Muscles glistened in the sunlight as Arthur finished his final set of push-ups. He was miles away from any prying eyes, hidden among the rough terrain of a secluded training ground.
After he finished, his solid form dissolved into a wispy cloud of smoke.
The afternoon sun was high above the academy building. Arthur drifted through the corridors and lodged himself in the cracks of the ceiling. It was a tight space, but his smoke form allowed him to hear and see everything around him without raising an alarm.
What made this even better was that he was using the Chakra Disguise technique to mask his chakra as that of a rat.
From above, he saw Genin queuing to submit their applications. And just as he suspected, Teams 7, 8, and 10 arrived together. Team Guy was already there, and the scene was all too familiar.
As things played out, an unexpected pattern emerged.
Rock Lee confessed his love for Sakura, which made William and Naruto laugh. But instead of challenging Sasuke like he was supposed to, he made a sharp turn, directing his youthful exuberance toward… Alex?
"You there!" Lee spoke energetically. "I would like to fight you!"
A collective gasp rose from the players. Lee wasn't supposed to challenge anyone, period, until everyone left.
Neji, usually composed, expressed his uneasiness.
"Lee," he said in an urgent tone. "Don't."
Lee paused to face him. "But, Neji, a challenge is a challenge! I would like to test my skills!"
"But, Lee," Tenten said with annoyance in her tone, "wasn't it you who said we were to lay low?"
"She's right, Lee," Neji added, shaking his head. "This isn't a game. Alex isn't like me. He's…" Neji hesitated, glancing toward Alex's impassive face, "much stronger than you think."
Lee's eyes widened in disbelief. To hear Neji himself acknowledge someone stronger sent a jolt through him.
Arthur himself was also intrigued. Not by Lee's choice to fight someone else, but by Neji's attitude. This Neji's icy arrogance from the preordained narrative was absent, replaced by a sense of responsibility and respect for his teammate.
Arthur immediately understood that it was because of Alex, who had subtly altered this Neji. Rather than Naruto using his 'talk-no-jutsu,' it was Alex who intervened early and changed the Hyūga.
The unexpected interruption had broken the momentum of Rock Lee's challenge. He looked at Neji to confirm things and then at Alex, whose expression remained confident. With a sigh, he conceded. "Alright, Neji. Another time, then."
Team 7 didn't hide their awkwardness over Lee's erratic behaviour. Then, to everyone's surprise, Jada stepped forward.
"If no one else wants to," she declared, "I'll be Lee's opponent."
Margaret, Alice, and William were all shocked to hear this sudden declaration. Most of all, Lee gasped before smiling in excitement. He knew for a fact that Jada, like Sasuke, was an Uchiha—a clan that was once considered geniuses.
"Yes! I have heard about you from my sensei!" Lee yelled. "A worthy challenger to test my taijutsu! Jada of the Uchiha clan, let us fight outside!"
Naruto's grin widened. Sasuke, on the other hand, remained silent. The Uchiha's gaze was fixed on Jada's back, curious as to how this would unfold. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of skills she possessed since the last time they fought.
Sakura herself felt a pang of jealousy upon seeing his attention on Jada. She huffed, arms crossed. "Honestly, Sasuke, it's just a sparring match. Can't you take your eyes off her for a second?"
Everyone ignored Sakura's childishness as Lee beamed at Neji, who gave him a perceptible nod. It was clear that, as long as he didn't fight Alex of all the Genin present, Neji wasn't interested in what he did.
Jada glanced back at Alex and the others, seeking their approval. Although neither of them understood why she was doing this, Alex nodded, William gave her a thumbs-up, and Margaret smiled reassuringly. The others tried shaking their heads, but she ignored them.
Neji, his face unreadable, cast another look at Alex before turning to Tenten. "Let's go," he murmured, clearly not concerned about witnessing the fight.
Naruto, unable to contain his excitement, announced, "C'mon guys, let's go watch!"
Arthur followed them outside to the training grounds at the academy.
In the center stood Rock Lee, whose muscles tensed with a wide grin, facing Jada, whose eyes held a quiet intensity.
