Naruto couldn't stop the slight shudder that passed through him at the Genin's declaration. The tainted chakra surging through the air, the weird black markings that half-covered the Genin's face, the sudden locking on to Naruto's real position hidden in the trees, and the now slightly manic, power-drunk gleam in his enemies eyes.

This much chakra that was this potent could only really indicate a power-boost not unlike the one that jinchuuriki got when they tapped into their Bijuu's chakra. This though, was weaker. Though only he, Jiraiya, and the Elder Toads knew it; Naruto was better acquainted with the Kyuubi's chakra than ever before. Mt. Myoboku made for one of the safest places in the world for him to try using it, with several powerful toads, and several seal-masters directly on hand in case things went wrong - and Jiraiya wasn't one to pass up on opportunities like that.

He wondered whether he should go to those lengths now. He had learned to manage small amounts of the Bijuu's chakra without it's will affecting his thoughts - just enough for it to augment his speed and power to a significant degree, and more than enough to make matching his enemy here significantly easier. He felt the tiniest flare of approval from within himself that was his own, spurring him on, urging him to take a grasp of the chakra the he held and use it; and it was this feeling that made the decision for him.

The Kyuubi was of course looking for any opportunity to force him into losing control, to escape. Practicing controlling it's chakra was one thing, but to use it in actual battle; with so many emotions, so much adrenalin, so many things to weaken his control, he could not risk using it unless it was absolutely necessary.

He may be a jinchuuriki, but he wouldn't cave and use another's power the second things got difficult. He'd win, and he'd do it without using borrowed strength.

"This..." His attention snapped back to his enemy, even as he ignored a flash of frustrated anger deep at the back of his consciousness as the Fox realised that Naruto would not be using his chakra. "This is the first time I have used my master's gift in real battle before... It's power is incredible. Can you feel it? Can you feel how futile fighting has become? You cannot win."

"Relying on a power you've never used before to win you a battle is more than a bit of a gamble." Naruto stated calmly, determined to show he wasn't affected in the slightest by the chakra the Kusa-nin was bleeding.

"A gamble? This is the chakra of Orochimaru-sama himself, a gift he gives to those he considers truly valuable! The power of a Sannin added to your own. Someone like you fighting now that I have called upon it is ridiculous as you fighting Orochimaru-sama himself."

Naruto made no bones about scoffing loudly at that claim. "Bullshit." He said simply, taking no small amount of pleasure in the poorly masked indignation that his comment incited. "You really have no idea who my sensei is, do you? Orochimaru really sent you into this thing blind... My sensei is Jiraiya of the Sannin, one of the only men in the world capable of standing opposite your master and taking his head. I know the power of a Sannin. I've felt his chakra, his killing intent first hand - hell, I've sparred him and been crushed in less than a second when he got serious. What's more, I know that for each of those things, he was holding back. I was seeing only a fraction of his power. Which is how I can tell you something straight out about your power..."

"It doesn't come even slightly close. Gift or no gift, you don't even register on the concerns of your master or mine. The power has warped your judgement, and you overestimate yourself because of it. Didn't Orochimaru ever tell you that making that mistake is a very good way of getting yourself killed?"

The grey-haired shinobi's eyes were narrowed in concentrated anger, his gaze fixed firmly on where Naruto was hidden amongst the dense shrubbery, the tainted chakra focused firmly on the blond in a fierce attempt to intimidate him. "Overestimate myself? Perhaps. But it will be more than enough for you. For your insults I shall not be keeping you - you don't deserve the honour. You will just die, alone, and in agony, before being forgotten by the world. Your body, and that of your team-mate will be left for the forest to consume."

The slight shift and tightening of his grip on his katana was the only hint that the Kusa-nin was about to make his move, before he darted across the clearing towards the original Naruto, only just slow enough for Naruto to be able to see. One of his Kage Bunshin stepped in front of him, taking the ferocious downwards slash aimed at him with it's sansetsukon, before shifting his body allowing Naruto to jab at the katana wielding shinobi from behind him.

The Kusa Genin pirouetted to the left, dodging the blow, before crouching mid-spin, and using the momentum to sweep at the Bunshin's knees with his blade, dispelling it. Instantly, he rolled to the side to avoid a downwards smash from the second Bunshin that had been hiding with Naruto. Landing crouched, he used his already bent legs as a spring to launch himself at the offending Bunshin, destroying it with a lightning quick flurry of his blade. Naruto leapt at Orochimaru's former student with his Sansetsukon leading, creating yet another Kage Bunshin almost without thought as support, and both shinobi launched into a furious close-range struggle for dominance, with the Bunshin Naruto had hidden around the clearing rushing towards the melee in order to aid the beleaguered original.

