After a make-out session with Ino that left her with steam coming out of her ears, a somewhat embarrassed Naruto watched and waited for the time in which he would have to fight.

Sasuke was pit up against one of Yakushi Kabuto's teammates, a man by the name of Akadou Yoroi. Sasuke didn't even need to try hard at all in that fight, and defeated the man in three blows. It seemed as if his training was paying off after all, and Naruto could see the beginnings of a smile on the young Uchiha's face.

The next two matches weren't really anything special; Kumo no Raiden's other teammate fought against one of the two remaining sound-nins, a guitarist by the name of Axel. While initially Axel used his 'phat beats'(as he called them) to try and cast a Genjutsu, the stubborn Kumo-nin constantly dispelled it. Frustrated, Axel charged and smashed his guitar onto the head of the hapless lightning user and Axel was proclaimed the winner of the match.

The second Grass ninja then fought against Axel's teammate, a vocalist by the name of Luna; neither was particularly talented, and Naruto wasn't that surprised when the referee declared a double knockout in the match.

With that, the only nins left were Naruto, the one female Grass-nin, Rock Lee, Shino, Kiba, the two sand-nins, TenTen, Kabuto and his teammate and Muhi Ryu. It was possible that he would get lucky and get a bye to the next round, but that seemed unlikely. Finally, the electronic board determined the next match-up.

MUHI RYU

VS

SABAKU NO GAARA

Many in the stands either gasped or raised a brow at the match-up. At the very least, the Jounin on duty and Team 8 both knew that Gaara was no ordinary Genin. At the same time, they knew Ryu had to be fairly good, as he had demonstrated earlier in the exam. Naruto stared down at both in trepidation, knowing that both possessed an insane amount of power and was hoping he could get some answers in this fight. Unbeknownst to the young student-teacher, his sensei Tatsu was leaning against a nearby wall; the man's eyes were closed and his arms were crossed. A bead of sweat could be seen coming down Tatsu's forehead, and he looked to be in deep concentration.

Muhi Ryu gave a start, but after closing his eyes for a few seconds, seemed to regain himself. However, to Anko and Sakura's eyes(among others), he did not seem as the same Muhi Ryu that had confidently defeated the Sound-ninja so easily in the first exam. Now he seemed to possess an aura of confidence, but without the cockiness displayed in the second exam. He was now completely and utterly serious and slowly stepped down to his fate.

To his credit, Gaara did not smirk psychotically as his sand teleported him down to the arena floor. The examiner gulped, slightly afraid at the damage the two could cause and quickly began the match.

Gaara naturally began the match by launching his ever-present sand at the statuesque Ryu. When Ryu didn't dodge, many assumed that his previous ability was nothing more than a fluke. However, their doubts were assuaged when the sand went through Ryu.

"Lee, what's up with that guy?" Neji asked his teammate.

Lee, how had been concentrating heavily on the match answered, "His speed… is about a little higher than I am without weights. That was pure speed!"

Lee's analysis was soon proven correct, as the observers could now see an 'invisible' presence give staggering blows to Gaara; one knocked the wind out of him, another made cracks appear near his jaw and still another made a trickle of blood come down from Gaara's forehead.

Gaara was now beginning to get worked up. His breathing became heavy and veins pulsed from his eyeballs as his sand began pooling near his feet.

The two other Suna-nin began to become worried.

This is bad! Is it possible that this Ryu guy will make Gaara unleash IT?

At the same time, Ryu began to generate a strange purple aura that looked like a living flame as it twisted and writhed. Ryu then took off the pair of glasses that made him look so much like Naruto's own mentor; after they had hit the floor, Ryu's foot came down and smashed them. Ryu then whispered something that none save the examiner and Gaara himself could hear it. As he said this, he smiled.

"It has been a good life."

His aura now flaring into the stratosphere, Ryu shot forward like a rocket and engulfed Gaara in a clinch, both bodies locking up. As Gaara looked into the gaze of Ryu, he froze up. Ryu's aura was slowly seeping into the red-haired Suna-nin, inch by inch.

Both boys stayed prone for what seemed like hours; after fifteen minutes though, Gaara was released and he tiredly got to his feet. To the shock of his siblings, it looked as though tears were coming down his face as Gaara stood.

