A Slightly Different Naruto… Sort of

So my decision to make Naruto a half-demon was not very popular, some liked it, some didn't and some are indifferent. I honestly can't say I'm surprised. I knew it wasn't going to be and knowingly decided to keep the cliché (Though isn't everything written on this site a cliche? Can anyone say Naru/Hina? Biggest het. pairing and cliche for Naruto romance out there) for reasons stated in my last chapter. That said, I do have a plan to twist this particular cliché so that it becomes more original. To assuage some fears I will tell you all right now that Naruto will NOT gain tales, ears, or any other added appendages, nor will this make him into some kind of god (at least not for this story, maybe in other crossovers for this but not this one). That's just stupid and at least half the cliché, and I believe that half of the fun in writing is taking some cliches and twisting them into something completely original (As I said before, just about everything imaginable is a cliche in fanfiction like this, it's what you do with it that counts). I won't tell you everything there is to know about Naruto being a half-demon since that would ruin the surprise, but I will say to you it's going to be different than what you usually get. All I can ask is that you trust me when I say I know what I'm doing, and if you can't well, no one is forcing you to read this.

Also, the cross-over story will not be coming for a long time, and I mean a LONG ass time. I don't know how long this story will be, but I have an estimate of around 70-80 maybe even more than that, chapters before I reach the end. And I'm not going to write a crossover until I finish this story.

Now then, this is just for clarification purposes. The Naruto that Naruto fought was his dark half, who will be replacing Kyuubi in the 'Naruto inner struggle' bit so instead of Kyuubi vs. Naruto it will be Yami Naruto vs. Naruto. I don't think Kishi went into the Yami Naruto story enough, considering he seemed like a pretty important aspect of Naruto's psyche.

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Another thing I want to tell you is that I wrote this story way back in 2011 so, many things will not be up to the mark. There are many things I have also changed as many people are not liking some of my ideas. This is to tell you that my plot will not change but there will be changes that will not affect the plot.

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Sasuke turned to look at her and frowned, "Sakura, who did this to you?"

"S-Sasuke-kun…your body," Sakura stammered at seeing the black flame-like pattern on his skin.

Looking at himself, Sasuke saw the flames spread out over the left half of his body, he smirked, "Its fine. I can feel the power flowing out of my body. I'm feeling pretty good right now. He gave it to me. And I finally understand. I am an avenger."

Even if I must make a deal with the devil, I cannot stop my quest to gain power.

While these thoughts were running through Sasuke's head, everyone else was looking at the raven-haired Genin in either shock or curiosity.

That shouldn't be possible. That mark only has a 1/10 chance of not killing the person who has it placed on them, Dosu thought in shock. For him to have survived…

Sasuke turned back to the pinkette, "Now tell me, who hurt you?"

"That would be me," Zaku stepped forward with a smirk.

Shikamaru's mind, for once, was actually working harder than it had when he usually played Shogi against his dad and Naruto as he watched Sasuke. Realizing the danger he quickly turned to Ino and began shouting, "Ino! This is going to get bad! You'll get caught up in this if you don't return to your body! You come here too Chouji! We're hiding!"

"Not good!" Kin/Ino put her hands together and her family's hand sign. "Kai!"

Kin slumped back to the ground as Ino returned to her body, "*Cough* *Cough*"

"You're back!" Shikamaru said in relief as he kept the girl up, "Thank kami!"

Sasuke turned around to face the Oto ninja, his teeth grit as the seals along his body began to spread to the other side, covering most of his visible skin.

"This is…!" Dosu's eyes widened as he realized at least a part of what was going on, "His chakra is too large!"

Zaku scoffed as he held out his hands, "Dosu, there's no need to be afraid of this half dead freak!"

Dosu looked over at Zaku in shock, "No Zaku! Don't you realize what that is?"

But Zaku wasn't listening as he shot his hands towards Sasuke, "Ultimate Zankuuha!"

A large blast of air was shot towards the area where Team Seven resided. The attack destroyed everything that had not been rooted to the spot.

"Naruto-kun!" Tenten shouted as she watched her friends form disappear within the jutsu.

When the dust settled, Zaku smirked as he no longer saw any trace of Team Seven, "Hah! I've blown 'em all away!"

"Blown who away?" A voice asked behind him. Zaku barely had time to turn around before Sasuke backhanded him, sending him flying back.

"He's fast!" Dosu said in shock. His eyes wondered over to the still unconscious blond and the pink-haired girl. "He managed to move so fast, while carrying them away."

Grinning Sasuke went through several hand seals before sucking in a breath, "Katon: Housenka No Jutsu (Fire Release: Mythical Fire Flower Jutsu)!" Six decent-sized fireballs were launched towards Zaku.

"So what! I'll just blast them all away," Zaku thrust out his hands again. "Zankuuha!"

The airwaves blasted into the fireballs, putting them out. However, when they were gone, everyone could see the six shurikens that had been hidden in the fire, "What!"

Zaku only had time to put his hands in a cross guard as the shuriken slammed into him, "AHHHH!"

Once the shuriken all hit their mark, Zaku looked around to find the Uchiha. He only had a few seconds to look before said Uchiha was behind him, grabbing onto both of his arms and forcing Zaku onto his knees. Sasuke put a foot on the Oto Genin's back and began to pull the arms back.

Ino looked at her crush in shock. His chakra is totally different than his time at the academy. What's going on?

Zaku tried to move but was only able to turn his head enough to see Sasuke grinning at him, "You must be awfully proud of these arms of yours. I think I'll take them away!"

Not giving Zaku a chance to reply Sasuke began to yank on the Genin's arms, while simultaneously pushing his foot further into Zaku's back.

SNAP!

"AHHHHH!" Zaku yelled, and everyone else either flinched or blanched at the sickening crack as they heard Zaku's arms snap like a twig.

As this was happening all of the Konoha genin were watching in horror as Sasuke brutally dealt with his opponent. When Zaku's screams died off, Sasuke let go of him, no longer finding any fun hurting the near-comatose shinobi.

Sasuke's eye looked over to see Dosu and a smirk made its way to his face, "You're the only one left." He began walking over to the now petrified Dosu, "I hope you let me have more fun than he did."

This…this isn't Sasuke-Kun, Sakura thought to herself in horror. She remembered all of the times she had watched Sasuke while on Team Seven. Even she could not deny that the Uchiha was cold. But even then, she knew that this was not Sasuke.

She was just about to run up to him and get him to stop when someone else did it for her.

Sasuke froze as a hand placed itself on his shoulder, "That's enough teme!"

Sasuke turned with a sneer on his face at the slightly familiar voice, though it was a tad deeper than he remembered. However, the sneer faded and was replaced with a look of shock as he stared at the only somewhat familiar figure.

He could easily tell it was Naruto, the three whisker marks on each cheek and the blue eyes showed that. However, there were several prominent changes that the blond had. The first was his hair, it had grown quite significantly, going from the short spikes to longer hair that, while still spiky, now went down to mid-back. A pair of elongated canines could just barely be seen jutting from his upper lip and his whisker marks looked thicker than they had been. His face was a little bit leaner than it had been, it almost seemed as if the blond had aged a year or two as it looked more mature than the chibi-like face he had before. And finally, Naruto seemed to have grown a bit, not much, but the fact that he was now taller than Sasuke himself and almost looked to be the same height as Shikamaru was a significant enough difference that it was noticeable.

