Chapters 24

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, thankful for the dimness of the room. He lay off on the bed, staring into nothing and thinking of nothing, and cleared all the sleep from his eyes.

Sitting up, he was happy to find that he no longer felt exhausted and tired like yesterday evening. In fact, he could say with certainty. That aside from having chakra control problems, he was in top physical condition. Looking around the room, he saw his two teammates sprawled out on their beds. Like him, they hadn't bothered to change or freshen up; they had probably fallen out a little after him.

He took the opportunity to hit the shower first and moved to the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, he was clean and fresh in a new pair of clothes and Sasuke and Sakura were just beginning to stir when he walked out of the bathroom.

He grinned at their half sleepy forms. "Hey guys!" he exclaimed a bit too loudly. He grinned a bit more when they just grumbled angrily. No one liked loud noises in the morning.

He chuckled, "Anyways, I'm heading off to breakfast in the canteen. The bathroom's free if you want it." He walked to the door and just when he was about to open it when he turned and smirked, "I don't know if the hot water is limited or not."

Sasuke and Sakura froze for a moment and for a moment, they just sat like that. Sasuke was the first to snap out of it and was about to rush into the bathroom when the door was knocked, causing the two genin to pause momentarily.

If Naruto had not been a sensor, he would have probably slapped an explosive tag on the door and backed away. However, he sensed two familiar chakra signatures outside. 'Kakashi-sensei and jiji. Didn't know they would come this early. Then again, this is Orochimaru we are talking about,' he mused as he opened the door.

Hiruzen and Kakashi's serious faces greeted him on the outside. Behind him, Sakura and Sasuke also tensed up for a second before relaxing. Naruto wordlessly stepped aside to let them through and closed the door behind them.

Hiruzen turned to Naruto and said in a tone that unconsciously caused Naruto to straighten his back. "Iruka said that you encountered Orochimaru in the forest."

Naruto nodded just as seriously, "Hai, Hokage-sama." He then recounted everything, beginning from the time when they first encountered him. How he was forcefully separated from his team, how he and Sasuke teamed up to take him down and failed spectacularly. "I don't know what happened after I was knocked out, but I can take a guess," he said, glancing at Sasuke, who tensed up.

Hiruzen and Kakashi both knew very well that when Naruto said that he could guess something, it was something worth witnessing. Naruto never guessed anything, he always observed and when he had gathered his facts, he connected them in such a way that it was hard to argue with him when he had presented his deduction.

Seeing jiji's and Kakashi's anticipating looks, he continued. "I woke up a day after I was knocked out. I was mostly fine, but when I emerged from our hiding spot, I observed that we had been ambushed. An unconscious Lee was in the clearing. When I observed team ten's faces, they positively did not know when Lee had come, which meant Lee had arrived before team ten came to our aid. He was knocked out when I saw him. But," he said, glancing at Sasuke, who was staring at him with a neutral face, "Something was wrong with Sasuke."

He didn't mince his facts. The whole room turned to face Sasuke, who had adopted a scowl. Naruto continued his explanation, "I felt a strange chakra emanating from him. It felt very…evil, for the lack of a word. It also caused him to become extremely ruthless while under its effects. What's more dangerous is that the feeling of that chakra was quite similar to what I felt from Orochimaru."

Both Hiruzen and Kakashi had wide eyes at what had happened. Naruto seemed not to notice their shock as he still continued speaking, "He was covered in strange black marks that were spread over the left side of his body. Judging from his euphoric and ruthless behavior, I'd say he was under the effects that are quite similar to when shinobi receive a major boost in power. However, an accidental slip caused him to get knocked out and while it was only for a fleeting moment, I saw the marks receding to underneath his left collar."

That confirmed Hiruzen's and Kakashi's worst suspicions. Hiruzen turned to Sasuke and asked, but it was more like an order, "Sasuke-kun, can you please remove your shirt for a moment?"

"…Hai, Hokage-sama," came the quiet response from the boy. Sasuke deftly pulled his shirt off and all the occupants in the room were wide eyed, including Naruto, when they saw a strange mark on the left hand side of his neck, its appearance not unlike the three tomoes of sharingan.

"Oh kami," Hiruzen breathed out. This was not good at all. Orochimaru had come into the chunin exams and had put his curse mark on Uchiha Sasuke of all people, who was a major flight-risk. Orochimaru knew that Sasuke carried a deep, revenge fueled desire within him to avenge his clan by killing his brother. He had offered a source of power and gave a glimpse of its effects to Sasuke. Hiruzen became even more worried that Sasuke will go to Orochimaru in hopes of controlling that power.

