Chapter 8 - Exam

Naruto was sleeping with Kyuuyu watching over him. He had woken up a little earlier than he intended but he liked watching over his kit as he slept. It was peaceful and reminded himself that Naru was still alive. After so many years being alone and trapped in a seal he grew to hate the human life. But all that changed when he met the kit before him. Never had he been put inside a young member of the Uzumaki clan, and the trust the boy gave made it clear he looked up to the fox. Kyuuyu couldn't bring himself to harm the human child since he looked at him with such pure eyes. And it angered him when he saw the pure eyes change to fear, not because of him but because of the other humans. The only reason they were in the human village was because his kit wanted to see the outside world a little more before they settled down.

'Even though we settled down here, I'm sure the kit doesn't want to stay…'

Turning to the sky he saw it was close to the time for his kit to got to the school with other humans. The fact that he might have made human friends was enough for the giant fox. After all he couldn't always be there for his kit, but at least that Hinata child was something to look forward to. He would watch from the sideline and only intervene if it called for it. His kit was strong, yes that was for certain but socially wise, he wasn't. He hoped that this place where he was hated would learn to find the good in the human life like he taught him.

Kyuuyu knew he would never fully take to other humans like his kit but his kit was still human himself so therefore he needed to interact with others his age. Gently waking his kit he saw the sleepy child slowly wake up from his comfortable dreams. It was a while before that only nightmares took hold his his kits mind, not that returning to the place they originate from helped, but it's what his kit wanted so he bit his tongue against the idea.

When orange red eyes made sapphire blue, he smiled and nudged his kit to get ready for the day. A small yawn escaped him as he got ready for the day. Kyuuyu knew he wasn't going to be there for him like he wanted but in the seal since he couldn't risk someone finding out about him. Naruto made his lunch as he set up an area to take a shower. After cleaning up, he returned to see Kyuuyu in a small fox form, using one of his tails to give the lunch he finished for his kit. With a small smile Naruto took and saw his sub-father return to the seal as he made his way out of the forest toward to Academy.

Naruto noticed that he was a little early. Not many had arrived yet, so he sat down in the seat he sat in the first day he was there. Hinata soon came in and sat down near him. Her face was a little red but she gave him a good morning which he responded with a kind tone.

Hinata was grateful for Naruto since from when they spared in her home her father a was a little kinder to her and she was working better with her taijutsu with the water style. And true to Naruto's word she was indeed a water type user. While her father wasn't completely happy about it something from the father of the new clan made him go easy on her. She was now getting better training and she was making improvements. Her younger sister was now a little nicer to her and that made her happy. Her cousin was still a little sore towards her but she could see that hopefully that would change in the next few months.

Naruto greeted Shino as he sat on the other side of him. The Aburame heir was a little shocked to see the new clan heir greet him, which he greeted back after a moment. Silence filled the air before they could hear the screening of the fangirls enter the room as many came into at the very same time as the Emo King, Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto had to refrain from growling out loud from all the loud noised they were making. Seeing the teacher enter and after silencing all the students they got started on the testing. Naruto got to work answering everything he could. Which was a lot but not everything because he saw something that took some form of teamwork. But what stopped him from answering those was that he had no idea on teamwork or how it worked.

After doing his best to answer all the ones he left blank as he went through it the first time, soon the testing was over. After the taijutsu match which Naruto was paired in fighting a civilian, which he won rather quickly, they all were sitting in the classroom waiting for their names to be called for the last part of the test. Naruto busied himself by studying Seals since that was what held his father in him, that and he was honestly curious about them as well. Finding that he took to seals as fish do to water he continued to study it until his name was called. Seeing Hinata walk in with her new headband he smiled at her and wished her a congratulations. He was a little awkward about it since he was going off the behavioral book Kyuuyu made him read last night. He saw her turn red and smile at him as she wished him luck next.

After a while he was called, walking in he saw his teacher followed a few other teachers. Seeing them, he recognized them as some of the ones who chased him as a child. Kyuuyu feeling the fear in his young sons body sent calming words to his mind which calmed him down even enough to do this portion of the test. After passing with flying colors as Iruka stated, Naruto took the headband and tied it around his neck like he saw Hinata do. He truly didn't want to be confined to a village of humans but he wanted to see the world and so he wanted to start with the place he ran from.

Sitting back down next to Hinata and Shino who had already gotten his headband, they each wished him a congratulations. Soon enough the others of the group, Choji, Shikamaru and Kiba came over each with their headbands on. Kiba being the louder one of the group yelled out his glee.

Naruto shifted slightly from the group who had gathered around him. He was okay with one or two people now but a group? He felt very uncomfortable as he watched each of them. Seeing no threat as they all hanged around, for whatever reason he didn't know. Seeing as the day was just about over and all that was left was lunch while the following day would be when they would get teams, Naruto took out his lunch and started to eat.

