Chapter 15

Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto and some of the jutsu that may seem original probably aren't *shrugs*

Chapter 15 - Chūnin Exams begin

*Four Leaf Inn - Naruto's Suite*

Naruto woke up to the ringing of his alarm clock. Pressing the off button Naruto got up created a clone to make his breakfast and then went into the bathroom. After brushing his teeth, using the bathroom, and taking a nice long hot shower he went and got dressed. Five minutes later Naruto was looking at an assortment of scrolls.

Today was the first part of the Chūnin Exams. Yesterday Team 11 scrambled to qualify by doing 4 D-ranks in one day. They had put it off for so long taking C & B rank missions and that one easy A rank that was mostly ranked that way do to the importance of the object they transported to Taki. In either event it was Naruto that came up with the idea to get them out of the way at the same time. How might you ask? Naruto created 4 teams of Kage Bunshin henged to look like the missing members.

The hard part came when it was time to choose who got which mission. Of course Naruto's unnatural luck came through for him and all his group had to do was go grocery shopping for some lady that was afraid to come out of her house. Yuudai had the worse luck and got stuck walking the Inuzuka dogs, while the group with Yūgao painted a fence, and Katsu's did inventory for a warehouse whose workers all called in sick that morning. In the end they got them done with no one the wiser about their little strategy.

Picking up a weapons scroll, a food scroll, a clothing scroll, a jutsu scroll, and a couple of blank scrolls Naruto put them in his pants pocket that contained a storage seal sealing them away. Looking at himself Naruto smiled as he liked the look. He was wearing his standard black cargo pants and undershirt, the t-shirt was white with a white and black tiger looking like it was going to pounce, and over top of that a white overcoat that on the back had the Uzumaki clan logo on one shoulder, a red and black vulture riding a black and orange tiger on the other and in the middle the kanji for unstoppable in large print, it had zippers down the front and two large pockets just below the waist line with a hidden interior pocket, he also had the Ten no Shiroi Hoshi unsealed sheathed and strapped to his back with the hilt sticking out from under his cloak.

Liking the look Naruto turned towards his alarm clock and saw he had an hour to get to the academy. He made 11 bunshin handed one a jutsu scroll for them to learn from. Only 10 of them would learn and practice using the jutsu while the eleventh's job was to make more when those dispelled and when it was low on chakra to head back to the hotel, seal the scroll, and then disperse giving Naruto the knowledge. Hopefully it wouldn't happen when he was busy or something.

Watching the clones leave though a window Naruto also decided it was time to leave opening the door finding his teammates and girlfriends already waiting on him.

"Ready to go Naruto?" asked Katsu. Naruto nodded as the girls grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. Seeing this the guys moved off down the hall.

"You promise you'll be careful?" Miyuki asks tearfully.

"I promise Miyu-chan" Naruto says kissing both cheeks where here tears ran and gave the girl a warm hug then turns towards Akari releasing her.

"Kick butt out there"Akari says with a grin.

"No worries about that Akari-chan" Naruto says and the surprises her with a hug and a fierce kiss that she responded to immediately. The kiss ended with Naruto grabbing her butt and giving it a light squeeze.

Akari smacked his hands away then pushed him back a little and smirked. "Save that kind of stuff for when you get back mister" She says playfully.

Naruto returns the smirk, but before he can leave he's enveloped in another hug this time by his mother. "You weren't thinking of leaving without saying goodbye to me were you Naruto-kun?" She asked.

"Of course not kaa-san, but I have to go now the guys are waiting" He says as he disengages from the warm embrace. It was something he had gotten used to as he learned his mother could be very touchy feely and liked to hug him a lot. He also noticed it was mostly only with him though she was some what playful with others she liked. Their relationship had moved past friends and quickly gotten to a familial level though he was still some what guarded with her. She accepted that it would be awhile before he would truly accept her, but she was happy with things as they currently were … for now.

"Okay, knock 'em dead sochi and remember to listen carefully to the proctors rules and explanations. Also, look out for your teammates and most importantly stay safe okay" Kushina says giving Naruto a warm smile as she hugs him one more time.

"I will kaa-san, and please take care of the girls for me" Naruto says returning the hug before breaking away and returning Kushina's smile. Kushina nodded and then watched with the girls as Naruto joined back up with his teammates.

"You know Naruto, I never thought I'd see the day when you would turn into such a momma's boy, but here we are" Yuudai says laughing.

"Yeah and those girls have you completely whipped. I don't even recognize you anymore" Katsu joins in laughing along with Yuudai.

This was something new to the group. Katsu and Yuudai had recently begun to tease Naruto about his mother and the girls. It was something Naruto hated and liked at the same time as it showed how much his friendship with them had grown since they began as a team. Still, he couldn't wait to repay the favor when they returned to the capitol and tease them as well as let out a few things he was sure they wouldn't want their families to know about.

"Whatever we don't have time for this let's go" Naruto says with a serious expression. Katsu and Yuudai quickly followed as they took off towards the Academy where the exams where being held though they were still laughing slightly.

*Academy Exam Room*

Team 11 made with time to spare so they ended up being one of the first teams in the room. Unfortunately one of those other teams happened to be a certain familiar team from sand.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked as he returned Gaara's glare.

