Genin Practice Mission: Trial Three

When Naruto got up that morning, he was expecting three things to happen. First, he expected that he'd meet with his teammates, who then would call him, "leader" and ask what they were supposed to do that day. The next would have been for him to tell them that they needed to go to the Hokage's office, because they had a mission.

The last thing he expected was a 'good job Naruto' after they completed the mission in record time, becoming the top genin in the village. But, oddly enough, none of that happened.

It was awkward, to say the least, to find out from the Hokage that your team had been kidnapped in the middle of the night. So, without thinking it through, when Naruto was given the opportunity to save them, he of course said, "Yata!"

As the Hokage handed him the scroll, things seemed to fuzz a little bit. He didn't remember eating anything bad, and it had been years since he had sour milk, so it wasn't like he was hurt or anything. But, for some reason, the atmosphere seemed to change.

As he fainted, Naruto wondered what was going on.

Genma stood atop the hill that surrounded the structure he now knew Naruto was at. No matter how much he hated this mission, it had to be done. No, not just had, must be done. The others now know the price a Shinobi bears to his or her team, and though the leader, in real life situations, never wants to make the decision that could cost someone a life, it happens, and it happens all the time. He, Genma, had to make that decision before, as had Kakashi, and even the Yondaime, Kazama Arashi.

But, that wasn't the problem, no matter what, Genma remembered the look on the Hokage's face as he said, "you fail!"

It wasn't till years passed the exam that he knew the real purpose of the test.

"So, you're awake, Sound scum?" the harsh voice sounded in the room. Naruto tried to move, to say he wasn't from the Sound, wherever that was, but it wasn't working. "Still have a stiff tongue, then, that's no matter. We will, eventually, get what we want from you. Why are you here?"

For the past hour, the man at the table had been questioning Naruto on something, and when he didn't come with a good answer, would force him to pass out, as pain swept throughout his body. Kyuubi hated this, and longed for the freedom to help escape, but no amount of begging would get them out of this.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" the man, who Naruto saw had a scar, and a leaf hitai-ate on his forehead, screamed. The stream of fire flew towards him, but was absorbed through the abilities he had gotten from the nine-tailed resident.

"Tell us what we want to know, and you will live!"

Naruto again tried to open his mouth, to introduce himself, as Uzumaki Naruto, but it didn't work. If only he could get out of these chains.

"We'll have better luck later, I think." the man with the scar said. The others in the room smirked. "Bring me one of the girls."

Kimourii's screams could be heard through the building.

"I wouldn't try to escape you know, Sound spy. Morino Ibiki is one of the best interrogators I know, but even he has a limit to how much tolerance he gives his victims. Those that cooperate will live happily, the others, on the other hand, are dealt with swiftly, and cruelly.

Well, have fun."

Naruto looked at his surroundings; Nushi was on the other wall, strapped in. She and Sutermaru apparently had tried to run.

Looking at the girl on the wall, Naruto began to wonder what was going on.

"Tell me what I want to know, why isn't your partner affected by the fire jutsu's? Why does he heal so fast? Why, did Orochimaru do a freakish experiment on him?"

The girl spit in his face. He grinned and, with a knife trailed along her arm and hand, a soft, thicket of blood covering the tip. She paled.

"Come now, girly, tell me and I'll let you live?"

"Damnit, you can go to hell!" Kimourii yelled. The man grinned. "Good, I was hoping for fresh meat to try a new technique on. Katon: Dekitate Houkakyanon no Jutsu!"

A volley of fire cannon blasted into her skin. She screamed, and with a sadistic grin, the man known as Morino Ibiki let out a loud chuckle.

"Bring me the other girl; this one is as useless as the others. If we don't get the answers, they can be forgotten about until they remember something."

The others nodded. Soon Nushi was dragged in.

"You have a choice girl. You can act smart and tell me about why your leader is different, or I can torture you in ways you will find most gruesome."

Nushi paled, but her resolve was firm. She spit in Ibiki's face.

"Fine, brat. Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!" he yelled. This time, instead of something small, a large dragon came and hit Nushi in the chest. She yelled, pleaded and screamed, but to no avail. When the pain lifted, he asked her, again, but she refused to answer.

Naruto, waiting for the last member of his team, fell weary as Nushi was dragged into the room. She was passed out, and judging from the looks of it, not going to wake anytime soon.

"Well, what are you guys waiting for?" Naruto asked, most sarcastically.

"Shut up in there!" the guard yelled at Naruto, hitting him in the temple, making him passes out.

