First off, I own nothing except my version of Naruko and maybe a jutsu or two.

I am begging. Reviews tell me what is right, wrong, liked, and disliked. I love knowing people care about the story enough to say something, even if the review is simply "good job" or any other two word combination. Speaking of which, I would like to thank my reviewers. Thank you to Shadow's Blades, Tisaku, figglewiggle24, Deathwatch Razgriz, Akuma-Heika, Dregus, and renegadeofficer89.

Some people were concerned about the strength of my characters in the last chapter. That is fine, and here is all I will say. Their best techniques either would destroy the bridge, endanger Tazuna, or were not available in Yamato's case. Also, most of them were injured, a few tired, and I believe I never said life threatening, only trying to avoid injury. If you still don't like it, I won't mess with what is written further. Please enjoy or don't. That's up to you. Though, if you don't enjoy it, I do encourage you to check out some of the great fics out on this site rather than my rather ramshackle story.

New People

Yet another few weeks had passed in the village, and Naruto thought they had been incredibly dull. Sure, it was fun that Haku had joined them and training was always good, but it was always just the same old same old. They would get up, train, do a D-rank, train, eat, train, and hang out with friends at night. And maybe train before bed. Everyone healed up and Zabuza was put on a temporary hiatus to prove his loyalty to the Leaf. They continued to learn new jutsu and learned to work as a team, being able to lean on each other though they had just known each other for a few months. It was unfortunate that Haku couldn't use shadow clones to train like they could, but she was incredibly intelligent and cunning, able to make up some of the difference through sheer willpower. They all worked hard though, especially on taijutsu, to be the best they could be.

Their training, however, was not being put to good use, they felt. They had repaired more structures than they knew could be broken, helped people with more chores than they knew Konoha had to offer, and had caught that damn cat Tora so many times she pretty much came to them readily now. Well, at least once she felt their tails in use and knew running was futile. And now, they were ready for something more.

At night they managed to stave off that feeling some. They would hang out with the other rookies and even their sensei. Haku had been generally accepted by the group, Ino and Sakura taking her and helping her find her feminine side, something she had missed due to growing up only with Zabuza ever since she was a child. Everything was pretty cool with them, well, Sasuke was still kinda a jerk but Sasuke didn't much hang out with them and they didn't much mind that themselves. If they were to be honest, they really didn't like him and if he were to be honest with them, he couldn't stand them. They released a feel to his newly awaken eyes that just reeked of power, and he couldn't stand someone stronger than him at his same age. It just wasn't allowed.

Some of the best times were when just the three kitsunes spent evenings together. Sometimes it would be a picnic, or a walk through the woods, staring at the moon as it lay fresh in the sky. Anko had shown them the Forest of Death and it had quickly become an ideal spot for both training and relaxing. Parts of the forest were scary. It was dark and threatening. Survival was brutal and even the trees were foreboding. But they were ancient testimonies to a time long passed, and they were beautiful. The way moonlight shown down on the trunks and life pulsed from root to root was, more than anything else, poetic. Naruko understood the forest the best. They had actually befriended many of the beasts of the forest and, although there was the obvious language barrier, something about their instincts allowed basic communication. They were, after all, humans, beasts, and demons all at once.

One morning, however, things changed. They did their normal routine of training but, when they reported to the Hokage tower, they were told there were no missions that day. The genin snuck away from their sensei to enjoy their free day, maybe find their friends, when their enhanced senses picked up the sounds of a small scuffle two streets away. It seemed someone, a boy, was calling for help. Without a word to each other, they took off. The voice wasn't clear, but it was familiar. No one would be oppressed like they had been, and especially not if it was one of their precious people.

It had all just started a couple of minutes ago, really. He had just been walking down the street with his sister to his hotel when some runt came around a corner and smacked into him. Now, Kankuro was ticked. You might not have guessed it, but this man was intensely prideful. He wore a black jumpsuit with what looked like cat ears in the suit and some form of odd face paint. In reality, he was actually in a bundle on his puppet's back and when the boy knocked the puppet down, it had fallen on him! No one made a fool of him! Well, at least not this runt.

