~*****~

"You're kidding! You're a real glutton for punishment, aren't ya!" Kiba scolds with a smirk. Naruto just snorts. "Okay, it's your funeral. I'm gonna make sure you don't get up again!" He growls, running in for another attack. They use Fang Over Fang again, and Naruto dodges it, landing on his front as Kiba and Akamaru skid away. He uses another smoke bomb and Fang Over Fang. I grit my teeth just a little, staring at the cloud.

"Heh, looks like you've run outta gas!" Kiba mocks.

"Oh yeah? Bring it on, Dogbreath. No matter how many clones you dish out, I'll still have enough gas to beat you!"

"Ha! You always got a snappy comeback. Let's see ya come back from this! Ready Akamaru?" They use another smoke bomb and Fang Over Fang.

"What's going on?" Sakura mumbles. "I can't see."

"He's got this, don't worry." I coo, gripping tighter onto the railing.

"Very Clever." Kakashi hums.

"Huh?" I look over at Sakura, smiling a little.

"Wait, you'll see." I state. She looks back onto the arena.After the smoke clears, three identical Kiba's stand in a circle. "Very good, Naruto!" I call out.

"He's made himself look like Kiba! So, now Kiba doesn't know which one to go after! He's got to be careful, cause he might be attacking Akamaru!" Sakura explains.

"And meanwhile, Naruto is safe attacking either one!" Lee adds. "Brilliant Idea! Woo-Hoo!" Lee screams, his eyes alight with fire. I edge a bit away from him, groaning in distaste.

"He's got him completely still."

"Okay, so I see you've gotten better at the transformation jutsu. But you forgot one little thing." Kiba growls. "I admit, you look just like me, and that threw me for a minute. But I still know which one is you. You can't hide from me! Wanna know why?!" Kiba cries, punching one Kiba in the face, sending him tumbling backwards. "I can smell ya, kid. There's just no getting passed our sense of smell. Tough luck." I smiled a bit as the Kiba he hit disappeared into a cloud of smoke and Akamaru reappeared. This'll throw him for a loop. He quickly turns on the other and punches him. He too turns back into Akamaru.

"This is coming from the original class clown after all." I say with a chuckle. He runs in, landing a kick to Kiba's face. "Atta boy, Naruto! To balance a transformation jutsu like that, it's incredible!" 

"A smart Shinobi, is careful on how he uses his jutsu!" Naruto claims. "Otherwise, its liable to come back and bite him on the butt! Dummy!" I start giggling at his confidence.

"It's nice to know he's been listening to me." I state cheerfully. Sakura hums in agreement.

"Hey... thats my line..." Kakashi mutters as I try and take the credit. Well, I did explain it to him in a way he'd understand. "Sort of..."

Kiba bit into his hand in order to remain calm and stood up. He pulled out Shuriken, ready to attack. "So are you finally getting serious, Kiba?! Good!" He clasps his hands together in front of him. "That means it's time to unleash my super secret killer move!"

"You're what? You've gotta be kidding me?" Kiba asks.

"Huh? Where'd he come up with that?" Sakura asks.

"You can leave it to Naruto to have a trick up his sleeve! Well done!" Lee exclaims.

"I wonder if he thought of it just now." I state.

"Super Secret Kill Move." Kiba mocks. "Get outta here! It's a bluff!"

"Yeah? Well try me and find out!" Naruto retorts. "You ready?!" Kiba runs in, throwing his shurkien so that Naruto has no time to build up his chakra. Kiba uses his All Fours Jutsu again, knocking Naruto around.

"No, Naruto!" Sakura cries.

"On your feet, Naruto!" I shout.

Naruto lays on the ground for a moment before getting back on his feet. Kiba runs at him again, using that speed as his major advantage. Kiba takes a chance and digs his claws into Naruto's arm. Naruto retorts and throws him across the arena. Naruto clasps his hands together again, trying to build up chakra. He dodges another one of his attacks before being hit again.

"Naruto!" Sakura screams.

"Heh, you wanted me to get serious, so I got serious!" Kiba growls. "You get it now? You were just kidding yourself! You never had a chance!" He snaps, gasping in shock as Naruto gets to his feet.

"Come on, Naruto! You got this!" I call.

"Atta boy! You got him right where you want him! Look he's starting to crack!" Sakura adds.

"Now, Naruto. Go for it." Lee mumbles.

"Hey! What're ya waitin' for?! Ya tired!" Naruto mocks. "That's enough of this! Time to use my move!" Naruto says, clasping his hands in front of him and building his chakra.

"Go for it!" Kiba growls, running at him again. "Too late!" Kiba cries, skidding around behind him. He goes in for a hit, but at the last moment, Naruto farts. My face falls and I slammed my head onto the metal railing, shaking in embarrassment. Kiba starts screaming in agony, and considering that his nose is so much more sensitive than ours, I can only imagine how that smelt.

"Was that your killer move!?" I snap, feeling the heat envelop my cheeks and neck.

"Whatever works, Naruto! You slowed him down at least." Sakura says, her eyebrow twitching in shock.

