Warnings: None

Rating: PG

~~~~~o~~~~~ Scene change, time break, etc…

"Talking"

Thoughts

'Naruto speaking to Kyuubi mentally'

Kyuubi

Chapter 4: Chishiki no Chikara

Naruto Uzumaki

Vs.

Kiba Inuzuka

"Finally, it's my turn!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Lucky! We can beat him for sure, Akamaru!" Kiba said, receiving a bark of affirmation from the puppy tucked in his jacket.

Naruto smiled, memories of this fight washing over him. True, he'd been trying to hide his strength before, but he'd still been so much weaker than he was now. It really had been a challenge to beat Kiba back then. But it would be different this time.

"Kakashi-sensei! I was wondering…" Naruto said.

"Hmm? What is it, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, curious as Naruto made him bend closer to him.

"Do you have any stink bombs?" Naruto whispered in Kakashi's ear.

Stink bombs? What's he up to? Kakashi thought. If he didn't know better, it seemed like Naruto was actually trying to come up with a strategy. Which only made him more suspicious. The Naruto who started these exams would have just rushed in without any plan. What was going on?

"Yes, I have a few. Do you want them?" he asked as he took them out of his weapons pouch.

"Hai! Arigatou, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said as he moved his body to block the view of Kakashi handing him the bombs. A moment later, he realized he shouldn't have done that when Kakashi was already suspicious of him, but it was too late.

"Knock'em dead, Naruto," Sakura said, distracting Naruto.

"Of course! Just watch me, Sakura-chan! I'll win with no problem at all!" Naruto said, plastering on the grin he used as a mask.

Sakura started as she realized she didn't like this smile much. She liked the small smile from before. That one had seemed more…genuine.

What am I thinking? There's nothing wrong with his smile. It's the same smile as always. I must still be a little tired from my match…Sakura thought with a small shake of her head.

Unexpectedly, Naruto patted the top of her head.

"I won't fail. It's a promise…"

Of a lifetime.

Sakura stared at Naruto's serious eyes. His words seemed to hold some special meaning that she wished she could understand. She shivered as she remembered the last time such seriousness and determination filled his eyes. It had been when he'd saved them from Orochimaru. And with that memory fresh in her mind, she couldn't argue with his words.

"I know," she whispered as he disappeared over the railing.

~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~

"You know Kiba, the same jutsu won't work on me twice," Naruto said with a grin. He'd let Kiba mouth off and get the first few hits in, but he'd needed the time to get used to his weaker body. His shortened reach, his slower speed, his larger chakra reserves from the merge, and the loss of nearly 9 years of muscle memory was slightly disconcerting. But now…

Now he was ready to strike back.

It's time to change how the story goes.

Just be careful, Kit. Nothing too flashy.

Naruto grinned, surprising Kiba and their audience.

"Define flashy."

~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~

That grin surprised and disturbed Kiba. It spoke of a self-confidence that should've already been beaten out of the little squirt.

Define flashy? What was that supposed to mean?

Naruto had to be bluffing.

Aggravated that Naruto, of all people, had made him hesitate, Kiba snarled, launching himself at Naruto, Akamaru following closely behind.

Naruto leapt away, just as Kiba anticipated. The grace and fluidity of the move almost distracted him, but he threw the smoke bombs he'd hidden in his hands at the last second, engulfing Naruto in smoke just as he landed.

Kiba and Akamaru closed in, using their noses to locate and attack Naruto. Infuriatingly, he was somehow able to dodge or block all their hits.

Gnashing his teeth in frustration, Kiba backed off.

"Let's see you block this! Akamaru, let's go!" he called. "Gatsuuga!"

"Didn't I say the same jutsu won't work on me twice?" Naruto said from inside the smoke as Kiba made his hand signs.

"Grrr...! Shuddup, you loser!" Kiba yelled as he and Akamaru launched themselves at Naruto.

Hmph! The idiot's not even defending himself! Kiba thought as they closed in on Naruto's still form.

"This is over!" Kiba shouted.

A huge wave of chakra blasted the two attackers, knocking them back.

"You're right. This is over," Naruto said calmly, stepping forward.

Kiba tensed, his muscles bunching in preparation. However, before he could do anything, Naruto disappeared.

"Wha...?" Kiba said, looking around for the blond.

He whirled around when a yip and poof of smoke came from behind him.

