2 Chapter 2

"Good morning Uzumaki-san," greeted Shiho and she woke Naruto that first morning.

"Mmmph," mumbled Naruto tiredly, "Too early!"

"Sorry Uzumaki-san," said Shiho as she yanked away all of his covers walking into his bathroom.

"Cold," yelped Naruto curling into a ball.

"Go take your shower Uzumaki-san, I'll have breakfast waiting for you," said Shiho leaving his bathroom with sound of the shower running.

Naruto rolled groggily out of the provided bed which was considerably more comfortable than his own bed at home and made his way for the bathroom.

Not much later Naruto felt awake and refreshed and slightly uncomfortable in the provided spandex shorts and tank top shirt. They also provide a brand new pair of shinobi sandals, strangely they were an absolute perfect fit to his feet as if they were made just for him. Turned out they were made just for him from molds taken while he slept but he didn't know that.

When he emerged from his room Shiho was waiting with a glass in hand which he held out to him, "Breakfast."

"What is it?"

"A breakfast shake, it has all the protein and minerals you'll need until lunch," explained Shiho, "It tastes alright too."

Naruto shrugged taking the drink in hand and downing it. It was a sweet vanilla flavor, not his favorite but it could have been worse.

"So what first?" asked Naruto.

"We start with the physical battery," said Shiho guiding him through the maze of hallways before opening a door and ushering him inside.

"Welcome Uzumaki-san," stated an aged balding man with silvery hair around his crown and pair of glassed on his face, "I'm Director Atsui, thank you for your cooperation."

"Yeah, sure," said Naruto without a care. He was more interest in the room he was in. There were dozens of machines scattered throughout the room as well as a couple of large water tanks.

"We'll start on the treadmill, please remove your shirt," instructed Atsui, "Shiho, Narako, Bensei, please start connecting the sensors and placing the necessary seal work. We have much to do."

Naruto raised an eyebrow but did as told. He was kind of fascinated as he watched the three scientists started connecting sensors and painting seals on various parts of his body before putting a mask on his face an making him stand on the treadmill.

"Now Uzumaki san, we will be setting this to 200 rpm where you will maintain and run for the next four hours. Your chakra has been suppressed to the minimal level to keep you alive. We will be monitoring your heart, stamina and a few other aspects. Please do your best.

Naruto nodded as the machine began to spin up to speed. It was a little faster than what would be considered a jog for any shinobi.

"Good so far Director, no signs of arrhythmia or defect," said Narako studying a monitor closely.

"Lungs function is normal," said Bensei from the another machine.

It continued like this the entire time with the various scientist reporting any slight change of which there was no change so more than not they reported a simple no change in status.

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by a loud beeping signaling the end of the test as the machine began to slow to a walking pace until it finally came to stop.

"Test perspiration while still fresh, I want toxicity reports compiled immediately," instructed Atsui, "Shiho, bring his lunch immediately, I want to start the next battery inside of 30 minutes.

"Right away Director," responded Shiho rushing to the only fridge in the room. She returned to Naruto only moments later with another drink and some kind of candy bar.

"What's this?" asked Naruto now that the mask was off his face.

"Another protein and mineral shake and a protein and calorie bar," said Shiho.

Naruto gave it a sniff before shrugging and downing it quickly. "So is this all I'll be eating while I'm here?"

"Breakfast and lunch yes, Dinner will probably be a similar drink fresh steamed vegetables and a meat," explained Shiho.

"Blech," said Naruto disgustedly, "I'd rather keep eating these bars than vegetables."

"I can arrange that," said Shiho with a nod.

"Really?" asked Naruto surprised, "I thought this was all scientific and stuff."

"We have to ensure you receive a very specific calorie intake daily based on the results of today's tests. We may increase or decrease your calories after today, but most important is that you receive the proper balance of proteins, minerals, and carbohydrates to perform at your best."

Naruto looked on confused but laughed it off, "If you say so."

"Mask back on and into the tank Uzumaki-san," instructed the director pointing a round water tank. "This test will take about an hour."

"Sure thing," said Naruto climbing the latter and lowering himself into the water tank.

"Check the water dispersal, register body fat and natural buoyancy," instructed Atsui calmly watching his own monitors.

In the meantime Naruto could only watch as the scientist scurried about the room through the clear glass tank. He had to admit it was kind of interesting and even a little fun. He'd never had someone pay such dedicated attention to him and what he was doing or not doing. He could only hope that it would pay off in the end.

As promised almost an hour later he was pulled from the tank only to be placed into a different tank with water seeming to flow through it like a river.

"You will be swimming against the current for the next 2 hours, please take as few breaths as possible," ordered Atsui blandly.

Once more Naruto couldn't really hear what they were saying around him. He would hear the occasional word but nothing that he could make sense of.

When the water flow suddenly stopped Naruto took it to mean the test had ended.

"Almost done for today Uzumaki-san," said Shiho handing him a towel as he climbed out of pool.

"Sure what's next for today?"

"The remained of today will be checking flexibility and depending on how the time runs we may check extensions strength and muscle tensile," Atsui informed, "Once done for today you'll eat and us scientist will begin evaluating todays results. We will definitely be adjusting your meal plan based on what we've seen so far."

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto as he was guided to a large mat with several bungee cords scattered about.

"You're slightly malnourished Uzumaki-san," said Bensei, "It means you haven't been getting enough food or enough of the right foods."

"So I need to eat more?"

"Yes and you need to eat better," Bensei replied.

