Chapter 14: Meeting the Suna Gang

(Cue song Life Is On You by Kenji Fujii; Suble from Devil May Cry: The Animated Series OST)

The next month was relaxed as I counted down the days to the Chunin Exam. I made a point to enjoy the peace we had before the exams began. There would be no time for relaxing when Orochimaru was around. There wasn't much in the way of missions for Team 7; mostly D-ranks. And so I had quite a lot of free time.

At first I dedicated some time to explore the Kitsuné Chateau more thoroughly. In each bedroom there was a small touch screen panel that controlled what song could be played in the room and a mic connected to the PA system.

Then there was a cool looking conference room with a modern look to it. A long table straight out of the conference area on the Fury-class Imperial Transport from the game Star Wars: The Old Republic was in the centre of the room, with fixed, comfortable swivel chairs; enough to seat 50 people. At one end there was an extra fancy and comfortable chair, obviously meant for me. On the opposite wall was a huge screen. After asking Ken, I found out that it was meant to connect to people who were dead. So if I wanted to include Minato and the other past Hokages then it was simply a matter of setting a date and time before using my iPhone to make the connection. It was quite neat.

The few times I had seen the outside of my Kitsuné Chateau, I never checked out the roof much at all. But I discovered that the roof was flat and was accessible. When I walked up on top I was amazed at what I saw. Half the roof was taken up by a large Infinity pool that stretched along almost the entire length with the 'edge' facing the sprawling city of Konoha and the front lawn. On the other side were tables, chairs and deckchairs.

I played a bit of the unique game that Ken made; Ultimate Ninja Celestial Storm. It was interesting watching and listening to myself as my cell shaded avatar made his way around the game world. Most story relevant things I said in the real world was recorded and uploaded straight to the game. Even my conversations were exactly alike. I was thankful that some of the more explicit experiences were not included in the game.

The story mode had two special modes: Clone and Anime. Clone was completely accurate in everything. But Anime was slightly different. The conversations were the same but reactions were more anime styled, such as face-faulting or anime expressions like the line eyes and mouth. It was very humorous. Since I was the main character in the game, all the jutsus I knew were executable by my avatar. Along with my summons, however only Shiva and Slipstream were available but the summons were useable either as powerful Ultimate Jutsu like moves or weaker moves for Support. Their Ultimate Jutsu moves could also be linked with the characters like in Storm 2. They still looked kick ass!

Aside from the story, there was the standard verses mode. There were many characters to choose from, almost 40 so far. I had a feeling that the more people I met, the more characters would be added. And all had their unique fighting style and Ultimate Jutsus. If this was designed to update in real-time, then soon the new info would expand beyond the one disk, however I had another feeling that this disk was special. That there was no limit to how much it could hold.

Along with that the soundtrack was completely customisable in the fact that I could upload tracks from my iPhone and use the tracks for the soundtrack. For example, I could upload the song Duel of the Fates from Star Wars Episode I and have it play while Madara Uchiha dukes it out with me in verses. It was awesome. Of course I messed around and played You Sexy Thing by T-Shirt when Sasuke and Orochimaru are fighting on screen. I had a stitch by the time Orochimaru clobbered Sasuke on the COM vs COM option.

But by far the funniest option there was on the game was the sheer amount of outfits each character could be outfitted with. I tell you after watching Sasuke in Gai's green leotard and Kabuto in a tutu beating the snot out of each other, you will be giggling and snorting with laughter for the rest of the day.

(Cue song ARMED WITH VALOR by Keiki Kobayashi from Soul Calibur III Original Soundtrack)

After checking out the Chateau, I realised that I should be working on my skills instead of lounging around. So training was amped up significantly. Not just for Team 7, but for the whole Kitsuné clan too. Dawn and I worked hard on attaining the first tail of Youki fully, which involved meditation and focusing the youki inside our bodies. Zabuza worked on shaping his swordplay style around his new sword until Dawn joined in after she had gain the first tail. Her style of swordplay was fast and very acrobatic; making as many small cuts as possible and dodging any attack thrown at her. But there was a few powerful sword strikes as finishers. Trunks worked on his swordplay as well, which concentrated on speed, agility and offensive strikes, like Dawn's style, but more traditional.

