Chapter XXI

Hey everybody, like I said here's the next chapter of the story. This'll be the last one right in a row after this I'm going to be alternating between a chapter of this and a chapter of Rise so just know that the time between chapters will increase just a little bit but since I'm no longer doing three stories at a time it'll be quicker than before. So I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. I'd like to thank my coauthors ncpfan and Jose19. So just be aware that a few more changes will be coming, but anyway let's get on to reviewer responses, shall we?

blue-hart: I've actually had no intentions of including the Demon Ashikabi storyline and it's a little late to include it now. Oh don't worry, the match between them will be much better than canon since they're both much stronger, much more skilled and just generally heads and shoulders above their canon counterparts. I hoped people would enjoy the bit with Katsuragi, it wasn't anything big but I think it fit her personality.

Lord Hessen: I can't really answer any of your questions in a reviewer response, if you really want to know you can PM me about it and I'll tell you everything you want to know about the story, but there are those who don't like spoilers, most of the readers, and I don't want to spoil the story anymore than necessary.

Dragon Man 180: Naruto won't really need Matsu's help in the first stage, I've got an interesting way around that particular problem, plus there just isn't much the Sekirei can do in the first stage. It'll be a while before Satellizer finishes the cloak but it'll be similar to Minato's but will be his own thing. I've already figured out the design for it too.

dregus: You think well, won't confirm or deny your idea but you're definitely using your head on the story.

MattMC3: I really enjoy writing their interactions as well since Kurama can be just as violent as he wants since Menma is effectively immortal. Sadly there isn't much of that here but there will be more in the future. I had thought about the mushroom cloud thing but I wanted the scene to be just a little sweeter than that.

Lazy: So? If I enjoy making the story what does it matter? I like what I write and write what I like, so if something is cliche I apologize because I write my story in a vacuum unless I find something I like.

Markus-Antonius: Well here it is.

Well I'd say that does it for the reviewer responses so I'll let you guys get on to the actual story.

Team Seven approached the doors that led to the Chunin Exam hall.

They stopped, however, when a burst of smoke erupted from in front of the door.

As the smoke dispersed, it revealed Kakashi within.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura said in confusion.

Kakashi nodded and then said, "Glad you came, Sakura."

"What do you mean sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Since you're all here you can officially register for the Chunin Exams," Kakashi said plainly.

"Wait, what? I'm really confused now," Sakura mumbled.

Kakashi sighed and said, "There's a rule in the Chunin Exams that's been there since the beginning, only groups of three can enter. Any less and disqualification is immediate."

"What?!" all three shouted in unison.

"But you told us it was an individual decision, you lied to us," Sasuke said in frustration.

Kakashi looked off to the side and said, "Well…sort of. The decision is up to the individual, but their decision affects the whole team. I wanted each of you to come to take the exams under your own volition, not by being pressured or feeling obligated to take them."

"So…if any one of us suddenly didn't want to or wasn't able to take the exams..." Naruto began to ask.

"I would've been obligated to refuse entry to the others, their stay in the exams being over before it started," Kakashi finished for him. He then sighed and said with an eye-smile, "But, it's a moot point now. You're all here and for the right reasons, I can say I'm proud of all of you."

The three smirked at Kakashi's praise.

Kakashi moved to the side and let the three of them pass, Naruto adding, "Don't worry Kakashi, we won't lose."

Kakashi eye-smiled as the group entered the room, sighing as he vanished with a burst of smoke.

As the doors closed behind them, Team Seven looked out into the imposing crowd of genin and Sakura said, "Oh boy, this isn't good."

Naruto just gulped.

Standing before them was a large group of genin from all over the Elemental Nations, from the Sand and Stone villages to the Mist and Rain villages and most everywhere in between.

And unfortunately for the three Leaf genin, all of those chunin hopefuls had their sights locked solely on them, releasing an impressive amount of KI.

Sakura trembled and then tapped Naruto on the shoulder and said, "Hey uh, Naruto. Can you, you know, do the, the thing? The thing you do to calm Miya down?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow and then realized what she meant and said with an amused sigh, "Yeah, sure." He took a breath and then stared down the entire group of other genin, releasing an aura of Kurama's KI, his body becoming enshrouded in a thick red miasma.

The other genin pulled back slightly, more out of confusion than fear.

Naruto didn't feel that was good enough. The miasma then began to condense above him, forming the demonic silhouette of the Nine-Tails, his tails thrashing violently before suddenly stopping, pointing at the other genin, and then the tips morphed into miniaturized versions of Kurama's head before lunging forward and almost literally tearing apart whatever KI the others were releasing.

After it ended the other genin turned away from the blonde, even the stone-faced Gaara having sweat drip down his chin.

Naruto chuckled and turned to Sakura to ask her something but saw she was gone, he looked to his other side and so was Sasuke. He blinked in confusion and said, "Erm, where'd you guys go?" He turned to the side and saw the two of them standing in the far corner, Sakura trembling and Sasuke attempting to look level-headed but sweating heavily. Naruto scratched his cheek and said, "Oh, oops. Went overboard, didn't I?"

"I'll say, what the hell was that anyway, Naruto?"

Naruto turned to see who had asked him the question, none other than Kiba Inuzuka, or Sanada Nishi. That in mind, Naruto grinned deviously and asked, "Oh, so you decided to come, Sanada."

Kiba twitched an eyebrow and shouted, "Stop calling me that dammit!"

Naruto chuckled and said, "I thought you said it was cool, Sanada."

"Okay, do you wanna die?!" Kiba shouted.

Suddenly a pair of fair-skinned arms pushed the two apart as Hinata weakly shouted, or pretended to shout, "Stop!" She then turned to the side and realized she had her hand pressed up against Naruto's chest and backed away swiftly, her face almost atomically red. "N-N-Naruto…g-g-g-good to…s-s-see you," she said almost silently.

Naruto smiled warmly and said, "Good to see you too Hinata."

Hinata's smile grew slightly as she nodded in return.

Kiba just huffed in annoyance.

"You know, it's not very kind to ignore your teammate. And the reason is," a quiet voice began behind the duo, causing them to jump.

However, before the person could finish Kiba shouted, "Dammit Shino! Don't sneak up on people like that!"

Shino looked at him blankly and said, "…Fine…"

Naruto laughed uncomfortably and mumbled, "Still a weirdo I see."

"You're one to talk. The reason is that you are famous, at least within the game," Shino said.

Naruto almost face-faulted and asked, trying not to shout, "Y-you-you are a…an Ashikabi?"

"I am," Shino answered plainly.

Naruto twitched an eyebrow and thought, 'Seriously? What Sekirei would react to him? Though since a few reacted to Kiba I guess it's not unreasonable.'

Shino merely stared at Naruto before turning away.

Naruto raised an eyebrow but turned when he felt a tap on the shoulder. When he turned around he saw Choji standing behind him. He grinned and said, "Hey there Choji!"

Choji nodded and said, "Hey. So you made it too, huh?"

Naruto nodded and then narrowed his eyes before putting his arm over Choji's shoulder and asking, "Your mom told me that you have a Sekirei."

Choji widened his eyes slightly in confusion and asked, "How would she have told you?"

"It's a long story, not important. I'm just curious, what's she like?" Naruto asked amused.

