6 hours after the fight…
Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru had found a tree with an opening under it to lay the others down. It was currently the second day of the exam, and things were not going well. They had had to avoid at least 3 teams in 6 hours and were all out of supplies. The best they could do was put wet towels on Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, Sai, Sakura's foreheads. Sasuke would constantly scream out in pain, Hinata would whimper, and Naruto would groan and hold his hand to his stomach. Because of this, Kiba had joked that Naruto was just hungry.
12 hours after the fight…
"Wh-what happened?" asked a waking up Sakura. Suddenly her eyes widened, "SASUKE-KUN!" she yelled. Kiba and Shino flinched, and Akamaru whined. She looked towards the boys and narrowed her eyes, "What are you doing? Trying to make Sasuke-kun lose?!" she questioned angrily. Before Kiba could retaliate, Shio spoke up, "Sakura-san. Naruto-san arrived to help your team when he heard you scream. When he got there he saw your teammate unconscious and you about to collapse. He defended your team after Sasuke-san fainted. He fought Orochimaru until our team arrived. We backed him up, where he fainted as well. We were severely beaten and that was when Orochimaru bit both Hinata and Sasuke-san," he explained. Sakura's eyes widened, "He attacked Sasuke-kun?"
Kiba spoke up, "Ya, along with your other teammate, Naruto, and our team," he muttered. Sakura shot him a glare, "I just need to know if Sasuke-kun is fine," she said. "Sasuke-san is fine, if not a few cries of pain in his sleep, he is otherwise unharmed," Shino said. Sakura breathed out in a sigh of relief. She jumped behind Kiba when she heard a twig snap. Kiba looked towards the sound. He saw a squirrel and sweat dropped, 'Is she really a kunoichi?' he thought. Suddenly his eyes widened as he smelled fire coming from the squirrel, 'SHIT! PAPER BOMB!' He grabbed a kunai and threw it at the squirrel. It skimmed the squirrel, but took the paper bomb with it, exploding right before it hit the end of the clearing.
"Well, well. They're pretty smart. They noticed the paper bomb," said the black haired Oto nin from the first exam.
"It seems they did Zaku," said the bandaged one.
"So what are we waiting for Dosu?" asked a girl with long black hair and a green vest with snakeskin clothes.
"That's a good question, there's nothing keeping us back," said Dosu, "Okay, Kin get the girl. Zaku you get the mutt. I'll get the creepy one."
"You're one to talk about creepy," muttered Zaku.
The Oto team jumped down from the tree landing in front of the three conscious Konoha genin.
"Hey, you there with the obnoxiously pink hair," said Dosu, "wake up Sasuke. The three of us want to take him on."
"Like hell you will, if you want to get to him, you'll have to go through us," growled Kiba.
"Ha! So you think you will be able to keep us at bay?! That's hilarious," chuckled Zaku.
"I just hate the wannabe-kunoichi who bring a bad name to all kunoichi," scoffed Kin.
"Wh-what are you talking about? All I know is that some guy called Orochimaru is causing all of this. So what do you want with Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked. When she mentioned Orochimaru, Oto was surprised. "Why do you want to fight him now, and what does the mark on his neck mean? He's not even conscious so just leave!" she yelled.
"... I wonder what Orochimaru-sama is up to?!" spoke Dosu. Zaku laughed, "Whatever, after that I can't just walk away without a fight. First I'll destroy you, your friends, and you're precious Sasuke-kun too!"
"Zaku, wait! Let me have the girl!" Kin yelled. Zaku scoffed, "Fine. Mutt you're mine," he said as he pointed to Kiba. Kiba growled at the "mutt" part. "Alright. Shino, Sakura, let's show them what Konoha is made of," he said, tossing a pill to Akamaru, "Juujin Bunshin!" he cried and he and Akamaru became two feral looking Kibas. He rushed at Zaku, while Kin ran towards Sakura, and Shino and Dosu met head-on.
"GATSUUGA!" yelled Kiba as he and Akamaru launched at the Oto nin, "Decapitating Airwaves!" yelled Zaku as a strong gust of wind hit the Inuzuka duo, sending them off course. Kiba hit and Akamaru hit a boulder, with Akamaru being knocked unconscious from the impact, "Akamaru!" yelled Kiba. He faced Zaku and snarled, "Damn you!" he said as he through down a smoke bomb that enveloped him and Zaku.
