54 Finals part one

The next few chapters are going to be more intense than the Forest of Death. Enjoy.

Anyway, here's the chapter.

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'Experiment with blood acquired from corpse of Uchiha Fuji. Uzumaki Ashina. Combining bloodline test.

Conclusion: Sample S shows a remarkable reaction when combined with Sample U.

In some cases, both samples clash and destroy one another. But more often than not, they melded together and formed a stronger chain, seemingly enhancing the prowess of the respective abilities inherent between the two. It is truly ironic that my blood properly bonded with an Uchiha blood sample, making it stronger than either until it degraded after a few weeks of being outside of the body.

This may be a possible reason why we, as teenagers and young adults, were warned to never fraternize with Uchiha. An offspring with the blood of both may be something unheard of in raw potential.

Perhaps there is more credence to the legends told by my grandfather's generation about us and the Senju being descended from the Rikudou Sennin.

And what is currently known and confirmed by my seal tests points to a few conclusions that may point to a shared ancestor.

Those with close blood, and similar chakra, can have seals and marks placed on them without the chakra of the host clashing, but this is something significantly more complicated.

A Yang dominant clan's blood mixing properly with a Yin dominant's. Almost sounds like one of those ridiculous novels from the civilian cities about 'Predestination'.

More study will be needed to determine why the Uchiha, Senju, and Uzumaki all have unrelated abilities when they potentially descend from one shared entity. And I dare not use people as study. Death and ignorance are preferable to being a butcher.

Sharingan, Adamantine chains, our stamina and chakra, and the Senju's ease of using Nature chakra without a foci like toad oil or snake venom, not to mention our longer lifespans that nobody else seems to have.

What on Earth are we descended from?

Edited for new Information: I have learned more information about the Senju's different abilities compared to ours. I had heard that Senju Hashirama's brother was an extremely bright lad. I began teaching him Fuinjutsu and picked his brain for ideas. Experience and knowledge goes both ways in a good apprenticeship.

Sealed report by Uzumaki Ashina, Uzumaki clan heir, Warring States period.

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"Hail Forest, full of Grace. The Log is with thee," Ashina seemed to be praying some sort of last rites to himself before his will was to be extinguished, "Blessed art thou among Leaf nin and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, the Log. Holy Forest, mother of Log, pray for us Leaf nin now at the hour of deaths!"

Orochimaru silently watched as Uzumaki Ashina repeated himself once more. From how it sounded, Orochimaru wouldn't be surprised if it was an inside joke between Ashina and perhaps one or both of the Senju brothers.

"The Log has delivered many a Shinobi from death, Orochimaru." Ashina seemed to read his mind, "My ally is The Log, and a powerful ally it is."

"These are the moments where I realize why you didn't try to escape and attempt to warn Konoha of your resurrection," Orochimaru replied to the intentional madness of the man, "You are an agent of chaos. You relish in the disruption you can cause. You busied yourself in destroying my notes and experiments I kept hidden here for nearly a decade instead of breaking out of here."

"I am an out of tune instrument," Ashina said with a smile, "A broken string. All it takes for a perfect symphony, such as a grandiose plan years in the making, to come crashing into chaos is one discordant note. A single event, driving into a weak point like a spear, will shatter the perfect image in the mirror of the future."

"Even in death, you have a way with words." Orochimaru said with a flat tone.

"Words have the power to both destroy and heal," Ashina stated, looking wistful, "When words are both true and kind, they can change our world."

"Empty platitudes," Orochimaru remarked, growing bored with the conversation, "Have you come to a decision on telling me about your clan's secret ability? A secret perhaps only I know?"

Ashina snorted in derision.

"It is not my fault that you refuse to believe me when I say that ability is not of Uzumaki origin."

"I only encountered one person with them. I know it is likely transplantable."

"How strange," Ashina tilted his head, "I only encountered one person with them, and he wasn't an Uzumaki."

Orochimaru looked at Ashina's violet eyes and almost willed an answer out of him.

"Tell me who he is," Orochimaru whispered, "And I will kill only Sarutobi. I will not target any civilians and your grandchildren will still have Konoha to call home."

Ashina had the audacity to laugh at his promise.

"You cannot hope to convince me to part with such knowledge. You will never reach the level I reached as a shriveled old prune, even with a powerful dojutsu."

Ashina kept on speaking.

"The only man I knew with the power you keep yammering about was a useless old fool who didn't know when to stay dead." The Uzumaki growled, "So I drove a blade through his heart and cut off his head. The memory of his eyes dilating as the blood left his brain is something I wish I had the Sharingan to burn in my mind for eternity."

Orochimaru saw how Ashina acknowledged what he was saying, dangled information in front of him like a prime steak, then pulled it back to taunt him.

"It is a great pity that you will not help me, Ashina," Orochimaru said with a tone dripping false sadness, "Your grandchildren will be forced to die in that case."

Another mirthless chuckle came from the elder Uzumaki.

"You are threatening me with something I experienced a hundred fold, Orochimaru," Ashina said flatly, the malice in his voice flowing under the surface, "My wife is dead, my children are dead, and all of my grown grandchildren aside from Tsunade are dead. And I know you covet the knowledge my clan has, so my two grandchildren will still live."

Orochimaru decided to test out something, hopefully he could catch a flash of recognition.

"I will need to be more attentive to kill your grandson," Orochimaru mused, "I have discovered he can survive being beheaded."

The badly disguised shift in his stare clued Orochimaru in on the dead man's thoughts.

'Ah, there it is. He realizes there's only one way for me to know that.'

"You are going to die today," Ashina promised, a disturbing flatness to his voice,"Not tomorrow. Not decades from now. But today. I'll kill you the same way I killed the Jinchuriki's for the Nibi and Gobi and how I plan to kill Roshi." The man's eyes seemed to almost glow in the dark room. "I'm going rip you from your body and it will be very painful."

"Ah, but I am not a Jinchuriki." Orochimaru chuckled, his eyes glinting dangerously.

Ashina scoffed and shifted around, maintaining his gaze.

"Bijuu inhabit chakra networks foreign to them," Ashina's face shifted into a grin, the cracks of the reanimation opening a little wider, "It takes a proper touch to rip them out and I know precisely what you did to prolong your connection to the mortal plane."

