Chunin Exam Part 2

Disclaimer= I don't own Naruto or Techniques from any other anime etc.

LetsSeeIfICanDoThisToo: that mistake has been corrected. To make sure, go to the first chap and read it again.

Draconic Reborn: No, it was a mistake and I have corrected it now. As for Zabuza falling for such a simple trick, well, have you seen the battle between Deidara and Sasuke? If you have, then you may have noticed that Sasuke provoked Deidara by simply glaring at him!

Hulk9970: His relation with Konohamaru at chapter 8 was simply a way to describe some of Naruto's past, not any resentment or coldness towards the boy himself.

Rangle: So do you agree with me or not?

Herat: Yes, they are together, so yeah you can sigh in relief.

Lara5170: I am not trying to make fun of you, I just find your incredible sense of curiosity highly amusing. As for Kabuto, well he already knew Naruto as Sasuke's teammate but didn't have any solid info regarding his personality and abilities.

Roshane: it's a possibility.

Jh831: yup and believe me when Naruto use it, it will be epic! As for Sasuke being dead last, he is not the dead last of the class. The Civilian Council forced the Hokage to put the first two highest scoring Genins with the Kunoichi of the Year, meaning Sakura with Naruto and Sasuke.

Question of the Day (An old lady in the United States has a heart attack and dials 911. No one came and she died. How could this have happened?)

Winners (Jerico516, Super Saiyan Rose Goku Black,)

Answer of the Previous Question (There were no stairs because it was a one story house!)

AN: My sincere gratitude toward each and every reviewer. Now, towards the issue of Team Guy, I was bugged so much that instead of writing another chapter, I went back and corrected that particular mistake. I mean so many of asked about it and I answered each and every review the same, yet some would ask again. At least some of you were nice about It.! I mean come on! Hope you are happy with this because I don't want to hear another word about it.

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Forest of Death

Team 7 sprinted through the dense foliage of trees in the notorious forest, Sasuke and Sakura at the front keeping an eye out for frontal attacks and Naruto as well as Akuma at the back keeping the team guarded from sneak attacks. Even though, he was more than enough to deal with some foolish Genins, he had produced a few clones and positioned them around the team in a 50 meter radius along with an additional clone to search for an Earth scroll.

Call him a paranoid man, but he was of the opinion that it was better to be safe than sorry.

It had been only a few minutes since the start of the Exam and so far they hadn't encountered any Genin hell bent on taking their scroll, though it was more likely than not that some would appear anytime soon. He would've preferred to move faster but Sasuke and Sakura had proven that they couldn't move any faster than they already were, which wasn't much if he had anything to say about it.

To think they would've improved in these past six months.

Sure, Sasuke had improved quite a bit than he had expected, obviously a product of the awakening of his bloodline, but it was still far less than what was necessary. Sakura on the other hand, had proven quite disappointing in that regard.

Hiding himself from the ever teasing and frankly annoying Anko had been a real hassle. She seemed determined to rub the fact that he had admitted something which obviously hadn't been true in the slightest. Honestly if it hadn't been for Shino interfering and the fact that he had an Exam to perform, he would've never admitted anything.

Still, it had given him enough time to analyze a few of the Genins who seemed intent on observing their actions. A few Genins, three particular Genins from the Grass Village with disgusting scent of snakes lingering around them, had gotten his attention. He would've waved off their leers as nothing but the disgusting stares of hormonal teenagers but there was just something about the glint in one particular Grass Genin's eyes that caused alarms to go off in his head.

Being an emotion sensor, he had felt a repulsive aggregate of negative emotions from the Grass-nin, so nauseating in fact that it had been hard not to unleash the full force of his compressed Chakra and crush him/her.

From what he had observed discreetly behind his mask, the Genin had the physical appearance of a female yet the scent of a man intertwined with snakes. He couldn't wave off the nagging feeling of suspicion at the back of his head whenever he thought about him or her. There were several conclusions that came to his mind but he had no authentic evidence to prove the validity of those said conclusions.

Shaking his head, Naruto replaced himself with a clone behind him to take care of a particular nuisance that seemed intent on following them, to a trap if he guessed correctly. The hulking mass of crimson fur known as Akuma gave his master a sideway glance but otherwise remained undisturbed by what was happening, knowing Naruto could take care of it.

Team 7 raced towards the Central Tower, leaving behind the real Naruto to deal with their would-be-hunter. Naruto flipped backward and landed softly on a high branch, standing up to his imposing height with his hands by his side as he waited for the Genin to appear.

He didn't have to wait much as the aforementioned man appeared a few moments later but stopped when he saw Naruto's tall form standing on a tree. The cloaked Jinchuriki raised an eyebrow at the Genin's, from the Hidden Rain if the Headband was any indication, strange garb as well as facial accessories as the Genin landed in front of him on a tree branch.

Light yellow uniform along a with a face mask, quite the strange garb for a forest mission.

'Let's see, this is where they start bragging about their battle prowess and making useless threats of death should the offender not offer them the desired object' Naruto mused in his head.

Sure enough, his thoughts were proven correct when the Genin opened his mouth, or so Naruto thought because he couldn't exactly see anything behind his mask.

"So you sensed my presence, well done! I am impressed that a Genin like you were able to sense me but that won't help you in this case. Hand over the scroll and you won't get hurt!" he started, though his voice came out distorted due to the presence of his mask.

"Perhaps we can find an alternative. How about you hand over your scroll and I may consider leaving you alive" Naruto replied expressionlessly, his voice as cold as an ice berg.

The masked Genin blinked several times before his eyes scrunched visibly and released an audible growl "Oh yeah! Then come and try it"

As soon as the words left his mouth, his eyes widened in pain and shock, spit and blood flew out of his wide mouth as an unbelievably hard punch found its home upon his torso, forcing him to be sent flying back first into the trunk of a tree.

Coughing up a few wads of blood, the Genin gingerly looked up with dilated eyes and saw the tall cloaked man standing in front of him like a statue. He hadn't even seen him move, let alone punch him in the abdomen! One second he was standing there and then next he had his hand buried in his stomach! "H-how!?"

"Hand over the scroll" Naruto stated coldly and extended his hand towards the slumped Genin who was too busy glaring a hole through his mask covered face. Seeing as the Rain ninja Chunin hopeful was too arrogant to admit defeat, the cloaked Jinchuriki sighed in displeasure and uncurled his other glove covered hand in front of the Genin as it lit in reddish black flames.

