Ch 14

Disclaimer: I don't own anything about and from the original Naruto story or any story, character, scenery or anything that the lawyers could and might sue my ass for.

Special thanks to Princess-Serenity-Serena for helping me by being the beta for this story and possibly others.

This chapter has not been beta-ed.

Previously on NotS:

"The fuck ya' lookin' at?" and finished with 15% of his KI.

Most of the Chuunin hopefuls immediately turned their heads. The remaining part were frozen stiff except a certain red-haired boy who had thin black rings around his eyes, a kanji for 'Love' tattooed on his forehead and a huge-ass gourd. The said boy smirked and nodded softly at Naruto although his two teammates, a beautiful blond girl with a huge fan on her back and a boy with too much make-up on his face ("It's war paint!") looked like they pissed themselves.

Naruto had an encounter or two with them earlier and, remembering it couldn't help but think:

'This is going to be interesting!'

Main Story:

"Hey Boss!" the wild but fun Sarutobi Konohamaru greeted his idol. He was flanked on either side by his crew, the Konohamaru Corps.

"Hey guys! Having fun?" Naruto greeted back as he exited Ichiraku's together with his teammates.

"Yes'sir!" they answered without missing a beat. They were in his class after all.

"Boss, Ebisu-sensei is on a mission today so I was wondering if you could play ninja with us." Konohamaru beamed.

"What kind of weird is that? A ninja playing ninja?" a voice called out from behind the kids.

"Hello Kiba-kun! These are the Konohamaru Corps and are sort of Naruto-kun's apprentices." Hinata smiled having heard about them from her boyfriend.

"Hey boss, who is this? Is she…" Maru began but he got his answers when Naruto planted a deep kiss on Hinata who looked like she was on cloud nine.

"WAY TA GO BOSS! You got one hot girlfrie…!" Maru's words got stuck inside his throat thanks to the massive pressure emitted by the blond. It was so intense that even Kiba began to shiver.

Naruto was smiling but the murderous aura surrounding him was cracking the pavement "Maru, you didn't know this so I'll let this one slide but only about three males in the entire world are allowed to speak like that about Hinata in my presence, and those are me, Sasuke and Hiashi-sama, the latter two due to being childhood friends, and respectively, her father. The next time you even think something like that I will shave your head and tie you under a waterfall to clear your mind. If you want to compliment a girl or a woman you say they are pretty, cute or beautiful. 'Hot' makes you seem like a pervert and a horn-dog and I put those 'to sleep', either for the night or …" and Meian Crimson-version appeared in his hand "…permanently!"

Konohamaru could do nothing but nod furiously followed by Kiba and Udon. On the other hand Moegi was looking with full admiration (and blushing cheeks) at the blond.

Meanwhile Sasuke was smirking and Hinata was laughing gently behind a dainty hand, hand that hid a force to be reckoned with.

"Konohamaru-kun…" began our lovable Hyuuga "… while I appreciate your 'compliment', do take those words to heart. One, Naruto-kun can be very…" and shooting a deadpan glare at Naruto "…and I do mean very jealous. I know that he did similar things like what he warned you to people for less when it came to me, no matter how annoying it may be…" she whispered that last part "And also what he said is true, even if you hear that girls like 'bad boys', that only applies to your personality and I mean you have to have confidence, courage and be creative and fun not to be a jerk." she finished with a smile making the boy blush and Moegi to think that she found a worthy 'Nee-sama".

"A-anyway will you still play ninja with us boss?" Kono tried to change the subject.

Before the blond could answer there was another interruption.

"Isn't that kind of dumb, a ninja playing ninja?" Sakura intervened.

'And Kurenai-nee thought that they wouldn't fit together in a team. She is practically Kiba's echo.' thought our lovable blond. "Actually Sakura, 'playing ninja' is what I call situational training. Kind of like battle simulations but less intense since they are only academy students. I have them catch me or hide from me using all their tricks. Having a stronger foe doing that to you strengthens teamwork and creativity as well as working on strategy." he answered.

'Oh!" Kiba and Sakura exclaimed.

"Hey boss, who's the pink washboard?" Konohamaru asked and a dark shadow formed around him.

"What. Did. You. Say. Brat?" Sakura asked, her hair shadowing her eyes and her knuckles cracking.

"Ooops! Sorry about that billboard brow!" Maru retorted sensing the hostility but not the danger.

Naruto sensing his 'apprentice's' imminent danger decided to begin another lecture "Maru, now you will learn some important lessons."

"What? Lessons again?" the boy whined.

"Indeed! There are three of them actually. One is that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, in this case, your words being the action. Second how to speak in the presence of the opposite gender, extended hard-way version. And finally, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Those are today's lessons."

"Amm… what?" Maru asked confused, to the ire and dread of his teammates.

"Run!" Naruto ordered smirking.

Maru was about to ask again but was interrupted by a small tremor. He looked behind him and saw a two foot radius crater with Sakura's fist in the middle of it, the said Gennin's hair going all over the place and her eyes ablaze with the fires of fury. Maru's face lost color and high-tailed it out of there followed by an absolutely rabid Sakura.

Naruto decided to follow them to secure the safety of the Hokage's grandson.

Meanwhile Maru was gaining some pretty good distance from the girl when he rounded the corner into an alley. There he bumped into someone.

(You know the sand trio so I won't describe them)

"That hurt Gaki!" said Kankuro lifting him up by the scarf and holding him up while he tried to escape.

"Oi Kankuro! Put him down before you get us in trouble!" Temari told her brother.

Sakura seeing the predicament calmed down and tried to make peace "Please put him down, we were just fooling around!"

Naruto was just staring at them quietly, for now at least.

'So these guys are Konoha Gennin eh?' thought the puppet master.

'Suna eh?' thought Naruto noticing the headbands and stealthily activating his Shinsougan 'Must be here for the Chuunin Exams, but their chakra is at least Chuunin already so either they are not participants or they are somewhat skillful. Let's see, for the dude, a big ass puppet on his back and judging by his chakra a quick to use Kawarimi on ready. Judging by his muscles, his body is not suited for direct combat. For the chick, an equally huge folded fan made from chakra conductive materials and a body not built for close combat and Suna being renown for wind masters we have a puppet master who probably uses poisons and a long range wind specialist. Interesting…'

"But I want to teach this brat a lesson in manners before you-know-who shows up!" Kankuro smirked.

"Let go!" Maru kept screaming.

"Ho? You're quite the energetic brat!" the suna teen smirked.

"That's quite enough!" screamed Naruto before charging like a berserker, his moves full of openings.

Kankuro's smirk deepened and moved his fingers behind his back tripping the blond who fell on his back.

'Who are these guys?' thought a worried Sakura knowing that if they could take down Naruto then they were hard core.

"What's this? Konoha Gennin are so weak!" the suna boy spoke.

A few tense moments passed before the Naruto on the ground yelled "Code Spirit! Let him have it Konohamaru!"

The poor boy who until then was struggling then stopped moving. Kankuro looked puzzled by this until Maru smirked with a sounding 'click' and blue chakra began gathering around him like he was on fire.

Maru then brought his right hand up and chopped Kankuro's hand away. The puppet user then retracted his arm in pain and before Maru could land, he had to jump back to avoid a spin kick from the preteen.

"Why you little…!" Kankuro began reaching for Karatsu.

"Oi Kankuro stop it! Are you going to use…" Temari began but her words stopped cold when another Naruto appeared out of thin air behind Kankuro with two kunai in hand. One positioned close to his jugular and another pressing it's tip on the suna boy's reaching arm.

Both siblings gasped 'Wha…?'

"I wouldn't do that puppet user-kun! You could lose an arm…' he said pressing the kunai deeper into his skin (although it was still just a sting) '… or worse!" Naruto touched his neck with the other.

"How…?" was all that Kankuro could ask before the Naruto on the ground disappeared in a burst of smoke.

"Solid clones, quite the useful technique! Especially for analyzing an opponent's style up close, don't you think?" Naruto smirked before he sensed Temari reaching for her fan. "I wouldn't do that as well Kunoichi-san! I would hate myself if I took an arm or two from your friend here!" he said as he opened the flood gates on his KI and directing it all to her.

In that moment Temari saw and felt Shukaku tearing her apart. She fell to her knees in shock, panting, salivating and sweating, tears flowing freely from her non-blinking eyes.

"I admit you have nerve…" Naruto smirked "… to claim that Konoha nin are weak when your friend here can't even stand 25% of my KI. If I went a little higher I wonder… if she would have committed suicide or would she simply have a stroke."

Naruto then frowned and teleported a little distance away from the duo "You in the trees, come down!"

The two recovered a little to look towards the tree in question to reveal Gaara.

"Kankuro, Temari you two are disgraces to the village." he spoke in an emotionless tone before shunshining with sand to their level.

"G-Gaara?!" stuttered Kankuro, Temari being still in shock. "L-listen Gaara, these guys started it!"

"Silence!" the red-head ordered "Or I'll kill you!"

"Hai! I understand, we were at fault!" Kankuro tried to save his skin.

Then Gaara turned to the Konoha bunch "Excuse them…". Then looking at Naruto 'He moved faster than I could sense, he is good! Perhaps he will prove my existence.' "You! What is your name?" he asked.

Meanwhile Naruto was in an intense conversation with his tenant.

'He seems familiar…' the blond though.

'Of course he does!'

