Naruto:Death's Second Chance

by Le loup de Kaiser

Ever since the attack of the Kyubi, Naruto was shunned as ‘Konoha’s Demon’ when he was born with the Kyubi sealed in him. His life was miserable beyond grief. NaruHina, Naruto/Bleach Crossover.

20. Chuunin Exams have Begun

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Ever since the attack of the Kyuubi, Naruto was shunned as 'Konoha's Demon' when he was born with the Kyuubi sealed in him. His life was miserable beyond grief. Time passed by and he has slowly proven himself as its jailer instead of its incarnate. But despite this, love never truly touched the young jinchuuriki's heart until death came over him.

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A/N: I do not own Naruto, Bleach or any other canonical characters. If I did, I wouldn't be here in FF now would I?

A/N: Thanks for everyone's reviews. I'm glad that someone pointed out my grave mistakes in the last chapter. So I'll keep things in check from now on.

Talking
'thinking/flashback'
Kyuubi Talking/Jutsu
'Kyuubi Thinking'

Chapter 20

Chuunin Exams have begun

With repercussions of the night before…

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Dawn cracked the blue sky with the flash of orange and red light that slowly rose up to awaken the residents of Konoha. The light of dawn woke up the young blonde's body as his eyes fluttered back and forth before his vision gained focus. He quickly got out of his bed, which was now the master's bedroom of his father's house, and decided to shower early this time not because he wasn't planning on sweating today, but rather to ponder upon the repercussions of last night's fiasco.

The young blonde then let the running water of the shower to beat on his body and dampen his hair as he struck his fist on the shower wall. "Kuso! How the hell did that clone get out of hand? What happened back there?"

His tenant shook his head as he replied, Baka! Isn't it obvious? Your prank went out of hand and you ended up blowing off some steam through it. If you want things to get better, you'd better keep your emotions in check.

The young blonde began grabbing his hair that has grown a little more over the few weeks and shouted, "Kuso! The damage is done and there's no way to apologize! What do I do?"

His tenant, irritated by his vessel's panic, replied, Baka! Calm down before you wake up the neighborhood! Listen to me well and you can get out of this easily.

The young blonde listened with all ears as a smile crept up his face with every word he heard from his tenant. Naruto then left the shower and changed both outwardly and inwardly as he shunpo'd to the kitchen. He then began cooking as Ichigo entered the kitchen and rubbed the sand out his still sleepy eyes.

"You wake up this early too?" Naruto said as Ichigo grabbed a glass and began cracking eggs into it.

"School does that to you. How did you get rid of Sasuke last night?" Ichigo said before drinking the glassful of eggs.

The young blonde sighed as he began flipping the eggs and rolling them up with dried seaweed. "I screwed up last night."

"So he knows already?" Ichigo asked in surprise.

The young blonde shook his head as he began molding the rice and adding it to the rolled up scrambled eggs. "No. It's just that last night, my way of getting rid of him was too drastic and I need to apologize somehow but if I do, he'll suspect me of a lot of things."

"That sounds like fun. Getting on your friend's bad or annoyed side is just an everyday thing for you." Ichigo sarcastically stated.

Just as Naruto finished making Tamago and onigiri, he felt the reiatsu of the person he did not want to meet up with right away just a few blocks away from his house. The young blonde then packed up the tamago and onigiri into a bento box and shunpo'd out of the house leaving Ichigo to himself.

With a vein throbbing on his forehead, Ichigo then said, "He left without saying goodbye and cleaning up the mess."

While Ichigo cleaned up the mess and explored the Namikaze home, Naruto rushed to meet Sasuke who was closing in on his house.

The young blonde managed to find Sasuke on the streets as he hid in a corner before running normally to meet the brooding Uchiha.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here so early?" Naruto asked as he stopped right in front of the young Uchiha.

Sasuke had definite eye bags on his face implying that he wasn't in the best shape and hadn't slept for eight hours and a slight grumble from his stomach that echoed out loud told the young blonde that he didn't eat breakfast either.

Sasuke blushed a little when he heard his stomach grumble out loud causing the young blonde to smile as he handed out a bento to Sasuke.

"Arigato. I couldn't sleep last night and Kakashi said that we should meet up at the bridge near training ground seven." Sasuke replied as he quickly opened the bento and ate the food with renewed vigor as color filled his face again.

The two boys then took a stroll to Sakura's house to pick her up as well. As they walked down the street, Naruto yawned and said, "Hey Sasuke, how about we have a sparring match while we wait up for Kakashi-sensei?"

Sasuke smirked in reply as they got to Sakura's house and the raven-haired boy knocked on the wooden door. The door swung open as an older woman with pink hair meet the two new visitors.

"We're here to pick up our teammate Sakura. We have a training mission today." Sasuke said to the woman who gave a hard gaze at the young blonde. This of course, did not evade Sasuke's observant eyes and mind despite his tired state.

The woman then shifted her eyes to the young Uchiha and smiled at him making Sasuke even more suspicious of the woman as she said, "Oh, I see. I'll go get Sakura."

The woman then closed the door behind her as she went to wake the slumbering Sakura. While they waited for her to awaken from slumber, Sasuke then sighed as he faced Naruto and gave him a sharp glare, which made the young blonde sweat drop.

'Oh, great! This is just perfect. He's wondering about the hatred of Sakura's mom to me.' The young blonde thought as he backed away a few steps.

Sasuke then bluntly asked him, "Naruto, why do so many people hate you? And what are you hiding?"

Naruto then gave him a foxy grin and said, "Well, given my reputation it should be pretty obvious."

"Not too obvious. You're the one who emphasized teamwork but I have this feeling that you're not telling us something." Sasuke replied making the young blonde inwardly jump knowing how close he is to blowing his cover.

"You have feelings? That's new." Naruto wittily replied.

Sasuke huffed knowing that once Naruto starts acting this way, he won't open up and make all sorts of excuses at this point. The young blonde was pretty clever when it came to getting away with things. But what really made the young blonde so elusive was his unnatural amount of luck as it played out with the exit of Sakura from her door as the sun flared the sky at the east, indicating the start of morning.

"So Kakashi-sensei wants us to train this early? Knowing him, he'll be three hours late." Sakura lazily said as she approached the team.

Naruto then ran up to her and said, "Ohayo Sakura-chan! I made fresh bento for you since we won't b—" before he continued his sentence, he accidentally tripped and incidentally, shoved Sasuke forward, causing the raven-haired boy to keel over and collapse right on top of Sakura. This of course, ended up with their lips meeting like never before as they landed on the ground, lips to lips.

Both genins were blushing three shades darker as Sasuke got up and made a very bad impression of Naruto and said, "G-gomen! It was an accident!"

Sakura got up and looked away as her blushed remained and she swayed her body in excitement. "It's alright Sasuke-kun. I know it was an accident. It's fine really."

"Oi! When you guys are done being lovey-dovey over there, can we get to the bridge already!" Naruto hollered out from a distance.

"How did he…never mind, let's go." Sasuke said to the pink-haired girl who tailed him with an almost permanent blush and hearts for eyes, as two yellow eyes in the shadows, kept an ever vigilant watch of the team like a predator, hunting it's prey.

Meanwhile…out in the outskirts of the sandy desserts on the border of Sand, a man in white pants, shoes, long white sleeved shirt, and a small white mantle, coughed out the rough, desert air that entered his mouth as he adjusted the frames of his rectangular glasses. He wasn't so used to the dessert nor it's heat despite having experience in Hueco Mundo.

As he dusted off the dirt on his pants, another figure came closer to him. She wore a kimono and hakama in colors opposite the man's outfit, and a brown cape over it as she covered her mouth to prevent the same situation from occurring to her.

"So this is what Naruto's world looks like. Hard to believe he grew up in a place like this," the woman said as she fastened her zanpakuto to prevent it from falling off.

"I doubt we're anywhere near where he is. We've been traveling for some time now and I can't seem to see the others Rukia-san." The man said as he looked around.

Rukia then took out her GPS and searched for the reiatsu signal of her nakama but couldn't get farther than the edge of Konoha's gate. She then closed the device and said, "None of them are within range up to now. We must have been scattered all over the place."

"Well we first have to reach Konoha since that's where we'll be gathering before we take another step further." The man said to her as he walked forward.

"Ishida, Konoha is about two days away from here moving normally. If we hurry up, we could get there in half the time." Rukia stated.

"So we're not that far off. Either way, we have to get out of the desert and into the forest up ahead where it's safer." Ishida replied seeing the forest up ahead.

Both then ran through into the forest as fast as possible without faltering. Sure they would expend some energy by doing so, but their trek would be more efficient this way.

As the pair moved as quickly as they could, another man far off in the north of Konoha had just gotten the right directions to the famous city as he trekked southwards while the sun beat down on his tanned skin and messy brown hair.

In the west of Konoha a man with fiery red hair and the same attire as Rukia had just finished drinking from the river as a woman came running to him.

"Abarai-kun! I found the location of Konoha!" the orange haired woman exclaimed.

"Yosh. I was getting tired of being lost. So where is it?" He asked her.

"Konoha is just east from here and it's not too far away either." The perky woman said.

Before the two could depart, an idea struck the red haired man. He then asked of his companion, "Where did you get the directions?"

"A man who just came from there and was heading home to his country here." The woman replied as she fixed her hairclips before they returned to their journey to Konoha.

And finally, at the gates of Konoha, team ten halted a wild haired man in a striped hat carrying a large rucksack on his back from stepping any further upon Konoha soil.

"This is so troublesome but we can't let you in if you don't state your purpose in Konoha." Shikamaru said as Asuma kept a close watch of his team.

"Yare, yare. I'm a simple candy peddler here to make a living." The man said as he put down his rucksack and showed them his goods.

Chouji's mouth was watering as he saw the big bag of chips inside and got a devious idea…At least for him.

"Your goods are not allowed until we inspect them personally." The plump boy said as he approached the bag with fire in his eyes until Asuma yanked him back by the collar.

"Oops. We can't have that happen. You just ate barbeque awhile ago and sweets aren't good for your body." Asuma stated to the pleading Akamichi.

"Alright, you better get going before my teammate over there annoys me with his bottomless pit." Ino said as she tried to shoo him away.

But the man was much more persistent than that as he said, "Arigato for your hospitality. As a token for my thanks, how about having a free bite of my products?"

Chouji's eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "Asuma-sensei! Free food!"

Asuma couldn't do anything at this point as the candy peddler gave them each, a piece of candy except for Ino who refused.

"Why not? An ojou-sama as your self can at least spare for some candy." The peddler said to her as he smiled.

"No thanks. I'm on a diet and sweets aren't part of it unlike Chouji." Ino replied.

Still persistent as ever, the candy peddler cheerfully and charismatically replied, "How about sugarless candy for those such as yourself? I have one that models have been eating for years now without gaining an inch of fat. In fact, it helps reduce fat and make a woman look even more womanly."

Asuma shook his head as he thought, 'There's no way Ino will fall for th—'

"I'll take it!" Ino exclaimed much to Shikamaru and Asuma's chagrin as the peddler went on his way into the streets of Konoha.

Team seven finally arrived at the bridge while Naruto kept ever vigilant of his surroundings.

"Yosh! I'll just do a couple of stretching exercises and we can spar all we want." The young blonde exclaimed.

