Naruto, Hinata and Shino got the second key without any problems, this time Shino had to identify at least eighty percent of the properties of three different rare insects from other countries. Something he achieved easily making the proctors for the Red Checkpoint groan in annoyance, "Whoever decided to give an Aburame an insect themed test NEEDS to see a Yamanaka…"

On their way back to their camp Naruto cackled, "I can't believe someone thought it was a good idea to give you an insect based test!"

"Perhaps they were hoping that due to the rarity of the insects it would mean I knew very little about them," Shino stated, "However with how venomous they are, Mother insisted I learn about them during my first year at the Academy. Simply on the rare chance I ever came across them on a mission."

"So they just got unlucky," Hinata said with a small smile, "Though perhaps if they did know you had learned about the chosen species. They were betting on you having forgotten a little due to how long it's been since our first year at the academy."

"Perhaps," Shino agreed with a small nod.

"Either way two down, two to go," Naruto grinned. As they continued back to their base, Hinata made a slight noise signifying they were being followed. Naruto instantly made fifteen clones, with five already turned into Hinata and five in the form of Shino. The several versions of Team Six separated with one clone team continuing in the direction of the base though slowly heading towards the forest floor and a little to the right, while the original team six took a hard right. Team Six quickly activated seals that hid their Chakra Signature's, before hiding in the leaves. A few minutes later a single young adult with six arms and a headband with a musical note arrived at the point Naruto made all his clones and examined the branches.

"Tch. Someone in this group can make some decent clones," The figure said and Naruto recognized him as Kidōmaru of the Sound Four, "Must be that cousin of Tayuya's," Kidōmaru gained an evil grin, "Think I'll snap his and his little friends necks and dump them near the gate…" He then laughed to himself before moving on, deciding to follow one of the cloned teams that went away from the base if for the only reason the footprints were slightly more clear then the others which the three assumed meant Kidōmaru thought those were the original's footprints.

The three waited for a couple minutes before silently continuing on to their base. Once there Shino said, "So… Members of the Sound Four are here…"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded though he had a large frown, "The clones he's chasing are still leading him on a goose chase, while the others burst so the Hokage and Tsunade know. Tsunade ordered that a couple clones be sent to watch over Sasuke but apart from that we're to focus on the exam."

Hinata nodded, "Does Tayuya know how that member we saw…"

"Kidōmaru," Naruto said.

"How Kidōmaru got his extra limbs?" Hinata asked, "Like… did Orochimaru do that, or is it from a Bloodline?"

"She doesn't know," Naruto said, "She didn't meet him until she became a member of the Sound Four and he already has his arms. And the Sound Four aren't exactly close. The group is more like…" Naruto paused as he searched for the right way to phrase it.

"Four people who are the same rank and therefore must work together?" Shino offered.

"Basically," Naruto agreed, "Getting back to business. The sun is starting to set. What should we do about the camp? We did set it up only a few hours ago but Kidōmaru might try looking around here due to one of the clone teams…"


Tayuya, Jiraiya, Shikaku Nara, Tiger and the original Tsunade who had a Shadow Clone standing as proctor of the second exam stood before the Hokage in the tower the Chunin Hopefuls were aiming for.

"So it appears that my wayward student has taken the bait," Hiruzen said with a small grin.

"Naruto's clones are keeping a close eye on Young Sasuke. Should Orochimaru appear, one will burst to inform us," Tsunade said before sending a smirk at Jiraiya, "However due to Naruto's recent discovery we now have a way to remove the Curse Seal if it is put on Sasuke."

Jiraiya scowled, "I'd have figured it out eventually Hime! You can't hold that over my head forever!"

"No… but I can hold you using me and MANY other women as models for your books without our consent," Tsunade replied with an evil gleam in her eyes, "We could easily sue you for everything you're worth and then some! So instead of focusing on how Naruto-Kun has already surpassed you in some aspects of Fuinjutsu let's focus on the job at hand shall we?" Jiraiya went pale at the mention of Tsunade and who knows how many others suing him… Perhaps he should have quit writing when his first book failed.

