The day of the preliminaries had arrived, and many were eager to begin. Some were simply bloodthirsty, and knew that fighting was ahead. Others were simply eager to finish the exam, and be done with it. But everyone agreed on one thing. Soon, the real fun would begin.

The Sandaime was proud to see Sasuke make it to the exam. He was also glad that his weapon had done the same. He was a little perturbed to see that Naruto was not his usual cheerful, idiotic self, but he knew that Naruto was still under his control. The seal he had placed on Naruto was still there, and Naruto didn't seem to hold any anger toward him. He supposed that Naruto's personality had simply changed, but the seal on him kept him loyal to Konoha even with the drastic change.

He gave his speech without paying any attention to it. He was to busy thinking of all the ways the genin down below that weren't from Konoha could die. He would be rather happy if Suna's jinchuuriki met a humiliating end soon. He could then take the Ichibi for himself. Perhaps even seal it into himself. He had the perfect seal in mind for it. One that would allow him to take from it its power, but seal away its mind completely.

As the first match was prepared, he imagined himself getting to wield the sand release. He was sure all forms of it came from the Ichibi. He could take them all and rip it's knowledge of them away from it, gaining himself the ability to use them better than any Kazekage ever could. However, he was broken from his day dreaming by the announcement of who the fighters were.

He watched this match closely, as did many from Konoha. Sasuke Uchiha was the great god, after all. Though, the Sandaime only wanted to make sure his growth went to plan. After all, it would be pointless for Sasuke to gain the Eternal Mangekyo by killing Itachi, only to be weak himself. Hiruzen fully intended to have those eyes at maximum power when he plucked them from the Uchiha's skull. Of course, he would give Sasuke all the power he needed to insure that he killed Itachi and took his eyes. After all, Hiruzen simply couldn't have something that wasn't the best it could be. He knew that the Sharingan could evolve all the way to the Eternal Stage, he'd seen it on Madara for proof. He knew full well the kind of power that was, and he knew he had to have it.

He was quite happy to see Sasuke win his match against some guy that had the ability to absorb chakra. The Sandaime was sad that the genin Sasuke had fought had only that ability, but he noted to have some of his more secretive ANBU grab the boys blood later. He'd toss that into his little seal as well. He made another note to promote Sasuke to chunin after the exams. He could tell from this alone, the boy had the power for the rank.

He watched as the next fighters, Shino Aburame and a nameless sound nin that had come to the exams alone, and had been allowed to play through, walked to the ring. He had already identified the winner. He knew the Aburame would win, though he rather wished they didn't. The Aburame clan disgusted him. He viewed their power as stolen. They took their power from their bugs, working with them to spy, poison, and steal.

The clan also disgusted him due to the fact they allowed the bugs to live within them. This reminded him greatly of a jinchuuriki, when he thought about it. But, he knew he could do little to them right now. Maybe when his power was complete, and he ruled the world, he could exterminate the Aburame clan.

He was proven right minutes later. The sound nin had used some form of sound cannon on his right arm to attack, and the Aburame had clogged it up. When the sound nin had tried to continue firing, despite this, it blew up. The shrapnel pierced his brain, killing him instantly. Shino was declared the winner, and the next match called. One between nin that did not interest him. He already knew quite well of the puppet technique, and could use it if he tried. The leaf nin he didn't recognize didn't interest him either. The match, thankfully, passed quickly.

Many were uneasy at how easily Kankuro had killed his opponent, and most of them were leaf nin. They had just watched a comrade die. Naruto though, had his respect rise. He knew full well what the life of a shinobi entailed. He was also interested in the technique the sand genin had used, and studied it closely while he could. He could see the chakra strings controlling the puppet, but only just barely. He assumed it took a great deal of chakra control to do, so he made a note to try it later. Such a technique was useful to any nin, not just puppeteers. Who knew, maybe he'd make a few puppets of his own down the line, and use them for entertainment. It'd be good for training others, if he did it right.

He was disheartened in his comrades though. He saw many of them cringing at how the leaf genin had died. He knew it wasn't really a reaction to the method through which he died, but rather, a reaction to the fact that the guy had died at all. No doubt, many of them would be moping about it for a few days.

