"Of course we are, like we would miss a chance to show you up dog breath." Mito said with a fiercely competitive grin, getting a scowl out of Kiba before he loudly retorted.
What followed next could best be described as a chaotic mess as Kiba and Mito began arguing loudly and Sasuke attempted to shake off Ino who had once again attempted to cling to him, the others all watching on with amusement.
...
Soon enough though, their loud and rowdy behavior attracted the attention of the other genin in the room, all of whom began glaring heatedly at the noisy group.
"You know being so loud usually puts a large target on your backs. That's something that is not recommended for anyone but especially not for rookies like you." An unfamiliar older boy with distinctive glasses and silver hair said as he approached the group of rookie genin, a disarming and friendly smile on his face.
"Who are you?" Sasuke asked bluntly, his brow furrowing and temper spiking at being called a rookie.
"The name's Kabuto Yakushi. And as a fellow Konoha Shinobi let me give you rookies a piece of good advice. I've taken these tests seven times so far… and trust me, they aren't easy.
The best thing you can do at this stage is to not draw too much attention to yourselves, it'll only bite you in the arse later when you have all the other genins gunning for you." The now named Kabuto said in warning.
This got Kabuto a number of surprised looks from Ino, Kiba and a couple of the others as they looked around the room, the sight that greeted them was of a number of pissed off genin.
Most of them glaring irritably at the group of Konoha rookies. The sight of them caused the timid Hinata to step behind Kiba slightly to hide herself and a number of the other rookies to flinch slightly.
It appears some of those present had not realised what a spectacle they were making of themselves.
"So you're kind of a veteran of the Chunin Exams then?" Ino asked as she tore her eyes away from the rest of the room and instead focused on Kabuto, minding comfort in a friendly face in a sea of pissed of Shinobi.
"Yep and because we are fellow Konoha Shinobi..." Kabuto said moving closer to the group, the friendly expression still on his face as he saw all of them lean in to hear what he had to say, "I'll share a little of my expertise with you."
Kabuto said pulling out a deck of cards from a side pocket as he did so.
"These nin-info cards I have, have information on Shinobi of note throughout the Elemental Nations including the main competitors for this examination, ask me anything?" Kabuto continued his eyes gleaming behind his glasses as he saw how Mito and Sasuke seemed to perk up at that, he then laid the cards down.
pulling a certain card out as an example, he applied a little bit of chakra and with a 'poof' of smoke, a graph of what looked to be participating countries and the numbers they sent into this exam.
Looking up at the group, Kabuto's glasses flashed, he had set the bait now he just needed one of the brats to take it, it would be a good way to ingratiate himself to the last Uchiha.
"Do you have info on none genin individuals?" Sasuke asked a glint in his eyes, as he stared at the cards laid down before him.
Next to the last Uchiha, Mito also gained a very focused look, on her face no doubt having had the same idea as Sasuke. If Kabuto had the information he claimed to have, then he might have something on a certain Shinobi she had met in Wave.
"Hehe. Someone you guys are worried about?" Kabuto asked with a smirk, curious about who they would be asking about, "My info isn't perfect but I do have some about none genin Shinobi. Who do you want to know about?"
...
(A few minutes before in the Academy Staffroom)
Naruto opened the doors to the Academy teachers' lounge, Kushina Uzumaki walking alongside him, a smile on her face as the two engaged in idle small talk. Small talk wasn't something Naruto usually enjoyed, as he tended to want to get straight to the point, but for now he was humouring his mother.
It had been over three years since he had left Konoha.
But now he was back he was just enjoying her company, he had never held any hatred for either of his parents over his years away and had in fact found himself missing them, not that he would chose to do anything differently if he was given the choice.
Looking back now he understood their reluctance to allow him to train or become a Shinobi even if he did disagree with it. Their concern for him came from a position of love, how could he hold that against his parents.
Entering the Academy teacher's staffroom Naruto immediately noted that it was a large room, filled with a tables and chairs, with a small kitchen area in the corner and a number of screens set into one of the walls.
Looking at the screens Naruto noticed that they were currently showing the room where all the genin were waiting for the examination to begin.
Looking away from the screens Naruto instead looked around the room seeing that it already held around two dozen Shinobi, mostly from Konoha.
This wasn't too surprising for Naruto as the first part of the Chunin Exam was heavily supervised and by watching how the test went Jounin Sensei's could see what they would need to do to help their genin improve and develop so that if they did fail, they could pass the next time and go on to become Chunin.
Or at least that was what most of the Shinobi here were doing, Naruto however was here so he could watch to see whether he could spot any suspicious genin he could track down and interrogate during the second part of the exam.
