Asuma smiled at Naruto's awed expression as the Waterfall split even into two. The week had been hectic, and to a point, it was almost assured that the genin would learn the rest within the next two weeks until the third round.

As Naruto fainted from overuse of his Chakra, the man took another drag, and laughed, disappearing in a swirl of leaves as Jiraiya walked into the clearing, clearly impressed by his young apprentice.

Naruto had finished the Earth Manipulation Training easily, and had already started on a custom jutsu, that when combined with the Wind Manipulation, would create a new jutsu. But that was the limit of his success. He still hadn't found the right amount of Chakra for the Rasengan, but that was to be expected, after all it took him six months too learn the Rasengan, and one more to master it.

He picked up his young apprentice, and took him back to the estate, before disappearing in a swirl of leaves, leaving the young genin to sleep peacefully.

Jiraiya appeared just outside of the Hokage's Office, and could hear the voices of Asuma, and other Jounin. The two ANBU that were guarding the door had jumped into a protective position the moment he appeared and weren't looking to back down. As he stepped forward, the illusory affects of a genjutsu washed over him, not that he took too long in breaking it.

He dispatched the ANBU simply, and walked into the office, and was startled at the site. Ibiki, Kakashi, Genma, Kurenai, Gai, Asuma, and Ebisu were all chattering as if the end of the world were upon them.

He frowned, especially when Sarutobi-sensei looked up and smiled at him, a tired smile that seemed to stretch on for a long time. When he felt the presence of someone behind him, he turned, a bit startled to see his best friend, Tsunade, at the door. She walked in, bowing at the Hokage and, with a small amount of trepidation, hugged Jiraiya, while her apprentice, a beautiful brunette entered the room behind her, holding a pig.

"So, you came Tsunade?" the man asked. She nodded. The man smiled. "Good, and of course it is always good to see you, Jiraiya."

The man that trained the Fourth smiled and nodded his head. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I'm here today? Yes, I can see the confusion in some of your eyes. It's simple. I have received word from a spy that Konoha is going to be attacked during the Chuunin Selection Examinations. During this time, I will defend the village to the best of my ability, but I am old. I wake in the morning and my bones ache, I get sick faster than I used to, and most importantly, I have no time to spend with my grandson, or my son.

After the Exams, I am going to retire, again. I am going to hang up this hat and old robes, and let someone else run Konoha. Those in this room are my closest advisors, and hold a special place in my heart. It is from among you that the new Hokage will be chosen.

I ask you to each consider why Konoha is so great, and think of those that sacrificed themselves for the betterment of the village.

I will now hear recommendations."

Kakashi stood and said, "I, for one, will be sad to see you go, Hokage-sama. But, if I am correctly looking underneath the underneath, you are expecting an attack from Orochimaru. In that case, I think that Jiraiya or Tsunade would be better suited to run the village in that case."

The old man smiled. "The Fourth taught you well Kakashi, and you are correct, it is Orochimaru that is planning the attack. We do not know the forces, or even the country he is using, but we do know that he has at least one ally coming with him. Now, are there any more recommendations?"

Genma snorted and said, "no, we are all in agreement, Hokage-sama. It should be either Tsunade or Jiraiya."

The two Sannin looked at each other. "Jiraiya, you are training the son of the Fourth am I correct?"

Jiraiya looked at his sensei and snorted, crossing his arms and nodded. Tsunade looked at him in confusion before saying, "son? Arashi had a son?"

The Hokage nodded. "Yes, an Uzumaki Naruto, Tsunade."

The woman smiled. "And he's a Shinobi of the village?"

The man nodded. Jiraiya cleared his throat. "Well, I have no desire to be Hokage, so if you want it Tsunade, I'm all for it."

She frowned. "I don't either, and you both know why. I have my reasons to not stay in this village. I'll stay to deal with Orochimaru though, the teme has a lot to answer for, and I for one cannot wait to fight him again."

Jiraiya nodded, agreeing with the woman with a green jewel on her forehead. The man sighed, "Well, I am recommending you, Tsunade, and I will hope that, when the time comes, you will accept."

She growled but turned her head, "we'll see, Sensei."

The man smiled. "Jiraiya, how goes Naruto's training with the Rasengan?"

Kakashi, and the rest of the Jounin perked up at this statement. The man smiled. "Good, he's passed stage one already, and is making great progress in stage two. I will have to see if I can get him to stage three in our training tomorrow. And, I am guessing Asuma; that is Wind Training is going alright?"

The man nodded, "hai, Jiraiya-niisan. He has already passed the basic training, using that Kage Bunshin of his is a major achievement for someone so young. It makes me jealous too see such potential in your hands Genma."