He picked the runt up by the neck, not quite strangling him, and started going off on him. "You do know that running into a ninja is not a good idea, don't you?"

The boy looked at this figure before him, and felt fear. There wasn't a coldness in the voice, but rather a smugness that told him this boy wouldn't think before he acted. "I didn't mean to!"

"It doesn't matter," said Kankuro, tightening his grip just a little. "Just as accidents don't matter on the battlefield."

"Don't hurt him too badly, Kankuro," said Temari beside him. She wasn't quite a tomboy and was certainty a strong kunoichi. "We don't want an incident and you don't want his anger." The boy's friends were protesting now, trying to get their buddy off the hook.

"You wouldn't hurt me," said Konohamaru. "I'm the grandson of the Hokage."

Kankuro smirked. "Then this is just more fun." He went to truly strangle the boy now, and the boy started yelling for help. No matter, he thought. Until, at least, he felt a kunai near his puppet's neck. It wouldn't do to reveal his ruse now. He slowly turned to see three ninja of the Leaf right there.

Now, Naruto was pissed and Naruko outraged. Konohamaru had become nearly a sibling to them. The last thing they wanted was him to be hurt. And they would kill to protect him. The boy in front of them slowly backed up after setting Konohamaru down. "I don't want a fight," he claimed. He turned slowly to see a brunette and two blondes that could almost be siblings, though they had very weird traits. Tails, whiskers, and even fox ears. What the fuck? The almost looked like- No, they couldn't be like his brother when he was nearly possessed.

Now, they were ready to give this boy and girl a chance at redemption, but then they heard a new voice. "Well you damn well have one." It was the Uchiha, sitting in a tree, shuriken in hand and ready to throw. Dang it, he was bound to throw this out of proportion.

"Yet, I believe we can save this for later this week." An odd boy with red hair, black lined eyes, and a gourd on his back appeared behind Sasuke, catching him off guard and causing the Sharingan boy to fall from the tree.

Gaara had identified this as a source of strong chakra, and had assumed the raven-headed boy had been the source. Now, he knew it was not true. These three in front of him were the source of the power. The black haired girl was only a small threat, but the blondes were truly frightening. The voice in his head was screaming but, for possibly the first time, it was in fright and not bloodlust. And then, there was something more, something dominating, almost.

"Who are you?" asked Haku, quietly.

"I believe it may be impolite to ask our names before you say your own," said Gaara. He wanted information.

"Why, you-" Sasuke said as he started to lunge for the boy, only to have Naruto stop him with a single restraining hand on his shoulder. Naruko sensed Naruto was giving off pheromones again, a sure sign that he was asserting dominance and a sure sign that she would go to bed horny and unsatisfied again tonight. Sure, they had done a little, petting, so to speak, but it wasn't enough for her. Regardless, back to the situation at hand.

"My name is Naruto, my friend's name is Haku, my mate's name," he said while stressing that Naruko was his and his only, "is Naruko, and this annoyance, "he continued, staring at the form he was holding back, "is Sasuke." He forced a little chakra through his fingers and the boy slumped to the ground, weak but still awake and overall fine. "Now, I truly am wondering your names."

The ginger looked down at them, feeling some kind of obligation to answer this man welling up inside of his head, threatening to burst through the tattoo on his forehead that read "Love." Damn it, he felt he couldn't refuse. "I am Gaara, the girl in purple is Temari, and the confused boy in black is Kankuro. We are the Kazekage's children, and are here for the chunin exams."

Temari and Kankuro stared at Naruto open mouthed. He had gotten Gaara to speak a full sentence with only minor bloodlust, answer a direct question, give extra information, and even refer to them as a group. What the hell was going on?

The Leaf ninja looked at him warily, only the kitsune group having known about the exams beforehand. "Very well. In that case, the three of us," Naruko said, gesturing at her team with a smile on her face, "will see you in two days' time. We look forward to the competition." Naruto's pheromones surged for a second and a tail let off a very faint glow due to near activation.

