International incident

Hiashi was freaking out. His daughter, whom he once believed was useless, had been sent on a C-rank mission. Come to find out, it actually was an A-rank mission. Despite this, she not only survived, but she and her team were successful on their mission, even in spite the hindrance that the demon brat obviously posed. To top it off, she seemed immensely more confident in everything she did.

Was she laying low before now or did this single success cause Hinata to become prideful? Or was it something else? It was all so confusing. Well, he wasn't sure how she trained, though she seemed to spend a lot of time with her teammates and jounin instructor. Perhaps she had been training the whole time? Hiashi wasn't sure.

He had sent members of his clan to spy on them, but his spies didn't stay conscious for long. Perhaps it was that Aburame boy that kept detecting them? Whatever. It was pointless to try and spy.

Little did the head of the Hyuga clan know, Shino, Naruto, and Hinata were training together and trading jutsu.

Come to find out, Naruto's bloodline seemed to be transferable via simply being around him for an extended period of time. Joker had a theory; the chemicals that the Uzumakis released in slow amounts seeped into the people around them. Over a period of time, the bodies of said people began to gain some immunity to it. Eventually, their bodies adapted to produce the chakra and chemicals needed for the bloodline.

What it really was, though, was the miniscule amounts of both types of Smilex that the Uzumakis released that caused the bodies of others to adapt.

Hinata had begun to have a slight poisonous tint to her chakra. Same with Shino, but with the bug-user, his body (and the bodies of his bugs) seemed to have adapted further, possibly because he had been around members of the Uzumaki Clan a great deal more than Hinata had. Naruto was teaching Shino how to use this to his advantage. Shino developed the Hotarubaku no jutsu (Firefly Bomb no jutsu) in which he could have his bugs explode using the poisonous chakra as a catalyst. A single bug exploding wouldn't do much damage, but a group of forty bugs could sever limbs with a combined explosion. Considering that the numbers of Shino's personal colony were in the hundreds of thousands...

Hinata taught the Juuken to Naruto. Her Juuken was like a blunt knife. Her cousin Neji's was like a razor blade. Naruto's? Like a cinder block. Though he didn't have the control needed to do the Juuken properly, his version pumped so much poisonous chakra into his opponent's coils that they twisted unnaturally, screwing with the nervous system and generally causing havoc.

Shino, who had studied chakra strings as per his clan's rite of passage, taught the theory to both Naruto and Hinata. Since his clan had fought a great deal of puppeteers in their past, they had learned how to counter a puppeteer's techniques. Part of learning the counters was learning the techniques themselves. Naruto, in his twisted way, decided to figure out how to apply the chakra strings to his version of the Juuken, though he did not reveal this to his teammates.

Naruto taught Hinata how to make automations (robots) similar to the lawn gnomes of the Uzumaki estate, and they worked on using chakra strings in conjunction with them.

Later, with Joker and Shino working on seals, Naruto summoned the three-headed Jackal: Hachiman.

"What the--?"

"Wheeee!"

"Hey, we've been summoned!"

"Good evening, Hachiman. We welcome you with open arms!"

"Well met, pup," said the center head which had a single symbol on top of his head.

"Why did you summon us?" asked the right head (having four different symbols on his head).

"Hey look! It's that clown guy! Hi!" blurted the left head (having three different symbols on his head). Obviously, that one was off his rocker.

Joker chuckled, but kept quiet as he and Shino continued writing seals.

"I summoned you to make a proposition. A deal, if you will. I know that since Sanman is a bit... off, and he has the Banner of Defense, it is hard for you to defend yourselves. Am I correct?"

"Ooooo... What's that!?" Asked the left head as he looked at some random object.

The center head raised his eyebrow at the left head.

The right head decided to take care of the conversation. "That is true. We have become something of a powerhouse with no defense. It is hard amongst the Jackals and Hyenas, as there are often fights over food and such. Ichiman and I have had to remain in the background, eating only when the others were done. Since we are a male, we also have to let the females have first pick, as is the culture of the pack. It's no fun being the top Jackal when you are the bottom of the food chain."

