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Arc 3, Chapter 6

Konohagakure,

Chunin Exams Arena

As Naruto narrowed her golden blonde eyebrows at Neji's calm and relaxed smirk she couldn't help but want to smack the confidence out of him. She's waited a month since the preliminaries to do so and would not hold back against the asshole.

She had no idea how he could hold himself like he was after what he did to poor Hinata.

Taking a moment to look away from her soon to be punching bag, she scanned the noisy crowd for her shy friend. Her eyes softened upon seeing Hinata seated a seat away from Karin and Sakura. The blonde smiled noticing that Hinata had less bandages wrapped around her than before, that could only mean she was doing better.

Then why did Hinata look so sad?

'I swear if Ken didn't keep his promise like he said he wou-'

Her vengeful thoughts were washed away with the sudden arrival of Ken, and Haku. She watched with puffed out cheeks as Ken gently patted Hinata's head instantly making the timid Hyuga blush red and smile up at him...

Naruto snapped her head away from her friends with her pout still present when Ken sat down after exchanging some words with Karin and looked down at her and Neji. Filled with the feeling of wanting to see him again, she stealthily peeked one eye out and looked at Ken.

His face was blank, devoid of all emotion.

'Did something happen!? Don't tell me he got into another fight...'

She mentally ranted to herself, hoping that he was okay.

All of her concerning thoughts were squashed when out of the corner of her eye she saw Hinata, in a not so shy manner, clasp her hand on top of Ken's and give it a comforting squeeze. Concern turned into jealousy, and it only multiplied when Neji followed her gaze up to Ken and Hinata, before scoffing at her.

She was so going to kick his ass.

Ken's ass that is. Neji's was already considered kicked; the moment he entered the arena with her.

"Begin!"

Naruto took the first step, with her furious glare present on her face again and her fingers crossed into a cross.

XxLine BreakxX

Kage Box

Appearing in a flash of golden yellow, Minato hurried past Kakashi, Baki, and Akatsuchi; a rather robust shinobi very identical to an Akimichi. Plopping down in the chair that was labeled "Hokage", and getting comfortable he ignored Onoki's dissmisve huff of air and Rassa's raised eyebrow- His fellow Kage's could wait.

"You got this Naruto!"

Minato cheered much like the proud father he was.

Minato had many regrets regarding the Hyuga clan, regrets that costed him his friendship with his former teammate, Hiashi Hyuga. What happened to Neji's father was tragic, but he couldn't risk war with Kumo, due to one man's spiteful scheming.

The Raikage Ai, that is.

Who would've known that Ai would send his diplomat on a covert mission to kidnap little Hinata. Not him and certainly not Hiashi when he killed the kidnapping diplomat.

In the end Raikage Ai threatened war feigning ignorance of his diplomat's actions. He demanded the immediate death of the person who killed his diplomat. To preserve his brother's life, Hizashi Hyuga; Hiashi's brother and a member of the branch house, who's eyes would destroy themselves upon death took the blame for his brother and ultimately died.

It was a nobel and honorable end for a great shinobi and brother.

But Neji didn't see it that way. He saw his father being used and discarded by the main branch, like a dull or broken kunai. He grew up despising the main branch and anyone of prestigious birth; Naruto and Hinata for example.

'Come on Naruto! I may not be able to save or even help Neji anymore, but I know that you can save him from himself!'

Minato cheered on his daughter in his head, knowing fully well that his fellow Kage's would give him strange looks.

"Hmph, has your mind regressed back to that of a small child Namikaze?"

Onoki snickered at his own joke as Minato depressingly face-faulted at the old Kage's mean words.

Kakashi and Baki shared a look before sweat dropping at the Hokage.

XxLine BreakxX

Chunin Exams Arena

Naruto stopped right in front of Neji, who's hands and feet were positioned in the deadly combative stance of the Gentle Fist. The sudden action of her stopping kicked up a cloud of dust and dirt the momentarily concealed her from Neji's view.

Just a moment was all Naruto needed.

Neji raised and quickly jabbed his pointed fingers into the throat of a Naruto clone that had dived through the cloud of dust. Making the clone exploded into smoke Neji glared upon noticing that the cloud dirt and dust that was kicked up earlier thickened from the explosion of smoke the clone had produced.

