Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.

Key: "Normal person speaking."

Normal person thinking.

'Naruto talking to Kyuubi.'

"Kyuubi talking to Naruto."

The Other Jinchuuriki

Naruto strolled down a secondary street in the town, near to the gates. The blond had gotten up only a few hours ago and was now heading for Team 7's training grounds.

'Hey Kyuubi', he said to his demon inhabitant. 'How do you think these exams'll be? Do you think that I'll be considered eligible to become a Chuunin?' Kyuubi paused before answering.

"Well kit, I can't exactly say how the exams are going to be, but I can tell you that you will have to fight. Because the Chuunin exams are a way for each village to show off their strength, they will all send their strongest Genin, if only as a way to show Konoha – which by the way is the strongest hidden village – that they are forces to consider. But you should do okay… You're not lacking in skill, Akuma Hiai is a B-class ninja after all."

'You're right,' realized Naruto. 'Oh well, I'll still train as hard as I can, considering, as you mentioned, that the other villages will be sending their strongest Genin. However, I can't go all out and be as strong as Akuma Hiai, or use obvious tactics and techniques that other nin present are sure to have seen 'him' do. A good shinobi never reveals his secrets until he has to, and I'm not ready to reveal my alter identity just yet.'

Suddenly, Naruto became aware of an unfamiliar chakra signature following him. He quickly exited his mindscape and refocused on the road in front of him. Seeing no one, he paused, and then turned around, only to see a rectangular cardboard box with a badly-drawn rock pattern on its sides and two eyeholes, shuffling conspicuously behind him. A smile immediately made its way to Naruto's lips. There was only one person who could be in that box. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, a hand shot out of the left eyehole, dropping a small object that exploded into a bright blue smoke on contact with the ground. Loud shuffling noises could be heard within the cloud, and Naruto watched, highly amused, as the Konohamaru Corps, consisting of Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon, stumbled out of the smoke, eyes watering copiously and hacking furiously.

Konohamaru and Naruto had met in a very unconventional way a few weeks ago. Naruto had been in the Hokage's office updating his 'Oji-san' on his training and his relationship with Team 7, Kakashi and the villagers, when Konohamaru had burst in, over-long scarf flying behind him, and kunai in hand, yelling about defeating the Hokage. But, halfway to the desk, he tripped over his scarf, and accused Naruto of tripping him. Naruto, deciding that the brat should be taught a lesson, had made a clone appear behind the pre-Genin and lift him roughly up by his scarf and give him a good lecture. Ebisu, the closet pervert and Konohamaru's tutor, had given Naruto a dirty look, but his attitude soon changed when both Naruto and the Hokage focused large amounts of killing intent at him. Naruto had not seen Konohamaru until a few days after, when the small boy proclaimed Naruto his hero and role model. They had been inseparable ever since, and Naruto had even been teaching Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon how to hide properly. Though, looking at the box, it hadn't sunk in too well.

"The great Konohamaru Corps has arrived!" yelled Konohamaru, between bouts of coughing. The pre-Genin looked up at Naruto to see if they had finally managed to catch him by surprise, but were thwarted once again. Udon's face fell.

"We'll never surprise the boss," he said dejectedly to Konohamaru. His 'leader', however, wasn't discouraged.

"No, Udon!" he said enthusiastically. "We will try and try until we can surprise the Boss!"

"Yeah!" yelled Moegi, pumping her small fist into the air. Naruto smiled.

"Exactly, Konohamaru. You're getting better, don't give up." He knelt in front of Udon. "Never give up so easily, Udon. You can't surprise me just like that. I doubt even my sensei could sneak up on me properly." Udon's eyes behind round glasses went wide, and he nodded, confidence returned. Naruto smiled and stood. He was about to dismiss them, when Sakura passed, sans Sasuke. Naruto smirked. The Uchiha had escaped his banshee jailer. She shot Naruto a dirty look, which he returned, accompanied by a bit of fear-inducing chakra flaring. Her pupils dilated, and she was just about to dart away when Konohamaru spoke up.

