Chapter 22: Preliminaries

The first day of the second exam…

Anko was frantically searching for her old sensei to kill the bastard. After all the pain she had been put through thanks to his twisted and sick goals, he had the gall to come back during her stage of the exams in her village. Konoha may have once been the sannin's life, but he had abandoned and betrayed the village years ago.

'Why would he want to come back to the village? What does Orochimaru want?'

After she finished that train of thought, Anko spotted something out of the corner of her eye. A pale man was sinking into a tree and Anko instinctively knew it was Orochimaru. She quickly pulled out three kunai with explosive tags tied to the end of them and threw them at her former sensei. The spot where Orochimaru had been was blown up by the explosive tags and sent Orochimaru flying. He had a scowl on his face as he eyed his opponent and fully stood up when he saw Anko.

"You bastard! You'll pay for what you-"

She was cut off by Orochimaru appearing in front of her and grabbing her by the throat with a snarl on his face. "I'm sorry Anko-chan, but as you can see I'm not exactly in the mood to toy with you today."

With that, he dropped her to the ground and she was left coughing and gasping on the ground from the force he choked her with. After a couple of seconds of the sannin just watching her with amusement, his smirk suddenly disappeared after she spoke. "What the hell were you doing in here?"

His smirk turned into a sneer as he turned away from the woman. "I wanted to give the Uchiha my curse mark to eventually bring him to me… that little brat." He spoke the last three words with complete hate in his voice, making Anko believe that the kid was better than Orochimaru expected and managed to hurt him, or that he did something the snake sannin didn't like. However, before she could inquire further, he body flickered away and left her there with her seal causing her a great amount of pain before she passed out.

The genin teams that managed to make it to the tower with both scrolls in time were now standing in the center of the arena that they were brought to. Teams Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Hansuke, Gai, Baki, and Kyua were being given a lecture about the chunin exam's real purpose and the rules of the preliminaries that were about to take place. While they were speaking, Naruto's mind was preoccupied with something else.

'We'll have to fight again? I can hardly use my chakra without the damn mark trying to act up. Hell, if I get too angry the mark will act up too! This is complete bullshi-'

"Are there any participants that wish to forfeit, now is the time to raise your hand." After a moment of silent waiting, Hayate continued speaking as no one had raised their hand.

While Hayate was telling the genin the rules of preliminaries again, Anko walked over to the Hokage and spoke to him. "Lord Hokage. We should pull out Sasuke Uchiha. If what Orochimaru said when he fought me was true, then that boy could be a danger to everyone here."

The Hokage looked at Anko before he pondered on what she suggested. "Let the boy continue participating in the exams. However, at the first sign of the curse mark growing or his power getting out of control, we will step in and stop it. "

Kakashi walked up to Anko after she nodded and stepped away from the Hokage. "If the curse mark begins to act up, I'll be the one who'll stop Sasuke."

"Alright, now two names will be randomly chosen and displayed on the board and they will be the first to fight." Ibiki stated as a stone panel rotated around to show a giant LED board. The screen turned on and sped through names until landing on two. "Alright, will Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno stay on the arena floor and the rest of you, make your way up to the balcony."

Naruto gave Sasuke a nod and walked up the balcony stairs with Hinata following close behind him. "How do you think the fight will play out Naruto-san?"

Naruto gave her a shrug as he leaned over the railing. "It could go either way since I don't know exactly what Sakura has learned or been through, but I'd wager on Sasuke winning."

"My thoughts exactly. These exams will certainly show us everyone's progress so far… and some new skills from the foreign teams." She finished the last part while giving a speculative look at the Suna and Iwa teams.

"Hey, Naruto! Hey Hinata!" The two teammates turned to face the person speaking.

"Oh, hey Reo. Y'know, you're pretty close right?" Naruto said as he took a step back from the girl who had her face inches away from his.

Reo giggled at Naruto's words and threw a glance at the red-haired Suna boy to gauge his reaction. She saw him staring at her with an intense cold look which made her quickly look back at the blonde boy in front of her. "Right, sorry." She replied while she clasped her hands behind her back. She turned to face the two down on the arena floor and shimmied closer to Naruto until their shoulders were touching. "You said you think Sasuke will win the match? How come?"

Naruto turned his head to face Reo and was a little annoyed that he had to look up to see Reo's face. He internally let out a sigh before he answered his friend. "I mean, Sasuke was the rookie of the year. He had a really good starting point since we were assigned to teams, so with the growth, I've seen him go through, I think he takes the win here."

"And with Sakura-san's foundation in the academy wasn't as good as Sasuke-san's," Naruto turned to face Hinata and quickly noticed that she was just a little shorter than him, which made him smile. "I think he'll win this match… what?" She asked when he was staring at her for a little too long.

Naruto shook his head and faced back down at the two participants. "Yeah. I think Sasuke's got this one in the bag."

"The preliminary match between Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno will now take place." Hayate raised his arm and brought it down. "Begin!"

Sasuke quickly ran towards Sakura and cocked his fist back, aiming to punch the pink-haired girl until he saw her doing the same. His mind instantly replayed what he had seen in Team 8's training ground, especially the small crater that Sakura had made in the ground with her bare fist. He quickly channeled chakra into his feet and killed his momentum before jumping back to gain some distance. He unsealed his sword and charged toward Sakura.

Kurenai frowned at seeing Sasuke unseal his sword and charge toward Sakura with the weapon. She looked towards Kakashi and made her way towards him. "Kakashi does your student truly intend to use that chokuto on my student?"

The silver-haired jonin raised an eyebrow at the red-eyed jonin. "What difference does it make if it's a kunai? Besides, he has no intentions of killing Sakura."

Kurenai stared at him for a second longer before she focused her gaze back on the fight that her favorite student was in.

Sakura quickly flipped out of Sasuke's charge and pulled out a kunai and proceeded to weave through hand signs. When she finished, she muttered out the jutsu's name. "Clone Jutsu!" Three identical copies of herself shimmered into life and each of them ran through more hand signs and the real one shouted, with her clones mimicking her lip's movements, "Illusion Art: House of Mirrors."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he was suddenly thrown into a genjutsu that had a room filled with mirrors. The four Sakuras had separated and were now running towards him, and with the mirror-filled room, the illusions appeared to be surrounding him.

He shook his head and made the ram hand sign, dispelling the genjutsu that was placed on him just in time to dodge a, what Sasuke assumed, chakra enhanced punch to the chest. The Uchiha quickly spun his sword around and tried to headbutt the Haruno's head with the handle of the sword to knock her out, or at least disorient her. However, he did not stop to think that she had a plan, so he was surprised when she elbowed him and sent him skidding back quite a bit.

He furrowed his eyebrows and was about to shake his head but he suddenly felt a sharp sting on his arm. He looked down at it and quickly saw a small cut. He looked back up and quickly realized that Sakura was gone. 'So it's a genjutsu huh? Sorry Sakura, bad matchup for you.'

