A/N: Hey guys, welcome back to the 17th installment of The Wolf and the Fox! If you're curious to the progress of the voting, there will be a note at the end to tell you were each poll is currently leading. Enjoy the story guys, and thank you for your continued support!

The Wolf and the Fox

Chapter 13 – Let the Prelims Begin!

XXXXX

"Have there been any reports from the scouting team?" Naruto asked, glancing towards a wolf with pitch black fur, starkly contrasting his golden glowing eyes, and standing easily twice the blonde's full height (A/N: 6'1").

The wolf nodded, extending its paw out and pressing it on the ground before a plume of smoke revealed a scroll, "Tayuya-chan left this with one of Hanta's team, but otherwise there has been no sighting of Sannin no Orochimaru, Naruto-sama," he reported in a deep voice.

"So, Tayuya-chan did have something to report to me after all," the blonde nodded, taking the scroll from where it lay and unsealing it. His eyes quickly scanning the coded message, the black wolf seeming worried as he noticed his summoner's hand almost unnoticeably tightening around the parchment.

"Something to be worried about, Naruto-sama?"

"Not entirely, but it will make things much more difficult, Kuromaki," the blonde begrudged before lighting the message aflame, meeting the wolf's questioning gaze. "Report to Shiro-sama that I will be needing her assistance in the coming month alongside Ein-sama."

The wolf only bowed its massive form, "We're always ready to aid you, Naruto-sama," Kuromaki replied, earning a small smile from the blonde.

"Drop the "sama" shtick, Kuromaki, you know I'm no fan of it," he muttered, apparently upon deaf ears as the wolf had already dismissed himself. "Troublesome wolves," he shook his head before sending out a small burst of his chakra, his eyes turning upwards as he sensed his team moving towards the tower followed by team ten. "I suppose I should prepare myself to meet them," Naruto sighed, patting dust from the waist cloth Mei had given him, a tired look coming to his mismatched eyes.

XXXXX

Sabaku no Temari sighed as she sat in the cafeteria facilities set-up for the exam participants that had already completed the second stage. It had been nearly a full forty-eight hours since they had completed the test, having apparently broken some record that had once been set for the forest. Honestly, she was thankful to be finished and done with it, but she would've rather had at least something to do during their wait. Apparently it was completely against the rules for any participant to train during their stay within the tower, she was beyond aware of her youngest brother's irritation at the fact. The way he just glared a hole into the concrete wall of their room being quite unsettling.

She released another sigh before her teal eyes caught sight of a familiar blonde briskly walking past the doors that led into the cafeteria. A smile came to her face as she stood up, completely intent on having a chance to speak to the older blonde.

Kankuro rose a brow as he watched her stand, "where are you heading off to in such a hurry?" He called the question out to his elder sister, the girl only looking back long enough to wave him off before she continued, a sigh escaping his lips. "Whatever," he mumbled, choosing to return his attention back to the stew Konoha had provided for their meal today.

A smile came to Temari's face when she caught a glimpse of Naruto turning the corner at the end of the hallway, quietly following behind him. When she reached the corner, she peaked around and her eyes widened to find him out of view. It should've been impossible, even at his fast pace, for him to traverse the long hallway in such a short time. "Damn," she whispered, releasing a sigh as she turned to go back, her eyes closing in frustration.

Those teal eyes however slammed open as she bumped into a firm chest, the orbs moving upwards to meet a lazy pair of exotically mismatched eyes. A blush immediately burned across her face, he was nearly a foot taller than her and the way he raised his brow in curiosity was oddly satisfying to her. Judging by the small smirk spreading across his lips, he had easily spotted the tint to her cheeks, "You know Temari-chan, it's not very nice to follow people," her blush only increased at the teasing way he said her name.

"I-I'm sorry, I allowed my curiosity to g-get the better of me," she stammered, still surprised by how effortlessly he had snuck up behind her.

That blonde brow of his only seemed to raise higher as his smirk became wolfish, "Oh, curious about me, are you?"

"H-Hai," she admitted, looking down and away, she had never been so embarrassed in her entire life. The fact that the thoughts of what this specimen of a man had been doing in the hot springs only a few days before the exams still fresh in her seventeen-year-old mind.

He chuckled, that wolfish smirk becoming charming before he reached up and playfully tapped on her nose as if it were a button, "You should really be focused on the next portion of the exams Temari-chan, maybe you'll have your chance after?" Naruto said before shocking her as he completely vanished.