Gaara took a step back and out of the tree, away from this monster. "Yes, I believe we will, Naruto-sama and Naruko-sama. Come, brother, sister, we must be away and to our room." He walked slowly away, cautious still. His siblings followed him, still floored by Naruto and how Gaara had called them family. This day was not a normal one.

As they turned the corner, Naruto turned to face Konohamaru and make sure he was alright. "Nothing hurt, right, Konohamaru?"

The boy gave a huge grin and scratched the back of his head, much like Naruto. He was brunette and wore two distinguishing fashion choices, a ridiculously long scarf around his neck and goggles, Naruto's old ones in fact, on his forehead. His counterparts, Moegi and Udon, had goggles as well. Moegi was a kind orange haired girl and Udon was a smart, yet near narcoleptic dark haired boy. They were all just academy students. "Yeah, boss, I'm fine." His pride was hurt a little, but it was nothing big.

"Thanks, boss," said Moegi and Udon just nodded.

Naruto rubbed Konohamaru's head with one hand familiarly, mussing up his hair, and said, "You guys are always welcome." He too gave one of his famous smiles and then stood up. "Well, I guess we'll see you later." Naruko smiled too, a gentler smile, due to both her care for the kid and Naruto's emotions coming through the link. Naruto turned around to leave but then stopped, having just remembered something. "Sasuke," he said, his voice losing it's warmth and geniality, "if you're going to fight him, or us, or become a chunin, you'll want to talk to Kakashi. Ask him about the exams." Now Naruko frowned at the edge in his voice, something so blatantly cold that Haku almost shivered in excitement. She loved the chill of ice. They walked off while Sasuke just stared after them. They never even noticed that the plants in Naruko's path grayed and died while she was in her sour mood.

'What the fuck is going on?' Sasuke thought. 'He was so fast that I didn't sense him coming. Naruto too! That dead last loser actually incapacitated me! And with just pure chakra to a pressure point!' Sasuke walked slowly to training ground seven, those thoughts bouncing around in his head. 'And then, somehow, Naruto and that Naruko girl scared him off.' "I just don't get it," he said out loud.

"Get what, Sasuke?" Sakura asked. The raven haired boy hadn't even realized that he had reached the training ground, but apparently he had.

He just gave a "Hmmph," before turning to see Kakashi there. The man had been watching Sai and Sakura "train." In reality, they had just been arguing again. "Kakashi," said Sasuke, not bothering with any form of respectful honorific, "Naruto mentioned some sort of exams. Do you know what he was talking about?"

Kakashi sighed behind his mask. He had hoped they wouldn't learn until after it was too late. You see, Sasuke was strong and smart enough for the test, Sakura smart enough, and Sai bordered on both, though Kakashi had a sinking suspicion that Sai was hiding something. Sasuke had so much potential, as Sakura did too. They just hadn't reached it yet and he didn't want his team to die, but maybe they stood a chance now that Sasuke had his Sharingan and the girls would follow his orders without thought. Well, at least he'd give them the choice. "There will be a chunin selection exam three days from now. If you wish to participate, show up at the academy no later than seven in the morning and go to room 303. This is an individual decision, so don't let others pressure you. Training will still be held as usual, but is optional and up to you. Missions will not be given until the test is over. Beware, however, for death is quite a common visitor to these exams, and I don't want any of you to lie down for the big sleep so early in life." He sighed again. "And now, with that in mind, let's do some actual training." And so they did.

True to his word, the exam started no later than seven. Team twelve had been one of the first to arrive, dropped off by their sensei and wished luck around six thirty, and had walked in to the building. They noticed the genjutsu set up by Kotetsu and Izumo on door 203 that made it look like 303 and just smiled. They took the initiative to strengthen the illusion and make the stairs to the third floor "vanish" as well. Naruto may not have been extremely good with genjutsu, but Haku and Naruko were. In fact, Naruko truly had illusionary powers Natsuki was proud of. They then sat in room 303, waiting for others to arrive.