He ducked under a quick kick that another clone sent when it jumped out of the smoke screen towards him. Grabbing ahold of the clone's leg he snapped hit over his knee dispelling it into another cloud of smoke.

Growing tired of not being able to see threw the rapidly growing cloud of smoke and dirt the blonde cleverly produced he leaped backwards and activated his Byakugan. Landing outside of the cloud of smoke he sneered seeing three copies of Naruto dashing towards him; they were about to come any moment now-

"Take this you bastard!!!"

All three of the Naruto's jumped out of the cloud of smoke and cocked back their fist aimed towards Neji's now veiny face. Just when the combined force of all three of their fist was about to connect, they were ripped to shreds by a rotating blue dome of chakra.

Each of the clones exploded into smoke.

From within the cocoon of his attack Neji smirked at seeing the destined prodigy's plan fail. He was confused when the thunderous roars and cheers of the crowd shook the entire stadium. Were they cheering for him?

No-

Of course, they're not, he was going against their princess, somebody loved by even fate. They were cheering for Naruto, which meant she was doing something that he couldn't see outside his rotation technique.

"It'd be best if I add more chakra and increase the amount of speed."

He murmured to himself and did just that.

He sighed contently when the cheers lowered back down to a reasonable volume. Everything was fine- At least until something slammed right into his Rotation, threatening to flip him and the technique over. He clenched his jaw tightly and added more chakra to his Rotation, only to gasp in surprise when suddenly he was attacked on all sides by whatever the blonde was doing outside.

His pair of Byakugan widened in fear when a part of his Rotation shredded apart revealing Naruto's glaring blue eyes and a small dark blue ball of condensed chakra in her hand.

"Th-That's impossible... My ultimate defensive and offensive attack!?"

He shuddered under the multiple sets of blue eyes that revealed themselves as more and more of his Rotation broke a part.

"Rasengan Barrage!"

XxLine BreakxX

Chunin Exams Stands

Ken smiled alongside Sakura and everyone else, but not because of the fact that her cousin was standing victoriously over Neji with one hand raised above his face and the other waving around as she went, on, and on about something to the stunned boy.

She was smiling because Ken's chakra seemed to find solace and comfort in Naruto's fight. Although it was still clouded by this dark and ominous feeling it was nowhere as dark as it was before Naruto's fight.

She just wished that she were the one to help Ken, rather than Naruto.

It was like with each passing day, she got further and further away from him. She knew it was wrong to think this, but she regrets bringing Ken and Haku to Konoha with her.

She thought that everything would be fine once she and her mother made it to Konoha with Ken and Haku, but instead, she's watched him get hurt, spend less time with her, and spend all of his time with Naruto; when she was still in the village, and Hinata.

She wanted Her harem member back.

"What's wrong Karin?"

She turned her head and blushed at the concerned frown on Ken's face as he wiped away a tear from beneath her red-rimmed glasses.

'Gosh what's wrong with me? He's the one seriously hurting and here I am making him get all concerned over me.'

She screamed inside her head as she hugged him.

"Woah, woah, Karin no need to get all touchy on me, I was just trying to help."

Ken mumbled and smiled awkwardly at the redhead burying her face into his side. He was having serious Deja-vu right now…

"I won't lose to you two."

Karin whispered to Hinata who in response blushed scarlet and hid her face into her hands away from Karin's angry view.

Ken let out a deep sigh and shook his head not picking up on Karin's cryptic words, instead he chose to look down at Naruto as she extended her hand down towards Hinata's now crying cousin. Whatever she said to him worked.

She helped Neji through whatever was making him hate Hinata if the way he was tearfully staring up at her meant anything. Ken rested his hand on top of Hinata's head and smiled at her tear-filled eyes that were focused on Naruto and Neji.

"She really did it Ken-kun… S-she kept her promise and helped Neji-nisan."

Ken stared dumbfoundedly when she suddenly latched onto his other arm and embraced him tightly, opposite of Karin. He sighed at Haku's amused smile and then followed Sakura's pointed finger back towards the center of the arena.

His tired purple eyes met enraged blue eyes.

"Could this get any worse."