She pressed her back to the wall, just now realizing how hard her heart was hammering in her chest. Had he actually been flirting with her? There was no way, sure he was only a few years older than her if she had to guess (A/N: Three years older, do the math). But, even at his young age he had already completed so much more than her, he was a famed and feared shinobi across the five nations. There was absolutely just no way he was actually flirting with her just then, but Kami she sure hoped she was wrong and he was.

A small smile played at her lips as she thought about him, the mannerisms she had been exposed to and the frightening, yet calm presence he had. However, the smile suddenly fell to a frown as an all too real thought struck her. The reality of what was to come at the end of these exams, it would ruin the little crush she had on him completely. A war always complicated things after all.

XXXXX

Naruto's smile faded as he appeared at the marker he had placed around the corner of the hallway Temari had been peaking down to spot him. It hadn't been hard at all for him to sense the younger Suna kunoichi following him, but it had been rather amusing to mess with her he mentally mused. His frown deepened though as he subconsciously wondered if her infatuation with him was more than just the simple crush she displayed, would the girl have a play in what was to come?

A sigh broke through his lips as he pushed the notion aside, she probably had no choice in the matter that was to consume them all in just over a month and two days. She was probably amongst those that had little to no clue just how badly their village had been played by the snake, what that man had really done to ensure what he thought would be his victory. He barely bit back the snarl that bubbled in his throat as what he had read from Tayuya's message once more came to the forefront of his mind. He now knew what Orochimaru's trump card truly was, and it would only be one more reason the blonde had to make the bastard feel pain like never before.

Naruto once more sighed as he pushed the thought process back, pushing open the door to the room his brother and the rest of Team Seven would be walking through in a moment. Jiraiya's camouflage jutsu came to life around him with merely a thought as he watched the opposite twin doors being pushed open, silently noting that Team Ten was also entering the building from a similar entrance not far from his own team. However, the blonde's eyes narrowed as he took sight of the still unconscious form of Sasuke and an annoyed look on his Otouto's face, Sakura radiating pure worry as they looked up to the board on the wall closest to him. A simple riddle to explain what any contestant was to do once they reached this place with both scrolls.

Sakura read it aloud, a thoughtful look coming to her face as she finished, Naruto hearing her ask Menma what it could mean. The blonde had to bite back the laugh that wanted to escape him at watching his brother unceremoniously drop the youngest Uchiha, a similar manner to how Itachi had once dropped Shishui after the reckless older shinobi had pushed himself too far.

"We need to open the scrolls together," he heard his brother say, Sakura and he both pulling out one of the two required scrolls. His smile only widened when they had opened the scrolls and only after a glance, Menma had all but ordered for her to drop it, noting that it was a summoning seal.

"It would seem you've been doing quite well with your studies, Otouto," the blonde thought to himself, having been the one to get the boy started in the art of fuinjutsu.

Usually, it would've been Kakashi or even himself that appeared to congratulate their team on their success. But, Iruka, always having held a soft spot for the trouble-maker that was his little brother, requested that he be the one assigned to welcome Team Seven to the tower. Naruto and Kakashi with their own responsibilities for the duration of the exams, Kakashi namely just because he claimed he could use the break, had happily allowed it.

The scarred chuunin was smiling with pride at the two, until his eyes landed on the incapacitated form of Sasuke. Naruto caught his self-appointed signal to take-over as the Chuunin seemed to be leaning towards telling them they could not continue until Sasuke woke.

The blonde allowed his jutsu to fade and shunshined to stand next to the Chuunin, his large hand clapping the slightly older man on the shoulder. "Circumstances are different here, Iruka-san, the Hokage knows about this and has asked me to come handle it."

Iruka looked at him curiously, not showing any surprise at the blonde's sudden appearance, very used to it by this point in time. "Do you know what happened, Naruto-san?"

"I do," the blonde nodded. "No, I can't speak about it and neither should any of you three, consider it a need to know basis."

Iruka nodded in acceptance, also very used to the secretive measures of the blonde haired shinobi. "Very well, then I'll leave you to it, Naruto-san," he said, once more turning his head to smile at Menma and Sakura. "Congratulations again on your success in these exams you two," he said, a moment later disappearing in a shunshin.

"Naruto-nii, what happened to Sasuke, he wasn't himself when he woke up after our fight with Hebi-teme," Menma demanded, wasting no time to grill the blonde for information after the Chuunin's disappearance.

