A/N Hey guys! New installment!

EDIT: No, there hasn't been an update, I'm sorry if some of you came here thinking that. I had to re-upload the chapter when people started to PM me and leave reviews about how they couldn't access it. Only a few people had this issue, and with some luck it should be okay now? Tell me if the problem is still there.

Thanks a bunch for the reviews on the previous chapter! MM995 deserves special recognition for pointing out bad grammar and some illogiccal wording on my part. Thank you! I edited this post-haste!

I was also humbled to realize you have recommended my story in your own fic: Through Hell and High Water. I would like to return the gesture, so dear readers, if you're looking for more quality stuff to read when done, check it out. MM995 is an excellent writer.

I also want to express my gratitude towards TokehGecko, and Satoru Ryouma. Your viewpoints were a delight, and also to UpZ, for his lengthy and detailed review, I loved reading through that one.

To everyone else, all I can say is, thank you!

The Legacy Ascending

Assignment

~ In Konoha Arena - Previous Chapter ~

Naruto met her gaze firmly, but nothing could have prepared him for her question. "Are you the Yondaime Hokage's son?"

xXx

For a brief moment, Naruto's brain shut down and a stony visage overtook his face. He said nothing, but the fact that he had almost stopped breathing must have been revealing to say the least. I seized up, fuck. His panicky mind began racing to come up with answers.

He looked up and saw she was examining him intently. He found her strange white orbs difficult to read. He realized then, that he had to lie like never before. He had to deceive her so thoroughly even Jiraiya would gape.

So, he allowed his lips to quirk into an amused smile and let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah, wouldn't that be something." He said and looked away in a sort of fond wistfulness. It was a completely fake gesture. "Son of The Yellow Flash, huh?"

He made his eyes turn glassy for just a couple seconds, before he snapped his attention back to Hinata, who was frowning at him.

"I mean, it's not impossible." He said and made himself sound intrigued by the idea. "I never knew my dad . . . My mother was killed right after she gave birth to me. I ended up alone, and the orphanage who took me in never told me anything."

"You had no one?" Her voice dropped an octave. Naruto imagined she was torn between compassion and suspicion.

"I was at first . . . I only found out who my mother was after I left that place, but my father is still hard to figure out." The first part was true, but the second part was a lie of course.

He continued before Hinata could ask another question. "I used to dream him up when I was younger, you know. In my head I made him out to be someone important and well-respected."

Naruto gave Hinata a smile. "The Yellow Flash definitely qualifies."

She gave him a measured look. "Walk with me." She finally said. She began walking at a brisk pace, Naruto had to really leg it to keep up with her.

"You look identical." She stated from ahead. "There are pictures of him in our history books, and you are his spitting image."

"Really!?" Naruto exclaimed, grateful that she could not see his face right then. "So, that's why you asked all of a sudden?" He tried for poised curiosity.

"Partly. Yes." She omitted, but she hesitated to elaborate. It struck him she might be trying to keep certain things secret as well. The two of them made no comment when they reached the wall of the fight pit and merely continued walking, but vertically.

Naruto wanted to derail her questioning somehow. So, he asked her a question of his own. "You're not a branch member, but part of the main family, correct?"

"That." He could hear her frown.

"'That', what?" Naruto wondered if he had somehow made things worse for himself.

"You . . . Know things. My clan differ between its members, we have the branch family, and the main family . . . But very few knows that. Not even my own teammates."

She paused to stare at him on top of the wall. Naruto smiled as he walked past her.

"I take it you skipped team building day?" Naruto quipped and jumped down to the other side. He didn't wait for her to follow him.

She hit the ground a few seconds later and trekked after him across the desert zone.

"The point." She raised her voice a bit. "Is that you are not like the others who came here for the exam. You strike me as too familiar with Konoha for this to be your first time here."

"That's because I have been here before." Naruto told her slowly, he had to nip this one in the bud. "I've also been in Sunagakure, and I've been in Kiri – before the rebellion began – and I've passed through Kumo, and over a dozen other nations. The thing is, I make it a habit to know a bit about the places I stay in, so that's why I know certain things about your clan. As a shinobi, I've made it my business to acquire information."

She was silent behind him for a while. Lumps of yellow grass began to appear on the ground, although the arena appeared to be enormous. He didn't think it would take much more than three minutes to walk through each of the zones. With the notable exception of the mountain zone perhaps.

"And, any useful intel? Anyone I should worry about?" Hinata was done being quiet. He thought she was being sarcastic, but he wasn't sure.

It didn't matter to him. He responded anyways. "Sabakuu no Gaara. He's dangerous and unstable. He sounded psychotic, the way he kept talking to his 'mother' . . ."

"I see . . ." She said and sped up her pace to walk beside him. Her white Hyuuga combat dress swooshed by her ankles as she walked. She seemed neutral to the point of disinterest, Naruto had to wonder if someone in team seven had told the other rookies about the Gaara incident.

Probably.

Naruto merely continued talking. "The Kiri team seemed formidable, and the Tsuchikage sent his granddaughter here, so you might want to be on guard if you see a girl from Iwa." He listed off.

"I know how Kurotsuchi looks like, but even so, you are being awfully helpful."

After shaking off some initial surprise, Naruto gave her a shrug. It made no difference to him if he was helping her, she arched her eyebrows at him.

"I'm not sure if I believe everything you say though . . . One thing, why don't you wear a forehead protector, Naruto-san?"

"I don't have one." He answered flatly and looked her up and down. "Why don't you wear some kind of insignia that marks you out as the next in line of the Hyuuga clan?"

