Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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Ivory Shadows

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Chapter Three

Six months passed by and Naruto found himself in the Academy again, a place he never wished to return to, with his team for the first part of the Chuunin Exams. Naruto gave Sasuke a dark look when the boy opened his mouth and blurted out to everyone in the hallway that the room the other genin were standing in front of was the wrong one, disguised with a genjutsu.

"Fool. That was to weed out the hopeless and now you just added more fodder to the playing field." Naruto hissed at the shorter teen before pushing his way through the crowd, trying not to take the boy's head off in his anger. When they reached the stairs, Naruto secretly put up another genjutsu to keep out the fodder. Upon nearing the correct room, Team 7 was stopped by Team Gai.

"Naruto-kun! I challenge you to a spar!" Lee declared energetically with a beaming grin. Naruto eye-smiled and waved at Tenten, purposefully ignoring Lee just to get a rise out of the older boy.

"Hello, Tenten-san. It is good to see you again." Naruto greeted the aspiring weapon mistress, who smiled in return.

"Hi, Naruto-kun. It's good to see you too and to know my grandfather's work is in capable hands." Tenten replied as she pointed to Naruto's swords and armor, mask included. Her mother was actually the person to make Naruto's trench coat, boots, and pants while her father had made Naruto's belt and straps for his katana and the holster for his ninjato swords.

"Thank you." Naruto answered with a polite bow of his head, eye smiling again. Tenten fought back the blush that threatened to appear on her cheeks and embarrass her. "If you are not busy, I was wondering if we could go to dinner some time after the Chuunin Exams and discuss my next possible commission from your family."

"O-Oh, um..." Tenten couldn't stop the blush upon hearing and registering his words, smiling shyly. "S-Sure. That's sounds great."

"Damn you and your hip attitude!" Lee cried with passion as he pointed at Naruto dramatically. Looking over his shoulder quizzically, Naruto cocked an eyebrow.

"Hm? Did you say something?" The ivory haired teen asked, taking a page from Kakashi's book.

"Gah!" Lee cried as he pouted in a corner, tracing his finger on the floor. Naruto laughed lightly at the boy's reaction before turning back to the other two members of Team Gai.

"Hmph. Peasant." Neji muttered under his breath as he started walking away to stand off to the side until his team decided to continue to the examination room for the Chuunin Exams. Unfortunately for him, Naruto heard him and held the blade of a ninjato in the Hyuuga's path.

"You want to say that again, White Eyes?" Naruto growled threateningly, slowly letting his killing intent leak out, gradually increasing it with every second.

"I said you're a peasant." Neji sneered as he glared at the white haired swordsman, internally growing more fearful of Naruto's presence. He had heard of the teen's skills and techniques along with his kill count; 592 in the past six months since Team 7 was formed. Naruto narrowed his eyes at Neji dangerously, his slit pupils narrowing into thin black lines that were barely visible in his silver irises.

"I'll show you a peasant." Naruto snarled as he flickered out of sight a split second before a knee was driven into Neji's back from behind as an arm wrapped around his neck in a headlock. Before Neji was able to cry out in pain, Naruto was already slamming his fist into Neji's right side with his free hand before kicking the Hyuuga in the back of his right knee, flickering in front of the teen as he feel to his knee. Kneeing Neji in the chin as said genin's knee touched the wooden floor, Naruto grabbed his ankle as the Hyuuga was launched into the air and pulled him back, grabbing him by the throat and pinning him to the floor with the tip of his right wrist blade touching his neck, drawing a single drop of blood.

"The only peasant I see is an angry coward of a brat that knows nothing of pain, nothing of fear." Naruto hissed into Neji's ear as tightened his grip of Neji's throat a little bit. "You, Neji, need to get rid of your fucking attitude and toss that Fate shit out the fucking window. I've been beaten, poisoned, burned, stabbed, tied up in barbed wire, and nearly bled to death from my neck getting cut open...and that was before I turned six years old. I was orphaned on the very night of my birth an hour after I was born when the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked Konoha sixteen years ago."

"N-Naruto..." Tenten softly spoke his name, already knowing of Naruto's past, but she didn't want him to kill her team mate. Standing up, Naruto sheathed his wrist blade before catching his ninjato, having tossed it into the air before he attacked Neji, and sheathed it as well.

