Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Assassin's Creed

Chapter 12: The Snake and the Raccoon

Naruto opened his eyes looking at his surroundings, he did not remember going to sleep and he was definitely not in his bedroom, taking a few moments for his brain to completely wake up, he realized he was in his mother's office; to this day, he still could not truly call it his, even though he used it for work as it befit the Mentor of the order, he still did not change anything in it since the day he found it.

His mother's office was filled with the presence of the previous mentor, from the mementos that hung on the walls to the books in the shelves, they were all hers, the room itself even held her sent, at least he believed it to be, and Naruto did not want it to disappear, the room represented the one thing that he wished to have with all his heart but couldn't, his mother.

Naruto realized he had fallen asleep again here, well, being a mentor Assassin and Shinobi going through the Chunin exams, was, time consuming. He had spent the previous day training Sakura, discussing several issues with Haku, planning the mission he was taking Sakura on after the exams, and attempting to find new candidates for the order. Naruto found in these past few days that he is only sleeping when exhaustion had overwhelmed him, he was thankful it happened this day, because in a few hours he had to be in the arena for the first match. In truth it disheartened Naruto to fight others of his age in this exam, mainly because he had already lived through the memories of his mother and father, and gone through the exams and training twice; in addition he did not think showing off would suit an assassin.

Naruto left the office and headed for the main house, meeting no one on the way, he headed to the bathroom, cleaned up and headed straight to his room to change. Once fully outfitted with a fresh set of cloths and all his weapons were placed back where they belonged, Naruto headed out in the direction Ichiraku's for a quick breakfast.

"For the last time, I'm not accepting any interviews, even from you Konohamaru."

"But Naruto-Niichan, we really need it, we have to get Iruka sensei an interview from all the Exam Finalists" said Konohamaru while his two friends nodded behind him vigorously.

"I said no"

"But Niichan" said the young boy attempting to give the assassin a heartbreaking pout; unfortunately for him, it did not work.

"Please leave me in peace, I need to have breakfast"

"Then I have an idea, if you give us the interview, we won't bother you today."

Naruto contemplated the proposal for a moment, if it was a short interview, he could be finished and left in peace for the rest of the day, well not counting the exam finals; 'a few minutes now and I'm free the rest of the day' he thought.

"Alright, but ask your questions while I'm eating. And no, I'm not treating you" he said exasperated.

And so the quartet arrived at Ichiraku Ramen and Naruto ordered the usual.

Fifteen Bowls of ramen later…

"Come on Naruto-Niichan, we need at least some answers" complained Konohamaru.

While Naruto had allowed the children to conduct their interview, he remained tightlipped when it came to answers, then again, most of them were questions he could not.

"Look Konohamaru, I said you can ask your questions, but the questions I answer are up to me, and most of the ones you asked are ones I can't; take the last question: 'What is your training method?' If any shinobi answered that, then he is not one worth his salt; most of your questions, if their answer is leaked to the enemy, could be quite harmful."

"But Niichan, you have to answer something" argued the Third's grandchild.

"Look, I'll only answer the questions I don't find compromising, understood?" he asked.

"I understand. So which questions are you going to answer?"

"Hmmm… My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I am thirteen years old, Genin and Shinobi of Konoha, and I love eating ramen."

"That's it?!"

"I think that's enough, I doubt Iruka-sensei would complain if you explain to him the reason I did not answer the rest of the questions. Now however I have to go." Naruto paid for his ramen and left the Bar getting lost in the crowd.

Konoha arena

"Ladies and Gentlemen, our esteemed guests; we are honored to have you attend our village's Chunin exam and wish luck to all our contestants" Announced Genma with a booming voice "May our first combatants, Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Neji, enter the arena for their match."

Naruto and Neji entered the rink, Neji with overconfidence oozing from him, while Naruto, shrouded by his hood betrayed nothing. They both reached the middle of the arena and face off against each other.

"Your inexperience will be your undoing" proclaimed Neji "destiny will not allow me to lost to the likes of you"

"Your pride will be yours" said Naruto calmly "we make our own destiny"

"Kick his ass Naruto" screamed a voice from the stands.

"Show that kid the power of the strongest of the Hyuga" came another.

The cheering continued most supporting Neji, but a considerable few sere cheering on who they perceived as the underdog.