Sakura then pulled Sasuke to the side as Naruto began his stretching exercises. Sasuke was curious as to what Sakura wanted.

"What now Sakura?" Sasuke said as Sakura checked to see if Naruto was paying attention before she whispered to the raven-haired boy's ear. "Sasuke-kun, why is Naruto so nice today?"

Sasuke wondered about that as well. Normally, the young blonde avoids being too nice to them or being too mean. But a sudden change in heart is surprising.

"I don't get it either but as long as he's not playing pranks it's fine with me." Sasuke said as he moved closer to the young blonde and takes a fighting stance.

Naruto had just finished his stretching as he took a fighting stance and faced Sasuke. They both stood still with a sense of calm. Sasuke was cautious as to not allow any openings this time since he knows first hand of the blonde's taijutsu skills.

Naruto was waiting for the right time to strike as a slight breeze blew allowing some leaves to flow between them as Sakura sat down and ate from the bento with joy. A leaf passed through the vision of Sasuke allowing Naruto to make the first move.

Sasuke blocked Naruto's right fist with his left arm as he attempted to parry it to the side. The young blonde then stepped his left foot forward in between Sasuke's legs as he grabbed Sasuke's left arm with his left hand and his shirt by the collar with his right. He quickened his movements as he spun and threw Sasuke to the ground. Sasuke quickly spun to sweep the young blonde's legs but was unable to as Naruto shifted his anchor leg and got Sasuke in a headlock with his legs and also trapped Sasuke's left arm within the submission hold.

Sakura was too shocked to understand how Naruto was able to take down Sasuke with ease as the raven-haired boy gasped for air.

"Round one is my win." Naruto said before letting go of Sasuke and getting back to his stance.

'I didn't see that coming. I'll have to use Sharingan if I want to cope.' The raven-haired boy thought as he got up and revealed his bloodline limit. Naruto knew that things would get a bit more intense from here on and had prepared for this.

Sasuke charged and threw a right kick to the young blonde who caught the leg by the ankle and knee preventing Sasuke from shifting his weight to make a follow up attack as he moved forward causing both fighters to fall down as Naruto got Sasuke's right leg in a leg lock. The young Uchiha tried rolling to prevent the leg lock but his movement made things worse allowing Naruto to make both his legs locked as the young blonde stood up and kept the pressure on Sasuke's crossed legs by the ankles while the raven-haired boy's upper body was bent on the floor.

"Second win Sasuke. It doesn't matter if you can see my movements if I have you in a position where you can't move your body to fight back." Naruto calmly stated as he let go of the submission hold and took his stance again.

Sasuke tried over and over to attack from different directions while Naruto kept using Sasuke's weight and balance against him allowing the young blonde to repeatedly throw him upon the floor. Sasuke now knew the full extent of Naruto's abilities in taijutsu and was enjoying their spar since he was learning Naruto's fighting skills at the same time.

The young blonde knew that Sasuke was enjoying their battle even though he was losing. But eventually, the raven-haired boy was slowly adapting to the situation as Naruto crossed Sasuke's two arms together and spun them like a wheel allowing Sasuke to fall to the floor and giving Naruto the chance to get him into a headlock. Sasuke was able to see it coming and sweep Naruto's leg causing him to lose balance as the young Uchiha got up but Naruto still held fast to Sasuke's right arm as he pulled down and got Sasuke into a headlock and shoulder lock with his legs while the young blonde was still on the floor. Without hesitation, Naruto shifted the weight of his legs to cause Sasuke to fall over on his left side as Naruto used this opportunity to pin Sasuke to the floor with his full weight while at the same time, giving the raven-haired boy no chance to use his other arm or body to escape. Sasuke couldn't get out of this one and struggled for a few seconds until out of adrenaline, he tapped the floor with his other trapped hand, indicating that he was withdrawing from the fight.

Naruto let go allowing the young Uchiha to slump to the floor as he panted and gasped for air once more.

"That's my eightieth win Sasuke. Good to know you're improving." Naruto said as he gave him his infamous foxy grin.

"I was just warming up." Sasuke boastfully stated as he deactivated his Sharingan.

Sakura huffed and crossed her arms as she said, "Man, you guys never quit. Three hours and you're still at it. Both of you changed ever since that mission to Wave." Kakashi-sensei, hurry up and come damn it!

And just before the two rivals could continue, the white-haired jounin arrived on top of one of the red gateway arches of the bridge with his new book in hand and what seems to be a staff neatly wrapped in cloth on his back as he said, "Hello everybody. Ohayo. I got lost today so…"

And the genins of team seven unanimously shouted, "You're late!"

Kakashi inwardly grinned when he saw their unanimous death glares. "Today, we'll be doing some training so that we can work better as a team. Hopefully, we can learn some new jutsus on the way."

Sasuke kept focus on Kakashi at this point as a small smile grew on the young Uchiha's brooding face. Naruto mentally slapped himself since he knew that Kakashi wasn't going to let up on the investigation and he would have to hide his abilities carefully while Sakura pouted and sighed in regret.

Before Kakashi could swing the moods even further, Naruto then made a Kage Bunshin and sent him on his way. Curious of why he did that, Kakashi asked, "Hey Naruto, why did you make a clone? Forgot something?"

The young blonde scratched his head as a blush formed on his face. "Yeah I did. I needed him to run errands for me today." 'Actually, he's got a lot of missions today aside from buying stuff from the house. I forgot to check up on Haku and Ichigo today as well as Hinata-chan.'

"You could've done that with the three hours we had to wait for Kakashi-sensei to arrive baka." Sakura bluntly stated.

"And you could've used those three hours to get even more intimate with Sasuke than that kiss you gave him this morning." Naruto slyly retorted.

Kakashi was intrigued by the newfound knowledge of his students as Sasuke and Sakura blushed a shade darker.

"Anyway, let's head over to training ground seven." Kakashi stated as he handed to Naruto the cloth-wrapped stick on his back. The young blonde unwrapped it as Sasuke and Sakura watched with curiosity to see a wooden katana complete with a sheath in the hands of the young blonde.

"Arigato Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed as they went on their way to training ground seven while Sasuke had a hint of jealousy for the young blonde's new toy.

The team squeezed out every ounce of sweat and energy they could muster from the harsh training of Kakashi. Sakura was worse for wear with the sudden change of pace that Kakashi made for their training program while Naruto and Sasuke coped without much difficulty. Naturally, Naruto held back most of the time so that it would appear that he was still an imbecile. This, of course, frustrated the one-eyed jounin since his investigation wasn't going as planned.

Eventually, the peak of the heat bore down upon the heavy shoulders and sweaty brows of the young Uchiha and the pink-haired girl as noon came. However, Naruto wasn't sweating or looking winded at all as if he wasn't even warmed up. It was the only flaw in Naruto's mask since he couldn't control his naturally involuntary muscles and organs as the rest of the team pondered upon Naruto's hidden agenda.

Team seven strolled back into the streets of Konoha as Naruto brought out his black book and read it while keeping his pace at the back of the group, preventing the others from glancing at the contents of his book with curiosity.

Kakashi then blurted out, "Shall we call it quits for today? I have to go submit the mission report since your training was still part of the mission."

Sakura huffed out in relief while Sasuke turned around to leave.

"Thanks for breakfast and the match we had earlier." Sasuke said as Naruto leaned upon the wooden wall and nodded before continuing his reading.

Sakura then handed the empty bento to Naruto and thanked him before walking off to follow Sasuke who turned her down. Had the young blonde still had feelings for Sakura at this point, he would have been heart-broken. But he had someone much better than her and was happier than ever.

Sakura cried anime tears as the young blonde lazily stated, "If you want to get his heart you got to grab him by the balls. Otherwise, he'll never look up to you. He needs someone he can depend on and not just another fan girl."

Sakura reared her vein-throbbing face at Naruto and replied, "Shut up lazy ass. What do you know about feelings?"

Naruto flipped another page as Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Not much. But if Sasuke really hated you, he'd just keep walking instead of bluntly encouraging you. That's his way of saying 'I'm interested but I look much deeper than that.'"

Sakura quit her whining at that point and realized that Naruto was telling the truth. Even in the academy, Sasuke was aloof to every girl except her. This made her blush as a smile crept on her face while Inner Sakura shouted, Yosha! We got him in the palm of our hands Shannaro!

"You're actually smarter than you let on Naruto. What else haven't you told us?" Sakura said hoping to suck up more juicy info from the blonde about Sasuke.

"That I'm being tailed by a square rock with two eyeholes." Naruto stated as he glared at the bad camouflaging technique of the Konohamaru Corps behind Sakura.

Sakura looked to see what Naruto meant and sweatdropped.

"I should have expected that from the man whom I have high hopes for and is also my rival." Konohamaru said as the box flew out while three puffs of thick smoke emerged and several coughing sounds were heard.

"Hey, you used too much gunpowder." Konohamaru said to his teammate before they performed their ridiculous introduction.

"Just as I thought, it was the three of you." Naruto said as he closed his book and eyed the kunai in Konohamaru's right hand.

The young blonde grinned as he said, "So you finally got the kunai. Ready to take you're freedom back?"

"Not yet. Let's play ninja today!" Konohamaru yelled at him.

"No can do. I'm busy today." Naruto said as he quickly glanced at the black cat by the corner before it etched out a line with three circles along the line on the post by the corner.

"What's the point of a ninja playing ninja?" Sakura said in a dark tone as she eyed the young blonde with frustration.

Konohamaru and his gang noticed this and had the wrong idea. "You're better than I thought. She's your…" he then stuck out his pinky from his closed left fist and continued with a smile. "Right?"

Sakura was even more frustrated and Naruto replied to Konohamaru, "Nah. She's my teammate. Who'd want a cherry demon as a girlfriend? Honestly, I'm scared of those types of girls especially if they had pink hair."

Sakura threw her fist at the young blonde only for him to reappear behind her and transform into Sasuke as he embraced her and said, "Don't be so mad. I'll take good care of you from now on."

Sakura cringed and carried the transformed blonde on her two arms as she shouted, "Kuso! Playing with my feelings like a puppeteer. You're the worst NARUTO!"

She then threw him to the wall only for him to kick off it and land back on his feet. The Konohamaru Corps then brought out scorecards and raised it high with the numbers ten and one nine shone off it as the young blonde bowed in thanks making Sakura all the more frustrated with him because of his agility.

"Haha! The ugly girl couldn't lay a finger on Leader!" Konohamaru said making it the last statement he'd say for the day. Sakura then glared at Konohamaru with hate before cracking her knuckles, making him shiver with fright.

Sakura then walked away in anger, leaving a beaten Konohamaru and a seemingly bruised Naruto as the young blonde dropped the henge.

The two boys got up as Konohamaru held his bump on his head and said, "That stupid wide-head-forehead-girl…is she even a girl?"

Naruto knew that his words didn't bode well since Sakura was still within hearing range. The young blonde then quickly made a one-handed seal while everyone was still preoccupied with their emotions of fright as Sakura reared her head back at them and then began rambling like the banshee she is and gave chase to them.

They ran for their lives and when Konohamaru decided to run much faster, he accidentally bumped into a teen in a batman-like costume and a human-sized, bandaged object on his back. He even had purple face paint, reminiscent of the Kabuki from an old Japanese play.

