New face of Death

Chapter 1: Death's Mask

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T TRAIN ME!" The voice of one Naruto Uzumaki, who was becoming increasingly pissed off right now, yelled out within the hospital of the leaf village which made everyone jump from fright and turn to see the altercation commence between him and his suppose sensei Kakashi Hatake. The young blonde had come here to see Sasuke and Rock Lee but was denied to the former for some reason before Kakashi came by to speak with the blonde. When the topic of being trained for the chunin exams came up Kakashi had declined in training Naruto.

"It is as I said Naruto." Kakashi began to explain again while not even bothering to look up from the book he was reading. "Sasuke needs me to train him for his fight. He is going up against that Gaara kid and needs my help to be able to stand up to him."

At this point, his fist was beginning to clench and he growled a bit while glaring up at his "sensei". "But I'm going up against Neji! You saw what he did to Hinata, his cousin! I need training as to go up against him and make that bastard pay for what he did." said Naruto as he couldn't understand why Kakashi couldn't train both of them. They were both his students who were going up against strong shinobi who had no problem in outright destroying their opponent.

Kakashi was for one not at all caring about his student's temper and continue to read his book while not bothering to see Naruto's eyes had flashed red for a second when he was glaring at him. "While true Naruto, Gaara is much more of a threat then Neji. As it stands Sasuke needs more help than you. You had a good run Naruto. Maybe you should just back out and try again next year." He said while ignoring the rage coming to Naruto's face as he heard those words come out of his sensei's mouth. His hands were now clenched hard to the point he had drawn some blood. His hair now shadowed his eyes as they were now fully red and slit.

"Is that how it is huh. You're just like the rest of them." He said while his body shook a little and he was releasing some killer intent toward Kakashi. At this, the cyclops did look up a bit to stare down at his student. "You are no better than the rest of the idiots of this stupid village." Naruto began to walk away, but Kakashi went and grabbed a hold of his wrist.

"Naruto you ca-" Whatever he was going to say was stopped when the enraged blonde grabbed his wrist and snapped it violently before swinging him against the wall. "Don't you fucking touch me Hatake! After everything, I've done for this team. All those D-rank missions being left for me to do after that those two other bakas complained about doing the work. The mission to wave where it was I who saved your ass from that water prison jutsu. Not Sasuke who would have sat there and pissed himself. ME! Even during the Chunin Exams when we fought Orochimaru in the forest, Sasuke was the one who was going to surrender our scrolls over to the slimy bastard before I stepped in and saved both of their asses while they were still frozen in fear." Naruto's yellings had gained the attention of the hospital staff as they watch the blonde yelling at the silver-haired jounin. Kakashi himself was a bit stunned from all this anger aimed towards him by his student and couldn't look away from the crimson slitted eyes he had. "You are nothing more than a hypocrite Hatake. What was it you said during our test. "Those who abandon the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash". Well, guess what. YOU'RE WORSE THAN TRASH!" He pushed back into the wall hard then walked away from the stunned silver-haired cyclops. All the doctors and nurses gave him plenty of space so as not to have such anger on them.

Naruto walked through the village and unlike other times where he would wear a fake smile on his face and ignore all the glares aimed at his direction. This time he had a scowl on his face and when the people glared at him he glared back with added killer intent which made a few people gasp and look away. They were surprised at the amount of anger he showed back since they weren't used to him glaring back at them. 'I can't believe this. How am I suppose to get some training now to defeat Neji? There's no one else around that isn't either busy or just outright deny me.' He thought to himself and grumbled some words under his breath that shouldn't be heard by children around the area. He was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't notice the man that he had bumped into. The man had dropped his bag from the sudden push and looked to see who had bumped into him.

"Hey, I'm sorry fo-" Naruto had begun to say before he looked up to see who it was before a true smile came to his face when he saw who it was. The man himself smiled as well when he noticed the golden hair of the one boy he liked the most. "Old man Jango!" (yes I'm in the story, gotta problem with it, fight me) He laughed before he went and hug the man. Jango, as was his awesome name, returned the hug with a chuckle.

