Discimer: I don't own Naruto or Portal

  Sunlight bathed Konoha's rooftops in the aftermath of shock. It was June 23rd, and the air held an undercurrent of tension that curled through the crooked alleys and around the old watchtowers. Word had spread like wildfire: not only had Naruto Uzumaki returned, but Minato, Kushina, and their so-called "Aperture team" walked the vilge with impunity. Whispers hovered in every nook, from tea shops to training grounds, weaving a tapestry of both fear and morbid fascination. Now, on the morning after that fateful encounter with the Hokage, the stage was set for the first phase of the Chūnin Exams—an event that many in Konoha had hoped would restore their waning glory.

  Naruto found himself standing at the edge of Konoha Academy's rge exam hall, the building's wooden beams casting snted shadows across the entrance. A throng of genin teams pooled outside, each wearing expressions that blended anticipation with dread. It was a tableau that Naruto recognized from a lifetime ago—young hopefuls streaming in from across the Elemental Nations, eyes flicking nervously as proctors marched around with clipboards. Yet there was something undeniably altered about the atmosphere: the presence of Aperture. In a swirl of advanced technology and crisp uniforms, Aperture's participants had arrived, an unmistakable testament to a new era overshadowing the old.

  He hovered near the entry, letting the hush wash over him. Around him, the Aperture Team advanced with a surreal composure that made them appear more like living shadows than shinobi. Two of them, android women named Akane and July, fnked him. Their attire matched that of standard field shinobi—sleeveless vests, utility pouches, and protective guards—but their movements were too precise, cking the organic waver that normal humans possessed. Their silver eyes flickered with cunning intelligence, scanning the crowd. Each footfall nded silently, as though the wooden pnks underfoot were illusions.

  And then there was Kushina, robed in Aperture's interpretation of a jōnin vest, stepping into her role as the team's "sensei." One gnce at her fiery hair and unimpressed stare was enough to cow even the boldest genin. The faint curve of her pregnant belly was not hidden, yet it hardly diminished the lethal aura she exuded. Disquieted murmurs ran through the other teams each time she walked by, carrying a confidence that challenged every assumption about pregnancy being a handicap.

  Naruto inhaled the stale tang of old wood and dust, recalling the days when the Academy halls had been a pce of scornful gossip about the "demon brat." Now, the hush that followed him felt more like fearful respect, as though no one dared to meet his gaze. He almost missed the frantic noise of children who once teased him, but that sadness was overshadowed by relief that he no longer belonged to that world.

  In a fleeting memory, he recalled Kurama whining about the entire notion of standing among "idiot shinobi brats" and begging off the trip. She had curled up in Aperture, letting her mechanical tails drape over her muzzle, muttering that she'd rather sleep than watch a "boring show of outdated ninjas." Minato, GLaDOS, and Kushina had decided not to force her, though Naruto teased her one st time, calling her a "zy oversized kit." Kurama had snapped halfheartedly but made no move to leave her den. So, with a final grin, Naruto had boarded the air transport to Konoha—his extended family minus one.

  Now, as the hush in the exam hall pressed upon them, Naruto's eyes swept across the faces of dozens of genin. Familiar ones cropped up—Sasuke with a brooding stare, Sakura trying to appear calm, Sai perched with an artificial smile. In the corner, Gaara stood almost statue-like, arms folded, his teammates watchful. Farther away, Hinata fidgeted, eyes flicking from her fellow rookies to the Aperture newcomers with shy curiosity. The room bristled with the tension of the unknown, and Aperture's looming presence only magnified the sense that something extraordinary was about to happen.

  Each footstep seemed louder in the hush. Naruto, fnked by Akane and July, moved to a row of seats set aside for them. Kushina lingered, arms crossing over her chest, surveying the throng with mild disapproval. The mid-summer air in the hall felt thick, as if the building itself were holding its breath.

  "Is that... Uzumaki Naruto? I thought he vanished," one girl whispered from across the row. "And that's the Yondaime's wife? She's alive?!"

  "I heard rumors about Aperture... but are they even human?" another boy muttered, eyeing the androids' too-smooth motions.

  Naruto ignored the whispers, sinking into his seat. He glimpsed Ibiki Morino, the tall man with scars along his face, shuffling into position at the front. A wave of half-familiar memories pped at Naruto's mind—Ibiki's dreaded tests, the intangible sense that everything was a trick. This time, Naruto felt no nerves. He met Ibiki's eyes with a calm that belied any notion of fear.