For the first time in his life outside of sparring with Jiraiya and Yuugao, Naruto was fighting absolutely all out. His enemy was faster, stronger, and was far more skilled with his weapon than Naruto had for his own. He could feel his muscles strain, forcing themselves beyond what Naruto had previously thought he was capable of in order to try and match his enemy's speed; and rather than act as a diversion and irritant, or strategic chess pieces, his Kage Bunshin were being forced into sacrificing themselves to the enemies attacks simply to make up for when Naruto himself fell behind the pace the Kusa Genin was setting.

Every mistake and poorly judged manoeuvre was punished with drawn blood, his enemy ducking and weaving between Sansetsukon strikes and fists, and almost effortlessly targeting minor flaws in his taijutsu form. Being forced into a poor stance led to a sizable gash on his thigh from being unable to evade a sweeping attack completely, and a clever spinning strike had led to Naruto taking another nasty pommel blow to his face, that he could almost instantly feel swell and raise into a severe bruise.

Worse still, the smoke in the area was growing ever thicker, as the flames from his earlier attack continued to spread through the forest towards them, their fight only just staying ahead of the encroaching wildfire. His vision was beginning to get severely impaired whilst his enemy's remained unhindered, and breathing was becoming practically impossible.

And the Kusa Genin knew it.

Suddenly, without warning, their frantic melee was over - Naruto noticeably worse off for the exchange - and the grey haired enemy had darted back into the smoke, becoming seemingly invisible in the suffocating haze.

"My master long studied the silent-killing techniques of Kirigakure, and some of those secrets, he passed on to his subordinates. All those from Otogakure are at least somewhat skilled at stealth and assassination techniques. I will concede that you are stronger than I without my Master's gift, but now your time is up. You can't see, and have no means of locating me, or predicting my attacks. When I have my choice of vital points to aim for, holes in your stance to exploit... How many attacks do you suppose your reflexes and luck will carry you through? One? Two? This fight is over."

Naruto scowled at his enemies declaration. It was arrogant, and infuriatingly presumptuous, but also contained a grain of truth. He couldn't see his enemy, and he knew enough about silent-killing to know that those even moderately skilled at them could keep themselves utterly invisible in mist and smoke right up until they struck. Not only that, but the Genin evidently knew some voice manipulation, as his voice seemed to come from all around the area, making it impossible to discern his location.

He tried in vain to reach out to the natural chakra in the area and find his opponent, but was shaken from his concentration when one of his remaining Kage Bunshin was brutally beheading in the smoke, it's memories shattering his concentration. A handful of Bunshin sprung into life around him, settling around him in a defensive formation, with several more patrolling around the area. He tried once again to sense his opponent, only for him to start destroying patrolling Bunshin, ever concealed by the smoke.

It was, to an extent, a Catch-22 situation. Without the Bunshin patrolling round him and his personal guard of Bunshin, he himself would be directly targeted; but for as long as he had Bunshin being destroyed, his skill with natural chakra was not at the level where he could keep his focus and receive the memories of a destroyed Bunshin.

Naruto needed a way out of the smoke, and time to come up with a plan of attack, otherwise the Kusa Genin would wear him down until he was unable to defend himself, and then without a doubt, he'd die.

A slight shift in the air in front of him, the faintest of noises masked mostly by the ever nearer wall of flames. That was all the warning Naruto got, before he was bundled over by one of his Kage Bunshin as to just how poorly he had read his enemy's intentions. Killing a few Bunshin out in the smoke had been a feint - make him think he was being warn down, make him believe he had a degree of safety in the smoke, guarded by his Bunshin while the enemy was occupied with the rest.

The blond's shock at being attacked with next to no warning by an enemy that had managed to penetrate his defensive formation without any of the Bunshin realising till the last second meant he didn't see his enemy pulling his sword back for the strike that would end his life until the very last second, when he felt the tell-tale 'pull' of a Bunshin executing a Kawarimi with him to get him out of range of the enemy.

He found himself looking down at his enemy from the tree tops, and before the blind shinobi could look up, Naruto made the chakra enhanced leap to the next tree, and set off through them at a blistering pace.

