Birth of a Legend: The Fox Druid

by DarkHeroOrion

A true force of nature arises from the lowly roots of Konoha. This child, a scion of noble birthright, is ironically shunned by his deep-seated burden. Follow along as our coming-of-age hero grows through the test of adversity and new challenges.

19. Looming Shadows! The Creeping Limit

Chapter Nineteen: Looming Shadows! The Creeping Limit

The sun barely poked over the eastern horizon as Naruto walked around the back of the apartment complex, in full attire, minus the coat, which delicately rested in the crook of his bent, left forearm. He tightly clenched the commemorative forehead protector that Iruka-sensei had given him upon graduating to become a genin in his right hand. He felt it symbolic, in a way, to wear the hitai-ate with the blue cloth not just because it matched his current garb. It meant that this moment was special to him; for him to savor for years to come.

'Today's the day…' His sapphire gaze of determination illuminated the low light brought about by the star that gave life to their planet. 'I hope to get that promotion!'

The day had finally come. In three hours, he would be in the attendance of a fairly big crowd in the stadium on the far end of town. His nerves were so ramped up that he woke up relatively early, at around six o'clock in the morning. Not wanting to disturb his sleeping roommates, he quietly got dressed and was out the door, ready to warm up by testing out a few experimental techniques.

He summoned a Shadow Clone—seemingly becoming his trademark ninjutsu—and demanded that it hold his coat and forehead protector, to keep them safe.

Taking in his surroundings, the blond moved a few meters into a clearing near one of the local parks. 'This should offer me just enough room…but not enough for the jutsu Ero-sennin taught me, though…'

The bewhiskered genin assumed a fairly firm stance—shoulders squared, right leg bearing the majority of his body weight, and palms loosely opened, with the left extended farther outward in comparison to the right. Feeling that it was a natural posture, the boy began the routine kata.

His feet shifted forward, a vortex of his essence hovering above his left palm like a small, galactic spiral for a brief second before it dissipated. Maintaining control, Naruto whipped out his right hand, producing a similar effect. As if in a feint, the fang-toothed shinobi spun around on a pivot and aimed low with a sweeping blow from his left palm, the spiraling barrier of chakra levitating from it in a brief second, before it petered away in evanescent wisps. Then, he sped up with a flurry of bursting chakra spirals from his hands as he made precision strikes to seriously injure his imaginary foe.

'All right…' the kid started to conclude, 'I think that jutsu is complete! On to the next one!'

Naruto hesitated on the second creation. It was still a work in progress. The technique in question pertained to bend wind to his will without cutting his hands in the process. By the blond's estimates, the Fuuton jutsu ranked almost close to jounin-level, give or take, but most certainly pretty high up on the chuunin-level skill sets.

Slowly, Naruto channeled chakra around his tenketsu to envelop his hands, claw-like nails filed down, in solid cones of energy. 'Now…carefully…sharpen the chakra and have it take on a windy nature…' With great focus, the twin funnels that wrapped around his digits started to assume a light green sheen as the very winds started to batter the blond's muscle shirt and armor padding. He straightened up his fingers into a knife-edge, stabilizing the cones as a sort of foundation. He decided not to test it any further than that and canceled the technique, lest it began to screech loudly and cause severe gashes on his limbs.

Naruto shook out the tingling sensation and tenderly kneaded each hand. He frowned a bit in thought. In the heat of battle, the pain would not really matter, since the adrenaline would buffer it by a significant amount.

For the next jutsu, Naruto held out his right palm in a cupping fashion and started to focus. A few beads of sweat broke through the boy's brow in concentration as a sphere the size of a grapefruit floated above it. Wisps of chakra poured off it in flakes, indicating that the technique was not quite compact, in his opinion. The 'spiraling ball of power,' as what Naruto called it for the moment, held its shape, but he felt that the energy coming off the sphere was not consistent and did not flow in a globular pattern, as what Kakashi-sensei's version had done.

Seeing the dense globe of chakra in his hand made him think of the time he got chakra burns after ripping the rubber ball, in addition to the muscle spasms that hindered his use of chopsticks for a day or so. It felt worse than the pain from Phantom Flame after overusing it! However, that still did not deter the bewhiskered genin to have it down in another week or so. Nodding in satisfaction, the youngest genin on Team Seven allowed the whirling dervish to peter out like smoke in the air.

Now, the last jutsu he wanted to test out was a bit of a trial-and-error one. By just understanding the mechanics behind the technique, Naruto realized that he could muster the chakra from all of his chakra pressure points, convert it to his main chakra nature and expel it in a fluid burst, but there was a catch…

It would normally leave him dizzy and disoriented after a couple of trial runs.

He grinned as he appeared to assume a stance similar to an athlete about to throw a discus, thinking on the one person and her teachings for making his insane jutsu inventions come to fruition, as he focused on the essence from within, from a few days before…

After getting the directions leading to his friend's chamber, and without thinking, Naruto slid open the shouji. "Hey, Hinata-chan! I heard you were getting better!"

Unfortunately, for Hyuuga Hinata, seeing her crush step into her bedroom made her squeak in surprise, flinging the covers over her. Having a boy waltz into her room, unannounced, and while she was in a sleeping gown…

It was totally embarrassing! It felt akin to essentially being naked in front of the boy she liked!

"N-Naruto-kun!" A lone eye exposed itself from the tangle of quilts covering her. "Why are you here?"

The blond boy shook his head. "Why so cute?" he muttered under his breath as he sat down on his feet. "Heh…Sorry for barging in. I just got done talking with your dad, and then, I came to see how you were doing…"

"Oh…Well, what did he say to you?" she asked, face still covered.

"It looks like those blankets are trying to swallow you whole, Hinata-chan," he dully remarked, feeling like there was a barrier between them. In this case, the covers had to go. "I won't take you seriously if you don't show me your face."

He thought he heard the Hyuuga maiden sigh before revealing her countenance, hair kind of disheveled from extended convalescence at the clan complex. Her mouth edged into a thin line. "You could have knocked…"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You know me…the uncouth ruffian of the Hidden Leaf! I never knock! Besides," he gave her a goofy grin, "if I knocked on the shouji, I probably might've ripped the rice paper.."

Hinata's idol made her shake her head at his antics. Was that the reason she liked him? To not give a care about what people thought of him? To bravely venture where any sane person would have turned back?

'The determination and guts that I seem to lack…' she bitterly thought, a frown marring her delicate features.

"What's wrong, Hinata-chan?" he worriedly asked. "I thought I'd have you in a giggling fit, by now."

A small smile managed to find its way to her lips. "It's okay, Naruto-kun. It's just that…" Her voice grew fainter as a figure crossed the borders of her bedroom.

"What…?" The blond shinobi followed his friend's drifting gaze to the person who spoiled and killed the mood.

Hyuuga Neji, who currently had duties around the clan complex, passed by, somewhat haughtily, before leaving their line of sight.

Her opalescent eyes landed back on the boy, now displaying a feeling of physical tension around his shoulders. "Naruto-kun?"

"Listen, I gotta go," he firmly declared, his tone not brooking any arguments. After excusing himself, he got up and approached the sliding door. He hesitated and paused by it. "When you get better, meet me for lunch at the Ichiraku Ramen Bar, okay?"

He almost missed the ghost of a nod by a speechless indigo-haired maiden.

XXXXXXXXXX

On the third of August, four days before the Chuunin Trials' final rounds, Naruto and Hinata met up at the ramen stand at around noon. He decided to leave his fox kit at home, telling him to work on another technique. He hoped to any kami who guarded the home that his furniture did not get damaged.

The duo ate and sat in silence, a light breeze cooling off the rather warm and humid day.

The blond genin felt that it coincidentally fit to the storm brewing within her household, as noted by the billowing clouds that crept across the sky. He briefly recalled how tense the atmosphere surrounding the Hyuuga complex was, almost like emotions ran high and were set on a hair trigger at the slightest provocation.

Not one to like the pensive calm surrounding them, the bewhiskered ninja decided to break it. "I noticed the high tension around your clan complex. You mind telling me about it?" He stirred his noodles before lifting them up in his chopsticks and sucked them into his mouth.

The opalescent-eyed kunoichi shrunk in on herself. She did not want to bring up the problems at home. "Maybe later…"

Naruto carefully rested his wooden utensils across the rim of his bowl of beef ramen and sighed. "You know, Hinata-chan, I hate it when people lie to themselves." He cut his eyes to the right, taking in her small frame in the loose, white jacket. "Tell me what's wrong."

Her shoulders tightly locked up. "Not here…" Her eyes looked around. "M-Maybe somewhere more…um…private?" Her tone was so low that, had it not been for Naruto's enhanced hearing, he probably would have missed that suggestion.

His blue eyes lit up. "I got an idea…" As impulsive as ever, he fished into his pockets to pay for their meals, grabbed the smaller girl by the hand, and almost took off her arm in the process as he started to run.

"W-Where are we going?" she squawked, feeling like a flag in the breeze.

"You'll see!" he chirped in response.

"B-But…our ramen…"

"You were poking at it, and you hardly tasted it," the blue-eyed kid reasoned.

"That's what he said…"

'By the gods, fox, I swear…another outburst like that…'

The Kyuubi merely laughed at putting the kid off-kilter.

Anyway, what was he ranting about in his head again?

Oh, right…What a waste of preciously good ramen! Such a crime! "Besides, I want to get you out of your funk and take your mind off what's going on at home."

XXXXXXXXXX

After bargaining for an open training field, the two got to work with a light-contact spar.

Hinata went for a belly shot with her foot, but her partner cupped her ninja sandal with his two hands before spinning her around. She twisted the back of her hand to meet Naruto's face, but he contorted his back to avoid the glancing blow.

Then, her window opened up with a double-cupped palm into the boy's chest, sending him staggering back.

"Damn…you got me," he mumbled, to which the clan heiress smiled.

"It's…nothing, really," she deflected.

"Nonsense, Hinata-chan! Give yourself more credit! You've gotten tougher!" he commended.

Just as she was about to dismiss the praise, a peal of thunder ripped through the area, causing her to jump in surprise.

"Hm…" Naruto felt a raindrop on the tip of his nose as the precipitation started to fall harder and faster. "Hinata-chan, come closer!" He flew through his four-seal hand sequence and willed the dirt to circle around the two of them as the hemisphere of earth-natured chakra hardened into an earthen dome. He then punched a small hole out the side with a motion of his fist, allowing some bit of light into the hastily-made shelter.

The bright flash, followed by the resounding clang boomed in Hinata's ears, igniting her small phobia of lightning.

She felt a strong arm over her shoulders as Naruto held her close. "It's all right, Hinata-chan. Calm down. It'll pass over…soon…I hope…"

The younger of the two felt her cheeks heat up from the close contact with her crush. She loved the warmth provided by the blond as his breathing kept even and steady.

For some time, as the rain hammered down on the rocky formation covering them, Hinata decided to divulge what was on her mind. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. It's just that…"

Blue eyes looked down at deep-blue hair, practically smelling the aroma of lilac hair shampoo. "Just that…what?" he prompted.

"The lightning…It reminded me of that night…"

The pointy-eared ninja closed his eyes, trying to reel in his impatience. "Keep going…Let it out…"

"…Did you know that I was kidnapped, Naruto-kun?" she asked him, looking up at him, a really sad look marring her features.

Eyes of unabashed sympathy met those that reflected the color of the pale moonlight. "I…didn't know. In fact, I barely know anything about you, Hinata-chan. We only meet up for training, if our schedules cross, but aside from that…it's like we're perfect strangers…" Unmasked confusion dotted his face.

The elder daughter of the Hyuuga clan head giggled. It made him look cuter, especially with the pointy ears. "You get to understand people by just talking to them," she simply noted, eyes blinking in pure innocence.

Naruto admired his handiwork at the large groove left by his technique, shaking off the dizziness brought upon by it. While gathering his bearings, he remembered how she gave him the history that segued from her irrational fear of lightning…

"Nine years ago, Kumo signed a non-aggression pact with Konoha after the brief war we fought with them. Sadly, the head ninja, and ambassador to promote the agreement, broke it on the night he tried to take me away, just for my eyes."

"Whoa…" It was apparent that he was not the only who had a crappy childhood. "What happened after that?"

"My father caught the man and killed him on our grounds, but that was the start of another nightmare…" She trailed off as she wiped away the tears. "Kumo demanded that my father turn himself in and give up his body, but, instead of my father, Neji's father, Hizashi, took his place, seeing that he was the younger twin and branded with the Hyuuga Bunke Juinjutsu, which would seal off the secrets to the Byakugan…just like the seal that is on Neji-nii-san's forehead now."

"How'd you find out about all this without telling your cousin?" he wondered aloud.

"…People speak in hushed whispers," Hinata mysteriously answered. "You never know what you see when you read lips with the Byakugan…"

"I see…" He absently rubbed his thumb over her soft shoulder. "Your father doesn't make it any easier, what with his extremely high expectations and all that."

"That may be true," Hinata conceded, "but I want to thank you, Naruto-kun…"

"Thank me?" He blinked. "For what?"

She snuggled deeper in his chest. "…For showing what it means to get back up after getting knocked down, time and time again."

"…And you seem to always have the right words to say at the right moments…" He then cryptically remarked, "Looks like everyone has demons to face and conquer…" He murmured that to himself, but it fittingly applied. "Then again…how come the Old Man didn't put his foot down and crush Kumo?" It did not make sense. The head ninja of the Hidden Cloud—an envoy to represent the creeds of his hidden village—damaged the trust provided in that non-aggression treaty. If anything, Kumo had to pay…for the wrongdoings in the international incident.

"According to my father," the girl explained, "resources have been used up on both sides. The Kyuubi incident put Konoha in quite a deficit." She hugged her knees to her chin. "The clan behind the incident wanted to only bargain with the Hyuuga clan."

Naruto, for lack of a better word, was still baffled by the lunacy of it all. "It still doesn't make sense to me, though! Their head ninja was caught whisking you away on our land! He paid the price! Why did the Hyuuga give up your uncle, Neji's father?"

"…A life for a life…" Hinata sadly replied. She then looked up to her idol and crush. "Don't be so hard on Neji-nii-san, Naruto-kun. There's a lot of things Father hasn't told him, yet."

