Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Posted: 1/13/13

Chapter 49: Here We Go Again…The Chunin Exams, Round 1

The morning of the chunin exams, Naruto was exploding with anxiety and energy. This only brought one question to Sakura's mind…What would happen if, and Kami forbid, Naruto ever got his hands on a pot of coffee. However, Naruto had a reason to be excited as this time through the exams, they would all certainly make it. Naruto wished that every member of the four Konoha teams, minus Hyuga Shinji as he could really care less, that he considered close to him would make chunin this time around, but in reality, he knew that would not happen. If at the very least, he wanted his team and perhaps Hinata to make chunin.

"Naruto, do you have everything?" asked Sasuke.

"Yep. Food, water, weapons, and survival gear is all here in these scrolls" said Naruto. Team 7 had spent the previous night making sure that they would be prepared for the second exam to happen directly after the first exam and as such, they had Naruto seal away the basics they would need in whatever venue the second exam would be held in.

Also, in exchange for ramen when they got back to Konoha, Naruto had agreed to prepare a few scrolls for Teams 8 and 10. Team 10 was already taken care of due to Tenten. While Sasuke and Sakura didn't like the idea of assisting other teams, the other three teams from Konoha were different. They were comrades and if Team 7 wanted anyone else to make it through the exams, it was them.

With the final preparations made, Team 7 departed for the venue of the first exam. As they made their way there, it was obvious just by the number of teams that were heading to the exams that this one was truly going to be big. As they were walking through the streets, one ninja in particular caught Naruto's attention was a team of Kiri ninja, all who were wearing some sort of respirator. If any of them truly caught Naruto's attention, it was the one in the middle, dressed in all black. Naruto could sense the malicious intent rolling off the genin. There was definitely bloodlust in the genin's eyes. Naruto knew he felt this before. It was like the time when they met Gaara in the Forest of Death, only more intense.

"So you've noticed that guy to" said Kiba, joining Team 7.

"Something's not right about that guy" responded Sasuke.

"I know. I can smell it. The smell of rot and decay. The smell of blood. The smell…of death" said Kiba in a fearful manner. Everyone looked to the top of Kiba's head to the whimpering Akamaru. Even the poor dog was scared. "I tell ya, I've never seen Akamaru like this since that Gaara kid back in the Forest of Death, although I will admit he's gotten a lot better. I'll warn you now. I would suggest staying away from him."

"Roku"

"You can't be serious, that guy's a jinchuriki?" asked Naruto as he stopped in the middle of the street.

"I'm nearly certain of it. His chakra matches that overgrown slug's and that would also explain the mask and why everyone who gets within a 6 foot radius of him and isn't wearing a mask, couldn't stop coughing" replied Kurama. "I remember that slug would always be surrounded by a sort of acidic cloud. Anything that got too close would just melt away. It looks like his own body even emits a little bit of acid as a result from being the Rokubi's jinchuriki. In fact, you're the only one who can even get close to him without a mask."

"Why me?"

"Only the Sanbi and myself were ever able to engage that slug in close combat. The Sanbi because of that thick shell of his and me because of my regeneration. Anything else will just die if they get too close for too long."

The rest of Teams 7 and 8 looked back to see a slightly horrified expression on Naruto's face. "Naruto?" asked Hinata as she went back for her blonde. "Is everything okay?"

Naruto nodded, but whispered into Hinata's ear. "Stay away from him. He's a jinchuriki like me. Under no circumstances should you go near him at all" warned Naruto as Hinata's eyes shot open. She took a moment to take everything in before nodding. Naruto rejoined the group.

"What's up, Dobe?" asked Sasuke.

"I'll explain in a bit. But for now, just know that he's Roku" said Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura instantly got the hint and were a bit shocked by the realization of another jinchuriki, and a bloodthirsty one at best, in their presence. Kiba was trying to decipher what Naruto was talking about while Shino just remained silent.

As they got closer to the building, Sasuke asked Naruto something that was on his mind. "So what are you going to do if it's a written exam like last time. You don't have my Sharingan, Sakura's brains, or even Haku's mirrors to help you this time. And you can't just wait and see if there is a similar tenth question" said Sasuke. Naruto thought for a bit. It was a good question and one he hadn't really thought of. Kakashi had mentioned a possible interrogation instead of a written test, but I guess you never could be sure in these situations, right?