"As amusing as this lovers spat is," Tayuya smirked, getting a glare from Tsunade and Jiraiya, "What's the plan for Orochimaru when he turns up? You, the Old Perv, and Cousin Tsunade go deal with him, while Shikaku and I hold down the fort?"

"Correct," Hiruzen nodded as he stood up and removed the Hokage robes revealing his black combat armor and helmet, "Luckily the Chunin Exams has a small escape clause for us assisting the Genin if a Nuke-nin somehow invades…"

"Meaning I'll be able to touch the Genin to get them out of danger while you fight," Tiger said with a small nod, "Leaving you three to fight Orochimaru. Understood Hokage-Sama."

Shikaku smirked, "For once I'm glad for Onoki's being a cantankerous old asshole since he was the one to suggest that addition fifteen years ago."

"I'm just adding this to the list of when Onoki surprised me with his foresight," Hiruzen chuckled, "Perhaps I should send a letter to him, and try to start new talks for a treaty between Iwa and Konoha."

"Missing when you were simply rivals instead of enemies huh?" Jiraiya chuckled, getting a nod from his Sensei before Tsunade twitched and scowled.

"Indeed. Though enough reminiscing about the past," Hirzuen said, his eyes gaining a hard look, "It seems my wayward student has made an appearance. Let's deal with this now shall we?"


Meanwhile Orochimaru was toying with Sasuke and his team. He was a little disappointed that Sasuke was working so well with the Inuzuka and Nara brats. Where was the lust for power that his spies had told him about? Has so much really changed since Kabuto had to fall back and his spies keep their heads down? Ah well. That could easily be fixed with a few small nudges, "Is this really all you have Sasuke-Kun?" Orochimaru chuckled as he backhanded Kiba away while easily dodging Shikamaru's shadow, "Are you really going to kill Itachi when you're so weak~?"

Sasuke growled as he threw out three kunai that Orochimaru easily dodged, only for Sasuke to smirk and pull on some wires after the kunai went past a tree making them sling around and shoot back faster than before, "Very good Sasuke-Kun!" Orochimaru said with a grin before turning to spit out a wall of mud hulting the kunai in their tracks, "But not good enough. Do you have anything else to show me?" He then heard something hit the tree next to him and glancing to the side saw an arrow. Looking up he saw Shikamaru with a shortbow in his hand, "A Nara taking up archery? Intriguing. It does work well with your family's preference to ranged combat, however it seems like your aim needs…"

Shikamaru didn't reply and instead performed his family's signature Shadow Possession Jutsu to catch the Snake Sanin, however it lasted less than a second as Orochimaru flexed his Chakra shattering the Jutsu and jumping away from the arrow which he just noticed had an incredibly thin wire attached to it, "Ohh so that's why you hit the tree… I must admit I'm impressed with the clever addition to your family's repertoire. However, unless you have the Chakra to back it up, you'll catch very few with a trick like that."

Shikamaru grunted as he lept away. Once Orochimaru attacked Team Seven tried to slowly move towards the closest checkpoint to get some backup. However the Sanin was just too powerful and gave them no time to breath or retreat, "This is ridiculous," Shikamaru grumbled, "He's not using any Ninjutsu and he's still running circles around us! I know he's an Elite Jonin and S-Rank shinobi but this is ridiculous! There's got to be something we can do…" Before he could do anything else he heard Sasuke scream as the Sanin's neck had extended and he'd bit the base of Sasuke's neck.

When Orochimaru pulled back Shikamaru saw that a seal in the form of three tomoe had appeared on Sasuke's neck with the skin around it quickly turning a bright irritated red. Looking up at Shikamaru, the Sanin chuckled, "Kukukuku. You'd better…" However before he could continue, Tsunade appeared and kicked his head off, the head falling to the forest floor while the body fell to the branch he was standing on and both turned to mud, "Ahhh. Hello Tsunade-Chan~ Long time no see. Is Sensei and that fool Jiraiya around?" A second Orochimaru rose out of the branch and grinned at Tsunade not bothering to address the Anbu who was extracting Sasuke and his team. He'd already given Sasuke his gift so now he could focus all his attention on his old teammates.

