Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Preliminary Matches

Disclaimer: I wonder if I could have owned Naruto had I been born in Japan...

A/N: Welcome to the preliminaries. Some of these matches will be like the normal Canon versions while others will not. The last two (Gaara vs. Lee and Dosu vs Chōji) will not be in at all as they follow the same scenarios as their normal bouts. Sorry but I'm not going to write out what has been covered hundreds of times via the manga, the anime or the numerous fics here. Also, for those of you talking about Harume needing some character development, it's coming. Not necessarily in this chapter, but it's coming.

Sasuke smirked as Yoroi rush him. 'Easy win.' He struck out at the other genin but his strike was pushed to the side as Yoroi grabbed onto his shirt and a blue glow surrounded his hand. Sasuke immediately panicked as he felt chakra being drawn out of him. He could already feel his strength ebbing and quickly pushed the other boy off him as he staggered backwards. Yoroi didn't give him a chance to recover though and was back on him in a second. Unfortunately for the Uchiha he was reflexive on his taijutsu and tried for a take-down. His choice of moves proved too hazardous though as Yoroi casually turned his hand and once again grabbed Sasuke's chest.

Up in the balcony Sakura was being restrained by Kakashi as she yelled down at the boy attacking her love. She threw every insult she knew at him and demanded he let go of her Sasuke-kun, even going so far as to promising that her mother would get the village council to execute him if he didn't give up. The other genin just shook their heads at her while the jōnin and Hokage either rolled their eyes or tried to not look completely embarrassed.

Sasuke got a lucky kick in and managed to get away from Yoroi. He gripped his neck in pain as the Ten no Juin began to act up. Deciding he had to end this match quickly, less he sensei completely take away his new power, he looked to the balconies for inspiration. First he looked to Naruto, but the boy had given him absolutely nothing to work with during their little spar. Next he looked over to one of his other recent fights. Rock Lee. Smirking again he faced his opponent and charged. Yoroi got ready to counter, but was unprepared when Sasuke dropped from his field of vision. By the time he figured out to look down it was too late as he was launched into the air. He felt a poke at his back as Sasuke appeared behind him. "This is the end." Sasuke whispered to him, but was once again gripped by the pain from his seal. With sheer willpower he pushed the seal back and commenced his attack starting with a kick to Yoroi's side. The kick was easily blocked, but Sasuke just used that as leverage for a kick to the boy's other side which connected with a *crunch*. Continuing his onslaught he was about to punt Yoroi back to the arena floor, but before his foot could land it was caught, and with a spin Sasuke was now the one headed for the hard stone surface of the ground.

"You rely too much on others achievements Uchiha Sasuke." Yoroi said evenly, quite obviously not impressed with the display.

"You blocked one of my attacks and now you think you will win? You are no match for the might of the Uchiha. Pay with your life you insignificant insect." Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger at the fight taking so long in front of an audience. He was an elite so why was this worm able to last so long against him?

Up in the stands a slight buzzing could be heard as Shino's hive reacted to his irritation at Sasuke's indirect jab at his family. The avenger was definitely winning no friends today.

Sakura was now at the end of the balcony closest to the proctor and Hokage, yelling for them to call the match in Sasuke's favor before a rather sour looking Kakashi yanked her off the railing and back to where they had originally been sitting, binding and gagging her. "You can stay like that until your match. None of us need to hear your whining, so just shut up and watch."

Meanwhile with Naruto. "Let's see...Don't fight the red headed Suna-nin, Gaara, he's just bad news and the rest of his team don't look like pushovers either. Lee is also very strong, so try to stay out of taijutsu with him If you can. The Oto you can all probably take out, but be careful of their attacks. The Kiri team we didn't get much on, so be careful, just in case. The only other Konoha-nin I'd be worried about is Neji. He reminds me too much of Sasuke and will probably do anything to win." The all noticed Hinata flinch at the mention of her cousin, and it wasn't long before she started to get visibly nervous. Naruto placed his hand over hers in comfort as she looked towards him and away from her cousin. "It'll be fine Hinata. If you have to fight him just do your best. As long as you give it your all you can win."

Hinata nodded and stole another glance at Neji, a little more determination in her gaze then before, but still obviously nervous about the prospect of having to face the famed Hyūga prodigy.

Down in the arena Sasuke was doing all he could to keep away from the glowing hands of Yoroi. "Come on Uchiha. This is no game of cat and mouse. If you aren't planning on fighting me then give up now and save us both the trouble."

"Hn. I'm not done yet." Sasuke dug in his pouch for what ever supplies he could find. 'Three kunai, two explosive tags, two smoke bombs, a...excellent.' Sasuke's smirk sent a chill up some people's spines while others were just plain creeped out. With a quick swing of his arms the two smoke bombs were away. Once Yoroi was engulfed, the Uchiha took out a bundle of ninja wire and a few shuriken. With a few more quick movements his trap was away and a yell came out of the smoke.

"You'll have to do better then that Uchiha. Even if I can't see you, the same hindrance blinds your eyes. Hurk!" With a grunt of choking pain, Yoroi shot backwards out of the smoke screen and soon found himself bound to the railing of the balcony courtesy of the ninja wire Sasuke attached to his shuriken.

With a yell and a leap, Sasuke first landed on the railing next to his victim, then jumped again right over the teen and brought his leg down in a vicious ax kick on the top of Yoroi's head. The audible crack was heard as Hayate rushed to the scene. Sasuke himself landed back on the arena floor and looked up as blood dripped out of his opponents mouth onto the ground in front of him.

Hayate walked over and jumped up to the balcony to check on the downed teen, not even needing to get too close. "Winner, Uchiha Sasuke." Medics were already making their way up the steps as the proctor cut the wires and hoisted the ninja onto the balcony before letting them do their job.

As his victory was announced Sasuke nearly collapsed from chakra exhaustion, but was caught by Kakashi as the jōnin waved off the medics coming their way. "Come on. We need to take care of that little hindrance." Before Sasuke could object he was taken away via shunshin, much to the annoyance of Sakura who was now complaining about not being able to congratulate him while screeching about how she knew he'd win.

The name board scrolled again as the next two contestants were displayed. "Kankurō and Misumi come to the floor." The two made their way down the steps and calmly faced each other in the arena. "Begin."

Before anyone could blink Misumi had Kankurō wrapped up in his impossibly stretched and bent arms. "I use my chakra to move my body after I dislocate all my joints. Give up now or I'll break your neck."

"Heh...piss off asshole." A loud snap was heard throughout the arena as Misumi tightened his grip and Kankurō's now limp neck caused his head to flop forward. Hayate stepped forward, but was stopped by the sound of something hitting the floor. Everyone watched as Kankurō's face seemed to chip off onto the stone. Suddenly his head turned around and laughed at Misumi. It wasn't the face of Kankurō, but rather a wooden contraption. It's arms shot out and wrapped around the boy as the bandaged package that Kankurō had been holding was torn open revealing the real Kankurō who was manipulating the puppet remotely. "You take so much pride in being able to bend your body like that. How about I make you really flexible, by breaking every bone in your body!' With the jerk of a finger the puppets arms tightened and the elastic genin screamed out before going completely limp.

'It's a good thing I didn't call that match early.' Hayate thought as he walked over to check Misumi. "Winner Kankurō." The medics rushed in and took the traumatized boy away as Kankurō made his way back up to his siblings. "Next match, Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino." Ino looked lost while Sakura began to scream about how she would finally prove that she loved Sasuke-kun more by beating Ino once and for all. Naruto tried to comfort the girl, but there was little he could do as she solemnly went to the floor to face off against her one time friend.