As they entered the room, Naruto noticed that a number of Konoha Jounin were looking at him suspiciously. It wasn't surprising considering his age and the fact that he was the only Kiri Jounin with a team in the Chunin Exams. Still though it didn't bother Naruto.
Glancing around the room Naruto noticed that all the Jounin tended to stick to their little groups based off of which Village they came from. There was almost no mingling with the other foreign Shinobi.
Unfortunately for Naruto though he didn't have a group to stand with, and since he was the only Kiri Jounin in Konoha he had been hoping to meet the Oto Jounin Sensei, unfortunately though by the looks of it the Oto Jounin Sensei hadn't bothered to turn up, which was a shame as Naruto had been hoping to get a read on him.
"Hey Pain, why don't you come sit with us." Kushina said amiably, normally Kushina would not be interested in mixing with Jounin from other Villages, but she found that she liked Pain and with things as tense as they were with Kiri, after the death of Kakashi, maybe it would be in the best interests to start building bridges again, after all the last thing anyone wanted was for another Shinobi War to occur.
"I'm not sure…" Naruto began cautiously, he could see the benefits in terms of information gathering, but at the same time it proved a risk. Not a physical risk though.
Because as a foreign Shinobi here for the Chunin Exams he had what was known as 'Guest Rights', he couldn't be attacked or harmed otherwise it could potentially lead to and international incident or war, such was the case a number of years ago when a couple of Kumo Shinobi were killed by the Hyuuga it had caused an international incident and had led to the Hyuuga in question being sent to Kumo for execution.
No it was not risk on his wellbeing that concerned him, instead it was the risk of Naruto showing his hand too early, there were Suna Shinobi in the room after all and sitting with the Konoha Shinobi could give them the wrong idea and undermine Naruto's reason for being in Konoha in the first place.
Naruto ended up not really having a choice as Kushina instead led him to a nearby table, one which already had a number of other Jounin occupying it.
There was a well-built man, wearing a green full body suit, with a bowl haircut and gleaming smile. There was also a ruggedly handsome man, with brown hair, a stubbly beard and a cigarette.
Sitting behind the smoker were two very pretty women, one with eyes as red as Naruto's own, long black hair and an unusual outfit that looked like it consisted of bandages.
The other woman meanwhile had hazel eyes, violet hair done up in a short, somewhat spiky ponytail, she had a tan overcoat, complete with a fitted mesh body suit that stretched from her neck down to her thighs. As Kushina led Naruto over, he noticed how all of them turned to look at him strangely.
"Hey there Kushina, looks like you picked up a stray." The bearded Jounin said in amusement, though a single look at his eyes showed Naruto he was suspicious, most likely due to the Kiri symbol the red eyed boy proudly displayed.
"No this is Pain, he is a Kiri Jounin that I met the other day. I ran into him as we were dropping off our teams and thought I would invite him to tag along." Kushina replied with a grin as she took a seat at the table, before she looked expectantly over at Naruto.
"He's a bit young to be a Jounin isn't he?" The man with the bowl cut said with a surprised smile, before he glanced up at Naruto's forehead protector, his smile dimming as he saw the Kiri symbol.
"Though I suppose considering how old Itachi and Kakashi were when they became a Jounin there really isn't much difference."
"I suppose there are prodigies in every Village." The bearded man replied looking at Naruto closely before sticking out a friendly hand.
"The name's Asuma, Asuma Sarutobi."
"Pain." Naruto replied a bit stiltedly as he took Asuma's hand before he stiffly took a seat. The mention of Kakashi was enough to tell him that these people were likely the man's friends, and as Kakashi's killer it made Naruto less than comfortable.
"Your name is Pain?" The purple haired woman snorted in amusement. "Well that is a terrible name."
Naruto sent her a wry glance at that.
"Well it is not that bad, it's certainly… unique." The red eyed woman spoke up diplomatically, giving her purple haired friend a nudge in the side with her elbow as she did so.
"Don't mind Anko, Pain. She just enjoys causing trouble." Kushina spoke up giving Anko a slight frown before sending Naruto a smile.
"Don't worry about it," Naruto replied waving away her comments.
"So I take it all your teams are a part of the Chunin Exams."
"Yes indeed." The man in the green body suited said, his enthusiasm renewed at the thought of his team, a large grin spreading across his face. "Well all except Anko of course, she's not a full Jounin yet."
Naruto sent the purple haired woman a bemused smile at that. "Well I am sure in a few years you can make the cut."
Anko scowled in response, "Screw you, I am more than ready now, it's all political."
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