She stopped in her tracks, they were at the edge of the desert now, the arena wall was just a stone throw away. "How did you know . . . my status?" Her voice was cool.

Naruto had stopped to look at her, and a smile was tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I've suspected it all day, I knew for a fact that a girl was the heiress, and when you said 'my clan' earlier as opposed to 'our clan', I felt a sense of entitlement there. It was a hunch really, but you confirmed it for me." He explained.

She looked displeased. "I still think your father is the Yondaime."

Naruto let out a bark of laughter. "Would that change anything?"

"It would mean you have the Will of Fire." She claimed. " . . . Bad times are coming, Naruto-san, and I don't know what part you'll play in it, but I'd like to have you on my side."

Naruto struggled to keep his face in check. Was she talking about the attacks? The possible invasion that was in the works? She halfway turned toward the Arena wall. "I have somewhere to be."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Naruto's thoughts were in disarray.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Namikaze-san." She walked off briskly.

"Oh, really? You're gonna walk away after dropping that on me?"

"Admit who you are!" She called out before she started scaling the wall.

Her answer surprised him so much he almost forgot to keep up his charade.

"For fucks sake, I'm Naruto!" Faking the frustration was an easy task right then. She gave him the finger over her shoulder just as she disappeared over the wall. Naruto stared at the spot for several long seconds.

He let out a frustrated groan. "Fucking smartass!"

xXx

The Hokage Office

The Sandaime Hokage reclined into his black upholstered chair. He emptied the last of the tobacco contents of his pipe into an ash bowl on the desk. The crystal ball in front of him was slowly turning dark. It had just been used.

Someone knocked on the door, and a moment later one of his ANBU agents stepped inside. He knelt in the center of the room, a display of absolute obedience. "Hokage-sama. Jiraiya of the Sannin is downstairs."

"Send him in." He told the masked man. Hiruzen was pleasantly surprised, Jiraiya had tried arriving by the window last time. It was nice to see his reprimands still had an effect on the man. The old and wrinkled Hokage steepled his fingers and allowed his mind to wander. Naruto kept performing to his expectations, and in all the right ways.

Hiruzen had been enormously pleased to see Naruto use techniques he had not shown at all during the assessment. He was happy for it because it showed the boy could think for himself. Naruto wasn't annoyingly obstinate, nor was he slavishly obedient. He had a certain willfulness, a quality Hiruzen had been very much hoping to find in him.

Jiraiya walked in without announcing himself, he gave his old teacher a merry smile and sat down in front of the desk. Hiruzen could tell he was disappointed about something.

"What?" He asked.

"I see you've removed the bottle of sake." Jiraiya told him and gestured towards the corner of the desk. True enough, the spot usually reserved for refreshments was conspicuously devoid of any alcohol.

"You finished an entire bottle last time, but you can have tee if you like." The Sandaime's voice was slightly pointed.

"I'm good then. So, what's up?"

". . . Did you only come for the sake?"

". . . No, I mean, I might have been looking forward to it. You have some good stuff! So, eh, how's our Genin doing so far?"

The Sandaime let out a sigh. "Remarkably well, considering they're mostly rookies this year. Shikamaru stood out today."

"What did he do?"

"Nothing, he went to lay down and relax, when others approached him he convinced them combat was completely unnecessary. Which it was, the rules never specified any fighting or eliminations. Every single Genin in that bracket passed the test and moved on, I doubt Ibiki was pleased."

"And Naruto?" There was an amused lilt to Jiraiya's question.

"Like I asked, he's garnering a lot of attention. I was fascinated but not overly surprised to see him let someone else make decisions. I must admit Hinata acted shrewdly. She's grown a great deal . . ."

"Well, okay then, good to hear. But, what do you want from me?" Jiraiya was eager to get back to his writing, he was getting to a good part in his series.

"Just some conversation, but before I forget to ask this again, the Kage Bunshin? Why did you teach Naruto that Kinjutsu?"

Jiraiya gave his old sensei a raised eyebrow. "The lad had too big chakra reserves to get a grasp of the normal Bunshin, so I taught him a different version."

"Ahh, his reserves were that big even then?" The Sandaime was surprised.

"They sure were, and they've only gotten bigger over the years."

"Naruto made it obvious today he held back when we assessed him. A good thing to be sure with Danzo in the room, but I'd like it if you could be candid with me for a moment."

Jiraiya didn't respond immediately. "First" He finally replied. "I want you to be honest as well. What are you planning with Naruto?"

The Sandaime steepled his fingers together and perused Jiraiya over the oak desk.

"Please remember that we are trying to discourage other nations from accepting Orochimaru's approaches. Our results in the exam will yield some influence, and Naruto will be our frontrunner in that avenue." Hiruzen explained. "He will also be our intelligence gatherer among the Genin in the exam, I might use him to remove threats, and I definitely want him to win. If he is able to make some foreign ties in the process of all this, then all the better. We are going to use Naruto to make Konoha seem unbeatable, he will be the face of our next generation."

"I know all of this, I was thinking about your long-term plans." Jiraiya pressed. The Sandaime gave his old pupil a slightly strained smile.

"I doubt I will be here for the long run, Jiraiya . . . I have some hopes for him, of course. Ideas even. But what Naruto makes of his future is up to him."

"What ideas?" Jiraiya pushed.

". . . Do you still believe in that dream of yours, Jiraiya? True peace?" The Sandaime answered him with a question.

"I do." Jiraiya didn't hesitate to respond.

"The council does not think it's possible. Lord Nidaime did not think the world was ready for it yet. Danzo does not even believe in the concept . . ."

Jiraiya kept silent.

