A Tale of Two Beasts: Harmony & Chaos Chapter 4, a naruto fanfic

A/N: I'd been adding little tid bits to this chapter ever since I last posted, and its been nearly ten months since I've updated this story. Time really flies... Anyway, I'd just about tossed this in the garbage and pretty much forgotten about it until I was trying to figure out the lyrics to 'The Lotus Eater' by Opeth, and upon reading them (?id=1342875) I was all of a sudden stricken by some serious motivation. As such, the chapter itself deals mostly with Naruto's final acceptance of the true meaning of being a shinobi.

So, sorry for the wait, though from the number of hits/reviews not too many folks seem to care at this point (most likely due to my own incredibly long time away from updating), but here is Chapter Four: The Lotus Eater. R&R, please.

|-_-|-_-|-_-||-_-|-_-|-_-||-_-|-_-|-_-||-_-|-_-|-_-||-_-|-_-|-_-||-_-|-_-|-_-||-_-|-_-|-_-||-_-|-_-|-_-||-_-|-_-|-_-||-_-|

A Tale of Two Beasts – Harmony and Chaos

Chapter Four: The Lotus Eater

The return to Konohagakure was met with little fanfare. No rogue ninja burst into their path to apprehend them, nobody stepped on a rusted, discarded shuriken or nail or anything. No rabid animals attacked them. Yes, something was amiss, and Kakashi was determined to get to the bottom of it. The odds of having a return trip with little mishap was rare, but a perfectly BORING trip back, made in record time? Nearly unheard of. Hatake Kakashi glanced to his left at Sasuke, then to his right, at Naruto, then to the south, at Sakura. Finally, his eyes drifted towards the solitary, red headed figure to the north, about twenty yards farther than Kakashi usually had a point guard stationed.

Hm, so maybe Kurama was using some of his talents with plants, perhaps exuding some sort of plant-y aura, to ward away evil karma demons? Kakashi grinned beneath his mask, and let his eyes (or eye, depending on your viewpoint, I suppose) curve into a pleased smile. Yes, the great Kakashi's instincts told him to place the young shinobi at point soon after they left, and his instincts served him well. Kakashi – 1, Evil Karma Demons – 0. Score!

They entered Konoha territory several hours after Kakashi's victory over the evil karma demons that forever seemed haunt him. "Team, I'll deliver the report back to Hokage-sama. I want all of you to get a little rest and take tomorrow off. But after tomorrow expect a bright and early return to training. We're going to be kicking up the pace by quite a margin. Kurama, stay just a moment. I need you to come with me for a second. The rest of you, dismissed."

Naruto and Sasuke both gave a small look to each other, then to the retreating figures of Kurama and Kakashi before they finally turned and followed the skipping figure of Sakura towards the city. Naruto's eyes actually followed the sculpted form of her ass, but just the same it served as a guide.

Night fell on Konohagakure swiftly, cloaking the city in its deathly quiet embrace. From the mile high treetops surrounding the great village a spectator took in the spectacle of the sun setting. Ebony hair fluttered lightly, the strands reaching all of the six feet from head to toe, nearly dragging onto the ground. The only skin exposed was the single strip of cloth ripped from the figure's old fashioned ninja helm, which left his eyes and the narrow bit of skin between and around the orbs free to the caress of the breeze.

In stark contrast to its state of dress, the figure's eyes remained a milky white constant amidst the inky darkness settling over Fire Country. Faint pupils consisted of an off white circle surrounded by what appeared to be a ragged, broken blood vessel, a black strand of something that faintly wiggled every few seconds, like a worm.

There was a whisper. Floating, drifting, swelling and shrinking with the winds that carried it. Far below the branch from which the figure was standing a young blond boy jolted up in his bed, screaming. He could have sworn he heard something dreadful. Another whisper, and a subsequent scream.

"You'll rot in an unmarked grave, boy."

The sun rose all too slowly for Uzumaki Naruto, who sat rigid on the floor in a crouched position, eyes bleeding red and viewing all of his bedroom with a passive, never wavering stare. His hands grasped kunai so tightly the knuckles on his hands were white, and beginning to swell and crimson with the extended strain.

There was a crack, and Naruto lurched forward, his arms flinging the two blades as hard and as swiftly as possible through the open doorway in the direction of the opening to his home. Flooding his senses with chakra, he further accelerated the blades, shoving them through the wood. There was a sharp 'clang!' of metal on metal, and then the subtle pitter patter of unhurried footsteps. Naruto moved backwards and sat down on the side of his bed with a sort of dazed look, though his hands now clenched the hilt of an old, raggedy kitchen knife.

Kurama peered through the doorway and then glanced back at the entrance he'd just came through, appraising, "Good stuff..." Kurama turned back towards the blond ninja and let out a little 'tsk, tsk, tsk' at his appearance, "Damn, you look horrible. Bad night?"

Naruto slowly set the knife down on his bare mattress having discarded his sheets and the thin comforter he had to the other side of the bed sometime during his hours of tossing and turning, "You could, uh, say that, I guess. I kept getting this eerie feeling, man. I think something really bad is going to happen..."

