Kouma Shōkan (Pony Summoner)

by pain17ification

Chapters

Examination Pt 1
Examination Pt 2
Preliminaries
At Long Last

Examination Pt 1

Hello FIMfiction! This is pain17ification continuing "Kouma Shōkan".

Please note: pain17ification doesn't own anything except for the story idea. Got it??

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Bijuu/Techniques"

'Higher Being Thoughts'

(Translations and Notes)

[Scene Shift]

Chapter 2: Examination Part 1

Within the Uzumaki Shrine, a plume of smoke erupted and revealed a newly dressed Naruto. He coughed slightly as some dust mixed with the smoke and entered his lungs.

"Definitely not the best way to travel," he muttered between coughs as he made his way back to the Kouma Contract. He removed the scroll from its pedestal and walked back into the main room of the shrine before he started to search for a sealing scroll. It took about three minutes before he found one and unsealed the contents of it.

From the scroll came a book and a hiate with the Uzu Swirl on the head plate. He pocketed the hiate before he sealed away the Contract into the sealing scroll. Once he pocketed that as well, he picked up the book and looked at the cover.

"The Legend of the Rikudo Sennin," he read before he pocketed the book to read later. He gazed out the window and saw that it was barely around midday and decided to go visit the Ichiraku Stand. His time in the Summon Realm left him quite hungry.

[Konoha Streets]

With his hood shadowing his face, the blonde Uzumaki made his way through the bustling people going about their everyday business. A sigh escaped his lips as he was bumped into by various villagers.

'The streets aren't usually this crowded,' he mused with a slight frown. 'Something big must be going on.'

He finally made it to his favorite ramen stand and stepped inside before he could be bumped into once more. He noticed that Hatake Kakashi, his sensei, was there and appeared to be waiting for someone; most likely him. Curious as to what the lazy Jonin could want with him, he stepped up to the man while removing his hood.

"Sensei, what are you doing here?" he asked in a calm tone, betraying the mask of idiocy most people were so accustomed to.

The silver haired man turned his uncovered eye to his blonde student and gave a curious glance to his attire. "Trying out a new look, Naruto?"

The Uzumaki took a brief look to his new wardrobe and rubbed his head with a straight face. With a shrug, he answered, "I figured it was time for a change. Someone took the time to make this for me and I think it's a lot better than my old jumpsuit."

The Jonin nodded before he gestured to the stools. "Why don't we grab a bite to eat while I tell you what's come up? I'll pay for your first two bowls." The blonde nodded in thanks and the two shinobi ordered their food before Kakashi stated, "I decided to enter you and your teammates in the Chunin Exams. I already told them about it and gave them the forms needed to enter. Sasuke seemed eager – not a surprise there – and Sakura looks unsure, but I don't think she'll back out."

"I assume that the three of us as a whole are needed in order to take the test?" questioned the whiskered Genin as Ayame brought them their first bowls of ramen.

The Jonin was slightly taken aback at both Naruto's calm demeanor and his observant question. "That's correct. If even one of you does not want to take them, then the other two can't take them either. It's meant to be taken as a team."

The blonde finished his first bowl and nodded to his teacher. "I think we'll be taking it, sensei. As you said: Sasuke is eager, Sakura will most likely agree, and you should know my answer." The female ramen chef brought him his second bowl with a smile that he returned before he turned to face the one-eyed Jonin. "The question I have for you sensei is if you think we are all ready? Sasuke is ready due to having been trained at a young age, and I'm confident in my own abilities; but what of Sakura?"

"What do you mean?"

Naruto frowned and elaborated. "She shows no interest in training, knows nothing more than the Academy Jutsu and tree walking, and lacks any sort of drive save for trying to get Sasuke to notice her. How do any of these reasons make you believe she's ready?"

Kakashi gave a slight frown at both the harsh reasoning and the truth in them. "You should have a bit more faith in your team, Naruto."

"Why? Since when have they ever shown faith in me or ever valued my opinion. Admit it sensei, they don't like me and would rather leave me to the wolves than risk their lives for me."

"What about when Sasuke stopped those senbon from hitting you back in Nami?"

The blonde scoffed and retorted, "I'm willing to bet my chances of becoming Hokage that he did that to put himself in a position to acquire his Sharingan. He got them on the mission, right sensei? He probably 'risked his life for me' just so that he could get them."

Try as he might, the Jonin couldn't find any argument against his student's reasoning. His uncovered eye looked into Naruto's blue orbs and saw nothing more than distrust and a small level of anger. "Look Naruto, I know that you have more than enough reasons to doubt anyone ever helping you. But, can't you at least try to give them a chance? You'll need to rely on each other for these exams."

Turning back to his bowl, the Genin replied, "I won't promise you that I'll put my faith in them, but I'll tolerate taking this stupid test with them."

"That's all I ask of you, Naruto," stated the Jonin as he placed enough money on the counter for the four bowls of ramen they both consumed as a whole. He then placed the sign up form on the counter and left the stand.

Ayame, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, asked her surrogate little brother, "Do you think your team will pass, Naruto?"

He sighed with a slight sag of his shoulders and answered, "It's hard to say. If my guess for what will happen is right, then Sasuke will declare himself as team leader while Sakura will agree to anything he decides. Since I need them to take these exams, I'll just have to deal with it."

The ramen chef placed a comforting hand on top of his and gently squeezed it. "I'm sure you'll do fine. Tou-san and I believe in you, Naruto."

The blonde looked to her with a small smile and nodded. "Thanks, Ayame-nee." He then stood up and made his way out of the stand. "Tell Pops that I said 'Hi' for me!" he called out as he left.

He carefully pulled the hood of his coat over his head as he weaved through the crowded streets and made his way to the Hokage Tower. He wanted to talk with the Sandaime and finally ask him a much desired question. He made it to the receptionist after battling through the crowds for nearly five minutes and she let him in with a small smile. While not overly supportive of him, she was civil with the Uzumaki and treated him like any other person.

Naruto was then let inside the office and entered to the sight of the aged Kage seated behind his desk with stacks of paperwork seated on top. "Naruto, what can I do for you?" asked the man with a smile.

The blonde took a seat on the chair in front of the desk and looked to the Hokage with a straight face. "I have a question for you, Old Man."

"Of course. What is it you want to ask me?"

"What is my relationship to Uzumaki Mito and Uzumaki Kushina?"

The old man raised a brow at the unexpected question and took his pipe out of his top desk drawer. "What brought this on, Naruto?" he asked as he lit his pipe and began to smoke from it.

"About two years ago, I came across this journal that told me about Mito-sama and Kushina-san. I was curious as to who they were and tried to find some information on them. Unfortunately, I was only able to get info on Mito-sama and couldn't find anything on Kushina-san. What I read about Mito-sama was basically what they told us in the Academy; that she was the Shodaime's wife and an Uzumaki."

"So, you wish to know about Kushina then?"

"Not just that. I want to know what my connection is to them, Jiji. They're Uzumaki, and my last name is Uzumaki. I also found out that there was a clan of Uzumaki." His blue eyes met the brown eyes of the village leader and he asked, "Am I from their clan, Jiji, or is me sharing their surname just a coincidence?"

The Kage sighed tiredly due to the depth the answer had concerning the Genin before him. He set his pipe down and leaned his chin on top of his interlaced hands above his desk. "What you must understand before I answer you Naruto is that this information is incredibly classified. I need your word that you won't speak of this unless I give you explicit permission. Do you understand?"

Nodding, the Genin replied, "Yes I understand and I give you my word, Jiji."

"Very well then… You asked what your connection to them is. The answer is that you share their Clan Name because you are all of that clan. You're an Uzumaki, plain and simple. Now, Mito-sama was indeed the wife of Hashirama-dono, but she was also a holder of the Kyuubi much like you are."

Naruto made a feigned expression of shock at the statement. He already knew that, but he just wanted to hear the man he saw as a grandfather tell him. "What of Kushina-san?"

The elderly Hokage chuckled at him and commented, "You have no idea how strange it is to hear you refer to your mother by her name."

Now, the feigned shock became genuine on the blonde's face. "W-What?"

The old man nodded with a sigh. "Yes, she is in actuality your mother. She died during the night the Kyuubi attacked… That's why she isn't here now." He gave the blonde a regretful look and said, "I'm so sorry for not telling you this sooner, but I wasn't sure if you were ready to know at the time."

The blonde's mind was reeling at the news. His mother was the second holder of the fox and died the night he was born. 'She must have died when the fox somehow broke free. I want to ask Jiji about it, but then he'd grow suspicious as to how I knew…kaa-chan was the previous Jinchuriki,' he thought to himself before another thought came to him. "What about my father? What happened to him?"

"He perished that night as well as he helped the village keep the fox at bay. I'm sorry, Naruto…"

"I see…" he murmured quietly before he looked to the Sandaime anxiously. "Did…Did they love me, Jiji?"

"Of course they loved you, Naruto. When Kushina was pregnant with you, she was happier than I had ever seen her before. Your father practically shouted from the Hokage Mountain that his wife was pregnant and did so again when they found out that you were a boy."

The blonde chuckled at that as he wiped away a stray tear. "Thanks for telling me, Jiji."

"It was now trouble, my boy. Now, perhaps you can answer a few questions for me." At the teen's nod, he asked, "Where exactly did you find that journal and who gave you those clothes you're wearing?"

Now it was the blonde's turn to sigh as he rested his elbows on his knees and waved his hand at the old man. "You might as well get comfortable, Jiji. It's kind of a long story."

[Timeskip: 2 Hours]

"And then I got some new clothes and was sent back to the shrine. After that, I took the scroll, an Uzu hiate, and a book on some guy called the 'Rikudo Sennin' before I headed back to the village," finished the Uzumaki as he was now standing from his chair.

The Sandaime smoked from his pipe he had resumed using after the first hour and thought over what had been said. "Only you, my boy, would be fortunate enough to stumble across your clan's old shrine and find, not just Mito-sama's journal, but a Summoning Contract." The blonde rubbed his head sheepishly at that, making the old man chuckle. "So, you have the support of these 'Ponies' and passed their test to be their summoner. You also received some new clothes from them."

"Yea… They were all really nice and supportive during my test. Two of them even hugged me when I was beginning to feel down."

The Kage smiled at that. "Well, I'm glad that you found something to associate you with your old clan more. If you wish, you could also wear their hiate to show your connection to them. It's your decision." The Genin nodded and the old man continued, "Now, you know of your connection to the two Uzumaki you read about and know that one of them was your mother. Remember that this information is classified and cannot be repeated to anyone without my permission. However, in the event that I pass on from this world, then the information is yours to handle however you wish. Understand?"

"Yea, I understand Jiji," replied the blonde with a bow as he made to leave the office. Before he reached the door, he turned back and said, "And as a thanks for helping me, I'll tell you how to deal with your paperwork." He nearly busted up laughing at the near childish look of eager of the old man's face. "Try using Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clones) to get it done faster, Jiji," he suggested as he left.

For the next ten minutes after Naruto left, the receptionist heard a continuous banging from the Hokage's Office followed by consecutive shouts of, "Stupid!"

[Academy (The Next Day)]

Naruto was leaning against the tree in front of the Academy as he waited for his teammates to show up. It was the day of the Chunin Exams and the blonde still couldn't keep the look of annoyance off of his face as he thought of how his sensei gave him, and possibly the other two, the sign up forms the day before the exams.

'I wonder if Pinkie would mind helping me prank him for that?' he internally mused before he noticed his Uchiha teammate walking up followed closely by his civilian-raised one. With a resigned sigh, he pushed himself off of the tree and thought, 'Showtime…'

"What's with the new clothes, dobe?" asked the Uchiha with a smug look. "Finally decided to actually try and look competent?"

The blonde didn't grace him with an answer and just made his way inside. Sasuke took that as a win while Sakura was annoyed that the blonde ignored her Sasuke-kun.

Once they went inside and climbed up a flight of stairs, they saw many Genin from various villages gathered around a door marked 301.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the attempt to deceive the potential test takers and made to walk past the others before he heard Sasuke open his big mouth. "Take down that genjutsu. We're heading for Room 301, not 201."

Naruto slapped a hand to his forehead in frustration and tuned out what had happened next in favor of heading up the stairs to the real Room 301. He leaned on the wall outside the door for over ten minutes before Kakashi appeared in a Shunshin (Body Flicker) and his teammates walked up; one looking worse for wear.

"Well, I'm glad that you all made it here," Kakashi praised. "I was worried that I'd have to deny you entry."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the Jonin in annoyance while he explained to the other two what would have happened if all three of them didn't show. With his explanation finished, he wished them luck and left, allowing them to step through the doors and into the Examination Room.

They were instantly glared at by the various Genin, making Sakura nervous, Sasuke eager, and Naruto just plain bored. He'd seen worse glares from the villages since their glares were full of hatred while the glares the Genin gave were of annoyance.

"Sasuke-kun!" cried a girl as the Uchiha had to suddenly deal with extra weight on his back. A blonde teen dressed in purple was hugging him from behind, making Sakura grow incredibly irritated.

"Ino-pig, get off of Sasuke-kun!" she yelled.

"Make me, Billboard Brow!" retorted the blonde as she blew a raspberry like a five year old.

Naruto rolled his eyes at them and just pulled out the book on the Rikudo Sennin and began reading. He was still surprised that the Sandaime didn't take it from him, but he wasn't going to complain.

"Troublesome," muttered a lazy voice as the blonde Uzumaki gave a sideways glance to Ino's teammate, Nara Shikamaru. Next to the lazy Genin was Akamichi Choji, a heavyset Genin with a heart as big as his appetite. "So, you're here too, Naruto?"

The whiskered Genin just nodded as he went back to reading his book. Shikamaru was one of the only Genin who saw through his idiot façade; Aburame Shino being the other.

