His Father's Footsteps

An academy teacher had once remarked that with his chakra, Naruto was like a candle in a dark room. Jiraiya disagreed. Naruto was less a candle than a superheated star burning everything in its path to a tiny black cinder. In a dark room.

The stadium hosting the final stage of the Chūnin Exams was full. Konoha's citizens flocked to the spectacle whenever their village was the host, turning it into a day of gambling, drinking, and general merriment. Patriotic fervor was at its highest during the Chūnin Exams and the shouts and exclamations from the crowd promised to serve up a ceaseless headache to anyone with enhanced hearing.

There was somewhat of a lull in the crowd's deafening noise as the next fight began. They didn't seem to know what to make of the two combatants about to enter the arena.

Standing next to the Sandaime in the stadium's top box, Jiraiya couldn't help but be disappointed by Naruto's entrance.

Where he had expected Naruto to enter with his head held high, defiant of the odds and the jeers of the crowd, he instead saw a petulant slouching child cross to the center of the stadium without so much as looking at the Hyūga boy. If Jiraiya didn't know any better he would say Naruto was deep in thought. Of course that wasn't that case though, he thought to himself. He had never known Naruto to be deep in thought about anything.

Frustrated by his apprentice, Jiraiya let out a sigh. If there was one thing that he thought he had pounded into the boy's head it was the importance of entrances. Of course, his couldn't be as dramatic as Jiraiya's. He lacked the thespian impulse that was crucial for the more theatrical entrances. But still, for Naruto slouch into the Chūnin Exam Stadium like some recalcitrant brat was the exact opposite of what Jiraiya had been trying to teach him.

"I would have thought that training with you for the last few months would have swelled his confidence, not destroyed it," the Sandaime said. Jiraiya had no doubts about what Sarutobi-sensei was thinking. Something along the lines of no training, but plenty of hot springs, detailed notebooks, and furious women. It wasn't entirely an inaccurate picture.

The old man wasn't as innocent as his disapproval would suggest but Jiraiya supposed that, as Hokage, he had to keep up appearances. For the sake of the village, of course. Sneaking into the woman's side of the hot springs was a joy reserved for only those lucky enough not to have such lofty responsibilities.

"All part of our carefully worked out plan, sensei," Jiraiya said, plastering an obnoxiously wide grin on his face.

Hiruzen sighed. Perhaps it would have been better to wait for Naruto to become more experienced before letting Jiraiya 'train' him, he thought.

Extended exposure to the Toad Sage tended to engender strange results in impressionable students. Minato's wardrobe never recovered from spending years as Jiraiya's student. Stylized Flames on the Hokage's ceremonial robes…honestly. Hiruzen snorted.

"They're beginning," the Kazekage said. He was even more tightlipped than Hiruzen was accustomed to. They had exchanged the most perfunctory of greetings and then the Kazekage had taken his seat and, despite Hiruzen's efforts to draw him out, not spoken a single word since.

Naruto's petulant attitude hadn't worn off, even though the fight had started. He wasn't a graceful fighter on the best of days but against Neji he looked about as elegant as a drunken geriatric deckhand.

Quick dodges and rolls kept Naruto out of Neji's range for the first minute of the match but he was forced to defend himself against the Hyūga prodigy when he inevitably got maneuvered against the stadium wall.

Hiruzen knew, as did the entire crowd, that the only way for Naruto to win against someone as naturally gifted in Taijutsu as Neji was to keep a distance and use jutsu that didn't require him to close Neji down.

Despite how obvious that was to everyone else, Naruto didn't appear to have gotten the message. Hiruzen watched as Naruto struggled to divert a fast jab aimed at his liver that would have decimated his tenketsu had it landed.

Naruto hadn't managed to get a single blow in since the fight had started. It was all he could do to fend Neji off. To be frank, Hiruzen was disappointed. The son of the Yellow Flash of the Leaf, who had just been personally trained by one of Sannin, was being made to look a fool in front of dignitaries from all five major villages.

The crowd hadn't been in Naruto's corner even at the beginning of the fight but as it went on and Naruto did nothing but block and evade Neji's attacks they began to actively boo him. They had come to see skilled potential-Chūnin battling, not one twerp who didn't know when he was outclassed.

