Chapter 4

Kotaro and Temari stopped what they were doing before turning to look at Naruto. Then they turned to look at each other in confusion.

"Nee-san, does the 4th Hokage's kid want to fight the both of us?"

"Hmm. He even said that he was going to be the next Hokage," Temari added

The pair continued to look at each other for a few more moments before they both couldn't hold back anymore and burst out laughing.

Hearing them laugh at him, Naruto got even angrier and charged at the pair. Before his punch could land, Naruto found himself on the floor while looking up at the sky and a doll with a knife in its hands pointing at one of his eyes.

Chiyo had given him several puppets but since he didn't really like the Puppet Master combat style, Kotaro rarely used them. He only learned the skill since Chiyo wanted to impart it on him.

Even if it was not his preferred fighting style, Kotaro could still surpass the skills of many genin due to his innate talent and his personal teacher who was one of the two greatest puppet masters in the history of Suna.

Naruto was barely qualified to be a genin while Chiyo had already confirmed that Kotaro was a high chunin rank at least. This difference in skill allowed him to easily subdue Naruto while only using the strength of a mid-high genin.

'Oh. That kid is good. He has a good chance of making it to chunin as long as he works hard these next few months.'

Kakashi watched Naruto getting beat so swiftly with a nonchalant expression. He had picked the fight so it was only natural that he would have to suffer a bit if he lost.

That still didn't mean that Kakashi would just abandon his student. If Kotaro made the puppet move the knife any closer, the jonin would surely make his move.

"You are the son of the 4th Hokage and a ninja of Konoha who just tried to attack the children of Suna and the 4th Kazekage. You do know how bad of an international incident this could be turned into, right?" Temari asked from the side while walking over toward the pair

Naruto grimaced when it was pointed out to him. He may have been a bit slow and terrible at academics but he wasn't a complete moron. When Temari pointed it out, he knew just how big of a mistake that he made.

"Ugh..."

"It doesn't even matter about that. This fool can't even tell the difference between us and decided to pick a fight. If I kill him right here, Father can't punish me, right?" Kotaro asked his sister

"He can and will. Lord 4th won't like that we killed his child and we need the alliance. No need to start a war just because of one fool."

Kotaro pouted when he heard that. He hated that he had to let Naruto go even though he was the one that picked the fight.

"Tsk. Fine. I'll let the 'little Hokage' off this time. But prey that you don't meet me in the Chunin Exams, Naruto Uzumaki," Kotaro threaten before pulling his small puppet away and putting his back in the scroll

Seeing the scuffle was over, Kakashi sighed in regret before appearing out of nowhere in front of the genin. His speed was something that none of them could keep up with.

"Sorry about this little brat. I'll make sure he gets punished later," Kakashi said sincerely before forcing Naruto's head down dn making him bow

The Sand Siblings were still shocked from him appearing out of nowhere when he spoke. Barely recovering, all they could do was nod.

With that, Kakashi *fwooshed* away with Naruto, leaving the pair just standing there. The duo shrugged their shoulders before walking back to Chiyo's residence where they trained for the rest of the day.

Exhausted from a day of intense training, Temari fell asleep with Kotaro in the room he had at Chiyo's place. Early in the morning, the duo were woken up by Chiyo calling for them.

Kotaro and Temari walked down the steps to see Chiyo had already prepared some porriage for them. After they ate it, the pair said their thanks to Chiyo before heading over to the academy where the match would be held later.

When they arrived, they were the only ones present. With no one else around, the duo grabbed a bunch of leaves before practicing their nature transformation and shape manipualtion.

An hour later, the other genin and the senior shinobi who would be supervising them had arrived. The genin from Konoha were the same 9 that were there the day before while Suna had brought out their best genin that were going to partake in the upcoming Chunin Exam.

This included Gaara show as brought over personally by Rasa. When Gaara appeared, all of the other ninja present felt as if the temperature had dropped. They could all tell that something was off about Gaara.

Only a few people didn't seem to mind him. This would be both of the Kages, the senior Uchiha, and Kotaro himself. Even Temari showed a small amount of fear when she saw her youngest brother.

Seeing his brother arrive, Kotaro walked over to try and give him a hug but a wall of sharp sand appeared in front of him. Seeing that he still could not approach, Kotaro just gave his brother a smile.

"Hey, Gaara. Excited for the matches today?" Kotaro asked

"Hmm," Gaara replied with most being able to hear him before he whispered to Kotaro, "Nii-san. Are you going all out today?"

Kotaro shook his head. He was planning to hold back until they got to the final round of the Chunin Exams. Then, he would let his strength burst forth.

Gaara nodded in understanding. He knew his brother wanted to surprise his father. Not to make him proud but to annoy the man because he would not have known about his true strength.

Kotaro turned around as he looked at the two groups of genin that would be doing battle that day and hoping that the Leaf shinobi didn't choose Choji so he wouldn't have to fight.