The big day had finally arrived. It was time for the chunin exam finals. Naruto got up early to do some warmups, but realized something was wrong. His clothes didn't fit him properly; his jacket barely reached his wrist and his pants didn't even come close to his ankles.

Naruto decided it was time for a new pair of clothing. He went out to get a new outfit, even though he knew the villagers would overprice it. He decided to go to very popular clothing shop that only elites would go to. He made tons of money from completing missions and killing mobs in dungeons.

Naruto couldn't pick out an outfit, so instead he made a custom one. He ordered for a black jacket with an orange hoodie, a white muscle t-shirt that had an orange Uzumaki symbol on it, and black Anbu style pants with two shuriken pouches. He also asked for fingerless gloves and new black sandals to add to the odd style.

Naruto ordered five of each, and he gave the store his measurements. After paying 300,000 Ryo, the clerk said it would be ready in three hours, just in time for the exam.

All the participants had arrived, expect for Naruto and Sasuke. They had a couple minutes left until the event started, and there was no sign of either of them showing up. That was until they saw someone walking quickly towards the stadium from the entrance.

"Sorry, proctor. I was a bit late because I had to pick up my clothes." Naruto explained. The villagers had obviously taken their time to deliver them. He was wearing his new clothes, though he had his black jacket unzipped to reveal the Uzumaki symbol on his white muscle shirt. He was now 5'4, which was pretty impressive for a 12 year old. He wasn't incredibly good-looking, but he wasn't bad either.

As soon as he reached the other candidates, Naruto immediately noticed that there was a different proctor. The new proctor, Genma Shiranui, nodded and told him to stand next to Shikamaru.

"Hey, Shikamaru!"

"Hm? Hey, Naruto."

"Ya know, I was planning on having this epic entrance. But then I thought it would too troublesome, ya know?" Naruto told his lazy friend. Shikamaru grinned.

"You're learning. The art of laziness is hard to master, young one." Shikamaru joked. They laughed like a bunch of idiots, but the proctor immediately ruined their fun.

"Shut up, you two. Stand up straight and face the crowd."

"What a party-pooper..." Naruto mumbled.

They complied anyway, and faced the crowd. Naruto was a bit surprised from the amount of people there. There were feudal lords and other important people. But as he was looking around, he saw Sakura, Ino, Kurenai, Hinata, Kiba, Asuma, Guy and Lee together. He waved at them, and they happily waved back.

He then noticed that Sasuke wasn't here. But he couldn't dwell on it for long since the Sandaime had something to say.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Chunin Exam Tournament! We will now begin the tournament with the eight that have passed the preliminaries! Please enjoy yourselves!"

'Eight? So did Dosu get eliminated, or did Sasuke?' Naruto wondered. The proctor answered his question however.

"Before we start this tournament, here are the new matches." Genma brought out a piece of paper, showing the new matchups.

Naruto Uzumaki VS Neji Hyuuga

Gaara of the Desert VS Sasuke Uchiha

Shino Aburame VS Kankuro

Temari VS Shikamaru Nara

"What happened? Did Dosu die, or what?" Naruto asked curiously. At the other side of the line of participants, Gaara smirked, which only Temari picked up on.

'Did...did Gaara actually kill that sound ninja?' Temari asked herself fearfully.

The proctor simply ignored Naruto's question though, and instead told them the rules.

"The arena may be different, but the rules are the same as the preliminaries; the match will end when a candidate dies or gives. I will also stop the match if necessary, so I expect no arguments. The first match will be...Naruto Uzumaki versus Neji Hyuuga. Everyone else, please go to the spectator area." Genma told them. Naruto and Neji stayed at the centre of the arena, while the rest went to their designated area.

"Do you think Naruto will win?" Ino asked the group. They were all unsure, but Hinata hoped that he would. All the ninja that saw the preliminaries were looking forward to match, wondering if Naruto could actually pull it off again.

"If anyone can do it, it's Naruto." Sakura said confidently. The others just nodded, and focused on the match.

At the opposite side of the arena was Hiashi Hyuuga and Hanabi Hyuuga. They obviously had to disagree.

"Watch carefully, Hanabi. There is no Hyuuga that has inherited the Byakugan as strong as him. He easily surpasses both you and your sister." Hiashi said, shocking the younger Hyuuga. They both carefully observed Neji, thinking that he had already won the match.

