Heyyy Guys! Long time no update, right? Inspiration has been slow and sporadic, so yeah. And finally… schoolwork and midterm… Yay.

Note:

In my series, only sensor ninja will be able to tell whose chakra belongs to whom. For example, Kakashi would be able to tell that the mist that Naruto generates is filled with chakra, but not that it's Naruto's chakra. This does not apply to yōkai.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I do own… this mouse! And… this keyboard! And look, even a stack of engineering paper! Hurray!

Enjoy!

⸎—⸎

Naruto started awake.

Without hesitation he sat up and looked around. He quickly recognized the area as his mindscape, though it was somewhat different than before. The floor was no longer filled with water and had left behind what appeared to be cracked concrete. The pipes zigzagging across the ceiling and walls were still present there and when he looked around, he spotted the cage gates as well.

"At last! Come here boy," the Kyūbi called out.Naruto stood up and walked closer to the cage. He stopped about ten feet from the bars. "The Yondaime's seal has proved much better at blocking communication between us than I expected… I'm sure you're wondering why I've called you here." Naruto had an idea but nodded anyways. "You've taken another human's life, thus proving you aren't the weakling I had assumed you'd be. I believe you are ready for a deal with me."

"What type of deal?" Naruto questioned.

The huge beast grinned. "That idiotic Hokage's seal has stuck us together for the rest of eternity so we might as well make the best of it. I think you will find that we both can benefit from working together. If you agree, I will give you full access to my yōkai, and though it will take time to acclimate your body to its full corrosive properties, you will eventually be able to go into the tailed-beast mode." Its huge tails swayed back and forth as it waited for Naruto to answer.

"Sounds like fun!" He chuckled, but then he paused. "What do you want out of this?"

"Not too much. For one, I would like you to change this damn cage to something more interesting, a forest perhaps. And secondly, I want you to let me out every once and awhile. I want to be able to fight again, to do what I was made to do! Not sit in THIS! DAMN! CAGE!" It roared and slammed a few tails against the bars. The gong-like sound echoed down the corridor and after it diminished silence reigned. "My apologies. So, what do you say?" As he finished his sentence the bars seemed to melt and ooze into a puddle on the floor. A second later the ooze came to life and swirled together before wrapping itself in the form of a collar around the fox's neck. Akin to dusk turning to dawn, the dark ceiling began to brighten and soon it was clear they stood among a giant forest, reminiscent of the Forest of Death. The Kyūbi closed its eyes as for the first time in many years it felt the artificial wind ruffle its fur. It took a moment to look down and observe some smaller beasts roaming around.

"That was quick. Time to hold up my end of the deal. This will hurt… a lot." An angry red chakra-like substance began to swirl around Naruto and rose to surround his body. The yōkai bubble rushed and swirled for a few moments and then began to wrap tighter around him until it soaked into his skin. The boy felt as if he had been dipped into lava. His muscles spasmed and he fell onto the floor writhing in agony as his mind couldn't handle the intense pain and shut down. His world faded to black once again.

Panting heavily Naruto woke up in the real world. His whole body ached, and he felt a terrible burning sensation all over. As he lay on the floor of his room, he noticed that his shirt felt tight under his jacket. Shifting he rolled himself onto his belly and began to ease himself up. After a few aching seconds he got to one knee. A few more seconds and he was standing and attempting to stretch.

When he felt he could move easily enough, he removed his garbs and inspected himself in the bathroom mirror. His whole body had changed with the influx of the fox's yōkai. The most startling was his face and eyes. Gone were the sky-blue orbs. Sitting in his sockets were angry red eyes resembling those that the Kyūbi has, complete with slit pupil. On his cheeks the whisker-like birthmarks appeared to have darkened and become more pronounced. Finally, he flexed his muscles and felt the increased strength and power within them.

'I think I like it… a little weird considering I just look more like the furry beast within me, but I can't complain too much.' He mused.