Kurama nodded faintly, "It is possible. I've read that with the spiritual and mental awareness that most decent ninja have attained that their natural intuition is often extremely acute. It's totally possible..." the crimson haired shinobi muttered, trying not to sound like a know-it-all. He approached Naruto somewhat warily, though exposed no overt hesitation, and patted him on the shoulder, "Look, Naruto. Raw fact is that... probably less than a hundred feet from here, there was civilian mugging or killing or raping or something and you picked up on it. Frankly, since I was little and my body began adapting to the increased chakra stores in my body I've been picking up on all sorts of things, but for the most part, I haven't had anything too awful happen. In my opinion, it's probably best to keep an eye out, but don't obsess over this, alright? After all, while the sense is useful in certain situations, like when someone's killing intent isn't masked, or so you can sense hostiles in the surrounding area... But for now, just get up and take a shower. I'm going to show you a new exercise that you'll probably love."

At the prospect of learning something new Naruto perked up somewhat and stood up, still a little sluggish. The young shinobi stretched his arms above his head, clasping them together at the wrist and giving out a loud yawn. "Probably?"

"Seventy...! Seventy-one...! Seventy-two...!" the pattern continued, Naruto's gasping chant never ceasing for more than a second. The blond shinobi was lying face down in the dirt of one of the Genin training grounds, shirtless with his orange pant legs rolled to the knee and his sandals removed, thrown near to where his shirt and jacket lay. Naruto performed push ups in the flawless position all ninja were taught in their youth. Basic exercises could not be stressed enough as the fundamental physical conditioning pillar and poor form just wouldn't do.

But push ups were boring. Kurama had introduced the concept of funneling chakra through the palms and never actually touching the ground. At first Naruto had completed the first hundred without even ceasing his chakra flow, and was ready to spring up and gloat about the ease of the exercise, when he noticed Kurama next to him had merely started the count over at one, and was using an interesting technique. As soon as his hands nearly touched the earth, he would blast enough chakra to force himself back into the air, then cut the flow.

Now, in his fifth set, on his five hundred and seventy-third push up, Naruto knew that it was utterly impossible to do more than about two hundred without ceasing flow, though the bursting action was extremely strenuous. Panting, with his entire body turned crimson by the unceasing activity which by now had turned his arms, shoulders, and stomach into jelly. Kurama continued next to him, merely twenty push ups ahead of him, but the conservation of his chakra in the beginning seemed to be assisting him greatly, as while he was flushed and sweating, his breath was calm and even.

Somewhere around seven hundred Naruto's body was on the verge of collapsing, and each repetition took nearly five whole seconds. Kurama had ceased at seven hundred and fifty, and sat Indian-style next to the gasping, panting ninja. When Naruto finally finished he collapsed into the mud below him, his sweating so profuse that it had created a puddle beneath him. Kurama stood, somewhat shakily, and walked towards the conveniently placed water fountains, freeing two cups from the dispenser on the side and filling them. He took a sip of one and returned to the still panting Naruto.

"Stop breathing like that. You're going to pass out. Here, turn over and when you feel comfortable sit up and take a swallow of water," Kurama lectured, his own breathing slow and steady, and his flushed appearance nearly forgotten.

Naruto followed his instruction and did as such, finally taking a long swallow of water once his breathing slowed enough, "That's some pretty tough shit..."

Kurama nodded and took a swallow from his own cup. The crimson haired shinobi finished it off and walked over to the fountain and began refilling his cup. He took another sip after filling it to the brim, and then laughed, "Wait until we start on squats."

Night had taken a firm hold on Konohagakure only an hour previous, and Naruto's exuberant amount of stamina hadn't allowed him to fall asleep as he wanted. Instead he sat in his study, reading one of his newly acquired technique books. Reaching the end of the page he folded it inwards and closed the manual. He stood and then looked into the toilet with a grimace before cleaning up and flushing. Naruto left the book on the small table next to the toilet where he normally kept his dirty magazines and joke books and washed his hands, pondering on the best methods for keeping up with Kurama.

Naruto's pursuits of staying on even ground, or actually surpassing Sasuke were now pretty much forgotten. He had relinquished much of his latent jealousy of the other boy knowing how much Sasuke also envied the star pupil of Hatake Kakashi and while both still seemed to share equal enmity of each other, they also appraised the prodigy with comprehensive and calculating glances. Neither had confessed to their equal fear of the boy, but both had suppressed hunches that the other felt as such many times. Naruto liked Kurama, a lot. He was a great guy... but there was just too much damn power and wisdom in that lanky frame to not feel somewhat scared of him.

And of course the seal on Naruto's stomach had been acting up again, and the patterns that the trouble appeared also assisted in the uneasiness that which Naruto held Kurama. Frequent cramps and eerie feelings of a nearby threat, feelings of being watched, all present usually in Kurama's presence. Often it was barely noticeable, but some times there was just no ignoring it. And the rage that always swirled below the surface of his mind had been coming to bear at even greater levels since his feelings of fear and envy had also been aroused.

There was a thump. Something had slammed into the side of his building with enough force to be heard up above the ground floor. Naruto pulled on a pair of his orange pants and felt that his kunai were attached to the belt. He opened the bathroom door and tread over through the living room/kitchen/dining area to the only somewhat clear window and glanced down. The murky piece of glass revealed a trio or possibly a quartet of figures below, but the darkness served to complement the questionable transparency of the window and as such the view was all but undecipherable. Naruto squinted and at still being unable to view the figures and their activities clearly he infused small amounts of chakra into his eyes. They began to burn, unused to the energy's stimulation in that area, but the chakra served its intended purpose and he was able to clear the murky view.

