Na na naieee! Na na Naieeeope, still don't.


Kusari no Naruto


The second exam started off slowly for the pair of them. The enclosed forest hosting the task was very large, likely twenty kilometres across or more, so encountering other teams would be a rare and tactical occurrence. It stopped the exam becoming a messy battle royale that wouldn't show much of anybody's skill, even if that was how Naruto would have preferred it. This way, those Jounin candidates that didn't necessarily excel at direct confrontation could shine, showing off their other noteworthy skills in their bid for the position.

"So shrimp, what's your story?" Anko asked aprubtly, shattering the delicate silence he had been cultivating since entering the jungle environment. "Going for Jounin at such a tender young age… and height."

One downside to such a massive arena was the long stretches between confrontations, leaving Anko open to chatter away freely. Naruto was doing his best to ignore her, but when she was the only other person around, possibly for miles in any direction, and the fact she was Anko, it was difficult.

"I think I would have seen you round, people are always buzzing about little kiddie prodigies like that stick-up-his-ass Hyuuga or the duck-butt Uchiha," Anko continued in a cheerful and conversational manner, her arms articulating casually as she carried the conversation by herself. "Bet you must be one of those ANBU Gaki, the kids they pluck out of the academy and fast-track; am I right?" Naruto's eye twitched slightly, giving her all the answer she needed without him having to say a word. It irked him how easily she was able to read the situation.

"Yeah I knew it; you're easier to figure out than you try to make yourself seem." She grinned cheerfully, a confident gait to her step. "I pride myself on batting the stickler right out of people, you get me?" She chuckled to herself as they continued their trudge through the forest, her voice the only sound above the buzz of insects. "I bet that's why you're here too, most don't take the Jounin exams you know, just us special circumstances-types, ya know?" Naruto didn't know, but he didn't dignify her with her response and she didn't care either way, continuing without permission or acknowledgment.

"A lot of ANBU come through these exams, got no other choice really thanks to their mission records being locked up tighter than a Akamichi's pantry. I think the old man also uses it as an excuse to get them into the world a little; not the most sociable types you ANBU, you know?" She gave the blonde a cheeky wink, uncaring when he didn't even glance at her, validating her point. "I'm glad you understand." She giggled, a surprisingly feminine sound from such an obviously tomboyish woman. She coughed into her hand right after, looking away as if realising her slip before setting her hands on the back of her head and walking more upright, glancing up at the bright green canopy above them.

"But then, it ain't just you white-masks; you get a whole horde of people looking for a challenge in other aspiring Jounin, they're the crazy types. Others'll want to make a name for themselves in the world; try to make themselves into legends without war, they're usually the vain pushovers, not confident enough in their natural skill." She looked down for a moment, a dark look passing over her eyes for a split second before it was gone, replaced by her usual grinning, childish mask. "Then there are the people that don't have much choice. You'd be surprised by how prejudiced some Shinobi can be, so the exams become their only option for advancement. It helps they're impartial."

Naruto thought he heard a hint of spite in the bubbly woman's tone but it didn't register much with him beyond noticing it.

"Do you ever shut up?" Naruto asked, his voice betraying his irritation slightly as a chain whipped out and uncaringly slashed right through a thick patch of undergrowth in their way. Anko just ginned happily at him, allowing him to do all the work clearing out the path.

"If I ever find the off button, you'll be the first to know," she shot back without missing a beat, making Naruto grimace as he ripped a particularly large tree out of the ground and casually tossed it aside without ever having to lift his arms. Anko's eyes widened at seeing the sight of the thick golden chains so effortlessly tearing up the tree that had likely been there longer than her and Naruto's lifetimes combined. "Useful ability that, now I get why everyone keeps calling you that nickname."

"Which are you?" He ground out slowly in an attempt to divert the topic away from him. His eyes were still darting about, looking for enemies. Saru was normally the team's sensor, and Naruto was feeling particularly paranoid without his captain around as a spotter.

"Huh?" Anko ineloquently muttered, blinking as Naruto actually responded to her for once instead of just berating her or telling her to shut up.

Naruto scowled as his chains lashed out again, muttering something about annoying pineapple-haired women under his breath.

"You said there are a lot of reasons people come to the exams; why are you here?" He hoped by shifting the conversation onto her, he would at least avoid having to answer any probing questions. Maybe by the time she finished her rant they would be attacked. Naruto could only hope. To his surprise Anko actually fell silent at the question, looking down for a moment with what the blond might have mistaken for sadness if he didn't know any better.