In spite of knowing that he held all the power here, Orochimaru couldn't help but be unnerved by the certainty in Ashina's voice.

"Care to educate me on my youthful follies?" Orochimaru raised a brow.

"Gladly." Ashina smiled with all teeth.

"The body you inhabit, and all other bodies you switch to, will wither away from your soul and chakra contaminating the tenketsu of a foreign body." Ashina kept on smiling. "It doesn't matter what I tell you. The technique itself is flawed. The chakra network of people acts in a similar manner to blood types effecting the body's response to transfusions, but on a much more sensitive scale. You likely noticed that, but any precaution you took still doesn't change that bodies will reject the wooden horse you used to transport your soul into the body, being your chakra."

Orochimaru stared intently at Ashina, hanging on to every word.

"Your original body has undoubtedly either rotted or you destroyed it, meaning you don't have the chance to repair what you did to yourself."

"And how would you know of such a flaw in my technique?" Orochimaru prompted, eager to hear the flimsy reasoning Ashina had.

Chuckling rather viciously, Ashina gave him his answer.

"Because it's the same thing I theorized was possible over a hundred years ago that inspired Tobirama to create the Jutsu that allows us to speak right now."

"Oh, yes," Ashina continued at the expression of genuine surprise on Orochimaru's face, "You weren't exactly original when thinking of a physical vessel for the conscious self. Much of Tobirama's jutsu sprung from that very idea. Kage bunshin were to have a match to your own intellect in your bunshin, while the Hiraishin wasn't like that, but the Edo Tensei was created with a summoning jutsu as the basis."

'What does he mean?' Orochimaru kept running that question through his mind as he repeated what Ashina said about his attempts at tethering a soul to a body.

'The note.' Orochimaru realized, remembering the note left in Uzu.

"I assumed you only thought of a concept, not the validity of a possible working jutsu."

"Snooped in my office after I died, did you?" Ashina asked condescendingly, "I'm still surprised you even had the means to enter Uzu and get out without killing yourself."

"Spare me your scolding," Orochimaru said tiredly, wishing to get more information from Ashina, "You seem to not care about giving me information and critiques on my immortality, but you draw the line at something as absurd as 'snooping'."

Ashina shrugged again.

"I'm dead and look young, but I'm still ancient by even unconventional standards. I'm certain I've lived longer than the Sage of Six paths. Of course the old find something to complain about. It's what we do after we've killed our enemies and conquered everything life threw at us."

This entire conversation was beginning to be rather tiresome for Orochimaru, so he mentally tugged some on Ashina's tether, causing the man to scowl.

"Be an impatient kid diddler then," The man sneered, "But you made a key mistake in the likely avenue of study you did in switching bodies."

Giving him an unimpressed look, Ashina continued.

"Marking someone with a seal with your chakra in it to shift the target's chakra to be more like your's is probably what you did to stave off outright systemic rejection," Ashina explained coldly, but continued on, "But chakra and blood relation are inextricably linked, as I said before. You would require a certain kind of host to avoid rejection, even if you might be able to hold it off for several years with medical Ninjutsu."

Ashina had just explained exactly what happened with his replacement bodies, the issue already being noted by him. That was why the curse mark had to be placed on Sasuke. He planned on having Sasuke's body as a vessel for decades, possibly creating offspring as new hosts when the body began to weaken from age.

"A blood relative has similarities in chakra, even if they have separate or even opposing affinities. And chakra coils are more malleable and less prone to rejection at a very young age, combined with similar chakra preventing outright rejection. There's a reason why Jinchuriki are normally children at the time of sealing, and the chakra level of a Kage may as well be the same as a Bijuu when compared to some chakra networks. But you unfortunately don't have a young blood relative to switch into." Ashina said the last part mockingly, likely hoping to get a reaction.

The coincidence of him thinking of something that Ashina seemed to get to was a little surprising, but meant nothing.

When no reaction was made, Ashina seemed to give up.

"Do you not think this is overkill?" Ashina asked, over a hundred different chakra suppressant tags strapped to him while he was restrained to the table once more.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you managed to break the tether in the few seconds it would take me to slip this on you as I summoned you and the Senju brothers." Orochimaru held up the tag to suppress the will of a reanimation, but at the cost of independent thought.

Ashina huffed and looked at the tag distastefully, his arms and legs restrained as well.

"Add a slight swirl on the outer ring of Kanji," Ashina looked at the tag, "It will keep my chakra from slipping out temporarily."

"As if I would trust that or anything at all you've said in this conversation." Orochimaru remarked, approaching the restrained Uzumaki.

"Suit yourself," He shrugged, "My chakra isn't like most."

Orochimaru, just a foot away from planting the tag in his skull, paused.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Yin chakra like mine is uncommon for an Uzumaki," Ashina shrugged, "It makes seals like that rather slippery when forced."

Orochimaru still had his hand hovering behind Ashina's head, and he smirked at the confirmation of his theory.

"That is why my curse mark didn't stick to your grandson. He is like you."

Orochimaru then pushed the seal in, causing Ashina to spasm before the dead Uzumaki could speak.

The reanimation eventually stopped moving and Orochimaru walked around to face the Uzukage, grinning when he saw the empty expression.

Deactivating the seals, the snake Sannin backed away and smiled as Ashina didn't resist at all.

Orochimaru reached into his pocket and pulled out a storage scroll, pulsing chakra into it to remove a Jonin uniform and tossed it towards Ashina.

"Your grandson is not a viable host." Orochimaru smirked, "So I will have another unsuitable one dispose of him."

Kimimaro was dying, but he still was a very dangerous and useful weapon for a good purpose.

'It's a pity that you learned about some things from Itachi, Naruto-kun.' Orochimaru lied to himself. The Akatsuki would have to accept the boy's death if Itachi was already outed as disloyal and may have possibly been leaking information.

It's not like this 'Tobi' individual or Pein would be able to discern a lie about Itachi or not.

Two birds with one stone.

The Sannin then exited the room to prepare for the event in a couple hours.

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I woke up and squinted my eyes at the light pouring through my window, then glanced at my alarm.

Mr. Sun came up and smiled at me 30 minutes before I was supposed to wake up.

