Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and only use it for entertainment purposes.

The Chunin Exam had started three days ago and with no missions and his closest friends not around Naruto found he had nothing to do but train. He quickly grew tired of the Hyuuga Training Grounds and decided to train elsewhere. So left and went to one of the many forest training grounds around Konoha. It was here that he heard signs of a struggle and his curiosity got the getter of him and he left to investigate. What he saw greatly surprised him as he came upon a dark haired woman in a trench coat clutching her back at the base her neck in agony. He looked around carefully and just caught a glimpse of a person disappearing through the brush at the distance. Knowing that he could never catch up to the person that disappeared he approached the woman. "Hey you alright?" Naruto asked.

The woman was still breathing hard but the pain was fading from her face. "Yeah I'm fine," she took a look a Naruto for a moment then asked, "Do you know which way he went?"

"Yeah he took off that way," Naruto pointed off in the distance. "But he's probably long gone by now. He was moving fast even for a Jounin. Who was he anyway?"

"The Snake Sannin Orochimaru," the woman answered.

"Orochimaru?" Naruto asked. Everyone in Konoha had heard about the traitor that was once the student of the Sandaime. Naruto knew of him more than most because of all the time he spent around the Hokage. He had read about him in the many times when visited the Hokage's library so he knew how dangerous he was, "Glad I didn't try and go after him," Naruto thought. "We should report this to the Hokage."

The woman was about to respond but before she could a squad of Anbu landed next to her, "Anko, we have witnesses claiming that Orochimaru has been spotted in the vicinity," the lead Anbu reported.

"You just missed him by a few minutes," Anko reported. He saw the Anbu tense and was about to ask which way he went. "Don't bother, he's long gone by now. We need to report this to the Hokage," she then turned to Naruto who was observing with veiled curiosity. If Anko had not been a Jounin she would have thought he was not paying attention. "Too bad he was never allowed to enter the Academy, he would have been a good shinobi." She then turned to an Anbu wearing a crow mask, "Take Uzumaki Naruto back to the Hyuuga Compound with Orochimaru in the area we can not take any chances."

Naruto could almost feel the scowl from the Anbu. "He's not even a Gennin he's of no consequence. In fact this area is for shinobi training, civilians aren't allowed here. He should be taken into custody for trespassing."

It did not take a genius to figure out that the Anbu in the crow mask was one of the people that resent Naruto. Anko frowned at the Anbu for both the insubordination too her orders and his attitude towards Naruto. She knew better than most about being treated harshly for something a person had no control over. She was about to reprimand the Anbu but another Anbu of the group spoke first. "I'll take him back," the Anbu member that was wearing a lizard mask spoke up. "As he is the Ward of the Hyuuga, it is my duty to ensure his safety." The Anbu that spoke made it clear he was a member of the Hyuuga Clan, though which House was impossible to tell, and he held Naruto with respect. It was also easy to tell he was glaring at the Anbu in the crow mask for his clear dislike to Naruto.

"Fine go we need to report to the Hokage," Anko said. "And when you get there have Hiashi-sama report to the Hokage." The Anbu and the Naruto nodded and jumped off through the trees in the direction of the Hyuuga Compound. She then turned the crow Anbu, "Once we are finished reporting to the Hokage you and I will have a talk about your attitude regarding my orders." The Anbu winced behind his mask, it was common knowledge that it was not a good idea to get on Anko's bad side and the he just did.

It only took a few minutes for Naruto and his Anbu escort to reach the Hyuuga Compound. When they did a pair of Branch House members greeted them. "Naruto-san, what has happened?" one of them said. "Why are you being escorted by an Anbu?"

"There has been an incident," the Anbu reported. "I am not at liberty to say what at this time and neither is Uzumaki-san but it involved Special Jounin Mitarashi Anko and he was found with her. Now I must escort Hiashi-sama to see the Hokage."

"Understood," the second Branch Member said. "Naruto-san go with Kenshiro and I shall retrieve Hiashi-sama." Naruto nodded and bowed to the Anbu in thanks for the escort then entered the Compound.

Inside the Main House section of the Compound, Naruto waited with his guardian Hizashi for the Head of the Hyuuga Clan to return. Not more than fifteen minutes of waiting he entered the room, his face grim. "What is wrong?" Hizashi asked.

"Orochimaru has infiltrated the Chunin Exam," Hiashi answered. Hizashi's eyes widened showing his surprise. "He has apparently targeted Uchiha Sasuke and according to the report by Anko he has placed his Curse Seal on him."

"Why has the Chunin Exam not been canceled?" Hizashi asked.