"Akamaru!" he cried out when he saw his beloved partner on the ground next to Naruto.

"Now, it's one-on-one. Don't worry, I didn't hurt him. He's just unconscious," Naruto said.

"Why you...!" Kiba stopped himself.

I can't let him get to me. If I do, he'll set the pace. I've gotta control myself. Control...Control...

Kiba bit his hand, letting the pain and taste of blood wash through him, calming himself.

Alright...I prefer partnering with Akamaru for Gatsuuga, but I can use a clone too...

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

I won't let him get away with hurting Akamaru. I'm gonna win this!

~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~

Naruto dispelled another clone, the third one since he'd incapacitated Akamaru.

I wonder when Kiba's going to notice...

The dense dog? Probably never.

Aww, you should give him more credit than that. I bet he's already catching on.

Kyuubi just snorted as Naruto took out a fourth clone.

"Kuso! Why aren't you attacking me!" Kiba yelled, frustrated.

"The clones are easier to destroy," Naruto said with a shrug.

Naruto almost smiled as Kiba stared at him. He could almost hear the dog boy's thoughts.

"How do I know? How could I possibly guess which one is the clone correctly every time?" Naruto said, startling Kiba as he voiced his thoughts.

"It's simple, really. I actually learned it from you," Naruto said, holding back his grin at Kiba's bewildered expression. "I can smell them."

"That's impossible! Clones smell the same as the original. They're clones!"

"Actually, they don't. The difference is pretty faint, but it's there. When you make a clone, it has the same smell as you, ne? But the real you will have other residual smells clinging to you. You smell of Hinata and Shino, along with the smell from the Forest of Death. But your clone smells only like your normal scent," Naruto explained.

"But how can you even smell me to begin with! I can do it because my whole family is born with an enhanced sense of smell! Why can you do it even though you're normal!" Kiba ranted, completely frustrated.

Naruto froze as Kiba's words hit him.

Kit, calm down. Don't do anything rash.

Shut up.

Kit!

Shut the hell up!

"...Normal?"

Kiba's eyes widened at the dark tone of Naruto's voice. It sent a shiver down his spine.

"Since when am I normal? I've never been normal! But of course you don't understand that. Not yet."

Before Kiba could respond, Naruto disappeared again.

"You want to know about my family? About how I can distinguish scents even better than you?" Naruto asked from right behind Kiba, disappearing as he spun around.

"My family were seal masters and could control time and space. And I can smell the difference..." Naruto said in Kiba's ear, pausing as he disappeared once more.

"...Because I have the nose of a fox."

And with that, he attacked.

~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~

The whole arena was filled with silence.

"Alright! You did it, Naruto!" Sakura finally cheered.

"No one expected Naruto to win," Chouji commented, Ino nodding in agreement.

"Che…It's not that unexpected," Shikamaru muttered.

"What? How could anyone have guessed THAT would happen? I mean, no one thought Naruto would be smart enough to use stink bombs on Kiba!" Ino asked.

"Mendokuse…If you don't understand it, I'm not gonna try to explain it."

Naruto made his way up the stairs with a slight limp. Even with his knowledge, his current body was too weak and slow for most of his future jutsu. Using such high speeds really took a toll on him.

I'm definitely going to have to train my body and chakra control.

He slowed as he noticed Hinata at the railing, obviously dithering over whether or not to give him a medical ointment.

It's the Hyuuga girl. You know, it might be kinder of you if you put an end to her crush earlier than you did last time.

I never ended her crush. She just realized that we could never be together and moved on on her own. Still, maybe you're right. The only reason she held onto hope for so long last time was because of how dense I was. I think…I think I'll try to let her down gently a lot sooner this time.

Decision made, Naruto made his way towards her.

Surely not NOW, Kit? She's about to fight.

Of course not now. I just want to go encourage her to do her best.

"N-N-N-Naruto-to-kun…!" Hinata's timid voice broke through his thoughts, her face flushed.

"Huh? Oh, hey Hinata! What is it?" he asked happily.

"P-Please use th-this on your w-w-wounds…!" she replied shyly, holding out a container of ointment.

"Thanks! I heard your ointments are great!"

Hinata blushed an even deeper red at his praise. She mumbled out a "Thank you" and quickly walked toward the stairs to give Kiba some ointment.

