Chapter 7.

Naruto, Hinata, and Shino spent most of their time off training with Lee and Tenten, who had managed to finish the exam the night after Team 8 had. Tenten was very happy to see that they were all alright but she broke down crying when Naruto told her about his encounter with the missing nin, Orochimaru. Since Tenten hated to cry she felt it would act as redemption if she beat Naruto withing an inch of his life. Since it was what he had done that had scared her so badly he stood there and took it before her strength gave out and she just cried on his shoulder for a few more minutes.

While Naruto was dealing with Tenten, Shino was trying to convince Hinata to speak with either Anko or Kurenai about her problem. She had woken up from that first night in a cold sweat. Since the day they had found the scrolls she hadn't been sleeping because she had been having terrible nightmares and every day she looked weaker and weaker. Hinata knew she needed help and that her sensei and Anko would be the best people to talk to but still she hesitated. It had become such a habit for the pearl eyed girl to hide her problems that she was now finding it hard to ask for the help she needed.

Finally her help came the evening before the fifth day.

While Hinata was sitting in Naruto's room holding Kuma-chan, who seemed to help everyone feel better, her two other teammates trained and spoke about what they could do for their friend and teammate.

She had been laying there for hours and had even missed dinner and that was when Naruto and Shino went behind her back and told their sensei and Anko.

As tears rolled down Hinata's cheeks a soft knock at the door shook her out of her memories.

"C-Come in." Hinata said while feeling slightly strange telling someone to come in while it wasn't even her room. Although it was as close to hers as it was Naruto's. Since that first night she hadn't left the room often because of the safe feeling she got from it. She cared for Shino deeply but Naruto had always watched over her and being in his room made her feel protected. It felt like she was in her kaa-san's arms again.

"Hinata-chan, Anko-chan and I need to speak with you." Kurenai said softly as she opened the door and the two older shinobi slipped into the room.

"I'm starting to think Naruto keeps that bear around for you and Tenten-chan more then anything else." Anko teased as she pulled the only chair in the room closer to the bed and sat down while Kurenai sat down close to Hinata on the bed.

"It always helps put things in perspective. When we see Kuma-chan we remember what his life was like and how much better it became. It helps us think that our problems aren't so bad and that no matter what they will get better." Hinata offered as she hugged the bear tightly before she smiled down at it. "Besides, if she is going to be the Hokages top adviser she has to be strong."

"She put up with Naruto for this long so I'd say she is." joked Anko which got a slightly larger smile out of Hinata then the one she had given the bear. "But what you need to remember is that no matter how small the problem is they can still seem large if you let them. That's why it helps to talk to others about them. When I was a kid I used to do something wrong and think about it constantly until it got to the point that I would run screaming and crying to my parents only for them to tell me that it was ok."

"I know it's rather hard to picture her screaming and crying or even as a little girl but it's true." Kurenai whispered only to have Anko grab one of Naruto's pillows and throw it at her, messing up her already wild hair.

"Hinata-chan, Shino and Naruto told us that you haven't been sleeping but they wouldn't tell us what it was about. Naruto also made it very clear that if we didn't help you we wouldn't get a second alone for as long as he lives. Normally I'd just kill him but we thought you might not like that so we're choosing to talk to you." Anko said while Hinata couldn't help but notice how much like Naruto she was. No matter the situation she always joked and it helped more then either of them knew.

"W-When we entered the forest Shino-kun and I asked if there was a place around us that might take out another team so we wouldn't have to fight. Naruto-kun said their was and lead us to a clearing near by that he told us was under the rule of giant wolves." Hinata explained while even Anko paled a little at this. "As soon as we got there the smell was already horrible. Two teams had been fighting for the others scroll and both were killed... no, slaughtered by the wolves. Shino-kun and Naruto-kun offered to look for the scrolls by themselves so that I wouldn't have to but it didn't feel right to make them do that alone. Shino-kun had already found a heaven scroll and had to wipe blood and bits of tissue from it. I came out to help and found the other scroll and two hitai-ates like Naruto asked us to find. The scroll and the hitai-ates had so much blood on them and since I picked them up I got a lot of it on my hands. I-I hadn't ever seen anything like this. They were nothing but hunks of meat. Since then I haven't been able to sleep. Every time I try I find myself back in that clearing only this time the wolves come at use and tear Shino-kun and Naruto-kun apart. I usually wake up just as they get to me."

By the end of her confession tears were freely falling from her eyes and Kurenai had moved even closer and wrapped an arm around her.

"Hinata-chan." Anko said as she reached towards her and took her hand in her own. "I want nothing more then to tell you that it gets easier. I want nothing more then to tell you that our lifestyle is nothing like that... but I can't. What you saw was horrible but it more then likely won't be the last time you see it. What you need to tell yourself is that we all agreed to this line of work and we all know the risks. A shinobi, no matter what country or village they come from, is proud to die for their homeland. Those that aren't have no business calling themselves shinobi."

"It's hard and we know exactly what your feeling, yes even Anko-chan, but the only thing we can give you in the way of advice is don't let it eat at you and if you start to feel this way again talk to your teammates or Anko-chan or me. When you try and hold it inside is when you end up causing the most damage." Kurenai advised her as she gently rubbed her back.

"Why don't Naruto-kun and Shino-kun seem affected?" inquired Hinata after a few moments of silence.

"They were. Naruto spoke to both of us the day after and Shino spoke to Kurenai-chan and his tou-san. The reason it seems to terrible to you is because you tried to hold it all in." Anko whispered gently as she ran her hand over Hinata's.

"You two aren't going to try and kiss me are you?" the young woman teased causing both Kurenai and Anko to jump away from her as if she had burnt them.

"I already told you, Hinata-chan, you aren't my type." stated Anko after she realized Hinata was teasing them.

Kurenai moved in closer and blew across her ear. "You can by my type if you want."

Hinata's face turned a very dark red while Kurenai and Anko both howled with laughter. "No wonder you get along with Naruto-kun and Anko-sempai so well."

"Thank you!" Kurenai said brightly as she chose to take it as a compliment rather then an insult.

Hinata looked at her for a moment before turning to Anko. "Sometimes I wonder if she isn't really a blonde."

"Now that was just mean!" Kurenai shouted while her lover laughed loudly.

"Naruto-kun is blon... ok, I see your point. Sorry." Hinata joked only to have Anko laugh even harder and Kurenai to join her. She let them laugh for a little while longer before continuing. "Thanks for talking with me. I really do feel a lot better."

"That's what we're here for." Kurenai said before she patted the young shinobi one last time on the shoulder before leading Anko out of the room.

After the two left the room Hinata decided to go look for Shino and Naruto. Since she hadn't left the apartment much since they had arrived, Hinata was pleased to see that all of the rookie nine had made it through the forest, some looking far less battered then others. She figured that the two would be training so she started down one of the long hallways that led to one of the many training rooms. When she did find them she saw Naruto and Shino sparing while Tenten cheered them on from just inside the door.

It all ended badly when Shino had seen Hinata out of the corner of his eye and stopped without warning. Meanwhile, Naruto hadn't seen her or him stop and continued with his spin kick to Shino's head.

"Damn! Are you alright?" he asked quickly as he helped the boy back to his feet.

Shino stood there for a few moments to let his vision settle before answering. "I am fine. I should have said I was stopping but seeing Hinata-chan shocked me a little."

After hearing this Naruto spun to see Hinata standing beside Tenten.

"Hinata-chan! It's good to see you walking about again." he cried happily as he ran towards her and hugged her tightly.

"They said you went behind my back and told them to talk to me." Hinata stated calmly while Naruto and Shino suddenly looked slightly nervous. This was quickly forgotten when Hinata kissed Naruto on the cheek and kissed Shino very quickly on the lips. Surprisingly it was Shino who blushed more out of the two.

"Aw." cooed Tenten as she watched the seen play out in front of her. Of course she was going to have to talk to the pearl eyed girl about kissing her Naruto.

"Thank you for doing that. I feel a lot better after talking with them." she admitted.

From there the rest of the night was spent talking and joking around with the other teams. They had even met a few of the teams from the other countries that hadn't passed but had made it to the tower to escape the forest. Since they had all been there themselves no one had the heart to tell them to leave. Well no one but Sasuke. He threw a fit until Naruto showed up. Everyone wondered what had happened in the forest to cause Sasuke and the rest of Team 7 to become so scared of the blond haired shinobi.

Since Team 8 knew, they had tried to stay out of the way of the frightened team so that maybe they wouldn't spread rumors about Naruto. So far their plan was working but they didn't know how long it would last.

The next morning was the morning of the third exam. As everyone that had made it made their way down to one of the large arenas in the tower they were a little surprised to find the Hokage as well as all of their Jounin senseis as well as a few of the Jounins and Tokubetsu Jounins from Konohagakure. They all seemed to be excited about the upcoming exam and were secretly getting ready to place bets.