Naruto sighed, moving over to the Uchiha and pulling back the collar of his shirt. "This is a highly advanced fuinjutsu, a tainted and evil technique bastardized even further from its original tainted form by Orochimaru," he answered, pointing at the mark to show his brother, he and Sakura both frowning deeply. "It taints a person, changing them and bringing out the darkest sides of their personality before strengthening those emotions, whatever he did, he was not in control," he finished, earning a nod of acceptance from the Gennin before he hefted the boy to his shoulder.

"What are you going to do?" Sakura asked, once more displaying her worry.

"The only thing I can do for now is contain the seal, it won't do entirely much, but I will be able to do more in the future," he supplied, earning another round of nods from the pair. "You two come put your hands on me and I'll take you along with me to seal it, it should be a nice chance to teach each of you a thing or two about sealing."

Menma looked hesitant, Sakura only doing as she was told and placing her hand on Naruto's back. The crimson haired boy only received one exasperated look from his brother before doing the same, bracing himself for what was to come when the four suddenly vanished from the room all together.

XXXXX

A few hours later found the blonde now sitting on one of the various balconies of the pagoda styled tower, a tired expression on his face as he idly sipped a saucer of sake. With everything that seemed to be happening left and right, Naruto deemed himself deserving of something to help him relax. Even if that accursed turtle, Isobu, mostly blocked any chance of him getting drunk like he once would in such times. It rather irked him how the bijuu would mother hen over his wellbeing at times, but he supposed that was a consequence of befriending the tenant within.

"Compare me to a chicken again, and you can consider our agreement null and void," Isobu said gruffly, causing the blonde to roll his eyes, his exhaustion showing even more. Naruto just chose to let the chakra construct stew, it usually only resulted in a head splitting headache to argue with him when he'd pissed Isobu off.

His eyes were focused on the horizon, watching it as the sun fell further and further signifying the near end of the third day. It still surprised him that only three teams had made it at this point, but he supposed there would be a few teams out there purposefully ruining the hopes of others. There were no rules against it, and while he should be out there running his own interference, it hadn't been expected for so much to happen in this phase. It only made him wonder what other surprises would be waiting for them as the events continued on.

The thoughts were broken from his mind as he sensed a familiar chakra approaching him from behind. Not a word coming from him or the crimson haired little brother of his as he sat down beside him, something clearly on his mind.

"It's not like you to withhold what's bothering you, Otouto," he stated simply, downing the saucer of sake still in his grasp with practiced ease. "Is it about the chakra I felt you releasing?" he asked, Menma still not speaking up.

"Partly, nii-chan," he finally answered, Naruto looking over to see a downcast look in his eyes.

"You nearly lost control of it, didn't you," it wasn't a question and Menma knew it, slightly annoyed with how easily his brother could figure things out.

Menma nodded regretfully, "I released three tails after waking up to find Sakura in trouble, the Oto team apparently there to test Sasuke or whatever," he shook his head, frown deepening. "I promised I would tell them about it after the exams, but I'm honestly scared they'll start to treat me like the villagers did," he rubbed his stomach gently, the uninformed observer probably thinking he was rubbing the seal and not the scar just above it. "It's gotten better since then, but they still look at me with hate and distrust."

Naruto bristled at the reminder of that night, the night he had forsaken his childhood dream to become Hokage, the only time in his life he had raised his hand to comrades and innocents. He released a breath he didn't know he was holding as he placed his hand on Menma's shoulder, forcing his Otouto to look him in his eyes. "Your friends, your true friends, will never judge you for being the scroll that a kunai was sealed within," he promised, his eyes soft as they met those violet orbs that reminded him of his mother's when they were sad. "Do you really think Sasuke, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, and even your precious Sakura-chan and Ino-chan would ever look at you differently?"

Menma didn't even blush at the teasing tone of his brother, the frown permeating through his attempt to lighten the mood. It brought a deep frown to the blonde's face, "I suppose you've left me with no other choice Menma," the crimson haired boy looked to Naruto curiously, it was very rare that he actually called him by his given name. It usually always meant the blonde wanted his undivided attention, and nothing more would suffice. Before Menma could ask, Naruto continued, "Have I ever told you exactly how I killed the Yondaime Mizukage?"

Menma frowned, shaking his head in response, it was very rare that Naruto ever talked about that time in his life. All he really knew about it was what Mei had told him, obviously leaving out any sensitive material, for example the final battle.