Make space. Remove his advantage. Tree branches whipped by him in a green and brown blur as he made through the trees as fast as his legs and chakra would carry him, confident that the Kusa Genin would be able to keep pace with him. True enough, he had a slight head start, and like all Konoha shinobi, had been trained to move through trees as though it were second nature; however, that curse mark had granted the enemy an incredible increase in speed and strength. It made slowing his opponent down a difficult prospect. No time to set traps, or create an ambush; making Bunshin his only option, despite the fact that they would likely be destroyed easily.

Suddenly Naruto grinned fiercely to himself as the solution came to him, and created a few handfuls of Bunshin, who broke off into several small groups and jumped off into the forest.

Some would approach and distract the Kusa shinobi directly, peppering him with jutsu and ranged attacks. Their goal would be to distract him - keep him occupied with obvious, but lethal attacks in order to prevent him from thinking too hard about exactly where he was being led. The rest, would branch off into the forest and begin to plant traps of varying intensity and complexity. He after all, had the advantage. He was far better at travel through the tree-tops, as well as fighting in them - and after having his Bunshin scour and patrol the place since he entered here, he knew the forest better than perhaps anyone in the exam. He knew the best places to plant traps in the trees based on the likely movement of the enemy, and he had an incredibly good grounding in trap-making from his studies as that area had been particularly interesting to him.

Most importantly in Naruto's opinion, however; was the fact that he was the undisputed prank King, perfectly capable of pranking a clan full of Byakugan users in their own damn home.

It'd be a cold day in hell when he let this guy escape one of his pranks unscathed.

* * *

Kōsai scowled as the Konoha Genin escaped death once more and took to the trees, before dispatching the remaining Kage Bunshin with a swift strike.

The blond had been alive in opposition to him for far too long - longer than anyone save Orochimaru-sama now that he thought about it. It was infuriating to him, to be matched so evenly with a mere Genin from Konoha. He who had been personally chosen and trained by a Sannin, matched at every step by a nobody. He had been forced to use his master's power, and still the boy had not died, still he had been matched. Of course, Kōsai had the advantage from that point on, but they were shinobi, and the enemy taking to the trees changed the game entirely - opening up a realm of new possibilities for the Konoha-nin to exploit.

The ugly frown marring his face deepened as he set off in pursuit of the Konoha Genin, his mind centred on the boy's infuriating attitude. He had taken his prey, had brushed off his master's gift and his own abilities as though they were irrelevant - his confidence in his victory never once wavering, never once becoming false bravado.

He would destroy this enemy, of that he was certain. Crush him so certainly that he would be able to see the confidence fade from his eyes, leaving only mortal fear behind.

First however, he would deal with annoyances the blond seemed to be able to summon like they were shuriken.

He leapt to the right, avoiding a burst of spherical projectile consisting of air - a Fuuton technique of some kind - and leapt from the side of the tree trunk he had landed on, propelling himself directly at the offending Bunshin, carving him neatly in two with a casual stroke of his sword, only to be forced to roll in mid-air to avoid a barrage of shuriken from another Bunshin, deflecting those that were on target with his sword.

Hitting the ground, he immediately rolled forward and launched into a sprint in order to avoid a pair of kunai coated with an unusual amount of chakra, indicating a seal. The decision turned out to be a good one, as an explosion rocked the area behind, just too far away to cause him any harm. Sensing the Bunshin's approach, he brought his sword to bear with both hands, blocking a heavy staff strike from above, and retaliating with a series of fast paced strikes, finally nicking the Bunshin with his sword, dispelling it.

He reached out with his senses, aided by the power granted by the curse mark, and located the escaping blond, who was doubling back on himself in a wide arc through the forest. It was clever, in fairness. Most people escaping in a panic fled straight forward even once out of sight, their minds not clear enough to think about how that was the most obvious thing to do. His opponent however, was not most people. Had he been, he would have been dead a long time ago.

All that it really accomplished in this instance though, was ensure the blond was closer than he had hoped, and so he immediately set off on a direct path through the trees, timing his approach so that he would intercept the blond mid-flight.

However, he had only travelled about halfway to his destination, when he made his mistake.

So focused was he on his enemy, that he neglected his immediate surroundings, and failed to notice that the branch he had aimed his flight for was damaged, weakened at the joint - intentionally by a Bunshin - and snapped the moment his weight reached it. For just a moment, he floundered, the lack of footing catching him unawares, before he recovered mid-flight and managed to ready himself for a landing, only to notice the explosive tags peppering the floor below him, activated to set off a few seconds after the branch broke.

Only a swift Kawarimi with a nearby fallen branch, a reflex borne of years of training under potentially lethal training saved his life, but it was too slow to avoid the damage totally, the flesh and clothes on his left leg burned away, leaving him with his movement severely impaired, and the sudden realisation that the tables of this battle had just turned back into the Konoha Genin's favour.

