Later on all the remaining teams assembled in the core of the tower in the centre of the Forest of Death. It was a massive room with a low stage at one end with two massive hands making the seal of the ram. There were two large screens on the wall behind the hands and on the sides were two viewers galleries.

In the centre of the stage stood the Hokage himself, flanked by the jonin leaders of the present teams. Before the stage and slightly to the side stood the proctors and sentinels of the exams.

The genin themselves assembled before the stage and stood to attention, awaiting the words of the leader of the Leaf Village.

"First of all congratulation on finishing the second exam!" Anko Mitarashi, the proctor of the forest exam. 'Twenty-four out of eighty four made it, better than I expected.' She smirked.

'So many are left.' Though Fu. 'Even the team of the loud blonde that got defeated in the ambush on us.' Looking around she could see the sound trio as well, but they were paying them no attention. It would appear they would hold their word and not bother them again. In a way she felt sorry for them now, even after what they did to them and wanted to do to Naruto. They were just pawns and were tricked as much as they were.

'Even the loser made it? I hope I get to fight him!' Kiba smirked to himself.

'Naruto.' Hinata was secretly pleased the redhead made it.

'So his team made it, as the only one from Taki.' Neji Hyuga looked at the redhead as well. 'He's an interesting one.'

'This is such a drag!' Were the thoughts of Shikamaru Nara as he looked around.

'Not even a single scratch on you. Just what I expected, Gaara.' Thought Baki, the jonin leader of the redheaded Gaara, the blonde Temari, and Kankuro, the three siblings from Suna.

'Oh great, those three losers made it as well.' Ino wanted to sneer at the redhead from Taki.

'I'll make you proud, Gai sensei!' Bushy-brow Lee promised to himself.

"Now pay attention, Lord Hokage will explain the third exam to you." Anko told announced.

The old man came slightly forward. "Before I tell you what the third exam will be I want to first explain about the nature of the test itself." He began. "It's something all of you need to understand. The reason why our country holds these tests with conjunction with others is to raise the ability level of the shinobi taking part and to increase friendship with our allied nations, of course, but," he paused for a moment, taking a puff from his pipe, "more importantly they are a representation of the battle between allied nations." He revealed to the young students. "If we look at our history we can see all of our allied friends were once nations that continuously warred against one another purely for power. And so in order not to destroy each others military strength meaninglessly those nations picked champions to do battle on behalf of their countries at mutually selected locations. That was how the Chunin Selection Exams began." He explained. "Of course these exams do serve to chose the worthy of carrying the mantle of chunin, but they also allow for a place where shinobi can carry the pride of their nation on their backs and fight with other ninjas for their very lives. Many leaders and people of prominence from various countries are invited to attend these exams as guests, and possibly seek out shinobi to work for them. This exam may very well determine the course of your ninja careers from here on out. And more importantly those rulers will watch your battles and take note of the strengths of each ninja and nations have. If there is a gap in power between the countries the strong nations are inundated with job requests for their ninjas, and conversely the request to countries that are deemed weak decline. Therefore the stronger our nation is the better our position when it comes to negotiating with neighbouring countries. So it's important to show how much military strength each village has. After all the country's strength is the village's strength, and the village's strength is the shinobi strength. And the true strength of shinobi is shown only when it's pushed to its limits, such as life and death battle." He looked the children over. "This exam is the chance for each village to show the strength of its shinobi, and hence the strength of the nation itself. It's because this is an exam where your life is on the line that is has meaning. And it's for this very reason and for the strength of the nation that your forerunners fought in this exam. It's truly a dream worth striving for!"
"But then why use the expression 'friendship' when describing this?" Demanded Tenten.

"That's only a part of what I said. You mustn't have the wrong idea of the exam's meaning. This is a custom in which balance is preserved by fighting and dying. In the world of the shinobi that is friendship." Hiruzen explained. "The third exam is exactly this, a fight for life and death, with the pride of your village and your dreams at stake."

