All it took was Naruto loosing concentration for him to change the his future course of his life as he knew it. When Sakura needed someone to reassure her that she was doing the right thing, that she was worthy of being a ninja, Naruto was not the one to verbalize it.

No one was. No one was able to reassure Sakura Haruno that she could fight off one Ino Yamanaka who was currently inside of her mind, fighting to assert her dominance and win the battle so that she could win the chunin exam fight. It meant that Ino was able to win and voice her victory in the mental battle. "Proctor, I forfeit." The blonde haired girl called out.

Hayate, who watched on, raised his hand and then spoke those fateful words. "Winner. Ino Yamanaka" Hayate called out to which Ino immediately called off her jutsu and her soul returned to her own body.

"Yes! I won!" Ino called out with sheer joy in her voice. It was at this point that Naruto turned his attention back to the fight and realized what had happened. Damn that sucks! Sakura-chan is unlucky Dattebayo! In the back of his mind, Naruto was aware that at least it was better here that his crush lost here in a controlled environment to someone like Ino, rather than winning and then having to go on and face that creepy guy Gaara.

A shiver went down his spine just thinking about how much damage that kid was capable of creating.

"Yay! I won!" Ino shouted out as she ran up the stairs to the smiles of her sensei and her teammates.

"Great work Ino" Choji was the first one to offer support to his teammate, with one hand holding out the high five, the other holding out the open chip packet that he was currently eating. Returning the high five, Ino also, in the heat of victory, got a couple of the chips and ate them, not caring one bit about the calories.

"Yeah, congratulations Ino, that makes two of you so far who have won!" Asuma said out loud and didn't care about the glance that Kakashi gave him. Let him bask in his moment of being a great sensei dammit!

Shikamaru for his part wasn't as forthcoming with enthusiasm for her victory. Not that he was that enthusiastic at the best of times. "Troublesome but good job." Shikamaru mentioned to which he drew the ire of his blonde haired, sassy teammate.

With a frowned forehead, Ino punched the Nara lightly in the arm before settling them into a cross over her chest. "Jeez, you could be happy for me." to which Shikamaru did indeed feel bad.

"I am happy for you, I am just concerned for your next fight. You never know who you could get, you could get someone like Gaara." Shikamaru said with concern. That comment didn't sit well with Ino, as her frown deepened. She knew that Shikamaru said it with the best of intentions, but he didn't realise how demotivating it was to hear that after she had just had a significant achievement as a kunoichi. To her it felt like Shikamaru didn't consider her on the same level as himself, where he was trying to protect her from another genin.

She could protect herself dammit! She was on the same level as all of the other genin and deserved her place!

Admittedly, she hadn't trained as hard as what she could, but the competitive and determined side of her, wouldn't let herself be completely outclassed and embarrassed in front of thousands of people. Most importantly, she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of her family and friends.

Living in the moment, Ino was unaware of what was happening to her competitor and former best friend. Sakura for her part had her head hung in shame. She felt like she failed her family, her friends and most importantly her team.

Is this the difference between a shinobi from a clan and one who is not? I'm so pathetic, I didn't do anything. I just spent the entire time shouting about our former friendship and ran head on with a kunai!

Naruto was the first to walk up to where Sakura was and offer his condolences. "I'm sorry you lost Sakura-chan. There's always next time"

Sakura was looking down at the ground when she heard the words of her blonde haired teammate. She looked up and immediately looked for the eyes of her other teammate. She saw Sasuke's face and saw his angry and annoyed look. There was a scowl on his face. He's no doubt thinking of how weak I am and how terrible he is saddled with teammates who are a joke.

Raging internally, Sakura, took her anger out the only way she knew how. "Shut up Naruto-baka! I will never go on a date with you no matter how many times you ask me! you're so stupid and annoying" and immedaitely launched 5 punches all at the head of Naruto.

The Uzumaki genin took the first punch, thinking that would just be it. That was normally how far she went but then the next four punches came in and it was only when Kakashi got involved that Naruto got respite.