He more stumbled than dodged another flurry of kunai sent his way, and turned towards the aggressor, only to find his chakra senses going completely dead. He couldn't see, couldn't feel. Not a single hint of life besides himself existed besides the sounds of the forest, and a new, foreboding chakra that suffocated him, that seemed to permeate the entire forest.

"You know," an unmistakable voice ground out directly by his ear, and Kōsai immediately lashed out with his sword, only to strike thin air. "I warned you that overestimating yourself would be your downfall. You're not the only one with a gift." The words had a sarcastic lilt that the Kusa Genin couldn't understand, not with the chakra he could feel clouding all of his senses. The blond's, he belatedly realised. Power that he had apparently been holding back.

He didn't get a chance to voice that opinion though, as a vicious haymaker sent him sprawling, breaking his jaw, and echoing round his head - a more powerful strike than he had ever taken in his life.

He tried to sit up, his mind foggy, suddenly unsure of anything other than the pain and the need to get up, only for a heal to come down on his shoulder, knocking it out of it's joint and eliciting a scream of pain from him that he hadn't realised he was letting out until he stopped, desperately gasping for breath.

"For what it's worth, I'm truly sorry for what has to happen now... But you're a clear and present danger to my comrades - my friends. You have..." The blond broke off, for the first time sounding unsure, hesitant. "I can't let you live. I'm sorry."

Kōsai's mind drifted to his only true companions. Those he had collected by defeating his enemies. It was funny that here, as he was seemingly about to die, that instead of the friends that had stayed by him when no-one else - not even his master - had, all he could see was the corpses that they were, decay slowed by his master's genius, trapped in the twisted puppet show that he played out in his free time.

"I can't let you live, I'm sorry."

* * *

"I can't let you live, I'm sorry."

Kin's information had reached him just in time to take full advantage - the idea that a person could be so naturally receptive to sensing natural chakra that he was able to 'see' by reading the natural chakra of the air and objects around him was utterly incredible to him. Fortunately, he had discovered training on Mt. Myoboku that the Kyuubi's chakra naturally repulsed and clashed with natural chakra, one forcing the other back. All he had to do was disrupt the ambient natural chakra with the Kyuubi's, and the enemies sight was destroyed.

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However, Naruto was too preoccupied to be thankful for that. His hands shook almost imperceptibly, as he approached the downed Kusa shinobi, kunai in hand. Images of a still sleeping man, a kunai buried deep in his sternum, flashing before him, haunting every step he made towards his next victim.

For his village. For his friends.

A glance to the right, and a picture of the man with his young daughter assaulted him - a detail his eyes had missed in the heat of the moment, but had haunted his dreams since.

For his friends.

He was hesitant, he was reluctant. The idea of finishing a defeated enemy this way truly sickened him. But he wouldn't take the chance. He wouldn't gamble that this shinobi wouldn't come back to harm anybody belonging to Konoha.

He raised his arm, kunai sharp and ready to kill. Sternum and down. Fast, clean, and painless. Just as he'd done once already.

"Naruto-kun!"

It was all the distraction, all the opportunity required. The idea of killing a defeated man before one of his friends caught him momentarily flat footed, and out of nowhere, the Kusa-Genin - Kōsai - had recovered his bearings slightly, and Naruto realised belatedly that he had stopped channeling the Kyubi's chakra.

Kōsai's chakra flared maliciously, drawn straight from the mark, and his body lurched upwards in one last ditch effort to escape. He hit Naruto in the chin with the pommel of his blade, and dashed past him, heading for the nearest human life - one of the Konoha Genin that had previously escaped him, and lashed out with a wild strike, slashing her across her stomach.

It wasn't a killing strike, not by a long shot - he was too shaken still, too dizzy and nauseous to be that precise - but it was hopefully a major enough wound to prevent a chase.

Naruto watched, in dazed horror, blood gushing from his nose, as Hinata crumpled to the floor, and Kōsai made his escape, and Shino leapt into the clearing, and instantly went to his team-mates side.

"It was not a killing blow, Naruto-san."

The change in address from the Aburame was something Naruto was in no state of mind to notice as he stared unblinkingly at Hinata's fallen form, breathing but bleeding badly. The message within his words was unmistakable however. Finish this.

Naruto's face twisted into a snarl as he brought a measure of the Kyuubi's chakra once more, and darted into the forest far faster than any Genin should be capable of, quickly coming across the once again blind Kusa shinobi, and withdrawing his kunai once more.

