Holy shit it's been a while since I last updated this story. I honestly wish I could give you guys a good reason why I haven't updated but I can't. I know I'm not the only writer that has stories they want to update but just cant find the motivation do so. However, after I update one story I usually go through my stories list and see which ones haven't been updated in a while and see if I can get something going. Luckily I just happen to have something going with this one. To those of you who are still following thank you and here you go.

Three days later multiple teams had made it to the tower. Time was running out so they expected a few more teams to walk through those doors any minute now. Currently Naruto was off to the side with his two friends. Unlike Aizen who looked at everyone as a pawn in a chessboard Naruto genuinely cared about those he had close to him. In this case Sasuke and Neji.

"Looks like the Ame didn't make it." Neji noticed as he scanned the teams in the building. Currently the only remaining teams belonged to Kumo, Suna, and Konoha. Though the majority was from Konoha.

"This test was made to weed out more people but there still seems to be too many." Sasuke said. True enough there were many competitors still left. Either the test was flawed or this years competitors were better than anticipated.

"True. Chances are they'll most likely try to cut the numbers down one more time before letting us proceed to the next exam." Naruto agreed. "Apart from that they still haven't come to get us so chances are that there could still be more people showing up." He added. He too took a look at all of the remaining teams and ended up making eye contact with Samui.

He hadn't had a chance to speak with her as they got there a day or two after them and had been getting checked up on by the medical ninja. "I'll be right back."

Karui didn't seem to appreciate his appearance and Omoi just nodded stiffly but made no other indication that he was welcome or unwanted.

"I'm glad to see you managed to make it through. Judging by your appearance it seems you had very little issue doing so." The Kumo team didn't know wether he was talking to them in general or to Samui only as he had yet to break his eye contact with her. With his demeanor it was difficult to tell.

"Likewise." She responded to his first statement. "It wasn't too difficult, finding a scroll we didn't already have was what took up most of our time. That and other teams trying to ambush us. It was uncool." She added afterwards.

"Just out of curiosity when did you and your team get here?" Omoi asked inserting himself into the conversation. Finally looking at someone other than the busty blond Naruto replied.

"We got here three days ago. We were the first ones here actually." His revelation shocked the team.

"Two days? That's crazy." Omoi thought before his thoughts went haywire and began conjuring scenarios out of this world to explain it. Samui looks her fellow blond up and down briefly and realizes he doesn't have a single scratch on him. There was a chance that they were treated early and had healed up already but based on what she's seen from him she found it unlikely.

Even her team had a few scratches due to some fights but he literally had no injuries. She was about to comment on it but stopped as the doors to the tower opened and a Jonin walked in. The man announced that second round was officially complete and all remaining teams were to follow him.

"Well it looks like that's us. Shall we?" He asked as he walked ahead. Samui nodded both at him and then her team indicating to move out. Sasuke and Sakura caught up to him and walked to his right while Samui and her team matched their pace to his left. Sakura looked over at her blond teammate who was saying something to the blond woman.

Her curiosity was piqued and she was about to speak but a shake of the head from Sasuke stopped her. She'd let it drop…for now.

The teams were led to a giant two story room. In the most northern corner of the room were two giant stone hands that were sculpted in the shape of the ram hand sign. Above that was a giant monitor that was currently off and on the second story was a balcony that circled the entire room. What drew the most attention though were the people standing in front of all of this.

The third Hokage along with a few Jonin, the previous proctors of the exams, and all of the teams' Jonin sensei were there. When they were all lined up the Hokage began explaining to them how the Chunin exams are also to show your skills to those in attendance in order for the village to get more mission requests.

A sickly Jonin walked forward afterwards and explained that there were still too many people at this stage. In order to reduce their numbers some more they were going to have preliminary one on one battles with the winners going to the finals. They were then told to head up the stairs and wait for their names to be displayed.

As the teams headed up Naruto motioned Neji and Sasuke over. "For these matches use none of the new techniques you've acquired. We don't want to arouse suspicion if you use moves no one has ever seen. Stick to what the others know you can do." He ordered.

[Battles same as cannon except this one]

Naruto's name finally appeared on the screen.

Uzumaki Naruto vs Karui

Naruto looked over at the Kumo Kunoichi and saw her already staring at him. She had a fire in her eyes that told him she was hoping this would happen. Her team on the other hand looked worried, especially their Jonin sensei, though she did a good job hiding it.

"It's not gonna go down the same way it did last time Uzumaki. I'll get you this time." She told him. Naruto used a quick Shunshin to appear behind her and replied.

"I'm glad that spar we had hasn't diminished your fighting spirit."