Naruto curiously asked in disgusted fascination, "What the hell is that?" He had a feeling that this was quite familiar.

Hiruzen turned to Naruto, "That…is the curse mark of Orochimaru. I'm sure you know of this Naruto," he gave a knowing look that confused the others in the room.

Naruto furrowed his brow in thought and it immediately came to him. Anko-sensei had showed him the same thing once on her neck! "Oh damn," he breathed out.

Sasuke was starting to get irritated that the others were talking about him as if he was not even in the room. "What are you talking about?!" He near snarled at the three.

Naruto turned and walked towards Sasuke, pressing two fingers to the seal. While his sensory abilities were still blocked, being in contact with the seal negated the handicap. For a moment he just felt it out, brushing against it with a tiny amount of his chakra. He ignored Sasuke's flinch at the burn of the seal and thought for a moment on how to explain it to someone who did not even know the 'F' of fuinjutsu.

"This seal…..it might sound extremely bad on my part, but it's quite a beauty. It's so complicated, so intricate that it will take years of study to try and find a counter to it. It's like a storage seal that can only be activated by you. If I had to make a guess, judging from when I previously observed you using this seal, it has Orochimaru's chakra in it. Not exactly the same, but just enough to tell that it's similar," he laid out his analysis.

Hiruzen nodded, "Very good analysis, Naruto-kun. That's exactly what it is. However, there is a risk in using it. A grave one."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "What is the risk?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at not just Sasuke's question, but also the way he asked it. He could not say with certainty, but he almost felt like Sasuke was considering using that chakra.

Naruto cut in before jiji could speak, "In the short time that you used it, it probably must have felt euphoric to you. A rush of power so potent and heightened, unparalleled by anything you've felt ever before. Am I wrong?"

He pinned Sasuke with a stare that advised him not to lie. Not that he could anyway, with Kakashi and Hiruzen keeping a close eye on him.

"Yeah," Sasuke answered hesitantly. Hiruzen and Kakashi were in awe of Naruto's deducing skills. If not for both of them knowing who his parents were, they would have thought he belonged to the Nara clan.

Naruto picked up from his answer, almost mumbling more to himself rather than his superiors in the room. "And whatever feels to us that way, we are bound to resort using it again and again. Orochimaru must have kept this in mind when he designed the seal. Anyone who used its power would be tempted to use it repeatedly until they become dependent on its power."

Turning to Sasuke, he said in a pleading tone, "Sasuke, no matter what, you have to absolutely avoid using that seal. I was told that it was nothing but a slave collar, a way for Orochimaru to make you kneel to him."

Naruto carefully studied Sasuke's expression. By the end of his explanation, Sasuke looked angry that someone tried to make him dance to their tune. But underneath the anger, Naruto could see it. Sasuke was leaning towards using it when the situation gets worse. Judging by the looks on jiji's and Kakashi's face, they had seen it too.

Hiruzen spoke in a commanding tone, "We have no choice but to seal it immediately. For the good of others and your own."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "How will you seal it? There is only one such seal in existence and that too relies on the will of the recipient."

Kakashi nodded, "I will seal it with the Fuja Hoin (Evil containment seal). But, as Naruto said, there's a catch," he said, glancing towards Sasuke.

"What is it?"

Naruto took up from where Kakashi left off, "The evil containment seal is only as powerful as you want it to be. The stronger your will to resist using that chakra, better will be the effects of the seal and better will it be contained."

Kakashi stepped forward, "Come, Sasuke. You can relax after the sealing is over. We must do it now."

Naruto smiled slyly, "I didn't know you were versed in the delicate art of sealing, sensei."

Kakashi turned with a bored eye, "I picked up a thing or two from my sensei." Taking a hold of Sasuke, who had put on his shirt, he vanished in a swirl of leaves. Hiruzen proceeded to leave as Sakura closed the door to the bathroom.

"Jiji!" he called out. This was his chance to get his seal taken off. He lifted his shirt and jacket and molded some chakra to make his seal visible. "Can you remove this seal? Orochimaru placed it on me, and I don't think I want my teammates to know about my status just yet."