"Damn it, boy. How many times I gotta tell ya I'm not that old." He smiled as he heard the boy's laughter as he ruffled his head. He's been friends with the young lad ever since he found him out in the winter cold when he was around 4 or 5 years old. He would have asked what the kid was doing out in this kind of weather if hadn't picked him up to take him back to his place to warm up. He must have been out there for a few hours before he found the kid since his skin was close to almost turning blue. Once he had got him inside he and his wife put him by the fire with a warm blanket and rested him on a pillow. When Naruto had awoken he looked around to see where he was before he spotted a woman walks in the room with some hot cocoa and handed it to him. Giving his thanks to the woman he had asked if she brought him here with her respectively replying that it was the old man. Then enter Jango with a plate of food for the boy to have. Both he and his wife laughed a little at the way Naruto had to seem to devour the entry they served him. Though on the inside they were upset to see a kid seem hungry and appeared to not have been feed well or at all from what they saw of his body when the woman had washed his clothes. They had taken care of him for a while until the harsh cold had passed and it was time for him to go. Honestly, they would of adopted Naruto since they saw him as a grandson they would love to have, but the only thing that was stopping them was the few threats made by individuals of a higher power that would destroy their homes or kill one of them.

"You say that but I know I've seen you a few times holding your back like you were in pain." Said the young blonde boy with a cheeky grin on his face as snickered from seeing the few tick marks that appeared on the older man's head. Oh if there was one thing he loved doing when around him, it was to see him get frustrated since he would react in some of the funniest of ways to him.

"Whatever kid. Say what are you doing over here anyway? I thought those Chunin Exams were in the process of going on?" He asked as he picked up his bag before walking to his home that wasn't that far from their position. The young blonde walked alongside him and nodded his head before a scowl appeared on his face at the reminder of what happen with Hinata and what happens at the hospital with his suppose sensei. His change in demeanor didn't go unnoticed by Jango either as he could hear some slight growling from the boy.

"Yeah. Right now we are on a month break to train for the finals. The only problem is the fact that I'm going up against someone proclaimed to a prodigy from the academy last year and I have no one to train me!" Said Naruto, as he groaned and kicked a can into an alley hearing it knock over a trash can while also scaring a cat away.

'Damn. I could have sworn I heard that he was on a team with that silver-haired guy as his sensei. What was his name again? Kakalish? Kakaist? Kakashi!' The older man thought to himself and remembered seeing the silver-haired cyclops at least once in a bar before. From what he heard from some rumors of other people, he was supposed to be the last remaining student of the Yondaime when he was still around. To his knowledge, someone like that being a sensei should be able to teach the young squirt with no problem. Looking back down to the boy he ponders on why that was. "Naruto. Can you tell me why you don't have anyone to train you?"

The still pissed blonde huffed and crossed his arms. "I had gone to me sensei Kakashi and asked him for training, but you know what he said. He said that he needed to put his focus on training Sasuke and that I should just simply drop out!" Now hearing this made the old man scowled. Of course, the man needed to put his efforts into the "Last Loyal Uchiha". What a bunch of bull! A teacher isn't supposed to put all their focus on one spoiled little shit. Their attention needs to be on ALL their students so everyone gets the same amount of training and not left behind. That's how his teacher in the way of the sword taught him. When he was young and wanted to learn how to protect himself he found a Ronin Samurai that he and a friend of his asked to be trained by. It took some time but the man accepted them as students and from then on they both were received the same amount of attention. No special treatment toward anyone. All equal.

"Well, you know what? Screw him! I don't need his help. I'll get stronger all on my own and when the time comes I'll defeat Neji then move to defeat Sasuke and show them both!" Hearing that determination in the boy's voice brought him out of his thoughts and put a smile on his face. He could tell this boy had potential. He just needed a push in the right direction for it to be brought out. So at this thought, he hummed for a second before grinning as they made it to his front door.

"Hey, squirt I know how you can get stronger." Said Jango as he unlocked his door and let the boy walk in first. At hearing this Naruto put his attention back to the old man and had a hopeful look on his face.

"You mean it? You know how I can get ready for the finals?" He asked and at seeing the grinning face of the man along with him nodding he knew this would be good for him. Anytime he had that grin on his face it meant he had a brilliant idea to tell him.

"I sure do boy. Just sit back while I go search my office for something. Emma is not around since she went out to work at the hot springs, but from what I smell she did leave a nice batch of cookies." Said Jango, as he chuckled when he saw the ocean blue eyes of the boy light up and ran to the direction of the smell before sitting up on the chair by the cookies. Taking one and giving it a taste bite he sighs in delicious bliss from the chewy chocolate taste they brought. Chuckling at the boy's enjoyment of his wife's famous cookies he went to his office before digging around some old books and scrolls he had. Once he found what he was looking for he grabbed the somewhat big book before heading back to see Naruto had finished the plate of cookies. Laughing at the way the kid could at times he moved and placed the book down on the counter before grabbing another plate of cookies that his wife had made since she knew Naruto's appetite was something one couldn't stop or hope to fill with little food around. Grabbing a few glasses and pouring milk in them he went back to the blonde and gave him his glass and watch him drink it up.