"Yahoo, we found you!" yelled an exuberant teen as he and his teammates approached the rookies of the Leaf. This was Inuzuka Kiba, a boisterous Genin from Naruto's graduating class. Flanking him were Hyuuga Hinata, a shy but kindhearted girl, and Shino, a silent but intelligent teen.

"Quiet down," admonished a new voice, making Naruto turn his gaze away from his book and see a silver haired Konoha Genin wearing purple clothes and some glasses. "You're making a scene and basically putting a target on your backs."

"Oh yea, who asked you?" retorted the Inuzuka with a bark of support from his canine partner, Akamaru.

The Genin sighed as he introduced himself. "My name is Yakushi Kabuto, and you can call me your go-to guy for these exams. I've taken them at least seven times and failed each time; so you should have an idea of their difficulty."

Hinata poked her fingers together nervously. "D-Do you think t-that it was a g-good idea to sign up f-for these if there that d-difficult?"

Kabuto smirked and pulled out what looked like playing cards. "Tell you what: since you guys are obviously rookies, I'll help you out. These cards have information on any Genin your interested in as well as info as to which villages are taking these exams."

"What villages are having Genin take the exams?" questioned Naruto, making the others turn to him. Most were wondering what was up with the new clothes while Hinata blushed at his more professional look.

Kabuto pulled out a card and had his chakra reveal its contents, showing the rookies the ratio of participating Genin between the villages. "Well, it appears that Suna, Kumo, Kiri, Kusa, Ame, and a new village called Oto have Genin participating with the Konoha Genin. Of course, I doubt Oto will do all that well since their still new and practically unheard of."

Behind them in the crown of waiting Genin was an Oto Team with slight scowls on their faces for being brushed off so easily. Naruto felt a small tingle on the back of his mind and looked to the crowd with narrowed eyes. He couldn't help but feel as if something bad was going to come from it.

Sasuke then stepped up and had Kabuto give him information on Rock Lee of Konoha and a Suna Genin named Subaku no Gaara. The veteran Genin pulled out two cards and had their contents show themselves.

"Okay, first is Rock Lee of Konoha. He's a student of Maito Gai while his teammates are Hyuuga Neji and Higurashi Tenten. He lacks any noteworthy skills other than a highly extensive level of taijutsu. It's not that surprising actually since his teacher is the best taijutsu using Jonin of the village.

Next is Subaku no Gaara of Suna. He's a student of a Jonin named Baki while his teammates are Subaku no Temari and Subaku no Kankuro, his older siblings. His skills are unknown, but the one thing that makes him stand out is that he has returned from every mission his team has taken…unscathed."

Naruto perked up at that and looked to the picture of the Suna Genin before he searched the room for him. When he found him and the two locked eyes, Naruto felt another tug on the back of his mind that reeked of negativity. 'This guy… He's definitely not one to take lightly or piss off,' he mentally noted before he heard quick movement and saw the Oto Team try to get Kabuto. The blonde saw the veteran Genin dodge with ease before his glasses cracked and he fell to his knees, releasing the contents of his stomach in the process. 'Damn… Sound based attacks. Fitting since their village is named Sound.'

The next thing that happened was a large plume of smoke appearing at the head of the room near the board. From it came a man dressed in black clothing and many Chunin dressed in tan Konoha uniforms. "Alright you little shits, my name is Morino Ibiki and I will be your first examiner!" yelled out the man in black. "You three of Oto, this is your only warning! No fighting amongst the Genin unless we tell you it's permitted!"

The Oto Genin dressed like a mummy gave a look that hardly seemed apologetic. "Sorry about that. We're just dealing with last minute jitters."

Ibiki grunted in annoyance before he had the Genin all take a number and take their designated seats. Naruto found himself seated in the center row next to the redhead Suna Genin. 'Swell…' he mentally thought sarcastically.

"Alright maggots, the first exam is a written test!" Many students groaned at that while Sasuke and Sakura glared in Naruto's direction. Said blonde mentally sighed at the lack of faith from his teammates. "Now, these are the rules for this exam: each Genin Team passes and fails as a whole, each Genin has ten points at the start, and a Genin will be sent out of the room if caught cheating three times along with their teammates. There are nine questions on the paper while the tenth and final will be brought up afterwards. Each wrong answer will have you lose one of your ten points and the final score will be the accumulative of your score and the scores of your teammates. Any questions?"

One Genin raised a hand only to have a kunai imbed itself on the desk he sat in.

"Well that's too damn bad! No questions; period! These are the rules and they will be followed as they are! Now, pick up your pencils and begin!"

Almost all of the Genin picked up their pencils immediately. Naruto gave Gaara a sideways glance and saw that the redhead hadn't even budged. He just sat there with his eyes closed as if he was a statue. The blonde shook his head and focused on his paper. Within a span of two minutes, he frowned at the inability to answer any of the questions.

'These questions could stump even Jonin. How the hell does he expect us to-?' he thought before what Ibiki said smacked him in the face. 'Wait a minute… He said that we would be sent out after being caught three times. That gives us two freebies before we get the boot. Could it really be so simple…?'

Deciding to go with his gut, he glanced around the room and saw someone seated in the row in front of him with a test paper that was over halfway filled. Going out on a limb, he took out a smoke bomb from his ninja pouch and held it in his right fist. He casually had it roll off of his desk and near his target before he made a hidden handseal and had the bomb detonate. Smoke filled the room and he quickly swapped papers with his target before he made a face of feigned confusion.

Ibiki, having seen through it all, merely smirked at the blonde's plan and did nothing. It was gutsy, risky, and stupid; but it was also the correct way to go about the test. 'Not bad Uzumaki… Not bad at all.'

Many of the other Genin were soon discovering what the blonde Uzumaki had and began to use their respective skills to get the answers. Those with dojutsu used them to copy the movements of other test takers or see the answers they needed. Those who were book smart, like Sakura and Shikamaru, had no real issue putting down a few answers. Kiba and Shino used their respective animal companions to help them find the answers. Ino waited for Sakura to finish her test before she used her clan's jutsu to invade her mind and body. She then memorized the answers and returned to her own body before entering Choji's and writing the answers for him. Tenten helped out Lee with the use of wires and mirrors hanging on the ceiling to look at the reflections of test papers.

The Oto Genin used chakra to enhance their hearing and follow the flow of writing from other test takers on sound alone. Kankuro feigned having a need to use the restroom and had a Chunin take him. Ibiki easily saw that the 'Chunin' was in actuality the Suna Genin's puppet, but he kept quiet. Temari patiently waited for her brother to return with the answers written on a small scroll as they planned using gestures. As for Gaara: he used sand to make a third eye that flew through the room and gazed at the answers for Gaara to write down.

When Kankuro returned, Ibiki called out, "Alright, pencils down!" The Genin all complied before he continued, "Okay, the final question has an extra rule." This was met with much complaining and yells before he silenced them all with a burst of killing intent. "Shut your damn mouths! I'm in charge here, so I make the rules! Now, the extra rule is in truth a choice: you choose whether or not you take the question or not."

"Why wouldn't we take it?" scoffed a Kiri Genin making Ibiki give a cruel smirk.

"Well, if you take it and fail…then you basically give up ever becoming a Chunin for your entire career."

"Say what?!" yelled an Ame kunoichi.

"That's fucked up, you bastard!" cried Kiba with Akamaru barking in agreement.

Other Genin voiced their disapproval with the extra rule before the man shut them up again. "Listen, your village leaders all know of this rule and have agreed to it! So, your choice is now in front of you! Those who do not wish to take the question, leave now and take your teammates with you!"

Within the span of five minutes, over half of the teams taking the test left the room. They had looks of regret and worry on their faces, making Naruto grow concerned about his chances. He looked to his teammates and saw Sasuke giving a façade of calm that was easily noticeable while Sakura looked incredibly nervous. Her green eyes locked with his blue ones and he slowly shook his head, making her look at him as if he were insane. He ignored that look as he faced the front again.

"So, still a few of you left, huh?" asked Ibiki rhetorically. "Well, not much left to do now…except pass you!"

The silence of the test takers reigned over the room, making the examiner and various Chunin smirk. Finally, it was broken by Kiba standing from his seat and pointing at Ibiki accusingly. "What the fuck, man?! You scare the crap out of us and make us choose to take the test only to just pass us?!"

"That's correct, brat," answered the bear of a man. "There was no real tenth question. It was merely to test you psychologically and see if you had the mentality to put aside everything for the sake of the mission. There will be times when you take a mission with incredibly high risks and you're given the choice to go through with it or not. Showing that you're willing to do it proves that you have the mentality of a Chunin who is willing to face the risks," he stated as he removed his bandanna, showing his burned and scarred head, "even if the risks scar you."

Temari raised her hand and asked, "Then what was the point of the other nine questions?"

Ibiki chuckled at her, making her growl in annoyance. "The point was to test you all on your skills in information gathering; a common mission Chunin will be assigned. You see, my testing methods were not wasted in the slightest on you Genin and you all prevailed. So, you all pass the first exam!"

As soon as he finished, a black bundle crashed into the room and burst open. Kunai stabbed the corners of the opened cloth to the walls and allowed the Genin to read the banner it was revealed to be.

"The Second Examiner: The Sexy and Single Mitarashi Anko!" read the banner while a woman with purple hair stood in front of it. She had her hair styled in a fan-like ponytail, had brown pupil-less eyes, and a killer body. She wore blue shinobi sandals, an orange skirt that fell just above her knees, a mesh armor shirt, and a tan trench coat over it all.

"Alright you little brats, this isn't time to celebrate!" exclaimed the woman before she pointed out the window she broke through. "The second exam begins now, so follow me!"

Almost all of the Genin looked to her like she was crazy while some stayed quiet. Naruto couldn't help but think that Pinkie Pie would enjoy this kind of entrance and made a mental note to tell her about it later.

Ibiki poked his head out from behind the banner and muttered, "You're early again."

She turned her gaze from the window and glared at him before she looked to the clock. Her glare turned into a sheepish grin when she saw that he was right and she rubbed her head in embarrassment. "Whoops! I thought I was on time!"

Ibiki sighed in slight annoyance while Naruto and a few others chuckled. "At any rate, you have your work cut out for you, Anko. These Genin are tougher than they look."

"Is that so?" asked the woman with a growing grin. "Well, I guarantee that this number will be cut in half by the time they're done with my test! Now, hurry up and follow me, you little brats!" she exclaimed as she jumped out of the window with the Genin quickly following her.

They all travelled to Training Ground 44 where many other Chunin, and even two ANBU, were waiting for them. One of the Chunin walked up to Anko and said, "Mitarashi-san, we are ready when you are."

"Glad to hear it," she replied before she turned to the Genin. "This is Training Ground 44, otherwise known as the Forest of Death. It is here where your second exam will take place."

"And what exactly is the second exam?" asked an Ame Genin.

The Tokubetsu Jonin smirked at the question. "You can think of this little test as a beefed up game of Capture the Flag. Each of your teams will get either an Earth Scroll or a Heaven Scroll to guard. Your objective is to get the scroll you do not have and bring both to the Central Tower in the forest before five days pass, or 120 hours. If any of your teammates if left behind in the forest or dies, you will be disqualified. And if you open any of the scrolls before you bring them both to the tower, you will be disqualified. Understand?"

Many of the Genin nodded and were then given waivers to sign so the Leaf wouldn't be responsible for their deaths. Once a team had all of their members sign a waiver, then they were given a scroll. Naruto's team was given an Earth Scroll to hold on to; something Sasuke declared he would do. Sakura was quick to agree while Naruto just stayed quiet so that he wouldn't have to deal with them getting mad at him.

While waiting for the other teams to get their scrolls, Naruto moved out of sight and went through a few handseals before he bit his right thumb and slammed his palm on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)," he muttered quietly so that he wouldn't be heard. From the smoke came Rainbow Dash who looked confused as to why she was there.

"Hey Naruto, what's up?" asked the pegasus.

"Hey Dash. I need your help for this part of my exam."

"What exam?"

"We're in the middle of the second test of the Chunin Exams and we're being sent into this forest. I need you to go inside and wait for me to enter with my team. When we do, I need you to tail us and watch our backs. Think you can do that?"

She smirked and spread her wings out fully. "Not a problem, Blondie! Just leave it to me!" she exclaimed before she entered the forest in a blue blur. Luckily for Naruto and Dash, none of the Chunin noticed which allowed her to wait for Naruto and his team to enter without an issue.

"Alright, now that everyone has their scrolls let me give you all one last piece of advice!" exclaimed Anko, getting the attention of the Genin. "Don't go dying on me because I don't want to waste my time looking for your carcasses! Now, move your asses! Test Two has now begun!"

The gates to the forest all opened and the Genin raced inside to begin their test. Dash grinned at the thought of getting to fight alongside her summoner and quickly began following him and his team.

Said summoner discreetly looked back and winked at Dash before he refocused on the path ahead. 'Let the games begin.'

(End)

And that was chapter two! I hope that you all are enjoying it so far! Please be sure to read, review, and ask any questions! I'll be sure to answer all that I can! ^_^

Next Time: Showdown in the Forest of Death! Naruto and the Kouma Summons vs. Orochimaru and the Hebi Summons! Stay Tuned!

pain17ification

Examination Pt 2

Hello FIMfiction! This is pain17ification continuing "Kouma Shōkan".

Please note: pain17ification doesn't own anything! Got it?!

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Bijuu/Techniques"

'Higher Being Thoughts'

(Translations and Notes)

[Scene Shift]

Chapter 3: Examination Pt 2 (Forest of Death)

Team 7 leaped through the trees of the infamous Forest of Death as soon as the Second Exam started. Unknown to two of its members, a certain pegasus was right behind them keeping an eye on her blonde summoner.