"Dobe?" Sasuke asked in so much shock his seal reverted to its sealed state. "What happened to you?"

Naruto frowned at his teammates shocked and looked, "What do you mean what happened to me?"

"N-Naruto?"

Naruto turned around to see Sakura and the members of team ten. He blinked for a minute before grinning, "Yo!"

"Man this is so troublesome," Shikamaru muttered as he looked over at Ino, who, despite the situation was drooling at the blond without even realizing it. Definitely troublesome…

Naruto looked around and frowned when he saw everyone in the clearing staring at him, "What the hell are you people staring at!"

With that, everyone looked away and Naruto frowned again. Sighing he turned to look back at Sasuke, "I'm disappointed Sasuke, using something given to you by that man. You should know something like that is always a double-edged sword, nothing good can come of it."

Sasuke scowled and would have said something had a voice not interrupted.

"You are strong."

Everyone turned to see Dosu holding out an earth scroll, "Sasuke-Kun, we can't defeat you at this time." He placed the scroll on the ground, "The earth scroll, a gift to you in exchange for letting us go." He rolled the scroll over to them, "I know this may seem convenient, but there is something we need to find out."

Naruto looked over at Sasuke and sighed before picking up the scroll. He pocketed it before turning to Dosu who was picking up his two unconscious teammates, "Do what you need to do, but I suggest you leave my teammate alone. If you show up again with hostile intent, it won't be Sasuke-teme you face but me." Naruto's eyes flashed red, "And I won't hesitate to kill you!"

Dosu stiffened as something in the blonde's gaze told him he wasn't lying and that not only could he kill him, but that he would kill him. Dosu nodded, "Very well, but just so you know, if we do meet in battle we will not hesitate to fight back."

"As I won't either," Naruto replied as Dosu left. The blond turned back to the others and was about to say something when he noticed something off, "Hey has anyone seen my shirt?"

Several face-faults went around with those still conscious just now wondering how he had not noticed that.

"Naruto-Kun."

Naruto turned his head to see a red-faced Tenten walking up to him, oddly enough, she was looking anywhere but him, "A-are you alright?"

"Yeah, of course! Why wouldn't I be?" he asked tilting his head slightly.

"It's just that you're um…" not able to continue she merely pointed to the bandages he had wrapped around his torso.

"Oh these!" Naruto tore the bandages off to reveal perfectly healthy, if a little blood-smeared, skin. He patted where the wound had been a few times, "Yeah I'm good; I've got a pretty good healing factor so there's nothing to worry about." Naruto looked up at her and smiled, before noticing the redness staining her cheeks.

"What about you? Your face is all red?" he put a hand on her head, causing her face to turn even redder. "Huh, that's odd…you don't have a fever, but your face looks like a tomato. Are you okay Ten-chan?"

"O-Of course!" Tenten squeaked as she stepped away from the blond, her face feeling as if it had been burned with a Katon Jutsu, "A-anyways, I'm glad you're not hurt."

"Thanks," Naruto said with a smile. It was then he noticed Tenten's spandex-wearing teammate sleeping on the ground a few feet away, "Is your teammate okay Ten-chan?"

Tenten turned around to see her teammate passed out and drooling on the forest floor, "Oh hehe, yeah he's fine, just taking a little breather," She backed away from the blond, causing him to raise an eyebrow, "Why don't I go wake up now!"

Naruto watched in a mixture of shock and amusement as Tenten began to slap Lee awake. He turned his attention back to Sasuke who was now being fussed over by Sakura. He reached into his pouch as he walked over to them. Rummaging through it for a little while Naruto found the scroll he was looking for and unsealed a spare shirt and cloak.

He began to put his shirt on and frowned as he found the shirt didn't seem to fit. Grunting a bit he continued to try and make his shirt fit, only to rip it when he zipped it up, "Gah! Stupid shirt! What the fuck is wrong with you!"

Everyone once again turned their attention to Naruto who had lost the epic struggle of trying to put his shirt on and sweat dropped, "Why doesn't it fit!"

Sasuke's right eye twitched while the others either sweat dropped, or in the case, Tenten blushed at seeing the blonde's shirt rip over his muscles.

"Um, Naruto…" Sakura said unsurely, getting his attention, "Haven't you noticed?"

Naruto blinked at her, "Noticed what?"

"You're different, physically I mean," Sakura blushed a bit, even though she could not deny that whatever had happened to Naruto had made him fill out nicely.

Frowning Naruto looked at his arms and noticed they looked a little bigger than before, bigger and more defined, though they still held their lithe whipcord quality, "Huh?" I guess this is something I gained from becoming a Hanyou. "So I have."

Sighing he decided to forgo trying to get a shirt to fit and instead just put on the cloak, which now came up to his calves.

Finished with his clothing crisis, Naruto turned his attention back to his teammates, "Since we have both of the scrolls necessary we should probably head over to the Tower. No sense in wasting our time here."

Sasuke grunted as he stood up, "You're right dobe, we should get to the Tower as soon as possible, especially since we don't know what the rest of this stage might entail."

Nodding Naruto said goodbye to Tenten and Team Ten before the three began moving towards the Tower in the center of the Forest of Death.

"Naruto stop jumping around!" Sakura shouted as Naruto shot back towards them after having been flying through the forest at speeds faster than she could properly track.

Coming back Naruto brought himself towards Sasuke and Sakura who had been jumping at a more sedate pace and watching the blond with some annoyance, "Sorry Sakura, it's just that I've never felt so good before!"

After they had left the others and began making their way towards the Tower Naruto had been noticing all the differences he had with this new body of his. For one, all of his senses were now through the roof, he didn't even have to channel chakra into them, and they were just naturally powerful. He had also noticed an increase in his physical capabilities, his strength, speed, stamina, and reflexes; everything seemed to have gained a bit of a boost, though he would have to test his physical capabilities out to see the full extent of his growth. Even though his mind seemed to have been affected by his new change, he noticed it was nothing major, but he could think much more clearly now, like some kind of blocker that had been in his mind had been released and unlocked his potential.

Another thing he noticed was his chakra felt different. It was much more chaotic than before, yet at the same time, it flowed through his coils far more smoothly, allowing him to access it more easily.

All in all, he felt great.

"Whatever, let's just get to the Tower," Sakura sighed, not quite able to blame Naruto for being so energetic. Nor would she, Naruto had proven himself to her in the Forest, risking his life for theirs; the least she could do was be nice to him.

With Naruto calming down and guiding them, the group made it to the tower two hours later. When they walked in the trio looked around and frowned when they saw it was empty.

"Damn it, no one's here!" Naruto grunted in annoyance, "I thought someone would have at least been here to greet us and take the scrolls."

Sasuke grunted a bit as he stood up a little straighter, untangling himself from Sakura who had been helping him move since his cursed seal had disappeared, "I'm alright now Sakura."

"Oh…ok Sasuke-kun," Sakura said with a smile, though on the inside she was crying at the loss of holding her Sasuke-kun.

I CAN'T BELIEVE WE HAD TO LET GO OF HIM! SHANNARO! Inner Sakura shook her fist in anger.

"So what do you guys think we should do now?" asked Naruto.

The other two blinked as they tried to figure out what they should do as well.

"Hey look at this!" Sakura said as she pointed to a large poster on the wall opposite the entrance.

Naruto read the message on it several times over before nodding, "I think it's telling us to open the scrolls."

