Katon: Gyuki no Jutsu: Jutsu

"Naruto!": Bijuu talk

'Naruto!': Bijuu thoughts

'Naruto!': character thoughts

"Naruto!": Regular speech

[Competition: n. a relationship between organisms that strive for the same resources in the same place.]

Sasuke Uchiha had the type of personality where one could claim as to be impatient. The Uchiha specifically remember telling his jinchuriki of a teammate he had five minutes. No more, no less. Now here he was waiting at the bridge his sensei chose for the rendezvous point twenty minutes later, alone. One could only imagine the ire oozing off of the raven haired pre-teen when he spotted Naruto arriving with a steaming hot bowl of ramen in his hand.

"Sasuke, you wouldn't believe it! On the way here I stopped at Ichiraku's because they were having special discounts today! Did you know it was Ayame's birthday also? We should stop by later after this meeting. I told them I would be back later. I was in such a rush I even had to take the bowl with me." Naruto stopped his ramblings and noticed his Uchiha brethren activate his sharingan.

"Alright so I take that as a pass?" Before Sasuke could attack Naruto a swirl of sand appeared between the two. Enter Gaara Hatake casually showing up with the use of his sand variant shunshin. Sasuke paused as he deactivated his dojutsu.

"What are you doing here?" The Uchiha questioned as he was genuinely curious. Meanwhile Naruto started sulking over his ramen he placed on the floor. A handful of sand could be seen floating in the broth.

'My ramen. You monster. Why did you attack my precious ramen?' A sweatdrop cascaded down the side of Gaara's head as he observed Naruto's mental breakdown. Deciding to ignore his fellow jinchuriki Gaara chose to respond to Sasuke instead.

"You haven't been informed yet? Ever since you guys returned to the village I've been the official acting third member of team seven." Gaara's cautiously hesitated ay the last part of his sentence. Unsure if Sakura's death was still a sore topic for the two. Sasuke grunted before turning his attention towards the flowing water underneath the bridge. Naruto had looked like he was about to say something else before all three Genin's attention were given to the arrival of their sensei.

"Okay good, now that everybody is gathered let us start with the spectacular news. Konoha is hosting this year's chunin exams tomorrow!" Kakashi took a pause as he gauged the reaction of his students. He was met with silence and an eye-roll from Sasuke. If the lack of reaction affected the masked nin he didn't show it as he continued on.

"Now before you guys ask any questions. No, I can not tell you anything particular about my past experience in the exams. The exam wouldn't really be effective if I gave you guys a leg up in the competition." Naruto practically deflated as he sported a look of disappointment while his extended pointer finger slowly coiled back in a fist.

"On a serious note I do expect all three of you to pass the first part with flying colors if you all decide to participate." Kakashi casted a heavy glare towards the Uchiha. "Especially you Sasuke. If I were to put money on it; I bet there will be spectators coming from all over the world to witness 'The last Uchiha' in action. As a shinobi of Konoha, it will be your job to deliver." Team seven nodded accordingly as they listened to their sensei.

"Are you sure the only reason you want us all passing is to hold up appearances? Or is it just because you don't want to lose to Might Gai in your rivalry?" Kakashi chuckled softly at Naruto's observation. It warmed Kakashi's heart that his student really do look underneath the underneath.

"Rest assured Naruto there is no underlying tone in any of my requests. But yes I do admit that my rivalry may have some influence on the urgency of you all passing." Kakashi snapped his book shut as he approached all three of his students. In his hands were three seperate applications the size of playing cards. Crouching down so he could be eye level with all of them.

"The selection exams will be hosted at the academy. Arrive at twelve. Do not disappoint me team." The veteran Jounin distributed the application cards before leaving in a flutter of leaves. Sasuke Naruto and Gaara shared a look with each other. All three simultaneously nodded their heads with determination. Even though no words were shared between the trio. There was one thing clear that they agreed on. Tomorrow was going to be a blast. Memories from his clone that he had left to watch Konohamaru alerted Naruto. Shortly after he smacked his forehead in exasperation. 'Leave the kid alone for more than twenty minutes and he's already having his life threatened.'