"Relax Uzumaki-kun, we are here for the same reason as you" Temari says trying to ease the tension.

"Really?" Naruto asked taking his eyes off Gaara and turning towards the blonde girl with the fan strapped to her back. Naruto actually took the time to check her out now that he focused on her he saw she was fairly attractive. She was almost 5'2 about 100 pounds give or take a few, solid build with strong arms and legs thou still feminine, with teal colored eyes, and blond hair. Naruto only wished she had her hair down, but realized it wasn't time for that.

"I find that interesting as your team seemed strong enough to be chūnin already when we ran into you guys a couple of months back" Naruto says moving closer to the girl.

The blond girl blushed, but quickly shot back. "Thank you, but I could say the same about your team. I don't know how things work in Konoha, but without a war promotions are hard to achieve in Suna. We value quality above quantity" She says smirking as a couple of older Konoha gennin teams in the room bristled at the insinuation.

"I see … well good luck with getting that promotion … umm I don't believe I got your name the last time we met" Naruto says catching the girl a bit off guard.

She blushed a bit, but regained control as the red vanished from her cheeks. "I believe it's only fair that you give your name first cutie" she replies.

"The names Uzumaki Naruto" Naruto says not even blushing when she called him cute.

Temari hmph'd to herself at not even getting a blush from the local hottie, but she wasn't one to give up. She didn't know what it was, but something about this guy made him very … interesting to her.

"Nice to meet you Naruto-kun" she says batting her eyes a bit at him. "My name is Temari … maybe we could go out some time while I'm here" she says with a wink at the end.

"Nice to meet you as well Temari, but I don't think my girlfriends would appreciate me going out on a date without them" Naruto says.

'What? Girlfriends? As in more than one? What is he the last of his clan or something? Why are all the good ones taken?' she lamented in her head. 'Still he didn't say no … maybe' she thought.

"Who says they couldn't come as well? If they don't mind sharing I won't" Temari responds with a smile.

Naruto couldn't help but shudder a little. He was happy with the way things were and he certainly didn't want to rock the boat or add any unnecessary trouble and he was getting the distinct impression this girl was trouble.

"Umm … I ugh … yo-u … umm" Naruto started to stammer much to Temari's delight. However, Naruto was saved by a new group coming into the room. Taking the distraction Naruto quickly says "umm sorry I should be getting back to my team" and beats a hasty retreat taking a seat in a desk near the window with the rest of his team though she noticed he would occasionally glance in her direction.

Temari only smiled as she made her way back to her brothers with a little extra something in her step. She wasn't quite sure why she was so interested in the blond Konoha-nin, but she was certain of one thing. 'You can't get away from me that easily Uzumaki' she thinks ignoring Kankurō who was trying to ask her what that was about.

Temari wouldn't tell her brother, but the blond Konoha gennin had been on her mind since his confrontation with Gaara in the woods. She didn't know many guys around her age who would willingly take on Gaara and if they did they were either certifiable or not someone she wanted to date for various reasons. Of course she was also the daughter of the Kazekage so she had trouble meeting guys that wanted to be with her just for her and not have some ulterior motive. She was attractive and garnered her fair share of looks, but most of the guys back home just didn't interest her … at least not the way Naruto has.

Unfortunately she wasn't the only one who had been thinking about the blond.

'I want his blood' a demonic sounding voice continuously says.

'I'll give you his blood mother. He will be the one to prove my existence' responded back a certain red headed demon container.

Nearly an hour later the room was filled with other teams. Some came in and tried to scare the teams already there, but were ignored by the Suna team and Team 11. Naruto noticed a flood of weak gennin had suddenly come charging into the room apparently twenty minutes later just now getting by the obvious genjutsu him and his team had bypassed earlier. Team 11 just continued to sit where they were and avoid the other teams not really caring as none of them seemed to be anything other than ordinary gennin.

The room had just calmed down now that many of the teams had stopped trying to mark their territory or try and show their superiority to each other. Naruto noticed Team 4 had slipped in mostly unnoticed and a few other interesting teams had arrived. Still, only 4 people really interested him those being Gaara, an older gennin with grey hair kept in a ponytail and wore glasses, and two Kusa-nin.

One of the Kusa-nin just seemed to have an air about him … Naruto couldn't put a finger on it, but he was sure it wasn't something an ordinary gennin would have. The other has red hair and pupil less red eyes with weird spiky or pointy short hair on one side and straight combed long hair on the other. The red head reminded him a little of his mother and he was wondering if she was an Uzumaki. The really strange thing was she turned towards him and looked to be blushing for some reason.

'His chakra it feels like I'm swimming in an ocean warmed by the sun' The redhead thought before calming herself focusing on what she was here to do.

A few minutes later the remainder of the rookie 15 came in. Sakura was eying Sasuke like a tiger would a deer or a juicy bloody steak. Sasuke was too busy trying to look important to notice him, thank kami for small favors. Kiba was being his usual boastful ignorant self. Ino seemed to be staying close to Ami both girls trying to ignore their classmates. Team 4 separated themselves from the other rookies almost instantly upon entering the room.

