YO PEOPLEZ! Ok it is obvious that in a few short days I have regained my love of Naruto and this story pushing me to make a good chapter with something you have been waiting for! Hope you enjoy and thanks for the reviews!

"Speech"

'Thought'

"Kyuubi"

(Standard Disclaimer)

Chapter 30: Late

Gaara's mouth turned up in a wicked smirk, he knew what was to become of this match. He could just feel it. The blind fighter was their weakest link in the team but he would get his job done as a pure solider. The leader, Gaara observed, wished more then anything to continue in Gaara's stead as the Kazekage of Suna. The girl though...she was something different. She was a wild card and a wonderful silent assassin. It was only a matter of time until the Konoha girl was going to fall...

"Before we begin this little game..." Kinsha said with a smirk behind her mask as she slid into battle position, "who's mister tall, dark, and silver hair?" Itami scowled and took a drink of her Tokkuri, "what's it to yah?" Kinsha nearly laughed then said, "I was wondering if I should request a little longer stay in Konoha or not." Itami's muscles tensed and she lowered the Tokkuri from her lips, oh it was on now.

In a flash Kinsha had formed five hand seals causing her jutsu to begin with the cry of "Kokufuu no Jutsu!" The wind began to kick up throwing dust and debris everywhere turning the entire center ring into a massive dust storm. This was not looking good for either combatants. The entire field was covered in a swift tornado of dust but then the roguish girl took out her trump card. She brushed her hair back from her face revealing a blood red lens that covered her right eye allowing her to see through the storm.

'Oh this is bull shit,' Itami thought as she covered her face with her arm. How the hell was she expected to fight in this? Itami attempted to take a step forward but her step was hindered by a rock that had blown itself under her foot. In an instant she stumbled forward catching a glint of metal in the corner of her eye that just missed her shoulder. An attack hidden in this storm of dust, how the hell could she see?

'Kuso I missed!' Kinsha cursed in her mind as she pulled her blade back just missing Itami's hand grasping at her arm. She fell back into the eye of the massive storm and scouted the area with her lens covered eye. She saw Itami open her Tokkuri to take a drink only to find that it had filled with dust and debris from the field.

Itami's eyes budged from her head, then viciously spit the dirt tainted Sake from her mouth. It tasted DISGUSTING! "Oh you (cough) bitch!" Itami growled spitting and coughing in the storm. "You're gonna (cough) PAY!" Itami yelled as she added, "it cost me (sputter) a hell of a lot (spit) to get the seal on this thing!"

At that last remark the entire stadium sweat dropped, Zaiaku more then anyone else. 'It's a life or death battle and she's pissed because the Suna girl ruined a few bucks work,' he thought with an amused grin on his face. Oh well this would play out to be in Itami's favor if he interpreted this correctly.

Kinsha glared at Itami through the dust, the girl was complaining about her bottle after she almost got killed! Itami smirked, or would have could she open her mouth in this dust storm. This was going to take a bit of a sacrifice but it would be worth it. Itami took a deep drink of her Tokkuri and then viciously began to spew it from her mouth forming a massive ball of the clear liquid.

Itami would have laughed if she could have. Kinsha had completely missed the hand seals Itami made while she was coughing allowing her to preform a jutsu. If she worked this right her opponents attack would be used against her in the process.

As the sphere of clear chakra infused Sake grew the harsh winds and flying dirt sped through the ball ripping it apart and sending it all over the area in small splashes. "Sake Kanpou Shayeki!" Itami screamed as the small droplets of Sake became burning fireballs that exploded in a massive cluster.

The explosions rocked the entire coliseum kicking up even more dust and debris then there had been. Slowly the ring calmed and the dust storm jutsu dispersed leaving behind a completely knocked out Kinsha and a desperately coughing Itami. 'Why in the hell did I drink some of it!' she thought as she coughed sending small explosive drops from her mouth. Zaiaku watched as the Medic nin's went to gather up the injured body of Kinsha but had a hell of a time avoiding Itami's miniature Sake explosions.

Zaiaku smirked when Itami's coughing finally calmed and she returned to the stands as calmly as she had left. "Well that was creative," Zaiaku said with a nod of his head. "Thanks, ugh that tasted horrible..." Itami said as she tossed her Tokkuri into a nearby garbage can. In a flash she pulled another from her supply pouch and uncorked it to take a deep drink. Ever since the last incident she always carried at least three extra of these things.

