The Two Demons

It wasn't long after his teammate had informed him that she somehow knew what was now his most guarded secret that he and his team were moving towards the massive tower at the center of the Forest Of Death at great speed. A part of him was sure that her knowing that he housed the very same demon that had killed so many of their people was going to be the cause of not a small amount of headaches for him in the coming days. Pushing such thoughts aside he turned his gaze forward to what now appeared before them. A massive tower of dull gray stone sat in the middle of a clearing that acted as both the home of the third phase of the Chunin Exams as well as a forward operating base (FOB) for the ANBU forces in case of attack. In Naruto's honest opinion the tower's placement was inadequate and showed a clear misunderstanding of what this tower was meant to do. It sat far too deep behind their chakra barrier to serve as anything besides as a mild distraction to any would-be attackers and was set too far away from the village proper to be easily reinforced should the ANBU posted inside the tower be overrun by the same. Making a mental note to voice his opinions to the Hokage the next time he was able to meet with him Naruto quickly set himself to the task now presented before him. Clearing the last set of trees the trio soon stopped before a sizeable black plaque that sat just outside the entrance to the tower.

"What is this meant to tell us"? Sasuke asked as he read the plaque a few more times trying to work out what it was trying to say. When it became clear they would be here a while if nobody helped the poor boy in understanding what it was trying to convey Naruto answered the duckbutt-haired boy.

"It's telling us to train our minds as well as our bodies. A proper ninja must ensure both are fine-tuned. A Chunin with a dull mind will not last long out on the battlefield nor will one with a weak body. It is in essence reminding us to train both sides of ourselves and not focus on only one half. History is littered with those who were foolish enough to do so and they are now not but bone and stone whose names have long since been forgotten by time." Naruto said as he walked past the plaque and inside the tower. The inside stood in stark contrast to its exterior which Naruto mused was sort of the point. By making it look imposing on the outside and welcoming on the inside it ensured that the defenders would be in high spirits while the attackers would have doubts on their chances. It was a sort of mental manipulation that he found he agreed with. As a ninja, any edge one could gain upon a foe was a welcomed one. Winning a battle before one even starts was far better than winning a battle with any sort of loss of life.

"Wow, they sure do know how to make a place look lively. I would've never guessed it would look this welcoming". Naruto said as he walked slowly around the space. On one side stood pictures of all the Hokage and below them sat a few lines covering their lives. For Naruto being able to learn more about his father was something he was all too happy to partake in. His mother always avoided the topic of her late husband and thinking back on that he guessed the loss was still too much for her to bear. Just as he thought that Naruto felt the unmistakable sensation of air being displaced a few inches behind his back. Spinning on his heel he soon came face-to-face with Kakashi who as always held that odd eye smile of his that he always seemed able to do.

"Kakashi-sensei what are you doing here"? Naruto asked his ever lazy sensei. His hand moving away from his ninja pouch nearly imperceptibly. A fact Kakashi was quick to pick up on and one he noted with clear happiness.

"Oh, I just wanted to congratulate you three. You're the first team of the Leaf to get to the tower. Hell, you're the first team in the Chunin Exams this year to get to the tower. Normally we wouldn't meet back up until after this phase of the exams were done but I was never big on following the rules anyway. The non-leaf Genin will be taken to their rooms by an ANBU and watched until the exam starts. So sadly there will be no meeting with any of the other village teams until tomorrow". Kakashi said with a carefree tone as he eyed his team. As soon as the team assignments were announced all those weeks ago he was sure that Naruto would easily be one of the greatest of his generation. Sasuke was clearly not far behind him in skill but the boy wasn't his brother. He didn't have the skill to be worthy of much in-fighting by any of the senseis of their year. Though the one who did get him would be the talk of the village for a few days afterward. Seeing as he was the one to get the boy he was forced to alter his daily walks around the parks for a week or two unless he wanted to be forced to hear the insistent mumblings of the villagers.

Turning his gaze on to Sakura his thoughts shifted from pleasant and carefree to analytical and suspicious. As was the norm he was handed all her paperwork on the day of the team assignments. However, her file was redacted to hell and back before he was allowed to so much as gaze at it. When he asked why her file was edited to such an unusual level all he got in response was a cold dismissal and a warning to never broach the subject again by his lifelong friend. But as she had never shown much skill in the ninja arts he had simply passed it off as some dark family secret that they had gotten the third Hokage to hide for them at great cost.

"Anyway I'll see you three after the fights. I expect all three of you to pass. I have a carefully maintained reputation to consider and it'll do me no good to have my skills as a sensei tarnished because of you three underperforming in the exams". Kakashi said before he disappeared in a spiral of smoke and leaves.

