Naruto and the rest of Team 7 were awakened early the morning after arriving in the central tower and completing stage 2 of the chunin exams, by a hurried Hokage who needed to see the Fuinjutsu seal on Sasuke. Luckily, his secretary Naru had filled him in last night on everything that happened with Naruto and his team meeting Orochimaru, and what the Snake Sannin seemed to be after. The only part Naru couldn't explain was what happened after the original Naruto was taken out, and the words that were exchanged between the young Uchiha and his former student, and needing to see the seal to determine if it was what he feared.
Naruto was able to get a good look at the unusual seal that Orochimaru gave to Sasuke as it was expanded by the Third Hokage while Kakashi kept Sasuke still and viewed it himself. It was definitely way beyond anything Naruto had learned, although pieces of it were at least understandable. He was pretty concerned after the looks shared by Jiji and Kakashi, and agreed with them as they told Sasuke not to use the foreign chakra as the cost would be too great and risky.
He asked a lot of questions, when following Kakashi's outer sealing of Orochimaru's bite seal, and was surprised his sensei knew so much about Fuinjutsu getting a promise to teach him some of what he knew later. Sasuke wasn't completely happy to have the seal closed off, and grudgingly promised not to use it despite wanting to go all out in any fight he still had, which the Hokage hinted was likely going to be soon. Kakashi congratulated all of his genin, happy that they stuck together and survived their run in with Orochimaru, and yet was also very scared for his cute students as this was sure to cause them problems down the road.
The two left Team 7 with a lot of questions still going on in their minds, but most of it centered around why Orochimarau would have singled out Sasuke for the seal, and none of them boded well. They tried to put it in the back of their minds as they spent the next three days around the tower waiting for the second stage to end, eating in the cafeteria, occasionally catching up with the other rookies, and training in empty rooms when they needed something to do.
Naruto was at least able to spend the three days really hunkering down on Fuinjutsu lessons, using his clones in a large empty room he found to hammer home everything seal related that he had discovered so far. His storage and explosive seals were now top notch, and he could practically do them all in his sleep with no difficulty, and had his clones continue to add to his supplies when not trying new things. He was progressing through the more advanced stuff at a decent pace for anyone else, but for Naruto it still felt like it was taking too long, as the Uzumaki sealing information was still too far out of his reach.
The biggest surprise they discovered during the wait, was that Naruto's eyes had seemingly changed permanently from the clear ocean blue they were before to an almost glowing purple color, something he speculated was due to the fox's chakra or youkai. He was also a little surprised the first time the Kyuubi made a random comment on something he was looking at, having forgotten that the most recent change allowed the fox to communicate with him directly, almost like hearing voices in his head. It was pretty weird at first, and very distracting at the beginning until he started to get more used to having a running commentary on things he was seeing.
The biggest problem with the fox's running commentary was his sarcasm and general dislike of most human things, and having to ignore the extra or added comments on his teammates or other ninja. The benefits though were also quickly apparent, as the fox saw things he didn't, noticed subtleties and nuances that he never learned or paid attention to, and had a lot of knowledge about various ninja disciplines and techniques. The two spent most of those first few days just getting used to the new reality that was their unusual connection, and for the fox seeing new things after so long stuck in the seal was a great boon that he really enjoyed.
It was an unusual experience for Naruto to have someone so close to him all the time, and someone seeing everything he was involved in, and wondered if it would become suffocating or helpful down the road. The fox was a little too caustic and angry at times, and had too much pride that was easily offended, making him want Naruto to lash out at insignificant offenses he saw that naruto just didn't care about. He tried ignoring some of those darker tendencies and ideas the fox put forward, and found himself having to explain a lot of his thought processes to the fox in order for the large demon to understand and not get in the way when he was doing his usual things.
This having to over-explain though came in handy quite quickly, as the fox was able to understand what Naruto was trying to do most of the time, and allowed him to better guide or help the young blonde figure out others ways of accomplishing some of the things he wanted. For Naruto, having to over-explain everything made it so he was really having to work through his process and understand it even more himself so he could "sell it" to the fox without the powerful creature trying to undermine or distract him. With the Fuinjutsu work he was doing, it was extra helpful to his understanding of everything, and the Kyuubi was actually quite interested in the field of study that was primarily used to trap him and his brethren by the ninja of the Elemental Nations.