"Whatever." I muttered to myself, deciding to get out of the bed and get ready.

I stretched my arms and yawned, then I stood up. Before I began to walk towards the kitchen to fix breakfast for me and Rin, I noticed a few papers under my clock.

'That's odd.' I thought, thinking I had left out Tobirama's notes.

Once I grabbed the papers, I realized these weren't the notes.

One, they weren't in Tobirama's handwriting. And two, the paper was new.

The art of stealth and how to avoid dojutsu wielders: By Uzumaki Ashina.

I didn't recognize the notes, meaning they didn't exist in Hiruzen's possession when he gave us our grandfather's notes.

'Jiraiya probably transcribed it and dropped it off to mess with me.' I decided, setting them back down.

Knowing Jiraiya, he probably intentionally broke a few of the security seals in a way that I wouldn't be able to tell unless I painstakingly checked them all. I'll need to after the invasion.

I went to the bathroom and did my morning routine and took a shower, before drying myself off and heading to the kitchen.

About 15 minutes later, after I had breakfast started, Rin came in and rubbed her eyes, having just woken up.

"Morning." I said, still focused on the stove.

Rin mumbled a 'good morning' as well and sat down, trying to wake herself up.

After I finished up the breakfast, I slid a fresh plate to Rin, who started eating. I grabbed my own and sat on the other side of our small kitchen table, digging in as well.

"How is Karin?" I eventually asked, having been unable to talk with her since I had been training outside of the village with Jiraiya.

Rin swallowed her mouthful of food and wiped her mouth with a napkin, her violet eyes gazing at my blue.

"She's doing pretty well, even though she's in a hotel with an ANBU guard. She understands why she needs to be sort of hidden until the exams are over."

"That's good," I smiled, thinking of how close I was to being recognized as clan head, "Don't want Kusa to try taking her back."

Rin nodded and went back to eating, obviously enjoying the food.

After we finished eating, I put up the plates and went back to my room to get properly dressed, with all my gear stored in the secured closet.

After I got everything on, I went back towards the living room to wait on Rin. Once she came out ready, I asked a question that I was certain of the answer.

"Do we want to visit Karin before we meet up with Kakashi?" I asked, wanting to give our cousin some company before things went a little pear shaped.

"Yeah, for sure." Rin nodded, looking excited to see our cousin once more.

"Alright then." I turned and opened the door, the two of us walking out.

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"Hi, Bear," I said, greeting the ANBU at the front of Karin's hotel room, but he was in plainclothes, "Fancy seeing you here."

"Hello, Uzumakis," Bear said to the two of us, sounding bored, "It's been a little slow since you stopped coming around for a couple weeks. But I gotta say, your sister is much nicer than you."

"Yeah. Yeah," I mock glared at him, while Rin snickered at the statement, "Can we be let in?"

Bear was one of the ANBU I liked. He, Neko, Kakashi, and Itachi were the most common ones to watch Rin and me when we were little, and Bear was a professional about his job.

"Sure," He shrugged, still not moving out of the way, "I just need confirmation that it's you."

I raised up my hand and pulsed some chakra into my fingers, a couple of thin golden blades coming from my fingertips.

Bear nodded and stepped aside. "Good enough."

I gave him a nod of thanks and I, with Rin right beside me, entered Karin's room.

I smiled when I saw a red blur rush towards us as the door opened.

"About time you two came here at the same time!" Karin said excitedly, pulling the two of us into a hug.

Rin and I returned the hug, the only three Uzumaki in the village now reunited once again.

Karin let go and gave me a piercing look with her red eyes, focusing on something.

"Your chakra feels different. It's lighter."

"I've decided to be a little more relaxed about things," I replied, "My Sensei basically told me to relax."

"Then it really worked," Karin smiled, looking relieved, "That bunshin of yours was scary."

I nodded along and leaned to my right to look behind my cousin, spotting several papers with a brush and pot of ink by the small table next to the bed.

"You been working on Fuinjutsu?" I asked, recognizing the paper.

"Rin brought some supplies over a few days ago," Karin nodded, walking towards her bed to get a few examples, "My kaasan said that our clan was full of Seal masters, but she didn't have any notes with her."

I smiled gratefully at Rin having the forethought to bring notes about Fuinjutsu for Karin. She had just a much of a right to that information as us.

"Did Rin tell you some stories about our clan?" I asked, sitting down on the foot of the bed.

Karin nodded happily and gestured for Rin to sit down as well, which she did.

"I can't believe the Uzukage was so strong! Do you think I'm related to him like you guys are?" Karin reminded me a lot of Rin when she was excited, and I loved every bit of it.

"I don't know," I said, glancing at Rin, "You might be. We'll just need to wait and find out."

The next half hour or so was Karin asking different things about Fuinjutsu, switching between asking Rin and me about some tips on simplifying certain seals and about how long the calligraphy lessons will take.

We eventually heard a knock on the door and both Karin and I pressed out our sensing, a weak signature like a civilian's was at the door while Bear was standing to the side.

"That's the hotel guy that brings food." Karin explained, hopping off the bed and going to get her breakfast.

I heard her thank the worker and came back with a bento box of food, steam rising up from it.

"I would've had them bring you guys food if I knew you were coming." She said apologetically, pulling the chopsticks that were taped to the outside of the box away.

"We already ate," Rin waved it off, glancing at the food then to me, "Naruto's food is better."

"I'm going to trust you," Karin said, taking a small bite of food and closing her eyes, "It better be at least half as good as this." The girl seemed to relax completely as she savored the taste of the food.

To be fair, the food Karin was eating smelled and looked delicious. But I was sure mine was better, and not because I was arrogant about it.

Karin happily munched on the food and I looked to Rin, then to Karin.

"Once the exams are over," I started, leaning back and setting my chin on my hand, "Are you two wanting to go shopping?"

"Hmm?" Karin asked, swallowing her food, "What?"

"Well," I explained, looking at the twin looks of curiosity from my two female relatives, "You might need some new outfits because you won't be going back to Kusa," I then turned to Rin, "And you grew a couple more inches, so you'll need new clothes."

Karin looked introspective, glancing at me and Rin.

"I would love that very much, Naruto," She looked almost ready to hug me again, "But I don't think the village will cover that like they have the hotel bill and my food."

