Chapter 3

“Oh for goodness sake…” Kakashi sighed.

Shikamaru landed flat on his back after trying to walk ten steps up the tree in front of him. However, rather than looking ashamed or hurt, he just looked apathetic. Only a foot of brown tinted earth chakra clung to his body, this kind produced from the emotion of serenity and logical thinking.

The teenager folded his hands underneath his head and sighed, a habit formed from a young age. It was almost like he was addicted to sighing. Shikamaru groaned as he shrugged on the forest floor, quite content to keep soaking up the rays of afternoon sun filtered through the canopy above.

“Failed,” he said. “Couldn’t do it.”

“Couldn’t do it?!” Kakashi yelled.

The other eleven genin let out a gasp no matter how slight as the sensei rarely raised his voice. Naruto stood in the semicircle of genin students around the two trees they had all been test climbing, observing the unmotivated student. Choji stood on the trunk of the tree next to Shikamaru’s, his body wobbling as he attempted to adhere his feet to the surface of the wood. While the two feet of blue water chakra flowing around him was low for a genin, he still stood vertically more than half the length up the tree.

Their sensei was obviously angry at the student more so than anyone else, his lack of effort disgusting Kakashi. The jonin crossed his arms, the single eye visible showing a hatred that burned bright. His normally bluish-white lightning chakra was reddening with anger, the change of emotions affecting the five feet of energy around him. Naruto was one of the ten genin of the twelve brought out that was cringing in embarrassment for Shikamaru.

He was the lowest ranking of the twelve genin, only behind Choji in overall ranking of their class. It was often speculated that Shikamaru was this bad on purpose but no one could tell for sure. While his total chakra output was a one out of five (usually the lowest there was) one could still do basic techniques with it. And tree climbing by inserting the chakra surrounding the sole of one’s foot was so basic for chunin it was expected for late stage genin to know it.

“Every other genin here could climb more at least halfway up before dropping,” their teacher said. “And you can’t even stay up there for two seconds? Is that what you’re telling me?”

Shikamaru didn’t seem fazed by his teacher’s accusations. Rather, he just continued to lay there with a bored expression. A tense silence followed as no one spoke, everyone fearful that saying anything would only encourage Kakashi’s growing wrath. The awkward moment was broken when Shikamaru let out another deep sigh and followed by an ever deeper inhaling.

“Yep,” he said. “Not much more I can say, Kakashi-sensei.”

“Then get up and get out,” he said. “Your father will be notified, Mr. Nara.”

The genin shrugged before standing up and walking away. Choji, noticing that the test was over, jumped off the tree to land below. The winner of the tree climbing race landed unsteadily on his feet, shaking a little bit before standing up straight. After gaining his footing, Choji walked over to the rest of the potential chunin as Kakashi marked down the results on his clipboard.

They had been through most of the test at this point. A written portion, practicing physical combat, the tree climbing test and so on. The chunin exams were usually non-dangerous exertions of their prowess they had learned as ninja. The exams to see if genin were able to ascend to the next level were almost never life threatening as it would be a waste of potentially powerful soldiers.

In the early days of the Hidden Leaf Village, the tests were harder and more life risking. Naruto remembered from his history textbook. Like traversing the Forest of Death. Supposedly used to test the mettle of the students and bring out their hidden potential, it proved too harsh for ordinary genin. From the level of ninja candidates dying from the danger they experienced, that test was never administered again as it was a waste of potential military power.

“I see the two of you still need improvement,” their sensei said after withdrawing his chakra field back into his body. “Shikamaru will stay a genin almost assuredly since he failed every test up to this point. Next up is the final portion of the exam: chakra moulding.”

He then looked to the twelve genin standing in front of him. Naruto could feel his throat dry up and his stomach churned with anticipation. He only had one goal in mind throughout this entire test. The young man remembered what his history textbooks had said of Hokage in their youth.

By my age all of them had shown jonin level quality of prowess. He thought. Without exception. They were acknowledged as equal to jonin level even before becoming chunin. If I don’t reach that level now…I’ll never become Hokage, if historical trends are anything to go by.

“Any volunteers?” Kakashi asked, his one visible eye scanning them over.

“I’ll go,” Sakura said.

They all turned to see the girl with the short red crop of hair and red top step forward. Naruto smiled at her and waved. The girl smiled back toward him with a shrug and wave.

“Good luck, Sakura,” he said as he gave a thumbs up.

“Not to you!” she said.

