The Cycle of Hatred: A Naruto Insert

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We arrived early to an almost empty room when a strange vertigo hit me immediately. The sputtering ceiling lights cast a dim orange glow over the aged wooden tables. I hadn't been here in months—it was familiar, yet completely changed from my memories. Strangers filled the space, wearing symbols of villages I knew only from lessons taught in this very room.

Some huddled in groups, leering at the two entrances and each other. Others sat casually atop the tables, their easy posture betraying none of the tension that prickled through the cool air.

"Relax, relax," I heard one of the Leaf genin say. He was older than us—eighteen at least—and placed a comforting hand on the shoulders of two younger genin while their third teammate nibbled at her bottom lip. The older genin's teammates wore easygoing smiles. "I've done this before, so trust me, alright? You're gonna want to stay as calm as possible. It wouldn't do to lose your nerve this early on. Here's a spray I picked up from the Land of Hot Water. Some fancy feudal lord's daughter said it's supposed to improve mood and lower anxiety."

I leaned closer, straining against my brown flak jacket to get a better look.

"Don't," Hinata whispered, veins bulging around her eyes. "There are faint traces of his chakra dispersed in the solution."

We walked away and I glanced back. "Genjutsu, huh?"

"I wonder what they're planning," Choji muttered.

A frown tugged at Hinata's lips as she deactivated her Byakugan. We took a seat near the middle of the room. "Whatever it is, it's none of our concern."

Sometimes, I forgot that this life of mine was more than life-or-death battles. The subterfuge got lost in the mind-numbing classes of my childhood, the endless training sessions, and my worrying about the future, only for me to ironically walk face-first into it.

"Aye," I murmured, leaning back to glance under our table at the squared locket bunched in my fist. "You're right."

I scanned the room, keeping my eyes peeled for a head of crimson hair. To my knowledge, Karin Uzumaki only ever fell into Orochimaru's clutches after these Chunin Exams.

There wasn't much I could do to effect real change in the world in the present, but I had to start somewhere, and right now, that was these exams. I was so taken with the idea that I almost forgot that there was no way for me to know she was an Uzumaki in the first place.

Luckily, there was a handy way to remedy that.

"Hey, Hinata?" I tapped her shoulder. "Do me a favour and look at everyone with your Byakugan. I want to know if there's anyone with chakra levels to worry about."

She nodded, pulling her fur-lined battle hoodie—courtesy of the Akimichi twins—over her head. It was a lighter flak jacket, with handy pockets and all. Choji was rocking a similar hoodie, except it was ripped at the sleeves for the sake of mobility.

I, on the other hand, ended up whittling them down to a furry shoulder cape I never planned on wearing—but maybe I'd give it to Haruto as a graduation present or something.

Team 3 entered the room not too long after I asked Hinata to keep an eye out for people. I waved at Lee and Tenten, catching the deep glare Neji threw Hinata as they took their seats on the far side of the classroom.

Hinata ignored him, for the most part. "Naruto, I've found one."

I stiffened. "Where?"

"Right entrance. She's a Hidden Waterfall shinobi with bright hair."

"Hidden Waterfall?" I scanned the room and nearly had a heart attack.

The Hidden Waterfall shinobi she was talking about was Fuu, a fellow Jinchuriki—but it wasn't her who caught my eye. I'd recognise that face anywhere but couldn't reconcile my memories to that forehead protector.

What the hell was Rukia doing here? And as the teammate of Fuu, Jinchuriki of the Seven-Tails no less. If I wasn't secure in the knowledge that Fuu wasn't a lunatic like Gaara, I would've been far more terrified—but I wasn't… at least, not yet.

I was confused. Who the hell was Rukia and what reason did she have to visit the Hidden Leaf under disguise as a Hidden Waterfall shinobi?

"I've found another person."

"...Who?" I asked, grudgingly pulling myself out of my head to look over my shoulder at Hinata.

"Red hair, left entrance, wearing Hidden Grass forehead protecto—"

I was moulding chakra before she could even finish her sentence, placing a steadying hand as I felt the jutsu take hold. The warmth from my chakra—slightly chilling as I transformed it into wind chakra—travelled up my throat, settling in my voice box.

"Hey you," I said, no audible sound leaving my mouth. Karin twitched, looking over her hunched shoulders. "On your left."

She met my eyes and then froze.

"Keep walking, otherwise you'll look suspicious and don't talk—I won't be able to hear you." I leaned forward. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. This is going to sound extremely strange, but do you know anything about the Uzumaki clan? Blink once for yes and twice for no."

To my frustration, she blinked twice.

"Okay…" I stopped scratching the back of my head. "Look, we'll talk later. Long story short, you're part of a clan of people with massive chakra reserves. Some can use chakra-sealing chains or sense the chakra of others as well as its quality. I'm part of that clan and think you are too—you've got the red hair and the massive chakra reserves."