"W-what the hell are y-you doing!" the downed Rain ninja stuttered and backed away against the trunk of the tree.

Naruto ignored his question and slammed his hand over the Genin's torso, causing said ninja to scream out in agony as the unbelievably hot torrent of flames were sent rushing through his body, burning and frying cells from the inside out "The scroll, NOW"

Try as he might, the Rain-nin couldn't find the courage to deny him or the endurance to not be bothered by the pain coursing through his body due to the scorching flames. Sluggishly and numbed due to the incredible pain, he raised his hand in defeat and reached for his pocket to pick out the scroll as Naruto stopped his torture and backed away, just in case.

The Genin produced the scroll from his pocket and handed it over to the tall cloaked man with shaky hands, a clear imprint of a hand etched into the skin of his torso as blood poured out with incredible vigor.

The tall Jinchuriki reached for the scroll and examined it with a calm look, it turned out, much to his disappointment, an Earth scroll similar to their own. Shrugging to himself and without even bothering to gaze at the bleeding Genin, Naruto pocketed the scroll, knowing it would lessen the competitors in the Preliminary Exams and walked away.

Just because the scroll was not the one he wanted didn't mean that he would let the chance of sabotaging other Genins' chance of passing the test. It was not a world where one could afford being soft and considerate for the wellbeing of others. By taking the scroll, he had just guaranteed the failure of three Genins, meaning less competition or more like three less nuisance for him to deal with.

Seeing as his back was turned, the bleeding Rain-nin made one last ditched effort to take back what he had lost and threw a paper bomb secured to a kunai, jumping away with a hand on his chest to stop the bleeding as the clearing exploded in a brilliant shower of flames.

Fire Style: Fireball Barrage

The last sound and the last thing the bleeding Genin heard or saw was the swooshing sounds of something unknown and a barrage of large fireballs descending upon him from above like a pack of hungry wolves before he was blasted to flaming pieces.

Naruto walked undisturbed through the foliage of trees without even looking back at the destruction he had caused with his technique. He had shown mercy upon the Genin by leaving him alive yet he had repaid his act of kindness by throwing a paper bomb laced kunai with his back turned? Such ungratefulness!

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Back with Team 7

Naruto flash-stepped through the forest and replaced himself with his clone before sending it back to its position at the back. Sasuke and Sakura remained oblivious to the proceedings around them, ignorant of the destruction he had caused a few moments ago and ignorant of the life he had taken as they moved forward.

His head snapped to the back of the group when one of his clones was dispelled by something unknown, his senses went off as they were assaulted by emotion of repulsive madness and insanity. Whoever he/she was, they clearly meant business.

Akuma suddenly stopped tree-hopping and stood on all fours upon a tree, clear malice and danger flaring in his eyes as he looked around. Naruto nodded his head in approval at the fox's quick reaction at the face of danger, oddly feeling satisfied that his training of the fox had been a success. He needed a companion he could relay on in the direst of circumstances and Akuma was proving himself worthy of being that companion.

Sasuke and Sakura turned around when they heard the fox growl dangerously and stop his movements, coming to a stop atop a tree as they gazed at their third mysterious member with clear confusion.

"Don't stop no matter what" Naruto stated firmly and jumped to stand next to his foxy companion, causing the two members to look at him in even more confusion. Before they could open their mouths, an enormous surge of wind came rushing towards their general location and swept them off their feet to send them skidding several feet away.

Sasuke and Sakura were sent flying through the thick trees and slammed to the ground, clear cuts and bruises evident on their clothes and skin as they attempted to stand up again in order to see what they were up against.

Naruto and Akuma stood undisturbed atop the tree branch as they waited for the daring attacker, though judging from the amount of Chakra that had been poured into the Jutsu and the destruction it had caused, Naruto doubted he could take care of this one as quickly as he had dealt with the Rain-nin.

"He he, you withstood that, how interesting!" a clearly feminine voice full of sick amusement and interest reverberated through the clearing

Naruto looked around for the source of the sound but unfortunately was being met with failure. Whoever it was, she clearly knew how to conceal herself. Sending a discreet signal to his two teammates, he sighed in relief when Sasuke picked up on it and shot towards the tower with Sakura upon his shoulders.

He was glad that the Uchiha forgot his sense of pride and admitted that this was one foe he will not be able to beat. If he hadn't picked up on the signal, Naruto would've blasted him and that pink girl to countless pieces, consequences be damned. If they couldn't even understand a few signals, then they were useless to him and his cause.

Seeing as the two were out of the jaws of danger, Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated to find the intruder, only for his closed eyes to widen in surprise when he felt the person behind him. He turned around just in time to block a punch to his stomach but the force of the punch was still strong enough to send skidding to the ground.

Akuma turned around with a growl and attacked, claws and jaws ready to pierce through the daring attacker, only for the said assaulter to vanish without a trace. Seeing as he couldn't find the person, the fox jumped from the tree and stood next to his kneeling master.

"That was an impressive block, Naruto" the attacker announced in amusement while Naruto looked around the clearing with a blank look on his face "However, I am curious as to how you were able to train your physical body so much that it even hurt my hand when I punched you"

Naruto stood up stiffly and stood as still as a statue, wondering how this strange woman even know his name while Akuma looked around the clearing with constant growls "To be able to bypass my senses, you must be quite skilled in the art of stealth"

Without any indication of an attack, Naruto suddenly turned around and fired an enormous fire dragon at a tree, blasting it to pieces as a shadow jumped away just before the dragon connected with the plant.

The shadow jumped to another tree branch and stood up with a chuckle, revealing herself to be the same Grass-nin Naruto had been wary of. The woman was a black haired female dressed in a yellow dress, a purple robe tied around her waist, a straw hat on her head and black pants.

"Well, you are certainly full of surprises" she chuckled with a wide grin full of sick intentions and lowered her straw hat "a Fire Style Jutsu without any hand signs, wonderful"

"I think I shall consider that as a compliment, though I do not need praises from the likes of you… Orochimaru" Naruto stated in monotone, now sure of the true identity of this female.

The disgustingly pungent scent of snakes, the overwhelming torrents of suffocating malice and vile intention and the feelings of insanity oozing off of his Chakra was a dead giveaway. He had seen the Curse Mark on Anko's shoulder many times and thus was familiar with the hate-filled Chakra emitting from it, which alone had confirmed his suspicion.