He sent chakra towards his eyes and quickly activated his sharingan. When he spotted a chakra outline of a person, he reached into his weapon pouch and grabbed a smoke bomb before he dropped it onto the ground. The cloud of smoke encased both genin and it took a few moments of silence before it dissipated to show a shadow clone of Sasuke holding his chokuto over Sakura's gut while the real Sasuke held his chokuto to Sakura's neck.

Sakura let out a disappointed sigh before she raised her hands. "I forfeit."

Hayate coughed and held his arm out towards Sasuke. "Sasuke Uchiha is the winner due to forfeit."

Kurenai let out a sigh before a smile made her way on her face as she watched the two genin give a handshake of acknowledgment before they made their way towards the balcony. "Well, she didn't win but the effort and skills she put into that match did show much how much she had grown."

All the genin nearby that overhead what the jonin said had to nod their heads. This Sakura was almost a completely different person than she was when she was back in the academy. When the two genin made their way back to their respective teams, they were congratulated for the effort they put in.

The screen began to cycle through names again until it landed on two names.

"Will Shino Aburame and Taavi come down to the arena floor."

While the two boys were slowly making their way down, Kakashi decided to question Sasuke.
"Did the mark act up at all?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in confusion at his sensei's question. "What mark?" Kakashi furrowed his brows before he pulled down Sasuke's collar to see the curse mark, only to find nothing there but plain pale skin. "Mind telling me why you rudely did that?"

The Hatake gained this far-off look while he was thinking of the possibilities of what this could mean. "No, it's nothing. Sorry about that Sasuke."

The Uchiha merely raised an eyebrow at his sensei's behavior before he went to stand next to his teammates. While Hinata congratulated Sasuke on his win and then question him about what that was all about, Naruto let out a sigh before he congratulated Sasuke and stared at the match down below.

'So they know about the mark and Orochimaru… but not exactly who was marked.'

"The match between Shino Aburame and Taavi will now commence. Begin!"

Shino quickly stuck his arms out and sent his colony of insects to quickly eat all of his comrade's chakra. "Unfortunately, we were pitted against one another, but I will not lose here."

Taavi cursed as he jumped away from the insects and ran straight toward Shino. When he got close, his insects tried to intervene but Taavi channeled chakra into his legs before he leaped over them. He landed right in front of Shino and threw a punch, decking him right on his left cheek. Shino's head snapped to the right and was about to fall before he exploded into a cloud of insects that immediately attached themselves to Taavi.

He cursed out loud before throwing his hands up. "I forfeit!"

Hearing his opponent's words, the insects immediately backed off and returned to their host, who now materialized out of nowhere. He walked over and stuck his arm out to help Taavi stand back up. The two walked back up towards the balcony so the next match could proceed. When the screen began cycling through names again, Naruto felt a sharp pain come from the curse mark resulting in him wincing a bit.

"Are you ok Naruto-san?"

Naruto mentally cursed the mark and plastered a smile on his face. "Yeah, just felt like Taavi didn't get to show off his skills that much."

Reo let out a sigh as she nodded her head. "I'm not upset that Shino won, but I know Taavi had more to offer. He just couldn't show it off." When said boy made his way right next to his female teammate, she placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded. "Nice try Taavi."

Hayate cleared his throat to gather everyone's attention. "Will Kankuro and Hinata Hyuga come down to the arena floor?"

The two stared at each other for a moment before he gave the Hyuga girl a wink. The girl scoffed and made her way down to the arena floor while he let out a chuckle before he followed her example. When the two were down and ready, Hayate raised his hand.

"The preliminary match between Kankuro and Hinata Hyuga will now commence. Begin!"

Hinata instantly sent chakra to her byakugan and quickly saw his chakra system and his puppet that he held wrapped up in bandages. She quickly charged at him and in midrun, she saw the boy shoot thin chakra strings attached to the puppet on his back. He quickly flicked his finger which made the puppet shoot out right in front of him. Hinata quickly bent out of the puppet's path and struck Kankuro before he had much of a chance to do anything else.

The boy dropped to the floor with a loud grunt of pain. 'Dammit! I can't believe I lost to a girl!'

"Hinata Hyuga is the winner."

Naruto watched Hinata's match with all his attention on the fight but the second Naruto saw Kankuro make chakra strings, he was intrigued. "Hey sensei," Kakashi turned to face his blonde student with an eyebrow raised. "What was that he just used?"

"Chakra strings also called chakra threads. Primarily utilized by puppet masters, who use this skill to control their puppets."

"Can it only be used to control puppets?"

"No, it's just its main use. Some use it to control and move weapons."

Naruto let out a hum of thought as he mentally thought over multiple possibilities chakra strings could do. He was broken out of thought when Hinata went back in place beside him and Sasuke. "That was a good match Hinata. Nice and quick." He said with a smile on his face.

Hinata smiled back at the blonde before she nodded her head. "Thank you Naruto-san, I appreciate it."

"Tough matchup for the dude." Sasuke chimed in. "Going up against a dojutsu user was a bad matchup for him."

"Could Kiba Inuzuka and Choji Akimichi come down to the arena floor?"

"Alright! We're up Akamaru!" The boisterous Inuzuka shouted before he jumped over the railing of the balcony.

"Come on Choji! You can beat him!" Ino whispered to the plump boy, trying to support him.

"Ino is right Choji. All you have to do is put your mind to it. Here, I'll throw in an all-you-can-eat barbeque if you manage to win." His sensei offered.

"All… you can eat… barbeque…? ALRIGHT! LET'S DO THIS!" The Akmichi heir boasted out.

After watching his friend jump down, Shikamaru scowled and turned to face Asuma. "Did you have to bribe him, sensei? What if he doesn't win? He'll just be bummed out the whole time."

His answer was just a chuckle from his sensei.

"Are the participants ready?" A nod from the two boys later and Hayate raised his arm. "Begin!"

"C'mon Akamaru!" Kiba yelled as he pulled out a small pill from his pouch and tossed it to his dog. After he ate it, his fur turned red and took on a more feral appearance. The boy bent down on his fours before his dog jumped on his back.

"Ninja Art: Beast Mimicry," Akamaru was suddenly enveloped in a cloud of smoke, and when it cleared there was a clone of Kiba that replaced the canine. "Man-Beast Clone!"

Choji gulped and made the ram hand sign before he shouted out the jutsu's name. "Expansion Jutsu!" He suddenly became extremely round, the expansion was mainly being applied to his torso. His head and limbs were sucked into his expanded clothing before he started to rapidly spin in place. "Human Bolder!"

Choji launched himself full speed towards his former classmate, attempting to quickly finish this fight so Kiba wouldn't get hurt too bad. The Inuzuka and his canine partner quickly jumped out of the Akimichi's path and responded by using his own clan's offensive jutsu against the rolling boy.