Haku worked with Shiva to improve her ice jutsu and Shiva taught Haku a few tricks. One involved coating the feet with ice and skating over flat surfaces while using chakra to control speed, turning power and traction. The twins worked on their cat claw weapons and Taijutsu, which they were lacking in skill.

After I finished attaining the first tail I began to work on the Rasengan, Hiraishin and my new jutsu. Well, more improved than new. Thanks to having more access to Youki I was able to ante up the Kage Bunshin. Creating a clone using youki took much less energy than using chakra. And the clone was much stronger, able to take up to 5 solid hits before dispersing. And since they took less energy to create, more could be made. Plus the more energy that goes into the clone, the more stronger and powerful it becomes instead of simply overloading the clone. And so the Neo Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was created. From there the Legion Clone Squad jutsu was created. Creating a five clone squad with a supercharged clone for added intelligence and power to act as an independent thinking Capitan, so to speak. Therefore the Capitan clone was able to think up new strategies on the fly in case there's a problem. Finally, the Neo Clones were good for one more thing. Since they were much stronger than Kage Bunshin, they could stand up to a heavy amount of sex. Dawn had tried it out and was very satisfied with the results, saying that the clone had lasted all the way through. And thanks to the memories that I gleaned from the dispelled clone, I knew that Dawn had put the clone through some rough stuff. Of course as soon as I found this out I was hard almost instantly and had to duck into an alley to adjust myself before going back into the open again.

Another thing I worked on was seals. In my exploration of the newly created Kitsuné Chateau, I discovered a basement that had all the previous contents of the basement underneath Minato's house. There was a large library of jutsus stashed there, as well as several experimental seals and notes on the Shiki Fujin. After looking at these experimental seals, I decided that I wanted to become a seals master like Minato and Jiraiya. So I assigned 50 or so clones to work on learning Fuuinjutsu while I stuck to working out the kinks in controlling youki. As the month crawled by I had learned several seals including storage and gravity seals. Storage seals were used for storing items in stasis inside a sheet of paper; great for hauling fresh food or pre-cooked meals for a long journey or large amounts of weapons. The gravity seals were painted on the body. Either they were painted on a specific body part or made to affect the whole being. The seals increased the gravity on the body to increase muscle mass, strength, speed and endurance. The increased gravity was localized to just the body so you wouldn't sink if you travelled in the desert or made a large crater if you fell from a reasonable height. The strength was easy customised with chakra and could be released easily with a handseal and, eventually, by thought. The seals themselves also blended perfectly with the skin, rendering themselves invisible until activated or deactivated, where they would flash black before disappearing once again.

Another seal I worked on was a special clan seal. It would allow entrance into the Kitsuné Chateau. It would have a special chakra marker that could only be tracked by my iPhone. And the seal would be linked with the user's health statistics. So if the member of my clan with a seal was suddenly wounded fatally, the seal would summon ten high class Kitsunés to either beat off the enemies before healing the clan member or simply transport them to the Kitsuné Chateau to be healed there. The seal was still incomplete as I would need Jiraiya's help on completing it.

I also practiced swordsplay with White Requiem and Hidden Avenger, the name I decided for the stealth sword. Even though the skills to wield these weapons was imbedded in them, I still practiced, if only to be assured that I could do all the moves.

If there was one thing I learned about my fighting style from watching my character in the Ultimate Ninja Celestial Hero game was that I was exceptionally quick and speedy in fighting, despite the size of my cleaver sword. I guess since I would be learning the Hiraishin and create any sub-jutsus from it, that I had to be speedy. Not that I minded. Speed and power was always my favourite combination. Speed to dance around the opponent and hit small crippling blows before taking them out with a powerful strike when they can no longer dodge or guard.