"Well, because of a mistake on my end, I was captured by Yagura, the Yondaime Mizukage," he started, explaining how he had accepted torture and imprisonment, knowing he could've escaped. But, chose to gain whatever information he could as the Yondaime's prized prisoner, and also knowing he alone couldn't fight through an entire village of shinobi after losing his eye in the previous battle. "About a month after that, back-up finally came to rescue me, the rebels, my team and the ANBU the old monkey sent to help us. Before Mei could even launch her attack, I was engaging the Mizukage and I was beating him, terribly because I wanted him to suffer like I had for that month," his eyes looked up to the star filled sky now above them, and Menma could tell how much it hurt him to retell these events. "In the end, he had unleashed the power that had made him so fearsome, the power of a fulfilled Jinchuriki; completely synced with their bijuu."

Menma looked amazed, it wasn't actually common knowledge that the Yondaime Mizukage had been a Jinchuriki, let alone a perfect one. It was proof just how much of the shinobi world was still hidden from them, that even something like that could be swept under the rug and kept hidden.

"Turns out, to beat him and not just allow the Sanbi to reform a few years later, there was only one thing I could do," Naruto paused, looking down towards the ground far beneath them, sensing his brother's want to ask what he did. "I killed the Yondaime Mizukage by ripping the Sanbi from within him and sealed it within myself."

Menma stared at him wide eyes, not having the first clue what to say in response, how had he never known? How had Naruto kept this from him?

"My point is, Shishui, Itachi, Kakashi, Mei, not one of them looked at me differently; knowing exactly what I had done, the path I had chosen to walk so no one else would have to," he finished, smiling a little bit as he looked at Menma. "A path I chose so I could walk down it right by my Otouto, and keep him safe just like I promised our Kaa-chan."

The younger Uzumaki-Namikaze, for his part, could only look at his brother with wide-eyes, tears stinging his violet orbs. Naruto smiled as he saw his brother's reaction to the news, that he had become a Jinchuriki just like him. But, he surprised the boy when his hand reached out and gently grabbed the turquoise gem resting outside of his black long sleeved shirt displaying their clan symbol. "And, judging by this," he smiled as he looked down at the jewelry his father and grandmother had both worn in his lifetime. "You will never be walking alone, always supported by those who believe in you and the dream you possess."

Menma smiled sadly at his brother, one of his tears finally trailing down his uniquely whiskered cheeks. "Don't let your fear ever put you into a place like this otouto, you're special and even if the entire world turns their back on you, you will always have me and the rest of your family right there pushing you through," the boy could only nod as he futilely wiped at the tears now freely falling down his face.

"Why," he finally forced out after a few moments, Naruto raising one of those blonde brows at him inquisitively. "Why do you believe in me so much, why do you go so far for me," Menma elaborated, his nii-chan actually breaking out in a laugh at the question. The crimson haired boy looked annoyed for a moment, until Naruto placed his hand atop his head, the sincerest smile spreading across his scarred face.

"Not only are you my most precious person, my dear otouto, but I made a promise," he smiled that determined smile of his, the one that reminded everyone of a wolf. "And, just like you, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto never goes back on his promises!"

The air forcefully left his lungs when his brother crashed into his chest, hugging him tightly, his well-hidden self-consciousness on full display as he cried lightly into the dark green flak jacket. Naruto could only smile as the smile only an older brother could wear found its way to his face, one hand gently resting in the boys mop of crimson hair, the other resting just over their clan symbol on his back. "I was originally going to let Ero-Jiji train you after these exams, but if you want, I'll start helping you with your control," he offered, receiving a nod from the boy in his arms.

It would be very hard, the training for each Jinchuriki to master their specific Bijuu was always different because of the minute difference in their powers. But, the blonde had faith that he would help his brother master what he had accidentally already been pulling to the surface. Three tails worth of chakra wasn't a normal amount for most Jinchuriki, the Kyuubi being the strongest of the creatures. It would just be one more thing the two brothers would face together however.

XXXXX

Chojuro was showing an oddly confident side of himself as he looked unforgivingly at the second Suna team that entered into these exams. Haku and Buntan standing just some ways behind him with their arms folded as the usually timid boy showed something even they rarely saw. He was pointing his training katana directly at the leader of the small group of Suna shinobi, standing in between his two teammates. His eyes were hard and shark-like teeth bared as his hands moved, taking the unique stance for the Kirigakure no Jutsu before mist covered the clearing in its entirety.

