Note: I have made Gaara half as powerful as he is when he becomes the Kazekage. This is because I want Naruto to have a bigger and harder obstacle if he is going to become a powerful shinobi and be Hokage. Also, Gaara looks exactly as he does in Naruto: Shippuden, and his psychotic tendencies aren't as bad.

XXX

All the assembled genin stood in equal rows and columns, listening to the Hokage's message. Most of them couldn't believe what they were hearing. They were nothing more than entertainment for some overweight Daimyo and ninja who couldn't find a girlfriend to better spend their time with. Kiba said as much, much to the amusement of everyone there. Even the Hokage had to smile before reprimanding Kiba for his disrespectful behaviour. As the outlines for the exam were put into perspective, several genin smiled with relief that they had been able to make it this far. It seemed that several teams of chunin were injected into the Exams, solely for the purpose of eliminating as many genin as they could.

"Now, I shall hand you over to your Proctor for the third stage of the exam. Good luck." The Hokage took his place among the assembled ninja, and was replaced by a Tokubetsu jonin who looked as if he suffered from insomnia, and what's more, he also appeared to suffer from a chronic coughing illness.

"My name in Gekko Hayate, and I shall be your Proctor for the third stage of the exam. Before we begin, I would like to congratulate you all for making it this far. Secondly, however, I would like to inform you that there are simply too many genin for the final stage."

"What do you mean there are too many of us?" Kiba shouted.

"What I mean is that there is a set number of how many genin can pass onto this stage. Whether it's because all of you are exceptionally skilled or the exams were a bit easy this year, I don't know, but, as per the rules, I now have to hold a preliminary round to eliminate at least half of you. Those that pass will advance into the final round. If anyone would like to quit now, it would certainly make things a whole lot easier. Your decision will not affect the rest of your team, so don't hesitate." After what seemed like an eternity, four hands went up. Three belonged to the last Rain team left in the exam, and the other belonged to Kabuto. Naruto looked on interest as Kabuto quietly conversed with his teammates. His sensitive hearing easily picked up their conversation, and he saved that tidbit of information for late use.

"What do you mean? We have all worked hard to get here. You can't just decide to eliminate us," Kiba said after the four genin had left.

"Sorry, but those are the rules." Gekko suddenly stood straighter, only for the effect only to be ruined as a coughing fit suddenly hit him. "Now listen up; the Electronic Board up there will decide who you have to fight to advance to the next round. There will be a total of Ten Matches. Any questions? Good. Let's begin. Everyone go up to the balcony please, and we may begin."

XXX

Naruto stood next to Hinata, looking at the board as it flicked through the list of who would fight first.

"Are you nervous?" he asked, his mouth barely moving. Hinata did not look at him, but at the board. After a moment, she answered.

"Yes and no. I would very much like to fight, to prove myself, but I am afraid who I will be forced to fight. I would not want to fight you, as that would be poor repayment after all you have done for me. I would also not want to fight that Sand genin, Gaara. Something tells me he's on another level of his own. Also, his chakra levels are tremendously high. My Byakugan tells me that they are nearly as large as your own, and he seems even more adept at using his chakra. I would, however, like to fight my cousin, Neji. I want to prove to the whole clan, especially my father and his wife what I am made of. I am afraid that he will beat me, though. His skills are prodigal, even within my own clan. I do not think I can live up to such expectations." Hinata took a deep breath. She was trembling, slightly.

"Don't worry, Hinata-chan. You will acquit yourself well, no matter who you fight against. I have to agree with your conclusions about Gaara. If you come up against him, quit. I would do the same thing. He is a student in the art of murder. I can see the bloodlust in his eyes, and we don't even know what is in that gourd of his. However, don't worry about fighting me. I helped you so that you would become stronger. I am simply another barrier to overcome. And as for Neji … make him eat your dust." With a small smile to Hinata, Naruto left her with her teammates and went to join his own team. As he passed the Sand Team, however, he suddenly got a very strange feeling. The Kyuubi, rarely active, suddenly stirred within him, and he heard a deep, challenging roar. Shukaku! He stopped and looked at Gaara. The Sand shinobi was looking at him with the same shock reflected in his eyes. After a moment, Naruto started walking again, his steps slow and deliberate. He knew who, or what, Shukaku was. If he was right, then the maroon clad shinobi he had just passed was like him, a container for a demon.

