A/N: thanks for all the reviews.

Normal

"Talk"

Think

Technique/Inner Character

Demon Talk

Demon Think

I do not own Naruto or One Piece. I do own any OC's displayed unless I say otherwise.

BEGIN

Shikamaru after replacing himself with a log landed on a nearby tree branch, grabbing his slingshot he reached for the specially prepared ammunition and alerted the enemy Nin to his presence

"Perhaps, but it's really to troublesome to let it slide" leaving the shadows he aimed his slingshot, smirking at what the sound-nin Zaku had to say about it

"A Slingshot? You're going to defeat us with a slingshot?" As Zaku prepared to fire Shikamaru acted faster,

"Hissatsu Kayaku Boshi (Sure-Kill Gunpowder Star)" As the pellet flew towards the sound trio he relished their confusion at the name. Although he wanted to see what kind on effect the attack had, he could not stay in the line of fire. Running down the tree he yelled to his teammates

"Ino-Shika-Cho formation CC" Seeing the looks of comprehension on his team Shikamaru readied his second attack,

"Namari Boshi (Lead Star)" Several iron 'bullets' flew into the now broken formation of sound-nin, Kin cried out in pain as several struck her. Before she could gather herself, Chouji crashed onto the ground in front of her and threw his fist backwards. However instead of the fist stopping like a normal body's would Chouji's began to stretch and once it reached a good distance

"Pistol" the build up stress released and the fist flew at inhuman speeds towards Kin, who could do nothing but stare wide eyed as she was impacted and collided a tree. Eyes boggling she fell unceremoniously to the floor.

"One down" Chouji declared as he turned to the two remaining opponents. Zaku screamed in anger, however he found he couldn't move. A shadow connected him and Dosu to Shikamaru,

"Ino, NOW!" Zaku looked at Shikamaru in confusion, but after a few seconds his eyes jerked, his head slumped forward and when it rose whoever spoke was not Zaku.

"Shikamaru, infiltration success" the shadow was removed from Zaku, however instead of attacking Shikamaru like Dosu expect him to, Zaku stretched and jumped a little

"Nice body, I could get use to this. But dam, how can he put up with these?" Zaku said looking at the wind cannons in his arms. Seeing Dosu's confusion, 'Zaku' enlightening him to what he was doing

"Formation CC or formation Crowd Control is when we in make it so we only have to deal with one opponent at a time. First due to Shikamaru's distraction, Chouji was able to take out Kin. And while you were focusing on Chouji Shikamaru linked you and 'cannon arm' here to his shadow and I possessed this body"

"Te, to I guess you're that loud blond idiot" Dosu hmmed in response, Zaku began to twitch in anger.

"So this is a two on one attack?" Dosu continued, before Ino could break a blood vessel. However, Dosu had incorrectly assumed that Ino couldn't fight with her new body.

"Actually, this is a three on one battle. I've seen this attack enough times now to work it out, ZANKUHA (Air Cutter)" Dosu's eyes widened in surprise as he was blown backwards by his own allies attack. After blowing past a few trees Dosu flipped in mid air and landed feet first on the nearest tree, wincing in pain Dosu charged the chakra into the 'musical' arm. Ducking under a very large leg sweep by Chouji Dosu rushed towards the still body of Ino, he hoped that by threatening Ino's body the Leaf Nin will release Zaku. At least that's what he thought until Sakura appeared in front of the blondes body, not wanted to be involved in a direct confrontation with that 'witch' Dosu instead jumped to the side and attempted to bypass her. Unfortunately it was never meant to be.

Dodging a 'ranged' attack from Chouji Dosu jumped to the nearest tree and blocked a separate attack from Zaku/Ino, pulling the possessed arm to his side Dosu threw Zaku of the tree smirking at the shocked expression on 'Zaku's' face. Unfortunately it didn't last long as this was a three on one battle, with surprising ease Chouji managed catch Zaku and prevented any additional damage to the body, smirking Chouji once again stretched his arms and somehow managed to get two arms on Dosu.

Struggling to break free from Chouji, Dosu's eyes widened in fear as Chouji shifted the sound-nins body so that Dosu faced Shikamaru's slingshot.