Hiruzen studied the seal and saw what it was. "I can do it, but you better brace yourself," he warned before five kanji lit up on his fingers. "On the count of three. One….." he slammed the fingers on to the seal, exclaiming "Gogyo Kain!" He watched with satisfaction as the seal came off Naruto, who was unprepared and as such, fell on his butt. The Five Elements Seal disappeared from on top of his seal.

Naruto glared at the old man, "Where was the two and three, old man?"

Sarutobi shrugged innocently, "Two, three. All the best for the next phase." He shunshined away just in time to avoid a barrage of shuriken.

Naruto grumbled in irritation, but brightened up when he felt his consciousness being prodded by a familiar presence. He closed his eyes and when he opened them, he was in the valley again, underneath the tree that Kurama enjoyed so much.

The said demon was lazily lying underneath it, his tails swaying behind him lazily, but magnificently. He stared at Naruto intensely, who grinned back. Naruto walked up to Kurama's head and sat down in front of him.

"Are you alright, Kurama?"

Kurama scoffed, sending hot air from his nostrils. "Such a seal can't affect me, but it did affect the seal your father placed on you. We aren't mutually inclusive."

Naruto nodded in understanding. Kurama spoke again, "By the way, nice job on trying to fight Orochimaru. You were quite efficient in your attacks, if only to compensate for your weakness."

Naruto simply waved that comment away. He had gotten used to Kurama's way of complimenting a long time ago. "Also, the tag team that you formed with the Uchiha was quite impressive, considering who repulsive he acts towards you."

Naruto turned serious, "Sasuke will do what's necessary to survive to face Itachi someday. Even if it means admitting his weakness right now and teaming up."

Kurama gave a grunt to acknowledge him, but Naruto knew that Kurama could care less about Sasuke, or any Uchiha in general.

"Alright, I'll see you later Kurama." Kurama nodded and settled down for a nap. Naruto then exited his mindscape and opened his eyes in the real world. Only five seconds had passed. Naruto smirked at the time difference opened the door and proceeded to breakfast.

XXXXXXX

The next two days were pretty much uneventful. Naruto did not waste the time given to them. The day the seal was removed, his chakra control came back. He was better than before, hell even his chakra pools had expanded quite a bit.

Nothing interesting had happened in the two days, other than Naruto meeting Temari once again during breakfast. Nothing major had happened, except the two had made eye contact once and looked away quickly, both of them blushing heavily.

It seemed that now that the tension of the second phase had passed, the awkwardness from the end of the first date had returned in full. They didn't meet each other again until the last day, when all the genin had assembled in an arena of sorts.

They were pleased to find that all of the Konoha teams had made it, along with the Oto team as well. He already knew about the Suna team. All of the genin stood in a formation before the Sandaime, who looked serious and imposing, every bit the shinobi he was known to be. He observed all the genin from under his hat, and Naruto could see none of the kindness that he was usually known for by the people of his village.

"Congratulations on successfully completing the first half of the chunin exams. You all have proven you at least have the will to become chunin….but will is not enough by itself, however strong it may be. It's time I revealed to you the real reason why chunin exams are held, one of the many truths you will no doubt learn later in your life," he addressed them.

"In reality, the chunin exams are games of war, a representation of the conflicts between all the nations. It is a chance for hidden villages to showcase the best of their shinobi, who strive to bring glory to their homes. Other nations, all potential clients of our profession will watch the battles."

Naruto tuned the rest of the speech out as he frowned in thought. Basically, what jiji was saying is that the chunin exams are a show of strength from the hidden villages, and they were merely pieces of the whole game. It made perfect sense to him though; the village received more missions and commerce, and in turn put more money in his pockets.

He had no complaints to make as long as he was getting his due.

He returned his attention to the front when Hiruzen cleared his throat. "Now, I will….."

He trailed off when a jonin from the line up of all senseis behind him jumped up and appeared in front of him in a kneeling position of respect. "With all due respect, Hokage-sama, please allow me, the proctor of this exam, to explain."

Naruto observed the ninja carefully. The man was decently tall, bandana with metal plate attached covering the most of his brown hair save for the few in the front. The bags underneath his eyes indicated an exhausted and if the repeated coughs were anything to go by, a chronically sick nature.

The Hokage nodded and moved back to stand in front of the lineup, his eyes sharp and present. The man cleared his throat and began speaking, "My name is Gekko Hayate, and I am the proctor for the third exam. We usually don't do this, but it is being done this time." He said all that before being attacked by another coughing fit.

