Finally the day of the exams had arrived. Naruto was standing outside the Academy with Koko on her usual place, his shoulders. As 7:30 rolled around Sasuke and Sakura showed up, Sasuke looking geared up for a fight though Sakura looked rather nervous.

Team 7 entered the Academy and quickly took to the stairs. As they reached the second floor they came upon the sight of a large group of genin outside of a room labeled 301, being bullied by two older genin that stood in front of the door. Naruto thought it was odd seeing as they had been on the second floor.

With a quick scan of the group Naruto spotted a friendly face, and being him he had to go say hi. "Oi, Ten-chan! Ready for the exams?" asked the energetic ice wielder, waving at his friend and part-time sensei.

Tenten turned to see Naruto waving as she quickly got up from helping her teammate off the ground. "Oh hey Naruto-kun, hey Koko-chan. I'm surprised to see you here, Gai-sensei made us wait a year efore entering the exams. Good luck!" Tenten said giving the boy a smile. He was a really good student, and she was hoping to see him use his sword in a real battle.

Naruto quickly gave her another smile before moving in a little closer so he could whisper in her ear, "You too Ten-chan. See you on the third floor, nice idea to hide your abilities by the way." The blue-haired boy whispered to her. He didn't want others to know so there wouldn't be as much competition.

As Naruto began moving back to his team to lead them upstairs, he forgot one key aspect about his team. That being that Sasuke had very little control over his arrogance.

"Show us Room 301! This is obviously a genjutsu." The Uchiha demanded with a smirk on his face. He wanted everyone to see that the Uchiha clan was above such a stupid genjutsu.

Naruto wasn't able to stop the forehead slap he gave himself at his teammate's stupidity. The genjutsu dropped and the two bullies moved to quickly attack Sasuke. They made it half way before being stop by Rock Lee, who in a display of Taijutsu prowess kicked both away, forcing them to fly backwards from the strength of the kick. Lee turned to who he saved, only for his eyes to fall on Sakura and hearts filled his eyes.

"HELLO MY BEAUTIFUL YOUTHFUL FLOWER! MY NAME IS ROCK LEE AND I WILL PROTECT YOU WITH MY LIFE!" Lee proclaimed in a cheer-filled yell, hoping that the girl would love him back. I mean he was willing to protect her from harm, what girl wouldn't fall for him right?

"Ewww, your weird! I love Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted back at the bowl cut haired boy, as she tried to hug her Sasuke-kun to show how in love they were only for him to quickly dodge said hug.

Lee however was not deterred by this. He quickly turned his attention to the Uchiha with a fire blazing in his eyes, "YOSH! SASUKE YOU ARE A GENIUS AND I WISH TO FIGHT AGAINST YOU TO SSHOW WHAT MY FLAMES OF YOUTH CAN DO!" the mini-Gai yelled out.

Tenten and Naruto stood off to the side, banging their heads against the wall from their teammate's display of stupidity. Lee and Gai were okay once you got used to them, but they were never were friendly with your ears and always making foolish challenges. Sasuke with a smirk excepted the fight and the pair walked upstairs for a quick match.

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"I told you not to fight him." Naruto droned out as he half dragged a beat up looking Sasuke down the hallway to room 301.

"Shut it dobe!" Sasuke growled out, as he ripped his arm off of Naruto's shoulder, "So I miss calculated on a few things, big deal. I had him where I wanted."

Naruto just chuckled as he felt Koko retake her place on his shoulders, "Not from where I was standing," Naruto said offhandedly as they reached the door only to see Kakashi leaning next to it.

"Yo." The one-eyed jōnin said with a two fingered salute, "Glad you all could make it. Well you all can proceed on in." Kakashi said looking bored as he pushed himself off the wall.

"Wait, you mean we couldn't before?" Sakura asked, as she stopped fussing over Sasuke for a second.