Ryu had gotten to his feet as well, but to the continuing shock of those observing, blood was coming out of Ryu at almost every opening, from his nose to his ears. Wheezing, Ryu gave a smile and fell backwards, eventually ceasing to breathe.

The examiner was quite confused, but strode forward. He checked Ryu's pulse and shook his head.

"As the contestant Muhi Ryu is now dead, the winner is Gaara."

Although most of the observers had barely known Ryu, they all paid their respects silently.

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After the moment of silence, the examiner Hayate coughed for attention and began the selection process again.

TENTEN

VS

TSURUGI MISUMI

Tenten and Kabuto's teammate made it down to the arena. The match wasn't particularly anything special; Misumi tried using his joint less limbs to fight in Taijutsu, but against a long-range specialist like Tenten he was nothing. She soon made the hapless ninja into a pincushion and a cheerful Tenten walked up to the praise of her teammates as well as the other Konoha rookies. She was very surprised, but pleased; Tenten blushed as Naruto went up to her and introduced himself, kissing her hand. Tatsu frowned and bopped him on the head.

"You've got enough girls at the moment after you! ... Oh, yeah, and it's your turn Naruto."

It was as Tatsu said.

MUHI NARUTO

VS

ROCK LEE

"YOSH! Gai-sensei, I will now prove my nindo against perhaps this year's strongest rookie!" Lee enthusiastically shouted.

"Wait Lee! Before you go… let me give you some advice." Gai said.

"Yes sensei? What is it?" Lee asked, whipping out a pen and notepad.

"There are two things you should be aware of. The first is that Muhi Naruto has the ability to make tornadoes form from his hands!"

THAT statement had many people's eyes bugging out or scoffing in disbelief.

"The second… those glasses of his are suspicious!"

Those who could hear that part of the statement groaned, save for Tatsu and his student.

How did that guy know about the shades? The thought passed through both heads in unison.

Lee bounded his way off the railing, ready for anything. Naruto was about to do the same, before his father's hand clasped his back.

"Naruto… just remember, I have faith in you son."

Naruto's face gave a beaming smile. "Thanks dad."

Shouts of "Good luck Naruto-sensei!", "I know you'll win Naruto!" and "There's no way you can lose to someone who has a fashion sense that bad!" all came from the observers. Naruto was heartened by the encouragement of his friends and leapt down, now ready.

Lee's smile was a little strained from the 'fashion' comment, but his eyes shone with determination.

"Muhi Naruto VS Rock Lee… Hajime!"

As Lee charged at the student teacher, Naruto in turn took a stance. Lee tried a kick, but his leg was grabbed by Naruto. Lee tried a punch, but his fist was blocked by a palm. Naruto took advantage of the opening and tried throwing Lee by the foot. The throw was unsuccessful, as Lee flipped himself upright and landed safely.

This game of counter to counter continued for ten minutes straight; Tatsu began getting bored by the expression on his face and he let out a sigh.

"Maybe I ought to just tell the kid its okay for him to use the other stuff."

Just as Tatsu was about to do this exact thing, Gai beat him to it as Lee leapt backwards, panting.

"Lee! Take them off!" Gai demanded in his 'nice-guy' pose.

Lee looked apprehensive. "Demo Gai-sensei! I thought that was only to be done when protecting many important people!"

"Come on! Just do it!"

Lee laughed in happiness, and began to take off his 'leg-warmers'. Underneath were leg weights, and Lee began to take them off.

Tatsu's eyes narrowed. "Naruto! Go ahead and use the other half of what I taught you and stop going easy on him! In this circumstance, it's okay!"

Naruto gave a start. "Tatsu-sensei… you're serious? I'm pretty sure I can beat him!"

Tatsu's lips thinned. "Do you know how much weight that kid is holding and is about to drop?"

Naruto gave a questioning look to his sensei and began looking at the now rapidly descending weights. Even he was surprised at the small crater that said weights made.

"He's wearing at least half a ton!" Tatsu finished.

Nearly all of the ninja gave Tatsu a look of disbelief; Naruto audibly gulped and took a short breath.

"Okay Tatsu-sensei. I'll do what I need to do in order to win this match!"

Naruto took off his own set of small bracers and resumed his stance.

"IKE! LEE!" Gai commanded.

