" Uh, hey." said Naruto. Gaara stood there, staring at him, arms folded. The boys dark clothes and eyes, blood red hair, and strange demeanor made Naruto somewhat nervous. He had learned people like this were usually trouble.
" I hear you are quite strong." Gaara said, breaking his silence.
" Yeah, I am!" Naruto said confidently. Gaara continued his unblinking stare.
" I look forward to proving that I am stronger." Gaara said in a threatening tone. " I will kill you and validate my existence."
" Heh. Like you can beat the future Hokage." Naruto said, staring back at Gaara. The pale boy turned slowly and stalked down the corridor. When he was out of sight Naruto let out a sigh. Gaara had scared him pretty well with his act. Naruto hoped he got to put him in his place soon.
" Well, how unfortunate for you." said a female voice behind him. He turned and spotted Temari standing there, leaning on her fan. " Gaara wants to kill everybody, but with all the talk we've heard about the Clone Ninja, he's really going to go for you." She smiled a fake sweet smile.
" Well, I promise not to hurt your little brother too much when I kick his ass." Naruto said boldly. Temari laughed.
" Like you could. I bet I could take you, and he's way stronger than I am." Temari said with a confident smirk.
" Hey, I'm trying to sleep." Shikamaru called out, poking his head though a doorway. " If you two could keep your troublesome flirting down, I'd appreciate it."
" Flirting? With him?" Temari said, looking at Naruto and laughing. " What do you think I'd see in this brat?"
" Well, he's blonde, so he won't mind your ugly, spiky hair." said Shikamaru, pulling his head back in and shutting the door. Temari looked like she wanted to shout out, but stormed away, cursing under her breath.
---
It was the day of the next exam, and the genin had been assembled in the central chamber. There were a number of jounin present as well as the Hokage, Anko, and a man who looked very ill.
" We will now begin the third section of the examination." said the Hokage, striding forward and puffing on his pipe. " You have undoubtedly been told that this exam pits ninja against all countries against each other for the sake of cooperation. This is a lie." said the Hokage, giving the genin a glance even Gaara must have felt unsteady under. For a instant the old man radiated incredible power, but just as quickly as it had appeared the aura vanished, leaving a tired looking old man.
" Well, what is it then?" asked Naruto impatiently.
" A war." said the Hokage. " A war between the countries for status. The finals of the exam are held before a crowd of nobles and politicians from all the countries. The country that impresses them the most will get more contracts and become stronger, while the others will wither and become weak, succumbing to their enemies."
" Before the finals, however, we must eliminate half of you. There can be only ten finalists." said the Hokage.
" But there's twenty one of us." said Sakura, looking around.
" True. One of you will have to fight two opponents." said the Hokage. Naruto and Lee looked excited and the prospect. " We will now begin the matches, which are picked at random." The aged man motioned to a display board. Names began to flash on it, stopping on Naruto and Yoroi, one of Kabuto's teammates. The others walked onto the raised sides of the chamber to watch.
" Well, at least this will be quick." said Yoroi, entering a readied pose. The sick man walked over and waved a flag, signaling the matches beginning.
Yoroi dove forwards, grabbing onto Naruto's arm before Naruto could form any clones. He held tightly, not letting go. Naruto struggled for a moment.
" What are you doing?" asked Naruto, trying to pull his arm away.
" My technique drains chakra. In a few moments your reserve will be completely drained and you'll collaspe." said Yoroi.
He looked around as the genin from Guy, Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma began to laugh.
" Oh, hey, I think I can feel it." said Naruto, concentrating on his chakra flow. " Are you sure its working right?" Naruto asked. Yoroi looked at the small boy in confusion. He should have been near death from chakra exhaustion.
" Here. I'll help." Naruto said, grabbing Yoroi's wrist so he couldn't let go. As Yoroi looked on in disbelief, Naruto began to flex his arm, forcing more chakra into Yoroi's palms. A few seconds later smoke began to rise from his arms and he cried out in pain as they lit on fire. He fell backwards, trying to extinguish the flames.
" Naruto has more chakra that anyone." called Kiba as the medic-nin rushed over and began to help the defeated ninja. " There's no way you could drain it all." Naruto walked up the stairs and joined his friends on the platform, grinning triumphantly. The foreign genin other than Gaara looked worried.