"Why yes, you couldn't. If even one of you had not made it, none of you could have proceeded, since this is a team exam. But you all are here so it's a moot point now. Good luck." Kakashi said as he turned down the hall and walked away with a back handed wave.

When he was out of sight Naruto turned to his two teammates only to see Sakura trying to maul Sasuke in an attempt to 'help' him. Giving a small pray to Kami that he could survive this exam and leave this team, he opened the door only to be tackled right away.

"Oh! Sasuke-kun I've missed you, have you missed me?"

Naruto was currently face first into Ino Yamanaka's chest, the co-president of the Sasuke fan club, as she kept a tight grip on his head despite his struggles to get released.

"INO LET GO!" Naruto roared out as he wasn't able to breath. Hearing the voice she looked down to see icy blue hair, then looking to her right saw Sasuke dealing with Sakura.

"Ah! What the hell?!" Ino exclaimed as she pushed the stranger away. Naruto taking a deep breath looked around and saw Koko rolling on the floor laughing.

"Oh shut it Koko!" Naruto yelled at the giggling fox. Still chuckling the fox climbed his leg for the third time and laid on his shoulders.

"Naruto?"

Said shinobi turned to see the rest of the Rookie 9 looking at him with wonder and curiosity. It then struck him that they didn't know about his new appearance, though they could tell it was him by his voice. 'What the hell happened to him?' Was the collective thought of the eight of the nine rookies. The ninth rookie thought something along the lines of 'OH MY GOD NARUTO-KUN! HE LOOKS AMAZING!', bet you can't guess who that was.

Naruto not being able to come up with a good response of his own decided to borrow one, "Yo." Naruto said with a two fingered salute. This stopped Sasuke and Sakura in their tracks and he gained deadpanned expressions from them.

Naruto moved into the room without saying another word,(A/N: is 'Yo' even considered a word?) and took to leaning against the wall. None of them, except his teammates, could believe that the tall intimidating shinobi in front of them could be the same orange-jumpsuit wearing idiot they went to the Academy with. The black fox with a Konoha hitai-ate around her neck also confused them. Hinata, not being able to take it anymore, fainted at the sight of Naruto with a giant blush and grin on her face. Before they could say anything to him a silver-haired genin wearing glasses interrupted them.

"You might want to settle down a bit, Rookies. The other guys here aren't too happy with you and your only drawing more attention." The older genin said while pushing up his glasses.

The Rookie 9 looked around to see that every eye was on them. Kiba was the first to speak his mind to the new guy.

"Who the hell are you?" Kiba barked out, not really translating the older genin's words quickly enough.

"My name is Yakushi Kabuto. This will be my seventh time to take the exams. They are rather difficult. How about I help you rookies out?" The mysterious genin said, as he knelt down and reached into his weapons pouch pulling out a deck of cards, "These here are my nin-info cards. By pushing chakra into them I can show you info on any shinobi in the exams. This there anyone you'd like to see?" The genin asked.

Off to the side, Koko had whispered a warning to Naruto. She could smell snakes and blood on the guy, and she knew it wouldn't mean anything good.

Back with the group, Sasuke spoke up first, shocking most of the group who were not used to so many words form the brooding shinobi.

"I want to see the info on Rock Lee, and Uzumaki Naruto." The Uchiha asked. Most were curious to what the card would say about Naruto. What most didn't know was that just about every other genin in there had turned their attention to the conversation.

"Oh you know their names? That makes this too easy. Alright I'll start with Rock Lee." The glasses wearing genin said as he pulled a card out. Putting a single finger to it as well as holding a one handed seal the seemingly blank card filled with information. Picking the card up Kabuto cleared his throat, "Rock Lee: Genin. He's completed 54 D-rank missions, and 7 C-rank missions with his teammates, Neji Hyūga and Tenten Higarashi. Skills consist of high marks in Taijutsu with no skills known about his Ninjutsu or Genjutsu skills. I don't think he's able to use them, now onto Uzumaki Naruto…"

