Okay, before you dive into this fanfiction, allow me to explain to you the differences between this world and that of the canon. These changes you will see include:

1)The Uzumaki clan and the Senju clan did not ally with one another. They will remain the same as they did during the Warring Clans era, i.e. neutral.

2)Uzushiogakure was able to repel the attack on their homeland, therefore are still around in this day and age of the fanfiction.

3)Naruto is not the son of Minato nor Kushina, but he is still an Uzumaki. As I said before the Uzumakis are still around at this point.

4)There is no Akatsuki, at least, not playing the role of an evil organization. This is due to the fact that Uzushiogakure was never wiped out so Nagato was not orphaned and he grew up rather happily with his parents.

5) Nagato's rinnegan was naturally awaken, not given to him by Madara. This is done for the sake of the plot.

And finally 6) I'm not entirely sure if the rinnegan is hereditary seeing as the sage's son didn't wield the rinnegan but in this fanfiction, it is. Again, it is for the sake of the plot.

You will see all the other changes done to the canon in due time. Now with that out of the way, let's go down to business.

It was just another morning for most persons living within the high walls of Konoha, but deep with the Hokage's tower, a special meeting was taking place. All of the individuals huddled in the Jonin Hall knew why they were here. It was only a formality for them to gather for the meeting, having already been informed of the events about to take place in the village in one week's time. The Chunin Exams. A bi-annual event that invites all villages to pool their genins together in order to prove if they are ready to take up the rank of a chunin. It was an important event, as it gave most villages a chance to boost their standings within the shinobi world and often times are used to display up-and-coming ninjas to possible new clients. Which, in turn, boosted the villages funding. This event was not to be taken lightly. This was why this special meeting was called. Active jonin senseis were requested to make an appearance and to state whether or not they believed that their students were ready to take on the challenge of the Chunin Exams.

The man who had called the meeting to order sat behind his oak desk. Hands interlocked beneath his chin, his cerulean gaze swept across the room, observing each individual before flickering on to the next one down the long line. He smiled at the ninjas under his command, his sun-kissed hair ruffling slightly as he shook his head at the shit-eating grin of one of his jonin, a man clad in green spandex. The man in question wore the basic jonin uniform of the Leaf Village, blue shinobi trousers matched by a pair of blue, long-sleeved shirt with a stylish leaf stitched at the shoulder area. Over this, he wore a flak vest and his signature jacket, white in nature with red flame motif at the tail. This man was none other than Minato Namikaze, S-ranked shinobi and the Fourth Hokage of Konoha. Before him stood a myriad of different ninjas, some short while some tall. Others were slim while a number were fat. But what all of these men and women alike shared in common was the undying love they had for this village. They possessed the Will of Fire, and like their predecessors before them, had taken up the mantle of passing it down to the future generation. And he felt it was an honour to lead them all into that era.

Believing the time for nostalgia had passed, Minato cleared his throat and addressed the crowd before him. His tone was sharp and demanded the attention of all those in listening vicinity. "You all know why you've been gathered here today," he started and paused, before continuing, "The Chunin Exams. As you all should know the Chunin Exams will be commencing in a week's time and it is Konoha's turn to host the exams. As the host village and the strongest of the five great villages, we are expected to make and good showing and with the numbers we are expecting this year, I hope for nothing less." He allowed the jonin senseis a few moments to digest everything he had just told them. He knew that, without a doubt, these exams would be the biggest to ever occur up to this point. Which was why he, alongside the members of the council, had made a notion at the last meeting concerning the exams. Now, he had to explain it to the ones involved. "With this in mind, I am bypassing protocol and making it an order that all rookie teams are to be immediately nominated for the Chunin Exams,"

