Naruto:KIRAI

by B-Day

What happens when Minato sealed the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of Naruto, something else came along with it? What is this thing and will it help Naruto on his path to being Hokage, or will it make him go down a dark path? Or, it could try and kill him.

20. Chapter 19: Exams V

'Thoughts'

"Technique/Demon/Bijuu" Talk

"Demon/Bijuu" Talk from inside

'Technique in head/Demon/Bijuu' Thoughts

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Reviews (Chap. 18 & OC Sheet)

(18) Imperial-samaB: Thank you.

(18) Re Lovely Lover: I understand what you mean and thank you!

(18) Fede528: Thabk you.

(18)NinjaFang1331: Thanks!

(18) Yuzuki476: Here's your update.

(18) dragonslayerajahn: I'll try to make the sword fights more proper.

(OC) Re Lovely Lover: When Anko blasted Orochimaru in the face, his upper half got ripped off but he substituted right after, that's why he was laying on the floor.

(OC) EarlSilver: Yes you may. Also, one oc's in the harem, so there could possibly be more… possibly.

(OC) NinjaFang1331: No problem.

(OC) Spellbat: Which character did you think Kuroka was based off of from DxD?

(OC) Reedz22: Will do.

(OC) dragonslayerajahn: Thanks a lot for the kind words!

(OC) 10tailsJinchurikiNaruto: I shall continue till I don't.

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In the harem

Fem!Haku, Hinata, Kin, Temari, Yugao

Harem currently

Amaru, Ameyuri, Anko, Ayame, Fubuki, Fuu, Fuka, Guren, Hana, Hanabi, Hotaru, Ino, Isaribi, Karin, Karui, Kaguya, Kirai, Konan, Kotohime, Koyuki, Fem!Kurama, Kurenai, Kurotsutchi, Mabui, Matsuri, Mei, Mikoto, Mito, Moegi, Natsu, Natsuhi, Pakura, Rin, Ryuzetsu, Sakura, Samui, Sara, Sasame, Shizuka, Shizune, Shion, Tayuya, Tenten, Tsume, Tsunade, Tsunami, Yakumo/Ido, Yugito/Nibi, Yukata

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Hello again, it's been awhile, huh? Well here's the next chapter you've all been waiting for! Also, the reviews are jumbled up and I can't sort them out, so apologies if I've missed yours. Anyway, enjoy!

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Chapter 19: Exams V

Naruto and the others got to a spot far away from their battle with Orochimaru. The blonde put Anko against a tree while Sakura laid Sasuke out and Aoika gently placed Kuroka down.

Naruto looked at Sasuke and saw the Uchiha's face was scrunched up. He rushed over to Sakura and knelt down to her level.

"What happened to him?" Naruto asked.

"That man bit his neck and now he has some sort of symbol on it," Sakura responded as she turned Sasuke's head for Naruto to see. The blonde furrowed his brow seeing the three tomoe mark on his teammate's neck.

"That's the Cursed Seal of Heaven," Anko spoke up, making everyone turn to her. "Orochimaru has the same seal on me as well."

"What does it do?" Naruto asked.

"It's a seal that can greatly increase your chakra and physical capabilities," Anko answered. "The only problem is that there's a one in ten chance of the person who has it surviving." Sakura's eyes widened, then she looked back at Sasuke, the boy seemingly in pain.

"Why would Orochimaru do this?" Naruto asked as he glanced back at Sasuke.

"Orochimaru wants to learn all of the secrets in this world, so he became immortal to do so, but he also made a lot of modifications to his body. If he doesn't take a body in three years, his current host body begins to reject him and force him to get a new one. If he takes over a body, he gains that body's techniques, skills, knowledge, and adds his own to that body."

"And he wants Sasuke's body because he has the Sharingan, right?" Naruto guessed. Anko nodded.

"How do you know all of this?" Kuroka asked with a furrowed brow.

"Because I overheard him talking to himself about how he was going to be immortal," Anko answered.

"You… overheard him? I wouldn't think a man such as him would just be spouting out how he was going to be immortal to just anyone," Aoika doubted.

Anko sighed. "I was his student. He used to test his experiments on me when I was with him, and sometimes, I'd overhear him talking about becoming immortal and learning all new techniques. He soon found out about the Sharingan and wanted to take over an Uchiha that had a strong one. At the time, there were only a few Uchiha who had such a powerful Sharingan, one of them being Itachi Uchiha. He soon found out that I was secretly spying on him and tried to wipe my memory. Good thing was: it didn't work. I was out of it for a couple of days, but that was all."

"Is that all you know?" Kuroka inquired.

"Yeah. He was pretty secretive. All I knew was that the bastard liked doing experiments," Anko answered. She then turned to Naruto. "Hey, what was that you said earlier about me being killed?"

"Ah, right… well… first things first, that seal you had on you is no longer there," Naruto responded, making Anko's eyes widen.

"Wait, what?! You mean the Cursed Seal of Heaven is gone?! What kinda blasphemy are you spitting, gaki?" Anko questioned as she glared at Naruto.

"Sakura, go check Anko's neck and search for a three tomoe design on it. If you don't find one, then it's gone," the whiskered blonde told the pinkette.

She complied and got up, walking over to Anko. She went around behind her and pulled away the purplette's collar, searching for a three tomoe seal.

"Huh, I don't see one here besides this weirder seal. Some sort of spiral with seals around it," Sakura informed before backing away. Anko instinctively covered her neck and looked at Naruto.

"How the hell did you get rid of the seal?" The proctor wondered.

"I have a technique that can remove seals in place of my own," Naruto said as he held up his right hand. "I'm able to share my chakra with you through this as well."

"W-B… H-How do you just have a technique like that?! You're only a genin!" Anko exclaimed.

"And yet he went toe-to-toe with Orochimaru and survived. And did a lot of damage too," Aoika pointed out. Anko looked back at her before looking at Naruto.

"Okay, then what about the form? I felt pretty good while using it, like I was way stronger than usual."

The blonde looked at the Sanya team. 'Eh, they saw me and Kurama, so it doesn't matter,' Naruto thought before looking back at Anko. "It's a form that I made that allows me to use my Bijuu's chakra when I'm low on my own. My depleted chakra system gets filled with the Bijuu's chakra and allows me to fight longer. Through my seal that's on your neck, you're able to also use this form as well, but you have to have little chakra to do so, or else the Bijuu's chakra will override yours and if you can't handle it, the chakra will return to me, but your own chakra will go along with it and you'll die."

The woman's eyes widened as she stared at Naruto. "I really could've died…? Just like that?"

"Yeah, but… for some reason, you were fine. You should've died in five seconds, but you looked like you were fine. I guess you could handle the form," Naruto added with a shrug.

Anko grew a cocky smirk before crossing her arms. "Well whaddya expect? We're talkin' about The Great Anko here." Naruto deadpanned at her.

"Uh… if you could do that to Anko, couldn't you do that to your teammate as well?" Kiryu spoke up. Everyone looked at her before they looked at Naruto.

"I think I could. Shouldn't be too hard." The boy turned over to Sasuke and flexed his right hand before placing it on Sasuke's chest. 'Uzumaki Seal!' He slightly shoved his hand down on the boy's chest. Naruto watched as the Cursed Seal began disintegrating and his seal was replacing it, but then his seal disappeared and the three tomoe came back flaring. His eyes widened in confusion.

'The hell? It should've worked…' Naruto thought before trying it again, but the same thing happened. 'Kirai? What's goin' on?'

"I think he's rejecting it," Kirai responded.

'How is he rejecting it? Anko should've rejected it too if that were the case.'

"Hm… I think it's more of a feeling. Anko never wanted the seal and it must've felt terrible having that on her, so when you were placing your seal on her, it might've felt relieving. Since Sasuke's unconscious, he doesn't know what's going on, and when Orochimaru bit him, it might've felt like he grew powerful, so when you tried placing your seal on him, he felt like something was taking his power away and rejected it,' Kirai hypothesized. Naruto groaned as he realized Sasuke wasn't going to accept his seal.

'Kami damnit… So then how do I get the seal off if he's gonna reject it?' Naruto asked the entity.

"I don't think we can do anything about it, unless you wanna take over his mind and force him to accept that way," Kirai answered.

'If it's the only way? Why not.'

"I was kidding. I'm not forcing you or myself into that kid's brain. That would seriously hurt your own brain and mine. Also, his thoughts and personality towards certain things may affect you as well," the woman told.

'Really? Why's that?' The whiskered blonde wondered.

"When you take over someone's mind by force, your consciousness enters theirs and forces their own consciousness to the back of their mind where the subconscious resides. Since the conscious and subconscious can't be in the same spot together, the conscious tries to escape and goes back to the brain, where your conscious is. Some parts of their consciousness will escape and will be embedded into your own consciousness if you control them for too long. Worst case scenario is acting more like them," Kirai explained.

'That is… very weird…'

"That's only one side effect. Imagine the others that affect their consciousness."

'I'd rather not.'

"Something wrong, Naruto?" Sakura asked as she sat next to her teammate.

"Yeah, I can't remove the seal, his body won't accept it," Naruto responded loud enough for the others to hear.

"So then… how do you remove the seal?" Aoika asked as she looked at the Uchiha over Naruto.

"You can't. Unless Sasuke accepts my seal… there's no other way I can get rid of it," Naruto answered with a sigh.

"There actually is, but if Sasuke's body won't accept it then never mind," Anko added.

"What's the way?" Kiryu asked.

"It's the Evil Sealing Method. It's a technique that represses the power of cursed seals, but the effectiveness is dependent on if the person wants to use their seal or not," Anko responded as she looked at the noirette.

"Why not just keep this a secret? He won't use it if he doesn't know," Aoika suggested.

"No, he'd figure it out. Orochimaru can activate the seal whenever, and if he's still around, he might activate it when he pleases. And Sasuke would definitely feel it if he wants to get more power," Anko said. Naruto sighed as he looked at the sleeping Uchiha.

"This is all such a drag…" the whiskered blonde spoke as he rubbed his hair.

"You're starting to sound like Shikamaru," Sakura joked with a little giggle. Naruto chuckled as well.

Anko suddenly looked up and saw an Anbu shinobi on a tree. The Anbu jumped down and landed in front of the purple-haired woman.

"Oh, Cat, how nice to see you," Anko greeted. "Did you find any other traces?"

"We have not. We looked around the village and quickly went through the Forest of Death, but found nothing other than a bunch of dead snakes and craters that you most likely caused," Cat responded stoically.

Anko smirked as she looked at Naruto. "I didn't cause that, your student did."

Cat looked at Naruto and he looked back at her.

"Hi, Cat-sensei," Naruto greeted with a little wave. The Anbu kunoichi stared at him for a second.

"Did you fight Orochimaru?" Cat asked as she slightly tilted her head.

"... Yes…" Naruto answered hesitantly. Cat suddenly appeared before him, making the blonde slightly flinch. The kunoichi then quickly put Naruto in a headlock and rubbed her knuckle furiously across his head. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Cat-sensei!"

"You idiot! You could've gotten yourself killed!" Cat shouted at him.

"But I'm still alive, aren't I?!"

"You think that's an excuse?!"

"It was the only thing I could do! He came after us out of nowhere!" Naruto shouted. Cat suddenly stopped and looked at Naruto.

"Was it really?"

"Yes…" Naruto responded

Cat stayed silent before sighing. "I wish I could hug you right now…"

"Don't treat me like a kid."

"Not like that, you idiot."

"Well, this counts as a hug, right?"

"Psh, sure it does," Cat answered. "You owe me a date after the Chuunin Exams are over."

Naruto chuckled. "Sure thing." Cat held him a little tighter before letting him go. Naruto rubbed his head as he turned to look at the Anbu.

"I better go join up with my squad, I'll report back to you if we find anything, Anko," Cat said.

"Got it. See ya later, Cat," Anko said back. The Anbu shinobi nodded at Naruto before disappearing in a body flicker.

Anko stood up and dusted herself off. "Well, I gotta get to the tower before one of the teams makes it there. Thanks for helpin' out, slick tongue! See you genin later, and don't die!" Anko also disappeared in a body flicker, leaving the two genin teams alone.

Naruto silently groaned. "I wish she'd stop calling me that…" He then looked at the Sanya girls. "I guess this is where we part ways."

"Yep…" Kuroka agreed as she sat up by herself.

"It was fun fighting with you, Naruto," Kiryu said with a smile.

"Same with you. Your scales are somethin' else," Naruto replied with his smile.

"Pinky," Kuroka spoke, looking at Sakura.

The pinkette flinched before looking at the golden-eyed girl. "Yes?"

"Let's have a spar sometime after the Chuunin Exams. No techniques, just taijutsu."

Sakura was surprised by the request, but smiled and nodded. "Yeah, let's do it!"

"We'll be off now. Hope to see you guys in the next round!" Naruto grabbed Sasuke and jumped away with Sakura following him.

"Shit… we still need another scroll…" Kuroka realized as she groaned.

"Don't worry, we still have four days left. We'll be fine," Kiryu pointed out with a smile.

