A/N Welcome back folks. Another update has arrived. There was a delay, I'm sorry guys, life got in the way.

I just want to say, thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, they were particularly long and descriptive. Loved reading through them.

Anyways, you must be eager to read the chapter, so I won't keep you anymore.

Read on!

Legacy Ascending

Intermission

~ The Hokage Tower – Third floor ~

"Wait . . . Is that . . ?" Tsume looked at Naruto with a baffled expression.

"Sarutobi-sama, did you just say Uzumaki?" Hiashi demanded to know.

"Hokage-dono? Who is this?" Inoichi chimed in, clearly confused.

More people began speaking, and in no time at all the room was filled with loud voices fighting to be heard. Naruto kept silent and watched the ongoings with a polite demeanor.

"Silence!" The old man dressed in white garbs spoke sharply, and suddenly all talk seized. Sarutobi let out a tired sigh and gestured to Naruto. "This is the agent I mentioned. Naruto-kun, come stand beside me."

No one uttered a word as Naruto walked past the different clan heads, which said something about the Sandaime's authority. Naruto could see curiosity burn in some of the eyes he met, but everyone remained quiet.

"I will admit to some surprise of my own right now. To the best of my knowledge Naruto has been hospitalized, and was unconscious only three hours ago, but this is excellent, we can now hear the full events of what happened two days ago in the arena."

As he was saying this, the Sandaime was stuffing his pipe with tobacco.

"Now, to clarify. Yes, this is Uzumaki Naruto."

There was an abrupt silence as everyone stopped breathing for a tiny collected moment. The looks Naruto received told him they knew exactly who he was, or rather, who his parents had been.

"He returned to the village last week, and I have been putting him to good use recently. Naruto, why don't you relay the events of what happened? Leave nothing out, any details could be of vital importance."

Naruto nodded and gazed across the table. The clan heads were not subtle in their staring, it was enough to make him self-conscious. The Sandaime lit his pipe and gestured for him to begin speaking.

So, Naruto did, he told them how he'd handled the assignment to eliminate the Otogakure team. He told them about Kin, and how he came to his decision to keep her alive as an asset. He told them how he'd tracked down the Oto Genin, and how he'd found Zaku gone and Dosu dead.

He explained how Orochimaru had attempted to do something to Sasuke, and he added his own hunch about Sasuke's importance to Orochimaru.

" . . . he avoided killing Sasuke entirely and went for me instead, considering that, it seems likely Orochimaru wants him for some nefarious purpose." A few nodded gravely at this.

"The Sharingan is the obvious reason anybody would want Sasuke, but Orochimaru could have easily plucked them from Sasuke's sockets. That leads me to suspect there is more to it than we are aware of. In any case, I had one of my nearby Kage Bunshin dive in to get Sasuke away. Then . . ."

The group listened attentively, but every now and then someone wanted clarification, or they had a short question. But for the most part, Naruto was able to give his report of the event undistracted.

" . . . I told Orochimaru I'd killed Kin Tsuchi, and that made him . . . Irritated. He mentioned using her as a sacrifice, and that he would have to find a replacement." Naruto let that one sink in for half a moment.

The Sandaime let slip a look of disturbed revulsion, the fingers holding the pipe turned white. It was in that moment Naruto remembered that Orochimaru had once been his student.

"Did he elaborate at all? Anything about what kind of sacrifice?" The Naara clan head was looking at him over steepled fingers.

"'She was supposed to be a sacrifice for the summons', were his exact words." Naruto replied.

"How peculiar . . . Are you aware of any summons that could fit that description, Hokage-dono?"

"I can think of a handful of things at the top of my head, none of them good." The Hokage replied evasively, puffing out a stream of smoke. "Then what, Naruto-kun?"

"Then he brought out the Kusanagi, and we fought."

Akimichi Choza held up a hand. "Hold on now, you said you were in the mountain zone, but I thought the fight took place in the forest zone? That's what I gathered at least."

Naruto gave a tiny roll of his shoulder. "It began in the mountain zone, and it ended in the forest zone."

Hiashi frowned and glanced at the outstretched map of the arena lying on the table. "That's down a narrow cliffside and on the other side of this lake." He put down his finger at the specified spot on the map. "If what you say is true then-"

"Hiashi, please, allow him to continue the report." The Sandaime interrupted him, and Hiashi reluctantly closed his mouth. His pale eyes flashed with lightning though.

Without preamble, Naruto began to break down his fight with Orochimaru.

He left the gritty details in place and made no attempt to pretty up the story. After Orochimaru had stopped toying with him, every action Naruto had made had been tinged with desperation. He made the clan heads understand that, in a direct struggle of skill and power, he had been completely incapable of standing up to Orochimaru.

So, he told them how he'd evaded the Sannin. How he'd barely scraped by, tossing himself off the cliff and summoning Gamabunta. He told them about the firestorm he made, and about Manda. He told them how Orochimaru eventually caught up with him and proceeded to trounce him pretty much. Naruto managed to get in a good blow, but that had been wholly due to his unpredictable ability of sealing and unsealing objects in himself.

In the end, Orochimaru had blown him away with a single strike. Naruto had lost focus and his body had brutally - and repeatedly - smashed into the ground without any chakra reinforcing him. He had been unable to move much of his upper body after that.

His last attempt at taking down the Sannin had been his custom-made explosive scroll. After the explosion had gone off, he had been rendered deaf and immobile.

". . . after the first responders and Anko found me, I passed out." Naruto finished. The most common reaction he was able to gleam from the people around the table was disbelief.

"And you are a Genin?" Tsume commented, she was looking at him strangely. Naruto found her heavy gaze disconcerting.

"He is not a Genin." Hiruzen clarified tiredly.

"He's hardly any older than my own son." Choza looked dubious. "If someone had told me Choji had a scrap with Orochimaru . . ."

Hiashi was the next one to express doubt. "Not to be crude, but while I am sure Naruto-san is very skilled. This is Orochimaru we are talking about, you trained him yourself, Hokage-sama, and I believe it was you who said that no one in the village today are even capable of defeating him."

The Sandaime shook his head. "Naruto did not defeat Orochimaru, and while I did say that no one in the village today could defeat him. I think the Yondaime would have proven himself a worthy opponent at the very least, if not outstrip Orochimaru entirely. Now, with that said, whose son is this?" The Sandaime gestured towards Naruto.

The boy in question tried very hard not to squirm as every pair of eyes in the room flickered to him briefly.

"The Yondaime had a plethora of signature techniques, of which no one in this room are capable of reproducing, including Naruto, unless I am mistaken?" The hooded man of the Aburame clan directed that last part to him.

"For now." Naruto did his best to keep back the vitriol, his father's techniques were a touchy subject.

You've tried to reproduce his techniques? The voice of Kurama entered his mind.

Shut up. Was Naruto's succinct reply to that, he could feel himself get warm with anger.

Surprisingly, Shikaku then interrupted the arguing around the table to speak up on his behalf. "As someone who has seen the examination committee's file on Naruto, I can tell you that this is not as outlandish as it at first seems."

The clan heads around the table became quiet, and the Jonin commander continued. "What Naruto has accomplished sounds . . . Impossible, but the fact of the matter is that he is the only one apart from Jiraiya who has a contract with the toads. I've read the reports of the Chunin on the scene, and they can confirm that Gamabunta and Manda were fighting in the lake. Furthermore, Orochimaru was spotted escaping out of a steaming crater."

