it'sm Uzumaki to Uchiha

Chapter 5

Small note here, the rest will be at the bottom

I got my first flame the other day there. The person commented about Sakura hitting Naruto, I thank you. You gave your honest opinion, I appreciate that. You may think me weird for this but I don't care.

To answer your comment anyway Flamer guy.

Sakura will die, soon. I guarantee that and probably for the shits and giggles I will resurrect her needlessly and kill her again- in the most horrible way possible... I will also do something about Hinata, probably kill her for the plot.

To the other Sakura haters...any ideas for Sakura's death are welcome. I was thinking of Gaara to kill her... Like he should have, in the invasion.

On another note, this story apparently has bashing in it as well... I thought I was generally in character for Sakura, doesn't she hit Naruto repeatedly in cannon? if you mean something else review or pm and I will add the bashing label.

Anyways, enjoy as usual.

Previously

Naruto went and stood next to him, sighing softly in content as his blood started to stop rushing through his body, incited by the thrill of battle.

The silence didn't last long as someone shouting drew him out of his musing.

"Naruto-Baka!"

Naruto turned and got a brief look at pink hair before his head was snapped to the side, a ringing 'slap' echoed through the room.

Naruto's hand came up slowly and cupped his hand over his cheek, a red palm print already forming.

Everyone was staring at the pink-haired girl in astonishment, looking between the emotionless Naruto and the panicking Sakura and wondering who was going to snap first.

Naruto looked up at Sakura, who was now looking at her hand in abject horror. Teal eyes flicking from her hand to Naruto's face, she started shuffling backwards, wary of the oppressive aura being emitted from the long-haired boy.

"Sakura," he spoke softly, an undertone of danger lurking beneath the calm facade.

The girl started, her gaze flicking up to Naruto's blank face more frequently. "Hai?" Her voice quavered.

Naruto walked forward slowly, his footsteps echoing faintly as he walked. He quickly reached Sakura, who was trying to get away. The wall at her back however, stopped her from retreating further.

Sakura was now trapped between the wall and Naruto, she looked back at her hand and noticed that it was shaking violently. Was she that scared of her own teammate?

Naruto reached forward with his hand and held it just centimetres away from her cheek. He debated about what to do for a few moments, not noticing the flinch from Sakura as he hand neared her cheek. Naruto decided to respond like she had. An eye for an eye.

An even louder smack than before resounded through the room.

Sakura stumbled from the backlash and fell down to the floor, her eyes watering with the pain in her reddening cheek. She raised her hand to touch the tender skin in a mirror of what Naruto had done mere moments before.

Naruto looked down at Sakura and sneered slightly before walking back to stand with Sasuke, ignoring the stares from all the Konoha ninja. The foreigners didn't care enough to watch. Well most of them.

"Ooooh, bitch slap! Itai! Chihiro-chaaan, why did you do that?" The blue haired Ame Shinobi turned to his red headed teammate pouting, his hands shielding the back of his head in case he was slapped again.

"Kaito we're supposed to be on a mission for Leader-sama and you're fucking about. Shut up before you break our cover."

Kaito looked at Chihiro incredulously, "But I'm not doing anything to break our cover."

Chihiro tched and turned to her other teammate, "Baka. At least Haruka is taking this seriously. " She muttered.

Haruka turned to the other male in his team, who was making rude gestures to Chihiro's back. "Kaito-san, your shouting and complaining is detrimental to our current mission. As Chihiro-san has said; you're actions will not be tolerated. If you dont take this seriously, we can just make you forfeit and send you back to Amegakure. Then you can explain to Leader-sama why the mission has failed." The raven haired boy's voice was monotone as he spoke, not even a inflection of emotion visible on his pierced face.

"You have nothing to complain about, asshole. Just because you're Leader-sama's favourite doesn't mean-" he was interrupted by the quiet but hard voice of the oldest of the group.

"Quiet Kaito. Another match is starting."

"Hai, Konan-sensei." The blue haired boy mumbled, his leaf green eyes glaring at his other teammates.

"Will Sabaku Temari and Tenten come down to the fighting area please."