Rainbow Dash could easily feel the hostility between the members of the team. Naruto couldn't tolerate them because they belittled him all of the time and they couldn't tolerate Naruto for being 'weaker' than they were. The pegasus shook her head with pity for her summoner. Clearly he got the short end of the stick in terms of teammates.

'And all because he's a Jinchuriki and hated by his fellow villagers… It's not fair,' she mentally fumed. She couldn't understand why he didn't seem to care about the hatred towards him. If she was in his shoes, she'd have most likely lashed out and gave into her frustration a long time ago. 'But then again, that wouldn't be the best way to go about it,' she thought with a sigh.

Truly, her summoner had a will of iron to have held out for so long.

"We need to stop," Naruto called out suddenly.

"Why dobe?" asked Sasuke in annoyance. He didn't like having Naruto try and tell him what to do, especially when the blonde was just a no name loser.

"I have some business to take care of," was the blonde's answer.

"Business? We're in a forest, you baka! What kind of business could you possibly need to 'take care of'?"

The Uzumaki rolled his eyes in annoyance and answered in a tone that would seem like he was speaking to a naïve child. "I need to take a leak, Sakura. What other business could I be talking about?"

Sakura blushed at his answer before she growled at him in anger. "Gross! You don't just say that to a lady, you disgusting pig!"

Dash really didn't like how Sakura was talking the blonde. Even she could tell what he meant and the pinkette was seriously overreacting. 'How does Naruto put up with her?'

"Just hurry up, dobe," Sasuke ordered as they dropped to the forest floor and the blonde walked into the foliage. As soon as he was gone, Sasuke leaped back into the trees with Sakura quickly following him.

Dash glared at them from her position and muttered, "Jerks…" before she followed after her summoner. She didn't have to go far and found him seated near a small pond, watching the small fish swimming in the water. "They just ditched you, Blondie," she informed him.

"I know… I knew they would, which is why I made up that excuse to leave them," he replied while patting the ground next to him. Dash knew what he meant and sat down next to him. "So, care to tell me about yourself?"

"Where did that come from?" asked the pegasus in amusement.

He shrugged and replied, "I just thought that we could get to know one another since you and the others are my new partners. If you don't want to talk, that's fine too."

"Nah, I don't mind Blondie. So, how did you want to do this?"

"Just tell me your name, likes, dislikes, and dream for the future."

She nodded at that and began. "The name's Rainbow Dash. I like flying, fixing the weather in Ponyville, my friends, and doing stuff that's cool. I dislike boring things, jerks, those who abuse their power, and those who mistreat others. My goal is to meet somepony special and start a family."

"That's a nice dream, Dash. I'm sure you'll meet somebody who means a lot to you," the Uzumaki said sincerely, earning a grateful look from the pegasus.

"Thanks Blondie… Your turn now."

"Okay, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like to read, study fuinjutsu, the rare few people who care about me, and finally you and the others for helping me. I dislike those who see me as the fox, those who hurt my precious people, being unable to stand up for myself, rapists, and perverts. My dream for the future…" He stopped, making Dash look to him in concern. "It was to be Hokage, but I know it won't ever happen. Now, my dream is just to find a place where people accept me and I can live in peace."

Dash looked to him sadly and was about to speak before they bother felt the ground rumble and heard a loud hiss. They looked across the pond and their eyes widened in shock as a giant brown snake slithered from the foliage, easily towering over them.

"Not good…" muttered Naruto as he pulled out a kunai and quickly wrapped a seal tag on it. "Dash, I need you to help me get to its head!"

"On it, Naruto!" she replied as she grabbed the back of his coat with her teeth and tossed him onto her back. In a blur of speed, she shot up into the air before she dive bombed toward the giant snake. Naruto had her roll forward until her back was facing the snake's head, and he kicked off with the kunai in his hand glowing a bright blue.

Unfortunately, the snake had quick reflexes and suddenly lunged its head upward with its jaws wide open. Naruto stared into the snakes open maw and scowled at the obvious outcome. "Shit…" he mumbled as the snake clamped its jaw shut and swallowed him whole.

"Naruto!" cried out Dash in worry as she rapidly flew at the snake and kicked its body repeatedly with her hooves. "Let…him…go!" she shouted between kicks.

Inside the snake, Naruto hissed at the burning feeling of the digestive fluids and stabbed his kunai into the skin. The seal tag on the knife lit up before a burst of electricity surged through the snake's body, making it convulse in pain. He then formed a cross seal and yelled out, "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Mass Shadow Clones)!"

From Dash's point of view, she saw the belly of the convulsing snake slowly expand further and further to the point that it looked like it would pop from the pressure. Unable to take the pain from being over stretched, the snake disappeared in a plume of smoke, leaving nearly one hundred Naruto clones to fall to the ground with their clothes covered in fluids.

[Ponyville (Rarity's Boutique)]

A certain white-coated unicorn suddenly stiffened and narrowed her eyes. "Somepony has ruined the clothes I have made for them! When I get my hooves on them...!" she left the threat hanging while she shook her right front hoof threateningly.

[With Naruto and Rainvow Dash]

As he dispelled his clones and Dash landed next to him, Naruto pulled at his clothes and sighed. "Dash?"

"Yea?"

"Rarity's gonna kill me, isn't she?" he deadpanned.

The pegasus' answer was a sheepish look as she rubbed her head with one of her front hooves.

[Ten Minutes Later]

"Okay, I think that's the best I can do," Naruto muttered as he was now standing in the clearing with his clothes soaked from the water used to clean up the digestive fluids.

"Hold still, Blondie; I'll dry you up," Dash stated as she began to fly around him at high speed, forming a small funnel of rainbow colored wind. When the funnel died down, Naruto was dry while his naturally spiky hair grew even wilder.

He shook his head to fix his hair and said, "Thanks Dash. Now, let's go find my 'teammates'."

"Right," murmured Dash with a small frown, still remembering that they ditched Naruto who could've died by that snake.

The Jinchuriki and pegasus blurred through the trees in search of Sasuke and Sakura, the blonde somehow knowing where to go due to a feeling in the back of his head. He sensed a dark and cruel energy source and couldn't help but think that his teammates were near it.

They finally stopped when they were around thirty feet away and peered through a bushy tree branch. They saw Sasuke and Sakura standing on another tree branch across from a woman with a Kusa headband on her forehead. Naruto couldn't stop the bead of sweat that formed and rolled down his cheek as he felt that the source of the cruel energy was from the woman.

"W-Who are you?" Sasuke asked in fear, surprising Naruto greatly. "What do you want with us?"

The woman chuckled, sending chills down the backs of the three Genin and one pegasus. "Ah, such good questions from you…Sasuke," commented the woman with a distinct hiss when she said the Uchiha's name. "You look so much like your brother, Itachi."

Naruto frowned at that. How did this woman know of the infamous killer of the Uchiha Clan?

"You know of Itachi?!" asked Sasuke, his fear replaced by rage. "Where is he?! Tell me right now!"

"Now now, Sasuke… I still need to answer your earlier questions," chastised the woman with a cruel smirk.

"N-Naruto," shivered Dash. "This chick is creepy…"

"Yea…" agreed the blonde as he kept his attention on the conversation.

"As for your first question; my name is Orochimaru," said the woman in a much more masculine voice.

Naruto froze and started to pale in fear at the name. His mind worked into overdrive as he thought over his options and any kind of strategy for him and his teammates to get out alive. However, one thing came to his mind first.

"Dash," he began, getting her attention. "I want you to dispel yourself; right now."

"What?" she asked in shock. "Why would you have me-?"

"This guy is dangerous, Dash; really dangerous. That snake we dealt with earlier was one of his summon creatures. I want you to get out of here right now."

"I'm not leaving you, Naruto," she adamantly refused. "I won't do that to you; I won't be like your so-called teammates."

He smiled sadly at her loyalty, easily seeing that she really was in touch with her Harmonic Element. He then surprised her by hugging her, and she slowly returned it unaware of him holding up a half ram seal.

"I'm sorry, Dash," he whispered, making her eyes grow wide.

"Naruto don't-!" she tried to yell, but it was halted by her disappearing in a plume of smoke.

"I hope that, if I live through this, you can forgive me Dash…" muttered Naruto as he readied another kunai with a seal tag and made his way closer. He saw that Orochimaru was finishing his explanation as to why he wanted Sasuke – something about needing his eyes – and mentally prepped himself to strike. 'Everyone… If I don't make it out alive…I just wanted to say thank you,' he mentally prayed as he envisioned the people close to him. Visions of the Sandaime, the Ichiraku Chefs, and the Ponies filled his mind followed by shadowed silhouettes of two figures meant to represent his parents. 'Thank you for seeing me as Uzumaki Naruto and treating me like a normal person. This might be my last battle, so I will go down fighting to protect you all.'

Wiping away the stray tear that threatened to spill, Naruto set his face into a determined frown and leaped out of the tree he was in, gaining the attention of the three below him. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly at the sight of him. 'The Kyuubi brat… Probably got lucky and escaped my snake. He shouldn't be much of a bother,' thought the disguised Sannin before he saw Naruto throw down a kunai and fly through handseals.

"Kunai Kage Bunshin (Kunai Shadow Clones)!" cried the blonde as the single kunai multiplied into twenty and he held up his hands in a ram seal. "Fuinjutsu: Raihara (Sealing Arts: Lightning Field)!"

The seals on the kunai all lit up and lines of electricity linked between them all, making a literal web of lightning that was quickly descending down toward Orochimaru.

Said snake man frowned at the technique before he disappeared in a swirl of leaves, letting the lightning web cleanly slice through the tree branch he was on, letting the scorched pieces fall to the forest floor. He reappeared on another branch away from the damage with an impressed look on his face. 'Not bad… However, I thought he was supposed to be incompetent?'

Naruto landed on the tree branch his teammates were on and readied a kunai with a different seal tag on it. "Sasuke, Sakura, I need your help if we want to get out of here alive. Alright?" he asked and was met with silence. He froze in shock before he slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder and saw that they were gone. 'T-They left me…AGAIN!' he mentally raged while Orochimaru cruelly laughed at him.

"Isn't that something?" asked the man between laughs. "You risk your life to help them and they leave you to die; like a pack of wolves leaving the weakest link."

Naruto didn't respond, too angry at how foolish he was. 'I can't believe I actually thought they'd stick around to help me… I'm such a dumb ass! Why the hell would they care about me?!'

"Well, I suppose I should commend you on your impressive display earlier, Naruto."

The blonde broke out of his thoughts as he heard his name. "How do you know me?"

The Sannin chuckled as he removed the face of the woman he was impersonating, revealing pure white skin and yellow, snake-like eyes. "I know quite a bit about you, my boy; more than you even know." He chuckled again as the blonde tensed and readied his kunai. "Haven't you ever wondered who your parents were, Naruto?"

"Of course I have," retorted the Uzumaki. "What orphan wouldn't?"

"True… But what if I told you that I know exactly who they are?"

"I already know who they are!" Naruto yelled back, half lying since he only knew of his mother.

"You're not a very good liar, Naruto," retorted the snake before he looked thoughtful. "Well, that's not entirely true. You seem to only be partially lying to me… So tell me, which parent do you know? If I had to guess, I would assume that it's your mother…Kushina."

Naruto tensed again and threw his kunai frantically at the snake, but it was easily avoided with a lazy lean of the head.

"I see I hit the nail right on the head. So, you still don't know your father… Sarutobi-sensei must really not have a lot of faith in you if he kept that from you."

"Shut up! You don't know anything!" screamed the blonde in anger while his arms began to burn for some reason. 'W-What's this feeling? It feels like something wants to burst out of my arms!'

"Oh, but I do know Naruto… I know the truth about who your father is. He's the Leaf's 'Greatest Hero'; the one who turned the tides in the 3rd Great War," he mockingly stated.

Naruto couldn't think of who the snake was referring to since the pain in his arms was intensifying dramatically.

"Your father…was Namikaze Minato; the Yondaime Hokage," declared the snake with a cruel smirk, making Naruto freeze in place.

"N-No… No, he couldn't be… Not him…" muttered the blonde in denial, but his rational side kicked in again and laid out the facts. If the Yondaime was his father, then using his son to hold the Kyuubi made much more sense. Plus, they looked alike in almost every way save for Naruto's whisker markings.

"Do you see it now, Naruto?" questioned the snake as he pulled out a kunai. "Your village hates you while they worship Minato for making you the scapegoat they despise every waking moment. Sarutobi-sensei knew; how could he not? Oh, but don't worry… You won't have to deal with the hate anymore," stated the Sannin in a mock caring tone, "because I'll end your suffering right now!"

Naruto's arms screamed in agony while his instincts had him swing against the incoming threat. The result was Naruto swinging an open hand at Orochimaru while the man was at least ten feet away. However, it wasn't a wasted swing since golden chains erupted from his skin and flew at the snake who narrowly dodged with a shocked expression.

'Chakra Chains?! But that's impossible! Kushina didn't get them until she was a Jonin!' mentally raged the man as he considered his options.

Naruto fell to his knees as the chains retracted back into his skin, his arms numb from the sudden release of the burning pain he was feeling earlier. As soon as the chains were full reabsorbed into his skin, his arm fell like dead weight while he gasped for air.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes in thought over the new outcome. Killing the Uzumaki would be an easy feat to do now; child's play since the blonde was wide open. But a part of his intelligent mind told him to let the boy live. It even told him to give the teen the scroll his team needed to pass. 'Maybe this could work to my advantage… My original self has already given Sasuke the Curse Mark and knocked out the Kyuubi brat's teammates. Maybe Sasuke's inevitable jealousy of Naruto will help fuel the Curse Mark… Yes… Yes, I believe this will work out just fine.'