Orochimaru, disguised as the Kazekage, was looking intently at Naruto. As soon as he saw him, he felt a weird aura around him. He immediately knew he was different from before.

Neji and Naruto stood across from each other. The atmosphere was intense, and they both had no intention of losing. Naruto used this opportunity to observe him.

Name: Neji Hyuuga

Class: Hyuuga Branch Family Genin

Level: Lv55

HP: 180,000

CP: 60,000

STR: 75

STM: 60

DEX: 50

INT: 70

WIS: 70

LUK: 175

Elemental Affinity: Earth

Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan

'So he still has that incredible LUK, huh? I remember whenever he landed an attack on Hinata that a "Critical Hit" text would appear. I guess higher LUK means that he would get more critical hits. That LUK may be a problem...' Naruto thought a bit worriedly. The proctor didn't give him a chance to come up with a plan however, as he immeaditely initiated the match.

"Begin!"

Naruto looked at Neji, trying to come up with a plan, before realizing something.

"You look like you want to say something..." Neji stated confidently.

"Kinda..I just realized that...I'm taller than you!" Naruto exclaimed. He used his hands to show the difference. He was at least an inch taller than him.

'Finally...I'm not the shortest anymore...' Naruto thought happily.

"Hmph. Make jokes while you can. I'll be sure to knock that grin away soon!"

Neji charged at Naruto with his Byakugan fully activated. The prodigy knew he couldn't hold back against him.

Naruto simply grinned as he easily caught Neji's gentle fist strike. He tightened his grip on Neji's hand, almost crushing it. He then kneed Neji in the stomach, stunning him, and roundhouse-kicked him in the face, sending him flying into one of the stadium's trees. Naruto blinked, a bit surprised at his own strength. He was used to mercilessly killing mobs and monsters, not regular ninjas.

Neji slowly stood up and angrily looked at Naruto. He took a deep breath, calming himself down, and went into his gentle fist stance. He waited for Naruto to make a move.

Naruto looked at Neji, and realized that he switched from offense to defense.

'Smart.' Naruto knew that Neji's Byakugan allowed him to easily see his movements. And he was probably used to high-speeds too, since he trained with speedsters such as Lee and Guy.

'I'll just have to overpower him...' Naruto thought. He sprinted towards Neji, summoning twenty shadow clones along with him. All of them, expect the original, jumped at Neji. Neji smirked, and spinned around, somehow creating a chakra barrier.

"Rotation!"

The chakra barrier, known as Rotation (or Raiten), deflected and destroyed the clones. The move had put Hiashi into awe; how had a child of the branch family used the Eight-TriGrams: Palm Rotation?

Naruto was slightly impressed, but his spirit didn't waver. He was still confident that he could beat him.

"Pretty good, Neji...but do you wanna see something cool?" Naruto asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Prepare to witness a legendary jutsu, passed down by-"

"Just do it!" Neji interrupted impatiently. He wasn't here to play around, he was here to fight!

"So many party-poopers..." Naruto mumbled. Neji growled, having enough of his jokes.

"Okay, okay, fine! Here goes...Rasengan!"

Naruto held out his hand, forming a ball of chakra. In his one year of training, his rasengan had become very powerful, becoming as potent as Jiraiya's. He had even created multiple variations of it. But he didn't plan to use them just yet.

The crowd, however, had their jaws on the floor. The ninjas especially, as that was their beloved Yondaime's signature jutsu.

'Who taught him that?' Was the collective thought of the higher ranking ninjas. They were at the edge of their seats, waiting to see what he would do. The younger ninjas were a bit confused however.

"What is that jutsu?" Lee asked his teacher.

"That's the Rasengan. A jutsu only used by the Yondaime and Lord Jiraiya. It's incredibly hard to learn. It took the Yondaime 3 years to make it." Guy explained. The genins were a bit surprised, and carefully looked at Naruto's new jutsu.

Naruto grinned at everyone's reaction, and charged at Neji, who was already preparing his own defense.

"Rotation!"

"Rasengan!"

The two jutsus clashed, a huge explosion consuming the arena. The shockwave was enough to blind the crowd. All that was left was dust, and the winner.

Neji stood in front of the beaten Naruto, who was on the ground.

"My Rotation counters almost any jutsu. You had no chance." Neji stated proudly. Genma was about to call the match, before Naruto just...popped into smoke.