His shoulder slumped dejectedly and didn't bother to refute Sakura's whisperings of, "Womanizer, poor Naruto, three-timing cheater, worst boy-friend…" he gave up on trying to keep track of her name calling.

"Ken it seems Mikoto-san and her husband requires your attention."

The young Senju lazily brought his downcast head up and looked across the arena at Mikoto and Fugaku. Mikoto was glaring at him with a questioning frown, while Fugaku was just glaring at him… That's it just glaring at him.

He guessed Mikoto wanted to know what had happened between him and Danzo.

Ken sighed again. What did he do to deserve this…?

He just wanted to sit down and figure out what he was going to do with Danzo and the Daimyo's. The last thing he expected to hear from them was slandering against old man Naido's name and the Land of Grass basically being put up for sale.

He would get them back for that, for not caring about the countries people or even it's leaders. Rulers like them shouldn't be allowed to run entire countries. Ignoring the Uchiha's glares he closed his eyes and rested his head against the back of his chair, slowly drifting off into sleep.

"Winner Naruto Namikaze, of the Hidden Leaf Village!"

XxLine BreakxX

Ken opened his eyes with a gasp-

He looked down at the slit throats of Kenji, Kikiyo, and Danzo. He was confused at first… At least until he noticed that he was holding a bloodied kunai, that he no doubt used to kill the three. Wrapped around Kikiyo's neck was his golden crossed chain-necklace, buried between her bosom.

He couldn't bring himself to strip the woman of his necklace, even though that was why he killed her… Wait, he killed her because of what she did to Naido and the Land of Grass,

Why did he kill them?

"Ken… what have you done?"

Minato suddenly appeared before him with Naruto behind him, hugging his leg refusing to look at him.

Ken had no idea what to say, after all how does one justify killing two defenseless people.

Because he hated them. He killed them because he hated them.

It flashed through his mind faster than even Minato's strange technique.

"They could've helped the old man, but they let him die even though they were allies… They deserved to die Minato."

His words didn't just shock him, but also Minato and Naruto as well.

Ken dropped the kunai and bent down towards Kikiyo, grabbing ahold of his necklace he stared into her dead scarlet eyes. He didn't care about the two Namikaze's firm belief in the cycle of hatred. Some people needed to die.

…It was nothing but bull shit. Scum like Kikiyo and Kenji were better off dead rather than alive and tormenting millions of people. The civilians of Kusagakure would have never starved as much as they did, had they just helped Kusa instead of trying to keep it.

"Kakuzu was right, some people needed to die. Zabuza, Gato, the Demon Brothers, Hidan, Kakuzu, Kenji, Kikiyo, and the Earth Daimyo. They're all disgusting scum."

Ken voiced on like a drone, as he tore off his chain from around Kikiyo's bleeding neck.

He still thought she was beautiful- that sort of beauty that didn't warrant his attraction like the way when Hinata's face exploded in emotion, or Naruto's cute tom-boyish charm, or Karin's beautifully expressive red eyes.

Kikiyo was just oddly enough… Comforting to look at.

He glanced at the fire Daimyo next. . He resembled himself quite a bit. His dark ebony hair and his narrowed even in death angry eyes. If he didn't grow up with Hiromi, he would've thought that this man was his father.

He was old, but there was still more of a resemblance between them, rather than he and Hiromi.

"Then what does that make you for killing them Ken? Scum right?"

Ken nodded to Minato's words. He was right, he was scum right alongside them, but they were bigger scum than him. Each of them. The Fire Daimyo and his wife deserved the deaths they got, and nothing would change his mind.

"Here Naruto I'm not going to be coming back for this, try not to lose I-"

He went stiff at seeing the fearful look Naruto had directed at him. Dropping the necklace, he ignored the blood that splashed against the ground and took a step towards the two Namikaze's only to stop when Naruto took a step back.

She was shaking in fear, of him, of what he did to the Daimyo.

That wasn't fair.

It was then that he noticed all of his friends standing behind Naruto and Minato. Karin, Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi, Laiya, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Mikoto all had different expressions, although beneath each expression lied disappointment and disgust.

"Ken wake up, Ken-kun wake up the fight is over."