"For now the Chunin Exam will continue," Hiashi repeated what he was told. "Orochimaru has threatened to attack if the Exam in interrupted and as you know we are not at one hundred percent because of the War and the loss of the Uchiha Clan." Hizashi nodded if Konoha was attacked before they could prepare the results would be devastating. "Hokage-sama believes that the only reason he has not attacked yet is because he wants to see how well Uchiha will fair."

"Then the question is not if Orochimaru will attack but when?" Hizashi said.

"What about Hinata and Neji?" Naruto asked showing his concern for his friends.

"Hokage-sama has assured that both their teams have already arrived at the center of the Training Area 44," Hiashi answered. "Do not worry they are fine." Naruto showed his relief with a smile.

"So what shall we do in the mean time?" Hizashi asked.

"For now the Village will prepare for the coming fight," Hiashi said. "Only Chunin and above will know the plans. Naruto, you are only hearing this because you were the one who found Anko first thus making you involved in the incident. You are not to discuss this with anyone not even Neji and Hinata. It is better for them that they do not know. For now they should concentrate on the Exam."

"Yes Hiashi-sama," Naruto said. He did not like keeping his friends in the dark but he would not disobey an order from a man he respected as much as the Hokage.

The next day Naruto left the Hyuuga Compound early in the morning. The Hiashi and Hizashi had a meeting with the Hokage to discuss the Konoha's defenses so they were already gone by the time Naruto even woke up. Knowing that there would be trouble on the horizon Naruto decided that he would step up his training. That meant he had to devise a new training regiment that would allow him to progress quickly. He had an idea but would need specific supplies to accomplish it. That was why he was heading towards an equipment shop that specialized in unusual orders.

When he arrived he entered and started browsing the displays he was looking for. He found what he was looking for in the rare and expensive part of the shop near the back. What he was looking for was a creation from a small village called Raimei (Thunder) Village. It was located on a small island nation off the coast of Cloud Country. The item was like an Explosive Note but instead of producing an explosion it created a burst of electricity giving it the name Shock Tag.

The Shock Tag was a rather brilliant invention in that the amount of electricity that was stored in the note could be released in a controlled manner. From short bursts to all at once. This feature made the Shock Tag useful for many application, from torture to traps to even a power source; in fact Shock Tags powered all of the Raimei Village's lights. They were rare in Konoha because of the distance needed to travel, thus making them expensive.

"Hello, may I help you?" the owner of the store asked. He was an old merchant that settled in Konoha about ten years ago so he never knew about Kyuubi being in Naruto, thus making him on good terms with the boy. Now the old merchant used his old contacts in the various countries to get hard to achieve items so he could make out a relaxed but full lifestyle in his old age. "Oh hello Naruto I didn't recognize you at first. My eyesight must slipping."

"Hey Koren," Naruto greeted. "And you can help me by getting me those Shock Tags."

Koren did not even question if Naruto had the money needed for the Shock Tags, being a Ward of the Hyuuga Clan had that privilege. Instead he asked, "You bought one a few weeks ago right?"

"Yeah worked just like you said it would," Naruto answered. "And they're just what I need."

"Of course they worked," Koren seemed indignant, "I only deal in the highest quality merchandise. Now how many do you need?"

"I'll need twenty for what I have planned," Naruto answered.

"Twenty?" Koren asked caught off guard. "What are you doing preparing for war?"

"Yes actually," Naruto thought. Out loud he said, "No just doing an experiment and I'll need a lot to pull it off."

Koren sighed, "Alright I'll sell them too you, but just like every other time you get one of your ideas I'm not responsible."

"Understood," Naruto replied. Koren nodded and handed Naruto the twenty Shock Tags, "Just charge the cost to my tab, you'll get the usual payment by the end of the week."

"Yeah sure kid," Koren said, "Just don't go killing yourself with this experiment."

"Don't worry I won't," Naruto said as he waved goodbye.

Once he was out of the store he went to a training ground close by and got started. The first thing he did was set the Shock Tag to release a steady but low voltage current. The Tags had a finite amount of electricity and only a person who knew how to make them could 'recharge' them. But at this voltage the Tags would last several weeks even if they were used all day. Next Naruto placed one tag on his fore arm and activated it. He quickly felt the electricity coursing through his arm causing his muscles to twitch ever so slightly. "Alright it works!" Naruto exclaimed. He then placed the rest of the Shock Tags all over his body; one on each forearm, one on each upper arm and shoulders, one on each calf front and back, the same with his shins, one on each side of his chest and two more on his stomach, and the last two he placed on his lower back.