He appeared in the under basement to the Kyuubi's chamber. The figure was lying on its belly, a soft growl coming from its throat, as it dreamed. Naruto sighed.

"Baka fox." The Nin said. Kyuubi awoke and looked at him.

Brat, it's been a while since I've seen you.

"Baka fox, I need your help. What's going on?"

The fox closed its eyes and concentrated. You've been given some brain controlling thing, when you're around that Ibiki fellow, you can't speak to him, unless of course its something he expects to hear.

Naruto sighed, sitting down. Also that punch to the head would make anyone stay out for hours, that doesn't have your healing abilities. So, the question is, do you want to get up now, or wait until later."

Naruto shrugged. "We've not talked for a while. "Let's talk, wake me in an hour, and I'll just suggest it wasn't as tough as the guy thought."

Good suggestion. You've learned well, brat.

Naruto smiled. "Thanks Kyuubi. So, what do we do about this situation? It seems like this dude wants something from me, but thinks that we're Sound-nin. But, the girls don't know either, it's their job to protect the mission parameters. But wouldn't say anything because of what Genma said, "Those who break the rules are trash, but those that betray their friends are bigger trash" or whatever it was he said.

So, do I tell the mission, which I never got to see in the first place, and risk death, or let them try to figure out what to do,, and again risk death because of someone that hates the Sound."

The monster sighed. that's one of those decisions that you can't make by yourself, brat. I suggest you get yourself together and talk to your team. You're the leader, and this is one of those decisions that you can't make alone. Something will have to happen, and I suggest that you make it soon. Now, it's time for you to awaken, brat.

Naruto nodded. "Thanks baka fox."

Welcome Chibi Brat.

When he awoke, Nushi was on the ground and Kimourii was sitting in a lotus position. The two were standing over him with a cold-press on his head. "You're awake early. Was it because of... him?"

Naruto nodded. "He heals me faster than a human should be healed. And, in reverse to that, I let him out every once in a while for a bit of fun. Until recently that was small periods where I let him take over, but now it's more like summoning him.

So that WAS you the other day." Nushi said. Naurto grinned.

"Yeah, so what's been going on?"

"After they knocked you out, they left, saying that no one would wake from that attack in less than five hours so they'd be back then. We have four hours to decide what to do."

Naruto nodded. "Well, he talked to me when we were together, that's where I go when I'm unconscious, and we figured that there were two ways of getting out of this for you two. Either way, I die, but my team lives. It's the responsibility of the leader to make the tough decisions, so what's tougher than having yourself died?"

The girls nodded. Naruto sighed, there was no way he was going to see the last scroll this time. If only he knew what the mission was, then he'd be able to make it out, alive.

"So, they want to know why we're here, and think that we're from the sound, right?" Naruto asked. The girls looked at him in confusion. Naruto sighed, "Well, it's obvious that we're not from the hidden village of sound, so what we need to do is try to get away. But, they have us at least outnumbered two to one."

"Naruto, they don't want to know our mission, they want to know about YOU." Kimourii said. Nushi nodded, "yeah, Ibiki said that he wants to know about your secret, why you heal so fast, and why he can't get into your mind."

Naruto cursed. that makes more sense. I can't believe that I fell for that false interrogation shit. How dare that human try and get your team to tell him ANYTHING!

"Did you say Ibiki" Naruto asked? The girl nodded. Naruto remembered hearing of Morino Ibiki, the number one torture and interrogator in Konoha, and a pure hater of the Sound. "Of course, the Hokage is testing me, personally. He wants to know how far I would go to protect a secret."

"Naruto! This isn't time to get cocky! This is a real life emergency!"

Naruto shook his head. "No, I know of Ibiki, and the fact that he wouldn't EVER let someone he considers at true Sound-nin go. He hates the sound as much as the Cloud hates the Yondaime."

The two looked at him in confusion. Naruto sighed. "So, what we need to do is, decide whether or not it's important enough to tell, and if not, then what we do to get ourselves out of this situation. I'm pretty sure this is a one shot test, and that if we get it wrong, we'll not be able to do it again."

"So, we plan and implement, hopefully before the next torture session, because I don't think I could hold it in again after that."

"Yeah," added Kimourii, "I don't know about you, Mr. "I'm already healed from my torture" but the rest of us are normal humans."

Naruto sighed. "Kuso, the only thing I know for sure is that we CAN'T tell him anything, it's an S-ranked secret of the Hokage. I had to tell because you're my team and any distraction you would have gotten from me not telling would have killed you!"