"Perhaps it was too much to expect for Naruto to reach Neji's level after only a few months. His lack of experience is betraying him," Hiruzen said. He knew well that it was almost worse watching your student be thrashed than it was to be beaten yourself. Jiraiya would be kicking himself wondering what he could have done better to prepare Naruto.

The Kazekage seemed to delight in disagreeing with Hiruzen. "Some children are just born with more talent than others. It's unlikely that the boy would be able to win even if he had spent years doing nothing but training. In the end, natural talent will out."

Hiruzen was about to respond (and no doubt say something particularly undiplomatic) when Jiraiya nodded next to him and said, "You're right. Natural talent will out. The only problem is that sometimes it takes a sharp eye to see through to natural talent that lies beneath the surface."

The Kazekage didn't deign to respond.

Despite the implied confidence that Jiraiya had in his student, the fight wasn't going any better for Naruto than it had in the beginning. Neji kept Naruto in a corner of the stadium, lashing out rapidly whenever Naruto tried to make a bid for freedom. Once he was cornered there was little chance that Naruto would escape. Neji had controlled the fight from the very beginning.

There was a lull in the match. Hiruzen could see Neji speaking, his face a blank mask. He would do the most hardened ANBU agent proud with a look like that, Hiruzen thought. They were far away but Hiruzen could just make out the movement of Neji's lips. It seemed that he was asking Naruto to surrender, explaining in excruciating detail the position that he had been put in.

Naruto appeared supremely unbothered by what Neji was saying. He shrugged and said something short back. Neji's face contorted in rage, the controlled mask shattered in an instant, and the Hyūga moved to finish the fight.

At the same time, Naruto finished counting the time that had passed in his head. Five minutes. Take that, Pervy Sage. He slapped the wall that he had been backed up against with his palm.

"You're insane," Naruto said. He was sprawled on his back, the noon sun burning his face. It was unpleasant, but not so unpleasant as the training that Jiraiya had just been him through. Five chakra control techniques in one week? It didn't get any more tedious and exhausting than that.

"When I was your age my sensei had us learn that many chakra control techniques in addition to our normal training," Jiraiya said, utterly unmoved by Naruto's exhaustion.

"That just means your sensei was even more insane than you are," Naruto retorted.

"Here I thought you wouldn't be daunted by all of this training. If you can't even master these exercises than how are you ever going to master the super secret ultra-powerful A-rank jutsu that I was going to teach you?"

"An A-rank jutsu?" Naruto bolted upright, his previous exhaustion forgotten.

Jiraiya held in a smirk. It really was too easy.

"That's right. Those chakra control exercises were absolutely necessary to learning this jutsu. Normally I wouldn't have bothered with them and let you try to learn that jutsu on your own but we're working on a bit of a schedule right now. I've got to get you ready to fight in the Chūnin Exams in just a few months."

"I could handle the Chūnin Exams right now, no problem," Naruto said, glaring at Jiraiya. The Pervy Sage didn't like to dish out his knowledge without a pile of humiliation alongside it. Naruto thought that the sage got more enjoyment out of mocking him than he did teaching him.

"Sure, sure. Tell you what. If you can manage to master this technique before the Chūnin Exams I'll throw in another secret. Think of it as some extra motivation," Jiraiya said.

"Only if I can learn the first one?" Naruto asked.

For once, Jiraiya looked utterly serious. "This is a secret so dangerous that I was specifically forbidden by the Third Hokage to ever tell it to anyone; including you. It's an S-rank secret."

An A-rank technique was enough to motivate Naruto to his limits but an S-rank secret as well? He would master whatever technique Jiraiya could throw at him way before the start of the Chūnin Exams.

"What's the jutsu called?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya paused, a speculative look in his eyes. He seemed to be sizing Naruto up, as if trying to judge whether or not he was capable of even knowing the name of the jutsu. "It's called the Rasengan," he said finally.

"The Rasengan," Naruto repeated, rolling the word around in his mouth. He liked it. It sounded powerful. "I've never heard of it before."

"You wouldn't have. It was the Yondaime's most devastating jutsu. He spent years working on it."

"The Yondaime…" The greatest of the four Hokage. The man who had single-handedly destroyed the invading Iwa army at the Battle of Kannabi Bridge. A shinobi so fearsome that he was able to seal away the Nine-Tailed Fox, the Wind Demon, most fearsome of all the Bijuu.