As he finished there was a long pause between the young genin. Nobody really knew what to say to such revelations. It was a rather dark outlook on their lives as ninjas.

The Hokage nor anybody else expected anybody to say anything to this, but then the silence was broken by a certain redhead. "That's barbaric." He surprised everybody present with his bluntness, and Yashamaru had to stifle her laughter.

"That's how the shinobi system works." Hiruzen answered the boy.

"Then the system is broken!" Naruto pushed forward, uncaring about what anybody might think of this. "Doing battle to the death for balance? What kind of balance is that? It's just a lie! As is this friendship you keep talking about."
"How dare you, you little runt!" Anko yelled at the redhead, but she was silenced by a single wave from her lord.

Nobody in the room, apart from the boy's friends and sensei, knew what to think of this. Challenging a Kage head on like this?

"This is how it has been for centuries." The Hokage raised an eye-brow at the redhead. If there was anybody he expected to say such things it would have been him. He who had to fight for his life from the very beginning of it.
"You can roll over for it if you please." Naruto agitated the Konoha ninjas in the room further. "But I won't." His tone became cold and hard. "I had to face hardships of this world from my earliest years and I refuse to bend over ever again."

Ibiki had to admit he was deeply impressed by the boy, his respect for the youngster growing greatly from the first exam when he stood up to him.

"So what would you do about it?" The Hokage challenged him. "You're speaking about a world-wide system here with intricate workings you don't even fully understand yet." Some people in the room smirked at the last part.

The redhead didn't seem bothered. "I'm not naive enough to think that I know all the ins-and-outs of this system" He shrugged. "But also not blind enough to simply follow it. It may take many years, but I intend to change it. The nations must cooperate better, and not fake it using lives of children in their games like these." He gestured with his hands. "The nations must come together and negotiate, there must be willingness to do so. Somebody must show the world the way. A movement if you will, for proper peace." He wasn't sure on how to accomplish such a goal, but he didn't want to simply stand by and let all of these terrible things happen. He had enough. Enough of everything.

Some in the room thought the redhead was a lunatic for wishing for such an impossible dream. Others thought they were the ravings of a loser, trying to make himself more important than he was. But a few were impressed with the boy.

'He's grown greatly.' Thought Ibiki.

The seasoned Hokage smiled at the boy's words. Yashamaru felt pride swell inside her. And a jonin wearing a Sound hitai-ate smiled seeing the hatred inside of the boy. 'He'll further become disillusioned with the ninja system and then he'll come to me for power. Power to bring the Five Great Nations to their knees.'

After a long silence a man standing next to the purple-haired kunoichi cleared his throat. "Yes, well, I'll be the proctor of the third exam, Genma Shiranui. And before we can hold the final exam we need to hold a preliminary round."
There was an outcry between the genin. "What do you mean 'preliminaries?'"

"Well, the fact is we never expected so many of you to be left a this point, and so we need to reduce the numbers further." The man explained. "We need to speed things up. Only the best deserve to continue onwards!" He looked them over. "And so if anybody feels you are not up to it this is your chance to leave."
"Do we have to leave as teams again?" Somebody asked.

"No, this time you are as individuals here, not as teams. You might very well fight your friends here." Genma revealed in a dark tone. "Anybody can leave and your team won't be affected. Decide quickly, the preliminaries will begin shortly and they will be decided in one-on-one combat, sudden death style."

Naruto then felt a surge of pain in his neck where he was bitten by Orochimaru. 'Another wave.' He thought as he grasped his shoulder. 'They are getting more and more frequent!'

"Naruto!" His two teammates noticed. "You have to quit now, before things get worse!" Kimiko.
"No, I'll not quit!" Growled the redhead.

Fu didn't like the situation either, but she understood why he didn't want to quit. She herself wouldn't have wanted that either. But still, that mark was nothing but trouble. "I don't like it either, but right now there is nothing we can do. Nor can we decide for Naruto."
Kimiko didn't like it, but she agreed to Fu's point. "Just be careful, alright?" She was just concerned for her friend, somebody who could very well be like a brother to her.
Yashamaru noticed her student's behaviour as well, and it worried her. Everything she learned about the boy's new burden worried her. It worried her for him.