"Well ah, actually I'm already a Jounin."

Naruto quirked his eyebrow at that before forcefully righting it; showing interest would only encourage her. Cool and collected, calm and derisive… that was the way to go. "Well uh, a Tokubetsu Jounin at least, so I don't have the full qualifications." Her features darkened again. "Apparently it's because I don't have 'the right attitude' or a 'rounded set of skills' or something." She snorted, blowing air between her teeth in irritation. "As if, I could trounce any Kunoichi in the village right now; even Nai-Chan when we spar!" Again Naruto had to force his eyebrow not to rise; the woman seemed rather vehement over this.

"Ah but…" At the same time, Anko seemed to realise how much venom had sprung into her words and how tightly she was clenching her hand. She chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head slowly with what Naruto now knew to be a very fake grin; he supposed she narrowed her eyes like that to hide the fact. Half of a smile was in the eyes after all; or at least, so Saru had told him. "I'm rambling aren't I?"

Naruto snorted at that, involuntarily lightening his scowl just a little.

"When aren't you?" For some reason he was unable to muster his usual indifference. He regretted it as soon as an arm looped around his shoulder, pulling him into the side of the taller woman and pressing his face right up against her mesh-covered breast.

"Ah you love me for it don'tcha?"

Naruto simply shot her the most scathing, venom-filled look he was able, muted as it was by the fact he was staring up at her with half his face pressed into her womanly-parts.

"I will skewer you," he growled, only to have Anko laugh at the mildly muffled words before releasing him suddenly, nearly sending him tripping over his own feet. He was swiftly caught by a chain lashing out at a nearby tree, embedding into the wood, but not before Naruto noticed the faintest of ripples spreading out a few inches from the contact. Anko spotted where his eyes drifted and grinned mischievously.

"Oh, did you only just notice? I thought one of you ANBU prodigy types would notice a Genjutsu a little earlier."

Naruto growled at the woman, using one of his chains to score a light scratch across his arm which immediately shattered the world around him and snapped him back into reality. He could have repressed and flared his Chakra, but with his reserves it just took too long; this was much quicker and it wasn't like he particularly cared about the pain. A moment later and the glazed look in Anko's eyes disappeared, re-joining him in the real world.

"Why didn't you say something sooner if you noticed?" Naruto muttered, eyes narrowed and glancing about furtively; chains slowly crept from his back, practically vibrating in anticipation.

"Because they seemed to just be trying to tire us out; I was humouring them." Anko replied flippantly with a small barking laugh, her own chocolate orbs drifting about more lazily. "I would have liked to see them try to attack us while I'm in a Genjutsu, might have even gotten a few laughs from it." her grin turned a little more sadistic as both their eyes drifted to a patch on a tree that was ever so faintly rippling. "Right guys?" Suddenly, and without warning, the patch on the tree transformed into a tall, camouflaged man who in that same instance pushed off the trunk and catapulted himself toward Anko.

"Don't underestimate us you Leaf bitch!" His fist was clenched, senbon protruding from the spaces between his fingers like claws. Each dripped a viscous green liquid. The moment he breached some kind of invisible boundary around the Tokubetsu Jounin, everybody heard a low and threatening hiss. From beneath the woman's trench coat a large snake suddenly lashed out, its elongated, scaly head winding up the man's arm to viciously bite into his neck. The man screamed in shock and pain, crumpling and skidding across the ground as Anko cheekily side-stepped him like a matador might a bull.

"Kosuke!" The man's partner, who Naruto had been anticipating, suddenly melted out of the ground just behind the blond, face twisted into anger as he lashed out with a few more poisoned senbon. They clanged uselessly against a sudden wall of brightly glowing chains that separated just enough to reveal Naruto's almost feral grin.

"Finally," Naruto snarled, and before the man could even get half his body out of the ground he had two of those same chains impaled through his shoulders. He was suddenly and forcefully yanked the rest of the way out of the ground, scattering loose clumps of earth everywhere and eliciting a whimper of pain from the now identifiable Kusa Chuunin. Naruto dangled him in the air for a moment, watching him flail uselessly and try to pull the chains out of his shoulders with little success. Before he could decide how to end him, he felt Anko pat him on the shoulder, a single glance showing him she had wrapped the other Kusa-nin up with two nasty-looking boas.

"Good job, capturing and not killing; thinking like a Jounin after all," Anko praised with a wink, causing Naruto to blink before looking back at his 'captive'.