"Fang Over Fang!" Kiba and Akamaru rotated their bodies in mid-air and shot toward Choji. "Sorry Choji, but this match is mine!"

The two jutsus collided with one another and began a brief fight for dominance until both jutsus canceled out and sent all three flying apart from one another and into the wall. Choji groggily stood up and shook his head in an attempt to clear out the dizziness. When his eyes refocused, they saw a fist just inches apart from his face before it slammed into it, sending him back to the floor.

"Stay down Choji, I may be your opponent but you are still one of my friends."

Choji looked down at the ground when suddenly Niton's words. "It's a shinobi's literal job to hurt those against you." The plump boy made to stand up but stopped. He wasn't really against him, well not in the way Niton and his team were. Kiba was a fellow leaf shinobi, a comrade. His will to fight was suddenly snuffed out and he held his hands up. "I forfeit."

Kiba grinned and stuck his arm out to help his plump friend up. Choji took his offer and grabbed his hand while the Inuzuka pulled his friend up and patted him on the back. "Man! That human boulder almost knocked me out! You're pretty strong man!"

Choji had a warm smile as he walked back up the balcony stairs and was chatting with Kiba the whole time. When they reached the top, the board started to cycle through names again.

"Could Gaara and Niton come down to the floor?"

The redhead closed his eyes and dissolved into sand that flew down to the arena floor where it swirled into the boy. The Iwa genin rolled his eyes and took his time walking down. When the fighters were ready, Hayate announced the start of the match.

"You should give up." Gaara stared at the Iwa genin that was trying to talk down to him. "I do not wish to fight you as you are not the target of my hate."

Gaara closed his eyes for a few seconds before he opened his eyes and Niton was suddenly encased in sand. The Iwa genin struggled to get out before he quickly realized he was trapped. He glared at the red-haired boy with hate-filled eyes. The Suna genin raised his arm and was about to clench his hand, but he suddenly felt the urge to look up into the balcony. His gaze was met with a pair of wide violet, fear-filled eyes. Gaara felt something inside feel scared before he quickly faced back towards his opponent for a few seconds before he turned to face the proctor.

"Call the match. He's trapped and unable to fight."

Hayate nodded and raised his arm towards Gaara. "The winner of this match is Gaara."

The redhead nodded his head and let the sand that held Niton fall apart and swirl back towards him. He turned and walked away from the still stunned Iwa genin. A sneer was plastered on his face and he pulled out a kunai and charged toward the Suna nin.

"How dare you make a fool out of me?!"

Gaara turned around slowly and crossed his arms. When Niton had gotten close enough, his automatic sand defense reacted to Niton's intent and made a spike of sand aimed at his gut. Niton's eyes widened and channeled chakra towards the soles of his feet in an attempt to kill all momentum, but his efforts were in vain. His feet might've stayed in place, but his body's momentum wasn't killed.

Blood splattered the floor as the sand spike impaled the Iwa genin. Loud gasps and curses were heard in the suddenly eerily quiet room. Niton was frozen in disbelief at suddenly being impaled on the sand spike. He coughed out blood and raised his arm in an attempt to throw the kunai, but his strength left him. The kunai fell out of his now limp hand as he coughed once again.

"You should've stayed put. You are the one to blame for your demise."

"Fuck- you," Niton responded while coughing. After a few more seconds, his body became limp as his life left his body.

Gaara stared at the now lifeless boy for a few more seconds before he mentally called the sand back and finished his walk up the balcony.

"Can Neji Hyuga and Maaravi come down to the arena floor?"

Maaravi let out a sigh before he raised his hand. "Proctor, I forfeit. I have no chance at beating him."

Hayate nodded and raised his arms toward Neji. "Winner due to forfeit, Neji Hyuga."

"Can Temari and Tenten come down?"

The two contestants nodded and made their way down to the floor. After the proctor started the match, Tenten quickly pulled out a kunai and threw it toward the blonde female. Temari arrogantly chuckled before she smacked the weapon away with her fan. Tenten smirked and attached a chakra thread to her kunai and made it go around her fan and scrape her cheek before burying itself into her leg.

"AHH!" Temari yelled in pain. She pulled the kunai out, opened her fan, and swung her fan while channeling chakra into it, making the gust of wind more powerful. Tenten quickly pulled out a kunai to deflect the wind-assisted projectile before she was flown back from the strong gust. When Tenten landed, she channeled chakra into her feet to keep her grounded and unsealed two large storage scrolls before she jumped into the air.

While the match continued, Naruto turned to face Kakashi. "So they can be used like that?"

The white-haired jonin nodded his head with an eye smile. "Yup."

The blonde-haired boy nodded his head and silently ran through different uses of chakra strings. The match down there no longer interested him as his mind was preoccupied with something else, but he was dragged out of his thoughts by Hinata tapping him on the shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"I asked who you think would win."

"Hmm, I think the Suna girl has got this one. She's not giving Tenten-chan a chance to recover."

Hinata frowned and turned to face Naruto. "Tenten-chan? I didn't know you two were close."

Naruto idly nodded and winced when he saw Tenten get caught in a wind vortex, getting cuts across her body. "Yeah, she saw me bathing in the river back in the forest."

Hinata's body become rigid as she stared at the fight down below, not even paying any attention to what was happening, and managed to answer Naruto in a monotone. "Oh okay."

Naruto had to hide a wince as the curse mark tried to activate itself just as Tenten fell onto Temari's folded-up fan. 'This damn mark!'

"Temari is the winner of this match," Hayate announced after a coughing fit. After the two participants made their way off the arena floor, the Led board cycled through names again. "Can Reo and Ino Yamanaka come down to the floor?"

When the two girls made their way down to the floor, Sasuke spoke to his teammates. "Who do you think will win?"

"I'm not sure. It could go either way since Reo was always better at taijutsu, but with the Yamanaka's clan jutsus, once you're under it you're done."

"That's not necessarily true."

Naruto turned to face Hinata as she was now broken out of whatever silent trance she had been under. "What do you mean?"

"Back when we were in the academy, Ino-san told me that her clan's technique isn't always a guarantee. For example, if the target has a greater will than the caster they would be able to break out of the jutsu."

Naruto took on a meaningful look as he looked back down at the arena floor and saw that the match had started and Reo made her move first. The black-haired girl quickly shot toward Ino, attempting to get as close as possible before she had a chance to use her jutsu. Luckily for her, Ino arrogantly charged at her as well, deciding that she didn't need to use her clan's jutsu to win.

'Arrogant idiot.' Naruto thought as he shook his head in disappointment.

When Ino had gotten within striking distance, Reo quickly threw a feint punch toward her abdomen while quickly putting the majority of her force into another punch aimed for the Yamanaka's chin. Predictably Ino had chosen to use both hands to stop the girl's punch that was aimed at her abdomen as she knew Reo was physically stronger than her and was decked on the chin for her troubles. Ino grunted and lightly rubbed her chin before she stood back up and jumped back, putting some distance between the two girls.