'Nii-san?'

'Kit he is Shukaku's pup*! You can practically taste the chakra leaking from his seal. Must be a crappy one at that!'

'Ichibi no Tanuki (One-Tailed Racoon-Dog) Shukaku?'

'The one and only! Listen Naruto if you can please do this for me…'

…

"Isn't it polite to present yourself first?" Naruto asked humbly.

"My name is Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Sand Waterfall (lit) /Desert (trans.))! These are Temari and Kankuro!"

"A pleasure!" Naruto bowed lightly "My name is Naruto Uzumaki… brother!"

"H-hey wait a minute!" Kankuro began lightly "I think you must be confused, Gaara is our brother not yours!"

He was shut up by the glare Gaara sent them "I have no family." he told them and they flinched.

"That's not what I meant. I was referring to the 'power of a human sacrifice' (spoken differently than Jinchuriki- I think that you can do that in Japanese)!" Naruto smirked as they tensed.

A few tense moments of silence followed before Gaara asked "Which one?"

Naruto closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them to reveal them slit-red "Kurama!"

Gaara raised an eyebrow before his eyes went wide.

"Uzumaki! Mother is interested in you. Mother says that Ky…!"

"Ah, tut tut! Sorry for the rude interruption brother but that is not something to say in the open!" he then teleported to Gaara's side and placed a hand on his shoulder with absolutely no fighting intent. The shield sensed that and didn't react to the surprise of the Suna-nin. He then whispered something into the red-haired boy's ear and promptly did a one eighty and began leaving while waving to him. The rest of the Konoha party left with him.

Later that night Naruto was standing on the Fourth's head on top of the Hokage mountain. A couple of feet away you could see some strange wooden stakes with seals planted into the ground: chakra blocking barrier.

"So you came…" Naruto said sagely.

Just then Gaara materialized from sand.

"Uzumaki, mother is interested in your words." Gaara stated emotionlessly.

Naruto then sweat-dropped "You know, I call my tenant big brother but to call a Bijuu 'Mother' is kind of exaggerated!"

Gaara then began his monologue (Lee murder attempt at the hospital) and told him about his sealing, life and general purpose in life. By the time he was finished Naruto was weeping for him… literally.

Two anime tear-streaks slid down his cheeks and snot hanged from his nose making even the stoic Gaara sweat-drop.

"You poor thing! Poor misguided dope!" Naruto sobbed before straightening out with a serious expression "You know … I am the Sandaime Kyuubi Jinchuriki!" he said raising Gaara's interest "Do you know what the Shodaime one said to the Niidaime? She said that to be able to seal a Bijuu in a container that container must first be filled with something. Do you know what?" Naruto asked half-expectantly. He hoped that the tattoo on the red's forehead would reveal its true meaning. Sadly it wasn't so.

"No." Answered Gaara.

"Love." spoke Naruto.

"I told you that I am loveless! I live for myself! I love only myself!" and irked Gaara spoke.

"No, you are not…" Naruto answered swaying his head from side to side "I at least know that your siblings love you!"

Gaara narrowed his eyes.

"One of the perks of being Kurama's Jinchuriki is being able to sense emotions. When we met earlier I sensed their love for you, buried deep under their fear. I couldn't sense any hatred."

"You're wrong!" Gaara screamed for the first time but then his eyes went blood-shot and his hands clutched his head as his sand flew violently in helixes around him.

"Oi Shukaku-san stop it!" Naruto yelled back at Gaara who immediately seemed to calm down.

The suna shinobi was still panting while looking to the ground "Uzumaki… MOTHER WANT'S YOUR BLOOOOOD!" he screamed as sand rushed towards Naruto.

Naruto could only sigh. The blond muttered 'Sorry brother!' before teleporting out of the way of the sand and right in front of Gaara before shoving his hand in the red's body*. It was now noticeable that his hand had strange black tribal markings.

"Tensha Fūin: Shishō Fūin (Transcription Seal: Four-Symbols Seal)!"

And with that Gaara's eyes rolled in the back of his head and he fell unconscious, his last defense, the sand armor flowing off of him instantly as the black markings on Naruto's hand disappeared.

A weak chuckle escaped the blond's mouth "Although I said that I would fix your seal if you came in peace, you didn't really think I wouldn't come prepared for the worse. That S-rank seal ought to hold your so called 'mother' till Nii-san and I have a word with 'her'."

Naruto then placed a hand on Gaara's head, eyes closed. He focused a little before his eyes shot open, glowing with all the Shinsougan's might "Ranpu: Satori!' (Light Element: Satori*)

The background behind the blond swirled before he found himself standing on a lake of blood surrounded by a never ending darkness in which the kanji 'Love' was scattered like stars but larger, much larger.

Naruto focused a little and found himself standing in front of a huge golden cage that was reinforced by glass-like crystal so that nothing could seep through. Behind the bars he could see Shukaku held hands, feet and neck by sand-chains that seemed to appear out of the darkness* though they were doing nothing to restrain the Bijuu as it was banging hard on the bars without even scratching them.

The Gennin looked around and finally saw Gaara clawing on the glass surface of the gates and cleared his throat gaining the suna shinobi's attention.

"Uzumaki!" the red-head began frantically "What did you do to mother?! I can't hear her! I can't get to her!" he rushed the blond but found himself bound by ropes of light.

"Calm down Gaara! I just placed a powerful seal over the existing one and cut-off Shukaku's connection to you. Neither of you have been harmed. I just wanted to have a talk with your 'mother'.

Naruto then approached Gaara and touched his forehead with a finger. In the glass of the seal appeared a couple of holes in a round type pattern* and instantly Shukaku's war cries were heard.

"Shukaku-san calm down and listen!" Naruto yelled and managed to gain the insane Bijuu's attention.

"YOU! You're Kyuubi's brat! What did ya' do! The chains are finally loose but I can't get passed these freakin' bars!"

"That's because it's a seal ten times more powerful than the original seal and it isn't maintained by Gaara's state of consciousness!"

"FUUUUCCCKKK!" yelled Shukaku banging harder on the bars "LEEE'MEE OUT! LEEE'MEE OUT! LEEE'MEE OUT TEME!"

Naruto was waiting for the beast to realize that it ain't going to happen before trying to speak to it when another voice ran through it.

"Would you calm down brother!"

Shukaku for his part froze and then snarled "That ya' Kyuubi?"

"That's right little brother!" answered Kurama.

"Wha' da' fuck ya' want bastard?" yelled Ichibi.

For a few moments there was a tense silence before Shukaku got it's answer.

"First of all I want you to calm down and listen to the kit! He has something to say that you might do good to listen to. I will tell you the second part after that!"

Shukaku scoffed and looked at Naruto who was still waiting patiently "Well? What are ya' waitin' fo'? Cough it up!"

Naruto for his part closed his eyes and inhaled deeply "Da' fuck? Don't ya' be goin' ta' sleep on me ya' hear!"

"It hurts doesn't it?" Naruto asked catching the Bijuu off-guard. "Humans can be so selfish can't they? Being treated like you are nothing to be considered, like swords and arrows, kunai and scrolls… weapons of mass destruction, never considering your feelings."

"Da' fuck?" Shukaku answered puzzeled. He felt every word that Naruto shot at him.

"It hurts so bad that insanity is a pleasant choice but even that gets boring after a while, especially if you are ageless and immortal, right?"

There was a moment of silence.

"While I can't even come close to understanding the second part I can picture it, especially since I lived the first one. Nobody caring if you are hurting, nobody praying for your safety… nobody considering your feelings." Naruto said making Shukaku frown and close its eyes.

"Jinchuriki… Power of Human Sacrifices… what a fitting term, in more than one way… The power of our tenants, the power of our wills and both our sacrifices, never done willingly. Chosen from birth* to bear the burden of hosting Bijuu, our life is forfeit with our first… and last breaths as humans. We are given the 'honor' of being the mighty 'keepers of peace'. We sacrifice our happiness, our flesh, blood, and bones… our chakra and our spirit and in some cases… our sanity so that others may live peacefully the life we never had…

Just like our Bijuu tenants, beings born out of love for the world, only to be seen as weapons of mass destruction, things (spit-like tone) of war.

We lose our everything and eventually become hollow, and when more is asked of us to give we hollow others eventually losing all to despair and vanishing… until the cycle continues."

Shukaku was somewhere between weeping and seething. The brat was right. It was insane as a front, kind of like Naruto's stupid persona. It was the only thing keeping it from truly going nuts. But now he had to deal with the fact that he would usually ignore, the fact that even his human hosts suffered. Troublesome ningen!

"But… there is one thing that can fill the void that is left behind. That tiny yet universal thing that can cure the loneliness and can extinguish the blaze of hatred that burns your being. Love! That simple four-letter word so abundant yet so hard to reach!

I don't want to seem selfish, especially towards you and your siblings but I have suffered. Perhaps mine is insignificant to yours, perhaps mine is a whole other lever as compared to others', but it does not matter. The thing that matters is that I love my adoptive family, Kurama-nii, my birth parents, my girlfriend, my friends, my students, my summons and so I can safely say that… I love this world! They gave me the will to love. Not selfish self-care but true love, one that can only be achieved when you don't care about anything else other than them and they return it the same way. Now I have a new mission, to spread it to the world, to drown the wars of bloody hatred and to protect it for as long as I can! Will you join me Shukaku-san?"