"Jeez Sakura-chan, no need to bitch at me for losing your fight." Naruto instinctively replied back. It was the first time that he had ever responded with something less than positive to his teammate. He felt that he had some justification though. He never asked for a date. He didn't need to be called stupid. Naruto simply tried to cheer her up.

"That's enough, both of you." Kakashi said in an attempt to stop the bickering between the two. He didn't want to cause a scene. The silver haired Jonin was already annoyed at himself for only realizing during the fight just how behind Sakura was compared to the other genin.

Naruto looked in shock at his sensei. He felt that he didn't do anything wrong and to have the man who was supposed to treat them fairly, didn't seem to be doing a very good job at it. A very Sasuke esque look appeared on Naruto's face. Kakashi noticed this but vowed to apologize to Naruto in private.

With all of the fights over, it was now time for the drawing of the chunin exam matches.

Naruto Uzumaki vs Neji Hyuga

Shikamaru Nara vs Temari Sabaku

Sasuke Uchiha vs Dosu Kinuta

Ino Yamanaka vs Gaara Sabaku

Kankuro Sabaku vs Shino Aburame

Eyes were left wide open! All of Team Ten looked in horror as they realized just what Ino was in for. She was going up against that person who had destroyed Lee. The odds were not stacked in her favour.

"Forfeit Ino." Shikamaru said with a firm voice, for the first time today, with the upmost serious expression and tone to his voice.

Whilst she could definitely appreciate the sentiment that her friend was trying to convey, she hated the sense that they saw her as a baby that had no chance in the fight. Whilst she was scared shitless of what her opponent was able to do with his sand, it was a matter of pride for her. She was not going to back down without giving it a good crack.

"No." Ino replied, in an equally firm tone of voice which shocked all of Team Ten. "Not until I have given it my all. I am going to prove that I am a great kunoichi who doesn't give up at the first challenge thrown her way. I will become a chunin!"

"Of all the times to be troublesome Ino, now is not the time!" For the first time today, Shikamaru got agitated through the disguise of worry. Something that Ino could very well see through, thanks to her high emotional intelligence.

"Look Shikamaru-kun. I appreciate that you care and I love you like a brother, I need to do this! I need to prove that I am worthy of being a clan heir! For the longest time, I haven't taken my training as serious as what I should have! I need to be test myself and prove that I put my best display on to become a chunin! I have gotten this far and I am not going to give up now, now after all of the hard work that I have put in!" Ino replied back to her friend and teammate, with passion flowing through her veins.

Naruto couldn't help but overhear the conversation from the other blonde and look impressed. He never expected the girl to have that much conviction. The Uzumaki was surprised enough when he saw her cut her hair for the sake of winning the match. Initial assumption was that she wouldn't be willing to do that in that it would affect her ultimate goal of becoming Sasuke-teme's wife.

He respected her passion and determination.

"Plus, once I have given it my all and it ends up that I can't defeat Gaara, I'll just forfeit then. I know my limits Shika, I'm not stupid!"

"Shikamaru is right to worry about your safety Ino. He is your teammate." Asuma stated, drawing the eyes of Team Ten onto the adult. With fire burning in her eyes, Ino was about to shout back at her sensei. The person of all who she thought would support her during this. That was until he spoke once more. "But Ino has a right to keep going and try her best to become chunin. The fights will be in front of a large amount of ninjas, in a controlled environment where Ino can safely test her skills and if the time comes when she needs to resign from the fight, she will be able to do so." A look of gratitude was shared was thrown in the direction of her sensei.

The underlying pressure of the scope in which she would be competing in was reinforced on the Yamanaka Heiress though and she gulped down a bit of fear. That soon turned into determination as she was a headstrong girl who was not going to back down without a fight. She hadn't backed down in the quest for Sasuke's love and affection and she wasn't going to back down from this.

xxx

Naruto was furious. "Why did I even bother trying!?" He shouted out loud despite no one being around.

Of course he knew that Sasuke-teme had a dangerous opponent. Yes he knew that Sasuke had a massive target on his neck that attempted to control his mind.