The last thing I trained was my focus by meditating under the waterfall out back while sitting on those stone tiles which were balanced on the central spire. Two Neo Clones were balancing on the other spires. It was hard work as in the beginning I used to fall off straight away. But slowly I grew accustomed to balancing myself. Then I got down to the job of actually meditating on top there. Immediately I realised that doing so made it easier to balance. It also helped me to be at peace with myself and my surroundings. While doing this I began to feel other chakra signatures. Even though I had shut my eyes, I could 'see' the signatures of everyone inside the Chateau. It was neat.

It was through this type of meditation that I and Dawn attained the first tail of youki. The fact of the matter was that we had all the energy already inside ourselves. Dawn had seven tails and I had nine. But the meditation was needed to gain focus on the energy so it could be used. Dawn told me that there was one or two Youki Control exercises, like Chakra Control exercises, to help with the higher stages.

Training for Team 7 was going good too. After mastering the Kunai Balancing stage of Chakra Control, Kakashi began to teach us a few jutsus. Sasuke stuck to fire jutsus such as Hosenka, Ryūka and improving on his Gōkakyū no Jutsu. He was having trouble mastering the Ryūka as it needed the Sharingan to execute perfectly.

Sakura learned a few genjutsus as chakra constructs like that were easy for her. I taught her the Ninja Art: Snow Cherry Blossom Dance from her Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 avatar. It was a jutsu similar to the Sakura Blizzard Jutsu used in the first Naruto movie, which I also taught her. The Snow Cherry Blossom Dance involved Sakura binding her enemy in a genjutsu and proceeding to throw four small white bags at them filled with exploding tags, which are disguised as tiny, blank pieces of paper in the enemy's eyes. She then rips them open in midair by throwing kunai at them and the exploding tags begin to fall gently towards the target. Lastly, Sakura would aim a kunai with a final exploding tag attached to it at her opponent's feet and it would detonate, followed by the explosion of the other falling "tags". The jutsu had a 50/50 fatality rate.

Kakashi wasn't left out either. I went through a list of jutsu and taught him the Lightning Strike Combo, renamed from the 10-hit combo that Lars Alexanderson used in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2. I also taught him a few extensions of the Chidori that were created by Sasuke in the cannon story. These included Chidori Current, Chidori Sharp Spear and Chidori: Thunder from Ultimate Ninja 5. These techniques were trained away from the team, most of the time in the private Training Room which I included Kakashi in on the clan training sessions. I also taught Sasuke's finisher move, Kirin and Kakashi's own Ultimate Jutsu from Storm 1, Lightning Blade: Double Lightning Quake. This last one I showed to Kakashi in the Storm 1 game. He was incredibly impressed with it and got to work on the technique straight away.

Then came the day that Kakashi received confirmation of the Chunin Exam. And naturally he wanted us to participate. It happened after a training session.

(Cue music silence)

"Ok! That's all for today. And I think you're all ready," said Kakashi.

"What for?" asked Sakura as she ran over from practicing the genjutsu component of her new jutsu.

"For the Chunin Exam," replied Kakashi, eye grinning.

I shared a look with Dawn and Trunks and we all grinned. Sasuke smirked his usual cocky smirk. And Sakura, surprisingly, smiled, though a little nervously.

"By the looks on all your faces, it seems you're all ok with me submitting this team in. Is this right?" asked Kakashi, looking as Sakura specifically.

"Well," she replied. "We have been practicing hard and we know advanced chakra control techniques."

"That's right. Most Chunins don't know about the Kunai balancing technique. But I'm talking about survival here. The Chunin exam will test you to the extremes in some situations. You will be fighting other people, even foreign ninja. I need to know if you are all in 100% agreement to enter." Kakashi was making sure we didn't think we were in over our head.

"Kakashi," I said, gaining the attention of everyone around me. "Sasuke has been working on his fire jutsu extremely well. He's ready. And Sakura has come a long way since she first became a Genin. She's ready." Here Sakura smiled softly. A little encouragement was all she needed.

"And I know Dawn, Trunks and I are ready. So there you go," I finished up.

"But Dawn and Trunks aren't ninja," replied Kakashi, even though he knew better. He was just putting up a front for Sasuke and Sakura, plus any ROOT ninja that may be spying on us.

