One week later,

Naruto was walking towards Ichiraku ramen when he soon felt a presence behind him. He turned around to see a square rock and put his hand over his face.

"Seriously? You think I don't know that rocks aren't square?" He said in exasperation

The square rock exploded and out popped Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi.

"Hey boss, this is Udon and Moegi. They wanted to train with us today"

"And who said I was training with you today?"

"Aww c'mon boss. Pleeeease" Moegi said with puppy dog eyes

A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead and then he sighed.

"If you can catch me, I'll train with you" he said as he ran away from them.

"Whaaaa-"

Konohamaru and Udon were after him as Moegi was dumb struck at how the situation was flipped on them. She followed after them shortly and began to catch up. Naruto began to leap through the trees, but just high enough to where they could keep an eye on them.

'Hmm, they could use some physical training. Maybe I'll tire them out with this.' He thought

"Ow!" Konohamaru yelled out

"Hey, watch where you're going! In fact, come here!" A man in a black suit and cat ears with a mummy in his back said as he snatched Konohamaru.

"Hey let him go!" Udon yelled

Naruto turned around to see a girl with 4 pigtails and a giant battle fan in a white long sleeve top with a black skirt next to the man in the black shirt and pants with cat ears. His body flickered towards them.

"Humph, you're just a brat who needs to be taught a lesson" the older boy said as he drew his fist back.

"Kankuro, let it go before you get us in trouble" the ta girl next to him said

"C'mon Temari, I'm just teaching him a lesson" Kankuro said

Suddenly he felt a kunai knife against his neck, by a hand holding the blade in a reverse grip from behind him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" Naruto said with silent fury in his voice

"Wh-who are you? When did you-"

"Drop him or you won't leave this village alive" Naruto said with a foreign edge to his voice

"R-right," he said, dropping Konohamaru. Soon afterwards Naruto disappeared grabbing Konohamaru and appearing next to Moegi and Udon

"Yes boss! You show them!" Moegi yelled

"You three get out of here. Now!" Naruto said sternly, causing them to stand up straight, nod and leave.

Naruto began to ooze killing intent as a red aura began to leak from him.

"You in the trees, get out here. Now!"

A young redhead appeared in a swirl of sand with a gourd strapped to his back, with black pants, a black shirt, white scarf, white ankle wraps and his sand village forehead protector around his neck. He wore a vicious smirk on his face as he oozed killing intent of his own. Sasuke who was watching appeared with his Sharingan activated next to Naruto.

"Jeez, you're like a beacon of chakra. What gives dope?" Sasuke asked

"These guys think they can do whatever they want in another person's village! You'd better watch your asses and keep yourselves in check! Don't you ever harm a child from this village!" Naruto said angrily. Sasuke got a look at the redhead and he shifted into a battle stance as a bead of sweat rolled down his cheek.

Gaara looked Naruto in his eyes and his grin split his face even more.

"You! What is your name?" Gaara asked

"Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze"

"And you?" Gaara asked looking at Sasuke

"Sasuke Uchiha"

"HAHAHA, YOU TWO WILL BE THE ONES TO MAKE ME TRULY FEEL ALIVE! SO DON'T DIE UNTIL THEN!" Gaara said as he turned and began to walk away with Temari and Kankuro following him.

Sasuke sighed

"That guy is bad news."

Naruto let up on his killing intent and the foxes chakra receded back into him

"Don't worry, he's not stronger than me" Naruto said with confidence

"Looks like these exams are gonna be crazy" Sasuke said

"Be careful with him if you ever have to fight him. He's a jinchuriki like me" Naruto said, causing Sasuke to look at him in surprise.

"How do you know that?" Sasuke asked

"Our tailed beasts began to resonate as we used our killing intent"

"Humph, looks like I'll have my work cut out for me between the two of you" Sasuke said as he and Naruto began to walk away

In a tree above both of them

"Looks like that's the Uchiha that Orochimaru wanted us to keep track of" A ninja wrapped in bandages all over his body said

"Yea, and it seems he's close with the village Jinchuriki, either way, this exam should be interesting" A young female said

"Either way, they're both weak and I'm a little more interested in the one with the gourd on his back haha" a ninja with spikey hair and a happuri.

Xxx

The next day

Sasuke was walking towards the exam building. He felt a hitch of excitement from the chance to fight strong opponents.

'That guy with the gourd on the back had me on edge. Dammit, I feel powerless here! The chidori isn't even finished, I can barely use it once.' he sighed as he took a breath

'A ninja must not only rely on jutsu alone. I have to use tactics and find a hole in their guards. No one is unbeatable.' he thought as he came upon Hinata and Naruto who were standing in a clearing near the academy waiting for him.

"Good Morning Sasuke" Hinata said

"Yo, bastard. You ready for these exams" Naruto said

Sasuke smirked at them both and spoke

"Good morning Hinata. Greetings Idiot and of course I'm ready for these exams"

Naruto smirked at him and Hinata smiled

"Good let's head out then" Naruto said as they began to walk towards the building.

"I wonder what the exams will be?" Naruto thought out loud

"I…heard they're different every year" Hinata said

Naruto sighed and was about to speak up again when he felt a heavy ki enter his senses causing him to sweat. Sasuke and Hinata could feel this presence as well. They looked around and saw multiple teams walking towards the building and shortly after they felt a huge power pass them. They didn't get any lock on the power but they felt it enter the building.

"Let's follow that power" Sasuke said and they all walked towards the building and entered.

They saw multiple teams walking around as they entered the building. Sasuke stiffened as his ki senses were flooded and he channeled his own to stabilize himself. Naruto put a hand on his shoulder and he looked at him annoyed.

"Relax man, we're not gonna lose here. Right Hinata?"

Said Hyuga blushed at him as she replied

"R-right, we'll win a-as long as we stick together" she said pushing her index fingers together

"Alright, lets go guys" Naruto said as he let go of Sasuke's shoulder and continued forward.

"Let's see, we need to go to room 305" The blonde continued

Soon, they came upon a room with several genin teams gathered around. They looked at the number on the room door and saw 205. They immediately knew to walk past without saying anything and up the stairs quietly.

"You think they'll notice that it was a genjutsu?" Naruto asked his teammates

"I doubt it" Sasuke said flatly

"M-my cousin Neji might know and he's just playing along" Hinata said

"Well in any case, I'm glad they don't right now. I'm usually all for helping others, but these exams have me on edge. Especially with that on jinchuriki walking around and that other huge power that makes him look like a cakewalk running around" the blonde said

"You're right, those two could be a real problem" Sasuke said

Soon they came upstairs to see a dojo-like area and as they were halfway through the area, they felt a tense presence bearing down on them.

"W-What is this?" Hinata asked

Sasuke activates his sharingan and looks around the room, only to look up and see a boy with black hair trimmed to the nape of his neck and pointing up in a half palm tree style, with a red gi and pants, wrapped with a black obi, black martial arts shoes and a white scarf. He was sitting on the ledge of a banister that wrapped around the room, leading to a staircase that moved up to the testing room. They saw a male and female behind him, presumably his teammates.

The girl has short, black hair and distinctly pink eyes which are accentuated by her eyelashes running upwards at the corners. She wears the standard attire of the Stone-nin consisting of a red uniform with her right sleeve missing and a lapel over her right leg, headband wrapped around her forehead, fishnet tights and a skirt over them. She also wears regular shinobi sandals and a pair of gloves.

The other boy wore a traditional ninja uniform with a long sleeve black shirt, black shinobi pants, white leg wraps, and black sandals. He had short brown hair and black eyes with white, tannish skin. He wore the red hidden stone headband.

"Hello" the boy clad in red said, waving his hand. He jumped down to the floor, with a smile on his face.

"I'm Son Gohan, you must be Naruto Namikaze"

The 3 members of team 7 stiffened as he landed and spoke. Sasuke still having his sharingan activated spoke up

"Hey Naruto, is he a friend of yours?"

Naruto shook his head as he took a battle stance.

"No, not even sure how he knows my name"

"Well, my dad told me about you and how he and your dad fought to a stalemate. I was hoping we could be rivals like them hehe"

Naruto smirked

"Sure, I don't see why not. A new rival never hurt anyone" he responded

Sasuke scowled but no one noticed because he always looked grumpy.

The girl on his team sighed

"Hey, Gohan, hurry up and get this over with. Neither of you can fight using your full power here anyways" She said

"Hehe, guess you're right Kurotsuchi." He said as he turned to Naruto

"Well, how about a quick spar. I promise not to destroy the building" he said scratching his chin nervously

The blonde had a trickle of sweat down the side of his head as he smirked.

"Heh, sure. Why not?" He said as he walked forward and got into his Killing Fist stance.

"N-Naruto, we don't have time" Hinata said

"Yea, save it for the exams" Sasuke said with irritation in his voice.

"You guys might wanna stand back," Naruto said as a blue glow began to wrap around his body.

Gohan got into his Oozaru fist stance as a white glow gathered and wrapped around him.

"Alright! This is gonna be good." Gohan said with a satisfied smirk on his face.

The two began to stare one another down as the tension in the room began to build. As soon as Hinata blinked they disappeared and clashed with a fist in each hand as their knees clashed in mid-air. They broke into a fight in mid-air that caused the walls in the room to crack. They began to clash all over the room causing Sasuke to activate his Sharingan. Even with it activated he could barely see them as nothing but blurs. Soon, a large *BOOM* and Naruto was sent crashing to the floor as his body tore through the wooden boards that made up the surface.

'Incredible! I couldn't even keep up with them towards the end of that clash' Sasuke thought. Hinata thought of something the same thing as she tried to follow them with her Byakugan.

Naruto stood up and got back into his stance, but he was bleeding from the side of his mouth.

"Heheh, looks like you're stronger than I thought." Naruto said

"Hey, you're pretty strong. Let's go at it again" Gohan said

They both looked at one another with a smirk. Naruto leapt into action and then to his amazement Gohan dodged the attacks with ease and then he palm struck Naruto, sending him flying, but he flipped and kicked himself off the wall and spun into a kick gathering wind chakra around his body as it spun.

"Tatsumaki Senpukyaku!"

Gohan blocked the attack as his heels dug into the wooden boards. Naruto kicked off his guard and landed across from him. Gohan began to channel his ki through his body and then he leapt after Naruto who jumped backwards and leapt back in to headbutt his opponent surprisingly Gohan, causing him to stagger backwards in surprise.

Naruto put his hands in the cross seal and created 5 shadow clones. One clone jumped in and tried to punch Gohan who dodged, then he had to block a kick from a clone that rolled into an upward leg thrust sending him into the air. Then two more clones jumped over and smashed their legs into his back, sending him to the ground as he maneuvered to kick away an approaching clone. Then he gathered ki into his right hand and blasted it at a clone. Both clones popped away as he landed bending down on one knee. He looked up at Naruto and stood as if he could go for more.

"Hmmm, you seem like a worthy opponent. I look forward to going all out against you in the exams." Gohan said as he bowed

This confused Naruto and caused him to bow as well.

"S-sure" he waved as Gohan leapt back to the stairs walking off to the testing room. Sasuke and Hinata walked up as the three followed up the stairs and soon they were met by Kakashi and Trunks.

"Looks like you all made it eh?" Trunks said

"Of course" Naruto said

"Glad you all showed up because of on of you didn't you wouldn't be able to pass through this door" Kakashi said, shocking them all

Sasuke sighed as he smirked at both his sensei's. Naruto laughed as Hinata was happy to be showing she wasn't a weakling and that she could support her teammates.

"How could we miss this? After all the training we did?" Naruto asked

Trunks and Kakashi looked at one another then smiled back at their students.

"Go get 'em brats" Trunks said as he fist bumped all of them.

"I second that. Especially from all the training we've done. You've definitely got it" Kakashi said as he opened the door and they all walked in.

They went into the room and saw various teams from different regions on edge. They weren't bothered by the killing intent after fighting a few B-class missing ninjas and aliens for lack of better words.

