Opening - Haruka Kanata by Asian Kung-Fu Generation

"Can I ask you an important question, Naruto?" Gaara asked quietly, whilst smoothing over the sand-filled arena for the next battle.

"Yeah, sure," Naruto replied, "What is it?"

"What should I do now?"

Naruto blinked. "...Huh? I don't get it."

"I want to be like you, but," the wielder of the Sand Waterfall paused thoughtfully. "I have no idea what to do, to reach that goal. I won't listen to Shukaku ever again; I won't feed his bloodlust or mine, and yet... I still don't feel happy. I don't feel like I've succeeded."

Naruto patted him on the shoulder, grinning. "You wanna know how to be happy? Make some friends, let people in. Get to know some kids our age and talk to them. That should be easy here in Konoha, a fresh start, ya know? No one thinks of you as a demon here, and with some work, you can make friends back in Suna too."

"Is that what you did?"

"Nah, no one was ever there to explain it to me," the blond Jinchuuriki admitted. "I got lucky though, and people came to make friends with me instead."

"I see." Gaara closed his eyes for a moment, thinking. "I'll do that. You, your team, and my brother and sister... but I can think of one more..." he swept his outstreched arms through the air ahead of him, flattening more of the desert he'd created to fight Naruto. "Does this look like an acceptable arena?" he asked.

"It's all pretty much even, so I guess," Naruto shrugged.

"Then... there's someone I have to go see." Gaara turned and strode through the only door from the arena. Behind him, the next match was announced between Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka. Naruto jumped up to the platform filled by his fellow spectating Genin at the same time Ino and Sakura made their way down to the newly remodeled battlefield.

Hinata immediately jumped forward and hugged him. Naruto didn't hesitate to embrace her back, despite the curious looks the other Genin were giving him. "Told ya," he murmured, grinning. "We're both gonna be Chuunin. We're one step closer."

Hinata grinned with her head resting on his shoulder. "To being Fifth Hokage..."

"...and Head of the Hyuuga Clan," Naruto finished.

"That's just a little bit creepy," Kiba threw in, and chuckled. "Did you practice that? First Konoha, and then... the world! Mwa ha ha!" he gave an intentionally evil laugh. "Everything is going perfectly according to plan."

"Actually," Hinata admitted, "we did practice that line, when we were ten." she blinked. "The one we said, not yours," she quickly clarified.

"Taking over the world is the villain's job," Naruto added. As he and Hinata pulled apart, his hand brushed over her back. His eyes widened when he found that the thick fabric of her coat was ripped to shreds, and he felt a spot where the remaining fabric of her shirt was warm and wet with blood. "Hina-chan, you're hurt!" he called out in shock.

"Oh," she murmured, "It's just a scratch." Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off. "No really, it is. See for yourself," She turned her back to him, and he saw most of the back of her thick coat was gone, leaving a ragged hole that revealed the back of her pale grey shirt. A few horizontal scratches had been torn in it as well, but the only damage to her skin was a few bloody nicks. "It doesn't even hurt," she admitted, "but it itches a little."

I think I can heal these... Naruto mused. Just a few scratches. I can at least try... He reached out and gently laid his hand over one of the scratches. Hinata jumped and blushed. "S-Sorry!" he exclaimed. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," she replied, still blushing with her back turned to Naruto. "You just startled me, that's all." she felt Naruto hesitantly place his hand on her back again, followed by a warm, tingling sensation where she had been cut. "N-Naruto, what are you doing back there?"

"I'm healing you. Honestly, I'm a little surprised it's working, ya know? I never had the chakra control to do this before, so I dropped out of the medic-nin lessons, but I guess I've improved a bit."

"You took medic-nin lessons?" Kankurou asked. "That's pretty cool."

"No it isn't," Naruto replied sadly. "See, I took the lessons, but I just said I never passed 'em, ya know?"

"You're healing her, aren't you?" the puppet user pointed out.

"I'm suprised it's working. I can find and clear out poisons in food, but when I was in the class, that was all I was good for. I only managed to heal an actual cut maybe one out of ten times, and even then, only tiny ones like this, but..." he shrugged, and moved his hand to another scratch. "I guess all that walking on trees and water boosted my chakra control." he chuckled. "Hey, maybe I should take those classes again... I might just pass this time."

X

"...Why is she unconscious?"