The genin muttered among themselves as they tried to figure out the reason for the preliminary round. Shikamaru called out in irritation, "What?! Why do we have to go through a troublesome round like this?"

"Like Hokage-sama explained, there will be people coming to watch this. Important people such as the royalty, businessman. We want them to have a good time watching the fights. We didn't anticipate on this many people remaining after the second round. So for the best fights, the best fighters would be chosen. That being said, the rounds will start immediately so if you don't feel your best, you can drop out right now. Your teammates won't be disqualified if you drop out," he explained.

A hand rose up from the crowd, which Naruto identified belonging to one Yakushi Kabuto, the genin they had met back in the exam room.

"I forfeit. I have almost no chakra left." Kabuto said.

Hayate nodded, "Always good to know your limits. You can leave."

Kabuto nodded and walked away. Naruto's eyes narrowed in suspicion. He could easily sense chakra levels, and Kabuto's was almost full. In fact, he had more chakra than any genin assembled, barring Naruto himself.

Naruto saw Ibiki speaking to the Hokage, who nodded. Nothing more, he turned his gaze back front. Speaking of sensing, Naruto's gaze shifted and landed on one of the jonin from Oto. His chakra was as normal as any of the jonin, but the very familiar maliciousness in his chakra gave him away. He was the only jonin who had such a feeling to his chakra.

Not to mention, he failed to disguise his eyes. Naruto heard Kurama snigger as he thought, 'Is Orochimaru an idiot or what? I'm surprised those snake like eyes haven't been caught by jiji yet.'

He turned his gaze away just before Orochimaru faced his direction. Naruto kept his cool, knowing that he wasn't the target of Orochimaru's stare.

Hayate explained that now that the number of genin was even, they will now have ten one-on-one matches. The victors will proceed to the final stage of the chunin exams. He explained all the regular rules of an authorized shinobi fight and started the matches. All the teams and senseis went up to the balconies. Foreigners on the right and Konoha on the left. They all turned to the screen to see names flashing by, before they stopped on the first two.

Akadou Yoroi vs Uchiha Sasuke.

Naruto rose an eyebrow. "Looks like you're first, Sasuke. All the best," he wished the boy luck, but it wasn't said genuinely. Honestly, it was getting harder and harder to trust Sasuke now. Anko had once told him that the cursed mark brought out the worst, the truest part of you. Naruto had taken a glimpse at the real Sasuke back in the forest- a maniac who would do anything for power, even kill his own. He had no love for his own people.

Naruto watched as Sasuke went down. Sasuke was his comrade and as such, he would protect his comrades with his life, as was his duty. But to Naruto, that's all what Sasuke was to him right now. A comrade, nothing more. There was no friendship, no trust between them as of now. Sasuke officially lost them when he chose to use the tainted power and attack him with the intent to at least fatally injure him.

Naruto would be wary of Sasuke now.

Back in the arena, Hayate raised his hand before shouting. "Hajime!"

Yoroi placed his hands in a seal, "Let's do this!"

Naruto closely payed attention to the match. After Yoroi had placed his hands in a seal, his left hand had begun to emit a blue aura of chakra as he took off in a sprint towards Sasuke.

Sasuke, for his part, simply stood still with his sharingan active. 'I thought he wouldn't be able to use the sharingan without being affected by the cursed seal. But no matter, I will win anyway,' Yoroi panicked at first, then relaxed, continuing his assault. As soon as Yoroi threw his hand forward, Sasuke blocked it. However, he was shocked when he could feel his chakra leaving him.

"I have the ability to absorb another person's chakra through my jutsu. You don't have a chance," Yoroi said smugly. Sasuke grit his teeth and immediately lashed out, forcing Yoroi to disentangle from him.

Sasuke stood at a distance, breathing heavily. He had deactivated his sharingan. 'Dammit! I was too careless! I can't afford to lose any more chakra! I have to finish this fast, or I risk exhaustion from his jutsu!' he thought furiously.

Yoroi gazed at Sasuke, feeling smug about his apparently easy victory. However, that feeling soon disappeared when Sasuke seemed to disappear as well, right in front of his eyes. However, the jonin and Naruto saw that Sasuke had just moved incredibly fast, crouching in front of Yoroi and delivering a kick to the boy's jaw.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. 'That cannot be his speed. He was that fast only with the power of the curse mark. But that kick….Sasuke copied Lee, didn't he? Not bad at all.'