"I am Hayate Gekko and I will be in charge of the preliminary bouts for the third exam." stated a sickly looking man whose short introduction was broken up by a series of coughs. Other then the two swords the man wore at his side, he was completely unimpressive. The dark bags under his eyes gave his already pasty skin an even worse color. Yet he still wore a Jounin vest.

"Preliminaries?!" shouted a boy from Sunagakure who wore face paint and had a large... thing strapped to his back. Naruto wasn't the only one that thought the boy was also wearing a cat suit.

"Yes preliminaries. There are too many of you and since the daimyos are important people and don't have the time to sit around all day, we will be shortening the list by having one on one fights. If you win then you will move on." the man explained as his explanation was yet again broken apart by his persistent cough. "Now, would anyone like to quit?"

As soon as he said this the boy that had read his information from the card stepped forward and quit, stating that he was to tired and wouldn't put up much of a fight. After Hayate said his name he began coughing again.

"Are you going to be ok?" Naruto suddenly asked while most of the Genin were at the very least thinking it.

"I'll be fine." the man wheezed before turning and pointing up at a large electronic scoreboard. "When your name appears on the screen it will be your turn to fight. Now will everyone make their way up to the gallery."

When Team 8 made if up the stairs they were met by their sensei and Anko.

"You guys ready for this?" Anko asked excitedly. Everyone was starting to get worried that if the fighting didn't start soon that she would start her own.

"Yeah. Shino is better then most everyone here and Hinata-chan can hold her own." Naruto answered causing Hinata to smile brightly at him and Shino to nod his head in thanks.

"I want to tell you something rather important." Kurenai said a the names 'Uchiha Sasuke' and 'Akado Yoroi' flashed on the screen. "I have no doubt that the three of you will make it to the next round so that's why I'm saying this now. During the finals you must try your best and put on a good show for the daimyos. A village is only as strong as its shinobi so if people see you overpowering your opponent then they will think our village is strong."

"So we're fighting with our lives for the enjoyment of some fat rich guys?" asked Naruto heatedly while Anko snickered into her hand at his comment.

"Yes." Kurenai answered simply and honestly. "Since the daimyos are the ones that ask us for help we try and treat them better then others. You don't have to like it but if you piss them off you could be costing our village valuable missions. Also remember that if they don't come to us they will go to another village. One that we might not have an alliance with."

Hinata and Shino looked thoughtful while Naruto had given up and was whispering to his nee-chan about 'jiggle-bellies' and 'rich fuckers'. Even Kurenai had to laugh at the name Naruto had given the over weight daimyos. It would seem that Naruto liked to call people jiggly. Only the lords were a lot less powerful the the original Jiggly-baa-chan. She was also named for something completely different then a large belly.

"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke of Konohagakure!" shouted Hayate as a smirking Sasuke strutted back up the stairs.

"I didn't even get to watch." complained Anko.

"There wasn't a lot to see. The Uchiha had him outmatched by a long shot. Although that other guy did have a pretty cool chakra absorption technique." Hinata told her while not really making her feel any better when she added the last part.

"No one talk to me. I'm watching this next fight." Anko stated firmly as she stared at the center even though the names of the combatants had yet to be revealed.

"Aburame Shino vs. Sabaku no Kankuro." Hayate read from the screen.

Shino turned and started down to the arena floor while the boy in the cat suit did the same from the opposite side.

"This will be an easy fight!" mocked Kankuro as he stood in front of Shino and attempted to intimidate him. He didn't seem to realize that Shino had seen a lot worse then him.

"It will be... for me." replied Shino while giving his first attempt at trash talking.

"Not the best but your getting there!" Naruto shouted as he cheered from the gallery.

"Who is that?" Kankuro asked while brushing off what Shino had said.

"My teammate. He is loud and jokes around a lot but he is the strongest member of our team. You were lucky to be fighting me and not him." Shino stated calmly as he slid his hands into his coat pockets and stood there.

Once the fight started Kankuro was slightly confused as to why the boy across from him had yet to move. "Why aren't you attacking?"

"There isn't a need." Shino said simply as his skin began crawling with layers upon layers of incests. This caused many of the females in the audience to cringe and look slightly green in the face. Only Hinata, Tenten, Anko, and Kurenai seemed completely unaffected.

"What the hell can those little things do? I could smash them all in a few seconds!" taunted the cat suit wearing boy.

"It is unwise to speak ill of insects. Especially to someone of the Aburame Clan." Shino advised in a voice that seemed more cold then calm.

Before Kankuro could say anything else the insects began to buzz louder and louder before they shot off of Shino and attacked the thing that was attached to Kankuro's back. As the insects swarmed it the thing began to squirm and before long it fell limply to the floor along with Kankuro.

"What did you do?" Hayate asked as he went to check on Kankuro and didn't feel a pulse.

"What you are checking is not Kankuro. It is a puppet. The real Kankuro was in the bundle on its back. It was a rues that would have fooled many but my insects told me where he was from the start. He is not dead. Merely unconscious." explained Shino as he turned and started walking back up the stairs.

"Winner, Aburame Shino of Konohagakure." stated Hayate while he looked a little embarrassed for checking the pulse of a puppet. He could only pray that his peers allowed him to live it down rather soon or that Yuugao never found out.

"Great job!" Naruto shouted before patting the boy on the back rather roughly.

"You did great Shino-kun." Hinata said shyly before she kissed him on the cheek while some of the girls around her whispered about 'gross insects'.

"Thank you both." Shino replied a little shyly. This was the first time Hinata had kissed him in such a public setting.

"You even taunted him. While it wasn't up to a Mitarashi's standards it was still pretty good." Anko told him with a smirk.

"We Mitarashi's are at the pinnacle of trash talking perfection." Naruto boosted proudly as he and Anko struck a pose.

"You are joking right?" asked Hinata hopefully.

"Of course we are." Naruto stated before he and Anko looked at each other with an expression that said that they hadn't been joking.

"Both fighters are unable to continue!" announced Hayate after checking over Yamanaka Ino and a girl named Tsuchi Kin while Anko started cursing because she missed another fight.

"Mitarashi Naruto vs. Haruno Sakura." stated Hayate as he gave in to another series of coughs.

Naruto looked at Sakura as she stared back at him with an expression of utter terror on her face.

"I-I for-forfeit." she stuttered as she moved behind her sensei so that Naruto couldn't see her anymore.

Naruto sighed and shook his head. It wasn't so much that Sakura had just given up that had bothered him, it was more the look she gave him that made it seem as his he was going to peel her skin from her body.

"Winner by forfeit, Mitarashi Naruto of Konohagakure."

Even as the next names were called, no one paid any attention. They were all watching as Naruto walked towards Sakura with a frown on his face. That in and of itself was enough to cause many to stare at him. Seeing him without a smile or a smirk was almost unheard of.

"What do you want?" asked Kakashi as his eyes narrowed.

"I would like to talk to your team without your fucking ass listening!" he snapped causing Anko to laugh and Kakashi to glare at him even harder. Again Naruto sighed. "I'm sorry. May I please speak with your team alone?"

"Fine." Kakashi stated before he walked over towards the other Jounins and the Hokage.

"I don't really care if you like me or not but I'm getting sick of you looking at me as if I'm some evil thing that likes to eat babies." Naruto told them as the matches continued. "If anything you should be grateful that I stepped in when I did or you would be dead."

"S-Sasuke-kun could have beaten him!" Sakura shouted while her 'love' for the Uchiha seemed to overwhelm her fear of the blond.

"Do you not even know who that man was?!" Naruto snapped. "That was Orochimaru. He was one of the Densetsu no Sannin and the only reason I did so well against him was because I was lucky and he underestimated me."

"Well what about how you fought? It was like a cornered animal." Kiba asked as he held Akamaru away from the demon vessel.

"That... man has caused my nee-chan more pain then you could imagine. I know all about it so when I saw him I got very angry. I lost control and was lucky to even make it out of that fight alive." Naruto explained while Kiba seemed to except it.

"And the strength?" Sasuke sneered.

"I've always been stronger then you, you arrogant bastard!" Naruto whispered harshly. "I've been training with Anko-nee-chan since I was four years old. Of course I would be strong."

"What about the chakra?" Sakura asked with a slight shiver. The chakra had been the worst part of it all.

"I don't really know. When I get that angry it comes out." he lied smoothly and the others seemed to buy it. "I'm not asking you to like me. Hell I don't want you to like me. I just want you to not act like your scared of me."

"Fine." stated Sasuke and as soon as he did Sakura agreed while Kiba seemed to have gotten over his fear after Naruto had answered his question a few moments ago.

Naruto nodded before walking back to his team and senseis.

"How did it go?" Shino asked him once he joined them only to have Naruto shrug.

"Choji beat some guy from Otogakure no Sato(Village Hidden in Sound) named Abumi Zabu while Tsurugi Misumi lost to Zabu's teammate Kinuta Dosu." Hinata said as she filled him on on what he missed.

"Hyuuga Hinata vs. Inuzuka Kiba." announced Hayate before Kiba jumped over the railing and waited as Hinata took her time walking down to the arena floor.