The last thing Ken saw was Haku smiling at him while gesturing towards Konoha's massive gates. The message was clear; it's time to go.

XxLine BreakxX

"Winner Temari Sabaku, of the Hidden Sand Village!"

Ken opened his eyes again, however instead of seeing the corpses of the Fire Daimyo and the Daimyo's wife, he was met with the sight of Karin's sparkling scarlet eyes. They were rimmed with fresh droplets of tears in the corners and wide in worry.

Worry for him.

He was so glad to see her looking at him like she was, rather than how he had just seen her in his dream.

Ken sighed contently as she stroked her hand through his hair to soothe him, maybe herself? He wasn't sure but he leaned into her touch and didn't question why or how he ended up resting his head on top of her lap.

Everything he saw earlier was just a dream. He didn't kill Danzo, Kenji, or Kikiyo. None of it was real.

Oddly enough, he didn't care if he actually did.

"Will Sasuke Uchiha, of the Hidden Leaf Village, and Kurotsuchi, of the Hidden Stone Village come down!"

Ken groaned at the loud cheers echoing from all over and turned his head to face the arena. Sasuke and Kurotsuchi stood face to face, both wearing happy and confident smirks, all in all it was hard to tell who was more excited for the fight.

But one thing was for certain…

"Yeah Sasuke-kun you show her what it means to mess with one of us!"

…Sakura was more excited than any of the other folks cheering. Her green eyes were looking at Sasuke much like how Karin looked at him…

Karin.

Ken looked up at Karin and was shocked to see that she was still looking at him. He had fully expected her to go full fangirl mode and start cheering on Sasuke, but she didn't. she just staring at him with that sad expression sketched behind her glasses.

He decided he hated seeing her look so sad. He wanted to see her smile, laugh, and be her usual pervy self. Somewhere inside of him, he knew that he was the source of her sadness.

When was the last time they seriously hanged out? Before they arrived in Konoha? Before Naido died? He felt like shit now.

"Karin i-im sorry."

Karin's response was a smile and to hug him further into her lap.

"Kick her ass Teme! You better not lose because I'm going to be the one to kick your ass!"

"Shut up Naruto-baka! Of course, Sasuke-kun isn't going to lose to that tall girl, and definitely not you!"

Lightning sparked between Sakura and Naruto's foreheads as they glared at one another.

Ken sweatdropped, how the two of them managed to hold a conversation from so far was an unknown to him. But he chalked it up as them being so close as friends that distance was an imaginary measurement to the two girls.

He kind of envied them for that. Would he and Haku still be so close even if they were so far away? What about him and Karin?

It was then that he noticed that Haku was sitting next to him with his eyes focused down on Sasuke and Kurotsuchi; in the seat Hinata was in before he fell asleep.

"She went to visit her cousin."

Karin answered his unasked question, hoping that he wasn't going to leave.

"Oh, okay that makes sense she came to see her cousin after all."

Ken nodded and shifted his eyes back towards the two genin in the arena, not noticing the slight crack in Karin's voice.

"Begin!"

XxLine BreakxX

Chunin Exams Arena

Wasting no time Sasuke hurriedly withdrew a kunai from the pouch strapped securely to his leg and made a straight dash for his smirking opponent who also ran towards him. Meeting the stone Kunoichi halfway; his kunai locked against her short sword.

Utilizing his superior strength, the young Uchiha pushed her off balance and quickly dove in for a slash to her descending rib. Normally he wouldn't aim for such a fatal spot, but this was the Chunin Exams and he knew that she would kill him without even batting a lash.

Just as his kunai was about to connect with her loosely armored side, he was taken aback by how she, in a show of flexibility and skill, balanced herself on one hand and delivered a viciously swift kick to the bottom of his jaw sending him back a few feet.

As he massaged his now sore jaw with a scowl, he watched as Kurotsuchi fixed her footing and stood back up on her two feet with her cocky smirk still present.

"I heard from a little birdy that you and the Namikaze are rivals? I hope that's not true… I seriously hope she's the stronger one out of you two."

Kurotsuchi said in a sarcastic tone while mockingly stretching her arms above her head in boredom.

