"Guys, I think this is a good place to set up camp." Sakura decided after a few hours of running through the forest. Kiba sniffed the air vigorously before silently agreeing. "I'll get firewood and hunt for food." Naruto called as summoned 33 shadow clones, which scattered in all directions. Pretty soon 3 Naruto's returned holding logs and a slab of meat. "Guys, I got everything you asked." One of the Naruto's called out as they approached Kiba and Sakura. Sakura got up to help Naruto when Kiba grabbed her leg. "Looks like Naruto, sounds like Naruto, even speaks like Naruto. But does it smell like Naruto? No!"
The three Naruto's transformed into enemy ninja with cloud headbands. "Guys, buy me time so I can prepare my Jutsu." One of them said as he leapt backwards. "Sure, we got you covered." A girl with blood red eyes assured. "You deal with the girl, I got this guy." The other cloud ninja planned as his muscles bulged through his shirt ripping it off. "Lightning style thunder punch." He cried attempting to slam Kiba with his fist. Kiba leaped back onto a tree thinking he had dodged the attack as the lightning infused fist pierced the ground, when chunks of earth flew at him knocking him to the ground. As he got up two lightning infused shurriken hit his left arm, paralysing it and rendering it useless. The beefy cloud ninja came at him with a lariat to finish him off when Kiba released purple smoke into the air. "Headhunter Jutsu." Kiba cried as the cloud ninja fell into the ground. "Earth style earth dome." Kiba added, trapping the cloud ninja underground.
Sakura stabbed her red eyed opponent with another Kunai but screamed out in pain again. Despised not being hit at all she was bleeding heavily and her flesh was bruised. "I've never seen my genjutsu work so well. You should pass out any second now." The cloud girl laughed, dispelling her genjutsu to reveal that Sakura had been stacking herself the whole time. "Your genjutsu, more like my genjutsu. I could tell as soon as you put me in it as the birds flying overhead aren't native to this village. So I did the natural thing, put you in a genjutsu where you thought I had been fooled by your genjutsu." Sakura smirked as the girl felt sudden pain, her body covered in the injuries Sakura gave her before losing consciousness.
"Damn it, they defeated my team mates." The third ninja cursed under his breath as he finished focus in his chakra. "Laser style Armageddon beam." He roared, pointing the highly concentrated laser at Sakura. Trees were scorched and animals killed as the laser flew through the air towards Sakura, the intense amount of chakra disrupting Sakura's own chakra control as chakra leaked out the Jutsu. "You bastard." Naruto shouted as he jumped in front of the laser beam whilst two of his shadow clones pulled Sakura to the ground, the beam going straight through his chest and splattering his organs everywhere.
Naruto woke up in a dark damp room. "Idiotic humans, dying from a tiny Jutsu like that." A voice filled with hatred and killing intent insulted, causing Naruto to turn around and see a giant demonic fox through the bars trapping it. "Dead, if I'm dead how am I here?" Naruto shouted back angrily, glaring at the fox intensely. "My sheer power prolongs your existence if only temporarily. You just had to go and die, do you know how long it will take me to return to the mortal realm." The demon fox complained, spitting at Naruto to spite him further.
"Well can't you do something about it?" Naruto whined back. There was silence for half a minutes before the fox finally sighed. "I'll fucking save you this time but you owe me one." The fox swore as red chakra flew out of his cage.
"Naruto!" Sakura screamed as his blood poured out of his body. Naruto's chest had burst open, his guts strewn across the floor. "Why?" Was all Sakura could say when red chakra engulfed his body. Sakura watched a medical impossibility with her own eyes as Naruto's organs were pulled back into his body, his bones rebuilding and his skin forming new layers to cover the wound. "Fire style, great fire ball Justu." Naruto yelled, as red chakra burst out of his mouth, forming a fireball the size of a house. "Substitution." The laser user desperately attempted to switch with a log but all the nearby ones had burnt to a crisp.
There was a massive explosion which only left a bloody corpse. "Heaven scroll, what we needed!" Kiba told Naruto and Sakura when he searched the body. Suddenly, out of the Earth the most muscular of the cloud genin burst out. "You killed Rickito. Feel the wrath of the Thunder god. Raiden, accept me a sacrifice and bring your fury upon this murderous leaf ninja." The cloud ninja pleaded to the sky. He began chanting in cultivating tones and soon his entire body dissolved into lightning.
"Guys, um, was it that cloudy before?" Naruto nervously asked a storm clouds gathered above him rapidly, darkening over time until they were a deathly black. "You did go a bit overboard on that fireball." Kiba observed as lightning began to crackle, before stepping away from Naruto. Suddenly, not one, not two, but 20 bolts of lightning descended onto Naruto, knocking him unconscious and charring his skin deeply. Sakura instinctively put her head to his chest to check for a heartbeat. "It's beating, but way too fast. He needs medical attention soon." She told Kiba and several shadow clones which had gathered round to help their creator. "Ok, listen up clones. Naruto's dying and only we can save him so you listen to us now. We're heading straight for the tower and we're sure to be attacked so we'll need a distraction, disguise your selves and be ready to sacrifice your lives to lead attacking enemies away from us, it's for the greater good." Kiba barked like an army drill seargent, the clones obediently following his command. Kiba and Sakura rushed Naruto straight to the tower, Kiba discovering enemies with his scent and sending clones their way the whole time. By midnight they arrived at the tower and quickly opened the scrolls.