The beast was thrown in uncomfortable silence. It lasted a few seconds though the tension made it seem like ages when it finally answered "Why should I?"

"It's what Old Man Tou-san (or insert Sage Six Path name) would have wanted!" Kurama answered.

Shukaku growled " Don't ya' dare speak about 'im Kyuubi! He loved ya' more than anyone of us! You 'ere his favorite! He gave you the most power!"

"No I wasn't! That man was incapable of favoritism and you know it. Just like the Kit he loved the world equally. Our power difference was just a side-effect of his jutsu. He loved us all equally!"

Shukaku cringed and looked sad but its pride didn't let it speak. And it still resented Kurama for…

"And for what it's worth… I'm sorry!" Kurama continued.

"Wha?"

"I'm sorry for calling you weak because you have one tail, I'm sorry for walking out on you and our siblings and I'm sorry for anything else that made us drift apart and you to hate me! I'm sorry little brother!" Kurama spoke in a remorseful tone.

Shukaku then closed its eyes and frowned deeply. A moment later his mouth opened to reveal a hard cringe. He banged hard against the bars with both hands before roaring out loud.

"DAMN IT! DAMMMNNN IIITT KURAMA! DAMN IT OLD MAN! I GET IT BROTHER! I FUCKING GET IT! I miss the old man! I missed you brother!" Shukaku shouted, its tears wetting the sand of its cheeks.

"Missed you too Shu!" Kurama smiled audibly.

Naruto's face shined with happiness and then turned to Gaara and dispelled the light ropes.

"While they were having the conversation I took the liberty of looking through this place and I found something that you might want to see…" Naruto turned to the side and Gaara followed suit. In the deep darkness a small white light formed that got bigger and bigger until it was the size of an adult in diameter. The light slowly charged with colors until a very beautiful woman appeared on 'screen'. She appeared to be exhausted as her short dust-brown hair looked disheveled, her eyes had bags and she was sweaty.

"Mother…( Karura)" Gaara stated weakly.

The woman was looking towards them "These are your memories Gaara, they are from your birth!" Naruto clarified.

She looked at what they imagined was Gaara with dead-like eyes "What a small, feeble child…" she began and the red-head began to cower fearing the words that would come, but to his surprise the Karura smiled whole-heartedly and gently embraced him "Gaara… No matter what happens, I'll always protect you! And I will always love you!" after which the memory faded in the sounds of beeping hospital machinery and with a final 'She's going into cardiac arre…' the light disappeared.

Naruto smiled sadly "I traced the source of the memory and found a gentle, motherly chakra coming from a soul-shard sealed inside a different part of you. That chakra constantly mixes with sand around you and tries to 'embrace you with it' to protect you. It appears that your mother kept her word at the expense of her own spirit. She truly loved you Gaara!"

Gaara was now weeping silently, tears flowing freely from his eyes "Uzumaki, I'm * sob* confused *sob*! What do I do now?*sob*"

"That Gaara you will have to find the answer on your own but know this: No matter what it is, so long as it doesn't threaten another innocent's dreams, I will support you, and I think that your siblings will as well!" Naruto smiled.

"Why… why would you do that?"

"Because that's what friends are for!" the blond answered extending his hand.

"Friends?" Gaara asked wearily.

"Or brothers if you want?" Naruto joked.

Gaara then smirked and grabbed the blond's hand. "Can I chose… both, Uzumaki?"

Naruto then became serious "On one condition!"

"What?" the red-head asked a little frightened.

The blond then threw his hand over Gaara's shoulder "Call me Naruto! Na-ru-to!"

The suna shinobi blinked in confusion a few times before, for the first time in years, laughed whole-heartedly (and not murderously).

Meanwhile in Konoha…

"Where the fuck is Gaara?" asked Kankuro as he banged his fist against a wall.

Just then the door flew open and the sand siblings saw Naruto supporting an unconscious Gaara making their hearts skip a few beats.

"What in the …" Temari began.

"Shhh…. can't you see your brother is sleeping peacefully? Where's the bed?" Naruto scolded her.

She pointed mechanically towards her bedroom where Naruto gently placed Gaara before closing the door.

He then sighed and turned to them who were looking like they saw the Shinigami.

"I am guessing that you have a lot of questions but let's take this outside so we won't wake him." he whispered to them and then they all made their way to the roof of the hotel. "I will state the most important things now and then you will ask your questions. First, I changed his shitty seal with a more powerful and stable one that doesn't depend on him being awake so he can now catch up on his rest. The seal that I used was the Hakke no Fūin Shiki which was designed by the Fourth Hokage. Yes it's perfectly safe and yes he can still access Shukaku's chakra and also I gave him the key to the seal so he can adjust the seal or open it fully and yes his Sand Shield is still active since it was not powered by the Bijuu although his chakra control might be a little shot now. Shukaku is now his friend and not his insanity instigator but a real friend and so am I. He also told me about the invasion plans and told me that if you have a problem with telling me then you can take it up with him. Well that's about it so now shoot!"

They were still in shock from seeing Gaara sleeping soundly so when the blond weirdo started spewing the info on them they just took it on the fly.

"Ookay…" began Temari "Who are you really?"

The boy smirked "Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's greatest Jikukan user of all time and current top Seal Master specializing in the lost Uzumaki of Uzushiogakure Sealing-Style and Gaara's first real friend at your service!" and did a small bow.

"Friend?" Kankuro asked incredulously.

"As in comrade, buddy, chum, the asshole who can embarrass him and still make him smile friend." Naruto answered earning a small giggle from Temari.

Kankuro on the other hand was doing a good imitation of a drowning fish.

"Well looks like I outstayed my usefulness so I will bid you adieu! Oh I almost forgot, Gaara asked me to tell you something before he fainted and I quote "Tell those two that I'm sorry and that I want to be their little brother again if they let me!" and with that he disappeared in an orange flash.

They took a moment to recover still staring at the place where the blond had disappeared from "That's some 'Shunshin'!" Kankuro stated to break the silence and Temari nodded dumbly.

They then crept inside the apartment where they stayed and slowly snuck inside the now red-hair boy's sleeping quarters. They looked at Gaara's sleeping face with blank looks before Kankuro frowned and pulled the covers over his little brother's shoulders and slowly crept outside the room with a smirk. Temari on the other hand gently brushed his hair to the side and gave him a small goodnight kiss on the forehead making him smile unconsciously and then followed her other brother's example.

'I still don't know who you truly are Uzumaki but I will thank you for giving me back my little brother. All I can say is that who will be with you will be one lucky girl (unless you like guys)!' she thought shivering at the last part thinking of the waste. Meanwhile in the Hyuuga compound Hinata was sparing with Neji and was just about to deliver a very weak Hake Kusho when she sneezed and super-powered her move blasting poor Neji through a tree and planting him inside a crater on a wall.

Next morning…

"And that's how it happened…" Naruto told his team. He waited for their responses but then felt a shiver run down his spine. He then looked at the source who was none other than Hinata who, although was smiling, was releasing a dark aura who took the form of a female Tengu-crow (half crow-half man with a shit-yourself scary mask) monster behind her.

"So Naruto…" she began sweetly "… you went to meet an unstable Jinchuriki without telling us or the Hokage or having any back up whatsoever?" she asked, her aura scaring even Sasuke (like mother like daughter).

"Well I, I mean , yes… umm… no… can I just say… bye!" and he zipped off with Hinata giving chase.

"GET BACK HERE NARUTO UZUMAKI AND TAKE YOUR GRUESOME BEATING LIKE A MAN!" she yelled at him.

The chase lasted about ten minutes before Hinata cornered him at the base of the Hokage Monument.

He then made his peace before death and closed his eyes to meet the fury of the raging Hinata who was stomping slowly towards him.

He expected pain and hoped it would be quick and short but was surprised when he only felt a her fists bang gently against his chest and her face burry above them. He then heard a sobbing Hinata whisper

"You BAKA! What would I do if I lost you?"

He stayed in shock a few moments before snapping out of it and staying quiet, gently embraced her.

Present time…

Naruto smiled at his new friend/brother and nodded, the suna boy returning the gesture. He then turned back to Kabuto who looked like he saw a ghost.

"See, problem solved!" the Uzumaki grinned brightly.

"Umm… what?" the glasses wearing Konoha nin asked snapping out of his stupor.

"About the attracting attention part. As you can see, problem solved!"

"Are you sure about that?" Kabuto asked while pointing to the rest of the Gennin.

Naruto looked and saw the frozen part of them staring blankly at him.

"I fucking asked you something! Well?" Naruto growled at them and they quickly turned around and ducked under whatever they could find. Naruto nodded "Yup, I'm sure!"

"O-Okay, well are you interested in knowing a bit more about your competition?" the glasses wearing teen asked.

"How?" Sasuke asked briefly.

"Well I have some nin-fo cards that have some information about each of them that I have collected over the years." he smirked pushing up his glasses.

"Why would I want to see porn cards?" Naruto spewed out causing Kabuto to trip while standing.

"These are not porn cards!" Kabuto defended.

"Really? But didn't you say 'nympho' cards?" the blond puzzled (he's faking it)

"Not 'nympho', nin-fo as in nin-ja info-rmation cards!" Kabuto explained.

"Oh…" the blond stuck his tongue out and smiled.

'This is the same Gennin who drowned the audience in KI earlier?' Kabuto thought.