"Then let's move and rest up for a while. We'll move once Kuroka's not in so much pain," Aoika ordered as she walked over to the noirette.

Kuroka smirked as she was helped standing up. "And I thought I was the leader."

Aoika paused, then smiled. "Oops."

---

Hinata dragged her two teammates away while carrying Akamaru in her hood. She found a hidden spot behind some bushes and set her teammates down before falling backwards. She tried catching her breath as she stared up at the canopy of large trees. She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing.

'Whoever that chick was… fuck her…' Hinata thought. 'Damnit all… how long have we been out for? And why has no one stolen anything from us?' The Hyuuga slowly sat up and let out a sigh before petting the unconscious Akamaru's head that was lying next to Kiba . 'I wonder how Naruto's doing… hopefully better than I am…' She stopped petting the dog's head and activated her Byakugan. She grit her teeth once she saw a team coming her way. Hinata tried to stand up, but she was too slow and the team of genin landed behind her.

"Stop right there, genin," one of them spoke. Hinata just got up and stopped.

"Seems like you and your team are pretty beat up. How about you give us your scroll and we'll move along as if we didn't see anything?" Another one offered.

"What if it's a scroll you don't need?" Hinata asked as she tilted her head.

"We'll just use that scroll to trade with another team, more specifically, a team belonging to the same village."

"And if I refuse?"

"We'll just have to either beat you up or kill you. You decide which one we do," the first one responded.

"Or… we could, you know, do somethin' else," the final one suggested as he chuckled. Hinata could see the other two looking at him with deadpan stares while her face curled up in disgust.

"Crawl in a hole and die," the bluenette told as she turned her head and looked at them with wide, but scary eyes. They all flinched and took a step back, before the final one took a step forward with an angry glare.

"The hell did you just say?!" He grilled. The boy had dark red hair that was combed back and was wearing a grey robe as well as the others on his team. He had his hitai-ate on his forehead and it had Amegeakure's symbol on it.

"You're deaf too? That must suck. Being deaf and an asshole," Hinata insulted.

The red-haired boy grit his teeth. "Hitake, Dotoki, kill her."

Hitake sighed. "Whatever, Geke." The dark blue-haired boy with short, spiky hair dashed forward followed by Dotoki, a boy with flat, brown hair.

Hinata got in a defensive position as Hitake threw a flurry of fists. She deflected them all, but then Dotoki ran past her towards her downed teammates. Hinata kept on deflecting the fists as she saw Dotoki pull out a kunai and aimed at Akamaru. Her eyes widened, then she grabbed Hitake's fist before pulling him forward and punching his gut. She shoved him back before pulling out three shuriken and threw them at Dotoki. She saw Geke run past Hitake and at her. She tried spinning around but was too slow and got punched in the gut. She coughed up some saliva, but then Geke grabbed her head and brought it down onto her knee. She recoiled back as her nose bled and put a hand over it. While this was happening, Dotoki turned around and had formed a rod made of earth in his hand. Hinata turned around and tried to block it, but she got hit from behind by a water technique and stumbled forward. Dotoki swung the rod and successfully struck Hinata's cheek, making her twirl before falling to the ground.

'Fuck… I'm still badly hurt from when she burned me…' Hinata thought as she grit her teeth and tried to get up from the ground, but Geke walked up to her. She threw a surprise swing, but it wasn't fast enough to catch him by surprise. He caught the fist and yanked Hinata up by it. He leaned out of the way as Hitake came around and punched Hinata's cheek, making the girl fly back and hit a tree. She slid down it and sat on the ground.

"Alright, let's kill her," Geke decided as he got a scroll out of a pouch and unrolled it. His other two teammates did the same thing. Bows and arrows popped out and they all got them ready. "I'll take the first shot."

Hinata just stared at the ground and blinked once before she was suddenly looking at the three boys. They had their bows and Geke shot it, the arrow aiming at Hinata's chest.

The Hyuuga blinked again and she was still staring at the ground. She jolted and quickly sat up.

'What the hell was that?!' She asked herself, but she then saw the three boys aiming at her. Geke shot his bow and Hinata instinctively moved her body out of the way, as if she knew that was going to happen.

Geke flinched in shock. "What the hell?! She dodged it!"

Hitake and Dotoki both shot their arrows, but Hinata fell to the ground and avoided them. The bluenette got up as fast as she could and spun out of the way of another arrow before ducking under one that was aimed for her head.

'I… I can see what they're going to do before they do it… am… am I looking into the future…?' Hinata didn't get to ask any more questions as she sidestepped out of the way of a jet of water. Dotoki dashed at her and began swinging at her with his arms covered in stone. Hinata easily dodged between the punches and deflected a few. Dotoki went for a low sweep, but Hinata took a step back before stomping on his leg, breaking it.

"Ow, fuck!" Dotoki cursed as he rolled back and held his broken ankle. He glared at the Hyuuga that just stared at him with wide eyes. Geke looked at his hurt teammate before looking up at Hinata and gritting his teeth.

"Damnit. Hitake, keep her busy while I tend to Dotoki's ankle," Geke ordered as he ran towards Dotoki. Hitake nodded and dashed towards Hinata. The girl slowly looked at Hitake and moved her head from a forward punch. She then did a barrel roll to avoid a kick and leaned back from a side swing. Hitake started throwing a flurry of punches that Hinata deflected. He grit his teeth as he reeled his arm back and launched it forward. Hinata ducked and twirled away before spinning around and back kicking Hitake's back. The boy stumbled forward before whipping his head back and glaring at the Hyuuga. Hinata just stared at him, but then many shuriken made out of water appeared in his hands and he quickly threw them at Hinata. The Hyuuga heiress swiftly moved in between the water shuriken before sprinting towards Hitake. The boy was caught by surprise and was too late to react to Hinata's attack.

The bluenette jumped in the air and landed on his chest before doing a backflip, kicking his chin and making him airborne. She landed on her hands and pushed off the ground, her feet landing on Hitake's chest again. She leaned forward and was now above the Ame genin before striking him in certain places with her fingers. After closing many of his chakra points, she reeled her palm back and slammed it into his chest, making him fly towards the ground and crashing into it. Just to make sure he was down, Hinata landed on his chest, making him recoil as well as cause his ribs to crack and break.

A jet of water launched towards Hinata, and the girl walked off Hitake, the jet almost striking her. She then instantly turned to look at the remaining two Ame genin and reeled her palms back before rapidly firing. She sent out many Vacuum Palms flying towards the two remaining boys.

"Shit! Move!" Geke shouted as he jumped out of the way. His eyes widened as Hinata suddenly appeared in front of him and struck his chest with her palm. Geke was sent flying back and hit a tree. Hinata quickly rushed towards him and before the boy could fall, she kicked his face, making him do a backflip, before punching it. The Ame genin twirled away, then landed face first on the ground. Hinata saw Dotoki start making hand seals and she was about to stop him, but then something came flying in out of nowhere and struck Dotoki in the head, making him trip over himself and face plant into the ground. Hinata looked at where the thing came from before seeing someone she didn't expect to see appear on a branch. The person jumped down and walked over to the downed boy that was in front of Hinata. They picked up their weapon and set it on their back.

"You know… I could've finished him off myself," Hinata said as she looked at the new arrival.

"That's a weird way of saying 'thank you.'"

"Do you always interfere in other people's business, Temari?" Hinata asked as she tilted her head.

The Suna kunoichi stuck her tongue out before placing a hand on her hip. "What? Can't help a friend out?"

Hinata sighed before smiling. "Thank you."

Temari grinned before looking around. "So, where's your teammates at? The weird-looking dude and the annoying kid?"

"Where are yours?" Hinata returned.

"We're scouting for a possible way to get to the tower faster. Just so happens I come across you," Temari responded with a shrug.

"My teammates are downed. We fought against a very strong team and were all knocked out."

"You didn't get anything stolen?"

"Surprisingly not. We still have our scroll and other possessions," Hinata answered.

"Huh, that is surprising." Temari turned around and walked up to Dotoki before searching his body. She found a scroll and tossed it to Hinata. The girl caught it and instantly recognized it was an earth scroll.

"How'd you know I needed an earth scroll?" Hinata asked as she looked at the blonde.

Temari shrugged. "Just a lucky guess, I suppose."

Hinata smiled and closed her eyes. She reopened them, but then a second later, they started burning intensely.

"OW! FUCK!" Hinata shrieked as she dropped the scroll and covered her eyes. Temari ran up to Hinata.

"Hinata? What's wrong?!" The Suna kunoichi quickly asked.

"My eyes… they're bleeding…" Hinata responded. She slowly removed her hands from her closed eyes and Temari gasped at the quickly leaking blood.

"Hold on, Hinata! Just give me a moment!" Temari told the bluenette as she rummaged around herself. "Here it is!" Temari got a scroll out and quickly opened it. A roll of gauze popped out and the girl quickly wrapped them around Hinata's eyes.

Hinata felt the bandages before sighing. "Shit… Thank you, Temari, for the bandages."

"No problem, girl. I'll lead you back to your team, but after that, I gotta go back to my own." Hinata nodded and the two girls quickly located Hinata's teammates. They seemed to have just woken up.

"Ugh, fuck… my head…" Kiba groaned as he held it. Akamaru whimpered, curling up into a ball.

Shino didn't comment on his pain, instead, realizing that Hinata was gone. "Kiba, Hinata's gone."

Kiba's eyes widened and Akamaru's head shot up. They looked around, but then Akamaru whipped his head around and saw Hinata and Temari. He barked before growling and slowly getting into an offensive position. Kiba looked at his dog before following his look and found Hinata, but with a girl he didn't know. Shino also stared at the girl with their teammate.

"Quiet the mutt down, I'm not here to hurt you. We already have a scroll," Temari said.

'Damn she's hot,' Kiba thought. "So then why the hell do you have Hinata with you? And why are her eyes covered in bandages?" Kiba, despite still feeling weak, stood up and got in an offensive position.

"Guys, it's okay. I know her," Hinata spoke up, causing the boys to look at her.

"You know a Suna genin?" Kiba asked in shock.

"Yes. When she came here, we happened to bump into each other and became friends," the bluenette responded. "While you two were knocked out, I was fighting another team, Temari came in to assist me, then my eyes started bleeding out of nowhere."

Shino relaxed, but Kiba was still tense.

"Alright Hinata, I think it's time I head back now. Be safe, and hopefully your eyes get better," Temari said.

"Thank you. I hope to see you in the next round."

"You already know I'll be there." Hinata could practically feel Temari smirking and couldn't help but smile. Temari then jumped away and Hinata turned to her two teammates.

"I have the earth scroll we need, let's find the tower now," the Hyuuga heiress informed as she began walking forward.

"Shouldn't we be the ones leading? You don't exactly know where you're going," Shino pointed out as he watched Hinata stop.

"I can just use my Byakugan. It'll be fine," Hinata waved off. "Byakugan!" Her Byakugan activated, but then her eyes burned intensely. "OW, OW, OW, FUCK!" She instantly deactivated her Byakugan and held her eyes. "Okay… okay… okay… you guys can lead…"

---

Naruto was carrying Sasuke over his shoulder with Sakura next to him. The whiskered blonde was using his Byakugan to catch sight of the tower.

"You see anything, Naruto?" Sakura asked as she looked at her teammate.

"Nope, no-" Naruto stopped talking as he saw something enter his field of vision. "Sakura, catch!"

"Huh?" Naruto threw Sasuke over to her and she caught him. She didn't get to ask any questions as Naruto made a clone and the clone started making the Snake → Ram → Boar → Horse → Bird hand seals before clapping his hands together. The clone put them on Sakura's back.

"Wind Release: Gale Palm!" Sakura was shot forward and the clone quickly grew the appearance of Shukaku as he kept his hands out. "Sand Slider!" Sand shot out of his palms and formed a makeshift slide that carried Sakura to the ground safely before it dispelled. Sakura looked back at Naruto to see a visible black slash slice the air. Her eyes widened when she thought Naruto got sliced, but he continued to a branch in one piece.

Sakura sighed in relief. 'He must've blocked the slash… but who did that…?' Before she could get an answer, she heard creaking and looked up to see the top halves of trees crashing down to the ground, causing it to rumble and shake. 'What the hell?!'

"Akame! Don't kill him!" A girl shouted close by.

"He can handle it. If he died because I cut him in half, then he's weaker than we gave him credit for," the girl named Akame responded.

"Don't insult him like that!"

"Shisu, hurry up and fight Naruto before he attacks all of us!" Another girl commanded. Sakura located where the three girls were and recognized them.

'The other Sanya girls found us…' Sakura thought. '... Which one of them is going to fight me? I can't leave Sasuke here or else Orochimaru might sneak up and take him… or maybe someone else will kill him while I'm preoccupied… and I also haven't fully recovered from my fight with Kuroka and Orochimaru… Kami damnit…' She sighed as her look wandered over to Naruto. 'Naruto will most likely have to protect me again. Damnit! I can't let this keep happening!' She looked down at herself. 'Come on, Sakura, think of something!'

"Just use a healing technique," her inner self told.