"I thought so. My proposal is to seal the three of you into a weapon, making it stronger and you three less vulnerable to attack."

"I SMELL PIE!!"

"Yonman, I agree with the arrangement."

"As do I. Very well. What are the other terms and what weapon are we being sealed into?"

The blonde psychopath grinned.

Hinata was determined to impress Naruto. She began working on a fighting style based off of the Hakke Rokujuuyonshou (Eight Trigrams, Sixty-Four Palms). Rather than have it be a simple attack routine like the rest of Hyugas, she wanted it to be an entire style. Her chakra was changing. She knew that. It was becoming corrosive and poisonous, but it remained flexible and fluid, if a little sluggish. A deadly combination.

She sought out the Hyugas' own resident medic-nin, Hyuga Shishou, for supplemental training. A Branch member, he didn't much like the members of the Main House of the Hyuga family, but like all the Branch members with the exception of a few, he had a soft spot for the Hyuga heiress, Hinata.

"Hinata-sama," greeted the thirty-year-old medic. "What can I do for you?"

"Good afternoon, Shishou-san. I need to step up my training. You are aware of who my teammates are, yes?"

"Of course. The Aburame prodigy and the Uzumaki child."

"Well, you would know that the Aburame use their own hives of bugs to heal themselves, so Shino-san is safe from most injuries. Naruto-kun has a remarkable ability of recovery; he has no scars. Unfortunately, I do not have such defenses against... bad luck."

Bad luck. That is what the Hyuga often called the blind spot that plagued their bloodline. Also, Shishou knew that Hinata did not have the skill to learn the Kaiten, the spinning technique that protected against attacks that came from any direction, including the blind spot.

"You wish to learn medical jutsu from me?"

"Not just that. I wish to create a new taijutsu style based off of the Juuken style's ultimate attack: the Hakke Rokujuuyonshou. I figure that incorporating chakra scalpels into the attack, I can create a much more deadly version."

Truly, the Hyuga heiress was a genius. She may not be as precise or as quick with the Juuken, but to create a new style combining the ultimate attack of an existing style with a medical technique known to cause severe damage without much effort would be an extraordinary achievement. With Hinata's chakra reserves being greatly above average, this would likely be possible.

"Very well. But I must inform you: I will not do this as a Branch member serving the Main House; I will do this as a friend."

"Good. I wouldn't want it any other way. Oh, and I want our training to be our little secret."

"Of course," replied Shishou, realizing that Hinata was definitely more confident than when she had left for Wave. He knew that she would be better for it, but it begged the question: why? Wasn't the demon brat's presence detrimental to everyone? It was interesting, to say the least, but Shishou would not look into it further. He felt more honor-bound to Hinata than he did to any other Main member. He would wait for signs of distress before he demanded (as one of her guardians) for her to be removed from her team.

Naruto was spending some of his free time taunting Sakura and Kiba. He had introduced himself with a boot to Kiba's head. Akamaru was growling at Naruto when the blonde sensed something coming at him. He whirled around and caught a blunted kunai.

He saw who threw it. Konohamaru.

"You're improving," stated the insane blonde.

"Learned from someone who was willing to teach me," retorted the child.

"Who would that be, I wonder?"

"Me," replied Kiba.

"So rather than mimic the clown, you settled for the chihuahua pup." Kiba growled in response.

"Hey, Boss," interrupted Konohamaru, drawing the Inuzuka's attention. "That girl with the pink hair..." The kid held his hand up and stuck out his pinky. "Is she your... you know?"

Kiba blushed. Naruto shook with barely contained laughter. Sakura growled in rage.

"You come back here you little..." she said just before chasing after him. Kiba chased after her to prevent her from killing the poor kid. Naruto followed simply to watch the show.

Konohamaru turned to stick his tongue out at Sakura, and turned back only to run into something, knocking himself backwards.

The object he ran into grunted. "Hey! You little runt! That hurt!"

The person who was whining picked Konohamaru up by the back of his shirt. The small boy was terrified, but to his credit, he simply scowled menacingly at the hooded figure holding him against the wishes of gravity.

