The Kitsune Seal

Disclaimer: (Music for Camptown Races starts playing) "OOOHH, I Don't Own Naruto…Do Da Do Da…If I Did Then I'd Be Rich…All The Do Da Daaayyy!" "Thank you; you have been a wonderful audience" (gazes out at several squirrels sitting on lawn chairs eating nuts).

"Hello" - Speaking

'Hello' - Thoughts

"Hello" - Demon/Boss Summon Speaking/Jutsu

'Hello' - Demon/Boss Summon ThoughtsChapter 5 – Preliminaries Continued

"AARRGGGHHH! How could I have lost to Forehead girl!?" Shouted an irate Yamanaka Ino, causing quite a bit of discomfort to her teammates and sensei.

To endure her tantrum at her defeat, each male went back to doing several of their favorite things.

Asuma took a long drag on his cancer stick, also known as a cigarette (I hate cigarettes and smoking in general).

Chouji continued munching on the chips Asuma gave him.

Shikamaru kept running his mantra of 'Troublesome woman' over and over in his head. And if Shikamaru was a normal person, that would have been all he was doing. But, as a closet genius with an IQ of over 200, he was capable of thinking numerous complex thoughts and plans in the span of seconds, and right now his thoughts were focused on team 7. The only time Sakura had ever beaten Ino before was on the written tests back at the academy. If she had improved this much, then how strong was Sasuke (he figured Naruto would never be a threat)? His musings continued as the next fighters were selected.

Akadou Yoroi VS. Kinuta Dosu

Both Genin simply nodded to their respective teams as they calmly walked down the stairs to the arena.

On the arena floor the two shinobi glared at each other as they waited for Hayate to begin the match.

"So I got stuck fighting some brat huh? This should be an easy win." Stated the much older Yoroi.

Dosu's one visible eye narrowed at his opponent's confidence. "You may not be the one I desire to fight, but I will take pleasure in beating you into the ground."

"I'd like to see you try kid."

"All right," said Hayate as he stepped in. "Fourth Match: Akadou Yoroi vs. Kinuta Dosu Begin!"

With the match started Yoroi began with text book move by throwing several shuriken he quickly snatched from his pouch. This maneuver would serve as a distraction for Dosu while Yoroi prepared something in his left hand as he got closer to him.

Dosu quickly countered the shuriken by using his Melody Arm to deflect them in random directions, one of which almost hitting his opponent if the older boy had not dodged. Unfortunately, Yoroi had seen the metal apparatus and expected Dosu to do that, so he had several more shuriken prepared and threw those. This time Dosu was forced to dodged, and in his moment of distraction Yoroi managed to move in close enough to kick Dosu's legs out from beneath him. Before he knew it, Dosu was on his back with Yoroi's glowing hand on his chest.

"What the Hell is going on!?" Dosu shouted as he felt his strength start to leave him.

"Heh heh…This is a special ability I have been working on. With this jutsu I can drain you of your chakra as long as my palm is on your body." Explained Yoroi, as he continued with his unusual jutsu.

Dosu groaned as he felt more chakra leave his body. "So I guess I have to finish this quick." Before Yoroi could respond, the Oto shinobi lifted the arm with his weapon and slammed it back into the ground.

"AAAAHHHHH!!" Screamed Yoroi, as he backed away from the sound-nin, using his hands to cover his ears.

Using this opportunity, Dosu rushed forward and slammed his fist into Yoroi's skull, sending large amounts of controlled sound waves through the inner ear, and ripping it to shreds from the vibrations. "So how do you like my Kyoumeisan (Vibrating Sound Drill)?" He inquired as he watched the Konoha Shinobi fall unconscious with blood dripping from his ears and nose.

Hayate stepped forward and checked the downed shinobi's vitals, determining that Yoroi was alive, if barely. "Winner: Kinuta Dosu!"

