Crazy Snake Bastards,

Entrance to Training Ground 44…

Anko leaned against the fence barring entrance to her home away from home. She was just about to being munching on her favorite snack of dango when movement to her right caught her eye. Looking over she noticed a mop of blonde hair and a kid with a pineapple looking hair style.

She was shocked that they were here so quickly. "Hey gakis, how the hell did you get here so fast?"

Naruto and Shikamaru noticed her and walked over to where she was standing. Naruto spoke. "Ehh well we train not to farm from here with our sensei so we knew where we were going." The Nara nodded his agreement and proceeded to lay on the ground and look up at the clouds, while Naruto sat in a meditative position.

Anko sweatdropped that the laid back attitude of the two who were in such a stressful contest as the Chunnin exams. Though she decided to let it go and went back to enjoying her dango.

A short while later other groups of chunnin hopefuls began to enter the area, and before long it was time to get the show on the road.

Anko flicked her now dango-less stick away and leaned off the fence. "Alright gakis it's time to start the seconf phase of the exam, or as I like to call it hell on earth!" As she said this she released a small wave of Killing Intent, not much just enough to scare most of the genin. Smirking at the nervous look of many she continued. "This is training ground 44 or also known as the Forest of Death. So aptly named because of the huge numbers of pathetic genin killing plants and animals that reside within it. Now, the rules are simple. Each team will receive a scroll at random. There are two types of scrolls, one representing Earth and the other Heaven. To advance a team must get to the center of the forest where a large tower is located, having both an Earth and Heaven scroll. You all have five days to reach the center of the forest, those that don't will be left to die."

Most genin in the area were now on the verge of wetting themselves at all the terrifying information that they had just received. Naruto and Shikamaru being among the few who weren't.

Naruto figured he would take this time to be a bit cheeky. "Hey crazy snake lady! I see the tent where you get your scroll, but what about the other tent that is set up next to it, what is it for?"

Anko smirked and let loose a kunai attempting to graze the loudmouth's cheek and scare the piss out of him. The kunai nearly struck, but Naruto moved his head a fraction of an inch to avoid it, while Anko appeared behind him holding another kunai to his throat. "Nice move there brat, but your still too slo-" Her sentence was cut short as she felt a slight pressure near her stomach. Looking down she saw that he had a kunai pressed against her, showing a stalemate between the two.

It was Naruto's turn to smirk. "Looks like I'm plenty fast crazy snake lady."

Anko was momentarily surprised but smiled none the less. "Ha I like you shrimp. Try not to die in the forest." She then suddenly felt something poke her shoulder and whirled around nearly beheading the person that had snuck up on her.

The weird looking shinobi, sporting a musical note headband, backed away a few steps. "Sorry to startle you proctor-san, I just wanted to return your kunai."

Anko narrowed her eyes at the newcomer. "Thanks, butt sneaking up on someone like that could get you killed." She then took the kunai back and shunshined back to the front of the crowd.

The genin that knew Naruto were all standing there shocked at what took place, their brains not being able to comprehend the stunt that he just pulled. Most of them chalked it up to dumb luck and simply letting it go. All that is, except for a certain Uchiha who stood fixated on the blonde.

Anko regaining the attention of the crowd spoke. "As the blonde gaki pointed out, the other tent is for a release waiver that you have to sign. This waiver states that we are not responsible for your deaths if they happen to occur. They are so that your home villages won't wage war upon Konoha when some of you die, and trust me some of you will most certainly perish in this forest."

Letting that sink in, the teams proceeded to obtain their respective scrolls as well as sign the death waivers. When everyone was done each team stood at the gates of their respective entrance into the forest.

Anko made sure that everyone was ready to go. "Alright everyone! Begin!" Each gate then proceeded to swing open as everyone rushed in. Well everyone that is except our favorite duo.

Anko noticed them just standing there and walked over to them. "Hey idiots what gives? You know that the test has started right?"

Shikamaru figured he would answer her. "Yeah we know, we just figured we would allow all the other teams to go first and start fighting each other, maybe they will tire each other out and we can come in late and catch a winded team by surprise." He then proceeded to lay on the grass and close his eyes.