"Personally, I think that given the right kind of person, just about anything is possible. Minato convinced me of that. I think the world has always been ready, but it needs a unifier. A brilliant leader who draws people in with kindness and charisma, but also an ambitious person who can remain uncorrupt."

Hiruzen bored his eyes into Jiraiya's. "Konoha will need a new Kage soon."

After a moment of silence, Jiraiya scoffed. "That's pretty much the same spiel you used to rope me into taking the runt with me all those years ago."

"It worked then." Hiruzen smiled.

"It still does, I agree with every last point." Jiraiya said, but it was clear he had more to say.

"But?"

"But I know it wasn't meant to convince me this time, and I'm sorry to say it, but Naruto won't take that mantle. He might have potential, but he doesn't want to lead. He is completely different from his parents in that manner, he takes after me in that regard."

"I know. That desire has yet to spark in him, but I have hope. Naruto wants to improve and become better, and a man's worth is no greater than his ambitions." Jiraiya was sure he was quoting someone with that last line.

"So, will you tell me exactly how much Naruto is capable of or not?" The Sandaime asked again.

Jiraiya tossed his arms to the sides in a defeated manner. "Fine. Truth is, Naruto is already an accomplished Shinobi in many ways. However, in this exam we only get to see how he fights with the training wheels on. If he were to fight an actual enemy he would of course use his skills very differently, not to mention employ deadlier Jutsu. Could you give me a scenario?"

Hiruzen already had one in mind.

"Very well, let's say he has to fight an S-rank opponent, someone who are bound to outclass him. Orochimaru for instance, a face-off." The quick response stumped Jiraiya, but not for long.

"Okay . . in that case . . ." Jiraiya began to detail exactly what he thought would happen if his student and old teammate were to fight.

Sarutobi Hiruzen allowed a smile to graze his face at what he heard.

xXx

Konoha Arena

Naruto showed up on location with time to spare the next day. The sky was completely covered by grey rain clouds, and it had just started to rain lightly. He didn't mind, his attire today was made to withstand the elements. He wore a spotted grey combat jacket and matching pants. The fabric was thick and would absorb some damage, and in the foggy weather it would make him very hard to spot. His right hip had two oblong compartments which held several small scrolls – some of which were blank while others were pre-written seals. His pouch of needles, kunai and shuriken were strapped to his right thigh.

His special spiral tattoos were stocked with weapons, and he felt ready for whatever the day could throw at him. He just hoped he would be able to keep out of harms reach. His previous outfit from yesterday had been thrashed, he would have stitched it up, but it had been completely ruined from the explosions and the piercing snakebites and whatnot. He himself walked with a spring to his step. He always recuperated fast.

As he stepped into the clearing he passed by a large crowd who were all trying to get a good look at a massive blackboard. Naruto threw it a cursory glance but didn't stop to examine it. The names on the board meant very little to him.

He continued onwards through the crowd. At first, he had to squeeze past people, but once he got noticed, people shied away. His first day had made him a person of notoriety it seemed. It made it easier to move up ahead and that suited him just fine.

He spotted familiar people further up, Sakura's pink hair was simply unmistakable. The other Konoha rookie teams were there as well. The Hyuuga heiress stood on the outskirt of the group, he decided he would do his best to ignore her. He stepped up behind Sakura and Sasuke and put a hand on their shoulders. He felt Sasuke stiffen, and Sakura jumped around, arms flailing.

"Boo." He said with a lame smile, and the Uchiha noticeably slackened.

"N-Naruto! Don't do that again!" Sakura cried and clutched her chest.

"I almost burned you alive." Sasuke told him and turned around.

"That wouldn't have been so bad in this drizzle." Naruto grinned at them.

"Ugh! I hate the rain." Sakura complained loudly and crossed her arms. He wouldn't say she was dressed for the weather.

"It's just a tiny sprinkle." Kosuke had stepped up beside Sakura and Sasuke.

"It is now." Shikamaru agreed and took two steps towards them. He looked very glum with his hands in his pockets. "But I feel like it's only going to get worse throughout the day."

The Naara gave Naruto a look. Then: "Someone came dressed for the occasion."

"Good equipment is very important, but good clothes are equally so." Naruto told him. He caught Sakura looking down at her own outfit, she probably felt underdressed now. Naruto tried to move the conversation along. "Soo, congratulations on getting through the first day, how did everyone do?" He wasn't asking anyone in particular, and the last of the rookies – curious – trotted up and formed an uneven circle. They were ten in total counting him, none of them had been disqualified. Considering the odds, that alone was incredible.

"It went okay, I guess." Shikamaru gave a small unbothered shrug. Naruto got the impression he didn't want to reveal anything – careful and clever.

"Ha! yesterday was a joke, nothing even happened!" That was the boy with face paint, the Inuzuka. Naruto didn't have to prod, the guy was intent to go on. Shikamaru was giving him an annoyed stare, but the Inuzuka didn't notice.

Naturally, the Naara doesn't trust me with any information, that's only healthy thinking.

"Shika made the entire thing a bore, no one fought. He just laid down to sleep in the red circle!"

"Really? That's clever." Naruto commended, he had not considered that.

"Thanks." Shikamaru replied, it looked like he was keeping in a sigh. "The supervisor told us the team with the most members inside the circle would win when the timer expired. So, if every team had the same number of members inside the circle, wouldn't that make it a tie?"

"An altogether risky move, Shikamaru-san, the supervisor could have failed all of you." The tall bespectacled boy spoke up, he looked like an Aburame to Naruto.

"I wouldn't have cared all that much either way." Shikamaru admitted without shame. "But he didn't."