"It's as a we feared." The Hokage spoke to his closest shinobi, as well as the Taki jonin.
"We need to take him out of the exam, hand him over to the Anbu and keep him locked up. We need to keep that seal under control" Spoke up Anko.
"You won't lay a single finger on him!" The blonde Taki jonin was next to the woman in a heart-beat after hearing what she had to say. "If you do I'll kill you." She spoke in a low, threatening voice. "Nobody will touch my student!"
"I don't care whose student he is, if he stays he's a danger to everybody present!" Anko wasn't intimidated. "You simply don't understand the situation, but I do! As he gets stronger so does the curse mark! That thing is feeding off of his chakra. It will devour him!" She lectured the woman. "It's a miracle on its own that he's still alive, even standing. Most would be dead by now."
"But he isn't most people." Yashamaru looked at her student. "He bears a mark already." She got the attention of those around her. "A mark just as terrible, or have you forgotten already?" She growled and the others backed off.

"Allow him to continue." The Hokage instructed.
"But Lord Hokage…." She wasn't allowed to finish.
"That's enough, Anko!" The older man warned her. "I agree with his sensei, but if we see his power getting out of control or the mark activating we will step in and stop it." He looked at Yashamaru who nodded her agreement.
"Very well." The purple-haired kunoichi conceded.

"In that case I'd like to quit." Kabuto raised his hand. "I've had enough." He let himself be known at last.
"Kabuto Yakushi, Correct?" Genma went through his paperwork. "Alright, you can leave.

In the background the Hokage and some of his ninjas were in a discussion as the young man exited the arena.

"Anybody else?" Asked the man, looking around, but nobody made a move. "So that means twenty-three of you are left, meaning there will be eleven matches, one will be a three-way battle, where only one will advance." He smiled at the prospect of the exciting battle, wondering who it would be. "As for the rules, there are none. You fight until one of you dies, concedes or is rendered incapable of continuing. As proctor I might occasionally intervene, just to save as many lives as possible." The man explained. "The names for each battle will be chosen completely at random."
One of the large screens behind the man lit up and it started scrolling through names. When it came to a stop there were gasps from a few present.

"Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara and….Naruto Uzumaki." Genma announced. "Come forward." 'So, already the first battle will be the threesome, and with the Uzumaki boy nonetheless. This will be good.' He thought secretly.

'This should be interesting.' Thought Neji Hyuga.

"Good luck, and be careful, Naruto." Kimiko wished him all the best, but was worried. He was to be so early on.

"You can do it!" Cheered Fu.
'Not only is he first but he'll have to fight two at once. This isn't good' Thought Yashamaru.

"This couldn't have been any better!" Grinned Kiba.

"Oh man, what a drag!" Sighed Shikamaru.

"Show the loser who's boss, Shikamaru!" Cheered Ino, only getting a few glares in return.

The three combatants stepped forward to the examiner.

"Any objections before we begin?" Asked the man.

"None at all!" Dog boy grinned savagely.

Shikamaru didn't look too happy, but stayed quiet now.

Naruto on the other hand merely shrugged. 'Fighting two at once already, that's not good. And I bet they'll team up against me.'

"Very well, everybody else make your way upstairs." Genma ordered everybody else, and they waited as they complied.

'I'm very eager to see what you can do, Naruto.' Smirked the disguised Orochimaru.


"I see you finally made it here." The sannin grinned as Kabuto and his team entered the tower. "Everything went according to plan I presume?"
"Good day to you as well, Lord Orochimaru." Smirked the silver-haired genin. "Yes, it did. I watched him exactly as you instructed me and I recorded all the data I collected on this card." He took a card from his deck. "You want it?"
"Of course." The older man came forward and took the card from his underling. "What do you think of him?"

"He's got a lot of potential." He admitted. "But then it doesn't matter what I think. You have seen it yourself." Kabuto smiled.