Pulling out another card and doing the same with it he picked it up and read it as well, "Uzumaki Naruto: Genin. 25 D-rank missions, 2 C-rank missions and 2 A-rank mission. An A-rank as a genin? Impressive. He's teamed up with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. It says he activated a bloodline while on a mission though the abilities of it are unknown. His skills in Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and Ninjutsu are also unknown. The only thing that is really known is he has a registered nin-kitsune named Koko, a rare multi-tailed fox that are almost on the verge of extinction. They are said to be a fox that are exposed and born with a lot of chakra, hence the multiple tails." Kabuto said. When he finished, the Rookie 9 were looking at Naruto who had moved away from his wall.

Before any of the rookies could ask questions, as Shino was able to revive Hinata in time to hear Naruto's info, the jinchūriki quickly spoke up. "Subaku no Gaara." Naruto stated. He wanted to see what was up with him, as Naruto had gotten a very weird vibe from him. Sasuke perked up, he knew Naruto wouldn't ask about an opponent unless he was a challenge. He knew Naruto just preferred to fight his battles on his own.

After selecting the card and calling up the info Kabuto cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Alright Subaku no Gaara… I don't have a lot of info on him since he's from another village but: Subaku no Gaara: Genin. 12 C-rank missions 8 B-rank missions and 2 A-rank missions. No info on his skills but there's a note that says he's come back from every mission unharmed." Read Kabuto. He didn't really give Naruto any of the information that he wanted, but it did make him eager to find out. The information this genin had on him also indicated that he was a spy, since he never told anyone about the A-ranked mission from Mizuki. Only the Hokage, Iruka, and himself knew about it. He had to find a way to get a note to the proctors.

"I see. Thank you. I always enjoy a good challenge," The blue-haired genin said, sending a fox grin towards the bloodthirsty looking red-head.

The group was now staring at Naruto. There was no way this was the Naruto that they all knew. They were now very curious about what this new Naruto could do. They may actually have to be careful if they encounter him in the exam. Especially if he now had a bloodline that no one knew about.

After recovering from their shock Kabuto went to explain about how the countries would only send the best of the best genin to these exams, as it was a way to get future missions.

"Though the village you probably don't have to watch out for is Otogakure. They just sprang up, almost overnight so they probably sent whoever they had on hand to the exams to get at least some recognition for missions." Kabuto said off handedly. This sparked a small confrontation, as the Oto genin didn't take to that too well.

After their surprise attack on Kabuto that left him vomiting on the floor with his glasses crack, a tall man in a black trench coat busted into the room, flaring his own killing intent at every genin to stop any further action.

"Alright you maggots! Let us get one thing perfectly clear, there will be no attacking during this exam unless you want to be disqualified. GOT IT?! You will only engage in combat if expressly told to do so." The jōnin said as he glanced around the room. "Good, now let the first exam begin, welcome to hell gaki's!"

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The Jōnin Lounge

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The jōnin lounge was a place for those of jōnin rank to gather and relax. It was a place they could get away from the harsh life of a shinobi. Currently the jōnin-sensei of the rookie 9 and Gai were sitting there talking about the chances of their teams making chūnin.

Kakashi was, like usual, lazily reading his book while listening to the others talk about their teams. He felt like he should speak up since he knew who the first examiner was. "This first exam will be interesting. They're being tested by Morino Ibiki…" Kakashi said.

Kurenai, being a rather fresh jōnin, and hadn't yet met everyone yet so she didn't know who that was. "Morino Ibiki? Who's that?" the red-eyed jōnin asked.

Sarutobi Asuma, who had quite the crush on the beautiful jōnin and wanted to impress her, took this opportunity to do so, "Morino Ibiki, the head of ANBU's Torture and Interrogation Unit. He has made quite a reputation for himself as being a master of psychological tactics." Asuma said taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Psychological tactics?" Kurenai asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He specializes in the mind," Asuma said going to explain, "Unlike many of the torturers, he doesn't have to touch you to make you speak. He chooses to make you WANT to speak by torturing your mind."