"Hey Boss!" he said loudly. "Why is that ugly old pink-haired hag glaring like that?" That was the last straw. Sakura's famous anger overcame her fear, and in a flash, she drew a kunai, ready to throw it at Konohamaru. But Naruto was faster, and Shunshined to her side in a heartbeat, grabbing the kunai away and focusing large amounts of killing intent at her. Konohamaru and his friends seized their chance and ran for it, while Naruto dealt with an angry, but now thoroughly cowed and intimidated Sakura.

"You will leave Konohamaru and his friends alone," he stated coldly. "What they said was true. You are an ugly, pink-haired hag, only I would add 'bitch' to the list. And a big forehead to go with it." Naruto said, lowering his voice for effect. Smirking on the inside at his effective fear-inducing tactics, he stepped away from the frozen girl and continued down the road in the same direction he had been going a few minutes before. He was going to train today, no matter how many distractions were thrown at him, dammit.

Naruto drifted off into his plans and jutsus again, feeling vaguely that Shikamaru was influencing him, and then he heard a yell of pain. The voice was familiar… Konohamaru! Naruto broke into a run, and rounded the corner quickly, to see two foreign ninja antagonizing the Konohamaru Corps. They must be here for the Chuunin Selection Exams, realized Naruto. He narrowed his eyes at them. Those ninja were way above Genin level, maybe even high Chuunin. The blonde looked them over, realizing that although they were strong, their detection skills were next to nothing, as they had yet to notice him.

The kunoichi drew his attention first. She was a blonde, like him, but her hair was more of a sandy blonde than a bright yellow color, as his was, and was worn in four spiky ponytails. Her outfit was quite provocative. She wore a purple midriff-baring top, the zipper adjusted strategically to reveal a hint of her ample cleavage, a purple miniskirt with double slits, and fishnets and fingerless gloves. A large, folded fan was on her back, and the metal plate on the hitai-ate tied around her neck proclaimed her a Suna ninja. Naruto's eyes moved to the shinobi beside her. He wore an extremely strange outfit. It consisted of a black jumpsuit, made of some sort of heavy material, no doubt to protect him from the sand, and covered every part of his body save his face, which was odd in itself. The Genin's face was framed by a hood with cat ears, and his features were outlined and highlighted by purple Kabuki paint. He also had a strange mummy-wrapped bundle on his back. The shinobi had a struggling Konohamaru by the ear, and the pre-Genin was crying out in fear and pain. A malicious smile adorned the Suna ninja's face and Naruto decided that enough was enough.

Stepping forward, he purposefully flared his chakra, and the Suna nin grew alert. Obviously they were a team, but where was the third member? It was then that he felt it, the unfocused youkai of a Jinchuuriki. It was emanating from a high tree to his left. His own youkai was suppressed, unlike the other Jinchuuriki's. Ignoring him for the moment, Naruto approached the cat-eared Suna shinobi.

"It's a pleasure to meet Suna ninja, especially strong ones like you obviously are, but do you really think that it's a good idea to antagonize the Hokage's grandson?" The effect of his words was amusing. The cat-eared shinobi's purple-lined eyes widened comically, and he dropped Konohamaru like a hot brick. The kunoichi at his side immediately began to quarrel, a worried look on her face.

"Kankuro! I told you not to! Now we're gonna get in trouble for your 'little bit of fun!'" The cat-eared shinobi, Kankuro, shrugged nonchalantly.

"Chill, Temari. It's not like they can do anything, this weak idiot can't do anything either." Kankuro turned his back on Naruto and Temari, and began to walk away. Naruto frowned to himself. Not so fast, makeup-boy, he thought. Moving quickly, the young blonde Shunshined behind Kankuro, placing one hand on the Suna nin's shoulder. The ninja turned aggressively.

"What?" he said rudely. Putting on a pleasant smile, Naruto began channeling chakra to his hand. Kankuro would never know what hit him.

"Now, now, that's not polite," he said, feeling the chakra beginning to cover his hand. Kankuro sneered.

"So, whatcha gonna do about it….AAAAAGH!"