Naruto lay on his back while Naruko stroked his whiskers, peacefully flirting just a little, and Haku sat nearby, subconsciously making small figurines out of ice as a way to practice. Her abilities had skyrocketed ever since Natsuki-sama had showed her how to bring out some of her demonic chakra in her normal jutsu.

Soon, the Sand trio arrived, just using an open window and avoiding the genjutsu altogether. There was a sort of respectful silence between the two groups that ended when Gaara walked over to Naruto and Naruko. "Sorry," he said respectfully. And so the two teams treated each other, if not as friends, at least as allies.

Team nine, a genin team that had been made last year, soon entered. Lee had put on a performance of being prevented from entering the fake room 303 so others would be discouraged and then Neji had used his Byakugan to find the stairs before they discreetly snuck upstairs. Other teams followed after, teams eight, ten, eleven, Sound, Grass, Rock, Cloud, and others all slowly arrived. There were still more than the kitsune had wanted, but less than there would have been otherwise.

Down stairs, Kotetsu and Izumo let loose the genjutsu and Kotetsu simply said, "You have fifteen seconds to get to the right room before you fail." They smiled as the groups turned around, jutsu flying and energy swelling to their running muscles.

Naruto noticed his illusion was dispelled and turned towards the open doorway. Through it, he saw a stampede of genin with Sasuke Uchiha leading the way and dragging his teammates with him. Well, at least he kinda thought of his team when running. He arrived in the room, two other squads following and several individuals as well. Then, a shield of energy appeared in the door frame, blocking the others from entry. Kotetsu shunshined into the hallway to tell those present they had failed in both genjutsu and speed, and that they were to leave. Izumo appeared inside the class, telling those who had arrived as individuals that they had failed genjutsu and teamwork, and that they were to leave as well. There were many groans and yells of protest, but a little killing intent solved the problem as the failures left the test.

The rookie Leaf teams stood together, the Sand team joining them, with Guy's squad nine nearby but not talking to the rookies. However, the rookies were making quite a racket and other squads, Sound included, were glaring daggers towards them.

Naruto had been talking with team ten about how he was worried for them. It was a kind tone he used, and Choji (an Akimichi that looked like a bowling ball and whose punches felt like them) and Shikimaru (a Nara that was quite lazy and quite a genius) understood his logic. Ino (a Yamanaka mind-walker with a huge mouth and little strength with which to back it up), however, would not stand for it.

"Just because you have those dumb tails you feel superior, don't you?" She did know it wasn't the case, but knew it was, for some reason, their emotionally weak spot. "I bet that without those stupid things you're just-" she cut off, however, when each kitsune had one tail start to shine and glisten with extremely luscious hair now luminescent and expelling an aura. Gaara, who had just been quiet and avoiding making an ass of himself, now felt an obligation to protect Naruto. He found his sand forming a kunai and Haku made senbon. Before anything happened, though, a white haired boy in a purple outfit and glasses stepped between them, his Leaf headband glinting in the fluorescent lighting.

"Come on, guys. You're drawing attention, and attention is not something you want." They looked at him with only minor trust, though some of the kunoichi were now aware and afraid of the glares they were receiving. Their male counterparts were either too brave, stupid, or both to worry. "I'm not sure I've properly introduced myself," he continued. "I'm Kabuto, a Leaf genin like most of you guys, and this time I'm determined to become a chunin."

Naruto still wasn't sure he could trust this Kabuto. In fact, he got a downright feeling of absolute distrust form the boy. Still, his curiosity got the best of him. His tails stopped generating chakra, as did Naruko's, and Gaara and Haku let their techniques slip. "So this is your second time taking the exams?" Naruko asked.

The boy gave an embarrassed little grin at that. "Well, not exactly. It's actually my seventh." Sasuke hmmphed and looked away, instantly discrediting the boy as a failure. As if to save face, he quickly continued on. "WIth my experience, I've studied on all of the genin here so I could do better this time. I've got information on each of these ninja on cards I've developed." Now Sasuke was a little more interested.

