Declaimer: I own nothing in this fanfic, but my created characters they abilities and Jutsu and that is about all I own "Goes to corner and starts crying"

Writing: Italic: thought, Bold: Bijuu or summoning speaking.

"I suppose it is only to be expected. You have my pity. There is no such thing as "truth" or "lies" in this world; there never has been. There is only plain, hard facts. And yet, all beings who exist in this world take only those "facts" that are convenient to them, and take them to be the "truth". They do so because they know no other way to live. However, for those powerless beings that make up the majority of this world it is those "facts" that are inconvenient for their own self-affirmation that make up the real "truth." - Aizen Sousuke

"Make no mistake war is coming with all it's glory and all it's horror." - Starcraft II trailer

Naruto was already enjoying the new proctor. Apparently, Anko's part of the Chunin exam was to put the teams into the forest of death. Each team will have one scroll, heaven or earth, and the only thing they had to do is find the other matching scroll. The only catch was the forest itself. It was famous for having dangerous animals and hidden traps, but that was nothing compared to the animals on the other side of the fence. There was no telling what was going to happen once those gates closed behind them, but Naruto was determined not to falter. With a short chuckle, Naruto remembered the confrontation he and Anko had.

XXX

Flashback

Naruto shook his head at the flamboyant entrance of their new Chunin examiner. This didn't go unmissed by Anko. Naruto arched his neck to his right as a Kunai was thrown at him, embedding into the desk behind him. Staring at Anko, Naruto saw a look of bloodlust in her eyes, but it was a different kind of bloodlust. It wasn't angry or filled with hate. Instead, they were filled with a strange shine of glee.

"Hello, little shrimp," Anko teased, "I wonder how long you're going to last in my forest." Naruto smirked as Anko approached him. As she leaned in, Naruto turned on a dime and ripped the kunai out of the desk. Seeing this, Ank pulled her kunai out as well, but Naruto didn't postion the knife in any threaten manner. On the contrary, he was handing the blade back to the Jonin.

"I think this is yours."

Stunned looks followed as Anko gently took the offered weapon from the boy, but kept a wary eye on him. "Thank you," Anko said in an unsure voice, "But why did you give it to me?"

Naruto just gently took a small scroll out of his pocket and laid it between him and Anko. "Because what is in here is more dangerous then any weapon you have in Konoha." Silence followed that statement. It wasn't the statement itself that caused the silence, but the way it was said. Naruto spoke in such a clear and precise voice, that it left, virtually no room for argument.

Suddenly, Anko let out a laugh that echoed around the room. It wasn't your normal every day laugh, it was one you would expect a mad man to start using. "You know kid I like you," Anko said, "But I still think a shrimp like you won't last a day in my forest."

"Well, I guess I'm just going to have to prove you wrong,"

XXX

As the Jonin assigned to handing out the scrolls gave him the earth scroll, all Naruto did was nod, but just as they got out of site; he made the pass. "Suigetsu take it," Naruto pressed the scroll into Suigetsu's hand. "They will expect the strongest to have the scroll. So they will most likely gun for me." Suigetsu nodded his head, before carefully concealing the scroll into his shirt. As Naruto turned around, he found a very worrying sign. Both Sasuke and the Kumo team were staring at him with nothing short of death. "Okay I get why the Kumo guys are angry with me, but what have I done to wrong Sasuke." Naruto decided, if he could manage it, he would find Sasuke and talk to him and hope the Uchiha wouldn't attack.

"Okay, listen up everyone," Anko shouted diverting everyone's attention back to her. "There are two rules only in this phase of the exams. Number one, no one is permitted to leave once you enter. You must stay in the forest for exactly five days to get the other scroll you are missing. If you don't capture the scroll and make it to the tower in the time limit you fail the exam. Number two is a very simple one." Everyone listened as Anko gazed around with a murderous glee in her eyes. "Don't die!" With that the proctor left, leaving the teams to get to their correct gate. They all waited for the whistle and the gates to open. It felt like hours to the participants, but just as the first one twitched the whistle blew.

XXX

E was heading straight towards the sound of explosion, knowing only one person he could truly trust with this task. He turned the corner and saw Yugito in her two tailed chakra form, destroying boulders and rocks, but stopped when she noticed E's presence. Turning towards the Raikage, E got a good look of the scar Yugito was now in possession of. The scar, despite Kinkaku and Ginkaku's weakening chakra levels, was giving to her during the battle between them. It stretched itself all along her right arm, giving it the appearance of a failed attempt to skin her arm. This had a bad effect on her right arm's reaction time and speed, but she still had her power and that is what E needed. "We found him," E's words caused Yugito to narrow her eyes, until they resembled the slits of a cat. "He is in Konoha competing in the Chunin exams."