"Oi, Hinata!" Naruto called out behind her, catching her attention.

"Y-Y-Yes?" she said, taken aback by the sudden serious look on his face.

"…Don't give up. You're strong, stronger than you realize. And you'll only get stronger as you grow. So, never give up."

With that, Naruto smiled and went back over to Sakura, ignoring the surprised looks on Kurenai's face or the nearly hyperventilating Hinata.

Now, let the next match begin!

~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~

"Lee," Naruto called as Lee jumped on the railing, drawing the small group's attention.

"What is it, Naruto-kun?"
"Just remember, everything has a price. Especially if it's forbidden."

Lee and Gai's eyes widened, as Neji's narrowed. Sakura just looked confused. Kakashi looked between Naruto and the two surprised males, trying to understand the meaning behind Naruto's words.

How…? Brushing the thought away, Lee smiled.

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun. I'm ready to pay the price to prove my nindo, my ninja way."

And with that, Lee joined Gaara in the arena.

"If only you knew…" Naruto murmured. In the past future, he'd truly come to like Lee. He'd been one of the few who had truly accepted Naruto for himself. Of course, he'd also been completely crazy, even more so than Gai in some ways. But even though Naruto knew Lee would heal, he wished he could spare the boy from the mental anguish this match would cost him in the future. Even with the power his knowledge gave him, he wasn't sure if he could, or should stop the events of Lee's match.

Maybe you can, Kit…

'Of course I can't! If anyone interferes, he'll lose automatically,' Naruto snapped back.

What does that matter if he's going to lose anyways?

'Because I want Gaara to change too!' Naruto exploded, his iron control cracking.

Before he could stop it, Naruto fell back against the wall as images poured into his mind. Gaara mercilessly crushing Lee's arm and leg, Gaara pinning Sakura to the tree with his sand, Gaara in Shukaku form, Gaara screaming in pain from his memories, the first smile Gaara had given him as a friend, Gaara dead, Gaara, Gaara, GAARA-!

KIT! Kyuubi roared in his mind, finally wrenching him from his memories.

Breathe, kit, breathe! It's going to be okay. Even if you keep the raccoon brat from completely crushing that idiot's leg and arm, Gaara will still try to kill him and therefore, the crazy sensei will still come to his rescue and confuse Gaara and set him on the path of sanity.

'I-I don't know…It might not work. It could change everything,' Naruto replied shakily, pushing the memories back into the 'room' he'd made for them in his mind and locking the door. He blinked in confusion as he saw the door though. He'd imagined a solid metal door to suppress the memories, yet in its place, there was a delicate glass door. Perhaps it represented the fragility of his control? Either way, Naruto knew it wouldn't hold forever. He could already see cracks forming in the glass.

Well, you're going to have to decide what you want to do. The whole reason we came back was to change things, but I suppose if we change too much, we might not be able to control the effect farther into the future. Now, pay attention. Your little panic attack caught others' attention.

Naruto shook his head as he focused on the outside world, only for it to spin uncontrollably.

"—to! Naruto! What's wrong? Are you okay? Is it another fit?" Sakura was demanding, shaking the daylights out of him.

S-Sakura-ch-chan!"

"Ne, ne, Sakura, I think you're killing him," Kakashi's voice cut in.

Sakura abruptly let go of Naruto, causing his head to hit against the wall as he lost the support of her grip. Some time during his fit, he'd obviously slid down the wall into a sitting position. Or perhaps Sakura had caused it with her shaking…

"Itai…! Sakura, that hurt! Were you trying to kill me! I'm you're teammate! If you wanted to kill a teammate, you should have gone for Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto complained loudly.

Sakura and Kakashi just blinked at the blond, bemused by this sudden return to loudmouth, illogical idiocy.

"You collapsed again…I mean, you didn't scream like last time, but you were kind of…whimpering and clutching your head. I didn't know what to do…I was worried about you, you baka!" Sakura yelled as her temper quickly flared up, punching Naruto on top of the head.

"ITAIIIIII!" Naruto practically howled as Sakura stormed away. As soon as she was far enough away, Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

And confirmed Kakashi's suspicion that the boy was putting on an act. Perhaps he'd always been acting and none of them knew the real Naruto. In a strange, twisted way, it made sense too. After all, how could anyone who'd gone through all Naruto had truly be as happy and innocent as he'd seemed to be? But the change seemed too large and sudden…Something must have happened to bring it on and Kakashi was determined to find out what.

