Talking: "Gimme Ramen"

Thinking: "Are they going to give me ramen?"

Jutsu: Flying Thunder God Technique

Tailed Beast talking: "Do you have any idea who I am!?"

Tailed Beast thinking: "He seriously has no idea who I am!?"

If it is 'toad,' then it is a dumb animal; if it is 'Toad,' then it is a summons.

-0-

For better or worse, I do not own Naruto.

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Previously: Naruto finally received the Scroll of secrets his family had prepared for him, and secretly began training with it, only letting Haku, and then Karin, know of its existence. Now the final stage of the Chunin Exam begins, and Neji Hyuga is eager to put Naruto in his place, in the hopes that this will finally break Hinata and make her realize her true worth. Not only does he believe that fate has made this possible, he also holds a grudge against Naruto for daring Hinata to use the Curse Seal against Neji, although Naruto knew his friend would never do that, merely wanting to prove a point.

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Chapter 14: A Genius vs. a Maverick

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Land of Fire

A few kilometers from Konohagakure

Underground

Chunin Captain Sajin of the Village Hidden in Sand spat out another clot of dirt, repressing the urge to curse since that would risk opening his mouth again. "This might revolutionize modern warfare, but it still has some kinks to work out!" he bitterly thought as the giant Snake they were riding tunneled through the ground, throwing up debris as it moved.

He glanced back at his men, several chunins and their genins. All of them were veteran fighters, possessing a variety of skills and techniques and eager and ready to settle things with the Leaf once and for all.

"Question. Time. Target." One genin flashed with military hand-signs, to which his unit's chunin held up a watch with resignation, having been repeatedly pestered about this ever since the first fifteen-minutes they had been riding underground.

"On the bright side," Sajin thought, "we'll soon be able to work out our frustration."

XXX

Land of Fire

Konohagakure

Chunin Exam Stadium

Haku Yuki delicately took his seat beside Karin Uzumaki, using his more feminine behaviour to cover him giving colosseum for the final stage of the Chunin Exams a quick sweep as he reflexively searched for targets. "Hmm, that's a lot of ANBU, but makes sense given how many foreign spies could be here. Glad I told Naruto to try and hide his full potential."

For her part, Karin was more concerned with not spilling the pile of snacks she had bought, confident that her cousin would win this fight. She was a little worried about Naruto fighting his teammate, and that sand guy of course, but overall she knew it would work out. She had even placed a small bet, openly smirking at the long odds against Naruto winning. Fools.

"I still don't get how this works," Karin said to Haku, mainly to pass the time as they waited for everything to start. "I mean, I've read about it," a careful reference to the Fourth Hokage's historical essays, "but I still don't get why everyone accepts the Chunin Exam mini-wars."

He just shrugged, "I'm still getting my head around it myself, but I still prefer it. The Bloody Mist's style emphasizes ruthlessness and killing your emotions, along with the idea that only the strongest will survive. Idiots. Not everyone comes into their full strength right away, and depending upon the match-up you would still lose powerful ninja if their opponent is slightly stronger, or just luckier. Assuming they don't kill each other. They're the only Village to turn away from the First Hokage's teachings."

There were many reasons that people remembered Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, as a genius, and the Chunin Exam is a prime example. The man had taken the pre-existing system of mission commissions for ninja another step forward by creating an international economy that was focused around small scale (compared to the endless battles of his childhood) missions to fund the militaries of the various emerging nations. Prowess in battle was no longer the sole concern for all of the clans, but also publicity to ensure that the majority of civilians would hire you for missions. The reduction in endless and widespread battles stabilized regions and put a stop to all of the collateral damage (and deliberate widespread targeting of civilians to make nations collapse), which made it possible for more civilian infrastructure to develop to generate greater prosperity, which ensured even more potential customers.

It was a mercenary system based upon positive public images, and everyone else at the time had decided: "If the man able wipe out entire nations on his own thinks this is a good idea, we should get behind it too." By the time the war hawks realized what had happened, their economies were too interlocked into this system to break out without sustaining ruinous damage that would leave them disastrously vulnerable to the enemies they saw all around them.

Danzo believed he was never chosen to be Third Hokage because of his hesitation, but in reality it was because the Tobirama Senju knew that his replacement would have to be a skilled diplomat in order to continue promoting a way of life that ultimately benefited the Hidden Leaf and thus the Land of Fire. The Chunin Exam was an example of this diplomacy, which had first started between the Hidden Leaf and the minor Villages (such as Hidden Whirlpool) that they had been allied with at the time. People said that the First Hokage was so proud when he first hosted the first event where young ninja could publicly demonstrate their skills, that he had even broken out crying! Non-allied Hidden Villages, such as Cloud, Mist, or Rock, had their own versions of the Chunin Exam, but secret ones, due to the preference of keeping the skills of their most promising young ninja a secret from rival villages, but this only made it more difficult for them during times of peace, since it meant that potential customers lacked vivid examples of the quality of ninja they were hiring. The Sand had had their own system originally, but a mandatory aspect of any treaties of alliance with the Hidden Leaf required that all signatories send their young to the Exam.

