Happy New Year Everyone. To a great 2024!


Naruto had his hands on his knees and was panting, trying to regain his breath. He looked to his sides and saw Shikamaru sprawled on the ground breathing heavily and Sasuke on all fours sweating profusely. "Good job, you guys lasted 40 minutes this time." Kakashi said as he drank some water.

Kakashi had made the three of them fight him to see how long they lasted. However, unlike the genin test, Kakashi went all out, except without the sharingan. This was the longest the team lasted. 'They're making good progress. They seem to be more motivated recently.' Kakashi thought with a smile.

It had been two weeks since their mission in the Land of Wave. They had been training more lately and were progressing at a great pace. "That's all for today, I have to see the Hokage today. Take a rest. Ja ne," Kakashi said as he waved them goodbye and left in a shunshin.

"You guys *pant* wanna go to Ichiraku? Regain *pant* some energy." Naruto asked in between pants.

"Only if *pant* you carry me. It's painful to walk." Shikamaru said from his position on the ground. "He kicked extra hard today…troublesome sensei"

Naruto looked at Sasuke and saw him nod in agreement. Naruto pulled Shikamaru up and slung Shikamaru's right arm around his shoulder. The group left in a shunshin and arrived at Ichiraku. They entered and found that it was empty.

"Teuchi-ossan, I will have three large miso ramen with extra chashu please!" Naruto ordered as he placed Shikamaru in a chair beside him while Sasuke sat on his other side. Sasuke ordered a large chicken ramen while Shikamaru ordered a large shrimp ramen.

"Extra hungry today, aren't you boys. Don't worry, ramen is coming up!" Teuchi said as he went to cook the ramen with Ayame.

The lunch was rather uneventful as they were too tired from training. That was the case until the end. They had just finished eating and had paid for their food. "I'm going home. Sensei said to rest and I agree with him." Naruto said. Sasuke and Shikamaru nodded before they said their goodbyes. Naruto and Shikamaru headed the same way as their route home took them the same way while Sasuke headed the opposite direction.

Just as they started walking home, they were met by one Konohamaru Sarutobi running full speed away from an irate and angry Sakura. "Konohamaru, what did you do?" Naruto asked as Konohamaru hid behind him.

"Boss, I accidentally called her flat and she heard me." Konohamaru said, shaking a little.

"You did what?!" Naruto and Shikamaru exclaimed as they looked up to see Sakura approaching. "Shit, Konohamaru run!"

Konohamaru ran like he never ran before. Sakura blitzed past Naruto and Shikamaru paying no mind to them and chased after Konohamaru. "You'll pay for what you did, you little shrimp!" She shouted as she chased after the poor kid.

Naruto and Shikamaru followed them by sensing them when Naruto sensed two other chakra signatures he didn't recognise. It seemed like Konohamaru and Sakura had run into them. Naruto and Shikamaru took to the roofs and raced towards them.

In an alley below, Naruto saw a boy and a girl around his age. The boy was holding a terrified Konohamaru by the collar. 'That's not good,' Naruto thought. Sakura was standing not too far away from him. "Shikamaru, I'm going to go down there. You stay here just in case." Shikamaru nodded and Naruto jumped in front of Sakura, startling her a little.


Naruto could clearly see the appearance of the two shinobi in front of him. The boy was wearing a black full bodysuit with a red and yellow circle design on the front. He wore a hood that had cat ears and had a large bandaged item on his back. He was also wearing makeup. 'This guy's trying to look menacing but he's wearing his sister's makeup.' Kurama and Naruto were laughing back in their mindscape.

Naruto then shifted his eyes to the girl. She wore a purple garment that exposed her shoulders and it extended to halfway down her thighs. There was a red sash tied around her waist. She wore fishnet over her exposed shoulders, her left thigh and right calf. She was also carrying a large metal fan on her back. Both of the shinobi had one thing in common, they were wearing the Sunagakure headband. 'She looks pretty but not the prettiest I've seen. She's up there though.'

"That hurt you little shit!" The boy was very pissed off at Konohamaru for running into him. He held a squirming Konohamaru by the collar.