"Look who it is" said kiba walking up with Sakura and Shino

"Sasukeeee!" Sakura yelled as she hugged him and he was kind enough to just say

"Please let go" in a monotone voice

"Yea let him go forehead!" Ino yelled as Shikamaru and Choji walked up with her in front of them.

"You guys are here too? What a drag, this is so troublesome" Shikamaru said

"Sup guysh" Choji said eating a handful of chips

"Shino, Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru, what's up" Naruto said, lacing his hands behind his head.

Shino nodded in acknowledgement and kept quiet

"Heh, looks like all the rookies are here." Kiba said. Then he looked over at Hinata, who caught him looking at her.

"Oh hey, Hinata, how're you?" he said as he got a blush and a feral grin. Naruto was somewhat bother by this but said nothing.

Hinata got closer to Naruto and almost hid behind him.

"G-good Kiba how are you?" She asked with an uncomfortable smile that no one but Naruto seemed to notice.

Naruto gave a small smile and stayed where he was.

"I-I'm good. And you?"

"Fine, g-good luck in the exams" he said as he noticed her step back and kicked himself for coming off too strong

Hinata sighed inside as she avoided Kiba. She blushed, not noticing how close she was to Naruto.

"I-I'm so-"

"Relax Hinata. It's fine if you're nervous" Naruto said with a smile

Hinata blushed even deeper as she smiled at him tapping her index fingers together. Sasuke scoffed as he looked around at the room occupants and locked eyes with Gaara of the Desert. He activated his Sharingan on instinct and he began to emit a killing intent to defend against the sand jinchuriki.

"Hey, you guys are drawing in too much attention." Kabuto said

"And just who are you?" Sasuke asked

Soon team 6 walked in with Mina in front of Sozu and Akino. Sozu looked around and saw his good friend Kabuto with silver hair, glasses and a purple gi and pants with a tan obi and blue sandals.

"Kabuto!" He said walking up fast and they grabbed each other's wrists.

"Good to see you Sozu," he said with a smile

"Humph, oh look it's my fathers two favorite lap dogs" Akino said

Peaking everyone but Mina and Sozu's interests as they both sighed.

"What's with her?" Kiba asked

"I…recently started training with her and her father." Sozu said as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"What's wrong with that?" Sakura asked

"He treats him like he's his chin instead of me!" Akino said angrily

"Aw c'mon. We have some of the same elements and thanks to him our teamwork is flawless."

"He and Genma sensei have done wonders for us" Mina chimed in with a knowing smile.

"Tch, whatever." Akino said

"All right you maggots quiet down" Ibiki Morino, a man with a black cloak, a bandanna on his head and scars all over his face said. He and 10 other chunin appear in the room via body flicker.

"It's time to start the exams. Go to the seats with your names on them and you will receive a test paper" He said

They all got their tests and he continued to speak.

"You maggots listen up! This is a ten question test. If you are caught cheating you will be disqualified. If you receive less than 9 points per squad member you will be disqualified! Now begin!"

Xxx

Jiraiya sat on the back porch playing Shogi with Noridasu. There was a calm silence between them as they made their moves.

"I'd like to thank you Jiraiya."

"For what?"

"I'd like to thank you and Tsunade for raising my great grandchildren" Noridasu said with a kind smile

"Nothing to thank me for. We were just doing what anyone would do for a loved one." Jiraiya said honestly

"Yes, but you didn't have to. And that's why I appreciate you and her so much. I'm glad that even though the Namikaze clan found them, you all still decided to be apart of this family"

"I'm glad we were able to build such a familial connection as well."

" Jiraiya, dark times are coming. I fear my time in this world isn't for long"

"Are you talking about the invasion? We're ready for Orochimaru anytime"

"No, I fear the snake will have allies. There will be blood for this village and for Naruto, because of the akatsuki."

"Yea, I heard Orochimaru was one of them too. But with myself, Tsunade and Sarutobi Sensei, plus the might of the hidden leaf village."

Noridasu smirks at Jiraiya and makes his next move.

"Well, perhaps my worries can be at ease. I just want the children to be safe. But perhaps they need to face more difficult situations to grow." Noridasu said

"That's what makes life worth living. We only grow when we struggle and find something worth fighting for" Jiraiya said as he made his next move

"Who knows, If I'm lucky, I'll see my great great grandchildren"

Abruptly Mito came out running with paint covering her hands and feet as she ran out of the house with Akari chasing after her.

"Mito, it's time to wash up!" She said running after her

Both men laughed at the of them began to laugh at the sight when Kenji suddenly walked out and sat with them.

"Yo Dad, Sup Gramps" he said as he sat with his tanto strapped behind his back.

"Naruto started his exams today and village security is tight. We gotta be ready for these sound bastards" Kenji continued

"I have a feeling they have an ally in the sand" Jiraiya said

"Why's that?" Kenji asked

"The sand jinchuriki. He's unstable and it's no coincidence that he's here" Jiraiya followed up

"Well, things just got interesting are getting interesting" Kenji said

"Yea, I'm not too worried, this should be fun" Nanashi Namikaze said walking out to watch Akari chasing Mito

"By the way, I've got a mission. Figured I'd come say goodbye, because I'll be gone for a while" he continued

"Now? When we're about to go to war?" Kenji asked

"Yea, we were asked to escort the actress of the princess Gale movie to the land of Snow. Myself Shizune and two others were assigned to a team"

"When do you leave?" Noridasu asked

"In 1 day. They're supposed to be sending an entire movie crew with us."

"Well, you'll at least get to see if Naruto passes his first test." Jiraiya said

"Yea, I'd love to congratulate him on at least the first part"

"You all have high faith in him" Kenji said

"Well don't you?" Noridasu asked

Kenji shrugged

"Ibiki is his proctor. But, maybe I'm giving him too much credit"

"No, you're right. Let's just see how this plays out" Jiraiya said

Xxx

Jinsuke Shimura was walking through the underground lab in the forest of death. Soon he was upon Orochimaru as he took the form of a grass ninja. The young Shimura sneered at Orochimaru's transformation.

"You disgust me when you do that" he said

"Oh please, this is how I plan to infiltrate the exams. Besides, do you have a better idea?"

"Tch, you're not wrong. We need to get Sozu and the Uchiha marked"

"Why the Kohinata boy?"

"He is my disciple. And once I leave this cursed village he will come with me. Hopefully he won't ask too many questions"

"You haven't persuaded him enough hmm?"

"It's not that… The boy still has extra ties to this village"

"What about that adorable daughter of yours?"

"She thinks too much like her grandfather. I'll be sure to kill him when you kill Hiruzen. I've also heard that the new Tsuchikage plans to visit. His son is competing as well and I know he'll be trouble"

"Yes, I've heard that Son Wukong is faster than the fourth Hokage. I'd love to kill him and the 3rd Hokage together."

"Make sure you get it done then. He could be a real problem with the invasion. These upgrade privacy seals can only do so much to hide your power from the saiyans and other ki sensors." Jinsuke said as he turned around and walked out of the lab

Xxx

With Naruto, he was answering the questions as he got the answers from Hinata through telepathy. Sasuke was using his Sharingan as he copied another student's answers. Soon Ibiki spoke up,

"Alright you brats. Time for the final question. Before that, does anyone want to leave early? If you don't leave now you'll never be able to take the chunin exams again." He said

Soon several teams began to walk out of the testing room as Naruto and team 7 began to sweat. He thought about what he said he grimaced

'There's no way he can have authority in other villages can he?'

'Of course not, it's just a fear tactic. And a blatantly bad one at that. Did you really think he could stop you in another village' Kurama said

Naruto smirked inwardly.

'So that's it huh? Well fuck him and his threat. I'm Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze and with you Kurama by my side there's no way we can lose!' He thought

Kurama smirked at his words.

'Heh, I hate to say it but you're starting to rub off on me brat. Now stay cool and see what the last question is'

As Ibiki saw no other teams were getting up he smirked at cutting the number of teams in half.

"If no one else is leaving we'll get to the final question"

There was a brief silence and he smirked

"You all pass"

They all had shocked looks on their faces as they looked at him.

"What about the final question?" Temari asked

"There wasn't one."

"So why the threats and all the suspense?" Kiba yelled out

"As a shinobi you must be willing to gather information and not give it up so easily. Look at all the teams that left? How many of them probably answered every question right and gave at the chance of failing the final question? What happens if you're on a mission gathering information and you get captured by the enemy? Will you just give them what they asked for?"

He pulled off his scarf showing the scars that maired his face and head.

"We even had Chunin among you all to help you gather information without being caught. Information can and has changed the tide of wars. Remember, if you're going to gather information, don't get caught and never sell out your comrades" he said

Suddenly, Hayate Geko appeared in a swirl of leaves. He wore a blue leaf bandanna over his long brown hair. His pale face was boney. He wore the typical jonin vest and long sleeved blue shirt and blue shinobi pants with blue sandals. He also had a sword strapped to his back. He looked around the room then at Ibiki.

"It looks as if you've thinned out the numbers quite nicely down to 20 teams" he said looking at the TNI special jonin.

"Humph, of course I cut down over half. My work proceeds me. They're all yours now" he said as he folded his arms

"Alright then, my name is Hayate Geko. I will be the proctor for the second exams. Meet me at training ground 44 in 20 minutes" he said as he body flickered in a swirl of leaves.

Xxx

Hayate stood with several other chunin at the entrance to the forest of death.

"Alright, welcome to the forest of death. In here you will be tested on survival and resilience. Your goals are to get both a heaven and earth scroll and make it to the tower in the middle of the forest. Is anyone interested in quitting before you all sign the agreement saying you know you can die and that we are not responsible for it"

There was a murmuring but no one bowed out and he continued on to direct them towards the tent where they would sign their names and get their scrolls.

"This is gonna be interesting" Sasuke said as he was in line for team 7's scroll.

He looked around and felt a hideous chakra with his ki sensing abilities from the hidden grass team. He was immediately on edge as he looked around and felt the power of Son Gohan, and his teammate's who were no pushovers either. He looked at Naruto and Hinata who both seemed confident. He figured he should feel the same as them but he felt a pressure from all the other powers he felt. Perhaps because Hinata couldn't sense ki she didn't feel the pressure like he did. Soon he collected the teams earth scroll and went back next to his team. As soon as he made it back to them he could feel Naruto's chakra fighting off the other killing intents as he had his hands behind his head relaxing

"What's with you?" Naruto asked

"Nothing. I just realized how strong our competition is that's all"

Hinata looked at Naruto and realized that the warm presence she felt was coming from him. His chakra was surrounding them like a barrier of some sort. She realized it after she stopped feeling heavy auras weighing her down.

"You ready? Don't tell me you're getting cold feet" Naruto asked him

"Humph, please. Of course I'm ready." Sasuke said

"What about you Hinata?" Naruto asked

"I-I think if we use teamwork and cover each other we should be alright" she said

Naruto smiled as he and his team looked around to scope out the competition. They saw team 6 on edge while they also scoped out the competition. Sozu seemed to be in a stair down with Son Gohan from the earth team.

"Heh, I hope Sozu doesn't clash with Gohan…that might not go too well…" Naruto said

"Yea. But he should get in line. I need my turn anyways" Sasuke said as he looked around to see team 9.

"Looks like brother Neji's team is ready for the exams. They seem very confident." Hinata said

"Who is stronger out of the two of you?" Sasuke asked

"I'm faster but he's stronger" Hinata said

"Well, we'll use that against him" Sasuke said

Shikamaru walked towards Naruto and he patted a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, how about we make an alliance?"

"Oh and why do you need that?" Sasuke chimed in

"We're not really the most battle ready team, but we're good at information gathering and infiltration. I figure with a strike team and an infiltration team we're unbeatable" he replied

Sasuke looked at Choji and Ino in the distance and he looked back at Shikamaru and then Naruto and nodded

"Just don't get in the way and carry your weight" he shrugged

"You've got yourself a deal Shika. But what happens if we don't find each other in the forest?" Naruto asked

"Do you have any tracking seals?" Shikamaru asked

A light bulb popped over his head and he smirked. Naruto studied sealing jutsu on the side due to Jiraiya's insistence, along with learning how to use his gravity seals. He was now at level 5 with 50 pounds of weight on him.