Choji looked upward in thought and then said with a content smile, "Her name's Yashima. She's nice, strong, and really pretty." He then turned slightly red and said, "Ah, well, I mean that-!"

Naruto waved a hand and said, "Don't worry, I know the feeling."

"Y-you do? Oh right, didn't Kakashi-sensei say you had several Sekirei?" Choji asked.

Naruto nodded and said, "Yup, sure do. Nine before, I've got ten now."

Choji sweat-dropped and said, "W-whoa, that's a lot."

Naruto grinned and said, "Yeah, it's a few."

"Who'd have thought you would have that kind of group," Shikamaru said behind Naruto.

Naruto turned and said, "Oh! Oh, that's right, you're an Ashikabi too, aren't you?"

Shikamaru nodded and then said, "I think it might be a good idea to cut this specific conversation short. Don't want anyone uninvolved overhearing us."

Naruto sweat-dropped and said, "Oops. My bad."

Shikamaru shrugged and said, "Don't worry about it. It just adds credence to that fool persona you put on back in the academy days."

Naruto blinked and then asked sheepishly, "Ah, saw through that did you?"

Shikamaru smirked and said, "It wasn't that difficult. All of your movements were a unique kind of sloppy, like someone who was holding back but not very good at it."

Naruto sweat-dropped further and said weakly, "Eheheheh, that bad huh?"

"That bad," Shikamaru said plainly.

Ino then walked up to Naruto, looking partly annoyed and partly frustrated.

Naruto gulped and asked, "Erm, Ino…why do you look so mad?"

Ino sighed and said, "Well, because I need to…thank you."

"Thank me?" Naruto asked bemused.

Ino blushed, more out of embarrassment than anything else, and said, "Y-yeah. Back at the forest Ku ended up creating. I didn't actually thank you for helping me, plus for giving me a place to stay while I sorted things out with my dad." Ino then bowed deeply and said, "So thank you."

All of the surrounding genin who knew her almost fell over. Sakura looked about ready to die.

Naruto chuckled and said, "Don't worry about it. I wanted to help Ku too. I met her before and she seemed really nice. Plus I hate people like Mikogami who force themselves onto others. So you don't need to thank me, 'kay?"

Ino looked at Naruto surprised then smiled and said, "Right. But it doesn't feel right then, Yamanakas specifically don't like being indebted to someone."

Naruto chuckled and responded, "I'll keep that in mind then."

"You all might want to consider keeping it down. You're drawing quite a crowd."

The group turned when a voice addressed them and saw a boy their age with onyx black eyes, ash-grey hair kept in a ponytail that extended to his mid-back and had bangs framing his face and he wore a dark purple shirt with a high collar, a white under shirt, dark-purple fingerless gloves with armored plates on the back, a white cloth waistband worn at an angle, dark-purple pants and a blue Leaf headband.

He walked over to them and said, "All the noise you're making is causing annoyance with the other genin." He smiled and said, "I'd suggest trying to stay under the radar as much as possible."

The others nodded and looked at the genin who, while looking annoyed, didn't directly look in their direction after Naruto's show.

He looked over the group and asked, "So I'm supposing you're the nine rookies that just graduated academy, are you right?" He paused and then said with a sigh, "You're all playing around and talking so lightly just like school children." He narrowed his eyes and said gravely, "This isn't a field trip."

Ino frowned and asked, "What's your problem pal?"

The boy smirked and said, "My name is Kabuto Yakushi. My problem, look around you. The people here, participating in the exams, aren't here to play and talk, they're here to fight, to win…and to kill if necessary."

The group then looked around again, getting a better look at the different genin.

Until Naruto turned to the side and saw a group of genin behind him.

Kabuto nodded in their direction and said, "Those ones are from the Village Hidden in the Rain. They have a nasty temper."

As Kabuto spoke Naruto narrowed his eyes at the Rain ninja. 'Think they'd know anything?'

'Doubtful. Even with you, the genin of a village rarely have much information on their village,' Kurama responded.

'Interrogating them for info could be fun thought,' Menma said sadistically.

'I'm not interested in what isn't necessary,' Naruto responded.

'Che, you're no fun,' Menma pouted.

'Wanna lose some weight again?' Kurama asked.

'I'm gunna go over here,' Menma said before his presence disappeared from Naruto's mind again.

Kabuto looked curiously at Naruto as he examined the Rain ninja and then said, "At any rate; everyone here is tense. It's right before the exams so doing anything stupid now could get you picked off. I don't want fellow genin to get knocked out of the game like that so I warned you. Though I supposed it's to be expected, after all you're fresh-off-the-lot rookies, all of you; so you don't know anything. Heheh, it makes me think about how I was at first."

"At first?" Kiba asked.

"What, are you a repeater or somethin'? You know that makes you a loser right?" Naruto asked.

Kabuto shrugged and said, "Oh I'm more than a repeater, this is my seventh time taking the exams."

The Rookie Nine all face-faulted and Kiba shouted, "Seventh!? Are you just stupid or somethin'?!"

Sakura sighed and then asked, "Well, then that would mean you know a lot about it…right?"

Kabuto nodded and said, "Yes, I know quite a bit about the exams. I'm actually quite proud about it."

"But you've never passed. Are these exams really that hard? This is such a drag," Shikamaru said in annoyance.

Kabuto rubbed the back of his head and said, "Yeah…that's true. But, since I do have some information I could give some to my cute underclassmen."

'I'M NOT CUTE DAMMIT!' Naruto shouted in his mind. He didn't like being called cute. At all.

Kabuto reached into his pouch and pulled out a deck of orange cards, fanned them out and said, "I can tell you almost anything you want to know with these cards, I call them my Ninja Info Cards."

"Ninja Info Cards? How do they work?" Sakura asked.

Kabuto stacked the cards back up and said, "Put simply they're cards that have information burned into them with my chakra." He then knelt down and said, "I've collected the information on the exams and its participants over the past four years, since the exams are held twice every year." He placed the cards down and continued, "There're about two hundred of them total, and when you look at them, they look white and blank." He paused and pulled a card off the top and set it down. He then placed a finger on it and began to spin the card before it suddenly burst with smoke.

After it cleared it showed an image of the Elemental Nations, the different nations and small countries shown with small green bars that literally jumped off the card. Next to it was a white key that showed the symbols for the different participating villages, Leaf, Mist, Cloud, Stone, Sand, Waterfall, Rain, Grass and Sound. Next to each symbol was a number.

"Whoa…what information is that?" Naruto asked, nudging Sasuke.

Sasuke understood his nudging and activated his Sharingan.

Naruto knelt down and looked at the image.

Kabuto smirked and said, "It's the total number of examinees and the participating nations. It also includes the number of participants from each village." He then looked up at the nine rookies and asked, "Tell me, do you know why the Chunin Exams are set up so that we participate all participate together?"

Naruto folded his arms and said, "Well…it's to bring the villages together in friendship, or something like that. That's what I know of it."

Kabuto nodded and said, "That's not wrong. But there's also another purpose. To, 'heighten the level of the competing shinobi,' at least that's what they say."

"That's what they say?" Sasuke asked, his Sharingan deactivated.