"Guys, it looks like some foreign ninja from Sunagakure are causing trouble." Naruto announced as he jumped onto the nearest rooftop. Gaara seemed slightly cautious while Sasuke followed nonetheless. Team seven dashed from rooftop to rooftop making a B-line straight to Konohamaru's destination.

When they finally arrived, what greeted them was the sight of Konohamaru being held from his scarf by a teenage boy wearing a black catlike onesie. Purple makeup designed his face in a war-like pattern.

"Hey kid you should really watch where you're going. Has nobody ever taught you manners yet?" Konohamaru's assailant interrogated him as he rocked the child's body back and forth. Obnoxiously pronouncing each syllable at each shake.

"Ngh! Let go of me, don't you know who I am?!" The sand ninja took pause at manhandling Konohamaru when he heard his outburst. Tilting his head curiously as he waited for the brat to continue.

"Kankuro-san, you need to forgive the child. It doesn't look good for us to be terrorizing the locals!" A boy who seemed to be Kankuro's teammate pleaded with him as he watched from the sidelines. He had light skin, and spiky taupe gray hair combed backwards except for two bangs. His attire consists of a long sleeveless, dark green shirt which was tied by a light green sash at his wasit. For his bottom half all he wore was gray pants. A forehead protector with an engraved hourglass was attached to the bottom of his shirt. A small amber magatama necklace hung around his neck proudly.

"Shut up 're just an extra Father placed on our team. Remember you're only here because we needed a third for this stupid exams." Kankuro basically disregarded Shira's advice before he brought his attention back onto Konohamaru. Who was still struggling in his grasps.

"Taijutsu freak is right, Kankuro. If you get us all in trouble for this; just know I'm putting the blame all on you. This time a blonde haired kunoichi chastised him. Her giant battle fan that clung to her back swayed back and forth as she shook her head.

"Don't worry Temari, I'm planning to teach this kid a quick lesson. Shouldn't take more than a second." Kankuro winded his fist back ready to strike. Then the sand ninja's fifth sense shot through the roof. Practically screaming at him to dodge. So of course he did, letting go of Konohamaru in the process. Five shuriken now embedded into the ground where he once stood.

"Y'know harassing the Hokage's Grandson isn't the wisest of all actions. You're really lucky that I'm the one to deal with you. Who knows how the Anbu that were assigned to trail him would have reacted. I'm sure you guys could make up some ideas of your own; after all your pal's little lesson could have easily been interpreted as an act of war." Naruto and Sasuke walked side by side as they approached the band of sand ninjas.

Kankuro seemed to pale at the mention of 'Hokage's grandson'. His straightened posture gave everything away. Shira seemed somewhat in a similar state but was also tense, ready for a fight. Temari regarded Naruto with a calculative look. Her mind sent off alarm bells as she spotted his facial features.

'Those whiskers…WHERE have I seen those whiskers before?' Temari frantically searched her memories as she continued to analyze Naruto helping Konohamaru to his feet.

"Our apologies seems like we overstepped our boundaries. You see the only reason my team is here is so that we can participate in the exams." Shira bravely took a step foward whilst he shoved his left hand in front of Kankuro.

"Well if you're done harassing little kids I suggest you three continue on like nothing ever happened. Would be a shame if you were incapacitated before the exams even start." Naruto commented threateningly, standing his ground.

"Of-ofcourse we were just making our leave r-right guys?" Shira looked back towards his two teammates hoping they would agree. Kankuro scoffed in his direction and started to walk the opposite way down the street with Temari following suit. The blonde girl sneaking a look over her shoulder towards Naruto one last time.

"Kankuro…doesn't that redhead seem familiar to you?" She questioned her sibling. Her curiosity slowly started to aggravate her. Not having information in a foreign village- allied or not- nerved the fan user greatly.

"Beats me, never seen the brat before. Also don't ever speak for me again Shira! You're not the boss around here so stop acting like your words hold weight." Shira made a face of pure disbelief as he followed behind.