"I can eat more but what do you mean better? How much better can you get than Ramen?"

Bensei sensing a sensitive issue with boy having read his file, "Ramen is fine and eating a lot of it is great for pure caloric intake but it lacks protein and minerals your body requires. You can resolve this issue by simply continuing to eat the bars and drinks we'll be providing you while you're here."

"So how can I get those once I leave here?" asked Naruto. He was no fool . . . well not always, he appreciated the way Bensei explained it. He didn't say to stop having Ramen but to continue having the bars and drinks once he leaves.

"Something can be arranged Uzumaki-san," said Atsui cutting off the conversation, "Now let's begin."

Now Naruto had thought he was fairly flexible and it's true he was, there was no range of movement he didn't have and acceptable range with. What he found out was that once fully extended he didn't have much strength to pull back in. This continued for hours as he was pulled and told to pull back through various exercises.

"Thus concludes day 1 testing," said Atsui looking towards one of the many cameras mounted throughout the room.

"Come Uzumaki-san," said Shiho, "I'll guide you back to your room. I'm sure you'd like another shower and then I will bring you to the dining hall."

"Sounds great to me," said Naruto happily. He wasn't really tired but he was feeling a bit mentally tired from everything he'd seen that day. It was really interesting.

Showered once more Naruto met Shiho outside his room and followed her to the dining hall.

"So I'll see Sasuke tomorrow and Sakura-chan the day after right?" asked Naruto making conversation with Shiho as they went.

"Only during evening meal," said Shiho, "And that is not always guaranteed as we get into some of the more involved tests. We purposely split you up so that you can't compare yourself to a peer. We find it can be very destructive to proper analysis and evaluation if you're constantly trying to outdo each other."

"So will you be following me to tomorrow's tests or do you only do some tests and others do other tests?"

Shiho smiled, "Very good question. Each of you has your own primary evaluator. Director Atsui has a personal interest in you so he insisted. Fushi-sempai will be Haruno-san's evaluator and Taekofu-sempai will be Uchiha-san's evaluator. They are both brilliant analysts and will be very thorough. Myself, Bensei-sempai, and Narako-sempai are a testing team, we have a set number of tests we're each responsible for. There are 4 other teams that each have their own tests to conduct."

"Really, sounds like there are still a lot of tests to go through," said Naruto hesitantly, he was never very good at tests.

"Oh yes, we have almost 100 different tests to conduct over the next 1-2 weeks depending on time and on yourself," explained Shiho.

Naruto paled slightly, "What if I fail?"

"Oh do not worry Uzumaki-san, these are tests you cannot possibly fail. Just do your best."

"Are you sure?" asked Naruto.

"I would not lie to you Uzumaki-san," said Shiho.

"You know you can just call me Naruto."

"It would not be appropriate while you are under my care. Perhaps once you've completed the testing we can be friends," said Shiho nervously.

"Deal," said Naruto with a grin. These scientists might be weird but they were alright in his book. It had just struck him rather suddenly that he hadn't received one glare in the entire time he'd been there. They may be very clinical but he considered them all to be awesome.

After dinner, Naruto was given access to a selection of movies and entertainment books. He grabbed one of the Princess Gale movies and book "Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja" which Shiho recommended. Back in his room the book lay forgotten on the bedside table.

Naruto was awoken the next morning once again by having his shower turned on and sheets torn away. Following orders grudgingly Naruto showered and brushed his teeth only to put on the provided outfit.

"Today we will be testing strength, and recovery. This will be the most unpleasant test series just to warn you now," advised Atsui. "Today's testers are Aka, Ao, and Achi. Today's monitoring equipment will remain with you through the night to measure recovery times and may be uncomfortable while sleeping."

"Okay," said Naruto with a shrug, "Bring it on."

Atsui smirked, "Prepare the monitoring equipment. Let's begin with upper body, major muscle groups then minor."

Less than hour later Naruto was literally screaming in pain as he felt muscles throughout his neck and shoulders were strained beyond anything he'd ever experience in his life.

"Muscles show max strain," reported Ao, "Reducing pressure slowly."

"How many more of these are there?" asked Naruto wincing in pain still.

"Many Uzumaki-san," said Atsui, "I did warn you of the pain."

"Screw you," said Naruto wincing more as the pressure finally left entirely.

Atsui ignored it, he fully expect to have been more than cussed out by now. If he's showing this much restraint now he won't for long.

"Moving on to biceps and triceps," said Aka.

"Please grip the bar, shoulder width apart," instructed Achi move Naruto into position for the next test. "Now, using only your arms curl your arms with as much strength as you can muster."

"This is going to be a long day," groused Naruto as he followed instruction.

"Thank kami the room is sound proof," Aka whispered to Ao who nodded in agreement.

When they finally finished with him he had to be wheeled out of the room just after lunch. His meals were served to him by a nurse given the damage to his muscles.

"Worry not Uzumaki-san," said Atsui paying him a visit, "I know today was rough but necessary. Tomorrow we will be doing mental exercises to give your body a day to recover. Your chakra has been unsealed so you should recover soon enough. In two days we'll resume physical tests."

"Tired, go away," said Naruto through a muffling pillow.

"We'll talk tomorrow, one last test today. This will hurt a bit," explained Atsui as he strapped a new monitoring device to Naruto's arm. He pulled back a flap and using a scalpel slice a two inch incision in his arm before covering it once more with the aforementioned flap.