Anko could certainly understand the logic behind his reply. 'These two are certainly interesting. I can't wait to see what they do in the future.' With that thought she shunshined away to find some dango.

Naruto and Shikamaru waited for another 30 minutes and stood up. "Well Shika I guess we've waited long enough. We should be able to sneak in and find a wounded team by now.

Shikamaru nodded his head in affirmative as the two shot off into the forest.

While bounding through the trees, Naruto turned to his teammate to discuss tactics. "So whats the plan Shika? We just gonna try and locate a team and see if they are weak or not?"

Shikamaru nodded his consent. "Yeah, go ahead and push your chakra out and see what you can find."

Before the exam began Kakashi had kicked up the pairs training to ensure they were ready for the exam. Doing so he had taught them a few more jutsu. One such technique was a lightening technique he taught Naruto. The technique acted a bit like sonar. One would push out their chakra as a sort of signal. The jutsu allowed for a response sent back to the shinobi who used it that gave a chakra picture of the area it covered. It allowed to see things that could not be by the naked eye as well as being able to get a grasp of ones surroundings. Naruto had not yet perfected the technique but had a good enough grasp on it that he could send it out far enough for it to be useful.

Both dropped down to the ground as Naruto had to focus a lot in order to decipher exactly what was being sent back to him. He did the required hand signs not bothering to call out the name of the technique this time. He sent his chakra out, keeping it as thin as he could so that those with sensory capabilities would have trouble sensing it. After he was finished he began to get a grasp of what was around them. Naruto noted a few teams not far at all. Just as the jutsu had reached the peak of its distance, a huge chakra source flared making Naruto gasp in shock.

Shikamaru was surprised by the sudden outburst. "What did you see?"

Naruto took a minute to collect himself. "There is a chakra signature in here that is bigger than anything you could imagine. I've used this technique on sensei and he barely has half the chakra of whoever this is."

Shikamaru was shocked beyond words. That amount of chakra was Kage level easily. "Well atleast we know where it is and can avoid it. For now we can just move away from it and check every so often to be sure to stay away from it."

Naruto wished that they could be so lucky. "Unfortunately Shika, while I wish we could do that, we can't. I noticed a few chakra signatures near the big one and I think they belong to some of our classmates. I'm not sure who but they felt familiar somehow and that's the only thing I think it could be."

Shikamaru was having a bit of an inner struggle. The strategist in him knew that going there could potentially get them killed, however the comrade in him could not allow his friends to potentially die without him even trying to prevent it. "Alright Naruto let's go, lead the way."

Naruto gave a solemn nod and shot off in the direction of the enigma.

They did not have to travel far and since they were moving at nearly top speed they got to the site quickly. They slowed as they got closer and came in silently as to try and keep their presence unknown to whoever they were about to face. In the clearing ahead they finally got close enough to see what was happening. Sasuke was on the ground writhing in apparent pain clutching his neck, while Sakura was crying and screaming about her precious Sasuke. The other member of their team known as Sai was down on all fours beaten and bloody. Standing in front of him was the nin from earlier that had given Anko back her kunai and almost gotten beheaded for it.

Naruto knew she was the one who he felt with his jutsu, he just wasn't sure how a genin, exluding himself, could have that much chakra.

Shikamaru took the entire scene in and tried to come up with a plan. "Alright Naruto, I don't know who that ninja is but he or she is obviously not a genin, but in disguise. I have an idea who it is and if I am correct then we are all in big trouble. The first thing I want you to do is create a few kage bunshin to go and alert any jounin ninja in the area to come aid us quickly. Next we have to get that Sai fellow out of there or he is gonna be killed. On my mark I want you to hurl an exploding kunai at the nin. He should either dodge or deflect it causing an explosion in the area to temporarily destract him. When this happens, you being the fastest will have to grab Sai and retreat. I will provide cover fire as needed."

Naruto knew the plan was the best bet. He created five clones to speed away to find help and readied an exploding kunai. It was going to be a long throw so he came up with an idea of his own. He hurled the kunai as hard as he could and then did some hand signs. "Wind Style" Gail Palm." He whispered the name as not to be found out yet and thrust a solo palm toward the sailing kunai. A gust of wind shot forward carrying the kunai with it. This allowed the projectile to sail at an almost unbelievable speed.