"Like I said, Neji. You know nothing of pain, fear, despair, or loss until you've lived a day in my place." Naruto flat out told the Hyuuga as he turned away to return to his team, but looked over his shoulder before he left. "Did you know your father sacrificed himself to save your uncle? Did you know his death prevented a war with Kumo that would have ended the lives of many shinobi before the end of that very week if he hadn't? Your father died to save Hiashi out of love for his brother. I'm only going to warn you once; take it out on anyone else and I'll teach you the real meaning of pain, fear, despair, and loss."

With that, he left Team Gai and stormed past his own team for the double doors leading into the examination room. Kakashi, who had been standing at the doors, remained silent as he gave Naruto a slight nod, having heard his student's words and seen the confrontation with the Hyuuga Branch member. Gai, who had also seen and heard everything, had a stoic look on his face as he looked at Neji from the doors with disappointment in his eyes.

Kicking the doors open, Naruto felt the trickle of killing intent brush against him before flaring his own, causing everyone in the room to avert their eyes instantly and avoid looking in his direction by any means necessary. Sasuke and Sakura, however, believed it was because of them and not Naruto. Naruto rolled his eyes at their blind eyes and arrogance. Putting a pair of black ear buds on, Naruto turned on his personal radio and listened to the music playing over the air waves.

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A little over an hour later, Team 7 had just entered the Forest of Death for the second portion of the Chuunin Exams, having obviously passed the first portion- espionage. Having forced his team mates to relinquish their Earth scroll, Naruto kept the scroll sealed away in a special storage seal he had painted on his belt that blended in perfectly with the black leather, hiding it from sight. At the moment, Naruto was on the verge of leveling the sector of the forest he was in and turn the trees to fine dust in his fury. He had been picked up and thrown away from his team mates by a rather strong wind technique, B-rank at the least from the force of the wind itself and the slight scratches his armor had taken.

Glaring maliciously at the handful of giant snakes staring at him, Naruto struck his fists together that caused a slight shockwave from the impact while six flash bombs shot out into the air from the small openings on his shoulder guards. Closing his eyes as he set them off, Naruto drew his ninjato and disappeared in an instant. By the time the light faded away, Naruto was standing back in his original place, swords sheathed.

Vanishing once again as he headed straight for his team, the five massive snakes were suddenly replaced with thick clouds of crimson mist. Within that same second, Naruto had traversed the few hundred meters between him and his team, flipping backwards as he kicked Orochimaru in the chin and sent the Snake Sennin flying back. Glancing at Sasuke, Naruto scowled seeing the Cursed Mark forming on the Uchiha's neck as Sakura held him.

"Ah, if it isn't Naruto-kun." Orochimaru hissed out in an amused tone of voice, his Tsuchi Bunshin having been destroyed by Naruto's kick. Slowly drawing Kusanagi from his body, Orochimaru held the sword at the ready while Naruto's froze and hardened as he drew all three of his own swords. Grasping his katana in his left hand in a reverse grip, he held both ninjato in his right hand with the two blades facing opposite ways, their handles connected at the pommel.

"You won't leave this forest alive, White Snake." Naruto growled as his pupils grew thinner before suddenly splitting in the middle and forming two thin slits, one above and one below a pin-point circular pupil in the very center of his eyes.

'The experiments have been fruitful. Good.' Naruto thought to himself as he saw everything moving at a slower rate than normal while becoming clearer and sharper. He could also 'see' everything behind him from the enhanced combination of all of his senses telling him everything all at once, giving him a near-100% accurate 360 degree view all around him.

Only down side was that he couldn't use his personal speed technique, Slipstream or Koryu; by pushing the air in front of him behind him, a vacuum pocket is formed and propels him forward into the empty space. Through constant use, he's able to achieve speeds rivaling that of the Hiraishin. When coupled with his Denryuu style, he was nearly unbeatable in reflexes and pure speed, save for maybe the Yondaime Raikage himself.

"Oh? And what makes you say that?" The Sennin asked, his amused tone barely masking his anger. He didn't take to death threats by 'weaklings' very well. That is, until a blade tore through his left ankle, severing the tendon on the back of his foot and ankle. Taking a knee as he hissed in pain, Orochimaru glared at Naruto, who hadn't even moved. Looking behind him, his pupils dilated greatly until they were barely visible.

"You see, if you hadn't noticed my eyes, I'm unable to move as fast as I can while they're active. However, I've come up with a way to overcome such a handicap." Naruto explained as he slowly drew his two ninjato, as did the few dozen Kage Bunshin he had created on the way here. "Feel free to fight back, Orochimaru. It won't do you much good."