The interesting thing was both Shikamaru and Chōji turned in his direction and gave a nod. Naruto didn't return it nor the one that came from Shino who also seemed to have noticed him. The last person from the rookies to notice him was Hinata whom he could see had activated her clans' dōjutsu and was walking towards him.

"Hello Naruto-kun" Hinata says to him when she was close enough.

"Hello Hinata-chan, how are you?" Naruto asked politely.

"I-I a-am o-kay a-and y-you?" Hinata responds with a reluctant smile. Things at home were becoming more and more tense for the girl. Hiashi had been on a rampage ever since Naruto showed him up at that council meeting a few months back the subsequent one made him even madder. He would often berate others and used branch clan members as punching bags, but Hinata once again bore the brunt of his anger as he nearly killed her a few times in their 'spares'. She was getting better thanks to her sensei and her sensei's friends helping with her training not to mention Naruto would often lend her the aid of a few clones to help train her. Her father never saw this though and would berate and beat her often and publicly in their compound.

Naruto of course knew of this and what would happen if something weren't done about the fool. Her stuttering was quickly returning although not as bad as before it wouldn't be long before it was back to when they were in the academy and he could see she was quickly heading towards a breaking point of some sort. Unfortunately his hands were tied and no one else seemed willing to do anything beyond help the girl train. As is no amount of training would help her any time soon unless she gained some kind of secret weapon or blackmail of some kind to use against the man. All Naruto could really do is be kind to her and hoped things changed for her soon.

"I am good things are going well for me right now" Naruto says careful not to mention the girls or his mother. Naruto could just see any time he mention any of the ladies in his life Hinata would gain a pained look. He knew when Miyuki and Akari first approached him their relationship would hurt her, but he just couldn't say no to them. He felt bad that her world was turning to mud while his was blossoming, but it was ultimately up to her to change things.

What worried Naruto more were the subtle barely there for a second looks he would see on her face when she looked at him. He could already see that the pure love and admiration she once held for him was turning to jealousy and anger. She wouldn't hate him … no that wasn't Hinata, but he knew an explosion was coming.

Their conversation was cut short when Naruto over heard the grey haired glasses wearing nin talking to the other rookies.

"Actually this is my fourth try at these exams" the grey haired boy says. Naruto heard his name was Kabuto earlier when he introduced himself and wondered what game he was playing. It wasn't obvious, hell it was very hard to detect, but Naruto could see his interest lay in Sasuke.

"Wow you suck!" Kiba shouts brashly.

"Troublesome, it's more likely that this exam is just that hard" Shikamaru says with his usual lazy drawl.

"Indeed let me tell you about the exams" Kabuto says and pulls out a deck of blank cards.

"What are those?" Sakura asks curiously as the rookies and some of the other gennin gather closer to hear what Kabuto was saying.

"These are my ninja info cards. They hold information on every ninja here. All I have to do is channel some chakra and the information appears on the card I'm holding" Kabuto says holding up the card that now had words and numbers scrawled across it.

The rookies were amazed by this, but settled to hear what the older gennin would say.

"The Chūnin Exams are held twice a year. Their purpose is to deepen the bonds of friendship between the different villages and heighten the level of the shinobi. However, it's my belief that the true purpose is to establish or confirm the level of each village's ninja and to try and balance out power. They do this to check and restrain each village so one doesn't gain too much power over another" Kabuto says.

"Do you have information on specific individuals in the exam?" Sasuke asked.

"I do … is there someone specific you seek information on?" Kabuto asked in a nonchalant manner.

"Gaara, Rock Lee, and Uzumaki Naruto" Sasuke says.

"Hmph that's no fun you already know their names" Kabuto says disappointingly and receives a glare from Sasuke.

"Alright hold on. Rock Lee is a year ahead of you and it says his teammates are Hyūga Neji and Higourashi Tenten their sensei is Might Guy and this is their first time taking the exams. They have done 20 D-rank missions, and 11 C-rank missions. He lacks any skill in nin or gen jutsu as well as low intelligence, but his strength is rated a 3 out of 5, speed a 4 out of 5, stamina 3 out of 5, and his taijutsu is 3.5 out of 5. Overall he's fairly impressive for a gennin" Kabuto says.

Lee who over heard all of this frowned when Kabuto mentioned his lack of skill in nin or genjutsu. It wasn't his fault he really tried his best, but still failed in those particular subjects. Still, he couldn't help but feel proud that someone recognized his true talent and he swore others would see he was a true genius of hard work or else he would run around Konoha a hundred times on his hands, scale the Hokage monument with nothing but his teeth, do one thousand push ups using his eye brows … etc, etc,.

Back with everyone else who weren't creeped out by the inexplicable fire that shone in a green leotard wearing gennin with a bowl cut hair style and … oh my god are his eye brows one fire. 'Damn I don't think there is enough water in the building to put those things out' Naruto thought, but was hoping the caterpillars on the teens face would burn up and die before anyone tried to help.

Anyway back with Kabuto he was just finishing Gaara's stats when he turned to Naruto's however as soon as he pulled the card up something seemed to hit it forcing the card out of his hands. The card flew across the room nearly hitting the Team from the new village of Sound as it was pinned to the wall beside them and then burst into flames crumbling into dust.