Zaiaku rolled his eyes and said, "well there are a few things problematic here." Itami looked at him confused and asked, "what?" "Well for one you just wasted a Tokkuri that only needed a cleaning," Zaiaku said with a side glance to the trash can. "The most important thing though is that..."

"SHIT I'M LATE!" Came the scream from the golden blur as it rushed toward the gates of Konoha with the speed rivaling even the most powerful of ninja. As Naruto rushed the gates he found something that TRULY pissed him off. Blocking his path was the several foot thick steel doors of Konoha's gate.

"LET ME IN!" screamed the golden Kitsune as he approached the gates in his customary blur. However his call went ignored and he was left to ram straight into the thick doors from his own speed. "Oh sonnova bitch!" Naruto screamed as he viciously clawed his way out of his massive dent in the gate and began his blurred ascent over the gate. His mind was not even registering the two guards on duty had been calling ANBU reinforcements.

Hinata watched as the next match was announced but when only the Snow Genin appeared it confused damn near everyone. Naruto had yet to show and he had to play beat a clock to still be considered eligible. Hinata looked to the ground and shifted tensely in her seat, what happened to make Naruto late? She couldn't stand not knowing! Before Kiba could say a word or Shino even react Hinata had jumped from her seat and taken a brisk...to hell with brisk try break neck run for the exit.

"LET. ME. IN!" growled Naruto as he landed on his feet after receiving an ANBU strike to his chest. "Who are you, what business do you have with the village?" asked the ANBU as they readied for combat. Naruto's eye twitched, oh he was getting REALLY pissed now. "Kid," came a deep guttural growl from behind the young Kitsune, "I can take it from here. You're late."

From behind Naruto's great tails came a considerably smaller Kitsune. Its coat was a deep blood red while its red eyes were glowing with mirth at the prospect of violence. "You can't kill," Naruto said as he leaned down so his clawed fingertips were touching the ground. "I already know that," growled the Kitsune, "Kyuubi never goes back on a pact."

Hinata burst from the stands entrance completely ignoring the calls of her friend. "He has to be around here somewhere," she said to herself as she began to rush through the crowd using her ninja speed and natural grace to avoid major contact. It didn't take long for her to reach the contestant stands and with her rank of Chuunin she skirted right past security on a mission to find Naruto's team mates. They should know where he is...

The ANBU's eyes snapped open, they finally realized who they were dealing with. It was the king of demons KYUUBI! "On your mark..." Naruto said with a wide grin as his clawed hands gripped the ground. "Get set..." Kyuubi said with a wicked Kyuubi grin as he waved his tails behind him viciously. "GO!" they both screamed as Naruto vanished in a blur and Kyuubi sent a large wave of fire at the ANBU.

The ANBU leapt high into the air and twisted, throwing a tag that JUST caught the tail end of the golden blur that vanished into the village. The ANBU formed a hand seal activating the small tag calling out for any ANBU in the area. A tracking tag was now stuck to one of Naruto's tails.

"Ah, ah, ah!" growled Kyuubi as he wrapped his long tails around the waist of the masked ninja. Forcing chakra into his paws so he stayed glued to the ground he pulled with all his strength leaving the ANBU buried in a crater twice his size. After checking the ANBU's vital signs he shook his head, the ANBU was knocked out cold.

Kyuubi scoffed and blurred off into the village thinking one thing, 'I've had breakfasts that were tougher then that.'

"Hinata-san!" Itami said with a wide smile. It was rare when another girl talked to her since she was, in their view, a repulsive tom boy. It probably helped that Naruto was Hinata's boyfriend but she never mottled up her consciousness with facts like that. "Hello Itami-san, have you seen Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked with a slightly frantic tone.

Itami shook her head and said, "Zai-kun and I haven't seen fur nor snout of him. We're getting kind of worried." "I've been worried about Naruto since the day I met him," Zaiaku said as he dodged a punch by Itami. Itami blinked, "wow, it's been a while since you dodged one of those."

"That's because you haven't thrown one in a long time, besides I think we have to find Naruto as soon as possible. He only has seven minutes to show up before he is disqualified," Zaiaku said gravely, his face showing the severity of this situation. "Shit!" Itami swore loudly, "Hinata-san any idea where-" Needless to say the second the words 'seven minutes to show up until disqualification' came out of Zaiaku's mouth Hinata had taken off in a shot. Those several hour long training sessions were paying off in the speed department!

