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Disclaimer: don't own anything from the Naruto universe, never will.

XXXxxxXXXxxx

"Why don't you tuck in as well?" Jiraiya asked Naruto, the both of them reading a book. "You could use the rest; your mind needs to recover from training as much as your body."

"I'm not tired." Naruto simply said, flipping a page in his book. "I'll go to bed when I'm done reading this. But those two are really exhausted each night, aren't they?"

"Yeah they are. It's a good sign they are too." The Sennin answered. "If they weren't tired, it'd mean that either the training is too light or they're not doing their best. Each day for the last week the training has becomes tougher for them and each day they complete it. I have to admit that I'm actually pretty impressed with how they've been keeping up so far. Their determination easily matches yours."

Naruto didn't answer; a sudden silence ruling over the room. For a second, the only movement was a small twitch below Naruto's left eye, Jiraiya revealed nothing other then performing a quick scan of the room with his eyes. Placing the book on the table with the pages down so he could quickly get back to where he was, Naruto stood up and walked to the next room.

"Gotta, use the toilet." He said as he walked through the door.

On the roof some three buildings away, Gota Jiyu was carefully looking over at the room that the team of Konoha shinobi was staying in. There was nothing going on in the room, so he prepared himself to move a bit closer. There was no-one around that had noticed him yet. As he moved over to the next roof, climbing rather then jumping as to avoid detection by a patrol, the Jounin of the Hidden Mist was barely in time to avoid a punch to his face.

Only pure instinct saved him from having his nose crushed, rolling away just in time to avoid the punch of the black-robe wearing blond.

"What the?" the Jounin softly exclaimed. "How'd yo-" before he could say anything more, four large tongues erupted from the rooftop he was standing on and wrapped around his limbs, immobilizing him. In the same instant, the legendary Jiraiya had appeared behind Jiyu.

"Why are you here? And why are you trying to sneak up on us?" Jiraiya demanded immediately. His hands where already in the form of a seal, ready to torment or kill the Jounin should he try to resist. Naruto was still standing in his fighting stance as well, keeping an eye on the Mist Nin. The Toad Tongue Bind was a useful technique, but it was by no means unbreakable.

"I'm not here as an enemy!" Jiyu stated, not even struggling against his holds. "I have come here for my own purpose to speak with Uzumaki Naruto."

"What have you come to talk about that would require you to sneak across the rooftops instead of coming to us by the hotel door?" Jiraiya asked, still not releasing his technique.

"It's not a secret as decided by the Mizukage or someone else, but rather an item I wanted to deliver to him myself. I decided to come over the rooftops to avoid civilians creating rumors about an alliance between the Mist and the Leaf. Already there are whispers among them why so many different teams made it to the finals."

"Speak your business." Naruto demanded, still not lowering his stance. "Why do you want to speak to me and what do you want to give me?"

Not moving, not even to make eye contact, Jiyu spoke up while he faced the stars.

"Around twenty-five years ago, I was a genin for the Hidden Whirlpool, the same age as you are now." He began. "Like all others, my team consisted of three members. One of them is someone I thought would interest you: Uzumaki Kushina."

The name meant nothing to Naruto, although he realized that, based on the family name, this Kushina could be a family member of his. Jiraiya on the other hand, opened his eyes a fraction of an inch further. To anyone other than Naruto it would have been invisible, but Naruto knew his master well. Jiraiya knew that name.

"You knew Kushina?" the white-haired man asked, confirming Naruto's suspicions. "Why are you here then? You know that she's dead."

"Yes she is, and I was sorry to hear it." Jiyu still didn't move at all. "But I knew her when she was alive, that was why I gave you my warning back in the forest."

"And why are you here now?"

"It had been my intention to give you a picture I had of her, since I had come to understand that she had not had any pictures taken when she was in the Hidden Leaf."

"And why should I care?"

"I thought that you would like to know what your mother looked like."

The clear and sudden answer struck Naruto like a lightning bold on a cloudless, clear sky. His mother? But how? He'd never even heard anything about his parents before… he didn't move for a few seconds, still trying to process the information. Jiraiya, in the meantime, had not been so stunned. He had known of Naruto's family, just never said anything to his pupil, so he was quick to recover.