'So that is how the sound-nin fights.' Mused Neji as he shut off his Byakugan, having seen how Dosu used his chakra to control the path of the sound waves. 'It's no wonder why Lee lost.' He thought as he turned towards his green clad teammate, who was proclaiming to Gai and Tenten about how he would not lose the next time he and the sound-nin fought. 'Both are close range 

fighters, but Dosu's attacks don't even need to hit to be disabling. The only way to stop him is to attack from a distance, be fast enough to take him out before he can attack, or to disable his ability to use chakra.' The Hyuuga prodigy grinned, 'meaning his attacks are useless against a Hyuuga. But it's not his fight I desire to see.' Neji thought as he turned his head towards the two male members of team 7. 'When they fight, I will be able to determine the strength of that strange chakra.' Turning his attention back to the scoreboard he grinned as he saw the names upon it.

Inuzuka Kiba VS. Uzumaki Naruto

"All Right! It's finally my turn!" Naruto gleefully yelled while leaping off of the balcony.

"WHOOHOOO!! Man are we lucky Akamaru, getting paired with the dead last! This fight will be like an instant pass to the next round!" Shouted Kiba as he jumped over the railing.

Kurenai smirked as she turned to the sliver haired sensei of team 7. "Sorry Kakashi, but it looks like another one of my students will be passing the preliminaries." She said in a rather smug voice.

Kakashi, who had put his book away since another of his students was fighting, gave the sensei of team 8 one of his lazy stares as he asked. "Oh, really? Why is that?"

"Well, I mean no disrespect to your teaching skills, especially after seeing what you did with Sakura. But, the gap between Naruto and Kiba has always been too great for Naruto to pass, and no matter what you taught him that will never change." Kurenai explained.

He might not have looked it on the outside, but Kakashi was a little angry with what his fellow Jounin said about his student. But, as a good shinobi he kept calm and started to analyze the situation, and maybe he could use it to his advantage. "All right then, since you're so confident, how about a little wager?"

The red eyed kunoichi Jounin blinked in surprise at the request. "What kind of wager?" She asked, more than a little suspicious at the scarecrow like Jounin.

"Oh, just that if Kiba loses you and your team has to pay for dinner at a restaurant of Naruto's choosing. And if Naruto loses, my team and I have to pay for dinner at a restaurant of Kiba's choosing." Stated Kakashi.

Kurenai thought for a moment before saying, "If my team accepts, then so do I." She turned to Shino and Hinata to get their answers. Shino gave a brief nod, while Hinata stuttered a quick yes, her face as bright as a tomato at the thought of having dinner with Naruto. "All right Kakashi, I accept your terms." Kurenai said.

"Excellent!" Said the Copy-nin happily has he shook hands with team 8's sensei. "So, out of curiosity, what did you teach Kiba? Some of your Genjutsu perhaps?" He asked as he brought his gaze over to Kiba to study him.

Since there was no way Kakashi could use the information to help his student win, Kurenai decided to indulge the man. "No, I haven't taught him Genjutsu. Kiba doesn't have the patience or the control for it." She stated causing Kakashi to give an internal sigh of relief. "Mostly, I have been refining his skill in the Inuzuka fighting style, both Taijutsu and Ninjutsu. That and how to effectively use those in a team with non-Inuzuka members."

"Hmmm…If that's the case, then Naruto is one of the best possible opponents for Kiba." Said Kakashi, his right eye becoming an upside down U the only indication that he was smiling.

"What!?" Kurenai and several other of the Shinobi in attendance almost shouted when they heard Kakashi say that.

"Um…Kakashi-sensei, what kind of style does the Inuzuka use?" Queried Sakura, curious as to why it would make a difference to when fighting Naruto.

"Well Sakura, the Inuzuka is a clan that specializes in tracking and training Nin-dogs, such as Akamaru. When fighting, they mostly use Taijutsu enhanced by their clan Ninjutsu. But what makes them truly dangerous is how they never fight alone and always have at least one Nin-dog supporting them, making any fight against them two against one. So all members of the Inuzuka clan are trained in a way that makes teamwork second nature to them." Kakashi said.