The two watched as the kunai got closer and closer hoping that maybe it would actually strike. Their hopes were shot down however, as right before the kunai was going to sink into the head of its target, he tilted his head just enough to dodge and the kunai went sailing sticking in the tree behind.

The small explosion that occurred a moment later was what the two were waiting for as Naruto raced to grab Sai and at the same time Shikamaru began raining down shuriken into the dust cloud that had enveloped their enemy. Naruto was able to grab Sai and jump back to a safe distance.

Once the dust settled, the boys looked as the one they attacked dusted themself off like nothing had really happened. "Ku ku ku, it laughed in an odd manner, looks like I have some more mice to play with." The figure then took in the form of the two newcomers. 'Well well well,' he thought. 'Looks like this day is getting better and better. Not only have I marked the Uchiha but now I have the Kyuubi brat standing in front of me. And to think, I didn't even have to go looking for him.'

Naruto and Shikamaru were a bit unnerved at the odd smile that they were faced with, but steeled their resolve none the less. They turned to each other, gave a brief nod, and went to work. They both flew through hand seals finishing at the same time. "Wind Style: Air bullet!" Naruto called. "Fire Style: Giant Fireball!" Shikamaru mimicked. The two jutsu went forward and collided creating an even bigger more powerful one. The fire was much larger and hotter due to the wind that had been pumped into it.

The ninja looked shocked for a moment before jumping up at the last second to avoid it. He then began his own set of hand seals only to be forced to parry an incoming volley of shuriken and kunai. Having swatted away and dodged what he could, he had to immediately go on the defensive as the two young ninja were on him in no time.

Naruto and Shikamaru were working together like a well-oiled machine. The tandem was nearly immaculate. The circled around one another attacking and parrying counter attacks as needed. One would go low for a kick, and the other would go high aiming for a strike to the face.

As great as the two were moving in sync however, they just could not land a hit. Their opponent either dodged or blocked everything threw at him until he was finally fed up. Feinting a low kick he then proceeded to grab an incoming fist from Naruto bringing him forward into a devastating knee to the stomach. He then kicked him back sending him into Shikamaru.

The two flew back a good distance before Shikamaru was able to get his feet under him and halt the two. Still holding on to Naruto's shoulders he spoke. "You alright Naruto?"

Naruto slowly got under his own power and wiped the blood away from the corner of his mouth. "Yeah I'm alright, that guy just kicks hard as hell. Another shot like that and I may be down for the count."

Shikamaru blanched at this. Naruto could take a beating and still keep going for days. Kakashi would beat the living shit out of the pair and Shikamaru would blackout hours before Naruto finally succumbed as well. 'If two hits from this guy is enough to put down Naruto, then one hit may just up and kill me flat out.'

He was driven out of his thoughts as Naruto spoke. "Shikamaru I have an idea, but you are going to have to take the others and get the hell out of here for me to do it."

Shikamaru thought about arguing but decided against it. He knew exactly what Naruto had planned and though he really did not like the idea he also did not see any other course to take. He would just have to go along and hope that the help they so desperately needed was not too late.

Shikamaru proceeded to get the others rounded up, having to knock the wailing Sakura out in the process in order to get her to shut up and cooperate. He hoisted the now motionless body of Sasuke over his shoulder while the now somewhat recovered Sai did the same for Sakura.

The disguised shinobi saw the plan to retreat and shot off after them to halt the plan. He was half way there when he was hit in the side and sent careening off into the woods.

Shikamaru took one look back at his friend. 'Stay strong Naruto, and don't die. You may be bothersome at times but you have become my best friend. Life would be too dull without you now.' He then turned and followed Sai as they retreated.

Moments earlier in Naruto's mindscape. 'Man I hate coming in here. If the damn fox would cooperate a little I could fix it up a bit and make it not so dark and depressing.' He found his way to the front of the sealed cage that held his prisoner. "Hey you bastard fox, we need to talk."

He was met by two huge and piercing red eyes. They seemed to glow and look into the very soul of Naruto. "Boy you would do well to watch your tongue with me." His voice was low and feral. It held an air of authority to it that showed the power that the Kyuubi could command.

