Kumogakure Ninja

by Iron Monkey Fist

A six year old Naruto runs away from the Hidden Leaf village and meets none other than Kirabi. How will life turn out for Naruto as a Kumogakure Ninja? You'll have to read to find out. Will be epic in length. Currently being rewritten!

20. For Old Time's Sake

Kumogakure Ninja

Posted: 10-04-11

Updated: 28-06-11

---

CH20: For Old Time's Sake

---

(Team Kirabi Campsite)

The following early morning hours Naruto looked at his watch as he turned to the sleeping form of Yugito. It was actually her turn to guard but considering he had his hands on her 'lady parts' and had gotten her angry enough to pummel the living daylights out him he decided not to wake her up. It wasn't as if he hadn't had enough to think about anyway. Naruto sighed; finished his canned drink and got up, making his way towards a corner of their hideout and picked up another can of the sugary drink to keep him awake. The news Yugito had shared with him the day before still plagued his mind.

"We've got another jinchūriki out there and he's bad news."

Naruto had spent most of his night wondering what kind of life Gaara must have had for him to become as evil as Yugito claimed he was. For hours he asked himself if he could truly understand Gaara and what he would do if he ever faced him. Gaara dedicated his life to proving his existence through killing those around him. Naruto asked himself if he was capable of such acts. He asked himself, had it not been for Kirabi, would he have eventually turned out to be like the Ichibi jinchūriki? Would he have given in to the hate, the loneliness and the anger… would he have become a monster like the adults had claimed him to be? Naruto gave a heavy sigh. He did not have the answers and he resented himself for it. He didn't have the faintest idea what Gaara had been through and what how he viewed the world. Though being a jinchūriki himself, he knew the bitter taste of loneliness, yet he was saved from his loneliness by Kirabi many years ago. In Kumogakure he had found family with the Yotsuki Clan and friends in those he met in the academy. In Kumogakure people saw him for who he was and not beast he imprisoned. Years of contentment had filled the ache, the desire for affection and for that he was grateful. Kirabi had told him stories of the previous Hachibi jinchūriki whom were not as kind as he were; many succumbed to darkness and had to be enslaved through the use of additional mind-altering seals and other methods to prevent them from going rogue.

"Nothing as a dangerous as a rogue jinchūriki, Naruto. Once a man has been pushed to his limits and over it… once he's been swallowed by despair and hatred there's no going back. That's why you need to be on your guard at all times, Naruto. The bijū feels what you feel and this can either be a good thing or a fucking catastrophe. Nothing is as dangerous as man with nothing to lose. Especially if that man has a bijū."

Regaining his thoughts Naruto knew the thought of confronting Gaara did not scare him in the slightest. He may be cocksure most of the time but hardly anyone could say that was unjustified. Still… it continued to plague his mind as the possibility of having to kill Gaara was very real. And he knew it wasn't going to be easy. From what Yugito had told him, the Ichibi had full control over Gaara and had him believe he was the jinchūriki's mother. Kirabi had mentioned once how some jinchūriki were ruled by their bijū in the past.

"The bond between a jinchūriki and his bijū is a strange one, Naruto. It can be either a bond of mutual respect and acceptance or it can be much more sinister than that. In the past, bijū have been able to fester themselves into the minds of jinchūriki and manipulated them into believing and doing unforgivable acts. I know you hate the Kyūbi more than anything Naruto, but believe me when I say if you give him one shot… lower your guard just once… even if you surrender yourself to his power for a moment… he will take that what you cherish the most and will it crush it. He will crush it to rule over you and make you his own weapon. What I'm trying to say is, don't necessarily hate it or love it, 'cause every emotion can be used against you by that bastard. Just keep that in mind. Stay vigilant. Always."

That was one of the very few serious conversations Naruto had ever had with Kirabi which was why he could remember it so clearly. A part of Naruto still resented Kirabi for having a cooperative bijū that was a friend rather than another enemy like the Kyūbi who would take any given opportunity to fuck him over if it could.

Still, it must be much better than having a bijū that made you think he was the only that cared for you, Naruto mused.

"Uzumaki." Yugito had woken up.

Naruto didn't turn to look at her. "Mhm?" He pretended to be busy with organizing the drinks in their cool box. "What is it? Go back to sleep, Yugito."

"It's been my turn for watch for over two hours. Why didn't you wake me?" Yugito sat up out in her sleeping bag, briefly glancing at Hari to see if she had woke him up. "Whatever is going on between you and me has nothing to do with our guard shifts."

'What exactly is going on between us?' He had wanted to ask her out loud but decided against it. Now wasn't the time for this. Nodding Naruto moved towards his sleeping bag. His eyes not once meeting Yugito's in an odd sense of fear. "Sure, knock yourself out."

Yugito frowned but let it go and rubbed her eyes. 'What's his problem?' Yugito knew he was upset but didn't quite know why. She simply couldn't place her finger on it. Was it the fact that she had brutalized him yesterday? 'No, that couldn't be it. If anything, he got away with it easily.' The scene replayed in her head countless times. She had sensed someone coming her way and decided to tackle her tracker. Before she knew it, she was on her back with Naruto on top who groped her breast not once but twice. Then there was the kiss they shared in the early morning before that. The kiss he had instigated. The kiss she has ruled out as a desire for comfort to avoid any awkwardness. In actual fact Yugito knew there was more to it than that. Despite herself she knew a part of her did not want it to end. After tormenting herself for over an hour, Yugito gave up on the thought. Maybe she was attracted to him physically but that was all there was to it. That was all there could be to it. 'Don't fool yourself, Yugito. You despised each other for years and now here you are, considering if there's a possibility you could be attracted to him,' Yugito thought with a frustrated feeling. 'It's ridiculous and now is not the time.'

-ooo-

(Forest of Death)

It was six hours later and team Kirabi was pacing their way through the forest. Hari had recovered from his bout of chakra exhaustion and was chatting away with Naruto, multitasking between that and using his sensory abilities to detect nearby enemies. "We've got two Earth scrolls and one Darkness scroll," Hari counted on his fingers in a simplistic manner. "That means we need to find a Light and a Heaven scroll in what, seven days?"

"Six days," Naruto corrected him. It served as a painful reminder to both of them they had been out of commission for a whole day each. Albeit on separate situations, it was still a heavy truth.

"We need to get those scrolls ASAP so we can go to the tower. I don't know about you but I've had enough of this place. I wouldn't mind getting out of here."

As the pair continued their conversation, Yugito's nose crinkled in disgust. Quickly she smelled herself and pulled a disgusted expression. "That is it!" Yugito said heatedly.

Naruto and Hari turned, "Huh?" they said simultaneously.

"I haven't had a shower in four days. Enough is enough," Yugito said decisively with her arms crossed. "I can hear water close by. I'm assuming that it is a river stream. You two stay here. I will be back in twenty minutes."

"Twenty?" Hari questioned with a quizzical expression as if he had heard something utterly confusing. "Women take that long to wash up?" Hari looked at Naruto who shrugged with a 'Don't ask me' posture.

"Is that a problem?" Nothing in Yugito's voice suggested she would take kindly any opposition. In fact, she sounded like she would give them a sound beating if they did choose to complain. Even the ever impassive Yugito could lose her composure once her hygiene was compromised. Then again, one could hardly blame her. What, with the blood stains on her clothes, the dried mud on in her hair and the dirt on the skin?

"No problem, taichō!" The pair stood in a ridiculous military pose, saluting Yugito in the same fashion some of the Navy sailors had done on the Todo when addressing a superior. "We'll wait for as long as you want, taichō!"

A tick mark appeared on Yugito's temple. 'When did they get so good at syncing their speech?' She thought. "If I catch either of you trying to sneak a peek… I will kill you and nobody will find out how it happened." That was not an idle threat and judging by the thick swallowing and fearful expressions her teammates had, she knew they understood her perfectly clear. "Now then, I'll be back in thirty minutes."

"Thirty? I thought you said-" Naruto covered his mouth, catching Yugito's glare out of the corner of her eye. "Okay, thirty it is, taichō!"

…

Yugito trudged through the forest to the river bed she had sniffed out. Looking around, she nodded in an appreciative manner to its secluded position. She went through a few strings of hand seals and raised earth walls to create a rectangle bath. Another hand seal later, a dozen clones went to collect dry wood for a fire. Yugito cast a genjutsu on the area to hide its presence, or more specifically make anyone that walked pasted not register it was there. As her clones started a concealed fire under the makeshift bath, Yugito took out her personal storage scrolls and unsealed a bar of soap, her shampoo and conditioners as well as her razor. A kunoichi she may be, but a woman she was first and foremost.

Her clones took a six-pronged defensive position around her bath as she undressed. She first undid her laces that kept her hair up in a ponytail, and then proceeded to pull her shirt over her head, leaving Yugito standing half naked. A clone walked up to her and silently undid her garment strap and folded up her garment. Yugito eyed her reflection in the river water with a sly smile. She was proud of her lean, athletic figure. Unlike most women her age, Yugito wasn't insecure about her bust size either. She preferred them modest rather having them get in her way of fighting or causing lower back problems further down the road. She vaguely remembered Tsunade of the Sannin having similar problems…

Looking around once more, Yugito peeled off her sandals and pulled down her shinobi trousers and remaining garments. Her clones silently folded up her clothes as she stepped into hot bath with a content sigh. Another clone handed her the bar of soap and moulded a headrest for her to lean on. Leaning back into the tub, Yugito reached ran the bar of soap down her long legs with another content sigh.