"Fuck was that?" yelled Naruto angrily.

"I have to check your healing factor. That is the only time I will ever do that and I promise the cut was done in a way that will not scar."

"You suck man, shit that hurt," complained Naruto not really able to move much.

"I understand Uzumaki-san," said Atsui, "rest now."

It didn't take long for Naruto to fall asleep at that point while the monitoring devices tracked various statistical data that would be compiled eventually.

BREAK

"Uzumaki-san, you have 2 hours to complete as many patterns as possible," said Atsui, "If you don't know the solution move onto the next."

Naruto was sitting at a desk in a near empty room with Atsui standing at a distance watching. On the desk in front of Naruto was a paper test with lines and lines of symbols in patterned order.

"So I have to draw what I think would be next in the series?"

"Correct," said Atsui, "Begin now."

Naruto sighed as he began to work through the lines of symbols. Drawing what he thought would be next but skipping more often than not as the pattern didn't make sense to him. However as he got closer to the end of the test the patterns began to make more sense to him. Maybe it was just from starring for so long but they started to make more sense to him.

"And time Uzumaki-san," said Atsui collecting the paper before handing him another paper.

"Gah, what now?" asked Naruto.

"On the first page there is a codex of symbols, some mean words some mean letters. On the following page is a story written using these symbols. Translate the story. Be warned some words may be spelled backwards or out of order so you'll have to adjust as you go."

Naruto just thumped his head on the desk once before sitting up, stretching and slapping himself once before picking up his pencil and setting to work.

"Three hours and then we'll bring you lunch," said Atsui as he opened the door and handed off the previous test.

This was easy thought Naruto as he worked through it. It took about an hour to memorize the codex and then his mind started associating entire word strings to match off the symbols. And then he got to the final string of symbols except that the final string was not in the codex that he could see. Until he noticed the first symbols was an overlap of 5 different symbols. Then he had to order the letters and words so the sentence made sense.

"I'm done," said Naruto with a grin.

"You still have 23 minutes still, are you sure you don't want to check your work?"

"Nope, I'm good," said Naruto confidently.

"Very well," said Atsui collecting the paper and handing it out the person in the hall who handed him another paper as well as Naruto's lunch.

"Eat up, you have 52 minutes to recover and then we'll resume," said Atsui adding the time he had left over from the previous test.

"So what's next?" asked Naruto as he ate his meal.

"Another test," said Atsui, "you will find out when we begin."

"That's no fun, why can't I know now?"

"Because it's important you don't know what's coming in this test before you start."

"Oh, why?"

"Because that's how the test is designed."

"Why?" asked Naruto just trying to get under the man's skin a little.

"Because the results are dependent on you not being prepared," said Atsui patiently. He's a scientist, he's used to having to explain things.

"Why?"

"Because if you are prepared the results would be invalid," said Atsui, "We'll start soon enough, I would suggest you try to rest your mind."

Naruto sighed at not being able to get under the man's skin.

"A series of images will flash on the wall at the front. Memorize them and at the end of each series you will write down what each image is in order of appearance," instructed Atsui as he clicked something in his hand causing a series of images to flash past on the front screen.

Naruto watch closely as best he can trying to memorize each as they passed.

"Write down the images," said Atsui handing a sheet to Naruto.

Naruto quickly tried to quickly write them down while it was in his head.

"Time," said Atsui two minutes later taking the page, "the next series will pass faster than the previous."

It went on like this for another 2 hours at the end of which Naruto's mind felt like mush. By the final series he felt he would have been lucky to get five of the images, as it was he got 4 but probably not in the right order.

"Next test is another memory exercise, answer the following question as best you can using the codex from the second test," instructed Atsui causing Naruto to frown.

Naruto received the test, all of the questions were written in the symbol language from earlier and now he was required to answer using the same symbols but this time there was no codex to refer back to.

"Shit, I should have spent more time memorizing that codex on the second test," said Naruto.

Atsui raised an eyebrow towards the boy's statement, "You were offered a chance to review your answers."

Naruto just glared at the man.

"You have 3 hours to answer 30 questions," said Atsui passing the previous tests answers out to the hall.

That was one good thing, there were at least 60 questions on the test and he only had to answer 30 of them. Slowly but surely Naruto grinded through the questions creating his own mini codex as he went.

"Time," said Atsui all too soon, "You may return to your room and shower if you wish. Shiho will collect you and Haruno-san for dinner. We will remove the sensors tomorrow, we should have collected enough data."

"Woo hoo," said Naruto, "I get dinner with Shiho-chan and Sakura-chan."

Atsui didn't reply and simply left leaving the door open and an attendant waiting in the hall for him.

Naruto took a quick show once he returned to his room, sensors and all before taking a short nap before dinner.

"Uzumaki-san," gently woke Naruto up an hour later.

"Shiho-chan? Dinner already?" Naruto asked groggily as he sat up in his bed.

"Yes, please put on a shirt and we will go collect Haruno-san," said Shiho.

Naruto grabbed one of the tank tops and pulled it on following Shiho into the hall and a few doors down.

"Please wait here Uzumaki-san," said Shiho entering the room. She re-emerged a few minutes later followed by Sakura. The girl was wearing similar shorts and a tank top but beneath the tank top he could see a sleek black sports bra.

"Sakura-chan," said Naruto excited, "How are you? Can you believe this place? Isn't it so cool?"

Sakura just sighed, "I'm tired, let's go eat."