"I'm going to beat you into the dirt bitch. Then Sasuke-kun will see how much better I am and come crawling to me!" Ino just stood there not sure if she wanted to fight the other girl or not. They had been best friends before Sasuke came into the picture and Sakura had gained a fanatical view towards him. She wouldn't lie to herself though, she knew she was nearly as bad for awhile too, but when she got away from him her thoughts changed a bit as she was forced to open her eyes during missions. Now she wasn't sure if she wanted her old friend back or if she wanted to pound her into the ground for egging her on for so long.

"Begin."

The two girls shot off towards each other and started to exchange blows. It was slow going for most of the onlookers as neither one was very strong, but to them this was the fight of their lives since they hadn't fought much at all. "You know what Sakura. You can have Sasuke, I don't want that egotistical bastard anymore."

"You're just saying that to get me to let my guard down. It's not going to work Ino-pig." Sakura made a few bunshin and charged Ino getting a successful hit on her rivals chin. Ino got up slowly and looked at her former best friend with a little hurt in her eyes. That was quickly swallowed up by determination though as she set her stance and got ready for a fight once again. "You know Sasuke probably picked me first in the forest because he actually likes short hair better! Your long tail probably reminds him of a horse's ass and it's disgusting."

Ino smirked inside as Sakura had just given her an idea. With a scream of rage she went into a typical Sasuke-kun rant, surprising a few people who knew what had happened in the forest, as she sliced off her hair and threw it across the arena floor catching all of the Konoha ninja off guard as they knew just how much she pampered her hair to keep it looking nice for Sasuke, even Naruto thought she had lost it. She then went into a stance for one of her family's jutsu.

"Shit! Don't do it Ino it's too risky!" Shikamaru called out over the railing.

Ino called out her jutsu, ignoring the yells from her teammates. "Shintenshin no Jutsu." She went limp as Sakura stopped moving, but half a minute later everyone heard laughter as Sakura lifted her head up. "Sorry...Ino, but you just lost." She took out a kunai and charged forward but was forced to stop midway as her foot caught on something. Looking down she found her foot trapped in a yellow rope. Upon closer inspection she realized it was Ino's blonde hair.

"Come on now Sakura. You should know me better then that, but now that you've fallen into my trap...Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Once again both girls went limp, but this time when Sakura brought her head up it was a wicked smile that graced her face. "Sorry...Sakura." Ino had successfully completed her jutsu and taken over the other girl's body. She slowly raised her hand. "Proctor I giv..."

"Come on Sakura don't give up! What would Sasuke think of you, you stupid weak bitch!" To everyone's surprise Kiba was the one to yell out. While he didn't particularly like the girl it was obvious that her blond opponent was getting close to Naruto, so anything he could do to get in the boy's head was a boon to him. He was more then willing to cheer on every opponent his friends went up against just to watch his face fall.

Ino, in Sakura's body, turned and scowled at the boy but surprise soon showed on her face as well as she grabbed her head in what seemed to be pain. Up in the stands Naruto tsk'd knowing that this could happened. He'd read all about the Yamanaka abilities from some of the scrolls he'd scavenged. One of its major weaknesses was the user's willpower against that of the victim and with Ino's little problem in the forest with the Uchiha, her own mind was already in turmoil. Sakura on the other hand was only physically tired it seemed, and would soon be breaking the bond. True to his thoughts, Sakura's body let out one last painful yell before both bodies fell on their asses breathing hard.

"What...the hell...are you?" Ino asked looking a little afraid that her best jutsu hadn't worked after all.

Sakura just stalked over to her, cackling maniacally. When she got about halfway to Ino she suddenly flew at the girl as she started yelling. "You little bitch. This is why Sasuke-kun chose you second. Even your mind is weak. Honestly, the thought that someone like you would even think of being a ninja let alone actually try. Don't worry though once I beat you into submission I'll let you get Sasuke-kun ready for me and you can help us make lots of babies! Maybe after I get pregnant I'll let him have you too and we can take turns beating you and using you until you get pregnant too!" Ino was now backing up to the wall, suddenly afraid of the look in the pink haired girls eyes. It was the look of someone who had lost themselves to madness, and it was those types of people that the Yamanaka were taught to fear since their minds we considered dangerous to even enter at all.

In seconds it didn't matter anymore though as Sakura was on top of Ino, pummeling her with all she had, even going so far as to grab her by what was left of her hair and slam her face into the stone wall. It was clearly one-sided and Hayate stepped in. "Winner Sakura." He called it out again in case she didn't hear, but she just kept up her beating. She only stopped when a leg shot out and flung her back to the center of the arena.

Sakura looked up from the floor with bloodlust in her eyes at who would dare interrupt her fun. She ended up staring right into the hateful eyes of Kin as she was picking up a barely conscious Ino. "Put her down! This fight isn't over yet!"

"Sakura do you plan on killing her?!" Naruto yelled back as he landed beside the two other girls.

"No, I plan on making her my bitch, so give her back to me she's mine now!"

"You disgust me. Leave before I decide you deserve some severe punishment." Kin narrowed her eyes at Sakura, but she ignored them and screamed as she ran at them. She was stopped once again as Asuma appeared holding her arm.

"If you continue to attack my student after you've already won I will escort you to the interrogation cells personally." Just like Naruto and Kin, Asuma's eyes were cold and hard as he glared at her. "Now get back up to your team before you embarrass Konoha anymore. It will be decided later if you're to go on to the finals after that stunt you pulled." He forced her arm in the direction he wanted her to go and she reluctantly took the lead as he followed her to the stairs.

As she passed Naruto, Kin and Ino she sneered at them. "She will be my bitch one way or another. Remember my mother is on the council, and Sasuke-kun wants her. Sasuke-kun gets what he wants." She told them dangerously making Ino instinctively try to wiggle further into Naruto who had taken her from Kin.

"You can tell your whore of a mother that the demon will not let her touch my precious people, and if she tries I will pay her back for what she did to me." Sakura looked angry and a little confused but was denied a retort when Asuma pushed her forward roughly to let Naruto pass Ino to the medics.

Once the little spectacle was over with and everyone was settled back in place Hayate coughed again. "*Cough* next match will be Aburame Shino of Konoha and Zaku of Oto. Please come to the arena floor." The two boys made it to the floor, but the one that caught the most attention was Zaku as he had both his arms in slings from his fight with Sasuke. Hayate quirked an eye at the boy, wondering if he should stop the match before he even started it, but with a nod from both genin he was resigned to his duties. "Begin."

"You should forfeit this match so you don't injure yourself further." Shino told the boy in a flat voice.

Zaku ignored him and got into a fighting stance before forcing one of his arms out of its sling. "Don't get so cocky freak. You'd be surprised what I can manage. Zankūha!" A blast of wind shot out at the bug user and flung him back. Due to the extent of Zaku's injuries the blast wasn't strong enough to do much major damage. 'Shit. I'll have to use more chakra. This isn't good, that one already hurt like hell.' He watched as Shino got up easily and stood once again like a statue.

"Your one arm and it's breeze is hardly effective enough to go against my plans." A chattering sound filled the arena as everyone looked around to find it's source. Their attention was drawn to the arena floor where a thickening swarm of insects was making its way towards Zaku from the opposite side of Shino. "Now you are surrounded. Attack me and my insects will attack you. Attack them and I will attack you."