The blond hummed as he closed his eyes. "Can I ask you for a favor, then?"

"Eh?" Hinata tensed up in astonishment. "A-Anything for you, Naruto-kun…"

He glanced down, opening his cerulean orbs and stared with a clear sensation of unbreakable will. "Show me the ways of your clan."

The poor girl looked horrified. "Y-You know I can't do that!"

He brushed off her worries with a dismissive wave of his free hand. "Let me handle what comes my way. I can take the punishment!" He grinned in a bold fashion like a prankster getting ready to pull off his biggest stunt.

In real time, Naruto examined the concentric rings from his technique, evenly spaced out about a good two meters in diameter. Hinata had taken all of five minutes to deliberate on the favor he asked of her, weighing the pros and cons.

Feeling that the rain had stopped, the blond shinobi canceled out his jutsu, allowing the rock formation to crumble back into the dirt.

"Well, you've been quiet for a while, now, Hinata-chan. What's your answer?"

Hinata stood resolute. "If I can help you in any way, then I will assist you."

The blond ninja finished his routine, feeling that his techniques were set to go.

'I wonder if Hinata-chan managed to figure out what she wanted to learn…'

"Are you going to tell her about…little ol' me, boy?" The ghastly behemoth before the bars of his prison had a knowing grin etched in place. "You heard her confession under the tree when you taught her Suiton, and she practically spilled her guts to you, and you haven't the courage to utter even one carefully guarded secret to the one who admires you?"

Ice dropped into the pit of his stomach when the demon fox prodded him to reveal his deep, dark secret surrounding his birth and his ties to the phantom sealed away within him. '…Maybe later…but, definitely, not now…'

"You're getting cold feet, boy. Why do you hesitate?"

'It's not like I…' His thought suddenly petered out. Did he really not trust those around him, even though he was willing to sacrifice his life for them? Was he really going to utter those words from his mindscape to the crimson tailed-beast?

"Trust them? Confide in them? Do you feel that you will get hurt if their faces turn to those of the coldhearted villagers who treat you with chilling indifference?"

Deep down, Uzumaki Naruto felt the need to tackle and overcome this paranoia. His friends and important people would accept him…right? They did now, but what about later, when they find out? Not if, but when…?

Hell, the only one who knew about Fuzz-Butt out of his age group was his apartment companion, Haku. Then again, she suffered for something beyond her control, and what lay in her blood. There was mutual understanding and a foundation that stood rock-solid and would weather the tests of time.

As his body practiced a few routine kata stances, lost in his musings, he felt a new presence fill the forest clearing. All his warring thoughts ceased as he felt in control again when he turned to see a groggy-eyed Kin warily glancing in his direction. "You're up early," he offhandedly commented, taking note of her loaned pair of black biker shorts, white tank-top and a black hair-band that kept the bangs from her line of sight.

'Thank you, Ino…' he mentally gave gratitude to the mind-walking kunoichi for the quick favor, under the guise that Haku-chan needed exercise clothes for training while still strapped for cash. The borrowed clothes held a snug fit on her lithe frame, if Naruto had to say anything about it. The swelling around her eyes came close to disappearing, all together, he realized after the fact.

"She's showing a bit of skin…"

'Really, Kyuubi? Is that all you ever think about? Give it a rest! It's too early!'

"You're blue-balling me, bro…" The fox clawed at his cage. "I'm dying for release, here!"

'Don't…call me bro, Fuzz-Butt…' he noted with a strange tone. 'That sounds odd coming from you…'

"It's eight o'clock," the slightly older girl grumbled, grabbing his attention. "Why are you up?"

"I was just warming up before heading to the stadium," he truthfully admitted.

"By destroying part of the park?" she sarcastically retorted, pointing down at the large divot of upturned grass and earth around the blond's ankles.

He nonchalantly shrugged it off. "Just making sure I don't screw things up. That's all."

"By the way," Kin noted after the fact, "your little, talking fox asked where you went off to."

The boy standing in the small dip in the earth blinked a few times before whistling, his thumb and forefinger making a horseshoe-like ring around his teeth.

Before long, the dusty-hued fox kit zipped around back and collided with the blond as he fell with the momentum.

"Mornin' to you, too, buddy," Naruto doted as he rubbed the top of Doshaburi's head. He noticed that almost all of the residents of his apartment were present…except for one. "Where's Haku-chan?"

Kin absently rubbed her forearm. "She already left."

"Huh…" Normally, she would greet him in the mornings before she headed off to do whatever.

"She did say she was going to see you before she left."

'Guess I spaced out…' The rushing flood of memories permeated his mind's eye as his two replicas dispelled in the apartment. "Oh…She went to the Tower to report in…" He then noticed that Kin still stood rooted to the spot. "You look like you got something else to say, so just spit it out, already."

The other brunette looked away and found a low-hanging tree branch to be rather interesting. "She gave me this blank stare and warned me to not stomp over your kindness."

An eyebrow jutted upward on Naruto's face. "Well, she does get protective of the friends she holds close to her heart."

Kin appeared thoughtful for a moment, her mouth forming words before twisting into a thin frown. "…You should get going…"

"I should, shouldn't I?" he rhetorically asked, taking note of the sun's position. 'Near eight, huh?' He casually strode his way from the little crater in the ground before he reminded himself of something. "Oh, Kin-chan, before I forget…"

"Huh?" Black eyes vacantly stared into blue.

He gave the foreign girl a hard look, releasing a bit of an oppressive aura that threatened to swallow her whole. "You know I have to have a clone watch over you, to make sure your intentions are true." The atmosphere constricted her windpipes as those very orbs burning through her shifted into an arctic glare. "If you ever hurt any of my friends, in any way, then I will end your life, personally."

Kin gulped in fear, her life delicately hanging by a thread. Those words uttered by the blond before her promised death for any hint of betrayal. "I…understand…"

The sapphire-eyed male pivoted on his heels to walk away and retrieve his coat and hitai-ate, fox hound lagging at the rear. His face turned to a profile to maintain eye contact. "I don't know what Orochimaru is planning, but I hope you do the right thing and help foil whatever he's doing…if you know what's good for you…"

As her not-so-strict captor left the clearing, Tsuchi Kin felt at war with herself, placing her body and mind in a very precarious dilemma. Should she turn over a new leaf by aiding Konoha, or would her loyalties lay with what she considered familiar…considered home?

Did she really feel that Otogakure was a place where she was meant to belong? The hidden village comprised mostly of underground bunkers, for crying out loud!

A light breeze brushed against her exposed flesh as a single, green leaf, fluttered around her, which disrupted her thoughts, all together. She then panned her black eyes to the scenic wonder that Konohagakure provided—from the rich, abundant foliage to the pristine lakes and rivers sprinkled about. It was better to see the hidden shinobi village in person than on the map schematics.

'Is this an omen for the winds of change?' she dwelled within her mind, considering her options, albeit limited.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto decided to stop by a rather small shop to eat some breakfast. Instead of ramen, which might have been the reason the gods probably went on vacation during that length of time, the blond boy settled for some miso soup, onigiri, and some freshwater salmon, to stimulate his brain. He needed to start firing on all cylinders before locking horns with the self-proclaimed genius shinobi. He scoffed at that notion as he bit into the orange-pink meat, contemplating on which rice ball he wanted to use as a chaser.

Being labeled a genius did not mean that a ninja could go around and run off at the mouth like he was the next big thing. 'There is someone else out there that is tougher than you…stronger than you…faster than you…' he recited the quote from Ero-sennin in his head. 'A ninja learns his lessons best from a moment of humility.' It was a numbered rule from the Shinobi Code, but Naruto forgot where did it exactly fall. Regardless of the number, Naruto found out the hard way through practical experience.

Either way, Naruto did not like being taken lightly and underestimated. For all his life, the boy vied for recognition, and by mere fortune, he was graced with a small circle of companions that helped ease the pain a bit. It was not much, but his loneliness started to fade away, apart from the occasional times where he doubted himself. However, his close ring of friends and mentors tempered him and made him feel stronger, for they often had the right words to say at the right time, more often than not, in order to lift his spirits or teach him a life lesson.

He also had a sparring partner in Hinata from time to time—whenever they ran into each other, and a begrudgingly respectful rivalry with Uchiha Sasuke, which no longer stood one-sided. He could feel the gap closing ever so quickly.

But…where did that leave Sakura? He had not tried to go one-on-one with her in a practice fight, but he would soon correct that later on, when the opportunity arose, to see where she fared in her capabilities as a kunoichi. He hoped she did not slack off during the one-month reprieve.

Downing the dark-tinted broth with a few swallows, Naruto wiped the remaining brew dribbling down his chin with the back of his hand and then wiped it on a napkin. Sometimes, he forewent proper etiquette rules. He was too distracted at the moment.

The blond boy gave the owner of the stand a small bow. "Thank you for the delicious food, Ossan!"

The portly man waved him off. "It's not a problem at all, kid." Then, a thoughtful look crossed his wheat-toned face. "Say, kid, are you, by chance, competing in the final rounds of the Chuunin Selection Exams today?"

His pointy ears wiggled. "I am!" the bewhiskered genin beamed, a thousand-watt smile bursting from his face.

'He kind of looks like a younger version of the Yondaime…' The kindred old man gave him a smile in return. "Well, good luck, then! Do Konoha proud!"

"I will!" Naruto resolutely shouted before dashing off, hoping to get there before the crowd.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the current Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure, felt an uneasy foreboding that loomed over this particular day. It crept into his mind ever since his wayward student blatantly decided to show his face, just mocking the old man that he was close to impotent at thwarting his plans.

By an odd string of fortune, Yamanaka Inoichi barged into his room a few days ago to report on what he had witnessed through a comatose Hayate's eyes. It was a game-changer, for sure…

The ponytailed blond practically burst into the room, displacing the air in the office and strewing the sheaves of documents almost everywhere.

Even though his face remained calm, a bystander could have easily seen teeth tightening around his smoking implement—his calabash pipe. "You better have a good reason to have left my office in disarray, Inoichi," Hiruzen warned.

Easily calming his breath, the mind-walking ninja humbly bowed to his commanding officer. "My apologies, Hokage-sama, for I didn't mean to be rude or interrupt at your inconvenience." Then, teal eyes met dark ones when the younger shinobi glanced up from said bow. "I have finished sorting through Gekkou Hayate-kun's memories before his comatose state. It would appear that…the Hidden Sand and the Hidden Sound have allied themselves with one another…"

So, the nagging suspicion clawing away in the wizened Hokage's mind had a funny way of telling him that his hunch was correct. "What exactly happened that night?" the Sandaime carefully inquired, already flying through a sequence of hand seals to place up a sound-blocking fuuinjutsu.

"Sir," the Yamanaka clan head responded, "Hayate-kun witnessed a scroll being passed off from Yakushi Kabuto-kun, and Baki-san, the Sand trio's jounin-sensei, all the while muttering about some 'plans.' What they were, he couldn't tell, due to their hushed whispers and vague dialogue. However, Orochimaru was mentioned…albeit briefly." A sad look managed to break away from his business-like decorum when he saw an unreadable expression from the village leader. "They were on to him from the very start, and Baki-san intercepted him before he could get to you. Immediately after the assault, your son arrived on the scene, and in the nick of time, too. If only he had shown up even thirty seconds later, then…"

The Third Fire Shadow rubbed on his thinning beard in contemplation, tobacco smoke puffing out of his pipe like a chimney. "I understand…" He turned at a profile to look out at the view provided to him by his office. "We were played for fools, all along…"

"Hokage-sama, what are your orders?" Inoichi prompted.

"…Track down Yakushi Kabuto, if you can. More than likely, he's probably hiding away in some hole in the ground…along with his snake friend…" His eyes adopted a stony glint. "Orochimaru must be stopped, but I fear that we are a little late to the party in progress…"

"Black operation, sir?"

Hiruzen nodded. "I want this strictly off the books, Inoichi. I want you to cross-check your information with the intelligence corps and Jiraiya's spy network and uncover any leads as to what they're planning…"

"Yes, sir. I'll leave right away!"

For far too long, Sarutobi Hiruzen had let his most cherished student run amok and cause all sorts of mayhem and disorder in the ninja world, and most of the fault fell on him for not ending his life almost a decade or so ago. The blood that pooled in Orochimaru's hands descended into his cupped digits, as well. The sins of the student that were inherited by the master…

'Is he really after the Sharingan, despite the underhanded trick Itachi-kun pulled on him?'

Pertaining to that other Konoha runaway, Hiruzen let loose a hefty sigh, now all alone, save for his clandestine ANBU operatives cloaked about in his summoning chamber.

Uchiha Itachi was a subject of wonder and terror, all wrapped up in a big bundle. He knew the circumstances behind his status as a nuke-nin, and, once again, the Uchiha Massacre was brought about by his own complacency, in tandem with the steadily growing animosity and paranoia from his peers. He also felt deceived when Danzou, his political rival who chose to stay in the shadow, pulled a fast one on him and ordered Itachi to execute Order Sixty-Six on his kinsmen.

It was one of the numerous reasons he had the warmongering shinobi's secret task force shut down. The Uchiha Massacre merely proved as the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

'I suppose it is time I made things right for a change…'

He sifted through the clutter and found a blank sheet of paper. He knew that the death god nipped at his heels, and he felt that he should draw up his final missives as Sandaime Hokage, to try to fix the matters that have long since needed repair. Dark eyes gleamed with resolve as he started putting pen to paper.

'Orochimaru, I will not let you get the satisfaction of destroying Konoha just for the fun of it! Itachi, I hope that you're well enough to initiate your final mission from outside Konoha's borders…'

Hiruzen allowed the wheel of Lady Luck to spin, once he wrote out his will and testament for the parties affected.

'Jiraiya…Naruto-kun…I leave it all to you, and I hope that you will forgive me in the next life…'

XXXXXXXXXX

Haruno Sakura felt conflicted as she blankly stared at her wardrobe in her lime-green pajamas, figuring out if she should change her appearance, or keep to the same thing. She scratched the back of her head in deep thought.

'Red…or white?'

"I really don't think it matters in the long run, Soto-chan," her inner ego chimed in to add in her advice. "What really matters to the judges are your skills, and not your attire."

She glanced over at her alarm clock, which read a quarter to nine. The final rounds kicked off in a little over an hour. She had to think fast, lest she skipped breakfast.