"I may not be the leader but at least I'm not here trying to get us killed! Seriously the grandson of the Hokage! You couldn't try to sabotage our village's alliance any better if you tried." Shira spat as he stalked forward even faster.

"Meh whatever, if I see that small fry in the exams I'll surely make an example out of him for embarrassing us." Kankuro said. Meanwhile Temari at this point had been completely lost her in her turmoil.

'They didn't even tell us their names. Well since their genins I'm guaranteed to find out more about him. I'll have my answer soon enough.'

Naruto and Sasuke stood by as they watched the three sand ninja make their leave. Surprised gasps from a nearby rooftop of the building behind them drew their attention.

Gaara was seen holding a kunai against the neck of a suspicious foreigner. His captive held his hands high up in the air, sleeves from his jacket seems excessively long as they covered both of his hands. Pure shock was shown in the genin's uncovered left eye as he had bandages covering most of his face.

"So cool!" Konohamaru, who was still fixing his scarf, commented with stars in his eyes.

Sasuke slightly squinted his eyes as he analyzed the soundnote ingrained hitai-ate that hung loosely around his neck.

"I've never seen that symbol before. They must be from a new village." He offhandedly commented. Naruto nodded his head slowly as he agreed with the Uchiha.

"They must be basic genin level if their stealth is anything to go by." Naruto tauntingly cupped his hands around his mouth as he called to Gaara. "And it looks like Gaara has interrupted their scouting!" Gaara in response pressed his kunai with more force against his captives neck.

"You know I don't take kindly to being spied on. Especially in my own village by a couple of strangers." Gaara said threateningly.

The girl to his left, had started to panic as she begun to realize all three of them had been compromised. Her long black hair wiped back and forth as she searched for a silent answer from bandages or her other male teammate. A boy with black spiky hair framed by his black hitai-ate that covered his left eye. Similar to Kakashi but instead his headband covered the whole upper left half of his face.

"Let Dosu go before I have to make you!" Patches raised his left palm, as his right hand cusped his left wrist. Air seemed to gather in the middle of his palm as it was sucked through a hole in his hand.

"Zaku… stand down!" Slowly Zaku lowered his arm begrudgingly, while a scowl marred his face as he glared daggers towards Gaara. Said genin kicked the now named teen, Dosu, forward roughly.

"If all three of you don't leave now, things will get ugly." Gaara's remark made Zaku physically restrain a snarl that was threatening to be his new expression. A pointed look from Dosu reigning in his impulsive actions. After that the three strangers disappeared from team sevens sight.

Naruto and Sasuke shared a glanced between each other before they both synonymously shrugged their shoulders. This trio had been completely unfazed by the recent events. So they had no choice but to continue on with their day. Konohamaru who was trailing behind the three kept insisting on Gaara to teach him how to sneak up on his future enemies.

000

Thursday 9 AM

Today was the day. Naruto had barely gotten any sleep the night before.

He had been too excited for the upcoming exams. So much so that the boy had conjured up quite a foggy mind. The dilemma of facing competition with foriegn ninjas that wanted a promotion, just as bad as he did. Had bared sort of a pressing matter upon his shoulders.

It bothered the redhead greatly to the point that he decided to stay up throughout the whole night to work on his sealing progression. The perfect way to distract himself.

Ink and paper were sprawled all across his living room floor. The mess around him symbolizes the stress and discoordination that plagued his mind.

"At least your coping habits are more healthy than your supposed 'role models'." After a long quiet night without any of the fox's comments. Naruto hadn't thought he would hear from his bijuu at all for a while.

'I can't help it, Kurama. Kakashi-sensei had put me in charge of our team! I just don't want a repeat of what happened in the land of waves.' A condescending snort was the demon fox's response.

"Here's a piece of advice from my memories back when I was sealed inside Kushina. Willpower is a very important tool for a leader. If you don't have willpower then those that follow you won't have morale. You cannot break when a situation hasn't even presented itself yet. Just calm down and push on. Worry not about the problems that have yet to appear. But prepare for the setbacks that undoubtedly will show themselves." A long sigh escaped the juvenile's lips as he prepared to wake his teammates. Forming his finger into the ram seal, two shadow clones bursted into existence startling both Sasuke and Gaara. While the clones went and tidied up, his two teammates began to immediately assort their gear.