Yoroi was sent flying with the force of the kick. When Sasuke appeared below him, Yoroi instantly recognized the maneuver as the shadow dance. He had no time to be shocked at all.

"Shishi Rendan!" Sasuke executed a devastating three hit combo, with the last hit involving smashing Yoroi into the ground with such force that the boy was knocked out instantly. Sasuke stood back, breathing heavily and a scowl on his face. 'I can't believe I was pushed so far by this guy. I should have been able to defeat him no time at all!'

Hayate checked if Yoroi was knocked out. When he was, he stood up and announced Sasuke's victory.

Ino and Sakura cheered loudly at the victory, and even Kakashi cracked a smile. But Naruto was standing with a neutral expression, just looking at Sasuke and replaying the fight in his head.

'He copied Lee's techniques back when they were fighting. That sharingan…..quite a useful way to learn techniques,' he speculated. Then he looked at Lee, who looked a bit downcast. 'I guess that's how everyone feels when they have all their hard work copied by the sharingan in just a blink. I'll have to be careful from now on; Sasuke might just be looking for opportunities to use the sharingan on me,' he thought.

The rest of the fights that followed were quite interesting. The next fight was Shino vs Zaku. According to Naruto, Shino won in a true Shinobi fashion. Zaku could only use one arm, but he almost got Shino with his attack Zankuuha. But despite being hurt, Shino was able to trap Zaku with his Kikaichu in a checkmate. The bugs had actually stuck inside the holes of Zaku's arms, rendering them completely useless and making it a victory for the Aburame.

The next match was Kankuro vs Tsurugi, the genin from Kabuto's team. The match was very short. Tsurugi could contort his body, his arms and limbs getting longer and trapping Kankuro in his grasp. At first, it seemed that Kankuro's neck was snapped, but it just turned out to be the puppet, while the real Kankuro was the one in the bandages. He turned the tables on Tsurugi and trapped his in the grasp of his puppet, breaking several of his bones. Tsurugi lost the match and Kankuro was declared victorious.

The next match was Sakura vs Ino. Honestly speaking, the fight was quite pathetic. It was nothing more than two fangirls fighting, though this time, Sakura was more focused on her fight rather than just impressing Sasuke. She managed to land many hits on Ino before Ino allowed her anger to take over. In an impulsive action, she cut her own hair, trying to show her resolve. Naruto just shook his head, feeling secondhand embarrassment on behalf of them. 'This is what ninjas of Konoha are supposed to be? The previous Hokages must be rolling in their graves.'

Both of them just knocked each other out. Kakashi went down to pick Sakura up, while Asuma picked Ino up.

Naruto was honestly torn in his feelings about the next match. He didn't know whether to ogle Temari and admire her, or to feel bad about his fellow Konoha genin, Tenten. The matchup for Tenten couldn't have been worse.

All the weapons that Tenten threw at Temari were effortlessly blown away by the other girl. Naruto shook his head; Tenten overly relied on her weapons and that was a glaring weakness. Without her weapons, Naruto doubted she knew any elemental jutsu. Tenten's final move, which was throwing all her weapons at Temari, was as useless as Naruto predicted. All her weapons were thrown back at her. Tenten flew up in the air, and was about to land on the ground when another swipe of Temari's fan sent the girl rolling on the ground, unconscious surrounded by her weapons.

Lee seemed to take Tenten's defeat quite personally, and felt that Temari was a bit too harsh. He moved to attack Temari, who just blocked the attack with her fan.

"The world of the shinobi is harsh, Lee. What Temari-san did was actually quite mild," Gai-sensei said in a solemn tone as he guided Lee back upstairs. Temari scoffed at Lee and turned to go back upstairs, when she stole a glance at Naruto. He was looking at her with a warm smile, silently mouthing his congratulations with a wink. She blushed and looked away from him, walking back to her brothers.

The next match was Shikamaru vs Kin, a genin of the sound team. Naruto actually enjoyed watching his friend's match. Shikamaru 's intellect never failed to surprise him.

She used needles tied with bells towards Shikamaru, who figured she would throw one with the bell and one without the bell to confuse him. She threw more bells, all dodged by Shikamaru. But he was shocked to hear a bell behind him. Turned out she used a type of genjutsu based on sound, disorienting him. After a little struggle on his part, Shikamaru managed to trap her in her shadow imitation technique. He threw a shuriken at her, causing her to do the same and dodged, but the wall was in her way and she was easily knocked out.

