Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Only my own creations.

"Naruto!" – Speech

'Naruto!' – Thoughts

Naruto! – Flashbacks

Naruto! – Jutsu/Bloodline Limit

A Boar's Creed

Fox Meets The Master of Boars.

"Welcome everyone!" Genma, a Shinobi of the top Shinobi Village named Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf Village), announced to the crowds of fellow ninja and civilians as well as visiting guests. Genma has brown, shoulder-length hair which hangs about his face and brown eyes. He wears his forehead protector like a bandanna, and the standard Jonin outfit and always has his trademark senbon in his mouth. "To the Chunin Exam Finals!"

With that, the roar of the wind was bloated out by the fierce cheering of the crowds. This was what they traveled far and wide from their homes to witness. The Chunin Exams are a selection of trials and ordeals that are held twice every year, in different Shinobi Villages each time. These Exams also have infamous death rates as Genin, lower-level Shinobi, actually died during the Chunin Exams; this way was to weed out the weaklings and so-and-sos, leaving only the ones with real Shinobi material.

But usually, the Exams feature two different ordeals that always lead to a tournament. But this year, there were too many remaining Shinobi so they had Preliminary matches; to count down the amount of Shinobi left by half. It was met with complaints from the some of the Genin who were still exhausted from the Second Part of the Exams but the Preliminaries were a success.

And since they had the Preliminaries, the leader of the Village, the Hokage, announced one months of extensive training for the Finals. The finals that will decide the ultimate winning Genin, who will be given the promotion to Chunin right on the spot. Of course, there are plenty of good candidates for that honor.

The list goes with the first one that is Neji Hyuga, of the noble Hyuga Clan. He specializes in Taijutsu, a deadly form known as Juken (Gentle Fist). Juken doesn't cause any bruising or other forms of outside damage; instead, users of Juken seek to disable and harm their targets with interior trauma to the target's vulnerable spots. Neji is also known by a hereditary ability, called Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limit), named the Byakugan (White Eye) which allows him to see where he can land Juken hits for considerable damage; the Byakugan pretty much works as a type of x-ray vision.

Appearance-wise, Neji had fair skin and long black hair. When his Byakugan was not active he has featureless white eyes. Neji wore a khaki shirt, a dull blue shirt beneath that, and mesh armor beneath that. He wore dark brown shorts, blue shinobi sandals, and wrapped bandages around his right arm, chest, and right leg. He tied his hair back in a loose ponytail tied a few inches above the end. He wore a black forehead protector, under which was a smaller headband with two straps, framing both sides of his face.

Another candidate is Shino Aburame. He doesn't have a deadly Taijutsu (Fist Technique) or a Kekkei Genkai like Neji. Instead, he and his clan use their nigh unemotional demeanor and a species of bugs against their targets. Shino explained during his Preliminary match that the bugs are called Kikaichū or Parasitic Destruction Insects. They also can be deadly, especially against Shinobi; they eat away what is known as Chakra, the essence, life force and source of a Shinobi's ability to perform Ninjutsu (Ninja Technique). Jutsu can range from body enhancement, to controlling a certain element all the way to manipulating the environment and a battlefield entirely.

Shino is a fair-skinned ninja and the tallest member of his graduating class. He has dark, bushy, brown hair and dark, narrow eyes, the latter of which has only been shown in the anime. Shino is regularly seen sporting the same style as the rest of his clan, consisting of dark sunglasses and a sea-green jacket with a high, upturned collar.

Another candidate for Chunin is actually a foreign Shinobi named Kankuro. He hails from a friendly, neighboring Shinobi Village named Sunagakure (Hidden Sand Village). Kankuro specializes not in Taijutsu or the use of bugs but instead the art of Shinobi Puppetry. And with Shinobi Puppets, Kankuro can control them with fine strings made out of Chakra; and he proved to use them so well, a puppet was able to take his place and fool everyone in the crowds. Let's just say that Kankuro's Preliminary opponent never saw that he was trying to crush a puppet instead of the puppet master; in the end, he was the one crushed, by Kankuro's weapon.

Kankuro wore a black, baggy, full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front. He also wears a black hood which covered his head completely, and had cat-like ears and his forehead protector on his forehead. Both this and later outfits are derived from traditional Bunraku puppeteer costumes; Bunraku puppeteers usually wear black outfits and hoods so as not to distract from their puppets. Kankuro sported a triangular face-paint design that he calls 'war paint'.

