Chapter 29 - A Big Surprise

“Lord Hokage?”
Lord Hokage looked over from his painting, finding an annoyed Ebisu wanting his attention?
“Yes Ebisu? And don’t tell me it’s Naruto!”
Ebisu stood up even straighter at the mention of Naruto’s name.
“No Lord Hokage, not this time. This one I rather dislike as well, I must say, he”
Behind him, Ekyt poked him in the butt with his kunai. As Ebisu leapt aside, Ekyt walked in, calmly shutting the door in the ticked-off Tokubetsu Jonin’s face.
Lord Hokage couldn’t help but laugh. Ebisu brought that one upon himself…seems this young man has a mind of his own, he’s no blind follower Before Lord Hokage could speak, Ekyt knelt before him and was handing him a sword.
“I know this isn’t quite the normal custom,” Ekyt began, wearing a strange expression of embarrassment and stoicism on his face, “but I wanted to thank you for trusting me with that mission. I, er, won this. And I thought you should have it.”
Ekyt bowed and handed Lord Hokage the sword he had won from his battle with Togatta Yaiba. It was a beautiful longsword. It’s black wooden saya had been polished, and it’s purple sageyo (cord) had been smoothed and tied neatly across it. Ekyt handed the sword over with the edge inward, keeping samurai customs in the back of his mind. The hilt was blackened copper, with a Musashi-styled guard. The handle had a sharkskin coating, with naugaheide grip wrappings. The blade itself was thirty inches long, forged steel. It was curved, meant for cutting rather than stabbing, and sharpened to a razor’s edge.
Lord Hokage took the sword, examining it top to bottom. He was genuinely surprised by the gift, and equally grateful.
“Thank you very much. How did you come across such a beautiful weapon?”
“I won it in a duel Lord Hokage. Well, more accurately, I won the duel, the man threw it down and ran.”
“And your surgery? Kakashi told me that it went well, but also said that you met someone worth mentioning. If Kakashi thinks so…”
“He…he didn’t tell you, Sir?” Ekyt asked, surprised.
“He seemed to think it best left to you,” Hokage replied.
“Well, I met…Itachi Uchiha.”
Hokage stifled a gasp and narrowed his eyes. “Did he attack you?”
“Yes Lord Hokage. With his Mangekyo Sharingan. My second chakra enabled me to break free. He’s as talented as everyone says,” Ekyt said with certainty.
Lord Hokage dismissed Ekyt after a few more minutes. To think I wasn’t going to let him in the chunin exams because of Orochimaru…if he survived Itachi, then he’ll survive the chunin exams.


Kakashi settled down while his team was doing drills. Their teamwork was improving. While Kakashi was looking it was; when he turned away, Sakura was thumping Naruto on the head for doing something stupid. Apparently, Naruto had to go to the bathroom and started to unzip right there in front of her.
“NOT IN FRONT OF ME, YOU PIG!!! I’M A LADY, GO FIND A TREE OR SOMETHING!”
Kakashi sighed and tried to go back to his book. He found someone blocking his light.
“Well, hello Tenten. What brings you here?” Kakashi asked mildly. It was strange that Tenten would come around.
“I-I was just wonder how Ekyt was doing. Lee told me about the surgery, and I was curious…”
Kakashi stifled a look of surprise. “He’s doing well. Aside from some minor depression, that’s the norm for him.”
“Thank you Kakashi-sensei!” Tenten made a hasty retreat.



Ekyt stopped by the academy to tell Iruka about what happened. Iruka had already heard. But he looked terrible.
“I think I caught something from the kids Ekyt. I hate to ask this, but can you handle the class today?”
“Oh, um, sure Iruka-sensei, I’d be glad to. What are they working on?”
“Teamwork and Chakra control,” Iruka replied with a cough. He DID look terrible, like he hadn’t eaten or slept in three days
“Alright, I’ll give it a shot.” Ekyt said, trying to hide how happy he was to be drawing such an assignment.

As soon as Ekyt had left, Iruka straightened up and stopped coughing.
“Let’s see how he does…Although I think I already know…but why would Lord Hokage order such a test?” Iruka wondered aloud.



