Before The First Task

Sasuke arrived at the location of their team meeting in a bad mood. First he was ignored and disrespected by Naruto. And then the red headed jinchuuriki Gaara also saw him as nothing but a pest. Just like the brooding Uchiha, Sakura was also in a pad mood. Her grand plan to get a date out of Sasuke by helping him capture Naruto had failed miserably.

It turned out they were the first of team seven to make it to the meeting spot only half an hour late. Hinata was usually the first to arrive but she also knew that Kakashi's poor track record at arriving on time meant that she would usually show up about forty five minutes late. While Sasuke and Sakura would usually arrive together after an hour.

(With Naruto)

Naruto found a quiet training ground next to a large forest. 'This should be perfect, hopefully I can get some training in here without any more distractions' the blond thought to himself.

He sat down in the center of the training ground clearing and sat in a cross legged in a meditative position and slowly levitated himself five meters above the ground.

Naruto sat perfectly still and channeled chakra around him levitating rocks as a way to train his gravity manipulation. The more chakra he put into the jutsu the larger the radius of the levitation field would extend.

This was the scene Akimi and Haku walked in on. "What is he doing?" Haku asked.

"This is how he trains to control gravity, when he first started he could use some basic moves if he was desperate but could not control how long his jutsu would last for or how much power he put into his attacks. he would sometimes use his Shinra Tensei and blow away great big chunks of earth" Akimi replied.

"Is it safe to go near him?" Haku questioned looking at all the floating rocks and branches in mid air.

"Sure it is! But you will probably get trapped in his jutsu until he releases it" Akimi answered with a laugh.

"So what we just wait for him to finish his training before we can go anywhere near him?" Haku asked.

"Not exactly, we just have to get his attention" Akimi replied.

"You really know a lot about him huh? I guess you would have to seeing as he was the only person your age around for the past couple of years" Haku said.

"Hm I guess so. But there is still so much about him that is a mystery to me. He never really talks about his past, outside of small things that happened here in Konoha. He hides a lot of pain in him, I can see that. But I guess you could say I know him better than most. after all he is my best friend" Akimi said trying to liven the mood at the end.

Not waiting for Haku to reply the dark haired kunoichi picked up a small rock and tossed it at Naruto knowing the gravity field was only below him.

The small rock hit the meditating Naruto right in the head. The sudden shock forced the blond jinchuuriki to drop his jutsu sending him crashing onto the ground in a heap. "Ow what the hell!" Naruto yelled, pulling himself up into a standing position.

"Well we had to get your attention somehow!" Akimi yelled in response.

"Did you think of maybe just calling me?" Naruto said rubbing the spot on his head where Akimi had hit him with a rock.

"I thought you were tougher than that. To think Jiraiya-sama thinks so highly of you, maybe he should take on another protege, someone who can take a hit" Akimi joked.

"Yeah very funny. So what did you guys want?" Naruto asked walking over to the kunoichi.

"Well we were thinking that this would be a good time to train together as a team. After all the chunin exams are supposed to be taken in teams. We wouldn't want to get eliminated because out teamwork isn't up to scratch" Haku said.

"Oh so that's all. Sure sounds like it could be fun, may as well run through some team work exercises. Best way to do this would be to take on some missions together but I guess we don't really have enough time for that" Naruto said casually.

The three shinobi began running through several drills to build teamwork, mostly combination patterns and attacks.

"You know I do not see how this is really necessary, there are nothing but teams of genin that we are up against" Naruto said.

"Well we are not all unbeatable like you are" Akimi said.

"I'm not unbeatable! Jiraiya and Itachi sensei can still defeat me" Naruto said.

"Yeah when you don't try! I have watched your fights with them, you hold back!" Akimi said.

"So do they" Naruto replied.

"What ever, in a real fight I bet you would win against them" Akimi replied.

"It would be foolish to believe that I am unbeatable. If I did then I would become arrogant and stop working to improve myself. People who are overconfident get defeated" Naruto said.

"Yet you are the one who said it was pointless to train to fight a bunch of genin" Haku said.

"That is different. All three of us are far above all of the level of genin. In fact I have only seen one person that could rival any of us even slightly. And he is a jinchuuriki from Suna" Naruto said.

"Wait there is another jinchuuriki competing?" Haku asked.

"Yes and he seems to be rather unstable, a one on one fight for most genin or even chunin would almost certainly end in death" Naruto said.

"Well that is a reason to train harder then isn't it?" Haku said.

"I guess but one person is not worth getting overly worried about" Naruto reassured the ice wielder.