Kankuro is not the only foreign Shinobi as a Chunin Candidate, he has a brother and a sister as well. His sister is named Temari and she specializes mostly in Ninjutsu that is associated with the wind; all with the help of her fan that is about as tall and wide as she is. And her signature technique has proven during the Preliminaries to cover an area as large as the battle field within Konoha's battle stadium; meaning that her next opponent will barely have any room to avoid it.

Temari has her teal eyes and sandy blonde hair, which is gathered into four consecutive ponytails. Temari's outfit consists of a single light purple-colored, off-the-shoulders garment that extended to halfway down her thighs, with a scarlet sash tied around her waist. In addition to incorporating fishnet worn over her shoulders and legs, specifically on her right calf and her left thigh, she also wore her black forehead protector around her neck.

Finally, their brother is named Gaara. And he seems to be the scariest Genin on the list as he was able to kill his opponent without even getting a single scratch. During the Exams, Gaara shows a nigh god-like control over raw sand; he uses sand to protect himself, launch attacks and crush his victims. It was said by one of the dropouts of the Preliminaries that Gaara's sand reeks of blood, both fresh and odd.

Gaara has fair skin, green eyes, and short red hair; for most if his life his hair is allowed to remain naturally spiky. He has no distinctive pupils or eyebrows, the latter of which others sometimes make fun of. He's had tanuki-like black rings around his eyes his whole life. Apparently as a child, he carved the kanji for "love" (愛, ai) on the left side of his forehead, which his hair is parted in order for it to be kept visible.

Gaara wears a black body suit with an open neck, t-shirt-like sleeves, and almost full-length leggings. With this, he wears a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips. He has a wide leather band from his left shoulder to his right hip with which he carries his sand gourd and around which he wraps his forehead protector.

Now the foreigners have been listed, there are more Konoha Genin to be mentioned. Genin at the bottom of the list such as Shikamaru Nara. He is considered to be the laziest Genin in the village, after his own father. But he is a genius, he never lost a game he ever played in his life and once he does put effort, he always wins his matches. That is because of his family's inclusive Jutsu that allows Shikamaru to trap his target on the spot with his shadow and force them to copy his own actions, exactly.

Shikamaru has narrow brown eyes and a typical expression suggesting he is either bored or irritated. He has shoulder length black hair tied in a spiky ponytail. He wears a short-sleeved grey jacket with green-edged sleeves and the Nara clan's symbol on the back, under which is a green-lined mesh T-shirt. He also wears brown pants, a pair of his clan's traditional silver hoop earrings, and wears his blue forehead protector around his left arm.

Finally, at the very bottom of the list, was Naruto Uzumaki. The clown, dope of his graduating class. He always shown to be a hyperactive and loud-mouthed loser that somehow still graduated once he managed to stop a traitor from fleeing his village with a scroll on every single Jutsu exclusive to Konoha. And as a Shinobi, the only Jutsu he knows is one that allows him to use his Chakra to make solid copies of himself to try and use sheer numbers to his advantage. But everything else about him is low-par compared to the other Genin of his class.

But then again, everyone was wondering where Naruto is. He was supposed to be on the field with the other Genin remaining in the Exams. Also, another candidate was late too; Sasuke Uchiha of the nigh extinct Uchiha clan. And Sasuke was the one that everyone came to see rise through the ranks and take the Shinobi world by storm. They will be so disappointed.

"We seem to be missing a couple of our Finalists and they better hurry." Genin announced once he finish counting the Genin present. "The rules are clear. If a Finalist for the Chunin Exam doesn't arrive on time, they are automatically disqualified and forfeited any chance of the promotion."

"We might as well start now. I knew that the Dobe was just all talk if he is late. I told him that he will always be a loser. Fate decided that years ago." Neji was extremely distant and bitter towards pretty much anyone. That was when he wasn't ranting on how everyone should just give up trying to be something other than what 'fate has decided for them to be'.

"I don't care about what Fate has to say Neji." A boy's voice sliced through the air like a hot knife through butter. "And we are not late, you just never noticed us." When the Shinobi and crowds did take a good look, they saw that there were a couple of figures in the shadows of the stadium. "Master?" The shorter figure turned to the taller one who just signaled for the former to go on and onto the field.

