Opening 2 - Haruka Kanata by Asian Kung-Fu Generation

"Okay, uh..." Naruto began, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "I came up here to tell you all the truth." Staring back at him, and the Third Hokage at his side, was most of Konoha, civilian and shinobi alike, at the foot of the Hokage Monument. "For most of my life, I've dreamed of having you all listening, even for just a moment, so... thank you for coming."

"Ninken doesn't exist." Most of the crowd started glancing to their neighbors for answers. "Yeah, I know. Most of you haven't heard the story yet, so I'll tell you now. I, with the help of one other Genin whose name won't be revealed, orchestrated a plan to catch the Sannin Jiraiya in the act of spying on girls. Our plan was to make it look like we weren't Genin at all, but S-rank shinobi working together under the name of Ninken, to protect Konoha. After we revealed Jiraiya's presence to five civilian witnesses, I escorted him to Hokage-sama, although he could have easily escaped or defeated me."

"That part of the plan, revealing my own identity, was supposed to look like an accident. Anyway, what I'm getting at is..." Naruto paused, catching a glimpse of a very familiar face in the crowd. A face with a permanent smirk beneath two crimson marks on his cheeks, framed by shaggy brown hair packed into a white hood. Then, Kiba vanished again. "Uh, what I'm getting at is that Ninken exists, but we're just two normal Konoha Genin."

"You expect us to buy that?" Said a Jounin near the front of the crowd, "Two Genin taking down the legendary Jiraiya? This is a cover story, and a stupid one too!"

Before the crowd could start agreeing firmly, Naruto spoke up. "If that's what you want to believe, fine. Whether Ninken exists or not, whether we're S-rank or Genin or both, doesn't bother me either way." The crowd quieted down at that, surprised. "If I had my way, I'd prefer everyone to think Ninken was real, since it would scare missing-nin organizations like Akatsuki into hesitating before they attacked Konoha. But, Hokage-sama asked me to come out here and tell you the truth. I can't force you to pick one story over the other, and hey, both of 'em make me look pretty good."

"Oh," Naruto added, "Before I go, one more thing." he flashed one of the biggest grins of his life, and activated his Rinnegan proudly. "You're gonna see me up here again one day. I finally have the chance to tell all of you! I'm gonna be the next Hokage!" he roared, "Naruto Uzumaki, the Fifth Hokage, believe it!"

Naruto stepped into the crowd. In his black Ninken outfit rather than neon orange, he seemed to disappear completely to the eyes of the civilians. He was still grinning, giddy with the joy of finally telling them all at once.

"Ninken. I want in," Kiba whispered suddenly in his ear. Naruto whirled, but Kiba was already blending perfectly into the crowd. As quickly as he had appeared, the third member of Team Eight was gone. The blond Genin sighed with disappointment, then continued his escape from the mob around him.

X

One Month Later - Chuunin Exams

Kiba Inuzuka leaned comfortably on the wall behind him, scratching a sleepy Akamaru behind his soft white-furred ears. Asuma's hand kept instinctively twitching toward the pack of cigarettes in his flak jacket, but this was still the Genin Academy, and he couldn't smoke here, much to his discomfort. Kiba, meanwhile, noted this as the beginning of the second happiest moment of his life, surpassed only by the day he'd met Akamaru. After two months of near-nonstop training with a Jounin, he'd completely mastered his new weapon that could be called secret for only a few more hours at best.

When Naruto and Hinata get here... he grinned in anticipation. A mere three days into their training, he and Asuma had come up with the concept for their new jutsu, and now it was complete, just in time for his all-but-guaranteed gradutaion through the Chuunin Exams. A new A-rank, potentially S-rank ninjutsu only he and Asuma knew. Kiba's grin broadened, and he declared, "I can smell Naruto and Hinata. They're coming down the hallway now."