Naruto decided to intervene before it escalated. "Woah, calm down kabuki boy. Let the kid go."

Apparently it only pissed him off even more. "Oh yeah, what if I don't?" He froze when he felt cold metal on his neck. He turned slightly to see Naruto and a kunai ready to end him. "I'm sure I don't have to say it…right?" Naruto said as he stared at him with cold eyes.

Temari's eyes widened when she saw the blonde holding a kunai to her brother's neck. She didn't even see him move. 'He's good,' thought both of the siblings. Sakura also had the same reaction. To her, Naruto teleported behind the boy.

Konohamaru was reluctantly released and immediately ran to hide behind Naruto. Naruto let go of his kunai and turned to the boy hiding behind his legs, "Kono, go home. I'll talk to you later, ok." Naruto said. Konohamaru nodded frantically and ran home. He knew his Naruto-niichan would be able to handle this.

Seeing Naruto talking to the boy, Kankuro reached for a kunai only for his hand to be hit by a rock. "Who did that?!

"You don't think I'll leave my back open, do you?" Naruto responded. Everyone turned towards the tree behind them to see Sasuke standing on a branch juggling a rock in his hand. Naruto sensed Sasuke coming when he jumped down into the alley.

"Sasuke-kun?!" Sakura exclaimed more out of surprise than anything.

'Maybe, Kurenai-sensei did something to her. She looks less fangirlish now. Although, I still see traces of it.' Naruto thought.

Kankuro snarled and reached for the bandaged item on his back. Naruto deduced that the item was a puppet judging from the fact that they were from Suna and that they were known for their puppet jutsu. "You're going to use Karasu, Kankuro?" Temari asked.

"Wait!" Everyone present was placed in a pause momentarily. Even Shikamaru who was prepared to use his shadow paused. "Before anything happens, is the guy behind my teammate with you guys?" Naruto asked as he pointed towards the tree behind Sasuke. Naruto had sensed a chakra that was very minimal like that of an Anbu suppressing their chakra. However, this chakra held a very strong menacing feel to it and was very cold. It reminded him of Kurama's chakra. Everyone looked behind Sasuke to see a boy.

The boy had red hair, he had the kanji for love on his forehead and was carrying a gourd on his back. He also had black rings around his teal eyes. He disappeared in a sand shunshin and appeared beside the puppet boy. "Kankuro, stop it. We're not here to cause trouble. Stop embarrassing our village," he said in a voice so cold that it sent shivers down everyone's spine. However, the two suna-nin were much more scared.

"G-Gaara! I didn't start it, they did! They-" Kankuro stammered but was cut short by Gaara.

"Shut up or I'll kill you!" Gaara said immediately, causing Kankuro to zip his mouth. He turned to the konoha-nin and apologised, "our apologies. We shall be on our way," he said as the three of them walked away.

Sasuke jumped down from the three beside Naruto and asked or rather demanded, "you there! What's your name?" pointing to Gaara.

The Suna shinobi all turned as Gaara spoke, "Sabaku no Gaara. What's yours?"

The Uchiha smirked, "Sasuke Uchiha."

"And what's yours?" Gaara asked as his eyes shifted to Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki. What's your name?" Naruto asked, pointing to Temari.

"Sabaku no Temari. Nice to meet you." She said politely.

"Let me guess. You guys are here for the chunin exam," Shikamaru said from his seat on the roof. Since his father was the Jonin commander of the village, he knew more of the village's activities than his peers. The Konoha genin looked towards Shikamaru before looking back towards the Suna shinobi waiting for their answer.

"Yes we are. We hope to see you there," Temari said before the three sand siblings walked away, leaving Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Sakura on their own.


"You should all know why people from other villages are here," the Hokage addressed the mass of jonin and chunin who stood in front of him.

"Is it already that time, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked.

"I believe so. I've seen a few foreign shinobi similar in age to our genin around the village," Asuma responded.

"When is it, Hokage-sama?" Kurenai asked.

"In seven days time. Now, will all the jonin who are in charge of our newest batch of genin step forward?" Asuma, Kakashi and Kurenai stepped forward. "Do any of you wish to enter your genin into the exam?"