"Hmph!" The indignant huff came from the only other blonde besides himself in the group, the girl looked vexed. "While you, Kiba and Kosuke were slacking off as usual, the rest of us were actually fighting to keep our spot in the exam!"

"Uh huh . . . Remind me on how you got through your bracket again?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her. She blushed and stuttered.

"I-I, well I was the first one to get sent down!"

"She was also the first one to get eliminated." The Aburame stated plainly. His dry voice made the statement funnier than it probably was, and many laughed.

"Oi! I got a bad matchup, okay!" Ino barked at him. The Aburame looked skeptical at that. "I managed to stay in the fight throughout test, but truth be told, the only reason I and Ino passed was because of our teammate from Kiri. She removed the entire competition almost singlehandedly. I'm not sure what she was better at, Kenjutsu, or Suiton."

Those words stirred Naruto's imagination, she sounded like a fun opponent. He allowed his mind to wander for a bit and only listened in on the conversation with half an ear. He was looking past the group when he saw a mop of red hair stride past several Genin. If the gourd on his back was not enough to mark him out, his two siblings walking in his shadow surely was.

Naruto tensed in indecisiveness. He wanted to help Gaara somehow. Yesterday after the exam, he had tried to seek out the Suna Jinchuriki. The Uzumaki wanted to examine the seal containing the Ichibi, but the team from Sunagakure had not been in their room yesterday. Nor did they show up after dusk.

Deciding against apathy, Naruto excused himself and stalked after the trio from Suna. He ignored the questions tossed after him. "I'll see you later." He called out over his shoulder.

The Rookies stared as Naruto disappeared in the crowd. "Some people just can't stay still, I guess." Kosuke murmured.

"Yeah but living life like that must be exhausting." Choji commented from where he stood in the circle, gobbling down fried bacon straight out of a plastic bag. He looked completely unbothered by the rain. He sucked a finger clean and looked at Hinata.

"What about you, Hinata, you didn't show up to the barbeque after the first test yesterday, how did you do?"

"Yeah. Hinata, why didn't you show up?" Sakura added in. "Everyone came, we thought maybe you got eliminated . . ."

"Of course not." Hinata replied haughtily. "The test went smoothly."

"Your opponents were weak too?" Sasuke asked, some of the rookies blinked. The Uchiha was so quiet it was sometimes easy to forget he was still there. Hinata considered the question for half a moment.

"Some of them were, naturally, but most of them were decent. The test went smoothly because I – much like Shino-san and Ino-san – landed an extraordinary teammate who more or less took out the entire competition alone."

"Geez, there are crazy, strong people everywhere in this exam." Kiba moaned in complaint.

"This one's familiar though, it was Naruto-san." Hinata revealed drily.

"That guy again?" Kiba pouted.

"Did he reveal any of his strengths?" Sasuke wanted to know.

"Not much, but I understand why you praised his Fuinjutsu, he had some ridiculous seals. At one point he removed gravity for a little while."

Sasuke took that piece of knowledge far better than the other rookies, who were surprised to hear Fuinjutsu like that even existed.

"Honestly, he seems ridiculously strong." Shikamaru was frowning. " I mean, the wounds from his fight with the proctor would have debilitated most people. He should have slowed down at the very least."

Hinata shook her head. "Naruto-san looked perfectly fine to me yesterday."

Shikamaru let out a sigh of suffering. "Troublesome."

After a moment of indecision, she decided to add something. "It's worth mentioning that Naruto-san never needed any teammates, me included. But even though we must have felt like useless baggage to him at certain points, he still watched our backs. For whatever reason."

Que stares. Hinata raised an eyebrow and tried her best not to let the added attention make her warm. "I am merely trying to say he seems . . . honorable. Nothing else." She elaborated.

Shino gave her a nod of acknowledgement. "That might be useful, duly noted, Hyuuga-san."

"Yeah, super comforting." Kiba quipped sarcastically. Hinata swiveled her pair of white, cold eyes at him. And he shrunk in on himself.

"Well, it's better to be stuck-" Shikamaru reflexively stopped talking when a loud bang went off somewhere inside the crowd. A bright flash and another smaller bang went off. Silence set in. The rookies and the rest of the crowd around them stared towards the commotion, but it was hard to see anything through the crowd.

Then, a familiar voice could be heard through the din of whispers.

"-Okay? Well, you think about it, my offer still stands you know. It's never too late to get help!"

Naruto waded through the crowd, and back to the spot he left earlier. He shook his jacket and wet, grainy sand scattered in the grass around him.

"I had a chat with Gaara." He said when no one outright asked anything, but he kept his voice low, he didn't want anyone to listen in.

"Brilliant idea." Kosuke commented in his usual meek tone.

"Yeah, maybe not my best decision." Naruto acquiesced easily.

"Why though?" Sakura was disturbed as to why he would even want to talk with Gaara in the first place.

Naruto hesitated. ". . . I know something about what he struggles with, I told him as much and offered him some help. He did not like that, not even one bit."

"What did he do?" Sasuke was curious.

"I'm pretty sure he tried to kill me." Naruto said it as if it was an everyday occurrence. "Word to the wise; try and stay away from the Suna team in general, but especially Gaara, he's not right in the head."

"ATTENTION!" Ibiki's voice bellowed out from the podium. Sakura and Ino both jumped in surprise. Everyone seized talking and the field became eerily quiet. Ibiki continued speaking.