He grinned at himself and noticed his canines had become a little more noticeable too. After the inspection was complete, he re-dressed in better fitting attire and left his home to head towards a more secluded area in the Forest of Death. After a good 30 minutes of running, he was satisfied he was far enough and sat on the forest floor. He meditated and began to search for the yōkai inside his body. Red chakra began swirl around him and formed a one-tailed fox cloak over him. The yōkai bubbled and writhed, seemingly angry at existence. It appeared his body was still having a hard time dealing with the corrosive nature of the energy, and his skin became red and burned.

He grit his teeth through the pain and managed some laughter at the absurdity of it all. He had been given such a great gift and only now was he able to use it. He couldn't wait to see how much damage he could do with this empowered chakra! What would it do to his jutsu? Just how much stronger was he? How many tails would it take to level Konoha!?

'…'

He paused after that intrusive thought sprang up. He had no real affection for the village but dreaming of its annihilation wasn't something he often did. 'I suppose the new power does come with some addition effects.' He chuckled to himself and heard some rustling to his side. Turning to see a boar rooting through some shrubbery nearby, he grinned deeply. Seemingly on its own his arm shot towards the beast and the red cloak formed a huge clawed hand that shot out and wrapped itself around the boar.

The beast squealed in surprise and pain. Within moments its thrashing came to a crescendo before it slumped in his grasp after the yōkai had completely roasted its insides. Naruto let the cloak fade and plopped to the ground.

"That was awesome! But I'll have to find time to get used to it; my insides feel like they are on fire!" His muffled laughter echoed through the woods before his eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out.

⸎—⸎

The next day, the genin had gathered at training ground 8 once again and were waiting for their jōnin. One explosion of smoke later, she appeared in front of them at exactly 7:00 am.

"Naruto," she pointed at him. "Please come with me for a moment." A little skeptical he followed her until they were out of earshot of the other two. She then turned to him "Mind telling me why you know a kinjutsu? I talked to the Hokage yesterday, and he informed me that he was unaware of your possession of the Shadow Clone jutsu."

He shrugged. "Figured it was payment for killing a traitor and returning a valuable scroll." Unbeknownst to his instructor this boy was a clone also, and the genin himself was the Konoha headband on his arm.

She gave him a look that said, 'You will be talking to the Hokage later.' Then she paused for a moment. 'It's hard to tell through the mask, but what on earth happened to his eyes?' Kurenai carefully pulsed her chakra to dispel any unknown jutsu, but the red eyes continued to stare back at her. She shook her head and ignored that new revelation for now. She beckoned him to follow her back to his teammates.

"Today is your first day of training as ninja of the leaf. As your instructor, I will be assessing where you need to most improvement and then I will determine how best to assist you each. To ensure you are in peak physical form; you will be starting with physical training every morning, with running laps, push-ups, sit-ups and then taijutsu spars. After that, we will be having an early lunch together. Then you three will return to work on chakra control and once I deem you fit, you will move on to ninjutsu or genjutsu. We will be alternating between the two areas based on my discretion. By the end of training it will be around dinner time, and you will be dismissed for the day. Any questions?"

They all stayed silent, and after a moment the jōnin ordered them to begin by stretching and doing a regiment of push-ups, sit-ups, and other simple exercises. Naruto figured that he should actually do the exercises and switched back with his clone. Kurenai was pleased when she determined that all three of them were healthy and fit for their age, which meant they didn't have to waste time getting them into shape. During the exercises she would pull one aside to spar with that student individually. She took them all aside afterwards.

"Okay team, I'm very impressed with all of you so far. Hinata, your taijutsu is exceptional. I will be working with you to add a bit more flexibility in your stance, as you are far too rigid and predictable as you are right now. If someone already knows about the Gentle Fist or if a fight is drawn out, they will easily expect your movements." She turned to her next student. "Naruto, your taijutsu is also very good, and something I've never seen before. You are precise in your movements and don't waste time, but I noticed that you rely heavily on dodging and evading. As you are now your offense was lackluster. Though your strikes were very powerful when they hit, you never went on the attack enough."