"Good luck Kiba, Akamaru." Hinata said softly once she was standing in front of the two.

"Yeah whatever." Kiba said while Shino shifted a little at the impolite response to his girlfriends kindness.

As soon as the match started, Hinata dropped into her Gentle Fist stance after activating her Byakugan.

Kiba answered by using his families Shikyaku no Jutsu(Four Legs Technique) as he dropped to his rested on his hands and feet while his features changed much the same way Naruto's did during his fight with Orochimaru. Only Kiba's were far less intimidating to anyone who had seen the blond.

Then without warning, Kiba shot at Hinata with surprising speed only to have her dance around his attack with a grace that shocked Hiashi, who was standing by the Hokage, and Neji, who was standing with his team and trying not to see Tenten's smirk.

It seemed that no matter how fast he ran or how close the attack came from, Hinata was always able to dodge it. Only since Kiba was constantly attacking he wasn't leaving Hinata a chance to counter attack.

"Fine!" shouted Kiba as he rose out of his stance just when Akamaru sat down next to him. "Juujin Bunshin(Human Beast Clone)!"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth a white cloud surrounded Akamaru. Normally Hinata would have attacked but her love of puppies held her back. She didn't want to risk hurting the cute puppy.

Although Kiba lost that advantage when out of the cloud walk Akamaru but only now he looked identical to his master. Hinata watched as they both dropped into a familiar stance and charged her.

The crowd watched in awe as Hinata still managed to dodge everything but now it was by a very tiny margin. It looked as if she had only moved to far or not enough by just a single inch they would have gotten her. But to Hinata that inch was more then enough.

Kiba began growling in frustration as he failed again and again to hit is opponent. Finally he started running and shouted. "Gatsuuga(Double Piercing Fang)!"

This time the two came at her even faster as the spin quickly making it look as though they were twin cyclones speeding towards her. Hinata waited until they were to close to pull back in time before doing something that shock the entire room, Hiashi and Neji mostly. Just as the two reached her, Hinata began to spin and unleash chakra from her tenketsu.

Suddenly a giant swirling dome burst forth sending bits of the arena floor along with it and as Kiba and Akamaru connected with the spinning barrier, they were both hurled roughly into the concrete wall. As the spinning slowed to a stop Hinata saw Kiba and Akamaru laying limply on the ground, unconscious.

"Winner, Hyuuga Hinata of Konohagakure!" shouted Hayate who seemed to have enjoyed the fight as much as everyone else had.

"Go Hinata-chan!" shouted Naruto before most of the room started cheering for the dark lavender haired girl.

"Dear kami." Hiashi whispered before he ran to his musume and pulled her into a very tight hug.

Hinata saw her tou-san coming towards her and flinched. For a moment she thought he would be angry with her for using the move but as his arms wrapped around her she began to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Hinata." Hiashi whispered as he continued to hug her. "After your k-kaa-san died I couldn't stand to look at you. Every single day you looked more and more like her and when you even started acting like her I couldn't take it anymore. It was too painful. I wanted so badly to escape that pain that I began pushing you away, that I tried to change what you were becoming, I-I... I was such a fool. Not only have I failed you as a tou-san but I've failed Hanabi and Hitomi as well. I... I can only pray that my actions haven't placed you forever outside of my reach."

Hinata looked up at her tou-san with tear filled eyes before giving him a bright smile. Once he returned it she buried her face in his chest again. Meanwhile Neji was still staring at the round hole in the arena floor in disbelief. He was the Hyuuga prodigy and yet Hinata had learned their strongest move an entire year before he had. Of course he didn't know that Hinata had learned it out of necessity. She could either learn it or become a pincushion.

The two continued to hug until the Hokage cleared his throat. "While that was an incredibly entertaining fight, I believe the next two fights are ready."

Hinata and Hiashi turned to see Neji standing next to Lee, who seemed to be crying at the touching scene himself.

"Good luck Neji, Lee." Hinata offered to her itoko and the green spandex wearing boy who always seemed to be smiling.

The two finally walked off the floor and broke apart so that Hinata could meet with her teammates and sensei.

As soon as Hinata had reached the top of the stairs Tenten and Naruto both grabbed her and hugged her between them. Before long Hinata had managed to squeeze out of their grasp only to be met with a silent Shino.

"Congratulations." he said calmly before kissing her softly on the cheek. When Hinata jumped on him and hugged him he whispered. "On the fight and with your family."

Of course since Hiashi was now the tou-san he was meant to be, he had to be stopped by a few Jounins from killing the bug user.

By the time Team 8 was back with their sensei and Anko, Neji and Lee already looked battered and beaten. The only real difference was their expressions. Neji looked completely serious while Lee was still smiling brightly.

"Why is Neji having so much trouble? Why doesn't he just close Lee's tenketsu?" Naruto asked only to have his answer come from the mouth of a green spandex wearing man.

"YOSH! MY BEAUIFUL STUDENT IS UNABLE TO US CHAKRA! CLOSING HIS TENKUTSU WOULD ONLY HURT HIM A LITTLE BUT NOTHING MORE!" shouted the man while Lee turned from his opponent and gave them an even larger smile and a 'nice guy' pose.

"Lee! What have I told you about turning your back on your opponent!" shouted Tenten as Neji shot forward and smashed his palm into Lee's lower back as hard as he could.

"That was most unyouthful!" shouted Lee as he got to his feet and turned towards Neji. "You should not attack from behind my unyouthful teammate!"

"Lee, this is an important fight." sigh Neji as he gently rubbed his forehead. "As of right now you and I are not teammates, we're opponents."

"Really?" Lee asked in disbelief before he looked up at the gallery and saw most everyone nodding to what Neji had said. "This is a most unyouthful development."

"YOSH! LEE-KUN! IT IS OK TO FIGHT! NEJI CAN TAKE YOUR YOUTHFUL POWER!" Guy shouted only to have Lee turn... again... and give them all a 'nice guy' pose... again.

"Come Neji we must fight!" Lee shouted.

"What do you think we've been doing?!" Neji shouted back. By now the normally calm boy looked about ready to cry.

"There is no need to shout, Neji." Lee said in a very normal volume.

"That's it! I forfeit!" Neji shouted before turning and storming back up to the gallery.

"Neji! We must fight!" Lee yelled as he chased after the boy.

No one in the gallery could really blame him. If they had to fight Lee they would have more then likely done the same.

"Winner by forfeit, Rock Lee of Konohagakure." shouted Hayate who seemed happy to have the spandex wearing boy away from him.

"Your back is turned!" someone yelled before Neji was knocked over the railing and back down to the arena floor.

"I've done it, Guy-sensei!" shouted Lee as tears welled in his eyes. "I have defeated Neji!"

Everyone watched as Guy and Lee began hugging and crying as a sunset over the ocean appeared behind him.

"Make them stop nee-chan!" whined Naruto as he moved behind the woman.

"Kurenai-chan, what is that?!" Anko shouted as she and everyone else stared in horror at the hugging and crying pair.

"I don't know. Whatever it is it's pure evil." Kurenai whispered.

"Shikamaru is being unyouthful!" shouted Naruto suddenly and as if someone had slapped them the two jumped apart and ran up to the now terrified member of the Nara Clan.

"Sometimes you must sacrifice one of your own to protect your people as a whole." the Hokage said wisely while many were just silently grateful that Naruto hadn't shouted their name.

"Nara Shikamaru vs. Imaki Tenten." said Hayate and for the first time in his life, Shikamaru ran done to the arena floor as fast as he could.

"I've never seen him run so fast." Asuma whispered from his spot by Ino and Choji.

"Wouldn't you run from those two?" Ino asked as he watched the two continue to shout at Shikamaru even though he was getting ready to fight.

"I'll get Naruto for that." vowed Shikamaru once Tenten finally made her way to the arena floor.

"Better you then me." Tenten stated firmly while even a red headed shinobi from Sunagakure had to agree.

"You're his girlfriend! I'll beat you and make him pay!" Shikamaru shouted as his team was both amazed and frightened by this new Shikamaru.

"Hokage-sama, is 'youthfulness' contagious?" asked Hiashi once he saw the normally lazy boy shout and get ready for the fight.

"I do not know, Hiashi." came his answer.

Naruto watched the fight and cheered loudly for his girlfriend. He watched as Tenten attacked relentlessly as she in turn was forced to dodge the boys shadow that seemed to chase after her no matter where she move to. The fight went on for a few minutes before Shikamaru finally caught her as she moved in front of the wall.

Shikamaru then bent backwards as fast as he could and while he placed his hands on the floor to catch himself, Tenten didn't have that kind of room and smashed her head against the wall. As Shikamaru turned and started walking back to the stands, he suddenly found himself wrapped in multiple sets of shinobi wire.

"Why aren't you unconscious?" he asked as he looked back to see Tenten getting to her feet.

"You think a little bump on the head would stop me?" she asked even though she looked very unstable on her feet. What really surprised everyone was that there was a large dent in the wall from where her head had hit.