XXX

The first match was Sasuke against Yoroi, a teammate of Kabuto's. Naruto walked toward Sasuke and brought out a red card, much like the one Kabuto had shown them at the beginning of the Exams. Sasuke looked at the card with a raised eyebrow. He activated his Sharingan and was able to see Naruto activating a seal within the card, and suddenly information appeared on the card.

"Those are Kabuto's cards," Sasuke said somewhat surprised. Naruto shrugged.

"Nothing's off limits during this exam. We needed information on our competition, and I gathered it the best way I could."

"But how did you manage to get the deck working for you? I thought Kabuto said he performed the seal with his blood and chakra, meaning it would only recognise and work for him." Naruto smiled.

"Now that would be telling, wouldn't it? Don't forget that I still want to fight the so-called genius. We might not fight in the preliminaries, but come the final stage, I am going to show everyone exactly what a genius you are." Sasuke scowled and quickly read the card, scanning the information on it.

"Dreaming as usual, idiot," he said indifferently, but there was humour and anticipation in his eyes. He walked down onto the ground and looked at his opponent, already knowing the worst attack that could be used against him, the Chakra Absorption Technique. He had already scanned his environment, and knew that he could not use any of his Katon jutsu because the space was simply too small. Not only would his opponent manage to get in close to use his Chakra Absorption Technique while Sasuke was gathering the correct amount of breath and chakra, but using them would be a waste of chakra as well as the Katon jutsu would not by him time. That meant he would have to rely on his taijutsu skills seeing as he did not possess any genjutsu in his arsenal, baring the basic ones genins learnt in the academy, and they too would be a waste of chakra and time. He berated himself mentally, making a note to tell Kakashi to teach him more and varied jutsu, most for situations such as this one.

"Alright," Gekko said, his coughing fit making it very difficult for the two genin to hear what he was saying. "This is the first match of the preliminary exam. There are no rules, so everything is allowed. A match ends when one of you dies, surrenders, or is otherwise rendered incapable of fighting. Only I can make that decision however. I decide when a match ends, so listen to me or you will also get disqualified. Understood?" Both Sasuke and Yoroi nodded. Yoroi had a smirk on his face, and Sasuke knew he was thinking that his trump card was still undiscovered. "Good," Gekko continued. "Begin!" Gekko quickly jumped away, and Sasuke faced off against Yoroi. He was now very grateful that Kakashi had given him an intensive course in the Konoha-ken taijutsu, or Konoha Blade taijutsu, also called the Leaf Blade. He had also learnt his own clan's own taijutsu art, the Karyu Taijutsu, or the Fire Dragon Taijutsu. Sasuke had proved more adept at it than even learning ninjutsu. He was still sore inside that Kakashi, someone not from his clan, was an adept use of the Karyu Taijutsu, and to add injury to insult, Kakashi also had the Sharingan, which was fully matured and he could use all its powers. Kakashi was quickly becoming a barrier that had to be surpassed and removed.

He barely managed to get out of the way of the chakra charged palm as it came toward his face. Yoroi had decided to unleash his jutsu earlier than Sasuke would have thought, but then again, Yoroi didn't behave like a level-headed shinobi.

"Unleashing your Chakra Absorption Jutsu so early? I'm surprised. Normally shinobi would wait until the ideal moment to quickly finish their opponent with such a surprise jutsu." Sasuke smirked as he saw Yoroi's dumbfounded face, though it was hard to see because of the black mask that covered the genin's face from the nose downward and the black glasses that obscured the genin's eyes. Yoroi's shocked face was quickly replaced by anger. Yoroi attacked Sasuke in a quick succession of punches, kicks, elbows, but to no avail. He could not lay a finger on the gracefully flowing Sasuke. Thankfully, because of his jutsu and his experience, he did not leave an opening in his guard, and therefore Sasuke was unable to attack without getting himself hurt. It was quite the predicament. But Sasuke was using less energy to dodge than Yoroi was using to attack, so Yoroi would get tired at this rate. Yoroi realized this and cancelled his jutsu. Time to step this up a notch.