"Oh no, you don't!" Reo yelled out as she chased after her while Ino was frantically backpedaling while making hand signs.

"Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!" Ino had her hands forming the special hand sign that her clan's jutsu required and aimed her hands toward Reo.

'Shit! Need to move quickly!'

Reo quickly channeled chakra into her legs and jumped back as fast as she could, just barely missing Ino's aim. The Yamanaka's body slumped to the floor as her body's consciousness left her body, leaving her susceptible to attacks. The black-haired girl let out a sigh before she stood up and made her way toward her opponent before she gave a strong punch to the girl. The platinum blonde-haired girl's eyes snapped open and tried to immediately stand up, only to find herself restrained by Reo.

"Sorry Ino but give up. I already won."

Said girl let out a sigh of disappointment before she voiced her defeat. After Reo let go of her, she offered a hand to help her up but the Yamanaka was too busy lost in her mind to notice.

'Maybe if I would've given my all in training I could've won.' Her fist tightened till her knuckles were white from her newfound determination to get stronger. 'I have to get stronger to protect myself and those I love.'

"Can Shikamaru Nara and Sui come down to the arena floor."

While the two boys walked down to the floor, Naruto was having trouble keeping his head clear now. The mark had been acting up even more now with all the combat going on and Naruto suspected that the snake's consciousness wanted him to fight and use the curse mark. He tried clearing his mind and to watch the fight that was happening on the floor, but the pain and whispers from the sannin were distracting him too much. Out of frustration, he rubbed his eye and tried his best to watch the fight happening below but he couldn't completely pay attention.

From what he pieced together, the match opened with Sui insulting and belittling the shadow user, and ended his long speech by grabbing a kunai out of his weapons pouch. He threw it at the lazy genin only for the kunai to be dodged, and for the boy to be captured by Shikamaru's shadow paralysis jutsu. While the Iwa genin was cursing Shikamaru, the ponytailed genin reached for his kunai in his pouch which was located on the opposite side of the Sui's pouch. He threw the kunai and released his hold on his jutsu just as it was getting close to the boy. Sui quickly leaned back as fast as he could, which made him knock himself out by smacking hard into the wall behind him.

"Shikamaru Nara is the winner due to knockout."

Naruto shook his head in an attempt to clear it, but he was tapped on the shoulder by his two worried teammates. "What?"

"Are you okay enough to fight?" Hinata asked worryingly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Because you look like shit." Sasuke quickly answered.

Naruto rolled his eye and was about to retort but he was interrupted by someone.

"Can Rock Lee and Naruto Uzumaki come down to the arena floor?"

Naruto let out a soft chuckle while Lee was enthusiastically proclaiming his excitement to finally be able to fight. "Well, looks like I'm up."

"Naruto," Said boy turned around to see his sensei warily looking at him. "You don't have to go down to fight if you're not feeling completely ready."

"I'm fine sensei."

Naruto was on the arena floor and was standing across from his opponent, Rock Lee. The two genin were sizing each other up but Lee caught onto something that Naruto was trying to cover up pretty quickly.

"Naruto, are you feeling well? Are you sure you're able to fight?"

Naruto let out a sigh before he had to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just get started."

"Are both fighters ready to fight?" Naruto nodded right away but Lee was a bit hesitant about fighting Naruto in this state, but he nodded in the end. "Begin!"

Naruto immediately broke into a full sprint towards Lee and threw a punch with as much force as he could muster, but was easily sidestepped by the green jumpsuit-wearing boy. Lee jumped up and delivered a roundhouse kick aimed at Naruto's midsection. The Uzumaki groaned before he got up and put his hands in the cross-hand sign.

'Alright, I should be able to make over forty clones easily.' Naruto took in a breath before he channeled chakra into the hand sign. There was a sudden and intense jolt of pain that came from the curse mark when he used his chakra, but he ignored the pain as much as possible. He was immediately covered in smoke from the shadow clones he created and when the smoke cleared, there were only twenty. 'Damn it. Whatever, this will do.'

He shook his head before he sent the clones to attack Lee, but he soon realized that they weren't much of a threat as Lee was easily kicking, and punching clones before they could do anything to him. Naruto let out a curse before he pulled out a kunai and made more clones.

'Alright, hopefully, my clones can at least cut him up some to slow him down… damn he can hit hard though.' Naruto shook his head to clear out his thoughts as he watched how Lee would handle his clones. They managed to cut his jumpsuit a couple of times before the bowl-cut-haired boy dispelled them all with the kunai he grabbed out of his pouch.

'You know what? Fuck it.' Naruto crossed his fingers and suddenly the whole floor and walls were covered by Naruto's clones. "Get him."

Seeing the predicament his student was in, Gai cleared his throat before he yelled down so his student could hear.

"Lee!" Lee turned to face his sensei with a curious look on his face. "Take them off!"

A brief look of confusion crossed his face before he realized exactly what his sensei meant. He jumped onto the statue and pulled down his leg warmers. The clones were standing still in confusion when they saw the weights that were being taken off by Lee.

"Ahh, that is much better! Now I can finally move freely!" Lee said as he dropped the weights.

Naruto heard some snarky remark by the blonde Suna girl, honestly she was starting to annoy him with her arrogant attitude, before the weights fell to the ground and made a huge crater while making the room shake. The Uzumaki and his clones all crouched a little lower, preparing themselves for the onslaught to come.

Kakashi was closely watching his student but had to give Gai a deadpan look after seeing Lee take off his weights. "Seriously Gai? You're honestly too much sometimes."

"Alright! Here I come!" Lee crouches down a bit before he disappears.

Naruto looked around him until his mind was bombarded by the clones' memories of being punched and kicked. 'He's too fast to keep up with, I need a way to counter his sp-.'

"Urgh!"

Naruto was sent flying into a wall and left a spider crack on the wall from the force of the hit. He spat out a blood clot and wiped his mouth before he stood back up. 'I'll have to try and match his speed.'

Naruto saw Lee vanish from his spot so the blonde quickly made the ram hand sign and body flickered away just in time for Lee to appear with his leg outstretched into a upperkick. The Uzumaki quickly body flickered back in front of the stunned boy and delivered a roundhouse kick to return the gesture from earlier. After Lee's momentum from the kick ended, Naruto quickly made fifteen shadow clones that all used the body flicker jutsu to keep up with Lee's speed.

Kakashi narrowed his eye at seeing Naruto use the body flicker jutsu as he hadn't taught the boy that jutsu but filed it away for questioning later.

