Angel of Death

Chapter 15

AN: Hello all and welcome back. I know it's been a while but I had too many fics dealing with the exams at the same time and chose to do them one at a time. This fic is the last one dealing with the exams at the moment so yay. That said here's the new chapter.

Start Now:

The procession of carriages that made their way into Tetsu no Kuni was a sight that made many stop and stare. This of course was for good reason as even in the nations that made up their homes the sight of so many nobles coming into one town was something that was never before seen. As the exams were for once being held in a completely neutral territory many of the nobles who had not attended exams outside of their own country before had chosen to do so, even the lords themselves had decided to make the trip to enjoy the change of scenery that Tetsu no Kuni provided. The samurai general himself was there to greet those that were arriving on this day due to the fact that those arriving were the lords of the five major countries and their corresponding Kage's.

The last two days many of the various nobles and minor Daimyo's had made their appearance but they hadn't required his personal attendance. In fact the military leader of the samurai nation was there so that he could meet these more prominent leaders and wrap up his unfinished business with the shinobi nations. As the delegation from Hi no Kuni made its appearance and halted before the group of samurai that greeted him, the leader of the delegation descended from his horse and the samurai general moved to speak with him. The man before him was a bald man with dark eyes, and very thick eyebrows, though not as bad as those two green spandex wearing guys he'd seen from Konoha. Unlike all the others acting as guards for the three carriages this man wore white and blue robes held closed by a sash tied at his waist marking him as a member of the Shugonin Junishi, and one of the few survivors of the last generation of them.

The two spoke briefly and cordially before the bald man nodded his understanding and walked back towards the carriages. He knocked twice on the door of the lead carriage before he opened it allowing for the first of three people to emerge from within. The first to emerge was Azula, the princess of Hi no Kuni wearing the same dark red and black uniform as the soldiers that currently acting as her guard with her hair pulled up and tucked into a topknot with a two pronged headpiece resembling a flame holding it in place she looked every bit the soldier that those surrounding her did. The next to emerge was her friend Mai who wore dark red robes which ended at her ankles and had large billowing sleeves. Her long black hair was kept with two ox horns at the top which then fell into a pair of tails that fell to her waist. Finally the last to emerge was Ty Lee who unlike her friends wore a soft pink short sleeved top that cut off at her mid riff allowing her stomach to be seen along with a pair of pink pants that stopped just past her knees.

As she stepped down onto the ground Azula looked to her left just in time to see her brother Zuko emerge from his own carriage also wearing his red and black uniform. However his hair fell down to cover his face due to the fact that in a recent spar he'd lost a portion of his hair to his partner's sword. Even still she rolled her eyes as she caught several of the younger women watching them had begun taking an interest in her brother. The last carriage finally opened and her uncle stepped out, looking upon the Lord of the Land of Fire she felt as if she was looking at a completely different man than had lived with her just a few short months ago. He had gotten back into his training and the pot belly he'd once sported had melted away giving him a more muscular frame that suited him much better in her mind.

As her uncle and brother moved up to join her the bald man, who she knew as Chiriku informed them all that the preparations had already been completed for their stay. Furthermore while the tournament was set to kick off in the morning, there would be a gathering tonight hosted by the samurai to welcome all of the visitors. As she heard this she barely withheld the scowl that tried to form as she hated those boring social gatherings and would rather skip it altogether. However upon being informed of who all had been invited she changed her mind as thoughts of a blond haired youth entered her mind giving her something to look forward to.

Elsewhere unaware of the new arrivals said blond was currently taking a cool down swim within the man-made lake that had become the sight of his training in the last month. At the moment he was by himself as he had already finished learning everything that Jiraiya was willing to teach him. The Rasengan had taken him a while to get a hold off but within three weeks he had managed to get it down. Unfortunately the technique was actually quite hard in execution and he had been forced to use his doujutsu to aid him in the training in order to not only learn the technique in a timely manner but maximize his training in order to pick up another new skill.

Technically speaking it wasn't a new skill it was something he'd known how to do long before his return to Hi no Kuni. Unfortunately during his training after his return from Nami no Kuni he'd found that like many of his abilities the skill had been almost completely ruined. The only skills that had remained in relatively good condition had been his stealth, stamina, kenjutsu, and his wind manipulation. All the rest of his abilities had basically abandoned him and forced him to start from scratch with the exception of his doujutsu, as no doujutsu could actually devolve.