But dammit! Don't I matter too!? Naruto desperately thought as he dealt with the fact that his supposed sensei was solely training Sasuke for the chunin exams whilst he was left with the challenge of getting better to face Neji without the help of a sensei. Not that the stupid closet perv is anything close to a sensei anyway, I mean who falls for the Harem jutsu anyway!? Naruto didn't want to be trained by the man and Ebisu didn't put up any fight when he watched Naruto walk away.

It was impulsive and did Naruto think that he might be able to learn something from the guy? Yes. Did he think that he could probably learn that by himself? Also yes. Was it a cocky opinion from a genin who thought he was amazing and was probably had a higher opinion of his skills than what he actually had? Definitely.

Had Naruto stuck around, he would have found the real reason why Kakashi decided to offload his training. Naruto was never meant to spend the entire time training with Ebisu-sensei. There was supposed to be someone else who was going to assist Naruto with his training.

Instead Naruto ran off in anger away from the hot springs and went to the only place he could think of when he was desperate to learn something at all costs. The library.

It was definitely a time for desperation when Naruto Uzumaki of all people in the world was in a library but here he was. His determination to become Hokage outweighed his desire to not be in a place full of books.

Plus, last time I read something I learnt the shadow clone jutsu, so how bad can it be? Naruto told himself in a bid to gee up the idea of studying.

Much to his surprise, Naruto found a book that actually didn't seem all that bad. He found something called the summoning jutsu. From the sounds of it, you got your own army of animals to help you take down the bad guys. That sounded heaps cool to the blonde haired genin! It got even better when he kept reading about how many strong shinobis had contracts! Well if all the strong people have them, then I should have one!

Naruto, ever the impulsive genin, didn't bother to read the caution which was listed below the jutsu. Once he found out how the jutsu worked, what was required, Naruto got to work.

In the moment, Naruto bit his thumb, went through the hand seals and slammed his hand into the table. Much to the ire of the librarian who shouted at the boy to keep quiet. Whatever Naruto expected to happen, disappearing in a plume of smoke was not one of them.

xxx

Inoichi was a proud man. He was a smart one and he felt confident in his ability to teach his daughter how to become a great shinobi and a great clan leader when the time comes. Even he, an elite Jonin and head of key departments in the village hierarchy.

And yet, given the situation that his daughter was in, he knew that he was not the best person to teach his daughter to become a shinobi good enough to hold her own against Gaara. Inoichi had heard enough about the boy to know that as much as he believed in his daughter, the current state of a shinobi she was, she was going to get absolutely mauled.

There was a very real and high possibility that his daughter was going to die in a month! It scared the absolute shit out of Inoichi. So much so that he about to talk to her about the upcoming tournament. "Ino-chan, can we please have a chat?"

Gulping because she had a rough idea on what she was going to be having with her dad. "Yes Daddy, coming down now." The girl responded as she braced herself for this discussion. There was a feeling in her gut that this conversation was going to be one that would shape her shinobi career. If she backed down here, it would set a precedence for this to keep occurring.

With a look of sheer determination etched onto her face, the chunin hopeful headed down the stairs, braced for the verbal battle. "I'm not backing down Dad! I'm going to become a great kunoichi and there's nothing that you can do about it!"

"Ino, you have to think of your safety! I heard what happened! Gaara is not someone where this is just fun and games. This is a serious life and death situation. Gaara will kill you if he gets the chance!" Inoichi replied, intensity filling his voice.

"Well then, it's simple! I won't let him get the chance to kill me!" She said in a tone that ignored just how hard something like that would be to accomplish.

"Aren't you scared about this!? Ino, let's be realistic here. You've only been a genin for 5 months!"

Taking it a slight as her skills as a ninja, the genin decided to challenge her father. "Dad, do you not believe that I can do this. That I am not good enough."

What Ino didn't know, was that Inoichi was capable of being firm and making tough decisions. "Honestly Ino-chan. No." Shock filled Ino as she had never really heard that word before from her father. It just went to show the fresh genin just how much this meant to her father. "You aren't good enough of a shinobi right now that I would feel comfortable with you fighting Gaara.