Tsunade cracked her knuckles, "What do you think, you traitorous snake?" Orochimaru backflipped over an incoming black staff only for Jiraiya to kick him in the chest, sending the Snake Sannin crashing into a tree. However this Orochimaru also melted into mud making Tsunade scoff, "Mud Clones? Really Orochimaru? Are you this scared to fight all three of us?"

Jiraiya smirked as Hiruzen lowered into a combat pose with a log sized staff held under his arm, "Guess he's not so confident of his repertoire of Jutsu as we thought if he's cowering like this."

Orochimaru suddenly appeared behind Jiraiya and tried to stab him with a black blade only for Jiraiya to replace himself with a log, "You never did know how to respect your betters you white haired fool," Orochimaru snarled as he blocked his Sensei's staff, "I'll never understand why you didn't just boot him from the Shinobi forces Sensei."

"Don't you remember the lesson I gave after Jiraiya defeated you in a spar all those years ago?" Hiruzen asked as he threw the staff at Orochimaru before blitzing through hand signs, "Everyone has potential to be great no matter what their chosen field is. Shadow Projectile Jutsu!" The thrown staff multiplied making dozens of flying missiles as Tsunade dropped to a lower branch while unleashing a large area Lightning Jutsu with Jaraiya adding a powerful Water Jutsu to prevent Orochimaru from simply batting Tsunade's Jutsu away with a Wind Jutsu.

"Agree to disagree Sensei," Orochimaru said as he leapt towards the incoming rain of staffs and like a snake he ducked, dodged, and weaved around the staffs easily while simultaneously using them as cover from Tsunade's and Jiraiya's combo, "Potential is like talent. You either have it or you don't. Unfortunately I have places to be and people to see so as much as I'd like to stay and continue this conversation…"

"You're not getting away!" Jiraiya roared as he appeared behind Orochimaru with a swirling blue orb in his hand. Slamming his hand into the base of Orochimaru's back he yelled "RASENGAN!" Orochimaru yelled in pain before exploding into mud, "Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?! Another Mud Clone?! How many of these things are there?!"

Tsunade scoffed and crossed her arms, "What's to bet he only sent clones into the forest?"

"Annoyingly high," Hirzuen said as his staff burst into smoke revealing one of the Bosses of the Monkey Clan. Monkey King Enma, a six foot tall monkey with long white hair, a Konoha forehead protector, and a tiger skin kimono-shirt over a black suit.

Enma scowled and crossed his arms, "Told ya we should have killed him when we had the chance."

Hiruzen sighed and ran a hand down his face, "And as I've told you many times since then. You are correct. However, we can't change the past. We will simply have to deal with him the next time he appears."

"For now let's just get back to the tower," Tsunade scowled.

"Agreed," Hiruzen said as Jiraiya nodded.

"I'll be heading back for now," Enma said, "The Fox Boss wanted to discuss something…"

"Huh… I think they had something to talk about with the Toads too…" Jiraiya muttered as Enma vanished, "Eh. probably nothing to worry about."


The Two Great Toad Sages Fugasaku and Shima or 'Pa and Ma' as they preferred to be called dressed in their normal plain gray and black robes. Along with Gamabunta one of the three Toad boss Summons sat within a large circle within the Plains of Inari along with Monkey King Enma and Tamamo-No-Mai. Pa was a green toad with large white eyebrows, pointed goatee and a white mohawk, while Ma was a light tan toad with a purple afro and purple lipstick. Gamabunta was a giant rusty-red toad who was as tall as Kurama the Kyubi-no-Kitsune with a scar over his left eye, wearing a dark blue vest with the kanji 蝦 (ebi) on the back. A giant tanto sheath on his hip and a giant pipe.

"So," Gamabunta said after taking a long pull from his pipe, "Before we begin I have a couple questions, Tamamo. Starting with where have you been for the past decade? The second is why the hell have your foxes been raising hell on Mount Myōboku and the Emerald Forest?"