"You figured it out, did you? You are even more intelligent than the reports had made you out to be" she said with a chuckle and reached for her face before pulling off the skin in a disgusting fashion, revealing the sickly white and pale face of the famously dangerous Sannin, Orochimaru.

The clearing was bombarded with a suffocating killing intent, so vile, so malicious and so disgusting that even Akuma flinched for a second before growling like a rabid beast. Naruto on the other hand, while impressed by its potency, remained undisturbed seeing as he had been subjected to the heart-stopping killing intent of the nine tailed beast.

Compared to the KI of that beast, Orochimaru's looked more like a child trying to appear intimidating. Sure, the Sannin was powerful and a man he was not willing to tangle with at the moment, he was a little disappointed from the show of intimidation. He had heard many stories from the Hokage about his power and battle prowess, but if this was the extent of his KI, then clearly his reputation was highly exaggerated.

Orochimaru despite keeping an amused outward appearance, was impressed beyond belief. He had seen many experienced Jonins tremble and shiver under the full brunt force of his killing intent, yet this Genin seemed entirely undisturbed. Amusingly enough, he seemed more disappointed than scared. Such interesting boy this was! He would need to play with him for a while before going after Sasuke, after all, he may prove beneficial to his cause.

"I suppose that presentation was to frighten the insects surrounding your body?" Naruto asked blankly with a hint of sarcasm and stood straight, discreetly signaling for Akuma to prepare himself.

He knew beyond any shred of doubt that he won't be able to defeat Orochimaru at his current level of power, thus he needed to find a way to force him to leave and there was only one way to do that. He just hoped the plan succeeded or he may be forced to use his triumph card and thus destroy his body along with Orochimaru's.

The fox somehow understood the signal and bent a little low as if preparing for a fight. The tall Jinchuriki nodded in approval and looked towards the snake Sannin who seemed content to simply stand there with a smug look on his sickly pale visage.

"Let's just say that you have grasped my interest, Naruto Uzumaki, I hope you do not turn out to be a waste of my time" the Sannin retorted with a smug grin, not the least bit bothered by the insult, and licked his lips with his abnormally large tongue.

"You give entirely new meaning to the word creepy" the tall cloaked Genin voiced blankly and discreetly raised a single finger underneath his cloak while Orochimaru looked on with amusement.

Fire Style: Scorching Inferno

Orochimaru's eyes widen in pleasant surprise when an enormous stream of scorching flames was sent flying towards him out of the blue with incredible swiftness.

Wind Style: Gale Palm

His already wide eyes of astonishment widened even further when a large amount of Wind Chakra was sent towards the midst of the flames, causing it to increase in magnitude and intensity as it raced towards him before engulfing his body entirely.

The clearing was reduced to a flaming mess, trees and small plants were burned beyond recognition, formerly green and lively grass was turned to nothing but a black grave of ashes. Amidst the chaos, a shadow leaped out of the smoke and debris as it raced towards the opposite side of the tower.

Naruto lowered his finger and stood in the scorched clearing with his eyes closed behind his mask, senses heightened to their max as he searched for the Sannin. A simple fire style, admittedly a powerful one enhanced by his Wind Style Jutsu, but still a simple one will never be able to deal with him, he was sure of that.

"How surprising to see a mere Genin perform a Fire Style of that magnitude and enhance it with Wind Style without the use of any hand signs, you are starting to become very interesting by the minute" Orochimaru stated with an amused chuckle as he emerged from the ground without a scratch on his body, which Naruto expected as much. The man was simply too powerful to be ever caught by a simple Jutsu like that without the element of surprise.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I don't sway towards that side" the tall Jinchuriki retorted impassively.

"Amusing but that's not what I meant" the pale Sannin voiced out with a somewhat strained chuckle, causing Naruto to smirk behind his mask.

Before Naruto could speak, the Sannin jumped from the tree with a wide grin on his face and delivered an impressive combination of kicks and punches which even forced the ever impassive and analytical Genin to be on the defensive. The bloodthirsty grin on his face was not welcomed in the slightest but Naruto couldn't exactly comment on it since the man was keeping him occupied.

Despite being so fast and agile, Orochimaru couldn't keep the grin of excitement and interest from leaving his face when he witnessed the Genin's incredible battle experience as well as his absolute defensive capabilities. The boy's instincts and battle honed senses were so incredible that his own battle loving instincts were forcing him to slowly but surely put more and more power into his blows without even realizing it.

'And to think he is only a mere Genin!' he mused with a wide grin as he landed a particularly hard kick on the said Genin's stomach and sent him flying towards a tree before firing a fireball at him. However, said Genin composed himself and rolled in midair to land on his feet atop the trunk of the tree, before vanishing away to avoid a fireball rushing towards him.

'His astonishingly resilient body is another thing I am curious about' the pale Sannin thought with a grimace as he tried to ignore the stinging sensation in his foot. Even his medically enhanced and modified body was not able to keep the pain from escalating. He knew the Genin had a hard body since he had experienced that for himself when he had first punched the boy, but he had still been skeptic until now.

Naruto appeared above a tree with a frown on his face as he looked at the pale Sannin. His theories were proven wrong from that brief encounter. The man had been holding back when he had released his KI at the beginning of their fight, but had only put a little more power behind his blows after witnessing him block all his attacks.

The sheer agility, flexibility and swiftness of his blows were impressive. The man appeared as though he had no bone in his body with the way he was moving. He had tried to predict his movements and yet had been met with failure. He was unpredictable, just like a snake.

However, Naruto had to thank his brilliant mind for coming up with ways to strengthen his body, otherwise that last blow would've knocked him out due to its sheer strength. His invulnerability and enhanced senses were the only thing keeping him alive at the moment, even though he knew the man was holding back.

Though, the sickly pale Sannin wasn't the only one who was holding back.

Leaping at the contemplating Sannin, Naruto reached for his pocket underneath the cloak and threw a few shurikens at his still form before swiftly running through a series of hand signs,

Shuriken Shadow Clone

The thrown shurikens were increased in numbers and sent flying towards the Sannin who looked on with clear delight in his golden eyes.

Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu

The flying stars caught on fire and looked akin to reddish flowers rushing through the air towards the Sannin. Orochimaru vanished from the path of the flaming shurikens and appeared a few feet away with a wide smirk, however his smug smirk turned to one of horror when he saw the tall cloaked Genin above him with his hands on fire.

