(A.R.) I'm sorry everyone! I was very busy this week… Tests, tests, and more tests… Newayz, time for explanations! (dun kill moi plz… T . T)

First, Naruto did NOT copy Lee's taijutsu completely. He saw the move being executed twice by Lee and Sasuke… I already said he was awake, watching the fight with Sasuke and Lee… He was also present during the fight with Yoroi (is that right? The chakra sucking dude…) and Sasuke, and he saw the ShiShi rendan also. His talents of copying are not far from Sasuke… (Naruto DOES NOT have sharingan.) He will also not be able to copy something like Hyuga techniques, maybe except Kaiten (From what I've seen, its releasing chakra from all spores of your body, and rotating your body… This does not take Byakugan to execute except for getting very dizzy afterwards I believe…).

Also, Naruto does not know what 5 part seal does… since he is a mere GENIN. Not a SENIN. He is bit lacking in the intelligence department also. The hidden chakra he used to summon up Kage Bunshins was his OWN chakra. When cut short of Kyuubi's chakra, he forced his limits, and his anger was a pathway for his chakra to be found. He has potentials, without Kyuubi, since he is the son of Yondaime (at least in this story…).

Kakashi's flashback… Honestly, I just wanted to add the scene of Sasuke's momentary death and Naruto going berserk… Note that Kakashi only mentioned the chills that he felt… Not the whole battle sequence… If he did remember, he would probably be thinking that he was glad that Sasuke did not die or fell victim to Naruto something…

Oh, and I discovered something from anime… It seemed he still had Kyuubi's unnatural healing power after he got the five part seal… Also, I believe that the incredible healing was possible because of Kyuubi's chakra… Which means it hasn't been COMPLETELY eradicated from Naruto.

Thank you for all the reviews and comments/criticisms!

On to the story!

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Endless Rage – Victory

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All 7 remaining Narutos smirked at one intimidated Kiba, and threw the limp Akamaru at the walls. As Akamaru's body slammed the grey walls of the arena, a sickening crack was heard throughout the arena, making the spectators wince.

"Akamaru!" Kiba's voice held much fear and anger as his red faithful companion slid down the wall. "That was unnecessary! Why did you throw Akamaru! I'll make you pay!" Kiba's better judgment would have made some sensible decision in this situation, but anger has gotten the better of him. Charging in blind anger, Kiba forgot about the consequences of such action at the current situation.

"I pity Akamaru for having such an insensible tamer…" As the real Naruto shook his head at Kiba's idiotic action, 6 Narutos immediately got in action, clearly intending to finish this match off. Kiba now realized how bad the situation has gotten by his blind charge at the incoming Narutos, tried to change the inevitable fate by performing his Gatsuura.

'Six Narutos… The remaining one is probably the real one! If I take him out, then the clones will disappear!" Now regaining some of his tactical sense, Kiba dodged as best he can while maintaining a straight line at the 7th Naruto.

'Almost there… What!?' The 7th Naruto charged at his face with blinding speed, and then punched the center of the rapid Gatsuura while yelling "U!", effectively hitting Kiba square on the face. Kiba was sent flying backwards, with all the momentum of Gatsuura working against him. 2 Narutos jumped high as the 4 Narutos executed the first movements of the Lotus on incoming Kiba yelling "Zu! Ma! Ki!" Each kick made a painful thud as made impact on Kiba. While Kiba flew to the 2 Narutos in mid air, they performed double axe kick to Kiba's head and stomach, and then yelled in unison "Naruto Rendan!" Kiba headed straight toward the ground head first. He hit the ground with gruesome thud, and then laid still.

Everyone in the arena was silent. Narutos' heavy breathing was the only noticeable sound. He said with dignity, "Don't underestimate me."

"Winner: Naruto!"

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"Yosh!! Go Naruto!!!" For once, Sakura and her inner self yelled together, but she was the only one. Everyone else were murmuring or in their own thoughts.