Doubt warred with recognition behind Karin's red-rimmed glasses. She wasn't buying what I was selling yet and dragged her long sleeves lower down her arm as if I could see through them at the bite marks underneath.

…Well, that was true, to an extent.

One of her teammates barked at her and she trudged after him. I broke the connection I'd created by modifying Wind-Release: Frequency Disruption. I'd tacitly started calling it Whispering Wire, even though the volume I spoke at mattered very little.

Our short conversation had gone as I'd hoped. There was no reason for her to believe me, even if I'd hit her chakra-sensing ability on the head. It was why I'd brought my locket—though I didn't know when I'd be able to show her it.

"Her chakra isn't the only thing strange about her," said Hinata, "There are bite marks all over her body—and I mean everywhere."

I frowned. "Is that so."

"So, why did you talk to her?"

I could see her Byakugan was still active under the shadow cast by her hood. That was the one pitfall of Whispering Wire. It used wind chakra to compress the sound waves leaving my mouth into a thin wire, invisible to the eye and audible only to the person whose ears I connected it to—but as usual, dojutsu were bullshit.

I sighed. "You saw her chakra reserves, right?"

"Smaller than yours, but bigger than everyone's here… except the girl from the Waterfall, for some reason."

"Look at this," I murmured, gesturing to the locket in my hand.

She looked down and gasped after a moment. "...No way."

"Maybe."

Choji leaned forward. "What happened?"

I used Whispering Wire again to catch him up to speed and he looked ready to get up and talk to Karin immediately.

"What are we waiting for guys? We've got a bit of time until the exam starts."

"I appreciate the enthusiasm, but her team's not going to make it easy and I don't want to be too pushy about it. There's no way the Grass has kept her in ignorance for no reason. If she knew what she was, she'd have no reason to stay there."

"That's all well and good, but Team 7 is here," said Hinata. "Let's greet them."

I knew she'd never admit it, but Hinata seemed eager to escape Neji's gaze, or at least distract herself by talking to our ex-classmates. She lowered her hood and slid out from the table to lead us down the stairs. Sakura noticed us first, relieved at finding some familiar faces out of a pretty unsettling crowd.

"Hey, guys," she said with a smile. "I was afraid we'd have to sit with Team 3."

Choji shrugged. "What's wrong with that?"

"Uh…" Sakura's green eyes flickered over to where Team 3 were sitting and her smile strained. "Lee's… revealed some news that I don't know how to process yet."

I snorted. "He confessed, after all. Hinata, give me my money."

"I thought he'd do it after the exams," Hinata grumbled, fishing through empty pockets. "I'll give it to you once we're done."

"...Man, am I glad I stayed out of that," said Choji, looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke had an amused smile on his face. "The shoe is finally on the other foot."

"Sasuke!" Sakura whined, betrayal on her face.

Shino made his presence known with a quiet clearing of his throat. "Say, have you three seen Team 8 by any chance? It's growing dangerously close to the agreed-upon time and they're too capable to get caught in the genjutsu downstairs."

"They might not even be here," said Hinata.

"What do you mean?

"She's right," said Sasuke. "Unlike us, they've had no combat experience since the joint training exercise."

I grimaced at the certainty in Hinata's voice. Sasuke was right, in a way, but their combat experience didn't matter nearly as much. They weren't in any state for an exam as dangerous as this one if they couldn't trust each others' decisions. Not that it would matter—they'd find themselves fighting off an invasion in a month.

I just hoped they sorted out their issues before then.

"Hey, you guys." We all turned to see a white-haired, glasses-wearing guy approaching us with a smile. "You should be more considerate of those around you. Aren't you rookies fresh out of the Academy? Man, you're still going about all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed… just so you know, these exams aren't a field trip."

Sakura frowned with her hands on her hips. "And who are you?"

"I'm Kabuto Yakushi and you should really take a good look around you."

I raised an eyebrow. "What, talking is suddenly outlawed before the exam even starts, eh?"

Kabuto's smile widened. "Of course not—but everyone's always tense before the exams. Tempers flare at minor annoyances and I'd hate for you guys to tap out before things begin. You kids going around without a care in the world remind me of myself, is all."

"You've taken these exams before?" Hinata asked.

"Seven times, to be precise. I've been doing these exams for four years now. They're hosted twice a year in allied countries, with the genin of allied villages invited to participate. Quite the time-consuming deal, I'm afraid, but it's the easiest way to progress one's career in peacetime."

Sasuke moved forward. "You must have something else to tell us. I doubt you came all the way here to warn us about tempers."

"Well… something like that. I thought I'd offer some help seeing that you're first-timers." Kabuto laughed, fishing through his pockets. "Oh, here they are." He bent down, placing a stack of orange cards on the ground next to him. "These are cards I've created over the past four years of exams, gathering intel on potential examinees in allied villages as well as our own."

