Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did I'd be a rich bastard with millions of fans.

Warning: This chapter contains some sadistic outright murders as well as some limited sexual content and intimations. A clean copy can be provided via email upon request, or you can simply skip Ino Yamanaka's fight scene.

Chapter 12: A Father's Will

Last Time, on Konoha's Golden Viper...

"Well, looks like it's me against one of your mom's students, Naruto." Sasuke said from their side, drawing the couple's attention away from each other.

Naruto and Sakura looked up at the board to see who was to compete next.

Uchiha Sasuke

Vs

Akamichi Chouji

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure and virtual grandfather to Konoha's number one social pariah, was in shock.

On the arena floor below Haruno Sakura, a pink-haired girl from the unremarkable Haruno clan who's only real defining feature was that she was the girlfriend (and some would believe lover) of one Namikaze Naruto, had just managed to defend against a C-rank Katon technique by using some sort of blue fire. On top of that, she had somehow managed to summon a small blue and red fox with three tails that appeared to have been the source of the fire that blocked the blast.

In the world of shinobi this would normally have just been an interesting development, a shinobi unveiling their new techniques to their opponents in order to gain an advantage. The problems Hiruzen could already imagine having with the Council derived directly from the fact that the poor girl had somehow managed to summon a fox; not only a fox, but one clearly not normal in nature, as given by the three blue tipped tails currently slashing through the air above its head.

As Sakura proceeded to, without using hand seals form balls of fire around her kunai before launching the attacks, his eyes widened further.

When did she learn what her elemental affinity was? Much less how to manifest elemental chakra without using hand seals?

This was most troubling indeed. The old man was going to have to have a serious talk with Anko, Naruto, and Sakura after the preliminaries, as given the current developments they might all be in very real danger.

Uchiha Sasuke and Akamichi Chouji faced off on the arena floor. Chouji had a determined look on his face, while Sasuke had put up a cold mask. The latter also had a large black and gold snake wrapped around his body, the head resting on the back of his wrist.

"I warn you, Chouji. I'm not going to take it easy on you just because you are a fellow Konoha-nin." Sasuke said as he went into a stance that no one but his teammates, sensei, and Anko recognized. His left arm was held forward in an open hand guard position and his right arm was chambered at his side, the snake staring intently at Chouji.

"Whatever Sasuke, I'm only fighting because I want STEAK!!!!" Chouji replied, causing most of those gathered to sweat drop.

Sasuke snorted.

"With a focus like that you'll never become a true shinobi, fatso." Sasuke said, smirking to him self as Chouji took the bait.

The Uchiha heir had remembered quite well how angry Chouji used to get whenever anyone insulted his size, particularly when they called him fatso, and he had been counting on Chouji still having the same sensitivity. Sure enough, his tactic worked.

"YOU!!! I'm not fat, I'm just big boned!! I'll tear you apart!!!" Chouji screamed, his face scrunching up in anger as Hayate motioned for the match to begin.

The moment the Jounin leapt away Chouji brought his arms together and performed the Baika no Jutsu, increasing his size until he was a massive sphere of human several times his previous mass. Sasuke smirked and reacted before Chouji could begin his next technique.

"Strike!" Sasuke yelled out as he slid his right leg forward, punching towards Chouji with his right arm.

The snake that had been coiled around it hissed and then leapt forward, using the momentum from the punch to launch itself across the gap. The snake flew true and impacted with Chouji, biting into the flesh of his still exposed arm before dissolving in a puff of smoke. Sasuke stepped into a lackadaisical stance, both to indicate his belief that the match was now won, and to taunt his opponent.

"Well, I doubt you'll get the chance to tear me apart, Chouji. Already venom is pulsing through your veins that will render you incapable of movement within a matter of minutes. All I have to do is avoid you until you collapse and I've won." Sasuke said as he turned and walked towards the nearest wall, his hands in his pockets. "But if you forfeit now, I'll administer the antidote and you won't have to suffer the pain."

Chouji shuddered, still too enraged to think reasonably. He wanted to show Sasuke that he wasn't a fatty.

"Nikudan Sensha!" He yelled out as he pulled his limbs and head into his body and became a rolling ball of human death.

Sasuke smirked and began running up the wall towards the ceiling.

Now, let's see if Chouji has improved under Anko's instruction.

The Uchiha heir heard a boom as Chouji collided with the wall behind him and he slid to the side, activating his Sharingan as he spun. Suddenly the world around him seemed to slow down as the rolling mass of Chouji came into view, his rotation slowed down immensely by the power of the Sharingan.

"Nice try." Sasuke taunted as he slid backward along the wall, propelled by chakra ejected from his feet.

Chouji's only response was to attempt to turn as he approached the ceiling to come back down towards him. Sasuke smirked and side-stepped again, back the other way.

This is too easy, but unless I want to seriously injure Chouji and reveal too much about my abilities then I need to do this. Sigh. Why does this have to be so troublesome?

Sasuke nearly tripped as he dodged Chouji's next ascending strike as he realized that he had somehow channeled his inner Shikamaru. Sasuke felt like he needed a hot shower to cleanse the Shika from his system.