As the young boy fell on his behind, he noticed that the guy wasn't alone and had a female companion who had blonde hair and short bangs with four ponytails at the back and brown eyes. She wore chain mail underneath her white, rolled up sleeved dress that stopped at her middle thighs and was buttoned down at her right side while a red sash secured it around her waist. She also had the same chain mail on her legs like short, disconnected stockings that alternated starting from her shinobi sandals up. Also, a large, metal, collapsible fan burdened her back though she seemed capable of carrying it and her hitai-ate was slung around her neck, indicating she was a shinobi.

"That hurt." The painted guy said as he grabbed Konohamaru by the collar and lifted him to eye level.

The others panicked as Naruto eyed the boy stoically while his clone managed to find Sasuke's and Gaara's position in the trees before he would make his entry.

Konohamaru struggled as the painted guy said, "That hurt, gaki."

"Stop it! We're going to get scolded later." His female companion said as she looked away.

Naruto then stepped up and unhinged the hand of the guy allowing Konohamaru to land safely to the floor as he cowered behind Naruto.

"So you think you're tough eh?" the painted guy said as he eyed the blonde with a killing intent. Naruto smirked as his clone used Shunpo and got behind the painted guy with a kunai in a reverse grip as the blade rested safely near the guy's throat and the blade of a sickle in between the guys legs as it threatened to lop off his groins while the clone held the scythe's handle in the other hand.

The painted guy was stunned into silence as he thought, 'Bakana! How did he get behind me so fast? I didn't even sense him!'

'How did he get behind Kankuro like that? I didn't even see him!' Kankuro's female companion thought as a bead of sweat began pouring from her brow. Meanwhile, Sasuke gazed completely speechless, as did Sakura and the Konohamaru Corps.

Naruto then dispersed the clone and placed his hands in his pocket as he confidently said, "I don't just know. I am tough. Sand nins should give respect as much as we give it to you. The last thing you guys need is a war with Konoha after all the political crap you guys are going through because of your economic decline. Leave in peace or I won't hesitate the next time."

The young blonde turned on his heel as he walked away only for an enraged Kankuro to throw his other fist as he shouted, "Don't kid with me!"

His fist never connected as Sasuke threw the rock in his hands at the fist of Kankuro. Everyone looked at where the rock came from as Sasuke said, "What do you think you're doing in another's village?"

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted in glee.

"Get lost." Sasuke said to them as he crushed another rock in his hands to emphasize his remark.

"I hate kids like you who think they're so clever. I'll take you down and your friends." Kankuro said as he removed the bandaged pillar on his back as his female companion panicked. "You're going to use Karasu?!" She questioned in anxiousness.

"Kankuro, stop." A deep, deathly voice said from a tree branch not far from Sasuke's position making the two sand nins gape in fright. As they looked to see a red haired nin with a red tattoo of the kanji for love imprinted on the left side of his forehead. He wore brown pants and a short sleeved shirt over his chain mail armor while a white sash hung around his right shoulder to fasten upon his back a large gourd with a red sash about it's middle. There were several seals written on it too. Several more leather straps further secured it in place while his hitai-ate was tied to the largest buckle as he pierced his black eye-lined, green eyes into the souls of his now frightened comrades.

"You're a disgrace to our village. Why do you think we came here all the way to Konoha?" The red haired boy said making Kankuro and his female companion even more frightened while a smile crept up on Naruto's face.

'When did this guy appear next to me? He was as quiet as Kakashi and Naruto's bunshinSasuke thought as he eyed the red haired nin warily.

"Listen, Gaara…these guys started it." Kankuro complained.

"Shut up. Or I'll kill you." Gaara coldly said making his companions shiver and back away in fright.

Gaara then eyed the Konoha genins and the Konohamaru Corps as he said, "Excuse them, you guys." Gaara then shunsined, leaving behind a bit of sand and landed beside his fellow sand nins. "Let's go. We didn't come here to fool around." He told his companions as they begun to walk away.

Sakura then said, "Wait up!"

"What is it?" Gaara coldly replied as Sasuke landed beside the Konohamaru Corps.

"You're shinobis from Sunagakure right? Konoha and Suna have an alliance but a treaty prevents shinobi from entering each other's countries without permission. State your purpose." Sakura stated.

"What you're looking for is closer than you think." The blonde girl said as she showed her traffic pass.

"This is a traffic pass." The blonde girl said. "As you have guessed, we're genins of Sunagakure from Suna no Kuni. We came to this village to take the Chuunin selection Exam."

"Figures." Naruto said as he calmly eyed Gaara not with malice, but nostalgia as the sand nins walked away.

Sasuke on the other hand, eyed him with suspicion as he said, "Hey, you there. What's you're name."

The female blonde blushed slightly as she turned around and said, "Me?"

"No. The one beside you with the gourd." Sasuke replied as the other two sand nins stopped and turned around.

"Sabaku no Gaara. I am also interested in you. What's your name?" Gaara replied.

Sasuke had small smile as he answered, "Uchiha Sasuke."

Gaara then turned his head towards the fiery, but calm young blonde who never left his azure eyes from the red haired nin. "And you. What's your name?"

Naruto walked forward with a confident face as he stood a few steps away from Gaara and calmly said, "Uzumaki Naruto. By the feel of your aura, you must be the jinchuuriki of the Ichibi known as Shukaku. Am I right?"

The sand nins' eyes widened at what they heard while Sasuke and Sakura were confused by the new revelation that still circled in their minds along with how Naruto was involved in all these things.

Gaara smirked as he approached the young blonde and smiled making Kankuro and his female companion terrified since Gaara had never smiled like this before.

"I'm afraid that's true. Who are you? I don't know anyone outside my village who knows my identity." Gaara stated, as his smile never seemed to leave him for the moment while Sasuke and Sakura pondered the same question as well.

Naruto gave him a foxy grin as he said, "A fellow friend who knows pain like you do." Naruto blinked for a moment revealing his crimson-slit eyes for a split second, making Kankuro, and the blonde girl back away as Gaara smiled even more devilish than before, causing the Konohamaru Corps to shudder in fear as Sakura and Sasuke did the same.

"You're even more interesting." Gaara said as he gestured Naruto to shake hands. The moment the young blonde did, he felt the surge of killing intent from Gaara. He smiled just as wildly as he sent his own and a small surge of spiritual pressure making Gaara flinch a little before letting go and regaining composure.

"You're very strong. With power like that, I'm surprised you're still a genin. I'd like to see you in the chuunin exams." Gaara said, as his face became stoic once more.

Sasuke bit his thumb to relieve himself from the sudden shock as he thought, 'Kuso! I couldn't move or speak when these guys were shaking hands. What is he? A monster? And what is Naruto? This is getting out of hand.'

Naruto then placed his hands in his pocket and said, "I can't enter the chuunin exams if my sensei hasn't allowed me to. But hopefully, we will."

Gaara and his team then left leaving the rest of the Konoha nins in shock as Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the collar and said, "Okay, what's going on here? How do you know them?"

Naruto slightly looked over Sasuke's shoulder to see the black cat that was paying attention all this time, walk away. This didn't evade Sasuke's sight, as he looked over his shoulder to see nothing making him even more frustrated.

"Sasuke-kun, you won't get anything out of him by forcing him." Sakura said to him, making the raven-haired boy even more frustrated.

"Hey put down our Leader you jerk!" Moegi said while Udon and Konohamaru agreed.

Sasuke then put him down. But the moment he did, a breeze blew by as leaves began to fall. Sasuke was prepared for this and grabbed Naruto again as he said, "You're not getting away this time. I know about your Shunsin."

"Maybe you do. But this fox is still one step ahead of the hounds. I'm getting hungry so I'll be getting some dango if you don't mind." The young blonde said as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Kuso! A Kage Bunshin." Sasuke said as he walked towards the post to search for anything that could lead him to where Naruto could be heading.

"Sasuke-kun, there's no way that Naruto would leave anything behind. I hate to admit it, but he's too smart for his own good."

Sasuke ignored her as he got up and said, "That's why I'm following him. There's too many weird things about him. Where can you buy dango around here?"

Sakura then used this as a chance to get closer to him as she politely replied, "I can show you where it is."

With that, the two other members of team seven left in search for the mysterious young blonde.

Meanwhile, near the red light district of Konoha, Haku was overlooking the city from his window as he ate some dango and onigiri for lunch. With his remaining funds, it was all he can afford.

"Konoha sure is busy at this hour." He said as he looked at his new hitai-ate by the windowsill. He was happy that he was free to be himself and start a new life all thanks to Naruto. And speaking of which, the young blonde was already at Haku's door as he knocked on it.

Haku then opened the door to see the smiling young blonde carrying his katars and a new set of clothing for Haku to wear.

"Hello Naruto-kun. What brings you here?" Haku asked of him.

"Here. These are yours. I don't need the katars anymore since they've lost their purpose already. And the clothes are for you. It's not a good idea to walk around looking like a mist medic nin.

Naruto was right about both points he made. The katars had broken down leaving only the metal and leather arm straps intact while the blade had become extremely brittle and it was unwise to wear clothing that could easily cost his life. Haku then let the young blonde in as he inspected the broken weapon.

"What happened here? They were in good condition when we fought but after you used them, they've rusted away." Haku said as he touched the flat side of the blades only for it to break apart, leaving it fangless.

"That's because they're pure sodium. The only reason they didn't break apart was because I used chakra to reinforce them so that they wouldn't rust away quickly. But the moment I let go, the properties of the weapon began to mix with the air around me and break apart like now." The young blonde explained as he swept the broken metal parts and dislodged the broken remains of the katar from its hilt.

Haku nodded with a full understanding of the weapon. The young bishounen then took his new clothing from the young blonde and quickly put them on in his bathroom while Naruto inspected the room and saw the view from the window. It was splendid until he saw Mizore walking down the street carrying several grocery bags and into the condominium where Haku stayed.

"So she lives here. Most likely, she's with her father. That reminds me. I better get to Ichigo as well and get our sparring session underway." The young blonde said as he turned around to see the new outfit of Haku.

Haku kept his hair down and still wore his black choker. His new outfit was a sleeveless, buttoned up, black version of the chuunin exam proctors' military officer uniform over his chain mail. He also wore black shinobi pants that were tucked in his brown combat boots as a utility belt held his clothing in place. His hands were fitted with soft-padded, blue shinobi gloves.

"I'm not sure about this style Naruto-kun. It feels much tighter than my old one." Haku said as he inspected the outfit.

"It looks good on you Haku. Anyway, you can outfit the katar straps to have multipurpose functions at the blacksmith's place in Konoha. I can take you there if you'd like." Naruto stated as he began walking out the door.

Haku followed closely as he said, "Arigato Naruto-kun. I don't have much money with me so I'll just take a look."

So Haku and Naruto's clone marched their way towards the blacksmith's shop to see what they're selling.

As Naruto's clone got to work, the real young blonde was at the dango stand where he saw the black cat approach a man in a green and white striped hat eating some of the stand's delicious food. Naruto then sat down one seat away from the man as Sasuke and Sakura barely made it in time to listen in on Naruto's conversation from two tables away.

"It's great to eat dango on a hot day don't you think so?" Naruto said to the wild haired man.

"It sure is. I just arrived here and I'm really feeling the heat. Yoruichi thinks so as well." The man said as he gave the black cat a piece of dango. "Would you like some candy? I've been selling it like hotcakes here. Business sure is good lately." The wild haired man said as he opened his rucksack to reveal his prized candy.