He stepped up to the defenseless blonde who didn't even acknowledge his presence. Orochimaru couldn't help but see himself in the Uzumaki; alone, orphaned, yet still able to surprise his opponents and show incredible feats of skill and power. It was obvious that the teen was much more than he let on; being able to deceive even Kabuto was a testament to that.

He pulled out the Heaven Scroll that Team 7 needed and tossed it in front of the Uzumaki. "Your teammates are about half a mile north of here. Consider that scroll a gift for your…interesting display and bravery. Not many people would choose to stand their ground in my presence. I'll be sure to keep a close eye on your future progress, Naruto, so do try and stay alive for me."

With his piece said, the snake dispersed into mud, showing that he was nothing more than a Tsuchi Bunshin (Mud Clone). Naruto's hand numbly moved and grasped the scroll before he pocketed it and stood shakily. His mind was still reeling at the facts given to him and the pain his apparent new skill caused him. His body moved on autopilot as he began to head to where Orochimaru said his team was.

When he arrived, he saw the two of them slumped against a tree trunk out cold. He wordlessly made two clones and had them carry his teammates and follow him as he made his way to the Central Tower. It took the rest of the day to get there, and Naruto was finally starting to regain his mental control from the shocking revelations he had received. He curiously looked to his surroundings and saw that he was inside the tower with a plaque in front of him that had a hidden lesson.

The blonde scoffed at the simplicity of the answer which was focusing on the skills you need improvement on; the body (Earth) or the mind (Heaven). He then opened both scrolls and tossed them to the floor, causing them to erupt into plumes of smoke that revealed Umino Iruka, the Chunin who worked at the Academy as an instructor.

"Naruto, glad to see you made it as early as you did. The first day, too! Not bad at all," he praised, only receiving a nod in thanks from the blonde before his clones presented his unconscious teammates.

"We ran into Orochimaru in the forest and they were knocked out. Be sure to tell the old man, Iruka-sensei. I need to be alone for a bit," informed the Uzumaki as he handed off his teammates to the stunned Chunin and made his way to one of the dorm rooms in the tower.

Once inside, Naruto sighed and performed the seals needed to summon Dash before she appeared in a plume of smoke. Her eyes were wide in worry when she saw that they weren't in the forest, but they quickly softened when she saw that Naruto was alive.

Anger soon took over and she used her tail to slap his face; the equivalent of a human woman using her hand. Naruto didn't seem fazed by it and merely let her strike him with a dead look in his eyes.

Dash didn't seem to notice due to her anger. "Damn it, Naruto! I told you that I wasn't going to leave you; and what do you do?! You send me back and leave me worried sick! Then, you don't even summon me back until you apparently finished your test! What the hell is wrong with you, huh?!"

He didn't respond and merely stood there with the same expression. Her eyes softened as she walked up to him and leaned down to look his downward gaze in the eye.

"Naruto…?" she asked in worry before she was suddenly pulled into a hug by a now tearful blonde.

"I'm so sorry, Dash…" he whispered as his tears fell on her coat.

Her anger was immediately extinguished by his sincere and regretful tone and she hugged him back with her wing. "It's okay, Blondie… I forgive you…" she whispered back.

Their moment was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. "Naruto? It's Kakashi; I need to talk to you."

Naruto looked to Dash who gave him a smile before her eyes glowed and she was surrounded by a swirl of color. When the swirl died down, she was transformed into a necklace with the pendant designed in the exact likeliness of her Cutie Mark.

Naruto quickly put it on and tucked it into his vest before he opened his door. "Sensei, what did you want to talk about?"

Kakashi gave his blonde student a worried frown and he asked, "Naruto is it true what Iruka just told me? Did you and the others run into Orochimaru?" The blonde looked down and nodded, making the Jonin sigh. "What happened back there Naruto?"

Naruto suddenly scowled and looked his sensei with betrayal in his eyes. "I listened to you, that's what." Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise at the angered tone. "I placed my trust in my teammates and they ditched me in that forest, not once, but twice! Once when I left to relieve myself and the next when I stopped Orochimaru from killing them back there! I placed my faith in them and hoped that they would back me up, but they left me to die! I'm still surprised that Orochimaru let me live back there!"

Kakashi's eyes grew wider with horror at every statement. He knew that their teamwork wasn't exactly 'good', but he never thought that they would just abandon their teammate and leave him to the wolves so to speak. "Naruto, I-"

"Save it!" interrupted the rightfully angered blonde. "I listened to you, even though I knew – I knew – that they would never be there for me, and I was left alone to die while they ran to save themselves! They didn't even care that they needed me to pass the test and just hightailed it out of their like cowards!" The blonde's anger was slowly calling on a small amount of the Kyuubi's chakra, making him release killing intent. "I've had it, Kakashi! I will never trust those two again and as soon as I can, I'm removing myself from this team!"

Kakashi tried to calm down the Uzumaki. "Naruto, don't do anything rash. I'll talk to Hokage-sama and-"

"No! I'm done, Kakashi so don't try to stop me! I won't blame you for their actions, but I sure as hell will not have you try and save a team that obviously does not function as one!"

The Jonin sighed dejectedly at his student, knowing that he was absolutely right. "I'm so sorry, Naruto… I never imagined that they'd have done that to you… Can you forgive me?"

"Like I said earlier; I don't blame you, sensei…" Naruto muttered. "There's no need to forgive you for something you didn't do or have any control of. But, I will never forgive Sasuke or Sakura for what they did."

"I understand, and thank you for not blaming me…" replied the Jonin. "I still want to make it up for you since I know I could have taught you more than I did. So, if you ever need someone to train you, just come to me. Okay?"

Naruto gave his teacher a grateful smile and bowed. "Thank you, sensei…"

Kakashi gave him an eye smile and rubbed his head in a brotherly way. "Don't mention it. Now, you should take the remaining four days to rest and prepare for the next test. You'll need it."

"I will, sensei," replied the blonde as he reentered his room and closed the door.

Dash transformed back into her real form and gave him a reassuring smile. "At least your teacher wants to try and make it up to you."

"Yea… Hey Dash, can you have the others reverse summon me again?"

"What for?"

"Something tells me that I'm gonna need some more tricks up my sleeve for the next test… Plus, I want to know if Celestia or Luna know what these are," he explained as he struggled to summon the chains he created earlier. Dash looked at the chains in wonder before she nodded and disappeared in a burst of smoke. Not even five minutes later, Naruto did the same.

[Central Tower Indoor Arena (Four Days Later)]

Naruto stood next to the remaining Genin as they waited for Anko to finish the Second Test. Teams 7-10 and Kabuto's Team had passed for Konoha, Gaara's Team had passed for Suna, and the Oto Team for their village.

The blonde rubbed his arms as he remembered the training Celestia gave him for his Chakra Chains. The alicorn knew exactly what they were and helped him figure out how to summon and utilize them more fluently. Luna helped as well by firing many blasts of Meiton (Dark Element) chakra at him to have him ignore outside distractions and focus.

After Naruto had informed the ponies of what happened in the Forest of Death, they were disappointed with his teammates and Applejack was a few seconds short of having Naruto summon her so that she could mule kick them into next year. Luckily, depending on who you asked, Naruto was able to calm her down and tell the mares what he planned to do after the test. They were quick to support his decision; Rarity though did so after lecturing him about taking better care of his clothing.

Another thing he did during his four days rest was enjoy a Congratulatory Party that was thrown for him by Pinkie; something he thanked her for with a grateful hug since he had never had anyone throw him any kind of celebration before. He was able to enjoy himself and have fun for the first time in a long time, and it made the pink mare happy to help him do so.

Dash had stuck to Naruto like glue after their little episode in the forest. She had grown incredibly fond of the teen and was able to easily call him a friend. She even followed him out of the Summon Realm and disguised herself as her necklace form so that she could stay close to him.

The blonde was able to place seals on each of the ponies as well during his stay. The seals were connected to one he had on the back of his neck, which allowed them to communicate with one another mentally. However, it couldn't work across realms, but it was still incredibly useful.

He was brought out of his reminiscing by Anko announcing, "Well brats, you have passed the Second Exam! So, we'll immediately move on to the next test…or at least the event that will weed out the weaker links."

"What are you talking about?" asked Ino with a frown. "Some of us just got here and are barely standing!"

"Not our problem!" retorted the Tokubetsu Jonin. "You knew what you were getting into when you signed up for these Exams! Now, we will be having what is known as Preliminary Bouts to cut down the numbers some more. Too many of you have passed, so we need to weed out some more of you." She then looked at the twenty-one Genin with a scrutinizing gaze, looking for anyone that seemed to be at risk due to their injuries. "However, from here on out you no longer have to worry about how your actions affect your team's future. It's every Genin for his or herself. So, if there are any of you who think they can't continue, speak up and tell us now or else shut up and stay put."

Only one 'Genin' raised his hand; Kabuto. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he felt a negative aura from him. The silver haired teen was allowed to leave, which meant that there were a total of twenty Genin remaining.

"Twenty, huh? That means that we'll be having a total of ten matches and ten maximum Genin for the Finals," Anko murmured to herself as a part of the wall behind her moved aside to show a screen. She spoke louder as she explained, "This device will be what decides your fate! The first two Genin who will have their preliminary match will be…"

Two rows of names randomly shuffled on the screen with a large "VS." in between them both, the Genin, their Jonin sensei, and the Sandaime who was there to watch the prelims stood and looked intently at the screen as the first two names revealed themselves. The result left many of them in shock.

On the screen, it read, "Uchiha Sasuke vs. Hyuuga Neji."

(End)

And that was chapter three! I hope that you all are enjoying it so far! Please read, review, and ask any questions! I'll be sure to answer all that I can! ^_^

Next Time: The Preliminary Matches have begun! Who will fight?! Who will win?! Stay Tuned!

pain17ification

Preliminaries

Hello FIMfiction! This is pain17ification continuing "Kouma Shōkan".

Please note: pain17ification doesn't own anything except for the story idea

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

[Mental Speech]

"Bijuu/Techniques"

'Higher Being Thoughts'

(Translations and Notes)

[Scene Shift]

Chapter 4: Prelims

Naruto stood next to Kakashi and Sakura as he stared down at the two Genin about to take part in their Preliminary Battle; Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Neji. His crystal blue eyes focused on nothing else but the two Top Rookies of their years; Neji being the Top Rookie a year before Sasuke was.

"Your Genin may be of a renowned clan, Kakashi," began Neji's sensei Might Gai, "but Neji is much more experienced as a fighter."

It was no secret that Gai and Kakashi had a long standing rivalry between one another. Seeing their most recognized students going against one another was just another way to see which of the two Jonin was better.

"That may be, but Sasuke has been known to surprise people, Gai," retorted the masked Jonin with his patented eye-smile. "We'll just have to wait and see what happens."

Anko stood between the two Genin and smirked at the glares they were giving one another. "Alright, let's get this fight underway! Ready…begin!" she yelled before she moved out of their way.

The two jumped back simultaneously and launched shuriken at one another at high speed. The ninja stars clashed against each other, the ringing of metal filling the room, before they rushed each other with kunai drawn. Both of them activated their respective dojutsu as they met in the center of the arena, their knives meeting in a flash of sparks.

While they each had one hand holding the kunai they were using, they both tried to strike their opponent with their free hand. Sasuke went for a fierce punch while Neji went for a jab with two fingers. Only the Jonin, Hinata, and Neji's teammates saw the significance of the jab and they all cringed as Neji's arm seemed to snake around the Uchiha's arm and strike him on the bicep.

They both pushed away from each other while Sasuke held his aching arm and Neji smirked. "What the hell?" asked the Uchiha in confusion as the pain didn't subside in the slightest. "What did you do to me?"

"Your chakra point on your arm… I struck it with my own chakra and forcefully cut it off from your chakra network. The pain your feeling is the chakra trying desperately to flow even with the new 'roadblock'. There's a reason why we Hyuuga are more feared than the Uchiha, and you're experiencing it now. Who would go against someone who could cut you off from your chakra with the slightest of taps?"

Sasuke growled as he tried to ignore the pain and assumed his taijutsu stance. Meanwhile, Sakura was asking about the Hyuuga and was being informed about them by Kakashi, Gai, and Rock Lee. Naruto only half paid attention since he kept on feeling a tingle in the back of his mind, warning him of ill intent in the area. His eyes scanned the room, trying to see who would cause him to worry so much, before they passed Sasuke and the feeling grew.

His eyes narrowed as the feeling seemed to originate from Sasuke's left shoulder, confusing the Uzumaki greatly. The tingle in his mind pulsed every few seconds right after he felt it pulse from Sasuke's shoulder. 'What the hell could be causing this feeling? What is Sasuke hiding on his shoulder?'

Back to the fight, Sasuke was trying to keep his distance after being struck a couple more times by Neji; twice in his arms and once in his leg when he went for a kick. His hands weaved through handseals, focusing his chakra from its core to his lungs, before he held his hand to his mouth and released his jutsu. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball)!"

From the Uchiha's lips came a fireball wide enough to burn three people standing side-by-side. Neji's eyes narrowed as he didn't have any techniques to counter the flaming sphere. So, he focused chakra into his legs and leaped over the fireball. However, Sasuke saw Neji's intentions with his Sharingan and was already in the air with his fist cocked back. Neji wasn't expecting the Uchiha to be there, but he was able to raise his arms for a weak block against Sasuke's punch.

The strike pushed Neji back to the ground, but the Hyuuga was able to recover and land on his feet. But Sasuke wasn't done and he launched another jutsu. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu (Phoenix Sage Fire)!" A cluster of small fireballs shot from the Genin's mouth, each forcing Neji to jump out of harm's way. While the fireballs tried to strike Neji, Sasuke pulled out a folded windmill shuriken and unfurled it before he threw it with all of his might.