"Wow! You actually beat my clone! Not bad..." Naruto complimented as he revealed himself behind a tree.

Neji just looked at him in shock and fear. He used all of his chakra on Rotation to counter Naruto's Rasengan, but knowing that it was only a clone...

Neji swallowed his fear and charged at Naruto with whatever energy he had left. Naruto immediately turned serious, his change in demeanour not going unnoticed by the higher ranking ninja.

He easily dodged all of Neji's gentle fist attacks. His attacks were much slower than before, so he was able to easily dodge and slap them away.

Naruto found a small opening and punched Neji in the ribs as hard as he could, before finishing him off with a kick in the exact same spot. The audience heard a loud crack, and knew it was over. Neji slid across the arena and collapsed onto the his knees, seemingly unable to continue. Naruto walked over to the lowered Neji, wanting to say something to him.

"You're a strong guy, Neji, so I was disappointed when I found out you believed in this stupid destiny crap. Quit it and move on, so next time, we can fight for fun and without all this talk." Naruto said, before turning around, waiting for the final verdict.

Neji gritted his teeth together, holding his ribs in pain. "You...you know nothing."

Naruto turned around, looking intently him. "I don't. So explain it to me until I do."

Neji growled, slowly standing up, and walking up to him with shaky legs. "My father..." he muttered in pain, "...died due those in the Main House...it was an incident that involved the kidnapping of Lady Hinata, and my father paid the price...and I'm supposed to live with that?" Neji asked in disbelief. "I can't even...even move up to the Main Family no matter how hard I try or how long I work. The reason...?" Neji asked almost no one.

"...it was simply due to my heritage...my parents, my father...something that I can't control, no matter what I do. That is how and why destiny exists. There will always be things that you cannot control, but the one who controls all those things you cannot...is destiny." Neji concluded, stopping his slow walk right in front of Naruto.

"I see, and you used Hinata as your scapegoat, right? Someone who was in the Main Household, someone who represents your pain, and who was directly involved in the killing of you father." Naruto summed up quite simply. Neji nodded slowly.

"Well, now that'll all be over. No more hatred for you. No more hatred toward Hinata." Naruto said, making Neji growl.

"What can you do!? My hatred-"

"-will now be directed towards me." Naruto cut in. "I'll take everything you hate, all your agony. I assume you wanna defeat anyone who stands in the way of protecting Hinata and the Main Household, right? Well, I'll take it. I'm more than capable.."

Neji's eyes were covered darkly, and he suddenly took his headband off, revealing a green curse mark with an odd symbol. "...this curse on my forehead...it's something brought to all males that are not in the Main House. Do you know how that feels? To have a stamp on your head from something you didn't even do or want?"

Naruto's eyes suddenly softened. "Oh, yeah...I definitely know how that feels..." Naruto said nostalgically, making Neji blink in surprise. Gaara also narrowed his eyes, listening to the conversation in curiosity. "Well, come on, who cares? You're not the only special one around here, Neji."

Neji growled angrily. "What did you-!"

"Everyone goes through pain, even Hinata." Naruto stated, much to the surprise of Neji and even the watching Hinata in the stands. "Your reasons for almost killing her make sense to a certain extent, and I don't outright blame you for doing it, but that still doesn't give you the right to hurt her the way you did. It wasn't as if it was her fault she was born in the Main House, or if the kidnapping was from her will. It wasn't." Naruto said firmly, leaving almost no arguments from Neji.

"I'm pretty she was also hurting whenever you were, feeling bad for something you both couldn't control. And now that you mention it, in that aspect, you two are similar." Naruto said, sounding ignorant in Neji's ears and making him snap.

"Quiet!" Neji roared, activating his Byakugan and charging right at Naruto even though one of his ribs was cracked. Naruto didn't visibly react; Neji's reaction was predictable and it made sense.

Because of that, Naruto simply side-stepped Neji's powerful gentle fist strike, and elbowed him in the back of the neck, forcing the prodigy to fall down face-down. Naruto looked at Neji's face-planted head, which was slowly turning towards him angrily.

"You know, you're incredible and you have a lot of my respect." Naruto said sincerly, making Neji's eyes widen. "Unlike me, you're a genius. So stop believing in this fate crap. You're better than that. Telling people that they can't do something is stupid. And I think that..." Naruto paused, almost unsure, "...you're also trying to defy fate. I hope the next we meet, you'll be a better person." Naruto walked away, already knowing the final verdict.