Sakura's eyes widened. 'Inner! Wait, you're here?'

"Don't question it. All you need to focus on is healing up your body and restoring your strength," Inner Sakura dodged. Sakura deadpanned before shaking your head.

'You're right… but I don't know how to do that…'

"Good thing you have a teammate that's still conscious and is smart," she mentioned. Sakura whipped her head at Naruto and smiled.

'You're right!' The pinkette thought. "Naruto!" The boy looked down at Sakura. "I need two clones down here, please!"

He nodded and made two clones. They jumped down and met up with Sakura. He looked back at the three Sanyagakure girls and smiled.

"Yo! Long time, eh?" Naruto greeted.

"It's only been a day, calm down blondie," Hyoshi stated.

"Hi Naruto!" Shisu greeted with a wave. The blonde boy greeted back and returned the wave. "Hyoshi and Akame, hurry up and go so I can fight him already!"

Hyoshi raised an eyebrow. "Alright, sheesh, calm down." Hyoshi jumped away to a different branch.

Akame looked at Shisu and nodded. "Good luck. Try not to lose too badly."

"Hey!" Before Shisu could retort, Akame jumped away to the same branch as Hyoshi. Shisu sighed, but grinned when she saw Naruto stretching. "Heh, this is gonna be awesome!"

The two Naruto clones met up with Sakura. One was standing in front of her while the other crouched down to her level.

"Okay, Naruto, can you teach me a water technique that can heal me?" Sakura asked.

The Naruto clone put a hand on his chin and audibly hummed. "I can come up with one, but why not just learn a medical ninjutsu?"

"Because I have more experience using water techniques. Also, I don't really know how to control chakra in such a way to heal my body by using it," Sakura responded.

Naruto thought about it, then nodded. "Alright. I'll come up with one on the spot, just gimme a sec."

Hyoshi and Akame landed on a branch that looked down on the group of four.

"Two Naruto clones? That's troubling," Hyoshi noted as she looked between the two clones. Akame hummed in agreement.

"You two can take me both on, I'm pretty sure I can handle it," the Naruto clone standing in front told the two Sanya girls with a smirk.

"Getting a little cocky, are we? You should know that's bad for you. Get too cocky and you might just die," Hyoshi stated with her own smirk.

"Ironic. You seem to be getting cocky as we speak," Naruto replied.

"Akame, let me fight him first."

"But shouldn't we fight him together? We can-"

"Let me try and get the first hit in. If I fail, jump in."

Akame was about to say something, but sighed. "Go ahead, Hyoshi."

"Thank you, darling." Hyoshi patted Akame's head before hopping off the branch and landing on the ground. "Now, let us get started, yes?"

"You can make the first move. As they say, ladies first." The whiskered blonde bowed and closed his eyes.

"Well aren't you a gentleman." The light bluenette got her sword ready and dashed forward. She did a vertical slash, but Naruto sidestepped it. Hyoshi looked at his face and her eyes widened once she saw Naruto's eyes and smile.

'Wait, Byakugan?!' She didn't get to think anymore once Naruto struck her side with his palm. She got twirled to face him and he struck her stomach with a palm too. Hyoshi dropped her sword and stumbled back. Naruto dashed forward and prepared another palm strike, but he stopped in his tracks and did a backhand spring as Akame appeared in front of Hyoshi in a slashing position.

Hyoshi grit her teeth and stood up.

"Are you okay, Hyoshi?" Akame asked.

"More or less… having most of my chakra taken away isn't a nice feeling, but I still have some left to perform some techniques," the bluenette informed her noirette friend.

"Alright. I'll rush him and you pick up your sword and join me. We'll keep him from doing any techniques and destroy his clone."

"Got it."

Akame nodded and sprinted forward with Kiriichimonji. The blonde got two tanbo out and readied himself as Akame got closer. Once she was close, she began slashing at Naruto, but the clone weaved through her slashes. He ducked under one and ran forward, but jumped back once Akame got another sword out and swung.

"Wind Release Sword Technique: Kuuren!" Naruto saw Hyoshi thrust her sword towards him and a drill of air was shot. The clone twisted his body and avoided the drill before making the clone seal. A clone appeared above him and the clone made the Snake → Ram → Boar → Horse → Bird hand seals before clapping his hands and putting them on the other clone's back.

"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"

"Naruto Bullet: Chakra Style!" The clones shouted as one of the clones got blasted forward by the Gale Palm. He began barrel rolling and expelling chakra out of his body, forming a blue bullet that sped towards Hyoshi.

Akame's eyes widened. "Hyoshi!"

The girl tried to jump back, but Naruto slammed into her. The light bluenette felt her chakra disappear before being shot back and hit a tree. She spat out saliva as she bounced off and landed on the ground.

Akame got her blades readied as she glared at Naruto, then grew confused when he got a tanbo out from his chest.

'Wait… tanbo?' Akame thought as she looked at the whiskered clone. Her eyes then widened as she looked to her right and saw a tanbo lying on the ground. 'Shit!' As soon as she realized, both Naruto clones disappeared in a yellow flash and appeared on both sides of Akame. They dashed forward at her and the noirette jumped back. Both clones joined hands and made the Snake hand seal.

"Lightning Release: Disappearance Act!" They both shouted. Two bolts of lightning shot down on both clones before they disappeared from sight. Akame's eyes widened as she landed and instantly looked around for the two clones. Before she knew it, she got electrocuted by a bolt of lighting right above her. Akame let out a shriek of pain before she fell forward, smoke coming off of her.

Sakura looked over at the two clones. She then huffed and looked down at her hands before making the Monkey → Hare → Dog hand seals. 'Medical Water Release: Healing Puddle!' She slammed her hands on the ground and a puddle of water formed below her. The water glowed as her wounds started being treated.

'Wow… this is a great technique!'

"Eyes up, Princess, that blue-haired chick is getting up!" Inner Sakura informed. Sakura's eyes widened as she whipped her head up and saw Hyoshi slowly start to stand. Once she got up, she stabbed her sword in the ground and made the Tiger → Ox → Dog → Hare → Snake hand seals.

"Naruto, look out behind you!" Sakura warned. The clones turned around and saw Hyoshi about to blow out air. They both smirked as they made the Tiger hand seal, but something grabbed their legs. They both looked down and their eyes widened as white chakra binded them in their place.

"Yang Release: Deep-Rooted Chakra…" Akame managed to say.

'Shit! I can't use the Body Flicker Technique!' One of the clones realized.

'Great Breakthrough!' Hyoshi blew out a strong gust of wind towards the clones. Akame braced herself for impact as the wind got closer.

Sakura could only watch before her brain started working and she quickly made the Snake → Monkey → Bird → Dog hand seals.

'What the hell am I doing?!' She asked herself before slamming her hands down in the puddle. "Water Release: Wild Raving Wave Blocker!" The water in the puddle quickly leaped high in the air before crashing down on the ground. Waves of water bursted forward and the group watched as it intercepted the Great Breakthrough and swept away Akame. The noirette hit a tree and slumped down.

As the water calmed down and sunk into the ground, both Narutos looked at Sakura with grins.

"Nice one, Sakura!" One of them complimented.

"That was awesome! Thanks for the save, Sakura!" The other added as he gave her a thumbs up, making the girl blush slightly.

"O-Oh, it was n-nothing!" Sakura quickly said as he waved her hands.

"Cool technique you made. That could be useful in the future," Inner Sakura noted, making the pinkette sigh. She then perked up when she heard something to her right. She turned her head and realized the other Naruto clone was gone. Sakura quickly whipped her head at Hyoshi and saw the Naruto clone behind her, making hand seals. She looked over at the two Naruto clones and they disappeared in a yellow flash. The pinkette looked back at Hyoshi and saw the desperation in her eyes and felt something bad was going to happen.

"NARUTO-"

"Secret Technique: Jigento!" A light blue dome formed and the ground beneath her froze over. The dome and ice quickly expanded and Sakura hopped away before it could reach her. The pinkette saw the three Naruto clones frozen in the air and Hyoshi standing there holding a hand seal.

'W-What the hell happened?! Why are they frozen there?!' Sakura wondered. She glanced at Akame and realized she got caught in the field too. After a few moments of silence, the dome and ice began retracting back, making Sakura return her attention back to Hyoshi. The dome and ice soon went into the bluenette, then suddenly the clones popped, making Sakura's eyes widen.

'Huh?! How did they pop?! They were all frozen!' Sakura questioned.

Hyoshi breathed out a sigh of relief as she plucked her sword up from the ground and ran towards Akame.

"You alright, Akame?!" Hyoshi inquired as she started using the Mystical Palm Technique on her friend.

"Could be better. Naruto's techniques sure are strong," Akame responded.

"Heh, you got that right. I barely have chakra left after he hit me and from me using my secret technique," Hyoshi agreed with a little chuckle.

"Water Release: Tidal Wave Fury!" Both girls looked up and their eyes widened as they saw a tidal wave of water coming towards them. Hyoshi gritted her teeth and got up, but Akame was faster.

"Kiriichimonji: Scattering Wounds." The girl disappeared in a flash and the tidal wave was being sliced up. Hyoshi watched as her friend split up the water to a nonexistent level before the noirette returned to her side. The remainder of the wave crashed down beside the two Sanya genin.

Sakura looked at them in shock.

"Well, you tried," Inner Sakura spoke.

'That's not helping!'

"Should we-"

"I'll finish her off," Hyoshi interrupted, causing Akame to look at her with a deadpan stare.

"Hyoshi."

"I know, I know… I just got my ass handed to me the last time I said something like that, but trust me this time," Hyoshi said with a grin.

Akame stared at her for a moment before sighing. "Whatever."

"Thanks!" Hyoshi dashed towards Sakura with her sword drawn back. "Wind Release Sword Technique: Kuuren!" She threw her sword forward and the weapon got covered in air as it spun around.

'She threw her sword?!' Sakura asked as she moved her head to the side, luckily getting a scratch on her cheek. She then saw Hyoshi make two katana out of ice. 'Are you kidding me right now?!'

Sakura began making hand seals, but when Hyoshi jumped, she realized it was too late for her to finish. Her eyes widened as she leaned back and Hyoshi was about to slice, but then a clang was heard as Sakura fell on her butt. She quickly shook her head and looked up, surprised to see who saved her.

"S-Sasuke?!" Sakura asked.

The raven-haired Uchiha didn't respond as he was in a stalemate with Hyoshi with a kunai.

"Kami damnit, not again!" Hyoshi cursed as she tried pushing Sasuke back, but it wasn't working.

The boy then started making the Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger hand seals with one hand. 'Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" As he sucked in, Hyoshi realized what he was about to do and shoved herself away from him. He blew out a large fireball and Hyoshi jumped back. As she landed, she slammed her hand on the ground. "Ice Release: Crystal Magnitude!"

Crystals of ice shot up before her and the fireball slammed into it, exploding in flames. The ground rumbled before more crystals shot up and made their way towards Sasuke. Electricity coursed around the boy's left and he reeled it back before slamming it on the ground.

"Chidori Tracer!" The electricity jumped from Sasuke's hand and onto the ice crystals. It wrapped around it and broke the crystal before hopping to the next one. The electricity started going faster the more crystals it broke and was coming closer than Hyoshi expected.

"Move!" Akame ordered as she shoved her friend out of the way. "Yang Release: Meihou Lacerate!" The noirette swung Meihou and the remaining crystals got sliced in half. She then quickly brought out Kiriichimonji. "Lacerating Wounds!" She dashed forward, quickly covering the distance between her and Sasuke before twirling around and slashing. The boy jumped back, most avoiding the swords, but unfortunately got two small cuts along his stomach. As he landed, he backed up a little bit.

"GAH!" He shouted in pain as he clutched his stomach. It felt like he was being cut from inside his stomach. He looked up at Akame and grit his teeth before making the Snake → Hare → Dragon → Tiger hand seals and placed his fingers at the middle of his lips. 'Fire Release: Twin Dragon Flame Technique!' He blew out fire and his fingers separated them with his fingers. The two flames quickly formed dragon heads before swirling around each other.

Akame got her swords ready, but Hyoshi leapt over her and stabbed her sword in the ground. "Water Release Sword Technique: Sacred Fountain!" Water gushed out of the hole where her sword stabbed. The water reached a certain point in the air before spreading out in every direction. It quickly formed a small dome of running water right as the twin dragons slammed into the water.

Sasuke stopped blowing fire and sprinted forward with electricity forming in his left hand. "Chido-"

The raven-haired Uchiha was interrupted by a sword surrounded by a white aura coming out of the dome and aimed for Sasuke's chest. The boy quickly parried the sword with his Chidori, but the sword spun back into the dome before coming out again, but a white slash was speeding towards Sasuke.

Right as he was about to get hit, an orangey-thick rope-like fluid wrapped around Sasuke's waist and yanked him out of the way of the slash. He landed next to Sakura and the rope retracted back into her mouth.

Sasuke made the Snake → Hare → Dragon → Tiger hand seals and held it as he puffed his cheeks out.

The water dome soon subsided and the water sunk back into the ground. Hyoshi fell to her knees.

'Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!' Sasuke blew out a fireball and it barreled towards Hyoshi and Akame.

Hyoshi began making hand seals but Akame stopped her. "A-Akame-!"

"You don't have that much chakra left, let me handle this," Akame interrupted as she sheathed Meihou. "Kiriichimonji: Lightning-Like." As if she were a bolt of lightning, Akame disappeared in a flash and reappeared behind the fireball. The technique exploded behind her before she dashed forward.

Sasuke took a step forward, but he hunched over. "Grk!"

The pinkette looked at Sasuke clutching his stomach. "Sasuke? What's wrong?" She looked back at Akame and saw her coming closer before jumping in the air. Sakura's eyes widened before she grit her teeth and imbued her fist with as much chakra as she could, but she didn't realize her whole arm was covered in it.

"CHA!" Sakura shouted as she leapt forward and punched the ground. Spiky rocks were upheaved from the ground before the pinkette and made a makeshift barricade for her and Sasuke. Akame's eyes widened as rocks rooted up from the ground below her. She twisted her body to avoid the rocks, but didn't realize Sakura was flying towards her with a fist cocked back until the last second.

Akame put her sword in front of her and blocked Sakura's punch, but she was forced to fly back and nearly crashed into the ground. Sakura landed on a rock before jumping back and landing next to Sasuke. The boy looked over at Sakura and saw her right arm was vibrating intensely.

'Inner! What the hell is going on with my arm?! And why was my punch so powerful?!' Sakura asked her inner self.

"Ah, I may have connected with you for a second and amped up your chakra fist to your whole arm. I call it: 'Arm-Imbued Chakra Fist!'"

'And you couldn't have told me this before you did it?!'

"Hey girl, I was just messing around. I didn't think it'd actually work."

Sakura deadpanned before sighing. 'Whatever. Thanks for the help.' The pinkette slowly made the Monkey Hare Dog hand seals with her numb and vibrating hand. 'Medical Water Release: Healing Puddle…' A glowing puddle of water formed under her and her arm started calming down slowly.

She sighed, but then the rocks got sliced in half and revealed Akame on the other side. She quickly looked at her vibrating arm and looked back up, getting an idea.

'I may not be able to use fire techniques… but I hope this works!' She thought as she gathered a lot of chakra in her mouth and kneaded most of it to fire. She converted the rest to water and puffed her cheeks out. Sakura tried to heat up the fire in her mouth to an extremely hot point. 'Come on, Sakura, heat the fire up!'

"You're insane. You think that's gonna work?" Inner Sakura wondered.

'Maybe if you'd help me it could work!'

"And how may I be of service, Princess?" Inner Sakura sarcastically asked.

'Do that connection thing again and help me heat up the fire to the point my mouth feels like it's gonna melt off,' Sakura instructed. Inner raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it and did what Sakura said.

Hyoshi and Akame both got their swords ready before dashing forward with Hyoshi lagging behind slightly.

"Great, now I can test this new power out," Sasuke said with a grin, causing Sakura to look at him. Her eyes slightly widened when flame-like markings crawled over the left side of his face and arms. Before Sakura could do anything, he dashed forward with a kunai in hand.

Electricity coursed around the Uchiha's hand and it spread across the kunai as he swung at Akame. The girl parried the kunai before twirling around and swinging. Sasuke jumped back but as he landed, he cringed. 'Shit! I forgot about my wounds…' Sasuke thought as he saw Hyoshi jump over Akame.

She stabbed her sword in the ground. "Ice Release Sword Technique: Arctic Zone!" The ground around Hyoshi started freezing over before it rapidly extended towards all directions. Sasuke jumped back, but he was too slow to get away and landed on a patch of frozen grass. When he tried to move his legs, he realized some of it was frozen.

'Damnit!' He cursed as he looked up at the duo of girls.

Akame swapped out her Kiriichimonji for Meihou and put her left hand on the ice. She spread her legs apart as she put her right arm behind her. Akame inhaled and closed her eyes. She then exhaled and her eyes shot open. "Meihou: Moonlight." A symbol that looked like the moon appeared below Akame and glowed. Hyoshi unsheathed her sword from the ground and jumped a safe distance away from Akame. The moon grew bigger until it was under both the noirette and Uchiha. The light gleamed brighter, and it blinded him.

"Ow, fuck!" He shouted as he covered his eyes. Hyoshi slid across the ice and stopped next to Akame.

"Let's do this, Akame!" Hyoshi shouted as she got her sword ready.

"Right." Akame got off the ground and got Meihou ready. They both raised their swords and reeled their arms back in a jabbing position.

"Yang-Wind Combination Technique: Luster Dragon Air-Drilling Kuuren!" Akame's sword glowed a bright white while Hyoshi's sword was circulating with wind. They shoved their swords forward and the wind and light shot off of it. The white quickly formed a dragon and it wrapped around the wind drill.

The drill picked up speed and was coming closer to Sasuke. The boy's eyes widened as he watched the drill slowly come closer to him while he couldn't move.

Sakura's arm was now vibrating lowly and she could move it although she could barely feel it. She shut her eyes in pain as her mouth burned like hell.

'Shit shit shit!' She cursed as she peered an eye open to see the combination technique about to hit Sasuke.

"Sakura!"

She moved her vibrating arm up and made the Bird Tiger Dog hand seals. 'Water Release: Vaporizing Mouth Shot Explosion!'

Sakura blew out a senbon-shaped water droplet covered in fire. The water droplet started producing smoke and started evaporating rapidly, but as it hit the combination technique, it caused a large explosion.

'Sweet! It worked! Now let's try this one!' Sakura turned her attention to Akame and Hyoshi before making the Bird Tiger Dog Tiger Bird hand seals. 'Water Release Mouth Shot: Vaporizing Gatling Gun Explosion!' She blew out many droplets of flaming water at Akame and Hyoshi. The two girls rolled out of the way as the water droplets exploded right behind them.

"Split up!" Hyoshi shouted as she ran the opposite direction of Akame.

'Splitting up, huh? We'll see about that!' Sakura took a step back and stomped on the puddle, causing it to splash and vibrate. She then fired her water droplets towards the puddle and they began bouncing off towards Hyoshi and Akame.

'What the hell?!' Hyoshi thought as she dodged a couple, but one of them exploded behind her and made her stumble forward. A couple droplets hit her and exploded, making her fly back and cancel the Arctic Zone.

Akame quickly glanced at her friend and furrowed her brow. She quickly whipped her head back around and saw the droplets coming towards her.

"Kiriichimonji: Lightning-Like!" She disappeared and reappeared in front of Sakura. She was going to swing, but Sakura threw her head back before launching it forward, head butting Akame. The noirette stumbled back and rubbed her head, but she got hit by some droplets and got sent back.

Sakura stopped shooting droplets as a bit of smoke emitted from the corners of her mouth. She opened her mouth and the smoke spewed out. The pinkette stepped back into her Healing Puddle and sighed.

"Wow, I can't believe that worked," Inner Sakura spoke.

'Me neither… at least Naruto showed me how to use fire techniques, even if I couldn't use them properly,' Sakura said. She heard footsteps and looked up to see Sasuke walking towards her, the black flames on his left side receding.

"Sakura."

The girl narrowed her eyes. "Wha i i, Hahe (What is it, Sasuke)?"

"That was excellent what you just did there. I didn't know you could be that amazing in a fight," Sasuke told. Sakura just stared at him for a moment before blowing out the rest of the smoke.

"Well, I'm not as dumb as you think. I may not have shown it, but I am smart. All I did was rack my brain and think of a way to save your ass from getting drilled. And since one of my arms was out of commission I had to think of another way," Sakura explained as she shook her right arm. 'I have an idea… a really stupid one… but I first need Naruto to teach me Wind Release, and I also need someone to teach me medical ninjutsu for my other stupid idea.'

"Seems like you'll have to wait for that," Inner Sakura said, gesturing to something.

'Yeah, you're—' Sakura stopped as she looked up and realized Akame and Hyoshi were fidgeting.

"You know, I thought that you were useless and just a fangirl, but I see now that you're more than that. You'd actually make a good partner," Sasuke complimented with a smirk.

"Thanks for the compliments, Sasuke, but I'm not accepting them. If you told me that way earlier, then I wouldn't be despising your guts right now," Sakura told as she watched the two girls' downed bodies.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

Sakura whipped her head at him and glared. "I mean this, you jackass!" The pinkette socked Sasuke's gut, making the Uchiha spew saliva as he fell to his knees. He was sure she hit the same spot Akame slashed twice. "That was for using me as your substitute so I could take Haku's attack! Asshole!" Sasuke coughed up more saliva as Sakura looked at him in disgust. "I can't believe you. How can you just act like you didn't use me as a substitute, and what the hell's your goal in complimenting me, huh? What, you thought I forgot about that? Were you gonna use my feelings for you as a way to manipulate me?! After you figured out I didn't like you anymore, were you gonna act nicer to me and hopefully win me back?! Huh?! Answer me, asshole! Did you think that I was so blinded by my emotions that I'd follow you everywhere you went?! Well guess again!" The pinkette was panting after she finished her rant. Akame and Hyoshi were sitting as they heard some of it.

"Damn Sakura, spill your whole heart out why don't you," Inner sarcastically said.

'I will, but not now, we're in the middle of the Chuunin Exams,' Sakura thought as she took deep breaths.

"Wait, I wasn't being serious—"

'No, I have to tell him off before he thinks he can use me. He doesn't actually care about me,' Sakura interrupted.

"Well that's awkward," Hyoshi whispered to herself as she tried standing up.

Sakura looked at both Akame and Hyoshi. 'Inner, I have another plan, can you help me out?'

"Depends on what it is," Inner replied. She then saw Sakura's plan and her eyes widened. "You're crazy."

'Look, I can't use medical ninjutsu, so this will have to suffice. Once I actually learn it, then it'll be better.'

"With your way of thinking, you should become a scientist. I mean… what shinobi just knows how to make a phreatic explosion using her mouth, and on the spot too?" Inner Sakura questioned.

'A smart one,' the pinkette replied with a smirk.

Inner sighed, but chuckled. "Alrighty then, I'll help you with this."

'Awesome! Thanks a lot!'

Akame and Hyoshi finally stood up, though Hyoshi wasn't doing so well.

"You ready to go again, Sanya girls?" Sakura asked as her two arms were shrouded with chakra.

"Bring it on, Pinky."

---

"You wanna start this battle going all out?" Naruto asked the blonde as he stretched.

"I'd like that, but you're way too strong. If we did then this battle would last for five minutes," the girl responded.

"Heh, if you say so."

"Stop being modest!" Shisu shouted at him, causing Naruto to laugh. She smiled before her eyes started slightly glowing and her pupils changed to black slits. Her hair grew longer and more spiky, her hands were now yellow, furry claws and a tail was slowly waving behind her.

"Ooo, interesting!" Naruto noted with a smile. 'Nibi Art: Fire Release Scorching Limbs!' Naruto's arms and feet were covered in blue flames with black markings.

"Oh wow! Blue flames?! That's so cool!" Shisu complimented as her eyes sparkled in interest.

The blonde boy smirked. "Let's not marvel over our interesting transformations and techniques, we have a fight to start!" Naruto reminded. Shisu nodded before they both shot off their branches. They both met in the middle of the air and Shisu grabbed Naruto's arms before doing flips with him in the air. She threw him towards the ground, but the blonde corrected himself and landed on his hands before launching off the ground and landed on a tree trunk. He boosted off of it towards the falling Shisu. The girl watched as he swiped the air and five blue, burning claw marks materialized before flying towards Shisu. The girl's eyes slightly widened before she grinned.

She twirled until she faced the claws and brought her arms up in an x shape. She breathed in and grinned. "Lioness-"

She threw her arms back and breathed out in a loud shout, "ROAR!" The loud bellowing roar shook the ground and air, and even dissipated the five claw marks. Naruto landed and could feel the vibrations.

'Holy hell! She's awesome!' Naruto thought with a wide grin. Shisu stopped roaring and landed on the ground with a grin as well.

"Heh, what'd you think of that, Naruto?" Shisu asked.

"It was awesome!" He replied. 'Predator Mode!'

'Lionelle Hunting Ground!'

They both disappeared in a blur and met in the middle with their arms barred against the other's. They stayed like this for a couple of seconds before Shisu was forced to back up due to the burning of Naruto's arms. Naruto took this opportunity to dash forward and knee Shisu's stomach. The blonde spat out saliva before Naruto grabbed her face and slammed her into the ground. He fired off blue flames from his palm directly into Shisu's face.

The blonde girl's leg started hitting the ground before she threw it up and hit Naruto square in the dick. The boy's eyes widened as he lost his grip on Shisu's face and fell forward.

Inside Naruto, Kurama cringed while Kirai was laughing her ass off.

Shisu sat up and took deep breaths. Her face was charred slightly and burning. After she was breathing regularly, she looked around for Naruto. "Where'd he go?"

"He's behind you… and in shriveling pain," Lionelle informed the clueless girl. She turned around and saw the boy hunched over, covering his privates.