The genin froze to follow her gaze more closely and find she was looking toward the boy beside him. The equally aged genin was pale skinned with dark hair and a steely gaze. Dressed in a blue shirt that matched with gray shorts, Naruto had to admit he was pretty good looking. The way Sasuke didn’t even dignify her greeting by turning toward her further Naruto’s embarrassment.

I try to be nice to Sakura all the time. He thought as he tried not to cry. And she treats me like garbage. Yet Sasuke does nothing and gets every girl in class’s attention.

After stepping out in front of everyone, Sakura flared her chakra. From around her a transparent blue energy so fluid that it resembled water wrapped around her. In the time he’d known her, Naruto had gathered that Sakura was a naturally fearful and easily hurt person. The girl did not believe in herself and had little self-confidence, producing a water chakra. After thoroughly enshrouding her in a three foot and a half foot radius, Sakura began to weave hand seals.

“Let’s see what you’re made of,” Kakashi said. “Try to show us your most complicated chakra moulding.”

“With pleasure,” Sakura said.

The teenage girl’s hands were more than swift as they almost became blurs. However, Naruto could see enough and studied ninjutsu enough that he recognized the hand seals Sakura was employing were mostly the inu formation. To perform it, one laid their flat left hand over their right fist with every finger save the index fully extended. This was best used to control water chakra, a hand sign she performed more than half a dozen times. As a portion of the fluid around her began to extend and solidify into shape, Naruto began to remember the properties of water chakra.

The speed enhancement water chakra gives to the user is measured as 3 out of 5. He remembered that most properties of each chakra nature were scored on a scale of 1 through 5. Physical endurance enhancement is 4 out of 5 while physical strength enhancement is a 2 out 5. Water chakra’s malleability is 5 out of 5 and has a nutrition rate of 5 of 5. Finally, its nature effect is a battering effect. As a result of water chakra’s density, the objects made from it via shape tend to be rather sturdy but non-lethal since its physical endurance enhancement is twice its physical strength enhancement. That type of chakra is best used for defensive rather than offensive purposes.

The overall radius of the chakra field around Sakura shrunk to maybe half its original volume as that amount of energy was separated from her. That half of her chakra solidified into a lengthy creature as Naruto thought he saw her interweave her fingers together for the tatsu and mi hand signs. The tall creature began to lose much of its blue coloration as it took on grayish tint as it fully formed.

The chakra loosed from herself soon became a serpentine dragon taller than any of them were. Its head was shaped like a longbow that was held sideways and opened wide to reveal teeth shaped exactly like arrows. The grayish blue scales adorning its body were layered in triangular patterns. It had six short wings growing along its body that fluttered emphatically.

With another hand sign, the dragon opened its mouth so that two of the arrow shaped teeth within its gum shot out. The bluish gray arrows shot far above their heads to pierce the trunks of two separate trees. After collectively observing the projectiles bury themselves within the rest of the genin turned back to a smiling Sakura.

While they had watched the arrows behind them shoot out, Sakura had already been weaving more hand signs. More of her total chakra field was reduced in volume as she separated more of it from her body. The fluid chakra was flung upward before solidifying in midair into a flat square with bars protruding from beneath.

The roof of the cage pressed down on the dragon before being slammed toward the ground. The bars of the cage bored into the forest floor beneath, driven while Sakura continued weaving hand signs. Before long the dragon was writhing on the ground, the ceiling of the cage trapping it against the earth as the bars had disappeared beneath. Naruto could feel himself grow nervous as he recognized Sakura’s talent with shape transformation.

I wonder if I’ll do that well. He thought.

“I’m impressed,” Kakashi said. “Making that Longbow Dragon Jutsu was no small feat but creating another object on top of it and causing it to move so soon afterward shows great chakra control. You performed both jutsu and with less than half the hand seals most chunin would. You have possibly jonin level shape transformation.”

It undercut Naruto’s confidence to know Sakura had come so far. Kakashi marked down something on his clipboard regarding her shape transformation then gave her a gesture that told her she was done. Sakura performed a few hand seals to disperse the objects she had conjured from her chakra, the cage and dragon returning to liquid. It then quickly flowed back to her before flowing back around her before the girl withdrew her chakra field back into her own body. Sakura bowed before returning to stand beside Ino, the latter glaring with jealousy of the other girl.

“So…” Sakura said. “Did I pass? Did I become a chunin?”

“Let’s see…” he said. “Yes…yes you did. In fact…I would actually say you were good enough to be a…tokubetsu jonin, with your specialty being how few hand seals you can use to perform ninjutsu.”

Most everyone let out a gasp of surprise upon hearing this. Naruto gritted his teeth, hating to hear that. He was supposed to be the one to gain such a high title.