Speaking of gear Sasuke had decided upon himself to change his wardrobe. Instead of the red shirt he had on before, he switched it to a high collared navy blue short sleeved shirt that had his clan emblem stitched to the back. And he sported white shorts with blue sandals to complete the outfit. (original genin outfit but without the arm warmers.)

Sasuke picked up his tantō and sheathed it inside of his harness that ran across his chest and fastened over both his shoulders. His sword lying diagonally across his back with the handle facing his left shoulder. Then the boy took his ninja tool pouch and clipped it onto the back of his waist while he fasted his kunai holster to the outer part of his left thigh. Gaara still wore the same outfit he had on the day he graduated. Sasuke took a pause as he observed Naruto.

"You didn't sleep at all last night did you?" It honestly amused Naruto how the Uchiha masked his worries behind feigned annoyance. Sasuke kept a level headed glance as his eyebrows were knitted together. Naruto held his hands up in surrender.

"Looks like you figured me out, Uchiha. After all, it's rather impossible to keep up charades around each other nowadays. Isn't that right?" Sasuke pocketed a sealing scroll that held an assortment of paper tags, ninja wires, smoke bombs and other ninja tools.

"Alright what exactly are you trying to accuse me of?" Disdain danced wildly inside of his onyx black eyes. Classic Sasuke, always quick to pick up his taunts. Naruto chuckled as he grabbed his own pre-made sealing scroll that contained the same items with the addition of sealing paper and ink.

"Oh nothing I just find it funny how flimsy your excuse was to sleep over. What did you say again? Oh yeah..'Sleeping over would save efficient enough time for us in the morning.' You know next time you can just tell us you just want to be included." Exiting the bathroom Gaara decided now was the perfect time to enter his own two cents.

"It's okay to place your trust in me Sasuke. After all friendship is important for any team, right?" Gaara egged on while sporting a soft smile, ticking off Sasuke even more.

The raven haired genin scoffed. "Whatever, just don't drag us down later because you're tired." The Uchiha left the studio apartment promptly while ignoring the two jinchuriki who followed behind; sharing a round of laughter on the way.

Closing his door Naruto noticed a neatly wrapped package that was placed on top of his dirty welcome mat. Kneeling down Naruto ripped off the note that was stuck to it. 'Heard you were participating in the exams today. Hope this gift benefits you somewhat. Goodluck Naruto I believe in you!'- Jiraiya.

A warm smile formed on Naruto's face as he ripped open the present only to find a newly updated bingo book. The redhead wasted no time as he started to read entry to entry. The book kept Naruto's mind focused while team seven navigated their way through the village. Right before the team arrived at the academy gates Naruto froze. A bewildered look creeped onto his facial expression as he turned the pages to one particular entry in the databook.

'Kiba Inuzuka of the Bloody Fang'

Classification: Genin

Threat: B Rank

Height: 5'1

Eye Color: Black

Description: His hairstyle should be a Moppy brown wild medium length cut. Red fang tattoos on each cheek. Young around thirteen years of age. Always accompanied by one white and two black puppies. A signature accessory of his is a lone kunai hanging off a chain wrapped around his neck. Usually seen wearing a fishnet shirt over a plate of armour covering his torso and black pants.

Wanted for: Kiba Inuzuka is wanted for the demolition of an entire chunin troop. This Genin managed to single handedly kill ten chunin without being maimed or severely harmed.

Legend has it the final thing you'll see before your death is one of his ninken drenched in the blood of your own comrades

Known Abilities: Highly advanced with taijutsu and is capable of weaponizing his nails. This genin uses his Inuzuka clan techniques efficiently. This target is very clever; keep your eyes open to your surroundings no matter how hectic the battlefield is. Advised to approach with backup.

At first Naruto was having a difficult time believing that Kiba had his own page in the bingo book. But once he read the Inuzukas's bounty he almost dropped the book. His blue eyes carefully read 'Iwakgakure is offering a 100,000 ryo reward'. His heart skipped a beat at the phrase 'Dead or Alive' the words printed so boldly on the page.