"She could give Naruto a run for his money..." Zaiaku said with wide eyes. "Yeah..." Itami said in awe when all of a sudden Taishou appeared, his arms completely overflowing with food. "WOW! Taishou-sensei you're generous!" Itami said with a smile, "buying all those snacks for your team!" Taishou stood with a blank face and said only one thing, "team?"

Naruto ran like a guided Katon jutsu, nothing could stop him at this rate. Just as that thought crossed his mind a row of ANBU appeared blocking his path and causing him to come to a complete stop. "Oh...JUST FRICKING PERFECT!" Naruto ranted as his tails viciously whipped the ground around him, turning it to rubble and making the very earth tremble.

The tan cloaked ANBU began to speak but was stopped with a vicious snarl from Naruto. "I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY! I HAVE TO GO!" Naruto snarled as he slammed his tails into the ground causing a large fissure to race toward the ANBU. It kicked up dust and earth as it tore the ground in two, clouding the area behind it in a thick dust. The ANBU, living up to their reputation, leapt out of the way of the fissure and the dust cloud that followed.

When the air had cleared it revealed nothing but the crater where Naruto had slammed his tails on the ground. In the center of the large crater was a small tag, nothing more and nothing less. Sometime during the fray Naruto had ripped the tag off his tails with the sheer force of his strikes. The tan cloaked ANBU groaned and said, "Naruto...we were ordered to escort you to the competition but NO! You take the hard way..."

Tsunade shifted in her seat, where WAS that idiot! At this rate she would lose the bet! "Nervous Hokage?" Gaara said with the slightest of smirks on his face. "Not at all Kazekage, why would I have any reason to be?" Tsunade said betraying her famous title of the Legendary Sucker by attaining a perfect poker face.

"For one if Uzumaki doesn't appear in the next five minutes he is disqualified and I am one step closer to winning our bet. Surely you would be nervous about that," Gaara said with a smirk now in dark full force. "N-no..." Tsunade said her tough exterior cracking a bit from the dark waves coming from Gaara. "Not at all," Tsunade said as she straightened up and gave off her own dark grin to rival Gaara's grim smirk. She was the fricking Hokage! No way would she lose this bet!

Hinata rushed with all of her speed and grace for the exit, he had to be there by now! He only had a few seconds to get back! Hinata burst out into the open air only to find nothing but a clear blue sky. Hinata sighed, Naruto HAD to be somewhere around!

Hinata took a step forward but on ninja reflexes she recoiled just as a golden blur landed at her feet. Without missing a beat the golden blur resumed it's upward motion past Hinata's face and body. As the blur passed by the world seemed to slow to a halt, moving in slow motion before her was her Naruto-kun halfway into his jump. "I missed you," he mouthed with a smile as he lightly kissed her lips before vanishing in his blur once again.

Hinata watched in awe as the blur slowed toward the top of the massive dome that held the Chuunin exams. Naruto looked down in confusion, he didn't remember it having a top to it but he'd soon fix that. His hands formed three odd hand seals then brought his bright gold tails to wrap around his body forming a massive golden drill. "SUUKOU GATSUGA!" Naruto roared as his body took off in a powerful golden tornado towards the very top of the stadium.

Several people watched as the time ticked down slowly spelling out the fate for the fox boy named Uzumaki Naruto. "The idiot missed the dead line..." Zaiaku said with a growl while Itami crossed her arms with a glare. "To bad, this would have been a very exciting fight..." Taishou said with a disappointed sigh as he began to eat the ramen he had bought. One could wonder why they didn't go out to find their teammate. Well one would wonder for quite a while because they weren't even sure all they knew was that the fox boys time was almost up.

"Naruto," Sakura said with worry in her voice as she looked for any sign of the golden fox boy. This was probably the only time she would be able to see him again since they were both so 'busy'. Sasuke smirked as he revealed his Sharingan eyes alive and whirling. With his training from the Snake Sannin he knew something not everybody knew...

Tsunade watched as the time ticked down to 10 seconds. "Ready to admit defeat Hokage?" Gaara asked with a grin, at times he could be a real ass. Tsunade glared out of the corner of her eye and said, "he'll be here." Suddenly a massive explosion rocked the entire stadium that caused everyone to shield their eyes from the incoming dust and debris.