All in all, it was a great match. 'Shika can go far if he focuses a bit more on the versatility of his techniques instead of just relying on the clan techniques,' he thought with a smirk. He nodded to the guy, congratulating him on the match, but the boy just muttered troublesome and walked away.

It was finally his turn. And his match was against Kiba.

Naruto just sighed at the matchup, whereas Sakura and Kakashi seemed to wince. Even Sasuke felt his eye twitching. Kiba was in for a rough time.

"Ha! We got lucky, Akamaru!" Kiba gloated, jumping down into the arena. Akamaru gave an enthusiastic bark of agreement. Naruto also jumped down into the arena. Now was the time to show a little of what he was capable of. Kiba didn't know of his true strength like his own team and team ten, so he was likely to be underestimated.

On the other hand, Kiba was likely to stick to clan techniques. This was a great opportunity to learn Kiba's ways of fighting. He wouldn't be revealing anything significant of his own.

Naruto stood across from Kiba as Hayate stood between them. Kiba smacked his right fist into his other palm. "Heh, I feel bad for you Naruto! I'll end this in just one punch!"

Naruto showed no reaction at that. In fact, the Konoha jonin except Kakashi were quite unnerved at the lack of reaction from the resident prankster of Konoha. His face was devoid of expression, eyes giving nothing away. It reminded them too much of a certain missing Uchiha.

"Hajime!"

Naruto did not bother falling into a stance. First, he would let Kiba do all the work, showing him all his techniques. He was not disappointed when Kiba underestimated him and dashed forward in low-chunin speed, after getting on all fours, an elbow on the way to get buried in his gut.

Kiba grinned savagely when he neared Naruto. 'He doesn't stand a chance against me!' However, that thought was thrown out of the window when Naruto side stepped at the last second. Kiba was going too fast to stop, so he just went past him. Naruto grabbed Kiba's jacket from behind and threw him back towards Akamaru. Kiba grunted as he landed on his back, managing to flip up after the landing.

Naruto just stood there, arms at his sides. He called out, "Don't give less than your best, Kiba! Or you won't even stand a chance of winning!"

Up in the stands, Kurenai frowned and turned towards Kakashi, "Kakashi, your genin is being quite cocky, despite being the dead last of his batch."

Kakashi nodded, "He has every right to be."

Kurenai scoffed and turned back to the fight, "Kiba will thrash him, Kakashi. Naruto is no match for his speed."

She missed the entirety of team 7 wincing. 'If only you knew,' they collectively thought. She was about to be proven wrong.

Down in the arena, Kiba was scoffing. "I don't need my best attacks to beat you, Naruto!"

However, Naruto was no longer in front of him. His eyes, along with all the jonin present widened. He turned around in almost a whiplash and panic gripped him when he saw Naruto holding Akamaru by his front legs, the puppy whimpering in fear.

Naruto's voice was as cold as his eyes, "Is this enough of an incentive?"

Kiba grit his teeth. 'I didn't even see him move! How is he this fast?! And he's got Akamaru!'

Kiba didn't waste any more time. "Akamaru!" He tossed a pill into the open mouth of the dog. Naruto immediately dropped the puppy and retreated to a safe distance. 'Now I might get a warm-up, at least.'

He was wrong.

Immediately after Akamaru had swallowed the pill, he grew larger until he was a regular sized dog, with red fur. Akamaru dashed in a speed he did not possess earlier to Kiba's side. Kiba and Akamaru then dashed together towards Naruto, with Kiba throwing smoke bombs around Naruto. He expected Naruto to get disoriented and confused, allowing him to hit the boy easily.

However, Naruto surprised everyone again when he flash stepped out of the smoke field in an instant and looked at the smoke screen intently. All the jonin suddenly realized what Naruto was doing. He was scouting, analyzing Kiba's techniques and strategies to develop a counter strategy!

So far, Naruto had gathered quite some info on his opponent. 'The Inuzuka clan employs ninken to aid in their battle. From what I have seen until now, Kiba's style if purely offensive, relying on speed and ferocity and augmented by Akamaru. His fighting style utilizes his claws. Kiba is hot-headed, plunging headfirst into this situation without any strategies, believing he can overpower me with brute force and speed. However, he employs distraction tactics when brute force does not work. The smoke bombs were to confuse me and taking advantage of that, it would allow Kiba would land his attacks.'

