Author's Note: Merry Christmas eve! As a present, I have another chapter for you!


Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto or Skyrim or any other series that I may or may not reference.


-Chapter 4: Grah Se Sunvaar (Battle of Beasts) -

The electronic scoreboard cycled through the names of the genin, everyone quiet as they fixed their eyes on it.

Uzumaki Naruto vs. Sabaka no Gaara

Naruto jumped.

"All right! First to pass, dattebayo!"

Sasuke grunted.

"You haven't passed yet, idiot."

Naruot turned and shook his fist at Sasuke.

"Teme! I'm definitely going to win, dattebayo!"

Hayate covered his mouth as he coughed.

"Um…would everyone except the two combatants please move to the upper balconies. Team 7 wished Naruto good luck (or told him not to lose in Sasuke's case). However, as Team 8 passed by Kiba grabbed Naruto by his collar.

"Naruto, I know you're excited and all, but you've gotta give up now."

Naruto flashed Kiba a confused and angry look.

"What are you talking about Kiba? There's no way I'm going to quit, dattebayo!"

Kiba snarled at him.

"Idiot! I'm trying to save you! That guy's super strong! If you fight against him, you'll die!"

Shino nodded while Hinata just looked down.

"N-Naruto-kun…"

Naruto brushed off Kiba and turned towards Gaara and Hayate.

"I don't know what you're talking about but…"

Naruto turned back and gave them a smirk.

"I've gotten stronger too."

Kiba shook his head and turned away.

"Idiot. Well no skin off my back if you die! Come on guys."

Kiba and Shino turned to walk away. Hinata moved as if to say something more, then looked down and joined her team, tears in her eyes.

Naruto stood across from Gaara, Hayate in between them.

"Um, let the first match, begin!"

With that Naruto threw some kunai at Gaara. Gaara made no move to block or dodge, to Naruto's surprise. However, as the kunai approached, sand flew out of the gourd on Gaara's back and blocked the attack.

"What's going on?"

Gaara then raised his hands and the sand shot at Naruto. Naruto jumped back and dodged.

"Let's see you block this, dattebayo! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Roughly twenty Naruto clones appeared all around Gaara, and all threw kunai at him. The sand, however, shot back and blocked all the kunai, surrounding Gaara in a sphere of sand. The sand then shot out and began attacking and dispelling clones, who did their best to dodge.

Sakura gasped.

"Sand? What's going on?"

One of Gaara's teammates, Kankuro, kept his eyes on the match.

"All physical attacks are useless against Gaara because, regardless of his will, the sand becomes a shield and protects him. That's why, up to now, there's never been a single person who's even put a scratch on Gaara."

Kakashi looked on worried while the genin around him gasped.

"With his speed and available jutsu, there's no way Naruto can get through something like that."

Gai smirked.

"I wouldn't be too sure, my rival!"

Gai made a nice guy pose as he shouted out to Naruto.

"Naruto, take em off!"

Naruto smiled.

"All right! Thanks Gai-sensei!"

Naruto jumped up onto the statue at the end of the hall to avoid another sand wave. He then lifted his pants legs to reveal weights around his ankle.

Gaara's other teammate, Temari, smirked.

Pft...there's now way taking off a little weight will let him keep up with Gaara's sand.

Naruto dropped the weights, which caused small explosions of dust as they left craters in the ground.

Everyone but Lee and Gai's eyes went wide, especially Kakashi's.

"Gai, what on earth?"

Gai chuckled.

"Oh Kakashi, you don't know what a genius of hard work you have! His taijutsu is still quite sloppy in terms of technique and skill; he's hardly a beginner in that regard. But in terms of raw strength and speed, he's almost caught up to Lee!"

Naruto pointed at Gaara.

"All right! Prepare to be beaten, dattebayo!"

Naruto formed four more kage bunshin and all five of them vanished. Gaara's eyes widened and he looked around in shock as he was surrounded by flying sand that was closer and closer to him, the sand trying desperately to keep up with the barrage of multiple, lightning fast attacks coming from all directions. Kakashi smiled.

No Gai. One Naruto has almost caught up to Lee in terms of strength and speed. But with his kage bunshin multiplying his attacks, Naruto's assault is even more overwhelming than Lee's would be! The dead-last of Konoha has become first!

It wasn't long before one of the Naruto clones bypassed the sand shield, punching Gaara straight in the jaw and sending him flying. Another clone was instantly under Gaara, kicking him into the air before the sand could catch up. As Gaara flew up, all five Naruto's appeared around Gaara, ready to punch. Suddenly a wave of sand flew out of all directions as Gaara turned his gourd into sand, dispelling the clones and sending the real Naruto flying. Naruto got back up, and to his surprise saw Gaara laughing madly.