Whatever the case however his training had gone quite smoothly and far quicker than Jiraiya had thought it would. His doujutsu had helped him in that regard as while he couldn't copy whatever he saw it helped him more than enough for his purposes. The reason for this was due to one of the effects of the doujutsu that he had discovered was that it allowed him a perfect understanding of his own energy in affect making the learning and mastering of techniques several times easier.

As a result of this it had made learning the Rasengan several times easier once he added his eyes to the equation, needless to say Jiraiya had been flabbergasted and had gaped like a fish for several moments before managing to regain his composure. After that they had spent the rest of the time sparring with each other with Jiraiya teaching him another chakra control exercise that had him climbing a mountain with an arm tied behind his back. Jiraiya had informed him that it was a jounin level exercise that worked on not only chakra control but on strength as well and had stated the reason he was learning it then was because they had the time, an area to learn it and it was also the last exercise the Sannin knew.

Thankfully that exercise seemed to do the trick as it now took barely any effort for him to use his chakra in any way he saw fit. Jiraiya had said that he was impressed as he had about three times as much chakra as Kakashi. Of course despite the number of techniques he knew the Copy Ninja was not known for his chakra stores. However Naruto figured the fact that if he pushed it he could summon up to one hundred and fifty shadow clones said a lot about his own quantity of chakra.

Finally climbing out of the water after he had determined himself to have been reasonably cooled down the blond looked up to the sky to determine the time. Judging by the angle of the sun he could determine it was still quite early and he still had a bit of time to finish the last leg of his training for the day. Moving several feet away from the water and into the rocky terrain that he usually trained in he took several deep breaths before bringing his right hand up and channeling his chakra to restart his training.

Meanwhile deeper in the village Tenten and Hinata walked arm in arm as they moved through the village having spent the morning going from one shop to the next purchasing much as evidenced by the number of bags each of them were carrying. Over the month the two girls had spent much of the time when not training for the final exam or doing whatever other personal dealings that they had. Because of this the two girls had quickly become friends.

"So have you picked out an outfit for the banquet tonight?" questioned Tenten

"I bought a new kimono for the occasion. If I play this right I may be able to win some favor from my father to further cement myself as heiress." Stated Hinata quietly.

Tenten sighed at that, at Naruto's direction she had begun studying up on politics so that she could be better prepared for the times ahead. Though she hadn't gotten too far in her studies she could already see that politics were actually counter-productive. Since everyone was always focused on their own interest it was damn near impossible to get anything done. That was just inner village politics she couldn't even imagine the headache that would be inter-village politics. Before either of them could speak further on the subject both stopped as they came upon the sight of Ino and Choji walking out of a store the latter of the two with his arms laden with bags.

"Ok do I even want to know?" questioned Tenten

"Oh good running into you two. Now I know our last gathering didn't end too well so we're going to remedy that. Now since I figure that the gathering tonight is going to be boring we're going to cut out early and meet up at our place." Said Ino with a grin.

"Ino the tournament starts tomorrow and I'd like to be ready for it." Stated Tenten with a frown.

"Oh lighten up a little. I'm not saying we're going to be at it all night besides from what I managed to learn the tournament won't kick off until noon. Now the gathering tonight is more for the nobles, that starts at five so I figure we stick around for an hour or two and slowly make our way out. Now I've got food and I've got booze there's fun to be had tonight! Now if you see any of the others let them know and don't think I won't notice if you two decide not to show up, there's only four girls in our little group." Said Ino before marching off and dragging Choji along.

"I hope this doesn't affect your plans too much tonight." Said Tenten with a sigh.

"I may have to move a bit faster than I thought." Said Hinata watching the blonde go.

"So how has your training been going?" questioned Tenten in an effort to get her mind off Ino.

"Pretty well all things considered. For the most part I'm doing everything on my own at the moment. My team and Naruto-kun have been helpful but all of the major stuff is something I have to learn on my own. Even if Naruto-kun gave me the ability he can't use it like I can." Said Hinata with a sigh.

"I'm pretty much in the same boat. My team is pretty much useless when it comes to weapons outside of kunai and shuriken, the only exception is Gai-sensei and his nunchaku. Naruto taught me a lot about kenjutsu but after that he said I have to learn the rest on my own." Said Tenten.

