With Team Naruto, Forest of Death, Konoha, Lightning Empire

Prince Naruto was running flanked by Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. The three members of what was dubbed team 7 were chasing a team from Ame who seemed to be running for their lives. In actuality they were terrified, terrified of Naruto's team.

5 Minutes Earlier

The moment the gates flew open Naruto's team sped inside the forest in silence. The sounds of Lightning at screams could be heard in the surrounding area but then again Naruto wasn't worried. As far as he knew very few could stand up to him. And the only one that could possibly beat him from Konoha was on his team.

Team 7 finally came to a stop in a clearing and Naruto glanced at his team. "So we have the Heaven scroll meaning we have to find an Earth scroll."

"This test should be a piece of cake to be honest. But the problem comes in to where we have to find another team with a Heaven scroll." Sakura spoke thinking of something.

"Hn, Make sure you don't eat the scroll Namikaze" Sasuke huffed.

"Are you still angry over that, and you started it Duck ass!"

The two teammates were about to go at each other but a rustle of leaves in a bush caught their attention just as 3 teens from Ame jumped out. They had the standard mask and what looked like pajamas on. One member held a crossbow pointed at Naruto's team.

"Give us your scroll-" He stopped talking the moment he saw the blonde haired member.

"Oh Shit its Prince Naruto!" The only one with both his eyes uncovered said.

"That's Sasuke and Sakura too, Run!"

Team 7 watched as the team took off they would have let them run off but Naruto saw one actually holding a scroll. An Earth scroll, without a thought he gave chase.

Present

Naruto had a grin on his face at how slow they were going. They weren't even in the trees So Naruto Charged up and hopped on a branch Sakura and Sakura followed his lead.

The Ame team didn't realize what happened they were just running. They didn't want to be taken out of the match just yet. They were praying to Kurama that they weren't caught. Unfortunaitly their prayers went un-answered because they were unconscious in the next second.

Sakura grabbed the scroll in glee "Yayy We got the Earth scroll. Come on Boys lets finish this race!" She then took off with the boys following after her.

(Tower in Forest of Death)

Minato had a smirk on his face as he and Kizashi fist bumped each other. Their kids would be the first. While Tsunade hugged the Emperor "I knew that grandson of mine would be good luck." She then turned to her fellow Kage. "Pay up fellas"

But then Rasa had a smirk on his face "Don't get too excited fellow Kage and Shikokage-sama" Every eye turned to the screen to see Gaara and his siblings had also gotten a scroll, and were on their way to the tower.

The shadows looked as both teams were heading for each other.

With team 7

Sasuke was leading his team through the forest in a haste they were hopping from tree to tree Naruto and Sakura were having a casual conversation about the contest. Sasuke was able to see the Tower in the distance but then Sakura's voice cut in.

"DUCK!"

Team 7 jumped to the ground without hesitation just as a cloud of 'Sand' golden in color destroyed the branch they were on. Naruto looked at the substance and smiled before he called out. "To think we would meet up so early Gaara it's only been an hour."

As the prince said this three other teens stepped out from behind trees Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. "Huh and here I thought that would get you Namikaze"

"I see you're still wearing your sisters makeup" Team 7 and most of Gaara's team snickered at the jab. Kankuro on the other hand didn't like it so much.

"It's war paint, WAR PAINT!" He glared at the Prince with Hatred.

"Oh come on I'm just kidding around, So I assume you guys got your scrolls too huh." Gaara nodded. But then he turned around facing the tower.

"We will be the first to finish this exam" Suddenly him and his siblings charged up and took off.

Naruto and his team quickly followed suit and took off after them.

(Tower in Forest of Death)

The Room full of Shadows were divided down the middle of the Elite 7, 3 were rooting for Konoha while the other 4 were cheering for Suna.

(Outside Tower)

Team 7 of Konoha and team 1 of Suna were both at a neck race to get to the finish line, neither one willing to give the other the upper hand. They weren't fighting no they were closer than that. But that didn't mean they didn't want to beat the other. The scrolls were being passed on like Batons. Sakura had stalled Temari while Kankuro had twirled Sakura into a tree. Sasuke had managed to trip Kankuro while Gaara managed to slow Sasuke down with a sand wall. Now Gaara and Naruto were running as fast as their legs could take them.

5 meters Gaara takes the lead.

4 meters Naruto takes the lead

3 meters Gaara takes it back.

2 meters Naruto takes it back.

1 meter Gaara catches up and both boys give it their all.

Tower Kage room

Dead silence no words were spoken until Tsunade broke the silence. "It's a tie!" All the Kage huff in annoyance since nobody won. Many were grumbling in aggravation at the results until a powerful voice erupted through the room.

