Sorry for the week long delay, the chapter just wouldn't 'grow' or become what I wanted of it... though this one works out pretty good... So yeah, no ranting and just let's go on, shall we?

Warning: Much is Manga based, randomness and not so important stuff, so now I present; T7HH chapter 10!

It was not too different from my own chunin battle. Hell, I even met an Inuzuka back then too. Those jutsus of theirs had taken me by surprise, big time, and by the looks of it, also Naruto was surprised. But as smoke appeared before the Inuzuka and his dog disappeared into it, I felt my heart jump in my chest. "Naruko, don't get a heart attack would you?" I glared at Kakashi and snorted as I begrudgingly leaned against the wall and crossed my arms. "The old man is more in the danger zone than me at the moment, isn't he?" Sakura giggled silently next to us, and I unknowingly tensed up.

Suddenly I felt Kakashi move closer, and his breath hit my exposed neck. "But you didn't think I was so old just some days ago-" I squirmed away from him, looking down at my feet to hide my blood red blush. "How's the match going?" I looked up and covered my face with my hands. Just then, the dog was given a pill, and it instantly grew larger, and got red fur. Naruto's clone poofed out of existence and the real Naruto stared confused at the dog.

I instantly leached onto Kakashi's arm and buried my face into his shirt. "I don't want to watch…" It didn't take long before I heard Naruto's shout of agony and clutched onto Kakashi tightly. "GET UP NARUTO!" I turned my head and looked at Sakura, seeing how she leaned over the reeling. Then I looked down, and just caught Naruto and the Inuzuka pair disappear in smoke once again.

The smoke cleared to show three of the boy, not just the original two. I felt a smile grow on my lips, and I managed to keep myself from jumping up and down in joy. "So now you want to watch it?" I froze up, and shot Kakashi a glare. My hands almost let his shirt go, only to stop when he placed a large hand over both of them. He suddenly leaned closer, and his forehead rested against the side of my head. "Close your ears." Obediently, I covered my ears, and just managed to catch a glimt of one of the three clones flying through the air, before hitting the ground, and fading away in smoke.

When the smoke dissolved however, the little dog lay there, not moving, while whining. The Inuzuka boy froze for one split second, then spun around and hit his other clone. This one too turned into the dog. Then, Naruto suddenly dispelled his henge and got a good axe kick on the other boy, making him fall to the ground(1).

Kakashi stroked my hands, then suddenly let it drop. Only a second later, my gaze moved to next to us, where Koneko appeared in a deep bow. "O. Neko-senpai, Kakashi-senpai. Hokage-sama wants to see you." I frowned, and cast a glance over at Naruto's match. Do you know why, Koneko?" A quiet muffled chuckle left Kakashi's mask, and I did my best to stop a giggle, but I guess I failed as Koneko bowed even deeper. "I was told that it's about the two of you, but I don't know any more than that." I growled, then waved my hand as I nodded. "Hai, we'll meet up with Hokage-sama shortly." With that, she left, just after presenting us with another humble bow.

"Sakura-chan?" She turned towards me, and I smiled as I patted her shoulder. "Me and Kakashi-sensei have been called by Hokage-sama, so could you please cheer for Naruto-kun for us?" She nodded, and I straightened up and nodded to Kakashi. He discreetly grabbed my hand, and we shunshined away.

"Have you heard about Neko-senpai?" Hyo whispered as she removed her mask, and revealed a beautiful, but somewhat animalistic face. Her brown hair brushed against the mask as she held it against her shoulder. Another woman, just with black hair, shook her head as she leaned against the wall with a cup of tea in her hand. "She and… hold your breath Bea(2)… Inu-taicho is supposedly an item now." Bea's eyes widened and she clapped one hand over her mouth. "You're joking! Neko-senpai and Inu-senpai? That can't be!?" Hyo giggled and nodded, rubbing her hands together. "I smelled him on her or more like his scent leaked out from her… It can't be that they aren't close."