As Naruto beheld the two men raping the what appeared to be a young woman and a third standing to the side, he rushed to the door, not bothering to try and open the barred window and damage his wall. As soon as he stepped onto the walkway he jumped over the railing and whilst flying in the direction of the thugs and their victim his chakra infused eyes flared a bright blue, and to the three who were busy having their way with the young woman's unconscious body all they could see was two floating azure orbs before Naruto released six of his kunai from the pouch at his hip in an instant. Three pairs of eyes were pierced, and two of the men dropped to the ground, dead. The other wasn't so lucky. Clutching his skull, the man who had been busy racking the body of the woman with violent stabs into her genitals pulled out of her and nearly fell onto his back in a rush to get away from the direction of whatever had thrown the weapons.

Naruto gave a small snort and fell next to the scrambling man, kicking him in the side of the face. There was a loud crack and the body fell still, the man's head cocked to an odd angle. Ignoring the corpse Naruto turned to face the woman whom was obviously unconscious, at least if you took into consideration the closed eyes and unresponsiveness of her body in accordance with having just been raped. As he looked her over he reached down and felt for her pulse. Nothing. His chakra infused eyes burned extremely bad from having been charged for so long a time with such an abundance of chakra, but his need to view details in the dark forced him to push a little more. Tears fell as the eyes attempted to soothe themselves. Steam rose.

From what he could discern from the wall, when she'd been shoved into the wall her head had struck it. Blood splatter and a bit of brains and skull fragments decorated the side of the building. The back of her head was caved in. Naruto felt sharp pins and needles begin to pierce into the back of his eyes and deactivated his night vision. The sensation of having his vision taken away was swift and left him nearly disoriented, but his body reacted and he sprinted into the direction of the nearest guard output which all shinobi were required to know the locations of.

The lights given off by the interior through the window enabled him to see decently, and he could make out the guard, what looked to be an older Chuunin, facing him. Naruto saluted, "Sir, Genin Uzumaki Naruto, I've just stopped three men in the process of raping a young civilian woman. All of them are dead, sir." The shock of the situation never reached him, his mind was taken over by the training. Protocol prevailed over thought.

The Chuunin was good at what he did, and offered no hostilities at the Genin's name. He nodded and glanced around, "The woman's status?"

"Dead, sir."

In the middle of jotting down notes the Chuunin paused, "Excuse me?"

Naruto kept his salute having not been told to do otherwise, "Her attackers smashed her head into the wall, and from the look of things killed her instead of rendering her unconscious."

"You can relax, son. Listen to me, I need to tell me the location of the scene and then return to your home. Come to the police headquarters tomorrow around noon and we'll do what needs to be done to make sure you're not held liable to anything."

Naruto nodded and relaxed then recited his address, "Sir, I live upstairs at the same location. I heard what I'm assuming to be her skull connect to the building's wall. If there is any assistance required-"

"None will be required, you've done just as you've been trained to. Don't break the habit, now go home. It's getting late."

Naruto nodded and saluted again, "Yes sir, thank you, sir," and departed. It was only when he got home and was in the process of taking a second shower to remove the blood that had splattered him upon kicking the man's head that what had just happened actually struck him. He looked down at his body, down at the bloody water, then at his shaking hands. He collapsed under the cold spray of the shower, the momentum causing him to slip forward and bash his hand on the rusty handle, cutting off the flow.

The morning came slowly, and Naruto awoke feeling as if he had just been unfrozen. He grasped the edge of the tub and pulled himself out and onto the hard floor of his bathroom. He lay there for a few moments, struggling to piece together where he was and what was happening. His head was pounding, and his upper body felt as if the muscles in his arms, chest, and back had been ran through a blender and poured back into his body.

The memories came slowly, and fragmented. Images in a strange vision, a world colored in blue. He'd killed someone. The revelation came in a rush: a man viciously fucking a cooling corpse, the same man's neck breaking from a swift kick to the face which turned his entire head around backwards and sprayed Naruto with blood, the same man whom had just taken the life of an innocent civilian woman, the same man who now burned in hell with the other two men Naruto had ruthlessly killed by sending kunai through the depths of their eyes into the brain.

Naruto shakily sat up, and with the aid of the tub was able to use his ruined muscles to pull himself up. The last bit of activity during the night had most likely served to further tear his already beaten muscles. He wobbled out of the bathroom into his living area and headed towards his bedroom, each step taking a momentous effort. He sought to see what time it was from the clock mounted above his small television, but his vision was blurry to an insane degree, and his eyes felt aflame. It must have had something to do with the memories of the previous night being burned into his mind in the strange blue light.

Naruto made it into his bedroom and sat down onto his carefully made bed and had the strange though of how he was beginning to have neater tendencies. A small glance to the outside of his room revealed a vision, albeit blurry, of a clean living room, bereft of the tiniest hint of trash. Naruto lay back onto his thin comforter and pulled the unused portion of his covers on the other side of the bed to cover his naked body. He fell asleep as soon as he had comfortably fixed his head into the pillows.

Naruto awoke at the crack of noon and instantly stood to dress. His vision was superbly clear now after another few hours of rest. There was a tingling in the his retinas, even. But the pleasant sensation of a reinvigorated body didn't stop the knowledge that he was late for something putting him in an odd state of mind, and through his rushed dressing he had no thoughts other than what the process of dressing. He slipped on his shoes and exited, not bothering to lock the door. Things had changed. No one would enter his home in the pursuit of mischief.

He walked towards the center of town, without really knowing where he was going. He let his feet send him to the correct destination. It took about ten minutes of steady walking, but eventually he looked up once there was something in his path and he stared into the eyes of a young man seated behind a desk. Naruto simply stared at him, unsure of why he was here.

The man grimaced uncertainly and offered, "Can I help you, young man?"