Naruto's eyes widenend as he said, "Cool! What kind do you have?"

Sasuke and Sakura sweatdropped from what they heard as the man said to the young blonde, "Soul Candy. I've got five special ones that I brought with me. You want some?"

"Sure! How much are they?" Naruto asked as he fumbled through his pockets making Sasuke sweatdropped even more as he said, "He really is a baka. Buying candy at his age."

The wild haired man pondered on his prices. "Well, since they are hard to find across the land, how about twenty ryo a piece."

"I don't have that kind of money left. Is there any way I can get more for free?" the young blonde pleaded.

"You're not very good at negotiating but oh well. I'll just have to sell more to gain back the one hundred ryo total." The wild haired man said as he handed the special candy to the young blonde.

"But shouldn't it be two hundred total?" the young blonde asked making Sakura slap her forehead in embarrassment because of his stupidity.

"Nope, one hundred. You need to count more or else you'll get cheated on the next time." The wild haired man said as he paid for his dango and left.

Naruto then ate all five candies as he walked away and disappeared into the crowd.

Sasuke and Sakura felt like idiots after what they just heard. They followed him all this way for nothing and gained nothing in return except lighter pouches from the amount of dango they ate to stay there. The two then quietly left as Naruto, who watched from the rooftop of one of the buildings, left for his house as he thought, 'So only one hundred left are still on active duty despite being disbanded. Not only that, the five others are still about twenty miles from the walls of Konoha and they're all spread apart across the country. I have to contact them right away.'

He then sat down on the roof of one of the houses and closed his eyes as he focused on the image of his friends from Soul Society and Karakura Town. He searched deep and focused hard until the mental link was formed and he could see their exact locations.

'Oi! Ohayo! How's everybody doing?' Naruto exclaimed mentally.

Ishida, Sado, Inoue, Rukia, and Renji held their ears from the voice that rang in their heads.

'Kuso. That teme just had to shout like a baka. Where the hell are you right now?' Renji shouted back to the young blonde making Naruto smile knowing he had reached them.

'It looks like he used Urahara-san's Soul trackers to get to us. That means Urahara-san made it safely.' Ishida thought as he and Rukia got the same idea.

'Naruto-kun! You're alive! Where are you now?' Inoue said to Naruto as she looked over a cliff and saw Konoha from a distance with Renji close by.

'I'm in Konoha right now. I know we want to make up for lost time but please get here as quickly as possible. I need your help.' Naruto mentally commanded his comrades from another dimension.

'We'll be there as soon as we can.' Rukia said as she and Ishida picked up the pace as well as Sado, Inoue and Renji.

Naruto reopened his eyes and nodded knowing that he had successfully made contact for the needed aid to his task.

"All that's left is to scout out the locations of the invasion and make preparations." The young blonde said as he jumped down onto the streets. But the moment he landed safely on the dusty ground of Konoha's streets, he felt the aura of his sensei just behind him.

The white-haired jounin never noticed Naruto's presence until the young blonde said to him, "What are you doing here Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi turned around with a wide-eyed look on his face. He calmed himself down and replied, "Wow Naruto. I never noticed you. You're getting better than I thought." 'He completely masked his presence from me. Was it on purpose or involuntary? But at least I know he's getting better.'

The young blonde smiled as he placed his hands behind his head. Kakashi then remembered why he was there in the first place as he said, "Naruto, tell Sasuke and Sakura that we're going to meet up at the bridge again. I just need to do some errands and I'll see you there."

With that Kakashi left in a cloud of smoke as the young blonde used Shunpo to get to his teammates who were about to part ways at the corner near the bookstore.

"I guess I'll see you tommorow Sasuke-kun." Sakura said before turning around as Sasuke did the same.

"Leaving so soon?" Naruto said in between them while reading his black book.

The two jumped back and took a kunai in hand until they recognized it was Naruto who spoke.

"Will you stop sneaking up on us like that? We could've killed you!" Sakura shouted at him.

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Kakashi-sensei wants to meet us at the bridge again. Who knows, he might want to enter us in the chuunin exams." Naruto lazily said as he tucked in his black book.

"I doubt it. But whatever it is, we have to go don't we?" Sakura said as Naruto nodded.

The two other genins eyed him carefully to see his next move. And as unpredictable as ever, Naruto turned on his heel and ran while waving goodbye. Both Sasuke and Sakura face faulted to the floor as they remembered how unpredictable Naruto is and could never predict his entry or exits.

When all three finally made it to the bridge, Naruto was busy reading his book while Sasuke eyed him carefully and Sakura just sat by the bridge, tired and annoyed. Sasuke couldn't take it anymore and quickly took the book from the blonde and began reading it.

Naruto wasn't panicked though as Sasuke said, "It's the BINGO book alright. Why do you spend so much time reading this?"

Naruto then slyly replied, "Wouldn't you like to know? I read it for work and fun." 'Hehehe. Good thing I placed a genjutsu on it before he grabbed it.'

Sasuke then handed back the book. He felt like a fool for even attempting to find out anything about the young blonde.

They waited for hours until like clockwork, the late jounin came with his smiling expression.

"Hello gentlemen." Kakashi said to them. "I got lost in the path known as life today…"

"A lie!" both Naruto and Sakura shouted at him with death glares to boot.

"Kakashi then moved closer to them and said, "I'll get to the point. I recommended all of you to the chuunin selection exam, so…" He then handed them their recommendation forms and continued. "Here take these applications."

"Chuunin Exam?" Sakura questioned as she received the form.

Naruto happily took the form and said, "What did I tell you guys? It was bound to happen one of these days." 'Oh, yeah…Hinata-chan entered too. What to do about that…'

Kakashi then cleared his throat to get their attention once again before he said, "However, the recommendation does not force you to take it. You can decide if you want to take it or not."

Sasuke knew that this was his chance to becoming one step closer to getting to his brother's level of strength. Sakura on the other hand, was wary after the mission to Wave. But when she thought about it again, she realized that this could be her chance to protect Sasuke from harms way while Naruto was going over the plan during the chuunin exams.

Kakashi could see the fire in their eyes and knew that at this point, they were going to face the challenge head on.

The white-haired jounin then said to them, "Only those who wish to take it are allowed to sign the applications, and…five days after that, get to school by three pm and go to room 301. That is all." With that, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke once again.

As the trio walked back to Konoha, Naruto was thinking hard and deep about the most crucial point of his life. He remembered how things went in his past life but now, so many other things were in play and he was the one to stop it. So many hurdles and obstacles pressured him and his shoulders as he tightened the clenching of his fists making his other two teammates notice and worry.

"Are you alright Naruto?" Sakura worriedly asked the young blonde.

Naruto snapped back into reality and grinned as he replied, "I'm fine Sakura-chan! I was just thinking about how many strong guys are going to fight in the chuunin exams."

Sakura nodded as that thought worried her.

Sasuke pondered on what Naruto said and he too was anxious in excitement.

While the other two genins were preoccupied, Naruto was looking around aimlessly for a way to casually escape their eyes so he can head off and find his beloved and his friends from another dimension.

And as Kami would have it, Urahara was selling his candy by the roadside where the trio walked. Naruto took this chance and went up to the man and said, "Arigato for the candies. They were good! I ate all five in one go."

Sakura sweatdropped and crossed her arms as she said, "Naruto, I still can't believe you eat candies at this age."

Urahara then smiled as he charismatically said, "Nobody is too old for sweets. Even once in a while candy can be good. By the way, do want some? I have some chakra enhancing candy that'll do wonders for the body including shaping your already slim figure and bust."

Sasuke just turned around and said, "She doesn't need that stuff."

Naruto's devious mind lit up as he made a bunshin and placed a henge over it to show a sexier version of Sakura with a bigger bust size and more curves.

The clone then threw herself at the young Uchiha and seductively said, "But I like a bustier and sexier me. It makes loving you all the more sweeter. Can't I have some Sasuke-sama?"

Sasuke blushed as a lump formed in his shorts while a wild and enraged Sakura shoved her fist into the clone's face causing it to poof out of existence. She then reared her angry face at the young blonde as flames filled her eyes.

"Kuso! You're dead Naruto!" Sakura said as she gave chase to the young blonde.

Naruto slipped passed her several times in place as he led her around in a circle before evading another rabid attack as he handed down the address to his house to Urahara without Sasuke or the enraged Sakura noticing the swift pass.

The young blonde then ran for his life and led Sakura into the red light district before she lost sight of him as he disappeared into the crowd. She was too pissed off to realize that she had ended up in the wrong side of town as a man accidentally bumped into her.

"Oi! Watch it you flat-chested bimbo!" the man shouted at her before he lost the light in his eyes when Sakura pummeled him and left the district enraged as ever.

Meanwhile, Naruto finally arrived at his house where upon entering, he noticed Yoruichi sitting in the couch in her full battle gear, Urahara setting up a very large flat-screen TV, and Ichigo in his human form with groceries in hand.

"Kurosaki-san, can you hand me the screwdriver over there?" Urahara said, pointing at the toolbox, arms length away from the wild-haired man.

"I'm busy right now. Can't you get it yourself?" Ichigo said as he went to the kitchen to refill the refrigerator.

"Heeeh. You're Naruto's housewife now? Suits you well Ichigo." The purple haired lady sarcastically said making Ichigo curse several profanities at her as Naruto sweatdropped.

'Just the three of them and already it's getting rowdy. How much more when the others get here?' the young blonde thought as he checked upon the work of Urahara.

"It seems your old team is a handful. Too bad you can't be the captain of the troops this time." Urahara said as he fixated the last part of the TV in place.

"Without a keyboard and disc tray, we can't relay any info back to Soul Society or keep a close watch of the village. I doubt we'll be able to find one out here in my world." Naruto said, stating the obvious.

Urahara scratched his head at this point since the young blonde pointed out his obvious mistake. As the wild-haired man continued his work, Naruto went into the kitchen where he saw Ichigo finish stuffing the food in the refrigerator and wiping the sweat off his brow.

"So you got your human body because of Urahara-san. But it won't be very helpful when we do some sparring tommorow morning." Naruto said to the orange haired man.

Ichigo faced him and said, "Shut up. I needed my body as well. But I'll spar with you tomorrow. How did things go this morning?"

"Everything will be alright. I made contact already with the others. But I forgot to tell them where I live." The young blonde said as he prepared dinner for his dysfunctional crew.

Time passed by relatively quickly for them as Naruto spent his early mornings with Ichigo and Co. when not on missions. In daytime, he spent time with Hinata whenever he could to make her happier despite the fact that they had to keep their relationship a secret. During the afternoon, he'd be busy with searching all the information concerning better training methods and ways to find the balance between reiatsu and chakra and at night before he'd retire, he would patrol for any unusual activities aside from those that the ANBU can take care off.

The young blonde worked hard to keep in shape since he knew that the elemental god of wind, Byakko was ready for her freedom and it was very close that he could feel it in the very wind that blew over the forest where Naruto panted and sweat as he supported himself with his zanpakuto while Ichigo's mask just shattered and Yoruichi sat, leaning upon the broken tree of the battlefield that was their sparring session.

"Amazing Naruto. You lasted more than three hours in battle against us." Yoruichi said as she picked herself up from her seat. "And to think you're only using the twenty percent limitation of a captain on a mission."