The Naara looked down the table. "Face it, we've been told the truth, and we are doing Naruto a disservice by not believing him." The Jonin commander rose from his seat and walked to a stop in front of Naruto.

"I thank you for your service, very few could have pulled of what you did. You are definitely their son, they would have been proud." He said, arm outstretched.

Completely stupefied, Naruto discovered in that moment why Jiraiya had instilled common curtesy into him. It was for situations exactly like this one, where a person had no clue on what to say or do. He clasped Shikaku's hand automatically and shook it twice before letting go.

"Thank you, Jonin commander." Naruto replied slightly robotically, relieved that his voice didn't crack up. He had never been . . . commended like that before. His wits returned slowly.

"That. . It means a lot to me." Naruto told him and bowed. Not a 30-degree half assed bow, but a 90-degree formal bow expressing respect and gratitude.

Shikaku gave him a nod and sat down in his seat again.

"When put like that, the situation falls into place. However, there is one more thing puzzling me." Hyuuga Hiashi set his pale eyes into Naruto. "The way you described your injuries, I felt like they were severe, fatal even. Yet, here you stand, looking perfectly healthy. Care to elaborate?"

Naruto glanced at the Sandaime, but the wizened old man had his eyes closed and was absentmindedly puffing on his pipe. Naruto took that as a sign it was safe to speak openly.

"You all know why I was sent out of the village." Naruto addressed the room as a whole.

"I've forgotten actually." Choza admitted easily.

"I'm a Jinchuriki, Akimichi-san. And because of that." Naruto turned his gaze towards Hiashi. "I heal very fast."

"Of course. I see . . . A useful ability no doubt." Hiashi mused.

"One of the few perks among the cons." Naruto admitted lightly.

"Well, now that we have satisfied our curiosity concerning the young man, I want to return to certain matters, and now that we have new information to consider I say we extend the meeting." Sarutobi said imperiously, flexing his authoritarian voice.

Tsume groaned, and Choza lamented loudly that he was hungry. The Hokage scratched the stubble on his chin. "Hmm, well, maybe a break and some refreshments are in order. A relief of fifteen minutes, sounds good?"

Everyone agreed easily to that.

"Good!" The Sandaime exclaimed and rose from his chair. "Naruto-kun, if you would follow me."

Naruto kept in line with the village leader and nodded politely to the clan heads as he passed them by. He received proper nods back in return. The two left the room and briskly went up two flights of stairs and down a long hallway, Naruto knew their destination before they arrived. The room reserved for the sitting Hokage had started to become a familiar place to him by now.

"You did very well in the first phase, Naruto. Considering what happened you overshot even my expectations, and they were lofty to begin with." Hiruzen said this as he emptied his pipe in an ash bowl on the desk, he then picked up a glass decanter from the refreshment tray. He poured himself a tumble of something dark brownish.

"I was wondering about the exam actually, I'm still in it?" Naruto asked. Technically, he never finished the test that day, as Orochimaru had taken up his full attention.

"Oh right. Well, Ibiki had his orders, so he made up something convoluted to keep you in the loop." The Hokage made an abstract hand gesture. "I would ask him about it as I do not have the details. All I know is that you apparently overperformed and was immediately granted a spot in the tournament."

The Hokage gave him a sly wink.

"I'll be sure to go see him later . . ." Naruto replied, a bit stumped. It felt odd having someone like Ibiki pull at the strings for him. It was nice, but he also felt an underlying sense of unease about it for whatever reason.

"Now." The old man threw the contents of the glass down the hatch like a pro. "Ahh, that's better. We will discuss the final phase of the exam at a closer date, but until then I expect you to put much of your free time into training and studying your opponents."

Naruto shrugged easily. "Yeah, I mean, seems like I'll be having a lot of free time anyways."

"Not at all." The Sandaime told him with a shake of his head. "Every morning at eight o'clock sharp, you will report at the reception downstairs. Someone will then be with you shortly and give you some guidance and a rundown of your tasks that day. You start tomorrow."

"Err, yes sir." Naruto complied hesitantly. "And the nature of these tasks?"

"Simple work for the most part. There's that Oto girl you brought in. We'll have to put her to the test, but mostly very uneventful stuff compared to what you have been doing recently." The Sandaime told him with a slight smile.

"It's been a rough week." Naruto laid a hand across his ribs, he ignored the following stab of phantom pain that coursed through him.

"I do not doubt that. . ." Hesitantly, Hiruzen added: "How are you feeling by the way?"

"Besides the headache and whatnot? Just hunger. I'm starving actually."

"How was it like to fight him? Did you ever lose your cool, a momentary panic?" There was no need for the Sandaime to elaborate on who he was talking about.

"No. Thanks to Jiraiya, I felt somewhat equipped to deal with Orochimaru. Honestly, without him things would have gone down different. He gave me a lot of useful information about snakeface the night before." Naruto smiled wryly. "His gut feeling was right on target, Orochimaru was masquerading as a Genin."

Naruto glanced back at the Hokage. "That said, I found the man unnerving as hell, I mean, what kind of person regurgitates their sword?"

"No fear?" Hiruzen cocked an eyebrow, he looked bemused.

Naruto gave the question proper consideration this time. "Actually, there was a moment. I was watching from a distance, Sasuke was struggling to get back on his feet, and Orochimaru was creeping up on him. I delayed intervening at first, because I was scared to dive in . . . But when Orochimaru struck, my body just moved on its own." Naruto stared pointedly at the wall, feeling slightly uneasy.

When he eventually took a peek at the Sandaime, he was surprised to see a wistful smile on his face.

". . . What?" Naruto demanded to know.

"You sound like your father." He explained with a content smile.

xXx

~ Hyuuga compound – early evening ~

Hinata Hyuuga took a brief glance at the two other people around the table, before returning her attention to the plate in front of her. Hanabi sat next to her and was bent over her meal. Their cousin was opposite of them. Neji was eating calmly, but he looked uncomfortable. There was an almost inscrutable shadow in his expression at times, and while he looked at ease, he was clearly not. Hinata saw it in his bearing. Her cousin disliked being in their company.

Not that it was news to her.

These occasional dinners where they invited Neji were supposed to bring them closer together, but it only served to widen the chasm between them it seemed.

As if on que, the man arranging the dinner meetings strode through the doors leading into the large open room. Hiashi strode in with his white robes trailing behind him. The door slowly screeched shut behind him, and Hinata carefully placed her utensils down and stood up straight on the Tatami mats.

"Otou-sama. Welcome home." She proclaimed in a strong voice.

"Tou-sama!" Hanabi chirped in from her spot on the floor, and scrambled up to hug their father.

Hiashi smiled at his youngest daughter and embraced her. Hinata watched with a slightly hollow smile while Neji kept eating unfazed.

"Have you been at the meeting all day, father?" Hinata asked once Hanabi detached herself from their father.

"Yes." He replied with the sort of no-nonsense tone of voice he always used. "We had to extend it, details concerning the exam had to be hashed out."

"Oh? Like what? Shen from my class has a sibling participating in the exam, and she was nearly killed by a tidal wave!" Hanabi told them with shining eyes.

"Ahh. Really?" Hiashi's smile faltered, and he swiveled his gaze towards Hinata and Neji. "I haven't had the time to speak with you for the past two days, but both of you managed to enter the final phase of the exam – well done." He said and sat down cross-legged at the head of the table.

"Thank you, Otou-sama." Said Hinata and returned her attention back to her meal.