"OSSU!" Lee shouted.

Lee shot forward like a bullet and a second later, a fist was scant centimeters away from Naruto's face. Lee then tried a kick, with the foot even closer, though still barely missing. As he continued his desperate dodging, Naruto soon began to get tired, sweat coming down his brow. However, he managed to endure until Lee also began to get somewhat winded and began spiraling around Naruto at an incredible speed.

Without warning, Naruto was launched into the air by a devastating kick, and with a burst of speed, Lee was able to come up from behind. Using Chakra, the 'bandages' around Lee's arms unfurled themselves and began wrapping themselves around Naruto. Naruto struggled, but it was of no use. Lee began spinning rapidly and while they span they also descended.

This is definitely going to hurt.

"OMOTE RENGE!"

With a large boom, Lee slammed Naruto into the floor and a cloud of dust flew up. When the smoke cleared, they could see Naruto lying in the crater made by Lee's attack. Lee stood to the side, breathing heavily and shaking a bit. He smiled as if triumphant.

The examiner looked about to call the match, but to his immense surprise, could see Naruto slowly getting up.

His shades now cracked, Naruto tossed them aside as he shakily got up. Lee's eyes bugged out, but he began again to take a stance, tired as he was from opening a Celestial Gate.

Naruto then clasped his hands together, as if in a prayer, and slowly gave a deep breath. When his exhale was finished, immense power began to flow through him.

"LIMITER ONE: RELEASE!"

It was as if a dam had broken. The same kind of purple aura that Ryu had sprouted before flowed from Naruto like a river, and its power impressed even the now disguised Orochimaru. While this happened, Naruto's wounds from the earlier attack began to close up, and his breathing began to slow. Finally, the student-teacher's eyes opened and Lee couldn't help but stare into them.

A few seconds later, it was all over, as for no apparent reason, Lee let out a terrible scream and fell unconscious. Naruto again put his hands in the prayer position, and after a few seconds, the great aura subsided.

The examiner came forward and checked Lee over. He couldn't believe it himself, but the result was clear.

"Shousha…Muhi Naruto."

Naruto's friends began to cheer him on loudly, pleased with their friend's success. Tatsu gave him a small hug and began ruffling his hair. The student-teacher and his adoptive father began to bicker yet again, but they did it with smiles on their faces.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The next match was Shino against the nameless female Grass-nin. While this went on, Kakashi engaged Sasuke in conversation.

"Ne, Sasuke, would you mind letting me indulge in a small question?" The Copy-nin wondered.

"That depends on the question. Go ahead." Sasuke answered in an apathetic fashion.

"Have you activated your Sharingan yet?"

One of Sasuke's eyes rose at the question. "Yes." He answered simply.

"Well, why haven't I ever seen you use it?"

Sasuke smirked. "Simply because I try not to use the Sharingan unless absolutely necessary. It may be a powerful tool, but it comes with far too many disadvantages for me to use it all the time."

Kakashi was momentarily taken aback. "What do you mean?"

Sasuke let out a small sigh. "Naruto has been teaching Sakura and myself far more than jutsu and chakra control, sensei. After seeing what we managed to do with the Sanjutsu, Naruto managed to get through to me in regards to one particular subject."

Wondering where this was going, Kakashi motioned for Sasuke to continue.

"I realized that if mere Genin, straight out of the academy could defeat an A-ranked criminal, than with a few years a powerful team would have a much bigger chance of defeating Itachi than I would on my own. I know what you're going to say," Sasuke interrupted, as he saw the Copy-nin begin to speak. "Notice I didn't say kill, I just said defeat. Naruto and Sakura agree with me that it is imperative that Itachi be brought to justice for his crimes, and have pledged their help in that regard."

Kakashi smiled at the relationship that had fostered within his team, but then began to look confused.

"Wait… that still doesn't explain what you said about the Sharingan."

Sasuke nodded. "As you might know, the three rookie teams that made it out of the academy successfully all are taught and train with Naruto. It is through this and research that he's able to hear certain things that civilians and lower level Shinobi don't normally know. After training with Hinata, we learned one of the Hyuuga clan's deepest secrets."

Kakashi's eye widened. "What secret was that?"