Naruto spoke up. "I've never needed to only on taijutsu. I always have my weapons on hand."

Kurenai shook her head. "You have to be prepared for anything Naruto."

'I'm already prepared for anything,' he mentally retorted.

"I will be showing you how to choose the optimal time to go on the aggressive and how to use the precision and power you have." Kurenai smiled at him. "And finally, Shino. Your taijutsu is probably the most 'well-rounded' of the three of you. You are very good, and your stance is almost perfect, and you have a good use of offensive and defensive strikes."

"Thank you, sensei." Shino nodded at her.

"But," she continued. "The speed of your moves and strikes could use a lot of work. I will be working with you to improve that."

She turned to face her whole team again. "I'm going to be honest with you. What I'm going to tell you is not to inflate your egos, but I want to encourage open dialogue between us. Regarding your fitness and taijutsu, you are all at least high genin already." She looked at the position of the sun. "Since it looks to be almost 11, let's go get some lunch together and then we will come back for more training. In honor of your first day of training, I'll treat you guys."

The group left to go to a local BBQ restaurant. Once they arrived and found a table Shino sat next to Naruto and Hinata and Kurenai positioned themselves on the other side. Once again, the jōnin found her team to be so quiet it was almost aggravating. The boys would typically only talk to each other, and only in short sentences anyways. Hinata refused to even look at Naruto for extended periods of time. Their team was lacking cohesion, but hopefully with time they would get used to each other.

⸎—⸎

After the meal, they all walked back to the training ground.

"Okay guys, I'm going to teach you the first essential chakra control exercise: tree walking. And Naruto, since I've already seen you know how to do that, you will learn water walking." Kurenai noticed that Naruto shook his head.

"I mastered that years ago." He stated.

Kurenai nodded to herself. 'I should have guessed. With his huge chakra reserves, he would have to have near perfect control to be able to practice any genjutsu.'

"Naruto if you would, please explain the exercise to your teammates." She motioned him forward.

Naruto wanted to roll his eyes but settled for a shrug instead. "I can give a few tips, but there's not much I can do other than that. Chakra control is easier to simply practice via repetition than be told what to do. It's like trying to teach someone how to use chopsticks in the dark. You can explain everything in detail, but most of the learning comes from just trying it over and over until it works." Kurenai seemed to agree with his assessment but smiled at him anyways.

That calm, almost serene smile was starting to bug him. "Fine. Tree walking is just learning how to mold chakra somewhere that you normally wouldn't. Sure, we can all mold it in our hands or mouths to fire off jutsu, but the tenketsu in the feet are foreign to most new ninja. If you can master the exercise it means that you have much better control on where and how much chakra you use in your tenketsu. Another advantage to molding chakra in your feet is that you can use it to stick to a surface. You must keep a relatively constant flow just outside of your feet and maintain the right amount at the same time. Too much and you blow off, too little and it can't hold you." He didn't offer any more and simply began to twirl a kunai around.

Kurenai spoke up. "Shino, Hinata, head over to those trees and start practicing. I suggest lying on the ground with your feet up against the tree, and then trying to walk up from that position." The two walked off to try to complete the exercise. She turned back to Naruto. "Okay Naruto, I will be judging your genjutsu proficiency. So, I've heard some rumors, but I want to hear from you. How good are you?"

"I've created my own genjutsu, made it impossible to remove by pain and can layer it."

The red-eyed woman almost choked on her own spit. Faster than Naruto could detect, the woman regained her composure. "That is impressive. If what you just said is true, you are already extremely proficient. Would you care to demonstrate one of your genjutsu for me?"

"No."

Kurenai looked puzzled. "Why not?"

"I don't plan on permanently impairing my jōnin-sensei. The genjutsu that I design are made to viciously attack the mind. If you want an example, go look for a chūnin that was convicted of attempted rape about a year ago. He should be in a mental institution." He sounded rather proud of that fact, something that concerned Kurenai slightly.