"The operation was brief, but it would have been incredibly painful. We sedated her while we were repairing her ears."

"I see." Gaara set down his gourd and took a seat in one of the chairs by Tenten's hospital bed, and glanced back up at the two medic-nin standing over her. "How long should it take for her to wake up?"

"The dose was small; we didn't have to put her under for long, but we also couldn't risk her waking up in the middle of the operation. We finished up a few minutes ago, so... maybe ten minutes until the medicine wears off, and a bit longer until she actually wakes up."

Gaara nodded. "Thank you. Am I allowed to wait here until then?"

One of the medic-nin nodded. "Be sure to speak quietly when she wakes up," the other added, and they both left.

Gaara toyed with the cork of his gourd, and waited. After a few minutes, he decided to use a Third Eye to watch the other Genin fight, without leaving the hospital wing. With his real left eye closed to use the eye of sand, he noted with interest that two kunoichi from Konoha were currently fighting with kunai and taijutsu. Are they holding back their ninjutsu as a secret weapon for the next test?

"Ugh..." Tenten groaned as she woke, and immediately brought her hands up to cover her ears. My ears are ringing, and my voice is so loud it hurts... She opened her eyes and sluggishly turned her head to look around. "Is... is anyone there?" she mumbled.

"I am," Gaara replied softly, and she turned to see him. "The two medic-nin who healed your ears left a few minutes ago."

"You're that kid who stopped Dosu from sucker punching me. Thanks... and I owe you for that advice before the match too." Block his attacks, every single time, with a metal weapon. Never dodge. "So... how did your match go?"

"I lost to Naruto Uzumaki," Gaara replied. I have no clan name. Is that such a big deal? "...I have no clan name, like you."

"Huh?" Tenten paused, and remembered what she'd said to him before her match. "Oh yeah, that. I remember..." The hell was up with that psycho smile? "I wanted to ask you something, but I never got the chance back there. What's your story? You seem really... different."

"Different..." Gaara echoed. "That's true. I'm very different." he closed his eyes, and began, "I'm the son of the Fourth Kazekage, and he made the decision, before I was even born, to seal a demon inside me. An immortal, giant monster called Shukaku of the One Tail. Up until recently, that demon was the only voice I ever talked to, and I let it control my life, but no more. Naruto changed that, and he told me to start making friends here in Konoha, where no one thinks of me as a demon."

"A demon? Like the Nine-Tailed Fox?"

"That's right. Mine is just as bloodthirsty and evil, and it was the only influence on my life and my personality... You can imagine what kind of a mess I was. Now, thanks to Naruto, I've resolved to change myself, and become happy. I want to enjoy life, and I will, but right now I'm only just starting. I don't think I even know how to smile properly," he admitted, and forced a broad grin.

"Huh." So that's what it was, he just doesn't know how to smile... "Maybe try smiling like this," she answered, and smiled cheerfully back at him. Gaara studied the expression on her face for a moment, then imitated it as best he could. "There you go, much better," she added as her grin broadened, then asked, "So why's your left eye closed? Did something happen in your fight with Naruto?"

Gaara opened his left eye, revealing that it was unharmed. "No... I was using a jutsu to keep an eye on the battles, but I stopped paying attention when you woke up. There's a girl with pink hair fighting a girl with blonde hair, both wearing Konoha headbands. Do you know them?"

"Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka. They graduated from the Academy with me."

"The jutsu I was using..." Gaara raised a ball of sand out of his gourd, and held it out to show her. "I can use it to show you your friends' matches, if you want."

"Really?" Tenten asked, immediately interested. "Cool! Thanks, um... I never did catch your name."

"Gaara." He stood, and held his right hand over her left eye. "Close this eye," he prompted. "Keep in mind, this will feel strange."

Tenten nodded, and closed the eye under Gaara's hand. Immediately, she shut it tighter in response to the painful sensation of something in her eye, most likely sand. Then, without warning, her closed eye's field of vision was replaced by that of a disembodied orb watching Ino throw her severed ponytail at Sakura. "Whoa," Tenten breathed. "This is... amazing." she looked around with her real eyes, triggering the same movement in the Third Eye. "Hold on... is that... the whole arena's filled with sand!"

"That was me," Gaara admitted. "I also destroyed the roof with some help from Naruto." Tenten blinked with her right eye when she noticed that the sand was continually being soaked with rainwater.

