Before I begin, I would like to thank all those who have consistently taken the time to read and review my stories, as well as those who don't review. It always gives me encouragement and a reason to keep on writing when I see them. So thank you Rhomulus, Hektols, MKTerra, Uzumaki-Ricky, Hee-Ho Master, Leaf Ranger, KonIsMyName, Wyrtha, and everyone else. If I missed your name, please don't be upset, I didn't mean to. Again, thank you everyone and I hope you enjoy Chapter 7!

Letting loose a shaky breath, Naruto collapsed to the ground, his back momentarily complaining as it hit a rather large rock. But, Naruto didn't care as he breathed shallow, painful breaths of air into his damaged lungs. For the past two hours he'd been practicing the Katon Jutsu he "stole" from Sasuke to the point of near chakra depletion. He knew it was risky, maybe even borderline stupid to attempt a jutsu he had no instruction on, but he had to get stronger and learn stronger jutsu. Kage Bunshin's do not make an arsenal, just a one trick pony. He smiled, as he thought back to three days ago when he followed the Uchiha home.

Creeping along the rooftop of a private residence, Naruto watched from behind an air conditioning unit the youngest member of the Uchiha clan walk home with a brown paper bag of groceries, bought from the public market. So far, he hadn't been spotted. Doing his best to not exert any chakra, Naruto had stuck to only physical methods of stealth and tracking, knowing that Sasuke wasn't an ordinary genin.

Through residential and commerce areas of the village Naruto stalked the other boy. Waiting and watching, hoping he would practice his ninjutsu when he got back home. Finally, after almost half an hour of treading upon shadows and rooftops, his quarry finally passed through gigantic wooden gates painted with the Uchiha clan symbol painted brightly upon it.

Jumping down from the nearby building, Naruto scaled the twelve foot wall that separated the compound from the village proper and peered over the edge, the hunted teen still unaware. Naruto felt a strange uneasiness fill him as he crossed the wall. The buildings and ground may have been cleaned of blood, and the damage repaired, but the spiritual energy from the massacre still hung like an invisible miasma within the Uchiha compound. Unseen darkness, clouds of despair and death seemed to roam the shadows and alleys of the buildings and homes within.

Naruto did his best to not freak out as he continued his hunt. He would never admit it, but he had a fear of ghosts and other paranormal things. The last thing he needed was to encounter a ghost. "Damn things are just dirty, can't cut 'em, can't make 'em bleed, certainly can't kill 'em." Naruto had thought to himself as he not only followed the Uchiha but the shadows that danced eerily throughout, seemingly without provocation or by natural means. Last thing he needed was to fight a ghost.

He shook off the fear he felt, as he had to quickly rebound behind a corner. Sasuke had turned left into a larger building unexpectedly and could of caught the blonde shinobi in his peripheral vision. After giving it a moment, Naruto ran across the street and scaled another building by jumping from wall to wall against the adjacent building and back to his intended target. Making a final leap, he landed on the roof and hid behind a convenient water tank that sat upon the roof. Moments later, the Uchiha exited the building with a jug of water and headed towards a small lake that rested in a garden next to the house he had entered.

Seeing as he had a good view of the pond, Naruto pulled out a pair of binoculars, making sure the sun was to his back before he began his observations. Last thing he needed was the glare from the sun to reflect off the lenses and alert his quarry.

Soon, the Uchiha began his ninjutsu training, forming the necessary hand seals in a slow pattern, before exhaling a perfectly maintained fireball that spread over the lake. Naruto payed close attention to the signs he made, and wrote them down as Sasuke preformed them. Three times he used the jutsu and three times he wrote down the seals, getting them perfect each time. After making an additional note on how Sasuke breathed, before and after the attack, along with how he seemed to control the flames with his forefinger and thumb, he left with a silent thanks to the Uchiha for the new jutsu.

Reaching back to his pack, he pulled out a soldier pill and ate it, already feeling his chakra pathways stop constricting within his body and letting the surge of his own chakra push into his body; created by the abundance of vitamins and nutrients the Akamichi invention contained. Naruto frowned, as he could feel the Kyuubi try and take advantage of his chakra weakened state and flood him with more of his own evil chakra, but quickly quelled it with the help of the seal that still partially functioned.