"Thanks. So what's that big book you got and how is it gonna make me get stronger?" The boy asked since he wasn't sure what an old book with a red spiral on the front would show him how to get stronger. Though the symbol on the front did seem familiar and recognized it a bit as the spiral that some of the shinobi and he had sewn into their clothing. Though what it meant was a bit lost on him.

"Tell me do you know about yourself?" At this, the boy stopped and looked from the book and back to the old man to see he had a serious expression on his face. Before answering the question Naruto had to think back on his life and figure out what he did know about himself. He was an orphan. He was hated by most of the populous because of something that wasn't his fault. He had no idea who his parents were or if they even wanted him. To sum it all up Naruto was just some kid that was dealt a bad hand in the game of life and was trying to make things turn around for him.

"Listen Naruto. This book you see before you are an old Konoha history book that they got rid of from the academy. I know they did since I've seen a few people coming from the academy with these books and throwing them away as they brought in new books to use. Know why I'm telling you this is because of something important that I believe you should know about yourself. Here take a look at this." Said Jango as he opened up the book to a page on the creation of Konoha. On the page was a picture of a few people standing in front of the gates of Konoha. One was Hashirama Senju, the Shodaime Hokage. Next to him was his brother Tobirama, the Nidaime Hokage. Besides the brothers were one Madara Uchiha before he went psycho crazy in wanting to be the Hokage of the leaf. Finally, in between Hashirama and Madara was one Mito Uzumaki, the wife of Hashirama.

"Do you know who these people are Naruto?" At the question, the blonde only gave him a blank look which made him face fault before getting up with a twitch of his eyebrow. "Well, I'm sure you should recognize these two since you did deface them on the mountain before remember." He pointed to the Senju brothers and at that Naruto's eyes widen as the light bulb in his head went off.

"Oh! That's the first and second Hokage. Alright, but who are the other two? This guy kinda looks like an Uchiha. Has the whole arrogance thing down pack." Said Naruto which made the man laughed a bit since it was true indeed. Ignoring his laughter for a moment Naruto focused his attention on the red-headed woman. She interested him for some reason that Naruto didn't know why. Maybe it was the hair color.

"Well your not far from the truth. That's Madara Uchiha. He is, or was, the past leader of the Uchiha Clan itself. And the women right there. Her name is Mito Uzumaki, the wife of the first Hokage and member of the Uzumaki Clan." Said Jango as watch Naruto's eyes widen and jaw drop hard on the counter. Was that a crack he saw?

"Uz-Uzumaki? Y-you mean that. I had a clan..." Looking up at the man Naruto saw his sad smile and he nodded his head. Looking back to the book at the woman Naruto couldn't help but feel some tears come from his eyes since finding out that he was related to someone like that, even if she was possibly just a distant cousin, was something in its self. "So what happens to them?"

Hearing the man sigh was something that made the blonde not like what was possibly coming up. And as he watches him flip the pages of the book to another section he knew why. The text that was highlighted in the book was one about the fall of the Uzumaki clan. "Well for starters, during the second great shinobi war they were attacked by three of the five great hidden villages. You see from what I know and what the book also tells me is that the Uzumaki clan was feared all around for their skills. They were known to be the number one users in fuinjutsu and because of this skill, they could practically do almost anything seals. They were also known as powerhouses since one Uzumaki was worth at least 10 of the enemy shinobi that had attacked them." Naruto was an entrance in the tale of his clan. He listened intensively as the man went on about their many feats that he has both heard and seen during his time when he used to travel. It was nice hearing so many great things that his clan was known for. He just wished that he could have met them or least a surviving member. There had to be some members of his clan still out there in hiding. He would make sure he kept an eye out for any people that could be linked to the Uzumaki. No family member should be left behind.

"Wow. They sound amazing old man. Though I still don't see how this is supposed to help me get stronger?" said Naruto and at this Jango nodded his head in remembrance of why he had brought this up in the first place.