"Right…" Naruto grumbled in irritation. "…capture." With a dismissive huff, he tossed the man rather roughly towards his partner, watching as another snake came out to keep him similarly secured. Anko was cooing softly to the snakes, patting them on the head and rubbing them under their… well, snakes don't really have chins, but under their mouths at least. It almost reminded Naruto of a dog in the way they flickered their tongue out happily at their mistress' ministrations.

"So that's how you are so easily able to notice Genjutsu," Naruto muttered, more to himself than his unwelcome companion; Anko heard him though, smiling proudly as she stroked one of her serpents' sleek scales.

"Yeah, never leave home without at least one as a familiar. My summons are pretty smart, and Genjutsu don't affect animals the same way they do humans. Especially snakes, as they mostly see through their tongues; they can just inject me with a bit of their Chakra and problem solved."

Naruto grunted disinterestedly, but it wasn't enough to deter Anko as she continued to play with one of the long scaly creatures, smiling happily as it wound its way up her arm. "Why don't you say hello?" She added with a smirk, only to see a long chain, roughly the same thickness as the snake on her arm, emerge from Naruto's hand.

"I'll pass, I have much more reliable friends," he tossed back with a smirk as the chain wound up his arm, the pointed kunai-like tip turning towards Anko like it was genuinely looking at her. Once again Anko seemed undeterred as the snake slithered back into her clothes with a parting hiss.

"Guess we aren't so different after all right?"

Naruto's response was to just scowl as the chain melted back into his skin, turning back to the two captive and unconscious Kusa-nin.

"What do we do about them?" He asked gruffly, as much as he could with his rather high pre-pubescent voice. Anko just stared at them without anything even remotely resembling interest; obvious the fight was more exciting to her than the aftermath, another thing they surprisingly shared in common.

"Eh, just leave 'em. I'm sure the proctors'll come and collect them." She glanced about at the heavy foliage that did little to distinguish this spot from any other in the thick jungle, "… probably," she added as an afterthought. "Either way they're out of the exam now."

Naruto grinned at that, revealing slightly longer than normal canines; it wasn't a nice smile.

"I could make sure," he offered, bringing out a chain and having it hover near one of the unconscious Shinobi's throats. Anko just scoffed and waved her hand dismissively.

"Ah, they're not even worth-" She was cut off though as two very familiar Konoha Shinobi all but stumbled upon them, practically falling out of the surrounding trees with all the grace of a two-legged cat.

"Oh crap Kotetsu, its Anko and him." The two immediately scrabbled to their feet and made tracks to get as far away as they could only to be yanked back suddenly and uncomfortably with glowing chains coiled around their necks.

"Aww, are the eternal gate-guards leaving so soon? What's the rush?" Anko intoned cheekily as she appeared in front of the two shivering Ninja, shortly joined by Naruto. He was eyeing the newcomers up like a butcher might a fresh slab of meat.

"A-Ah Anko-san, well we, er I mean, we were just…" Izumo babbled uselessly, his tongue betraying him as he failed to execute a coherent sentence. Then again, that was probably due to the kunai-like point of Naruto's chain hovering so close to his eye.

"Okay Naruto, let them go," Anko said with a flippant wave, causing the blond to look up at her and scowl; the only ones who could order him around were Saru and the Hokage… and Nezumi; but that was only because she frightened him sometimes.

"You don't tell me what to do," he shot back, making Izumo and Kotetsu quiver a little more prominently; they might have gulped if the chains weren't just a little too tight. However Anko just rolled her eyes and smirked at the teen, her stance never wavering in the slightest despite his burning gaze.

"Come on blondie, they're harmless," she drawled, not sure what part of Naruto she was appealing to here, or even if he had a part to appeal to. "Besides, they're from our village. We gotta stick up for our comrades." A glimmer of hope entered the eternal Chuunins' eyes. If they weren't dangling off the round by their necks they would have been nodding along furiously to the sentiment.

"Yeah that's right," Izumo quickly spoke up, only to get a scathing look from the blond. He still hadn't loosened his chains.

"Shut up you," He snapped menacingly before turning to Anko. "They aren't my comrades." Although, even as he said it, Saru's words echoed in the back of his head. "If they're in this exam, they're against me."

Anko just sighed at that, still smirking as she placed a hand against her temple; despite the two Konoha ninja quivering in their boots she already knew Naruto was going to let them go. He was just being stubborn.

"Fine, let them go, and if by some miracle they get through this round…" She sent a pointed look at the two which had them lower their heads a little "…they'll be easy pickings in the third."