Naruto rolled his eyes not letting the small bit of anxiety he felt show. "Listen, I'm about to die out there and I need some help. Nothing much just enough to last till help arrives."

Kyubbi surged forward his huge metal swords for claws ringing against the metal bars. "And why the hell should I look at, let alone help a brat like you?! You are nothing! A mere ant before me the great Kyuubi no Kitsune!"

This was exactly why Naruto hated coming in here. The fox was just too insufferable and never listened to reason at all. "Because you and I both know that if I die, you die along with me. Now just help me out already and if you do, I'll see what I can do about tiding up this hell pit a little!"

Kyuubi sank back into the dark depths of his jail. "Fine brat here take it. But know that one day I will be free from here and when that day comes you will be in a world of pain."

Naruto ignored him and went back to the outside realm.

The shinobi stood from having been sent flying into a nearby tree. 'What the hell was that?'

He looked up to see Naruto standing on a branch not too far away, head down his bangs shading his eyes. "Listen here bastard I don't know who you are, but your fight is with me!"

Naruto shot off the branch obliterating it with his speed. Gone were his electric blue eyes, replaced by deep crimson ones with slit pupils. His hair was bushier and more unruly as well as his whisker marks becoming thicker and more prominent on his face. His fingernails had grown and sharpened to that of fine steel.

The ninja noticed the change. 'I see so he is able to call forth a bit of the nine tails' chakra.' He wasn't able to think long however as Naruto was upon him with blinding speed. The two began a fierce taijutsu battle, both fighting for dominance. Finally Naruto fainted right and spun landing a kick to the side of the ninja sending him away.

The ninja was in thought as he went flying. 'ku ku ku impressive. He is able to keep his wit about him and still fight with intelligence even after using that foul chakra. Looks like I may have to get a bit serious.' The ninja spun and landed, catching himself from the hit. He jumped back allowing an incoming Naruto to obliterate the branch he had just been on. He then flashed through some hand signs. "Summoning Jutsu!"

A huge puff of smoke enveloped the area and it cleared showing the ninja standing on a huge brown snake that was atleast 60' long.

Naruto not deterred in the slightest drew his sword from his back and charged. As he did so he created several clones to aid him. A handful of them began making handseals for various lightening and wind attacks that he sent at his target. The fake genin dodge them all, however the snake was not as lucky as it succumbed to the onslaught being sent back to the summon realm.

Not expecting his summon to go down so quickly, the nin frowned. 'The kyuubi brat is more trouble than I thought. I need to end this and leave, I can sense reinforcements will be here quickly'

He then landed and waited for Naruto, dodging as the young blonde adroitly brandished his sword.

Naruto could feel the demonic chakra fading and knew that he didn't have much longer before it was gone entirely. Thinking fast he decided on a last ditch effort. He brought his sword down on his enemy noting that he had brought a kunai up to block the attack. Pushing the remainder of his enhanced chakra forward, he sent it into his sword. The sword took on a deep red tone and as it made contact with the kunai, it cut right through as if it was a hot knife through butter.

The nin not expecting this moved just enough to keep from being cut in half, instead settling for losing his right arm.

Shouting out in pain he jumped back clutching his shoulder where the appendage used to be. "You brat how dare you cut me!"

Naruto didn't even move, if he did he was afraid he would fall and pass out from exhaustion. "Quit the act. I know who you are and your abilities. I know that isn't your real body. Am I right Orochimaru?!"

For his part the now known ninja actually looked genuinely surprised. 'Interesting.' He thought. 'Not only is he powerful, but he has a brain too. Yes I will definantly have to keep an eye on you in the future Naruto-kun. You are far different from the reports I have been sent regarding your development.'

Naruto got no response other than a quick smirk as the one armed ninja shunshined out of the area. Thankful that it was over for now, Naruto allowed his body to succumb to the exhaustion that it was so valiantly fighting.