Hiruzen had everything here paid for because she was part of a soon to be recognized clan, which gave him a lot of financial liberties in using funds delegated for such things.

"I make money on selling seals," I explained, "I have enough to pay for clothes. And it wouldn't matter anyway. You're family."

Karin did hug me this time.

"Thank you." The red haired girl mumbled, sniffling slightly.

She then backed away and gave me a mock serious look.

"I like red. So make sure as many clothes sold here are red."

"And I want orange." Rin added, poking my shoulder, "I don't get why I can't wear orange."

"There aren't rules about you wearing orange," I said confusedly, wondering where she got that idea from, "I just personally don't like orange."

Rin wore, at most, an orange shirt that was covered by her long sleeve shirt or jacket when it was cold or rainy.

Rin's face froze in surprise, slowly turning towards me.

"I thought orange wasn't allowed for Shinobi. The whole standing out thing."

"That's only ANBU," I said, still wondering where she got the idea from, "Kurenai doesn't wear anything that blends in and half the forces in Konoha don't wear discreet outfits."

The Henge was the reason why most Shinobi didn't bother with perfect uniformity. Only a small number of higher tier Konoha Shinobi wore clothes that were designed to blend in with the environment, me being one of the few.

"Well," Rin huffed, looking aggravated, "I didn't know that!"

I smiled at her overlooking that, but I put a hand on her shoulder to assure her.

"Don't worry. We can buy all the ugly orange shirts and jackets you want."

"It's not like red and black are better than yellow and orange." Rin said, tugging at her hair lightly for emphasis. "You'll look awful wearing orange, but I won't."

I laughed to myself at the truthfulness in what she said, about orange clashing horribly with my hair.

"I wear black most of the time because it and red are my favourite colours." I peered at her as I tilted my head. "You're a blonde. So it doesn't look bad."

"So your guy's favourite colours are black and orange?" Karin asked, looking between the two of us.

"Yep," Rin nodded, "Orange is bright and it's like the sunset. I don't know why Naruto likes black."

'Two words, my little sister.' I thought to myself amusedly. 'Darth. And Vader.'

Style is awesome. The thing that makes or breaks a character is their style. An imposing figure in a mask is something else entirely. Black and red go together like blue and white.

And that saying about redheads not having a soul was just plain old irony.

"I know that grin," Rin said suspiciously, her eyes narrowed at me into violet slits, "You're thinking of something."

"I like black because of more than one reason," I shrugged, looking at Karin, "One is because of the mystery and how dark it is," I then adopted a wistful look, "But mostly from how it makes bright things look brighter, kind of like how the night sky makes the stars and moon appear. We can't see how beautiful they are without the darkness clashing with it."

"Huh," Rin said quietly, "I never thought of it like that."

I then turned to Karin and looked at her bento box.

"Can I have a bite?" I asked, "Just to see if it's good."

Karin shrugged and handed me the box.

"Just one."

I grabbed a sushi roll and popped it in my mouth, chewing it slowly.

"The roll is definitely better than mine." I admitted, enjoying the bite in it's flavour.

Karin took the box back and finished eating while Rin and I looked over the calligraphy practice Karin had been doing.

She was actually pretty decent for somebody that hadn't done any past seal work, even if it was just beginner stuff.

I waited til Karin finished her food when I popped a question.

"Are you wanting to get out and see the village some?" I asked, "I can have a kage bunshin as a decoy and I can slip out of here while you Henge as me if you want to look around until the finals."

"Won't that get us in trouble?" Rin asked, turning her head to look at the door where Bear was standing beside out in the hallway.

"Only if we get caught," I pointed out, "And it's not like it'll be several hours. 30 minutes tops, just so our cousin can get a better touch on the village." I then turned to Karin. "What do you say, cousin?" Me calling Karin that felt amazing. Cousin meant she was related. Ohona means family.

Karin seemed to enjoy the term as well, because she smiled and nodded, readjusting her glasses.

"Let's go then." She set her empty food box to the side. "Let me just Henge as you." She made a hand seal and a puff of smoke surrounded her, revealing a near perfect copy of me.

I squinted my eyes and looked at the disguise up and down, trying to check for a flaw.

"My hair has a couple blonde streaks right here," I gestured towards my temple for emphasis, "And the one side of your hair is still lying flat. Everything else is good."

Karin nodded and readjusted the Henge on her hair and gave me a thumbs up.

"Okay," I looked between Rin and Karin, "Rin and Rin with a K," I smiled when both rolled their eyes in sync at the admittedly stupid joke, "I do not look like that when I roll my eyes. But here's the plan."

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"Did you really have to smack my head and call me a baka?" Karin frowned at Rin as we walked through the village, showing Karin different parts of importance.

"Bear would have been suspicious if I didn't do anything," Rin defended herself, "He knows Naruto is a baka."

"I can hear you." I said from a few yards ahead, looking around for another place to point out to Karin.

"That's the point." Rin countered, the two girls catching up when I stopped.

"This is the best BBQ place in all of Konoha," I pointed at Yakiniku Q, "Don't let Choji trick you into eating here if you promise to pay for his lunch. This place is kind of expensive, but worth every penny."

"Penny?" Karin asked.

"Ryo, sorry." I muttered, before moving along like nothing happened. "Ichiraku's ramen is probably too busy for us to swing by and say hi, but tell them you're our cousin and you'll probably get a complimentary bowl from them."

Karin was listening intently to me while glancing at the people milling about.

It was crowded, which was good for us since nobody was glaring at me and Rin. Granted, it could be possible people were already disliking us less, but I couldn't be sure.

Spotting an entourage that appeared to be lost, I signaled Rin I'd be a moment, trusting Rin would tell Karin what the signal meant.

I approached the group of 6 men and women and cleared my throat.

"Do you need help finding something?" I asked politely, pointing towards the symbol on my headband, "I can probably point you the right way."

The leader, I assume, a rather tall and slender man with greying black hair, looked at my forehead and back to my eyes with a smile on his face.

"I'm afraid we are unable to find the hotel we have reservations for. Do you happen to know where the Dancing Dragon is?"

The Dancing Dragon was right next to where Karin's hotel was. That hotel was for higher end customers.

