Wooh! Thanks for the TREMENDOUS response! I'm back. Right, before we get on, couple questions to address.

1) Will Naruto keep Raijin?

A) Technically speaking, the sword doesn't exist in the Manga. But since it is the Nidaime Hokage's and therefore belonged to one of Naruto's distant relatives, then why not? And I know that it was Rokusho Aoi who had the sword...but since it's my story...let's just say that the traitor met with an unfortunate...accident courtesy of Orochimaru.

2) Will the Jonin senseis be overprotective?

A) These are Shinobi. Trained killers. But also, they have a softer side. I would imagine that they would like to be overprotective, but know where to draw the line.

3) What about your other stories?

A) Right now, I honestly can't bring myself to finish those. I want to focus on this one, and then I'll see about the rest. That being said, if any one would like to adopt the other three unfinished one's go right ahead. Just ask me first.

4) Will Shikaku be the first to know about their time traveling?

A) Read on and you will see...

5) Will you describing each match in detail? (Please don't)

A) Don't worry! I have no patience to do so, so I will give the most words to those matches that I think are the most important.

6) Can I get your name, address, and phone so I can kiss you and tell you how amazing of an author you are?

A)...No...But thanks...I think...

A couple of my more astute readers saw the mistake I made with the Heaven/Earth scrolls. Sorry! In my rush to publish the last chapter I overlooked it!

And, Kirigakure falls under the jurisdiction of the Mizukage. He/She is the leader of it. - To the reviewer who thought otherwise...

This is a looongg chapter...just to let you know. It's over 16,000 words...

Enough from me! Just enjoy the seventh installment of A Wrinkle in Time...


Recovery was not fun.

Recovery with your two best friends though, was amazing. After Shikamaru had the rest of the little remaining venom pumped out of him, and both he and Lee were cleaned up of their cuts and bruises, they joined Naruto in the hospital wing, (which he was still in despite his protests and already healed shoulder), and chatted about mundane things, or at least, they seemed like mundane things to the guard overseeing them.

Of course, after the inevitable questioning from the Jonins and Hokage, the official story was that the team of three were bringing Shikamaru back, and got slightly delayed due to enemy genin. As far as the other genin knew, besides Shikamaru, no other person had been injured.

Luckily, Team Eight, due to their superior tracking skills, had reached the tower much earlier than they had in the previous timeline, therefore none of them had to take part in this ordeal.

On the other hand, the three time travelers were subjected to an expected round of questions, that left their questioners with more questions about the three than answers.

Two Nights Earlier

"Uzumaki, we're going to elevate your arm and close the wound." One of the ANBU medics told him as two others contained his blood loss.

The boy sighed and nodded, not bothering to tell them that his wound was already healing, and the Kurama had lessened the pain by a significant degree.

A couple feet away, Lee and Shikamaru stood, worry evident in their faces.

Behind those two were the other Konoha Jonins as well as the Hokage. All of their minds were no doubt swirling with tumultuous thoughts, the main one being as to how Orochimaru was able to sneak into the Exams.

Naruto gritted his teeth when the medic placed his hand over the wound, infusing it with green chakra. This was the part that actually hurt the most. When the injury was finally bandaged, Naruto got up nonchalantly and made for the door, happy to get out of the sterile room.

"Not so fast, Naruto." Kakashi frowned, placing a restraining hand on his student's good shoulder. "I think we all want to know just what happened back there."

The boy sighed as he looked into his teacher's eyes. There was a look of resignation in his eyes, Kakashi noted, like he knew he wasn't going to escape but tried anyway. The cyclops hid a snort. He had been like that as well.

Three chairs were placed behind the genin, and they were compelled into taking a seat, not looking the slight bit fazed at being in front of ten Elite Jonins and the Hokage himself. If anything...they looked tired, but ready for this.

"You three..." The Hokage began softly, taking off his hat and smoothing his wrinkled forehead. It was always these three that gave him headaches in recent days. Naruto had been bad enough, but when you added the other two...

Lee couldn't help but feet a pang of compassion for the wizened man. No matter his faults in the past, he truly believed that he had done what was best for Naruto, and the village. This man had a huge burden on his shoulders, and they would try their hardest to prevent his death.

"Just what exactly happened?"

Shikamaru glanced at Naruto who just huffed out air from his nostrils but nodded ever so discretely.

"We had teamed up with Team Seven, as well as Gai-sensei's team because we figured that the more the merrier. Anyway, nothing out of the ordinary happened until this afternoon. We were ambushed by snakes, which Naruto determined were summons. The most famous snake summoner is Orochimaru, so logically, that's who was attacking us."

"Anko-san is also a snake summoner, but she obviously wouldn't attack us." Lee added, addressing the scantily dressed woman.

"Don't be so sure of that kiddo." She muttered under her breath, having still not forgotten how Naruto had embarrassed her. The feeling had reduced though, as she was sure these kids had stopped Orochimaru.

"Before that though," Naruto spoke for the first time. "We came across a massacre. There were three Oto genin all of them were drained of blood and just left there for the elements to take them."

He saw the Hokage exchange glances with the now visible Yamato-taichou a.k.a. the ANBU Tori. So they already knew about that...

"There was something else though." Naruto said suddenly. "The genin, they were killed by someone who had medical training."

"How can you be so sure?" Genma inquired, genuinely curious.

A shadow crossed Naruto's face.

Slashed wrists, slashed throat, and still smiling.

"Genma-senpai!" Naruto tried to stop the bleeding, but he knew it was too late.

"Genma-kun!" Shizune screamed, throwing herself over his dying body.

"S..s..sor...sorry, Shi-chan, I...co...couldn't..." He coughed blood up, using whatever strength he had left to speak.

With one final smile, Genma died, leaving behind a trail of agony...

Because that's how you were killed, Senpai. You died protecting Shizune nee-chan.

"When I was younger, I was in the hospital a lot. One of the doctors, Yakushi, or something like that, showed me how the way to both sever tenketsus, which incidentally, are located over arteries that, if cut, render a shinobi's ability to use chakra useless and deplete them of chakra very quickly so that they die in five minutes, give or take."

Naruto didn't know when he had become such a good liar, and he didn't like that he could manipulate people so well. True, he had been in the hospital multiple times as a child, but he had never met Kabuto's kin before. But, it wouldn't hurt to drop a few hints about Kabuto. His adoptive mother had actually been a Yakushi, so knowing the Hokage, he would have someone investigate the slightest detail, hence digging up Kabuto's name.

The silence in the room was chilling.

"And do you think," Kakashi asked his student, a serious look in his eye, "That it was Orochimaru who did this?"

The boy tensed, knowing that how he worded his answer was going to be very important. "We do not know. While it is entirely possible that Orochimaru could have killed those genin, it doesn't make sense as to why."

Of course, the Hokage didn't need to know that they already knew why Orochimaru killed his own people.

The use of we instead of I did not go unnoticed.

Sarutobi mentioned for them to go on.

"We, the nine of us, were cut down by a very powerful Wind Jutsu, a jutsu that none of us had the ability to do." Lee continued. "And then, without preamble, we were attacked by snake summons. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of them."

Gai didn't like the way his star pupil's eyes looked. They looked so weary, so...old...so un-youthful.

"We tried fighting them off, but it was futile. The more we "killed", the more of them popped up." Shikamaru nearly yawned, but stopped himself knowing that his hokage was watching him. "And then I was bitten."

"That's it?" Asuma asked incredulously, over reacting ever so slightly. "You were bitten! End of story?"

Hiruzen looked at his son with concern. Perhaps he was being unreasonable with his student, and judging by the scowl on said student's face, he thought so as well.

"No." Shikamaru said curtly. "That's not it. And the wound in Naruto's shoulder proves that the story had a different end."

The jonin in the room winced. The kid sounded almost exactly like his father when Shikaku was angry. They didn't have to raise their voices at all, but it was their tone that made the Naras so scary. It was that of a parent scolding their child...in a way that made you feel stupider than the village idiot...

"Shika couldn't stand." Lee stated. "The poison was spreading rapidly, and his leg was swelling as well."

"What happened next is something that all of you can infer." Naruto's sharp eyes pierced every one of the people in the room and rested on the Hokage. He twirled Raijin expertly, examining his ancestor's sword as he did so. "The others left because we told them to. Shikamaru is our responsibility, and we take care of our own." He sounded exactly like an ANBU leader at that moment which caused many in the room to start thinking that maybe these kids...no, that was impossible.

"But the other gen-"

"Wouldn't be able to deal with what we dealt with." Lee interrupted Aoba forcefully which caused Gai to stare at his student in confusion once again. He had never heard such a forceful and authoritative tone from his pupil before.

Feeling that all eyes were on him, the spandex clad man/boy sighed. He kept forgetting that he wasn't twenty-three anymore. He couldn't talk like a twenty-three year old. However, the damage was done. What he said couldn't be taken back.

Luckily, his Hokage came to his rescue.

"We are...different. We are stronger than those in our generation due to hard work. Some may call us...prodigies." Naruto paused and looked at his brothers in battle, and saw that they approved of his wording. Hiding their abilities, well, most of them, was pointless. A bitter laugh escaped Naruto, one that was filled with regret and what ifs, but the people of the present weren't aware of that.

"For years, people underestimated us. With Shikamaru, it was because he was plain lazy. With Lee, it was because he couldn't do ninjutsu or genjutsu." He took a deep breath, staring the current Hokage right in the eye. "And me? Well, you all know why."

The people in the room flinched.

"Before anyone says anything else, yes." Naruto gestured to the other two. "They know."

"I figured it out a long time ago." Shikamaru suppressed glaring at Sarutobi. Naruto had grown up this way because of him. Perhaps he was being too harsh on the old man, but the facts could not be disputed. "The glares, the name-calling, some of the senseis purposefully failing him. It all made sense once I learned his birth date. October 10th, the day the Kyuubi attacked." Indeed, in his timeline, Shikamaru had known about the Kyuubi after the Chunin exams, and that's when he had confronted his father who had told him the rest of the story. When Naruto finally told everyone about his burden, no one could look at their beloved village in the same way again.