There were still battlefield promotions even during times of peace of course, such as from 'border skirmishes,' where genin rose to the occasion and earned the right to lead the hard way. Or from joint missions when a jonin, who was not the genin's jonin sensei, recommended to his superiors that they give a particular genin a private test to determine if they were ready for the rank of chunin. However, even in these cases the resident Kage would have to consider whether it would be more beneficial to have this promising candidate promoted and put in the field immediately, or given the chance to shine in front of an international audience.

Despite this, there were still no jonin exams. Such matters were kept as private affairs to protect the secrets of the most elite. For unlike genin, any chunin captain or special jonin who had risen to this point would be expected to have learned some of the most crucial secrets of their Hidden Village, and may even likely have developed their own personal techniques that were best kept as a surprise against rival ninja when in the field. No, only the children of the village could be risked in showing off the secrets of their nations, boasting that their strength would only grow with age and experience.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Karin threw Haku a surprised look, "I think that's the most you talked about the Mist since I've met you," noting how while her friend did not visibly react, there was a subtle shift in his chakra that she barely caught.

A quick glance told Haku that Karin had gotten some form of response from that, contrary to his efforts, and so he decided to tell her a little more. "Many ninja value strength and ruthlessness above all else, but over time the leadership of the Mist took it too far. As a result of those policies and the environment the people there grow up in, everyone, the civilians and ninja, pay the price as that lifestyle kills them a little more every day. That is why," and he gestured at the stadium, "I like it here in the Leaf. Some would argue that they've become too complacent, too soft, but I say that such detractors have blinded themselves, seeing only that side of the Village and mistaking it for weakness. They think that if the people here are happy and content, then that means they are stupid. They aren't, because those who are in charge here, and are in charge for a reason, are always on guard to protect the Village, and because someone who is fighting for what is precious to them will become even stronger. And in the Mist, the Bloody Mist, where you may be ordered to kill your own companions, the ninja there strive to seal off their emotions to save themselves from the pain of losing someone they care for, and thus depriving themselves of that potential strength. They are the ones who are weak."

He had not thought that he was acting as if he were only stating simple facts, but Karin knew that the soft voice was deceiving, and she could hear the growing venom inside of it, and once she saw the subtle shift in Haku's body language she sliding a little ways away from him in her seat. Sensing this, Haku took a deep breath to signal he was calming down, and then noticed that Naruto's fight had almost begun without him noticing it.

"Sorry," Karin whispered.

"For what?" Haku said quizzically.

"You obviously don't like to talk about it," she miserably shrugged, "and I shouldn't have pried."

Blinking, Haku then shook his head in embarrassment. "No, I'm sorry. I was just saying how sealing those things inside of yourself, denying yourself relationships, weakens you and I've been holding myself back without even realizing it. In fact, thank you Karin, for asking me that and helping me."

XXX

-0-

-Enter OST – Two steps from hell: sky titans –

-0-

Neji Hyuga smirked at his adversary as he waited for the proctor to start the match, "He will fall beneath the might of the Hyuga with ease. Before fate itself." While the bulk of his time had been dedicated towards honing his skills with the Gentle Fist and planning ways to take down the others, particularly the one who had defeated Lee, he had still spent a little time researching the failure before him, "He was the village prankster, undisciplined in class with the lowest marks. While the other clansmen were a little uneasy about talking about him, they were still quick to inform me about his loud and impatient manner. His fight against the Izunaka was a joke, all he has are clones and chakra, which will be useless against my eyes. Doubtless he will begin with a head-on attack. I wonder if he has even spent any time learning what the Hyuga are special for, besides what he saw during my match against Hinata?"

For Naruto though, he was already ready to put his plan into motion. In truth, Naruto suspected that thanks to his parents' Scroll he had grown strong enough that he could easily beat Neji if he went all out, or if he even just resorted to out-muscling Neji with raw chakra given how he now knew several wind jutsu that could just amplify with a ton of chakra to blow the jerk out of the arena entirely. But victory via chakra reserves would not impress anyone, they would just put it down to the demon within him, the demon some people still said he was. "No, I have to beat this guy with tactics if I want to be a chunin. I'll stick with the plan."

As soon as the proctor's hand dropped to signify the start of the match, Naruto jumped backwards and used Shadow Clones to create twenty copies, who all quickly spread out in a semi-circle. For his part, Neji just stood his ground, confidently daring Naruto to advance. Instead, Naruto performed the Rat hand-sign, and cried out: "Wind Release: Air Current Wild Dance!" The effect was instantaneous as Naruto created winds that controlled the flow of air throughout the battlefield, sending waves of dust and dirt at the Hyuga genius.