"Is that your trump card? To surround me with bugs?" Zaku lowered his head and gritted his teeth in pain as he struggled with his other arm but eventually got it up and open. "This...is a trump card. Now I can...attack both you and your...pathetic bugs. Now die! Zankūkyokuha!" A high pitched whistling was heard throughout the arena as one of Zaku's arms flew off towards one wall and the other erupted with holes in various places. Once Zaku's technique ended he was left with only extreme pain as he screamed out.

Shino took full advantage as he rushed over and punched the boy in the side causing him to fall painfully on his face as he now had no way to break his fall. "That is a true trump card. As you were talking I had my insects crawl up into those annoying holes of yours and sit. The inevitable build up of pressure needed a release and now you see the after effects. It's too bad that whatever method was used to give you those tubes, seems to have killed the nerves in your palms or you would have felt them there as they entered your body." He turned his back to the boy and began walking to the stairs. Hayate was about to call the match when he saw Zaku slowly shuffle to his feet. Without so much as a sound the boy rushed the Aburame to attack, but once again cried out in pain and fell to the ground, steam rising from his legs and back. No one had seen the attack happen but when they looked at Shino they found him stopped with his hands in the bird sign. "And that is a back-up plan." He stated before continuing his walk.

Hayate went to check on the boy and found he had been literally cooked from specific points on his legs and middle back. Checking for a pulse he found it to be fading fast and waved the medics over. "Winner Shino." He looked back at the medics who were trying to force chakra into the boy as they took him away. Even for a non medic like Hayate he could tell that if they were at such a point that it was pretty much hopeless that he would make a full recovery. Watching one medic run over to the wall, he remembered the kid's arm flying off and realized that it was pointless either way.

Shino walked up to Naruto. "The tags are working surprisingly well Naruto-san. I will let my father know of their utility in fighting. It was almost as easy to sneak them onto his body with my insects as it was to get my hive inside his arms." He bowed to the blond before rejoining his team and his smiling sensei.

Back with Hayate, he watched the board scramble names again. "Fifth match Tsuchi Kin and Taniguchi Unkei."

Kin looked nervous as she spotted her male competition, but remembered what Naruto told her on their way to the arena. 'No matter who you go up against I want you to picture them as your teammates, bound up like you were, and repay them for what they did to you.' She repeated the words in her head as she made her way down the steps. As she faced her opponent she started the process, but she had to force herself not to run away as she imagined him first turning into Zaku who had always done the worst of her beatings.

"Begin."

The Kiri-nin didn't even bother to go into a defensive stance as he grinned at the girl. She was obviously afraid of him, and that he would easily use to his advantage. "Why, little girl, you're shivering an awful lot. It isn't that cold in here so It must be FEAR." He laughed as she flinched at the last word and started to slowly walk toward her making her pace backward. Kin hit the wall and Unkei slammed his palms on either side of her head. "I would let you give up, but I want to have some fun. Try not to pass out too quick."

His ear to ear grin was broken when Kin's face gained it's own evil grin as her knee met his groin and he fell over with a painful crunch as every male in the room flinched. "No one is allowed to touch me but Naruto-sama anymore. Keep your filthy hands to yourself." Heads snapped between the fight and the young blond who was now mid face-palm.

"Y-you bitch!" Unkei coughed out right before he threw up on the arena floor.

Kin ignored the comment and pulled out a senbon and jammed it into the back of the Kiri-nin's neck, clearly showing that she was no stranger to death on the battlefield. The man's teammates started yelling at her for going overboard but she just looked up to them with a bored face. "If he wasn't ready to die then he should have given up at the start. Besides, he's not dead, just knocked out" She turned and walked back up the stairs, not bothering to go to Dosu, but rather taking up a spot near Naruto as Hayate called out the result without even checking the body, letting the medics take over instead.

"Winner, Kin. Next match, Kurata Satoko and Nara Shikamaru."

Kurata practically fell down the steps in her rush to get to the floor and stood there, impatiently hopping in place, as Shikamaru had to be coaxed by Asuma to even start moving. "Why do I have to fight a girl? So troublesome."

Kurata narrowed her eyes at him. "You have something against fighting a kunoichi? Maybe you think we are weak or easy because of our sex? Well I'll show you that I'm no pushover you chauvinist!" At Hayate's signal she immediately threw a water bottle on the ground hard enough to make it split and spill it's contents all over the floor. After the water supply was there she had to take a couple seconds to dodge Shikamaru's shadow as she flashed through hand signs. "Sūiton: Mizurappa!" A stream of water shot out of her mouth at Shikamaru, who dodged easily. "Sūiton: Teppōdama!" Next was small orbs of water at a much greater velocity. They were a lot harder to dodge then the stream as she was able to fire multiple orbs out and at different places.

'So the first attack was to gauge my speed and the second was to test my dodging, but they seem to have taken a lot out of her.' Indeed Kurata was breathing a bit heavily but still looked good enough to fight.

"So,...you can run...and you can...dodge, but can you fly?" She smiled as she flew through a new set of hand signs, this one far longer than the previous sets causing some of the eyes of the present jōnin to widen. "Sūiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" A small dragon formed from the remaining water on the floor and shot towards Shikamaru as fast as the water stream, but weaving around making it difficult to tell where it would strike from. As the dragon bore down on the Nara everyone looked on to see him down on one knee forming a strange hand sign. The water dragon was about to about to crash into him when it suddenly dissipated into nothing but a harmless sheet of water, having about as much effect as throwing a bucket of the fluid on the boy.

Shikamaru stood up and stretched. "Ah, Kagemane no Jutsu success!"

Kurata tried to move, but found that there was a force keeping her in place. She looked down to see that his shadow was stretched out towards her and didn't have to look to see exactly where it was leading to. "So you have me trapped...now what?"

"Well we could wait around until one of us is too tired to move, but since I'm the one using chakra at the moment that would undoubtedly be me, so how about instead we do this." He reached into his spare pouch and grabbed a kunai. Kurata mirrored his movement, but due to not having a pouch on the same side as he did she came up empty handed. "Now either you can give up now, or we can see how many holes it takes for you to give up later." To emphasize his point he threw a kunai and scraped her arm causing her to yelp in pain, but she was still rooted to the spot.

Knowing there was little hope of getting out of this due to being very low on chakra from her three jutsu it didn't take long for her to come to the only conclusion she could. "Proctor...I forfeit." She hadn't seen too many ninja her rank that were able to escape her three attacks let alone nullify her main attack. If he was able to do that and still be free to injure her without her being able to retaliate, then there was no hope of her continuing the fight at this point.

"Winner Shikamaru." The Nara just released his jutsu and walked back to the balcony and just laid down on the floor and fell asleep. "Match seven, Uzumaki Naruto against Inuzuka Kiba."

Naruto simply hopped the railing while Kiba let his intentions known first. "Yeah Akamaru! We finally get to show the dead last just where he belongs without all his bitches getting in the way. Don't worry Hinata, I'll show you just how worthless your boyfriend really is!" Akamaru barked in response as they landed on the arena floor and strutted over to their waiting opponent and Hayate. "Ready to lose dobe?"

"Kiba, I feel bad for you so I will give you a choice. What would you like to be beat with: ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, kenjutsu or fūinjutsu." The statement sent a wave of risen eyebrows around the arena. He couldn't really be that arrogant could he?

"Hah you sound cocky baka. How about you use taijutsu. Then we can see who can beat each other to a pulp first." Kiba got a sneaky grin on his face and got into his families stance, but was confused when Naruto matched his moves. "What do you think you're doing dobe? This is the Inuzuka style taijutsu. Don't even try to imitate it it'll tear you to shreds."

