"Is killing allowed?"

Three pairs of eyes nervously looked at the blonde leaning on the handrail of the bridge where they holding their meeting. However the one who had spoken only focused his blue eyes on the eldest of a group, a gray haired man wearing a mask that covered most of his except his right eye.

"Is killing allowed?" The teen repeated.

The older man finally broke out of his stupor, scratching his head in a seemingly aloof manner but actually was his way to hide his anxiety, "There is a chance that killing may take place, but that is only allowed during certain parts of the exam. Also, killing is strongly discouraged unless absolutely necessary. Do you understand me, Naruto?"

The teenager's smile looked innocent but the glint in his eyes told an entirely different story. "I understand sensei. I understand perfectly."

"Alright then, show up tomorrow at the location specified on the card at the appointed time. It seems like too much of a nice day to train so I'm going to give you rest of the it off. If you have more questions or just want to say hi then I'll probably be at the memorial stone. See ya!"

With that said the jounin disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving the trio of genin to awkwardly stare at nothing in particular, or at least two of three were trying to avoid the gaze at the remaining one.

"Let's go for a walk."

The girl eagerly nodded, maybe a bit too eagerly, while the other boy simply grunted, which was his own way of compiling.

While they walked the female babbled, pointing out different things along the way, a flower pot, a broken window, a fat man in tight clothes, talking without any real meaning behind her observations, just trying to ward off the silence that would've otherwise engulf the group of three.

As they walked people looked, mostly civilians. Some looks were amiably directed at the male with the small red and white crest on the back of his shirt, some confused when seeing the pink haired girl apparently talking to herself. Most however were focused one leading the two and mainly consisted of looks of fear and barely concealed animosity, looks he simply returned with the same innocent smile he had worn earlier.

Turning a corner the three genin suddenly heard a small cry for help, clearly from the throat of a child, coming opposite the way they were headed.

The kunoichi stopped talking and looked at the one leading them. The blue haired boy also turned his head, albeit far more discreetly.

The lead shinobi paused and was about to continue on his way when the cry came again, but this time the voice was clearer and recognizable, to him at least.

(The Streets of Konoha)

"Let me go you bastard!"

"I'm a bastard, huh? That's quite an insult coming from a little snot like you. Maybe I should teach a lesson?"

"Just make it quick Kankuro; I don't want one of those damn civilians rating on us."

"Alright, alright, keep your panties on."

The hooded boy's fist descended at a speed the little boy he was holding interpreted as only a blur. However it stopped mere centimeters from connecting when a suddenly a very dense cloud of killing intent filled the area freezing everyone in their tracks.

"Shit! Did a jounin arrive?" was the shared thought between the duo.

Seemingly frozen in place Kankuro slowly turned his eyes towards the source of the murderous feeling only to be greeted by a tall male with chin length blond hair wearing a fishnet shirt under a short sleeved black one with an dark orange spiral on the front and loose dark orange pants, complete with a black sandals. His most distinguishing feature was the three identical whisker marks that adorned each cheek.

Behind him stood a girl with pink hair tied into a bun, wearing a short red dress with a floral print of the front, next to her was a scowling dark haired boy wearing white shorts and a blue shirt; they both wore the same blue sandals.

Their appearance though wasn't the thing concerning Kankuro at the moment. What was currently occupying his mind was regaining his mobility and figuring out how he hadn't sensed the approach of the other group, who were now coming closer.

"Onii-chan!"

The brown haired lad squirmed and wiggled like a monkey finally managing to escape his captor's grasp. Once his feet hit the ground he immediately made a beeline towards his savior hiding behind the older boy's legs.

"Onii-chan the Catman tried to hit me! You should go him beat him up for me!"

"Now, now Konohamaru "Catman" might actually have a reason for trying to hit you. After all you are kind of a brat." Naruto said.

Konohamaru pouted while his "onii-chan" turned to face "Catman".

"Hi, nice to meet you. Kankuro, was it? Did you have a reason for trying to hit my little friend here?"

The puppeteer was silent for a moment looking for a way for to dominate the conversation now that the murderous pressure had eased up. Seeing few other avenues he could take, he chose the one that worked best for him in the past: intimidation.