At that, Naruto wore a thoughtful expression. After a few agonising moments – for Izumo and Kotetsu at least – his chains retracted with a deeply unsettling clinking. The two Chuunin didn't waste the opportunity and immediately bolted for it.

A few moments later Anko broke out into peals of laughter, trying desperately to muffle it with her hand and failing miserably.

"Ahh, that was good. I always enjoy taking the piss out of those two; I figure it might actually get their asses in gear ya know?" She turned back to Naruto, who was already stalking off into the tree line to continue the exam. "That was a pretty good joke, you pull off the psycho act pretty well."

All she heard was Naruto huff with a small scowl, a chain whipping out to clear a new path through the underbrush.

"Who says it's an act," he called back in a lazy drawl that had Anko pause for a moment before grinning and running after him.

"I'm really starting to like you Gaki; keep it up and you might get stuck with me."

Naruto's small, muffled groan went ignored as they walked off at a sedate pace, further into the jungle.


An hour went by without anything eventful happening to the pair; they supposed as more and more confrontations occurred between the teams, the number of Shinobi they could come across decreased rapidly. Unfortunately, that meant a long stretch of Anko chatting Naruto's ear off, trying to get him to blush with her antics and generally being a talkative nuisance. Naruto began to wonder if he was being tested by some divine being or receiving karmic balance for something. He dismissed that though; his karmic balance would be a whole lot worse than a talkative purple-haired woman who had a fascination with crushing him into her breasts like some kind of living plushie.

Just as he was contemplating the ways he could silently kill her and get away with it, something interesting finally happened. That itch all good Shinobi developed at some point prickled at the back of his neck and his chains shot out on pure instinct. He was rewarded with the satisfying grind of metal-on-metal as his attacker's blade ricocheted off his constructs. Even Anko seemed surprised by the sudden attack, not having felt it until the last moment, her body bending at an unnatural angle to dodge a blade that skimmed across her mesh shirt. Then they were gone. The two assailants vanished into the undergrowth and left the pair on high alert, their bodies tensed.

Obviously their assailants didn't feel like pressing their attack as a second run never came. Naruto and Anko were left there in silence, their ears straining to hear anything. Finally, Anko released a small chuckle, her posture losing its tension as she straightened up, a small snake slithering to of her collar to hiss in her ear.

"They aren't around anymore, none of my snakes can sense them."

Naruto simply narrowed his eyes and continued looking around; lowering your guard after a failed ambush was a sure fire way to walk right into a second.

"Ahh come off it Shrimp. They obviously counted on getting the drop on us and cut their losses when we were too fast for them."

Naruto growled slightly but still lowered his chains, retracting them until only the very tips of the blades stuck out from his body. As they began walking, they too slipped back inside him as the jungle descended into the sounds of Anko chatting and Naruto ignoring her.

The next time the attack came Naruto was ready for it, chains lashing out in a wide arc that Anko was actually forced to jump over to avoid, earning an undignified cry of annoyance. It paid off, as Naruto felt one of his chains snap around something solid and vaguely leg-sized. He tugged only to hiss in irritation as a low hum invaded his ears at the same moment the chain was severed by a glowing blue blur. This time he saw the unmistakable white of a Kumo flak jacket as well as an all-too familiar shock of shoulder-length blonde hair, a few shades lighter than his own.

His chains lashed out with righteous fury again, unwilling to allow the attackers to get away this time and repeat their guerrilla tactics. Trees were felled and the local plant life was summarily decimated, but the woman was able to flip and dive out the way each time, pushing her slower and less acrobatic teammate out of harm's way. Occasionally her glowing and crackling sword was brought around and Naruto's chains would immediately snap back, like a snake getting too close to a flame.

In the end there were more chains than she could deal with and she was slowly herded into a corner.

"You're an annoyance," Naruto huffed, cracking his neck at the sudden flurry of fast-paced activity; somewhere behind him Anko was eying up the two Kumo-Shinobi.

"Friends from the north!" She sang, in her usual lackadaisical manner, that unsettling grin right back on her features. "What are the chances?" The woman simply gave them both that cold stare as she held her still humming tanto in a steady, even stance before finally her lips twitched up into a small smirk.

"Very cool, you live up to your reputation, Kusari no Naruto."

Slightly disarmed by the praise, Naruto tilted his head slightly, only to widen his eyes as the woman suddenly moved. "Kumo-ryuu: Damashigiri!" She slashed the tanto forward and Naruto immediately erected a quick shield, however the raiton-enhanced slice never came. Instead, the thick patch of trees they were backed into suddenly toppled over, giving the pair an opportunity to shoot off in matching body flickers. Naruto growled, about to chase after them, when a loud and very noticeable buzzer rang through the entire forest, causing all the participants to pause.