  Ibiki cleared his throat, scanning the silent audience. His gaze snagged on Naruto's team for a moment, flickers of discomfort crossing his features. Then he resumed his stern fa?ade, rolling out a scroll. "Welcome to the first phase of the Chūnin Exams," he intoned, voice echoing through the cavernous hall. "We will test your intellect, your ability to gather information, and your willingness to sacrifice. You will each receive a test paper—"

  From there, Ibiki id out the usual rules: the strict guidelines against cheating, the threatened disqualification for being caught. Naruto let the monologue wash over him, reminiscing. Only this time, he felt the jaded amusement of someone who saw these trials as elementary. Akane and July listened in polite silence, not once exchanging gnces. Even Kushina gave a faint roll of her eyes, unimpressed by Ibiki's theatrics.

  When the written test began, the room rustled with tension. Genin angled for vantage points to cheat. Anxious mutters rose whenever a proctor barked out a viotion. Sasuke's Sharingan flickered under lidded eyes. Others tried less subtle tricks—tiny mirrors, tapped feet in code, illusions to copy others' answers. Meanwhile, Aperture's trio of Naruto, Akane, and July filled out the papers with unhurried grace. Naruto recognized some of the questions from memory, though they had been slightly updated, and finished swiftly. Akane studied each line in a mere fraction of a second, pen gliding in crisp strokes, face unreadable. July occasionally lifted her gaze, scanning the room's energies, then refocused on her test with mechanical precision. None of them needed to cheat; Aperture's combined training and data assimition made this level of exam trivial.

  Ibiki's stern vigints paced the aisles. One paused near Naruto's row, eyes narrowing in suspicion at how easily they answered. Yet no overt sign of wrongdoing emerged. The proctor eventually moved on, unsettled by the unfppable stillness exuded by Aperture's participants. Those sitting nearby peered anxiously, uncertain if Aperture's calm was a fa?ade or a product of inhuman competence.

  When the final question arrived—the infamous gamble that would force many to resign—Naruto's side made no fuss. Akane and July raised their hands to stay in, and Naruto followed suit, remembering how, in another life, he had brazenly decred he'd never back down. This time, he hardly needed the bravado; the entire process felt like routine. Ibiki observed them from across the room with a silent disquiet. After all the tension, Aperture's three participants dispyed not a flicker of worry. He decided not to question them further, announcing the end of the test.

  The hall emptied soon after, leaving a sense of uneasy acceptance. Where others trudged out sighing in relief, Naruto led his group with unbroken calm. In a fleeting instant, he caught Sasuke's dark gaze from across the corridor. Their eyes met—two bck pupils burning with unspoken history. Sasuke's Sharingan flickered, scanning Naruto's face for clues or rivalry. Naruto broke the moment with a mild, non-threatening nod. This was not the pce for old rivalries. The Chūnin Exams had only just begun.

  —

  By the following day, the second phase loomed: The Forest of Death, a deadly stage infamous for devouring the unprepared. Under the merciless sun, a throng of genin teams clustered at the forest's perimeter, each clutching a scroll that determined their objective. Looming gates protected the interior, and the ever-energetic Anko Mitarashi hopped around, distributing warnings and borderline threats.

  The Aperture Team stood together, their posture wholly unconcerned by the hype. Naruto listened to Anko's instructions in silence, noticing the sidelong gnces from Konoha proctors who recognized him. More stares tched onto the motherly figure of Kushina, who smirked at them as though daring them to comment on her condition. The two android teammates, Akane and July, completed the intimidating picture, each scanning the forest beyond with meticulously crafted sensors, indicating no normal illusions or traps would catch them unaware.

  When the signal came, the gates creaked open, letting the squads flood into the wild. Lush, towering trees and thick undergrowth formed a byrinth of oppressive darkness. Slippery mud, venomous wildlife, hidden streams—Konoha had always boasted that the Forest of Death tested resourcefulness like no other. A swirl of tension spiraled as genin teams darted out in all directions, seeking or fleeing each other in desperate hunts to gather the right scroll.

  Naruto's group took a measured approach, slipping past the gates under cover of advanced optical camoufge activated by July's integrated illusions. Within minutes, they vanished deeper, leaving behind only faint footprints that quickly disappeared.

  Then the real pn began: Root ANBU, Danzo's loyal shadow, had set traps in the forest's interior. Danzo hoped to isote Naruto from Aperture's guardians, or at least glean intelligence on Aperture's limits. But they underestimated Aperture's synergy. Barely an hour into the exam, the first Root squad attempted an ambush.

  Cd in dark masks and specialized gear, these operatives materialized in a swirl of leaves, stealth suits blending with the canopy's gloom. Poisoned kunai whistled through the air, explosive tags flickered, aiming to subdue and capture the Aperture participants. Yet the moment they attacked, the androids reacted with chilling precision. Akane twisted, capturing a lunging bde in her palm and hurling it back, impaling a Root soldier through the throat. July blurred into the branches overhead, dropping in behind another soldier with unstoppable speed. A yelp of pain and a muffled snap told Naruto exactly how that confrontation ended.