The match continued this way for another two minutes before Chouji suddenly lost control and spun out, colliding with the far wall and collapsing. When the dust settled he was revealed with spirals in his eyes before he collapsed into unconsciousness. Sasuke hopped lightly to the ground and dusted him self off as the medic-nins rushed to Chouji's side. Confidently he strode forward as Hayate declared him the winner, ignoring the cheers from his teammates and the only one of his fan girls currently present.

"That's close enough, Uchiha." Shikamaru muttered as he appeared at his best friend's side in worry.

Sasuke smirked and held out his hand, a syringe sitting in the center of his palm.

"It's a targeted toxin, designed to interfere with the signals between the brain and the voluntary muscles only. He is in no danger, and should recover full motor function within a few minutes of administering the antidote." Sasuke said with an apologetic smile on his face. "I needed to win, and I didn't want to have to hurt one of my old classmates too much, so I chose to use this option."

Shikamaru still glared at Sasuke, but he took the syringe gladly and handed it to the nearest medic-nin to administer to Chouji. When he turned back Sasuke was already walking up the stairs to where his two teammates had rushed him and embraced him in a hug in celebration. The shadow wielder snorted and muttered 'troublesome' as he turned back to help the medic-nins carry his teammate off of the arena floor.

In the stands above, Sarutobi Asuma had a grin on his face as his three students walked back up the steps and took their chosen spot leaning against the wall beside him.

"Good job, both of you." He said, addressing both Sakura and Sasuke. "Now you just need to win your match Naruto and the three of you will all be in the finals together."

Sasuke and Sakura smirked and looked across the room at the Suna team, who only had one person who had successfully made it into the finals out of the two who had fought so far.

"So Sensei, where were you?" Naruto asked with a thoughtful look on his face.

Asuma smirked before he replied. "Never could get anything past you, could I kiddo? No, I can't explain here, but let's just say I was giving an addendum to your 'report' on the incident with Orochimaru to Ibiki."

Naruto chuckled and turned back to face the arena, looking up at the board to see who would be fighting next. He didn't have long to wait, as the next fight finally appeared on the board.

Sabaku no Gaara

Vs

Misumi Tsurugi

Naruto smirked.

Great, I get to see Shukaku fight, and I can hopefully find out some more information about what that bastard's relationship to Orochimaru is. He was on the same team as Kabuto, and I'm certain now that Kabuto is a spy. The scent of the snake was stronger on him after the exam than it was during the first part.

On the other side of the room Gaara's eyes narrowed and he smiled slightly. Mother was calling for blood, and finally he had an opportunity to give it to her.

Gaara vanished from his balcony suddenly and reappeared on the arena floor in a swirl of sand, his arms crossed in front of him as his Konoha opponent walked down the steps calmly. As the pair stood across from one another, glaring straight into each other's eyes, Misumi spoke up.

"I will tell you right now, once I put my techniques on you its over. Give up immediately."

Gaara merely narrowed his eyes slightly.

Blood! Give me his blood!!

Gaara clutched his head in his hands as the voice of 'Mother' suddenly became darker for a brief moment. Misumi saw this, and as Hayate declared the match begun he rushed forward and lashed out towards Gaara with a punch. The smirk of superiority he wore behind his mask was suddenly cut off as a stream of sand suddenly burst forth from the gourd on Gaara's back, spinning around the red-haired boy to block Misumi's attack before rushing straight at him.

"What the-?!" Misumi exclaimed, so surprised he failed to leap back in time.

Within moments he found himself completely immobilized by the sand, only his head visible. Gaara held out his hand towards Misumi, palm open and held down.

"Mother demands your blood." He said in his dark monotone. "Sabaku Kyuu."

The sand surrounding Misumi slid further up, completely enclosing the Konoha shinobi within a thick, airtight shell of sand. In the stands above everyone watched in horror at what was happening. Everyone except for Namikaze Naruto, who's eyes were narrowed and was now currently within his mindscape, observing the fight via a floating screen in the middle of the wild night-lit jungle along with his two allies, Lachesis Muta the Midnight Viper, and Kyuubi no Kitsune, greatest of the Bijuu and ruler of the fox demons.

This is getting interesting.

I agree, Kit. Shukaku is clearly influencing the boy. I think that for both his safety and that of your mate and friend that we should find a method to…disable his influence upon the child.

Lachesis said nothing, merely hissing slightly as she watched how the sand moved, analyzing it for any weakness.

"So I will give it to her." Gaara continued, clenching his fist tightly. "Sabaku Sousou."

These last two words were spoken in a darker tone, and suddenly the sand coffin surrounding Misumi contracted. The pressure was so great that blood shot out everywhere from the sand in great jets as the body of Misumi Tsurugi was crushed to death. Gaara showed only a faint, almost demonic smile on his face as the sand flowed away from the mangled and unrecognizable corpse, slithering around the arena floor absorbing the blood that had squirted free of the prison before finally flowing back into the gourd on his back. As Hayate reluctantly and warily declared Gaara the winner the red-hared Suna shinobi stuck the cork back in his gourd and then looked up towards the balcony where Naruto was standing.