'Hm… So he WAS watching Sasuke…The name is a copy too…Although his sudden change in behavior bothers me... This is worth being reported…' Kakashi thought as he remembered Sasuke's ShiShi Rendan.

'That idiot really won… Though something seemed odd…' Shikamaru shuddered involuntarily as he recalled Naruto's sudden change in attitude and strength.

'Kiba, you've fought a good fight… He was a worthy opponent of your caliber. What surprises me is that he seemed to have beaten you on his own…' Kurenai thought as she gazed at one of her student was being carried out the door. Kiba was always brash… Maybe just below Naruto. She did not expect her student to win because of his playfulness and somewhat-of-stupidity, but she had not expected him to be pummeled like this. 'He really has grown hasn't he…? Hinata chose well…'

'Wow… Is this the dead last loser? What did Kakashi do to him?' Incredulous, Asuma was amazed at the Naruto's victory. 'Did he use Kyuubi? Is that how he defeated him? I did not sense it… '

'Is this the dead-last loser I keep hearing about? He wasn't that bad… If he's dead last, then I wonder how strong everyone else is…' Kankuro thought as he recalled the Uchiha's match, then compared to Naruto's. 'Naw… They're all weaklings… At least the girls… My sister should be a roll model for all of them…'

'I want to fight now…' Gaara was getting psyched at the action before him, and was aching for a fight that could give him some excitement. 'Any blood will do…'

'Naruto-kun, I will not let you use my taijutsu at will! There is something called copyrights y'know!' Rock Lee thought angrily as he conveniently forgot that the taijutsu weren't his to begin with.

'Naruto-kun… I'm glad you won… But what happened to you? You are always bright… Why did you turn cold all of a sudden?' Hyuga Hinata thought as Naruto's cold attitude bothered her. She let a sigh of relief as Naruto seemed to have turned back to 'normal' as he grinned back at the balconies. 'I wish I could smile like you…'

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"Don't underestimate me…" 6 Narutos disappeared with a puff, and the real Naruto stood tall and grand as the victor, despite his extreme exhaustion.

"Winner: Naruto!"

The real Naruto looked up at the balconies, and smiled with cheerfulness as he heard Sakura cheered for him. His previous show of cold attitude was nowhere to be seen. He had mentally noted that no one else cheered, but it didn't matter. Actually, it did matter a little bit that Hinata wasn't cheering, but after contemplating a while about her personality, he thought that it was too much to hope for.

After tossing a pitiful look at Kiba who was out cold and being carried out by the medic nins, he warily walked over back to the balcony with his head down. He was apparently deep in thought. To him, this victory was a one big step to proving that he is indeed himself… He was no demon.

'Though I have won without the Kyuubi, I must be able to put my emotions under complete control…' Naruto thought as he approached Kurenai's team, who was along the way, and not noticing Hinata with her trademark blush.

"N…Na…Naruto-kun…" Hinata called softly as Naruto was thinking too deeply to notice her. 'I wish he would pay a little attention to me…' Hinata thought sadly as she tapped him on the shoulder, jerking him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Wha? … Oh, Hinata! Hi!" Naruto broke his foxy grin at the pale eyed girl in front of him. "What is it?" Hinata flushed, and then with a huff, she held out a small ointment to Naruto with her head down. "P…P…Please take it N… Naruto-kun…"

'Oh? What's this? Hinata's making the first move! This is getting interesting…' Kurenai switched her attention from butt-kicked Kiba to the young genins in front of her, listening to their exchange of words.

'Oh no... What if he doesn't accept it!? What if he laughs at me? What if…' Hinata's silent mental rambling of fear was cut short as Naruto announced a "Thank you Hinata! You're the best!" Hinata's face lit up like a fresh candle lit, and also filled with relief.

"N…No problem Naruto-kun… I hope it works well…" Hinata said with little stuttering, but managed to finish off almost normally. Naruto did not seem to notice her stuttering, and stood next to her happily.

"… Umm… Heh… Is it ok if I stand next to you?" Naruto said with a bit of blush creeping up his face, and felt a weird sensation in his stomach area. Hinata nodded her head so fast that it looked like a blur. Naruto laughed at this, and unknown to two of them, Kurenai was also silently chuckling.