"Hn…If that's the case, sensei, then the dobe already has two advantages against Kiba." Said Sasuke, who had figured out what the Jounin had implied.

Kurenai scowled at hearing how team 7 was expecting Kiba to lose, even though their teammate was supposed to be the weakest Genin there. "Care to enlighten us of those advantages?" She asked the Uchiha.

Giving one of his patented smirks Sasuke said, "I'll keep the first one to myself. But, the second one should be obvious to every shinobi here. Kiba is underestimating Naruto, based on old information, and in this case old information is worse than no information."

Down in the arena Kiba was thanking his lucky star for what he thought was going to be an easy match. "Heh heh…And here I was worried that I would have to fight someone really tough, but I end up with the weakest guy here. Man, Kami must be smiling on me today." He gloated.

"Shut up Dog-breath, or else I'll neuter you before I put you down." Akamaru barked at this inappropriate, for a dog, statement, causing Naruto to stop and blink for a second. "Hey ref!" He called. "Is it legal for him to use the puppy?"

"Nin-dogs are considered legal shinobi tools just like any kunai, shuriken, or Aburame-san's insects." Hayate replied.

"Heh…You don't need to worry about Akamaru here. I'll beat you before I could need him." Stated Kiba, sending Akamaru off his head and to the sidelines.

Hayate took the opportunity to start the match. "Fifth Match: Inuzuka Kiba vs. Uzumaki Naruto Begin!"

Kiba started off by making a Tora seal and shouting, "Ninpo: Shikyaku no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Four-legged Technique)." The already feral Inuzuka became even wilder has he dropped to ground, looking like some sort of animal. "You're going down Uzumaki," he said as he charged towards the blond with a speed that could only be described of as fast.

Putting all of his weight into the reckless charge, Kiba sent a powerful elbow thrust into Naruto's gut. The blow would have been enough to send Naruto flying back if he hadn't used his chakra to stick to the floor. As it was the blonde Jinchuuriki merely doubled over from the hit, but he was in the perfect position to take full advantage of the numerous openings Kiba had in his style. Naruto first rammed his knee into Kiba's own gut, and then he sent one of his strongest punches straight into the other boy's face, having enough force to knock the Inuzuka back several feet.

"Heh…Is that all you got Kiba? I've fought grannies that hit harder than you," taunted Naruto with his foxy smirk. That smirk lasted till he felt a sharp pain on his leg, "YEEEOOOWWWWCCCHHH," which would be Akamaru taking biting him on the leg. "Leggo of my leg you damn mutt!" Shouted Naruto as he swung his leg around trying to free himself of the dog.

Up on the balcony a particular Snake Sannin was viewing the match with a small smirk. 'As amusing as this is Naruto-kun, it's time to see how my seal affected you.' He thought as he made a discreet half-Tora seal to make the Curse Seal react, despite the Fuuja Houin placed over it.

Deep within Naruto's mind, where the cage of the greatest Bijuu stood, a pulse of sickly purple chakra started crawling along the walls, and drawing the attention of the massive Kitsune that resided in the cage.

"So, the little snake human is trying to assert his control over the seal. Heh heh heh…Unfortunately for him the seal is no longer his, and is now trespassing in my territory."

The Kyuubi sent his own demonic chakra out and pushed the invading power away, along the path it took to get there and right back to its originator.

Orochimaru hissed in pain as his hand started to burn and he stopped the jutsu he was using. Giving a furtive glance to his side, he made sure that no one noticed what he did and began to 

ponder what happened. 'It seems my theory was right. The Kyuubi did make changes to my seal, but what?' He asked himself. "Kukukuku…I can't wait to get my hands on the boy and study it. It could be the key I need to perfect my Curse Seal.'

While Naruto was 'dancing' with Akamaru, Kiba used the distraction to his advantage. "Hey Dobe!" He called, catching Naruto's attention in the split second before he delivered a round-house kick and sent the blonde Genin tumbling into the wall creating a large crater and massive dust cloud.