"…Kukuku…You didn't think I came unprepared, did you, Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru chuckled darkly just moments before a pair of insanely long blades shot from either side of his clones and cut them all down with a scissor maneuver. The blades then retracted before two of Orochimaru's own Kage Bunshin stepped out from their hiding places.

"Che…" Naruto scowled deeply as he connected his two ninjato swords at the pommel to form a double-bladed sword while drawing his katana with his left hand, holding it in a reverse grip like he always did. As he slowly slipped into his stance, a clone of his appeared next to Sasuke and Sakura, quickly taking them away from the area to keep them from getting in the way.

"Let's see what you can do, White Fox." Orochimaru hissed quietly in dark entertainment before he and his two clones charged Naruto from three separate directions, Kusanagi blades held at the ready. Orochimaru grew curious when Naruto closed his eyes and relaxed his stance when they attacked, but thought nothing of it.

Until he disappeared just as their swords barely made contact with his clothing…

Appearing on a tree branch above them, Naruto opened his eyes again, his swords missing from his open hands as he aimed them at his opponents. His eyes had returned to normal since he no longer held the advantage with them, black shadowy orbs having formed in his hands.

"Kokoshibyou." He whispered before unleashing them. The real Orochimaru managed to evade in time, but his clones were both struck in the chest, their bodies disappearing in bursts of smoke that was suddenly swallowed by the shadows the orbs radiated.

"Hmph. Lucky shot. They were only one tenth of my skill and power, though." Orochimaru taunted, believing that little fact would dishearten the white haired shinobi in front of him, but it didn't. He simply locked his frosted silver eyes on him before holding his hands out to the side and catching his swords, vanishing within that same millisecond.

Orochimaru looked around frantically, searching for the teen. Never before had he seen anyone move so fast in his life. He had seen the Yondaime using the Hiraishin, but that was through the use of a, simply put, reverse summoning technique. Not raw speed like the boy before him was using.

Then it hit him like one of Tsunade's punches; the boy was well known to have insanely high skills in Genjutsu as well as Taijutsu and speed. However, he didn't know what kind of genjutsu the boy was using, meaning he had no way to truly break it. If it was cast over the area, a strong burst of chakra would be required to dispel it. If it was on the Sennin himself, he wouldn't be able to break it without alerting the security forces around the Forest of Death to his presence.

Click…

Orochimaru's eyes widened suddenly between the split second break down of Naruto's source of speed and his disappearance. Looking over his shoulder, Naruto was standing with his back barely touching the Snake Sennin's own back, having just sheathed his katana, his ninjato already having been sheathed during his attack.

"Like I said…" Naruto's voice was cold and dark, denoting nothing, as he slowly took a few steps away from Orochimaru before circling around in front of him. "You won't leave this forest alive, White Snake."

Orochimaru didn't even have time to register what had happened to him when his body suddenly collapsed into a pile of bloody hunks of flesh, bone, and gore. Having left the man's left arm untouched, Naruto removed the Snake Summoning Contract and sealed it away on his belt before aiming his left hand at the remains of Konoha's most hated traitor.

"Kokoshibyou." He whispered before atomizing every piece of dead flesh that had once been Orochimaru's body, leaving a smooth bowl-like crater in its place from the devastating attack. Turning on his heel, Naruto took a few steps before falling to his knees, gasping for breath as sweat poured down his face and neck from behind his mask.

Tearing his mask off, Naruto sucked in oxygen as best he could. The only problem with using Koryu was that lack of oxygen in the vacuum space and strain it places on the body the faster the user goes. That was way Naruto normally made the initial strike as lethal and swift as powerful to avoid being drawn into a long fight with a powerful opponent.

Combined with the depletion of his chakra from his eyes changing and the constant use of Denryuu since he was tossed by Orochimaru's Futon jutsu, Naruto was on the verge of passing out where he was. Reaching into his trench coat with a shaky hand, Naruto pulled out a piece of paper with a seal on it before placing it against his chest, absorbing the chakra stored within it.

Instantly, he felt better, but knew it wouldn't last very long. Quickly getting back to his feet, Naruto removed his katana- sheathed- from his belt and used it as a walking stick, intending to locate his team before recovering his chakra through meditation and maintaining watch of the Uchiha and Haruno. Despite how much he would rather slit their throats in their sleep…

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Slowly opening his eyes as he finished his recovery by sunrise, Naruto stood up and reattached his katana to the straps hanging from his belt, pulling the hood of his trench coat over his head as he tensed his arms and shoulders before stretching, popping his joints into their sockets properly from his shoulders to his knuckles.