You focus way too much on impressing boys, you care too much about your diet which severely affects your ability to train and perform. You care more about impressions rather than your performance and I question whether this is a fad and your pride talking rather than you actually taking your shinobi life seriously."

Ino opened her mouth to immediately reply and then closed it a couple of times. Dad is right. That's going to change though. "Look dad. You're right. I did spend too much time basing what I should do around how I look and what boys that would attract. I also ran fad diets but that's all in the past now. " Ino confidently replied, looking her father directly in the eyes.

She's serious about this but for how long? Just looking at her he could see that something had changed. He was fairly confident that it was just pride at the moment and then her stubborn nature carrying her through but he could tell that this was something that she was going to do. Officially he couldn't make her quit since she was a genin and under the hokage's control.

It would also drive a fracture into the relationship with his daughter if he tried to control her like that. The resentment was not something he wanted to foster. No he wanted to let his daughter grow into a well rounded and developed kunoichi.

That just leaves the question of how. What is the best way to get Ino ready for the fight of her life.

"Fine." Inoichi sighed. The perks of raising a headstrong girl… "You're going to have to train as if your life dependent on it."

"Puh-lease…" Ino responded, sticking her chest out. "I've got this for sure." The teenage girl commented, attempting to hide how nervous she was. She hoped her father bought it.

He didn't but he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt because he loved his previous daughter.

Inoichi just hoped that the plan he was thinking of in his head would work out.

xxx

"Alright then. I'll do it." The man replied, which made Inoichi breathe a sigh of relief. A weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He had just gotten the best sensei that Konoha had on offer.

"Thank you very much for this Jiraiya. Ino will benefit massively under your tutelage." Inoichi commented.

"I can't work miracles but I'll get her up to shape. Going up against that Gaara kid will be no small feat in itself."

"That's fine. As long as Ino-chan becomes the best that she can possibly be, I will have no regrets. Just please try not to corrupt my innocent daughter into being as much of a pervert as you."

Offended, Jiraiya looked at Inoichi with a frown where the Yamanaka clan head gulped, hoping that Jiraiya wasn't going to change his mind. "I'm not some predatory person who wants to groom a girl" was the crisp reply from the Toad Sannin.

"You paid me to train the girl, not change my personality. I won't direct anything at her but I am not going to change who I am." The message was loud and clear for Inoichi.

I hope that I am doing the right thing.

Inoichi knew that he was not going to be able to train Ino to be a combat shinobi ready to fight Gaara in one month. Whilst he was an elite Jonin, he was not a specialist trainer and his area of expertise were off the front lines.

He needed someone to train his daughter that was a perfectionist who would leave no stone un-turned. As much as he had faith in Asuma, he didn't have full faith in train Ino as harshly as she needed. Jiraiya had no emotional attachment to the girl and you don't get to the level of the Sannin without being a perfectionist to break down and improve every single little detail.

There was no discernible front line skill for Ino. She was best used in long range fights as a supporting ninja. In a fight with Gaara, she was going to need absolutely everything in her arsenal to survive, let alone fight back. Jiraiya was the perfect choice considering he had trained the Yondaime, he had no bloodlines and built a style on the front lines from the ground up.

He guessed that this decision would break up the Ino-Shika-Cho trio with the change in fighting style that his baby would now have but when her life was on the line, he needed to do what was needed. Even if it meant, putting a large amount of the clan's financial safety net on one month of training. It was not cheap but Inoichi was in a desperate position and he knew that he would regret it more that if he didn't do everything in his power to help his daughter out.

xxx

"So you want to be an actual shinobi? Well that's good." Jiraiya commented as he stared down the girl in front of him. From what Inoichi had told him, he was surprised to see her wearing a pair of nondescript track pants and a long sleeve shirt. He initially expected her to care more about fashion. Well this is good.

"Yes Jiraiya-sama. I want to be a great kunoichi, just like your teammate Tsunade-sama!" Ever since she heard what her father had done, Ino knew that she had to make the absolute most of it!