Haku and Buntan only watched from the outside as screams permeated the mist, blood curdling one's at that. Even having seen it a handful of times, and even a few number of times for Buntan, Haku had yet to get used to his teammates switch between timid and serious. But, when the blue haired boy got serious, his foes better be wary of him as he truly embodied what the Seven swordsmen represented, unyielding strength. He nearly felt his eyes widen when the chakra enhanced mist suddenly began to swirl and converge on one point, turning into a frightening vortex of water. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu," he heard Chojuro intone, before the swirling vortex struck out and completely nullified his last two opponents that had apparently been keeping up with his movements in the mist.

It was truly a commendable feat to keep up with someone trained near daily in the art of silent killing, but even more impressive was Chojuro's ability to repurpose the chakra he had put into the mist and utilize it to create an A-ranked jutsu. Though, like most of the swordsmen of the past, Chojuro did possess a highly advanced affinity to their countries prime element, water.

"Well done, Chojuro-kun, Zabuza-sensei would be proud you have mastered the jutsu he taught you to such an extent," Haku praised him, both of them watching as Buntan moved to take the Heaven's scroll they had been needing.

"Hm, after three teams we finally got the one we needed," the blonde smiled, showing off her own set of shark-like teeth. She and Haku had already soloed their own groups of enemy shinobi, a sort of friendly competition between the three of them.

Haku nodded, "We've taken the opportunity from other teams to pass and cemented our own ticket into the next event, now would be a good time for us to make our way to the tower and call this a mission completed."

XXXXX

"Well done, all seven teams, to reach this stage you have proven that you stand above your crop of gennin," Hiruzen smiled just an hour after the end of the final exams, having allowed the nearly late Team 8 and Oto-Team to receive some medical attention before going to the next part. "Now, I wish to take a small amount of time to explain to you, the true meaning of these exams…"

Naruto, standing just a few paces behind the Hokage with his arms folded and Anko to his right, both with bored expressions on their faces. They already knew that the exams were a replacement of sorts for the usual theatre of war that would decide who the strongest village was, meaning who got the most business because of the skill present amongst their young. It was the main reason Naruto was more concerned with Anko's recovery from the technique he had to perform on her, the complete rewrite of her cursed seal.

"You're sure you're okay though?"

"I'm fine gaki, I'm just sorry for anything I did while in that state," she whispered back to him, earning a small shake of the head from him.

"Think nothing of it," because he didn't, it was just the only means he was given to keep a promise he had made when she had confided in him during his childhood. Just like with Menma and Kakashi, she was one of his precious siblings that would always have him at their backs.

Anko shook her head at him, the small smile gracing her lips serene in a way. She still had no clue what exactly he had changed about her seal, but it felt leagues better than it had and there wasn't the constant dull pain radiating in her shoulder, nor the harsh memories of what she had done. Certainly, she could now remember exactly what she had done for Orochimaru all those years ago after he had unlocked her second stage; but, the bite, the darkness of those memories didn't sting nearly as much.

"Regardless, thank you, gaki," she smiled, earning that challenging smirk of his in response.

"Don't tell me the great Anko-senpai is going soft on me," he jibed with a whisper back, her response was to lightly jab him in the side.

However, the gesture seemed to still draw the attention of the Hokage and the gathered seven teams of gennin. "Do the proctors of the second phase have something else to add?" he questioned with a knowing look, most likely having heard most of their conversation. But, he was used to the usual professionalism of his shinobi fading when in the presence of Naruto.

Anko coughed, shaking her head in the negative, Naruto just raising a brow at him with a blank stare, as if he had no clue what he was talking about. "Very well," Hiruzen nodded, turning back to the gennin after successfully regaining the attention of the room. "Now then, at this point I would be handing the reigns over to another, but as Hayate-san has seen some difficulty with his illness; Naruto, may you take over in his place?"

The blonde sighed heavily before nodding, he and the Hokage now swapping positions, "Listen up, I refuse to repeat myself even once to any of you," he pinned the twenty-one gennin with a glare, practically daring them to question him. Many of them already standing at attention after the near instantaneous swap of positions, even the Sandaime seeming a bit surprised only to quickly mask the expression, however his tone brought all of them to attention. "As there will be many nobles and higher ranking officials present at the finals, we will be having a set of preliminary matches here and now as to not prolong their stay. That being said, there will be no killing allowed in this or the next portion of the exams; as chuunin you're expected to show restraint when necessary, meaning any who break this rule will automatically be disqualified," His eyes panned over the group, lingering for a moment on the red headed shinobi of Sunagakure. "Before I get to the point of allowing the randomizer to pick your opponents, if there is anyone amongst you who views themselves as unready and would like to forfeit, now is your only chance," He explained, once more panning his cold mismatch eyes over the gathered gennin.