This time, there was no hesitation as he buried the weapon hilt-deep in the back of his blinded and exhausted opponent's skull.

The faces of those he killed in the line of duty would always haunt him. But from then on, any though of hesitation was tempered with the memory of Hinata's body, covered in her own blood. The price of his hesitation.

The fact that she lived was, in his eyes, utterly irrelevant - another day, another enemy perhaps, and she wouldn't have.

* * *

It was a motley crew of Genin that finally entered the tower in the centre of the forest. An Inuzuka still bristling about being left alone in the forest, but glad all the same that Shino had chosen to chase after Hinata. Another of them, Hana, bustling between the Genin who had fought tiredly, still treating some of the more minor wounds among their party. Hinata for her part, had hardly said a word since she had regained consciousness, her wounds healed almost entirely by Hana; and had opted to sit in quiet contemplation, her expression jumping between shame, and desolation - neither of her team-mates able to find the words to help her.

Naruto, Kin, and Shino were the only Genin who had remained alert and focused en route to their goal, ready for any further threats; though Kin had noticed that Naruto was quieter, his smiles less frequent since he had left her to fight Kosai. She had later learned that Orochimaru's discarded student had been the one to land that nasty looking sword wound across the Hyuuga girls stomach - and he had done it by going past Naruto, no less.

The Hyuuga - Hinata, her name was - had been insistent that it had been her fault, that she distracted Naruto, that she made the poor decision to return to a fight she knew was above her level, that she should have been ready to defend herself, but Kin knew how hollow logic ran when you were wrestling with guilt.

It didn't even matter that the Hyuuga had taken no permanent damage. There would always be the what ifs, the knowledge that an enemy had gotten past him and gained the opportunity to deliver a killing blow to his comrade. It didn't help of course, that there was the irrefutable fact that the blond had Kosai at his mercy, and still allowed him past in a moment of distraction.

It was rank inexperience, but he had learned his lesson in the best way possible - the way in which no-one died.

"It's a clue." It was Naruto that spoke, and Kin's attention returned to the group now that they were inside the tower. The stood inside a circular room easily large enough to hold them all, decorated plainly besides a scroll hung on the farthest wall. The scroll was clearly a hint as to what to do with the scrolls - opening them was most likely, in her opinion.

And apparently, in the rest of the Genin's opinion too, as both teams pulled out their scrolls (Team 8 having claimed theirs before they had been attacked) and opened them, revealing a series of fuinjutsu seals that Kin couldn't even begin to unravel.

She didn't have time to truly ponder them however, because the area around the seal exploded in smoke that indicated a seal releasing, and for just a moment she tensed expecting another attack.

The stern face of Jiraiya of the Sannin staring right at her, as though sizing her up, judging her - was nearly as unwelcome. And, for a few tense moments, Kin genuinely thought she would suffocate under the gaze of one of the most powerful shinobi in the Elemental Nations.

Then, just as suddenly as he had appeared, the tension in the man's eyes all but disappeared and he cracked a large smile, and his attention turned to the room as a whole.

"Good to see all the little gaki's made it. One of my old team-mate's little experiments give you a spot of trouble?"

Naruto's face soured slightly, and he tossed the Sannin another scroll. "He used some kind of weird seal to unleash a whole bunch of what I think was Orochimaru's chakra. Increased his speed and strength massively. The other one apparently could turn into a wolf/human hybrid."

Jiraiya's eyebrows raised slightly in surprise as he caught the scroll, and he let out a low whistle. "You know, this is the first curse seal that we've gotten intact that was suitable for studying. The Hokage will likely have a nice little reward for it, if not for the whole body." The man's face darkened slightly, before he continued. "This is the first time that he's sent people that were marked into the field anywhere close to any of the major nations. It's a big risk on his part... Either way you'll be debriefed by Sarutobi-sensei, since you're the first of us to fight someone using it."

All of a sudden Kin had a new worry. Jiraiya sounded like he knew. As far as she could tell, the only really useful piece of information she had was that Orochimaru planned to spring an invasion on Konoha during the final round of the exams. That's why he allowed some of those marked into Konoha - because this was his final play. The endgame. As far as he was concerned, Konoha would burn.

If Konoha already knew, she had nothing useful to give them, so what would Konoha do with her - a shinobi who had worked for one of their most hated enemies?

She of course knew locations of a fair few minor bases, some vague troop numbers, and intel on the abilities of some of Oto's major players drawn mainly from rumours - but how much was that worth, really?