(With Team Seven)

Sasuke's bad mood had not improved by the time Kakashi had finally arrived. In fact his mood was so bad he had not said a single word since he arrived and completely ignored Hinata's greeting when she arrived at the meeting location.

"Yo!" Kakashi said lazily as he appeared in a puff of smoke.

"You're Late!" Sakura yelled.

"Ugh yeah sorry about that. I had to help this old woman home with her bags, and it turned out she lived on the other side of the village" Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"Liar!" Sakura accused.

"Anyway, I have the forms for you to fill out. And then I want you all to rest up for the exams at the end of the week, so training and missions are canceled" Kakashi informed his genin.

Sasuke was the first person to grab a form. 'He said he would be competing. So I will simply defeat him in exam and order him to tell me where Itachi is! It will be punishment for disrespecting me!' Sasuke seethed internally as he filled out the form quickly and handed it back to Kakashi.

"You seem rather distant today Sasuke" Kakashi said trying to make the raven haired Uchiha open up.

"It's nothing, I am just focused on these exams, I met someone that is competing. And I have to defeat him no matter what!" Sasuke said.

"Really who is that?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto Uzumaki" Sasuke said in an emotionless tone.

Kakashi's eyes widened and Hinata dropped the pen she was using to fill out her form. "Na-Naruto-kun is competing?" She asked sheepishly.

"Yes! I was going to ask for your help in locating him so that I could beat the location of my brother out of him! But now I know where he will be, all I have to do is fight him in the chunin exams" Sasuke said.

"Are you sure it was him?" Kakashi asked.

"Positive, he was talking to a red headed boy from Suna, Gaara Subaku. And he told him his name" Sasuke said grumpily.

'Naruto is competing in the chunin exams! But why? He must have a team with him, and someone acting as a sensei. Hiruzen-sama did inform the jounin's and the counsel that a team of wandering shinobi would be competing and they were all under the age of fifteen. That must have been Naruto's team, so Hokage-sama must have known Naruto was returning to compete in the exams! I think I will go and talk to him after we have finished here' Kakashi thought.

"Um Sasuke where did you see Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"It doesn't matter! He got away" Sasuke said.

"Tell me Sasuke. What will you do should Naruto tell you where your brother is? Do you really think you can beat him as you are now? Itachi was a genius in every sense of the word. If you were to go after him the only thing you would accomplish is your death! I am telling you to forget about this need for revenge, it will consume you in the end" Kakashi warned.

"Hn" was Sasuke's only reply.

Eventually Sakura and Hinata finished their forms and returned them to Kakashi. "Well you know the date, so all you have to do is go to the academy in the morning and go to room 302" Kakashi said and disappeared in a puff of smoke after a friendly goodbye wave.

"So Sasuke-kun do you want to go look for that blond haired Baka again?" Sakura asked eagerly.

"No, I am going to fight and Humiliate him in the exams" Sasuke said and walked off.

Hinata however was already scanning the area around them with her Byakugan trying to find Naruto's unique chakra, that had spots of Kyuubi's chakra visible in it.

(Hokage Office)

Hiruzen was sitting behind his desk reading the latest copy of Icha Icha when the door opened. Shocked by the sudden entrance the Hokage hid his beloved book quickly before he could realize who it was who had entered.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw who it was. "Oh its you, Kakashi-kun"

"Why were we not informed of the return of Naruto Uzumaki to the village?" Kakashi asked seriously.

"Ah so I take it you saw him?" Hiruzen asked.

"No I didn't, but Sasuke has" Kakashi said.

"Well to answer your question I will ask one of my own. What do you think the elders would do should they find out Naruto is here competing as a wandering ninja with no affiliation to any village?" Hiruzen said.

"I believe they would attempt to capture him to forcefully return him to the village" Kakashi admitted.

"Precisely. And that would mean Danzo would try to get his hands on the boy. Those eyes of his are powerful, so Danzo will attempt to turn him into his own personal weapon. Not that it would work, I believe after just talking to him, that Danzo would not only fail, but most likely loose his life in the attempt to capture or control Naruto. Now I have another question for you. What do you think the civilian population and some of the less informed ninja would do should they know Naruto was back in the village?" Hiruzen continued.

"I would say that the civilians would try to have him arrested or killed on some made up charges and the ninja may even attempt to kill him themselves" Kakashi said.

"That was the same conclusion I came up with, so I kept Naruto's return to the village a secret, after all it is only on a temporary basis. He will be gone at the end of the exams" the Hokage admitted.

"Very well I can understand the secrecy. But do you really think you can keep it a secret once the exams start. He is using his own name after all, and people will not be fooled by his eyes for long, the whisker marks and the blond hair give it away" Kakashi said.

