"Speech"

'Thought

Flashback (())

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Because if I did I wouldn't have made Orochimaru a suddenly trustworthy guy.

A hard sigh slid past chapped lips. The obnoxious orange cloak that had been slung over his forearm had now been dropped on to the stone flooring. Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his furiously beating heart. Slumping against the wall and leaning his head back. The rough texture of the concrete did not really cause discomfort for him. If anything the cool stone was a welcomed contradiction to the heat of the sun that had touched the back of his neck.

"Quite an impressive showing out there kid."

Naruto grinned but did not open his eyes. Instead he simply rolled his head sideways and rested his cheek against the concrete wall as he faced his head towards the man. Jiraiya began to decend the steps from the first landing towards the ground floor. His eyes focusing on the boy who stood against the wall. A small bead of surprise gleaming in his eyes.

"I had no idea that someone could learn so many techniques in such a short amount of time. Only a month and a half after all."

Naruto shrugged as he rolled his head back to the proper alignment. "We cheated."

Jiraiya stopped three steps from the boy's position. A frown of confusion lighting up his face as he regarded the gennin before him.

"Cheated?" He was forced to ask. "How? My seals?"

"Growth hormones." Naruto replied with another sigh as he raised his arms above his head and stretched. "Proteins and the like. Also used my chakra to forcefully rebuild my muscles over night to help recover from physical exertion. It's a counter to your seals that seemed to work rather well." He grinned. "To be honest we didn't come up with. He just noticed my muscle tone was seemingly getting larger by the day. I was always fresh for the next session and so we put two and two together and got-"

"The Kyuubi." Jiraiya nodded impressed but still confused."Isn't that a little dangerous though?" The sannin inquired. "My seals draining your chakra, then this drains your chakra, and your training. You would be wiped out every night."

"If I was a normal person." Naruto disagreed. "But I'm far from that. But I do sleep rather soundly at night."

"Still. With your exposure to the Kyuubi's chakra reserves rather limited right now-"

"Don't worry." Naruto reassured. "It was a one time thing due to the time restrictions. I won't need it any more. From here on out I'll grow physically on my own power."

"Ah. Good to hear. And the ninjutsu?"

"Shadow clones." Naruto explained to him. "That took up the largest bulk of my chakra daily to tell the truth. About twenty clones a day split up to working on two ninjutsu. Of course none of them are nowhere near the level of being mastered but I'm farther along than most my age would be. First I got to an above average level of chakra element manipulation, first half of my main three really, and that helped out to learn the ninjutsu. From there it was just repetitive work to get it battle ready. To be honest most of my time away from you was spent working on fixing my taijutsu and learning to keep track of faster opponents. That's how I was able to easily counter what he was doing when forced in to taijutsu encounters. Your little seal trick also helped me to keep up physically and helped my speed and strength."

"All of this along with summoning technique your learned?"

This time Naruto did open his eyes. Rolling his head back around to look at the sannin. A raised eyebrow.

"You know about that?"

"Yep." A grin of his own popping up. "Trying to keep it a secret?"

"I was." Naruto admitted. "After all it was you who forced the idea of keeping a few things out of the eye of the public."

"Of course I did." Nodding as if he was wise with chest puffed out. "A famous ninja is a soon to be dead ninja. People purposely develop counters for it. Like the Hyuuga boy did for your shadow clone usage. Pretty nice no seal use by the way. Mostly only jounin can pull that off. You've come a long way in a short time, short cuts or not."

"What can I say? I had good teachers."

"Of course." Jiraiya agreed. "Which reminds me. I'll be taking over your training after the tournament. Official transfer to me and all from team seven."

"Good. Was going to ask anyway." A shake of his head. "Can't deal with that drama holding me back anymore. You hear that now?" referring to the rowdy crowd back out on the field. "What are the odds his match will be postponed for him where it wouldn't be for anyone else?"

"Of course. What the people want they get on this particular occasion, despite if it's fair or not. And everyone was here to see the last Uchiha. The Kazekage especially." He paused here and looked back down the long hallway towards the slim light from the sun. "Which reminds me of something. Sensei told me to warn you to be on the look out for anything suspicious involving sand ninja."

Naruto frowned as he finally stood up from the wall. "He did? Is something going to happen?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "Don't know for sure. But I know he's got the ANBU and all jounin level ninja on high alert. Your the only one under chunnin level he wants to let in on this. So just be ready for anything. And stick around the arena area."

Naruto blinked in surprise. Honored that he was being let in on this. "I'll do that. Does he expect something to come of it?"