"... Did I do that?"

'Oh… oh my nuts… please don't be squashed…' Naruto silently pleased.

"Sorry Naruto! I didn't mean to hit you there!" Shisu apologized. Naruto turned his head to look at the girl, but was met with a claw. The claw grabbed his face and lifted him in the air before slamming him into the ground. He bounced off of the ground and Shisu punched his side, launching him away. She disappeared and reappeared above the blonde. Shisu reeled her arm back and was about to punch him, but the whiskered blonde flashed her a grin that confused her.

Above Shisu, another Naruto was there and made the Ox → Dog → Hare → Bird → Tiger hand seals. "Fire Release: Dragon Scream Bellowing Flame!" Shisu looked above her and saw Naruto blow out a large fire that quickly formed a dragon. The dragon opened its mouth and screeched, making Shisu cringe and cover her ears. The dragon then shot forward and bit down on Shisu, carrying her towards the ground and slamming into it, exploding in a fiery blaze.

The two Narutos landed on separate branches and watched the downed girl pick herself back up.

'Ouch! My body's all scorched!' She shook her body and as she looked up, she saw the trees covered in Naruto clones. Her eyes widened at the sight of a lot of yellow.

…

"Why do I have the misfortune of hearing your thoughts sometimes…'

'Shut up! I didn't mean to think that!'

"Oh boy…"

'You're making it more embarrassing!'

The lion sighed. 'Whatever… how are you getting out of this predicament.'

'Good question. I dunno,' Shisu responded. The blonde girl got an idea and smirked. She backed up until she could see all the Narutos in the trees. "Lion Glare!" All of the Narutos in Shisu's line of sight froze as they saw a giant lion on the trunk of the tree behind her.

Shisu's smirk grew, but she perked up when she heard the faintest of flickering. The girl turned around and her eyes widened when she saw a giant mouth made of flames open wide horizontally. As it was about to chomp down on her, she threw her arms to the side and stopped the mouth from closing.

The girl was slowly losing the battle of keeping the flame's mouth open and grit her teeth. "Lionelle!"

The lion on the trunk turned its head down and opened its mouth. A ball of white formed and the lion ate it before opening its mouth again, firing a white beam that decimated the flames. The girl took a deep breath before turning around and seeing a Naruto clone about to strike her. She got ready to retaliate, but the clone popped and smoke got up in her face.

"Keep your eyes on your opponent, Shisu!" Naruto advised. The lion on the trunk saw all of the Narutos on the trees start running down them towards Shisu and leapt off to stop the clones.

One of the Narutos saw this and made the Ox → Dog → Hare → Bird → Tiger hand seals. 'Fire Release: Dragon Scream Bellowing Flame!' The clone blew out a large flame forwards the lion that formed a dragon. The dragon screeched and stopped the lion in its advances before biting it and carrying it over to a tree before slamming into it. The fire dragon bursted and there were no traces of the lion.

Shisu swatted away the smoke, but was then slammed into. She stumbled to the right but then got tripped and kicked forward. A Naruto clone grabbed her face and lifted her up in an arc before throwing her down into the ground. She bounced off of it and a clone leapt in the air, twirling around with a staff made of rock and slamming it into Shisu. The girl was about to crash into the ground, but then a Naruto clone came to her side and grabbed her arm. The clone twirled her around and slammed her into the ground. The clone twirled around again and raised a flaming foot high in the air.

"Fire Release Scorching Limbs: Kashuenchu!" He slammed his foot down and a pillar of fire shot up from the ground, covering Shisu from sight. Once the technique was done, Shisu had her eyes and mouth open in pain.

The clone waited around the small Shisu-sized hole to see if she'd do anything. One clone made the Dragon → Tiger → Hare hand seals.

'Water Release: Water Trumpet!' The clone launched a jet of water at the downed blonde, but then she moved her hand in front of her and muttered some words no one was able to pick up.

The clones' eyes widened as the water stopped once it reached her palm and started surrounding her hand in a bubble. The clone stopped using the technique and the remaining water was absorbed into the bubble.

The bubble then shrank into Shisu's hand until none was left. The blonde's claws suddenly gained a yellow aura before it spread across her whole body. She slammed her hand into the ground and caused a mini explosion before getting up.

"Naruto, you did a lot of damage to me…" Shisu stated. "That's to be expected since you're stronger than me, but let me repay you." Shisu looked up and the Naruto clones froze in place. "Yin Release: Mountain Lion." All of the clones turned around and saw a tall lion the size of the trees looking down at them.

Shisu grinned as she stretched her arms out and the yellow aura around her claws extended out and formed claws. She swung her arms together and the claws sliced the grouped up clones with ease. The lion disappeared and the aura retracted back to Shisu. The girl took a sniff and looked up to see Naruto examining himself in a tree.

"Naruto!" Shisu shouted, grabbing the boy's attention. He looked down and realized his clones weren't there.

"Did you take out all of my clones?" He asked.

"Uh… yeah…"

"Sweet! Nice job, Shisu!" Naruto praised with a smile.

"Thanks… Anyways, what are you doing?"

"Me? I'm figuring out how this works, but I think I got it." As Naruto said that, blue flaming cat ears popped up on his head. His eyes also changed color. His left iris turned green and his right turned yellow while his sclera turned black. His whisker marks became wavy, like flames and his hands and feet were surrounded by blue flames with black markings. He also had a blue tail swaying behind him. The boy opened his mouth slightly and blue flames flashed from it. "You ready, Shisu? I have to repay you after you kicked my dick."

The girl's eyes were wide, but they narrowed as she smirked. "Come at me, Whiskers, let's see what you got."

---

Hinata flinched and she whipped her head in a direction, causing the boys to look at her.

"Uh… you okay, Hinata…?" Kiba asked.

"Some bitch is flirting with Naruto," Hinata stated as she stopped moving and stared at the direction.

Kiba looked at Shino and he looked back. The Inuzuka looked back at Hinata and raised an eyebrow.

"Hinata… what are you talking about?" Kiba asked, growing more confused by the second.

Shino stared at her for a moment before walking up to her. He grabbed her arm and turned her around before walking in the direction they were originally going.

"Shino, let go, I need to find this bitch and rip her a new one," Hinata demanded, but the stoic boy didn't let go of her. "Shino!"

Kiba and Akamaru watched as the Hyuuga daughter struggled to get out of Shino's grip.

The Inuzuka just watched before raising an eyebrow. "What the hell?"

---

Shisu and Naruto both dashed towards each other and clasped paws once they met in the middle. They were at a stalemate, one trying to push back the other. The blonde girl grinned before opening up her mouth, Naruto's eyes widened and he quickly swung her arm under her other one whilst using his leg to trip her. Shisu was shocked before Naruto started spinning with her, then he raised her high in the air before slamming her into the ground. Naruto spun around and raised his right foot in the air.

"Nibi Art: Fire Release Scorching Limbs – Kashuenchu!" He slammed his foot down, but Shisu rolled out of the way and propped herself up and ran around the blue fire pillar. The girl leaped at him with a fist reeled back. The blonde sidestepped out of the way as Shisu punched the ground, creating a small crater below her.

'Yikes! Those punches are deadly!' Naruto thought as he opened his mouth. 'Nibi Art: Blast Furnace!' A swirling of blue flame quickly formed in his mouth before shooting out of it.

The blonde girl looked at the flames and quickly threw her arms up to block herself. When the flames hit, she clenched her teeth at how hot and intense they were.

'Fuck! This is nothing like the regular flames!' Shisu thought as she started sliding back slightly.

"Substitute now! He can't see you!" Lionelle told. Her eyes widened slightly and nodded before substituting with a log that instantly got burnt to a crisp. He stopped blowing out fire and perked up before leaning back. Shisu's leg almost connected with his face, but then the girl twisted in the air until she was facing Naruto. The whiskered blonde smirked and was about to do a technique, but he got hit from behind and messed up.

Shisu was able to plant a paw on him. "Yin Release: Open Field of Lions." Naruto blinked and the sky was now white. He blinked a couple more times before standing up straight and looking at the ground. He was standing on different colored grass.

'I know that I'm in a genjutsu… so let's dispel it,' Naruto thought as he made the Tiger hand seal. 'Release!' He blinked, but he was still in the open area. 'Huh?! It's not working?! What the hell?!' Naruto tried again and again, but nothing happened.

'Kurama! Kirai! I can't get out of this genjutsu! You wanna help me out?!' Naruto asked as he looked up. A few moments passed and no response was given back. He blinked before looking down. 'Did Shisu cut me off from Kurama and Kirai? How the hell is that possible?' Naruto heard rustling and looked to his left to find a lion stalking up to him. He heard more rustling and looked around him to find even more lions appearing around him. Soon, a pride of lions were circling him.

'Shit… well, let's try using the Body Flicker to get out of here,' As soon as Naruto made the hand seal, a lion leapt forward. Naruto smirked, but then he didn't flicker away, he panicked and rolled out of the way of the lion. 'Not even my techniques work?! What kind of genjutsu is this?!' The lion quickly looked at Naruto and rushed him with immense speed. When it got close, it went for a swipe that Naruto ducked under, but it spun around and back kicked Naruto's stomach.

'What?!' He slid back a bit and looked at the lion in shock. 'Lions don't fight like that!' The whiskered blonde perked up and sidestepped out of the way of a lion coming from behind him. He grit his teeth as there were now two lions after him. 'Fuck…'

He heard low growling from behind him and looked to see some lions stalking up to him. Once those lions and the two lions behind him leapt at him, his eyes shrunk. 'FUCK!'

---

Kurama and Kirai were trying to reach Naruto to break the genjutsu, but they couldn't.

"What the hell is going on? A genjutsu can't separate a Bijuu and a Jinchuuriki like this…" Kurama stated as he furrowed his brow.

"Yeah… unless it's not a genjutsu… maybe a ninjutsu?" Kirai guessed as she scratched her head.

"You don't know what's happening?"

"Somethin' foreign's goin' on here and I can't exactly pinpoint what it is," Kirai responded. She activated her Byakugan and looked around to see something flowing across the walls of the mindscape, coating it. "Ah, I found our problem… I think."

"What is it?" The Bijuu asked as he looked down at Kirai.

"There's something surrounding the mindscape. I believe it's blocking us from reaching Naruto… this is annoying, who knew that girl could have something like this…"

Kurama sighed. "Do you have any ideas on how to break this?"

"Not a single clue. I mean… it looks like chakra…but something tells me it isn't." Kurama looked at her confusingly before the two of them heard water splashing. They both turned their attention down the hallway and waited in silence, the splashing getting closer.

A yellow paw emerged from the darkness before a giant lion the size of the Hachibi appeared. Kurama and Kirai's eyes slightly widened.

"The boy's mindscape is confusing to traverse through," the lion muttered to herself before looking up. "Hello, Kyuubi, it is nice to finally meet you."

"... Yes…" Kurama replied cautiously. "How the hell are you in here?"

"Yang Release: Jinchuuriki Invasion. It's a useful technique," the lion replied.

"Yo, Lion, I assume you're the one that's cutting us off from Naruto?" Kirai guessed, grabbing Lionelle's attention.

"Why yes, it is."

"Can you explain what the hell this shit is all over the place? It's not chakra, that's for sure."

"Yes, you are correct in assuming that. It is my Essence."

"Essence? What the hell are you, Lion?" Kirai wondered as she placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

"I am a Juurei," Lionelle responded. "The spirits of dead animals in one."

"The spirits of dead animals…?" Kurama restated, looking confused.

Lionelle looked at him and nodded. "I am composed of hundreds, maybe thousands of dead lions. Some legendary, some strong, some weak, I am all of those lions in one singular entity: Lionelle, the Lion Spirit."

Kurama looked at Kirai and she looked back. "I've never heard of that before. I don't even think that existed when my dad was still alive. Actually, I don't even think that existed in general!"

"Because it didn't. We were recently created," Lionelle clarified.

"'We?' How many of you guys are there?" Kirai wondered.

"So far there are only ten of us. A tiger, a ram, a dragon, a monkey, a hare, a bird, a snake, an ox, a dog, and me."

"That's a lot of spirits," Kirai pointed out with a surprised look.

"How were you created?" Kurama asked. "And who made you?"

"I was created by a technique called 'Spiritual Animal Reconstruction.' It was the Shodai Heishokage who made us," Lionelle responded to both questions.

"The Heishokage's still alive, right?" Kirai checked. Lionelle nodded. "The hell?! How old is he?!"

"Sanyagakure wasn't built that long ago. It was after the Third Shinobi World War when he decided to build his own village and try to achieve peace among the Five Great Shinobi Nations. He's only twenty-nine, I think."

"Twenty-nine? That is younger than I thought."

"I thought he'd be old. Like… the Sandaime Hokage old."

"So about these spirits… how are they inside of people like Shisu? Is there some sort of ritual that needs to take place like a Bijuu?" Kurama wondered.

"The Shodai gives us a choice of who we want to be inside of. He shows us the Shinobi of the village—genin to Anbu—and allows us to choose whoever. Of course, we don't have to go inside of anyone at all," Lionelle answered.