The group realized it was lunch time and all sat down at the tree Naruto had claimed. Eating silently or as silently as they could with Kiba in the group. As the group had gathered, many of the families of theirs came over and sat to talk to them. Kiba's sister was there instead of her mother though. "Hello Naruto-kun. Where's your father? Isn't he here?"

"He will be here later I guess." Naruto didn't know why but her asking where Kyuuyu was made him tense up and feel defensive. Kyuuyu was his father, little did the world know Naruto was overly protective of those he held dear.

Feeling his father leave the seal, he knew that he would be reunited with him soon since it meant he was coming to pick him up. Naruto then turned back to his lunch when he saw how tense Hinata was next to her cousin. Naruto studied him for a moment and saw that it was not good for Hinata to sit so close to him. For some reason he felt like she needed saving.

"Hinata-san…" his voice broke out and silence many of the talkers since he didn't talk much, but Hinata was slightly shocked he was talking to her.

"Y-yes?"

"Later, would you and your father like to join me and Kyuuyu in training?"

"I-I'd have to ask him…"

"Alright, if so, we will be meeting up near the forest to the east."

And with that the bell rang signalling the end of the day. Kyuuyu showed up as soon as he heard his kits offer to train with them. While he wished he asked him first he could read the tension from the scene. And soon then he was glad his kit was learning on how to interact with others. Yes, he thought, the Hinata girl would be something good for him.

The kyuubi walked over and saw that the girl from the meeting a the other night was staring at him. He recognized at the look but he wasn't interested as he turned to his kit. "Naruto let's head home."

Naruto got up without hesitation as he followed the sub-father. Naruto felt the unease with sitting with the group wash away as he left with his father figure. As they walked Kyuuyu glanced down at his kit who was calmly walking with him. He felt pride for his kit as he felt that his Naru was getting better at talking with others while a bit protective if they ever seemed to harm him he would end them right where they stood. When they arrived at the East forest Kyuuyu set up a few logs for his kit to practice against. It wasn't long before Naruto sense two figures coming closer. Kyuuyu turned to see the Clan Head walking out of the trees with his eldest daughter following behind.

"Hinata said your son offered a training session?"

"Yes, while we normally train alone in the forest I think training them together would be in Naru's best interest as well as your daughters." Kyuuyu stated as he turned to see his Naru still working out with his Kitsune Taijutsu.

"Hinata go over and practice while I have a few words with Kurama." the Hyuuga head stated.

"Yes father." her stuttered was there but not as bad as she walked over to Naruto, which he nodded to her as they worked on their Taijutsu.

"What did you mean that our children would gain from practicing together?"

"Hinata would only get stronger with Naru as her partner while Naruto needs to be able to open up to others other than me. It's not healthily for him to only train and not socialize with others."

"Yes, your clan's defeat, was your son there when it happened?"

"Not completely. He wasn't treated well by the villagers which lead to him building up distance from other people. I want to heal him from those scars where I wasn't able to save him from. I'm sure there are things that you are protecting your daughters from. If I can get my son to open up to your daughter, it will be a step closer to healing him while at the same time you're daughter will become strong enough to take on this harsh world."

"I see, it's true there are things my daughter needs to be protected against because she isn't strong enough. So this training might be best."

"I do hope they get put on a team together if not, we always train here every second day of the week while the last day we have a break to rest." Kyuuyu offered as he turned to his kit who was correcting a stance that Hinata was doing before he moved back away.

Lord Hiashi turned to see that it was true that his daughter was getting stronger with the training with the newest clan heir. While they held some mystery he could see nothing evil with his all seeing eyes, no lies in what the Clan Head nor evil in the clan heir. Nodding to himself he made a decision. "I will send for Hinata and Branch member to come here during training hours."

"Very well. Let's get to training our heirs." Kyuuyu said with a smile as he walked over the two children trained. "Naru let's work on your ninjutsu next."

-xXx-

The Hokage was watching Naruto and the mysterious father for a while as they trained with the Hyuuga clan. He could see nothing in the man next to Hiashi that would scream danger. In fact it made him curious as to who he was. While he couldn't place a name to the face he knew he would have to do something about him. He was too full of mysteries to leave alone. After the training he would call them over. He never heard of this man and yet somehow he was on the clan list of the area, though with no home address. He needed to know before the placements of the teams. He had to pick carefully before he placed Naruto on a team. He could clearly see that placing him on the team with Sasuke and Sakura would not work.

Seeing them train made him wonder about where Naruto would be placed in the first place. After all now that had an uneven placement of children who passed the exams. Maybe placing him with a Tokubetsu Jonin would work? He would have to seriously think on it this night.

Seeing the training continue he could see that Naruto was easily stronger than the Hyuuga heir but it was like he was teaching her instead of fighting her. Smiling to himself, he was glad Naruto hadn't succumbed to the Fox's Hatred. While he was still worried about how much Naruto hid away from the normal members of the village he knew he would force them to see the truth. In a way, he was glad that they no longer remembered Naruto since he left when he was young.