Naruto took out a piece of paper and drew the kanji for "location", channeled his chakra into it and slapped it in Shikamaru's hand.

"Put this on your arm or shoulder and channel chakra into it. It's a tracker seal" Naruto said

"I'll know where you are and I'll be able to find you once we get in there" Naruto whispered to him

Hayate cleared his throat and coughed a few times before he spoke up

"Attention! Please line up at your gates!" He yelled

Soon they were lining up all walking up to their gates. Naruto had a smirk on his face and he had a feel of anticipation in his gut. He was brought out of his muses by Kurama

'Kit if you come across that female grass ninja unleash your full power' Naruto nodded at this

"Alright, everyone is at their gates"

The chunin nodded to him

"Let the second phase begin!" Hayate yelled

The gates open and each team through their gates and into the forest with urgency. Team 7 was making their way through the forest. Hinata activated her Byakugan as they moved through the forest. They made their way through the forest for a while taking in the scenery and avoiding the huge animals and then they landed in a tall tree.

"Hey, guys wait a minute." Naruto said as he took out his sealing brush

"What is it?" Sasuke asked in annoyance

"Tracker seals. I made a few beforehand. I had to make an extra one for Shikamaru. Put the seal tags on your bodies and channel your chakra into them. The sealing kanji will stick to you for a week and then it'll dissolve"

"Humph, you could've done this earlier" Sasuke said

"Yea, yea, yea"

"Th-Thank you Naruto" Hinata said

They placed the sealing papers to their skin and channeled chakra through them and the kanji made its way from the paper onto their bodies.

"Alright, we'll know if the other is an imposter and we'll know where the other is" Naruto said

The two nodded as they looked around.

"Naruto stretch your senses across the area. Hinata will use her Byakugan to survey the area. I'll go scout the nearby areas." Sasuke said as he body flickered away

Naruto got into a meditative sitting position with his legs crossed and closed his eyes. He began to stretch his senses across the area and he smirked. There was a team watching his and he immediately knew where they were.

"Hinata, do you see them?"

"Yes. they're two clicks east. I believe Sasuke will deal with them."

Naruto nodded as he could feel the anger and jealousy of Sasuke. He knew his best friend chose to keep it inside because he just wanted to keep up with him and he chose to let it be. He spoke out to Sasuke telepathically.

'Sasuke'

Sasuke was moving through the terrain as he heard Naruto's voice.

'What the hell? How are you doing this?'he asked in his mind

'Nevermind that. Go two clicks east and activate your sharingan. There are 3 enemies in that direction. We're counting on you. Or do you need help?' Naruto asked

'Leave it to me' Sasuke said activating his sharingan

He jumped into the fray. He saw a person from an enemy team

There was a boy with spiky brown hair and dark eyes. He wears the same yellow jumpsuit as his teammates which was stitched up the middle along with a pair of sandals. He also wears a forehead protector that covers his whole head, a rebreather and a sash around his face with eye holes cut out. He was hiding inside of the trees along with two others that looked like him. They all wore hidden rain forehead protectors. Sasuke landed in a clearing that was surrounded by the forest foliage they were hiding in. One of the ninja hiding put their hands in the ram seal and they tried to use a genjutsu. Sasuke felt the foreign chakra invade his senses and his sharingan tomoe began to spin as he dispelled the genjutsu.

One of the ninja threw a kunai and him, thinking he was caught in the jutsu but he dodged the knife, caught it and threw it back where it came from, causing the ninja to roll out of the bushes and throw a hail of kunai at Sasuke. The Uchiha jumped and threw a volley of shuriken at the ninja and the bushes. The other two rain ninja jumped out of the bushes and he stood facing 3 opponents.

"Humph, what's wrong? Surprised your genjutsu didn't catch me?" Sasuke said as he drew his tanto and pointed it at them.

"You little brat! I'm gonna kill you! Kagari, Mubi, back me up, I'll get rid of him and take his scroll now!" Oboro said

The rain ninja drew a kunai and lunged at Sasuke who blocked his kunai slash with his tanto. They began to struggle against one another as he leaned back causing the rain ninja to fall forward, then he sidestepped and jumped to the side as a kunai was sent at his head. He gathered another set of shuriken and channeled lightning chakra into them and threw the lightning-covered throwing stars at the other ninja causing them to dodge.

"Why you little!" Mubi yelled as he jumped back and he went through hand signs.

"Water style: Collision Wave bullet!" he yelled as he spat out a large burst of water at Sasuke. Said raven haired ninja substituted with a nearby beat up log.

"Where'd he go?" Kagari asked

Soon all 3 of the ninja felt a heat at their backs and they jumped up looking down to see a giant fireball. Oboro turned around to see Sasuke's tanto coming down on him slash vertically. He dodged, but the blade slashed his shoulder. Sasuke kicked him into Kagari and they fell to the ground. Mubi jumped off a branch, pushing him towards Sasuke with his kunai drawn. Sasuke landed on a branch and channeled fire chakra into his sword and slashed his sword sending out a crescent wave of fire.

"Fire style: Dancing Halo Crescent!" Sasuke yelled

The crescent wave tore through Mubi and began to burn him to ashes as he screamed.

"Aaaauuuugh!" he yelled as he fell to the ground burnt to a crisp.

Sasuke looked down at the other two who were looking up at him in anger.

"You killed him! How dare you!" Oboro said in quiet fury as he went through hand signs

"Ninja Art: Earthquake Implosion!"

The ground in front of him began to crack as the rooted tree Sasuke was standing on began to sink, along with several other trees, rocks and the general area caved in. Sasuke jumped from the falling tree and had to dodge a kunai with a sizzling tag next to it. He jumped away again as the explosion from the kunai pushed him forward and sent him into the forest causing him to lose his balance in mid air. He smirked and channeled his ki as he began to float and flew off as he began to land on the ground. He went through more hand signs as he drew some shuriken and threw them as he blew out mini fireballs.

"Fire style: Phoenix Flower jutsu!"

They dodged the majority of the fireballs, but one tore through the stomach side of Kagari causing him to cry out in pain. Sasuke smirked as he leapt forward. Oboro jumped towards him with two kunai drawn in desperate last stand. He swiped at Sasuke who dodged a kunai swipe and he stabbed toward his opponent piercing through the abdomen killing his opponent. He ripped his tanto out of his opponent and kicked him to the ground. He kicked him over and rummaged through the dying boy's kunai pouch and he smirked as he got a heavens scroll. He looked over at the ninja he wounded with his last fire attack. He turned around and began to walk away, when he heard his fallen opponent call out to him.

"Finish it!" Oboro said in a hissing voice

Sasuke looked back at him, drew a kunai and threw it at him. The kunai hit him in between the eyes and he fell to his death. He whipped the blood off his tanto and sheathed it. Next he put his scroll away. He felt a lurch in his stomach and then he hunched over and vomited. He had never killed before, he only remembered seeing the Hyuga clan head kill a Hidden Cloud Shinobi and even then, he felt as if the man deserved it for kidnapping a child. But this was for survival and he realized that he would see death again. On his mission to the hidden water he wounded several ninja with his demon wind shuriken, but he didn't know if they died because Trunks had used his ki to push them aside into the forest. They probably died. He was able to accept that because he didn't have to deal the finishing blow. There was something about that boy's face as the kunai hit him knocking his head back, then his body fell forward dead. He stopped looking and then he jumped forward to go back to where his team was. He jumped forwards as he deactivated his sharingan, he realized that he would never unsee what he did because the sharingan was like a recorder he couldn't turn off. He leapt through the trees and landed on the branch next to Naruto who opened his eyes and stood up.

"Any news on Shikamaru and his team?" Sasuke asked as he opened his thermos and rinsed his mouth out with water spitting to the side

"Yea, they're moving 10 clicks west. It should take us 20 minutes to get to them if we move at full speed." Naruto said

"We also have our second scroll now so we should be good"

"Well, that was anticlimactic. I hope I still get to fight" Naruto said

"Perhaps we can help team 10 get their second scroll. That'll be your chance" Hinata said

"Eh, I guess you're right. Welp, let's get going then." Naruto said

They nodded and all 3 of them began to move through the forest at full speed. As they moved through the forest Hinata kept her Byakugan activated and looked through the forest for enemy teams. Naruto noticed that Sasuke was a bit tense, but it was to be expected. He probably had to kill the other team members judging from the blood on his shirt.

Behind them, masking his chakra was Orochimaru. He had a chakra masking seal on him as he followed team 7. He was surprised at Sasuke's battle prowess. He was grinning with anticipation at the chance to mark the Uchiha. From what he heard they were planning to meet up with another team. He was also curious about how it looked like he was gliding across the sky as well. He would find out soon enough.

With Team 7,

Naruto had got an ominous feeling in his gut as they moved through the forest.

'Kurama, you felt that ominous power following us just now?'

'Yes, it's been following you sense you entered the forest, but now it's close enough to where it's magnitude can be felt'

'You weren't gonna say anything?'

'No, I figured you'd realize whoever it was was concealing their presence'

'R-right, I'll be more vigilant with my senses'

'Nevermind that now. Look if you face that opponent, unleash your full power on them. I'll give you an extra boost with my chakra as well. Whoever this person is, you have to kill them, not just defeat.'

'Okay, I got it. I'd normally object but it might be one of those space goons and they just wanna kill all saiyans. That includes Trunks and Vegeta and I can't let that happen.'

'It also includes yourself'

'Wh-what?'

'Your great grandmother Kumiko is half saiyan as well, why do you think she barely looks old.'

'Now that you mention it, gramps does look more his age than she does hehe'

'Anyways, stay sharp brat, you're coming upon your allies. Proceed with cautions'

Naruto nodded mentally and Team 7 landed in a clearing where Team 10 was hiding in the bushes. Shikamaru rose out of the bushes and Choji and Ino followed.

"Yo, sup guys" Naruto said in a cheerful nature

"H-Hello" Hinata said shyly

"Sasukeeee how are you?" Ino asked as she ran up and hugged him

"Hi…Ino…let go now please"

"Hey Naruto, does your team have your scroll yet?" Choji asked

"Actually yes we do hehe. We can help you guys get yours too sense we agreed to work together" Naruto replied

"That's fine with me. How about you Shika?"

"That works for me. I'm sure Ino doesn't mind as long as she gets to see Sasuke" Shikamaru said with his arms folded

"Alright, Hinata, do you see any teams around us?" Naruto asked

Hinata looked around and saw Team 6.

"There's team 6 from our village. They're coming up upon us fast"

"Well, I'd rather not fight someone from the leaf. But I guess it depends on them" Shikamaru said

Soon Team 6 landed in front of Teams 7 and 10. Mina smirked at them with a predatory look in her eyes. Sozu had his Sekigan activated as he looked at Sasuke with a determined look on his face. Akino looked at them in confusion.

"Shouldn't you all be fighting instead of talking?" Akino asked

"Well…we set up an alliance and we were hoping not to fight anyone from the village. So what's say we work together" Shikamaru asked

"Oh please, this is a competition. We're not the same team from the mission to the land of waves either." Mina said

Naruto got into his fighting stance and spoke

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get. Don't cry when you get beaten and left to fail" He said with a confident smirk on his face.

Shikamaru was to the right of him with his hands in the rat seal.

"This is such a drag. Let's finish them off before we attract a crowd" Shikamaru said

"You think it'll be that easy?" Akino said as she drew a kunai

Ino who was previously hugging Sasuke drew her kunai as well.

"You guys are dumb. You should be fighting a foreign team instead of your fellow leaf ninja"

"Shut it fangirl. You give kunoichi a bad name" Mina said in a grunted voice

"Sasuke, we need that rematch" Sozu said staring him down

"Humph, enough talk, time is wasting" he said as he activated his sharingan

Choji put his chips away and got into a fighting stance.

Mina leapt forward and slipped into a spinning drill with her legs.

"Spiral Arrow!" Naruto and Shikamaru jumped out of the way.