Kabuto nodded and then said more gravely, "Yes, but the real purpose is to allow each nation to show off in a way. It allows them to show off what their genin, the weakest rank of ninja, have to offer. It's a way to say, 'If this is how powerful our weakest ninja are, just imagine how powerful our strongest ninja are.'"

Naruto narrowed his eyes and Sasuke said, "So they're basically puffing their own chests with us to do it."

Kabuto nodded with a pathetic smirk and said, "Yes, that's a rougher way to put it but that's the same idea."

"So why go through so much trouble?" Shikamaru asked.

"Partly: to balance out the power between the nations," Kabuto began, "mainly, there're limits to the number of genin the nations are allowed to enter in the exams. And to the bulk of the nations, there's no point in training genin who can't immediately become chunin, or at least have the opportunity to do so, so they don't go over the limit since it is considered a waste. That way the larger nations don't take a huge mass of ninja and invade the smaller nations."

Naruto scoffed and said, "So more political maneuvering, huh? What a pain."

"Hey…that's my line," Shikamaru said lazily.

Naruto stuck his tongue out with a cheeky grin.

"Well, that's my guess anyway," Kabuto added.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and asked, "Are there cards in there on the individual participants?"

Kabuto smirked and said, "Certainly. Just give me descriptive information, an ability or something like that."

"Rock Lee of the Hidden Leaf and Gaara of the Hidden Sand," Sasuke said plainly.

Kabuto frowned playfully and said, "You actually know their names, that's no fun." He pull out one card and spun it until it burst with smoke. "Rock Lee. He's complete eleven C-rank missions and twenty D-rank missions."

The card displayed an image of Lee, a pentagon showing the dispersion of his skills, the number of missions and their ranks that he's completed as well as his teammates. It also displayed general information about it and special notes.

"Well, he's one year older than all of you, sixteen, his team leader is Maito Gai, and his taijutsu skills are quite incredible, but everything else is absolutely horrible. He got everyone's attention last year with his skill as a genin but he didn't take the exams, so this is his first time taking it, just like all of you," Kabuto said. "His team is Tenten Higurashi and Neji Hyuga."

When Kabuto mentioned Neji, Hinata flinched minutely.

Kabuto nodded and set down another card and said, "Guess we'll do Gaara of the Sand next." He spun the card before it burst into smoke and revealed the card. "I wasn't able to find how many D-ranks he's completed, and he's done eight C-ranks. And get this, he's done a B-rank as a genin!"

Team Seven internally chuckled at Kabuto's surprise.

"His teammates are his siblings Temari and Kankuro, but since he's a foreign ninja and this is his first time in the exams I don't have anything else on him. Except for this: he's never been injured in a mission yet, at all," Kabuto said, trying to hide his own surprise.

That caused the rookies to flinch in surprise.

'Heh, that fool's actually surprised?' Kurama said in annoyance.

'What do you mean Kurama?' Naruto asked.

Kurama huffed and said, 'It's his tenant, the One-Tail, Shukaku. Shukaku's main ability goes along with his cowardice. He controls sand and can use it to defend himself. The sand that his Jinchuriki controls reacts automatically with Shukaku's will, springing up and prevent any and all attacks on him, even creating a paper thin, nearly invisible armor of sand around his body. That coward is nearly indestructible.'

Naruto gulped and said, 'That's…not good.'

'You're not scared are you? It's just sand, a good fire jutsu and we've got ourselves a fancy glass sculpture,' Kurama retorted.

"A B-rank as a genin and no injury? How's that possible?" Shikamaru asked in disbelief.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and asked, "Could you get info on one more ninja for me?"

Kabuto raised an eyebrow and said, "Name them."

"Naruto Uzumaki of the Hidden Leaf," Sasuke said.

Naruto raised an eyebrow and thought, 'Why's he doin' that? He could just ask me.'

Kabuto raised an eyebrow as well and said with shrug, "If you say so." He pulled out a card and spun it. The card burst with smoke to reveal Naruto's information. Kabuto narrowed his eyes and said, "Let's see here. Twelve D-rank missions, eight C-ranks and…ah! Two B-ranks and an A-rank. Impressive."

That got all of the other rookies to look at Naruto in surprise and suspicion.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and Sakura raised an eyebrow.

Hinata looked down in shame.

"How the hell'd you do so many high rank missions loser?!" Kiba shouted.

"Yeah Naruto, how did you do so many?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

Naruto frowned in annoyance and said, "It's hard to explain." Naruto looked at Sasuke with an almost pleading expression.

Sasuke sighed and said, "Whatever, it's not important. I was just curious."

Kabuto nodded and flashed a smirk before saying, "In that case, I'll move on." Putting away the other cards he pulled out the map again and said, "Leaf, Sand, Mist, Cloud, Stone, Sound, Grass, Waterfall and Rain. Genin from each of these villages, powerful genin, have come here to take the exams this year. Of all of them, Sound is the newest, and the smallest. It's a small village that was actually established just recently. As a result I have next to nothing on it or its genin."

As he spoke, three faces contorted in anger.

"It doesn't really matter, they're all still powerful shinobi from equally powerful nations. So don't expect an easy competition from any of them," Kabuto said.

"I'm not feeling well," Hinata said weakly. She looked to her side and noticed Naruto flashing her his trademark grin with a small thumbs up. She blushed at his encouragement and nodded lightly.

"Oh come on! It's too late to start saying that now!" Ino shouted, seemingly to herself more than Hinata.

"So you're basically saying that everyone here is…" Sakura began unsurely.

Kabuto adjusted his glasses with his middle finger and said, "Right, it's not just Lee, or Gaara, or even Naruto, everyone here has an amazing track record from their own village and is here to win. They're the top elites from each nation."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and thought, 'Well…that either means I'm going to get one hell of a fight, or I'm going to get my ass kicked. But I doubt that any other genin have the most powerful Tailed Beast at their side and were trained by one of the most powerful shinobi from one of the most famous clans to ever exist.'

'Heh, I knew you loved me,' Kurama said playfully.

'Like a kick in the head,' Naruto shot back.

Kurama remained silent.

Naruto looked around and then said, "Heh, I've got too much riding on this. There's no way I'll lose."

"Damn right! I ain't gonna lose to anyone, got that you losers!?" Kiba shouted.

Naruto twitched an eyebrow and thought, 'Huh? When did Kiba get so energetic?' He raised an eyebrow however when he noticed the heavy amount of sweat pouring down Kiba's cheek. He chuckled and thought, 'Guess even Kiba's a little worried.'

Elsewhere in the room, the Sand Siblings saw Kiba shout out and Kankuro said with a smirk, "Well, well. Look at this guy. Guess he wants to paint a target on his back huh?"

"I suppose small dogs do bark the loudest," Temari added.

"What a fool, he's just like Naruto was before. I suppose he truly wants to die," Neji insulted Kiba's outburst as he sat with his team.

"I disagree Neji, he is merely allowing his flames of youth to burn brightly," Lee argued.

"Hmph, it doesn't matter. Fate will guide me to victory, and teach those fools that they are nothing but fools," Neji said deridingly.

Three people watched the rookies plus Kabuto.

The first was a young man with bandages covering most of his face that covered all but his left eye, he wore a large poncho with long sleeves, a snake patterned scarf around his neck, a straw raincoat protruding from the back of his scarf and his left arm was hidden in his sleeve and he also had a Sound headband. He was hunched over as he stood. "He said we're a small village from a minor nation. Why don't we show him how 'minor' we are?" he asked with a droning voice.