The more and more she thought about what she was doing in a month's time, the daunting feeling of whether or not she was biting off far more than what she could chew lingered on in her mind. The Yamanaka had no idea what this training was going to be like.

"Well hate to break it to ya girl, but you're not going to be like Tsunade-hime. You need to develop combat skills in the space of a month. The time it took for her to develop her super strength is not something that you can hope to replicate." Jiraiya said in a matter of fact tone, setting expectations for the month ahead.

Seeing the dejected look on the girl's face, Jiraiya spoke up. He hated seeing someone sad, especially a girl. "Just because you can't become a great shinobi like Tsunade, it doesn't mean that you can't come become a shinobi on the same level as Tsunade, just in a different way." this caused her head to perk up.

"I am a front line fighter, in the vein of a one man army. I build front line fighters. I wouldn't have the first idea on how to teach someone medical ninjutsu so in that vein, I will teach you how to become a great kunoichi but one who is Ino Yamanaka, and not Tsunade version 2.0!" The way that he said it with a grin on his face was infectious and Ino grinned as well.

"Hell yeah! So where do we start!?" the blonde haired girl asked, excited to get this started.

A sadistic grin appeared on the face of Jiraiya as he stared down his newest student. "Well we are going to be doing a light spar, just so that I can get a feel for how you fight." The Toad Sannin commented to which Ino nodded. She wasn't too sure what to expect when he said light spar fully entailed. "On water." Eyes went wide open when she heard this as up until this point, she had only ever walked on top of water. This is going to be interesting

The two shinobi both made their way on the water's surface, Jiraiya with far less nerves. "Alright come at me with the intent to kill." Jiraiya said as he inspected the girl's form, seeing what her first action was. It was to see what instinctually, she found comfort in doing as a shinobi.

Ino pulled out a kunai, and ran towards her sensei for the month. So she doesn't have full control over water walking yet. Jiraiya noticed, just from watching the ripples underneath her feet. Still, for someone who was a fresh out of the academy genin, it wasn't bad. Her chakra control was great.

Jiraiya dodged the incoming swipe with the kunai and then proceeded to dodge the followup. Jiraiya ducked a jab from Ino, shot down onto the water's surface, launched his foot out and took the blonde's legs out from underneath her. Not content with that, he quickly kicked out once more, flinging the girl on up in the air before following up by jumping and hitting her back down to the water's surface hard with a hard punch to the stomach.

Ino went down with force and slammed into the water, crashing through the surface and going underneath. A few seconds later, she came back up to the surface, face down in the water though. For a split second, Jiraiya wasn't sure if he pushed too hard to start with. This is nothing compared to what the jinchuuriki will do though, better get her used to it now. Slowly, Ino pulled her soaked body to a floating position before climbing out of the water, through the use of her muscles and chakra.

There was a look of determination on the face of the blonde haired girl. Kid's got spunk Jiraiya grinned at the sight. Originally he thought that he was going to have to train some preteen fan girl but thankfully this was turning out better than expected.

"Awww, was that too much for ya kiddo? Do you need daddy or Asuma to come and bail you out?" Poking the bear, the Sannin smirked when he saw the look of passion on her face.

"There's no way that something as small as that, is going to stop the Sass Queen incarnate from becoming the best!"

"Sass Queen Incarnate? Get real, there's no way someone like you could be that! You have to be able to back up what shit you spew out of your mouth and as far as I can tell, you're all talk! Just bring it!" Jiraiya called out as he got back into his stance.

Pushing a piece of her shortened hair behind her ear, the blonde narrowed her gaze into a thin line. She was not going to back down!

The spar was over and Ino was sitting down on the ground, eating the bento box her father had prepared for her. Originally she thought that it was going to be way too much food. Then she remembered what she was here for. She wasn't here to look great for Sasuke Uchiha. She was here to survive a fight of her life with Gaara.