The classroom was buzzing with anticipation and gossip. That all stopped when Ekyt walked in and stood at the bottom of the auditorium-styled room.
“Hey, who’re you?! Where’s Iruka-sensei?!” One student had wasted no time.
“My name is Ekyt, I’m going to be your instructor today. Rest assured, Iruka-sensei will be fine, just a little bug. Now, he tells me you’re working on chakra control. I assume you all know what chakra is. So let’s talk about what it does.”
“DUH! It makes you stronger!” One student yelled.
Ekyt smiled beneath his mask. “It can. But it does more for you than that. It can save your life.”
“How do we know you’re not some fake?! Why don’t you prove it?!” the same wise-guy in the back asked.
Ekyt started to walk away. He walked to the wall, then up it, and then hung from the ceiling, staring down at the class.
“Chakra has saved my life countless times. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you the good stories, I’m sworn to secrecy. But I CAN demonstrate. So, you, the one who thinks I’m a fake. Come on down to the front. Don’t worry, I know you can handle this.”
Ekyt leapt down, landing in front of the room. “Now, I want you to go ahead and throw a few kunai at me. Aim for me, don’t hold back.”
The student reared back and threw the knives. Ekyt focused his chakra to his feet and leapt! He sailed over the barrage of kunai. He made sure he landed in time to have the second barrage hit him. He fell to the ground, bleeding.
“Hmm…I think you missed.” Ekyt was standing behind the student. His “riddled body” was a log!
Apparently, this student didn’t take kindly to being humbled. He stabbed backward, knifing Ekyt in the stomach.
“You really need to keep that temper in check.” Ekyt said from above. He was standing on the ceiling. It was a clone that had just been disemboweled.
“Do you see how chakra can save your life when controlled properly?” Ekyt asked kindly. The student nodded and returned to his seat, dejected.
“Alright, let’s make a line and try transformation jutsus.”

“Hey guys, watch this!” Konohamaru and Naruto were huddled together in the back of the room. Ekyt was too bust observing the transformations to notice both of them use a transformation jutsu to become two completely different students. Eventually, they were ushered to the front of the line.
At the same time, they both used the art of transformation- the twist being it became the Sexy Jutsu! Well, Naruto used the Ninja Harem Jutsu.
Poor Ekyt never stood a chance!
“Ohhhhh Ekyt-Kun, you’re soooo smart!!!” cooed the female “Narutos”, all of them clinging to Ekyt.
“You could teach us soooooo much! How about a demonstration cutie?” pleaded the female “Konohamaru”.
Between the ten Naruto’s girls hanging on his arms and legs, and the one around his neck, Ekyt’s eye widened involuntarily. Then his nosebleed rocketed him backward in a flipping pattern, where he hit the wall, sliding down it in complete shock.
The two pranksters changed back to their normal forms, laughing hysterically at their prank.
“Y-you should’ve seen y-your face!” Naruto exclaimed, pointing a finger at Ekyt, then falling over on the floor.
“I never knew you were a closet perv like Iruka sensei!” Konohamaru declared, leaning on Naruto for support.
“WHAT?!” Ekyt exclaimed. He wasn’t alone. Iruka, who was miraculously well suddenly, both chased the two jokesters around the room, using the “Body Flicker Jutsu” to finally catch them. At the same time, Iruka and Ekyt backhanded them, knocking them out the windows. Iruka and Ekyt’s faces were twitching from anger and disgrace.
“Okay, class dismissed!” Iruka declared, waving merrily.
“Damn it, those two did it again!” Ekyt said, shaking his head, even managing to chuckle at the trick.
“One of these days Naruto…It’s bad enough HE pulls that, but now he’s got Lord Hokage’s grandson pulling it!” Iruka couldn’t help but grin himself. It WAS just a harmless prank after all.




“The chunin exams are going to be changed, out of necessity. The Forest of Death’s integrity has been compromised, at least for now. We need another test to determine which genin are to become chunin. So I bring the question before all of you jonin: What should the test be?”
Kakashi spoke up after a moment’s thought.
“The old test was to foster teamwork and survival…why not pit the students against the senseis? All the senseis carry the heaven and earth scrolls on them. Once they’re defeated, they hand over the one necessary to the team that defeated them. Obviously, this means the sensei’s won’t kill. But suppose one team got two of the same scroll? THEN they fight each other for the correct scrolls. It would do everything the old test did, which I’m assuming is the point.”
The old Hokage smiled, closing his eyes.
“All in favor of Kakashi’s idea?”
Every hand was in the air.
“Alright. Kakashi’s test is officially instated in the chunin exams. You are all dismissed. Asuma, I need to speak with you.”