A few hours later…

Naruto woke up groggily. As his blurry vision finally cleared up, he was able to get a grasp of his surroundings. He noticed that he was in a room and he was on a comfortable bed. This immediately set him on edge as he remembered being in the forest before he passed out. Jumping out of the bed he reached behind him to draw his sword, only to realize that hit wasn't there. Searching the room he noted that all his belongings were sitting in the corner undisturbed. Moving from the bed he proceeded to reequip himself and move cautiously out of the room. He finally came across an open door where he could hear voices. He snuck to the edge of the door way and used a mirror to peer inside. What he found shocked him. Several Konoha jounin were lounging around talking and laughing. Along with them was his teammate Shikamaru and the rest of his classmates. Team Guy was even there. Sweatdropping at himself for being so paranoid he quickly righted himself and walked in the room like nothing had happened.

Everyone turned to look at Naruto when they saw him enter the room, but Shikamaru was the first to speak. "Man Naruto, it's about time you woke up and decided to join us. You've been asleep for over 24 hours and had us worried."

Naruto wasn't sure what was going on. "Where are we? Shouldn't we still be in the forest to finish the exam?"

Everyone was silent except for Anko who got up and led the boy out of the room to talk to him. "Alright brat listen up. No one can know that Orochimaru was in the forest yesterday. Only a few of us jounin and the Hokage know at the moment and we plan to keep it that way for as long as possible. Kakashi and I found you passed out in the forest and proceeded to locate Shikamaru. We found him and he told us what took place and how he had a hunch that the person you fought was Orochimaru. We wanted to get you all out of the forest right then, but he was able to persuade us to leave you there and let the test go on. Turns out the boy has more spunk than we thought because he was able to carry you here to the tower so that you guys could pass."

Naruto let all the information that he had just been given sink in. His respect for his teammate skyrocketed at that point as well. "Wait how did we pass, we only had the heaven scroll?"

Anko shrugged as she headed back into the room. "Beats me. He somehow got ahold of an earth scroll because he had one when you guys got here. Ask him yourself I guess, and don't forget, you can't tell anyone about yesterday got it?"

Naruto nodded yes and followed her back in the room.

Everyone in the room was obviously oblivious to what happened the day before, except perhaps for Sasuke Uchiha. He was sitting there staring daggers at Naruto as he settled into the room.

Naruto and Shikamaru locked eyes and Naruto gave him a smile and a nod hoping to convey the silent message. Shikamaru understood fully and did the same in return.

As the last day of the exam came upon them the teams that had made it assembled together.

Naruto had found out from his teammate that after leaving him with Sasuke's team, he stopped about a quarter mile away and laid down Sasuke. Sai set down the still unconscious Sakura and proceeded to fall out himself no longer to hold out any longer. Shikamaru told him how he tried to camoflouge them as best he could and then bounded back toward the battle. When he arrived he found Anko and Kakashi there checking on Naruto. This was where he convinced them to let the exam continue and they left. As he got Naruto on his back, he just happened to catch a glimpse of something in the corner of his eye. Going over, he found it to be the scroll they needed in order to pass, it obviously having fallen from Orochimaru's person during the heated battle.

Naruto was brought out of his musing when the Hokage came into view. He stood before everyone allowing them to take in his presence before he spoke. "Greetings everyone! First off I must say congratulations to everyone who has made it this far. You have done your respective village proud. Now on that note, it is unfortunate to say, but we have too many that have made it through."

Everyone began to whisper about what he meant with that statement.

The Sandaime continued his speech. "In light of this, we will now host a preliminary competition between you genin in order to see who can make it on to the main competition. This will consist of one on one matches with the winner advancing to the main stage!"

The genin roared approval at this each one eager to show what they were made of.

A jounin then jumped down into the arena. He wore the standard jounin attire of leaf ninja and wore his headband over his hand bandanna style. The guy had severe bags over his eyes and looked like the sickliest ninja ever. "I am Gekko Hayate and I will proctor these preliminaries. The rules are simple each contestant will fight until a winner is decided. Anything is permitted, including killing, however if I say stop you are to stop immediately or face disqualification. Now each pairing will be random and will appear on the screen above me."

Naruto and the rest of the chunnin hopefuls stood staring at the board as faces of each contestant whirred on each screen in a roulette that would decide who fought first. Finally one side stopped on the visage of a nameless sound Shinobi that Naruto didn't know. Eventually the otherside stopped and landed on another ninja he didn't know and from that point on he lost most interest.