He and Asuma turned to look, and saw their two remaining partners appear around the corner at the end of the hall. Hinata apparently expected some degree of stealth test; she'd exchanged her beige-white hoodie for a slightly less bulkier black one, with black sweatpants as well. Naruto was wearing his old neon-orange jumpsuit, or so it initially appeared. Kiba's and Asuma's keen eyes immediately spotted the sole difference from his old cotume: this new jumpsuit covered his legs completely, instead of stopping at mid-calf. He was also wearing black, traditional shinobi footwear instead of his old blue sandals. The hilt of his Ninken cutlass hung over his right shoulder.

"Kiba-kun!" the two greeted happily, slightly out-of-sync; Hinata had spoke first while Naruto's eyes briefly widened, then returned to normal. "and Asuma-sensei!" Hinata added.

Kiba sniffed once, confirming that no one was hiding within hearing range. "It's been a month, Naruto. Do you remember what I said?"

"Naruto-kun, you saw Kiba-kun?" Hinata questioned, surprised.

"No," Naruto replied. "I heard him, but didn't see him, when I told the village about Ninken. I kinda thought I'd imagined it anyway... apparently not."

"I wanna join Ninken," Kiba paraphrased what he'd said then.

Hinata paled, but Naruto chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "Just to be clear, Kiba, Ninken was just me and Hinata-chan pranking the Pervy Sage."

"I still want in," Kiba repeated. "How do I sign up?"

Asuma watched this exchange with mild interest. Naruto, meanwhile, held out his right hand, palm-up, and intoned, "Asura Path: Forge, Level One." Kiba's eyes widened as a sticky-looking mass of liquid steel formed above Naruto's hand, shaping into a cutlass not unlike his own, but with a handle of cold steel rather than polished wood. "We all carry one of these. I just made this with my chakra, so it's not exactly a quality weapon, but it's a lightweight lethal tool you might as well have."

Kiba took the blade, while Naruto created a scabbard of the same metal, and a sash from thin links of chain. Kiba hung the completed sword and sheath over his back as Naruto had done. "So, what else did you guys learn while I was gone?"

Naruto drew his own, better-made Uzumaki cutlass, grinning excitedly. "I spent the last two weeks learning how to use this, from a Tokubetsu Jounin named Hayate Gekko. He's a master of kenjutsu. Before that, me and Hinata were doing survival training..."

(Flashback)

Jiraiya formed a single hand seal, and declared with malice, "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu." Two dozen copies of the Toad Sage sprinted at full speed into the Forest of Death, leaving behind the original, Naruto, and Hinata. Jiraiya ordered, "Get in there and kill all those clones. I'll be sending in twenty-four more, every three days, until the full twenty-one days are over, at which point the remaining clones will gather at the tower in the center of this forest, and you'll have to defeat every survivor if you want to leave."

Naruto and Hinata shivered.

(End Flashback)

"And before that I was improving my Rinnegan."

Hinata beamed, despite the memories of their painful survival training, and showed Kiba her Rasengan. "And I learned this," she continued proudly. "An A-rank ninjutsu developed by the Fourth Hokage. While Naruto-kun was learning to use his sword, I was improving my skill with it. If I had a little more time, I might have figured out a way to pair it with the Water Release, but..." she trailed off in disappointment. "So, what did you learn with Asuma-sensei?"

Kiba simply grinned again, as did Akamaru. "Aw, no way!" Naruto groaned. "You're gonna play the 'it's a surprise' card? We showed you ours!"

Kiba shrugged. "Ah, fine." he brought his hands up, and the other two Genin expected a hand seal sequence, but instead, Kiba punched his left palm. Both his hands burst into flame. "Fire Release..." Akamaru leapt from his hoodie, landing on his paws even as he was wrapped in crimson flame. "Hellhound Flame Armor." Kiba was also consumed in bright red fire chakra. As quickly as it appeared, however, the fire auras were extinguished, leaving Naruto and Hinata with no idea what the jutsu was supposed to actually do.

"Uh..." Naruto squinted. "That was cool, but... what's it for?"

"Winning the Chuunin Exams, along with every fight I'm in for the rest of my life," Kiba announced smugly.

Before anyone could respond to the boast, Asuma opened the door to the exam room, which Genin were forbidden to do through a seal on the door. This way, incomplete Genin teams, or teams who hadn't been approved for the exam by their Jounin teacher, were kept out of the potentially lethal tests they'd likely fail. "Team Eight," Asuma commanded, "Go win your promotions, and come back in one piece."