You…will you be the one who validates my existence? You, who knows what I carry within me?

Gaara and Naruto's eyes met for a long second before the sand–wielder vanished in a flurry of sand, reappearing on the balcony next to his teammates and siblings, both of who looked extremely worried as they had caught the look shared between Gaara and Naruto. It did not bode well for them if their brother lost control here.

As everyone watched the medic-nins dejectedly carry the destroyed corpse of Misumi Tsurugi from the room Naruto shared a sharp look with his teammates before the trio nodded. They both understood his unspoken words.

Be careful of Gaara.

A soft beeping sound alerted the trio to the next match being displayed on the board, so they all turned to take a look. Naruto chuckled at the names that appeared next.

Aburame Shino

Vs

Rock Lee

"YOSH!!!!" Lee exclaimed from his position next to his teammates and his sensei. The Gai clone was practically brimming with excitement as Gai patted him on the back.

"Yes! Go forth my youthful student, and show them how the flames of youth burn brightly within you!!"

"Yosh Gai-sensei!!" Lee exclaimed before grabbing the railing and leaping over, landing across from where the emotionless and much more sedate Aburame Shino had walked down and stopped.

In the stands above Naruto walked forward and leant against the railing, surprising his two teammates who stepped forward to join him, questioning looks on their faces.

"Maito Gai is a taijutsu expert, and from everything I've heard Rock Lee is his prized student. Sasuke, if ever there was a time for you to learn a thing or two using that Sharingan of yours, this is it. Jutsus can be interrupted, and are rendered useless when your chakra is depleted. Genjutsu are easily broken by shinobi of any real skill and will power. But Taijutsu…" Naruto smiled. "That is eternal."

Sasuke just blinked and shrugged before turning to face the match, thankful that his own match was over so he didn't have to worry about conserving his chakra. Silently he activated his Sharingan, watching as the proctor began the match.

Neither combatant moved at first, both remaining absolutely still and regarding one another in silence. Or at least, that's what it would have looked like to anyone untrained in the shinobi arts. The truth was in fact quite different.

Shino was in fact abuzz (quite literally) with activity. Throughout his body his kikai bugs were receiving signals from him sent through various pheromones and electric signals, and that odd kind of chakra telepathy that the Aburame clan has with their bugs. They were gearing up for a fight, receiving their host's continually changing analysis of their soon-to-be target.

Lee on the other hand was literally vibrating with excitement. He was pitted against a strong shinobi who had been able to make it to the preliminaries despite being a rookie, and that just energized him even more. In fact, Lee was vibrating so fast that his movements were undetectable, even by the Sharingan. But if you were to attempt to place a hand on the bowl-cut boy's shoulder you would have found your hand violently flung away by the movement of his body.

Suddenly, without any warning or words of challenge, the match truly began.

Rock Lee sped forward, lashing out with a round house kick aimed at Shino's head. The Aburame boy remained still until the last second, his hands hidden inside the long sleeves of his coat. Rock Lee's foot connected, and for a brief moment there were gasps of surprise from the audience as everyone thought that Lee had actually managed to hit his opponent. In the balconies above Tenten was cheering him on while both Naruto and Sasuke narrowed their eyes.

This wasn't over yet.

Sure enough, as Shino began to fall to the side the illusion suddenly collapsed and a swarm of bugs collapsed towards Lee. The Shino standing before him had in fact been a kikai bunshin, or at least had been replaced with one mere milliseconds before Lee's high-speed kick had connected. Lee leaped as quickly as he could, avoiding the bulk of the bugs, but some still scurried along his legs, heading for the sweet spot between his shoulder blades where they would be much harder to dislodge. Not sensing any danger from the small number of bugs Lee shrugged his shoulders and spun around, quickly sighting in on his opponent.

"Yosh!! You clearly burn with the fires of youth, for you are clearly taking this fight seriously!! Let us show the others how bright our flames burn!!"

Lee rushed his opponent again, lashing out with a quick one two punch that Shino barely managed to dodge before lashing out with a thrust kick. Rather than dodge the kick, Shino caught Lee's legs in his hands, slowing the kick down. Lee smiled in triumph as his foot connected with his foe's chest despite Shino's attempt to stop it.

FWOOSH

Lee's smile vanished as he was once again facing a swarm of bugs, this time one that already held him tight as they collapsed upon him. Within seconds the green-clad boy was completely covered by a cloud of bugs that were attempting to suck his chakra. Everyone watched with baited breath as several long seconds passed before the bugs finally flowed across the room to where a third Shino had appeared and slid inside his coat, presumably to return to their hive within his body.

Calmly and without showing any emotion at all Shino walked over to his downed opponent, his arms clasped in his long coat sleeves.

"My kikai bugs have drained you of most of your chakra. You are defeated. If you proceed to fight you will only drain the last of your chakra and kill yourself." The Aburame boy stated calmly.