'Why the hell does Kiba have an entry in the bingo book already?' Naruto's casual grasp on the book cover turned into a titanium grip. His sudden stop in movement brought the attention of his two teammates who were about to cross the gates.

"Is there a problem, Naruto?" Gaara asked as his eyebrow was raised curiously. Naruto quickly showed his teammates the entry. Only Sasuke was the one to react. Gaara's facial expression remained blank.

"Ah yes the Red Line Incident. That mission of theirs went down as a catastrophe. Honestly team eight shouldn't be alive today." Gaara had Naruto's and Sasuke's rapt attention. The two we're sending him looks that were practically begging him for more information.

"Well, are you going to elaborate?" Sasuke demanded curiously as he had gotten tired of the jinchuriki's silence. Gaara nodded solemnly before he continued his info dump.

"Back when we all graduated I wasn't offered a normal genin cell but a spot in the ANBU division instead. After willingly accepting the proposal I became pervious to gossip amongst my fellow operatives. Two stories were talked about for weeks about how two freshly graduated genin cells had gone onto complete C-rank tasks that ended up as hidden A-rank missions." Gaara took a pause as wry thought crossed his mind. 'Maybe withholding this information wasn't a wise choice.' The Ichibi jinchuuriki let loose a deep exhale before he continued.

"The first mission I'm sure you two are familiar with. But the second mission that was the talk of the village was a patrol assignment that was assigned to team Eight. Which shortly happened a week after you arrived from the Land Of Waves. This particular debacle earned itself the nickname 'The Red Line Incident.' Apparently team Kurenai were tasked to observe the northwest side of our country's border. Their main task was to simply follow and repeat their instructed patrol route and to report anything concerning they witnessed to the nearest border outpost. The time duration that was assigned for this mission was only a week. The reason as to why that mission was originally deemed C-rank was because the chances of them actually encountering foreign ninjas were relatively low. Sure the northwest side of the border separated the Fire and Earth country, but ever since the Third World War ended it was rare to see Iwa ninja casually traveling alongside the border."

Naruto nodded solemnly as he reread the bingo entry. "It says here they ran into thirty Iwa shinobi that day."

"Unfortunately they did. On their third day Shino found a four man cell setting camp. Before our classmate could alert his teammates he was compromised and shortly after was nearly subdued by the enemy ninja. Fortunately he managed to fend off his attackers and eliminate all four ninjas in the process. Unfortunately one of the chunin he struck down managed to alert the rest of his nearby troop before he drew his last breath. A troop consisting of twenty-six chunin led by one Jounin. Luckily that same signal alerted the rest of team Kurenai as well. To this day it's still unclear as to why there were so many Iwa soldiers gathered there that day. The only shinobi that presumably had information on their objective was the rock jounin; who committed suicide once he realized his defeat was imminent. Rumor has it the only casualty team Eight suffered was a broken left hand of the Hyuga heiress. In the words of the Third Hokage himself the whole mission itself 'were ingredients to war'." Naruto stared incredulously at his fellow Jin.

"You got all that through gossip!?" Naruto seethed comically as he waved his bingo book around for emphasis.

"Well truthfully most of this gossip isn't from other Anbu operatives but from the mouths of the Shinobi council themselves. The performance reported by their jounin sensei Kurenai was impressive enough to warrant a field promotion for all three genin. A promotion they would have gotten if it weren't for the Inuzuka and Aburame clan heads insisting that Kiba and Shino were to participate in the exams." Garra responded in a bland tone.

Even though Sasuke kept silent throughout Gaara's whole speech, the Uchiha was practically buzzing with excitement. If the small smirk that adorned his face was anything to go by. "And here I thought there wouldn't be any competition this year. No matter. Even if the book makes his team seem competent enough; I still plan on dealing with them with little to no difficulties if we cross paths." Sasuke said hotly as he brought his attention upon the academy gates.

