Reborn!

31: The Chūnin Exams

Team 7 safely transported the evolved food supplies that survived their stay in the R&D building to their intended destination -- the Forest of Death.

It was the day before the official start of the Exams, and Temari and Baki had arrived in the morning. Now, the four just had to visit the Hokage's Office for their verbal report. Thereafter, they would be free of missions until the final tournament ended and all of the visiting shinobi departed.

Unlike other teams, that took this time to train and prepare for the upcoming Exams, Team 7 continued to charge through their missions as per usual. While Sōjirō busied himself with arranging for the tournament and secretly instructed his clueless shinobi forces (he did not trust the ANBU forces to mobilise themselves appropriately when it came to it), Team 7 completed missions at a ridiculous pace. At one point, their team ended up being split into two and started rushing around madly as if in desperation to fill their portfolios. The secretary would no longer look on flabbergasted whenever Team 7 came out of the Hokage's Office every morning without fail, carrying a large pile of mission scrolls.

The Hokage's Guard even started to place bets on how many missions the frenzied Team 7 would turn in at the end of the day.

Of course, no one knew that the trio did mean to bulk up their portfolio. During the previous timeline, none of them could mention their mission track record. Though there were no failures, their official files did not include their achievements during the Fourth Shinobi World War. It never became an issue since humans were pretty much extinct by the end of the war, but they had to deal with that if they wanted to continue their careers as shinobi. For one, being a genin Hokage (albeit in name only) was too shameful.

"We're back, Hokage-jiji!" Naruto yelled as he barged into the Hokage's Office.

He was decked in full orange shinobi gear. He wore a bright orange and blue bomber jacket with matching orange pants. It was so similar to the outfit Naruto favoured in the previous timeline that even Sakura and Sasuke were deceived into thinking it was the very same. Then again, that might have been because they did not pay much attention to what Naruto wore back then.

"Welcome back, Team Kakashi," Hiruzen welcomed them pleasantly, already used to the boisterous veneer Naruto now cast upon himself.

"Team Kakashi reporting, Hokage-sama!" Sakura and Sasuke announce, saluting as was taught in the Academy.

They were more accustomed to a different salute, one that was later modified from the traditions of various shinobi villages. It was the salute towards the one and only leader of the Allied Shinobi Forces. Naruto's proper title had been Rengōkage. He had taken the mantle of Hokage for less than a week before being appointed Rengōkage but his friends and teammates, Sakura and Sasuke continued to refer to him as their Hokage. He liked it back then since it made him feel as if Konohagakure was still intact -- even if it was not so.

"Report," Hiruzen instructed, waving a hand to signal them to be at ease.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

A long hour later, Naruto returned to his home in the Forest of Death. He would have taken this time to bring Sachiko-chan back, but his ANBU guard was being particularly diligent as of late. He did not want to bring unnecessary attention upon himself by disappearing under their watch. Who knew what Sarutobi Hiruzen would do if Naruto just vanished into thin air?

He noticed when he got there that Anko was back early, possibly due to the phase of the Exams that she was proctoring. That aside, Naruto found it rather intriguing. The conditions were completely different now, and yet the Chūnin Exams would still be carried out in much the same way as they did during the previous timeline.