"Yesterday sixty-three Genin had their names crossed out." Ibiki gave them a grizzled smile and nodded towards the blackboard. "If you want to keep from being eliminated today, you need to keep your calm and use your head. Well then, our judges are ready and waiting, so let's not tarry." With an athletic bounce from the podium, Ibiki hit the grass. The man walked to the outskirts of the clearing where all the old ruined structures and stone pillars stood. The statue Naruto had knocked over the previous day still laid there.

"I want you to form a line here!" Ibiki bellowed into the crowd. "I don't care where the line begins, but it ends here, understood?" He made a chopping motion with has arm to punctuate 'here'.

"I won't tolerate any fighting, the offending part in such cases will be eliminated post haste." The warning was delivered calmly compared to his usual gusto. "Now then, two of my Chunin will make sure you keep the line, and they will tell you when to proceed. Do not antagonize them. Lastly, once it is your turn, proceed through the two stone pillars-" Ibiki pointed both out. "-and follow the marked path. In this case, treading off the beaten path will result in elimination. Any questions?"

The mass of Genin began to swivel heads to see if anyone would ask anything.

"You never specified anything about the test . . ." A voice somewhere called out.

"The test itself is an oral examination. Theory, in other words." Ibiki announced that as if it should have been obvious. "Do your best, your scores will be posted."

"Posted? Where?" Someone wondered.

"On the blackboard alongside your name, and to the public once the first phase of this exam is over. Anyone else curious about something?" There were no takers this time.

"Good." Ibiki nodded in approval. "So, what are you standing around gawking for? Form the line." He told them impatiently.

People began shuffling around at Ibiki's behest. A mixed feeling of frustration and despair settled over Naruto. A theoretical test posed a problem, for the very simple reason that it was going to be difficult to finish in first place. Yet, the Sandaime had been clear on this, Naruto had to win in every facet of the exam.

Results that were less than stellar were unacceptable. Naruto wasn't worried about passing the test, he was worried he might score below someone else.

He and the rookies settled into the long line, and the group began to quietly converse, Naruto was consumed by his own thoughts and hardly listened in. For a budding teenager, he knew he was exceptionally bright, but he didn't have the confidence to say he was the most educated person in the line. That would be the height of hubris.

So, naturally, he had to come up with something.

He looked at the line, and found it was not going anywhere. The test would likely take up the entire day. No one would miss him if he vanished for a few minutes.

"Excuse me guys, I'm going for a bathroom break."

xXx

Umino Iruka shuffled his papers together and spread them across the desk he was occupying. The other judges in the room had already settled into their chairs and were trying their best to ignore each other. After a tense introduction earlier, no one had tried to broach conversation.

The cabin they were in was well hidden. A subtle, yet powerful Genjutsu kept it concealed in the forest section of the Arena. The small cottage had always been in the forest, and instead of razing it during construction, Konoha had decided to make use of it. The building consisted of only one room, and it was completely empty apart from five very slim wooden desks and five complementary chairs. There was an old fireplace and a stone chimney on the east wall, but other than that there was nothing else of note.

Despite the uncomfortable atmosphere, Iruka was excited about his job for the day. Questioning and grading his former students was going to be especially fun.

The door opened and a head poked through. "Morino-san just finished, the first Genin will be here in a minute or two."

The person did not wait for a reply and closed the door behind him.

Iruka exhaled slowly and sat down in his chair. Time to see how his students would hold up in this competetion!

xXx

It took several hours of standing around and talking, but eventually the rookie group from Konoha finally reached the end of the line – Naruto among them. The weather had worsened, rain was now steadily pouring from the sky. Some Genin had become wet through their clothes and soaked to the bone. Three people had been disqualified earlier because of an argument that had turned into a vicious fight.

Other than that, not much of note had happened. Naruto had gotten to know the Konoha Genin a bit better, but several minutes had often gone by without anyone speaking at all – Naruto had blamed this on the shitty weather for the most part.

"Come on, one of you move along." A Chunin by the stone pillars urged. He was talking to the group as a whole, when no one immediately jumped at the opportunity Naruto seized the chance. He was done sampling rain for the day.

"I'll go." He said and gave the Chunin a nod as he stepped past the two stone columns. He gave the rookies a small wave before he directed his focus onto the path. The trail had become muddy with rain and was filled with countless tracks from earlier Genin who had stomped through it. He avoided the muddiest parts.

After walking through a few twists and turns, a bridge came out of nowhere. A wooden suspension bridge that would take him of the small center island and into what looked like the forest zone. Naruto didn't pause and walked on, he had to smile when he saw signs of people having slid on the muddied planks. On the other side, Naruto continued to follow the path into the forest zone.

It was only after a minute of walking or so that he came to a natural stopping point. A small clearing that sort of shimmered when you looked at it from certain angles. While Genjutsu had never been his forte, this particular piece of illusion was so ramshackle it was hard not to notice. He held up his hands and dispelled the influence with a chakra flare.

A small wooden cabin materialized, a chimney protruded from the roof, there was no smoke, but there was a door. Moving closer, Naruto did the only natural thing, he grabbed the handle and went inside.

What greeted him was no surprise. Five Shinobi. One from each of the big five. Three men and two women. They sat behind a slim desk each, and they all looked up when he walked in. Not waiting to be told what to do, Naruto moved to the center of the room, where a small puddle accumulated from previous Genin lay. The young blonde stood broad-shouldered and put both arms behind his back.

"Naruto." He stated when no one immediately asked him his name. They all knotted it down.

"I'm ready, ask away." He added to them.

The person farthest to his right cleared his throat. "To the point, very good Naruto-san. Well then, let's see . . ." The brown-haired man was in his early twenties by Naruto's estimation, and probably a Chunin. He was Konoha's representative, revealed by his forehead protector.