The blond shinobi though for a second and kept staring at him, "I'm not sure. I'm supposed to be here for some reason. I... can't remember why, thou-" Midway through the sentence Naruto realized it had something to do with the previous night, "Oh, I'm supposed to see if I need to offer any assistance with the murders last night in the lower city apartment district. I talked to someone about it last night, maybe a Chuunin?."

The man at the desk looked down at his list of memos one of the secretaries had handed to him at the start of the day, and skimmed through the small batch of sticky notes plastered to the bottom right of the desk and finally looked back up into Naruto's eyes with a small smile, "Afraid you're not needed anymore, son. Apparently forensic evidence patched this all up last night. Thank you for coming down as asked, though."

Naruto nodded solemnly and turned to walk away, exiting the building and turning onto the main road through the village. He didn't get far down the road in the direction of the town square before his hair stood on end, and he followed the sensation towards where it directed him. Nearly forty or so yards away there was Konohamaru and his little group of friends playing. Running backwards away from his two friends, Konohamaru missed the large figure in black standing behind him.

As Naruto approached slowly, his senses telling him something eerie was near, Konohamaru ran full speed into the young man. The man's hand flew down and snatched up Konohamaru by the collar, the force nearly snapping his little neck and causing his teeth to click together. The brute seemed to not be bothered by the mild heat of the village, even though he wore all black clothing, and it only seemed to make his visage all the more ferocious to the young boy who looked up into his captor's face. "What in the fuck do you think you're doing, you little shit? Watch where you're fucking going! You could have broken my leg or something. How would that look, one of Konoha's little shit bag kids wounding a visiting ninja? I ort to snap one of your little arms, punk!"

Naruto felt twinge of anger and felt his chakra pools open fully and let the flow expand around him until it would most likely be visible to the naked eye of those even slightly sensitive. Approaching from the side, Naruto's eyes shot to the blond kunoichi that stood nearby with a slightly disapproving look in her eyes, but who obviously didn't care all too much. "I'd suggest putting him down." There was a quiet rage building up in Naruto, one that filled him with a lust for blood and put a distinct edge to his voice, as if his throat were leaking out energy. Naruto took another step forward and felt his eyes burn again, and his vision sharpened.

The ebony clad ninja looked down at the boy for a second, and then towards Naruto and grinned, "Just what the hell are you going to do about it, mother fucker?" he asked, and then moved as if to do something to Konohamaru in spite of the suggestion.

"Kankuro. Put. Him. Down."

Naruto's eyes didn't follow the voice, though his ears told him where the sound had come from. The large tree just behind them. There was power in the voice. Naruto did, however, see the tremors that came to Kankuro's body as he hurriedly did as told by whomever had uttered the command. The blond kunoichi also shivered and came forward as if to shield Kankuro, "Come on, Kankuro, these Leaf shinobi aren't worth bothering with anyway."

The stoic voice from the tree came again, "I'd think otherwise of the statement, siblings. Now follow me to our board. I'm sick of looking at this place." Naruto, finally sensing the situation was disarmed, turned towards the voice and viewed the red hair boy who stood upside down on one of the branches, observing. His hair was short, and there were black markings around his eyes. Most striking was the kanji tattoo on his forehead, the character for 'Love', and the giant gourd strapped to his back. "Leaf nin, please forgive my brother for behaving like trash." The boy sent a fearsome glare towards his brother who had began to walk towards the boy.

Kankuro winced and ceased moving until the red haired youth looked away, "I'm sorry, Gaara. I wasn't thinking."

The blond kunoichi joined her sibling and muttered, "No shit. It's a good thing you stopped though. You could have jeopardized our being entered into the exams." At this Kankuro winced sharply again and seemed to shrink. When Gaara teleported down to the ground and began walking in the direction of the main town square both Kankuro and the blond girl began to follow him.

"Hey, what exactly are you doing here in Konohagakure?" asked Naruto, his swelling chakra making his voice project without yelling.

Gaara paused and turned to face him and then looked sharply at the blond who apparently got the message. She turned and looked to Naruto, "We are from Sunagakure. We're here for the Chuunin Exams. I'm Temari," she said, and pointed to Kankuro, "that's Kankuro," and she then nodded her head towards Gaara who was examining the ground, "and that's Gaara. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other soon." She smiled slightly, a smile that attempted to both enhance and hide her dangerous qualities.

Naruto nodded and didn't provide a name or any thanks. He looked away from her and went towards Konohamaru to make sure he was okay. Temari glared at him and turned back towards Gaara who had started walking again. They turned down another street and began heading towards the hotel they were staying in. Temari hissed, "What a little asshole. Somebody ought to beat his ass."

Gaara gave a small chuckle, nearly a grunt in its gruffness, "It wouldn't come from Kankuro, that's for sure. I doubt you two sensed it, but that one is unstable. That and his chakra output in a resting state is nearly thrice yours combined. Now stop your bitching, Temari. I would enjoy silencing you, but I'm sure you possess the ability to cease talking of your own accord."

Kankuro gave Temari a small questioning look, which Temari returned before saying, "Yes, Gaara." The two siblings continued following their younger brother, both wondering over the same subject, the boy they'd just encountered. If his chakra was so great he must obviously be a large threat... but for Gaara to have spoken so much on him there was something else that Gaara must have sensed. Something... unnatural.