One by one, the Genin nodded, and stepped through the doors. Naruto sheathed his cutlass, of which he was rather fond by now. He spotted the other three Konoha Genin teams, including Lee who waved with a grin. There were also over three dozen teams of Genin he'd never seen before, a dozen shinobi in flak jackets who could've been either Chuunin or Jounin... and the trio of Suna Genin, including Gaara.

Shukaku... Kurama growled with hate in his tone. What I wouldn't give to take your body, Naruto, and tear that boy to shreds!

Naruto gasped aloud. Kurama-san. I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop scaring me like that. I'm not used to hearing voices in my head yet.

Kurama remained silent for a moment, then spoke more quietly. I see.

And you can't kill Gaara. Even if we had the option of sharing this body properly, even if I trusted you enough to take that option, and I don't yet... I'm hoping to save Gaara, if at all possible.

I acquiesce to that course of action, but that doesn't mean I like the idea of sparing Shukaku. As such, I will continue to say so.

Gaara turned, locking his hateful teal eyes with Naruto's sealed Rinnegan. Naruto took this as am oppurtunity to initiate a conversation with his fellow Jinchuuriki, and approached Gaara. "Uzumaki," Gaara greeted with a quiet growl. "I look forward to killing you," he announced bluntly.

Naruto shrugged. "I'm not sure if that's a compliment... Anyway, I've been doing some research since we met last... let me show you something." he pulled a piece of folded paper from his weapons pouch, torn on one edge, and unfolded it. On it was an illustration of a fuinjutsu, consisting of a spiral surrounded by eight complex swirling symbols in two sets of four. "This is the Eight Trigrams Seal."

"A fuinjutsu..." Gaara inspected the seal, considering this. "The seal you bear to contain the Kyuubi?"

"That's right," Naruto nodded. "I did some research on some of the similar seals Suna has access to. Even the strongest seals they have wouldn't be able to seperate a Bijuu's mind from its Jinchuuriki... what I'm getting at is, you can't sleep, can you?"

Gaara's black-ringed eyes narrowed. "What's your point?"

"My point is that I can sleep at night, without fear of the Kyuubi," Naruto decided not to mention his improving relationship with the demon, "Because this seal, the Eight Trigrams, is way stronger. So I'll make you a deal, Gaara: I'll learn how to apply the Eight Trigrams Seal, even if it takes me years to do it, and I'll seal Shukaku from you properly. You'll be able to sleep at night. In exchange, you help me find the other seven Bijuu, and their Jinchuuriki if they're sealed, so we can all fight together against Akatsuki."

Gaara blinked, and took the piece of paper. "This seal... With this, I can sleep?"

DON'T DO IT, SON! It's a trick, that seal will kill us!

Gaara groaned in sudden agony, and doubled over, drawing confused stares from the other Genin surrounding them, and a concerned one from Naruto. But that makes no sense, mother! He protested feebly. He knows I'd ask to see his seal, and if it matches...

NO! Shukaku roared. You will not!

But I want to sleep, mother! I want to close my eyes and dream!

Gaara screamed as Shukaku increased his volume tenfold, but after a few moments the Tailed Beast fell silent, fuming. "I... Uzumaki, show me your seal." Naruto lifted his shirt, and an exact duplicate of the symbol on the paper faded into place on his belly. "...So it's true, mother," he murmured. "We have nothing to fear. He'll help us." Naruto tried to figure out what Gaara was talking about, but got nowhere. "Uzumaki. We will fight in this exam, you and I are far above these others and it's impossible anyone else could eliminate one of us. Defeat me, and I'll accept this deal. Lose, and I'll kill you."

Naruto considered that, then smirked. "That's better than what you told me last time. Deal!"

Gaara turned his nightmarish gaze past Naruto. "There's a fight about to begin," he observed, and nodded to where a bespectacled, silver-haired boy was surrounded by three Genin Naruto had never seen before. "The boy with the glasses will likely die."