"Hey guys you passed the second OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED TO NARUTO! MEDICS." Iruka called as he appeared from the scroll. Two medical ninja rushed over and started treating the wounds with their medical ninjutsu. Sakura and Kiba went to sit down only to find another squad already seated.
"Eight hours, that's how skilful Suna genin are." Kankuro bragged when he noticed the leaf headbands infront of him.
"Shut up, you know it was all me. I will not hesisitate to murder you if you try and reduce the worth of my existence." Gaara snapped back, sand leaking out of his gourd as Kankuro turned a pale white.
"Gaara, you can kill whoever you want next round." Temari offered, trying to appease her psychopathic brother.
"I will not waste my time killing weak enemies, like these two over here." Gaara responded.
"Hey…" Sakura began but Kiba pulled her away.
"That guy's powerful." Kiba explained when Sakura gave him a piercing stare.
"8 hours isn't that much faster than us." Sakura said pointing to the clock.
"No, I smelt his chakra. Same chakra that saved Naruto from that death laser and allowed him to make that insane fireball." Kiba warned and Sakura reluctantly backed down.
"The next round doesn't start for a while, come back in three days and get some rest." Iruka smiled and the two went home to enjoy themselves for the next couple of days. Finally, it was time for the next round.
"Hey, you guys passed as well?" Kiba asked Shikamaru who lazily nodded.
"Sasuke's team took our scroll so we had to get two, it was such a drag." Shikamaru moaned noisily.
"S-s-sorry, we were just trying to become chunin." Hinata nervously explained.
"Why apologise? We followed the rules given to us which everybody had ageed to." Shino replied.
"Yeah but shouldn't we leaf ninja stick together." Ino argued when a deep cough silence the whole room.
"I'm Hayate Gekko, your proctor for the third round. Originally we were going to have a knockout tournament where you would show off your skills but there are 18 of you and so we will need a preliminary round where the losers will be eliminated. If I believe there is a clear winner I can end the fight at any time. Before we start this anyone want to withdraw?" Hayate rasped before downing a bottle of water.
"Hey Suigetsu, we're going to sit this one out." Two mist ninja explained to their third team mate. "Don't worry, I'll deal with them." Suigetsu smiled, his teeth sharp and his grin evil.
"Ok, let's see who will be going first." Hayate said as he pointed to a flashing screen which revealed the names Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno.
"You can do it Sakura." Naruto yelled enthusiastically.
"I believe in you Sasuke." Hinata cheered, but much too quiet for anyone to hear.
"Sasuke is the logical winner of this fight." Shino mused as his team mate jumped down into the arena, with Sakura landing in front of him.
"Time to show Sasuke how strong we are." Inner Sakura declared.
"Begin." Hayate ordered.
"Genjutsu, it's useless against my Sharingan." Sasuke said as he rushed straight at Sakura kicking her in the chest. The pink haired girl flew to the ground but got back up. "Those aren't my only tricks, water style water bullet justu." Sakura replied, but Sasuke easily dodged the projectiles before slamming Sakura into the wall. "Remember that genjutsu Itachi showed us, try to replicate that." Inner Sakura screamed as Sakura once again formed a genjutsu. It worked for a few seconds as Sasuke ran off in the wrong direction and Sakura fired more water bullets at him. Suddenly Sasuke turned around and fired much bigger water bullets of his own which smashed through Sakura's and floored her once again. "When I activate my Sharingan everything around me slows down whilst your genjutsu was flowing at normal speed." Sasuke said as he slammed a foot into Sakura's stomach, causing her to scream out in pain. "Submit now or you will only experience more pain." Sasuke warned and Sakura told Hayate she couldn't go on. "Sasuke Uchiha wins." Hayate said before the screen displayed the next match up. Shino Aburame vs Ino Yamanka.
"Begin." Hayate declared as Ino pulled out three shurriken and threw them at Shino, who blocked each one with a kunai. Shino then dashed at Ino and unleashed a barrage of punches, which she easily blocked. "Your taijutsu is weak." Ino smirked when she noticed bugs crawling around on her skin. Soon they enveloped her whole body. "Your chakra reserves will soon be depleted and you will be unable to continue." Shino explained as Ino fell to the ground. Ino help her fingers around her forehead and suddenly her eyes closed.
"I submi-" Shino began when his mouth was filled up with bugs. Inside Shino's mind, Shino explained to Ino "You may control me but I can still control my kikai, they can stop any harm you'll be able to do with me and with the chakra I drained from you I doubt you can keep this jutsu up for very long." Shino deduced as Ino was sucked out of his brain back into her own body. Shino's bugs drained the last of Ino's chakra and the girl passed out on the floor. "Shino Aburame is the winner." Hayate declared as the bugs flew back into Shino's body.