At that each of the girls sighed and shook their heads. Of course if someone had asked her two months ago that she would be so open with someone she had only barely knew in passing she would have ignored them completely. However over the last month they had gotten to know each other quite well at Naruto's insistence and found that they actually liked each other. Of course Tenten had known that she wouldn't be Naruto's only lover but the point hadn't really been driven home until sh'ed caught him in the act with Hinata. After that she and Hinata had laid up in the bed talking and getting to better know each other, which both considered strange as they had already had sex side by side. After getting to know the younger girl she found it hard to believe anyone could dislike someone who was so kind, especially family members like Neji displayed.

Still she reminded herself there was also the fact that Neji liked to make himself feel better by putting down other people. In the academy a lot of the girls had liked the Hyuga prodigy right up to the point that he had opened his mouth at which point he had lost any and all admirers. When she had gotten placed on a team with Neji and Lee many of the girls had given their sympathy more for being stuck with Neji than with Lee. Sure Neji was a genius but he was also a prick and while Lee had been ranked dead last at least he had some personality. Gai had unfortunately warped his personality to match his own insane one but he was still better than Neji in that department. Shaking herself out of her thoughts she instead focused herself on something that was more important to her, more shopping.

Naruto was awoken to a soft shaking of his form. Blinking he came upon the sight of Tenten standing over him with her hair taken out of her usual buns and hanging down to her upper back. However instead of getting up he surprised her by grabbing her hand and pulling her down so that she was lying with him. Tenten sighed as she found herself wrapped up in his arms; despite how strong he was she liked the fact that he could be a big softie at times. She had actually moved out of her apartment and moved into his just before they had come for the exam. It made sense as he had the bigger and better place, while she had only had a one room studio Naruto had a two bedroom so it was a no brainer.

Shaking the thought from her head the budding weapon mistress with great reluctance pulled herself out of Naruto's arms and forced him up. Grumbling to himself the blond left the room and headed into the bathroom for a quick shower. Twenty minutes later upon entering his room he found Hinata also in attendance and in a whirlwind of activity he found himself stripped and standing in front of an outfit presented to him by the two girls, which was incredibly odd due to Hinata's character but it wasn't something his still sleeping mind was going to make a fuss about.

"Okay would either of you like to explain to me what's going on."

"We have to go to the gathering tonight remember. So we're going to treat this as a date." Said Tenten getting a raised eyebrow from the blond.

"Tenten it's going to be a stuffy social gathering for high society types." Said Naruto.

"True, however we can use that." Said Hinata surprising Naruto.

"As I understand it you want the Mibu to in essence be an alliance of clans. If you want that to happen along with your other goals, such as becoming Hokage you're going to have to show that not only are you comfortable in such surroundings but that you belong there." Said Hinata without a hint of a stutter and firmly despite the fact she still spoke softly.

"So we're going in formal wear?" questioned the blond eying the clothes that the two girls had forced him into in distaste.

"It's something we both have to get used to anyway, might as well start now." Said Tenten with a sigh, the thought of being anywhere without a weapon irritated her.

"It's not that bad Tenten-chan, plus our kimonos have all types of neat little surprises." As she said this Hinata ran her hand under the inside of a kimono sleeve and came away with a kunai.

Seeing this Tenten suddenly felt much happier about going with the formal attire. Shaking his head at the antics of his oldest friend Naruto didn't even bother fighting it as the two girls fussed over getting ready and went about placing on his outfit for the night.

The social gathering was taking place in a rather large hall near the center of the town. From outside stood a pair of samurai in full armor acting as guards, with another pair set to relieve them in two hours. It was only just nearing 5 o'clock and already many of the night's guests were streaming in. Inside a live band was playing and the music gave everyone a calming and relaxed feeling something many of those already in attendance greatly appreciated. From his position tucked away in a corner Kakashi watched everyone while under the guise of having his nose buried within the confines of an orange book. Though it shared the color scheme of his favorite adult literature the book in question was the rule book that Naruto had written that Ibiki had gotten him a copy of, which he finally got around to digging out.