As she walked towards him everyone saw Tenten cover her right arm in chakra and as it was slowly absorbed into the arm it began to change. Her arm started to grow longer and thinner and before long it even gained a metallic sheen to it. By the time she was standing in front of Shikamaru, her arm from the elbow down was turned into a sword with a jagged looking blade running up and down both sides of it.

Shikamaru paled and when she placed the edge of the blade right between his legs most of the men watching cringed as the Nara boy gulped.

"Cut it off!" shouted Naruto and Anko from the gallery while Shikamaru panicked and yelled.

"Don't cut it off! I haven't used it yet!"

Even Lee and Guy were oddly silent.

"You made me bump my head." Tenten stated as if that were enough reason to continue.

"I'm really really sorry!" Shikamaru pleaded while even his tou-san, who was standing by Shibi, couldn't fault his musuko for begging.

"Give up or your... little Nara goes bye bye." Tenten growled.

"I give up!" Shikamaru shouted.

"Winner by forfeit, Imaki Tenten of Konohagakure." said an uneasy Hayate.

Shikamaru ran back up to his team as soon as Tenten let him go and while most of the men moved out of her way, Naruto ran straight up to her and kissed her.

"That was perfect!" Anko shouted happily while Kurenai was wondering if Naruto and Anko were a setting a bad example for the once sweet girl.

"Sabaku no Temari vs. Sabaku no Gaara." announced Hayate but no sooner had he said it then Temari shouted that she forfeited.

With all of the matches done, Hayate called for everyone that had won their fight to line up in front of the Hokage. As soon as they were in a line Hayate walked up to each other them and had them reach into a box and pull out a number before asking them to say their number out loud.

"Five." stated Naruto.

"Two." said a bored looking Dosu.

"Six." muttered Gaara and he looked at Naruto with an insane gleam in his eyes.

"Three." sighed Sasuke.

"Seven." stated Tenten firmly while inside she was very excited to see who she would be fighting.

"Eight." said a smiling Choji as he looked at Tenten and bowed slightly.

"I have drawn the always youthful number four!" shouted Lee while Sasuke looked slightly nervous now.

"Nine." came the calm reply from Shino.

"One." stated Hinata as she and Dosu looked at each other and Dosu seemed to complete brush her off.

"The fights will be: Hyuuga Hinata vs. Kinuta Dosu, Uchiha Sasuke vs. Rock Lee, Mitarashi Naruto vs. Sabaku no Gaara, Imaki Tenten vs. Akimichi Choji, with Aburame Shino getting a bye in the first round." listed Hayate before he began coughing again.

His coughing continued so the Hokage stepped forward to speak to them. "The first round will be held in one months time. Until then you are free to train however you like seeing as none of you will be sent on missions."

After this was said, many of the Genin teams left straight away while Kurenai and Anko rounded up Team 8 to talk.

"Sensei, I will be training under my kaa-san and tou-san. I would like your permission." Shino said as soon as the group formed.

"I thought as much. I'll let you go so long as you do me one favor." Kurenai answered and when Shino looked at her questioningly she leaned in and whispered. "No matter who you fight I want you to show them how strong this team is. I believe you will be fighting Naruto since I don't see him losing to anyone so I want you to push him as hard as you can and if you can win then do so. Above all just make me and you parents proud."

"I will do as you ask." Shino agreed before he bowed and took a step back away from the group.

"Naru-chan, I'm sorry to say their is little I can teach you in one month. I am a genjutsu user and those won't help much in a one on one fight during an exam." Kurenai said sadly before Naruto waved it off.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just wander around and blackmail someone into teaching me something." he said while Anko and Hinata giggled.

"Hinata-chan, I believe you will be training with your tou-san?" Kurenai inquired as she turned towards the pearl eyes Genin.

"I am not certain yet but I think I will." Hinata answered only to get her answer from someone behind her.

"You will."

Hinata turned to find Hiashi and Neji standing there.

"I would like to know why it is that you could never beat your imouto and yet you can use our strongest technique and why your taijutsu is seemingly as good as Neji's." Hiashi asked her while Hinata blushed and looked at the ground.

"The reason is, Hiashi." snapped Naruto before Hinata could answer. "Is because Hinata-chan didn't want to hurt Hanabi. She also thought that if she beat her, you would start treating Hanabi like you treated her. Hinata-chan happens to be very strong and learned your 'strongest technique' in only two weeks!"

"Naruto-kun!" shouted Hinata while Naruto only looked at her in a way that seemed to dare her to tell them he was wrong.

"Is that true?" Hiashi asked while not sounding anything other then a little saddened.

"It is." Hinata whispered only to hear her tou-san sigh.

"I am sorry. We will be waiting for you at home." Hiashi stated before leading Neji out of the room.

"Don't." said Naruto as soon as Hinata turned to him. "Hate me if you want but I'm not sorry I said that."

"I don't hate you." sighed Hinata.

"Since everyone has a plan, Kurenai-chan and I are going to the hot springs!" Anko shouted happily before she took of out of the room with Kurenai dragging behind her.

"I am sorry I will not be able to walk you home. My tou-san has sent me a message to get home as soon as possible for training. It would seem that they think I will be fighting Naruto or Gaara." Shino told Hinata while Naruto pretended to find something interesting to look at. Normally he would break the two up and embarrass them but he was feeling oddly generous today.

"It's ok. I'll make Naruto-kun walk me home. Be careful and be sure to get stronger." Hinata told him before lifting herself up onto her toes and kissing Shino gently on the lips.

"I will see you soon." Shino whispered before turning and leaving.

"I guess it's just us!" shouted Tenten as she jumped over the railing.

"Well then, lets walk Hinata-chan home and go blackmail me a sensei!" Naruto said happily while the two girls laughed before Naruto took them to right outside the fence surrounding his home.

"It feels odd not being trapped in that forest." Tenten whispered to Hinata so that Naruto wouldn't hear. If he did he would have taken them back and made then run through the forest just to be an ass.

The three seemed to be in no hurry to get Hinata home as they stopped many times to look around at some of the shops they passed. But as they were passing the hot springs they saw a white haired man crouching down and peaking though the fence as he giggled perversely. Tenten and Hinata were angry but even the two of them together didn't match Naruto's look of rage.

"That fucking pervert is peaking at my nee-chan!" he hissed before he stormed up to the man as he flew through a set of hand seals and shouted. "Suiton: Mizuame Nabara(Water Release: Syrup Capture Field)!"

The two girls watched as a large stream of fluid ruched out of Naurto's mouth and surrounded the mans feet. As the man noticed this he tried to move only to realize he was stuck and fall backwards. Now, not only were his feet stuck but so were his hands and most of his lower body.

"What are you doing?! I have finally found my ultimite insperation!" the man yelled before he saw the young blond before him smirk evilly.

"Nee-chan, sensei! There is a pervert out here peaking at you!" Naruto shouted while the man only hoped the two weren't strong but when two woman came out of the hotsprings in only towels he gulped.

"Oh shit." he whispered as he knew Mitarashi Anko and Yuuhi Kurenai hated him and his books.

"Naru-chan, I am going to buy you a years worth of ramen for this." Anko promised as she looked at the man and cracked her knuckles.

"I'm sorry!" the man wailed before the two, plus Hinata and Tenten, gave him a beating that Tsunade would have been proud of.

As soon as they felt they were done, the four stepped away to reveal a distorted black and blue form of a man that seemed to be crying over his torn notebook more then his injuries.

"I tell you what. You train my a little and I'll ask them not to put you through a second round." Naruto offered while Tenten and Hinata looked confused.

"So you knew who I was and you still did this to me?" asked the man while Naruto smiled coldly.

"I have a habit of getting into fights with the Densetsu no Sannin." he answered before turning to Tenten and Hinata and explaining. "That pathetic excuse of a man is Jiraiya. The Toad Sennin."

"What?!" Hinata shouted. "How can that... man be the legendary Jiraiya?!"

"I always ask myself that same question." said a familiar voice from behind them that caused Jiraiya to whimper like a puppy.

"Jiggly-baa-chan!" Naurot shouted happily as he turned and found Tsunade and her assistant Shizune standing behind them.

"BAKA!" roared Tenten before she slammed her fist into his head.

"I like her!" Tsunade said happily as she watched Tenten stomp Naruto into the ground.

"That's Tenten-chan, his girlfriend that he got your autograph for." answered Hinata while Tsuande looked at the two with a small smile before she suddenly heard Jiraiya giggling.

"J-Jiggly-baa-chan!" he laughed as even Anko had to snicker slightly.

"I came here because the Third told me that Naruto was still calling me that." she growled as Tenten stopped beating her boyfriend and was now staring at her in awe.

"A-Are you really her?" Tenten asked and when Tsunade nodded she squealed and did a little dance that was mostly certered around kicking Naruto and Jiraiya.

"Stupid Jiggly-baa-chan." muttered Naruto as he got to his feet and let Jiraiya out of the jutsu that was still holding him down. "I don't care who you are! You will always be Jiggly-baa-chan to me just as he will always be Ero-hime!"