Ichigo fell to the ground as he also commented. "Sheesh. You call that twenty percent! I felt like I was fighting Aizen and Ulquiorra at the same time."

The young blonde then sheathed his steel before it disappeared in a faint flash of red light as Inoue arrived at the scene.

"Ohayo everyone. The sotaicho wants to see us. He's on TV right now." Inoue remarked causing the exhausted three shinigamis to trek back to the living room of Naruto's house. When they arrived, Ishida and Renji closed the blinds as Sado gave them the OK signal that they weren't being watched as the old warrior's face shone upon the screen.

"Good to see that everyone is doing well. However, Naruto…" the young blonde paid even more attention at this point as the sotaicho furrowed his brows and said, "This is a grave crisis we have on our hands now that the elemental gods are awakening. You've been gone for eight years and your division has been disbanded for a very long time. Shuhei is busy gathering the division once again as we speak but only one-hundred stayed loyal to you so don't expect any reinforcements anytime soon."

They all nodded knowing that things weren't as easy or simple. They could handle an army of sand and sound nins, but against the armies of the elemental gods and the bosses themselves wasn't something they could handle alone.

The sotaicho kept his hard commanding face and said, "You'll need to handle things on your own until we can reopen the gate again. That is all."

The screen then shut off indicating that the team needed to move on and continue their work.

"So what now?" Ichigo said as the rest of the crew looked at Naruto for answers.

Naruto then turned on the TV once again and plugged in his GPS allowing a digital birds eye view of the village of Konoha appeared on the screen.

The young blonde then began the overall plan of the chuunin exams. "Okay. The chuunin exams will be filled with many nins of every village save the ones that have a grudge from the last Shinobi War. We can't move in until we have a full confirmation of their battle strategy. As much as possible, we need to keep things stealthy or else we fail altogether and many lives will be lost." The crew then sharpened their gazes at him as he grabbed their full attention. "I've already informed Sarutobi-oji-san about our plans and the other stuff I left out so he's aware of you guys but the other Konoha nins aside from Hinata don't know about you so keep in mind to hide your identities as much as possible so that we can keep focus on our objectives till the finals, which is…" the young blonde then pressed the zoom button on his phone to focus on the gates of Konoha. "The protection of the village. Urahara-san has given out his candies to the nins of Konoha so that they can live much longer when battle falls upon them but we need to make precautions and at least create a temporary barrier to keep the village safe long enough for the first line of defense to prepare for the worst. After that, we keep quiet and alert for any changes that could affect the scenario."

"That's it?" Renji asked. "I'm not the sneaky type, but can't we avoid all this planning and get straight to the source of the problem?"

"I agree for once." Ishida said, having many years of experience from battle.

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed as he said, "I too prefer to lop off Orochimaru's head but going to that point is suicide since he's already here and doing so will just raise unwanted suspicion and create mass panic, which is the last thing we need since we don't know how, where, or when Byakko could appear and strike, so we stick to the plan. The plan is simple so that we can better prepare for the unexpected instead of a complex one where a slight problem creates more problems for us."

They agreed knowing full well what Naruto was implying. As morning began to shine even brighter, the young blonde then left his comrades to join his fellow genins waiting outside of the academy.

"Yare yare yare. Making the house the base of operations. We're pretty much at a disadvantage when Byakko rears her pretty head here. But knowing Naruto, he's got everything under control." Urahara said as he went back to work on the TV and finding a way to create a good disc tray and keyboard as Ishida helped him. The rest did what they do best…relax and stroll around Konoha.

When the young blonde arrived at the academy, he saw Sasuke was already waiting for him and Sakura had not come yet.

Naruto then waited a few more minutes as Sakura arrived on the scene.

"Sakura-chan, you're late." Naruto said as Sakura arrived by their side.

"Gomen. Ohayo, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said as she looked at Sasuke with a slight blush on her face.

Sasuke then huffed as he said, "Ohayo. Are you all prepared?"

Sakura smiled but inwardly rejoiced that Sasuke wasn't so anti-social anymore. Both the pink-haired girl and the young blonde nodded as they entered the academy doors.

Naruto then took out his black book as they entered the academy, climbed up the stairs until they saw a long line of nins being stopped from entering a certain door as a boy in green spandex, orange leg warmers, and a bowl cut with thick eyebrows being tossed out by two chuunins.

"It's a genjutsu used to weed out the weaker nins. Don't bother." Naruto stated to his two teammates who got the point.

The two chuunins bullied the poor boy and the rest of the nins as the roughed up boy was being tended by his teammate. She wore a pink, sleeveless, Chinese dress…green pants, blue shinobi shoes and her brown hair tied in two buns as she pleaded to let them through.

And just like her companion, she was harshly denied as she too, fell to the floor.

The two nins then began to ramble on concerning the level of difficulty of the exam for them to become a chuunin and how their rough ways were plausible because it was for the genin's own safety.

Sasuke saw this as their cue as Team seven walked up to the chuunins to pass through.

"That's a sound argument, but I will pass." Sasuke told the two guards. He then moved closer with his hands in his pocket as he continued, "And undo this field you've created using an illusion technique. I want to go to the third floor."

Many murmers in the back were heard as the two chuunins then said, "oh? You noticed?"

Sasuke then turned to Sakura and said, "Sakura, you should've noticed as well. Your analyzation skills and illusionary technique know-how is the best in our squad set aside Naruto."

Sakura was thrilled being praised by Sasuke as her courage grew once again.

"Arigato Sasuke-kun. You're right. I've noticed it already. Because this is the second floor." Sakura said while Naruto nodded without looking up from his book. This deactivated the genjutsu on the room sign as it returned to showing its true meaning.

The spiky haired chuunin then said, "You're pretty good. But just being able to detect it isn't enough." He then assaulted Sasuke with a kick while Sasuke tried to defend himself with a kick of his own.

The spandex wearing boy then quickly reacted and got between the two as he caught both kicks.

Naruto smiled from what he witnessed as he thought, 'That's Lee alright. I better make sure that Gaara doesn't hurt him.'

'He's fast! He blocked my kick. What's that Chakra in his arms?' Sasuke thought as he gazed at the boy with interest.

"Hey, you broke the promise." Lee's stoic teammate said as he approached the boy. "You're the one who didn't want to gather attention by doing something that stands out."

Lee then gazed his dark, circled eyes at Sakura as Naruto and Sasuke stared at the boy with tension in their veins.

Lee then approached Sakura making Naruto chuckle as he turned a page on his book while Sasuke clenched his fist.

"My name is Rock Lee." The spandex wearing boy said. "You are Sakura-san right?"

This surprised Sakura as Lee gave her the nice guy pose and blushed while Naruto inwardly laughed at what was going to happen next.

"Let's go out together! I will protect you till I die!" Lee exclaimed.

Shocked was the pink-haired girl as she mumbled, "No way."

Lee felt heartbroken by this while Naruto kept his cool and kept a close eye of the surroundings as he finally was able to count he number of ANBU within the academy. Thanks to Naruto's information, many deaths would be avoided.

"You're too unique for my tastes." Sakura bluntly stated as she frowned, making Lee even more heartbroken as he bowed his head in defeat.

"Hey, you there." The stoic boy said as he gazed his white eyes at the young Uchiha. The stoic boy had the Hyuuga jacket, grayish purple shorts, and bandages on his right arm and left leg. He also wore blue shinobi sandals and a hitai-ate over his forehead that kept his long brown hair from covering his face.

"Identify yourself." The stoic boy coldly commanded Sasuke.

Naruto knew very well who this boy is. He wasn't going to let up despite how much he wanted to hurt him for being such an arrogant jerk at this point of his life.

Sasuke then faced him and said, "You're supposed to introduce yourself before you ask."

"You're a rookie aren't you?" the stoic boy said. "How old are you?"

"He's old enough to know that he can be a chuunin." Naruto said as he continued his reading.

The stoic boy looked at him and thought, 'He looks familiar…I've seen him somewhere before… where in Konoha could I have seen him?'

"You there. Identify yourself." The stoic boy said to Naruto.

The young blonde then replied, "Read the label on my shirt." The young blonde then tucked his book away as he showed them the hiragana on his black sleeved shirt. "It says Shiro Raikitsune. That's all you need to know."

"Show off." Sasuke said as he turned around to enter the stairs leading to the third floor as Sakura followed suit with Naruto behind as he tucked his hands in his pocket while the stoic boy gazed at the back of the young blonde with anger and annoyance.

As Team seven walked up the stairs, a black butterfly began fluttering around them with grace and beauty.

"So beautiful. I've never seen a black butterfly before." Sakura said as she gazed at the butterfly.

"A hell butterfly…here?" the young blonde muttered when he understood why there was one in the first place. Sasuke however, heard Naruto's words with his sharp ears.

"Did you just say a hell butterfly?" Sasuke asked the young blonde as Sakura looked at the young blonde with curiosity.

"Hai. That's what they're called. They say that they are the souls of the dead who have begun their journey into the afterlife. They're also an omen of death on whoever they land on." The young blonde replied trying to keep his cover intact.

When the hell butterfly landed on the young blonde's crown, the two genins distanced themselves from Naruto in fear of the omen making the young blonde sweatdrop as he shooed away the insect while his comrades back at his house laughed at the antics of the team of Naruto from their comfortable view on the TV screen from the eyes of the hell butterfly.

The young blonde was annoyed by the fact he had to make a plausible excuse for the butterfly that followed him as they entered a large hall in the academy.

Naruto stopped, making Sasuke and Sakura wonder what was wrong.

"What's wrong now?" Sakura asked of the young blonde.

Naruto smiled as he said, "Someone's following us."

Sasuke and Sakura looked around until they heard a familiar voice cry out. "You there with the sharp eyes, wait."

They turned around to see Lee standing by the balcony gazing at them with hawk eyes. Naruto smirked while Sasuke gazed at him warily as Sakura's eyes became wide saucers and she gaped seeing Konoha's Green Beast once again.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked of the spandex-wearing boy.

"Will you fight me right here and right now?" Lee said, getting straight to the point.

Sasuke sharpened his gaze at the boy and said, "Fight you right here, right now?"

"Hai." Lee said, leaping down to the floor. "My name is Rock Lee." The boy said to them. He then pointed at Sasuke and said, "You're supposed to identify yourself before you ask for someone else's name, right?…Uchiha Sasuke-kun."

"So you know my name." Sasuke replied as Lee got into his fighting stance.

"I would like to fight you. I would like to see how my moves will do against a descendant of the genius ninja clan." Lee said as he kept his focus. "Also," he said as he turned to face Sakura making the pink haired girl nervous and Naruto make his foxy smile as Lee continued with a blush on his face. "Sakura-san, I like you."

Sakura screamed in dismay and evaded several flying hearts sent to her by Lee's winks as the young blonde laughed on the floor along with his pet Kohaku, who leaped out of his hood.

Sakura angrily yelled at the boy, making Sasuke inwardly smile at the scene that unfolded before their eyes.

However, Sasuke was itching to fight him after what he witnessed a few minutes ago. "So you're challenging me knowing that my name is Uchiha? I'm sorry to say this, but you're ignorant. Do you want to see what this name of Uchiha is capable of, fuzzy eyebrows?" The raven-haired boy smugly stated.