Over the three days, the two became closer as they communicated more about general and specific things that they were both interested in, and started to see one another as less of an enemy and more as a companion. For both of them, it had been a long time since someone was so involved in their life, and the adjustment wasn't always going to be smooth, but just knowing there was always someone there for them actually did help the two bond further. His teammates were a little surprised at how quiet Naruto had become in the few days since arriving at the tower, or how much the change in his eye color seemed to also carry a weight and intensity to his gaze that wasn't there previously.
Each of the three members of Team 7 though were much quieter than when they started this stage of the exams, as they each had a reality check and significant beat down to work through and hopefully grow from. Sasuke was still struggling with the confrontation he had with Orochimaru, and what the powerful missing nin really wanted with him, knowing it wasn't anything good but interested nonetheless in the man's strength. Sakura was again questioning why she wanted to be a ninja in the first place, as the confrontation with the Snake Sannin was terrifying, and she wondered if she wouldn't be happier living a normal civilian life like her parents.
Finally, all those who reached the tower were called together in the evening of the fifth day for the conclusion of the second stage, and they all met in the large open room to find the Hokage, and several chunin and jonin of the village and those who led the passing genin teams. There were seven teams that passed the second stage making it to the tower, miraculously including the Sound Team Naruto left unconscious and tied up, as well as Kabuto's team that arrived just before the close of the stage. All three of the Konoha rookie teams made it, along with Team Guy and the Sand siblings, giving them 21 genin hopefuls along with their jonin senseis and a few others from the village.
"Welcome," greeted the Third Hokage as he stood at the front of the group of genin, looking over them all with a critical eye, "and congratulations on passing the second stage of the chunin exams."
The excited muttering didn't last long as the elderly leader glared at those speaking until everyone was quiet once again, and Naruto was able to notice the tightness in his Jiji's eyes, and assumed it was from the news of his wayward student causing them trouble. Most of the genin looked excited or relaxed enough, though Naruto expected that would change soon as he expected them to be tested in some other way now that they were all together again. Kakashi gave him his customary eye-smile when they met gazes, and Guy gave him a thumbs up and megawatt smile as the Hokage began talking about the true purpose of the chunin exams for several minutes.
"As the referee for the third stage," interrupted a Konoha jonin after the Hokage finished his explanation of the reasons behind the chunin exams, "let me explain the next steps." He was of medium build and seemingly non-descript with a visible sword strapped to his back and a sickly sounding cough that sounded painful as his only distinguishing characteristics, "I am Hayate Gekko, referee for the next stage … and I have decided that we will need to hold some preliminary fights to see who will continue on to the Main Event."
"Preliminaries?" shouted Kiba the loudest, though he wasn't the only one to complain.
"Yes, the Finals of the chunin exams draw in a lot of dignitaries and powerful people," began the sickly jonin, who had identified himself as Hayate Gekko, "we don't want them to carry on too long, so we will have preliminary matches right now to settle who will fight in the Finals ...from this point forward, you are individual combatants ...so, does anyone need to withdraw before we begin?"
"I do," panted out Kabuto, playing up his fatigue, as his team did just arrive before they all gathered, but Naruto wasn't completely convinced when the Kyuubi whispered to him that the grey haired boy's chakra was completely fine.
"Splendid," replied their jonin referee, "then we have an even 20 participants ...we will have ten randomly selected one-on-one matches to determine the ten genin who will continue to the Finals ...could everyone not fighting please make their way up to the balconies to observe ...the first match will be Sasuke Uchiha of Konoha versus Yoroi Akado of Konoha?"
"Good luck Sasuke-kun," spoke Sakura, as others around them offered their own encouragement to one of their own.
"Hn," came the usual grunt of the Uchiha, though everyone could see that he was eager to fight as he cracked his neck and seemed to be loosening up for his fight.
Sasuke was really eager to fight anybody, and didn't think much of the teammate of Kabuto he was paired against, who had most likely taken these exams multiple times as well and never advanced, proving in his mind he would be an easy fight. The sensei of Kabuto and Yoroi however, had a very creepy look of eagerness on his face, and it reminded Naruto of Orochimaru, and wondered if the Sannin had somehow invaded these preliminaries as well, and promised he would keep an eye on that one. He along with the rest of the genin made their way up to the two balconies, with the Konoha rookies and Team Guy going to one side, while the Sound, Sand, and Kabuto's team went to the other side with their jonin senseis.