A poof of smoke made the duo shut up, but they smiled when the purple haired M. Neko appeared, or as everyone called her; Koneko. "What did Hokage-sama want you to do?" The purple-haired woman removed her mask, attached it to her hip, then winked at the duo. "He wanted me to get both Neko-senpai and… Inu-senpai, to him for a meeting…" She trailed of, a smirk growing on her face. "And?" Both Bea and Hyo said in sync, as Bea put down her cup. "To talk about the two of them… or rather, their relationship." The trio giggled and smiled big, all of them which were happy for their senpais, both of them being former taichos.

Flash Back!

"Halt!" A young Neko ordered as she looked at dark smoke that enveloped the sky over Konoha. "The smoke's coming from Konoha! Taicho, what should we do?" A sixteen year old Hyo asked as she sniffed in the direction of the village. "We'll…" Neko trailed of as she suddenly fell to the ground, clutching her chest. Her subordinates immediately ran to her side. If they could read her mind, they would know what she knew. Neko, looked up, tears flowing down from her mask. She recognized the slight pressure of chakra, the evil intent of it. "Run to the village! Help with anything you can do! NOW!" Hyo and the rest looked at each other, then nodded and started running towards their village. Neko ripped off her mask, threw it harshly on the ground, and curled together into a ball. Something had had to happened to her Mother while giving birth to her younger brother, and it had to be something terrible to let the Kyuubi out.

After a while, she picked up her mask, and numbly walked to the destroyed gates of Konoha. Screams and cries of children and adults alike were everything except a suffocating silence. As she started to look around, she put on her mask, and started to claw away skin on her arm, in faint attempts to calm herself down.

As she was about to pass the training grounds, she heard sharp cries from children, men and women. She walked towards it, where she suddenly saw hundreds of white sheets placed over bodies. Her arm started to bleed as she clawed away skin in each movement. "Neko-chan(3)." She spun around, and met a young, crying Koneko(4). Neko hunched down, and wrapped her arms gently around the ten-year-old and picked her up. She continued to walk around aimlessly, her gaze scanning over each of the many rows of bloodstained white sheets.

"Neko-chan… what are you looking for?" The young girl asked as she bit her thumb. Neko shook her head numbly, her eyes still scanning the many sheets. "What does a little girl like you do here alone?" The young Koneko bit her lip and nuzzled her face into Neko's shoulder. "I can't find Oka-san or Oni-san anywhere…" Neko gently rubbed the girls back, when she suddenly spotted a large crowd and all of them were crying loudly. She stopped dead in her tracks, but fell to her knees when she noticed long red hair from under a cloth soaked in blood.

"Neko-chan… you ok?" Koneko asked as her soaked eyes looked up at the girl with the cat mask. Neko shook, even her fingers shook so much that her grip on Koneko slipped. "We need help here! You, anbu! Help us!" As if planned, Neko put the girl on the ground, her whole body tense, and walked over to the jonin who'd called her.

"Ah… Neko-san…" She nodded numbly, holding her head high. "Hai, what can I do?" The jonin, who was about thirty years old, nodded sadly and pointed at the crowd. "We need to carry Yondaime Hokage-sama's body away from here, to prepare a burial." Neko felt her body grow cold and heavy by each second, but nodded and walked together with the jonin to the crowd.

They pushed themselves towards the middle of the gathering, only to be met by the Sandaime and a few other anbu and jonins. Hiruzen turned towards the duo, and his eyes widened as he noticed Neko. "N-Neko-sa-" Neko walked up to the old man, looking down at the baby in his arms. Nobody noticed, but she bit down tears and her breath got caught in her throat. "Should I take the child to the Hokage tower?" The Sandaime didn't have the time to answer though, as she simply picked up the child and held him close to her chest. "I'll take care of him while you care for Yondaime Hokage-sama, Sandaime-sama." She did a quick but humble bow and shunshined away.