Lee paused for a a few moments, wondering how he was going to word what he wanted to say.

"And when Naruto-kun told me, I blamed you, Hokage-sama." Lee murmured quietly, unapologetic in his statement. Naruto shot a surprised glance at his friend, wondering how he could have said that.

Silence.

Deafening silence.

The old man recoiled as if slapped, his old regrets coming to haunt him. In that moment, the Hokage looked his full age, down to the very last wrinkle. Mutterings from the Jonin were breaking out.

"Lee! You can't-" Gai started to berate his student though he truly didn't want to before his leader cut him off.

"No, Gai-kun. Lee is absolutely correct." He said softly much to everyone's surprise. "I...I have failed you, Naruto. In so many ways." He bowed his head at the child who should not have suffered like he did. No parents, no friends, no family. He had caused Naruto to grow up in isolation. He had told the village about the sealing. It was his fault.

Naruto could feel his heart in his throat right now. He sent a quelling look at Lee who didn't regret his words in the least.

"Stop it, Jiji." Naruto stood quickly and rushed to Sarutobi, tears threatening to spill over. "Stop it." When the Hokage's head lifted, he saw a sad smile on the face of his pseudo-grandson. "What's done, is done. I will agree that what Lee said has some merit to it, but I'm a ninja now, a shinobi of Konoha. Kyuubi or not, I'm here, and I'm going to stay dattebayo!"

A true smile spread over the blond's face. It felt good to say the childhood phrase he was so famous for.

"Naruto..."

"Like I said, what's done is done. However, what we do need to focus on is the present." Naruto turned and pointed at Shikamaru.

The Nara bowed deep, but at this point, the others weren't sure if was to Sarutobi, or Naruto. The type of loyalty these three showed to each other was like that of those who had suffered together, and knew each other better than they knew themselves.

"Like Naruto said, we are different. We are stronger than the others, and I have no qualms in saying this. Though we have hid this strength for some time now, we knew that if anyone faced Orochimaru, it would have to be us. I believe though, that the time has come to stop hiding." Most of our skills.

"Orochimaru left Konoha because he was found experimenting with human body parts." Nobody asked Lee where he had found this information. It wasn't common knowledge to genin, and Jonin archives were most definitely not available to the lowest rank of Shinobi. "We believe that he is after Sasuke-san."

"For his Sharingan." Naruto added, letting what they had just told everyone sink in.

"Kami!" Genma exclaimed. "He wants...wants to have the eyes that copy everything...and become..."

"The ultimate ninja." Kakashi finished grimly.

Naruto nodded, his expression pained. "Kakashi-sensei, you proved to the world that the Sharingan can be transplanted into a non-Uchiha. Think about it. With just one eye, you are one the most feared Shinobis out there. However, if Orochimaru gets both eyes...and if we add that into his already powerful repertoire...he believes that he can become invincible."

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt like he was a million years old. First, genin were berating him on how he treated Naruto, and now this. He had made many a mistake in his lifetime, but Orochimaru was probably the worst, after the Kyuubi incident. He had been too lenient on his favorite student, too trusting that banishment was the best thing for him, and not execution.

"Anyway," The blond continued airily as if the last ten minutes hadn't just happened. "I got stabbed with Raijin and Orochimaru let us off easily I suppose. He said that we were lucky that we didn't receive his mark." Naruto glanced at Anko, saddened by her stricken expression. He could remove that pesky mark if he wanted to...No. He should remove that mark from her. It was limiting her, both physically and mentally. The only bulwark in Naruto's way was approaching the woman and convincing her to let him touch her...

The room was silent, but everyone was looking at the three genin in a new light. These three weren't genin, that much was transparent. What they were saying, what they had done, pushing back Orochimaru like they did, (though no one knew how), they were as skilled as they said they were. If anything, these kids were at least Chunins.

"Hang on," Asuma began, looking at Shikamaru as he spoke. "How come Shikamaru was nearly healed when he came in? If that bite was as bad as you said it was, then why did the medics not take a longer look at him?"

When both Lee and Shikamaru sighed and pointed at the blond, he sheepishly grinned and pulled something out of his pack.

"Seals?" Genma looked at the piece of paper, not making heads or tails as to what it was.

"A chakra enhancing seal to be exact." Naruto corrected the jonin. "I store some of my own chakra in them, and whenever I need a boost, or any of us needs a boost, I use it. I gave one to Shikamaru and Lee before we fought Orochimaru."

"But that doesn't explain how he healed so quickly!" Asuma argued.

Naruto sighed and ripped off his bandage much to the ire of the medics. "Look." He pointed at his wound. "There's only congealed blood. No wound, right? Even though the doctors healed me, there should be at least a mark right?"

The others looked carefully at his shoulder. The boy was right!

It's like when he was wounded during the Wave mission. Kakashi mused. The Kyuubi heals him.

"The fox, whether he likes it or not, can't have his jailer getting hurt. Even if I don't use the Kyuubi's chakra, his presence in my body is enough to enhance all of my senses. This is why, for seals like these, the people who receive them, their bodies heal faster. My chakra can be both volatile, and soothing. Because of its potent nature, if someone who is comes in contact with it via this seal, their own healing process gets better. For an uninjured person, it'll raise their chakra levels by at least three percent. Trust me, Lee and Shika don't have the Kyuubi's chakra inside of them. I planned this thing out for ages before perfecting it, and even then these two are the only ones who have ever used them."

Still, the others looked skeptical and slightly alarmed that someone who's handwriting was atrocious, was designing seals that actually worked, written in perfect calligraphy.

Lee shook his head, knowing that a demonstration was in order.

Before anyone knew what he was doing, he grabbed a kunai and slashed his palm open not even blinking at the sting.

Ignoring the looks of shock, he gestured for Shikamaru to throw him a seal, which the Nara did. Placing it on his wounded palm, Lee had Naruto activate it.

The seal glowed blue, and everyone felt Naruto's chakra throughout the room, flowing into Lee's palm. Seconds later, Lee showed everyone his now, almost healed hand.

"That's how Shikamaru is fine, Asuma-sensei. Naruto-kun's got our backs."

Silence permeated the room. Questions were running through the Jonins' minds faster than the speed of lightning, but no one voiced any of them.

Lee twitched in his seat.

Naruto twiddled his thumbs.

Shikamaru stared at the ceiling.

"Naruto..." The Hokage's soft voice echoed through the room. "Is it okay if we examine this seal? If what you say is true, then we might be needing your help later on."

The blond just grinned at dumped about fifty of the seals into the elderly man's hands. "Knock yourself out Jiji! I have plenty more, plus the others that I made!"

"You have others?" Sarutobi asked. "Wait, don't answer that question. Of course you do. You are the number one, hyperactive, knuckleheaded, most unpredictable ninja after all."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto pouted at the man who smiled back. "You said you wouldn't tell him about that name!"

"And you said that you would stop hiding things from me." The cyclops retorted.

"I never said th-" Naruto watched his teacher poof away with round eyes. "Hey! Come back! Kakashi-sensei! KAKASHI-SEN-"

"Shut up, Ruto." Shikamaru placed a hand over his friend's mouth, grinning as he did so. "Kumo can hear you from here."

The Hokage chuckled at Naruto's antics. It was good to see the boy without his cheerful mask on, but it was even better to see the boy being cheerful without his mask. He watched as Lee ruffled the younger boy's hair, and how Naruto called him "Bushy Brows", and how Shikamaru just sighed in his chair muttering an audible troublesome only to have Naruto bop him over the head for using that word.

"Alright then." Sarutobi clapped his hands together. "Today was...informative to say the least." The boys snapped to attention. "We will take into account everything that you have just said, and execute a plan to apprehend the traitor." The man beckoned Tori over as well. "And have your team investigate wayward medics. Start with Yakushi." He muttered in an undertone, not knowing that Naruto could hear him.

As the Hokage and his subordinates turned to leave, Naruto called, "Oi! What about this sword?"

The old man looked back, a soft smile on his face as he saw his favorite genin wielding...or rather, waving around his sensei's sword. Sarutobi said nothing until he reached the door. "Keep it."

Naruto sputtered, looking at the magnificent sword like it was a hot poker. "But..."

"Now now, Naruto." Sarutobi chided him gently. "I said, keep it. After all, it is yours by right of conquest...in a way."

He left the room before Naruto could contest the issue, finally feeling a semblance of peace running through him. "It's yours by birth Naruto. Use it well."

The Hokage didn't know, or rather, couldn't care less that the Jonin behind him minus Kakashi were finally understanding what his final statement meant.

"The blond hair!"

"Senju?"

"The blue eyes!"

"Namikaze!"

"Well damn..."

"The freakin' dattebayos!"

"Uzumaki!"

"The TOAD comment!"

"His last name!"

"I already said his last name idiot..."

"His birthday!"

"The sword!"

They turned to Kakashi who popped back in, and was astutely ignoring them, which only proved their theory correct.

"How did we not make the connection?"

Back in the room, Naruto smirked as he sealed his new sword in a scroll. Throughout all the confusion and excitement, they had forgotten to ask a very important question.

Why are toads better than snakes?


That was two days ago however.

The three of them didn't care about what they had revealed to the elite ninjas. They knew that what they had revealed would be better for Konoha in the long run. If they raised suspicion, then so be it. Plus, some recognition early on would help Naruto regain his reputation and status as a hero earlier. It felt good to finally let go of the tension that they had been feeling. Hopefully, with this new information, the invasion wouldn't result in as many losses as last time, the main one being the Hokage.

As of yesterday, Naruto was officially discharged from his pris-room. Thankful to be moving again, the three genin met up with the six who they had made to flee. All of them were worried that they hadn't seen their friends/acquaintances/rivals for a long time, but after hearing the cover story that the Hokage had given, they were appeased for the time being.