The fights continued on with some of his classmates winning, Shimana devastating some Sound girl with her shadows, and Choji rolling another over with his meat tank jutsu. Hoping a good fight would happen soon he looked to see who would fight next. Hoping it was one that could hold his interest, man he was becoming more like Shikamaru, he was not disappointed when the board landed on the two Hyuuga who had made it this far. Neji and Hinata proceeded to the floor to face one another. Naruto had always secretly known that Hinata had a huge crush on him and only played the ignorant fool to keep up pretences. Over the years watching the obviously confidentless girl gain strength from him at times had given Naruto a soft spot for the girl. He couldn't really say for sure whether he returned the feelings for her the way she did him, but he did feel some connection to the girl.

Naruto watched as the bantered back and forth about family issues, Neji holding resentment being in the branch family and the predisposed fate that he was destined to have. Hinata never wavered however and her resolve held strong. The blonde had to respect her for that because everyone in the crowd knew that Neji was a clan prodigy and while Hinata was strong, she just didn't have the anger residing within her to push herself to the level of her cousin.

Naruto watched the fight begin and was a bit mesmerized by the intricate dance that was taken place. For it was a dance that he was watching, a dance between two warriors clashing for supremacy. Naruto was impressed with the aggressiveness that Hinata was showing. She obviously was doing her best to push aside her timid nature and truly attempt to harm Neji, however he was ruthless as well and eventually he clearly had the advantage.

Finally the hate filled boy was able to hit her just above the heart sending her flying and crumble to the floor coughing blood. Naruto figured that Hinata was bleeding a lot internally and needed medical attention right away.

Hinata for her part slowly began to make her way to a standing position, shocking everyone in the crowd and causing Neji to turn around from his attempt to leave the arena floor thinking he was the obvious winner.

Naruto watched as Hinata told him the fight was not over and that she would continue to fight. This angering Neji he retorted spouting about fate and how if she truly desired, he would end her fate here for good.

Realizing his implications and watching Neji rocket toward the swaying form of Hinata, the jounin in the room rushed to stop him, but to their utter shock, they were beaten to the punch, as a blue and orange blur shot by them and they heard Neji shout in pain.

Standing there trembling in anger, holding aloft Neji by the throat was none other than Naruto. His head was down and his bangs shadowed his eyes. His teeth were grinding together in an attempt to control his anger that was boiling up. His canines were barred like those of an enraged animal. The killing intent that he was leaking, which was all his own and not aided by the fox, was enough to make even the jounin sweat just a bit. The jounin sensei that had come down to stop the attack stood in a circle around the three genin watching to see how things would unfold.

Naruto finally gaining some control over himself looked up with enraged blue eyes and spoke with a feral, hushed tone. "I should kill you here and now you bastard. How dare you have such little care for the life of a fellow shinobi, let alone family."

Kakashi realizing that Naruto was almost to breaking point spoke. "Naruto that's enough, it's over with now; the medics are here to help Hinata to the medical bay and to treat her. He is no longer a threat to her let him go."

Gai stood there looking at his airbourne student with shame in his eyes. He could not command himself to speak.

Neji looked down at the person who was holding him captive. "So this is the preferential treatment that the Hyuuga heir gets huh? Fine but you will unhand me now, your fate is to be a loser and deadlast and I will not have your hands on me like that!" With that Neji attempted a jukuken strike to Naruto's arm to force him to release him. He was not fast enough however, as Naruto simply let go and used his other arm to smash a fist into the gut of the still airbourne Neji. Said boy hit the ground on his knees and doubled over in pain.

Naruto proceeded to swipe his hand on the ground covering it in the blood of Hinata. "I sweat on Hinata's blood, that if I get a chance to face you in the chunnin exams, that I will beat you within an inch of your life and show you that there is no such thing as fate and you are the master of your own destiny." With his blood promise made, Naruto jumped back up to the balcony next to Shikamaru and leaned against the wall arms folded and eyes closed.

Every genin in the area was wide eyed and jaw dropped to the ground. Wondering what the hell had just happened and if this was some Naruto in disguise, they simply stared at him gawking.