Naruto once more felt defeated by the girl's disregard of him. Sighing he just turned to follow.

"What about Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura.

"Ah, he won't . . . . be joining us tonight," said Shiho, "Day 2 is very difficult."

Naruto just shuddered, "You're telling me."

"I'm sure Sasuke-kun is fine and would want to join us," said Sakura ignorantly.

"No, he wouldn't," said Naruto confidently, "If he went through the same thing I did then he definitely wouldn't."

"He did Uzumaki-san," said Shiho with a grimace, "Don't worry Haruno-san, you'll understand tomorrow."

Sakura wanted to protest but seeing as both Naruto and Shiho were both marching on towards dinner it wasn't likely to change anything.

Dinner was quiet. Sakura was sullen about not seeing Sasuke and Naruto was sullen about Sakura ignoring him.

After dinner Naruto grabbed another movie to fall asleep to which he did.

BREAK

"Today we'll be testing reflexes," said Atsui as his staff removed several sensors and replace them with different sensors. "Inside this room we will be firing small bean bags at you that you will have to dodge to the best of your ability. The bags are small and fast and if you get hit will sting but will leave no permanent damage. This test last one hour and then we'll move on to the next reflex test. Any questions Uzumaki-san?"

Naruto shook his head trying to mentally brace himself for this next test. The door opened and Naruto stepped in. The room was fairly large, probably a 20x20x20 cube and scatter across all the surfaces were small holes. "I guess that's where the bean bags are shot from."

"5"

"4"

"3"

"2"

"1"

"BEGIN" a voice announced.

It started out with a single shot which Naruto dodged easily enough. Then it was two shots, three shots, four shots, and etcetera. When it got up to fifteen shots at once Naruto finally took a grazing shot. On that first hit the simulation changed and the shots were fired from a random number of holes at the same time and didn't stop firing.

"Holy hell," shouted Naruto and one of the bag shooters started to rapid fire and chase after him. Then the floor beneath him started shooting at him too. Naruto soon found himself relying on his ears to signal a shot fired and the direction it was fired from.

By the end Naruto had taken at least a dozen shots, maybe more.

"Follow me to the next room," said an attendant from the now open door.

Naruto followed rubbing a bruise where he must have taken at least three shots to the same spot.

"Inside please," said the attendant holding the door open.

"Uzumaki-san," came Atsui's voice through an intercom system, "Please strap your feet to the pad in the center. For this test you will be blocking incoming strikes. The attacking poles are padded but like the bean bags from the previous exercise they will sting if they make contact. You can knock the poles aside or stop them in place. The strikes will come progressively faster as time progresses. This test will last one hour."

"Great," said Naruto sarcastically. He just knew that this would leave him with even more bruises.

"5"

"4"

"3"

"2"

"1"

"BEGIN"

The first shot came from Naruto peripheral left. He shot an elbow up the meet the blow rewarding him with a chime sound in the room letting him know it was a successful block. The next strike was aimed towards his right hip from the left of his body. It was easily knocked aside but he almost missed the blow swinging in from the left towards his head. Two chimes rang and he kept going.

The next test had Naruto jumping from one lit platform to another lit platform before an electrical current gave him a good jolt.

The following hour had him punching lit pads as fast as he could in the order in which they lit.

Lunch.

Two hours following that had him striking a practice dummy as it lit up with his feet, fists, elbows and knees.

The final three hours had him throwing a variety of shuriken and kunai at various lit up targets from range.

"Yo, Teme," greeted Naruto to Sasuke after seeing him for the first time.

"Hn, Dobe," he returned to Naruto.

"This place is nuts huh?"

"Hn."

"You recovering okay?" asked Naruto.

"Hn."

"I'm sorry, I think I mistranslated that last 'Hn', was that the 'I suck and I like it' or the' I'm a whiny little bitch and hurt too much to talk'?"

Sasuke took a very sluggish swing at Naruto which due to his heightened reflexes from the early day he easy duck and moved around behind Sasuke.

"Gotcha, the second one," said Naruto ignoring the slight surprise in Sasuke's eyes.

"Hn," said Sasuke putting his hands in his pockets and slowly following after Shiho.

"What did you do today?" Sasuke finally asked.

"I'm sorry Uchiha-san," interrupted Shiho before Naruto could answer, "His telling you could skew the test results. Please refrain from discussing the various tests. As it is there is no guarantee you're going to be doing the same tests in the same order. "

"Really?" asked Naruto surprised.

Shiho nodded once and let the subject drop.

Naruto fell asleep easily enough that night, no movie or reading required.

BREAK

"Today we will be doing vision, hearing, scent, and taste tests. Tomorrow and the day after will once again be mental based tests. Any questions before we begin?" asked Atsui of Naruto.

"Okay, let's do this," said Naruto excitedly.

"We'll begin with taste and scent," he said holding out a blind fold.

Naruto quickly secured the blindfold around his eyes.

"Now, do not swallow anything you taste, not all of it will be edible. That said we don't expect you to identify what you taste or smell, merely that you describe it. You can use words like sweet, sour, pungent, rotten, bitter, salty, or any other similar adjective. Do you understand?"

"Sure, I'll do my best," said Naruto.

The first thing held to Naruto's nose was a flowery scent, not overly strong and he described it as such. It tasted bitter and left an earthy taste on his tongue. He was able to wash out his mouth and they brought on the next item.

Hours passed in this way and his descriptions became more precise as he began to differentiate more between the various tastes and scents.