She whistled. "Looks like some of the roof was torn apart, but there's a bunch of spots where it's been cleanly sliced through. Was that Naruto?"

"That's right. He used a jutsu called the Wind Scar."

"Wind Scar, huh? I should probably research that." she smirked. "After all, I might just end up fighting Naruto later during this exam. He... both of you must be really strong, to do this much damage."

"It's like you said earlier. He and I are different from most people."

Tenten frowned. "...What's going on in there? Ino's not moving, but neither is Sakura... Looks like Ino used one of the Yamanaka Clan's mind-altering jutsu, but- Wait! Yeah, that was it, Sakura made a hand seal and they're both moving again! They're talking, but I can't hear what they're saying, and I don't know how to read lips, but I can see they're both really drained."

Gaara closed one of his own eyes, and replied, "I'm watching with you now." The two Genin saw Sakura and Ino both rally, and sprint toward each other. "Taijutsu..." the two girls each delivered a solid-looking punch to each other's jaw, and they were thrown apart by the force. "They're unconscious... It's a draw. What are the odds?" he mused.

"Those two," Tenten breathed, "have been in a rivalry for years now. Before that, they were friends... I think a draw's really the best way for a fight between them to end. Maybe now they can stop fighting and get along again." Her voice changed slightly, and she smirked. "I guess it's Fate."

Gaara frowned. "Fate... You're on the same team as Neji Hyuuga?"

"Yeah, why?"

"His match came after yours and before mine. He fought Hinata Hyuuga, and although he was clearly powerful, he lost. I thought you might want to know how it went."

"He lost..." Tenten echoed. "To Hinata? How'd he handle it?"

"...I'm not sure. Hinata said something about Fate not holding people back, but pushing them forward, and then Naruto arrived. After that, my match with him began, and Neji was taken away at some point. I'm not sure what he had to say on the subject."

"Huh... Neji's always claimed he's as strong as he is because it was his destiny. Some people are meant to be strong, and shape the future of the world, and others are supposed to be ordinary. Trying to defy your Fate gets you hurt or worse, that's what he believes. And he's mentioned a few times that Hinata's too weak to be a ninja."

"Clearly she hadn't shown him her ninjutsu then," Gaara noted. "That chakra sphere and the Water Release she used might well give even me trouble."

"Water Release? She even uses an element?"

Gaara nodded. "My sand is slowed down and weakened by water," he explained. "I can still counter it, but it's the most notable weakness I have. And Hinata did show considerable skill with it... if you fight her, you should know that she has the Water Dragon Bullet."

"A Dragon Bullet?" Tenten repeated, incredulous. "But those techniques take most of the average Chuunin's chakra! How did she manage to keep that kind of power hidden as a Genin? Why did she?"

"I can imagine why some people keep certain powers secret," Gaara replied. "But enough of that..." he glanced around, and swept the room with a few wisps of sand. "We're not being watched... you should know that Oto means to declare war on Konoha." Both her eyes opened wide, cutting off the Third Eye's signals, but Gaara added quickly, "Don't say anything loudly. Someone might still be in hearing range."

"W-War?" Tenten whispered. "Oto?"

"Their leader is a Konoha missing-nin I'm sure you've heard of. Orochimaru. He's planning to attak during the final stage of the Chuunin Exams. I'm telling you this because your existence is worth more than a Chuunin vest. Conserve your strength on that day, even if it means throwing your match."

"Um..." she paused, then murmured, "Yeah. You're right. 'Sides, if I kick enough ass when they attack," she beamed, "I might get a field promotion anyway."

"There's more. Oto intended their attack to be a surprise, but... They made the mistake of tricking Suna into aiding them. Orochimaru manipulated, then killed my father, and my nation responded by switching sides. I personally informed the Hokage of Orochimaru's treachery, but... I did so with one of Oto's spies, Mizuki Tora, in the room. He's likely informed his master that their cover is blown."

Tenten froze. "There are two more Oto Genin in the exam right now. They won't play nice now that they're exposed the higher-ups as spies, they'll specifically aim to kill any Konoha and Suna Genin they fight. My friends..."

"...Mine as well, and my brother and sister," Gaara added. "Close both of your eyes. One Third Eye will watch the exams, and I'll set up another outside this room, so if anyone comes here to kill an exposed and injured enemy shinobi, you'll see your assassins coming."