Gai's student tried to get up, but he was kicked in the face for his attempt by one of Naruto's clones. They would repeat this a few more times before Lee decided to do a leg sweep and tripped the clone that appeared right in front of it. The bowl-cut boy grabbed a hold of the clone's head and smashed it into the ground hard, causing it to dispel. Lee black flipped away as there was another clone there to avenge the one he had killed. He briefly turned to face his sensei and when Gai had given him a nod, Lee quickly loosened his bandages. Naruto cursed as he and his clones ran towards him, trying to not give him any time to prepare but all they had earned was a fast and hard sweeping leg kick.

"Looks like I will have to give it my all. I'm sorry Naruto, but this will be the end of our match!" The boy then crossed his arms in front of his face as he gave Naruto a hard look before he took off.

'Damn that kick hurt like a bitch.' Naruto thought as he was getting up. He turned to face Lee's direction just in time for the boy to suddenly appear in front of him and deliver a upperkick that had successfully sent the genin flying this time. Kick after kick made sent the two boys higher before Lee appeared underneath Naruto and had his bandages wrap around the blonde.

After seeing Naruto get kicked in the air by Lee, Kakashi immediately understood what the boy was attempting. "Gai, you thought him the Front Lotus?"

"Yes, I did Kakashi." Gai retorted with pride clearly in his voice.

"Of all the irresponsible things-"

"You don't know Lee like I do Kakashi. That boy had nothing going for him at all, except for one thing. No talent at Genjutsu, Ninjutsu or even Taijutsu. The boy was completely talentless at everything, but what he did have was the guts to never give up. And I'll tell you, that boy had it in spades. So when I took him under my care, we focused all of our energy on taijutsu. We trained until Lee's body couldn't take it, and then some. What you all are watching, is the progress Lee made all by determination and will alone."

"Kakashi-sensei, what's the Front Lotus?" Hinata asked with concern in her tone.

The silver-haired jonin sighed before he turned to face his student. "It's a taijutsu move that puts an enormous strain on the body due to requiring of one the gates to be opened. It can cause serious damage to both of them."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his sensei. "It can cause serious damage to both of them? How?"

"Watch and find out."

"I am sorry but it looks like I win this match Naruto!" Lee yelled as he grabbed onto the now bandaged Naruto as they both started to rapidly spin towards the ground.

'I can't free my hands! Damn the snake for placing the five elemental seal on me!' Naruto mentally yelled out in anger. 'What can I do?! I don't have any more jutsu in my arsenal that I can use right now!'

"Use me."

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut as he was trying to ignore the snake's words, but he crashed into the arena floor head first before he had a chance.

Lee was crouching a bit away from the crater Naruto's impact had made and was trying to catch his breath. "I got him! I have won this match!"

The entire room was eerily silent as they all stared at the blonde boy to see if he would stay down or get up. Hinata and Sasuke gripped the balcony's railing in concern for their teammate, both rooting and mentally chanting for him to get up.

Naruto, himself, was lying in the crater with his emotions in chaos, especially anger. He felt searing heat throughout his body and was left close to the breaking point, close to the dam breaking that he built to hide his anger. The curse mark tried to activate itself when it detected his emotional state, which sent pain throughout his body that finally sent Naruto over the edge.

"Use me Naruto-kun."

'Fuck it.'

Flame-like markings were quickly spreading across his body before purple chakra exploded out from Naruto as he slowly stood up, glaring hatefully at Lee. "I'm not done yet."

Lee's eyes widened when he suddenly felt the wind knocked out of him by the suddenly faster blonde boy. The black-haired boy was sent flying towards the wall just as Kakashi and Anko jumped down in front of Naruto and tried to talk him down. While that was happening, Lee struggled to get to his feet due to the sudden strength behind Naruto's punch and crossed his arms after he regained his balance.

'I'm sorry Gai-sensei, but to protect my nindo, my ninja way, I have to use the gates to beat Naruto. Please forgive me.'

Naruto, now blinded by anger and hate, was ignoring his seniors and getting frustrated with them before he suddenly felt pressure beginning to build up. His head snapped towards Lee's direction and felt a sudden build-up of chakra coming out of Lee.

'Oh no you don't.' Naruto made the ram hand sign and body flickered in front of Lee before launching an uppercut behind his crossed arms, breaking his concentration on opening the gates and sending the green-clad boy towards the ceiling.

Lee righted himself in midair and channeled chakra towards his feet, sticking him onto the ceiling, before he crossed his arms and forcibly opened the gates. Naruto looked up at him and squinted his eye in anger. He channeled chakra into his legs, preparing to jump up there and continue the fight, but Kakashi and Anko appeared right in front of him and grabbed onto him.

"Naruto stop! This match was over the second you used the curse mark so stop trying to fight!" Kakashi tried to reason with his favorite student but reluctantly realized he wasn't going to cooperate.

Right as Kakashi was going to knock Naruto out by chopping the back of his neck, Lee, whose hotheadedness rivaled Naruto's, launched off and aimed to knock out his foe with a dropkick. Kakashi looked up in time to see Gai jump in Lee's way and managed to get him out of their path.

"Lee! Close the gates before you hurt yourself!" Gai shouted at his student. Lee vigorously nodded his head and quickly closed the inner gates but the strain from opening the gates had been dealt, leaving his body sore and weak for the time being.

Naruto, while being restrained by Anko and Kakashi, quickly made a cross-hand sign and created 100 clones. The clones tried to bombard the jonin and get to Lee, but the Hokage used a wind jutsu to take care of all the clones. When they were all dispelled, Hiruzen appeared before Naruto and slammed him to the ground. Naruto coughed up blood from the force and glared at the person who did it, but when he realized that it was the Third Hokage, Naruto's eye widened before he calmed down enough for the curse mark to recede.

The Hokage gave Naruto a sorrowful glance before he apologized and announced Rock Lee as the winner. Naruto's eye widened in surprise and he tried to thrash around before Hiruzen quickly tightened his grip and applied more pressure downwards on the boy.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but resorting to using that, especially against one of your leaf comrades? You are not chunin material. I'm sorry my boy." With his thoughts said, Hiruzen stood up and left a shocked Naruto behind on the arena floor before he passed out from the strain the curse mark left on him.

Lee was left stunned at what happened and was left on the arena floor beside Gai. He faintly heard Hayate announce that Rock Lee was the winner due to Naruto Uzumaki being disqualified. The proctor continued and said that the next fight would be a participant that had already fought would go against Anaru. He spun the board for a random genin's name and it landed on Lee.

Gai sensei let out a sigh before he turned to face his student. "Lee. Do not, under any circumstances, use the gates. The strain it has on your body is already becoming unbearable. I can see your body twitching and your heavy breathing. Win this match as quickly as possible." Gai focused his gaze back to the arena floor just in time to see Kakashi pick up the passed-out genin and body flickered somewhere else.

Anaru and Lee were standing on the floor as Hayate shouted for the match to begin.

"You should just give up. I don't know what all those moves were in your last match but whatever they were won't work against me. Besides you're already tired, I can see that too-."

"I am sorry but I won." Lee stated after he chopped the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious.