'Wow… I must be dreaming… Did Naruto-kun just… Asked me if he could stand next to me?!' Inside, Hinata jumped up in joy and squealed a happy squeal.

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"Sensei, Look at Naruto!" Sakura poked her sensei in the arm, and pointed at the comfy little group standing a few meters to her left. Apparently, they were currently involved in a deep conversation with each other. "Aren't they so KAWAII!??!" Sakura squealed, and then suddenly sighed as she was reminded of her own situation. 'I wish Sasuke-kun would actually talk to me…'

Kakashi moved his visible eye toward the happy couple who were talking to each other as if they knew each other for months. "Aren't they a happy little couple…?" Kakashi grumbled, and turned his gaze back to his lovely book.

'Interesting… If I'm correct, Naruto never talked nor paid attention to Hinata before… Is there something I'm missing? … Hm… They DO make a cute couple…' Kakashi mused as he snickered, looking at the stuff that was inside his perverted book.

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"Shikamaru! Naruto has changed a lot huh?" Ino asked, still dumbfounded by the incredible combo that looked almost EXACTLY alike from her idol Sasuke's combo that was executed by none other than the so called 'dead last' Naruto.

The mentioned Shikamaru grumbled as he softly muttered the dangerous words just under Ino's hearing. "Whatever Ino… it'll give you wrinkles if you keep thinking about stuff.. 'It's just all too troublesome…' … "Eh? What's this?" Shikamaru said as he noticed the couple across the arena who were busy talking. 'Ah… So Hinata gets her wish eh?' Shikamaru already knew that the Hyuga girl had a thing for Naruto for a LOOONG time in fact… How could he not? Whenever by chance he saw her during his academy days, she was always looking at Naruto longingly and developing a one, big, heck of a blush whenever she was looking, or near Naruto. He had known this for a long time, but didn't bother to do anything about it since it wasn't his business, and most importantly, troublesome.

"Ooohh Looks like somethings up…" Ino said in a very scary (for Shikamaru, who just knew that he was not going to like whatever she planned) tone as she noticed the couple. "Interesting..." Ino said as she classified the information as 'stored for later use' and put it under her 'matchmaking' and 'threats and black mail' section mentally.

Shaking his head in hopelessness, Shikamaru decided to indulge into his sleep. 'THIS is the reason why females are so annoying… Love sick girls…' Shikamaru thought as he ignored a thought that said 'YOU are one of those love sick ones… Just that you're a guy…'

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"…So then, Sasuke was cowering behind me when the bandits showed up, so I saved the day once again!" Naruto exclaimed as he slightly exaggerated one of his missions… Only in truth, was that Naruto DID save the day, but only partially, since Sasuke was the one who took care of the boss. Hinata was listening to him giggling, and was having a time of her life.

'Just like a dream come true…' Hinata thought blissfully as she was basking in Naruto's presence. Just then, their little moment was ruined, and Hinata's happy mood came crashing down by the Challenge machine which announced the next fighters. Naruto noticed Hinata's grip tightened on the railing, and her eyes widening. She was trembling a bit too.

Naruto saw the electronic board and thought as his eyes also widened. 'A relative of Hinata's? I heard that he is strong… Seems like Hinata fears him…' Naruto thought as he noted the trembling figure next to him.

…It was an understatement to say that Hyuga Hinata feared him.

Hinata blinked a couple of times and tried to convince herself she was just seeing things. The board was merciless, it seemed. It defiantly stated against the girl's wish, the opponent who was the very source of her fear.

'N…Neji…nii…san…'

-- Hyuga Neji vs Hyuga Hinata --

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(A/R): I got the basic plot line lined up… I may change around some stuff and all… I hope my chars are not OOC… I did try my best to portray their characters… T . T

I will try to update earlier than this… School's not kidding about giving me a test every week…

Neways, Thank you for the wonderful reviews, and plz review more!

Ja Ne!