Kakashi was the first to speak, "I, Kakashi Hatake, jonin of team 7, recommend Shikamaru Nara, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki to enter the chunin exams."

Asuma spoke next, "I, Asuma Sarutobi, jonin of team 10, recommend Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Choji Akimichi to enter the chunin exams"

Kurenai was the last to go, "I, Kurenai Yuhi, jonin of team 8, recommend Ino Yamanaka, Sakura Haruno and Shino Aburame to enter the chunin exam."

The crowd erupted in murmurs after hearing the three jonin. "All the rookies are nominated!" "It's been so long since rookies have been entered into the exams!"

The Hokage smiled at the recommendations. 'This chunin exams would truly be unique.' Iruka, who had been behind the Hokage watching the scene unfold, could not hold it anymore. All of his ex-students who have not even been in their careers for a year, have been nominated for the chunin exams.

"Hokage-sama, permission to speak?" Hiruzen gave him a nod to continue. "Excuse me for saying this but I don't think your genin should be entered into the exams. They were all my ex-students and I know them. They need more experience before entering the chunin exams."

Kakashi knew that Iruka cared for his students, especially Naruto who he has a soft spot for but right now Naruto was his student. "I became a chunin at an age much younger than them. I was nearly half of Naruto's age." He said.

"Don't compare yourself to Naruto, Kakashi. He's different!"

"I know, he's better than me. I believe in all three of my genin and I know that this exam is what they need. You said that they needed experience and I think the exams is a great way to gain some" Kakashi truly believed that his team had the potential to surpass his generation of shinobi. He had seen them first hand, hell he trained Naruto since he was five. He knew their skills and acknowledged them.

"But-" Iruka was cut off by Kakashi before he could continue.

"Iruka-sensei, I know you care about them. However, they are not your students anymore, they are my subordinates now. As such, I will make the decisions concerning them." Kakashi said bluntly. His message was received as Iruka hung his head in defeat.

"It's okay, Iruka. I see where you're coming from but it seems their jonin has seen something in them. Trust that they make it through the exams." The Hokage said to the defeated Iruka. "Everyone is dismissed!"


Naruto sat on the sofa reading a book on shinobi battle tactics while waiting for Kakashi who was cooking dinner. However, his thoughts couldn't help but drift back to the meeting with the Suna shinobi. Something about the Gaara threw him off and he did not know why.

'Naruto, do you know why that boy felt weird to you?'

'Oh I thought I was imagining it.'

'That boy was a jinchuriki just like you.'

Naruto's eyes widened. 'A jinchuriki?! Let me see…hmmm… he must be the jinchuriki of Suna's Bijuu, Ichibi no Shukaku.'

'Yes. Shukaku is a dangerous Bijuu, kit. He is batshit insane. Do remember the black rings around the boy. It means he hasn't slept in years.'

'Years?!'

'Every time his host falls asleep, Shukaku will take over their body. So whoever hosts Shukaku will be subjected to a life of insomnia. Another thing about him, I can sense that his seal is weak. I believe you sensed that too.' Naruto nodded within his mindscape. 'Since his seal is weak, he has a strong influence over the boy. Be careful around him. No doubt he sensed me within you.'

Naruto was kicked out of his mindscape just in time for Kakashi to call for dinner. He sat at the dining table opposite Kakashi with rice, tempura and some steamed fish on the table. Naruto thanked for the food before digging in.

"Kakashi-sensei, are you going to enter us in the chunin exams?" Naruto asked after he swallowed his rice.

"I was going to tell you as a team tomorrow but yes. In fact, this is the first time in years that nine rookies are entered into the exam." Kakashi responded. "Do you think your teammates will decide to join?"

"Come on, sensei. As if you don't know your team by now." Kakashi chuckled as he understood what Naruto meant. "Sasuke is obviously joining without a doubt. Shika will probably be "persuaded" by his mother to join." Naruto said.

Naruto's voice then grew serious when he spoke, "Nii-san, should I tell them about me being a jinchuriki?"

Kakashi knew that Naruto only called him older brother when things were serious and it was. Nobody from Naruto's generation knew about his status as the jinchuriki. "It's up to you, Naruto. Only you have the right to tell anyone. But why do you wanna tell them now?"