And once the shorter figure raced out of the shadows in a blur, the taller one made a smile hidden in the shade of the sun that he remained in. But while any details were also hidden, this figure was no local to Konoha. He was another foreigner and he was Naruto's new teacher and pretty much the best one that the Uzumaki boy ever had. They both remembered like it all happened yesterday,

Flashback Begins!

"It isn't fair!" Naruto shouted as he stomped in the forest around the village. "'Sasuke has a dangerous opponent so he needs all the training he could get in a month Naruto', will so do me!" Naruto was having a fit after how his own Shinobi teacher refused to even give him a piece of advice or something to work on in the month that the blonde had before his match against Neji in the Finals.

"I can't believe it! I made a promise to Hinata-chan and stupid Kakashi saw it! So why can't that lazy, always-late scarecrow actually see that I need to train too! I actually stayed in the finals unlike Haruno!" Naruto shouted and ranted since he didn't care if someone heard him. This was the best way for him to burn off all his anger.

But what really helped Naruto calm down was a sight that shocked him clear of his anger. Naruto was approaching a certain section of the forest when he felt hot. Hot like he was actually into a furnace and didn't know about it. Then there was the ground, it wasn't hard. It was soft, soft like ash. Then there was the smell in the air. It was smoke!

"A fire! There is…was a fire! But…b-but where…where is it!?" Naruto was panicking and trying to find where the fire is until.

"There is no fire, boy. Just me practicing and training." Naruto turned to see a fully grown man that wore boar hides all over and with a headband that had a symbol Naruto never seen before; he only recognized the scar across the symbol. This was a Rogue Shinobi, a runaway, a criminal!

"And now, I am not here to attack your village. I am just a lone Sennin, never to swear loyalty to any village in this land." The figure said and Naruto settled down somewhat. The boy didn't feel angry or scared anymore.

"What is a Sennin? Is that a cool Ninja like you?" Naruto asked in an innocent and curious tone that matched his age perfectly. The figure in boar hides smiled.

"Rather than just tell you, can you just tell me what you are doing out here and instead inside your cozy village?" The figure asked and noticed that Naruto didn't appreciate anything about his village.

"It is not cozy! It is just filled with stupid old people! Like my teacher, living me all alone again and with no way to train to fight Neji! I hate him!" Naruto nearly went on another rant until he felt a hand on his head.

"Then never mind. Just tell me what you are doing, wandering into my training fields. Just look at the trees and the ground." The figure forcefully turned Naruto to face the destruction the figure called training. "You could have come out of that worse than a burger on rare if I didn't hear you shout your voice box dry."

"Sorry sir." Naruto now felt ashamed above all else and looked down, expecting some kind of scolding or beat-up. When neither happened, Naruto looked up to the figure and saw an expression of slight annoyance and curiosity.

"I am not going to beat you up boy. I just want to know your name, why you are here and what is the deal with you and this 'Neji' character." The figure said. "And I want to hear everything. Understand?"

"Y-yes sir." Naruto said in a nervous tone, still unaware that this encounter was to turn his life into the right direction at last.

Flashback Ends!

Surprising, he finished his trip down memory lane once everyone had soaked in how different Naruto looked. Instead of the eyesore orange jacket and dirty blue pants as well as the untamed blonde hair, his attire looked a lot more professional.

His jacket was smoother and thinner and with the colors black on the outside and red from within; there seems to be spirals in pairs of three on each sleeve, each spiral having the Kanji for 'Nature' in their center. With it were matching fingerless gloves, sandals and even his headband around his forehead. His pants were a dark brown that blended almost perfectly with the dirt that made up the battle arena. Finally, his belt was visible to be only thing orange but hidden under his jacket; it also had several pouches out back with what looks like brass knuckles on his right side.

"Naruto Uzumaki is here to please!" That was one thing that will never chance about the boy but at least he will no longer shout out his dream for the whole world to hear.

XXXXX

"Whatever, I am just glad that we got our first pair here. With Sasuke Uchiha still absent, we will start anyways." Genma said as Naruto and Neji moved in to face each other. "Are both fighters ready?"

"Yes."

"Just get it over with."

Genma smirked and raised his right hand up into the sky. "Alright, begin!" Genma signaled the start of the match by sending his arm into a chopping motion. But when he braced for an instant movement from at least one of the fighters, nothing happened.