"Oh yeah, my bad. Kinda got off track right there." He chuckled a bit before closing the book. "Now the reason I told you this and you can get stronger is because of something the Uzumaki left behind here in Konoha. It's an old Uzumaki Shrine, one of several I believe across the countries. Now I'm not sure what's inside them since I've only seen the outside of them before, but I'm sure whatever is inside only an Uzumaki like yourself can truly use to the fullest." Now hearing this from the old man got his hopes up. Maybe he could find some cool jutsu or some new fighting techniques since his brawler style was good, but he wouldn't mind having something refined to use.

So now with that information, Naruto thanked the man with a hug and left while taking some of the cookies with him as well. The old man pointed out where exactly to go to find the shrine and Naruto didn't waste any time running in the direction he pointed off to.

'Ah, that boy is going places. The Yondaime would be proud of him.' Smiling at his thoughts the old man looked up to the faces of the Hokages and chuckled to himself. How no one noticed the resemblance between the two was beyond him, but he wouldn't tell anyone and let Naruto figure it out on his own before giving these people a shock of a lifetime. Boy wouldn't that be funny to see.

(A few hours later – Uzumaki Shrine)

"GAH! Where is it! I've looked all over the place for hours and still haven't seen any sign of the place." A frustrated Naruto said as he was pulling at his hair from aggravation at not being able to find the shrine. Seriously! He had left possible 3 hours ago from old man Jango's house and he still hasn't come up upon anything. At this rate he would never be able to get at the level Neji is to defeat him and keep his promise about making him pay for what he did to poor Hinata. He was so aggravated that he didn't see where he was going before tripping over something. Getting up and rubbing his head he looked to see he tripped over some kind of plaque before looking up and saw a building that looked almost run down. Looking down at the plaque he read the words and his eyes widen. This was the place! The shrine! But? Why was it so messed up like this? Wasn't there suppose to be someone to take care of the place. Shaking his thoughts away about the building's condition he focused on checking out the place. He could always come back later to fix it. A few hundred shadow clones and anything could get done in a matter of hours with what would take possibly days to do.

As he entered into the place he saw many pictures of Uzumaki who were seen as the best in the clan and spotted a few with Mito in them. He smiled at seeing all the pictures before entering a room where there were a bunch of interesting-looking masks inside. Raising an eyebrow he was wondering what is the point of these masks? While he was contemplating the usage of the masks in front of him something stirred awake in another secret room of the shrine. Something not seen in a long time.

(Secret room)

Within this room was not much but a glass case on a pedestal. Within this case was a mask that severely different from the ones in the main room. For this mask was that of a skull. Not your average skull since it only had the two eye holes for you to see through. The mask itself seems to pulse with power as someone was close to its presence. Glowing with a purple-black aura a voice spoke through the mask.

"Hmm. Isn't this interesting. One of their own finally comes back to this shrine. It's been a while since I last let someone use my power and even more since I had a body to use of my own. Not since the time I was helping to clear my brother's name and bring the world back to order. Hmm, let's see if I can get this kid's attention." Said the mask as it seems to glow more before the case opens up and the mask floated out. Soon a transparent figure manifested with the mask. He was a tall man for sure with pale like skin. He had long black hair and the mask covered his face fully so all you could see where is yellow eyes. (I think they were yellow if I remember correctly) His body was muscular and could give the Raikage of Kumo a run for his money in terms of strength. He wore armored gauntlets that ended in somewhat claws while he had a strap of armor that went across his chest. He had long pants with armored boots at his feet. Looking up he uses what power he could summon and tried to get the kid to hear him.

(Back in the main room)

Naruto was still looking up at the mask when he felt something around him. He looked around the room but saw nothing around him. Shrugging a bit he was about to go look elsewhere when he heard a voice in his head.

'Hello there.'

Screaming for a second he stopped and frantically looked around him for the source of the voice but found known. SighiSighing he shook his head. "I must be going crazy."

'I've seen worst in others.'

"Okay, who's there. Come out now!" Said Naruto as he was getting tired of hearing whoever was talking. He knew it couldn't be the fox since he hasn't felt anything from the furball since that snake bastard hit him with whatever he did to him.

'Trust me I wish I could. You'll just have to settle with coming to me. So turn around and place your hand against the wall by that vase then send your chakra through it.'