"Well, firstly, Sasuke has been curious ever since our mission in Wave. I've kept him waiting for quite a while. Then, I'm afraid if shit hits the fan during the exams. Anything could happen. There's also one more problem…" Kakashi saw Naruto's face frown in worry. "There's another jinchuriki in the village. Kyubi said that this particular jinchuriki is very unstable."

Alarm bells were going off in Kakashi's head. The Hokage had briefed the jonin and chunin about Gaara; however, nobody knew that he was unstable. "I understand, once again, it's up to your decision." He said as he ruffled Naruto's hair before standing up to clean his plate. 'I have to inform the Hokage about this…' he thought.


Team 7 were at their usual training grounds sitting by the three wooden stumps waiting for Kakashi. Kakashi shunshin in front of them not soon after. "Good morning my fellow genins." Kakashi said as he got a "yo," from Naruto, a wave from Shikamaru and a nod from Sasuke.

He held up three application forms and handed them to the genin. "These are applications for the chunin exams. You can choose whether or not to participate in them. If you do, head to room 301 at the academy in six days." Kakashi said.

Naruto cleared his throat to get his teammates' attention. "Let's be honest with ourselves here, we're all gonna take it."

"Yeah, my mother's already warned me before this." Shikamaru said as he shivered at his mother's threat. Sasuke just nodded.

"Ok good, cause I have a few things to tell you guys." Naruto said, gaining two curious looks from his teammates. Kakashi gave him an eye smile and nodded in assurance. "You guys might wanna sit down for this."

The team sat down as Naruto started explaining from the beginning. "What do you guys know about the Kyubi incident many years ago?"

"The Kyubi suddenly appeared near the village and caused mass destruction. The Yondaime Hokage defeated him." Shikamaru said as he narrowed his eyes.

"Why are you asking us this?" Sasuke asked.

"Well that's the story they told us but it's false. The Kyubi can't be defeated." Sasuke and Shikamaru stayed quiet, intent on knowing where Naruto was taking this. "The Kyubi, like all Bijuu, are all masses of chakra which means they can't be destroyed nor killed. That leaves only one option, to seal it away."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he remembered the events in Wave. "I'm pretty sure you got it, Sasuke. Yes, the Kyubi was sealed into a baby by the Hokage and that baby was meant to protect the village from its wrath."

"No…" Shikamaru muttered. His brain had just cracked the code as he linked the stories together. He looked at Naruto who was just eye smiling at him. When he was younger, he saw Naruto being shunned by the village and now he understood why.

"I am the jinchuriki of the Kyubi no Kitsune. The Kyubi was sealed into me on the day of my birth." Naruto finally said it out loud. "Now I understand if you guys-"

"Bullshit, I know what you're thinking. Don't think this changes anything about us Naruto. We are still rivals, jinchuriki or not." Sasuke said with his sharingan flaring to life. "You're the only one who can measure up to me and that's not changing."

"Exactly. What the hell is wrong with you! Do you want me to get my mother to whack you?" Shikamaru said as he bumped Naruto on the head. Naruto smiled and chuckled at his teammates. He was truly grateful to get such teammates.

Kakashi was also smiling as he saw the scene in front of him. 'Minato-sensei…If you could see him now…'


Six Days Later

Team 7 arrived at the academy. Naruto could tell that Sasuke was fired up from the look in his eye. Shikamaru was not as fired up but Naruto could see that his friend had a hint of determination within him from his body posture and eyes. Naruto smiled at that.

"Let's go," Sasuke curtly said as he started walking in the academy. Naruto looked towards Shikamaru who only shrugged his shoulders in a way that said, 'what to do? That's him.'

No matter how much Sasuke has changed over the past few months, some things just couldn't. They climbed the stairs silently when the sound of a crowd caught their attention. Upon investigating further into the sound, the team saw a large amount of people gathered around a door with two chunin guards. 'I'm pretty sure we only went up two floors, not three…' Shikamaru thought. He turned to his teammates to see that they had similar thoughts.