Tokubetsu jonin are ninja who are midway between the level of chunin and jonin. He thought. They are chunin level in most areas of combat and expertise with having a specialty in one area that sets them above the rest. They are jonin level usually in only one area. If I want to be the next Hokage…I must become a full ranked jonin.

“Who’s next?” Kakashi asked.

“Me,” Naruto said.

All eyes were on him. The young man stood as stoically as possible, save for the wide grin on his face. Naruto was brimming with both determination and anticipation at the opportunity to prove himself. This feeling caused his wind chakra to circulate at even greater speed around him.

“I want to show you what I’m really made of,” he said. “All of you.”

He eyed his sensei, the academy teacher’s one eyed gaze reflecting something he rarely showed. Naruto couldn’t quite place it but if he had to guess…acknowledgment? Pride in someone else.

“If you think you’re up for it,” he said. “Then give us all you got.”

He raced forward to where Sakura had stood to show off her chakra control. Naruto scanned the eleven faces of the other genin as they looked at him with mixed emotion. But the person whose reaction he paid the most attention to was Sasuke. The boy was as stoic as ever, simply paying the boy no mind.

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I’ll change that. He thought.

He started weaving hand seals but not the tori hand seal normally associated with wind chakra. It was similar to the tori in that he pressed his middle and index finger in a triangular position but turned toward the ground rather than upward. Also his remaining fingers ran horizontally rather than being centered in the palm like the normal tori hand seal.

This immediately took both Kakashi and Sasuke by surprise. Both were watching the hand seals Naruto was performing, the latter of the two most likely only watching out boredom. Now that he gained the attention of the highest ranking genin in class, Naruto was brimming with pride as they watched him perform unique hand seals.

He finished his technique with a ne hand seal of making a fist out of his left hand but with his index and middle finger extended before wrapping his right hand around it. The next hand seal was a variation of the ne with the difference being two fingers of his right full extended. The last hand seal for this technique was another variation of the tori. Naruto formed a triangular symbol with both pairs of index and middle fingers but his remaining fingers formed a downward triangle.

The effect it had was immediate. Just as Naruto had willed it, more than half his total chakra separated from his body before spreading across the ground. The air around his comrades’ feet thickened before a strong wind bored into the forest floor. The leaves on the forest floor were kicked into the air for a moment to obscure everyone’s vision. When the leaves fell back down to the ground, the other genin looked at him with confusion and apprehension.

“Those hand seals…” Kakashi said. “Did…did you make those? What did you do?”

Naruto looked back at his sensei with a cocky grin, not sure if the jonin was just testing him or truly didn’t know what Naruto did.

“You might find out if one of you extends your chakra field,” he said.

The older ninja glared.

“If this is one of your pranks Naruto I promise that I’ll–” Kakashi said.

“It’s just another of his lame tricks he uses to get attention,” Sakura said with a roll of her eyes. She flared her chakra the full three and a half feet. “I bet he’s just trying to scare us.”

“Sakura, no-!” Kakashi said.

But it was too late. Just as the fluid looking, blue energy splashed around her body the blades sprung from the ground. The three whitish gray tendrils with scythe-like blades whipped around Sakura like octopus tentacles before sashed into her chakra field.

The curved blades almost as long as human arms sliced large gashes into her blue chakra. The blue chakra fell off from around her body in pieces before being transferred into the tendrils that held the blades together. The roped scythes glowed blue for a moment before it mixed with their whitish color to become a light azure hue.

Naruto brimmed with confidence as everyone gasped at the sight. Kakashi stared stupefied at the sight, the outermost inches of his own chakra turning a deeper blue and more fluid as he became scared. Sasuke was glaring at the sight in anger, his normally emotionless expression full of wrath.

“M-My chakra!” Sakura cried. “It’s…it’s gone…absorbed!”

“Right,” Naruto said. “My scythe fetters not only are able to cut through things as resilient as water chakra but also absorb that which they slice away at. And the best part is…I lay it as a trap so when someone steps forward or extends their chakra they activate it. Like springing a bear trap.”

However, underneath that cocky grin was a bit of fear.

It took me most of my chakra just to put it under ten people. Naruto thought. I didn’t put it under Shikamaru because he would be too lazy to do anything and Choji because he was beside him. With so little chakra I had to spread my technique thin and sacrifice more elaborate traps for the basic scythes and ropes. I could have made cooler traps but…this was just to show off to Kakashi-sensei. Wind chakra already has so little density I need that extra chakra to make them more sturdy. As thin as those blades and ropes are right, they could easily have been torn off if Sakura was prepared.