Neji dodged the last fireball just in time to see the large shuriken coming at him. His eyes narrowed and he leaped over the shuriken and smirked as he looked back and saw it stab into the wall behind him.

"Neji, look out!" Higurashi Tenten, his other teammate, called out to him.

The Hyuuga turned back to Sasuke and instinctively jumped to his side to avoid whatever threat was approaching. A sudden plume of smoke clouded his vision and the next thing he knew was intense force striking him from under his chin and launching him into the air.

From the smoke, Sasuke was seen crouched low with his leg in an upward kicking position, much like Neji's taijutsu-using teammate. He then disappeared in a blur and reappeared behind the Hyuuga who looked back with a scowl.

"Typical Uchiha; unable to fight without using the skills of others," he stated while Sasuke held two fingers against his back.

"While it's true that the first kick was someone else's, from here on it's all original!" He then lashed out with a kick, but Neji blocked it with his forearm and smirked. However, Sasuke smirked as well as he used the blocking arm to help him spin in midair and appear above the Hyuuga with punch to his chest. He then continued his spin and kicked his face, forcing the Hyuuga's body to have his torso become more exposed. With a final spin, Sasuke slammed the heel of his foot against Neji's stomach and into the ground beneath them with a cry of, "Shishsi Rendan (Lion Combo)!"

Neji's mouth was agape with a silent scream of pain as the wind was knocked completely out of his lungs and the force of Sasuke's kick made him cough out blood with the air. Sasuke stumbled back slightly as he tried to fight off the fatigue his body was feeling at the combo he pulled off.

Anko saw that Neji wasn't getting up and gestured to Sasuke. "The winner is Uchiha Sasuke!"

Most of the Genin of the Leaf were speechless at Sasuke's win, especially Team Gai, but the silence was cut as Sakura cried out happily for Sasuke's victory. Ino was quick to follow while Kakashi just gave another eye smile. Naruto was silent, but he couldn't help but see the fight as interesting and knew that Sasuke worked hard for that win.

"Now, for the next match…" Anko said as the board shuffled through names again. When it stopped, the Tokubetsu Jonin called out, "The second match will be between Abumi Zaku and Akamichi Choji."

The medics had just finished taking Neji to the infirmary while fixing up Sasuke on the arena floor as the next two combatants stepped down to the arena floor. Sasuke made his way to his team where his sensei and Sakura congratulated him. His eyes turned to Naruto who merely gave him a blank look before he looked back down to the arena.

[The Uchiha really had to push himself for that win,] Dash said to Naruto through their mental link.

'Yes he did… Neji wasn't an easy fight and I have no doubt that Sasuke is still feeling the sting of those earlier strikes.'

[Who do you think you'll end up facing?]

'No idea… I just have to wait I suppose,' answered the blonde as he saw the match begin and Choji increase his size with the Baika no Jutsu (Multi-Size Technique), making him look like a giant ball with hands, feet, and a small head.

Zaku smirked at this and called out, "What do you know? The fat ass made himself fatter!"

As he laughed at his own joke, many of the Genin cringed as they saw Choji become enraged at being called one of the most hated words of his clan. With a roar, he pulled his limbs and head tight against his body and began to roll forward at incredible speed for something his current size. "Nikudan Sensha (Human Bullet Tank)!" cried the Akamichi as his rolling form tore up the arena floor.

Zaku never lost his smirk as he held out his hands in front of him with his palms facing forward. Some of the shinobi in the balconies were able to see small holes in his palms with tube-like openings filling them. "Let's see you handle this; Zankūha (Decapitating Airwaves)!"

From the openings, highly compressed blasts of air were fired, halting the rolling mass in its tracks; though it still rolled in place. Zaku's smirk turned positively bloodthirsty as he shifted the output from his tubings. The air being blasted was a mix of air and sound waves, resulting in the blast being formed. However, he was able to change the output at will if he wished.

'Alright… Take away the air and make it 100% sound!'

Suddenly, the blast shifted and a horrible screeching sound was heard throughout the arena. Those with sensitive hearing covered their ears at the sound while Akamaru whined in pain. However, Choji was given the full brunt of the screeching and it was amplified by his increased size. The water in his body was acting like an amplifier for the screeching and it rushed to his ears without abandon.

The result was the Akamichi forcibly dispelling his technique and falling unconscious with his ears leaking blood. Zaku stopped the technique when he saw this and grinned at his downed opponent. "Guess it's true; the bigger they are, the harder they fall," he commented with a bark of laughter.

Anko gave Choji a pitying glance and called out, "The winner is Abumi Zaku!"

Team 10 looked on sadly as Choji was carried out to the infirmary on a stretcher. Shikamaru's eyes narrowed at Zaku for what he did to his best friend and the usually lazy Genin actually found the desire to do something. And that something was getting back at Zaku for what he did.

"The next match will be between Kinuta Dosu and Inuzuka Kiba!" Anko called out while mentally checking this match off in favor of the Oto Genin. It was no secret that the Inuzuka had heightened senses of smell and hearing, and facing a sound user with an increased sense of hearing was a sure-fire way to lose.

She was proven correct when the match proved to be the shortest one yet. All Dosu did was pull out a kunai and drag the blade across his melody arm, making it sound like the scratching of a chalkboard multiplied by ten. Kiba and Akamaru were down before they could even pull off a jutsu.

"The winner is Kinuta Dosu!" called out the purple haired proctor.

Naruto shook his head in pity at Kiba's match. True it meant one less competitor, but Kiba at least deserved a chance to fight back. 'It looks like his family's strength became his biggest weakness…'

[Geez… What a way to go…] Dash commented and Naruto imagined her shaking her head in pity.

"The next match will be between Subaku no Kankuro and Tsurugi Misumi!" called out Anko as the two Genin made their way down.

[Unknown Location]

A certain silver haired 'Genin' walked through the torch lit halls of a hidden bunker as he made his way to his master. He fixed his glasses as he walked with a smirk on his face, making those who passed him avoid his gaze.

When he made his way to an open room, he kneeled and bowed his head to his lord. "Everything is going according to plan, Orochimaru-sama."

A dark chuckle echoed through the room as snake-like yellow eyes bore down on his most loyal subordinate. "Excellent… I take it Sasuke-kun is advancing to the finals?"

"Yes, my lord. He was able to prevail against the elder Hyuuga Genin in the preliminaries."

Orochimaru gave a cruel grin at that, but it faltered slightly when he saw the confused look on Kabuto's face. "Something on your mind, Kabuto?"

"No, my lord… At least I'm not sure if it's worth mentioning or not." When Orochimaru motioned for him to continue, the silver haired man said, "I'm mainly curious as to why you allowed Uzumaki to live… I understand that he is needed for Sasuke to advance, but you could have easily fooled the others with a clone in his likeliness."

"So, you're confused as to why I did not do that and let him live…" Kabuto nodded, making Orochimaru smirk. "Truly, Kabuto, you have a keen mind but even the simplest things can escape you at times."

"My lord…?"

"This is a golden opportunity, Kabuto," the snake man declared as he stood and began to pace the floor slowly. "An opportunity to see an Uzumaki go farther than Lady Mito ever did. She was held back by her ties to Konoha and her husband, but Naruto…" He chuckled darkly as a gleam appeared in his eyes. "Naruto has nothing holding him here. His family is dead, the man he trusts has lied to him for his entire life, and anyone else he cares for won't be an issue unless they try and stop him. He already has an extensive knowledge of the sealing arts, has a tremendous amount of chakra, the Kyuubi to call upon, and lastly his mother's famous Chakra Chains." His gleaming eyes turned to Kabuto while his smirk turned into a fanged grin. "Imagine…if we were able to persuade him to join our cause. While I wouldn't be able to possess his body, I could always do so to any child he sires so long as they do not receive the Kyuubi."

Realization dawned on Kabuto. "So, you let him live to see if he's worth recruiting; if he's worthy of his clan's name and heritage…"

Another dark chuckle echoed through the room as Orochimaru sat back down on his throne. "Precisely…" he practically hissed as the gleam never left his eyes.

[Central Tower (Arena)]

"The winner is Subaku no Kankuro!" called out Anko as said Genin made his puppet let go of the now dead Misumi. Many of the Genin couldn't help but cringe at the brutality of the win since they had never seen someone have so many of their bones broken…in a single moment.

"The fifth match will be between Hyuuga Hinata and Haruno Sakura!"

Said kunoichi both made their way down to the arena. While Sakura was confident in her ability to win, Hinata seemed incredibly nervous. Naruto couldn't help but think that Fluttershy put Hinata to shame in confidence. At least the pegasus was able to talk without a stutter and even willed herself to hug him when they first met.

He couldn't help but sigh and shake his head as the fight started and Hinata appeared to doubt every decision she made while Sakura attacked with a mixture of basic Bunshin (Clones) and shuriken. Hinata was able to evade the ninja stars, but she was so worried about which Sakura was the real one that she forgot to activate her bloodline.

"C'mon, you can't be this weak can you?" taunted Sakura, making a few of the Genin scowl slightly. Sure, Sakura was named Top Kunoichi of their year, but Hinata was from a high standing clan and could easily push back Sakura. However, they all knew of her incredibly passive and timid nature.

Surprisingly, it was a normally quiet Genin who spoke up. "Hinata… You can do this. You may see yourself as a weak caterpillar, but you have the makings of a noble butterfly. Now, prove that to us here and now."

Every Konoha Genin looked to Shino in shock at his words. While he may not have yelled out to her, his words easily broke through the sounds of the fight. Hinata was the most surprised. She knew that Shino was always looking out for her, but she never knew he believed in her so much.

Determination filled her eyes as she finally activated her dojutsu and entered her clan's famous taijutsu stance. "I-I won't run away; not anymore," she softly declared as she finally took the offensive and charged Sakura. Her eyes easily saw through the Bunshin that Sakura sent at her and she continued to advance on the pinkette who was looking more and more worried by the second. Hinata finally got into her guard and hit the girl's stomach with an open palm interlaced with chakra.

The result was Sakura being blown back a few feet and sent tumbling. The pinkette tried to stand back up, but the pain was so intense and she had some trouble regaining her breath.

Anko saw that Sakura was done and gave the Hyuuga a smirk. "Not bad, girly… Not bad at all. The winner is Hyuuga Hinata!"

Yuhi Kurenai, her Jonin sensei, and Shino bother applauded for Hinata as she made her way back up to the balconies. As they congratulated her, Anko called out the next match.

"Match Six will be between Nara Shikamaru and Higurashi Tenten!"

The lazy Genin sighed in annoyance. "Great, I get to fight a girl… Troublesome…"

Tenten took offense to that and called out to him from the floor. "Hey, get your lazy ass down here so that I could kick it all the way into next week!"

Shika just muttered his clan's famous catchphrase once again as he made his way down. However, while it looked like he was simply complaining to many of the spectators, his mind was working at full force in hopes of coming up with a strategy. 'It looks like there isn't anything to take cover behind, so weapons won't be hindered. There's an artificial light source, so our shadow output is a constant. However, her skill set is still unknown at the moment so I have no idea what to expect for now.'

"Alright, let the sixth match begin!" Anko yelled as she moved out of the way.

Tenten was the first to attack as she jumped back and pulled out a storage scroll. She unrolled it, having the seal point at Shikamaru, and poured some of her chakra into it. The seal lit up and began to fire volley after volley of various weapons ranging from typical shuriken and kunai to small sickles and senbon.

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed at the attack and he quickly moved around the arena while throwing his own shuriken at the weapons he knew he couldn't dodge. He kept his eyes on Tenten though in case she tried to blindside him. However, the girl just kept on using ranged weapons and nothing else.

"Talk about a one trick pony," he muttered, though many people heard him and a certain pegasus took offense to it.

[Oh, he did NOT just say that! He had better hope that he doesn't meet me…] she growled as his comment got under her skin.

'Calm down, Dash… He's just annoyed and used the saying that came to him first. He wasn't insulting you or the others.'

Dash just huffed in annoyance and stayed quiet as the arena floor was slowly being covered in the many weapons. Shika, now covered in many cuts and having a few senbon stabbed into him, finally decided to take the offensive and threw a flash bomb at Tenten. The resulting flash hit the metallic sheen of the many weapons, increasing the glare of it all while Shikamaru held his hands in a seal. "Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession)!" he cried while Tenten was forced to shield her eyes. Due to the increase in light, Shika's shadow was able to quickly attach itself to the weapon user's, trapping her in place. He then moved his body to grab a weapon, forcing Tenten's to move the same way, and had her grab one of her own kunai. As he made her hold it to her throat, he said, "Give up, or else I'll have you slit your own throat."

Tenten growled in annoyance before she reluctantly called out, "I yield…"

"The winner is Nara Shikamaru!" called out Anko as the lazy Genin made his way back up and Tenten picked up her many weapons with Lee and Gai helping her. When the arena floor was clear, Anko declared, "The next match will be between Aburame Shino and Tsuchi Kin!"

The two Genin made their way down and stared at one another as Anko called the match to start. Shino merely stood there and kept his shaded gaze locked onto Kin's, unnerving her slightly. Soon, a growing sound was heard throughout the arena as dark 'clouds' appeared out of Shino's sleeves. When they appeared, the sound was revealed to be the buzzing of many insects and realization dawned on Kin.

"Those bugs are coming from you!"

"Correct… My clan has each of their members act like a living hive where our insects live and feed off of our chakra to grow. In return, they assist us in our endeavors."

Kin's eyes narrowed as she pulled out some senbon with small bells on them and threw them at the bug user. Shino was able to easily evade them and noticed the ninja wire on each of them, but he wasn't worried. When Kin pulled the wire and made the bells ring, she expected the bug user to experience vertigo and fogginess of the mind.

