EDIT: finally I found enough time to edit this chappie as well. I hope it's more reader-friendly now then it was. As stated before, the plot itself was not changed, I merely edited quotation marks and the sort. Hopefully I gotten at least the most noticeable bugs. Oh, and I also decided to place title pages where they belong from the start ;)

Okay, so here's the second chapter of my story. Well, it's still a little deja vu-ish (I shouldn't invent words on my own) but the first few chapters were planned that way. The point is, that during the coming uploads, you'll get to know Naruto's subordinates a little better and then the true adventures begin.

Also, I was asked about the other characters from the original 'Naruto', meaning what happened to them. Well, I can promise you that in the right time (if at least few people would like to know what happens next) you'll find out how they end up. Some of them are going to appear in the story, some will be just mentioned. Hope that suits you.

And now, let's see how the new team #7 attempted their gennin exam:

Chapter #2: Gennin Exam – part I

Born Loser?

Chapter Cover: Kai's showing off two 'victory signs' with both his hands (of course he's smiling the way you can see his teeth) and behind him, to his left, in the back Naruto's (his back turned to Kai) sweat dropping at the sight of his student

"So they all hid themselves, eh? I was actually positive that that whole Kai-guy will stay and fight just like I did" Naruto thought to himself. "They all probably hiding in the forest surrounding the area, but I'll stay on the open space for now."

And so time flew…

"Come on, you guys!" yelled the jounin after a little while, slightly annoyed. "You're the ones with time limit here, you know!"

"You're right" he heard a voice coming from behind. It was Kai. "I'll fight you!"

"I was right' thought the Kyuubi vessel. "He is an idiot."

"What's that pinhead doing?" thought Takaru, looking at the whole scene from his hideout, narrowing his eyes. "Leaving his hideout makes him an easy target!"

"Once a loser, always a loser" Ibuki whisper to herself.

"At least we'll find out how good this whole Uzumaki is" figured Kumiko.

Kusari just observed in silence.

"You know, standing there, you're showing me hundreds of openings" announced Naruto, sweat dropping. "If your only plan is to fight me, then I'll tell you that there's no chance for you to touch me. My left hand alone is enough for a rookie like you…"

"Strong words, but I'm not just some weakling! I've passed the Academy graduation exam!"

"The exam doesn't have much to do with the real life. In the Academy you could easily concentrate but in battle conditions you have to be on the move all the time and observe your enemy. The seals must be preformed instinctually…"

"Blah, blah, blah!" interrupted Kai confidentally, getting into a fighting stance. "Who needs seals? I'll resolve this with bare hands!"

"He… he… really is a moron" thought the jounin, lowering his head. "Do as you wish. But I'll prove to you, that I'll knock you down using my left hand only…"

At this Kai charged at Naruto. When he beat the whole distance, he jumped into the air and tried to kick the whisker-marks man with his right leg, but the older blond moved aside and blocked the attack with his left hand.

Before his feet touched the ground, Kai aimed at Kyuubi vessel's face and this time he used his right hand, attacking from the Naruto's left. Uzumaki dodged the attack, by simply bending over.

When his feet landed on the surface, the boy tried to hit the man on the head with his right hand again, before his opponent would be able to raise his head. Surprisingly for him, Naruto bended over even more and propped with his left hand.

Before Kai noticed, the jounin used that hand to spring up, flow over the gennin-to-be and landed behind his back.

"Dammit!" thought Kai, pulling out shuriken from his holster and threw them at the location when he figure the older blond will be, turning around in the same moment.

Thanks to the fact that he turned around, he was able to see Naruto jumping into the air and spinning around, while flying parallel to the ground. Eventually, all the shuriken (except one) missed him and the one that would be a direct hit was grabbed by Uzumaki with his left hand.

Before Kai realized, the jounin landed with both feet on the ground and threw the shuriken he grabbed at the surface.

"Told you that if you'll use just your strength you'd lose" reminded the man with a shrug.

"He's good…" thought Takaru with a single drop of sweat running down his face.

"And how in the world are we supposed to get the bells from him?" wondered Kumiko.