“N-Naruto…!” Sakura cried, embarrassed. The ropes with scythes were slowly circulating around her. “You’re going to pay for this!”

“Incredible,” Kakashi said. “Just…incredible. You created so many objects and sent them underground with so few hand seals but also so little chakra. So that’s what the hand seals you created on your own were for. For specifically your own techniques to conserve chakra. Hand seals like that usually aren’t learned until someone becomes a jonin. And you used it to perform a technique I have never seen, something else you created. Very good Naruto.”

“Yes!” he shouted before jumping into the air. “Does that mean I can become a jonin like you, Kakashi sensei?”

The ninja laughed.

“Well…” he said. “Not quite.”

This made the young man panic.

“Wh-What do you mean?” he asked. “I-I’m strong…aren’t I? You even said I was jonin level!”

“With your shape transformation, Naruto,” Kakashi said. “In that area you are. In the other areas of ninja training you're either at chunin level like with your taijutsu…or below such as with genjutsu. Not to mention your lousy chakra output.”

Naruto’s eyes became blurred with tears. The remainder of his chakra he had not used for chakra constructs was turning blue and thickening. As tears raced down his face, Naruto’s chakra became completely liquid. He hung his face in shame.

“What a baby,” Ino said. “So dramatic.”

“Quit overreacting,” Shikamaru said. “You passed…what more do you want?”

“I-I-” he said. “I wanted to be a jonin! I wanted everyone t-to respect…m-me…”

Snickering from his classmates came out as well as embarrassed sighs. Kakashi looked annoyed, shaking his head as the arm holding the clipboard went limp. Naruto peaked at Sasuke to see the genin rolling his eyes with exasperation. This moment felt worse than when Kakashi had punished him this morning. In desperation, he began rethinking the offer the monster had made him.

Maybe I should have taken his offer. Naruto thought. If I had more power…I might get stronger.

“I-I can’t become Ho-Hokage at such a low level!” he said. “P-Please Kakashi-sensei…!”

“You worked hard, Naruto,” Kakashi said. “No one can take that away from you. I’ll give you the rank of tokubetsu jonin…your specialty being shape transformation and quite possibly ninjutsu in general.”

“No way!” Sakura shouted. “I don’t want to share the same rank as someone like him! After all…he committed a crime worth years in prison just this morning! Does that mean nothing?!”

“He did nothing that would harm anyone,” Kakashi said. “Hiruzen agreed to overlook the matter if Naruto performed well and agreed not to touch Hokage Rock again. And you did.”

“But not well enough,” Naruto replied. “Not well enough to accomplish my dream.”

“Naruto,” Kakashi said. “You did well enough to skip a whole rank during your chunin exam. Your specialty is even greater than Sakura, who you just showed up. That doesn’t happen very often. Now…calm down.”

Despite his sensei’s words, Naruto’s chakra continued to flow as water around him. All he could think of was how he compared to the Hokage of the past. Naruto was almost assured that they excelled in nearly every area of ninja capabilities by the age of fifteen, if what he read in his textbooks was true. He was now grasping for the possibility that he could possibly be an exception to the rule.

If I took the demon’s advice and offered myself to him…? He thought. Could I become Hokage with that power? I probably would have done better today at the exams if I had taken it last night. If I just had more chakra…If I just had more chakra…

Kakashi then turned to look at the other genin.

“Anyone else want to try?” he asked.

“I will,” Sasuke said.

Everyone turned their attention to him. Naruto swallowed hard and gave him a stern glare. As he did he remembered all the ways that Sasuke was better than him. His grades were higher, every girl in class wanted him and he always was calm in the face of danger.

The only thing I don’t have to be jealous of is the tragedy that happened to his clan. Naruto remembered. Apparently wiped out in one night. But I don’t have any parents so it’s not like it’s something I have an advantage of.

“Well,” Kakashi said. “Do it. Show us the limits of your shape transformation.”

“With pleasure,” Sasuke said.

Sasuke immediately released his chakra. Naruto immediately recognized it as flame chakra, the kind born from anger. It was bright red and truly burned like fire as it expanded to a radius four feet around him. Whenever Sasuke used ninjutsu, it was always red. Even from a young age, before the destruction of his clan, Naruto remembered it was that way.

However, there was something noticeably odd about his chakra field. When he extended his chakra field, Naruto found that it didn’t spring his trap he planted beneath Sasuke’s feet. At first he was confused as to why this is but when he looked down at his classmate’s feet found them unprotected.

Unlike most chakra fields, his expanded in a circle save for maybe two inches above ground. The circular flame of bright red looked a little awkward as it appeared to levitate above the forest floor at such a short length. Naruto gritted his teeth in anger.