"Who the hell are you to be asking me questions?" he yelled angrily.

Unfortunately for the Sand ninja his opponent didn't back down, as a matter of fact the guy was smiling!

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto and you are obviously an ass-clown who can't apply his own make up right, or did your mother do it for you?" The blonde replied smoothly.

Blood rushed to Kankuro's cheeks as his anger rose. How dare this leaf bastard talk to him like that! He had spent almost half a hour in front of the mirror! Normally he would have more patience when faced with a situation like this, years of lessons in diplomacy were to blame, but something about his the genin made his blood boil in his veins.

With a twitch of his right index finger he sent a string of chakra circling around his back and attached it to the human sized puppet strapped there.

"Stop it Kankuro, we don't have time for you to waste beating up some Leaf weaklings," said Temari turning to face the other group with a derisive smirk, "Besides they don't even look like they're worth your time."

Naruto smirk remained where it was, even widening by a degree, "Looks can be deceiving, even an amateur knows that.

Just like her brother the fan wielder felt anger suddenly well up inside her. She could see it in his eyes that he was mocking her, belittling her, brushing her off like she was some annoying fly buzzing in his ear.

In a flash her hand clutched the edge of her massive fan ready to whip it out and blow away that smirk along with the surrounding buildings, consequences be damned.

"Stop it you two or I'll kill you both."

Immediately the siblings' arms went slack as they heard the raspy voice come from behind them.

There was whooshing noise, the sound of sand scraping against concrete announcing the arrival of third member of the team from the sand village.

The first thing the three opposing leaf genin noticed about the new arrival was the expression on her slightly rounded face that somehow managed to display utter indifference but at the same time lethal volatility, accentuated by the dark rings under her green eyes, a sure sign of sleep deprivation. The second was the giant gourd strapped to her back with a brown piece of cloth.

The color of her clothes reflected the nature of her homeland, an earthy brown bodysuit complimented by light tan patches sewn over the elbows and knees. Her hair was a dark red with bangs that hid what appeared to be tattoo on her forehead and fell down to the middle of her back, shaggy in a way similar to the blond across from her, who was currently scrutinizing her with a puzzled look.

"You seem . . . familiar." He finally said.

The girl glanced at the one staring at her and was almost instantly intrigued by the nearly tangible aura of blood and death that surrounded him. There was the smell of old burnt blood, almost completely hidden under by a neutral smelling body wash or cologne, but it was still there.

There was also a sort of another scent coming from him, something more primal and animal-like. Underneath her sand armor Gaara shivered, the smell made her nerves "spark" for lack of a better word and stirred up the foreign chakra that dwelled within her. Whoever he was, he was no stranger to death, and that was something she could appreciate.

Naruto's curiosity slightly subsided but remained plain on his face, "What is your name?"

"Gaara." She responded.

"Gaara, huh? You're entering the chunin exams?"

"Yes I am."

"Good, maybe we'll face each other."

There was an awkward moment descended upon the two as the two jinchuuriki eyed each other.

Then just as abruptly as it had started the encounter was over.

"Temari, Kankuro we're leaving." With that said the red head disappeared in whirl of sand.

The two remaining siblings we're quick to follow their sister's example but not before glaring at the blonde one last time.

"We'll meet again fishcake." Kankuro growled, although the word "fishcake" didn't come off as threatening as he would have liked.

"Gaara." Said Naruto experimentally rolling the word around his mouth looking in the direction the other group had departed.

Then he turned around and looked at the other members of his squad but at the same time looking past them.

"Konohamaru?"

The academy student perked up at the mention of his name, "Yes, Onii-chan?"

"Next time watch where you're going, I won't always be around to bail your ass out of trouble. By the way, where are your friends, snot nose and split hair?"

The energetic boy seemed deflated at the scorn but recovered at the mention of his friends, "I was heading towards the park to see them then. . . shit I'm late!"

Konohamaru broke into a dash heading down the street and disappeared in a brown blur around the corner after shouting, "Thanks for saving me Onii-chan!"

"I hate kids," the blue eyed male said sighing as he turned to face his team, "Come on I feel like training."

