Author Notes:

Dark and Alive Minato, Minato fans beware.

Alive Kushina.

Darker Naruto.

Original Characters x Established Characters

Not sure what everyone's big beef is with a background coupling but it's not going to change, might as well stop reading now. Same goes with the OC's, they are not going anywhere so if that is really such an issue for you then just stop reading here, it doesn't bother me.

Chapter 17: The Finals Begin

All of the contestants stood there silently as they waited for the tournament to begin. The turn out was rather grand, high ranking officials and political figures from all over the world had shown up. Naruto just looked around the stands before his eyes locked with the group there to support him. It included his mother, sensei, the idiots Darious and Kiro, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shizune and Hana. Naruto knew that Hana was also there to support her brother, just as much as him though, only sitting with their group due to Kiro.

He then turned his attention over to the other contestants. There were some that looked the same. There were a few that looked like they put in some effort to train. There were also a couple that seemed as if they had put serious effort into training. Naruto looked back forward as Minato came up to the edge of the Kage viewing podium. He cleared his throat and lifted his hands, "Everyone! Welcome to the Finals of the Chunin Exams!"

There was a loud roar of approval from the stands while the contestants continued to stand stoically. Minato smiled then looked down at everyone, "I am Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage and we welcome you all to our Village! Now, without further adieu I want to introduce you to your proctor for this round... Itachi Uchiha!"

That was when a black blur appeared before the contestants and the older Uchiha heir stood up with an emotionless expression. Minato nodded at him then Itachi turned to face the gathered chunin hopefuls, "This is a standard tournament, killing is allowed but we ask that if you feel you're at your wits end you forfeit the match. If you forfeit you can try again next time, if you die then obviously your career and life ends here. That decision is up to you though, I can not interfere with the match until someone forfeits."

All of the contestants nodded their heads before all but the first and second contestants, Kiba and Sasuke, left the arena. When the other contestants were up in the viewing platform Naruto came and stood by the rail. About a second later he felt her standing next to him, leaning on him a bit. Naruto looked at her out of the corner of his eye then back at the floor of the stadium.

Kiba vs. Sasuke...

Sasuke stood there with a confident smirk, "Kiba, you have never beaten me before. Don't you think it is smarter to just take this chance to forfeit before I hurt you?"

Kiba said nothing as he continued to silently stare at him. Itachi looked at the two, he had mixed feelings about the situation at hand. Though Sasuke was his brother he felt that the boy's arrogance was going to be a downfall and impact the Uchiha clan's reputation someday. The boy had bought in to the ideology that their clan had, that they were superior to others because of the fact that they were Uchiha. Kiba looked over at Akamaru before looking back at Sasuke, "I am not going to be forfeiting Sasuke, I would rather lose with honor than shame myself and my clan like that."

Getting a bark of approval from his small furry partner as he jumped from his spot on the brown boys head onto the ground Kiba got into his Inuzuka fighting stance. Sasuke flared his sharingan and dropped into the Uchiha taijutsu stance. Both looked at one another then at Itachi as he gave the signal for both of them to begin. Sasuke instantly rushed forward at Kiba making the Inuzuka smile as he remembered some personal training with an unlikely person.

Flashback...

Kiba ran around the backyard with Akamaru, focusing on the physical aspect of his training. When he finished his laps he stood there panting. He heard the back door for their compound open and looked over expecting it to be his mother. He was surprised to see the man that his sister was now dating standing there, "Kiro... what do you want?"

The Ookami stood there with a bored look, "Your mother and sister are going at it again, I thought that I would leave them alone while they sort it out."

Shaking his head with a sigh, Kiba then looked back at Akamaru who was lying there tuckered out. Kiba looked back at Kiro, "Yeah they tend to do that quite often... anyways how is Naruto's training coming?"

Smirking a bit the Ookami survivor looked over at the young boy, "Annoying to be honest, the boy is far too prideful. A lot of you younger shinobi are far too prideful. That includes you by the way."

Looking at him with clearly confused look Kiro shook his head with a sigh. The Ookami narrowed his eyes in on the young man, "Think about it, you are all brawn and no brains. Not saying that you don't have them but you don't use them in the heat of battle. Don't feel bad about that though, I wasn't much better when I was your age. It took me a long time to learn this lesson. Something that others your age also need to learn or are learning."

The young Inuzuka turned to face him while Kiro sat down on a chair, "Battles aren't just physical Kiba, they are mental as well. If the opponent can get inside your head then you lose, but if you can get in the opponent's head you can win. If neither can gain the mental edge then that is when it comes to physical strength."