"You really think this will work?! I can just blow it awa- Auurgh!" Zaku was about to say until he was hit in the solar plexus by Kiba. "You talk too much," said the Inuzuka. Zaku seethed, "You damn brat! You'll pay for that! Decapitating Airwaves!" Zaku yelled, dispersing the smoke and blowing Kiba away into the same boulder head first. He heard Dosu speak to his enemy and he felt a giant killing intent.
Kin vs Sakura
Do I really have to narrate this, we all know how this will go.
Kin held onto Sakura's hair and knocked her out, it was then she heard what Dosu said and a giant killing intent and she looked towards the giant tree.
With Shino and Dosu
"Unfortunately for you, your teammates will be killed by the time we're done with you, all your friends will be dead," said Dosu. Shinto's hive buzzed louder, "I don't like you threatening me out my friends," he said as he released his bugs. Dosu held up his right arm and released a giant sound wave that dispersed the bug and hit Shino. "Urgh," grunted Shino. He looked up and saw Dosu rushing towards with a kunai in his hands. "Like I said, you won't win. Maybe I'll have some fun with that blue haired girl as well," Dosu laughed. As soon as Dosu finished his sentence he felt a giant killing intent that dwarfed Orochimaru's focused on him. His eyes widened and he began to hyperventilate. He shakily looked towards the tree the other 4 were under and what he saw scared the living daylights out of him. He saw Naruto standing up, his arms limp at his sides. But that wasn't what terrified him. He looked into his eyes, and saw the Ketsuryugan with blood pouring out of them. Naruto was staring directly into Dosu's eyes, freezing Dosu.
He then saw a red flash and felt the killing intent behind him. He turned his head and saw Naruto with a red aura around him. Naruto's eyes narrowed, "You know, there are two things that anger me the most. Waking me up and threatening my friends. And anyone who has threatened Hinata hasn't gotten away untouched. Naruto hit Dosu in the solar plexus and sent him flying into a nearby tree. The Oto nin got the wind knocked out of him, but he never got a chance to breath as he took an axe-kick to the head from the redhead. Before Dosu hit the ground he was thrown 30 feet by Naruto who landed on top of him and began to punch Dosu non-stop. He could hear Shino and Kiba shouting at him to calm down but he didn't listen.
A/N: imagine Naruto punching Deidara when he found out Gaara was dead
Naruto began to take out a bone-blade fused to give the final blow before he heard a voice cry out, "NARUTO-KUN!" Naruto looked over to where the voice came from and his eyes widened as he got off the bloody and beaten Dosu. He dropped his weapon and saw a shaking Hinata under the tree wide-eyed with tears in her eyes. He looked around to see a frightened Zaku, Kin, Kiba, and Shino. (he saw Sakura but who tf cares) He then realised what had just happened, 'What the fuck?! Was I really about to kill him?!' he thought. He looked into Hinata's eyes but immediately looked away with a shameful look on his face, "We need to get to the tower. Kiba you get Sai and Akamaru, Shino you grab Sasuke. Hinata, Kiba, Shino grab onto me," he told Team 8, "And you, focusing his attention on the Oto team, get out of here before I do that again."
The Oto team obliged, and left with Dosu. Team 8 touched Naruto's shoulders, Hinata not trying to faint while doing so. They felt a pull and were nauseous for several seconds, "Ya, that'll happen on your first few rides," said Naruto. Team 8 looked up and their eyes grew wide. They were in front of the door that led them inside the tower. They picked up Team 7 and Akamaru and walked inside the giant tower. When they got inside they realized they were in a room. They looked around and saw nothing.
"I think we should open the scroll," said Naruto. He and Team 8 unsealed their and team seven's scroll. They started smoking as soon as they opened it, "IT'S A SUMMONING SCROLL! THROW IT AWAY!" yelled Naruto. The teams threw all scrolls that landed in an 'X' a few feet from them. When the smoke dispersed the genin saw Kurenai, Kakashi, and Iruka. The Jonin and Chunin looked at each other and then at their students.