"Oh don't worry. They'll just be observing. I've gained the Hokage's permission for this," I explained. Which was a lie, but as soon as this was over I would go and ask him myself.

Kakashi seemed to catch onto this and nodded. "Very well. I'll go submit the necessary paperwork now. I'd suggest you relax for these last few days before the exam, which will happen in 7 days time. Ja Ne." With that Kakashi shunshined out of the area.

"So, you two ready?" I asked Sasuke and Sakura. The pink haired girl nodded. Sasuke simply smirked again in my direction. "Of course I am. But I should enter alone. You two would just slow me down."

Sakura looked depressed at this and I felt sympathy for her. Since she had witnessed the battle on the bridge she had become less of an annoying bitch and more responsible. I was thankful for this, for Sakura became a lot more mature by the time Shippuden came out. Here her change had already started and the new 'her' had already begun to emerge. She still was a Sasuke fan-girl, but she accepted me as a leader and was determined to keep up with Sasuke and me.

"Sasuke. I'm not in the mood to bare your ego flaunting today. Keep it up and you will regret it," I warned Sasuke.

"What could you do to me?" Sasuke asked arrogantly.

"Do you really want to know?" I asked.

"Bring it! Then I'll beat you and Dawn will see what a looser you are, therefore dumping you and becoming my woman!" sneered Sasuke.

"Very well, but I am not responsible for any fighting that may be created from this," I said before placing my hands in the seal that created the Henge, and flooded it with chakra. "Kage Henge!" I called before a puff of smoke appeared around me.

***Third POV***

(Cue song Cell's Slow Theme by Bruce Faulconer from The Best of DragonBall Z, Vol. VI - The Lost Tracks of DBZ)

The smoke faded to reveal a sight that had Sasuke's eyes burn with anger, his hands curl into fists and for him to yell out in fury.

"Itachi!" roared Sasuke before charging 'Itachi'. 'Itachi' waited until Sasuke was only centimetres away before kicking Sasuke in the gut, causing him to fly straight into a tree. As soon as Sasuke sunk to the ground, 'Itachi' flashed next to Sasuke and grabbed his throat, pushing him further into the tree.

Sasuke looked up weakly into 'Itachi' eyes and saw the Sharingan burning into his own. Fear began to consume Sasuke. The same fear he had when the massacre happened. When he saw Itachi with those same eyes he saw now. 'Itachi' then knocked him out with a quick hit. Just before Sasuke sank into unconsciousness, 'Itachi' saw red iris' with three tomoe, two in one and one in the other, before they disappeared and the eyes closed.

'Itachi' groaned loudly before a puff of smoke sprang up around him and Josh reappeared from the dissipating smoke.

***First POV***

(Cue music silence)

"Damnit, I didn't mean for that to happen," I muttered as I dropped Sasuke onto the ground. I turned to my friends restraining one screaming Sakura, demanding retribution, among other things.

"Sakura shut up!" I yelled loudly, causing her to stop in shock. "I just did Sasuke a favour. Do you know of the Sharingan?" She nodded. "Well the only way Sasuke was going to unlock it was for him to experience significant emotional trauma. Seeing his brother, the one that wiped out the Uchiha clan, was the only way of doing this without ripping him a new one. Sasuke now has the Sharingan. I saw it just before he lost consciousness. So you should take him to the hospital, just in case. And I would appreciate if you didn't tell anyone what happened here. I'll let Kakashi know." And with that Dawn, Trunks and I left the training area.

(Cue song Comical World by Shiro Sagisu from BLEACH Original Soundtrack I)

The three of us walked through the streets of Konoha, heading towards the Hokage Tower with the intention of letting Hiruzen know of Dawn and Trunks' observation of Team 7 in the exams. I was busy talking to Trunks about training when we passed two women in the street. They seemed to be talking about me. They kept calling me, 'that thing'. Trunks heard as well and was about to go over there and tell them off but I pulled him back. I walked over and they immediately stopped talking.

"Excuse me," I said in a very polite voice, "but my name is not 'that thing'. Do you know what my name is?"