"Again, don't know for sure. But he did say for you specifically to watch after the sand jinchuuriki." Another pause as something occurred to him. "By the way, how is your kekkei genkai work coming along? Did you work on what I was talking about before?"

Naruto frowned but nodded. "In what time I did before I turned in each night."

"How far along are you with those ninjutsu?" Jiraiya asked. Suddenly serious. So much so Naruto was slightly taken a back by the quick change of tension.

"I've got that little kunai and shuriken trick down well enough but I need something to do it with." Naruto answered. "And I'm sure I can recreate a defensive wall ninjutsu with it if I absolutely had too. I've also got one little technique I can use to supplement my taijutsu and defense." He grinned again. "Should have seen the look on his face when he realized he wasn't actual getting through. Shattered the defense with the pure chakra strike but it did it's job enough to keep me from harm."

"How about changing physical matter?" The sannin pressed on.

"I've done a little work with water. It's the same as with the technique. I can do it but would rather not have to. But I'm sure I can in a dire circumstance." A grin appeared. "I'm pretty good under pressure."

Jiraya grinned as well, another quick change in demeanor. "So I've noticed." A sigh of his own filling the air between them. "Any how I've got something to check on. Remember to be ready for anything." As he began to turn around.

"Will do." Giving a half wave a Jiraya began to climb the steps. "What about you?"

"Don't worry about me kid. Just be ready." He threw back over his shoulder.

Naruto shook his head as he reached down and grabbed his cloak.

"Right."

Be ready.

For what though?

STAGE 3

Assault On The Leaf Village

"He isn't coming." Inuzunka Kiba announced with a grin as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands behind his head. Sakura turned around in her seat now one level down from him and frowned but said nothing to the contrary. Also thinking the same thing at this point. It wasn't like Sasuke to be late.

"I wonder where he is..." Yamanaka Ino muttered from beside her as she looked over the guard railing before them and on to the field below. They had taken the chance to move up when a group from wind country had gone for refreshments but hadn't come back. "He wouldn't miss this unless he had no choice. Do you think something's wrong?"

"You mean with his ego?" Kiba continued. Amusement evident in his voice. "Nope. Just grew even bigger if possible."

"Kiba-" Sakura began to admonish before something caught her attention. Her face suddenly brightening up. "Naruto! Over here!"

Kiba, and many of the other fans seated around them, turned around towards the top of the stairs. Low and behold there stood the before mentioned blond. Looking down at them from his casual position leaning against the back wall to that level of seating. Sakura stood up in her seat and waved at her teammate with a smile.

"Down here!"

The blond moved his eyes to her solely and regarded her with a look before he finally seemed to submit and leaned away from the wall. Walking slowly down the steps towards their position at the bottom row on this seating level. He ignored the looks of either venom or surprise as he walked along the way. Finally reaching their level where he looked quickly over the group. Most of them were from his school group with the exception of two who he knew had been on Neji's team. The female of the two stared at him with something he couldn't identify but didn't seem hostile.

"Sakura." He began with a slight smile. Slightly surprised at himself for his lack of an enthusiastic opening. "How have you been?"

"Great! Come sit down!" Looking so much more relieved than he had originally expected. He raised an eyebrow at the over the top reaction but did indeed sit on the farthest seat of the row. Turning his glance down to the field below them where the examiner was announcing the changes in the schedule.

I was right. More favoritism.

"So Sasuke hasn't shown yet?" He commented casually. "That actually doesn't surprise me."

Sakura's excitement diminished some at his words. But still she could do nothing but shake her head in disappointment.

"No."

Naruto turned his attention back to her and noted her displeasure at being reminded but said nothing to take it back. Instead he choose to focus more on the other faces surrounding them. Hinata, Kiba, Ino, Lee, the girl he didn't know and Chouji. Shikamaru and Shino was most likely in the prepping room. It looked as if everyone were accounted for. Good, if anything did happen he would have everyone accounted for before hand.

"Who's next then?" Naruto questioned to the group in general. "If they're going to postpone Sasuke's match."

"Shino is supposed to fight that doll guy from sand." Kiba replied. "But I think he quit out even before your match."

"Which in turn leaves Shikamaru against the girl with that other guy dead." Naruto concluded. A frown spread across his face. "And he probably won't be up to fighting either. Which means it's right back again to Sasuke and Gaara."

"That is correct."

Naruto started slightly but turned his head calmly back to the stairs. Two up from Kiba's row a man with black hair and a slight scar over his left eye looked to him specifically. He appeared to be sizing Naruto up. Which put him on edge. The man was obviously a ninja from their village even if his clothing and lack of marking didn't show anything.