…

Naruto leaned against a tree to his right and sighed. It hadn't been ten minutes but his patience had already reached its limits. Eyeing Hari take the remains of his ninja-to with a despondent sigh Naruto spoke to him. "Considering you call yourself a kenjutsu specialist, shouldn't you have a spare one?" Naruto asked him curiously. "I mean that one looks like it could fall apart any second now. That jutsu sure did fuck it up."

Hari shrugged. If he had the money to spare he would have bought another but money had been very tight since his father had been incarcerated. The money he made of the bounties on the Akumu Shokō and Shiroi no Saturo he had given to his mother for the rent and to take care of his siblings, Daichi and Nami. "How would I know this one would break? Besides, I've had this one since I was eight," Hari replied, subconsciously resting a hand on his sword's hilt. "It's got sentimental value to me, alright? My uncle bought it for me before he kicked the bucket."

"Your uncle died? When was this?" Naruto could remember the early days when Hari had stopped talking about his father and had started to brag about his uncle instead. At the time he didn't know Hari well enough to care but it made sense now that he knew who was responsible for the Hyūga Incident many years ago.

"A few years ago. Mission gone wrong," Hari answered with a shrug. "It happened a few years ago, it's no biggy."

"Ahuh," Naruto replied dumbly, reaching for his back. "Well, use my ninja-to instead. You're a helluva lot better at kenjutsu than I am and I don't to use it that much either." Naruto fiddled with the strap for a moment and then passed the sword to Hari.

Hari nodded appreciatively and unsheathed it for his inspection. "Jeez, Naruto do you even bother taking care of it? There's still some blood on it," Hari chided him. Any mistreatment of a sword was a crime in his eyes. "I'll clean it before I return it to you."

Naruto grunted noncommittally and leaned against the tree once again where they stood in silence for another ten minutes or so.

"She's taking forever," Hari complained settling the ninja-to on his hip with much chagrin.

"Of course she is," Naruto muttered darkly. He did a typical feminine pose and did a ridiculous wiggle. "Women always take longer than they have to just to piss us off," Naruto nodded his head in a sage like manner. "Yep, that's what they do. Annoy, annoy, nag, criticize and nag some more."

"I'd watch out if I were you," Hari warned him, his eyes darting around in a paranoid manner. The genin leaned against a tree, sliding down for a comfortable seat on the ground.

"Pffsh!" Naruto took off the eye patch Hari had fashioned out of gauze and medical tape. His black eye had disappeared thanks to Kyūbi but the area was still tender and sore. "It's not my fault. She jumped me and I didn't even know it was her at the time."

"Ahuh," Hari replied, clearly unconvinced. "It may seem a bit excessive, but from the beatings I've seen some guys get for hitting on kunoichi back home, she went easy on you."

"Easy my ass. Did you see the state of me last night?" Naruto shivered.

"So which one was it?"

"Huh?"

Hari pulled a lecherous expression, flaring his nostrils and with a comical flush. "The right or left?"

"Perverted bastard. Does it matter?" Naruto asked angrily. Of course, he told himself. Leave it to Hari to make a big deal out of everything.

"Of course it does," Hari told him with a dead serious expression. "Judging on which one you grabbed on to it's easy to determine how seriously pissed her off."

"Fine, the left one," Naruto answered.

A moment later he caught on to Hari's twitching lip. "It doesn't actually matter which one, does it?"

"No, but it's hilarious you believed it!" Hari started to laugh hysterically, holding on to his sides. For a moment it was as if they weren't participating in a deadly Chūnin Exam and were back in Kumogakure training grounds where they would fool around as much they liked. "I mean, come on Naruto!" Hari continued to snigger. "REALLY?"

"How would I know?" Naruto spat with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "You're an asshole." That was definitely the last time he'd trust Hari with anything in regards to his love life, if he could even call it that. He hadn't actually been with anyone to have a love life, but it was the principle that mattered.

"So how big were the-ough!" Naruto had short forward in a blink of an eye and forced the bawled up gauze in the genin's mouth, practically suffocating the kenjutsu specialist to silence him.

"What are you two doing?" Yugito had arrived, clad in clean spare uniform they had put on for the Chūnin Exam.

Naruto sighed. "Just in time." He put on his most innocent smile, digging his fingers in Hari's arm to goad him to play along as said genin coughed out of the gauze with a disgusted expression. "Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"

Yugito eyed them momentarily with suspicion, narrowing her eyes but let it go and walked past them. "Let's go."

"Yes, taichō!"

"And stop it with the synchronized speech."

"Yes," Naruto complied with a nod.

"Taichō," Hari finished.

Yugito swore under her breath.

-ooo-

(In Another Part of the Forest of Death)

Team Manako was engaged in a fight against a team from Takigakure. Saito Kenji was in a stalemate with another genin while his teammate and girlfriend Nakamura Taiko and best friend Tomaro Kenichi were in fights of their own, having been split up by a sudden ambush attack. The Saito Clan member locked eyes with his adversary and began to push him back with a forceful grunt.

"Admirable swordsmanship as expected from a Saito," the Takigakure genin commented. His feet kicked up dirt as Kenji pushed back in the deadlock. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Yorama Jin. It's a pleasure to meet you!" Jin jumped backwards in a back flip and stuck himself to a tree.

"Yorama Jin, I suggest you call of your comrades," Kenji slid into an offensive stance, poising his blade close to his shoulder. "You are in over your head." Kenji was not being arrogant but was simply telling the truth. His hands went down to his body armour and ran over his clan's coat of arms: two silver kunai parted by golden thunder modeled in the kanji for 'fidelity'. "If you know the clan I hail from, then you know what I am capable of."

"That I do, Saito-san," Jin confirmed with a nod. "Yet that is exactly why I have targeted you."

"Why would you do such a reckless thing?" Kenji felt like shouting at him but kept his composure. At this rate he would actually have to kill his challenger. He was no pacifist, yet he did not enjoy taking a life when it could be avoided like any other normal shinobi.

Jin sheathed his blade in his scabbard and spread his arms wide in and laughed in a cackling manner. "Saito-san, I hail from Takigakure. As you probably know it's a relatively weak shinobi village with less than a thousand shinobi. We have no unique ninjutsu or secret arts of value. We are weak because we possess little jutsu that can give us an edge over the Great Five," Jin paused in a theatrical manner, "However, the Yorama Clan is different. We are the strongest shinobi in Takigakure. We are true masters of the blade!"

"You have come to prove that by striking me down," Kenji stated, now fully understanding why he had been challenged out in the open rather than ambushed like most genin teams would do. "By defeating a Saito, Kumo's strongest kenjutsu specialists, you want to send out a message." Kenji tightened his grip on his blade.

"How perceptive! As expected from a Saito! Now," Jin jumped forward and touched down a mere six feet from Kenji, slowly sliding in a stance and withdrawing his blade, "Let us see how well your Saito-Ryū stands up against the Yorama-Ryū."

"Very well, Yorama Jin. I, Saito Kenji will face you in battle," Kenji raised his blade above him, matching Jin. He stood with grace and dignity as a true heir to the Saito Clan. "Let us see whose clan style will prevail!"

In an instant they shot past each other and stood still. Kenji heard the spatter of blood and turned around to finish his opponent when suddenly his own eyes bulged. The Saito Clan member fell onto one knee as blood spurted out of his arching back.

"Hahaha, as expected from a Saito!" Yorama Jin said with an excited grin, nursing his bleeding arm.

"A- as expected from a Yorama," Kenji supported himself on his ninja-to and got to his feet with a matching smile. "From here on out, I'm going all out," Kenji resolved as blood trickled down his shoulder. There was no further room for hesitation. He owed his adversary his best.

He would accept his challenge and prove the Saito-Ryū was the superior kenjutsu.

-ooo-

(Team Kirabi)

Naruto arms were up front in their formation as he ran and led his teammates in single line. They had decided to make for the Tower of Death and simply wait for the other teams to come near. It was a rather simple tactic and Naruto would have even gone as far to call it 'dirty' however Yugito and Hari were adamant when they made their case. It had taken a lot of convincing but eventually Naruto had given in and gone along with the plan, albeit begrudgingly. He had preferred to take their time and fight as many genin as they could but he had to make this sacrifice, especially since it was Yugito who had put the motion forward and he wasn't on the best of terms with her.

"Hari?" Yugito called out.

The sensor ninja merely shook his head, indicating there were no nearby enemies.

'What the fuck is this? There were sixty teams that passed yet so far we've hardly seen more than ten of them!'Naruto gritted his teeth with frustration. His body ached for another battle as if going through withdrawal. He had been so excited when they were entered into the Chūnin Exam, having thought it would be a constant stream of nonstop fighting and though it had been, it wasn't like what he had expected. Despite knowing it was crazy, he wanted to be pushed to his very limits and beyond. He had hoped to enter the Chūnin Exam and come out of it stronger.

His musings were cut short by a flowery smell. Naruto decreased his speed and began to run next to Yugito who eyed him with a raised eyebrow. Naruto leaned in closer as they ran (it appeared he was kissing her cheek from Hari's view) and whispered to her. "You're using lilac shampoo, right? That's what I thought," Naruto added when Yugito merely nodded with a very faint blush he hadn't caught. "We're being followed. I can smell potato chips, flowers and some animal, a bear or maybe a deer."

Yugito quirked her nose and nodded, smelling the same odours. Unlike Naruto, she usually had her enhanced senses suppressed simply because it could be a weakness in the heat of battle. "We'll let them follow us for a while."

Naruto shook his head, "I recognize the smell. We're being followed by Shikamaru and his team. It's best we take them out as quick as possible-"

"Guys!" Hari shouted.