"Yeah." I answered and gave him directions, which caused the man's smile to widen more so.

"Thank you, my boy," He inclined his head, calling his company by name to come over to him, "It's very much appreciated. Say," He started again, glancing at my headband and my sword strapped to my back, "Are you competing in the finals?"

"Yep." I nodded.

"Well, I wish you good luck. You look like a bright kid. I hope you don't face off against that Suna genin."

"Wouldn't dream of it." I lied easily, not wanting to worry the guy.

The man nodded kindly and walked away with his friends/acquaintances behind him.

"I wish you good fortune in your fight." The man then bid farewell with the others.

After they left, I walked back to my two family members and explained that they were lost and needed directions.

"That's nice." Rin said, glancing at the group.

"Yeah, but let's move on and show Karin a few more things. We'll need to get to Kakashi soon."

I took point again and pointed out a few more things, including when we went by the Hyuga compound and walked towards another familiar area.

"This is the hospital," I pointed at the building, "Don't be like me and you'll be just fine. The nurses are a nightmare."

"They were perfectly fine to me." Rin raised a brow, before snorting lightly.

Karin got quiet, which didn't go unnoticed by me.

"Karin, you alright?" I asked quietly.

"I sense something." She muttered, walking towards the alley by the hospital.

It wasn't the same hospital that I was attacked next to, so it wasn't an issue for me.

We got to the alley and I pressed out my own sensing, pausing when I felt something familiar.

"Wait! Karin!" I shouted, realizing she hadn't slowed down like I did.

Tora came slinking out from behind one of the trashcans and gazed lazily at us, eventually staring at Karin.

"Karin," Rin said gently, her eyes impossibly wide, just like mine were, "You need to back away very slowly. That cat is a demon."

Tora evidently understood that Rin was talking about her when she used the word 'demon' and the cat hissed at her, before slowly walking towards Karin.

"Karin." I was ready to rush towards her and kick the cat like I did last time, but what happened next had my thoughts grinding to a halt.

Tora tilted her head up towards Karin and started nuzzling her leg, the cat purring extremely loudly.

"Hi there, little Tora," Karin cooed, petting the cat, "Is her lost? Oh, you're such a fuzzy kitty cat."

Rin and I were standing there, completely silent as our cousin seemed to tame the single most vicious cat in existence.

"Come to Karin, Tora-chan." Karin picked Tora up and the cat didn't resist, looking perfectly content, hell, even purring louder.

Karin walked back towards us and Rin managed to gather herself first.

"That cat is a monster, but it likes you."

Tora started growling in her throat as she got closer to us, especially me, but she remained still in Karin's arms.

I blinked a few times and pinched myself to make sure I wasn't imagining it, but it was real.

"I expected to kick you again because I thought you were going to attack my cousin." I leaned towards the cat, sticking my tongue out at it.

Tora yowled and pawed at me, trying to reach my face, and hissed.

I hissed back, but much louder, causing her to pull her ears back and curl up towards Karin in fear.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Karin glared at me, her eyes narrowed dangerously, "You will not scare Tora-chan."

"She started it." I protested.

I decided it was a waste of time to convince Karin of the undisputable fact that Tora was a nightmare and we just walked out of the alley, another member to our troupe.

/////////////////////

"How did you manage to tame Terrible Tora?" Kakashi asked incredulously, looking at the three of us.

"Uzumaki are awesome that way." Rin struck a pose, giggling after a few seconds, "Like how I did that, Naruto?" She kept giggling mischievously, "I pulled a you."

"Right." I deadpanned, glancing back at Kakashi.

Sasuke had showed up about 15 seconds after Kakashi did outside the arena, while I could feel Ino and Shikamaru inside already, and Hinata was closing in from behind us.

"Tora seems to love Karin," I said, "But still hates us." I emphasized my point by putting my hand near Tora's reach, which the feline predicably tried to paw at me.

"That's because you kicked her." Karin scolded me, holding Tora snug, "Tora-chan is just misunderstood."

"It clawed my face!" Sasuke cut in, defending Rin and me, "That cat is a menace."

"You probably act like Naruto," Karin shook her head, scratching Tora's ear with her hand, "So she thinks you're like him. A big meany."

Sasuke looked scandalized at being compared to me and voiced his opinion on the matter. "Please do not compare me to Naruto."

The fact that Sasuke stressed the please part meant he really did not like the comparison.

Kakashi stepped forward and gingerly reached for the cat, which obviously hissed at him as well.

"Karin-san," Kakashi said politely, "I'm sorry to say, but Tora doesn't like anyone."

"You feel like a dog," Karin looked up at him, "So she doesn't like you."

Karin obviously refused to believe that her little angel could be a devil, so Kakashi shrugged and made a Kage bunshin.

"Take her back to her hotel and swing by the pet store to get a litter box and some food," Kakashi instructed the clone, "It's not safe because of all the people here."

'Safe for Tora, or for the people?' I thought sarcastically, seeing Karin understand what Kakashi was saying.

"I'll see you guys later," She smiled, before turning towards Hinata, who just got here, "Sorry, Hinata, I'd love to say hi, but I need to take care of my little angel now." With that, Karin left with Kakashi's clone.

"Was," Hinata tried to say, looking genuinely confused, "Was that Tora in her arms?"

"Yes." I replied, still surprised by it even after I saw it with my own eyes throughout the whole ordeal, "The cat loves her."

Hinata activated her Byakugan and turned towards where Karin was, still looking confused.

"I don't see how," She whispered quietly, "She barely tolerated me when I petted her once."

Tora hated Rin and Sasuke, despised me, but tolerated Hinata in moderation. Probably because the cat could feel that she was a gentle soul or something.

"All three of my students are in the finals," Kakashi suddenly said proudly, "And you too," he added towards me almost like an after thought, which I snorted, "And I couldn't be more proud of you all."

"I can't believe I'm the only Jonin that has all three of mine in the finals," He repeated, his visible eye crinkled in a smile, "I trust that all of you will win your matches." He then turned to Rin and Sasuke, "If both of you don't win your matches, I'll be disappointed in the two of you."

"That's not that funny, Kakashi-sensei." Rin said flatly, but she was trying to hide her smile.