"You cannot defeat me, Yoroi. Admit defeat now and I won't have to show you the full power of my clan's Taijutsu." Yoroi did not reply, but instead crouched down onto the floor. He was panting, and his forehead was shining with sweat. Sasuke guessed that he had not fought long battles for quite a while, and his body was not used to it yet. Also, the second stage of the Exams, in the Forest of Death, had only ended less than twenty minutes previously. No one had as yet fully recovered. But however Yoroi was looking calmer by the second. Sasuke frowned. This wasn't the hothead he had been fighting. After a few seconds, Yoroi looked up at him, his smile evident from behind his mask.

"A shinobi should take advantage of any opportunity. That respite you gave me was noble, but it will end up being your downfall. Besides my Chakra Absorption Jutsu, I also happen to be very skilled with weapon combat. I may not have been able to get you with my jutsu, but I am going to tear down your defenses slowly but surely, until I have a clear shot at you."

Sasuke got into a defensive position, smiling at Yoroi. "And you telling me your tactics isn't shinobi-like at all. A shinobi's primary weapon is deception." Suddenly Yoroi's smile became more pronounced.

Crap, was all Sasuke had time to think before Yoroi disappeared in a puff of smoke, was replaced by a log, and twelve shuriken came at Sasuke from all directions, giving him no chance of escape. He would have to evade them all. He jumped forward, getting out of the path of four shuriken, and managed to dodge five more coming from right in front of him. He managed to dodge one from directly behind him, but to others got past his defenses and gouged deep into his arms. Sasuke hissed in pain. Suddenly attacks seemed to be coming from everywhere, and yet there seemed to be no sign of Yoroi on the field. For five minutes, which is a long time for any shinobi to spend fighting, Sasuke acquired more and more injuries and he dodged kunai, shuriken, senbon, iron spikes and a whole range of other weapons Sasuke could not identify. From above in the balcony, he heard Gai, in his usual loud and exaggerated manner, announce to Tenten that she would have to acquire new and improve her skills, seeing as she now had competition in her department as a weapons master. Sasuke gritted his teeth. This was becoming troublesome. Suddenly, Yoroi appeared right in front of Sasuke. Without proper time to react, without his Sharingan, and without his usual speed and reflexes, Sasuke was easy prey. Yoroi his Sasuke with a palm full of his Chakra Absorption Jutsu. Sasuke felt his chakra leaving his body at an increased rate. In the minute it took Sasuke to finally escape Yoroi's grasp, more than two thirds of his chakra had been drained and was now being used by Yoroi to increase the speed and regularity of the weapon attacks. He was desperate. He itched to unveil his Sharingan, but showing it here in the preliminaries would leave him vulnerable in the actual Finals. He had managed not to show his more powerful Sharingan to the genin in the Tower, apart from Naruto and Sakura. Whoever saw his Sharingan would be facing him in the Final stage, and that would only be if things got difficult. Like they were now.

As he was about to unveil his Kekkei Genkai, he suddenly, he remembered how Naruto had found the entrance to the Floating Tower.

"Sometimes when a problem is bugging you, just turn it upside down, and you get your prize…"

Maybe Yoroi was not using some complicated technique to hide himself and attack unseen from all sides with all these weapons. What if the weapons had already been laid onto the battlefield? What if Yoroi was now activating these weapons, moving from one location to another to replenish the stock so the barrage seemed endless? What if he was using a simple jutsu to achieve this seemingly miraculous disappearance. Sasuke smiled. He concentrated in between the break of the recent attack and the next one. He opened his eyes. He had found Yoroi.

The match suddenly changed tone as Sasuke attacked Yoroi's position, forcing the nin to unveil his Cloak of Invisibility Jutsu, an academy level jutsu. Yoroi stuttered, surprised.

"I still have most of your chakra, and mine. You can't beat me, Uchiha Sasuke!"

"I haven't finished with you yet, Yoroi," Sasuke replied calmly. He launched an impressive barrage of attacks at Yoroi, all of which landed, no matter how fast or how far Yoroi ran. Sasuke used his fists, feet, shins, elbows and his weapons from his pouch to land blows on Yoroi. He was tiring, but he would make it through this fight. He had to. Panting heavily, he finally launched one final attack, which was a hybrid of Karyu Taijutsu and the attack that had been used on him by Lee-kun. As he was flying through the air, his body almost gave up, and as a result wanted to resort to the Cursed Seal for power. For a moment, red markings played across Sasuke's face, but his will powered over the Seal, forcing it back into its dormant state. he powered into Yoroi with a chakra charged heel, slamming Yoroi, who was floating ten metres in the air, straight into the ground. Yoroi did not move. He was unconscious. Sasuke had won. He suddenly fell on one leg, the mental and physical exhaustion too much.