"Winner, Naruto Uzumaki!"

The crowd had exploded, clapping and cheering for the winner. The match had been incredible. No one expected Naruto to win against the Hyuuga prodigy so easily. All of Naruto's friends cheered for him loudly. And even though she wasn't outwardly cheering, Hinata was really happy. Naruto scratched the back of his head, a bit embarrassed.

'That was kinda embarrassing...and cool. I was acting like a hero or something.' Naruto thought, before quickly walking to where Shikamaru and Shino were.

"That was pretty awesome, Naruto! Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?" Shikamaru asked curiously. Even Shino was interested in the conversation.

"It's natural talent." Naruto answered playfully.

"Natural talent? From the dead last? That's hard to believe." Shikamaru joked. They laughed, and waited for the next match. However, Sasuke wasn't here yet.

"The guy is obviously trying to build up his match, and do this epic entrance. I bet you a million ryo it'll happen!" Naruto said to his peers, who agreed with him. It was part of Sasuke's nature to act cool.

The Hokage and Kazekage decided to postpone Gaara and Sasuke's match. They sent the message to the proctor, who then informed everyone of the change.

"Ladies and gentlemen! An examinee has not arrived yet, so we will be delaying the next match. Instead, we will carry on the third match. Kankuro versus Shino!"

"Nope! I quit!" Kankuro immediately said, annoying everyone in the arena. There was no way he would reveal his puppet techniques so soon. They needed to be in peak performance, while also having Gaara go first.

"...fine. Shikamaru Nara and Temari. You two are up." Genma said impatiently. Everyone was here to watch battles between ninjas, not battles from cowards. And it certainly wouldn't help any of their villages if none of their ninjas fought.

'I think I should just quit like the last guy...' Shikamaru thought lazily before hearing the most menacing voice he had ever heard.

"I swear to god Shikamaru, if you quit, no medic ninja alive will be able to fix what I do to you." Naruto threatened, somehow reading his mind. Shikamaru gulped, and immediately sprinted down to face Temari.

'What a scary guy! I'd rather face her than him...'

"Begin!"

The first thing Shikamaru did was...run behind a tree.

Temari sweat dropped, but instantly turned serious when she saw a shadow coming towards her. She leaped back until the shadow stopped extending, and marked the limit.

'15m and 32cm is the limit of his shadow. That's, of course, assuming the stage wall is extending it.' Temari calculated. She prepared her fan and used her signature jutsu.

"Wind Scythe Jutsu!" A huge burst of wind was created from her fan, slightly cutting the trees. Shikamaru had to keep himself behind the tree to avoid any damage.

After the attack was over, Temari looked around to find Shikamaru, but instead saw shurikens being thrown at her. She easily blocked the shurikens with her fan, but then saw Shikamaru's Shadow Possession Jutsu. She smirked, confident that it wouldn't reach her.

But she was wrong.

The shadow kept extending, causing her to leap back in surprise. She barely avoided his shadow and looked at Shikamaru in anger, who was noticeably missing his jacket.

"I see what you're trying to do. You're buying time so that the sun sets more. The more the sun sets, the longer the shadow of the stadium, which will in turn lengthen your shadow. Pretty clever, I must say." Temari smirked at the challenge, not noticing the object over her.

"Temari, look out!" Kankuro warned loudly.

Temari looked up, and saw a kunai being held in the air by Shikamaru's jacket. She realized that it was creating a shadow, and immediately jumped back. Shikamaru used the jacket's shadow to extend his jutsu even more.

Temari kept jumping back, trying her best to avoid the shadow. However, after ten metres, the limit of Shikamaru' shadow had finally reached, and Temari realized she needed to end it soon.

'His shadow will extending if I keep the battle going. Meaning, I have to finish it now. First, I'll create a clone and use it as a diversion. Then, once it's caught by his shadow, I'll come in and finish him off.' Temari planned. She started forming hand seals and created a clone. The clone ran towards Shikamaru, and as planned, he caught the clone in his shadow.

Temari smirked, and jumped at Shikamaru with her fan, smashing him. But she blinked in surprise when her fan went right through him, and into the ground. Temari tried picking her fan back up, but realized that she couldn't move.