"Indeed I have." The sannin laughed as he vanished in a puff of smoke.


'Although this should be an average test of your skills, but I'm still curious on how you'll deal with both of them.' The snake man smiled to himself.

As she went upstairs and joined her other two students the blonde Taki jonin looked around and watched the expression of everybody present. Most of them looked on with genuine interest, and some with literal glee. Those seemed to hope for Naruto's humiliating defeat.

Downstairs the three opponents stared each other down. "Hey," Kiba then spoke up, looking at the Nara, "let's target the loser first, then we can battle it out between the two of us. I want to show him who's boss here." He grinned.

"Man, what a drag." The other genin scratched his head, but conceded. "It's not personal, not for me really, but it's easier, you know?" He told Naruto, who already expected as much.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Fu yelled, clearly cross with them.
"There are no rules, as I already explained." Genma fired back. "So be quiet." He then turned to the three combatants. "Begin now!" And with that the fight began.

"I hoped from the moment you came back that I would be the one to fight you." Admitted Kiba. "To show everybody what a loser you are! To show the traitor…." The three Taki shinobi on the balcony above gripped the railing tightly, their anger boiling.

"Yes, yes, geez are you just gonna talk? Is that your strategy? Bore me to death?" Naruto yawned animatedly. "Come on, dog-breath, surely you can do better." Several people on the balcony sniggered.

This did it. "Let's go, Akamaru!" Kiba commanded his four-legged friend and the two of them charged the redhead.

"What a drag!" Shikamaru shook his head. To succumb to taunts easily like this, how embarrassing. But he then used his Shadow Possession Jutsu and targetted the now Taki genin.

Akamaru transformed into a copy of Kiba and then the two of them jumped into the air and started spinning very fast until they became small tornados of claws. "Gatsuga!"

Naruto was forced to evade both techniques. If he got caught by Shikamaru he'd be mauled into dust from Kiba and his pet. Then again if he got into the way of those two he'd be mauled immediately.

After several evasive manoeuvrers he noticed Shikamaru's technique had a certain range depending on the lighting, and since it stayed constant here inside he'd only have to stay a certain distance away not to be caught. That is unless something else didn't create a shadow he could use. He looked up to see Kiba and Akamaru right above him, forcing him to jump away.

After the latest attack the two stopped their advance and looked at the redhead. "Is that all you can do?" Taunted Kiba. "After your big speech just a moment ago I thought you'd have more to offer!" The boy grinned.

"Better than to just have a big mouth." Retorted Naruto.

"Damn you!" Growled Kiba.

'This isn't good.' Thought the redhead panting. 'This constant evading will wear me out fast, and then it might trigger the mark.' He'd have to try and finish at least one of them fast. He started to make hand seals: Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" He shot a massive ball of fire at his two adversaries. This technique surprised the onlookers, especially the young Uchiha as this was the favoured technique of his clan, and Kakashi Hatake.

Kiba with his pet friend and Shikamaru had to jump out of the way of the vast attack. It certainly was stronger than any of them expected of the redhead.

"That's right! Don't underestimate Naruto!" Cheered Fu.

As they landed away from the fire attack they saw the redhead was already in the process of another technique. "Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!" He sent a wave of electricity from his hands towards them, forcing them to evade again. Once they were in the air he immediately cancelled the technique and created several clones that charged both enemies, engaging them in close-range combat.

Kiba did well fighting the clones, Shikamaru on the other hand had more trouble, him being more of a mid to long-range fighter.

'Incredible! He mastered both the fire and lightning releases!' Marvelled Kakashi at his former student. 'I never expected he'd be capable of that.'

Shikamaru was forced to use shuriken against the clones, sending a barrage of them at his enemy, resulting in them vanishing in puffs of smoke.

Naruto then sent another wave of clones at them while he went to collect the shuriken. When he had enough he looked up to see his clones were now defeated and his two adversaries now landed on the ground again.

"What is that supposed to be, taking charity?" Kiba mocked him for picking up their own weapons.