They looked at each other in slight confusion and fear before hesitantly replying, "Uzumaki Naruto?"

I shook my head before I leered at them evilly and said, "No. My name is Kyuubi! Got it memorized? K Y U U B I."

The reaction I received was priceless. Their eyes widened and began to back away before bolting and ran screaming down the road. I turned to my friends to see them laughing. "Nice Axel impersonation!" complimented Trunks as we slapped each other a high-five. I then began to do a jazzy shuffle down the road while singing, "Shuka shuka shuka, Feel Good! Shuka shuka shuka, Feel Good!"

(Cue song Kaze no Kuruma by Kajiura Yuki from Erementar Gerad OST 1)

For the next week we prepared for the Chunin Exam. I took it easy during training as I didn't want to strain myself and be unfit to enter the Exam when the time came. I now had the Rasengan and the Neo Kage Bunshin jutsus mastered. I gave up working on the Hiraishin, as there was no way I would be able to master it before the exams. I knew that I had to enter the dimensional void that summons use as corridors between the Summon Realm and the Physical Realm, which would then transport me instantly to the Hiraishin seal, but it was easier said than done. It was, to quote Shikamaru, troublesome.

So instead I spent some time in the Training Room and developed a new jutsu powered by Ki energy. Since learning the Hiraishin was impossible with the timeframe I had, I decided to create a 'portable' version of the Hiraishin. I called it, Ki Steps. I coat the bottom of my shoes with Ki energy and essentially levitate across the ground at almost instantaneous speeds. But it was a short-range jutsu only; 20 meters max per jump, and you had to see where you were going. It wasn't much but it was better than nothing. It would certainly give me an edge in the one on one battles.

The first time I saw Sasuke after the incident, he glared at me with such fury that I wouldn't be surprised if he shot lasers at me with his eyes. But he kept his temper under control. He spent the week training with Kakashi with his new Sharingan. Since Kakashi was busy, I helped train Sakura when I could. I taught her to fuel chakra into her arms and legs to enhance strength and speed. I told her to apply the tree walking exercise into running on the ground and she was surprised when the enhanced grip enabled her to run much faster. When augmented with the chakra pumping in her legs, she could become very speedy, above Chunin level anyway.

(Cue song Car24 by Yoko Kanno from Cowboy Bebop Original Soundtrack 1)

At one point, only two days before the start of the Exam, Dawn, Trunks and I were taking a day off to rest from training. Rex had joined us and was currently riding atop my head. Dawn was wearing her usual white outfit, looking quite beautiful in it. When all of a sudden a box that was poorly disguised as a rock, snuck up on us. I grinned to myself before Ki stepping behind the box and removing it to reveal three familiar kids.

"Hey Kono! How's it going?" I asked.

"Aww man! I thought we would get you good this time!" muttered Konohamaru.

"So who are your friends?" asked Dawn.

"Oh yeah! This is Moegi," the kid pointed to a girl Kono's age. She had her bright orange hair sticking up in two bag-like bunches. She wore a light pink shirt with a maroon shirt and cape over the top and tan brown pants. If I remembered correctly the 8 year old was the granddaughter of Koharu Utatane, one of Hiruzen's teammates and currently one of the old bats on the Konoha Council. This wasn't confirmed on the story but many rumours suggested this outcome.

"And this is Udon!" finished Konohamaru, pointing to his second friend. He had short brown hair, sleepy eyes, round glasses and a drip of snot coming out of his right nostril. He wore a long sleeved navy jacket and tan pants. Another rumour said that Udon was the kid of Hayate and Yùgao, but after meeting them a few months ago I learned the truth that he wasn't their child. Hayate and Yùgao were still dating. And there was no way those two would make such a nerdy looking kid. He or she would be a sword wielding badass.

"Hello guys! My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you," I said warmly to them. "This is my good friend Trunks and my girlfriend Dawn."

"Hello," they replied back.

"So what's up Kono?" I asked.

"Well you haven't played with us for a while. You've always been busy," complained the spiky brown haired kid. He now wore his scarf around his forehead to set his spiky hair in place.