He wished that the pill also helped his singed lungs, but knew that they'd be better soon, thanks to his rapid healing. Unfortunately, he was still working out the kinks for the Katon, and had almost ignited himself internally more than once. But, he had so far produced a few good fireballs.

It had been two weeks since the Hokage's ultimatum and Naruto was still no where near close to finding a team. He'd been scouting for one, but so far none had taken him. He found out that in order for a genin team to participate in the Chunnin exams, first the jonin sensei had to approve them, telling the Hokage that they believed them to be ready. Then, after that they would hand applications to the teammates and they would have to sign it if they believed themselves ready. Only if all three signed could they then participate, that was what Naruto kept an eye out for. While all the jonin sensei's knew of his availability and eagerness, so far only three teams had actually not turned in their paperwork. Teams Seven, Eight, and Ten all had one genin that hadn't turned in their paperwork.

In Team Seven, Sakura had yet to turn in hers. He hadn't asked her yet, but decided against trying as he still held a grudge against the girl he used to think he had a crush on. In Team Eight, Naruto was rather hopeful he'd get to join. The hesitant member was one of the genin he knew very little about, Jin Kisaragi. He'd met him once, just after picking Hinata up from her training to escort her to a restaurant they were going to have lunch at. The boy was silent, but seemed rather average in both power and looks. But, he judged by the silent glare Jin gave him, he had feelings for the girl. For some reason, he had gotten overprotective of the girl and quickly ushered her away from the strange boy.

From what Hinata had told him, Jin was afraid of them getting hurt or worse in the Chunin exams, not believing any of them to be ready for it. He was ready to not participate in order to flunk them all. Naruto had brought it up with their sensei, Kurenai Yuuhi, but she sadly admitted that unless Jin resigned from being a shinobi or allowed another to take his place, he was allowed to do such a thing, no matter how selfish it was. She had also informed him to not try anything drastic, such as literally disarming the boy. ANBU didn't take kindly to genin maiming genin.

And with Team Ten, Shikamaru had yet to turn in the papers simply because he was lazy. He knew his sensei or female teammate would kick his ass into gear sooner or later.

So that really only leaves me with Team Eight as my choice to try and get into the Chunin exams, because I'm no where near the level of strength the Old Man wants from me. Naruto thought as he painfully sat up. His body may have been out of danger from low chakra, but the withdrawal pains he felt physically was still there.

Hearing the loud cry of a raven as it flew over head, Naruto watched the silhouette of the bird glide across the orange sky that hung over the clearing in the forest as the sun began to set faster behind the horizon. Knowing it was almost time to head back home, he stood back up with a groan as he limped back home, wanting nothing more than to collapse in his bed.

The next morning, Naruto awoke with a groan of pain, not only from his sore muscles, but a large headache that seemed to pound louder with every passing second. Mumbling to himself at the annoyance, he threw his blanket off and stumbled to the bathroom.

After getting a proper breakfast of ramen and milk, Naruto couldn't help but feel as though he was being constantly watched. Being in a shinobi village, one would expect to have the watchful eyes of shadows upon you, but you could rarely tell they were there. This feeling was invasive, almost chilling, as it seemed omnipresent and he couldn't get away from it. With a final sigh, he shook his head and chalked it up to paranoia on his part.

Today was a special day for Konoha, it was the celebration of Konoha's founding many years ago. Naruto couldn't believe he'd forgotten what day it was, he'd been training himself so hard into the ground that he lost track of dates, besides the one month deadline. It was one of his favorite festivals, seemingly also the day that people ignored his presence and instead focused on having their own fun. Another bonus, as it allowed him free access to the stalls and plays through the village.

Streets were jam packed full of shinobi and civilian alike, all dancing and chatting away merrily as the stresses of daily life seemed to melt away. Along the main road that led from the main gate directly to the Hokage Tower, wooden stalls had been erected. The stalls ranged from selling food that was only available during the festival, shops that sold merchandise on discount, and many stalls had games such as ring tossing, fish catching, and even one had a shuriken throwing game. Although, any shinobi that tried the game was required to wear a blindfold, lest the stall owner go broke and lose all his prizes.