"Pff...we underperforming...what does he take us for? We aren't some greenhorn Genin two days out of the academy. We have done a flipping A-rank for crying out loud. We are ready for whatever comes our way". Naruto said annoyed at his sensei for his apparent concern that they would ever underperform.

"Come on I'm beat let's find our room". Sasuke said as he forward all the while fighting back a yawn that seemed unwilling to be held back by his hand

-

A few minutes later the trio were falling onto the soft welcoming mattresses inside their room. Three beds all lined one side while a small kitchenette and bathroom made up the rest of the space. All in all, it was fairly basic in its accommodations.

"It's kind of small don't you think"? Naruto asked as he looked around the small room.

"It's just to sleep in for the exams dobe. These rooms aren't meant to be lived in. Being spacious was never the intent". Sasuke said as he rolled onto his side and was fast asleep.

"What are you going to do, Sakura-chan"? Naruto asked Sakura once he was done eyeing the fairly spartan room that was to be their living area for the next few days. This year's exams was by far the biggest in a generation and as such the exams would need preliminary fights in order to drop the total to around a dozen combatants

"Take a bath. If I were you I would do the same. You could join me...Naruto". Sakura said as she opened the door and looked back at her teammate.

"We are thirteen years old. We are too young to be doing that and besides I like Ino-chan.

"I know that...I was talking about your companion". Sakura said eyeing his stomach while subconsciously licking her lips.

"I have no clue what you're talking about". Naruto tried before he was pulled close to the girl and the door closed behind him with a click.

"Don't you dare lie to me...human. I could smell my mate inside you the second you entered that classroom. Now that we can be alone I want to enjoy myself". Sakura said as her eyes turning foxlike in an instant. Upon seeing this Naruto was pulled inside his mindscape. Being quick on the uptake Naruto soon turned around to face the massive silhouette of the nine-tailed fox who seemed almost happy to see him.

"Release me from this cage...human". Kurama yelled as he butted against the bars with as much force a mountain size fox could muster.

"What do I get if I release you"? Naruto asked now unafraid of the massive demon fox.

"Whatever you wish just open this damn door. I have been without my mate for far too long. I will not be without her now that she is so close". Kurama yelled his teeth reflecting the silhouette of his mental representation a dozen times over.

"What will happen once I release you"? Naruto asked.

"I shall appear as a large dog-sized fox with nine tails or as a human of thirteen years". Kurama said calmly.

"Anything else I should know"? Naruto asked arm taking hold of the seal.

"The release of so much chakra will no doubt cause a panic but that can't be helped. Besides that you will have access to the entirety of my chakra. You will be without equal. Fire will do you no harm nor will you be fooled by any genjutsu less than an S-rank which seems to be few in number and none in your village seems to have the skills to use those at this time so no worries there. You will live a life three times longer than most as will any offspring you should happen to father in your long life. You will be the first of a new race of beings. You will be akin to a god". Kurama said as he watched as the boy took hold of the seal and waited for the bliss that was freedom.

"If I do this you will be my summons". Naruto said eyeing the fox daring him to object to such a proposal.

"If that is what must be done so be it. Now release me". Kurama yelled before the cage fell away and he forcefully ejected his jailer from his own mindscape.

-

Naruto opened his eyes to see Sakura looking at him with those same foxlike eyes of hers. Her gaze was set firmly on the seal that was now glowing a harsh red. The feeling he felt upon removing the seal and releasing the nine-tailed demon fox was something he couldn't rightly place. It was a mixture of both pain and utter joy. A deep burning like sensation seemed to flood his whole body warming him like a fire would on a cold night. He found that he rather enjoyed it in an odd sort of way. His hold upon his chakra network seemed to have increased tenfold and what seemed impossible to do seconds before now felt doable. Waving through a set of hand signs that he knew he had issues with he found he felt no resistance at all. It just flowed through him in a way he had never before felt. With that test now done his mind raced with ideas for new jutsus. With the sort of control he now seemed to possess he should be able to get his uncle to teach him the more advanced courses. The sort that his uncle kept locked away inside his room and which he had so badly wanted to learn. Now at long last he now seemed to have the control to finally have access to those elusive jutsus. The feeling was almost too great to contain though he did his utmost to do so. Now really wasn't the best time to lose himself in fits of joy and happiness. Not when he knew that tomorrow was going to be filled with Genin from many foreign lands that he had no idea on and whose skills could easily best his own.