He, Asuma, Kurenai and Anko had all arrived together all of them in their full uniform, much to Anko's annoyance and his amusement. Looking around he could see Asuma speaking with one of the Fire Daimyo's guards, the head guard if he remembered correctly which didn't surprise him seeing as both of them wore the sash of the Shugonin Junishi, the Daimyo's elite guard. He could see Kurenai and Anko sitting at the bar nursing a pair of drinks with Yugao who had been one of the Hokage's escorts into the country. He could see said Hokage himself seated at a table along with the Daimyo. He also made out Haku and Kimimaru both wearing full uniforms themselves

As he scanned the room he could make out several of the gennin that were participating had arrived but considering he didn't know them found them to be unimportant. He did however take note of three nin from Suna judging by the hitae-tae, one of whom was a redhead that according to Sasuke, Naruto had said was his brother. He could also see the vast majority of the Konoha gennin had gathered together in their own little section of the room and only three of them were missing. As if summoned by his thoughts his wandering eye spotted said missing gennin as they came through the entrance into the main hall. In the center stood Naruto however unlike the rest of the gennin he was in a new outfit, he now wore a pair of white hakama pants along with a dark blue kimono top held secured by a white sash which was also acting to hold both of his swords at his waist.

On his right was Tenten who was wearing a white kimono with what looked like a pink dragon of all things designed on the lower half. The kimono was held close by a red obi she wore that wrapped around nearly the entirely of her midsection. On his left was Hinata who was wearing a lavender Kimono which he knew would be decorated only on the back with the Hyuga clan crest. As they entered Kakashi wasn't the only one who noticed them however as seemingly every eye had turned to the trio. Several people had entered the room in larger groups but no one outside of the Kage's and the Daimyo had gotten that kind of attention as they entered and he could tell why. Still he had only just gotten his daughter back and he had only been a dad for a year before her death was faked so he really wasn't ready to have to deal with this situation

Naruto himself paid very little mind to the attention that was being focused on him, instead his eyes swept the room quickly locking those of his sensei's for several moments before he moved on where he then spotted another female who looked at him with a raised eyebrow causing him to smirk. His attention along with everyone else's however was soon pulled to the forefront of the room where the same samurai stood who had initially welcomed the leaf-nin into the village.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to thank you all for gathering her this evening. As you all are aware this is the first time the Tetsu no Kuni has played host to the Chuunin Exams. While many of you are only visiting for the first time, for some of you I would like to say welcome back. Now beginning tomorrow morning the main event will begin with the various teams that are competing facing off against each other in either one on one or team on team battles, many of the participants of which you can see spread about around us. Now as is customary the battles will take place in tournament style however while the exam can be taken as a team it is an individual exam. This means that even if ones teammates are eliminated the participants can keep going until they themselves are eliminated or choose to bow out." Explained Mifune.

"Now then I would like to take this moment on behalf of Lord Mifune to welcome all of the Daimyo who have made it here this evening as well as your corresponding Kage and all of the other world leaders."

Before he could continue speaking however the doors opened once more and three people entered the room causing everyone to focus their attention onto them. As they looked them over nothing could be seen as all three of them were covered head to toe with hooded cloaks.

"Sorry to interrupt the trip took a bit longer than expected." Spoke the central figure a woman judging by the tone of voice.

"And just who are you?" questioned the samurai who had been speaking before however his tone caused both of the cloaked people at her sides to step forward a silent message that everyone understood sent to the speaker.

"I am the leader of Uzushio and Uzu no Kuni and head of the Uzumaki clan."

As the woman said this she raised her hands up and removed her hood causing several people around the room to choke on air. She had fair skin and long fiery red hair that disappeared into the cloak though she had strands framing both sides of her face. Her eyes were a deep violet color and all that combined with her face, once round that has since slimmed out told many people who she was.

"I don't care who you say you are this is a closed…"

Whatever else he was going to say was halted as faster than he could react a golden chain of pure chakra shot from the right sleeve of the woman's cloak and proceeded to wrap around the man's neck.

"You should learn your place. I tolerated your disrespect the first time however that is the limit of my patience, there will not be a third instance." Stated the woman.

"I apologize Lady Uzumaki, my subordinate is not well traveled and as such does not know of your importance."

The speaker was an older man with long grey hair reaching almost to his waist with bandages wrapped tightly around the top of his head. He has black eyes with distinct wrinkles underneath them, a grey goatee and moustache. He wore a purple kimono top with yellow border at the edge, a man that everyone recognized as Mifune leader of the Samurai. At his words the Uzumaki head simply nodded and the chain holding the samurai by his neck simply unwound before shooting back and disappearing under her sleeve.