"Okay, I'll go and pay him a visit."

"No," E's words stopped Yugito in her tracks as she stared at him dumbfounded. "We can't just attack him without some sort of reason." With those words E tossed her the pendants of Kinkaku and Ginkaku. "So give him a reason to attack us." Yugito smiled as she turned and walked away, with the mission already giving her chills. "Soon brat, you return what you have stolen from us." E's dark thoughts seemed to transfer into the sky, because at that precise moment, the sky opened up and rain fell across the terrain. As lightning split the sky in two, the Raikage vanished in his own flash of lightning.

XXX

With a crash, the giant bear fell to the ground. Naruto dusted his hands off with a dissatisfied frown. "I thought Anko said these animals were tough," Naruto remarked as he turned to his team. Suigetsu was currently in the process of sheathing his, now, fully repaired Kubikiribōchō.

"Man, this thing is heavy," Suigetsu commented as he rolled his shoulders, in an attempt to distribute the weight. "How did Zabuza carry this thing?" Haku giggled slightly as she walked away, leaving behind a rather bemused Suigetsu. With a shake of his head, Naruto tossed Suigetsu a storage scroll.

"Use it to carry it for now," Naruto stated as he turned towards the trees and listened to the wind. "I'll have someone place a storage seal on your body, so you can access it a lot better." Suigetsu nodded his head as he sealed the blade. Placing the scroll in his front pocket, Suigetsu took his place with his team. The team jumped onto the trees, but stopped when they heard the screaming. "Looks like someone just lost." Naruto's statement made it clear. He was going on a little scouting trip. Before another word could be said, Naruto jumped into the forest.

XXX

Hinata and her team all trembled in the bushes. In front of their eyes, nothing short of murder was just achieved. The sand siblings, no just Gaara, alone took down three Genin, killing them in the process. The most horrifying thing was Gaara didn't seem at all fazed by what he did. "Gaara was that really necessary," Temari questioned with caution in her voice.

"Shut up, before I kill you too."

Temari froze in fear has Gaara retrieved the scroll from the bloody bodies, with his sand. He was just turning around, but suddenly stopped. Kiba let out a low growl when Gaara turned his murderous green eyes on them. Slowly raising his hand, Hinata and the others flinched, but a shadow fell over them.

"That's not nice." Hinata's eyes went wide when she recognized the voice. Turning head back to the scene she saw Naruto standing in front of them. "I mean you could've just taken the scrolls, you didn't have to kill them." Gaara's sand quivered in anticipation; this wasn't missed by Naruto. This scene lasted for a few seconds, but for the three in the bushes it felt like hours. Then it happened. Gaara's sand lurched forward. Naruto's grin widened as he slammed his hands together. "Futon: Daitoppa!" The blast of wind was enough to disperse the sand, but dissipated before it could hit the sand user. Gaara's eyes narrowed as Naruto form his chakra chain. With a shout Naruto spun the chain above his head. The only indication there was anything there, was this sound of the air being cut. Gaara's sand began to jump, anticipating the attack. Naruto swung the chain down, but Gaara's sand grabbed the offended weapon, before giving it a jerked. Naruto's feet left the ground as he headed straight towards the Genin. As Gaara's sand opened up, like the opening to a coffin. This nearly caused Hinata to jump up to help, but she was held back by her team. As the sand swallowed Naruto, Gaara's eyes narrowed in disappointment.

"I guess I misjudged you," Gaara went for the kill, but stopped when a blade of wind emerged from the coffin of sand. Then they all heard the next word.

"Expand."

The coffin suddenly exploded as the wind blade exploded into several tiny fragments. As the sand settled, Naruto stood fully erect, staring at Gaara. Gaara's mouth seemed to twitch, but soon returned back to its stoic appearance. As the two continued to stare each other down, Naruto leapt to the nearby bush. "You seem protective of those little rats," Gaara's tone made it clear what he had in mind. "Maybe I should… rid you of those burdens." As Gaara's sand made a beeline for the hidden hole, Naruto's eyes flashed orange. The bush was swallowed by the sand wave. As Gaara made a fist, the sand imploded, destroying anything within. Gaara and his shocked sibling awaited the drip of blood, but it never came.