"Can you tell me-" He twirled a pen in his hand and looked at Naruto. "Who in society has chakra?"

". . . The answer to that is everyone. If any of us run out of chakra completely, we die. That goes for everyone, not just Shinobi. We all produce chakra to some degree." Naruto answered succinctly. The Konoha judge gave him a nod and scratched off something.

The woman on the left side of the room gave of an annoyed harrumph. "You start of too simple Iruka-san."

"Most Genin get that one wrong, Shigeri-san." The man, Iruka, defended himself.

The woman called Shigeri, dug her eyes into Naruto, her headband revealed her to be from Kumo. "Can you perhaps explain what the terms spiritual energy and physical energy means?"

"Well, Spiritual energy is harnessed in our mind, while physical energy is collected from our body. It's when these two are molded together, that chakra is created." Something popped into his head just then, memories of questions and answers, and a lot of it. He had to blink a few times. Although he had been waiting for it, it was still hard to process all of the information without seeming suspicious.

He coughed slightly to clear his throat and buy some time, but the judges must have noticed the odd slip in composure. He tried his best to continue.

"I-I should add . . . that there are of course ways to improve both of the aforementioned. For instance, physical energy will increase if you train and exercise, and err . . . stimulants have been proven to have a positive effect on our physical energy. Spiritual Energy on the other hand, will increase as you become more experienced, but you might also increase it by studying, even meditation can work for some people."

The woman looked at him with a furrow in her forehead. Naruto waited with his best polite smile. Unbeknownst to them, he was cheating. He knew exactly which question would come next. And the ones after that.

The man beside her let out a hearty laugh. "At least you tried, Shigeri-san."

"Shut up, Hisato!" Shigeri shot out venomously and folded her arms beneath her breasts.

"Why is chakra control important? Explain that and how to improve it." The man, Hisato, was the one questioning him this time.

Naruto was already more collected by now, and he dove headfirst into his answer.

"Okay, to start, I think controlling your chakra is more important than most people realize, because the key to using your chakra properly is not having lots of it, but very good control over it. A Shinobi should only ever mold as much chakra as he or she needs. If they mold more chakra than necessary, not only will the excess chakra be wasted, but they might mess up the technique as well. On the other hand, if you mold too little chakra, the technique won't be effective. Because of this, chakra control is crucial.

Now, to improve chakra control, you need to challenge yourself. The best thing you can do is to use your chakra regularly, and experiment with it-" Naruto abruptly took his right arm and wiped down his wet combat jacket, the drops clinging to the fabric vanished. He did this a few more times, then he held out his arm.

The five judges peered at the small glob of water in his hand, it was no bigger than a bird egg, and formed like a sphere. The water inside the sphere was swirling gently. Abruptly, Naruto turned his hand upside down, but the water defied gravity and clung to his palm.

"I am not a Suiton user, I'm merely demonstrating how far chakra control and shape transformation can take you."

He gave them a slight smile and allowed the water in his hand to fall down and splash over his boots.

"My point, is that chakra is nearly limitless in its uses, and the key to using it properly is chakra control. And yet, the common steps most Genin undertake in order to improve their control over it fails to promote this kind of thinking. Consider the leaf concentration exercise, or the tree climbing and water surface walking. I know for a fact these exercises are common to hand out in the big nations, but why? Honestly, they kill our ingenuity. Chakra has a solution for most problems, but we need to learn how to use it to its potential. In order to get the best control over our chakra, we need to adapt to how our chakra works, not have our chakra adapt to how we want it to work."

Naruto finished, satisfied. "That was all." He told them when no one said anything.

". . . Uhm, yes, thank you, that was . . . more than sufficient." Hisato came to his senses. "Shou-san?"

A man with shoulder length brown hair and uncaring eyes moved slightly in his chair. He was the Iwagakure representative. "Very well, listen closely to this scenario."

He paused for a tiny moment, then he began.

"You are leading a mission, and the team you are in charge of has the objective to acquire something of vital importance. However, just as you are about to reach this objective in a remote area, you are ambushed. They are more than twice the size of your team, and the situation is looking grim. You have to make a hasty decision, and it boils down to a few different options . . ."

Naruto waited expectantly.

"Identify and explain each of your alternatives." The man from Iwagakure was smiling. Naruto acted appropriately put out by the very much expected question.

Humming to himself, Naruto adapted a thoughtful face. "I see." He allowed some time to pass before he went into his answer.

"Well, option number one:" Naruto held up his hand and ticked off a finger. "Retreat. I could decide to have my team escape the ambush and avoid engagement. This one I feel is the safer option, but it's not wrong."

"Option number two:" He ticked off another finger. "Engage. I could have my team attempt to combat the ambushers and defeat them. However, I would only ever do this if I felt very confident about my team or I had some sort of plan or ace in my sleeve."

"Option Number three." A third finger went up. "Surrender. I could tell my team to lay down their weapons and let me try the diplomatic approach, there's a high risk this ends up with us becoming their captives."

Naruto put down his arm. "These are the options it boils down to, but of course, there are countless varieties to these, I could for example sacrifice a team member to get us away. Which would be a different variation to the first alternative I listed."

The Iwagakure sensor stared at him over steepled fingers, he was devoid of expression. "And what you choose to do?" He asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"It depends on the situation of course; may I ask some questions?" Naruto asked back.

"As many as you want." The man from Iwa acquiesced. Naruto liked hearing that.

"How big is my team?" Naruto shot of the first question like a detective digging for answers.

"You are five including yourself." Was the calm reply.

"So, because the ambushers are more than double my own force, they should be twelve at least, but let's say thirteen. The site we are on, you mentioned it was a remote place, so I take it no civilians are around?"