"Do you have info on anybody?" the platinum blonde Yamanaka Ino asked.

"Indeed…" the glasses wearing boy smirked tickling Ino's gossip senses.

"How did you get the info Kabuto-san?" Hinata asked.

"This is just info I managed to gather during my tries at this exam."

'Tries? You've done this before?" Kiba asked.

"This is my seventh time and since they are held twice a year, this is my fourth year!"

"Really, well you must suck!" the Inuzuka blurted out.

"Or the exams are just that hard." Kabuto smirked.

Naruto on the other hand frowned 'If the competition is like this then it can't be that hard and even so judging by the way he holds himself he is quite skilled. You wouldn't notice it from the start but he has no holes in his stance. He is like a coiled cobra, not looking like much but you won't know when it bit you. Then why doesn't he tick my lie-detector instinct. He is either real good at lying or he is just a guy who gives up early like Shikamaru. Interesting…"

"Well they can't be that good, I mean how much info can a Gennin get on a person's skill set, especially ones from another village." Naruto smirked 'Although it doesn't apply to my team or should I say team Yurei, heh.'

"Oh yeah? Well let's just see what it says about you!" Kabuto answered quite irked.

"Rookie Naruto Uzumaki of Konohagakure, at your service!" Naruto smirked again although he sensed something off. He turned to the class to notice that some if not most of them gathered the courage to listen in. He blasted them with KI again albeit a weaker version.

"Mind your own fucking business!" the blond growled at them who quickly turned their attention somewhere else.

Kabuto then hummed and pulled out a card and charged chakra into it "Let's see Naruto Uzumaki: Parents: Unknown, Position: Konoha Gennin, Leader of the Konoha Uzumaki Clan, academic statistic: dead last with bear minimum. Jounin Sensei Hatake Kakashi, Skills…

HOLY CRAP!" Kabuto yelled gaining a lot of attention.

"This can't be right! It says here that you are a Medic-Nin First-Class with honors, Seal Master, Kenjutsu Master and chakra powerhouse.

Mission statistics … I'm starting to think that these cards are getting faulty although I made them to last…" Kabuto said rubbing his temples.

"Why?" Ino asked.

Kabuto sighed "Well get a load at this: Mission Rating: 576 D-ranks, 64 C-ranks, 4 B-ranks and an A-rank!"

"Well that last one was a C-rank gone wrong but nothing we couldn't handle." Naruto stated.

"Yeah but usually being a chakra powerhouse and medic nin is like trying to mix oil and water." Kabuto informed.

"Don't remind me!" Naruto harrumphed "It's a pain but I make it happen!"

"You must have godly chakra control!" Kabuto stated.

"Yeah, I kind of wanted to follow in the Hokage's footprints like Hashirama-sama. He was a monster in chakra and a medic nin levels above his granddaughter Tsunade." Naruto explained.

"Ah, I heard that one! And you were a dead-last too. Usually medics need to be at least book-smart. I'm a medic too, can you give me some pointers?"

"About the dead-last part, deception is a shinobi's tool. And about the medic part well practice makes perfect and never give up!" Naruto continued "That's the secret!"

"Thanks now back to the card, hmm… doesn't say more than, 'For more info check Kirigakure Bingo Book. Luckily I have one of those.' Kabuto nodded and pulled out a scroll out of which he unsealed the Kiri bingo book.

"Let's see now, Uruke, Uziri, ah Uzumaki Naruto hmm… you know what I'm not even surprised! Says here you are part the first B-rank Gennin team in the history of the shinobi villages. It restates the info on the card, says that you use Fuuton (Wind) jutsu with no hand-seals and that… wow… you took out 300 armed help with one move of your sword and evened out with a former Kiri Seven… Swords…man… I take that back I am surprised!" Kabuto began to sweat.

Naruto then grinned widely "Yeah, I'm just that good!" but then leaned in to whisper something in the glasses wearing teen's ear "Remember what I told you Kabuto-san, deception is key! That info doesn't even scratch the surface so, for your own good, tread lightly!"

Kabuto could only nod lightly.

Just then the doors flew open and in came the examiners headed by Ibiki Morino.

"Okay you brats, shut up and pay attention!" shouted the intimidating man but compared to the KI given out by the blond his presence seemed as calming as a summer rain.

'The hell! Ibiki-jii-san's here? Why would a top T&I agent present a test. It's either that we will be tortured for this part or he's here for intimidation effect. Sorry Oji-san but I got to them ahead of you!" Naruto thought.

"Okay you brats, get over here and draw a number and then sit down in the respective seat!" Ibiki yelled.

They pulled out their respective seats although when it was Naruto's turn he sent a predatory smile to Ibiki who returned the gesture making the rest of the Gennin who knew nothing of their relation shiver. (Their seating is the same as the original)

Ibiki then explained the rules.

"Okay brats, quiet out and listen up! You have to answer seven questions before the time limit expires!" he began and quickly heard the groans. That made him smirk "You need at least five points to pass! Every right question is worth a point for the first six and if you are caught cheating once you lose two points, caught again and you lose three points and finally if you are caught once more you lose four so that means you cheat three times, you fail automatically! The seventh question is worth five points!"

Immediately there was a small uproar with most of them saying that they never heard of this kind of test. Though Sakura was the one who got the examiner's attention "But where's the seventh question?"

Ibiki smirked "The seventh question will be given during the last fifteen minutes! Ready? BEGIN!"

Naruto was deep in conversation with his teammates 'These rules are really fucked up. And although I could answer these questions in my sleep, they are not something other than specialists from the Intelligence and Decryption part of the T&I could answer off the bat like this.' said Naruto.

'I know how to answer two or three of them but that's thanks to your tutoring, they really are harder than anything a normal Gennin could answer. Maybe Sakura-san could but she only focused on books during academy years.' answered Hinata.

Sasuke continued 'So that means that this isn't a normal test. Let's combine our info on this and figure it out. So basics: 1) Instead of failing instantly you get a chance to cheat, 2) A T&I top interrogator specializing in mental intimidation techniques is our proctor, 3) The rules put more pressure on the examinees since for every blunder you lose more and more points. No matter how you look at it guys this all adds up to the fact that…'

They all 'spoke' as one: 'Information gathering… We have to cheat!'

Naruto then chuckled 'Well, that's easy! I recognized one of the examinees, he's already a Chuunin from the T&I and I kept wondering what he was doing here until I saw him start writing the answers without skipping a beat and considering that we have to cheat I'm guessing that he is planted here to provide the 'information for gathering'. Don't activate your Doujutsu just yet! I will use our link to give you the picture of his answers since my Shinsougan is the least obvious technique.'

'Copy that!' both his teammates answered.

And so they did to the curiosity of Ibiki who expected the blond to know the answer but he saw neither the Hyuuga girl nor the Uchiha use their 'eyes' not like the other more obvious clan members like the other Hyuuga who's bulging vanes gave him away, or the Nara who used his shadow to have some random Gennin move his test just a bit to the side so he could get a good view, or the Inuzuka who had his dog cheat for him or even the Yamanaka who's jutsu hand-seal and the pinkette falling unconscious was a dead giveaway and so on.

A couple of fails (a little more than the anime) and finally it came to an end.

"Alright maggots, put your pencils down!" Ibiki yelled and so they did "Now before you get the final question you must know that there's a hitch!"

There were some murmurs in the class but it quickly died down.

"Before you get the final question know that it is mandatory to answer the question. If you refuse your points automatically fall to 0 and you will fail and have a better chance next year!"

"Well then we will take the question!" shouted Kankuro.

"But…" Ibiki interrupted with a sick grin on his face "To receive the question you must chose a teammate who will not be able to take the exam and will always remain a Gennin!"

This time the uproar was loud with most of them screaming that it's unfair. "You can't do that! There are some here who took the test before!"

"Well this year I am examiner! I make the rules and I have permission from all the Kages and village leaders to do so!"

'Bullshit!' thought Naruto, an opinion shared by his teammates 'I would have believed that if not for Kiri's state. It's completely locked down from entry so gaining that kind of authorization would have been as close to impossible as humanly possible!'

Ibiki then unsealed a small but wide cardboard grid that had the village symbol on it and the team's identification like a small leaf whirlwind for Konoha and Team 7, Team 8 and so on.

"You might have noticed the small piece of paper on the right of the main one! You will write the name of your teammate you wish to eliminate, fold it and then place it in the box corresponding to your village and team."

They started murmuring again. Eventually an Ame team got up and placed their pieces of paper and Naruto noticed that one of them had a visible shitty grin hidden under his mask.

They were followed by more teams until Naruto noticed that Sakura was shakily going to place her paper slip. The blond frowned, got up and, followed by his teammates, he marched to Ibiki and presented his paper slip and the man raised an eyebrow at this… right before Naruto ripped and shred the piece of paper before burning it with pure Katon chakra.

"Our sensei taught us: 'Those who don't follow the rules are scum, but those who don't care for their teammates are far, far worse than scum!'" The blond then looked at the boxes that had slips already in them and simply said "Worse than scum!" before shaking the ashes out of his hand and did a one-eighty followed by Hinata and Sasuke who already took care of their slips, and walked out the room. Most teams were already following their lead.

Outside the room they were greeted by a Chuunin who told them "You're Kakashi's team right?" They nodded "Well he would be proud to know that you passed now please head to room 315 to wait for the second examiner!" he whispered before moving to redirect other teams who exit.