'Yes, this is one of his weaknesses.' Mused Yashamaru. 'Naruto doesn't like these weapons, probably as a result of his past. And yet at the same time they are his biggest advantage with his powers. Hopefully he'll come around now.'
Naruto merely smirked as he concentrated a small bit of his power into the metal weapons. He then threw them at the two boys.

Kiba and Shikamaru didn't understand what was going on, why the boy felt so confident with their weapons, but understood soon enough when the projectiles changed their flight-paths and went straight for them. No matter what the two did the weapons followed them.

"What is this? What is going on?!" Wondered Ino.

"It can't be!" Baki was stunned, as were his students, especially Gaara, and the other jonin and chunin.

"But how?" Demanded Kakashi.

"Oh yes, it can!" Smirked the blonde Taki jonin. Everybody looked at her now. "If anybody in this village ever paid any attention to him you'd know he has a strong Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai."

"Magnet release? What is that, sensei?" Asked Sakura.
Kakashi lifted up his hitai-ate from his left eye and revealed his sharingan, much to the surprise of his students and colleagues. "The Magnet release is a rare nature transformation Kekkie Genkai, a blood limit. It is the combination of Lightning release and Earth release, creating magnetic forces which the user can apply in many ways, like magnetising weapons and use them as targetted projectiles, for example." He explained. "This Kekkei Genkai could be found in Kumogakure, Sunagakure and Iwagakure in the past, but never here in Konoha. However, despite it being found in several corners of the world it is unknown how somebody can have it, as people don't have to be blood related to be born with it." Everybody listened to his explanation of the ninjutsu. "So he has Earth release as well then." He looked at Naruto's sensei.

"Of course he does." The woman confirmed. "And he mastered it to a high level already." She revealed.

'He might be a true genius.' Kakashi felt a wave of guilt over always neglecting the boy and shunning him. 'And yet he is such a splendid shinobi.' He thought as he observed the boy with his sharingan, noting the magnetic forces swirling around him and the weapons he touched.

The situation was getting dangerous for the two Konoha genin. No matter how many times they evaded the shuriken still kept coming, leaving them no other option but to deflect them with their own weapons. Taking out a kunai they started deflecting the projectiles.

"Big mistake." Commented Baki as he observed the redhead. Others looked at the Suna jonin not understanding when cries from down bellow got their attention.

Down bellow Kiba and Shikamaru held their now bleeding arms. When they started deflecting the red-head's weapons their own kunai flew out of their hands and straight at them. Both boys protected themselves with their arms.

"What is it? What happened?" Ino couldn't believe her eyes.

"He magnetised their own weapons when they touched his." Explained the Suna nin. "It was a big mistake trying to deflect the shuriken on behalf of your little friends."

Kakashi saw what happened with his eye. He saw when two boys touched the magnetised weapons with their own Naruto's power entered their kunai. He was then able to use those weapons against them immediately. All it took was a fraction of a second of contact for him to achieve this. Incredible!
The two genin down bellow looked up at the older man above, listening to his explanation. "It's true." The redhead got their attention. "I can magnetise anything that either comes too close to me or I can touch, even indirectly."
'The Kekkei Genkai is very strong in him.' Thought Baki. 'Perhaps stronger than even in our Lord Kazekage. How is this possible?!'

Naruto then made the weapons fly again and directed them at the other genin. The two braced themselves when suddenly the weapons flew past them harmlessly and embedded themselves into the ground.

Everybody looked at the redhead expecting a trick, but they found him on his knees, grasping his shoulder in pain. Several people on the balcony seemed agitated by that action. What was going on?

This made Kiba smirk. "Not so tough after all, huh?" He and Akamaru then charged the redhead with their Gatsuga.

Naruto, although in great pain, made hand seals trying to protect himself. Tiger, Hare, Boar, Dog. "Earth Release: Mud Wall!" With great difficulty he placed his hands onto the ground and wall of stone shot up. However, in his weakened state the wall itself too was weaker and Kiba broke through it and slammed into the genin.