"S-so Fast!" Hinata said, watching Mina move across the field towards her.

She smirked and thought

'I can't allow myself to lose here' she said as she dodged Mina. Said Namikaze got back to her feet and landed in a kneeling position with one knee on the ground. She jumped back in and began to spin with her feet towards her opponent like an arrow.

"Canon Strike!"

With Sasuke,

Sozu lunged in with his sword drawn, causing Sasuke to draw his tanto and parry a sword strike from him. Sasuke spun and performed a leg sweep causing Sozu to jump over his attack drop kick Sasuke away from him. As he landed he had to dodge a giant fist swinging at him. He jumped back as another fist tried to pound him into the ground. Sozu went through hand signs and stabbed his sword into the ground channeling fire chakra into the ground.

"Fire Style: Hellraiser!"

Bursts of flames tore through the ground in columns and Choji had to jump back. Sasuke landed on a branch in the trees and went through hand signs of his own.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

He blew out a giant fireball towards Sozu, who gripped his sword and slashed through the fire ball. He went into his kunai pouch and threw them at Sasuke, causing him to dodge and jump away. Sozu followed him and they began to clash throughout the battlefield.

With Akino,

She was dodging Shikamaru's shadow possession technique and deflecting kunai thrown at her from Ino. Akino retaliated by throwing a handful of shuriken at Shikamaru, but Ino threw a hail of kunai to deflect the previous attacks. She began to drink a mouthful of water and went through hand seals.

"Water style: Liquid Bullet!"

She blew out a giant glob of water at Shikamaru, causing him to stop his jutsu and dodge. Akino went through more hand signs and made 3 water clones. She sent the 3 clones after Ino and she herself went after Shikamaru. The Nara attached a smoke bomb to a kunai and threw it at his opponent. The smoke bomb exploded blinding her and he jumped back to form a plan. He took out a flash bang and smirked as he ran out and threw it at Akino and Ino going through hand signs with his eyes closed.

"INO JUMP BACK!"

She followed through as he went through hand signs.

"Shadow Imitation Field Technique!" as the flash expanded he made a big black field of shadows

"What the hell?" Akino asked

Then he went through hand signs for another technique.

"Multi Shadow Neck binding" a shadowy hand moved up the clones bodies and strangled them, but the flash died out too soon.

As the technique faded Akino raced towards him with her fist cocked back, only to get blindsided by Ino who tackled her to the side. Shikamaru dropped to one knee and decided to plan out his next course of action.

With Naruto and Hinata.

Naruto saw Shikamaru and Ino were having a hard time with Akino but he couldn't leave Hinata to fight Mina alone. Soon he channeled a huge amount of chakra and creates 200 shadow clones. The original leapt near Hinata and spoke.

"Hinata, go head Ino and Shikamaru. I'll handle her"

"A-are you sure about that?"

"Yea. They need help more than I do." he said

Hinata nodded and leapt off to face Akino. Mina smirks at him.

"So, what now, you think this is enough to stop me. I held back in the land of waves because I couldn't control my powers. But now!"

She began to gather ki around her channeling a blue aura around her body and it began to crack the ground.

"It's time to show you your place!"

Mina disappeared and smashed her feet into the faces of two clones causing them to disappear. She began to disappear running through the clones and causing them to slowly start disappearing. The clones used to smoke to strategize, causing them to rise out of the ground using two fists punching her into the air. Soon the clones were above her smashing several hundred punches into her back sending her towards the ground. Naruto jumped up with his clones about to attack her again when she braces herself channeling ki around herself and outstretches her arms and legs and her energy formed around her and began to expand.

"RAAAAAUUUUUGH!" She blew up in a torrent of energy creating a super explosive wave, destroying all the clones and sending Naruto flying into a tree, and getting lodged in it.

"Urgh!"

Mina leapt toward Naruto with a Spiral Arrow, causing him to block as he was kicked through a tree. He begins to gather his ki around him and push Mina back. He floats in the air with his black jacket all but destroyed, leaving him in a dirty, torn orange shirt. He began to channel his ki around him and he compressed it around his body making a blue aura around him. Mina got up from getting thrown back and she smirked at Naruto.

"So, you're getting serious are you?"

Naruto was quiet as he blurred out of sight causing Mina to block a punch from him. She tried to counter slash him with an elbow, but Naruto blocked the attack. They broke into a battle if Lightning speed taijutsu. Mina kicked Naruto away from her and she landed breathing hard from the clash, but she disappeared out of sight and kicked him in the stomach sending Naruto into another tree.

With Orochimaru, he was laughing at the battle he watched. He was surprised at the Namikaze children and at Sozu who was giving Sasuke a run for his money. He didn't much care for the others except for the Nara, who could be an issue due to his battle tactics. He also decided he would get rid of the Hyuga because she could detect him. He decided he would let them tire themselves out until it was time to strike.

With Sasuke

He was getting nowhere as he and Sozu were in a stalemate. He admits that he would've been defeated if he used his do-jutsu back in the land of waves. He was beginning to lose faith in himself, then he remembered his training with Itachi. It felt hopeless, but he got up to try again.

Flashback: 3 Days before the chunin exams

Itachi was sitting with Sasuke at a river in the Uchiha compound. They had been training for the last week.

"Sasuke, I think you should go light in your training for the next 3 days. Don't overdo it but stay consistent" Itachi said

"Why?"

"You'll need to be fresh for these exams. You've practiced the shuriken jutsu 100 times and you've been practicing the fireball jutsu at home and in battle since you were 7. Now is the time to show your results, and your resolve. A shinobi is not judged on how they lived, but how they die. These exams will put you in life or death positions. You've worked for these results, now its time to show what you've got. And for what it's worth…I believe you'll do just fine."

Sasuke looked up at his brother then he looked away as he hid a warm smile from the praise. He didn't really hear this too much from his father or his brother. Recently he hasn't been home too much and he hasn't even gotten to see his mother. Soon he ruffled his brothers hair and said

"I believe in you little brother. You're no longer the brooding little bastard you used to be." he said as he laughed at Sasuke scowling at him

There was a moment of silence as they just had a staring contest, then they began to laugh together.

"Hahahaha, say what you want, I'm gonna catch up to you soon. This brooding bastard is gonna give you a run for your money."

"Haha, that'll be the day. You've got a lot of catching up to do. Remember not to rely on your Sharingan, and don't over use it. Sometimes you have to" Itachi said

Back to the battle:

Sasuke jumped back and took a deep breath. Sozu was analyzing him with a critical eye. His Sekigan began to glow as began to cast a genjutsu on Sasuke. Sasuke began to see multiple copies of Sozu. Sasuke smirked as his sharingan began to spin but he realized he couldn't break the genjutsu. He didn't panic, instead he closed his eyes and stretched out his ki senses to find the real Sozu. This caused said brunette to grit his teeth as he lunged in to attack Sasuke. There was no way he could see through this genjutsu. He tried to swing his sword at him, but Sasuke sidestepped and hit him in the ribcage with the hilt of his tanto, causing him to double over in pain as he clutched his sword and swung at Sasuke. Said Uchiha blocked the katana strike with his tanto and they clashed. Sozu began to pour fire chakra into his blade as Sasuke channeled lightning chakra into his. They push off each other, and jumped forward to clash again.

"You're really pissing me off closing your fucking eyes to fight me!" he said as he pushed harder against Sasuke who used his force against him again and side stepped pushing his sword to the ground. He elbowed him in his solar plexus and followed up with a spin back kick, bashing his heel in his jaw, sending him flying.

Sozu flipped in mid-air to land on his feet, gripping his sword till his knuckles turned white. He stabbed it into the ground and went through hand signs.

"Fire style: Dragon's Breath!"

He began to breathe out a large and wide range of fire. Sasuke went through hand signs of his own.

"Fire style: Dragon Flame jutsu!"

He breathed out a giant flaming dragon's head towards Sozu. The jutsu clashes but Sasuke channeled ki into his jutsu causing the dragon's head to grow bigger. The Kohinata boy had to stop his technique as he was losing the struggle. He looked around and struggled to barely do a substitution with a nearby log and his technique was canceled out. Sasuke dug in his shuriken holster and threw 3 of the throwing stars at Sozu who dodged. Sasuke drew more shuriken and kunai and threw them at Sozu who began to dodge and parry the knives and stars embedding them into trees. He pulled the shuriken out of the trees with ninja wire, catching Sozu off guard. He barely dodged in time, receiving cuts on his shoulder, inner thigh and one got stuck in his back, causing him to drop to one knee.

"What? What did you-" Sozu was cut off from talking as he had to block an incoming horizontal slash from Sasuke with his Katana, but sense he had lightning chakra channeled in in his tanto and Sozu lost his concentration, his father sword broke and he received a shallow wound across his chest and then he received a punch in the face, sending him flying and causing him to bounce across the forest flower.

"Sh-shit!"

He stuttered trying to stand up as he tried to stand. Suddenly, there were several bursts of wind that blasted the entire area sending Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata out of the area. Ironically they were on the winning end of their battles. A feeling of evil washed over Sozu as he saw a hail of over a hundred shuriken coming towards him and he closed his eyes while wobbling to his feet. At least he would be able to be with his mother. His father, even though he was just trying to help him, had damned him to a life of loneliness. Sure he had friends, but he also longed to have a family. He longed to have someone waiting for him at home. He longed for a community of blood relatives that would love him unconditionally. The Hyuga clan pushed his family to the side as if they meant nothing. Yes, now he could stop fighting, now he could taste the sweet cold kiss of death. Suddenly he felt himself be pulled off his feet. He opened his eyes to see Sasuke pulling him to safety. For some reason he felt angry that he had to be saved instead of being saved. He felt like he would've been better off dead. Soon they landed and what he saw on Sasuke made him think twice about the feelings he had towards the Uchiha. Sasuke had a nasty gash along his arm and he had a scar along his left eye. He had been pulling shurikens out of his left leg and left arm. He had no idea of what was going on but he would pay Sasuke back for saving him, because he didn't want to owe him.

Sasuke had acted fast, he looked up briefly at the surprised look on Sozu's face. He jumped to deflect several shuriken using the Uchiha shuriken bending technique. He felt the shuriken hail rain on his left side as he tried to deflect them. He wondered why the hell he even tried to prove himself by combating the weapons but he said fuck it and grabbed Sozu and moved. He didn't know why but he felt that if he left him to die he would be worse than trash, just as Kakashi told him while he was training to learn the chidori. Now he felt the adrenaline rush wearing off and he was starting to feel the pain. He heard the others screaming as they must've been in similar situations. He was in agony all over. He put his hand to his left eye and tensed up. His fucking left eye was gone. Whoever did this was a fucking coward and they should've attacked him up front instead of using Sozu as bait.

Suddenly, he heard a sinister laughter coming from in front of them.

"Kukukukukuku, little Sasuke you should've let Sozu save himself. But I suppose once I give you my gift you'll become even stronger and I can always just take another Uchiha's eye to replace it. But the potential you've shown in your mission records along with defeating him without even using your sharingan is magnificent."

"Who…are you?" he asked in a pain riddled voice

"My name is Orochimaru. And unfortunately, you saved that foolish boy, so I won't be able to test your abilities first hand. But I'll leave you with a different kind of test, now hold still"

Orochimaru was rising from the large tree branch that Sozu and Sasuke were sitting and standing on like he was a piece of it. Sasuke was racked with pain but he was standing in front of a sitting Sozu. Orochimaru put his hands in the ram seal and his neck elongated and stretched towards Sasuke. Sozu grit his teeth and stood up, despite his wounds and pulled Sasuke behind him and Orochimaru's fangs sank into his forearm, yanking him off the branch and throwing him through a tree branch and sending him to fall to the ground. Mina, who was also racked with pain from being smashed into a tree from the great breakthrough, tossed a kunai stabbing through Sozu's shirt collar and he fell grunting in agony from the overwhelming pain of being bitten and tossed through the forest. As he lost consciousness, he clutched his right arm in pain. He looked at it to see 3 tomoe that looked like Sasuke's sharingan in his arm and he dropped his hands and passed out.