The Suna ninja collapsed heavily on the ground, his shoulder bleeding profusely. Temari looked scared. She looked frantically from Kankuro to the strange shinobi. There were the strongest team Suna had, and Kankuro had been reduced to a bloody mess on the ground in a matter of seconds by a technique she had never seen, something.

"What did you do?" she screamed at the blonde, preparing for attack. But Naruto only smiled.

"Politeness is essential when in a stranger's territory," he said enigmatically. Then the Namikaze felt another chakra signature, and smirked to himself. Turning away from the writhing Kankuro and scared Temari, he said loudly,

"You two can come out now. And you over there in the tree, please refrain from spilling killing intent like water, it's disturbing." Temari gaped. She hadn't even realized that someone other than themselves was present.

In answer to Naruto's little declaration, there was no audible reply. Then two shinobi appeared in front of the blonde. One was Uchiha Sasuke, his handsome features expressing a look of disdain. Hunh, looks like he recovered his ego, thought Naruto. And here I thought he was going to be at least tolerable. Naruto smirked.

"Well, what do you know, the Uchiha learned how to Shunshin." Sasuke sneered, and was about to retort when a voice, strangely husky, interrupted.

"Your name, blond." Naruto turned around. It was the other boy, the other Jinchuuriki. The one who was unable to control his youkai. 'Kyuubi, who's his demon?' he asked the nine-tailed fox. Kyuubi tested the youkai, and then answered his host.

"His demon is Ichibi no Shukaku, the one-tails. But something is wrong with his seal…." Naruto thanked the demon, and emerged from his mindscape. No one had moved; they were all waiting on his reply.

Naruto scrutinized the Suna Jinchuuriki. His skin was an alabaster pale, as if he didn't go out into the sun. This was strange, as Suna was always sunny. Probably doesn't go outside because of the villagers, mused Naruto. He knew the feeling all too well. The Jinchuuriki's hair was a fiery red, and his eyes were a startling hue of turquoise, ringed with dark circles from apparent lack of sleep. He wore a slightly loose, black full-bodysuit that had sleeves of mesh, with a white strip of cloth, about 3-31/2 feet long, wrapped around his body diagonally, spanning his right shoulder and crossing his torso to encompass his left hip. Under the white material, but over his bodysuit, was a leather strap, wrapped diagonally, but in the opposite direction to the white cloth, across his black-clad torso. The brown leather strap had several smaller straps fastened perpendicularly at various points; three at his hip, and one other at his right shoulder, almost parallel to the white cloth. There was also a large gourd at his back, slung diagonally for easier transport, as it was almost as big as his entire body. Apparently, it was attached to his body via the strap, as far as Naruto could see. The gourd had several seals on its surface, alerting Naruto to the fact that it contained far more substance than its outer appearance belied, and several large fractures marred its tan surface. Last but not least, the Jinchuuriki bore a small, blood-red kanji tattoo on the upper left side of his forehead, translating to Ai, or love.

Finally, finishing his scrutiny, Naruto decided to answer, as the youkai spilling from the shinobi in front of him was rising.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Yours?" The Suna ninja did not reply immediately; he seemed to be processing the name, and listening to something. Naruto realized that Shukaku was probably speaking to his host, and waited. But what the other Jinchuuriki said next was strange.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Mother wants your blood." With that cryptic and disturbing statement, the Suna ninja began to turn away, but Naruto Shunshined in front of him.

"Name?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Gaara's going to kill him," he heard Temari whisper to Kankuro as she bandaged his arm. Naruto raised an eyebrow. His name was Gaara; and what kind of shinobi was he that his own teammates were petrified by him?

"Subaku no Gaara." the Ichibi host stated emotionlessly, his turquoise eyes boring into naruto's cerulean ones. "We will meet at the Chuunin exams." He stepped around Naruto, and without turning, said,

"Kankuro, Temari. Come." Obviously scared of Gaara, the other two ninja scrambled to catch up, yelling at each other on their way.