The preliminaries were set to start tomorrow, as that was when the five days would be up. It really sucked to be the teams coming in tomorrow and then learning that you had to fight right after.

Obviously, Gaara's team was first. Of course, with a motto of kill thy enemy, it was hard not to be first

At the current moment, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Lee were lounging about lazily in the area designated for the remaining Konoha nin. Though their postures were casual, their eyes were taking in the twelve genin besides themselves carefully, especially keeping an eye out on Kabuto. His teammates were irrelevant.

The silver haired "genin" was talking with his teammates, people who died in the war no doubt, casually laughing at something one of the others had said. However, no one saw how the laughs or smiles didn't reach his eyes, or how Kabuto would sneak glances at Shika, Lee, and Naruto every so often.

Kabuto believed that they hadn't been able to see his face when he had appeared during the fight with Orochimaru, it had been hooded after all. Normally, he would be right, but obviously the three time travelers knew who the traitor was. He probably wished to eliminate them as soon as he could, but was holding off for his master's orders.

"He's looking at us again." Lee muttered, popping a grape into his mouth.

"Pedophile." Shikamaru grunted, resisting the urge to flick a kunai at the man's jugular so that Kabuto would end once and for all.

"Maa, maa." Naruto gazed at the ceiling, before lowering his gaze to his best friends. "Don't worry, we'll kill him." He said this as casually as if he was describing the weather.

Though nonchalant about the subject now, Naruto had been scared and disgusted about killing at first. However, training with Jiraiya had forced him to turn into a boy from a man. Though Naruto never revealed when he had his first kill, and was content to let people think it was during the war, it had been during a raid near Kirigakure when he was fourteen that Naruto had stabbed a man - a rapist, in the gut, severing a couple arteries, and leaving him there to die.

Afterwards, he had felt so sick in what he had done, that he had thrown up which had caused Jiraiya to comfort his Godson and explain to him why a shinobi killed. Of course, Naruto had then vowed to never kill a soul again which the war had negated.

Naruto didn't like killing, but Kabuto was a different story. That man was responsible for so much pain, so much suffering...it would be a sin not to kill him.

"What about Sasuke?" Lee asked in a low voice. The Uchiha was sitting in a corner, turning his Sharingan on and off, no doubt trying to gauge how much chakra he was draining. Avenger though he may be, the boy also had an exceptionally sharp mind.

Shikamaru sat up a bit straighter. "We prevented him from being bitten, and that has changed the game quite a bit. Without the seal, he's free of Orochimaru's influence."

"But for how long?" Naruto muttered darkly. "Sasuke is drawn to power just how a moth is attracted to a flame. The second Orochimaru approaches him, and we know he will, he'll take any chance he gets."

The other two regarded Naruto silently.

"Do we let him go?" Shikamaru asked, his voice devoid of emotion. "Or do we force him to stay."

This time, Naruto kept his mouth shut. The answer to that question had so many different layers to it. Sasuke's behavior was predictable, but at the same time, because they had changed the future so much, he could take another path.

Shikamaru and Lee interpreted Naruto's silence correctly and dropped the issue. They would deal with Sasuke when the proper time arose.

"And Hayate-san?" Lee piped up, remembering that the man would be proctoring their exams tomorrow. "Tomorrow, the prelims will be over. After that, we have to keep a close eye on him."

Naruto nodded, closing his eyes and tapping his fingertips together. "What happens tomorrow will define our actions for at least the next month. Hopefully, we will get our old opponents. Shikamaru gets Kin, I get Kiba, and Lee, you get Gaara." His face turned into a grimace as he turned to his second in command. "Just make sure that Gaara doesn't crush your arms and legs please. I really don't want to lose you when we've just been given a second chance."

Lee's eyes softened, and he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulders. "Believe me Hokage-sama. Tomorrow is not going to be the Preliminary exam that we remembered. We will make it our own, and I'm sure, that it will go down in the books as one of the most historical events for the generations of the future!"

Shikamaru placed two fingers on his temple and sighed. "Lee, that's what we don't want. We've gotten too much notice, maybe a little less attention would be nice."

Unfortunately, all three knew that Shikamaru's last statement was already thrown out the window. Whether they liked it or not, the three of them, especially Naruto would be scrutinized very carefully tomorrow.

And unfortunately, Lee would be correct.


The new dawn was highlighted by a brilliant sunrise. Streaks of red and gold filtered in through the windows highlighted three empty beds.

While the other genin were fast asleep, as the Prelims didn't begin until nine that morning, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Lee were currently in the rec room with a couple other teams. Though it was only five thirty in the morning, a shinobi learned how to wake up on a seconds notice, hence they were very light sleepers. The war had all but eliminated sleep for everyone, and old habits died hard.

But in a time of relative peace, all the villages, especially Konoha had given their genin a bit more of a relaxed life than the previous generation. This was actually making the new generation less prepared for war if it broke out. Even the older shinobi were out of practice ever so slightly. This is why the Invasion was so devastating, and why Pein could attack much easier. After that, every nation was in a state of war.

Shikamaru nodded respectfully to a Mizu nin before taking a seat next to his best friends.

"I don't like this." The Nara commented suddenly.

Lee just sighed and shook his head. "We knew this day would come, but to actually be here, to have changed so much already, it is..."

"Frightening." Naruto finished, taking a bite out of his rice ball.

It was at that moment that Gaara's team walked in and a solemn silence descended over the genin. Sand was trickling out of Gaara's gourd. Teal eyes locked with Naruto's own just for a split second, a sneer forming on Gaara's face. Naruto simply ignored the younger version of his "sibling" and nodded at him which probably confused Gaara.

Naruto felt his stomach warming up and knew that Kurama was acknowledging Shukaku. Idi...

"Ruto?" Shikamaru asked, concerned about the expression on the blond's face, tearing his eyes away from Temari.

"It's nothing Shika." Naruto frowned, certain that he had heard Kurama say something. "Furry here is not too pleased that his youngest sibling is present."

"Ahh."

"Has he woken?" Lee inquired. "Kyu...Kurama?"

Naruto felt the seal warm once again and chuckled. "Not quite. But I think he might be happy...or something like that, because you called him by his name."

"For so long we believed that the tailed beasts are masses of volatile chakra." Shikamaru muttered.

"Which they are." Naruto affirmed, remembering how corrosive Kurama's chakra was before he had learned to purify it.

"But you and Bee-san proved otherwise." The Nara continued. "They are forces of good, if the Jinchuuriki wills them to be so."

"It's not so easy, or that black and white though." Naruto remembered all the battles he had with the kitsune. From wanting to take over his body, to trying to kill him, to Naruto defeating him, to using his chakra..."It's a struggle. But once you have something like this on your side..." He scowled slightly.

The other two nodded, understanding what Naruto was trying to say. This was why Madara and Obito were unstoppable. After Bee had died, Naruto was the only one left, the only one of his "siblings" to survive. Madara and Obito had eight tailed beasts on their side.

"Can we save the others?" Lee spoke, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Akatsuki is in the building block stage at the moment. If we can save even one more Jinchuuriki, then we would have an advantage.

Naruto contemplated what his friend had just said. Could they? Gaara was a sure shot, they had to save him and Shukaku. Utakata-san? He hadn't passed until after Naruto had come back from his training trip, so they had a little bit of time. Yugito-san was also another possiblity. She was pretty close to Bee, from what he had heard. Roshi had also been killed by Akatsuki, and in all honesty, Naruto did want to save the man. Though he hailed from Iwa, he was a good guy, and Son Goku was pretty damn amazing.

Yagura was being controlled by Madara at this time, and so was Isobi. He didn't know if the Reign of Terror in Kiri was over, but judging by the genin in the exams, it might have been. This meant that Yagura was already gone. Han...had seemed likable. The giant man was a pretty chill person, if you discounted the fact that he supposedly hated humanity. Fu was about his and Gaara's age, and he wanted save her and bring her back from that detestable village of hers. Takigakure, if he remembered correctly.

"All of them were killed by Akatsuki, except for Bee and obviously me. Akatsuki doesn't have the momentum that it would have in the coming years. I think that it's possible to bring a couple more, especially Utakata-san, Fu, and Yugito-san to our side. The Yondaime Mizukage is...useless for lack of a better word, and the others, besides Bee and Gaara are from Iwa." Naruto stroked his chin, tempted to ask the Mizu nin who their Mizukage was at the current time.

"Iwa huh?" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. "But they must hate Iwa...and Konoha. There's our problem."

"One of them hates humanity in general." Naruto deadpanned.

"Oh."

It was at that moment that more and more genin started coming into the room. They must have been talking for longer than they realized, because the sun had risen higher in the sky.

And before they knew it, the remaining teams, including a team from Mizu which had staggered in at the last possible second, were being ushered into the arena where the senseis and Hokage were present.

The Konoha Jonins were not at all surprised to see their three most intriguing genins coming in together. What they were surprised to see though, was the downright sinister looks on their faces as they took in their potential opponents.

"Why do I feel as though today is a day we'll never forget?" Kurenai asked, shivering slightly.

No one bothered to answer her, as they all shared her sentiments.


Sarutobi glanced at the thirty or so genin that remained. Nearly half the teams had been eliminated, reducing the number of competitors significantly. He waited for all of them to quiet down before speaking.

"Congratulations on passing the second stage of the exam." Some of the genin flinched as his eyes passed over them. "However, your real test begins here. No longer are you within your teams. Now, this is an individual test. You will be forced to fight with other genin, as well as genin from your own village."

"From our own village?" A Suna nin asked, shooting Gaara a furtive look.

Hiruzen followed the genin's gaze to the bloodthirsty Jinchuuriki and resisted the urge to flinch. He reminded himself to thank Iruka for showing Naruto the power of love. Otherwise, his favorite genin could have turned out like the red head. "Yes. And the other villages as well. Does anyone know why?" He eyed Naruto as he said this, happy that the boy just smiled at him and tapped his nose knowingly.