"When I heard of Uzu no Kuni's revival I had no idea you were the one behind it. It seems we have much to talk about Kushina-chan." Stated Hiruzen as he made his way over

Over on the other side of the room Naruto had watched it all before turning away, his mother would find him soon enough. In the meantime he and Tenten were playing shadow to Hinata as she made her way around the room introducing herself and engaging in polite conversation with the various nobles. He and Tenten had also introduced themselves but for the most part this was Hinata's show and in truth he was enjoying watching her work. Already she had talked ten nobles, important nobles, from the various countries into visiting her clan to speak business and they had only been making rounds for thirty minutes.

Finally however he decided he would help and put the final nail in the coffin, politely breaking her away from a more hard-lined noble he led her over to another portion of the room towards the Hi no Kuni nobles surprising many when the guards actually split so that he could pass along with the two girls. As they cleared the first of the guards they stopped in front of two people, the first the girls easily recognized him being the sensei to team ten, Sarutobi Asuma. The second was a rather tall man who stood at nearly six feet in height and wore the robes of a monk along with a shaved head.

"Hinata-chan, Tenten-chan I'd like to introduce you to Chiriku one of the head monks of the Fire Temple, and the head of the Daimyo's guard." Spoke the blonde.

"Chiriku-san, this is Hyuga Hinata one of the heirs to the Hyuga clan, and this is Tenten my oldest friend." Stated the blond motioning to the girls who each bowed slightly as their name was called.

After a bit of small talk he led the two girls away seeing that the people he really wished to speak with were otherwise engaged at the moment. The three of them made rounds for nearly another hour before they ducked out to meet up with the rest of the group that had already headed to the meeting place earlier in the night. It was only as he was leaving the room that Azula caught sight of him having successfully fended off the last of the nobles that had surrounded her only to curse inwardly at the missed opportunity.

The next morning found the group of Konoha gennin gathered in the arena that would hold the third exam. As he looked around Naruto chuckled finding Ino, Neji, Choji and Sasuke nursing light hangovers. Ino had been a bit too enthusiastic and as a first timer had gone completely overboard. It didn't help that due to her age and inexperience she was a complete lightweight as were the three boys. Ignoring that for the time being he took the time to look over the rest of the arena from his place in the stands. The stands themselves were large packed with room for upwards of fifty thousand people if the rumors he'd heard were correct.

The ground itself was large stretching one hundred and fifty feet in length with plenty of cover though it was all scattered about providing a variety of hiding places for those that favored stealth over straight out combat. That was fine with him, he could go with either at the drop of a hat. Earlier he'd sent a clone disguised by a henge to the betting pools so he already knew the odds of the various competitors making it through. That however wasn't the only packed arena as watching all of this upon a large screen in Konoha's exam arena Umino Iruka was one of many who had flocked to view the spectacle, in fact the vast majority of the academy had come to see the matches all except for the beginner classes that had the really young students who didn't need to be exposed to the level of violence that could take place in such an exam.

Looking around himself he could see that the clans were out in force in support of the clan heirs that would be competing in the exam. Even the more reclusive clans such as the Kurama clan were in attendance. It wasn't just the clans in attendance however as civilians and nobles that couldn't make the trip to Tetsu no Kuni had flocked to the village so that they would be able to at least see the action. The excitement in the air was almost palpable so much so that he could only imagine what it must feel like to actually be in the arena where the fights would be taking place.

His attention along with many others however was soon pulled to the floor of the arena as six figures made their way to the center of the arena floor, five shinobi each from a different village and a single samurai.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Chuunin Exam Tournament." Stated the samurai getting cheers from the crowd.

"Due to the number of participants things are going to be a bit different than what many of you are used to. As is customary the battles will take place in tournament style however unlike previous incarnations the exam will take place as a team. Now then for the first round each match will take place as full team battles. Due to the number of participants these matches will take place for the next number of days."

As the samurai went on to explain the rules of the exam and how things would work out for the next few days Iruka raised an eyebrow in surprise. Normally the exam was held in a single day, however none of the previous exams had hosted as many participants as this one was hosting. Due to the fact that 16 teams had made it through to this point the first round would be taken as a team, though you could choose one on one or full team battles.