"First however," Jiraiya started again, drawing Kin's attention back to him, "I'm sorry to say most of you kids aren't done. Too many of you passed, so they're holding preliminary matches to decide who progresses into the finals."

Naruto was caught flat footed for a moment. All of that effort - all of that time in that hellish forest just to try and protect his comrades and friends from Gaara - and now one of them might well be forced to fight him anyway? At least, he supposed, if they were proper, officiated matches like the finals would be, there was a good chance Gaara would not be given the chance to kill by those observing. It was at least, a somewhat controlled environment, and the blond couldn't imagine the Jonin sensei not being there.

"How are the matches decided?" He asked, gaining curious glances from the Genin present, who had all been caught up in equal parts shock and worry, exhausted and battle weary as they already were.

"Randomly, I'm afraid - and I've been told to send you straight on, too. You guys were the last potentially eligible teams in the forest."

Chance it was then. Who would fight Gaara would be left to chance.

He looked round at Team 8, all exhausted - Hinata and Kiba still moving gingerly, and Shino more sluggish than Naruto had ever seen him - and prayed that it would be him.

* * *

Naruto could only stand, horrified, white knuckles grasping the metal rails of the observation area surrounding the arena for the preliminaries. Later he would not be able to remember the Hokage's speech about how the exams were a substitute for war, about how their lives had been risked for what seemed like something as meagre as prestige. Nor would he remember the first match of the preliminary round - a veritable dead rubber where a tired Hana had defeated Choji, who exhausted by the forest, had been unable to stave off attacks from the Inuzuka and her triplets.

All he would take from the first two matches was Rock Lee's horrific scream as Gaara turned the bones in his right arm and leg to fine powder, and his sensei's hands on his shoulder, preventing him from getting involved no matter how hard he struggled against the man.

He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think - only watch - as the medic-nin stretchered away his comrade. Naruto hadn't known Lee, but there was something inside the eyes of the bushy-eyebrowed Genin that Naruto felt a kinship with. And, quite frankly, the boy's performance had been an awe-inspiring showcase of taijutsu; weaving in and out of Gaara's attacks as though they were coming in slow motion, and delivering blows that would have devastated any of the other combatants.

And then Lee had unlocked three of the eight inner gates - a kinjutsu that only Jonin were said to be able to do - and the battle suddenly transcended into something else entirely. Something approaching Jonin level combat.

But Gaara just kept coming. Naruto could feel him drawing on more and more of the Ichibi's chakra as time went on, his sand moving faster and faster to match Lee, and eventually, Gaara caught him. Even off balance, Lee was fast enough that Gaara could only entrap his right arm and leg, and dangerous enough that Gaara felt he needed to crush the limbs there an then, rather than opt for a clean kill.

Small mercies, the blond supposed. Though he was willing to bet Lee wouldn't see it like that. A shake of the head from Hana who stood beside him watching the carnage that had followed her own match, and the ashen face of Lee's Jonin sensei told Naruto all he needed to know - told him that his gut instinct was right.

Lee would never fight again.

Shino's match went by as a blur to Naruto, the blond unable to really focus despite the fact that his opponent was one of Gaara's siblings. Fortunately, she was a touch less bloodthirsty than her brother, though proficiency in the Shinobi arts seemed to run in the family as she unleashed a torrent of Fuuton jutsu at the exhausted Shino. She was highly skilled, and despite several attempts to turn the battle in his favour - including a particularly well executed clone made from his Kikaichu insects - Shino eventually conceded defeat with mercifully few fresh injuries to show for it.

The blond glanced up to the electronic board that was displaying the random match -ups between the remaining Genin and couldn't help but frown as the next one displayed. He glanced towards the first of the competitors, and the ugly anticipatory gleam in his eyes told him just what kind of match this was going to be. Despite all the faith he had in her, as he did in all his friends, he knew one thing with immeasurable certainty: Hyuuga Hinata was no match for her cousin, Neji. Not yet, maybe not ever.

Neji was a prodigy, a genius of a level that not even the most contemptuous of the Main House Hyuuga's could deny. But there was even more than that. Neji had a chip on his shoulder, or so Jiraiya had explained to him; driven to greater heights as much by the Main House's disdain and mistreatment of the Branch House Hyuuga, as he was by the hatred he felt for them in return, and the seemingly inescapable curse seal that bound both factors together. The fact that his Father had been killed as a decoy for his twin brother, Hiashi Hyuuga, probably hadn't helped.