"So you mean to tell me you all bet on my Child!" Everyone in the room stiffened before turning their heads to see the wife of the Shikokage, Empress Kushina. She had a glare on her face that spoke volumes of her mood. Even Princess Kaguya in her arms somehow mimicked her mother's expression. "Fine nobody wants to answer, then that 100,000 will be given to the contestants." With no other words she walked out of the room leaving many protest.

With Naruto and Gaara

The Prince of the Lightning Empire, and the prince of Suna were sitting in silence they had checked in and it seems that the two had broken the previous record. 97 minutes. Now both were occupied with the lunch infront of them. Their teams surrounding them also enjoying their meals and catching up.

Gaara looked at the Prince, the two had ate in relative silence relaxing their muscles. "Naruto I've been meaning to speak to you for sometime now."

Naruto looked up at Gaara and the other members became silent as they listened in on the two nobles. "What's up Gaara?"

Gaara's voice was raspy and deep but he didn't miss a beat. "It was a point in time where your father was on deaths door. He was bed ridden and couldn't move without pain and blood coming out of his throat. He could even collapse right now and die. That would mean that the hat of Shikokage would henceforth pass to you immediately. You would be 14 years old and Emperor of the entire State" silence fell on the remaining 4 as the listened.

"Yeah I get that, what's your point Gaara?" Naruto to be honest didn't like this conversation so far.

"My point is, you are my friend but you are not strong right now. In history we've had 11 Shikokage. Some good, some bad, some have been usurpers, some didn't even deserve the title as a whole. Some have been great and their legacy lives on to this day. But it is all the same, the power of that seat is dangerous. Many men have worn that hat your father has and while many have succeeded many have not. You know the system, If the Shikokage cannot bring the big 6 under his control then utter chaos and anarchy will ensue the Empire as a whole. You would become a puppet ruler Naruto. Or worse deposed by outside factions."

Sasuke listened in on the conversation, hell he was right next to Naruto and he felt terrible for his friend. What if the Shikokage had succumbed to his illness; Naruto would automatically been Emperor. He was just 14 2 years younger than his father was and that's because his grandfather abdicated the throne by choice to 'live freely'. Naruto would be alone in an ocean of power and Sharks willing to take a bite. Sure he had his mother and different political parties but then what?

Gaara looked at Naruto's eyes, they were wide and a bit of fear was evident he didn't want that. "The power of the Shikokage is based on his strength and his authority, If we have a weak Shikokage then there will be no order. You will get stronger Naruto I know you will. But the power you will hold both physically and politically. Combined you will be the most powerful man in the world. That's what the Shikokage is, not the Avatar not Earth-king or Fire-lord, Water-chiefs or Air-nomads. Your father if he so pleases can launch a war and bring the world to its knees. That power in itself is dangerous. A man can become corrupted, driven, vengeful and hateful. Naruto Don't become lost in the Darkness" Gaara sipped the rest of his tea before he got up along with his siblings leaving team 7 and especially Naruto to ponder the words the young man spoke. Sasuke felt for the prince, but it also opened his eyes a little to what the Shikokage actually is.

Sakura looked at her crush in sadness it also brought up her own thought… If Naruto became Shikokage today would the Empire turn against him, would her own father turn against him, was their country that fragile?

(Hours later With Azula)

Team 32 was sitting in-front of a fire made by Azula. The team had been looking for another team for hours and with no luck the team decided to make camp and retry in the morning. The light of the fire illuminated the girls faces as they sat in relative silence, Until Ryuuzetsu decided to say something. "I bet you're not used to this huh princess"

"No it isn't I'm fine as you can see." Azula if she was honest with herself hated this. Never has she ever in her life had to sleep outside before. Not to add that Ami asked her the next question.

"So what's it like living with Prince Naruto? I bet he's so sexy by himself, Ohh what I would do to him if-"

"Ami" Ryuuzetsu shouted trying not to hear the rest of what she had to say.

"Oh come now we all know that you like him Ryuu"

"Along with half the damn country, it doesn't matter he'd never look my way. Even when he visited Kusa before I moved to Konoha, we are friends I wouldn't want to ruin that with my confession to him, like I'm not Hinata, Ino or Sakura."

Azula scoffed at the girls depressing attitude "Pitiful"

"Wanna repeat that Firebender." Sparks danced around Ryuuzetsu as she glared at the princess.

"All I'm saying is Naruto is a prince and as such he has duties to his country first, not love."

Ami chimed in. "Things are different here Azula. The Empress and Shikokage fell inlove long ago."

"If I'm not mistaken, she's an Uzumaki a noble house descended of Kenji himself. Trust me it was not by chance they got together. I live in that world, Naruto will end up with whoever strengthens the Shikokage's position. It's the same as the fire nation, earthkingdom, watertribes, and here." With her piece spoken Azula laid down and went to sleep.

(Next Morning)

The princess was woken up to a sudden shake. She was sore with a crook in her neck to boot, man she hated nature. The sun was shining in her face for no reason and the birds were singing loudly, and worst of all she was still in this damn forest.