Meanwhile in the examination room a good but still smaller-than-expected portion remained.

"Well maggots, I have to congratulate you and tell you that … YOU FAIL! Why? Figure it out and get out of my class!" he said and stormed out.

Meanwhile in R315 Ibiki entered with a kind smirk on his face which knowing him was kind of creepy.

"Congratulations Gennin! The fact that you are here means that you either understood the meaning of this test or you took that weird shit stain blond's words to heart!"

"Says the man who sleeps in an 'Iron Maiden' with a branding iron as a teddy-bear!" Naruto shouted in defense.

Ibiki's brow twitched but shrugged it off and began explaining the hidden meanings behind the test but was interrupted by Naruto who got up and strolled to the middle of the class and did a small "Doryuheki (Earth Wall)" a little distance away from a side window. He then strolled to the window in the view of the entire silently curious examinees.

Naruto slowly mumbled "…3…2…1…" and he opened the window and a tan blur zipped through it and stopped hard when it hit the Earth Wall kicking up dust and making Naruto burst out in a crazy laugh.

When the dust cleared you could see a swirly eyed Anko Mitarashi sticking to the wall in an uncomfortable body position.

She then shook her head "Oh, did someone get the rank on that jutsu that hit me?"

"More like you hit the Jutsu Nee-san!" Naruto said between snorts.

"YOU!" she pointed towards the blond.

"Payback for the time you spiced my ramen with mega-hot sauce! No one messes with my ramen!" Naruto declared.

"Oh when I get my hands on you…" she trembled with anger.

Naruto then smiled toothlessly and lowered his head just so much that his eyes were barely visible between the strands of hair as they glowed red. "Is that a challenge?"

Anko just moved her head from side to side in rapid frightened motion. Last time he got that look she was painted pink and covered in feathers.

The blond just chuckled "That's what I thought!" and made his way back to his seat.

Anko then snapped out of her daze "Ahem, I am the sexy and single…"

"And Sadistic..." interrupted Naruto.

Anko nodded "That too… Anko Mitarashi and I'll be your proctor for the second exam! Let's see one, two, three… 63? You left 21 teams this year Ibiki? You must be losing your touch!"

"Or they are just a good crop, not to mention there's a pesky blond mixed with them…" Ibiki grunted.

"Maybe, meh I'll chop them down to at least half by the time I'm done with them! Alright brats, with me!"

Training ground 44…

Anko was standing in front of the TG holding two scrolls, one white with the kanji for Heaven and another darker scroll with the kanji for Earth.

"Alright brats, front and center! This is where the next portion of the exam will take place! During the 120 hours or in other words five days you will be locked up inside here with one of these scrolls. The objective is to gain a pair of scrolls using whatever means necessary and to reach the tower in the middle of the TG before the said time is up. The rules are: if you leave the training grounds you and your team will be disqualified, if you arrive at the tower without a functioning team meaning a critically injured or teammate you and the rest of your team will be disqualified, if you receive outside help from another non-participant by their own will you and your team will be disqualified! If you open any of these scrolls in the forest you and your team will be disqualified! As Chuunin you will be required to ferry classified information meant for specific eyes only! Consider this a test of trust! Now before we begin the test you are required to go to that tent where you will sign the agreement to take this test of your own will and turning in those slips as a team you will receive your scroll! Any questions?"

"What are the slips for?" asked Ino.

"Oh that's just to clear us of any responsibility concerning your deaths!" the woman flashed a predatory grin.

"What will we do for food?" Choji asked/screamed.

"Well there's lot of wild plants and game in this forest and it's all supersized so it will be enough even for an Akimichi!" Anko smiled but then it turned into a grin "That is if you can get past the man-eating poisonous giant plants and colossal predators like a fifteen ton bear or a twenty-seven foot long panther! Welcome to Training Ground 44 also known as the Forest of Death!"

"Home sweet home!" Naruto shouted.

Anko then threw a kunai at the blond but it was deflected by an invisible force millimeters before it could graze his cheek. The woman appeared behind the teen with another kunai held some distance from him.

"You know… it's usually the loudmouths who go first!" she whispered into his ear while pressing her 'assets' on his back.

"Well I can think of something more dangerous than anything in that forest!" Naruto grinned.

"Oh really, what?" she licked her lips.

Naruto chuckled "Look to your right…"

Anko followed his instruction and was met by the sight of a smiling Hinata whose Tengu-aura was going ballistic making the usually composed and scary woman pale with fright "I will tell you this once Anko-san. Get your breasts off of him!"

The woman complied by moving back to her original position with a speed that would have Naruto wonder if she had a version of the Senkaipo in her jutsu arsenal.

A couple of minutes later and they were situated at the gate that would soon let them inside the portion of the test with a Heaven scroll sealed inside one of Naruto's wrist bands. The clock hit noon and the gates opened. They zipped through it and in less than ten seconds they were already a mile and a half deep inside the forest.

"So what do we do now? Do we hunt for a team or do we try and set up traps closer to the tower?" Sasuke asked.

"Can I add a third suggestion?" asked Naruto as he fished out an Earth scroll from his coat.

"When did you get that?" asked Hinata.

"Nothing that I know of except probably another dimension can hide something from the Shinsougan. I scanned the teams and the closest one to us that had an Earth scroll was ironically an Iwa team. So a Ranpu-Henged Shadow Clone and a Senkaipo empowered Kawarimi and we have a scroll and they have something that will disappear in the next ten minutes." Naruto chuckled and his teammates smiled/smirked. "Well we now can make a b-line to the tower or we can take a safer root. For all my training here I never got the idea to place a Hiraishin seal on the tower." Naruto face-palmed himself.

"I say that we head straight for the tower." Sasuke voted.

"I agree!" Hinata continued.

"Straight to the tower it is!" Naruto finished and focused on deactivating his bands, as did his teammates and the next moment they were blurring through the trees leaving only small indentations in the bark.

They were halfway there when Hinata's Byakugan sensed something and she promptly shouted: "Look out!"

However they didn't have time to take cover as she and Naruto were blasted backwards by a chakra infused wind, her flying through a couple of branches into some deep foliage and Naruto tens of feet through the tree tops landing in a clearing.

"Ungh, what hit me?" he asked before he noticed a huge viper staring at him with hungry eyes before the snake lunged at him.

However he did a quick Senkaipo some distance away from the crater the snake dug in its attempt to snag the blond.

"Oh, you hungry?" he said and made a clone "Eat this!" the clone said as it launched towards the snake and jumped in its mouth.

The snake swallowed the clone and then set its eyes on the original.

"Be careful of indigestion!" Naruto smirked and the snake promptly blew up.

" 'Bunshin Daibakuha!' Those stomach burns can be a 'killer'!"

Meanwhile…

Sasuke was having the 'time of his life' fighting the rogue Sannin Orochimaru. A few Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and even some Sharingan genjutsu later and a couple of clever uses of Kawarimi later and they were both panting like crazy.

"Kukuku, I see that your brother was not wrong in sparing you Sasuke-kun, you certainly have power, although you are still behind him somewhat!" the snake user licked his lips.

"Don't you… Don't you dare talk about nii-san you filth!" Sasuke shouted. Although they were both holding back, Orochimaru was clearly the superior one of them, if only because that damn body of his did things that were inhuman like barfing himself every time he got a critical injury.

Sasuke then broke the stalemate by using his speed, disappearing and reappearing behind the snake with an axe kick prepared. Orochimaru tried to block the kick but the energy Sasuke put into it surprised him and he was sent backwards several feet. Sasuke then used a Hosenka no Jutsu (Phoenix Flower) to burn through a couple of branches above the Sannin. The branches started falling like steel beams from a poor construction site and threatened to bury the man. Orochimaru was preparing to evade them when Sasuke did a couple of hand signs and his hair began to spark with electricity before it pointed forward instead of backwards like usual.

"Raiton: Raiyari Darengan! (Lightning Spear Barrage!)" shouted the Uchiha.

Out of the boy's hair shot several bolts of lightning at the branches. Although there were many of them if you took the whole succession of lightning strikes, no more or less than seven bolts were in the air at any given time.

The branches exploded sending splinters everywhere like shrapnel. Orochimaru summoned a snake and dived into its mouth for safety but the sharp pieces of wood pierced through the hard scales and bones of the said snake.

When it was all over a somewhat bloody Sannin exited out of the dead snake's mouth.

"That was very impressive Sasuke-kun! You charged the wood with Raiton chakra before it exploded and the piercing power of the element increased the damage potential of the sharp wood. Very impressive indeed, kukuku! I must have your body!" the creep hissed.

He then lunged at the Gennin who was still analyzing his situation but he didn't get to strike because he was struck by a huge pipe-like wind jutsu and blasted sideways.

Naruto then appeared near a somewhat tired Sasuke and Hinata jumped to his branch.

"Shit, so it was a Sannin!" Naruto cursed "Sweet!" he then smirked.

"Oh, you got away from my pet Naruto-kun?" the snake asked in surprise.

"You mean that overgrown handbag? It must have been something it ate because it was dead tired a moment later. So… we getting this show on the road?" Naruto punched his hand but Sasuke stepped in front of him.

"He's mine!" Sasuke smirked.

Naruto raised an eyebrow but immediately smirked back and nodded.