Thinking over what his options were, Naruto contemplated whether he should go along with what this person said. Considering he did come here to get stronger, maybe this guy could help him out. So nodding to the idea, considering he also had nothing else to do around here, he did as asked and moved to the back wall of the room he was in. Putting his hand to it his eyes widen a bit when he saw a seal appear on the wall. Putting his chakra into it, he watched as the seal glowed before the wall moved backward and opened up as a door. Walking through he looked around the room in wonder since there wasn't much in here besides a glass case in the middle of the room opened.

"Okay, I'm in here now. Where are you?" Naruto asked as he was a bit aggravated that so far he hadn't found anything here.

"Why I'm right behind you." The voice said with a hint of humor in his voice since he had a feeling of what was about to happen. So when Naruto did turn around his body froze up at the appearance of the figure. Not only did he look somewhat intimidating, but his body was transparent. Meaning one thing.

"G-g-g-ghost!" And like that the kid fainted while the mysterious figure laughed at his predicament since many others who came did the same thing. He didn't know why. Sure he understood some people have a fear for the undead or the unknown, but come on. Most of the time all he did was just appear in front of them when they came to see him.

'At least he didn't scream like the others did, hehehehe.'

(Hokage Tower)

Hiruzen Sarutobi was working on some paperwork, the bane of his existence since he came back in the office, and was sighing at all this work just piling up. He really should have taken the place of the Yondaime during the sealing so he could deal with all this. Sitting back in his comfy chair, which was possibly the only good thing about this, he smoked his pipe while looking at the pictures of the previous Hokages up on the wall.

"Hello, Jiraiya."

Out from the window popped the man in question with his usual cheeky grin on his face. "You did always know when I was around whether or not I used stealth jutsu or not."

Hiruzen smiled looking back at his old student while puffing out some smoke from his pipe. "So what brings you back into the village so early? I would have thought you would be out doing your 'research' before making your way here."

If possible his grin grew even more and he chuckled a bit. "I was, but I decided to come back to check up on a few things since I know the Chunin Exams are still underway." His expression then turned serious while looking back at his sensei. "I also heard that Orochimaru was back in the village." At this, the old man sighed and nodded his head as he motioned for him to sit so he could tell him all the details.

(With Naruto – Location Unknown)

When Naruto had awakened from his fainting spell, which he is glad no one was around to see, he saw that he wasn't in the shrine anymore. He wasn't sure if he was even in Konoha for that matter! The sky was a pale green color. The smell of death was all around and he couldn't help the feeling of being watched. Getting up from his position on the ground he looked around to find someone to give him answers on where he was.

"Where in the hell am I?"

"Precisely."

Naruto jumped as he turned around and saw it was the same being from before, except this time he didn't look all transparent and ghost-like.

"You again?! And what do you mean precisely? I...I'm not dead. Am I?" At this Naruto was beginning to have a small panic attack. He couldn't be dead yet! He still hadn't achieved his dreams of becoming Hokage yet. He hasn't gone to eat ramen in hours! The figure watched Naruto with mild humor at the boy's panic state before deciding to calm himself.

"No, you are not dead. If you were, you wouldn't be here. You are in the place known as The Abyss, or the Underworld as it is also commonly known."The figure said as he began walking down a path with Naruto running to catch up to him. "I brought you here after your little fainting act."He chuckled in amusement while Naruto glared mildly at him.

"And why exactly did you bring me here? And who are you for that matter?" Naruto asked as he looked around as they made it to a more open area than where they were, before his eyes widen when he spotted skeletons dressed in armor training with each other. There seem to be one in the middle of the four others who were like the sensei of the group and was going to each one before having them get into a stance and attack.

"I have no real name to go by. You may just call me Death. And as for why I brought you here? It is to train you for the Chunin Exams." The now revealed Death said as he comes to a stop in front of the circle of warriors. Hearing this news Naruto's eyes widen as he looked from the warriors training and back to Death.

"You mean it! And hey, how do you know about the Chunin Exams?"

"While you were still unconscious I used what power I had to look within your memories by reading your soul."

"Whoa! You can do that?!" Naruto said as he grew a bit excited and looked to him while wondering if such a thing was like the Yamanaka clan he had heard about in the academy before he was kicked out of that class.

"Yes. And with my help, you'll be able to learn how to do it too, but first, we must go speak with the Lord of Bones. This is he's domain after all."Death said as he leads Naruto to pass the group of warriors training and headed for the stairwell while giving a nod to Draven as he continued to fight off his trainees. As the two made there way up the stairs they came up upon the big double doors that lead inside to the throne-like room. The two guards in front open the door for them with Death leading the way for them, they made it in front of a throne where a skeletal like figure sat there leaning against the armrest of his throne. The figured looked at the two as they came forward and gave a raspy chuckle.