'I'm a genjutsu specialist, so I highly doubt I couldn't get out of whatever he puts me under. That being said though... the chūnin that he speaks of, as far as I've heard, is so far gone not even a Yamanaka could salvage him.'

"Okay then, for now we will move on to ninjutsu. What jutsu do you know so far?"

"I don't feel like divulging exactly what I know so far." Kurenai wanted to groan. "But I can give you a few that I've mastered outside of the academy jutsu. Gunshot, Great Breakthrough, Grand Fireball and you know I can use the Shadow Clone, are all jutsu that I've mastered. I can use each without hand seals or shouting their names to mold the chakra."

Once again, the jōnin was astonished. 'He sounds more like an experienced chūnin or even jōnin than a newly minted genin. Three different elemental jutsu...' To Naruto though she maintained her pleasant and calm demeanor. "Well Naruto, can you please show me each of those?" He nodded and turned to face away from her. He proceeded to raise one arm up elbow bent and make a fist with his hand. A bowling ball sized glob of water formed around his fist. He then proceeded to punch forward, sending it careening into a nearby rock. Upon hitting the stone, it blew the target apart and showered the area in newly formed pebbles.

Kurenai looks impressed, then held up a hand. "Hold on, that wasn't Gunshot. That jutsu is formed in the mouth and spat out. You formed it around your fist."

Naruto nodded, and tapped one of the canisters attached to his mask. "Since I've got this on my face, I can't spit things out of my mouth as easily. So, I've had to improvise. But they are still the same jutsu; the chakra is simply kneaded in other parts of my body instead of my mouth. Like my Grand Fireball is formed the same way I make the Gunshot." Kurenai shook her head in disbelief.

"That's enough of a demonstration then. If you've figured out how to modify jutsu to fit your own needs, then you are by far the most powerful genin I've ever seen." She complimented. "I would rather not inflate your ego any more, but why did you not skip the Academy?"

Naruto eye-smiled at her. "The Hokage and Anko didn't want me to; afraid I wouldn't have enough friends with people of my age group." Kurenai couldn't resist the sad smile that formed on her lips knowing that he really didn't have any friends anyways.

"Okay Naruto, at the moment I'm not prepared to teach you anything else today, so you can head home for the day. Tomorrow you and I will be talking with the Hokage though. Meet me an extra 30 minutes early at the Hokage's office." He nodded and walked away towards the Forest of Death.

⸎—⸎

The next day Naruto and Kurenai walked into the Hokage's office together and stood in front of him.

"Naruto-kun I don't really have very much time this morning, so I will make this quick. I assume you know why you are here?" He asked and received a nod in return. "The technique you now know is forbidden for a reason. The Shadow Clone is a very dangerous technique, it drains chakra extremely fast and can kill the user if they are not careful. Tell me, why did you open the scroll and steal that technique?"

"Hokage-sama, your ninja were too slow in catching the traitor. Even after I had killed him, I sat around bored waiting for them to catch up, so I got curious." He lied. "And let's face it; I'm not going to be running out of chakra anytime soon. Like I told Kurenai, I consider it payment for returning the scroll and killing a traitor."

The Third seemed to scan over the boy as he thought. "Very well Naruto-kun, we will put it down as payment for a B-rank mission. Don't let hear about you stealing anymore jutsu." He warned. "Now I believe that you have a team training to get to?"

"Hai Hokage-sama." Kurenai bowed and they both left.

⸎—⸎

The next two weeks consisted of basic training for team 8. Kurenai had told them that missions would have to wait as she made sure that they had a good base of knowledge to work from. They had mostly gone over chakra control, getting to know each other, and finally teamwork exercises. Their cohesion was gradually improving, but Naruto was still proving to be a bit of a problem. One moment he spoke with hardly any emotion, and the next he was laughing at the most random things and retelling somewhat morbid stories from his times in the Forest of Death. On a positive note, Hinata had begun to relax around her teammates at times, and her stuttering had become less noticeable.