Naruto had sensed a genjutsu placed around the area. When he dispelled it, he could clearly see the two chunin guards were Izumo and Kotetsu, the chunin usually guarding the village's gates. Sasuke had his Sharingan active and could clearly see through the genjutsu. "This is to weed out the nominees," Shikamaru said as his teammates agreed. "Let's just slip away, nice and quiet."

The team turned back around and continued climbing the stairs. As they were heading to room 301, a voice came from behind them. "Hey you, the one with the black eyes and hair. Please wait!"

They all turned to see a boy wearing a green jumpsuit and orange leg warmers. He had a bowl cut style haircut and wore his ninja headband around his waist. 'Did Gai-sensei have a son?' Naruto thought. The boy in front of him couldn't look more like Gai.

"Sasuke Uchiha, I, Rock Lee would like to challenge you to a spar. I am one of the best genin of my year and I would like to test my skills against you. You are a natural genius while I am a genius of hard work, hence I would like to test myself against you." He said as he got into a fighting stance similar to Gai.

Sasuke was about to get into his stance when Naruto interrupted him, "I believe it is not wise to fight him now, especially before the exams. Lee, how about you postpone your spar with Sasuke to a later date?"

Sasuke tched and stood back normally. Naruto had a point, he could not afford to be tired for the exam. "You made a good choice. Fate has already decided that Lee would be better than you, so might as well not fight him," said a voice behind Lee.

Team 7 looked behind Lee to see a boy wearing white and a girl Naruto recognised as Tenten. The boy had pale white eyes, a trademark of the Hyuga. Naruto gave a small nod to Tenten who nodded in return. "What do you mean by fate?" Sasuke asked.

"Lee being better than you is already predestined by fate. You may not fight now but when you do fight, you will fall." he said smugly. Naruto saw Tenten facepalm. Team 7 now stood eyeing the Hyuga. Neither liked how stuck up he was and were ready to put him straight. The Hyuga for his part, activated his byakugan and stared back at all three of them. Lee got into a fighting stance again as he too realised the tension growing between them. Tenten had no choice but to back up her team and was prepared.

However, the tension was cut when another man dressed in green appeared from a smoke screen. "Gai-sensei, why are you here?" Lee asked.

"Lee, my beautiful and youthful student. I came to make sure you didn't run or create trouble, so you wouldn't be late. What are you guys doing to these youthful ninjas?" He said before he turned to team 7 and noticed Naruto. "Naruto-kun! It has been a while since I've seen you. You've grown and the FLAMES OF YOUTH still burn BRIGHT in YOU!"

"Yo," was all Naruto said in return.

"Damn you, Naruto-kun and that hip cool attitude of yours. Just like my ETERNAL RIVAL KAKASHI! SO YOUTHFUL!" Gai exclaimed at the top of his lungs.

"IT IS THE MOST YOUTHFUL, GAI-SENSEI!"

"IT IS, LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

GAI-SENSEI!"

Team 7 bore witness to the greatest and most horrifying genjutsu. Lee and Gai were hugging on a beach cliff with a beautiful sunset behind them. Sasuke's sharingan couldn't see through it, Shikamaru tried to forcibly dispel the illusion but to no avail. Naruto even tried asking Kurama for help but it was still there. Nothing worked.

Seeing escape as the only option, Naruto grabbed Shikamaru and Sasuke before using shunshin. Before using the jutsu, Naruto could see the Hyuga mouth some words. "Lucky bastards" he mouthed before team 7 disappeared.


As the door to room 301 opened, everyone inside quietened. The three chunin hopefuls entered the room and they were met with blasts of killing intent from the other shinobi. They only shrugged it off. "Is that all you got?" Sasuke said as he released his own killing intent and flared his chakra. Naruto and Shikamaru chuckled at their teammates' antics while simultaneously releasing their own killing intent and flared their chakra. Many were stunned as team 7's chakra overpowered theirs and turned away mumbling about the Konoha-nin among their respective teams. Team 7 stopped when they were satisfied with everyone's reaction.