"This pain…you….you will make me feel the most alive!"

Naruto looked in confusion.

"What do you mea…."

Naruto's question trailed off as he looked into Gaara's eyes. There, he saw all the pain, all the hurt, all the rage, and all the hatred he once held for the villagers. He saw in Gaara the same loneliness and darkness he had once experienced.

"Hehehe, you see it too, don't you? You and I…we're the same! We both have known the pain of loneliness...the pain of being a monster..."

Naruto's eyes widened in fright.

This guy…he's like me! No…now I have Iruka-sensei, and Kakashi-sensei, and Sakura-chan, and Sasuke, and Haku, and everyone else. But this guy, this guy's still all alone, still in the darkness. I don't know if I can beat him!

Gaara smiled as the sand swirled around him, forming into a sphere.

"Live only for yourself, fight only for yourself! Killing others confirms my existence and killing you, one like me, one who can hurt me, will confirm it most of all!"

With that, Gaara vanished into the middle of a giant sphere of sand. The Suna-team's eyes widened, especially the jōnin's.

Gaara! What are you doing! You can't use that now, you'll ruin the plan completely!

Kankuro turned to the jōnin.

"Baki-sensei, what are we going to do?"

Baki shook his head.

"What can we do?"

Team 7 and Haku looked on, worried.

"What's wrong with Naruto? Why isn't he attacking now?"

Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

"Something about that boy has him shaken up."

Kakashi thought about Gaara's words, especially the "same as me" part. He turned and looked at the Suna team.

Could it be that that boy is a….but why is he here? What are you planning?

Haku took a breath.

"Naruto!"

Naruto looked up at Haku, surprised.

"I don't know what's the matter or what that boy meant by you're the same! But it doesn't matter! You have friends who are counting on you to win! Remember what you told me! We don't want you to give up, no matter how grim it seems! For our sake, you can't lose!"

Naruto's eyes widened.

Haku…

Naruto thought back to his first conversation with Haku, when Haku asked if he had someone special to fight for, and that only having something special to protect can make you truly strong.

Naruto turned to the sphere, a new fire in his eye.

I don't know if I can beat this guy, but Haku's right. I can't give up here! I have friends, waiting for me to win! And for some reason, I really don't want to lose to this guy!

Naruto vanished and appeared high above the sphere, pulling out a scroll.

"Super-advanced finishing jutsu: Uzumaki Naruto Dragon Slayer Strike!"

Naruto unsealed his giant sword as everyone sweat-dropped or chuckled at the name. He grabbed the handle and began falling towards the sphere….

Then a giant paw of sand shot out towards him. Naruto put his feet on the sword and leaped away as the paw crashed into the ceiling. The sphere of sand now fell away, revealing a tanuki (raccoon) made of sand where Gaara once stood. Kakashi's eye narrowed.

There can be no doubt now.

Kakashi shunshin-ed next to Sandaime.

"Hokage-sama"

Sandaime grunted.

"I know."

Kakashi's eyes widened.

"Then stop the match! Naruto's in incredible danger!"

The Hokage shook his head.

"There's no stopping that boy now, one target or another he will fight. And we couldn't be more fortunate with the choice of opponent. Naruto may be the only one who can fight him and survive."

Kakashi looked desperate.

"But Hokage-sama!"

Sandaime interrupted.

"I'm glad you're so concerned with your student, Kakashi. But believe in Naruto as Yondaime did!"

Naruto's eyes were wide as he dodged a swipe from the transformed Gaara.

"How the heck am I supposed to stop this, dattebayo?"

Naruto then locked in on Gaara's tail for some reason.

"I have an idea! Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Several Naruto clones appeared and charged towards Gaara, punching him, though with little effect. Gaara roared and swiped again with his right paw, catching and dispelling one of the clones. The others leaped in the air and threw a round of shuriken. Gaara blocked it with his left hand, then took a deep breath.

"Fūton: Daitoppa! (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough)

A huge gale of wind shot out of Gaara's mouth, full of his sand. Naruto's clones vanished in the sand-filled blast.

Gaara looked up as the smoke cleared, revealing all the Narutos to be clones now dispelled.

"Konoha secret technique: One thousand years of pain!"

Naruto was crouching under Gaara's tail, and thrust a kunai with an exploding tag on it. He jumped back as the tag exploded, leaving half of Gaara's sand body sagging.