⸎—⸎

At a popular ninja bar, some of the jōnin had met up to discuss their teams and a few others like Anko had decided to tag along. They ordered their drinks and chatted amongst each other over the cacophony of noise inside the establishment.

"So how are everybody's cute little genin?" Anko asked the group.

Gai decided to blast everyone with his opinion full volume, as usual. "MY GENIN ARE FLOURISHING IN THEIR SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!" All in attendance, save for Kakashi, winced and tried to rub feeling back into their ears for a moment.

Anko did a quick translation in her head. "So, you're saying they're pretty strong then?"

Gai gave her the 'nice-guy' pose, complete with teeth sparkle. "YOSH!"

Asuma lit up a cigarette. "My genin could probably already give yours a run for their money. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio has always been strong, and this year is no exception. I might even enter them into the chūnin exams this year."

Kurenai's eyebrow rose slightly at his claim and thought about her own team entering the exams that were only a few months away.

Kakashi snorted under his mask. "Pretty confident in your genin, eh? I doubt even your trio could take on just two of my genin. Arrogance aside, Sasuke and Kiba are power-houses."

Kurenai rolled her eyes. "I doubt you've even taught them tree walking yet, have you?" Kakashi laughed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Like I thought, at least I'm teaching my genin the essentials. And they are already strong as is."

Anko smirked. "Well, well, well… How about we turn this dick measuring contest to one that involves some cash?" That declaration caught everyone's attention. "I've got a little idea for a kind-of Advanced Capture the Flag. Here's how it will go down:

"First off, the betting will start at 30 Yen (1 Yen = 1 Dollar, easy that way) into the pot which I will hold… and take 10 percent since this was my idea… Anyways, each of your teams will have a flag with that team's number on it, and it will be held on a small pipe that will serve as a flagpole. The goal is to steal and hold as many flags as possible.

"At midnight after two days, the team with the greatest number of flags wins! And as a bonus: if your team doesn't have any flags by the end of the exercise, the entire team including the jōnin has to grace the residents of Konoha with their best singing voices. A song chosen by the team that holds their flag will be sung in the market district at noon!" She cackled and rubbed her hands together as the others cringed.

She regained her composure and continued. "The flags can be stolen from anyone, even from a team that stole it first. So, by the end of deadline whoever has the greatest number of flags wins. A tie will be broken by one-on-one duels the next day. Now, anyone have any rules they want to throw out on the table?"

Kurenai looked concerned. "They just got out of the Academy, and now they will have to spend two whole days on guard protecting a flag? What about at nighttime or when they are eating?"

Anko grinned even more. "This will be a great training exercise and even preparation for the chūnin exams! Think about it, no enemy has ever given any of us a break when we are out on a mission. In fact, when your pants are down is when they will most likely strike! And anyways, if they can't survive two days in a training ground, they have no chance in the exams."

The red-eyed kunoichi then turned to see one of Kakashi's infuriating eye-smiles. "Maa maa. It's okay Anko, I guess her team isn't up to the challenge. We understand."

Kurenai's visage hardened at the not-so-subtle insult. "I know what you're implying Kakashi. And I know what you are trying to do. I never said I didn't want my team to compete, just that it might be a little sudden given that they just left the academy. But I suppose that my team can take some time to take your arrogant little boys down a peg or two."

Gai laughed and put a hand on the woman's shoulder. "No need to let Kakashi's coolness rile you up! I'm sure everyone's teams will do great. Do we all agree that only the genin can defend or capture the flag, since we are testing their skills and not each other's." Everyone bobbed their heads in agreement. "I would also say that the flag cannot be stored in a scroll or hidden underground. Though I think Henge or genjutsu should be legal." Again, everyone nodded.

"The game should be kept within training ground 15. It's large enough that all four teams will have plenty of room, but it will keep them confined as to not disturb the rest of the village. Team 7 will start on the northern-most corner, Team 8 on the southern-most, 9 on the western, and 10 on the eastern." Kakashi said.