There wasn't a person in the world, dead or alive, that Naruto respected as much as the Yondaime. To learn a jutsu that he had created would be nothing less than the greatest moment of Naruto's life.

Uncharacteristically serious, Naruto said, "I would be honored."

Jiraiya looked equally serious for a moment, staring at Naruto with a look that he didn't quite understand, before he smiled and said, "It's only natural that you'd learn it; a future Hokage needs to learn from his predecessors after all."

"I won't let you down, Pervy Sage, or my name isn't Naruto Uzumaki!"

And the moment was gone, Jiraiya thought, rolling his eyes. Ah well, it was nice while it lasted.

"It's a good thing Kakashi isn't here to see this," Asuma said, watching Naruto get forced into a corner. None of his students would make it anywhere near the end of the tournament but at least they wouldn't have to get humiliated in a fight as lopsided as Naruto's.

Asuma had been in fights he knew he couldn't win before; some more serious than others. The best thing to do in a tournament match would be to surrender. There was no shame in admitting defeat once you knew you were so outclassed. But to not know your own limitations and humiliate yourself in front of thousands of spectators? Asuma almost felt bad for the boy.

"He's tenacious, at least," Kurenai said. Asuma almost laughed. It was a weak defense and they all knew it. Even Guy looked subdued as he watched the fight. For as much as he valued persistence Asuma knew that he didn't like to see such a mismatched fight.

"The Fires of his Youth burn brightly indeed," Guy said, his voice lacking its usual pep. Most sensei would be pleased to see their student doing so well but Guy had always been strange. He would be happier to see Neji struggle against a powerful opponent than trounce a weak one.

"There's always next year. He's just a rookie," Asuma said, feeling vaguely guilty as Naruto narrowly avoided another one of Neji's jabs.

In the top box, Hiruzen was finishing saying something similar to Jiraiya. "…and the list of rookie genin who managed to make it past the first round, or even make it to the first round, is short indeed. He's a shoo-in for promotion next time, as long as you and Kakashi can knock some sense into him."

Jiraiya didn't look like he was even listening, Hiruzen thought, annoyed at being disregarded so casually.

"I wouldn't worry so much, sensei. His five minutes are up," Jiraiya said, a smile creeping over his face. It wasn't the usual Jiraiya smile, Hiruzen noted. This one was more genuine, even anticipatory, as if he had been waiting for this moment since the match began.

Hiruzen almost asked Jiraiya what he meant but he restrained himself. The less ignorant he seemed in front of the Kazekage the better. He had an image to maintain. The God of Shinobi didn't beg for information; especially not from his own students.

Little seemed to be changing down in the arena. Naruto was being backed up against the wall until he had no more room behind him, his back flush against the wall. Neji's strikes were growing faster and faster, until he began the technique that Hiruzen knew would end the match.

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" Neji shouted, his fists a blur even to Hiruzen. To obtain mastery of such a technique at his age was extremely impressive. Neji Hyūga would merit close watch indeed.

There was no chance for Naruto to escape the onslaught. Each palm found its mark, disabling a chakra point on Naruto's body. If Naruto were less resilient Hiruzen would worry that the technique would kill him. As it was, it would be painful, humiliating, and decisive, but he was sure that Naruto would recover none the worse for the experience. Perhaps it would even teach him some humility.

Hiruzen shook his head. Unlikely.

The last of the blows struck Naruto and he collapsed to the ground, one knee all that was holding him upright. His face lifted up, staring at Neji defiantly, and then he…smiled.

Naruto vanished in a puff of smoke and Jiraiya let out a belly-rippling laugh.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Hiruzen said.

"Each shadow clone has the same amount of chakra as the original, making it impossible for Neji to tell that he was fighting a clone, even with his Byakugan activated," Jiraiya said.

"You planned this?" Hiruzen asked.

"Naruto planned this," Jiraiya said.

Clods of dirt exploded from the ground as four more Narutos burst up from their hiding place underneath the stadium. They took advantage of Neji's momentary surprise and one managed to sucker punch him before he could react.