"So then why would you? And how do you go inside of people?"

"We really don't have much to do. We already know much about the world because of the animals we are composed of, and the Shodai giving us a bit more knowledge. The Shodai uses a different technique to get us into people."

"How strong is your fuckin' Shodai?! What he did to create you sounds like what Six Paths did to create the Bijuu," Kirai called out with Kurama nodding slightly.

"I cannot gauge the Shodai's power… I don't think anyone can," Lionelle stated as she looked off to the sighed before looking back.

"Wait. What about the dragon girl Naruto fought? Kiryu, I think her name was."

Lionelle stared at Kurama and the Bijuu stared back. "I cannot tell for she is not my host."

Kurama hummed. "Why are you here? I thought you'd fight us."

"I've always wanted to talk to a Bijuu firsthand, and now I have. I am here for two reasons and that was my first one. My second one was to see how strong you are, Kyuubi, but I also got to see how strong this woman is. I will be departing now, goodbye." The lion spirit turned yellow before she started getting sucked into herself, bringing her Essence with her.

Kurama and Kirai stared ahead before the entity sighed. "An animal spirit huh?"

"It isn't the worst I've heard."

---

Shisu was on her knees as she kept her paw on Naruto's body, though she was starting to slowly lose consciousness.

'Kami damnit, Lionelle, please hurry up…' Shisu pleaded as she was swaying.

"Shisu? Shisu, I'm here."

'Thank Kami… took you long enough!'

"Let's not start when the enemy is right in front of you," Lionelle advised. Shisu looked up at Naruto and chuckled.

'Right.' With Lionelle back, the blonde girl was able to stand again. 'So, what'd ya learn?'

"First, deal with Naruto, then we can talk.' Shisu nodded and cocked her fist back. She launched it forward and right when it was about to strike Naruto, the boy grinned and flickered away in a yellow flash. Shisu's eyes widened and she leapt forward instinctively, barely dodging a blast of fire.

The blonde landed on a tree and whipped around. 'Lionelle! You still got that water from earlier?!'

"A little bit. You can only do one technique, so don't mess up," Lionelle responded. Shisu smirked and nodded. She dashed down the tree and quickly jumped off of it. "Surprise Lion Drop!" Shisu did a barrel roll in the air, then stuck her foot out and suddenly fell towards Naruto faster than he thought.

The whiskered blonde's eyes widened right as Shisu crashed down on him. Smoke quickly rose from the ground and the girl got up. She looked at the ground and saw that no one was there.

'He substituted, shit!' Shisu looked up and saw Naruto backflip away from her. 'Oh no you don't! Wild Lion Rush!' Shisu dashed forward and out of the smoke towards Naruto. Once she was close, she began clawing at him rapidly. The boy dodged some, but got sliced a few times.

He soon got on the defensive and deflected Shisu's strikes. Once he saw her hesitate, he went to retaliate, only for the girl to swipe her legs under his and make him fall. Right when he was about to catch himself, Shisu kneed his chest and grabbed his head before lifting him up to her eye level.

The girl grinned. "Lioness-" she took a deep breath of air. "ROAR!" Shisu shouted right in Naruto's face and the boy could start hearing Shisu's roar less and less. He even heard the voices of Kurama and Kirai for a second before all sound ceased from his ears except the constant ringing and he could feel liquid pouring out of them.

Shisu threw him back and the boy stumbled, trying to regain his footing, but she made the Tiger hand seal. "Water Release: Gunshot!" Shisu's cheeks puffed out before she spat out an orb of water. It quickly traveled over to Naruto and when it made contact, launched the whiskered blonde back and crashing into a tree. Naruto fell but caught himself and slowly stood up. When he did, he stumbled around before being able to stand. He took deep breaths as the ringing continued going on.

'I can't hear anything… Damn, did she really have to make me deaf?! Whatever, I don't necessarily need hearing to fight.' Naruto closed his eyes before opening them. His heterochromic eyes grew a few shades lighter.

The blonde Uzumaki took a deep breath. "HEY, SHISU! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, BE WARNED THAT I'M GONNA START TRYING A BIT HARDER!" Naruto shouted. 'I hope she heard that, cause I know I didn't.'

Shisu grinned and nodded. Although Naruto didn't gain a new aura or switch from his fiery cat form, Shisu still felt the increase of the power he was exerting.

Without warning, Naruto dashed forward, slightly surprising Shisu. The boy jumped in the air and cocked his arm back, fire swirling in his palm. He shot it forward and a stream of fire bursted towards the blonde girl.

Shisu put up her arms and planned on taking the brunt of the attack before substituting, but the stream of fire dissipated before it reached her. 'Huh?' Shisu thought as she watched Naruto complete his flip over her.

"Nibi Art: Blazing Monster Tatsumakigan." Shisu's ear twitched and she turned around but only to be met by a ball of intense winds and swirling blue flames with black markings. The ball exploded and blue flames started visibly cutting the air while Shisu flew back. As Shisu was flying over the other Naruto, he raised his hand and made a ball of wind, touching Shisu's back as she passed over and exploding it, making her fly even faster. He lowered his hand and made the Tiger hand seal, then flickered away in a yellow flash.

---

Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee were jumping from tree to tree. They were hopefully going in the right direction towards the tower, but after seven confrontations of different teams, they weren't sure anymore, but they at least had the scroll they needed.

"Ugh, this is taking way too long!" Tenten complained as they stopped for a break.

"You are right. The only reason why it's taking so long is because of a certain bun-haired girl that's too lazy to move a few kilometers before having to stop again," Neji insulted, making Tenten glare at him.

"Oh shut up, Neji! The only reason why I can't run for so long is because of my cramps," Tenten said as she lied down on her back.

"Really, Tenten? Cramps? In the middle of the fucking Chuunin Exams?!"

"Do you think I have any control over them?!" Tenten questioned as she shot up, albeit the pain.

"Learn to control them."

Tenten's eye twitched. "Control them?! Cramps aren't timed you asshole! They can't just be planned! They come randomly and go! We can't prepare for them!"

"Well then maybe you should. It would do you good to start now."

"Neji… if you understood girls for maybe just a second, you'd know that isn't possible, but that's too much to ask for from a self-entitled jerk like yourself," Tenten gibed. Neji glared at her intensely and she glared back.

"Why should I understand something that is weaker than me?" Neji asked.

Tenten's eyes widened. "Are you calling girls weak?"

"Maybe, maybe not. From my experience, they are weak. Hinata Hyuuga: is weak. You: are weak. Hanabi Hyuuga: is weak. All three of the girls I have listed are weak. They have not once beat me in a fight, so yes, girls are weak," Neji explained as he crossed his arms.

The brunette grit her teeth. "You're so close-minded it hurts. How can you just say such a thing so easily? There are a bunch of girls that aren't weak, asshole!"

"Name some."

"The Legendary Sannin: Tsunade, One of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist: Ameyuri Ringo-"

"Isn't she dead?"

"She isn't dead, jackass!"

"Wouldn't be surprised if she was," Neji muttered loud enough for Tenten to hear.

The girl quickly pulled out a shuriken and threw it at Neji. He closed his eyes and deflected it away.

"You're not helping your case, Tenten," Neji spoke as he opened an eye at her.

"Neji, you—!"

"Enough!" Rock Lee shouted, causing both to turn and look at him. "Now is not the time for fighting! We are in the middle of the Chuunin Exams, and a group could hear us at any point and take us by surprise!" He turned to Neji. "Neji, stop antagonizing Tenten and calling girls weak. They are not weak at all! And Tenten is right, you should try understanding them. Not everyone's pain can be controlled," Rock Lee added.

Neji looked at him with a glare and Rock Lee held it before the Hyuuga scoffed and turned around.

"Man, I like arrogant boys, but your arrogance is a turn off," Tenten muttered as she laid back down. Neji whipped his head to glare at her, but something crashing from below grabbed all of their attention. "What was that?!"

Team Guy looked down at the forest floor and saw a blonde girl rebound off of a tree before falling to the ground. A blue flash caught their eyes and they all looked up to see something blue zigzag through the trees before jumping high in the air. They all looked up and their eyes widened at the sight of Naruto, but with a few changes.

"Is that…" Tenten began as she squinted her eyes.

"Naruto!" Rock Lee finished with a large smile while Neji narrowed his eyes.

The blonde haired boy raised a hand in the air and took a deep breath. "Nibi Art Special Technique: Sun-Blazing Nekomata." Blue fire bursted out of Naruto's body before it collected behind him and formed a disfigured figure. It soon gained shape and formed a smaller version of the Nibi. It was still bigger than Naruto, but not by much and it was exerting a lot of intense heat.

The flaming cat peered over Naruto's shoulder, and once it's sights locked on Shisu, it grew considerably in size, dwarfing Naruto.

"W-What is that?!" Rock Lee asked as he took a step back.

"T-T-That's…" Tenten spoke, not believing her eyes. "That's the Nibi…"

Neji got defensive as he grit his teeth at the flaming cat behind Naruto.

"The… the Nibi…?" Rock Lee asked with a confused face.

"Y-Yes! It's the Two Tailed Bijuu, Lee! Remember when Guy-sensei briefed us on the Bijuus? That right there is one of them!" Tenten explained as she pointed at the cat.

Lee looked at it before nodding. "Yes, I do remember now. Why is the Nibi here?"

"How the fuck am I supposed to know that?! You know Naruto, right? Shouldn't you know why the Nibi is right behind him?!" Tenten grilled.

"I do not know that much about him. We have briefly met and that was to test each other's strengths. But maybe I could talk to him after this," Rock Lee planned as he put a hand to his chin.

The brunette blinked before shifting her attention back to Naruto.

"I did not expect him to have the Nibi as well… I didn't see her anywhere inside of him…" Lionelle shared.

'W-What do you mean…?'

"I mean I don't know where he was able to use the Nibi's power. I should've known that was what he was using ever since he activated it, but never mind that, you need to find a way to survive," Lionelle responded.

'Right, I think—"

The cat screeched before rolling over Naruto and bolting towards Shisu. Her eyes widened before she grit her teeth and launched her arm forward. "LIONELLE!"

A wispy form of Lionelle appeared behind Shisu and grew in size to match the flaming cat. The lion jumped into the air and the two beasts collided. Lionelle began pushing the Nibi back, but it suddenly grew in size and pushed Lionelle back.

It soon overtook the wispy lion and the two were heading towards Shisu. The blonde girl's eyes widened and she shot up.

'Holy shit!' She cursed as she sprinted away, hoping to not get caught in whatever was about to happen.

The Nibi and the lion crashed into the ground, making it rumble. The flaming cat bit into the lion's neck and made it explode before it exploded itself. The blast of the two beasts shook the ground and blasted Shisu away.

"Shit!" Neji cursed as he turned around and jumped away, hoping to get out of the blast area with Tenten and Rock Lee following. Neji looked behind him and saw the flames coming towards him at a quick pace.

'Damnit! I won't be able to escape the blast!' He thought. He jumped away before stopping on a branch and turning around. 'I guess I can do this.'

"Lee, Tenten! Get behind me!" Neji shouted. His two teammates looked at him and jumped to his branch before staying behind him.

"Neji, do you have a plan?" Rock Lee wondered.

"Yes. And it might work depending on how big this blast is." Neji crouched down and slightly twisted his body. He held his hands out and waited as the barreling fire was coming closer. Right when it was about to hit, he spun. "Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!" Chakra emitted from Neji in a spiral and deflected the incoming flames. Tenten and Rock Lee covered themselves from the immense heat of the flames. Neji continued spinning after a few seconds but grit his teeth.

'Come on, Neji, you can do it!' Rock Lee thought as he watched his teammate.

Neji continued spinning for another few seconds before he lost his footing and slipped. Tenten and Rock Lee's eyes widened as they saw Neji fall.

"Neji!" Both Lee and Tenten shouted as they rushed forward.

"Bubble Pop!" A voice shouted over the flames. Tenten glanced in the air, but couldn't see anything as a bubble suddenly encaptured her and Rock Lee. They both ran into the wall and stumbled back, surprised that it didn't pop.

Their attention was returned to the flames once they struck the bubble, but did nothing to it.

"W-We're safe…" Tenten realized as she watched the blue flames.

"B-But Neji… he fell off the branch! He could get hurt, or severely burnt!" Rock Lee pointed out.

"I know, Lee… but I don't think we can leave this bubble…" Tenten sadly said as she sighed. Lee turned towards the bubble and narrowed his eyes. "Don't even try it, Lee. There's still fire coming at us."

The green-clad boy looked down at the branch before he looked up and saw that there was no more fire. He smiled and cocked his fist back.

"Strong Fist!" He shouted as he threw a punch, grabbing Tenten's attention.

"Wait, Lee!" It was too late. Lee's punch connected with the bubble, but nothing happened.

"Huh? It did not work?! But I was sure it would…" Lee said as he sighed in defeat.

"Lee…" Tenten reached for him, but stopped once something landed behind her. Both teammates whipped around and saw Naruto carrying Neji, but the blonde was different.