"Sounds reasonable. So, you guys want to put your money where your mouth is?" The senseis each eyed each other for a moment, before each of them took out their respective wallets and handed their money to Anko. After a moment they noticed much of the bar had gone silent and many were turned to listen in.

"Hey! I want in on this!" A random jōnin called.

"Yeah, me too!" A chūnin agreed. There were several other jōnin and chūnin nearby that decided to put in their bets too.

"The winnings will be handed out three days from now at this very bar. Here are your flags." Then they all shifted in surprise as 4 flags complete with flagpoles, appeared out of nowhere and were handed to each of them. They each had the respective team's numbers on them and were all a bright red with the number being black. The pole was about 7 feet tall and made of a relatively lightweight PVC pipe.

They all gave her an odd look. "How long have you been planning this?" Kurenai asked. The purple-haired kunoichi just smiled cheekily.

"The games begin tomorrow at noon, training ground 15. Bye!" Anko smiled and ran off after downing her drink. The others awkwardly sat for a moment before grabbing their flags and walking off to plan on how to help their team get all the flags.

⸎—⸎

The next morning Naruto and his teammates were all sitting by a tree waiting. Moments later they all looked towards the poof of smoke that just appeared.

"Good morning everyone!" Kurenai called. She sounded much more awake and louder than usual, which made Naruto suspicious and just puzzled the other two. "We are going to be doing some quick jutsu training. Then at noon there is something fun I have planned for you guys involving some other genin teams. Now then…" Kurenai pulled out three sheets of paper and went to hand one to Naruto.

"I already know my affinities." Kurenai expected this so she nodded at him and then handed the other two papers to Shino and Hinata.

"Channel chakra into them." She watched as Shino's card crumbled to dust and Hinata's card became soaked with water. "Shino, your chakra affinity is earth, while Hinata's is water. That will make learning certain jutsu easier than others, and it has other implications that I won't be going into right now. Shino, I will be showing you Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall while Hinata I will be showing you Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field. These jutsu will help in protection and containment, which will be vital to fending off attackers and forcing enemies into corners." She spent the next few minutes going over the chakra flow and hand signs to the two techniques and demonstrated each to the genin. After making sure that they had the general concept down, she went over to Naruto.

"Naruto, while Hinata and Shino are working on their new jutsu, I'm going to be helping you with your genjutsu. Now I know that you can create powerful ones already, but I believe you lack subtlety." He stayed silent, indicating he didn't understand where she was going with this. "Naruto, do you know that you've been under a genjutsu for the past 10 minutes?"

He jerked his head slightly in surprise and sent out a pulse of chakra. From his point of view, Kurenai's hand rippled slightly and then revealed to be holding a kunai in her hand. Naruto almost pulled out his own kunai, thinking she was about to attack him, but held back his impulse. On the outside it only appeared that he shifted his arm slightly, so the red-eyed woman ignored it.

"As you can see, genjutsu doesn't have to be something large and devastating. Simply putting one over my hand, I was able to hide a kunai from you without you even suspecting you were under an illusion. That is one of the great powers of the illusionary arts, it can be used to change incredibly small details that most people wouldn't notice. Something may seem small, but it can greatly affect any battle. I want you to practice making small genjutsu and I will attempt to discern what they are." For the next few hours, Kurenai watched as her genin practiced their techniques. Soon it came time and she had them follow her to training ground 15.

They each took note of the flagpole held in her hands that had a red flag with the number 8 plastered on it. "I bet you are all wondering why I have this flag. Well, you guys are going to be participating in an advanced training exercise!"

Hinata decided to speak up. "What do you m-mean Kurenai-sensei?"

"This is a game very similar to capture the flag. But here are the rules…"

Kurenai briefly explained the game and how it was going to be played and then took note that they had finally entered the training ground, and it was already 11:45.