Sasuke exhaled a deep sigh, he didn't know who she got her info from, but he was definitely the stronger one out of him and Naruto, he'd prove that to Kurotsuchi as soon as he beats her, and then proceed to beat Naruto.

Activating his dojutsu; the Sharingan, he angrily leveled his three tomoed eyes into her gleefully joyous brown eyes.

"Genjutsu won't work on me Uchiha, at least not when I've got my Yoton release coursing throughout my body. It hurts, but it keeps me focused on what's in front of me and not to mention it burns away poison inside of my body."

She looked away from Sasuke and sneered at Shino, who was seated next to his father and other clan members.

Sasuke huffed in disappointment and spun his kunai in his hand before running back towards her again, although much faster. He wasn't going to waste anymore time, entertaining her meaningless words; he'd let his fist and kunai do the talking for him.

Just like before, his kunai crossed against her tanto and he pushed her off balance. He smirked knowingly when she lifted her leg to repeat the same attack that she had done just earlier, and side stepped the kick. Bringing down his kunai straight for her throat he widened his eyes seeing her hands positioned in the boar sign.

"Doton (Earth Style): Flowing Earth Spikes!"

Sasuke leaped back away from the smirking girl only to narrow his eyes not seeing any shift wth the arena's ground.

"Was it a bluff…?"

Feeling something quickly approaching him from behind, he shifted his body in the air just narrowly avoiding the spike of earth that rose from the ground and crumbled apart just as he landed clutching his bleeding side.

"Y-you cheat-"

He wasn't able to finish his remark due to four globs of lava hurling through the air straight for him. Flashing through hand signs he hurriedly yelled and shot out a massive fireball that easily dwarfed the globs of lava.

"Katon (Fire Style): Fireball Jutsu!"

The ball of fire destroyed the lava projectiles and continued soaring through the air towards the Tsuchikage's granddaughter.

"Doton (Earth Style): Rising Earth Shell!"

The fireball was stopped if, just barely by a dome of earth that rose protectively around Kurotsuchi. As it crumbled apart Sasuke groaned seeing her smirk condescendingly at him.

"Hn, why can't she just drop dead and let me fight the dope already?"

Clutching his kunai tightly in one hand he quickly withdrew another kunai and readied himself as Kurotsuchi sped towards him with her tanto raised. It looked like he was going to be the one on defense now.

XxLine BreakxX

Chunin Exams Stands

"Sasuke-san sure has grown since our fight back in the Wave…"

Haku's idol comment got three reactions.

Shock from Karin; having not known about their alteration in the Wave, Annoyance and an angrily shaking fist from Sakura, and a grumble from Ken.

"How much stronger do you think he is Haku?"

Ken asked his friend with his head still resting in Karin's lap.

"Are you perhaps jealous that he might be stronger than you Ken?"

Ken lifted his head instantly missing Karin's warmth and leveled a shaky glare at Haku.

"Enough with the jokes, I'm just curious is all."

Haku scratched his cheek in though as Ken and Karin leaned closer in anticipation of his answer. Sakura was frantically chewing on her nails watching Sasuke and Kurotsuchi engage in a fierce blade fight that produced sparks with each attack sent and or parried by the two.

"I'd say Sasuke-san is stronger than you Ken."

Haku stifled his gentle laugh at the sight of Ken and Karin's disappointed expressions before continuing.

"But in a lethal fight where anything goes, you'd win Ken. Although his bloodline grants him far above average perception skills, said to even be able to predict the future, the Sharingan doesn't have any other noteworthy abilities to my knowlege besides eye genjutsu's which would be ineffective against you because of your excellent chakra control. Your bloodline and Kurotsuchi's bloodline are more versatile in prolonged fights. That goes for my Hyoton as well, although it's nowhere as deadly as either of your bloodlines. Sasuke's best bet would be to quickly end the fight before you could use your Mokuton abilities."

Haku smiled proudly at his astonished friends before holding his hands up in mock surrender at the angry scowl Sakura had directed towards him.

"So, Sasuke-kun is going to lose because of her Yoton (Lava Release)?"

Haku nodded stiffly at the pinkette's question.

XxLine BreakxX

Kage Box

"Hahaha look at the little Uchiha heir run around in circles Namikaze! My granddaughter has this exam in the bag if your daughter isn't at least ten times stronger than the Uchiha!!"