He's good! It didn't hurt me, but look at what it did to my body!

"I'm not done yet, dattebayo!"

Naruto kicked Gaara into the air, and a hundred Naruto's appeared around him, moving to punch. Sasuke's eyes widened.

"This…this is Naruto?"

All the other Konoha rookies, especially Team 8, grunted their mutual surprise. The Narutos continued the pummel Gaara. Then Naruto, assisted by two clones, appeared in the air behind Gaara, all three holding Kubikiribōchō, preparing an overhead slash with his giant sword.

"I don't care if you're just like me! I promised my friends I'd become Hokage! And I can't lose until then, dattebayo!"

The Suna team gasped as Naruto's sword was about to connect with Gaara.

There was a massive explosion of sand that not only threw Naruto back, but threw everyone back into the forest outside and destroyed the tower. Everyone picked themselves up out of the bushes, then stared up in awe. Where the tower once stood, was a giant tanuki made of sand.

"Hehehe, look what you brought out of me! But it's time to die. Sabaku Kyū! (Desert Coffin) "

Naruto was too surprised to notice the sand whirling around him. Hinata gasped, knowing what came after that.

"NARUTO-KUN!"

"Sabaku Sōsō! (Sand Burial)"

"FEIM!"

As the sand imploded, a transparent blue Naruto jumped out of the sand and into the bushes, unharmed. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura appeared next to him.

"Kakashi-sensei! How the heck am I supposed to fight this thing, dattebayo?"

Kakashi shook his head.

"You're not. The Chūnin Exams are over."

Naruto almost fell over in shock.

"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

"That boy, he's a jinchūriki like you. This is the beast sealed inside of him. But villages don't send jinchūriki to participate in Chūnin Exams, they send them to win wars. Him being here is an act of war by Suna. I want you three to get ready to run."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Kakashi turned as Anko appeared behind them and pointed.

"Look."

"I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE!"

The Ota-trio burst out of the bushes, Zaku running madly while the other two at least tried to stay hidden as they tried to flee. Gaara made a handsign.

"If I can't find you…Shukaku will!"

"Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu! (Play Possum Jutsu!)"

With that, Gaara fell asleep, and slipped into the sand. The giant tanuki's grew eyes, which began looking around.

"Yahoo! Finally free! And look! Someone to play with!"

The giant tanuki took a huge breath.

"Fūton: Renkūdan! (Wind Style: Air Bullet)"

A giant blast of wind exploded out of its mouth, flattening the forest in front of him. Zaku and the kunoichi were killed instantly, the third genin trapped under a tree. Kakashi froze, however, when he heard a roar that did not come from the raging bijū.

There couldn't be a worse moment.

A huge dragon, much larger than the one from before though still small compared to Shukaku, landed next to the struggling genin.

"Yul….toor shul!"

With that, the last Ota genin was engulfed in flames.

Sandaime and his ANBU landed behind Kakashi.

"Kakashi! This is it, right?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Yes but this one is different. It's much larger than the earlier one, it's black and it has more spikes. And something about it, feels different."

The dragon flew up and faced Shukaku.

"Whoa? What's this? A dragon? I didn't know there were dragons! Well let's see how long you last!"

The dragon's eyes narrowed.

"Fos daar? Faal Rahreyth suleyk? Hin duziirah mindok nid grooe! Zu'u fen krii hi, Dovahkiin!" (What's this? The God-Tree's power? Your insolence knows no bounds! I will kill you, Dragonborn!)

Shukaku took a breath and sent out another blast of wind. The dragon also took a breath.

"Yul…toor shul!"

This time instead of a stream of fire, the dragon sent out a giant fireball. The fireball collided with the wind blast, and exploded into a giant wave of fire. Shukaku jumped back, but his left arm was caught in the flame and turned to glass. As Shukaku landed, the dragon swooped past and struck the glass arm with his claws, shattering it.

"YEOW! THAT BURNED! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!"

The dragon flew high above Shukaku and opened its mouth. This time came a sound like thunder, and dark, red clouds circled in the sky. Flaming meteors began falling from the sky.

"YEOW! YEOW! STOP THAT!"

The dragon swooped down right in front of Shukaku.

"FUS…ROH DAH!"

A huge blast of energy slammed into Shukaku and he fell backwards. As he got back up the dragon swooped and landed on his back.

"Yul…toor shul!"