"Assassins? Why would Oto target me in particular?"

"You did defeat one of their Genin, and it's left you injured, even if only slightly. Once I leave this room, you'll be alone, without access to your scrolls and the weapons within. In roughly a month's time, you'll be fighting against them in an open war, with your full strength and your arsenal. You're a threat to them, and this is the ideal time for them to deal with you... on the other hand, you're one Genin among hundreds. It's more likely they won't go out of their way to kill you, but just in case, keep an eye open."

"You... sound like you're used to this. Any other advice?"

"I don't know anything about Oto ninja in particular, but the ANBU in Suna used specific weapons: elongated kunai of much higher quality than the disposable ones most of us use, and standard-issue katanas, both with blades painted dull black. They don't reflect light like an ordinary blade. Both weapons are carried in sheaths that don't make any sound when they're drawn."

"I've seen weapons like that," Tenten admitted. "They're specially made stealth gear for assassination. Normally, only the ANBU or maybe some Jounin would carry them; they're pretty expensive. So you were either on an assassination mission with an ANBU... or you were the target."

"Up until recently, I was insane and unstable. When I was seven, my father sent a total of six consecutive ANBU units to kill me." Tenten winced. "That part of my life is behind me now, for several reasons. The important thing is..." Gaara flipped open the kunai holster he wore on his brown leather sash, and pulled out an elongated black kunai with a hard black carbon sheath fitted around it. The sheath looked as though it was meant to be strapped to a forearm as a bracer. "...From those events, I gained experience, valuable life lessons, and this souvenir."

He handed the kunai to Tenten. "Keep this on your person at all times. Make sure your friends maintain constant vigilance as well."

Tenten hesitantly took the weapon and unsheathed it. The blade's still in great condition. It's razor-sharp, no signs of rust... "Gaara, do you know how much a weapon like this is worth?"

"To me, nothing. I have my own weapon." He once again held his hand over one of her eyes. "Close your eyes, and keep that kunai hidden."

X

Chouji Akimichi vs. Misumi Tsurugi.

Shikamaru chuckled, and patted his friend on the back. "You've got this one, big guy. Tsurugi's got the worst jutsu in Konoha to use on you."

"Worst? As in, I'm gonna get my ass kicked, or worst as in..."

"You're gonna destroy him," the genius clarified.

"Man..." Chouji whined, "Can't I at least finish this bag of chips before I have to go fight this guy?"

"You opened it eight seconds ago."

"But it's almost gone, look!" Chouji showed his friend the contents of the bag.

"...Whoa." Shikamaru blinked. "I didn't even think it was possible to eat that fast." he sighed. "Ah, just take the bag with you. It's not really gonna take much effort for you to win this match, and you've got... how many more bags did you bring?"

"Uh..." Chouji popped open his kunai holster, pulled out a small scroll, and unfurled it to reveal dozens of storage seals. "Two, four, six eight ten... seventeen." Shikamaru muttered something that sounded like 'damned troublesome Akimichi kekkei genkai...' Chouji rolled up his snack scroll again, and added, "I get it, Shikamaru. If I beat this guy I can spend the rest of the day eating, and enjoying the show. I'll be right back!" he called, already leaving.

"...That went better than I expected," Shikamaru muttered.

"Begin," the exam proctor commanded, then hunched forward with a coughing fit.

Immediately, Tsurugi sprinted forward, punched Chouji in the face, and dislocated most of the bones in his limbs including his fingers, wrapping himself around the pudgy boy like a snake. "This is the part where you surrender," the older Konoha Genin whispered in the younger's ear.

Chouji blinked. "Man, Shika wasn't kidding. This really is the worst power anyone could use on me. Dude, I'm an Akimichi. You know what that means, right? I can expand my entire body, or even just parts of it, to ginormous... is that a word? Eh... ginormous sizes with my clan's ninjutsu. It's instant, like I'm exploding into a bigger size. So what do you think's gonna happen if I use that with a noodle-bodied freak wrapped around me?"

"...Fuck," Tsurugi said once he finished visualizing the incredibly painful death Chouji could put him through at a moment's notice.