Sasuke forced himself to his feet and began to gather lightning chakra in his right hand. Orochimaru smirked at him.

"Oh, so you've been training under Kakashi have you? This will make giving you my gift even better. I'll give you the power that your clan refuses to give you boy." he hissed with a shit eating grin.

Sasuke ran at Orochimaru with anger in his remaining eye and he was determined to go down fighting. The Snake Sannin laughed and he got into his Hebi stance. Sasuke smirked as he began to channel ki into his senses and closed his eyes as he approached. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes as he saw the Uchiha close his eyes and he struck out a snake from his sleeve and Sasuke jumped up and used his ki to channel a lavender purple aura around himself and he flew at a high speed that surprised his opponent. His lightning coated fist pierced through the elder man's chest cavity, barely missing the heart as he tore through his body. He turned around to show a triumphant smirk on his face.

"That was for my eye you son of a bitch. And this!" he yelled as he went through one handed hand signs

"Is for Sozu!" He yelled then he blew out a Grand FireBall at Orochimaru channeling ki into it so it covered the entire area, burning the tree away as well.

Sasuke jumped off the branch as it began to fall. He landed dropping to one knee as he grunted in pain. He sighed in relief as he finally got rid of the threat. Or so he thought.

"Sasuke look out!" an injured Ino yelled as she struggled to stand up. It looked as if everyone had either been hit with a jutsu or a hail of weapons. He looked around only to see an elongated neck with Orochimaru's head, mouth open and slamming into the left side of his neck.

"Argh!" Sasuke felt a foreign chakra begin to enter his body as the man's neck went back to his body.

"That was a good last stand my little hawk" he said as he dodge a hail of kunai from Choji and Akino who looked like they were also riddled with wounds from the Snake Sannin's ambush.

'Who…are…you?" Sasuke asked

"My name is Orochimaru and I am your salvation" he hissed as Sasuke fell to his death and Choji caught him.

"You bastard! You and that earth clone of yours sneak attacked us." Choji yelled

"Looks like you all dealt with my clone well enough" Orochimaru hissed in a pleasant voice

"You won't be leaving here alive" Mina said as she landed with the earth clones head in hands and she crushed the rock in anger.

"Hmm, I'd love to stick around, but you Saiyans can sense my presence and I'd hate to deal with the prince himself," he said as he sank into the earth

Mina performed a Hadouken but Orochimaru dodged as he sank into the ground. Ino jumped and caught Sozu who was falling as the shirt gave out tearing from the kunai lodged in the tree bark.

"FUCK!" Mina yelled as she stomped the ground, sending out a shock wave through the soil.

She noticed that Sasuke and Sozu were down for the count and that there were 3 people missing, including her knucklehead cousin.

"Wh-what do we do now?" Ino asked

Mina looked around to see the sun setting through the large trees and that meant they might be susceptible to attacks from enemy teams and creatures that reside in the forest.

"We find a place, set up came and take care of Sozu and Sasuke until they wake up" Mina said

Choji picked up Sasuke and Mina picked up Sozu as they headed for a place out of sight to rest for the night.

Xxx

Hinata was flown back through the forest and she avoided getting hit by a tree. She skid across the ground, channeling her chakra into her feet to stop moving across the field. She dropped to one knee as she sighed in relief of not getting hit or smashing through anything. Abruptly she heard rustling in the bushes across from her.

"What now?" she said in annoyance.

A giant snake came out of the trees and bushes towards her. She sighed as she got to her feet and leapt into the trees. The snake began to smash through the trees as she leapt through the branches. She felt a sense of urgency as her adrenaline pumped through her veins. Her heart felt like it was in her throat, beating uncontrollably. She had been practicing with her cousin for this test for the past 3 weeks. She worked hard to reach Naruto and Sasuke's level, now she was being chased by a giant snake. Hinata got an idea and deactivated her Byakugan. She pulled several smoke bombs out of her kunai pouch and dropped them but the snake tore through them and still pursued her. She racked her brain for another idea and she got a very basic but sound idea. Hinata took out several flash bombs and threw them back at the snake, blinding it.

Then she made some distance between her and the beast. She pulled out several kunai and wrapped them with explosive tags. She also began to place explosive tags on the trees around her as well. She made sure to use 3 of her 4 flash bombs on the snake to get a decent amount of time to plot out her course of action. She was going to blow this snake to high hell if it was the last thing she did or die trying.

'I will make it back to them! I will pass these exams! I'm not the weak shy girl I used to be!' she thought in determination as she placed several paper bombs at the base of the several trees around her. She smirked as the snake began to slither its way towards her through the very trees she planted bombs on. She put one hand in the ram seal as she jumped back and yelled

"Kai!" Several explosions began to rock the area and knock down trees on top of the snake. There was enough smoke to make an emergency signal if she wanted to. Next she wrapped several kunai with the remaining tags she had and threw them at the snake stabbing into the front of its face and she gave a confident and victorious smile.

"Kai!" The snake's face blew up as the bombs exploded, sending blood and charred remains on the snake's face all over the area. Hinata began to jump forward reactivating ehr Byakugan and searched for her team.

Were they okay? Who ambushed them? What was the attack that sent her off the battlefield? These were all the questions running through her mind as she leapt through the trees in haste. Soon she felt several chakra signatures making their way towards her. She began to double up on her efforts to get away from the scene she caused by killing the snake. She landed on the ground and began to run through the bushes and she tried to hide her chakra signature. She felt like she was wasting her strength running, so she jumped into a clearing and got into her gentle fist stance as she waited for her pursuers to come into view. She began to sweat in anticipation as she felt the several chakra presences come into view. Soon she felt some form of recognition for one of the chakra signatures.

Neji, Lee and Tenten jumped out of the forest foliage and landed in front of her. She kept her guard up because she realized that they were in an exam. Neji stood with no stance as he spoke,

"Lady Hinata, what happened, where is your team?" Neji asked

She dropped her guard a little as she sighed and stood at attention.

"We were attacked by someone from another team. They ambushed us in the middle of battle, separating us from our team members. I don't think that person was a genin, honestly." She said

"Hmmm, that sounds very unyouthful. To attack someone when they're in mid battle" Lee said

"We're gonna get you back to your time! And put whoever did this in their place" Tenten said

Neji was quiet as he surveyed the situation. They had already had their own heaven and earth scrolls.

"It's fine, we're in an exam, I will find my way back to my team and do the best I can to support them" Hinata said in a quiet yet brave voice.

"You can't be serious. You're visually fatigued" Tenten said

"Lady Hinata. We will get you back to your teammates and be off to the tower" Neji said as he began to walk in the direction of the snake.

Hinata began to smile as she walked towards Neji with Lee and Tenten behind them

Xxx

Naruto was running through the forest towards his team members' life signatures. He had just felt a giant explosion halfway across the forest of death. Was his team ok? Who was it that attacked them? Did they target him specifically to separate them from the group? He had to get back to them as soon as possible. He jumped off a branch and began to fly as a blue aura wrapped itself around him propelling himself towards his team. He felt a strong ki signature headed towards him at a high speed.

'Dammit, not him! This is the worst time this could've happened!' he thought

'Hey brat, make sure you don't hold back on him. That kid has as much power as you, if not more.' Kurama said through the seal.

Naruto's aura began to change into the color red as his speed doubled and he kept flying to avoid Son Gohan. As he flew, he saw a familiar face and decided to land next to him.

"Yo Shikamaru, you ok?"

Shikamaru looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Since when can you fly? What the hell is going on here?" Shikamaru asked

"I've been able to fly since I was 11. I just kinda hid it. But we should leave here soon, I know where our teams are! We need to hurry!" Naruto said as he dropped to a knee beckoning him to hop on his back.

Shikamaru sighed and shrugged his shoulders as he hopped on Naruto's back. Naruto began to float and took off with a blue aura igniting around him as he flew off. Shikamaru held on tight as they flew through the forest as fast as he could without using Kurama's chakra so as not to hurt the Nara heir. He didn't want to get cut off route to his team by Gohan but the Saiyan was closing in on him. He began to sweat because his team members were with him as well.

"Shikamaru, are you good for a fight?" Naruto asked

"If I have to. Why?"

"We've got company coming!"

"What do you-"

Soon Naruto came to a field that was kissed by the Sunset and he abruptly stopped.

"Naruto, what's up" Shikamaru asked

"We've got company" He said eerily

Shikamaru looked over Naruto's shoulder and saw Son Gohan floating with his arms folded, while his teammates stood on the ground. Naruto landed and Shikamaru got off his back. Gohan landed across from them and smirked.

"Naruto, I sensed you in battle earlier, but we were securing our second scroll. But now I'm free to fight" Gohan said as he threw practice punches in the air.

Naruto rubbed his hand through his blonde locks.

"Look…Can we put that on hold? I mean wouldn't you rather fight me at my best?" Naruto asked

"Naruto. I'm not stupid. Why should I let you pass? We're in a competition after all" He said as he continued to throw mock punches at a super speed

"I don't wanna be too late to save them. Please, I'll give you the fight you want as long as I can know that they're safe."

Shikamaru was on guard as he realized the odds weren't in their favor.

'This isn't looking good' he thought as he put his hands in the rat seal.

Gohan stopped throwing punches and put a hand under his chin rubbing it thoughtfully as he looked towards the sunsetting sky. Then he looked at Naruto and sighed.

"Fine, I'll do this for you. But, I'll need a good fight afterwards. No holding back." Gohan said as he turned and began to walk

"What now Gohan?" Kurotsuchi said

"We're gonna let him go to his teammates"

"What? Why? Lets get rid of our competition" Ryu Hoseki said

"No, I'm gonna let him get to his teammates. I felt the chakra that attacked them. It wasn't genin level. We should probably check it out." Gohan said as he leapt away with his teammate begrudgingly following

"This better be worth it" Kurotsuchi said as she rolled her eyes

Naruto and Shikamaru followed as they moved behind them.

"So what, they're just gonna help us now?" Shikamaru said

"Yea, provided that I give him a good fight" Naruto said resolutely

Xxx

In Sasuke's temporary mindscape:

He saw Orochimaru standing before him.

"Come child, I will give you the power you desire. Your family only looks at you as a second best. How long will you live in Itachi's shadow?"

Sasuke looked at his hands then at Orochimaru with his fists balled.

"You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Please child. Don't be foolish. You would really deny that you're only a placeholder"

Sasuke was quiet as Orochimaru continued

"You're also behind your teammate as well, child. How weak could you be? You think you will just gradually catch up to a jinchuriki?"

"You know, you've got a lot of nerve…" Sasuke said as he looked at the floor of the world

"Oh please, I only gave you what you had coming. But your little last stand gave me a bit of a scare kukuku" Orochimaru said

Sasuke remained quiet as he began to calm himself and gather ki in his body, as he still heard Orochimaru's words.

"Actually as I went through your memories I saw your feelings of envy, jealousy and powerlessness. Such a weak child you are nothing more than a fly on the wall of your family's history. But… I can change that if you accept my gift" Orochimaru said

Orochimaru smirked at Sasuke as he thought the boy was giving in. He decided to poke at his ego a bit more to send him over the edge.

"The fact that your father has only taken a few times out of your short miserable life should tell you something, brat. Take the power I offer and-"

Sasuke looked up with his good eye and the once dark purple world began to turn blood red like his sharingan. It now had 3 tomoe in them as he began to activate his genjutsu on Orochimaru.

"You think…I would allow myself…to have anything to do…with you!" Sasuke said as he began to burn the Sannin away with a genjutsu.

"Wh-what is this?"

"This is you getting the fuck out of my head!" Sasuke said as he channeled more ki into his genjutsu and burned Orochimaru from his consciousness.

He smirked at the Sannin leaving his consciousness and then he dropped to a knee. He began to breathe heavily as he felt his energy leaving him. He fell to the ground from exhaustion as his eye began to close. But soon he heard footsteps walking towards him as he opened his remaining eye.