Lee then went into his goken stance as he smiled knowing that he got the prodigy all riled up. As he focused on the match at hand, a certain young blonde decided to interfere.

"Wait!" the young blonde shouted causing them to divert their attention. "I'll fight the fuzzy eyebrows guy."

Sakura then told the young blonde, "Hey, don't butt in."

"Let him Sakura." Sasuke said causing the pink haired girl to look at him in astonishment as Naruto charged the spandex wearing nin at a pace that Lee could follow. And just like before, Naruto was easily dispatched.

Sasuke then took his stance knowing that Naruto, possibly the best in taijutsu among the team, was easily beaten.

Lee was happy seeing Sasuke's determination as the young Uchiha revealed his Sharingan before his opponent making Sakura gaze at Sasuke with astonishment and admiration.

The raven-haired boy charged at the stalwart Lee with his crimson eyes focused like a sniper scope to reveal the secrets of Lee's techniques that easily defeated Naruto. Yet alas, Sasuke was kicked in his chin causing him to fly in the air as Sakura felt a sudden drop in confidence, seeing Sasuke thrown off the ground as Lee jumped and went behind Sasuke.

'Kage Buyo…Sasuke thought as he saw Lee behind him from the corner of his eye.

"I will prove to you that hard work surpasses genius." Lee said as a part of his bandages on his arms unwrapped. Before the hardworking fighter could execute his technique, a pinwheel darted by and pinned his bandage to the wall, negating the attack.

"Stop right there, Lee." A red, giant tortoise said as a Konoha hita-ate hung around his neck.

The rest of the group looked at the tortoise as Lee fell back from his attack and landed on his two feet while Sakura ran to catch the young Uchiha. Naruto inwardly grinned as he quickly stood up and tried to do the same and accidentally tripped Sakura's leg in the process as the pink-haired girl fumbled but managed to catch Sasuke in the process causing her to fall into position with the raven-haired boy, lips to lips, once again. Sasuke quickly got up and desperately hid the blush on his face as Sakura did the same but touched her lips as she remembered how it felt like once again. She then licked her lips before blushing even more than before while her inner persona jumped with joy.

Lee yielded before the tortoise as the shelled animal scolded him harshly for his insubordination towards his sensei. Naruto knew already who the boy's sensei is from his past life and approached Sasuke to lend him a hand instead of gaping in surprise of the taijutsu specialist's skills.

"I bet you're wondering why you weren't able to copy his moves and defeat him." The young blonde told Sasuke who listened with intent. "If you look at his arms, you'll know that he is the type of person who trains non-stop to the point of certain death everyday."

Sasuke then looked at him with a puzzled expression allowing Naruto to explain much more deeply. "You see, his bandages are there to hide the several bruises and scars on them from training like a madman. He was able to defeat us both because he worked hard on one thing that it made him invincible in that area. His level of dedication makes us look like Shikamaru in class."

Sasuke then replied, "That doesn't answer my question. How come I couldn't defeat him even though I could clearly see him?"

Sakura then got the point much quicker than Sasuke and decided to explain to him. "That's because Lee trained himself to the point that even if you can see him, he still can move much faster than you can react."

Sasuke finally understood the point with Lee as Naruto lead the way to the room where they would participate in the first test and completely avoid seeing Lee and Gai's passionate moments together.

The trio walked along the corridors until they stopped when they saw the double doors of room 301 and Kakashi standing in front of the door to their future. Sasuke was thrilled to be at the door to promotion while Sakura was too nervous about entering the door to her future. However, the young blonde had a different emotion in his heart. It was grinding in his skull that this was the day he would change everything. He had prepared for this moment.

The young blonde thought for a moment as he recalled everything that had happened to him so far in his extended life. He looked deep into everything that has happened to him and each and every meaning of it in his existence. He remembered the pain that was thrust upon him and the consequences that came after.

Kakashi then looked at them lazily as he said, "I see, so Sakura came as well. You can now officially register for the Chuunin Exams."

Sakura and Sasuke were confused by what he meant. The pink haired girl then asked, "What do you mean?"

"To tell you the truth, this exam can be only taken in teams of three." Kakashi replied making Sakura even more confused.

"But you said that we could decide if we wanted to take it or not." Sakura said in utter confusion.

"Yeah, I did." Kakashi replied.

"You lied?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi then looked out the window and said, "Hai. If I said that, Sasuke and Naruto would force you to take it. Even if you didn't want to take the exam, if Sasuke asked you, you would try to take the exam anyway for Sasuke…and Naruto."

Sakura then asked of her sensei, "So what would have happened if only Sasuke-kun and Naruto came here?"

Naruto then replied for them. "Then we wouldn't be able to enter the exams anyway since we didn't all come together and I bet that Kakashi-sensei would stop us from entering to make sure."

Kakashi nodded in reply that Naruto was right. The one-eyed jounin then said to them, "But the three of you came here of your free will. Sakura…Naruto…and Sasuke…" the one-eyed jounin's visible eye turned into a u shape as he then said, "Well done. I'm proud of the three of you. You're my team. Now go."

The white haired jounin then stepped aside, allowing the trio and the hell butterfly that followed them closely, to enter the double doors and see the other teams gathered on the other side. Kakashi noticed at the last second the black butterfly and was a bit concerned but left it for now since it was in that room.

Sakura inwardly shuddered while Sasuke sharpened his gaze in seriousness to avoid looking intimidated while Naruto placed his hands behind his head.

Sakura swallowed hard when she gazed at the number of nins present until a familiar voice then shouted out, "Sasuke-kun, you're late!"

A bubbly blonde girl then threw herself at Sasuke making Sakura furious at her former best friend. Ino then blushed slightly as she continued. "I've been eagerly waiting for you ever since I heard that I could see you for the first time in a long time."

Sakura then hollered at Ino to get away but the blonde girl saw that warning as a challenge and began to make her set of insults at the pink haired girl.

"Oi. What? Are you three going to take this troublesome exam too?" Shikamaru said as he approached the group with his best friend, Chouji.

Naruto then replied, "Yup. I'm more surprised that you got you're lazy ass here. Did Ino force you to come?"

Shikamaru then lazily replied, "No, our sensei did. He bribed us to enter."

The lazy genius did not show it, but he was eagerly watching Naruto. He never got to quench his thirst about the hidden agenda of Naruto. The young blonde wasn't an easy one to pry open, but because he was partially stupid, he just needed to be patient and strike when the opportunity presents itself.

Naruto then smiled as he looked to his left and saw team eight approach them making him happier when he saw Hinata once again as a slight blush formed on his face before it faded away making Shikamaru wonder why.

"So I see that everyone is here." Kiba said to them with a wild smile on his face.

Hinata blushed as she said, "Hello everyone. It's nice to see you again Naruto-kun."

Naruto then made his foxy grin as he said, "It's good to see you too Hinata-chan. How are you?"

The Hyuuga heiress smiled as she moved closer to him and said, "I'm doing fine Naruto-kun. The flowers have finally grown. They're really beautiful." She then brought out a picture of the Konoha Fire Lilies that grew in her garden and showed the photograph of the black and purple flower to him.

"They are beautiful. They haven't bore fruit yet right?" Naruto said to her.

"Actually, they did. I brought some." Hinata said as she brought out some of the fruits of the elegant flower. It was a semi-transparent white and round fruit that shone in the sunlight. It almost looked like glass if it were not for the fact that it was somewhat soft to the touch.

"Thank you for the seeds Naruto-kun. I never knew that you loved plants so much." Hinata said to him causing the young blonde to blush and Ino's intuition to run in overdrive as she approached Hinata and slyly said, "Ohh? And when did he give you those seeds?"

Hinata was a bit panicked but replied nonetheless. "I asked them from him." 'Bad move Hinata. That was very unwise.'

Ino then gave her a sly smile as she said, "What else did you ask him? A date maybe?"

Hinata backed away as she then blushed two shades darker and poked her two fingers together as she shyly responded, "N-no! Of-of course not. I could n-never."

Naruto then blushed from what he heard as he said, "EHH?! Y-you want to go out with me Hinata-chan?"

The Hyuuga heiress played along as she backed away a bit more and said, "I…I…I…"

Ino understood her bewildered and shaken state and whispered into her ear, "It's alright. Whenever you're ready, just ask him." The blonde girl then left the two lovebirds as she returned to her team who seemed irritated.

Shikamaru then placed his hands in his pocket and said, "So you guys made it too? Geez…"

Kiba then said, "I see, so all nine genin rookies this year are going to take the exam. How far do you think we can get Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke then replied, "You seem to be confident Kiba. Has the last mission we went on together gotten into your head?"

Kiba then smirked and replied, "We trained like hell after that mission. We won't lose to you."

Naruto then asked Hinata, "How hard did you guys train anyway?"

Hinata then confidently replied to him, "We trained really hard. We pushed ourselves to the limits after that mission. I really wanted to get stronger so I gave it my all in training."

Naruto grinned as he said, "Wow, Hinata-chan! Are you confident that you'll pass?"

The lavender-eyed girl then shook her head and replied, "I'm not sure I can Naruto-kun. Otou-san and the rest of the Hyuuga clan say it was a mistake for me to enter…but I'll give my best."

The young blonde saw the fear and determination in her eyes and knew that she wasn't completely ready for this but was determined to see it through. He then inwardly frowned as he thought, 'She's strong at heart but not in body and mind. Not everyone can be strong enough to face the challenges ahead. But I'll do whatever I can to protect you and keep you safe Hina-hime.'

"Hey, you guys." A man with long, sliver hair tied up in a low ponytail and round glasses over his brown eyes said. "You should quiet down a little."

Naruto sharpened his gaze at the man wearing a purple sleeveless shirt over a white undershirt, purple pants and armguards, a dirty white sash tied around his waist, and a hitai-ate with the symbol of Konoha over his forehead.

The young blonde knew the man to be Kabuto, Orochimaru's right hand man. He was as dastardly as the snake sannin and almost as powerful. He could feel his blood boil when he saw Kabuto but kept his cool and instead, glanced at the hell butterfly fluttering around and back at Kabuto, hinting his other friends of the man.

The silver haired man approached them and said, "So you're the nine rookies that graduated from the academy, correct?" the rookies stared at him in question as the man continued. "You're all fooling around with those cute faces…Geez, this isn't a field trip."

Ino then blurted out to him, "Who are you to tell us that?!"

The man then replied, "I am Yakushi Kabuto. Look around you…"

The rookies looked around as they felt the seriousness and intensity of the other participants within the confines of the room. Naruto wasn't surprised one bit since most of them wouldn't make it past the preliminaries. He looked around a bit more until he found the reiatsu of Gaara and his siblings in one corner and the team of Neji in the other.

Gaara smiled at him wildly as he sent a surge of killing intent directly at the blonde. Naruto felt the pulse and sent a pulse of his own making Gaara smile before Kabuto then spoke again. "The one's behind you are from Amegakure. They have a short temper. Everyone is tense since it's right before the exam. I warned you so that you won't get picked on."

Most of the genins were frightened except Naruto who was the most calm among them. Shikamaru and Shino, who saw his calm demeanor, were intrigued by his will to resist fear, but they knew that Naruto wasn't the type to be afraid of just anything.

Kabuto smiled when he saw their frightened reactions and said to them, "I guess it can't be helped though, since you are just rookies who don't know anything. It makes me remember the old me."