Fire Style: Five Finger Blast Punch

Naruto landed in front of the Sannin in incredible speed and without giving said Sanin time, slammed his flaming hands into the man's torso, causing the Sannin to spit out blood and look on with horror as his internal organs and tissues were blasted from his back.

The secret of the Five Finger Blast Punch was that it relayed on incredible speed to move through the guard of one's opponent, slam both hands into the foe's torso before suddenly releasing Wind augmented Fire Chakra in a violent show of power to either blast or fry the internal organs. A messy technique, but a highly effective one.

Naruto frowned heavily when the Orochimaru he had killed turned into mud and dissolved into the ground. A Mud Clone? He should've known the man would use such tricks seeing as he was known for being sneaky and cunning.

"I have to say you have grasped my interest, Naruto, but sadly I don't have time to play with you. However, there was no need to send your foxy companion to inform the ANBU since I have completed what I came for" Orochimaru's disembodied voice along with a chuckle reverberated through the scorched clearing as Naruto looked around "We will meet again, Naruto, I look forward to your progress"

The tall Jinchuriki released a slight grunt of annoyance as he listened to the disembodied voice before it vanished completely. He had sent Akuma to inform the ANBU black ops stationed outside the forest and had deliberately used high level techniques to alert said ANBU without appearing suspicious, but it seemed the Sannin had known about his intentions all along.

He had underestimated the man's intelligence as well as his prowess, which alone was disheartening since he had always prided himself on being able to read the expressions of his opponents. Well, at least he learned one thing from this encounter and that was to never ever underestimate his opponents again, either strong or weak.

Coming to the objective Orochimaru had mentioned, he knew it had something to do with Sasuke. The old Hokage had mentioned the man's obsession with learning all the techniques of the world, thus he needed the Sharingan to achieve that goal, though he didn't know how the man would get the Sharingan and what he meant by saying that he had achieved his objective.

Frowning to himself due to the lack of information, Naruto looked around the clearing one last time before sprinting off into the distance

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Team 7, A Few Minutes Later

Naruto and Akuma arrived back to their position and saw the somewhat predictable sight of a bruised Sasuke passed out and a similarly bruised Sakura tending to him while surrounded by traps. Without even waiting for Sakura to start talking, Naruto flew over the traps and effortlessly slung her over his shoulder, leaving Akuma to take Sasuke's shirt in his jaw to pick him up as they started their trek to the central tower.

"Naruto, where the hell were you?! We were almost killed by that creepy Orochimaru guy!" she shouted in an annoyed voice, though her cheeks were tinged a little bit red due to her un-lady-like position on his shoulder.

"You checked?" came the ever impassive and detached voice of her teammate, causing her to blink in confusion.

"Checked what?"

"If he was a male or female?"

Sakura's cheeks redden in anger and a little bit of embarrassment at the question as well as his audacity to ask her something like that "What the hell is wrong with you? I am talking about us being almost killed and all you ask is if I have checked whether he was a male or female!"

Naruto gave her a look over his shoulder as they raced through the forest "You said that you were almost killed by that Orochimaru guy so I presumed you had checked the validity of that particular claim since I have to admit I have my doubts"

Despite her troubled state of both mind and body, she finally realized his true motive behind the question and smiled gratefully. He was trying to lighten the mood and make her forget the oddities of their situation "Thank you"

Though she couldn't tell what he was expressing behind his mask, she could at least tell that he was surprised by her statement. It seems he had expected her to not see underneath the underneath and find his true intentions, which admittedly made her a little annoyed. I mean come on! She was a Kunoichi, she could tell that much.

"No need. Always keep calm and analyze your situation in order to avoid irrational decisions" he stated firmly and looked back towards the front "Now, tell me what happened?"

Sakura related the tale of their dilemma and Naruto had to admit the man had played him well. It seems the real Orochimaru had been here all along, playing with Sasuke and Sakura before marking the former with a Curse Mark. Judging from the shape and feel of the Mark, Naruto knew it was a new one specifically designed for the boy and quite different from the one placed on Anko.

How would marking one individual with the Curse Mark make it easier for Orochimaru to get the Sharingan? As much as he hated to admit it, he had little to no information about the Curse Mark. He would've to rectify that particular mistake in a few hours if he needed to remove the Mark from Anko and to a lesser extent, Sasuke.

Seeing as they were still far away from the Tower and if their pace was any indication, they won't be able to reach any time soon, Naruto gave a discreet nod to his companion who showed his approval by letting out a muffled growl, before he suddenly stopped atop a tree branch and let go of his sleepy pink haired teammate.

Before she could protest, Naruto took a hold of her piggyback style and gave her a look behind his mask that instantly stopped her from saying anything "Close your eyes, hang on tight and don't open them until and unless I say so, understood?"

Giving a meek nod, Sakura rested her head on his broad and surprisingly muscular back to ease her mind, to forget about what had happened today and pray that Sasuke would survive as she felt ferocious wind sweeping past her but without her eyes, she couldn't tell what was happening.

Naruto and Akuma continuously used Flashsteps to race towards the Central Tower the rest of the way, the ferocious currents of wind rushed and collided with their speeding bodies but not enough to stop them from moving on towards their destination.

Along the way, a somewhat annoyed Jinchuriki left a lot of scorched corpses of daring attackers, burned craters and wildlife. And that is when a particular thorn on his side appeared in his fake and empty sense of glory.

"Hey guys, would you slow down for a bit?" a kindly smiling Kabuto asked as he caught up to the tall cloaked Genin who had slow down for a few minutes to catch his breathe.

"Get lost! I have neither the time nor the patience to deal with the likes of you" Naruto stated in a chilling tone and sped forward, leaving behind a shredded tree branch.

Kabuto didn't even see the attack before it was delivered considering it was sudden and unexpected. One second he was racing alongside their speeding team with a kind smile on his face and the next an enormous wind enhanced fire dragon collided with his body and sent him flying into the distance. Only his battle-hardened reflexes had stopped from being killed and endurances from screaming in pain as he witnessed his badly burned and shredded body.

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Central Tower, A Few Hours Later

Team 7 arrived at the Central Tower of the dangerous forest after a few hours of intense travel, well intense for Naruto and Akuma since they were the ones who had used Flashstep in continuous succession. Sakura had fallen asleep on his back during the ride while Sasuke had remained blissfully unaware of the proceedings around him.