"I would like to forfeit, Naruto-sensei," Yamanaka Ino proclaimed, bringing some mild surprise from Menma and Sakura, the other rookie nine also casting her looks. "I don't think I'm yet in a position to take these exams and truly show my worth," she explained, earning a short nod from the blonde.

"Admitting your faults is commendable Ino, when the randomizer starts you may join the Jonin senseis in the viewing balcony with the gennin not selected to compete," He explained, earning a short bow from the young blonde. Naruto gave it a few more moments and then nodded stiffly, turning his eyes to a screen now being revealed by a false wall just behind the elaborate statue holding the ram seal behind him. Without a word, they all watched as the names on the screen jumbled until finally landing on a single pair. "Very well, everyone aside from Uchiha Sasuke and Yuki Haku, please make your way to the viewing balconies."

After a few moments, only the two Gennin and Naruto remained on the field, ironically enough the Konoha teams on one balcony and the three foreign teams on the opposite. Haku looked calmly at the Uchiha across from him, Sasuke meeting the gaze with a bit of a smoldering glare, his determination to win shining through. "We have never before fought Sasuke-san, but I will fight with a clean conscious giving you this one chance to give-up now," the Kiri Gennin offered, making the Uchiha scoff.

"I won't run from any challenge, all you're doing is wasting your breath," he confidently said, his still immature sharingan activating for emphasis. Unknown to Sasuke, was the set of pale of byakugan observing his eyes snidely.

"Destiny may allow him to win this match, but he stands no chance against me without even having his fully matured doujutsu, fate will be on my side when we finally fight," Neji thought to himself, completely ignoring Lee's call of Sasuke being quite youthful for his proclamation.

"I don't very much care for either of you flaunting your ego, hurry up and begin," Naruto said with a bored glance, chopping his hand when he said begin before flashing to the balcony hosting the foreign shinobi.

Sasuke was the first to act, charging Haku quickly as in one solid motion he pulled his ninjato and shunshined to the Kirigakure shinobi. However, the effeminate boy was quick to answer, blocking Sasuke's two-handed strike with a single-handed kunai in a reverse grip. "You should take more time to evaluate your opponent, as not to get yourself in an unfavorable situation," Haku muttered, surprising many when he started to seal with just his free hand.

The field went deathly silent when a mist rolled in from nowhere, covering the two combatants, Naruto still being able to keep tabs thanks to his sensory abilities. Sasuke had used the mist to create distance between the two, quickly running through several hand seals before unleashing a bigger Katon: Goukyakyu no Jutsu than Naruto had known he was capable of. It had, thanks to its impressive heat, evaporated at least half of the mist. But, that was before it was rendered completely useless in the face of a water wall; expertly summoned forth by Haku from the water given to him by the mist.

Sasuke was caught off guard for only a moment when three copies of Haku came charging from what was left of the mist. His sharingan spun slowly as it's predictive nature came to life, Sasuke easily bisecting the first two clones and sinking four shuriken in the skull of the last clone that hung back. "You'll have to do better than that," he taunted, paying no mind as the clones turned into puddles of water.

"You shouldn't be so confident when so little is still known about your opponent, Sasuke-kun," the Uchiha was completely caught off guard when his opponent appeared just some ways behind him, holding the last seal of a unique set he had never before seen. "Hyoton: Makyo Hyosho," and suddenly part of the water now covering the ground rose up and formed ice mirrors, entirely encompassing Sasuke.

"So, Haku has mastered his kekkei genkai to such an extent," Naruto mused, earning a chuckle from the legendary swordsman next to him.

"You should know from personal experience just how much of a slave driver I am, Gaki," Zabuza mused, only earning a light scoff from the blonde. "The Uchiha-gaki might as well hang it up now, not one of Haku's opponents have been able to escape this technique."

The blonde shot him a challenging look in response, "You should know better than to underestimate the resourcefulness of an Uchiha, unless you'd like me to remind you of your and Itachi's last spar all those years ago," Zabuza scoffed at the shot to his ego, deciding not to take the bait as he turned his eyes back to the match. "However, Sasuke isn't Itachi and the gap between them is almost as wide as the gap between Menma's power and my own. So, what will you do now, Sasuke?"