"The winner is Uchiha Sasuke," Announced Gekko Hayate, and Sakura and Ino could be heard cheering, while Shikamaru complained about fan girls.

I did not get to see his Kekkei Genkai in action, his Sharingan, though Hyuga Neji. I will need to find out more about its powers from other sources then, if I am to defeat him.

"Come on, Sasuke," Kakashi said, appearing next to the Uchiha without a sound. Let's get you checked up for any wounds." His tone, although as light as usual, had a deeper meaning that brooked no argument. Kakashi knew about the Cursed Seal. Sasuke nodded, and followed Kakashi. On the balcony, Naruto saw them leaving, and decided to leave on his own short errand. Before he left however, as a form of insurance, he concentrated a quarter of his chakra and poured into a Shadow Clone, making the Clone faster, stronger, and more solid than the barely corporeal Clones he used in battle. Should his name be called, this Clone would be able to fight for a short while Naruto made his out of the Tower, using the his own specialized Cloak of Invisibility Jutsu. He did not want anyone to notice his departure, but something made him look across the room to the other balcony. Both Gaara and Neji were looking at his current position. He frowned. They would be troublesome opponents.

XXX

Naruto went straight to the Konoha Library, located inside the Academy. It contained general scrolls all Konoha shinobi had access to, but because of the demon sealed within Naruto, he had never been welcome in here because the Librarian thought he was up to no good, no doubt thinking Naruto would bur some books. As he went inside, the Librarian spotted him for the first time in seven years, and it took a few seconds for the old, retired, ninja to recognise Naruto. Once he did, he made a beeline for the genin, his intentions written on his face. He would not allow this riff-raff to come into his precious Library.

"Young man, you are not welcome here," the Librarian said stiffly.

Naruto pointed to his forehead protector. "All shinobi are welcome in here."

"Not if they are up to no good they are not!" Naruto suddenly lost his temper. Already half an hour had passed, which meant a minimum of three battles had to have taken place. He was losing time, and he was in no mood to play around. He grabbed the old ninja by the collar and lifted him easily off his feet, all the while keeping his cool, and calm, demeanor.

"Listen, old man, I have no time for this. I have come here, which is within my rights, and until you can prove otherwise, you will do your duty as the Librarian and help me seek the information I want." The old man glared at Naruto and tried to release himself, but Naruto's grip was like iron. He tried to punch Naruto, but the boy saw it coming and easily gripped the man's arm. He started crushing it in his hand, his eyes merciless. Naruto would never admit it, but he was enjoying this. He knew he had provoked the man just to get this response. This man had made his childhood a nightmare. It was people like this man that had come dangerously close to pushing Naruto over the edge, or to extinguishing his dream of becoming the Hokage. Naruto gave the man a small, cold and sadistic smile. Revenge definitely was better served cold. As Naruto was about to break the man's hand, however, another hand came and gripped Naruto's wrist with a gentle, but firm and iron-like grip.

"You don't want to be doing that, boy. He's an old man, powerless. Do you really want to be like him, a bully, beating up someone weaker than you?" Naruto looked in surprise at the person who had helped him. This person had eluded Naruto's sharp sense of hearing, smell and his sixth sense. Many Jonin could do so, but they were in Kakashi's league or higher. For someone like this old man who no stood smiling down at him to do so, it was unexpected, to say the least. As Naruto scrutinized the man, he realized that this man held an inner power, but what exactly it was, Naruto could not say. The man was wearing old, worn out clothes. His hair and beard were unkempt and shaggy, as if the old man cut them himself. They were shinobi clothes, but they looked like they had been used for the past few decades or so, which was unfathomable to Naruto. Hadn't this man heard of something called hygiene? While the man's demeanor was friendly, his eyes were very serious.

"Let him go, boy. I'm free at the moment. I'll gladly help you out seeing as I finished all the research I was doing." Naruto didn't know why, but he trusted this man explicitly, which only increased his suspicion. Nevertheless, he let go of the jittery Librarian, who immediately started running for the exit, no doubt going to spread the word, garner some support and come after Naruto, by which time Naruto would be back at the Tower.