Sasuke sat on the edge of the roof atop the main Uchiha household. Blank eyes vacantly gazed over the empty subdivision and towards the brilliantly lit city. It was almost sunset. He had a lot of errands to do today, but he'd awoken early and taken a shower, gotten dressed, and then on a whim had climbed out his window and onto the roof. He'd sat here all day, just thinking. There were images passing through his mind, sounds and smells that he often found himself in a quandary about. To erase them would ease his conscious tremendously, but the same thing that would bring him peace would put him on the same level as his graduating class. With much of his innocence shattered he was capable of putting himself past the comforts of laziness and was attempting to convert himself to thrive off of pain.

The attempt was working, however slowly. Sasuke broke his gaze and turned to look down at his hands. Calloused, scarred, strong. His palms clenched and his fingers turned inwards into fists. There was a small spark of anger in him, but the placid calm that had held him captive all day reverted the emotion into a sigh. Sasuke bent forward and pushed himself up. Standing atop the roof he thought briefly to throw himself over, but merely chuckled. At most he'd sprain his ankle or get a few bruises. At most. Anger again twisted into his mind at his suicidal thoughts. Sasuke took a kunai from his pouch and stabbed into the top of his left hand. He took it out and sent the kunai flying into the woods, where there was the small sound of it thunking into a tree.

Sasuke ignored the pouring blood for a moment as his thoughts turned to his utter hatred of suicide and of weakness. Chakra gradually pooled into the wound and clotted it without a thought. The Uchiha nin turned to look at the slightly glowing wound and his eyes widened.

There weren't many things that excited Haruno Sakura. Flowers made her think of her ex best friend and current rival Ino. Training reminded her of her inferior strength. Money wasn't really high on her priority list as her family had always been more than comfortable, her civilian father's high paying job within the city and her mother's dutiful housekeeping had given her both an extravagantly decorated home and all the comforts and things she could ever want.

But one thing always got her going. The secret thought that she would never, EVER tell to anyone. The thoughts that she attempted to keep even God out of.

The very person she despised brutally dominating her body in her parent's bed.

With a moan Sakura's nimble fingers brought her to an incredible release. He orgasm had her breaking out into shivers and had her face flushed pink. Her eyes closed tightly as she rode out the wave of pleasure racking her body. Her thin, supple hips rocked against her hand which had settled away from her burning clit and was slowly sliding to keep the sensations for as long as possible. With a sigh Sakura brought her dripping hand to her face and began to remove her juices from each digit with her tongue.

Haruno Sakura let out another small moan and then sat up shakily, launching into a slow, satisfying stretch. Her eyes drifted from her sweat and cum soaked bed towards the window, in the direction of the nearly abandoned Uchiha Compound which was faintly visible in the moonlight, and guilt splintered into her thought process, along with the glowing visage of a certain blond genin, and the brooding scene of Sasuke learning of her 'betrayal.' She frowned and jumped off her bead, furrowing her brow at the image of her soaking wet comforter. She chuckled, attempting to alleviate the guilt sensations she felt by thinking of something else.

But as she carried the comforter to the washing room, the musky scent which followed her only shoved the fact that she was desperately attracted to Naruto back into her face. With a heavy heart she set about the task of cleaning the cover. For the rest of the night she couldn't get the their faces out of her mind. Sleep never came for the pink haired girl.

Naruto had slept well that night. His seal had been acting up after his encounter with the mysterious ninja from Sunagakure, but the strain of attempting to ignore it had apparently left him more exhausted than he'd thought. Without breaking his train of thought

The eerie feeling he'd gotten from the ninja still had not left him. Also, there hadn't been anything nearly as malevolent as the vibes he picked up from the Gaara boy since he had watched Kakashi and Kurama battle with the Demon of the Mist, Zabuza. But where Zabuza had seemed focused on exuding his killing intent to the party of Konoha ninja, Gaara's mere presence hinted of nearly untold amounts of killing intent, and his gut feeling told Naruto it had been checked. With passive killing intent of such a great amount, it left Naruto somewhat nauseous thinking of how a focused burst of it could affect his enemies.

The blond shinobi blocked out the worry that started leaking into his psyche and flushed it out with a quick burst of chakra. His skin prickled and shivered pleasantly. Naruto's eyes shifted towards the digital alarm clock at his bed side which sat on the rickety end table he'd stealthily pulled from one of the nearby dumpsters at Christmas the year before. Nothing really wrong with it. A severe cleaning had taken it from a piece of shit to a respectable looking piece of furniture. Naruto felt a small sparkle of pride that he'd done so well in the past few weeks for himself.

The bright red digits on the clock read 5:43. According to the calendar he'd swiped from one of the department stores in town today he was to meet Kakashi and the rest of his team in front of the Hokage Tower around ten. Plenty of time to get a head start on his new training regimen that had been brewing under his thoughts ever since Kurama had got him doing chakra push ups shortly after they had all gotten back Konohagakure from the mission.

Firstly, he started off stretching, and by 6:00 had lapsed into concentrated chakra push ups, of which he did as many as he could as fast as he could perform them for about ten minutes. Following these he stretched out his shoulders and jogged in place, wondering exactly how Kurama would have instructed him to do squats in such a manner. Just jumping with chakra, maybe? Naruto did as such, ceasing his jogging and squatting down, channeling his chakra into his legs and feet. He performed the exercise and used his chakra to shoot into the air, slamming his head into the ceiling and actually cracking the the roof of the room. He fell and landed in a heap at the foot of his bed where he'd been doing the exercises.

Naruto grasped his pounding head, rubbing his sweaty hair and the goose egg that was already swelling at the top of his scalp. Pulling his hand away he determined it wasn't bleeding. He sighed, blocking out the pain, "Well, I think that's enough for today. At least I worked up a sweat..." Naruto murmured, and stood, shaking his head and in doing so dousing his everything around him in sweat. He looked around and shrugged, then walked to the bathroom to take a shower.