"Lunch time," said Atsui, "you may remove your blind fold."

"Wow, that was strange," said Naruto rinsing his mouth one more time before gulping down a few glasses of water.

"We'll begin auditory tests in 30 minutes," said Atsui placing his meal on the table before him.

Having spent all that time analyzing the various tastes and scents had messed with his meal. His nose was automatically trying to identify the various scents while his taste buds were analyzing the different elements of what he ate.

"The auditory test is two parts of one hour each. First, you will be identifying directionality of a sound. Second, you will be trying to determine distance from sound," explained Atsui holding out a blind fold again.

And so it went with Naruto trying to hear where a sound was coming from and pointing in various directions where he thought the sound originated. In the second hour he would hear sounds from various distances and try to guess how close or how far away. It was very taxing mentally for him to try and determine distance.

"For the visual tests, we will be testing three different aspects. For the first hour we will focus on visual acuity, the ability to pick out visual details at increasing distances. Second hour will be focus on your ability to see colors. We will provide you a color palette and be asked to identify and color shown to you. For the third hour will be testing your ability to seeing in varying degrees of light and dark," explained Atsui in his standard clinical voice and disposition.

Naruto was prepared to pluck his own eyes out by the time it was finished. His senses were on fire with all the strain he put them through.

Naruto was personally starting to get frustrated with all the tests by now. Especially since that bastard Atsui wouldn't even tell him how we was doing. This was something Naruto voice rather vehemently over dinner with his teammates. The first time all three of them had been allowed to have a meal together.

"I know," said Sakura equally annoyed, "You've been here two days more than me but they don't tell us anything about how we're doing. Fushi-san is so cold and clinical. It's always, do this, we're doing this next, then eat your meal and rest."

"I know," said Naruto in exasperation, "I mean, give us a hint, are we doing good or bad?"

"Haruno-san, Uzumaki-san," said Shiho, "There is no good or bad in this test, only what is. We have standard levels in which to compare you against but again, it's a number rating and it will be drastically different for each of you."

"That doesn't help," said Naruto flatly. He appreciated that Shiho had a job to do but she could have at least sympathized a little more.

"Hn," said the lone Uchiha eating his food unconcerned though his frustration was clear to them based the white of his knuckles and at his meal.

"See, even he agrees," said Naruto gesturing wildly towards Sasuke.

BREAK

"Today you will be taking a comprehensive IQ test. You have 5 hours to complete as much as you can," said Atsui placing a thick booklet on the table before Naruto along with 3 pencils.

The thud of Naruto's head on the desk almost made Atsui smile . . . almost.

"This afternoon you will be working through a series of personality tests."

"I'd give you a personality test, if you had one," mumbled Naruto.

And so it went Naruto trudged through the most mentally exhausting test of his life. If he ever discovered the moron that came up with this test he would happily stab the man or woman responsible.

"Here is your lunch," said Atsui leaving a tray and taking the completed long form test. Sure, he could have given the short form but the long form is much more accurate even if it would only be a difference of one or two points.

"Kill me now," said Naruto with his head on the cool table, "My head hurts."

"You have 30 minutes to eat and then we will start you personality test."

Naruto ate in silence, he'd honestly been feeling cutoff from everything lately, so much time testing and so little interaction with others. He was honestly starting to feel trapped or pinned in.

"Question 1, You are almost never late to appointments, Yes or No" Naruto read aloud, "What that's it? Yes or No Questions . . . SWEET!"

"No," said Naruto as he colored in the circle.

One hundred and forty questions later Naruto was feeling somewhat relaxed by that test.

"Easiest test ever," said Naruto handing it over to Atsui who handed him another test.

"Question 1, When you are faced with an unfamiliar problem, what do you usually do? A. Address the problem immediately, B. Think about what to do then take action, C. Sit back and let things work out for themselves," Naruto read aloud again slightly disbelieving how easy this test was like the previous one was. "A, so easy."

Being a shorter test Naruto was done relatively quickly.

"You have the rest of this afternoon free to rest and relax. We need to tabulate your current results so we can set the next series of tests for you.

Naruto found himself back in his room that afternoon finally reading the book Shiho recommended.

"Sweet, the main character is named after me," said Naruto before he checked the published date which wasn't long before he was born, "Or I'm named after him. Jiraiya, isn't that Jiji's student? Maybe that's why Jiji gave me the name, because he liked this book. Now I have to read it."

And so Naruto spent that afternoon and evening reading his new favorite book.

BREAK

"Just try to relax Uzumaki-san, this test is painless. It's just measuring your brain activity," explained Atsui as he watch over the medic perform the scan process the details to the transparent film.

"I'm relaxed," said Naruto bored out of his mind. He'd been sitting for almost two hours while this medic repeatedly did brain scans and put the information on that dark transparent film.

"And we're done," said the medic handing the stack of films over to Atsui and following him out of the room.

Atsui returned a short while later. "Please return to your room. Someone will come get you after lunch."

"Sure," said Naruto as meandered through the facility to his room to wait. It gave him time to read more of his favorite new book.

A knock on his door snapped him out of the story. At the door he was greeted by Atsui.

"Follow me," said Atsui simply.

Naruto used to his lack of personality followed the man through the facility where he knocked on a door.

"Saiga-sensei, this is Uzumaki Naruto, your afternoon evaluation," said Atsui politely to the young woman.

"Come in Uzumaki-san," said Saiga kindly gesturing him into the room.

"So you're a doctor?" asked Naruto.