"Naruto-kun." The former blond turned to look at Kakashi and frowned. The older man just gave an implied smile with his only visible eye and motioned for the genin to follow him with a lazy wave.

Naruto walked with his hands in his pockets as they made their way through the quiet hallways of the tower. The muffled sounds of fighting fading away as they walked further and further away from the main hall. Kakashi led him up three flights of stairs before they reached their destination, which was a dimly lit room.

The room was occupied by a small crowd of people, many, who Naruto was sure that they were still in the preliminary exam room. Must be Shadow Clones, he thought. Rather foolish of them.

Much to his surprise, the Sandaime Hokage stepped out from the shadows and stood in front of Naruto. His usually friendly and grandfatherly face gone, replaced by the real Hokage. The Hokage who had been though all three of the Shinobi World Wars and had been handpicked by the Nidaime, Senju Tobirama, as the successor to the throne of Konohagakure no Sato.

"Genin Uzumaki Naruto." The Hokage started. "There has been several concerns brought to my attention these past few days, in the wake of the preliminary examinations and the few days beforehand wherein you and your team arrived early. Would you please recount, from your own point of view, the events that occurred during your time in the forest for the Second Exam?"

Naruto blinked and cast his eyes across the room, recognising few faces among them. The proctors for the first few exams among them. Sighing, Naruto set himself to recount the altered version of events that he and Madara had decided would be detailed enough to satisfy his interrogators but vague enough to conceal the delicate details.

"On the first day, after encountering some deception and a trap laid out by a team of Kiri Shinobi... Our team encountered the disguised form of the traitor Sannin, Orochimaru..."

"Well then, Uzumaki Naruto, we send you back to the main hall to fetch Genin Uchiha Sasuke. You may leave." The Hokage looked at him a little less harshly and gave a small smile.

"Hokage-sama." Naruto gave a quick bow and left the room, shutting the door softly behind him. Turning round, Naruto headed back the way he came. His soft sandals making small thuds as they met the ground. Suddenly, he stopped, and looked sharply to the left. Coming out of the shadows... Was Orochimaru himself.

"An intriguing tale, Naruto-kun." The man's yellow, slit eyes gleamed in the murky light. "So intriguing. For a... false... story."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and slightly lowered his mask, sneering at the Snake-like man. He leant against the wall and crossed his arms across his chest, his motion mirrored by Orochimaru who stood across the room. "What of it?" Naruto demanded.

"Nothing." The snake assured. "You just interest me, Naruto-kun. After the events in the Forest of Death, I thought that you would have been rendered useless by my seal and therefore clearing the way for Sasuke-kun."

"You thought wrong." Naruto murmured.

"Yes. I did." Orochimaru agreed. "But, these circumstances have revealed some new players to the field and... Removed... some." Orochimaru's eyes darted to Naruto's abdomen and flicked up to blue ringed, obsidian eyes. Naruto narrowed his eyes and glared at the Sannin accusingly. "You no longer contain the Kyūbi, do you, Naruto-kun? It has been replaced by something different... Something... Greater."

Eyes wide, Naruto quickly conferred with Madara to seek his opinion. How does he know?!

'Sensor. The man can most likely feel the absence of such a powerful chakra. Anyone who is even a tiny bit sensitive to chakra could feel the change in you. It will be harder to conceal your change if there is many amongst the weak Konoha Shinobi that are chakra sensitive or chakra sensors themselves. We must talk later on this.'

"Naruto-kun?" The Uzumaki snapped out his thoughts and looked up at Orochimaru, who looked rather pleased with himself. "You were just communicating with whatever's inside you, weren't you?"

"Tch." Naruto got up from his relaxed stance against the wall and began walking away, his steps echoing in the dark.

"Oh, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto stopped and looked over his shoulder at Orochimaru, who was walking closer. Stopping next to the Konoha Genin, Orochimaru leaned forward and whispered in Naruto's ear.

"You have interested me, Naruto-kun. As a... Reward... I will let you in for a little secret that may intrigue whom I suspect resides in you." The man paused and breathed softly in Naruto's ear, making the boy shiver. The snake man's voice dropped, becoming so quiet that Naruto had to strain to hear. "During the final exam, I will be invading Konohagakure with my forces." Naruto's eyes widened and his mouth hung open a bit.