Everyone looked at Naruto as he struggled to come up with something. It was at that time that one of Shino's bugs came buzzing by him as it returned to Shino. "I've got it! Bugs!" declared Naruto. Shino raised an eyebrow to this, as did everyone else.

"What are you talking about you Baka? You can't use bugs" said Kiba.

"I know, but I can use shadow clones and they can transform into bugs. I'll make some clones before going in and transform them into bugs. Then they'll go around and pick up the answers and dispel. The answers will then come to me" said Naruto.

"Umm…wow. That actually sounded intelligent for once" said a surprised Sakura. "Okay, who are you and where is that blonde idiot?"

"Sakura!" shouted Hinata in protest as she grabbed Naruto's arm.

"I'm just kidding. I just never expected Naruto to come up with something like that" replied Sakura.

"It is indeed an impressive strategy" said Shino. "And if it not a written test?"

"Well, then I'll just have to wing it" grinned Naruto as everyone's sweat dropped.

"So in other words, if it's not a written test, then we're doomed" said Sakura.

"Pretty much" responded Sasuke. "And if it is a written test, Naruto will still find a way to screw up."

Naruto pouted as everyone laughed.

Finally, after a few minutes, they arrived at the building where the first exam was taking place. Like there was in Konoha, there was a little genjutsu trap for the ones who didn't get it. Unlike last time, everyone just walked right past instead of pointing out the genjutsu. Inside the main room of the exam, the sheer amount of ninja present gave everyone a shock. While at the Konoha exam, there was around 250-300 participants, there were easily 500 ninja in here, if not a few hundred more. The numbers advantage definitely went to Kumo, having what appeared to be 300-400 participants. One thing was sure, thing were getting interesting.

Looking around, Naruto saw some familiar faces from the last exam. The Sand Siblings were over by themselves. Naruto also noticed the blonde haired Kumo jinchuriki conversing amongst some of the other Kumo ninja. He saw a large circle of space forming around the three Kiri genin from the street earlier, most likely from the acidic gas that emitted from the Rokubi's jinchuriki. Four jinchuriki in this exam….wait, make that five. Naruto wasn't sure how he initially missed that hair, it was more uncommon then Sakura's pink hair. Fu and her team from Takigakure no Sato were also there and Naruto could instantly tell just by looking at her that she seemed a bit more confident. Did this mean she had gotten over her fears of bugs? Finally, Naruto's attention was turned towards Team Gai, who was coming over.

"Definitely something else, huh?" said Tenten.

"YOSH! So much youthfulness in this room! I can't wait for the battles to start so that I may test my Flames of Youth!" shouted Lee before Tenten could clamp a hand over his mouth.

"Quiet or you'll make enemies of everyone in the room like Naruto did in the first exam" said Tenten.

"Tenten's right. The strong ones will show themselves eventually. For now, let's just focus on getting through this exam" said Neji.

"I see you managed to make your way here. That's good. After all, you can't be a Hyuga if you fall to a measly genjutsu" said a smug Shinji as a few of the Konoha 11 (remember that Shikamaru isn't here) swore to themselves. "However, you should probably just quit now if you know what's good for you, especially you Hinata. We can't have the heiress of the Hyuga clan embarrassing us here. Or worse yet, dying and losing the Byakugan to some other village. That would just be a shame." Shinji's tone was harsh, even more so than Neji's was in the first exams. With that said, Sakura was busy trying to hold Naruto back from slugging Shinji across the face.

"Calm down Naruto! There will be chances for you to kick his ass later" said Sasuke.

"Hmph. Kick my ass? As if some loser like you could beat me. You know, it makes me question Hinata's worth even more how she could see anything in you, you worthless piece of dirt" scoffed Shinji. Now he had to worry about a few others gearing up for battle, most notably Hinata. While she didn't care if anyone insulted her, she wasn't going to let a member of her clan insult Naruto while she was around.

"Quiet down!" shouted the proctor as the exam was about to get underway. "I'm Darui, your proctor for the first exam!"