After Naruto passed out, Kakashi had picked him up and body flickered just outside the hall and was joined by Anko a second later.

"How is he?" The special jonin asked her superior with a hint of concern.

"Right now he's fine. I guess that he's just exhausted from the strain of the curse mark."

Anko grimaced as she placed her hand over her mark and felt phantom pain pulse from there. "Yeah, that mark will leave him unconscious for a couple of days."

Kakashi solemnly nodded before he entered a room that Anko had led him to. It was empty and quite spacious, exactly what he needed to seal Naruto's curse mark. "I'd rather let him wake up on his own, but I'll need him awake for this." Kakashi lightly set him down with Anko helping him hold Naruto up while he channeled a low-rank lightning jutsu. "Sorry Naruto, but wake up."

When he placed his hand on Naruto's arm, the blonde's body jerked lightly before his eyes fluttered open, and took a look around. "Kakashi-sensei? What's going on? Where are we?"

"Sorry about that Naruto, but we're going to need to seal up that curse mark right now." The blonde was fully awake at this point and gave his sensei a nod. "Alright, take off your shirt and sit down. The sealing process will take some time."

Naruto crossed his arms over his torso and gave Kakashi a scandalized look. "But sensei, I'm only thirteen and a boy!"

Kakashi gave his genin a dry look before he bonked him on the head. "Hilarious. Now do as you're told."

"Haha! I can tell you two are close. Kakashi, you got it from here right?" The purple-haired special jonin said as she gently let go of Naruto and stood up.

"Yeah, I got it from here. The actual sealing process is pretty tedious, so you can go back to the arena." Anko nodded and walked out of the door they came from.

After she left, the room was left silent as neither Naruto nor Kakashi spoke. One was feeling guilty about everything he had done, while the other was trying to write out the kanji needed for the sealing ritual. This lasted for roughly fifteen minutes as Kakashi had to make sure everything was perfectly right before he started the sealing process.

"Alright Naruto, this might hurt." Kakashi placed his right outstretched index and middle finger on top of the curse mark and with his left hand, he made the ram sign. "Seal!"

Naruto's nociceptors were set ablaze from the sudden bombardment of pain, causing the young genin to curse. After a couple of seconds, Naruto bit his bottom lip to prevent himself from shouting. When the sealing process finished, Naruto fell forwards but caught himself with his arms as he let out labored breaths.

Kakashi flicked his wrist and shook his hand a couple of times since he also briefly felt the pain on the tip of his fingers. He walked around Naruto and helped set him up. "My, My, Chibi, that's some pain tolerance you got. How'd you get it?"

After a few moments of panting, Naruto turned to face Kakashi and spoke between pants. "You… you don't know?"

Kakashi tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Don't know what?"

After a couple of seconds of thinking and calming his breathing down, Naruto's eye widened. "The old man didn't tell you?"

Kakashi furrowed his brows in irritation as the blonde wasn't answering his question. "What don't I know, Naruto?"

He shook his head and went let out a sigh. "I was kidnapped by Orochimaru's guys and held captive and was cut open along with other things to see how being Kurama's jinchuriki affected my body. That happened for six months before some Anbu and Jiraiya-sama rescued me. I had developed some anger issues thanks to that whole experience."

After Kakashi heard Naruto's statement, he suddenly felt nauseous and dizzy. He walked over and leaned against the wall before he slid down until he was sitting down. "How- how could I have never noticed? Why didn't the Hokage send me to find you?" He pulled Naruto into a tight hug after the blonde walked over to him to make sure he was alright. "Oh Naruto, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I wasn't there when you needed me. I'm sorry I didn't save you."

The blonde let out a chuckle before he escaped Kakashi's grasp. "I'm alright now. Well, excluding the curse mark that is- oh wait! Hey Kakashi-sensei, do you know the Five Pronged Seal Release?" He quickly asked as he lifted his shirt and channeled chakra, making his seals appear on his abdomen.

The silver-haired jonin shook his head and inspected the counter seal that was placed over Minato's seal. "I'm guessing Orochimaru did this?" After seeing a confirmation nod from Naruto, Kakashi let out a sigh as he stood back up and lightly shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't release it. I do not know that particular seal. Your best bet to releasing that is to ask Jiraiya-sama when he comes back to the village."

Naruto slumped his shoulders and nodded his head. "Do you know when he'll be back?"

"Afraid not chibi."

Naruto let out a sigh of disappointment and put back on his clothes. "Well, thanks for sealing the curse mark sensei. I'm gonna go back and talk with the others." As he was making his way towards the door, Kakashi grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Sorry Naruto, you'll need to head to the hospital first so they can check everything out and make sure that you're truly ok."

"But I'm fine."

"Don't care."

"But sensei-"

"Don't. Care."

Naruto let out a groan before he sulkily nodded his head. "Alright, fine. Let's go sensei."

Kakashi gave his student an eye smile before he placed a hand on his shoulder and body flickered towards the hospital.

Hinata and Sasuke were standing on the arena floor with the rest of the participants that had won their preliminary matches. The proctors were talking but both genin had their minds on their teammate's well-being.

"Alright, take one slip of paper out of the box."

Hinata had to blink a couple of times before she reached into the box and pulled out a slip of paper. After her, Sasuke pulled one out, then Reo, and the rest of the contestants.

"Alright, show me your numbers… Ok, here are the matches for the finals." Ibiki flipped the clipboard around to show the genin what was written. "For the first match, Kiba Inuzuka would fight Rock Lee. In the second match, Hinata Hyuga would fight Reo. After that would be Shikamaru Nara fighting Temari, then Sasuke Uchiha fighting Gaara, and finally Neji Hyuga fighting Shino Aburame."

"Wait if it's a tournament, does that mean that only one of us will get to become chunin then?"

"Not exactly. There will be judges that will determine if you have the qualities and can shoulder the responsibilities being a chunin requires. This means that even if you lose in your first match you can still be granted the rank of chunin. Theoretically, there is a chance that all or none of you can become a chunin. However, fighting more rounds in the finals will give you better chances to display your talents in front of the judges who decide your fate."

"Man this sounds like a pain in the ass.."

"I thank you all for your patience and let us adjourn until next month." The Hokage stated before he swiftly turned around and made his way out of the building. When Ibiki and Anko had caught up to Hiruzen, the Hokage turned to face Anko. "What is Naruto's state of being?"

"Kakashi sealed the curse mark to the best of his abilities and took Naruto Uzumaki to the hospital."

"That's a brief explanation of what happened, not Naruto's state of being Anko. Don't mince words to spare this old fool's heart."

Anko let out a sigh before she hesitantly spoke the truth. "Naruto Uzumaki appeared to be fine and even joking with Kakashi, but there seemed to be an underlying tone of melancholy coming from the boy. I assume that he was not satisfied with his performance in the preliminaries."