'Ah…the joys of choices…' she sardonically mused.

XXXXXXXXXX

The brooding brunet of Team Seven rose early, wishing he had another day of training to crunch in, were it not for Kakashi's insistence on taking a day of rest to relax and gather his thoughts for the string of matches he faced.

In the deep recesses of Uchiha Sasuke's mind, he damn well deserved it. The slave-driver of a teacher made him work to the bone for his speed and power, instead of using his ocular gift, merely claiming that he should use the Sharingan to better understand the flow of chakra within a technique…not just to copy it…

…just like what the dobe kept hammering into his head the entire time…

He supposed the blond had a point, but it just irritated Sasuke to the point that his teammate repeated that like a broken record. It really grated his nerves.

The heir to the Sharingan tossed off the cover and stepped on the creaking floorboards of his flat.

He allowed a few pops to leave his back as he stood up and stretched, feeling refreshed and ready to stomp someone's ass flat.

But, first, he felt the hankering for some tomatoes…

XXXXXXXXXX

Gunpowder ignited in the drums before they exploded around the stadium. The byproduct of teal, yellow, and maroon smoke burst into the air around the amphitheater-like setting. The small display of pyrotechnics caused a thunderous roar from the crowd, signaling the start of the Chuunin Exams' final rounds.

Naruto stood rooted to the spot in the arena, feeling that his eardrums would rupture from the extremely loud noise. 'Is this what Kiba has to control whenever he gets all nasty? Then I feel his pain…'

It was a good thing that he did not oversleep, or else he would have been so late.

Now that the blond thought on it, it was a refreshing—but very out-of-character—surprise that their jounin instructor…was unreasonably early.

"Okay, Kakashi-sensei, what gives? Who killed you and took your place?" Naruto quipped to the ashen-haired veteran.

He heard a sigh escape his lips. "I'm the real deal, Naruto."

"What? No excuses for being early?" Something bugged him. He just knew it!

"Nope," Kakashi softly replied. "Just…enjoying the festivities…"

The bewhiskered genin took note of the distant tone his sensei uttered. 'He's distracted about something…'

Then, a thought occurred to him. "Hey, where're Sasuke and Sakura?"

"Naruto!" he heard a familiar, female voice shout. "Over here!"

Blue eyes darted to the source of his sister-in-arms, who just strolled through the raised, latticed door and into the tunnel to the arena. "Whoa…Sakura, you look great!"

Sure enough, when she waltzed into the arena, an emerald hood framed her face, a point of cloth casting her eyes in a shadow underneath, but the material did not end at her neck; rather, the length fanned out into a split half-cape that extended to the middle of her back, her clan insignia—a white circle—divided on both flaps. The cerise-locked kunoichi decided to forego her body-framing cheongsam in favor of a red blouse with a white V-neck, chain mesh netting covering up her midriff. She had her seal tattoos hidden from view behind bandage wrappings over her forearms. She also decided to swap out those biker shorts for something a little more modest, which were a pair of skin-tight, white pants, under a green sash with dual curtains of cloth of the same coloration that stopped around the top of her kneecap.

The civilian-turned-ninja folded back the head covering and put a hand on her hips. "Thanks!" she beamed, green eyes sparkling from the praise. "It took me a while to figure out what to wear for a debut match!" She gave him a once-over. "…Not bad. You clean up well, yourself." Then, a slender eyebrow rose up. "Where's your trademark orange?"

He went through the motion of a lazy shrug, the edges of his battle coat fluttering out of sheer disturbance. "If I want people to take me seriously, I gotta start acting the part. Am I right?"

She heard a snort from behind her. "Hn…You look ridiculous, Sakura…"

Jade eyes narrowed to slits, only for them to open back up in surprise.

Uchiha Sasuke arrived on the scene, wearing a black shirt and complementary shorts, and with all of his limbs almost completely bandaged. However, that was not what caught Sakura off-guard.

The brooding, brunet heartthrob had a devilish smirk on his face.

'Did he just…tease me?' Before long, the pink-haired girl's face started to feel really hot pretty quickly. "S-Sasuke-kun!"

"Hey, Duck-Butt, Sakura doesn't look bad, at all!" Naruto shouted in defense of his teammate. "Take that back!"

"Hmph…" he harrumphed. "Can't catch a joke when you hear one, dobe? Catch a clue, then."

The blond snarled. "You think you're so cool, Sasuke."

"Tell me something I don't know," the Uchiha scion casually retorted.

"Well, get ready to get pounded into the dirt when we face off!" Naruto heatedly roared.

"I wouldn't even have to break a sweat, idiot…" He inwardly loved getting Naruto's goat. He thought he heard the sound of teeth grinding against one another. 'Music to my ears…'

"Okay, kids, it's time to settle down," an approaching figure in standard Konoha ninja garb spoke up around what appeared to be a toothpick in his mouth, but in reality, it was a senbon, something that was very familiar to the blond shinobi. His shoulder-length, sandy-brown hair kept still due to a bandanna that had been knotted in front and angled to the left.

"Ah, Genma-kun," Kakashi chimed in after a period of odd silence, "I see you're overseeing the final rounds on Hayate-kun's behalf?"

The newly identified ninja, Shiranui Genma, shrugged his shoulders and chuckled, straight brown hair shuffling across the sides of his face. "It sure beats guard duty. That's for sure."

The Copy Ninja easily masked his grimace. 'I remember serving my time there…bored out of my mind…wishing that Icha-Icha was published way back when…'

Genma's voice cut through his superior's inner musings. "We're still waiting on a few stragglers, but we should be starting things off on time today." He then turned to the then-bickering trio. "These your kids, Kakashi-senpai?"

"Yep. Aren't they interesting?"

"…You got a fine-looking team, sir. Now, you kids…" His tone grew a bit serious. "Don't make Konoha into a laughingstock on account of your behavior. We have a rep to maintain, so don't do anything that'll make you lose face in front of our clientele. Is that understood?" Three nods followed the question almost immediately. "Good." He then glanced up. "Ah, here come the rest of them!"

The other six combatants filed in, two at a time, with Lee and Neji leading the small group, Shino and Shikamaru in the middle, and the remaining Suna siblings lagging at the rear.

'It…It's him, Master Naruto!' he heard his little cloudburst whine as he hid behind his companion's coat.

Naruto's eyes narrowed to thin slits as the Kyuubi threateningly growled in Gaara's direction. 'It's that Gaara kid that Sasuke has to face…' His game-face took on a grimmer edge. 'Is the bastard really ready to take him on?'

XXXXXXXXXX

Hiruzen felt the wind picking up from his seat in the open-air sky box of the gladiator-esque stadium. The wizened Fire Shadow sensed something in the air; it prickled the hairs on the back of his neck.

One of his assistants, a man with a horrendous, wheal-like scar that covered the majority of the left side of his face and crept along the bridge of his nose, walked up to his commanding officer and knelt down. "All of the candidates have arrived, Hokage-sama," he whispered into his ear, cupping his hand over his mouth. "Furthermore, there was no sign of Orochimaru, so, please, stay vigilant."

The Sandaime hummed as the brim of his hat shadowed his face from view. "I understand, Raidou…" He tapered off when he felt a presence approaching him. Hiruzen turned to his left, taking in the ninja with a silky cloth covering the lower half of his face…and the imperial regalia of the Wind Shadow. "Oh…well, well…Kazekage-dono!" He decided to play his role as a friendly, welcoming diplomat among allies. "You must be tired from the journey here." He gestured for the other dignitary to take his seat alongside him.

"Not at all," the Fourth Wind Shadow deflected. "Good thing it's held here this time." He turned to face the honorable man in front of him. "While you're still a bit young, the trip may have been too much for you, Hokage-sama." A glint of something appeared in his eyes. "Maybe it's time you decided on your successor, hm?"

'His tone…it's so oily…' The words were carefully measured in Hiruzen's critical attention to this Kazekage. However, his eyes crinkled before forcing a bit of mirth into his chuckle. "Please, don't treat me like an old man. I intend to do this for another five years or so…" 'Or sooner than that…but I dare not tell him…' The question boiled down to whether or not the Kazekage revealed his hand, tipping him off as either a fraud, or keeping himself secret. From what he had seen of the Fourth Wind Shadow, the man never hid his face from view. "Well, now," he stood up to address the crowd, "let's begin…"

He walked up to the railing, hands clasped behind his back, which caused a domino effect of silence to befall the spectators. "Thank you, everyone, for coming to Konoha's Chuunin Selection Exam! We will now start the main tournament matches between the nine participants who made it through the preliminaries, so…please stay and watch until the very end!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"All right, you guys," Genma dispassionately muttered, "this is the final test. The arena is different, but the rules still hold from the preliminary matches. Essentially, there are none. You fight until one of you dies or acknowledges defeat, but if I determine that the fight is over, I'll step in and stop it. You got that?" He was met with a pensive silence. "Now, the first fight. Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji, you two stay put. For those left to compete, go to the waiting room until it is your turn."

The awaiting participants walked away, seeped into their own thoughts.

"Dosha-chan," Naruto calmly spoke up as he knelt down, out of Neji's earshot and into Doshaburi's own, "I need you to be my extra set of eyes and ears for me, okay?" He heard his fox-hound yip in the affirmative. "Good. Now, head up into those trees. This won't be long…I hope…"

'I wish you well, Master…' The dust-hued canine bounded away with some pep in his step.

One he got the confirmation that the ocher-toned vulpine was in position, in addition to hearing the start of the match from the new proctor, blue eyes turned to burn a hole into uncaring white ones.

The blond saw that arrogant smirk. "It looks like you have something to say," he heard the long-haired brunet coolly intone.

"I'm not in the mood to talk, Neji, so let's get this show on the road," Naruto listlessly remarked as he assumed a battle-ready stance.

'His eyes…' The fatalistic shinobi awakened his ocular gift to take note of the blond's defiant stance. 'They show that he is sure of himself…'

"As you wish, loser," the talented Hyuuga spat. "You're too blind to the fact that destiny favors me in this battle."

The blue-eyed genin frowned. "Oh, the irony," he flippantly clipped. "Only weak-willed people blame their problems on fate or misfortune as a scapegoat. But, anyway," he siphoned some water from the atmosphere to start off the match, "like I said, I'm not here to yap my gums. I'm here to fight!" With a goal in mind, he flew through a few hand seals and launched the small deluge toward the surprised ninja before him.

Anticipating the sneak attack, Neji strafed to the side with grace as the liquid torrent roared through.

The window of opportunity opened on its own as Naruto summoned a few dozen of Kage Bunshin to keep the Byakugan heir at bay. He knew better than to charge into close range against a practitioner of the Gentle Fist. 'That could cost me appeal points!' he yelled from within. He had to be careful not to make his brief escape for breathing room too obvious to the boy he was fighting. He flipped through a few more hand seals to conjure more moisture in the air, keeping his strategy as close to obscure as he allowed. 'I got something cooking up for you, you arrogant asshole!'

"Suiton: Karyuu no Jutsu!"

Once more, the bewhiskered genin launched the spiraling water cannon to try to throw his opponent off balance.

Meanwhile, Neji vaulted over two of Naruto's doppelgangers and deftly landed in front of two more, and, with a single tap against their chests, they instantly dispelled. In his panoramic, photo-negative view of the world around him, he saw the stream of chakra-enriched water head straight his way. He swiftly tapped two more clones in the back, causing them to poof away into white vapors as he expertly dodged it in a crouch a split-second later.

Getting a feel of the other boy's attack patterns, the last of the Uzumaki summoned more clones. Unfortunately for him, the vaunted genius of the Hyuuga clan took note that the original stood behind his line of defense that was his battalion. Turning on a quick pivot, Neji dashed around and over Naruto's copies to hit the authentic one in the chest.

"You're finished!" the long-haired brunet triumphantly roared.

Naruto coughed up a bit of blood as it dribbled down his chin. "I…guess you…got me…" he panted, "…not!" The annoying grin plastered on his face burned into Neji's memory as who he thought was Naruto petered out into smoke, leaving behind a wooden log, courtesy of the Kawarimi no Jutsu.

'He replaced himself? Where is he hiding?' Veins bulging more around his eye sockets, Neji strained to take in the surrounding area.

"Right behind you, bastard!"

White eyes widened in shock as he turned around, seeing Naruto's hands in the Seal of the Dog again, but instead of water gushing from him, the stadium floor started to turn into a cloudy haze. 'Has he discovered my blind spot?' Chills ran up and down his spine as the boy's chakra blinded his Byakugan, forcing him to dismiss the chakra he had pouring into them. 'That can't be…It must have been a fluke!'

The real Naruto, on the other hand, crouched on a branch, away from the Hyuuga's line of sight. 'I'll try another clone swarm and force him to use this supposed ultimate defense.'

"You can't hide from me forever, Uzumaki!" he heard Neji shout from downwind.

"Watch me…" he muttered under his breath, allowing the wind to carry his voice to whisper a haunting melody into the talented ninja's ears.

XXXXXXXXXX

Izumo and Kotetsu, the judges for the entrance exam to test the chuunin-hopefuls' awareness of genjutsu, looked on in rapt fascination at how Naruto carefully considered his plan of attack from the concrete bleachers.

"Hm…That Naruto is something else," the darker-haired ninja observed. "It's like he already knows how to dissect the Byakugan's weaknesses."

"Call it a stroke of luck or being thoroughly prepared," Izumo muttered while rubbing his clothed head, "but who would have thought that the kid could turn into a capable shinobi in the matter of months?" He stood at a loss, not really having anything snarky to say about the blond brat.

"Heh…" The black hair in the style of palm fronds swayed as Kotetsu shook his head. "It's like Kakashi-senpai gave him brain food, or something."

"Well, whatever it is," his battle partner admitted, "he set the boy straight."

XXXXXXXXXX

From the bleacher seats, cyan eyes looked on in awe when that rich, cool fog permeated the bottom floor, roiling and billowing like low-lying clouds. "Kick that guy's ass, Whiskers!" Ino shouted. In the back of her mind, however, she wondered about something…

'Since when have I ever started cheering for Naruto?' Maybe it factored down to her fellow blond putting a swift boot to the arrogant Hyuuga's ass and knock him down a peg or two. Either way, she vowed to root in his corner, as she should have from the very start.

