Insert disclaimer here

Blah Blah Blah basic text (i.e. description, speech, etc)

Blah Blah Blah Thought or some transaction within someone's mind (also flashbacks)

Blah Blah Blah Kyuubi talking Jutsu will also be bold

BLAH yelling, or emphasis of some sort

Naruto of the Nine Tails

Rated M for language, violence, adult themes, graphic imagery, clowns, gallows humor, rabid fangirls, puns, butchery of the English language, funny hats, the big comfy chair, obscure references, and.

A/N

First of all sry for the wait, life and writer's block got in the way (the muse going on a "NO MORE FANFICTION" trip didn't help either).

NOTICE OF CHALLENGE

I want to see if anyone can do this kind of story better then me, so somebody take the "Feral Naruto" concept and run with it (also Fem!Feral!Naru would be interesting).

Chp 13: And So It Begins

Naruto's Cage three weeks after the mission to Nami no Kuni

It was early morning in Konoha as Hyuuga Hinata sat staring at the twisted metal that had once held the boy now lying curled up next to her as she reminisced. 'So much has changed since then…' she thought as she remembered that night. 'Has it really only been three years?' it seemed so long ago that she had hidden behind corners and lampposts peeking out at the loud, seemingly unflappable, blond boy wishing she had the courage to go up to him and… what had she even wanted back then? Just to talk with him? To be his friend? To simply be close to that energy… that confidence that she so sorely wished she had?

And then he had disappeared. Just like that. One day she was watching him like she always had then the next… nothing. No one had seen him. No one knew where he was or if anything had happened to him. It was like he had vanished, like he had just ceased to exist. And none of them cared. It had only been later after she had come out of her depression that she learned the pains Sakura had gone to in her worry for the annoying but otherwise sweet boy that had attempted to court her.

Then there had been the field trip...

"Right field trip," she muttered to herself with no small amount of sarcasm.

Naruto looked at her oddly, as though questioning what her little outburst was about... and possibly her sanity.

"Oh hush you," she teased scratching him behind the ears before returning to her thoughts of that… what ever you wanted to call it. That day had exhausted her, she had already been weak from not eating like she should have and from not sleeping well, but it was the emotional roller coaster that had truly done her in.

The giddy relief of finding Naruto alive and seemingly unharmed.

Then the horror of the physical changes and what could have possibly happened to change him so drastically.

After that, finding the plaque from the Sandaime and learning the secret that explained everything.

The anger, loathing, disgust, and disappointment that felt toward her people as she realized why Naruto was alone, why Naruto was hated, why no one cared, why he had suffered, why he had been twisted into this parody of human and monster, and why he would continue to suffer having done nothing wrong.

The numb shock as everything sank in that quickly turned to unbridled rage at her sister's insult to the boy, a hero in her eyes, who had protected them since the day he was born.

Then the surprise, horror, worry, and anguish as she watched her beloved imouto slip over the edge of the cage and disappear from her sight only to see her laying broken on the unforgiving concrete of the cage a moment later.

The panic as what had once been Naruto approached her helpless sister.

The confusion at his actions.

The uncertainty as she waited to find out if Hanabi would be ok, if she would be able to walk, be able to be a shinobi, or if her baby sister would even live through the night.

The flood of relief when she was told that, not only would Hanabi be alright, but that it would be as if the fall had never happened.

Then finally blissful unconsciousness as the day finally caught up with her.

In the months that followed she had simply stopped caring about what people thought of her or perhaps it was just that the only one whose opinion she really cared about was gone. She came and went as she pleased, said what she thought, and cared little for the consequences. Looking back on it, that probably would have gotten her stuck in the Branch Family… though she doubted it would have changed her behavior as, at some point during that time, she had also come upon the discovery that physical pain was temporary.