"Why can't we see anything on it?" Choji asked.

"That's because—"

"It's sealed," I replied.

Kabuto smiled at being cut off without a hint of irritation on his face. "Precisely—but it's not any old seal. Only my chakra can unseal the information I've got on these cards. To put it plainly, it's a lock with my chakra as the key."

"Couldn't someone with enough chakra overpower it?" asked Sakura.

"Of course," said Shino. "But most shinobi don't have overwhelming chakra reserves. People like Naruto are in the minority, so why would anyone spend their time or chakra forcing through a deck of sealed cards?"

Pulling a card off the top of the deck, Kabuto placed it down, leaving his index finger on its surface and channelling his chakra with a hand seal. A small cloud of smoke burst forth from its blank side, revealing a labelled map of the participating villages. Underneath the map was a legend of the village sigils, detailing the number of examinees from each.

"The Hidden Sound?" Sakura frowned. "I've never heard of a Hidden Sound before…"

Kabuto chuckled. "I wouldn't worry about them too much. As far as the Hidden Sound goes, it's a small shinobi village of a small nation that popped up a few years back. There isn't much information on them besides the number of their participants for now. That said, if they've been selected to enter these exams despite that, they're the best their village has to offer."

I slowly slid my right hand into the holster strapped to my leg. Kabuto knowingly provoked the Sound genin to cause a spectacle, showing off the Sound village's cream of the crop genin, but the bastard was enough of a loose cannon in my future that I wanted to be a thorn in his side.

At least once, anyway.

As expected, one of the Sound ninja vaulted over the final set of tables, propelling himself high enough to hurl two kunai in offence. Kabuto dodged it by leaping back clumsily, and as he leaned forward to regain his footing, I saw the hurtling figures of the other two genin closing the distance.

I sprinted into a front kick that knocked one into the other and positioned myself before Kabuto. "There's a way to act in someone else's village and it's not like this, people."

Kabuto sighed in audible relief from behind me. "You saved my bacon, Naruto."

"I don't remember telling you my name, Kabuto."

"My info cards, remember?"

I snorted. "Remind me to check up on what you know about me at some point."

"Sure, just focus on those three, please."

Dosu Kinuta, the only Sound genin whose name I could remember, started to chuckle. "Yakushi… seems like you're nothing special, even though you're a veteran examinee."

The only girl on their team chuckled mean-spiritedly.

"Write this on your fancy info cards, Glasses," said the genin who'd thrown the two kunai. "The three Sound Village genin will be chunin by the time you flunk out of these exams."

I smiled, letting my hands fall to my sides. "Gonna ignore me right until the end, huh…"

I fixed my eyes on them, letting the weight of my presence settle like a noose tightening around their necks. Their shoulders stiffened, and I could see the moment they realised what was happening—the slow crawl of fear widening their eyes. I didn't need to lift a finger. The way they stood there, frozen, told me enough.

I leaned in ever so slightly, and their breaths hitched. I knew they could feel it, the unspoken threat wrapping around them like a vice. "What's wrong?" I asked, still smiling. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

Dosu Kinuta's single visible eye narrowed as I increased the pressure, exuding more chakra with each passing second. His two teammates' faces paled, shimmering with sweat, unable to move their feet.

That fear… I knew it well. It spread to the rest of the class. I saw people freeze under its grip, others tensed and stared at me like deer in headlights, some looked ready to fight—and Gaara grinned like Christmas had come early.

I was going to press harder, see how much the Sound genin could take until they replied, when a deafening explosion shattered my focus. Thick smoke—thick enough that I couldn't see a thing beyond myself—enveloped the front of the class.

"Quit the pissing contest and get to the front of the class, you degenerates!"

I looked over my shoulder at thirteen shinobi outfitted in standard T&I gear. Their leader, scarred and draped in a flak jacket, wore an unsettling smile, disturbing the lines of faded scar tissue on his face.

"My name is Ibiki Morino, your proctor for this first exam." He pointed at the Sound genin, who'd returned to their seats in the confusion. "Control yourselves, Sound Village brats. Act up again and you won't like what happens."

Dosu Kinuta raised his hands. "Apologies, Proctor Morino. It's our first time here; we got a bit too excited, you see."

"And you, blond brat."

I straightened. "Yes?"

"Tone down on the killing intent. There'll be no butchery in this exam." He swept his eyes across the room. "Matter of fact, from here on out there won't be any fights, competitions, pissing contests, or anything of the like without permission from your proctor. See this box? Come here, one by one, pull a number out, and go to the corresponding seat, so I can begin the exam."

Once everyone was settled, he explained the rules. I was sitting a considerable distance away from Choji and Hinata, but that wasn't a problem. With our test papers in front of us and an hour to answer nine questions, I picked up my pen and got to work.