His bun-haired teammate, Tenten, on the other hand, looked on in unabashed worry. 'Neji…'

XXXXXXXXXX

"That boy is truly something else, Hokage-dono," the Kazekage airily commented, touching together his fingertips as he looked down at the scene. 'Naruto-kun…your punishment will be swift by the time I get my hands on you…' Beneath the face-obscuring cloth, a tongue lapped across dry, scaly lips.

Sharp eyes cut over to the potential threat, feeling the subtle amounts of murderous intent trickle from the mysterious Wind Shadow. "He's one of a kind," Sarutobi uttered through a tight, forced smile, even though it looked genuine. "There aren't many like him."

"…Interesting…"

'I really don't know what's your game, but I will not let you touch a hair on the boy's head!' Hiruzen fiercely roared inside his mind, feeling the growing fires of combat sparking and igniting from within.

XXXXXXXXXX

Down in the stadium, Naruto summoned his clones, but decided to leave a couple of clever surprises within a choice few. His plan almost came to fruition, and the Hyuuga boy was none the wiser. 'Good…'

'Let him have it, Dosha-chan!' he signaled to his fox kit.

While he occupied Neji with his special doppelgangers, he felt a spike in energy from his canine, which prompted the long-haired brunet to register it on his Byakugan. 'Just what is that little fox going to do?'

Pale eyes widened a great deal when a relatively large, magenta-hued fireball homed in on his location. 'What in the world?'

Hyuuga Neji grew tired of these little head games that the blond nuisance started. It was time to fight back. When one of those annoying clones tried to strike him, chakra started to expel from his frame and expanded into a whirling dome of energy as he blasted away part of the chilling miasma and the rest of the blond's replications, along with that ball of flame.

When he stopped twirling like a spinning top, he heard slow clapping coming from the lifting mist. "Pretty impressive, Neji. I thought I had you for a second…" Naruto blithely remarked amid his Hyouton: Hyoumu no Jutsu. He received the erratic bouts of feedback from his copies and filtered them into his memory.

"Don't think this is over, loser," the long-haired brunet icily intoned. "You have yet to land a critical blow on me."

"Just measuring the competition…" The blond pursed his lips in thought. "There's just something else I have to test out, too, just to make sure…"

"You're not testing out anything!" Neji thundered as he stormed toward the awaiting blond.

"Careful, now," Naruto chirped. "No need letting your rage blind you to the point of making a mistake!"

Byakugan now active again, the hope of the Cadet Branch saw his opportunity to strike while Naruto stood there. "You're within the range of my—"

"—divination!" Naruto imitated, assuming the stance of the Intercepting Dragon taijutsu style—hands loosely opened to resemble claws as he braced his right leg with the majority of his weight, which got the clan head up in the higher seats to critically watch the street urchin. With a twist of his palms, Naruto rushed into Neji's guard and, with a burst of spiraling chakra, forced him back with a violent push.

"Rasenshou!"

With a grunt, the vaunted Hyuuga genius got his balance thrown off as the counter-clockwise motion of the chakra pouring from his foe's fists lifted him and turned him around, unceremoniously landing him on his side and skidding along the ground for about a meter.

"You were saying, Neji?" Naruto asked, guard still raised and eyes carefully watching him…like a predator would its prey.

The downed combatant kicked out his legs, forcing Naruto to jump back and avoid the impromptu sweep as Neji twirled himself back up with brilliant finesse.

Not missing a beat, the Bunke member tried to land at least one glancing blow on the blond shinobi, but he somehow managed to nimbly evade his strikes with trained ease.

"You're boring me, Neji. I thought you were going to be a challenge…"

'Don't rise to the bait…' Neji chanted inside his mind as he continued his assault. 'You're a Hyuuga. You're supposed to repress such emotions like anger…'

"Oh, well," Naruto tiredly said in a sigh, "I guess it's time to throw the monkey off my back, then…"

Like a praying mantis, the bewhiskered genin quickly caught his adversary's right wrist and then began to spin around like a top…

XXXXXXXXXX

'What is the meaning of this sacrilege, Uzumaki?' Hiashi dwelled on what looked like the Hakkeshou Kaiten, but it started to get wider…and adopted a whitish hue. 'You dare spit on our teachings since the olden times?'

"Father, what's going on down there?" his younger daughter, Hanabi, innocently asked.

He had no proof, but he had an idea.

XXXXXXXXXX

'Heh…this one's for those purist Hyuuga bastards in the arena!' Naruto inwardly considered as he focused to channel out his essence and converted it into the wind element, which promptly blew back Neji almost to the edge of the walled-in area. "What do you think of my Toppuu Kaiten?" He subtly picked up the hushed whispers from some of the Main Branch. Some of the comments he picked up…were unsavory. "It's much stronger than the original, since I decided to introduce my elemental nature into it. A piggybacked invention of my own, if you can consider it that." He decided to be the fallout guy for his good friend in case things went nuclear in the Hyuuga clan complex. 'Hinata-chan, in case things take a sour turn for the worse, I got your back…' He tried to search her out in the stadium, but the faces were many, and the familiar ones, even fewer.

"You…" Neji bitterly spat. "You have no right to wield the power of the Hyuuga!"

"Oh?" Naruto looked disinterested; almost like a shadow of his mentor. "Well, I saw your style, and I just…copied it." He shrugged. "Besides, weren't you the one ripping off the Main Branch by using the Hakkeshou Kaiten after seeing it just once, too?" Blue eyes narrowed to slits as he pointed in his direction. "Face the fact: you're just as big a hypocrite as the rest of your family; rather, the ones who resist changing the status quo, because they're too cowardly to admit their own faults!" That struck a nerve with the nobles in the audience, drawing in a focused ire as he felt burning eyes on him.

He put down his index finger and slid into a combat stance. "I'm tired of talking, and I came here to fight, so I'll just finish it off by saying this, Neji," Naruto continued, seemingly on a roll. "All of you are blind to the suffering of your own flesh and blood, and you don't want to rock the boat by turning the other cheek. Treating cousins, uncles, aunts and even siblings as if they were slaves and lower than dirt…As far as I'm concerned, I see that neither as a family nor a clan; merely, an institutionalized serfdom comprised of individuals who share common ancestry…and nothing more…" He thought he saw steam whistling out of Neji's ears from hearing the truth, point-blank. "Search your feelings, for you know it to be true."

For the second time in this tournament, the unflappable Hyuuga lost his cool and rushed toward the blond shinobi with red fury. "You will hold your tongue, knave!" he bellowed. "You know nothing of my pain!" He unleashed a chakra-filled palm strike toward Naruto's gut; however, the blue-eyed boy kept his composure and sidestepped the thrusting palm. Performing a cartwheel into a round-off, Naruto conjured a few more of his shadow clones in mid-flip, trying his best to buffer the onslaught.

Unfortunately, the long-haired brunet was not having any of that. He leapt over one clone, disrupted the matrices of another, forcing it to gush into water, and struck another one in the chest, dispersing it back into a slimy goop.

The blond jinchuuriki felt relieved that at least a clone of his was spared, much to his odd string of luck in battle. 'Careless error will cost you, Neji…'

He doubled back as his copy ran through a ridiculously long chain of hand seals. 'Ero-sennin, why didn't you show me a shortcut to cut down the length of the sequence?' He kept his head and mind clear, summoned another horde of cloned soldiers, and distractedly wondered if Doshaburi wiped himself out after that Kitsunebi Endan—or his Fox-Fire Round Shot. For now, his dirt-hued familiar had the potential to fire only one shot, but, hoping and willing, in the future, Doshaburi would fire off more of those helpful blasts. Having extra firepower always helped.

And, on that vein of thought…his clone finished the sequence on the Seal of the Bird.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

'Man, is that going to zap my chakra tank by a good deal…' Naruto sadly thought, already mourning the loss of a piece of his own chakra. 'Oh, well, I'm sure I'll be back up to snuff in a few hours or so…'

All thoughts in the amphitheater-like coliseum ground to a halt as a colossal serpentine made of the liquid leftovers of Naruto's other failed techniques roared to life and spiraled its gaping maw in the direction of the Hyuuga who wanted to ambush him.

Taking a small breather, he willed another clone to life to handle the remaining sludgy earth and water. Not skipping a beat, the doppelganger aided the oncoming assault with an attack from the side.

Ne. U. Uma. Tatsu. Mi.

'Rat. Hare. Horse. Dragon. Serpent.'

"Doton: Daichi Kobu no Jutsu!"

The five-seal sequence finished out with the copy placing his spread-out digits and lightly tapped against the ground, shifting the globs of earth into three, hardened prominences and diagonally aimed for the now-standing Hyuuga genius. 'What are you gonna do, now, Neji?'

Being easily predictable, the highly intelligent ninja spun around to deflect and buffer the barrage of elemental ninjutsu attacks, which further stunned the crowd around them, but they cared not for the faceless in the stadium.

They were living in the moment, putting their faith and beliefs on the line.

The scion of the Yellow Flash dashed off to a tree branch to conceal his presence as his clone kept the boy's attention, but this time, with another Suiton: Karyuu no Jutsu.

From what he gathered, the chakra pouring off the slightly older ninja was a bit weak at the top, but for the most part, it held together into a cohesive burst and evenly spread out, aside from the point of contention. He needed to make sure that the rotating speed and angle were spot-on, or else he would bounce off. 'I'll show him that there's a flaw in every jutsu, and not every jutsu is perfect…'

"Hm…" he hummed outwardly as he then decided to stick to the wall behind the tree-limbs. "I guess it's time to use…that jutsu…" He turned to see where his little buddy nestled. He was out cold for the rest of the match. 'Give him a good meal and a breather, and he'll be good to go.'

The rush of images in his head caused him to hastily turn to see bulging veins and furious eyes glower in his direction, his Kage Bunshin no longer present. "Oh…you found me. I guess I'm it, then?" he nonchalantly asked, taking his ire for a joke. "What…?" His face comically contorted into an ear-to-ear grin, eyes fox-like. He really wanted to get a rise out of the supposedly coolheaded genius shinobi. "You mad, bro?" He plucked out a kunai from his holster and twirled it.

"…" The older boy's frown lowered even further on his face.

'Gotta start being cheap on the chakra, now…' Naruto reasoned as he summoned another line of defense for the oncoming Hyuuga.

"Those clones can't keep you safe for long, Uzumaki," Neji all but spat in the younger ninja's direction as he put on another burst of speed.

With a quick substitution, the real Naruto melded well into the crowd, taking a small risk that could open him up for a retaliatory assault.

His luck ran out when the Hyuuga mastermind quickly discerned from the crowd and charged straight at him. 'Smarter than I gave him credit for…'

Chakra-enlaced hands crossed and blocked each other for the next several seconds. Neji needed just one, solid hit whenever the gap in Naruto's taijutsu showed itself. The blond jinchuuriki tried for a knee to the gut, but the long-haired brunet capitalized on the mistake by grabbing his opponent's patella and nudged the center of his stomach, which caused Naruto to wince when he felt the foreign chakra invade his pathways.

"That white-eyed freak made me feel a small jolt…almost like a bee sting…" The fox felt the alien energy that tried to shut down the core of his chakra circulatory system.

Naruto backpedaled and staggered back, leaving the gap open for his copies to hold him off as he flexed his abdominal muscles to ease the pin-needle sensation. "That actually hurt…"

"You're not getting away from me, Uzumaki!" Carefully avoiding the mass of clones, he bobbed and wove like liquid water before he vindictively glared at the original Naruto. "You are within my divination…"

Fingertips alight with the Hyuuga prodigy's essence drilled through the blond ninja with swift, precise calculations.

"Hakke: Rokujuuyon Shou!"

"Guh…" Naruto grunted as he felt his chakra getting blocked by the blazing Sixty-Four Palms of the Eight Trigrams, trying his best to stem the pain…until he felt something rupture inside him, forcing out a glob of blood from his mouth. Heavily panting, and heart erratically beating, the bewhiskered shinobi knelt into a bow. His eyelids felt heavy as he fluttered between the worlds of consciousness.

"Focus, boy!" the carmine phantom bellowed within his mind as he witnessed his vessel fall down, into the dirt, plopping face first. "We must not lose this fight!"

He heard the shuffle of feet moving away from his range of sound. 'Damn…Gotta focus…' He got a bit gung-ho and expended too much chakra with back-to-back ninjutsu.

"He's finished, proctor," Neji declared with finality. "He's not getting back up."

Shiranui Genma almost officially ended the match, until he heard Naruto's hand grab at the ocher dust.

"What did I tell you…?" he rasped out when he looked up at his opponent with a closed eye. The left eye that remained open glimmered like a cobalt jewel. "You don't decide such things!"

His opponent's expression matched that of unhidden shock. 'That can't be! He should be done!'

The blond loudmouth shakily stood up, wobbling to and fro on his unsteady feet. "You think this is finished? Well, you've seen nothing, yet, Neji…" He wiped the dribble of blood from the side of his face.

"How is it that you're still standing after my attack?" the long-haired brunet hissed in indignation.

"You called me a loser," Naruto gruffly remarked as he thumbed his chest, "…but this unfortunate loser figured out how to penetrate your precious Kaiten…" He craned his neck to let a few pops emit from it. "This fight has just begun…"

Neji merely scoffed at that thought, eyes narrowing to slits around the protruding veins. "Are you an idiot? The Hakkeshou Kaiten is the ultimate defense. A meager street urchin like you could never be able to think your way out of a paper bag; even less so when it comes to defeating the secret arts of the Hyuuga. Fate has decreed that you give up."

"Heh…" Naruto snorted, grin stretching from ear to ear, before he let loose a seemingly unhinged laughter. "Hahahaha!"

"…" The skilled Byakugan-wielder blinked. "I fail to see the humor in this situation."

"Damn…How the hell can you walk straight; let alone, be a ninja with that stick so far up your ass?" Naruto smarmily commented before wiping away a stray tear. "You purist Hyuuga make me laugh, now. There's a flaw to every technique. Your Kaiten is no exception. The same goes with your Juuken. Long range is your worst enemy…especially in regard to your field of vision…directly behind you, starting past the base of your neck…and past three meters…" Unreserved shock crept onto the older boy's face. "That's right, Neji. I know about your blind spot, so don't look down on me, chump."

