AN: Yes, I know I said I'd update within the week. Sorry :3. Now I know not to ever make promises about when I'll update.

Thanks to all of you who have reviewed, favourited and read.

Anyway on with the story!

Chapter 4:

"Naruto," the Hokage began in an uncharacteristically serious tone. "I know that you believe Sasuke has changed and while I'm not convinced, I'm not naïve enough to believe you will not release him when you come to power." Tsunade sighed. "You have to understand Naruto that even if you trust him the international community doesn't, not after what happened before and during the war."

Naruto had a sinking feeling. He sympathised with everything Tsunade was saying – but he couldn't abandon his best friend. Surely Tsunade wasn't going to execute him - Naruto mentally panicked.

"That's why I'm making Sasuke take the chunnin exams with you." Tsunade finished.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing and exclaimed the only coherent thought to come to his mind: "Yosh!".

Naruto had to suppress an involuntary laugh. To think he was worried about execution!

"That's great baa-chan! It'll show the great nations that he's changed – that's he's not a threat anymore." Naruto practically yelled. "And it means the chuunin exams won't be such a bore." Tsunade dearly hoped he was right, but regardless couldn't help but smile and be somewhat comforted by her fellow blonde's attitude. He had a way of inspiring confidence which made him a natural born leader and helped put her addled mind at ease.

"Before you get too excited Naruto, you are to keep this as an S-rank secret until it is publically announced at the start of the chuunin exams. Till then he is in training with Kakashi and not to be contacted. Understood?"

"Hai!" Naruto couldn't care less. The exams were only a couple of weeks away, and the fact that Sasuke would be participating was some of the best news he'd had in years. One thing was sure, even if he couldn't spread the word he'd be going to Ichiraku's for his own private celebration!

Naruto was practically beaming as he jumped out of the Hokage tower window leaving an exasperated Tsunade behind him.

Two weeks later:

Walking through the village Naruto took in the sights of the fresh faced gennin and their senseis. Some had a look of awe in their eyes as they looked around one of the great ninja villages for the first time. Others had a hardened aloofness – overtly confident in their skills. Naruto remembered back to the times when they had once looked so intimidating and chuckled to himself. Now, not only was he taller than the vast majority of them, but he also carried the experience of hundred battles with powers that had shaken the very earth. Little was intimidating now.

Reminiscing about his first exam he wondered why his friends had been acting so strange the last few weeks. Whenever he would meet them they would all have this knowing look – a smile which was just a little too happy. Nuances the old Naruto probably wouldn't have picked up on. The past week he had hardly seen them at all. Something was definitely afoot, but the exams started the following morning and for now Naruto was too happy to care.

Elsewhere:

Kakashi flipped to his left narrowly avoiding a fuma shuriken thrown at immense speeds, but he had no time to rest, immediately making lightning fast had-seals. Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great fireball technique) Kakashi yelled before pulling down his mask and sending a great ball of fire at the charging ninja in front of him who was soon consumed in fire. Gazing into the flames with his sharingan he saw the flaming ninja disappear in a puff of smoke only to be replaced by a charred log. Substitution? So fast – I didn't even see the switch! Kakashi thought frantically. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a movement – too late. A sandalled foot connected with his jaw in a bone crushing kick, sending him hurtling into a tree a few meters away. Groaning, Kakashi forced his addled brain into alertness and jerked his head to the right a moment before a shaft of pure electricity stabbed into the space his head had been a moment before.

"Easy, easy Sasuke! That could have killed me!" Kakashi said lazily. "Remember your going up against gennin! Not Madara himself!"

Sasuke let the electric blue glow around his hand die away before sheepishly looking at his sparring partner. "Ahh, sorry Kakashi – old battle instincts die hard."

Kakashi's eyes softened as he looked at Sasuke. He no longer looked malnourished and sickly; in fact he looked better than he ever had. His eyes were no longer sunken and full of hate, instead taking on a look of grim determination while his skin had taken on a light, healthy tan. His old outfit was gone too, replaced by black pants and a top with purple highlights and a standard ninja utility jacket. Kakashi had been pleasantly surprised by the new Sasuke the last few weeks. He had expected Sasuke to have hated him - grudgingly accepting his situation on pain of death. Instead, Sasuke had been quietly determined, pushing himself in training back to his former strength. And he was strong. Kakashi thought to himself. By the last week Sasuke had proven himself more than a match for Kakashi and he still hadn't used his full power as it was much too dangerous in spars amongst allies.

Kakashi surveyed the training ground around them. It was utterly beaten. Splintered and charred trees lay at awkward angles around the edges of the clearing while the ground itself was cracked and had large gouges in it. One only expected this sort of devastation when the very best jonnin trained.