"Well I guess we're not the only fresh graduates that took our ninja career seriously. But Sasuke's right, Kiba shouldn't be a problem at all." Gaara added on. Naruto nodded his head while he sealed his bingo book in one of the many storage seals painted on the bandages wrapped around his arm.

"Alright team, let's do this!" Naruto took the lead as they finally arrived on the academy's campus. Many foreign Genin were seen lazing about outside, seemingly waiting for their teammates. Team seven entered the building and made a b-line straight to the stairs.

"The classroom the exam is scheduled in is room 301." Gaara said as they scaled the stairs to the second floor. As soon as they stepped foot off the steps the gang was greeted to the sight of a crowd of genin arguing with what seemed like two older ninjas. The older shinobi were guarding the classroom door of 301.

"Why is there a crowd on the second floor?" Naruto muttered to himself. The crowd of genin were seemingly led by three Konoha participants. Who were trying to get past the 'Guardians' but were failing miserably.

"These genin nowadays… just a bunch of talentless children running into war." The senior shinobi who was guarding the door on the left commented offhandedly. His foot stretched outwards because he kicked a boy with bandaged arms to the floor.

"Please don't misunderstand us. We're simply trying to spare you all. The chunin exams is not a playdate. This exam is nothing but a grueling gauntlet that will force your abilities and self worth to the surface. If you cannot pass us then you simply aren't ready." His partner chimed in as he smugly stood next to him.

"There's a genjutsu force field surrounding the door. This must be a test to weed out the incompetent." Sasuke's observation was only heard by his teammates as they continued to watch the mind games play out. Naruto stepped forward and proceeded on causing the rest of team seven to follow.

"Wait!" Halfway up the stairs, Kakashi's students were called out by one of the leaf genin who was fighting against the so-called gatekeepers.

"That clan crest on your back. There's only one person in this village that would dawn that fan….you must be Sasuke Uchiha!" Sasuke raised his eyebrow at the boy.

Who questioned his identity was a genin with shaggy hair that had a clean sleek to it. A band aid was placed across the bridge of his nose. His arms were covered with bandages that ended at his elbows. The only top he was wearing was a fishnet tank top sewed onto a black tank top. For his lower bottom area he was complemented by skin tight black pants. A red leaf hitai-ate was used as a belt similar to Asuma Sarutobi's fire flag. Orange leg warmers that covered his shins while bagging around his ankles. His footwear were traditional japanese sandals that were made out of pure metal?

Currently he was pointing his pointer finger towards the raven haired Uchiha. His two teammates following behind with both of their arms crossed. A Hyuga who also had wrappings around his left hand and forearm. Then a kunoichi who wore a black sleeveless qipao-style blouse with purple sleeve trimmings and fastening buttons. The bottom half of her attire consisted of dark purple anbu style pants with black sandals. A kunai holster strapped to her left thigh and a weapons pouch strapped to her back waist. The kunoichi also had a panda designed mask that covered her face. Her hairstyle was in two Chinese-style buns with short fringe-bangs framing her mask.

"What exactly kind of services do you want from the oh great mighty Uchiha?" Naruto interjected sarcastically. Sasuke glared daggers towards the redhead but nevertheless confirmed Lee's accusation.

"Perfect! My name is Rock Lee and I challenge you to a duel right here right now!" Rock Lee's riled up tone had been affectious because now Sasuke was now sporting a wry grin of his own.

"Oi Lee, weren't you the one that suggested we avoid drawing attention to ourselves?" Their kunoichi teammate badgered Lee as she pinched his ear.

"Ahh sorry Tenten-chan, but this is the perfect opportunity to prove myself. If I defeat a prodigious heir that belongs to one of Konoha's founding clans. Then I will no doubt prove that hard work can defeat talent." Lee exclaimed as a fire lit in his eyes. A snarky snort was exhaled by Lee's Hyuga teammate. The byakugan wielder shook his head in a condescending way.

"Well if it's a challenge you're looking for then I'll su-." Sasuke's rant was interrupted by a firm grip that was placed upon his shoulder. He and Naruto held eye contact, a glare with red eyes spoke volumes.