Kiba came and sat down by Kiro to listen to what the older man had to say. Kiro looked at him, "Your first opponent is Sasuke right?"

That question made Kiba nodded his head while Kiro smiled, "What are the two words that you would use to describe him?"

Kiba leaned back in the chair while he thought about it for a moment, "Arrogant asshat and prideful I guess."

The Ookami chuckled a bit then nodded his head, "That is a good description, now you have trained with Sasuke for quite some time at this point. That means you have an inside view of what you can expect. He is more than likely going to charge you, this is where you can get the first edge."

The Inuzuka leaned forward to listen some more before the backdoor opened. They both looked to see Hana walking over with a frustrated look. Kiro looked over at her then smiled, "How did it go?"

She glared at him before collapsing into the chair next to him. He rose his eyebrow at her behavior then looked back at Kiba, "Anyway, he will be brash and his ideals will cause him to get impatient. All you have to do is wear him down. The best thing about a tournament like this Kiba is you can figure out your opponent's weaknesses."

Kiba nodded then looked at him, "What is Naruto's weakness then?"

Kiro stood as he looked at Kiba, "I won't tell you that, he is my student... well in a way... so I can't betray that trust."

The Inuzuka nodded his head before looking back at Akamaru who was walking around again, "It was worth a shot." He nodded then he went back to physical training while thinking about what Kiro had told him.

As Sasuke swung wildly at Kiba the Inuzuka kept dodging with a smile. As Sasuke started to pant Kiba back flipped then charged while starting to spin, "GETSUGA!"

Connecting with the attack straight to Sasuke's chest, the Uchiha was forced to go flying back into the wall. Kiba landed with a smile while Sasuke fell to the ground unconscious. Itachi flashed over to Sasuke and felt for a pulse then lifted his hand, "Winner Kiba Inuzuka."

The Inuzuka smiled then ran up the stairs with Akamaru just a few steps behind him. When he got up there Rock Lee jumped over the rail while Shikamaru turned to walk down the stairs. Kiba came and stood next to Naruto, "Hey Naruto, can you thank Kiro for me later?"

The Uzumaki heir never took his eyes away from the arena, "Thank him yourself."

There was a small growl from Kibas throat before he turned away to get yelled at by Sakura. Kiba sighed then went back to the rail to watch the match, ignoring the pink haired girl on his team.

Shikamaru vs. Lee...

When Shikamaru got down the stairs he saw that Lee was doing jumping jacks. The Nara heir let out a long drawn out and annoyed sigh, "Why do I have to go against the stamina freak?"

Giving him a large smile and thumbs up Lee looked over at Shikamaru, "LET US HAVE A MOST YOUTHFUL BATTLE SHIKAMARU!"

This made the Nara let out another sigh, "How troublesome... then if I win I have to face Kiba who has a lot of energy as well... why did I become a ninja again?"

They both stood in the arena then Itachi motioned for them to begin. Shikamaru watched as Lee charged at him making it so that he had to jump backwards. He went through his hand signs in the air then as he landed on the ground he manipulated his shadow to trap Lee. As he captured Lee he thought that he had caught a break but that was when his hand started to move.

Naruto stood up in the viewing area with a sigh, "Fool, he should have tried to wear him down a bit before trapping him. Now he is losing chakra to try and hold him still while Lee has all of his strength to overpower him."

The other blond on his team looked over at him then leaned into him a bit more, "He is our teammate, you should have helped him."

Naruto looked over at her before back at Shikamaru, "I figured he would know, he is lazy but smart as well. Besides, as I recall, someone else was demanding most of my free time."

She started to blush a bit then smiled at him, "Well, you will just have to show him how to really fight an opponent when you fight the Sunagakure guy then."

He remained silent in response to that comment making Naruko think he was focusing on his upcoming battle. A part of that was true, a part of it wasn't. He had other things on his mind as well that would distract him at times. He blinked himself back into focus just in time to see Shikamaru have to drop the shadow possession.

Shikamaru jumped back and pulled out some kunai to throw at the rushing taijutsu specialist. As the kunai were coming at him Lee pulled out his own, blocking them easily as Shikamaru looked at Lee, "Annoying... why couldn't I have Sakura as an opponent? There is no challenge there."

That caused Lees eyebrow to twitch, something that Shikamaru took notice of, "You insulted Sakura?"