And, as much as Naruto could understand Neji's anger - how could he not, with his own burden such as it was? - he knew Neji was using Hinata as an outlet for all that hate. It was in his eyes as plain as day, for all to see. All that bitterness, all that hate, and desire to strike back, to destroy the mark that bound the branch house; Hinata was the only available place Neji could direct his hatred, and now he was being given the opportunity to actually do it.

"This is gonna get ugly." He murmured, once Hinata had taken her position opposite Neji on the battlefield, trembling lightly, unable to remove her gaze from the boy's activated Byakugan, even as he assumed a tense combat stance and began to speak, insults designed to stab and tear at Hinata's fragile self confidence and end the battle before it started. Neji wanted Hinata, and by association the Main House, shamed by her loss.

Jiraiya's scoff in response belied the readiness of the man to intervene, but Naruto knew the man well enough now to know he would be over the railings and between the two the moment Neji began to take things too far. Naruto wouldn't even see him move.

Which left him with only one thing to do, really. He knew Hinata would never forfeit. For a girl so afraid, and so doubtful of her own ability, her desire to change, to be something more, held her in place. Too scared to fight properly, but utterly unable to run. Running, giving up would mean acknowledging that they were right all along, that she was a failure, a loser. Naruto's entire life up until now had been that exact struggle, scared of failure, but knowing that to give up, to back down was to lose something almost unnameable and impossible to regain. To lose without a fight here, to give up, would crush her, possibly irreparably - particularly after the forest - and Naruto would not allow that. She might well lose, and lose badly. But she had to fight. Had walk away with something to hold her head high about. She just needed the confidence to do it. He cupped his hand to his mouth and did something that the Academy version of himself would be proud of.

"Kick his ass, Hinata! Beat the asshole right out of him!" He screamed at the very top of his voice, drawing the ire of just about the entire arena - especially Neji, who's razor edge Byakugan glare found him alarmingly quickly - but none of that mattered, as Hinata regarded him mouth ajar, eyes comically wide, and he gave her the biggest, foxiest grin he had in his arsenal in response and mouthed the magic words at her so only she and Neji could see.

I believe in you.

He could only smile as the resolve replaced fear, as her shoulders squared minutely, and she met Neji's baleful, intimidating glare Byakugan active for the first time in her entire life.

Yeah, she might lose, but Neji did not deserve her fear; and if she couldn't believe in herself, then Naruto would do all the believing for her.

The proctor's hand raised high into the air, and then slashed downward like a blade, and without even waiting for the man to cease his motion, Neji launched himself at his cousin in a violent maelstrom of chakra powered Gentle Fist strikes all unflinchingly aimed at points that would cause at the very least semi-permanent damage to the girl. However, Hinata crouched low, and with a grace Naruto had never seen used in a fight before began to dance in and out of attacks, redirecting some away from her, and launching counter attacks Neji who fiercely palmed them away to maintain his assault.

Naruto couldn't help but wince. Each time Neji palmed away one of Hinata's attacks he was pushing massive amounts of chakra into her arm, and though thanks to the speed of her strikes he was unable to aim them perfectly at her tenketsu, the law of averages, as well as Neji's phenomenal skill meant that at least some of them had to be getting blocked. Not to mention those strikes apparently hurt like all hell.

Finally, the crucial moment arrived when Hinata overextended herself by just a fraction whilst attacking, and Neji countered perfectly, delivering a perfect strike to the centre of the girl's body. Hinata froze, in dead shock, noticing simultaneously Neji's hand resting on her stomach, and the lack of feeling in her arms.

With a vague air of smug superiority, Neji pulled up Hinata's sleeve, revealing to the whole room the tell-tale round bruises that indicated a successful Gentle Fist strike that ran all the way up her arm.

"Is that all the heir of the Main House has to offer?" The boy sneered lowly, and as though the words had struck her just as surely as Neji had, Hinata crumpled to her knees, leaning forward letting out several hacking, wet coughs.

Naruto's grip on the railings tightened as he saw the fine spray of blood the floor before Hinata, and a thin trickle running down from the corner of her mouth. Internal bleeding meant internal damage, and that was almost always disastrous. Either way it meant that this fight was now over, and the blond glanced over at the proctor, half expecting it to end then and there.

I believe in you.

The words circled round and round in Hinata's head, her mind seemingly unable to focus on anything else as the world spun around her, and the blood roared in her ears, whilst she fought to remain conscious.

I believe in you.