"That's better." Naruto mused softly as he looked back at his 'team mates'. Scowling slightly before forming a Kage Bunshin thanks to his seals, Naruto took off into the forest, not wanting to be around them anymore than he had to.

Now that he was thinking about it, Naruto realized he had very little, if not nothing at all, in Konoha. He had no real friends, save for maybe Tenten and her family, but he was primarily a customer of theirs. He had no love interests, not that anyone would be interested in being with him since he's the Kyuubi jinchuuriki despite being the son of the Yondaime. No one really respected him and if they did, it was because of his father's reputation, not his own power and skill.

Naruto slowly came to a stop in the middle of a small clearing and looked up at the sky through the canopy of leaves and branches above him. A small tear of anger and sorrow slipped from his eye as he narrowed them and clenched his fists.

That was when a team of Kiri genin landed in front of him, each one bearing some form of sword on their person. Naruto didn't look at them, keeping his eyes on the sky. He could smell the high-quality metals in their blades, the blood that stained their hands. One, a girl, didn't have the same scent as her two male comrades; it was as if she didn't want to fight, as if she was forced into confronting him.

Glancing at them for a moment, Naruto closed his eyes and kept them closed before crossing his arms over his chest. He decided to play it defensive for once, choosing not to use his swords either.

"K-Kenji…We shouldn't do this…" The girl whispered to her larger team mate, who had a zanbatou in his hands. He had shaggy brown hair, black eyes, tanned skin, heavily muscled for a 16 year old that stood at 6'3", and wearing nothing more than a pair of black and blue camouflage pants, black combat boots, and black fingerless gloves while a leather harness for his sword was strapped to his back.

"Shut up, Suiren!" The other male hissed at the girl, drawing his katana. He had silver-blue hair, green eyes, and dressed in black pants, a black turtleneck top, and ANBU-style armor. He was lanky and thin, obvious favoring speed over physical might.

As for the girl, Suiren, she had black hair that went down to her waist, deep blue eyes, light colored skin, and a slender, but full-bodied figure for a 16-17 year old young woman. She was about 5'6" and wearing a dark blue long-sleeve top that left her right arm and shoulder bare while showing the top of her E-cup breasts, a pair of black biker shorts, a black and dark blue camouflage sash wrapped around her waist with one end hanging in front of her down to her knees, black sandals, and blue gloves on her hands. Her sword, however, had caught his attention the most. It was curved with the cutting edge on the interior of the curve instead of the exterior, similar to a sickle sword, but it was one most effective when held in a reverse-grip.

"Hand over your scroll or we'll kill you!" Kenji growled out threateningly. They knew who this person was. The White Phantom, the White Fox, the Ghost of Death, the Reaper. There were many other names that people referred to him by back in Water Country. Only a genin and he had killed the feared Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Bloody Mist, with little to no effort put into it. Slayer of almost six hundred men since he became a genin.

They figured if they killed him, they'd be famous…

"…What of the civil war your lands have been plagued by?" Naruto asked out of the blue, eyes still closed. This confused them, but Suiren answered him.

"It's over. The Godaime Mizukage killed the Yondaime Mizukage and has been breathing life back into Kiri since." The girl chimed in with a hint of joy in her voice. Naruto took notice of the slight increase in aggressive pheromones from her two team mates upon the lone female's response.

"And the Bloodline purge? Is it over?" Naruto inquired, yet again the two males had another spike in aggressive pheromones as their female team mate responded.

"Yes. It's slow going, but the bloodline clans are coming back to Kiri and helping rebuild our village." Suiren replied with a small, sad smile on her face as she looked down at the ground. "Mizukage-sama is also trying to reform the Seven Swordsmen, but there are so few Kiri shinobi that are capable of taking such a title."

"Enough talking! Either hand over your scroll or you're dead, milky!" The katana-using genin snarled. Naruto cracked an eye open and cocked an eyebrow up slightly.

"'Milky'? That's the best you could come up with?" Naruto asked incredulously in a bored tone before closing his eye again. Kenji smacked the boy on the back of the head for his stupidity.

"You're such an idiot, Ryuuzaki." Kenji grumbled. "Just leave the trash talk to those that can."