Neji struggled against the wave of dust and grit that flew at him, unable to open his precious, precious eyes lest something get inside of them, as worked to keep his feet grounded with chakra so that he would not be knocked over. Knowing that if he did not open his eyes so that he could actually see with his Byakugan, he would not be able to counterattack, Neji crossed his arms over his head to sneak a peek, an act that saved him from injury as he quickly performed a panicked Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation in recognition of the threat he had glimpsed.

Naruto's clones, whom Naruto had carefully left unmolested by the wind, had not been idle. Not only were they perfect copies of the original, so was their gear, including the packs and packs of homemade explosive tags created by dedicated teams of clones over the last few weeks, that they had now seeded into the flowing air currents.

Up in the stands, the crowd watched the match with mixed results. Many still did not realize that Naruto had created solid clones by himself, and so overlooked his achievement. Others thought the Hyuga would be unhampered by the lack of visibility, assuming that he could still see through it and that the brat had failed to do any homework on his foe.

Yet the sudden and massive series of explosions though that covered the entire ground caught everyone by surprise, especially with the bright ball of energy in the centre, and everyone's estimation of the two fighters started to climb as the barriers protecting the audience flared up. Even the most ignorant civilian had respect someone who could devastate almost an entire stadium, but Neji's use of the Hyuga's ultimate defense to repel the explosions was also eye catching. For the veteran ninja though, they could only look on in disbelief at what Naruto had accomplished, especially since they had glimpsed how two of his clones had used Wind Release: Wind Wall to protect the original.

For his part, Neji tried to remain visibly unimpressed as he glared back at Naruto, who only looked back in confusion, "Surprised that I survived, failure?"

"No. Surprised at what a hypocrite you are."

Neji's eyes bulged with hate at this comment, "What?"

"That jutsu you just used, it is unique to the Main House is it not? Releasing chakra from all over your body and then spinning to help redirect the oncoming blow? Yet you are of the Branch House, the rules of your clan, the rules of fate, forbid you from even thinking of learning that technique. And I doubt they would have taught it to someone so ready and willing to beat up the Clan Head's daughter at that," Neji flinched at this, but before he could say something, Naruto continued on, "And don't even get me started on how on earth you are supposed to know what the fate of everyone is supposed to be. Not that it really matters really."

Neji regained his confident face and stance, not even wondering how Naruto somehow knew so much about the Hyuga genius' personal philosophy, "You're right, now you can see how hopelessly outmatched you are!" In response though, the failure only held up a hand and pointed at the ground. Neji focused his sight downwards, searching for a hidden underground attack. Nothing. "What is he pointing at? There is nothing on…the…ground." Nothing at all, because it was now all torn up by a series of colliding explosions. The stadium was a war zone, littered with rubble and pit holes.

A short-range fighter going against a mid- to long-range combatant, as Naruto had just demonstrated himself to be, had to rely upon speed, mobility, and cover to approach and overwhelm his foe. Here, there was no cover, the trees were too far away and no piece of debris was big enough. And running through this mess at high speeds, while under attack, would only yield a broken ankle. The matched had just become one of attrition, with the winner dependent upon whether Naruto could maintain his attacks longer than Neji could maintain his Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation to shield himself. "He planned this?" the aforementioned Hyuga tried to grasp, "No, it must have been luck! It has to have been!"

"I doubt even Bushy Brows could safely run through this without breaking something," Naruto said as if reading his thoughts, "especially since I'd be attacking you the whole way. Your Byakugan can tell you I've still got plenty of chakra. And explosives," he added as each clone pulled out another thick wad of explosive seals. "Oorrr, you could surrender, and admit you don't know anything about fate," he cheekily offered, unfortunately pushing his opponent too far.

"Die!" was all Neji could think as he threw caution to the winds and charged forward. In perfect synchronization, half of Naruto's clones threw a brace of kunai or shuriken at him, while the other half clapped their hands together and cried: "Wind Release: Gale Palm!" to accelerate them. Neji wove and ducked through the projectiles, trying to match his superior vision and reflexes against their speed.

And then fate deserted him, as he put his foot down on a loose rock, bringing him down and twisting his ankle. Fortunately missed the blades hurtling at him, but the next thing he knew the clones had used Teleportation Technique and were dogpiling him.

The pain from his ankle and from having both arms pinned kept Neji from retaliating as one clone kneeled down in front of him. The spare clones were setting up explosive tags in a circle around Neji, staying out of what they had determined to be the range of his Rotation. They had not used them when Neji had made his foolhardy charge because they wanted him alive, but they were also not taking any chances. Plus, showing different techniques would be more impressive for the audience.