"I am, why don't you have seat," said Saiga sitting in her own chair.

"Sure, so what's up doc? What kind of doctor are you and why am I here?"

Saiga smiled kindly, "I'm a neurologist and psychologist."

"So, I know what a psychologist is, I've seen a few of you when I was real little after a few of the villagers got a little more handsy than they should have. But what is a neurologist?"

"I'm a certified Medic-nin, my specialty is in Brain injuries and defects," explained Saiga.

"So is my brain broken?" asked Naruto nervously.

Saiga laughed kindly, "Nope, despite what some of your peers say about you have a normal functional brain, maybe even a little better than average."

"So that's a good thing right?" asked Naruto suspicious of the lady.

"Yes Uzumaki-san, it's a good thing. Would mind if I call you Naruto-kun?"

"Sure, what should I call you?"

"Saiga-sensei or just sensei should be fine," she answered.

"Okay, so if my brain isn't broken what am I doing here?"

"My second job," she replied, "I'm going to ask you a series of questions and I want you to answer honestly."

"Sure, I can do that," replied Naruto.

"Do you want to kill a person?"

"What? What the hell kind of bull shit question is that?" demanded Naruto put out.

Saiga wrote some notes then answered, "I'm trying to get a feel for you Naruto. You're entering into a profession in which you may be called upon to kill. So my first question is if you feel a general desire to simply kill someone, anyone, specific or in general."

"Oh, well . . . no, no one I want to kill . . . except maybe Mizuki, damned traitor."

"So you would kill a traitor?"

"If I had to, of course, I don't understand how someone could betray our village. I would probably try to capture them first though. I don't want to kill unless I really have to."

"Fair answer, would you kill a civilian if they were threatening to kill another person, civilian or shinobi."

"Threatening, no, attempting, maybe. Again, and especially with a civilian, killing would be an absolute last resort."

"What about a foreign shinobi?"

"Are they trying to kill someone in our village?"

"No."

"Where they invited or do they have a peaceful reason to be here?"

"No."

"Hmm, I'd probably try to capture them first to question them, if they tried to kill me though I'd definitely kill them first."

"You recently learned about the Kyubi being sealed inside you, how do you feel about that?"

"It sucks, everyone hates me cause of this stupid thing."

"Do you want to hurt people who have been mean or tried to hurt you in the past?"

"Sometimes, but then I want to show them I'm not the damn fox."

"How do you feel about the Yondaime?"

"I think . . . I think I'd probably sock him one if I ever met him. I get why he did it and I don't blame him . . . . I just . . . It's not fair you know?"

"Just one punch?"

"It'd be enough, just have to let him know he's an ass for doing it to me. Then I'd probably guilt him into teaching all his secret techniques," Naruto finished with a laugh which Saiga mirrored.

"If you could talk to the Kyubi, is there anything you'd ask him or want to talk to him about?"

"Maybe . . . I'd ask him why? Why he attacked us? If could I'd give him a swift kick between the legs."

"And if he were a she?" asked Saiga laughing.

"Same thing, I'm sure it's got to hurt girls just as much even if the parts are different," said Naruto sheepishly.

Saiga laughed full out on that one, "You're right, it would."

"So, I understand you have a crush on your teammate Sakura-chan. Why is that?"

"Back when I first started at the academy she was the only one nice to me. It might have only been for a day but it was something. I thought if I could just get her to spend some time with me she'd be my friend again."

"So that's what you think dating is?"

"Isn't it where a boy and girl go do stuff together for fun?"

"It is but usually dates are considered romantic, with kissing and stuff like that," explained Saiga.

Naruto blushed, "Well, I wouldn't mind kissing her. She's got really pretty hair."

"Would you be happy just being her friend though?"

"Of course, I think it would be awesome to be friends," said Naruto.

"Do you think you could try just being friends with her and stop asking her for dates?"

"But if I don't ask for a date then how are we supposed to ever have fun together?"

"Just ask if she would want to hang out, see a movie or go eat lunch together. You just have to make sure you tell her it's just as friends. You have to make sure she understands you want a friend and not a girlfriend even if that does happen eventually."

"And that really works?" asked Naruto surprised.

"It really does," said Saiga with a friendly smile.

"Cool, I'll definitely try that."

"Now, what is this static between you and Sasuke-kun?"

"Gah, don't tell me you're another of people that kiss the ground that stuck up prick walks on like all the other dumbasses out there?"

Saiga wrote some quick notes, "Tell me how you really feel about Sasuke?"

Naruto sighed, "Sometimes, I think we could be friends . . . because we're both so alone. But then I see that superior smirk on his face and I want nothing more than to wipe that look off his face. He thinks he's so much better than me just because he's the last Uchiha. What a prick?"

"Do you think your pride prevents you from befriending him?"

"Maybe, but sometimes, I get this really unsettled feeling around him. Like maybe . . . I don't know. You ever hear how sometimes older shinobi can sense blood in the air, blood and death. I get that feeling around him so I don't want to get too close to him. Is that weird?

"Some people are more in tune to certain instincts than others. I would trust your gut but at the same time don't let your pride prevent you from making friends with people. Not just Sasuke."

Naruto nodded.

They spent several hours talking about anything and everything. Naruto had never had someone talk to him like that before. Saiga drew out thoughts and feeling Naruto didn't even know he had except on what Saiga said was a subconscious level. It was very enlightening for Naruto.

"So, am I going to have to see you again?" asked Naruto.