Standing up straight the Nara heir rose his eyebrow at the question, "Why?"

There seemed to be a whole new fire in the mans eyes due to that, "HOW DARE YOU INSULT SOMEONE SO BEAUTIFUL! YOU SHALL FEEL THE FULL WRATH OF THE POWER OF YOUTH!"

That made the Nara sigh and sag his shoulders, "Troublesome... everyone is just so damn troublesome."

Shikamaru looked at the now even more pumped up Lee and shook his head. He looked over at Itachi, "This isn't worth it, I forfeit."

The proctor nodded his head while Lee looked at him in surprise then started to laugh, "HA HA! The power of youth was too much for him! WE DID IT GAI-SENSEI!"

There was a loud 'YOSH!' followed by the sound of groaning and hands hitting their faces. Everyone looked up to see Darious and Jiraiya dragging their hands down their faces. That was when the Nara let out a sigh again, "I swear to Kami... just one normal person in this village would be nice."

Lee ran up the stairs while Naruto and Kankuro both started to go towards the stairs. Naruko whispered into Naruto's ear, "Good luck Naruto-kun, if you do good, I will reward you later."

He looked at her with a look she had never seen before from him. He looked at her for a moment then he headed down the stairs.

Naruto vs. Kankuro...

As the two got to the arena and took their starting positions Naruto looked up at the Kage podium. His eyes locked with Minato's before he looked back at where his mother was. As he looked at her he remembered a conversation they had.

Flashback...

Naruto just got done training with Darious, Kiro and Asuma before being drug into the woods by Naruko. As he entered the house he noticed something odd, it was empty. His house was never empty anymore, something that he greatly missed. There was always either Darious and Shizune kissing, Tsunade drinking, Jiraiya being a pervert or Asuma talking to his mother.

With a shrug he headed to the stairs before he heard his mothers voice, "Naruto... come here for a moment please."

The tone of her voice didn't escape him as he looked over his shoulder at his red headed mother. His eyes focused on her serious face then he slowly approached the table and pulled out a chair. As he sat down Kushina sighed, "Naruto... I know about Naruko."

For a brief moment his eyes narrowed as if he were going to deny or fight her about it. Slowly his eyes returned to normal making Kushina look at him, "You're not going to deny it?"

Shaking his head no he gave his mother a shrug as he locked his eyes on her again, "What is the point if you already know the truth?"

His red headed mother looked at him, "Naruto... why on earth would you do this? She doesn't know the truth but you do. Are you that desperate to try and hurt Minato that you would hurt her as well? Dragging her into your personal war with Minato in this way was just... so wrong."

The young man's glare returned three fold before speaking with anger in his voice, "That isn't why I do it."

Kushina was surprised by his tone, "Really? Then why do you?"

Naruto looked at her then his gaze shifted away from her, "I..."

His mother saw that he was freezing, not wanting to say what he was thinking. It was one of his tells that made her know she wouldn't like what he said. With a clear of her throat she looked at him, "Naruto, tell me."

Refusing to look at her he finally gave her his answer though it was a bit reluctantly, "I... I didn't want to be alone anymore..."

Kushina stared at him without replying making him close his eyes, "I know what I did was wrong. I tried to resist but my self isolation proved to be to her advantage. She used her feminine "abilities" to entice me then used Minato to get me to do it the first time. After that it was just a stress relief until..."

His mother had a good idea of where this was going but waited until he said it. He opened his eyes then finally looked at her, "... at some point I developed feelings for her. For this first time in my life I cared about someone other than you. It was like a drug, an addiction and I wanted it for as long as I could for what time I could have it."

The red head sighed at him, "Naruto, eventually she will know the truth."

The blond jinchuriki nodded his head at her, "I am quite aware, I also know that no matter what she has said when I reveal it all she will hate me."

Naruto stood and went back to the stairs, "I need to take a shower then get some sleep for tomorrow. I will see you tomorrow Kaa-san."

He went up the stairs at that point making Kushina sigh before her eyes focus on his retreating form, "Naruto... do you love her?"

The blond boy froze on the top of the stairs before he muttered out a 'yes.' Kushina heard him then let out another sigh at the predicament that her son had put himself in.

Naruto looked back at Kankuro then at Itachi before nodding his head. Kankuro nodded his head as well and Naruto closed his eyes. As he did so storm clouds formed above the arena and he opened his eyes slowly, 'I'm sorry... Naruko-chan...'