"Where's the picture?" he asked, still not releasing his technique.

"In my left pocket, take it out if you still don't trust me."

Jiraiya did just that. Pulling the picture out of Jiyu's pocket, he looked at it for a second before handing it over.

"It's the red-haired girl." Jiraiya said, although it was unnecessary. Kushina was the only girl in the picture, her red hair held up in a ponytail as she stood next to a much younger Jiyu, another boy that Naruto didn't know and an older man, obviously her sensei. Naruto only looked at the picture for a second before pocketing it. He needed to know more, this was not the time to get lost in a picture.

"Why are you giving me this picture? And why are you with the Mist now if you once belonged to the Whirlpool? Did you betray them?" he demanded.

"No, I didn't." Jiyu said, although there was not even a hint of venom at being called a traitor. "The Land of Whirlpool was a small but wealthy country. We had many deep caves that where filled with precious metals, making our country rich. But the Whirlpool was only a small country, with an even smaller military. Our neighbor, the power Nation of Water, decided that they wanted our riches to add to their own. Twenty-four years ago, they declared war on us and attacked. We tried to fight them off, each shinobi, whether Jounin or student was send to the front lines, but it was all useless. We fought for a little over a month with little to no sleep and even less food. The Whirlpool was absorbed into the Nation of Water, all of the ninja offered a chance to either become part of the Mist of be executed. I chose the first. It was still in the time that the Hidden Mist was called the Bloody Mist."

"So?" Naruto was wondering what exactly this had to do with his mother, although the history could be useful.

"Their entrance test was to kill my remaining teammate, the other boy you see on the picture. By killing him, I saved my own life." For the first time since arriving, he showed a hint of emotion, looking displeased at the memory of having killed his friend.

"And what does this have to do with Kushina?" Jiraiya aksed. "She had already left the Whirlpool by the time the war started."

"Is that what she told you?" Jiyu asked, neither mocking nor ridiculing. He was simply inquiring. "She lied." Silence reigned once again, letting Jiyu's sentence lie heavily in the air.

"She didn't flee before the war started. She fled two days after we were captured. We were at the front, along with many other genin teams, people who we had known for years, but none of us could recognize each other anymore. A month without rest, in constant battle had done us more harm then we could have imagined. Always we were thinking about when we would be defeated, when we would die. What hope did we have against one of the Five Great Ninja Nations? The strain got to us the day before we were overtaken."

"What'd you mean?" Naruto asked, dreading the answer already.

"Kushina was the only girl that was still alive in that area, we were all stressed out and we were all scared of dying. Before anyone really knew what had happened, someone had jumped at her, holding her to the ground. No-one, not even Joshua and I, protested. I… I'm not proud of what happened that day, but in the end it was what saved Kushina. The Mist overtook us and mistook her for a civilian woman, not killing her. Two days later she managed to escape. I had not heard of her for a long time, until I heard that she had died after giving birth to a child: you."

"You… You mean that you…"

"Yes, we did. That is the reason that I gave you the picture and the warning: to ease my own consciousness for what I have done. For no other reason then that. Don't expect me to save your life, or risk my life for you. No debt remains."

"We'll see about that!" Naruto yelled as he charged forward. Before Naruto reached the older man, however, Jiyu exploded into smoke, leaving behind a log.

XxX

Sitting down under their favorite tree for lunch, Konohamaru and Hanabi looked on as Naruto kept up his dashing even longer. It was all he did these days: either he was running around or he was fighting against his Shadow clones. They had been training intensely for two weeks, already half the time had passed before the tournament.

"You know; this last week Naruto-nii-chan has been training even more intensely then before. He doesn't even stop his training for lunch, unless Jiraiya-sensei forces him to." Konohamaru said as he took a sip of his drink.

"You're right." Hanabi agreed, already done with her food and enjoying the few minutes of rest before Jiraiya's next lecture started. "But it's not that he increased his training or anything. If anything, it's almost like… like he's obsessed with training or something."

"Well, remember what Jiraiya-sensei told us?" Konohamaru asked.

Last week both youngsters had woken up to find Naruto already gone from the room, his bed looking as if he hadn't even slept in it. Jiraiya had been waiting for them, motioning for them to sit down while he explained what they had learned the night before.