Naruto turned over his shoulders, his eyes narrowing as he spotted Hari suspended in motion. "Shit," Naruto launched himself into the air, grabbing Yugito by her wrist as he a five pronged shadow raced at them. Naruto spun Yugito around and released her in the direction of a charging Chōji. Naruto turned just in time to catch a tantō brandished by Ino. Naruto eyed the look of absolute shock in her eyes at the sight of Naruto stopping her blade with his bare hand. "Heya, Ino-chan! So how about that date?" Naruto flipped backwards midair and touched down and went back to back with Yugito.

"Should you really be hitting on our enemies, hentai?" Yugito gripped onto dual kunai and kept her eyes fixated on Chōji.

"Would you let that go?" Naruto said with annoyance. "Besides, you had more than enough retribution!" Naruto turned around and gave Yugito a boost into the air, launching her with his palms and following suit as the shadow raced at them.

"Hari's still caught in their shadow," Yugito pointed out the obvious.

They stuck themselves to separate trees as Shikamaru appeared and held a kunai to his own throat, an action Hari emulated as he was spellbound by the Kagemane. Chōji and Ino stood next to their leader and crossed their arms, satisfied with their successful ambush. Naruto clenched his fists in annoyance. He had hoped to avoid Shikamaru during the exam. The shadow user may appear like an idle weakling but his mind was sharper than any blade and his choice of tactics were more brutal than most shinobi.

"Yo, Naruto!" Shikamaru called out. "It's troublesome but would you mind come over here? We need to talk."

From their position, Shikamaru couldn't actual seem them, although he had probably sensed them out already. Naruto turned to Yugito and made a hand seal. Yugito caught on and created a Kage Bunshin of her own. "Follow my lead," the Naruto clone told Yugito's clone that merely shrugged and approached the shadow user. The originals turned to each other and Naruto began to explain what he knew about Shikamaru's Kagemane jutsu. He had seen Shikamaru show it off once when they were younger.

"You should have told us earlier," Yugito rebuked him, raising her fist to punch him in the head.

Naruto caught her fist much to her surprise with a serious expression. "When we were younger, Shikamaru couldn't really keep it up for very long and he could be overpowered by the chūnin instructors. I doubt he's made any real effort to overpower anyone stronger than a chūnin instructor in the past few years."

"Where are you going with this?" Yugito asked him.

Naruto leaned in closer for the second time in a few minutes and whispered something to Yugito, "Genius, huh?"

"No," Yugito shook her head firmly. "That's too risky. We'll just be swapping prisoners."

"It'll work. Trust me," Naruto smiled at her.

Yugito looked in the eye and nodded with a sigh, "Alright. But if you fail, I will use lethal force."

"Whatever you say."

-ooo-

The Kage Bunshin exploded into mere pillars of clouds before team Asuma. Chōji and Ino gasped in surprise and looked around with confusion.

"Where did he go?" Ino raised her tantō in a defensive stance, her eyes darting left and right.

Chōji looked around in a bewildered manner and turned to his best friend, "Shikamaru what are we going to do?"

"Don't worry. They were just Kage Bunshin," Shikamaru gritted his teeth. He hadn't counted on them knowing such advanced ninjutsu. "They'll come out for real now."

Naruto appeared before them and smiled at Ino, winking at her (she shot him an annoyed look) and turned back to Shikamaru. "Yo, Shika."

"Small talk is too troublesome, Naruto.

Naruto chuckled, "Alright then," he said, "I'll get straight to business. Release Hari or I'll kill Ino-chan."

Ino gasped and turned Shikamaru, then shouted at Naruto, "Take your best shot!" Ino raised her tantō and slid in a counterattacking stance. "Just try it!"

Naruto laughed and turned to the mind bending kunoichi and winked at her. "Sure, have it your way," he said with foxy grin

"Kyah!"

Several hands shot up out of the earth, grabbed onto Ino's ankles and dragged her down instantaneously.

"INO!" Chōji went to dash towards Naruto, expanding his arms to monstrous proportions.

"Chōji!"

Chōji's giant hands stopped a few inches away from Naruto's face. "He took Ino!" Chōji shouted at his best friend. The robust genin shook with rage and returned his arms to their original size and stepped back from Naruto who merely smiled eerily.

"So this is a prisoner exchange?" Shikamaru pressed the kunai closer to his own neck, causing Hari to follow suit.

"No, Ino's definitely dead!" Naruto said cheerily, "Now, you're next."

In a blink of an eye Naruto had shouted, "Kawarimi!" and swapped places with Hari who was instantly pulled through the ground. Shikamaru's grasp faltered briefly but he caught onto Naruto quickly and shouted at Chōji to come closer.

"What now, Naruto? All you did was put yourself in your friend's position," Shikamaru nodded to Chōji who walked over and fed him a chakra replenished. He could only have up to three per day but that was usually more than necessary.

"Haha," the jinchūriki laughed, "You're such an idiot sometimes Shikamaru. Yugito!"

Yugito darted out of a tree, flying past Chōji and dropkicked Naruto in the stomach. Shikamaru's eyes widened considerably as he lurched, gasping for air and spitting blood. In this instant his control over the Kagemane had faltered enough for Naruto to break loose, drop to the floor and kick the back of Shikamaru's legs. Yugito back flipped gracefully and pointed towards Naruto as Chōji went for another swing with his tree-sized arms. Shikamaru had been caught, thrown forward with his hands tied above him by Naruto who sat on his back, lazily holding a kunai to his neck. Hari had also appeared with Ino on her knees before him, pulled up by her ponytail and a ninja-to her neck pressed so hard it drew blood.

"N- No," Chōji reverted his arms with a despondent look on his face.

"Surrender," Yugito commanded him without an ounce of pity. "Do you surrender?"

Chōji looked to Shikamaru who simply nodded. "O- Okay, I surrender," Chōji raised his arms. "I surren- ungh!"

Yugito had speedily dashed towards the robust Akimichi and planted her fist in his gut, having used enough chakra to break through the body armour and make Chōji cough blood as he lurched into unconsciousness. Yugito got up and nodded to Hari, who in return raised his hand and swiftly chopped Ino in the neck, knocking her out.

"That wasn't necessary," Shikamaru gritted through his teeth, a few sweat drops rolled down his temple.

"You don't get to say what is and what isn't necessary," Naruto cuffed him in the back of the head. "You should aim to raise your pain threshold, Shikamaru." Naruto slapped him once more.

"If you're going to kill us, kill us. Don't slap me, it's troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled annoyed as if raising his head took too much effort.

Naruto was not amused. In fact, he was simply pissed off. "You underestimated me, Shikamaru," Naruto said coldly as he smacked him once more. "You thought I was the same moron from back then who couldn't even spell properly." Another slap conveyed his anger. "It's insulting… I know you wouldn't have fallen for such an easy ploy if you took me seriously. Hell, you didn't even take my teammates seriously, did you?" The next slap was rather hard. If he kept this up he could leave a handprint. Maybe even kill a few brain cells, thought it wasn't like Shikamaru couldn't miss a few. "I said I was going to kill Ino," Naruto paused to take in Shikamaru's bulging eyes and then continued, "But for the sake of the friendship we once had as kids... for old time's sake... I'm going to let you three go." Naruto got off the shadow user and reached into the shadow user's pouches. Finding nothing he turned to Yugito who shrugged.

"Don't you touch her!" Shikamaru shouted at them as Yugito approached Ino's unconscious form. It was a humbling enough experience to be completely outsmarted by Naruto (even if it was due to his arrogance) and smacked around by said person however it was a whole other thing to see his childhood friend be strip searched right in front of him.

"Who do you think I am, Shikamaru?" Naruto kicked him in his ribs. "Yugito take her behind those bushes and search for the scroll," Naruto said with a nod. Yugito shifted Ino's weight under her arm carrier her to the bushes, leaving Naruto and Hari with their captives. "So, you really must have been desperate for a scroll to go after us, Shikamaru."

"Not so much as desperate as foolish," Shikamaru growled out, knowing he had been stupid and impulsive. He should have known better and he made a point of reminding himself continuously.

"Yeah, that was stupid!" Naruto reared back his arm and punched him clean in the chin, knocking him out. Turning to Hari he nodded, "Look after these two. I'm going to see what Yugito's up to." Hari couldn't be trusted with this, Naruto figured. Out of the two of them, he was the lesser pervert (although not by much) and so he strolled over to where Yugito had been strip searching Ino.

…

"What are you doing?" Yugito shot him a dark look, turning in her crouch and spreading her arm to block his view of the half naked Ino laid out on the grass behind her. "Get out of here."

"Oh, look what we've got here." Naruto had no problem looking over her shoulder to see Ino had been stripped down to her bra and panties with her arms and legs spread. Naruto noted she had a very attractive body with her long, silky legs, lusciously curved hips and abs that were laid bare, her bandages lying beside her. Most notably were her rather well endowed breasts that seemed so soft and perky under the remaining garment that covered her. A light bulb went off in his mind and a lecherous grin etched on Naruto's face as he walked over to Ino, despite Yugito's protest.

"W- What are you doing?" Yugito said with utter disbelief and a faint flush gracing her cheeks. 'What is he doing?'

"I know where the scroll is," Naruto said with confidence as he kneeled behind Yugito. "You know the Darkness scroll I got us the other day?" Naruto ran his hands over Ino's smooth skin, trailing upwards to her breasts, "I took it off a Kiri team, they weren't too strong but they were pretty smart. The one who took it off was the kunoichi of their team. Thing is, I hard time finding it," at this point Naruto had slipped his hands under Ino's bra and cupped her breast.

Yugito blushed furiously, feeling both the urge to beat the living hell out of Naruto but at the same time entranced by how swiftly he move over her breast. Not even when he gave them a subtle squeeze did she stop him despite herself. 'Did Emiko teach him to do that?'