'Old you my ass. You're a spy for that snake-teme who's after Sasuke for his body. That didn't sound right.' The young blonde thought making his tenant smirk.

Hinata saw the way Naruto was looking at the glasses wearing man and she knew that something was up. She too tensed knowing that this man Kabuto must be an enemy.

Sakura herself was skeptical of the man and asked him. "Kabuto-san, was it? Is this you're second time?"

Kabuto then replied, "No. My seventh time."

Shikamaru's eyes widened when he heard that.

Kabuto then spoke once more. "This exam only takes place twice every year, and it's my fourth year."

Sakura then asked him, "That means that you know a lot about this exam, right?"

"Yeah." Kabuto replied.

"So you must be an expert Kabuto-san." Naruto asked him with his eyes still as sharp as ever. This caught Kabuto's curiousity since the young blonde, during the whole time they were talking, hadn't shown any emotion of fear or anxiousness.

"But he hasn't passed it." Shikamaru lazily stated.

Kabuto then scratched his head as he said, "Yeah, that's true."

Shikamaru was worried at this point. "Is the Chuunin Exam that difficult? This is getting even more troublesome."

Kabuto then replied, "Maybe I should give my cute underclassmen some information then…" Kabuto then took out a deck of cards and fanned it in his right hand. "With these recognition cards."

The nine rookies were intrigued at this point so Kabuto decided to explain to them their purpose. "In simple terms, it's a card that has information burned into it using my chakra." Kabuto then placed the deck into the ground and continued. "I've collected information on this exam for the past four years. There's about two hundred cards total." He then took out one card and placed it face up to reveal it's blank face. "It looks white but… to get the information from this card…" he then began spinning it with his one finger making them question why he was doing that.

"It's made with my chakra so that you can't view it without my chakra." Kabuto said as he poured chakra into the card, revealing the map of the continent and a hologram of the scale of entries per country.

They were convinced now about his abilities and Sasuke decided to give it a test.

"Are there any cards that give detailed personal information?" Sasuke questioned him.

"Hai. Is there someone that interests you?" Kabuto asked him.

Sasuke nodded in acknowledgment. Kabuto then returned the previous card back into the deck and said, "The information of this exam's examinees are not perfect, but I've burned and saved them. They include the information of the nine of you as well. Tell me whatever you know about the people you know that interest you. I'll look it up for you."

Sasuke went ahead and asked as he became even more serious than before. "Gaara from Sunagakure…Rock Lee from Konoha and…Uzumaki Naruto from Konoha."

The rest of the rookies looked at Naruto and Sasuke in even more curiousity. Why would Sasuke want to know information from his own teammate? This question rang around Shikamaru's and Shino's mind.

The young blonde smiled and said, "If you wanted to know stuff about me you should've asked."

Sasuke paid him no heed and continued to face Kabuto. Shino and Shikamaru both looked at each other and practically had the same thought in mind…Naruto isn't who he says he is.

Kabuto then laid out three cards on the floor and said, "You know their names. Then it won't take much time."

The glasses-wearing nin then poured his chakra into the three cards and turned them face up.

"Let's see…Rock Lee. He's one year older than you. Mission experience, twenty D-rank missions and eleven C-rank missions. The squad leader is Gai. His hand-to-hand combat skills have increased dramatically this past year, but his other skills are terrible. He got everyone's attention last year as a skilled rookie genin, but he didn't take the chuunin exams. This is his first time taking it, like you. His teammates are Tenten and Hyuuga Neji."

"Hinata…are you related to Neji?" Sakura asked her.

Hinata nodded and said, "Hai. He's my cousin."

The rest of the team nodded how it makes sense now when they saw the same set of eyes on Neji.

Kabuto made haste with the next card and said, "Next, let's see Sabaku no Gaara…Mission experience, eight C-rank ones and…this is amazing! He did a B-rank mission as a Genin."

Kiba smirked and said, "So what? We did one too with Sasuke's team."

Team ten looked at him with wide-eyed expressions until Shino faced them and adjusted his shades.

"No way! A B-rank mission as a genin?" Ino said to Sakura who nodded in delight and replied, "It was scary but we pulled through. We even got to help the people of Wave country by doing that mission. I'll tell you the rest later after the exams."

Kabuto was curious at this point and said, "You guys were the ones that went to the country of Wave?"

Naruto then grinned and said, "Yep. What's wrong Kabuto?"

Kabuto then adjusted his glasses and said, "Well, it's just that, there was news of a genocide in a building complex near Wave. They said that it was the former headquarters of Gato, the multimillionaire. No one was left alive and were all killed. They were torn limb from limb while their guts littered the floor and blood, literally painted the walls, ceilings, and floors. In fact, they found one man was stripped of his clothing and hung by his privates from the balcony until the wire that strung him, cut his groins off allowing him to fall and break his neck rendering him dead. But they found him to be dead already before he fell. Either way, it was too gruesome to be mentioned."

The nine rookies paled when they heard what happened there. Naruto however, paled because his handiwork was found out and that didn't bode well for him.

'Great. It just had to be this way. But it's no surprise that Kabuto has info there since Orochimaru's spies are practically everywhere.' The young blonde thought.

Kiba, with utter horror, then said, "Oh, man…That must've happened after we left Wave. It must've been the rumored 'Orange Death' guy that's lurking around that area. We were lucky he didn't find us."

Naruto's tenant chuckled darkly when he heard that while Sasuke on the other hand held his mouth and stomach as he said, "Let's not talk about that anymore and get back to business."

Kabuto then began reading Gaara's card again. "He's a foreign shinobi and it's his first time taking the exam, so I don't have any more information on him. But…it seems that he has returned from all his missions unharmed."

"He must be really good to do that. We suffered a lot of wounds on our B-rank mission and there was a lot of us." Naruto told them making understand the gravity of the situation.

"Anyway, the last one. Uzumaki Naruto." Kabuto said as he turned up the last card to show Naruto's face on it and his statistics as well as small pictures of his teammates and sensei. Hinata was nervous that Naruto could get caught at this point and she could see him trembling slightly as Kabuto began reading the info card. "Mission experience…seven D-rank missions, and one B-rank mission…Skills in hand-to-hand combat are above average, decent in ninjutsu, no known abilities in genjutsu, but is excellent with weapons, particularly with swords. He also has seven confirmed kills."

They looked at Naruto in astonishment. Team ten was astonished the most since they weren't there to witness Naruto's fighting capabilities and see him kill first hand.

"S-seven kills? You're joking right?" Ino muttered out before she looked at Sakura and said, "Please tell me he's joking."

Sakura shook her head, making Shikamaru's drive to investigate Naruto become much deeper than normal. It was troublesome for him, but with all the suspicious information surrounding his existence, it was worth the try.

Naruto inwardly smacked his face knowing he was just a step away from being discovered.

Shino then noticed something odd with the information that Kabuto relayed to them. "I think your card has a flaw. Naruto has six confirmed kills. Four of which were chuunin level and two were ronins."

Shikamaru's eyes widened when he heard that as he thought, 'Now I know that something IS wrong. He took down four chuunins by himself. Never mind the ronins, but chuunin level nins are not something a genin can do alone, let alone Naruto. Is this really Naruto? He's holding out on us and it's too suspicious to leave alone.'

All the other rookies looked at Naruto with curiosity and amazement. Not only was it astonishing that he had hidden talents and has killed already, but the fact that there was a seventh kill that they didn't know of but Naruto knew very well about the fake kill that kept Haku safe in Konoha.

Sasuke then smiled as he looked at Naruto making the young blonde sweat drop knowing he was in deep water this time.

"Good thing I asked him. You've been holding out on us this whole time. And who's the seventh person?" Sasuke said to him.

Hinata was even more worried than before since she didn't know how to help the young blonde this time. If she stepped in, it would actually hurt more than help and he didn't need any more messes than this.

Naruto was at a loss until he got a sly idea in mind and said to Sasuke, "Alright I give. The seventh guy was a big guy named Dodong who tried to rape and kill me one night after the mission to Wave. Man I hate okamas!"

Sasuke sighed in relief knowing that Naruto indirectly avenged his ass after the fiasco down at the gay bar that fateful night. Sasuke left his investigation there for now since Naruto helped ease the raven-haired boy's emotional pain.

And just as Sasuke turned around, Kabuto nearly got struck in the face by a sound nin with an unusual metal gauntlet on his right arm. Kabuto's glasses however, took the damage from the silent sound waves created by the metal gauntlet. Then again, Kabuto did take damage as he fell to his knees and was loosing balance as his eyesight became blurry and he threw up.

Sakura then ran to Kabuto's side to help him up but Naruto moved closer to Hinata while they were still in shock at seeing Kabuto take damage from the attack. The sound nin that Naruto knew to be Dosu Kinuta.

The young blonde then looked at Hinata and back at the scene that unfolded, telling her that they were enemies she took note of them and looked around for more of Orochimaru's spies while keeping close to her blonde boyfriend as Dosu gazed at Kabuto with hate and said, "You're not as good as I thought for a veteran who took the exam four years running."

The fiery haired sound nin known as Zaku Abumi to Naruto then smugly said to the still down Kabuto, "Write this in your card. The three from otogakure will definitely become chuunins."

"Hinata-chan…keep alert from here on out. Things will really rile up." Naruto whispered to her as Ibiki entered the room in a puff of smoke and shouted, "Quiet down, you punks!"

When the smoke subsided, Ibiki and his officers were seen standing before the entire crowd of genin participants.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I am the examiner of the first test of the chuunin selection exam, Morino Ibiki." The battle scarred man in the center of the group of officers said to them. The man then pointed at the three sound nins in the back and shouted at them, "You three from otogakure! Don't think you can do anything you want before the exam. Do you want us to fail you already?" 'Easy now, Ibiki. Even though they are the enemy, Hokage-sama's orders are absolute so don't do anything funny. Keep it cool and we'll be just fine.'

Dosu decided to back away from the confrontation and said, "I'm sorry. I was excited, since this is my first exam."

Ibiki smiled seeing that he has gained control and then hollered out to the rest of the genins, "This is a good chance to say this…you are not allowed to fight each other during the exam unless given permission by the examiners. Even if the permission is given, you are not allowed to kill the other. Pigs who go against me will fail immediately. Understood?" no reaction came from the crowd making Ibiki even more confident. "We will now begin the first exam of the Chuunin selection Exam. Turn in your applications, take one of these number tags, and sit where the number tells you to. Then we will pass out the papers for the written exam."

Everyone did as they were told and took their seats. Naruto was confident this time since he knew the rules already. Instead of paying much attention to the proctor, he began plotting out the best way to gather the scrolls so that his team can pass the second test with ease.

"Naruto-kun…" a familiar voice said, snapping him to attention as he looked to his right and saw his Hyuuga heiress beside him with a smile on her face and a slight blush to paint her pale colored complexion.

"Hi Hina-hime. Looks like we're finally back together again." Naruto told her as he gave her a charming smile.

Hinata nodded and replied, "Let's do our best Kitsune. What kind of test are we going to face?"

"A cheating test." Naruto replied to her. "The questions are going to be too hard for genins to answer so cheating is the only option but you will lose points if you're caught. If you lose ten points, you'll fail and so will your team. And also, your total points, as a team should equal ten or higher. The last question will be a choice whether to quit or not."