"It all goes back to young Sasuke holding things up. Something that is most displeasing." The man continued as he looked over the group of gennin before focusing back on the blond boy. "But that isn't why I've come here." A pause as he locked eyes with Naruto. "Uzumaki-san, I represent my clan who has wished to have a quick conversation with you. If you would?"

Clan? A flicker of recognition slid up. The man's clothing and more importantly his physical features. Dark hair and dark eyes. This man was one of the remaining Uchiha. And judging by his age, only twenty or so, he too had been a young when Uchiha Itachi had made his move and thus had been spared by the mad man. But why would he be looking for him. Despite the sudden sense of nervous tension around the group Naruto rose up from his seat and tied his cloak around his neck before nodding to the man. The Uchiha promptly took to turning around and walking back up the flight of stairs. Naruto shot the group a reassuring smile before he followed after the man.

Let's see what this is all about.

"Hiruki."

The aged samurai turned his head to the side where the Daimyou of fire country sat. The country leader with his long black hair watched as the crowd outside of the press box began to argue angrily about the hold up in the matches. The chuunin exams had always been some of his favourite events but even he could not concentrate fully. Other things on his mind at this point.

"That was him." It had not be a question but a statement. Hiruki, dressed in his traditional samurai armor and with katana strapped to his side nodded his head.

"Yes. The fox demon container."

"Minato's child." The Daimyou continued on. His eyes glancing the left side of the stands where the boy had exited the field in hopes of finding a flash of tell-tale orange.

"Indeed sir." It had always been considered a tragic story in private settings around the palace. The long lost child of the first born son. Or rather instead of long lost it was more of the unwanted child. Everyone there knew the boy was in Konoha. But they did not know why he was kept there instead of with his family. They did not know of the burden he bore and his unrecognized parentage. Hiruki himself had many a times wondered what the boy had been like if he had indeed managed to survive the onslaught of negativity that the village was sure to throw at him.

Obviously he was doing more then just fine on his own. A strong child indeed just like his father had been.

"He has grown up in an interesting way." The Daimyou continued. "I've heard rumors about his attitude. The trouble he gets in too. Yet Sarutobi assured me in our meeting some weeks ago that he knew of the burden he bore. Tell me how someone can seem so happy and cheerful despite having everything against him."

Hiruki shrugged. "I don't know my lord. I myself would have went insane a long time ago. But ninja are masters of deception. Perhaps it is simply just a facade to hide his pain. A brilliant one at that."

"I wonder if he knows about his heritage."

"I assume he would." Hiruki answered. "I doubt Sarutobi would keep that sort of thing from him." The real question here was how he felt about it.

The Daimyou seemed to concur with this line of thinking. His memories pulled up the image of his young nephew who seemed to have passed on his unusual bright blond hair his son. This was all he had of his family now.

"I wish to meet him after the exam." It was finally time. For too long he had put it off. "Make it so for me."

Hiruki bowed. "Certainly my lord."

The luxury boxes of the stadium were indeed something to behold. Closed of completely from those around them save for the small opening between the room and the floor that served as the viewing window. Naruto stepped in to the room and began to glance around. Three people. Two adult and one teen. Along with two ANBU guards standing outside the door who had no doubt been visible for extra security. The man who had led him in took a seat near the opening in the wall as the crowd began to suddenly roar. A quick glance outside before he nodded to the women seated next to him.

"Sasuke has arrived."

The woman didn't say anything but instead nodded before turning her attention on to Naruto. He stood still despite the nervous energy that was running through him. Naruto didn't do nervous very well. It made him twitchy. Twitchy Naruto was bad Naruto. Clumsy Naruto.

"So you are Sasuke's teammate?" The woman finally spoke. She was dressed in a rather fine kimono and had her black hair rolled up in a bun. Despite her delicate appearance Naruto could feel the nervous energy she projected as current clan leader. No doubt she had simply been found to be next up after the massacre. Sasuke would probably be the rightful heir.

"Yes. He's my teammate." Naruto replied quietly as he tried to focus his attention away from the sounds outside. His eyes locked on to the woman's. Now that he had the chance to look more on to her he could tell she was a civilian. That made him think about just how many ninja the Uchiha clan had left. The man was obviously one. And the other girl? A quick glance over to her. She was indeed wearing the proper gear and a chunnin vest. Also a ninja. But Sasuke made it seem as they're weren't even this many Uchiha left. Let alone those serving as village ninja.

"He has spoken of you several times before." She continued. Her voice light. "He seems to hold you in high regard." As if on cue another loud roar from the crowd rang out. No doubt the home favorite was doing okay.