"Thank you, Hiashi-sama." Neji did not sound the least bit grateful.

"And are you preparing for what will come? The first match will be different." There was some weight added to the word 'first'.

"The first bout is a three man free for all, I'll be fighting Nii Yugito, and someone called Fuu." Hinata seemed exceptionally calm despite this.

"I matched with two Kunoichi, Kurotsuchi and Temari." Neji revealed.

Hiashi rose an eyebrow in surprise. "Not the worst draw I suppose. At least neither of you paired with Gaara, or Hikaru. those two are favorites to win the entire thing."

"There are favorites already?" Neji asked, mildly perturbed.

"Well, of course." Hiashi folded his sleeves back and picked up a pair of chopsticks. "This exam will be historical. The staff in the lobby today hardly talked about anything else, and both Gaara and Hikaru made some waves in the opening week."

"Wouldn't it be super cool if Oneé-san and Neji-ni ended up in the final round!?" Hanabi grinned broadly at both of them. A treacherous smile briefly played around Neji's lips, but he managed to squelch it. Hinata on the other hand smiled warmly at her sister, but it was halfhearted. Unfortunately, Hanabi noticed that.

"What?" She frowned at Hinata.

"Nothing. I just think someone else is going to win." Hinata chose to be honest.

"Who? Hikaru?" Hanabi looked confused.

"Someone called Naruto." Hinata replied.

Hiashi paused his eating, he then lowered his chopsticks with deliberate care. "What do you know about that boy, Hinata?" Hiashi questioned his daughter.

Hinata turned her pale eyes down as she answered. "Not much, he's secretive, but clearly beyond Chunin level."

"Hmm, what about you Neji? Have you paid any attention to the boy in question?" For whatever reason, her father was showing a keen interest in Naruto – even though he was not of their clan. Highly unusual. Hinata thought to herself.

For the first time throughout the meal, Neji Looked up. He stared blankly at Hiashi for a moment. "He . . ."

"Yes?" Hiashi prodded. He was absentmindedly trailing a slender finger along the grooves of the table.

"He looks a bit like . . ."

"Like a younger version of the Yondaime!" Hinata finished uncharacteristically loudly. Neji raised his eyebrows at her.

"You noticed it too?" He asked her.

Hinata nodded energetically and looked at her father. He had stilled like a statue, the finger gracing over the table cracks had stopped.

"You knew." Hinata stated the two words impassively.

Hiashi made an aggravated sound in the back of his throat, and pinched his nose bridge. "Sometimes it's better not to be too clever, Hinata."

Hinata bit back a question and swallowed it. She held her silence until another question – the one that had lurked in the back of her head for the past few days rose to the forefront.

"Who is he?" Hinata sought her father's eyes fervently, but when she got no response her ignorance started pouring forth. "He has no last name, he lies about his background, he wears no symbol of allegiance, and he fought a Tokubetsu Jonin and came out ahead. And he knows things, so don't tell me he's not important, I can tell."

Hinata let out a large breath. "Is he connected to the invasi-"

Hiashi placed an open palm calmly on the table, and it made Hinata pause. "I expressly told you not to talk about that. I only told you about it so that you and Neji wouldn't go blindfolded into the exam."

Hiashi looked at his eldest daughter with a penetrating gaze. "As for the boy, his name is Uzumaki Naruto, and he is of no concern to either of you." He glanced at the two Genin at the table, while Hanabi looked back and forth in bewilderment.

"Very well, Otou-sama." Hinata replied stiffly.

"That said." Hiashi added apprehensively. "Do not consider him an enemy."

Hinata caught some of her own surprise reflected in her cousin's eyes. That last bit insinuated he was on their side. But Hinata did not dare ask outright. Her father had his strict face in place, and probing any further would only cause more friction. So, Hinata's mind churned in silence, just what kind of role was Uzumaki Naruto playing?

xXx

~ 27 days until phase two of the exam ~

Early next day, Naruto found himself at Konoha's Intelligence Division at the Hokage's behest. Situated in-between the Hokage tower and the Shinobi archives, the large building had a handful of subdivisions, like the ANBU and the Hunter Nin squads. Naruto was inside Ibiki's branch of operations, the Torture and Interrogation Force. He dealt with detaining people – and extracting information, sometimes with any means necessary.

Puffing up his shoulders, Naruto knocked firmly on the office door he'd spent some time tracking down now.

"Enter!" A voice from the inside commanded gruffly.

The room inside was clean, and neatly organized. Not a single thing on Ibiki's desk was out of place. Sheets of paper were folded perfectly, and the space was completely devoid of anything not professional. The wall on both sides of the room had filing cabinets that almost reached up to the roof.

"Oh, it's you." The grizzled veteran grunted, eyes scouring a folder. "I'm surprised you survived, Orochimaru normally doesn't leave people behind alive."

Naruto shrugged. "It wasn't due to a lack of trying on his part."

Ibiki looked up. "I guess not, but if you've come to brag, you're in the wrong place."

"It wasn't a fight to brag about – I'm sort of disappointed in myself to be honest." Naruto said with a miserable smile. "But that isn't why I came, the Sandaime said you would be able to fill me in concerning the exam, and also, where do you keep the girl?"

Ibiki shrugged. "Well, the girl is below, holding cell C 14. As for the exam. I had to make up some shit in order to get you a spot in the finals, so I tacked on a rule at the end of the day in order to secure you a slot."

"What was the rule?" Naruto inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"The three Genin who gathered the most badges all got a spot in the final phase of the exam. Out of curiosity, how many did you actually collect?"

"Seven."

"Ah, okay. Well, if someone asks, you had eleven at the end of the day. Besides you, there was Hikaru from Kiri and Nii Yugito from Kumo."

"And everyone else?" Naruto asked.

"The remaining Genin fought for their spots in preliminaries yesterday. We have our finalists. Here, have a look at the matchups." He flipped through the folder on the desk and picked out a specific page.

"Twelve competitors, and some of those will even pose some competition." Ibiki told him as he gave him the sheet.

Tournament Bracket

First Bout

Gaara VS Rock Lee VS Naruto

Second Bout

Hikaru VS Shikamaru VS Tenten

Third Bout

Fuu VS Nii Yugito VS Hinata

Fourth Bout

Temari VS Neji VS Kurotsuchi

Naruto glanced over the twelve names, but he was more intrigued by the bracket system. It looked like as if the finals would consist of three man free for all scenarios.

I have to start preparing . . . Hoh. I'll be seeing Rock Lee and Gaara in the opening match, that'll be interesting.

"I'll keep this if you don't mind." Naruto folded the paper and pocketed it. "So, the girl?" He asked the interrogation specialist.

"C 14, it's a holding cell below." Ibiki opened a drawer and picked out a large key chain with two dozen tiny keys dangling from it. He picked out one and pulled it from the chain with rehearsed fingers. He held it up to Naruto, who grabbed it. But Ibiki didn't let go.

"The Sandaime may have a soft spot for you, but you don't know what you're doing here – you're not an interrogator. You can unlock the cell, you can go inside and talk to her, but nothing else. Don't make any promises, don't talk about Konoha, don't give her any information about Orochimaru or the exam. I'll give you fifteen minutes, and the only reason you're getting that much is because she insists on talking to you and the Sandaime is only too happy to comply." Ibiki glared at him throughout the tirade.

"Do you understand?"

Naruto nodded, he did understand. "Yeah, you have no faith in me whatsoever, and you don't want me to fuck up the process. I'll keep it in mind, but you might be surprised."