Next to him was a young man with spiky black hair and onyx eyes. He wore a beige shirt with two black stripes on it and three symbols on it that read, "Death" down the front, a snake patterned scarf and matching pants as well as black arm warmers. He also had a Sound headband with an attach happuri under the cloth. He chuckled and said, "Yeah. I like that."

Lastly was a girl with long black hair, almost to the ground, with a violet ribbon tying it near the bottom and black eyes. She wore a Sound headband, a pale green vest similar to a flak jacket, and snake patterned scarf and pants. She smiled slyly and said, "Why don't we play with them a little?"

The bandaged man nodded and said, "Yes…they spoke of us as though we were just leftovers. Let's add a little information to his data shall we: the Sound ninja are rather cruel!"

They then burst through the crowd, deftly dashing through them.

As they moved closer, Kabuto glanced to the side.

Naruto, who was laughing with the others, turned to the side as he felt three chakra signatures moving closer at high speeds. He tensed his muscles as they approached.

As the ninja dashed around, Kankuro began sliding the roll off of his back, but Gaara raised a hand in front of him. Kankuro glanced at him and then readjusted it to a comfortable carrying position.

The Sound ninja continued dashing through the crowd, until they approached and the first ninja grabbed his right sleeve and pulled it up to reveal a large amplifier on his arm.

As the Leaf genin continued talking the second Sound ninja jumped from a table facing Kabuto and readied several kunai.

Kabuto snarled and jumped back to avoid the kunai, sliding back slightly.

The first ninja then approached him swiftly with his right arm reared back to strike.

Naruto and the others widened their eyes as he neared Kabuto.

'These guys…they're Sound ninja,' Kabuto thought in surprise as the first ninja neared and swung at Kabuto, he hopped back deftly dodging the strike with a smirk.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, sensing what happened.

Kabuto smirked and thought, 'That's not too bad. I can dodge it easily.' His glasses then cracked and several shards fell to the floor. He gasped but then smirked and said, "Ah, I see. So it's that kind of attack. Not bad."

"Hold on," Sasuke asked, "you dodged it, I saw you. How'd your glasses break?"

Shikamaru shrugged and said, "Must've hit his nose. That's what you get for trying to look cool."

Kabuto sighed and looked at his attack before his eyes widened sharply as his entire body began to throb and he felt his insides twist and almost melt. His vision trembled and blurred as his knees shook before he fell to the floor and vomited.

"Gah! He threw up!" Kiba shouted in surprise.

"Kabuto!" Sakura said in surprise.

Naruto sneered as he watched. 'I definitely don't want to get tangled up with that guy,' he thought.

Everyone in the room looked on at Kabuto's condition from the Sound ninja's attack.

Naruto and Sakura went to Kabuto's side as he panted heavily and Sakura rubbed his back saying, "Kabuto, are you alright?"

Kabuto sat up and scowled at his attacker and said, "Yeah…I'm okay."

"Heheh, you're not as good as I expected," the amplifier wearer said with a dark snicker, "especially not for a veteran taking the exam four years running. Why don't you add this to your little card: the three from the Village Hidden in the Sound will, without a doubt, become chunin."

Naruto narrowed his eyes in annoyance at the Sound ninja, Sakura scowled at him.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and thought, 'Kabuto dodged that. I know it. But then…why did he throw up like that?'

"Lee, what do you think of that attack?" Neji asked his teammate disinterestedly.

Lee looked and said, "Kabuto dodged it without a problem, so there has to be a trick to it."

The others watched in either confusion or intrigue when suddenly a large burst of smoke erupted from the front of the classroom.

"Quiet down maggots!" a gruff voice shouted.

As the smoke cleared it revealed a large group of ninja.

Most of them wore simple gray military-esque uniforms.

The one in the center, however, was different. He had a large, imposing figure which was complimented by a scarred head which was covered by a bandana with the Leaf symbol on it. He wore a dark blue uniform with a long black coat over it and black gloves. He looked over the genin and said with a smirk, "Sorry to make you wait. I am Ibiki Morino, the proctor for the first stage of the Chunin Exams. I hope you little maggots are ready for the punishment I'm going to dole out on you. This will be the first stage of the Chunin Exams, a written test."

"What?!" several voices cried out.

"Ah dammit. Nobody said anything about that," Kiba moaned.

"It's to be expected. They are exams after all," Sasuke interrupted.

"Ahh shut up jerk," Kiba bit back.

"Hey! I'm speaking you punks!" Ibiki shouted, getting them to freeze up immediately. "Now if you little angels can take a seat I'll explain the rules to your useless selves," he said coldly.

Naruto suddenly started laughing, though he tried in vain to hide it.

Ibiki raised an eyebrow and said, "Hey who's…oh, it's you."

Naruto finally stifled his laughter and said, "Yeah, it's me."

"Mind telling me what's so funny?" Ibiki asked. Though he quickly wanted to end the situation, since he had learned in the past that involvement with Naruto meant trouble.

"I was just thinking about how you usually act compared to now," Naruto said with a grin.

"And just how would you know that?" Ino asked.

Naruto gave a fox-grin and said, "Because, he works alongside Anko and I've met him. We even used to play cards."

Ino blinked in confusion.

Naruto sighed and said, "They both work in the I&T Department."

Ibiki coughed into his hand and said, "Get it right you little shit, I'm not in the I&T Department, I run the I&T Department."

Naruto chuckled and said, "That doesn't stop me from takin' every ryo you've got."

Ibiki twitched in annoyance and asked with a forced smile, "Alright, do you intend to take the exam or are we going to stand here all day?"

Naruto laughed again and responded, "I'm done, I'm done. You're just acting so cool and that doesn't mesh well with the image of you bawling your eyes out after me and Anko wiped you out."

The other genin looked from Naruto to Ibiki in disbelief.

Ibiki sweat-dropped and thought, 'This shithead is gonna be the death of me. How Anko hasn't slit his throat yet is beyond me.' He sighed and said, "Okay, that's enough maggots, sit down and I'll explain the rules." He looked around and couldn't contain a light smirk.

Naruto's little joke had universally raised the spirits of all of the participants, now most not acting quite as glum as before.

Ibiki sighed amusedly and thought, 'Unbelievable, the little brat can even lighten the mood for a bunch a people that want to bash his skull in. He is something else.' Clearing his throat he said, "Alright, listen up, because I won't repeat myself, and anyone that asks me to will get them and their whole team disqualified. This test only has three rules. Number one: no questions, you are not permitted to ask any questions at any time. Anyone who does will get a mark. Number two: no cheating. Anyone caught cheating will get a mark. And finally rule number three: you get five chances. If you get caught cheating five times, meaning five marks, you and your team will get disqualified." He paused and directed the ninja around him, all of them taking seats on the chairs lining the edges of the room. "These are the chunin sentinels, they will oversee all of you worthless genin. They will watch you and have keen eyes, so anyone they catch will get a mark."

Naruto and the others looked around as several of the chunin smirked.

"Any questions?" Ibiki asked.

"You can't think we're that dumb," Naruto remarked.