Kurenai realizing how much trouble the genin were worried a bit, "Do you think any of our genin will be able to pass his test?" Kurenai asked. She, probably like the others, were pressured a bit by the council to put her team in the exam since she had clan heirs on her team. Well it consisted of clan heirs but still.

"YOSH! THE FLAMES OF YOUTH IN MY TEAM BURN BRIGHTLY! I AM SURE THEY WILL BE ABLE TO HANDLE THIS!" Gai shouted with his usual gusto.

Kakashi looked up from his book with a bored expression, "Huh? You say something?"

"DAMN YOU AND YOUR TOO HIP FOR SCHOOL ATTITUDE MY ETERNAL RIVAL! IF MY STUDENTS DO NOT PASS THIS PART OF THE EXAM I WILL RUN 500 LAPS AROUND KONOHA! AND IF I CAN NOT DO THAT I WILL RUN UP AND DOWN THE HOKAGE MONUMENT ON MY HANDS 100 TIMES!" Gai told the room, not that anyone was really paying much attention. Gai was a prime example of how people changed after experiencing the harsh life of a shinobi for so long, though Kakashi swore he was always like that. Konoha was just known for its eccentric shinobi above most other things.

After that excitement, Asuma chose to continue the conversation, "Well anyway… Shikamaru is a genius, so I'm sure he will figure something out and then help Chōji. As for Ino… Well she has her clan's jutsu to help her out. How about you Kakashi?"

Kakashi closed his single visible eye for a moment as he put his thoughts together. After a moment he lowered his book to look at them, "Honestly, I'm not sure. Sakura and Sasuke I believe will be fine. They were Kunoichi and Rookie of the year. As for Naruto… I honestly have no idea anymore." Kakashi said, his tone changing more to a confused tone from his usual bored tone. This the jōnin around him caught quickly.

"What do you mean you have no idea? Wasn't Naruto pretty much a complete failure at the Academy?" Kurenai asked before widening her eyes at what she just said. Speaking quickly to cover herself, "No offense, I mean his grades weren't the best…"

Kakashi motioned that he took no offense, "No, he wasn't. As you all know he failed three times to pass the genin test; But after our mission in wave Naruto… changed. Completely." Kakashi said, now looking down at the table they were at, "While waiting for me to show up at team meetings I would catch him studying. According to the Hokage, all Naruto has done for the past five months is eat twice a day, then immerse himself in his training and studying. I couldn't find where he was training as it kept switching all the time, so I no longer actually know what his capabilities are. I think we will find his performance in this exam to be a very interesting show." The lazy jōnin told his comrades.

The room went silent as they contemplated what Kakashi had told them. They all agreed that they would have to keep an eye on Naruto to see what all he was able to do.

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Back in the exam room, the test was just finishing up.

Naruto was thoroughly happy with his performance. Okay so he couldn't take all the credit, since it was actually Koko who figured out the test from her perch on his shoulders. From where she laid, she had a good view to be able to get what information he needed. He was able to answer the one question on anatomy that was there, since he had been studying human anatomy for the better part of five months continuously.

As the team was winding down, Naruto subtly looked around and saw quite a few empty seats. Naruto, while still nervous for the 10th question, was ready for whatever it could be.

Looking at the clock Ibiki's smirk grew, "Okay everyone, pencils down! It is time now for the final question of the test. This question has a few special set of rules. First of all, you will have a choice of whether or not to take this final question." This brought a murmur from all of the genin, only to make Ibiki's grin even bigger, "However… If you choose to not take it you are done. You will fail, and as such so will your team. Second is if you do take the question and answer incorrectly, you will forever remain a genin forever."

At this, the girl Naruto remembered as Temari spoke out, "You can't do that! Other people have taken this test multiple times!"

This brought out multiple other genin who spoke up in agreement. Ibiki just started to laugh a deep and throaty laugh.