"The second round of the Jounin exams is over," came the slightly crackling tone of the proctor over the loudspeaker system, which was remarkable as Naruto couldn't spot a single one in the vicinity. "The remaining sixteen candidates will congregate by the northernmost gate. Failure to do so before sun down will result in disqualification."

A glance at the sky told them that there was only few hours until the sun descended below the horizon, and they were already in the southern section of the forest. They quickly made tracks to catch up with the rest of the examinees.


Naruto woke up the next morning the way he always did, with a scowl on his face as he was forced to brush his blonde spikes away from his eyes. At least he didn't have to deal with his alarm clock; they were beginning to become expensive in the quantities he went through. The large and unusually heavy mass resting on his body was new. Looking down, he found his vision full of wild and messy purple hair, courtesy of one tokubetsu Jounin. She clad in little more than her mesh underclothing. Naruto just grunted at the sight; at least she wasn't naked.

A moment later and the woman had a very surprised and confused wake-up call as she was suddenly speared to the roof by that same mesh clothing. Her eyes snapped open and she wriggled about comically for a few moments, unable to move or free herself as Naruto had taken away most of her points of leverage. When she finally realised what had happened, and wasn't in the midst of waking up, still she grinned sheepishly down at him.

"Morning Gaki…" There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Anko did her best to shrug in her current position. "Surprise?"

Naruto simply huffed and slid off his bed, slipping on his clothing and walking into the small kitchenette of the hotel room he had been provided. Anko struggled for a few more minutes before falling slack, sending another sheepish glance Naruto's way as the boy sat down and began eating his breakfast.

"You gonna get me down from here Gaki? It was only a little prank."

Naruto ignored her, steadily making his way through his bowl of rice and other assorted foods he had quickly prepared.

Suddenly there was the sound of squirming and clothes ripping, followed by an undignified and girlish yelp that ended with a loud thud and a pained moan. The blond looked over to see Anko slumped on the ground, now wearing nothing but her underwear, rubbing her lower back as she kept an arm in front of her breasts. What do you know? She actually had some modesty. Naruto's chains retracted, allowing here mesh underclothing to flutter down from the ceiling and land rather pathetically over her body, now in ragged tatters. She quickly picked herself up, still just about covering her modesty even though it was difficult with their… size.

"So what's on the agenda today Gaki?" She started amicably, sitting down at the other side of the table and reaching for a bowl of rice. She nearly lost her hand for it. Naruto put up with his teammates stealing his food because he couldn't stop them, and they at least had the decency to lie and call it training.

"Ah! Damn Shrimp, those are some reflexes you have."

Naruto didn't even look up, retracting the chain that had made an indent in the table slowly and threateningly. He didn't even have to try these days; years of growing up around his food-stealing teammates had given him the reflexes he needed to fend off any untoward food-theft and not starve to death.

"Get out of my room Anko," Naruto deadpanned, still picking at his food while making sure his eyes never strayed too far forward; he was not giving Anko the satisfaction. To his displeasure though, the woman only grinned with a small clap to show her satisfaction.

"Oho first name basis, when did we get so chummy eh?"

Naruto's glare intensified to the point he could almost imagine burning a hole through the table. He was beginning to consider if Saru's words to him covered the sudden defenestration of his comrades; one glance told him that was how she had gotten into his room in the first place. He'd give her the fact she seemed to be an excellent infiltration expert; he wondered if that was her specialty before she was suddenly talking again.

"You know, you're supposed to have this really fearsome, dangerous reputation." Suddenly Anko was leaning across the table, her modesty forgotten for the moment as he breasts pressed into the wood in a sight that would have floored most red-blooded males. "I just don't see it; you're just like every other ANBU out there; cold, detached and a little more vicious than us regular Shinobi." She leant back on her chair and covered up again, letting out a mildly disappointed sigh as she rocked back and forth slowly "I'll give you, you're a tough nut to crack." Her usual predatory grin returned full force as she swaggered to her feet and towards the window.

"I look forward to seeing you fight for real." And with that, she slipped out the open window without a sound; obviously nobody saw her as there were no indignant cries or shouts praising Kami. Naruto simply continued eating until he was finished before finally sighing and slumping a little in his chair, a scowl firmly plastered on his features.

He really missed ANBU.


