Hello everyone! I'm back and here with another chapter! It's been a bit busy the past few days (cuz 2nd shift sucks!), so it took a bit longer. But it also gave me the time to go through some of your reviews and think on a thing or two.

First, since apparently people assume 'Kitsune' Naruto means 'Furry' Naruto, I changed the description to 'Hanyou' Naruto, since at this point he's basically a half-fox demon. He has human body, but has the fox ears, tail, and senses. Hopefully that'll get the furry flamers to shut up and realize he isn't a furry in this case. Also if he does have kids, they would also likely be hanyou.

Second, I know some of you have been asking about the pairings. So far for what I have planned is as such

Naruto - Asuka, Haku, and Hinata

Kinda on the fence at the moment though for what I do with Sakura. And Tenten will probably date Neji or Lee at some point. Also, I'm not putting Mei with Naruto. She deserves someone a bit more mature if you ask me. As for the girls from Lightning or Earth Nations, I'll probably wait on deciding that until I get the story to Shippuden Era.

Third, for the one person who mentioned Kurenai's age, while she was 15, that doesn't mean that she couldn't have fangirled a bit at some point. She was probably having to face the wonders of puberty at the time. Like a teenage girl reacts to a superstar. And if you think about it, it would explain her hate of fangirls if she had some such tendencies at one point.

Next, to the guy who noticed the tfs references...I see you too are a man of culture.

And lastly, thanks to everyone that's been supporting the series and I hope you all have been enjoying it! Now in any case...time to drive off the copyright nazis.

DIS-KAMI DAMMIT-CLAIMER: I do not, I repeat, DO NOT own Naruto or any part of said franchise. That belongs to the guys I've mentioned nearly every chapter til now. But I do own the story here as well as the techniques I come up with for some of the characters.

If I did own Naruto though, I wouldn't have made the fans suffer from the sheer amount of filler. But of course I don't, and we had to suffer through those, some more in particular. Now in any case, here's the chapter!


Chapter 12: To the Next Stage

"So let me get this straight...the reason the village hates you is due to the fact the 4th Hokage used you to seal the Kyuubi on the day you were born, but because they're idiots, they assumed you're the human incarnation of the fox?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto nodded in response.

Ino then asked "And the reason for these appendages of yours, is because the seal had an error or two since Lord Fourth was a bit rushed and when you used its chakra on the bridge in Wave, the errors caused this side effect?"

Naruto nodded again.

Then Lee asked "And with the abilities you've gained from it and your recent training, you were able to compete with a Sannin?"

Naruto replied with a deadpanned expression "Yes, and it's a SS class secret, so if you guys tell anyone, you'll have to deal with a fuckton of Anbu...now can you stop that please!?"

As the group was sitting next to the hollow tree, the girls were...studying...his ears and tail. Tenten's curiosity made her want to see if they were real, and after she stated how fluffy they felt...all the girls joined in.

Save for Asuka since all the people here, save for possibly Neji due to his Byakugan, and her team, still knew her as 'Sasuke'. It didn't mean she couldn't clench her fist behind her back though in annoyance of them...save for Haku since they came to an agreement.

Eventually the girls were satisfied and pulled away from the boy, who let out a breath of relief for two reasons.

One was that obviously they stopped messing with his ears and tail. It felt kind of weird with their hands messing with them since his ears and tails were apparently a bit sensitive. And second off, it was the fact that he could at least keep the facts that the Fourth's soul got dragged inside him and the fact the Fourth was none other than his father under wraps for now. After what they did, Minato stated that Orochimaru was likely livid with what they did and would kill him if he had the chance. He didn't need Iwagakure after him too right now. His two tenants had agreed with no comment on that.

Neji however, was a bit solemn. He had always talked about fate and how all were stuck with it, mainly due to the fact he had been branded by the curse mark of the branch clan. For a long time since he heard about the blond due to the main house heiress' affection for him, he assumed the boy to merely be a failure just like she was. However, it turned out that he too suffered the indignity of a mark placed on placed upon his body that in the eyes of some made him a lower class citizen. And yet he strove to prove them wrong, to prove the 'fate' they gave him was wrong. And he was already doing so. Neji even used his Byakugan to look for where their fight with the Sannin took place and saw the collateral damage from Naruto's final attack.