'This blond irritant…he's starting to annoy me…' the thick-blooded Hyuuga grimly reflected. "Your tenketsu are sealed up. You can't use any more ninjutsu against me."

"Oh? Try me…" The blond genin mustered up his strength to form the Seal of the Ram to focus his energy. 'All right, fox, let's do this! I know it's going to hurt like hell!'

"…As you insist…" The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's snickers rumbled like thunder across the bars containing him as he flooded the chamber with his red essence. "Besides, I always take pleasure in your pain…"

Sharp, blue eyes pierced through Neji's soul when he unleashed an inhuman growl.

"It's pointless, like I told you! Face your fate!" he all but bellowed. 'Why is he so adamant to not throw in the towel? Surely, he can't…'

This so-called destiny must have laughed in the white-eyed Hyuuga's face when he saw several, floating embers hovering around the bewhiskered ninja. As they suddenly appeared, the flickering flames of maroon hue receded into Naruto, which caused a startling chain reaction.

"Guaaaaaaaah!" The unknown scion of the Yellow Flash howled in pain as the burning, crimson essence flooded his system, forcing open the chakra pressure points that Neji previously shut down. His hands balled into fists by his side as he screamed to the heavens with an animalistic roar, red energy spiraling skyward and shaggy blond hair standing on edge.

'Impossible!' Neji frighteningly surmised as he could actually see the chakra rolling off the boy in unrestrained torrents. He had to shield his eyes, lest debris flew into them from the wild energy. 'What the…?' Right at the core of Naruto's chakra network, he thought he saw the haunting image of a sinister beast that glowered in his direction, snarl lodged in place.

'Seirei no Kaishun Higi: Kitsunebi…is a success…'

Left in the wake of power laid a newly refreshed Uzumaki Naruto, now a carmine blaze of unrelenting chakra, ready and raring for combat. "I already know how this match will end, Neji," he confidently declared, frigid cobalt staring without remorse into pupil-less alabaster. "Three moves. That's all I'll need!"

'Time for another go…' Naruto blurred away with his enhanced speed and flew through the hand seals for his patented Hyouton technique once more.

Ne. Tori. Inu. Uma. Mi. Hitsuji. Inu.

'Rat. Bird. Dog. Horse. Serpent. Ram. Dog.'

"Hyouton: Hyoumu no Jutsu!"

The chilling Ice Release: Ice Fog Technique boiled to life around the ankles of the blond-haired jinchuuriki before the massive miasma wafted out and around the stadium floor once more. 'Time to set my plan into action, and I hope that this will earn enough appeal points for that promotion…' With the cold mist hanging about, and obscuring the Byakugan in the process, the heir to the Senju birthright summoned forth one final clone. 'Opening setup…' Naruto got into position to anticipate Neji's next move. 'Going up!' One copy launched the other high into the air with the aid of a cupped-hand boost.

The blinding fog almost induced a headache in the long-haired brunet as the chakra-enlaced substance poured all around. He could not see in the near-zero visibility. That only left him with only one solution to bat it away…

He was forced to use the Hakkeshou Kaiten again…just how Naruto wanted it.

'Uma. U. Ushi. Mi. Tatsu. Saru.'

'Horse. Boar. Ox. Serpent. Dragon. Monkey.'

"Fuuton: Kazekiri!"

The bold, gutsy shinobi began to plummet, picking up speed in the process.

XXXXXXXXXX

"…No way…" Izumo commented, mouth hanging slightly open.

"…He wouldn't…" Kotetsu stood equally flummoxed. He rubbed at the bandage across the bridge of his nose. "To try to break the ultimate defense of the Main Branch secret taijutsu? That kid's either asking for some pain…or he knows what he's doing."

"The lunacy of it all, Kotetsu. That kid's got a set of brass ones on him, for sure, and I think I can hear them clanging all the way up here." The shorter-haired ninja scratched his bandanna, chuckling at his own humor. "You don't think he'll pull it off, do you?"

"Knowing that Naruto, I fail to not believe a thing that kid can do."

"He made a believer out of you, then?" A sly grin made its way onto Izumo's features.

"I wouldn't count him out, now. He's been doing well with keeping his head clear and his temperament never seemed to waver." The shaggier-haired of the two shrugged in an ambivalent fashion. "He's a bit rough around the edges, but I'll give him the vote for a chuunin candidate if it comes down to it."

"Well," Izumo reasoned, "there's still a chance for him to show a better appeal in more rounds. He hasn't won me over, just yet. I mean, sure, he's got chakra and stamina that would make other, higher-ranked shinobi green with envy, but we need someone who is consistent, but willing to adapt."

He heard the squealing whine coming from the yellow-haired genin in the air. "You're just mad that he managed to stink-bomb your little corner of the office in the Academy. Admit it, Izumo."

A dark look crept over the special chuunin's countenance. "Don't remind me, Kotetsu…and didn't Naruto give you a few whoopee cushion treatments?"

'Yep…' The shaggy black hair shook along with his head. 'He's still fuming over that…but I still find it very funny!' His grin never left his face as he shrugged. "I simply took the boy's pranks in stride, and you have to admire his creativity."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Banzai!"

Seeing the opportunity, the blond boy took it. Careening down with a screeching vortex enveloping his arm, Naruto positioned the pointed 'edge' of his Wind Drill at the axis of rotation—in this case, right on Neji, who spun like a top. The two jutsu connected into a stalemate for about two, solid seconds. The miniature, cyclonic funnel of shrieking wind started synchronizing with the revolutions per second and the directional spin of Neji's Revolving Heaven, which allowed the bewhiskered ninja to bore right into the impenetrable defense with the assistance of gravity. As the two techniques negated each other, Naruto reached down and yanked on Neji's head, stopping the boy from spinning around, unless he wanted to lose a few strands of his precious, flowing hair. That action promptly dislodged the armor-clad shinobi, who banged against the wall and disappeared with a pop of white vapor.

XXXXXXXXXX

"What's going on down there, Honorable Father?" Hanabi asked from her position, not really believing her eyes, either.

"It appears that…Uzumaki Naruto just penetrated the ultimate defense of our clan's lineage." Slowly, Hiashi rubbed at his temples. He could practically feel the vigilant, withering glares from the elders around the arena. He assumed they were beyond livid. 'This certainly bears concern…'

XXXXXXXXXX

Dazed, disoriented, and bewildered, Hyuuga Neji shook off the wobbling sensation brought upon by that blond rascal. Sadly, for him, his recovery took too long as a hand from the earth grabbed on his ankle and yanked him downward.

"Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu…a technique that my own sensei used against my teammate when we first took the genin-qualifying tests," Naruto lazily droned, a bored look on his face as he rose to the surface about two meters from where Neji's head poked out. He then calmly walked over to the immobile shinobi and whipped out a kunai from his pouch, digging the sharp end into the brunet's neck, which drew a small trickle of blood. "Yield, Neji. I don't want to do this."

"Impossible…" The slightly older ninja blinked once. "You…bested me in combat…"

"What were you expecting? I get tossed around like a rag doll only to come up from behind with a narrowly earned victory through sheer determination and guts?" The blond demon container laughed at that. "Hah! Maybe in another time, but this is the here and now. I told you I was going to kick your ass, and I delivered a can of it to your doorstep, along with a side-dish of 'Thank-You-May-I-Have-Another.'"

Neji only grumbled at that. Who was he fooling? This street urchin, like with the equally brash Kiba, kept the pace of the match in his favor, and ended up down in the dirt and looking up at him.

Pun very much intended.

Either way, he felt like a reverse-ostrich with his body put under the ground, instead of his head.

The hidden noble continued speaking, voice now audible and clear to the audience around him. "Never forget, Neji, that words like 'fate' and 'destiny' are not chains that bind us. No matter what anyone else thinks, we shape our own futures, because not only are we alive as human beings, but we also have the ability to make ourselves who we want to be through the efforts of our own hands. We can alter our paths as long as we stay tried and true to our dreams and reach for them with our hands wide open." His eyes narrowed a fraction. "That's the reason why you lost, Neji. You got so caught up in this whole destiny drivel to the point that you barely saw what was right in front of your eyes the whole time. You have the power to change the things around you, instead of moping around and running your mouth about how the world is unfair. Well, build a bridge and get over it, because I know I already have, and if you can't make the change for the better, then I will do it for you! The Hyuuga are blind, Neji." He removed the trowel from the boy's neck and stood upright, sky-blue eyes sparkling like carved jewels. "I will make them see." After giving the now-humbled Hyuuga prodigy a piece of his mind, Naruto walked off, only to get stopped in mid-step when he started hearing a slow clap…followed by another clap…and then, like grease in a deep-fryer, roaring applause enveloped the stadium.

Those claps, cheers, wolf-whistles and cat-calls were for him…

It had to take some time to let the reality of it sink in.

Once it finally clicked that they cheered for him, his exuberance burst forth with a lot of gusto. He dashed a lap around the arena, fatigue cast away, and caught a flower in his mouth for good measure.

'I wonder if Hinata-chan was watching from the audience…' he reflected as he went to retrieve his pooped fox kit from the trees.

Neji, on the other hand, managed to get dug out of the hole in which Naruto placed him, groveling in defeat.

"I know you're okay, kid," Genma reassured as he helped dust off the young genin, "and I hope you learn a great lesson from this. One day, even a bird can be clever enough to use its beak to release itself from the cage. You see that your opponent has already done that and more." He directed Neji to the awaiting medics to check him for any injuries. "Go get yourself checked out, now."

With a pained grimace, the talented shinobi limped off to the medical corps when, to his surprise, his uncle, Hiashi, walked among them with what appeared to be carefully masked concern.

"Hiashi-sama?" Neji staggered toward him, standing at a loss for words.

The patriarch of the Hyuuga lineage inwardly sighed. He felt it necessary to inform his nephew of something he should have told him a long time ago…the truth…

XXXXXXXXXX

"Heh…he did it again…" Kiba grumbled from his position in the audience, right next to the Hyuuga maiden, who seemed to have fully recovered from her fight last month.

Hinata chuckled at her teammate's antics. "No hard feelings, Kiba-kun, but you kind of underestimated him."

The dog-using ninja sputtered. "You're taking his side over mine, Hinata?" He then pouted. "I'm hurt…" Akamaru whined, adding his say into the matter.

"D-Don't take it like that, Kiba-kun!" she protested in defense. "It's just that…"

Kiba snorted. "Heh…Well, it is obvious, anyway…"

"Eh?" The indigo-haired kunoichi blinked twice.

"How you feel about him? It's as transparent as glass, Hinata!"

"…" She twiddled her fingers, already uncomfortable with the breadth of uneasy silence. She felt eyes on her when she quickly stole a glance behind her, noting the cloaked, masked ninja lurking about like a silent specter. "Kiba, on your five o'clock position," she whispered in a low tone.

The seemingly floating ninja moved about like a ghost in the wind, putting his alabaster-furred puppy on edge, too. "The ANBU Black Ops? What are they doing here?" Did they know something that they, mere genin, did not?

Despite the hanging cloud of dread above them, Hinata looked down to the arena floor, once more, seeing her crush make a victory lap, flower caught between his teeth and smiling like the bright sunshine pouring down on them now.

She sighed, wishing to be a part of the celebration and rush her important person and tackle-hug him, but she felt that not only would it be embarrassing for her family, but it would also have been out of place and would only get in the blond ninja's way. Besides, it was his moment in which he relished and savored, after all, and she should respect him basking in the limelight of attention.

'You make me want to try harder, Naruto-kun,' Hinata firmly resolved within her mind, 'and the foreign clientele and dignitaries seem to accept your power. I'm so proud of you. You did something I failed to achieve, but that only means I have to get stronger…to defend my own nindou…my own ninja way…'

XXXXXXXXXX

With Ino and Tenten vigilantly listening in on their conversation, the two goofy ninja continued discussing their summation of Uzumaki Naruto.

"I'm telling you, Izumo, that Naruto's going places. He's taking his job as a ninja much more seriously than before," Kotetsu reasoned with a level head. "So what if he set up pranks? I like the kid."

The straight-haired brunet heaved a sigh and dragged it out. "…All right. He was impressive. I'll give him that much. He managed to execute elemental ninjutsu with frightening precision…almost like Hokage-sama in his prime…"

"There's a condition to that, isn't there?" Shaggy hair rustled into the air as Naruto's supporter shook his head again. "So skeptical, Izumo."

The dark-eyed shinobi rubbed an itch in his scalp through the bandanna. "But…it was done with calculating brute force. A chuunin has to be strong, yes, but not to the point of literally throwing around his weight for kicks."

"However, you could tell that Naruto went all out in that fight," his companion smoothly countered. "You can't argue with that."

"Oh, without question!" Izumo agreed.

"Then, what's the issue, here?"

For once, Izumo did not supply a rebuttal.

"So…" Ino spoke up out of the hanging silence, now that the crowd muted to a dull roar. "…Whiskers finally pulled off an upset win." Cyan eyes rounded on chocolate brown, which made her amend what she had uttered. "No offense, Tenten."

The bun-haired brunette next to her had nothing more to say. The match was over, and that Naruto character picked apart Neji's Byakugan like a child's plaything. "None taken…"

'Uzumaki Naruto…' Tenten looked down at her hands, '…soundly defeated the strongest of our sensei's genin cell…' She let loose a shaky breath. The weapons-mistress had a lot more ground to cover in her training regimen.

XXXXXXXXXX

Haku shifted the bundle of documents between her crossed arms and her bosom as she made rounds around the Hokage Tower. The brunette ambled at a sedate pace, reflecting on how she managed to find herself within the venerable Hokage's good graces.

Due to the lack of manpower that Konoha had under her protection, any help provided a huge boon. In addition, her intelligence, albeit limited, supplied some insight to unravel the secrets behind the Hidden Mist and the bloodline purges. Unfortunately, the ice-conjuring kunoichi's information was obsolete, since the situations drastically changed in a major upheaval by the time she and Zabuza-san left…

A melancholy look quickly passed her delicate facial features as she reflected on her past mentor; the one who gave her a purpose in life. Without him, she probably never would have left the Water Country alive, but in a body bag or put to rest in those desecrated lands marred with blood.