The girls nodded. "So, what do we do, Naruto?"

"I don't know. Telling is, in no way an option, so we have to keep it secret, but if you two die, what's the point of having a team under my command. It's the job of the leader to complete the mission with as little loss as possible, right?"

Nushi and Kimourii nodded. "So, if you two dying isn't an option, and telling the secret isn't an option, then what is our only option?"

Kimourii sighed. "You dying would save your secret, but then Genma-sensei's warning about trash and lower trash comes into play. Would you be willing to die, yourself, and let us be tortured for the information."

Naruto shook his head. "No, that's not the answer either, you guys know my secret too, remember? So, even if I died, they could still torture you for the information."

"So, in this case, we need to think of an escape and evade, right?"

Naruto thought. "No, it almost seems as if there's more to it than that."

The girls sighed. "But," he continued, "It's the best we have for now. So, we've got, three hours now? Let's think of a way to escape, before it's too late."

"What about the Kage Bunshin, Henge transformation that we used earlier? We could Henge into something, and then use a Kage Bunshin to pose as a distraction."

Nushi shook her head, "no, Kimourii, the Kage Bunshin disappears as soon as there is physical contact made with someone of different chakra than the user."

"Really?" Kimourii asked. "Ano, I'm stuck then."

"Kuso, there's got to be another way."

The hours passed, and currently Genma was looking across the room at Morino Ibiki. The man was all but grinning now that the Hokage was staring over his glasses. "So, what have you found out from Naruto, Ibiki?"

The man sighed. "Nothing, that boy has a threshold for pain that's greater than anything I've ever seen. The other two, I can tell, are going to crack anytime, but the way we're going, they'll tell the secret before he has a chance to figure out a plan."

"Too bad there's only one right answer for this test." Genma said. The man nodded. "Yeah," the man said. "But, even if they don't get the right answer, no one gets that held against them. It takes years of practice before a team can move that consistently together, and to that level of trust, especially after the two exams before."

"Yeah, I know. I don't expect them to pass this one. Sure, the others have been done near flawlessly, I know the fourth used the Shunshin to get his team out, but does Naruto know the Shunshin?"

The man nodded. "He knows all of his fathers moves, save the Rasengan, and the Kirameki, but since the Kirameki is the lower version of the Shunshin, I doubt he needs to know. How goes the training scrolls for your team, Genma?"

Genma smiled. "They're done, except for Naruto's of course."

The Hokage smiled. "Hokage-sama" Ibiki queried.

"Yes?"

What is so important that the brat has an S-ranked secret about? I know that it's my job, but I need to know before I can get it out of him. Genma here, though, won't tell me."

"Ibiki, sad as it is, this is an S-ranked secret for a reason. Let's say that it's large enough, even with him being the son of the Yondaime, that the village counsel would want him assassinated, or would have ordered the Jounin to kill him. In this case, I can't tell you, if you do manage to get it out of him, or any of the others, then you'll know. I'll have to, of course, swear you to an oath not to reveal the secret, of course."

"Of course, Hokage-sama. Genma, how goes the search for a permanent leader?

"As of the moment, it seems that Kimourii would be the one in charge of the mission, and Nushi would have a close second in command. Naruto, on the other hand, is a hard stone to crack. He's confident to the point of being cocky in his abilities with ninjutsu, and his Taijutsu is amazing. But, he's a bit reckless, we have to see how he does in this test before I can officially make him the arms man for the team."

"So, he's not the leader, then? He'll be disappointed." the Hokage muttered.

Genma shrugged. "He's supposed to learn that being a shinobi is garnered with successes and failures. The other two succeeded at their mission, but he will fail at his. We both know that unless you pass the tests you can't be leader, well except for Kakashi, but his team leader was the Yondaime, and we all know how much he liked the rules. You can't expect me to make Naruto the team leader, he's a great fighter, I'll give him that, and has Chakra out the ass, but he just doesn't seem capable of making the decisions that need being made."

The Hokage took that into consideration. "Do you think perhaps his rather isolated childhood could have caused him to act this way?"

The man shrugged. "I don't know... come in Kakashi."

"Um... I sneezed outside, so can I assume I got mentioned in your conversation?"

The other men blushed. "Um... my first opinion... I don't like that. So, why did I sneeze?"

"Well, we were just commenting on the fact that Naruto is taking the Impassable test, and that he won't be the team leader."

"Ah, um... yes, that makes since. We all know how my team turned out, Obito dying, Rin leaving the village, and the Yondaime, giving his life for the village."