"I apologize Yakushi-san, but I don't need any more publicity than I already have" Naruto says gaining everyone's attention.

Kabuto scratched his head trying to give a disarming smile, but on the inside was a different story. 'What the fuck was that jutsu he just used. I didn't even sense him using any chakra. I need to keep an eye on this one he could be trouble for Lord Orochimaru's plans' the glasses wearing medic thought as he adjusted his glasses.

'KuKu, it seems like what I heard about little Naruto-kun was true he has grown. Maybe I'll test him after I test Sasuke-kun' thought a kusa-nin.

Sasuke, Kiba, Sakura, and Ami bristled at Naruto not realizing he was in the room.

"What are you doing here dobe?" Sasuke says with a low tone of voice angry that he didn't get the info he wanted on the blond show off.

Naruto didn't answer angering the Uchiha and his side kicks even more as he sat back down in his desk.

Sakura was getting ready to scream her Uchiha loving banshee head off before a puff of smoke erupted in the middle of the room. The smoke cleared and revealed a 6 foot 3 inch man wearing a black trench coat, a dark grey button open shirt, black pants, and combat boots, with a black headband and dark cloth covering the top of his head. The man instantly unleashed a wave of KI freezing all but a few teams (namely Team 11, Team Gai, Team Dosu, and the Sand Sibs).

"Alright maggots quiet down the Chūnin Exams have begun!" The man shouted.

*Forest of Death*

Two hours later squad 11 is standing outside of the Forest of Death with the other 65 remaining participants. The prior test managed to eliminate everyone else by first testing your skills in gathering information, which Naruto had no problem with. He didn't even use his dōjutsu he simply sat there since he didn't want to show his abilities yet and knowing the meaning of the test figured the proctor wasn't going to grade everyone's test.

During the test he was sitting next to Hinata and the girl had been almost desperately trying to help him, but he didn't need it and refused it as nicely as he could given the circumstances. When the proctor, Morino Ibiki, finally called time he decided to play around a bit and got more teams to quit. Unfortunately he tried to punk Naruto and that's where his game came to an end.

How you might ask? Naruto ignored the man when he tried to call him out and when he got up and started hollering in his face even though the man was spitting on him Naruto didn't say or do anything until Ibiki was finished. When he was Naruto calmly took the guy's that was to his left test and used it to wipe his face, threw the test away, and asked "Are you done?".

That got many reactions. The dude to his left was shooting red hot kunai at Naruto as he and his team got up and left.

Many of the girls were squealing on the inside and thinking, 'He is so cool and hot. I wonder if he has a girlfriend? Who cares I want him'. These thoughts brought forth actual squeals and a lot of tomato faces.

The guys mostly thought the blond guy was cool, but they would have punched old scarface if he ever tried that on them.

Shikamaru issued forth his trade marked, "Troublesome" as Chōji nodded in agreement as having forgotten about his test he pulled out two bags of barbecue honey ruffles potato chips and began to munch on them loudly making smacking noises and giggling grossing out and annoying the people around him that didn't know the food loving boy.

Ami, Kiba, Sasuke, Neji, and Sakura scoffed and muttered "loser".

Ibiki scowled at the blond, but knew he was beat as the mood in the room changed. He waited another minute before declaring that everyone still in the room had passed and then explained the test and how it pertains to their qualifications for a chūnin. He then proceeded to scare a few by revealing the many scars and wounds he's received during his career as a shinobi.

He was interrupted by Anko who came crashing through the window with a banner flapping around behind her blocking out Ibiki. After a little banter between her and Ibiki where she accused him of losing his touch she turned to take stock of her next victims and ended up focusing on one. She didn't break out of the trance she was in staring at his blue eyes that showed nothing, but contempt for her until Ibiki shook her by her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"Anko, Anko snap out of it" Ibiki says in a hushed tone so that the examinees couldn't over hear anything.

"I-I I'm sorry" she mutters.

"Anko get it together. Do I need to find someone else to handle the next part of the Exam?" Ibiki says. He was concerned for her, but he knew she wouldn't accept any coddling despite their relationship. It wasn't common knowledge, but Ibiki and Anko had one of those on again off again relationships like so many in their chosen profession. He was one of the few people that she trusted and he became a pillar of support for her as well as someone she admired. He was everything she wasn't, while she ran from her demons he was able to embrace his and move on despite the very visible reminders. In public he was her big bro or mentor in private he was her rock and occasional lover whenever she felt she was worthy of such contact from a real person.

For Ibiki Anko was someone he cared for deeply. He knew the façade she put up for everyone else and when they were in public. He also knew exactly why she was staring at the blond. It was part of the reason he tried to pick on him earlier as Anko told him what happened in Wave as she broke down nearly inconsolable in his arms when she returned from that mission. That night as they made slow passionate love and he whispered how much he cared for her and wanted her. He wanted nothing more than to help her, but she was unreachable even to him even despite the closeness their actions would suggest. All she would do was cry and degrade herself repeating what the blond said finding he could do little to break through to her.