Neko collapsed on the floor once she appeared in the office of her late father. She tore off her mask and nuzzled the baby in her arms as tears ran down her face. The baby boy opened his eyes, and soft giggles left his little form. The blonde chuckled as tears ran down her face, barely not being chocked. "Naruto… Naruto… Naruto…" Her voice chanted softly and non-stop, until her grandfather-figure walked into the office. He wore a sad but frozen expression as he silently hunched down next to her. "Naruko-chan…" Her chants faded away, and she turned her head enough for her swollen eyes to look through her bangs.

"H-how?" The former Hokage sighted tiredly, but nodded. "We don't know, but Kushina's seal must have failed, because the Kyuubi suddenly appeared and rampaged in the outskirts of the village. We tried to stop it, but it got closer to the village seemingly by the second. Minato appeared later and led it away. The next thing I know, is that we found Minato and Kushina too late, but Naruto-kun lay on an alter…" She instantly looked down on her little brother again, her fingers carefully moving the cloth around the baby away. A strangled cry left her lips as she saw a pitch black seal on his stomach. She wrapped the cloth around baby Naruto, kissed his forehead rather harshly and lay him on the floor before she disappeared in a swirl of leafs and wind.

She appeared again just outside of the mansion and started running blindly through the streets. Tears streamed down her face as she silently mourned her parents and the burden of her little brother. She soon found herself in front of another anbu taicho's apartment. In her state, she simply kicked in the door before she ran towards his bedroom. "Naruko!" Even though he shouted at her loudly, she didn't focus on the world around her until she crashed into Kakashi's chest and wrapped her arms around him. "Ka-Kaka…shi." Her voice cracked into mere air as she started to cry heavily and loudly into his chest. Kakashi hesitantly embraced her, but then held her close and rested his head on hers. Naruko eventually fell to the floor and curled into a ball.

That night, she cried loudly non-stop, until she fell asleep in his embrace. Also, her cries were heard by the entire village, and even echoed in everyone's ears after she fell asleep. That's why her comrades from anbu started to feel even more respect towards her when she appeared like normal the next day(5).

Flash Back: Kai!

We appeared just outside of the Hokage's office. I smiled, and swung both of our hands a little, before Kakashi squished my hand and let it go before he knocked on the door and opened it at the 'come in'. "What do you need us for, Hokage-jiji?" The bearded man chuckled dryly as he blew out a cloud of smoke out in the room. "Naruko, as direct as always." I nodded, a fake smile plastered on my face. "Especially when Kakashi's and my team are fighting, yes of course I'll be direct." The elderly Hokage chuckled again and made sign for us to sit down on one of the two chairs that had been placed in front of his desk. We did as ordered, and sat down, our eyes glued on the man. "I've been hearing some rumors in the anbu force, starring the two of you." He began slowly. My head tilted to the side, and Kakashi folded his hands loosely. "…What do they say?" Kakashi finally asked.

Hiruzen nodded and emptied out his pipe in an ashtray in one of the drawers. "They tell about how the two former anbu taichos finally joined together. Though by now, there's several versions of how the two of you became involved-" I felt my face heat up, and abruptly stood up, glaring at jiji. "I won't sit idly and wait for you to tell us how we got tog- supposedly got together and all different versions and such!" He chuckled, making me angry beyond words.

"But I didn't summon you here to tell you about all these rumors. I called you here so we could talk about your future." I felt a hand wrap around my wrist, then I was pulled down in my chair again, courtesy of Kakashi. "…'your future'… as in-" I pointed between me and Kakashi. Jiji nodded before I even got to ask the rest. "-our future?" Again, he nodded and smiled grandfatherly. "I already know for a fact that you two really have joined ends, and because of that, I'd like to have a talk with the two of you…"

I felt my face burn up, and I hid my face behind my hand as Hokage-jiji continued. "-so, I wondered what the two of you say about it? It's not like I'm trying to wed an Uchiha and a Hyuga, right?" During the long talk, my and Kakashi's chairs had moved closer and closer to each other, to the point where I could lean on his shoulder. Another thing that had happened during the 'little' and 'idle' chat, was that Kakashi once again held my hand as I had gotten what seemed like a permanent blush stuck on my face. "So, basically… you, us, to not only get official, but also… exchange vows before the time Naruto turn 18… can I ask why, again?" Kakashi asked slowly and carefully, as if he was scared of saying something wrong.