Apparently, their team was the second team that had arrived at the tower, the first being the Sand team.

He had gotten a few scrolls from the poor saps that had attacked him in front of the tower with the intention of taking their scrolls. By his calculation, he had at least burned five Genins to smoking crisps with no chance of ever passing the exam or even being alive. The rest, well, the rest had suffered some extreme fire burns enough for them to be dropped out of the exam.

He had at least burned three Earth scrolls to prevent others from getting their hands on them since he had need for them to begin with. The only thing that could drop his mood even further would be to see that snake Sannin along with his lackey Kabuto. Fortunately for them, they were not present at the tower when he entered.

He laid Sasuke and Sakura on the floor and examined the two scrolls from behind his mask. Cautiously, he opened both and examined the seals engraved on them. Judging from the seal arrays, they were most likely used for summoning and if the smoke coming from it was any indication, he was right.

The tall Jinchuriki threw both of the scrolls and stood to the side appearing calm, but still defensive in case someone tried to attack. Just because he had gotten to the tower didn't mean that the Exam was over or that no one would dare to attack him.

With a puff of smoke, the telltale signs of a summoning seal, his old teacher from the Academy appeared amidst the fog. Judging from the look of surprise on his face, he hadn't exactly been expecting to be summoned so early and so suddenly.

Shaking the after effects of the summoning from his eyes, Iruka took in the visage of his tall and mysterious student with a look akin to surprise and pride, briefly forgetting the other two members of Team 7 "Naruto, nice to see you again and congratulations on passing the second part of the Chunin Exam. I honestly didn't expect to be summoned so early"

The tall Jinchuriki nodded in respect "A pleasure to see you as well, Iruka"

The dolphin-like Chunin smiled in content, feeling glad that he was at least gaining the trust of the cold and detached Genin before realization dawned on him as he looked behind the tall Genin to see the ever imposing form of Akuma standing over a sleeping Sakura and an unconscious Sasuke "What happened to them?"

Naruto waved off the Chunin's concern "They are alright, but I need to have a talk with the Hokage. When is he due to arrive at the Tower?"

Iruka couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the curt response as he walked towards his injured students "Not until the last day of the Exam, why?"

"Can you inform him that I wish to speak with him about an important matter?" Naruto asked in an impassive tone that didn't give anything about his real emotions.

Seeing as the two were alright, Iruka turned his attention towards the tall Genin, wondering what so important that he needed to talk with the Hokage without even giving him a hint. Sure, he knew the cloaked Jinchuriki was a man of many secrets that even the Hokage didn't know, but he was still a Chunin and had authority over him. So shouldn't he be informed first if the matter concerned the safety of the Village?

Nonetheless, he nodded in agreement and shouldered an unconscious Sasuke over his shoulder, being careful to stay as far away from the fox as possible since he had heard quite frightening stories about its ferociousness "Since you arrived early, you still have four days before the Preliminary Exams begins. Until then, you can rest, eat and even train inside the tower"

Naruto nodded calmly and pinned the hulking fox with his gaze "Pick her up and drop her in a bed inside the tower. Stay there and make sure no one enters the room"

"Where are you going?" the scarred Chunin asked in confusion. If it was him in Naruto's place, he would've taken this opportunity to rest as much as he could and prepare himself for the upcoming battles.

"I have something to attend to" he replied curtly before disappearing into the distance, leaving behind a wide eyed Iruka.

'When did he get so fast!?'

Just because he was thinking of giving the Chunin a second chance didn't mean that he would reveal his life story or tell him every single thing he planned to do. He was just going back into the forest to both train and prevent as many teams from passing as possible.

Rest would come later, he had four days before the Preliminary and in his humble opinion that was more than enough time to master an entire scroll of high level techniques let alone resting his body. He had not trained his body to rest but to thrive in the midst of conflicts and battle, he would be damned if he let it rest for four days without doing anything!

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Four Days Later, Central Tower Battle Arena

Akuma's overwhelmingly loud growl awoke the tall Jinchuriki from his nap as he sat upright before reaching for his mask and looked around the room. He had returned from the forest just a few hours ago, particularly five hours ago, and after having a brief chat with the Hokage about a certain silver haired spy and Orochimaru, had decided to rest for a few hours to replenish his Chakra reserves which he had emptied quite a bit due to his almost three and a half days long continuous search for Genins.

There was no end to the happiness he was feeling at the moment. He had survived three and a half days long session of continuous battles and search for more battles by only drinking water! He could feel his muscles, his cells practically overflowing with power and vigor! No wonder Orochimaru had that bloodthirsty grin on his face when he had battled with him. There was a certain thrill, a certain sensation that seemed only unique to the heat of a battle!

Despite knowing his limits, despite being aware of his power level, he had hoped and prayed to once again encounter Orochimaru in the forest, to once again feel the thrill of adrenaline rushing through his bloodstream, to once again feel the sting of his opponents' blows and to once again discard all his reservations to the wind. But sadly, he had only fought with weak-willed, easily dealt with and easily killed Genins who seemed to have no idea what it truly meant to be a Shinobi.

He had become so desperate during his battle-induced ecstasy that he had prayed to even encounter that lackey, Kabuto if no one else, but even that prayer had gone unnoticed and unanswered. In the end, when all was said and done, he had been surprised by his own thirst for battle. But instead of feeling guilty, he had embraced those feelings.

Reaching for the hood of his cloak, Naruto looked towards the wall clock and noticed that he had at least an hour before the start of the Preliminary Exam. Mind made up, Naruto walked towards the adjoined bathroom to take a shower and wash away the smell of blood and sweat.

About 50 minutes later, Naruto and Akuma arrived at the battle arena just in time to hear Hayate, the Proctor of the third Exam announce Sasuke and Kiba's match and order the rest of the Genins to move to the upper level of the arena. Giving the Hokage and Guy a respectable nod, Naruto and Akuma flash stepped to the upper level next to the red-eyed Jonin.

While Guy took the nod as a sign of greeting from his favorite and youthful student, the old man took the meaning of the nod as something entirely different. Giving a discreet nod, a few hidden ANBU were sent out after the silver haired man who had dropped out of the exam a minute ago.

His old heart could not contain the pride and joy he felt when Naruto brought him the info about Orochimaru and the spy known as Kabuto Yakushi. Despite being still unforgiven, he had tried his best to win the boy's trust once again as much as he could. He had provided the boy with a private room along with an adjoined bathroom since he knew Naruto preferred his privacy above all else.