His statement was comprised of no arrogance or sense of superiority, but merely cold hard fact. As an Aburame, Shino relied on and valued logic above all else. The facts as he knew them were simple; when a shinobi or a civilian was drained of all chakra they would cease to live; Rock Lee was nearly exhausted of his chakra; if Rock Lee continued to fight he would burn up the last tiny bit he had remaining. Ergo, if he continued fighting he would in fact die.

Too bad for Shino no one ever told him precisely WHY Rock Lee was a taijutsu specialist.

"Hah!!" Lee said as he stumbled to his feet, appearing shaky for a few moments. "That does not matter to me, for I do not use chakra. I am not a genius, gifted with special abilities by my blood. I am a genius of hard work!!! Yosh!!"

Lee stood up and pumped his fists at his side before leaping towards the statute in the room, dodging a sudden swarm of kikai bugs that Shino had sent at his opponent. After all, Shino valued logic, and logic now dictate he take this opponent down before he could reveal whatever he seemed to believe would allow him to win.

"Sensei!! I am going to remove those now!!" Lee said energetically as he…sat down?

"Yosh!! Show them the fires of youth burn brightly in you!!!!" Gai called back from his spot on the balcony, his eyes alight with flame.

Everyone in the balconies watched in surprise and confusion as the mini-Gai clone proceeded to unhook and remove two large chains of weights with seals inscribed on them that had been hidden under his bright orange fuzzy leg warmers. With another cry of 'Yosh!!' Lee stood and held the weights out to the side.

"Now I shall demonstrate to you why Gai-sensei calls me Konoha's Green Beast!!"

Before anyone could react Lee spun rapidly in place before sending the weights flying towards Shino. The Aburame boy easily sidestepped the swiftly moving projectiles, only to blanch behind his sunglasses and high-collared coat as the sound from behind him informed him that something was terribly wrong. Turning in surprise he was greeted with the sight of a pair of twin trenches dug into the floor of the arena. Both trenches were approximately six feet wide at their widest point and ran for over thirty feet before they collided with the wall. Said wall currently had a large gaping hole in it, and Shino could see the Chunin on the other side of the gap who were all staring in shock and awe at the makeshift projectiles.

Almost too late Shino spun back around, barely dodging by an extreme amount of luck a thrust kick that Lee had aimed at his head. Even as it was the edge of Lee's sandals caught Shino's glasses, the sheer force of its passing shattering the lenses.

"You must keep your eyes on your opponent, my youthful opponent!!" Lee yelled before he spun away and landed in a fighting stance once again. "Now, let us unveil the true fires of our youth in one last climactic collision!!"

He would deny it to his dying day, but as the green clad boy before him suddenly blurred and vanished, Shino had a thought that was very, very, VERY out of character for him.

How troublesome.

The last thing Shino would remember upon waking in the infirmary twenty minutes later was the sight of Rock Lee's calloused and bandaged fist suddenly appearing directly in front of his nose.

"Ooh, that had to hurt." Naruto said with a chuckle as he watched Rock Lee take Shino down with a series of high speed blows. The blond boy was fairly certain that Shino had been unconscious after the first punch, but you never could tell with shinobi.

"Man, I couldn't even keep up with his movements." Sasuke muttered as he rubbed his eyes. When he removed his hands his eyes were back to their normal black. "I mean, geez, what the hell is he, the freaking energizer bunny? Shino sucked almost all of his chakra, and yet he STILL kept coming."

Naruto chuckled and wrapped Sakura in another hug, planting a quick kiss on her lips.

"I told you, Sasuke. Taijutsu is eternal." Naruto said, a large smile gathering on his face as the next match up appeared on the board. "And it looks like I finally get my chance. Tell me, how should we deal with the last of the snaky traitors today, hmm? An incineration? A beatdown? Or maybe just a good old fassshioned poisssoning?"

Naruto said this last part with a faint hiss to his voice as his tongue flicked out, becoming forked and pointed for a moment before returning to his mouth. Beside him Sasuke outright laughed and Sakura just giggled.

"Why don't you just do whatever makes you happy?" Sakura said as she leant against him and wriggled her body suggestively against him. "I'll give you a big reward after the preliminaries if you make sure he dies in agony though."

Next to the couple Hakumei yipped and Sasuke could have sworn the fox was blushing.

Sakura winked at her boyfriend before kissing him lightly on the lips, pulling back as Naruto began to respond and winked teasingly at him as she skipped away from him.

Naruto chuckled and turned back towards the arena floor, where his opponent was already waiting and glaring up at him. Naruto grinned and flipped him the bird before vanishing in a swirl of wind and leaves, reappearing a moment later on the floor before in with his arms crossed before him and a confident smirk on his face.

"Come on Naruto-kun, knock him dead!!" Sakura yelled from above, leaning over the railing. Further down the balcony Hinata mumbled faint encouragement, all the while beginning to realize that she could never compete with the pink-haired kunoichi for Naruto's affections. She just wasn't good enough for the blond boy.

Naruto chuckled and shot his girlfriend a smile back over his shoulder.

"Don't worry baby, I'll make sure to knock him real dead, just for you."

He blew her a kiss and then turned back to his opponent, his grin much darker.

"Well, shall we get on with this?" He said with dark humor in his eyes. "Or shall I just kill you where you stand?"