The next morning after she finally managed to fall asleep all he could do was watch her. She was an angel able to look past his many scars and disfigured face, able to look past what he did to people on a daily basis and not look at him like he was a monster. To see her in such agony he wanted to take a measure of revenge out on the blonde, but he knew she wouldn't want that. The only thing he could do was find a way to get the blond on his turf and force an apology out of him. True forgiveness was something even he couldn't force out of someone, but perhaps if he could force the two together the blond would see what he saw .

It was another minute before Anko was able to gather herself and pushing Ibiki away ordered the gennin to meet her at Training Ground 44 in an hour or don't come at all before leaping out the way she came. Naruto instantly gathered his team and walked out of the room in the direction of what became one of his few havens in the village after he met Kaen. A few foreign teams followed figuring the Leaf gennin would know the way, while the rest either followed someone else or tried to get some supplies before heading to the training grounds.

Anko scanned the crowd of gennin, 'Seems like a few teams either quit or got lost some where' she thought. "Okay everyone quiet down and listen up my name is Mitarashi Anko your proctor for the second phase of the Chūnin Exams. The second trial of the Chūnin Exams begins now and anybody who is not here and their teams are disqualified" She says. Her declaration causes a few to yell some obscenities cursing their absent teammates as a chūnin guided them back to the village.

"Okay now that that's taken care of this is the Forest of Death other wise known as Training Ground 44. In this lovely forest you will spend the next 5 days evading or avoiding the various animals, poisonous plants, demons, and of course each other. You will be given either an Earth Scroll or a Heaven Scroll your goal is to get the one you don't have … any questions?" Anko asked.

"What do we do for food?" instantly came from Chōji Akimichi. His cousin on Squad 4 just shook her head as this was the sort of thing that gave Akimichi's a bad name.

"There are many plants and animals in the forest to snack on, but I wouldn't recommend it. You never know when your prey may turn into a predator. Of course if that doesn't suit you you can always turn cannibal on each other, but I'd recommend not to eat your teammates" Anko says with a big grin scaring Chōji and more than a few of the gennin. She wasn't sure if it was the predator thing or the eating off the land bit or perhaps the cannibal thing either way it was a job well done in her opinion.

A few more questions were asked in which Anko did her best to scare them, but they stayed. She wasn't worried though if the first part had them worried then the next part would cause more than a few to quit.

"Oh … one more thing before you go. I need you to sign these waivers" She says as the chūnin helpers pass out the forms to the individual teams.

The gennin look over the forms and start to read when one asks the inevitable question at seeing 'Death Waiver' in large bold font right at the top.

"Ummm proctor-san what are these for?" a random gennin asked pointing to the waiver he held up. This got most of the gennin to listen up having questioned it themselves.

"These … my curious little skid mark to be are death waivers, can't you read" she taunted the gennin.

"Yes, but why are we required to sign these?" he asked not put off by the taunt.

"Oh … that, well … if you haven't gotten it by now here are the rules. Your team will receive one scroll your goal is to get a scroll from another team that's opposite the one you have. For instance if you a heaven scroll you need an earth scroll and vice-a-versa. As long as you don't open the scrolls to take a peak, which will result in your team failing and being thrown out of the exams before you can even blink your good. You'll also be kicked out if you attempt to leave the forest before the 5 days is up" she says making sure everyone understood.

There were a few stupid and self explanatory questions asked, but it allowed her to scare them more so she didn't care.

"Now that the stupid questions are done with there is one last thing you should know …" Anko says trailing off to cause suspense.

However, she noticed someone wasn't paying attention to her so she threw a kunai at the punk. Of course it turned out to be Kiba who was too busy leering at Anko's state of dress or lack thereof and some of the other female gennin to pay attention to anything anyone was saying even his own teammates who had been trying to get his attention also. Well, Shino was Hinata was trying to put distance between her and the pervert glad for once she wasn't the object of his stares. Kiba was completely freaked out when he felt the cut on his cheek, but turned on when she licked his cheek that turned to being a bit grossed out when he realized she had licked his blood and back to freaked out when she threatened to cut off his balls if he didn't pay attention.

Done with scarring the gennin for life Anko moved on. "What you all should know is that you will most likely have to fight each other to gain the scroll you need and that killing is allowed. Oh and if one of your teammates dies, gets disqualified, or chickens out then you fail. So if you are afraid to die or of going into the forest then I suggest you quit now and train for the next exams when you have a better shot. When you are ready head over to the tent and receive your scroll. You have thirty minutes" Anko says and then moves up in a tree to watch … a certain gennin and eat a few sticks of her favorite comfort food.

With the objectives and rules given out everyone gathered in their team cells and discussed the next part with a few more teams bowing out intimidated at the mortality risk and the other stronger teams they would have to face. Team 11 of course was having a slightly different conversation.

"Do you guys think you'll be okay if we split up and meet at the towers in 3 days?" Naruto asked.

"What? Why would we split up?" Yuudai asked.

"The way I see it she says we have 5 days until this test is over. We could find the other scroll and then head straight there, but then what? I doubt they'll let us do any real training in the tower nor will they probably allow us to leave once we enter … so I want to spend three or four days training in the forest in a more …. secluded area" Naruto says.

"Wait, what are we supposed to do while you are out there training? She did say we wouldn't be allowed to enter the tower without all of our teammates. Plus, who says we don't want to train also?" Katsu says with Yuudai backing him up.

