DISCLAIMER: We in no way own Naruto...Ya'll need to remember that…

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The Twice Caged Bird

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Chapter 11: Matches and Brawls

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"Alright, next fight. Haruno and Hyuuga, get in here." He said lazily. The pink haired girl smirked as she entered the ring, looking confidently at the shy Hyuuga Heiress.

Hinata took a deep breath before her eyes hardened and entered the ring. "Well, here I go…"

. . . .

Iruka led his group of students over to the target range and turned to them while looking at his clipboard. "Alright everyone, you all know the drill. You will each get three Kunai and three Shuriken to throw at the targets. You will be graded on your accuracy, precision, and the difficulty of the throw. So, you could miss the bullseye, but, if all three of the blades are in a close knit group, it could very well not matter. Also, you can choose to throw one at a time, two at a time, or all three at once. Of course, these throws count towards the difficulty. So, if you can, then throw all three for the best score possible." He explained to the students in his group.

Iruka looked back to his clipboard before moving off to the side and picking up two boxes.

Iruka set the boxes down and opened them showing an assortment of Kunai and Shuriken in each box. He looked back to his class and grinned. "Alright, who wants to go first?"

The first few groups of students that went up were mainly civilian children. They either scored low, or in the average range. Very few managed to get more than one of their blades in bullseye, and even fewer were able to keep the blades in groups.

Naruto watched boredly as kid after kid did, at least in his mind, poorly. "By the Sage this is awful…" he mentally whined. "I mean, honestly. If ya can't hit the target after four years, what the hell are you even doing here!?"

"Yeah, I'm with you on this one. Seriously, what have they been doing all this time?" Kurama added with a raised eyebrow, completely confused on how they could be this bad. "You humans are either monsters, or completely useless. There is no in between with any of you!"

Naruto nodded along with what his tenant was saying before a loud voice cut off his thoughts. "Hey~ Sasuke-kun~! Wish me luck~" Yamanaka Ino said as she went up and held all three of her Kunai in her hand. She lifted her arm after giving the, now proclaimed by Naruto and his friends, Emo King a sultry wink before turning to the target. She let out a low breath before taking aim and releasing the blades. She didn't hit the bullseye, but she did manage to get all of her Kunai to make a triangle around it, just on the circles border.

"See that Sasuke-kun. Aren't I just the best~?" She said as she readied her Shuriken and managed to stick two of the blades in the bullseye, with one just on its border.

Naruto blinked a few times, taken aback that she actually did well. "Huh...guess she isn't just all talk like the rest of the fangirl group…" he mused. So far, Ino had the highest score out of the groups that had gone.

"Most likely because she's a Clan Heiress. Clans usually don't take well to their Heirs being weak. Thought you'd know that by now…" Kurama supplied, making Naruto frown.

"Don't remind me...I wonder how Hinata-chan is doing…"

. . . .

"Alright, Haruno, you ready?" Mizuki asked with a look to the pinkette. Sakura gave Hinata a confident smirk and nodded her head, entering the basic Academy Taijutsu stance. Mizuki rolled his eyes at the girls bravado and turned to Hinata. "Ready?" He asked the Heiress.

Hinata took a deep breath before entering the Hyuuga clan's Taijutsu stance, the Jyuuken. She gave the Chuunin a curt nod and Mizuki raised his hand. "Well, look who found some confidence…" Mizuki mused before lowering his hand.

"Hajime!"

Sakura's smirk grew wider when Hinata refused to take the first move and advanced. "Nothing personal Hinata. But I can't do poorly, even if Sasuke-kun isn't watching me. So sorry if I hurt you too much!" The pink haired girl called out as she rushed forward with her right fist cocked back.

Once within range, Sakura let her fist fly, only for it to be deflected by the white eyed girls palm. "What the…" Sakura said before she was cut off by a palm crashing into her side, sending her sliding across the ground on her feet. Sakura reached for her side in pain and looked up at the normally shy Hyuuga in shock. "Wha..what the hell? When did you get so strong?" She asked in shock.

Hinata's only response was to raise her hands in a defensive stance, again not taking the initiative in the fight. Her Byakugan eyes active and calculating what her opponents next move would be.

Sakura's right eye began to twitch as she was ignored and began to grit her teeth. "Oh yeah, I see how it is. Alright then, have it your way!" She roared as she charged the girl again. She raised her fist again, but this time, instead of letting loose a punch, she fell to the ground and made a sliding leg sweep.