"The reason why I had such a hard time was because she hid it in a place nobody would think to look," Naruto's hands brushed over Ino's nipples, causing her to shudder in unconsciousness, "It's right… here!" Naruto felt had found the hidden compartment in the bra and swiftly unclasped the garment and held it up. "I had to uh, feel around to confirm there was a hidden compartment," Naruto explained turning the lingerie piece to Yugito and taking out a seal tag similar to his privacy tags in size but used for discrete storage.

'Of course you did, you perverted bastard. What else did you do to that kunoichi from Kiri?'Yugito thought sourly. She couldn't call him out on his perversion now as that would just make her look bad for not stopping him in the first place which could lead to further accusations. "I see, so that's a sealing tag."

"Yeah they are, um... they're um," Naruto had painfully noticed Ino's nipples had gone erect under the cold winds but shook his head turning to Yugito. "They're pretty useful. No wonder they've gotten so popular, especially during an exam like this."

"Ahuh," Yugito raised an eyebrow as Naruto's eyes wandered from Ino back to her. "I think I should check for such tags next time, Naruto."

"Yeah, sure," Naruto said quickly, counting himself lucky Yugito hadn't beaten him to a bloody pulp. It came as a huge surprise she hadn't done anything towards him yet. "If you want I could make you one of these," he said, holding up the sealing tag and unsealed the Heaven scroll from it. "I mean if you want one."

"No thanks," Yugito grabbed the garment piece off Naruto and walked over to Ino's unconscious form, propping her up and putting the bra on her. In a brief moment of thought Yugito nearly dropped the piece, causing her to squeeze them onto Ino's breasts. 'No! I'm just like him now!' A voice in the back of her head screamed. Yugito shook her head and quickly strapping on the bra with its clasp, briefly noting Ino had quite a generous bust judging from the labeled tag.

"Okay, I need to go!" Naruto said hurriedly with a trickle of blood trickling down his nose and quickly left. That was simply one of the most erotic situations – actually, the most erotic situation he had been in. It wouldn't bode well for him to stay there much longer judging from Yugito's embarrassed blush. From past experiences he knew she was prone to lashing out violently when she was embarrassed this much.

-ooo-

(A Few Hours Later)

"You think they'll be okay?" Hari mused out loud.

"What do you care?" Naruto asked him.

Yugito raised an eyebrow but made no comment and eyed Hari's response.

"I thought you were friends."

"We were. I don't know them now and I can't say I really care for them. Especially if they've tried to attack us."

"But-"

"He's right Hari," Yugito interrupted cut him off. "Whatever bonds they had and whatever experiences they had shared as children are irrelevant now. You shouldn't be so compassionate either considering you had a knife to your throat."

Hari sighed, knowing when he had not argument and focused on his sensory skills with a mere nod and an, "Alright."

Naruto decidedly focused on the tree branches in front of him. They had decided to take to the trees at this point, in good spirits now that they were but one scroll away from passing the second part of the Chūnin Exam. What would happen next was up unknown to them but they had quickly grown tired of the Shi no Mori (Forest of Death) and the dangers it houses such as the poisonous vegetations, monstrous animals and overall haunting feel to it. It was grim thought to ponder how many lives had been lost in this forest. How much blood had been spilled for the bump to chūnin and additional prestige for your village? Was it all worth it? He couldn't help but wonder.

Naruto shook his head to clear his mind from the dark thoughts and increased his pacing to keep himself busy. 'Keep eyes open, perk up your ears and pay attention to your nose.' Naruto would have loved to take out his book on seals right now and just read. He had nearly finished this volume before the exam and had finished reading during the few hours he had on guard, yet continued to make notes in the books as he had done with the previous volumes to remind himself of possibilities. It was quite meticulous but he enjoyed the peace and tranquility it gave him.

He was deep in thought when he heard a scream, a feminine scream.

Naruto stuck himself to a tree and looked over his shoulder at the sensory type ninja who met him with a nod and indicated to his left with one hand, then held up four fingers to indicate there were four chakra signatures. Naruto turned to Yugito who merely nodded to him.

The Kyūbi's jailer disappeared with a rustle of leaves and rushed over towards the source of the sound where he found a team of Shimogakure (Hidden Frost) rounding on a kunoichi who held her head as they stomped on her. On closer inspection Naruto recognized the three genin from Shimon; if he remembered correctly the kunoichi was called Tsukuyo.

"Heya!" Naruto shot a barrage of shuriken with his Yadama Fūin tattoo, chasing of the Shimogakure genin who turned and threw a hail of projectiles of their own. Naruto leaned backwards, appearing fall of the branch but actually was sliding down with chakra and turned upside down to face them. "Tsukuyo-chaaan, what about that date?"

"It's him!" The kunoichi known as Tsukuyo shouted to her teammates. The Shimogakure genin swallowed thickly and distanced themselves.

"R- run for it!" One of them shouted and turned to abandon his friends who called out to him to stop to no avail.

He didn't get very far. In a blink of an eye Naruto appeared before him and grabbed onto his forehead and lifted him up like a sack of potatoes. "Now then," Naruto threw the genin at his male teammate with enough force he sent both of them flying to the ground in a sprawled mess.

"W- Wait!" Tsukuyo held up her hand in a defensive manner. Her eyes darted to the pathways on her left and right but cursed under her breath as Yugito and Hari stood before each pathway with their arms crossed.

"I'm not good with rejection, Tsukuyo-chan."

Tsukuyo looked at Naruto and began to laugh nervously. "Who's rejecting you? I'm not re- rejecting you! In fact I'll gladly go out with you."

Naruto's expression lit up and he beamed happily. "Really? Great, I know this amazing ramen bar- oh right! Kill the enemy, don't diddle 'em. Got it!" Naruto nodded to Hari and Yugito who stared at him with deadpanned expressions. "Sorry, no can do. I bat for the other team."

"Y- You're gay?"

"Wait, what? N- No!" Naruto turned to the genin around him. "Is that what that means? Cause I'm definitely– DEFINITELY not gay! Ask her!" Naruto pointed at Yugito.

The Nibi jinchūriki was twirling a kunai in her and instantly gripped onto it tightly enough to bend the metal when she heard the comment, a series of thick veins appearing on her temple. "WHAT?"

"Okay, what I meant with that is that I'm a hundred percent straight!" Naruto turned to Yugito already begging for his life, "You know what I meant with that, right? Ri- right, Yugito-san? Yugito-senpai? Yugito-sama? Yug-"

"GET ON WITH IT!" Hari picked up a rock and flung it Naruto, landing a hit in his face.

Naruto rolled over the ground in pain, holding his face and swearing like a sailor. Hari stepped over his grounded form and went to the kunoichi they had been beating on. "Heya. I apologize for my teammate's ridiculous behav-"

"What are you doing?" Karin shouted Hari, darting past him and cradling Naruto despite her own injuries. "Are you okay, Dokuo-sama?"

A trickle of sweat dropped down Tsukuyo's temple. "Did I just- is this really happening?" Yugito and Hari looked at each other and sighed exasperatedly.

"He- here, Dokuo-sama," Karin pulled down her zip-up flak jacket and brought Naruto closer to her chest. "Please just ta- take a bite."

"Okay, what the fuck is happening here?" Hari demanded stepping forward between Naruto and Karin, gripping onto the blonde by the collar and holding him up for examination as if he was a strange creature for exhibit

"What is going on?" Yugito rested her hand on the hilt of her wakizashi that rest on the small of her back. Something was very strange to say the least.

Naruto regained his senses and explained what was going on… vaguely. "And this heartbreaker here started beating on this chick. I was going to steal their scrolls."

"Heartbreaker? I don't even know you!" Tsukuyo shouted at him from the three she and her teammates had been tied to a few minutes before. "You didn't even confess properly- wait, what am I saying? Just shut up!" Tsukuyo ended her rant with an embarrassed flush.

"Aha! You just lied through your teeth, just now," Naruto pointed at her accusingly. "You just said you'd go out with me after I confessed my love for you- ack!" Naruto held his head as Yugito withdrew his fist and Hari kicked him unnecessarily in the side for 'good measurement'. "Oh lawd- ARGH HARI!" Naruto held his side in intensified due to another kick in the ribs.

"Who is this person?" Yugito motioned to Karin who was tied to another tree next to the Shimogakure genin. "Where do you know her from?"

"Good question," Naruto nodded sagely, crossing his arms and appearing to know all the answers. "She's..." Naruto paused theatrically.

When nearly a minute passed by Yugito coughed. "Well, who is she?"

"I've got no idea who she is. I've never met her before," Naruto deadpanned, causing Hari to fall forward, still nodding sagely with his arms crossed as though he had solved a great mystery. "Achii! Stop hitting me, Hari, I'll fucking kill you!"

Hari shook his head. 'Yugito was right, his head really is that hard. It'll end up being a punishment for me if I keep hitting him...'

"You haven't, but I've met you before, Dokuo-sama!" Karin said excitedly with a blush gracing her futures. Combined with her odd hairstyle and glasses, it gave of a rather cute effect. "I was watching you from afar when you were fighting these cowards," Karin pulled a sour face at Tsukuyo, "You were like one magnificent, elegant being. Like a dragon! Your chakra shook me deep to my core!"

"Can I kill this one?" Naruto pulled a sour expression, sat in crouch before Karin to imitate a clichéd yakuza member he saw on TV. Naruto picked his nose as he looked at her through squinted eyes. "She insists on calling me 'Dokuo-sama'. It's rude."

"Do- Dokua-sama don't kill me! I can be of use," Karin dramatically tilted her head to show off her neck where bite marks ran down to her chest. "I am deeply in love with your chakra a- and y- you! Please, whenever you see fit, make us of my body. Just... be gentle?"

