Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Key Through the Heart ❯ Many Meetings and Tests ( Chapter 12 )

llIVoice of Destiny/Inner Sakura

“Normal Talking”

Thoughts/Sound Effects

“Flashback dialogue/Japanese/Emphasis of words”

“Demon speak”

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Key Through the Heart

A fanfiction by Andrew J. Talon

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kingdom Hearts, or any of the characters or properties mentioned in this story. The story's mine, the concept is mine, but everything else is not mine. And I'm certainly not writing this for profit.

Author's Note: To those of you who disliked the Poke'mon reference I made last chapter: I thought it was funny. Rest assured though, that that was the only aspect of the Poke'mon anime I actually enjoyed-The rest of the show sucks hard.

This will be among the shortest chapters in this story.

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"So, how do you know Naruto anyway?" Sakura asked Konohamaru, as the group walked for the main area of the town. The pink-haired girl decided to learn a little more about Naruto, but only because of the strange changes he'd gone through lately.

Yeah, he can't hold a candle to Sasuke-kun! SHANNARO! Inner Sakura added helpfully. Both Sakuras studiously avoided thinking about how Naruto had shown them more care and thoughtfulness than Sasuke ever had, and that he'd beaten Haku when Sasuke couldn't, even with his bloodline...

"Oh, he helped teach me how to henge!" Konohamaru said happily. "Plus, he beat my jounin instructor!"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head modestly, grinning.

"It wasn't very hard, once I figured out his weakness," the blond laughed and winked at Konohamaru. The Hokage's grandson winked and grinned back. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Um, what was his weakness?"

"Oh, that's easy!" Moegi began, ignorant of the looks of horror emerging on Konohamaru and Naruto's faces. "He just used his Har-MMPH!"

Naruto coughed and smiled as Sakura narrowed her eyes, Moegi's mouth covered by Konohamaru's hand.

"Used his what...?" Sakura growled dangerously, pulling on her trusty leather gloves. Naruto laughed nervously again.

"Nothing, Sakura-chan! Absolutely nothing!" Udon wisely stayed silent, as Moegi finally pried Konohamaru's hand off her face, blushing a bit.

"Yes! Nothing! He didn't use Harem no jutsu!" Moegi's eyes widened and her hands slapped over her mouth on top of Konohamaru's, but it was too late. Sakura snarled, cracking her knuckles.

"You... Showed three innocent, impressionable kids, your perverted jutsu?!"

"Um, well, eh heh, c'mon Sakura-chan! It's really useful and-RUN AWAY!" The blond screamed, grabbing Moegi's hand and taking off at full speed, Konohamaru and Udon right behind them, as the furious Sakura chased after them.

"YOU PERVERT! I'M GOING TO BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY!"

"WAAAAAAHHHH! SAKURA-CHAN, HAVE MERCYYYY!"

Konohamaru pulled ahead, eyes closed. Sure, Naruto was his boss, but really! He pissed off the scary girl, why did he have to bring them into it?

WHAM!

"OOF!" Konohamaru groaned, and looked up at the black thing he'd run into. Glaring down at him was a face painted in purple lines, framed by a black cowl with two large points on either side.

"Watch where you're going, runt," the creature growled, grabbed Konohamaru by the front of his shirt and lifting him up.

"Hey! Let me go you freak!" The little boy cried, struggling feebly. The black-clad man laughed mockingly, his hood lifting up just enough to show a hitai-ate. On it was an hourglass shape, identifying him as a ninja of Sunagakure. It reflected Konohamaru's frightened face, as the ninja's cruel smile grew.

"Oh, what are you going to do? Cry to your mommy?"

FLASH! A metal blade appeared at the side of his head, and the black-clad man turned his head, gaping a bit at the bizarre weapon now being held against him. It's wielder, a blond boy dressed in orange and black, glared at him, and a hint of killing intent reached his senses.

"Drop him, pajama boy, or I drop you," he growled. The black-clad ninja smirked.

"Oh really? You and what army, runt?"

"Stop it already, Kankuro!" The two ninja turned their gaze to see a tall, blonde girl with her hair in four spiky pigtails walk up the alley. The girl wore her She set a hand on her hip as she gave the one called Kankuro a warning look. "He'll get mad!"