She was able to catch the indigo haired teen and knock her to the ground, but before she could follow through with her attack, her opponent rolled on her back and landed in a crouching position, ready to lunge at the pink haired girl.

Hinata pounced at the recovering girl, her right palm raised and ready to strike. Once she thrust out with her hand, Sakura brought up her arms to try and defend herself, only to feel a sharp pain run through her arm as she was sent sliding back yet again. The pink haired girl seethed in pain as a large bruise already started to form on her right forearm. She had tears in the corners of her eyes as she glared daggers at her indigo haired opponent.

"You bitch…" she growled lowly as she stood back up, holding her bruised arm a little closer to her body with her left raised in front of her. "I'm going to enjoy this more than I think I should…" she breathed before her legs tensed, readying to jump at the girl.

But before she could leave the ground, a hand grabbed the neck of her shirt, keeping her in place.

"That's enough. Hinata wins. Sakura, go to the infirmary to get your arm looked at." Their Chuunin instructor ordered as Hinata let out a low breath before turning around to go back to her small group of friends.

At this point, Sakura was seeing red, and was NOT going to take this lying down. She growled as she shook off Mizuki's hand and started walking towards the Academy building. However, on her way there, the path she decided to take, just so happened to go right by Hinata. And before anyone could react, the pink haired girl planted her good fist into the Heiress' stomach, making the girl's eyes bulge. Hinata fell to her knees coughing as she held her gut in pain.

Kiba and Shino both recoiled in shock from what their classmate had done, while the rest of the class gasped in shock. Mizuki cursed under his breath, both at the situation he had, and for the fact that he would be too slow to stop it from going further ever since he was crippled.

But before Sakura could hit the girl again, a hand grabbed her wrist, and a loud snap was heard, hushing the shocked Genin hopefuls that were watching.

The pink haired girl screamed in pain as she fell to the ground holding her wrist, tears streaming freely down her face. Once people began to get over their shock, they looked to the one who defended Hinata.

Naruto was crouched next to the still coughing girl, his hands on the girl's shoulders, helping her to stand. Worry written into his eyes as he looked at his friend and charge. Just as he was able to get Hinata to stand, Iruka showed up in a blur of motion and looked at Sakura's prone and weeping form. He cursed under his breath and went to check on her.

While Iruka was checking on Sakura, the rest of his group showed up and were watching what had happened. Ino walked up to the front of the group to get a better view of what was going on. The blond gasped when she saw her one time friend, and now rival in love, crying on the floor while Iruka was trying to help her.

She turned to the nearest member of the Sasuke fan club and gave her a stern look. "What happened?" She asked the girl, making her snapped over to the blond.

"O-Oh! Uh, S-Sakura sorta sucker punched Hinata after the fight ended, and then the creepo appeared and broke her wrist!" She explained, she was about to continue before Ino brushed the girl off and marched over to where Naruto was.

She had a glare etched into her face as she stood right next her fellow blond. "What the hell was that about you fucking psycho!?" She asked before she tried to slap him across the face, only for him to catch her arm and glare at her. A look of panic came across her eyes as the blond boy snarled at her and pushed her back.

"Hurt me...I can handle...Hurt Hinata…" he growled out before letting his hardly ever used voice fade, the threatening tone of his voice enough to finish his thought on the matter. Ino shivered under his glare, and she could have sworn that his pupils turned into slits for a moment. She shakily nodded and backed away while Mizuki limped over to the gathered group of kids.

"Alright everyone, nothing to see here. Let's get on with the Exams." He said as he started to herd his group away. "Iruka, are you done with the target range?" He asked over his shoulder.

Iruka turned his head to his assistant.

"Yeah!" He called as he started to help Sakura up. Mizuki nodded and looked at his clipboard.

"Alright, everyone in my group let's move on. Those of you who did not complete this part of the exam can make it up after we're done with the target range." He said to his group, earning no complaints from the kids. He thought they had enough drama for one day and wanted to move on.

Naruto looked Hinata with worry before she looked up and smiled at him. "I-I'm fine Naruto-kun." She said to her friend and guard. When she noticed his disbelieving expression she sighed and started to go with her group. "I mean it. I-I'm really fine Naruto-kun." She said before he started to ask her something.

'Did you win?' He signed to her. She smirked in an uncharacteristic show of confidence and nodded before she started to walk away. Naruto smiled broadly before he stopped her with his voice.

"Good..work Hinata-chan…"

She turned to him and blinked a few times in shock before she smiled and hurried on her way.