"Begin" said Genma as he disappeared from the arena leaving Neji and Naruto Facing off.

Naruto stood with a relaxed stance and waited for Neji to make the first move, which startled Neji as he expected the younger Genin to rush directly to him; making up his mind, Neji chose to attack changing his original plan. With hand lased with chakra he attempted to hit Naruto's Tenketsu, hoping to end the match quickly, to his surprise however, that was not what happened.

Naruto moved his right arm almost lazily and redirected Neji's hand away from him; he counterattacked with his left hand sending a quick punch to the Hyuga's face who was able to dodge it in the last second. Neji moved a few steps back to reevaluate the situation, 'it was probably a fluke' he decided, and attacked the assassin with renewed vigor.

Once again Naruto countered, this time however, he pressed the attack not allowing Neji the chance to catch his breath; punch after punch, kick after kick, Neji was being pressed to a corner; with little choice left, Neji attempted a Kaiten.

Things did not go as planned, the moment Neji Started spinning, Naruto's hand grabbed Neji's arm putting his leg forward and pulling the Hyuga to the ground faced down faster than most of the spectators could see; with Neji on the ground, Naruto got on top of him, pinning him to the ground and putting his right arm on the base of the skull with the hidden blade ready.

"I think this should be enough, don't you proctor?" asked Naruto.

It was a few moments before Genma was able to process what was said and quickly announced the winner.

"I just proved to you today that even the mighty Hyuga can fall, remember it Neji, it will help you in the future" Naruto whispered so that none but Neji would hear him.

Naruto got up and returned to the waiting area, while Neji remained on the ground, he was holding in his tears, he could not believe he had lost to a Genin barely out of the academy, it had hurt both his pride and spirit. Medical examiners came to check up on him after he failed to stand up, they carried him to the examination room in case of injury, however the only real injury was the one to his pride, the loss destroyed everything he believed in, and he could not bring himself to get up.

Back in the arena

"May Temari of Suna and Hyuga Hinata enter the arena" Stated Genma.

"This is going to be fun" said Temari as she came face to face with Hinata in the arena, "I get to beat up the Hyuga Princess."

"Don't be so sure of yourself, I will not lose to anyone" proclaimed the Hair of the Hyuga clan.

"Begin" Said Genma, as he once again disappeared from the arena leaving the two girls to the fight.

Hinata rushed her opponent in an attempt to bring the fight into a close combat one from the start; Temari, not to be outdone, moved away, escaping the young princesses reach and began attacking with wind Jutsu using her fan. Hinata dodged efficiently but was unable to evade all the attacks; she however persevered in order to reach her opponent and began attacking Temari who defended with her fan.

"I give up" stated Temari all of a sudden.

Hinata who was startled by the proclamation, stopped before her attack reached Temari's face.

"Winner by forfeit, Hyuga Hinata" Announced Genma.

Kage Platform

Sasuke had just arrived from his intense training with Kakashi and was now in the waiting area, seeing this the Hokage gave Genma a signal then sat back to enjoy the proceedings.

"May Uchiha Sasuke and Gaara of Suna come to the arena" Announced Genma.

"Oh, so you pushed back that fight until your shinobi arrived, how sly of you Sarutobi" said the Kazekage.

"I knew you wanted to see how your son faired against the last Uchiha, and I did not want to disappoint" stated the elder Shinobi.

"Well, this should be interesting."

Arena

The fight started and everyone in the stands was holding their breath, Sasuke was dodging attacks heading his way seeing through them with the use of his Sharingan; however all of his attacks were being stopped by his opponent's sand. Sasuke was running out of options fast and knew his only hope lay in using his new Jutsu, Chidori. Dodging a final attack, Sasuke hid behind a tree and readied his attack, going through the hand signals; finishing his preparations he came out from his cover and rushed directly towards Gaara, evading the sand attacking him with minimal movement.

The attack failed.

Sasuke was able to hit Gaara and injure him, however the injury was to his arm and not in any way life threatening. For a few seconds the arena was quiet and no one made a sound until Gaara let out a grueling scream and began to transform destroying his surroundings along the way. As if by an unspoken a sleeping Jutsu was unleashed above the arena which drove the audience and many unprepared shinobi to sleep.