"There, now that wasn't difficult at all, was it? Now what can I help you with, young man?" The man's accent was somewhere from the Highlands of the Fire Country, but last time Naruto checked, no one used this particular accent. He should know, seeing as that was one of the last places he came though with Jin-sensei when coming back to Konoha.

"I need to find all information Konoha has on one of the Sannin, Orochimaru." The man's eyebrow rose slightly.

"Isn't this the wrong time to do such research when you could be called back to the Tower for your preliminary match?" Naruto was instantly on guard, but the old man did not appear to notice. "Oh well," he continued, "this being Konoha, I have no doubt this information you are seeking is to help a teammate, yes?" Naruto nodded. "Well then, let us get cracking. But Orochimaru himself is a very broad subject, and so you will need to be more specific. Hmm, let me guess … Has he branded the young Uchiha with some sort of mark, perhaps?" Now Naruto was riled.

"Identify yourself, now!" He said, ready to fight. This man displayed too much hidden knowledge his comfort.

"Calm yourself, young man," the old man said. "It's not difficult to know such information if one is aware of Orochimaru-sama's plan to invade Konoha." Naruto suddenly stiffened. This was definitely classified information. Even ANBU did not know the full extent of the Snake's plan, but here was a man who flippantly bandied about his knowledge. The man sighed. "I … ran into some of Orochimaru-sama's chunin, and managed to acquire this information."

"Then why didn't you tell ANBU or the Hokage?"

This time the man looked surprised. "Why should I?" he said. "I may be welcome in Konoha, but I don not owe it allegiance, especially after the way they treat you. In fact, I was surprised to learn that your ambition is to become the Hokage, of all things."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, his whole body tightening.

"What I mean is that despite the Yondaime's wish for you to be treated like a hero for containing the Kyuubi in your body, the villagers treat you exactly the opposite. They treat you like the Kyuubi incarnate. And as for why I do not owe Konoha allegiance, I shall keep that to myself. Suffice to say, I would not be allowed in the village if I did not have Sarutobi-sama's express permission, and I think of all the people in this village, Sarutobi-sama is the one true person who treats you fairly, honestly and caringly, so you can trust his judgement, correct?" he did not wait for Naruto to agree, but instead gestured for the genin to follow him. "Come on, you don't have much time."

"Wait a minute, who are you exactly?" Naruto finally got the nerve to ask. The man stopped and looked back at him, smiling.

"Just call me Yonbi-sama," the old man said lightly.

XXX

Sakura watched as Rock Lee was taken away carefully, in the firm but gentle grip of the medics. Gaara walked past the medic-nins, barely able to stand and breathing hard. Rock Lee had been a very interesting and challenging opponent. Sakura could still not believe that someone incapable of ninjutsu and genjutsu like Rock Lee was so powerful. He could easily be one of the most powerful genins in Konoha, even defeating Sasuke-kun! She saw Naruto jump down to the ground, landing without a sound from a twenty metre drop and run toward Rock Lee.

"Put Lee-senpai down," she heard him say.

"What do you think you are doing, you idiot?" she shouted. She had had enough of Naruto. How dare he just appear back in Konoha after six years and immediately think he runs the show? In less than the time it took to blink, Naruto used the Shunshin Jutsu and was standing right in front of her. He seemed to be moving at a speed that easily competed with Lee-kun's as he grabbed her by the neck and slammed into the wall, her feet dangling a foot off the ground despite the fact that he was the shortest genin in the Tower.

"For once in your life, will you learn to shut up!" he hissed at her, which scared her all the more because normal people would be screaming. Naruto's venom, however, was seeping out of him in dark coils, and she saw the anger and contempt in his eyes. He was close to losing control. "I have had enough of you for quite a while. If you wish to continue breathing, I suggest you learn to close that flippant mouth of yours. I thought you cared about Lee-senpai. Do you want him to die, or worse, quit being a shinobi?" He held her like that, staring into her eyes with cold, ice blue ones. Her body cried for oxygen, but he was not letting her have it. She started gagging and choking, clawing at him to release her. They heard the medic-nins put Lee-kun down as Lee began having a fit. Suddenly Naruto let her go and appeared next to the medics. She gagged and sucked in a gulp full of sweet oxygen. Her fight with Ino had been very strenuous on her body and Naruto' attack hadn't helped.