"What do you have on him?" he asked, pointing towards Gaara.

Kabuto opened the pack he kept the cards in and looked through to find Gaara's. It says here that Gaara no Subaku is son of the Kazekage, holds a masterful control over sand, has been on few D-ranks, several C-ranks, and even multiple B-ranks, sometimes by himself. He has never even been so much as scratched during his missions."

Gaara, surprised by the information's accuracy, wondered if he could find out about his new friend. "What about Naruto and Naruko Uzumaki?" he asked, shocking the other genin as he had no spoken since they arrived. Also, Naruto may have improved, but why would someone who gave off such an aura care about the deadlast?

Regardless, Kabuto dug through for the card and pulled it up. "Naruto Uzumaki, heritage unknown, the village pariah of the Leaf. He is said to have control over immense power through the use of tails, and love both fire and wind. He has been on many D-ranks, an A-rank, and an S-rank mission. His speed is considerable, kenjutsu is easily that of a jounin, and taijutsu is rather impressive." As the other teams tried to figure out the missions, Kabuto looked through for Naruko's card. The mission and Wave had become A-rank, and his destruction of Mizuki had been S-rank as it protected the Leaf's secret jutsu and stopped a traitor of a much higher rank than Naruto. Tenten, who was just within hearing range, marveled that Naruto was supposedly so good with weapons. It was something she prided herself on.

"Naruko Uzumaki, heritage unknown, girlfriend of Naruto Uzumaki. She is said to have a nearly equal power and utilize both earth and water. Her missions are the same, speed just barely less, and uses a staff in battle. She seems to enjoy large, sweeping, area affecting jutsu." Gaara, nodded quietly, appraising his new friends.

Sakura, however, had just noticed something. Although she recognized most of the hitai-ate's origins, she saw one with a musical note. She stared at the group in slight shock. They were relatively threatening with gray and black camouflage and purple outfits, each giving off a very threatening aura. "Kabuto-san," she started, "who are they?" She pointed to the group.

He looked over to the group to see who she was talking about, but just scoffed and smirked as he turned back. "They are from the village hidden in the sound, Otogakure. It is a minor village, and they probably aren't much of a threat." Unnoticed by most of the Konoha nin, one of the Oto nin had been sneaking through the crowd at the mention of his group. When he was called weak, he charged forward, attempting to strike Kabuto down.

Naruto had, however, seen it coming. He stretched his arm out in a mock yawn, just in time to clothesline the boy. The Oto nin hit him hard, feet flying from underneath him as he fell on his back in the middle of the Leaf genin. "Oh, sorry Oto-san," said Naruto with what sounded like a very apologetic voice while staring at his victim. The boy had white hair, but was wrapped up completely like a mummy. He had weird braces on his arms that hummed with chakra. Naruto continued to look at the mummy, expecting some form of response. The boy, however, just lay still on his back, staring upwards, wondering how he hadn't seen it coming. And then he saw cold those eyes, staring back at him in disgust. It was Kabuto! He had failed to damage Kabuto as had been planned.

"Oto-san?" asked Naruko, wondering if the boy was alright. Some of the group had noticed him stiffen, though they had no idea it was in fear of Kabuto.

"I'm sorry," he said briskly well standing up. Only Shikimaru noticed it was said mainly to Kabuto. "Please do not talk poorly of my village, however." This was said with just a little more edge in his voice.

Haku nodded. "I'm sorry we offended you." The boy ignored her as he walked back to his group, his team mates face palming at his apparent stupidity. Naruto and Naruko just wondered why he had planned on attacking Kabuto for such a stupid insult. Pride issue, maybe?

However, before they could figure it out, a large man wearing a black bandana and black trench coat appeared before them. He yelled at the "maggots" to sit down in their pre-named seat, noting with satisfaction that only two-thirds of the teams that had signed up made it to the room. He proceeded to introduce himself as the Leaf's head of interrogation and torture, Ibiki Morino. He passed out a test, warning that cheating was not tolerated and three strikes was punished by removal from the room and test for the cheater and his entire team. They were given forty-five minutes for the first nine questions and were told the last question would take fifteen minutes to complete.