The clone right in front of Neji looked like he was about to say something, but stopped himself for a moment. "I think I'll leave it at that, showing you that you don't know anything about fate. It's over, you lost, and it's about time you realize how much you're struggling to find what you really want in life for yourself." And then the clone leaned down and whispered into Neji's ear, "But you know what? I wonder what would happen if someone helped Hinata become strong enough to be the next Clan Head? You saw her when I told her to use the Curse Seal on you, you heard what she said."

Neji's mind was reeling. Nothing today was going as it should be: he was beaten when it should have been an easy victory, and he could see from his angle how the original was still being cautious and staying out of reach. And if Hinata became the Clan Head… "No! He's just speaking nonsense, he has to be!" Neji seethed, unwilling to let go of the mindset that had ruled him for so many years as he struggled to get up.

And then the clone knocked him out.

-0-

-End OST – Two steps from hell: sky titans –

-0-

XXX

Kage Box

While the Third Hokage's expression was impassive, inside he was smiling with pride at how Naruto had grown and matured. Except for the last, punching a downed enemy while the referee was standing right behind you was uncalled for, but the rest had been very impressive. "Some might try and argue that Haku must have instructed him to use those tactics, but this was too, well, loud, for the Ice user to come up with. That was all strictly Naruto." Then the Professor gave a light frown, "But still, who thought it was a good idea to teach him how to make explosive tags!?"

"An excellent demonstration of the shortcomings of the Hyuga's Gentle Fist," the Kazekage idly noted. "That boy, Naruto Uzumaki, exploited those weaknesses well. The Hyuga boy's inability to accept his defeat, even if he did show exemplary master of his clan's arts, speaks poorly of him though."
"Perhaps," the Third Hokage politely said, unwilling to discuss the short-fallings of his subordinates to a rival. Even if the Kazekage's opinion was accurate, it was still irrelevant since it would be a committee of Leaf ninja would make the final decision. "And they will be aware that Naruto benefited from seeing Neji fight a month earlier, and has Hinata as a friend. He would be well aware of what Neji was capable of, meaning that Naruto will still have to prove himself in later matches to guarantee his promotion."

The Fourth Kazekage continued to compliment the jutsu knowledge the young blonde had demonstrated, when a thought stuck the Hokage. "Jiraiya is not a wind element user, and neither is Kakashi. They might be able to teach him the most rudimentary techniques, yet nothing more. Same with Haku, who's primarily a water and ice jutsu user, when we interrogated him he only knew a few basic wind style techniques. So where did Naruto learn those higher-level ones? Moreover, Wind Release: Air Current Wild Dance is largely used by the Hidden Sand if I recall correctly. A few others may have stolen it or mastered it, but only very few. And even if Kakashi copied it, he still wouldn't be able to tell Naruto how to use it properly in such a short period of time. And why is someone like the Fourth Kazekage not commenting on that?" A little more wary, yet giving no outward sign, Sarutobi continued the discussion.

XXX

Land of Fire

Konohagakure

Jiraiya had agreed to take up position near the most civilian populated region in Konohagakure, with the reasoning being that he and the handful of ninja helping him in support roles would be the best suited to keeping the public safe as they fell back to the shelters. Danzo had been resistant to the idea at first, saying it was a misallocation of an invaluable fighter, but Jiriaya had sadly reminded those present that if Orochimaru was making a move today, but given his military history during previous wars, he would definitely target the civilians. During those conflicts, his victims served as valuable fodder for his experiments (he had only worked on corpses at that point), and their loss would undermine the economy and resources of both the enemy nation and its resident Hidden Village. That was also why so many of the Village's strongest were absent, having being spread across the Land of Fire to guard critical towns and strategic locations. But since they did not know where exactly Orochimaru himself would strike, it was also decided it was best to keep their heaviest hitters back in the Village where they could be readily deployed, and keeping someone like another Sannin protecting the most vulnerable of their population was a sensible precaution in case the Serpent had the balls to attack his old home directly. Danzo had still argued that this was too great a compromise, stretching their forces too far, but he had been overruled. Yet right now, Jiraiya could only focus on the tournament commentary coming in over the civilian radio network.

For the most part he had been listening to the description of his godson's fight with unabashed pride, "Way to go kid, making your old man proud! Definitely channeling a bit of your mother with that, but that kind of tactics is Minato hands down! Looks like you're learning like he did too, using those tips I gave you along with what little Haku taught to learn a whole bunch of wind jutsu!" Admittedly, it was a little curious how many wind jutsu he had actually managed to pick up, and with such skill, but Jiraiya dismissed for Naruto just being a genius like his dad now that he was out of the stuffy academy.

"Still nothing?" a voice spoke up.

Glancing over, Jiraiya saw a young genin, about mid-twenties, nervously questioning a Hyuga who was panning his Byakugan back and forth in search of anything out of the ordinary.

"No," was the flat reply.