"He hid where he knew Neji would be least likely to look. Underground," Hiruzen said. It was a more impressive display than he had suspected that Naruto was capable of. He had lulled Neji into a false state of complacency and then struck when the older boy thought that the battle was won.

The Kazekage was staring at Naruto more intently than he had been before. There was a spark of interest in his posture that hadn't been there moments before. A good fight could do that to even the most composed of shinobi, Hiruzen knew.

"It's only going to get better from here," Jiraiya promised.

There were only two weeks left before Naruto's fight with Neji and he was still unable to use the Rasengan. The ball would spin itself into nothingness as soon as Naruto built up enough speed for it to be a worthwhile attack.

Jiraiya was almost as disappointed as Naruto was. Still, he knew that to be able to master an A-rank jutsu after only a few months of study was something that only a handful of shinobi his age would be able to do.

He didn't have the level of natural talent that a prodigy like the Uchiha or Hyūga did, but he was able to work toward mastering a technique with such a single-minded determination, and for so much longer than his peers could manage, that the end result was the same. He usually mastered skills far beyond his ability level in an impressively short amount of time.

The Rasengan seemed to be the exception to that rule. It required both enormous chakra reserves (which would be no obstacle for Naruto) along with precise chakra control (which was an obstacle for Naruto).

Jiraiya poked Naruto on the back of his head. "You're trying to increase your chakra output without addressing the real issue. You'll never be able to form the Rasengan if you can't stop your chakra from dispersing once it leaves your chakra system."

"It's not like I don't know that. I've spent the last two weeks trying to stop my chakra from dispersing. Nothing's working," Naruto said. He clenched his fist in frustration.

Jiraiya studied his student with calm eyes. He had no trouble with forming the Rasengan, which had given Minato the most trouble, but he couldn't seem to keep it spinning. Perhaps it would be better for him to focus all of his energy on mastering the control needed for the Rasengan, Jiraiya thought.

Pulling his chakra into the palm of his hand, Jiraiya formed a small, relatively harmless Rasengan. It was only a quarter of the size that a normal Rasengan would be, and Jiraiya doubted that it would be much more than an annoyance in a fight, but it would serve their purposes.

"All right, brat, listen up. I want you to take this Rasengan from me and keep it spinning for as long as you can."

Naruto peered at the Rasengan, looking entirely unconvinced. To his credit, he didn't protest Jiraiya's command. Tentatively he reached out and scooped the Rasengan up, with Jiraiya helping the chakra transfer along.

There was a brief moment where Jiraiya could feel their chakra systems connect. For an instant he felt the vastness of Naruto's chakra. It was as endless as the sky and, despite his decades of experience, it made Jiraiya feel insignificant in comparison. Despite the pleasing feel of the chakra, like sunshine on a cool day, there was an undercurrent of menace, a cruel red rage, which lurked beneath the surface.

Jiraiya shrugged off the residual effects of their systems meeting in favor of watching Naruto struggle with the Rasengan. He was doing better than he would have if he was trying to both form and control the Rasengan but the chakra still dispersed entirely within a few seconds.

"Only one way to get better," Jiraiya said, ignoring Naruto's sigh.

"Did the Yondaime have this much trouble with the jutsu?" Naruto asked. It was childish to look for confirmation that he wasn't the only one struggling with it but Jiraiya knew the kind of pressure that the boy was under. It wouldn't be a bad thing to try to cheer him up.

"Did you forget the part about it taking him three years to get this jutsu down?" Jiraiya asked snidely. Naruto perked up at the idea that he was progressing even faster than the Yondaime.

In truth, creating a jutsu was exponentially more difficult than learning one. For someone without a Sharingan, the speed at which Minato had been able to pick up jutsu was extraordinary. Naruto had his father's focus but lacked his precociousness.

"I will master this jutsu. Believe it! Pass me another one, Pervy Sage," Naruto said, his self-confidence returning to its normal bloated levels.

"Stop shouting, brat," Jiraiya said.

Jiraiya wasn't positive but he thought that the next Rasengan lasted a second longer. Maybe we'll actually get somewhere with this, he thought.

Naruto went from looking like he was soundly defeated to more than holding his own in seconds. Neji was faster than he was but he was struggling to keep up with four of Naruto who had the advantage of surprise.

