EDIT: Well, my time is running short, but I figured I'll fix at least the first arc, meaning the whole, gennin exam, which means the first, 8 chapters should be fine by the time you're reading this… further ones though will remain a bit of a mess I'm afraid until notice…

Finally, the 5th chapter is done. Took me long enough, I guess. Sorry about that, but my exams are at an end, so hopefully, since next week, new chapters might appear more often.

Yeah, I made it to the ten reviews! Well, I know it isn't much compared to some, other stories, but it's good to know that there are people who enjoy reading your work.

A big thanks to all the reviewers. I'm really glad you like the story and hope that you'll enjoy what I've planned for the coming chapters.

Before the next chapter starts, just a big favor to ask you all: please, review and tell me what you think. Even constructive criticism helps.

And now, to wake you all up after my boring intro, lets get to where the action is:

Chapter #5: Gennin Exam – part IV

Beauty and the Beast

Chapter Cover: Kumiko's sleeping in her bed with her hair down (she is turned with her face to the 'audience'). Her forehead protector could be lying on her night closet

Ibuki was finally able to get her right hand free with the use of the senbon. Right after that she started to pull out the rest of the kunai that Naruto used to nail her to the tree: "Crap" she thought, slightly annoyed. "He'll pay me for that!"

-Back to Naruto-

The tiger kept getting closer as the jounin backed up a little and prepared his kunai. He stood ready to dodge the first attack, when he suddenly noticed something. He turned his head around and at the very same moment, the tiger attacked.

The blond looked at it again, but didn't even prepare the knife. Just when the tiger's claws were about to cut him, he turned around and deflected shuriken that were flying straight at him.

When he looked back, the tiger was gone.

"Nice try" he said loudly. "But I'm afraid that genjutsu at this level won't do you any good. You got me fooled for a while though…"

"What can I say?" Kumiko's voice flew through the forest from an unknown location. "I was really hoping that my plan will be successful. Guess that now, fooling you with any illusion will be twice as hard, right Naruto-sensei?"

"You can try…" responded the Kyuubi vessel. "But genjutsu isn't a very good tactic against me… after being tricked by it so often, one needs to learn how to fend it off…"

"We'll see" announced the girl as she stepped out of her hideout.

The jounin looked at her direction, but then he heard a noise right behind him. He turned around and saw another kunoichi.

"Bunshin no Jutsu, eh?" he thought to himself, as more and more Kumiko phantoms started to appear. "Even thought they're just phantoms, with so many of them, I can't tell which is the real one. Well, her goal is obvious…"

Suddenly he heard an air slicing sound. He strafed to the left, in order to avoid the kunai flying directly from behind. Just a second later, more knives started flying, this time from every direction.

"Nice thinking" Naruto complimented her with a smile. "If she'll use many, fake kunai at once, I won't be able to tell which is the real one, thus making me dodge all of them. She has the mind of a tactician."

The blond was non-stop on the move in order to avoid all the attacks, the real ones just as the fake. But with every minute, there seemed to be more and more knives in the air at once.

"At this rate…" he thought, narrowing his eyes. "Sooner or later, I won't be able to avoid all of them. Guess there's only one option left… even though it's so cliché…" and, in an instant, the jounin preformed the right seals: "Kawamiri no Jutsu!" he called out, making his body became a wooden pale.

"I knew it!" smiled Kumiko and threw a kunai right in the direction where Naruto appeared.

The Kyuubi vessel dodged the knife by simply bending to the right, having the projectile flew right next to him and burry into the tree. It was only then that he noticed a small paper attached to it.

"An explosive note?" he thought to himself, but before he was able to dodge, the note went off.

"I did it!" yelled Kumiko happily, running in his direction as her teacher's body dropped to the ground.

-Same time, elsewhere-

Takaru was still lying on the ground, not able to move. He turned his head around as much as the paralyze allowed him to. Naruto was long gone.