Eventually the senseis returned to their students and got them to pay attention once again to the arena to see who would fight next.

Kakashi turned to Naruto and gave him a firm look, and spoke in hushed tones so that only his two genin could hear. "Naruto, I know I don't have to tell you this, but you acted rashly and without thinking. We had it under control and all you did was show off and make a show of things."

Naruto met his sensei's gaze. "I assure you sensei that I was levelheaded the whole time. I knew what I was doing and would gladly do it again if given another chance."

Kakashi for his part wasn't really upset with his student. On the contrary he was quite proud of the way Naruto defended a fellow shinobi. "Well anyway don't let it happen again." He ended the statement with the faintest of smiles that conveyed all that Naruto needed to know.

The fights went on with Sakura and Ino knocking each other out and a heated battle that took place between Rock Lee and Subaku no Gaara. The battle was intense, with Lee pushing himself past limits that could potentially kill lesser people. Fortune was not with him however, and he eventually succumbed to fatigue losing the battle to the deranged red head.

Naruto had watched the entire battle and realized something. The foulness that he felt from Gaara was similar to a certain creature he knew. Gaara, though he wasn't sure which one, was the container for one of the tailed beasts as well, he was a jinchuuriki also.

Finally there were only four names left to fight, and the two that were called next were Shikamaru and Kiba Inuzuka.

Both made their way down to the arena floor and faced one another.

Kiba had a smirk on his face the whole time. "Ha man this must be my lucky day. I don't know how you made it this far Shikamaru, but unfortunately your luck has run out."

Shikamaru was starting to get irritated at the underestimation that seemed to come from everyone on the planet. Getting slightly agitated, he decided he would end the fight in three moves and show everyone a bit of what he had accomplished over the last few months with team 7.

The proctor, who seemed to never stop coughing, lifted his arm up and the match began.

Kiba launched himself at Shikamaru, leaving Akamaru behind thinking he didn't need him, bringing back his fist for a knockout punch. As he neared the yet to move genin, he threw the haymaker and inches before it connected, it was caught by Shikamaru.

Shikamaru mentally counted one in his head. He then tossed the fist aside and sent a knee into Kiba knocking the wind out of him. 'Two' Shikamaru silently thought, while his left hand adroitly spun a solo trench knife one finger before bringing the handle down onto the neck of Kiba sending him into the earth creating a small indent in it as well as knocking the dog user out cold. Shikamaru twirled the knife again before sheathing it in his pouch. 'Three' he thought finally and walked back up the stairs and lay down next to his team where he proceeded to snore.

Again everyone in the room was flabbergasted. They all couldn't get over the actions that were taking place today. Even the jounin senseis were a bit taken aback. 'What the hell has Kakashi been feeding those two?' Was a thought that many of them were sharing at the moment.

Since there was only two people left there was no need to call out the next two names.

Naruto opened his eyes and cracked his knuckles. "Finally it's my turn. I'm still pissed from earlier, and need something to release some tension."

Sasuke, the other boy that was still left simply jumped down and took his place in the arena.

Both faced off against one another. Sasuke looked at Naruto and smirked. "Well dobe it looks like it's just you and me. Tell me do you wish to forfeit now and save both of us the time. You the dead last have no chance in hell against me the top of our class and last of the Uchiha."

Naruto did not even acknowledge him and simply looked at the exam proctor to get him to start the match.

Seeing that he was being ignored, Sasuke became quite upset and as soon as Hayate started the match, he rushed full speed at his foe.

Naruto watched as Sasuke approached trying to decide which approach to take. On one hand he could keep acting like an idiot and try and win making it look like luck, or he could fight like normal and beat the Uchiha senseless.

He was brought out of his thoughts as Sasuke was finally upon him coming for a kick to his face. Deciding to say screw it and forgo his alter ego he had cultivated for himself, he simply waited until Sasuke was on him. Sasuke planted and brought his foot around not really shocked that Naruto hadn't moved, simply chalking it up to him not having the reflexes needed to move.

Sasuke was quickly shocked when the blonde brought his arm up to block completely nullifying his kick and looking as if he was bored with the entire thing.