The display board began to whirr and a few moments later Sasuke and Zaku were selected. The Uchiha walked down the stairs with his usual slouch. The Sound genin raced down eagerly. He appeared to be suffering from a number of partially healed injuries from their fight two days ago.
" I was hoping to get to fight someone worthwhile." said Sasuke, looking to Zaku, who ground his teeth under the insult. The examiner begun the match.
Zaku raised his palms towards Sasuke and fired a blast of high powered wind at him, but Sasuke had already activated his Sharingan and dodged in a blur, racing towards Zaku to attack. Zaku turned the air jets, slashing towards Sasuke and blasting the ground, but Sasuke leapt over the attack and debris, delivering a downward kick to Zaku's head. The Sound genin crumpled to he floor under the weight of the blow, but quickly rolled away. He began to fire poorly aimed but rapid air blasts at Sasuke, desperately trying to force him back. Unable to close, Sasuke formed the seals for the Grand Fireball technique and blasted the massive flame at Zaku. Caught off guard the Sound genin was hit. He was blasted back, burnt severely, saved from instant death only by one of his air blasts. He lay motionless on the ground a distance away.
" Match is over, winner is Sasuke." said the examiner. Sasuke stalked back up the stairs.
" Great job, Sasuke-kun!" cheered Sakura as he walked over. Others congratulated him as well. Naruto and Sasuke's eyes met and they glared competitively.
---
The next two matches went quickly, with Shikamaru defeating Kin and Temari beating Ten-Ten.
" Shino and Hinata." called the examiner. The bug user walked down the stairs wordlessly.
" Kick his ass, Hinata." Naruto said, cheering Hinata on. Hinata smiled and walked down the stairs quickly, taking position a shirt distance from Shino.
" Begin." said the examiner.
Hinata charged forward, Byakugan active, trying to close with Shino. Her taijutsu was more effective than his and was her best chance for winning. Shino stayed motionless, keeping his hands in his pockets. She was almost to him when she realized he was leading her into a trap. She turned, dodging to the side and skidding to a halt. Shino continued to stand motionless, not even turning towards her. Thanks to her eyes she could see it was the real Shino, but his stillness still concerned her.
Hinata drew a shuriken and threw it towards the bug user as a test. Shino did not dodge and was struck in the back by the shuriken, which embedded itself and began to bleed. He winced slightly but kept his position. Moments later, however, the shuriken fell out and the bleeding stopped. Hinata could see the bugs massing on the wound, using chakra to stimulate healing.
" The amount of chakra my hive has absorbed recently gives me greatly improved reserves. I will be able to use my bugs to heal any non lethal wound." Shino said, still not facing her.
Hinata decided that she had to press the attack and risk his trap, so she lunged forward in a Jyuuken strike. She connected, sealing the chakra point in the center of his spine. However, the instant she did, a number of bugs ripped though his skin, flooding outward at her. Before the swarm struck she began the Heavenly Spin technique, blowing a number away. However, the technique still did not completely form and a large number of the bugs latched on to her.
Shino finally moved, spinning in a kick at her feet. She leapt over, landing on the other side of him. He came up swining a punch which she was forced to block, but the moment his fist connected with her arm the bugs swarmed out of his sleeve, enveloping her arm. She tried to brush the insects off, feeling her chakra supplies quickly being drained, but Shino delivered a punch to her midsection, winding her. She fell backwards as the swarm enveloped her.
" Hinata!" Naruto cried from above, nearly leaping off the side of the balcony. Kiba had to grab him and hold him back.
" Your chakra reserves are depleted." said Shino as the bugs left Hinata. She struggled to her feet. " Since your taijutsu style is dependant on chakra, you have no useable abilities. I would suggest surrender."
" No." Hinata said wearily. A moment later she was knocked upwards by a punch, then back down into the floor by an aerial kick. Shino had moved faster than she could react, propelling his motions the stolen chakra. Hinata lay on the ground, barely able to move.
" I declare that Hinata is unable to continue." said the examiner, appearing next to them.
" No." said Hinata, struggling to sit up.
" I'm sorry, but I have made my ruling." said the examiner as medic-nin's ran over. They began to put her onto a stretcher, but she resisted. Naruto ran down towards her.
" I want to stay." she said, struggling to keep her eyes open.
