waiting for them. He was pleasantly surprised to see Sakura there, as she originally had doubts about competing in the Chunin Exams.
"Glad you made it after all, Sakura." Kakashi said before he elaborated.
"This way, you all qualify to apply for the Chunin Exams." Kakashi said.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"The way the test is set up, it can only be taken in three person teams." Kakashi explained.
"But Kakashi Sensei, you said it was up to each one of us to decide whether or not to apply. Were you lying?" Sakura asked confused.
"I said what I had to to keep your partners from pressuring you into coming along. Even if you had no interest in applying, one word from Sasuke.... and you'd have come along and gone through the motions, though your heart wouldn't have been in it." Kakashi explained.
"What would have happened if Sasuke and Naruto had shown up without me?" Sakura asked.
"I'd have washed them out right here. None of you would have gotten past this point without both of the others. But you're all here because you want to be. And I'm very proud of you. Now get in there!" Kakashi said with a proud eye smile at his students. Taking pride in them Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura each had a smile of happiness as Naruto walked in the middle of his teammates and they opened the door.
"Look out everybody, 'cause here we come!!" Naruto declared.
Present day:
"When we got into the classroom, we were surprised by how many people were looking to apply. The room was crowded full of other Genin. Every rookie Genin ninja of the Leaf Village, the same group of people I went to the Ninja Academy was there!" Naruto said.
"Wow. And what are they like." Aang asked. Naruto smiled as he remembered his friends.
"Well, there's Shikamaru Nara. He's really smart, but lazy. Back then I thought he was a fool... man did I learn how wrong I was about all of them when I was in the exams. He's an amazing ninja and a great leader when he puts his mind to it. In his same team, Team 10, there was Choji Akamichi and Ino Yamanaka. Choji is a chubby guy who eats a lot. I used to think he was just fat, but I later learned that the Akamichi clan are big because of the chakra they have inside them. Choji can pack a big punch if he wants to. Ino in the other hand is Sakura's rival, in both ninjutsu and because they both have a crush on Sasuke. She has jutsu that lets her invade a person's mind!" Naruto said. Sokka shuddered at that.
"The last thing I need is a woman who can read my thoughts. That sounds scary. Especially if she is as capable as Suki was." Sokka said.
"So was there other rookies?" Katara asked. Naruto nodded.
"There was also Team 8. The members of Team 8 are Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. Hinata is kind of weird. She faints a lot around me and is super shy. But even though she's weird, she's also super nice and really strong. She has the same ninja way I do. Kiba as part of the Inuzuka family has a ninja hound, a partner who helps him in fights. Akamaru may look like a small puppy, but he's super strong too! And Shino, I still don't know too much about him. He's nice but kind of bad around people. I still consider him a good friend though." Naruto explained.
"So there were nine Leaf Village rookies." Aang said. Naruto nodded.
"Yeah. The Rookie Nine of the Hidden Leaf Village!" Naruto replied.
"So all nine of the rookies of your village was together. It must have been a pretty loud place to be in." Sokka said. Naruto nodded.
"Yeah." Naruto replied, admitting that they were quite loud.
Flashback
"Would you guys... do us all a favor and just shut up?" asked a new voice. The Rookie Nine turned to see a boy with white hair, a Hidden Leaf headband, and glasses looking at them.
"You three gangs of would-be hotshots are all Genin, right? Kids barely out of the local academy? All wet behind the ears and runny nosed! This isn't a school field trip, you know." the white haired boy reprimanded them.
"Who the heck do you think you are?" Ino asked in annoyance.
"Name's Kabuto, so what? You kids need to open your eyes." the white haired boy answered.
"Why?" Sakura asked before she and a few of the other rookies looked behind them to see a large group of repeat exam taking genin glaring at them, growling like a pack of hunting dogs.
"Watch out for the group behind you. They're Hidden Rain Village ninja and they've got very short fuses. Everyone's on edge, waiting to take the exam. I wanted to give you a heads up before someone snaps and beats the crap out of you." Kabuto explained.
"Oh." Naruto said.
"But it's probably unavoidable. Like all rookies, you think you already know everything. I remember what it was like." Kabuto added.
"Kabuto? Are you saying this is the second time you've applied?" Sakura asked.
"Not second... SEVENTH. Twice a year for hmm, going on four years now." Kabuto revealed.
"Wow... then you've got a lot of experience with what we can expect!" Sakura replied.
"I guess." Kabuto replied.
"All right! Kabuto, buddy... you are the man!" Naruto exclaimed in excitement.