'So that's why Anko refused to stop hugging me until I promised to win her lots of money…' Naruto thought with a small smile at the thought of Anko hugging him. Then his brain hitched forward.

"You mean we get to… fight other genin in order to get their flags?" Naruto asked. Kurenai nodded slightly perplexed, and then she got a feeling of dread in her stomach.

'Oh dear… what have I just unleashed…' She thought as she heard a dark chuckling coming from her student. A thick fog soon started to surround him and rapidly obscured his form.

"Wait we haven't even started yet!" Kurenai reached into the cloud but found no body inside. The mist blew away to reveal empty air.

The woman sighed in defeat before turning to her remaining students. "The game will begin at noon, make sure to protect the flag but more importantly protect each other. If you can, try to talk some sense into Naruto when he gets back." Kurenai hugged Hinata and waved to Shino as she walked away, leaving her genin to their fate.

⸎—⸎

Naruto was excited. He finally got to openly attack the other genin, if he had the reason of 'getting their flag'. He didn't really care about this exercise, but he also refused to sing anything in front of anyone ever. He would rather murder someone… or a few people, than attempt to sing.

Anyways, he was currently on the prowl for another team. He heard from Anko about Kakashi's tardiness when it came to everything, so he knew that heading north would be a waste until at least an hour after the designated start time. The closest team was 10 anyways. The training ground wasn't any standard configuration, and it happened that the southern and eastern-most corners were close to each other.

As he was jumping along, he finally came to the river that separated the southwest corner from the rest of the training ground and was happy to see that team 10 was gathered around their sensei Asuma. Chōji was currently sitting next to their flag and munching on a few chips as Asuma finished explaining the rules of the game. Shikamaru was on his back staring at the clouds probably only partially listening to his sensei, while Ino was trying her best to understand the game and how to go about winning it.

Naruto conjured around 50 clones and had them spread out throughout the forest in preparation as he began to flood the area in a thick mist. He was extremely happy to see that the yōkai influx had increased his own reserves quite a bit and he was able to cover a much larger area.

Asuma side-eyed one of the more obvious clones. "Looks like the game has started already. Remember; if you lose your training will be increased tenfold!" As he finished, the fog finally overtook their group. Even though they were sitting a few feet from each other, they couldn't see one another.

Naruto chuckled as he felt the genin get up to try and find each other. He was thoroughly enjoying this 'training exercise' as Kurenai called it. 'I suppose I don't get to kill them, but this should be fun all the same!' He cheered mentally.

To disorient his opponents, he used subtle wind manipulation to conjure different breezes around them. He also ordered his clones to make noises that were just loud enough for only one person to hear. Soon enough, each genin had been herded into seclusion. Naruto quickly strode through the fog and approached Chōji and the flag. He wanted to add to the effect, so he began to release some Killing Intent and channeled just a touch of youkai into his throat and eyes. This made his red eyes glow behind the eye-pieces, while his voice gained a deep and demonic edge to it. He also ordered his Mist Servants to make sure they approached Ino head on, as he figured she would scream at the sudden appearance of multiple Narutos.

A clone appeared in front of Ino and sure enough, she let out an ear-piercing scream that cut through the muffling fog. The blonde-haired girl haphazardly swung out with a kunai and hit the Mist Servant, making it split into two more, adding to her panic. This distracted her while a Shadow Clone quickly went up behind her and jabbed her in the neck. Shikamaru wasn't fairing any better as the mist scattered the light and reduced the intensity of his shadows, and the intense KI didn't help him think either. Soon enough, he too was knocked out by one of Naruto's clones.

The real Naruto's body seemed to float through the mist as he approached Chōji. Dispersing some of the fog around him, he revealed himself to the pudgy boy and began to chuckle.

"You hear that? That scream was your teammate. The other isn't faring well either." He paused and a hidden blade slide out of its sheath, its edge glistening somehow. He turned his hand over and seemed to be examining the blade."It's amazing, what fear can do. It can make the strongest men quake on their knees, and the most courageous give up hope. Humans are so powerless against fear, and I am its avatar!" He emphasized his declaration by focusing even more KI on the boy, causing Chōji's body to shake under the pressure."So… would you like to hand over the flag, or end up like your friends?"