Ibiki smirked and then took a seat and said, "Very well, just thought I'd take a chance to weed out some of the weaker ones. No matter, so all of you should see the papers in front of you. That's your test. The test is a total of ten questions, but only nine are on the page. When the time limit has passed the tenth question will be given out. Now, you have one hour to complete the test, BEGIN!"

Simultaneously the entire group flipped over their papers and began writing.

However, as they looked over the paper, the different genin began to realize that the test was exceedingly difficult.

Naruto looked it over and thought, 'Damn, this is one hell of a test. They really want to make things difficult don't they? Well, at least most of this seems to be stuff that Anko drilled into me. And I can guarantee there's nothing they could do beyond what Anko could do to me.' With that last thought he shivered.

Sakura examined her test and thought with annoyance, 'This…this is insane. How can they expect genin to answer these questions? Thanks to my good memory it won't be hard for me but I don't know about Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto may be okay, he's been full of surprises already and I wouldn't put this kind of thing past him. But Sasuke may have trouble.' She shook her head and thought, 'No, he'll be fine. They'll both be okay.'

Sasuke examined his test and closed his eyes in thought. 'Alright, I get it,' he thought with a smirk, 'I don't understand a damn question.'

Naruto narrowed his eyes and then widened them in shock. 'Wait a second!' he shouted in his head. 'They didn't warn us about cheating itself, just getting caught cheating. Plus they give us five chances to cheat. Most tests would throw you out after one. That can only mean one thing: this test isn't designed to test your knowledge, but your ability to subtly gather information.' He smirked and thought, 'Right. Then this should be easy. Ibiki's got answer sheets right next to him on the table. If I can distract him long enough I can grab a few with my chakra arms.'

With that thought in mind he began extending two of his arms out and towards the table, snaking through slowly.

Izumo sat in one of the chairs and noticed an odd blurring along the ground that was working its way to Ibiki. He narrowed his eyes and raised his pen but then lowered it after a moment.

Naruto sighed in relief internally and continued snaking for Ibiki.

One of his tendrils reached up and tapped Ibiki's right shoulder.

"Hm?" Ibiki mumbled and looked to the side.

The other tendril instantly snapped up and grabbed a small group of answer sheets shot back to Naruto. The other tendril following.

Izumo glanced at Ibiki, who shook his head. Izumo nodded and continued his monitoring of the area.

Naruto sighed in relief and looked down at the papers, checking that he got the right ones. Smirking he wrote something on the papers and then sent his tendrils out to where Sasuke and Sakura were. Naruto heard scribbling on one of the pads with Izumo smirking at him. Naruto just smirked back confidently.

Izumo put a hand to his head and shook it in amused disbelief.

Sakura watched Naruto's tendril come up and slip the page into her desk.

She blinked and pulled it out. It had words written on the back which read, "The test is a ruse. We're supposed to cheat without getting caught. I took the fall for this one."

She raised an eyebrow and turned it over, seeing that it was an answer sheet, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.

Sasuke also received a page. He read the words on the back and saw what it was. He smirked in response and thought, 'Damn, talk about unpredictable. Guess I owe you one, Naruto.'

He turned over the page and began copying the answers.

At the same time, Gaara sat in a seat looking around, his eyes landing on Sakura, whom he noticed had an answer sheet. He reached up with one hand and covered his left eye, then made a fist with his right hand, sand collecting in his fist.

Sakura was busy writing down the answers when she clenched her eyes shut due to irritation.

A small eyeball then appeared made of sand and swiftly scanned over her test and the answer sheet before dispersing.

Gaara picked his pencil back up and uncovered his left eye and returned to writing.

At another spot, Kiba sat with Akamaru on his head, the small dog looking around at other participants, occasionally looking down at Kiba making small grunts and whines.

"Way to go Akamaru," Kiba whispered as he wrote down the answer to another question.

Hinata sat next to Naruto and noticed him writing down answers swiftly but tried not to look at his paper. She jolted slightly when she felt a tap on her foot. She looked to the side and saw Naruto pointing at the answer sheet in his lap. Hinata raised an eyebrow but nodded slowly with a small smile and accompanying blush.

Shino sat still over his paper, occasionally scribbling an answer. He waited for another moment.

Naruto continued writing answers on his page and noticed a fly coming near him. He merely watched it bemusedly as it landed on his pencil. After a couple seconds he shook it off.

Shino perked up for a moment and then wrote another answer.

Kankuro sat for a moment, sweating as one of the sentinels constantly scribbled notes on a pad while occasionally looking at him. He gulped and then put up his hand.

"What?" Ibiki asked annoyed.

"I need to go take a leak," Kankuro said brazenly.

Ibiki narrowed his eyes and said, "One of the sentinels will accompany you."

One sentinel, the one that had been monitoring Kankuro, stood up and tied a rope around his hands and led him to the restroom.

Temari smirked as he walked away.

Inside the bathroom, Kankuro chuckled and said, "Alright…let's see what you've got buddy."

As he spoke a chunk of the sentinel's face cracked and fell off.

Tenten sat in her seat playing with her pencil as she looked up.

Attached to her pencil were several ninja wire threads.

The threads were connected to subtly hidden on one of the lamps on the ceiling, adjusted by the movement of her pencil.

She smirked and thought, 'Lee, adjust your headband when it's right.'

Elsewhere, Lee looked up and saw the mirrors above him moving.

Then one of the panels showed him the contents of another student's paper.

He then pulled off his headband and tied it around his head.

Neji looked around and then noticed another student writing like the wind and smirked. He made half a hand sign and whispered, "Byakugan!"

The vessels around his eyes bulged and his eyes shifted.

He was then able to see through the participant's body, his chakra network and had a clear view of his paper and began copying the information.

Kankuro then returned to the room.

Kotetsu smirked at him and asked, "So, was your trip enlightening?"

Kankuro widened his eyes and thought, 'Crap. He's on to me.' He calmed himself and then walked back to his desk, lightly tossing something at his sister.

Temari watched him and caught the small scroll he tossed to her. She unrolled it and smirked as she examined the list of answers on the paper.

The Sound ninja with the gauntlet looked around and then smirked under his wrappings and closed his eyes as he thought, 'Heh, all I need to do is listen to the sound of someone's writing and I'll have everything I need to know.'

After a moment he began to write as he listened to the writing patterns of another participant.

Ino scratched her head in annoyance as she tried writing the answers to the questions.

After grumbling for a moment she noticed Sakura sitting in front of her and smirked. 'Hope you don't mind me using some of the info in that billboard brow of yours,' she thought as she slowly made several hand signs under the desk.

She then slightly raised her hands with a special hand sign and whispered, "Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

Sakura's body jolted for a moment before going limp. She then straightened back up with a smirk on her face.

Ino then thought, now controlling Sakura's body, 'Alright, now let's see what she's…' she trailed off as she looked at Sakura's lap. She then shouted in Sakura's head, 'What!? How did she get an answer sheet?! Whatever, it's my turn to make use of it.'

She picked up the sheet, then smirked and raised it just high enough one of the sentinels might see it and began reading it over and memorizing the answers.

After a moment Ino formed a hand sign and Sakura's body went limp again.

Homura sat on his bed in the inn and suddenly formed an expression of disgust.

"That wasn't Sakura just now. Someone like that is dangerous," he said before sighing.