Everyone's attention turned towards the front of the room to see a blonde-haired Kumo ninja. "Why did Boss have to make me proctor the exam?" thought Darui. "You're all here for the opportunity to become chunin and as such you need to know how to gather accurate information. One such way to get information is from a captured enemy. For this exam, you will be interrogating a prisoner. They possess the location that you are to report to if you hope to move on to the second exam. You are allowed to use whatever means necessary to obtain this information so long as you don't kill or physically maim them. Now, if you'll report to your designated assistant proctor, they will show you to your interrogation room." Everyone looked around the room to see a score of Kumo ninja lined up against the wall, holding signs with each team's name on it. Despite the number of people in the room, it wasn't long before all the ninja in there were on their way to separate rooms to interrogate their 'prisoners'.


With Team 7,

"An interrogation test? Looks like I won't be needing these" said Naruto as he dispelled the shadow clone bugs on him.

"Yes, but now we need another plan" said Sasuke.

"I think I've got an idea" said Sakura. "Naruto, think you can act like you're about to lose it to that Furball in your head?"

"Huh? Why?" asked Naruto. Sasuke got what Sakura was talking about.

"Just do it, act like it's about to take you over at any second and rip us all to shreds" said Sasuke.

"I still don't get it. Why would I need Furball for this?" asked Naruto.

"You really can be dense sometimes" said Kurama.

"Hey! Watch your mouth!" replied Naruto.

"I would, if you would understand at what your teammates are talking about" said the Kyuubi. Naruto looked at the Fox in his mindscape with a confused look. "Look, humans act differently in the presence of pure terror. They want you to use me to scare your victim into giving up the information before I 'break free and eat you all'."

"What?! You're going to eat us?! I thought we were friends" shouted Naruto. Kurama nearly face planted. While Naruto had been making progress over the past months, he was still Naruto and as such he still did have his moments of idiocy.

"I won't eat you, you Baka! But the prisoner will think I am and as such will give you the information out of desperation" said Kurama. Naruto finally got it.

"I got it now!" shouted Naruto.

"About time, Dobe" responded Sasuke. "Just leave this to me and Sakura and we'll let you know if we need you to 'snap'."

"Here we are" said the proctor as they arrived at their room. "You have two hours to get the location of the second exam. Once you have it, tell me and I will lead you there. If you kill your prisoner, you will be disqualified. Once you open the door, your test will be over and you will be required to give the answer, whether it be right or wrong." All three genin nodded as they stepped inside the interrogation room. Their prisoner was a larger man, probably in his late thirties.

Sasuke and Sakura approached the man as Naruto went to find a corner to huddle in and make it look like the Kyuubi was starting to take him over.

"What's up with the shrimp?" asked the prisoner.

"Oh, nothing you need to be worried about…yet. However, I strongly suggest you tell us the location of the second exam or else things with our friend could get real ugly, real quick" said Sasuke. The prisoner instantly gave them a location, something Sasuke instantly discovered to be a lie. The Sharingan for him acted as a personal lie detector and it would help a great deal during the interrogation.

"N-no…n-not yet…m-mother" mumbled Naruto. "H-his blood i-is dirty, surely you don't want his blood."

"What the hell are you doing, I' not that insane Tanuki!" protested Kurama.

"Heh, sorry. Imitating Gaara's the best I've got when it comes to this stuff though" said Naruto.

"Oh no, he's already begun talking to…it. Please, just tell us. You don't want to see him when he kills" begged Sakura.

"Phft. He can drop the act already. That kid couldn't even kill a fly" said the prisoner. "But I applaud your attempt. I almost believed it for a second. As such, I'll tell you what. I'l let you ask one question about me personally, and I'll answer truthfully. However, you can't ask me about the test."

Sasuke took a gamble. He saw the way the man initially looked at Naruto before he figured the blonde was just 'bluffing'. "Why were you arrested? What did you do?" asked Sasuke.

"Sasuke, wait! Shouldn't we think this through?" objected Sakura.

"Too late pinky. Fine, I'll tell you" said the man. "This village is inhabited by demons! I was just trying to do my duty as a civilian and save the village from one of these demons until the Raikage, that blasted demon lover, threw me in here for my so-called crime!"

"This just made things soo much easier" thought Sasuke. His theory was right. This man was afraid of jinchuriki and they happened to have one huddled in the corner right now. He gave Sakura a quick look and she caught on. It was time to get this test over with.

"P-please j-just stop. He can't take it anymore…he's gonna kill!" shouted Naruto from his corner.

"Yeah right, like that kid could ever be one of those demon freaks" said the man.

"I suggest you tell us now before things really get out of hand" said Sasuke.