Then one night she felt like going to see Naruto, nothing special, it wasn't the first time she snuck out to see the young demon container… Then she'd seen Naruto on the battlefield. She'd seen the twisted mass of steel that had been his cage, the bodies strewn across the clearing, the dirt turned to mud by the blood of his victims, the ANBU and their futile attempts to even slow him down, the Hokage as he attempted to stop the boy he had come to see as his grandson… and then there was Naruto. Crouched on all fours soaked in the blood of his enemies, his face twisted into a furious snarl, and his nine tails billowing behind him as he faced the best the village had to offer like some ancient god of war given flesh and, in her surprise, she had called out to him, drawing his attention and causing him to pounce. For those few second that he had pinned her to the ground she thought she was going to die only for him to, as was his habit, surprise everyone and treat her like an affectionate puppy would treat its owner.

And now, three years later, here she was staring at the mangled remains of the cage that once held what was believed to be the most powerful individual in the village contemplating her sensei's words and her next actions.

'People die in the Chunnin Exams,' she thought. Was she ready for this? She knew she was strong, that she could likely survive an encounter with most chunnin, and her teammates weren't anything to sneeze at, '…and then there is Naruto.' this wasn't the true dilemma (her team could handle almost any threat), she knew it, but for the life of her she couldn't put what was bothering her into words. It was like some unexplainable itch that she couldn't scratch. She was worried but had no reason to be. She feared for her life yet it was not in danger. She desired something but didn't know what it was. All these feelings swirling, mixing, conflicting, driving her mad. She felt… she felt Naruto tackle her and start licking her face.

"HEY! WHAT GIVES!" she laughed as the fox-boy continued to run his long dog-like tongue over her face. "DAMNIT NARUTO CUT IT OUT!" she half laughed and just like that Naruto hopped off her looking very pleased with himself. Propping herself up on her elbows Hinata glared good-naturedly at her friend, "And what was that for?" The only answer she got was a cheeky grin that he used to make before the incident and her heart fluttered as she found her answer.

She wasn't afraid of dying or at least not of death itself, she was afraid of losing…this. Death, the act of dying and what was waiting for her didn't scare her, it was what she'd leave unfinished that bothered her. She wanted to be there for when Naruto got better, then after that they could…

At that moment a real of images and fantasies played before her eyes causing her cheeks to turn… what shade of red is that, anyway?

"Fucking hormones," she grumbled, "it'd be like raping my dog… or him raping me…" she muttered as her mind ran away again.

"…Late."

Hinata blinked, "What?" she asked Naruto.

"We gonna be late," he answered matter-of-factly.

Hinata frowned, "And what makes you so sure I'm going?" she deadpanned.

Naruto cocked his head curiously, "Chicken?"

Later Hinata would wonder if Naruto had taunted her on purpose knowing that she would rise to the bait and go… she never would figure it out.

Outside the Ninja Academy Minutes Later

"If she chickens out on us I'm never going to let her hear the end of if," muttered Sakura.

"Never's a long time Sakura, you'll have to breath some time," teased Sasuke.

'GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH THERE IT IS AGAIN!' raged Sakura. For some reason, that Sakura could not fathom, Sasuke had been acting…weird, as in starting conversations and making friendly bards and the like, mostly it was just the friendly that bothered her. As far as she was concerned Sasuke plus friendly equaled oxymoron.

"Yeah, seriously what is up with him? He's been acting all... normal, ever since we got back from Nami no Kuni. Like all nice and shit."

'I know what you mean…Then again, how couldn't I agree with you? Technically you're me… or am I you or-'

"Moving on."

'Right… Where was I?'

"You were agreeing with me before almost going off on a tangent of trying to figure out how you and I can have different opinions."

'Oh yeah,' she thought. 'Anyway what is with him? All of a sudden he's trying to talk to me and being patient it's almost like he's flirting…with…me…oh god.'

"I think we may have over thought this," deadpanned Inner Sakura.

'This is all Hinata's fault for making me bored…nothing good ever happens when I'm bored.'

...

...

...

"I'll kill her for this," Sakura growled

"Can I help?" a voice chirped.

"GAH!" that voice had been right behind her, whirling around she came face to face with… "DAMNIT HINATA STOP DOING THAT!"

Recently Hinata had taken to sneaking up on people and scaring the bejesus out of them. Sakura thought it might have something to do with her friend spending more time with their favorite sadistic and slightly psychotic serpenty sociopath.