Perhaps...Fate really is not as all powerful as I thought… Neji thought.

He then looked over at the Uchiha, who he had figured out long ago to be female, and then thought with a smirk But then again, 'that' being revealed is bound to happen...and I admit, I'll enjoy the look on those weak fangirl ninjas' faces when it does.

Shikamaru sighed "You know, if that story wasn't so ridiculous and that we're friends, I wouldn't believe you. But I do. And it's not like I had my assumptions from before. That and proving you wrong at this point would be too much work."

"Lazy. Also, I won't be spilling this one. Mainly because I would like to live. Also because most people probably wouldn't believe me." Ino said to the blond.

Lee then made a thumbs up and said "And we would never sell out a friend! You can trust us!"

Naruto could feel the happy tears well up in his eyes before he said "Thanks guys! You're the best!"

He then gave each of them a quick hug, much to most of their annoyance except for Choji and Lee. They gladly hugged him back.

"Well that's a relief. Also Naruto, put back on your seals." Sakura said. Naruto then made a handsign and then turned the seals back on, his ears and tail hidden once more.

Haku then whispered to Asuka "I'm sure you'll get the chance next time."

But just as things seemed to calm down...two people attempted to make a move.

"Sakura, the power of youth you displayed was magnificent! Please go out with me!"

"Hey Sasuke-kun! How about you hang out with me for a bit while we're here?"

To which Sakura and Asuka responded…

"Lee...for the 51st time...NO." Sakura replied, causing Lee to go mope next to a tree.

"We've wasted too much time here. We should get moving." 'Sasuke' replied, which made Ino pout as the 'boy' once again didn't react to her. Little did she know, both Naruto and Haku were trying their hardest to not laugh. Knowing the truth, they realized just how pointless Ino's desire for the Uchiha return some affection was pointless. And as such, it was hilarious.

It didn't stop Minato and the Kyuubi from a fit of laughter from within the safety of the seal though.

Just as the groups were about to part ways and leave the area, Sakura asked Ino "What scroll do you guys need?"

Ino looked a bit confused as she replied "Well, Earth, bu-"

Sakura then put the Earth scroll from the sound ninja into the blonde's hand, confusing the blonde girl.

Sakura said "Think of it as a bit of a peace offering."

Ino smiled and said "I'll take it...but don't think I'll let you have Sasuke."

"Again, you don't know the half of it." Sakura said with a dry laugh.

The groups then split off from each other and headed towards where the center of the forest was.

As they jumped from tree to tree, Naruto had a wide smile on his face.

Haku looked at Naruto as they tree jumped and said "Someone seems to be in a good mood."

Naruto grinned as he said "Well, I told them the important parts, and they didn't think of me as a monster! So I think it's great!"

Haku smirked as she teased "But that isn't all of it, right?"

Naruto blushed as the memories of him kissing both Asuka and Haku came back, to which Haku giggled at a successful teasing attempt.

In the seal, Minato and Kyuubi chuckled as they could see the boy's thoughts, much to said boy's annoyance as he knew they might tease him too later.

However, it also brought it back for Asuka too, also causing her to blush, before she shook her head and put the thought aside for later. Right now she needed to act as 'Sasuke', and that meant being an indifferent bastard who seems to only care about revenge.

The fact was she did have some thoughts on revenge before, but not as much as she acted. But she always felt that something was off. And then not too much earlier, she learned that she was spot on with her gut feeling. Though as to why her brother traumatized her, she still was a bit shocked. And pissed. She already was considering ways to kick her brother's ass for that.

As they journeyed to the tower, they did happen to come across one of the teams from Rain, in fact it was the same one from before, the one that had one of their members scout them only to get his ass kicked. The Rain nin thought they could trick the team with a genjutsu to get them to run around in circles, but it didn't do jack shit since the team spotted it right away. And since they really didn't want to waste time, Naruto simply summoned 30 clones and told them to 'have fun'.

Let's just say by the end of it when Naruto's clones dispelled, the Rain nin were on the ground and littered with bruises and bumps, and would likely not be getting their old scroll back. Still better off than what happened to the Sound Trio though.