"Well," Ibiki said as he finished laughing, "They didn't have me running the exam. Tough luck for all of you." Ibiki answered. Everyone was quiet before a few teams raised their hands to quit. Naruto kept still, his face a calm and cool mask. He turned his head just in time to notice his own teammate was starting to raise her hand to give up. He himself didn't think Sakura was ready for this, but he couldn't let her make the whole team fail. The jinchūriki knew he had to intervene, and quickly. Naruto raised his hand only to slam it down onto the desk, making a slight dent. Koko couldn't only shake her head at her companion's energy.

"That's crap and you know it!" Naruto yelled out, gaining everyone attention with his outburst, "I'll take the question even if I have to remain a genin forever! Anyone who's read the shinobi laws knows that it's the KAGE'S choice to promote or demote their shinobi, and NO one else can decide that!"

Ibiki looked at the blue-haired genin with a straight face, though inwardly he was smiling. Taking a look around the room showed that not only had he saved his own teammate with his outburst, as he could see she was about to give in, but he also managed to raise the confidence of every genin in the room.

Ibiki was pretty impressed with the Uzumaki brat. He was one of the few brats who he couldn't tell whether or not he had cheated or if he actually knew the answers. He had seen his head down the whole time, and if the fox was feeding him answers then he made no show of ever getting them. Hell at times he thought the fox was actually napping! But now the brat had brought up the spirits of an entire room, which was a quality any leader would need.

Seeing that he probably couldn't intimidate anyone else into quitting, he gave one last final call, "Anyone else? Anyone wish to quit while you still can?" Getting no response and only looks of determination from both the genin as well as the chūnin watchers he turned and gave a genuine smile, "Alright then. All of you in this room… PASS!"

Ibiki waited a few moments to let it sink in before the first outbursts came.

"What?! What do you mean we 'pass'?! What about the tenth question?" Temari questioned.

Ibiki gave a throaty chuckle, "Simple. You. Pass. You can say the tenth question of the exam was actually the decision on whether or not to take the question at all. The first part of the exam, as I'm sure many of you discovered, was to test your ability to gain information. This is a key skill you will need as a shinobi. Those that we discovered cheating, we failed. If you were clumsy enough to get caught here, then you would certainly get your squad killed in the field. As for the last question… Chūnin are leaders. They much have the ability to lead a squad often into situations that mean life or death. The final question was just a way to see if you would be able to handle being place in a no win scenario, and still come out with the courage it would take to continually face that danger. Ibiki explained. He was going to continue until he felt a familiar chakra signature.

'Not again, the Hokage's going to bill us for this… AGAIN' he thought to himself.

Suddenly a black ball slammed into the window, shattering it and exploding into the room. The ball, once inside the room, seemed to unravel, as kunai were launched from the center. The black cloth was a banner that read 'MITARASHI ANKO, KONOHA'S SEXIEST KUNOICHI AND PROCTOR OF THE SECOND EXAM!', and in front of it stood a purple-haired kunoichi, wearing a mesh-armor body suit, a burnt orange skirt and a tank trench coat. On her shins she wore what looked to be standard ANBU shin guards.

"ALRIGHT GAKI'S! I'M THE SECOND PROCTOR!" Anko said striking a pose. When she heard no applause she opened her eyes to see the genin just staring at her. Give a quick count she rounded on the first proctor, "Ibiki what the hell?! You let 26 teams pass? You're going soft in your old age."

Ibiki just gave a quiet chuckle, "That or this year's applicants are just that good." Ibiki countered.

"Pff" Anko said until her eyes came upon a face she had seen quite a few times. 'This is going to be fun, the gaki made it!' Anko thought to herself as her eyes gave off a mischievous gleam.

"It won't matter anyway, because when I'm done with them, they're numbers will cut in half at the very least." Anko said with a creepy smile on her face that sent a shiver up all the genin's spines. Alright meet at Training ground 44 at 9:00 in the morning tomorrow, if you fail to show up or are even a minute late you will disqualified!" Anko said, before she leapt out, breaking the other window.