As his opponent glared at him Naruto chuckled and glanced up at the board one last time, unbelievably pleased that he got to fight one of the few shinobi in the room he could kill without feeling any moral qualms about it. On the board above the room, displayed for all to see as Hayate began the watch, were two names. Just two. That was all it took to turn Naruto from a loving boyfriend into the killer he had trained to become.

Namikaze Naruto

Vs

Akadou Yoroi.

As the match began Naruto formed a cross-shaped seal and suddenly filled the room behind him with Kage bunshin.

"Delta Three, Initiate." He said calmly and all of the clones dispersed around the room, each one taking a spot along a wall and crossing their arms as they stood with their backs to it; all except the four who ran up the walls and hung from the ceiling at the four corners.

Naruto's grin widened as he slid back into the ready stance for his Hebi style.

"Well, bastard, are you going to attack or am I going to have to beat you until you fight back?" Naruto said darkly, quiet enough that only he and his opponent could hear.

Akadou glowered at him and performed a hand seal, causing his hands to glow blue. He then drew some shuriken from his pack and launched them at Naruto. The blond boy merely smirked and remained standing right where he was. Rather than dodging, he suddenly reached out with both arms, striking rapidly. Within seconds he had plucked all four shuriken from the air and had launched them right back at his opponent, causing the older genin to dive forward under the shuriken into a roll before attempting to rush him.

"Come now, is this the best you've got?" Naruto asked as he practically danced away from Yoroi's attacks.

As one of Yoroi's strikes passed close to his head Naruto felt a strange draining sensation; his eyes widened in surprise.

wid his eyange draining snesation Naruto oroi' roll before attempting to rush back at his opponent, causing the older He's draining my chakra with those attacks!! Naruto realized in surprise.

The blond boy back flipped away and came up in a guard stance, blocking both of Yoroi's arms and launching a counterattack with his foot, knocking the older genin away.

"No, no, no." Naruto mock scolded his opponent. "There will be no touching during this fight."

Akadou chuckled as he coughed up a little blood.

"So, you figured it out did you?" He said with a laugh. "This is the power of my bloodline, the ability to drain the chakra out of my opponents by touch alone. It is why someone like you, who relies on taijutsu and direct confrontation, could never defeat me."

Naruto smirked and crossed his arms, closing his eyes for a moment as he created a false sense of vulnerability.

"And who, might I ask, told you that? Was it your team leader, Kabuto Yakushi? Or perhaps it was that man, the one whose stench I can smell all over you."

Yoroi's eyes widened in fear and surprise at Naruto's intimation before rushing forward, lashing out with a strike towards Naruto's head to take advantage of the momentary hole in his guard. Yoroi was so worried about being found out as a spy that he forgot rule one of being a shinobi-

"Hah, now that I've got a hold of you, I will drain all of your chakra until you are dead. There is no way you can break free of this hold, and I will make sure that anything you know dies with you." Yoroi whispered harshly as he pinned Naruto face first to the ground, his glowing blue hand held firmly against the boy's head draining his chakra.

"Hmph. You are wrong, you teme, for it is you who will die this day." Naruto replied in a cold voice. It was unfortunate for Akadou that he could not see Naruto's eyes turn slitted and green. "Lachesis, Strike."

-that deception is a ninja's lifeblood.

Akadou's eyes widened in surprise as a large gold and black snake suddenly shot forth from under Naruto's coat and sank it's fangs into his wrist. The glow around his hand faltered for a moment before going out completely. Within moments the poor unfortunate genin had collapsed onto the ground on his side, allowing his former victim the freedom to stand at a leisurely pace and dust him self off. Yoroi barely managed to pull him self into a kneeling position as the world around him began to spin and whirl, darkness encroaching at the edge of his vision.

With Lachesis now curled around his body, her head hovering in the air beside his head and hissing as she stared at the fallen shinobi, Naruto walked over and bent down next to the now kneeling man until their heads were side by side.

"I'll let you in on a little secret that you can take to your grave." He whispered coldly. "When I'm done with all you little ickle spies, I'm coming for your master. For what he did to Konoha, for what he did to my mother, and for what he tried to do to me."

Naruto punctuated this last statement with a faint hiss and pulled the collar of his coat out slightly, revealing a spot on his neck that was a flat expanse of silver scar tissue. It had healed over, but it was clear that it was taking far longer to completely heal than his other wounds had. On the outer layer of the scar were the faint remains of three black tomoe.

"Here's a little gift, to take to your grave with you." Naruto muttered, reaching up with a kunai and swiftly slicing off the last remainder of Orochimaru's attempt to infect him with his Cursed Seal of Heaven.

Naruto shoved the flap of scar tissue into an unresisting Yoroi's mouth before standing and walking away, the wound on his neck finally beginning to heal properly. He didn't even turn around when Yoroi finally coughed up a spew of blood and collapsed. His eyes were wide and cold as death took him. The only sign that he had even registered the poor unfortunate soul's death was that all of his clones around the room immediately dispelled themselves in a massive puff of smoke that took several seconds to clear. As soon as everyone could see again Naruto had appeared on the Konoha balcony once again, approaching the spot where Asuma stood with his two teammates.