"You listen to the beef stick, twiggy." Naruto teased with a slight smirk. "He seems to be the smarter one between you two despite having a brain the size of a pea."

"Why you- DIE!" Kenji bellowed as he charged Naruto with his zanbatou raised to bi-sect the masked swordsman. Sighing softly, Naruto raised his right arm leisurely and blocked the large blade with his armored wrist, his eyes still closed. Cracking an eye open, Naruto stared at the brute with a single frosted silver half-lidded eye that shone with power and cold fury.

"I don't know which to feel insulted by; the fact you think you can honestly kill me? Or the fact you think like that when you can't even get through my guard when I have no blade in hand?" Naruto's voice was cold and menacing sending a shiver up everyone's spine. Before Kenji could react, Naruto had twisted his arm and grabbed the large blade, crushing it in his grip before hitting the Kiri-nin in the chest with a palm thrust, sending him flying back into a tree.

The teenager was lucky that Naruto had held back or else Kenji's ribcage wouldn't be solid anymore…

"Kenji!" Ryuuzaki cried before charging Naruto. "You bastard!"

"He's still alive, dumb ass." Naruto grumbled as he took a step back, watching as the genin stumbled by. "Just go check. Idiots these days…"

"Not until you're dead!" Ryuuzaki snapped as he charged Naruto again, who didn't move this time. When Ryuuzaki's katana blade was mere centimeters from slicing open his neck, Naruto bent backwards at the knees, easily dodging the strike. Standing straight again, Naruto scratched the back of his head, not even turning around as Ryuuzaki tripped on a rock and smashed his face into the dirt, falling unconscious.

"So what are you doing after the Second Exam, Suiren-san?" Naruto asked kindly with an eye-smile, acting as if a little man in his head had just flipped a switch. Suiren blushed as she gave him a hesitant look, unsure if he was serious or just trying to coax her into dropping her guard.

"N-Nothing since you took out my team mates." Suiren responded with a slight stutter. Naruto scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Ah, right. Well, then would you like to go out for dinner some time after we get out of this forest?" Naruto asked curiously, making Suiren's blush turn a darker shade of red.

"S-Sure…" The dark haired girl replied nervously. Naruto bowed slightly, still eye smiling as he stood up straight again.

"Thank you. I am Namikaze Naruto, by the way." Naruto introduced as he handed Suiren a slip of paper with his address written on it. "You can find me at that location at almost any time, so don't be shy about dropping in."

"O-Ok. I'll keep that in mind." She replied before Naruto gave a small wave, vanishing instantly the next moment. Falling on her ass, Suiren let out a sigh of relief. "Ooh…I thought I was gonna faint…"

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First of all, I HATE YOU MOTHER FUCKING FLAMERS! ESPECIALLY YOU RETARDED ONES! All you say is 'this story sucks' or 'this story is unbelievable and stupid' and then don't even leave your real account name to take a verbal bitch-out like a pansy! If you don't like the damn story, then don't even fucking review or read the damn thing! Simple fucking choice, numb-nuts!

…Anyways…

Ok, so a little heads-up on the pairing. I've already decided on a Naru/Haku pairing and maybe one or two others. No, that doesn't necessarily mean Mei or my OC Suiren is going to be one of them. The connection between Naruto and Mei will be revealed later on and Suiren is simply someone Naruto wants to get to know since she knew what he could do, respected what he could do, and knew not to fuck with him. Keep in mind that Naruto has trust issues, so even someone like the Sandaime or Kakashi- his surrogate grandfather and brother/uncle respectively- are considered possible threats in his mind. It's the whole reason why he keeps pushing himself to become faster and stronger, just incase he has to kill his own kage or someone of similar power in order to protect himself.

Plus, he wants to come out from his father's shadow and surpass him in speed, but not through something like the Hiraishin seal rites or anything. He wants to do it his own way, hence why he created Denryuu(Electric Current) and Koryu(Slipstream). Naruto wouldn't be able to use Hiraishin anyways since it requires high-jounin level chakra reserves just to use once, but he only has mid/high-chuunin reserves and will never be able to obtain reserves any higher than mid-jounin due to the poison destroying his chakra circulatory system.

If you got any other questions, lemme know in a review and please give me some constructive criticism. I know I'm not the best writer and I'm not going to bullshit you by saying that I am, so let me know if you see a mistake in my story, be it a typo to a missing word or two in a line. Anything.

Thank you,

Phantomwraith