"W- WHAT?" Yugito and Tsukuyo shouted with matching blushes and in complete synchronization. Hari simply leant against a tree in a depressed manner, mumbling incoherently to himself whilst Tsukuyo's teammates were sporting shocked expressions at the thought of what Karin had implied.

"No thanks," Naruto flicked his nose-pickings at Karin's forehead. "You're cute but too crazy for my taste. Besides, no ordinary woman could satisfy the great Dokuo-sama of Kumogakure."

"He just called himself a 'dokuo', didn't he?" One of the Shimogakure genin asked the other who simply nodded.

"Yes, I think he did. It's kinda embarrassing to watch…"

Hearing them, an irate Yugito turned Naruto with a twitching eye. "Don't include Kumo in such perverted sentences," Yugito chided him. "It's an embarrassment to all of us."

"This guy beat us singlehandedly?" Tsukuyo sported comical tears. "It's embarrassing for a human being."

"M..he.. nrgh," Hari mumbled to himself, rocking in the fetal position. The world couldn't possibly be this crazy.

"I like the shapely girls with boom-buh!" Naruto air-groped himself and did a ridiculous little dance with his hip to indicate a woman with curvy hips and large breasts. "The day you grow D's come and find me. I'll even allow you rid me of my dokuo curse- kragh!"

CRACK!

A split second later and Naruto found himself into a tree trunk courtesy to a flying kick by Yugito. The cat kunoichi touched down on her feet and dusted of her hands as if she was cleansing herself. "What is your name?" Yugito rounded on Karin. Her patience had been worn very thin, evident in her hostile tone, and she wanted some answers. "Speak."

"K- Karin!"

"Do you have a last name, Karin?" Yugito prodded Hari to get him up with her foot. The medic ninja complied and stood beside her, matching her serious expression.

"Uzumaki!" Karin said happily. Then realizing her error, she blushed and quickly amended. "Well, I mean… no, I'm an orphan so I have no last name but hopefully one day it'll be Uzuma-"

"Okay, so you CLEARLY know my name isn't Dokuo yet you- what do you mean 'one day soon'? Oi!" Naruto's voice echoed through the hollow inside of the tree as he tried to pull himself out.

"You weren't there when we got attacked, yet you say you saw Naruto from afar. Explain," Yugito commanded her; crossed her arms and waited expectantly.

"Well, it's quite simple. Kusa, Getsura, Shimo and Jōki made an alliance before the exam started to stick together so we split into two teams. We ambushed you when you were fighting those Iwa ninja and split up to catch both of you. I was supposed to be with the team after the Iwa genin but-"

"She left her teammates because she felt that asshole over there spike his chakra to impossible levels- how did you even do that? There's no way any genin could- forget it... This bitch betrayed us and now a team of our village is dead. We were in the middle of giving her what she had coming but then that bozo over there got involved!" Tsukuyo finished angrily.

"ARRGH!" Naruto pulled his head out of the tree, effectively snapping it in half and was busy picking out the splinters when he answered. "You know, you're cute but you're just as crazy as this one," Naruto flicked Karin's head as he spoke to Tsukuyo.

The Kusa kunoichi made a point out of it to coo erotically in inexplicable pleasure much to everyone's chagrin.

"See what I mean?" Naruto unsealed a kunai in his hand crouched before Karin. "Listen up. I don't really care for your petty problems. We just want your scrolls so we can get to steppin', understood?" Naruto pressed the kunai to Karin's neck with a dead serious expression to illustrate the sincerity of his threat. "Hand them over."

"I- I don't have any scrolls. My team leader had it when we split up but they're dead."

"How do you know?" Hari questioned.

"I'm a sensory type kunoichi!" Karin blushed proudly. "I can sense people from over a five mile radius with my jutsu that allows me both discern between human and non humans as well as see the colour of chakra. Yours is very beautiful," Karin trailed off with a blush directed towards Naruto. "It's blue but the not the regular blue most people have. It's a whole different shade with gold… it's beautiful."

'Five miles? That's unbelievable. I can't sense further than two!' Hari clenched his fist taking in the information and then said to Naruto, "I believe her. By now the Iwa team that wiped them out must have gotten their scrolls."

"What about you, Aisai?" Naruto cupped Tsukuyo's chin and smiled kindly.

"Your 'beloved wife'? I agreed to a date, not to marry you. What are you even talking about? You intimidated me into accepting a date, that doesn't count!"

Naruto pulled a sour face. "Akusai."

"What? I'm evil now? That's just unfair," Tsukuyo argued heatedly. Stupid it may have been but there was a point she had to prove and she did not take kindly to be called an 'evil wife' for no damn reason. There was a principle involved.

"Mhm," Naruto grumbled with a serious expression and then nodded. "It's decided, you're definitely a Gosai."

"That doesn't make sense. How can I be your second wife if you married me first? He- hey! You're ranking me, aren't you? You're definitely ranking me!"

"You ask too many questions." Naruto sighed dramatically. "I feel like you're trying to change who I am and I'm sorry but I can't take it anymore, my love. I am who I am and that cannot be helped. I guess we should call it off here," Naruto told her, upholding his theatrics as he cupped her chin gently and leaning in for a kiss. "I will always love you, my Kyūsai."

CRUNCH!

"Ack!" Naruto fell to his back holding his face for the second time in the span of ten minutes, rolling around in absolutely agony from the head butt.

Tsukuyo's forehead had a reddish tinge that most likely going to turn into a bruise. "Kyūsai? You're divorcing me now? And what kind of a man would kiss his ex wife, huh? That's the kinda crap you see in the movies, not in real life!"

Yugito sighed, 'He's incorrigible. 'She then rounded on Tsukuyo. If Naruto wanted to fool around, she would do the dirty work. "Where's your scroll? Hand it over and you walk away with your life."

"Fine," Tsukuyo growled. "It's in my-"

"Bra?" Naruto interrupted hopefully. Yugito swiftly silenced him with a glare than promised nothing but pain and suffering if he so much uttered another word and so he quickly amended himself. "I mean, where is your scroll?"

"It's in my pouch in a hidden compartment."

Naruto leaned in begrudgingly and took the pouch of Tsukuyo's belt and opened it. The pouch was filled with compartments holding additional kunai, shuriken, a canteen, exploding tags and additional items. Naruto ignored her indignant shout as he turned over the pouch and emptied its contents. A few seconds later he reaches into the hidden compartment and fished out the scroll. "Got it," Naruto slid the Heaven scroll back into his pouch stood up and took a few steps back.

"We're leaving," Yugito announced with a nod to Hari. "Untie them."

Hari swiftly cut the ropes and slid his ninja-to its scabbard, distancing himself from the Shimogakure genin and Karin. Naruto nodded to them and was about to follow his teammates who took to the trees when Karin called out to him.

"W- wait, Naruto-sama!" Karin called to him desperately.

Naruto turned to her with an annoyed expression. "What is it, Karin?"

'He said my name!' Karin blushed but shook her head to stay objective. "Please, take me with you! I can be of use to you!"

"Eh?" Naruto deadpanned. He scratched his cheek with an uneasy feeling. "Look, Karin, I'm sure you're pretty self-dependent, right? Why would you even want to come with us? I was responsible for your leader's death. Heck, I pretty much made him kill himself."

"I don't care! They didn't think of me as anything but a tool anyway." Karin took a step forward and shook her head with conviction in her decision, clearly intending to tag along with them. "Please," she said pleadingly, "Take me with you. I can be of use!"

"We already have a sensory ninja," Naruto told her with an easy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Karin seemed rather hurt by that but she quickly pressed on, not giving up on convincing them.

"I can cook!"

"So can we." Naruto's eye twitched with annoyance. 'How desperate is this chick?' They were from different villages, how in the hell was she going to try and come along with them? It didn't make sense.

"I- I got another special ability! If you bite me in my neck or chest, you can suck healing chakra!" Karin pulled down her shirt slightly to show several bit marks. It was a gruesome sight she would never show anyone outside of her team if she could help it but she was desperate to stick close to him.

"YES!" Naruto pumped his fist enthusiastically, nostrils flaring and a lecherous smile gracing his expression along with a light flush. "DEFINITELY!" Unfortunately he was quickly forced to retract that statement as he was met with a dangerous glint in Yugito's eye. "Uh, sorry. We've already got it covered," Naruto mumbled begrudgingly.

"PLEASE! Just take me with you!" Karin got on her knees bowed her head. Tears streamed down her face in desperation.

"Stop being so damn desperate, Karin!" Tsukuyo shouted at her. Her teammates stopped in their tracks, waiting for her to come with them. "You don't even know him."

"Shut up!" Karin shouted at her. "I'll devote myself to you, Uzumaki Naruto. Please, just take me with you. Let me see your chakra erupt when you fight! Let me be there when you crush your enemies… please… I'll do anything."

"My chakra isn't anything special," Naruto tried uneasily. That wasn't true, considering he his chakra was slowly mixing with that of the Kyūbi and if that wasn't special nothing was but that wasn't the issue here. "What's so special about it anyway? It's just chakra."

"It's far more than that!" Karin looked up with puffy eyes. "Your chakra is strong and profound… It feels like I'm truly alive when you unleash it. My sensory abilities go completely off the charts! It's the most beautiful– ungh!" Karin slumped to the ground as a result of a chop to the neck by Yugito.

"Is she going to be alright here on her own?" Hari hung upside down from the tree with a quizzical expression. "She's crazy but that doesn't mean we should leave her out here on own. Especially since her own allies want to kill her."

"It's not our problem," Yugito decided and turned to leave when Naruto stayed looming over Karin.