This was an honest surprise. Naruto's face went blank as he blinked. Sasuke thought of him as a rival? Sure he had said that too the Uchiha boy many a time before. He still never thought that the idea would be shared between the two of them. To think Sasuke had always considered him a benchmark. But why was the real question.

"I wanted to ask you if you knew where he would be. But that seems useless now. Considering who your jounin-sensei is I can see why he was so delayed in getting here. It's a good thing they allowed for extra time though. It would reflect badly on the clan if our future leader didn't even turn up to the finals of his very first chunnin exams. And that is something we can't afford to have right now."

Naruto remained silent as he stood unsure of what to say. He could understand her point though.

"With that said I must admit I find you very interesting Uzumaki-san. Sasuke made sure to note you several times as a ninja with very little real skill despite an obvious amount of potential. And yet you certainly didn't show little skill in that match of yours. Curious. But that is a situation for another time. I'm sure you'd rather be with your last teammate on cheering on Sasuke at this moment." As if to reinforce her point the entire crowd outside took a stunned gasp as a collective.

"Yes ma'am." Naruto answered truthfully. The situation was very unnerving for him and he would indeed much rather be down watching Sasuke's match if for no other reason then to scout both of his possible opponents for the next round of fighting.

"Then I suppose I should let you go. But we will meet again gennin Uzumaki."

Her words were a promise instead of a suggestion. Again Naruto choose the smart thing and stayed quiet.

"Go on then. I'm sorry for wasting your time."

Naruto bowed at the waist before he turned and exited the room as one of the ANBU guards held the door open. Slowly releasing a pent up sigh once he had been a safe distance away. That had been far harder then he thought it would be but in the end it was nothing that he couldn't handle. Still it would probably be a good idea to have Jiraiya teach him a little bit about politics...

He blinked. Feathers? What was with the feathers?

Crap. Genjutsu.

In all honesty, as foolish as it sounded, Sakura had forgotten just how famous her jounin-sensei was. The mission to the wave village had been well over a half a year ago now. And before that she had simply seen the masked ninja as a competent if lazy shinobi. And despite the level of combat he had shown on the way to the now legendary bridge she had again began to see the man as a lazy but skilled shinobi. Gone was the awe that had resounded through her bones as the A-ranked nuke-nin spoke of her teacher in such a respectful manner.

But she was quickly reminded of just who the copy ninja was.

The genjutsu had been overcame and she shook her head as she rose from her seat. The world all around her already in chaos as hidden ninja from both sides began to clash amongst the civilians. Beside her Ino and Choji had been knocked unconscious with Kiba and Hinata were no where in sight having walked away from the seat several minutes before. Lee and his teammate had also been sent under and Shikamaru had simply fallen where he had been coming down the stairs to meet greet them.

Her breath hitched in her throat as a suna chuunin suddenly appeared before her with hand already in mid kunai swipe. Kakashi came through the air like a hawk with a meal in sight, his speed far outclassing even her chance to breath. The chunnin had slipped back down and over the railing and on to the stands below with a slit throat. Kakashi twirled the kunai along his right index finger before stopping it in a stabbing grip. His one eye quickly scanning the area behind her before it locked on to hers. The hard look in his eye was an even greater reminder of the kind of shinobi her sensei really was. A killer through and through who had made his name in a time during war.

This was not chaos to him. It was a day at the beach.

"Sakura, where's Naruto?" His voice was tight and controlled despite the seriousness of the situation around them. She swallowed hard and forced her eyes away from the carnage and mayhem around them. Instead focusing on her jounin-sensei and struggled to find her voice.

"I-I don't know." To even her own surprise a hand darted down and removed a single kunai of from the pouch strapped to her thigh before it began to hold it steady in what had just a second earlier been a shaking left hand. "A member of the Uchiha clan came about five minutes before you got here. I think they wanted to ask him where you and Sasuke were."

This obviously was not the answer her teacher wanted to hear. His brow creased and his mask tightened around the lower half of his face. Displeasure clearly written in his lone eye's gaze. Sakura forced herself to ignore Gai's shouts of 'Dynamic power!' and focus her attention on the task at hand. What should she do? It came to her and she began to move again before she could stop herself. She leaned over to the side and focused her flow of chakra in to her friend's body. Ino's eyes slowly fluttered open as the girl had already moved on to the next gennin. Kakashi watched this with half attention as his mind began to race.

"S-Sakura?" The Yamanaka heiress began before her mind caught up with the situation. She nearly squeaked in surprise but quickly rose to her feet. "What's going on?!"