The uproar at his announcement was expected. Many of the jonins looked at the Fourth Hokage incredulously. Had the man lost his marbles? The Chunin Exams were highly dangerous events and many had died in the process of taking the exams. Despite the fact that the genins in question included the likes of Sasuke Uchiha, prodigy of the Uchiha clan and hailed as the second coming of Itachi, not to the mention the Hokage's own chiildren. But the fact of the matter was that they were still genins fresh out of the Academy and had very little experience in life and death situations. No amount of skill or promise can save you if you freeze up in the middle of a fight. So it was expected that many had been opposed to the Hokage's orders. And none were more against than one Iruka Umino, one of the few chunins that were allowed to sit in on this meeting. The man had brown hair caught into a ponytail and a scar that ran across the bridge of his nose. His coal black eyes were wide in surprise at the Hokage's order, believing them to be unheard of.

"Forgive me Hokage-sama, but I strongly suggest that this order to not be carried out. While I agree that these kids have the promise to become shinobis that the village can be proud of, I also believe that they are not ready for these exams. I've taught this particular set of shinobi Hokage-sama, and I'm confident in saying that they will be ready for the exams in a year or two, but not right now," Iruka ended with a slight bow, having said his piece in the matter at hand. He had been with these kids since they had entered the Academy walls, and watched them grow, play and learn together so he had inevitable gotten attached to the group many had started to call the 'Rookie 12'. He was a strong believer in the Third's way of thinking that the children were the future of the village, and that it was up to the previous generation to pass unto them the Will of Fire, the same will that founded the hidden village.

"I understand your concerns Iruka-san, but my order still stands. Konoha's standing as the strongest among the other villages have been shaky even since the Kyuubi's attack twelve years ago. As much as I would hate to admit it, we've yet to fully recover the manpower that we had all those years ago and this fact is bringing our status into question. Clients will begin to offer jobs that would normally come to us and give them to other villages, and this must not happen. This years set of graduating genins are filled with several clan heirs and heiresses alike, and includes prodigies our village hasn't produced in many years. As much as it pains me to do this, but for the better of Konoha, Teams 7,8,10 and 11 are all expected to be prepped and ready for the upcoming exams," Minato explained to the concerned chunin. Personally, Minato respected the man. He understood what Konoha stood for. But there were times when the man was still naive, in a sense. Despite its sunny and idealistic exterior, the Village Hidden in the Leaves was still a shinobi village. There were times when decisions had to be made that many would not agree with, and this was such an example. Turning to the respective jonin senseis of the team he had mentioned and had received a quick nod in response to his orders. Good, at least he didn't have to force their hands, he thought.

"Now, with that out of the way, we have to deal with the matter of security. With the exams soon to begin, we will be expecting many arrivals from the other villages. So far, we have confirmed teams form Sand, Cloud, Mist, Stone, Sound, Rain, Waterfall, Grass and ... from the Village Hidden by the Whirling Tides," Minato concluded, with a slight grimace at the name of the last participating village. It was no secret that there was no love between the two villages, something that dated back to the times of the First Hokage, and with he himself adding fuel to the tensions to a decision he had made decades ago, both villages had no form of communication between the two. And by the shocked look on the faces of all those around him, they had the same reactions he had when he had received their confirmation of participation.

"A-Are you sure, sensei?" His last remaining student asked with a raised brow, his other being hidden by the face mask he wore. Minato nodded at his question, which led to his brow arching even higher. "But, what about... you know. Does she know about- "

"No, she doesn't," Minato cut off his student's question, already expecting Kakashi's question. "At least, not yet."

And Minato knew that the minute she heard about the village sending a team to the chunin exams, it would cause to a lot of complications in the future.

For now though, he would try his best to keep her away from the team of Uzumakis.

"Come on already, we have to go meet with the others," a feminine voice called out in a small ramen shop. The speaker, a girl with the most vibrant shade of red hair tapped her feet impatiently as she waited for whoever it was to finish whatever it was they were doing. Dressed in a light blue high-collared sleeveless blouse with a pair of black bike shorts stooping right above the knee. Her forehead protector was proudly on display, trapping the chin length bangs that framed the side of her face. This girl was known as Mito Namikaze, the second-born daughter of the Fourth Hokage and was a recently promoted genin fresh from the Academy, making up one-third of Team 11.