"Hold on lets think about this, not only are you unaware of his abilities. But also this kid managed to sneak up on us while wearing metal sandals all while without making a sound?"

Gaara had raised his eyebrow toward Sasuke in a questioning manner.

"Listen I'm not saying that this isn't a battle you can't win. But what I am implying, is that you shouldn't show all of your cards just yet." Naruto advised Sasuke as he let go of his shoulder lightly. Said teenager just nodded in agreement with his brother in all but blood and shrugged his shoulders towards Lee.

"If you're truly worthy of facing me then come find me in the exams. Maybe then you'll get a chance to 'prove yourself'." Team seven then advanced onwards to room 301 without wasting anymore time.

Tenten and the Hyuga genin shared a look as team Kakashi left the vicinity. "So that's one of the recently graduated up and coming rookie teams this year. If the Uchiha is on their squad then that certainly means he was paired with the deadlast. But it looks like that redhead character was the leader of their squad." The pale eyed ninja observed.

"My sensei told me to be aware of all the rookie teams this year..especially team Kakashi. She never confirmed anything but she heavily implied that all it took was one member from that squad to floor all three of us. Yes Neji, you included." Tenten shared as she started to pick up pace with Neji.

"I don't remember Gai-sensei informing us with that information." Neji scoffed. Tenten released an exaggerated sigh at Neji's attempt to fish for information.

"My sensei Neji, you have your outside influences and I have mine." Tenten finished as she casually twirled a kunai around her pinkie. Neji chose not to respond and continued to walk in silence.

Meanwhile with Naruto and the gang they finally arrived at classroom trio entered confidently only to be blasted with pure killing intent. Obviously not enough to rattle any member of team seven but it was still unnerving to be welcomed to such an environment. Genin from all over the continent were gathered in this classroom tensely waiting for the competition to commence. Sending glares and posting up with tense posture just waiting for a spark of action, ready to attack any notice.

"Whiskers! You guys finally made it!" Ino eagerly greeted Naruto with a wide hug as she was followed by her other squadmates. Choji Akimichi was casually devouring a bag of barbecue flavored chips while Shikamaru lazily followed behind the two seemingly not paying attention.

"Ino-chan! I can't believe Tsunade allowed you to participate. You'd think that old hag wouldn't dare set you up for failure. After all, I am your competition!" Goading the Yamanaka heiress coaxed a quiet snicker from her plump teammate.

"Oh please don't be so full of yourself. Mark my words once this exam is finished there will be a vest in my hands." Ino hotly replied back. Blood rushing to her cheeks to paint her pale skin an underwhelming shade of pink. Naruto became even more amused as she crossed her arms while she rolled her eyes with contemptuous ire.

"I see they just allow anybody to enlist in the exams. There must be no qualifications if deadlast managed to show up." Team eight decided to insert themselves into the fray. With Kiba Inuzuka leading as usual. Shino and Hinata followed right behind him, silent as he was loud.

The hair on the back of Naruto's neck stood on its wits end upon hearing Kiba's snarky laughter. Now that team eight introduced themselves by Kiba's taunt, all of the rookie squads were now present.

"Wow Kiba your dogs look the same as they were in the academy. I was sure that they would at least grow up a little bit." Naruto voiced out loud his observation. The cocky Inuzuka scoffed at Naruto's comment.

"My clan has been breeding dogs for hundreds of generations. Imbuing our chakra into each and every pup we birth. Long story cut-short, one of the side effects of doing so is slowing down their aging. Give my dogs another three years and they will be the size of tigers." Kiba explained as he lovingly rubbed behind Akamaru's ear.

"So all three of our senseis threw us in the jungle. For some reason I feel like I'm participating in a pissing contest." Kiba, Naruto, and Choji shared a laugh as most of the rookie twelve nodded in somewhat agreement to Shikamaru's crude observation.

Before any more conversation could continue further on everyone's attention was brought to a ninja dressed in a black trench coat that poofed in the front of the classroom. Ibiki Morino, head of the T&I department of Konoha, decided now was the time to introduce his flashy entrance.