"Sorry bout that. We've been training real hard since we've been nominated to enter the Chunin Exam in two days time. We were just relaxing before it started so we've got time now..." I trailed off as I noticed he was looking at something other than me.

"Is that a fox?" asked Konohamaru in apprehension.

I sighed. "Yes Kono, it's a fox. There's no need to be scared of him. Just because one fox attacked the village doesn't mean all foxes are bad. Do you think all humans are bad because one kid bullied you in the playground?"

Kono thought about it for a few moments before he smiled. "You're right! Can I hold him?"

I smiled and picked up Rex and placed him on the ground. The kit immediately jumped into Kono's arms and snuggled against his face.

"Wow! He's so soft!" Kono said softly as Moegi and Udon came over to pat him.

"His name is Rex," I supplied before we began to walk toward a park to relax in.

"So you learn anything new?" asked Kono.

"Yep!" I said before activating my Ki Steps. I flashed to the other side of Kono, waited for him to notice me and then flashed back to my original position.

"Wow! What was that?" the three kids all asked together.

"I call it Ki Steps. Using my bloodline powers to create Ki energy I coat Ki onto my feet and levitate slightly before 'skating' over the ground and appearing in a spot within eyesight and 20 meters almost instantaneously. You've heard of the famous Hiraishin?"

"I have," spoke up Udon. "It's supposed to be an instantaneous teleportation jutsu."

"That's right. Well Ki Steps is a scaled down version of that, fuelled by Ki energy," I finished.

"So cool!" whispered Kono in awe.

"It'll certainly give me the edge in the Chunin Exams," I noted.

(Cue song Vertigo High by Skankfunk from Air Gear Original Soundtrack 1)

It was at this point that we rounded a corner and Kono, who was slightly in front of me, ran straight into someone. He was sent to the ground with Rex bounding out of his arms and ran over to us. I looked to see that it was Kankurō that Kono had crashed into. Kankurō wore a black, baggy, full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front. He also wore a black hood with cat-like ears and his forehead protector on his forehead. This hood covered his hair completely. He also sported triangular face paint around his face.

Next to him was the beautiful but deadly Temari. Temari had dark teal eyes and blond hair, which was gathered into four pigtails arranged around her head. Her outfit consisted of a single light purple-coloured garment that extended from below her shoulders to halfway down her thighs, with a scarlet sash tied around her waist. In addition to incorporating fishnet worn over her shoulders and legs, specifically on her right calf and her left thigh, she also wore her headband around her neck.

"Ow..." grumbled the kid as he rubbed his head.

"Why you little brat!" said Kankurō as he reached down to grab Kono, but just as he was about to haul him up, I Ki Stepped and was able to get Kono out of reach of him. Kankurō's hand grasped at nothing and he blinked before looking up to where I had appeared.

"Ah! Suna ninja. I guess you decided to play outside your sandbox and enter the Chunin Exams huh?" I asked.

"That's right, and I owe that kid a lesson so if you know what's good for you you'll hand him back over," he growled.

"Oh no. I am really scared," I deadpanned. "This is my scared face." I then gave Kankurō a flat look. In response he growled and removed the package from his back that was wrapped in bandages.

"Kankurō, you know we shouldn't fight here," said Temari.

"You should listen to your friend as you're in someone else's backyard," I said. "You have no idea who's strong and who is not. I could be as strong as a god or as weak as a newborn, but can you really afford to take that risk? You know nothing of me and a lack of information will get you killed."

Kankurō simply slammed his package onto the ground. "You bark loudly, but I hate punks like you who show off!" he growled.

"I'm not barking," I said calmly. "Just warning you, that's all. But if you persist then I'll have no choice but to disarm you. By the way, are you gay?"

Kankurō facefaulted while Temari and Dawn giggled. Trunks simply developed a shit eating grin. "What the fuck was that all about!" yelled Kankurō as he stood back up.