The other two agreed and Naruto and Sasuke each grabbed one of the scrolls, "Alright we'll open them on three." Sasuke and Naruto looked over at each other, "1...2...3!"

The two opened the scroll and looked to see what was inside. Naruto's eyes widened as he recognized the complex seal on the scroll. "Sasuke, it's a summoning Jutsu! Toss your scroll now!"

The two tossed the scroll away where they landed on the ground in an X. A few seconds later there was a puff of smoke, signaling someone had been summoned.

When the smoke cleared it revealed Iruka standing there, "Hey!"

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said with a grin. "I didn't realize you would be a part of this."

Iruka looked over at Naruto and blinked for a second before he spotted the whisker marks, "Naruto! What happened to you?"

Naruto shook his head, "To be honest, I don't really know myself. I had passed out after…" The blond frowned for a moment, "That's right! Iruka-sensei, you need to inform the Hokage that Orochimaru is in the Forest of Death!"

"What!" Iruka shouted in surprise, shock and fear, "How do you know this!"

"Because he attacked us," Naruto said, looking over at Sasuke who was now rubbing the seal on his neck. "He managed to put some kind of hickey on Sasuke, I…can't be sure, but I believe he was after the teme's Sharingan."

Iruka stiffened as he processed the new information. Anything dealing with Orochimaru was bad news, and if the man was after the Sharingan it would spell trouble for Konoha, "I'll be sure to inform Hokage-sama right away then. In the meantime I suggest you rest from your ordeal, chances are, Hokage-sama will call the three of you in to give a report on what happened. So stay in your room until you're told otherwise."

Naruto nodded to Iruka, "Got it sensei, we'll stay put."

"Right," Iruka was tempted to say more, to ask Naruto if he was alright, but if Orochimaru had given Sasuke what he thought it was, then the Hokage would need to be informed immediately. He disappeared within a Shunshin a moment later.

"Why did you tell him that dobe?" Sasuke asked in anger after Iruka left.

"Because the Hokage needs to be informed of what happened," Naruto replied in a mild voice. "We were attacked by Orochimaru of the Sannin, an S-rank traitor of Konoha. Something of this magnitude cannot be kept secret."

"I'm not talking about that," Sasuke glared at the blond. "I want to know why you told him about the seal. Specifically my seal!"

"He would have found out eventually anyways teme," Naruto rolled his eyes at the glare he was receiving. "Don't glare at me like that, this is serious. We don't know what kind of effects that seal will have on you."

"It gives me power," Sasuke said, remembering the feeling of power flowing through him, "That's all that matters."

Naruto's mouth became a thin line as he heard his teammate's remark, "It also makes you a psychotic killer. Or do you not remember how you nearly killed that Oto Genin for sport? We need to look at it and see what it does besides giving power. Remember, Orochimaru obviously wants your Sharingan, do you really think he would give you something that powerful without a cost?"

Sasuke frowned, the dobe did have a point, "So what do you suggest?"

"We'll head to our room for now. I want to look at the seal before anyone tries to tamper with it," Naruto said. "Depending on what we find, we may need to seal it until we can determine if it's safe to use or not."

Hearing that his new power may have to be sealed did not sit well with Sasuke, however, Naruto had made a decent point and he would admit the blond knew more about seals than he did. "Fine, let's go get a room and get this over with."

Naruto frowned in thought as he stared at the seal on his teammate's neck. The seal was something of an oddity. Naruto could tell it was a decently high-level fuuinjutsu, yet at the same time, it was so sloppy the blond had to wonder what Orochimaru was thinking to put something like this on someone.

"Well?" asked Sasuke who was sitting in front of Naruto with his shirt off so the blond could have unhindered access to the seal.

"It's definitely a fairly high-level seal," Naruto replied as he unsealed his fuuinjutsu equipment. "Powerful too. Some of the seals I don't even recognize. However, it's also been made rather poorly. The Hebi-teme obviously doesn't really care if someone lives or dies from this seal. I can see a few seals that I have knowledge of. You've got a slave Seal, which is designed to bend the will of the person using it to whoever created it. A modified pain seal, I think this one is to inflict pain on a person if they decide to use it against the seal against its creator. And another one that I can only recognize a little bit is something that affects the mind. My guess is it's a modified mind slave seal; normally these are designed to control others by controlling the chemical processes in the brain. This one, however, looks like it enslaves the user's will to the power of the seal, basically, it acts like a drug, the more you use the seal the more you'll crave its use."

Naruto cut his thumb and placed his blood in the ink bottle, he began to stir the ink as he thought of what kind of seal he should use to seal this mark. "Until either myself or someone better than me can figure out what this seal does we should keep it under locks."

Sasuke grunted, still not liking the thought of having all that power sealed away. However, he understood what his blond teammate was saying, and did not want his will to be enslaved to someone else.

Using quick and precise brushstrokes, Naruto began to create a counterseal to keep the cursed mark under control.

"Don't you also have one of these cursed marks?" asked Sasuke a little while after Naruto started sealing, "I thought he bit you too."

"He did," Naruto said, biting his bottom lip in concentration. "However, the seal couldn't take hold of me. This mark seems to feed off of a person's dark emotions to get its power, so if someone rejects their darker side the seal can't take effect."

Naruto started writing all along Sasuke's back as he found himself needing more space to write the seal, "I remember when I was caught in my mind because of the seal; I had to fight my dark half in combat. Apparently, he had the power of the seal, so when I defeated him the seal disappeared as well."

Sasuke frowned, his had merely shown a younger version of him being powerless and Orochimaru had come and offered him power, "I didn't have something like that happen to me."

"It's probably different for everyone," Naruto shrugged as he finished creating the seal. Unlike the Predecessor for the seal he was using, this one did not require much space due to how Naruto had created the seal. The Fuja Hoin, which this seal was created required the person the seal was being used on to sit within two concentric circles. Having realized that it was because most people created an unessecary amount of formula symbols Naruto set about making something easier, taking away some symbols and adding in other ones to compress the necessary amount of seals needed for the fuiinjutsu.

He checked it over to make sure there were no mistakes, and upon finding none went through several hand seals. "Dyuaru Sou Fuja Hoin (Dual Layered Evil Sealing Method)!" he placed a glowing purple hand on the cursed seal and watched as the seals he had created all began to move towards the one on Sasuke's neck.

"Gugh!" Sasuke grunted and squeezed his eyes shut as his cursed seal flared. It definitely hurt, but thankfully this pain was nowhere near the pain he felt when he had been given the cursed seal. For several seconds Sasuke was forced to bear with the pain until Naruto finished sealing the cursed seal. When it was done the Uchiha heir was left gasping for breath as he felt slightly weakened.

"You should get some rest. You're going to feel groggy after having that sealed up," Naruto said as he moved off the bed.

Sasuke didn't say anything but nodded as he lay down and fell asleep.

A few minutes later the door to the shower opened and Sakura stepped out in a clean set of clothes, "Shower's open if either of you two wants it…"

She looked over to see Sasuke already asleep and Naruto moving to the shower. As the door closed Sakura went over to Sasuke and looked down at the sleeping figure of her crush. She sighed as she went to one of the other beds and went to sleep.

Fifteen minutes later Naruto came out of the shower in a pair of orange boxers. Seeing his teammates already asleep and feeling kind of tired himself he went over to the last bed and plopped down on it. Rolling onto his back Naruto closed his eyes and decided to visit Kyuubi and finish the conversation they had started earlier.