"Well, Naruto-kun should've known better than to use that vile mark just to win a match, and against a fellow leaf shinobi no less. He should be disappointed with how he acted there… I know I am."

Naruto groggily woke up to feel his whole body stinging in pain. He let out a sigh before the blonde plopped his head back down on the stiff pillow that was issued by the hospital. 'They always did have the stiffest pillows.' The boy was broken out of his musings by a knock that came from the door. "Come in," he responded.

The door slid open to reveal the Hokage standing on the other side before he made his way in. When he was standing in front of the hospital bed, Hiruzen shook his head in disappointment. "Why did you have to use that mark, Naruto-kun?"

The blonde Uzumaki looked down at his chest, trying to avoid eye contact with his Kage. "I'm not sure... My options to win were limited… I just wanted to win."

"By any means necessary, you mean?"

Naruto reluctantly nodded his head and, even though it hurt him, he turned his body away from his grandfather figure.

"I'm sorry Naruto," Naruto bristled at the honorific being removed from his name. "But like I said in the arena. You are not yet chunin worthy. Take some time to mature yourself some more and maybe next time you will get promoted."

The sore boy could only nod his head in acknowledgment of the old man's words. He knew what accessing the curse mark would mean. He was aware of the consequences. And yet he used it against a comrade, someone he was friendly towards not six days ago.

Hiruzen saw Naruto pull the covers over his head to hide his entire body. His heart clenched at seeing the boy this distraught and vulnerable, but he had to make sure that the boy realized it was wrong before he gave him the other news.

"I'm glad you realized how terrible your actions were. Will you ever do it again?" The thin white blanket rustled as the boy shook his head. "Good. Now that we've discussed that, when will you like the operation to take place?"

Naruto slowly pulled the blanket off of himself as he turned to face Hiruzen. "What operation?"

"The eye transplant operation. We have one available for the operation."

Naruto's single ocean blue eye widened in shock. "Are you serious?"

Hiruzen chuckled at the boy's sudden emotional change and nodded his head. "Quite, my boy. The operation is ready to be carried out whenever you're ready."

Naruto nodded his head and then lowered it in an act of respect. "If it's possible, I'd like the operation to be carried out now."

The Hokage nodded and departed after he gave details about the operation's risks and benefits, leaving Naruto to prepare himself to go to surgery.

With the genin now all dismissed, Hinata and Sasuke immediately tried to track down Kakashi to ask him what happened with Naruto and if he was alright, but they were stalled in their tasks by the other final candidates.

"Hey! We should all go out to celebrate making it into the finals of the chunin exams!" Kiba exclaimed excitedly.

"Yes! I agree with Kiba! Going out to celebrate would be an excellent way to celebrate our victory in reaching the finals!" Lee chimed in.

"I think it would be fun."

"See! Even Reo thinks it'll be fun! Come on Shika, Sasuke, and Hinata!"

"What about Shino?" Sasuke said while pointing to the bug user.

"Ah, I was gonna drag him along anyways." Kiba chuckled.

"I have no choice in what I want to do in my free time thanks to my two teammates," Shino complained to those around him, which earned sympathetic looks from everyone excluding Kiba who just chuckled.

"That sounds like a pain. I'm heading home to sleep." Shikamaru announced as he turned and started to walk away before he was suddenly stopped by Kiba.

"Uh, I wasn't actually asking. It's just something I picked up from Sakura."

Shino gave a pleading look to Hinata and Sasuke. "Please help me."

This naturally caused the two teammates to step away from Shino and everyone else before they tried to back out once more. "We were actually going to go look for Kakashi-sensei to ask where Naruto was."

"Oh! Can I go with you? I want to make sure he's alright." Reo quickly asked.

"Yes! Why don't we all go check up on Naruto!"

"Do you know where your sensei or Naruto is?"

Everyone turned to face the Inuzuka with Sasuke providing an answer. "No, that's why we were going to go look around for him."

"Then why not celebrate first then go looking for them? It's better to do it on a full stomach anyway."

"As much as I loathe to admit it, and I do, Kiba has a point." Shino admitted hesitantly.

"What if we just don't want to go?" Hinata replied with some attitude. She was getting frustrated that the others wouldn't let her and Sasuke go find their other teammate or sensei.

Kiba let out a groan before he threw his hands in the air. "Fine, if you don't wanna go then you don't have to. Jeez, all I wanted was for us to have fun together."

"Nice. Very subtle guilt trip man."

"Shut up Sasuke."

"…"

"…"

"… oh for the love- fine! But you're paying mutt."

Kiba let a wide grin across his face as he nodded his head. "Yeah yeah, come on let's go!"

While Naruto was in the operation room getting an eye transplant, Kakashi was waiting just outside the room on a bench. He was casually reading his Icha Icha book when he heard someone walking toward him. The jonin looked up to see who it was and saw the Hokage taking a seat next to him.

"Good evening Hokage-sama."

"Good evening Kakashi."

"Is there something I can do for you?"

"You tell me. I can tell there's been something tugging at your mind."

"...Well, it has to do with Naruto."

"Oh? Tell me about it."

"Well for starters, he knows a jutsu that he shouldn't know, and there are probably more jutsus that he's hiding from me."

"Do you have any suspicions as to where he could have learned it from?"

"I originally thought it could've been from the Uchiha's jutsu library, but then Sasuke would also know how to do the body flicker jutsu since it's not an elemental jutsu that isn't fire natured."

"Do you have any other suspicions?"

Kakashi let out a tired breath as he shook his head. "No."

"I might have one guess as to who taught Naruto, but I'll have to look into it. Till next time, Kakashi."

"Oh, Hokage-sama, just one more thing."

"Yes, Kakashi?"

"Why didn't you tell me about Naruto's kidnapping?"

The Hokage let out a sigh before he sat back down and told Kakashi the truth. "I didn't want your mind to be plagued with the fact that Naruto was missing while you were sent out on missions after missions. That's the reason for your back-to-back missions during that time."

"Was that the reason you pulled me out of Anbu as well?"

"Yes. I didn't want the news of his kidnapping reaching your ears. I didn't want that many people knowing, only Naruto's classmates and senseis knew about his disappearance and I told them not to tell anyone else."

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, it was not your place to keep me in the dark about Naruto."

"Yes, I'm aware of that now Kakashi. I'm aware of that now."

'Bright.'

That was the first thought Naruto had when he opened his eyes. He scrunched up his sun-tanned face and rubbed his eyes, attempting to make them adjust to the brightness faster. When he opened his eyes once more, he was greeted by the sight of his sensei impatiently tapping his finger against his crossed arms.

"Morning Sunshine."

"Kakashi-sensei, what time is it?"

"It's almost sunset. The operation took roughly an hour and you were resting for about two hours." The blonde boy closed his eyes and laid back down, trying to relax as long as he could, but Kakashi had some questions he needed to be answered. "So, how do you know the body flicker jutsu?" Kakashi saw that the boy had stiffened up before his body had relaxed, causing the jonin to narrow his eye at the boy.

