Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…

Chapter 5 – The chuunin exams begin…

Three days and a couple practices later. Naruto was dressing in his new outfit. He had begun to like the tiger camo look. Haku had dressed in a similar outfit, but was blue camouflage, reminiscent of Zabuza's outfit. Haku had placed the equipment on the dresser for both of them the night before. She had also given Hinata pep speech about today. Haku had also met a couple of genin and been placed on their team two days ago to be entered into the exams. This surprised all three genin, but it also meant that they had an extra ally in the exams. They had met her new team and they seemed amicable. Their names were Gennai and Inaho, since Komugi was injured a couple days ago and they needed a ready, but effective genin to fit into their team. They seemed to work well as a team with Haku in the two days they had worked together, but also Naruto had told them to support Haku however they could.

Naruto and Haku left the Hyuuga compound ready for a mission. Hinata met up with them just as they left the compound, but also Neji was right behind them. This didn't sit well with Naruto since he and Neji still had problems.

(Flashback…)

Neji looked around see a lot of the villagers scowling at the group, mainly at Naruto. He felt that the boy was bringing shame onto his clan and Hinata was helping by leading the way. While had to admit she had gained confidence in the last couple months she was still a weak leader and would never amount to anything. He was brought out his musings when Naruto asked, "Burn a hole in anyone with your eyes lately?"

Neji looked over at the younger boy and replied, "I do not approve of this, but the head of my clan is offering you and your 'clan' residence in our compound, so do not bring disgrace upon my clan."

Naruto scowled at the boy and replied, "I'm sorry I don't have a stick up my ass, but hey… each to their own."

Neji clenched his fists and said, "I do not as you say, have a stick up my ass. I am showing myself as a dignified example of the Hyuuga clan."

"By looking down upon everyone? Man you must be fun all the time," Naruto replied and put his hands behind his head, as if he was taking a leisurely stroll.

Neji gritted his teeth at the laid back attitude of this genin. "You should present yourself better, since you're now a clan head."

Naruto closed an eye and looked at Neji with the open one. He then said, "I will not act like someone I'm not, so drop it."

"Please Neji-san, don't aggravate my husband," Haku asked in a pleading tone.

He then glared at the older girl and said, "And you should act more like the wife of a clan head." Neji then found himself having to catch a fist from an angry Naruto. He smirked and said, "You will have to better than that to defeat me Uzumaki."

Naruto pulled his fist back and there was steam rising from both Naruto's fist and Neji's open palm. "You shouldn't tell others how to act. I might not be 'refined', but at least I'm not an asshole!"

Hinata moved to his side and said, "Please Naruto-kun, he was requested to do this by my father, so be nice."

Naruto glared at Neji for a moment and then sighed. He then said, "If he agrees to not say anything until we get to your house I agree to be nice to him. I will also keep my mouth shut as a way of keeping it equal."

Neji turned his head and looked up. "As if we were equals," he said quietly.

Naruto rolled his eyes, but said nothing. The rest of the trip was quiet, but everyone could feel the tension in the group. Naruto even stayed quiet until Haku had shut the door. Neji fumed for the next couple days, but his duties kept the two apart from each other, thankfully for the Hyuuga household.

(End flashback…)

Naruto had agreed to keep the peace between the two clans while he could. The four went their separate ways to meet with their team before the exams began. Naruto met up with Sakura and Sasuke, who thankfully had mellowed out over the last few days. Naruto walked up to the pair and they nodded to him. The trio headed to the academy where the exams were to be held. There was a commotion near a door, but Naruto shook his head and motioned for them to watch.

In the middle of the commotion was a boy clad in green spandex, who wore several bruises and scrapes. "Hah! You plan to take the chuunin exam with that? You should quit now," a boy with long spiky hair and a pair of swords on his back exclaimed.

"Please let us through," a girl with a pair of hair buns asked pleadingly. She was smacked across the face and to the ground by the same boy. This brought several comments from the gathered crowd. Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto who just sighed, but didn't do anything. "What did you say? Listen, this is our kindness. The chuunin exam isn't easy and even we failed it three straight times. Those that take this exam and end up quitting as shinobi, those that die during the exam, we've seen it all."

The boy then smiled and then said, "And chuunin often become captains of military teams. The failure of a mission. The death of a comrade… that is all the captain's responsibility. Yet kids like you think that you can pass? We are just thinning out those that will fail anyway. What's wrong with that?"

Sasuke began to step forward, but Naruto grabbed his arm and shook his head. He then pointed to the room number and then out the window. He then motioned for his team to follow. Sasuke glared at Naruto, but followed. They moved to the stairs and then went up them. They found Haku and her team waiting for them. "So you noticed the genjutsu? Glad you didn't try to break it, since it will thin out the crowd," Haku stated.

Sasuke looked at Naruto in confusion and then asked, "How did he notice it? He's an idiot."