The Uchiha was looking around wildly after Haku had stepped into one of the mirrors, and then suddenly it was as if he was in every single mirror at the same time. His eyes widened when he felt several senbon embed within his skin, one even slashing his cheek open with deadly precision. "I can tell you are strong Sasuke-kun, but I advise you not to test that strength against this technique," the Uchiha glared unflinchingly at the boy.

His hands immediately blurred into another set of hand seals, once more unleashing the rite of passage katon jutsu of his clan. But, surprise riddled his face when the mirrors remained strong, but he schooled his features when he noticed the transfer of chakra to those specific mirrors, reinforcing them. Just as quickly as it had moved, it returned and spread back out evenly amongst each construct. "There's a lot of his chakra tied up in this technique, meaning he can't hold it forever, I just need to last through it or maybe…" he thought before a smirk came to his face, running through another set of hand seals. Once more, he unleashed a large fire ball directly in front of him before spinning on his heel, and like in the forest, unleashed a second by just holding the last seal.

His sharingan watched once more as Haku's chakra rushed to reinforce the ice mirrors, smirking slightly when he noticed the overall sustaining the dome of mirrors diminished. The real question he had to ask was, did he have enough chakra to outlast the mirrors? The question however quickly retreated back into the recesses of his mind as his sharingan basically screamed at his senses to move, hails of senbon coming from every direction.

Sasuke managed to flip over several volleys, even blocking a few with his blade, but he still resembled a pin cushion when Haku finally stopped his attack. The Kirigakure-nin looked at him from all angles coldly, wishing he would just concede the match. There wouldn't be any way the Uchiha could beat him, least of all on his own, and even if he had managed to avoid being hit in any pin points.

"He's not in every mirror, I can tell that much, but how is he getting to each of them so quickly? Damnit, I can hardly even see him move, and when I do I can't move my body fast enough to land a damn hit," He gritted his teeth, pulling a handful of senbon from his arms.

Haku watched Sasuke as he seemed to be weighing his option, his hands beginning to run through several more unique hand seals. The young Uchiha felt his eyes widen as thousands of senbon created purely from the water splashed haphazardly around the ground formed, completely surrounding him from all sides. But, his eyes never once focused on the hand seals used for the jutsu, rather the chakra used to mold the technique itself, how it was manipulated into shape. "Suiton: Sensatsu Suishō (Water Release: A Thousand Needles of Death)!"

Before he could analyze any further, his instincts told him to move, and given no other option, the young Uchiha jumped straight into the air. His body flipped upside down as he channeled chakra to his feet to hang on the mirror above, "Please, let this work," he thought as his hands were already moving through a set of seals until the sound of lightning, specifically the sound of a thousand birds filled the ears of every occupant of the room.

"Chidori?!" Guy announced, for those who hadn't seen the infamous technique of Sharingan no Kakashi. "You taught a Gennin that move, one fresh from the academy no less?!" he asked his eternal rival, looking at the man with wide eyes.

"Sasuke has a very strong affinity for Raiton release, and the circumstances required him to have a trump card to defend his teammates if necessary," the lazy jounin explained, Guy still giving him a serious look. "We could always talk about what your apprentice has learned from you, a most dangerous technique and forbidden last I checked," Guy seemed to blush at the notion, having not known Kakashi would know about that. "Regardless, it would seem he has found a good use of my chidori to get him out of this predicament," he noted with a sigh, watching as the mirror Sasuke was standing on actually shattered, a vicious smirk coming to the boy's face.

As the mirror he hung from shattered, Sasuke shot forward, running his lightning coated hand through the mirror he found in his downward descent. Haku could only watch with wide eyes as the lightning arced around, vibrating the water within his ice to such an extent just the boy coming near the mirrors shattered them. It was all the boy could do to create a mirror outside of the dome, allowing him to make it safely away as Sasuke began destroying every single mirror like a crazed animal. After about half of them were gone, Haku simply dropped the jutsu, not seeing the point in continuing to waste chakra on keeping it up.

Sasuke however used it to his advantage, sticking his right arm encased by the chidori over his body before swiping it across, "Chidori Senbon!" His move seemed to surprise everyone, especially those of Team Seven who had never seen him use such a technique. But, Kakashi was the most shocked never having thought his old signature technique could be used in another way.