Each time he launched a strike that looked like it would land a different Naruto would attack the opening his strike would leave, forcing him to abort the attack in order to protect himself. They had effectively stalemated, with Naruto bridging the skill gap with sheer numbers.

The Shadow Clone Jutsu was, without a doubt, one of the most annoying techniques in existence, Asuma thought. Judging from the frustrated expression he was wearing Neji agreed with him.

"Looks like you spoke too soon, Asuma," Kurenai said, a teasing note to her voice.

"Indeed. The Fires of their Youth have been stoked into a roaring blaze," Guy said, nodding his head. Asuma watched with some interest as not a hair moved out of place on Guy's head.

"He hasn't won. If he doesn't have any other tricks then he still won't be able to pull a win," Asuma said. He wasn't actively looking for Naruto to lose but it would reflect poorly on him in front of Kurenai if he couldn't even predict what a genin was going to do next.

"Having tricks up his sleeve is just about the one thing you can always count on Naruto for," Kakashi said. Asuma tried to pretend that he had noticed Kakashi arriving but from his cheerfully crinkled eye the Copy Nin had noticed his surprise.

"A hip entrance, as is to be expected of my Eternal Rival," Guy said.

"From what I've heard the Shadow Clone Jutsu is one of the few that Naruto knows," Kurenai said, ignoring Guy.

"That would be true, if he hadn't been spending the past few months with Jiraiya," Kakashi said. He leaned on the railing, as if he needed a closer look at the fight.

The rest of the jōnin could take a hint. They quieted and refocused on the fight.

Naruto had gained control over the fight, maneuvering Neji as easily as he had earlier been maneuvered, until they were in the middle of one of the sparse outcropping of trees in the otherwise bare stadium.

There was a momentary lull in the fighting as Neji said something which all four Naruto seemed to consider, their heads cocking slightly.

Hiruzen watched the muted conversation with narrowed eyes. "They spend as much time talking as they do fighting," he said.

"Trash talking is a time honored shinobi tradition," Jiraiya said.

Though the man would no doubt deny it, Hiruzen thought he heard a snort from the Kazekage. Jiraiya wasn't wrong, of course, but trash talking was also the cause of more deaths than most shinobi cared to admit. It was one of the most dangerous vices a shinobi could possess and Hiruzen had tried, unsuccessfully, to stamp it out of his students for years.

"I see you've imparted your new student with all of your vices," Hiruzen said.

"Vices?" Jiraiya tried to sound innocent but just came off as gleeful.

"Theatrical, talkative, and what appears to be an overdeveloped sense of honor," Hiruzen said, watching as Naruto dispelled all four of his clones, leaving only a cloudy haze behind.

Neji's voice hadn't carried through the stadium but Naruto's did. "I don't need my clones to beat you," he said, sounding defiant rather than boastful, as he dropped from his position on top of one of the trees.

"He wasn't even truly fighting," the Kazekage said. Hiruzen couldn't tell if it was disgust or grudging approval in his voice. Knowing the Kazekage, perhaps it was both.

"The fight would have been over if Naruto had used the element of surprise," Hiruzen said.

Jiraiya shrugged. "You wanted them all to show what they're capable of. That's what the brat's about to do."

The stadium had silenced. A tenseness had replaced the earlier obnoxiousness of the crowd as they sat, entranced, by the fight between the two shinobi.

It was finally quiet enough for everyone in the stadium to hear what the two genin were saying.

"You can't defeat me in single combat. Your fate is to lose here today. Continuing to fight only serves to make your inevitable defeat more humiliating," Neji said.

"You keep talking about fate, and maybe you're right. Maybe fate does decide everything. But I know one thing. It's not my fate to lose here today. It's yours."

Neji looked unconcerned. "Is that so?"

"Yeah, because my name is Naruto Uzumaki, son of Minato Namikaze, and my fate is to become Hokage like my father before me. Believe it!"

There was a dead silence in the stadium, and then, like the crashing of a wave or the rushing of thunder, everyone in Chūnin Exam Stadium rose to their feet, watching in awe as Naruto rushed forward, a perfect Rasengan spinning in his hand.

There wasn't a single ninja over the age of thirty who wouldn't recognize that jutsu.

Hiruzen turned to glare at Jiraiya who, to his credit, looked completely unrepentant.