The rest of the team was already there upon Naruto's arrival. Kurama sat off to the side of the road on a bench, looking deep in thought. Sasuke was on the other side of the road, nursing today's newspaper. Sakura was staring daggers at the large clock which was displayed on the side of the bank. She glanced over towards Naruto and flicked a little grin at him, a grin which threatened Naruto to give her a smart alleck comment, "Guess who's nearly two hours late?"

Naruto looked over at the clock, confirming the time, "Well, it's Kakashi. Of course he's late. Why the hell did you bother to get here so early? You're supposed to be the brains, Sakura... well, you and Kurama, but still. I've already figured out if Kakashi says ten, he means lunch."

Sasuke glanced over at his newspaper, a little surprised that Naruto wasn't trying to win brownie points by siding with her and following along, but merely looked back down, attempting to feign disinterest. Across the street Kurama merely smiled as he looked over at them. Sakura looked mortified Naruto had dared to answer her like he did, and then the anger switch flipped, and she began to march over to him. Naruto flicked his hand at her and slammed a huge wave of chakra into her, causing her to nearly fly backwards into a group of civilian bankers who were trying to cross the street and enter the bank. Naruto winked at Kurama when he saw the crimson haired boy smiling at him.

Kurama gave him a little smirk in return. 'Naruto got the exercise.'

"I'm not the in mood for it, Sakura. I think it's about time we stopped this whole charade thing you've got going on and accept the fact that I'm improving," said Naruto, taking a deep breath afterwards, preparing to say something that felt both as if he was treating her very badly and also like it was lifting a huge weight off his chest, "I'm not the weakling anymore. We're a team and you're not going to treat me like a punching bag for every time you feel I've fucked you over or something. I've never done anything to hurt you, and god dammit, you're not going to treat me like shit anymore!"

Sakura looked up at him from her position in the dirt, and her eyes teared up. She stood and brushed the dust from her outfit and walked over to Kurama's bench, where she sat down and stayed silent. Naruto went to Sasuke's side of the street and joined his teammate in waiting for their teacher.

Not ten silent minutes later the Jounin appeared walking at a leisurely pace. He stood in the center between the two benches. His only visible eye first examined Kurama and Sakura. Kurama looked nearly asleep, and Sakura looked on the verge of tears. His eye then traveled over to Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke was holding his paper out so that Naruto could read along side him on one particularly interesting article. He scratched at his head and frowned in confusion, "Well, I didn't really expect silence at arriving here two hours late, but whatever."

Kakashi smiled, "I've got good news! I've enlisted Team Seven in the Chuunin Exams about to be held here, starting on Monday! Well, actually, I need you all to agree to perform in the exam, so... how about it?" It only took a few second for the words to register with the team, and everyone but Sakura raised her hand. At Sasuke's look which practically pleaded with her, she sighed and raised hers as well.

Kakashi beamed, "Right, well, it's pretty exciting, huh? Now, look, we've only got two weeks until the exam starts. The first teams participating have already began arriving, trying to put in a few weeks training in a new environment and all that. We've got home field advantage, and I've also got an extensive training regimen for all of you."

He pointed to Kurama, "Well, not you, actually. I'm stilling working on something." He then pointed to Sakura, who looked up with still moist eyes, "You, crybaby, are going to be training with a good friend of mine, Maito Gai, the greatest taijutsu master in the land of Konoha, and probably one of the best in the world. Your chakra control is impeccable, but you need some serious work in the physical end of the deal. The training will not only make you stronger and faster and improve your endurance, it will increase your chakra stores, so... win/win. Well, nearly all training is win/win, but you really need this kind, so even more so.

"Sasuke, I've got some stuff I'd like to personally show you, so for the next two weeks you're going on a little camping trip with me. As for you, Naruto, I've hired one of the top tutors in Konohagakure. You and Sakura can begin training today, actually. Sasuke, I need you to go prepare for the trip and I'll come get you first thing in the morning. Be ready by six. Seriously."

Kakashi grinned and looked over at Kurama, "You, my red headed friend, come with me. Sakura, you can go meet Gai and his team around Practice Field 3. Naruto, head over to the Academy and Ebisu will be waiting for you in the lobby. Dismissed!"

Kurama looked a little puzzled but stood and followed the shinobi towards the Hokage Tower. He started to make conversation, "So, what exactly have you go planned for me, sensei?"

Kakashi smiled. A sick, perverse and somewhat cruel smile, "If all goes as planned, I'm going to see you trained by one of the most depraved Jounin in Konohagakure history. Mitarashi Anko."

Kurama's casual smile turned a little serious, "What exactly are you unsure of whether or not she'll train me?"

Kakashi chuckled, "It's not really up to me. I made the proposal and asked if she would consider possibly tutoring a promising genin, and she replied that it depended on the shinobi in question. Simple speaking, you've gotta pass a test. I don't know what, but it'll probably be something painful and hard. Just don't die. Anyway, you'll find her in the Jounin Sparring Field. Be careful."

Kurama stopped following his sensei and nodded, watching the tall figure fade into the crowd. He looked off into the direction of the Hokage Monument and towards the fields beyond it. He marched, a little uncertain of the direction his training was headed.

The woman was devastatingly attractive. That was the first thing Kurama noticed about her. He'd never seen a human woman as particularly interesting ever before. They were prey. Most were weak on a ridiculous scale. All overly self obsessed with delusions of grandeur. Just the fact that he admired her on an equal level attested to her strength.