The questions themselves weren't impossible to answer, but for the vast majority of genin, they might as well have been. Then again, the proctor had pretty much told us that cheating was the name of the game here by instructing us to act like shinobi and that we'd be deducted two points for each instance of awkward cheating rather than disqualifying us outright.

Not everyone caught onto that, though, nor did they have any special methods to aid their cheating.

"Hey, Choji," I whispered, directing my words to his ears three rows down from me. "Don't panic. I'll give you my answers for this test." His shoulders lost all tension and I smiled. "Question 1 is—"

"Numbers 11, 56, and 2, you've failed."

I stopped, looking up to see who'd been kicked out this time. In the last fifteen minutes, seven people had been caught and dismissed from the exams, but this was the first time three people went out simultaneously.

"Sir!" a brown-haired boy wearing a Leaf forehead protector exclaimed, gesturing to his two teammates. "I don't know what happened, but I didn't do anything! Isn't it suspicious that my two teammates went out at the exact same time as me?"

The proctor scoffed. "That's none of my concern. Once again, 11, 56, and 2, you're out—leave the classroom."

For a moment, I thought he might fight the decision, but he and his teammates clenched their jaws and walked towards the nearest exit. Halfway down the staircase cutting between the rows of seating, the boy stopped with wide brown eyes.

"I-It was genjutsu!" He pointed at someone in the row to his right, and when I leaned forward to see who, it was the older genin from before. "Sir, we were sabotaged by him before the start of the exam, can't you see?"

The proctor appeared at his side instantly, throwing him down the staircase and glowering at the boy's teammates. "Do I have to do the same with you two?"

"H-He sabotaged us!" the boy exclaimed from the bottom of the stairs.

"And that's your own fault. Do you remember what Proctor Morino told you at the start of the test?"

Understanding—and then shame—contorted his face. He rose to his feet and left, followed by his equally frustrated teammates. I turned away and continued relaying my answer to Choji, unbothered by the steady flow of participants being kicked out of the room.

Seeing that Kankuro was allowed to add an entire proctor to the exam, I didn't think they'd kick me out for seemingly whispering to myself. For all Ibiki Morino knew, I could've been calculating one of their needlessly difficult maths problems—he probably knew that I wasn't, but that was beside the point.

As the promised hour time limit drew closer, I noticed the classroom was far emptier than I thought it would be—and with the arrival of the tenth question, I was sure it'd become even emptier. With the announcement that failing to provide an answer would disqualify us from the Chunin Exams forever, the noose around our necks tightened.

And so it began—people continued to lose nerve as the minutes dragged on, declaring they forfeit and leaving the room while the atmosphere plummeted at what the dreaded tenth question could be. The number of people raising their hands to back out decreased until only an awkward silence remained.

"To those who remain, well done!" Morino's grin was more terrifying than reassuring. "You've passed."

"E-Excuse me, Proctor Morino?" Sakura asked. "I'm sure I misheard you."

"No, to the sixty-three of you who remain: you've passed the first stage of the Leaf Village Chunin Exams."

One of the foreign genin didn't take kindly to that announcement. "Then was the point of this hour-long shitshow?"

Morino raised an eyebrow. "There are quite a few points to this so-called hour-long shitshow. The first is that it weeded out those who—"

His explanation on how he toyed with the minds of one hundred people and barred thirty of them from progressing past genin-rank was interrupted by a vaguely human-shaped blur careening through the window. In a split-second, the intruder erected a flag, throwing attached kunai into the ceiling and floor.

With the banner announcing the presence of our new proctor, Ibiki vanished from our sight, replaced by a boisterous trench coat-wearing woman. "Yo, you wet wipes, I'm Anko Mitarashi, your proctor for the second exam!" She pumped her fist, wearing a trench coat over a mini-skirt and short mesh onesie. "Follow me!"

Morino poked his head around the side of the flag. "...You're early."

"...H-Huh," She flushed slightly, scanning the room. "Twenty-one teams, huh? Perfect—come with me, you lot." Leaving her flag where it was, she jumped through the broken window without looking back.

Ibiki Morino stared back at us for a long moment. "She's not joking. If you take the stairs, you'll miss her."

As if a spell had been broken, people scrambled out of their chairs, booking it for the window. After a few short seconds of chaos, they organised themselves into a line in front of the broken window.

Sasuke scoffed, tossing a kunai through a perfectly fine window before plummeting after it. Shrugging, I jumped through the hole he'd made, landing softly despite the three-storey fall, and avoided the shower of glass shards as everyone else decided to destroy the Academy's windows.

"I like you guys already!" Anko Mitarashi howled in delight from behind us as people tumbled down the building with varying degrees of finesse, followed by the proctors from the first exam except Ibiki Morino. "Alright, follow me, people!"