Hiruzen chuckled and nodded, his aura shining with pure glee. "Yes, I plan to make it official; both Naruko and Naruto's heritage and thus, for Naruko's best -in several ways-, want her to actually start a family with someone she knows and above all, loves." I turned my face away from the two men and covered my mouth. It felt like my face literally was on fire as I waited for what Kakashi would answer. Because, hell, every girl/woman have this fantasy/dream about getting married and starting a family with the one you love, right? So yes, even I have a dream like that, somewhere deep inside. I heard Kakashi inhale deeply, then his thumb stroking my hand gently. "There's nothing I want more than marring Naruko, but-" My face probably looked tomato red, as I inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to calm myself. "- only if she wants to be bound with me the rest of her life."

Kakashi's hand squished mine gently and I felt my entire being shake. "So, Naruko, what do you say about this? As I've told you, I do this because I think it'd be better for you, but your not forced, just so you know that." I silently turned to face Kakashi. I removed my hand from my mouth, letting it fall to above my heart as my eye met Kakashi's. "I'm... so happy… Kakashi…" My hand soon covered my mouth again, as I felt tears of absolute joy threatened to spill(6).

Suddenly, a chuckle came from the window. I instantly covered my face and looked away. "Aren't you happy to see me, Nomu?" I turned towards the voice, where I saw the person whose heart swelled every time he was called 'super pervert'. "E-Ero-Chichi…" The next to chuckle was the trio of men, whom I can say were three of the men I loved the most. I jumped at him, my arms wrapped around his neck and my legs dangling as the rest of my body. The white haired sannin chuckled again before he gave me a real bear hug, which didn't do anything for my joyful sobbing. "I've missed you… so much..." I bit my lip and let him put me down again. "And I've missed you too brat." I laughed silently and turned back to Jiji and Kakashi(7).

That's when I felt Ero-Chichi's big hand on my shoulder, as well as his face which appeared in the crook of my eye. "So… what were the three of you talking about that made Naruko cry while saying 'I'm so happy, Kakashi'?" I shuddered and felt my face heat up again. "Um… you see…" "We were talking about a marriage between these two before Naruto turns 18." Jiji answered, and I bit my lip as I felt my face heat up, even more. Chichi's hand squished my shoulder gently, before it suddenly patted my head. "Oh, I see.. so you've really grown up, haven't you?" I nodded silently, looking at Kakashi with pleading eyes. 'Take me away from here, please!' "So, when's the wedding?" My whole body suddenly felt like air, and I swayed slightly where I stood. "That haven't been planned yet, but I should maybe purpose to Naruko before the wedding plans?" It felt like my face was about to burst into flames. "Yeah, and you should get permission to do so by the men who love her too."

I looked down on my hands as I folded them quietly. That talk had dragged on, until now. We just appeared the same spot we had shunshined away, and was met by a crowd around a Hyuga Hinata. Naruto ran towards her as she coughed up blood, and the medical team hurried away with her. Suddenly Naruto walked to a little pool of the girl's blood, and dipped his hand onto it. He clenched his fist as he glared at Hinata's cousin, Neji. "You… are going down!" Soon, everyone got onto the terraces again, and I noticed Kankuro -the Kazekage's second child- walking up to Naruto after he climbed the stairs. I silently walked towards the duo, not really trusting that Suna genin with my beloved Ni-chan.