The fight started exactly how Naruto thought it would, with Sasuke thinking himself superior and not taking it seriously from the word go, and trying to verbally intimidate his quiet opponent who showed absolutely nothing and surprisingly engaged the Uchiha in close combat taijutsu. It didn't take long for everyone to realize that it wasn't simple taijutsu, as Yoroi used a lot of grappling moves with glowing blue hands that seemed to be wearing Sasuke out too quickly, as his chakra levels plummeted at alarming rates. With his need to not tap into the foreign chakra source from Orochimaru, Sasuke was at a serious disadvantage until he actually started using his brain and moved the fight into medium range where his shuriken and ninja wire tactics turned the tables and eventually won him the fight.
He didn't look too great when it was all over, and everyone could see how gassed and tired he seemed from a lack of chakra, and was thankfully carted to medical with Kakashi watching over him as they continued on to the next preliminary fight. It was between Zaku Abumi from Sound versus Shino Aburame from Konoha, and was a lot less exciting to watch than the previous fight. Zaku was all talk, and had only one technique, the decapitating airwaves he produced through hollow tubes implanted in his arms that came out his hands, and was easily defeated when Shino used his families' kikachu bugs to clog those pathways resulting in the explosive lose of both limbs.
Naruto noticed during the fight though, that Kabuto and his creepy sensei were both gone from the balcony across the way, despite both Yoroi who just fought Sasuke and their other teammate remaining. He wondered what they were up to, as both people had seemingly rubbed him the wrong way, and decided to get some of his wandering clones to investigate. He quickly spawned and then dispelled a clone with the instructions to the few he left in the tower to investigate and see if they could locate and spy on the pair to see what they were up to, but they had returned by the start of the next match.
The third fight was between Kabuto's final teammate, Misumi Tsurugi of Konoha versus Kankuro of Sand, and was pretty brutal to watch for all the Konoha rookies who got their first real taste of over the top violence just for violence sake. Misumi was able to use his chakra on his body in a way that allowed him to soften parts of it to make it bendable, and used that technique to coil around Kankuro in order to force him to surrender. But Kankuro had his own tricks, and wouldn't surrender, causing Misumi to destroy who he thought was the Sand genin, when in fact it was simply his puppet that turned the tables on the konoha genin, wrapping his puppet around Misumi and breaking many bones in his body until he forfeited and Kankuro was declared the winner.
After the medical team took Misumi away with his sensei following along, many of the Konoha rookies were looking much less confident as the realities of these fights started to set in for some of them. The next fight called though, put an end to that seriousness, as it was between former friends and rivals, Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka both of Konoha. It was a complete disaster, as within seconds of starting, both girls devolved into personal verbal attacks that lost them both their cool and turned into a bitch fight with no skill that ended up with a double knockout, and a sad shaking of many heads at their foolishness.
Then Tenten from Team Guy got put against Temari of Sand, in what quickly proved to be a very bad matchup for the Konoha weapon's mistress though nobody could doubt that she was head and shoulders better than the previous two kunoichi from her village. Temari was a Battle Fan user, that created powerful wind attacks that completely neutralized every attack that Tenten could throw at her, and quickly had her worn down where she forfeited. Temari proved she was a bit of a bitch, when she continued taunting the kunoichi of Konoha after the match, and won herself no love from those watching with her stuck up attitude, and luck of the draw.
"Sorry Tenten," spoke Naruto as she returned to their balcony depressed at her showing, "that was a bad matchup for you ...you'll get her next time."
"Thanks Naruto," she replied with a kind smile at his attempt to cheer her up, and then had to role her eyes as Lee added to her praises and promised to help her prepare with the most outlandish of workout requests that only he or Guy would ever do.
Then it was Shikamaru Nara of Konoha versus Kin Tsuchi of Sound in the sixth match of the day, in what proved to be very entertaining for the thinking observer, as Shikamaru prevailed. Primarily due to Kin's desire to taunt and torment her opponent instead of going for the quick victory, she left Shikamaru an opening to slip his shadows past her notice by hiding them under the wires she used to trigger her senbon bells. After she forfeited, her other teammate with the melody arm that had yet to fight was visibly pissed off and itching to get his hands on someone from Konoha.