Kankuro huffed.

"Won't take long to deal with this runt and the brat with the toy," Kankuro sneered. Completely ignoring the shocked expressions of Moegi, Udon, and Sakura behind him, Naruto smirked back.

"Look whose talking. I'm not the one with a mummy on my back!"

Kankuro was about to retort, when a chilling killer intent fell over the alley. The blonde girl, Sakura, and the kids all shivered under it's effects, but Naruto merely looked around trying to find it's source. He didn't have to, as the source soon identified himself.

"Enough, Kankuro. You're an embarassment to our village. Have you forgotten why we came all the way here?" a cold, monotone voice spoke. Naruto traced it to a redheaded boy dressed all in black, with a giant gourd on his back. He was hanging upside-down from a nearby tree, black-lined green eyes staring intently at them all. He vanished in a whirl of sand, before reappearing on the ground.

"I know. I mean, they challenged us. They started the whole thing, really. See, here's what happened..." Kankuro tried to explain, but Gaara cut him off.

"Shut up or I'll kill you," he stated flatly, dead certainty in his gaze. Naruto fought a chill down his spine.

Kankuro nervously let Konohamaru down, who immediately fled behind Naruto. The blond narrowed his eyes at the newcomer.

"I apologize for their conduct," the redhead said flatly, as though reading from a boring script.

A throat was cleared above them, and all turned to see an annoyed-looking Uchiha Sasuke sitting in the tree.

"Hey, you! Identify yourself," Sasuke ordered arrogantly.

"You mean, me?" the blonde girl asked, blushing slightly. Naruto mentally rolled his eyes as Sakura seethed.

God damnit, why the hell does the bastard get all the female attention? Why?

"No, the guy with the gourd on his back," the Uchiha continued. The redhead blinked up at him.

"Subaku Gaara," he replied.

"Temari," the blonde girl volunteered, adjusting the black folded object on her back while casting a nervous look at Gaara.

"Kankuro," the last replied gruffly.

"Oh... You must be here for the Chuunin Exams," Sakura interjected, smiling slightly and trying to defuse the tension. The attempt failed, and she scowled as all three Sand ninja ignored her. Gaara shifted his gaze to Naruto, who stared back determinedly.

"You," the redhead stated to Naruto. "What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto responded evenly, Keyblade still in his hand. He'd lowered it from Kankuro's face but it wouldn't vanish, indicating that there was still a possible threat. Gaara's eyes lingered on the weapon only a moment, before returning his eyes to Naruto's.

"I... Look forward to meeting you in the exams," Gaara replied simply. He then turned and walked past Sakura, Moegi, and Udon without so much as a glance at them. Temari followed, eyes now on Naruto with an unreadable expression, as Kankuro glowered at the blond before following as well. Konohamaru shivered, and nudged himself a little closer to Naruto.

"Man, that guy's even more emo than Sasuke!" Naruto finally pronounced, shaking his head with a grin. Sakura growled as Udon and Moegi giggled a bit.

"Shut up Naruto! Sasuke-kun is not emo!"

"He and Sasuke probably use the same conditioner," the blond scoffed, and smiled when Konohamaru laughed, fear forgotten. Sasuke released a little killing intent, getting attention back on him.

"The Chuunin exams are in a week, and I for one am going to enter."

He glared expectantly at Naruto and Sakura. The blond grinned.

"Oh, what, you have to ask? Of course I'm entering! How about you, Sakura-chan?"

The pink-haired girl looked nervous, but slowly nodded.

"I... I'll enter too."

"YATTA! That's awesome! I've got to go train!" Naruto crowed. Konohamaru tugged on his jacket.

"Hey, Naruto-nii-chan, can we play ninja?"

Naruto made a long-suffering face.

"Aw, c'mon! I've got to train!"

"But we haven't played in weeks! And you always come up with the best missions!" Udon pleaded.

"Please, Naruto-nii-chan?" Begged Moegi, her eyes wide and bright while her lips turned into a pout. It was the most adorable expression Naruto had ever seen, and he felt his will slipping away. He sucked in a deep breath, and sighed.

"Okay, okay... I'll play..."