"Kiba, next time your family takes out the trash, tell them to check that there aren't any scrolls in. family techniques are very, very valuable from what I understand after all."

In a rare moment of intelligence, Kiba was able to figure out what Naruto meant. "You bastard! You stole our jutsu! I'll kill you!" Without waiting for Hayate to begin the match Kiba began his attack. "Tsūga!" The spinning vortex that was Kiba launched at Naruto, who simply switched stances and sidestepped the attack.

"Hah I knew you were bluffing. You couldn't even take a Tsūga without being scared enough to have to dodge."

"Wrong mutt. While I do know your style, I also know that I'm no Inuzuka. Besides there are plenty of ways to beat one of your kind without being beaten to a pulp when going head to head." The blond shifted his style once again and waited for the next attack. One that he didn't have to wait for very long.

"Shikyaku no Jutsu! Jūjin Bunshin! Get ready for some pain bastard. Gatsūga!" Once again Naruto dodged all the attacks headed for him, easily flowing between them or calmly brushing the vortexes aside. Kiba rounded on him after the first assault. "So you can dodge pretty well, but what about when you can't see!" Kiba flung a cylinder to the floor which erupted in a cloud of smoke. "Gatsūga!" The vortexes charged the smoke as a few of the onlookers watched with worry. Their worry doubled when the twin tunnels rounded in on whatever was hidden multiple times.

"Naruto!" Hinata cried out from her spot above.

After a few passes through, the two Kibas suddenly stopped emerging, at least in their spinning form. Instead they rocketed out and skidded across the floor before coming to a stop showing that they were a bit bruised from whatever happened inside the cloud. As they struggled to get back up the cloud cleared up a bit, showing a lone figure sitting in seiza with its eyes closed. For those who had never seen him meditate, it was strange and slightly unnerving to see the former hyperactive ninja from the academy in such a calm and relaxed state. Even Kiba stared for a minute when he saw it, but immediately went on the offensive. Both Kibas renewed their assault on the seemingly unsuspecting genin and were dealt with accordingly as both of their haymakers were blocked and redirected to the sides. The same happened with each successive strike, but as they got faster and more complex Naruto was no longer in seiza, but also not on his feet. Instead he was spinning on his knees, hands and back as he blocked and turned every strike sent his way.

The onlookers couldn't tell what exactly the style was, but it was obviously a very strong defensive one. Not a single strike landed as Kiba and Akamaru shot around him in an effort to find an opening.

Kiba was quickly running out of stamina while Naruto had hardly moved a foot. "Get up and fight me like a man asshole!" Naruto opened his eyes and stared at Kiba. The eyes he showed were hard and calculating, putting Kiba and Akamaru on edge and ready for anything.

As Naruto stood he sighed. "I was hoping to get a little exercise out of this, but, very well." He took a new stance causing even Gai to wonder just how many forms the boy knew. With his arms bent out in front of him and fists to either side of his head Naruto stood with his read leg slightly bent and the ball of his front foot barely bouncing off the floor. "I'll be honest I haven't had much practice with this one, but lets see how well it works."

Up in the stands Gai was trying to figure out the form. It was familiar but modified that much he could tell. He took in the main aspects of it before it slowly dawned on him. "Muay Thai!" He whispered astonished. Kakashi turned to him with his visible eyebrow in the air.

"Where would he have learned something like that? I didn't know anyone here even knew it."

"No one I know of does. I own a book about it and I have seen a couple others, but I've never seen it used. It relies mainly on offense and uses the elbows and knees as well as the hands and feet for more or less clubbing the opponent into submission, but for a genin to use it is extremely dangerous. Not only to his opponent, but also to Naruto himself. If his bones can't take the stress he could just as easily hurt himself. I have to find out who the mad sensei is that thought they should teach him such a thing."

"Gai...Naruto doesn't have a sensei. Everything you see from him is self taught." Kurenai informed him.

Gai took a step back in surprise. "I-impossible!"

"You are about to see just how possible the impossible can be." Kakashi turned his attention back to the arena just in time to see the first strike land.

Naruto started clearing the distance between himself and Kiba with a slightly dancing step, causing a little confusion as to what exactly he was doing. The dog boy's eyes followed his opponents movements trying to anticipate an attack but the style was nothing he was familiar with and so the first shot came as a complete shock. A sweeping leg fake from the left followed by an immediate hook punch from the right. Since Kiba's attention was turned towards the leg he was caught completely unprepared for the hook which sent him skidding across the ground. Though through partial luck there was a poof of smoke as the Kiba that was hit turned back into a dog.

"Akamaru! You'll pay for that." Kiba charged blindly at the blond, rage completely taking him over at the attack on his companion.

"Down boy." Naruto said retaining his calmness as his leg shot out at the advancing ninja. With his eyes bulging from the quick, powerful strike, Kiba shot back the opposite direction he had been running. Like Akamaru he skidded before coming to a halt and coughing up some blood. "I suggest you stay on the ground and wait for the medics Otherwise you will just be even worse off when they get here."

"I can deal with a little pain till this match is over. I still have to knock your head off before that happens." Kiba swung a kunai out of his pouch along with another smoke bomb which exploded at Naruto's feet as he ran forward. He circled around the cloud a little before darting inside in order to disorient his opponent a bit. Shortly after he disappeared a cry of pain was heard along with the sound of tearing cloth putting everyone on the edge of their seats. A few wanted to see blood spilling from the seemingly cocky blond, while others hoped he was safe. They all held there breaths waiting for any sign of movement, but ended up having to wait until the smoke disappeared enough for them to see clearly.

In the center of the arena stood Naruto, a deep gash across his chest that was bleeding over his shirt and down to his pants. Yet he was the only one standing as Kiba lay face down on the ground with no visible sign of how he had fallen to his opponent. There were no new markings on him suggesting anything had hit him at all, but it was obvious that he took the most damage as there was no movement whatsoever from him. "Winner Naruto." Said an equally confused proctor as the medics rushed in to pick up the Inuzuka and attempt to tend to Naruto who just waved them off and headed for the stairs.

Hinata rushed down to meet him along with Haku and were applying a few ointments when the medics carried Kiba by. He wave for them to hold on a minute and they stopped the stretcher. "Hinata...listen...if you are up against Gaara, or Neji, f-forfeit immediately. They are too strong for you." He flinched when the girl narrowed her eyes at him.

"Kiba-san I am not the little girl you knew in the academy. I am a lot stronger thanks to Naruto-kun. You don't need to worry about me, and I would prefer you do not do so again. Leave me alone so I can be happy." it was a little harsh for her normal demeanor, but she was beginning to get far too tired of his actions to care.

Not one to be tossed aside so easily Kiba grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the stretcher causing her to fall over him and into what would have been a kiss had Hinata's reactions been as slow as they once were. Instead she was able to grab one of the rods and stop herself. Kiba tried to raise himself up to finish what he started but was stopped when a sharp object stuck his throat. Following the gleaming metal he was met with Naruto's none too happy face.

"I warned you Kiba, and though I cannot do anymore here, rest assured that this is your last warning on this matter. If you offend anyone else in my presence or try to assault anyone I care about you will wish you were never born. As it is I will be taking this up with your clan head and let her deal with this infraction. I don't think I need to tell you what she might have in store for you." He watched in satisfaction as Kiba paled and fear filled his eyes. Withdrawing his ninja-to he waved the medics on, more than tired about having to deal with the boy over and over again. "Let's go we're interrupting the matches." The two girls nodded and started making their way back up the steps.