"It's an excuse for war." Surprisingly, it was the quiet Shino who said this.

The Hokage nodded at the Aburame. "Exactly. We are in times of Peace as of now. Konoha has treaties with each of your villages. Thanks to the efforts of the new government in Kiri, and the diplomatic efforts of the future Mizukage , the relationship between our two villages has improved drastically." He gestured to the Mizu genin and Jonin.

The trio looked at each other in surprise. The future Mizukage? Mei-san? She hadn't been at the previous exam, and it wasn't exactly clear when she had become Mizukage. True, none of the other major Villages had been there last time. It was really only Konoha and Kusa, a.k.a. Oto. It was entirely possible that Yagura's regime had been overthrown earlier than they had thought.

Sarutobi clapped his hands together. "Now then! Every genin is to go their Village's designated area with their Jonin instructor. Disperse!"

Kakashi wasted no time in placing and arm under Naruto's armpits and nearly dragging him to where Sasuke and Sakura were.

He's grown. The Jonin thought. Over the last few months of being his teacher, the blond had grown in height and skill. Or just height really, because the skill had been there for a long time.

"I could walk you know." He grumbled, ignoring the snickers from Lee and Shikamaru coming from a few feet away.

"Yes, but we don't want you running away!" Kakashi grinned under his mask, trying to rile the boy up. A scowl was all he got from Naruto, but that would have to do.

"In all seriousness though." The Jonin glanced at each of his students. "Good luck, because Hokage-sama was correct when he said that the villages would be pitted against their own. If one of you fights any of them," He gestured to the other Konoha genin, "Try your best to win. This is no longer about the team, it's every man for themselves. And if you fight someone from our team, then just know that I'll be rooting for neither of you!"

The way Kakashi said that made the three rewind those words in their heads to comprehend his statement. "Got it?"

"Hai Sensei!" Three voices chorused, though Sasuke's was very quiet.

Kakashi smiled again and turned back to the arena. "Well, don't die!"

"Don't Sakura." Naruto spoke before the confused girl could question their Sensei. "It's his way of letting us know that he cares." He kicked the older man in the shin...just because he could.

Down in the arena, Gekko Hayate coughed slightly and spoke in a raspy voice. "I'm this part of the exam's proctor. My name is Gekko Hayate. If I decide that one of the competitors is a clear winner, I will stop the match." He looked around, noticing that everyone was silent. "If there are no questions-"

"Wait sir!" Kabuto's voice echoed through the arena. "I..." He looked around, pretending to be sheepish or scared. "I wish to forfeit."

Sarutobi watched as Naruto, Shikamaru, and Lee all narrowed their eyes at the genin, not looking the least bit surprised.

"What's your name?" He asked, ready to check him off the roster.

Kabuto looked at the Hokage, hiding a smirk. "Kabuto Hokage-sama, Yakushi Kabuto."

At the name, the Konoha Jonins snapped to alert, their eyes moving from Naruto to the older teen, trying to see if the blond recognized him at all.

By the way Naruto was reacting, the older genin was a person of interest. Yakushi. Yes, Sarutobi did recognize that name. His mother...adoptive mother...had been killed, and he was left alone, mostly volunteering in the Hospital. Naruto had said that the Oto-genin were killed by scalpels. Perhaps this boy...

Would Orochimaru really recruit a Konoha nin?

The boy probably hadn't been loyal to Konoha for a long time now...

"Alright Kabuto-kun." He snapped his fingers and Genma appeared by his side instantly. "This Jonin will escort you out."

Kabuto looked at Genma in what appeared to be a grateful way, not knowing that from now until the final exams, his movements would be monitored via ANBU 24/7.

Hayate looked at the first two names, showing no emotion whatsoever. "First match: Akado Yoroi vs. Uchiha Sasuke!"

"Good luck Sasuke-kun!" Ino and Sakura said at the time which caused both of them to glare at each other. Kakashi gave the boy a pat on the shoulder while Naruto nodded at him, showing his sportsmanship.

Said boy didn't look nervous in the least. Instead, he had a glint in his eyes, one that promised pain on the other genin on Kabuto's team.

Once both were in the arena, Hayate raised his hand and yelled, "BEGIN!"

With no Curse Seal hindering him, Sasuke was stronger than he was in the previous timeline's Preliminaries.

It was a battle of nerves at first, with no one making the first. However, Akado attacked first, unaware that Sasuke had his Sharingan out.

Sasuke was behind Akado in a second, intending to hit the boy's spinal nerve which would knock him out and/or paralyze him for a short amount of time. What the Uchiha didn't know was that the other genin used a special jutsu: The Chakra Absorption Jutsu.

When Sasuke was about to snap his arm out, Akado turned and placed a hand on Sasuke's leg, sucking his chakra out.

A collective wince was heard when Sasuke dropped to the ground from midair, desperately trying to keep his chakra levels to a decent amount.

Kneeling, Sasuke looked around, seeing what could help him out here. He would not lose to this pathetic boy. He COULD NOT lose to this pathetic boy. This kid's attacks were only lethal if he came in direct contact with his arms. So he would have to immobilize them.

Moving at speeds faster than many could see and mindful of his slightly depleted chakra levels, Sasuke once again moved away from the boy, this time running around him, creating a circle around the genin. He looked like a blur, but his Sharingan was analyzing every move the boy made.

When Akado looked slightly dizzy, Sasuke took the opportunity to strike. All it took was one well placed kick to the head, and his opponent was on the ground.

"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke." Hayate announced in a rather tired voice.

The Uchiha came back to where his team was, astutely ignoring Sakura's gushing. He looked slightly smug, if not a tiny bit tired.

"Good job." Naruto said to him, being as civil as possible.

"Hn." Was the boy's response. And people wonder why Naruto doesn't want to spend the effort to save him...

"Nice Sasuke! You're through to the Finals." Kakashi told his student. The boy just grunted, but had a slightly pleased look on his face and went to ignoring the girl trying to get his attention.

"Next match: Abumi Zaku vs. Aburame Shino!"


Shino was talented, Naruto had to admit as his comrade came back victorious to a loud slap on the back from Kiba and a polite Good job Shino-kun from Hinata. He had used his bugs to shut the one-armed genin up and block the implanted tubes in his arm. It was a tactic worthy from a Nara. The Aburame Clan was often judged for their...creepiness for lack of a better word, but Naruto knew that underneath that stoic exterior, there lay a warrior, a brave warrior who had laid down his life whilst protecting his Sensei's child.

Kankuro's match against Misumi Tsurgi played out as it did last time. The puppet wielder used Crow, his prized puppet, to crush the other boy's bones, thus rendering him incapable of fighting.

The fourth match was...

Ino vs. Sakura.

Enough said.

No, but really. The match ended in a draw just as it had last time. However, when Sakura cut her hair off, Naruto was reminded of the future Sakura. It was the glint in her eyes, the don't mess with me look that Naruto had admired about her when he was over his crush. The Sakura of the future was someone who would be respected, someone who could take the mantle of the new Slug Sennin, and carry it with honor.

There were more matches, with Mizu and Suna versing each other. Luckily, nearly all the matches in a draw therefore they were irrelevant.

"Next match: Tenten vs. Temari!"

A couple feet away from him, Naruto smirked as he saw both Lee and Shikamaru watching the match intently. Lee was simply supporting his teammate, while Shikamaru simply wanted to watch his wife without her knowing...

When Tenten lost rather quickly, Shikamaru had a smirk of triumph on his face before he turned to Lee and apologized. Lee, being the kindhearted soul that he was just waved off the apology and whispered something into Shikamaru's ear and gave Naruto a thumbs up. The Nara was blushing ever so slightly, which made Naruto very curious as to what Lee had just said.

"Next Match: Tsuchi Kin vs. Nara Shikamaru!"

As soon as the match was announced, Naruto went over to Lee's side to watch the match carefully. While he had no doubt that Shikamaru would win, it would be interesting to see his best friend working solo.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru sighed as he entered the fighting area. One look up told him that the Konoha Jonin and Hokage were watching him very closely. "Great. Just great."

"So we meet again, Nara." Kin snarled, brandishing her senbon in front of her.

"Yeah yeah." Shikamaru muttered before promptly sitting down much to the ire of his opponent, the surprise of all the others, and the sheer amusement of his best friends.

"What is that baka doing?" Ino asked, outraged at her teammate's actions.

"He's thinking." Naruto said from her left. "See how he put his index and middle finger on the bridge of his nose. That baka, is formulating a plan. You should know this Ino, you've known each other for all of your lives. Shikamaru is the most brilliant mind in our generation of course despite his exterior."

The blonde girl was rather taken aback by Naruto's comment, but at second glance, it seemed that he was right.

"Fight me you idiot!" Kin roared, sending a senbon Shikamaru's way. His eyes snapped open, and immediately, the senbon stopped halfway towards him. But in that senbon's shadow, there lay another, and Shikamaru was forced to drop his Clan's technique in order to dodge the needle.

"That's better." The girl snarled, coming at Shikamaru again.

"He's being lazy." Lee snorted, pointing out the way that Shikamaru was dodging Kin's attacks at the last second possible.

"He's being troublesome." Naruto corrected, sighing when Shikamaru gave both of them a smirk in midair.

She's getting frustrated. Shikamaru thought when Kin started sending out more and more weapons at him, ones that had a much larger shadow than a small senbon. Perfect.

"What's wrong shadow boy?" Kin taunted. "Getting tired?" She was right above him, aiming to bash his head in. And that was right where Shikamaru wanted her.

"Nope. I'm just lazy." Shikamaru responded, affirming Lee's observation. "Kage Mane Jutsu*." Shikamaru's shadow extended in midair, bouncing off the walls, and trapped Kin right where she was.

With a grunt, Shikamaru brought her to the ground, making sure that his jutsu had remained in place. Bringing a shuriken out of his pack, thus making Kin do the same as well, he threw it at her, dropping the jutsu just as the projectile hurtled towards him, allowing him to dodge.