Ryuuzetsu stared at the princess, "Glad to see you finally woke up, come on we're moving now. I heard fighting not too far from here so we gotta move" Ami was already ready standing behind the white haired girl.

Azula dusted herself off and stretched, you could hear the popping of joints and a moan of relief escaped her lips. But then her body along with her teams stiffened as the bushes erupted and another team popped out the bushes. Ryuuzetsu noticed the headbands and style of clothing and recognized the village."Nadeshiko"

The all girl group took a stance and glared at team 32 "What scroll do you have?"

Ryuuzetsu got a glint in her eyes as she stared at the three girls. "We have the heaven scroll and I can see by the way you all tensed that's the scroll you need. Too bad because you all wont pass this exam this year" With no warning the Silver haired girl charged up and went after the girl closest to her. The battle ensued at that point.

Azula was honestly surprised Ami did as well as she did but she had to worry about other things her opponent. She had Lightning covering her fist and was poised to strike the Princess. But Azula was agile, she was flexible and she didn't know why but a gleam entered her eye. This feeling of battle was amazing to her. Maybe she'd been in Lightning to long.

Her opponent overextended herself, and that was all Azula needed to grab her arm and flip her onto her back. But still holding her forearm maneuvered her opponent onto her stomach, a blade of fire materialized in her hands that she then held to her opponent's neck. Azula looked to her team to see they too had their opponents down, with Ami holding the scroll they needed. Ryuuzetsu went about tying up Ami's opponent since hers was knocked out. She then grinned at her team she couldn't believe they already had the scroll.

Ami looked at her team with barely contained joy. "Come on lets go to the tower!" without even looking back she sped off leaving her team to chase after her.

Team 32 wasn't the only ones filled with joy because all throughout the forest different teams were starting to head towards the tower.

Later with Team 10

What was dubbed the InoShikaCho trio had gotten their scroll thanks to their tactical strengths and now they were heading straight for the tower. There was little signs of battle upon tyhier bodies. The three nobles were running at a relatively slow pace so as to have their guard up. And to also avoid traps set by other teams.

"I hope Naruto-kun is gets to the tower safely" Choji and Shikamaru groaned in annoyance at Ino.

"Let's make sure we make it there ourselves Ino" Shikamaru scolded the blonde. But soon a sound of yelling reached his ears. Shikamaru motioned for his team to tread with caution. As they began to come upon the commotion they saw a team from Uzu standing over a defeated team the girl who was the leader of the Uzu team whose hair was straight on one side but spiky on another stood before the team. Ino instantly recognized her as Karin Uzumaki, Naruto's cousin; and the daughter of Nagato Uzumaki, the Uzukage, and her sister Tayuya Uzumaki and the last member of the group an orange haired guy with spikey hair. Not good

"I thought Kumo was one of the big six. How shameful we Uzumaki's will put you all in the ground." The Ino-Shika-Cho didn't stay long as they took off. The last thing they needed was a fight with Naruto's relatives.

Continuing the run towards the tower team ten had been moving for about 20 minutes and the tower was finally coming into sight. It was a race as it seemed they weren't the only ones running towards the tower at this point. Shikamaru signaled them to get into formation and slowed up. He saw many teams from all across the Empire take the same caution. Shikamaru even saw the Firenation Princess team among the groups. In his mind the Nara was already developing strategies to get his team on top.

Azula and her team had come to the tower front of the Tower and noticed they weren't alone as many teams faced each other seemingly in deadlocks waiting to see who would make the first moves. She could see many were from different villages and she had to admit she was anxious to see what would happen. She was prepared though. Even if her team was outnumbered she would win.

Why was that team from sound glaring at her?

The standoff didn't get any better when two teams led by Hyuuga cousins entered the clearing as well. Shikimaru felt a little relieved at seeing allies. But at the same time he couldn't be sure if they had their scrolls as could just be here to pick off teams.

Hinata Hyuuga and her cousin Neji linked up and had gotten scrolls easily but now it seemed they had to fight to keep them.

Ryuuzetsu glared at the gathered teams, three from Konoha, 1 from Iwa, 1 from Kumo, 2 from Kiri, another from sound; Great.

A female voice pierced through the clearing.

"Well, well looks like we got a bunch of shitheads looking for a fight." Tayuya's voice cut through the area and eyes were drawn to her. Karin walked up next to her with Jugo behind them.

"Well if it isn't the bastard Suigetsu" Karin glared at one of the Kiri teams as the boy with blue hair glared at the sky.

"Why of all the women in the Empire that could've come into contact us it had to be her".

"SHUT UP ASSHOLE!" Karin would've charged the man had Jugo not grabbed her shirt.

Azula and many other stood in silence at the exchange. Finally Karin sighed pushing her glasses up to her face before she addressed the gathered groups.