Naruto spoke to Tsukuyo and glared at her with such intensity his blue eyes formed into slits, a trick he picked up during his jinchūriki training. "I suggest you three to get the hell out of here and stay away from this lunatic. If you don't, I'll finish what I started the other day." Naruto could be very intimidating if he wanted to. Evident in the shocked and fearful expressions the Shimo genin pulled, stepping back although Tsukuyo sported an unexpected blush as if his passionate way of speaking struck a chord. Naruto didn't notice.

"You're too compassionate," Yugito chided with a sigh. "I suppose it cannot be helped. Let's go."

(TL: Aisai translates to 'beloved wife'. Naruto first decided Tsukuyo will be his wife. When he calls her Akusai Naruto's claiming Tsukuyo being a 'bad wife' in this instance. Naruto's using Gosai incorrectly to rank Tsukuyo as a 'second best' wife when it means 'second wife'. Eventually Naruto calls her, Kyūsai, which means 'ex-wife'. Naruto has decided to end his 'marriage' to Tsukuyo.)

-ooo-

(With Team Manako)

Kenji panted tiredly as his opponent fell before him to the ground with a deep gash in his neck. Kenji dropped to a knee, holding onto his sword's hilt and allowing himself a breather, knowing Yorama Jin was dead. It was unfortunate such talent had been wasted at such an early stage however it was the Taki genin's decision to challenge him. And the challenge had proved to be too big for him and resulted in his death. Yet at the same time the Saito had paid a high price of his own.

"AH!" Kenji's hand held on to his left eye. It was bleeding profusely from a long gash from his eyes drown to his cheek.

BOOM!

Kenji looked to his right to see a huge dust cloud. He could feel Kenichi's chakra, noting it was still very strong. The Saito sighed in relief and got to his feet and made his way to where Taiko had ran off to with her own opponent. Kenji sheathed his blade and covered the gash across his eye inflicted by his late adversary. 'That was intense,' he thought as he heard another familiar shout. Taiko had just defeated her opponent.

"Kenji!" Kenchi ran towards him and caught Kenji in his stagger. Kenichi inspected his wounds briefly, frowning at the sight of the deep gashes in his cheek, his left eye and right forearm. "Kenji, you- you're eye!"

"Hehehe… that sucks." Kenji promptly slipped into unconsciousness.

"KENJI!" Kenichi shouted as he shook his best friend. "KENJI!" It was to no avail. In a state of panic Kenichi shouted, "TAIKO! COME HERE! KENJI'S DOWN!"

-ooo-

(In Another Part of the Forest of Death)

The sun had set and stars had begun to adorn the skies that held a beautiful hue mixture of blue and orange.

Team Kakashi were in a sheltered part of the forest and had set up camp. Sasuke and Sai sat silently on a fallen tree Sasuke had carelessly cut down for a makeshift bench. As they sat in silence, Sakura was preparing them food: steamed rice with fish. It was rather unusual to cook out in the woods with animals the size of houses but they were safe. The Sharingan instilled fear into even the fiercest of predators and Sakura's genjutsu was rather useful to make humans believe the campsite was invisible to all five senses.

"Sasuke-kun, we've got three scrolls now. We just need an Earth scroll now," Sakura said excitedly. She turned to him with a bowl of rice and a roasted fish on a leaf. "Are we going straight to the Shi no Tou or do you want to stay here and fight some more?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected she would know what his intentions were. "We'll stay here till the ninth day. Then we will move to the tower and rest," Sasuke told her, taking his food and placing the strip of fish beside him.

"Oh, okay," Sakura nodded with a smile. Truth be told she was absolutely sick of the forest but if Sasuke wanted to stay a little longer, that's what she would do. 'It's a test of love!'Sakura told herself, passing a significantly less attractive looked bowl of rice and fish to Sai.

"Thank you," Sai said nonetheless. The ink user placed his scroll and brush beside him and accepted the food she offered him.

They ate in silence for the duration of their meal, listening to the crisping noise from the fire and observed the critters that approached them. One particular squirrel gave Sasuke the 'evil eye', eyeing his food hungrily. Sasuke sighed and broke off a piece of his fish and flicked it into the woods. The rodents followed suit and disappeared. Naturally Sakura saw this as an act of compassion and swooned, thinking there was still kindness in her 'prince'.

"Maybe we can get there early, get rested and come back here?" Sakura offered the compromise desperately with an uneasy smile. She loved Sasuke but she really could not stand the Forest of Death. It was simply too uncomfortable, damp and eerie. Some of wildlife, particularly the bears, were incredibly huge and aggressive.

-ooo-

(Nearby Team Kakashi)

A sinister figure stood a top of a tree; the newcomer's silhouette under the rays of the full moon shifted. The figure seemed to contort and change into another form. "Uchiha Sasuke… your body will be mine." In swift movements the figure disappeared with a rustle of leaves.

…

"Maybe we can get there early, get rested and come back here?" Sakura offered the compromise desperately with an uneasy smile. She loved Sasuke but she really could not stand this place. Only the insane or the extremely dedicated would willingly stay here. "Ri- right, Sasuke?"

Sasuke glared in her direction menacingly and reached for his katana. Even Sai seemed taken off guard and moved involuntary in case he had to keep the Uchiha from murdering their teammates. Sakura quickly yelped and crawled back.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke!"

"Shut up!" Sasuke go up and unsheathed his blade with one hand and his kusarigama with another. His Sharingan flared to live, spinning wildly and fiercely. "We're being watched!" Sasuke threw his kusarigama past Sakura head, narrowly missing her and cutting of a few strands of hair.

CLANG!

A new figure had appeared and blocked the kusarigama with a kunai. Sasuke's eyes flared at the sight of the newcomer. The new figure was a pale skinned Kusagakure kunoichi dressed in green garbs with military-esque print and her hair pulled up in a ponytail with an traditional exorcism tag the kanji for 'evil' attached to her straw hat. "Hello there Sasuke-kun."

'A Kusagakure shinobi?' Sasuke dashed forward, his Sharingan telling him what was about to happen, and grabbed Sakura by the collar and threw her behind him. Sai caught the kunoichi and forced her behind him while Sasuke took the punch in the gut that sent him flying wide-eyed through multiple trees. Skidding painfully across the earth and covering roughly forty feet in total, Sasuke could hear his teammate scream.

"SASUKE!"

"Chōjū Giga!"

-ooo-

"Looks like we're done here," Naruto juggled the four scrolls in their possession. The four scrolls with kanji for 'Earth', 'Heaven', 'Light' and 'Darkness' revolved in a cycle. It was almost symbolic Naruto mused.

"We'll break for camp now. Tomorrow we'll go to the tower," Yugito eyed her teammates for opposition and found none. "Good, now that we've established that-" Yugito cut herself off, her eyes narrowed on her right. 'Hari you fool, you failed to stay vigilant at all times.'

Naruto seemingly caught on too and slid the scrolls into his pouch. Hari stepped away from the tree he was leaning against and joined his team in their defensive three-pronged shield formation. They were being watched and whoever was watching them was likely about to attack.

"Come on out or I'm coming in swinging!" Naruto shouted to the tree tops that surrounded their canopy. "Believe me when I say you don't want me to come in swinging!" Yugito nudged his elbow to indicate him to keep going while Hari subtly made a hand seal. "Alrighty. You just pissed of the great Dokuo- ngh!" Naruto quickly amended himself, "The great Ichibiri of Kumo- ngh!" Naruto growled. 'I can even be the Prankster of Kumo? Jeez!'Naruto coughed and tried once more, "Fine, you're about to piss of Uzumaki Naruto of Kumogakure. Stop now or I'll get angry you know." It totally lacked any of his usual bravado but Yugito was being too much of a pain to deal with.

"Just to your left Yugito," Hari said so softly it was almost inaudible. Yet there lay the advantage of having teammates with near supersonic hearing. Naruto nudged his teammates and instantly turned around as Hari and Yugito darted out his way.

Naruto slid into a stance he was very familiar with. In a split second he held out his palm to aim for the tree tops and followed up with another palm strike. "Akkai Genshuku!" The Crushing Gravity palm strike was laced with so much excessive chakra it had chakra streaking behind it.

BOOM!

Team Kirabi split up and each speedily jumped for their own silhouetted target. Naruto quickly found himself engaged in a vicious taijutsu battle with none other than Hyūga Neji. Naruto ducked and leaned backwards and strange angles to avoid palm strikes. Even he wasn't foolish enough to challenge the Hyūga Jūken. "What do we have here? Did I hurt your feelings?" Naruto back flipped with ease silently thanking Kirabi for training him so extensively. He was more agile than most genin – most shinobi in general. Years of practically nonstop taijutsu training against Kirabi and Yugito did that for you. Yugito was a little agiler than him, yet both she and Kirabi had a hard time facing him in their spars. Hell, he beat Yugito most of the time. Not that he had spared with her lately, but it still counted for something.

"Hand over your scrolls and your comrades may very well live for another day," Hyūga Neji slid into another offensive stance. "Your fate however has already been decided," Neji announced fatalistically. "You had already signed your death warranty the moment you challenged the Hyūga!"

"We'll see about that!" Naruto speedily ran at him and went in for a butterfly kick, flying through the air in a whirlpool of legs cutting towards Neji's torso, neck and facial regions. The Hyūga leaned back, whirling his arms and pushed aside the flurry of kicks and even parried them with his palms at rapid speed. Naruto's metal shin guard on his right foot actually cracked, alerting him of his corroding defenses and prompted him to turn midair and go for a heel drop Neji blocked with his forearm. Eyeing the incoming counterattack, Naruto launched himself backwards in a flip and held up his right shin to intercept the Jūken jab.