Genma laughed and said, "well, Naruto is a great student, and his teamwork skills with Kimourii and Nushi are on level with Chuunin, and Jounin. The trust they have with each other is almost... unprecedented. I'm really looking forward to the Chuunin Third Round, I want to see Naruto fight, but I also want to see how well he does against Gaara... again."

Several Jounin, as well as Tsunade, perked up. Tsunade said, "They've fought before? Genin?"

"There was a tournament in the Waterfall, and my team was sent to participate. It was guised as a friendly peace-talk situation, and when we got there, we had to fight our way through Jounin. As it were, Gaara took care of all the Jounin in the area, and crippled Naruto. If it weren't for a few things, like a medic-nin, he'd be paralyzed. When he recovered, however, he beat the holy hell out of the Suna-genin."

Tsunade frowned. "Why is he so powerful?"

Sarutobi sighed, "I can't tell you, not because I don't trust you, but because Arashi told me not to tell anyone. As it is, a few people had to be told, and a few, like Kakashi, simply figured it out. Jiraiya knows, because Arashi told him too."

Ibiki sighed and drew attention. "Hokage-sama, I've been thinking since the trials, and I've come up with an answer, and if it is what I believe it is, I would like the honest truth. I will not hold it against him, if I am correct."

The man nodded and Ibiki said, "he's a jinchuuriki isn't he?"

The man looked at the Jounin in the room and simply nodded. "He holds Kyuubi, and as it is, I believe that each of you can be trusted not to treat him any differently than you do now."

Tsunade snorted. Then guffawed, and then laughed. Everyone looked at her in confusion before she said, "of all the things, Arashi sealed the Kyuubi, and didn't kill it? That's amazing, and as I've never seen Naruto for myself, I'll reserve any judgment for him. Sensei, I will think about your recommendation and tell you after the exams. Shizune let's go. We've got to find a place to stay."

"Come by Arashi's place, and I'll tell Naruto you're staying with us!" Jiraiya yelled out and she smiled before nodding.

He'd done it. He couldn't believe it was that simple, yet at the same time, so hard. As he stared at the newly burst, rubber ball in his hand, Naruto couldn't help the grin on his face as he remembered the stories from the Academy about his father, the Rasengan, and all of his various situations.

Remembering his promise to perfect the Rasengan, Naruto walked outside, he smiled, and created a few Kage Bunshin and, as before, sent them out to get training in the ability to do this part of the exercise at a moment's notice. If he didn't miss his guess, the training was about control, and finding the perfect amount of chakra to place into the Rasengan, to keep its shape, and not hurt anyone unnecessarily.

As he sent them out, he looked at the leaf in his hand and concentrated his Wind Chakra with one hand and his earth in another, grabbing a small amount of earth before using a leaf, and cleanly cutting a precise hole in the rock.

When Asuma said that he was nearly finished with Wind Chakra Manipulation, Naruto had put a lot of thought into the jutsu that he'd create, simply for simplicities sake. Now, it was simply finishing the training and getting everything ready, before he even thought about creating the new jutsu that would be better than all the others.

Finally, as the Kage Bunshin started coming back to him, in the form of experience, Naruto worked on creating his own ball, succeeding once every few minutes, until only seconds separated the time between successfully doing stage two of the Rasengan.

Time to find the Ero-Sennin!

Disappearing in a flash of light, Naruto missed the woman entering his compound, not that he'd have noticed anyway, as excited he was. He found the Ero-Sennin outside of the woman's bath, again, and was about to shout when the man covered his mouth and said, "don't even think about it."

The genin grumbled, but since he was silenced, the man had effectively cut off any way of expressing this situation.

"Ero-Sennin!" Naruto said, still though the hand covering his mouth. "I've finished stage two!"

Jiraiya dropped his mouth and said, "NANI!" before paling. Naruto grinned, and using the Hiraishin no Jutsu disappeared before women came out, running at the Sannin and attacking him.

When the older man got back to the compound, he was impressed to see the amount of destruction that was apparent in the household, and wondered if Naruto was aware that his... "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"... "yep, she's definitely here."

It was funny, he realized, to see Naruto flying though the wall. "And that'll teach you to call me old, you little brat! I hope my friend comes back soon so we can get you arrested for trespassing!"

"Tsunade! Meet Naruto, the son of the Yondaime!" Jiraiya said as Naruto stood back to his feet, and made the seal for Kage Bunshin before crying, "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The house was filled with Naruto's, who all ran forward and attacked. You could see Tsunade's vein throbbing and could tell she wanted to attack, but when Naruto ducked under her arm, he was surprised to get caught by the other of the Sannin.