"Heh…The dobe made me work a bit more than I thought he would, but there is no way he is getting up from that." Kiba exclaimed. "Hey Ref! You might want to call the match." He said as he began walking away. Kiba stopped when a familiar voice from the dust.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to underestimate me Dog-breath!? Not only will I beat you, I'll beat anyone else in this exam, make Chuunin, and be one step closer to being Hokage! Believe It!!" Proclaimed Uzumaki Naruto as his slightly bloody form became visible.

Growling in irritation, Kiba retorted. "That's big talk coming from the guy whose bleeding," he said remarking about the small head wound Naruto got when he hit the wall. "Get real Naruto! Akamaru has a better chance of being Hokage then you ever will."

Naruto's eyes became cold and hard at Kiba's words. No one insulted his dream. No one. "I'm going to make you eat those words Kiba." He said as he got ready to fight.

"Is that so?" Kiba said with a sneer. Reaching into his pouch Kiba withdrew a small red pill. "Let's go Akamaru!" He shouted as he threw the solider pill to the dog while leaning over.

Akamaru ate the solider pill, making his white fur turn red, and leaped onto his masters back.

"Juujin Bunshin (Beast-Man Clone)!" Kiba shouted before a puff of smoke covered him. In a second the smoke cleared, revealing two feral looking Kibas, looking like they wanted to rip their opponent limb from limb.

"So you guys like two against one huh? Then I'll do this." Naruto made three hand seals ending on Ne (rat). Then he separated the hand seal, keeping one half Ne seal at his chin and raising the other above his head while saying the name of his jutsu. "Ninpo: Kirigakure no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Technique)." Suddenly a thick bank of mist formed in the room, obstructing everyone's vision unless they have the Byakugan.

"Kakashi!" Kurenai almost shouted as she looked towards the one-eyed Jounin, despite the fact that she couldn't see him. "How does Naruto know one of Kirigakure's signature jutsu?"

Despite his best efforts, the Copy-nin couldn't keep the smugness, and happiness at putting his Icha Icha Paradise away before the moisture could have ruined it, out of his voice. "Oh this? We ran into a little trouble on our mission to Wave. The missing-nin Momochi Zabuza," the other Jounin gasped at the name of the 'Demon of the Mist,' "I and my team fought him and his apprentice. During the fight I copied several of his jutsu, including the Kirigakure jutsu. Since it's such a useful technique, I decided to teach it to my students. Right now, Naruto is the closest to using it to its full potential, even if he can't do the silent killing technique." It couldn't be seen but each member of team 7 had little smirks on their faces. And one particular Oto shinobi unconsciously licked his lips.

Kurenai was miffed at Kakashi's smugness, but had to give Naruto some credit for pulling off such an unexpected move. But, she had to also feel a sense of her own smugness at her student's abilities. "As impressive as this mist is Kakashi, it won't take an Inuzuka like Kiba long to find him."

Unseen to anyone else, Kakashi eye-smiled while saying. "We'll see, but knowing Naruto, the 'Number One, Most Surprising, Hyperactive Shinobi,' he has some trick up his sleeve."

'Damn it!' Thought Kiba. 'Fighting blind is one thing, but there's enough moisture in the air to wash out his scent. Akamaru could probably sniff him out, but I can barely see him. Looks like I'll have to find him by sound.' Kiba closed his eyes as he focused his hearing, waiting for the blond to make a sound. The sound of footsteps coming from his right reached his ears. 'There!' He thought and was about to attack when he heard several more footsteps coming from the left. 'What!? Was that Akamaru? No, he's behind me. It can't be some kind of Bunshin, Naruto sucks at clones. Then what…' He cut his thoughts short as several more footsteps came from right in front of him. 'What the Hell is going on!?' The dog boy almost screamed in his head.

After using the Kirigakure jutsu, Naruto had made several shadow clones that were now wandering around, setting up his plan. It was no big deal if Kiba got to these clones and destroyed them because they were just a distraction. While they did their job, Naruto climbed up the wall and onto the ceiling where he created a thirteen more clones. Half of the Narutos Henged into a kunai that was picked up by the other half. Now all they had to do was wait.