"Sand and sound are attacking us." The pink haired girl answered as she moved to Chouji. Again surprised by how calm she sounded. Even amongst the chaos around her she managed to keep a cool head. It's what Sasuke and Naruto would have done. "Help me to wake the others-"

"Damn it!" Kakashi sudden outburst stopped her hand short of the round gennin. Her eyes head snapping around as her eyes darted towards where his head was pointed. A sinking feeling forming in the pit of her stomach as she watched her crush rush after the trio of sand gennin through a hole in the arena wall. "This is not good. Not good at all."

"Sensei." She began before she could stop herself short. "Where is Sasuke-kun going?"

"To his death." The jounin replied grimly as he tightened his grip on his kunai. "Sabuka no Gaara is... This isn't good. He was no doubt the sand's trump card in this little operation. And now he's run off to regain control of his mental prowess. If he comes back it's going to mean bad bad news for us. But there's nothing to be done now. And Sasuke will be fighting three on one. Not to mention I have no idea if Naruto is dead or not!"

"He's not dead!" Sakura found herself blurting out as Ino took over for her and reawakened her teammate. "I saw Naruto before sensei. During the exam." She swallowed as she stood back to full height and gave her jounin-sensei a look of determination that she was not even sure she could make. "Naruto has always been an idiot. But he's always been able to take care of himself! And he's gotten good! Really, really good! He beat that Neji guy with only a little trouble! I know he's around here somewhere fighting!"

Kakashi seemed to take these words to heart despite the ever growing frown on his face. In a flash of hand movement the jounin used the tip of his kunai to prick his finger and formed a few hand seals before he slammed his hand on to the ground. In a puff of smoke a small dog appeared complete with a little hitai-ate. It would have been rather cute if the situation had not been so dire. It shook it's little head before turning it's attention back to the jounin.

"Yo Kakashi!" It glanced around before it's maw made what looked like a frown. "You piss someone off or something? What's with all the fighting going on around here?"

"Suna and Oto are attacking us Pakkun. I need you to take Sakura, Ten-Ten, and Shikamaru after Sasuke. I'll find Naruto and send him after you as soon as I can. Can you do that?"

The little pug suddenly became serious and raised it's paw in a salute. "Can do." It turned it's body around and looked to Sakura and the now busted Shikamaru who grumbled as he rose off the ground. "Come on kids. We don't have all day. Follow me unless you want to stay here and die."

The two gennin exchanged quick glances before nodding their consent. The little dog began to scurry away. Hopping on the railing and running off with the two gennin in tow. Kakashi watched them go for a moment before he turned his attention back to the last two gennin capable of movement.

"Come on!" He ordered to them. "We have to find Naruto."

It was unnaturally surreal in it's nature. He had been up against overwhelming odds before and had refused to back down. He had chosen to stand where most others would have rather cowered in fear. But still each time for his brave speeches and bold declarations the panic that had run through his body was a constant reminder that he could die at any moment. That he would die at any moment for even being out there.

This was nothing like that.

For as many more experienced and high level enemy ninja that assault the arena he could not bring himself to feel any panic. Instead an unnatural sort of calm seemed to descend over him. And as he slipped past punches, ducked kunai, and dodged ninjutsu the words of the old Hokage brought themselves back to the forefront.

"It's not always the shinobi with the fastest hands or even the biggest brain that wins the battle. But rather in my experience I find it the one with the greatest will and the most experience that wins. And when you add to the fact that you have the devil's luck like you my boy..."

Indeed, lady luck had somewhere along the way willingly become Naruto's bitch. And it showed now more then ever. He may not have nearly been in as many battles as these other shinobi have been. But he for sure at least been in more outmatched battles. Battles where he should have died a long time ago but still found a way to preserve. Being on the lower end of the scale had become sort of a constant to him. But now that he had some actual skill to go along with his luck...

"God damned Brat!"

He would more than make due.

Naruto spun around as the suna chuunin descended on to him. The man had launched himself in to the air with a kunai extended for the kill, aiming for the throat. But to Naruto's eyes he moved like a snail through water. Naruto had seen the likes of Momochi Zabuza and Hatake Kakashi battle on the waves of the sea. He had seen the awe inspiring speed of the legendary snake sannin as he ran circles around every thing they threw at him. He had seen the pure brute power of Rock Lee's celestial gates. He had seen an incredibly long list of ninjutsu from the old toad pervert. And most importantly he had seen the technical mind and jutsu combinations of the man who had once been regarded as the 'Professor Of Shinobi'.

Compared to those feats and ninja anyone that stepped up to kill him was nothing more then a nuisance despite how much skill and experience they had at their disposal.