"Ero-Sennin!"

"Shut up Naruto. Now meet Tsunade, my old teammate. Tsunade, meet Naruto, Yondaime's son."

Tsunade blushed and said, "you do look like Arashi."

"Ah! So you're Tsunade-baachan!"

Her vein throbbed and she made to hit the boy again, but her hand was caught by Jiraiya, who smiled and said, "he calls everyone something, even Sarutobi-Sensei. It's his way of showing affection to people. Now that he knows who you are, Tsunade, he won't attack you again, unless he wants to train."

The woman sighed. "Anyway, Naruto, what do you mean you finished stage two? Show me. Here."

Naruto did and, when the ball burst, the man smiled and said, "alright. We'll move onto stage three then. Take one of the balloons, and tie the ends together, without air or chakra inside. Now, you'll want to use Chakra to inflate it, and then use stage one and two together, to form the Rasengan inside of the balloon, without popping. You need to use the Kage Bunshin after you find the point at where it will pop the balloon, and that's where the Rasengan will be needed.

Naruto, this is the hardest part of the training, and you'll need to use some of the surrounding lands in order to perfect the Rasengan. Tsunade, will you assist us. He has a tendency to overdo the training, and drains himself faster because of the Kyuubi."

Naruto jerked his head to the man and said, "Ero-Sennin!"

The man sighed, "the Jounin figured it out earlier Naruto, and no one has a problem with it."

The woman smiled. "Alright. Let's make this interesting kid. Sarutobi-sensei wants me to become the next Hokage, but I don't want the position, and honestly don't like it. However... if you were to prove to me to be Arashi's son, I will become the Hokage and give you this necklace. I will tell you, I hate the Hokage position, and this village... but if it is necessary, I will protect it, because my friends are here."

Naruto nodded. "I will have the Rasengan perfected, and perform it in the Third Round, and you'll become the next Hokage Baachan!"

She punched him through a wall.

Jiraiya chuckled. That gaki just didn't care.

"Well, if that's how it's going to be, I've got to train that gaki and get everything set up so you can take over, Tsunade-Hime."

The woman flexed her muscle and went to punch Jiraiya, but by the time the offensive gesture was over, the Sannin was gone.

Kimourii smiled as she looked over to the white eyed genin sitting across from her, and blushed prettily, wondering how she'd gotten so lucky. "So, Neji-san, what do you like to do for fun?"

Neji blushed into his drink. "Other than train... I like to play Gou and Shougi, and perfect the Hyuuga Jutsu."

She nodded. "And how about you, Kimourii-chan? I understand you're recovering well from that attack?"

She shuddered but nodded her head in an affirmative, while reaching across the table and placing her hand on his. "Neji-san, I... please do not get hurt in the third round... you have powerful opponents, and some even more powerful friends you will have to face."

The genin nodded. "I... I look forward to facing Naruto... I hope I will be able to face him in the final rounds. But... I will endeavor to not get hurt to badly, Kimourii-chan."

She smiles and kisses him tenderly on the lips.

"Uzumaki Naruto" a voice from behind him calls. Naruto turns, only to see Gaara standing behind him, the look of someone out for blood on his face. "Gaara."

"Uzumaki Naruto... I find myself confused. You are hiding your true power, power that only you and I can truly understand, and yet I find that you are... are not addicted to blood. Your existence, what is it?"

Naruto frowned at the Sand version of him and said, "My existence? It's to protect those precious to me, Gaara. But.. but most importantly it's my way of the ninja, my nindo. You... you've been taught that death is your reason for existence, and that's all you live for. I... I pity you, Gaara, because of that.

Find a reason to exist other than endless death. Use those around you... and if you cannot find another reason to exist then it's not a life worth living."

Gaara's eyes widened. "A... A new reason for existence? I... I could... without the blood? This will take some concentration, Uzumaki Naruto. I... I must go."

Naruto nodded at the genin who disappeared in a swirl of Sand, and turned, looking in the trees. "And what about you, Uchiha Sasuke? What is your reason of existence?"

The Uchiha jumped down. "My existence? My existence is fueled by the need to kill a certain man, a man that betrayed my entire family. Fight me, Uzumaki Naruto, and let me see how powerful you are."

Naruto shook his head. "If it is meant to be, I will fight you in the exams, Uchiha. But unlike you, I am not pampered in the ways of the village. I've forged my own way, and created a reason to exist, not have one foisted upon me by the looks of the village. If... If it is your reason to live, to exist, then that's all you'll ever be. If... If after the exams are over and you still wish to fight me, then I will except without hesitation, but... but you need to get over this compulsion to hurt everyone around you."