The first noticeable thing was that he wasn't blonde anymore.

Naruto's hair was gray and there seemed to be more spikes with two spikes that were slightly larger than the others, looking like horns. His scleras and pupils were red while his irises were yellow. His neck seemed to be red and his arms looked to be covered by grey gauntlets with spikes over them. There were also some spikes protruding from his back and three tails.

"N-Naruto…?" Rock Lee asked. The grey-haired boy put Neji down.

The boy didn't respond as he looked up at the two teammates.

"Uh… hello?" Tenten tried with a raised eyebrow. The blonde boy tilted his head before he perked up and his hands started glowing green. He placed them over his ears and after a couple moments of him healing himself, he dropped his hands.

"Hey Lee!" Naruto responded with a grin. "Nice to see you again…. and uh… sorry you guys almost got burnt to a crisp."

"It is fine, Naruto, you did save Neji after all," the black-haired genin accepted with a thumbs up. "But why did you just stare at us?"

"Heh, the dude was so annoying that I decided to knock him out. Wouldn't do me good if I was carrying a struggling man-child," Naruto said as he looked down at Neji. "Also, I went deaf for a bit, but nothing to worry about." Rock Lee nodded at that.

"Neji… can be a handful sometimes with his arrogance. It pisses me off sometimes… more than I'd like to admit," Tenten said as she stood up.

"Naruto, why did your hair turn gray?" Rock Lee curiously asked as he pointed at it.

"Yeah and how were you able to get the Nibi here?!" Tenten added.

"First, it's a partial transformation, Bushy Brows. Second, that wasn't the actual Nibi, just a construct of it," Naruto responded.

"And the fire?" Tenten wondered with a raised eyebrow.

"What about it?"

"It's blue. Just like the Nibi's flames."

"And? You can't change the color of your flames?" Naruto asked as he raised his hand and yellow fire emitted from it.

Both of them stared at it. One in amazement and the other just stared. The girl deadpanned after a couple seconds of looking.

"You're using Yin Release to change the color of the flames," Tenten deduced. Naruto's eyes widened slightly.

'What the hell? She's smart!' He thought as the flame dissipated. "Huh, you're a smart one, aren't you?"

Just then, something landed above the four genin and they all looked up to see another Naruto with the blue flames standing on the trunk.

"Yo! I'm gonna go after Shisu! She may still be conscious and up for a fight!" He told.

"Alright!" The gray-haired Naruto responded. The one with blue flames leapt away and Naruto turned back to Tenten and Rock Lee.

"Shadow Clone. That one had two blue tails with black marks, cat ears, and both of those moved like flames would. It also had mismatched eyes. If that doesn't scream Nibi I don't know what would," Tenten speculated as she crossed her arms. "You also have three tails. Sanbi, if I'm guessing correctly."

Naruto stared at her and blinked a couple of times. "Wow… uh… well, there's no getting out of this one. First off, I'm a Jinchuuriki."

Rock Lee gasped while Tenten's eyes widened. "You're a Jinchuuriki of both the Nibi and Sanbi?!"

"No, I'm not. What I said before about the Nibi being a construct was true. I used the flames to form the Nibi," Naruto explained.

"So then… what Jinchuuriki are you?"

"The Kyuubi."

Tenten stared at him for a moment before blinking. "The… K-Kyuubi…?"

"Yep."

"The one that attacked this village years ago…?"

"Yep."

"The-The strongest Bijuu there is…?"

"Yep."

"So… t-the Fourth Hokage… sealed the Kyuubi… in you…?"

"Yep."

"T-That clears some things up… I assume you're the 'demon' in the village?" Tenten guessed as she rubbed her neck.

Naruto sighed. "Yep. People are afraid of what they don't know. They hate me because they're afraid of me. They don't know when I'll turn into the Kyuubi and start going on a rampage."

"Mm…"

"That is foolish," Rock Lee spoke up, making Naruto and Tenten turn to him.

"Whaddya mean, Bushy Brows?" Naruto asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"It is foolish to think that they would be afraid of someone who is protecting their village. Naruto, you are containing the Kyuubi, and are keeping it sealed. You are protecting this village from another incident years ago," Lee clarified.

"W-Well… I mean… I guess…" Naruto said, not knowing how to respond to that.

"You are. If the Kyuubi was not inside of you, it would probably cause carnage to this village," Rock Lee added.

'He's not wrong… there'd be no one else capable of handling a Bijuu sealing… and you'd be on a rampage years ago,' Naruto thought.

"Thankfully it hasn't come to that," Kurama said.

"Yeah… thanks for the kind words, Bushy Brows."

"So… if you're the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi… how do you look like the Nibi and Sanbi… and can use their powers?" Tenten asked, growing confused by the second.

"It's… complicated, and I think it'd do you good if you didn't worry about it. Maybe after the Chuunin Exams we could talk about it after, I know this good ramen spot we could go to!"

Tenten raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips. "Are you trying to take me on a date?"

"If you want it to be one, it can be one," Naruto replied with a shrug.

"Tch. Don't think I'll just swoon like that, Whiskers," Tenten said with a glare.

"You said it, not me. I just figured it'd be a good spot to talk, or do you wanna have a picnic date? Any work for me."

Tenten continued glaring at Naruto before dropping it with a sigh. "Sure, whatever."

"Sweet. When shall I come pick you up?"

"Don't say it like that. Come by the Eleventh Training Ground, that's where we train, and we'll most likely be there," Tenten said with dread.

"Sweet! It's a date then, see ya, Magemage!" Naruto said as he flickered away in a yellow flash.

Tenten stared at the tree with an incredulous look on her face. "MAGEMAGE?!"

---

The Naruto with blue flames dashed from tree to tree, trying to locate a certain blonde. He looked for a few minutes before finding the blonde sitting by a tree. Naruto jumped to a branch and grabbed it before releasing it instantly.

The boy landed in front of Shisu. "Seems like I overdid it a bit, whoops."

"Heh… I see you got your hearing back… that's at least good," the blonde girl said.

"How would you know?"

"Now I do."

Naruto deadpanned at her. "Anyway, can you move? Or are you throwing in the towel?"

"Yeah, I can move, but you bet your ass I ain't throwin' in the towel yet. You've pushed me to the edge, and now I gotta use this."

"Oo, I'm intrigued.

"I bet you are. Lionelle, let's do this." Shisu slowly got up, but when she did, her yellow aura grew thinner and yellow flame-like wisps rose up from her. "Essence of Lions." The blonde looked up at Naruto and he saw that she didn't have her black slit, and her eyes were pupil-less. Naruto noticed her hair growing a few shades lighter.

"Hey, no hard feelings if I beat your ass, right?" Shisu checked with a smirk.

"Don't complain if you're the one who gets beat," Naruto returned with a smirk of his own. Shisu took a step forward and disappeared. Naruto leaned his head to his right just in time as Shisu reappeared right next to him. Naruto realized his cheek was burning. He looked at Shisu and could barely see her grin as she twisted her body and back kicked Naruto hard. The boy did a flip in the air and touched the ground with his hand before repositioning himself and landing on the trunk of a tree. He looked to where Shisu was, but she wasn't there.

The blonde girl was above him and she threw her arms out. 'Strong Jaw!' A lion made out of aura shot out from her arms and opened its mouth. It was about to bite down on Naruto, but he disappeared in a yellow flash.

"Fire Cat Spin Kick!" Shisu's eyes widened as she turned around, but was met by a spinning flame circle, then a harsh kick to the chest. The blonde girl crashed into the ground, but she quickly got up and backflipped away. Once she landed, her eyes widened as she realized she couldn't move. She looked down and there was a dark blue circle with seals on it.

'What the hell?! When was he able to get a trap down?! I didn't see him use the Shadow Clone Technique!' The girl thought as she tried to move.

"He must've done it when you were above him. I don't know how, but he did it then." She grit her teeth as Naruto jumped to the ground.

"If you're wondering, I made a clone before we began fighting here," Naruto told.

"Wait… you made it after you made that cat out of fire?"

"Yep. We had bystanders really close to the action, so I had to protect them from the flames," Naruto answered with a smile.

"So uh… can you perhaps remove me from this?" Shisu asked with a sheepish smile.

"Of course!" Naruto said. "After I beat you."

"Really, Shisu?"

'It was worth a shot.'

"You ever seen the full power of a Bijuu?" Naruto wondered.

"Uh… no…?"

"Me neither, guess we'll find out."

"The hell's that supposed to mean?!" Shisu questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Ichibi Art: Lockdown Seal," Naruto's voice said behind Shisu. The girl whipped her head to the side and saw the boy touch her back. She froze as dark blue markings spread across her skin.

'W-What the hell's he doing?!'

"He's shutting down your chakra network!"

Her eyes widened as she looked at the Naruto in front of her. He just watched with crossed arms as the clone did his work.

When Shisu started losing consciousness, the clone took his hand off of her back. The girl took deep breaths while Naruto looked surprised at seeing her yellow aura still up.

"Your aura… it's still up?" Naruto asked as he looked confused.

Shisu looked at him with a smirk. "It's not chakra, that's why."

"Eh?! Then what the hell is it?!"

"If you let me go, I'll tell you."

"You're a horrible dealmaker."

The clone behind Shisu raised an arm over his stomach. "Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!"

'Nibi Art: Blast Furnace!' Naruto blew out a blue flame towards Shisu. The flames and wind both came into contact with each other and exploded in a swirling mass of blue fire and raging winds.

"Lions' Pride!" Shisu's voice shouted. The blue flames quickly evaporated while the strong gusts of wind were now going outwards towards the two Narutos.

Naruto covered his face. 'What the hell?! She just shrugged off our attack!' Naruto looked below her and saw that the seal was broken. Shisu whipped her head behind her and disappeared. The clone gave Naruto a look and he nodded.

Shisu appeared in front of the clone and was about to throw a punch at it, but it disappeared and the real Naruto appeared in his place. Shisu was shocked and hesitated, which gave Naruto the perfect opportunity to place his palm on her stomach and pushed slightly. A giant blue flame sprouted from Shisu's back and formed what looked like Matatabi before clamping down on her head. It was about to bite down harder, but Shisu roared and dispelled the flame. She looked at Naruto with her mouth still open and it started glowing.

Naruto raised his grab and formed the Tiger hand seal, but his body suddenly stopped.

'What the hell?!' He looked up at Shisu and saw she was glaring at him.

'Lion Essence Breath!' A white beam shot out of Shisu's mouth. The beam quickly overcame Naruto and sent him flying back. The boy crashed through a tree before skidding across the ground and hitting a tree. Naruto's eyes jolted open as he instantly got into a handstand and put an arm out, narrowly avoiding a swinging kick. He opened his legs up and began twirling on his hands. Shisu jumped back, and Naruto made the Ox → Dog → Bird → Hare → Tiger hand seals with one hand. 'Fire Release: Dragon Scream Bellowing Flame!" Once he was facing Shisu, he blew out a large flame that swirled into a large dragon. The girl's eyes widened before she grinned.

"Lioness-" Shisu took a deep breath of air. "ROAR!" The dragon screeched at the same time Shisu roared and Naruto had to cover his ears from them being so loud. The whiskered blonde peeked an eye open and looked at Shisu. The girl's throat would have to give out at some point, but he didn't want to wait for that.

Naruto reluctantly took a hand off of his ear and made the Snake → Hare → Dragon → Tiger hand seals before placing them at the middle of his lips. "Fire Release: Twin Dragon Flame Technique!" He blew out fire that got separated by his fingers and charged towards Shisu. The girl turned her eyes away from the flame dragon and saw two smaller ones coming for her.

'I see! Nice one, Naruto, but that's not gonna work!' Shisu thought. She stopped shouting and clapped her hands together as the Dragon Scream Bellowing Flame started flying towards her again.. "Lion Legend: Chimera – Fire Furnace Breath!"

Below Shisu, a translucent lion formed, but it had a goat-like body with wings and a scaly tail that was attached to a snake's head. Naruto looked at the weird lion hybrid as it breathed in and shot out a large, wild, uncontrollable flame in the air. Naruto's two fire techniques hit the flames head on and dissipated. Naruto looked at his clone and he nodded before the clone rushed the chimera's back. The tail of the chimera whipped around and faced the clone before spitting out fire. The clone did a barrel roll and dodged the fire before raising a hand in the air as a ball of wind formed in it. He was about to slam the wind when Shisu landed on the chimera's back and breathed in. He stopped in his tracks and jumped back before throwing the ball.

Shisu fired a white beam that destroyed the ball and struck the clone head-on. The clone popped and the girl quickly turned around to Naruto with a smirk.

The boy made the clone hand seal and thousands of clones appeared, surrounding the area. Shisu looked around before looking back at the original Naruto.

"Sorry Naruto, but I've got somethin' for this," Shisu said as she shrugged. She crossed her arms over her chest as she took a deep breath. 'Grand March Lioness Roar!' She moved her arms to her side and released the loudest roar she's ever shouted. The ground and the trees shook as the girl roared out and the clones around her tried covering their ears, but were paralyzed by the roar and couldn't cover them in time. After a few moments of hearing constant shouting, the clones couldn't take it anymore and dispelled. Naruto's blue flames disappeared as he covered his ears.