"Uhm, uh. Wow all 7 of you at once? That's funny," chuckled Kakashi. It was then he realized his entire team was unconscious, "what happened to them?" he asked. Naruto spoke up first, "I heard the banshee scream, and when I found Team 7 they were battling Orochimaru. Sai and Sakura were unconscious when I got there and as soon as I dispelled his snake summon with my swords. I fought him for a few minutes until he-" Naruto looked over to Team 8 deciding what to say, "punched me with a fire-infused fist."
Kiba was the next one to speak up, "Me and Akamaru had picked up on the fight, and Hinata looked for it and saw Naruto and Orochimaru. We waited for the best time to fight, and we decided to fight after Naruto was hit by Orochimaru. I was able to hit him with Gatsuuga because Shino kept him down with his bugs. When we got there Naruto passed out shortly after and that is when things went downhill. We tried to hit him again but he quickly dispatched me and Shino. He extended his neck and bit both Hinata and Sasuke and they have these weird marks on their necks now."
"WHAT!" yelled Naruto, Kurenai, Kakashi, and Iruka.
"We need to get them medical attention!" yelled Kurenai.
"The best I can do is seal the marks, but I don't know how long it will take for them to wake up from after it. It's up to Hinata, and since Sasuke is unconscious, the person who will decide for them is Kakashi," said Naruto, still enraged by the news. He looked at Hinata who had her hand on her neck, "I-I. How long do you think it will take?" she asked Naruto. Naruto sighed, "1-2 days is my best guess."
Hinata looked her crush straight in the eyes and nodded, "I'll do it."
Naruto smiled softly and then looked at Kakashi who nodded, "Alright, I'm going to need a room to set up the seal."
Kurenai took Hinata away along with Kakashi and Sasuke. Iruka took the rest of Team 7 to their room, leaving only Kiba, Shino, and Naruto.
"So, Naruto-san. I've noticed that you always act a certain way around Hinata. Almost protectively. Why is that?" asked Shino. Naruto stiffened and hesitated for a moment. He then relaxed and let out a shaky breath, "Alright, since you guys our her teammates you deserve to know. It was nearly seven years ago. It was the Kyuubi Festival and I was walking home after buying a fox mask. I guess that several people were drunk, and seeing me in the mask reminded them of the fox. They chased me for several minutes until I ran down an alley. I was usually able to climb pipes to get away, but not this time. Unfortunately they got to me first. They started beating me and I went unconscious. When I woke up, I…I…I awakened two of my bloodlines that killed all of them. I laid there for several moments, pondering my existence. I felt good about killing them, hell I almost went insane. Until she found me. A girl came down the alley and saw me. She ran back to the light and I closed my eyes. Then I heard her running back. I opened my eyes and saw her with water and a box. She helped me drink the water until she was called back. I wanted to know her name but couldn't ask. I found out later by the Hokage that the girl who had shown me kindness, and indirectly saved me from losing my sanity was Hyuga Hinata," said Naruto now teary eyed, "so you see. I vowed to always protect her from any harm who comes her way."
Kiba and Shino were wide-eyed. Kiba was pondering everything he knew now about the Uzumaki. It was then a question came to his mind, "D-do you love her?" he asked with a barely-noticeable smile on his face that nobody saw. Naruto caught off guard by the question stammered and looked away, trying to hide the growing blush on his face, "W-what make you think that?" Kiba smiled, "Because, nobody can protect someone without asking for anything back without truly loving them."
Naruto looked at Kiba wide-eyed, "Kiba…"
Kiba's smile turned big, "Go get her man, tell her soon. I'll be fine, there's someone out there for me."
Naruto smiled and said, "Ya, maybe I will tell her soon. Probably after the exams."
Shino and Kiba left the room, leaving Naruto to his thoughts, 'Hyuga Hinata. I truly do love you. I'll remove that seal on your head, and I'll get rid of that damned curse mark that Orochimaru gave you.'
Sealing Room
"Alright, Hinata-chan, this is probably gonna hurt a lot," said Naruto. He had already done Sasuke, but since he was unconscious, there wasn't a lot of commotion.