"To you and I maybe, but Naruto was ignored by the villagers. They pretended he didn't exist so it is perfectly natural for them not to see what is right before their eyes. I do believe however that after the second task he may have some troubles. But he will have his team and Jiraiya-kun with him so it will not be too much to worry about" the Hokage replied.

"Jiraiya-sama is back in the village too?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes. But I doubt he will allow himself to be seen much. My guess is he would be at the bath houses doing his research for his next book" Hiruzen answered.

"I see, so that is why Jiraiya-sama left the service of Konoha. He wanted to take Naruto with him! So I guess he found Naruto after he had awakened those eyes of his and to protect him from becoming a weapon for the village, he left Konoha. So Naruto had been trained by Jiraiya-sama for the past five years. He will be far stronger than any genin in this exam" Kakashi said.

"You are right. According to Jiraiya-kun, Naruto-kun is about the same strength as he is" Hiruzen replied.

"Then why are you allowing him to enter these exams?" Kakashi asked, shocked to hear how strong the Hokage believed Naruto was.

"Well there are two reasons actually. Although one of them is rather selfish. I wanted to see him again, I remember him as a boy always smiling and full of life... Just like his mother. Although he also got into a lot of trouble" Hiruzen said.

"Just like his mother did as well I think you will find. She once told me the story of her first day at the academy when she beat up all the people that were picking on her" Kakashi said.

"Yes indeed. When Jiraiya came to me and said he wanted to include Naruto into the chunin exams I just couldn't refuse the chance to see him once more" the Hokage admitted.

"I see. You said there was another reason though" Kakashi reminded the Hokage.

"Yes, well you see Jiraiya found out something interesting about the new village that appeared and decided to compete in this exam. The leader of the village is Orochimaru! Also it is not a village at all. There is only a underground base there. So he thought Orochimaru might be using the chunin exams as an attempt to attack Konoha. Naruto's team was offered as support to find the team from Oto and find out what they know about Orochimaru's plans" Hiruzen stated.

"So they are here to protect the village?" Kakashi said, shocked slightly by the main reason Naruto was in Konoha.

"Yes, Naruto still loves Konoha. But I do not believe he will take the abuse they gave him before. He loves the village but hates the people" the Hokage said.

"So there is no hope of him returning to stay?" Kakashi asked.

"I do not think so, I believe this will be the last we see of Naruto for quite some time" Hiruzen said sadly.

Kakashi bowed and said a respectful farewell to the Hokage before leaving the room. There was only one spot in the village Kakashi could go to clear his head when things got to him like they were now. After leaving the Hokage's office he shunshined to the memorial stone where he stood until the sun had long since set from the sky.

The rest of the week passed without much incident for Naruto and his team. They spent a couple of hours every day working on teamwork drills. Akimi's speed and taijutsu ability was a brilliant counter balance to Naruto's ninjutsu skills, although he was definitely no slouch when it came to taijutsu which Haku found out when she was watched Naruto and Akimi spar. He never wasted a move and while he was not as fast as Akimi was with her Swift release he was far more skilled in his Kata and seemed to have a counter for every move. Haku fit in with their teamwork almost flawlessly. Her skill with senbon and other long ranged weapons was perfect. In the end they had a well balanced team with a close range taijutsu user, a mid to close range ninjutsu, and a long range support.

"Alright, we should get through this easily, but remember what the main mission is. We need to find the team from Oto and learn everything that they know about Orochimaru. Also we do not know if he has any people working undercover so it would be best if we confront them away from any teams from other countries" Naruto said as they walked towards the academy.

"Yeah, yeah we know, how hard can it be? They are probably just a bunch of Orochimaru's rejects" Akimi said.

"You shouldn't underestimate your opponents" Haku lectured.

"Aw Haku-chan not you too" Akimi whined.

"Well you do tend to do that pretty often" Naruto joked.

"Oh and are you saying that you don't!" Akimi yelled back at the blond. There was no harshness in her voice however and it was little more than a couple of friends giving each other a hard time.

The three shinobi made it to the academy still joking with each other. Once they entered the doors and went up the first flight of stairs. The joking stopped however when they saw a large group of people standing outside a door blocked by two ninja that Naruto could easily see were two chunin under a henge. "It's a decoy to weed out any teams that cant spot a genjutsu lets go around" Naruto said quietly.

No sooner had they gotten to the end of the hallway that opened up into a small dojo that there was a call from behind them. "Remove that genjutsu and get out of the way!"

"Well so much for the pretest" Haku sighed.

"Man what an idiot who would willingly tell the possible opposition that!" Akimi said, clearly shocked.