"He read Haku's technique to the point that he could copy the molding and utilize it with his own technique?" Zabuza questioned, his eyes wide as he watched something impossible happen.

"The sharingan is truly a dangerous doujutsu, but not even I've seen someone copy a technique in that manner," Naruto commented, watching as Sasuke charged behind his lightning senbon, an appreciative look in his eyes.

Haku was quick to hold a single hand seal, a mirror of ice forming before him to block the Chidori senbon headed directly for him. But, as the mirror dropped, he felt his eyes widen when Sasuke baseball slid in, landing a kick directly to his chin.

This move once more surprised the room, especially Lee, who knew exactly what that technique led into. But, Sasuke had only seen the first two steps of the move, not how it went entirely or how it finished. However, just as Lee had appeared behind Menma before the start of the first stage, Sasuke appeared behind Haku, perfectly mimicking every nuance of the move to this point.

Sasuke's deviation to the textbook move was quick, as Haku felt a foot embed itself in his spine, his eyes widening further when he felt the Uchiha quickly latch onto him. The Uchiha was wrapped around his back, and as they fell Haku could see the world around him spin, his head on a path to be buried within the concrete below them.

Sasuke hadn't only turned the match in his favor, but he had sealed his victory with this move and Haku knew it, as much as he disliked it. But, before the two could crash into the ground, a flash of blond hair filled their vision before they immediately landed on the ground where Naruto had started the match.

"As the move would've endangered one competitor's well-being, I have stepped in to end the match, winner Uchiha Sasuke of Konohagakure," he announced, earning a small grin from the Uchiha as he unlatched himself from Haku.

When the two untangled themselves, Haku released a defeated sigh, "I suppose that's just the way this match was meant to go," he smiled kindly as his eyes met the sharingan still blazing within Sasuke's. "Hm, maybe that's why you were able to pull the victory, your eyes have changed, Sasuke-kun," The last of the Yuki clan pointed, Sasuke's eyes widening in surprise. "Regardless, next time we fight, I won't give up so easily; I still have many tricks up these sleeves of mine," He finished with a smile.

Sasuke nodded with his own small smile after recovering from the shock, "I look forward to our next battle, Haku-san," to be fair, he always looked forward to any chance to battle.

"If you two could stop flirting, I'd like to get things moving on," Naruto deadpanned, biting back the laugh he wanted to release at watching both boys blush in embarrassment. Sasuke was the first to recover, only grunting before turning on his heel and walking up to his team. Haku took a moment to bow in thanks to Naruto for stopping the final blow before doing the same, Zabuza placing a hand on his shoulder to show his support of the boy he considered his own son.

"Thought Haku had you there for a minute, Teme," Menma jibbed at Sasuke, a foxy grin meeting Sasuke's light glare.

"Congratulations Sasuke," Sakura smiled, earning a grunt of acceptance from him.

"That was a very good move to think up on the spot like that, but it will need some work, it seemed any that left your line of sight fizzled out from lack of focus," came Kakashi's constructive criticism, earning a small nod from the boy. The technique was far from usable and if it hadn't been for the element of surprise, it wouldn't have done much of anything. But, it did open up a way for him to learn more techniques, branching the Chidori out into several more unique moves.

"If you're all quite done," Naruto called up to his team, a bored look in his eyes before he turned his head towards the randomizer as it once more picked the match up. "Next, Abumi Zaku of Otogakure against Aburame Shino of Konohagakure, contestants please join me on the field."

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NaruMiko is in a landslide of a lead, Kokuo has just been passed by Son Goku (my personal favorite, but I want you guys to have some say). Like I said previously, I am keeping track of the votes, everytime I get a review with a vote I mark it down in my notes, so that no duplicate votes are being counted and everyone is getting a fair chance to have their choices nominated and win. As said previously, I would like to see more of you voting between the two chosen Bijuu, but I can understand as the voting period for that particular selection will be much longer.

Thank you so much for reading, please don't forget to follow so that you can stay up to date, favorite if you really love it already, and leave me a review to tell me what you think, what you may like to see, and any ideas you think would fit into the story. If the idea is good I may contact you to flesh the idea out more between us, if not (not because it's not, I just personally wouldn't want it in my story type thing) you either won't hear a response or you'll get a simple, "Thank you for your time, but I think not." At which time you can either accept it or come back at a later date with some tweaks and changes to your idea.