"Then you must go full power since we still need you to finish this exam." intervened Hinata.

"You don't mean…!" Naruto puzzled but Hinata nodded before he could finish. He then flashed his Cheshire grin "Did I ever tell you that I love you?" he asked and raised a half seal and so did Hinata.

A moment later some tribal markings spread over Sasuke's closed eyelids and then shattered like glass.

"What was that?" Orochimaru curiously asked.

Sasuke began chuckling "The beginning…" he then opened his eyes to reveal a black and red atom-like pattern "… of your end! "Mangekyo Sharingan: AMATERATSU"!"

Orochimaru didn't have time to admire the magnificent eyes as he promptly exploded into black flames.

"SHIIIIT!" he screamed and did a quick 'Barfing Rebirth' and slipped out of his skin as it was completely engulfed in the flames.

This repeated for three times before low chakra reserves forced them back in a stalemate.

"Kuku … ku… this has been… fun… Sasuke-kun! I will leave you a little parting present" said the Sannin and jumped at the boy who mirrored his action. Sasuke launched a kick at the man who avoided it and went in to bite his neck. Sasuke managed to duck under the man but didn't expect the Sannin's neck to extend out of proportion so he couldn't avoid a second bite.

"AAAHHHHH!" Sasuke screamed as he dropped on his hands and knees clutching his neck.

"SHIT!" Naruto jumped to his side followed by Hinata who yelled "Sasuke-kun!"

"Kukuky, hope you enjoy your present Sasuke-kun but if your teammates are half as good as you then I need to high-tail it out of here!" he said as he began sinking into the earth "We will meet again!"

"WhaAAAAAHHH!" Sasuke's adrenaline run out and he passed out from the pain.

Naruto then got to look at his neck and saw three Sharingan-like tomoe in the spot that the bastard bit his teammate.

"Shit on a stick, it's a Curse Seal and a powerful one at that!" Naruto cursed.

"Curse Seal?" asked Hinata.

"It's that pedo Orochimaru's hikey jutsu! Nee-san has one too and I had to seal it away after I analyzed it. He seals his chakra and a bit of his soul inside it. The person he uses it on then gets flooded with the chakra and enhances aggressive tendencies. It also drives a person nuts. I need to seal it before it roots itself into him but I need some time!"

"Take all the time you need!" Hinata worriedly confirmed.

Together they dragged the unconscious Sasuke in a hollow of a tree where Naruto placed some quick shield seals and then began to tend to Sasuke while Hinata took point. It took a total of three exhausting hours for Naruto to patch up a seal sturdy enough to stand a couple of days of roughing up. Seeing his friend recovering color in his face and resting peacefully he then fell exhausted besides him and drifted to sleep leaving Hinata alone to stand guard.

A couple of hours later a group of sound Gennin dropped into the area.

"Dosu, are you sure they're around?" his taller, thinner comrade asked.

"Yeah, they are here Zaku. Watch out for traps, Orochimaru-sama told us to be weary of them!" Dosu answered.

"Listen guys, we need to finish this quick if we want to continue this test!" Kin told them earning a grunt from Dosu and a 'Yeah, yeah!' from Zaku.

They began searching with more attention but had to jump for cover when a couple of senbon flew at them. Hinata then dropped in the clearing, Byakugan ablaze.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she calmly asked.

"Well, well, looks like I can grab me a nice price today!" Zaku leered looking at Hinata like she was a piece of meat earning a glare from Kin.

"Just make sure you take her out quickly! We still need to find her teammates." Dosu ordered.

"I heard you talking about Orochimaru... what does he want?" Hinata asked them.

"Don't worry honey, maybe you'll find out later. There's three of us so what do you say about giving up and joining me to the bushes?" Zaku licked his lips.

"Sorry buddy but I'm spoken for and don't think that having numbers means having the advantage!" Hinata growled at him.

"Too bad! Well… TAKE THIS: Zankuha! (Decapitating Air Waves)" screamed Zaku as he thrust his hand forward revealing thin tubes from which a powerful air wave shot out from.

The blast was so powerful it appeared to lift Hinata off her feet and send her crashing into a large tree.

"Too bad honey! I didn't want to mess your figure." Zaku laughed but stopped just as that Hinata burst into smoke and revealed a log.

"Too bad indeed…" he heard her speaking from his left "That is too bad you're so weak, I wanted to have some fun before I finished you off!" she brushed her hair to the side.

"What the fuck? Zankuha!" Zaku screamed again but she just jumped out of the way.

"Is that all you can do?" a bored Hinata asked.

"Why you BITCH! TAKE THIS: Zankuukyokuha! (Extreme DAW)" and a massive gust of air exploded from his hands leveling parts of the forest and reducing boulders to dust. "Fuck I think I disintegrated her with that!" Zaku pouted, sad that he lost a potential sex toy.

"You are not that lucky." Hinata told him.

If you would look at where she was standing you would see a perfectly round patch of grass in the middle of the destruction.

Hinata then smirked "Let me show you the real deal! Hakke Kusho! (Vacuum Palm)"

No sooner had she said this that Zaku was blasted off his feet, flew through two tree trunks a landed on a large rocky outcrop on his right side. There was a sickening crunch as the landing dislocated his arm.

"ZAKU!" shouted Dosu "Why you!" he screamed launching himself at Hinata and threw his melody arm at her in a punch. Hinata simply avoided him by moving her body to the side.

A bell like sound was then heard and chakra gathered in his melody arm. The sound waves went in all directions finally reaching Hinata's ear and she began to look dizzy and fell to one knee clutching her ear.

Dosu then chuckled "How do you like my melody arm?" he said as he approached the downed girl. When he was in range Hinata raised her head and smirked at him.

"The tone was kind of false, but can you play some blues as well?" she tapped a pressure point in his arm and it fell limp and chakra stopped passing through it.

"What?!" a frightened Dosu asked.

"Oh don't look so surprised! The Byakugan negates our dependency on our inner ear. I admit that the slight pain in it was quite annoying but nothing I couldn't handle. Though I'm surprised that you didn't figure it out that I am just playing with you! Considering our chakra levels only it's like comparing a mouse…" she pointed at him "… to a tiger." she finished pointing at herself.

Hinata then turned to Kin who was trembling.

"Well?" Hinata asked the girl who flinched in return.

"P-Please don't kill us! H-here take our scroll!" she offered trying to save herself and her team.

"I don't need your scroll! You can keep it if you take these weaklings and leave!" Hinata snarled.

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Kin complied picking up Zaku and Dosu and getting the fuck out of there.

Two days later Sasuke woke up with a groan.

"Finally up man?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto what happened to me? Ungh..!"

"Hey easy, you got hit with a Curse Seal Jutsu! I managed to seal it off from rooting itself to your chakra system but the seal that I used is more like duct tape on a leaky pipe. It should hold for a week or so but we still have to get to the tower so I can do the real stuff. You can't make any exterior use of chakra until I do otherwise the seal could break. The fact that you've been out like a light for more than two days should be an indicator as to how serious this thing is." Naruto explained.

"Thanks!" Sasuke nodded.

Naruto just smiled and patted his back "Let's go!"

They made their way to the tower where they opened the scroll and Kakashi appeared out of the summoning rituals.

"Yo!" he greeted them "You know? Iruka begged me to let him greet you but the fact that you took so long to get here made me worry. What happened?" the scarecrow asked.

"Yeah, sorry we're late! We had to tango with a snake." Naruto explained.

Kakashi's visible eye went wide "Tell me more!" he whispered.

They retreated to a lone room where they gave him the report. At the end all three of them were sporting healthy bumps on the head.

"That's for letting Sasuke fight a Sannin alone and for fighting a Sannin alone!" Kakashi admonished them. "So, Naruto are you good to finally seal Sasuke's issue?"

Naruto checked his supplies and had a shock "Shit!"

"What?" asked Kakashi.

"I'm out of ink!" Naruto said checking again and coming out disappointed.

"Well that's no problem. I have some as well since I know a little bit of sealing." Kakashi assured him.

"Really? You have some Uzu no Kuni ink?" Naruto asked.

"Umm… what?" Kakashi sweat-dropped.

Naruto sighed "I'll take that as a no. There are several grades of ink quality for sealing that can be used. The worst one is of course normal ink from your local hard-ware store. These are the most prone to wipe or chip during use and are absolutely forbidden to be used on living targets. Normal quality is found in shinobi stores and are much more resistant to wear and thus can safely be used on living beings but must not contain dynamic contents like spirits entities like Bijuu or in this case the Curse Seal energies since they must be reapplied frequently, depends on the user's will or state of consciousness and can fail faster if regular maintenance is not done to it.

But the best quality ink is extracted from special nin-ctopuses that swim in the chakra rich waters around Uzu no Kuni but their ink is on a whole other scale when it comes to sealing. Nii-san's seal is made using that ink and it will take a couple more years before it even begins to crack. Considering it lasted 12 years containing the most powerful dynamic being in existence you can see the ink's quality." the blond explained

"I-I see…" Kakashi answered a little bewildered. No wonder sealing was the most difficult shinobi art.

"I used my last ration of ink on Sasuke's patch seal. It usually takes a month to order some."

"Then we do have a problem…" Kakashi frowned.

"Don't worry! I ordered some and will receive the shipment in one or two days." Naruto explained.

"Then I'll go and get it!" the sensei offered.