In any case, after about an hour of tree-jumping, the Team finally made it to the Tower.

"Finally! That was taking forever!" Naruto yelled in victory.

Asuka nodded as she said "Well, let's go in. I want to get some actual rest since we still have one more day before this part ends."

Haku nodded, as she also wanted to sleep in a nice and warm bed again.

Sakura also noted "And I wouldn't mind a shower after all that dirt and grime."

"I don't mind the whole outdoors thing, but I really want to get to the next part, LET'S GO!" Naruto exclaimed. The team then went into the specified door for them and entered the tower.

The room they walked into had a sign on the wall, with a sort of poem, with a blank near the end as if it was meant to be filled in with something.

"Huh...well I have no idea what that means!" Naruto said in his usual jolly mood.

Haku let out a giggle, Asuka merely shrugged since it was typical of Naruto, and Sakura simply facepalmed as she should have seen that coming.

Asuka then answered for him.

"I think we open the scrolls here."

"Oh!...that makes sense." Naruto replied.

Naruto then reached into his jacket and pulled out their three scrolls. As he handed them to the girls, he looked quite happy with himself.

"Man, I love fuinjutsu! Storage seals make things so much easier!" Naruto exclaimed.

It was in fact part of their plans as they entered. They had given the scrolls to Naruto since he was not only the strongest among them at the moment, but due to his training in fuinjutsu from his father, it wasn't too hard for him to set up a storage seal somewhere on his jacket. Plus with his reputation as the Deadlast, enemies would be less likely to realize Naruto had them.

Asuka then said "True. Thanks to that we could hide the scrolls on Naruto-kun."

Sakura nodded and added "Yeah...and pretty sure no normal person would want to touch that jacket."

Naruto felt like a rock hit him in the back of the head with that.

"Oh come on! It's not that bad! It's my favorite color! Has lots of pockets! And I got this thing dirt cheap compared to what all the stupid civilians charge me!" Naruto retorted.

Sakura couldn't help but do a double take before she said "Wait, what was that last part?"

Haku then nodded "So basically you couldn't get anything better due to their misguided hatred...that's unfortunate. I don't really mind it...but you probably could do better."

"Not you too Haku-chan!" Naruto cried.

"To be fair son...I agree that outfit has seen better days. Maybe you can get a nice jacket?" Minato spoke his opinion.

"Fleshbag...the only reason why I haven't told you to get rid of that horrendous outfit is the fact it's orange, which is a color I approve of." The Kyuubi commented.

Naruto had comic like tears going down his face as shots were fired at his current choice of clothing. Asuka put a hand on his shoulder and told him "Don't worry too much Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled at her cheering him up…

"We can figure out about getting you some new clothing after this is over."

And then Naruto was in the corner, where he moped much like a certain wood-style user. Asuka realized what she said and went there to comfort him. Everyone sweatdropped a bit at that sight...save for the Kyuubi who was enjoying the entertainment.

After a few minutes of heartwarming words, Naruto was back to normal and the three girls held their scrolls. They then nodded and opened them at the same time. As they opened them, they all saw the character for 'man' in the middle and the scrolls started to smoke.

"Crap! It's a summon scroll! Drop them!" Asuka yelled, and thus the three dropped the scrolls and backed away, and Naruto followed suit and joined them.

Smoke then appeared with a 'POOF!' as the summon scrolls activated. And as the smoke dissipated, the one who stood there was none other than…

"Iruka-sensei!?" Naruto, Sakura, and Asuka in her 'Sasuke' voice, spoke.

"Hello everyone! How have you all been?" Iruka said with a smile.

Naruto responded with a "It's been great! We've been kicking butt!"

"Of course." Iruka replied with a smile. Though Naruto didn't mention that said butt kicking included a Sannin.

"It's been...eventful." 'Sasuke' said. She wasn't exactly lying about it, but she didn't want to worry the brown haired, scar faced, kind teacher...plus there was the whole fact she didn't know if he knew about the whole gender issue like Kakashi, and as of recent her team, did.

"To be fair, that's the chunin exams for you." Iruka replied. He could tell 'Sasuke' was hiding something from him. But he chose not to worry about it since the brooding 'boy' always seemed to have his secrets.