"Obviously someone who is smart enough to notice a genjutsu but either too dumb to realize the purpose of it. Or they just want to prove that they are superior to everybody else by showing off" Naruto said.

"My guess is it's a mixture of both" Akimi giggled.

"I came to the same conclusion" Naruto chuckled.

They had made it up the stairs just as they heard a confrontation starting behind them.

"You are Sasuke Uchiha! Rookie of this years academy class and genius are you not? If so then I challenge you right here and now" a voice called out.

"Hey wait up, lets see where this goes" Naruto said to the two kunoichi who shrugged but agreed to follow as they made their way to a balcony over looking the Dojo but still out of sight. Below them was Sasuke with Hinata and Sakura flanking him on either side. And a boy with a bowl haircut wearing green spandex.

"Oh kami it's one of the freaks we saw running around the village the other day" Akimi said.

"Yes and the others were with Kakashi Hatake on the bridge in Wave" Haku added.

"This might actually be interesting" Naruto said as he turned his attention to the group just as Sasuke began to open his mouth.

"You know who I am, and yet you still wish to fight me?" Sasuke sneered at the boy.

"Sasuke, this isn't a good idea... Lee, is in Neji-Niisan's team. I have seen them train" Hinata said trying to deter Sasuke from accepting the fight.

"I want to fight you to prove that with hard work even a looser can defeat a genius!" the now named Lee spoke.

"Heh I like him" Naruto whispered with a smile of respect on his face.

"Fine, but don't expect to be able to defeat me" Sasuke said and he charged forward.

The fight was brief and brutal. Sasuke was completely man handled and it would have become far worse for Sasuke had it not been for the arrival of a turtle, and a larger version of Lee.

"Sweet Kami there is two of them! Is the smaller one a clone or something?" Naruto whispered.

"I don't know, I just hope that there isn't any more of them" Haku said.

"Looks like the show is over now anyway. Lets get to room 302 already" Akimi said and began dragging Naruto, who had seen something that had shocked him to the very core and made him want to burn his eyes out.

"What happened Naruto? You look like you just saw a ghost" Haku asked.

"It was horrible... they were hugging on a beach... I couldn't dispel it no matter how hard I tried! Demonic genjutsu from hell" Naruto wept as he curled up into a ball and began slowly rocking.

"Oh kami he's broken! What do we do now?" Haku asked.

"No idea. Snap out of it Naruto!" Akimi yelled at the blond before giving him a light slap across the face.

That seemed to do the trick and Naruto came to his senses. "Thanks Akimi I needed that" Naruto sighed in relief.

"What the hell could have possibly made you react that way?" Akimi asked.

"I don't want to talk about it" Naruto shivered.

"Fine, we're here anyway" Akimi said.

They entered the class room to find it completely full to bursting point. "Aw man this sucks, how are we supposed to get the team from Oto alone in this mess" Naruto whined quietly.

Naruto moved further into the room but stooped when he felt someone approach them from behind. Whirling around Naruto saw the gravity defying silver hair of Kakashi.

"Oh Kakashi Hatake. A pleasure to see you again" Naruto said.

"Naruto. I would like to apologize for my actions on the bridge in the Land of Waves" Kakashi said.

"Apology accepted. However I do not feel there was any need to apologize. You thought you were doing the right thing. And as Itachi sensei and I were able to leave without any major issues no harm was done" Naruto assured the silver haired jounin.

"Why do you work with Itachi? If you don't mind me asking" Kakashi said.

"Why not. He is strong and has been able to teach me a lot. He may have killed his clan but that doesn't mean he is necessarily a bad person. Maybe they had done something to him that justified it. Either way he has been nothing but helpful and kind to me" Naruto said.

"I suppose that is understandable. I wont take up any more of your time, I need to go greet my team after all. Oh and good luck in the exam" Kakashi said giving Naruto one of his patented eye smiles, before walking away to greet team seven who had just entered the room.

Naruto quickly began scanning around the room and it didn't take long to find the three Oto ninja. "There they are" Naruto whispered to Akimi causing her to glance in the direction that Naruto was looking. They look like they think they are superior to everyone here" Akimi said.

"I know what you mean, they look like they own the place. Especially the one that looks like a mummy" Naruto said.

Naruto's attention was drawn away from the Oto genin when he heard someone say his name. Looking for the person who called him Naruto spun around and saw all of his old class along with a silver haired Konoha ninja that Naruto didn't recognize. Channeling chakra into his ears and focusing on the conversation the silver haired boy was having with Sasuke Naruto began eaves dropping.