"I will be killing my former sensei, the Sandaime Hokage, and I will resurrect those who preceded him; The Shodai and the Nidaime, to fight against him before I do so. If I feel so inclined, I may let you battle against the two, cementing your 'loyalty' to Konoha. Which you may need until you are strong enough to leave this wretched village as I did all those years ago." Naruto could feel Orochimaru smirk against the sensitive skin around his ear, "Do as you wish with this information, just... Don't ruin the surprise, OK?"

Naruto nodded faintly and looked ahead at the shadowy corridor with wide eyes, not noticing when Orochimaru stepped away and faded into the shadows, a wide smile on his face.

"Let's see how you do with this, Naruto-kun. Kukuku."

"To all of you who won the rights to compete in the third round of the chūnin exam." The sickly man paused to give out a raking cough. "One is missing but, Congratulations to you all!" Naruto walked in at that moment, making the seven genin standing in the middle of the room look over to him as he closed the doors. "Ah our last finalist joins us. Come over quick."

Naruto, instead of moving faster like instructed, took his time to make his way across the room. Moving nimbly though the ruined remains of the fighting area. The floor was cracked and lifting in places and there was massive craters dotted about the place. Looking at the remaining contestants was useless in determining the source of the destruction as Naruto was called away before he could watch most of the matches. Shit. That means that I don't know what I'm up against either.

'We are at a distinct disadvantage indeed.' Madara confirmed.

Coming up to stand next to Sasuke, Naruto looked up a the sick looking proctor and raised an eyebrow at the pointed look the man was giving him.

"Ahem. Well, that's all I have to say. Hokage-sama, if you would please." Giving a last look over the chūnin prospects, the man stepped away and joined the proctors from the last two exams up on the raised platform, starting a conversation in low whispers as soon as he joined them.

"Thank you, Hayate. Now, I will start explaining the main test..."

"The prelims have ended and they will begin the finals."

Birds chirped their songs and the low rustle of leaves sounded in the distance, a low breeze making the expansive sea of trees dance.

"It's so serene. No. It's become accustomed to peace... In a time when it's said that other countries are busy strengthening their forces."

The white haired man turned to his master and adjusted his glasses. "Could we take it now?"

A smirk. "Yes. Though I'm not sure there will be much fun in taking the head of that geezer."

"Is that so?" The man replied. Orochimaru looked down to the wooden planks that made up the floor as he reminisced on days long past. "It seems to me that you are still hesitant to act." Kabuto stated. "From now on, the various hidden villages will fight against each other in a long and intense battle. Otogakure is among them." Kabuto lifted his hand up near his chin. "You intend to be the trigger to all this."

Orochimaru looked up and pinned his hard gaze on the musing spy.

"He's the bullet for that purpose, isn't he?" Kabuto pushed up his glasses again and looked over to the exiled Snake Sage. "Uchiha Sasuke-kun, was it?" He questioned.

Orochimaru smirked and gave out a low chuckle. "You're so intuitive that it's scary. But..."

"But?"

"You have forgotten one important variable, Kabuto-kun. You have forgotten Naruto-kun."

Kabuto blinked and looked over to Orochimaru confused. "Uzumaki Naruto-kun? He's just a weak, unimportant factor in our game. Just because he has gone through a change in looks doesn't mean that he becomes more of an interest."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong, Kabuto-kun." Orochimaru's smirk widened to a mad grin. "The host of Uchiha Madara, the most powerful Uchiha in the history of Uchiha's, would become an interest. Don't you think?"

Kabuto's smug look quickly slackened to one of shock, his glasses sliding down his face as he looked incredulously at Orochimaru. "B-but, the Kyūbi–"

"No longer resides within Naruto-kun."

"H-how?"

"I don't know. But, it proves to be an intriguing development in any case."

Sorry that the chapter is a bit shorter and it's been a while since I've updated, I actually have exams going on this month so I have been focusing on those for the time being. As a matter of fact I don't currently have the time to answer reviews so that'll have to come in the next update.

Ja ne

Madara