'What is it now?' he thought as he looked up

He saw a tall and pale-skinned man, who had deep wrinkles and a strong jawline in his elderly age. He had spiky, shoulder-length, pale brown hair, with a chin-length, braided lock hanging in front of his left ear. He also sported a goatee, which was short in his younger years and later tapered down to his waist in his old age. He had two purple ringed eyes in his sockets and he had a red ringed eye in the center of his forehead. The man wore a white, full-length kimono with a pattern of six black magatama around a high collar, beneath which, he wore a necklace which was also made up of six black magatama. On the back of his kimono was a larger, black Rinnegan marking with a pattern of nine magatama arranged in three rows of three beneath it. He looked down at Sasuke with indifference in his eyes.

"What would you do if you had the power you seek?" the man asked in a definite voice

"Wh-what's it…to you?"

"I will not ask again, Sasuke Uchiha."

There was a moment of silence and he sighed as he began to turn. Sasuke grabbed his leg and spoke.

"I…would protect…everyone…everyone that….is…. dear to me…" He rasped out as his strength began to fade.

Hagoromo turned to look down at him and gave a ghost of a smile. He knelt down looking into the lone black eye of Sasuke Uchiha. He placed his left hand over Sasuke's left eye and began to channel some chakra into it.

"I hadn't planned to visit you. I figured your path would be fine, but I fear you will play an important role in the upcoming events to follow"

"Who…are you?" Sasuke asked

The man smiled at him as he spoke

"A relic of the past" he said

"That…doesn't answer the question" he said drearily

"You might know me by the lessons they give you in books at school" he said as he continued to give Sasuke chakra

There was a silence between them as Sasuke was about to give up, but then he looked at him in curiosity.

"Wh-what is that dojutsu in your eyes. I can sense it isn't normal" he said as he began to regain some vigor in his voice.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he looked up at the man with his lone eye as the man's hand covered his other eye.

"You, no…You can't be him…"

"Oh? So you think you might know who I am?" The elder man said

"You…you're no…You're not Madara" Sasuke said as he kept looking into the man's eyes.

There were a few moments and his body began to glow as the elder man began to disappear. His body began to disappear as he removed his hand from Sasuke's left eye. He opened his left eye again, but it was strange. He could look at the man's chakra system without even trying as he blinked and he began to realize who the man was.

"You…I know now…you're-"

Suddenly there was only light as his vision began to fade

"The Sage of 6 paths…"

Xxx

Naruto and company were on their way towards teams 6, 7, and 10. Naruto wondered whether his team was ok, or if they were injured. All he knew was that he had to get to them. His chest had begun to tighten with every leap towards them. He couldn't fly because he had to conserve his energy for the fight ahead with Gohan. Soon they would be there as he could feel their chakra getting even closer. He felt another slew of familiar chakras as he moved in closer to his team. One of them felt like Hinata. He had a genuine wave of relief wash over him as he made one final leap and landed with Shikamaru and Son Gohan's team. He began to walk forward in a very fast motion. Everyone was relieved to see the blonde and the Nara, but they were confused at the sight of Son Gohan's team.

"Thank goodness, you guys are alright" He said as he walked up and hugged Hinata without thinking about it.

This action caused her to blush and also caused Neji to grimace in annoyance.

"N-Naruto, I….you're…"

He broke the embrace and smiled at her with sincerity.

"Thank goodness you're alright. I'm glad you're safe" he said as he let her go and looked around

"Th-thank you…N-Naruto"

He looked back at her as she held a blush and poked her index fingers together. He shrugged as he realized how shy she was, then he clasped his hands around hers.

"H-hey, I…know I'm ... .not the best at realizing when someone is trying to tell me something but…after this exam is over…why don't we go on a date?"

Hinata couldn't believe her ears as steam began to shoot out of her ears and she fainted, but Naruto caught her and held her bridal style. He sat her up under a tree near a recovering Sozu and Sasuke lying with wet rags and bandages over their heads. Everyone was flabbergasted at his statement

"Hey, you best watch yourself around lady Hinata" Neji said with a dangerous undertone in his voice.

"Neji, relax. It's not like he's gonna do anything to hurt her. He seems like a good kid. Besides, she always talks about him to us, doesn't she?"

Naruto blushed as he heard what they were saying about him, then he looked over at Neji and gave a challenging smirk.

"I only want the best for her. Besides, my dad told me it's good to take these kinda things slow, ya know?" he said as his verbal tick showed itself. This was the first time it had come out since he was in single digits. Mina smirked at him and spoke up,

"He's an idiot, but he's a kind idiot, don't worry" Mina said

"Che, whatever. Be careful with her Namikaze, she's not just some toy you can pick up whenever you choose to" Neji said

"My dear friend, you are being most unyouthful. Naruto here is clearly not that kind of person. If him rushing back here to save his comrades doesn't show you anything then what will?"

Neji scoffed and he began to turn away and walk.

"Whatever. We've done what we came here to do. Lady Hinata is back with her team."

Son Gohan walked past him with no care.

"While this reunion is touching, we had an arrangement, Naruto." he said, cracking his knuckles.

"This is such a drag" Shikamaru said as he went to sit down next to Choji

Naruto looked at him and walked into the clearing as Lee looked at the both of them.

"Yes! I would love to see your youths clash today" Lee said as he jumped back and sat down to watch them. Neji silently went to stand by him and watch as well.

"Really? What happened to going to the tower?" Tenten said walking towards them

"Tenten, this could be valuable data to analyze the abilities of our opponents" Neji said

She shrugged and went to stand back from the field as they went to watch the upcoming battle.

Naruto looked at his opponent with a serious look in his eyes as his fists tightened.

'Kurama, let me fight him on my own to start it off' Naruto spoke through his mindlink

'Go ahead. This should be interesting' Kurama said with a grin

There was a breeze that swept across the field as the dark sky was lit up by the moon. Gohan looked across at his opponent with a smirk as he got into his dragon fist stance. Naruto looked at him with a determined gaze as a blue aura began to emit from his body. Gohan smirked as a white aura began to wrap around him as his spiritual pressure classed with his opponents. Naruto blinked and his opponent was gone. His negative emotion sensing from Kurama saved him as he brought up his arms to the right blocking a kick that staggered him. He looked to the right and saw a brief glimpse of Gohan as his opponent appeared in front of him and punched him in the stomach, causing him to hack up spit and hunch over.

"Urgh!" Naruto said as he jumped back and drew a handful of shuriken from his leg holster and threw them at Gohan.

The half Saiyan disappeared and reappeared causing Naruto to block his face, but he received a kick his gut, sending him flying into a tree with a loud *BANG*.

"Gauh!" Naruto was gasping for breath as he fell to his knees.

Gohan was walking towards him with his fists balled, then he stood in front of Naruto a few feet away.

"Naruto, what're you doing? This isn't the fight I asked for. There is a quarter of Saiyan blood that runs through your veins. Either fight me with that strength or I'll kill everyone here to make you channel that strength." He said in a calm, childlike, yet oddly calculated tone.

"And I'll start with both of the Hyugas" he continued

Neji stiffened as he got into his gentle fist stance. Lee stood as well in his strong fist stance. Naruto looked up at Gohan's dark eyes and he saw a certain level of finality in them. Naruto stood and put his hands in the snake seal as he said

"Gravity Seals release!"

A torrent of black marks appeared across his arms and his ankles then they disappeared.

Naruto stood up and now it was Gohan's turn to blink as Naruto disappeared and he whirled around to catch a punch from Naruto. He smirked at him and threw another punch back at him causing the blonde to catch his punch. They were at a stalemate as they pushed against each other. The pressure for their aura's caused a whirl of wind to swirl around them, and they began to float upwards. Naruto moved faster than his opponent could see and drop kicked Gohan, sending him flying through the tree that he previously smashed into.

The blond put his hands in the cross seal and 10 shadow clones appeared flying into action. As he got back up in the clearing of the forest, Gohan had to put his hands up and block a headbutt that caused his heels to dig into the ground. As the clone poofed out of existence two more clones came through the smoke punching into his guard, sending him skidding across the ground as his back hit another tree. He saw two more blurs flash towards him as he caught the ankles of the clones that moved towards him as he slammed them into one another causing a poof of smoke. He saw a clone coming down into a ball and then he blocked a falling axe kick from a clone above him. He felt a foot smash into his stomach and it knocked him off of his feet causing him to fly across the field. He flipped and landed on his feet as his white aura encased him and he blurred across the field through the remaining clones. Naruto stood with his hands cupped behind him with a beach ball sized blue ki sphere in his hands.

"HADOUKEN!" The Namikaze heir yelled as he shot the ki blast at Gohan, who caught the blast with his hands and diverted it upwards, sending it towards the sky, lighting up like the stars and the moon and it lit up the sky with a giant explosion.

Gohan had to dodge a punch from an incoming Naruto and then he spun into a kick hitting the blonde in his neck sending him tumbling across the field. Gohan cupped his hands in a similar motion and then he went back to move across the field in a blur.

"Ka!"

Naruto threw a hail of shuriken at him but he dodged with ease.

"Hey! Cut it out! You're gonna kill him!" Kurotsuchi said in irritation

"Me!"

Naruto put his hands in the cross seal and created 30 clones, causing Gohan to jump high in the sky.

"This battle hungry bastard" Ryu said

"Ha!"

The clones began to throw kunai and shuriken at him as him rose even higher into the sky dodging the knives and throwing stars

"Me!"

Naruto began to panic as he felt the ki in Gohan's attack as he cupped his hands behind him and several clones did as well.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!" as he pushed his hands forward and a giant wave of blue ki was sent towards the ground

"That doesn't look good for him" Shikamaru said as his eyes widened.

"Oh shit. He's not ready for that" Mina said

"HADOUKEN BARRAGE!" A barrage of blue ki spheres clashed with the giant blue beam, but the blast tore through them and eventually it blew through the clones and smashed into where Naruto was standing, causing the ground to burst open, kicking up dirt, dust and debris.

"NARUTO" Mina yelled

This woke up Hinata who saw Naruto seemingly get incinerated. She got to her feet and walk closer activating her Byakugan

"Oh crap!" Shikamaru said as he stood up.

As the smoke began to clear Gohan landed looking around as if his attack didn't hit.

"He is a formidable opponent. I wonder if my youth can shine brighter than his" Lee said

"Forget your youth, Naruto just got incinerated!" Tenten said with worry in her voice

Neji was silent as he watched the spot where the blond was. There was a tense silence between everyone.

"For Kami's sake that was close" Naruto said from behind team 9

Then he whirled around as he saw Naruto walking forward past him.

"You substituted at the last minute" Neji said in astonishment

Naruto nodded as he walked forward and stood before his opponent.

"Naruto! P-Please…don't scare us like that anymore" Hinata yelled as tears came to her eyes.

Naruto looked at her with an understanding smile, then he looked at Gohan with a determined visage.

'Kurama, I think it's about time we turn up the heat. This guy is no joke'

'I could've told you that, but I let you bask in your Saiyan pride for a bit before you realized that he's just been toying with you'

'Yea, that attack showed me that this is just the tip of the iceberg for him.'

"Ok, no more holding back. This time we're playing for keeps"

Naruto tightened his fists as his blue aura wrapped around him and began to turn red. His features became more feral as his aura began to retreat into him and his body gained a red chakra cloak. See took a deep breath and closed his eyes as the cloak began to turn golden and two tales began to form from behind him. He opened his eyes and the wind around him began to twist and disturb the air around him, causing the ground to split and crack.

Gohan smirked at him as he grinned at him with a confident smile.

"Finally, I was wondering when you'd start taking me seriously"

Naruto's red slit eyes locked on with his onyx black eyes. He disappeared, causing Gohan's eyes to widen as he looked down to see Naruto's right fist buried into his gut. The very wind around them blew from the force of the blow, and the force caused the back of his shirt to burst. The blonde spun in a flash and kicked his opponent in the chin, sending him flying. Naruto got on all fours and blurred out of sight.

"Whoa, this is…Naruto?" Ino asked finally breaking her silence

Mina nodded as she had her fists balled in anticipation.