"Naruto!" Cried Fu and Kimiko.

Naruto flew back and landed hard. The three Taki shinobi looked on anxiously. This was bad.

As he slowly picked himself up into a kneeling position the agony intensified and he could feel the mark spreading.

"Oh no!" Exclaimed Anko, ready to jump in should it continue. The Hokage next to her tensed up as well.

'Excellent!' Thought Orochimaru. 'Show me what you can do with it! Let the power of the mark out!'

Shikamaru and Kiba froze as they saw the strange marks spread across the boy's body, and Akamaru whimpered as he felt the boy's power change, getting the attention of his master.

"What is it, Akamaru?" Kiba didn't understand what got his friend so afraid all of a sudden. All the redhead did was squirm in pain on the ground now for some reason. What was going on then?

Naruto felt like his body was on fire, it was pure agony this mark, but he refused to succumb to it as he remembered what he was like when it first took over, and Fu's tears and her begging him to stop, together with Kimiko. He couldn't let it happen again.

'No, I won't let you take over! Not again!' He thought. With all his willpower he slowly forced the curse mark back, refusing its power.

"Incredible!" Breathed the purple-haired kunoichi. "He forced it back only with his will!" She couldn't believe her eyes. Was something like that really possible?

'Why did you refuse its power?' Frowned the snake sannin, disappointed.

As the pain went away he was able to relax and breathe evenly. Now, the fight could continue without further interruptions.

Kiba was the first of the pair to get hold of himself, and getting the attention of his four-legged partner he threw him a small pill and took one as well. The small dog's fur started to change colour and became a reddish-brown. Both of their chakras surged.

Then the two of them charged using their signature move and once again slammed into the redhead, sending him flying, and once in the air they jumped him and delivered several punches and knocked him to the ground.

Naruto spat blood as he got on all fours.

"Is that all you got?" Mocked Kiba. "I hoped for better."
"Right." Naruto breathed. "Because showing four nature transformations is worse than a bit of low-level taijutsu with your mutt there." He smirked.

"You bastard! Don't you dare call Akamaru a mutt!" Dog boy sneered.

"A little, flee-infested mutt he is." Taunted the redhead, getting to Kiba. He then smeared his hand on the blood he spat out and went through another series of hand sings. Slamming his blood-smeared hand on the ground there was a large puff of smoke.

"A summoning jutsu!" Announced Kakashi. Everybody upstairs looked on with keen interest and apprehension.

Once the smoke cleared the two Konoha genin were stunned at what they saw. There before them stood a massive lizard (Imagine Megalania, just slightly bigger.).

"Is this even allowed?!" Wondered Ino.

"Summoning is a common ninja art." Explained Asuma. "It's perfectly acceptable, just like Kiba using Akamaru as his partner."
"Why so surprised." Mocked Naruto. "You're technically fighting two and a half on one and yet you're boasting and running your mouth wild. I just thought I'd even out the playing field."

"That thing is like ten meters long!" Kiba trembled slightly at the sight of the beast. It had very strong limbs and large claws, and a massive tail. One hit from that thing could shatter bones.
The lizard stuck its tongue out continuously as if tasting the air. Naruto sat on the back of his lizard friend and looked down upon his two enemies. Then the massive beast opened its mouth and showed the two genin two rows of sharp teeth before it made a low growling noise.

"Be careful not to let him bite you." Threatened the redhead. "His bite is venomous. Take them." Naruto commanded his summon as he leapt from its back. The beast approached the two genin with incredible speed for anything of such size.

The two genin were frozen in place at the sight, not knowing what to do.

People in the gallery prepared to step in and end the fight, just to protect the two from the beast. They would have no chance against it.

'This is bad! I can't use my Shadow Possession Jutsu on something so big! There is no chance!' Shikamaru stared at the thing wide eyed.

But before the animal go to them it suddenly vanished in a massive puff of smoke.

"W-what….what's going on?!" Wondered the Inuzuka.