"Ok Chouji, hold him there!" Shikamaru yelled to his friend, closing one eye in deep concentration he studied Dosu's body, not even flinching as Zaku/Ino landed next to him.

"Namari Boshi (Lead Star)" Shikamaru said in a bored monotone, releasing the pellet his pure concentration paid of at it contacted with one of the 'links' in the metallic arms structure causing it to fall uselessly to the ground. Dosu stared at the weapon blankly, resigned he grabbed his scroll from it's hiding place. Laying it on the ground, he spoke

"If I give this scroll to you, will you let us go?" Shikamaru could not help but be slightly impressed with the sound-nins humility, like a true shinobi he knew when he was defeated. As Shikamaru looked at the scroll his eye twitched in annoyance, it was the same scroll his team had. Sakura chose that moment to speak

"We need that scroll Shikamaru" sighing Shikamaru picked it up and threw it towards the pink haired annoyance.

"Take your team and leave," Shikamaru said to Dosu, "and if you're smart you won't come back for revenge" nodding Dosu grabbed the limp bodies of his teammates (Ino having left Zaku once Dosu surrendered) and retreated from the battlefield.

'Leaf shinobi are soft' Dosu thought to himself as he fled to a safe location 'sound would never have allowed our defeated enemies to flee'

Naruto stood before a large crowd; he was wearing the hokage's hat at last. He stood upon the villages hokage tower.

"People of Konoha, I declare this day RAMENDAY!" a great cheer erupted; it could be heard many miles from the city. Seeing pink hair in his peripheral vision he turned lovingly towards his dear beloved.

"Sakura-chan" he said moving his hands towards her face, smiling at Naruto Sakura opened her mouth

"NARUTO WAKE UP!" Jumping into the air Naruto's head collided with a tree branch, unknowingly waking up from his dream. Grabbing his head he groaned in pain

"Sakura-chan, what was that for?" Sakura looked at Naruto innocently,

"What was what for?" as Naruto was so focused on Sakura he failed to see Ino giggle behind him. All of a sudden, why he was knocked out rushed into his head

"Sakura? Where is the freaky snake guy?" Naruto looked around the immediate area thoroughly, looking at every nook and cranny. It was this way that he discovered the extra nin, and in a very Narutoish fashion completely forgot what he was originally doing.

"Hey! What are you lot doing here?" ironically he answered his own question, as he finally noticed the various scraps and bruises on Sakura's body.

"You got into a fight?" he practically yelled, he studied the various markings until he saw the heavily injured figure of Lee.

"Lee! Are you alright?" Naruto rushed over to his 'buddy'. His two teammates where standing next to him, Tenten was cleaning Lee's wounds while Neji was staring into space impassively.

"I am OK! Naruto-kun" Lee said with two thumbs up. When Naruto saw that Sakura was not healing people he looked at her inquiringly, seeing his expression Sakura shook her head in a negative. When Naruto saw how much effort it took to do that, his eyes softened. It was a textbook example of Chakra exhaustion.

Turning to all his friends, a half formed idea began to form in his head. Swishing it around a bit he began to make mental preparations

"Hey, I know what we need" seeing everyone's curious expressions on him Naruto began

"We need to thank you all for helping Sakura and us… with SNAKE MEAT!" he pointed grandiosely at the gigantic snake behind him. As with all things human, no one had noticed the hard-to-miss snake until he had pointed it out to all of them, what Ino said next applied to everyone present

"%$ $^^% #& & %## %"

Preparations began swiftly. While at first the other teams didn't want to stay, figuring that by having a fire and a lot of snake meat they would be prime targets, Chouji was the voice of reason

"What idiot do you know of that would attack three full teams with apparently no injuries while eating the largest predator you have ever seen?" this time Naruto summed up there reaction best

"Why are you all looking at me?" although the teams were still hesitant nothing could withhold the combined enthusiasm of a grateful Naruto, a hungry Chouji and an enthusiastic Lee.

From there Tenten and Sakura collected the firewood with Sakura surprising everyone by somehow carrying an entire tree, Neji and Ino collected other foods stuffs such as fish from a nearby river and Naruto and Chouji began to cook the various meals, using Sasuke as a portable flamethrower/oven when the need called for it (much to his ire). When not flaming things Sasuke was helping other people do the various jobs, with the aid of Neji

Within no time everyone was eating and generally making a fool of themselves.