Naruto couldn't help but smile as he raced to a stall that sold a special flavor of dango for the day. While he believed ramen to be the superior food, he too has a sweet tooth. His joy was short lived however, as the stall owner had a closed sign, stating that there wouldn't be anymore special dango until that night, a woman wearing some very revealing clothing had come by and bought his entire stock. Disappointed he'd have to wait until nightfall to get some, he just sighed and ran towards his next stop, it was almost ten AM, meaning that the first play of the day would be starting soon at the stadium.

However, before he could make it to the stadium, he heard a small scream cut off abruptly, that seemed rather familiar to him. Hinata? He thought to himself, wondering with a small twinge of fear what could of caused her to scream like that. Turning a corner where he heard the sound come from, he looked down the darkened alleyway and felt his anger spike as he saw a cloaked figure picking up an unmoving Hinata. Whether she was dead or unconscious, he couldn't tell. The cloaked figure noticed the boy immediately and didn't spare him a second thought as he slung the girl over his shoulder and jumped straight up to the rooftop.

"Bastard! Get back here with Hinata!" Naruto all but roared as he quickly bounded up the alleyway with quick hops from wall to wall. Reaching the top of the alleyway, he caught a glimpse of the black cloak of the stranger as he jumped behind the corner of a large building. Pushing his muscles to a point he didn't know he could achieve, he chased after the kidnapper; determined not to let him get away with the girl. He felt rage so pure that it evicted any logical or sensible thought from his mind that he now considered cowardly. He wouldn't try and get help or not give chase, no matter how strong this person was he clearly had something bad in mind for the kunoichi. Naruto had to stop him.

Soon, he could see his prey in front of him, after a brief moment of thinking he'd lost him. From rooftop to rooftop they lept, seemingly invisible to the people below. The chase brought them to the edge of Konoha's walls and then over as they continued through into the forest. The blonde allowed himself a grin as he realized he was starting to catch up with the abductor and he would soon be in reach for a take down. Before he could however, the stranger abruptly stopped his run and dropped into a clearing below the canopy.

Naruto followed suit, already ripping his greatsword free from it's home on his back. "Let her go and I won't kill you." He said as he landed, having to restrain himself from attacking. But, he wanted information first.

The stranger said nothing, but dropped the girl unceremoniously onto the ground with a simple shrug of his shoulder. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he grabbed his sword with both hands and held it parallel with the ground. Somehow, he didn't think that he was going to give up and run.

Casually reaching up, the man unclasped his cloak and pulled it off, dropping it onto the ground. The man was about five feet in height, just a few inches taller than Naruto, even though he was in his late twenties. His dark skinned body was lithe with little muscle. His most obvious accessory was a Kumo hitai-ate with a slash running through it, which was tied around his forehead. He was bald, with a large scar running from his right temple, around his eye and down past his jawline. He had on a vest, which Naruto guessed was his village's style of a chunin/jonin vest, which he left open revealing he wore no shirt underneath. His pants were black and dark purple in a camouflage pattern leading down to black ninja sandals.

Glaring at the man who seemed to regard the teen with little to no interest; akin to one seeing a bug. "I think I should be the one saying that runt. This girl's the ticket to me getting back into Kumogakure." The ninja spoke, his tone even but with a small hint of unpleasantness.

"How is she gonna help you? Last I checked most missing ninja stay that way. The best you'll get is a mercy kill." Naruto replied as evenly as he could, his rage wouldn't stay in check. Hearing the enemy ninja refer to his friend as nothing more than a tool angered him in ways that couldn't be described.

"Mercy kill? Maybe if I brought them something insignificant, but this girl has something Kumo's wanted for a long time. The Byakugan."

Her dojutsu? But how would they steal. . . Naruto started to think before the answer hit him in the gut with an icy fist. The cold he felt was soon replaced by an all encompassing heat that billowed from his core and filled his body. He grit his teeth as he felt the final wall representing his will to hold back from attacking start to strain and threaten to explode.

Smirking to himself, he saw that the genin was on the edge of attacking in a blind rage and decided another push was all it needed. "I can see what you're thinking, but don't worry she won't be killed and her eyes taken, rather she'll breed for the next ten years and give us strong children with the bloodline. We'll have our own Hyuuga clan."