The boy sneered at Naruto as if he were some unclean thing and turned, disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

When Jiraiya saw Naruto trying to help not only another Jinchuuriki like himself, but the Village's chosen, the man smiled. "I'm proud of you, Naruto. You've learned all Sarutobi-sensei wanted and am now trying to teach that to others. Come, I want to see how well you learn the next part of the Rasengan. After that, I will work with you on your new jutsu.

Naruto, the next part of the Rasengan is difficult. If I could, I'd show you how to do it correctly, but this is what you need to do."

With this, the man tied a balloon end, and soon it inflated. "This balloon contains a perfectly controlled Rasengan, Naruto. If I add one ounce to much, here is what happens."

When the balloon burst, Jiraiya was pushed back and nearly hit a tree. "The next part is the most difficult, because you need to have perfect balance of control and chakra. Try."

Naruto nodded and used the two together, and sent himself into a tree. The man shivered theatrically as he saw the Genin stand as if there were no problems.

"Alright, now before you decide to go too far into training, Naruto, I want to work on the new jutsu you're coming up with. Do you know what type it's going to be yet?"

Naruto shook his head. The man sighed. "Alright, Asuma says that you only need to do the last stage of the training. That requires you using the wind manipulation chakra and throwing a knife through a tree. He says that if you've done the training correctly, it will show. So I picked this up for you, it's called a Wind Knife and is a weapon used specifically in Wind Manipulation.

Hajime!"

Naruto did and threw the knife to the tree closest to him. When it sliced through like there was no problem, the man laughed and said, "all you have to do to call it back is this jutsu. It's a knife summoning jutsu, Knifu-yose no Jutsu!"

Naruto nodded. "Okay, Naruto, now it's time to decide how you want to do this jutsu. Do you want to use a Doton as the base or a Ninpou?"

"Doton then Ninpou, Ero-Sennin!"

The man nodded. "Okay, then there are two ways of going about this, a Tsuchiuindo jutsu which is Earth/Wind combination, or an Earth followed by wind strike, a koudoze. The problem is that this is a new type of jutsu that can only be used by a Doton and Ninpou user like you. Alright, I'm leaving now, Naruto. This part is done only by you, so I can't try to steal the jutsu later.

Ja ne, Naruto!"

"Bye Ero-Sennin!"

The man sighed and left, a crash following each step behind him.

Uzumaki Naruto sat up in the Hospital cot gingerly, healed from the broken bones and abrasions that came with his job. He'd finished the Rasengan too the point that he could use a Kage Bunshin to create it, and was working on the one handed version, but the new jutsu that he was creating wasn't going so well.

Oh, he had the plan, but he couldn't get the jutsu to work together. Naruto was beginning to think it was the seals, they didn't feel right. As he closed his eyes, Naruto concentrated on entering the inner sanctum of the Kyuubi, and asking about the seals, and what the age old Kitsune thought on the subject.

Hello there gaki! the Kyuubi said in a gruff voice. Naruto smiled at him and sat down on the ground before the giant fox.

"Hello there Kyuubi-san."

What do you need, Naruto? Is this about the jutsu?

Naruto nodded. "Hai, I cannot get the jutsu to work correctly, Kyuubi. I believe it is in the seals that I am using. If so, can I change them and still get the same result?"

Let me see the jutsu, Naruto, and I'll help you figure out what you're doing wrong.

Naruto stood up and went through a six seal set; hebi, o-ushi, uma, inu, tori, o-hitsuji, and let the jutsu do it stuff. When he picked himself up off the ground, Kyuubi smiled. Naruto there are three things wrong that I'm seeing. First, you're a primary Wind Manipulator, so that needs to be on your right hand. Secondly, replace that o-ushi seal with a saru seal. Third, don't force your Chakra, just let it flow.

Naruto nodded. The Kitsune smirked. Good, now try it again... and this time want it to happen.

Naruto did and went through the seals. Soon, a force rose inside of him and he smirked as the jutsu was complete.

"YATTA!"

So, what are you gonna name this new, mighty jutsu of yours, Naruto-kun?

Naruto shrugged. The Kitsune sighed. Alright, now go practice that Rasengan of yours, gaki. And do the same there, don't force the chakra, let it flow out of your tenketsu, and control it. That's all your Kage Bunshin is doing it, adding the control.