Naruto nodded. "Watch this, Gaara." he made a short sequence of hand seals, and intoned quietly, "Substitution Jutsu." Gaara's eyes widened momentarily, as Naruto switched places with Kabuto Yakushi. Then, he turned to where Naruto was confronting a hunchbacked, mostly mummified older Genin, who swung a gauntleted fist at him. With lightning speed and decent skill, Naruto whipped his cutlass from its sheath and knocked the other Genin's fist aside.

A frighteningly loud, piercing ring vibrated off of Naruto's sword and Dosu's Melody Arm, which startled every other Genin in the room. Dosu's exposed eye narrowed, but he slid his sleeve back over the gauntlet and stepped back. He can counter the Melody Arm with his sword... I should have pulled my punch, I would have gotten him with the sound wave. The one weakness of my arm, is that if another metal weapon intercepts the strike, it distorts the frequency into something I can't work with. Under his bandages, Dosu scowled. And he's fast with that sword. "Zaku, Kin, we'll ignore this one for now."

Naruto flashed a victorious smile as Dosu turned away, and sheathed his cutlass. Kabuto made his way back to where Naruto had replaced him, shortly followed by Gaara. "Thanks for the save, kid. I'm Kabuto Yakushi." he held out his hand, and Naruto shook it. "What was that jutsu you used, that made the sound wave?"

"Jutsu?" Naruto repeated. "Nah. I just hit his gauntlet with my sword, and it made a ringing sound."

"Hm... so maybe the sound came from him, not you," Kabuto observed. "I didn't know the Substitution Jutsu could be used like that, though."

"Yeah, it can be any inanimate object, or a person standing still. It's just, a lot of ninjas here in Konoha use logs." Naruto glanced up at Kabuto's Konoha headband. "That's probably because there's usually a forest within range of any given battle."

Kabuto nodded. "So, you've been working on innovations for the jutsu, then?"

"A couple of 'em," Naruto admitted. "But," he glanced at Hinata, "I wasn't the one who came up with the idea."

A Jounin in a black trenchcoat stalked through the crowd of Genin, and clamped his hand onto Naruto's shoulder. "Fights before the exam begins are prohibited!" Ibiki proclaimed loudly. "Were you the one who started this?" He asked Naruto.

"No, I didn't see how it started," the orange-clad boy replied truthfully. "It could've been Kabuto, or the mummy over there," he nodded to Dosu, "who started it, but I didn't see it, so there's no evidence against either side. I just stepped in, 'cause this guy was triple-teaming Kabuto. It didn't look fair to me."

"Fair?" Ibiki scoffed.

"Yeah, I know. Life isn't fair, blah blah," Naruto shrugged it off. "But this is the Chuunin Exams, a controlled environment which is meant to be a fair test of a Genin's skill."

"Hm." Ibiki nodded. "A fair point, and a well-timed one. Everyone," he called, "It's time to begin the first stage of the Chuunin Exam. Follow me."

The Genin teams were led into the next room, which was full of desks and chairs. They were seated in groups of three, with each team being seated together, and given a piece of paper and a pencil. A written test? Naruto pondered. Seems simple enough...

Which is exactly what worries me, Kurama disagreed.

"All right," Ibiki spoke over the murmurs of confusion. "Here's how this works. You have half an hour to complete the nine questions on this test. Each correct answer you write down will earn you a point. Incorrect answers don't lose you points, nor do questions left blank. Your team's scores will be pooled together, and if you collectively have over twenty points, you pass. However, Chuunin proctors, as you can see, have lined the room. If they catch you cheating, you'll lose two points, which can lead to an overall negative score that can cripple your team. If you get caught cheating five times, you and your team are eliminated from the exam. Begin."

Naruto flipped over his test and winced. Ouch... and here I thought I could handle written tests.

Fool, Kurama growled. Even I know these questions are above the level of any Genin. That man with the black coat made it very clear what you're meant to do. Cheat, and not get caught.

How do you know that? Naruto wondered.

Simple enough: most of your fellow Genin are groaning, which means they don't have answers either. The next logical assumption is that, since these questions are not meant to actually be answered by Genin, there are Chuunin hidden amongst us, who will write down the answers for us to cheat with.