"I'm proud to call you my comrade." Kakashi suddenly piped up.

Sasuke was taken aback, not expecting the sudden, candid, display of emotion from Kakashi. Only Itachi had ever been proud of him. Others had feared or respected him – but never been proud.

"Thank you, sensei." Sasuke chocked out through a strangled voice. Taking a deep breath he calmed himself. "That means a lot."

"Well Sasuke, I truly have nothing more to teach you. The chuunin exams start tomorrow, so sleep well tonight. It wouldn't do to have you kicked out in the first round," Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Che – like that'll happen." Sasuke muttered, an ounce of his old arrogance creeping into his voice. And with that the two nin disappeared in a swirl of wind as they headed home.

Naruto awoke bright an early the next morning barely able to contain his excitement. Today was the beginning of achieving his dream of becoming Hokage – how could he not be excited? Pulling on his new outfit he jumped out of bed and practically inhaled his breakfast before promptly running into the door. "Freakin pull instead of push," he muttered darkly to himself before yanking on the door's hinges and slamming it ferociously.

Stepping onto his balcony he took a deep breath and savoured the cool morning air, before jumping from roof to roof in the direction of the exam rooms.

Arriving a little early Naruto eyed the various ninja assembled outside the exam rooms and a familiar face caught his eye.

"Temari-san!" Naruto exclaimed before casually walking up to her.

"Ohaiyo Naruto! How are you doing?" She asked politely.

"Brilliantly!" Naruto bubbled. "Is this your gennin team?" Naruto asked pointing to group of young ninja assembled behind Temari.

"Yes, I'm so proud of them," she beamed. "I'm sure they'll all make chuunin. This is Maka," she said pointing to a lithe young girl with dark purple hair. She reminded Naruto of Ino when she was younger. "Junko and Kensei," she continued, gesturing to a timid boy with a short sword strapped to his back and a lazy white haired boy just as short as what Naruto had been at his age.

"Nice to meet you," Naruto responded.

"So why are you here Naruto? Gara was saying that you're becoming Hokage - here to check out the next generation?" Temari asked.

Naruto stared sheepishly at the ground. "Actually Temari-san, I'm still technically a gennin, and according to Konoha law I have to be of at least chuunin rank to become Hokage. I'm actually participating in the exams." Looking up he saw Temari's jaw hanging open as she stared at him stupidly.

Temari couldn't comprehend what she was hearing. She was proud of her team and confident of their strength – but they had to go up against a power house like Naruto? That just wasn't fair! He was one of if not the most powerful shinobi alive and he was going to be competing against her gennin? They would be blown away.

Seconds ticked by making Naruto uncomfortable before Temari composed herself.

"Ahh, I see. Well, um, good luck … and please be nice to my students," she added dumbly.

"No problem Temari-san! I'll look after them." He said with a grin, giving her the thumbs up, before another voice caught his attention.

"Naruto Nii-san!" a voice called.

Immediately recognising the voice Naruto's face broke out into a smile. "Got to go Temari-san, I'll see you round. Bye kids, good luck," Naruto called already bounding away.

"Sensei, who was that?" Junko asked.

"That was a friend of Kazekage-sama and mine. He fought in the war with us. He'll be participating in the exams with you." Temari paused. "I am very proud of you and you should be confident in your skills, but be careful of him; he is incredibly powerful even if he doesn't look it. He's kind - but try and stay out of his way."

Junko looked back at her with wide eyes and the rest of her team simply nodded. If their sensei had said the boy was powerful he would have to be strong indeed.

"Konohamaru!" Naruto practically yelled bounding up to his kohei. "Are you participating in the exams as well?"

"You bet Naruto-Nii. And with the super special moves you taught us we're sure to pass!" Konohamaru yelled back with as much enthusiasm. "Are you here to cheer us on?"

"No, I'm here to test you. To really see who is fit to become the next Hokage! I'll be taking the exam with you." Naruto declared with confidence.

"That's totally aws…" Konohamaru began, fist pumping before being interrupted by Ebisu – the teams jonnin sensei.

"Now, now Konohamaru is that anyway for the grandson of a Hokage to act!" Ebisu admonished. Noticing Naruto he began to address him in barely suppressed sarcasm: "Ahh, Naruto-san what a pleasure to see you. I heard you were taking the exams this year. Best of luck, but I'm afraid I can't let you distract my team any longer before they enter the exams. After all, they don't have your experience from already failing the test." Ebisu finished, grabbing Konohamaru and dragging him in the opposite direction, while sheepherding Udon and Moegi with him.