As soon as Iruka returned from dropping Sakura off at the infirmary, he looked to his clipboard and sighed. "Alright, let's get this over with." He mumbled to himself and looked up. "First fight, Ino, vs Shizuku." He said gaining the two girls attentions.

With Ino already being pissed off, the fight didn't last long before she knocked Shizuku from the ring and won her match. Iruka blinked a few times as he watched the tenacity the blond girl had. She NEVER showed that much skill during the four years they had been in the Academy and to say he was surprised was an understatement.

Naruto winced as he watched the fight and was thankful for the fact that he had the equivalent of ten years worth of training already due to the training he had been doing with Kurama. Because without that, he might have actually feared the girls womanly rage.

Even the object of most of the girls attention, Sasuke, was impressed by the fact that the girl hadn't even called out to him to watch or anything. Of course, his face was still set in a slight scowl from his loss to Naruto in the previous exam. The blond had nailed the bullseye in the head of the target, as well as the chest with all of his blades while throwing the three Kunai and Shuriken all at the same time. Sasuke hit the bullseye with everything too, but it at least took him two throws. He had come to terms that the blond had outclassed him years ago, but he was still a little annoyed that he still hadn't been able to catch up yet.

After Iruka called the match, group after group started to go by. Naruto fell back into his bored state of watching and complaining that the civilian kids all sucked and wondering what they were all doing there.

He did get a 'kick' out of how Shikamaru beat his opponent though.

The kid was at least a good foot taller than the lazy boy, but after a few dodges and a swift kick to the man purse, the situation was quickly reversed. After the poor boy was immobilized, the Nara gently rolled him out of the ring while muttering a few 'sorrys' and a 'troublesome' about the boy's weight.

Iruka just sighed at the fight and shook his head while most of the other guys were unconsciously protecting themselves. While it was frowned upon, in an actual fight, a nut shot was in fact aloud, and heavily encouraged to get out of any sticky situation. So he had to give him props on the fact he took his opponent down in the fastest and easiest way possible.

Naruto gave his friend a smirk before getting a fist bump out of the boy. He was prepared to go back to being bored, but it seemed like his boredom was about to be over.

"Alright everyone, last match. Naruto vs Sasuke." He said to the class, earning some cheers from the Uchiha fanclub. "Yeah Sasuke-kun!" "Good luck Sasuke-kun!" "Beat that weird quiet creep up Sasuke-kun!" "For Sakura!" "Sasuke~~!" Were a few examples.

Naruto flinched from all of the squealing and tried to clean out his sensitive ears to try and be able to hear again. Sasuke didn't look any better as a twitch decided to show up in his right eye from his annoyance. The two boys sighed before they looked at each other with serious expressions. They both let out low breaths as they settled into their prefered fighting stances and their gazes hardened.

Sasuke entered the starting stance to the Intercepting Fist of the Uchiha clan, while his blond opponent entered his defensive stance which was still unknown to the Uchiha and most, if not all, of the onlookers. So far no one had been able to figure the boy's fighting style out, or learn the name of it.

The style was a highly defensive style that used more of a read and react approach, using mainly the knees and elbows to deflect attacks if they aren't dodged all together. But the strange thing was that it could be used in an offensive style as well. The blond would charge at his opponent relentlessly while using a rotating approach, never staying directly in front of his opponent and trying as hard as possible to land blows in any opening that was available.

Sasuke gulped lightly as he prepared himself. He knew all too well what it was like to be on the receiving end of this style, and he need to prepare for some pain. Iruka raised his hand before looking at the two to see if they were ready. Once he saw what he needed he lowered his hand.

"Hajime!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blond and began to slowly circle around him, his guard remaining up and alert. The blond remained motionless as the raven haired boy circled him. Once Sasuke was behind the boy, he charged, thinking he had an opening.

But he wasn't overconfident.

He came to a sliding stop, just in time to bring his guard up to deflect a slashing knife hand from Naruto. The Raven haired boy ducked under the second strike and tried to enter Naruto's guard with a quick rising uppercut, but missed his attack and was treated with a knee in the side of his hip, sending him staggering away.

Before he could regain his balance his blond opponent drove a foot into the back of his knee, sending him to the ground. Sasuke, however, used this to gain distance from the boy and rolled with the kick. Once he go back to his feet he narrowly evaded another slash that was aimed for his throat and made a near vertical kick, gaining a glancing blow on his blond opponent's chin.