"To summerize," Tamamo said her tails swaying behind her as she gave the Toad Boss a large grin, "Minato fucked up to such a degree that BOTH the Monkey's AND the Toads owe both the Dragon's and Fox's for damages your summoners have done against the Foxes newest summoner Naruto Uzumaki. Yōseiken did a lot of digging the past couple months…" This made Tamamo's four guests pale. Yōseiken was infamous amongst the other summons as one of the best information gatherers of the current generation. If they wanted information then chances were high they'd get it, "Minato basically put a target on his son's back by making it known Naruto was the Jinchūriki. Jiraiya abandoned his Godson for no other reason than and I quote, 'Naruto looked too much like his father'. The Toad Sage never even bothered to check on Naruto… not even once. So my Foxes have been having a little fun with stress relief."

Her grin grew slightly as the three Toads scowled at their summoner's actions. If there was one thing all the Summon Clans agreed on with the sole exception of the Snake Boss Manda, was the protection of one's family. For Minato and Jiraiya to put a target on and abandon the boy didn't sit well with any of them, "As for the Monkeys… Well Hiruzen did a wonderful job of making sure no one could adopt Naruto and give him a loving home, didn't he?" Tamamo asked Enma sarcastically, her grin turning almost savage as Enma bowed his head. At first he'd tried to talk Hiruzen out of that course of action but had given in when he heard Hiruzen's reasons. Not wanting Danzo or his allies to have the political power of the Uzumaki's at the time had sounded like a good reason, but now it just sounded like a hollow excuse to make a Jinchūriki loyal to Hiruzen and Hiruzen alone. After hearing everything Tamamo had said, it left a bad taste in the Monkey King's mouth.

"The four of you had plenty of time to try and assist Naruto through your summoners. That you didn't reflects as poorly on you as it does your summoners as Gamabunta and Enma knew at least a little about Naruto's situation." At this Tamamo's grin went from savage to sadistic as the three toads and lone monkey shifted awkwardly before her, "As for why the Dragon Boss isn't here… well he wasn't in the mood for frog's legs and monkey soup so he left it to me to speak on both our behalves. Now do you four want the list of everything Yōseiken found before or after our little talk~?"

Hearing this Tamamo's guests gulped in unison. It wasn't often that a pair of Sages and Boss Summons felt like younglings again, and they could only blame themselves… plus they were not suicidal so preferred this situation over meeting a pissed off leader of the Dragons.


Naruto whistled happily as his team made their way to the final checkpoint. Seriously, giving an Uzumaki a Fuinjutsu based test was as idiotic as Shino's insect based one. Were the proctors trying to go easy on Team Six? He figured Jiraiya must have come up with it to subtly teach him a new Uzumaki Seal as only an Uzumaki would be creative or crazy enough to make a seal that can store a large amount of solids and/or liquids and release each at will or programmed to be released in a specific order. He was already planning a prank with it. Was mixing skunk spray, that new liquid spray that in moments turned into a thick foam to seal cracks in buildings and that weird sludge he'd found hidden in a fridge in the junkyard before throwing on honey and bird feathers be too much? Yes. Yes it was. Did he care? Not in the slightest when it was used on someone who deserved the prank. Now what would be the best way to twist this prank so it's viable in combat?

"Kusa trio incoming, seven o'clock. Seventy five degrees down… scatter!" Hinata said moments before the trio scattered as a large flaming boulder broke through the branches they were just on. Once they regrouped they looked in the direction the attack came from to see the three Kusa Genin who'd kept glaring at Naruto. Now that he had a better look he could see two Kunoichi and a Shinbi all of them wearing dark green outfits that completely hid their features save for their eyes.

The Kunoichi with the dark green eyes clicked her tongue, "Tch. Should have known the bitch would be keeping an eye out…"

"Just means we have to do this the fun way instead of the old fashioned way," The Shinobi said drawing a Kusari-Gama form a seal, the sickle having a serrated blade made for cutting meat and a large heavy weight designed to crush skulls. The Kunoichi's cackled as one pulled out a spear and the other a pair of katar… only for all three of them to drop their weapons as a group of wires danced over their limbs paralyzing them.

"You three are idiots," Naruto deadpanned as he created a group of clones who began cackling at their soon to be victims.

"You asshole!" The second Kunoichi growled, "You'll pay for what you did to the Kusa Council with your damned Blood Debt!",

"And once his clones are through with you we'll be handing you off to Anbu," Shino stated as three of the clones went to the forest floor to grab the dropped weapons while the others slowly circled in like vultures over a fresh corps, "By going after Naruto, you three could literally bring down the wrath of Konoha and its allies on Kusa. That is of course unless the ones who ordered this assassination aren't arrested and sent to the Blood Prison."