Then again, she managed to retain most of her sanity, according to her most recent psychological profile. Deep down, if she were honest with herself, had she lost her innocence to her former master's bloodlust and desire for carnage, then, in retrospect, she could not have been saved if she gave in to those urges. Sure, she soiled her hands with the blood of her ex-mentor's enemies, since that was her job, but she did so out of blind devotion. Her will to protect kept her grounded…and sane, in a way to rationalize it.

The brown-eyed girl shook her head, clearing out the memories of a forgotten yesterday.

She stood here, in Konohagakure, as one of the moving parts that kept the office duties in the Hokage's service in harmonic flow—the typical paper-pusher, if there was a label to that position. Due to her non-shinobi status, she had the option to serve Konoha, and seeing that her savior's home was here, she happily agreed without any hint of hesitation or hearing the second choice. Through the grueling exams and tests to see if she would never break or snap, her skills in combat and knowledge on the human anatomy edged out at the higher tiers of the Chuunin ranking. Surprisingly enough, her abilities placed her near the cusp of a Jounin, in terms of power potential—a great addition to the forces of the Hidden Leaf Village. Even though Zabuza-san praised that her power exceeded his own, that was merely a front. In fact, due to the amount of experience he had in fighting compared to hers, which was only six years, give or take, the Demon of the Hidden Mist eclipsed her clandestine career by about a decade.

"Ah, Haku-san," she heard an older ninja approach her as she rounded the twisting corridors. He sported the standard-issue Konoha shinobi attire, but what made him stand out—quite literally—was the upturned, gravity-defying hair akin to a certain Copy Ninja, but had dark hair like her with framed sunglasses that concealed his eyes from view. "Just the person I needed to see."

"Aoba-san, what brings you here?" The pristine face of the female ninja twisted into confusion, blinking twice.

"Hokage-sama wanted me to assign you to check up on the Barrier Team," the new arrival, one Yamashiro Aoba, informed his junior. "See if they need refreshments, chakra-boosting pills, or anything that will ease the strain required to support and fortify our borders for safety."

"I…understand…" she complied, suddenly feeling a tad queasy as she moved into a slight bow. It was either her nerves, or something did not settle well on her stomach from breakfast a few hours ago. "I will go right away."

The feeling of approaching dread loomed over her like a heavy weight on her shoulders as she walked closer and closer to the top floor, leading to the sealed-off chamber that held the Barrier Team.

In good confidence, she had been given the sealing sequence to unseal the door, leading into it. Sheaves of papers still in her firm grips, she formed a quick, ten-seal sequence, ending in the Seal of the Serpent. The end result caused the door to flash white prior to the light folding back like a quickly drawn curtain.

She turned the knob and pressed her frame into the entrance. What she saw made her drop the bundle of documents that were hugged tightly to her chest and put up a soft hand to her mouth.

'Their faces…they're melted!' True to observation, Haku bore witness to distorted faces that were barely recognizable. She then turned to another corpse, and she did her best to stem the nausea from rising any further. A slithering snake protruded from the chest of a dead barrier-ninja and peered around, forked tongue lapping out for new scents and new morsels on which to snack. She thought she heard its sibilant rattle shake and sound off from within his chest cavity.

That was not the only serpentine critter. Another brown snake wrapped around a body before unhinging its jaw. Haku knew what was about to happen, so she slammed the door with thunderous force, thickly swallowing to keep down the bile that steadily clawed its way up her throat.

Haku of the near-extinct Yuki clan made a mad dash out of the Barrier Team's chamber to alert whoever was around, brown eyes frostily glinting in battle mode.

The Barrier Team…was dead, and that act of sabotage compromised the safety of the Village Hidden in the Tree Leaves.

Frantically rounding another curved corner, the younger kunoichi bumped into another one…literally. A mass of cleavage was all Haku saw before she slammed hard into the other older woman, who merely looked down, a set of beige, caramel-colored eyes meeting a pair of frigid, cocoa-brown.

Amethyst hair ruffled up and around as her head titled to the side. "You're…Haku, right?"

"Yes, Anko-san, and…we got trouble…" she panted between shaky breaths. She then grabbed Mitarashi Anko's rough digits and ran back to the scene of the crime. "No time to explain!"

The Special Jounin merely smirked and licked her lips in excitement. "Oh? I like surprises!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Temari of the Hidden Sand Village was not a happy camper.

For the longest time in this match, her reluctant opponent—a lazy-ass by the name of Nara Shikamaru—bought himself some more time by ducking into some of the available foliage surrounding the stadium floor. She had a nagging intuition that the pineapple-haired ninja contained a brain behind that lethargic demeanor. He was a lot smarter than for what she gave credit. His teammate barely endured three minutes, and now, this slacker managed to keep the battle at his own pace…just like that other blond shinobi when he trounced the betting horse, much to the consternation of the grumbling gamblers in the arena who now mourned the loss of their assets…

She shook her head of that vagrant thought. There was no way in hell that she would let her mind err. Keeping focus had to be her top objective when dealing with a fellow strategist like herself.

"How about you quit hiding, you coward?" she boomed, poking out her chest like she expected him to answer her call for battle.

Said unenthused boy longingly gazed up at the clouds from his meditative position, already planning the next sequence of moves to lure her into a feint, which would spring the trap. 'Man, this is so troublesome…'

He shucked off his jacket and pulled out a kunai. 'Well, here goes nothing…'

XXXXXXXXXX

The match between the two strategists lasted about five minutes after that. With the brunet deer-rancher leading his opponent to where he wanted, Shikamaru struck with a Kage Mane no Jutsu through the connected holes and latched onto Temari's shadow, effectively holding her in place. Unfortunately, for her, she never saw one of the twin craters with the giant folding fan blocking her view, hoping to distract the lazy-ass with a simple clone before tagging him with her patented Kamaitachi no Jutsu, just like what she did with his fat-ass of a teammate.

Now, she stood in a squatting position, matching that of her captor, with her hands clenched into the Seal of the Rat. She struggled against the hold of the jutsu, but it was to no effect.

"So…this was your plan all along, huh?" she managed to ground out through gnashed teeth.

"You just failed to use the environment to your advantage," Shikamaru muttered with a lazy shrug. "The two holes that Naruto made were connected. I simply used that and kept your focus in the sky to keep you from looking down. My shadow-stretching just acted as feints to keep you distracted from noticing your field position, too. Basic diversion skills, really."

Temari impotently growled. 'This slacker clown…managed to outmaneuver me?'

"Well, I guess this is it…" The lethargic, cloud-watching shinobi began to walk, driving the dirty blonde to imitate him by means of his jutsu. The two met in front of the proctor of the exam, and, for kicks, he raised his hand to the sky, which made Temari stretch hers in a near-mirror image. After a period of silence, Shikamaru let loose one of the biggest, tired sighs known to man. "That's it. I'm done…"

All thoughts and chatter screeched to a grinding halt when Nara Shikamaru, of all people, who had the match in the bag, forfeited without any reluctance. It was soon followed by inquisitive and disbelieving whispers and murmurs.

"What?" Even his opponent had trouble processing that.

"Too troublesome…" he grumbled. "I'm almost out of chakra…and to think that I had the next two hundred moves planned out in my head. Oh, well…" Assuming his usually hangdog look, he walked off the stadium floor, leaving the audience, Genma and Temari in complete shock.

The brunet proctor almost dropped the senbon dangling from the corner of his mouth. "Um…the winner of the match via forfeit…is Temari…"

It sure as hell did not feel like a win, in the Desert Flower's opinion.

XXXXXXXXXX

Right before the headline match of the Chuunin finals, Namiashi Raidou felt a new presence to his right. Sure enough, it was Aoba, with a cool gaze etched onto his features.

Raidou frowned a bit, scar tissue twitching around his face. "What's wrong, Aoba?"

The spiky-haired ninja leaned closer to whisper into his ear, making the scarred ninja's eyes jump in size. "Are you sure?" With a silent nod from his compatriot, his mouth assumed a thin line. "I…see. Thank you for the new developments."

"Yep." Aoba sped off into the forest on watchful alert.

Feeling the burden of relaying the message, Raidou approached the sky box and back into the Hokage's presence. "Sir, may I have a word with you, away from Kazekage-sama?"

"One moment, Raidou," he whispered in a raspy fashion. "If you'll pardon me, I need to take care of some business."

"By all means, Hokage-dono," he pleasantly replied.

Hiruzen stood up and walked around the upper-level seats to the golden roof of the stadium. "We'll keep this in hushed whispers, so make it quick, Raidou."

"Um…sir," the short-haired brunet began, already feeling that the messenger was going to get shot, "we have…a bit of a situation…"

"Yes?" the Sandaime prompted, hoping for more elaboration.

"My lord, our barrier team…has been killed, and we have unquestionable proof that Orochimaru was behind it."

That feeling of trepidation crawled up the Hokage's spinal column. "…That means he's a little too close for comfort." The weighted meaning proved obvious, were it not for Hiruzen's quick eye-cut over to the press box luxury seats.

"Sir, your orders?" The carefully guarded intonation was tangible from a member of the Guard Platoon.

Seeing him made him think of a contingency plan. "Stay close, Raidou, but hurry up and summon Aoba back here on the double."

The younger ninja felt surprise that the Hokage meant business. "You don't mean…?"

"Yes," Hiruzen declared with crushing finality, "I want to get the special ops Guard Platoon unit by my side." He signaled down in the arena with a nudge of his head in the direction of the proctor. "Notify Genma, too, when the enemy makes his move. I'd much rather…have a more fitting venue, away from the civilians and potential clientele from abroad."

Raidou nodded in compliance. "Understood, Hokage-sama. I'll go at once." Before he broke away from his commanding officer, he glanced back. "Anything else, sir?"

The wizened Fire Shadow did not have to think long and hard for an answer. "Alert the ANBU…all of them…"

Seeing one of his guardians dash off to scramble the forces for an impending attack, Hiruzen felt the need to inwardly sigh. 'So…my mistake has come back full circle, it seems…'

He wondered, rather belatedly, as to how come his long-time rival, Shimura Danzou, did not make his power play to support Konoha. He felt the need to force him into action. Enough idling around!

In retrospect, confronting him only stirred the pot of animosity between the two…

The Sandaime Hokage was a man on a mission. He hastily found the secret passages in and around Konoha's sewers, leading to his destination. Like a violent gale, Hiruzen's Kage regalia flapped around like an agitated peal of thunder on account of the echoes provided by the hollow infrastructure as he marched through the underground sewer system, knowing exactly where to go.

His steely, coal-colored eyes landed on the appropriate door; leading to the man he sought out, Golden Hand brandished and ready for action.

The aged Fire Shadow barged in and saw Danzou calmly sitting on a padded cushion.

The Darkness of the Shinobi peered up from his brewing cup of jasmine tea, dispassionate facial features present. "Ah, Hiruzen…"

He was immediately cut off with a back-hand from the Professor, courtesy of the golden-embroidered ebony glove.

After the stinging sensation now erupting on his face, Danzou took note of the mass amounts of glitter that exploded from the glove. How that happened always remained a mystery. "I see that you are upset over something," he casually remarked.

Hiruzen almost blew smoke through his nose. "I suggest that you better do something with regard to the impending threat hanging above us."

The militaristic warmonger rubbed the raw side of his bandaged countenance. "So, your greatest sin comes back to haunt you," he slickly barbed. "That is something that you must handle, Hiruzen…alone…"

The Sandaime's eyes turned arctic. "I know we have never seen eye to eye, but do know your place. I am Hokage! I am in charge!"

'Not for long, though…' Danzou thought rather bitterly.

"Konoha must stand tall, old friend and rival. I need your support…or else…" He let the threat trail off into thin, wispy air.

"Or else…what?" He let a bit of snarky inflection ooze from his frame. "You expect me to bend to your authority like your brainwashed drones walking above ground?"

"My, my, pot," Hiruzen parried in this verbal joust, "say hello to the kettle." He heavily sighed, already growing weary of this tedious banter. "There was a reason why I took away the funding of your little pet project and your group of socially inept misfits. I should have made an example out of you for skirting the line of treason."

The shaggy-haired brunet allowed an indifferent snort escape his lips. "My word against yours, Hiruzen. If you try to expose me, then you'll only expose yourself. How will the people see that their 'God of Shinobi' is nothing more than a flawed human being just like the rest of us?"

"…Your insolence sickens me, Danzou. Where have we gone wrong?" He shook his head in disgust and was about to leave before he stopped. "I expect full cooperation and assistance in case things take a turn for the worst."

Hiruzen's political rival swiftly changed the subject. "…What about the Kyuubi brat? How will you have the courage to tell him of your greatest blunder regarding him? His mother, missing, all because of an intricate lie from a close family friend…and with the seal of approval from…well, you?" He bridged his fingers in front of his face as a sole eyebrow rose up in subtle haughtiness, feeling the satisfaction of twisting the edge of the blade deeper into the Hokage's image of preserving his dignity.

The grip on the brass handle loosened as the Third Fire Shadow's face twitched into a grimace. "…I will atone for that in the next life, if I don't survive before we can find her. Either way, there was far more to it than just those logistics."

Danzou knew that his logic was ironclad, since it seemed that Hiruzen had nothing else left to dispute. "…Your move, Hokage-sama."

"I will warn you now, Shimura Danzou," the graying-haired veteran dangerously uttered. "Leave the child to flourish in the guiding hands of whom I entrusted to him." His eyes narrowed, murderous intent flooding the lower levels of Konohagakure like a vast pressure wave, in tandem with his visage growing even flintier, like the carving of his bust on the Hokage Rock Monument. "There's still the matter with Itachi-kun, though, where you must face your demons, too. What was that saying again?" he rhetorically asked, as he rounded his sharp eyes on the single, visible eye of his former comrade in the First Great Shinobi War. "Ah, yes…"

The shadow of the war machine that Hiruzen used to be emerged like a caged beast. The tone in his voice would have made lesser ninja piss their pants. "Tread carefully, lest you awaken slumbering giants…" He found the polished metal on the doorknob reassuring after cutting down the other man's sturdy ego. "Good day to you, Danzou…"

'…and may we never meet again…under these circumstances…'

He hoped to any kami out there that he got through to his stubborn political rival. He prayed that the roots of the great tree provided support by tangling up the problem as the leaves scattered around to smother it…for good.