"You can't since the order is on my name and you can't commandeer it since then it will bring attention on the problem and so Sasuke will still be forced to drop out." Naruto sighed.

"So using normal-grade seal ink is still out of the question?" Kakashi asked

"You can use it but the danger will always be there. If it cracks it will be like a dam cracking: Serious danger! It's just not flexible enough."

"So what now?" Hinata asked.

Naruto smirked "Isn't it obvious?"

They looked at him for the answer.

"I will drop out and get the gear! You two can go on ahead and take the test after I'm finished!" Naruto told them.

Sasuke was outraged "No! If anyone should drop out it's me! I'm the one that got us into this mess!"

Naruto swayed his head from side to side "Listen Sasuke, it best if I do it. I will pick up the order and some other specific supplies that can be confused with useless junk easily so I will do it and that's final. It's either that or you can go with no Nin or Gen Jutsu until we get a break." he said, joking at the last part.

Then a silence permeated the air.

"Could that work?" Sasuke asked.

"Sure it would work. I just turn in my resignation and…" Naruto began.

"No you dope! Could I still participate using no chakra expulsion?" Sasuke raged.

"Oh! Oh yeah sure! The temporary seal should hold just fine. You should still even be able to use your Sharingan since the chakra still gets cycled in your own body and also can use it to energize your muscles for high-speed movement but that's all! Even sticking to a wall with chakra would be dangerous." Naruto confirmed.

"Then that's what I'll do! I will continue like this!" Sasuke stated.

Kakashi looked on a little worried "Would it really be alright?"

Sasuke nodded "Don't worry sensei, I learned my lesson. If there's any danger I'll quit before anything happens!"

Two more days later…

In the end Anko kept her word about reducing them by at least half with only 8 teams passing the forest challenge out of which one was from Suna, one from the Sound and another from Iwa. The rest were Konoha Gennin.

During the introduction (which I am too lazy to write) Kabuto Yakushi and an Iwa shinobi who had a badly swollen arm gave up.

Fights…

Naruto was standing nervously waiting for his turn to happen. It wasn't because he was exited or worried for his fight since besides his team, no one of the participants could hope to match him and he knew it, he felt it to his bones.

He was worried for Sasuke and the seal's strength. He knew that if things went wrong he was going to have to apply a lower quality seal over it and improving that later would be a pain especially considering the rebellious and malevolent chakra that would have to be sealed. He didn't have time to worry much when the first contestant's name flashed on screen.

Sasuke Uchiha vs Yoroi Akadō

They charged at each other with Sasuke clearly having the advantage in body speed. So much so that he Yoroi barely could avoid the first strike from his fist. The strike was so intense that the wind pressure was enough to ruffle the sound shinobi's clothes.

'If he socks me even once I'm out!' thought Yoroi but decided to take a risk and grabbed the offending appendage.

"Unghkuhhh…" Sasuke grunted in pain.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, his Shinsougan clearly showing the chakra drainage from Yoroi's strange technique.

The Uchiha threw a wild kick at Yoroi who quickly disengaged his hold. Sasuke jumped for distance clutching the back of his neck.

"Sasuke-kun looks like he is in pain…" spoke Sakura "And why is he going easy on that guy?"

Naruto heard her and thought 'Normally I would call bubblegum hair moronic but she does have a point. Even with his chakra sealed Sasuke should have no problem hitting this guy but why is he so slow… OH SHIT!' "He can't deactivate his bands without his chakra!" whispered a stupefied Naruto.

'Oh no!' thought Kakashi and Hinata.

Meanwhile Sasuke was having trouble catching his slippery opponent and was getting careless, the pain from the initial contact distracting him 'Fuck, this guy can force my chakra out of me by absorbing it. Normally I should stay away and blast him from afar but I can't without chakra. There is only one thing I could do now…"

He jumped back some distance and threw three shuriken at the guy who avoided them with ease.

"Is that the best you can do?" Yoroi smirked until the shuriken changed course in midair trying to circle him. That's when Yoroi saw the ninja wire connected to them and tried to jump high to avoid them falling right into Sasuke's trap.

Sasuke jumped after him and quickly reached his level since even sealed his body condition was a level or two above lee's weighted one.

"Now you can't escape me!" Sasuke grunted in satisfaction.

Yoroi desperately tried to grab him to activate his technique but Sasuke batted his arms to the side of his body with ease. The Uchiha then shouted "TAKE THIS!" and began raining blows on the opponent's body while still in the air.

The first to land was Sasuke who was on one knee and panting but his face was locked in a smirk. Yoroi fell shortly after. His body was limp and he was unconscious with indentations on his body that were visible even through his clothes.

"Winner Sasuke Uchiha!" shouted Hayate between coughs.

Kakashi immediately shunshined down to his level and lifted him up to the stands where Naruto examined his seal.

After many 'hmm..''s and 'aha..''s Naruto finally smiled "Phew! Still good! There's a small crack on it but its cosmetic and doesn't affect its integrity but as Team 7's official doctor you are banned from any form of shinobi activity until the permanent solution is applied!" he patted Sasuke before offering some pain medication.

Sasuke gratefully accepted it and after taking it settled for sleeping against a wall.

"Now I can enjoy the show!" Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

The second pair appeared on screen.

Sakura Haruno vs. Ino Yamanaka

For the most part the fight was worse than a cat's quarrel. They were so evenly matched (and weak) that it looked like some Kami played a stupid prank on them. It got a little more interesting when Sakura tried using some Genjutsu on Ino.

"Sakura no!" screamed Kurenai.

Apparently she had never foreseen the situation where the pinkette had to fight a Yamanaka. While Yamanaka were as vulnerable to genjutsu as any other shinobi, nobody knew the workings of the mind better than them and if someone of beginner level like Sakura used it on one of the clan's members they left their own minds open essentially creating the link that a Yamanaka needed to invade the genjutsu user's conscious.

And that's exactly what happened…

The fight looked over until Sakura summoned her inner will and banished Ino from her mind.

The fight finally ended with a double punch knockout for both of them so neither of them won.

Kankuro vs Misumi Tsurugi

Misumi ended up being turned into a pin cushion by Kankuro's puppet's knives.

Temari vs Tenten

This fight was a lot more interesting than Sakura vs Ino but was one sided towards Temari. Both Kunoichi were specialized shinobi but unfortunately for Tenten, Temari's specialty was her weakness as the Kazekage's daughter blew away all her weapons and attempts. Tenten ended up on the bad end of the Suna Kunoichi's wind. She was shredded by the sharp air and was about to fall disgracefully on Temari's fan.

"Enough!" shouted Naruto.

Temari did not forget what he did for her brother and summoned up a little wind to slow and cushion the weapon user's fall.

"Thank you for listening! It's not right to disgrace an opponent who gave it their all!" Naruto told Temari who nodded in respect and understanding.

"That was very youthful of you Naruto-kun!" Maito Gay… oopps typing mistake!… sorry I mean Gai shouted in his good guy pose.

Neji Hyuuga vs Hinata Hyuuga

They had a good and honorable Juken fight for a while until Hinata switched to Ryuusei and wiped the floor with Neji who then congratulated her for her win. (I was out of ideas since I can't picture Exam's Neji other than a pompous asshole with a mile-long stake up his ass)

Shikamaru Nara vs Kin Tsuchi

Kin hit her head on the wall thanks to Shikamaru.

Dosu Kinuta vs Shino Aburame

Dosu chased after Shino for a while until he got a good hit with his melody arm. He though he had won until it was revealed that the Shino he was fighting was a Mushi Bunshin (Bug Clone) and that he was now in range for them to swarm him and suck all his chakra out. He fell unconscious to the floor.

Kiba Inuzuka vs Aotsuchi

Aotuchi was a beautiful Kunoichi with dark ocean-blue eyes and long silky black hair that reached between her shoulder-blades and was about fourteen years old. She had all the right curves, normal sized breasts and wore a red outfit consisting of a mesh body underneath, biker shorts, plated fingerless gloves that reached her elbows, standard shinobi sandals and a leather one-strap battle dress that looked like a cross between a swordsman's armor and an evening dress with an angled skirt and a guard on her right shoulder.

She snarled at Kiba's forehead protector.

Kiba after some lecherous comments began his attack with the Beast Mimicry. The girl just stood still and brushed aside all the boy's attacks.

Naturally this infuriated Kiba who then tried his combination drill attack Gatsuga and tried to hit the girl from both sides.

She responded by rising up two slabs of the arena floor and hardening it with Doton chakra. When poor Kiba and Akamaru realized that their faces were already planted in the wall. Then with the help of a mud clone buried them neck deep in the floor using Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu and was about to skewer them with kunai when Hayate stopped her and declared her the winner.

Gaara vs Rock Lee

(Please don't hate me but: Just like in the anime but an honorable Gaara and Lee escapes in one piece.)

Choji Akimichi vs Suotsuchi

Now if there were any doubts about a trickster deity, they were blown away. Suotsuchi was a teen built like a boulder. He had short brown hair that was covered by his headband and his eyes were hidden by glasses. He looked overweight but that was just the first appearance since his body was over 95% pure muscle and was clearly the tallest Gennin there passing Maito Guy by five inches. He looked as stoic as Shino.

Asuma looked at his student and smiled "Hey Choji! If you win this one I will treat you to an all you can eat barbeque buffet!"