The blond stepped forward and grasped the man's bicep as he fell. Turning and launching the man over his shoulder. His hands moving in ways that they had never before as they reached down and whipped free one shuriken each. The two ninja stars hit dead on, one in the head and the other in the chest. He was dead before he had even finished hitting the round. Naruto didn't even care to look though. This was the third one he had killed. And most surely wouldn't be the last.

He knew luck had more than something to do with the fact that he hadn't come up against any major threat like an enemy jounin. But he was not one to complain in this situation. He simply focused on trying to stay alive and help as best as he could.

Like a well practiced ball room dance the boy flashed forward in to a myriad of movement. Adrenaline and confidence propelling him in ways that he had never even dreamed of reaching in actual combat. A kunai in each hand as he dipped low past one of his fallen comrades. He was on the sound ninja before he could even comprehend he had defeated his first opponent. Right hand firmly grasping the kunai by the handle and jabbing it forward. The sharp iron easily slid through the muscle tissue in the front of the throat. Always aim high. That's what Jiraiya had taught him.

A short tug pulled the knife free before the man even began to reach for the wound. And in the nick of time as he pushed of with the tips of his sandals and propelled himself in a hop backwards and out of the path of three shuriken. He stuck his right foot back and pivoted his body in that direction. The next sound ninja was barreling down on his with right arm outstretched, a gauntlet like Dosu had worn attached to the forearm. The blond had already seen this movie before and wasn't in the mood for re-runs. He bent his knees and kicked forward in one swift movement. The speed catching even him shortly by surprise as he slammed his two knives forward, hitting home in the man's rib cage before he could even begin to swing his arm. They fell in a heap with Naruto leaning over him. Another tug and both knives pulled free of the bone and blood. He was stepping on to his feet again and moving on to the next one before the man could even begin to cough up blood.

And so it continued like this for a while. No ninjutsu and very little taijutsu. He ducked, bobbed, weaved, hopped, slid, juked, and sidestepped around everything they sent at him. Calm and collected giving way eventually to fierce and calculated. Although he could not see it his eyes had taken on hard edge as they narrowed to see past each attack. A few had managed glancing blows on him, one sound attack even getting to him. He stumbled along but kept his footing. Dashing to the side to dodge the follow up. He cut that man's throat too. It wasn't long before the body count began to pile up. Five. Six. Eight. Twelve. He was a possessed man. A demon of the battle field. And the sand ninja began to notice. And the sound ninja began to notice. And the leaf ninja began to notice.

"Hakke Kuushou!" (Eight Divination Signs Air Palm)

He finally stopped moving and crouched low as he let one of his kunai finally go. Embedded in the back of one ninja's head. His eyes darted to the left and then the right. Hyuuga Neji had apparently joined the fight on his left. Another Hyuuga, a man, to his right. He exchanged brief glances with both of them before his eyes moved to another downed body. A sand ninja weakly squirming. Apparently the Hyuuga gennin had held back on the strength of that technique during their match up.

"Uzumaki." Came the curt greeting as the Hyuuga prodigy took a step backwards with arms up.

"Hyuuga." Naruto returned to both the elder and younger. He stood to his feet and replaced the last kunai in to the pouch at his side. Noting for the first time the amount of blood caked on to his hand and cloak. Still he ignored it. The time for disgust would come later. Right now they had developed a little crowd. About seven sand and four sound surrounding them. Each looking to avenge a comrade.

Three. Two. One.

Zero.

"Katon: Dai Endan!" (Fire Release: Great Fireball.)

The large fireball caught even the three leaf ninja off guard. It rolled past them and over those in their vision. About eight of the ninja were roasted alive. Screams of tournament even finally enough to make Naruto flinch in response. Before the last few could move they were also dead. Three shuriken perfectly passed between the eyes of each of them.

The three leaf ninja watched this all occur. Dumb founded.

"Yo Gaki!"

They turned as one to their backside. Naruto blinking in surprise at the sight of the overgrown orange toad. It croaked loudly as the sannin jumped down. A no nonsense expression on his face despite the cheerful greeting.

"Come with me kid. We're going in to the village to do work."

The blond gennin looked surprised by the claim but nodded his understanding. Taking a step forward before he nodded his head to either Hyuuga before he leaped on to the toad. Jiraiya joined him and gave both ninja mock salute before the toad suddenly jumped off. With both master and pupil in toad.