"Of course," Hanabi said. "I can imagine that he's angry because of it, especially since Sensei said that he can't go and take revenge on that guy."

"You know…" Konohamaru suddenly said, his eyes never leaving Naruto as he increased the speed of his running again. The more I see Nii-chan like this, the more I get scared and I feel totally helpless."

The young Hyuuga didn't know how to react to the sudden conversion, having never really allowed herself to admit her emotions and weaknesses like that. No-one in the Hyuuga ever spoke of their weaknesses. Even Hinata had never really spoken to anyone in the clan about her lack of confidence.

"I've always looked up to Nii-chan, ever since we first met, because he did what I never really could do, no matter how hard I tried it. He went against what everyone else wanted of him and simply did what he wanted to do for himself. I wanted to be able to do that, but Grandpa, Asuma-ossan or even Ebisu-sensei stopped me. They all told me what I was supposed to do, never allowing me to do things on my own. That's why I've been training as much as I could. I wanted to become as strong as Nii-chan, so I could do what I wanted, become how I wanted to become. And I know I'm still weak, that's one thing I've learned in this exam, but I still want to grow stronger. Grow and grow until one day I'm able to look him in the eye and challenge him to a fight."

During his little speech, Konohamaru seemed to have regained some of his normal spirit and vigor, but suddenly it all seemed to be drained from his body.

"But you know… I know I can't defeat Nii-chain right now. It scares me, the thought of having to fight him when he's so much stronger then I am. I want to see if I've gotten any closer to him, but I feel like all that's happened in these past years is that he's only gotten further and further away. I'm not ready to fight him yet…"

Hanabi didn't say anything, instead placing an awkward hand on Konohamaru's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. She didn't know what to say, because she was still stunned herself. Konohamaru's sudden confession had made Hanabi realize something while he spoke: he was both excited and scared of his match. He wanted to fight, but at the same time didn't want to.

"It is better then how I'm feeling." She suddenly heard herself say. "At least you'll be able to get something from your fight. You can see just how far you still have to go to reach Naruto-san. But me… I think that… I'm scared. Just scared, nothing more;" It felt odd to let those words leave her mouth, but at the same time it felt liberating as well. "I'm scared of fighting Izayoi-san, because she's so strong. She killed that other Sand Ninja without a problem, not even flinching about it. What if she kills me just as easily?"

Much like Hanabi, Konohamaru had no idea how to comfort the black-haired girl. So instead, he mimicked her gesture of placing a hand on her shoulder.

XxX

"Hello, Naruto-kun." Hinata's sweet voice sounded as her arms circled around Naruto from behind, hugging him tight. Naruto didn't even try to return her hug, simply standing still and feeling her press herself against him. Hinata wasn't bothered by his uncharacteristic stoic behavior, but she released the hug and slowly walked around to stand in front of him, swaying her hips seductively all the wile. Looking at Naruto with a sulky look, she placed on finger on his lips.

"Maybe this will help cheer you up a bit." She said as she leaned up to him, softly pressing her lips to his own. A few seconds into the kiss, Hinata's tongue slipped out of her mouth, adding another pressure to Naruto's non-responding lips. Feeling the coercion, Naruto suddenly snapped, roughly pushing back against Hinata's mouth as he attacked her lips aggressively. His tongue shot out and pushed against hers. His kiss wasn't anything like Hinata's had been; her kiss had been sweet and loving. His kiss was angry and dominant. His arms shot around her body, holding her firmly in place, even against her wishes.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked when he pulled back for a few seconds. He didn't answer her, instead leaning in to claim her lips once again. Naruto's right hand left Hinata's back, instead gliding to her belly. With one arm now freed, Hinata's arm slipped in between Naruto and herself, but it didn't stop the blonde's assault on the black-haired beauty's mouth.

Still lingering around Hinata's belly-button; Naruto's right hand opened up, immediately shredding Hinata's shirt and anything underneath it. Unable to do anything but yelp, Hinata's chest was displayed for Naruto to stare at all he wanted.

"Naruto-kun, what are you doing? Please, stop that." she whimpered, but Naruto was immune to her plea. Slowly, deliberately and anticipating the feeling to come, Naruto raised his highly sensitive right hand to cup on of her ample breasts. At long last, as if it had taken his hands hours to travel those few inches, Naruto's hand finally felt the soft yet firm flesh.