As the next match was called, one between Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka, Naruto felt something within his mind shift. He took a quick look with his mind's eye, and saw it was a door that he had not noticed before. His personality was apparently free. He delved into his mind as the match began, and slowly absorbed what his personality really was. He noted that his true personality was somewhat like his old mask, but more serious and dangerous.

Where as his mask had been go lucky and happy with a mix of idiocy, his real personality was more along the lines of a happy and confident one. He knew that he rather liked his personality. He didn't have to hide. He knew what he was, what he truly was. He decided it was time to visit the Kyuubi.

As he finished the finishing touches on his mind, he felt power flow through him, truly flow through him. It wasn't like earlier, where his power came through in a flood and left him feeling powerful and strong. It felt more like his power was simply there, energizing his body and giving him life. He knew now, he was truly back. He felt the seal the Sandaime put on him warp and twist. No longer was it a mind control seal. No longer could it alter his mind. Instead, it caught any attempt to do either of those things. It prevented his mind from being tampered with, all while appearing as if it was doing it's original function.

As he appeared before the cage of the Kyuubi, he couldn't stop the smirk that appeared on his face. He knew just how much he outclassed Kyuubi now, and he had no reason to fear the fox. No, he respected the fox instead.

"Hello, Kyuubi. I can safely say that it is nice to meet you." This, would be an interesting meeting.

Wellp, onto the next chapter for me then. Hope you all are enjoying the story. I'm trying to keep a period of 24 hours between each update, to make it so I can make any changes to previous chapters that may end up being needed. That, and I'm still trying to figure out how I want my other book to turn out. Not much luck there though. Evidently, I suck at planning stories. Adding a flashback here for the thing with Kin, explaining how she came to be so calm about the ordeal.

Kin was not happy. This very terrifying man had come and killed her team mate, before taking her as a slave and sending the other one running with his tail tucked between his legs. She knew her team mates were powerful, stronger than her at least. That meant this man that had enslaved her was far more powerful than her.

His team mates were already asleep, and he seemed to be. This was her chance to escape, so she tried getting up carefully. She had acted to play along before, but was not yet comfortable with the ordeal. She was glad she could think at all with how much shock she was suffering from when her team mate died.

She thought she had moved carefully, but that was apparently not the correct assumption. He had grabbed her arm and opened his eyes. He was glancing around, causing her to freeze up. Was he going to hurt her? Finally, he focused on her, and spoke calmly and quietly.

"If you want to leave, then by all means, do so. I've already taken care of your abusers. If you wish to hide under my wing, then you may do that as well. Irregardless of what others are told, you are not my slave."

"And how can I trust your word? How do I know you'll actually let me go?" He had already released her arm, but she wanted to be sure he wasn't going to follow her. She wanted to be sure that when she left, this ordeal would be over. Something told her though, that it was safer with him.

"My only intention was to get rid of your team mates, and give you a better chance at life. You didn't have that with them, due to their abuse of you. My intention is not to use you or control you."

"So what, your some kind of hero coming to the rescue of a damsel in distress?" She sneered at this thought. Her tone was almost spiteful.

"No. I am a shinobi, not a hero. I merely saw a situation where I could help and did what I could. It isn't up to me whether you'll stay safe. That's entirely up to you."

She pondered on this for a bit, wanting to be sure of herself. Some little voice in her head was telling her to stay with him, as it would be safer and it was obvious he had a lot of power. But, she wasn't sure she wanted too. What if he decided that she really was a slave?

"You won't abuse me yourself?"

"I have no reason to. I saved you from that situation, tossing you back into it would be counter productive." She could see his logic. Kin was hesitant, but she ultimately decided to try and see how this would go. She knew she was taking a risk, but decided it was easier to try this and escape later if things went south. Making her decision, she cuddled back into him, sapping warmth from his body. If she was going to be his slave to everyone else, she would reap benefits from it.

There, that ends that. Hopefully, it turned out how I want. Thinking is surprisingly difficult right now, darn migraines. Almost 2000 words for the entire chapter too... darn, so close.