"Alright maggots from this point forward there is no relaxation. I am Ibiki Morino and I will be your first proctor. Now take your seats because as of now the first test of the chunin exams shall begin!" Naruto decided to sit down next to Hinata and Sasuke. While Gaara sat little ways from them next to Lee and a grass participant. Ibiki continued to explain the rules, set ups, and disqualifications for the first round.

"Alright you are all now allowed to flip over your paper. Be aware once you do so your test begins. You'll all be given thirty minutes maximum so don't take too long on each question. Begin." Naruto observed with fascination as each genin flipped over their sheets of paper and started to scribble away. It only took a moment for the redhead to witness many tactics of cheating to be only deployed in the most obvious of ways.

What made Naruto almost lose all of his composure was Gaara casually using his floating sand eye to copy off the person behind him. The whiskered boy then took a quick glance at his own paper and sighed.

Ibiki did say that each individual genin started off with one hundred points; and the only way to lose said points was to answer a question incorrectly. So theoretically if Naruto were to decide to not answer any of the questions (except the name and date).He should hypothetically not lose any points.

So instead of stressing, the red menace decided to kick his feet up on the wooden table to sit back and relax. He'll just wait till the thirty minutes elapse. After dealing with genjutsu on a daily basis thanks to Sasuke, Naruto had decided long ago that he was above mind games.

Speaking of said Uchiha the raven haired boy noticed his teammates strategy. Rolling his eyes Sasuke scoffed as he continued to copy the hand movements of a chunin implant with his Sharingan.

"Alright pencils down, times up!" Thirty minutes had passed and now the competition had basically been cut in half. While Ibiki explained the real purpose of this written portion, Sasuke decided to do an overview of the remaining competition. His sharingan flared to life as he counted each distinct headband on every genin.

His attention was snatched by one peculiar tall grass genin. But his pride quelled his suspicion as he automatically then deemed her as a non-threat.

"Fifteen sand, Twenty-nine leaf, twenty-one rain, six waterfall, three sound and six grass ninja." The Uchiha whispered quietly to Naruto.

"Damn it's as if this exam didn't eliminate anybody." Naruto said as he balanced a pencil on his finger. The Hyuga next to him, who had been quiet throughout the whole ordeal, caught his attention as she observed a kikaichu that landed on her finger.

"Good job on making it pass the first test Hime hope to see you with a vest on after this." Naruto told her with a warm smile. Hinata returned her own with a gentle nod.

"Thank you Naruto-san. And no need to worry, a promotion is already in my sights." Hinata and Naruto rarely interacted in the academy. But from his memory Hinata always was a reserved person. Not the arrogant silence most Hyuga gave off but more of a humbling peace.

"Ahh… I heard about Sakura-san and on my behalf of team eight would like to apologize for your loss Naruto." Hinata face morphed into a sincere frown as she placed a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Thank you for looking out Hinata, but Sakura's death won't ever be forgotten. I'll make sure to carry on for her sake." Naruto tightened his fist as he proclaimed his resolve.

Soon after the sound of shattering glass alerted the remaining participants. A beige blur dashing through a window and into the classroom. Mitarashi Anko now posed in front of everybody with a congratulations banner hanging over the chalkboard.

"Alright you sorry excuses of shinobi. There's no time for celebration just yet; as the next part of your test will commence. But have no fear because I'll be leading you all to your demise for I am your next proctor: Anko Mitarashi!" Anko's boisterous introduction was met with crickets and a silence that was soon cut off by Ibiki coughing.

"You're early Anko."

"Eh that doesn't matter, I bet this fresh batch wants to get this over with just as bad as I want to. Hmph listen up in the next two hours I expect each and every one of you lab-rats at our newest rendezvous in two hours." The snake mistress held up two as she threateningly stocked around the classroom. "Where you ask? Training ground forty-fourth. If you're confused and have no idea where that training ground is located, you better get to intel gathering. Any team that shows up missing one of their members will automatically be disqualified. Tata!" With that Anko finished her orders and casually walked out the classroom leaving a stunned classroom.

"What a drag."

Honestly reading ack on this story i just got into a writing mood.