After getting used to the strange feeling from the low voltage coursing through his body, Naruto started to do light exercises and slow katas so he did not over exert himself. Normally with Naruto's stamina it took hours of a heavy workout to tire him out, this work out only took him two hours. After those two hours Naruto deactivated the Shock Tags to let his muscles rest. When he did the fatigue hit him like a strike from a Jyuuken (Gentle Fist) palm, only all over his body. "Guess I over did it again," Naruto muttered before dropping to the ground and taking an impromptu nap.

When Naruto opened his eyes he noted that it was now in the early afternoon. That meant that he had slept for more than a day, highly unlikely, or he only slept for a few hours. When he tried to move he found his muscles were still sore because of the new type of workout. Knowing that a nice soak in a hot bath would really help out his body Naruto decided to head to a bath house not too far away.

Once he arrived he entered the men's section and relaxed into the hot water and closed his eyes. For a short amount of time Naruto was alone but soon heard someone else enter and take a seat directly across from him. Naruto paid the new comer no mind as he was not bothering him. That is until the new comer started to laugh softly every now and then. When Naruto opened his eyes he saw a large man with long spiky white hair leaning against the fence with his back to Naruto. "What are you doing?" Naruto asked.

The large man turned around just long enough to whisper, "Be quiet, I have work to do." He turned back around and resumed his soft laughing.

Naruto started at the guy in confusion. Not because he did not understand what he was doing for he did, as Naruto saw the small hole in the fence when the man turned. No, what was confusing Naruto was that he could swore that he had met this man before. It was when the man said, "Oh my new book is going to be a masterpiece," that Naruto finally remembered where he met him…

Naruto was eight years old and was studying inside the Hokage's Private Library when he heard noise from the other room. Being a curious boy Naruto went to see what the noise was. What he found was the Hokage talking with another man that looked to be in his mid to late forties. "Sensei I finally got my book Icha Icha (Come Come) Paradise published!" the stranger said. "And I wanted you to have the first issue seeing as you would enjoy it and understand the true genius of my masterpiece!"

"Thank you Jiraiya," the Hokage said with a light redness to his face. He took the book and started to read only to have his face become redder the longer he read. "I think I'll read the rest later."

Wondering what was going on Naruto asked, "Hokage-sama who's this and what was that book he just gave you?"

"How can you not know who I am?" the man asked. He started to do a rather strange dance, "I am Mt. Myobokugama's Holy Master Sennin, also known as the Kaeru-Sannin (Toad Hermit) Jiraiya!" Naruto looked very confused at the dance and the introduction. Jiraiya disregarded the look and went on to explain his book, "Why I just gave the old man here…"

"Now, now Jiraiya, I don't you think he's quite ready for that yet," the Hokage said quickly.

"I guess you're right, Sensei," Jiraiya said. "He is a bit young to truly understand what my work is about."

The fact that the Jiraiya was calling the Hokage 'Sensei' and they were discussing what the Hokage was given being to advanced for Naruto led the blonde boy to believe it was a book with advanced jutsus. Naruto always wanting to read about new jutsus decided he would take a look at that book.

So the next day when the Hokage had left for a meeting Naruto snuck into his Office and found the little orange book in the top drawer and retrieved the book. After he started to read it he became very confused, as he had never seen anything like this before. There were drawings of what looked like grappling positions so he thought maybe it was a Taijutsu manual. Wanting to figure it out he went to the best Taijutsu users he knew to ask question, namely Hiashi and Hizashi…

Naruto's anger started to rise at the memory. That night when he got back to the Hyuuga Compound and asked the twin brothers to explain the book he was subjected to the most embarrassing night of his young life. For that night they gave the young Naruto, the Talk. For a week poor Naruto could not look at any girl without turning very red. It was the night of the Talk that Naruto promised to pay the man, namely Jiraiya, back for that embarrassment.

So with his anger rising Naruto's chakra began to flow rapidly. So rapidly in fact that the Seal on his stomach became visible. "Hey you old man!" Naruto said loudly.

Jiraiya turned to silence the kid behind him again but stopped from saying anything when he saw that Seal. "The Kyuubi Kid?" Jiraiya thought. Any other thoughts were cut off when Naruto rose out of the water and ran on top of it and delivered a very strong punch to Jiraiya's face knocking him into the women's side of the bath house.

The resulting screams of women followed by the sounds and screams of a man getting beaten were enough of vengeance for Naruto, at least for now. "That'll show the old pervert. Kami that night was so embarrassing!" Naruto decided that he had enough of the bathhouse and left to return to his training.

As Naruto left the bathhouse Jiraiya observed him from his hiding spot. "He's certainly grown up since the last time I saw him." He rubbed his chin massaging the pain away, "And it looks like he's learned Impact rather well. I wonder how strong he really is?"