Naruto stood there arm aloft smirking. "Man Sasuke-teme, you hit like a girl. I bet Sakura can even hit harder than you."

Naruto then pushed the leg away and sent a quick punch toward Sasuke, who was able to recover just in time to jump back doing several backflips to gain some distance.

Sasuke stood there slightly shocked. However, there was this nagging in the back of his mind that had actually expected this. For a while now it seemed like Naruto was much stronger than he let on. He along with the rest of the class had just dismissed it as nothing, but the possibility of something more still struck in the back of his mind. "Tell me dobe, where have you gotten all this power all of a sudden?" Sasuke all but demanded.

Naruto just scoffed at him. "Well Sasuke, if you and the rest of our class even took a second to pay attention, they would see I have always been this way. All you guys saw was what your minds as well as myself wanted you to see. But that's all over, and I'm tired of hiding. I'm about to show you and everyone else just what I am capable of."

As he finished his sentence, he threw a barrage of kunai at the Uchiha who dodged to the side. Sasuke deciding this was fixing to get hard activated his sharingan. As he did so, Naruto was already upon him along with 5 kage bunshin and they set upon Sasuke in a flurry of taijutsu.

Sasuke for his part could do nothing but dodge, even with his sharingan he could barely keep up with the maelstrom that was Naruto. Finally a hit got through the dodging form of Sasuke and he was sent flying from a hard kick to his torso.

Sasuke was winded, the kick being much more powerful than he expected, but he was able to find his bearings and flipped mid-air landing on the ground finally skidding to a stop from the force of this hit. He quickly took out two kunai and looked at the lone Naruto who had dispelled his clones.

Sasuke was in pain. Knowing that the stupid mark on his neck was preventing him from being able to perform jutsu really pissed him off. Simply activating the sharingan had left him in a lot of pain from the mark.

Naruto noted the contemplative look on his opponent and decided to press his advantage. He unsheathed his sword from his back and raced toward Sasuke.

Sasuke jumped back trying to give himself some room from his foe and think of a plan. Not coming up with anything, he was forced to bring up his two kunai in defense as Naruto brought his sword down. Metal clashing together, Naruto pushed Sasuke back and flicked his wrist knocking one of the kunai from Sasuke's grasp.

Shocked at having one of his weapons flung from him so easily, he took the remaining one and stabbed toward his foe.

Naruto seeing this simply spun around the object kicking it away also. Seeing his opponent weaponless and wide open, he quickly smashed Sasuke in the face with the hilt of his blade making him cry out and clutch his face in pain.

Naruto then sheathed his sword and began doing some hand seals for a jutsu.

Sasuke eyes still water in pain did not see this and did not have time to dodge as he heard his opponent call out his jutsu.

"Wind Style: Gale Palm!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke was hit with a huge force, much like a train, that sent him hurtling eventually crashing into the arena wall leaving a decent sized crater. The boy then slid down the wall landing on his hands and knees bloody and barely conscious.

Sasuke could not believe what had just happened and refused to accept the loss. Hoping to unlock the power he felt temporarily in the forest, he began to focus his chakra in an attempt to activate the power. He was met with only pain however, and after a brief flare of dark chakra that everyone in the room felt, he let out a loud scream and proceeded to pass out from a combination of pain and blood loss.

Having been declared the winner, Naruto jumped back up to the balcony getting congratulations from his teammate and sensei.

The genin around him that he knew, were a different story. Several of them had looks on their face that ranged from confusion to anger to actual smiles, no doubt happy from the beat down that was given to Sasuke.

Naruto noticing that they all were waiting for some type of explanation spoke. "Alright everyone listen up because I am only going to say this once. Yes I am the real Naruto. Yes I just beat the hell out of Sasuke-teme, and no I did not cheat. I have always been this my whole life and my reasons for hiding it are my own. I hope you can all accept that and if you can't then, well I don't really care." He then proceeded to turn around and join his teammate in a nap.

Down on the floor, Hayate was trying to obtain everyone's attention. "Congratulations to those that made it to the final part of the exams. You will have one month before it will occur."

Keeping it short and sweet, he exited the floor via shunshin.

With that everyone left to begin preparation for the finals.