"Quit bugging the man and let him concentrate," Jiraiya gently chastised, making the rookie blush in shame. "I know you're worried, but we're all on guard if something happens." And with that he turned off the radio to set a good example (Naruto would not be fighting again for a while anyways). "We know something's going on, Hayate's death within the very Village despite all our security confirms that, but whatever it is, it can't be too big. No way could they hide a massive build-up of ninja. Just setting up the resources for supply lines and basic provisions would send a massive red flag we'd never miss. So whatever Oro-baka is planning, it'll be subtle. Probably something to keep us off guard so that he can build up for a knockout blow."

XXX

Land of Fire

Konohagakure

Chunin Exam Stadium

"Heh heh, that should convince people," Naruto smirked to himself as he climbed the stairs to rejoin the other competitors. "Like I learned fighting Zabuza: always be unpredictable! Even used some psychological warfare like him! And I showed up everyone who thought my only strength was still only taijutsu. Besides, it was a perfect excuse to show off all those explosives!"

XXX

Back in the stands, the audience was going through a series of revaluation and/or denial. For the foreign visitors, it had actually been a good match, seeing a powerful clan member downed by a combination of ninjutsu and tactics. Some of them remembered the Uzumaki clan and were even more curious about that, while others assumed that Naruto did not have an important clan like the Hyuga, which only made the fight even more impressive in their eyes. More than a few even found the fight amusing commenting about how they were glad they did not live in the Leaf, not with all those explosive he liked to throw around.

Despite what a good match it had been, many audience members were unhappy. Even for those from out of town who were unaware of Naruto's past and stigma, betting on a Hyuga over someone without a noteworthy clan had seemed the smart thing to do. On the other hand, those who had faith in Naruto, or remembered who the Uzumaki were, made off like kings and queens with the odds they had been given. Rather than concede that gambling was not always a good idea, many of the locals were angry at the 'brat,' and insinuating that he must have somehow cheated, with knowing looks on how he must have done so.

In contrast, the majority of the ninja from the Hidden Leaf considered these insinuations stupid, if not insulting since they implied that all of the ninja in the audience had missed Naruto using the Demon Fox, and were forced to acknowledge that Naruto had won by his tactical prowess. Granted, he had not done anything superb, but enough to qualify for chunin given how many steps ahead he had been of Neji.

XXX

Daimyo Box

The Fire Daimyo nodded in approval and quietly clapped, at the performance of this promising young soldier. "Lord Daimyo," one of his Guardian Twelve spoke up, "that was the Jinchuuriki."

"Oh?" he drawled. "I believe Hiruzen has mentioned that word before, but what was it again?"

The bodyguard nodded patiently, knowing that the man would not drop his façade even here. As ninja, as killers, the Guardian Twelve found the intrigue and politics of the royal court and between all of the nobles tedious, but they did highly respect how well they all the aristocrats played the subtle game of "looking underneath the underneath," and there was no one who did it better than the Daimyo. Appearing fickle and indecisive, apparently relying upon his advisors or whoever made a persuasive or forceful argument to make his decisions, the reality was that the man was manipulating them all. When he was not indirectly guiding the conversations wherever he wished, the Daimyo behaved as if he were easily swayed into making a decision, but only if it was the one he originally wanted. That way, whenever he made a decree in someone's favour, they believed that they controlled him. When he decreed against them, they assumed that one of their rival nobles had managed to influence him. Politicians, generals, wealthy merchants, and even elite ninja all fell for this trap, fooling themselves into believing they were power players instead of hapless pawns.

Even the Third Hokage and his Elders had to stay on guard whenever they met with their feudal lord to discuss military and diplomatic policies. And in the ninja world, such guile earned the Fire Daimyo the highest respect.

Idly waving his fan, the Daimyo nodded his way through the bodyguard's explanation, while replaying in his mind the behaviour of the Jinchuuriki. The boy appeared strong and confident, yet not arrogant, which was good, as was his use of techniques that did not rely upon his prisoner. "It seems I was right to let Hiruzen convince me that not training him to use his Tailed Beast, encouraging him to first master a more diverse skill array to both make him not dependent upon the Fox, and to help hide his true nature. Still," and here he gave a covert glance at the crowds to signal to his Guardian Twelve that he wanted them paying attention to the audience as well, "the reactions of his fellow Villagers are surprising, some of them seem distinctively negative about his victory. A little more investigating seems reasonable." He stopped to think about that a little bit, for in general the Daimyos always let the Kages manage the Village as they saw fit, only interfering if the ninja were doing something particularly questionable, or if their actions could be interpreted as having too much influence over the Land of Fire, with the exact definition of "too much" and "influence" varying over the decades following the creation of the Hidden Village systems. But Hiruzen was unquestionably loyal, and while his more casual approach to developing soldiers did not appear to generate results fast enough, a careful examination of missions conducted by Leaf ninja showed that the results were still very positive. "I'll just off-handily mention that I want to see my ex-Guardian Asuma Sarutobi again, for a game of shogi or something, and ask him a few questions while I'm at it. He'll understand."