“Clever, Sasuke,” Kakashi said. “Always clever. You purposely didn’t allow your chakra to expand along the ground as it would spring Naruto’s trap into action.”

“Like that fool could get the better of me,” Sasuke said.

He then turned toward Sakura before performing hand seals. Naruto would like to say that Sasuke performed the tora and uma hand seals but that wasn’t quite the case. The tora hand seal was usually performed by connecting both index fingers together and knitting the other fingers together while the uma was performed by stacking most of ones knuckles atop each other before the index fingers formed a triangle.

Instead, Sasuke at first crossed the index fingers rather than laying them flat while the others were tight knit. After corrupting the tora hand seal, Sasuke performed a variation of the uma by stacking all knuckles atop one another. He used each of these only once before a red arrow made only inches of his chakra shot out from him.

The Scarlet Arrow struck one of Naruto’s scythe fetters before it burst into flames. Naruto screamed in panic before finding the flames spreading from that one rope of blades spread to the rest. The scarlet tongues of fire raced towards the others surrounding Sakura to leave them as ash.

Before his eyes the fire then raced into the ground where the ropes had sprung from. The holes left by the now incinerated tendrils were filled with fire. Small explosions could be seen from the entrance of the tunnels before ash fluttered out of them in puffs. Naruto had to keep himself from sobbing as he witnessed Sasuke’s magnificent display of chakra prowess.

He burned all my underground traps with a single attack. He realized. The Scarlet Arrow traced the scythe fetters back to the source and burned them…burned them all. Sasuke…Sasuke showed me up again.

“Sasuke!” Sakura cried. “You saved me!”

She clapped her hands together in joy, the remainder of her chakra evaporating into light gray wind to match her emotional state. Sasuke merely glanced away from her, still too uninterested with the girl to give her the time of day. Naruto began to brim with jealousy, wishing more than anything Sakura had said that about him.

“You're like my knight in shining armor!” she said. “Saving me from the monster that’s Naruto!”

“Well done,” Kakashi said. “It seems you have also made your own hand seals to perform jutsu a lot quicker and with less chakra. Well done.”

“So,” Sasuke said. “Do I pass? Do I become a chunin?”

“More than that,” he said. “I think you’re good enough to become a full-fledged jonin. You scored about as well as a jonin in every other aspect of this exam so…I would cautiously rank you as such. The only reason I’m a bit apprehensive is that it’s hard for me to remember the last time a genin skipped right ahead to jonin.”

Naruto could feel his chest ache with agony, as if it’d been pierced with a sword. As he doubled over in pain, anger boiled in him, hot desire for revenge surging through him. He wished for nothing more than to be in Sasuke’s shoes right now. All Naruto could think was that all the hard work he had put into his ninjutsu for ten years was for nothing.

It went without saying that the once water chakra around him now burned bright red and raged like a flame. Fire surrounded Naruto, the kind that was unquenchable. A few of the other genin noticed but most just stood stunned at Sasuke’s promotion.

You have failed. The voice came.

The sound was all too familiar. Whenever Naruto grew angry the demon that haunted his nightmares was not far behind. Always there, always waiting for a chance to come out. The demon’s presence could be felt stronger when in the throes of anger. It echoed in Naruto’s mind louder than anything else. The voice of anyone in front of him was drowned out like distant static.

I offered you a way out, Naruto. The demon said. I told you how you could avoid this fate.

Fresh tears burst from his eyes as the awful laughter of the monster rang inside him.

But you didn’t listen. He chuckled. You didn’t want to make a sacrifice, didn’t want to take the risk. How could anyone become Hokage if they don’t take a chance? That’s you, Naruto Uzumaki. A coward who has fleeting delusions of grandeur only to be brought back to reality because of your unwillingness to do something…different.

He started panting heavily, unsure of what to do now.

You guessed right. The monster said. You would have had the chakra to become jonin–no–kage level of power if all you had done was…accept my invitation. Now…do you still–?

I WON’T DO IT! Naruto said. I won’t do it! I won’t do anything you say! There’s no point in trying to make friends–I mean–become Hokage if I destroy everything around me! No one will ever respect me if I do that!

Well then…The demon said. Enjoy being made a miserable fool out of Sasuke for the rest of your life.

Its laughs were the last thing Naruto heard as its presence disappeared from his mind, the silence feeling more hollow than relieving. It was at that point he understood he could no longer take it, his legs giving out. Naruto’s world went black as he collapsed onto the ground below, face planting into the leaves of the forest floor.