"Mito is right, we're already late as is, we wouldn't want to be later," a boy piped up from beside. He had his arms folded across his chest and a slight frown on his face. Brown short-cropped hair spilled over onto his headband, slightly obscuring the leaf's insignia on his own forehead protector. The boy wore a dark grey shirt with a pair of black shin-length trousers finished off by black sandals reaching his ankles. This boy was Kenji - no last name - a genin of the Leaf and alongside Mito Namikaze, made up two-thirds of Team 11.

The last member of the team and undoubtedly the reason why his teammates were late was none other than Nawaki Namikaze, the oldest of the . The boy was a few inches shorter than his sibling - something she never made him forget for a moment - and had a messy mop of spiky blond hair, similar to his father. He wore a orange jacket with blue trimmings, left open to reveal a black shirt. He finished the look off with a pair of black pants and black sandals. Currently, the boy was leaning over a bowl of ramen and loud slurping sounds gave away his actions. Lifting the bowl to his head, the boy proceeded to chug the remaining broth left from his meal, slamming the bowl back on the counter and grinning like a buffoon. "No worries nee-chan, Yamato-sensei won't mind us being a little late," the boy stopped before remembering that this was the same Yamato-sensei that had often times scared him half to death with that creepy face he could make. Feeling a cold shiver run up and down the length of his spine, the boy reached into his pocket, paying the amount he owed for the ramen before sprinting off to the direction their sensei had told the two they should meet up, leaving a large trail of dust in his wake.

"Idiot," his younger sister deadpanned, before running after her brother, a grumbling Kenji astutely following behind.

Nawaki was a man on a mission. A mission to not piss off his jonin sensei. From what his father had told him, Yamato was a former ANBU operative, and through ways his father had clamped up about, could wield the Mokuton bloodline which had made the First Hokage into an almost god-like opponent. But it wasn't this bloodline that had made Yamato a man to be feared in Nawaki's opinion. No, not one bit. Nawaki believed that honour belonged to that downright scary face his sensei was prone to make whenever he was angry. And with Nawaki's excellent track record for annoying the hell out of someone within the first ten minutes of meeting them, he had been on the receiving end of this face far too many times than he would've like.

And he wasn't planning on seeing that face again.

That was why, in his haste, he had not seen the kunoichi in his way until he had already slammed into her.

Having fallen flat on his ass, Nawaki slowly got back to his feet with a low groan. Whoever it was he had ran into was hard-headed, that was a fact. "Hey, sorry about that-"

"Watch where you're going moron!" the person shouted before the boy get out an apology. Now, while Nawaki had gotten his father's looks, he hadn't received his personality. No, that honour belonged to his mother, Kushina Uzumaki. Everyone in Konoha knew who this woman was. You'd have to be living under a rock to not know the Red-Hot Habanero of Konoha and her vicious temper. So when her son had developed a temper that rivaled his mother, it was expected that the boy would react to hostility with more hostility.

"Who did the hell do you think you're calling a moron, stupid-face!"he shouted back.

"HA! 'Stupid-face', is that the best you got ass-wipe?!" the voice - now he noted was distinctively feminine - mocked his inability to have thought of a more demeaning comeback at her initial taunt. He cerulean gaze narrowed in anger as he observed the rude girl he had bumped into. The first thing he noticed was the crimson hair - just like his mother and sisters - that flowed down to her waist. Sharp hazels eyes stared back at him condescendingly. The kunoichi - he had identified her as one based on the headband she wore which, strangely enough, had a spiral like his mother's clan symbol - was dressed in a tan tunic and black biker shorts.

"Shut up, flat-chest!"