Suddenly, there was a scream from the corner as Sakura went over to 'check' on Naruto.

"Okay kid, quit playing around. We all know you'd never hurt a fly" mocked the man.

"Please, just tell us" begged Sakura. "If we don't get out of here soon, he's going to snap!"

"You're going to have to do better than that pinky if you want to get the information out of me. And that little act of your friend's is just pathetic" said the prisoner.

"Haha…Haha" Naruto began to laugh as his voice grew slightly more demonic. A large burst of chakra was felt throughout the room and the man began to realize just how wrong he was. In the blink of an eye, Naruto was no longer in his corner, but now in the prisoner's face. The man could see the pure terror in Naruto's red-slitted eyes. "So you don't like demons like me…well, then let's have some fun!"

The prisoner was suddenly hit with a focused wave of killing intent and in some other interrogation room, Kiba was thankful he was not in that room as the man lost control of his bowels. "W-what i-is this?" he stuttered out. The man was now absolutely terrified.

"That was just a vision of your death. Now for it to become a reality!" Naruto jabbed his claw out, ready to strike the man's heart.

"THE LOCATION IS THUNDER PEAK! THE PLACE WHERE THE HEAVENS MEET THE EARTH!" the man shouted out. "NOW PLEASE STOP HIM!" Just as Naruto was about to rip into the man's chest, the demonic aura surrounding him retreated and he backed off.

"Heh! Thank you for that" said Naruto, doing a complete 180 in front of the man. That had been the truth and Naruto was sure of it, thanks to the Negative Emotions Sensing ability that also functioned as a lie detector. The man was confused now, his head spinning insanely fast, until he passed out from all the stress.

"Not bad" said Sasuke. "We've got what we need. Now let's go. It'll be nice to have some time to prepare before the next part."

The rest of Team 7 nodded and opened the door, their task complete. "Your answer?" the proctor asked.

"Thunder Peak, the place where the heaven meets the earth" said Sasuke. He proctor just nodded and motioned for them to follow.


With Team Gai,

Neji, Tenten, and Lee were taking a different approach, seeing as they didn't have a jinchuriki to scare the shit out of their prisoner; however, they did have something equally as good…the Flames of Youth.

"Please, make him stop!" begged Team Gai's prisoner. Lee had unshackled the prisoner and was currently making sure that the prisoner was doing the 500 pushups that he was doing as well. Tenten had brought along the same scroll that was used on Kiba a few months ago and the prisoner was now dressed in a green spandex suit, had bushy eyebrows, and a bowl-cut hairstyle.

"I'm afraid we've been trying to stop him for two years now and it's only provoked him further. Don't worry though, you've only got 1hr 45min left to endure your fate" said Neji in his 'fate-mode'.

"Yosh! Now for 1000 thumb-stand push-ups!" shouted Lee. "Come my new friend! Let us bask in the glories of youth together!" The Prisoner's sweat dropped as he began to wimper. Before he knew it, Tenten and Neji were helping him into position into a handstand, only using his thumbs.

"101…102…103…" said Lee as the prisoner looked in disbelief at the pace Lee was going at.

"I still son't see why we went with this approach. I'm sure you could have just told me where to place a few needles to hit nerve clusters and we could have used pain to get him to submit" said Tenten.

"Yes, but you remember our first days on Team Gai. I'll give it maybe 20 more minutes before he's begging for us to end it" said Neji.

20 minutes later…

"Yosh! Now for 2000 squat thrusts!" shouted Lee. The prisoner looked about ready to die after Neji and Tenten had helped him get through those thumb-stand push-ups. Needless to say, he was nowhere near Lee's 1000.

"Please, make it stop! No more. I'll talk, just keep me away from that…that…yagh!" screamed the prisoner. Neji just let out a smirk as they had succeeded.

"Your answer?" asked the proctor.

"Thunder Peak" responded Tenten. The proctor nodded and motioned for them to follow, unfortunately, they were missing someone.

"Lee, are you coming?" asked Tenten in a frustrated tone.

"I must…102…finish…103…this…104…set…105" said Lee as Tenten and Neji sighed. Nji activated his Byakugan and struck a chakra point on the back of Lee's neck, knocking him unconscious.

"Is he always like that?" asked the proctor.

"You have no idea. Are you familiar with Maito Gai?" asked Neji.

The proctor paled. Even in Kumo's Gai's extreme workouts were well known and the proctor began pitying them.