Without a word the Uchiha walked forward followed by the Haruno who after glancing behind her started to chatter mindlessly like the last three minutes had never occurred.

(Later On That Day, Sunset)

Gaara looked on indifferently as her siblings continued to vent their shared anger out on a training dummy, muttering to each other about how if they crossed paths with the blonde again and if they did, they would do this and that and then . . .

For the sand manipulator the rest of their words just became part of the background noise as it always did when she wasn't listening or when they just started talking in general. Either way her thoughts always seemed to return to the earlier encounter.

That boy, "Naruto", if that was really his name, had been using a subtle technique interwoven into his killing intent that inspired anger in his targets. Gaara essentially used the same technique to intensify the fear she struck in others, but the way he used could be just as effective if used correctly.

The intriguing part was that the "technique" wasn't really something that could be learned like a jutsu. She was sure a something similar could be learned and master, but what she used was something that simply a part of her, an extension of her youki laced chakra, so for someone else to do something similar meant . . .

"Mother" stirred from within her cage sending increasingly large waves of bloodlust from within crashing on the mental shores her host.

The red head pushed aside lingering thoughts of the stranger she had just met. What she needed right now was to find something with sweet life giving blood coursing through its veins and make it yield that liquid, preferably resisting while she did so.

(The Next Day)

Team Seven silently entered the exam building not bothering to pay attention to the other groups they passed and the nervous chatter they produced.

As they climbed Sasuke winced with every couple of steps. He was aware that taking the Chunin Exam was probably going to the toughest test of his life of his so far and the urgency in being prepared that it implied. But that didn't give his asshole of a teammate the right to beat him and pass it off as a "strengthening exercise". If hadn't been for the efficient work of the nurses from Konoha hospital his ribs would still be in pieces.

Speaking of their unofficial leader Sasuke turned his attention from actively ignoring the foreign genin that surrounded him to focusing on the more familiar one walking in front of him.

While normally many (by many he meant fangirls) would consider Sasuke the more enigmatic and the strongest of the three it was Naruto that was fit that description.

He had joined the academy halfway into the final year, roughly four months before the graduation exam and had promptly proceeded in establishing himself as the best.

It didn't take him long since worthy competition was scarce as there were few that could match his level of prowess; prowess that seemed to cover every area of the curriculum from taijustu to ninjutsu to genjutsu, and then some. The Uchiha had thought about challenging his fellow student to see how he himself stacked up against him. But after seeing Kiba, who being the dumb, competitive, hyperactive dogboy that he was, foolishly challenge "whisker boy" to a one and one duel and then get his ass torn apart in less than ten seconds flat, Sasuke reconsidered and decided to keep his distance.

From then on everyone avoided "whisker boy" like the plague although the avenger had seen him talk to others, like the quiet Hyuuga girl . . .

Being on the same team didn't change their relationship much. Sure they ocassionally talked, but it was never about anything concerning home life or their childhoods, just training and tardy Kakashi-sensei always was. Sasuke wasn't even sure where Naruto lived, but after a lot of research and asking around (stalking the blonde was just asking for trouble), Sasuke pinpointed his abode to either be an apartment on the west side of Konoha or the basement of a whorehouse in the north. His gut told Sasuke that it was the latter, although he had never personally went and found out for himself.

Despite his teammate's elusiveness the sharingan user had found out a few things through their shared interactions. He found out that Naruto had two sets of chakra, blue and red, something Sasuke had never seen before and was determined to investigate. The blonde had grown up an orphan; his mother had died during childbirth his father following soon after for reasons unknown. His favorite color was orange-like shade of red called "Hell's Blossom", his favorite food was rabbit stew, that or ramen. He was stronger than Sasuke, which the prodigy grudgingly had to admit after a few very painful spars resulting in twisted limbs and broken bones. On the flip-side however the Uzumaki seemed mildly fond of Sasuke, voicing his support upon hearing the avenger's homicidal goal.

Finally, and probably the most apparent facet of the blonde's personality besides his aggressiveness, was that he was sexist, plain and simple. Often he expressed that women should either be out on the battlefield seducing or killing men or in the kitchen making a sandwich, better yet in the bedroom, with a sandwich, waiting for her husband to come home.