But Shino stood there unmoving and with no signs of being affected. "While your tactic is good for a Genin, you looked over a crucial detail; the buzzing of my insects has nullified your bells. As a result, your bells' tones have not reached my ears and they won't so long as my insects keep buzzing. You also never noticed the insects now surrounding you."

Kin immediately looked down and saw many insects clinging to her sandals before they crawled onto her legs and began making their way all over her body. She tried to swipe them off, but they just kept coming and relentlessly covered her form.

"Surrender or else they will suck your chakra dry," stated the Aburame.

Kin glared at him before she hung her head in defeat and nodded, making Anko call out, "The winner is Aburame Shino!"

As soon as the words were announced, Shino called back his insects and the two Genin made their way back up to the balconies. The board shuffled through the names of the remaining six Genin before it stopped on two names that made some of the Genin gasp.

"The eighth match will be between Rock Lee and Subaku no Gaara!"

Gaara was quick to appear on the ground in a swirl of sand while Lee flipped over the railing and onto the ground. He assumed a stance where one arm was behind his back and the other was raised in front of him with the palm facing upwards. He stood straight with no bending of the knees, making some of the Genin doubt the usefulness of the stance.

Lee suddenly swiped his front hand and caught the cork of the gourd that Gaara carried on his back. "Don't be so impatient, Gaara-san. The match hasn't even begun yet."

Naruto stared down at them with his eyes narrowed at Gaara. He sensed something from the redhead Genin, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He also felt a tug on his mind, and he tried to ignore it. However, as soon as Anko called for the match to start, the strongest tug was felt and his consciousness delved deep into his subconscious.

The first thing he noticed was the sound of water dripping down onto a larger source of it. His eyes opened and he saw that he was standing in ankle-deep water in some large hallway. Pipes ran along the ceiling, making it look like he was in the lower levels of a large building or even a sewer.

A whisper of his name was heard coming from the direction he was facing, but it felt cold; malicious even. He couldn't help but want to stay away from it and turned to face the other way. This path felt cold as well, but it wasn't a foreboding type of cold. No, this cold felt natural like a very cool breeze…or snow.

His eyes narrowed at that and he made to take a step toward the colder path. However, as soon as he raised his foot, he felt his body being pulled towards the more malicious feeling while his foot was being dragged through the water. He felt the pull was strongest around his stomach and looked at it, only to see that a crimson colored energy was stretching out of it and pulling him along the path.

When the pulling finally stopped, he fell to his knees from the momentum shift and heard a deep breathing. He looked up and saw a set of incredibly large steel-barred gates with a tag on it that had the kanji for "Seal" written on it.

"Wait a minute…" he murmured as he stood to his feet and kept his gaze on the seal tag. "This place is-"

He was interrupted by a crimson orb with a black slit in the middle of it appearing out of the darkness behind the gate followed by a second one. The breathing he heard before grew louder as the eyes seemed to come closer. When they got close to the gates, the furred face of a towering fox was seen, with the body following soon after.

The fur was a deep orange while its ears seemed longer than normal foxes. Its eyes and lips were outlined in pitch black fur, enhancing the gleaming white teeth and blood colored eyes. Its upper torso looked human in shape with its forepaws having opposable claws that acted like thumbs. To finish it off, the feeling of malice and anger coming off the fox was palpable and the blonde felt that just breathing it in would affect his thoughts.

"...the seal," the Uzumaki finally finished.

The fox narrowed its eyes at the blonde and lowered its head to get a closer look at him. As soon as the lower part of its jaw was level with the teen's, it spoke. "So, you've come at last… You sure took your time…"

Its voice was deep and almost whispery, making the blonde unconsciously shiver. "Trust me; I wasn't planning on coming at all… I was forced to come here and talk to you…Kyuubi."

"I know… I was the one who pulled you into your subconscious. It's time we spoke…face to face."

"Why do you think I'd want to talk to you? You killed my parents, you attacked Konoha, and the lives of my mother and ancestor were ruined out of fear of your power."

The fox's eyes narrowed at the blonde's words. "You speak as if I personally did all of those things. True, I did kill your parents and attacked your pathetic village, but I didn't ruin their lives; the other villagers did out of their own fear. And besides…what makes you think I just up and decided to attack your village? Better yet, how do you think I was removed from your mother in the first place?"

Naruto grit his teeth in frustration at the fox's questions. "How the hell should I know? What if you're just lying to make me trust you?!"

The Kyuubi roared at him, the wind being pushed against him by its force, and yelled, "I couldn't care less if I have your trust or not, you foolish whelp! I am merely telling you that things are not as they may seem!" The fox then calmed itself and continued, "Your mother and Mito wouldn't have removed me on their own unless they had no other option. Mito was the only one who did when she transferred my power to you. As for Kushina… My freedom from her was more…forceful."

Blue eyes narrowed at that. "What do you mean by more 'forceful'?"

"Another time… Perhaps when you're away from outside distractions like your teacher trying to get your attention."

"What are you-?"

His question was interrupted as he was forced back into the focus of the 'real' world and saw that Lee was being pulled out on a stretch while his left leg and arm looked crushed and covered in blood. Gaara looked banged up as well, but it wasn't nearly as bad as Lee.

'What the hell did I miss?' thought the blonde in shock.

[You weren't paying attention?]

'No… My mind was…elsewhere at the moment.'

[Well, Lee wasn't able to use ninjutsu or genjutsu since his chakra network is apparently too messed up to fix. So, he focused on taijutsu and was actually pushing Gaara back; he even landed a clean punch on the guy! But then Gaara was revealed to have – not only an automatic defense of shifting sand – but a skin-level layer of sand armor that absorbed many of Lee's attacks.]

'So, how did Lee do all of that damage to Gaara?'

[He opened something called the Celestial Gates… I didn't get the details, but I saw that it increased his physical ability WAY above the peak level and his skin even turned red! He then moved so fast that I was barely able to see them clearly and went for a finishing blow. But…]

'But it ended up not being enough to win and Lee was open for a counterattack that crushed his leg and arm…' finished the blonde.

[Yea…]

"Naruto, are you there?" asked Kakashi as he waved his hand in front of the blonde's face. When Naruto grabbed it to make him stop, Kakashi said, "I've been trying to get your attention for about three minutes. You're up next."

The Uzumaki looked down to the arena floor and saw that his opponent was the blonde kunoichi from the Suna Team. She had a look of impatience on her face and he quickly jumped over the railing down to the floor.

Anko smirked at him and asked, "Was the last match really that amazing that you were left speechless, gaki?"

Naruto just gave her a slightly annoyed look, but she took it in stride and just grinned at him. "Can we just start the match now, Anko-san?"

"Yea yea, keep your pants on, Blondie. The seventh match will now begin!"

As soon as she jumped away from them, the two blondes moved away from one another and Naruto pulled out a kunai and seal tag while Temari removed the large item from her back. She opened it slightly, revealing that it was a very large fan, and swung it at him.

The effect of the swing was an instant release of a galling wind that forced the Uzumaki to brace himself to stay up. As he braced himself, he wrapped the seal around his kunai and activated it, making chakra surround it and stretch past the knife blade to the length of a ninjato. He took a few practice swings with it before he held it in a reverse grip and stood with his knees bent and his blade behind his back in his right hand. In his left was another seal tag, which made Temari narrow her eyes.

'So, he specializes in fuinjutsu… This could be a problem since I have no idea what these seals will do unless he activates them.'

She decided to force the Konoha blonde to stay a good distance with her fan pushing him back whenever he got close. So, she just had to wait for him to make a move.

Naruto pumped chakra into his legs and rushed at Temari in hopes of reaching her before she swinger her fan. The two stood a distance of forty-five feet away from each other and his speed easily covered twenty-five feet before she made to swing at him. His eyes narrowed as he dropped the seal tag in his hand and jumped to the side to avoid the blast of wind.

He was crouched on one knee after his dodge while he saw the seal tag he dropped light up faintly. He then thought over his opponent's attack as she stood and waited for him to move. 'It looks like her fan only pushes the wind in one direction… I can use that to my advantage.'

With a plan slowly forming in his mind, he held his hands in a cross seal and summoned forth twenty clones while he used the smoke created by their appearance to quickly make a new seal tag. As the clones rushed at the Suna blonde, he had finished the tag and placed it on one of his rushing clones.

Temari opened her fan up to its second 'star' and swung at the clones, sending forth a gale of wind that had small wind blades mixed in with it. The clones hit by the blades of wind were instantly dispelled while the others used chakra to stick their feet to the ground and kept advancing. The Suna kunoichi's eyes narrowed as she jumped back and swung her fan downward, sending wind crashing downward on the clones while she rode on top of her fan and glided over them toward the one she assumed was the original.

Naruto's clones were forced down by the downward wind, but one was able to reach the seal tag that the original had dropped around the beginning of the match. He stuck the seal to his palm and pointed the writing at Temari with the kanji giving a bright green glow.

"Temari, behind you!" called out Kankuro, making said kunoichi turn to look behind her just in time to see her own technique being fired at her from a seal tag. She maneuvered herself in midair to have the flat side of her open fan take the brunt of the attack, but this forced her to leave her form exposed on the other side.

As a result, the clone that the original placed a seal on before jumped toward her while the original held up a half ram seal. "Fuinjutsu: Bakahatsu Fuiin (Sealing Art: Explosion Seal)!"

The seal tag shined a fierce red before it exploded and pushed Temari back with its force. She tumbled a little while her fan flew out of her hands. As she struggled to stand, Naruto had a chain poke out of his right wrist before he moved at full chakra-enhanced speed and began to circle the kunoichi, unknowingly doing the same thing Lee did to Gaara in their fight.

She was finally able to stand back to her feet and braced herself for any attack on her person, but Naruto wasn't known as unpredictable for no reason. As soon as he saw she was up, he had the chain stab itself into the ground and 'uncoil' as he moved around Temari repeatedly. With each run around her, the chain fell around her in a circle, but she was more focused on waiting for him to strike her. Because of this, she was unprepared for Naruto to suddenly have the chain stop 'uncoiling', which forced it to pull tight against her form and hold her in place.

He pulled his arm back forcefully, making the chain squeeze her slightly and causing her to groan in pain. "Give up," he ordered as he held up another seal tag. "This seal is meant to send an electrical current into whatever it's touching, and I'm sure you realize how conductive this chain is…" Temari glared fiercely at him as he repeated, "Give up… Unless you prefer that I shock you into unconsciousness?"

The Suna kunoichi kept glaring at him and he slowly moved the seal tag next to the chain before she relented. "Alright, you win! I give up…"

Anko grinned at the Uzumaki for his unique way of fighting as she called out, "The winner is Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto nodded and flexed his wrist, making the chain quickly 'coil' back into his arm. The fact that the chain went inside of his arm shocked many of the shinobi present, especially Kakashi and Sarutobi, but Naruto ignored their looks in favor of returning to the stands.

He paid no attention to the last fight between Yamanaka Ino and Akado Yoroi and mentally conversed with his pegasus friend. 'So, how did I do?'

[Not bad at all, Blondie… I'm impressed with how quick you can think up plans on the fly. That could save your life one day.]

'Thanks… But, I need more training… I can't always rely on my seals, clones, and chains. I need more variety in my skills.'

[We'll go back to Ponyville after these Preliminaries are over. Maybe Celestia or Luna could come up with something.]

'Yea… Maybe…'

"The winner is Yamanaka Ino due to Yoroi forfeiting the fight!"

Naruto refocused on the now finished fight and saw 'Yoroi' make a seal while a seemingly unresponsive Ino suddenly perked up and cried out in victory. 'She must've used her clan's mind related jutsu to win. Not a bad strategy, but it won't always work for her.'

The Genin who won were then called down to pick a number, which would then tell them where they stood in the finals of the Chunin Exams.

The resulting numbers and fights ended up being:

Aburame Shino (#1) vs. Abumi Zaku (#2)

Yamanaka Ino (#3) vs. Subaku no Kankuro (#4)

Nara Shikamaru (#5) vs. Uchiha Sasuke (#6)

Kinuta Dosu (#7) vs. Hyuuga Hinata (#8)

Subaku no Gaara (#9) vs. Uzumaki Naruto (#10)

Many of the Genin looked to Naruto in slight worry when they saw who his opponent was, but the blonde merely turned to his redheaded future opponent and the two narrowed their eyes at one another.

'No question about it; I need more training if I'm going to face him,' thought Naruto as the Genin were excused from the Central Tower and escorted out of the Forest of Death.

After a month of last minute training, they would meet back at Konoha Stadium for the Chunin Exam Finals.

(End)

And that was chapter four! I hope that you all are enjoying it so far! Please review and ask any questions! I'll be sure to answer what I can! ^_^

Next Time: The month of training uncovers new abilities for a certain blonde! What will he discover?! Stay Tuned!

pain17ification

At Long Last

Hello FimFiction! This is pain17ification starting my Naruto/Ponies idea, “Kouma Shōkan”, otherwise known as “Pony Summoner”. I have this posted on FanFiction, but a reviewer asked me to post it here too!

Please note: pain17ification doesn't own anything except for the story idea

“Speech”

‘Thoughts’

“Bijuu/Techniques”

‘Higher Being Thoughts’

(Translations and Notes)

[Scene Shift]

Chapter 1: At Long Last…

Inside a hidden shack outside of the village Konoha, a blonde teen dressed in an orange jumpsuit sat in silence and tranquility. He felt at home here in this tiny shack, away from the village and the scornful and simple-minded villagers. In truth, the blonde pitied the villagers for their naïveté in concerns to shinobi affairs and village “secrets”.