"Next match Hyūga Hinata and Hyūga Neji." The whole room went dead silent.

Naruto turned to Hinata to see her staring between the screen and her cousin. Neji on the other hand kept his composure and walked right past them without even looking at her, as if she wasn't worth his time. When he got to the proctor he sneered as he informed the man of Hinata's position as he obviously wasn't up to date on current events. "Proctor, she is no longer a Hyūga. She gave up that name the day she decided to associate with that boy." They could hear the venom in his voice as Hinata lowered her eyes to the ground.

She was brought out of whatever thoughts she was having though as she was roughly spun around and brought into a passionate embrace by Naruto, who kissed her openly in front of everyone. "Don't you dare listen to a word he says. You are ten times as strong as you were. Now go show his stuck up ass just what a real byakugan user can do!" He smacked her butt getting a little squeal and a glare as he laughed. "Just like we practiced Hinata-chan!" Her scowl turned into a smile.

'Yes, just like we practiced. I can do this. I am stronger now.' Hinata went to her side of the floor and faced her cousin with a resolve that he wasn't used to, and a stance that was similar to his own yet completely unfamiliar.

"So not only did you give up your name to stay with a failure, but you also gave up your teachings. You were always weak and you are still weak. You are delusional if you think you can land a hit on me." Neji took up the standard Jūken stance and activated his byakugan. "My eyes see that you are hesitant and unsure of yourself. Regardless of your new look and new abilities you still doubt that you can use them to their fullest. That doubt leads to fear, and that fear is why you will never beat me."

"Don't listen to him Hinata-chan! He doesn't know what you're capable of, no one here does but us. Change that now and show him just how flawed his eyes are!" Neji glared at Naruto's outburst, but the boy didn't even flinch.

"Begin!"

Neji took off towards Hinata as she began to sway. 'She's moving as if in a breeze...then like a hurricane I shall sweep her aside.' He brought his palm forward and struck as she dodged. He had thought it would be a one hit win, but as seconds and minutes passed he was quickly finding out that she wouldn't be so easy to defeat. "It matters not how often you dodge or move. You are still weak and you will tire. Then you will fall to my superior Jūken." A few more strikes later and he was able to close a couple of Hinata's tenketsu but in return he took a passing strike that he hadn't seen coming from her. The battle was lasting a lot longer than he was hoping it to and he had to admit that whatever form the girl had learned she was doing a lot better than she had been when she was a Hyūga.

Better, but not good enough. He rushed into her guard and struck the middle of her chest, throwing her backwards where she curled into a ball holding her chest.

"Hinata! Get up you're stronger than this. Show him that you are!" Naruto called out from the balcony as he leaned over the side.

"Proctor she won't be getting up." Neji turned glaring at Naruto and began to walk away, but stopped as he heard shuffling. Without turning he reactivated his byakugan. "Why are you trying so hard, you should already know you cannot defeat me."

"B-because. I can't l-let him see me l-look *cough* weak. I will be str-strong for him even if I can't be strong f-for myself." Hinata got back into her stance though she was now hunched a bit from the blow she took. "I am no longer Hyūga, b-but that doesn't mean I-I can't be strong too. Naruto-kun will make me strong!" She finished her speech just as Neji closed in and another bout of taijutsu ensued. It was obvious that Hinata had gotten a lot stronger but to go against a Hyūga that was a year her senior, and reputed as being a prodigy, was taking its toll as he slowly closed her tenketsu one by one. Not that she was lounging around the whole time. She was able to get a few hits in herself with her new style, surprising not only Neji, but most of the people that knew her. A few of his tenketsu on his left arm were closed and one on his right leg, but unfortunately nothing that he couldn't deal with.

"You are weak, and you always will be weak. That is what fate has foretold for you and that is what shall be. We all have things about ourselves we cannot change, and me defeating you is one of those things." Once again he landed an open palm strike to her chest and she flew backwards, landing hard on the stone floor. In return he got a heel strike to his thigh, causing him to stumble a bit afterward "That is twice I have attacked your heart. It would be foolish to resume." He grunted out a bit, trying to play off the pain that briefly flared up in his leg.

"Winner Neji."

'*Cough* *cough* Neji-n-niisan. Y-you want to ch-change your fate s-so bad...d-don't you? Y-you are like this t-to protect y-your heart from th-the pain you feel. You h-hate the m-main branch...so much, but there is n-nothing you think you c-can *cough* do about it." Neji's byakugan deepened as she spoke. "Y-you are tr-trapped and you c-can't run away from it. A-are you jealous of m-me because I got awa-away? *cough*" As they looked on, the ninja watching the fight could see in her eyes the pity she felt for the Hyūga boy.

That was enough for Neji as his as his rage flared and he sprinted towards Hinata. 'SHIT!' Was the unanimous thought of the jōnin who rushed in to stop the boy. None though were fast enough as Neji's hit connected...with an already sliced open chest.

A large gout of blood hit the floor as Naruto vomited from the blow, but he looked up at Neji with red eyes. "If you lay one more finger on Hinata-chan...I will kill you where you stand."

"As if a dead last like you could touch a Hyūga. Now, step aside before you get your dirty blood on my clothing." Truthfully Neji was frightened by the boy's sudden movement, but his rage towards Hinata was far too great as he stepped forward.

"Hyūga Neji you will stop your advance immediately or we will stop it for you." Neji turned to see the small group of jōnin and the proctor standing around him.

"So this is the type of protection the main house gets then? I suppose none of you got the message either. Hinata is no longer a Hyūga and no longer holds the protections of such prestige. Now back away so I can take care of this stain on our name." He turned back towards Hinata and Naruto with his eyes activated once again, but found he couldn't move as each of the jōnin stopped him in some way.

"This has nothing to do with the Hyūga, Neji. She is a fellow Konoha ninja and as such you will not pursue such actions in front of us or at all for that matter. If you have a discrepancy you can take it up with her after she has healed and you will do so in a civil manner." Kurenai wanted to hurt the boy terribly for what he did to her student, but knew that such an action would not be allowed. She prayed though that the boy was arrogant enough to try to attack them. Her hopes were dashed aside though when Neji deactivated his bloodline and turned, but he spoke once more before leaving.

"Know that I will take your relationship with Hinata into account when we fight Uzumaki. You will not win against me...if you even make it far enough to face me."

"Don't worry you stuck up...piece of shit. I'll not just make it far enough...to beat you, but I'll make sure...that by the time our match is over there will be Hyūga...all over the stadium." Naruto just glared at Neji's back, trying to control his breathing as the boy walked away slowly, trying to hide the limp in his gate from the pain Hinata inflicted on him.

"Hinata!" Kurenai luckily was a bit calmer and when she saw her student start to fall she rushed past Naruto and caught her. "Shit she doesn't look good. Where the hell are the medics!" Two men in white coats came rushing up with a stretcher and pulled Hinata onto it, apologizing as they took her away. Naruto caught Kurenai's wrist and spun her around as she went to head back to the balcony. "Wha-?"

"Kurenai-san. Go with them please. I don't like to leave her alone. Especially with people that could be influenced by the Hyūga."

"Then why don't you go yourself Naruto?"

"Boyfriend or not they wouldn't let me in with her if they are planning something, but her jōnin-sensei they can't stop."

Kurenai nodded at that. "What about Harume?"

"I'll make sure she doesn't get hurt, and I'll let you know afterward what happens either way."

She nodded again. "Make sure she doesn't die."