"So you want information on Rock Lee, Gaara Subaku and Naruto Uzumaki right?" the silver haired boy asked.

"That's right, can you do that Kabuto?" Sakura asked.

"No problem, giving me the names will make it incredibly easy. Ok first up is Rock Lee" Kabuto said but the second he pulled the info card out of his pocket his entire deck including Lee's flew out of his grasp. "What tha?"

"It isn't very nice to give out information about other people" Naruto said as the deck of cards flew into his outstretched hand.

"What are you doing, scared we are going to find out something about you?" Sasuke sneered when he saw Naruto. The reactions from the rest of the Konoha rookies was varied. Most of them had no idea who he was, but Hinata couldn't help but blush. While Shikamaru eyed Naruto intently sure that he had seen the blond somewhere before. That same thought process was running through the mind of Shino and he had already planned to send a kikachu beetle to investigate this new comer.

"That is quite a useful jutsu you have there. I assure you all the information I have gathered is easily accessible. Now if I might have my cards back... Uh I don't believe I know your name sorry" Kabuto said with a friendly smile.

"It's Naruto Uzumaki. And no you can't have your ninja info cards back. You were about to give out information about me, not that it would do any good as there wont be anything of any use on mine as I am not a ninja of any village. But I think Lee and Gaara have a right to keep there abilities secret. And if it is easily accessible then they should have done the research themselves before the exams" Naruto said.

"Then I will put them away. But may I please have them back? I promise to not share anymore information" Kabuto said.

"I guess so. But first I will permit you to tell them what my card says as long as I can see it first" Naruto said.

"That should be simple enough, just channel some chakra into the cards and think of the name you want then draw a card" Kabuto said.

Naruto did as he was told and drew the card with his information on it. 'Hm a little more than I expected but nothing major, nothing here that I wouldn't expect sensei to put in my entrance form anyway' Naruto thought before handing it along with the rest of the cards back to Kabuto.

Kabuto's eyes widened when he looked at the card. "Um are you sure it is okay for me to tell them this?" he asked tentatively unsure on what Naruto's reaction would be.

"Yeah it's fine, there isn't anything I want to keep hidden in there anyway. Besides I told you that you could" Naruto said.

"Very well then. Naruto Uzumaki Wandering ninja and part of team Yoinokuchi. Comprising of himself, Haku Momoichi, and Akimi Hayaku. He has completed over two hundred missions none of them below C rank. And has never been harmed in combat. His ninjutsu and taijutsu skills are off the charts along with his chakra capacity. The only weakness that I can see is he has no skill in kenjutsu and only slightly above average skills in genjutsu. Oh there is one more thing the sensei of team Yoinokuchi is none other than Jiraiya of the Sannin" Kabuto said causing the listening crowd to eye Naruto wearily and Sasuke to seethe internally.

'So if Jiraiya has sent a team here maybe he suspects Orochimaru-sama is planning something. I should inform him as soon as possible' Kabuto thought.

"Hn probably just bad information. You don't look so tough!" Sasuke said.

"Well feel free to attack me during the exams and see for yourself Teme" Naruto said causing Akimi to chuckle but Haku remained silent.

"Um, you were the fake Hunter ninja that was with Zabuza on the bridge in Wave weren't you?" Hinata asked finally fighting down her blush.

"Yes I was. I guess the information on Naruto's card sort of gave that away" Haku admitted.

"Well that and you hold yourself the same way" Hinata admitted.

"Hm she is rather stoic isn't she" Akimi chuckled.

"Yeah if she was a bit older she would be just like a female version of Itachi sensei" Naruto added causing both Naruto and Akimi to both burst out laughing much to the confusion of the Konoha ninja and anger of Sasuke.

"Who knows. Itachi is only about five years older than she is. Maybe we have found Itachi the perfect girlfriend" Akimi said continuing her teasing of the stoic ice user who was now an almost Hinata worthy shade of red from embarrassment.

Meanwhile most of the shinobi in the room were looking at Naruto and Akimi like they were idiots for drawing so much attention to themselves and laughing when they were about to take the first task.

"Are those two insane?" Choji asked Shikamaru.

"I don't think so. Look how relaxed they are, they are not concerned about this exam or anyone that is in it. I say we stay away from them" Shikamaru replied.

Several others in the group nodded in agreement as Naruto and the other members of his team walked away. Seconds later the door burst open and a large man walked in wearing a dark blue bandana, a large black coat and a gray Anbu outfit. He also had several scars on his face.

"Alright I am the proctor for the first exam, Ibiki Morino. Now find a seat and wait for the tests to be passed around!"

End Chapter!