With Team 10

"Interrogation, this will be a breeze!" declared Ino.

"Hmph, what makes you think you'll be able to do this?" scoffed Shinji.

"Simple, I'm a Yamanaka. Stuff like this is my family's specialty" bragged Ino. "And once I pass this exam with ease, the Sasuke will see just how awesome I am!"

"But Ino, I thought you didn't know any sort of interrogation techniques?" said Chouji.

"Well, after I mentioned to my dad that we were going to Kumo and there was most likely going to be an interrogation test, he taught me a jutsu for reading minds" said Ino.

As they entered the room, the prisoner they were to be interrogating gave them a grin, especially Ino. "Well it seems like my lucky day. You're pretty good looking, now why don't your friends leave so we can have a little fun" said man with a perverted grin on his face. Ino gulped. She already had a feeling that she knew what the man was in here for.

"Partial Multi-Sized Jutsu!" shouted Chouji, mad at the tone the prisoner was giving Ino. He clamped his arms around the prisoner and squeezed.

"Stop it you fatass or you're going to crush him to death" said Shinji, using Chouji's taboo word. Ino instantly realized this and jumped between Chouji and Shinji as Chouji wouldn't go through Ino to get to his target.

"Chouji, just stop it. He's not worth it" said Ino. "Just make sure you keep the prisoner locked down for me, okay?"

Chouji nodded and Shinji proceeded with a jyuken strike to the back of the man's neck which knocked him unconscious.

Ino placed her hand on the prisoner's head and began to focus. "Ninpou: Mind Read Jutsu" she said.

When Ino opened her eyes, she was no longer in the room where she once was. She was floating in a blank space with what looked like a brain floating in front of her. Ino floated over towards the gigantic brain. It was a weird sensation, being inside someone's head. She had only used this jutsu once before and that was when her dad was teaching her about it. Thankfully for her, there were no memory blocks in place for this guy that she would have to navigate through.

When she reached the brain, Ino did as her father instructed and placed her hand on the brain, pulling what looked to be a large scroll out. Ino took a deep breath and began to sort through the memories, in hopes of finding the information they needed for the test. Unfortunately, the very first memory was the memory she was afraid of running into. Even before they began, she already had a hunch as to what this man was imprisoned for, and this first memory proved it. He was imprisoned for rape and that was the unfortunate memory that Ino had come across first. Ino did her best to block out the rest of it as she proceeded through the man's memories.

After about 30 minutes of searching, she finally found something.

"Did you find anything?" asked Chouji as Ino awakened in the real world.

"Yeah, I've got it" Ino said as the man began to regain consciousness. "But just hold on, there's one more jutsu I want to test out."

"Umm…and that would be?" asked Chouji. In all reality, he and Shinji should have just covered their ears and turned away.

"Secret Woman Taijutsu Technique: Kick in the Balls no Jutsu!" shouted Ino as she drove her foot right up between the man's legs and into his groin.

Both Chouji and Shinji winced at that and instinctively, their hands moved into a position to protect their manhood. Team 10 then exited the room and gave the proctor their answer…Thunder Peaks. Like the rest of the Konoha proctors, the proctor just nodded and led them to the location they gave.


With Team 8,

Team 8 was having a little bit more of a difficult time getting their prisoner to talk as they didn't have a jinchuriki to scare the shit out of him, a mind-reader, or Lee. The most they had going for them at the moment was Hinata's Byakugan, which she could use to detect lies.

"Damnit, this is getting us nowhere…" said Kiba.

Hinata was getting a little depressed at this. She didn't want a mere interrogation test to get in her way of continuing on in the exams. Surely Naruto and Neji had already found ways to get past their prisoners and she figured that Ino, being a Yamanaka who specialized in stuff like this, had probably gotten her team, and Shinji, through the test as well. About an hour had passed and they were getting nowhere.

"They are ready" said Shino. Both Hinata and Kiba looked over at their bug-using teammate. Shino walked over to the prisoner and placed his finger on the prisoner's neck.

"Ow! What the hell was that?!" screamed the prisoner as he felt a sharp stinging pain in his neck.

"They are a special variation of insects that I brought with me for such an occurrence. They have just released their venom into your system and you should begin to feel intense pain in a matter of minutes. The pain will only continue to increase unless I give you the antidote" said Shino.