"Naruto-kun are you ok"? Sakura asked her eyes still slitted like that of a fox. It was at this time he finally noticed he was inside a bathroom with a girl with the door closed and locked behind him. Her hand less than an inch from his chest. Her long pink hair wet from sweat hung on her face in a way Naruto found oddly attractive. Thoughts of her below him as he tore at her flooded through his mind at great speed and it took all he had to suppress them.

"Y...yes I'm fine...Sakura-chan. Just winded from the run here". Naruto answered as he rested his hand on the wall for support due to the intensity of the mental images. All the while the seal glowed like a fire being fed wood and air. Looking at the seal it seemed almost angry. He wasn't sure if that was due to his mind playing tricks on him or if Kurama was trying to get out of the seal so as to be with his mate.

"Sakura-chan may I ask you something"? Naruto asked as he looked into her green foxlike eyes once again.

"Yes of course...Naruto-kun"? Sakura said her eyes never once leaving the glowing seal that seemed to pulsate with an ever-growing power. As it did her eyes grew more animalistic as if she knew that soon she and her mate would once more be together.

"Are you like me? Do you also house a demon"? Naruto was unsure why he asked. Clearly, she did or her eyes wouldn't be like that of a fox. But then thinking on it he did recall that many clans held bloodlines. Many of which were kept closely guarded. Thinking back on his lessons with Hisao-sensei he couldn't think of any that would give one the slitted eyes of a fox nor of any clan who were so closely associated with foxes besides his father's own clan that would make such a bloodline make any sense at all.

"Yes". Was all she said and for a time the only sound was of Sasuke rolling atop his bed just a few mere feet out the bathroom door.

"What is her name"? Naruto asked.

"I see my mate told you. Have you released him or do I need to kill you to set my mate free"? Sakura asked the boy before her. Shaking his head in order to regain focus he understood how stupid that was. This wasn't his teammate but the mate of his own demon. It was merely using his teammate as a means to communicate to him. This was no more his teammate then he was the Hokage of the village. This was a demon that was using the body of his female teammate to talk to him and nothing more.

"I did. Now answer me...what is your name"? Naruto said trying his best to not look like he was ready to piss his pants in fear. He may be a gifted Genin but before him stood a demon. Sure it was a demon that was sealed inside the body of his sole female teammate but clearly it wasn't his teammate at the moment. It was the demon fox inside her and he had no delusions on where he stood in relation to his power vs that of the demon.

"My my you sure are a brave human. I like you. The name is Kayliana of white mountains. Now where is my mate"? Kayliana asked looking around the tiny bathroom clearly in search of her mate. At once the handsigns came to him and he started to wave through them at a speed even Kakashi would have found hard to follow without the use of his lone Sharingan. In a cloud of smoke no bigger than a newborn kitten Kurama appeared. As he had said he held the form of a boy of around 13 years with hair as red as a fire and eyes as black as coal.

"Go...human. I wish to enjoy some alone time with my mate". Kurama said not once looking behind him.

"What about my teammate"? Naruto asked clearly worried about his female teammate.

"She will be safe. My mate is merely using her body for the time being. Your teammate's mind and body will not be harmed in any way. I sense the two are in an agreement of a sort. She'll recall nothing of what is to come. I wish only to be with my mate. I will not do anything that she may deem unbecoming. Her purity will be maintained. You have my word...now be gone". Kurama said as he slowly walked over to his mate. His arms taking her in his arms lovingly. It was a sight Naruto wouldn't have ever guessed was possible for a demon but clearly, he was wrong. Seeing the two kiss he took that as his signal to leave.

-

Once outside he got into his own bed and covered himself. Giving the bathroom door a quick glance one last time he was soon fast asleep. The next day began with Sasuke waking him up and pointing to the bathroom door.

"You're up, dobe. Get washed up so we can go. The third phase is set to start in an hour and I don't want to miss it because you were too busy sleeping". Sasuke said before turning his back to him and fastening his ninja pouch on to his right leg.

"I'll be ready don't you worry. If I were you I would worry less about me and more about you. You haven't had time to work on your bloodline so try not to use it too much. Your body isn't used to the added use yet. You could easily burn yourself out if you're not careful". Naruto said as he entered the bathroom. He didn't hear Sasuke signified that he had heard his comment but guessed he did. The two may not have been close but he was still his teammate and so he would try to help him as best he could. Though if the two were pitted in a match together he would go all out. Teammate or not going easy on an opponent only increased the odds of your own defeat and only a brain-dead ninja would ever give an opponent any sort of edge in battle. Turning on the water Naruto soon started to clean himself of the dirt and gunk that had somehow found a new home on his person. A few minutes later he was once again dressed and out the door. His two teammates already awaiting him. Giving Sakura a look he saw her smile his way. He knew at once that her smile was aimed not at him but his own demon. It was an odd thought but one he found he didn't mind all that much. He was a ninja oddities were par the course in their lives. Better to just accept it and move on. It would do him no good worrying about it.