"I wish I can say I planned it!" Naruto adds. "But anyway, the time has come to unleash my new technique!" He claims, clasping his hands together a final time. He uses the clone sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Four individual clones appear besides him. "You've kicked me around pretty good so far, now it's pay back time!" Naruto says.

"With Kiba recovering from that bio-warfare, it'll be hard to see straight, and I'm guessing his reaction time as decreased down to basically nothing." I explain. "Naruto literally does have him right where he wants him."

They circle around him. One punches him, the other three kick him upwards, annunciating his name. "Na-Ru-To!" The real Naruto flips forward, slamming his leg down onto Kiba's face, sending him back to the ground. "Uzumaki Barrage!" He hits with a sick crack, and doesn't move.

"New technique, huh?" I drone. "Where have I seen that before? At least he changed the name, I guess..." Sakura giggles at me as I rub the bruise forming on my forehead.

"The winner is, Naruto Uzumaki." Hayate declares.

"Woo-Hoo!" Lee and I cheer.

"Yes, Naruto! That's my teammate!" Sakura cries. "Way to go!"

"Unbelievable! Who would've thought he could beat Kiba!" Shikamaru asks in astonishment.

"A major upset!" Choji adds. Ino hums in agreement.

"He certainly has gotten stronger, huh." I hum to Kakashi. He chuckles and nods. Naruto runs up the stairs, chanting that it had been nothing to beat Kiba. I turn to Shikamaru, smirking. "Ohhh, looks like three out of four in my team going to the finals. Eh, Shikamaru?" I jeer, making him frown.

"Man, that means I might be fighting you.... What a drag." He groans.

"Imagine if you did have to fight her. You'd be toast!" Ino teases. "Not only would she distract you, but I don't wanna be the one to feel the force of her water jutsu."

"And, her Kekkei Genkei is impossible to get around too." Sakura adds, leaning against my shoulder. "So, even if she were incapacitated by your Shadow Possession, she'd use that to break it." Shikamaru groans again and leans forward.

I start to laugh and pat his back. "I'd still be careful, Shikamaru is way smarter than I am. So I'm pretty sure he'd find a way to beat me." I state, earning a surprised look from everyone. "It's not just about power. That's why I like Shikamaru. He's able to analyze the fight and find a way to win within the first five seconds." Shikamaru's cheeks tinted pink as I turned to Sakura, laughing lightly with her. "You should see him when we play shogi. I don't have a chance to even fight back sometimes."

"She really is something, isn't she?" Ino hums to her friend.

"Yeah. She is." Shikamaru replies, a soft smile on his lips. I turn back to my lazy friend and grin brilliantly, rubbing the back of my head. His cheeks turned pink again, and Ino took that opportunity to lean into his face, jeering at the now flustered shinobi.

Kakashi leaned towards my ear after I turned back to the arena to see who would fit next. "I'm sorry, Ren. But the Hokage has requested an audience with you. Now." I shiver at that sinister tone he used and swallowed thickly. I nodded and turned around to the Anbu Black Ops behind us.

~*****~

"Lord Hokage?" I hum quietly, looking up at the old man as we stand in front of each other in his office. The blinds were drawn and he looked ready to go to war honestly. "Do I really need this?" I ask hesitantly.

"I'm afraid so, my dear. Until we can secure a stable alliance with the Lightning Country, they only see Ameonna as a threat." He sighed, ruffling my hair slightly. "Open your kimono, and brace yourself." I nodded and untied the sash around my waist and let it hang open. "Build up your chakra." I nodded again and closed my eyes, focusing my chakra in my stomach. It was silent for  a moment, then he lurches forward, slamming five fingers into my gut. "Five Prong Seal!" He shouts, digging his fingers further into my belly as I cough out and scream. I fly back, landing on my back and immediately wrapping my arms around my midsection with a hiss.

"Do you have to be so rough?!" I shout at him, sitting up with a wince.

"Unfortunately, it requires some force to set the seal in." He smiles and sighs a little. "That should hold her. If the seal should break again, you must let me know. Only a few people in this world know that seal." He smiles a bit, then he turns serious. "You shouldn't even be awake right now. I should've knocked you out cold."

"It came close! Jeez, if I didn't want to know who I was fighting in the final matches, then I may have!" Lord Hokage just stares before belting out a laugh. "Can I go back, please?"

"Yes, of course. Have fun." He smiled, before his body disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Jeez, you think he'd see to this himself...." I grumbled, and walked out after tying my kimono back up.

~*****~

I trudged up the stairs to the viewing balcony after Choji finally jumps down to fight. Kakashi's eyebrow twitched a bit. "Ren, it's good to see you back. But so soon?"

"Yes, Kakashi. I'm fine now." I sigh, shaking my head abit as Choji loses his match in record time. "I wanted to see the end results."

"Hm... Well, no harm in that." Kakashi sighed, patting my head.

After Choji's match, all the victors met in a single file line, all facing the proctors. It was Naruto, Shikamaru, myself, Temari, Kankuro, Dosu, Gaara, Neji, Shino, and two I didn't recognize. But it looked like they were from the lightning country.