Hatake Kakashi scowled as he took a single step back to avoid his charging opponent. Behind him the two gennin of team ten stood with wide eyes and sweating palms as they each tightly clutched a kunai. They watched as the jounin-sensei of team seven calmly evaded his newest challenger before a simple academy bushin allowed him to slip past the man's guard and slam a knife up to the hilt in to his spinal column.

That had been the tenth enemy combatant to rush his little trio in the past five minutes. It was getting frustrating to say the least. All around the group battles raged out on to the street as the evading sound and sand forces clashed with the home team of the leaf. His single eye glanced about the chaos around him and noted with pride that the Konoha ninja were more than holding there own. Even with the advantage of surprise the invaders could not get a strong foothold.

With that in mind Kakashi's thoughts turned back to the task at hand. It was imperative that he join the village defense, but at the same time he had a personal duty to uphold. Than there was the fact that he just sent three young gennin against a force they couldn't possibly match up against, but there was nothing he could do at this point. The only chance they had was for the assault to be repelled before the ninja of the leaf could turn their attention to the possible threat the sand container posed.

And the best way he could see them surviving in the mean time was to stick together.

Where the hell are you Naruto? He thought as his gaze scanned the battlefield for any sign of orange.

The hard and cruel shinobi in him said, with cold logic, that his last gennin was long dead. Genjutsu had never been Naruto's strong point and so his first thought was one of the boy falling prey to the opening attack. In that likely scenario the best he could hope for was that someone had taken pity on the boy and left him lying asleep on the cold stone floor of the arena. An idea that was all but dashed when he had checked the surrounding area.

The leaf shinobi in him however had a different view of things. It saw the fierce emotion reflected in his young kuniochi's eyes and found hope in her words. Perhaps Ebisu had managed to teach his young gennin something worth of value. He would readily admit that he himself was only a marginal teacher but where he could easily fail a man like that could no doubt get through to a boy as wild as Naruto.

Maybe, just maybe, Naruto had learned enough from the strange special jounin that he had been able to avoid the opening genjutsu and was instead managing to survive around the makeshift battlefield using his natural cunning. Perhaps the young gennin in question had learned to properly use his shadow clones to maximize their potential on the battlefield. Or at the very least used the clones as decoys to aid his fellow leaf shinobi as he himself made it to safety.

It was that thought that kept the veteran jounin going.

With that in mind the man noticed something that could help him. Across a particularly brutal stretch of combat he saw a beacon of hope. It was the Hyuuga boy, Neji, who had been slated to fight said previously mentioned gennin and with him stood the Hyuuga clan head. He watched as the two combined to form a brutal tag team with the elder more experienced shinobi delivering harsh and brutal blows that disabled the victim long enough for the younger to finish them with precision.

The jounin frowned as he turned around to look back at the two gennin he had in tow. They had calmed down considerably in the time they had been out in the field and were now looking around at the fighting that surrounded them with less apprehension. He had no idea what kind of training Sarutobi Asuma had given his two young charges but knowing what he did of the man he would not be surprised if it was even more of a let down than what he had imparted on to his two lesser talented gennin. Asuma, while a good shinobi, was a naturally lazy person. With each of his young gennin coming from clans with re-noun and the path for their personal development clear Kakashi could easily see a scenario in which the other jounin simply allowed for the three ninja in training to focus on the techniques each of their families provided while he simply taught them the bare minimum of what was required.

It was a sad thought. Even more so when he figured that was pretty much what he had been doing.

Note to self. He thought as he turned his attention back to his surroundings. When this is over i'm going to work my own gennin to the bone.

But that was for another time. Right now his best bet at finding out the fate of his last young shinobi was across an expanse of pure violence. One he had to navigate while safe guarding the lives of two other less skilled and less experienced ninja. It would be difficult to say the least and would require a fair amount of skill to make sure everyone got out of this safe and in one piece. With that train of thought fixed the jounin calmly reached his right hand up and pushed his forehead protector to the side. His now open red eye instantly began to help him analysis the situation at hand.

Yes it would be difficult but luckily for them he wasn't called the copy ninja for the sake of it being catchy. With a deep breath the leaf jounin turned his attention back to the young ninja that had followed him this far.

"Listen up!" He barked and immediately regretted it as the two gennin jumped at the tone of his voice. "Were about to get in to some heavy fighting so I need for you to do what ever I say!"

The two gennin nodded as they stared at his mismatched eyes with their own wide. He ignored it as he gestured with his head to the dense fighting up ahead of them before he once again glanced around them to make sure the area was still clear enough for him to speak.