The three went stiff at the mention of Kusa's infamous prison as Hinata gave the three a kind smile as she said, "Have fun!" Team six then turned and continued on their way ignoring the screams of pain, threats and curses that followed them.

"Wonder what the teamwork test will be," Shino said as if they hadn't just met a trio of idiots from Kusa, "That is the one of the area's where we're at our strongest."

"No idea," Hinata hummed, "But we're almost there."

Once the three landed at the White Checkpoint the Chunin on duty just looked at them, groaned and threw them the key, "If you three can take out two Chunin and hold off an Elite Chunin then there's nothing we can do to test you. Just take it and go."

"Uhhh… thank you?" Naruto said slowly as he picked up the key, and the three took off for the tower. After that near encounter with Kidōmaru the four had decided not to camp in the same place twice and so had packed up and left. Once they'd woken up that morning they'd packed up and left. Better to keep on the move when one of Orochimaru's goons is after you. When they got to the tower, they blitzed across the large clearing around it and quickly went through a door that led to a large empty room save for a single scroll hanging on the far wall.

Walking over they read, "Gold is the center. Ancient, wize and bright as midsummer. North is the dawn of spring where the azure spirit of wood dwells. West is the dwelling of the Midday bird of flames in its red nest. South is the den of the white autumn tiger, the land bathed in perpetual dusk and metallic leaves clinking in the wind. East is the land of eternal winter bathed in the midnight moon's glow, the black water hiding the land's guardian tortoise. Place the keys in their proper places to receive the blessings of the Four Beasts."

Naruto scratched his head, "The poem references the Four Directional Beasts… but where each one is is all messed up…"

"Indeed… perhaps this is a test to spot false information?" Shino suggested.

"Perhaps… but do we want to risk that?" Hinata asked.

"Well… I don't know about you two but the Dragons would kick my ass if I didn't put the keys in the correct spots," Naruto shuddered. He might be able to evade Konoha's Anbu easily but the Dragons and those who lived with them could easily track him down.

"And the Tigers would do the same," Hinata nodded.

"Oh so you did sign that contract," Shino satiated, "I suppose now is a good time to state that my brother found the Peacock contract on a mission and gave it to me… and I believe their reactions to us putting the keys in the wrong locations would be similar."

"You have a brother?" Naruto asked surprised, "Why haven't we met him?"

"... He's forced to spend most of his time as a bodyguard to Elder Danzō," Shino stated with a slight buzzing coming from him showing his irritation.

"Ah. Say no more," Naruto nodded, "We'll meet him sooner or later. So we all agreed to put the keys in the right locations for the Directional Beasts?" Getting nods from his teammates the three quickly put the blue key in the 'east', the red key in the 'south', the white in the 'west' and black in the 'north'. The moment the last key was inserted there was a soft click as the keys were locked in. After a few moments the four keys began to turn slowly as the box began to shake and spark ominously.

Quickly tossing the box into the center of the room the Genin of Team Six waited as the box slowly opened before a pillar of smoke erupted out of it. When the smoke faded it revealed Kakashi Hatake, "Yo," He said with a lazy wave and eye smile, "Good work on seeing through the false info. You three pass with flying colors."

"Uh…. we mostly just did that so we didn't piss off our Summons," Naruto deadpanned with Hinata nodding.

"Hey if it works, it works," Kakshi shrugged as he picked up the box and led the Genin out of the room, "Oh by the way Naruto. Orochimaru put a Cursed Seal on Sasuke."

"I know. My clones saw the whole thing. So Jiraiya, Tsunade and I will need to remove it before the third round," Naruto nodded, "Where is he now?"

"Still in the forest and unconscious but I expect Shikamaru will drive them to complete the second round quickly once Sasuke wakes up," Kakashi explained, "For now I'll just take you to your room and you have the rest of the week to relax and plan."


Author's Notes:

The home of the Monkey Summons has no official name so I came up with something simple yet effective.

As for Shino's Contract… I legit had no idea where to add that bit… so I just threw it in here.