That was it. Unleashing a battle cry that sounded more demonic than human, the missing ninja watched with a feeling close to fear as the young genin surged from his position with an explosion of red chakra. Naruto's greatsword moved almost too fast for him to see, as he leaped backwards and let the sword harmlessly dig into the ground. It did little to slow the berserk teen however, as he charged forward again, swinging his sword in an organized chaos that promised a grizzly death for the criminal should he stand still.

Knowing he had to change the tides, the ex-Kumo ninja waited, ducked a large horizontal swing and thrust out with his leg; kicking the feral ninja back. Not taking the small breather he gave himself for granted, his hands moved at a blurring speed as he created seals. Ending with the sign for bird, he shouted, "Raiton: Lightning Strike Jutsu!" Then, with a loud cry and flash from the sky, a bolt of lightning was summoned and struck the blonde.

Naruto cried out in pain for only a moment as the electricity attempted to fry him. However, he was lucky in the fact that Konoha made their sandals from rubber, thus greatly reducing the damage the attack caused. It was still quite a new sensation of pain for him however. Still dazed from the attack, the missing nin wasted no time as he threw a kunai directed at the unguarded heart of his opponent.

Naruto was able to regain his senses in time however, and was able to pivot his body enough to instead take the projectile in his left shoulder. Not bothering to remove it, he charged forward again. The lighting attack had cleared his head and he was thinking clearer. After making the missing ninja have to give him plenty of breathing room, he was able to make the seal for Kage Bunshin without dropping his sword. Four clones came into existence and wasted no time from their birth to attack the enemy in front of them.

The missing ninja cursed as he jumped and moved his body horizontally to avoid two sword strikes that aimed to decapitate and remove his legs. He was already annoyed at the fact the runt had survived his jutsu, and now he had to deal with four clones that moved with such precision that it was nearly impossible to get an attack in without getting killed in the process. That was the least of his concerns however, as he soon witnessed Naruto finishing up a set of seals.

"Katon: Fireball Jutsu!"

Naruto watched as he let the fireball free and his clones attempted to grapple with the enemy and keep him in place. Not letting that be his only option however, Naruto quickly grabbed his sword that he had placed into the ground next to him and let it fly with a grunt. The sword spun and whistled through the air above the fireball. Grinning, he watched as the missing nin had in fact tried to jump the jutsu only to watch in horror as the greatsword slammed into his chest and cleaved him in two horizontally.

His grin was soon lost however, as the missing nin exploded into lightning that arched out and destroyed any clones not obliterated by the fireball. Spinning around quickly, Naruto raised his right forearm and blocked the incoming stab from the missing ninja's kunai. He couldn't move his left arm fast enough however, and cried out in pain as the weapon still lodged into his shoulder was pushed in further by the palm strike. Biting his lip and moving through the incredible pain, Naruto grasped both arms of his enemy and pulled him in close. Brining his head back, he screamed in rage as he brought his skull forward into the ninja's as he tried to get away from his grasp. After connecting the first time, Naruto brought his head back again, and again as he repeatedly head butted the missing ninja, starting to push him down until they both fell to the ground. Naruto was too close to the man to let him attack with his legs, and his arms locked at his sides.

Over and over, he slammed his skull into his enemy's, blood from both falling into his eyes and making him literally see red. Now it was simple contest of who would last longer through the assault. The headache Naruto felt earlier was nothing compared to the one he was starting to create as he felt himself start to get lightheaded, but refused to stop.

Using all his strength, was finally able to pull his right arm free and hurriedly brought it over to his left forming the seal for a substitution.

Naruto stopped his head from slamming into a large rock, and then jumped up, to see his opponent stumbling around, seemingly suffering a concussion from the assault. Using a focus and determination that he pulled from deep within, Naruto stumbled to his feet and quickly grasped the kunai that was lodged deep in shoulder. Without so much a cry, he yanked it free and threw it in one motion.

The ex-Kumo ninja barely registered the attack and tried to dodge it but it still buried itself to it's hilt into his stomach. The ninja grunted in pain and spit up blood as he stumbled back a step.