Opening his eyes Naruto found himself in a forest that he recognized as the one that surrounded Konoha. A little ways away in front of him was a small hut with some smoke coming out of a chimney. Determining that was where Kyuubi lived the blond made his way over to it, promising to get some answers from his tenant. When he got in front of the door he paused for a second, before deciding that it may be in his best interest not to get on the redheads bad side and knocked.

He heard some shuffling and a small curse when it sounded like someone bumped into something before the door opened and revealed Kyuubi.

Kyuubi blinked at him for a moment and for a second Naruto could see the surprise in her eyes, though it only lasted for a second, "I did not expect to see you so soon." She said after a while, only for a small grin to form a second later, "Did you miss looking at someone as beautiful as me?"

For a moment Naruto blushed in embarrassment, however, he soon remembered who or more precisely what this was that was in front of him. Gathering himself he did his best not to scowl at her as he spoke, "Believe me, were it up to me I would not have come back." He smirked for a moment as he noticed her scowl, "However, I believe our conversation last time was interrupted."

Kyuubi frowned at the lack of respect in Naruto's tone, but decided to let it slide for the moment, "I suppose it did. Very well, you may come in," she opened the door a little wider and walked away, forcing the blond to close the door as he walked in.

"You may as well find a spot to sit and get comfortable," Kyuubi said as she took the bed. "This is going to be a long conversation."

Naruto frowned as he looked around and eventually found a chair next to the bed on the opposite side of the amour. Moving over to it the blond Konoha shinobi took a seat.

"I guess I should start by asking why you would honor me with another visit so soon?" Kyuubi said with some sarcasm spoken when she said honor.

Naruto's hackles rose but upon seeing the smirk on Kyuubi's face knew she was baiting him. He took a deep breath and blew it out, when he had gained a good handle on his emotions he looked over at the redhead, "As I said before our last conversation was interrupted…"

"So it was…" Kyuubi trailed off.

For a moment Naruto waited for her to begin the explanation she had been about to give him before he was forced to get to his friends. However when none were forthcoming he realized she was waiting for him. This caused him to scowl as he knew it meant she had put one over on him, and judging by her smirk, he knew that was what she had intended.

Unfortunately for him, he needed to know what had happened to his body, "You were about to tell me why you would not have used the method you had to save me if you knew what would have happened."

Kyuubi looked at him for a moment and smiled, "I suppose I was…however, I don't really feel like telling you anymore."

Naruto grits his teeth but did his best not to let her get to him, "And why not?"

"Because I don't see how I can gain anything from telling you," Kyuubi's smile widened at seeing how her words were pushing him. While she may not be able to kill him, that did not mean she was not going to make him suffer for being in her prisoner.

Despite knowing she was being stubborn in refusing to tell him just to get him riled up; Naruto was having a hard time controlling his emotions. Were it not for the fact that he had no desire to feel her power again he would have lashed out. As it was it took nearly five minutes for him to regain control over himself.

"We both know that whatever you were going to say is just important to your survival, I doubt you would have been willing to have even gotten started on that topic otherwise."

For just a second Naruto saw what looked like respect flicker within the twin red orbs, however, it was gone soon after making the blond wonder if he had imagined it.

"Clever deduction," Kyuubi said as she looked at him, "I'm impressed you were able to come to that conclusion." She frowned as she began her explanation, "You are correct, this is important to my continued survival. Because you are a half-demon, you have gained…immortality."

"Wh…what?" Naruto choked out in a whisper as his eyes widened.

Kyuubi sighed, "Immortality, I am positive that you have gained immortality."

"Immort-" Naruto could not finish the word. Some people may have been pleased to learn that they would never die; a fear of death was always present for most people who lived. However, Naruto had never been one of those people, and had never wished for such a thing. Especially now when he had finally found precious people to protect, people who enjoyed being with him. A friend in Tenten, Rock Lee, and Anko, the father/daughter duo who owned the ramen stand, Iruka and the Hokage, they were the closest thing he had to family. Being with them had brought life to him, he was happier now that he had several people who genuinely cared for him.

However they would all grow old and eventually die, it was just how things were. Nothing could survive the ravages of time, nothing except for a demon, or in his case a half-demon. He was officially being told that he would never die, that he would be forced to watch everyone he ever loved and ever would love to die. Meanwhile, he would live on and be forced to endure the pain of losing those he cared for.

Tears once again began gathering in the corner of his eyes, something that Kyuubi picked up on right away.

"You need to grow up child!" Naruto looked up at Kyuubi to see her looking at him with a harsh glare, "I will not have my vessel acting in such a pathetic manner. There is nothing that can be done to turn you back to the way you were, so thinking about it is pointless." She favored Naruto with a condescending smirk, "Besides, you should be grateful. It's not often one is gifted with immortality after all."

"Grateful?" Naruto asked in a harsh whisper, "Why should I be grateful? What possible reason is there that you believe would make me feel gratitude towards you?"

Kyuubi's eyes narrowed at the blond, "I would suggest you watch your tongue boy. Or did you not learn your lesson from yesterday?"

However Naruto was too far gone to listen to her, this woman, this creature had just given him a curse that would only cause him more pain and he with his mind decidedly clouded right now, he lashed out in the only way he could think of.

Kyuubi became surprised when the blond leaped at her. She had no time to react as he grabbed her by the front of her kimono, picked her up, and bodily slammed her against the wall.

"Shut up!" Naruto ground out as he glared at the still surprised Kyuubi, "I have no reason to be thankful for what you've given me! Because of you, I will be forced to watch all the people I care about die. No matter how strong I am, how powerful I grow, how much intelligence I gain I-"

Naruto was cut off as their situation became reversed when Kyuubi spun them around and slammed him into the wall hard enough to leave several cracks within the mindscape, "Don't you ever try to touch me without my permission!" Kyuubi snarled with absolute rage on her face, "If you so much as even think of trying to lay your hands on me I will make you regret it! Do not think that just because I cannot kill you, that I cannot make you suffer! I will not have someone below my station put their paws on me, and you are far below me!"

Naruto snarled at her and Kyuubi became surprised again when she saw Naruto's eyes morph from the blue orbs they had been, into a set of amethyst-colored eyes with black slits running down the middle. His whisker marks began to thicken as well and purple youki began leaking out of Naruto's body. The power was not only surprising to Kyuubi, but due to the fact that she was still weakened from having used as much power as she had, it was also frightening.

The blond before her currently had more power than she did.

In an act of anger, Naruto pushed off the wall and tackled the stunned and frightened Kyuubi to the ground. A gasp escaped the redhead's lips and she was surprised to feel pain when her back hit the floor. Looking up she saw Naruto with a fist cocked back, encased in a globe of purple energy and ready to smash it into her. She closed her eyes and for the first time in her life, she found herself afraid of another being. However, as she waited for the blow she found herself surprised when it never came.

Opening her eyes Kyuubi looked into Naruto's and was startled to see his fist shaking. She looked from his fist to his face and saw that his teeth were grit in frustration and tears were trickling down his eyes. He looked like he was having some kind of inner battle with himself.

As if the surprises she had endured in the last few seconds was not enough, the hand Naruto was holding lost its purple glow, his features returned to normal and a choked sob escaped him. Finally the blond seemed to lose his strength and fell right on top of Kyuubi, where he proceeded to break down…crying right into her chest.