"Do you want to?"

"Kinda, you're nice to talk to and you listen to me," replied Naruto.

"Well, I can happily say you're a pretty stable young man considering how you grew up. You have some emotional issues but nothing that would prevent you from becoming an outstanding shinobi and leader amongst your peers. That said, if you ever need someone to talk to, even just to unload your burdens on I'm available to you. My regular office is in Konoha hospital, you just have to make an appointment but I'm usually free within a day or less if it's an emergency."

"Define emergency?"

"If you think you're going to harm yourself or someone else, that's an emergency. Fair enough?"

"Yeah, thanks a lot Saiga-sensei," said Naruto with a real and genuine smile.

BREAK

"So, what's on the agenda today Atsui-san?" asked Naruto.

"Today, we begin testing your chakra," said Atsui.

"Okay, and how do we do that?" asked Naruto.

"There are a great many tests we will be performing. It will be time consuming but not overly taxing either physically or mentally."

"Cool, so what do I first?"

"First, take off your shirt and stand in the center there. This is Hyuuga Hado-san," said Atsui introducing his tester for today.

"Okay, so what's he going to do?"

"He's going to draw your chakra network on your skin for us," said Atsui, "He'll mark the width of your pathways, your tenketsu and their size. It will be time consuming but it is entirely empirical data for us."

"So, I just stand here and draws on me?" asked Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," said Atsui simply.

"Boring," whined Naruto loudly after having stood in the same place for almost three hours as after the Hyuuga marked up his body three different scientist followed behind the man's progress with clipboards and transparent film which they would copy the markings on to.

"Please be patient Uzumaki-san," said Atsui, "We should be done in a few more hours."

"Few more hours," exclaimed Naruto, "What the hell man?"

"Patience," said Atsui with a voice of finality.

Naruto sighed and pouted but it went on completely ignored.

As promised, a few hours later the call was given. "There, all done," said Atsui with a nod to Hyuuga Hado.

"Finally," said Naruto, "Where's my lunch?"

One of the attendants came forward with his shake and bars which he happily devoured.

"Next will be measuring chakra flow rates," said Atsui motioning for the scientists to begin placing monitoring equipment all over his body, specifically covering each and everyone one of his now marked tenketsu.

"Uzumaki-san," began Atsui, "I need to you pulse your chakra in a very specific pattern. I need you to reduce your chakra as small as you can and then I need you push out the maximum you can and back to the minimum. I need you to repeat processed 100 times. It should provide a sufficient data pool for us to validate our numbers."

"Sure," said Naruto trying to remain as cooperative as possible. He had been feeling so much more in control of himself since the previous afternoon with Saiga-sensei. If these weird, cold, clinical scientists have someone as cool as her working with them then was willing to endure.

"On my command, minimum flow," said Atsui checking with his assistants collecting the data. Getting the nods, "Minimum now and hold it."

"Maximum now and hold it."

"Minimum now and hold it."

"Maximum now and hold it," he ordered. It went on like that for the rest of the afternoon holding at each position for anywhere from 5 minutes at the most to 10 seconds at the least.

"This completes Day 8 testing. Eat, rest, we'll resume tomorrow morning," said Atsui leaving Naruto behind.

BREAK

"Today we will be examining your chakra itself for anything hidden within it," said Atsui. He almost seemed excited today to Naruto.

"Cool, so this is where you're looking for the Kyubi ability right?"

"Yes, and others," said Atsui, "We'll start with examining your chakra affinity and the strength of that affinity."

"I'll take it from here Atsui-sama," said Shiho happy to be working with Naruto again. "Over here Uzumaki-san," Shiho guided him over to a table and seat.

"So what are these?" Naruto asked looking at several sheets of paper.

"These are chakra sensitive papers, each is sensitive to very specific types of chakra. Now your chakra currently is untrained so it doesn't differentiate between the various types and just kind of muddles it all together so all of your possible affinities and chakra types are present at the same time. What these sheets will do is tell us to what level each type of chakra exists within your chakra."

"Neat, so why does it matter?"

"Chakra has a lot of different potentials because of how you mix your spiritual and physical energies. So there are the five elemental affinities, fire, wind, lightning, earth and water. There are the spiritual aspects mostly found in Genjutsu and Iryojutsu. There are physical aspects like shape manipulation and Taijutsu enhancements. Fuinjutsu doesn't really have an affinity to either physical or spiritual but there is some chakra that reacts better with seals than others that we're able to test as well. There is also bloodline specific chakra, we can't always identify the bloodline but we can validate there is a kekai genkai," Shiho explained to Naruto.

"This is the most I've had explained to me since I've been here," said Naruto, "Why is this so different."

"Because depending on your results there will be further tests and possibly some experimentation. As this is the final phase of the testing we can afford to take more time and give you some instruction as we work through all of this. This will also give us more time to investigate Kyubi and any abilities is may provide you."

"Is that safe?" asked Naruto, "I mean messing about with the fox?"

"There is some danger due to the toxicity of the demon's chakra but the risk is minimal for the testing we'll be doing. The seal itself will not be touched, we'll only be looking at your chakra," explained Shiho.

"Okay, so where do we start?" asked Naruto.

"We'll start with the elemental affinities. See if you've been given a combination element."

"Combination element, what does that mean?"

"Like earth and water affinities can combine to create Mokuton," said Shiho, "Or wind and water can create Hyoton. But it's very rare and if there isn't a perfect balance it won't work."