Suddenly, the girl was right in his face, gripping the front of his black shirt in her fists and fury roared to life within the depths of her eyes. Offhandedly, Nawaki compared her reaction to his name-calling to his mother's reaction to when someone would call her Tomato-face, and gulped in fear, knowing that if this girl had a temper even half as explosive as his mother, he was deep shit.

"You wanna run that by me again, short-stack," she snarled as she clenched her other hand into a fist, daring the midget (HEY!) to repeat what he had called her. By now, most men would swallow their pride and take the manly way out. Meaning apologize and wimp their way out knowing the instinctive rule they had learned since birth, angry women were dangerous women. But this rule did not apply to Nawaki. No sirree! He was half-Uzumaki, the clan known for their recklessness and he wouldn't dare back down from a challenge. So with no sense of self-preservation, he soldiered on. Grabbing the girl by the front of her tunic, he clashed his forehead against hers and many witnesses would swear they saw electric sparks between the two's gaze.

"You heard me perfectly clear, pettanko," he snarled back with equal ferocity. He had absolutely no idea who this girl was and why she was here but no one was gonna come into his village and pick a fight with him. Not without getting their ass kicked of course. Both twelve year-olds readied themselves for the fight that was undoubtedly about to begin. Or least was about to begin if it weren't for the intervention of the remaining members of Team 11.

Mito burst onto the scene with Kenji trailing behind only to see her brother in a glaring contest with a girl his age. With only a glance, she could already tell that both were hot-tempered persons (not that she was one to judge) and wouldn't back down until the other apologized, something she also could tell was highly unlikely. This left her with one of two options. One, join her brother and help him fight a foreign kunoichi which could lead to an international incident. Or two, be the voice of reason between two temperamental individuals (something she had come accustomed to over the years). Sighing, she stepped between the two and broke them apart, a quick scolding off the tip of her lips.

"Break it apart you two, you're drawing attention to yourselves!" she began, and a quick look around showed them that a large circle was being formed by passer-byes. "Now, would one of you like to explain to me what the hell is going on here?" she asked the two. Her brother ducked his head in embarrassment while the foreign kunoichi scoffed and turned her head to side, though Mito saw the faintest of blushes on her cheeks. Probably embarrassed, Mito concluded. "Well, will someone explain this to me?" She asked again, "I'm waiting!"

"As am I," a voice said, catching all the gathered genins off-guard. Spinning their head to the direction, they were greeted to the sight of boy about the same age as them, standing on the top of a fence, looking down on them. Blood red hair was matted down and fell into his eyes, hiding both from view. His skin was pale, reminding both genins of Konoha of a comrade of theirs named Sai. Nothing more could be deduced about his physical figures due to the crimson cloak he wore, effectively disguising any distinctive features he might have had. At his appearance, the potty-mouth kunoichi ducked her head in an effort her full-blown blush and failed miserably. "So Tayuya... are you going to explain to me why only after a few hours of arriving I find you in an altercation with local shinobis?" he asked neutrally.

"N-Naruto-kun, I can explain," the hard-headed kunoichi - now identified as Tayuya - answered back with a stutter that contradicted her previous behaviour. She tried to lock gazes with the boy but failed utterly when she looked away with a blush. "Y-You see... um... the thing is..." She tried to explain her case before another voice called out, revealing that there was someone else. This time it was a girl walking towards them from behind. Like the other two of her comrades, she too had red hair but unlike her other teammates she had crimson eyes to match. Her hair was style in an unusual manner, with the right side kept short and spike and the left straight and long. She placed a hand on her hips and tilted her head slightly, a smirk on her lips. The girl had on a long-sleeved lavender uniform, unbuttoned to expose her navel. Black biker shorts led to thigh-high stockings and black sandals.