She saw Naruto sit down with legs folded. He got out a scroll, opened it and smeared his blood on it. He folded it and placed it in-between his index and fingers and his thumbs as her formed the Tiger seal. For a second nothing happened, and the medics were almost ready to take Lee-kun away to the medical ward when they felt green chakra, healing chakra, engulf Naruto. They actually saw a green chord of chakra link Naruto and Lee, and then they felt healing chakra engulf Lee-kun as well. They saw Lee-kun's wounds slowly start to reduce in swelling. This went on for ten minutes, in which no one present said a word. Finally, Naruto let go of the scroll, which disappeared in a puff of smoke, and fell back, gasping. A medic checked over Lee briskly with his chakra.

"Most of his internal wounds are healed, especially the muscle rapture and the barrage his limbs and spinal column received. His condition has stabilized now." He looked at Naruto, a genuine smile on his face. "Thanks, kid."

Naruto nodded dazedly. He was a Shadow Clone, and his make-up was slowly disintegrating. It was taking all his concentration to remain solid. He would need a few moments to recover so that the real Naruto would be able to make it back without trouble. "I couldn't let my senpai die now could I?"

"Why do you call him senpai?" Gai suddenly said, appearing next to his student. Naruto smiled at him.

"You'll know soon enough," was all he said.

"That scroll you used," the medic-nin continued as all the medics lifted Lee-kun onto the stretcher. "Was it…?" Naruto nodded.

"One of the Slug-Princess' Healing Scrolls. It took me quite a while and a lot of trouble to acquire it, but Lee-senpai needed it more than I ever will." He got up and slowly made his way toward the balcony, his steps slightly dodgy. He did not speak to anyone, but went to stand where he had been before, completely ignoring Sakura-chan. He was clearly not in the mood.

"Right," Gekko said. "The arena has been cleared and we can continue. Only two matches remain with four genins. The Board will now decide who will fight who." The Board flickered between the four names and suddenly two came up: Uzumaki Naruto Vs Inuzuka Kiba. Naruto sighed.

"Can't I catch a break?" he said. He jumped lightly down onto the floor, but this time winced slightly. His stamina was heavily affected. He could sustain himself for much longer. He would have to go on the defensive to buy more time, since attacking would only use up more stamina and chakra.

"I can't wait, Naruto. You have shown to amazing growth from the dimwit you were before," Kiba said in his usual blunt way. Naruto simply grunted. He would have to use his ingenuity to its limits.

"Fight!" signaled Gekko. Sakura could not help but smile as a fresh Kiba and Akamaru attacked a tired Naruto. Naruto had gotten too big for his boots. Kakashi appeared next to Sakura, watching Naruto fighting Kiba. Something was off, he immediately saw, and so asked Sakura to tell him everything that had happened since he had left. Naruto had located as he was preparing the Evil Sealing Method and had presented him with some very useful and interesting information before leaving. He had seemed fine. And now here he was, barely able to get away from attacks only half as fast as his normal speed. As he heard about the Healing Scroll, he did not buy what was happening. Even Kakashi, who only had a third of Naruto's chakra capacity, could have used the Healing Scroll no problem. He unveiled his Sharingan and immediately saw that this Naruto was a Kage Bunshin.

You never cease to amaze me, Naruto. Now where exactly is the real you? As he thought this, the Kage Bunshin was hit at full force by one of Kiba's attacks. It did not get up, but merely grunted in pain. One of its arms disappeared as it started to slowly lose control of its corporeal state. Kiba looked out for the real Naruto, but he wasn't there. After thirty seconds, the Hokage confirmed that Naruto was not in the arena.

"If he isn't here within ten seconds, he is disqualified and Kiba Inuzuka wins." The seconds ticked mercilessly, but after ten seconds, Naruto did no show. Gekko raised his right hand and brought it down sharply. "Naruto Uzumaki is hereby disqualified, and the winner is–" He was cut off and a blond blur appeared near the Hokage, followed by three black blurs. Everyone watched as Naruto dodged the ANBU's attacks, barely managing to do so.

"Stop!" said the Hokage. "What's going on here?"

"Hokage-sama," one said. "This boy was caught trying to enter your chambers, trying to get some classified information."