"All that did was fuel me to want to kick your ass. Let's go." She said angrily as she began walking down the stairs. Naruto let an amused smile grace his face at her attitude. She was in for a bad time.

"Do not underestimate her. She'll be coming at you harder, she won't fold under pressure." The smooth voice of Samui rang out.

"Would you be willing to bet on your teammate then?" He countered. She replied yes immediately. She knew he was strong but she had faith in both of her teammates.

"Is that so? How about this, if Karui manages to beat me I'll answer any questions you may have about me. No question will be off limits." He tempted. He was playing to her curiosity and it was working.

"And if you win?"

"If I win you join me for dinner some time this week." He answered. As everyone was waiting for the battle it was quiet in the room so everyone heard the conversation taking place. Kiba, though he didn't particularly like or dislike Naruto couldn't help but nod. He respected Naruto's game.

Samui on the other hand was frozen in her spot. Back in Kumo people would usually keep their distance from her due to her being 'standoffish' but he wasn't like that. In the back of her mind she knew this was a bet she couldn't win. Karui was strong but he was stronger. Still, she had to show her team she still believed in them.

"Deal" She said as they shook hands solidifying the agreement.

"If you're done flirting with my student let me remind you, you still have a match." Yugito told him. Naruto looked at her and smiled apologetically and bowed slightly.

"Of course." He answered and walked down the stairs. When he was standing a few feet away from Karui, Hayate walked forward and spoke.

"The match between Uzumaki Naruto and Karui will now begin. Are you ready?" He asked looking at Karui before turning his attention to Naruto. Both nod.

"Begin." The moment the word left his mouth Karui was on him. Similar to their first encounter she began with a straight downward slash of her sword. He raises his sword horizontally in front of him with one hand before parrying it away to his right. Immediately he sliced down ward at her now that she was open but she managed to block just in time.

She jumped back slightly and dashed forward faster than before. Though to him it was still child's play. Rather than slashing at him she began thrusting the blade forward at him rapidly.

"Left, right, left, right, closer to the right, closer to the left" He thought as he calmly weaved through her attacks. She was beginning to get aggravated knowing she wasn't getting anywhere. She stopped her barrage and made a hand sign. To her left a clone appeared.

Both Karui's dashed forward and began attacking. He blocked the first attack and quickly parrying he used the momentum to counter the second slash that was following the first. He had to weave through multiple attacks before being able to go on offense.

"Looks like Karui is doing pretty well." Omoi commented as he unwrapped another lollipop. Neither his teammate or sensei said anything but nodded.

"She's good with a blade but unless she has some hidden abilities it won't be enough." Sasuke said. Everyone turned to him as Naruto was still managing to block all of her attacks.

"It looks like she's doing a pretty good job keeping him on the defensive from where I'm standing." Choji said through a mouth full of chips.

"Just watch. He should have seen enough by now." He answered cryptically.

The two Karui's break away from their attacks and nod at each other. The clone runs around Naruto until she's behind him leaving him trapped between the two.

"A pincer movement?" He said to himself. He believed so until he saw her create more clones. Soon he was surrounded by Karui's. At once they all charged in swinging their blade in a different manner.

"He's done for." Commented a blond haired kunoichi from Suna.

The spectators eyebrows raised high as they watched Naruto block the blade in front of him with his own blade while leaning forward and stopping the second blade with the bottom of his foot. The other clones simply passed through him.

"He saw through her attack. He knew only one of those was a real clone while the others were just illusions. But still to block that the way he did…"Thought Kakashi in awe.

"He stopped her attack with is foot." Yugito thought in shock "That should have sliced clean through. Did he use chakra on his feet to stick to the blade somehow?"

"No he didn't" came the answer from within her "I didn't feel him mold any chakra during that attack. Everything up until now he's done simply by himself. No chakra added. He really did stop that attack with just his foot."

Even Hayate who was a Kenjutsu master of Konoha was impressed with what he saw. He would have used Dance of the Crescent Moon to block the attacks or at least create a clone to block the second one. He hadn't seen something like this.

Though none were shocked more than Karui herself. "What the hell is this guy" She thought angrily as both her and her clone were still in a deadlock with the blond. Naruto quickly pushed his foot out hard sending the clone into the wall before doing a flip off his foot on the ground. The flip also had his blade slide off of hers allowing him to move back.

Looking back he watched her clone disappear into lightning particles.

"That was a good attack." He complimented the now panting swordswoman. "But in the future you'll have to do better than that. For now though, it's my turn." He appeared in front of her and began his counter attack. He began slashing at her at different speeds, still with only one hand, though this time he was putting a little more power into the attacks.