Whatever the case there would only be four matches a day, meaning the first round would take two days. Originally there was supposed to be 17 teams participating but the team from Ame had not made it back by the deadline and as thus was disqualified. Still the first round guaranteed to cut down half of the participating gennin bringing the number down from 48 to 24 at which point the battles would all be held on an individual basis tournament style until there was only one winner.

"The boss is so going to win this."

Glancing down towards the voice he could spot three of his students Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon all nearly vibrating in their seats in excitement. Knowing exactly who they were talking about as they all had taking a liking to the blond troublemaker that had once been his student Iruka couldn't hide the gleam of anticipation in his eyes as he too wanted to know how his students would fare.

Within the Tetsu no Kuni arena the first two teams had been selected to kick off the exam. Naruto shared a quick look with Gaara as Fu's team was among the first to be called up. Opposite the trio from Taki was a team from Kiri. As she arrived on the field Fu face was one of neutrality completely at odds with the anxious expressions her teammates sported. As the two teams faced each other the jounin in charge of the match stepped forward was a jounin from Iwa. He wasn't all that tall standing only at 4'9 which wasn't impressive at all for a full grown man.

He wore the standard attire for his village jounin with sole exception of the hitae-tae instead he wore a customized piece which consisted of a large headpiece consisting of a three pointed crown-like ridge, bearing both his Iwagakure forehead protector, a ring, and a prominent black piece of armor running across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. He had long red hair that was pulled to a tail at the top of his head that resembled a flame along with a thick mustache and beard which tapered off at a point from his chin. Upon taking all of this in Fu could only barely contain her elation, before her was Roshi the jinchuriki of the Yonbi and if they played their cards right their way into Iwa.

"First round, Team Tsurugi of Kiri vs Team Mako of Taki, Hajime."

As the words were spoken two of the Kiri nin leapt away and Fu not surprised when her teammates were quick to follow. Still she paid them no mind; none of them were of any consequence and she honestly hoped they all eliminated each other as it would save a bit of time. Looking upon her own opponent left Fu entirely unimpressed, her opponent was a boy who appeared to be about fifteen he stood at about 5'6 giving him an additional 6 inches over her and he appeared to be quite stocky showing he focused his effort on upper body strength.

Despite this he was easily dismissible, which was proven in the next few moments as he rushed her and came barreling down with an overhand right aimed dead it her face. Before he could even bring his fist down Fu had used her smaller size to her advantage and had ducked into his guard slamming her own right fist dead into the center of his stomach. For several moments he froze eyes bulged in shock before Fu calmly removed her fist and stepped to the side, not a moment too soon as the large boy fell to his knees and proceeded to release the contents of his stomach before passing out. Turning away from the defeated gennin she could see that the other four were still engaged and as such decided to bide her time, her form melting into the ground leaving not a sign of her presence.

"Well that was quick." Stated Naruto from his position in the stands.

Due to the fact that the tournament was being divided into multiple days several teams were basically given days off. Today for their teams both Naruto and Gaara found themselves sitting in the stands watching the battles that would be coming along with their teammates.

"Were you expecting anything less?" questioned Gaara from beside him.

"What are you guys talking about the match is still going." Said Sakura in confusion.

"No it's over." Stated Gaara quite certainly.

"He's right. Fu could end this farce of a battle in an instant. The only reason it's still going is she dislikes fighting weaklings even more than the rest of us and is most likely hoping for the other four to take each other out." Stated Naruto

"But they're her teammates!" exclaimed the pinkette in shock.

"So at this point they are nothing more than excess baggage. Fu is here to test her strength and her growth over the last few years." Stated Gaara

"Oh look they've taken each other out." Stated Naruto dryly.

As the five unconscious bodies were removed the announcement was made that Fu would be allowed to continue. After the field was cleared however the next match was announced this one that immediately grabbed attention as it consisted of one team from Iwa and the other from the surprise entrance to the exams the team from Uzushio. As they took to the field Naruto found himself like many others anticipating this match.

The most noticeable figure was an older teen from Iwa as he was both taller and larger than everyone else on the field. He has dark eyes and black hair that spikes out at the back from underneath his bandanna-styled hitae-tae. He also has large cheeks, and a plump nose much like the Tsuchikage and wore a pair of black pants with a long sleeved red shirt.