Shisu looked around and closed her mouth once she realized the clones were gone. She looked at Naruto as the whiskered blonde removed his hands from his ears.

Shisu then smiled as she made the clone hand seal. Naruto's eyes widened quickly as a translucent clone of Shisu twirled into view behind her. The clone behind her had yellow glowing eyes, glowing claws, glowing legs, and a glowing tail.

"Lionelle: Clone," Shisu said.

'That's like… that's like Kurama Clone!' Naruto realized.

"You're right, it is…" Kurama agreed.

"Yo, Naruto, I wanna try something and see if this works, so try not to die," Kirai said, causing Naruto to deadpan.

"Shisu! You're the third strongest opponent I've ever faced!" Naruto told with a beaming smile.

The blonde girl tilted her head. "Who's the first and who am I competing with for second?" Shisu wondered.

"Orochimaru's the first, and for second it's Zabuza Momochi, I need to fight him again with him using all of his strength to really determine it. You'd be fourth if my sensei fought me with all of his strength," Naruto told as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Orochimaru?! The creepy white snake dude?!"

"Wait, you know him?"

"Yeah! The weirdo snuck into our village not long ago and came to my house. He wanted to experiment on me cause he thought I was 'unique,'" Shisu responded as she shivered. "Thankfully, Lord Shodai found him and forced him out of our village."

"That damn snake…."

"Anyway, before we get off track, I'm happy to know you consider me so strong! I hope to see you go all out soon though!" Shisu happily exclaimed.

"Heh, I don't think I'm gonna be doing that anytime soon, sorry," Naruto apologized with a weak chuckle.

"Aww, what a shame…. Oh well! I'll just have to force you to go all out!" Lionelle put all of her fingers together besides the ring fingers.

Wisps formed a giant, floating lion head behind Naruto and it opened its mouth wide. The boy didn't even need to look behind him to realize what was about to attack him, and quickly flickered away in a yellow flash. The Uzumaki appeared on a tree trunk, looking down at Shisu.

'So is this her limit?' Naruto asked as he watched the girl look around.

"So it seems. What are you going to do now, Kit?" Kurama wondered.

'I'll probably wait for Kirai to finish her thing and see what it does before I try taking her down,' Naruto thought.

"Well brat, you don't have to wait long, 'cause I've figured out how to do this, just give me and Kurama a minute or two," Kirai spoke. Naruto nodded, but he realized Lionelle wasn't on the chimera. His eyes widened as he looked around but couldn't feel her presence anywhere.

'Byakugan!' He instantly spotted her on a higher branch and she seemed to notice because she disappeared from her spot. Naruto jumped away from the tree and landed on a different one as his original spot blew up.

Shisu and the chimera looked up at the blown up spot before spotting Naruto not that far away.

Shisu grinned as she raised her hands towards Naruto. 'Lionelle: Lion Pride Blast!'

"Yo, Kurama, you've spent a lot of time using Shukaku's powers, right?" Kirai checked as she looked up at the fox.

"Yes, I have. I believe I am very well acquainted with it," Kurama responded with a nod.

"Good, I need you to use his form then," Kirai said. Kurama clapped his hands together, but before he began, he looked at Kirai questioning it.

"What are you trying to do?"

"I just wanted to see if this works. If it does, then I know for sure you can do this with Naruto, and if it doesn't, we'll, that doesn't really matter, you'll still be able to do it with Naruto."

Kurama didn't know what she meant by that, but didn't bother questioning it and closed his eyes before focusing.

"One-Tail Mode!" Kurama's eyes shot open and his sclera turned black as his irises turned yellow and his pupils changed to black four-pointed stars with four dots around them. His fur changed to a sandy color and crawled with dark blue cursed seals. The black fur in his ears changed to dark blue and Kurama's nine tails kept their shape, but were sandy colored and also had cursed seals over them.

"Now what?" Kurama asked as he looked at Kirai.

"Sweet! Now feed your chakra to Naruto, just like how you did when Naruto entered the second version of the chakra cloak," Kirai explained. Kurama nodded and began feeding Naruto his chakra.

Outside, Naruto could feel the chakra being given to him. It felt weird, but also familiar at the same time.

'What is this…?' Naruto wondered as he looked at himself.

"Naruto! Use the chakra Kurama is giving you, I wanna see what happens!" Kirai told the boy.

While the boy wasn't paying attention, Lionelle appeared above him, but she quickly transformed into a lion and opened her mouth. White and yellow began glowing in her mouth and she closed it before opening it up again and firing a large mixture of white and yellow at Naruto.

From Shisu's angle, it looked like Naruto got hit by the blast, but from Lionelle's angle, the beam simply went around Naruto as he held his arms out.

'What the hell?! Why is it going around him?!' Lionelle asked herself.

Naruto made the clone hand seal as the beam still went around him and a clone appeared behind Lionelle. The clone instantly made the Bird hand seal and blew out a bullet of air. The bullet pierced through the lion and it dispelled.

Shisu's grin was lost as she saw Lionelle dispel. 'Huh? Why'd she dispel?'

"Shisu! Naruto didn't get hit by the beam! It went around him!" Lionelle reported. Shisu blinked before whipping around and seeing Naruto behind her, but he was different. For one, his eyes were yellow with the four-pointed star, and had a dark blue cloth wrapped around the bottom half of his face. His cloak and shirt were replaced by a beige, long sleeve shirt with one magatama on the back and his pants were replaced with baggy, dark blue ones. There was also the noticeable white aura that surrounded him.

"What the hell?! Naruto, did you power-up?!" Shisu questioned.

"I guess you could say that…. Though this seems unnecessary," Naruto responded as he looked over himself. 'Kirai, what is this?'

"Heh, I call it: Incomplete One-Tail Chakra Mode."

Naruto's eyes slightly widened at that. 'Why's it incomplete?'

"Cause we're using Kurama's chakra as a substitute for Shukaku's. If we had Shukaku's chakra, it'd be complete," Kirai explained.

"Damn, that looks pretty cool, Naruto!" Shisu complimented.

"Thank you. Though when I asked if you've ever seen the full power of a Bijuu…. I didn't mean the Ichibi's… but whatever. We end this now, Shisu," Naruto stated.

"Oh I agree wholeheartedly, with you on the ground and me standing!" Shisu declared as she crouched low on the chimera.

"We'll see about that, but first, we have to get rid of that chimera." Naruto made the Bird hand seal. "Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!" Shisu's eyes widened as she jumped off of the chimera. The chimera jumped up and flapped its wings once before spikes shot up from the ground and impaled it.

As Shisu was about to land, the ground below her condensed into sand and she did a backflip, narrowly avoiding it. She looked up only to find Naruto not there. She quickly whipped around to find the blonde rushing her and she was about to retaliate, but the sand behind her shot out and wrapped itself around Shisu's legs.

"Magnetic Binding Trap Field!" Seals quickly scurried over the two sand bindings and once they were in place, began glowing and Shisu was stuck. Once Naruto was starting to get closer, Shisu took a deep breath. 'Grand March Lioness Roar!" She was about to roar, but the sand tugged her back and she stumbled with a yelp.

Naruto got close to her and punched her gut, making her recoil slightly.

The girl grit her teeth again and stopped herself from spitting out saliva. "Backlash!"

On her stomach, a wispy lion head popped out and opened its mouth before firing a large beam at point blank range. Naruto's eyes widened as he stumbled back, but then disintegrated into sand. Shisu looked around worriedly to try and locate the blonde, but was proving to be difficult since she was trapped.

"Ichibi Art: Monster Tanuki Tatsumakigan – Hurricane Sealing Rampage!" Many spheres of wind all shot out of the bushes and trees with cursed seals over them as they headed towards Shisu. The girl's eyes widened at seeing many spheres, but she then grew determined and waited for them to come closer.

But as if sensing Shisu had something in mind, Naruto shot up from the sand and did a roundhouse kick to Shisu's back. The girl tried to say something, but nothing was able to come out of her mouth and the spheres hit her dead on.

When the spheres hit, the seals on them transferred onto Shisu's body before exploding into gusts of sharp wind that cut her up. The sand that bonded her legs fell to the ground as the blonde girl fell forward, her aura and transformations going away. Naruto popped out of the sand before doing a front flip and landing before her.

"Hey, you still awake?" Naruto asked as he lightly tapped her head. Surprisingly, a small, wispy lion formed on her back.

"You have won, Naruto. I don't suspect that I can do anything against you alone, especially with a Bijuu and… whoever that is inside of you," the lion spoke.

"You're Lionelle, right?" Naruto guessed as he crouched down.

"Yes. I assume I've been introduced by the Kyuubi already?"

"Yep! You sure are an enigma, Lionelle."

"The same could be said about you. You have the power of three Bijuus inside of you, yet you only house one. Now that doesn't make much sense if you think about it," Lionelle pointed out.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah… there really isn't a simple way of explaining that."

"It must have something to do with that woman." Naruto nodded. "I see. But anyway, this was a great battle. I'm sure Shisu will remember this one…. Especially from the way she was thinking…"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What was she thinking."

The lion sighed. "Best you don't know… horny teenager."

Naruto didn't catch what she muttered, but didn't bother to push it. "Alright, but yeah, that was an awesome battle! I didn't think Shisu would have a source of power that allowed her to substitute it for chakra, that caught me by surprise. What was it again? Essence?"

The lion nodded. "Yes. It is what I—and others like me—use as a substitute for chakra since we don't have any."

"That's so cool!"

Lionelle smiled. "Thank you, but how did you also shut down my Essence?"

"My Lockdown Seal bypassed your complicated Essence and shut it down," Naruto simply explained.

"I didn't expect a technique to be able to shut down Essence…"

"The only reason why it was able to shut it down was because your Essence moves similarly to chakra. If it moved completely differently, I wouldn't have been able to shut it down."

"I see. That is very interesting." She then looked at the girl lying unconscious. "Naruto, can you bring her back to her teammates?"

"Of course!" The lion bowed her head before disappearing. Naruto carried her bridal style and looked around. "Huh… we really went far away, didn't we?"

---

Rock Lee and Tenten watched Naruto fighting the blonde girl and were shocked to the core.

"W-Wow…" Tenten said as she watched Naruto poke Shisu's head a couple times. That was the o my thing the brunette could say after seeing the two blondes going at it.

"Naruto and that girl are very strong… maybe even stronger than Neji…" Rock Lee surmised as he put a hand to his chin.

Tenten whipped her head at Lee so fast it could've broken. "What?! Lee, they are stronger than Neji! Do you think that asshole can create animal constructs with just his chakra?! Or can summon thousands of clones?!"

Rock Lee looked at Tenten and blinked two times before looking down. "Hm… yes, you do have a point. Neji cannot do either of those things…"

"See? Those two are far stronger than Neji. Which is actually great that that blonde girl is stronger than him. Maybe she can knock some sense into his entitled ass," Tenten said as she put her hands on her hips.

"I assume you two liked the fight?" A voice asked behind the two teammates. They both whipped around and got into fighting stances, but once they saw Naruto, they dropped it.

"Oh, Naruto, it is just you," Rock Lee said.

"How the hell'd you know we were up here?" Tenten wondered as she raised an eyebrow. "And why are you carrying Neji?"

"I sensed you guys were watching. And I'm carrying Neji so you don't have to. This guy's pretty heavy," Naruto responded.

"Thanks, but what the hell was that?! You can use four Bijuu powers?!" Tenten questioned with an incredulous look on her face.

Naruto winked at her. "Picnic date."

The girl deadpanned before sighing. But then perked up when she remembered something. "Why'd you call me Magemage, huh?!"

"Your buns are cute," Naruto replied.

Tenten blinked before slightly blushing. 'Is he talking about my hair or my ass? I can't tell and I'd rather not ask with Lee right next to us…'

"T-Thanks…"

Naruto nodded before spinning around. "Now, let us go! I wanna find my teammates first, if you guys don't mind."

"We do not mind. Lead the way, Naruto!"

---

"Hyoshi, stand down," Akame told as she stared at the pinkette and the Uchiha slowly getting up.

"No. You think I'd let you handle a 2v1 by yourself? You're crazy," Hyoshi denied as she stood on shaky legs.

"You are not fit to fight, you'd only get in the way," Akame pointed out, making Hyoshi grit her teeth.

"Tch, fine. You better have a plan," Hyoshi spoke as she sheathed her sword.

"Of course I do." Akame took out the third sword she hasn't used in awhile. The sword was swarming with a black mist.

"You're gonna kill them? If Naruto finds out, he'll kill you, then me next," Hyoshi told.

"I know that, that's why I have something to protect them from it," Akame said as her sword glowed white. "They'll still get cut, but at least they won't be poisoned."

Hyoshi nodded and backed away from Akame. "Good luck."

Akame just nodded.

---

I wanted to finish Sakura and Sasuke's fight with Akame and Hyoshi, but the chapter would've been too long for my liking. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Till the next time I'm not lazy and I get a chapter out early!