"Look we need to get into that tower and it seems you all won't be letting us in easily soooo" A glint emerged in her eyes "guess we'll have to force our way in" To Azula it looked as if a switched on for every single Lightning Bender drew weapons, got into stances and had lightning cover a body part.

Damn. It didn't look like she was getting out of this clean. She was focused on the insuing battle that was about to unfold but then Another voice cut into the brooding chaos this time coming from the tower front doors.

"Hey!"

It was a powerful voice that held so much authority she would think she was hearing her father. And she wasn't the only one as everyone else felt the same. All eyes turned to the crown Prince of the Lightning Empire himself.

Naruto Namikaze stood with his team along with the sand siblings and his glare was piercing into the souls of every occupant of the clearing. "I could hear you all in my sleep, What's a guy got to do to get a nap around here." Many lowered their guard at the sight of the Prince, but at the same time they were still on guard. He looked over the gathered group and spoke with authority. "Who all has a both scrolls?" every occupant team leader raised their hand causing said prince to nod his head. "Good now" He eased up his authoritative pressure and a smile found its way on his face. "Cool let's get inside the tower I'm hungry again." Azula and everyone else almost fell over, "This was the next Shikokage" With the tension gone Naruto turned around and headed inside followed by the other teams. He wanted to hug his cousins but he had to speak to Gaara first. Said redhead was walking next to him anyways. "How was that?"

"Good flexing your authority to the future generations is always a good sign of Leadership." Team 7 and Gaara's siblings behind him nodded their heads in agreement. They would help Naruto no matter what, to make him the best Shikokage he could be.

(With Aang)

In a cave hidden miles away from the city of Gaoling the Avatar and the self dubbed greatest earthbender on earth were training in many, many….strange methods.

"MOVE YOUR ASS TWINKLE TOES!" Currently the Avatar was blindfolded as he dodged many rocks tossed at him from different angles. And he was failing miserably, it didn't help that pillars were also affecting his balance.

Everytime Toph stomped her foot another pillar would shoot up. "Hey I think I'm starting to get the hang of this" He was getting the hang of it, or at least he thought Toph had a vicious smirk on her face at what her next move would be. His feet missed a pillar that went right between his legs. The earth itself shook, and surrounding animals turned to the high-pitched whine coming from the Avatar.

(Hours later, Beifong family compound)

Aang limping into his room given to him by Lao what he saw was Sokka looking over a map of the world with 5 different colors painted along the map a closer look showed each of the 5 nations different symbols and engravings were also placed ontop the map. He had to ask the water prince.

"What is this?" The water prince must not have known Aang was their because as soon as he spoke Sokka jumped in surprise. But seeing who it was the warrior calmed down.

"Geez Aang why don't you knock next time."

A deadpanned look found its way on his face. "It's my room"

"…Nevermind that come look at this." He turned his eyes back to the map and When Aang got a closer look he could finally make out the borders of the ever expanding Fire-nation, The Lightning Empire and its many cities. He could also see the water tribes territories and Earth Kingdoms, He also saw himself how he got a wooden Carving of him he wouldn't know. But it was what he didn't see that made him sad, he didn't show it outwardly though.

No Airbenders nobody even knew if they were alive still. Did they even know he was alive. He was sure they did. Maybe they weren't alive anymore. "What is this Sokka?"

"Ok I've laid out the positions of everyone and everywhere we need to go. Toph already spoke to me about the situation and I personally think she's right. This war has been going on too long to just end in talk. So with that being said I've laid out different outpost and multiple areas where we can recruit soldiers. We need an Army Aang and with the Funding of the Beifong family I believe we can buy ourselves an Army." Sokka spoke not even noticing the war raging inside Aang's mind.

"This is really happening I'm actually about to wage war on the world. Am I really justified only because I'm the Avatar. What makes me different then the rest of the leaders?" "Sokka I still need to learn the elements first before I can even think about commanding an Army. Let alone an army that can conquer the planet. I'm still just a kid mind you."

The water prince just looked at the Avatar "Aang you are the Avatar people will follow you just off of that fact alone. Add on that you will be the head but you will have generals and commanders under you. Trust me on this the people are going to support you. They will love you I will send word to my father in the south to send troops and we will begin recruiting in the Earth Kingdoms. I have this all planned out Aang."

Avatar Aang was still a little unsure but then again Sokka had a strange way of explaining stuff the young man was a genius.

"Tell me More"

*****READ**** And that's a wrap; review and tell me your thoughts. I know I haven't updated in a while but college and work comes first tbh. Shoot me questions if you want. The next Chapter will focus on the last part of the Exams. And I was wondering should I do a spinoff on the Empire's history from the Revolutions all the way to the 10th Shikokage. O should I keep doing specials. I put a poll up just for you guys. Give me your thoughts in the Review please.