"So you guys are here too, huh?" Kiba said as team 10 approached them. "Sup, Naruto." Kiba gave Naruto a fist bump. Choji greeted them all while eating chips and Hinata gave a shy wave.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun." Ino and Sakura greeted as team 8 approached them. However, instead of being all over him, Sasuke was surprised when Ino and Sakura kept their distance and talked to him with courtesy. Naruto also realised this. 'Looks like my suspicion was correct. Kurenai-sensei did something to them.' Naruto made eye contact with Shino and merely nodded to each other. Shino was never one for words.

"You guys should really be quieter, you know," said a voice from behind them. They all turned to see a bespectacled teenager a few years older than them. He had grey hair and wore the Konoha headband on his forehead. "You guys are rookies right out of the academy. You should be careful or you'll end up being targeted."

"Who the hell are you?" Kiba asked. None of the rookies had ever seen this guy.

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto. Take a look around you, after that little display," he said as he looked towards team 7, "you guys surely have gotten their attention." As the genin looked at the room, they could see many of the teams observing them.

Naruto simply glared at them, he was satisfied to see many of them turning away from him. He had his father's eyes after all. Eyes that sent enemies running from the battlefield.

"Kabuto-san, is this your second time taking the exam?" Asked Sakura.

"No, actually it is my seventh." Kabuto said, earning a snort from Kiba.

"Wow, you must really suck then." Kiba said bluntly.

"Or the exams are hard. I thought that as first timers, I would help you out a little," Kabuto said as he pulled cards out from his pocket. Naruto saw the many seals on the cards and his interest was piqued. "Who do you wanna know more about?"

"Sabaku no Gaara," Sasuke said.

"Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki." Said Kiba.

Kabuto channelled chakra into the cards and words appeared on one of them. "Sabaku no Gaara. 0 D-ranks, 12 C-ranks, 15 B-ranks and 4 A-ranks. Wow, many jonin would only dream of having a record like this. It's said that he has never had an injury from any mission." Everyone's eyes widened in surprise except for Naruto. 'How does he have this information? Gaara's a suna-nin and on top of that, he's a jinchuriki. This type of information shouldn't be known by a genin of Konoha.'

"Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha." Kabuto took more cards out but they were snatched by Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto read his card and was getting more suspicious of Kabuto. "Naruto Uzumaki: 54 D-ranks, 2 C-ranks, 1 B-rank and 1 A-rank. Known to use kenjutsu and has great agility. Student of Kakashi Hatake, Copy Ninja of Konoha."

"I'm sorry, Kabuto. We don't intend on spilling our secrets." Sasuke said before Naruto and him tore their cards.

'How does this guy know so much about us? Only the jonin commander and the Hokage should have this information. I need to tell Jiji about this, he could be a spy. Also, why does this guy smell kinda like snakes?' Sasuke and Shikamaru also had similar thoughts about Kabuto. They weren't overly trusting of him. To them, something felt wrong about him.

"Anything about who's participating in the exam?" Sakura asked politely.

"Obviously, we have genin from Konoha. Suna is Konoha's closest ally so we take turns in participating in each other's exams. We also have the minor villages, Amegakure (Hidden Rain), Takigakure (Hidden Waterfall), Kusagakure (Hidden Grass) and a new small village, Otogakure (Hidden Sound)." Kabuto explained.

"Hey! Who do you think you're calling small? Otogakure will challenge the great five for power!" An Otogakure shinobi exclaimed. He threw two kunai at Kabuto that were dodged. However, another Otogakure shinobi came in and tried to punch Kabuto who back-flipped away to dodge. Kabuto smirked as he thought he had dodged it but his glasses cracked moments later.

'Of course…Sound village so sound based attack. I sensed chakra built up in his arms, it must be a jutsu of his.' Naruto thought. Three Oto-nin stood in front of Kabuto, one girl and two boys. The boy who threw the kunai said, "put this in your cards. Three Otogakure genin will be promoted to chunin, guaranteed!"

An explosion of smoke at the front of the classroom drew everyone's attention. A man in a black trench coat with a black bandana on his head appeared. "Alright brats! There will be no more fighting. Any fighting from this point will be an automatic disqualification! Now get to your assigned seats, the first part of the exam will begin now!"