"Do what?" she asked in a voice that was entirely too innocent, Sakura was just about to go on a tirade and vent all her frustration when Hinata said, "Oh will you look at the time?" still in that sweet "Who? Moi? Surely you jest" voice before turning to enter the academy a fuming Sakura and amused Sasuke hot on her heels.

Coming to the top of the first set of stairs Team seven and tagalong noticed something rather odd; there were a bunch of people in front of a door apparently trying to get in but there were two guys blocking the door.

"There's something off about this," Sasuke muttered as one of the guys at the door knocked a kid in green spandex (shudder) to the ground.

"I know, was there some special class today or something?" muttered Hinata, "And what's with tweedle dee and tweedle dum not letting anyone in?"

It was then that Sakura (who had suffered a temporary case of "Oh Shiny" and had completely forgotten that she as mad at Hinata) got a better look at the door and the two guys blocking.

"Hey when did Kotetsu and Izumo get mini-mes?" asked Inner Sakura, "And on that note why don't we have a mini-me?"

'Wait…' "Sasuke take a look around with your Sharingan," she whispered so that only he could hear her (resident jinchuuriki not withstanding).

Sasuke glanced at her questioning before complying, carefully sweeping the hall.

"What do you see?" Sakura asked, still staring at the door.

"Those two at the door are using Henge and there's a Genjutsu on the sign... it's really weak though," he whispered, frowning slightly.

"That would explain why we didn't sense it, we're not close enough," muttered Hinata as she caught on, "but why are they doing it."

Meanwhile

Throughout all of this Naruto had been very still, his eyes and ears fixed on the disguised chunnin guarding the door as he tried to figure out what was going on. Beta had told him that they were going to the third floor to take some kind of test but this was only the second floor and all these other people were muttering about being late for the exam and-wait one of the guys guarding the door just made some speech about them doing a favor and weeding out the ones who would fail anyway. So this was to stop them from getting to the third floor…well that was easy to fix.

Back with the rest of Team 7

"Well maybe they're-eep?" Sakura yelped as she and the rest of her team were dragged down the hall by their foxy companion.

"I take it your plan is to just ignore them?" Hinata asked her partner, seemingly unphased by his actions.

"Yes," Naruto answered casually, seriously if you could hear him you'd think he did this all the time.

"Alright, but could you put us down?" Naruto's answer to that was to just let go.

Tap Tap Thump

Hinata and Sakura landed on their feet having been through this routine many times before, Sasuke, on the other hand, had no such luck and was deposited squarely on his ass.

And so it was that several minutes, a sore ass, and bruised pride later that Team 7 walked into room 301… and a flying mass of blonde.

"Hey cutie, I missed you!"

"Aye, no," moaned Naruto, his ears drooping viably, "is the screeching flower."

"Ino we all know you're desperate but could you please stop molesting my teammate," growled Sakura.

"Oh piss off Billboard Brow, you're just bitter that your theory about Sasuke-kun's sexuality was proven wrong," she retorted.

"You guys are taking this thing too? Troublesome…" sighed (If you can't guess who this is I will hunt you down and gut you like a fish).

"And Sloth and Gluttony too…" Naruto whined but perked up as he heard a very familiar giggle, "Chibi?" he asked looking around, "CHIBI!" he cried happily before his face hardened. "Kibble…" he growled.

"Uh…hi Naruto," Kiba replied with a nervous wave, much to Kiba's discomfort Naruto had never completely forgiven the young Inuzuka's overzealous attempt to woo Hinata, everyone else thought it was hilarious, especially Hanabi.

"Ku ku ku, Oni-chan you can't kill Kiba-kun we need him for the exam..."

Kiba sighed in relief.

"...but when we're done he's all yours."

"WHAT!" Kiba cried, much to the amusement of his friends.

"And he was so confident until you guys walked in," Shino sighed dramatically.

"Hey you guys, you should be more quiet." Everyone turned around to find a silver haired teen in a purple uniform walking toward them. "You guys are the rookies just out of the academy right? Figures, screaming like schoolyard brats, geez, this isn't a picnic you know."