While the 'celebration' going on, Naruto was strangely distracted. As much as Naruto seemed to be happy, inwardly he was more concerned about Sanji. Ever since Naruto had woken up, he had failed to get in contact with smokaholic. He was even denied access to his Mindscape, which had never happened before. Frowning briefly, he wondered what on earth was going on in his mush for brains.

Within Naruto's sealed mindscape

Sanji stared at the Hokage with an intrigued expression on his face; leaning backwards he began to speak.

"Why are you here?" the fourth Hokage laughed uncertainly

"I could say the same to you" Sanji blinked, the Hokage had a point.

"I was opened in a scroll and released into his mindscape" Sanji said, interested at seeing what kind of excuse the Hokage could come-up with.

"I am the seal the powers the gates" Sanji's cigarette dropped out of his mouth

"WHAT!"

"Well it's actually a bit more complicated than that, but how else do you think I could imprison something so strong?" The hokage said defensively "I mean, look at the size of that thing!" A lone claw clattered against the bars

"Dam you hokage! I'm going to eat you alive!" The Kyuubi was bashing fruitlessly against the bars of the cage. Sanji and the Hokage looked at the monstrosity, during which the Hokage spoke again

"I never wanted to see you again Kyuubi" Turning back to the more human spirit the Hokage continued, "Sanji lets go somewhere a bit more quiet"

Outside the mindscape

Naruto shrugged, He was sure that whatever was happening within his mind would not have any large consequences for his future. After all, what could happen in there? Shrugging of the feel of foreboding Naruto continued with the celebration at hand.

"Ah Chouji. We did good today" Chouji nodded his head in agreement

"I'm stuffed, stuffed" they lay, bellies puffed out in contentment. Then the competition began

"Hey Chouji?" Naruto asked a smile on his face, Chouji turned to his friend enquiringly

"Who do you think is the strongest of all of us?" Chouji pondered for a while

"Me of course, apparently my punches are stronger and faster than a pistol… whatever that is" Naruto looked at his friend in disbelief

"You? The strongest? If anything it should be me, after all my kicks leave indents in steel, and I doubt yours would, You'd likely break your hands" Chouji easily rose up to the challenge

"At least I'm man enough to punch, you're hands are never used. I'm amazed you can even lift a knife" Naruto's eyes began to twitch uncontrollably

"I use my hands all the time idiot, I need them for cooking. No cook worth his salt would use his hands for fighting… not that you'd know" Chouji seemingly flew back, overcome with anger

"Eh? I'll have you know that I'm twice the cook you are" This time it was Naruto's turn to fly with anger

"You want a go?" Chouji replied with the universal 'bring-it-on' sign. Naruto and Chouji, puffed bellies forgotten charged at each other with complete fury, in no time fists and feet where flying. Luckily for all present they fought away from the camp and over time they got further and further away.

In time they completely separate of the camp site, and none of the genin seemingly noticed or cared. However, it could not stay that way for long.

Neji noticed it first, not all that surprising given that something was holding him back from completely partying. Sighing he motioned to the only other Genin not lost in the moment.

"Sasuke, your team-mate and the other cook have left the party" Sasuke looked at Neji with an annoyed expression on his face, but he got the picture. For you see, Neji had silently spoken to Sasuke 'if your teammate gets us all in trouble, you will be held responsible' thus Sasuke also silently left the group, searching for the wayward ninja.

"Oi Neji, play shoji with me" Neji disrupted from his pondering turned towards the origin of the request. Somehow, Shikamaru had brought a shoji set to the second exam. Perhaps it had to do with his 'ammo' bag?

"Nara, you foolishly challenge me to a game of Shoji. You are fated to lose this match" Shikamaru only smirked

"You fat ridden pathetic cooking Akimichi!" Naruto yelled at the top of his voice as he wrestled with said Akimichi,

"At least I'm not such a pansy that I'm afraid I'll injure my hands" Chouji yelled back, which was followed by saying in falsetto "Oh no, I might break a nail" Naruto yelled in righteous anger

"Take that back!" and once again they became nothing but arms and legs. Unknown to the fighting duo, they had attracted the attention of other ninja's. Some had seen the level of damage the duo did and wisely backed off, however one crew believed they could take them out.