The whole train of thought took less than a second. Naruto knew Kiba had much more to reveal. "Oi, Kiba! There is no one in there, you smelly dog!" of course, Naruto meant no offense. It was purely to provoke Kiba into attacking him with his strongest attack, revealing his trump card to all.

As expected, Kiba took the bait and rushed out of the smoke screen with Akamaru, both snarling furiously. "You'll pay for that, Naruto!" Finally, he revealed it.

He crouched on all fours again, with Akamaru climbing on his back. "Gijou Ninpo!" (Ninja art of beast mimicry) A puff of smoke revealed that Akamaru had transformed into Kiba, with both the Kiba crouched on the ground.

Kurenai smirked on the railing. "Seems that your student is done for Kakashi. He may be fast, but not fast enough to avoid both of them at the same time."

Kakashi just eye smiled at her, "We'll see, won't we?"

In the arena, both the Kiba's took off towards Naruto, their speed greatly increased. However, Naruto surprised everyone present when he nimbly dodged all of their efforts to land on him. What confused the team 7, however, that they didn't know Naruto incorporated his fighting style to be so flexible. They didn't know that Naruto had indeed, incorporated the Snake-style Taijutsu in his own style of fighting.

This continued for about ten seconds after which Naruto decided that Kiba was still hiding his ultimate technique. He absently dodged a Kiba by leaping into the air, thinking on how to make him reveal it.

Kiba grinned when he saw Naruto leap into the air to dodge Akamaru. It was pissing him off on how easily he was dodging them. He never knew Naruto was capable of being this fast. But now he had their chance.

"Gatsugaaaaaaa!"

The cry snapped Naruto out of his thoughts, noticing too late the twin swirling tornados heading towards him in mid-air. He cursed for letting his concentration slip and immediately threw a kunai behind the duo before he got hit with them.

Kurenai smiled in satisfaction as she saw Kiba using his strongest attack to smash Naruto into the ceiling of the arena. "Your student lost, Kakashi. Might as well go and collect him, because that was Kiba's strongest attack. Naruto won't be getting up anytime soon."

Kakashi smirked beneath the mask, "Well, it's not over yet, Kurenai." Kurenai narrowed her eyes and looked down, eyes widening along with Asuma and Gai when they figured out what happened.

Kiba stood triumphantly over the downed form of Naruto. "Heh! You might be tough, but not tough enough! Gatsuga is a crippling attack, and you just- huh?!"

The Naruto on the floor puffed into smoke, revealing just a kunai. Kiba spun around just in time to receive a blow to his stomach that sent him barreling into Akamaru.

Naruto carefully kept his eyes on the real Kiba as they rolled. The next part of his plan required it. He taunted Kiba, "I am getting bored Kiba. I am finishing this now, if you don't mind." Without a seal, a shadow clone popped up beside him.

"I'll give you only thirty seconds. Try to knock me out, will you?" With that, both of them separated, the clone going after Akamaru and Naruto facing Kiba.

In the next thirty seconds, Naruto dodged three Gatsuga, all the while looking relaxed. He was waiting for the perfect opportunity, which arrived finally when Akamaru had to take a breath.

Kiba barreled towards him with another Gatsuga, finally hitting him. The attack sent Naruto barreling into the wall on the other side, causing it to crack a little.

Kiba was lightly panting as he stared at the down form of Naruto. "That'll teach you not to get me angry…" However, panic gripped him for a second time in the whole fight when another puff of smoke revealed just who he had hit.

Akamaru lying on the ground, unconscious and heavily injured, if the blood was anything to go by. He turned around with wide eyes to see Naruto and his shadow clone smirking, both sharing a fist bump after which the clone dispelled.

The jonin above were dumbstruck. None had expected Naruto to substitute with Akamaru at the last second. Naruto had used a simple, but a very clever tactic to take Akamaru out of the fight. Now that Kiba was alone, the Konoha jonin were rethinking the fact whether Kiba would be able to beat Naruto or not.

Naruto said while smirking, "Now that your partner's out of the fight, it's your turn, Kiba."

Kiba's eyes were wide with disbelief at how Naruto had completely turned the tables on him. Naruto, except for the punch that sent him into Akamaru, had not attacked once. Instead, he just let the fight progress, letting Kiba do the work for him and taking Akamaru out instead of himself.