"Oh, cool, let's do this then," said Naruto excitedly. His mind couldn't but conjure up images of him destroying whole ninja armies with some bad ass combination of all five elements at once.

"Fire first," said Shiho handing him a sheet with a small symbol for fire on the top right corner.

"What do I do?"

"Just channel your chakra into it," explained Shiho.

Naruto channeled chakra into as ordered and nothing happened, "nothing happened."

"It's okay, fire is not one of your affinities, and it's okay. Next is wind."

Naruto channeled chakra into the wind card as order and it instantly turned a very dark green color. "Wow, was that supposed to happen?"

"Mostly," said Shiho slightly surprised herself, "You have a very, very strong wind affinity, that's why it's so dark and turned so dark as fast as it did."

"Sweet, so that means I can use kickass wind Jutsu no problem right?"

"Yes and no, you will have an easier time with wind Jutsu than others but you will still need to train to use and recognize wind aligned chakra within yourself."

"Still awesome," said Naruto, "Now let's see if I've got another kickass affinity I can mix to make more badass Jutsu."

Shiho couldn't help but chuckle at Naruto's exuberance. "Lightning," she said handing over the next card which again didn't respond like the fire. "Earth," she handed the next one. This time the earth card turned a little brown in color. "Minor earth affinity, that's a good mix, wind and earth complement each other nicely. Last one, water," she said handing him the last card which again didn't respond at all.

"So wind and earth but no combination element," said Naruto, "Still, you said wind and earth complement each other right? So, I'm still going to be a badass."

"Now, that's not to say you can learn other affinities it is just that they will probably not be as strong, chakra efficient, or easy to learn as wind and earth will be," explained Shiho.

"Awesome, what's next?"

"Next we'll see how your chakra mix is balanced," said Shiho handing him a sheet with the symbol for spiritual on the right corner.

Naruto channeled his chakra and the sheet turn a little grey, very, very little grey.

"Okay, so not much potential for Genjutsu or Iryojutsu," said Shiho handing him a sheet with the symbol for physical on the right corner.

Naruto channeled his chakra and much like when he channeled chakra in to the wind sheet, this one turned dark black almost instantly.

"So, you have very strong physical chakra presence. Don't worry though, with experience and training you can bring that a little bit more in balance but your physical chakra will always be dominant which is not always bad," explained Shiho.

"Cool, so you said that physical chakra is used more in Shape Manipulation and Taijutsu enhancement right?"

"Yes," said Shiho taking another sheet, "This is for shape manipulation alignment."

Naruto grinned happy and made to swipe at it before Shiho pulled it just out of reach. "What gives?"

"This one is different, we have to be very careful when holding it because it will literally change shape depending on your affinity to it. So I'm going to lay it on your hand, palm up please."

Naruto complied. Once the sheet sat on his palm he channeled a bit of chakra. Instantly from the sheet a large chain made entirely of chakra shot from his palm branching out in nine different chains each with it owns spike at the end.

"Was that supposed to happen?" asked Naruto.

"Atsui-sama," called Shiho urgently rushing towards him.

"I had heard the previous Jinchuriki of Kyubi could do this but we were never able to test to see if this was her ability or the Kyubi's," said Atsui studying it closely, "I can sense some of the Kyubi's chakra within the constructs but they chakra is mostly yours. I would say this is definitely the result of Kyubi being within you."

"So this is my Jinchuriki ability?"

"I would say so, but this is being maintained by that chakra paper. This is something you'll have to learn on your own through practice and experimentation. At least now you know you have the ability," explained Atsui in his standard clinical manner.

"Awesome," said Naruto excited, "I can't wait to start working on this."

Atsui removed the sheet from Naruto's hand and chains shattered into raw chakra in the air before dissipating entirely into nothingness. "Continue with the testing Shiho-san."

"Right away sir," said Shiho excited to see what else would come up.

"Okay, Taijutsu," said Shiho handing him the next sheet. It turn a dark grey color after a few moments.

"Strong Taijutsu enhancement alignment, that's really good with your elemental affinities. You have good chakra Uzumaki –san," said Shiho.

Naruto blushed lightly and scratched the back of his head feeling slightly embarrassed. "You really think so?"

"I know so, these tests don't lie. This is the bloodline sheet," she said handing him another sheet.

It turned a very slight pink color. "What's that mean?"

"Well, if you really are Uzumaki by blood, you clan has a passive bloodline sometimes called the line of longevity. It gives enhanced healing, longer life and a Fuinjutsu affinity. The first two are automatically fed by your chakra and if you add in the Kyubi I would imagine those two are actually quite advanced. Some of your earlier tests should confirm that and we check your Fuinjutsu affinity now," Shiho explained scientifically but Naruto could tell she was really excited about it.

She handed Naruto the last sheet with was instantly covered in endless lines of Fuinjutsu symbols, "As I thought, very strong Fuinjutsu affinity. As I said earlier, you have very good chakra."

"Thanks Shiho-chan, for everything," said Naruto genuinely happy.

"Of course Uzumaki-san," said Shiho unable to hide the slight blush that decorated her face.

"So what now?" asked Naruto, "You said something about experimentation or something like that?"

"Indeed but there are still a few more test but they won't take long. We need to check your chakra capacity and control," said Atsui stepping in to move the testing forward, "Once done it will take us a few days to compile all of the results. While we are doing that, Shiho and some of the others here will be happy to help you in experimenting with your chakra so you can take advantage of our expertise."