-

Shikaku stood unmoving in the center of the arena donned out in full Hokage dress uniform. He would never allow it to be known but he really liked how the hat hid his face from most of his troops. It was just a small part of his childhood that he had never fully lost even after the war had forced him to grow out of such childish things. It was perhaps one of the few things that had kept him from throwing himself off the cliff of Hokage Mountain in his first few days of his first week as the sixth Hokage of Konohagakure. Watching as his ANBU dropped off the non-leaf teams he nodded at them all one by one as each made their exit. This was really the only thing that he and Danzo had agreed with while he wore the Hokage hat. Putting his thoughts of the man aside he soon started his premade speech that one of his army of secretaries had prepared in advance for this day. He was a skilled tactician. One of the best in fact but what he wasn't was a wordsmith. It was an art he had never seen much use for as a child and so now here he was paying for that by looking like a damn fool holding out a set of papers in front of a set of Genin many of whom were from foreign villages and who would no doubt report on this as soon as they had returned. While this wasn't nearly as bad as other embarrassing incidents of the past this was still a black stain on the village's reputation and one he would likely not be able to live down for many years afterward.

"Welcome to this years Chunin Exams. As you can no doubt tell we have far more than is practical for the last phase of the exams. As such we will now be holding a few matches to lower that to around a dozen fighters. When you hear your name being called you will enter this arena and do battle. As per regulation six subsection A of the International Chunin Exams Committee (ICEC) killing is allowed but discouraged seeing as it slows down the matches in cases such as these. If you kill your opponent the village responsible for that Genin will pay a penalty of 1,500 yen each time your village kills an opponent. I needn't remind you how these fights will not be seen by the lords of any lands so killing in said matches gives no significant benefits and only costs your home village money they would otherwise have. What little you gain in the deed is hardly worth the cost you would have cost your home village so better you not not do so in the first place". Shikaku said as he handed the papers over to a Chunin who at once bowed and left. In his place stood another who at once called out two names and ordered the others to take their places in the observation balconys set aside for each of the five great villages. Watching the match below Naruto couldn't help but feel like he was watching two snails do battle.

"God those two are slow. What was that kids name again"? Naruto asked.

"I think it was Yuki or something. I wasn't really paying attention seeing as my dad says in cases like these the weaker kids battle first. He says it's done so the better kids can show off their skills. We will likely be waiting awhile before our matches start to be called." Sasuke said as he too watched the match. Whoever the two fighters were he doubted quite strongly they would ever be made Chunin. But seeing as the two were from a village so weak and inconsequential to the wider world he guessed he really shouldn't have expected anything better than what was currently on display. Which was somewhere between watching a snail race a mile and an exercise in one's own ability to not commit seppuku due to extreme boredom. When ten minutes had passed and it seemed the two were no closer to winning Naruto started to think of Ino. Looking around he had hoped her team would have passed the second phase but aside from his own team he didn't see anybody he knew. So lost in his own thoughts that it was only when Sakura yelled out his name did he look down to the floor. The Chunin tasked with running this year's exams didn't seem all too pleased with him and was giving him a look that could've killed a lion.

"Sorry, sir I'll be right down". He yelled as he jumped over the railing and landed softly on the tiled floor around a dozen feet below. The sight making a few leaf Genin whistle with approval. Once he was beside the awaiting Chunin he looked at his soon to be foe. He was clearly from the Hidden Sand and was a puppeteer if that thing on his back was anything to go on. Setting himself he waited for the match to begin. When the man's arms dropped he jumped away as did his opponent. The gathered crowd watched with anticipation for what was about to happen. For the leaf Genin, they knew what they were about to see would likely be in a history book in the years to come. For the others this was just another round of fights that would likely be forgotten by the endless sea of time. For Naruto himself this was yet another step to wearing the green vest of Chunin rank and moving up the ranks to one day take the hat of the Hokage. For his unknown opponent it was just another day in the life of a shinobi of the sand. To him, this was just another job to do. This was just another low-paying job to pay the bills back home.

He knew what he was about to do and wasn't overly worried about doing it. He would test the boy and see how he did. If he somehow proved he had skill he would merely up the intensity to match. He knew who he was facing. The son of the fourth Hokage and heir apparent to both his father and mother's clans. Holder of many of his villages greatest records. Oh yes he was going to enjoy this match. He was going to enjoy beating him and proving once and for all the superiority of the Hidden Sand.