Naruto shrugged some what expecting this. "You can come, but I must warn you the part of the forest I will be training in is probably the most dangerous sector of the forest. I only go there, because this forest has been like a second home to me ever since I was 7 but I only started going into this sector recently when I knew I had the skills to survive" Naruto says.

Both boys nodded even if they were a bit hesitant in nodding. They knew how dangerous this forest could be having trained with Naruto a few times there when they wanted to learn something without fear of being watched. For there to be a section of the forest even Naruto was hesitant to go into meant they would need to be aware of everything all of the time or something bad would happen.

*Forest of Death – an hour later*

A team of Suna gennin were standing in Team 11's path. All three were males and wore khaki pants with their Suna hiate-ate wrapped around their biceps. The one in front of Naruto was 5 foot 3 inches in height with dark brown hair and brown eyes wearing a beige t-shirt. The one to his left stood an inch shorter with sandy brown hair and brown eyes wearing a white t-shirt. The one to his right had black hair and brown eyes wearing tan t-shirt.

"What can we do for you …" Naruto trailed off. The team in front of them weren't much to be worried with. They were barely mid level gennin from what Naruto could tell of them.

"The names Kitsuhara Akimitsu, hand over your scroll and we won't hurt you … much" the one standing in front of Naruto says.

Naruto's answer was to phase out of existence making the Suna gennin search frantically for the blond. Their search ended when they heard a pained grunt from their leader Akimitsu as Naruto hand seemed to almost be piercing the boys stomach. As it was Naruto removed his hand from the boys stomach then slammed his fist down on the boys' skull sending him painfully to the ground.

He seemed to vanish again before a fist was introduced to the black haired boys' stomach lifting him slightly up in the air hunched over the fist before the fist was removed and a heavy booted foot connected with his head sending him crashing to the ground.

The last member of the Suna team tried to start a series of hand seals but before he could his hands were forced apart and his arms yanked forward before a knee crashed upwards into his chin sending him falling backwards only for a heavy booted foot came crashing down on his stomach driving him into the ground knocking him unconscious when the back of his head hit the unyielding earth.

Katsu and Yuudai quickly moved towards the downed team and patted them down looking for their scroll. It turned out the kid with black hair was the one with the scroll and it was the one they needed. Naruto came behind them and stripped the Suna gennin of half of their supplies crippling their chances to advance, but not killing them. Sealing up the extra supplies after dividing them equally Team 11 quickly took to the trees again leaving the recovering team to continue on.

*4 Hours Later – Northwest area of Training Area 44*

"Okay guys this is it look sharp" Naruto says as he cuts through some of the tall grass with a katana he pilfered from a Kusa team that attacked them after an older Konoha gennin squad attacked them thinking they were weakened.

The area was wild with grass about a foot or two taller then they were, trees that were gnarled and some times barren of leaves swaying without any wind to move them, and over sized plants that looked like they could swallow a man whole. The most disturbing thing for Yuudai and Katsu were the quickly moving shadows that seemed to dart in and out of the area some the size of a house. Needless to say both were having second thoughts about following Naruto any further.

It was another thirty minutes before Naruto stopped only to have Katsu run right into his back as Yuudai ran into his. After a few more of those house sized and occasionally larger shadows appeared and disappeared the boys had taken to hiding behind Naruto. Naruto would have laughed at them if he didn't have to be totally serious and stay aware of the shadows.

The last time Naruto had goofed off in this area nearly cost him his life as a pack of wolves the size of horses attacked him from the shadows. Luckily a few tigers were in the area and managed kill a few of the wolves chasing off the rest. Of course that was some time ago and now he could defend himself from any of the denizens of the forest.

Reaching their destination which was mostly a large clearing that looked like it had been ploughed through a few times Naruto looked over his shoulders. "You might want to stand back a bit" Naruto says to his teammates.

Both boys backed up giving Naruto room as they stood back to back with one another looking around for any of those creatures running around in the shadows. To busy fearfully watching out for any threats from the forest they never bothered to ask Naruto what he was doing or saw any of the many hand seals he went through.

"Doton: Tetsu no Shiro – Earth Release: Iron Castle" Naruto says in a strong voice. Just as Naruto finished the ground began to shake and tremble as a large black structure started to rise up from the earth displacing trees, rocks, dirt, earth, and animals alike. Watching from a small distance Katsu and Yuudai watched as Naruto was hunched over hands on the ground straining as his jutsu continued until a black metallic palace that looked to be two or three stories high, 60 yards wide, and 40 yards in length was in front of them.

Standing up Naruto seemed a bit winded, but a second later looked as if nothing was wrong and proceeded to create five shadow clones. He handed each of them a tag of some kind and then walked up to the massive door of the construct and opened them. Yuudai and Katsu getting over the mild shock at what Naruto just did quickly followed before the doors closed behind them. They never noticed as the clones moved about the forest ignoring the creatures stalking them as they slapped tags in certain places surrounding the metal structure before a last one slapped a red and white tag with Forbidden written in Kanji in the middle of it on the door activating the 'Gofū Kekkai – Five Seals Barrier' and it's secondary trap the 'Kyōmen Shūja no Jutsu – Mirrored Sudden Attacker Technique' in case someone was able to bypass the barrier.