"N-nobody's asking that…" The teen muttered, as Hayate coughed out who would be fighting in the next match. Gaara appeared in the middle of the stage, his sand whirling around him. And after a while of shouting, Gai's pupil –who actually was called Lee-, jumped down to meet with Gaara. "I don't know what kind of attacks that bowl head uses but, there's no way he can beat Gaara." Kankuro said, a smirk evident on his face. "No, he's strong…" Naruto mumbled, looking really interested in the match. I reached the duo, and leaned quietly against the wall as Gaara's sand blocked Lee's kick. "The attacks aren't working at all.." I smiled silently as I looked at Naruto's back head. "All physical attacks are useless against him. Because, regardless of Gaara's will… the sand becomes a shield and protects him…That's why, up until now, there hasn't been a person who's even put a scratch on Gaara." I nodded to myself, my eyes resting on the red haired genin.

I felt my thoughts drifting away, that was until the sound of something smashing into the ground. I sweat dropped as I saw it was weights that Gai had made Lee use, and sighted as I shook my head. But that showed to be a bit of a turning point for the fight. And I was shown right, when Lee managed to get a really good hammer kick on Gaara. The gasps just underlined it and I felt a smirk growing onto my face. "This is bad…" Naruto chuckled and nodded his agreement, though he probably got it wrong. "It sure is! That guy took a real bad one!" Kankuro sighted, his eyes still glued onto his younger brother. "That's not the bad that I mean…"

Suddenly, sand cracked off Gaara's face, like it was dried clay. "Huh? What's this? His face's falling apart." "If he gets caught by this Gaara…" Kankuro trailed off, and I bit my lip. "…He'll be killed by the fun of it.." I loudly cracked my joints and yawned slightly. The duo in front of me jumped slightly, and turned to face me. Naruto smiled big, while Kankuro looked at me wide-eyed. "Kankuro-kun, is that Gaara-kun's armor of sand? Combined with the shield of sand, I guess it could be called an ultimate defense, am I right?" I noticed sweat on his forehead, and giggled as I got out a tissue and dried it off gently. "We won't turn a blind eye to your brother if he threatens the life of any of our shinobi or citizens, remember, you're in another village, Kankuro-kun." I winked and smiled as I put the tissue away. Kankuro however just stood like frozen on the spot, still looking at me with wide eyes. I giggled again, and touched his shoulder, and even though he flinched away, I held him there. "Look, the real fight's beginning."

They turned, just in time to see Lee wrap bandage around Gaara, and the two crash into the floor. "I-is he dead?" "N-no way.." I bit my lip as Lee appeared meters away from the crater, and an empty shell of sand appeared, just like the real Gaara appeared from sand just behind Lee. The attack was fast and brutal, but Lee still looked somewhat well and still fit for fight. But that soon changed when Gaara again sent his sand for a second vicious attack.

But then, Lee was suddenly surrounded in chakra, and I felt my body grow cold. I looked over at Gai who looked rather serious. I felt anger growing and erupting from the inside, and I couldn't help but quickly stalking towards the man. He turned just in time, to get a well-placed right hook on the side of his cheek. The man dressed in green almost fell over the reeling, but I grabbed his west and glared into his eyes. "Tonchiki(8)! How can you teach your student something as dangerous as that!? He could fuc-" A hand was clapped over my mouth, and only by turning my head completely, did I see that it was Kakashi. His free hand grabbed my wrists, forcing me to let Gai go. I glared at Gai until I was turned completely around and I only saw Kakashi's face. "Naruko… calm down won't you?"

I bit my lip, my gaze falling to the floor. I felt like a little child, getting scolded, but I knew I had acted as a brat too though. I mouthed 'gomen' against his gloved hand, and wrinkles in his mask told about a wonderful smile. "But I do agree, it's not something you teach thirteen year olds." Kakashi let his hand fall to my chin, and I felt my cheeks heat up slightly. I bit my lip and looked down at the hand that still held my wrists firmly. He leaned closer, and I chuckled quietly, turning my head away slightly. "Kakashi… not here… not now…" His hand stoked my cheek, then he spun me around so I leaned against the wall, and he stood next to me, facing the match which had really gotten out of hand by now.