"Yea, for him to have to use the foxes power. I don't blame him" she said

Shikamaru's eyes widened,

"Wh-what do you mean? How long has he been at this level of power?"

Mina shrugged.

"We were in the land of waves for about a month. He put in a lot of hours to reach this level. But he just recently connected with the fox on the mission he had in the land of waterfalls. He must've made a really strong connection with it"

"How can you tell?" Neji asked

"Yes, I too would like to know" Lee said

"Because he was able to purify the beats chakra" Kurotsuchi chimed in causing everyone to look at her.

"He skipped a step somehow. Long story short, he's probably made nice with his tailed beast. That coupled with his use of ki and his Saiyan blood has helped him tremendously" she continued

"Huh, since when is he part Saiyan?" Choji asked

"Yea, I was wondering about that myself" Shikamaru asked

"Our grandmother Kumiko Namikaze is half Saiyan" Mina said

"That's right, you're his cousin. Why the hell didn't you just help him instead of fighting against him" Ino asked

"Because, I wanted to test myself. Things were getting good until that damn snake appeared and attacked Sasuke and Sozu." Mina said as her ki spiked briefly

"Right, I'm only guessing this, but that guy was probably Orochimaru" Shikamaru said with a scowl on his face

Ino and Choji gasped as they realized they gravity of his words.

"What?"

"Yea, my guess is that he wanted to recruit Sasuke and Sozu with those marks he gave them" the Nara continued

"Yea but why them?" Ino asked

"Who knows. My guess is as good as yours, but I've got a bad feeling about this whole thing"

Suddenly Naruto was sent flying across the field in a sonic boom, kicking up debris and dust making a *WHOOSH* sound leaving an indent across the forest surface as he crashed through a tree. There was another *WHOOSH* sound as Gohan zipped through the forest. Naruto dug his heels into the ground to stop the momentum and he punched out his fist sending a golden claw at Gohan, who dodged and charged into him only for Naruto to punch through an afterimage. Then Gohan appeared before him and kicked him in the air, sending him flying. He charged after him and headbutt the blonde sending him flying through the sky. Naruto regained his balance only to get his with a right cross, an uppercut and a spinning kick sending him flying across the sky. Multiple participants saw the two fighting through the night sky and thought they may have needed some extra sleep. Gohan flew after him trying to punch him again but Naruto caught his balance mid-flight and blocked the incoming attack. He sent his own roundhouse kick that Gohan blocked with a knee. Soon, the two began to trade blows as they descended back down to the forest.

On the other side of the village, Vegeta stood floating in the sky watching them with a bit of interest.

"Humph, so the kid has met his match eh? I wonder how long those two brats can keep it up before they destroy the forest" he thought as he smirked at his Nephew an the son of Wukong

Kenji himself was also sitting on top of the Hokage's monument watching the battle as well.

"C'mon Naruto. Trunks and Kakashi didn't train you into the ground for nothing. Jiraiya and gramps didn't train you from age 7 till this year for nothing. I know you can do it" he said with a smirk

Orochimaru stood with Kabuto atop a tree in the forest of death watching in interest.

"Yes, I do believe it's a good thing I surprised that brat instead of dealing with him. Though I may need to capture one of them to figure out how they can fly kukuku"

"Yes my lord, he's an interesting one indeed, that Naruto Uzumaki" Kabuto said

"I do believe it's a good thing that I enlisted help from the Crane School of Mercenaries and the akatsuki for the invasion. Or I might be worried. We'll leave the Saiyans pests to them, Gaara and Shin." the Snake said

"What about the Uchiha?" Kabuto asked

"The Fuma clan have a debt to repay them. So I wouldn't be worried" Orochimaru said in a matter of fact voice

"And the Hyuga?"

"What about them? They will be beaten just like the other inferior clans hahahahah" Orochimaru cackled

Elsewhere in the village,

Hiruzen and Jiraiya sat in the tower within the forest of death in a makeshift Hokage office.

"It seems the next generation is throwing around their power in these exams" The 3rd Hokage said

Jiraiya shrugged as he poured himself a cup of Sake.

"I knew this would happen. Especially with the resurgence of the Saiyan bloodline. Plus, The Namikaze bloodline is built in Saiyan heritage. Look at Kumiko, she's half Saiyan after all. Vegeta is a full blooded Saiyan as well." Jiraiya said as he sipped his Sake

He began to pour Hiruzen a cup as well, setting it on the makeshift Hokage desk as the man was working on every Hokage's mortal enemy, paperwork.

"Yes, and apparently the 4th Tsuchikage is a full blooded saiyan as well. Son Wukong I believe." Hiruzen said as he began to sip his Sake cup.

"I'm willing to bet Naruto is fighting his son right now" Jiraiya said

Hiruzen smirked as he sat his cup down and signed another document.

"I won't bet against that. Lets just hope we don't have to stop them from destroying the entire forest" Hiruzen said

"Hopefully." Jiraiya said wistfully

With Naruto, he stood across from Gohan who was perfectly fine while he was fatigued breathing hard. His chakra cloak was wearing off as he dropped to one knee. His breaths were ragged as he looked at the the young half-Saiyan who was standing strong. He began to channel the remainder of his chakra cloak and mixed it with his ki. The golden aura wrapped around him as he made his last stand.

"Humph, you're pretty strong Naruto. I've enjoyed this fight a lot hehe. For giving me a good fight, I'll make sure you get to the tower." Gohan said

"Wh-what? Why? Aren't you against me passing?"

"No, because you can get stronger and I wanna fight you again before I leave" Gohan said with a true smile as he gathered his aura around his body and it began to wrap around him.

Naruto stood shocked at the forwardness of Gohan for a few moments. This guy is a riot. Who raised him? Were all hidden stone ninja like him? He decided not to think too much about it and just go with the flow.

"Heh, alright fine. Let's finish this" he said as he stood in his killing fist stance

Gohan began to power up and his aura went from white to teal. He smirked as he blurred out of existence and Naruto kept his eyes on him the whole time.

"SOARING DRAGON STRIKE!"

He blocked a gut punch with his left arm, causing it to break and he was pushed back as his heels tore through the gravel of the forest. He grimaced in pain as he realized there was a follow up and that he would get knocked out if he got hit again. Gohan leapt in to punch him in his face with a right hook, but Naruto dodged and he smashed his right fist into the Saiyans chin, sending him upwards.

"SHORYUKEN!"

Gohan was surprised by the way he maneuvered through his attack. Gohan flipped as he landed backwards and staggered a bit trying not to fall. He spat out a glob of blood and smirked as more blood trickled down his chin.

"Humph, you're…pretty good…haha"

"Yea…you too…I've…only been pressed like this….by another saiyan…hhh….haha"

They both fell on their butts as their auras dissipated and they held themselves up breathing hard.

"You know…I thought I had you…until you got me…with that uppercut…hahaha…"

They both stood up, as Naruto fell forward and Gohan caught him.

"Hey…I wasn't really gonna kill anyone. I'm sorry…I just want you to…fight at your full potential"

"Its ok…I figured"

"So, how did you figure out my Saiyan heritage?"

"Your clan lived amongst the Saiyans long ago. My dad and one Vegeta grew up together, before the attack on the Saiyans from the Hidden cloud"

"Wow really? Are there any Saiyans in the hidden cloud then?"

"Yea, my traitorous Uncle Turles. He was my fathers twin brother unfortunately"

"Hmm, do you think we'll come across him?"

"If you do, you'd better run. He's crazy strong just like my dad."

"Sounds like a good fight! How could I just run?"

"Heh, I only say that because my dad told me that when I was younger. But honestly I agree with you"

Gohan helped Naruto limp back to the campsite with the other teams. They laughed and talked as they made their way through the forest. They were half way back to the other teams when they felt 3 presences approach them.

"Looks like we've attracted vultures" Naruto said

"Can you stand?" Gohan asked

"Yea, I should be good to go for a fight"

Suddenly the sound team walked out in front of them.

Xxx

Sasuke woke up and groaned as he rubbed his head. He continued to rub his head, putting it over his left eye. His body began to convulse and he shivered as he got to his feet.

"Yo, you're finally awake eh?" Shikamaru asked

Sasuke shook his head as he looked around and began to take his bandages off.

"Wh-what happened? Wh-where are we?" He said as he dropped to one knee

"We got attacked by some crazy bastard. He said his name was Orochimaru" Choji said

Sasuke's visible right eye widened as he stood to his feet and he balled up his fists. He closed his visible eye and used his ki to search the area and he found Naruto and Gohan with 3 other chakra sources. He began to remove his bandages showing the scar across his left eye.

"You idiot! What're you doing?" Mina asked

"Sasuke, Mina's right, please don't remove your bandages" Hinata said

Soon he opened his left eye, surprising everyone with his rinne sharingan. He smirked as he looked at everyones reactions to his eye. He began to look around as he saw teams 6, 7 and 10 looking at him. His body began to levitate as he was stoically looking down at his hands.

"Looks like the idiots are in trouble" he said as he landed on the ground and began to walk looking around the battlefield from the previous fight between Naruto and Gohan. He could feel the ki and the immense chakra residue across the land. Suddenly a hand rested on his right shoulder as Mina put a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you think you're doing? I've got it" Mina said

"Yea Sasuke, you just got up and-" Ino said

"He's my teammate. And I'm going to test out this power. Now let go of me." Sasuke said as he looked over his shoulder with his rinne sharingan began to glow and a fully developed 3 tomoe sharingan in the right eye.

A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead to her jawline and her azure blue eyes hardened. She let him go as she begrudgingly nodded

"Fine, I was gonna go anyways, but now I'm coming with you" she said with absolute authority in her voice.

He shrugged his shoulders and began to walk forward as she followed. He smirked as he began to imagine the scene of where Naruto was and closed his left eye. He locked onto Naruto and Gohan's ki signatures and disappeared in a blur.

"Hiyaku-teki Shinpo! (Quantum Leap)" he said harshly

Mina's eyes widened as she began to take off at her top speed to catch up with him.

With Naruto and Gohan,

They dodged two bursts of air waves and a hail of kunai and shuriken. Tsuchi Kin had thrown several senbon with bells attached at them causing both of their ears to ring but they stood strong as they deflected their attacks. Naruto landed as he was breathing hard. Abruptly, he had to lean back as he dodged a wide punch from the bandaged man in a fur coat. He wobbled back as he threw a kunai at Dosu who dodged. Shortly afterwards, Naruto's ears started ringing as he dropped to one knee.

"Errr, you!" he said as his vision doubled and he put his hand to his ear as he felt a trickle of blood

Gohan wasn't having better luck as he continued to dodge senbon with bells attacked. Soon he had to jump and flip off the trunk of a tree to get away from a paper bomb.

"Slicing Soundwave!" Zaku yelled as Gohan rolled out of the way of the attack.

Soon he found himself blocking a punch from Kin, then it was followed up by a straight jab, then he jumped back as she kicked at him.

"Heh, so you guys are cowards? Only attacking us while we're down!" Gohan said through gritted teeth.

With Naruto,

He was blocking a series of punches and kicks countering with his own. He was down to pure stamina with no chakra nor any ki as his stamina was draining away from him. Soon he was kicked in the stomach, as he tried to block his face, sending him tumbling across the ground.

"Urgh! This isn't good!" he said as he began to wobble to his feet.

"Lord Orochimaru will be pleased that we have killed two saiyans!" Dosu said as he stood dominant

"Che, you wish, you bastard!" Naruto said as he was finding his way to his feet, breathing hard.

"Oh, guess I'll make it come true!" Dosu said as he began to walk forward.

To Naruto, he heard the steps coming towards him like his executioner. The steps sounded heavy over the ground. He wouldn't close his eyes, no, he would look his killer in his eyes.

Dosu had a smirk on his face as he spoke.

"Orochimaru will be pleased with me." he said as he raised his fist.

"Ohhh, so you work for him huh?" A familiar voice said from behind the sound ninja.

He looked back to see Sasuke Uchiha. He jumped away as he saw the new arrival. The Uchiha drew his tanto as he channeled lightning chakra into it.