The questions ended up being extremely difficult, near impossible to solve. Some of the teams ended up figuring out that cheating was, in fact, the point of the test. It was all about information gathering and many succeeded. Neji and Hinata used the Byakugan, Lee was a mere flash as he looked at his neighbors, and Tenten used reflections from various planted weapons. Kiba used Akamaru, Shino his bugs, Shikamaru and Sakura their intelligence, and Ino her mind control. She also helped Chouji. Sasuke used his Sharingan, Haku her ice mirrors, Gaara his sand, and Naruto and Naruko helped each other through their mental link. Temari took answers from Gaara, Kankuro used his secret surprise for later, and Sai was writing answers down easily. It was quite odd, as these questions were nearly impossible to answer and only a few chunin disguised as genin wrote down the correct answers to copy off of. It was almost as if he had been told the questions and answers beforehand. Odd, huh?

Forty-five minutes had passed and four teams had failed. One from Kumo, two from Iwa, and one veteran team from the Leaf. Now Ibiki interrupted them. "Now, put your papers down. Regardless of your methods or accuracy, you have passed the first part of the test. Next, however, is the hard part." Many of those remaining blanched as he removed his bandana to reveal multiple, gruesome scars. "As a ninja, you will be forced to make hard decisions, and you will be given one now. Leave without taking the tenth question and receive no punishment, or take the last question. If you take it and pass, you move on. If you fail, you will never be allowed to become a chunin."

This scared many of those present as they had never realized their grand dreams for the future could come to a screeching halt like this. One or two teams stood up and left, chickening out. By the time it was over, many less teams remained. Six Leaf teams, the sound team, the sand team, two mist teams, one waterfall team, two cloud teams, one grass team, and two rock teams. Ibiki smiled, knowing that this had potential to be fun. "You all pass." Many of the genin were floored by this, but Naruto and Naruko just smiled as they had seen it coming. "Your last question was one of your resolve, and you have all succeeded. Remember, sometimes the best action is merely standing forward and taking the only action available to you. You can't always back down." His smile dimmed. "And if you don't, well, you may lose someone important to you." It seemed he was reliving the past. He pulled off the bandana that was wrapped around his head and exposed a myriad of scars and burns that were far beyond healing. "You will be forced farther than you think you can go, but what matters is that you go after it anyway. You will have to make decisions and stick by them. That is what you have done today."

In just a second, though, there was a flash of an explosion all the windows of the room were broken. As the light subsided, it revealed Naruto, Naruko, and Haku subduing their supposed attacker. Until, Naruko saw the banner behind them, tapped her teammates on the shoulder, and they all stepped back, a tad embarrassed. It seemed that this woman was the next proctor. The banner simply said "Anko Mitarashi! Badass kunoichi and proctor extreme!"

She looked at the people that had caught her and smiled. Catching a jounin off gaurd was difficult. "Come on maggots! I am the proctor for your next exam and will meet you all at training ground 44." She turned around to leave but, as if on second thought, threw a perverted glance back to Naruto. "I hope you don't die, foxy-kun." Then she jumped out the window as Naruko was seething. No one hit on her man.

She jumped after the woman in a rage, followed by Naruto who was trying to calm her, the Sand team as they liked their new friends, the rest of the group, and then Haku who was keeping her distance from her teammates, both loving them like siblings and being extremely embarrassed by them.

Yet again, I am begging. Reviews tell me what is right, wrong, liked, and disliked. I love knowing people care about the story enough to say something, even if the review is simply "good job" or any other two word combination.

Also, advertising here. First, I Beta. Secondly, I will soon release the first chapter of another fic. Good night, beautiful and not so beautiful people of the internet. Third, yes, I did change this chapter. I somehow deluded myself into a mistake in continuity which has now been fixed. Good night, beautiful and not so beautiful people of the interwebs.