Minato rolled his eyes and leaned back into his seat, ignoring Onoki's mocking laughter. He would've commented had the old man been wrong.

Sasuke was literally running around the perimeter of the arena, desperately dodging, and evading the globs of lava rocketing towards him. Minato couldn't help but sweatdrop at Fugaku's stern frown he was sending Sasuke.

The way the young Iwa Kunoichi was hysterically laughing between shooting off her jutsu's was… Concerning.

"She's going to kill your daughter Namikaze. I don't like you… In fact I hate you and this village of yours, but if I were you, I'd pull your brat out of the exams before my granddaughter gets to her."

Minato knew that Onoki was completely serious. The way he didn't insult… him or laugh at him proved that Onoki was completely certain that Kurotsuchi was going to kill Naruto.

There could only be one reason for that… He sighed when he noticed the girl stop laughing and smirk up at him.

"Did… Did I kill someone important to her? She does look old enough to be alive for that slaughter."

Minato shuddered at the unfiltered joy swirling in Kurotsuchi's eyes. Joy for the fact that she was going to kill his beloved daughter.

Sometimes he despised the Third Hokage and the Fire Daimyo for issuing him such a terrible mission. He felt like his anger and grief over Obito's and Rin's deaths was used, but… he understood why it was used and directed towards Iwa and Kumo.

So that the Fire Nation could prosper under peace again, and so that he could become the man he is today. A shinobi who inherited the previous Hokage's Will of fire and a leader who understands the true meaning of the Cycle of Hatred.

He was only glad that he was able to pass down his Will to Naruto in a way that didn't require such gruesome acts like the Third did to him.

"Her mother Namikaze. You killed her mother, I didn't expect you to know, how could you remember the names of each of the thousands you killed that night, let alone remember their faces. Kurotsuchi has waited years for your brat to participate in the exams, refusing advancements in rank despite being as strong as many Jonin wish they could be. She will one day be the next Tsuchikage, so naturally this exam is a win for Iwa. It doesn't hurt that we were hired to win the exam this year, hmph."

Minato raked his mind trying and failing to remember a woman who used Yoton jutsu's against him during his one-sided slaughter, before Onoki's last words unk into his head.

He leaned close to the old Particle style user making sure to not get too close.

"You were tasked by your Daimyo to win as well? Looks like I might have to keep my little knuckle head in the exam, this must be a seriously important Exam to the Daimyo's this year. What about you Rassa? Were you employed too?"

Rassa cracked an amused smirk- reserved for a select few, at Minato and crossed his arms. He and his Daimyo's relationship was not the best, in fact it was downright awful. His village barely received important missions anymore, except for the few that his friend and only ally Minato would slip to them.

"No, I haven't received a mission from the old crone in about a decade now. However, I'm fairly sure that if I did, and Gaara was allowed to utilize his powers as a Jinchuriki then we would have won."

Onoki sneered at the Kazekage and focused his eyes back down to the arena. Sasuke was still dodging the lava projectiles his granddaughter was sending at him.

"You need to fix that brat of yours Rassa, he's not right in the head I say. My Jinchuriki are much more tamed than your boy, not nearly as much as Ai has his, but still more so than yours. Say, you don't mind if I take your Biju off of your hands do you?"

Minato bit his tongue to prevent himself from speaking. Jinchuriki were not animals to be tamed and traded. They were humans just like them, more times than not more human than any other.

Rassa ignored Onoki's comment and also looked down at the arena. He had his reason's for keeping his son's seal the way it was, they wee selfish reasons but a reason, nonetheless. Personally, he didn't think the tiny but dangerous old man had any room to talk, considering the way his granddaughter was behaving down below.

Speaking of Kurotsuchi, she was building up a tremendous amount of chakra for a jutsu.

"This fight is decided."

Minato and Onoki nodded to the Gold-dust user's statement.

XxLine BreakxX

Chunin Exams Arena

Sasuke sighed in relief when Kurotsuchi stopped lobbing spits of highly corrosive lava at him. He took the momentary time of peace to examine all of the damage the psychotic girl had caused to the stadium.

It was pure destruction.