"And you are?" Sasuke inquired coolly, obviously not liking the older teen's attitude.

"Name's Kabuto, but first you guys might want to take a look behind you," the rookies did so, finding a good portion of the room glaring daggers at them, "Those guys from Amegakure have short tempers. Everyone's on edge because of the exam so I'd suggest you guys quiet down before you cause a scene," chuckling quietly at their sheepish expressions Kabuto went on, "can't really blame you guys I guess, you're just rookies, I was the same way my first time."

"So this is your second time?" Sakura asked.

"Nah, he sounds too experienced as far as the exam is concerned for this to be only his second time," voiced Inner Sakura.

"Nope this is my seventh," he replied.

"BOOYA, RIGHT IN ONE!" Inner Sakura cheered while flashing the victory sign, "Hey ask him about the exam, if he's taken it that many times he's bound to know something useful."

"Wow, so you know a lot about the exam?" Sakura prompted.

"Yup, I'll even share some info with you," he said holding up a deck of nin info-cards.

"JACKPOT!"

"Lets start with overall competition shall we?" so pulling out a card Kabuto pushed in some chakra revealing a map of the elemental nations showing how many participants each country had sent that had arrived, "10 teams from Suna, 7 from Ame, 2 from Kusa, 2 from Taki, 29 from Konoha (the home village tends to have more teams), and 1 from Oto."

'So 153 total,' thought Hinata, 'but considering that little trap on the second floor…' discreetly activated her Byakuugan and took a head count as Kabuto explained his cards to Ino, '…155, so 2 plants but what are they for?' she wondered as she passed her findings off to her teammates.

"Hey, do you have anything on individuals?" Sasuke asked.

"Sure, though my info isn't perfect I should have something on anyone you're worried about."

"Hm," Sasuke hummed thoughtfully as he scanned the room his eyes fell on the team that he'd seen getting roughed up on the second floor looking as though nothing had happened. Eyes narrowing he turned back to Kabuto, "What do you have on them?" he asked pointing out the team.

Pulling out the appropriate cards Kabuto spoke, "Team 9 of Konoha under Maito Gai. Made up of Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten, they're a year older then you, they've completed 28 D-ranks and 11 C-ranks. This is their first time taking the exam. Neji is a close range specialist employing his families Taijutsu, graduated top of his class and has only improved in the last year. Lee is another close range specialist, favors the Goken Ryu Taijutsu employed by his sensei and seems to have little to no talent for ninjutsu or genjutsu, graduated last in his year but has improved significantly over the past year. Tenten is a weapons specialist, preferring long range with no other outstanding talents, graduated as the top Kunoichi of her year."

Nodding Sasuke took another look around, "What about that redhead from Suna?"

Pulling out another card, "Sabaku no Gaara, don't have much on him as he's a foreigner and new to the exam, missions 8 C-rank and 1 B-rank, wow that's impressive but…" he pause scanning the card before giving a low whistle, "says here that he came back from every mission without a scratch."

Hinata chuckled at how dramatic Kabuto made it sound, "Well at least we won't have to worry about getting bored, right Naruto?" she asked scratching him behind the ear as he growled an affirmative.

"Don't get overconfident all the villages sent their best, though I wouldn't expect much from Hidden Sound as they're fairly new."

Scanning the room Hinata pouted, "This is their best?" at that everyone in the room glared at her but then something happened that no one expected. She smiled at them and a sudden wave of unease swept over the room.

'Killing intent? When did…ok, it's official she has been spending waaay to much time with Anko-sensei,' Sakura thought.

"You can say that again," Inner Sakura agreed. "The fact that she actually looks cute and innocent makes it even creepier," she added before Hinata spoke again this time in a low voice meant only for her comrades.

"It would seem Kabuto-san that it is not us that caused a scene, Oto nin seem to have rather good hearing,"that got their attention, "two incoming my eleven o'clock," no sooner had the words left her lips then Kabuto was attacked by the two Sound ninjas, though he dodged the physical attacks the second attack was not completely physical.