Had this happened any other time, Kyuubi probably would have been so royally pissed that Naruto would have likely been beaten so badly that it would have reflected in the real world and he would have required a bedpan. However the culmination of shock for what had transpired, fear for the power the blond had emanated and confusion about why he had not struck her when he had the chance kept Kyuubi from harming him. So instead of doing that, she just lay there and let the whisker marked blond cry.

After a while Naruto seemed to get a hold of himself and looked up to see Kyuubi staring at him with wide eyes.

"Sorry," he whispered in a hoarse voice before getting off of her and standing up. He held his hand out to Kyuubi who looked at it wearily for several long seconds before taking it.

"I don't understand," she said as she looked at the blond in complete confusion, "you could have killed me back there."

"I know," Naruto whispered. He was unsure how he knew, but somehow he knew that he could have killed Kyuubi right than had he wanted to. And he knew instinctively that unlike her, he was not dependent on her survival, not anymore since he had his own youki and no longer needed hers.

"Why didn't you?" asked Kyuubi as she tried to get a good look in his eyes, not that it did any good since his eyes were covered in shadow.

Naruto shook his head, "I don't know…I guess I just couldn't do it. Even though you ruined my life I…I guess I just couldn't bring myself to do it…"

Kyuubi looked at Naruto for a long time, studying the blond as if he were some kind of puzzle. After several minutes of searching for something she could not seem to find she spoke, "Thank you."

She had to forcibly make the words come out of her. Never before had she ever thanked another being for anything, doing such a thing was beneath her, to Kyuubi it should be others who thanked her for not ending their miserable existence. But right now the blond before her was currently more powerful than she was, not only that but she had felt what little power she did have being drained by the seal when he had gotten angry. Until she could figure out what that meant the vixen decided it would be wise not to anger Naruto.

Naruto looked at her for a moment before nodding, not really trusting his voice for the moment. It was silent after that as the two tried their best to look anywhere but at each other, that silence soon began to stretch and it was surprisingly Kyuubi who became uncomfortable with it.

"Look I…I know we didn't really get off on the right foot," Kyuubi frowned for a moment as she tried to find the right words for what she wanted to say. It was not easy for one such as her, one who had never really tried to get along with others. However she knew what needed to be done in order to ensure her continued existence, and like it or not this boy was the key.

"I know we got off on the wrong foot, and I know you don't like what's happened to you…"

Naruto's snort interrupted her, "That's a very mild way of putting it. You've essentially told me that I'm going to live forever, that means that I will be forced to watch as all of the people I've grown close to die. You've made it virtually impossible for me to meet my friends in whatever after life waits for us, hell you've made it hard for me to even make friends now…"

The blonde's voice was soon reduced to a whisper, "And you've made it impossible for me to find love."

Despite herself Kyuubi winced, "That's not true…at least not in the context your thinking." When Naruto merely raised an eyebrow she tried her best to elaborate, "It is true that a…a relationship like marriage or something permanent is impossible…"

At the blonde's glare she realized that might not have been the best way of putting it and tried to finish what she was saying more delicately then she normally would, "But that still does not mean you can't find someone out there who will love you."

"But they won't always be there," Naruto said, "eventually they will die and I will be alone again."

Kyuubi found herself biting her lip, there was something about the way he said that, that brought an odd desire to help him out of her. That or perhaps she was still afraid of the power he had displayed, "I…I'll be there you know," she said, causing the young half demon to look at her with an odd stare that almost, almost caused her to blush.

"Because you're a half demon now… there is no way for me to escape the seal. So um…" she trailed of for a moment when she noticed him still looking at her.

After a few seconds a blush finally did arise from her cheeks, one made from both anger and embarrassment, "Look would you stop staring at me like that!"

After a few moments Naruto's eyes went to a less imposing stare, "Sorry, it's just, it sounded like your telling me that you've offered to stay with me."

Kyuubi's blush seemed to increase a bit, "W-well it's not like I have a choice! I'm stuck here now. Before I turned you, I could have escaped the seal if I had managed to convince you to take it off. However when you changed into a hanyou something in the seal changed as well and now there is no way for me to escape."

She gestured around both her neck and the walls, "Even were you to rip the one off of my neck, these walls are impossible for even you to take off." She frowned, "I suspect it has something to do with the seal that man tried to put on you. I don't know much about sealing, I never really bothered to learn anything about sealing until I actually was sealed to be honest, but I do know that placing a high level seal on a body that already has an existing high level seal can cause a disruption in the original seal that was placed on the person. Likely that's what happened here and it caused the seal that held me to mutate before I could contain it." She shook her head, "Though as I said I can't be too sure…"

"I see…" Naruto trailed off for several moments as he tried to come to grip with everything he had just been told. He felt like he had been given far too much information and his mind was going to meltdown from being so overloaded. With a heavy sigh he sat down on the bed, which was the closest object to him.

He looked up at Kyuubi who was still looking at him, "Why don't you tell me about what it's going to mean for me to be a hanyou now…"

He realized that at the moment there was no way he could come to grips with what had just happened, so it would be best if he moved onto something else before he dealt with the knowledge he had been given. "Are there any benefits to me becoming a half demon?" he asked.

Kyuubi stood there for a few seconds before getting herself together; she tentatively sat down next to him. "There are a few things I can tell you, however I should warn you, I don't know everything there is about this new form."

"But didn't you turn me into a Hanyou?" Naruto asked in confusion, "I would have figured that you would know my abilities since you're the reason I changed."

Kyuubi shook her head, "Unfortunately I have only basic knowledge on Hanyous. There has not been a half demon in nearly four millennia. Long before even I was born. The only reason I was even able to figure out what you were was because of a tome I had once read that spoke of a Hanyou who had been a cross between a powerful Inu (dog) demon and a human. And even then, this is different."

"How so?"

"Because you started off human," Kyuubi said with a shrug. "You were not bred between a demon and a human, but created because of an overdose of my youki. Normally such a thing would have killed you, but because the seal that keeps me here is constantly channeling my youki through you, it had changed you to that of a Hanyou instead." Kyuubi paused for a moment before continuing, "It may also have something to do with your chakra."

"My chakra?" asked Naruto with a frown.

Kyuubi gave a small nod, "Your chakra is, was more…stronger than most. It had an odd vitality to it that made it stronger than other people's chakra. I believe it was at least another part of the reason you did not die during the transformation."

"I see…" Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment before getting back to the topic at hand, "So then my abilities are likely different than those of this other Hanyou you read about?"

"Yes," Kyuubi answered simply. "But that's a given considering you were made this way because of me. From what I read the demons of ancient times were nowhere near the strength of the Bijuu. In fact most Jonin-level shinobi could go toe to toe with the demons of the past."

Naruto tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow at that tidbit of information, "How do you know that? More tomes?"

"Partially. However there were also still a few demons other than myself and the Bijuu when I was first born." Kyuubi shrugged, "Most if not all of them were killed off, with only the most powerful surviving, and even then I think the stronger demons were eventually killed, leaving only us Bijuu."

"So then how were you born?" asked Naruto, actually getting interested in learning more about the past. Despite not liking Kyuubi hearing a piece of history that nobody else was likely to know held an odd form of appeal to the blond.

Feeling a bit more bold now that they were no longer at each other's throats Kyuubi just gave him a knowing smile, "A story for another time perhaps, we're getting off topic after all."