"Ha! Look at those idiots" the rain ninja leaned forwards on the tree slightly, allowing his teammates to land besides him. One of them recognised Naruto

"Hey, that's the idiot on that team that captured me" he grinned, not that you could see that behind the mask "time for some pay back"

Naruto crouched underneath a strike from Chouji; still crouched he pushed with his legs and jumped onto a tree branch high above. He began to laugh at how much fun he was having.

"Ne ne chouji, you're good" Chouji laughed himself

"I'll say the same to you!" after his declaration he literally stretched his arm, much to Naruto's shock and yelled "Pistol" the stretching released and the arm 'flew' towards Naruto at extreme speeds, thinking quick Naruto managed to barely dodge the punch.

Eyes widening with excitement both competitors played a game of cat and mouse, with Chouji using long ranged attack after attack not allowing Naruto any chance of getting close. However, as much as Ninja seem super human, they are as likely to make a wrong move as any standard civilian

"Bazooka!" instead of the two hands attacking separately like he was originally doing, both hands charged at Naruto. Finally seeing an opportunity Naruto avoided the fists then jumped onto the attacking arms and ran down them towards Chouji's ecstatic face. Just as he was about to deliver a kicking blow a rain-nin appeared out of nowhere and attacked with a kunai. Without even thinking Naruto kicked the ninja away (not noticing as it dissolved) and continued to charge towards Chouji, unfortunately Chouji had managed to avoid Naruto strike thanks to the Rain-nins distraction. Soon enough, Naruto and Chouji stopped fighting each other and their attention turned to the attacking foreign ninja.

"Chouji" Naruto began, dispelling another clone. "Let's finish our fight another time"

"hm" Chouji grunted in agreement whilst he fought several of the clones at once.

Sasuke ran forwards towards the sounds of heavy fighting, skidding to a stop he hid in the bushes and watched

"Those ninja" edging forward slightly he watched the fight below unfold. After some initial shock at Chouji's attacks Sasuke 'got over it' and began a plan of action, without any sound he left his cover and seeming 'teleported' to another bush, his figure nothing but a blur.

Seeing something out of the corner of his eyes Sasuke silently gasped and slipped backwards sticking chakra to the tree branch so he 'stood' horizontally. Chouji's fist had missed him with nothing but a few centimetres to spare, after waiting a few seconds he moved again. You would not think it, but the task was harder than it seemed. Especially as Sasuke had to dodge flying projectiles, fists and avoid the occasional clone of both Naruto and the rain-nin. Reaching what he believed to be the perfect spot he activated the sharingan

"I see it" however he kept it up for only a second, as his shoulder spiked with great pain. Grunting he leaned against a tree in gathering his breath while he plotted his next move.

Whilst Sasuke was trying to reach the origin of the enemy, Naruto and Chouji continued to battle the endless Nin. Ducking, weaving and attacking the duo worked in perfect unison. Their attacks somehow complementing each other with surprising finesse. Like Kakashi and Gai they knew the other person so well that they knew how the other person thought, although Naruto had to change his strategy a bit, as Chouji had a few different abilities from last time they had fought.

Dodging another attack Naruto growled

"I've had enough of this, Kagebunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow clone technique)" various clones appeared around the battlefield, each one with an annoyed expression on their face. In unison they yelled a war cry and charged at the enemy.

Now, when it comes to a battle of clones Kagebunshin is one of the strongest techniques in existence. However, in this instance what they were fighting was not a normal clone technique but an Illusion that affected a generic area. No matter how many rain-nin 'clones' Naruto and Chouji destroyed the 'clones' only repaired themselves, this was not a battle of skill (especially as in the area of Genjutsu Naruto and Chouji had none) this was a battle of stamina.

Luckily for all the Konoha-nin present they had a hidden third party, Sasuke. Whilst Naruto and Chouji kept the attention of the Rain-nin Sasuke was able to use the sharingan and determine the location of the true enemy and while still hidden made the battle-deciding move.