"Well what do you want for me to get this antidote?" asked the prisoner.

"The answer, truthfully" said Shino.

"Heh, I'm sure I can deal with a little pain. I've only got to put up with it until this exam is over" said the man with a smirk on his face.

"S-shino, how strong i-is the pain?" asked Hinata.

"Once it kicks in…unbearable" responded Shino, emotionless as always as Hinata flinched.

A few minutes passed with the prisoner just laughing at Team 8's feeble attempts to get him to talk. That is until he keeled over in pain, clutching his abdomen. "It has begun" said Shino. "The pain will only continue to spread and worsen."

Another minute or two passed before the prisoner began to cry out and the screams continued for another ten minutes with Hinata finding the screams unbearable as well. She didn't like seeing anyone in this sort of pain.

Shino caught Hinata's flinches. He truly was sorry for having to resort to this, but it felt like the best option. He was just hoping for Hinata's sake that it wouldn't be too much longer before the prisoner cracked.

Finally, after ten agonizing minutes of screaming, the prisoner cracked. "Thunder…AHHH…Peaks! Now please! Make it stop!" shouted the prisoner in obvious pain. Hinata confirmed the truth with her dojutsu and Shino administered the insect that had the anti-venom. Like the other proctors, theirs just simply nodded and led them off towards the said location.


"Alright! We made it! And we're some of the first!" shouted Naruto as he and Team 7 walked into a large waiting room, where a few other ninja were as well.

Sasuke turned to the proctor that escorted them. "So does this mean we passed?"

"I cannot say. You will learn your fate in this test at the end of the time limit" said the proctor. Sasuke sighed. Things looked good, despite not knowing for sure, as there was already a large portion of Kumo ninja within the room, including a blonde-haired kunoichi who was walking towards them.

"Don't worry, ether you guys passed or we all just failed" said Yugito. "This test was rigged in favor of jinchuriki. All you had to do was flare some demonic chakra and most of the prisoners they used would practically crap themselves as they spilled the information."

"Really? Wow. Well then good thing I thought of that" said Naruto, receiving some glares from Sakura and Sasuke.

"Anyways, just sit tight. We have over an hour to kill before they move on. So just try and keep yourself entertained until then said Yugito.

"An hour? That's it? Heh, waiting will be easy then" replied Naruto. Yugito just sent him an odd look.

"You obviously haven't met our sensei" explained Sakura. "He's normally two hours late to just about everything."

About 30 minutes passed and the next of the Konoha teams entered. It was Team Gai, and while there was a different Hyuga Naruto would have rather seen walk through those doors, Neji was better than the third Hyuga in Kumo.

"Hey guys!" shouted Naruto, waving to Team Gai. The three of them walked over to where Naruto was busy scribbling something on a scroll. Tenten immediately recognized that he was working on sealing. "So how'd it go?"

"Good…I think. I mean I don't know if we passed yet, so we aren't entirely sure" said Tenten.

"Well, I'm sure we passed and since you're here as well, that means you passed! –ttebayo!" said Naruto. "So how'd you guys take care of your prisoner?"

"We used the power of youth" said Tenten, pointing over at Lee who was finishing his set of squat-thrusts that Neji interrupted. All three members of Team 7 shivered at the thought. "So how about you guys?"

"Err…" said Naruto, not sure where to go.

"We used some sort of Sharingan genjutsu that Sasuke had" said Sakura, covering for Naruto using Kyuubi chakra.

About ten minutes passed before the next Konoha team arrived. Unfortunately, this team didn't contain the Hyuga Naruto was hoping to see. Team 10 and Shinji had arrived.

Time passed and Naruto was becoming increasingly anxious. It was over an hour since the exam started and one-by-one, teams began to file into the rooms. It was already becoming clear that this test was not the one meant to weed out participants like the first exam in Konoha as around half the initial field was already there by the end of the first hour. Needless to say, the amount of genin entering the room began to slow down during the second hour and Naruto was getting increasingly anxious. He wanted so bad for Hinata to pass. Not only would it mean that she would have a chance to be promoted, but any opportunity he saw to stick it to the Hyuga clan elders was one he didn't want to pass up, and Hinata being promoted would do just that.

"Damnit, where are they" swore Naruto.

"Calm down, they'll be here. You trust her, right?" said Sakura trying to get her blonde haired teammate to calm down. Sasuke would have tried to calm him down, but with Ino being there…well, let's just say he found a use for Gaara's sand shield that helped him out.