Sasuke smirked again. "A secret that you should know quite well sensei, considering that you possess one of the vaunted dojutsu bloodlines; namely that if they are used too often, dojutsu begin to wear away the eyes and the bloodline eventually becomes useless. That's one of the biggest reasons that none of the Uchiha clan, Hyuuga clan or ancestors of the two never became Hokage save for Madara. There's a reason you keep that right eye covered, eh, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi looked sheepish. "That, and mainly because I thought it would look creepy to people."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Well, that problem was one of the biggest reasons why I've almost never used the eye. That, and when I was sparring with Lee, I noticed that unless my basic skills were up to snuff, the eye would be useless in Taijutsu combat against someone who could outpace it."

Kakashi smiled again. "So, you're trying to become more all-rounded. I'm quite proud of your growth, Sasuke."

Sasuke blushed. "Baka! Don't say such things!"

Kakashi just gave a small chuckle and went back to reading the new bestseller, Icha Icha Beaver Paradise. (Read A/N for explanation)

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The next two matches had proceeded smoothly. Shino had defeated the Grass-nin fairly easily; her basic Shinobi skills were lacking, but she had caught him by surprise; the girl was a skilled alchemist in training and used various poisons, gasses and even explosives to fight with. Unfortunately, thanks to his kikai bugs, as well as the extra training he had gained with Naruto's help, Shino was able to overcome all of these obstacles. The poisons were easily siphoned out of his body with the help of said kikai, the gasses were fairly useless for the same reason, and the explosives were easily recognized after one trained with a budding seal master in training. In fact, Kiba commented that he was fairly disappointed that Shino hadn't gotten to show off his original ability, while Ino looked pensively at the fallen Grass girl.

Kiba also had little to no difficulty the final preliminary match. Against the puppet-user Kankuro, Kiba's sense training had paid off immensely. Poor Kankuro wasn't aware that Kiba could easily tell who was a puppet and who was fake, and was caught by surprise as Kiba and Akamaru made a combination claw slice which formed a cross-shaped gash on Kankuro's torso. The move was appropriately named 'X-Strike'.

Finally, to his own surprise, Yakushi Kabuto had gotten a bye to the third round. With the preliminaries finished, Hayate left the area and Sandaime came down. He asked for all of the preliminary winners to come forward.

"Now then," Sarutobi said "Congratulations on making it to the third exam! You shall now be given one months' reprieve to prepare for the final exam, where you may or may not become Chuunin. There will be a tournament style exhibition as you fight your peers using whatever information you gather and whatever abilities you have at your disposal. It may be that all of you could become Chuunin, or none of you could become Chuunin. However, if you win your matches and perform well, you will have a slightly higher chance than if you did not. Victory in matches this year especially will go a long way towards becoming a Chuunin."

Shikamaru raised his hand. "What exactly do you mean that it's possible that some of us or none of us could become Chuunin?"

Sarutobi nodded at the young Nara's question. "In this exam, you shall be graded based on your overall skills, not just your combat prowess. So it is possible that even if you lose your first match, there is still a chance you can become a Chuunin."

Sakura had a different question. "Hokage-sama, what do you mean by 'the matches this year especially will go a long way towards becoming a Chuunin'?"

Sarutobi gave a smile. "I will refer that question to an acquaintance of mine who was just so good as to help Konoha in regards to these exams. Tatsu-san, might you come down?"

"Sure, you bet!" Tatsu exclaimed gleefully. Meanwhile, Naruto was holding his head in his hands, constantly muttering 'No, no, no no…"

Tatsu strode confidently towards the Sandaime, as the Jounin in the room all looked at their Hokage in shock, wondering if he had finally succumbed to senility, which was why he invited total strangers to speak.

Tatsu ignored this, and faced the fifteen remaining candidates with a cheerful smile. "Again, congratulations kiddies! I'm Muhi Tatsu, and I'll be a co-examiner for the third exam!"

Several pairs of eyes landed on Tatsu's soon-becoming-patricidal son, who shrunk even more into himself.

"Now then, as a special favor to Sandaime, and for my own personal amusement, I have decided to change the third exam this year somewhat." Tatsu gave a sadistic smirk at this, and even Tri-Edge started to shiver. "Normally, the third exam would take place in a stadium with little to no frills, flat, dry and basically boring. To alleviate this problem, and give our ninja candidates a little extra challenge, we've decided to spruce things up a bit."