Back on the ground Kiba was getting annoyed. And when he is annoyed he is rash. "That's it! Akamaru start attacking anything that moves!" He shouted as they both leapt up and used one of the strongest Inuzuka attacks. "Gatsuuga (Duel Piercing Fang)!" Both Kiba and Akamaru began spinning like two massive drills, seeking any sound they heard.

One by one each clone was destroyed, with Kiba and Akamaru barely missing hitting each other. Finally they both converged on the last shadow clone, hitting the clone and the wall behind it at the same time, activating the flash tag placed there.

Naruto smirked when he saw the flash and released his mist jutsu. Giving a mental command he and each clone threw their kunai at the stunned forms of Kiba and Akamaru. Half way there, each kunai transformed back into a Naruto. Three clones attacked Akamaru, forcing the release 

of the Juujin Bunshin jutsu, while the other four rammed into Kiba. Before he knew it, Kiba was thrown into the air where the original met him with a drop kick to the gut, sending Kiba flying to the ground and knocking him out.

Hayate appeared next to him to check his vitals, determined he was alive, and let the medic-nins take him away with Akamaru following, and declared. "Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"

"YATTA!!" The boy shouted as he made his way up the stairs.

Neji turned off his Byakugan in annoyance. Not once in the entire fight did Naruto use the red chakra. This told the Hyuuga that either Naruto did not know how to use it, or he felt no need. This left him with more questions than he had at the beginning of the match, and Neji hated that. His teammate and sensei however had a different opinion on the fight.

"YOSH! NARUTO'S FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHTLY SHOWING THE POWER HARD WORK HAS GIVEN HIM. I WILL SHOW IN MY MATCH THAT MY FLAMES BURN JUST AS BRIGHTLY, AND IF I CANNOT I WILL DO TWO HUNDRED PUSHUPS. AND IF I CANNOT DO THAT I WILL DO 300 SQUATS. AND IF I CANNOT DO THAT I SHALL SCALE THE HOKAGE MOUNTAIN ONE HUNDRED TIMES!!" Lee proclaimed, which got Gai excited.

"YOSH! LEE, YOUR WILLINGNESS AND DEDICATION TO HONOR MY RIVAL'S STUDENT'S IMPRESSIVE FLAMES BY MATCHING IT, IS THE VERY EPITOME OF THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!! IF YOU SHOULD FIND YOURSELF UNABLE TO COMPLETE YOUR CHALLENGE, THEN I SHALL DO FIVE HUNDRED PUNCHES. AND, IF I CAN'T DO THAT I SHALL DO ONE THOUSAND KICKS. AND IF I CAN'T DO THAT I SHALL SWIM BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE LAND OF WAVES AND THE LAND OF WATER THREE TIMES!! Proclaimed the green spandex wearing Jounin. This lead to one of the most unusual sights in Konoha.

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

That's right. The infamous Springtime of Youth Genjutsu. A vision of the ocean and the setting sun that appeared whenever Gai and Lee started one of their highly emotional hugs. Everyone in the immediate vicinity either turned away to avoid the sight, or tried to break the illusion. 

Despite their best efforts nothing affected it. Seriously, how did a Genin that can't use Genjutsu and a Jounin that is only mediocre at best, create an illusion that can even stump the Hokage and one of the Sannin?

Meanwhile, Kakashi decided to have some fun has he brought his book back out.

"So Kurenai," he said in a mild conversational voice. "What was that about there being too great a gap for Naruto to cross?"

Kurenai, as well as Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, and Asuma, was slacked jawed at the sight of one of the strongest Genin getting beat by the academy dead last. Getting control of her mouth back Kurenai muttered, "What…how…"

Kakashi chuckled a little at the sight. "That's Naruto for you. Right when you think you've got him figured he catches you off guard with a stunt like this. Oh and about our bet. I hope you like ramen, Naruto always chooses to eat at the Ichiraku ramen stand." He answered.