"I do, but still…" said Naturo before he was cut off.

"Then just give it a little longer. Team 8 will be here. We all agreed beforehand that we were going to get through the second exam like last time" reassured Sakura. "Just go back to working on your seals or something."

Naruto pouted, but Sakura was right. There was nothing he could do but trust Hinata and Team 8 to pull through; after all, they had about 40 minutes to still arrive.

Another twenty minutes passed and they finally arrived. "Hinata!" called out Naruto.

Hinata smiled, seeing that Naruto was in the same place that she was. At least she figured that everyone here would be either failing or passing the first exam together. With the Konoha 11 (plus Shinji) all together, Naruto was putting the finishing touches on whatever it was he was working on.

"Okay Naruto, spill it. What are you working on?" asked Tenten as she saw a dozen copies of a seal that she did not recognize on the scroll in front of him.

"One sec…almost…there, done!" he said. "Now, I need all of you to place your hand on top of one of these seals."

"Why do we have to do this?" asked Neji.

"Just do it. Trust me on this. They'll help us all in the survival exam" said Naruto.

"Very well. Trust is essential in our ability to succeed in these exams" said Shino as he placed his hand on top of one of the seals. Hinata was second, followed by Sakura and Sasuke. The remaining members followed, with a hesitant Shinji being last.

Naruto made the dog, serpent, and ram seal, in that order, and placed his own hand down upon the twelfth seal. "Fuinjutsu: Seal Imprint!" All 12 of them watched as a Konoha leaf symbol inscribed itself on the back of their hands, before fading.

"What did you do?!" barked Shinji, activating his Byakugan towards Naruto.

"Just hold on. Let Naruto explain" said Sasuke, defending his teammate, rival, and best friend.

Naruto held up his palm and channeled a small amount of chakra into the place where the seal was. The leaf that had faded illuminated in a blue glow. "It's a simple identification seal. The last time we were in these exams, my team got ambushed two times because enemies impersonated me. We had to come up with some sort of long code that, to be honest, I couldn't remember at all. This makes it easier to identify who you can and can't trust. Baa…I mean Tsunade-sama was right. There are a lot of ninja here and our best bet is to support one another, not hinder each other.

"I see. Impressive" replied Shino.

"What's Naruto talking about?" asked Kiba.

"Simple, only trust someone if they can show you this seal" said Sakura, illuminating the leaf on her hand.

"I agree. We should agree to a truce amongst each other and assist one another if we can while we are in there" said Neji. Everyone nodded, even a hesitant Shinji. Looking around the room, they weren't the only ones grouping together. It was blatantly obvious that truces and pacts were being formed between groups from the same village.

The two hour limit quickly came to an end. "180 shinobi, 60 teams" said Sasuke as he counted the teams remaining in the room with his eyes.

"Woah, that's a lot. At least twice as many that were in the second round of the Konoha exam" said Sakura, recalling the exam.

"I know. What'd you think, Naruto?" said Sasuke.

"A lot of people here. To say the least, interesting" replied Naruto, receiving a smirk from Sasuke. Taking one last look around the room, Naruto realized one thing, that horrified him in a sense.

"What's the matter Dobe, you can't be chickening out now?" asked Sasuke, catching Naruto's reaction.

Naruto sent a glare back towards Sasuke. "It's not that, Teme. This is something I can handle, but I'm afraid for the others" said Naruto.

"Well then what is that has you on edge?" asked Sasuke.

"Follow my finger closely" said Naruto. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and followed where Naruto was pointing. "Ichi…Ni…Roku…Nana…Kyu." Sasuke's eyes shot wide as he realized what Naruto was referring to.

"Five of them? Four others like you?" asked Sasuke. Naruto nodded. Sasuke just got that look on his face. "Now things really are going to get fun."

While Sasuke was fanaticizing fighting any one of the five jinchuriki that Naruto had pointed out, he made his way to the other teams, specifically the Hyugas. "Guys, I need to warn you about something right now. Take a good look at my chakra and tell me what you see" said Naruto, deciding he would rather risk the Kyuubi secret over one of the teams actually coming face-to-face with a jinchuriki. All three Hyugas activated their eyes and Naruto channeled some of the Kyuubi's chakra into his system.

"Naruto…" thought Hinata.