"Correct."

"And the place itself, is it big?"

"It's a deserted temple, and the room your team is in is large enough to fit a gathering of a hundred people comfortably."

"How many entrances is there to this large temple room?"

"Four, and that is without considering any windows or other ways of entering."

"I take it there are connecting rooms to the one we are trapped inside then?"

"There is, one of these rooms has the objective in it."

"Well then, in that case, I would engage the enemies." Naruto declared boldly.

Without warning, he pulled out a blank sheet from his Fuuinjutsu pouch. He walked over and spread it out on the man's desk. He picked up an unused pencil lying on the desk and drew a fairly big square.

"Could you please point out the entrances for me?" Naruto politely asked the man opposite him. Said man had been momentarily surprised at having his privacy invaded, but the question forced him to recover his composure. The other judges arched their necks to try and get a glimpse of what was being drawn.

"Here, here, here and here." He placed his finger on four different spots.

"Going by what you said earlier, there must be some windows on these walls as well, correct?"

"Not windows really, but open alcoves that lead to connecting hallways and different rooms of the temple."

"Even better." Naruto added these details to the simple representation, and a small dot in the center of the square to represent his hypothetical team. With a nod of thanks Naruto stepped back to his spot and held up the illustration. He pointed.

"This is my team." He said, "and this is how I would take out the enemies and acquire the objective."

All of the judges leaned in with interest, none of the previous Genin had claimed something so bold. Or gone so in depth with their answers.

"I would create shadow clones to make confusion, but not just clones of myself, I would have some clones transform into my teammates. I would then have the clones scatter in every direction – creating chaos. Now, are any of you familiar with the concept of 'Defeat in Detail'?"

"Naturally." The man from Iwagakure claimed. The others did not look as certain. "Are you saying you would attempt to win by . . . scattering the enemies before picking them off?" He was intrigued. This was tactics far beyond Chunin level.

"In a sense, keep that in mind as I go through the scenario." Naruto smiled at having found a fellow tactician. The other representatives were clearly not following them, but they would understand in a minute.

"Considering the size of the ambush, this mission ought to have been B-rank at the very least, but probably A-rank. Agreed?" He shot the judges a quick look to see if everyone was on board with his thinking, there were no protests.

"On that assumption, the five-man squad I'm part of should be a tightly knit unit, and thus have rehearsed the most common cohesive attacks and movement patterns."

"Absolutely." The man from Iwa agreed, his eyes held interest now.

"I would signal to my team to employ a pattern that has the team scatter and reconvene farther back in the room, by the entrance door." Naruto pointed out the spot on his illustration. "I would make this signal before creating all of the clones."

Some of the judges began to nod in understanding.

"In the Shadow Clone chaos, I think this would go by mostly unnoticed, barring a few perceptive individuals. No matter, because my team will quickly follow my lead and slip down a hallway." Naruto drew a couple of arrows to illustrate the series of events.

"From here on out, my team will be taking on the enemy. Instead of running around looking for the objective and hoping we luck out, I'll make my team hide and lie in wait."

"Ambush the ambushers?" Shigeri asked unimpressed. "That won't do you much good when they nearly outnumber you three to one sweetie."

"I agree wholeheartedly." Naruto told her. "Luckily, we will be outnumbering them."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "How, exactly?"

"Defeat in detail." Naruto repeated the phrase from before with a smile. "The attackers have a greater number, but my team managed to avoid the initial ambush by scattering and grouping up out of sight. The enemy commander will no doubt issue a number of commands in response to this. With us gone in the clone chaos, he will surely send at least a few of his men to guard the objective. Let's say he sends two, just to have a number."

Naruto paused for a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Now, the enemy commander wants to find us quickly, we could either be trying to locate the objective, or escaping. He is not expecting us to lie in wait. So, he splits his force into search teams that can cover ground quickly. Assuming they were thirteen and that two of his men were sent off to protect the objective, he now has eleven Shinobi at disposal which he splits into three teams, these teams quickly scrounge through the area. Which is exactly what I want, because now, when my team sees a group of enemies approaching, we will be the ones outnumbering them. This is the principle of Concentration of Force. I have my entire force present, while the enemy approaching us only has a fraction of their force with them."

The representative from Iwagakure was nodding along to his explanation, the other judges were looking at the illustration with dawning realization.

"By now, I'm sure you can see where this scenario is going, so I won't spend much time going into the details of it. But my team will systematically take down our isolated enemies and attempt to gradually but swiftly destroy their whole force, before finally securing the objective. All of this is possible because my concentration of force is larger than the enemies at the point of contact, thus allowing my team to bit by bit destroy a much larger force. The enemy suffers a defeat in detail."

The man from Iwagakure smiled.

"Very well formulated, Naruto-san, I see you have been studying the Nidaime quite a bit."

"Yes, sir."

"Well, this was by far the best answer I will get today. Even so, your strategy hinges on a few things you never mentioned, I'll give you the best possible score if you can tell what those are."

Naruto pondered on this for a moment.

"Well, there are some things I can think of . . . The first is the enemy commander, in this scenario I made him overconfident. A complacent leader, if he was a decent commander, things would have turned out differently."

"Correct."

"Some people would make the argument that fighting off a fractioned force in this way wouldn't work once fatigue sets in. They would be right, but soldier pills and medic-nin can work miracles in prolonged combat scenarios like the one I just illustrated."

"True, good point."