Naruto knew he was only a few moments from victory as he charged forward with a renewed sense of bloody vigor as he charged the injured criminal. The missing ninja parried the blonde's roundhouse left thrust kick but was hit by the following elbow that smashed into his face. Not stopping his body's rotation, he kept turning and thrust his right fist out and punched the ring of the kunai, completely burying it into the man's body. His opponent had barely a moment to scream before a left hook sent him spiraling into the ground.

Jumping onto his opponent, Naruto made sure to shove his knee into the man's stomach and pushed the metal projectile into an odd position within his enemy's body. Then, without mercy he began pummeling his opponents head into the ground with his right fist, hearing muffled screams as he felt the missing ninja's skull crack under the power of his attacks. Then with a final roar of pure and utter victory he brought his fist down for a final time and completely caved the missing ninja's skull in.

For a moment, Naruto stayed still, as he let his breathing even out and let the sweat and mixed blood trickle down his face and clothing. He stared at his hand which currently was still buried into the blood and gore that once was the missing ninja's head. Ripping his hand free, he shook it free of blood and brains and felt oddly at peace with himself, considering it was his first kill. He also tried his best to ignore the corrupted joyful screams of the Kyuubi as it praised the boy for his brutality.

Slowly standing, he looked over at the still unconscious form of Hinata and smiled to himself, knowing she was safe. As he started to draw near he though, he felt his world go white, as his headache returned with an unbelievable amount of force. He dropped to his knees, clutching his head before he screamed out, and saw the roof of his darkened apartment.

Shooting straight up, he realized he was still in his bed, but felt like he'd just finished a battle. Trying to even out his breathing, he looked down at his right hand, which had only moments before seemed covered in the seemingly real blood. Clenching and unclenching his fist, he felt extremely confused, now wondering what was reality and what was the dream?

"Seems like you won, Naruto Uzumaki."

Reacting on instinct, he quickly reached for the kunai under his pillow, only to find it missing. At the same time, he'd spun his head to the right, seeing a familiar kunoichi sitting on his dining room chair.

"Kurenai-san, what are you doing in my home?" he asked warily, more than he should of considering she was a fellow leaf ninja. Still, her unannounced presence was disturbing to the blonde. She'd been a little off key since Kenshin's death, either being depressed or simply trying to hide it, so he wondered if she finally went off the deep end. . .

Sensing his nervousness, she lifted her hands in surrender with a shrug. "Don't be so uptight. Most men would kill for me to be in their homes this late at night." She chuckled, watching his face light up even in the dark. Kurenai Yuuhi was right, she was one of the more beautiful kunoichi in the village, with her long curly black hair, piercing red eyes and lithe sexy figure, any man would die to have her.

Trying to shake the chagrin from his face he relaxed slightly but still wanted answers. Before he could ask however, Kurenai rose from the table and brought with her a single sheet of paper. Holding it before her, she looked at the blonde expectantly.

Looking between her and the paper, he slowly reached out and grabbed it, quickly scanning the title of the paper. "Chunin Exam Registration?" he shouted, not caring what time it was.

She smiled at his antics and nodded. "That's right, sign that and you'll be joining us in a week's time to participate in the exams."

While he felt overjoyed at the prospect of finally finding a way into the exams, he felt even more confused now than ever.

Seeing that, she sat down on his bedside, smirking to herself as she saw him scoot away from her with a blush. "You're probably confused as to why I suddenly brought this, and at this time of night?" she asked, seeing his quick nod. "After vouching for my team, saying they'd be ready for the exams, I started having second thoughts."

"Second thoughts?" Naruto repeated as he thought back to the few times he'd sat through the team training while waiting for Hinata to finish with her team. From what he saw, they had good teamwork and seemed pretty strong.

"Yes, my team lacks a vital component. A strong fighter to back up my team. It's meant to be a reconnaissance team, that in theory could hold it's own. But, Jin doesn't have any tracking abilities and even after these few months out of the academy he hasn't improved very well, where Hinata and Shino have made great strides. As much as I hate to say it, I don't want him holding my team back." She spoke, seeming to tread carefully with her words.

Naruto nodded then raised his hand, out of pure reflex from his days at the academy. "True, but then why didn't you let me just join right away? Why tell me that unless he himself quit you wouldn't let me in?"

"Because I had to see if you were strong enough. I had no intentions of letting my team go with you just because you needed a spot."