"Cute. Ok... the least I can do is give you sweet babies some vital intelligence on what you're in for... with these ninja info cards." Kabuto said as he pulled out some cards from his pocket.
"Ninja info cards?" Sakura asked.
"To put it simply, they contain information about the skills we use, transformed into letters and burned into the cards using chakra. It took me four years to collect all of the intelligence needed for this exam. In all, there are almost 200 cards." Kabuto explained as he prepared a pack of his ninja info cards. To Naruto and the others, they looked blank though.
"They look blank, don't they? The only way you can read the data on the cards... is by using my own personal chakra. Each set is linked to it's pressessor. For example, cards like this one..." Kabuto said before his chakra burned info into the card, revealing a map of the Great Shinobi Nations.
"It's some kind of combinatiob map and bar graph in three dimensions! What kind of intelligence is this?" Sakura asked in awe.
"It shows how many applicants each shinobi nation is sending to this session of the Chunin Exam" Kabuto replied. Sasuke looked at Kabuto, curiously.
"Do you also have dossier cards? Cards for each individual applicant?" Sasuke asked. Kabuto chuckled.
"Why? Someone here you have a particular interest in?" Kabuto asked.
Present day:
"So who did Sasuke want to ask about?" Aang asked.
"I think it was Bushy Brow and Gaara. I don't remember Kabuto having much information on them. But I do remember Kabuto saying something about Gaara never getting wounded during his missions up to that point in his life. Kabuto then started saying stuff along the lines of every village having powerful ninja and stuff. But I didn't let it scare me." Naruto answered.
Flashback:
"MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI!! AND NONE OF YOU ARE GONNA BEAT ME!!! YOU GOT THAT?" Naruto declared loudly, pointing at the entire crowd of Genin gathered to take the exam.
"WHAT'S HIS PROBLEM?!" Ino yelled, to Sakura.
'Typical, too stupid to know he's got problems.' Sakura thought.
Present day:
"Soon after that, the procter for the firsr exam came in. His name was Ibiki Moreno, and he was a freaky looking guy! He told us that the first test was a written test." Naruto said.
"Let me guess... you panicked because you probably sucked at written test." Sokka said.
"Sokka!" Katara said, but Naruto sighed.
"Yeah... I didn't answer any of the questions at all. But, the written test wasn't really the point of the firsr test at all. There was this 10th question thing... that basically was about finding out which ninja had the guts to put everything on the line for their dreams. And we passed the first exam, just for staying in the room, proving we had guts. Anyone who chickened out failed." Naruto explained.
"So what was the Second Exam like?" Katara asked.
"Deadly. We were taken to a forest named the Forest of Death and we had to get two different types of scrolls. Heaven and Earth, I believe it was. We had to fight other Genin for the scroll we didn't have. But, my team was a trouble magnet. It was during the 2nd exam that we met Orochimaru.... the evil bastard who betrayed the Leaf Village, wants to cause wars, and wants to steal Sasuke's body!" Naruto said.
"Wait, the Orochi something guy wants to do what?" Aang asked.
"Steal Sasuke's body. Orochimaru wants to steal Sasuke's body because Sasuke has the Sharingan." Naruto replied.
"So... how was this Orochimaru guy like?" Katara asked. Naruto thought about what he would say before he remembered that he was almost eaten by a giant snake, that Naruto made explode from the inside with lots of shadow clones, then he remembered getting back to his teammates.
"Sasuke is a hard guy to scare... and Orochimaru scared him..." Naruto started to explain.
Flashback:
Orochimaru was getting near Sasuke to finish him off, as he had been toying with the young Uchiha in battle. But some ninja tools stopped Orochimaru in his tracks.
"Sorry Sasuke, I can't remember that stupid password." Naruto told Sasuke who was surprised to see that Naruto was ok. The team had a long password set up for indentification purposes, one Sasuke knew Sakura would remember, but Naruto wouldn't. This was the real Naruto, not some imposter.
"Sweet! Naruto, that was awesome!" Sakura cheered, relieved to see her other teammate.
"Naruto to the rescue, huh? You're completely psyched to be saving the day... but... THIS GUY IS WAY OUT OF OUR LEAGUE!!!" Sasuke yelled. Orochimaru laughed.
"My compliments of your stunning defeat of the giant snake... Naruto." Orochimaru said towards the orange clad ninja.
'This guy's a freak. He's a man... but all I can see when I look at him is a snake. Everything about him is... snakey! I'll bet that snake was his!' Naruto thought.
'Every time I ever tried to rescue us... he's made things worse. but there must be some way to...' Sasuke thought.