Tree's were charred and some even set a'flame, there were mounds of hardened lava spewed all over the ground and walls oozing smoke and other fumes into the air, and finally there were streams of lava slowly moving from one side of the stadium to another.

He had no clue how to fight someone with this much destructive power; if he was hit with a single touch of her lava, it was game over.

He cringed and clutched his side when Kurotsuchi slowly went through hand signs, mocking him by performing each sign slower and slower than the last. She clapped her hands together and waited for him…

Sasuke wasn't a sensor type of ninja, so that's why when he felt all of her chakra focusing into her hands he knew that this was it. She was finally through playing around with him. He somewhat wished that his father didn't take him to the Hokage to remove the curse seal that Orochimaru placed on him.

He needed more power if he wanted to win against her.

'I wanted to save this jutsu against the dope, but…'

The Uchiha mentally mumbled to himself as he quickly went through hand signs. Landing on the Tiger sign he brought his hands up to his mouth and inhaled deeply, stretching out his lungs as much as possible.

He couldn't help but be grateful for the challenging smirk plastered on his opponents face; she at least recognized the power of this jutsu. If this jutsu lost then, that was it… He lost.

He would have no more chakra left after this.

"Show me how powerful the great Uchiha clan is!"

Sasuke ignored her words as his cheeks swelled with fiery chakra ready to be released. He knew that she wasn't a genin… she wasn't nearly as strong as Orochimaru was when he got the jumps on him and his teammates, but he knew that she was closer to the Sannin's strength than he was for sure.

Knowing that soothed his pride. He didn't lose- he was mismatched.

"Katon (Fire Style): Great Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

"Yoton (Lava Style): Searing Lava Tiger Charge!"

Much to the crowds amazement; evident by the increase in cheers and noise. The massive dragon made up of crimson red flames with powerfully glowing yellow eyes growled, exhaling flames from it's mouth before charging towards Kurotsuchi's jutsu.

It took a moment longer than Sasuke's jutsu to form, but when it did, the crowds excited cheers doubled, maybe tripled. Adjacent to Sasuke's raging dragon, stood an equally massive beautifully made red and black tiger, whose molten skin popped and bubbled.

The tiger barred it's elongated fangs; revealing them to be made completely up out of hardened lava and sped off towards the flame dragon.

XxLine BreakxX

Chunin Exams Infirmary

"Excuse me miss but this is Neji-sans room correct?"

Hinata blushed and let go of her sleeping cousin's hand. Turning to the person speaking she smiled shyly and nodded at the woman wearing a doctor's coat.

"Y-Yeas this is. How can I help-"

Hinata paused as her pale skin turned five shades whiter… Her tremoring in fear eyes stared into the yellow slitted eyes of a brunette doctor who had just walked by and into the room across from Neji's. What scared her was the gleeful yet sadistic glint in the woman's reptilian like eyes.

The fear she felt from just peering into those sickly yellow eyes was equivalent if not more fear than when she had seen that monster earlier.

"Are you okay miss?"

The doctor rushed forward and lowered Hinata into one of the two chairs that was next to the bed Neji was fast asleep on.

"I'm f-fine. Thank you… But, could you tell me who is a-assigned to that room o-over there?"

Hinata unsteadily raised her finger to the room the terrifying woman had just entered.

The doctor turned around and peered at the door, her eyes frowned in concentration, before her eyebrows shot up in remembrance.

"Uchiha… Um- Ohh it's Izumi-chan! She's been acting strange these past few weeks, but I can guarantee that she's the sweetest despite you know… Being an Uchiha."

Hinata gulped and looked at the doctor laugh at her own joke. She wasn't too certain of the doctors words but accepted her statement for what it was. One thing did worry her though…

When did Uchiha's ever have yellow eyes? They were always onyx, a dominate gene that each member inherited no matter what.

"Is there a problem here?"

Hiashi raised a brow at the doctor and his seated daughter.

"N-Nothing Hiashi-sama! I was just handing over the recommended vitamins for y-your nephew!"

Hinata sweatdropped when the doctor pulled out some pills and placed them on the small desk next to the bed, before hurrying out of the room closing the door behind her.