Ino returned to her own body and began writing on her test.

After writing down the answers she copied from Sakura she looked for Shikamaru who looked at her and nodded, Ino in return.

Going through her hand signs again she whispered, "Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

She transferred her mind to Shikamaru and quickly wrote down the answers again, hoping she remembered them all correctly.

She returned to her own body and waited another moment before doing the same thing with Choji.

Back at Ino's house, Shiina and Kusano sat with uncomfortable expressions.

Kusano pulled on Shiina's sleeve and said, "Big brother, what's wrong with big sister? Ku's heart feels weird."

Shiina smiled warmly and rustled her hair saying, "Don't worry Ku, she's just using one of her abilities. Ino's just fine."

Kusano looked at him unsurely before smiling and saying with a heavy nod, "'Kay!"

Back in the exam room the time for the last question to be asked approached quickly.

Ibiki then cleared his throat and stood up and said, "Alright you brats, listen up! It's time for the tenth question!"

All of the examinees froze up as he spoke.

That caused Ibiki to smirk. He then said, "Alright, listen up! This question has one special rule compared to all the other questions. I'll only say it once so if you forget the rule don't waste my time with a stupid question, just get up and leave."

Elsewhere in the academy, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai and Gai sat in the staff room, discussing different subjects. Mainly their students.

"Tell me, what do you think the chances are of our respective teams are?" Kurenai asked curiously.

Asuma sighed and said, "Well, the proctor for the first stage is Ibiki, so not good."

Kurenai raised an eyebrow and asked, "What do you mean? Is there something especially horrible about him?"

Asuma looked at her for a moment and then said, "Oh, that's right, you're a newly minted jonin aren't you? You see, Ibiki's famous for his work in the I&T Department. He's able to break the strongest willed man down to the level of a mere whimpering child. And without ever touching them at all."

Kurenai widened her eyes and asked in surprise, "And they're having someone like that test our students?!"

Kakashi waved off her concerns and said, "Don't worry Kurenai. I'm certain your students will do just fine, as will mine. Besides, if they can't handle what Ibiki is throwing at them, and I assure you he'll be holding back, then they aren't ready to be a chunin."

Kurenai frowned and said with a sigh, "I guess you're right."

Back at the exam room, Ibiki explained the rule of the tenth question. "It's very simple. The rule is this: you get one chance to answer the question. If you answer it correctly you get to continue on to the other stages," he said ominously, before breaking into a small, toothy smirk, "but, if you fail the question then you will be banned from ever taking the Chunin Exams ever again and will remain a genin the rest of your miserable lives."

"What?!" most of the students shouted in disbelief.

"You can't do that!" Sakura protested.

"Ohoh, but I can. I am the proctor for this exam, and my word is law. If I say the qualifier for you to pass is transforming into a puppy dog you better do it. I am the final judge of this exam, and if you fail the question you're a genin forever," Ibiki responded harshly. He then frowned and said, "But…there is a way out. If you raise your hand now and forfeit, you and your entire team will be disqualified from the exams this time around but will still have the chance to enter next time around. So, I leave the decision up to you. You all have ten minutes to make up your minds."

One by one, genin after genin forfeited from the exams and they plus their entire teams left the room to try again next time around.

Sasuke stood steadfast in completing it, but glanced to the side and noticed Sakura's worried expression. He could only hope Homura could help calm her down.

After roughly a third of the genin left Naruto suddenly began laughing again.

Ibiki twitched an eyebrow and asked frustrated, "Have you really lost it this time? If so get out."

Naruto stood up with a defiant glare and said, "Not a chance in hell! You won't scare me out of this exam! I don't care what your tenth question is! I'd rather spend the rest of my life as a badass genin than be a failure of a chunin! Besides," Naruto's glare turned into a smirk as he said, "I've got a goal, and a dream. I've got people to protect, and I'll become Hokage to protect and lead them, so you should just give up, on me giving up, ya know!"

Ibiki stood dumbfounded at Naruto's little speech and then noticed that all of the remaining participants were suddenly filled with more confidence.

"Yeah!" one Sand genin shouted.

"I won't give up, I'll be at least chunin!" a Waterfall ninja shouted.

Ibiki sighed heavily and asked annoyed, "So I'm guessing the lot of you are here to stay then?"

They all nodded in response, except one, and Ibiki sighed and said with a smile, "Then you all pass the tenth question."

"Eh?" was the collective response of the classroom.

Ibiki walked around the front of his desk and said, "Allow me to expound. You see, the first part of the test, the first nine questions, were all a bit of a ruse. Those are questions no genin without outside help or ridiculously vast knowledge could answer. So it wasn't actually a test on your knowledge but your ability to gather information from your surroundings, covertly. The fiver marks were so you would try to be sneaky with your attempts but still give you enough room to experiment. And second is the last part of the test, the tenth question. Technically there is no tenth question. Instead it's made to test your resolve, and your determination. Because you see," Ibiki paused as he removed his bandana, revealing a severely scarred and burned head, "sometimes you have to make decisions in life and on missions that have a high possibility of getting you killed. You can't back out of a mission just because you're scared of dying, you need to forge ahead and keep going, completing your mission." He then pointed to his head and said, "This is what happens when you make the wrong choice." He smirked and said, "So with that, the first stage of the Chunin Exams has concluded.

Suddenly, an object smashed through one of the windows and burst with smoke, revealing a banner across the room that said, "Your proctor for the second stage, the super powerful and super sexy Anko Mitarashi!"

Said snake woman then burst in with a Teleportation and said, "Alright whelps, get ready, 'cuz I'm your new proctor."

Ibiki sighed and pulled some of the streamers from his head and said, "Anko…you're early, again."

Anko blinked in confusion and said, "Oh? Whoops, my bad." She then faced the crowd and walked forward with a smirk and looked at Naruto saying loudly, "Well look at that, my little Goldilocks is here."

Naruto cringed back slightly and said weakly, "Ah, c'mon Anko, I thought I told you I don't like it when you call me that." Naruto's entire body then froze and he turned behind him.

Practically every male in the room, and even a few females, were glaring at him with hateful scorn and a kind of evil haze he could only imagine. Though Miya's was still worse. He was even certain he saw Gaara in the group.

After deciding he was sufficiently teased Anko coughed into her hand and said seriously, "Alright, listen up everybody! The second stage of the exams will begin tomorrow outside the front gate of Training Ground Forty-Four! Got it?!"

They all nodded.

Anko smirked and said, "Good." She winked at Naruto before vanishing.

Naruto slammed his head on his desk and groaned, "I'm gonna die."

He then felt a hand slam his head down as Kiba shouted, "Damn right you are! Where've you been hiding someone like that? She one of yours?"

Naruto threw off his hand and said, "She's not some thing ya moron! And no, she isn't one of my flock, she's a regular person."

Kiba chuckled and said, "Oh she's more than regular if you ask me."

Naruto sighed and said, "Whatever. I need to get going anyway. You probably should too, Forty-Four is a nasty place."

Kiba blinked in curiosity and shouted, "Hey, what do you mean?!"

Naruto grinned and said, "Wait and find out."

As he walked away Hinata nodded and ran to catch up to him but bumped into someone else.

"Oh, my apologies.