Tsunade was ready to ring his neck before she heard him call Jiraiya a perverted princess. While Jiraiya looked a him in horror, the group for females laughed loudly at him.

"D-Don't ever all me that again!" shouted Jiraiya angrily.

"Ero-hime, Ero-hime, Ero-hime." taunted Naruto and when Jiraiya dove at him he did the manliest thing he could do. He hide behind his nee-chan, sensei, and girlfriend.

Jiraiya suddenly stopped when they glared at him.

"Remember, pervert. Whether or not you get a second beating for peeping in on us all comes down to whether or not you'll teach me touto." Anko said, all humor gone from her voice.

"O-Of course I will." Jiraiya promised.

"Oh and I never said I would try and stop Jiggly-baa-chan." stated Naruto with a smirk before Jiraiya paled and was met with a massive blow to the face courtesy of Tsunade and her fist.

"You two do realize your still practicly naked, right?" Shizune asked the two towel clad females only to have them shrug.

"So he's teaching the little brat." Tsunade said to herself before turning to Tenten and Hinata. "Ok then. Since you have to put up with that brat I'll be teaching the two of you for the next month on top of any training you may already have planed."

Tenten and Hinata started wide eyed at the woman before she finally got sick of it and picked them both up and carried them off while Naruto stayed behind and began poking the twitching form that was Jiraiya with a stick.

"Become a pervert and I'll castrate you." promised Anko as she and Kurenai hugged Naruto once more before going back into the hot springs. They really weren't worried about him since they knew he hated perverts as much as they did but Anko loved threatening people to much to miss this chance.

"Hey Ero-hime! Get up and teach me something!" Naruto demanded as his foot connected with Jiraiya's thigh.

"Brat, stop calling me that! I am Mt. Myobokugama's Holy Master Sennin, also known as Toad Sennin, remember it!" shouted Jiraiya and before he had finished a large toad had appeared an struck a pose with the pervert.

"That was the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard in my life!" Naruto laughed while the man growled and sent the giant toad away. "Please tell me you weren't planing on teaching me that!"

"I don't know what I should teach a brat like you!" Jiraiya shouted at the blond. "Do you want to summon?"

"I already can. Nee-chan had me sign the snake contract years ago." Naruto told him as he calmled down and followed Jiraiya as he led him away from the village.

"Have you completed your 'Rights' yet? Or are you going the other way." Jiraiya asked only to have Naruto glare at him.

"I am nothing like that snake fucking pansy! Nee-chan and I were close to our 'Rights' when I graduated but I haven't heard anything about it since."

"At least your not a complete waste of space." Jiraiya said once he heard how he spoke of Orochimaru.

"Well what are you waiting for?! Summon a snake and find out!" Jiraiya shouted after Naruto made no move to do anything other then glare at him for his comment.

Naruto bit his thumb and began making hand seals. Jiraiya was pretty impressed with his speed at making them and when he boy summoned a pretty large snake he noticed that he wasted almost no chakra during the jutsu.

"Why am I here Naruto and why is the froggy with you?" the snake asked once it saw Jiraiya.

"He's training me and he wanted to know how soon until I reach my 'Rights'. Would you happen to know?" he asked the snake.

"You and you nee-chan completed your 'Rights' not long ago. Tou-san has been waiting for one of you to summon him so you can talk." answered the snake before disappeaing leaving a cheering Naruto and a smiling Jiraiya behind.

"You hear that Ero-hime! I can summon Manda!" Naruto shouted only to have Jiraiya lose his smile.

"No, you have the right to. That doesn't mean a brat like you can do it." Jiraiya teased causing Naruto to stop cheering and glare at him.

Jiraiya watched as Naruto began to focus chakra and even saw a few flickers of red flowing along with the blue.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" roared Naruto before he begin soaring up towards the sky at an alarming rate.

"So. You've finally summoned me." stated a deep booming voice from the giant snake.

"Holy shit! You're fucking huge!" Naruto shouted as he looked around at the view from atop the snakes head and realized that he wasn't even one fourth the size of one of Mandas scales. He was nothing more then a speck on this behemoth.

"That I am." agreed the snake who seemed to find Naruto's reaction quite funny.

"So you're the most powerful summons, right? I mean a slug and a frog are cool and all but they couldn't possibly beat you!" Naruto shouted as he complimented the snake.

Before Manda could answer, Jiraiya took it upon himself to defend the frog summons honor by summoning Gamabunta.

"That's a big frog alright but Manda is the best!" shouted Naruto while he looked at the scarred frog and was secretly impressed.

"Jiraiya, why did you summon me? You know I don't like you." stated the frog as it took a long puff from its pipe.

"That brat said that you couldn't possibly beat Manda. I was trying to uphold your honor!" Jiraiya shouted while he wished that to overgrown tadpole would respect him just one time.

"Why would I care what that brat says about me?" asked Gamabunta.

"Because that is the brat that the Fourth sealed the Kyuubi into!"

Gamabunta stared across at Naruto while Manda was even surprised by this.

"Hmm." was all Gamabuta said.

"Naruto, why didn't you tell me or any of my kin this?" asked Manda calmly.

"Because I wasn't sure how you wold take it. Anko-nee-chan and a few others are the only ones that know about it and still care about me so I figured if I didn't tell you then you would like me." explained Naruto while Jiraiya hoped that this didn't turn out bad or Tsunade and Anko would kill him if he was lucky.

"We have nothing against the fox. Nothing will come of this but in the future do not hide something like this from us or there will be conciquenses." Manda ordered. "I must go and tell the others of this. Tell your nee-chan that she may summon any of us without worry as well."

When the snake disappeared so did Gamabunta, so not only was Naruto falling at a remarkable rate, so was Jiraiya. After the two slowly pulled themselves out of the human shaped holes they had made on impact. Jiraiya fell down beside Naruto and rested.

"Are you even tired from that summon?" he finally asked his blackmailer.

"I don't think I've ever been tired after doing a jutsu or at least not since I was a kid." Naruto answered truthfully. It had been years since Naruto had been tired after Anko had made him use jutsus.

"When did you start training?"

"Anko-nee-chan adopted me when I was four and when she was signing the adoption papers she also made me her apprentice. She first taught me how to read and write along with taijutsu but a few months later she started teaching me the academy jutsus. By the time I started the academy I was already using most of the jutsus I know, even the Body Flicker Technique."

As Naruto answered his question, Jiraiya couldn't help but be impressed. This brat is better then I was or even the Fourth was at his age. I wonder if he can learn it.

"Brat, I think I know of a jutsu you might like but I'm not even sure if you'll be able to learn it. It take a lot of chakra and a lot of control to use. Truthfully I can't even use it. Since you have the Kyuubi's chakra at your disposel you should meet that requirement in spades." Jiraiya said as he sat up and pulled the large scroll from his back and threw it at Naruto. "I'm going to go find your sensei and Anko and bring them here. While I'm gone I want you to read the first part of that scroll."

Naruto nodded and as he man diappeared he opened the scroll and promptly dropped it. "T-The Flying Thunder God Technique!" he stuttered as he lifted the scroll again to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "Sorry Tenten-chan but I think I love Ero-hime now."

When Jiraiya came back with a busted lip and two angry kunoichi they found about fifty Narutos all huddles over a scroll with a look of absolute concentration on their faces.

"What the hell do you have him reading that would make him like this?!" shouted Anko while Naruto didn't even notice.

"That scroll was given to me by the Fourth for when I met someone worthy of learning his techniques. What he is reading now is the secetion on the Hiraishin no Jutsu." Jiraiya answered and even Anko stared back at him in disbelief.

"T-That's an S-Rank technique!" shouted Kurenai. "Do you really think he can learn it?"

"I know that he can summon Manda without even feeling the difference in his chakra reserves. I know that if I was his age he would beat me and the same is true with the Fourth. If that brat can't learn this technique then I doubt I will ever find someone who can." answered Jiraiya but Anko stopped listening at the part about Manda. She knew that if Naruto summoned him and was stil alive then they had reached there 'Rights'.

Anko was so excited tha she forgot about Jiraiya's presence and pulled Kurenai into a kiss. Even Jiraiya, the self-proclaimed super pervert, couldn't watch the two without suffering from a nose bleed. When Anko finally pulled away from a now dazed Kurenai and found Jiraiya staring at them with blood running freely form his nose and drool falling from his mouth she did the only thing she could do. With surprising speed and flexibility, Anko kicked the perverted man in the jaw only to have her knee touch her own shoulder.

Kurenai snapped back to reality just in time to see Jiraiya flying back a few yards from the kick but he still had a blissfully happy expression on his face.

"Done!" shouted Naruto suddenly as the clones all disappeared and Naruto was forced to cringe as the extra knowledge gave him a slight headache.

"Since even I can't use that technique there isn't anything more I can tell you about it. I'll be watching the finals so don't make me look bad!" Jiraiya shouted before disappearing.