Her fist tightened around the fine sand that made up the floor of the arena, as she tried to find flaw in that statement. Tried to find the lie, the easy platitude just meant to make her feel better. Only she had looked into his eyes and seen nothing but the truth. He believed in her. In front of the entire room, in front of her cruel and hate-filled cousin, Uzumaki Naruto had declared his faith in her as loud as his voice would allow him to.

Her feelings for the blond haired Jinchuuriki were both simple and complex to her. She admired him - Oh, how she admired him. The boy who never stood down - never gave up. No matter how he was put down, or insulted, no matter that he got sent out from classes before crucial lessons, no matter how heavy the beatings he took from other pupils and even on occasion the teachers. He rose above it all, and defied his seeming lot in life. No one who had seen him in action since graduation could deny that, no one who had seen him in the forest would dare try.

Uzumaki Naruto was everything she wanted to accomplish and more. No longer a failure. No longer weak.

Did she have a crush on him? Maybe. But more important than anything else, she had the overwhelming desire to walk beside him. To have the strength to fight with him, to support him when he needed it, to be a true friend to him.

She owed him that much, after all. Her entire life she had faced many of the same obstacles he had, only she had faced them with not nearly the same courage. He didn't know just how important he had been, just how many times watching him get back up to his feet after being knocked down had inspired her to do the same, to push past her own limitations. And now, just when she had needed him in the forest, when she had needed him against Neji, he had been the again to help her.

She coughed again and her lungs burned furiously, bringing tears to her eyes.

And here she was again, face down in the dirt, letting him down. Letting her team mates down. Her sensei. Her clan.

I never give up... I never go back on my word... that's my ninja way!

She smiled slightly at Neji's sound of surprise, despite the pain. She had said that out loud.

Her legs trembled with the effort, and her arms barely supported her weight, but still Hinata pulled herself to her feet, and assumed a shaky stance. "I... won't run." The words were gasped and strained but the conviction in them was clear to Neji who barely suppressed a snarl as he reactivated his Byakugan.

"I can see with these eyes... It's taking all your strength just to stand! You were burdened from birth with the destiny of the Hyuuga clan's main branch... You've hated and punished yourself for your own weakness and frailty... but you can't fight your nature... or change your fate. But you need not suffer anymore. Be at peace!"

And with that, Neji charged, chakra flaring. And with that, it was over.

In a flash, Jonin surrounded the Hyuuga, Kakashi himself grasping the hand that was aiming the killing blow at his comrade, Jiraiya of the Sannin standing loosely between the boy and his target, grim-faced.

"Typical of the Main House to be granted special treatment." He hissed, subtly straining against his captors to no avail.

"That's enough of your clan politics bullshit, Hyuuga, it has nothing to do with it." Naruto ground out, having leapt the rail and stormed over the moment Neji's intentions became clear.

"It has everything to do with it!" Neji snarled, finally losing control of his tightly wound temper, at the sight of this fool who knew nothing about the clan, or it's politics.

"Like hell it does." Naruto stated firmly, finally drawing close to Neji, staring him dead in the eye, and jabbing a finger at the metal plate of his hitai-ate. "The day you became a shinobi of this village, you gave it and it's people your loyalty above all other things. Hinata, above everything else is your comrade and you have a duty to her just as she does to you. The Jonin stepping in to protect one of their comrades has nothing to do with your ridiculous politics." Naruto spat the word like it was something entirely vile, before narrowing his eyes and focusing his chakra and bringing it to bear n Neji as best as he could without too many other people noticing. "I promise you this though, Hyuuga Neji: You aim an attack intended to kill at a loyal shinobi of this village again, and I'll kill you while you stand. As it is, you had better hope we don't meet in the finals, because I promise you, I will give you everything you gave to to her, ten-fold."

And with that, Naruto spun on his heel and began to walk away, ignoring whatever insults Neji was flinging at him as he did so. He only had eyes for Hinata, unconscious and being stretchered away, and he felt the anger build up once again.

"It's seems so ridiculous, doesn't it?"

He didn't turn round to meet Jiraiya, Neji apparently dealt with sufficiently, only returned with the man to the balcony to wait for his own fight.

"They were family..." He started, and he felt Jiraiya's hand on his shoulder once more, and noticed Hana glance at him with a look of concern that he was incredibly grateful for.

"True enough. And the love between family is some of the strongest in the world. The trouble is, that when those bonds are broken, the hatred that results is just as strong. When a family is as broken as the Hyuuga are? The hatred runs deeper than anyone but they can know. Neji and Hinata are both victims of that hate, in different ways. If the two of you do fight, Naruto, remember that.