Sasuke looked like he wanted to say something, but he stopped himself.

Kakashi straightened up and glanced at the area, then back to us. "It's about time we go in. Come on." He turned to walk towards the arena, the four of us following.

///////////////////

I was caught off guard when we entered the arena by the sound of the spectators all combined into a near deafening chorus when my hearing was better than average. I noticed Rin looked a little uncomfortable as well, and Sasuke noticed as well.

While Sasuke leaned towards Rin to talk with her, I saw the other genin that were going to compete, including my friends.

Ino likely sensed us because she turned around waved towards us and smiled, with Shikamaru turning when his blonde teammate did.

Shikamaru's chakra felt different. One, his reserves were larger. Not to Sasuke's level, but they were definitely higher and he looked better overall. More dangerous.

'He obviously took preparing for Shino seriously.'

We got towards the balcony that Asuma and his students were at and Ino rushed towards us while Shikamaru just walked.

"Nice to see you, Naruto," Ino smiled, having not seen me for a few weeks, "You guys ready?" She turned towards Team 7 with a huge smile.

"Ready as ever!" Rin declared, patting Sasuke rather forcefully on the shoulder, "Sasuke doesn't know what he's in for."

I looked towards Shikamaru and I raised my brow in question, which he got the hint.

"Does my chakra feel that different?" He asked seriously.

"Your chakra is more defined," I admitted, still focusing on it, "You finally got motivated to be a whole lot stronger, Shika."

Shikamaru scoffed and adjusted his posture.

"This whole month has been troublesome. My dad trained me harder than Gai does with his students."

I quietly absorbed that information, wondering how bad it really could be if Shikamaru wasn't exaggerating.

"Can't say it didn't pay off." I pointed out, the group of us walking towards where Kakashi met up with Asuma.

"Where's Lee?" I asked Kakashi, not seeing him even when I heard he was going to be the add on to fight the Kumo genin.

"Give it a few seconds." Kakashi said knowingly, already having his orange book out.

As if Kakashi could predict the future, I saw two twin blurs of green rush towards us, a small cloud of dust kicked up by their speed.

"Kakashi!" Gai shouted, wrapping an arm around Kakashi's shoulder, "Why must you read such Unyouthful things in front of such impressionable genin?"

Kakashi, in an impressive display of detachment, slowly looked up at Gai.

"Did you say something, Gai? I thought I heard you speak."

Gai practically fell apart at Kakashi saying that.

"Why must I be punished by your hip attitude, Kakashi?" He stepped away from his silver haired rival and muttered under his breath about Unyouthfulness.

"You doing good, Lee?" I asked, ignoring Gai and Kakashi.

"I am feeling amazing, Naruto-kun!" Lee nodded his head excitedly, "Gai-sensei has helped me prepare and I will win my match."

Based on what I'd seen from the Kumo genin, Lee had an edge because of his ridiculously high speed and strength for a genin.

"This final is ours for the taking," I couldn't help but feel pumped up from just being right next to Lee. His excitement tended to be contagious, "The Konoha rookies are gonna kick butt and take names."

I blinked when I felt a familiar chakra signature enter the arena, a rather violent kind.

"Gaara's here." I winced, causing everybody listening to turn to where I was looking.

Shino was on the other balcony with Kurenai, and I could see Kiba and Sakura in the stands.

"Where's Neji?" I asked Lee, realizing I didn't see him.

"He wished to prepare alone," He said sadly, "He wasn't pleased throughout the whole month."

I nodded my understanding, knowing that Neji likely wasn't pleased with getting a supposed handout from training with Gai. So he might have opted to train on his own.

I just hoped Hinata was able to beat him and get him to see reason. I don't see any other way he'll get his head screwed on straight without a really bad event happening.

Eventually, all of the Genin had arrived and I glanced up at the seats that housed the Kage.

Rasa, read Orochimaru, was up there with a bodyguard next to him whose chakra was extremely difficult to discern. Hiruzen was there, looking totally at ease, and to Hiruzen's left, over a foot taller than the Hokage was the Yondaime Raikage. Ay was scary, undoubtedly. His chakra was almost painful to feel from how much it crackled, and he was an all around juggernaut.

Next to Ay was B, and Jiraiya was standing behind Hiruzen, which made me feel like a massive weight was taken off my shoulders.

It was worth it. The letter worked. Jiraiya would be able to stop Hiruzen from being killed and all the toad Sannin had to do to get Ay and B to aid them was to say that Orochimaru was part of a group that wanted to capture tailed beasts.

I was pulled from my observations of the rather frightening guy when the proctor for the exams set off a weak exploding tag to garner everyone's attention.

A new proctor wasn't here. It was still Hayate, which given that Kabuto was outed as a traitor, it would make sense that he was laying low and probably didn't speak to Baki where they could be over heard.

Hayate announced that the competing genin were all here and that the first match would be between Rock Lee and Masoni Kaito, eliciting cheers from some of the Kumo crowd that came here.

I noticed that Yugito was standing next to Kaito and said something, before the teen went down to the center of the arena.

"Good luck, Lee," I encouraged the older boy, everyone else jumping in to give their support, "You got this."

Lee sniffed a bit and thanked everyone profusely for their support and jumped down to prepare to fight his opponent.

"How well do you think he will do?" Ino got close to me, her tone one of genuine curiosity.

"Lee can actually hurt me bad if I'm not extremely careful," I said, "And the Kumo kid can't take a hit like I can."

I then looked at Ino right before the fight was about to begin.

"Are you prepared to fight Temari?" I asked quietly, "I know she's a couple years older and is fairly skilled."

"I'm sure I can win," Ino said firmly, "And Hinata is gonna kick Neji into next week."

I'd heard from Rin that Hinata and Ino had been helping each other out over the last month, but not any specific details.

"What did you guys all work on?" I was curious about what they were planning on doing to hopefully win.

"Just wait and see." Ino laughed, not giving me an answer.

I shrugged and leaned on the balcony, watching as both Lee and his opponent looked ready to begin.

With a shout from Hayate, both fighters rushed towards each other, a blur to most people.

Lee landed several kicks on Kaito's forearms instantly, blurring to the side and flinging a few kunai at him.