Naruto looked contemplatively after them. He wanted to fight Gaara, even though he was an obvious psychopath. The Namikaze's eyes lit on the other Jinchuuriki's gourd as he walked away, and an idea suddenly struck him. Got it! he yelled mentally. He could use a gourd to hold water for his Suiton jutsus! But…how to carry it? he didn't want one that big, either. Hmm… Naruto began walking again, a thoughtful look in his eyes. He had to figure this out before the Chuunin exams, or else a whole chunk of his arsenal of jutsus would be gone.

However, his thoughts were rudely interrupted by the voice of one Uchiha Sasuke. The other Genin had Shunshined in front of Naruto, and was now blocking his way.

"What did you do to him?" he asked; his features were unreadable. Naruto decided to play dumb.

"Who?" he asked. Sasuke scowled.

"Him. The makeup-boy. You know who I mean, dobe." Naruto's eyes narrowed. Sasuke thought he could know and get whatever he wanted to even after that lesson he taught him last practice….well, not if Naruto had anything to say or do about it.

"It's none of your business, Uchiha. Just accept that there are many things you don't know, and probably will never know. Forgetting last practice already?" the Uchiha's eyes dilated as he remembered and Naruto smirked. Without allowing Sasuke to do or say anything more, he Shunshined away, fed up with the constant interruptions, to his training spot by the lake for a place to think.

Once there, Naruto walked out onto the water, and sat down, legs crossed, in the classic lotus position. This would be a good time to practice chakra control whilst semi-meditating. The blonde Genin's thoughts returned to the matter of the gourd. Putting water in a gourd is a fantastic idea, Naruto mused. But I don't want one as huge as Gaara's…it'll be too heavy, too bulky, and overall, simply hamper me in battle in the long run, instead of aiding me like it should. I need to be able to store a lot of water in a small gourd…. Then he slapped his fore head sharply. Baka! He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before, seeing what he had before. Storage seals. Even Gaara's gourd had them. He shook his head. Pathetic, Namikaze. And this revelation comes even after you had commented to yourself how the gourd obviously held more than it appeared to, based on the presence of the seals on the gourd. He shook himself out of his self-castigation. Hmm… He could place one on the small gourd, enabling it to hold up to 15 times its normal capacity, and as for the matter of carrying it, he didn't have to. He could seal it away in a scroll, just like his Buki Zengosayuu technique, and practice summoning it.

The Genin rose to his feet and walked to the lakeshore, Shunshining away as soon as his feet touched dry land. Naruto reappeared on the outskirts of the town. The blonde began walking, searching for a potter's shop for all its size, Konoha should have almost everything a ninja could think of. And he was right. The young shinobi eventually found a tiny 2-room shop, tucked away in a rather deserted alley in a decidedly seedy section of town. It was run by a wizened, white-bearded old man whose knobbly hands and wise eyes looked as if they had seen the entire world and its troubles. But he was cheerful; and apparently was one of the few civilians who had no grudge against Naruto.

Naruto found the perfect gourd of after only 20 minutes of searching through the 50 or so gourds in the shop. The gourd was medium-sized; when Naruto stood it upright on the ground, it reached mid-thigh, and could hold approximately 10 gallons of water. But Naruto wanted it to hold more, and so, after paying the old man, he made his way home via Shunshin. Since his return, he had been simply Shunshining to and from the Namikaze house, making sure no one knew where he lived. He wasn't ready for questions about his heritage yet; the time would come for that.

When he reached home, he went straight to the training room, and began to create a storage seal large enough to enable the gourd to hold about 500 gallons of water, with the aid of his father's extensive library of sealing books. Despite his talent with Fuinjutsu, however, the process of creating the seal took longer than expected, and it was nightfall before he had completed. Sighing, Naruto closed the book, replaced it in the library, and went to bed. He could always finish the seal tomorrow.