"Umph" a rain-nin flew out of the bushes, turning towards the noise the Original Naruto watched as the enemies' clones began to dispel. A few more grunts of pain and two more enemy ninja flew out of the bushes. Confused Naruto stared at the Nin

"Wha, ha? What on ear-" before the confusion caused Naruto to destroy what was left of his sanity, Sasuke calmly walked out of the bushes is his 'I am so awesome' way. To be honest it rattled Naruto's nerves

"Sasuke! What are you doing here?" Sasuke smirked at the question

"Saving you, idiot" luckily for everyone in the area Chouji prevented a fight

"Hey, they have the scroll we need!"

The party was just finishing when the three ninja returned to the campsite. Each of the genin was seemingly knocked out and lying in some weird positions, the three Shinobi entering the camp seat-dropped.

"Neh, we didn't put any… alcohol, in the food did we?" Naruto asked nervously, he was going to be in a lot of trouble if they did

"No" Chouji said confused, Sasuke sighed and walked over to one of the bodies and felt for a pulse.

"They are just sleeping" grabbing some bedrolls he threw them to the other genin

"I'll take first watch"

The night was uneventful and the next day the genin decided the next move

"We should split up" Neji began "we would be less noticeable that way, a large group is too obvious and if we become common knowledge all that would happen is a large group will form to defeat us" while several of the genin agreed with Neji Naruto disagreed

"Not so! By sticking together we show that we do 'care for our own'. This will help us, especially as the enemy will believe we'll absorb other Konoha Nin into the group" That was also true, a lot of Leaf Nin had made it to the second exam.

"What a youthful decision! This way we can send a message to the other nations. United we stand!" Lee was enthusiastic with that idea, especially as he wanted to be with his friends.

"And be an open target for our enemies?" Neji sighed "As I told you all that will happen is that other teams will join up to protect themselves or even fight us" even Sasuke had to agree

"Ah, by splitting way we will avoid trouble" Neji nodded in agreement. However, Naruto and Lee were not yet satisfied.

"Neji, youth will carry us through the second exam. If we combine than no one in this exam can defeat us!" Neji scoffed,

"I think you are underestimating your opponents and overestimating yourselves. One does not need strength to make it through this exam; they need cunning. Something you don't have" Naruto was a bit ticked off about that, the fact that Neji was right had nothing to do with it.

"Oi! I think your underestimating us! And if we gather up the rest of Konoha we will be the largest group in all the exams!" Shikamaru was already sick of the arguments so he butted in

"Naruto is right, while you have a point we have the advantage" Shikamaru shifted himself on his log then yawned " After all We know each other enough to trust that we won't betray each other, and Konoha is famous for its team work. The only way for any would be opponents to defeat us is for them to create a group large enough, and that would require Genin from various villages joining up. They will be no trust or teamwork with them"

Neji did not have much to say in reply to that; after all he saw the logic. Sighing he consented

"Fine"

"Good" Shikamaru sighed, "The sooner we reach the tower the sooner I can sleep"

They reach the tower with extreme ease, like Naruto and Shikamaru had 'foreseen' they had no trouble with on the trip. The only set back they had was what Neji said would happen, when word got out about the Konoha nin joining forces the other villages did the same. However like Shikamaru reasoned in order to match konoha's force several of the 'groups' banded together and matched Konoha genin for genin. So while Konoha was one large 'group' the enemy was just a bunch of individuals grouped together who fought each other as much as they fought Konoha. Naturally the Konoha nin steamrolled the competition.

Landing at the tower they entered one of the many entrances. Glancing around the room they easily saw the writing on the walls,

"Well" Naruto began, holding the two scrolls "the weird examiner person said not to open both scrolls until we reach the tower" holding them in front of him he thought carefully "does that mean we can open them now?" Turning to the one with a large enough brain to figure it out he smiled when Sakura nodded. Thus as one, all three teams opened their scrolls.

"Those markings… quick throw them away!" Sasuke and Tenten yelled at their team members, even Shikamaru's team threw the scrolls away. Each scroll landed in a nice neat line, in a puff of smoke the scrolls disappeared and three chuunin appeared. The first two were two of the examiners from the first exam and actually looked surprisingly familiar to the two genin who were 'beating up' Tenten and Lee before that exam started and the last chuunin though was someone everyone in the

"Iruka-sensei!" nearly everyone gasped in shock, Naruto though had another reaction room recognised. Tears formed in his eyes, his bottom lip trembling he yelled to his favourite (bar Kakashi) teacher

"IIIRRRRUUUKKKKAAA – SSSEEENNNSSSIIEEE!" Jumping into the air and crying with joy it was like a page from Gai and Lee photo album, why it even had music and the sunset to match it.