The figure holding him was wearing a black robe and had face paint on, making him look like a kabuki actor. He had a body-sized bundle on his back wrapped in bandages. Behind this figure was a blonde girl, slightly older than he, with her hair tied into four small pig-tails. She had a giant fan strapped to her back.

"Stop scowling at me. I'm going to teach you a lesson."

"You probably shouldn't do that, Kankuro," remarked the girl. "This isn't like it was back home in Suna."

"Shut up, Temari! Little brats like this should show proper respect to a ninja of the Sand."

"I'm surprised he hasn't pissed in your face yet, then," retorted Kiba, who had finally caught up. Akamaru barked as though he was agreeing with his master.

"Out of my way, Shi Tzu boy, before you get flattened!"

Suddenly, Sakura was there and she bashed Kankuro's wrist with a two-by-four, forcing the kabuki enthusiast to let go of Konohamaru.

"GAH!"

Both the girl and the young child managed to get behind Kiba before the hooded boy could react.

"THAT'S IT!" roared Kankuro as he pulled the bundle off of his back. But before it even hit the ground, his wrist was hit with a rock, forcing him to drop the bundle.

He and Temari looked up into a nearby tree to see Sasuke lounging on one of the branches, nonchalantly juggling some rocks.

"You should be careful," he stated, grouping all three rocks into one hand. "This is not your home, little ant."

"You should be careful," replied a voice from behind Sasuke, totally devoid of emotion. "Little lizards should not become too prideful."

Sasuke was stunned. How did the boy get behind him? Suddenly, his presence was gone. He was then standing next to Kankuro. He was shorter than the other two, had red hair, and no eyebrows. Instead, he had the kanji for "love" tattooed above his left eye. His eyes also had bags under them and around them that were so dark, they might as well have been black. This boy carried a giant gourd on his back.

"G-Gaara!" exclaimed the other two.

"We should go back to the hotel. In the tree, what's your name?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"I wasn't talking to you, worm."

Puzzled, Sasuke looked around. Suddenly, he noticed a weight on his head. He went to brush whatever it was off when he came in contact with a boot. Suddenly, the weight was gone as Naruto jumped down only a few feet away from Gaara. Sasuke glared at the blonde clown.

Before answering Gaara, Naruto turned to Sasuke. "You may want to wash your hair. I may or may not have stepped in dog crap."

Just before disappearing from the tree, Sasuke's eyes widened in horror. Naruto laughed at his vanishing act. He was still chuckling when he turned back to Gaara.

"Name's Uzumaki Naruto. Let me be the first to welcome you to Konoha for the Chuunin Exams."

Naruto extended his hand as if to handshake. Gaara just stared at the outstretched arm, wondering what it would take to sever that arm from the rest of the body.

"No? Well, how about you, Mister Mascara?"

Kankuro's eyes narrowed, but he took the proffered hand only to be zapped with a little over a thousand volts of electricity. The hooded boy fell over, unconscious.

"KANKURO!" screamed Temari.

Naruto fell backwards, laughing his head off, causing Konohamaru, Sakura, and Kiba to sweatdrop. When he was done, Gaara spoke.

"I'll remember your name, Uzumaki Naruto. Temari. Take Kankuro."

With that, he vanished. Temari glared at Naruto, then picked up the hooded boy and his bandaged parcel and disappeared.

The whole of Konoha was in an uproar making last-minute preparations for the Chuunin Exams. Ninja from villages all around the known world gathered together to take the test.

Finally, the day arrived...

Team 8 saw the hallway with the classroom under a genjutsu. They kept walking, knowing the hallway to be under an illusion. They then arrived at the testing hall.

Naruto looked around at all of the other chuunin hopefuls.

"HA!" he yelled while grinning. "I'm going to slaughter the lot of you!"

Some simply dismissed him. Others glared at him. Three walked towards him.

"How's it going, Clown, Hinata-san, Shino-san?" asked Ino, one of the three.

"Well if it isn't the Fangirl? Has your 'one true love' arrived yet?"

Obviously, Ino didn't detect the sarcasm dripping from Naruto's voice. "No, and I hope that Big Forehead Girl doesn't make him late."

"How you doin', Muscles?" asked Naruto.