Though he can see some anger towards him from the villagers, while he saw why he couldn't understand why. With the Last Uchiha in the village having it out for Naruto, simply because he beat him in a fight, it gave no reason for the villagers to hate Naruto for that reason. Rubbing his temples Sarutobi wish this wasn't so complex. For once, for something to not be complex. Seeing the fight coming to a close he saw Sasuke walking over, which he watched to see where it would go from there.

-XxX-

Naruto was dodging a blow from Hinata as they sparred that he didn't see a kunai coming at him from the side. Getting it in the shoulder did nothing for him as he had a high pain tolerance. While he didn't react to it Hinata did. She ran over to see if he was alright, while Lord Hiashi turned to see the Uchiha heir coming over with a kunai in his hands. Kyuuyu saw him enter as well and walked over to his kit who was watching the newest arrival like a hawk watches a snake.

"Child what is the meaning of this." Lord Hiashi asked. He was appalled at the fact the Last Uchiha had attacked a classmate.

"Naruto I challenge you to a fight." Sasuke stated with a smirk.

He saw that the boy in question just simply stared at him with emotionless eyes as he pulled out the kunai with no sign of pain. Sasuke knew that the newest clan in the village was strong but he wanted to make sure he was so if he was he would make sure he was put on a team with him. After all no weakling was to be on the same team as him, that just wouldn't do with his plans to get stronger and having a strong teammate would be the best for his goals.

Naruto spun the kunai with his blood around with his pointer finger as he watched Sasuke. Thinking about whether he should take in the fight or just walk away. Thinking for a moment I decided.

"No."

Sasuke did not like that answer. To him it was like he was being looked down upon. He smirked as he thought about taunting him. He looked over and saw the Hyuuga heir tending the wound of the blond. "Why train with someone as weak as the Hyuuga Clan."

Lord Hiashi glared at the child who was openly mocking his clan, while Hinata flinched at the anger from her father and the harsh words from the Uchiha. Naruto saw the emotions as did Kurama. While Kurama watched and waited to see what his kit would do in this type of situation, Naruto felt uneasy from the new emotion he was feeling at the idea of Hinata would be mocked. Images of when his was young from the villagers who mocked him and beat him down, the thought of Hinata and her father being in that situation did not sit well with him; and he didn't know why…

Kurama watched his kit, feeling the range of emotions while not understanding them it was a push in the right direction. Thinking for a moment he turned to see the the child smirking at his kit. He thought that this was enough.

"Tell me child, does this village allow others to attack their comrades…" Kurama asked, while he knew this wasn't normally allowed, but the Last Uchiha had many in his back pocket. Perhaps this would show his kit that this place hadn't changed since he left all those years ago. While he didn't want to be tied down to this place his Kit wanted to see the place he was hated. It was something he didn't understand but he would do as his Naru wished and be there for him when he needed him to be.

No one would harm him as long as he was breathing. And that was a promise.

Naruto glared at the Emo King known as Sasuke who seem to shrink back from the Killer Intent. Lord Hiashi was surprised at the fact that the child knew how to release such powerful and potent Killer Intent. Sasuke felt the killer intent and felt the hair on his neck raise up. He felt the kunai in his hand and wondered if it was wise to try what he was doing. Kurama was please his kit could release such intent but at the moment they were allies with the village which meant not picking a fight with one another even if they had started it.

"Naru, that's enough."

And with that the Killer Intet was gone as if it was never even there. Naruto looked at his father and nodded. Hinata was startled out of her daze as she felt the killer intent, while it wasn't directed at her it was still shocking. She had no idea such power could be felt from a simple glare.

"Uchiha you should leave...now." Kurama stated. He wasn't all too pleased to be in the presence of an Uchiha again, in fact it was taking all he willpower not to kill the child right in front of him and end the clan. After a moment Sasuke grunted and left.

Hinata released a breath that she was holding, turning to Naruto's shoulder she saw that that injury from the kunai was gone. She was wondering if Naruto had a Bloodline for healing. Her father seemed to have seen it as well as he turned to Kurama.

"I'll have a talk with the Hokage. That Uchiha needs to get his act together." Lord Hiashi stated.

"No need, I have a meeting with him soon so I will speak of this then." Kurama stated. "Well I think this was enough for now."

The sun was setting now and Lord Hiashi nodded. "Have a nice night then."

As the two Hyuugas left Kurama turned to his kit and smiled, placing a hand on his blond spikes. He was pleased with how his kit was handling things. An ANBU appeared at the moment with the mask of a Dog, his silver hair spiking up. He appeared before the two silently though they both knew he was there. "Lord Hokage has called for you two."

Kurama nodded as they Anbu left shortly after. Kurama and Naruto walked towards the Hokage Tower. Naruto wasn't too happy with the idea of being called back into the village. While Kurama knew it would be a matter of time before the old human would call to meet him. Just like the time in the village would be short, so would this meeting.

Sorry for the wait. Couldn't figure out how to end this chapter. So I left it as is right here. Enjoy and leave a review or follow if you so desire! Bye!