It turned out that due to the nature of the hard training she was doing with Jiraiya, she was beyond hungry and was at the point of getting hunger pains. Ino wolfed down the food put in front of her. It had a large serving of pork, rice and vegetables, which the blonde appreciated. Whilst there was a lot of calories there, at least it wasn't any dirty food. It was going to give her the upmost energy and not make her feel bad.

When food was done, it was time to get back to training. "Right." Jiraiya said as he got up, motioning for Ino to do the same. "I am going to show you a jutsu that you are going to be extremely thankful for, for the rest of your life. This is one that is going to be for more than just fighting, it's also going to help you with your fashion and how you look. I take payment for this specific jutsu in the form of compliments."

Jiraiya said, ever in his grandiose fashion. The Yamanaka merely rolled her eyes. Despite it having only been 3 hours since she had first met the guy, she was getting the impression that he was a bit odd. "Oh please do tell what this supposed jutsu is, that will make me look better. Here I thought I was training to become a better kunoichi, plus, what would you know about my fashion choices?" Ino hotly contested, challenge dripping from her voice.

"Just watch and be amazed brat." Jiraiya simply replied and Ino watched with fascination as his hair grew exponentially and wrapped itself around a tree nearby, ripping it out of the ground and then flinging it a few meters away. It then retreated back to the length it was normally at.

Eyes were wide open as she started thinking of all the practical applications that it could be used for in the field! In addition to that, it would allow her to grow her hair back out, after having cut it to give her the opportunity to win her fight during the preliminaries.

"You have to teach me that!" Ino excitedly shouted, with stars in her eyes. She deeply missed her long hair and this would give her so much more to work with.

xxx

When he went through the hand seals and completed the jutsu, Naruto was not expecting to be transported to a completely different world. He didn't even realize how lucky he was to have the jutsu work successfully. Unaware, Naruto still had the five elements seal on top of his jinchuuriki seal, destablizing his ability to successfully mold chakra.

Grunting as he pulled himself up off the ground, Naruto surveyed what was around him and was surprised with what he felt. Immediately, Naruto felt the heat and the humidity of wherever he was. There was a massive river in front of him, with large trees on the banks. Mangroves littered the sidelines of the river.

Just then, Naruto noticed that there was the largest fish that he had ever seen on jump out of the river and into the air. "Holy crap that's a big fish!" Naruto said out loud. It was then that he saw something even scarier, a giant animal, he wasn't too sure what it was, came out of the water and wrapped its enormous jaws around the fish and in what Naruto could only describe as a death roll, the beast took the prey down into the water quickly and it was a sight to see.

"Wow!" Naruto called out and suddenly, he got the sneaking suspicion that there was a whole bunch of eyes watching him. The last time he felt like he was this watched was in the forest of death, under the guise of that snake bastard.

It was only now that Naruto realized that where he was and that he was not the highest on the food chain. Gulping, Naruto wondered just where hell was he!? Looking at the river, Naruto counted five sets of eyes, each gazing intently at him. Never before had he felt like a piece of meat. "It's been a long time since we have had a human here." A voice called out from behind Naruto who was hiding in the shrubbery behind him.

The blonde haired boy immediately turned around and saw a reptile that was about 1 meter long. Jumping back, Naruto prepared himself for a fight. He definitely didn't want to become dinner! "You can talk!" Naruto shouted, smart as ever, drawing the ire of those around him.

"You're not very smart are you?" Naruto got asked. The blonde relaxed slightly, feeling that he wasn't going to be under killed straight away.

Ignoring the jibe, something that he was used to his entire life, Naruto spoke up. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki! Future Hokage of Konoha! what's yours?"

Enjoying the optimism despite question the validity of the statement given to him, the crocodile spoke up. "The names Krool. I'm one of the Crocodile clan." Krool replied, not at all intimidated by Naruto, despite the size difference. "You're coming with me by the way."

Seeing the challenge, Naruto responded in the only way he knew how. "Why should I? Huh? For all I know, this could be a trap."

Not fazed at all, Krool turned around and looked the boy dead in the eyes. "If we wanted you to die, we would have killed you the second you used the summoning jutsu and came into our lands. Now, come with me child and don't make me drag you to my father."