Asuma cocked an eyebrow, but marched up the Third Hokage.
“Yes Lord Hokage?”
“I have reconsidered Shikamaru’s proposal. After surviving the surgery and Itachi Uchiha’s attacks, Ekyt will be allowed to substitute for Shikamaru. However, his eligibility for the rank of chunin, should he pass, will be withheld until the proper number of missions have been completed.”
Asuma grinned widely before answering.
“Shikamaru will be relieved. I’ve never heard someone complain so much, aside from Ino Yamanaka. I’m sure Ekyt will agree to it. How long does he have to prepare?”
“Three days,” Hokage replied.
“Short notice…of course, he doesn’t ever take the easy route. This’ll probably suit him just fine.”

The genin were called together for a meeting at the center of the village. Many considered it to be the most beautiful spot in the whole village. Cherry trees and Japanese maples were arranged in an ornate, leaf-shaped pattern. Since it was fall, the changing leaves made the scene even more beautiful, as they littered the cobblestone street.
Beauty was the last thing on the minds of the genin called together. Ekyt stood among them, not really understanding why he had been told to attend. But he listened along with the others as they were told about the next test.
“…Proctoring the exam: Anko Mitarashi, Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi, Might Guy (Guy struck his “good guy” pose, causing Lee to cheer), and Shikamaru Nara.”
The last name caused heads to turn toward Asuma’s cell. Ino and Choji were indeed alone, and they looked just as confused as everyone else. Hayate’s voice called everyone back to attention.
“(koff) The test will start in three days. Anyone who has questions should go to your respective jonin (koff) sensei.”


Ekyt, Choji, and Ino immediately stepped forward. They listened in stunned silence as Asuma explained to them that Ekyt was in their group for the test, since it would be unfair for a chunin like Shikamaru to take the exams again. Choji was alright with the idea. Ino, of course, had to take a shot at Sakura.

“Hey! Billboard brow! Guess what?!” Ino yelled, charging after team seven.
After a moment’s reluctance, Choji and Ekyt chased after her.
Sakura turned around furiously.
“Didn’t I say not to call me that?!”
Ino giggled. “Right, sorry! Anyway, you’re not going to believe this!” Ino reached over and pulled Ekyt next to her. (Ekyt winced at the touch; he didn’t like where this was going)
“We get hottie number 2! Maybe he’s not Sasuke (Ekyt and Naruto roll their eyes), but still, quite the catch!” Ino called, laughing. She gave Ekyt a swat on the butt, causing him to jump slightly, then blush furiously.
“Good for you, Ino-Pig. Now you’ve got some REAL talent on your team! No offense to Choji and Shikamaru of course, but they couldn’t carry you forever!”
Everyone but Ino burst into laughter. Ekyt was already over with Naruto and Sasuke, making sure there was no hard feelings. There was no jealousy, mercifully, but Sasuke was eager for a match with Ekyt, as was Naruto.
Ino grabbed Ekyt and Choji and dragged them away, saying “C’mon guys, we’ve got practicing to do! We’ll teach them to mess with us! And Ekyt, don’t get any ideas! I HAD to flaunt you in front of Sakura, it doesn’t mean anything, so don’t waste your time thinking it!”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Ekyt smirked.


On his own, after a few hours of practice, Ekyt opened the one scroll that had eluded him. It was the Chakra Gates scroll. This is how Lee almost defeated Gaara…he’s in the tournament…and with Chakaro, Orochimaru, and Itachi on the loose…maybe I’d better learn how to do this…
That translated to another long night for Ekyt.


Elsewhere, Itachi outlined his battle with Ekyt to Pein.
“He’ll be strong someday. His second chakra is well developed, although he’s not aware of how to access it freely. It has to be forced out of him,” Itachi explained tonelessly.
“I see. Is he worth our time?” came the reply.
“He will be someday. He threw of my genjutsu. His chakra coils will have healed by now as well.”
“Well then…we’ll monitor the boy. When the time comes, we’ll make our move.”

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