...Huh. Thanks for the help with that, Kurama-san. Naruto glanced at Hinata. "Hey, Hinata, take a quick look around. Look for any Chuunin you recognize, any friends?"

Hinata blinked. Hm? Oh... Oh! My Byakugan! I can see from all angles and through people's bodies! She nodded subtly, and looked down at her paper. Her hair, though cut short, was just long enough to cover the telltale defined veins of an active Byakugan, and she immediately spotted Shikamaru Nara at the back of the class, quickly writing the answers without a hint of concern. She started writing down his answers, and Naruto glanced down subtly at her own page, copying the answers. Kiba did the same. They never found out whether teammates were allowed to share answers, or they simply weren't caught.

Ibiki strolled through the rows of desks after a Chuunin handed him a piece of paper. "When I tap you on the shoulder, leave and come back for the next exam in six months." He proceeded to eliminate a third of the class. Team 8 whitened as Ibiki approached, but he passed them by and resumed his position in front of the blackboard. Several minutes later, when he saw no one was still writing, he spoke up again. "Now, it's time for the tenth question. Flip your tests over, you're done with them." The Genin class obliged, and Ibiki continued, "Before I give you the tenth question, I must warn you; answering this question incorrectly will prevent you from ever taking this exam again. If you leave instead, you can come back in six months, and try to become Chuunin then, when you're better prepared. Is that clear to all of you?"

Naruto laid his hand over Hinata's, and whispered, "Do you think we're ready, Hinata-chan?"

She blushed. "You're asking m-me?"

"You, then Kiba." he smiled. "Do either of you have doubts?"

Kiba grinned. "None. I'm ready for this."

Hinata smiled too. "Yes, I think we can handle it."

Naruto nodded, and smiled back warmly. "Then let's do this."

Meanwhile, half of the remaining class stood and left the room, unwilling to take such a huge risk. Naruto had considered making a dramatic and inspiring speech about how completely unafraid he was, but he'd realized that would mean convincing his competition to stay and fight him. Kurama had been preparing to tell Naruto this, but the heir of the Rinnegan had seen it for himself.

"Are all the rest of you staying for the tenth question?" Ibiki asked. "Are you prepared to risk your careers as shinobi?" One more team left at that, but the rest remained in their seats. "Well... congratulations. That was the tenth question, and you answered correctly."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Why didn't I see that?" he murmured. Hinata and Kiba glanced over at him, surprised. "The first nine questions had a different purpose than what we were told," he explained. "It was to see if we were willing and able to cheat, to gather information stealthily." By now, the class had fallen silent, and Naruto's voice was ringing clearly throughout the room. "This tenth one was to see what kind of risk we're willing to take, to complete the mission. Taken together, the test made us prove our courage in staying and in cheating for the first nine questions, our ability to actually cheat with a Chuunin's level of skill, and possibly also our ability to figure out we were being lied to. A ninja must see through deception."

"Thank you for explaining all that," Ibiki added with a nod. "Well spoken."

Naruto looked around at the silent classroom, and blushed faintly. "Uh..."

Ibiki removed his bandanna, and everyone in the room winced. His head was covered in gruesome scars and there were a few places where his skull would have to have been pierced to leave such a crater. "I got these when I was a Chuunin," he declared. "I know the kind of risks you'll have to take in the field, to finish the mission." He replaced the bandanna. "Those of you who left weren't ready for it, and by leaving, those Genin probably saved their own lives. Shinobi die in battle every day. As Chuunin, you'll be given life-threatening missions well above the harmless D-rank assignments Genin receive. These exams are to determine whether you're ready for that."

He smiled, and it was very slightly unnerving for most of the Genin to see. "You've passed the first of three tests in the Chuunin Selection Examination. Congra-"

One of the windows in the classroom was obliterated by a large black cloth bundle flying through it. The bundle exploded outward in the dead center of the room, and four kunai were thrown out from its center by a purple-haired kunoichi. She was grinning, but the best way Naruto could describe that smile was 'venomous.'