"Well it's just you've got makeup all over your face. You've even got lipstick and eyeshadow on. That yells 'gay!' to everyone," I answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

"IT'S NOT MAKEUP! IT'S WARPAINT! THERE'S A DIFFERENCE!" roared Kankurō. Then he stopped instantly and gulped as he was staring at the edge of Hidden Avenger as it was inches away from his throat.

"You let your anger get the best of you and you let your guard down. You won't last very long in the Chunin Exams," I added. From out of the corner of my eye I saw Temari's hand inch toward the large battle fan she had strapped to her back. In an instant Trunks was behind her with his sword drawn and positioned at her neck.

"I wouldn't do anything rash now. We're not your enemy, but we will humiliate you if you continue. Now I'll give you two choices. Either stand down and we go our separate ways, no strings attached. Or we'll do something particularly evil to you. Your choice." I made sure my evil grin was in full view to show that I was serious on my promise.

There was a tense moment before Temari relaxed and her hand moved back down. "Kankurō, he's right. We didn't come here to start a fight. Like it or not we are at their mercy right now." Kankurō looked at the point of the sword poised at his neck before he too relaxed.

(Cue music silence)

"Wise choice," I said before both I and Trunks flashed back to where we were standing a few minutes ago. I deactivated the sword, making sure it was out of sight as the blade deconstructed itself before the handle disappeared back into the device around my wrist. Trunks threw his sword into the air and it spiralled up then down. He leaned to the side and the sword slid smoothly into the sheath; all the while smiling.

"Well, we'll see you three in the exam," I said and they looked confused before a third person joined Temari and Kankurō in a swirl of sand.

He had pale skin and short, spiky hair that is brick-red. HisGaara's eyes were spindrift, a mix between turquoise and sea foam green. The pupils of his eyes were mostly invisible. He had no eyebrows either. He had two very notable traits in his outward appearance: firstly, he had tanuki-like black eye rings. Secondly, he had a kanji tattoo, 'love', on the left side of his forehead. He wore a black full body suit with t-shirt-like sleeves, ¾-length pants, and an open neck. With this, he wore a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips, and a wide leather band system over the left shoulder and right side of his hips. With this leather band, he carried around a large gourd. He also wrapped his forehead protector over the band.

The boy looked at me. "What is your name?" he asked emotionlessly.

"It's polite to give your own name before asking," I replied.

The boy paused. "Subaku no Gaara."

'Of the Funk!' I grinned mentally, thinking of something I watched on YouTube. "That's a long name. I'll just call you Gaara for now. The names Uzumaki Naruto," I replied, smiling in what I hoped was a friendly manner.

Gaara simply nodded before he turned away and began to walk down the street away from us. Kankurō turned as well and Temari paused to look at me before hurrying after her brothers.

"Phew!" I said. "Glad that's over with. It was a bit tense there." I then turned to the three 8 year olds. "Sorry Kono, but we need to cut off our park time. We'll do this another day. Right now we need to prepare for the day after tomorrow."

"Ok Josh-nii-san," replied Konohamaru before he and his friends ran up the street, waving as they left.

"So what were you going to do if they resisted?" asked Dawn curiously.

"I would of knocked them out, stripped them of all their clothes, and then, with Rex's help, cast a genjustu on them to make them think that they were still dressed," I grinned evilly. Dawn mirrored my grin. "You really are gaining a foxy prankster personality."

"Why thank you my lady," I bowed to her.

[Cue song WRO March by Masashi Hamauzu from DIRGE of CERBERUS -FINAL FANTASY VII- Original Soundtrack (DISC-1)]

As soon as we arrived back home I noticed a familiar black Kitsuné waiting for me at the front gate, chatting to Zack and Cloud. As soon as he noticed me, which was when I was still halfway up the long walkway from the road to the Kitsuné Chateau, he transformed into his hanyou form.

"Commander," bowed the fox.

"Capitan Yamu," I responded.

"My subordinates have located the three targets. They are currently gathering info on them as we speak. I will have the results in a week," reported Capitan Yamu.

"Very good. Dismissed," I replied. The fox nodded before he disappeared in a swirl of black shadows.

AN: Reviews up my loyal fans. Review and I shall deliver.