Naruto ground his teeth together, resisting the urge to Rasengan that smug look right off Ebisu's face. Regardless, he called out and wished the young team the best before moving towards the empty lectern by the entrance to the exam rooms. Idly waiting he felt a sudden breeze as a ninja sushinned beside him.

Quicker than the eye could see Naruto had drawn a kunai from the holster in his leg and was slashing it up in a broad arc towards the centre of the disturbed air. Steel ground against steel as sparks flew and Naruto found himself looking into ebony orbs of seemingly endless depth. The corner of his mouth twitched into a half smile.

"So this is what you look like now, Naruto. I'm glad to see you've ditched that ridiculous orange getup."

"You don't look half bad yourself Sasuke-teme. Finally decided to get rid of that girly bow huh?" Naruto quipped back.

"Hn. I'm just glad this exam isn't going to be completely boring. Looks like we're gonna get that fight pretty soon." Sasuke smiled.

"Ha, yeah. And everyone gets to watch too – so you better not be slack teme, I want to put on a show!" Naruto replied exuberantly. "It's good to see you back." Naruto smiled softly, sticking out his hand.

"It's good to be back – in fact it's never been better." Sasuke smiled back, taking Naruto's hand and firmly shaking it. It was great to be back.

"Attention!" Tsunade began. "I would like to welcome you all to the great Village of Konohagakure-no-Sato for the reinstating of the traditional chuunin exams," she boomed to cheers from the crowed of young ninja assembled before her. "Only the very best of you will make it to the rank of chuunin. This is your chance to show what you are capable of and bring honour to your senseis' and your villages." Tsunade paused for the cheers to die down. "I will now be passing you on to this year's organisers. Good luck." Tsunade abducted the lectern, and from within the exam building the Konoha 11 began to file out led by Shikamaru.

Naruto's mouth was hanging agape. "Whah, huh… really! No wonder they've been acting strange and haven't been around!" he exclaimed to no one in particular.

"What did you expect, dobe? It makes sense that they would be the organisers – they are all at least chuunin," Sasuke replied. Same old Naruto – he's still thick. Sasuke thought himself with a smile.

Shikamaru lazily took his place at the lectern. He hadn't wanted to speak, but he'd been offered a deal he couldn't refuse. If he did the public speaking, he wouldn't have to worry about anything else. That suited Shikamaru just fine.

"Good morning everyone, and thank you Hokage-sama for the introduction," Shikamaru began. "This year's chuunin exams will be broken up into 3 sections - a written exam, a survival exercise and one-on-one battles. As I am sure you are already aware, you will be participating in teams of 3 in all the tests. We will begin shortly, but before that I need to inform you that this year there has been an exception to the 3 man team rule, which has approved by the Hokage. These exam two students will be competing on their own due to their peers' having long since passed the exams and been promoted." Shikamaru paused, a mischievous glint in his eyes before he continued. "If there are no more questions please move to the exam rooms."

Naruto bristled at Shikamaru's insinuation. I've never even had the opportunity to complete an exam! I totally would have passed! Naruto fumed in his head.

The other gennin were looking at Naruto and Sasuke, who stood out like sore thumbs due to their age and conspicuous lack of teams. Some were already targeting the two solitary nin as easy targets.

"All their peers have already passed? They must be so pathetic! Without their teams to save them they'll be easy pickings," a rough boy from the hidden stone sneered.

"Ha. We probably won't even get a chance at them, they'll be finished off by the other so quickly," Naruto heard another boy call from the back.

Naruto and Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle, quietly confident in their skills. To think any of these gennin could pose a threat either of them was downright hilarious.

The Konoha 11, having been earlier informed of Sasuke's participation in the exams, couldn't help but smile when they heard the comments being thrown around about their two friends. They also felt a little bad the hapless ninja which would stray into their path – those unlucky gennin wouldn't be passing this year - that was for sure.

"Why aren't they even the slightest bit scared? Don't they know who they know who they are?" Ino asked Sakura who was standing beside her.

"Well, only those who fought in the war really know who Naruto is, and most of the gennin are too young. And even if they knew his name, they wouldn't recognise him." Ino nodded in understanding. "Sasuke's past is an S-class secret. Even I don't know how powerful he really is. I heard from Tsunade-sama that he took on all the Kage and survived before the war." Ino stared at Sakura in shock. One thing was for sure. She couldn't wait for the one-on-one battles – especially one in particular.

AN: Thanks to everyone who's been reading! I really appreciate your comments, so please review! I'll try and update when I get time. Uni's been a little more hectic than I expected: S.