Chapter 31!

This story is so damn difficult to write, because everything that I put down, it is valid for the future chapters. Difficulty.

But yeah, I updated, so please comment, vote, share, and have fun with this story!

Also, fanart guys, please, I'm running out of pictures to use. You will be specially credited and I will adore you for the rest of my life. What would be a good prize for the best fanart? What do you guys think?

~ Wolfie

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And this is how it feels when I ignore the words you spoke to me
And this is where I lose myself when I keep running away from you
And this is who I am when, when I don't know myself anymore
And this is what I choose when it's all left up to me

~ Breathe Into Me by Red

The Jinchuuriki Alliance (Naruto Fanfic) Chapter 31 - The Third Exam

The day of the finals had finally arrived.

After the explanation that Naruto gave to Sasuke and Sakura, he had asked Yagura to train him, and then buckled down and trained like his life depended on it – which, to a certain extent, it did.

Yagura had taught him quite a few things, as well as supplied him with two knuckle blades which he was taught to use.

~*~*~

"What are these for?" Naruto tilted his head and questioned Yagura.

Yagura crossed his arms, "I don't have wind natured chakra, so I can't help you much with Jutsu, but I do know that those blades can help you." He spoke. "They are specially designed metal, which can enforce your wind natured chakra."

Naruto grinned, "How do I use them? Just pour my chakra in them?"

"Yes," Yagura nodded, "Concentrate and leak your chakra into them."

Naruto stared at the dark coloured knuckle blades and allowed his chakra to seep through his skin and fingertips, leaking into the blades. Eventually, they started to glow and a fait outline of his chakra was noticeable around the metal.

Yagura clapped his hands together, "Very good!"

Naruto smirked in appreciation, "It was nothing," He waved his hand.

"Now," Yagura said, making Naruto look back at him in curiosity. Yagura held up his staff and bent his knees, and jumped at Naruto. "Defend yourself."

~*~*~

Naruto shivered at the thought of those two weeks which Yagura had taken over his life with.

He had been punched, kicked, thrown, strangled, hit and slapped with that damned staff so many times that he was close to screaming out in exasperation. But he couldn't deny the results.

By training for two weeks, and sleeping for only a quarter of it, his muscles had been toned and his skills had been polished.

He had been trained by a Kage, a Kage who had been the strongest Ninja in his village since he was a child, genes the fact that he had been put in the Kage position at a young age.

So yeah, he was stronger.

Naruto cringed, 'That staff is the bane of my existence, and the thing of nightmares.'

'Damn straight.' Kyuubi muttered.

Naruto, and the rest of Team 7, waited by the entrance gate of the Chuunin exam finals. Sakura was holding a banner, and was grinning as Naruto and Sasuke sheepishly rubbed the back of their heads.

"I need Hinata to help me hold this up." Sakura clapped her hands together in glee. "It's going to be great! You'd better win."

Sasuke scoffed, "Do you doubt us?"

"I doubt your ability to think in battle, yes." Sakura replied.

Naruto started to laugh, and then stopped, "Heads up." He whispered quietly.

Snapping his eyes open, Sasuke lifted his hand and caught a kunai with his forefinger. Turning his head, he scowled as Kakashi stalked forward with his hands in his pockets.

"I taught you well, Sasuke."

Naruto rolled his eyes, not finding the reasoning in Kakashi's surprise attack on Sasuke. It was like it was trying to show off, well, Naruto had been taught by a Kage so he had the upper hand anyway.

"Yes, fantastic, can we go inside now?" Sakura questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course, Sakura." Kakashi nodded.

As Sasuke and Sakura started to walk forward, Kakashi caught Naruto by the shoulder and pulled him back slightly.

Naruto jerked his shoulder away from Kakashi's hand and raise his chin to meet his Sensei's eyes.

"Yes? What can I do for you?" He smiled sarcastically.

Kakashi ignored the blatant disrespect. "I wanted to apologise."

Naruto nodded, "Apology accepted." And he turned to continue walking, only for his shoulder to be grabbed again. He sighed, "Yes?"

Raising an eyebrow, Kakashi tapped his neck, "The Cursed Mark, how is it?"

Naruto shrugged, "All gone."

"Funny."

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto replied, "Seriously."

"But it can't be removed!" Kakashi hissed at him, disbelieving at the notion that the mark could just vanish.

"By a human, it can't." Naruto replied. "But you're forgetting I have a demon inside me, only a demon can destroy a demon cursed seal."