Naruto sighed and replied, "Who is Hinata-chan's sensei?"

Sakura smiled and replied, "Yuhi Kurenai and she specialize in genjutsu."

Naruto smirked and said, "Yep, got it in one, Sakura. Now let's go and get this over with."

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm and said, "You know that you're not the leader. We also have some unfinished business."

Naruto sighed and replied, "According to what I've learned, there is a written test, a survival test and then a general tournament where if you get to that point you can possibly fight Haku-chan or me if you like, but until then we are teammates and fellow genin of the Leaf."

Sasuke and Sakura's eyes went wide at his explanation. Naruto and Haku's team moved up the stairs, with Sasuke and Sakura right behind. They made it up to the door only to find Kakashi and Haku's temporary sensei. "Glad you all could make it or I would have had to turn you back," Kakashi said happily.

Sakura looked confused, but shrugged it off when Sasuke grabbed her arm and pulled her into the room. Naruto looked around the room and saw lots of angry faces. He also felt some familiar chakra signatures. He turned and smiled at Hinata, who smiled back. Naruto then noticed Haku and her team move to the side wall. Naruto smirked when Ino jumped onto Sasuke's back. This started an argument between Ino and Sakura.

Naruto would have proclaimed his belief in himself out loud, but Haku had told him to try to keep himself secretive as possible. Thanks to some work with Kikiyo he had started to learn about sensing chakra. He closed his eyes and felt the room. Most of the people in the room had about the same or a little more chakra than Sasuke, a few less and a few more. There were several interesting chakras in the room. He felt two overpowered chakras and he quickly zeroed in on those. First was the boy from Suna, Gara, his chakra was tainted, that was the only way he could describe it. Then there was a girl from Taki with Mint green hair, while her chakra was tainted, it was mellower than Naruto's, which he could tell was also tainted. It then dawned on him that there were three jinchuuriki in these exams.

He felt one other chakra that seemed out of place, but it was a Konoha shinobi. The gray haired, glasses wearing boy had similar chakra levels of most jounin. This was an annoyance, but Naruto just thought the boy might be a plant to throw others off. He then felt a strong chakra, but it was different and he couldn't quite figure out what was different about it. He intentionally looked at the red haired girl from Kusa with glasses. This earned her attention and also caused her to blush at the attention.

He listened to the conversation between Sasuke and the gray haired boy, Kabuto. The interesting thing was the things that were on the boy's cards. Missions and ranks of missions weren't what caught his attention, no. It was the information about the personal strengths of the people on the cards. Naruto immediately threw a kunai through the card with his name on it when Kabuto mentioned his bloodline expansion. He also noticed the girl from Kusa look at him in surprise when his name was mentioned.

Naruto glared at Kabuto when he asked, "Why did you do that?"

Naruto just replied, "That is privileged information and you shouldn't have it."

Kabuto shrugged and tried to avoid an attack from a trio of Oto shinobi and was apparently injured by an unseen force. Naruto looked over at Hinata who had just deactivated her Byakugan nodded that she understood the attack. Next the proctor and his assistants appeared. Naruto followed direction and waited for the proctor to give them directions on the test.

Naruto ended up between Haku and Hinata during the written test. The rules were somewhat simple, they could not get caught cheating and Naruto was easily given a way out of this, by Haku writing on his paper in ice and him just putting it down on the paper.

At the end most of the genin were worried as time ran out. "Time for the last question, but first I must ask if you want to stay and answer the question or leave. The reason I ask is because if you fail this question you will not be allowed advance beyond genin," Ibiki explained.

"You can't do that!" Kiba exclaimed in protest.

Naruto chuckled and whispered, "Just ignore him. Hinata's father is more imposing."

This earned him giggles from Haku and Hinata, but also a glare from Ibiki. "You think that if you fail you will advance? You guys just got lucky to get me, since I will make sure if you fail this question you will never make it past genin, ever. I got authorization from the leaders and the Hokage to do this, so who is going to quit?" he asked with a sinister smile. He then turned to Naruto and asked, "So you think that Hiashi-sama is more imposing than I am?"

Naruto put his hands behind his head and began to relax. He then replied, "Yeah, ever piss off a Hyuuga?"

Ibiki chuckled and replied, "I've pissed a few in my time and some others that would make your skin crawl."

Naruto sat forward and stared the man in the eye. He then said quietly, "I think I might have a trump card for you, but can't mention it, village secrets, you know…"

Ibiki kept his composure, but smirked at the boy. He then scowled and looked around the room to find a dozen hands in the air. "All of you with your hands in the air will take your teammates and leave the room," he said authoritatively. He then waited another five minutes. He then sighed said, "For all of you that remain…" He paused to watch their reactions and then said, "You pass."

The collective reaction was, "What?!"