He scoffed at the last thought. Secrets… It was no secret that he was despised by the adult villagers and that they were doing everything they could to make the younger generation hate him as well. Years ago, the Sandaime Hokage – a wise, but at the same time foolish man – placed a law in regards to the blonde’s…condition. The law stated that mentioning his condition was punishable by death.

Of course, like all laws, the people found ways around it. They didn’t speak of his condition, but that didn’t stop them from hinting at it or lying about the blonde to keep the hatred for him strong. And the children of these hateful adults listened to their parents without question…like sheep trusting their shepherd without a second thought.

He sighed tiredly at his life so far. At this point, the people who treated him like a person was only a handful at best; the Sandaime, the father-daughter chef duo, two or three Jonin, and possibly a couple of Genin. At most, the total was around ten. At least, it was around four or five.

Hardly anything in a village totaling in the thousands, if not hundred thousands…

The teen shook his head to prevent his mind from going down that depressing road once again. He’d walked down it far too many times to even care anymore and had finally decided to ignore those who scorn him. He also made a point to visit this shack every day; his home away from home. No one knew of it, or at least he believed no one else did.

In truth, the shack was actually a shrine for a lost clan; his clan. The clan was once a village that was allied with Konoha before it was destroyed by a joint assault from two of the five main villages.

How did he know this? He read it in a journal; but not just any journal. No, this journal was written and owned by a member of the clan that was alive long after the passing of the Shodaime Hokage. The journal he had in his hand once belonged to Uzumaki Mito, his ancestor and wife of the late Shodaime.

For nearly two years, he had spent an hour or so a day reading and rereading the journal so that he could see what life in Konoha was like for the famous Uzumaki. He was currently on his fourth reread of the journal to date.

“It’s been so long since Hashirama-kun passed. I’ve lost track of how long years ago and spend most of my days in our home watching the village grow and mature from the sapling that my husband planted into the budding tree it has become today.

Yet, I can't help but feel with each passing day that I am becoming more and more unwelcome here. The villagers who once looked to me with respect and kindness now look at me with veiled fear and distrust.

It escaped me for the first few years as to why this change had occurred. But I know the truth now. The Kyuubi I keep at bay is what they fear. Since the passing of Hashirama-kun, I have felt the negativity in the village grow with each passing week.

They fear that I will let the fox free now that the ‘only’ person who could control it is gone.

I cannot help but pity them for letting fear cloud their better instincts and judgment. I was capable of sealing the fox within me without any kind of drawback, but they don’t care. Hashirama-kun was capable of controlling all of the Bijuu with his infamous Mokuton, and the villagers are afraid that their ‘last defense’ against the fox being freed is gone.

I am counting down the days until I believe their fear will turn more hostile.”

The blonde sighed as he finished reading the passage. He carefully closed the aged journal and placed it neatly back in the shelf he found it on in the shrine. With a resigned expression, he made his way out of the shrine and back to the village. His team had their first C-Rank Mission today and he had to be ready.

Putting up his mask of naïveté and innocence, he made his way back to the village while mentally promising to return to the shrine as soon as he came back.

[Two Weeks Later]

The blonde walked into the shrine with a somber expression on his face. The mission had gone from bad to worse from the very beginning starting with the ambush against their client and the reveal of him lying to them. The rest of the mission just went downhill from there, but the biggest blow to his psyche was the girl he met seeing herself as nothing more than a tool; a weapon for a man who didn’t show he cared for her until she was gone from the world.

It hurt seeing the girl just throw away her life like that without any remorse only to have her sacrifice be in vain due to the man she saved getting himself killed as he tried to avenge her. The blonde had buried them on a hill overlooking the port village with regret as he kept thinking how things could've been different.

He could've helped them seek asylum in the village. He could've tried harder to convince the girl that her life was more than being a tool. He could've done a lot of things, but he didn’t. He had failed two people who could've turned a new leaf and started a fresh life.

His mind kept running over what he could've done while his body moved on autopilot and grabbed Mito’s journal from the shelf. When he opened the book, his mind finally stopped thinking over the mission in favor of rereading Mito’s thoughts.

“Kushina visited me again today. Such a sweet and spirited girl… She reminds me of how I used to be at her age. It pains my heart every time I think of how she may lose that free spiritedness when the fox is transferred from my body to hers. My time is nearing an end while hers is barely beginning.

A large part of me is very tempted to just let the fox reside in me as I pass on, but I know Hashirama-kun sacrificed so much for the fox to remain in Konoha. It seems petty and far too prideful in favor of the village to let this continue, but I can't help but want to honor my husband’s sacrifice. He was a good man and he always had the intentions of the people over his own. A good man; a good husband…

I have asked my friends to watch over Kushina and help her retain some aspect of love. It is something that I have noticed over the years I held the fox; love counters its hate and so long as the container has love, the hatred will stay locked away.

Celestia and Luna were more than happy to take upon m y request, but they need Kushina to summon the contract in order for them to aid her.

I still can't help but slap myself at the fact that I have forgotten where the contract resides. The one thing I believed I could do to help Kushina, and I don’t even have the necessities to do so. Kami-sama, have mercy on this foolish woman for her mistake and watch over Kushina-chan…

Heaven knows that she will need it for the life she will soon live.”

The blonde closed the journal with a sad sigh. When he first read that passage, he tried to look up information regarding Kushina, Celestia, or Luna. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful in finding anything about them. After weeks of searching, he finally figured that they were some kind of secret that only certain people were privy to know.

Even now, he still wonders who those three were. He knows that Kushina couldn't be alive since the Kyuubi now resides in his body, but that didn’t mean that Celestia or Luna were dead yet.

He looked out the shrine window and frowned at the darkening sky. It was late and he couldn't sleep here since the Hokage could have a need to contact him. So, he placed the book back and made his way back to his apartment, where an empty room full of loneliness awaited him.

[Two Days Later]

The blonde was seen leaning against a wall with the journal he was rereading on its last passage.

“My time has almost reached its end. I can feel the fox trying desperately to escape my weakening body. The transfer is set to happen this evening and I know that Kushina-chan is still afraid.

I had explained to her exactly what was going to happen the week before and she took it precisely as I predicted she would; fearful and panicked. Why wouldn’t she be? A cataclysmic creature is being placed into her and she is the only thing holding it back from escaping and causing mass mayhem. Of course she’d be afraid.

I worry for her… The other Uzumaki have left the village, leaving just me and Kushina-chan within its walls. She’ll be alone with no family to call upon and a burden fit for a village full of Jonin within her. Such a life I would not wish upon even my greatest enemy.

I tried finding that blasted scroll again, but I was once again unsuccessful. Even my friends – the ones I see as family – will be unable to assist her. My heart is breaking as I keep thinking of how her life will be in the village as the Kyuubi Jinchuriki and last remaining Uzumaki.

My time is nearly spent… I have but one last thing to write to whoever has found this. Remember that your family is everything. A village will always betray you eventually, but family stays loyal no matter what.

If you, my dear reader, are of my clan, then this lesson is our Clan’s Creed; family over pride, family over glory, family over all.

Never forget…”

The blonde had a hollow smile on his face as he closed the journal. If his Clan’s Creed was all about family loyalty, then where was his family? Why were he and this Kushina woman alone in the village without any of the family there to help them?

He sighed sadly as he made to return the book, but tripped on a loose floorboard. He fell towards the bookshelf and reached out to one of the many shelves to steady himself, but his hand grasped a scroll instead and he braced for the impact with the floor.

However, he met resistance…as if he was grasping a door or wall. He looked to his arm and saw it pulling on the scroll from the shelf. His head tilted in curiosity before he heard a loud and echoing click from behind the shelf.

Before his eyes, the shelf and the wall it leaned against spun around and revealed a hidden tunnel way that was lit by old torches. He slowly stood back to his feet and headed inside, noticing that the torches had seals on them that were most likely keeping them lit.

During his many visits to this shrine, he didn’t just read the journal. No, he also read and studied the many scrolls that went over lessons on fuinjutsu and was instantly amazed at how useful and diverse the art was. After two years of visiting the shrine, he believed that he was at an adept level, but he needed an experienced fuinjutsu user to examine his skill level.

As he made his way down the tunnel, he noticed that the air had gone from ancient and tranquil to inviting and warm. His curiosity was growing at the feeling as he finally entered a small rounded room with a single pedestal in the center that had a scroll and piece of paper on it. He approached the pedestal and read the paper that rested on the scroll.

“To the reader:

This scroll is a prized possession of the people that hail from the islands with swirling tides. If you are of this swirling clan, then open the scroll and claim what is yours by right. If you are not, then turn back or risk being lost to this world forever.”

“Islands with swirling tides…” murmured the blonde before the answer came to him. “The Uzumaki…”

Setting the paper aside, he grabbed the scroll and observed the design. The scroll itself was a dull yellow with the edges splashed with vibrant red in a wave-like design. He sat on the ground and opened the scroll, looking to the many Uzumaki who signed it; the most recent being Uzumaki Mito.

“This must be that scroll she tried to find,” he muttered to no one as he bit his thumb and began to sign the scroll.

After reading about Mito having a Summoning Scroll, the teen had asked the Sandaime about them. The aged Kage was happy to tell the boy the mechanics behind Summoning Contracts, Scrolls, and Animals. He told of how the scroll works, how each contract had a different sequence of seals, and how each summoning animal clan had different rules or guidelines for their summoners to follow.

Using the knowledge he was given, the blonde signed his name in his own blood before he placed a bloody handprint of his right palm underneath it.

Just as he finished, he felt a pull on his form before he disappeared in a plume of smoke.

[Summon Realm (moments before)]

In the throne room of a castle that rested on clouds, two creatures with having a calm discussion about the worrying news concerning their summoning race as of late.

The first had the appearance of a large white horse. However, it also had a pair of white wings and a horn on its head. The mane and tail of the horse was also strange; they were blue, green, purple, and pink and had a flowing motion even as it stood in place. On its flank was a mark in the design of the sun while it wore noble jewelry around its neck and on its head. Its bright purple eyes contained much wisdom, kindness, and authority.

The second creature was the same as the first but had many differences. For starters, the color of its coat, wings, and horn were a very dark, almost midnight, blue. The mane and tail had the colors of a clear night sky, complete with sparkles to represent the stars, and was translucent enough to see through it at some points. The mark on its flank was in the design of a white crescent moon and the jewelry it wore was near black in color with the one around the neck bearing the mark on its flank. Like the first, its dark blue eyes showed wisdom and authority, but the kindness seemed to be more regretful than anything.

These two were Celestia and Luna, the Head Summons of the Uzumaki Clan’s Summoning Contract. They were known as alicorns; horses with the wings of pegasi and the horns of unicorns.

“We are running out of time, my sister,” Luna stated in a sorrowful tone. “After Mito’s passing, we have lost all contact with the outside world. Soon our contract will vanish.”

Celestia nodded with a slight frown. “Indeed… This is a most troubling time. If an Uzumaki doesn’t find our contract soon, we will no longer be considered summoning creatures and will be forced to leave our realm and live amongst the humans in their realm; much like the dragons were forced to years ago.”

Luna gazed out the window of their castle with a sense of fading hope. “What should we tell our people?”

The white alicorn sighed and was about to speak before the two felt a tug on their minds and turned their heads to the scroll on the wall next to them so quick that they could've suffered whiplash. On the scroll, underneath Mito’s name, they saw a name start to slowly appear.

“Uzumaki…” Luna began.

“…Naruto,” Celestia finished in slight shock as the name was then accompanied by a handprint. As soon as it was there, Celestia turned to her sister and they both nodded before they focused their power on the scroll.

“Onmyōton: Gyaku Kuchiyose (Yin-Yang Release: Reverse Summoning)!” they cried out together as the newest name on the scroll lit up and a plume of smoke appeared in the center of the room.

When it cleared, the two alicorns gazed at the human they had brought to their realm. He stood at a height of 5’8”, had hair as gold as sunlight, had stranger whisker-like markings on his cheeks, and blue eyes as bright as sapphire. He wore blue shinobi sandals, an orange jumpsuit with some blue and white thrown in, and a blue headband with the symbol of Konoha on it.

He was coughing and waving his arm around to clear the smoke before he focused on his surroundings. The room he was in seemed fit for royalty and he couldn't help but silently marvel at the decorations that brought out the nobility of the room.

A clearing of the throat was heard and he turned to see the two alicorns gazing at him; one in shock and the other with a kind smile. The smiling white one stepped forward until she was right in front of him and bent her head down to look him in the eyes. He was confused as to what she was doing, but he didn’t turn his gaze from hers.

After some time, she pulled back and nodded with her smile growing ever so slightly. “Welcome to our realm, young Uzumaki. You cannot fathom how long our people have awaited a summoner to arrive here. I am Celestia, one of the Head Summons and the raiser of the sun in this realm. Behind me is my sister Luna, the other Head Summon and raiser of the moon.”

The blonde leaned to his side slightly so that he could get a better look at Luna and offered a small wave. She returned the gesture with a small nod and a faint smile. As his blue eyes returned to Celestia’s purple ones, he questioned, “So, how did I get here? Did the scroll bring me?”

“In a sense,” answered the white alicorn as she motioned for him to follow her with her wing. The three of them were walking down a hallway of the castle as she continued, “The scroll acted as a medium for my sister and I to use our powers to bring you here. We reverse summoned you so that we could see you for ourselves.”

“Summoners can be summoned too?” asked the Uzumaki in slight surprise.

“That is correct,” Luna answered. “It usually only occurs when a Summon Clan has some important news for their summoner. In this sense, we did it to test your worth for ourselves.”

The blonde nodded as he glanced at the decorated halls. The Sandaime had told him that, while also having rules and guidelines, Summon Clans test their potential summoners to see if they have what it takes. “So, what is my test?”