Kin was not so lucky, and was conked in the side of the head by the shuriken causing her to fall unconscious to the ground.

Shikamaru took one look at her and pawed the ground with his sandal before sighing and walking out of the arena before even hearing the results.

"Winner, Nara Shikamaru." Hayate announced unnecessarily, inwardly laughing at the Nara boy's wit, tactical skill, and sheer, as he called it, laziness.


"I can't believe that under that exterior, there lies a genius." Tenten muttered as Shikamaru came back to stand with the others. There wasn't even a scratch on him.

"You sure took your time." Naruto cuffed the Nara on the back. The others looked at them in confusion.

"Shikmaru-kun could have ended the match at the start with a well timed lightning jutsu, but he was just being..." Lee was cut off by a glare thrown his way by Shikamaru.

"I can't believe you had the balls to sit down!" Kiba rumbled with laughter. "I thought that you were gone after that little stunt." The Inuzuka puffed his chest out. "I'll do much better than you did, Nara!"

"Next match: Inuzuka Kiba vs. Uzumaki Naruto!"

Kiba slapped his knee. "See, I'll prove it you right now!"

The Konoha Jonins in the room however, were sure that Kiba was going to be the loser.

Meanwhile, a certain Mizu Jonin's eyes widened at the last name of one of the competitors. Ao was an accomplished shinobi who was feared world wide, but he was no match for Mei-sama's demands that he become a Jonin instructor. Grudgingly, very grudgingly, the man who had bested a Hyuuga and survived multiple confrontations with Uchiha Shisui had taken on a team of three brats. He was left with all three of them, though he had thoroughly hoped for none of them so that he could go home. None of his students had won though. However, he was sure that Mei-sama would come to Konoha anyway to show her loyalty, as well as see a possible family member.

As he watched the blond boy bearing the Uzumaki name walk to the arena, he tried to connect him to the legendary clan that his leader belonged to. The Uzumaki had dispersed through the five nations after Uzu no Kuni had been destroyed. Many Kiri and Ame ninja were members of that clan. He himself was related to them through his grandmother.

Could this...orange wearing genin possibly be related to them? But why was he blond? Unless...Ao's one eye widened as he took in the similarities between this boy and another famous blond that this village had produced. It was possible, almost entirely too possible. That would mean though, that this boy's mother...

Kushina!

Ao tried to stop his racing heart. Of course. Kushina had been the Princess of Whirlpool, direct cousin to Senju Tsunade through Tsunade's grandmother, and Kushina's great-aunt: Uzumaki Mito. She and her family were given asylum by the Sandaime because of their relation to the Shodai Hokage. If this boy was her son...his son, then this match would be reported back to Mei-sama.

This boy...he was the Prince of Whirlpool...and one half of the remaining Senjus...

Konoha you sneaky bastards...keeping a gem like him hidden in plain sight.


After saying a soft thank you to Hinata's equally soft good luck, Naruto-kun, he meandered his way down, ignoring Kiba's shouts for him to move quicker. In truth, Naruto wanted to end this as quickly as possible because Gaara was getting rather careless with his sand. He could see the bloodlust in his future friend's eyes. If this match didn't end quickly, then Lee was going to be in big trouble, assuming of course, that Lee would be fighting Gaara.

"Ready, dog-boy?" Naruto called out lazily, spinning a kunai in one hand. The Inuzuka Clan was hot-headed, impulsive, and reckless. He would use those psychological tactics to bring Kiba down...without farting on him.

"Are you?" Kiba challenged while Akamaru yipped at his side.

Naruto resisted the urge to yawn and decided to stretch instead, looking very much like Shikamaru as he did. The manic twinkle in his eye though, resembled Lee to the nth degree. He crooked one finger at Kiba saying, "Bring it."

As expected, Kiba attacked head on, going for the brutish approach rather than a more subtle attack. Naruto easily sidestepped the genin, swerving his foot at the right time so that Kiba tripped and fell face first onto the hard ground.

Snickers were heard all around the stadium as Kiba picked himself up, growling at Naruto who was looking at the boy calmly.

"Akamaru! Let's show this dead-last what we can do!" The small dog barked in agreement and took his normal stance on top of Kiba's head.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. He knew what was coming next and prepared himself for it.

"Giju Ninpo: Juujin Bunshin!*" Akamaru transformed into another Kiba, making it impossible for a normal person to distinguish between the two. Unfortunately for Kiba, Naruto was not normal.

This transformation could be broken when the animal was identified and incapacitated. As one of the Kibas came at him, Naruto took a chance to smell him. Nope, that was definitely a human.

So that meant that the one coming at him from his right was Akamaru. He reached into his pack and pulled out a seal. Naruto had no wish to exert any energy whatsoever, but he did want to show the Hokage and the other Jonins his skills. Sealing would be the way to do so. This particular seal was meant to trap small animals in a cage, and was used primarily for hunting.

He positioned the seal in a place where he knew Akamaru would attack him: his arm. Naruto had purposely made himself vulnerable there.

True to his plan, Akamaru grabbed him on his right arm. Naruto smirked, and put one hand in a ram seal shouting "Fujin!"

Kiba, the real one, stopped in his tracks when the supposed dead last was engulfed in a puff of smoke, revealing his precious dog in a cage with Naruto grinning stupidly at him.

"Give up, Kiba." Naruto drawled, putting the cage on the ground. "Akamaru is trapped, your jutsu has been canceled."

The Inuzuka bared his fangs at Naruto, shaking his head violently. "Let Akamaru go!"

Up in the stands, Kurenai palmed her face. Naruto had barely lifted a finger, and he already had his opponent cornered in less than five minutes.

"Come and get him." Naruto smiled politely, walking to the side whilst discretely creating a shadow clone.

Kiba charged at the cage, intending to get his precious companion out of that iron prison. What he didn't see was Naruto placing his hands in a monkey seal, which released a second seal that was on the bottom of the cage. The second Kiba touched it, three hundred volts of electricity coursed through the poor boy's body, throwing him across the floor.

One of Naruto's shadow clones placed a foot on Kiba's throat. "Do you yield?"

"Y...yes!" Kiba choked out, struggling to get up. "Please, is Akamaru okay?"

Hayate came over, hearing that the Inuzuka had yielded. Uzumaki's clone just smiled at him and lifted the pressure off of the boy's throat.

The real Naruto helped his comrade to his feet and gave the pup to him. "He's fine." Naruto petted the white dog's head. "See. I would never hurt your companion."

Kiba looked at Naruto who didn't even have dirt on him, with something akin to respect. Not many understood the relationship between the Inuzuka's ninken and the clan members. The dogs were not pets, they were, as Naruto had said, their companions. He held out his hand, excepting his swift defeat. He had lost, but he had lost to someone who he had underestimated grossly. It was his own fault.

Naruto took the other boy's hand and shook it, slightly surprised at the gesture. Akamaru also nipped Naruto's fingers gently, congratulating him in a way.

"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" Hayate announced, smirking at the camaraderie shown.

"Next time Naruto, I won't underestimate you." Kiba promised, bumping fists with the blond.

"And I'll kick it up a notch." Naruto replied, taking his place besides Shikamaru again.

"What?" Shikamaru nudged the blond in the ribs. "No flashy jutsus? No declaring that you would beat Kiba and become Hokage?"

"Nah." Naruto snorted. "I figured I would keep it simple this time."

"That was very boring, Naruto-kun." Lee admitted with a teasing grin. "I felt like yawning."

"Oh shut up." He scowled at the pressure in his stomach. Turning, he saw that Gaara was staring at him with a positively lethal expression. "I have a bad feeling that we're going to have to save the pomp and show for a bit later."


Ao was even more convinced that the blond was their son. The sealing that he had used, while simple, was something that not many decided to use. Sealing was part of the Uzumaki legacy. Yes, it seemed as though Mei-sama had found a wayward cousin in Konoha...and so had he.

A blond Uzumaki who was the son of the Yellow Flash and The Princess of Whirlpool a.k.a. the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero.

The boy would certainly be full of surprises.


"Well that was...anticlimactic." Kurenai looked at Naruto, and how he was joking around with both Kiba and Kakashi. "I expected something more from both of them."

"Naruto-kun's goal was to trap Akamaru because he knew that the Inuzuka value their ninken above everything else." Gai said slowly. "It was a well executed strategy, one that was quick, bloodless, and effective."

"Next match! Hyuuga Hinata vs. Hyuuga Neji!"

Both Kurenai and Gai looked startled. They knew about the hate that Neji had for the main branch.

Indeed, Hinata looked pale, but determined.

"Kurenai-san." Gai started solemnly. "I will not let anything bad happen to Hinata-san. You have my word."

The red eyed woman nodded, still scared about what may happen to her favorite student.


Hinata was shaking. Her cousin was looking at her as if she was the scum below his feet.I can do this. Just breathe. Be calm. He's family. He won't hurt me. Though she was telling herself this, she didn't believe a word of it. She knew what her Clan thought of her, how she was weak, how if she didn't become stronger, then Hanabi would become Clan Head. All she wanted was her father's approval, her family's love.

"Hinata."

The Hyuuga eeped, and turned around, staring right into the crystal clear eyes of her long time crush.

Naruto could see how scared the girl was, and he wanted to help her, instill some confidence into her just as he had done last time.

"Hinata-chan." Naruto said again, adding his customary suffix to her name, having a small amount of pride in seeing her blush. "Ganbatte! I know that you will give it your all. Even if your cousin proves to be too much, we all," He jerked his thumb to point at Shikamaru and Lee who waved at the girl, "Will all support you."

She blushed even more deeply, nodding at Naruto's statement. It had worked though. She felt confident even though she knew that she was outmatched by Neji.

Once Hinata was on the floor, Kakashi came up behind his student and ruffled his hair. "A Hyuuga eh, Naruto?" Kakashi smirked slyly. "Nice."