"And killing the Kyuubi" Ibiku muttered, utter loathing at the mention of the nine-tails filling his voice.

The others quickly agreed,

"So, what do we do about releasing this information to the team. Gai has already chosen not to take his team through the test, and I know for a fact that you won't Kakashi, as you've swore never to put your team through that, if you ever take one, that is." the Hokage asked.

"While it's true that if I had a choice, I'd take a team with Naruto in it, I would hate teaching the others, well except the Uchiha kid, because Obito asked me to help pass on the Sharingan story. Now, I would just tell them, in no uncertain terms, how it was going to be. Naruto will be upset, but he was trained by you, Hokage-sama. He will understand greatly that the needs of his friends are above his own. He won't be called worse than trash, of that much I am sure."

The man smiled. "Thank you, Kakashi."

It was then that they noticed something. Kakashi had entered, for once his face not involved in reading his copy of Icha Icha Paradise. "You're welcome Hokage-sama. Oh, umm. Hatake Kakashi reporting back from my mission."

Genma, and Ibiki, stood up. "Well, Hokage-sama, it seems that it is time for us to retreat. Kakashi, do you want to come by the house sometime to meet my team?"

The man nodded. "Great, I'll have them there tomorrow afternoon, unless they haven't gotten through yet."

"Alright Genma, I'm glad to see you're alright."

The two left the room, one worried and the other intrigued.

The hours had passed, and the team had settled on a plan. It wasn't a good one, or necessarily going to work, but it would keep them alive. "So, as soon as the door opens, you Henge into him, and go outside, Kimourii. Then, when the guard notices, I want you to come back inside, I'll be waiting for him. I'll knock him out, Henge, and we'll both escort Nushi to the hall that we came up. After that, it's a "do or don't" battle out of here.

If nothing else, be prepared for Plan B."

The others shuddered. Getting out and alive was their number one priority. "Alright, anytime now" Nushi said. The door opened and the same, loudmouth guard came into the room. "Shadoashige!" Naruto muttered, knocking him out. Kimourii smiled, and said, "Henge!"

The walked to the door. There, a guard was looking bored, but was immediately perked when he saw the girl, hiding under a Henge. As planned, he walked in and was hit with "Metsubou Sentou!"

The man was knocked cold. "Get in" he muttered, looking to the cuffs. When they were on her wrist, not secured but a Genjutsu showed they were, Naruto walked to the door. "Remember, be ready to cast any jutsu the moment they even LOOK suspicious.

"We KNOW" Nushi muttered.

"We're escorting her to Morino" Naruto muttered, the man nodded. "Alright you, get your ass moving!"

The girl growled, feral. Sutermaru was also under a genjutsu atop her head, but she could barely feel him, it was like he wasn't really there.

"Alright, we're at the hall. When we get there, climb on and I'll try getting us out of there."

She nodded.

It was all for naught. As the door to the hall opened, Morino looked at the two, and said, "good use of Henge, Sound-scum, but not good enough. Get them!"

"Kuso!"

"Naruto, what do we do?"

"Shunshin no Jutsu! Mokushioku!" he yelled, grabbing the two kunoichi, and running the reverse way to where they wanted to go. "That's it, we're so screwed, Naruto!"

"No, there's still one option."

"Leader or not, I am not doing that, Naruto."

"And I don't want to order you too, but it seems the only way we can keep the secret, and not die at their hands, is to kill ourselves."

The girls sighed. "No, Naruto" both the kunoichi muttered. The door cracked open. "You, Uzumaki Naruto, are interesting. It has been a privilege to work with you, and you are correct, the only way out of this situation is to pass. I will, therefore, assume you either cheated without my knowledge, which is incorrect, or it has to do with your secret. Either way, I get the happy news of reporting that someone has won the impassable test."

Naurto snorted. The people looked at him. "What, I cheated?" and disappeared, a Kage Bunshin the entire time. The other two looked at the middle and disappeared too. Morino laughed, not able to contain his laughter, and drew chuckles from the rest of his 'team'. "So, does this mean that he passes?"

The others nodded. The man laughed. "Go tell the Hokage that Uzumaki passed, and don't tell him how. Let me do that. Like I said, that boy is interesting."

End Chapter

Credits:
Credit for this chapter comes from a scene from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, in a scene detailing how Kirk beat this impassable exam, the Kobayashi Maru, and he openly admitted to changing the parameters of the exam. He was the only one to have ever, or did ever, pass the exam.

Thanks!