Ino who by this time recovered decided to add her words to his fighting spirit "Fatty!" she screamed.

"NOW YOU'VE DONE IT INO!" screamed Choji with flames of anger burning in his eyes.

"Begin!" signaled Hayate.

Chouji immediately expanded his size to that of a large round shape and retracted his members leaving him looking like a giant bowling ball as chakra filled steam blew out of where his head and arms were once. He started spinning in place.

"Ninpou: Nikudan Sensha! (Meat Ball Tank)" shouted the Akimichi and started moving at high speed towards Suotsuchi.

It seemed that the Iwa Gennin was about to be flattened when Chouji slammed into him and kept on spinning in place, Suotsuchi not even fazed by him.

"Is that all?" asked Suo in a monotonic voice.

"What?" asked the audience.

"Doton: Kajūgan no Jutsu! (Agravated Rock/ Added weight)" spoke Suo "You add size to your build, I simply add mass. You are too light to move me!"

The Iwa Gennin then retracted his fist and punched the still spinning meat tank. Poor Chouji was launched at high speed towards a wall.

What Suo didn't expect was the Akimichi bouncing off the wall like a high powered beach ball and slamming back into him, the added power coupled with his Meat Ball Tank managing to overpower the boulder of a Gennin and they both slammed hard into the opposing wall resulting in a double KO.

"That…was lame…" spoke Naruto with a deadpan look, opinion shared by the Sensei.

Finally came the last fight of the preliminaries and there was no need for the prompter to show who were the contestants.

Naruto Uzumaki vs. Zaku Abumi

Both teens jumped down to the arena and prepared. Naruto noticed Zaku's right arm was in a makeshift sling.

Naruto on the other hand looked angry but collected.

"Ready?" asked Hayate and they both nodded "Begin!"

"I will give you a freebie." spoke Naruto calmly "Hit my with all you got!"

"Heh, you are either stupid or you are confident!" grinned Zaku.

"That baka!" screamed Ino "Trying to act cool in front of the people standing here!"

"I-I don't know about that Ino…" stuttered Sakura "You may not believe me but Naruto is strong, very strong! I learned that on our joint mission to Nami. Right now whatever instinct I have is telling me that Naruto is toying with his opponent!"

"N-no way!" answered a now unsecure Ino "B-but he was the dead-last!"

"He was faking it. He's as strong as Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun, Naruto and Hinata… all three of them are hellishly strong, on a whole other level even." continued Sakura.

In the stance Asuma looked on with curiosity "Hey Kakashi, is your student right in the noggin'?"

Kakashi didn't even bother looking since he already knew the outcome of the event "Asuma, do you remember the Gennin test? I was coming at them with the intent to kill. Even though I would have probably stopped before I killed them, it still doesn't cover the fact that I was going all out and they still managed to get me to surrender. Do you honestly think that that Gennin has any chance against Naruto?"

Asuma then frowned and returned back to watching the fight.

Zaku heard some of the comments and sneered "So you think you're tough shit? I will show them who rules in this fight!"

"You're wrong!" Naruto answered calmly.

"Heh we'll see about that! Zankuha!" Zaku shouted, air waves shooting out of his good arm.

When the dust cleared they all expected Naruto to be atomized but they all saw him standing in the same position still staring angrily at Zaku.

"What the…?" Zaku stepped back.

"Stop faking injury!" Naruto told/ordered him coldly "That arm of yours is still good right? Use it too!"

Back in the stands…

"Why is Naruto taking his time with this?" asked Sasuke "He should be able to take him out in less than a second!"

Hinata who had just figured out why decided to share "I thought about that too and I think I understand why. He had this look on him whenever he saw Zaku during his stay in the tower ever since we reported to Kakashi."

"You don't think that…?" Sasuke began but stopped when Hinata sighed.

"Yes…" she answered "I don't know if I should love him more or clobber him! He is angry, no he is furious at the boy because of what he said to me in the forest! I think that the only thing stopping him from murdering Zaku in a gruesome way is the fact that I, for a lack of a better term, kicked his ass when we first met. Not to imitate Shikamaru but… so troublesome."

"In this case I'm not going to invoke copyright." muttered Shikamaru who had actually interrupted his sleep to see what Naruto was capable of "Troublesome blonds…"

In the arena…

Zaku snarled "You know I wanted to see your pained or dying face when I won but looks like you asked for it! When I hit you with this there won't be an atom left of your body!" screamed the sound Gennin as he brought his other hand out and screamed "ZANKUUKYOKUHA!"

A massive blast of wind pressure shot from his arm tubes and hit the place where Naruto stood and the wall behind him. It was so intense it created more tremors than when Lee slammed Gaara into the floor.

A huge quantity of dust was stirred and everybody patiently waited for it to clear. When it did they saw that Naruto was still unfazed though on his coat there were shining seals that were slowly fading away.

"What's that?" asked Shikamaru.

"Naruto-kun is a Seal Master on the same level as the Yondaime if not a little above. He planted those seals on all his battle clothes. It creates a shield that can take a lot of punishment before it even starts fading. You can see the strength of the seal by the brightness of symbols. The brighter they are the more chakra it supplies to the shield and more likely it is to fail. That jutsu barely made them blink." answered Hinata.

"Impressive…" muttered Shino and the senseis nodded.

Back with Naruto…

Zaku was backing away panting and in fear. He had no more cards to play and realized that kunai or taijutsu was just pointless. He was cowering away ready to quit when Naruto spoke.

"When I said that you were wrong… I meant that this is not a fight. It is a slaughter!" shouted Naruto and blasted Zaku in the wall with a weak Boido Nami!

Before the sound shinobi could recover Naruto brought out seven senbon and pinned him in, one in each ankle, knee and wrists and one more in his neck as Zaku screamed in pain, the senbon piercing his nerves.

Naruto then teleported to his position and everybody who looked close could see his hands buzzing and sparking with Raiton chakra.

Naruto then stared into his eyes and growled "I am guessing you won't apologize to Hinata if I ask you nicely? Well it doesn't matter anyway… I will get the apology out of your body!"

Zaku could only open one eye and open his cringing mouth to say "Kuh…Wait I giAAAAAAA…!" he screamed as Naruto touched a senbon in his knee and lightning chakra shot up his pain conduits.

Kakashi then rotated his eye towards Asuma "Did I mention that he is an honorary member of the T&I department and is on the same level with Ibiki?"

"What's the T&I and who's this Ibiki?" asked Kiba.

Kurenai answered "The T&I or Torture and Interrogation Division is a place where we extract information from prisoners, spies or traitors, most of the times using less than… humane methods to do so. Ibiki Morino is the current head and the second best in the branch. He is so… dedicated to his work that he earned the nickname The Sadist."

Zaku in the meantime was having the time of his life. And by that I mean that whenever he was close to giving up, Naruto would flood his nerves with Raiton chakra and he was forced to scream cutting off his tries. Naruto wouldn't even let him fall unconscious by stimulating the senbon lodged in his neck and jump-starting his brain.

"Why isn't the proctor stopping this?" asked Sakura who was a little mortified by the display.

Kakashi then answered "This is a battle simulation as close to the real situation as possible. As long as Naruto doesn't make a move to kill him this could potentially be a valuable lesson for the kid. Life isn't just some fairytale and no shinobi is invincible. There may come a time where you are captured and tortured for information. There will be no proctor then to save you from that or anything worse and this is one of the cleanest methods of torture. The kid's body is virtually intact and only virtual pain is reaching his brain. Also because of that if he can get control of his pain, he has the chance to escape and turn the tables on Naruto but apparently he isn't that strong and Naruto knows it."

Sakura looked down in sadness "I see but do you approve of this Hinata?"

Hinata nodded "Don't get me wrong Sakura, it's sad and gruesome to do that to another human being but that's the life we chose. If something like this happens to him and he can't get over it then he doesn't belong in the shinobi life. Even though it's not standard academy curriculum, I went through that kind of treatment too as training and even worse under Anko-san, the second proctor, because I knew that if something happens and I wasn't ready I could endanger the ones I love. Naruto still doesn't know that I have. I don't approve of it but I accept it."

Sakura looked like she finally understood, if only for the respect of the fact that Hinata endured that and worse.

Eventually though, after five minutes Naruto got tired of it and stopped doing it with Zaku sliding off the senbon and landed on the floor unconscious and with no control over his body functions, trembling and sweating while lying in a puddle of blood, saliva, sweat piss and shit the fluids seeping through his clothes.

Naruto didn't even look at him as he jumped back to the stands as medics carried Zaku away.

The sad part over, the winners were congratulated by the Hokage and the losers given encouragement. They then moved to draw lots to see who they would fight in the finals.

The final draw was:

Naruto Uzumaki vs Hinata Hyuuga

Shikamaru Nara vs Temari

Shino Aburame vs Aotsuchi

Sasuke Uchiha vs Gaara

Kankuro vs Winner of Match 1

And thus ended the preliminaries…

*End Chapter*

A.N:

*Shukaku's pup = raccoon dog

*'shoving his hand in the red's body' – dunno where Gaara's seal is.

* Satori = a mythical ape said to be able to invade minds

* 'sand-chains that seemed to appear out of the darkness'- representation of Gaara's original seal. The darkness represents his conscious.

* 'couple of holes in a round type pattern' – prison style where you can have a conversation with an outsider

* 'Chosen from birth' – Naruto and Gaara in this case