Ibiki stared at him with hard eyes for several long seconds. "Then go." He relented tiredly, and let go of the key.

Naruto gave a casual salute as he left the office. Then it was down two flights of stairs, through two corridors interspersed with locked doors until he found cell door C 14. He used the key and unlocked the heavy ironclad door.

Light from the hallway spilled into the dimly lit cell and illuminated the girl who sat on the floor, her back against the wall. She made for an ugly sight, with her injuries still prominent and in the same set of clothes she had worn in the Arena. She was idly twirling her slashed forehead protector over in her hands.

She stopped when she saw him in the doorway, and they stared at each other for a moment. Then, without saying anything, Naruto closed the door behind him and took a few steps into the cell.

"Took your sweet time." She said after a long silence. Her voice was gritty with disuse, and she began to loudly clear it.

"I got hold up – been unconscious for the past two days." Naruto told her simply.

Kin looked at him with slight surprise. "I thought you were supposed to be a powerhouse, how did that happen?"

Naruto ignored the sting to his pride and stepped closer. This was a delicate problem, Kin might be sitting on some very valuable information. He had to further build up her trust in him, but starting off their conversation by lying was not the way to do it.

That's why Naruto decided to break Ibiki's rule without thinking twice about it. "I fought Orochimaru."

Kin looked at him as if he'd proclaimed his own death.

"I told him I killed you by the way, he thinks you're dead."

Kin hardly seemed to register that. "How are you alive?"

"I'm a powerhouse, remember?" Naruto replied smugly.

Kin looked over his neat appearance and frowned. Naruto sighed in resignation.

"Did you really-?"

"I don't have time to picture you all the nifty details today, so don't finish that question. It's true, it really happened, now let's move on. Someone will be here to throw me out soon enough, and I need information before that."

"Huh? Yeah okay, geez, but holy mother of . . . Did you really. . ?"

"Yes." Naruto lamented and barely kept himself from eyerolling. "Now, can we get to the important stuff? Intel. What can you tell me about the invasion?" He pressed.

"And you expect me to give up what I know just like that? For nothing?"

"Did you not hear me just now?" Naruto knelt into a squat in front of her. "Orochimaru thinks you're out of this world, you've got nothing to fear."

She looked at him with dark doubtful eyes, one of which was red and puffy. It reminded him of her injuries, and he glanced at her other wounds.

"Are they treating you well? Has anyone taken a look at you?" Naruto gestured towards her leg.

"Sort of." She shrugged, not breaking eye contact with him. "They changed bandage once, gave my arm that flimsy cast." She looked at a white cast which she had thrown on the grimy floor.

"My arm hurts a lot unless I keep it over my head." She told him and laid the arm casually over her dirty mop of dark hair. It had swelled a great deal, Naruto noticed.

That's a typical reaction to a fracture, a lot of people experiences relief when they keep their limbs raised, that way their appendices doesn't fill up with blood.

Shaking his head, he waddled closer and gingerly grabbed her leg, it was red through the bandage. He began unwinding the cloth.

"Sorry." He told her.

"Why?" She seemed genuinely puzzled.

"I barged in here in a rush, the schmuck upstairs gave me a time limit. I should have checked on your wellbeing first, they clearly didn't give you the best treatment here, but I was so caught up in my own problems I forgot to even ask how you were doing."

The wounds might be starting to turn sour by now, and if they began to fester, she would need medication in order to recover. What she needed now was a good cleaning and some proper treatment. He would do what he could for now though.

"I will make sure your situation down here is fixed within fifteen minutes of me leaving this cell, that's a promise." Naruto proclaimed confidently, he hoped that would raise her spirits a bit.

"And your superior here will just go along with that?" She gave him a crooked smile.

"Once I explain to him how expensive medicine for an infected wound can be." Naruto stated simply. He didn't have his kit of useful field supplies on him today, a blunder on his part. So, he tore out a piece of his shirt and began wrapping up her leg with it. He could have used the white linen cast on the floor, but it wouldn't exactly be sanitary to say the least.

"One can wonder, is this really just an obvious ploy to endear me to you?" She seemed to ask the empty cell in general.

"Only if it's working." Naruto smiled humorously. After which followed a momentary stretch of silence.

"Do you . . . Do you know what happened to my teammates?" Kin asked once he was done wrapping up her leg.

Naruto moved to look at her discolored and broken right arm. It was definitely in need of the attention of someone more qualified than him, but she would have to make do with him for now.

"Wasn't there in time to see it myself, but apparently Orochimaru killed Dosu, he then injured Zaku and let him run off. I'm not sure why he did any of it, but he wants the Uchiha for some reason." Naruto studied her arm for a full minute from different angles without touching it.

". . . I shouldn't be surprised, but . . . damn. But why would he command us to kill Sasuke if he wanted him alive?" Kin shook her head in confusion.

"That confused me too. Maybe he changed his mind, I honestly have no idea." Naruto shrugged. Then he continued relaying the events. "When I told Orochimaru that I'd killed you, he said you were supposed to be part of a sacrifice. He then brushed it off, saying he had more pawns to use. The way he said it was downright ominous." Naruto looked at her meaningfully.

"I have no idea what . . . what it might have entailed, or what pawns he would use. It could be anyone." She told him, her complexion paling.

"I figured not." Naruto gently brushed a finger over her elbow skin. "Does this-?"

She cried out in pain and immediately gave him an indignant look.

"Okay, so that hurts." He murmured to himself.

"Obviously." She told him snappily. Naruto ignored her and tried to gingerly move her arm ever so slightly. Overlapping shades of dark blue and purple covered her skin around the elbow break. The skin had not been pierced by the bone, it was a closed fracture, which was for the better, but he was definitely missing something.

Naruto hummed thoughtfully. "It shouldn't be this color . . ."

After gently touching and examining her in silence for a minute, he came to a conclusion.

"I misread the signs that day in the arena." He told her flatly. "It's actually good news though, this injury is a lot easier to recover from than what I initially thought you were struggling with."

"I don't have a broken arm?" She asked him sarcastically.

"Oh you definitely do, just not in the way I thought. I thought your Olecranon had broken- it's the bony point of your elbow." Naruto tapped his own elbow where the tissue was at its thinnest to demonstrate. "The Olecranon is a part of your lower forearm, the Ulna, but it also cups your upper forearm, the Humerus, it's the hinge that grants your elbow its movement."

"Uhh, okay, and it's not broken?" She asked, confused.

"No, luckily your Olecranon is intact, but your upper forearm however, is not. Your Humerus is displaced, not by much, but we have to put it back into alignment. Only then can we cast this, this is why you've only gotten worse."

"Fuck me!" She groaned. "How much is this going to hurt?" She wanted to know.

"A lot, but you should start feeling better almost immediately after we do this."

"Well, that's something, let's get it over with then." Without ceremony, Kin lifted her forehead protector to her mouth and gently brought her teeth down onto the metal.

Pretty fearless. Naruto noted to himself. Her coal black eyes told him she was only doing this because she had no way of helping herself.

She's used to the pain, there's a lot of anger in her.

Naruto seized up for half a second at Kurama's surprising comment, then he continued like nothing had happened. He told Kin to take a deep breath and grabbed her arm firmly.

xXx

Just as Morino Ibiki was about to reach cell 14, a long drawn out scream filled with pain resonated from a cell and echoed down the hallway. This gave Ibiki pause at first, as these were the holding cells, and all interrogations were reserved for the floor below. Currently there were only four people in block C, only one of which was female.