Naruto slid back across the earth with a glare as his shin guard fell apart. Those had been a gift from Kirabi and here Neji was destroying them with ease. "That Jūken sure is something," Naruto commented. buying himself some time to nurse his somewhat injured shin as Neji dropped his stance and smirked triumphantly as if the battle had already been decided.

"Of course. It is invincible," Neji announced arrogantly. "First I will incapacitate you to make you bow down to the power of the Hyūga. Then I will gracefully allow you to beg for your life and forgiveness." Hyūga Neji slid back into another stance. "Enough procrastinating. You will meet your fate tonight!"

"Fatalist asshole," Naruto snapped sliding in a stance of his own. "Let's see if the Jūken lives up to my own style!" Naruto technically didn't have a taijutsu style. In fact, he usually just went along with what he thought was good at the moment and made frequent usage of physically challenging attacks such as handstand attacks and randomly placed punches. Yet, it was effective enough to beat most of his opponents aside from Kirabi who simply had a too high pain threshold to be affected strongly enough.

"Give in to your fate!" Neji sped towards Naruto and went for a palm strike, "Hakke Kūshō!" The palm strike stopped nearly a feet away from Naruto catching him by surprise a sudden high pressured burst of wind collided in his chest and sent him flying and lodging into a tree a second later.

(Jutsu: Hakke Kūshō – Eight Trigrams Empty Palm!)

Naruto groaned but quickly regained his bearings launched himself out of three tree and front flipped towards Neji to land a crushing heel drop on his shoulder. The Hyūga held up his left forearm, pushing down Naruto and went for another palm strike which Naruto avoiding by pushing down his wrists. The two initiate a high speed taijutsu battle exchanging blows at incredible speeds. Naruto had figured out if he was fast enough he could avoid most of the palm strikes by merely pushing Neji's wrists aside or downwards. However it was incredibly dangerous especially when the Hyūga you were facing wasn't out to immobilize you anymore but was out to cause as much internal damage through brutal palm thrusts and finger strikes.

"What's your deal with fate anyway?" Naruto demanded back flipping on his hands and lowering his legs to avoid another Hakke Kūshō. Naruto launched himself as if a torpedo at the Hyūga who sidestepped and chopped downwards. Naruto held his arms in cross and pressed on the attack by rolling to the side and begin his spinning kicks as he supported himself on his hands. Neji gritted his teeth and jumped backwards and shouted, "Kaiten!" Naruto's Akkai Genshuku bounded of the Heavenly Spin harmlessly with a loud bang.

"There is no purpose in attempting to explain a matter such as this to an inferior life form such as yourself," Neji touched down gracefully and slide into another stance. "You could never understand the ultimate power of fate!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed, instinctively preparing himself for impact in the split second Neji's palm thrust forward. It almost appeared to be in slow motion.

"Hakke Hasageki!"

A sudden explosion followed.

(Jutsu: Hakke Hasangeki – Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher!)

-ooo-

Cling! Cling! Cling!

Hari stood back to back with Yugito as they simultaneously deflected the incoming hail of shuriken and kunai. Naruto had been isolated from them and was now facing another one of them. That explosion did not sound good at all.

"Yugito!"

Yugito nodded to him as they split up and jumped apart and targeted their two attackers; a skinny teenager with a bowl-haircut clad in a green spandex and a kunoichi in red and white Chinese styled apparel. Yugito launched towards Lee and attempted to punch him in the face but was in for a surprise when he deftly caught her fist and threw her aside with such strength the slid across the earth for a good moment or two.

'This guy is strong!' Yugito withdrew her wakizashi and rushed towards the genin who took the time to introduce himself as Rock Lee. Yugito lunged at him, however he sidestepped the blade and attempted elbow Yugito in the back of her head but she reacted quickly and took a page out of Naruto's book and performed a handstand and heeled him in the face. The genin stumbled back pinching the bridge of his nose yet smiled to Yugito's great dismay and confusion.

"Yosh, you are a powerful one!" Rock Lee announced with a respectful bow. "May I have your name, my youthful adversary?" The Azure Beast slid into a peculiar stance, straightening his back and raising his right arm in front of him, his left behind his back.

"Nii Yugito," Yugito answered him. Unlike the others they had faced, Rock Lee seemed to be a genuinely nice person. It was hard to think of him as a bloodthirsty enemy with his cheerful fist pumps and dragged out speeches about the Power of Youth. "Rock Lee, I suggest you take your partners and leave before I have to get serious."

To her right Hari was dominating Tenten in a fierce kenjutsu exchange. The weapon mistress had clearly met her match and then some considering she was gritting her teeth and sporting several cuts and scratches while Hari was using Naruto's ninja-to to systematically pick her defenses apart with little difficulty. It was clear out of the two he was, by far, the superior swordsman.

Yugito smiled with a sense of pride in her teammate, momentarily forgetting her worry for Naruto whom she had neither seen nor heard from after the explosion. "Please move aside," Yugito steadied her wakizashi.

"I cannot!" Lee promptly charged at her and went propelled himself across the grass speedily, twisting his hip for a crushing kick. "Konoha Gōriki Senpū!" Lee performed a spinning kick with suck speed Yugito hardly could blink before she register the top of her wakizashi had been literally kicked off and reduced to shards. She quickly ducked under another kick and back flipped instantaneously. This guy was something else! Yugito charged her Raikō Jōshō to keep up and charged Lee to exchange multiple blows.

(Jutsu: Konoha Gōriki Senpū – Leaf Strong Whirlwind!)

-ooo-

Perched on a tree branch Naruto breathed heavily as he leant against the tree with one hand. Neji's sudden Hakke Hasangeki had blown him away with such force he was profusely bleeding and his shirt and flak jacket had been reduced to mere rags. Even his precious sealing hand book had been ripped apart in the explosion by Hyūga Neji's attack. Naruto gritted his teeth and darted aside to dodge another Hakke Kūshō from behind. Quickly spinning on his heels he threw a kunai directed towards Neji's face. The smirking Hyūga caught the projectile between two fingers, threw it upwards and deftly caught it before throwing it back.

Cling!

Naruto kicked the projectile aside and followed up with his signature move. "Akkai Genshuku!" The blast was met head on by a Jūken palm strike. Like Sasuke had done, Neji's chakra enhanced palm had cut through the blast easily. 'Great like I need that bastard on my mind now!' Naruto grabbed the remains of his jacket and cast it aside. He would have to retrieve the scrolls later. "Have it your way, Neji."

"How dare you call me by name?" Neji screamed at him pushing another palm strike shouting. "Hakke Hasangeki!"

The powerful blast shot towards Naruto. In anticipation, Naruto slid his legs into a broad stance and held out his arms to meet the blast head on. Neji shouted, "Impossible!" Naruto had made up his mind and braced himself with conviction as the humming ball force of chakra connected.

ZHHM!

The energy wave hummed as it crashed into Naruto who gritted teeth, refusing to scream. Veins began to pop up by his temple and arms as he began to bush it back with a might roar. "UUOAAH!" Naruto roared as he lower his arms and pumped so much chakra in his arms he felt his limbs were about to explode. "AAARGH!" Naruto flipped his arms upwards as if grasping at the moon and deflected the energy wave. His arms hung twitchingly to his side as he staggered.

"Im- Impossible!" Neji screamed in absolute disbelief. "IMPOSSIBLE!"

Naruto shot forward in a blink of an eye rearing back his arm. "FATE DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH, TEME!" With that, Naruto deliver powerful punch to Neji's face sending him crashing into the ground and skidding painfully across it before come to a painful stop.

Naruto breathed heavily as he approached Neji. The Hyūga stirred briefly but moved no further. "Ungh!" Naruto's body felt on fire as pain coursed through him. Falling to one knee, Naruto swore loudly and cursed the Hyūga.

…

Hari made quick work of Tenten's defenses. He had quickly determined her to be a weapon mistress that, although skilled, grossly relied on her giant scroll to unseal new weapons to fight. Hari's Iiadō was simply too quick to allow her to unseal new weapons and the added weight and annoyance of her giant sealing scroll made her incredibly vulnerable on close distance.

"Surrender!" Hari shouted at her. With a swift stroke of his blade he sliced the cords that suspended her giant scroll. Although she was more mobile now, she had no way of fighting him now she had been disarmed completely. "Surrender and I will be compassionate."

Tenten growled at him and lunged for a cord of the scroll. She was elated with relief when she pulled at the cord only for her smile to falter when she saw the cord had been cut for the second time. "Damn it!" Tenten threw a handful of kunai with deadly accuracy but as she had expected Hari effortlessly batted them aside with his Iiadō. "I give!" Tenten finally said raising her hands.

Hari smiled good-naturedly, he quite liked this kunoichi. "Good, now call of your friend." Hari had noticed Yugito was barely keeping up with Lee. He doubted even Naruto could last much longer than she could against the insanely fast taijutsu user. "Do it."

Tenten seemed to be dealing with her internal strife.

"Quickly," Hari hurried her. Yugito was getting her ass handed to her and she wasn't going to last very long. Hari rested the tip of his blade on her shoulder.

"I- I can't," Tenten finally decided, closing her eyes in anticipation of whatever reprisal Hari had for her.

"You won't have to," Naruto announced standing in on a tree branch with an unconscious Neji over his shoulder. "Hey, Geijimayu! Back off or pretty boy here gets it!" Naruto shouted at Lee.

The taijutsu specialist stopped dead in his tracks like a robot, his fist an inch away from a grounded Yugito's face. "Very well! It appears we have lost!" Even in defeat Lee seemed enthusiastic and amiable. "You must be a genius if you have defeated him!" Lee distanced himself from Yugito. "Most admirable."

"Tche! Me, a genius? Get outta here!" Naruto told him with a grin. Lee has an infectious smile and disposition that made it hard for Naruto to dislike the exuberant genin. "I work for my power. I don't use any others means than hard work!"