Sasuke smirked ever so slightly. Naruto stuck his tongue out at him and gave a broad grin to the Corps members.

"Allright Team Uzumaki! Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is..."

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The day of the exams came, and Team 7 had gathered at the testing building. Following a few other genin teams, they soon found themselves on the second floor, where several ninja were crowded around. Pushing their way through the crowd, they found Team Gai in front of a door where two oddly-dressed genin stood.

"We're not letting you in, got it? None of you have what it takes to be chuunin!" One with bandages covered his face shouted.

"Yeah, we've failed this test seven times! None of you are strong enough to get through!" His companion, a brown-haired guy wearing a blue cap, added with a scoff.

A brown-haired guy who resembled Hinata merely smirked, as Lee and Tenten stood at his sides.

"That just means it was your fate to fail seven times," the boy sneered in a level of disdain Naruto had only before heard in Sasuke's voice. Tenten, a quick glance to the grey-eyed boy as though asking for permission, moved forward and smiled kindly.

"Please, can't you let us in? We'll take our chances," she said reasonably. The boy wearing the blue cap moved to strike her, but before anyone could move-

WHACK! The boy was slammed back against the door, holding his head with a groan, as the Keyblade clattered to the floor from bouncing off his face. Every ninja there gawked in astonishment as it vanished in a flash of light, and reappeared in Naruto's outstretched hand. He glared coldly at the boy, before turning to Tenten.

"You okay?"

Tenten nodded, looking a bit embarrassed, as the genin got back up and glared at Naruto.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Not so tough after all, huh?" Sasuke smirked, Sharingan eyes spinning. "Just a couple of weaklings, disguising a door to make us all turn back."

"Huh?" Asked a few genin.

"It's a genjutsu, and besides," Sakura added, "this is the second floor. The test is being held on the third floor."

"Hey! Why couldn't you let me in on this?" Naruto demanded. Sasuke smirked.

"Looks like I overestimated your abilities," the Uchiha gloated, as Naruto glared.

"Damnit," the two genin muttered, disengaging the genjutsu. The sign above the door now read '201' instead of '301'. "You saw through it!"

"Of course we did," Sakura said proudly.

"But, you also just made things harder on yourself," the blue-cap wearing genin smirked. "This was supposed to weed out the morons. The smart move would have been to move on! Idiots..."

The two genin walked off, leaving a pissed Sasuke to glare after them as the other ninja began to move, leaving Team Seven and Team Gai in the hallway.

"'Looks like I overestimated your abilities', my ass," Naruto muttered, Tenten giggling just a bit. He gave her a nervous smile, which she returned, as the long-haired, grey eyed boy looked at Sasuke.

"My name is Hyuuga Neji. And you are?"

The Uchiha ignored him and headed for the stairs at the end of the hallway, Sakura and Naruto following. Neji narrowed his eyes slightly, before turning away and walking in the opposite direction, Tenten following.

Team Seven reached the open room housing the stairs to the next level when Lee reappeared at the top of the balcony on the third floor above them.

"Wait! Your name is Uchiha Sasuke, correct?"

"What's it to you?" Sasuke retorted. Lee grinned.

"I am Rock Lee, and I have heard that you are a prodigy! Last of the Uchiha clan! I would very much like to test my skills against you... As well as you, Naruto!"

"Er, me?" Naruto asked, as Sasuke smirked. Lee nodded rapidly.

"Indeed, Naruto! But first, I would like to fight Sasuke! In order to prove myself to the beautiful Sakura-chan!"

The pink haired girl gaped in disbelief, as Lee leaped down to their floor and smiled, blowing a kiss.

"Sakura-chan, will you be my girlfriend? I swear, I will protect you forever with my blazing flames of love and youth!" Lee proclaimed, as Sakura blanched.

"Oh God, no! No, no, no! Naruto! Sasuke-kun! Kick his ass!" Sakura screeched in horror. Lee frowned, and Naruto sighed.

"What? What's wrong?" Lee inquired. Sakura cringed.

"Your eyebrows, the spandex-Gah, you're so weird!"

Lee looked heartbroken, before smiling broadly and giving a thumbs up, his teeth glinting with a noticeable sound effect.