"Hey! When did you two get here?" he asked while Anko and Kurenai sweat dropped. "Oh and Anko-nee-chan, we reached our 'Rights'!"

"I know the pervert told us!" Anko said happily while Naruto pouted.

"I wanted to tell you."

"You can tell me again and I'll act surprised?" she offered but Naruto shook his head and simply jumped on her.

Kurenai laughed happily at the two as Anko tried to fight off Naruto who seemed dead set on hugging his nee-chan. Then suddenly a flashback of when Naruto had done the same thing to her hit her only making her laugh even harder. Tenten had been the only reason he let go last time and she was training with Tsunade and Shizune.

"Kurenai-chan, help me!" Anko pleaded as the blond shinobi was now on her back with his arms wrapped around her neck and his legs around her waist. There was no way she would break his grip now.

"No can do. He did that to me once and only Tenten-chan showing up got him to let go." she told her while Anko sighed and stopped fighting. Naruto rested his chin on her shoulder and smiled at Kurenai before winking.

"Come on Anko-chan, lets go for a walk." Kurenai offered and grudgingly Anko agreed. She didn't want to be seen anywhere with this new... growth on her back.

"Do you two have enjoy your time in the hot springs?" Naruto asked once they were back in the village and he had finally let go of Anko.

"Yes. For some reason the other women won't get in if Kurenai-chan and I are there. I guess they think we'll grope them or something. The only person I would grab is Tsunade and that's just because those things are fucking huge!" Anko answered while Kurenai and Naruto laughed.

"So what are you going to do with a month off of missions and teaching?" Naruto inquired before rolling his eyes as the shot the other a quick glance. "I guess I should have said 'who' and not 'what'."

"Hey!" Kurenai shouted indignantly while Anko only smiled and nodded excitedly.

"Even if she wasn't nodding like an idiot I would have known. You two haven't really had a lot of time for just the two of you so it isn't surprising. All I asked is that your quiet at night so I can sleep and that you keep an eye on ero-hime." Naruto asked while even Kurenai gave in and nodded shyly.

"So, do you think you can learn it?" Anko asked once they sat down at an all to familiar ramen stand.

"That reminds me." Naruto muttered before forming a cross seal and creating more Narutos then either of them even wanted to try and count. "Go to Training Ground 8 and practice but only if no one it there. Summon a few snakes to keep a look out and no attacking each other."

After a mocking salute the wave of Narutos took off towards the training ground while a disappointed Teuchi sighed. "I thought my dreams had come true. Can you think of how much money I would make if there were that many of him?" he asked Kurenai and Anko while Ayame laughed from the back room.

"Come on you old fart! I'm doing the best I can to keep you out of poverty!" Naruto shouted before giving his order.

While the three sat and ate, Hinata and Tenten were standing in front of the hero of kunoichi all across Konohagakure.

"Do either of you have any interest in medical jutsus?" she asked while Hinata raised her hand nervously.

"I-I like to make medical salves. They seem to work pretty well." Hinata explained once the woman looked at her.

"Do you have any with you?"

"I always carry some around from when Naruto-kun, Tenten-chan, and I were kids." Hinata said as she opened the pack at her waist and handed a jar or light green colored ouintment over to Tsunade while Tenten laughed at her comment about Naruto. It was true too. Naruto had always been in need of medical attention of some kind since Anko's training was rough and just because he liked playing rough far to much. Normally it was Tenten that would hurt him. A black eye here and there wasn't all that uncommon between the two.

"This is really good. Especially since you haven't had any form of formal teaching." Tsunade commented before handing the jar over to her apprentice to examine. "Where do you collect your herbs?"

"I grow them all in our garden." Hinata admitted as her cheeks began to flush.

"You should see it! There are different kinds of plantes everywhere and Hinata-chan knows them all!" Tenten said while the blush in Hinata's cheeks started to spread.

"How long have the two of you been friends?" asked Shizune after she handed the jar back to Hinata.

"Since we met Naruto-kun. We each met him the same day and met each other the next. Naruto-kun has a habit of making to people friends through him." Hinata answered fondly.

"You don't like him do you?" Tsunade asked while looking nervously at Tenten who just laughed at the question.

"I used to have a huge crush on him after he saved me from some bullies the first time I met him but Naruto-kun was oblivious to it. After a while I saw that Tenten-chan and him liked each other and I got myself to give up on him. I'm dating Shino-kun now and I couldn't be happier." she answered.

"Why anyone would like that little brat is beyond me." Tsunade said to herself only to get an answer from Shizune.

"If I were younger I think I'd like him. He's always joking but can be serious when he wants. He's good looking but he isn't arrogant and he's strong but he isn't over confident. Plus his eyes are beautiful."

The three others only started at her while trying to see if she really didn't like the blond Genin.

"If anything he's an touto." Shizune stated firmly once she saw their looks.

"So what will you be teaching us?" Tenten asked excitedly while trying to get the conversation away from others liking Naruto.

"Well, since Hinata has training with her tou-san as well as me it will be hard to teach you at the same speed but I want to teach you both how I use my strength and start Hinata on medical jutsus."

Tenten looked like Naruto in a ramen stand after hearing this. Tsunade's strength was legendary and if she was going to learn it then she would be an even better kunoichi. Of course Hinata was just as excited about the medical training as she was the strength. It was just in her to help people more then hurt them.

"Can you imagine a Gentle Fist strike that will knock someone across the arena!" Tenten joked happily while the older blonde smiled at the thought.

"It will certainly be a surprise. Hinata, I want you to tell anyone that asks, even those in your family, that I'm teaching you only medical jutsus."

"Ok..." Hinata agreed before Tsunade led them over to a large boulder.

"Hinata, I want you to watch my chakra when I do this." Tsunade ordered while Hinata nodded and quickly activated her Byakugan.

She watched as Tsunade gathered chakra it her hands at a speed she didn't even think was possible before tapping the boulder while at the same time releasing all of the built up chakra. She and Tenten both stared open mouthed as the boulder shattered into a fine powder.

Tsunade smirk at the two while they continued to stare at her and the powder that was once a large rock in shock and awe. "That is what I'm going to teach you."

Tenten must have been channeling her boyfriend for a moment because she gave a loud cry before jumping on the busty blonde woman and hugged her tightly.

As soon as Shino walked through the doors of his clans compound his kaa-san tossed him a sword, which he barely caught, before attacking. Shino had always neglected his kenjutsu training and it seemed that now he was going to pay for it. He was able to block his kaa-san a few times before she gracefully spun to the left and used that momentum to help gain the strength she needed to knock her musuko off of his feet as his sword slid a few yards away. He had lost before he could even unsheathe the sword.

"You have little to learn from you tou-san so most of this month you will be training under me. This would not be necessary if you had taken your studies under me seriously when you were younger." Akiko stated as she slid the sword back into its sheathe before waiting for Shino to get to his feet.

"I am sorry." Shino offered before he stood and bow low to his kaa-san.

"Do not trouble yourself. You were never interested in swords and I did not have the heart to force you to do anything. Only now it is time for you to learn. We can not always pick and choose what we wish to do or what we wish to learn. For the good of our village and ourselves we must become strong." Akiko told him as she placed her hand against his cheek and smiled slightly. "I have heard of your fight from your tou-san as well as my dragonflies. I am proud of you but I wish to see you against a more skilled opponent. That boy from Sunagakure could have been a very good shinobi but it was his bad luck that he had to fight an Aburame. I wish to see you fight toe to toe with Mitarashi Naruto. This will take more work then you can imagine. You are strong but that boy has strength of mind, body, and heart that is unmatched by anyone but the strongest of our village."

"Do you believe that I will be able to match him? I have seen him fight and I know his strength but even as I stand here before you I am certain that he is training." Shino asked quietly while his kaa-san tilted her head slightly and looked him straight in the eye.

"No man is unbeatable just as no dream is unreachable. To accomplish this goal you will have to work yourself harder then you have ever worked before because no dream is worth achieving if you do not have to fight for it. Have faith and do your best and we shall see where it leads you."

"I will try my hardest." vowed Shino before he turned and picked up the discarded sword and turned back to his kaa-san. "Please teach me all you know."

"In time, in time." Akiko said gently as she turned and led her musuko away from the entrance.

As they left Shibi stepped out of the shadow and whispered. "A dream of chasing the horizon. You will be strong my musuko, of that I am certain."

As Naruto sat among a sea of clones he couldn't help but be in awe as to the complexity of the jutsu. He had over six hundred clones working none stop and they had yet to even scratch the surface of it. As most continued to work Naruto simply sat and waited for his chakra to return so he could make another bunch of clones. So Naruto could keep track of where they were at he would dispel the clones and gain their knowledge only to make another set of over six hundred to continue working. Normally he would join them but the influx of knowledge was giving him a very bad headache so he was lucky to even be able to stay conscious. Sadly Naruto didn't stay conscious after sending away the clones. As another wave of pain tore through his head, Naruto blacked out.