As Naruto rejoined his teammates Sakura snuggled up under his arm and pet Lachesis lightly, cooing things about "Who's a good little agent of death?" to the black and gold serpent. Sasuke on the other hand leant against the wall and crossed his arms across his chest, shaking his had ruefully.

"I swear Naruto, you couldn't have been any more of a drama queen?" He muttered with a laugh.

Naruto just grinned and looked back at him over his shoulder.

"Hey, I wanted to send a message without actually revealing any of my trump cards, and I think I did so pretty effectively, don't you think?" He said as he reached up with his free hand and rubbed the spot on his neck that was now nearly healed.

Sasuke snorted as he realized that the reason Naruto's other hand was not free as well was that it was currently inside of Sakura's coat, most likely grabbing her ass through the thin material of the tight black miniskirt she was wearing. To distract him self from his teammates' very public and not exactly illegal (by Konoha standards anyways) activities, he turned back to look across the room at the other balcony, his gaze sliding over the other foreign shinobi until it settled on Temari.

Despite the fact that she had lost her match Sasuke still had to admit that she was pretty strong. He could practically see the potential radiating off her. The only reason she had lost was that her opponent had used her arrogance against her and played a trick on her.

Silently Sasuke began to admire her curves and limbs, beginning to imagine just what she looked like without that pale outfit she was wearing on. A faint line of blood began to run down from his nose as he also began to wonder about what sort of fun he might get up to if he could get the attentions of such a woman, both on and off the battlefield.

Sasuke was still unaware of his blood loss as the final two names appeared on the board. Not that anyone had any doubt as to who the match would be between, as there were only two combatants remaining.

Uchiha Kazumi

Vs

Yamanaka Ino

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Warning: Use Control+F to skip to the phrase "Warning Over" if you have issues with content of a sexual nature.

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The two girls shared a hard edged smile as they walked calmly down the stairs together to take their places on the floor below. They both took ready stances and stared hard at one another as Hayate explained the rules for one final time. Kazumi was busy analyzing her opponent and attempting to determine her weaknesses, as she did not have much data on her personal abilities; in other words, the Uchiha girl had no clue just how much of her Clan's techniques Ino had been able to master. Ino on the other hand was focusing her entire being on this fight, hoping beyond hope that if she could prove her self to be a strong and competent kunoichi that she might finally win her beloved Sasuke's affections.

As Hayate prepared to finally start the match Ino caught sight of Sasuke's eyes and the faint stream of blood trickling from his nose. Turning her head slightly she looked to where he was looking and saw that his gaze was focused on that blond girl from Suna. Ino snapped her head back to face her opponent as Hayate dropped his hand and growled.

I'll make him see that I'm worthy of being his wife.

"Begin!!" Hayate exclaimed as his hand cut through the air between the two combatants before leaping away to safety.

Neither girl moved for a few moments, both continuing to analyze their opponent, waiting for them to make the first move. Finally Kazumi smirked and slid one step to the side, spinning as she did so. Ino braced her self to counter an attack, her attention distracted by Kazumi's foot and her spinning, not noticing the shifts in her shoulders as the dark-haired girl performed a series of hand seals silently while her back was turned to Ino, muttering the name silently under her breath.

"Magen: Akumu."

Ino blinked as her opponent suddenly vanished from where she had been spinning, replaced by a log. As the blond girl frantically looked around for her opponent she failed to realize that Kazumi had not simply used Kawarimi to disappear, but rather had ensnared Ino within a genjutsu that would use her own strength of will to form its chains. After a few moments Ino heard a repetitive moaning sound accompanied by a wet slurping sound coming from above. She glanced up at the foreign balcony and blanched at the sight that greeted her there.

The foreign Suna kunoichi, Temari, was currently bent over and leaning up against the railing of one of the balconies, her shirt open and her ample C-cup breasts bouncing in time with her body as the dark-haired figure behind her slid forward and backward, thrusting his long penis inside the blond girl's body, the junction of which was thankfully just barely obscured from view by Temari's skirt. Ino nearly broke down crying as she realized that the figure behind Temari was her beloved Sasuke, and the fact that the man she loved was fucking another girl rather than watching her fight nearly broke her spirit.

Then something that Kazumi had not counted on when she used the technique occurred. While the Uchiha had known that the technique would trap her target in her worst nightmare, the Uchiha had failed to take into account just what that would be, much less what Ino's reaction to it would be.

"RAWR!!! THAT BASTARD!!! I'LL KILL HIM!!!!" Ino screamed, shocking everyone in the room, including the dark-haired girl who had been approaching, quite unfortunately from the direction that Ino was now 'witnessing' 'Sasuke' fucking 'Temari.'

The dark-haired girl squeaked in surprise at the sudden killing intent that had come off of Ino. It wasn't a loud squeak, but it was enough to breach her genjutsu and alert Ino finally that something was wrong. Before Kazumi could react Ino flashed through a series of hand seals, but nothing appeared to happen.