Hinata looked up and was looking at a young man with short, shaggy black hair, onyx black eyes, a narrow frame and who wore a black hoodie lined with beige fur, a black t-shirt and jeans along with a Waterfall headband as a belt and a switchblade in his pocket. He looked at her and said, "Sorry about that, I got so lost in my people watching I hadn't noticed you."

Hinata blushed at his appearance and said, "Erm, i-it's okay."

"Hey, Hinata! Come on!" Kiba shouted.

Hinata turned vigorously in confusion then bowed to the Waterfall ninja briskly and said, "Excuse me!" and took off.

The man narrowed his eyes in suspicion before someone slapped him on the back. He turned to see another man with scraggly blonde hair, brown eyes and who wore blue sunglasses and an outfit reminiscent of a bartender and his Waterfall headband wrapped around his biceps.

The blonde grinned and said, "Huh, she's cute, eh Izaya?"

"Shizuo, mind your manners would you," the now name Izaya said in annoyance.

Shizuo shrugged and said, "I'm just sayin', too bad she's not my type. But that proctor woman, now there's a looker."

Izaya sighed and said, "You are such an animal."

"And you aren't, Mr. Observer?" Shizuo said in a teasing tone.

Izaya sighed and groaned, "Let's just go."

Shizuo chuckled and followed behind his teammate to catch up to their other teammate.

That teammate was standing by the door waiting for them.

It was a girl with short, spiky, mint-green hair, orange eyes and dark skin who wore an orange hair clip that matched her eyes, a short, sleeveless, white midriff shirt with fishnet armor underneath, long white armlets, fishnet shorts with a white apron skirt overtop and her Waterfall headband on her right arm. She turned and said, "Yo, Shizuo, Izaya."

Izaya nodded and said, "Sorry to make you wait Fu. Shizuo was simply ogling the Leaf's woman again."

Shizuo growled and said, "Watch it Izaya."

Izaya smirked and said, "What'll you do? You'd have to catch me first."

Shizuo grew a tic mark, grabbed a nearby post, tore it out of the building and tossed it at Izaya, who promptly jumped out the window and began running, Shizuo shouting, "I-za-ya!" as he leapt after him.

Fu sighed in exasperation and said, "Oh brother. They're like little kids. Guess I'll just tell sensei they got into another grudge match."

Naruto arrived back at the inn with Sasuke and Sakura to see their Sekirei all waiting impatiently for news.

Naruto smiled tiredly and said, "We made it through."

The Sekirei all cheered in response.

Miya walked up to the group and said happily, "In that case I believe this calls for an extra-large meal. And Naruto," she paused to get his attention, "you needn't worry about aiding me in this meal. You can merely have the time to rest."

Naruto nodded and he along with the others returned to the inn for dinner.

As the group ate dinner, Naruto looked at Sasuke and asked, "Who would've guess the second stage would be proctored by Anko and set in the Forest of Death?"

Sasuke sighed and said, "You say that like it's a good thing."

Naruto smirked and said, "Aw, c'mon. It's not that bad."

Sasuke shrugged and said, "I've come to understand it much better recently, so I assume that will give us an edge compared to the other genin who know nothing of it."

Naruto nodded and said, "That it will. We'll definitely have an edge. Though I do wonder what the actual task for the exam will be."

Matsu, who was sitting to Naruto's side for once, tapped his shoulder with one finger and said, "Actually, I was wondering the same thing and looked into it. I actually know what the plan for the second stage is."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and the other two did as well. Naruto looked to the two of them and then said, "Well, I guess if you went to all the trouble, give me the info on it."

Matsu nodded and said, "It's set up as a twisted scavenger hunt style game that will, at the very least, cut the number of teams participating in half if not reduce the number even more."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"It's set up so that to pass the stage of the exam, the participants will be given one of a set of two scrolls, a heaven scroll or an earth scroll. The goal will be to find another team with the opposite scroll and take it from them, eliminating them from the exam. Plus there is a five day time limit and to pass a team must reach the center pillar within that time and have both scrolls. However, it's also possible to have multiples of each scroll," Matsu trailed off.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and added, "Meaning the stronger teams can eliminate the weaker ones by getting the scroll they need and then by going around taking out other teams and taking their scrolls, effectively reducing the number of teams that can possibly pass each time."

Matsu nodded again and said, "And that's not all…" she then squealed and said happily, "to coincide with the Sekirei Plan the Hokage has permitted Ashikabi to bring their Sekirei along too."

Naruto snarled at this, which surprised the others.

Tsukiumi was the first to speak, "Husband, art thou not pleased with this development? It means that we canst fight alongside thee."

Naruto sighed and said, "Yeah…I know that. But it's also like they're trying to ensure that Sekirei battles happen here. Something tells me that this wasn't entirely Gramps' decision."

Matsu frowned and said, "Yeah, I did some backtracking and it does look like the Professor strong-armed the Hokage into the decision. But look on the bright side, that means you won't be alone in this one like you were in the written part. Imagine how much easier that second stage will be with all of use by your side."

Naruto looked around to see the faces of his Sekirei all sharing the same expression, encouragement. Naruto sighed in defeat and said, "Alright, you won me over. Having some of the strongest Sekirei out there to help me fight a bunch of genin will definitely be helpful."

Musubi leapt over the table and hugged Naruto shouting, "Yay! We get to fight more strong enemies!"

Naruto tumbled backwards, Musubi's breasts smacking him right in the face as they landed, eliciting a nosebleed for two very different reasons, and he only groaned.

Musubi sat up with stars in her eyes and said, "Isn't that great Naruto?!"

Naruto chuckled and said, "Err, yeah. Now, could you please, y'know, get off of me?"

Musubi looked at him puzzled but then shrugged and said, "Okay," and got up, only to be accosted by Tsukiumi.

"What dost thou think thou art doing with my husband Musubi?!" Tsukiumi demanded.

Musubi smiled and said, "Celebrating!"

"Tis the true wife's job to celebrate with their husband, not some mere concubine like thee!" Tsukiumi argued.

"Tsu-ki-u-mi, it is rather rude to shout like that in the house," Miya said sweetly, a dark aura enveloping her.

Tsukiumi practically began to cower and nodded vigorously as she said, "Aye, aye Ms. Landlady!"

Miya's aura vanished and she said kindly, "Good to hear. Now, do you think we could finish dinner in peace?"

Tsukiumi huffed and said, "So long as Musubi and none of the others get close to my husband."

Naruto sighed and said weakly, "I thought we already went over this, you're all my Sekirei."

"Correct, but only I am thy wife," Tsukiumi reasoned.

Naruto hung his head in frustration and said, "I give up."

The next morning Naruto was awakened by Miya yet again, in her usual kind manner.

Naruto yawned heavily and sat up saying, "G'mornin' Miya."

Miya nodded and said, "Good morning to you as well."

Naruto stretched and said, "Guess I'll need to eat quickly today, huh?"

Miya giggled and said, "So it seems." She then left the room and Naruto changed into his tracksuit.

He narrowed his eyes at it and said, "Geez, this thing is ragged." The entire suit was filled with small holes at random spots, the cuffs were frayed and there holes on the elbows, merely cuts, but still holes. He sighed and said, "I guess after the second stage of the exams I should buy something else, no point in buying something now since it'll just get shredded in the exam."

Naruto made his way downstairs and flopped down in front of the table in his usual spot.