"I should thank your boss. Without his slashing my eye and trying to control me I'd be done for." He said and Naruto noticed his left eye.

'What the hell happened to his eye?' Naruto thought

'That is ... .the rinnegan…but…how?' Kurama said in confusion

'R-rinnegan? What the heck is that?'

'It's the power of the Sage of 6 paths'

'Wh-what the hell? How did he get that?'

'No idea. But his chakra has residue of the Sage as well' Kurama said

Gohan leapt over next to Sasuke as he took a deep breath and dropped to a knee.

"I never thought…haaa….I'd be glad….to see you….haaa…." Gohan said as he stood in his dragon fist stance.

Sasuke smirked as his lavender aura began to erupt from him, splintering and cracking the ground. Said Uchiha did a body flicker and before Dosu could dodge, his sword was ramped through the sound ninja's shoulder.

"Kaminari!" He said as thunder burst from his sword and electrocuted his opponent's body.

"ARGGGHH!" he yelled as his body was fried from inside out until he was a shivering but still alive mess. He kicked Dosu off his sword causing him to hit the ground. The sound ninja pushed himself up by his arms struggling.

Kin threw a hail of senbon at Sasuke and he parried the needles and disappeared from sight. He planted his fist into her stomach, sending her flying across the field, then she bounced across the forest floor and rolled to a stop. He looked over at Zaku and smirked.

"Is that all?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

He stabbed his sword into the ground and went through hand signs.

"Fire style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" he said, blowing out 5 mini fireballs.

Zaku dodged the attacks and used both of his palms and aimed them at Sasuke.

"Double Slicing Soundwaves!" he yelled as a giant gust of air was sent at his opponent.

Sasuke disappeared, doubling back to grab his sword and his body flickered and bashed the pommel of his sword into Zaku's back, bringing him down to one knee. He spun around and kicked him in the face sending him flying across the field.

"Disappointing" he said stoically as his power rolled off him and he sheathed his blade

He looked over as Dosu made it to his feet.

"Sasuke Uchiha, we surrender." he said as he clumsily took out his heavens scroll and tossed it to him.

Sasuke caught it, not taking his eyes off his opponents.

"If I see any of you making an attempt on any of my comrades….you will die" he said gravely

Dosu dropped to one knee as Zaku got up with murder in his eyes.

"YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"ZAKU DON'T" Dosu yelled but he was too late as Zaku ran up on Sasuke who activated his sharingan and looked Zaku in the eyes putting him in a genjutsu as he fell to the ground.

He looked up to see Kin walking up wearily holding her stomach.

"You will only get one more warning. Take him and go" Sasuke said as his sharingan retracted.

Kin walked over to Zaku and picked him up and Dosu stood on his feet wearily. They nodded towards the Uchiha and jumped away into the bushes. Suddenly, he felt a sinister chakra in the distance as he looked over in the direction where the other teams were.

"Wh-who's chakra is that? We can't deal with that right now" Gohan asked in alarm

Sasuke walked over and put both his hands on Naruto and Gohan's shoulders.

"Hiyaku-teki Shinpo" he said as he disappeared and they body flickered away from the current area.

With Teams 6, 7 and 10,

"Sozu, what's gotten into you?" Mina asked him with worry in her voice

Sozu had black marks running across half of his body as looked upon them with his Sekigan activated and a purple aura irradiated from his body. He looked at his right hand, then looked up at everyone around him. The person he was looking for was nowhere around him

"Where is Sasuke Uchiha?" Sozu asked with a psychotic look in his eye

"What're you on about? You've just woken up. Please, sit down" Ino said in a chidding manor

Sozu looked forward and began to walk. Soon Sasuke, Gohan and Naruto appeared as if he willed them to be in front of him.

"S-Sozu? What the hell is that nasty chakra coming from you?" Naruto asked with disbelief on his face.

Gohan quietly looked over at Sozu with a serious look in his eyes.

"There's no reasoning with him. Whatever's influencing him, he can't nor does he want to fight it"

Sozu looked at his right hand again as the felt power surging through him.

"With this power, I'm invincible. I can't lose like this! I CAN FINALLY BEAT YOU SASUKE UCHIHA! THEN SHOW THOSE FOOLISH HYUGA WHO LEFT ME TO DIE AND FORCED MY FATHER TO BECOME A CRIMINAL THEIR FOOLISH CHOICES FOR CASTING ME ASIDE!" He said with manic glee in his eyes as they began to glow and veins began to bulge on the side of his face like with the Byakugan.

Everyone looked at him in awe, especially Hinata as she looked at him with surprise in her eyes. Her Byakugan was active as she looked at the foul chakra emitting from him.

"Get back Naruto, Gohan" Sasuke said as his 3 tomoe sharingan activated and he smirked

"Arcane Flames!" Sozu said as he right held his hand out he put his left hand flat and all fingers extended.

"There's no talking you out of this…is there?" Sasuke asked as blue lightning began to chirp in his left hand.

"NO, NO, I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU FIRST, THEN GET RID OF NEJI!" he said

He shot out a blast of fire from his palm causing Naruto, Sasuke and Gohan to body flicker out of the way. Sozu jumped over Sasuke's swipe with the chidori and he kicked out at his opponent. Sasuke caught his foot with his right hand and threw him away from him towards the field.

"STOP IT" Mina yelled

"No, let them fight" Shikamaru said

"WHAT?" Mina said as her energy spiked and a vein popped from her head

"Relax, Sasuke has the battle under control" Shikamaru replied

"SO WHAT? WE NEED TO STOP THEM" Mina asked as her blue eyes began to glow

"Sasuke is the stronger of the two. He's gonna put him down soon" Kurotsuchi said as she spoke up from her perch on a branch

Mina looked at the battle with annoyance in her eyes as she quelled her rage. Her worry began to seep through the rage as she saw Sozu with a crazed look in his eyes.

Sozu looked at Sasuke with disdain in his eyes. His cursed seal of heaven began to stretch across his body as his Sekigan began to glow. The Uchiha drew his tanto which enraged Sozu, remembering Sasuke broke his fathers sword. Sozu drew several senbons in his right hand channeling fire chakra into them. He threw the senbons at Sasuke causing him to channel fire chakra into his blade and bat them away. Sasuke leapt toward Sozu as he spun and swung down on him as Sozu sidestepped the attack and kicked him in the back, sending him away. Sasuke used his right hand and pushed off the ground and flipped to his feet. He looked to see Sozu moving in a zigzag towards him to throw a straight punch. Sasuke dodged and kicked his knee in his right leg, causing him to stagger. He spun around and threw a hail of senbons at Sasuke, who dodged and kicked him in his side, sending him staggering back. Sozu grit his teeth and his Sekigan pulsed as he tried to place Sasuke under a genjutsu. Sasuke smirked as he countered with his own genjutsu causing Sozu to freeze for a moment and he slashed at him as he barely dodged, receiving a cut on his cheek. He jumped backwards and drew another set of senbons channeling fire chakra into them.

"Flaming Senbon!" he yelled as he threw them at Sasuke who batted the needles away.

Sozu went through hand signs and yelled out

"Ninja Art: Earth Dragon Bullet!"

A giant dragon's head made of earth rose from the ground and spat out a giant boulder towards Sasuke who sliced through the technique with his lightning infused tanto. He leapt towards Sozu who had the dragon spit out another boulder at him and he dodged body flickering past his opponent. As he did, blood burst from his right shoulder spraying. Sozu whirled around and kicked at Sasuke as his right arm hung limp. Sasuke ducked, performing a leg sweep making Sozu jump back. Sasuke's sharingan deactivated as he sheathed his sword.

"Sozu, this is pointless."

Said Kohinata balled up his left fist and leapt forward to punch Sasuke who caught the punch and pushed him aside, planting his knee into his stomach, causing him to cough up spit.

"Argh!" Sozu rasped in pain

Sasuke uppercut him causing him to reel back in pain with blood leaving his mouth. Sozu drew a kunai and began to swipe and stab at him, as Sasuke elbow struck him, causing him to stagger back and lose his balance as he dropped to one knee. In a desperate attempt Sozu threw his kunai with surprisingly accurate precision. Sasuke moved his head out of the way lazily.

"Sozu, your chakra has dropped severely"

Sozu looked at his hand and realized that his cursed seal was receding.

"Urgh! NO! DAMMIT!" he said as he struggled to his feet holding his wounded shoulder

He tried to force the cursed seal but he fell back to one knee and he looked up at his opponent.

"Sozu, the power you use is corrupting you" he said in a stoic voice

Sozu collapsed and fell forward, as he was caught by Sasuke. Naruto and company all sighed in relief as Sozu was not dead but heavily injured. Sasuke sat him near Hinata and Akino, who began to tend to his injuries. Mina looked at her friend with a worried expression on her face. Naruto folded his arms behind his head and leaned back on a tree away from the group. Sasuke walked over and sat next to him with a stoic look on his face.

"Sasuke, didn't both of you get bitten by Orochimaru? Why do you have the Rinnegan instead of a cursed seal? From what I heard you lost your left eye." Naruto asked

"Because, I rejected it. Afterwards, I purged his seal from my body with the Sharingan. As I felt on my face I looked up to see…someone"

"Who?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you"

"Try me"

"I think, He was…the Sage of 6 paths of legend. This power…it's proof of that…isn't it?"

"Funny enough, Kurama told me he sensed the Sage's presence in your chakra hehe"

Sasuke looked up at him in surprise

"Who is Kurama?"

"Oh, right, 9 tails real name is Kurama."

Sasuke was quiet for a moment

"Why am I not surprised? So he knew as soon as I appeared"

"Y-yea. I only felt something off, but he knew right away" Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head.

Sasuke had a smug grin on his face.

"So I've surpassed you now have I?"

Naruto scoffed and pushed off the tree he was leaning on.

"Nah, you've got a long way to go. When I'm back to 100% I'll show you" Naruto said

Soon afterwards they made their way back to camp where they all decided to rest for a full day. Afterwards they all went their separate ways and headed towards the tower in the middle of the forest. Naruto looked at Hinata as he could feel her negative emotions.

"What's up Hinata? You look like you're in trouble" Naruto asked

"It's…Sozu…you remember what he said? It's troubling me" She said

"Yea, he said your family casted him aside. But what does that mean?" Naruto asked

"I'm…not sure. Perhaps Neji may know" Hinata said

"Well, whatever the case may be. That mark on his neck made him unstable." Sasuke said

They both nodded as they continued towards the tower. Hinata was a bit worried as she thought of what Sozu said with worry in her thoughts. She hoped her family was not guilty of the crimes he spoke of. She began to speed up outrunning Naruto and Sasuke as they continued towards the tower. Naruto could feel her worry and pushed forward to keep up, while Sasuke felt nothing towards Sozu but had a bad feeling as he realized that Orochimaru's appearance foretold something ominous on the horizon.

Soon, they were upon the tower and they made their way into the building. As they made their way towards a mural, and pulled out both scrolls. He gave one to Hinata as they both opened them. Sasuke's eyes widened as he read the scroll.

"Hinata, throw the scroll" he said as they both threw their scrolls and smoke began to emit from the scrolls.

"Humph, so you brats made it eh?" a familiar voice called out

Naruto's ears perked up as he heard the voice. Sasuke smirked as he heard the voice, while Hinata simply smiled.

As the smoke cleared they saw Kenji Uzumaki-Namikaze.

"Big bro! What're you doing here?" Naruto asked with wide eyes

"I volunteered to be your teams summoning" Kenji

"Hello Kenji, how are you?"

"Oh little Hinata, how are you?"

"I'm ok, we made it in safe and we plan to win whatever exam is next" she said

"Well, you've made it out here in less than a week after all haha. 3 days to be exact. You have 4 more days." Kenji said

"Well at least we'll be able to relax for a bit" Sasuke said rolling his shoulders

"Yea, he's right. You all should get some rest" Kenji said

"What's the next test bro?" Naruto asked

"Now why would I tell you that?" Kenji asked

"Good point" Naruto said

"Now, I'll show you all where your rooms are" Kenji said as he walked and Team 7 followed