The dragon unleased a blast of fire into Shukaku's back, then smashed it with his foot. At the bottom of the hole was Gaara, asleep. The dragon roared, waking him up. Gaara stared up in pure terror at the monstrosity standing above him while Shukaku's eyes faded.

"NOOOO! I JUST GOT OUT!"

"Yel Rahreyth suleyk nis sav hi nu!" (Even the God-Tree's power cannot save you now!)

Gaara reached his hand up, trying to encase the dragon in sand. But the dragon's neck shot down into the hole and he grabbed Gaara in his mouth, ripping him out of Shukaku's body. He swung Gaara around violently before flinging him out into the woods. Team 7, Anko, and Sandaime ducked as Gaara fell in between them. They turned back to the dragon, expecting it to attack. The dragon flew over the remains of the tower once more, unleashed a blast of fire that set the ruins ablaze, and then flew out away from the forest. Anko ran over and checked Gaara's vital signs

"Hokage-sama he's still alive, but he's fading fast!"

Sandaime made a handsign.

"Anko! Everyone! Get back!"

Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

"Hokage-sama, are you going to use…"

Sandaime nodded.

"When a jinchūriki dies the bijū dies too, and will regenerate somewhere else. But sometimes the bijū escapes the seal as the host weakens, and will appear immediately and on the spot. In which case there's no other way for us to stop it."

As Sandaime spoke Gaara screamed and chakra began rising out of his body. Sandaime prepared, waiting to finish the jutsu. Suddenly chakra burst out of Gaara.

"FREE! Wait…what is this? NOOOOOOOO!"

The chakra at first began flying towards the sky, then stopped and began swirling downwards towards the shinobi. Everyone jumped out of the way but the chakra surged past them.

"GAH! That burns, dattebayo!"

Everyone watched in shock as the chakra became a spiral that swirled…around Naruto and into his stomach. After a few minutes the chakra finally finished…some strange markings appearing right above Naruto's seal as he fell back, unconscious.

-Inside the Seal-

The Kyūbi opened an eye, resting behind the gate in the sewer that was his prison and home.

"Hm…Shukaku. If I'm lucky he'll force this brat to use my chakra, start breaking down this seal."

With that, the Kyūbi returned to his nap.

When he opened his eye again, he saw Shukaku's jinchūriki lying on the ground.

"Looks like he didn't need my help…too bad."

Suddenly chakra began swirling through the sewer. The Kyūbi watched with a tiny bit of interest. His interest grew, however, as the chakra swirled past the bars and settled next to him. It began forming into a shape.

"Oh great, as if this brat wasn't enough now I have to deal with you too."

"What?! Where am I?! Why are you here, you stupid fox?!"

The Kyūbi snarled.

"I was here first, stupid tanuki. Now stop your shouting, I'm trying to sleep"

Shukaku's face contorted in rage.

"Why I oughta! Wait, you don't mean, I'm inside that other brat now?!"

The Kyūbi attempted to ignore him.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE! I CAN'T BE STUCK AGAIN! NOT WITH THIS STUPID FOX!"

The Kyūbi covered his ears and sighed. His wait for escape just got significantly longer.

-Konoha Council Room-

Sandaime, his advisors, the Chūnin Exam Proctors, the clan leaders, and all the jōnin sat around a table.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice. We have several situations, all of the gravest urgency. First of all, Orochimaru has infiltrated the village…."

All the jōnin gasped and began discussing until they realized the Hokage hadn't finished.

"…It also seems Suna sent the Ichibi Jinchūriki into the Chūnin Exams…."

More interruptions. The Hokage waited patiently for a minute or two.

"yes…Shukaku was released, but was defeated…"

Everyone cheered.

"…by a huge dragon and…"

Everyone gasped and started talking again. Sandaime sighed and closed his eyes. Anko slammed her fist on the table.

"QUIET everyone! The Hokage isn't finished!"

The Hokage sighed once more.

"Thank you, Anko. As I was saying Shukaku was defeated by a dragon, and then apparently absorbed into Naruto."

At this the Hokage lost all semblance of control over the room. Sandaime simply waited the ten or so minutes it took for everyone to quiet down enough to be heard.

"Now let's start with Orochimaru and Suna. It is clear that both were up to something, and I can't help but feel it was not a coincidence both were here. In addition, we've received intel that Orochimaru claimed to be in charge of the shinobi from Otagakure. I think it's safe to assume Suna had hostile intent, and was potentially working with Orochimaru."

The advisor with bandages over his eyes named Danzō slammed his fist on the table.

"What more is there to discuss? This was clearly an act of war."

Sandaime shook his head.