  He, for his part, calmly raised a hand, from which a small spherical drone unched. Its whirring optical lens scanned the clearing. A beep signaled target lock. In an instant, half the Root squad fell to disruptor shots that each nded with lethal accuracy. The forest's hush swallowed their dying cries. The entire skirmish might have sted seconds. Not a single Aperture member had so much as a scratch.

  Kushina, stepping into the clearing post-carnage, gave the lifeless bodies a dispassionate gnce, one hand resting on her belly. "Pathetic," she said under her breath. "Danzo's gotten sloppy."

  No one contradicted her. Blood soaked into the mulch underfoot, mixing with the tang of forest moss. Naruto's heart hammered, not in fear, but in quiet realization of how unstoppable Aperture's synergy truly was. The old Naruto might have felt guilt at such lethal efficiency. Now, he simply recognized that Root's aggression could not be allowed to hamper them. He closed his eyes for a half-second, exhaling sorrow for the lives wasted in a misguided attempt to sabotage them. Then he nodded to the androids, and they moved on.

  Root tried again an hour ter with a second wave, led by masked elites carrying specialized sealing jutsu. This time, Minato intervened, traveling with the group in stealth. He flickered into existence mid-seal, severing the operative's concentration with a single slice of a reiryoku-imbued kunai. The rest of Root attempted to regroup, unching illusions or cursed seals, but the Aperture Team met them with unstoppable force. In mere minutes, the forest quieted once more, broken bodies strewn across branches and brambles. A hush fell again—darker, final.

  Word of these annihitions leaked. Surviving proctors—some loyal to Danzo—scrambled to contain the knowledge. But rumor had a way of spreading. By the time the second day ended, whispered horror stories circuted among the other genin: "Don't go near the Aperture Team; they wiped out an entire ANBU ambush without blinking." Fear repced curiosity, and entire squads began actively avoiding them.

  During all this, Aperture's official exam tasks went smoothly. They retrieved the necessary scrolls with almost comical ease, outmaneuvering unsuspecting teams by deploying illusions and short-range portal devices—one of Naruto's more advanced bridging jutsu learned under GLaDOS's guidance. Akane coordinated cunning feints, and July performed quick takedowns, ensuring minimal fuss. Naruto himself found no amusement in bullying the lesser squads, but they needed the scroll. He approached them swiftly, overcame them nonlethally, and walked away. The final blow was seeing their stunned faces, as though they had encountered an unearthly force rather than normal shinobi.

  By June 27th, they were the first to reach the central tower, finishing the second phase in a fraction of the usual time. The proctors stationed there, already shaken by the rumored Root massacre, watched in stunned silence as Aperture calmly turned in their scrolls, neither boasting nor apologizing. The main hall y nearly empty—no other teams had arrived yet. Naruto exchanged a few gnces with his team, then they retired to a designated waiting room, ignoring the wide-eyed stares from lesser exam staff.

  The next few days saw a trickle of battered survivors. Gaara's Sand team came in soon after, carrying an aura of quiet menace that caused lesser shinobi to step aside. Sasuke and Sakura, accompanied by Sai, limped in on the final day, sporting bruises and exhaustion. They paused upon spotting Naruto's group in the lounge. A tension-den stare passed between old acquaintances, but none approached with hostility. The raw memory of Aperture's unstoppable feats lingered in the air, tamping down any illusions of challenging them. Naruto offered a slight nod, acknowledging them without rancor.

  Konoha's leadership, behind closed doors, reeled from the fiasco. Each day, fresh reports nded on Hiruzen's cluttered desk, describing how entire Root units had disappeared. Danzo raged in secret, demanding an immediate crackdown or further sabotage. Homura and Koharu wrung their hands in confusion. Jiraiya, newly returned, sat in the corner of emergency councils, gaze grim. The Legendary Sannin had glimpsed enough in a day's reconnaissance to confirm Aperture's power dwarfed anything the hidden vilges mustered. He raised halfhearted objections to hostility, but Danzo refused to listen, doubling down on the narrative that Aperture spelled the doom of shinobi tradition. Hiruzen, torn by guilt and fear, strove for caution, suspecting that one wrong move would unleash a retaliatory strike that might crush Konoha entirely.

  All the while, Naruto remained rgely indifferent to the swirling panic. He had a mission: complete the Chūnin Exams to demonstrate Aperture's presence and gather intelligence on Konoha's st-ditch attempts at relevance. The second phase ended in a swirl of hushed rumors, the scoreboard reflecting Aperture's top ranking. But the sense of an impending collision saturated the vilge's air.

  At the cusp of July, the final days leading into the exam's break arrived. The battered teams that survived found themselves reeling in the tower, preparing for the next stage. The halls bustled with medics and staff who had heard the rumors of Root's downfall. Some parted with relief or fear whenever Aperture walked by. Others tried to glean scraps of Aperture's technology or glean their fighting style. They got nowhere, facing only polite but stony silence from Akane and July, or a dismissive wave from Naruto.