Walking through the black metal palace Katsu and Yuudai were amazed at the detail of the place as there was metal furniture also in place. There was of course vast empty spaces with nothing as the walls were bare and except for some tables and chairs there wasn't much else. Walking through the place they each had a few questions.

"Hey Naruto, if you can do this why has it taken you so long to finish that apartment building? I mean couldn't you just do what you just did and have a completely new building instead of that old eye sore?" Katsu asked.

"I could … but when I leave this place I don't want to leave anything behind and that is part of the reason my … renovations are taking so long" Naruto answers.

"Okay, but then what are you going to do with this?" Yuudai asked.

"You'll see when it's time to leave and get to the tower" Naruto answers with a smirk. Katsu and Yuudai hated when he gave them cryptic answers and of course Naruto knew it, which caused him to do it all the more.

A few more questions were asked and answered in varying degrees when they finally stopped in front of another large door. Pushing them open the boys walked into an extremely large empty room with no windows. Naruto then took out a scroll with a few torches and then placed his hands on the walls manipulating them until holders sprouted out. He had clones go around place the torches he lit with a simple Katon jutsu in the holders illuminating the room.

"Here we can train without worry of anyone seeing what we're doing or anything interrupting us. We already have the necessary scrolls so I think we should set out early on the 5th morning after resting here on the 4th day" Naruto says.

"So 3 days of training and then rest?" Katsu asks.

"Yeah the way I see it getting to the tower early means we'll be stuck with the other teams unable to do anything and dealing with their … annoying behaviors. This way we can get in some training and arrive fresh on the 5th day without having to worry about the other teams as much" Naruto answers.

"I bet you wouldn't mind dealing with that blond Suna kunoichi" Katsu teases.

Naruto turned away from them trying to rid himself of the blush that sprouted up and ignored the joke, but vowed revenge on Katsu.

"But what about if another team comes here and stumbles across this place?" Yuudai asked.

"There's a barrier surrounding us and even if they some how manage to break it there is a nasty little surprise waiting for them. Trust me we're safe" Naruto replies.

Both boys nodded their curiosity sated for the moment.

"Anything else?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah can you help me with my Earth manipulation so I can use Iron techniques?" Yuudai asked. He had mastered his Earth element, but not to the point he could use the Iron elements in the Earth to make Iron techniques like some Iwa Jōnin were rumored to able to do. When he saw Naruto do it he nearly creamed his pants and if he hadn't been so scared by the forest creatures or awed by the display he would have forced him to teach him.

"I can help, but this is something that will take some time to do. It took me years before I could do it and that's with a full army of shadow clones helping me" Naruto says. It was true it did take years and it was thanks to his shadow clones, but in real time it really only took him the last month of his Earth element manipulation training under Kaen(Kyūbi)-sensei to do it.

Yuudai quickly nodded in agreement eager to learn. With that Naruto had a few clones help Yuudai, Katsu worked more on his kenjutsu and learning another element Raiton with Narutos help, and Naruto had clones working on a few new jutsu while he was trying to invent another one. That's the way the 3 days passed for Team 11.

*4th Day of the Exam*

Naruto, Katsu, and Yuudai were resting up when Naruto felt a disturbance outside the barrier. Deciding to investigate Team 11 moved towards one of the windows near the front of the iron structure and were surprised at what they saw.

"Orochimaru-samma shouldn't we be heading towards the tower now?" asked a teen Naruto recognized as Kabuto.

"Kuku relax Kabuto-kun, everything is going as planned. I was able to mark Sasuke, he survived and was able to awaken his mark. It's only a shame he had to go and ruin those 3 I sent to test him, but in the end they are only cannon fodder so it really doesn't matter. As a matter of fact … I think they'll make perfect sacrifices to use later on" Orochimaru says absently as he was scrutinizing the barrier.

"Of course Lord Orochimaru, but why are we here in front of this building and what has you so interested about it" Kabuto asks.

Orochimaru turns to study Kabuto a bit before turning back to the barrier. "I saw this … structure when I was going to mark Sasuke-kun. I was surprised because it wasn't here when I left the village, but when I went to inspect it a barrier popped up preventing me from getting any closer. It reminded me of a barrier jutsu your old master used to use so of course I'm more than a little curious as to who could have used it as only gennin and my former protégé should be here neither of which should have the knowledge to do so" Orochimaru answers.

"Is there a way to bypass the barrier Orochimaru-samma?" Kabuto asked.

"There is, but there is no reason to … it seems the progenitor of this barrier is staring at us" Orochimaru says his eyes never leaving the window where Naruto and the boys were looking at him.

A few seconds later the door opened though the barrier staid in place. "Orochimaru, to what do I owe the pleasure of you and your lackeys arriving at my doorstep?" Naruto asked.

Kabuto and his team scowled at Naruto. "Watch who you are calling a lackey boy" said a man wearing black pants, a black sleeveless high collar shirt with a grey undershirt, black tinted glasses, a black clothed hitai-ate, and a black clothed masks covering the lower portion of his face.

"Whatever … are you going to answer me Snake?" Naruto asks. Naruto couldn't see if the guy was scowling or not, but he knew he was.