"I will now begin the explanation for the main matches." Hayate said softly. "Your main match fights will be shown in front of everyone. We wish for all of your to show off your abilities as your country's representative power. Therefore, the main matches will begin in one month."

"We're not going to do it right here, right now?" Naruto hummed.

"The one month is a time to conduct appropriate preparation." Lord Hokage explained. "In other words, we're going to announce to the feudal lords and head ninja of the individual countries that the preliminary matches have ended. And time is needed to gather those people for the main matches. This is also preparation time for you candidates."

"I still don't understand," Kankuro complained rudely. "Explain."

"Really? How are you not getting this? Naruto could get this better than you." I snap, earning a harsh glare from the Sand Shinobi. "This time is used so you can know your enemy and yourself better."

Lord Hokage chuckled and finished explaining what I had started. "It is a time to analyze the information you have gathered during the preliminary matches. The battles we had were just like real combat situations. It has been done where both parties know nothing of each other." I glanced over at Gaara for a moment, hoping I wouldn't have to fight him. Sand and Water don't exactly go well together. "But the main matches will not be like that. There are those who have revealed everything to their rivals. To make things fair, work hard and improve yourselves on your own in the next month. So I want to let you guys go, but there is something important we must do before the main matches."

"What is it?" Naruto asked. "I have to hurry and train!"

"Don't get so hasty!" Lord Hokage snapped. "Take a piece from the box that Anko is holding."

"I'll walk, so take it in turns." She said, stepping up to the first genin.

After each genin took their paper, Ibiki had a clipboard in his hand. "Okay, everyone got one?" He asked. "Now, tell me what number you got, starting from the left.

"Eight." Said Dosu.

"One." Naruto.

"Nine." Ren.

"Eleven." Temari.

"Five." Kankuro.

"Three." Gaara.

"Ten." Shikamaru.

"Two." Neji.

"Six." Shino.

"Twelve." Reina. The girl from the lightning country.

"Seven." Suzumo. The other girl from the lightning country.

"So, he must be four." Ibiki hummed.

"We will now tell you the match ups for the tournament." Announced the Hokage.

"What?!" Exclaimed Naruto.

"That's what we drew for?!" Shikamaru yelped.

"Ibiki, show the match ups." Lord Hokage ordered.

"Yes." He responded and held up his clipboard.

1. Naruto Uzumaki Vs. Neji Hyuga

2. Gaara Vs. Sasuke Uchiha

3. Kankuro vs. Shino Aburame

4. Suzumo Yukimura Vs. Dosu

5. Ren Yukimura Vs. Shikmaru Nara

6. Temari Vs. Reina Yukimura

"I have a question," Shikamaru called out, raising his hand. "If it's a tournament, that means there's only one winner, right? Does that mean that only one person can become Chunin?"

"No, that's not how it is," Replied the Hokage. "These main matches will have judges, including me, The Kazekage, as well as the feudal lords and head ninja from other countries, who will be potential clients. These judges will grade you by watching you in the tournament. And those who are qualified to be a Chunin, even if they lose in the first round, will become Chunin."

"So, there's a possibility that everyone here can become a Chunin?" Temari asked.

"Yes, but that also means that it's possible for no one to become Chunin." Lord Hokage added. "Winning the matches in the tournament means that you are able to show off your skills more. Understand, Shikamaru?"

He just groaned a bit.

"That is all," The Hokage announced. "We are adjourned until next month."

We all left the building, sore and bruised up. I wanted nothing more than to go get a hot bath, but I wanted to talk with Shikamaru a bit before I disappeared for training. "Shikamaru!" I jeered, leaning on his shoulder. He looked over, his face falling to the floor. "Are you that bummed were going to be fighting each other in a month?" I question, giggling when he nods.

"I told you already, Ren; It's a drag to fight someone who would overpower me. And you already know everything there is to know about my Shadow Possession Jutsu." He just leaned forward, groaning in despair.

"Hey! If you're thinking about quitting the match before it even begins, I wont ever talk to you ever again!" I snap, slamming my hand on his back. He flinched and tried to rub at it. "Besides, you're a genius! You'll figure out a way to beat me before I could make a move against you!"

"Ren! I am here to train you!" I suddenly scream, slamming my fist against the person who appeared besides me. Guy flew back, holding his nose in pain again as I reared up over him.

"Stop sneaking up on me!" I shouted, then turned back to Shikamaru who just smiled a bit. "Anyway, before Guy whisks me away to train me, don't forget! I'm going to be working my butt off, so you need to do the same!" I grin, then, I'm actually whisked away.

~*****~

"Okay, Ren! Ol' Kakashi instructed me to train you in the subtle art of Taijutsu!" Guy cheered.

"Subtle?"

"No buts! From this day on, until your match, you will be my devoted pupil! Now, we're going to do five hundred laps around the village! Go!" He shouts, running off without me.

I sit there and groan before I run after him. 'What did I do to you, Kakashi? I thought we were friends...'