Hinata nodded as the proctor explained the rules. It was exactly as Naruto said. Hinata trusted Naruto and knew that he was doing all right. She believed in him much more than she believed in herself. But little did she know how much he believed in her.

When the proctor finished the explanations, he then ordered them to begin. Naruto didn't bother cheating this time and just left his paper blank. And to his surprise, so did the lavender-eyed girl beside him.

"Aren't you going to answer it?" Naruto quietly asked of her.

She shook her head and said, "Not if you're not answering. Let's just wait and see what happens."

Naruto smiled and blushed after hearing her reckless remark. He then said to her, "You know Hina-hime, I haven't been able to train with you properly. I was hoping to take you out after the exams if you're up to it."

Hinata blushed but nodded as she thought, 'Wow! A real date with Naruto-kun! Then again we have been going out on dates already. One more wouldn't hurt….Yosh! I'll give it my best and win!'

'I really haven't been able to spend enough time with her since I was busy training with Ichigo and company. But I'll do what I can to make my date with Hinata special. I want her to be happy so I better do things right!' Naruto thought as he waited for the hour to end.

Everyone was giving it their all in the test. Many tried and failed and were caught. There was no way for everyone to pass the test. Despite the difficulty, they pressed on.

Sakura wasn't worried one bit about the test problems since she was used to solving difficult problems while Sasuke used his Sharingan to copy the wrist movements of one of the genins below him. The members of team eight aside from Hinata were cheating through the ways they did best, their familiars. However, Lee's team was also cheating from them while team ten cheated through their own tactics: Ino's jutsu and Shikamaru's brain. However, Shikamaru wasn't just paying attention at the test. He was also paying attention at Naruto who seemed to be doing absolutely nothing yet kept calm.

The lazy genius then thought, 'The baka isn't doing anything yet he's so calm. Probably has no idea what to do. But Hinata isn't doing anything either. She isn't dumb that's for sure. She was practically racing against Sakura back at the academy. Why are they doing something so risky? There must be something I'm missing, but what?'

The Hell butterfly that followed Naruto in earlier, fluttered through the room and caught Shikamaru's attention as it hovered over them and then over Naruto. The lazy genius then understood somehow a little of the reason as he thought again, 'I get it. That must be Naruto's way or Hinata's way of doing it. But they're taking a lot of time to make sure to get things right. I know now that Hinata is trying to get closer to Naruto so it's not so hard to believe that she'd help him. But still, it's as if they're doing nothing.'

Soon enough, time flew by and Ibiki got their attention when he shouted, "Okay, I will now give the tenth problem!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and listened nervously to Ibiki's next words.

'It's time. From here on out, I got to lead the team without hesitation.' Naruto thought as he looked at Hinata who also had determination in her eyes.

Ibiki then said to them, "Hai. But before that, there is one thing I must say…there will be one special rule for this last question."

And just in time, Kankuro came in with his disguised puppet. Ibiki already knew about his puppet and Kankuro subtly handed out a small canister to Temari before returning to his seat. Naruto was able to see it and knew that Kankuro was more than just taking the test. The young blonde then looked at the hell butterfly and back at Temari. The butterfly got it and knew what to do.

When everything quieted down, Ibiki then explained the last set of the rules. "I will now explain. This is a hopeless rule." Naruto inwardly smiled knowing how things will be from here on out. Though he didn't look like it, the young blonde was also a pro at torture and interrogation. When you visit the twelfth division of the Gotei thirteen often, you tend to learn the ways of torture and interrogation whether directly, or indirectly.

Ibiki then continued his explanation. "First, you are all going to choose if you wish to take this tenth problem or not. If you choose not to take it, your points will be reduced to zero. In other words, you will fail. You're two other teammates will fail along with you."

Many complained about the stupid rule and decided to take it anyway since it's going to cost so much if they do.

"Now here is the other rule." Ikibi told them and continued the psychological torture. "If you choose to take it and get it wrong, you will…Lose the privilege to take the Chuunin Exam forever."

Many protested when they heard that while the young blonde just rolled his eyes.

Kiba then burst out of his seat and shouted at Ibiki, "What kind of dumb rule is that?! There should be those here who have taken the Chuunin Exam in the past!"

Ibiki chuckled darkly making Kiba sit in disgrace knowing he may have just lost his meal ticket out of this hell that was the first test of the Chuunin Exams.

"You were unlucky." Ibiki spoke in a dead tone. "This year, I am the rule. That is why I gave you the option of quitting. Those who are not confident can choose to not take it and take the exam next year and the year after that."

Sakura tensed as she realized the pressure that was pressed upon them.

"Those who will not be taking the tenth question, raise your hands. After we confirm your numbers, we will have you leave." Ibiki said to them.

Soon, many raised their hands and quit causing the room to become emptier by the second. Naruto was a bit worried by what he'll probably face during the Chuunin Exams but it was nothing to him. However, Sakura couldn't see his confident face and only his tense body.

'Saying 'Hokage! Hokage!' like an idiot. Even if you are smarter than you look, you've never been one to be good at written problems.' Sakura thought as she looked at Naruto's back. She sighed as she made a silly smile and thought once more, 'I guess I want to save your unrealistic dream after all.'

She began raising her hand, which alerted Naruto's senses. Hinata also knew what Sakura was doing.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata said to the young blonde who nodded right away and quickly raised his hand and slammed on his desk and shouted, "Screw you! I'm not going run away! I'll take this problem. Even if I become a genin forever, I'm going to become a Hokage no matter what anyway!" the crowd was shocked from their stupor as the young blonde's eyes became a fiery cyan and he stood up and continued. "I'm not scared!"

Hinata felt the fire from the blonde infect her as well. She then stood up and with the fire in her eyes, she then confidently said, "That's right! Give your question! We'll take it head on!"

Much to everyone's surprise and Naruto's, her bold statement heightened the mood of everyone even further as the fire of determination infected everyone around the two as Kiba stood up as well and shouted, "I ain't letting Hinata and Naruto take all the action. C'mon! Let's hear it!"

Soon everyone was standing proudly with confidence and had a sharp determined look upon their faces.

Ibiki and his officers smiled as they saw the many brave candidates.

"I will ask one more time…" Ibiki said to them. "This is the choice that will impact your life. If you want to quit, now is the chance."

"I'm not going to take back my words." Naruto said with a confident smile and his eyes still a fiery cyan. "That's my nindo."

Ibiki looked at Naruto who still emanated a confident aura. 'Interesting kid. He wiped out everyone's uncertainty.' The man thought as he looked at the room and counted the number of participants remaining. 'seventy eight students eh? There's a lot more left than I expected. Looks like there's no point in waiting any longer.'

"Nice determination. Then for the first exam, everyone here...passes." Ibiki told them causing a sudden uproar.

Sakura then got up from her seat and said, "Wait! What's the meaning of that? We pass already? What about the tenth question?"

Ibiki grinned and said, "There was no such thing to begin with. Or you can call the two choice question the tenth question."

"Hey!" Shouted Temari from the back. "So what were those previous nine problems?! It was all a waste!"

"No it's not." Ibiki answered and decided to do some more explaining. "The nine problems accomplished their purpose. The purpose to test each individual's information gathering skills."

"Information gathering skills?" Temari asked.

Ibiki then answered, " First, this test's true purpose lies in the first rule…your pass-fail decision is based on your three person teams. By giving that idea, we have given you an unprecedented amount of pressure to try and not be a nuisance to your team. But, these test problems cannot be solved by you genins. So, most of the people here must have come to the conclusion… 'I have to cheat to get points.' In other words, this exam assumed that everyone was going to cheat. So we snuck in two chuunins who knew the answers to be targets of cheating. But those who cheated like a fool, failed of course. Why? Because information can have greater value than life at times, and in missions and battlefields."

The battle-scarred man then removed his beanie and showed the several holes and scars all over his head from countless battles with torture. The genins were shocked to see his scarred head as Ibiki then stated to them, "Information is contested with the lives of people."

Hinata shivered and covered her mouth as she turned to Naruto and asked, "Is he serious Naruto-kun?"

"I'm afraid so Hinata-chan." Naruto replied.

Ibiki then put back on his beanie and continued his detailed explanation. "The information that an enemy gets after being noticed by a third person will not necessarily be accurate. Remember this. Getting incorrect information can cause great damage to your teammates and village. So, we made you all gather information in the form of cheating. We kicked out those that were lacking in that field. That's what went on."

Temari was still skeptical about another thing and said, "But I still can't agree to that last question."

"But this tenth question was the main question of the first exam." Ibiki stated.

"What do you mean? Sakura asked.

"Let me explain." Ibiki said to her as he placed his hands in his pocket. "The tenth question was a 'take or not take' choice. Needless to say, it was a painful two-choice problem. Those who did not take it failed with their teams. If you choose to take it, and could not answer it…your right to take it would have been taken away forever. It was a very insincere problem. How about this two-choice problem…Let's assume that you have become a Chuunin. Your mission is to capture a secret document. The number of enemy shinobi, their armaments, and their abilities are unknown. And there maybe traps that the enemy ninja have set up. Now will you accept the mission or not? Just because your life and the lives of your teammates may be in danger, are you able to avoid dangerous missions? The answer is…No. There are missions that carry heavy risks, but cannot be avoided. The ability to show courage to your teammates when needed, and the ability to get through a bad situation…that is what we look for in a chuunin, a squad leader. Those who cannot bet their fate in a critical situation…those who give up when given the chance because there is a next year, and let their minds sway over an uncertain future…Fools who carry light determination like that have no right to become a Chuunin. That is what I believe."

The entire group took his word to heart when they saw the seriousness of his face as he spoke again, "I am saying that you here who have chosen to take it gave the right answer for the difficult tenth question. You can deal with the difficulties you will face. You have broken through the entrance. The first exam of the chuunin selection exam ends now."

Naruto then brought out his book and tore out a page and began writing on it as Anko made her debut through the window and a huge banner covered the section of the room where Ibiki stood.

"Everbody, there's no time to be happy." Anko said as the banner showed that she was the next proctor for the second exam.

"Everyone, I am Mitarashi Anko, the next examiner for the second exam. Let's go! Follow me!" Anko enthusiastically shouted.

Sakura and Sasuke sweatdropped in seeing the female version of Naruto take the room by storm. She then briefly explained the details of the next exam and dismissed the genins.

When the room was finally cleared, Ibiki began collecting the papers until he came upon two blank sheets with the names of Namikaze Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata written on them. He smiled as he said to himself, "Someone actually passed with a blank paper. Namikaze Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata eh? Those names sound familiar. It will be pretty interesting this year." As he stacked the two papers with the rest, he noticed a torn paper on Naruto's seat and read what was written on it.

Dear Ibiki,

Keep an eye out for sound and Kabuto. They're up to something. It sounds crazy but for Kabuto to have info on every nin in the chuunin exams as well as detailed info on how many participants. It is not something of chuunin level.

Your friend,

Namikaze Naruto

"He really is an interesting guy." Ibiki said as he stashed the note in his pocket.

And so, a new chapter in the young blonde's life has begun. And thus the chuunin exams have begun.

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I am pooped. I'll have to speed things up again. (Gosh I hate fatigue.) I have nothing else to say at the moment aside from thanks to NarProfiler, my beta for being so kind as to painstakingly correct my mistakes. Ja ne!