Naruto a pout at not having his curiosity sated and Kyuubi was unable to contain the laugh that escaped her, "Now I'm sure you already know the basics of your abilities. Your speed, strength, endurance, reflexes, senses and regeneration have increased significantly; I would say that you are now on par with your friend in the horrible green spandex when he is not wearing his weights. Your mind is also able to process information at a faster rate, even though you still act like an idiot sometimes."

It took Naruto several seconds to realize she was trying to make a joke, and when he did the blond decided that since she seemed to be trying to get along that he would also extend an olive branch. He gave her a small tentative smile, which made Kyuubi give an internal sigh of relief before she continued her explanation.

"As far as other abilities, I'm not one hundred percent sure. As I said, this has not happened for a long time. Aside from that, you are the first and likely only human to ever become a Hanyou from a Bijuu. I would hazard a guess that you will be able to use at least some of the techniques I have created over the years."

"You created your own jutsu?" asked Naruto, despite the revelations, emotions and mental exhaustion they had given him, he could not help but feel a small bit of excitement at the prospect of using jutsu created by the Kyuubi No Kitsune.

Kyuubi hummed as she tapped a finger against her chin in a thinking pose that made her surprisingly cute, "I suppose you could call them that. However none of these actually require hand signs, instead they are pure manipulation of either an element, or youki. And you may not be able to use all of them, since your youki is not as potent as mine."

"Youki? You mean I have youki?" asked Naruto.

"Of course, you're a Hanyou now so your chakra was actually replaced with youki," Kyuubi frowned for a moment. "Technically you can consider it half youki. When my youki mixed with your chakra it melded with it, turning you into a Hanyou. That's partly why your physical abilities are so much better now. Because youki is many times more potent than chakra, your coils constantly have a set amount flowing through you no matter what you do. This means that youki is moving through all the various parts of your body, enhancing them. This is actually going to be useful to your physical training since it means that your muscles will never atrophy from disuse."

"So basically I could stop exercising right now and remain at the same level of physical performance?" asked Naruto.

Kyuubi nodded, "Yes. And if you continue to get stronger, your muscles and bones and anything else that get strained, torn or broken will becoming twice as strong."

Naruto nodded as he thought about what that would mean. Since his body would no longer atrophy he would not need to wear his weights all the time unless training, in fact in may prove to be more beneficial than if he were to keep his weights and resistance seals on, since they would not be needed to keep his muscles from deteriorating.

"So does this mean my youki will be harder to control?" asked Naruto as he decided to get back on track.

Kyuubi gave Naruto a grin as she shook her head. "On the contrary, because your coils expanded and your youki flows much more smoothly than your chakra did, it will be easier to control. Your only real issue will be some of the less powerful human techniques. Because youki is many times more potent and chaotic, you will need to use nearly three times less youki than you did chakra. But I know several advanced exercises that I created to help you control your youki."

Naruto nodded as he gave Kyuubi a smile, "So does this mean you're going to help me with my training?"

Kyuubi smirked, "I suppose I could, but you'll have to listen to everything I say when I say. And if you fail to do so, I'll cut off the circulation to one of your limbs, and trust me, you won't like the one I pick."

Naruto frowned but before he could respond to that threat a new voice interrupted him.

"…to…Na…ruto!"

"What the hell!" asked Naruto.

"Oh, sounds like someone's calling you from the outside world," Kyuubi commented.

Naruto frowned, "Then I guess I have to go." He looked over at Kyuubi. "I'll see you later I guess."

"Actually if you want you want to talk to me, just think what you're going to say and I'll be able to hear and answer you," Kyuubi said, getting a nod from Naruto as he faded out of the seal.

Kyuubi stared at the spot Naruto had been sitting, thinking hard on what had just happened. The conversation had turned out to be nothing like what she had expected; the way Naruto had surprised her when he slammed her into the wall, and again when he had called upon that power. While his youki was nowhere near as strong as I am at full power it was still far more powerful than I had expected.

She was unsure what to make of it; the power he had unleashed was both unexpected and unwelcome. Mainly because she did not know what it meant. That energy had just seemed burst out of him in an uncontrolled manner.

If anything it seemed like a hidden well of energy, she thought to herself, this new development bears further investigation…

"Naruto! Wake up Naruto!" Sakura yelled as she shook the blond viciously. Sasuke and the ANBU who had come to get them sweat dropped at how violent the girl was acting.

"NN…ugh." Naruto blinked his eyes open to see Sakura over him, "What the hell do you want? Can't you see I'm trying to sleep…"

Sakura huffed, "Hokage-sama wants to see us! So get off your lazy ass and c'mon!"

"Fine…" Naruto yawned as he got out of bed. As soon as he did he heard a squeak and turned to see a red-faced Sakura.

"P-put some clothes on baka!" She shouted as she turned around and attempted to hold in her nosebleed.

Naruto grinned, "You know, you may want to keep any fantasies with me in them out of your head Sakura-chaaan. After all, what would Sasuke-kun think if you started falling for another man."

"S-Shut up!" Sakura squeaked as Naruto laughed and put on a pair of pants and his cloak.

"*Sigh* Looks like I'm going to need a change of pants too, these no longer fit either." Naruto shrugged the thought off for now. He looked over at the ANBU who was standing in the doorway, he had the distinct impression the person was staring at him, "Lead the way ANBU-san."

This seemed to snap the ANBU out of his/her stupor. "Right, follow me," A distinctly female voice said.

The members of team seven all stood up and followed the ANBU out of the room.

Sarutobi looked at the door as it opened and the members of Team Seven walked in. he immediately put a smile on his face, pleased to see that they seemed relatively unharmed, "Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan, it is good to see you three. I trust you are doing well…?" He looked at Naruto in surprise. "Naruto! What happened to you?"

"Why does everyone always ask me that?" Naruto said in an annoyed tone, "First Sasuke-teme, then Iruka-sensei and now you!"

"Well, it's just that you look so different," Sarutobi defended himself.

"Didn't Iruka-sensei tell you about my changes?"

Sarutobi shook his head, "I believe he was more concerned by the fact that three genin went up against an S-rank criminal."

"Whatever it's cool," Naruto shrugged. "As for the changes I honestly don't know. One minute I'm up against that pedo-hebi-teme, and the next I'm like this. Not that I'm complaining because I gotta admit, I'm really liking this new look! Anyways, I guess you called us to talk about your pedophile of a student?"

Sarutobi chuckled as his surrogate grandson nonchalant attitude, though he was a tad worried. "I suppose if you don't know we'll just as to see if we can figure out what happened later. However, as you seemed to have guessed I called you hear to discuss what I heard from Iruka as well as Anko in the Forest of Death."

"Anko faced Orochimaru!" Naruto said in shock, "Is she ok! Orochimaru didn't hurt her did he? Where is-"

"Calm down Naruto-kun," Sarutobi said, watching as the blond took several deep breaths. "Anko is perfectly fine. She had a few minor injuries but nothing serious. It seems Orochimaru does not want to start any trouble…yet."

Naruto snorted, "If that were the case I doubt he would have attacked our team."

"Perhaps, but from what I understand he had a specific purpose for doing that," Sarutobi said. "Perhaps you three can elaborate on what happened from your perspective."

The three genin looked at each other, nodding before they began to corroborate their story. Telling Sarutobi what happened to them from after the group had been separated by a Fuuton jutsu. Several times in throughout the brief, the old Hokage felt like he was going to have a heart attack, especially when he was told of Naruto basically sacrificing himself for his teammates, though a part of him could also not help but feel pride at Naruto's willingness to sacrifice himself for his teammates.