"Yeah... not a nice way to go," the Akimichi heir continued almost reluctantly. "But I like to think I'm a nice guy. I wanna win this match, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna make you splode with no warning. For so many reasons. One, I'm a nice guy, not some noodle-freak-exploding psycho. Two, I've got a massive pile of snacks waiting for me after this match and blowing you up would ruin my appetite... damn, maybe I am a psycho. Three, and this is a big one, most of us here are kids. We're well-trained superpowered child soldiers, sure, but we're still kids, and seeing something like what I could do to you... tends to mess people up psychologically."

"So you're not gonna do it, then," Tsurugi realized. "You don't have the stomach."

"Dude, I already said it. I'm an Akimichi, I'm all stomach."

Tsurugi paled.

"But, I think I can slow down the expansion, so you don't get torn apart," Chouji added. "It'll still hurt though. Broken bones, internal bleeding... you'll probably be eating through a straw for a while, and that's no fun... or you could just get the hell off me and surrender," Chouji suggested. "You're already twenty-something, so waiting six months 'til the next Chuunin Exam isn't gonna do you much harm."

"You... ruthless little brat."

"You make it sound like I want to do this," the younger shinobi replied sadly. "I really don't, but I gotta try. I came here 'cause I want to be a Chuunin, and I'm ready to fight for that."

"Pfft." Shikamaru scoffed. Chouji, we both know that's a load of crap. But you're making it sound pretty convincing, I'll give you that.

"Alright, alright, fine!" Tsurugi snarled and released Chouji. "I give."

"Didn't see this coming," Hayate muttered, then coughed. "Winner by forfeit, Chouji Akimichi."

"Sorry," Chouji mumbled to his defeated opponent, then returned to Shikamaru's side and resumed eating.

"Nice one, Chouji. You didn't even have to move to beat him. I hope my match is that effortless." Shikamaru sighed, and leaned back. "Imagine me having to fight Sasuke Uchiha or Rock Lee. They're probably the toughest two here now that Naruto, Hinata, and that Suna kid already went. That'd be a drag."

It left a bad taste in my mouth, Chouji mused sadly. Why didn't I let him win? I didn't have to do that to him... was it because I didn't want to let Ino and Shikamaru and Kurenai-sensei down? I mean, sure I was nice about it, I didn't hurt him and I tried to make it easy for him, but why? Why'd I take that win from him? "Gah, I gotta think on this for a while..."

"Think on what?" Shikamaru replied immediately, then blinked. "Oh. You're conflicted over that match, and feeling bad about taking a potential promotion from that guy."

"Shika, you gotta know by now, that's creepy," Chouji grumbled. "And yeah, you read my mind perfectly."

"You want me to explain it?" Shikamaru offered.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" the larger boy shrugged.

"You made a spur-of-the-moment decision that you wanted to try and become a Chuunin. For that brief moment, you were motivated. You wanted to win, and I gotta tell you buddy, in the long run you're in for a lot of work if you keep making choices like that. But you're the kind of guy who won't complain, 'cause you're gonna choose to get the job done, every time. You might not think so, since it's pretty subtle, but you're a hard worker deep down." He thumped his best friend on the back, and finished sadly, "My condolences."

"A... hard worker..." Chouji repeated quietly. Well, that's not so bad...

Kiba Inuzuka vs. Kin Tsuchi.

"Hm." Shikamaru smirked. "Kin Tsuchi, so that's her name... we saw the abilities of her teammates in the Forest of Death, when we saved Team Seven, but I never did find out what she can do. And Kiba Inuzuka... no one's heard jack from him or his Jounin sensei Asuma for two months. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that he's been training in seclusion." his smirk broadened into a grin. "Then we get into the fun guessing. There's only two possible reasons Kiba would need to train outside Konoha."

"Oh?" Chouji asked with his fist already in a fresh bag of chips.

"One, he's practicing an overly destructive jutsu that can damage a shinobi training ground... or more likely, he and Asuma were creating an entirely new jutsu in secret. A jutsu like that couldn't rely on ninken, since Asuma isn't an Inuzuka, although I guess Asuma could have just been supervising... but I find it a lot more likely that it was an elemental jutsu. I know Asuma, and I know his elements are Fire and Wind Release. Wind's absurdly rare, but Fire Release is common in Konoha. So it's most likely a new Fire Release ninjutsu, but with this limited amount of information, I'm just guessing."

"Why couldn't it be a jutsu that already exists?"