Although raw, the scream had been distinctly girlish.

"What the fuck is that kid doing in there?" Ibiki muttered to himself. While he hadn't specifically told the Uzumaki not to employ torture, Ibiki thought that went without saying. Apparently not.

The interrogation specialist stood still in deliberation for a minute.

Stopping the interrogation had been his first instinct, but Ibiki was also curious. The boy had proclaimed his results might surprise him. And besides, he had told the boy to talk to the girl, nothing else, if this went poorly, it wouldn't go on his cape, this was the Hokage's wish after all.

Mind made up, Ibiki turned around. He would give the Uzumaki ten more minutes.

xXx

"You did good, I didn't even have to constrain you all that much." Naruto praised the girl and let the two clones who had helped him set the bone into place disappear in smoke. Kin was breathing hard, and her headband protector laid on the floor, indents from her teeth visible on it. Her scream had nearly burst his eardrums.

"That hurt like a bitch." She told him weakly.

"That it does." Naruto agreed.

"You've had the same?" She asked him.

"You could say that. Broke my bones a lot when I was younger. I've had dozens, if not hundreds of fractures."

What the . . . I didn't peg you for a masochist. Kurama sounded genuinely surprised.

I recuperate fast, so broken bones usually only kept me from one or two days of sparring. Kurama had no reply to that.

"That's awful." She told him with a frown. "Is that why you know so much about bones?"

Clever girl. Naruto gave her a smile. "That's correct."

"Wouldn't it hamper your training if you broke your bones all the time?"

"Not really, I heal at a very exaggerated pace. The pain lingered sometimes, but my limbs were usually completely functional within a day or two." Naruto explained.

Looking at him oddly, Kin tried to envision a person who healed broken bones in a matter of days. ". . . You're talking as if it doesn't happen anymore. Teacher not around?" She asked him. If Naruto didn't know any better, he would say she was the one interrogating him.

"No, he's around. My bones just stopped breaking." He told her mirthfully.

She looked at him with disturbed disbelief. "I mean, I've heard that bones become stronger every time they break, but that's just ridiculous."

"Yeah, it is, although, now that I'm thinking about it, my hospital file mentioned some fractures from my fight with Orochimaru, so it's not completely true. But by and large, my bones rarely break now."

Maybe I should tell Jiraiya to put some more heat on in our spars?

"But enough about that. I'm surprised no one has interrupted us yet, so let's use the time we've got left." It would hurt his image as an over achiever if he left the cell emptyhanded and with no tangible progress.

"Let's skip Otogakure today, I'm more interested in Orochimaru's immediate plans, what do you know about the invasion?"

With a loud sigh, Kin Tsuchi began to speak with a heavy heart.

xXx

~ 26 days until phase two of the exam ~

"So, she had some intel after all." Sarutobi muttered from where he was standing by the large floor to wall windows in the Hokage office.

"Some." Naruto agreed from his seat, a written report from the day before laid on the desk in front of him. "But nothing truly vital."

"I disagree. 'The Sound Four' sounds like an easily recognizable quartet, and exactly the kind of people we need to be aware of. Knowing your enemy is vital information, Naruto-kun, and Orochimaru will not be attacking us by himself." The Sandaime kept his gaze on the bustling streets winding through Konoha down below.

"Yeah, well, true enough. She had some interesting tidbits on Otogakure too, but very little on the attack itself."

"I never dared hope anything of that magnitude, she was merely a pawn after all. Still, her compliance is appreciated and some of her information definitely has merit." The wizened old man turned his head slightly to give Naruto a look.

"You did well with her."

"She's expecting citizenship once this is over with." Naruto admitted with a guilty smile.

"Really now?" The Sandaime gave him a curious look.

"I told her in the arena she could have a new identity here, a different life." He explained. "I get the impression she's a girl who's been whipped into obedience all her life, if we prove that we're different, she'll come around."

"I see." The Sandaime stepped away from the windows to stand behind his own chair, his gnarly old hands wrapped around the upholstery.

"You are speaking of conversion, Naruto. A very delicate matter. Especially when we take into account that the person we are converting might be a spy."

"-However!" The Sandaime held up a calm hand when Naruto tried to interrupt. "I will say your idea could very well be worth it, and once this turbulent time is behind us, we will start screening her. Inoichi has an excellent program we can make good use of."

"Thank you, I'd hate to break a promise." Naruto replied in relief.

"Not at all, it's all for the better if we can make additional use of her. Have you had some time to consider your upcoming fights, how will you be preparing?" The Sandaime sat down and steepled his fingers on the desk, the look he was giving Naruto was piercing.

"Not yet, no. I suspect I'll be training a lot on my own, but Jiraiya has promised to help."

"I want you to give the upcoming tournament a great deal of attention. You will be displaying your true colors for the first time, and the better you perform the more we stand to gain. It is preferable if you completely trounce the competition."

Naruto rose an eyebrow. "Have you seen the competition? The girl from Kiri? Suna's unstable Jinchuriki? Or the Tsuchikage's grandaughter? I mean, Nii Yugito is already in the bingo book, she's no more Genin than I am."

"Which is why it will be important to crush them. Winning the tournament might just win us the entire battle before it even starts."

"Unless Orochimaru plans to kick things off before the tournament reaches conclusion." Naruto pointed out.

"That is not an entirely unlikely turn of events, we have to be prepared for that."

"Either way, I'll do my best to prepare, I have three weeks." Naruto stretched in the chair, preparing to leave.

"Don't forget to show up here on your weekdays, I have a lot of tasks piled up around here that needs doing."

"What are you going to have me do anyways, and why?" Naruto questioned, confused.

Hiruzen gave him a clever smile. "Consider it an entirely different branch of training."

xXx

~ 22 days until phase two of the exam ~

Naruto let himself fall to the ground in one of Konoha's many training grounds. He was beat, with sweat trickling down his skin, and his chest rising and falling steadily. Sparring with Jiraiya was never a dull affair.

"How was that?" Naruto asked with an exhale.

"You've grown." Jiraiya stated factually, and began stretching his arms. "I was worried you might pick up some slack, fighting cannon fodder in the arena, but I'm glad that hasn't been the case."

"Eh, the exam wasn't exactly the cakewalk I had imagined." Naruto admitted breathily from the grassy forest floor.

"It's been good for you at least, who's your first matchup in the tournament?" Jiraiya wanted to know.

"Gaara and Rock Lee. Both. It's a free for all type of battle." Naruto answered. He'd considered the upcoming fights at length already, not just the one he would have first, but the follow up matches as well. There was a huge amount of pressure on him to perform after all. Anything less than exceptional would be a disappointment.

The Sandaime had made that much clear.

"You'll do fine." Jiraiya declared easily.

"I want to learn a new skill." Naruto proclaimed all of a sudden.

"You still hung up on learning the Sage arts?" Jiraiya gave him a quizzical look.

"No, I'm going to learn the Rasengan." He said testily.

"I thought you had given up on that technique?" Jiraiya asked, his white bushy eyebrows furrowed.

Naruto sat up with clenched fists, eyes blazing. "I took a break! Besides, I want to show those clan heads I shouldn't be underestimated."

"Ah." Jiraiya said eloquently. "That explains it."

"Watch me." Naruto got up and held out his right arm with a look of stubborn concentration.

Within seconds, chakra began to swirl above the palm of his hand. This stage had never been a problem for Naruto, he'd mastered it on the first day.