Chōji began to sweat as he looked down at the flagpole held in his hands. He knew that this was just training, but his former classmate looked and sounded well and truly evil. The quaking genin could help but envision being carved up with his teammates into tiny pieces if they didn't comply. His brain had a hard time weighing his options at the time, so he cautiously put their flag on the ground and backed away. Naruto sheathed his blade and laughed some more as he approached and grabbed the flag. He stood back up and then surrounded himself in mist once more. A few seconds later, the fog completely dispersed as if it was never there. The entire training field looked undisturbed, except for Ino and Shikamaru lying on the ground some distance from each other, and Chōji finally gave in to his shaking and fell onto his knees.

⸎—⸎

Team 8 was surprised when Naruto appeared in front of them holding a flag already.

"This is just way too much fun!" He cackled as fog began to encircle him again.

"Naruto," Shino called. "It would be logical for you to stay here. Why? We have to defend the flags and have yet to form any kind of plan."

Hinata nodded her head. "W-we need to figure out the best p-plan of action."

Naruto stood still for a moment and an unseen frown overtook his countenance. After a moment the fog began to dissipate. Shrugging, he conceded. "Bah, I could easily take everyone else out. But fine, I'll stay here for a little while." Naruto made sure to put their flags under a genjutsu to make them invisible. After briefly conversing with his teammates, he began to patrol the area hoping to encounter someone.

The rest of the day proved boring, as most of the genin were surprisingly cautious. For their first day, everyone was still coming up with various plans or in the case of team 10, recovering from their encounter with the jinchūriki. As midnight on the first day drew near, all was quiet.

⸎—⸎

The moon was high in the sky on the first night.

Naruto could barely contain his excitement and bloodlust. He wanted a good fight! He desperately wanted to feel blood seep through his jacket and stain his gloves. He-

"Naruto," Shino shook his friend's shoulder. "You need to rest. Your watch is over."

Naruto was broken from his trance and nodded to his friend. He had volunteered to stay up for first watch. They knew that they couldn't just assume the other teams would stay away for the whole night, but so far that had been the case. He tried to get comfortable, but just couldn't let his mind relax. He felt extremely vulnerable down on the ground in view of everyone. So, he came up with a solution and quickly made a clone up in a nearby tree and did a quick Kawarimi with it. Nodding his approval at the seamless switch, he laid himself down on the branch. Naruto almost couldn't contain himself he was so excited, but soon the edges of his vision began to darken, and his head filled with a new pain.

'That can't be good. Maybe I'm more tired than I thought…'

⸎—⸎

My creation! Chapter 5, it is alive! People are… reading it! Woot! :D

There you have it, complete with cliffhanger and all! Thank you so much for reading it. Also, thanks once again to my Beta readers! They have helped a lot.

Please REVIEW for me. The simple review is always very much appreciated, but you can help improve the story if you tell me why you did or did not like this chapter.

New jutsu this chapter:

Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall (B-rank): (Taken from a Naruto Wiki) The user converts chakra in their body into an earthen material that they spit from their mouth; the more skilled the user, the greater the volume of earth can then be created. The earth quickly piles up into a defensive wall, blocking incoming attacks. Although the muddy material is solid on its own, it is further fortified with a coat of chakra, making it more resistant to fire and water than it would otherwise be.

Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field (C-rank): (Taken from a Naruto Wiki) The user expels high viscosity water to cover the ground. This stream of sticky liquid can be used to form an adhesive trap that will inhibit a person's mobility. One can effectively reduce their enemy's area of activity with this technique, giving the user an advantage on the battlefield. The normal scope of this technique is normally just a few meters, but it is possible to make an entire pond of starch syrup. The syrup can be manipulated to move after it is created, being able to stick and travel up surfaces.