Awakening with a start, Naruto's blue eyes shot open revealing the now-familiar ceiling of the hotel room to him. As always he could feel the effects of having Hinata visit him in his dreams again. She had been a daily 'guest' in his dreams ever since the second exam, but this last week she had been absent, ever since Jiyu had given his message concerning Naruto's mother's fate.

Raising his hand and placing it on his face, Naruto realized what was going on.

"This has to stop…" he softly told himself. "I've been way too angry this entire week. I'm shooting down Konohamaru and Hanabi, even when they've done nothing wrong… and now this. Even in my dreams I'm being way too angry and aggressive. My own dreams where talking back to me, damn it."

Knowing that sleep wouldn't come to him again once waking up, Naruto slowly got out of bed, took a glass with some fruit juice and sat down on the roof of the hotel. With most of the lights in the Village of the Rock turned off, he had quite a view of the stars up in the sky. It was a pretty and calming image, just what Naruto needed right now.

"I've let what that bastard Jiyu said get too me way too much." Naruto finally concluded after a few minutes of silence. "I've got to stop thinking about it. He told me that he hurt the woman who was my mother, but what right to revenge do I have? I've never even known her, let alone know if she loved me or not. I never even knew her name until he told me. She may have been the one to have given birth to me, like that Bastard and Ero-Sennin say, but she could have just as well be a stranger to me. I can't afford to become too absorb in all this…"

XxX

"I'm sorry, Asuma."

Nara Shikamaru was crouching down next to a tombstone, a lit cigarette in his mouth, his hands busy lighting another.

"If only I'd figured out their abilities sooner… if only I was stronger… if only I could have held onto that damn immortal a bit longer… you'd still be alive right now… I'm sorry I failed like that."

Shikamaru placed the second cigarette on the tombstone, his last tribute to his teacher and friend.

"I'm going to get back at them; I'll hunt down Akatsuki and destroy them, one by one. But first, I'm going to see Naruto and his team in the exams over Rock. Before I go hunting down Hidan, I'll tell Konohamaru what happened to you. I'll have to tell him that his heroic uncle is gone…" Shikamaru paused for a second, exhaling smoke as he did.

"I'll be going along with the others, along with Kakashi-sensei, Hyuga Hiashi-dono and even Kurenai-sensei. She's getting quite a belly by now. We'll all make sure that nothing happens to her. I'm going to make sure that your kid will grow up safe and sound, as one of the strongest in all of Konoha."

Shikamaru exhaled his smoke again as he stood up. He said one more line before turning around and going to the gate where they where all gathering to form Tsunade's unusually large bodyguard group.

"See you later."

XxX

'Only two days before the tournament begins', Suigetsu thought to himself as he watched the sun disappear behind the horizon. He was on his second break for the day, his first having been a lunch break. From his designated training area, atop a small mountain, he had a perfect view of the surrounding area.

He had already seen Orochimaru and Kabuto making their way over, walking towards him as if they were simply taking a stroll in a garden.

"What do you want, Orochimaru?" The blue-haired swordsman demanded.

"Kukuku, why so rude Suigetsu-kun?" the legendary snake-ninja chuckled. "You should be a little more respectful to your superiors."

"Then why should I show respect to you, you snake bastard?"

"Stop talking to Orochimaru-sama like that!" Kabuto yelled in outrage, but he was silenced by Orochimaru raising his hand.

"Rudeness and respectless behavior aside, you've done a good job so far. Karin has told me about your reluctance in killing Naruto-kun in the second exam. Reluctance is not something that you should have in this world. Make sure that you will not feel so the next time you have a chance."

"I won't. And I couldn't have killed him in the cave. Although we used up a similar amount of chakra, my body was much more strained because I tried to keep my normal form. If we'd have fought then and there, I wouldn't have won."

"Quite something to admit; coming from you. But in the exam you will have to complete the mission I gave your team. You and Jugo have to kill Uzumaki Naruto during the tournament. We can not allow Akatsuki to gain control over him. Ensure his death, no matter what, now that you have a free license to kill him without any consequences. Now, let's go. It's time to awaken Jugo from his slumber. Your training is over, for now you must recover your strength to fight in the tournament."