"Whatever the intent, the plot has been foiled by the recent turn of events. But, it is clear now that the current situation cannot continue…"

Danzō nodded his approval while the jōnin looked worried. However, all were shocked at the Hokage's next words.

"Which is why I've decided to revise the alliance with Suna. We shall coordinate more closely with them on missions, and we will reduce the number of missions we accept from Kaze no Kuni, split proceeds on all our missions in Kaze no Kuni and all their missions in Hi no Kuni, and send some of our teachers to improve their academy and boost relations."

The other advisors, Homura and Koharu, stood up in outrage.

"Hokage-sama! You can't be serious! Suna was clearly planning a heavy attack on Konoha! And now you want to cater to their desires?! No village will respect Konoha after this!"

The Nara Clan leader, Shikaku, shook his head.

"Hokage-sama…if I may?"

The Hokage nodded.

"The Hokage's decision, while strange at first, actually has great merit. For one, Konoha was not damaged by Suna's plan. The village at large and therefore the other villages as well are not aware of what occurred. There is no need for us to fight in order to protect our reputation. In addition, punishing Suna would not be in our best interests."

Danzō's exposed eye narrowed at the Nara leader.

"What do you mean?"

Shikaku turned to Danzō.

"Konoha didn't take any damage from this, but minus one jinchūriki neither did Suna. They may not attack us now, but they are still capable of defending themselves. If we tried to attack and destroy them, we'd suffer heavy casualties, and be left vulnerable to another village. In addition we'd become untrustworthy, assaulting an ally seemingly without cause. However, if we took a more limited approach, say imposing harsher terms on Suna, we'd only push them into a more and more desperate situation. In that case, they'd have no choice but to betray us again."

Homura and Koharu still looked skeptical.

"But to let them go unpunished…"

At this Sandaime intervened.

"They've already been punished. They lost a jinchūriki for the price of a normally empty tower. That's a major blow in and of itself, and a clear demonstration of our strength. They know we are in a position to punish them. We will show sympathy to their situation and try to bind our villages closer together, but rest assured, I will make sure the Kazekage is aware that it is only by our choice that war is avoided. Now, to the next issue…"

Homura and Koharu sat down, but their eyes narrowed.

"Yes, we are wondering why we were not informed about the existence of dragons, or Orochimaru's presence."

Sandaime grunted, resisting the urge to rub his temples.

"Orochimaru's presence is a new development, I learned of it only shortly before the completion of the Second Exam. As for dragons, at first they did not seem a major threat. Kakashi, can you elaborate?"

Kakashi nodded.

"I encountered the first dragon. It was strong, but not worryingly so. Despite being injured and using most of our chakra against each other, Zabuza and I with the help of our subordinates were able to kill it. Had I encountered it before fighting Zabuza, I could have defeated it on my own. The dragon that defeated Shukaku is on a whole different level than the dragon I encountered."

Sandaime nodded.

"Thank you, Kakashi. As Kakashi said, dragons on their first appearance were a concern but not a major one. There was only one dragon sighting in a minor, isolated nation, therefore it did not seem to pose a threat to the village at the time. We had nothing to indicate that there were dragons capable of defeating bijū, or that they were already present near Konoha."

Homura and Koharu nodded, somewhat placated but still unhappy.

"So what do you plan to do about it?"

Sandaime nodded.

"Both Orochimaru and this dragon warrant concern. We will take steps to prepare the village. I devote resources to researching dragons and potential countermeasures, and we will tighten village security as far as we can without alarming the population. We will also begin investigating this new village, Otagakure, and it's possible connections with Orochimaru."

Danzō grunted.

"Fine…but what of the Kyūbi boy?"

Everyone nodded. The Hyūga clan leader, Hiashi, stared intensely at the table.

"How is such a thing even possible?"

Kakashi simply smiled.

"Well, it's never been attempted before…"

Danzō shook his head.

"Most people can't handle the power of even one bijū. To contain two…I'm surprised the boy is still alive. But he can't possibly be stable. We should take steps immediately."

Kakashi stood up at this, giving Danzō a death glare.

"If you are proposing to harm Naruto…"

Sandaime interrupted.

"Kakashi, I know you are concerned for your student, but I will handle this."

Kakashi bowed and apologized, and took his seat.

"Now, it is a matter of concern. But this boy is also an Uzumaki, as such he may be capable of more than we expect. In addition, there is another factor, Kakashi?"