"His skills were very good for his age though, weren't they?" he murmured. "Such massive explosions, quite a fiendish jutsu."

"Those were seals, milord, but the wind jutsu he used was indeed impressive for someone of his age," another Guardian politely corrected, before cocking her head in thought. "Although I'd heard that he'd been struggling at the academy, my cousin's one of the teacher's," she elaborated, "but didn't teach the kid herself."

"Well it looks like his new teacher suited him well," the Fire Daimyo said before turning his attention to some of his snacks in case one of the nobles who were also in attendance saw him talking with his bodyguards too much and make them question his interest. The fact that the Jinchuuriki had been struggling as a ninja beforehand was troubling, but the Third Hokage had been adamant that treating Jinchuuriki solely as weapons appeared to have a detrimental on their psyche. "Still, maybe I'll be a little hastier on gathering that information. But for now, back to the act and enjoying the show."

XXX

"Don't be ridiculous," Izumo Kamizuki snapped at a neighbouring civilian. "He did everything perfectly right. For crying out loud, he never even budged after that first leap, delegating all of his clones while he watched over the rest of the battle."

"He couldn't have gotten that good," the middle-aged man spat. "And even if he did, what does it say about him that he'd stay back while his men sacrificed themselves, hmmm!?"

"They're clones. They're supposed to be sacrificed," Izumo countered with strained patience. "If anything, it's even more impressive that he could make so many, and Shadow Clones at that, which're the highest grade. Using them he could cover for any subordinates of his."

"Well what about that punch at—"

XXX

"They've no idea, huh?" Karin said with a smile at her cousin's success, gesturing at the grumbling audience with the thick wad of money she had just picked up from that gambling booths.

"Nope," Haku agreed, although only he had any real understanding of Naruto's prowess. Karin was still too inexperienced to appreciate his development. "He has a solid grounding on a strong assortment of C-ranked wind jutsu now, and his seal work is beyond his years, especially given how recently he started. His taijutsu still needs some work, but it won't do much good here anyways. Hopefully his new Rasengan will be enough strong enough to break through that Gaara's sand though. If not, he'll have to give up." Then Haku chuckled to himself, "Although he won't like it, that's for sure!"

XXX

"Wow," Sakura gasped in disbelief at Naruto's victory.

"I knew he could do it," Hinata said with a smile.
"Indeed," Menma agreed, holding her hand.

"That was an amazing fight!" Ino cried out. "I can't believe Naruto pulled that off!"

"He's been training a lot," Choji explained as he opened another bag of chips. "He's been getting stronger and stronger."

"Yeah, I gotta admit, I might not've been able to beat him during the preliminaries," Kiba confessed, not feeling embarrassed about it after seeing such a match.

Through it all, Sakura felt herself looking at Naruto with a mixture of sadness and envy, finally admitting after that dramatic demonstration that the dunce had surpassed her. "When did Naruto become so strong? Why am I so behind?"

XXX

Kage Box

The intermission was over, new bets had been placed, and the crowd was getting restless waiting for Sasuke Uchiha's match against Gaara of the Sand to start, but for some reason the former had yet to arrive. Surprisingly, the Kazekage had requested that the Hokage hold off announcing that Sasuke had forfeited the match, asking that they wait a little longer.

"Forgive me," a daring Raido Namiashi, the Hokage's bodyguard, spoke up, "But… no matter what their level of brilliance…ninja who lack punctuality are not competent to become chunin. Unless we can provide a clear-cut explanation to satisfy the feudal lords gathered here…I know of no reason why we should wait for him."

Orochimaru acted as if he was contemplating the question, when in reality he had been furiously thinking for this ever since Sasuke had not arrived at the very start of the Exam. "More misfortune impeding me from gaining my next host! This shouldn't overly interfere with our invasion plans, yet only if Sasuke actually arrives to fight! Could some other party have targeted him!?" Aiming for some drama, the 'Fourth Kazekage' raised up the palm of his hand and turned to the Third Hokage, "I see…But…there is sufficient reason. A majority of the ninja and feudal lords here, and even myself…came here almost solely to observe that match."

"…But…" Raido tried to stay, while Sarutobi considered the oblique reminder that the Leaf would benefit from the patience as well if the Last Uchiha won and put on a positive show for all of the potential customers in the audience. Alternatively, the Kazekage could be so insistent because he was so confident that his son would win and discredit the Leaf a little.

"This boy is the last of the Uchiha Clan," he continued, "and as the Kazekage of the Village Hidden in Sand, I beseech you…to allow him to face Gaara. Take his failure to arrive into consideration when considering his eligibility for promotion, but still let him fight. Kakashi Hatake is his sensei after all."