At the end of the report he frowned, "So you're telling me that both of you received the curse seal?"

"Hai, that sounds right," Naruto replied.

"And yours is no longer there?"

Naruto sighed before showing either side of his neck where the cursed seal would be, but there was nothing there. "I managed to beat the hebi-teme's power back, I suppose that just goes to show how truly awesome I am."

His teammates snorted while Sarutobi chuckled, "I see, well that is good to hear. Now Sasuke, anything Orochimaru gives is extremely dangerous so I am afraid we will have to seal it…"

"Don't worry Ojisan," Naruto interrupted, "I already took care of it."

Sarutobi blinked, "What do you mean you already took care of it?"

"I mean I sealed it up," Naruto answered as if it should have been obvious.

"Show me," The aging Hokage ordered. Sasuke frowned but went over to Sarutobi and showed him the seal none the less. The Hokage looked down at the seal to see the familiar heaven seal like Anko's. However surrounding that was a seal that looked extremely complex and powerful. ""What kind of seal is this?"

"It's a modified version of the Fuja Hoin (Evil Sealing Method), it's essentially a double-layered version of that," Naruto answered, at Sarutobi's enquiring look he continued. "As you know the Fuja Hoin is a seal that ties the users will to its ability to seal whatever you're trying to seal away."

At Sarutobi's nod Naruto continued, "What I did was dual layer it so that rather than just being tied to Sasuke's will, it's also tied to my will; meaning that even if Sasuke tried to use it, it wouldn't work unless I gave permission for it to be used. This also has the added benefit of allowing Sasuke to train harder since he does not need to worry about keeping the seal in check."

Sarutobi stared at the blond in amazement as he listened to the boy's explanation. To think that in less than six months Naruto-kun has come so far in such a vague and difficult skill to learn. He truly is your son Minato.

"That's extremely impressive Naruto-kun," Sarutobi said. "I am actually surprised by how good you have gotten in your sealing."

"Hehehe, thanks Ojisan," Naruto rubbed the back of his head as an embarrassed blush spread across his face.

"You know, if you're interested I could have Jiraiya look over a few of your seal designs when he gets into the village," Sarutobi suggested.

"You mean Jiraiya, theJiraiya? Of the Sannin?" asked Naruto in shock.

"Yes the very same, I have recalled him from a mission I sent him on and he should be returning sometime within the next month."

Naruto grinned, "That. Would. Be. AWESOME!"

Sarutobi chuckled, "I am glad to know you're pleased. I do have a question though; can you put that seal on Anko?"

Naruto's shoulders slumped a bit at that, "No, because Anko already as a Fuja Hoin on it I can't. That would have to be removed before I could place this one on her, and if the seal is removed the cursed seal would flare up and destroy her chakra coils, especially since she's never used it before and would be unable to handle the influx of power."

"I see…" Sarutobi sighed sadly, "I thank you three for giving me your report on what happened. The second stage for the Chunin Exams will be ending in two days, so I suggest you use that time to rest."

"In that case I'm going to get some food. I feel like I haven't eaten in weeks." Naruto said as he and the other two left, "I wonder if they have any Ichiraku's here."

As the door shut Sarutobi looked over to the corner of the room, "What do you think?"

There was a shimmer before a man appeared in the corner. He was taller than most people, standing at around 6'5" and had long white spiky hair that went to his mid back and was held up by a head band that had two horns on either side and the kanji for oil on the front. He was wearing a green gi under a red vest and had wooden geta sandals, along with a large summoning scroll attached to his back.

The man gave thoughtful look as he glanced back at the doorway, "The gaki is definitely talented, I can tell you that. I'm not even sure Minato could have come up with a seal like that at his age. And this means we won't have to worry about the snake trying to affect the Uchiha's mind since it would have to go through Naruto."

"So I'm guessing you would be willing to help him out over the one month period?" asked Sarutobi. "I also need you to look at his seal, I fear the Kyuubi may be able to try and influence him. It was able to speak with him during the mission to Nami, I want to make sure that won't happen Jiraiya."

Jiraiya frowned before shrugging, "Well, we'll see what happens; so long as it doesn't cut into my research."

"Have you no shame Jiraiya-kun," Sarutobi scolded.

"And your telling me you do?" asked Jiraiya with a grin, "Besides, I only need a little bit more material before I come up with my newest Icha Icha series."

"Hmmm well that is quite important," Sarutobi said in agreement. "Still, I think you should help train the boy."

"Don't worry old man, I'll help the gaki along," Jiraiya said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go do some 'research'."

Sarutobi watched as Jiraiya disappeared, sighing he went back to thinking about all the information he had on Orochimaru.

I will need to be careful with my old student around…just what are you planning…Orochimaru.

(Two days later…)

After the remaining two days had passed everyone who had managed to make it through the Forest of Death gathered in the center of the tower. As Naruto looked around he spotted those who had managed to pass the second stage. Aside from his team, the other rookie teams eight and ten had managed to pass, along with team nine. Kabuto's team had also made it. The Suna team had passed, as well as the Kumo team, and, to Naruto's surprise; the Oto team had managed to pass.

Behind and on either side of Sarutobi stood Anko and Ibiki along with all of the Jonin-senseis whose teams had made it, along with several other Chunin and Jonin who were here to witness the event.

I can't believe so many people made it, Anko frowned as she scanned the crowd. Twenty-four people managed to pass the second test. I would have at least thought it would be in the double digits. As she continued watching she spotted Naruto who gave her a grin causing her to grin back. At least the gaki made it, now maybe I can get some entertainment. She frowned again. Though he did face Orochimaru, but I was told by Hokage-sama not to worry and that his cursed seal had disappeared. I'll have to ask him about that later.

"Looks like your team made it Kakashi. They didn't do too bad, or perhaps they got lucky. But from here on out it's all about skill, and with my team here yours is out of luck," Gai said to his eternal rival.

"Hm, you say something Gai?" Kakashi turned towards the green-clad Jonin with a boring look.

"Oooh! Rival Kakashi that attitude of yours is so hip and it gets on my nerves!" Gai formed a fist in front of his face as fire seemingly ignited in his eyes. Kakashi sweatdropped before turning his attention back to the stadium floor.

So that's Naruto-Kun's sensei and Gai-sensei's eternal rival, Tenten eyed the silver-haired man. Well if we're going by the looks department he's got Gai-sensei beat.

It looks like quite a few made it, Yugito thought as she looked around at the others. She paused when she spotted the blond, It seems he was more than just empty bravado after all.

For this many teams to make it and most of them rookies, it's no wonder these three nominated their teams, Sarutobi looked over to Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma.

"To everyone who has made it this far, I would like to congratulate you on passing the second stage of the Chunin Exams," Anko started, breaking everyone from their thoughts. "Now I suggest all of you listen carefully to Hokage-Sama who will be explaining the third test!"

Everyone stood a tad straighter as the Hokage stepped forward, "Before I explain the third test, there is something I would like all of you to know. And that is the true reason for this exam."

Many of the genin perked up at this, wondering what he was talking about.

"Why do we have all of the Shinobi villages taking these exams together? Many people believe it is to promote friendship among other countries. Others believe it is to raise the skill level of our shinobi. It is here today that I will tell you the truth because I do not want you to be confused about this," Sarutobi took a slight pause as he watched the genin look at him in curiosity.