Karui was managing to hold her own though she could feel the power behind the strikes. She used both hands to block a downward slash and couldn't help but feel her arms start shaking. Whether it was from exhaustion or pain she didn't know. She maneuvered the blade to point downwards to her left to stop a horizontal slash coming from said direction.

Sparks flew off the blade as she continued to dodge and occasionally try and get a counter in there.

"She won't last much longer." Sasuke said as he walked over to lean against the wall.

"How can you tell?" Yugito was the one to ask. She could see it also, her student was beginning to falter. Her strikes were getting sloppier. Her blocks were weaker and her timing was off as well. She wanted to see if the Uchiha could see something she couldn't.

"Naruto has been practicing with a sword for a long time. I'm sure there's no one out there besides the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist that could force him to go all out." He answered. That was of course a lie. Naruto wouldn't lose to anyone, not with the kind of power he had at his disposal. But they didn't need to know that.

Back on the battlefield Naruto stepped his game up slightly and began moving faster and swinging harder. If he wanted to he could have easily broken her defense like he did the first time, but he wanted to see the extent of her abilities. He wasn't too impressed, though if it was anyone else apart from Sasuke they might have a decent challenge against her.

Karui meanwhile was on a different boat. She was having trouble figuring out his technique. It was crazy, he was using no special moves or anything. It was all power and finesse. She couldn't find one hole in his offense or defense to exploit.

Naruto mid slash created a single hand sign and another Naruto appeared next to him. The clone too slashed downward at the girl. She managed to block both attacks but couldn't keep it up for long. Soon she felt a slice on her arm. Block. Then a slash at her leg. However, she wouldn't give up. She stood up and got back into position. She was having trouble standing and was bleeding quite a bit.

A third clone appeared next to them and joined in on the attack. They didn't attack quickly but rather one after the other from different areas. She felt another cut on her arm and knew it was over.

"Fuck, this is bad" She thought as her arms gave out on her and dropped down to her sides. She felt the back of her knee get kicked and three separate blades around her throat and neck.

"You did decent but it's over." Naruto said as he stared her down. He quickly looked over at Hayate who coughed into his hand before nodding.

"The winner is Uzumaki Naruto." He dispelled the shadow clones and sheathed his blade. He extended an arm down to try and help her up, but it seemed his help was not wanted as his hand was smacked away. She huffed and sheathed her own blade before returning to her team.

Shrugging he followed her up the stairs and walked over next to Sasuke.

"Despite losing you did rather well." Yugito praised her angry student.

"What do you mean? He toyed with me. Everyone could see that." She said sending a pointed glare at him. He simply responded with a small wave which only managed to piss her off more.

"There are times on a real mission where you'll be facing someone who's skill is beyond yours. It's clear he's had more practice and experience with a sword. When we return to Kumo we'll step up your training regime." She told her.

The final matches of the preliminaries went by quickly enough with Samui beating her opponent with impressive use of lightning jutsu and kenjutsu. Her ability with a blade was definitely higher than Karui's, but it had it's flaws as well.

Hayate walked forward and coughed before speaking. "That concludes the preliminary section of the exams. Now that the numbers have been decently cut we can begin to announce the matches for the finals. Will everyone step forward and reach into this box and pull out a number." They did as they were told and lined up to get their numbers.

There were ten numbers in the box, five matches for the finals.

"Now that everyone has a number the finals will go as follows. Kankuro vs Shino. Nara Shikamaru vs Temari. Omoi vs Hyuuga Neji. Uzumaki Naruto vs Samui. And finally, Uchiha Sasuke vs Gaara.

The finals will begin in a months time. Good luck to you all." Hayate said before having to be checked by medical ninja as a coughing fit began.

As soon as they were let go everyone began regrouping with their teams to discuss their training for the month. Sasuke walked towards the exit with Naruto and spoke in a very quiet voice.

"The final stage has been set." He really didn't have to talk that low as those close enough to hear him were already under Kyoka Suigetsu's influence but it was good to be cautious.

"That's right. Only a month away before our move. Life is about to get a whole lot better for us Sasuke." He replied with a smile on his face. The time was approaching quickly, soon they'd be free from the village that caused them so much misery. Soon a new village would be born. Uzushiogakure would return to the world under a new name and new leadership.

Alright so that's where this chapter is going to end. What did you guys think? The finals are coming up as well as the defection of Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji. I'm trying to come up with a good name for the village but am having some trouble, if you guys have any ideas let them be known.

Also I have a few ninja in mind to recruit but always keep my ears open for suggestions. Anyways as always if you guys have any comments or suggestions leave them in a review or PM me. Later.