"The only other thing that comes to mind is the odds of there being a sensor in the enemy ranks, which would have made hiding very difficult, and I would have been forced to do something very different. That said, there is a reason we have the saying, 'No plan survives enemy contact'. Unforeseen events will occur out in the field, but I believe there is always a chance to turn a situation around. As long as you keep thinking on your feet and keep ahead of the enemy, an opportunity will present itself." Naruto finished.

"Yes. Wonderful, you did extremely well. That will be all from me." The man leaned back into his chair, looking very satisfied.

"A final question then, Naruto-san." This came from the only other Kunoichi in the room, the Kirigakure representative. She was looking at him through dark strands of hair.

"What is Genjutsu, how do you us it and how do you counter it?"

"Genjutsu is a jutsu category that requires chakra." Naruto began slowly. "However, unlike Ninjutsu, the effects of Genjutsu are not real. People who use Genjutsu generally do so because they want to trick their opponents, but it's a very specialized branch. Most shinobi never try to learn it, simply because Genjutsu is very hard to learn. The control you need to use Genjutsu is so precise that very few people can do it. I would go so far as to call the art a niche branch."

The judges knotted down his points.

"The way Genjutsu works is through a person's chakra flow. A Genjutsu user attacks this flow with the intent to target the cerebral nervous system, thereby affecting the five senses. It sounds simple when I explain it, but it's a difficult process. I usually employ Genjutsu through eye-contact, but you can also use sound, or even physical contact if you are able to get close enough."

Naruto took a slight pause in order to clear his throat.

"Now, Genjutsu can be countered in a few different ways, but the best way to counter it is to avoid it altogether." He gave the judges a small smile.

"Dropping a smokescreen or creating a mist will at the very least prevent ocular Genjutsu. However, if you realize you are caught in an illusion, a common solution is pain. Stabbing yourself can bring you back to your senses, literally. A better option I would argue, is to flare up your chakra flow. If done correctly, this will remove any influence over your chakra, thus cancelling out any Genjutsu."

He let out a small breath. "That is all, thank you." He said and gave a small bow.

The Kunoichi from Kirigakure looked at her fellow judges. "I believe we are ready to give our rating."

The blonde boy held his breath in anticipation.

"On your first question, you scored-"

xXx

Later, after having left the small cabin in the woods. Naruto was treading carefully after a Konoha ANBU, a kunoichi. Where were they going? Naruto did not know. Why was he being taken somewhere by ANBU? He had not been told. The woman was tight lipped.

She had been leaning against the dilapidated cabin, waiting for him to finish. The moment he had walked outside, she had stepped from the wall and ordered him to follow her.

Naruto saw no reason to argue. Not with an ANBU. Although her mask of choice was a cute feline of some kind, Naruto knew not to disregard ANBU on an active order. So, he walked in her footsteps and kept his eyes on her swishing ponytail.

Purple. What an unusual hair color.

The path took them to a sheer drop, Naruto could hear the river below. The woman in front of him gave no warning before hopping off the ledge. Not about to be left behind, Naruto followed after. He hit the river with bent knees and chakra flowing out from his feet. He managed to keep his shoes from getting submerged and soaked. The constant rain made him wet enough as it was.

The two crossed the water and walked up the grassy banks on the other side. All of a sudden, the ANBU stopped and held up a flat hand. "Wait here." She told him, before briskly walking ahead without him.

If this was a trap, it would be sprung now. Naruto did not think that would be the case here. Instead, a broad set man stepped out from the tree line. The grizzled veteran stopped short of him, his gaze measuring.

"I was starting to wonder when we were going to do this." Naruto spoke first.

Ibiki grunted and threw him a small object, a leaf carved out of wood. Naruto caught it and gave the man a raised eyebrow. The man better not be judging his methods.

"What?" Naruto asked in a level tone, but slightly tinged with fierceness.

Ibiki kept staring at him, and Naruto felt like a great many things the man had been told was now being weighed up against what the man was seeing for himself. After a short but tense moment, the man deigned to speak. "Let's not dwell on yesterday – that mess I attribute to the Hokage."

"Agreed." Naruto seconded, but he was surprised to actually hear Konoha's interrogation leader blame his Hokage for something.

"If only I'd been given your file . . ." Ibiki rumbled.

Naruto could have told the man there was in fact, no such file in existence. There were no files on Naruto, there were no pictures, and even when mentioned in other reports and missives, his real name was never used.

But he did not say any of those things. Because as far as the world was concerned, Uzumaki Naruto did not officially exist.

Not yet, in any case.

"Any objectives, sir?" Naruto interrupted the man's reverie. The Jonin dug his eyes into Naruto.

"Those are good eyes, you will do nicely." The man began to absently scratch his stubble.

Naruto didn't know how to respond to that, so he kept silent.

From within his flak jacket, Ibiki withdrew a folder. He held it with both hands for a moment, his eyes were harder now. Hard and grey as flint.

"Your targets." The interrogation leader told him. "Study them tonight."

Naruto gingerly took the folder, there were files on three people inside it.

"Tomorrow you will eliminate them, permanently."

A/N And I finished another one. Go me, huh?

I've gotten a person on board who will help shape the story and point out my mistakes, his name on the forum is SamHetField and I would like to extend my thanks to him. I appreciate the help man! (additional beta-readers will still be welcome if they want to pitch in.) :D

I'm sure you have a few questions concerning the chapter, and I'm sorry about the cliffie, but let me just say that the cliffhanger will already be resolved in the next chapter.

Which will be posted . . . I dunno, a month or two from now I guess. Sorry for being a turtle.

Have a good one guys, the Epic Pen signing off.

PS! People Keep talking about pairings and whether this will be a Harem in the review section, and I was wondering if I should start a poll here to see what people really want, thoughts on this?