"BLEHH!"

"How pathetic, especially since you've been taking this exam for 4 years," sneered the one with the gauntlet, standing over Kabuto as he retched.

"Write this down in those cards of yours, we are definitely future chunnin," boasted the other male, the only answer he got was a derisive snort, everyone turned to see Hinata with an amused expression.

"I find that highly unlikely," she said in a voice that spoke volumes of her opinion of the three Sound nin and it clearly irritated them, "First mistake, you," she pointed at the spiky haired Sound nin, "jumped into the air unnecessarily, leaving yourself open to a counter attack. Second mistake, you revealed that your teammate," points to the girl, "is most likely weak at close range due to her lack of involvement. Your third mistake, and frankly your most, as you put it, pathetic, was you," points at 'Bandaged Gauntlet man' who was clearly angry now, "revealed the function of one of your primary weapons in front of a whole room of possible enemies…"

That was it; Hinata watched as the one with the bandaged made to take a swing at her with his gauntlet only for an orange tail to come down shattering the gauntlet.

'Wait…orange?' she wondered filing Naruto's color change away for later. While staring at the nin who's weapon (and possibly his arm) Naruto had just destroyed she finished, "…and you are baited far too easily."

POOF

"QUITE DOWN YOU WORTHLESS BASTARDS!"

"Hey look, it's Kotetsu and Izumo…that reminds me, why don't we have a mini-me?"

'Hush, the scary guy's about to say something.'

"Fine but we WILL speak of this later."

"I'm Morino Ibiki, the proctor for the first test of this exam," then he turned to glare at Hinata and the Oto nin, "Sound Brats and Miss Hyuuga behave unless you want to get thrown out before we even get started."

"Sorry, this is our first time, we got carried away," ground out the bandaged one in a tone that suggested he was in pain (oh poor baby).

Hinata just kept smiled, "On what grounds Morino-san? Self-defense?"

"Heh," 'A smart ass huh?' "Just keep a leash on your boy toy," he countered, drawing some chuckles from the rest of the room... but Ibiki wasn't laughing. His attention was riveted on the look Hinata was giving him. 'That's Anko's "This Means War ™" look…this can't be good,' and for the first time in his life Morino Ibiki, Tokubetsu Jounin, Head of ANBU Torture and Interrogation, and all around badass was afraid of a twelve year old.

And in Sasuke's apartment his MP3 player switched to "Familiar Realm" as if to mock the doom that would soon befall the unfortunate examiner.

Omake: How Sasuke Awakened Sharingan

By: Edelta88

Inspired By: Claws2

Left

Sasuke was not having a good day.

Duck

Why you may ask?

Roll

Well for starters, he fell out of bed this morning.

Right

Then there was no hot water when he went to take a shower.

Cartwheel

Then, as he was coming out of a very cold shower, his possessed MP3 player turned on and nearly sent him into cardiac arrest… he really didn't know why he didn't just throw it out.

Combat Roll

Then he had realized that he'd forgotten to go grocery shopping, so breakfast was practically nonexistent.

Dip

Then he got ambushed by his fangirls on the way to the Academy.

Pirouette

It was a lecture day, so he'd been bored out of his skull.

Dive

Then to top it off Sakura was more pissed at him then usual for some reason…must be that time of the month.

Round off

So here he was…

Back flip

…dodging all manner of airborne literature…

Wall-run

…by any means available…

Barrel Roll

…as Sakura cursed at him…

Front handspring

…while Iruka-sensei tried (and failed miserably) to calm her down.

SPLITS!

'SERIOUSLY WHERE IS SHE KEEPING THESE!' he wondered as he evaded yet ANOTHER dictionary. "Oh screw this," Sasuke muttered and then dove out of the window. Usually, he wouldn't skip class, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Landing in a crouch he breathed a sigh of relief…only so be pegged in the back of the head by a copy of Encyclopedia Ninja. Realizing that he still wasn't safe Sasuke took off like a bat out of hell heading for his apartment as literature continued to rain down from the second story window.