"I wonder how much time do I have left?" he thought curiously. "Probably two hours max. Dammit, when does this paralyze intend to disappear?"

-Back to the battle-

Kumiko ran to the place where the blond was lying. She did it. She defeated a jounin.

"Forgive me, Naruto-sensei, but you said it yourself that if we won't go all out, we won't get the…" she stopped right there, noticing that the bells that were tied up to the Kyuubi vessel's belt, disappeared. "Where…?"

"That was pretty good" she heard the man's voice. "But it seems that genjutsu expert has fallen into her own trap…"

Suddenly, the body of Naruto disappeared and one of the phantoms that Kumiko created transformed itself into the whisker-marks.

"My sensei used to say, that you should think before using a jutsu or it will be used against you" announced Naruto calmly. "You created too many phantoms and didn't even notice that there's one extra. I used the bunshin myself and send out the phantom to appear. I knew that once you'll think you got me, the real you will reveal herself. And here you are…"

"I thought that I've won" said Kumiko, lowering her head.

"Don't be so cruel on yourself" asked the blond, placing his hand on her shoulder. "The plan was pretty good. At the beginning I really thought that your point was to make as many phantoms as possible and make me dodge your attacks until I'll be too tired to move. But I figure that keeping so many phantoms at once is really tiring for you as well and thus you won't take the risk that you'll be the one who'll get exhausted first. I believe that your plan from the beginning was to make me escape the kunai range and use the explosive note. Am I right?"

"That was it, but I'd never thought that you'll use bunshin as well, sensei…"

"An old friend of mine taught me basic of tactic" explained Naruto simply. "But I have to say, that I'm impressed: a strategic mind is the most important weapon of the squad leader. Anyway, shall we continue?"

"No point in that, really" responded Kumiko sadly. "I'm not good at ninjutsu, I'm also lacking in taijutsu. Practically, this trap was the only thing that I had planned. When it failed, it became obvious that I won't get the bells."

"Well, you still have about one hour left" announced the jounin, doing a quick calculation. "I think that's enough time to think of another plan. Or changing your strategy. If you'll decide to try again, I'll be where the exam started…" and with those words, he disappeared between the trees.

-A little later-

Naruto returned to the point the exam began. Kai was still sitting on the ground, but Kusari stood up, ready to fight.

"I was wondering where you disappeared to" announced the jounin with a smile that annoyed the boy. "Till now, you're the only one who hasn't tried to get the bells, Kusari…"

"Thanks for the info" replied the preteen. "Now I know that using their tactics is pointless. Kumiko is the best at genjutsu from the five of us. Since she failed, there's no reason for me to even try defeating you that way. Takaru probably used ninjutsu, so that's not the way either. As for Ibuki, since she is of the Tanken clan, I guess she used shuriken and kunai knives…'

"Nice, but just by talking, you won't get those bells" reminded Naruto.

"I know" responded Kusari, keeping his calm. "But I still have one trick up my sleeve. Allow me, sensei, to show you my weapon of choice" and with those words, he took his right hand behind his back.

A moment later, an extremely long chain appeared in it. The boy placed it behind his back and surrounded both his arms with it. One end of it had a big, steal ball attached to it, while the other was ended with a sharp blade, resembling a kunai.

"A chain?" Kai was a little surprised.

"That's rather unexpected" admitted the older blond, rising an eyebrow curiously.

"Believe me, Naruto-sensei…" responded the gennin-to-be. "You haven't seen anything yet..."

They stood in front of each other for a while and then, suddenly, Kusari launched the attack…

-the final approach-

And so the 5th chapter ends. Well, hope you liked it enough to visit the story when the sixth chapter is uploaded.

As for you, my good readers, there'll be a special note at the end of the 6th chapter. Nothing really special I guess, but I'll keep quiet for now.

To end it once more I beg your reviews and hopefully till the next chapter.

Best wishes.