"NNNAAARRRRUUUTTTOOO!" Iruka cried as he moved to hug Naruto, even Lee was getting teary eyed

"Sakura-chan, it is so beautiful to see Naruto and Iruka embrace the powers of youthism" Sakura's eyes filled with horror, gulping she hardened herself preparing to do what had to be done.

'Naruto, forgive me' she thought solemnly. Charging her fist with chakra she punched Naruto in the back of his head knocking him out cold

'But I'm afraid I cannot let you be converted to youthism!'

"Sakura!" Lee looked at Sakura in horror, in fact everyone was

"I hope this doesn't disqualify my team?" Sakura asked with an innocent smile, her wide eyes sparkling at Iruka

At all of these happenings, Iruka could only sigh

'Guess I'll have to catch-up with Naruto later to explain what heaven and earth meant… although he probably won't get it'

When Naruto awoke it was to a nice warm bed, sighing in satisfaction he snuggled in some more. Just as he was about to fall asleep the 1-hour before he blacked out came rushing back into his head

"Iruka-sensei!" He yelled practically jumping out of bed; looking around the room he noticed nothing out of the ordinary (except, of cause the presence of three beds and some other bare essentials in a hotel room) when his eyes reached the kitchen his stomach timed a growl at the perfect moment. All thoughts of Iruka quickly left his mind and something else entered

'Hmm, snake meat' as if by magic Naruto teleported into the kitchen and after quick use of a storage scroll laid on the kitchen counter the leftovers of the large snake. He diced sliced and somehow did the impossible and made more meals than the meat scientifically and mathematically allowed.

Singing a merry tune he bundled the various meals and opened the door.

"Chef of Konoha" the unexpected voice shocked Naruto out of his funk and he jumped backwards, his ninja training acting comically. Standing in the doorway was none other than Gaara.

"Gaara" Naruto acknowledged, "What can I do for you?" The redhead wasted no time in answering

"Could I sample one of your famous dishes?" Naruto blinked, famous? His cooking was famous? Grinning widely he pulled out a wrapping of his newly prepared snake meat and handed in eagerly to the sand-nin.

"Here try this" Gaara delicately opened the package and used the provided chopsticks to pick-up the meat. Holding it in front of him, Gaara examined it closely. Naruto rocked backwards and forward nervously; it was like watching a professional food critic. Not to be delayed any further Gaara ate the dish, as soon as it entered his mouth his eyes widened

"Delicious… it will be a shame to have to kill you" laughing nervously and rubbing the back of his head Naruto tried to ease the suddenly tense atmosphere

"Thanks… I guess"

Not only did Gaara want some of the food, but also all the other Genin. Naruto in the end gave snake meet to almost everyone he met, such as the Sound Jounin who was ironically talking to Kabuto ('Kabuto, what is this good tasting meat?' 'er, Orochimaru-sama it's snake meat' 'ku ku ku, amazing!'). In the end Naruto unknowingly made a lot of friends that afternoon.

After he had seen almost everyone Naruto entered the final room. This one had Sasuke recovering from having some sort of 'seal' Kakashi put on him after they arrived at the tower. Naruto didn't know all the details yet, but he was sure to ask after Sasuke had been to the hospital proper.

"Sasuke, have some snake meet" after eating the delicious meal Sasuke asked something that had been bothering him since the second exam began.

"Naruto, why did you buy embarrassing pictures of me?"

END

A/N: Finally updated! Hope you all enjoyed these last two chapters. The end of this one was rather rushed, but I had already achieved all I wanted to this chapter so I thought I might as well end it. On another note, the reason why I have upgraded the rating to T from K+ is because the fighting is getting worse and I beginning to forget to 'censor' the swearing of the characters.

NEXT TIME: the preliminary matches!

Please Review and honesty is appreciated. Thanks, The great David