Most of the genin were a little confused to really follow what all had just happened, or were just gawking at Anko's clothing, or lack thereof. However, they did hear their instructions for the next day and they all began to file out of the classroom. Naruto immediately left for this apartment to make sure he had all of his supplies for the next part of the test. He knew Training ground 44 all too well. It was his favorite training ground out of all of them simply because it was the most dangerous. It was also where he met his crazy friend Anko a few months back.

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Flashback!

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"Ugh Koko-chan! We have looked everywhere for a damn place to train away from everyone. Everything is too damn open!" Naruto groaned. He and Koko had been searching for a spot to train for a few hours now.

"I know, Naruto-kun… Hey! What si that over there? The place with the really high fences?" The vixen asked.

Not knowing Naruto just shrugged, "I'm not too sure… Let's go take a look!" Naruto said, picking up Koko, and using a chakra enhanced jump to clear the fence in one leap. On the inside he came to what looked like a torn up sign.

"Training ground 44… this is perfect!" he said, dropping the sign back in the grass. Setting the vixen down, they rushed through the giant trees to explore the grounds a bit. They found that it was one giant forest with an assortment of streams, as well as different animals everywhere. The place was perfect for just about everything they needed. The two companions kept wondering around for a bit, trying to find a nice clearing to begin their training.

Naruto's hair on the back of his neck tingled, and he quickly jumped to the left as kunai passed right where was would have been. However he wasn't so concerned by that at the moment. No, his attention was at the kunai currently pressing against his neck.

"Gaki… What are you doing here? Who the fuck are you?" Naruto heard, a cold female voice ask him. He could feel the heat of someone pressed closely to his back, and he swore he could feel breasts through his vest. Koko was growling at the woman, her fangs barred. The woman smelled of snakes, and she was immediately on her guard.

"I'm just here to train. I don't like being around the villagers much, and I didn't want people spying on my training. My friends call me Naruto, but you probably heard me by another name. The 'Kyūbi Brat'. My companion here is Koko." Naruto said, hoping the introduction would defuse the tension. He didn't like having a sharp metal object that could end his life with the flick of a wrist by his jugular veins.

Hearing the title he said, she quickly removed her kunai from his throat and hopped out in front of him, "So you're the 'Kyūbi Brat' eh? The names Mitarashi Anko, Konoha's Sexist Kunoichi! Though most know me by the villagers title, 'Snake Bitch'. Don't let it get to you, the villagers are just a bunch of idiots. So they give you a hard time too huh?" Anko asked, getting a chuckling nod out of the boy, "Well, we'll show 'em! Tell you what kid, I think I can like you. Normally I don't like others in this place, they generally end up going to the hospital after I get through with them, but make yourself at home here. Just don't get your ass killed! I'm gonna go have fun in another spot, later gaki!"

With that the eccentric woman was off like a shot, leaving a blinking duo of fox and genin standing there looking at each other.

"Umm… Naruto-kun, what just happened?" Koko asked, very much confused.

Naruto shook the shock off, "I'm not really sure Koko-chan, but I think I just made a friend..." This brought yet another confused look from Koko. Naruto however wasn't paying attention as he was more focused on what she said.

"Wonder why the villagers don't like her either thought…" Naruto whispered to himself. Deciding to figure it out later, he and Koko went to training right away.

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Flashback End!

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'Anko certainly is… interesting. Nothing is ever dull with her around.' Naruto thought to himself. 'Shame the villagers are too stupid to realize she isn't her ex-sensei though.'

After that first encounter, she would meet with him while he was out there if she wasn't on a mission. Once they grew more comfortable around each other, they told their respective stories to each other. Naruto felt Anko had become like an older sister to him now. Well a crazy sister with a slight blood fetish, an outrageous obsession with dango, as well as no sense of modesty, but a sister nonetheless.