  By July 2nd, the second phase concluded officially. A short ceremony decred the surviving teams. Among them, Aperture stood out, overshadowing every other success story. Gaara's Sand team also garnered nervous respect. Konoha's own rookies found themselves overshadowed, unsure how to approach a future overshadowed by Aperture's unstoppable presence. The hush in the tower's corridors was thick with a sense that the old illusions had begun to crack.

  That evening, Naruto stepped onto the balcony of a nondescript building Aperture had cimed as temporary quarters within Konoha. The breeze carried the dull ctter of a distant festival—some small-scale celebration Konoha had thrown to distract citizens from the recent fiasco. Below him, subdued streetlights illuminated the worn roads. He let his eyes roam across rooftops that once towered in his nightmares. Now, they felt custrophobic, overshadowed by Aperture's far superior designs. A swirl of nostalgia and wry humor mingled in his chest.

  Behind him, the soft footfalls of his parents caught his ear. Minato approached, faint mplight glinting off his synthetic form, while Kushina waddled with careful grace. She lowered herself onto a bench, one hand massaging her lower back. GLaDOS arrived moments ter, calm and composed, scanning the city's silhouette with an inscrutable gaze. A tiny flicker from a holographic dispy heralded Kurama's presence—a projected feed connecting from Aperture's main facility. She yawned expansively, ears pinned back in feigned boredom.

  No one spoke immediately, each taking in the quiet hush of the night. Finally, Minato broke the silence, voice gentle. "We took down an entire squad of Root. Danzo's going to escate." His calm acceptance of that fact spoke volumes of Aperture's readiness.

  Kushina gave a short, humorless ugh. "Let him. If Hiruzen's old pride tries another stunt, we'll ftten them." She rubbed her belly, a sign of protective indignation. "I'd like to see them try to hurt my child again."

  GLaDOS inclined her head. "We must remain vigint. Aperture's demonstration was too thorough. They may attempt sabotage in the next stage."

  Kurama, on the holographic feed, made a snorting sound. "If so, I'll enjoy the show from here. Lazy or not, I can still tear them apart if they push too far." The corners of her mechanical muzzle twitched in a zy smirk.

  Naruto let a small smile curl his lips, resting his forearms on the balcony's edge. The swirl of old grudges felt distant, overshadowed by the family's unwavering support. "The next stage will reveal whether Konoha truly wants a fair exam or if they'll stoop to more cunning tactics," he mused. "Either way, we're not at a disadvantage."

  Kushina's eyes softened as she gnced at him. "You've grown," she said quietly. "Once upon a time, you dreaded returning here. Now, it's them who should dread you."

  He looked away, a faint tinge of emotion warming his cheeks. Memories of childhood torment fluttered, overshadowed by the memory of an unstoppable mother and father forcibly reciming his worth. "Thanks," he murmured. "For everything."

  Minato pced a hand on Naruto's shoulder, synthetic grip gentle. GLaDOS, standing at his other side, let out a small sigh that almost sounded human. A hush fell as the faint night wind ruffled the balcony curtains. The city lights below flickered dully, overshadowed by the bright, unstoppable presence of Aperture's scions. It was a lull, a moment of respite before the next wave of tension.

  Sensing the hush deepening, Kurama's feed vanished with a flick of static, her parting words—"Wake me if they try something truly stupid"—echoing in Naruto's mind. He half-ughed, picturing her dozing comfortably in Aperture's advanced dens.

  They lingered for a while, letting the city's hush drift around them. In that lull, the threads of revolution wove silently, unstoppable as an oncoming storm. Konoha's illusions, once mighty, frayed with every testament to Aperture's power. The Chūnin Exams would soon escate, bringing watchers from distant nds, all eager to see if the hidden vilges still held any cim to prestige. Naruto felt no pity. Only a quiet readiness for the final stage—an inevitable showdown that would cement Aperture's pce in a changing world.

  The night wore on, star after star emerging in Konoha's sky. The swirl of scattered festival lights below flickered in halfhearted cheer, overshadowed by anxiety. From that balcony, the Uzumaki-Namikaze family glimpsed a vilge teetering on the edge of transformation. They found themselves calmly perched on the cusp of a new dawn, quietly shaping a future that no hidden vilge tradition could hope to restrain.

  And so the second phase ended, the hush parted, and a new cycle approached—the dawn that would test not only Naruto's might, but Konoha's st illusions of control. If the forest's carnage was any indication, the final blow was yet to come. In that hush, the entire family savored a moment's peace before the storms of revolution hammered home. As the fading starlight dimmed overhead, the day's final impression etched itself into Naruto's mind: Aperture had arrived, and no old order could silence its call for change.

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