"Kuku, my you are an interesting boy Naruto-kun. If I may ask wherever did you learn such a … interesting technique?" Orochimaru asks.

Naruto knew he meant the barrier more than the palace. "Oh you know here and there. You poke around in enough places you find interesting things" Naruto says his eyes trained on the snakes.

"KuKu your as interesting as ever Naruto-kun. Kabuto, Yoroi, Misumi don't you have some where you need to be right now" Orochimaru says his eyes never leaving Naruto's.

"Hai Orochimaru-samma" they say in unison and take off into the trees though Kabuto lingers a bit eying Naruto with curiosity before following his teammates.

"Now that they are gone mind telling me what this little visit is about Orochimaru?" Naruto asks.

"Awww is that anyway to greet an old friend Naruto-kun. I thought you'd be happy to see me again especially after all I did to help you when even that old monkey wouldn't" Orochimaru says with mock hurt in his voice.

"Please we both know you had your own reasons for that or did those fools who attacked me not prove to be good test subjects" Naruto retorts.

"True, I still don't see why you won't come with me. I could give you power beyond your wildest dreams and together we could burn this place to the ground and get revenge on all those that wronged us"the Snake Sannin says to Naruto.

"That's because you never understood I could care less about what happens to the Leaf or that old fool. This place has made so many enemies eventually someone will end it or knock it down a few pegs. The best revenge I could ever give these people is to go on and be a hero for another village and make it even better than the Leaf" Naruto says.

"Perhaps, I hope this means you won't get in my way Naruto-kun I'd hate to have to end your little ambition too early" Orochimaru says darkly leveling his killing intent on the three boys.

Naruto just stares at him. "If that includes attacking the Leaf in the next two and a half years then yes I will have to play my part as a good little gennin. How much I interfere depends completely on you. After all part of my ambition is for the old man to be forced to watch as I walk out those gates for the last time leaving this place to it's own fate without him or anyone being able to do a thing about it " Naruto says.

Orochimaru scowls. "Very well Naruto-kun, but I warn you boy stay out of my way or next time I won't be so friendly" Orochimaru threatens before sinking into the ground leaving the area.

Even Naruto had to let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when the snake finally left the area.

"W-who w-was that?" Katsu asked.

"Orochimaru of the Sannin S-ranked missing-nin and traitor of Konohagakure. If he's here that means things are about to get a lot more interesting around here" Naruto says.

*Later that day*

"Welcome everyone that has passed the second phase of the Chūnin Exam. I would like to congratulate all of you on making it this far. Unfortunately it seems that there are more teams made it here than we expected so a preliminary round will be held" Sarutobi Hiruzen explains.

"What! That's not fair some of us just got here and your saying we have to fight again?" Loudly questioned a very rough and beaten up looking Sakura.

"Tough Luck girlie your a gennin bottom of the barrel, which means shut up and do as we say! You can always quit if things are too rough for you pinky" Anko yelled. She also looked a little beat up due to an encounter with her old master, but looked much better than most of the gennin.

"That's enough Anko" The Hokage says strongly getting the woman to bow in apology before taking her place beside him again.

"Now then as I was saying there will be a preliminary round to further weed out those that don't have the potential to make it as a chūnin. Now if you will …" Sarutobi begins to say before being cut off.

"*Cough* *Cough* Excuse me Hokage-samma*Cough*, but perhaps*Cough* you will allow me to explain about the preliminary round*Cough*"said a sickly jōnin by the name of Gekkō Hayate.

The Hokage gives a nod giving him the go ahead.

"*Cough* The rules are simple. Your names will be randomly drawn and displayed on the big board behind me" He starts pointing to the board.

"When your name is displayed your are to *Cough,Cough,Cough* come to the middle of the floor. When I say begin you fight and not a moment before*Cough*. These are one on one battles any interference from teammates or your sensei will be seen as an immediate disqualification. If when I call the match you don't stop and continue to attack your opponent you will be disqualified. Any questions?" Hayate asks.

"Is killing allowed?" asked a certain redhead.

"Yes killing is acceptable, but if I say stop you will stop or you lose the match understood?" He asks and he receives a nod.

"*Cough* Okay, is there anyone here who does not feel they will be able to continue?" Hayate asks.

Everyone looks around at each other trying to determine who would be the first to quit. A few of the rookies seemed to struggle with the decision with one quietly imploring her teammate to quit only to be threatened and ignored to her dismay. While a certain silver haired glasses wearing gennin looked to his sensei and received a nod. He immediately raised his hand gaining everyone's attention.

"Proctor I only got here a little while ago and don't feel ready to continue on so I would like to withdraw" Kabuto says.

The other gennin namely Team 7 were shocked as Kabuto seemed okay and he was the main reason they made it in time. Naruto watched Kabuto carefully as he walked away and noticed him look at the Sound teams' jōnin-sensei. When he looked at the man he found him looking his way as well before giving a wink that it seems nobody noticed.

Naruto focused back on the sickly jōnin as he was announcing who the first match-up would be. Looking up to the board Naruto started walking up to the balcony with his team.

"First match-up Uchiha Sasuke versus Akadō Yoroi" Hayate says.