Jiraiya looked on impassively. Is he actually . . .

With an expression of intense focus about him, the chakra in Naruto's palm began to take on a light blue hue. It slowly consolidated into a small sphere, then the sphere began to grow and solidify even further.

Jiraiya watched in suspense. Has he ever gotten this far?

Then, just as the sphere progressed beyond the shape of a baseball, it imploded.

Naruto was left staring down at his empty and battered right hand. He clenched it furiously.

"Fuck." He cursed weakly, completely at odds with how hard he was squeezing down his fist.

"It wasn't a bad attempt." Jiraiya interjected.

"It wasn't a successful attempt either." Naruto argued. Shaking his head, he formed a hand sign.

Twelve clones popped up around them. Naruto shooed them away. "You know what to do, get going."

"Yosh!" The whole bunch ran off to practice his father's damned technique.

"Must be handy having a private study group that only works for you." Jiraiya grinned.

"That it is." Naruto said with a pout, not entirely ready to abandon his bad mood yet.

But why not make more? You have the chakra necessary to make hundreds of clones at once. The Kyuubi asked in outright confusion. Not that I give a damn.

I can't, the Jutsu has a limit to it, I can only create twelve at the moment. If I could have made a hundred clones, I would have used that against Orochimaru.

"Ready to head back?" Jiraiya asked. "I'm going to get a meal."

Distracted, Naruto gave his sensei a nod.

Oh, that's right, the Shodaime made that particular variation of the Jutsu forbidden at some point while I was sealed inside Mito. That's too bad, the Jutsu is practically made for you. The Kyuubi seemed to have fun poking this information at him.

What variation? Naruto asked, evident curiosity in his voice.

Tajuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu. With enough chakra, the number of clones you can make is nigh on limitless.

Head nearly spinning with the possibilities, Naruto quickly realized that whatever the cost, he had to learn that Kinjutsu.

"Oi brat, you coming? Let's go for Takoyaki!" His sensei gave him a look over his shoulder.

"Osu, I'm starving." The two left the clearing at a sedate pace.

The days started to fly by at a break neck pace, and despite his best efforts, Naruto did not get his hands on the forbidden Kage Bunshin variation. He was busy all day, either with the prepared tasks the Sandaime arranged for him, or with his own training – which Jiraiya would occasionally take part in. He'd gone in-depth into all of his opponents' skills and affinities by now, and was preparing himself accordingly.

Two of the biggest heavy hitters in the entire competition were lightning users. In retaliation to this, Naruto had begun working overtime on his wind affinity, which was naturally stronger than lightning. He hoped polishing his own affinity would give him the edge.

He'd subsequently paused his practice on the Rasengan, and not for the first time either to his great chagrin, and to Kurama's fierce amusement. I definitely need that Kinjutsu!

Of course, Naruto could try to enter the Hokage tower at night and attempt to locate the thing. It might work, but that kind of scenario was risky. Something only a foolish and reckless person would do. Naruto knew he would get what he wanted with a little patience, and just as importantly, he would get it with no one being the wiser.

xXx

~ 17 days until phase two of the exam ~

Naruto let himself be guided by the Chunin into a crowded oval room. It was morning, and as per usual he was in the Hokage tower, ready for work. Today's task had yet to be explained, but he hoped it would be more interesting than yesterday's one. Equipment maintenance had been dull, but easy and somewhat interesting at times. Going over storage and counting individual kunai and correcting Konoha's stock on everything from Shuriken to flak jackets had been a complete slog.

The Shinobi in the room were mostly Chunin, and they were either talking amongst themselves or writing things down. The stacks of folders on the different desks in the room suggested he would be doing paperwork. Naruto eyed them suspiciously.

So, this is where I meet Jiraiya's sworn enemy.

"This is Mission ranking, you'll be working here after lunch. Learning how to rank missions from rank D through A." His guide explained to him.

"Isn't S rank also a thing?" Naruto asked.

The man stopped to look at him strangely, and Naruto got the feeling he'd asked something childish. "It is, sure, but missions like that goes through different channels, the Hokage is normally the first person informed of missions who are either important or dangerous enough to warrant an S rank."

"I see." Naruto nodded along to the explanation. "What will we be doing until lunch then?"

"Speaking with the clients." His guide told him with a grim smile.

And speak with the clients he did, in a room one floor below. Naruto talked to an upset woman looking for her cat, but he got the feeling it was a routine experience around here. Nonetheless, he assured her he would get hold of a team who could find the feline. He talked to a flustered old man who was angry because the roof shingles on his house kept breaking at night when various Shinobi traversed the building.

"Yes, but oji-san . . . Oi, oji-san!" Naruto had been forced to be loud in order to get the man's attention. "I can reimburse you the cost of the materials easy enough, but do you want me to put up a D rank and get you some Genin to help you fix the roof?"

"Hmph, how much is that gonna cost me?" He asked grumpily.

Naruto gave his supervisor a backward glance, but he was clearly busy with two other clients.

He swiveled his eyes back to the client. "Not that D ranks cost all that much, but since your damaged roof is due to Shinobi in the first place, I guess we can help you out this time." Despite the rather generous offer, the man hardly even seemed to care.

It was after this particular encounter he understood why most of the other Chunin in room with him wore such haggard looks. This was not a pleasant job.

The next client to show up also had a dispirited attitude, he was exhausted by the looks of it, and his travelling cloak was tattered and in need of a wash.

He gave the different people in the room a flat look and proclaimed from where he was standing: "I need an escort."

As everyone else were still busy, Naruto approached him with his clipboard under his arm.

"We can arrange that. Where will you be going?"

"What does that matter. I just need a team to protect my goods." The man explained with a little heat, and Naruto caught a whiff of something odd.

"It matters, because if your caravan is heading somewhere dangerous, the mission rank and price will escalate accordingly." Naruto told him with all the patience of a saint.

"I'm not-I'm staying within Hi No Kuni!" He exclaimed.

"And yet you need a protection detail? There aren't that many bandits in the country."

"I, er, that's cause I wanna make sure . . ."

"Where are you going?" Naruto asked him more bluntly this time. The man shook his head wildly, his eyes were red, and not the puffy red kind people get after a good cry.

"Let me take a wild guess." Naruto told him. "You're going to Keishi, where you will be selling your contraband drugs and opioids off in the capitol right under the Daimyos nose."

The man looked at him with large eyes and a quivering lip. "Wh-what are you even . . ?"

"You're reeking of the stuff, and going by your desperate behavior, I take it you're in debt, which is the real reason you need protection, isn't it?" Naruto drove in the points without blinking.

Backtracking out of the room, he was stopped by a clone curtesy of Naruto.

"Leaving so soon?" The young blonde asked with a chilling smile.

xXx

~ 14 days until phase two of the exam ~

Taking a deep breath, Naruto gave the door in front of him a hard and appraising look. It was the apartment the trio from Suna had been given. Not for the first time, Naruto tried knocking.

As per usual, no one answered. He tried the handle, but the door was locked.

Where are they? He hadn't seen them since the first stage of the exam.

Gaara's seal was unstable, and the longer it went unchecked, the more he would get fucked over by it.

Naruto only wanted to help, but the Suna trio were as good as vanished.

And the Suna team were not the only ones, neither Sasuke nor Sakura had made an appearance after the exam had wrapped up its initial stage. They were probably busy with their own lives.