By capturing Kabuto, he would finally be able to gain some info regarding the whereabouts of his estranged student and finally deal with him. He had a feeling he would be meeting his wayward student soon and Naruto had apparently confirmed his feelings.

If he was to take his student's character and personality into consideration, then he won't make a move until the finals since he seemed to have a strange obsession with interrupting everything in its final stages, thus he had one month to once again retrain his old and rusty body to finally deal with his student once and for all.

'Don't I get a nod of greeting? That's disrespectful, Naruto' Kakashi thought with a sweatdrop.

Kurenai smiled softly and gave a teasing nod as Naruto and Akuma appeared right beside her. She was tempted to give him a hug but refrained from doing so since there were many people watching their interaction. Her smile widened when the hulking fox ran straight towards her with a loud growl and nudged her foot with his head, causing her to pet his furry head "Missed me that much, huh? Good boy!"

Hinata jumped slightly due to the sudden appearance of the tall Jinchuriki and the scary looking fox, but relaxed when her Sensei petted him without the fox doing anything violent.

The other Genins and Jonins looked on with shock as the hulking fox turned from a menacing beast to a purring mess under the Genjutsu Mistress's hands. The Jonins, especially, were shocked to see the normally stoic and serious Kurenai smile a teasing smile towards the tall Genin, no doubt to mock him for taming the scary beast.

Shino simply gave the tall cloaked man a nod and turned towards the fighting arena without saying anything.

"FOXY, when I get up there, I am going to kick your ass so hard your grandchildren will say ouch! You think you are too good to even say hi to me, huh?" Apparently, the ever loud and bloodthirsty Anko didn't take kindly to being ignored. Unfortunately and fortunately, depending on the perspective, Naruto ignored her simply to get his revenge for being teased back at the Forest of Death.

"Honestly, you are spoiling him with all those petting" Naruto stated blankly and crossed his sleeve-covered hands over his chest, ignoring Anko's indignant shout as he watched Akuma become a purring mess under Kurenai's skillful hands "Nobody is going to take him seriously if they see him like this"

"At least he seems to enjoy my presence, unlike you" she retorted with a huff and rubbed the fox's head, much to his pleasure "You have the nerve to question me spoiling him when all you do is tire this poor thing all day long with your insane training methods"

She had seen the way he seemed to both train his body as well as the fox and had to admit it was insane. Sealing off your Chakra and then training? Seriously!? She had joined them a few times on their training due to Naruto's insistence but only those which she could do, not the clearly insane ones. She had thought that Guy's training methods were inhuman, however she had changed her mind after seeing what Naruto and Akuma were doing.

However, the results of those training session had been astonishingly brilliant! She had only sealed off her Chakra for about two hours during one of the session, but after releasing the seal, she had been surprised to witness incredible strength in her muscles and increase in her Chakra reserves.

After that, she had continued a few training sessions with them when she had the time but had been mostly busy with training her Genins and taking them on missions. Even though she was a Jonin, Naruto's Taijutsu far outclassed hers. She had come to that realization after a spar with the tall Jinchuriki, a one-sided one at that.

To think that a mere Genin would defeat her, an elite Jonin, without so much as a scratch on his body. While it had been a shameful moment for her, Naruto's offer of training had lifted her spirits.

The sheer difference she had seen and witnessed with her eyes had been so vast that she had doubted her position as a Jonin before Naruto offered to become her Taijutsu teacher of sorts. Being a Genjutsu specialist, it was understandable that she would be a little bit weak in hand to hand, but after training with Naruto, she had realized that she was A LOT weaker than she had expected.

"It's not a question of enjoying your presence, but his level of intimidation" the tall Genin replied with a soft tone.

"Still not buying it" she retorted stubbornly and looked away, still petting Akuma's head.

Naruto sighed softly and looked towards the arena where Kiba and Sasuke's battle was going on. If he was to judge them by their level of skill, he knew Sasuke would win. One, Kiba was arrogant and two, he had trouble with analyzing a situation before it was too late.

"He really needs to work on that arrogance of his before it gets him killed" Naruto stated bluntly and gave Kurenai a meaningful look.

Kurenai had the decency to look sheepish "I tried my best, but as you can see it's a working process"

"Well, he is going to lose"

As Naruto had predicted, after a few minutes of futile and hopeless use of tactics, Sasuke used a technique he had copied from Lee, much to the Jinchuriki's displeasure, and severely hurt Kiba.

As Kiba was carried in a stretcher, the tall Jinchuriki turned towards the red-eyed Jonin, whose eyes were twitching randomly "Don't even think about saying 'I told you so', Naruto"

Said Genin smirked behind his mask and turned towards the arena as Kakashi vanished with Sasuke, no doubt to do something about his mark. The screen flashed random names before it settled on Shino and a Sound-nin called Zaku.

"How about Shino?" the annoyed Jonin asked with a smug smirk, knowing Naruto held the quiet Aburame in high regard.

As expected, Naruto turned towards her but she couldn't even see the look on his face due to his thrice damned mask as Shino descended down the stairs to the arena. That mask annoyed her so much that she was tempted to rip it off whenever she would see it! "Shino is competent enough to win the match"

Hinata looked between her Sensei and the tall cloaked Genin with a confused look on her face. If she didn't know any better, she would say they were both flirting and fighting at the same time. That was odd!

"Competent enough? Are you trying to question my teachings" she asked with her eyes narrowed mockingly before she turned and lowered to Akuma's eye level "Did you hear that meanie? He thinks I can't teach properly"

Naruto gave his companion a deadpan look when he turned towards him and growled "Seriously?"

The red-eyed Jonin placed her hand over her mouth and giggle softly as she saw the silent argument between the two. It was just so amusing to see the normally stoic and detached Naruto speak in something other than monotone.

"Good boy, at least I can count on you to back me up, unlike a certain tall and spooky Genin" she cooed and petted the fox's head with renewed vigor while said fox purred in bliss.

Hinata could feel her eyes widened in shock when she heard her Sensei's response. Did she just coo!? Did she just jab at someone!?

"Was that a jab at me by any chance?" Naruto asked with a blank tone

"Who knows?" she retorted with a smug grin while Akuma let out a sound akin to a snort, causing the tall Jinchuriki to deadpan at their strange alliance. Was it him and or did they seem more friendly and more close whenever he was around. This wasn't just a onetime deal either. They had been allying against him in every single argument, every single decision.