Naruto created four shadow clones that popped into existence with a half ram seal. They all surrounded Kiba, who cursed at his situation. What happened next would be remembered by everyone.

The Naruto in front of Kiba punched him fast and hard sending him into the Naruto behind him, who roundhouse-kicked him into the Naruto on his left. That Naruto spun-anticlockwise and his left leg caught Kiba in the chest, sending him backwards into the fourth Naruto who kicked Kiba so hard in the chin that Kiba swore he felt his teeth crack as he was sent flying across the arena in an arc.

Naruto then jumped across the arena himself, having timed the jump such that he was above Kiba in mid-air. "HAH!" The cry was to denote the victory in his voice rather than the application of force. Spinning to gather momentum, he sent a punishing kick to Kiba's gut that sent him crashing into the ground, creating a mini crater.

He landed in a crouch a few meters away, facing away from Kiba. He already knew that Kiba had passed out from the pain. He looked over to Hayate, who was confirming Kiba's condition. Finding him to be unconscious, Hayate rose and declared, "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto."

The entire crowd, including Naruto's team, was speechless. The teams outside of Konoha were gaping at the blonde, who was not even out of breath. What kind of training did Konoha give to this guy?! The team from Suna had varied reactions. Kankuro was slightly sweating, not because of the punishment Kiba went through, but at how effortlessly Naruto delivered it. Temari had a hand over her mouth to prevent anyone from seeing that she was gaping in amazement. She had figured Naruto was strong, but not this strong.

He had finished the fight with just a shadow clone and taijutsu, not to mention he didn't use any weapons, except for the kunai which he just used for replacement. He had not given away any of his trump cards, and could dish it out hard without resorting to any of them. He wasn't even out of breath! But the reaction from Gaara was the one that worried them the most.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he whispered, a crazed expression coming on to his face. "You'll prove my existence."

Naruto walked up the stairs confidently, but stopped when Kurenai stepped in front of him, an incensed look on her face. "Was it really necessary for you to be so brutal?"

Naruto folded his arms and replied, "I fail to see why you're so incensed."

Kurenai put her hands on her hips and glared hard, "I believe, from your performance, that you were skilled enough to simply knock him out. Why didn't you?"

Naruto checked in his peripheral vision that all the Konoha nin on the railing were watching in interest. Turning his attention back to Kurenai, he said, "You won't understand. Besides, there are people my age who are way stronger than me. If this were a real battle, Kiba would have been dead a hundred times over in one minute." He wanted to say more, but held it in. He just walked away, letting Kurenai take in his words.

The Konoha nin had to admit that it was true. From the looks of it, Naruto had gone extremely easy on Kiba, not even putting much effort. If he had put effort…..they didn't want to think about it.

[AN: Sorry for the skip guys, but I won't be writing any more of the fights. My main focus is on Naruto, so read it like the rest of the fights went exactly like that of in canon.]

After the fights were finished, Hayate called out, "Will all the winners please come down to the arena floor? We have a few announcements."

Sasuke, Shino, Temari, Kankuro, Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji and Gaara arrived at the arena floor as Hayate addressed them again.

"Congratulation to you all. You eight genin are the finalists that will compete in the finals of the chunin exams in one month's time. It will be just how it happened today except your opponent will be decided right now." He pulled out a small pouch filled with chits.

"You will pull a number from the pouch and announce the number you have received along with your name. By those numbers you will be paired."

He started with Naruto first and then went down the line.

"Uzumaki Naruto-1"

"Aburame Shino-6"

"Gaara-3"

"Kankuro-5"

"Hyuga Neji-2"

"Sabaku no Temari-7"

"Uchiha Sasuke-4"

"Nara Shikamaru -8"

Hayate nodded and read from the clipboard he was carrying. "The final matches will be the following:

Uzumaki Naruto vs Hyuga Neji

Gaara vs Uchiha Sasuke

Kankuro vs Aburame Shino

Sabaku no Temari vs Nara Shikamaru"

He looked up from the board and addressed the genin. "There will be seven matches in total. The fifth match will be between the winner of the first and the second, the sixth match will be between winner of the third and the fourth, seventh between the winner of the fifth and the sixth."

Sandaime stepped forward at this point, "Now that you know who your opponents are going to be, use the following month to prepare for the finals. Your village will be represented, so while preparing, keep that in mind."