Although neither of them got to the finals, that doesn't mean they're not busy training. Maybe their loss in the exam got them inspired to improve. For all I know they could be on a mission.

With a nearly inaudible sigh, Naruto stepped away from the door and decided to do some late night training.

xXx

~ 9 days until phase two of the exam ~

"Yosh, that will be all then, good luck with your mission!" Iruka told the parting trio of Genin with a cheery smile. The group waddled out after a few affirmatives. Naruto paid the departing team no mind and continued to stare dejectedly down into the paper sheets in front of him.

This is hard. He complained to Kurama.

You're not doing anything. The lumbering voice of the fox droned in the back of his mind.

I know! Naruto nearly said that out aloud. It sucks.

Yeah, try and keep doing nothing for a couple of decades, then we'll talk.

Oh, right . . . Naruto cut off the connection and began rubbing his eyes.

"You alright Naruto, tired?" Iruka wondered, Naruto recognized him as one of the judges from the exam.

"Yeah, I'm good. I just can't believe we're sending another team this week alone just to get that cat back." Naruto told him candidly.

"I hear the cat is very hard to catch, so it's apparently good practice for the Genin teams." Iruka explained to him with an easygoing smile.

"I see." Naruto couldn't help but admire his upbeat attitude, but when he looked down at the different missions on the desk, Naruto only felt frustration.

"You know, I can see that something is bothering you, you can tell me what it is, Naruto-san. Maybe I can help?"

Naruto looked across the room in surprise. Iruka had read him that easily?

"Umm, well it's not really that I'm all that bothered. But these missions, you know," Naruto paused and gestured to the sheets that covered his desk. "They're not really missions."

Iruka gave him a smile. "No, they're not."

"You knew!" Naruto pointed at him as if he was in on a conspiracy. Iruka chuckled and waved his accusation away.

"D-ranks only exists because fresh Genin teams need to practice how to work as a cohesive unit, if they're unable to complete D-ranks, it points to something dysfunctional in the team."

"It finally makes sense." Naruto sat back into his chair, his spirit thoroughly lifted.

"What clued you in on this?" Iruka seemed curious. "Unless, I'm mistaken, you've never been on any of these D-ranks, right?"

"Nothing much really, I just sat here thinking I could probably make a clone for each D-rank on the desk and have all of them completed within the day."

Iruka laughed. "Yes, you probably could. But that would ruin their purpose."

It was at that moment the door leading into the room was opened, and a Jonin instructor and his Genin team walked in.

"Hey there, we're looking for a mission today, you got a good D-rank, Iruka?" Asuma Sarutobi asked. The three Genin – Ino, Shukimaru and Choji – trailed in after their instructor.

"Well, I was actually about to head out for lunch, but young Naruto here will arrange for a fitting mission." Iruka proclaimed with good humor and stepped away from his desk.

He gave Asuma and his team a nod on the way out.

"Good luck, Naruto-san!" Iruka called out after him. The door closed behind him, leaving Naruto alone with the four new additions to the room.

The three Genin of the team stared at him with varying degrees of surprise.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ino reacted first. Asuma looked at her with a big frown.

"Ino-" Asuma began to reproach her.

"He was in the exam with us!" She interrupted him and pointed at Naruto as if he'd committed a crime.

"I am still in it, thank you very much." Naruto corrected, slightly amused at her obvious annoyance. "And why is that such a big deal?"

Ino spluttered at his apparent nonchalance. "You're not even Konoha Shinobi!" She told him, her face turning red.

"Okay then." Naruto leaned back in his chair. "What Shinobi am I then?" He asked her.

"Yo-you're, I don't know, from some other nation. Definitely not Konoha!"

"Sure looks like I'm Konoha, doesn't it?" Naruto commented, palms upturned in a placating manner.

"Don't waste your breath." Shikamaru interrupted his blonde teammate. "This actually makes sense. He's been way too friendly for a foreigner."

Asuma looked down at his team in befuddlement, before turning his confused gaze across the room. "What's going on?"

"I think your Genin team is merely surprised at seeing me here, Sarutobi-sensei." Naruto explained. "I guess I can't blame them too much, I never gave any allusion to my affiliation here. Still, it's not that shocking is it? I mean, the Hyuuga girl had me figured out." Albeit on far more fundamental issues, damn her!

Choji blinked. "Hinata?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm definitely keeping my eyes on her in the tournament." Naruto rested his gaze on Shikamaru. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you be training for your upcoming match?"

The Naara looked at him with dull eyes. "Shouldn't you?"

"I train."

"Which is why I don't train, I'll never beat the competition anyway."

Naruto frowned, this is Shikaku's son? Asuma also looked discontent with his student. "Shikamaru, you have what it takes, you just need to apply yourself."

"He's not wrong though." Naruto stated simply. Asuma looked up sharply, and Shikamaru opened his eyelids fully for the first time since Naruto had seen him.

"Shikamaru can train all he wants in the upcoming week and it still won't make a damn difference. The skill gap is too big." Naruto told them, but he softened slightly at their looks. "You won't get far in life unless you start putting in the effort. If you don't take opportunities to improve and get better, of course you'll be left behind."

"Oi!" Ino exclaimed. "You don't know anything about Shikamaru, there's a lot more to him than you will ever know."

"Yeah!" Choji chorused after her.

"I wasn't trying to belittle him, I've gathered he's pretty much a genius. I'm just saying he's lazy, and while that isn't always a problem, you can't keep that trait when you put on your forehead protector."

Shikamaru took the comments with the ease of someone that was regularly torn a new one. Asuma merely sighed and pinched his nose bridge. "Look, do you have a mission for us or not?"

Naruto took a peek down. "Well, would you rather paint over this house, or run a career day for the students at the academy?"

They looked about as impressed at the assignments as he had been when he'd first read them.

"Is there nothing else, something more eventful?" Asuma prodded.

"Uhmmm . . . Garden weeding?" Naruto smiled at their groans.

xXx

~ 6 days until the second phase of the exam ~

Naruto grinned to himself as he, finally, after weeks of toil, got his hands on the long sought-after scroll of Sealing. It was late at night, and he was on the top-most floor in the Hokage tower. The room was dusty, filled with cobwebs and stagnant air. The different aisles with rows of books and scrolls stretched and twisted throughout the large storage room. It was a small maze with very little categorization, and it had taken Naruto the better part of an hour to get on the right track.

Still, in his hands were the unfurled scroll of sealing, and written down was: Tajuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu - A-rank Kinjutsu, was written down in large, swirling Kanji.

"Write this down." Naruto told the clone beside him. His copy nodded, the flashlight in his mouth bobbing up and down.

"Keep the light on the parchment, you dolt." Naruto whispered, and gave the clone a light smack. The Doppelganger jerked slightly and made a large uneven line in his notes.

"Moron." Naruto breathed out in dismay, fully aware he was more or less calling himself an idiot.

Rolling the scroll further down, Naruto noticed something that caught his eye. His clone continued the copying while he read in interest. Shiki Fujin – S rank Fuinjutsu and Kinjutsu. This is the Death Reaper Seal . . . The seal his own father had died using.

"Here, copy down this one too." Naruto tapped the Jutsu on the scroll.

"One thing at a time boss." His personal manservant mumbled around the flashlight.

"Once, you've done those, get this one down too." Naruto told him and pointed at a different Jutsu even further down, this one not even a Kinjutsu. Hakke No Fuin Shiki – S-rank Fuinjutsu.