Unfortunately for him, the next match was between Kiba Inuzuka and Naruto Uzumaki, leaving him to stew in his anger for another round as the two weakest former Academy students were set to fight one another. Kiba was ecstatic with getting Naruto as his opponent, quickly boasting to all that he would have this fight won in seconds, as the dead last from their class would be the easiest opponent of the lot. Naruto ignored his boasting other than a narrowing of his eyes, and got into position quietly, which should have alerted Kiba that he was not the same as before, and simply waited for the start to be given, getting some last minute advice from Kyuubi.
"You better not make me look bad, little ninjen," came the excited growl of the Kyuubi as they were both in agreement, and looking forward to proving their advanced skills and how far Naruto had grown since he last fought Kiba at the Academy.
"Then don't blink," came Naruto's whispered words as a smirk adorned his face as the referee asked them if they were ready.
"I was born ready," sneered Kiba, full of confidence and not taking his Academy Class' dead last seriously at all.
The moment they were told to begin, as Kiba was about to continue his verbal diarrhea, Naruto spawned two dozen clones, most of whom leapt at Kiba's position immediately, forcing him back a step as he had to swallow his words and prepare for a fight. Before they even reached him however, Kiba felt a tug on his ankle before he was pulled straight into the floor up to his neck and left there while a few clones threw shurikens with a net that caught and tangled up his puppy companion, Akamaru. The real Naruto appeared behind the captured Kiba and held a kunai to his neck, forcing him to surrender before the match even really started, and then walked calmly back to his position in the balcony to continue observing the other fighters after the referee declared him the winner.
"Well done, Naruto," came a compliment from Kakashi, who must have arrived just to see the match, while a brooding Sasuke just gave his usual 'hn' in acknowledgement.
"Yosh Naruto ...your youthful flames burn bright," praised Guy with his over the top smile and exuberant thumbs up, while Lee imitated him to the tee.
"Congratulations Naruto," came the almost whispered words of Hinata, as the others were all still looking at him in confusion at both his skill and speed in handling Kiba, but also his lack of boasting and quiet demeanor.
"What the hell, dead last!" came the angry shout of Kiba a moment later after he was freed from the ground and returned to the balcony, glaring at Naruto the whole way, "you cheating asshole!"
"I didn't cheat Inuzuka," responded Naruto with his own glare at the loud and arrogant Clan Heir, "I just used any advantage I could ...you know ...like a ninja."
"But I wasn't ready," he shouted right back, completely missing the point and just complaining for the sake of it.
"Then you should have alerted the referee when he asked if you were ready," Naruto fired right back, not feeling at all accommodating to the loud mouth that had been nothing but a pain in his ass through most of their Academy days. He was always mouthing off just like he used to and Naruto wasn't going to have a long drawn out fight that showed off all his skills to the others he would probably have to face next.
"Fuck you," shouted Kiba, and before anyone could stop him, lunged at Naruto with a powerful swipe of his claws, but Naruto was expecting it and easily dodged his angry swing and landed a strong knee in Kiba's abdomen that had him lock up with no air and fold over his leg like a lawn chair.
"Accept your defeat like a man, Inuzuka," came Naruto's whispered voice as Kiba fell to the ground locked up and gasping for air, while those up in the balcony were looking at Naruto in even more stunned silence, except for the small giggle from his sensei as he turned a page in his favorite orange book at just that moment.
"Kiba?!" shouted Kurenai, as she quickly made her way to her downed genin with a disapproving look towards both him and the blonde who laid him out, getting a nonchalant shrug in response from said blonde before he turned back towards the fighting area as the next names were being called.
Naruto was actually quite excited to see Neji fight, as Lee and Guy sensei both often mentioned how the boy was a prodigy of the highest order, and despite being a total asshat, was incredibly skilled. He was worried a bit for Hinata, as the shy girl practically shrivelled up when she learned just who she would be fighting, and sent her a small smile while wishing her luck. It seemed to help, as afterwards, she was at least walking with more confidence, and set herself up opposite what must have been a fellow member of her Clan that she just never mentioned her relationship with to anybody.