The poor boy just ignored his sensei, but his sensei could not ignore the tinge of red on the poor boy's cheeks.

Your Godfather will be proud kiddo.


Neji regarded the girl, his blood, this pathetic child. While he held some respect for Uzumaki, he couldn't stand Hinata. She was weak, timid, not worthy of the Main Branch. The time had come to teach her a lesson, to show her who is the true Hyuuga.

Even when the proctor told them to begin, neither moved, each waiting for the other to attack first. Hinata had her hands in the classic Gentle Fist opening stance, but Neji decided to keep his hands at his side, itching to move straight to the Kaiten.

The older boy sneered. "What will your father think, Hinata-sama, when he finds out that his eldest daughter, heir to the Clan, lost to a branch member?"

Hinata trembled, knowing that her father was going to be beyond furious, even if she did lose to the genius of the Hyuuga Clan, the prodigy, his nephew. However, she wouldn't rise to the bait, not when Naruto-kun and her team was watching her. She would be strong.

"En...Enough talking, N...Neji nii-san. Let us fig...fight."

That just made Neji scoff in disdain. "How disgraceful that a future Clan Head stutters. Hanabi is more suited for the position then you ever will be."

That struck Hinata hard. She knew what her Clan thought of her, they believed she was a failure. But Hanabi? Hanabi was truly gifted.

"What? Don't want to talk? Fine! Let me show you just how weak you are!"

"Byakugan!" Two simultaneous cries were heard.

It was Hinata who moved first though, attacking Neji from his right side, blue chakra glowing from her hands. Neji was faster, and able to block Hinata's attack.

"What are they doing?" Sakura asked, watching in awe as her shy classmate unleashed strike after strike on her cousin who was retaliating just as fast.

"It's called the Juuken or Gentle Fist." Kakashi spoke from behind them. "It's a Hyuuga taijutsu that is used in conjunction with their bloodline which targets the tenketsus, the chakra points of a person. Anyone can learn the Gentle Fist, but it's at its most effective with the Byakugan because they can see the tenketsu points."

"It's a dojutsu," Kiba spoke, wincing as one of Neji's blows landed on Hinata, propelling her backwards. "More lethal than the Sharingan." He shot an arrogant smirk at the Uchiha who bristled.

Hinata and Neji whirled around each other, dancing, parrying, thrusting. If Neji didn't have the intent to kill her, Naruto could say that this was a fantastic display of skill. However the scowl on the boy's face, his stance, and how he was aiming at the fatal tenketsu points, it all showed that Neji wanted nothing more than to kill her.

Hinata was losing chakra, and she knew it. She too had gotten some good hits in, but Neji outclassed her. He had hit a tenketsu point by the femoral artery in her leg, and a couple others by her thorasic and superior vena cava. All of these were deadly hits. All it would take was one or two more strategically placed hits from Neji to her arms by her lymph nodes in the arm pits, or to her legs, and she was done.

She panted for breath, narrowly dodging another blow.

"What's wrong, Hinata-sama?" Neji taunted. "Does it hurt?" He spit on the ground, pearly white eyes burning with fury. "How does it feel, to be nothing by a failure?"

Hinata knew that he was doing this to throw her off, but she also knew that the vitriol, the pure loathing in his voice was not faked at all. She opted to remain silent, knowing that anything she said would set Neji off even more.

Neji saw an opening to finalize this match. He had hit her on her right side, meaning that her internal balance was thrown off track. She had left herself weak. Who was he not to take an opportunity to deliver the fatal blow when it was her who was giving it to him on a platter.

Moving at speeds that a normal genin couldn't see, he hit the two tenketsus on her arm that were on the same horizontal axis. Neji watched in utter pleasure as his cousin's eyes widened, first in surprise, then pain, and finally...the emotion that he had wanted to see the most...fear.

"Damn it!" Shikamaru cursed, as he and the others could only watch as Hinata collapsed to the ground, no longer able to use the Gentle Fist.

"Hinata." Kurenai gasped softly while Shino and Kiba were rigid as boards.

Gai watched his student with narrowed eyes. He had known how much hatred that Neji held for the Main Branch, but this...was inexcusable.

Naruto gripped the railing so hard, that it dented slightly. He hated...he despised this Neji. The Neji who believed that he could not write his own faith, the Neji who hated himself more than anything, even his Uncle, the Neji who believed that he had to be powerful in order to show the Main Branch what he was worth.

Stand Hinata. Please, stand. Even if it's just for a second. Show him that you are not as weak as he thinks.

It hurt, more than she imagined. Blood trickled down the sides of her mouth, dribbling into her ever-present coat. But she had to get up! She had to! So what if she was down? So what? Neji wasn't attacking her. He thought she was gone, but she had to tell him, to show him, that she was his cousin, and that she loved him, no matter what.

Staggering on weak, seemingly non existent muscles, Hinata finally stood before doubling over in pain.

"What's this?" Neji asked condescendingly. "You're standing? What use is it? One more blow from me, and I can kill you."

Something in the boy's tone made the girl stand a bit straighter, even though all she wanted to do was collapse.

"Then do it." Hinata's quiet voice echoed through the silent stadium. Her stutter had gone for the moment. "Show everyone, show everyone what you can do. Show them, Neji-nii." She stared her cousin in the eye, daring him to attack, to come at her, to kill her.

For a precious moment, she thought that he wouldn't, but she was sorely mistaken when he charged. Closing her eyes, she resigned herself to her fate. It didn't matter anymore.

The fatal delivery never came though. When she opened her eyes, she saw not one, not two, but four people holding Neji back. First was the proctor who had Neji's hands behind his back. Next was her cousin's teammate, the one in green, who was standing over her protectively. The other was Gai-sensei who, like his student, was in front of her. The last person, was not Naruto, but Shikamaru, who had Neji trapped within his shadow, meaning that he couldn't move even if he wanted to.

"More favoritism for the Main Branch I see." Neji scoffed despite being paralyzed.

"Shut up kid." Hayate growled. "The match is over. You won. We won't allow you to kill when it was clear who the winner was."

It was then that Hinata collapsed, the last of her strength gone, and the medics immediately rushing in.

When Neji was coming back to the others, they gave him a wide berth, no one, not even Tenten offering him congratulations.

"Let me ask you something, Hyuuga." Naruto said so quietly, that it sounded deadly. "All the times that you claimed you hate Hinata-chan, how many times did she actually use the seal on you?"

It wasn't surprising that he didn't get a response.


"Chouji..." Asuma sighed.

"Sorry sensei, but after seeing what that boy could do in the forest, I won't fight him." Chouji crossed his arms defiantly, knowing he was outclassed by Dosu.

The bearded Jonin sighed again, but nodded. "Alright. Hayate, my student forfeits!"

"Very well. The winner is Kinuta Dosu by reason of forfeit." He coughed again, and checked his roster. "Last match: Rock Lee vs. Gaara of the Sand."

"YOSH!" Lee roared, pumping his fist. "I AM BURSTING WITH ENERGY FOR THIS MATCH!"

"Lee..." Shikamaru massaged his abused eardrums. "I'm standing right next to you..."

"Sorry."

"Lee." It was Naruto who spoke this time. The look in the blond's eye made both Lee and Shikamaru turn serious. "Look at Gaara."

The boy turned to the floor where Gaara already was. Hayate was as far away as possible from him because of the sand that he was exuding.

"He...or rather Shukaku is itching to kill you. If...when things become...sandy, forfeit, and let me do the rest. Kurama is jumping around in my gut, anxious to see what his youngest brother is doing."

"Hai." Lee responded softly. Naruto was right, Gaara did want to kill him, and he wouldn't allow things to turn out like they did last time with his arms and legs crushed.

"LEE MY YOUTHFUL STUDENT!" Gai bounded over to him, smiling from ear to ear. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT NARUTO-KUN JUST SAID, BUT LISTEN TO HIM AND DO YOUR BEST!"

The tears that came to Lee's eyes were exactly like the ones before Gai and Lee had one of their...crashing waves under a sunset moment. Naruto had no wish to see that scene right now, so he nudged Lee not so discretely with his foot until Lee finally decided to cartwheelhis way down to the arena.

"I swear to Kami." Shikamaru mumbled. "I..." He couldn't continue, not knowing what he wanted to say.

Gaara observed this...monstrosity that his mother wanted to kill so much. He was so...green. That wouldn't do. Red was the only color that he wanted to see. He wanted to see it blossom from the wounds that he would inflict, and become one beautiful flower, the most rich and crimson of colors.

Kill him, Gaara, kill him for your mother. Shukaku whispered seductively in his mind.

"Yes mother." Gaara replied back monotonously.

Lee jumped out of the way as a tendril of rock solid sand came hurtling at him, followed by another...and another...and another. Gaara was anxious to get this over with as quickly as possible. Lee wouldn't let that happen though, he would just keep dodging.

And so the sand came, each blow more deadly than the last, each blow intending to kill. Lee winced when he saw the gouges that the sand had made in the steel arena. If he had been there...

Gaara's sand was quick, but Lee was faster, and had the advantage of knowing what Gaara's weak points were. Before the exams had started, he, Shikamaru, and Naruto had discussed how they would handle Gaara. All had agreed that during the one month break until the Finals, they would tell Baki-san, and the three siblings what was really going on, and hopefully that would convince them to side with Konoha. Of course, Naruto would be the one who would have to make Gaara come over to their side, seeing as they were Jinchuuriki Kyodai*. This time, Naruto had promised that it wouldn't take a battle to make the red head see the proverbial light.

Back in the stand, Temari and Kankuro watched the match impassively. Though this kid, the kid in green was weird, he was good. No jutsus, no flashy moves, just simple dodging. He was making their brother highly irritated. And if Gaara became irritated...

Temari shivered slightly, remembering the blood curdling screams from that one night, that night when Gaara had killed their Uncle who was sent to assassinate him on the Yondaime...their father's orders. That was the day that Gaara had become the monster he was...the day that any shred of humanity that he had held on to, vanished. That was the day he had become a killing machine, a feared and hated entity, a product of hate and anger.