Instead of dreaming of Tenten in all sorts of different situations, Naruto found himself aware of the dream itself as he pushed himself to his feet and looked around. He was standing up to his ankles in water but that was all that he could tell in the pitch black surrounding.

"I really could use some lights." he whispered and to his utter amazement a soft light began to chase away the darkness. "Nothing better to do."

With that Naruto picked a direction and started walking. As he walked the sound of water splashing as he walked was the only sound he could hear. For a minute Naruto contemplated using water walking but decided against it as his feet were already wet and the silence surrounding him would have hurt his ears.

Suddenly as deep growling sound alerted him as to another's presence. Once he realized he wasn't alone, Naruto stepped up onto of the water and began walking silently in the direction the sound had come from. As he walked he realized that the deep growled sound was constant meaning that what ever it was it was more then likely asleep.

When he came upon a pair of giant cage doors that were locked by a single piece of paper stood blocking the path he realized were he was and who, or rather what had been making the sounds. He was inside the seal staring at the sleeping form of a giant nine tailed demon fox. The very same fox that had ruined his life. Yet he was also the reason he had his nee-chan.

"Hey you fucking fox! Wake up!" Naruto shouted as he moved closer and kicked the fox through the opening between the bars.

"What do you want, filthy human?" asked the great beast as it lazily opened one eyes and gazed at Naruto.

"Nothing really. I just want to fuck with you a little for making my life hell before Anko-nee-chan found me." Naruto told the fox before he reached in again and kicked him.

The Kyuubi gave a deep raspy laugh before responding. "So your my pathetic vessel. At least your brave and not some ninny."

"Who the fuck still uses the word 'ninny'?" asked Naruto loudly.

"Who the fuck teases a caged animal? Why don't you join me inside this cage and we'll see how brave you are." Kyuubi offered only to have Naruto slip between the bars and look at him expectingly.

"Do you really think this will matter? You have no real body so go ahead and try and kill me. Hell if you succeed you can have my body!"

The Kyuubi growled and swiped at him with it's giant razor like claws only for them to pass right through. For the next hour or so the giant fox tried everything he could think of to kill the blond boy but nothing worked.

"Are you finished?" Naruto asked only to have the fox flop down on the ground and bare it's fangs; which even if they couldn't hurt you, they were still pretty scary.

"Go away." the fox ordered only to have Naruto walk up and start kicking him again. "That doesn't even hurt so why do it?"

"It might not hurt but I bet it's really fucking annoying." taunted Naruto as he continued to kick.

"Yes. Yes it is." growled Kyuubi through clenched fangs.

"Why did you attack us anyway? I mean if your so powerful what would one measly shinobi village be to you?"

"I was just passing through and saw your village and decided to have some fun. I slaughtered hundreds until that bastard on the frog showed up and sealed me inside of you." the fox answered while his voice became cold when he remember the man who had sealed him.

"So you're just a bastard. You just wanted to kill everyone for the fun of it." stated Naruto with yet another kick. This time though he also reached out and pulled a single piece of fur from the giant fox.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! That fucking hurt!" roared Kyuubi as he jumped to his feet and rounded on Naruto.

"You big baby. It doesn't hurt that bad. Here I'll even do to mysel... Fuck that hurts!" he screamed after he pulled a hair from his own head.

"I'm already being punished by being here so why don't you leave!" Kyuubi shouted before laying down again and closing his eyes.

Naruto smirk and reached out and plucked another piece of fur off of the most feared demon to ever walk among them.

"You thrice damned hairless monkey! Stop doing that!" shouted the fox while Naruto only smiled.

"Give me control of your chakra and I'll leave."

"Fuck you meat bag! I'm not giving you sh... That fucking hurts damn it! Ok, ok. You can use my chakra when ever you need it but I want something from you." the fox conceded after yet another piece of fur was pulled out. "I want you to make this place into something better then a fucking sewer."

Naruto shrugged and walked over to the doors and looked at the seal. He reached up and touched the piece of paper while concentrating on what he wanted the cage to look like. As the room began to blur, Kyuubi watched as the cage stretched in all directions and slowly became a giant forest. The trees were so large that even he couldn't jump over them. He then focused on the sounds of the forest and silently hoped they were real. When he came upon a village of people the Kyuubi cheered before storming the village and killing everyone in it.

Naruto watched the fox slaughter everyone in the 'village' and couldn't help but laugh.

"Now this is more like it!" Kyuubi roared as more and more people appeared for him to kill. He was so caught up in his playing that he didn't notice Naruto walk up and pluck one last piece of fur. "I fucking thought we had a truce!"

"We do... now. I'll be leaving fuzzy." Naruto stated before his vision of the surrounding forest gave way to the real one of Training Ground 8.

As the sun began to raise Naruto realized that he must have been in the seal a lot longer then he thought. As he stood and started to create some more clones he was shocked to find that his chakra was no longer blue with the occasional flicker of red. It was now purple.

"This is so fucking cool!" Naruto shouted before he used as much chakra as he usually did to make five hundred clones but instead of five hundred he found himself surrounded by one thousand. "That means my chakra is twice as potent! This keeps getting better and better! Plus I was able to fuck with that bastard fox!"

Naruto gave his clones their orders before disappearing in a swirl of leaves and reappearing outside his front door. Just as he hand touched he door knob it flung open to reveal his nee-chan.

"Oh shit." he whispered as she grabbed him by the hair and threw him into the room before slamming the door shut. "I haven't done anything yet!"

"Damn right you didn't! You didn't come home last night you little bastard!" Anko shouted while a still tired looking Kurenai entered the room to find Anko yelling at Naruto only to turn around an walk right back into her room.

"I was training and I lost track of time!" Naruto shouted.

"I don't care what you were doing! I was worried sick!" Anko screamed and this time Naruto sighed and hung his head. He knew she was right to yell at him even if he didn't mean to stay out all night. "What? No more fucking excuses?"

"No. You're right. I should have came home and told you I would be out all night training."

"Damn right you should have." Anko stated having lost her need to shout when he admitted that he was wrong.

"But something really cool happened last night!" Naruto shouted excitedly as a Kurenai walked into the room, dressed this time. "I was working with my clones when I passed out back of the headache I got from absorbing all of their knowledge and I 'woke up' in the seal! I kicked Kyuubi for a bit and made fun of him before I started pulling out his fur so to get me to stop and leave he gave me control of his chakra and all I had to do was modify the seal to make it not look like a sewer anymore. Now my chakra is purple and it's twice as potent!"

Anko and Kurenai were still working through the part about him kicking the Kyuubi and pulling out it's fur. Once they had worked through it they both stared at him, mouths gaping.

"You were taunting the Kyuubi?!" shouted Kurenai while at the same time Anko shouted. "You're chakra is purple?!"

"Yes and yes. He's really a big baby. I only pulled out a couple of pieces of fur and the fucking fox was almost crying!" Naruto told them before laughing loudly.

"You do realize that your going to have to work on chakra control again, right?" Kurenai asked while Naruto only nodded and smiled.

"Since I wanted to make five hundred clones but got one thousand, I had half of them go to the lake to work on water walking again."

"Lucky bastard. I want purple chakra." muttered Anko who seemed to be stuck on the one thing.

"I only came home because when I woke up I knew I'd be in trouble. I've still got training to do!" Naruto shouted before disappearing again.

"Kurenai-chan! I want purple chakra!" Anko whined like a little girl as she pouted.

"Poor thing." Kurenai teased as she patted Anko on the head and stood. "I can't make you're chakra purple but if you're a good girl I'll take a shower with you."

Anko suddenly stopped pouting and ran into the bathroom with Kurenai trailing behind her.

Shino was woken three hours before the sun had began to raise by his kaa-san. Since he had only finally gotten to sleep at one in the morning, needless to say he was tired.

When he was finally dress he found his kaa-san warming up in their garden. He stopped and watched her as she pressed on through her kenjutsu form. Shino thought is looked like beauty personified. The steps she took and the ease with which she swung her sword made her seem all the more powerful and graceful then she did when she was simply walking across the room, which was already something awe inspiring.

"My musuko, take up your sword and come stand beside me. I will begin teaching you my form." Akiko ordered gently and Shino did as he was told without one comment about how early it was.

As he worked through the first kata, Shino paused only to ask. "Does this form have a name?"

"Will giving it a name make it any more powerful?" Akiko countered. "A name is a description, not a source of power. I have yet to find the right words that can describe the way it looks and feels. If you must give it a name then do so but it will not make it any stronger or any weaker."

"I do not believe I could find the words either." Shino admitted as he began to move through the forms at a very slow pace so that his kaa-san could correct anything wrong with is stance.

"But you must never stop looking. If one day you can find the right words then that will be a glorious day. Now raise you elbow slightly." she told him before nodding once he did it.

She continued to circle him as her ever vigilant eyes seemed to catch even the slightest imperfection in his stance. This continued for many hours before she told him to stop.

"Why do you fight? Why did you become a shinobi?" she asked in her usual soothing voice.