"O-Okay N-Naruto-kun," said Hinata. Naruto made the necessary hand signs and placed his hand on the cursed seal, "Fuin!" he said. Seals spread all over Hinata, making her scream in pain. Behind her, Naruto, Kakashi, and Kurenai all cringed. The seals crawled up Hinata's body, and wrapped around the cursed seal in a circle. Hinata went unconscious but before she hit the ground, was caught and picked bridal-style by Naruto. He looked at Kakashi who had Sasuke slung over his shoulder, "I'll take her to her room," he said. Kakashi and Kurenai nodded, but the latter was still reluctant. Naruto headed out of the room towards where the rest of Team 8 was.
xxx
Naruto walked through the hallways with Hinata in his arms. He looked down at Hinata and smiled, 'Who woulda thought it would take a speech from Kiba for me to realize that I really love you,' he thought. As he neared her team's room he bumped shoulders with a boy from another Konoha team. Naruto noticed this and apologized, "Oh, uh, sorry about that," he said scratching the back of his neck. He turned around and looked at the boy and his 2 teammates. The boy was obviously a Hyuga from the white eyes. He wore his headband around his forehead, and had a khaki shirt, brown pants, bandages around his arms, and blue ninja sandals. His female teammate had a pink chinese-style tank top, green pants, two buns, blue ninja sandals, and wore her headband around her forehead. His male teammate wore a green spandex suit, had a bowl cut, orange leg warmer, blue ninja sandals, and he wore his headband around his waist.
The Hyuga glared at Naruto and said, "Why do you have her in your arms?" Naruto just raised one eyebrow and responded, "I'm getting her back to her team. She needed medical attention and I was the best one available because it involved fuinjutsu," Naruto explained, "If you'll excuse me Hyuga-san, I need to get her to her room so she can be ready for when this portion ends."
The Hyuga just glared at Naruto's retreating figure and then looked at his teammates, "Tenten, Lee, let's go to our room."
xxx
5 hours later…
Naruto was currently walking around the tower. It was nighttime, and he couldn't sleep. He rubbed the back of his neck, 'Damn, there's nothing to do here, and I can't sleep,' he thought. Naruto wandered around, checking out every room. He ended up at the cafeteria where he saw the Nibi jinchuriki drinking tea. They stared at each other for several seconds before Naruto spoke up, "Ni?" he asked. The girl nodded, "Kyu? Name's Nii Yugito," she said.
"Uzumaki Naruto," responded Naruto, "I have a question." The Kumo jinchuriki raised her eyebrow but nodded nonetheless. Naruto, seeing this asked, "What do you think is wrong with the Ichibi jinchuriki. Yugito took a sip of her tea and then replied, "So you noticed him too, huh?"
Naruto chuckled, "Who wouldn't?" he said, making Yugito laugh. Naruto suddenly got a serious look on his face, "I'm going to talk with him," he said, "I need to know what happened to him that made him turn so sadistic and insane."
Yugito raised her eyebrow, "I wish you luck, but I don't expect that to work until the Kyubi turns good," she said, taking a sip of her tea. Naruto smirked, "Well, actually…" he said. Yugiot choked on her drink, "You mean -cough- you're working -cough- with it?" she asked bewildered. From what Matatabi had told her, the Kyubi wanted nothing to do with people. She couldn't believe that Naruto was able to work with it. She then smiled, "Well I guess you'll be able to fix Gaara," she said. Naruto nodded, and walked out of the cafeteria.
'That boy, if he can work with Kyubi, the exams are gonna be harder than I thought,' thought Yugito.
xxx
Naruto closed his eyes attempting to sense Gaara. After about 30 seconds he was able to find him at the roof of the table. Jumping out of a window, he climbed to the top of the tower. He looked across the roof, and on his opposite side, he saw Gaara sitting with his legs crossed with sand swirling around him. Gaara, noticing Naruto, turned his head to his fellow redhead slowly, eyes narrowed.
"What do you want," he said.
"Why are you like this?" Naruto asked, "Why are you so insane?"
Gaara looked at Naruto with a bored look on his face, "My life was insane, I merely went along with the ride."
Naruto now narrowed his eyes, "So was mine. I know the pain of loneliness Gaara."
At this the Suna genin's eyes widened. This boy, he wasn't sure, but now he knew he was just like him, "Why do you protect people?" he said, eyes narrowing again.
Naruto looked at him with a sad look on his face, "I don't pretend to know your life, but I'm sure up until 7 years ago, it was very similar to mine. I never had anyone who loved me, sure there were 3 people, but never unconditional love. I would be beaten every weekend, and then after healing would get shipped on my way. Until I was 5. I was beaten so badly that I lost it. I killed all who beat me. It felt good. Causing them the same pain they caused me. I almost went insane. But she helped me. She showed me there were kind people in this cruel world. That's why I protect Gaara. It's love, Gaara."