This manifested itself in the way the blonde treated the only female member of their group, Sakura. He often could be seen telling her what to do, dictating how and when she trained, and telling her what to eat and such. He was the reason her long hair was in a bun though he had suggested it just be cut short to save time and future trouble.

Personally Sasuke felt mixed feelings on how Sakura was treated, but to his surprise and bewilderment she seemed be okay with it, as well as their sensei who just seemed indifferent to about everything that didn't concern his books or the end of life as they knew it.

But no matter his opinion Sasuke couldn't deny the results. Sakura was an all around better ninja than when they had begun, to the point she could give him a run for his money, though she acfed more submissive now more then ever, her fiery personality that she had been known for in the academy had taken a major blow, in addition to her obsession over the Uchiha, which was a nice turn around.

Still, the feeling of not having his every move shadowed and cooed at felt well . . . well it felt weird, and that's all he had to say on the matter. Her new habit of chatting nonstop about the most trivial things was annoying, but he could always tune that out with some effort.

Overall things had improved from what they were initially, but still he couldn't dispel the sense that something was off kilter, namely because Naruto was a bit more on edge then usual which was passed onto Sakura and somehow onto Sasuke himself. . .

"Look at those idiots tricked by a simple genjutsu."

Shaking his head Sasuke woke up from his daze to see Naruto gesturing at a hallway clogged full of chunin hopefuls all gathered around a door that was blocked by two older looking teenagers.

A blink later Sasuke reviewed the scene with his birthright activated searching for any form of deception.

After a moment of searching he found it, it wasn't too hard honestly; it was kind like playing that game where one had to find the guy in the striped shirt in a picture full of random objects.

The genjutsu had been placed so that the sign over the door where two older looking boys, who were actually two oddly familiar looking men, read 301 instead of 201.

The trick was overly simplistic if you asked Sasuke, but it got the job done if the crowd of genin surrounding the door was any indication.

"Come on we're taking the side stairs, let them waste there time standing there." said Naruto.

"But shouldn't we at least tell them about the trick?" Sakura asked glancing at the mob which was growing more and more rowdy.

The blonde reached out to gently stroke her jaw line causing her stiffen a bit, "Oh Sakura-chan, always so kindhearted. Do you really want such idiotic cannon fodder getting in our way down the road? If they can't see through such an obvious illusion then they don't even deserve to see my boot crush their naïve little faces."

Sakura looked conflicted but said nothing as Naruto withdrew his hand and proceeded back down the corridor.

A few moments later they were walking across an open area towards a staircase leading to a plain looking grey metal walkway.

They're plan to take the side route was proceeding without a hitch when suddenly, like cannon blast, a green blur shot forth from the edge of the walkway and launched itself, rapidly spinning like a child's spinning top, towards them.

Sasuke instantly activated his sharingan and jumped back along with Sakura, as they both anxiously watched as the blur hit the ground meters away, stop and then launch itself again, this time specifically at their teammate who stood unmoving, calmly waiting for the inevitable.

With the aid of his kekkei genkai Sasuke observed as the green specter with its oddly twisted chakra coils aimed a flying left overhand punch at the Uzumaki's neck.

The blow didn't connect; instead something happened that caused the Uchiha to gape in amazement.

Now the speed at which the attacker was moving was something he had only seen his Kakashi-sensei and his brother move at, suggesting that blocking was nigh impossible for a mere genin. But Naruto simply proved him wrong like he always did by palming the incoming fist with his right hand, stopping the strike completely with a loud smacking sound and then, ignoring his opponent's shocked expression that was just beginning to form, he followed the block up with a swipe of his left hand along his opponents chest, the force behind the swing great enough that it sent them flying towards the wall at the other end of the room.

The attack and subsequent counterattack had taken place in less then two seconds, so fast that if Sasuke had blinked he would have probably missed the entire exchange before the person wearing the green jumpsuit was sent flying.

Speaking of the jumpsuit wearer, they just narrowly avoided crashing into the wall headfirst by putting their feet forward and sticking to it, and were in the middle preparing for another acrobatic assault when a gust of wind slammed them into the concrete hard enough to leave a small crater.