"Shadow Possession, complete." Shikamaru said confidently from behind.

"What the...!? How!?" Temari demanded.

"It was quite simple, really. I knew that you would get impatient and try attacking me directly. So, I prepared myself for that and made a regular clone. But to be honest, I didn't expect you to also make a clone, but it worked out in the end, so it's fine." Shikamaru explained.

"You...you...!"

"You've got your back turned, and I can just throw this shuriken to finish you off. Give up." Shikamaru said, prepared to give the final blow. Temari couldn't move, and only had one option.

"I...I...I give up." Temari hesitantly said.

"Winner, Shikamaru Nara!" Genma announced. The crowd had once again exploded. The leaf ninja were surprised at Shikamaru's win, and cheered loudly for him. As Shikamaru reached the candidate's area, Naruto patted him on the back.

"Nice win, Shikamaru! Looks like the outcasts are proving themselves, eh?" Naruto said happily. In the inside though, he was shocked. Temari was level 46, yet Shikamaru, who was level 35, won against her. That's a 11 level difference, yet he still somehow won.

'Shikamaru's intelligence is not to be messed with. Seriously.' Naruto thought, very impressed.

Shikamaru just sighed, though.

'I wanted to give up, but I knew Naruto would've killed me. Man, this is so troublesome, I'm out of chakra now...' Shikamaru thought lazily. Of course, the older ninjas were already rating his performance, and comparing it to Naruto's.

"Shikamaru possesses quick decision-making skills and leadership. That's perfect for a chunin. Too bad he's not motivated, or else he would be more fit for the job." Asuma said aloud.

"How about Naruto?" Sakura asked the jounins.

"Hard to say, really. He's obviously much flashier than Shikamaru. But I couldn't really gauge anything off his match against Neji. He was just holding back too much." Asuma told the genin.

Temari, on the other hand, was being scolded by his brother and sensei.

"How could you lose, Temari? Now, we might not get as many clients for the village!" Kankuro berated.

"Well, first of all, I didn't use my full power! Plus, the invasion matter more!" Temari snapped back. Of course, the siblings kept bickering. Gaara had no interest in their argument, and was instead just waiting for Sasuke to arrive.

The next match was Sasuke's, but there was still no sign of him. Naruto was growing impatient.

"This guy is actually starting to annoy me..." Naruto said, speaking for most of the crowd and genins.

Most people were growing restless and wanted the match. The Sandaime decided that Sasuke had 10 minutes, or else he would be eliminated. The sand genin were worried that Gaara killed Sasuke, just like he did with Dosu.

Of course, just as Genma's watch ticked to ten minutes, Sasuke showed up with Kakashi. Predictably, they arrived in a swirl of leaves with their backs to eachother. Naruto just sighed at both their lateness and flashiness.

"Name?" Genma asked, even though he knew who he was.

"Sasuke Uchiha." He replied cooly.

"Sorry to ask this, but is he disqualified?" Kakashi asked worriedly. Genma shook his head.

"No. You made it just in time." Genma answered. Kakashi sighed, and put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Well, good luck." Kakashi shunshined to where Guy and the others were. Naruto and Shikamaru followed him shortly.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said, walking up to him.

"Hey, Naruto...wait, have you gotten taller?" Kakashi asked. He was a lot taller than he was before.

"Nope, you just got shorter. Anyways, what did you teach Sasuke? Some cool new jutsus or what?" Naruto asked, curious to know what Sasuke learned.

"We were training until the last minute, but you'll just have to wait and see..." Kakashi said ominously. Naruto didn't want to wait, and immediately observed both contestants. "Observe." He muttered as quietly as possible.

Name: Sasuke Uchiha

Class: Uchiha Genin

Level: Lv53

HP: 150,000

CP: 65,000

STR: 100

STM: 55

DEX: 120

INT: 50

WIS: 50

LUK: 40

Elemental Affinity: Fire, Lightning

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan

'Sasuke's gotten a lot stronger! But he's still weaker than me, and even Neji.' Naruto commented, before moving on to Gaara, who was shaking in excitement to fight.

"Observe."