Celestia led the two of them to a chariot of sorts that had a team of pegasi leading it. “For your test to occur, we must go down to the lower city. Once there, I will call the six who will test you.”

Naruto nodded and carefully stepped inside the chariot with them, but he had to hold on to one of their legs since it wasn’t built to carry humans. The ride itself was actually enjoyable to him. The feeling of the wind in his face and the peacefulness of the realm itself was indescribable to one who knew nothing but scorn and rejection his entire life.

Once the chariot landed, the three stepped off and Celestia had her horn glow a bright white before a shot of energy flew into the air and exploded much like a flare.

“They will be here shortly,” she assured as they waited patiently. Sure enough, not much time later, the blonde caught sight of six ponies calmly heading their way.

The first was a unicorn with a light purple coat and horn. Her mane and tail were colored dark blue with a streak rose and violet. She had purple eyes and a mark on her flank that was in the design of a rose colored six-point star surrounded by white sparkles.

The next was a simple pony with an orange coat and a blonde mane and tail. Both the mane and tail were held like a human’s ponytail and her green eyes brought some distinction to her. She wore what Naruto could only assume was a cowgirl hat and her flank had a mark in the design of three apples on it.

The third was a pegasus with a bright blue coat and wings. She had red-violet eyes while her hair and mane were colored like a rainbow and were slightly spiked, making her appear to be a tomboy to Naruto. Her flank’s mark was in the design of a cloud with a rainbow coming out of it like a bolt of lightning.

The fourth was another pegasus with a pale yellow coat and smooth light pink hair. She had cyan blue eyes and her mark was designed as three blue butterflies with pale purple wings. She had this timid aura about her that reminded Naruto of that Hyuuga girl that was in his graduating class.

The fifth was a unicorn with a white coat and horn. Her purple-blue mane and tail were styled into two long curls, giving Naruto the feeling that she enjoyed style. Her azure blue eyes were enhanced by the sky blue eye shadow and her mark looked like three bright blue diamonds.

The last mare was a pony that already had Naruto giving an unnoticeable smile. She had a light pink coat that had a mark in the design of three balloons – one yellow and two blue – on her flank. Her hair and mane were a darker, almost red, pink and were both “poofed” in a way that made her already happy and cheerful aura more pronounced. She had bright blue eyes like his and a near constant smile of joy on her face.

When they reached the two alicorns and human teen, Celestia turned to the blonde and declared, “Naruto, these will be your testers.” She then gestured to each and said, “They are Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.”

Luna then gestured to the Uzumaki and introduced, “Girls, this is Uzumaki Naruto. You are to see if he has what it takes to be our summoner.”

Twilight stepped up and asked, “How do we test him?”

Celestia smiled and answered, “See if he has the qualities of the Elements of Harmony.”

While Naruto looked confused, the six mares nodded and Rainbow Dash stepped forward. “Okay, I’ll go first. My element is Loyalty, so let’s see if you got what it takes.” When he nodded, she asked, “If you had to choose between your home and someone you cherish, what would you choose?”

His answer was immediate. “I’d choose my loved one. Mito-sama said that family is everything, and while I have no family of my own, I have those who I will protect with my life.”

Dash looked to the two alicorns and they nodded, showing that he was being truthful. The pegasus nodded to him and said, “You pass my test, Blondie.”

Applejack was next and she tipped her hat to him in greeting. “Alright partner, my element is Honesty. I want you to tell me something truthful that comes from your heart or soul.”

The blonde looked slightly reluctant to do so, but he nodded. “I…I hold the Kyuubi no Kitsune within me, just as Mito-sama and Kushina-san did in the past.”

The orange coated mare looked to her leaders, who both nodded sadly, and offered the blonde her hoof. When he slowly grabbed it, she pulled him in for a gentle hug, surprising him greatly. “You have Honesty, even amongst strangers. But you should also know that you have our support, Naruto. We don’t see you as the fox and we never will; remember that.”

When they separated, the Uzumaki nodded to her in thanks while rarity stepped forward. She spent a good five minutes circling him and humming in thought while most of the other mares rolled their eyes at what she was bound to say. When she finally stopped circling him, she frowned slightly. “Well darling, I believe that a change of wardrobe is long overdue. Whether you pass or not, visit my store when we’re finished and I’ll see what I can whip up for you.”

“Uh… Okay?” he said a little unsurely, making her nod with a smile.

“Very good. Now dear, my element is Generosity. Have you ever given or done something for someone with no expectancy of compensation?”

The blonde closed his eyes and searched his memories before his first meeting with Haku came to mind. While his face grew depressed due to knowing she was dead, he answered, “Yes… I helped a girl look for herbs to help heal the one she cherished most. I never expected anything in return and just wanted to help her.”

After receiving confirmation, Rarity smiled and placed a hoof on his shoulder. When he looked into her eyes, she nodded to him. “You are a generous man, Naruto; I can easily see that. You know what it’s like to have nothing and strive to prevent others from experiencing that. You pass my test.”

The Uzumaki nodded in thanks as Fluttershy nervously stepped forward. He offered her a reassuring smile, which seemed to help her confidence as she spoke, “My element, Naruto, is Kindness. How do you treat those you meet?”

“To be honest, most people I meet are not exactly ‘kind’ to me. I tend to ignore those people now and treat those who see me as a person with respect.”

The yellow pegasus nodded sadly. “It is hard to be kind in a place that has none. But, as long as you have those who care, you will never lose that kindness.” She then gathered up some courage and hugged him like Applejack did, surprising both him and the others. “I can tell that you are a pure and kind person, Naruto. You have regrets about things you could've changed, but you were kind enough to give those people you think you failed a respectable send off.” His eyes widened at what she was getting at as she let him go. “Those two…Zabuza and Haku…they were your enemy but you tried to help them turn over a new leaf. Kindness to your enemy is the greatest of all, Naruto. You pass my test.”

The blonde nodded as he wiped away a stray tear. Pinkie Pie was next as she bounced up to him with a smile. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! It’s nice to meet you!”

He couldn't help but smile at her and greeted back, “I’m Naruto. Nice to meet you too, Pinkie.”

She nodded and sat down in front of him. “Okey Dokey Lokey, my element is Laughter! Got any times where, instead of acting negatively, you smiled and laughed it off?”

He closed his eyes in thought over her question. One thing came to mind, but he was unsure if it would count. “Well, before I started to just ignore the people who treated me unfairly, I used to prank them to get back at them. I had fun with my pranks and made sure that no one was hurt by them.” He then looked to Pinkie with an anxious gaze. “Does that count?”

The pink mare nodded. “Yep! You could've made those pranks harmful, but you didn’t and got a good laugh out of something that most people would be negative about. You pass my test!” He nodded in thanks before she got in his face and asked, “By the way, mind sharing your pranks with me? I always love a good prank!”

The others grew worried while Naruto actually grinned. “Sure, I don’t mind.”

The happy pony cheered before she went back to the others and Twilight stepped up. “Okay, my test is actually very simple. My element is Magic, so I want you to release as much energy as you can. Okay?”

The blonde nodded with a faint smirk before he made a ram seal and flared his chakra. To the others, it was like a tidal wave of energy flowed from him and washed over them. A literal dome of chakra surrounded him before it slowly grew larger in diameter and covered them all. In the center was Naruto releasing the energy with no sign of stress or exhaustion on his face.

‘Incredible…’ was the collective thought of the mares while Twilight had Naruto stop releasing his chakra.

When the energy died down, the unicorn nodded to the Uzumaki. “I have to say, your energy output is unreal. I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed someone with that level of energy in them. You pass my test, Naruto.”

The Uzumaki nodded with a faint smile before he turned to Celestia and Luna. “Well, you certainly have the requirements needed to be our summoner,” commented the white alicorn.

Luna nodded. “To think that after nearly forty years we finally have someone worthy enough to be our summoner. You honor us, young Uzumaki.”

Naruto felt a little awkward at hearing that. He didn’t really feel like he did anything all that special, but it still felt nice to have people thanking him; even if said people were Summon Creatures.

“Well, I have no qualms with you being our summoner, Naruto. However, you should know that the eight of us here with you are the only ones capable of being summoned at this time,” Celestia explained.

“Why’s that?” asked the Uzumaki.

“Over the years we were without a summoner, many of the ponies who were volunteer summons resigned themselves from the list. The number grew higher and higher over time until it was just the eight of us left. As such, your summoning options are somewhat limited and-”

“It doesn’t matter to me,” interrupted the blonde, making the others look to him. “Whatever help and support you can offer me is better than having none at all. Even if it was just one of you that I could summon, I’d still be grateful. So, don’t worry about numbers because I’m sure you all are more than enough.”

The mares were taken aback by his sincerity and couldn't keep the smiles from forming on their faces. “You have our gratitude, Naruto,” replied the white alicorn with a small bow that was followed by the others. When they straightened themselves, she continued, “Now, I believe you have some clothes to replace.”

Rarity was quick to step up and grab Naruto’s sleeve with her teeth before she practically dragged him to her store. The others followed the two with amused faces.

[Rarity’s Shop]

“Now, just hold still darling and I’ll whip you up a dashing outfit. Any preferences?” asked Rarity as Naruto stood in the middle of her shop.

“Something that’s both sturdy and allows me to blend in to most crowds,” he answered with a shrug.

“Color preference?” she asked as she stood next to the fabrics.

“Dark browns with some white thrown in. Also, could you place the Uzu Swirl somewhere on it?”

She smiled and nodded as she measured his arm length, torso, waist, leg length, and neckline. After that, she grabbed some dark brown fabric and set to work. “I have an idea of the outfit and your measurements already, dear. Come back in an hour or so and it’ll be finished.”

Naruto nodded and left the shop only to run into Applejack. “Howdy there, partner! Think you can help me with something?”

“Sure. What did you need?”

The orange mare led him to her apple farm and pointed to the apple-filled trees. “I reckon you could be a mighty big help in getting those down. I usually just kick the tree and shake them loose, but my leg has been sore for some time. Think you could help?”

The blonde didn’t answer and just made some clones that each went to a separate tree. The many blondes used their chakra to walk up the tree and pull the apples off of the branches. Applejack waited below with various baskets for them to toss the apples into. It took some time to collect them all, but they got it done within a half hour.

“Thank you kindly, Naruto. Don’t think I could’a done it without ya.”

The blonde wiped some sweat from his brow and replied, “No problem, Applejack. Glad I could help.”

“Hey Blondie!” called out Dash as she descended from the sky next to them. “Rarity said that she’s almost done and that you could head back to her shop.”

“I thought she said it’d take an hour?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “She must really not like your jumpsuit and worked double time to get your outfit ready.”

The blonde looked to his attire and sweatdropped at how beat up and worn out it looked. “Yea… I think you're right,” he said as he made his way back over to Rarity’s.

As soon as he stepped inside, he was pulled into a changing room where a neatly placed set of clothing was waiting for him. “Hurry up now, darling! I need to see how you look in that masterpiece I made for you.”

Naruto chuckled at her antics and stripped himself out of his jumpsuit before he grabbed the clothes and began putting them on. Unknown to him, the white unicorn had called over the others to see how he would look.

When he stepped out, Rarity had a look of pride on her face as the others complimented the outfit. The Uzumaki was dressed in black boots and some gray-brown pants with a kunai pouch strapped to his right leg. Holding up the pants was a black belt with the Uzu Swirl designed as a belt buckle. On his torso, he wore a white long sleeved shirt underneath a greenish-brown collared vest. Over it all, he wore a dark brown hooded coat that reached the back of his knees and had the hood down behind his back. To finish it off, he wore white gloves on his hands that had the Uzu Swirl on them in black (1).

Naruto heard them murmuring amongst themselves and asked, “So, how do I look?”

Celestia smiled to him and nodded. “You look very sophisticated and professional, Naruto. You’ve really outdone yourself, Rarity.”

“Thank you, my lady,” replied the stylish unicorn. “Now Naruto, those clothes have some mesh armor sewed into the fabric to increase their durability. I’ll get to work on making some extras for you, but I must say that you look quite dashing.”

“Thanks Rarity,” said the blonde as he rubbed his head bashfully. He then turned back to Celestia and queried, “So, what happens now?”

“Now, we send you back to where you found the scroll. Be sure to keep it safe and remember where you put it. We don’t want to risk waiting another forty years before a summoner calls upon us again.” At his nod, she continued, “Now, over the years we each have gained some experience in what you shinobi refer to as Kekkei Genkai. We won't go into details now, but you will see for yourself soon. For now, just continue your ninja career and don’t hesitate to summon us; whether to have us assist you or to just talk.”

The blonde nodded again before he bowed respectfully to them all. “You all have my gratitude. What you have done for me these past few hours is more than anyone has ever done. I promise not to tarnish the name of both my clan and your people.”

The others smiled at his promise while Pinkie went up and hugged him. “Be sure to have some fun, Naruto! You better not become a stick in the mud.”

He chuckled at her wording and replied, “I promise, Pinkie, so long as you and the others promise to be there for me when I need you.”

She smiled and declared, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

The other mares chuckled at the pink pony’s promise poem before the two alicorns sent the blonde back. Luna turned to her sister and commented, “He’ll help us and his clan return to their former glory; I know it.”

The white alicorn nodded and added, “Not to mention we’ll be with him every step of the way. At long last our bond with the Uzumaki Clan will be reformed.”

(End)

1~ Think of his outfit as that of Edward Elric’s from the Conquerors of Shamballa movie

And that was chapter one! I hope that this story will be appreciated and loved by my readers! Please be sure to read, review, and ask any questions! I'll be sure to answer all that I can! ^_^

Next Time: The Chunin Exams begin! How will Naruto fair with the support of the Ponies?! Stay Tuned!

-pain17ification