Gaara's eyes widened. It's love, Gaara. The same words his uncle used the night he tried to kill him. He looked at Naruto who now had wide eyes. He frowned until he turned around. His eyes widened even further. Around him the sand had formed into his mother, her hands above where he had just been sitting. He started to tear up and faced Naruto. Naruto smiled at Gaara and walked up to him. Gaara tensed at Naruto's approaching figure, but didn't try anything. What happened next sent into a fit of wailing. Naruto had stopped in front of the Suna jinchuriki and hugged him. Naruto turned around and walked down the tower, bowing before he left. Gaara just stood there, crying and dumbfounded. He wiped away the tears and looked at his mother. He looked down at his hands, remembering the bloodshed they had caused.
'Uzumaki Naruto, how can I be more like you?' he thought to himself.
xxx
End of Second Exam
All 8 teams that passed the second round were gathered in a giant room. There were balconies on either side of the arena most likely for other participants to watch from. At the very front of the arena was a giant statue of two arms making the "ram" hand sign. In front of the statue we're all the senseis of the present genin, the proctors, and the Hokage.
Naruto was standing in between Team 7 and Team 8, being more of a buffer for Sasuke. He was looking straight ahead until someone caught his attention.
"T-Thank you," said Hinata. When she saw Naruto look at her it just made her already present blush intensify, "T-thank you f-for sealing th-the m-mark."
"Oh yeah! No problem, it's the least I could do," Naruto responded.
Now Hinata was confused, "for what?" she asked, tilting her head to her head with a curious look on her face. Seeing this, Naruto turned his head trying to hide his blush.
"You'll find out soon Hinata," said Kiba. Naruto turned his head so fast it almost gave him whiplash, "OI! KIBA!" he exclaimed.
"What?" asked the Inuzuka. Naruto just threw his arms into the air and turned away.
The Hokage coughed getting everyone's attention.
"Now that you are all listening, I can explain. The Third Exam will be starting soon. But before I explain how it will work, let me make one thing perfectly clear! It is the purpose of the Chunin Exams," said the Hokage. Now everyone was confused, what purpose?
"During times of peace, the Chunin Exams are a substitute for war. It is a chance to show other villages how strong one's ninja are. These will be life-and-death battles, because one's strength comes out when defaced with death. Now, I've said all I've wanted to about the purpose, now on to the Third Exam," said the Hokage.
"If I could, Lord Hokage," said Hayate. The Hokage nodded and turned around, "To those of you who don't know me, my name is -cough- Gekko Hayate. I will be the proctor of the next exam. But before we -cough- do that I need you all to do something for me. There will be -cough- preliminaries due to the amount of contestants, and how you do in these will determine -cough- if you make it to the finals. They will be 1 on 1 matches, the -cough- winner moving onto the finals," Hayate explained.
'Preliminaries?' everyone thought.
"What do you mean?" asked an annoyed Shikamaru. He just wanted to go home.
"Since there are too -cough- many of you here, we need to slim down the numbers. There will be important -cough- figures at the Finals, and it will take too long if we do 25 1 on 1 matches. So instead we will -cough- be doing that here. Behind me are screens that will be -cough- showing the contestants names. If it -cough- lands on you, the other name is who you'll be up against. Now no more complaining, because the exams start now!"
All the genin went up to the balconies with their respective senseis. Naruto went to stand next to Hinata, blocking Sasuke's view of her again making him growl.
Hinata breathed a sigh of relief, "T-Thank you, he's been l-looking with m-more… i-intent today," she said quietly to Naruto.
"Yeah, no problem like I said earlier, it's the least I could do," replied Naruto.
As soon as the two finished their conversation the screen started swapping through names faster than the genin could see. The screen started to slow down and the genin could tell the names now. It slowed down even more and the genin became anxious. Hayate was facing the board and saw the names that it stopped on.
He faced the genin and announced the names, "The first match will be…
xxx
Author's Notes
Woah, short chapter?! I just thought it would be best to start fights in the next chapter. Felt it would make more sense. But whatever, see ya!