"Were going to be going over there to the front of that shopping area. The Hyuuga clan head is there and may need some help. After we secure that section i'll be asking for his help in finding Naruto. It shouldn't be a problem at all for him to hunt Naruto down using his kekkei genkai. But in order for this to work I need to make sure you two are safe. That means you'll have to stay with me at all times so that I can protect you. Got it?"

They nodded their understanding as they glanced in the direction he had motioned in before. The boy, the Akimichi, grimaced at the sight of it. However, Kakashi's surprise, the young Yamanaka simply took a deep breath before she gripped the kunai in her hand tighter. Maybe he had done her a disservice in writing her off as simply another fan girl pretending to be a ninja.

Maybe there was hope for them yet.

"All right. Let's go!" Kakashi declared as he set out at a brisk pace with the two gennin in a trailing position. With any luck the Hyuuga clan head could help locate the wayward blond. And at the very least he could tell him if his gennin had been cut down or not.

"Go Gaki! Go!"

Naruto ignored the shout from the white haired shinobi as he leaped from his position on top of the toad summon. Flashing through a series of three seals mid air the blond touched down before instincts drove him to the left in a roll across the ground. He stopped on one knee before he turned his attention back to where the shuriken that had nearly skewered him had came from. He turned his palm to the rapidly approaching sound kunoichi.

Fuuton: Daitoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)

The chakra infused gust rushed across the distance and slammed head on in to the approaching ninja. To her credit she was prepared for the attack and crossed her arms to shield her face as chakra had her firmly anchored to the ground instead of uprooted like the blond had initially hopped for. Still he made due with what he had and launched forward in to a body flicker. He came out of chakra transit and slid to a stop beside her as he kicked up dirt in his wake.

The kuniochi reacted with instant violence as her hands snapped off a quartet of senbon at close range. The blond shifted his body and grimaced as the metal needles entered in to his body but didn't stop in his movement. Before her arms could begin to pull back he had entered her space with the force of a hurricane. A strong hook with the left hand nearly leveled her as he transitioned it in to a spinning elbow with the right. His opponent fell with her bell rung and he dropped his right knee in to her stomach as he pulled free the blood stained kunai and slammed it in to her throat in the same motion.

He leaped away from the already dying body as the toad sage hopped down to join him. He glanced at the now dead sound ninja in surprise before his face hardened. He gave the blond a measured look before he nodded in what seemed like appreciation before he gestured with a hand to the new wounds the blond sported. Naruto reached up with slightly shaking hands to each opposite shoulder before he pulled them free with a savage yank that surprised even him. The red hot pain that flowed through the points of entry would have made most grimace. Not him.

Besides, he had taken far worse from the needles before.

"Those poisoned?" Jiraiya inquired as he gave a quick search around them. There were no enemies around them right now. No doubt the sight of the giant toad that had began to wreak havoc on the invaders was more than enough of an indicator as to who they were actually dealing with.

Naruto looked at the blood stained tips of the metal spikes before his now highly sensitive nose twitched. The toad sage watched fascinated as the blond sniffed them before tossing them to the ground with a shake of his head.

"Don't think so. Didn't smell like anything but blood." The blond replied as he rolled his shoulders in an attempt to mitigate the pain. "Not going to slow me down anyway."

The sannin shook his head. "Answers like that are what get you killed kid." He chided the young shinobi before him. To his surprise the small blond met his gaze head on.

"If I die defending the village I died doing something useful right? Or at least that's what they say." The gennin challenged with defiance clear in his eyes.

The man opened his mouth to reply before he closed it. True, that was what they said. And it's what was expected of him as a Konoha shinobi no matter how much he claimed to hate this place. At least he was able to remember that much. But even still...

"Naruto." The sannin began as pinned him with his stare. "Don't let anyone tell you your not a damn Konoha shinobi. You've more than proven your worth on this day. No matter what you choose to do with your life be proud of what you've accomplished here and now as you fought and risked death along with your comrades."

The blond was surprised by the words. Unable to say anything in response he simply stared back at the man. That seemed to be more than enough as Jiraiya smiled at his new student before he nodded as if finding something he had been looking for.

"I'm going to go up to the tower and see if I can't do something about that barrier Orochimaru has erected to keep the old man trapped. In the mean time just keep doing what you've been doing kid. Remember what we taught you and you'll be fine." The smile widened. "You've more than proved you can handle your own."

"Good luck." It was all that he said before he body flickered away and left the blond on his own. Naruto stared at the spot the sage had just vacated for a few seconds longer before his eyes flickered around to their surroundings again. With a deep breath the blond pulled his cloak closer to his body before he took off in to the direction of the closest combat he could hear.

The toad sage was right. He had more than proved his worth on this day.

Now he had to make sure everyone knew it.