If they wanted to go to eat something after training, he would suggest one thing and Kurenai would purposely suggest something else to annoy him and to make it worse, Akuma would agree with her every time and then they would purposely act all chummy and emotional to get on his nerves. Sometimes, he couldn't help but wonder if Akuma was his companion or Kurenai's.

"Consider your training as doubled when we get back, both of you" Naruto announced firmly and looked towards the arena where Zaku and Shino were fighting.

Kurenai leaned towards him and whispered in his cloaked covered ear "In case you have forgotten, I am a Jonin and thus have responsibilities at times like these so your threat is useless"

Not wanting to be outdone by anyone, Naruto turned and leaned dangerously close to her ear, purposely releasing hot air from his mouth as Kurenai shivered slightly, cheeks tinged red with embarrassment "Indeed, but does that excuse you from my sessions after the Chunin Exams?"

Seeing as she was defeated, the red-eyed Jonin huffed and crossed her hands over her chest before looking away, to show that she was not happy about that particular situation and … to hide her red cheeks. Damn that blond! He knew exactly which buttons to push and when to push them! She couldn't exactly continue their game of concealed flirting in front of all these people, now could she? What the hell was his problem using double meaning words so close to her ears like that?

The damn blond knew that and took advantage of it! She could practically feel smugness oozing off of his cloaked covered body in waves

Fortunately, all the Genins and Jonins were focused on the fight between Shino and Zaku which was surprisingly coming to an end so they couldn't see her embarrassed expression. Her eyebrows twitched randomly when she saw a grinning Anko wigging her eyebrows at her suggestively, making it painfully obvious she knew and saw what was happening. She was never going to live this down if her grinning face was any indication.

Zaku, seeing as he was from the Sound Village was using sound waves to blast his enemies away and Shino, being the ever logical and analytical Genin that he was, used the only weakness in his technique.

By blocking the holes in the Sound-nin's hands, he blocked the way for the output of the sound waves, thus with no way out, the sound waves blasted right through the Genin's forearm, knocking said Chunin hopeful into blissful unconsciousness.

Kankuro Vs Tsurugu Misumi

The match between these two ended as soon as it began. The second teammate of the spy known as Kabuto used his Chakra to soften the bones in his body, thus enabling him to wrap himself around the Sound Genin like a serpent would around its prey. A unique Jutsu but one easily countered from what Naruto could see.

Kankuro, it seemed, picked up on that weakness and turned the tables on the fake Leaf-nin by using his puppet. Seeing as he was also knee-deep in the questionable profession known as spying along with his other teammate and Kabuto, Naruto had already gotten permission to deal with him.

As soon as he was rendered unmoving by the Sound Genin and said Genin declared the winner, Naruto raised a single covered finger and pointed at the weak man before firing a fire bullet which seemed to increase in size and intensity the more it reached the Genin before engulfing him entirely, leaving behind nothing but ashes.

Yoroi Akado, the third teammate of the spy team shouted in outrage and demanded that Naruto be disqualified and questioned for killing an unconscious Genin even after he had lost the match. The Hokage ignored the demand and nodded to each of his Jonins, indicating that he would explain later and signaled to continue the matches.

Hayate, while confused and a little bit annoyed, signaled for the next match as the screen flashed randomly before settling on two names. Kurenai blinked in confusion and a little bit surprise when she heard her tall and detached friend groan softly. She really needed to see what was so great that it would even make the cold and impassive Naruto groan like that so she could use it whenever she wanted a reaction out of the blond.

She sighed in sympathy when she saw the two names flashing on the large screen, now oddly feeling pity for the cloaked Jinchuriki. She understood completely what he was going through and sympathized with him.

Ino Yamanaka Vs Sakura Haruno.

Instead of watching the match, Naruto took out a small scroll from his cloak and sat down crossed legged to read it. The Hokage sweatdropped when the ever stoical and serious Kurenai shrugged nonchalantly and sat down next to the cold Jinchuriki, leaning towards him to read what he was reading as the hulking fox followed their example and laid down to take a nap.

During the end of the match when the battle was announced tied, Sakura looked towards her only teammate and saw him, much to her disappointment and anger, reading a scroll along with the red-eyed Jonin. She turned towards her teacher, hoping that at least he had been paying attention, only to deadpan when she saw him reading his novel, occasionally letting out a perverted giggle.

Was she really that pathetic that her teammate didn't even deem her worthy of being cheered on?

Was she really that weak that her own teacher saw more interest in reading a perverted novel than watching her match?

With an air of clear depression surrounding her body, she walked up the stairs and stood next to her Sensei without saying anything, not that the man was listening anyway. She glanced at Naruto and saw him still reading his scroll as if not even caring what she had gone through down in the arena.

Kakashi sighed behind his mask and looked towards Naruto's siting form with narrowed eyes. It pained him to see his one and only female student so depressed just because she lost a simple match. He would've comforted her had it not been for Naruto's warning not to do so. It seems Naruto wanted her to feel depressed and disappointed so that she would be motivated to train rather than chase Sasuke all day.

Well, he just hoped it would turn out the way Naruto wanted or Sakura would lose her little self-confidence and would be dropped out of the team.

Naruto Uzumaki Vs Yoroi Akado

"Hmm, I suppose I should consider myself fortunate to be facing that spy, it would save me the trouble of hunting him down later" Naruto stated impassively and calmly stood up, ignoring Yoroi's shout of joy. It seems the man was happy to be facing him in battle, obviously thinking of avenging his teammate, he would convert that shout of joy into one of agony and despair soon enough.

Kurenai followed his example and stood up with a wide teasing smile "Want me to give you a good luck kiss?"

"That won't be necessary" he deadpanned, causing Kurenai to giggle softly.

"Why not? I hear it actually works. You should really try some"

Ignoring her teasing rib pokes, Naruto raised a hand when Akuma stood up to walk with him to the arena "I will handle him myself"

"Are you sure you don't want a kiss?" she asked with a suggestive smile.

"Oi you love birds, you can shower each other with affection later. It's time for your match" Anko shouted with a wide grin on her face, causing Kurenai's eyes to twitch and cheeks to heat up while Kakashi giggled perversely

"I think I will be able to survive without your generous offer, thank you for your concern" he replied sarcastically and vanished from the upper level, appearing right in front of the visibly angry and fuming Yoroi.