When he saw her still holding a fifth kunai, he, like several other Genin, leapt to his feet. He drew his cutlass as he approached and swung, but her grin merely broadened. She smashed her kunai into his sword to block, kicked him in the groin, and headbutted him when he doubled over. "That had to be the most telegraphed attack I've ever seen," she growled, her voice at odds with her cheerful smile. Naruto mumbled something quiet in response. "What was that? C'mon, speak up so we can hear that nice new soprano voice," she mocked.

"I said, Wind Scar!" Naruto roared, and whipped his sword at the kunoichi to launch the cluster of wind blades. She easily dodged, but the banner that proclaimed her name to be Anko Mitarashi was cut to pieces, as was the blackboard at the front of the room. Pieces of green slate fell from the wall and shattered further on the ground, meanwhile Anko was being confronted by Hinata, Kiba, and several other Genin.

Ibiki stepped forward through the ruined curtain bearing Anko's name. "Genin, stand down. This is Anko Mitarashi, the second proctor of the Chuunin Exams. She'll administer your second test, and she's a Tokubetsu Jounin like myself. If she wanted to, she could kill everyone in this room excluding me in perhaps ten seconds, so stand down, and you'll make it to the second test." Ibiki turned to Anko. "Then again, this dynamic entry you're so fond of is getting dumber every year. And you never time it right."

Anko laughed. "I like scaring the crap out of these maggots," she admitted. "By that standard, my timing was great." she turned to Naruto, who was reluctantly sheathing his cutlass. She draped an arm over his shoulders, and purred in his ear, "Gotta say though, I like the balls on this kid."

Repulsive woman, Kurama snarled. Naruto couldn't help but agree. He brushed her arm off, and growled in a low voice, "Back off, psycho. You're not my type, too old, and I'm taken anyway."

Everyone gasped, even Ibiki, and Hinata blushed. Anko, however, just laughed again. "Yeeeaah..." she drawled, "I can't even begin to tell you how dead you are in the next test, punk."

If you get the chance, kill this creature, Kurama advised. Meanwhile, Hinata and Kiba had made their way closer to Naruto's sides, not taking their eyes from Anko's. "...Well," Anko continued, "I guess I've had my fun. Follow me to the second test."

X

Naruto and Hinata stared up at the treetops of the Forest of Death ahead of them. Despite knowing the hell they'd be facing in a few minutes, Naruto was smirking as subtly as he could. For three weeks, he and Hinata had wandered through Training Ground Forty-Four, and knew their way around it, a huge tactical advantage. They knew what monstrous creatures lurked here, and had run into more than one sentient plant that had tried to eat them, plants they now could recognize.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Anko announced to them all with a grandiose voice and pose, "Behold Training Ground Forty-Four, also known as the Forest of Death." she gestured to the fenced-in forest with a wave. "This is where you're gonna suffer through the second test." She nodded to a shack leaning on the fence, covered in a curtain. "Each team of three goes into that shack and comes out with a scroll. One's white, the Heaven Scroll, and the other's green; that's the Earth Scroll."

She grinned. "You need one of each scroll to pass this test." her smile widened as the Genin began talking about that. "Yeah! That's right! At least half of you maggots are gonna fail, and probably more. See, if a Genin team manages to last through the whole five days you get, and doesn't lose their scroll but also doesn't grab another team's scroll, that team fails, and by extension so will the other team with the other scroll they might have taken. On top of that, I hear it's popular to take a scroll of your own type, even though you don't need it. And here's the stinger: even if you get both scrolls, you've gotta bring 'em to a tower in the center of the forest, dodging any other teams that gather there in hopes of getting one or both scrolls in the endgame. If you have both scrolls and never reach the tower before your five days are up, you're outta luck, punks."

Naruto nodded, though no one was watching him. They'll want to hand out an even number of Heaven and Earth Scrolls, so as many teams as possible can pass if they're worthy. That gives me an idea...

"Now, did everybody get what I said?" Anko demanded. No one intended to respond, but if they had, they wouldn't have had enough time. "Good! Line up, grouped with your teams, and file into that shack one team at a time to receive your scrolls."

