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(A\N; Uploading schedule is now changed to Saturday or Sunday rather than Thursday)
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A couple of weeks later;
Several weeks passed, and Naruto returned to his missions and training. He did a couple more C-rank missions with varying difficulties. Some even entered the B-rank range due to Naruto facing Rouge shinobi ranging from genin to chunin. It came as no surprise that the Third Shinobi war came to an end only a couple of years ago, so low-level deserters from every village could be expected.
Naruto went on different types of missions, ranging from escorts to bandit extermination. Sometimes, he had teammates, a supervising Jonin, or he went solo. Luckily, nothing was as dark as his first bandit extermination.
At present, early in the evening;
Naruto stood silently in front of his Sensei as he read his report of his latest C-rank turned B-rank mission. It was a regular escort mission that was disrupted by a Chunin-rank rouge shinobi from Konoha. After the verbal report, Naruto was surprised to know that the weak Chunin he had taken down had a bounty of 500,000 Ryo on his head. Even though the Chunin was barely strong, apparently, at the time of his betrayal, he caused the death of multiple loyal Konoha shinobi and disrupted important supply lines during the last war.
"Good work, Naruto-kun. Have the bounty desk verify the body, and they will cash your reward. You are dismissed for today." Hiruzen said. Naruto nodded and turned to leave.
"Naruto," Hiruzen called, making Naruto turn back to him.
"I was about to forget. Tell your mother to come to my office early tomorrow morning. There is something important I need to discuss with her." Hiruzen said
"Ok, Saru-sensei. Good night." Naruto said. He then turned and proceeded to leave.
"Good night, my boy." Hiruzen said softly as the door closed.
Early in the next morning;
"What do you want to discuss, Sensei? I need to go the the hospital. My schedule is packed today." Tsunade said impatiently as she looked at Hiruzen with Shikaku standing with a lazy nearby.
"The Chunin exams are approaching," Hiruzen said, making Tsunade's impatience disappear and Shikaku's laziness evaporate.
"And I am going to sign in Naruto to participate in it." Hiruzen Finished
"When and where, Sensei?" Tsunade asked
"It will be held a month from now in Kumogakure." Hiruzen replied
"Absolutely not." Tsunade immediately refused
"Tsuande, just hear me out…" Hiruzen said, but Tsunade interrupted
"What is there to hear? You want to send my son to Kumo. The same Kumo that kidnapped children with bloodline potential. The same Kumo that tried to kidnap Kushina and failed. That Kumo." Tsunade said with a heated tone.
"It won't be that bad, Tsunade. They can't do anything to the exam candidates without probable cause. It is against the exams rules that is agreed upon by all the nations." Hiruzen argued
"Old man, this is Kumo we are talking about. The moment they hear either of my son's surnames, 'Senju or Uzumaki', they would throw those rules out the window. And don't tell me to send him with only his first name. My boy's hair color is so iconic to them. They lost half their army in the Uzushiogakure invasion, the same with the other villages for the sage's sake. Sending him there is like handing him to them on a silver platter." Tsunade said it all in one breath with a heated tone.
"There is a reason why Kushina never left the village. She only left to participate in the war, even that was limited." Tsunade added after taking a breath. She was met with silence.
"What if we sent him with two of our elite Shinobi?" Shikaku proposed, making Hiruzen and Tsunade turn to him
"That seems appropriate. Don't you think, Tsunade?" Hiruzen asked. He was met with silence.
"Tsunade, please think about it. The current situation of the village needs it. We need to show the other villages that we are strong despite the Kyuubi's attack. Ever since the attack, the other villages have been probing our borders, looking for weaknesses. Especially Kumo and Iwa. We need to make a statement. To show them that Konoha is strong despite everything." Hiruzen said.
"And don't worry. He will go with any two shinobi you agree to. And when the Third part of the exam starts, you and I will be in Kumo to watch Naruto's performance and we will return with him." Said Hiruzen with a persuading tone. He took Tsunade's silence as a somewhat of an agreement.
"Who do you propose we send with Naruto?" Hiruzen asked Shikaku.
"I am thinking we pull Kakashi Hatake temporally from the ANBU and pair him with Might Guy. What do you think?" Shikaku said. He received a nod from Hiruzen, who turned to Tsunade.
"What do you think, Tsunade?" Hiruzen asked
"Fine, Sensei. But my son better come back home alright or else." Tsunade reluctantly agreed but gave a subtle threat in the end.
"With that out of the way, who else we should send to take the exams?" Hiruzen asked Shikaku
Shikaku thought for a bit before saying, "The available complete Genin teams are not ready for the exams as their training became a bit lacking the last couple of months due to us calling upon their Jonin-Sensei's often for high ranked missions. That added to the fact that None of them are even near Naruto's level."