"I will be giving it my all," he boomed with childlike enthusiasm.
The spectators hope Lee wasn't serious. Because if he was, then he'd take off his leg weights and use the Eight Gates.
Jada inclined her head slightly. "You do you, Lee. I know all your moves!"
Lee's grin faltered for a moment. He was taken aback by that statement. With a flushed look, he repeated, "You do?"
"Of course," she shrugged, "or did Guy-sensei forget to tell you more about me?"
Lee quickly shook his head, brushing the comment aside. In a quirky tone, he said, "I see! Then this shall surely be a great battle! No matter the outcome, my heart, however, belongs solely to Sakura!"
Sakura, who was watching, let out a disgusted groan. She was clearly not at all infatuated. Undeterred, Lee blew her a kiss, which ended up comically missing its target.
Naruto stood uncharacteristically still, his gaze locked on the two figures. Arthur noticed this subtle shift in Naruto's attitude. The presence of William, another Uzumaki, and the early formation of friendships had clearly tempered Naruto's usual rambunctiousness.
Regardless of that change, the fight began.
Jada moved with a burst of speed, immediately activating her Sharingan.
"Leaf hurricane!" Lee yelled, going in for a slow sweep kick.
Yet she saw it coming and sidestepped, leaving him spinning in a comical daze. Surprised by her agility, he quickly adapted his attack and launched into a series of jabs and kicks, aiming for every pressure point he knew.
Yet again, Jada's movements were swift; her dodges mirrored his every attack. He couldn't land a single blow!
The tide turned when she unleashed a technique: the Dancing Leaf Shadow. Her leg shifted into motion, connecting with Lee's chest and launching him into the air. Then she followed right behind him as both appeared parallel to the ground.
"You're pretty good, Lee," she said as the two were momentarily suspended in midair.
"Th.. That technique…! Where did you…?"
Jada could only giggle. Arthur knew she had to have learned that move from watching Might Guy with her Sharingan, like Alice told him she'd been doing. Everyone else watching the fight was mesmerized by her execution.
Instead of delivering the finishing blow, she flipped back, allowing Lee to gracefully land. He was still slightly dazed. She could have finished the fight there, but Arthur knew why she hadn't: it was because Sasuke Uchiha was watching this with his Sharingan active.
With her final move, the Dancing Leaf Shadow, she created an opportunity for Sasuke to copy the technique, a pivotal moment in the original storyline, thus allowing the narrative to unfold in the players' favour.
Those watching cheered her for her impressive performance.
"Wow, Jada!" Margaret yelled. "Not bad for someone with the Sharingan, but I would have just knocked him out with one punch to the gut!"
Jasper, equally impressed, added, "It looks like you have some hidden talents after all."
Even Sakura, momentarily forgetting her annoyance with Lee, chimed in. "That was a pretty cool move."
Lee, rubbing his chest with a sheepish grin, chuckled.
"Indeed!" he said, still filled with energy. "Never would I have expected my own technique to be used against me! Jada! You are quite the formidable opponent! Perhaps next time I really will go all—"
Before he could finish, a figure suddenly appeared in their midst, standing on a giant tortoise. It was Might Guy, making his appearance exactly as Arthur remembered.
Knowing what was likely to happen, he vanished from the academy grounds to consider things.
Later that night.
The moon cast its usual glow through the window, blotted out by the girls' apartment lights. Jada, Alex, Jasper, Margaret, William, and a very visible Arthur huddled around the couch.
"Alright, so where were you yesterday, Arthur?" Margaret asked. "We saw everyone registering for the Chūnin Exams, but you were nowhere to be found."
Arthur offered a casual shrug. "I don't recall Teams 8 and 10 being there in the story either. Oh, and I did register for the Exams. Yesterday, actually."
Some of them had a collective look of surprise on their faces. Jasper, usually the calmest of the group, raised an eyebrow. "Yesterday? Why didn't you say anything?"
Arthur's smile remained unfazed. "There wasn't much to say. Besides, I figured it would be better to avoid any conflict."
Alice cleared her throat, bringing the conversation back on track. "Right, well, more importantly, you missed the fight between Jada and Lee."