Oh if he only knew.

"I just want to rest and have a shower...and I have things to think about." Sakura said.

"Ah is that so-...wait...she didn't say anything about Sasuke?" Iruka said with slightly dumbfounded amazement.

"What!?" Sakura said in annoyance.

Iruka pinched the bridge of his nose as he thought out loud "Okay...either this is a dream, she's actually taking things seriously, or the world is going to end."

"Hey!"

Iruka then let out a short laugh before he spoke "Sorry, sorry, was joking a little. I'm glad though you've started to take your career more seriously over...other pursuits."

Sakura blushed a little both at the compliment...and at the embarrassment as she thought of how she acted before the training hell. She realized that if she didn't go through that, she probably would have still been that weak fangirl ninja.

That and with that former fangirl dream of hers gone as it turned out her crush was in fact, a girl who hid herself to protect herself from abuse by the village. She couldn't really hold it against her either. Seeing Asuka's past made Sakura realize just how much 'sunshine and rainbows' her vision of what the life of a kunoichi was.

Iruka nodded and then looked over to Haku and said "And you must be Team 7's newest addition, Haku Yuki."

"I am. I've heard a decent amount about you from Naruto-kun." Haku replied with a nod.

Iruka let a wide smile come across his face and said "I suppose you have. It's good that he's getting more friends, he needs them."

Haku smiled right back with a "Indeed."

In Naruto's mind, Minato also nodded to Iruka's statement. As for the Kyuubi…

"While I don't want to admit it...I like it better when he's actually in a good mood than when he uses those fake smiles. It was annoying." she commented.

Ah, love you too Kyuubi! Naruto thought replied...and of course the Kyuubi in response sent him a mental image of her flipping him off, to which both Minato and Naruto chuckled.

"So sensei, we've passed the second exam, right!?" Naruto asked the older man.

Iruka simply chuckled a bit and said "Yes...but first I need to explain something to you four. You saw the poem on the wall, right?"

The team nodded in response.

Iruka then explained it to them.

"Essentially, it's a sort of guideline to Chunin. First, it's important to have a strong mind, and it you're lacking, you should study to improve your knowledge...in this case, that would be you Naruto."

"Hey! I'm not that stupid!" he yelled...though none of them really stuck up for him. They all thought he could use a bit more tact.

Iruka continued "Next, if you're lacking in strength, you should exercise and train yourself. For your current team, this would be Sakura."

At this Naruto laughed as he said "Sakura? Physically weak? That's funny!"

'Sasuke' let out a 'hnn', while she thought Well, out of all of us, other than Naruto, she's probably the one that's changed the most since the academy. Lord Fourth really knew what he was doing.

Iruka looked confused before Haku spoke "She trained with Might Gai at one point sir."

With that, Iruka paled at the thought and then made a closer observation of the girl, and noticed that what were originally just noodle arms before, were now well toned for a female, and he was certain that she could probably knock even him out of she felt like it.

Iruka snapped himself out of it and shook his head and smiled.

"Well, that's quite an improvement for you Sakura, good job!" Iruka stated.

Sakura smiled at the praise. It made her feel a bit nostalgic...only for it to be ruined in her mind as she remembered while she was smart, she was equally stupid due to her fangirl obsession at the time.

Iruka moved on from this point and explained the final part of the poem.

"And lastly, if you have both a strong mind and body, this 'person' will certainly be able to surpass the trials they might face."

The group nodded, as they had gotten the point of the lesson.

Iruka then asked "Now, any questions?"

"Can we get some ramen after this? I'm starving!"

And with that all of the team facefaulted, and Iruka had a dry laugh.

Inside the seal, the Kyuubi was laughing her ass off, and Minato was facepalming at his son's impeccable timing. But then again, he remembered Kushina did that every now and then too when it came to food.

They really should have seen that coming.

After Sakura then gave him a solid whack to the head, Iruka led them inside the tower and showed them around the facility, which included an arena, cafeteria, infirmary, and dorms for genin teams to use during their stay. And much to the joy of Haku and Sakura, and secretly Asuka, the dorm rooms each came with a bathroom that had running water.

After Iruka left them to their own devices, the group let out a breath of relief. They all felt that for now, they could put the events in the forest behind them...though…

"Wow, it really is fluffy!"