"From Sasuke's clan library."

"And Sasuke just so happens to not know it?"

"I learned it secretly."

"Cut the bullshit Naruto. Tell the truth."

"..."

"Naruto."

"...I can't say sensei."

"Why?"

"I just can't."

Kakashi pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on and walked towards the door, with his back facing Naruto. "Then until you can tell the truth, you can stop coming to the team's meetings."

Naruto's eyes widened when his brain finally registered what his sensei said after he had left the room. His gaze fell to the sheets that were covering his legs. The issued white, thin blankets that the hospital used in every room were now eating away at Naruto's mind.

'I'm losing everyone. Kurama, my parents… the old-... Hokage-sama, Kakashi…'

Naruto let out a breath before he sluggishly got out of bed and got dressed. He grabbed his forehead proctor and stared down at it for a couple of seconds before he finally tied on and glanced in the mirror.

His new transplanted eye was colored hazel, strongly contrasting against his natural-born ocean blue eye. Naruto closed his eyes and walked out of the room, gently closing the door on his way out.

Now out and about, Naruto wanders around aimlessly, hoping something or somebody can run into him and distract him from the self-loathing thoughts that were violently swirling around in his mind. The Uzumaki lets out a sigh and lifts his head to read the name that he was currently standing in front of.

Mara's Goods

"Get out of here you little brat!"

"And stay away!"

"Didn't I say never to show your face again?!"

Naruto shook his head to clear away the memories this store brought. He let out a frustrated sigh as he rubbed his face. He was about to turn and head home when suddenly something caught his eye. Naruto looked around to see if anyone was looking as he calmly walked into the store that had wide opened entrances on both sides of the store. When Naruto had gotten close to the item that had caught his interest, there was a book on how to use it sitting conveniently next to it.

Puppets and Chakra Strings for beginners

'This is exactly what I wanted… if this is Danzo's doing then he honestly needs to be more subtle.' Naruto thought with a small smile on his face.

He quietly and quickly looked around before he held onto the two items and crossed his fingers. Once a duplicate of him was created, he sent that duplicate to the store clerk and asked for the price.

"What the hell are you doing here?! I told you never to come back again!"

The original Naruto sighed as he sealed the desired items in the storage seal on his arm and left the store while the clone put the duplicates back on the shelf before heading in the opposite direction from the original.

With the distraction gone, Naruto's thoughts went back to the self-loathing and negative thoughts that were plaguing his mind just a few moments beforehand. He let out a sigh as he changed directions to go towards his favorite ramen stand, desperately needing to be cheered up. He turned the corner and bumped into someone hard enough that he fell onto his rear.

"Sorry about that man." Naruto looked up and had to gawk at the person.

"Jiraiya-sama?!"

Hiruzen looked up at the door when he heard the tapping noises approaching his office. The Hokage let out a puff of smoke and finished signing the piece of paper he was working on before he handed it to one of his shadow clones. Right before the person Hiruzen ordered to his office entered, he interlocked his hands in front of his face and glared at the door.

When Danzo entered the office, he was greeted by his old friend's glare. The sight of it made him want to chuckle but he kept it held back, not wanting to anger the 'God of Shinobi'. Danzo knew that despite his old age, Hiruzen's skill hadn't been lost, all it needed was a bit of polishing.

"What can I do for you, my old friend?"

"By giving me nothing but the truth to my few questions I have to ask."

"If that's all then I'd be willing to answer them."

"Willing? No, you'd be happy, ecstatic to answer my questions. Won't you?" Danzo frowned at Hiruzen for treating him like a child, but he silently nodded nonetheless. "Good. Now, mind telling me when and how you've managed to get Naruto in your ROOT ranks?"

The ROOT founder raised his only visible eyebrow at his friend. He looked over the Hokage's face and realized that his old friend had found out. "So you know."

"Of course, I know. Now answer the question."

"...The disaster of the backup mission you sent the Uzumaki on. After our disagreement, I sent out a ROOT operative to go and protect him and the Konoha teams at all cost, and since I haven't seen that operative since, I guess that he stepped in to protect the boy from a lethal blow."

"What if it would've been someone else the operative sacrificed himself for?"

"Because you are just calling me in about it now."

The Hokage let out a frustrated sigh as he rubbed his forehead. "And how exactly did you manage to convince him to join ROOT?"

"If you had a chat with the boy since his return from Orochimaru's grasp, then you would've seen that he has lost that spark that had him chasing to be Hokage."

Sarutobi lifted his head to give his old friend a confused look. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that he no longer sees himself fit or worthy of becoming Hokage. Ever since his return, he's had this darkness within him and his personality has dimmed quite a bit. You haven't seen it because all the kid shows you is what he wants you to see, but if you took the time to see what the boy tries to bury, then you'll see his true self."

Hiruzen vacantly stared at his desk for a few seconds before he looked into Danzo's eyes. "Well, how can we give it back to him? How can we instill the light back in him?"

"Old friend, you know when that light is dimmed or snuffed out… it cannot be brought back. And for that boy, we can force the hat on him but he'll never feel like he earned it or deserves it."

The Hokage brought his hand to his face and started to rub his mouth roughly before he slammed his desk out of anger, eyes shining from holding back tears. "Damn him! After everything I taught him, after everything I did for Orochimaru, this is how he repays me?! By emotionally scarring one of the brightest and boisterous children the Leaf had! If I ever come across my student again, I'll kill him where he stands."

Shimura scoffed as he stood to his feet and made his way towards his door. "If you do intend to stand by your words, then cut off all emotional connections to him. And I'd advise starting by no longer calling him your student."

"W-Why?" A man with blood-red hair choked out.

The man was lying on the ground, coughing up blood, while the small village behind him was up in flames. The person responsible for the destruction sent faded yellow chakra chains toward the downed man and wrapped around him, dragging him closer to the woman. The now wrapped up man was held up vertically by the chains as the curly haired-woman approached.

"Why do this? We're family!"

The woman closed her eyes in regret as she unsheathed her blade, causing the bound man to struggle. She pierced her sword through the man's heart, killing him instantly as she didn't want him to struggle. The redhead gently laid her clansmen down as she placed her hand over the man's abdomen and activated a seal on her palm. She saw the man's skin quickly take on a pale tone as she was absorbing all the chakra the man had. He may have been a civilian, but he was still an Uzumaki, so it took a while for the process to finish.

After all the chakra was absorbed, she used her chains to dig out a grave for her clansmen and gently lowered him into it. When she finished, she stood up and her red and curly hair partially covered her face. She stepped away from the newly made grave and did a quick prayer, hoping that the soul of the man would find peace in the afterlife.

"I'm sorry cousin, but I needed to do this to bring peace to the world. To rid the world of wars. But above all, to bring him back to me."