Knowing that the sight of his own blood caused their brother to breakdown, Temari and Kankuro attempted to carry their brother away, however they were closely followed by Sasuke.

Above in the stands Naruto was watching the ensuing chaos attempting to decide on the priority target, he saw Sakura fighting a Suna Chunin and went to help her.

"Sakura, gather as many of our fellow Genin as you can and help defend and evacuate the civilians" he told her as she assassinated her opponent from behind.

"I could handle him just fine" protested Sakura.

"I know you could, but this takes precedence, wake up all of those sleeping, I'm going after the Jinchuriki."

And without a second look, he took off in pursuit of the siblings and Sasuke.

Sakura Noticed a knocked out Oto ninja waking up, and offed him with her hidden blade. She then ran to her year mates waking up those who came under the Jutsu.

Kage Platform

"What is the meaning of this betrayal Kazekage?! Are you working with Orochimaru?"

"Not exactly, Sarutobi-sensei" said the Kazekage removing a mask to reveal the face of the Third's wayward student, Orochimaru.

"You!" exclaimed the elder shinobi "What are you doing!"

"Succeeding you" said Orochimaru attacking his former teacher.

Forest outside Konoha

Sasuke was pinned to a tree, he could not believe the site he saw in front of him; Gaara had fully transformed and pinned him while Temari and Kankuro were distracting Naruto. Just as Gaara was delivering the final blow, a white flash moved in front of the attack destroying the otherwise fatal sand.

"You ok Sasuke?" asked Naruto.

"Don't worry about me he'll kill, you run!" screamed Sasuke after Naruto.

"Stay still, I have a serious fight ahead of me now, shut up and let me deal with him."

Sasuke could not believe his eyes, the white clad teen, his teammate, was fighting the gigantic beast, and the beast could do nothing against him, flitting through attacks, disappearing one place then reappearing in another, it was a spectacle, the Genin was winning against a monster, the monster he himself could do nothing against, and it angered him. 'What the hell are you, Naruto?' he thought to himself.

As the fighting intensified, Gaara decided to free the Ichibi in hopes of defeating the assassin. Becoming free, the vessel of destruction attempted to carry out its purpose, however, the lone assassin was standing against it.

It was growing harder and harder to minimize the damage, so Naruto decided to finish the confrontation as quickly as possible; knowing that his only hope was either waking up or killing Gaara, he teleported to the Raccoon's head and hit Gaara with a Rasengan pushing him off the sand construct and effectively waking him up and stopping the beast.

"How can you be that strong, it is not possible; my hate, my existence, my entire being, how can you be stronger?" asked the injured Jinchuriki.

"You and I are very much alike, both hated for protecting the world from monsters sealed inside us since we were born, both growing up lonely; but the real difference between us is that I found people who cared about me, and I cared for them, I learned of the creed, I had people and Ideals to protect, that is why I became strong. However, you too have people who care for you" said Naruto as Temari and Kankuro came to Gaara's side.

"Please spare him, I beg you" said Kankuro.

"Please, don't kill my brother, I'll do anything" said Temari.

"See, you too have people who care for you, grow strong to protect them" said Naruto then he turned to the shinobi who landed behind him "Sasuke, lets head back to the Village, they may still need our help."

"You're letting him live?" asked Sasuke.

"Yes, now let's go"

And the two headed back to the village leaving the trio behind them.

"Temari, Kankuro, I'm sorry" said Gaara weakly.

Temari Held her brother tightly and cried.

Omake:

Haku was pissed, he had just come out of the compound to run some errands and maybe see Ayame, but he was being attacked by weird shinobi left and right, it was really frustrating.

When he arrived at Ichiraku's, he saw Ayame being attacked by the enemy shinobi and moved quickly to rescue her, freezing all enemies around.

The next day, Haku found himself hearing the legends of the Ice princess who saved the ramen shop.

Haku cried that entire week.

A/N: Sorry to all my fans and followers for leaving you hanging for so long, I will not make excuses, the Naruto VS Gaara fight just could not be worked out in my head so I could not write this chapter until recently.

Anyway, I look forward to reading your reviews and comments, plus if anyone has Ideas, characters they think could work from the Naruto-vers, or if you just want to say hi, please give me a shout.

Slices out