Naruto could feel a solid rod of pure rage smash through his connection. He hissed to himself through gritted teeth, but as fast as it came, it went away.

What the fuck, Kurama!? Naruto asked in outrage.

. . . That seal, it surprised me, seeing it here. You shouldn't copy it. Kurama told him, and Naruto could still feel the rage smolder within him.

Why? Naruto asked him testily, bu he could guess. It was the formula for the seal Kurama was imprisoned with after all.

Seals like that one is used to imprison and enslave all of us Biju, spreading them to the world is a sin in itself. Kurama told him, keeping the rage in his voice to a minimum.

And yet, this is exactly what someone like Gaara needs. It's a better design, with hardly any flaws. I can save him from turning into a blood thirsty lunatic with this. Naruto argued back.

Psshh, Shukaku wouldn't do that . . . I think. Besides, you can't even find the Suna brat.

I'm copying it down, and that's final. Naruto stated calmly. I might not get this opportunity again.

Surprisingly, Kurama didn't contest his decision, he just cut off the connection. Keeping his mind on the task, Naruto continued unbothered.

xXx

~ 4 days until the second phase of the exam ~

Naruto watched the swirling sphere of pale blue chakra churn like a small maelstrom in the center of his palm. He blinked with tired eyes, but continued straining his coils. His worn-down chakra pathways obeyed and squeezed out more chakra. The Rasengan fluctuated, and refused to remain in the shape of a simple sphere. Violent ripples and sporadic bursts of chakra flew from his palm.

Naruto refused to lose control of it like so many times before, so he slid his feet into a wider stance and kept his concentration going. The Rasengan was the size of a common football by now, but the shape of it was far from a ball. It was oblong, with large ripples of chakra bursting out of it in complete tandem.

It was as if Naruto had taken the original Rasengan and squeezed it down. The same size, roughly, but a different shape. Some would say it wasn't a Rasengan at all, but it was something.

Unable to keep hold of it any longer, Naruto leaned forward and thrust his creation into the tree in front of him. The chakra completely tore through the tree, and left behind a large hole. It looked as if a cannonball had passed through the thick trunk.

Silence pervaded while Naruto tried to catch his breath. In the past two days he'd been creating hundreds of clones in order to get this far. Progress came so fast, it almost felt like cheating. Despite its imperfections, Naruto loved what he'd accomplished with the Rasengan so far. That'll show those clan heads.

"Well, I'll be damned." Jiraiya proclaimed in quiet awe. "I never thought a student would surprise me like this again, but here we go. Geez."

"I can't keep it under control for very long yet." Naruto admitted. "And it definitely needs some work, since the rotation and power have to be completely in sync for it to even work, I struggle with the shape manipulation. Right now, I can't force it into a sphere, so it won't even grind bark."

"No, your variation doesn't grind its way through obstacles, it pierces them." Jiraiya mused to himself as he inspected the tree. "In some ways, it's unique shape makes it even more lethal than the original Rasengan."

Jiraiya stood upright and looked down at him. "What you have, it's like a spear. No, that's a bad comparison, it's . . . It's like a drill!" His teacher looked at him, very somber all of a sudden.

"Be very careful with how you use it, and on whom."

"I can barely use it as it is." Naruto told him. "But yes, I'll be careful."

"Still, it's incredible, Minato would have been enthused. Maybe adding elemental manipulation into the mix is possible after all."

"Huh, Nature manipulation? Was he crazy?" Naruto could barely believe it. Adding another element to the already ridiculous Jutsu. Is that even possible?

"Well, it was a project of his, before, you know . . . He claimed he was close to perfecting it." Naruto noticed the wistful look in Jiraiya's eyes.

"I guess I'll try that too then." Naruto sighed. I still have some days before the Exam starts, and with all these clones at my disposal, anything is possible.

"There's no harm in trying, kid." Then, Jiraiya remembered himself. "Actually, there could be severe harm in trying, be careful."

xXx

~ Day of the exam ~

"Sasuke! Kosuke! Over here, I've found some good seats!" Sakura exclaimed from a spot in the crowded tribunes.

Kakashi looked down at the boys of Team 7. "Well, why don't we just follow her lead?"

Both boys did as their instructor suggested, and plopped down beside Sakura. The tribunes were situated far up and on the southern wall of the arena, it gave a decent view of the zones down below. Even so, since the area was so large, it would still be hard to study individual fights in any detail.

Sasuke eyed the giant screens that hung from the tall rafters that stretched out above, they were not in the way of the view, but if you looked a bit up, you would see a live feed from the arena displayed on them. Which at the moment, was just a background shot of the center island.

"Will this be broadcasted, Kakashi-sensei?" Kosuke asked curiously.

Kakashi merely nodded.

"Kakashi!? Yosh! My lifelong rival is here too! What an incredibly exciting day this will be!" A man, fully clad in very questionable clothing sat to the right of them. He looked at them and waggled his eyebrows fiercely.

"Guy, so you're here too." Kakashi greeted him evenly. The team 7 trio looked on in confusion.

"Of course, Kakashi, I'm here to watch my students compete! All three of them no less!"

"It's impressive all three of them made it this far, it must already be a victory for you, huh?" Kakashi commented.

"Oi, are you guys here too?" A row above them, Mitarashi Anko sat, wrapped in her beige coat.

"More familiar faces . ." Kakashi mumbled.

"Ho! Mitarashi-san, come sit with us!" Maito Guy stood up and shouted enthusiastically. Team 7 pretended very hard not to know him. Anko looked away, and kept her gaze stubbornly away from Guy, despite his excited greeting. Guy kept shouting.

"This will be a long day . . ." Kakashi lamented.

xXx

~ Competitor's Overlook ~

Naruto looked at the different faces around the room. They were twelve in total, and most of them looked tense. They had a shoddy view of the arena, but a live feed would be broadcasted to them via a TV in the corner of the room. The first competitors of the day were bound to be called upon any time now.

Gaara was standing in a corner, flanked by his sister, Temari – who he noticed kept throwing glances in his direction for whatever reason. He couldn't do anything for Gaara now, it was too late. Maybe after all this is over.

Hinata stood just a little distance away from him, and she seemed determined not to look at him - go figure. He spotted Kurotsuchi across the room, she was inspecting her own fingernails for speck and dirt. Hikaru from Kiri was calmly lounging in the sofa by the TV, apparently unfazed. Nii Yugito from Kumo was leaning against the wall, perfectly at ease, at least on the surface.

These guys look really strong.

Naruto felt a small tingling sensation move up his spine. Unbidden, an excited smile grazed his face. He felt amped for a fight.

Echoing footsteps resonated behind him, and coming up the stairs was a Chunin.

"The first three competitors may follow me." He said out loud.

And so it begins.

Naruto watched Rock Lee step forth first, there was an aura about him. Naruto hadn't seen him so serious before, he was an epitome picture of a concentrated fighter.

Gaara came forward next, and Naruto met his gaze. His bloodshot eyes were somehow even more intense today.

Popping of a quirky smile he couldn't quite get the feel of, Naruto strolled up to the Chunin as well

"All right then," He said out loud to the room in general. "Let's get this thing going."

A/N

This one took me a while, had a mild case of writer's block, but for the most part I had to put Fanfiction on the shelf for a little while due to life getting in the way, as it does from time to time.

I'm not going to say much, I'm beat. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even though it was largely uneventful. Next one will be action packed to say the least.

Anyways, peace out folks, leave a review if you feel like it, I love feedback.

The Epic Pen – Signing off.