Genma left the field anyways while both Neji and Naruto just stared each other down. Both were wondering the same thing. "What's wrong dobe? Are you afraid to make the first move? Do you think that you can got against fate that has already decided this match?"

"You just stole my words." Naruto responded. "Except for that last one. I thought the proctor was named Genma, not Fate." Naruto smirked when Neji was fluming slightly.

"Shut up!" Neji shouted but still didn't make any effort to strike at the blonde who was basking in the glory of getting the stoic Hyuga all heated up under the collar. "Now come and met your fate!"

"I rather have my fate to be a woman. I am straight, unlike you apparently. I guess that even people like you get lonely in your beds and need someone to play with." Naruto mocked Neji who just couldn't take anymore and roared with Chakra visible. "Come on. You know that is true and you really need to play fair next time. After all, your mate Fate had done in your father and…"
"Silence!" Neji finally snapped, by his eyes focused and veins showing from his skin, enough to strike and hit Naruto in the face for a few solid strikes with his Juken. "Now you have seen what I can do to you. And it will get worse unless you keep your infernal mouth shut!" Neji growled at Naruto, seeing that the blonde was not at his knees at least.

"Alright, alright." That was Naruto's voice for sure and Neji was more angry than shocked that he heard the blonde's voice perfectly; it was like those strikes didn't do what Neji had hoped. And once the smoke cleared, Naruto's face only had a few bruises while otherwise was working just fine. "If you are going to keep the conversation going, I get the honors. Again."

"Convser—shut up!" Neji retorted before catching what he was about to do. "This is to be your match leading to your death since you refuse to mind your own business about Hinata-sama! There is nothing so casual that you need to keep your big mouth running!"

"So why are you still talking?" Naruto retorted calmly and Neji just snorted. "Fine then, let's cook! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!" Naruto placed his forefingers into a cross-like formation and soon, Neji was surrounded by clones of the blondes at every possible direction.

And Neji used his still-active Byakugan to realize it was impossible to tell which blonde was the original. But while Neji's plan was to strike them all anyways, all the blondes jumped and landed on the walls of the area. They were using chakra to stick to the walls like houseflies while flipping through hand-seals of various animals, "Katon: Kama Eria (Fire Release: Furnace Area)!"

Neji widen his eyes as Naruto had stalled him by making those clones, only to use a combo Jutsu with barley any room to avoid. The only way for Neji to escape was to jump into the sky, where he can be the most vulnerable. But Neji did it anyways as he had a trick up his sleeve that he didn't want to reveal so soon.

But like any good ninja knows, once you are in the air then you can't avoid any attack from the sky or the ground. And Neji saw that he was tricked into jumping many feet upward when he saw another blonde racing to strike him. Naruto had once again tricked Neji into retreating to where the latter will be open.

Of course, as if it was going to be that easy for Naruto. Neji was able to use some chakra at the last minute to move out of the blonde's ambush and strike him in the back, sending Naruto into the torched ground below. Now with his target clearly in sight, given that the other clones already dissipated out of existence, Neji was go for the kill.

Once he saw Naruto trying to get up from the nasty fall, Neji swooped in like a hawk for its prey. "Die!" Neji then noticed that his hand, infused with pure chakra, went through the blonde's back much faster than before. It also felt like sticking your hand into a mud puddle; which was true when 'Naruto' turned out to be just an Iwa Bunshin (Mud Clone)!

"Neji, you need to reconsider yourself of not being blind if you fell for such a simple tactic." Neji growled to hear Naruto's voice again and once the Hyuga turned to see that a rock had somehow got stuck to the area walls, despite no rocks ever being on the area at the start of the match. And Neji called it when that rock had revealed to be the real Naruto in a Henge (Transformation)!

"Now that I have the golden opportunity…" Naruto smirked and made more hand seals. "Katon: Zukokku (Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work)!" Naruto released another Katon technique that really got the audience on the edge. Naruto was not supposed to know any Elemental Jutsu, especially not Katon as Sasuke was the most well-known Konoha Genin to use one or two himself.

Neji had to think fast to avoid that Katon since he was grounded this time, not with this Iwa Bunshin holding down his arm. And when the Katon did land at the location, Neji jumped out with slight panting. Judging by the mud still on Neji's arm, it looks like the Hyuga was able to free himself with Chakra again to avoid Naruto's Katon.