"Then I will just have to prove myself to you! Uchiha Sasuke, shall we fight?"

Sasuke smirked, rushing forward.

"If you're so eager to be beaten, then fine, let's go!"

THWACK! WHAM! CRUNCH! BANG!

Sasuke fell back, dazed, from Lee's rapid taijutsu assault. The spandex clad boy brought them both into the air, and opened his mouth.

"Omote Re-"

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" Lee was knocked into the wall by what appeared to be a giant turtle, with huge eyebrows. Maito Gai appeared next, berating his student for acting so recklessly. They then engaged in a weird, overly dramatic hugging episode. After an even more bizarre apology to Team Seven, Gai and Lee vanished, leaving Sakura and Naruto blinking awkwardly, while Sasuke got back to his feet, scowling and trying to keep what little dignity he had left.

"Oh... Kay... That was weird," Naruto expressed. Sakura nodded dazedly, and turned to glare at Naruto.

"God damnit, why is it that weirdos get crushes on me, but not the guys I'm actually after?!" Sakura demanded. Naruto gave the pink-haired girl a deadpan expression.

"Why do girls always become attracted to good-looking jerks?" The blond asked in turn. Sakura would have retorted, had Sasuke not grunted for them to follow him upstairs. She still shot the smirking Naruto a deadly look, all the way to the real exam room.

“Ah, good of you all to come,” Kakashi commented, standing in front of said room. “If you hadn't all come, you wouldn't be able to take the exam at all.”

Sasuke scowled as Sakura and Naruto sighed.

“So you didn't us that because…?” The blond prompted.

“I didn't want you and Sasuke forcing Sakura to enter, though it appears you didn't need to.” Kakashi smiled. “I know you're impatient, so I'll be brief. You've all grown well beyond my expectations, and I am proud to be your teacher.” Kakashi's eye smile turned devious. The three genin were a little concerned at how well they could read their teacher already.

“So, knock `em dead. Oh, and try to win. I've got a nice chunk of change on you three in the jounin pool.” With that, Kakashi vanished.

“I really hate our teacher,” Naruto sighed, though he was grinning while he said it. Sasuke just smirked, as Sakura smiled.

“Well, passing to make him proud is a better motivator than passing to win him money,” she suggested. The two boys could get behind that, and so spurred they pushed the double doors open and entered the exam room.

"Boy, this place is crowded," Naruto commented, shaking his head. Sasuke glared at him and huffed at the full room of genin, most turning and glowering at the newcomers. His expression remained unchanged, even as a familiar blonde girl glomped him from behind.

"Sasuke-kun! Am I glad to see you! This place was definitely lacking good looks before... Hey, is that Naruto?" Ino blinked at him. Naruto blinked in confusion.

"Er, yeah?"

"INO-PIG, GET YOUR HANDS OFF SASUKE-KUN RIGHT NOW!" Sakura snarled, channeling chakra to her fists. Ino ignored her, letting Sasuke go and walking over to get a better look at Naruto. Naruto, in turn, got a good look at Ino's new attire-Blue jacket with short sleeves, black tank-top undershirt, white skirt, and dull yellow gloves and boots. A large wooden staff was strapped to her back, he noted, as her face came very close to his own. His cheeks reddened as she hummed thoughtfully.

"You know... You look a lot better with your hair down than up," she said with a smirk. "But still nothing compared to Sasuke-kun!" She turned away and tried to glomp Sasuke again, but was intercepted by Sakura. The two girls began snarling and hissing at eachother, while Shikamaru and Chouji walked around them and came up to Naruto.

"Naruto, you're in this too? How troublesome," the pine-apple haired-boy sighed. Chouji munched some chips and grinned broadly.

"Nice outfit, Naruto! It looks really cool!"

This from a guy wearing underwear on his head, Naruto thought, but he grinned back anyway. It was nice to be complimented, though not as nice as being complimented by a girl.

"Hey, Naruto! How the hell did you get in here?" A familiar bark accompanied the equally familiar voice, and Naruto turned to glare at Kiba. Shino and Hinata also came up on either side, Hinata smiling and blushing at Naruto.