The figure slumped to the ground managing to stay on their feet but from the looks of it they were still pretty dazed. In comparison Naruto hadn't moved from his place in the middle of the floor, his stance now more cocky than calm.

"By the way you fight you should know by now not to put your entire strength into the first blow. Or did you really expect to get me with that punch? Oh, I will give you credit for that Gai costume though, it's the most authentic I have ever seen. "

The attacker appeared to ignore the taunt while he looked down to examine his clothing which now had a rip across the torso area and small amount of blood dripping from the gash. To everyone surprise the stranger looked up, tears streaming down their face as they shouted:

"Ah! My suit is torn! How am going to explain this to Gai-sensei! I promised him that I would try my best to keep it unscathed! If I can't get this fixed before I see him again I will make two hundred more suits before the sunsets!

The jinchuuriki's face immediately tensed at the mention of "Konoha's Green Beast". "So you're Gai's other student? That explains everything. Did Neji send you?"

The stranger stopped their raving and looked seriously at the boy who had bested him, "No, Neji did not send me. His flames are not youthful and I would never follow his-"

He paused in the middle of his rant and blushed as his eye caught sight of the pink haired kunoichi standing behind the object of his yelling.

"Forgive me for being so rude! In my rush to vanquish evil I've forgotten my manners" he said with deep bow, "My name is Rock Lee! I am a student of the great Gai-sensei and member of Team Ten. May I ask your name fair maiden?'

Sakura in turn blushed but it was hidden from sight as Naruto protectively stood in front of her and growled deep and menacingly.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I am in no shape or form a "fair maiden" as your injuries can attest. Now, if Neji didn't send you, why did you attack me? How did you know we'd come this way?"

Lee glared at the other male, "Any smart shinobi could recognize the trick in the hall for what it is! And no, Neji did not send me, but he did tell me tales of how unyouthful you are and I can see that he was right. After all, Gai-sensei said that unyouthful people attract other unyouthful people and his words always ring true! So, seeing that it is my duty to rid spread the world of youthfulness I took it upon myself to seek you out and try and make you see the error of your ways!"

Naruto cocked his head to the side like an exotic bird, "So you attacked me based on the word of your asshole teammate who you acknowledge is an asshole. Then based on that assumption you attacked a fellow ninja from your own village without any forewarning whatsoever. From what I can tell that doesn't sound very "youthful" or even sensible, now does it? Plus, Gai is an experienced ninja and by default he has lied on many, many occasions."

Blood again rushed to Lee's cheeks, this time in embarrassment. Not only had he failed to strike down the unyouthful person standing before him, but he was also being belittled along with his honorable teacher by that same unyouthful person and right in front of a beautiful maiden, who he was sure, would prefer his company over her teammate's (not to mention help fix his jumpsuit). Gai-sensei would certainly not accept something like this and by default neither would his greatest admirer and student!

"And how would you know what being youthful means! You are clearly a scoundrel and a bad person who has no right to-"

"Quiet your tongue Lee! You are only making a fool of yourself and our team!"

Everyone on the floor looked up at the stairwell to see where the voice had originated.

Glaring down at everyone below with him with his byakugan causing the veins around his eyes to pop out stood a male Hyuuga with shoulder length brown hair with his arms crossed and standing next to him was a girl with a lighter shade brown hair done up in two buns, with a look of concern on her face.

"So you've finally decided to grace us with your presence and join the party, huh, Neji?"

The Hyuuga turned his head and focused his glare from his teammate briefly scowling at the Uchiha, before turning his angry gaze to the one who had spoken to him, who in return was still wearing the same cocky smile.

"What, nothing to say Neji-chan? Cat got your tongue? Maybe if you pulled that stick out your ass you might have a better time thinking of what to say? How about you go and run to Hiashi and maybe he'll help you out since you can't seem to do anything without his help?"

The fierce look intensified ten fold as the insults continued to flow forth as smoothly as butter spread across a hot slice of toast, but the Hyuuga did nothing further to physically express his anger.

Finally the visibly upset teen uncrossed his arms and turned his attention back to the Lee, "Come Lee you've wasted enough time playing with these fools."

"But-" Lee started to protest.

"I said now!"