"I've never been more proud of a student in my life. That was perfect," Jiraiya said, wiping a fake tear from the corner of his eye.

Naruto stood in the middle of a clearing, a Rasengan spinning lazily in his grip, surrounded by the felled husks of a dozen trees.

"Took you long enough," Jiraiya said, not able, despite his rough words, to hide the pride in his voice.

"Are you kidding me? There're still three days left before my match. I totally blew the Yondaime away," Naruto said, a swollen grin stretching across his face.

"You learned one jutsu, don't get cocky. There's still plenty for you to learn."

"You're impressed; you just don't want to admit it you old pervert." Naruto smashed the Rasengan against the closest tree, whooping in delight as it blasted through the trunk, bringing the tree down with a violent cracking sound.

In truth, Jiraiya hadn't been expecting Naruto to learn the Rasengan so quickly. A twelve year old boy shouldn't have been able to pick up on an A-rank technique so quickly. Especially someone with as little control as Naruto.

It was possible that he had underestimated Naruto. The kid might just be more mature and dedicated than he had thought.

"Now Sakura will have no choice but to acknowledge that I'm a better shinobi than Sasuke, and she'll want to go out with me instead of him!"

Or maybe Naruto was just an idiot savant. Oh well. He could work with that.

"Since you mastered the Rasengan I guess I have no choice but to tell you the secret I promised you," Jiraiya said.

Naruto was by Jiraiya's side in an instant. He was almost vibrating in place, his need to keep moving and work out his excitement warring with his desire to hear what Jiraiya had to say.

"It's about the Yondaime," Jiraiya said, knowing that would get Naruto's attention even if nothing else could.

It worked. Naruto stilled and sat down in front of Jiraiya, waiting with poorly concealed impatience to be told what he had been waiting weeks to hear. Jiraiya sat down in front of him, not sure exactly where to begin.

"What's the secret?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya scratched his head. "I guess it's less of a secret and more of a story. Let's start at the beginning. Once upon a time, in Konoha, there was a boy named Minato Namikaze…"

"You told him about his father," Hiruzen said, not a question but not quite an accusation either. Keeping the truth from Naruto had always bothered him but he had justified his decision by considering what would happen if the truth ever got out.

Iwa would immediately do everything in their power to have Naruto assassinated. The Yellow Flash of the Leaf decimated their forces in the Third Shinobi World War. The risk of his son growing up to be like his father was too great for them to accept.

That wasn't even taking into account other forces which would seek to use Naruto to further their own ends. No, Hiruzen had always thought it would be safer for the boy not to know until he was older; more mature and capable.

Jiraiya had never agreed with him on that.

"I needed to get him to train harder somehow," Jiraiya said, more lightly than the situation warranted. The real reasons didn't need to be spoken aloud. They had had the conversation enough times already and it wouldn't do to have it again in front of the Kazekage.

Rather than continuing to argue with Hiruzen, Jiraiya had unilaterally decided to tell Naruto, who, in turn, had decided to let the entire world know.

It was, Hiruzen thought, exactly what he had expected and feared would happen.

"I take it back. He isn't as dramatic as you. He's even more dramatic than you are," Hiruzen said.

Down on the field the fight continued even more furiously than before. Neji was too quick for Naruto to land a blow with his Rasengan and Naruto had ended up doing more damage to the terrain than to Neji.

Both combatants looked exhausted. Neji was hiding it better but Hiruzen could see the minute differences in his posture from the beginning of the fight; the drooping shoulders, the slightly lowered palms, even the bent knees.

Naruto didn't seem to be dealing with the continual chakra demands of the Rasengan well. He had used the hand that wasn't holding the Rasengan to lean against the wall and trees whenever a suitable distance grew between him and Neji. They had covered the entirety of the stadium several times over in their frantic fight.

If the fight didn't end soon one of them was going to drop from sheer exhaustion. It had become the strangest of shinobi battles; one of attrition. Soon Neji would lose the use of his Byakugan and Naruto would no longer be able to form a Rasengan. The fight would become a pure Taijutsu battle.

"Surrender. You've been outmaneuvered," Naruto said, his voice carrying far in the silent stadium. The normally boisterous crowd watched with bated breath as the son of their most revered Hokage announced himself to the world. There would be more than a few of them reevaluating how they treated Naruto, Hiruzen suspected.