She was about 5'7", wearing a white coat that barely hid a fabulous body that was all but nearly nude. Her matching skirt was fitted with an interior of armored scales which peaked out the bottom, and her legs and arms both were equipped with steel plates that slightly fitted over the ankles to her combat boots. "So," she sneered, both eyes staring daggers into Kurama's own green orbs, "you're Kakashi's brat he praises so highly. You look like every other snot nosed little shit running around Konohagakure thinking so much of themselves. Let's see... If you can draw blood on me using only taijutsu, I'll train you. How about that?"

Kurama stood silent for a second, considering. His eyes traveled over her form in another little assessment, noting the sides of her large breasts were pretty much haning out the sides of her coat. Did he really need to go through this? He'd pretty much proven he could defeat a Jounin... with weapons, at least. Could she actually make him even deadlier? His eyes glazed over with a sheen of youki, sparking his eyes crimson. Battle fever had his blood pouring through his veins and his heart racing. "Sounds fine. Let's go."

Kurama felt his muscles tense up, and he forced his body to go limp, though his biceps and his thighs were swelling in preparation to battle. He let his fingernails actually extend a little, and their edges sharpen. He shuffled forward-

The woman's steel leg guard struck him in the side of the face, and he was sent reeling into the dirt. He hadn't even seen her move. His eyes flickered green for a second and as he flipped to his feet he felt his jaw might be broken, and his head was pounding. 'Holy shit...' There was a pulsing wave of killing intent bludgeoning him from all sides, even from below.

His eyes widened, and his jumped back, narrowly avoiding Anko's speeding form which erupted from the ground where he'd been not a second earlier. She stopped in mid air and changed direction, spinning like a top with her arms crossed and her guards poised to batter him. Chakra, reiki and youki all flooded into his arms, and with a harsh thrust of his forearm he deflected her attack, sending her spinning away.

Anko crashed into the dirt and slid a good fifty feet. Kurama felt his hand throb from the contact, and prepared to attack her again. Just as he did so, the figure laying in the dirt burst into smoke. 'Clone...?'

Anko grabbed him around the neck and put her legs around his, as well as driving her free arm's elbow deep into his side. Kurama struggled to escape the choke hold she was putting him in, and as a last resort dislocated his shoulders with a savage 'pop', worming his arms around her body and grabbing her by the hips. He felt his blood boil at having been beaten up to this point and chunked her as hard as he could. This served to break her hold on him and send her slamming into the dirt. This time she wasn't a clone, and Kurama didn't give her the chance to counterattack.

He was on her in an instant, pummeling her face with a series of ferocious punches. He paused for an instant to send both knees into her chest, and then grab the back of her head and pull it towards his elbow. He struck her in the face once, twice, and then a third and final time before letting her head drop into the dirt. The Jounin's eyes opened and she smiled through a mask of blood, spitting it out of her mouth. She put a hand on his shoulder.

Kurama was stricken by a sudden burst of electricity that surged through his veins and dispelled all the strength given to him by his battle fever. He was blown back by the force of the electricity. Anko stood up, and assessed his twitching form, before cutting the flow of lightning off, "You know what, I've been called on to teach many a prodigy. Most of them were just some hard assed little clan brat with a little bloodline technique, or maybe they were a little faster or stronger than their peers. You're the first to ever actually complete the test..."

Anko watched Kurama stand, shakily, and smirk at her. "Wipe that fucking smirk off your face, meat. This damage you inflicted is superficial, at best. You'll be limping around for hours." Anko began walking towards him, a blue glow emitting from her face, where chakra mended the wounds that Kurama had just dealt. As she stood in front of him, her face flawless again, she 'tsked' at his disheveled appearance. "Honestly, you could have done better. You're stronger than me, physically. You've got more chakra. You came into this fight over confident. Had this been serious, you would be dead. Now I have two weeks to turn you into a shinobi. Let's get to work." She grinned evilly.

"I want two hundred laps around the field perimeter, non stop! Move!"

Across town, while Kurama was beginning a quick descent into hell, Naruto was just approaching the Ninja Academy where his own tutor awaited. He'd heard of this Ebisu guy before, but mainly just in small talk between academy students and their parents. Apparently he was a pretty highly desired private tutor, so while Naruto would have greatly preferred Kakashi teach him, he wasn't feeling too shafted by the deal.

Konohamaru was Ebisu's student, if Naruto's memory served him correctly. Naruto frowned. Though he really liked the young boy, as annoying as he may be, he wasn't exactly that good of a ninja. Of course the kid wasn't even close to a Genin level yet, he was just barely above average for those in his age group. But then again, above average was still above average, and at that level the difference must have been pretty dramatic. 'I couldn't even produce a decent Bushin just a few months ago... he can already do so...' Naruto thought to himself... So maybe this Ebisu character was indeed worth the price he required from the parents of his students.

The thought of his own progress in just the last few months began to creep up on Naruto as he came closer and closer to the Academy entrance. Not six months ago he was in a panic, wondering how he would manage to create a bushin. And now he was here, one of the strongest Genin in Konohagakure. Though he hadn't been able to actually compare his strength to his peers, 'Yet,' he mentally reminded himself of the coming Exam, he was a member of the only rookie team to have completed anything above a C rank mission.