The fight was brutally one sided however, and despite Hinata showing a lot of determination and heart, she was simply outclassed by her fellow clan member and was defeated quite soundly. There were even several shouts from Kurenai and others to stop the fight as it neared the end, and Neji even sent an angry smirk at the sweet lavender haired girl before he closed in for a hit that most likely would have killed her had the referee not stepped in at the last moment. Even Shino was loudly upset at the actions towards his teammate, and had Kiba been conscious and not nursing his own wounds, he too would have taken great offense to Neji's total disregard for his fellow leaf ninja and clan member.
"How could a family member be that cruel to her?" asked a curious Choji, who always liked the shy Hyuuga girl, as she was one of the few to always be polite and kind to others.
"Hinata has often mentioned problems in her clan between the Main and branch families," spoke Shino in response to Choji's question, "and now we can see some of those issues for ourselves."
"Neji has a lot of issues regarding his place in the Hyuuga Clan," came the surprisingly softer voice of Lee as he leaned over to Naruto to share that information, and watched his teammate slowly make his way back up to the balcony with a sour look on his usually stoic face, "and blames fate for most of his troubles."
"What he needs is a serious attitude adjustment," countered Naruto to Lee and Choji, who were the closest to him, "or at least an ass kicking."
"Yosh, Naruto," laughed Lee with a shared smile with his occasional training partner, as he agreed that the Hyuuga prodigy needed to be taken down a peg as it was one of his goals in life after years of put downs and dismissals from Neji.
It got quiet as Neji returned to the balcony, as many of the ninja there liked Hinata as she was always polite to everyone and a genuinely kind soul, but it was broken as they announced that Rock Lee of Konoha was going against Gaara of Sand in a matchup that was sure to be memorable. Naruto knew that Lee was no pushover, but that Gaara kid gave everyone, even his siblings the creeps, and his homicidal tendencies weren't even well hidden as everyone often heard him over the last few days muttering about his need for others' blood to satisfy some unknown mother. Naruto gave his friend a nod and call for luck, and watched as both Guy and Kakashi became very tense and interested in the fight, and knew he should be paying very close attention as well.
The fight was insane, Lee's speed when he removed all his weights was incredible and his taijutsu was top notch when he was going all out, and Naruto realized he got lucky not having to face the taijutsu beast himself. After using several taijutsu moves that would crush most opponents, but just ended up pissing an unstable Gaara off, Lee used a Reverse Lotus move that Gaara just managed to avoid but left Lee too hurt to continue at his overwhelming speed. Due to this slow down, Gaara with his amazing control of sand that he used both offensively and defensively, was able to catch Lee in one of his many sand attacks that would have been fatal had Guy not intervened at just the last minute.
Guy managed to save Lee's life, but his young protege didn't escape unscathed, as his right leg and arm were both crushed under the pressure of Gaara's unbelievable sand coffin. Lee had to forfeit due to Guy's intervention, and had to be immediately rushed to the hospital in an effort to save his arm and leg, but there was a good chance that his ninja career may be over, causing many of the Konoha ninja to pale at the seriousness of that fight's outcome. It also left many there with a healthy fear of the unstable Gaara of Sand, who completely lost it after not being able to kill Lee at the end of the fight and threw a childlike tantrum screaming for Lee's blood to appease his mother.
After that fight, it took some time until the last fight was announced, and Dosu Kinuta of Sound was paired against Choji Akimichi of Konoha as the only two who had not yet fought. Dosu was still pretty pissed at Konoha in general even if it had faded while he waited, and took that anger out on a usually pretty passive Choji, at least until the Sound ninja called him fat and he actually got mad and attacked. His body expansion Clan techniques were pretty interesting, but inevitably too hard to pin down a quick ninja like Dosu without the aid of his teammates' techniques which helped hold others in place for Choji to take out.
With Dosu declared the winner after Choji forfeited before any real damage could be done to him, the nine winners were called down to the arena floor to draw their positions in the Final Stage of the Chunin Exams, which wouldn't take place for an entire month. This was to allow the many visiting dignitaries and other Kages to arrive, as well as to give the ninja time to prepare and train for their upcoming fights. After everyone drew their order numbers, the matchups were announced, and everyone would have a month to prepare for them.
First Round of Chunin Exam Finals
Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuuga
Gaara vs. Sasuke Uchiha
Kankuro vs. Shino Aburame
Shikamaru Nara vs. Dosu Kinuta
Temari then faces the winner of last match