"Yeah," William agreed. "She was amazing!"
Jada remained modest and deflected the praise with a wave of her hand. "It was nothing special. Lee's actually a great fighter, and I only won because of my Sharingan. You didn't miss much, Arthur."
The true purpose of their meeting, however, was not about a simple sparring match.
Margaret shifted the topic to something new. "Let's get down to business already. I called for this meeting tonight because we need a plan to stop Orochimaru and rehabilitate Gaara."
Alex, who had been unusually quiet throughout the conversation, finally spoke. "I long thought of a plan for that."
Heads swiveled in his direction.
"Do tell," Alice wondered.
"We let Hiruzen know about it, of course."
Jada's and Margaret's eyes widened in disbelief. William was equally stunned.
Jasper blurted, "Dude, you're crazy. How would we even explain something like that?"
Alex remained composed. "We explain our suspicions about the newly formed Sound Village, Orochimaru's connection to them, and the danger they pose."
Arthur couldn't help but acknowledge how clever of an idea this was. He would have surely agreed if he were playing the hero like some of them were.
The players carried a weight of knowledge about the entire Naruto universe. They knew the plot, the motivations, and, most importantly, when to change things. Hiruzen was bound to believe their story.
"And what about Gaara?" William inquired with concern. "We can't exactly tell him we know he's the One-Tailed Jinchūriki, can we?"
"No, of course not," Margaret replied. "But we can subtly expose Orochimaru, who's gonna be disguised as their Kazekage. Perhaps mention things to Baki."
Baki was Gaara's Jōnin instructor.
A thoughtful silence descended upon the room. Arthur watched as the gears turned in their minds, analyzing the potential risks and rewards of Alex's plan.
Arthur believed Hiruzen wouldn't act immediately. He'd wait, observe, and then, most likely, attempt an ambush during the second stage of the Exams, the Forest of Death.
"Alright," Alice finally said in a firm voice. "It's a risky plan, but it's the only one we have. We don't tell Hiruzen everything, but we do tell him what he needs to know."
Everyone in the group agreed.
Their plan, while interesting, seemed naively optimistic. Telling Hiruzen was one thing, but changing the story this much was another. Sasuke wouldn't receive the curse mark, thus preventing the curse mark's power from brainwashing him to leave the village.
And if the invasion never happens, Itachi and Kisame, members of the Akatsuki, wouldn't be sent to the Leaf Village to check up on Naruto. That in turn had led to a major battle between the two Uchiha brothers.
"And what about Kabuto?" Jada asked. She was on to something since Kabuto began acting as a Leaf spy during the exams. And he did a fair job of it. "We don't exactly have any concrete proof of his involvement, do we?"
Alex offered a determined smile before countering, "We have proof; we know Orochimaru's past. Hiruzen'll understand things if we reveal Kabuto's whole background."
"Then who's gonna help save Gaara?" William wondered.
Everyone knew that taking on Orochimaru alone wouldn't be an easy task, but their resolve toward Gaara seemed to be a motivator.
Jasper interjected, "We need to be smart about this, Willy-Boy. Just let Naruto handle Gaara like he did before." Most of the players were fixated on the 'Willy-Boy' insult. "Not like we need strategy for that."
"That's messed up," William countered.
"Then how 'bout we let Arthur take on Gaara alone?" Jasper teased.
Arthur figured Jasper would try to provoke him. Humbling himself, he reminded the group that his skills were suited for a collected team effort, meaning he was just a support player.
The response was met with reassurance, prompting Jasper to back down.
To further turn things in his favour, Arthur said, "There might be a way to change Gaara when he arrives to the village." He paused, letting the suspense hang heavy in the air. "Just tell him the truth about Yashamaru and Karura."
His words impressed the others. Not because the idea was great, but because he mentioned Gaara's mother and uncle by name.
The meeting continued late into the night, with a mix of anxieties and hopes swirling within the apartment. They knew the road ahead would be fraught with danger if they made a mistake, but for the first time, they all agreed on one thing: they would change how the Chūnin Exams played out no matter what.