The Sasuke Fan Club began to cheer in excitement when they saw the blond start to fall to the ground, but unlike the rest of them, Ino knew what was happening. The boy wasn't staggered by the kick, no. He was falling on purpose.

Naruto went to the ground quickly, but landed on his hands and performed a double leg sweep on the open Uchiha, sending the boy crashing to the ground. Once the sweep was done, Naruto was back on his feet and standing over the downed Uchiha. The blond dropped to a knee and made a punching motion at the Uchiha's face, showing that he could end the fight right there.

And he did. With that motion Iruka stepped in. "Stop! The match is over. Winner, Hyuuga Naruto!" He called as Naruto stood back up and grinned at the groaning Uchiha in good humor. The blond offered the raven haired boy a hand up, which Sasuke took after a small second of hesitation.

Naruto began to sign something to the Uchiha that Sasuke couldn't understand. But before he could ask, Iruka stepped in and translated for him. "He's saying it was a good fight. And that you were the first person to land a hit on him in three years." The teacher translated while Naruto nodded along with a large grin.

The boy offered his index and middle finger to Sasuke in a show of camaraderie. And the raven haired boy offered his as well, a small smirk spread across his face. "Yeah, it was a good fight…"

. . . .

Itachi looked at the two aspiring Shinobi with a small smile, happy that at least someone was able to get any form of emotion other than a scowl out of the boy. From his hiding place, he, Inu, and Neko watched as their blond charge moved back to the group of Genin hopefuls.

"That was a pretty good display from Sasuke, you're teaching him well Karasu." Inu said while Neko nodded in agreement.

"Thank you Inu-senpai. But, Sasuke-kun usually trains on his own ever since...that day. I'm able to get him to cooperate with me some days, but others he just flat out refuses my advice." Itachi responded with a shake of his head.

Inu nodded in thought while Neko sighed. "Might be that Uchiha pride you used to complain about, Karasu. Maybe you should be a bit more forceful with him?" The purple haired ANBU said, earning a nod from her two partners.

"Maybe I should...But I don't think I could train him enough to catch up to Naruto-kun at this point." he responded with a sigh before turning to Inu. "Seriously Inu, what are you teaching him? I still haven't figured out where you got that Taijutsu style from, but whatever it is, it's scarey how well it suits him."

"Actually...about that…" Inu said with a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I uh...I haven't taught him a thing about Taijutsu. All I've done is deliver the jutsu scrolls that Hokage-sama wanted him to have and sometimes gave him pointers on what to do. Where he learned all that he has is beyond me."

"Impossible. There's no way Naruto could be this good without someone teaching him. And I sure as hell doubt any of the Hyuuga could, or would for that matter, teach him this style." Neko said in frustration. She would have gone on with her rant, were it not for the students moving into the building, signaling for them to continue on with their assignment.

"Well, either way, we need to move on." Inu said as he silently leapt from his place within the shadows, quickly followed by his two companions. They moved through the bustling village with a hushed grace that only those with years of training, and sheer natural skill could ever hope to achieve. Hopping from roof to roof, unnoticed by any of the roaming eyes that filled the village below them.

. . . .

And a few moments of silent travel, the three finally made it to their destination.

It was a training field just outside of the village. One that was hardly ever used due to the poorly maintained field, the damaged environment, and the fact that it was directly next to the most dangerous training field in Konoha. This was the 43 Training field, and it was now the meeting place for Konoha's higher ups.

Nara Shikaku stood with his fellow Clan heads and former teammates, Akimichi Choza and Yamanaka Inoichi, as they waited for the rest of their merry band of shinobi to gather.

Along with the arrival of Inu, Karasu, and Neko, came a group of three Inuzuka, lead by their clan head, Inuzuka Tsume.

"So, is everyone here?" Shikaku whispered as the groups came together, keeping his voice as low as possible to keep any unwanted ears that may or may not be listening from catching anything that would be said.

Seeing a nod from the people gathered Shikaku sighed as he began to speak once more. "Alright then, you all know the plan...but...there has been an...update to how we're gonna have to go about this."

"What do you mean?" Tsume asked in hushed annoyance. They had been planning this for over a year now, what could have possibly been important enough to make them change?

"There have been reports about strange movements happening in Suna. As well as the formation of that new village, Oto I believe is what it's called, Hokage-sama is becoming worried. So he's doubled up on our border defences…" he started to explain before Inoichi chimed in.

"So you're saying that we're not going to have enough people here in the village to get away with it, unless we want to risk the entire village as a whole by keeping our borders open?"