"It's that chakra from our match before" thought Neji. "It's the Kyuubi's chakra."

"What's up with that red chakra?" thought Shinji.

"Did you get a good look?" asked Naruto.

"It was red. Why was it red?" asked Shinji. Out of the three, Shinji was the only one unaware of the Kyuubi inside Naruto. Hinata had known for years and had accepted him without hesitation and Neji had learned about it during their match. The burden and 'cursed-seal' that Naruto bore only made Neji respect the blonde more.

"I don't want to explain why right now, but just know that my chakra is special. However, there are others here with that similar chakra. Just please trust me on this. If you see red, run. Under no means should you fight them" warned Naruto.

"Why shouldn't we?" objected Shinji. "No chakra is any match for a Hyuga."

"Baka" thought Neji, having personal experience against that kind of chakra.

"Just trust me on this. You don't want to fight those guys. If you do, there's a very high likely hood that you'll lose or even die" said Naruto.

"Hmph, whatever" said Shinji as he walked away from Naruto, leaving the blonde with Neji and Hinata.

"Naruto, I suppose I should tell you now that I know about the mark you carry and I am truly sorry for what I said to you back there" said Neji. "Your burden is much greater than my own and I deeply respect you for that."

Naruto realized what Neji was saying. Naruto knew that somehow Neji had figured out that he had the Kyuubi inside of him. However, he was glad to have another friend on his side that knew. "Thank you, Neji. Now just make sure to keep your team safe from the others."

"I will. If I may ask though, how many?" asked Neji.

"Including myself, 5" Neji's eyes shot open at Naruto's answer. "I cannot tell you how stable they are, but trust that you have nothing to fear from me."

"Very well. You have my word that I'll keep them safe" said Neji. With that, he lights in the room dimmed as the proctor, Darui, made his way into the room.

"N-naruto?" Naruto turned his attention towards Hinata, who lunged herself at him, wrapping him in her own arms and kissing him.

"H-hinata…" said Naruto.

"I'll keep my team safe. Don't worry. I'll see you in the third round" said the Hyuga heiress as she rejoined her team.

"Stay safe, my Hime" said Naruto. Hinata caught this from Naruto and blushed a little at Naruto's new calling for her.

"Quite down!" shouted Darui from the front. "Where is he? He should be here by now"

"Congratulations on passing the first exam. That first exam was rather easy, don't you think?" said Darui, receiving a few chuckles from the crowd. "I'm sorry to say that our proctor for the second exam is running a little late, so just sit tight and he should be here to explain the next exam shortly."

Suddenly, the lights went out as a faint beat was heard room somewhere in the room.

From a balcony in the back of the room they were in, a single light shown down upon a certain blonde-haired Kumo shinobi with 7 swords sheathed on his back. He was bouncing to the beat that could be heard throughout the hall and Darui's sweat dropped.

"Y'all say ho!" shouted the Kumo ninja.

"Ho!" all the Kumo shinobi in the room shouted back. It was evident that this was at least somewhat normal to them. And then the man began rapping.

"Know my name, know my fame, don't be lame! Eight Tails, that's me, da rappin Killer Bee. Battle after battle is what you'll face, if you don't wanna end a big disgrace. So hold onto your tails or else you'll fail…"

"Drop Kick!"

A massive crash came through the roof of the building as the Raikage entered, ending Bee's rap with a big slam into Bee's back. "Just get on with the second exams" said the Raikage as everyone's sweat dropped.


Jutsu

Ninpou: Mind Read Jutsu: A Yamanaka clan technique where the user enters the mind of a captured person. This allows them to obtain any and all information from the subject, regardless of the quality of their memory.

Users: Yamanaka Ino, Yamanaka Inoichi

Secret Woman Taijutsu Technique: Kick in the Balls no Jutsu: Exactly as it sounds

Users: Yamanaka Ino


Author Notes

Hope you enjoyed.

One small change I'm making is the Six-tails jinchuriki. I know the cannon jinchuriki was a man by the name Utaka. In here he's a different Kiri shinobi and he's just as bloodthirsty as Gaara was in the Konoha exams, if not more.

So, regarding the name change I was thinking of, the name I am thinking of changing the story, and the series of stories to is 'Uzumaki Tales: Rise of an Uzumaki'. Let me know what you think and I'll probably implement the name change with the next chapter.

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