"Hai." With that they parted ways as the cleaning crew finished wiping up the floor. Naruto made it to the top of the stairs before collapsing. They had completely forgotten about his injuries, but he would be alright. He couldn't feel anything too out of place, and what he could feel was healing quickly. Even so, Haku was soon doting on him like a worried mother, applying creams and ointments where ever they were needed most.

"I guess Hinata and me are even now." Naruto looked up at her confused. "You've saved both of our lives once now, so we're even." Naruto chuckled at her as he slid over to the wall and leaned against it.

"You're both equal to me, and you always will be." He pushed himself up a little as he pressed his lips to hers not caring who saw them.

"Tenten Harusada of Konoha and Temari of Suna come down please."

Both girls were the picture of true kunoichi as they wasted no movement while they got into place on the arena floor. They both stood relaxed as if they had no cares in the world. "Begin." No words were exchanged as Tenten immediately jumped back and ran a wide arc around the Suna kunoichi before taking out a few kunai and throwing them at the older girl. To the surprise of her teammates and herself she completely missed.

"Impossible..."

"Sorry girlie but you won't hit me with aim like that." Tenten just huffed and began tossing more weapons at Temari. All of them got deflected and at the end of the metal rain, Tenten was left staring Temari whose fan was now open partway. "This is the first moon, there are two more. When you see all three this match will be over."

Tenten just grit her teeth and took out a pair of scrolls. "I was planning on saving this for the main matches, but it looks like I won't be able to hold back." Getting enough distance she balanced the two scrolls in front of her as she made hand signs. "Sōshōryū!" The scrolls erupted into the air as a pair of twisting dragons between which Tenten appeared amidst the double helix. Channeling chakra into the scrolls as they spun, weapons began to appear in her hands as she started a new rain of steel aimed right at Temari. The shower continued for only thirty seconds, but by that time hundreds of weapons of all types were littering the ground with Temari standing in a small clearing amongst them. "I'm not done yet!" With tremendous effort she used the strings connected to each weapon and pulled them all back into the air before swinging her arms forward causing all of the weapons to crash down again, but all at once this time in a near solid sheet of pointed metal. There should have been no dodging the mass, but as Tenten landed she glared at the lone figure in the middle of the field of metal.

Temari just smirked as she stood with the second moon of her fan showing. "Shall we end this little game?" Twirling her fan in front of her, Temari vanished into thin air.

Tenten looked around frantically until a shadow overlapped her. 'Shit!' She looked up into the air to see Temari grinning down at her from on top of her fan. She was surprised that she hadn't attacked when she had the chance but it seemed that wasn't her plan.

Instead Temari landed right back where she started still with the same grin on her face while the fan was completely unfolded showing all three moons. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" In the small arena the attack rounded on itself and soon Tenten was lifted into the air in a small whirlwind that began cutting into her clothing. The larger problem wasn't the chakra laced wind though, but rather the vacuum inside the cone. With the lack of air she was quickly rendered helpless before Temari released the jutsu causing the kunoichi to fall toward the ground. Temari wasn't satisfied with that though as she held her fan to the side and 'caught' Tenten on the end of her iron fan, the not so soft landing causing Tenten to cough up blood before she passed out. Still not satisfied Temari threw Tenten out towards her own weapons intending to impale the girl upon her own hoard. Luckily the girl's teammate was able to jump down in time to save her from an even more painful landing.

"Is that anyway to treat someone who tried their best?" Lee glared at the Suna-nin along with Naruto up in the stands who was scowling a bit as well.

'Shut up and take that weakling out of my sight." Lee sped forward and attempted to attack Temari, but was blocked by her fan. "Now now that wasn't nice. It's as expected from a ninja from such a soft village though."

"Lee! Calm down." The green spandex clad jōnin-sensei of the boy landed behind his student.

"...Hai Gai-sensei."

"Temari stop messing around with that idiot and his guardian." Gaara's cold voice came from above.

"Winner Temari." There was a small intermission as the weapons were cleared from the floor and, thanks to Naruto, resealed into a couple scrolls. "Momochi Haku and Mogami Harume come to the floor." It was almost as unsettling as when Ino and Sakura had been called, but fewer knew these two were friends. True they hadn't known each other that long, but over the weeks they spent training they had grown close along with Hinata. It was a bit uncomfortable to watch them walk down to the floor but they knew what had to be done.

"Amagawa please." Haku looked at Hayate.

"Pardon?"

"It's Amagawa Haku. If I'm going to be facing a friend I'm going to do it under my real name. Not a borrowed one."

"Very well. Amagawa Haku and Mogami Harume, begin."

"I forfeit."

"Wha...?" Haku was stunned. "Harume-chan...no, you can't just give up. You want to be a chūnin don't you? You always talk about it!"

"Hai...I do want to become one...more than anything, but we both know I can't beat you. I'm not experienced enough yet. Besides it would be better to keep your abilities a secret for the finals. If it's you...I can pass this time, but you have to promise me you'll kick some ass in the finals. Also, there is something else I need you to do for me, but we'll talk about that later."

Haku was touched that her friend would give up her dream just like that so she would have a better chance to move forward. She rushed over and hugged the girl with tears in her eyes. "Thank you Harume-chan! I won't forget this." She wiped her eyes and they went back to the balcony hand-in-hand ignoring the scoffs at their sickeningly sweet display.

"*Cough* Umm...winner Haku...Next match Sabaku no Gaara and Rock Lee." As the two made their way off the floor Haku and Harume met up with Naruto as he turned to them.

"Listen you two. First, thank you Harume for giving Haku such an advantage. Now, I need you both to watch the next fights and fill me in later. I need to go see Hinata. I'm worried about her and I'm sure Kurenai will want to talk to you Harume."

Harume looked a little unsure about the situation as she suddenly found the ground very interesting. "She's going to be so pissed at me for giving up."

"No, I think she'll be proud of you for thinking of a comrade over yourself. You did well Harume-chan."

"Th-thank you Naruto-san. Now go, I'm sure Hinata-chan is waiting for you to see her." Naruto nodded and sped off.

"So what was the other thing you wanted Harume-chan?" Haku asked, then got even more curious as the girl got a deep blush. Something she never thought she'd see on the tomboy's face. Harume gulped and leaned in to Haku's ear, whispering so only they could hear. Haku's head shot up and stared into her friend's eyes. "N-no way, really?" When Harume nodded Haku smiled devilishly. "Leave it to me." They both shifted their eyes across the balcony to a specific teen leaning against the wall further down the room.

• • •

Naruto had been sitting in the hospital room for an hour. It was lucky that they put all the girls in the same room, though it took some convincing of the doctors to get the point across that he had no ill intentions towards anyone in the room. He was finally let in when Kurenai was coming out for a drink and told the doctors that the boy could go in, that she would take responsibility if anything bad happened. Naruto had told her that Harume forfeited and why which, as he figured, she seemed rather happy about. She decided to come back after getting her drink since she no longer had a need to be in the arena with her team being finished, and Naruto would need to go back for the end.

When the last match's winner was announced over the speaker system Naruto made his way back to the arena, still concerned for the girls since neither had woken up yet. He had to put that past him though as he saw Lee being rushed by on a stretcher looking like he'd been through hell. The only clue as to what happened were his arm and leg which looked to be deformed, obviously broken, and the few pieces of stray sand on his clothes. He was followed shortly after by the Akimichi teen who simply looked dazed. As Naruto got back to the arena he saw that the winners were standing in a line and was able to join them just in time to pull a number out of the box that was being passed around.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were for and after everyone called out their numbers the proctor held up a sign showing the names of those moving to the final matches, and their match-ups for that day. "You will have one month to train and get stronger than you are now. You've all used some skills to get this far, now you will have the chance to learn new strategies to be used against what you saw here today." Naruto looked at the chart and took note of all the pairings. Some he laughed at, others like his own made him form a dangerous grin.