Sending a final furious glance that promised their business was not finished the Maito Gai look alike jumped towards the walkway and landed on it in a single bound. The two boys turned and walked away but the girl turned and mouthed a quick "I'm sorry" before following her team.

The atmosphere on the ground level was tense as the two waited what the blonde was going to do next.

And finally he did do something. Flexing his right hand experimentally Naruto sighed as the sound of bones popping back into their respective joints filled the air.

"That moron really has taken after Gai."

Naruto stayed where he was persisting in putting his hand and wrist through various motions as he kept talking.

"As you may have guessed or picked up on Maito Gai is a jounin sensei like Kakashi, who leads the three you just met, Team Ten and specializes in taijutsu. The girl, Tenten I think her name is, is weapons master in training and other than her skills in throwing, wire work, wielding weapons and forging, she really isn't worth mentioning. Rock Lee, who so obviously wants to emulate his teacher that he imitates him down to his clothing, specializes heavily in the taijutsu taught to him by Gai, as his condition makes forming chakra for any other purpose including ninjutsu, genjutsu and so on, impossible. His single minded nature combined with his mental need to emulate his hero and the desire to prove himself to world makes him an extremely dangerous opponent for anyone unprepared." He showed his bruised left hand to drive his point home.

"Finally there's Hyuuga Neji."

The jinchuuriki stopped testing his wrist as he spat out the name with clear contempt.

"He's a branch member of the Hyuuga clan, which you've probably have heard of, meaning his training compared to someone from the main branch is limited. Despite these limitations he is probably one of the most gifted Hyuuga born in generation, his natural talent all but unmatched. However he is an asshole, a bitter asshole, who sucks cock and when he isn't out blocking it, and definitely the strongest member of Team Ten. If you ever encounter him or Lee without me around, I suggest you run, plain and simple. Do you understand me?"

Both teens nodded dumbly at him, they had seen him serious before, but never this serious, not since their mission to the wave.

"Any questions?"

Sakura raised her hand, years of learning at the academy urging her to do so. "How do you know Maito Gai and Neji? It sounds like you've met them before."

Naruto chuckled at the question, "You could say that Hyuuga prick and I have history of bad blood between us. Same goes for Gai. Before I joined the academy he was one of my tutors and we have never gotten along. Now come on the exam has probably begun."

(Across The Village)

Kakashi leaned forward as he tried to snatch the black cat from its perch on the tree branch.

"You be careful with Mr. Sunshine now young man. He can be a grouch when he doesn't have his lunch."

"Don't worry ma'am I will, I can be a bit irritated if I don't eat either."

The jounin was so distracted by thoughts of the old woman he was helping, who reminded him so much of his own grandmother, Kami rest her sweet old soul, that he didn't realize how close his hand was in proximity to the cat.

With a hiss the feline's head darted forward and sank its sharp teeth into his hand.

Kakashi swore and withdrew his hand in a flash and thanks to his blind spot created by his cover eye was unaware that the book he carried in one of his many vest pockets came free and fell to the ground landing in a puddle until it was too late. He snatched the cat roughly by the collar causing it to yowl and he leaped off the tree.

When he landed, instead of the kind words of thanks he expected to receive, he received a sharp whack to the head courtesy of elderly woman and her dastardly wooden cane.

"That's for hurting for Mr. Sunshine and reading such trash." She said pointing to the book in the puddle.

Huffing the old woman turned around and went about her business, stroking her Mr. Sunshine and muttering about "how society going down hill and whatnot."

"Well I was always more a dog person anyway!" He yelled after her. In response she gave him the finger causing surrounding eyebrows to rise.

The war veteran forlornly looked at his book soaking up dirty rain water and sighed while he picked it up. The pages were soaked, the words blurred and the spine ruined. He might as well have picked up the wet pages of an erotic newspaper discarded without a care.

"This is not a good sign."

I've written down dozens of half finished first chapters of stories that most likely I'll never finish and this is one of four that kind of caught on with me. It starts cannonish but diverges pretty soon. Chances are this will be a harem fic, likely a small one, I haven't fully decided yet, but be prepared for anything I might throw in, including some yaoi elements. If that doesn't suit your interest then I suggest you try and hang on, if it does then stay. But either way leave a review, it motivates me!