Everybody looked back at the redhead and found him already in the middle of preparing his next jutsu. 'It was a trick!' They all realised. A trick to freeze them in fear of his summon.

Naruto slammed his hands onto the ground once more an a spider-like web of chakra spread across the ground and under the feet of the two genin and dog. "Lightning Release: Spider Web Jutsu!" He released a surge of electricity shocking his opponents.

The two genin screamed as electricity coursed through their bodies. And then they fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Shikamaru!" Called Ino and Choji.

"Kiba." Mumbled Hinata.

"Incredible!" Said Kakashi as he put his hatai-ate back over his eyes, impressed with what he saw with his eye. The other Konoha jonin too were shocked the at the red-head's victory and skill.

Once it was done he was breathing hard from the exertion of the fight and suppressing the mark.

Orochimaru looked at the redhead with glee in his eyes. 'Truly magnificent! I cannot wait for you to come to me!'

The genin slowly rose to his feet and went up onto the balcony to join his friends, but then a quiet voice stopped him. "N-Naruto….I….I wanted t-to give y-you th-this." The timid Hyuga girl offered a healing salve to the redhead.

"I'm not injured." He retorted curtly.

"You should take it, Hinata made it herself." Kurenai interjected, knowing of her student's infatuation with the boy.

The redhead gave them a cold look. "I'm not interested." It hurt Hinata to hear this and she looked at the ground.

"Why do you hate her so much? All of us? There are some that never did anything to you!" She scolded at the young genin. She knew the boy was hurt a lot in the past, but to senselessly hate everybody?

The other people on the balcony watched this exchange with great interest.

"You're right, not everybody did." Naruto admitted stunning everybody with his admission.

"So why do you hate us all so much?" Wondered the jonin. She was truly curious to know the truth.
"It's true that there are some who never hurt me." The redhead began. "But they also never did anything to help me." His hate-filled look returned. "There were many occasions any of you could have done something, but you decided not to. Many decided not to." His look was boring into them. "And in my book those that decide to do nothing, stand by and allow the injustice to happen are just as bad as the offenders themselves." He sneered at them. "To me you are all trash!" He turned and stalked away, leaving the girl crushed and others feeling guilty.

The snake sannin smirked. 'I'll fester this hatred of yours!'

"That was amazing!" Cheered Fu.

"It really was, and against two nonetheless! You were great!" Praised Kimiko.

"Indeed you were!" Smiled Yashamaru. "It was quite the show you gave everybody here." She looked around.

"I wanted to let them know what they were dealing with." He smiled

"You certainly did." Grinned Fu.

"Indeed, it was a splendid battle!" The Hokage came over, only to receive a cold look. "We need now to seal the mark on your shoulder." Then spoke quietly now.
"So you know already." The redhead subconsciously touched the mark.

"After the attack on you we met and I tried confronting him." Came the purple-haired kunoichi. "But I was no match for a sannin." She opened her coat slightly, showing her own mark, surprising the genin. "I got this one years ago, he used it against me now."
"We need to make sure the same cannot happen to you, and that the mark can't take you over." The Hokage told him.

The young Uzumaki looked up at his sensei who nodded. "Don't worry, I'll come with you." She assured him.

The redhead nodded and then looked at his teammates. "Be careful for now."

The two girls nodded and then he, Yashamaru, Anko and Kakashi vanished deeper into the building, once the three jonin and student were gone the Sound jonin disappeared as well.

There in the bowels of the tower Kakashi prepared two concentric circles on the ground with kunai placed placed at intervals along the circumference. "Now I need you to remove your shirt, Naruto." The white-haired man instructed.

The young Uzumaki complied and gave his shirt to his sensei for safekeeping. Then he took his place at the centre of the inner circle as instructed.

Once the boy was positioned the jonin cut his thumb and started to write on the boy's body. The characters radiated from the centre of the cursed seal and ran down his back, arms, chest and down onto the ground.

When he was finished Kakashi inspected his handy-work. "Now, this curse sealing is fast, but very painful." He took out a small piece of soft wood and gave it to the boy. "Bite down on it, it will help." The genin took it and placed it into his mouth, biting down on it and preparing himself for the sealing.