While the other girls were taking their turns in the shower, Asuka used the 'puppy dog eyes jutsu' to get Naruto to undo the seals on his ears and tail for a bit so she could have a turn on what she missed out on in the forest. Naruto meanwhile didn't know what to do since while it made him feel weird, it also made the girl happy with him.

Man, she acts so different compared to when she was acting as 'Sasuke'! Not that I mind… Naruto thought as the girl was messing with his ears and tail. His tail even wagged a little.

Meanwhile Minato watched the scene with a smile...and the Kyuubi was making whipping sounds followed with some laughter. Even Minato couldn't help but smirk as he found it funny despite it being a shot at his son.

The Kyuubi noticed this and then grinned.

"What's that look for?" Minato asked her.

"Well, like father like son." she spoke with her pearly whites shown.

Minato was going to reply, only to realize that when he was alive, he was indeed a whipped husband. Thus silence followed.

"And that makes it 6-5. YES! TAKE THAT BLOND BASTARD!" Kyuubi yelled with her arms up in the air...but then Minato ruined it for her again.

"And who was the one who made the seal that could remove the curse mark? And who was the one who got you to help them knowing you would have to reveal your real self?" Minato chuckled.

The Kyuubi in response, pouted at him. And with that, the score went to 7-6 in Minato's favor.


The next day

After the group had gotten themselves a good night's sleep, they went over to the mess hall for breakfast. They had seen a few teams enter the tower on the way in, and the four were quite glad they had gotten to the tower the previous day. If with how the previous part of the exam went right after the first part, they would want to be prepared for it.

As they went in, they saw the other members of the Rookie Nine at one of the tables and went to join them.

"Hey guys!" Naruto greeted them with a grin.

Meanwhile Asuka sighed as she knew what would happen next.

"Hi Naruto...and Sasuke-kun!" Ino shrilled in delight as she attempted to jump over the table to glomp him, only for Asuka to dodge last minute as she stepped with the side.

Asuka chose to ignore the blonde that was giving him fake tears and focused on the others at the table. She felt more comfortable dealing with the males at the table than the girls due to the fact she had to act as a male most of her life. Well Haku was sharing Naruto with her and Sakura had gotten better, but she honestly would hit Ino if she didn't have to keep the 'Sasuke' persona up at the moment.

"So Kiba, I see you guys made it too." 'Sasuke' said with her typical 'Sasuke' smirk.

Kiba looked at 'him' with his own cocky grin and said "More like you guys were slow. Heck we were one of the first groups to arrive!"

Shino poked his glasses up and said "One of the first, yes, but not the first. We were the second team to arrive."

Naruto in his ever expanding curiosity asked "And who got here first?"

Kiba, as well as Akamaru, shuddered for a moment and said "Those guys from Sand…"

Naruto pondered for a moment before he put his fist in his hand as he remembered the genin team from the Sand village.

"Oh, you mean that team with that Gaara guy." Naruto said.

Kiba cocked an eyebrow and asked "Wait you know him?"

Haku decided to step in and speak of the mentioned event where they met him and his siblings.

Kiba looked at them with a 'WTF' face before he said "Ok, there is no way dipshit here did that. He's the deadlast for crying out loud!"

While Shino didn't make any opinion, and Naruto yelled "And you think you could do better!?", the rest of the group had a single unified thought.

Pretty sure Deadlast doesn't suit him anymore.

However, they were brought out of their musings as the two looked like they were going to start a scuffle. Before anyone could react though, Sakura walked over to them and bopped them both on the head, leaving nasty bumps behind.

"You idiots! Leave that for later!" she yelled at them. The rest of the group shrugged for a moment before Hinata went to check on them.

"A-are you t-two okay?" she asked them.

"I'll be fine Hinata-chan. I've had worse." Naruto answered her.

Meanwhile Kiba yelled "Okay? Dude, she couldn't throw a punch for her life in the academy and now hits harder than my sister! What the hell!?"

At this point felt a mischievous smile come across his face. He got a nasty little idea that got the Kyuubi to give him a thumbs up.

"Want to know how she did it? How she's SOOO strong now?" he told Kiba.