"Enough with the Ninjutsu and cowardly tactics!" Neji shouted and got into his Juken stance which somehow amused Naruto, making the Hyuga scowl deeper than usual. "Prepare yourself!" Neji moved in and this time, Naruto actually blocked that left jab with one of his own.

"Okay Neji, this is the next step after all. Watch closely or die, as you say." Naruto then went in for a right punch and Neji barely avoided it. Neji then tried to distract Naruto with a left kick from below, so that he can get in a strike. But while Naruto did either dodge Neji's kicks or parry them, Neji finally got Naruto to take the bait. But of course, Naruto pulled off the impossible.

Naruto was able to catch one of Neji's Juken strikes, with the latter's punch enhanced with numbing Chakra. Naruto then took the action of hesitation to tug at Neji's arm into his direction. With this done, Naruto was able to land a sudden right elbow to the Hyuga's face. This of course stunned Neji long enough for Naruto to land a mean left blow that sent Neji to the ground with a bruised face.

While this got Naruto some damage in, that combo also got Neji to regain his focus through the pain and the close proximity gave Neji the chance to land a surprised palm strike to the stomach. This got the audience to gasp, Naruto was actually making things interesting until then.

"Two strikes!" Neji shouted and landed a couple more hits on random points on Naruto's body.

"Four Strikes! Eight Strikes! Sixteen Strikes! Thirty-Two Strikes! Sixty-Four Strikes!" Neji went on a literally rampage and struck Naruto all over, without mercy. "Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms) is complete!"

Neji tried to look victorious through his pain and exhaustion but it was for none to see that Naruto didn't fall to his attack. That was when Neji finally noticed that Naruto's skin had a remarkable difference in color tone. It was like Naruto had suddenly gotten a tan. "Bravo Neji. Now you have wasted good Chakra, your hands are bleeding and now you notice my new style? You only proved to be a disgrace to your 'brilliance'."

Naruto spoke with a mature tone and rolled his sleeves to show indeed a tanned skin that suddenly turned back to a while tone. "One of my favorites that I share with my new master. The Doton: Domu (Earth Release: Earth Spear). You will like it too." Naruto smirked as he causally walked over, with plenty of energy to fight all day while Neji was about to faint. "And you will love this one too."

Neji was slowly but surely losing his sight through all his battle damage but he also noticed that Naruto's eyes had gotten feral somehow, and without him noticing. But to Neji, it seems that Naruto had those eyes ever since the blonde first arrived to the Stadium; it made the Hyuga feel like staring down a wild boar, completely weak and helpless to protect himself.

Neji realized that Naruto had completely dominated the battlefield and toyed with him. Now Naruto was going for the killing blow and Neji could barely do a thing about it. Or can he? "Hakkeshō Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven)!" Whatever Naruto was going to hit Neji with, stopped in its track once Neji gave up the last of his chakra to build up a barrier to protect himself.

"Amazing Neji." Naruto wasn't even impressed, just slightly surprised and still pressing his strength into getting through the protective dome. "You are just like me." Neji was wondering what Naruto was talking about, the last thing anyone will do in a situation like this one. "Always looked down, like it was our fate to be below their feet. But we always take them by surprised, prove them wrong and that is because we still dream. Dream of learning how to fly, on our own as caged birds. We really have a lot in common."

Somehow, Neji couldn't call in anymore chakra or even maintain his focus after that speech. Neji just cut off his dome of Chakra and awaited any finishing blow from Naruto. But instead, the blonde just tapped Neji's forehead hard enough to knock off the latter's headband and reveal a seal. A seal that lasted for a few seconds and then trailed down to the ground Neji landed on, as just harmless ink.

"We really do Neji. It is a pity that we weren't friends from the start." Naruto kneeled down to Neji's fallen form, not caring if the Hyuga could hear him. "We were just two birds, both in cages, just stuck in two different rooms and not knowing of each other. But now we both are free, maybe we can finally be friends. Hinata will really want that Neji, she always did."

And with that, Naruto ignored Genma appearing to check on Neji's vitals, to announce that Naruto had won his round like a boss. After all, this was just the icing on the cake for what this new and improved Naruto can really do. If only the rest of the village was just as willing to take a moment and see it for themselves like Neji did.

End of Chapter 1.

*I had this idea in my head on flumes until I finally came up with this chapter and maybe an entire story from here. Tell me what you think of my OC and I might make more about him. Enjoy summer in its last month!*