" I'm sorry, but you have severe chakra fatigue. We need to get you to observation." said the medic.
" I'm sorry." Hinata whispered as Naruto arrived by the stretcher. " I failed."
" Don't say that! Shino's really tough. It's not bad to lose to him." said Naruto, grabbing Hinata's hand.
" I still failed." said Hinata, tears in her eyes. " I'm still a failure."
" Hinata, I'm a bigger one than you are." said Naruto, trying to cheer her up.
" Don't say that." said Hinata, looking at Naruto.
" It's true, though." said Naruto. " But being a failure isn't the problem. It's accepting that. I man, come on. You got this far on your first try. All those genin didn't even get here. And I like you even if you didn't win." Hinata looked at Naruto adoringly and squeezed his hand.
" We have to get her out of here." said the medics. They began to walk towards the exit with Hinata. Naruto walked with them. By the door, Asuma caught Naruto.
" I want to see if she's okay." said Naruto as Asuma grabbed his arm.
" Kid, I hate to do this but you have to stay." said Asuma, looking apologetic. " You need to see the other fights. Besides, Hinata's tough." Asuma pulled Naruto towards the stairs. Naruto looked back at Hinata, but followed reluctantly.
Kabuto and Neji fought next. While Kabuto fought well, injuring Neji by using a medical jutsu to cut him, Neji managed to seal his chakra points with the Divine Sixty Four Strikes. As he limped from the room he gave Naruto the thumbs up. Ino fell to Dosu, being defeated by the sound waves from his attacks, and Kankuro was beaten by Sakura when she trapped him in a genjutsu and tricking him into attacking himself with his puppet. Naruto jeered as the medic's helped him away, feeling a little better but still worried about Hinata.
" Choji and Gaara!" shouted the examiner.
" I surrender." said Choji, raising his hand and looking scared.
" You aren't even going to try?" asked Kurenai, looking annoyed.
" He's way too tough." said Choji, munching on a bag of chips. Kurenai sighed. Gaara looked unmoved by the news.
" Kiba and Lee!" came the next match up.
" Aw, crap." said Kiba, petting Akamaru. Lee leapt into the arena and began to stretch. Kiba and Akamaru took position as far from Lee as they could, entering the pose for the Beast Clone. The examiner began the match.
Lee took off as Kiba and Akamaru performed the jutsu.
" Buy me some time!" ordered Kiba. Akamaru leapt forward, racing towards Lee as Kuba bit his finger and began to channel chakra for the summon technique. Lee dealt the first blow, punching Akamaru in the face, but Akamaru carried his charge into a tackle, knocking Lee backwards and down to the floor. Lee kicked Akamaru into the air and leapt to his feet. Akamaru spun as he fell, landing and connecting with a sweeping kick at Lee's midsection as Kiba finished the summons.
Three snarling ninja dogs appeared and bounded towards Lee alongside Kiba. Lee dodged away from Akamaru, but found himself surrounded on every side. Five Piercing Fang's shot towards him, and Lee disappeared in a cloud of dust as they struck. However, Lee had narrowly escaped, leaping into the air and landing a safe distance away. When the cloud settled Akamaru, Kiba, and the three ninja dogs were looking at him with bared fangs. Lee settled into his readied position, looking worried.
" It looks like Lee is in trouble. Kiba and Akamaru are as fast as he is, and the dogs just make it worse." said Kakashi to Guy. Guy looked at his rival for a moment, then smirked.
" Lee!" said Guy, calling down to his pupil. " Take them off!"
" But Guy-sensei, you said to only do that when protecting someone important!" Lee yelled back.
" I don't care! Take them off!" said Guy with a laugh. Lee got a startled look on his face for a moment, but it soon turned into pure joy. He pulled down his leg warmers, revealing a number of weights.
" Like that will help you!" said Kiba as he and the dogs charged. Akamaru dashed around, planning on taking Lee from the side. Lee grabbed the weights, ripping them off and leaping into the air. He threw the weights towards Kiba and the ninja dogs. They struck the ground with increable force, creating a blast wave that knocked Kiba back and causing the ninja dogs to vanish in three puffs of smoke.
Everyone in the room was astounded.
Kiba leapt to his feet, facing Lee. Akamaru was behind, flanking him. Lee took his pose, beckoning Kiba on with one hand. Kiba and Akamaru leapt towards Lee in a twin Piercing Fang, but before they connected Lee knocked them back with ease. The force of the hits disrupted the Beast Clone, causing Kiba and Akamaru to revert to their real forms.