His teammates consisted firstly of a girl with shoulder-length brown hair with a single lock falling onto the right side of her face and going over her right eye just a little bit. Along with steel-grey eyes with orange markings in the corner. She wore what appeared to be an altered, purple kimono dress with red trimmings, a yellow sash around her waist and thigh-length stockings that merged into her sandals with very small eyebrows.

The final member of the team was a thin and tall teen with pale skin and narrow, brown amber eyes with a relatively small nose, though it stuck out at a point. He wore black pants and shirt, with an orange sash across his shoulders, and a brown obi-sash around his waist. The orange sash bears red two gemstones which are placed on his shoulders and he had shiny neck-length black hair parted down the middle-front allowing for his hitae-tae to be seen over his forehead.

On the Uzushio side he recognized Sasame easy enough with her orange hair. She now wore a pair of blue pants with a grey vest that zipped up the front with a black collar. Her teammates however consisted of two males the first of which he noticed appeared to be about fourteen and had slicked-back black hair with two bangs hanging over his forehead framing his hitae-tae. He had blue eyes as light in color as the sky with short pointed eyebrows and wore a long-sleeve fishnet undershirt and over it a dark blue shirt with lighter blue pants.

Her other teammate was a boy that wore black pants and a dark grey vest along with a black facemask much like Kakashi's that covered everything from his nose down and had long grey, almost white hair that hung down to his shoulders. His forearms were covered by black bandages and he wore black sandals. Both of her teammates exuded a quiet confidence unlike the team from Iwa who had a bit of an arrogant air about them thanks to the black haired teen.

The proctor for this match was a kunoichi from Suna that was actually pretty tall standing at perhaps 5'8. She was fair-skinned with pupil-less brown eyes and had green hair that she tied in a bun on top of her head with a hair needle running through it and one short and long strands of hair with orange tips framing each side of her face. Like many of the jounin in attendance she wore her village's standard uniform but pulled it off in a way that most others definitely could not.

"Her name is Pakura." Stated Gaara seeing the look in the blonde's eyes.

"What's so special about her?" questioned Naruto as he knew all of the proctors would be jounin of note.

"Aside from the fact that she is one of the village's top jounin you mean." Stated Gaara getting a nod from the blond.

"She possesses the Shakuton (Scorch Release) Kekkei Genkai." Stated Gaara getting Naruto to whistle impressed.

Down on the arena floor the two teams eyed each other warily before Pakura declared the start of the match. Instantly the teams split however while the team from Iwa moved to separate and put distance between each other the team from Uzu struck each member going after their chosen opponent and forcing them into the battle on their terms. Sasame for her part struck hard and fast ducking into the skinny Iwa-nin's comfort zone and sending a quick jab towards his forehead which he flinched his head back from to avoid allowing her to nail him with two quick but strong hits one to the stomach which managed to fold him over bringing him down a bit to her level and nailing him with a quick chop to his throat.

Before he could do more than stagger back a few steps Sasame acted grabbing him by the arm and flipping him over her shoulder forcing him down going with the motion Sasame wasted no time and wrapped her legs around the arm and fallen with him into a position that many recognized as an arm bar. However instead of pulling the captured limb back and into her chest Sasame had shuffled it off to her side giving herself an additional foot worth of room to work with. Unable to take the pain the Iwa nin screamed his surrender after only fifteen seconds into the hold.

While this was going on in another portion of the arena Sasame's black haired teammate separated the largest of the Iwa nin to his own little corner. However unlike his teammate the large teen had been able to adapt quickly to the attack and shifted quickly managing to avoid the initial blow by a slim margin. As the Uzu nin pressed his attack the two soon found themselves in a quick paced taijutsu match with the Iwa nin blocking more hits than he dodged. Having enough the large Iwa nin sent a vicious right out which the Uzu nin managed to block only to be thrown back by the bigger teens strength. Recovering quickly he managed to flip to his feet and rather than charge forward once more instead held his hands within a seal.

"Kirigakure no jutsu" muttered the teen.

Immediately a deep mist began to roll in and collect throughout the arena floor. With the mist in play only those in possession of the Byakugan could see what happened but whatever it was happened quick as soon a pair of dual screams echoed out. When the mist cleared the two Iwa nin could be seen out cold while the nin from Uzu stood tall. As the match ended Naruto found himself smirking, these exams were looking like they were going to be more fun than he had first thought.

AN: That's it chapters over. Thanks for reading and please review. Till next time LATER