Every ounce of softness and comfort vanished from his being when he appeared in front of the arena. Kurenai could've sworn the temperature of the large hall like arena dropped down a couple of degrees when Naruto stepped his feet upon the floor and stood as straight as a marble statue.

The wizened Hokage couldn't help the smile full of grandfatherly affection appear on his old visage as he gazed at the young boy with the body of a raging beast stand there like a statue, devoid of any feelings or emotions, devoid of the things that made him human and devoid of any comfort. This was his greatest trait, his greatest weapon and his greatest triumph card. Keeping calm and composed in all kinds of situations, never losing sight of his objective nor showing any feelings.

Hiruzen Sarutobi lowered the hat on his face to hide the fond smile on his face as he gazed at the boy standing in the arena as tall and as resilient as a mountain.

'You've come a long way, my boy, show us what you can do'

Hayate raised his hand and brought it down in a cutting motion "Let the fourth match begin!"

"I am going to make you pay for what you did to Tsurugu, you bastard!" Yoroi sneered and ran forward with his hand encased in visible blue Chakra. The tall Jinchuriki dodged the punches with incredible ease while gazing at the man from behind his blank mask. He raised an eyebrow when he blocked one punch and felt a tiny drop in his reserves.

'I see' he thought with an arched eyebrow.

Yoroi jumped back and chuckled smugly, seeing the confused tilt of his opponent's head "I see, so you felt it. That's my ability, I can absorb the Chakr…"

Naruto raised his cloak-covered hand in a stopping gesture "Don't bother, I know what your technique does. Though I do have a question, why do you people deem it necessary to explain the nature of your abilities so casually to your opponents? Is it perhaps arrogance or just plain and simple stupidity?"

"Why you…"

"That response just now showed the limit of your intellect"

"Enough talking!" the fake Leaf-nin growled and threw a few kunai at Naruto who deflected them with his hand, only to be caught off guard as Yoroi appeared behind and captured his hands in a strong hold "Gotcha!"

Despite having delivered the plan perfectly, the fake Leaf-nin couldn't help but wonder that it had seemed a little bit too easy for his liking. From the first brief hand to hand battle, he had realized that simply capturing the cloaked Genin would be impossible due to his speed and senses, so how it was that he was captured so easily?

'This doesn't make any sense!'

It finally made sense when he felt enormous amount of Chakra being forcefully fed into his body through his hands, Chakra so dense and potent that he felt as though he was about to explode. Knowing that if he absorbed any more, it would prove catastrophic, Yoroi released his hold on the tall Genin and attempted to flip back to put some distance between them. The key word being, attempted.

Before he could jump away, Naruto twisted around in incredible speed and caught his head in a vice grip "Stealing my Chakra for so long and then escaping away without even saying thank you, that's quite rude!"

Yoroi tried to absorb the Chakra in Naruto's hand to lessen its strength so that he could escape, even though he knew it would be risky since he had absorbed more than enough already, however, the moment his hands came into contact with the tall Genin's own, he found that he could no longer get them to move. It was as if they were caught by something.

"W-what are you d-doing!?"

"You seemed to be a fan of absorbing Chakra from others, luckily for you, I am a fan of helping others. Thus I suppose we can help each other, you will be able to sate your thirst for absorbing as much Chakra as you like and I will be able to fulfil my objective by helping you" Naruto stated impassively as he griped the man's head harder and poured an enormous amount of Chakra directly into his head "Here"

The Hokage looked with a smile on his face while the Jonins and Genins looked with mixed expressions on their faces as the fake Lead-nin kept getting larger and larger like a balloon from the influx of Naruto's dense Chakra. Some of surprise, some of interest and some of horror.

Finally, due to the Chakra directly poured into his skull, Yoroi's body could not handle any more and exploded in a messing shower of blood and body parts. Some of the Genins, particularly Sakura, Hinata and Ino, couldn't keep the food in their stomachs and puked while the rest of the more experienced and composed Genins simply looked away with clear horror etched onto their visages.

The Jonins, on the other hand, looked on with shock. They couldn't believe that a mere Genin had so much Chakra that a fully grown up Genin's body could not handle and yet still stand there without appearing the slightest bit winded.

Kurenai on the other hand looked down at Naruto's tall and unmoving form with shock and unconcealed pride clearly evident on her visage. She was not shocked that Naruto had killed his opponent, but shocked by the same fact as the other Jonins. She had known that Naruto had a lot of Chakra but to think that he wasted that much and yet still be able to even stand let alone walk up the stairs as if nothing had happened.

The reason for her pride on the other hand, was as clear as the shinning surface of a diamond. A mere Genin yet able to beat her, a full-fledged Jonin, in Taijutsu, a mere Genin yet able to think like a war veteran, a mere Genin yet able to even battle with Orochimaru and still come out alive.

Despite not wanting to show affection in public, she leaned forward when he came near her, swiftly tilted his mask and kissed him on his cheek before he even had time to think before placing back his mask. It happened so quick that no one had even the time to see the side of his face before it was all over.

Kurenai leaned back against the wall and looked around the room to see the different reactions of the present people's faces. Asuma's cigarette lay forgotten on the floor, having fallen from the bearded Jonin's wide open mouth as he stared at her in shock and betrayal. Kakashi was giggling like a madman. Guy was giving her thumbs up in his usual 'good guy' pose while the Hokage looked on with a fond smile on his face.

In her defense, she thought that he needed a reward for going out of his way to share his ideas with her and train her in Taijutsu. She had been meaning to do that but never had the opportunity, so when she got a chance, she took it. She saw no problem in that!

Anko, on the other hand, was rubbing her hands in glee, eyes wide like saucers and lips stretched into an impossibly wide grin as she wigged her eyebrows suggestively "Why you sneaky little minx!"

Naruto stood frozen on the spot as his mind rebooted several times to comprehend what had happened before he came to one essential conclusion "I really need to find a glue for my mask"

Everyone except the Hokage, Sound Jonin and Gaara face-faulted at the deadpan statement while Kurenai simply smiled teasingly and sat down to rub Akuma's head, ignoring the many looks she was receiving from the people present.

Kankuro stood up with an indignant look on his face "What the hell is wrong with that guy? I would rip my mask off if a gal wanted to kiss me and he wants to glue his mask?!"

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Cliffhanger! muahahahaha (Cough) sorry about that, went a little nuts over there.

Kindly review and let me know what you think!