XXX

Shikamaru grumbled to himself as he made his way down the stairs to enter the arena, though in reality he was worried. Delaying Sasuke's match was unexpected, yet Kankuro forfeiting even more so. Something was up, but for the life of him he could not figure out what it was. "Insufficient data," Shikamaru concluded, pausing to stretch his muscles and replaying in his mind what the floor of the stadium looked like after Naruto was done vandalizing it. He was in no hurry after all, especially since it would only make that Sand chick even angrier and less focused.

XXX

"Well, she's definitely angry," a cut and bruised Shikamaru conceded, safely concealed within the stadium's mini-forest and deep within the shadow provided by the wall. "Unfortunately, she's keeping it in check and channeling it. She also used her wind jutsu to clear away most of the debris, letting her stay more mobile, but denies me their additional shadows, even if she doesn't realize that. Troublesome woman."

"I've got to keep my guard up," Temari reminded herself, again, fighting the urge to impulsively continue her attack despite all the casual complaints about fighting a woman, "he's a Nara after all." To help keep her mind off the anxiety of the upcoming invasion, and to throw off any potential Leaf spies, she had spent some time doing some theoretical tactical exercises for the upcoming matches, and Baki-sensei had been blunt on how dangerous the Nara clan was. Despite possessing a clan ninjutsu that was only good for support or capture roles, they were famed for their tactical and strategic brilliance. Moreover, Baki noted that this Nara bore a distinct resemblance to Shikaku Nara, the Jonin Commander for the entire Hidden Leaf, which alone spoke volumes of what a Nara was capable of. While the boy was at a disadvantage fighting on his own without a team to cover for his lack of offense ability, Baki had still told her and Kankuro several stories where a Nara had single-handedly influenced the tide of battle.

With a sigh, Shikamaru took a moment to admire the clouds and how free they are. "I came here to do well enough to not be promoted and get all those troublesome responsibilities, but also to help make sure my friends got through okay, and now I'm stuck like this." With another sigh, Shikamaru took his thinking pose and began processing all of the information he had already absorbed.

XXX

As the match between Shikamaru and Temari dragged on, Neji Hyuga just stared at nothing, clutching the scroll his uncle had given him, written by his father.

XXX

Instinct made Temari leap back even before her mind had caught up as the Nara's shadow approached the line she had drawn in the dirt to mark the limit of the range of his technique, "He wouldn't waste his time with a useless attack!" Sure enough, the shadow was somehow still coming after her, "He must've been waiting for the sun to drop so that the area of the wall's shadow and thus his own shadow would increase." Trying to stay ahead of the shadow, she tried jumping to the side but it curved after her, just as the faintest sound made her glance up to see kunai raining down at her from above. Unfolding her fan she blocked the kunai even as she kept moving while trying to keep her balance.

XXX

"How—?!" Kurenai gasped from the audience.

"Like I said, kid's a genius," Asuma answered with a smirk. "Just by watching her here and back at the preliminaries he figured out which direction she'd leap, and when she charged him at the very start he figured out how fast she could move, and then calculated the exact angle and force needed to throw those kunai so that they would come down on a precise spot he was herding her towards while her attention was focused on his shadow on the ground. Again, genius."

And Kurenai could only stare in growing disbelief as the next phase of Shikamaru's attack began.

XXX

Her front vision blocked by her fan, Temari barely heard the faint sound of a second barrage of projectiles flying at her. "Letter bombs? My Iron Fan should be able to take it, but—what?" The kunai flew right past her, but instead of detonating right then at her side when she was exposed, they sped on by and with something else on them that made her stomach tighten even as they disappeared from her peripheral vision.

Light exploded from behind her, and Temari's finally recognized what she had glimpsed on the end of the kunai, "Flash bombs! Of course that clan would also train in how to influence shadows!" The intense light behind hit her fan she was holding up front as a shield and created a massive shadow in front of it that Shikamaru quickly snared with his Shadow Imitation technique, and thus Temari as well. Leaping forward, and thus forcing her to do the same, Shikamaru quickly closed the distance between the two of them before the new shadow and the additional length it provided faded.

Sweating and nervous, Temari struggled to defiantly stare at her opponent as they approached one another, knowing she was utterly helpless against him. Then, Shikamaru slowly raised his hand, forcing her to do the same, "I surrender," he said. Then he dropped his jutsu, and turned to walk back towards the stairs.

"W-what!?" Temari gasped. "What the [censored] is wrong with you!?"

Yells and cries of shock rebounded from the audience, and just then it occurred to Shikamaru that his mom was probably listening to all of this over the radio. "Troublesome," he groaned. Not wanting to be around the enigmatic boy right now, and utterly confused on how she was supposed to act, Temari opted to use her fan and wind jutsu to quickly soar up and rejoin the rest of the contenders.