XXXXXXXXXX

"…I'm disappointed, Shikamaru. You had that girl in the palm of your hand!" Naruto complained as he met up with the shadow-slinging deer-rancher in the breezeway of the corridor, fox kit hopping around his legs.

Slowly walking alongside his comrade, Naruto's lazy friend shrugged and heaved a long, dragged-out sigh. He seemed to do that a lot, as of late. "It was too troublesome, and I'm almost out of chakra. I really didn't feel like fighting in the first place, until you shoved me over the waiting area." Well, that was not the whole truth. He felt something in the air. It was palpable to the senses. To the Nara heir, energy conservation overrode his logic.

The blond genin chuckled. "Oh, heh…My bad."

"By the way, that fog of yours…" That caused the blue-eyed genin to stop.

"Hm?"

Shikamaru turned to his friend. "Was that Hyouton?"

The unpredictable noisy ninja hesitantly nodded. "You want to ask about the…other form of ninjutsu, even though that would put us in jeopardy?"

"Don't need to," Shikamaru responded. "Orders are orders, and I kind of figured that you managed to get back that power you seem to have lost with the training over the month, anyhow."

"Nothing seems to get past you, huh?"

"Unlike you?" the pineapple-haired genin gibed back.

"Hey!" Naruto whined. "I'll have you know that I can easily improvise and make things up as I fight on the battlefield."

"And for what? Risk getting chewed out by the Hyuuga when all this blows over?"

"Hey, I spoke what was on my mind out there!" the bewhiskered ninja defended.

"Suit yourself," Shikamaru muttered. "Your prerogative."

Doshaburi whined when he felt the intent to kill around the corner.

"Something's up," Naruto relayed to his companion, dragging him down in a crouch around the corner of the staircase. His ears must have deceived him, for he thought he heard…sifting sands. "Oh, no…"

"What is it, Naruto?" the lethargic ninja hissed under his breath.

"It's that redhead from Suna," he answered, trying to strain his acute hearing. "I hear two other people trying to talk him down from facing Sasuke."

"Ah, so it is what I thought…" he heard the fox bite out in his mindscape.

'Thought what, fox?'

"That kid…He harbors my fellow brethren, the Ichibi…" The Kyuubi showed his humongous fangs in a jeering smile. "I'll gladly humble him and show him his place as the weakest of the nine…"

Muffled screams permeated the length of the hallway before a squishing, crunching sound silenced them for good. The grainy silica roared like a sentient being amid the haunting silence before it retreated into the kid's sandy gourd.

Gaara moaned, a splitting headache pounding under his skull. "I'm sorry, Mother, for giving you bad blood, but you shall get your fair share when I kill Uchiha Sasuke…"

"…Is he talking to himself?" Naruto wondered aloud, but out of the deranged shinobi's earshot.

"I don't know, but if it weren't for you stalling me by talking to you, then that could've been me…" Shikamaru intoned, not really believing what he saw.

Both shinobi gave the approaching redhead a wide berth as he walked past them to the arena below. The host of the Shukaku slowed his steps as he trudged past the host of the Kyuubi. "After I feed your teammate to Mother," he then turned his lifeless, pale-jade eyes on stunned cerulean, "you're next, Uzumaki Naruto…"

So, no wonder he felt some familiarity with the kid who threatened his life. Those eyes…reminded him of what he could have become; a sheer reflection in the mirror if he had no one in his life to accept and acknowledge him. Those eyes held a hollow soul, and the void slowly ate away at his mind.

Putting up a strong bravado, blue eyes narrowed to slits in a display of power, much to Shikamaru's surprise that suddenly affixed itself to his features. His dominating aura remained focused and steadfast as the blond crossed arms over his chest, celeste-toned orbs gleaming despite the absence of available light. "For the love of my friends, I will crush you, should I ever have to face you in combat."

Gaara felt the beast within him claw at his mind in anticipation, forcing him to clutch his head again. "I will kill you…to prove my existence…" Visibly shaking, the youngest of the Kazekage's children stumbled to the arena for his match.

"Sasuke's in for it, now," Shikamaru mentioned after the strained quiet hung over the present company.

"He'll be all right…I hope…"

"…You visited the betting stands, didn't you?" his friend dully questioned.

"…Just thought I'd test my luck. That's all." Besides, the money at stake was huge! He could use some of that.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and grunted. "…Troublesome."

"You said it…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Just like with that Misumi character, Sasuke's onyx eyes measured up the secret weapon of the Sand, who more than lived up to his name, given the nature of the rumors. His mind drowned out the loud shouts of his name from the spectators seated above.

He half-expected the other kid to barge in on his training with Kakashi, but it seemed that it was a matter of missed timing. The day off from training helped the last of the Uchiha clan to sort through his personal issues and the obstacles set before him. It all boiled down to a few simple questions.

How far was he willing to go for power?

He had something to prove to Itachi, his target. The older ninja outclassed him in almost every way, and it seemed as though the path in which Itachi tried to force him to tread blinded him from something else. It was as if…Itachi wanted to be the focus of all that hatred; to become the scapegoat of ire and resentment…just like the dobe…but for what, he had not an inkling of an idea.

An itch from around the nape of his neck caused him to distractedly scratch the seal over the cursed seal.

The one-day break also made him reconsider the scope of his outlook.

Should he invest time in rebuilding the Uchiha before going after Itachi, should the path of vengeance absorb and claim him in the long run?

Having thought on that, it made sense. Should something befall him, then why not have a surefire plan and impregnate a few of his fan girls, as annoying as they were?

'Eh…maybe not…' He desired someone of strong pedigree; someone who provided strong-enough genes to perpetuate his lineage. Not having her fawn all over him would be a better boon.

"When plotting revenge, be sure to dig two graves—one for your enemy, and the other for yourself," he recalled his eccentric teacher's words. "Hatred is a dangerous thing in this world. It's what causes all of us to kill each other all for the power of money. Now, justice, on the other hand, is a more noble goal to work toward, Sasuke. Uncover the reasons why Itachi did what he did."

Justice…or revenge?

The two words walked a fine line, hand in hand. One could easily blend or blur into the other at the drop of a hat, all due to the intent driving them.

He saw those pallid green eyes staring unemotionally in his direction—a shell of a human being borne by mindless mass-murder. Would that devil become him, if he were to follow the path of his prey? What awaited him at the end of the path to revenge?

"Uchiha Sasuke…" the flat monotone of his opponent cut over his warring thoughts. "…I shall kill you…to prove my worth that I am alive."

"Are you crazy?" the raven-haired heartthrob asked, really not fishing for an answer. "I have an objective to meet, and you're just nothing but another obstacle to prove my mettle."

"…A conflict of interest, then," Gaara uttered without any excitement.

"Simmer down, boys," Genma chimed in as he waltzed up. "Let's go through the formalities, shall we?" No response. "I guess that's a yes, then." The senbon-chewing man cleared his throat. "Match number three: Gaara of Sunagakure versus Uchiha Sasuke of Konohagakure!" He swiped down his hand in a chopping gesture before backing away. "Begin!"

Not missing a beat, the Ichibi's container opened up with the cork popping off his large peanut of a gourd, the eerie, twisting sands pouring out and taking on a form of independence before lunging at the expectant Uchiha.

Crimson bled from his pupils as the Sharingan spun into view, now matching with a dual-set of tomoe. With a sharper vision, the Uchiha scion rolled out of the way of the sand stream in the nick of time.

'So, his range is indeterminate…' Sasuke rolled into a swift dash to close the distance. 'He can use and bend sand to his will, in addition to having a compacted armor of that stuff all around his body.' That left his options extremely limited.

Glassing the sand was close to impossible, he considered as he leapt over another arm of the grainy substance. With chakra bolstering the already staggeringly high melting point, that restricted him to his ace-in-the-hole of a Katon ninjutsu that he used in the Forest of Death. 'The drawback from that, I can tell, will hinder me and leave me crippled.' He had adrenaline for fuel against Orochimaru, but…could he do it again, even though that could leave him all but a sliver of chakra in his system?

He also had some special wildcats at his beck and call, after striking a deal with the feline he summoned, who called himself Kiyoshi. 'Kiyoshi…really?' Paradoxical naming system with fur coloration and questionable gender issue aside, the lone wolf of Team Seven did not feel like cutting loose and reveal all of his trump cards. 'Well, I guess it's time to put that conditioning to the test…'

Before Gaara's stunned eyes, his opponent blurred from out of sight with a quick rush of speed, past his contorting sands and leveled a solid right hook to his jaw. His head rocked back from the blow as his Mother's sand cushioned him when he stumbled and fell in her delicate embrace.

Meanwhile, Sasuke shook off the tingling sensation. It felt like hitting a brick wall! "Huh…Built to withstand anything, eh?" He glanced around the audience for his inspiration, and saw the green-clad ninja look at him with a critical eye. Giving him a protruding thumb in the older shinobi's direction, which was much to Rock Lee's shock, the brooding brunet raced forward, and firing on all cylinders, began to ignite himself on fire. He became a blazing streak of determination as he gunned for the unsuspecting jinchuuriki of the Sand. "Let's see if you can stop this!"

"Katon: Nenshou no Jutsu!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Maito Gai stood by his fellow compatriot, the cool and hip Hatake Kakashi as they took note on the similar styles between their two students.

Curious, fuzzy eyebrows shot up to the man's hairline as he witnessed an exuberant display of youthful power of zigzagging around the range of the Suna kid's sand and not getting tagged. "I see that your hip student gave credit where credit was due," the other spandex-wearing ninja cheerily intoned, "but I do have some concerns with grinding friction and producing fire around his body. He could burn himself if he travels too fast. Believe me: I would know more than anyone about that."

"He takes calculated risks, with high returns," the ashen-haired veteran noted when Sasuke bodily careened into Gaara with enough force to send him skidding back. "We're still getting our worth with how we train our students. See how it pays off."

"…I am surprised that you are having an actual conversation with me, for once," Gai admitted.

"Hm? You say something, Gai?" The eye-smile indicated that he jested.

The Prideful Green Beast of Konoha pursed his lips before belting out a booming bellow. "Very funny, my eternal rival!"

'Gai and his antics…gotta love them…' Kakashi could only shake his head. "He's softening up Gaara. Testing the waters, in a way."

"Oh? So, you did not use his Sharingan to replicate Lee's speed?"

"Not at all. I had special training to boost his quickness. Let's just say that I threw everything at him…"

"…Including the kitchen sink?" He really had to wonder if he resorted to that method.

"Yes, even that, Gai," the Copy Ninja confirmed.

"…I still wonder where you stash that thing."

"Heh. Don't worry…We all got secrets." His exposed eye sparkled with mirth.

XXXXXXXXXX

"…Wow." Sakura had to take off her little, green hood to really witness her crush's speed and agility. A burning streak across the dirt below, he dodged his way out of the paws of sand trying to hold him down. In turn, the dark-haired Uchiha, now a zooming spirit of fire, checked the homicidal Suna-nin in the gut like a fast-moving ball bearing in a game of pachinko. "He really worked hard, didn't he, Naruto?" she asked, trying to get a rise of the strangely silent boy beside her.

"He has," he conceded, "but fighting that Gaara kid requires another level of tactics."

"How so?"

"I'll have to tell you later, since exposing him…would expose me, too," he cryptically replied.

"…Is it because of the red chakra you and Dosha-chan used when you fought Neji…and with Snake-Face?" Sakura took a stab at the mysterious blond right by her side. She was supposed to confide in him, seeing that they were teammates, but the answers from Uzumaki Naruto did not seem forthcoming. Even he had skeletons in closet.

"Yes," he verified with a guarded edge in his tone as he saw Sasuke spring back from Gaara, who appeared to be generating sand by the bucketful and forming a dome around him. "It is a burden that nine individuals on this planet must carry…to keep the balance."

Sakura saw the raw emotion from his eyes. It was like she got a glimpse of the boy behind the false façade. 'Naruto…'

"Senpai…"

XXXXXXXXXX

The Uchiha scion confidently thought that keeping the Suna-nin before him off balance by zipping around the field as a hard-to-strike target turned out to work well, all things factored into it.

However, another roadblock managed to find its way to the forefront, and that was the redhead's cocooning himself in a sphere of sand…

'And what's with that floating eye?' Sasuke wondered as he bounded back to the wall, sticking his feet to the cool concrete. 'That's…kind of bizarre…'

Keeping his calm, he concocted a plan to, for one, blind that eye that seemed to monitor his every move, and two, penetrate that wall of sand and not get gelded. He still had enough chakra for one, strong burst of a Katon jutsu and a technique Kakashi taught him, on the pain of punishable death were he to ever turn it against a comrade.

He began the sealing sequence, building the chakra within his system.

I. Inu. Mi. Uma. Ushi. Mi. Hitsuji. Ne. U. Saru. Inu. Tora.

'Boar. Dog. Serpent. Horse. Ox. Serpent. Ram. Rat. Hare. Monkey. Dog. Tiger.'

The onyx-haired ninja bucked back, taking in a sharp breath and exhaled.

"Katon: Jouka no Jutsu!"

The churning fire brightly burned as the dazzling, blue conflagration screeched in the form of a gigantic firebird as it headed straight for the levitating (and creepy) eye. The widespread wings of the phoenix-like entity hummed in delight as it soared, white eyes glinting like the sun.

Gaara could practically feel the heat before it reached his sand-conjured eye and built up a wall of sand to protect it. For a few seconds, the sand and sapphire flames battled in an endless tug-of-war.

It was just what Sasuke needed to distract his opponent from his main goal to end the battle.

The heir to the Sharingan dexterously flipped through three hand seals.

Ushi. U. Saru.

'Ox. Hare. Monkey.'

He gripped his left arm with his right as the sound of an angry chatter of birds flickered to life in his stretched-out palm. The energy emitted appeared like a glimmer of hope to all who bore witness to it.

Not wasting precious time, Sasuke made a beeline for the distracted Gaara, who strained to hold up the power of the mighty roar of the Sacred Fire Technique to protect his third eye. The zippy shinobi formed a scar that tore along the length of the wall as a demonstration of power. He was not joking around.

"I spy with my little eye…" he started to say, voice rising in steady volume, lightning-charged palm held back for striking, "…your defeat!"

The chirping of frantic birds en masse grew louder as the brooding brunet picked up velocity.