Ignoring Naruto, who was now banging his head against a wall, Tatsu continued. "The stadium is being given a complete makeover as we speak, and will soon have the ability to change itself constantly into conditions that can either help or hurt a Shinobi. For example, it has a fairly good climate now, but when it's finished, the stadium can replicate a desert, swamp, mountain, or even volcanic environment. As you might imagine, this could give the intelligent Shinobi an advantage in stealth and Ninjutsu, among other things. In addition, every one of these random areas will be filled with traps designed by yours truly."

Chuckling at the rather panicked expressions on the faces of nearly every candidate, Tatsu opened his mouth again and many eyes began to widen in trepidation. "Finally, every match gives both Shinobi the option of 'boasting'. This is a random challenge which can either help or hurt whomever tries it, but if you do manage to boast and win… well, it's almost certain that you would become a Chuunin due to the massive point bonus."

Sasuke raised his arm. "What sort of challenges are involved in the… 'boasting'?"

Tatsu nodded. "They can be anything, but mainly they are limits on what a ninja can do in that particular match. For example, one boast could be not being able to use Genjutsu in any way. Another could be only using Taijutsu. If you do boast and disobey the rules, you're automatically disqualified. Now then!" Tatsu clapped his hands. "Let's assign partners!"

Hayate came forward with a box that had been filled with paper notes with numbers written on them. Each Shinobi managed to take one, and soon the matchups were decided.

UCHIHA SASUKE VS AXEL

MUHI NARUTO VS TRI-EDGE

HARUNO SAKURA VS TENTEN

YAMANAKA INO VS INUZUKA KIBA

ABURAME SHINO VS NARA SHIKAMARU

AKIMICHI CHOUJI VS HYUUGA HINATA

YAKUSHI KABUTO VS SABAKU NO GAARA

"Well, that's that! Good luck everyone!" Tatsu exclaimed.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, intent on 'talking' with his sensei.

A/N: Well, another chapter finished! It's been quite a while I know, but that's what happens when you start college again! I hope this chapter was liked, and again, any comments/questions are appreciated as long as they consist of CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Flames will be flushed down the crapper, smoking in agony.

Kakashi's book? Well, again, the meaning is really perverted. Ask your friends, or just ask me and I'll be happy to explain. Explaining here would get this story's rating bumped to a level I don't want…

As a special treat, here's a preview of an upcoming chapter. Enjoy!

Both Sandaime and Orochimaru looked amazed at Tatsu; Orochimaru because it should have been impossible to elude his guard, and Sandaime because he assumed that Tatsu had gone back on his stance not to help Konoha's ninja force directly. Tatsu still stood with a sneer on his face, looking towards the Hokage said to be Konoha's greatest. He glanced sharply in the direction of the two other than himself who weren't undead.

"Listen up! I don't care about the reason or anything at all to do with the fight between you two. As far as I'm concerned Orochimaru-sama," Tatsu spat condescendingly, "You and your two dolls can do what you want, just so long as you don't interfere with my punishment to blondie over here." Tatsu cracked his knuckles.

Orochimaru looked as if he was about to protest, but after a brief flare of power from the man he decided that he might as well take what he could get. After all, it wasn't as if the man was impeding his invasion. Sandaime however, looked incredibly shocked.

"Tatsu-san! What are you thinking? Yondaime is our greatest hero! Why would you wish to fight him?"

Tatsu again glanced sharply at the old man. "If you can't figure it out, than you don't deserve an explanation from me!"

Seeing as how the resurrected blonde had yet to begin, Tatsu jumped forward with a punch to the face and several onlookers (such as the ANBU) winced as they could hear the sound of Yondaime's nose breaking. Yondaime collapsed, and at the same time, Tatsu did something that he almost never did in front of others; he took his ever-present shades off.

When they could look into his eyes, those watching were startled by Tatsu's appearance. The white-haired man had deep blue eyes like his adopted son, but they were now radiating power that could be felt everywhere. More troubling however, was the look of cold fury that graced Tatsu's face. As the Yondaime got up, Tatsu's look promised no mercy.

"Now Yondaime-sama, it is time that you paid for your sins."