Match 1: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyūga Neji

Match 2: Haruno Sakura vs. Tsuchi Kin

Match 3: Sabaku no Gaara vs. Uchiha Sasuke

Match 4: Aburame Shino vs. Kankurō

Match 5: Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru

Match 6: Dosu vs. Amagawa Haku

As soon as they were finished Naruto, with Haku, Kin and Harume hot on his heals bolted for the infirmary. When they got there Kurenai was talking softly with Ino while Hinata and Tenten slept in their nearby beds. The rest of the room was empty so they quietly pulled some of the extra visitor's chairs around Ino and Kurenai being as they were the only ones awake. The only one who differed was Naruto who put his chair near Hinata and began to constantly check her for signs of danger. "Naruto, she's fine. Let her rest in peace. I swear, you should be more worried about yourself. You took one of those strikes too you know, and from what I can tell no doctors have seen you yet. Not to mention that nasty gash you got. If you don't stop playing hero you really will die someday."

"As long as I die protecting my precious people I'll die happy." As soon as the words left his mouth he was enveloped from behind by two arms.

"Don't say that Naruto-kun! Don't ever say that. You can't die. You have to stay with me, and Haku-chan." Despite the pain it caused her Hinata sobbed into his back. "Promise me!"

Naruto slowly turned in her arms until he was facing her. "Ok Hinata-chan. Ok. You know I love you and I'm happy that you care about me, but you need your rest now."

"PROMISE ME!" Hinata screamed, nearly hysterical catching everyone by surprise, even Naruto whose head jerked from the unexpected outburst.

"...I...I can't make that promise Hinata...I will always sacrifice everything I can so that those precious to me can stay happy."

"But we won't be happy if you die! We'll be...lonely...like before..." Hinata slumped her head to his shoulder as she quietly sobbed.

After a few minutes she was back asleep and Naruto gently laid her back in her bed and gave her a soft kiss. "I promise Hinata, that I will do everything I can to make you all happy and safe. If that means I have to die to keep you safe and come back to life to make you happy again then so be it. I'll fight Shinigami-sama himself to get back to you." He turned back to the rest of the room to find everyone including Tenten staring at him. His hand went to his head to scratch it in embarrassment. "Corny I know, but still...it's true."

Most of the girls had a far away look in their eyes that Naruto couldn't quiet place until Ino spoke up. "So dreamy...just like a romance novel." She squealed a bit reminding them all of her fan girl tendencies. Then, realizing what she said and who she said it about, she turned away from them quickly and held her hands to her face to hide her blush.

Naruto suddenly felt very uncomfortable being the center of attention, but thankfully Kurenai broke the tension. "Ahem, well I want to say I''m proud of you Harume for what you did for Haku. It was also a very intelligent thing too, to know when you're outclassed and to have the ability to lend a comrade a hand in a strenuous situation. If you keep up with your training then I have no doubt you'll make chūnin next time."

"Th-thank you sensei." Harume bowed at the praise as attention was drawn from Naruto to her as the rest congratulated her on the praise and Haku thanked her again and promised she'd help her out with 'that thing' which confused the others.

They stayed and chatted for another couple hours, including Tenten in their talks while doctors and nurses came and went as they checked on the patients. A couple of the other genin had attempted to enter but were easily dissuaded by the number of people in the room, or some aggressive negotiations. Sakura was both the easiest and hardest to handle. As soon as she opened the door she was shrieking at Ino that she was now her bitch and had to do whatever she and Sasuke-kun said. Just the volume and pitch of her voice was enough to set their ears near the bleeding point. Thankfully for them Naruto had quickly subdued her with a chop to the back of the neck, beating Kin's senbon to the jugular by millimeters, before placing her outside. When the doctors attempted to bring her in to put her in the nearest empty bed, in respect to where they found her, they were quickly threatened not to do so with the backing of the combined killing intent of everyone in the room. With little arguing, they quickly left to find a different room. Kiba and Sasuke had also attempted to gain entrance as did Temari for some reason. The later was turned away as polite as possible with a warning about how she treated Tenten. She left willingly, but not before making arrangements to meet Naruto sometime during the months break for some 'important information', which he begrudgingly agreed to. The only ones that were allowed to enter were Gai, to check on Tenten before rushing off to Konoha hospital where Lee was transferred to after getting literally crushed by Gaara; Shino, to top off team eight and Asuma to check in on Ino. The later left soon after seeing the girl was alright so he could check on Chōji as well, who lost his fight to Dosu.

After the last one of them got clearance to leave, Naruto picked up Hinata from her bed to carry her home as they left the forest together stopping only once so Naruto could make a large number of clones for "A personal mission that I do after every chūnin exam." Those that knew what he was up to just smiled and rolled their eyes while those that didn't just let it be since there were so many other topics that they'd rather find out about the boy over his habits. It took a lot less time to leave the forest than to enter as they didn't have the need to be on the look out for other teams, and with such a large group it was doubtful that any predator would try to attack them. At their top speed they were able to make it out of the forest in half a day, which put the time in the early morning hours when they made it back into the village. Once inside the walls they split into their separate groups with Kin asking to stay over at Naruto's since she didn't trust to stay with her team anymore. Naruto hesitantly agreed causing a chain reaction. Ino decided it was too late to go to her house right now and risk waking her parents and Tenten just joined in because his house was closer than her family's apartment. Harume also agreed when they pestered her to join them, figuring they could just make it a sleep over for the girls until Naruto pointed out that it was his house and he didn't intend to be kicked out of it.

"Oh that's ok Naruto. We trust you not to take advantage of a bunch of young, innocent, nubile women like us." Ino said teasingly seductive as she rubbed against his side and broke out laughing when his nose started bleeding even though he looked rather uncomfortable about the situation.

"Hey, Naruto-sama can take advantage of me. I don't mind." Naruto almost tripped and spilled Hinata on the ground.

"K-Kin! How can you say that. You were possibly going to be raped yesterday and now you want to give yourself away like that to someone you just met?" Haku sputtered out.

"Well Naruto-sama is much kinder than anyone I ever met. Plus he's strong and hot and he thinks of others first. If there's a better guy to give myself to out there then I haven't seen him, and I'm not about to spend my life looking for one either. We're ninja after all. We're not exactly in the profession with the longest life expectancy." They had to admit she had a point, but that didn't make it any easier for Naruto knowing that he would be sharing a roof with at least one, if not more, willing young ladies. Despite that he was nearly dragging his feet at the simple thought of such actions. A reaction that no one really paid attention to as they continued to joke back and forth, save for Hinata and Haku who were once again standing as sentries at his sides.