Naruto smiled. "I wasn't trying to get anything. I was trying to leave this scroll for the old man, that's all." People were shocked to hear someone refer to the Hokage that way, but the Hokage didn't even bat an eyelid. He trusted Naruto. He held out his hand for the scroll. The Hokage read it extensively, and then looked at Gekko.

"The match will continue as planned. Naruto, even though he was a Kage Bunshin, still remains in the field. You ANBU, act accordingly to this information. Now!" The ANBU took the scroll and disappeared.

"What!?" shouted Kiba. "That's favoritism!"

"No, its not. Naruto here has done nothing technically wrong. He still remains in the fight. The only reason I gave the signal for his disqualification was because I want this over with quickly. But since he is here and Gekko did not announce you the winner, the match continues. And that's final!" Naruto jumped onto the arena and landed near his Kage Bunshin. He put his palm on the Kage Bunshin's chest and a blue glow surrounded his hand. The Kage Bunshin disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Naruto winced slightly before standing up and facing Kiba.

"I see you have improved in your clan's ninjutsu and taijutsu, especially your Tsuga, or Piercing Fang attacks." Kiba smiled at him, but it was clear he was unnerved. "But you are no match for. I am merely waiting for a match I have wanted to see for a quite a while now. Surrender and I can get on with it. I won't be merciful, Kiba."

"It would be a shame not to fight you, and I want to get to the finals no matter. And do you seriously think some dropout like you can defeat me? I have been working hard for–" He never got to finish as Naruto appeared a mere foot from him, his manner calm. Naruto kicked Kiba in the chest, sending him flying across the arena and hard into a wall. Kiba landed with a hard exhalation of breath and did not get up. Akamaru, angered, attacked Naruto. He was in his Beat-Human Form, and therefore looked like Kiba. He was more suited to battle, especially using the Piercing Fang, and was a more suitable opponent for Naruto. He attacked mercilessly, but Naruto easily evaded all of the swipes. As Akamaru was about to launch another attack, Naruto appeared in front of a Kiba who was trying to stand up. Naruto gripped Kiba by the neck and slammed him into the wall.

"Stop, Akamaru," Naruto said. The dog whimpered, not knowing what to do, but finally got down on all fours, whining. The ninjutsu as dispelled and Akamaru was once again a small white dog. Naruto looked at Kiba.

"Look at Akamaru's surroundings. You will see that he is surrounded by Exploding Tags. Surrender or I will make dog meat out of him.

Kiba looked at Akamaru and swore. Damn it … I am already tired, and Akamaru cannot help me. His dog's loyalty will not allow him to cause any harm to come to me, and I should do the same. Akamaru will be shredded. I could try to attack … but I don't know whether this new Naruto will murder Akamaru as a result. I can't take any chances. Kiba raised his hand, somewhat difficultly.

"I surrender, Proctor." Gekko nodded. "The winner is Uzumaki Naruto!" Gekko announced. Naruto let go of Kiba and formed seal. As Kiba thought that Naruto was about to explode the tags anywhere, he heard numerous puffs of smoke as the tags disappeared. The tags had been duds. He smiled. Smart of Naruto. Naruto handed him some Healing Balm, which he promised would help, along with what other medicine the medic-nins provided.

Naruto turned round and saw the next and last contestants a few feet from him: Neji and Hinata. The match he had been helping Hinata train for, along with Sanhana. Hinata had to prove her worth to her family, to the entire Hyuga clan, and this was it. Naruto was suddenly the only one on the field, apart from the two contestants. He looked at Hinata.

"Do your best," he murmured before disappearing, and appearing a moment later next to Kakashi and Sakura, not paying them any attention. This was it. The fight between a genius and a so called failure.

"Fight!" shouted Gekko, realizing the tension in the room was huge. The Hyuga Showdown Began.

XXX

Well, I hope you enjoyed that. Now normally I don't bother with these things, but I have been feeling a bit unappreciated, and so would like to ask people to Read and Review. I need as much input as I can get, especially with the upcoming original arc, just after the Konoha Invasion, which I have planned. Also, I am sorry no one got to watch Gaara in action, but let me tell you that you will get to see him during the finals. Also, I will give out a prize to anyone who can guess who the stranger was by telling them what my short but intense arc will be about. It concerns Naruto deeply, and I think it will be very juicy.