By now, Gaara's sand was coming out in small bullets, making it much faster with less impact force, but it was making it much harder for Lee to dodge them.

I don't think he did this last time. He thought mororsely, and kept on making Gaara spin in circles. Truth be told, this was going to infuriate the boy even more, and Gaara could end up killing everyone. He had to forfeit, Lee knew that, but he didn't know when.

"So fast." Sakura whispered in awe, watching the green blur move from one end to the other in jaw-dropping speeds.

" Shouldn't he drop the weights?" Shikamaru asked Naruto who palmed his face at forgetting this fact. The blond, like his counterparts, knew that Gaara was going to lose control soon. When this happened, it was going to be a blessing in disguise because the Suna trio would be with them sooner than they had planned. Of course, this was assuming that Naruto could tame his fellow jailer.

He jumped on top of the railing, demonstrating a remarkable amount of chakra control as he stuck to the surface and shouted, "OI LEE! DROP THE WEIGHTS!"

While the others sans Gai and Shikamaru seemed surprised, Lee paused for a split second, removing the weights on his arms and legs.

"Pft." Kiba scoffed. "So what if he drops the wei-"

CRASH.

Solid craters formed in the steel below, the weights resting on the bottom of them.

Gai smiled brightly at the glances he was getting. "YOSH MY YOUTHFUL STUDENT! NOW YOU MAY MOVE AT TRIPLE SPEED!"

"HAI GAI-SENSEI!" Lee called back, smiling just as brightly at his precious sensei. "Okay, Gaara-san, now we can fight." With that, Lee vanished, and reappeared behind Gaara, kicking him swiftly in the middle of the back, sending Gaara flying ten feet.

"Amazing." Kankuro muttered at what he had just seen. "But Gaara..."

"Yeah." Temari agreed, "He's going to kill that poor boy."


Gaara picked himself up, aching everywhere. Why? Why hadn't Mother cushioned him from that fall? Did she not love him? Why?"

You didn't kill him, Gaara-kun. Why didn't you kill him? Mother needs his blood. Kill him NOW!

Kill him? Oh yes. He needed to kill him. He needed to drain that boy's body of all the blood in the world so that Mother would be pleased with him.

The blur appeared before him once again, this time aiming a kick at his head.

It connected, with no sand to stop it, but Gaara kept on standing. He didn't go down. Instead, he felt the spot where the kid had kicked him.

Strange. It was wet.

When he brought his fingers in front of his face, a sadistic and sinister smile lit his face. They were red. His fingers were coated in the substance. His blood. Mother's blood.

Red.

Red.

Not the right shade.

Not the real shade.

He needed to see that red.

And then, all Gaara could see was red...


"Well damn." Lee deadpanned when the sand on the ground started to gather and move back to Gaara. It created a vortex around him, and everyone could hear the downright hysterical laughter coming from within it. He looked to his two best friends. Both had gone pale, knowing what was happening inside the little cocoon that Gaara had created for himself.

"Proctor-san." Lee addressed Hayate in a low tone. "I urge that you leave this stadium immediately."

The sickly jonin looked at him in surprise.

"Proctor-san." The boy's voice had taken on a hard edge to it. "Look at him." Lee pointed at Gaara, and Hayate slowly had an impending sense of doom as the boy was...he had no words to describe what was going on.

"Needless to say, I forfeit." Lee continued as if Gaara wasn't about to transform at least partially. "However, we have to get out of here, otherwise he will kill us."

It was then that Gaara suddenly sprouted a tail.

Needing no further encouragement, both Hayate and Lee jumped to the stands, landing gracefully.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked fearfully, watching the red head with horror. His face had been warped with sand, and half of it was beginning to start looking like an animal's.

"Hayate-kun." The Hokage stepped into view, concern on his face.

"Hokage-sama. This genin has forfeited." He gestured to Lee. "However, I fear for our safety."

Nar...Sto...Hurry...

Naruto placed a hand over his stomach, glad that Kurama was finally waking. He couldn't hear him too well, and estimated that in a day or so, the fox would be fully awake. It made sense. They had arrived almost two months ago, and that's how long he had predicted it would take for Kurama to regain his chakra. It seemed as though being in the same room as one of his siblings had jumpstarted his process of waking up.

I know Kurama. I know.

"Naruto." Lee came into his vision and nodded slightly. The blond returned the nod. It was time.

Reaching into his sack, Naruto pulled out a seal, a barrier seal to be exact. It was keyed in so that he, Shikamaru, and Lee could penetrate the barrier if need be. It had been created just for this purpose. It had taken days, but this seal was strong enough to withstand Gaara's sand. With the combined chakra inputs of the trio, it was fortified beyond belief.

Taking a deep breath and holding the seal between his index and middle fingers, Naruto closed his eyes. "ACTIVATE!"

He felt the invisible wall erect itself around the entire stadium. He, Lee, and Shikamaru went through it, landing on the other side, closer to Gaara while everyone looked at them as if they were crazy.

"Naruto." Kakashi walked towards his student, only to crash into something that felt very solid. "What the?"

"Kekkai.*" Shikamaru murmured. "A barrier. Only us three can move in and out. You are safe for now."

Mutterings of Impossible filled the stadium, and many tried to move through the seal, but found that what the Nara said was true. They were trapped behind an invisible wall.

Sarutobi regarded the three with pride as well as disbelief. "Naruto, did you create this?"

The blond looked from Gaara to the Hokage before nodding curtly. "One of my finest."

"Get back here!" Kurenai shouted in concern. "You'll be killed!"

To her surprise, Naruto only laughed. "Killed? By Gaara? I don't think so?"

"And what makes you so sure?" Temari challenged her fellow blond. "He's lost control! No one can bring him back!"

When he looked at her, she was surprised by the sheer determination and understanding she saw.

"No one can bring him back?" The boy's words repeated Temari's. "Don't be stupid. Of course we can. And to answer your first question," Naruto smirked at the girl, holding his fist over his heart. "A younger sibling will never attack his eldest on purpose."


"Three point offensive. I've got your sixes!" Naruto barked, creating fifteen shadow clones.

"Hai!" Two cries were heard.

Lee and Shikamaru took off from opposite sides, with three of Naruto's clones trailing them. Both threw a barrage of kunai at the now completely psychotic Gaara whose sand brushed the weapons off like they were flies.

However, the duo were only distractions. The real attack would come from Naruto who would come at Gaara from the back.

Explosive seal in hand, Naruto charged at Gaara, targeting his tail. Tendrils of sand were shooting out at him, causing him to shift in midair. Diving down, he just managed to place the seal on Gaara before all three of them jumped back.

Boom!

The entire stadium was rocked by an explosion which blanketed the arena with smoke and dust. No one knew what was going on, and no one dared say a word.

Amidst the confusion, Gaara howled. Not in pain, but in frustration. They had targeted the weakest part of his body, his tail. Though he was not hurt, his tail would take longer to reform. He still had his absolute defense, but it was hampered.

"NO!" He screamed, clutching his face. "NO!"

Who did these humans think they were that they could attack him and get away with it?

Behind the barrier, near the Mizu nin, the trio watched as the explosion cleared, leaving Gaara with sand pouring out of his rear side.

"He's about to lose it." Lee muttered. "Big time." The boy/man looked to Naruto. "You have the seal?"

Naruto patted his pack. "A one pronged seal over a three pronged."

"Odd over odd. Effective, and quite difficult to make. An opening seal, if I'm not mistaken, that will allow the person using it to modify an existing seal, the one that you drew being the stencil.." A voice from behind them mused.

They turned to see a familiar looking Mizu nin scratching his chin. It was Ao-san, aid to the Mizukage...well, he would be very soon. They all shook off images of the man's dead body, his throat slashed, his eyes, once so vibrant, dulled by the presence of death.

"Uzumaki, was it?" The blue haired nin asked.

Naruto nodded.

"Your Clan was certainly gifted in seals, and it appears though as if you're a budding Fujinjutsu master."

The Rokudaime Hokage looked surprised, as did the others around him. Ao-san knew of the Uzumaki Clan? Interesting... This warranted a further looking into, but not right now.

"Thanks..."

"Naruto!" Shikamaru grunted in frustration. "Look at Gaara's eyes!"

They all saw how teal had turned to gold. The transformation was nearing completion. If Naruto didn't get that seal on him soon, Gaara was about to turn into the Shukaku.

Gaara turned, and once again, his eyes locked onto Naruto's.

Kick his...don't let him...protect...no...sleep...

Naruto understood the gist of what the fox was saying. He couldn't let Gaara fall asleep, or else everything was done for.


In seconds, the three of them had jumped back to where the Konoha nin and Hokage were standing, as this was the best place they could attack from. The trio waved off any questions from the others, (and one jealous and rage filled glance from Sasuke), to concentrate.

"Shika, 35 percent. Lee, patrol, make sure no sand gets through." Naruto ordered. Taking out the seal that would put the Shukaku to rest, and fortify the already existing seal, Naruto cut his palm, and smeared his own blood precisely over the center of the seal. It glowed a beautiful golden color, and smoked at the edges.

"What did you do?" Asuma inquired.

"Infused the seal with my blood." He ignored the gasps. "

"Why?" Sarutobi asked, not knowing how and when Naruto had become so knowledgeable. He understood how Naruto had picked up the basic seals, however this looked like a complicated seal that only Kushina, Jiraiya, or Minato, or any Master could produce. This meant that Naruto was near the level of a Master, and that was frightening.

Naruto looked up, flexing his now healed palm. "This seal will push Shukaku back, or rather, it will open the existing seal so that I can work on it using this design. Blood Sealing is dangerous, but highly effective. The chances of failing are virtually none, assuming of course, that I place the seal directly over his stomach. With my blood over top the seal that I created, I ensure that Gaara won't be harmed by the Ichibi any longer, and that he will have more control over the beast."