Hiashi ignored the doctor's strange behavior and sat down in the chair next to Hinata and watched Neji sleep peacefully.

"Father?"

Hinata asked timidly, the fear from the eerie doctor from before washed away by her father's presence.

"We have much to discuss regarding your future Hinata, but right now let's focus on Neji and his wellbeing, as a family…"

Hiashi was surprised when Hinata fiercely nodded and embraced him. He had to thank Minato's blonde troublemaker for saving his nephew and thank Ken for opening his eyes to his daughter's happiness.

He hoped that Ken would continue to make his daughter happy.

-In the room over-

"Wakey, Wakey, Gaara-kun. I require your services for the destruction of this village."

Pale feminine hands lifted Gaara's shirt up, just enough to see the black seals dancing on top of another set of seals. It was just as he, or rather she thought, Minato didn't fix Gaara's seal, he only cut-off Gaara's connection to the poorly made seal beneath.

Her rosy pink lips shifted into a sinister smirk revealing each of her perfectly polished white teeth, and her eyes which were previously yellow flashed red with three black tomoes swirling hypnotically in each eye.

She went through hand signs and when finished, positioned her palms straight for the swirling seal on Gaara's stomach. As her hands slammed down with the ferociousness of a wild viper- She came to a sudden stop right above his stomach. Quickly fixing Gaara's shirt, normalizing her expression, and canceling her prepared jutsu, she straightened herself and stood up.

"Hey Doc, how's my little brother? This is still unreal to me; you know this is the first time that I've ever seen him sleep…"

Kankuro entered into the room and made his way over to his little brother's side. He blushed at the cute smile the doctor gave him before leaving the room without answering his question.

Chalking it up as her being shy around overly attractive men he laughed and soaked in the sight of his little brother before turning on the television.

"Check this out Gaara. The Uchiha isn't all that great after all… Hmph, I'm sure if the Hokage and his dad didn't interfere you would've won no problem!"

Kankuro grinned at the sight of Sasuke's fire dragon being literally devoured by Kurotsuchi's lava tiger. He leaned forward in anticipation when the tiger pounced upon Sasuke only to face fault when the tiger exploded into a shower of lava, sparing the defeated and downed Uchiha.

"Mann I was hoping for some old fashioned revenge!"

"Winner Kurotsuchi, of the Hidden Stone Village!"

Kankuro complained and watched as Kurotsuchi walked passed Sasuke with her eyes glaring up at Naruto in the contestant box.

"She wants to kill Namikaze not the Uchiha. I'm surprised that despite clearly hating Konoha she apparently has solid morals."

Kankuro turned around hoping that it was the hot doctor from before only to pout at his smirking sister, Temari. After sighing and slouching down in his seat he pointed to the tv with a curious look.

"Naruto Namikaze, of the Hidden Leaf, and Temari Sabaku, of the Hidden Sand come down."

The crowd went crazy once again at the mention of it being Naruto's turn to participate. After that first show she put on for them with the rasengan, the entire crowd was in an uproar happily awaiting her next fight.

Naruto stood in the ruined arena alone, impatiently kicking at the dirt below.

"Temari you'll be disqualified if you don-"

"Shut up Kankuro, I'd much rather be here with my little bro's rather than get beaten up out there by Naruto."

Kankuro blushed at hearing his sister's confession. It was rare when all three of them could be alone in one room without something bad happening, and even rarer when he heard his sister speaking so kindly towards him and Gaara.

"Winner Naruto Namikaze, of the Hidden Leaf Village by default! Will Kurotsuchi of the Hidden Stone Village come down!"

After Kurotsuchi made her way back to the center of the arena stopping right in front of Naruto, both girls glared intensely at each other as the roars of the overly excited crowd blared in the background. Temari took that as a que to turn off the Tv, blissfully unaware of the menacing yellow eyes glaring at her and her brother.

She'd rather not wake Gaara up from his first sleep.

Chapter End

An: Edited the hell out of this chapter just in case your confused about things here and there. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I made it longer than I'm used to, so hopefully it isn't too drawled out, or overly ambitious… Orochimaru is about to do his… err her thing, it's complicated and will be revealed next chapter, like why would he go after Sasuke when there's an entire village full of Uchiha's?