"It could be, but if that were the case, Kiba would be more likely to just use a training ground. But a new jutsu would have two reasons to practice it in secret. One, he wants it to surprise his competitors here, and two, a ninjutsu being developed is easier to figure out and reverse-engineer than the finished product. Now, Kiba surely wouldn't know that, but Asuma would, and surviving long enough to get to Jounin-level inherently requires constant vigilance. You've gotta be a little bit paranoid. So Asuma helps Kiba create a new jutsu in secret, what with Suna-nin already being in the village to potentially stumble onto this jutsu..."

"...I get it," Chouji announced. "Somebody from another village could study the jutsu as it was being made, which is a rare oppurtunity since a finished jutsu is a lot harder to reverse-engineer. Anything to get an edge over the competition."

"Exactly. Looking at a jutsu being made is like... recording a puzzle being put together by someone else, and then going over the video a few times until you can put the pieces in place. Even an incomplete video like that is a huge help. But a finished ninjutsu is like someone showing you the finished puzzle, shoving a bag of pieces at you, and saying 'build that.'"

"You know, that was pretty much all spot-on," Kiba commented, directly behind Shikamaru. "Asuma-sensei wasn't kidding about you being a genius."

"Heh. I wish I could say I try," Shikamaru replied.

"Your match is gonna be fun to watch," Kiba remarked. "You're probably gonna win with strategy, which says a lot. Most Genin, me included, just throw our best jutsu in and hope to overpower the opponent. Most of us just don't have enough ways to fight to use a bunch in a complex plan. You though... Asuma-sensei tells me you can work with just about anything."

"Is that what he says?"

"Nah. His exact words were, 'If that kid ever got motivated enough, he'd be Hokage in three months, and ruler of the known world in maybe two years. But I swear to Kami I'm gonna beat that kid at shogi, just once in my life.'"

"Then Asuma knows too much," Shikamaru decided quietly. "I'll have to kill him, which is a drag. He was a damn good shogi player."

Kiba blinked.

"I'm kidding." Shikamaru yawned and stretched. "Why the hell would I want to take over the world? I'm still not sure I even have the drive to become a Chuunin. Taking over the world means you've gotta keep managing the world, and that's way too troublesome for me."

"Kiba Inuzuka," Hayate called, "are you coming down here or are you forfeiting?"

Kiba took a running jump, vaulted over the railing of the balcony, and landed on all fours in the sand-filled arena. "I'm ready," he declared.

Kin smirked. "You are... ready? Do you know the full extent of what sound can do to the human body? Used properly, it can completely destroy your hearing and therefore your balance. I can cause you to hallucinate, feel your entire body vibrate and shake painfully, taste your own blood in your mouth, and... well, I haven't yet learned a way to manipulate your sense of smell with sound... still, four of your five senses bend to my whim, and you tell me you are ready?"

"There's something really important you should know about the Inuzuka Clan," Kiba countered. "I could beat you with only my sense of smell, not that it'll come to that."

"Begin."

Kin whipped out three senbon and threw them at Kiba, who promptly burst into red flames without moving. The senbon and the bells fixed to them were melted into droplets of bright orange metal that bounced off Kiba's Hellhound Flame Armor, scattering and sizzling on the floor of sand.

"Senbon... they're getting more and more popular these days. Smaller, and harder to follow than a kunai or shuriken. You can carry a lot more. They're great for delivering poisons, and then there's that bell trick you just tried. They're versatile. So imagine the advantage someone could potentially have, if they were completely immune to senbon."

"Damn you," Kin snarled, and whipped a senbon at Kiba's right eye. The younger boy flinched backward and blinked, but the senbon was still liquified harmlessly. "What kind of jutsu is that?"

"A completely new one," Kiba replied. "I call it nintaijutsu." Akamaru's ducked his head inside Kiba's hoodie, and the swell in the fabric holding his tiny body went flat. Kiba's limbs cracked as they grew longer, and white fur sprouted over his entire body. He hunched over, snarling through his new canine muzzzle, "Hellhound Mode: Level One, Baskerville!"

"Die, bastard!" Kin roared, and began throwing dozens of senbon at once. Kiba merely sprinted forward through the attack on all fours. She jumped away as far as she could, scowling, but Kiba turned to follow her. This damned berserk monster... Even if I deploy my bell senbon and trigger the sound waves with ninja wire, by the time I've finished he'll already be tearing me apart, and the sound takes too long to kick in. That jutsu just won't stop him in time...