The next morning saw Naruto again in the training room, reed brush in hand, and book open on his left, drawing the seal. The seal was huge; it started on the gourd, which was situated in the center of the large room, and spread out over the sides of the piece of pottery and onto the floor. Naruto dipped his brush into the inkpot one last time and, consulting the book just to be sure, drew the last few lines on the seal, completing it. The Genin sat back on his knees viewing the black markings around him with satisfaction,. The storage seal was complete. Naruto walked to the center of the markings, where the gourd lay; and channeled chakra to his hand, laying it on the seal's center. The chakra immediately coursed through the entire seal, and the black markings began to shrink, closing in on themselves, until all that was left of the seal was three black squiggly lines outlined by a black circle on the center of the gourd.

Naruto went to the cupboard in the room and took out a scroll. He deftly sealed the empty gourd into the scroll, and tucked the sealed gourd into a special case attacked to his belt where he kept jutsu and sealing scrolls. Then the blonde Genin ate a quick breakfast of rice and Shunshined eagerly to his customary spot by the Konoha Lake.

When he arrived, the first thing he did was cast the Genjutsu Sarutobi had taught him in Kumogakure. He didn't think anyone was spying on him, but it never hurt to be sure, especially after Sasuke's stunt, and considering the other foreign ninja bound to be in the village due to the Chuunin Exams. Then he walked out onto the surface of the beautiful blue lake. He had already decided how he was going to get the water inside the gourd. Putting his hands together in a few seals, he cried,

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"

The water in front of Naruto began to swirl, growing in speed and strength until it began to rise, and a waterfall erupted from the previously calm waters of the lake. Using a steady stream of chakra, Naruto made the waterfall smaller and weaker until it was no more than a fairly strong spring, and then he channeled the chakra-infused water into the gourd until it was filled. Then he let the water drop back to its original calm position in the lake and corked the gourd, forcing the bit of cork inside the clay mouth until he was sure no water would leak out. Then he began to practice.

He slung the gourd by its strap onto his shoulder; and reached back and uncorked it. Then he began making hand seals, focusing on the chakra already in the gourd.

"Suiton: Suigadan!" A mass of highly-concentrated water, no bigger than a small rock, shot out of the gourd, followed by a barrage of the same, crashing into a tree on shore. The jutsu could produce about 30 of the water bullets, without depleting the water in the gourd too drastically. Naruto practiced a bit more with the gourd, and then he noticed something. The water used for the jutsu didn't go back into the gourd. That meant he had to find a way to have more water, just in case. Maybe he should buy another gourd…then he's have 1000 gallons of water. That sounded like a good idea; he would buy another gourd. Naruto re-filled the gourd on his back, running chakra through the water again, and then sealed it away. Within 10 minutes, he had left the clearing and was heading into town.

As he walked through Konoha, he could feel the excitement in the air from the Konoha villagers and ninja and foreign ninja alike. There was an increase in the number of foreign shinobi also, especially the Genin. He had lost count of how many there were. He had seen shinobi and kunoichi from Kumo, Suna, Iwa, Grass, Oto, and Mizugakure. It was obvious to Naruto that these Chuunin Selection Exams would be quite competitive.

As Naruto entered the town, he was greeted by several persons, all exuding the same sense of excitement and anticipation. Passing a large tree, the Namikaze blond saw two familiar figures, sitting opposite a large Shougi board. His interest piqued, Naruto made his way over the soft, chartreuse grass to the two shougi players.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" he said cheerfully, as he drew closer. His eyes registered the somewhat familiar features of the Jounin opposite Shikamaru, and he smiled politely. "Hello, Asuma-san." The bearded Jounin returned the smile, cigarette clamped firmly in place between his teeth.

"Hello, Naruto." Silence surrounded the three shinobi, unbroken except for the slight shuffling of the pieces on the Shougi board. In less than five minutes, the game was over, with Shikamaru as the victor.

"Che… Troublesome," the Nara genius complained. "You're out of practice, Asuma-sensei." Said sensei grinned ruefully.

"Not really, Shikamaru. You've gotten better." Shikamaru's typically lazy expression abruptly disappeared, only to be replaced by a slight smirk as he looked at Naruto. The blonde looked back quizzically, a sinking feeling beginning to make itself known in his chest. Shikamaru wouldn't tell Asuma…would he….? He would.