"Well, isn't this amusing to see. Exactly why have you brought this mortal here when he is still technically alive?" He asked while looking over the small boy as they came closer to him. They stop and Death moved forward to explain his reasoning for bringing Naruto here.

"Lord of Bones, I've come to you in asking for your assistance in training this lad to use my power and skills. As you can tell he desperately needs." Ignoring the "Hey" that came from Naruto and looked to the ruler of the underworld with his arms crossed and stared into his empty eyes. The Lord of Bones hummed while looking to Death, who he has helped in the past in unlocking a power that was lost to him before.

"And what's in it for me? How does training this boy help me?"

"Think of it as a way to have someone be out there in the mortal world again to collect those souls you've been denied or those who have been mocking your existence of being here with their so-called 'immortality'." Now at hearing this statement, L.O.B. gained a scowl upon his face. There were many people out there who were making a mockery of his rule of the underworld. Those who would deny him and his subordinates their souls by finding ways to cheat death or even those of that Jashin religion mock him along with their so-called God! Maybe he uses this boy as an extension of himself to take care of those individuals.

"You've made your point. Alright, then I'll allow the training of this boy to happen on one condition! Step forward child!" He said commandingly while Naruto calmed his nerves a bit a moved forward as asked and stood at attention to the Lord of Bones. "You have to make a contract with me. Think of it as like those contracts you make with those summoning animals. You signing it not only will state you working as my personal...reaper on the mortal plane, but it will allow you to summon some my warriors if you perhaps need them. All I ask is that you work for me in collecting the souls of those who dare to mock rule here! Those who would cheat death through their perverted ways of immortality. Do you accept?" He looked deeply at the blonde-haired boy as he saw Naruto was thinking about what was said and the deal who would be making with this being. If he did do this then not only would he get stronger to defeat Neji in the finals, but he would have to follow the assignments given by this guy and it could interfere with him trying to become a great shinobi. He looked up at the ruler of this world and had a determined look on his face.

"I'll accept as long as I can get stronger to protect those precious to me and this won't interfere with my shinobi training."

"Don't worry about that boy. You're still relatively young so you have plenty of time to go after certain people, but I expect it to be done efficiently and when I call onto your service for you to take to the assignment right then. I don't care how you go about it as long as it gets done. Do we have a deal?" L.O.B watched as the boy once again thought about what was said to him, weighing the pros and cons in his head. Giving a nod Naruto accepted the deal with the ruler of the underworld.

"So, do you have something for me to sign for the contract?" He asked out of curiosity since from what he read in a few books on summoning, those with summoning scrolls had to sign said scrolls to validate the contract with the owners of it. L.O.B just chuckled before sitting up straight.

"No. Nothing to sign." He chuckled once more before using his power and shot it at Naruto with it hitting his chest. He gritted his teeth from the pain and couldn't hold in anymore as he screamed out for all to hear as the Lord of Bones placed his mark onto him. When it was over Naruto fell forward onto his hands and knees before grimacing at feeling a burning sensation from his chest down to his right arm. He pulled off his jacket and shirt to look at his chest he spotted a tattoo design of skeletal warriors and ghouls moving down his arms along with some kind of serpentine creature flowing down ending just before reaching his wrist. Death, who had been silent for a while as they discussed the terms of the deal, chuckled as watch the boy stand up shakily and glared at L.O.B.

"Alright, Naruto." Getting the boy's attention as he turned around to face Death. "It's time we begin your training for the next year." Now at this Naruto's eyes widen to the extreme to which they almost seem like they were gonna pop right of his skull.

"WHAT! I can't train down here for a whole year! The Chunin Exams is in one month!"

"Calm yourself, child. While what you say is true, time moves differently here. One month back on the mortal plane is a year and a half down here." Death said to him, watching as the blonde boy calmed down and nodded his head. "Good, now we shall begin and I'm telling you right here and now that I won't be going easy on you. I expect you to give it your all or I'll rethink this whole thing and throw you to some of the most hungry creatures that dwell within here. Understood?" Naruto nodded with determination sparkling in his eyes. He wouldn't give up just so easily and would do whatever it takes to get stronger so he could show everyone that they betted on the wrong horse. Death looked to him with a smirk behind his masked face.

'Looks like I've chosen the right disciple today.'