"Just give up!" Kiba commanded, and lunged forward close enough to swipe at her. His claws tore at and burned her snakeskin-patterned scarf.

"You'll have to do better than this to break me!" Kin shouted back, and discarded her flaming scarf. She drew a kunai from her weapons pouch, with five bells tied to the pommel ring. "Melt this, bastard!"

Kiba twisted to the side, dodging the blade cleanly. "You've got guts," he snarled, and delivered a hard punch to her belly. "If I wanted to, I could've let the kunai and your hand pass through my flames when I dodged. You'd be lucky not to lose it completely." Kin doubled over and coughed, but brought up her kunai again to stab Kiba, who sidestepped the attack. "You'll also notice your chest isn't on fire from my punch," he added, and Kin stopped. "I could've killed you."

"...You hesitated. You didn't do it, you're a coward, I can still beat you! If you can't take a life you can't win!" she roared and spun to attack him again. Kiba triggered the seal on his ring, releasing his own bright silver kunai to counter her attack.

Kiba sighed. "Alright, fine! Jeez, If you wanna get knocked out that badly I'll do it."

"...Huh?"

Kiba dropped his kunai, dodged Kin's final, halfhearted slash, suppresed the flames on his right hand, and punched her in the jaw. She crumpled. "Proctor, call the match," Kiba declared as he extinguished his flames and turned to leave. My Hellhound Mode isn't meant to defeat people and leave them alive. I gotta learn some kind of jutsu to knock people out when I don't want to kill 'em. Particularly since I've got a good chance of fighting a classmate in the next test, whatever it is.

Kiba yelped in pain and tried to reach around to the spot on his back where he'd been stabbed. "...What the hell?"

"You hit like my little sister," Kin announced with a smirk. "It's over." Kiba heard a bell tinkle, his vision blurred, and he collapsed backward into the sand.

A hand clamped itself down on Naruto's shoulder, and he yelped. "What the-"

"Quiet." Gaara stepped forward into Naruto's peripheral vision. "Take a good look at each of the Jounin in this room. One stands out from the others."

"I know, I recognized his chakra with the Rinnegan." Naruto glanced at Orochimaru, disguised as an Oto Jounin. "I don't know what to do though."

"If he intended to make a move toward you," the redhead noted grimly, "The chance passed him by. You were sufficiently drained after our match for him to capture you, but you were surrounded by allies."

"That leaves Sasuke Uchiha," Naruto realized, and glanced toward the last inheritor of the Sharingan. The boy was watching the match intently with his doujutsu turned off. "He was marked with a Cursed Seal like I was."

"And you surely recall how painful that mark was. It will weaken him in his battle; he'll be distracted enough to receive some form of injury. That's when Orochimaru will strike, when Sasuke is alone."

"Except he won't be."

Gaara nodded. "I made a friend. She asked me to watch over her fellow Konoha-nin."

"I'll go with you." Naruto flipped a thumbs-up. "My match is done, so I don't have to worry about missing it."

Hinata wrapped her hand around his. "Only if I go with you. I still have plenty of chakra left, enough for a few Rasengan..."

"...and I was drained almost dry by that Asura Path trick. I see your point." he locked his fingers together with hers and squeezed them softly. "Okay, that's three of us. Maybe four, depending on what condition Kiba's in when he finally beats this Oto girl," Naruto finished in a more serious tone.

"You still think he'll win?" Gaara asked, watching as Kin speared Kiba with several more senbon.

"Notice how he's not in his Hellhound Mode anymore," Naruto replied, pointing to Kiba's face. Gaara blinked, noting that his features were completely human.

"And Akamaru isn't in his hoodie," Hinata added with her Byakugan active. "He's behind Kin, look."

The eyes of every Genin in the room widened when Kiba unsealed another silver kunai and launched it at Kin, who dodged with a look of shock on her face. Kiba, meanwhile, scrambled to his feet and began sprinting toward his foe on all fours. "Now, Akamaru!" the dog barked loudly in reply, causing Kin to whirl around and face the rapidly approaching fire-wrapped ball of fur. "Fang Passing Fang!" Kiba roared, and spun like a drill as he tackled Kin from behind whilst Akamaru did the same to her front.