"Oh my god, that is disgusting, I wouldn't like to fight him." Naruto gagged as he watched the insects crawling into Shino's skin. "The job of a ninja will not always be comfortable." Itachi wisely told his student, who grumbled annoyed. Next up was Gaara vs Kankuro but before the match even began Kankuro forfeited. "Just my luck." Kankuro moaned as a smiling Temari got up to fight Naruto Uzumaki.
"Gaara, that guy's a demon just like you." Shukaku taunted, worsening Gaara's already painful headache. "Temari, don't kill him, he is my prey." Gaara warned his sister as sand rose out of his gourd slowly. "I'll hold back then." Temari replied as she went down into the arena. Naruto jumped down in soon after and when the match started Naruto charged at her but was blown away by a huge wave of wind. "That's only the first moon." Temari laughed as she watched Naruto struggle against the wind, before releasing a sharp scythe of wind which cut into Naruto's arm. "Shadow clone jutsu." Naruto yelled, summoning 50 clones to help him. Temari opened up her fan further and release another blast of wind that cut through the clones and knocked Naruto against the wall. Naruto grabbes some shurriken and infused them wind wind chakra before hurling them at Temari, who knocked them away with her fan. Then a third blast of wind came At Naruto, the blonde quickly ducked underneath it but his headband was sucked off his head and hit Kiba square in the eye.
"Idiot." Kiba yelled as he clutched his eye, and Naruto gave him an innocent smile whilst rubbing the back of his head. Then Naruto summoned 200 shadow clones, which all threw wind infused shurriken at Temari. Temari opened up her fan fully and released a massive blast of wind which scattered the Shurriken around the arena. Then she swung her fan towards Naruto as his clones were popped by the harsh winds. Naruto's clothes were shredded by the wind and he was covered in painful scars. Temari pulled back her fan for another swing. "Her wind style is so much stronger than mine and my clones are useless. I'll just have to try another fireball." Naruto thought as he prepared the handsigns for the fireball jutsu. He pulled on Kuruma's chakra but unlike in the forest of death Kuruma wasn't feeling so generous and only a small fireball was produced. "Damn it." Naruto cursed, not knowing the effect of wind style jutsu on fire style jutsu as the massive winds caused the fireball to grow to monsterous sizes, which burnt Temari harshly, knocking the girl out in a few seconds. "Winner." Hayate declared.
"Looks like you're up Neji. Show everyone the power of youth." Rock Lee grinned as Neji jumped into the arena. "Hinata, I'm sure you can do it." Kurenai smiled, trying to give her student a bit of confidence.
"Naruto, how did you do such a strong fireball?" Kiba asked, astounded by Naruto's power.
"I don't know. It was tiny when it left my mouth but it just grew." Naruto replied, equally flabbergasted.
"Wind style chakra strengthens fire style chakra, her fan turned your tiny fireball into a weapon of mass destruction." Sakura explained.
"As you can perform both wind and fire style jutsu you can combine them to create insane strong jutsu that no enemy could withstand." Itachi told Naruto.
"Look, Neji beat Hinata, badly. She's bleeding." Sakura observed, watching medics carry away her classmate.
"That bastard. I'll have to show him." Naruto yelled as he looked at the arrogant progidy.
"Quiet down, it's that kunoichi from the squad in the year above vs that mist ninja who didn't drop out." Kiba shushed as two unknown enemies stepped up to the battlefield. They watched intently as Suigetsu phased through all of Tenten's various weapons by liquefying his body. After Tenten unleashed her twin rising dragon scrolls and he easily went through the assault he started doing many many hand signs. Tenten took out a scroll and pulled out a pole arm before running at Suigetsu but the mist ninja knocked her out with the water dragon jutsu.
"Oh no, I'm last." Kiba groaned as he saw Shikamaru and Choji enter the arena. Then he turned his head to see Rock Lee doing hundreds of push ups and groaned even louder. "This is going to be a drag." Shikamaru sighed as he prepared to fight Choji.
"Shikamaru, don't hold back or I'll send you to train with Gai sensei." Asuma shouted from the stands, motivating his student further.
"Sorry Choji, I'm going to have to go all out on this one." Shikamaru said before Hayate signalled the start of the match. Choji expanded to a massive size and rolled into a boulder going straight for the Naara who barely dodged him. When Choji hit the wall he instantly he found he couldn't move his body and was trapped in Shikamaru's shadows.
"I know that I do whatever you do and I'm a lot bigger and stronger so I could dish out a lot more and take a lot more punishment." Choji said.
"You're also closer to the roof." Shikamaru pointed out as he jumped up and down repeadetly, causing Choji to smash the roof with his head repeatedly until he passed.
"Damn it my turn." Kiba said as he jumped into the arena. Hayate said begin and before Kiba could even move Lee had kicked him into the air. "Earth style" Kiba began when Rock Lee knocked him out with an insanely speedy punch.
"I understand that you may have displayed all your abilities here-" Naruto stared angrily at Gaara, "you have a month of training before the real Chuunin exams. Please take these slips to determine your enemies for the next round." Hayate announced coughing as he handed out the slips.
Two cloaked figures in a bar in a leaf village stared into each other's eyes. "One month to go." One of them said, the other nodded gruffly.