"Hello, N-Naruto-kun," the Hyuuga girl greeted, as Shino merely inclined his head. Naruto inclined his head to Shino back (the Aburame had always been polite to him at the academy, when he spoke at all, and he looked and acted very cool), and grinned broadly at Hinata.

"Hey Shino! Hinata-chan! And uh... What's your name?" He asked Kiba, smirking. Kiba glowered indignantly.

"It's Inuzuka Kiba you idiot!"

"Ohhhh. Next time you might want to show me your collar," the blond replied with an evil grin. Hinata visibly tried not to laugh, as Kiba growled.

"You making fun of me, idiot?!"

"You got any better insults than 'idiot'?"

"Hey, you genin! Quiet down.You shouldn't draw attention to yourselves, or you won't make it out alive…” a grey-haired boy wearing glasses and purple clothing told them, walking up.He identifed himself as Kabuto, another Leaf nin taking the chuunin exams.

"How many times have you taken it, Kabuto-san?" Asked Sakura politely. The grey-haired boy smiled and shrugged.

"Seventh time around... Trust me, it's not easy, especially this year." Kabuto turned his gaze on Naruto. Without warning, the Keyblade flashed into existence in Naruto's hand, much to nearly everyone's surprise, especially Naruto's.

"Naruto, when you'd get that thing?" Chouji asked, blinking. Naruto opened his mouth to answer, but Kabuto stepped in, holding up a card.

"Uzumaki Naruto, genin. Thirty-six D-Ranked missions, one C-Rank mission upgraded to A. Ninjutsu is ranked high, taijutsu ranked high, genjutsu ranked very low, stamina and agility are off the charts. Signatures are use of the Kage Bunshin, and a Keyblade." The grey-haired ninja smiled kindly.

"A Keyblade?" Asked Chouji.

"Apparently, there are a few such weapons fashioned after the legendary one. They incorporate a binding/summoning jutsu that makes them appear and reappear at the will of the wielder," Kabuto explained. Sasuke glowered.

"Where did you get that information?"

"Well, as I said, I've failed the exam seven years in a row. During that time, while I've gotten stronger I've also collected information. Each of my cards features data on a specific ninja. Anyone you'd like to see?"

Sasuke asked for information on Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Subaku Gaara. While he listened to their data, Naruto stared at Kabuto, working his jaw. The Keyblade would not vanish, and kept giving him an uneasy feeling around Kabuto. Why, he wasn't sure. The guy seemed nice enough, and had provided more information for him to use as a cover for the true origin of his Keyblade... But the weapon wouldn't vanish, even after the exam proctor entered the room and began the test.

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Okay, I'm going to skip the actual written exam in the next chapter because it's really, really boring and I want to get to the Forest of Death and Anko already.

I rewrote the meeting with Gaara about two dozen times (no joke). I decided to keep it mostly canon and suggest that Gaara knows more than he's letting on. I also hope my version of the Konohamaru Corps and Sakura was decent.

Sorry, no Naruto yelling at the room.

Kabuto is a fun character, and he'll play a much bigger role in the chapters to come.

For the Kiba fans: Relax, he's just venting because he's protective of Hinata, and in my version of the Naruto canon he was a very big jerk to Naruto when they weren't working together on pranks. Mainly because his enhanced senses immediately made him take a disliking to our favorite blond (foxes and dogs do not get along). He'll be redeemed eventually, but instincts take a while to work around.

More on Ino's new outfit in the next chapter. I did some fanart on one version of her outfit on my deviantart account. You can check it out by going to my profile page and clicking on my homepage link. Of course, if anyone wants to do fanart for this story I'd be more than happy about it.

BTW, Biomonkey, I couldn't find the fanart you left a partial link to in your review. Mind giving it another try? Preferably by putting spaces between the full address so Fanfiction dot net's stupid editing doesn't erase it?

Have I mentioned how much I'm looking forward to the Forest of Death? Its because the fight with Orochimaru… Is going to be awesome. If you believe nothing else, believe that it will kick ass because I have been dying to write it ever since I began this story.

Preview for Chapter Thirteen:

“What a disappointment you turned out to be. Your ancestors weep...the Uchiha clan should thank me for killing you. Silly little worm…”