Or maybe who…Kakashi idly thought as Myobu's image flashed through his mind.

As Naruto rushed back to the rail, Kakashi turned his attention back to the match.

However, without even thinking about it, Kakashi's eye often drifted back to the puzzling blond, looking for more signs of his act.

~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~

Even knowing what was going to happen couldn't make watching this match less painful. The way Lee put everything he had into proving his belief, the dead look in Gaara's eyes, or, even worse, the bloodlust…They all broke Naruto's heart. And the crucial moment was approaching fast. He still hadn't decided what he should do.

In the end, there really wasn't a choice. Just like what Sasuke had said after rescuing him from Haku's needles, Naruto's body just moved on its own.

As Gaara's fist closed to finish the Sand Burial, a nearly inaudible scream of denial escaped Naruto as his chakra surged. Without even thinking, his hands formed seals with such speed, no one could see it if they didn't know to look.

Fire covered Lee's sand-encased limbs just as he began screaming in pain, flash heating the sand into brittle glass. But before the fire could even finish dying down, Gaara sent another wave of deadly sand at Lee.

Naruto forced himself to remain still. He forced himself to watch the glass surrounding Lee's limbs shatter and cover them in thin cuts as he futilely tried to escape the sand. Above all, he forced himself to watch the potential death of his friend. If his saving Lee's leg and arm surprised Gai so much he didn't save his student in time, it would be Naruto's fault. And if that happened, he wasn't going to be a coward and look away.

Naruto let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when Gai materialized at the last second, quelling the sand wave.

Lee was safe. He was going to be okay. Hopefully, he'd intervened in time for Lee to recover without the mental trauma of believing he'd been crippled for life. And just as importantly, Gai had unknowingly set Gaara on the path of redemption.

As soon as Gaara moved away, Naruto jumped the railing, ignoring everyone else and the commotion below as he rushed to Lee's side. He could feel the tears trying to escape, but he wouldn't give in to them. Not yet.

He watched as the med-nin put him on a stretcher, as shock and sorrow filled the nin's eyes as he examined the battered boy's injuries.

No.

The medic left the other two to care for Lee as he approached Gai, the pain in his eyes clear.

No.

"The damage to his left side is extensive. It's difficult to say this, but I'm sorry. With the damage this severe, there's just a large possibility your student cannot continue leading the life of a shinobi."

NO!

Naruto watched, frozen, as the medic left and the words finally registered in Gai's mind, as the devastation and pain filled his eyes.

He'd failed. Even after he risked revealing himself, he'd failed to protect Lee.

Naruto finally regained his senses as the medics began carrying Lee out of the arena.

"Don't! Don't you dare tell him that! If you tell Fuzzy Brows he can't be a shinobi, it'll destroy him! He'll heal! He's going to be fine, so don't tell him!" Naruto screamed at their backs, the tears from earlier finally falling. Anger filled him as he realized they were ignoring him. He had to make sure they understood, that they wouldn't put Lee through that anguish.

He took a step forward, intending to follow them and make them acknowledge what he was saying, but found himself restrained as Kakashi wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Naruto, you can't."

"But it'll destroy him! Being a shinobi is everything to him! And Neji, Sasuke! He wanted to fight them so much!"

"That might have been what caused this tragedy. The decision to use even forbidden jutsu to win at all costs…This is the result," Kakashi said. "Sasuke, Neji-kun…and you too, Naruto. To fulfill the silent promise you all made to each other…! He put his life at risk…so that he could reach that final stage to fight all of you…Don't forget that."

But you already knew this, didn't you, Naruto? This is what you tried to warn Lee about. But how? And since when have you learned fire jutsu?

"But you're wrong! He's gonna be fine!" Naruto said, interrupting Kakashi's memories of his warning.
"Naruto…You need to understand—" Kakashi began, the pity in his voice only angering Naruto.

"No, you need to understand! He's gonna heal! Tsunade-baa-chan is gonna heal him, good as new! So—!"

Naruto!

Kyuubi's sharp reprisal drew Naruto up short. As his words hit him, his eyes widened and he bit his lip hard, drawing blood.

ShitshitshitshitSHIT!

"Tsunade? Naruto, how do you know about—"

"Excuse me, but we need to start the next match. Could you please go to the upper level?"