" What the hell?" said Kiba, sitting up weakly. " Theres no way you could have blocked that!" A moment later, Lee appeared behind Kiba, moving faster than anyone could see. He held a kunai to Kiba's throat, signaling victory. Akamaru ran up, barking angrily at Lee.
" Rock Lee wins." said the examiner. Lee let go of Kiba.
" You fought very well, Kiba." said Lee, putting his kunai away.
" Yeah, thanks." said Kiba, picking up Akamaru, who growled at Lee. " You still kicked my ass."
" Naruto and Misumi!" called the examiner as Kiba and Lee left the arena.
" You won't beat me just by having a lot of chakra." said Misumi as he faced Naruto. " Surrender now if you want to live."
" Could you shut up? I want to get his over with and go check on Hinata-chan." said Naruto, hands behind his head in a relaxed pose.
Misumi's arms suddenly shot forward, grabbing onto a shocked Naruto. Naruto formed a single clone as he was pulled towards Misumi and constricted. Before Misumi could hurt Naruto, however, both Naruto and the clone switched places using the replacement technique.
" Impressive. How did you know to have a clone prepared?" asked Misumi, beginning to untangle himself.
" Well, you reached out and tried to grab me, so I guessed what you were going to do." Naruto said, sounding unimpressed. " It wasn't too hard to figure out."
" Impressive. I wonder how many times you can do that." said Misumi, arm curled around the clone. He began to choke the clone.
" Who cares? You just lost." said Naruto, forming the detonation seal. The clone exploded, disintergrating Misumi's arm and throwing him into the wall. He slumped to the ground where he lay, unmoving.
---
Hinata blinked as the ceiling came into focus. She was in a soft bed. Her body ached, still low on chakra, but she sat up determinedly.
" Your awake!" Naruto said. Hinata looked around the hospital room. Naruto was sitting in a seat next to her bed, while Kiba and Akamaru were waiting on a couch against the far wall.
" How long was I asleep?" asked Hinata with a yawn.
" A few hours." Naruto said, smiling at her. " How do you feel?"
" Tired." said Hinata. Suddenly, the memories of her loss came back to her.
" Hey, don't make that face." said Kiba, reading Hinata's look. " Me and Akamaru lost too." Akamaru gave a small whine.
" And anyways, your loss is pretty much my fault." said Asuma, walking in. " I wasn't able to help you get the Heavenly Spin technique right and I never had you and Kiba train your chakra reserves."
" But still…" Hinata said before Asuma cut her off.
" Hinata, I don't want to hear you say another word about losing and I want you to stop calling yourself a failure. Your progress since you became a genin is amazing." said Asuma.
" Yeah. The only reason I started learning the new techniques is because you were getting way better than me." Kiba chirped in.
" Thank you." said Hinata, tears in her eyes. " You four…you are my real family. I can't thank you enough for the kindness you have shown me."
" Wait, if were your family, does that make Naruto your brother? You can't date him if he's your brother." Kiba said jokingly. Asuma bopped him on the head, earning a thankful look from Naruto.
---
" So," said Asuma when they met the next day, " I have a new training plan for us. Kiba, Akamaru, and Hinata, I'm going to have us work on the chakra focusing technique. It's a good first step in building up chakra reserves. Naruto, I have something else for you."
" What is it, sensei?" Naruto asked eagerly.
" You have a massive chakra reserve, but you can't use it very efficiently." Asuma said. " I called in a favor from a family friend who was in the area to help you with that."
" Who is it?" said Naruto, jumping up and down with excitement.
" Asuma, if this kid keeps acting like that I might just go back to my research." said a large old man, walking up. He had wild, spiky white hair and a scroll on his back that dwarfed Kiba's largest.
" Hey, Jiraiya. Thanks for agreeing to this." said Asuma, rubbing the back of his head. " Naruto's a bit of a handful, but I think you'll like him."
" We'll see. Come, Naruto." said Jiraiya, turning and walking away.
" Where are we going?" asked Naruto, following closely.
" A hot spring." said Jiraiya, a perverted look crossing his face.
" All right, you three." said Asuma, turning to his remaining students. " Training time."