"Looking for someone," Naruto's voice echoed behind the sand Shinobi. The three turned their heads to see Naruto with Team Kurenai safely behind him. "You got to be a lot faster to catch me." Gaara's eyes narrowed as his sand erupted into an angry wave. Slamming his hands together, Naruto's chakra began to flare up, but before he could react, a giant wall of water appeared in front of him. Gaara's eyes seemed to sink into his skull, as his prey escaped once more. Naruto turned towards the new arrivals and saw his own team staring back at him.

"We don't go off by ourselves," Suigetsu berated in a tone, like a teacher would use to punish a student, but he was still smiling. "Now who do we have the pleasure of hurting today?" At the sound of Suigetsu's voice, Gaara's sand seemed to grow more and more agitated.

"Oh, no," Temari thoughts were sent spiraling through all the grisly images of Gaara's rampages. "We have to calm him down or the attack will be ruined." The only problem though would be getting Gaara to calm down. Naruto, almost like he read her mind, already moved locations. Gaara's eyes turned towards him, but found nothing but air. With eyes that looked more like a predatory then a boy, Gaara began to search for the Uzumaki. He found his target sitting in the tallest tree possible, with a stern face.

"I'm not going to fight you here."

With a cruel laugh, Gaara's sand climbed its way up the tree, gouging out pieces as it went, but Naruto continued to sit in his place. As the sand reached the top, it wrapped itself around the Uzumaki. "Now, prove my existence!" The sand crushed Naruto, but not a single drop fell. Naruto continued to look down, even as his body disintegrated into the wind. Gaara watched as his sand was frozen solid, but the ice clone of Naruto said one last thing, before shattering.

"See you soon, Gaara."

With that Gaara watched as the clone simply shattered into ice fragments. Gaara's siblings watched as a dangerous smile entered his features. "With your death Uzumaki, my existence will be assured." With those words, Gaara departed, leaving behind his worried siblings.

XXX

Naruto took his spot on a nearby stump with a depressed look on his face. Gaara's eyes held nothing, but hurt and anger. Naruto knew whatever happened in Gaara's past, shaped him into what he was today. Turning his head up, Naruto saw the others looking at him strangely. "What is it," Naruto questioned?

"What's wrong with you?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "What are you talking about," Naruto answered with his own question. "I jumped in to help, what else was I suppose to do?" Suigetsu shook his head as he approached Naruto.

"That's not what we meant," Suigetsu stated as he pointed towards Naruto's clenched fist. Naruto stared at his hand, as if it was alien to him. "You've also been shaking slightly."

"I'm fine," Naruto's answer didn't reassure the group, but that didn't matter to him. "It's just that Gaara seems to be in pain." This caused a chuckle to come from Kiba.

"That monster in pain," Kiba's sarcastic tone twitched a nerve in Naruto, but he held his anger at bay. "Come on you've got to be kidding us."

Naruto shook his head as he stood up. "Look into his eyes," Naruto stated with a dry tone in his voice, as if he didn't have any energy left. "You can see that he is in pain, somewhere deep down." With that Naruto walked away, not caring about the exam at that point. As Naruto found a clearing with the sun shining down through the leaves, he stopped and took a break. He didn't move even as Hinata sat next to him.

"Thanks for saving me… again," Hinata spoke, hoping to start a conversation with the blond. He just gave a tiny smile and a chuckle as he continued to look up. Following his gaze, Hinata watched the sun as well, but gave Naruto small glances. For one reason or another, Hinata felt strange around the blond Shinobi. It wasn't fear she felt; it was an awkward happy feeling. She didn't know whether it was from him saving her or something else, but for now she didn't voice her concern. All see knew was that she was grateful to Naruto. Naruto was about to speak, when approaching footsteps caught their attention. Turning around, the two saw their respective teams.

"Hinata we should get going," Shino spoke in his low, emotionless tone. Hinata nodded her head, standing up. With a finally farewell the two teams separated. Naruto took this opportunity to take a scroll out of his pocket. Laying it on the ground, Naruto unrolled the parchment to reveal a storage seal. As Naruto placed his hands together in the tiger seal, the scroll exploded in a shower of smoke. Haku narrowed her eyes as Naruto reach into the smoke and pulled out two shuriken looking weapons. They were about as long as Naruto's arm and resembled Fuma Shuriken, but they possessed a serrated edge. The blades themselves were a lot slimmer then regular Fuma Shuriken They also seemed to have a strange feel to them, as if the very blades had energy. Naruto simply placed the bladed weapons onto his sides, but not before checking the rings.