"Don't waste your time with her Naruto-kun. She's always causing trouble for us," the girl mocked, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. Her smirk grew wider when she saw that Tayuya had clenched her fists and was barely restraining herself from attacking her outright. Hell, she knew that the only reason why Tayuya had yet to charge at her was because Naruto was standing right there., and both girls knew that Naruto hated when comrades fought against one another. And both girls wanted to do whatever it was that could put them in his good graces.

"Karin!" Naruto suddenly spoke up, causing the girl to stiffen, "Now is not the time for this." he told the girl and she nodded her head rapidly to his demand. Turning away from his first teammate, he turned to the other who was giving Karin a smug grin. Can't these two just get along, he thought exasperatedly. "Tayuya... apologize,"

"Eh? Why do I have to apologize to the midget?!" Tayuya shouted out angrily before flinching as the boy jumped - now wait, he levitated - off the top of the fence and landed in front of her. He took a step forward and she took one back before surrendering to his demands. "S-Sure t-thing Naruto-kun," she spun away from Naruto's harsh glare (though none of them could see it due to his hair, they could feel his piercing glare) "You, midget!" she called out to Nawaki, getting a glare from the boy, "I'm sorry that you're a midget," she spoke with a grin.

"Tayuya! Apologize properly!"Naruto demanded of her, which she complied to.

"*sigh* I'm sorry for stating out the obvious and called you a midget," she finished with a shrug, not feeling all that sorry about it but apologizing anyway. Perhaps if the midget(HEY!) took part in the Chunin Exams, then she would show him how sorry she truly was.

Naruto sighed and nodded at his teammates apology, knowing that this was the most sincere she could pretend to be. Striding past her and the midget (SERIOUSLY, STOP CALLING ME THAT! I HAVE A NAME!) he approached the one he believed was the level-headed one of the group. Bowing slightly, he apologized for his teammates actions and hoped that both teams could put this past them, which Mito quickly agreed to. It seemed that it would all be smooth sailing for the two teams until Mito introduced herself to Naruto. That was when he froze.

"Can you come again, I'm not sure if I heard correctly," Naruto asked as he slowly began to loosen the grip the girl had on his wrists as they shook hands. A dangerous aura was beginning to form and even the civilians who were still there watching the interactions took a step back as the boy's tone went from friendly to cold in a matter of a few seconds.

"I said that my name is Mito Namikaze. That's my brother Nawaki Namikaze and our teammate Kenji, plus I was wondering what your name was. Is there a problem?"

"Yes... there is a problem," he ripped his hands from her and brushed past her harshly, not bothering to give her his name. Walking away, he called out to his teammates that they were leaving, and the two girls trailed after him. Soon, he had rounded the corner and was gone from the sight of a confused and slightly ticked off Team 11.

"What a bunch of assholes!" Nawaki shouted as the team was gone, still pissed off by the kunoichi not-so-pleasant apology. His sister however, said nothing, far too intrigued by what she had saw on each of the three genins' backs.

A burnt red spiral she was familiar with.

The clan symbol of the Uzumaki clan.

Her mother's former clan.

That's right ladies and gentlemen, I have a new story out for you to read.

The chapter is a little short for what I have planned for the story but this is just the prologue. My aim is to have somewhere close to 6K-8K words each chapter and this one is just above the 4K mark.

Things to discuss:

1) The issue of Tayuya. Yes, I know Tayuya isn't an Uzumaki as in the manga she has pink hair while in the anime she has red hair. But the fact is, I needed an Uzumaki to make up Naruto's team and decided not to make an OC but instead change Tayuya's backstory. So there.

2)Naruto's appearance. Well obviously I can't have Naruto with his trademark blond hair and blue eyes, like I've said before, he is not Minato's nor Kushina's son. So that explains that and I'm sure most of you will realize who is father is based on his looks.

3)Konoha's and Uzushiogakure's history is riddled with betrayal and deep-seated tensions which will be explained in the next few chapters and many will come to see why most of the jonins and Minato were concerned when the Uzumaki's arrive for the Chunin Exams.

So until next time.

-Gregorybryce9