Then suddenly Ino slumped to the floor, causing Kazumi to smirk. Her smirk promptly vanished as her face suddenly went slack for a few moments before finally turning into a smile. 'Kazumi' looked up and around the room, smiling as she saw that Temari was in fact fully clothed and Sasuke was nowhere near her. In fact, the dark-haired boy was watching her match with a contemplative smile on his face.

Yes, Sasuke-kun was watching. Now let's prove to him how good I am by making this bitch lose without laying a finger on her.

To the surprise of most of the gathered shinobi Kazumi, rather than pressing the clear advantage she had on her collapsed opponent, instead raised one hand in the air.

"Examiner, I forfeit the match."

Everyone in the balconies who was not aware of the Yamanaka Clan's special techniques blinked and then face-faulted in surprise. Kazumi merely remained smiling with her arm raised into the air until Hayate coughed and confirmed Ino as the winner. As soon as he did and the Hokage acknowledged that the preliminaries were now over Kazumi slumped over and Ino opened her eyes and shakily stood to her feet. As she walked towards the stairs with a big smile on her face Kazumi blinked and then noticed she was kneeling on the ground.

"Wait, what the hell just happened?!?! HEY!! Why are you walking away!?!?!"

"Um, Kazumi-san…" Hinata said softly as she stepped up and put a hand on her teammate's shoulder. "You lost."

Kazumi blinked before crying out again.

"What? What the hell do you mean I lost?!! I demand a rematch!!! You hear me Ino, get back here!!!"

As Hinata and Kiba restrained their overly-exuberant teammate from following after Ino the blond girl proudly strode up the steps and past Sasuke, winking at the dark-haired boy and flipping her ponytail over her shoulder as she walked past.

Sasuke blinked and sneezed, then looked from her to Temari and back to her again.

Ok, so she has some skills, but she's still just an annoying fan girl. The Uchiha heir begrudgingly admitted.

Sasuke glanced back over at where Temari was currently following her brothers down the steps and out of the room as the Hokage had dismissed them all to gather their gear so that they could be escorted back to Konoha proper.

Then again, Temari has a much better ass.

Sasuke's nose began to bleed again slightly, but he merely wiped it with the back of his hand as he turned to follow his own team and sensei out of the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Warning Over

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

"I'm very proud of you three." Asuma said as he led his students down a corridor in the tower towards the rooms that had been assigned to them. "This was your first Chunin exam, and all three of you made it into the finals."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all beamed while Hakumei padded happily along next to her pink-haired summoner. The fox had not spoken since she materialized in the real world, but Sakura was fairly certain that she could. Hakumei just didn't want to reveal any tricks to possible enemies, which according to her was apparently anyone not in Sakura's immediate circle.

To Hakumei, this meant four people. The blond snake-smelling boy she was fucking, the dark-haired teammate who was with them, the smoking man who appeared to be their leader or teacher, and the creepy snake-smelling woman who was apparently the blond boy's mother.

"So, what are you three going to do now that you have a month to train for the exams?"

Naruto and Sakura both looked at one another and chuckled, causing Sasuke and Asuma to blush in realization at what they were planning. Thankfully the couple's perverted little minds focused back to more serious matters within seconds, and as they turned back to face their teammates their faces were masks of seriousness.

"Well, Sakura here needs to train in the use of her new powers and in working with her partner. I'm fairly certain I can get Hana Inuzuka to help her with that aspect. Kiba's sister always seemed to have a soft spot for me when I would help out around the kennels when I was younger." Naruto began, ticking things off on his fingers. "I was planning to just work on refining how I fight with both my snakes and my new weapons, and maybe if you would be willing to spare some time learn a few techniques from you. I'm fairly certain that my elemental affinity is dual wind and fire, like your own, so I figure that you would be the best one to help me with that."

Naruto looked to Sasuke who got the hint and picked up where Naruto left off.

"I'm sure my father will be drilling me hard to improve my use of the Sharingan, and he will probably teach me some more Katon techniques, but those trench knives of yours intrigue me Asuma-sensei. I was wondering if you could possibly help me get a pair and teach me how to fight with them when you have the time. I would really like to expand my ability in close-quarters."

Asuma chuckled and dropped the cigarette he had been smoking to the floor and stomped it out with his foot. Yup, his three students were going to do just fine. They all had their heads screwed on straight and they were already planning out how to make the most out of the month they had to train.

"Of course, neither Sakura nor I can begin training until one matter is cleared up of course." Naruto said with a chuckle.

Both Sasuke and Asuma looked at the pair in confusion.

"And what matter is that, Naruto?" Asuma asked, certain he was going to regret having asked the question.

A pair of Naruto's Kage Bunshin came around the corner carrying the pair of scrolls with Naruto and Sakura's belongings in them before the blond boy could respond. They handed the scrolls over and then dismissed themselves, and Naruto latched the scrolls onto his back before turning back to face Asuma once again.

"It's simple, really, Asuma-sensei." He said as he wrapped an arm around Sakura's waist and Hakumei leapt up into the pink-haired girl's arms. "I owe Sakura a major fucking for doing so well in her match. Jaa ne."