Kaito drew a kunai off his own and shifted to the side, avoiding all but one that was deflected away from him with the kunai in his left hand.

Lee bolted straight at him the moment he threw his arm up to knock aside the kunai, raining down several more punches and kicks.

The Kumo genin started to look desperate and pulsed some lightning chakra into his forearms and hands to get Lee to slow down his attacks, but Lee immediately adapted and drove a kick into Kaito's ribs, letting his leg get shocked a little.

Kaito got knocked on to his back and was coughing, while Lee was testing his weight on the leg that got shocked.

"I still can't believe you're even faster," I heard Hinata to my left, having moved a little closer to me, "Lee-kun is so driven to be a great Shinobi."

"He fought and refused to believe everybody who said he would never amount to anything," I smiled softly, my respect for his self determinism knowing no limits, "He succeeded in spite of being called weak."

I heard Hinata's breath hitch at the last part, causing me to turn to look at her.

She was looking at me with gratitude, practically lighting up her face.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." She whispered, before turning to look back towards the fight.

The two had re-engaged and Lee had opened the first Gate and was slowly overwhelming his opponent, but Kaito wasn't going down without a fight. The Kumo genin grabbed ahold of Lee's arm as a punch sailed towards his face, his arm was shaking from holding it in place, and blasted lightning chakra rather recklessly to shock Lee. I call it reckless because he shocked himself as well.

I heard the two cry out in pain and both staggered away, Lee looking worse off.

Kaito was able to recover first and managed to make a few hand seals to make a lightning jutsu, which resulted in him pressing his hand to the ground and blasting lightning into the ground towards Lee.

Lee was barely able to move out of the way of it because of his legs spasming still, but he managed to sloppily dive to his left.

He had to pull himself up to prevent a lightning coated fist from punching his lights out when Kaito raced towards him to finish the fight.

Lee backpedaled away and flung a kunai with a smoke bomb attached to it at his feet, concealing him from sight.

I could sense his presence, and I chuckled when I realized what he was going to do.

"Hmm?" Hinata asked next to me.

"Use your eyes." I smiled, knowing the fight was going to end right here.

Hinata activated her Byakugan and she gasped softly when she saw Lee's chakra spasming in a certain way.

Lee didn't wait for the smoke to clear before he practically flew out of it, a green blur covered in chakra.

He opened two additional Gates and was blurring towards Kaito, who wasn't prepared.

A hurricane of blows rained down upon him and he couldn't stop them all, each hit seemingly harder than the last.

With a shout, Lee landed a perfect spinning kick to Kaito's temple, knocking him to the ground with an audible thud.

The stands, which had been shouting throughout the fight, cheered even louder at the display.

Kaito tried to get up, but he staggered before he even got to his knees and fell back down, raising his hand up in surrender.

"Masoni Kaito is unable to continue. The winner is Rock Lee!" Hayate shouted, being almost drowned out by even more cheering.

I clapped and cheered right alongside everybody else near me, and I saw the tears in Lee's eyes at his elation from winning.

Gai rushed down towards him and embraced Lee as the younger of the two closed the Gates he opened and staggered slightly.

//////////////////

"That kid's pretty fast," Ay remarked next to Hiruzen, looking thoughtful, "And he didn't use anything other than taijutsu."

"Rock Lee is a special case," Hiruzen replied kindly, "Maito Gai trained him to be a peerless taijutsu specialist that doesn't require Ninjutsu."

Hiruzen left out the part where Lee physically couldn't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu.

"A pity that the one Kumo genin in the finals was defeated without a single jutsu being thrown at him." Rasa said, almost keeping the slight taunting out of his voice.

"Hmn," Ay scoffed, "It says something that only two of your genin made it through when Konoha has 7 rookies in the finals."

"Gentlemen," Hiruzen interrupted, "We can trade barbs later. Let us continue to enjoy talented young genin show their skill."

The two other men quieted down while the Kazekage's bodyguard remained silent and still as a statue.

Hiruzen had no doubt it was Orochimaru, but he didn't know about the other opponent he and Jiraiya were uniquely equipped to face.

His hand ghosted towards the two seal tags that were tucked in his armour that was hidden beneath his robes.

"Two are for Hashirama and Tobirama," A voice he did not expect to hear again had said in his very house, having broken in and evaded all the security seals and ANBU, "And the other is specifically for Ashina."

The seal tags vaguely resembled the tags used to cancel out a summoning jutsu, but they had another dimension of complexity to them that was likely from the difference between the Edo Tensei and the summoning jutsu used by those with contracts.

If Jiraiya, who had the other tag, couldn't plant the tag on Ashina, he and the Senju brothers would raze Konoha to the ground before Orochimaru could be killed and the reanimations subdued. The way the Shodai and Nidaime fought were known by him, and Jiraiya was informed. But he didn't know how Ashina fought, only hearing ghost stories.

He refocused his thoughts and prepared for the next fight.

//////////////////////

"Aburame Shino and Nara Shikamaru!" Hayate shouted their names, "Please come down!"

"Well," Ino said, glancing towards her teammate, "Good luck, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru nodded to her and then looked at the rest of us. "I just want this over with. I'm going to beat him as fast as I can so I can take a nap."

"Didn't you train constantly and actually get stronger?" Rin asked from my left, "I would've thought you'd be less lazy."

"That's like you getting tired of ramen, Rin." Sasuke commented, "Shikamaru is always lazy."

Rin rolled her eyes and ignored Sasuke, giving Shikamaru a wide smile.

"Good luck, kick his butt, be nice cuz he's a friend, yada yada." Rin gave her own version of wishing Shikamaru luck, before he turned to go towards the center.

"I don't want your choice of 'good luck'," Shikamaru glanced over his shoulder at me with a flat look, "It'll be troublesome."

"Be that way," I rolled my eyes, "But I don't deny it."

Shikamaru walked down the steps and Shino did from a different spot, both of them looking prepared.

I saw Shikamaru's mouth move in a way where I could tell he was wishing Shino luck in their match, while Shino was too covered up for me to tell, but I assume he did as well from the kind of guy he was.

Hayate announced that they could begin and Shino immediately flung several kunai with smoke bombs attached to them, before racing around the cloud to another position.