"Wait!" Temari called as they made to leave, astutely ignoring the sand that hit the barrier, but didn't come through.

"What?"

The girl looked down at her toes, as if searching for the proper wording for what she wanted to say. "What did you mean? When you said that Gaara wouldn't hurt his eldest sibling on purpose?"

Naruto looked at the sand siblings impassively. "I was referring to myself, as well as you. Deep down, Gaara knows that you care for him, as do I, but he doesn't know how to accept those feelings. As for me, well, let's say that your brother regards me with fear, and respect."

"But you aren't our sibling, and you are younger than us..." Kankuro trailed off, confusion covering his painted face.

That caused Naruto to chuckle. "True, but I'm Gaara's eldest sibling. Not yours."

Seeing the still perplexed expressions, Shikamaru decided to elaborate. "Let's put it this way. If Gaara is the first, then Naruto is the ninth, hence Naruto is the eldest out of all of them." This was said so that no one save the five of them would be able to hear what was being discussed.

With that, all three moved into action once again.

Temari and Kankuro's eyes widened in surprise and shock. That meant...


Shikamaru took his position just behind the barrier and knelt down to place his hands in the customary rat seal. "Kage Mane no Jutsu!" He shouted, abruptly changing from the rat to the snake seal to have a better grasp on the shadow as it covered nearly the entire surface of the arena. It was soon apparent that when Naruto had shouted 35 percent, he had meant 35 percent of Shikamaru's chakra.

The second his shadow made contact with Gaara, the jinchuuriki howled again, desperately trying to break free.

Shikamaru gritted his teeth. If the person who was trapped had a will to escape that was stronger than the caster's, then that person would be able to release the jutsu. However, Shikamaru knew that he could not let Gaara through. Though he had much more chakra than he had had when he was a kid, he didn't have the reserves that Naruto had. The most he could hold this enormous shadow for, was five minutes. Naruto's seal that enhanced a person's chakra wouldn't work at all, not without him dropping the jutsu at least. And he couldn't risk that.

Lee had left his post on the perimeter of the arena, and had taken to distracting Gaara, flashing from one side to the other, dodging the sand that came his way, becoming the target of many projectiles that bounced harmlessly on the barrier. The beauty of Naruto's seal was that he didn't loose chakra whilst trying to maintain the giant wall.

Naruto was standing on top of his barrier, so to many, it looked like he was standing in midair. Looking down, it didn't look like Gaara was going to fall asleep anytime soon thanks to Lee who was making him dizzy.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." He intoned, creating four clones. No words were needed. They knew what to do.

Once the clones were created, Lee went back through the wall and landed next to Shikamaru who was sweating profusely.

"Argh!" The Nara collapsed on both knees, causing his shadow to retract slightly, but did not let Gaara move freely.

"Shikamaru!" Various cries were heard from around him. Lee stood protectively behind him, not let anyone get any further.

"Naruto! I can't hold it for much longer! Do it!" He shouted. Even though he had used only thirty five percent of his chakra, he could feel Gaara's will, or rather, Shukaku's will overpowering him. No one man could hold a Bijuu in the Shadow Bind. Holding Shukaku was draining his reserves rapidly, causing him to exert more chakra than needed.

The blond nodded, and the clones moved through the barrier, each one grabbing an arm or leg, and pinning Gaara down. Because of Shikamaru's shadow, the sand couldn't touch the clones.

"Would you just STAY STILL!" Naruto roared, succeeding in surprising Gaara. What he didn't know, was that Shukaku had sensed some of Kurama's chakra, and was reacting to that.

"Naruto!" Lee cried, noticing that Shikamaru's shadow was receding. "Hurry up!"

"Not yet!" The Nara muttered, pushing more and more chakra into sustaining the shadow. There. He had bought Naruto at least a minute.

Seeing how tired Shikamaru was, Lee leaped down, and grabbed Gaara's half transformed face, holding it to the ground.

"Drop it!" Naruto commanded, referring to Shikamaru's shadow. "Now!"

Having no choice but to obey, Shikamaru let go, giving Gaara free reign to move around.

One by one, Naruto's clones popped away due to Gaara's sand.

"Lee, leave now."

"No." He wasn't going to leave his best friend here, alone.

"Lee! I said go!"

"And I said NO!"

Sighing in frustration, Naruto knew he couldn't change Lee's very stubborn mind.

Sand was closing in on them fast, and judging by Shukaku's voice, Gaara was almost completely transformed. However he needed to be sleeping for it to be final, which he wasn't."

Concentrating Wind chakra in his hand, Naruto ripped apart the robe that Gaara wore, exposing his stomach which held the seal of the Ichibi. He mentally made a note to himself to berate Chiyo-baa-sama harshly for making such an unstable seal. Gaara was bound to lose control, even if he didn't want to.

"You got him, Lee?"

"Affirmative."

"Well then let go, and take this to reinforce the barrier, because this is going to get messy." Naruto handed Lee a second barrier seal, which would activate when Lee gave the command.

Lee looked like he wanted to resist, but one look at Naruto showed that his Hokage wouldn't take no as an answer this time. Grudgingly taking the seal, Lee left his friend with Naruto, who had created approximately one hundred clones to keep Gaara pinned.

Just as Lee activated the second seal, Naruto yelled "FUUIN!"

For one agonizing moment, the entire arena was silent, wondering if whatever this blond kid had done worked or not. And many thought it hadn't because of the lack of anything happening.

But then...

A swirl of red and blue chakra engulfed the two Jinchuurki, blinding everyone in the stadium. Even though the kid had put barriers up, those behind them still felt the shockwaves of chakra bouncing off of the invisible walls. If that had touched them, then they would be toast.

Shouts of "Naruto!" and "Uzumaki!" were heard, while the Suna Siblings and Baki watched with wide eyes as this frankly insane kid attempted to re-seal a tailed beast, a feat that no twelve year-old should be able to accomplish.

But as the haze of chakra cleared, the impossible had happened.

Because in the center of the arena, Uzumaki Naruto emerged from the light, carrying a now unconscious Gaara on his shoulder, deep gashes covering his entire body. His customary orange jumpsuit was tattered, but the expression on his face was one of accomplishment.

With a single hand seal, both barriers came crashing down with an audible thud, and Naruto wearily laid Gaara down where his siblings were.

The stadium was completely silent.

Temari and Kankuro rushed to Gaara's side, but resisted touching him, afraid as to what might happen.

Naruto just snorted. "He's sleeping."

At their looks of panic, he cracked a wane smile. "Relax. I fixed his...problem. I modified the seal on his stomach, making him in control of the Ichibi, rather than the other way around. He won't hear from Shukaku unless he digs really, really, deep. Trust me." It was true. The previous seal hadn't looked nearly as intricate as this one.

For some reason, despite this kid's looks, the two of them really did trust him. Gaara had said in the forest that he didn't regard them as his siblings, yet this stranger, had openly called Gaara his youngest brother.

Naruto collapsed against the railing, panting harshly. He had just managed to complete the seal when Gaara's sand started lashing out at him. He couldn't dodge the attacks, so he had allowed them to cut him. By now, there was probably a small amount of blood pooling around him, but Kurama was already working on healing his brother's work.

A gentle palm lay on his bloodied shoulder, and he didn't even have to look up to know that it was the Sandaime's. Someone patted his head. Probably Kakashi...maybe even Genma...it didn't matter.

A sigh was heard from above him, a soft, reproachful sigh along with two thuds as Lee and Shikamaru plopped down besides him. All three had the same scowls and weariness present on their faces.

The knocked out boy twitched slightly, and started to snore loudly causing the trio to freeze before laughing hysterically.

"Ah," Lee sighed, wiping tears from his eyes, "Looks like Gaara-kun is catching up on twelve years worth of lost sleep."

"It's going to be a pain in the ass to wake him up." Shikamaru mumbled morosely, but his face still held traces of mirth as he looked at the future Kazekage/his future brother in-law.

When Naruto finally looked up, he saw the awed faces of all of the genin, including Sasuke and Neji, although it looked like those two were scrutinizing the trio more than anything. Probably judging their power or something like that... He also saw the shaking heads of the Jonin that were present.

"Seriously you three," Kakashi began, a hand on the bridge of his nose. "First the forest, and now this. You're trying to infuriate us, aren't you?"

Three sheepish grins were thrown his way.

Naruto stood shakily, with Shikamaru and Lee holding him up. Medics once again rushed towards them, but Naruto's palm stopped them in their tracks.

"Just tell us when we need to be in your office, Hokage-sama." Naruto grumbled. "And we'll be there."

"In the meantime though," Shikamaru slung the still sleeping Gaara over his shoulder just like Naruto had. The blond grabbed both Temari and Kankuro, while Lee took hold of a reluctant Baki.

"We have to make sure that the seal is completely stable." Lee finished.

And before anyone could stop them, the seven of them were gone in a swirl of leaves.

The looks on everyone's faces were priceless.

"But he wasn't even healed yet..." One of the medics grumbled.

"Well you were right, Kurenai." Asuma chuckled dryly, watching the last leaf fall to the ground. "This was a day that we will never forget."

After all, it wasn't everyday that you watched the jailer of the Kyuubi seal the Ichibi into its host.

It wasn't everyday that you saw a seal as complex as the one that Naruto had created.

It wasn't everyday when you realized that three genin were stronger than the average chunin.

And it wasn't everyday that those three genin made their way into the Bingo Book.

But they didn't know that yet.


* Kage Mane Jutsu: Shadow Possession technique

* Giju Ninpo: Juujin Bunshin: Imitation Beast Ninja Art: Beast Human Clone

* Kyodai: Siblings

* Kekkai: Barrier, Wall

This is not a "Super-powered" Naruto, Lee, and Shikamaru, story. They are more powerful than the others, and they know that hiding such power is nearly impossible, so they are going to show it, FLAUNT it, and be recognized for it much earlier on in their lives than in the previous timeline. Don't worry though, they are only human after all.