As he sat, Kurama spoke to him.

'Hey, Naruto,' he said plainly.

'Hmm?' Naruto hummed in response.

'There's another one of those connections forming in here. I don't know who it's connected to but you're definitely having another one of them react to you,' Kurama told the blonde.

Naruto grumbled and said with a sigh, 'Seriously? Just how many am I going to get exactly? Well, I suppose it isn't that important now. If I meet her during the exams then so be it. If things get bad I'll find her but for now I need to focus.'

'Um, you do need to. Heheh, it makes me curious what the others, especially that boisterous blonde, will think,' Kurama snickered.

Naruto huffed and responded, 'If I'm lucky I won't need to find out for a while.'

Breakfast was more energetic than normal, mostly due to Musubi and Tsukiumi getting locked in another argument about who properly belongs to the role of wife, Matsu giggling perversely the entire time as they did.

The three ninja headed out and promised to summon their Sekirei when it was time.

It was only another hour or two before the entirety of the remaining examinees arrived in front of training ground forty-four.

"Alright boys and girls, welcome to Training Ground Forty-Four, otherwise known as the Forest of Death," Anko said with a smirk.

Kiba gulped as he and the others looked the entrance over to the large imposing forest. "Wow, that's definitely something," he said in surprise.

"It's not that bad if you know how to get through it," Naruto said with a smirk.

Kiba narrowed his eyes in confusion before glowering at Naruto and shouting, "You bastard! You knew this place already, didn't you!?"

Naruto grinned and said, "This place is like my own backyard."

Anko smirked playfully and said, "A tough guy, huh?" She flicked her wrist and threw a kunai in Naruto's direction.

Unsurprisingly to his team and the snake woman, Naruto lightly tilted his head to let the blade pass.

Anko smirked and vanished in a burst of smoke, reappearing behind Naruto.

She leaned forward, pressing herself against his back, and brought a kunai up to his neck and said, "You know, this place is only for strong ninja, you sure you don't need your big sis to come with you?"

Naruto turned light red on the cheeks and mumbled, "Ankooo~, stop it. This really isn't the time."

Anko chuckled and pulled slightly closer, getting the desired effect in the deepening of his flush, she then said, "Come on, I'm sure you'll have fun."

Anko's thrown kunai then appeared next to her.

She looked to the side and saw a Hidden Grass ninja with long black hair, black eyes and thick lips and who was wearing plain grey garbs with black pants and a thick purple rope-belt tied in a knot behind him with a straw hat. Though what was most odd was that he was handing Anko her kunai by extending his tongue out to long lengths.

Anko smirked and said, "It's not wise to sneak up on a jonin like that."

The Grass ninja nodded and said clearly, despite his tongue sticking out of his mouth, "I was simply being a Good Samaritan and returning your kunai."

"Why thank you," Anko said, extending her hand to accept the dropped kunai.

"My name is Shiore by the way," he said as he backed away.

Anko narrowed her eyes and Naruto thought, 'I don't know who that guy is, but he gives me the creeps.'

Anko walked back around to her previous spot and said, "Alright kids, listen up! These are the rules for the exams." She picked up a set of two scrolls and said, "Your main goal in this test is to obtain both of these scrolls, each team will be given one, either a heaven scroll or an earth scroll, and they must find another team with the scroll they need and take it from them. After that you'll need to make your way to the large structure in the center of the forest. You'll have five days to accomplish this task. Meaning that if you don't get a scroll and get to the center of the forest within five days or get to the tower without both scrolls you're disqualified. Understand?"

They collectively nodded.

Anko smirked and said, "Good, we'll start sending you in with your scrolls momentarily."

With that the teams returned to conversing amongst themselves, though Naruto was starting to notice more hateful glares from the male populace, which made him annoyed.

Elsewhere in the area, a group of genin wandered around the area just looking at the other ninja.

One of them, a young man with few distinguishing features who wore a Hidden Grass headband looked around and then turned and said, "Hey, Karin, what can you tell us about the other genin?"

After a moment of no response he snapped out, "Karin!"

His target flinched and turned to him and growled out, "Oh shut up! I'm busy right now!" Karin was a girl the same age as Naruto and the others who had long red hair in an unusual style, short and spiky on the right and long and straight on the left giving an odd look to her hair, crimson colored eyes and fair skin. She wore round, brown glasses, a lavender uniform that exposes her navel, short black shorts and long, black, thigh-high stockings. She snarled at her teammate and said, "I'm trying to find someone."

He frowned and said, "Fine, let me know when you're done. We need an examination of the power of these other genin so we know who to pick off."

Karin huffed and thought, 'Coward. Alright, now to find Sasuke…it would help if I knew what I was looking for.' She closed her eyes and her chakra flared out, allowing her to see the chakra signatures of all those around her, differing in intensity and color based on the person's chakra. She flinched when she caught sight of something unexpected, a massive, bright, flowing chakra signature that simply encompassed all around it. 'It's…almost golden,' she thought. She then flinched back when she focused on the chakra and saw two additional chakra signatures, one that was feral and monstrous, the other that appeared almost pitch black and evil to her. She opened her eyes and looked at the source of the chakra, her eyes widening. "It's…it's him," she said almost breathlessly.

Back in the room for the first stage of the exams, Karin looked on in almost pure fear as Ibiki announced the rules for the tenth question.

She looked around and saw her teammates, neither of whom were in much better condition than her. Her apprehension only increased as she watched almost a third of the genin in the room leave. Gulping, she slowly began to raised her hand until she flinched when someone slammed their hand on a desk near the front.

"Not a chance in hell! You won't scare me out of this exam! I don't care what your tenth question is! I'd rather spend the rest of my life as a badass genin than be a failure of a chunin! Besides, I've got a goal, and a dream. I've got people to protect, and I'll become Hokage to protect and lead them, so you should just give up, on me giving up, ya know!"

Karin watched Naruto declare his words with such conviction and confidence that she focused solely on him.

"So I'm guessing the lot of you are here to stay then?" Ibiki asked.

All of the other genin nodded confidently, but Karin focused on Naruto, her face reddening heavily before she flinched and put a hand on the back of her neck.

"Hey, Karin, come on, it's time to go," Karin's teammate said roughly.

Karin looked up at him weakly and nodded slowly, standing with a light groan.

Her teammate huffed and said, "You aren't exhausted already are you? It might just be better to forfeit now."

"No!" she bit back. She took a breath and then said roughly, "I'm fine. You just worry about yourself, I'll deal with my own problems."

"Che, whatever," he snarled as the three left.

Karin looked at Naruto as he spoke to Sasuke and Sakura, unconsciously reaching a hand out towards him.

"Hey! Great work Karin!" her male teammate said chidingly.

Karin flinched back to a neutral stance and asked annoyed, "W-what do you mean?"

He smirked and said, "You found that Sasuke moron."

"I-I did?" she asked unconsciously before looking ahead and taking notice of Sasuke with Naruto and shook her head and said insulted, "Of course I did! What did you expect?"

He frowned and said, "I don't know what to expect with you. Now that we've finished this crap let's do what's important."

She nodded disappointed and watched as Naruto walked away with his team.

And there's that chapter finished. I'd like to hear what you guys think of the chapter and just any general ideas about it.