Ibiki chuckled and began to remove his bandana. The scars on his face were just the beginning. He revealed a bald head with scars from cuts and burns adorning his skull. "A chuunin or any shinobi in responsibility has to have the courage to accept that his mission might fail, but continue anyways. This is a lesson in what might happen if you continue with a mission. Those arrayed against you might do anything to make sure that your mission fails. Torture and killing is part of being a shinobi, so understand that if you continue with a mission that you as a chuunin are responsible for a mission's success and having the guts to complete it might just be enough for the mission to succeed."

The next few minutes flashed by Naruto and his companions. A special jounin entered through the window and displayed a banner signifying her as the next proctor. They remaining teams headed to the training area 44 also known as the forest of death.

xxxxXXXxxxx

Naruto arrived just after Anko and smiled at the woman. Anko looked around and saw the early arrivals. Naruto nodded to Shino, but raised an eyebrow to see the mint haired girl from Taki. He walked over and she looked at him with orange eyes. He blushed and smiled. "I like the color of your eyes," he said.

The look of shock then anger and finally a smile crossed her face. "I can see that by your choice of clothing. I would advise that you stay away from me, I'm dangerous," she explained cryptically.

Naruto looked down and said, "The loneliness is stifling isn't it?"

She turned to him, surprise plastered across her face. "What did you say?" she asked in confusion.

"They hate you, but you really don't know why until later and they shun or even hurt you for nothing you have control over," Naruto replied.

She furrowed her eyebrows and asked angrily, "What do you know about?"

"The boy from Suna, you and I have a secret each and are hated for it. I show a happy idiot mask to hide my loneliness. The boy from Suna emits a menacing aura to scare others away. You look like you've learned to hate everyone around you. I almost did that, but it didn't do me any good, so I just became a prankster," he explained.

"You still haven't told me what you know about it…" she said, more asking than anything.

"You, Sand boy, and I are all jinchuuriki," he replied, but then laughed. It was a dry laugh and continued, "The power of human sacrifice, ha! We sacrifice and they use us as tools. I have decided to make my own path." He then looked into her eyes and saw tears welling up in the sides of her eyes. "Be strong for now and we can talk after this portion of the test is over."

"How can you be so strong?" she asked.

"I found someone and something to anchor me. I can be your friend and will ask for nothing in return. I think that you need one," he said.

"You know nothing," she exclaimed.

"Ridicule, beatings, assassinations, destruction of your stuff for no other reason than you contain a demon. You didn't ask for it, but it was thrust upon you. We have to live with it, but we can rise above it and learn to help each other. I know that there are nine Bijuu and that means that there are nine of us. I offer you the hand of friendship as the container of the Kyuubi and as a fellow jinchuuriki," he said as he offered his hand to the girl.

She scowled, but said quietly, "If you are sincere… I will accept your offer. I must push you away to show my teammates that I'm not sucking up to you." She then slapped Naruto's hand away and exclaimed, "Get away from me!" She then winked at him, but he still saw sadness and trepidation in her eyes.

The twenty teams all listened intently to the instructions given by Anko and filled out their forms and headed to their designated gates for the exam.

Thirty minutes later a bell was sounded and then the gates were opened, letting the genin in.

xxxxXXXxxxx

Naruto scowled as he sensed several teams approach from both directions. He perked up and said, "We've got company."

Sakura asked, "Which direction?"

Naruto replied with a smile, "Yes."

Sakura scowled and said, "Not funny Naruto."

Sasuke then said, "We can handle them."

Little did he know who they would face.

A/N: Sorry for the long time away, but changing jobs, dealing with family issues, loss of internet, my computer, my flash drive, hey all good stuff. I do have the next chapter ready, but will wait on it a week or so just to wet your appetite. I also have several other projects on my mind while this is going on. I might just put up a hodgepodge of story ideas that I have and let you guys see where my

Gundam Lord: I hope I explained some of Naruto's personality changes in this chapter. Haku and Kikiyo to be a little more responsible to what was going on around him, Neji was right, he is the head of a clan now.

Demoncreater2002: Kikiyo was told that Naruto wasn't a clan member, just named after the clan in their honor, so she became his physician. She now realizes their connection and is making up for lost time.

Sasuke lovers, 'Hey take this chapter and choke on it!' You guys wanted toned down? I toned him down even more than cannon! He was an ass, became more so, and then some, and hasn't looked back as he became more of one. His arrogance hasn't abated at all. He still thinks too highly of himself and too little of others. I can point out that he still sees Naruto as below him, even after Naruto's father acknowledges him as such. Naruto can also achieve Sage, but Sasuke can't without Jugo's help. While they work well together, it still shows that he is lacking in normal social graces, he does well for the upper crust, but hey, he aspires to be Hokage or so he says. I don't think he has the disposition or the empathy for others to do the job. Enough about my rant. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

RaiderXV…