"Doing great," replied Chouji. "I hear you guys went on an A-Ranked mission."

"That's right," explained Shino. "It started as a C, but it was bumped up to A."

"Um, Shikamaru-san, how are things?" asked Hinata.

"As troublesome as ever," replied the lazy ninja. "Our sensei doesn't train us much so we have to take the initiative. It's a total pain."

"Riiiiiiiight," retorted Naruto. "Say, how about a quick game of mumbleypeg?"

"Only if I'm the one holding the kunai."

"You're no fun."

Then Team Guy walked into the hall. They quietly sat down in a few seats (which was remarkable for Lee to do). Finally, Team 7 entered the hall.

"Get lost?" Naruto asked Sasuke.

"Bastard," replied the Uchiha.

"Flattery will get you nowhere."

Ino glomped Sasuke, triggering an argument with Sakura.

"Hey, Naruto!" called Kiba. "I'm going to beat you to a pulp! I've been training!"

"So have we!" replied Hinata.

"So loud for such young ninja," said a new voice. An older boy wearing glasses approached them. He had silver hair and a Konoha forehead protector.

"Who are you?" demanded Sakura.

"My name is Yakushi Kabuto," he replied. "And this is my seventh time taking these exams."

"Wow," said Kiba. "You must be really pathetic."

"Actually, the exams are that difficult."

As Kabuto continued his conversation, the three members of Team 8 looked at each other. In the eyes of all three was the message: "there is no way this guy failed that many times". Naruto knew it because of the large chakra reserves that the other boy had. Hinata knew it because of the calculated movements that Kabuto made, revealing his insincerity. Shino could tell by the tonal fluctuations in the other boy's voice.

When Kabuto pulled out his Ninja Info Cards and explained how they worked, Naruto sniggered and broke into song.

"With my Ninja Info Cards!

"What the heck are those?

"My Ninja Info Cards!

"Have been chakra encoded...

"My Ninja Info Cards!

"Ninja-ninja-ninja-ninja-ninja Info Cards!"

Mostly everyone in the Exam Hall was stunned.

"Did you just make a song out of what I just said?" asked Kabuto incredulously.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Um... Never mind. Any info on anybody you want to know?"

Sasuke spoke first. "Rock Lee, Gaara of the Desert, and Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto raised his eyebrow at this, but said nothing.

"Let's see here... Rock Lee has excellent taijutsu and decent skill with the weapon as well as above average stealth. He has no skill in ninjutsu or genjutsu." Kabuto continued by giving Lee's mission record. "Gaara's stats are rather unknown. All I know is that he's never been hurt." He also gave Gaara's mission record and reiterated that the red-haired boy from the sand never got hurt. "And Naruto... He's been on fifty-eight D-Rank missions and one A-Rank. He is the 'son' of Uzumaki Joker and Uzumaki Harley. He seems rather balanced when it comes to taijutsu and ninjutsu. His skill in genjutsu is unknown. On his last mission, he killed the Demon of the Mist, Zabuza, and slaughtered a gang of thugs."

The various ninja who had heard of Zabuza and were listening in looked at one another in astonishment.

"Of course, this is only what the young Uzumaki has unknowingly shown me. Anyone else want information?"

"I do," answered Hinata. "I want to see how the card for myself compares to that of Hyuga Neji."

Hinata saw that her card showed her to be at less skill and power than Neji. She began to look distraught, but then Naruto whispered something into her ear. She then realized that Kabuto didn't know what she was capable of. She silently thanked Naruto.

Kabuto then mentioned how nearly every hidden village had sent genin to be tested for the rank of chuunin. Even the new village, Oto (Sound). He assured the Konoha genin that the Otonin probably weren't all that strong. The three Otonin then attacked Kabuto. Though the boy dodged, his glasses still cracked and he became violently ill.

Then a voice at the front of the room yelled at them for fighting. It was Morino Ibiki.

"This part of the test is NOT about combat."

"HI UNCLE IBIKI!" called Naruto from the back of the room. Ibiki laughed.

"I see my psychotic 'nephew' is participating in the Exams."

The interrogation specialist then explained the rules for the first test.