Name: Gaara of the Desert

Class: Suna Gennin Jinchuriki

Level: Lv55

HP: 90,000

CP: 200,000

STR: 10

STM: 30

DEX: 10

INT: (60-40)20

WIS: (50-40)10

LUK: 40

Elemental Affinity: Wind, Earth

Kekkei Genkai: Magnet

Special Ability: Sand Manipulation

Status Effect: Madness (-40 for INT & WIS)

'His status effect has gotten worse...from -20 to -40!' Naruto exclaimed. 'Sasuke could use that to his advantage. But more importantly, I wonder how Gaara got so much stronger? Was because of the tailed beast in him?' Naruto wondered, before realizing something else. 'Huh? Neji and Gaara are both around the same level...I wonder who would've won if they fought each other.' Naruto pondered about the hypothetical battle for a second, before focusing back on the match.

The two opponents faced off against each other, eager to prove themselves.

"Begin!"

Gaara, being the crazy guy he was, started talking to himself. He held his head, as if something was in his head.

"Don't get so mad, mother...I know I made you absorb...foul blood last time...but this time...but this time...it'll taste better..." Gaara said insanely. He took off the cork on his gourd, which released sand that surrounded him protectively.

'What is this guy talking about...?' Naruto and Sasuke both thought.

Gaara slowly composed himself, and was ready for battle again. Sasuke threw a couple shuriken, but Gaara's sand easily blocked them. But as soon as that happened, Sasuke flashed behind Gaara, and punched him in the face, sending him flying.

Of course, Gaara's sand cushioned his landing, and all Sasuke really did was crack his armour of sand. Gaara slowly stood up from the floating sand, his armour also repairing itself. Naruto was a bit surprised at his style of fighting.

'Interesting...so he uses the sand for defense...I wonder if uses it for offense too?' Naruto wondered, genuinely interested in the fight.

Gaara raised his hands towards Sasuke, sending his sand right at him. However, Sasuke disappeared again, avoiding if completely. Gaara growled, and before he knew it, was hit in the face once again.

Sasuke kept disappearing in Gaara's eyes, and his sand just couldn't keep up. Sasuke was able to land a couple hits, but they didn't really do any significant damage. As Naruto watched the fight, he realized what Kakashi did.

"I see. So you used Sasuke's sharingan to copy my moves, right?" Naruto asked, already knowing the answer.

"Hehe. Yeah, we did." Kakashi admitted sheepishly. Naruto sighed in disappointment.

"That was pretty stupid of you. His body can barely handle going at that level of speed. He'll run out of stamina before he can actually do any damage." Naruto told Kakashi. His sensei just shook his head.

"That wasn't the main reason why we had him build up speed. There was something else, just you wait." Kakashi told him confidently.

Gaara and Sasuke were at a stalemate, neither losing ground. Sasuke tried to do damage, but Gaara kept his armour up to nullify all damage. But because it took so much chakra, Gaara had to resort to his final defense.

Gaara quickly enveloped himself with his sand like a shell, making it more dense and hard. Sasuke tried stopping him, though.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Sasuke released a small barrage of fire balls, but they couldn't do anything to Gaara's sand.

'I didn't know sand could be this strong...looks like I'll have to use that!' Sasuke thought, jumping on the stadium wall. He closed his eyes, before quickly opening them again, revealing the Sharingan with two tomoes in one eye, and three in the other. Sasuke then formed some hand seals, and held out his hand under him.

Suddenly, lightning appeared in Sasuke's hand, creating the distinct sound of a thousand birds chirping. Guy immeaditely recognised the technique.

"So you taught him Chidori, huh? First Naruto, now him? You're teaching your students some dangerous techniques." Guy said seriously.

"Looks who's talking. You're the one who taught Lee the eight gates. And what do you mean Naruto? I didn't teach him anything like that!" Kakashi snapped back.

"I think he's talking about the Rasengan." Naruto answered.

"The Rasengan!? When!? How!?" Kakashi demanded. Naruto just shrugged. He really didn't want to explain.

"I'll tell you later. Let's focus on the match first, I think Sasuke's about to make his move." Naruto said, getting everyone's attention back on the match.

Sasuke sprinted down, his new lightning jutsu in hand. The sphere around Gaara tried stopping him by creating spikes, but Sasuke easily saw through them and avoided them quite easily. Sasuke thrusted his jutsu at the sand sphere, creating a hole in it. Sasuke smirked, thinking he won. But then, Gaara screamed.