Coming to terms with the fact that he had absolutely no idea where he was and the whole reason why the blonde was here, was to get a summoning contract, Naruto decided to follow Krool. Naruto took his jacket off as he felt the sweat pouring off of his body. Even compared to normal people, Naruto knew that he felt the heat more than normal.

After learning about the Kyubi, he thought it must have been related to that. Under the unrelenting sun of wherever he is, Naruto was sweating his balls off. As much as he wanted to take his top off and go for a swim to cool down, Naruto did not trust that water one bit. Those eyes spelt danger.

The Genin looked down at the path they were traveling in and found themselves in a cave. Unlike what he thought he knew about geography, it didn't get cooler as he went in, instead, it got hotter thanks to a couple of hotsprings that he saw along the way. Geez, this is stuffy in here.

"Dad! I brought the boy! he's a bit dumb though! I can sense that he has potential though, heaps of chakra!" Krool called out into the deep caverns of the cave.

Affronted, Naruto was not shy to reply. "Oi! I'm not dumb!" Naruto hotly replied back, also a bit miffed that the only compliment he got was something he attributed to the Kyubi and not to his own skills.

"I see. Bring the boy to me hatchling." The deep rumbling bass voice echoed throughout the caverns and Naruto almost shat himself when he heard it. Just what have I got myself into!? Naruto questioned to himself. In the end though, he knew that he was not going to back down. Not when his the potential title of Hokage was on the line.

Soon it went to this opening in the cavern where it was pitch black surrounding him. It was then that Naruto saw them. Sweat dripped down the back of his neck. The set of eyes in front of him were massive! They were the size of his body, if not bigger! He did not want to think of the size that the body housing those eyes were! I think I am lunch

"Tell me young one, why are you here?" the voice that carried through the entire cavern questioned him. Just from the sound hitting his ears, Naruto could feel the power behind it. If there was ever a time to lie, now was not it!

"Well I'm from Konoha and we have the chunin exams coming up. I got ditched by my sensei and have to try and figure out a way to train and get stronger so that I can win! I tried doing the summoning jutsu and I ended up here." Naruto said and at the end of his statement, he rubbed the back of his head.

"I see. Konoha. I remember hearing about that village being created just recently." When he heard this, Naruto sweat dropped. Just how old is this guy? Konoha was built ages ago! He must be ancient! "Tell me, what are the chunin exams?"

How out of touch is this guy? Naruto thought to himself but he didn't dare voice it. Thankfully for Naruto, he didn't have to. "I told you about them over 20 years ago dad!" Krool spoke up.

"Be careful boy. You need to learn when to use that jaw of yours." Naruto felt the heat in the room go up with that threat, thankfully he wasn't getting the comment directed at himself. Krool, for his part didn't flinch but did know his place and backed down.

"I sense great desire and passion when you speak child. The question is, are you ferocious enough to achieve your goals? Do you have that Natural instinct to get the job done, whatever means necessary?" Naruto felt even more heat under the intensity of the gaze whilst getting questioned. The first thought that Naruto had in his mind was Zabuza. That man was ruthless but at least you knew where you stood. Behind the bandages, there was a man who cared about Haku. Naruto knew he wouldn't be like Zabuza in hiding his emotions but Naruto also knew, that he would go to all lengths to protect those close to him.

"I will do anything to protect my friends! I want to be the Hokage and the role of the Hokage is to protect everyone in the village! I can't protect them if I am not willing to defend them with everything I've got." Naruto firmly replied, getting more and more conviction in his voice, the more he spoke.

"Very well. Krool, test the boy. If he lives, he lives and signs the contract. If he doesn't we will get a different type of meat for lunch." Sobek mentioned before closing his eyes. Naruto gulped based on the finality of the statement! The saving grade for Naruto was the the genin knew that whatever was thrown at him, he was going handle it. His name was Naruto Uzumaki and he didn't give up no matter what!


Author's Notes: First time writing in a while. Had the muse for a new story, please leave a review if you have any ideas that you think might be fun to read about!