Human and hound passed each other, both spinning like horizontal tornadoes. Kin was spun around by Akamaru's impact, but she managed to realize that Kiba had missed her completely. Akamaru bounded toward his master while Kin tried to prepare for the next attack. As the white puppy melted into his skin, Kiba growled and stood. I didn't wanna have to do this yet, but she's tough. "Hellhound Mode: Level Two, Cerberus!"

Now seeing through three sets of eyes, all of which were no longer hallucinating, and all of which were glaring menacingly at Kin, who took a step back and whispered, "D-Demon..."

Kiba growled, and stalked forward on soft and silent paws. The only sound in the arena was his aura of scarlet flames crackling. He bared his three sets of razor-sharp teeth, and breathed out a dense cloud of black smoke, then continued to approach through it, treating Kin to the sight of his monstrous, fiery silhouette through the smoke and darkness.

"I surrender!" she declared frantically. "Just don't come any closer!"

"Your terms are... acceptable," the monster decided reluctantly, and breathed out more ash and smoke, a dense enough cloud to blot out the firelight within. Then Kiba emerged from the cloud, fully human and softly stroking Akamaru's fur.

"Kin Tsuchi has forfeited," Hayate declared, then coughed. "The winner is Kiba Inuzuka."

"What the hell are you?" she demanded, eyes wide.

"Sorry about that," Kiba put up his fur-lined hood. "I hope I don't have to use that kind of power again in this exam, and I'm sure you can imagine why." Now, most of the competition is rightfully terrified of me and Akamaru. Hell, the kids from outside Konoha probably even think I'm some kind of demon...

Moments later, Kakashi Hatake frowned, glaring with his one exposed eye at the screen. Sasuke Uchiha vs. Shino Aburame. "Of all the rotten luck..." he muttered.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked at his sensei's side.

"Remember what I told you about the Cursed Seal, Sasuke. Using your chakra will most likely trigger the seal, and we can't have that. But you're up against an Aburame. Their insects pull out the victim's chakra and devour it. In other words, getting hit by a single one of Shino's beetles will activate your chakra network, causing you intense pain from the seal. What's worse is that a momentary distraction from that pain will likely give Shino the chance to attack you with more beetles. By my guess, it'll take maybe six kikaichu to trigger the seal outright."

"...Damn it," Sasuke muttered.

"It's all right. It just means we'll have to do this earlier than I thought..." Kakashi paused, then called out, "Proctor! I need you to postpone Sasuke's match for the next fifteen minutes. I can give a full explanation as to why, but not here and now. If that explanation isn't satisfactory I can offer to completely withdraw Sasuke from the exams, assuming he wins this match of course, and in exchange Shino Aburame will take his place in the finals on grounds of Sasuke cheating through me."

Hayate blinked, then coughed. "...Acceptable. Make it fast."

Kakashi promptly disappeared with a confused Sasuke in tow. Naruto scowled across the room, watching Orochimaru smirk and follow Kakashi outside. "Hina-chan, Gaara, and Kiba, follow me."

"What's going on?" Kiba asked quickly. "Where are we going?"

"We're gonna stop Orochimaru," Naruto whispered back, relying on Kiba's exceptional hearing to catch what he said. "You did great in your match, by the way, but how much chakra do you have left?"

"I'd say maybe half my reserves," Kiba answered. "That smoke cloud was an Ash Pile Burning, and I spent most of the fight in Baskerville Mode. I only used Cerberus for a few seconds, but it's still a powerful jutsu that can eat through my chakra pretty quickly."

"All in all," Gaara noted, "I'm by far the most powerful weapon we currently have. I've had a demon sealed within me since birth, and it's been feeding my chakra reserves ever since. I can still fight at the same level I did against Naruto."

"Keep in mind," Hinata added, "Our objective isn't to defeat Orochimaru outright. With Sharingan Kakashi on our side though, we should be able to deter him. He'll know not to engage us in a drawn-out fight, because that'll attract the attention of the ANBU squads that have probably been prowling the area since we found out he was here in Konoha."

"The Hokage knows for a fact that Orochimaru wants a Sharingan," Gaara observed.

"Which means Sasuke's probably being shadowed by ANBU everywhere he goes," Kiba continued.

"Which means we've got plenty of backup," Naruto finished. "We can do this."

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