The blond haired boy and his pink-haired mate vanished in a swirl of wind and leaves a mere moment before both Sasuke and Asuma's noses exploded with fountains of blood, rocking the pair of shinobi back.

Somewhere in the vast multi-verse, in a universe so similar yet so very different from their own, a blond boy who looked remarkably like Sakura's mate (with the exception of the bright orange jacket he was wearing and the fact he was several years younger) was looking over a series of Icha Icha books and coming to the conclusion that all shinobi were perverts.

When Naruto and Sakura finally arrived at the entrance to the Namikaze estates in a swirl of wind and leaves, the pink-haired girl leaned heavily against her boyfriend, thankful when Hakumei leapt happily out of her arms and bounded onto the property to explore. Hakumei wasn't necessarily heavy, but she was definitely large enough to be an inconvenience to carry for a prolonged period of time, and right at that moment all Sakura wanted was a nice hot bath, a massage from her boyfriend, and that furious fucking he had promised her half an hour before.

"Mmmm, Naruto-kun…" She muttered dreamily and snuggled tighter against her mate as he led her into the house that they were currently living in.

The young couple was met at the door by a polite greeting from a new servant who immediately blanched as she realized that her new master was finally back.

"Good evening Kin, would you mind having the chef send over a couple of plates of fried rice and barbecue beef? Oh, and tell the other servants that they can have the night off and that Sakura and I are not to be disturbed for any reason." Naruto said as he walked past his stunned follower, who was currently wearing the standard nondescript white and black clothing of a servant at the Namikaze Compound.

Kin blinked in confusion until she realized that Naruto's hand was not just around Sakura's waist, but rather groping quite firmly at the pink-haired girl's ass. The dark-haired former Otogakure kunoichi blushed fiercely before hurrying off to complete her new master's orders. It wasn't safe to piss off a man who could probably kill her before she even blinked; especially not if he was about to get some loving on with his mate.

Naruto awoke to the sound of Sakura's slow and steady breathing, to the feeling of her heart beating slow and steady, to her arms wrapped securely around him as she snuggled her body against him in her sleep. He yawned and then looked out the window where the sun was already rising into the sky, illuminating the room that he shared with his mate in a bright red glow. Naruto smiled and then carefully extracted him self from his sleeping beauty's arms, kissing her lightly on the forehead before pulling on a fuzzy black robe and exiting his bedroom, heading downstairs for some breakfast. On his way out the door he snagged a large scroll off of his dresser, one which he had discovered the night before when he had searched the library for possible techniques to study while Sakura was still luxuriating in her bath.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Anko muttered from where she was currently sitting at the counter in the kitchen, a huge mug of coffee and the morning paper before her.

"Morning mom." Naruto replied as he too poured a cup of coffee and took a seat, grabbing one of the spare plates on the counter and sliding some bacon and eggs off of the trays that had been delivered from their chef onto it. As he dug into his food he unrolled the scroll to begin reading.

Anko looked up from her paper to watch her son intently for a few moments, watching the way his eyes were glued to the scroll as he silently took a deep swig of his coffee. When Naruto had finally set the massive mug down Anko spoke up.

"So, gaki, what's with the scroll?"

Naruto grinned and turned his head to look at his mother, his eyes intense as he spoke with happiness in his voice.

"It's a scroll I found in the library the other night. Apparently it was written by my father, and was left for me to read when I was old enough." He said with a smile. "It apparently details a technique which he had developed him self, and which he wanted to pass onto his son but for obvious reasons wasn't able to do personally."

Anko blinked and then asked the question that was burning at the back of her mind.

"What's the technique called?" Even as she asked the question she realized that there could only be two possibilities.

Naruto's eyes glittered with excitement as he spoke, the name held reverently upon his tongue.

"Hiraishin."

AN: And there you have it folks, Chapter 12 of KGV and the end of the Preliminaries. Now its just up to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to train their little asses off, make plans in case of invasion, and discover a method to stop Shukaku from driving Gaara further insane.

I would like to again thank my beta I.E.T.S. for her tireless and amazing work. Her assistance with this chapter helped me fix several grammar bugs as well as tighten it up. On top of that, there is a scene in this chapter which she is currently storyboarding, as she intends to draw it as a manga sequence.

I recommend you all keep an eye on my profile regularly, particularly after any time I upload a chapter or a new story, because I have reorganized it a little, including putting up a segment where I will be doing my announcements from now on. This decision was made so that all my readers can easily find my announcements without having to go through the chapters of my stories to get to them, and should make it easier if they miss an announcement and wish to read up on. I also suggest you do so as soon as you finish this chapter as I have several announcements already there, as well as a link to the first piece of fan art made for KGV by my beta I.E.T.S.

Jaa ne.

-ZI

Technique Translations

Magen: Akumu--Demonic Illusion: Nightmare/ This is a genjutsu which traps the victim within a nightmare dredged up from their subconscious. As it is something that they secretly fear could be real and could happen to them it is quite hard to break free from if they cannot convince themselves that they are simply in an illusion. (C-Rank Genjutsu)