XxX

"Walking amongst all these fucking heathens makes me want to sacrifice them all to Jashin-sama." Hidan complained, walking through the main streets of the Hidden Rock. Thanks to a genjutsu that Itachi had cast upon them, he now appeared as a common peasant, holding a piece of farming equipment over his shoulder instead of his large scythe.

"Will you shut up already! This technique disguises our appearance, but it doesn't stop others from hearing what we say" Kakazu was walking next to Hidan, talking in an unusually high voice. Itachi's genjutsu made him appear as the wife of a farmer. "And don't worry about pleasing your stupid god. Pretty soon the violence will start and he'll be plenty pleased. Now let's go, I want to go and bet some money on the outcome of this tournament, we can make some good money really fast."

"You and your accursed money"

"Better my money then your stupid god. At least I know money exists."

"You dare insult Jashin-sama?" Hidan sounded outraged by now. "I'll fucking ki-" Kakusu quickly clamped his mouth over Hidan's mouth, trusting the genjutsu to make it look a little nicer then a woman trying to suffocate her husband, while internally cursing Hidan's stupidity. The man was a strong fighter and a useful aid because he couldn't die, but other than that he was a fucking moron. How on earth he ever got allowed into Akatsuki when he hadn't even completed so much as basic ninja training was beyond the aged Ninjutsu-master.

XxX

As Konohamaru walked through the halls of the tournament dome he could feel tension growing in his body. Not only was he now going to meet up with the Hokage and several other ninja – almost all friends of Naruto-nii-chan – but tournament would start in about half an hour.

Having already felt the tension – still there despite Naruto-nii-chan's return to normal behavior a week or so ago – Konohamaru had excused himself to use the bathroom. It had taken a lot of willpower to stop himself from releasing his nerves by throwing up.

Finally he reached the room where all the Konoha shinobi were gathered. It contained Sakura-nee-san, as well as three other complete teams. Hinata-san's team was there, along with Kurenai-sensei and Hanabi and Hinata's father. They were all talking to the young Hyuuga, listening to her report on the exam and her trainings.

Next Konohamaru noticed the team of Lee-san, with their eccentric leader Gai. Neji was standing next to Hyuuga Hiashi, talking with Tenten, while Lee and Gai had were talking with Naruto. The Hokage, Shizune-san, Sakura-nee-chan and Kakashi-sensei were also talking to the blond team leader. Finally, he saw Asuma-ossan's team talking to each other in the corner, but unlike other teams they didn't have their teacher with them.

'Where's Ossan?' Konohamaru thought, before he caught a specific scent in the air. 'Must be out for more cigarettes; I can smell the stench of his cigarettes.'

At that moment Ino had noticed that Konohamaru had arrived as well and she nudged Shikamaru. His shoulders suddenly stiff with tension, the pineapple-head turned around and looked at Konohamaru.

The moment he saw Shikamaru's face, Konohamaru knew there was something wrong. Not only did the Nara look pretty bad, but he was smoking a familiar-looking cigarette. It was the same brand as Asuma always smoked. Glancing around again, the young ninja suddenly saw the signs of strain on Kurenai-sensei's pretty face as well.

"Hey, Konohamaru," Shikamaru finally said as he stepped forward. The sheer tone of his voice was enough to silence the others in the room, even Hyuuga Hiashi. "I have to talk to you…"

"It's Uncle Asuma, isn't it?" Konohamaru suddenly heard himself saying. Shikamaru nodded without making eye contact, looking all the more depressed.

"Yeah…" Shikamaru inhaled powerfully, making the cigarette light up for a second before continuing. "Asuma died two weeks ago, in a battle with Akatsuki. We were on a mission to track them down after they had attacked the Temple of Fire, but they were too strong for us."

Not saying anything, Konohamaru bowed his head a little, looking at the ground, before turning around so he wouldn't have to face anyone else.

"I'm going to go after them." Shikamaru's voice was laced with venom as he spoke of his intentions. "The pair who took Asuma from you; Asuma relied on me come up with a plan and that's what I'm doing. For these immortals, it'll be checkmate. Your job is going to be to finish these exams and then, be a man for future Sarutobis."