Naruto sighed in relief as the examiner interrupted Kakashi. "Ah, gomen! We'll go right now!" he said as he slipped out of Kakashi's arms before he could stop him.

Kakashi let him go, slightly surprised at how easily Naruto had escaped his hold. Besides, Gai was still standing forlornly in the middle of the arena.

Perhaps I can do something to cheer him up.

As he glimpsed the expression in Gai's eyes, he amended that thought.

Perhaps I can do something to relight the fire in his eyes, if nothing else…Kakashi though as he made his way over to his long-time rival.

~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~

Blondie was staring at her again.

Temari first noticed him staring right after the pinkette's match with the mind-controlling chick. She'd been feeling disgusted by such a weak display of kunoichi battle when the back of her nape had tingled with awareness. The moment she'd found her observer, she'd almost wished she'd never noticed.

His eyes…He'd slid them away, playing it off as if he'd been glancing around the room or something, but not before she'd gotten a glimpse of those sad blue eyes.

He looked at her like a drowning man looks at the ship he fell from. As if she was something important he'd lost and never thought to have back.

It made her arms ache with the need to hug him.

Which seriously creeped her out. She didn't even know this guy, for Kami's sake!

And if the way he watched her was disturbing, it was nothing compared to how he looked at Gaara.

Such gentleness and understanding in any gaze directed at Gaara would've made her question the sanity of that person. Couple that with the longing and hope she could clearly see in his gaze…Well, she seriously thought someone needed to give the kid a psych eval.

Come to think of it, wasn't he the one who'd collapsed in that fit of screaming right before the prelims?

Definitely creepy.

Since the first time she'd caught him, she'd felt his eyes on her off and on throughout the rest of the matches. And now, she really wished the stupid spinning meatball of a ninja would hurry up and win or lose soon because she couldn't take his stare much longer.

What felt like an eternity later, the Sound-nin was finally declared victorious. She almost felt liking cheering aloud when she felt his eyes move away from her.

Compound that with the relief of all three of them making it through these stupid prelims without Gaara going out of control and anticipation for the next part of the plan, you had a heady mix of emotions making her feel weak at her knees.

So, for now, she decided to concentrate on the most positive thing.

The prelims were finally over!

~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~

Translations:

Chishiki no Chikara – The Power of Knowledge

Sensei – Teacher (in this context)

Arigatou – Thank you

Gatsuuga – Piercing Fang

Kage Bunshin – Shadow Clone

Ne? – Right?

Mendokuse – Troublesome

Itai – Ouch

Baa-chan – Old lady, grandmother

A/N: *slowly peeks out from around a corner* Hi guys…Sorry this took so long, but—EEP!

*ducks for cover as readers throw apples at her* Hey! I said it would take awhile! I'm just no good with action scenes! And for some reason, the conversation between Kakashi and Naruto was hard to write too! It seems I have a lot of trouble with Kakashi. And I was afraid it was to melodramatic too...

*cries in her emo corner*

*wipes away tears* Well, now that we've gotten that out of our systems…What did you think? Surprisingly, I had a LOT more trouble with Hinata's match than with Lee's. Maybe because I didn't actually want to really change anything but also didn't just want to skip over it either…Whereas I wanted to make some major changes to Lee's match (and the aftermath). I finally just decided to change what happened before and skip over the match itself.

*giggles* When I was writing from Temari's POV, I was trying to imagine how I'd feel if someone was staring at me like that. And truthfully, I really would want to hug the person and make them feel better, even if they were a stranger. Which leads to being creeped out about wanting to hug a stranger. LOL Plus, I really wanted to end this chapter with a different perspective (among other yet-to-be-known reasons). And I might as well warn y'all now, there are going to be many perspectives in this story, though mainly Naruto and Sasuke, of course.

*shuffles feet shyly* So…Review please? I always feel all inspired after reading an encouraging review. Or any review, for that matter.

Gonna go finish working on the next chapter! (Yeah, I ended up killing Kiba and saying "Since you're dead, I don't have to write about you and can just move on the next chapter! BWAHAHAHAHA!" and proceeded to write the beginning of the next chapter. But of course, I knew I couldn't really kill him, so when I actually dreamed up the fight scene I wanted, I did my best to put it in words. Still, it looked much cooler in my dreams than in the mental images my words bring to my mind…)

Ja ne!

~MikoAmaya