"BLOOD! MY BLOOD!" Gaara screamed in desperate pain. Sasuke felt something grab his arm, and tried pulling back. He used a bit of lightning chakra, and was able to pull his arm back from the shell. But as Sasuke did that, he also dragged Shukaku's arm out.

All the spectators looked in shock as they saw the demon's arm. But luckily, the arm quickly went back into the shell. Naruto felt knots in his stomach, thinking that something bad was about to happen.

Afterwards, the sand shell broke, revealing Gaara. But this time, Gaara was wounded, evident from the blood coming from his shoulder.

'Me...I'm...I'm injured...' Gaara thought in complete surprise and fear.

Suddenly, light pink feathers started floating down from the sky, putting everyone to sleep. Of course, Naruto didn't fall for it.

"Kai!" Naruto released a decent bit of chakra, and broke the genjutsu. The higher ranking ninjas also did the same. However, not everyone was able to counter it, and most of the genin fell asleep.

Immediately after, smoke engulfed the kage's box. The Kazekage, or Orochimaru in disguise, grabbed the Sandaime and took him to the roof.

Giant snakes were also summoned. They positioned themselves around Konoha's perimeter, and were to set to destroy the village from the outside.

Everyone knew the invasion had finally begun.

The Anbu immediately went after their hokage, but it was too late.

"Four Violet Flames Formation!"

Four sound ninja casted, creating a violet barrier around Orochimaru and the Sandaime. An Anbu tried getting in, but as soon as he touched the barrier, his body burned up. All the leaf ninja could only look in fear as their leader was being held captive by the Kazekage. Of course, the Sandaime knew who the Kazekage really was.

"Take off that mask, Orochimaru. I don't think I taught you to be a coward."

"Hmph. And I tried so hard to be secretive..." Orochimaru said as he took off his face mask. He then let go of the Sandaime, and the two began to battle.

On the other hand, the jounins were protecting the people in the stadium. Kakashi and Guy had their backs to each other, easily taking down the sound ninjas.

"I'm worried about the Sandaime. Orochimaru will no doubt go after his head." Guy said to his rival.

"The Sandaime is our hokage, so have some faith in him. But we do have to be worried about something. Sasuke went after Gaara, and he's apparently a part of the invasion. We'll have to send someone after him." Kakashi said, kicking a sound ninja in the face.

Naruto was also fighting, using Rasengans to completely destroy his opponents. But there were too many of them, so Naruto decided to even up the odds.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Immediately, a hundred and fifty Naruto clones were summoned. All the clones charged at the sound and sand ninja, giving the leaf ninjas a break.

"How do you like them apples!?" The original Naruto shouted. Kakashi suddenly had an idea.

"Naruto! I'm assigning you an A-rank mission! Leave your clones here, and go after Sasuke!" Kakashi ordered.

"Huh? But what about you?" Naruto asked.

"I have to stay here, but take Sakura and Shikamaru with you! Also..." Kakashi quickly got some blood and started forming hand seals. He put his hand on the ground, creating smoke and summoning a dog.

"Take Pakkun with you. He'll lead you to Sasuke. I'm counting on you!"

Naruto nodded and quickly grabbed Sakura, who somehow didn't fall for the genjutsu. They went up to Shikamaru, and Naruto instantly knew he was faking because he didn't have the "Genjutsu Effect" on him. When Sakura also realized this too, Pakkun bit his arm, immediately waking him up.

"Why the hell were you sleeping, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked, his eye twitching.

"Tch! I didn't want to get involved. I don't even care about Sasuke." Shikamaru said. Naruto just sighed.

"Well, whatever. I'm going!" Naruto said, forming a rasengan in his hand to break the wall. He leaped through the wall, with Sakura following him. Pakkun bit Shikamaru's arm again, and dragged him through. Guy and Kakashi watched them go, stopping anyone who tried going after them.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Guy asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, they have Naruto. Plus, he has the Kyuubi as a last resort." Kakashi answered. Even though that was the case, Kakashi was still worried. He could only hope that they could find Sasuke in time...

Omake

Sasuke and Kakashi arrived in a swirl of leaves, shocking most of the crowd.

"Name?" Genma asked.

"Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke answered cooly.

"Well sorry, Sasuke, but you're eliminated. Better luck next time." Genma said dully. Everyone went quiet, not believing what they heard. Gaara was fuming, almost prepared to release Shukaku.

"So...about that one million ryo?" Naruto asked selfishly.