Kiba, Sasuke Uchiha, and Gaara were the first to make their way to the shack, followed by their teams. Sasuke, Sakura, and Lee entered the shack and exited quickly. Next were the Sand trio, and third came Team Eight. A female Jounin inside handed Hinata a Heaven Scroll, which she tucked into her weapons pouch.

As soon as they were outside, Naruto whispered, "Byakugan. Use it to see who gets an Earth Scroll."

Hinata glanced back at the shack. "N-Naruto-kun, that seems a little underhanded."

The orange-clad Genin flinched. "Sorry!" he quickly replied, ashamed. "I just thought..."

"No," Hinata replied, and nodded. "It makes sense, I'm just surprised you suggested it, Naruto. Byakugan." the veins around her eyes bulged, and she whispered, "To be honest, I was already considering it. The team behind us, they're from Kusa, they got an Earth Scroll..." she paused for a few seconds. "The Genin from Oto just got a Heaven Scroll, the boy wrapped in bandages took it." she paused again. "They're already taking an Earth Scroll out of a box, to give to the next team."

"Kiri Genin," Naruto observed the three shinobi not yet inside the shack. "So, following the pattern you saw, Team Seven has a Heaven Scroll, and the Suna team have an Earth Scroll. We'll want to avoid a fight with them for now; Gaara's a Jinchuuriki with access to Shukaku's power. He's strong."

"So our targets... They'd be either the Kusa or Kiri shinobi," Hinata mused.

Naruto smiled and nodded. "Think of the advantages: if we take an Earth Scroll immediately, then we can beeline for the tower and maybe set a new record for the fastest pass through the test. Also, we're less likely to get hurt if we're in as few fights as possible, and we end up hurting less people in return."

While the other teams were receiving their scrolls, however, Naruto was still wincing internally. Underhanded... Hinata-chan's completely right, that was a low move I asked her to use. Bad enough we already know the terrain, but this?

Don't bother worrying about it, Kurama scoffed. You have an advantage going into a life-or-death battle. Use it.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata began as they were guided to a gate in the fence by a Chuunin, "What's wrong? I can see how on edge you are."

He smiled. "It's no big deal. I think I just drank some spoiled milk this morning."

Hinata looked down sadly, and when she looked up, her Byakugan eyes were already glistening. "Please don't lie. That really hurts, that you don't trust me."

Naruto flinched for the second time, and closed his eyes. "I'm really sorry, it's just... I shouldn't have asked you to use your Byakugan for that. It was wrong."

"Is that all?" she asked, and he nodded. She flashed a warm smile, and clasped her hand around his. "It's fine. Like I said, I thought of it anyway."

"You really meant that?"

"Mm-hm. I wouldn't lie to you." for the third time, he winced as if he'd been struck. "Oh, stop it," she whispered. "I didn't mean it like that, now relax." she commanded, then blushed. "I-I mean, you're p-probably just on edge from the p-pressure. It'll b-be okay, really."

Naruto beamed, and squeezed her hand gently. "Thanks, Hina-chan. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Hina-chan? Her blush deepened, but she smiled. I think I like the sound of that. "You'll n-never have to f-find out, N-Naru-kun," she promised.

Naru-kun? Naruto repeated mentally. I think I like the sound of that.

X

Orochimaru clutched the Earth Scroll in his pocket, baring his teeth in a smirk under his straw hat. Excellent. Everything is going exactly according to plan, right down to these scrolls. Little Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun both have the opposite scroll to this one, so they'll likely attack me, if I keep it exposed. From there, everything else is simple. I'll subjugate them both with my Cursed Seal, and kill Naruto immediately. The Kyuubi won't get a chance to give me trouble, and I'll have one Rinnegan eye for this body, plus the other for Sasuke's. when I'm ready to steal it.

His smirk broadened into a terrible grin, and he licked his lips with anticipation. With the Sharingan's ability to copy any jutsu it sees, and the Rinnegan's accelerated jutsu-learning speed coupled with affinities to all five elements, I'll be able to learn every jutsu in the world, in a decade at most. Victory at last!

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