The two kunoichi watched the boy with slight apprehension. Anko because she knew how the sealing felt like, and Yashamaru worried for her student.

Kakashi then went through the necessary hand seals: Hare, Snake, Horse, Ram, Bird, Tiger, Hare, Snake, Horse, Ram, Bird, Tiger, Hare, Snake, Horse, Ram, Bird, Dog, Rat. "Curse sealing!" He placed a hand over the mark.

In that moment Naruto felt a wave of pain in the mark and he bit down onto the wood hard and screamed over it.

As the other two watched they saw the written characters move up the boy's body and slowly around the curse mark. Once it was done they formed a circle of characters around the mark with a pentacle-like star overlapping the entire thing.

As quickly as the pain came it also went away once the deed was done and the thing sealed away. Naruto let the wood fall from his mouth and he panted heavily after the jutsu. He felt shaky and very weak.

"It's done now." Kakashi confirmed. "Should the mark act up again the seal should be able to keep it in check."
"Should? What do you mean?" Demanded Yashamaru.
"This curse sealing jutsu is only as strong as he is. It derives strength from the power of his will." He explained, then looked at the boy. "If your ever waver the curse will be unleashed in all its power."

The redhead nodded, he understood well what that meant.

"My, how have you grown. I didn't think you were strong enough to perform the Curse Sealing Jutsu." The three jonin whirled around to see Orochimaru standing there, hands in his pockets. "Long time no see, Kakashi." He smirked. "And you must be Naruto's sensei, Yashamaru Abumi. Very pleased to meet you." He looked at the blonde woman.

"I could do without this 'honour.'" She answered sarcastically.

"That's quite alright. It's not like I came to see either of you three. I came to see the boy behind you." He revealed to the trio.

"What do you want from him?!" Demanded Yashamaru.

"His power, of course. The Uzumaki power, his Kekkei Genkai, and of course, his little friend." The sannin smiled.

'So he wants the tailed beast as well.' The there thought.

"At first I wanted the supreme power of the Uchiha, but soon I realised the boy was merely mediocre. But him," he looked directly into Naruto's eyes, "he has the power and potential to surpass even me." Orochimaru revealed, surprising the trio, as well as the boy.

"Your hitai-ate." Noted Anko.

"Very good. Observant as ever." The sannin praised her. "You see that country is mine, I created it." He unveiled. "And soon it will play an important role in the shinobi world."

"And Naruto is supposed to be one your pawns?" Growled the blonde.
"Oh no, he's far more important than that." The snake-man smiled, and he took a step closer, and then another. "He's far more valuable than that."
Yashamaru wanted to prepare for battle when her path was blocked by the white-haired ninja. "Stop!" He commanded. "If you want him you'll have to go through me first!" He stunned the two Taki ninjas. He then took hold of his own arm and channelled his Raikiri into his hand.

The sannin only laughed. "Poor, delusional Kakashi, all your efforts are in vain. All three of you couldn't hope to stand a chance against me."

"What?" Frowned the male jonin.
"Or did you really believe you could take me on?" He laughed some more. "Not that it matters. Or do you really think your pitiful seal can hold? Or that you can keep him from what he truly desires?"
"And what would that be?" Demanded Yashamaru.
"The truth of the attack." He stunned the present. "And of course, power! Power to subjugate the Five Great Nations!" The sannin grinned. "He'll want revenge!"

This made the boy pause. Why should he desire revenge on the five nations?
"No, not him!" Kakashi defended the boy for the first time, much to the red-head's astonishment.

"Naruto isn't like that!" Yashamaru protested.
"Then you don't know him and don't know what he hides in his heart, but I have seen it." The man told them. "You cannot stop it. One day he'll come to me for power." Then he turned around and walked away, vanishing through the wall.


Yes, i took a piece from the anime with the speach Hiruzen gave the genin, but I found it imporant. At any rate I hope you guys like it, more will come soon.