"When we killed the first dragon, Naruto absorbed some sort of energy from it. He was subsequently able to access memories from the dragon. I believe now he absorbed the dragon's soul and life-force. He may have done something similar when Shukaku's host was killed."

Everyone's eyes widened at this. Danzō was about to speak but Sandaime cut him off.

"Yes, it seems Naruto may have an innate ability which we were not aware of. But this may make him more resilient as a jinchūriki. In any case, I have no plans to constrain Naruto as a result of this."

Danzō, Homura, Koharu, and a few of the others looked as if they were about to protest, but Sandaime raised his hand.

"For one, I will examine Naruto's seal myself. Secondly, I will keep our Mokuton-user on standby in the village until we are confident in Naruto's stability. Finally, you would do well to remember that had Naruto not done this, a bijū would have attacked our village, this time without Yondaime. Therefore, this is the second time Naruto has saved Konoha from a bijū attack."

Danzō's eyes narrowed.

"Still, he is both a major asset and a vulnerability. If he were to be attacked and killed or pushed to the edge, disaster would result."

Sandaime turned to Danzō.

"I am well aware. Suffice to say I have a solution in mind, and the less people who know the details of such the better."

His advisors seemed unhappy but they sat down, unable to complain. Sandaime allowed himself a sigh of relief.

"In that case, this meeting is adjourned. If your services are required in any of the aforementioned steps, I will contact you later. Now, if the jōnin and examiners would join me, we still have the matter of the Chūnin Exams to resolve."

-Outside the Konoha Hospital-

Sasuke leaned against a pole while Sakura paced back and forth.

"Do you think…Naruto will be ok?"

Sasuke shrugged.

"That knuckledhead never stays down for long."

Sakura almost smiled.

"Hey guys!"

Sakura whirled around to see Naruto walking out of the hospital, strolling and waving. Sasuke grunted.

"Told you."

Sakura ran to Naruto.

"Naruto! What happened?"

Naruto smiled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Not really sure. There was all this light, it felt like chakra was surging into me. Then there was this pain in my stomach and it kind of went dark after that. Had these weird dreams though. There was this giant fox and a giant tanuki, and they seemed to be arguing."

While Sasuke and Sakura sweat-dropped at the seemingly irrelevant tangent, Kakashi appeared among them in a puff of smoke.

"Yo."

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi flipped the page of his newly purchased book.

"Glad to see you're feeling well Naruto. Looks like you'll be able to continue the Chūnin Exams!"

Kakashi smiled as the genin took a step back in shock.

"You mean, the exams are still on, after all that?!"

Kakashi gave a thumbs up.

"Yep! Meet at the Hokage's Office tomorrow morning at eight o clock. See you there!"

With that, Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke.

-Outside the Hokage's Office, 8:00am-

Team 7 came to the Hokage's Office. They nearly fell over in shock as they saw Kakashi, for once, on time. Kakashi was standing with Sandaime and a bunch of jōnin, in front of them were the other Konoha genin who had passed the Second Exam. Sandaime took a step forward as Team 7 joined the others.

"Good good, now that we're all here we can begin. As you may have guessed, the original Third Exam has been cancelled due to recent events. However, we haven't forgotten your performance on the first and second exams. Therefore, we've decided to continue the exam for our own village. However, as we are comrades and don't wish for self-inflicted casualties, we have decided not to continue with individual battles. Instead, you will be sent on a series of increasingly dangerous missions with various jōnin. The teams will be mixed and matched, so we see how well you can adapt to different situations and teammates. During these missions the jōnin will be watching your performance, and may give you more leeway than you are used to, perhaps even allowing you to lead missions yourselves. We will decide from there if you are ready to become a chūnin. Now, Hayate will announce the first team. The first three who are called, come into my office, the rest of you are dismissed and will be contacted when your time is ready."

Sandaime went back inside his office. Hayate walked forward, and looked at a clipboard. Naruto looked around, bored as Hayate went through the names, none of which were his.

Man, I might not be with Sakura-chan anymore! Oh well, at least I won't have to deal with Sasuke-teme for a while, he's getting really moody, dattebayo!

-Naruto's House, the next day-

Naruto pulled himself to the door, whole body burning from the morning workout. However, he was surprised to see Kakashi inside his apartment.

"Yo."

"Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing here?"

Kakashi smiled.

"Oh, just letting you know the Hokage wants to see you."

Naruto's eyes lit up.

"All right! Time for my first mission!"

With that Naruto jumped out the window, rushing to the Hokage's office. Kakashi chuckled.

"To have such energy after a Gai workout. Sometimes Naruto you are truly frightening."