Kiba then looked at him and asked "How?"

And hook, line, and sinker he thought.

Minato meanwhile said "I feel sorry for this boy..."

"Next time you see your sensei, ask them if you can have some training sessions with Might Gai." Naruto said with a grin on his face.

Kiba nodded and said "Alright, I'll go and do that later! Then I can prove my dominance!"

As Naruto did this, Asuka had a smile as she knew just what Naruto was doing, and found it funny. Haku was giggling at the subtle prank Naruto just pulled on Kiba. And Sakura...she wanted to feel bad for him...but thought it might straighten the idiot out a bit. It did wonders for her.

As for the members of Team 10, they looked over at him as they saw him fall for Naruto's ploy. Ino and Shikamaru had to admit that if the rumors about Gai were true, it was well played. Choji frowned a little since it was a bit cruel...but like Sakura, thought it might curb Kiba's ego.

As for Team 8, the only one who knew about Gai's training was Hinata. While she paled at the thought of her friend struggling under the training, she also thought it might be a good experience for him.

Perhaps he'll end up being a bit less brash? She thought. She then looked over at her crush and then back at Kiba, and decided to say nothing about it. She thought It would probably help in improving his taijutsu as well.

Sasuke however noticed her hesitation and thought That reminds me. I need to talk to her later about Naruto-kun.

The group then settled down and ate their meals with a bit of minor chatter.

After that they went over to the arena, where in the middle of one of the walls, a statue of two hands using the tiger handseal stood. Also there was a sort of second floor that surrounded the bottom, with railings so that spectators could watch the fights below.

As the remaining teams filed into the room, the members of Team 7 looked around and noticed some of the teams that were familiar.

Obviously there were the other members of the Rookie Nine, since they were just eating with them earlier. Next was Kabuto's team, which seemed like they had been through the ringer by a bit. Third was Team Gai, who they gave a quick wave to, though of course Sakura had to also dodge an air kiss from Lee. There was also a team that looked as if though they had to fight a horde of tigers or something as they had injuries all over. And lastly...there was the team from Sand.

The second they stepped in the room, he could feel Gaara's gaze on him, as if the boy had marked Naruto as a target...or more so, prey. He would have to deal with him sooner or later. Thankfully he knew what the boy's main weapon was since Team 8 had told him earlier...but then again, he had some idea of it already since he had learned a bit from the Kyuubi and his dad about the different Biju.

The boy used sand as his weapon and shield. Blocking attacks or even crushing his foes. Quite literally with the latter since Kiba, Hinata, and Shino saw him do that first hand to another team. Be it from his gourd, or the earth itself. Meaning he would be quite a dangerous opponent.

The Kyuubi did give him advice on that though.

"First, his main weakness is water style since it'll mess with his sand, making it harder for him to use properly. Second, he can only move his sand so fast, so it can be out-sped. Third, if you have a powerful enough attack it's possible to bypass his defense, and lightning nature especially can work on that. Fourth, you can use fox fire style to try and turn his sand to glass since my flames are hot enough. Fifth, if you can devise some seals you could disable him directly. And lastly, but most importantly, DON'T let him sleep. Else you'll be fighting a Biju head on."

Naruto nodded, thankful for the advice. He was going to tell his teammates, but then Anko appeared in front of them, she even winked towards Naruto for a moment and spoke.

"For those of you standing here, good work! You've passed the second exam!"


Naruto: Well guess we're finally done with that part! On to the next DATTEBAYO!

Sakura: I'm just happy I got to clean up afterwards.

Haku: Agreed, now we can enter the third part of the exam.

Asuka: True, now relax Naruto, wait til next chapter. *starts scratching his fox ear*

Naruto: O-okay...a bit further though please.

Kiba: Ha! Acting all high and mighty and still whipped! What a loser!

WVH: ...Kiba, run

Akamaru shakes his head and jumps off Kiba's shoulder, knowing what's to come.

Kiba unaware of the three girls behind him, one of which is his teammate: Why? I didn't say anythi-OH SHIT!

WVH: Well in any case guys, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter! Be sure to R&R and come back for next time!

Kiba being brutally beaten for insulting the girls' husbando: HELP MEEEEEEEE!