Rounding the corner to the street his house was on they saw the gates of the estate still intact but, if the marks on the walls were any indication, someone had been trying to get in. They rushed to the gate and Naruto quickly unlocked and opened it. What they found looked almost like a battlefield, except instead of dead bodies there were merely sleeping ones. "Shit. Well, at least I know my traps work. Let's get inside quick so I can do an inventory and make sure they didn't get that far." When the door was opened they went in cautiously and looked room to room with Naruto taking the more sensitive areas, but nothing was disturbed. There were a few more bodies in the back yard, but they hadn't made it more than a few feet before the poisons in the traps took its toll and put them in a stasis sleep. From the looks of some of them they had been attempting to get in for quiet awhile. "Well you ladies get settled in. It looks like I have some issues to deal with. Main rules of the house are as follows: My room, the office and the jutsu library are off limits, as are Hinata-chan and Haku-chan's rooms unless they say otherwise. There are security measures in place for each of those areas, so don't try unless you enjoy a lot of pain. Also, don't try to jump the walls coming in or going out or you'll end up like these bastards. The only safe way in is through the gate. Last but not least. No one, and I mean no one, enters the estate without my explicit approval. I don't care if it's the Hokage himself, if I'm not here they don't get in. Haku and Hinata can fill in anything I missed, so other than that, have a nice night."

Shutting the door behind him, Naruto left to deal with his little intruder problem leaving the girls to their own devices. The rest of their night started with one simple phrase. "Geez Haku and Hinata are soo lucky!" From there every detail they knew about the Naruto before graduation and the Naruto after was spread around to everyone as they tried to piece together exactly how strong the blond really was. One thing they all ended up agreeing upon though was that he definitely hadn't shown his true level yet.

Naruto on the other hand was busy with his clones, gathering the bodies around the yard into a pile in the front yard just inside the gate where they were all tied up separately and apart from each other. All of their possessions were stripped as Naruto took them as the start of damages against his property. Amongst those he found were more of those ANBU look-a-likes, but also some civilian villagers who had used ladders to try to get in, normal ninja who apparently thought it would be a good idea to try to sneak in and one pedigree Uchiha. 'Oh the council is going to have a field day with this one.' Naruto just grumbled and rolled his eyes as he tied up the last of his captives just as there was an insistent knock at the front gate. 'Man it's a good thing we got to that tower early and I got some sleep. Not to mention having an easy fight...' His thoughts were broken when he saw who was there and he suddenly wished he was in bed. "Advisers...to what do I owe the pleasure." He made no move to hide what was inside on his property, and indeed move a little just so they could get a clear view of his captives.

"Uzumaki Naruto you are to accompany us to the council chambers at once to discuss your continuing career as a ninja of this village, but first you are to let all of these people go."

"Oh really? And what may I ask will we be discussing about."

"That is for a private discussion in the council chambers. Now hurry along before we decide you are ignoring our order."

Naruto wanted to smack his head on the gate but refrained from doing so. "May I see the summons from the Hokage please?" He watched with some amusement as the confusion crossed their faces. "You do have a signed summons from Hokage-sama do you not? No? Then I am afraid I will have to ask you to leave as I have important matters to attend to. He could see the seething hatred in their eyes, but he couldn't help stirring the wasps' nest a bit.

"Are you refusing a summons of the council boy?" Homura snapped his fingers and four ANBU appeared at his side. "Take him into custody for refusing the direct will of the council."

Naruto glanced at each ANBU before they moved. "ANBU-san. I suggest you think about what you're doing before you attempt to breech my estate. As you can see behind me I already count a few of your number amongst my captives. Now for my demand. I want to see Ibiki, Anko and Hokage-sama here in no less than one hour. If you do not do this I will take their punishment into my own hands as per my right as a ninja and land owner of Konoha, and I promise you the Uchiha will get prime treatment" He leveled his gaze with the advisers as the ANBU glanced between them, unsure of what to do, but left as instructed when Homura's hand waved them on.

"You will be sorry about this boy. Making threats against those in power is far from the most intelligent thing to do. You are going to have a much more difficult time from here on out, and I hope you're prepared for that monster." Koharu was practically snarling through the iron bars of the gate at him.

"Tell me Utatane-san..."

"That's Utatane-sama brat!"

"When you earn my respect then I will show it. Now, why does the council want to summon me?"

"Hmph. We will discuss that when we get to the council chambers and not a moment sooner, and if you do not come we will decide your fate by ourselves."

"Well if you don't inform me of why I'm being summoned, and you 'decide my fate' without me there and without doing so then whatever you decide will be null and void without a written agreement from the Hokage. Unless you want to spend hours in that room arguing over something that has no purpose but to be shot down, then I suggest you tell me what it is you want." Naruto stood there calm as can be while the advisers glared at him.

"Naruto is correct you know." The three turned as the Hokage landed in the street, flanked by the four ANBU from before plus two of his own. He narrowed his eyes at his advisers, causing them to back up a bit. "I will also have you know that since this meeting involves a ninja of Konoha that you were obligated to inform me before contacting the individual. Since you failed to do so I could only assume that it had slipped your mind..."

"Hokage-sama, the matter was not pertaining to the boy's ninja life but rather his life in affect to the civilian side of the village."

"That does not matter. He is still a registered ninja and as such he falls under my jurisdiction." He wasn't yelling at them, but he also wasn't exactly calm. "I am growing tired of these mishaps and if they are not rectified soon then there will be consequences. Is that understood?" The two advisers pursed their lips but stayed silent, for now. Sarutobi took this as a sign the the matter was laid to rest for the time being and turned to Naruto behind the gate. He could see the pile of his ninja all tied up in neat rows inside the estate. "That's quiet the collection you have in there Naruto. Would you mind telling me what you plan on doing with them?"

"Well since they..." He pointed to the advisers. "...actually listened and brought you here. I guess I have to stick to my word and not interrogate them myself, and while I would love to have some alone time with Sasuke-teme I think that would just give you more of a headache than you already have, so I'll turn them over to Ibiki and Anko...assuming they told them to come as well. If not then I'm afraid I can still void our deal, and play with them myself." His smile made the advisers uncomfortable and the Hokage wonder exactly what he had in mind.

"Well if you don't mind, how about we take a look at who you've collected. I'd like to see which of my ninja decided to invite themselves onto your property."

"Sure Jiji-san. Just be warned that some of them are a little...ripe. The must have been trying to get in the whole time we were at the exam."

"And they didn't try to leave?"

'It's a long lasting stasis poison. They are basically in an induced coma until I give them the antidote. Worst case is they'll be a little disoriented at the loss of time, need a bath and probably some food. Other then that they should be ready for some pins and bracelets." Naruto spoke casually as he unlocked the gate.

"Pins and bracelets?" One of the advisers whispered to an ANBU.

"Torture and shackles." The man clarified.

Opening the gate he let Sarutobi in, but when the rest tried to follow they found the bars back in place faster than they could stop it. "Here now boy, let us in!"

Naruto turned and cocked an eyebrow. "I don't recall inviting you inside."

"As advisers we should be accompanying Hokage-sama on this matter, if for nothing else then to discuss the upcoming meeting."

"We'll discuss that after I am finished here." The Hokage said with a smile and dismissive wave.

Koharu sputtered before managing to regain herself enough to speak again. "At least take a guard with you Hiruzen. You have no idea what he has planned. He could add you to his little guest list if you turn your back on him!"

Sarutobi turned to them with a face calmer than it should have been. "I trust Naruto-kun far more than you would ever know. He has had more than one chance to do to me as he wished and despite all the hassle you two and the council have caused him, he has shown no ill desires against me. However should either of you find yourself alone with him you may want to consider your position. Come Naruto I believe I see some familiar faces in this crowd and I believe they may belong to some people I know all to well." He glared at the small group outside once more before leading the boy away to his captives.

A/N: The next two chapters will be training and character interactions along with some drama situations, just so you all know. This will include the scene I've been warning about in chapter sixteen. It will have warnings around it, and you should know who the main person involved is once that portion comes up, and before the scene is actually covered for those of you who are worried about it.