"Most admirable!" Lee shouted taking out his notepad and pencil. "Please share your knowledge with me, senpai! It is my dream to become a splendid ninja and to do that I must defeat a genius!"

"Then congratulations, you just beat the strongest kunoichi genin of Kumo!" Naruto rubbed his finger under his nose, enjoying Lee's shocked expression as well as Yugito's dismayed glare. No matter how you looked at it, he couldn't be harsh towards Lee as he could to others. The Geijimayu was too much like him to dislike him. "The name's Uzumaki Naruto. From what I heard you're Rock Lee."

"That's correct!" Lee confirmed.

"Let's become splendid ninja together, Lee!" Naruto aimed his fist towards Lee with a grin.

"YOSH! Even in defeat I am filled with inspiration, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto turned to Hari and nodded. The pseudo-medic promptly sheathed his blade and joined him. "Yugito, let's go," Naruto told the Nibi jinchūriki as she approached him with an annoyed look. "Here, tell his wise ass he can EAT IT next time he brings up his fate bullshit!" Naruto hoisted Neji easily with one hand and chucked him at Lee. "See you, Geijimayu! Don't forget our promise-"

A sudden wave of colossal chakra hit them. Naruto's eyes widened.

"What was that?"

-ooo-

"Chidori!" Sasuke shouted as he jumped of the ink bird Sai had drawn. The Uchiha flew downwards towards the Oto ninja and stabbed at the giant snake he had summoned. The Chidori plunged through the serpent's skull and killed it instantaneously with a loud screech that drowned the noise of his Chidori. The Kusa kunoichi distanced her and sidestepped the second lunge of Sasuke's lightning attack. Sasuke made a hand seal and spat multiple balls of fire. "Hōsenka no Jutsu!" The fire balls missed the kunoichi who swiftly darted past them and grabbed onto his throat and jumped down the platform like branch and slammed him onto the earth. The thirty feet plunge lodged Sasuke into a small create as he felt his collarbone break by the sheer impact.

"SASUKE!" Sakura charged forward and charger her hands with chakra scalpels and rounded on the Kusa kunoichi. The screamed in fury and she stabbed, sliced and lunged at the kunoichi before her in a flurry. "Sai, get Sasuke!" Sakura felt the frustration built up in her as her Kusa adversary dodged, nimble and moving fluidly like snake to the left and right, avoiding all of her stabs with astonishing ease. "DIE!" Sakura overloaded the scalpel and went for a wide slash in the hopes of giving the Kusa kunoichi some chakra burns.

It was to no avail and the futile attack caused her to burn her own hand severely and be kicked in the stomach with such force her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as she was sent flying with incredible force into a tree where she was held suspended a foot above ground. The rosette slipped into unconsciousness, defenseless against the pack of snakes that flew at her.

"Chōjū Giga!" A pack of lions appeared before the kunoichi and bit at the snakes. Whilst the animals went at it, Sai charged forward unsheathing his tip-less tantō. His attempts were absolutely futile as the kunoichi dodged his every move with fluid motions. The ink user made a one-handed hand seal and spat a gush of ink that formed into needles midair. The kunoichi bent her back at incredible and shot back up, using the momentum to head butt Sai which such power the impact cracked the metal plating on his headband. In pain Sai dropped his tantō to nurse his head but that proved to be a potential grave mistake as the kunoichi consequently planted her fist in his gut and grabbed onto his hair as he lurched. She held him up by his hair and repeatedly punched him in the face. Once she was finished she dropped him to the ground, blood flowing down his broken nose, jaw and chin bones. The ink beasts faltered and cancelled and were reduced to pools of ink.

"Now then," the kunoichi's tongue unfurled out of her mouth, gaining inhuman lengths and picked up Sai's tantō. "Goodbye Danzō's fool!" The kunoichi went to stab with his tantō-brandishing tongue but was stopped when a kusarigama wrapped around him and the sharp scythe sunk three inches into his neck. "That's quite the odd way to use a weapon like this, Sasuke-kun," the kunoichi commented, appearing not to feel a single jolt of pain as she turned with a confident smirk. The kunoichi's eyes widened when she noticed the lightning generated in Sasuke's hand.

"Die!" Sasuke shouted, connecting the lightning to the metal chain. The kunoichi screamed in pain as she was electrocuted by the genin.

Sasuke got to his feet kicking his katana to Sai who caught in and sliced down the kunoichi's face.

"What the fuck is that?" Sasuke shouted.

The kunoichi had stopped screaming despite the fact Sasuke had continued to maintain the lightning conduct. Instead, once Sai has sliced down her face, it revealed to be nothing but an Earth Clone. Their enemy had been goading them along. Sasuke dashed forward with a battle cry and charged another Chidori in his hand. The kunoichi had regurgitated a katana and had it poised to swiftly decapitate the ink user as she appeared behind him, diving out of the earth.

"Sai get down!" Sasuke swiped his Chidori and aimed a hail of lightning senbon towards her. The kunoichi moved at an insane speed, gripping on to Sai's head and directing him before her as a human shield against the senbon.

Much to the Uchiha's horror, his teammate screamed in pain and fell face first to the dirt unmoving.

"Kukuku, now it's just you and me, Sasuke-kun."

---

Author's Notes:

In all honesty, I am somewhat pleased with this chapter but at the same time I'm anxious. A lot of things going on and I really hope I manage to pull off what going for, plot-wise. A quick reminder: the second stage of the Chūnin Exam is for ten days not five, as stated in chapter twelve. Anyway, let's move on. I'm having some doubts with story, and I suppose that's quite normal considering the major plot twists I'm planning on using but who knows, we'll see what happens. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter and leave a line or two to point out some errors, ask questions and give some criticism.

Now drop me a line or two cause I said so!

…

Jutsu:

(Jutsu: Hakke Kūshō – Eight Trigrams Empty Palm!) - ? rank, offensive, short to midrange. This technique releases a powerful wave of energy through the use of a high-speed palm thrust aimed for a specific target rather than a general area. To perform it, the user precisely pinpoints the enemy's vital points with the Byakūgan and releases a high-speed palm thrust. A vacuum shell compressed using the Jūken is formed to violently push the opponent away. Parent jutsu: Jūken (Gentle Fist).

(Jutsu: Hakke Hasangeki – Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher!) ? rank, offensive, short range. A more powerful variation of Hakke Kūshō. The user hits the target at close range with a powerful wave of chakra. The attack sends them flying back into a rock or wall, causing severe damage. Due to its powerful nature, the Hasangeki must be used on a short range in order to maintain control and accuracy. Parent jutsu: Hakke Kūshō (Eight Trigrams Empty Palm).

(Jutsu: Konoha Gōriki Senpū – Leaf Strong Whirlwind!) - B rank, offensive, short range. A taijutsu using a combination of speed and power. The essence of this technique is concentrated in a spinning back kick, with such speed that not a single person can follow the user's movement, smashing his enemy with overwhelming strength. Parent jutsu: Konoha Senpū (Leaf Whirlwind).

---

Kumo Nin Character Corner!

Name: Seido Hari.

Alias(es): None.

Date of Birth: August 7.

Age: Fourteen.

Blood Type: A.

Affiliation(s): Kumogakure no Sato, Kaminari no Kuni.

Occupation: Shinobi.

Rank: Genin.

Classification: None.

Bounty: None.

Mini biography: Hari is a genin of Kumogakure and Naruto's best friend. He is known to be fiercely loyal, dependable and good-natured. However, Hari does not come without his faults as he is a shameless pervert at times and sometimes does not know his own limits, often resulting in injuries. Hari comes from a small clan of shinobi of whom only a few have ever risen beyond the rank of chūnin with the exception of his uncle and father. Hari carries a lot of guilt for the latter's actions that resulted in the Hyūga Incident when his father attempted to abduct Hyūga Hinata. Hari currently lives with his mother and younger twin siblings, Daichi and Nami, whom he is very protective of.

Weapon: Hari frequently uses a ninja-to in battle but he is not restricted to using it as he has other jutsu to his disposal.

Nature Type: Fire (affinity) and water.

Fighting Style: Hari prides himself for his skill in kenjutsu, having gained some skill in Iadō and being in the process of developing his own kenjutsu style: the Jouen-Ryū. However Hari does not rely solely on kenjutsu. When the situation demands it, Hari has quite a few elemental ninjutsu and other ninja skills to his disposal along with limited medical jutsu.

Techniques (25):

Ninpō: Henge (Tranformation), Bunshin (Clone), Kawarimi (Substitution), Shunshin (Body Flicker).

Kenjutsu: Jouen-Ryū (Flaming Desires of the Blade Style): Zangeki (Slashing Attack). Iaidō (Draw and Re-Sheath Art): Senkō Giri (Flashing Slash), Hitotachi (Stroke of the Blade). Kumo-Ryū (Cloud Style): Kakū Kibukiri Giri (Overhead Decapitating Slash) and other Cloud Style techniques.

Ninjutsu: Fūinjutsu: Yadama Fūin (Projectile Seal). Fūton Jutsu: Akkai Genshuku (Crushing Gravity). Suiton Jutsu: Mizurappa (Violent Water Wave), Suijinheki (Water Encampment Wall), Sūiben (Water Whip), Suirō (Water Prison). Doton Jutsu: Dochū Eigyo (Underground Fish Projection). Katon Jutsu: Hōsenka (Immortal Phoenix Flame), Hitama (Flame Shot), Endan (Fireball), Karyūdan (Fire Dragon Projectile), Ryūka (Dragon Fire). Raiton Jutsu: Raikō Jōshō (Lightning Climb), Raigan (Lightning Gun).