Feeling a little perturbed at her blatant calling out of his strength he puffed out his chest and banged on it once. "Hah! You don't need to worry 'bout me! I've been training really hard!" he replied, about to continue with that he was willing to accept any test she had when she interrupted him.

"I know that now, you passed my test with flying colors."

"Test? . . ." He spoke out slowly, clearly pronouncing the word. Then, his memory seemed to kick him as he recalled the first thing she said to him when he woke. "Wait. . . did you?"

Again she interrupted him this time a smile on her face. "Yes, a genjutsu the Yamanka were kind enough to teach me a while ago. It's one of the few techniques of their's that don't rely on their bloodline."

Feeling slightly creeped out, it fully dawned on him just what she'd done.

"It's hard to manipulate dreams as it is, for the human mind is extremely intricate and hard to predict, so I had to wait until you were completely exhausted in order for me to properly use the technique on you."

"So then, Hinata being kidnapped, that missing ninja I killed?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"All a dream of my orchestrating." She replied, keeping silent on her true thoughts of the matter. The missing ninja she'd 'created' was in essence her. She had been completely controlling the ninja and tried to simulate the abilities of a chunin level ninja. She was actually very impressed he'd been able to kill the chunin. She had planned for the fight to go on for some time before 'Shino' would of jumped in to help finish 'him' off, but the boy proved he could take care of himself. It had more than decided her on letting him take the exams with her team. She might even request his transfer to replace Jin, but doubted the Hokage would allow it.

"Then, that ninja I defeated? Was he made to be weaker than me or something?" he asked, starting to feel the elation of defeating the ninja slip away.

Knowing he was starting to kick himself, she quickly spoke up. "Make no mistake Naruto, that opponent was meant for you to not kill him. I clearly underestimated you and you won because of how much you've improved. I would of killed you had you given me the chance."

With a gulp, he eyed the genjutsu mistress warily, "W-what would of happened if you had?" he asked, almost not wanting to know the answer. Almost.

With an evil smirk she decided to mess with the teen. "Not too sure. Probably death."

Feeling a clear shiver erupt in his neck and slither down his spine he shook his head and just told himself he hadn't died and had won. "I-I see. . ."

"Anyways Naruto, meet Team Eight at training ground thirty seven in two days at eight AM."

Feeling a rush of excitement from getting to be on a team again, he nodded before a thought occurred to him. "Why two days from now? Doesn't your team normally train tomorrow?"

"Naruto," she sighed, wondering how he could forget, "Tomorrow's Founding Day remember?"

With a gasp, he wanted to jump for joy at being able to relive the festival twice, then reached over for his alarm clock and quickly set it for eight AM.

Overcome with curiosity, she raised her eyebrow at his antics. "Why are you setting your alarm clock so early? The festivities don't really start till ten at the first play."

Shooting a look at her that made her jump off his bed, he glared at her. "Last night in your dream I saw a prophetic vision! I don't know if you cooked that thing up for my own torture but I won't take any chances! That dango's mine!" he exclaimed before setting his alarm clock back down and laying back down.

Laughing to herself, she shook her head and mentally wished him good luck as she personally knew he'd need it. Deciding to take her leave, she put her hand in the seal for a Shushin, before Naruto's voice stopped her.

"Sensei?" he asked, his voice wavering as he hadn't called anyone that since Kenshin. "Thank you."

Kurenai smiled as she knew the simple thanks meant much more than that. "Just don't let me down Naruto." She replied before disappearing in a cloud and single leaf.

Grasping his blanket so tight he thought he might tear the fabric, he stared at his wall with such intensity it should of melted. I won't Kurenai-sensei. That's a promise of a lifetime!

Another Chapter down and we're starting to get to the parts I've been looking forward to writing! I hope everyone enjoyed this latest installment and I'll be keeping a stark vigil over my reviews. It's my crack, and I enjoy my addiction!

Oh, and to see if anyone's as much as nerd as me, I want to simply say that Naruto failed his Will save to resist Kurenai. Damn fighters, not having enough base save! Ten points to anyone who knows what the hell I'm talking about. Although I doubt many will. If you have no clue what I'm talking about then just shake your head and laugh at me. I would.

Shinobi no Ryu