XXXXXXXXXX

Somewhere up in the arena, Hatake Kakashi rubbed at his mask, wondering how come his boys kept stealing pages from his book on how to act detached and snarky against their opponents. 'I should get that patented…'

"You taught him the Chidori?" Now, Gai appeared alarmed by that startling revelation. "And to think that I was the reckless one to give Lee permission to teach Sakura-san the Eight Gates."

"I clearly laid it out to Sasuke before I taught him that jutsu," the Copy Ninja alleviated for the self-proclaimed hotheaded hero. "He needed all the help he could get for this fight."

'Besides,' he added as an afterthought, 'I still have Naruto to run damage control, if things do go down south from here on out…'

XXXXXXXXXX

The Chidori struck home, past the grainy pupa of sand and right into the side of the ninja inside the silicate globe.

For a second, a taut stillness permeated the arena as the spectators watched, with bated breath, on the outcome.

Gaara's voice, sounding faint—distant, even—broke it. "What is this red stuff? Is this…blood? My…blood!" He panted in fear. No one managed to break through his armor of sand.

The feeling of pain felt foreign to him, but he let loose a howling wail that sent chills running up and down Sasuke's spine. He quickly dislodged his arm from the sand just before it started to make a grab at him again.

"What the hell?" He skidded to a halt and examined that his arm still remained attached to his body, thank the heavens, but the air hitched in his throat when he saw a yellow pupil, forged into a diamond shape, over black sclera, balefully glared at him with unrelenting malice.

XXXXXXXXXX

Now mingled with the crowd as an unassuming, plump bystander, Kabuto finished the string of hand seals to keep the lesser citizens off guard, once Gaara began to transform. It was a delicate procedure, and he had to synchronize his genjutsu to slowly induce sleep within the populace.

They would never see them coming.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto started to suddenly yawn. "Man, I'm starting to feel…sleepy…" His blue eyes fluttered shut as he fell to the ground.

"…You never were good at pinpointing genjutsu, boy." The deadpanned expression the fox displayed looked out of place on his menacing visage. He shook his head and sighed. "That will come later."

'Wait…these feathers…genjutsu!' Sakura formed the Seal of the Ram and channeled her chakra against the nature of the illusory technique.

"You know that nagging feeling, right, Soto-chan?" her Inner Will delicately asked.

'Yeah, and this is one of them?'

"'Afraid so."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Just as I figured…" Kakashi lazily remarked as he witnessed the populace in the arena fall into the sandman's embrace. "It's begun…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: I think this should be enough for this chapter. Development is in full swing for the next update, so the following installment should be out soon, and it's probably going to be another monster. I really don't know how I manage to just peg out these behemoths, so don't ask me…heh. I suppose you can expect frequent updates on a monthly basis for this story, from here on out, real life schedule notwithstanding. On that note, I also plan to update my other stories before the end of this year, in addition to a possible pet project of mine on the backburner that might get released at the start of the 2012 lineup. We'll see until then. There are still some kinks and knots to work out over that, so, again, if I post up another story, I'm testing out said pilot, just like with Limit Breaker. If you are interested, then feel free to drop me a message or two. I promise I won't bite.

Regarding updates, I'm also in the…somewhat tedious process of smoothing out past chapters, to make sure that they are concurrent, up to date, and ironed out pertaining to potential plot holes, continuity errors, fanon-removal and what have you.

Before I finish out for this chapter's AN, I ask that you leave me a review. I'm pretty sure that, among the over 1100 alerts I have for this story; I have many readers creeping around in the background and behind the scenes. Where are you all? Drop me a line and show me you got a pulse! And yes, I'm pointing you out. Show me some love! Let me know what you think! =)

Anyway, I don't have much on which to comment, this time around. Well, maybe one thing…

Minato taught three of his personal guards the Hiraishin…I'm at a loss for words on what to think on that shoehorned ret-con, to be totally honest with myself. I know that the third ninja is an unnamed shinobi, but, for all intents and purposes, I'm using Aoba for this, since he's readily available. Please, don't snipe me for twisting canon on that. Who knows how many other ninja are part of the Hokage's Guard Platoon, and how many know the technique?

Nevertheless, I'd like to give props to my go-to fellows for this update: Arashi the Solar Phoenix, weixuan18, EliadS

After the amount of reception I got last chapter, only one person managed to crack, at most, three of the Easter eggs I sprinkled in there. Other than that, a small handful picked out about two, so, I shall give commendations for those who picked them out (sorry for those who only jotted down one Easter egg, but tough break): NightShade The Perfect One, yukicrewger2, T-Biggz

What were they, you might ask? Well…in order of appearance:

One: Mr. T reference, uttered by Orochimaru ("I'd pity the fools…") – Yeah, very embedded and hard to spot, there.

Two: Cabbage Merchant – Avatar: The Last Airbender (intertwined with the chase scene with Sakura and Kuroake…poor guy…)

Three: A reference to the hit song, "S&M" by Rihanna ("I wonder if chains and whips excite her…")

Four: A reference to Archer, an animated show on FX (Come on…just the tip…)

Five: Xerxes' messenger from the iconic meme over the Web – 300 ("This is blasphemy…This is madness!")

Like I mentioned, some were pretty obscure; others, blatantly obvious.

Along those lines, I implanted…six Easter eggs this time. Call the Easter Bunny, because I'm swiping his basket! Again, see if you can spot them. As per the usual, you point out at least two; you will be recognized in the next installment.

On that note, ladies and gentlemen, take it easy, enjoy your day (or night), LEAVE A REVIEW and I'll see you all later. And before I give you a send-off for this chapter, there's an omake at the bottom, as part of my promise from the last chapter.

Okay, now, DHO, out!

War has erupted like a long-dormant volcano within the Hidden Leaf! Morals, beliefs and ethics will be tested as the denizens of Konohagakure defend their home from intruding forces. The tree must stand tall, no matter the cost! There's no time for being shell-shocked; you all have a job to do, heroes!

Jikai (Next time…), on Birth of a Legend: The Fox Druid…

Invasion! Heroes Also Fall

Romaji/Jutsu Guide

Bunke Juinjutsu: Cadet Branch Cursed Seal Technique, also given the alternate moniker of the "Caged Bird Seal"

Otogakure: Hidden Sound

Ossan: slang for "old man"

Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Technique or Body Replacement Technique): E-rank ninjutsu; switches body with another nearby object (Narutopedia)

Hyouton: Hyoumu no Jutsu (Ice Release: Ice Fog Technique): D-rank supplementary ninjutsu; user creates a lighter but chilling fog to reduce vision to zero visibility; has the potential to disable or blind even a doujutsu-wielder; akin to Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Technique) (created)

Rasenshou (Spiraling Palm): B-rank ninjutsu/taijutsu variant; inverted incomplete Rasengan that encompasses the user's hands, creating miniature spiral-like drills; this jutsu works well with causing muscle/ligament damage as well as minor chakra disruption, if the amount of chakra is concentrated enough; may cause target to fly back a bit, spiraling along the way (created)

Hakkeshou Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palm Revolving Heaven): unknown-rank, declassified kekkei genkai-style taijutsu maneuver; this secret taijutsu is orally passed down among the Main House of the Hyuuga clan; to compensate for the seemingly unknown blind spot, the user is taught to expel chakra from all the tenketsu in his/her body, creating an energy-rich dome to parry projectiles and toss away oncoming attackers (Narutopedia)

Fuuton: Toppuu Kaiten (Wind Release: Gusty Revolving Heaven): B-rank offensive/defensive ninjutsu; similar to the Hyuuga-style Hakkeshou Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palm Revolving Heaven), but infused with wind-type chakra and can be performed in mid-air; outer rims along the barrier are corrugated, meaning that anyone or anything within striking range will be horribly cut or blown away, save for the user (created)

Kitsune no Hijutsu: Kitsunebi Endan (Secret Art of the Foxes: Will-o'-the-Wisp Round Shots, literally Fox-Fire Flame Bullets): unknown close- to mid-range hijutsu; this secret art allows Doshaburi to fire rounds of small, gaseous fireballs from his muzzle; the ordained fox starts off with firing off one blast, and with more practice and training, the number of fireballs, velocity, and power will gradually increase; kitsune-equivalent to Katon: Housenka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique) (created)

Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Missile Technique): B-rank offensive mid- to long-range ninjutsu; creates a serpentine dragon made of water to attack the opponent; the drawback is that there has to be a body of water nearby (Narutopedia)

Doton: Daichi Kobu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Vast Land Swelling Technique): Low C-rank offensive close- to mid-range ninjutsu; with the aid of earth-based chakra, the user can "move" the earth in any direction at will to simply block or strike an opponent (created)

Seirei no Kaishun Higi: Kitsunebi (Spiritual Rejuvenation Ritual: Fox-Fire, alternatively known as Will-o'-the-Wisp): Unclassified special ritual that only the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko (Nine-Tailed Demon Fox) can perform; in essence, the chakra coils are replenished by expelling youki (demonic energy) if the user is out of chakra and forces open all closed tenketsu; this is usually preceded by hovering, ghastly flames falling back into the Kyuubi's vessel; however, the setback is that it is moderately painful when reopening the closed pressure points (created)

Fuuton: Kazekiri (Wind Release: Wind Drill): B-rank offensive close-range ninjutsu; based on the initial principles of the Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere) and Gentle Fist-style of tenketsu chakra-expulsion, the user expels chakra from the points on his or her arm to create a funnel of energy encased around the forearm region; with advanced elemental control, the user can add in his or her particular chakra nature into the drill; in Naruto's case, it is his primary elemental affinity—wind (created)

Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique): D-rank supplementary short-range ninjutsu; the user, emerging from the ground below the target area, pulls down (or possibly swaps places with) the opponent so that only his/her head is above ground (Narutopedia)

Kamaitachi no Jutsu (Sickle Weasel Technique): C-rank offensive short- to mid-range technique; by freely manipulating the gale brought forth from her Giant Folding Fan, the many air currents collide and create vacuum pockets, severing the foes Temari has trapped with slashing winds; this technique has enough power to lift an opponent off his or her feet (Narutopedia)

Ichibi (no Shukaku): One-Tailed Shukaku: a tailed-beast and wind-spirit elemental; currently sealed within Sabaku no Gaara; lowest in terms on the power gradient of bijuu

Kiyoshi: derived from either the kanji for "White" (白) or "Cleanse/Purify" (清), he is Sasuke's personal wildcat familiar seen in the last chapter; ironically enough, despite his unisex name, his fur, for the most part, is black

Katon: Nenshou no Jutsu (Fire Release: Combustion Technique): C-rank supplementary ninjutsu; user is enveloped in a dazzling blaze, due to the considerable burst of speed that grinds against the friction in the air; provides an amplifier to other Katon ninjutsu (created)

Chidori (One Thousand Birds): A-rank offensive short-range ninjutsu; a large amount of chakra is concentrated into the user's arm; the nature and shape of the chakra takes on the form of electricity; combined with the high speed at which the user travels and the ball of electric chakra in the user's hand, it creates the distinct sound of many birds chirping; in short, it is a "kid-brother" version of Raikiri (Lightning Cutter) (Narutopedia)

—.o.0.0.o.—

Special Omake: Haku's Hidden Power

I'll warn you ahead of time: slight yuri (shoujo-ai) as you read on…

Haku came up empty once she realized that she had run out of chakra paper. Well, she could not say that; rather, she did not have any on her person.

Period.

"So, what now, Haku-neesan?" Sakura asked from the hanging silence.

Suddenly, a hint of red dusted the Hyouton kunoichi's cheeks as she fumbled with her painted fingernails. "I…know a way to figure out your chakra nature."

The rosette-haired girl blinked once, actually trying to absorb what her temporary mentor uttered. "You mean, without the need for chakra paper?"

If she looked in the mirror, her face would have easily assumed the hue of a cherry. "Yes…"

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" Green eyes burned alight with worry as she pressed her hand against the older girl's forehead. "You're not sick, right?"

"No, no, I'm fine," Haku deflected, keeping the heat rising to her face. 'Is it really worth it, though?' What would entail afterward would only make things a bit…awkward…

"Oh…" That made the budding female ninja relax a slight amount. "So, how can you find out my chakra nature?"

"…Close your eyes, first," she commanded, looking around to see if anyone eavesdropped. Luckily, her senses picked up no one.

Sakura did as she was told. Her lids closed shut as her breathing grew steady and normal. "What's next?" She sensed a growing eagerness line the pit of her stomach, really wanting to uncover her elemental chakra nature. She did not want to be outdone by the headstrong boys on her squadron.

Haku's next move took the younger kunoichi by complete surprise when she felt a pair of soft lips mashed up to hers. Her emerald eyes almost bugged out when she saw her tutor, eyes half-lidded, holding her in place by the back of her head at the embrace…and the really strange moment. 'She's kissing me!'

By the gods, she wanted her first kiss to be from Sasuke-kun, damn it!

'But…on the other hand…' Sakura wondered in a curious stupor, returning the passion with matching fervor, '…it feels kind of nice…'

Was she not supposed to find out her chakra nature?

Haku, on the other hand, tasted a rich, humble and worldly flavor from the younger girl's saliva. Then, she broke off the lip-locking, leading Sakura to mewl like a kitten and flutter off to another lofty height.

"Haku…neesan?" Sakura stood on cloud nine, without a care in the world. It was weird, yes, but… "Why'd you stop?"

"I already figured it out, Sakura-san." A light pink dusted across the ice-conjuring kunoichi's cheeks, this time. "My special ability allows me to 'taste' the natural element flowing through your body via saliva exchange."

"Didn't know you were a fantastic kisser…" The jade-eyed girl huskily murmured.

"…Wow…" Even her inner ego had nothing to say, despite the fact that Soto-chan's mind flew up into the skies above. "You might want to listen to her…"

The brunette blushed at the compliment. "Um…thank you, Sakura-san." She cleared her throat. "By the way, from what I sensed, your chakra nature happens to be…"

Haku's low voice got drowned out by a dull roar of wind as it swept by the training area.

Omake A/N: Do bear in mind that this part is NOT canon. I repeat: this part is NOT canonical to the TFD storyline. That is all.

By the way, did you really think I'd reveal Sakura's chakra nature here? Guess again! =P