"HEY! WHY DON'T YOU PICK ON SOMEONE YOU'RE OWN SIZE...? Or something like that?" Naruto yelled.
'I've got to stop this before he gets us all killed.' Sasuke thought. Sasuke's Sharingan activated as he tried to think of a way out of this mess.
'This is all I can think of...' Sasuke thought before his eyes returned to normal. Something that was not unnoticed by his teammates.
'Oh! Sharingan! But he stopped.' Sakura thought, confused. Sasuke grabbed the scroll his team started the test with.
"If it's our scroll you want, come and get it! Just... take it and go!" Sasuke said to Orochimaru.
"WHAT?" Naruto yelled.
Present day:
"So Sasuke was just going to surrender the scroll?" Sokka thought, thinking of it as an unmanly surrender.
"Yeah. My faith in him was totally shot after that. I even accused him of being a fake! Sasuke is not a coward, but the Sasuke I saw then... he was the biggest coward I ever saw. I tried to tell him that even if Orochimaru got the scroll.... there would be no guarantee that he would spare us. No matter what... our only way out was to fight our way out." Naruto explained.
"What happened next?" Aang asked.
"Well, Orochimaru summoned another giant snake which attacked me and tried to eat me!" Naruto replied.
Flashback:
The energy of the Nine Tailed fox responded to Naruto's need of power and Naruto punched the snake on it's nose.
"EAT SNOT, SUCKER!!" Naruto yelled as his punched forced the snake down. Naruto's, now red, eyes glared at Orochimaru, who was amazed at his sudden increase of power.
'How could that brat possibly...?' Orochimaru thought.
'Naruto's completely snapped... but... where did he get that kind of power?!' Sakura thought, also in shock at Naruto's sudden increase in strength.
Orochimaru gathered his breath and some chakra and blew Naruto away, into a tree. As Naruto slammed into the tree in front of him, he continued to glare at Orochimaru.
'Look at those eyes... he's...' Orochimaru thought. Naruto punching the snake played in Sasuke's mind again and again, the shock of Naruto's incredible power increase getting to him.
'Is that really Naruto....?!' Sasuke thought, having no idea that the 'idiot' in their team could be such a powerhouse.
'Ho ho... and the fun has just begun!' Orochimaru thought.
"And it's Sasuke's turn next How will he take it?!" Orochimaru taunted as the giant snake headed for the Uchiha quickly. Sasuke was frozen in fear.
"SASUKE!!" Sakura yelled, calling to her crush in concern. Suddenly two kunai dug into the scaly skin of the snake and stopped it in it's tracks just in front of Sasuke. In front of the snake, holding it back... was Naruto!!
"Hey, are you ok...? YOU BIG CHICKEN!!" Naruto asked and taunted. Suddenly, Orochimaru's tounge wrapped itself around Naruto, and Naruto was brought before Orochimaru. The villain laughed.
"So, the Nine Tails brat is still alive and kicking! How fascinating that when he is consumed with rage, he loses himself... and a bit of the Nine Tailed demon fox trapped within... comes through. An amazing development!" Orochimaru said before he lifted Naruto's jacket and shirt to see the seal tattoo on his stomach, a tattoo that appears and disappears depending on if Naruto is using Nine Tails' power or not.
"There's the proof. The jutsu that seals the monster within appears on your skin like a tattoo." Orochimaru said before he attacked Naruto's seal.
"FIVE PRONGED SEAL!" Orochimaru yelled. Naruto's seal was overly strengthened, and Naruto was knocked unconsious.
Present day:
"Is Orochimaru's seal still on you?" Sokka asked.
"No. I think Pervy Sage fixed that problem already. I honestly didn't realize what had happened to me until much later... when I was in your world, I finally connected the dots and figured it out. Anyway, so Sasuke fought Orochimaru, who decided to retreat and give Sasuke some kind of curse mark. Some of Orochimaru's minions tried to attack Sasuke while he and I were still out, only for Sakura, Bushy Brow, Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino to fight them off, and Neji and Tenten arrived before the fight ended too. Sasuke woke up before I did... and we went our separate ways to finish the test. It was thanks to help from Kabuto that we were able to finish the 2nd exam on time." Naruto explained.
"What happened after the 2nd exam?" Sokka asked, but Naruto yawned.
"I wish I could tell you... but I'm getting sleepy." Naruto said. Sokka nodded.
"It's getting late. Let's land Appa and turn in for the night." Sokka said, and no one argued. Even the future saviors of the world need their sleep.