"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!" Tsunade yelled as she jumped from her chair, Orochimaru was probably attacking! DAMN IT COULDN'T HE COME UP WITH ANY MORE ORIGINAL IDEAS! As the dust cleared Tsunade and Gaara prepared for anything...well anything EXCEPT what they saw...

Standing center ring of the stadium, which now had a handy dandy sun roof, was the very wonder Kitsune of Konoha that the timer was waiting for. It had landed precisely with one second left which caused a relaxed breath from Tsunade. She was in the clear for now...

Itami blinked, wow the fox boy could sure make an entrance. Zaiaku narrowed his eyes, something was different about Naruto, he just had to figure out what it was. It was obvious that he looked older then he had when he left, and that didn't mean just two months older. To Zaiaku it looked as if he aged a few years rather then just two months.

Sakura damn near lost her eyes they had bulged so far out from her face. THIS WAS NARUTO? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO HIM? Sakura gulped and looked to Sasuke who was looking at her, amusement dancing in his blood red eyes. Sakura was confused until she put two and two together and then asked with a glare, "you knew about this didn't you?" Sasuke said nothing as he smirked and turned his attention back to the area battle field.

Just as Tsunade calmed down she finally realized what Naruto looked like. She knew that in the past he looked a lot like a certain powerful Hokage but now...he could be his clone! Well except for the Kitsune tails and ears...and claws...and fangs but you get the idea.

Naruto's hair had gotten longer to the point of him looking even more like the wild golden fox he was. Around his neck was the same leather collar he had since Hinata had given it to him but it looked more worn down then two months could put on it.

He wore the same black ninja pants and sleeveless black shirt as when he left but they were looking new and slightly different. On the front of the shirt, embroidered in gold, was a noble Kitsune face inside a circle while nine small flame like tails sprouted from the circle to the corners of the shirt. On the cuffs of his pants large golden flames stretched up the legs as if they were frozen in their furious climb. On his feet he wore, somewhat surprisingly, nothing at all. It seemed he had lost the need for sandals and all that dressed his feet was air and the dirt beneath them.

Over his pants and shirt was a long sleeveless pitch black coat that held a noble red nine tailed kitsune surrounded in bright golden flames on it's back. On his left arm was a roll of golden bandages and along his right arm was a long burning gold tattoo. It depicted a nine tailed Kitsune seated proudly on his upper arm while its nine tails fell around the rest of his arm like nine streams of golden flames coming to a sharp point at his wrist.

Speaking of his body it had retained its defined features with his taught muscle tone and muscular build. He was doing the Kitsune seduction proud as not but a few female lips in the audience were licked.

His proud guardian Kitsune face had not changed except for the fact that it looked more masculine, a bit older and stronger. His bright cerulean eyes edged with shining gold lost none of their luster while his award winning foxy grin refused to fade. His whisker marks retained their wider features but they looked clearer and more defined, as if they were real whiskers casting thick shadows on Naruto's cheeks.

Naruto turned and faced the Genin from the Snow, a sick smirk on the Genin's face. "Fox kabob," Kireru said with a grin as he raised his claws in a threatening manner. Naruto crossed his arms and fanned out his tails each hair on them bristled to the max. "Crack head," was the only thing Naruto said with an insane grin as his tails suddenly burst into bright golden flames, all six of them...

End Chapter

Ok I'd love to sit here and chat but I have some SERIOUS Q AND A TO ADDRESS!

Q: It's a ?

A: For the record I am a male, born a male and forever have been a male. I am completely straight but support all the rights for homosexual people. Hell I even like SOME Yaoi. Love knows no bounds!

Q: Where was Naruto?

A: That will be explained later.

Q: KYUUBI IS LOOSE!

A: Later once again...

Q: Older then two months?

A: ...do I have to repeat myself?

Q: Suiken?

A: I think I have already mentioned that Itami CANNOT use Suiken. She needs alcohol or she would die from shock. She can function pretty well when drunk but not Suiken level.

Q: The bet?

A: Oh...you'll see!

Well that is that. I am sorry but I was working on this so hard with editing and such I don't have a preview so I'll say this. You're gonna love the next fights! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Later all!