(One year/month later – Chunin Exam Stadium)

It was a busy day today in Konoha. People from all around had come to watch the final part of the Chunin Exams and were feeling excited about the coming matches. Some more than others since it was said that the Naruto would be fighting Neji, a Hyuuga prodigy. Many had made bets on the fight to come. Those who were from Konoha mostly betted on the Hyuuga boy while some clients betted on the Uzumaki boy since they didn't think much about prodigies and believed those of hard work could achieve more than others.

Within the stands, the few rookies who didn't make it into the finals were sitting by their senseis while looking down at all the candidates. Though there was a small problem and that was the fact that two of them were missing. Well technically three, but it was found out that Dosu, who was one of the sound genins, was killed a few nights before. The two that were missing were Naruto and Sasuke.

"I wonder where Sasuke-kun and Naruto could be?" Ino had said as she was sitting next to her rival for Sasuke's affections who was Sakura. The pinkete shrugged as she knew that both of them wouldn't miss something like this and it wasn't like them to not show up.

"I'm not sure Ino. I would of at least thought Naruto would have been the first to be hereafter what he said during the preliminaries." Sakura said while she looked around and didn't spot her sensei either. He must be with one or both of them since she hadn't seen much of them, more so Naruto, during the whole month of training.

They weren't the only ones wondering where a certain blonde was. Up in the Kage booth was the Third Hokage Hiruzen and beside arrived Orochimaru who was disguised as the Kazekage. They both greeted each other as civilly as possible while Sarutobi looked down to the group of genin and couldn't help but frown at the lack of Naruto's presence. 'Where could that boy be?' It was weird since no one had even remotely scene the boy after his little episode at the hospital. Not even Jiraiya could find the boy around Konoha since he had wanted to see him and check on his seal to make sure Orochimaru didn't do anything to tamper with it during their confrontation in the Forest of Death. Sighing he gave the signal to have Genma to start it up.

Seeing the signal Genma nodded and looked back to the gathered genin in front of him. "All right we are about to begin. Will Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuuga please step forward while the rest of you go up to fighters box above." Everyone cleared out leaving Neji standing with his arms cross and a confident smirk on his face, seeing as his opponent wasn't here.

'I knew he would be too afraid to come here and face me. So much for his so-called promise.'

Up in the stands, a few people were muttering to themselves about the no show of blonde boy for this fight. Hinata was sitting next to Kurenai as she was cleared early that day from the hospital to come to watch the finals. She was getting a little worried since Naruto hadn't shown up yet. Up back in the Kage booth, Hiruzen sighed as he wouldn't have much of a choice to forfeit the match to Neji. Hearing a caw from above he turned his head and a crow land on the railing in front of him. What was different about this crow though was the fact its eyes were glowing green and looking straight at him. He was surprised at seeing such a thing since he wasn't sure where exactly this bird came from.

Down back at the stadium floor Genma sighed. "Since Naruto is not here, the winner by default is Ne-" Before he could finish his sentence there was a loud noise coming from the entrance of the stadium which kind of sounded like a horse. Turning his head, along with everyone else in the stadium, they looked within the darkness of the entrance to see what was coming. The crow that was looking at Hiruzen gave off a caw as it flew down to the entrance passing by Genma before entering into the darkness. Another sound came from the darkness of the entrance and this time they were for sure it was a horse's neigh. Suddenly everyone's eyes widen at seeing the appearance of a figure wearing a cloak riding on top of a horse, but this was no ordinary horse either. No, this horse looked like it was dead, with its somewhat skinny stature but seem to have a strong body. Not only that but the horse was also on fire! Its hooves had green flames coming from it which left a small trail behind it as it rode forward. The mane of the horse was also the same color fire while its rider rode it like it wasn't bothering him.

When the figure was getting close to Genma he jumped off of the horse with it disappearing in green flames, which made eyes widen and landed right in front of both the proctor and Neji. He stood tall looking directly at Neji before removing his hood and heard the gasp of several people in the stands. There stood Naruto Uzumaki as with a fierce look in his eyes as he stared down his opponent.

"I'm here for my match." He spoke which made more eyes widen when they heard his voice but it was deeper than it used to be before.

All in all the people were shocked at this new development.

(Don't worry about the AN that was here. Deleted it after I came back to edit this first chapter after someone pointed something out to me and I realized "Whoops! That is wrong!" Anyways go read on to the rest of the story and stay safe out there.

Jangoman, Signing out!)