Hey guys Funtimes here with what is not a chapter this a sort of Q&A that I've been wanting to do for a long time. So I'll use this to answer some of your questions in the reviews as well as telling you the winner of the poll for the pairing of this story.
AND NOW THE WINNER IS Naruto x Kurotsuchi with 52 votes compared to the pairing of Naruto X Fuu with 29 votes.
So first up the answers will go from oldest to newest though do keep in mind I will only do ones with names attached so I don't have to go guest 1 or guest 212 or anything like that. So let's answer some questions you guys have about this story.
S-Wanderer999 - A good chapter but ending on a 'good' cliffhanger. The uproar Naruto's use of Hiraishin against Gaara would be immense. Due to the different groups and people at the exam, you could write a third of a chapter with their reactions because they would ALL be reacting at the same time (Genma, Kakashi and the other sensei, his fellow rookies, Orochimaru, Sarutobi, Jiraiya, both local and foreign civilians, random ninjas, and any spies that are there).
Even though Naruto doesn't have any lightning or wind techniques taught to him by Jiraiya, did you have him try making elemental clones on his own? And when you had Jiraiya talk to Naruto about the abilities of different clones, what if Naruto got the idea to try and make an elemental version of kage bunshin. Getting the benefits of the elemental version of the clone and the memory feedback of kage bunshin. With the drawback being that the elemental kage bunshin costs more chakra then the normal version. That would give three (four due to how wind chakra can be shaped for pressure or cutting effects) elemental clones that Naruto can use the same way as kage bunshin. With the lightning and both wind versions being of great assist against Gaara when used right.
Which could cause a small scene between Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Asuma being overheard by the others about Naruto's elements and needing some techniques for them. Depending on how you are going with Sasuke, he might help with jutsus from his clan library but that Naruto trains with him (with Naruto somehow managing to get Kakashi and Jiraiya to train the two of them together).
My Answer - So first wow that was a lot to take in but I'll try and answer this one the best I can. First off the reason Naruto didn't try and make an elemental clone on his own was due to the time crunch after all he only had one month to catch up to his fellow shinobi and get strong enough to beat Neji. There's also the mental backlash associated with using the Shadow clone method due to so many memories being crammed in at once. Secondly while yes it is possible to add elemental chakra to the shadow clone the added chakra cost for most shinobi would just make such a jutsu not worth it for most ninja. As for why I didn't use so many characters in all honesty it's because I didn't want to make the story too convoluted by throwing too many characters into the mix as I felt at that time that I wouldn't be able to write them all properly.
S-Wanderer999 - Now to divert to Kumo for a bit. Everyone can write about a good 3rd Hokage and evil Konoha council but we don't always get that with 4th Raikage and his council (at least not with Naruto being part of Konoha). Why can't the Hyuuga incident have been planned by members of Kumo's council that were there when the 3rd Raikage ruled? And Ay used the aftermath to clean up his council as much as possible.
My Answer - To be honest I don't really believe in that council schtick. The Hidden Villages are after all dictatorships' though I do believe that the Kage's have advisors due to the fact that even the best of rulers will need advice when it comes to governing and being an advisor has it's own sort of power namely having a kage listening to your advice which could influence their decision making.
Lex - How can somebody overshot with the Hiraishin - it is not a movement but a Teleportation jutsu … you can reappear at a different Location than you intended but i wouldnt call that overshooting, but missing or something.
My Answer - The Hiraishin while yes is a teleportation jutsu it doesn't teleport the user or anyone they happen to be in contact with as it also teleports their momentum with them so for example you throw something and then use the hiraishin on it the object teleports but still has its momentum from when it was moving before. So it wasn't like Naruto overshot in the normal sense it was more like he forgot to take into account how his own movement would affect the jutsu.
Lex - Some of those moves Naruto uses wouldnt have worked against Neji -
The Byakugan after all can see Chakra and through solid matter - so Neji should have seen most of the moves - where the Chakra is channeled to and if there are explosive tags or not.
My Answer - My view is that paper bombs aren't as visible to the Byakugan until chakra is put into them activating the fuse but also keep in mind that throughout the fight most of Neji's attention was placed upon Naruto and this is because we as humans naturally assume the ground is safe so his attention was less upon that more upon his opponent in this case Naruto.
Lex - The Kage-Bunshin is a Konoha only jutsu so how come Baki can use it?
My Answer - The Shadow Clone jutsu was invented by the second Hokage and can presumably have been around for a very long time. That added with the fact that it is a common jutsu among higher ranked ninja it wouldn't be very hard to imagine for one enemy or a bunch of enemies of Konoha to get the idea to copy the jutsu after all with three wars happening prior to the start of the series it would explain why someone would go out of their way to recreate the jutsu from there it would easily spread amongst their comrades as they learn this technique.
Once again the pairing of this story will be Naruto X Kurotsuchi and I hope you all have enjoyed the story so far.
So anyways guys thanks for your support of this story and I hope to do something like this again a few chapters down the line.