"Still, aside from that, everything went perfectly," Shikamaru mused as he casually strolled off the field, "I can say that I gave it my all once I got into the fight, but by surrendering like that, I actually failed to meet my supposed objective of competing. And instead of forfeiting the next match instead, I gave that troublesome blonde a chance to continue and demonstrate her prowess to the audience, thus improving the chance for the Hidden Sand to earn mission commissions. It won't go that way, since I know that Naruto, Shino, and maybe Sasuke could easily beat her, but the judges will be disappointed at how I was unwilling to win like that, showing a lack of initiative and decisiveness. At the very least I should've thought of a way to hurt her while she was paralyzed and helpless after all!" he thought with an unseen smirk. "And Naruto proved strong enough that I don't have to worry about him after all. I should play some Shogi with him later.

"Besides, it will be interesting to watch her continue, I actually learned a thing or two about tactics watching her." And then his thoughts became more serious, "And I will be especially interested to see why she was still holding back. A lot. Based on the estimates of her chakra reserves that Akamaru, Shino, and Hinata made when we first met her, she could have devastated me with a much bigger attack at any time, albeit at higher chakra cost, but not so great as to justify the risk of losing the match. So why'd she not take this particular fight seriously?"

XXX

Kage Booth

"Well played," the Third Hokage thought with a small smile. He was well familiar with how the minds of the Nara clan operated, and could play with the best of them. "Your true objective was never your promotion, and you sought to manipulate the entire Village in the process, excellent initiative." Unfortunately for the boy, the Third Hokage also knew that while a Nara could be expected to reject additional responsibility at any opportunity, once they had been given (i.e. had it forced into their hands) that responsibility, they would bare the fullness of that burden whatever the cost. There was a reason that the best Nara were the ones with spouses who were control freaks, pushing their beloveds on even further. Heck, that was one of the reasons why years ago Sarutobi had covertly encouraged Shikaku to meet and marry Yoshino, after making sure her temper was all bark and no bite of course. For all their laziness, the Nara were still true believers in the Will of Fire, claiming that losing comrades was "much too troublesome," and this clan heir had proven today he had potential to become one of the best. "Definitely chunin material," the old man concluded.

XXX

Short time later

Sasuke Uchiha glanced up at the competitor's booth looking down on the stadium. His teammate was waving and appeared glad that he and Kakashi-sensei had shown up just in the nick of time, which felt nice. "But still, today I'll draw out your true strength, and crush it with my own. For no matter how strong you are, no matter how much I've come to respect you, I'll prove that I'm the stronger! And then you'll respect me again. After all, I've just spent the entire month, every spare moment, training with one of the most elite ninja in the entire Hidden Leaf!"

"Too bad," Genma the proctor was saying, "you guys missed a great match with your teammate. Totally dominated that Hyuga"
"Oh, that's good to hear," Kakashi eye-smiled, hiding his shock at hearing Naruto's success, having expected Neji to have won. "Still, I doubt he showed enough to warrant promotion to becoming chunin, so I'll still be able to help both boys after this. And Sakura."

XXX

Naruto's eyes narrowed a little as he watched Sasuke fight against Gaara, realizing that he had been putting off any thoughts of his teammate for the last month, or more specifically, ever since Gamatorra had told him that the man responsible for everything that had happened twelve years ago had had a sharingan. "Musn't get upset about that towards Sasuke though," Naruto reminded himself, "it's not his fault. Mom and Dad would be disappointed in me if I did, and I don't want to die like a bunch of idiots like my clansmen." For the deaths of all the remaining members of the Uzumaki clan in futile attempts at vengeance, and thus leaving Kushina and then Naruto alone in the world, was one of the main reasons Naruto had been so ready to embrace his parents' philosophies. While he knew it was a gross, if not insultingly disrespectful, exaggeration, a part of him could only feel that violence and wars only served to create lonely orphans struggling to fend for themselves. Yet another reason that Naruto had vowed to change the ninja world

XXX

Land of Fire

Konohagakure

Southern lower district

Shinji ducked under the sweeping katana and stabbed a kunai between the woman's ribs, while his other hand grabbed her knee to unbalance her. Without stopping he leapt over her, trusting her wound or his comrades to finish her off. All that mattered right now was advancing as quickly as possible to solidify their beachhead.

The Invasion had begun.

Jutsu:

Wind Release: Wind Wall

C-rank wind jutsu that simply creates a wide, short range blast of chakra enriched air to repel techniques. Its wider coverage makes it better than using an offense wind jutsu to counter an attack.

Author Notes:

The personality for the Fire Daimyo took a lot of inspiration from Lord Shojo of 'The Order of the Stick,' although some changes were necessary. Shikamaru's logic for why he would not be promoted was directly inspired from 'Sealed Legacy,' by Psycho G, who made a persuasive argument on how Shikamaru's entire performance demonstrated how he was NOT chunin material. Also help from 'Naruto: Force Unleashed EX' by xNamikazeKyuubix for Shikamaru's fight.

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Next Chapter: 'Beware the Nice Ones'

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