"The truth of the matter is that this is a replacement for the war among allied countries," Sarutobi stated, surprising even the most knowledgeable genin.

"I see many of you are confused, so I will explain. A village's strength is determined by the strength of its shinobi, not just having the numbers over another village, but proving that our shinobi our stronger than those of other villages. By holding the Chunin Selection Exams we can prove to the Daimyos and other villages the strength we have to offer, though I will admit this is not entirely reliable, to simplify this explanation. Your strength represents the power of your village and that in turn makes other villages wary of attacking and entices more clients to choose your village for missions over theirs."

Sarutobi watched as several of the genin there began to understand, he then looked over at Naruto who was picking at his ear and looked bored. The old Hokage sweatdropped, I doubt he's even listening to what I have to say…

He was just about to start talking again when a sickly-looking Jonin appeared in front of him, "*Cough* actually Hokage-Sama *Cough* would you please let me explain this *Cough* to this genin?"

Sarutobi nodded and took a step back. The Jonin stood up and turned around and Naruto had to raise an eyebrow at the man's appearance. He was dressed in the standard Jonin uniform and had a bandana-style headband. But what caught Naruto's attention were the deep-set bags under his eyes, as well as his general sickly look.

I wonder if he's actually sick, or if he's just faking it so people underestimate him, Naruto wondered, having read about psyching your enemies out so that you could surprise them.

"Welcome, my name is *Cough* Hayate Gekkou and I'm the proctor for the *Cough Cough* the third stage of the Chunin exams," Hayate spoke, coughing so much that many of the genin wondered if he was fit for duty. "Unfortunately it seems that the first and second stages of the Chunin Exams were too easy and we now have too many candidates. Because of this, we will be holding preliminary matches."

"Why do we have to have preliminary matches?" asked a confused Sakura. "Why can't we just all continue?"

Hayate coughed as he looked over at her, "Because honestly, the first two exams seem to have been too easy this year, we just have too many people. There will be many Daimyos and other important people coming to this exam, so we need to make sure that only the best of the best are in it."

"So basically the cream of the crop," Naruto said, "Well I was looking for something to do anyway, I suppose it will be fun to play along with this."

"Er…right?" Hayate sweatdropped at seeing the Anko-ish grin on the blond Genin. "Before we begin I will explain the rules. As the referee I expect you to follow everything I say. If I command you to stop I expect you do it, failure to do so will result in your immediate extermination from the exams. Fights will be done one on one and the winner of the fight will progress to the next round. Your opponents will be chosen at random and the match will end when an opponent dies, loses consciousness, or gives up. If I see that a match is unable to continue I will also end the match. Any questions?"

When none were forthcoming Hayate continued, "Anyways, if any of you want to quit, now's your chance."

As Hayate looked around the room, Kabuto looked up at his 'Jonin' sensei only to see the man shake his head. He frowned in thought, not quite sure why Orochimaru wanted him to stay, but something he would do nonetheless. I guess I can keep the old blood down for a while longer…

Hayate seeing that no one was going to back down decided to start the match. Everyone turned their attention to the screen as it began to run through a list of names before stopping on two of them…

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Katon: Housenka No Jutsu (Fire Release: Mythical Fire Flower Jutsu) - This technique creates a volley of small fireballs, which are spat out of the user's mouth, flying wildly in every direction and assaulting the enemy. In addition, the flames are controlled one by one with chakra, so avoiding them all is extremely difficult. Shuriken can be hidden within the flames, creating an unexpected secondary surprise attack. Like the flames, the shuriken can be controlled with chakra. For the most part, however, this technique is used as a distraction.

Fuja Hoin (Evil Sealing Method) - This Jutsu is used to suppress Jutsu-induced marks on a person. Marks of weaker power can be completely suppressed by this Jutsu alone, but for marks of higher power like Sasuke Uchiha's Cursed Seal of Heaven, this seal is dependent on the recipient's willpower to some extent. It is also capable of holding back certain Kekkei Genkai, such as that of the Kurama clan as seen when Kurenai tried to do this.

This seal requires a number of hand seals and a large amount of chakra to be performed. Preparation for this Jutsu requires two concentric circles with kunai placed in intervals along the circumference, in addition to a number of characters written in blood that radiate out from the center of the curse seal.

According to Kakashi, this Jutsu is quick but painful. The seal can be removed at any time by the caster or whoever the seal is on, as demonstrated during Sasuke's battle with Naruto in the Valley of the End. Since this seal does rely on the will of the individual to whom it is placed the affected may be able to just will it away without an unsealing Jutsu.

Dyuaru Sou Fuja Hoin (Dual Layered Evil Sealing Method) - This is a more advanced version of the Fuja Hoin that was created by Uzumaki Naruto. Rather than being tied to the will of just the person, it is attached to, the seal is also tied to the will of the person who placed it effectively doubling the amount of protection the seal gives. The only way to break such a technique is to either overpower it with chakra, which is extremely painful and potentially fatal for the person the seal is on, or to have advanced knowledge in fuiinjutsu on the level of Master Fuiinjutsu user like Jiraiya.

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So here you go, I've explained some of Naruto's abilities. Truthfully he is not that much stronger now then he was before he changed. All he has are increased senses, a slight increase in physical prowess, Yoki or 'half yoki' instead of chakra, and immortality, or at least he won't die of old age or disease. Also, there is one other thing to note, Naruto will NOT be gaining 'mates'. There will be no 'bite this chick on the neck while you're having hot passionate sex and she will become a half-demon like you' glib going on here. In my opinion that is another reason, Half Demon Naruto has become so cliched. That is also why I made Kyuubi be who she was, Naruto's existence is going to be pretty lonely since everyone else will eventually die, even the girls he falls in love with. Hence Kyuubi, she will be able to keep him company.

Now for what this means as far as Romance is concerned I will tell you since I have left that open to interpretation long enough. Naruto will have what are called open-ended relationships, at least that's what a few of my lady friends call them. There will be girls that he will love, but due to the fact that A) He is a shinobi and can get killed at any time. B) He has a group of nine S-ranked criminals and quite possibly Orochimaru after him now. and C) is now immortal and will only die if someone kills him, his relationships can not go beyond that. I know people want it where he can somehow make others immortal as well, but that is not possible, if Kyuubi can't do it then why the hell would Naruto be capable of doing it when the only reason he is a hanyo is because of Kyuubi. So as I said, open-ended relationships with a few select girls that he cherishes. Also for those who are concerned about this becoming some kind of smut story, don't be. I have no intention of having Naruto get tang to every female he finds, lemons will be few and far between and Naruto will only get with girls who he actually loves. Eventually, he will learn to simply cherish the time he has with them and remember the times they shared after they die. Yes, it's sad, yes Naruto will always feel some pain from the loss, yes this may piss some people off and yes it's not the most ideal solution but I can't see this going any other way without going through the 'marking mates' cliche of Naruto being a half-demon. And honestly, I feel this is a more realistic take on shinobi relationships. When you can die at any given time, would you really be willing to risk marrying someone just for one of you to get killed and leave the other? Just look at Asuma's relationship with Kurenai, he dies leaving her with a son, it's simply the danger that comes with being a shinobi and why someone like Naruto would not be willing to risk being in a serious relationship, he does not want to get hurt like he did with Haku and he does not want others to hurt if he dies.