"Are you saying we will have to send Naruto to take the exams alone?" Hiruzen asked with a raised eyebrow
"I don't think it would be a problem for the boy. But, there is one Genin I can think of that can be a bit of help to Naruto and is currently without a team or a Sensei." Shikaku said
"Who?" Hiruzen asked
"Anko Mitarashi." Shikaku said, making Hiruzen fall silent with a bit of a darkened face
"Who is this Anko?" Tsunade asked
"She was Orochimaru's former student." Said Shikaku, making Tsunade's eyes widen a bit in surprise and Hiruzen's face darken more.
"What's with the face, Sensei? Is something wrong with the girl?" Tsunade asked
"No, there is nothing wrong with the poor child. I am just remembering my rouge wayward student." Hiruzen said as his face eased up a bit.
Orochimaru was Tsunade's teammate along with Jiraya and the student that Hiruzen was the most optimistic about. He was also a very prominent candidate for the position of the Yondaime Hokage. But his behaviour became a somewhat of a red flag before and during the third Shinobi war making him lose the race to the title.
And during Minato's time as Hokage, Hiruzen had found out that his student was already deep into human experimentation. The missed up part is that it would have been all right with Hiruzen if not for Orochimaru using Konoha's Shinobi and civilians in his experiments.
Even with that, Hiruzen couldn't bring himself to kill his prized student, leading to Orochimaru's escape.
Since then, Hiruzen continued to regret not stopping Orochimaru at that time due to him finding out how dark and inhuman his student's experiments were later on. Even Orochimaru Student, Anko, was not safe from his hands.
"So, we will add Anko to Naruto's team for the examination. Any other candidates?" Hiruzen said
"Sadly, there isn't." Shikaku replied, shaking his head.
"Alright then, Tsunade you inform Naruto-kun while I will inform young Anko of this arrangement today. Tomorrow, have Naruto and Anko meet each other and get to train together for the next two weeks and there will be another two weeks to travel at a comfortable pace to Kumo. I will be filling out both their exam applications. Is all this acceptable?" Hiruzen said, getting a nod from Tsunade and Shikaku.
"If we are finished here, then you are both dismissed." Hiruzen said. Tsunade and Shikaku left soon after.
In the evening;
Tsunade and her son had finished having dinner. Now, they are sitting comfortably with Tsunade cutting some fruits and Naruto sitting beside her playing with his baby sister.
"Sensei's call today was to discuss something about you." Tsunade started, making Naruto look at her as she continued to cut fruits.
"He signed you up for the Chunin exam." Tsunade said, causing Naruto's eyes to widen in surprise.
"The Chunin exams, huh." Naruto said with a bit of wonder in his tone.
"Yeah, it is taking place in Kumo in a month." Tsunade said as she passed a plate of cut fruit to Naruto.
"Kumo? Isn't that a bit of a no-no place for Uzumakis?" Naruto inquired as he took the plate, remembering Kushina's stories about her childhood.
"Sensei said it would be fine. He is going to send you with good enough protection." Tsunade said
"If you say so." Naruto shrugged as he ate a slice of apple.
"Be ready, tomorrow morning, you are going to meet your teammate for the examinations." Tsunade said.
"Teammate? As in only one. Shouldn't the exams be taken in a team of three?" Naruto asked
"Sensei and Shikaku could only find one good teammate for you. And the chunin exam can be taken by any number of individuals. As long they are three or less. Three is just the widely known standard." Tsunade replied, making Naruto nod in acceptance.
"Also, I want you to sign my slug summoning contract." Tsunade said, making Naruto look at her with a raised eyebrow as he fed Mito some mushed apples.
"Why so suddenly?" Naruto asked
"I want to have a way of fast communicate with you. And if things get dangerous, you can always use reverse summon to get to safety." Tsunade replied, making Naruto nod.
"But do you think slugs are suitable for me?" Naruto asked, making Tsunade give him a questioning look.
"Don't get me wrong. Katsuyu-sama is a powerful summon. But do you think it is a suitable summon for me?" Naruto asked.
"What do you mean?" Tsunade inquired
"Well, you told me that Katsuyu-sama mainly helps you with healing while having some offensive capabilities being her size and acid attacks. That seems to be the best for you, as you are mainly a medical shinobi with strong offensive power. But I am a well-rounded shinobi with medical capabilities as one of my skills. So, does it make sense for me to have a summon that is compatible with only one set of my abilities?" Naruto said, making Tsunade quiet to think.
"You have a good point. I will have to talk to Katsuyu to look for a solution." Tsunade said, making Naruto nod.
"Just promise me one thing, Naruto." Tsunade said with a slight plead in her voice
"Anything for you, mum," Naruto said
"Promise me to take care of yourself in the exams and not to put yourself in unnecessary danger."
"Can you promise me that, Naru?" Tsunade asked in a soft voice.
"Don't worry, mum. I promise I will take care of myself." Naruto reassured his mother with a confident smile.
"That is good." Tsunade said with a smile
The Chunin exams may be a new and a bit of a challenging experience.
But Naruto is going to try to overcome it with a calm mind and a steady fist.
End of the Chapter.
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I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.
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