"I wish to become a reliable head for this great clan. I wish to make you proud of me." he answered swiftly but then he kaa-san's stare seemed to pierce into his very soul he continued. "I wish to protect this village, to someday have a family of my own. I wish to see this clan viewed as the strongest."

"Do you know why your team fights?"

"Hinata-chan fights to prove herself. She longs to be seen as something other then a weakling and a mistake. Naruto fights for recognition. To be seen for who he is and not for what he holds. He wishes to see his family and friends happy above all else."

"Do you see the difference in your dreams? Tell me, which to you think it the correct path to follow?" Akiko inquired while Shino actually froze at that question.

"I-I do not know. Is it not up to a person to decide what they wish to fight for?"

"It is. So why did you become a shinobi? Why did you give one man the right to send you into a battle you may never return from? How can you have a family or become a great head for this clan if you are dead?"

"I trust the Hokage. He is a smart man and would not recklessly send his shinobi to die for something that wasn't important."

"And you trust him because he has proven himself time and time again." Akiko offered and when Shino nodded she continued. "They why do the villagers not trust Naruto?"

"I do not know. I ask myself every time we walk down the street and a villager glares at him."

"Shino, fear and hate are hard things to let go. It is understandable that they would fear Naruto for a short time but he has already proven himself in the eyes of many. Ever passing day he changes the mind of one more person. Yet he will never succeed on his own. The numbers are too great to change one by one. You are close to him, and you are his friend. You would fight beside him no matter the situation, and yet you fear him." as she said this her musuko's eyes snapped towards her.

"I do not..." he started only to be cut off.

"Do not lie to me." Akiko stated firmly. "It is in your posture, it is in your words, it is in your poorly hidden expressions."

"I do not fear Naruto in the way that you may think. I do not fear his strength or his burden. I do not fear his speed nor do I fear his sadistic tendencies."

"Then what do you have to fear of him?" Akiko pressed calmly as she walked over to a table and picked up a cup of tea that had been left for her.

"I fear his connection with Hinata." Shino answered shyly while his kaa-san smiled into her cup.

"Why?

"They are best friends. She has admitted to liking him at one point and at times they are inseparable. I know our relationship is still very new but I do not want to lose her to anyone."

"Then shouldn't you fear Hinata? Naruto himself has never said he liked Hinata, am I correct?"

"Yes." Shino admitted.

"Then why fear him? He has a girlfriend he is very close to and sees Hinata a a imouto."

"It feels wrong to not trust Hinata."

"So you shift your mistrust to someone undeserving? Does that not sound very familer? Are you not doing what everyone in this village is doing?" Akiko asked and Shino flinched as if he had been slapped. "Or course this is to a much smaller degree but it is still the same. Would you like my advice?"

"More then anything."

"Let you mistrust go. Naruto would never hurt someone he thinks of as a friend. Hinata is a kind and gentle girl who would sooner take her own life then hurt someone she loves. Your mistrust is understandable because of your age but do not let your worry and jealousy make you do something foolish." Akiko told him before she finished her cup and walked back over to him. "Now begin again."

As Shino was beginning his second round of training, Hinata was finishing up her training with her tou-san and itoko before her training with Tsunade was set to start. Hinata found Tenten along the way to the 'unused training ground' that Tsunade had commandeered from a group of 'squatters'. Of course they were shinobi in their own training ground but Tsunade was far to pushy to let that stop her.

When the two arrived they found Tsunade already waiting for them while Shizune leaned against a tree and slept.

"Good, your on time." she said with a smile. "Now before we go on I want you to use what you learned yesterday and try it against this boulder."

Tenten seemed all to happy to run up and punch the rock. As odd as it sounds. What she learned was a very valuable lesson indeed. Rocks hurt like bitch if you punch them. As her fist connected with the boulder Tenten let loose a series of curses that would have made even Anko blush. Once Tsunade took her hand and healed the shattered bones she turned and smiled at Hinata. "What did she do wrong?"

Hinata, who had been trying hard not to laugh at the poor girl finally gave in and allowed herself to smile brightly while Tenten continued to curse at the rock. "She was overly excited and didn't actually focus any chakra into he fist."

Tenten glared at her while Tsunade smirked. "Correct. Tenten, I'm happy to see that you're excited but in the beginning this technique is very slow to work and as you use it you will get faster. Although you do get bonus points for using some words that I didn't even know."

By now Tenten was blushing and Hinata was giggling into her hand.

"Hinata, why don't you try?"

Hinata walked up to the boulder and began to pack as much chakra into her fist as she could. As she swung her fist she also learned a valuable lesson. Rocks hurt like a bitch no matter what you do before you punch them. As her fist connect with the stone she found that she was to late in releasing the chakra and as her fist shattered much like Tenten's had, the chakra dissipated leaving the innocent looking, pearl eyed Hyuuga to let loose her own string of swear words.

"As you can see, Tenten. Timing is also very important. It doesn't matter if you collect chakra or not if you don't release it on time." Tsunade commented as Shizune opened her eyes to find Hinata cursing up a storm while Tenten laughed and her mistress was trying to heal the girls hand.

"Would you like to try again?" Tsunade asked the two brightly only for them to glare at her.

The rest of the month passed much the same was. They woke up early and fell asleep late. They worked like a dog only for the smallest amount of success. They pushed themselves to the point of collapsing only to get up a few moments later and do it all again. Some were focusing on catching someone while others just wanted to get stronger. Still others were just used to working themselves harder and harder each time. Now that the real third exam was upon them, Shino, Naruto, Hinata, and Tenten were all feeling excited and ready to show off their new skills.

Naruto, Anko, and Kurenai arrived outside of the stadium to find Hinata, Shino, and Tenten waiting for them. None of them had changed much other then Naruto now wore more, slightly modified, kunai around his thighs, Hinata and Tenten now wore fingerless gloves, and Shino now had a katana strapped to his back. Each looked the others over and made note of the only changes in their appearance.

Then without warning Hinata jumped on Shino and Tenten jumped on Naruto. Anko and Kurenai laughed at the shocked looks on the two boys faces as their girlfriends forced their lips to their own.

"I missed you." Hinata and Tenten whispered at the same time to their respective partners.

"I missed you as well." Shino whispered while Naruto simply chose to kiss Tenten again.

"We'll meet you in the stands." Anko told them as she drug Kurenai into the stadium so that she could scare someone into giving them their seats.

"Shall we?" Naruto asked once he pulled away from Tenten.

"You might as well go back home Naruto. You will not be getting past me." Shino stated while Naruto only smirked and lead them into the stadium.

As all the winners from the preliminaries stood in front of a man with a senbon needle hanging out of his mouth, Naruto noticed that Sasuke wasn't there yet.

"My name is Shiranui Genma. Hayate has fallen ill so I'll be taking over for him." the man said while Naruto was wondering when Hayate wasn't ill. "These matches last until I tell you to stop. If you ignore me I will disqualify you on the spot and you will not have a chance at becoming Chuunin. These are very important people you are fighting in front of so give them a good show. You already know when and who you're fighting so be ready. Now would Hinata Hyuuga and Kinuta Dosu please stay while the rest move up to the contestants box."

While they all moved, the Third was shocked to find two of his students already sitting in his booth. "I must be dieing. Why else would you two be here." he teased as he sat down with a sigh.

"You are getting old but we're here for a different reason." Jiraiya told him while Tsunade continued.

"We each took some cute little Genin under our wing for the month they had to train. Or at least I did. Jiraiya had his read a scroll before leaving."

"Who did you teach?" Jiraiya asked while the Hokage was wondering the same thing but Tsunade only smirk and said.

"You'll see."

"I see we have guests." said a voice from behind them. None of them turned in time to see him glaring at the two extra shinobi.

"My old team as come to see me. How are you Kazekage-dono?"

"I am good. How about you? Your old bones must he aching from the walk here." joked the Kazekage as he sat down beside the Hokage.

"Don't place me in the grave just yet." laughed the Hokage.

Down on the arena floor Hinata and Dosu were looking each other over. Hinata remembered seeing him in the second exam and thinking that he looked like a mummy. It was true. Dosu was wrapped in wrappings from head to toe. Only one eye was visible and he had an odd looking instrument on his arm. She knew from his fight during the prelims that he used it to create sound waves.

"First Match: Hyuuga Hinata vs. Kinuta Dosu. Hajime!" Genma shouted while the spectators cheered loudly.

Dosu has seen her fight and knew that he had to catch her soon or his chances were lost. He figured he would simply overpower her before using sound waves to mess up her vision and balance.

Hinata saw him rushing towards her and dropped into her Gentle First stance, and just as Dosu was about to reach her, she slammed her palm into Dosu's chest.

Everyone watched in awe as Dosu was thrown like a rag doll into the stadium wall with such power that many sitting behind the wall left the impact.

"Holy shit!" shouted Naruto before the entire stadium began cheering while Genma called the fight and medics were called in to check on Dosu.

Up in the Hokage's booth the Third and Jiraiya turned and stared at Tsunade in disbelief.

"That's one." she said simply as she smirked at the two.