When Naruto woke up the next morning, he was rather surprised to be back at his home, but smiled at the brunette that stood above him. She smiled at him, introducing herself as Shizune, and said that breakfast was ready if he was hungry. Naruto froze at that, before smiling and getting out of bed, and going downstairs. Eyeing the food before him, he looked at the two women, who were eyeing him rather weirdly, and ate a bite.

He smiled at the taste it had, and up at the women, who were also smiling, before he finished with a belch. Naruto, having never had a woman around to teach him such things, was rather surprised by the rather violent display of fists meeting head so early in the morning.

"HEY BAACHAN!"

"You're supposed to say, "gomen-nasai" Naruto-baka!"

Naruto frowned before asking, "oh... is that why everyone looks at me like I'm rude... Gomen."

The woman smiled softly, "Naruto, since I'm going to be living here, I am going to teach you manners at least. Because of your upbringing, you understand chakra, and jutsu, but not the most essential things of being human. Now, Jiraiya said you may need help with a new jutsu? I'm a medic-nin, Naruto."

He frowned. "You're Tsunade, right? And... Oyaji-san Hokage said that you know about... him... does she know too?"

Shizune nodded, indicating she did in fact know about Kyuubi. "Okay! Well, Tsunade-baachan... Kyuubi heals me pretty rapidly, something about being what I am, and his ability to manipulate my chakra."

The woman nodded. "Right... I have to go finish this Rasengan!"

She nodded and as he ran out the door Shizune said, "when he learns some manners, he'll be a right heartbreaker."

"Hai, he will. As was the father, so is the son. Oi! Shizune, get this place cleaned up!"

"Hai Tsunade-sama!"

He smiled as he looked at the blue sphere resting safely in his hand, and at the Kage Bunshin that was trying to explain how he stabilized the chakra that went into it.

"So," Naruto began, "you just make sure the Chakra circulates right?"

His counterpart nodded and said, "Hai Naruto-baka, if the chakra quits flowing even a little bit stabilization will be broken. I use the chakra you've given me and make sure it doesn't flow differently. That's why I disappear afterwards."

Naruto nodded. "Alright... then let's try one more time. Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

They all stopped what they were doing and looked at Naruto. "Alright guys! Don't pair up this time! Try to form the Rasengan one handed! The first one to do it... gets to fight me!"

The Kage Bunshin all looked around excitedly. Naruto smirked as they all ran off in different directions and stood up, trying to form his own.

He shuddered each time a Kage Bunshin went out of existence, more because of the way they went out. Finally, there was a yell of "YATTA! and each of the Kage Bunshin went to that one area. Suddenly, as if it were planned, Kage Bunshin's were disappearing at an alarming rate, and Naruto's knowledge of the Rasengan was raised by a small amount.

When the last two Kage Bunshin were left, they both came to the area Naruto was at, each holding a Rasengan in their hand, and a glint in their eyes. Naruto looked back and forth before focusing on his own hand.

Power, that's all he could really tell was different. When he opened his eyes, the Kage Bunshin was gone and, in his hand, was a perfect Rasengan.

He smiled and turned quickly, finding a tree before yelling, "RASENGAN!"

The tree splintered so fast that Naruto barely had time to move out of the way as a part of the tree simply fell, landing on the old stump, and falling towards him.

"KUSO!" he yelled, barely dodging the tree that had fallen in front of him.

Grinning, Naruto fell, and passed out, chakra exhaustion.

As he looked around to the crowded seats, and the various clans from around the great nations, Naruto couldn't help but feel elated. As he looked up to the Kage's Box, he smiled as he looked at Oyaji-san, Baachan, and Ero-Sennin, glad to have such wonderful people in Konoha.

Around him, the various finalists were glaring at each other, save for Gaara who was glaring at everyone, and wondered if this were just a way to exploit the individualism of them.

Genma, whom had been decided as judge due to the disappearance of Hayate, placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I won't play favorites" he says, "but good luck, Naruto."

Naruto nodded, remembering the time when things like this would have been reserved for the families of the Clans, and not for orphans that were village Pariahs.

As the Hokage stood, Naruto could see the anxiety in his eyes, and could feel the lingering doom that surrounded the village; anticipation.

"Welcome to the Konohagakure Chuunin Selection Exams," Sarutobi no Hokage began lightly. "In a few minutes we will begin with the first of the matches, but I would like to give the judge a few minutes to make sure all participants are here for the exam."

Genma cleared his throat and said, "look at this paper, and call out your name when I point at your place on the tower."

As he pointed at each candidate, nine in all, and got a resounding "here" or "hai" he nodded.

"Alright, first match, Uzumaki Naruto versus Nara Shikamaru; Hajime!"

And with that, the bi-annual Chuunin Selection Exams got underway. End Chapter