Shikamaru didn't stand still and made a hand seal as he rushed towards the cloud, his shadow bolstered slightly by the light being obscured by the smoke.

Shino retreated backwards when Shikamaru's shadow shot towards him from the smoke and he almost touched the wall by the time the range hit its max.

The Aburame heir lifted his hands up and a swarm of bugs flew towards Shikamaru as he rushed away to keep away from the Nara's shadow.

I could already tell how this was going to go. There would be tactical withdrawals and counters at long to medium range because Shino didn't have the chakra to shatter Shikamaru's grip like Rin and I did, while Shikamaru would be trying to avoid the insect swarms that would drain him dry of chakra.

Speaking of swarms, Shikamaru flung an explosive tag at the one swarm coming at him, the blast disrupting them and taking most of them out.

Shikamaru then went on to throw a few more kunai with exploding tags all across the ground, cratering the area around Shino as the boy kept avoiding them.

"Did Shikamaru ask you to make him some tags?" I asked Rin, confused by how many he had.

"I was about to ask you that." Rin said, also looking confused, "Unless his dad made sure he was stocked up on them."

I ran through possible reasons Shikamaru was doing this. He was definitely not wasting them. He was doing it intentionally.

Shino had started to time his dodging and was evading the kunai with ease, albeit with his jacket looking a little singed.

"You are wasting your kunai." Shino said, sounding unfazed "You will run out before you tire me."

Shikamaru ignored him and flung another kunai, Shino paying attention to it.

My eyes widened when I saw that Shikamaru dropped several more kunai behind himself, before he made a hand seal.

His shadow branched out and grabbed all the kunai and flung them at the same time, straight at Shino.

Shino wasn't able to avoid them all and got blasted into a crater from the concussive wave caused by the explosions.

Shikamaru rushed to take advantage while his shadow stayed stretched around him like a rather sinister looking octopus.

I felt Shino's chakra shudder from within the crater and a swarm of insects shot out, breaking into three different groups.

Shikamaru's shadow started lashing out to protect him, and another exploding tag was flung at one swarm, while Shino jumped out and charged Shikamaru.

Shikamaru obviously didn't expect that to happen because he didn't try and bind Shino, who got within arm's reach and engaged the Nara in taijutsu.

Despite my doubts, Shikamaru actually was much better in taijutsu compared to just a month ago, but Shino was still better.

Shino kept up a steady rhythm of trying to break Shikamaru's guard and I was able to feel faint traces of the Aburame's chakra on Shikamaru, meaning he was able to slip a few insects on him.

Shikamaru gritted his teeth and ducked under Shino's kick aimed at his head and was able to sweep the other boy's feet out from under him.

Shino recovered almost instantly, but Shikamaru made a hand seal and was able to bind Shino with his shadow right as the boy had a kunai out.

Shikamaru grinned in triumph, but his eyes widened when 'Shino' collapsed into a swarm of bugs.

Shikamaru, doing something uncharacteristically reckless, blindly Shunshined away from the swarm, tripping over one of the craters and hitting the ground hard.

Shino rose from another crater and staggered slightly, rubbing at his ears.

"I stayed in the crater while a bug clone fought you," He explained, his tone of voice off, "Those exploding tags are painful to my ears."

Shikamaru dusted himself off and looked at his right arm, a sizable gash from hitting the ground on his upper forearm. "I didn't expect the clone. A foolish oversight."

The two combatants stalked around each other, neither making a move.

Shikamaru scratched at his shoulder and then widened his eyes, pulling his shirt off, leaving only the mesh undershirt.

"You put some on me." He almost shouted, knocking the few insects off.

"I have drained a portion of your chakra," Shino said, a few more insects floating around him, "My swarm has started to deplete, but your chakra is even more so."

Shikamaru still had a decent amount of chakra, but the characteristic 'buzzing' feeling to an Aburame's chakra was less present in Shino.

He doesn't realize that Shikamaru has been working on his reserves.

The Nara had his characteristic expression of intense thinking, which wasn't a look you wanted to be facing against.

"Something you probably didn't expect," Shikamaru muttered, making 3 hand seals, "I don't just have my clan jutsu."

After the last seal was made, Shikamaru pressed his hands into the ground and forced his chakra into the Earth, cracking several parts leading to Shino.

Shino jumped to the side, avoiding the small fissure. The Aburame was smart enough to know that Shikamaru had something in mind, but wasn't sure. Hell, even I wasn't sure what was going to happen.

It wasn't until Shikamaru made a hand seal to manipulate his shadow that I realized what he was planning.

The cracks in the ground made a pathway for his shadow to lash out at Shino from more than one direction, meaning Shino was trapped like a fly in a spider's web.

Shikamaru didn't hesitate and manipulated his shadow and latched on to Shino right as the other boy desperately ordered the remaining swarm to shoot towards him and began trying to devour his chakra.

Shikamaru started shaking, but grinned as he forced Shino's hand to slowly raise up for him to surrender.

Eventually, Shino's hand went up and Hayate called the match in favour of Shikamaru, declaring him the winner.

Shikamaru immediately let Shino go and the insects flew back to Shino, while the Nara staggered and looked pale.

Shino went to Shikamaru and the two talked in hushed tones, while the people in the stadium cheered at the entertaining display.

Asuma and Kurenai both looked pleased at the performance of their students, but I could see Asuma looking a little smug at his student winning over Kurenai's.

"Looks like Shikamaru really did work at his clan jutsu," Ino said next to me, "He did really good."

I had no dissenting thoughts about that. Shikamaru set the bar high and managed to beat Shino, and Shino made him work for it.

//////////////////

"An impressive display of intellect by the Nara boy," Rasa said, "To think that he would have his opponent moving in a certain pattern, only to throw several kunai with his shadow, is commendable."

Hiruzen nodded, impressed by the progress made by the Nara heir.

"I believe your daughter is up now, Rasa." Hiruzen pointed out, hearing the Yamanaka heiress' name be called along with Sabaku no Temari.

"Indeed, she is." Rasa nodded, his tone flat.

Hiruzen glanced at the Raikage and Ay returned the look, the younger of the two men holding a cold look in his eyes.

////////////////

Part two will be out tomorrow. I underestimated how busy I got.