Also, Naruto had developed his strength, speed, and his endurance by incredible bounds since he'd been forced to fight with Mizuki. Not to mention the distance he'd come in his chakra control. Naruto had been blessed at birth with a highly unaverage chakra store, and now that his skill at manipulation had risen so dramatically, there is no telling just how much deadlier he'd become. Even if he hadn't taken the early steps into developing his chakra coils, he would have been able to fend off ninja by the time he was in his late teens, just by the effect the increased chakra would have on him physically. This also reminded him he was still growing, and that as he trained himself to become more powerful, as he grew his peak would come closer and closer, though with work he would hopefully never reach it... Or at least never quit growing stronger.

The doors to the academy bore no new distinguishing marks since he'd last entered them, Naruto noticed. He pulled the doors open and examined the lobby with a broad glance over. Still the same. "So, Uzumaki Naruto! I see you finally decided to grace me with your divine presence. Should have figured you would be late with Kakashi as your sensei..." came a nasally voice from the left. Naruto glanced in the direction from whence the voice came and narrowed his eyes.

"I'm only late because Kakashi-sensei was late to the meeting he requested. Sorry, but I didn't even know about you until around ten or fifteen minutes ago."

Ebisu adjusted his round glasses and Naruto could feel the hate emanating from the man. Ebisu snarled, "Don't make excuses! I'm here at the request of Kakashi, and the Hokage, to waste my oh so valuable time and tutor your sorry ass. And it's not going to be easy, Uzumaki. You can count on that!"

Naruto smirked at the man, "I wasn't counting on it."

Sakura hated Kakashi. A lot.

The pink haired kunoichi turned along the outer perimeter of the track which encircled the training field, forcing her legs to not slow. Rock Lee was running just in front of her with his body turned around backwards to face her, easily matching her pace without any trouble whatsoever. The bowl haired shinobi dodged to the left, then to the right, and then flipped through the air in time to avoid the traps Sakura not seconds later tripped. A trio of kunai flew from the left. From the right came a barrage of shuriken, and then from straight ahead, from the tree line in front of them flew a wall of shuriken.

Sakura shrieked and summoned a wall of thin chakra in front of her to deflect the attack. The force with which the traps had been sprung was significant enough to actually send several projectiles rocketing through the forcefield and spiraling towards the kunoichi. Her left hand was suddenly encased in chakra and she quickly batted away anything that attempted to cut at her. The sudden strain at the task of manipulating the chakra while still embroiled in an all out sprint had her pace slow ever so slightly, and as Rock Lee noticed a slight distance gaining between them, he looked up towards his sensei, Maito Gai, who stood in the center of the practice field.

Noticing the little glance, Maito Gai pulled a kunai form the pouch at his hip. "YOU SLOW! NO CAN DO, SAKURA-CHAN!" yelled the Ferocious Green Beast of Konoha.

With a small hand motion, Gai cloned about a thousand copies of a kunai with an explosion note attached, and sent them homing in on Sakura. The girl screamed and her pace doubled, her forcefield back up in an instant without straining her enough to slow.

As the kunai edged in closer and closer Sakura felt her eyes tear up at the seeming impossibility of her task. She grit her teeth and forged ahead, forcing chakra into her thighs and calves and ankles. Her legs propelled her even faster. She was outrunning the kunai.

Sasuke sat at home on his bed. His only travel bag sat on the floor in front of him. He hadn't packed much. Two towels, a few pairs of underwear, a bar of soap, and his toothbrush and a tube of tooth paste. There was also a small store of emergency food and some minor medical packets containing some antibacterial spray, gauze, and a few band aids. Also, as a small side thought, he'd thrown in a pack of ramen with a little smirk at the florescent orange package.

There really wasn't anything else to do to get prepared for the trip into the mountains he'd make with Kakashi in the morning. There was a charge in the air though, that hadn't been present since the news his team was going on a mission to the Wave. Whether or not Sasuke would ever admit it for fear of ruining his little stoic act, the Uchiha boy was very excited. The prospect of two weeks of close attention from Hatake Kakashi was invigorating. All the things the genius Jounin could teach him. Sasuke knew of Kakashi's past in the ANBU, knew of his kill ratio, knew of his feared reputation in all the other countries. The possibilities were endless.

Kakashi knew techniques that could supposedly destroy entire villages in an instant, could kill a thousand men in their sleep, drive an enemy ninja to insanity using only a hand sign. Of course, there was also word of Kakashi's trademark technique which had gained him untold infamy in most of the outside world and made the chirping of birds an omen of death usually regarded with much more grim figures tha a flock of birds..

Sasuke had two weeks of private training with Lightning Cutter Kakashi. Copy Ninja Kakashi. Kakashi the living legend. Sasuke's fists clenched and a demonic, evil little smirk found its way onto his face. There was a wild look in the boy's eyes. A power hungry look that had once been found on another ebony haired young man in similar circumstances. Dismissing his ravenous thoughts of what power he would soon hold, or at least attempting to, Sasuke lay back into his bed and fell asleep. His dreams were filled with images of revenge and death. He awoke several hours later when one of his dreamed encounters didn't quite end in the manner which was most pleasing. Rubbing his neck where the sword had began to cut, Sasuke's body involuntarily shivered. His eyes drifted over to the alarm clock at his bedside. With a little smile, Sasuke began to get up.

(A/N) Now look, I know it's been ten or eleven months since I last updated. But no shit, I wrote 17 pages in about three days. Just a couple hours of work, really, if you break it down. The next chapter will cover both the training and the Chuunin Exam. I'm not sure if the entire Exam Saga will be explored, but I know at least the test will be covered, which is really the gayest part, but whatever.

Huh, just noticed that every chapter gets bigger. Neato.