The remaining candidates of the Jounin exams were assembled in what looked like a standard training ground some distance from Kusagakure. So far none of the outsider entrants had actually been allowed into the village itself, forced to rent hotel rooms from a nearby town. Without the massive military power of the five major villages, the so-called 'minor' villages were forced to use other tricks, such as keeping their village's exact location a secret, or not allowing outsiders see the various defences they had set up.

The only other person there was a rather youthful looking girl with her dark hair pound in a long pony-tail; her bright green eyes practically sparkling at the assembled Jounin-hopefuls.

"Alrighty guys! Welcome to the last test of the Jounin exams!" She grinned so wide her eyes were forced to close, reminding Naruto of Anko when she did the same, only without the 'I'll kill you' vibe that went with the Tokubetsu. Just the idea of another of Anko was enough to make the blond groan internally.

"This is the big one candidates!" She exclaimed, in a voice far too chipper for this early in the morning. "You'll now be pairing off to fight one another, no holds barred, until one of you is unable to continue, okay?" She shouted brightly, as though they were dancing together and not engaging in lethal fights.

"The remaining eight will then be paired up again, okay!" She wagged her finger suddenly, like an older sister trying to scold her younger brother and failing miserably. "But you only get the two fights." Her face brightened again and Naruto had to wonder if this girl was actually a Jounin. "Because you know, as a Jounin, if you can't display your skills in two fights, you don't deserve the position." She head cocked to the side slightly. "Okay? Okay!"

Naruto's hand twitched, ready to stab the girl if she said okay one more time.

"Alrighty then, first two to the field!" She growled out almost mockingly, like a child trying to imitate an adult; the effect was ruined by her immediately bursting out into giggles. And people thought Naruto was crazy?

The fights flashed by in Naruto's eye; there was nothing interesting to see really. Each candidate was only showing enough skill to earn them the pass and nothing more, not willing to reveal their secrets. Of course, there were the flamboyant few who were obviously here just to show off, but they weren't all that special either, confirming Anko's earlier analysis.

Finally Naruto was called up, an older-looking Iwagakure teen his opponent as the two stepped out on the field. At this point Naruto was intensely bored so when the proctor, in her annoyingly bright tone, announced the start of the match he wasted no time.

"Heh, what is this? My opponent looks like he should be taking the Genin exams, never mind-" The dark-haired Iwa-nin was cut off as two chains suddenly burst from the earth by his feet, snaking their way up the length of his legs before constricting suddenly. It elicited a painful sounding crack as both of his femurs were summarily snapped. He fell to the ground screaming in pain and clutched at the chains desperately.

"Come on, entertain me," Naruto snarled coldly, his chains raising up and twisting until the Chuunin was hanging upside down, still whimpering and trying to desperately pry the glowing Chakra constructs from his legs. "Do something." Naruto shook the teen a few times, making him look like some ragdoll in the hands of a displeased toddler. "Something!" He shouted. The chains whipped up suddenly, earning another agonised cry, before slamming back down with a vengeance, driving a small crater into the ground with the Chuunin's body.

"Pfft," Naruto huffed as he turned away from the fight and walked back into the crowd. The Iwa-nin got up again. From the other side of the crowd the teen's partner was giving him a cold look; it was the Tsuchikage's granddaughter again, her chubby friend from before nowhere to be seen. As he looked up and responded with an even colder glare, she broke away with a flinch. If he was going to have a stupid moniker or reputation, he was at least going to get something out of it by driving off the weaklings that would only bore him.

A few more fights went by until Anko's name was called. Against his better judgement, Naruto looked up in mild interest, curious about the skills of the woman who had been bugging him all this time. However, it proved to be a disappointment as her opponent, a Kusa-nin, keeled over almost as soon as the match started. It was revealed Anko had managed to slip a snake onto him the moment their names were called and it had quickly injected him with a potent paralytic. Smart, but incredibly dull to watch; she would have made a good ANBU… if she could shut up for five minutes.

The names continued to cycle through, this time with the remaining eight, and suddenly Naruto's ears pricked up in interest.

"Alrighty then, the next guys are… addadadaadadaaa…" The proctor hummed thoughtfully as she closed her eyes and pointed to a random spot on her clipboard with a flourish. "Uzumaki Naruto…" Various looks were sent his way, none of them particularly nice save for Anko's exaggerated thumbs up "…and Samui of Kumo."

Naruto's eyes shot up to the blonde Kumo-nin he had been eyeing the entire tournament, his lips tugging up into an almost feral smile as she in turn regarded him with those calculating eyes.

Interesting.