I leached onto Kakashi's arm and hid my face as Lee screamed in agony of his arm and leg getting crushed by sand. As Gaara sent another wave of sand to finish Lee off, Gai appeared in front of him and saved him. Gaara won the match, but also the hate of more than half of the watchers. I closed my eyes and looked away as I bit my lip.

The genins who had won their matched stood on a line, all except Sasuke that is. Hayate straightened up, coughed twice and then looked at the children. "To all of you who won the rights to fight in the 'third round test' in the chunin exam-" A deep and sickening chough interrupted him, but after another cough he continued. "One is missing but… Congratulations to you all!"

Oh well, that's the chapter... got some lenght doesn't it? And just as a little side-note, the A/N and such might be a bit off, seeing that it's 12 o'clock here at night and I just watched a super sad movie (I get tired of crying) and finished the chapter... so my brain might not work proparly...

But anyway, what's your thoughts on the chapter? And do you wish/want/demand something to happen, please leave the idea as a review or a pm for me... But while being stuck with the prelimanary matches, I got these crazy ideas for when Sasuke might leave (Not decided that yet...) or/and before or a bit after Naruto leaves for training! So what do you guys want? A less dramatic and less complicated story, or a longer (It would be with all these stuff I might plan), more dramatic-complicated and maybe even sad story?

If you got an oppinion or pointers or anything, please review or pm me, kay? =3

(1)- It's called axe kick right? When you.. like jump up and shipe your foot/leg down to kick a person?

(2)- 'Bea'- Bear and 'Koneko'- kitten. And the reason for Koneko being called Koneko (when her anbu name's actually M. Neko... the 'M' stands for '紫' or 'Murasaki' which means purple. And if you haven't noticed, I use colours as 'surnames' to tell the difference between two anbus with the same mask. Like Koneko ( ) and Naruko (O. Neko)

(3)- Naruko's being called 'Neko-chan' because of her mask, being a cat, she's then called Cat-chan or Miss Cat or whatever by Koneko

(4)- Of course, when Koneko was ten, she wasn't an anbu, but the internet was down as I wrote that part so... yeah anyway, Koneko is the purple haired anbu who was Hayate's lover... her name was Uzuki Yu-something...

(5)- So yeah, Naruko's criyes became like a legand... not planning to tell anything about it... but her screams became a part in a story which are told to the 'younger' generation, or the children who wasn't born yet during the Kyuubi attack.

(6)- A bit over the top? Well, anyway... I think I would have been the same if the one I love almost preposed to me while holding my hand, and actually in front of (Sandaime-sama for Naruko) my grandfather, I would cry for sure.

(7)- I know I know... that I wrote in the 'I'm dead and he's an orphan' chapter that only Sandaime-sama and Kakashi knew about Naruko being alive as a Namikaze and Uzumaki... but that's why I made Naruko have the reaction she had... because, If Jiraiya-sama didn't know who she was, he would sertenatly not call her 'Nomu' (gnome) or joke around with her like he did with Naruto in the pilot...

(8)- 'Tonchiki' means dunce, meathead, blockhead etc... Naruko's really old nickname for Gai... Might this be the beginning of the end for the 'dead' Naruko!?

Haha... not much to do you see... was alone all day and only had my computer and my two dogs for company... I crave human contact! *Howls at the moon* Um... sorry... random and senseless ranting again.. sorry...

BUTBUTBUT!

PLEASE DO TELL ME YOUR OPINION ABOUT HOW THE STORY SHOULD TURN OUT!

Because, I need answers fast as possible to actually let it all happen... because... the plan I have in my head... just might turn out to be pretty damn epic! xD No but seriasly... it's a suprisingly good and different one...

NB!

The next chapter might be an important filler, though it depends on your oppiniond peeps!

So... after all the extra notes and such...

JA NE!

LittleMyOwO