"Your prowess with that jutsu is not enough to defeat me if you can't land even a single blow," Neji said. He concealed his panting well. Nobody missed the fact that there were no more allusions to fate. Neji was taking the fight as seriously as Naruto.

Jiraiya shifted next to Hiruzen. "And now for the climax," he said, leaning forward on the railing.

Taking their cue from Jiraiya, Hiruzen and the Kazekage leaned forward as well, interested in spite of themselves. If the Rasengan wasn't the finale, what was?

Naruto cast a quick glance around the stadium. He was playing to the crowd, Hiruzen thought. The fight was as much for their sake as it was for his own. With an exaggerated sigh, Naruto reached into his pocket and held out a thin piece of seal paper to Neji, letting the other boy examine it.

Shock rocked Hiruzen's whole body. He gasped out loud, only vaguely aware of the Kazekage rising to his feet next to him.

"Impossible," Hiruzen whispered.

Neji didn't recognize the seal but he saw the reactions of the people in the crowd who did.

Fear and awe.

"Hiraishin," the Kazekage said, unconcealed envy and hatred dripping from the one word.

The jutsu that had made the Yondaime the deadliest ninja alive.

"Minato was the only one ever able to use this jutsu," Hiruzen said. Gone was the controlled façade that he wore in front of others. That jutsu could end wars if used properly. No shinobi, no matter how powerful, was safe from the Hiraishin.

Getting tagged by the Hiraishin was nothing less than a death sentence.

"Nobody's ever been able to reverse engineer the Hiraishin because Minato linked the jutsu to his bloodline. It's a brand new bloodline limit," Jiraiya said. He sounded as pleased as Hiruzen had ever heard him.

Neji, bravely, lowered himself into a fighting stance. He didn't seem to have any intention of surrendering.

With a sigh, almost as if the conclusion of the fight was already guaranteed, Naruto charged forward, Rasengan spinning in his outstretched fist. When Naruto got close enough Neji reached out, trying to grapple him and finish the fight, only for Naruto to vanish.

A gasp rose from the crowd. Naruto stood a dozen feet behind Neji, his Rasengan still spinning in his palm.

"He tagged the entire stadium," Hiruzen said, realization dawning on him. Naruto hadn't been tired; he had been planting tags over the entire ground. There was nowhere for Neji to run.

From the widening of his eyes, Neji realized it too. He may not have recognized the seal but every child knew the story of the Yellow Flash of the Leaf.

Unwilling to accept defeat, Neji rushed Naruto, his Byakugan straining, dropping into the stance that preceded the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms technique. Naruto allowed him to close the ground between them before vanishing again.

This time he reappeared only a few feet away, close enough to strike. He struck Neji with his fist, sending him careening away with the force of the blow.

When Neji rose unsteadily to his feet there was no mistaking the tag that had been left on his chest.

"It's over," Jiraiya said.

Neji looked furious, dropping again into a Jūken stance.

There was no blocking the next attack.

Naruto appeared next to Neji, faster than even Hiruzen's eyes could track, a Rasengan burning brightly in his hand.

With a quick thrust, Naruto thrust the Rasengan against Neji. It whirled loudly against his chest for a split second before launching Neji back with enough force to crack the stadium's stone wall.

Neji slumped to the ground limply.

The proctor watched on in silent awe. It was as if the entire stadium had been placed under a genjutsu and couldn't react.

Hiruzen stood up. Naruto turned to look at him and the eyes of the entire stadium followed.

"The winner is Naruto Uzumaki," Hiruzen said. He tipped his hat to Naruto, letting a wry smile cross his face.

Any doubts he may have had were erased. Naruto would take the hat from him someday. Konoha's future was secure.

The roar of the crowd was deafening.

AN: The fact that we later found out that Tobirama invented the Hiraishin always bugged me. That jutsu made Minato the badass that he is. My headcanon is that he's the one who invented it and nobody else could replicate the jutsu.

Also, Jiraiya has been training Naruto even before the Chūnin Exams, to allow for the Rasengan and Hiraishin to be learned.

I was trying to work with a roaming omniscient POV and tell the story through everyone's perspective but Naruto's. If you have any constructive criticism please drop a review. I'd love to know what I could do better.