"How do they look," Suigetsu could tell before he asked that the weapons were perfect. "So I take it you're going to show a little bit of what Kinkaku and Ginkaku taught you." Naruto's smile was all the response Suigetsu needed. The water nin at point popped his back and shoulders, before throwing the scroll containing his new sword into the air. "So, what are we doing?"

"We're going to see how much trouble we can stir."

"Good, I hate fighting off these animals," Suigetsu continued to toss his scroll in the air; until he caught one last time and in the same motion deposited it in his pocket. "I need something to really test my blade on." Naruto nodded and nodded towards one direction. The team jumped from into the dark forest, but the forest soon moved revealing, in the glittering sunlight, a headband from Kumo.

XXX

The trees bent as Sasuke's team headed through the forest. Ever since the exam started, Sasuke had one person in mind; Naruto. For Sasuke, Naruto represented a barrier between him and his goal. If he could defeat Naruto, then his brother would fall next. The only thing was finding the elusive Shinobi. He didn't even notice his teammates slowing down, until Sakura called out.

"Sasuke, slow down," Sakura yelled," We have plenty of time to finish the exam."

"No."

This simple response elected surprise in the two. Sai even saw it. Even though Sai was never good with emotion, Danzo did teach him how to read individual body language. Sasuke's body language said one thing; anger. Whatever was bothering him, it seemed to glow in the Uchiha's eyes.

"If we run into someone and we're tired, we won't stand much of a chance."

Sasuke stopped on the next branch and turned his hate filled eyes on Sai. For the first time in a long while, Sai a twinge of sorrow for the Uchiha. Here he was letting his own anger devour him and for what; a chance to kill his own brother. At this point Sasuke's stare seemed too hardened until his eyes resembled nothing, but coal.

"I am the elite," Sasuke said, "Nobody is better then a member of an Uchiha clan. No matter who I go up against, I will win." Sasuke turned, but didn't have a chance to move. Standing on the branch directly in front of him was a ninja from Kusagakure (Village Hidden in the Grass). Sasuke was about to attack, when the girl's tongue rolled out of her mouth. The tongue was long enough, that it touched the nape of her neck.

"And where are you going my delicious little morsel?"

XXX

Naruto knew they were being followed. From the moment his team left that spot until now, he tried too ignore the presence. It was a futile effort. Now, his main priority was finding a good enough place to fight their pursuers. Looking to his left, Naruto found himself staring at an open field, which had a wall of trees on both sides. Jerking his head towards the location, Naruto turned his body towards the soon-to-be battleground. Just as Naruto's feet touched the ground, he was forced to dodge underneath a barrage of kunai. Looking up, Naruto saw the one group he was hoping to avoid; the Kumo team.

"Well, if it isn't my old pals," Naruto's sarcasm only fed the fire that was already lit within the three Genin. "Tell me, how is Ku-." Naruto jumped just as a bolt of lightning arched through the air, heading straight towards him. Smiling, Naruto landed beside his teammates, but still had a nervous look on his face.

"Don't worry about me?"

Naruto looked at Suigetsu who had pulled his scroll out. "With Haku backing me up, these idiots won't touch me," Naruto turned and saw Haku nod. It was true, Naruto was worried for Suigetsu. He was a strong fighter and hard to hit, but Raiton Jutsu was a big problem with him. Everything about Suigetsu made him a big target for Raiton user.

"You don't seem to see a resemblance."

Naruto turned back up to the Kumo and looked towards the kid with the darkest scowl. "What are you talking about?"

"The first time Kumo sent someone to capture Kinkaku and Ginkaku, it was the Kinkaku Butai," Makaze said, "You helped in the death of a certain man." Naruto narrowed his eyes, as he tired to bring that part of his memory back, but when it did, it hit him like a ton of bricks.

"You're Tokkan's son," Naruto disbelief was evident causing a smile to erupt on Makaze's face.

"Didn't think he had a son did you," Makaze spoke with an even voice, but Naruto knew his anger was boiling at that point. "Well, guess what, now you can pay the price for what you have done!" The three launched off their posts and headed directly towards Naruto's team.

Team Naruto vs. Team Makaze. Team Sasuke vs. Orochimaru. Next chapter: The Trickster's Challenge. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Oh and there will be a more defined Anko and Naruto 'confrontation' in a future chapter