"Hey, Asuma-sensei, want to play with Naruto? He's quite good." Shikamaru purposely omitted the little fact that Naruto was better than him. The Jounin looked surprised, then shrugged, figuring that it could be worse than Shikamaru, because, not to be prejudiced, but Shikamaru was a genius and Naruto was not. Or so he thought.

"How long have you been playing, Naruto?" asked the Jounin. Naruto thought.

"Hmm... About a year? Yeah, about that." he replied, beginning to move his pieces. Asuma wouldn't know what hit him. The older shinobi grinned, and moved, countering Naruto's attack.

Within 15 minutes, the game's outcome was clear. Almost all of Asuma's pawns had been confiscated, his knights were cornered, and his king was in mortal danger.

"Check." said Naruto, moving a pawn to the left and taking Asuma's king. Asuma grinned.

"You're worse than Shikamaru!" he said despairingly. Shikamaru and Naruto wore identical smirks.

"Troublesome…" muttered Shikamaru. "Naruto beat me the first time we played. We've been playing for a while now, almost from the time he returned."

Asuma's mind spun. Shikamaru Nara was a genius, especially at strategizing games such as Shougi, and if Naruto could beat him as easily as Shikamaru insinuated, then that meant….that Naruto was a genius. So why did he pretend to be an idiot? An idiot couldn't suddenly turn into a genius, nor vice versa. Asuma made a mental note to watch the Uzumaki kid for further answers. Naruto was a mystery.

The blonde pre-teen got up slowly, a slight smile on his face.

"Arigatou for the game, Shikamaru, Asuma-san, but I have to go, gotta get some training items…" The lazy Nara raised a single hand in farewell, and his sensei grunted as Naruto walked away, both already engrossed in another game. After about 10 mintues, Naruto soon became fed up with walking, and Shunshined quickly to the old man's pottery shop. Quickly purchasing a gourd, he Shunshined to his training room at his home, copied the storage seal on the other gourd on the present one, and then Shunshined again to the Konoha Lake, where he filled it with chakra-infused water, and sealed it away in a Storage seal. Hmm..I've got an hour left… maybe I should stop by Team 7's training grounds.. mused Naruto as he left the lake. The blonde changed directions, walking a bit faster, and soon reached the training grounds used by his teammates. Everything was exactly the same. Kakashi was in a tree reading his small orange book, Sasuke was burning logs to pieces with his Gokakyuu no Jutsu, and Sakura was fangirling the stoic Uchiha.

When Naruto appeared, Sakura immediately screeched at him.

"Naruto! Don't come here, you'll disturb Sasuke-kun!" Naruto looked coolly at her.

"Shut up, Sakura. I can't disturb someone who wasn't doing anything in the first place." The pink-haired kunoichi screeched in indignant frustration.

"Sasuke-kun! Say something to shut him up!" 'Sasuke-kun' ignored her, onyx eyes locked in a silent war with Naruto's cerulean orbs.

"Wanna spar, dobe?" he smirked. Naruto smirked in return.

"Ya think?" It had been a long time since he had had a spar. The two shinobi drew a kunai each, and then Kakashi abruptly Shunshined between them.

"Maa, maa, no need for that now, boys." Their sensei's voice was unusually serious. "It doesn't make sense for you to exhaust yourself the day before the Chuunin exams. Go home and practice if you have to, and then go to bed early. Tomorrow's the big day." Reluctantly, the two Genin sheathed their kunai, and stepped away from the battlefield. Naruto's thoughts were shocked.

'Tomorrow's the Chuunin exams?' he asked Kyuubi.

"Yeah, didn't you realize it?" asked the demon.

'No….' Naruto replied, still in shock. It wasn't that he wasn't ready, but….where had the time gone? The blonde turned on his heel, nodding goodbye to his teammates and sensei, and disappeared in a strong gust of wind. He had to get home, and get a good sleep, and polish and sharpen all of his weapons. It was time for the Chuunin Selection Exams.

Review! I know it's a really short chapter... just bear with me, please?

szayelchick

ps: Anybody here like screamo?