"Being able to dodge the attack from a place not visible to him… that whole Uzumaki-guy may look like an asshole, but he definitely can fight" noticed Ibuki, narrowing her eyes.

Kusari still just observed the whole scene in silence.

"What do you know?" yelled Kai, visibly angry. "I'll get that bell, even if it kills me!" and with these word he jump right to Naruto.

The jounin just moved aside and grabbed Kai's right leg (with his left hand) when he was flying next to him. Without both feet to use for landing, the boy ended with his face on the ground.

"Dammit!' he thought, cursing in his mind as the man let go off his leg. "Can the gap really be this big?"

"You're pretty desperate to get those bells" the Kyuubi vessel he noticed calmly, looking at his student curiously. "Why is it so hard for you to accept your failure?"

"It's none of your business" responded Kai while getting back on his feet. "I have my reasons…"

And so the younger blond attacked again, this time with kunai in his hand. Naruto bended back at the moment when Kai pushed the knife so it would hit his opponent between the eyes.

The jounin hit the knife's blade with his left hand and when it went up a little, he used the thumb of that hand to push the kunai from the other side that he hit it. Kai couldn't hold the weapon anymore and it flew spinning to the ground.

Without waiting for the man's reaction, the preteen tried to grab Naruto's left hand in order to break it, but before he knew it, it was Uzumaki's left hand that grabbed his arm and by turning to the right, it forced the boy to fell on the ground spinning.

The jounin stood straight on his feet again, while Kai was slowly standing up. His breathe became heavy. It seemed that the fight exhausted him. They looked at each other for few moments. The younger blond was the first to break the silence:

"Do you remember what my name is?"

"Haisha Kai…" answered Naruto immediately with a calm voice.

"That's right. That name was given to me by my father. Do you know what it means?"

"A loser…"

"That's correct. Low rank loser. That's also how people refer to me. They see me as failure just because I have that name. You have no idea what it's like to be a loser, who could never achieve anything on his own!" and with those words, Kai charged at Naruto once more with kunai in his right hand.

"Kai…" whispered Kusari and lower his sight.

The boy cut from the jounin's right, but the Kyuubi vessel just lower his head and dodged the attack. When Kai's hand was going over his head, he grabbed it with his left hand and with force that his student could not withstand, threw his opponent on the ground.

Kai tried to get back up, but before he was able to do that, Naruto pressed him to the ground again (as always, with his left hand only).

"Believe it or not…" said Uzumaki, his voice still calm. "But I was a loser as well…"

Kai calmed down at hearing those words, looking at Naruto, as he continued:

"Did you knew that I spend three years at the Academy? I was also the last one from my class to pass the chuunin exam. I didn't had anyone to acknowledge me, especially since I carried a demon in my body. But I was able to find people who respected me. Wanna know why? Because every time I failed, I didn't get down thinking it's always like that… it's pointless. Not failing isn't true strength. True strength means to keep going even if you have failed…"

Naruto loosen his grip, but Kai kept laying on the ground.

"People make mistakes" announced the jounin without taking his eyes off the boy. "Thus they fail. The important thing is to learn on those mistakes and not make them the second time…"

Everyone observed the whole scene from their hideouts in silence.

"You failed" Naruto stated finally with a stoic face. "You didn't get the bells. But you still have time left. I suggest thinking about your mistakes and change your strategy" and with those words, he walked to the forest.

"Where are you going, sensei?" asked Kai, stopping the man in his tracks.

"Your teammates won't attack me on the open space, so I'll give them a chance, by walking into the forest. Oh and Kai, remember…it's never too late to change."

And with those words he disappeared between the trees. But Kai kept sitting on the ground not moving even an inch.

"He finally entered the forest" thought Ibuki with a smirk. "Now those bells are mine…"

-Ibuki steps into action!-

Well, the second chapter ends here. From now on I'll try to submit a new one at least once a week, but I'm not promising that I'll be able to (I'm also working on three, other projects and I my exams have already started).

Hope you'll enjoy the story and won't get bored with it. See ya.