After splashing his sweaty face he glanced at himself in the mirror only to come face to face with a pair of Crimson eyes, "Sharingan…" he whispered reverently barely daring to believe what he was seeing as he took in the two black tomoes in each as he realized that he had finally awakened his birthright, "…it must have been the stress from trying to dodge all… the…books…" his voice trailed off as he realized what he was saying.

And as Sasuke stared into the mirror he cursed whatever deity was taking a sadistic pleasure in torturing his pride as he realized that, once again, he owed something to somebody and worse Sakura of all people…even if he was the only on who knew about it.

Omake: What happened to Mizuki?

By: Edelta88

Mizuki was in trouble. Why was he in trouble?

Well for starters, now that he actually thought about it, poisoning Iruka, even if it wasn't lethal, so that he could take the class to jeer and gloat at the Kyuubi brat, 'May he and his ridiculously complicated, ingenious, and spectacular pranks forever burn in the lowest pits of hell,' was, in hindsight, a bad idea because it was so obviously him and would get him in a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Then there was the fact that he had actually taken the kids on that little field trip. The Third hadn't okay-ed anyone going near the cage yet, so that was bound to get him in trouble, and that wasn't including how his unauthorized class outing had gotten one of his students severely injured and he hadn't had them sign any wavers or permission forms.

Then there was the fact that he was now buried up to his neck. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, he'd just dig himself out or use a Kawarimi... but the fact that the punch that had landed him there had crushed his spine kind of sent that option out the window. 'Note to self, crushed spine is painful, in future avoid whenever possible.'

Yet another issue was that in everyone's panicked frenzy to get Hanabi to the hospital and take care of the other kids they had kind of…forgotten him.

So here he was hours later like a planted turnip baking under the hot sun… and his nose was itchy.

Meanwhile over in the trees Anko turned to the Third. "You know I really don't give you enough credit," she said with… was that respect? "Leaving him out there to cook like this is really sadistic even by my standards."

"Just leave him for now, if it looks like he might die dig him out, but for now let him sweat."

"Why dig him out?" it was an honest question. "I mean he's got enough of a rap sheet now to have him executed why not save the trouble?"

"Oh I have a much… better, way to take care of Mizuki-kun," Sarutobi answered, a malicious twinkle dancing in his eyes. "I think some time in a cell is just what he needs."

Anko was stunned, no not stunned she was FLOORED. Sending a paralyzed man to a prison full of morally questionable ex-shinobi that hadn't seen a woman in years was just asking for… oh… OH… oh damn. Shaking her head "Mizuki you poor dumb bastard… sheesh I hope I never piss that geezer off, he's a vindictive little bastard."

"I'm not little I'm short why can't people understand that," grumbled the venerable leader as he left the young Tokubetsu Jounin to watch over the future prison bitch.

Edited: 10/17/11

End Notes

Originally I had planned for this to go all the way through the first test but I felt I'd made everyone(myself included) wait long enough for this chp to be done

I'm still taking Omake if anyone has any feel free to send them my way, hell if you have little extras for previous chps I'll be proofing/revising them (again) here.

Familiar Realm by Cky, is basically a "De Ja Vu?" song so the joke is that Ibiki had been on the receiving end of Anko's wrath and now he's in the similar position again.

NOTICE OF CHALLENGE

I want to see if anyone can do this kind of story better then me, so somebody take the "Feral Naruto" concept and run with it (also Fem!Feral!Naru would be interesting).

Muse Rant

Took you long enough, you last update was... what? August?

Well you weren't helping with your whole, "DO NOT SPEAK OF FANFICTION IN MY PRESENCE" funk.

That was because you kept bugging me about it every time we were in the same room.

Of course I was, you are the MUSE I'm sapposed to probe your imagination for inspiration.

Well, why don't you go peak on a womans' bath or something?

Ah young fool, the Narutoverse this is not.

Oh crap he's going into Yoda mode again. Oh HELL no! You are not starting that shit again!

And how is it, that this shit I am starting?

Fuck *starts slaming head against wall*

Victory, mine it is. (^.^)V