The brown-haired genin nodded his head without turning around; then left to enter the arena as the gates had just opened. No-one spoke again, Tsunade only looking at Shikamaru with a look of disapproval, as Hanabi and Naruto prepared to also move towards the arena. Hanabi gave a quick bow to her father, sister and teacher before also giving a polite bow to Jiraiya and Tsunade and also moving out of the gate, her steps slow and controlled. The control she exercised while walking almost hid the shaking of her knees.

Naruto received a 'good luck' from Sakura, Hinata, Tsunade and Ino, high-fived Kiba, Chouji and Lee, received an encouraging nod from all the teachers, Tenten, Neji and Shino before walking past Shikamaru. As he walked past the Nara, he placed a hand of the taller boy's shoulder, slightly squeezing it to give some support. Shikamaru removed his cigarette from his mouth and grinned at Naruto.

"Go show them what Konoha's really made of." Naruto nodded in return as he walked out of the gate. Everyone else in the room used the overly familiar white-smoke transportation technique to quickly reach their seats. Tsunade, Sakura and Ino, being the Hokage and her protégé's, were placed in the Village Leader's box far above the remaining crowd.

"Kukuku, it has been a long time, Tsunade-hime." Orochimaru chuckled as soon as the Hokage entered the box. As another village leader whose genin had made it this far, he was allowed a seat in this box. Fortunately, he had chosen the seat on the far distant side of where Tsunade sat down. Secret alliance to destroy Akatsuki or not, if the Hokage went and attacked a village leader while in any place not named Konoha there would be a war between Great Ninja Nations right away. Not to mention that Orochimaru had kept up friendly relations with the Rock, Cloud and Mist. He couldn't afford to make those three his enemies. No nation in the world stood a chance against all five Great Nations combined.

Meanwhile, the members of the Hyuuga family had taken their seat in the box of nobles. Hiashi and Hinata had made some polite small talk with other lords and nobles, while Neji – not being a noble himself as a member of the branch family but acting as bodyguard – was scanning the area. A polite nod was given to other bodyguards of nobles. There was no sense in being impolite, especially in the presence of nobles. Any lack of respect could be taken as an insult and result in a battle.

The others, being neither village leaders nor nobles, sat in the normal crowd. It still provided them with a good view of the arena, but there were bits and pieces that they couldn't see.

Seventeen people stood in the centre of the arena, divided into groups. In the very centre stood the tall, black-haired one-eyed Jounin that had led the exam. With a nod and a gesture from the Tsuchikage, along with a small introduction, the arena was silenced. Finally the Jounin spoke up, drawing all attention to herself.

"Greetings everyone." She started, the build of the stadium making her heard without having to shout too loud. "I am Nishino Kin, the lead examiner in this exam and the judge for this tournament. The large electronic board behind me will display the names and picture of each ninja fighting her today, as well as how the tournament goes."

Kin paused a second to allow the crowd to look at the large screen that appeared as a piece of the rock wall was slid downward. The arena itself was made of various elements to allow every shinobi to fight to the best of their abilities. There was a small pool, deep enough to drown two people standing atop each other, a heavily forested area, large enough to easily hide your presence form the enemy, and an area filled with large rocks. The walls of the arena, just like with every other arena, also housed the crowd, a little over twelve meters above the ground. But unlike the other arena's, this was not made by stone, but rather made out of stone. The first Tsuchikage had used an earth-elemental technique to shape a large hill into the arena, making it one solid building.

"As you can see, our first match will be between Sen Chihiro of the Village of the Hidden Mist." Chihiro stepped forward, a slight sweat already on his body because of his warming up. "And his opponent; Pyonatara Rurii of the Village of the Hidden Rock."

The bespectacled medic stepped forward, a slight sweat also visible on his brow. Like Chihiro he was still perfectly calm and in control, ready for the fight.

"And now," Kin continued as the other fourteen ninja made their way to the waiting area, "with the permission of the five Kage's, and the authority vested within me as lead examiner, BEGIN THE MATCH!"

XXXxxxXXXxxx

Start of the Chuunin exams, just like I said. But some other things had to be done first, so they took up most of the chapter. Hope you enjoyed it.

As always, much thanks to my beta's Kushin eX.

And please leave a review telling me what you think.