While Kurenai was in something similar to catatonic shock, it didn't stop her from noticing her student Hinata from walking over to Naruto as he reached the top of the stairs, with something in her hand.

As Naruto stepped onto the balcony, he found his path blocked by a particular lavender haired Hyuuga who was holding out small jar.

"Hinata? Did you want something?" Naruto asked confusedly.

"Uh…I hav-ve this m-medical cream I m-made and y-you're h-hurt." She said offering the jar to Naruto.

Naruto looked at it for a second before his face split into a wide grin. "Thanks Hinata-chan! That's really kind of you." He said, making Hinata blush like a tomato as the added chan to her name.

As this exchange happened, they were observed by Sakura who got a very interesting idea. 'Hmm…Hinata has a crush on Naruto. Naruto is oblivious to said crush, but Hinata seems to be gaining some confidence since she is no longer fainting. Team 7 will have dinner with team 8 in a place of Naruto's choosing. If I can get him to notice her during dinner they could end up dating.' 'This means he'll leave me alone so I can focus on getting Sasuke-kun to notice me. CHA!' Finished her more outgoing inner self.

As Naruto rubbed the cream onto his cuts, he could feel the wounds closing. "Wow! This stuff is the best Hinata-chan. You're pretty talented to make such a potent cream."

Hinata almost fainted at the complement from her crush, if Shino hadn't stepped in taking her back to where their sensei stood.

Soon the board was flashing again and everyone was anticipating who the next fighters were. Lee was bouncing up and down proclaiming that if the powers of youth were with him, then he would be able to participate in the next match.

Eventually the board came to a stop on…

Sabaku no Temari VS. Tsurugi Misumi

"Humph…So it's my turn huh? Well I'll be back shortly." Said Temari as she started walking away.

"Hold it Temari." Commanded her sensei, making her stop and look back. "That is the same attitude that led to Kankurou's defeat. I want you to take this seriously. You should know by now to never underestimate your opponent." Baki scolded.

"Yeah, I'll be sure not to."

When both fighters stood on the arena, they mentally prepared themselves. Both were older ninja then most of the remaining exam participants, and those years gave them plenty of experience to call on. But one of those two went and said something that guaranteed his defeat.

"So I'm fighting some kunoichi huh? Well don't worry little lady. I won't use any weapons and scar up that pretty face of yours." Said Misumi.

Two large tic marks appeared on Temari's brow as her eye started twitching. "What was that?" She asked in a low dangerous voice.

"Uh-oh," muttered Baki, "that guy just signed his own death certificate."

Meanwhile, over with team Gai.

"WHAT DID HE SAY!?" Shouted and irate Tenten, who had to be physically restrained by her teammates and sensei from grabbing her weapons and start throwing them at Misumi, and any other males she feels like venting on. "I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!!"

Down on the arena, Hayate began the match so he could get out of harm's way from Temari's feminine rage. "Sixth Match: Sabaku no Temari vs. Tsurugi Misumi Begin!"

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when Temari swung her fan open and unleashed her jutsu. "Kamaitachi (Cutting Whirlwind Technique)!"

The whirlwind it created slammed Misumi the wall while cutting him up. Not giving the Konoha Genin a chance to get up, or Hayate to call the match, Temari dashed forward, raised her closed metal fan, and smashed the end into Misumi's groin. Needless to say, the match was over and the medics came and took the loser away to the infirmary in the tower.

But Hayate still had to make it official. "Winner: Sabaku no Temari!"

Author's Notes: I know that this isn't my usual length, but it would have taken me a long time to finish this if I put in the rest of the fights. Apart from finishing my first year at college, one of the reasons I didn't write more involves the three new stories I started. Since I write best when I feel inspiration I started writing Red Dawn: Hope Sprung from Pain, Strength of the Fox Cunning of the Snake, and Naruto: Rebirth of the Arrancar Bloodline. I'll try finishing the preliminaries as soon as I can.

Please Read and Review.