"Precisely." Shikaku sighed out as he pinched the bridge of his nose in exhaustion.

"So, what do we do? We can't just stop now, we're too far in to back out now." Choza said in his usual gruff voice, although, it was lined with worry.

"Well, that isn't all the that has me worried this won't work out." Shikaku continued. "And I'm certainly not saying we give up. But, we might have to delay our advance. Along with those past few reports, word has it that he is still around somewhere in Hi no Kuni. Now, why he would risk staying here when he has so few of his own forces left, along with the fact that we have most of our ANBU out searching for him is beyond me. But with his presence still in the country, we can't afford to go into this haphazardly. We need a plan in case he's still in contact with them somehow."

"Then we wait." A new voice called out from the behind the group.

Initially on guard, the group of Shinobi spun on their heels, drawing their weapons and readying jutsu to engage the intruder. However, they stopped in their tracks once they noticed who it was.

"We wait for them to show their hand, and then crush them once they think they're safe." Hyuuga Hiashi said as he walked over to the group of conspirators. "They're not going to like the fact that Naruto-kun is going to pass his Genin exams, and they will be absolutely furious when the Chunin Exams come around. By then I believe we will have all the information we need to take them down, along with whatever Danzo has planned." The Hyuuga patriarch seethed at the mention of the traitor. How he had survived the encounter with the Hokage and his ANBU was beyond him, but the rat was still out there, and he was plotting something.

"So, that's it? We wait for the shit to hit the fan and see if we can handle it?" Tsume growled out, annoyed with the change of plans. They should have just invaded the damn place and killed those old fools, but no~, they had to do all this back door shit and wait for the right time. 'To avoid civilian crossfire' as the Nara clan head had put it.

"I think that may be our only option." Shikaku cut in once more. "Remember, they still have the seal on Naruto, if they ever caught wind about this, they would just kill the boy and flee to whatever safe houses they have hidden away. We are going to have to wait."

"I thought Jiraiya-sama was working on a way around the seal? It's been nearly a year since he was given the notes on it." Choza asked in confusion, wondering why they hadn't already done something about this.

"It isn't as simple as removing the seal, or placing another seal on top of it to deactivate it." Hiashi sighed out. "The Hyuuga Clan has been perfecting the Caged Bird Seal for over a century. We have found ways to keep our enemies from removing the seal, as well as to keep the seal active no matter what. Even our own Seal Masters cannot find a way to remove the seal, without outright killing the subject."

"So, along with Jiraiya-sama's current mission, and all the things currently going on with Kumo's borders, I think it's safe to say he hasn't really had the time to delve too far into the seal." Inoichi voiced his opinion before bringing a hand up and running it through his hair. "Inu, can you bring this issue up with Hokage-sama, maybe get a report on how his progress with the seal is going?"

Inu hummed in thought before he nodded. "Yes, I think Jiraiya's biweekly report in due soon, so I might be able to snatch it while no one is looking and copy what we need."

"Good, then all that's left is to wait…"

. . . .

Releasing the smoke from his lungs, Hiruzen couldn't help a small chuckle as he watched the group of shinobi's private meeting from the crystal ball that sat upon his desk. "Well, all you needed to do was ask, Kakashi-kun. But, I guess it wouldn't do to have me openly conspire against one of our own clans…" he mumbled to himself as he stood up from his seat and moved to the windows behind him, taking a deep breath as he looked out to the village below.

"A storm is coming...with the skirmishes with Kumo finally dying down, I need to keep an eye out for any vultures trying to cash in on our momentary weakness…" He mumbled to himself before taking another deep drag from his pipe.

Letting out the toxic fumes, he sighed as his eyes went over to the Shinobi Academy.

"Naruto...I wish you luck in the events about to unfold…"

. . . .

(A/N): To be continued…

Bulba Fett: Sorry about not getting this out sooner. Had a little problem with my recruiter I had to sort out, along with the fact that the original chapter was barely 3000 words long :/ Had to think of something to add in to make it longer, and hey, ya got the meeting between the clan heads trying to find a way to get Naruto out of trouble :3

Anyway, next chapter it finally NEW CONTENT! YAY! I'll try to think of an updating schedule after I post Chapter 12, just to see how long it'll take me to write it and plan accordingly.

And now that I've caught up on this, I think I'm gonna try and make an actual schedule for my stories again and stop being a lazy shitlord about all this.

Anyway,

Remember to REVIEW! And like always, we'll see ya next time!