Kakashi let go of Naruto's shoulder in silence, and Naruto brushed off his shoulder in thanks. "Okay." Kakashi said simply. "Let's get going." He didn't say anything more on the topic, and although that was strange to Naruto, he didn't question it.

Kakashi and Naruto caught up with Sasuke and Sakura, who just rolled her eyes and told them to not keep them waiting.

Sasuke smirked once they were all in a line again, "Now, let's kick some ninja ass."

~*~*~

Genma Shiranui took a thin toothpick out of his pocket and clamped it between his teeth. 'Why did I have to be stuck doing the finals of the exams?' He wondered bitterly. He was a busy man, being a Jounin and all, he didn't have the time to be a proctor.

In the middle of the arena, there was a line of eight Genin, standing and facing the spectators.

Naruto stood in the middle of the row of Genins, with Sasuke on one side and Fuu on his other side.

"So many people..." The Kumo genin, Sena, muttered.

Fuu grinned at him, "I know right! Isn't it exciting?" She giggled and hummed happily.

Sasuke exhaled, "I just want to get to my match already." He muttered. "But probably not even going to get to it, to be honest." He thought, thinking about the fact that Konoha was going to be attacked.

With a smirk, Naruto crossed his arms, "It's going to be fun."

"Fun?" Kaoru laughed, from the other side of the line. "This is going to be deadly." He smirked, "It's going to be more than fun."

"You're psychopathy is showing, Kaoru." Haru chuckled quietly, Kaoru just grinned at him and swung his arm across the other's shoulders, and attempting to do the same to Akihiko.

Akihiko slapped Kaoru's hand away, "Don't touch me, your idiocy may be contagious." He teased, causing Haru to laugh and Kaoru to pout.

"You lot," Genma snapped, "Shut up and stop looking around." He told them.

The Genin blinked in confusion until Fuu asked why.

"Stand up straight and face the audience." He said simply.

Kaoru tilted his head and dropped his arm from Haru's shoulder. At that moment, all of the Genin did what Genma said, stood up straight and faced the spectators.

There was a quiet rumble of chatter, until it was made into full blown clapping and cheering. The anticipation and tension was thick.

The arena was packed with people. Of course, there would be a lot of people, it was one of the first times in a while that there were ninja from almost every hidden village, Kumo, Konoha, Kiri, Taki and Iwa, participating in the Chuunin Exams. The only teams who didn't go through to the finals were the Suna team, and the Oto team.

Of course; Gaara, Temari and Kankurou could have easily gotten through, all three of them could have – without much effort – but it wasn't in the plans that Naruto made, and it wouldn't allow other Jinchuuriki to enter the village, as there would be an odd number of teams.

The team from Otogakure were under Orochimaru's command, so it wasn't preferable to let them enter the finals. However, Gaara had informed Naruto and the other Jinchuuriki that the snake Sannin was already in the village – and will attack during the finals.

"Ladies and gentlemen." A low voice was clearly heard once the cheering had quietened down. Multiple people had turned to face the source of the voice; the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. "Thank you for coming to watch Konoha's Chuunin Exam Finals!"

Another loud cheer erupted from the audience.

~*~*~

"Hinata-chan! Help me, quickly!" Sakura yelled from the spectator's benches. "You too Akane!" The redhead and the pale, lavender eyed girls. Hinata nodded hesitantly and grabbed the other side of the banner that Sakura was thrusting out for her to hold. "Okay, on three, scream what I told you to earlier!"

Hinata nodded. "O-One..."

"Two!" Akane whispered.

"Three!" Sakura grinned. They then lifted the banner high in the air, and shouted, "Kick some Ninja ass!" The banner that they were holding clearly had printed on it:

Beat Them To The Ground! ~Sasuke & Naruto~

~*~*~

"Wha?" Naruto mumbled, and then shouted; "Shit!" Then proceeded to laugh loudly.

Sasuke looked at him, questioning, and then followed Naruto's line of sight, where he then chuckled and smirked. Of course. Of course Sakura would do something like this.

"I want a banner!" Fuu huffed.

"I want fangirls." Akihiko rolled his eyes and said quietly. Kaoru and Haru grinned and glanced at each other.

Genma wanted to stab himself from the utter stupidity that he was close to. He sighed and tightened his bandana.

"Okay kids." He said, and turned to them. "Although the landscape is different, the rules are the same; there are no rules." He was surprised when none of the Genin flinched or wavered, they all looked ready to fight. 'Bloodthirsty little shits.' He thought. "The match will only end when someone dies, or gives up." Again, none flinched. "But if I decide the match is over, I will stop the match. No arguing, or I will put you down." He threatened.

"I'd like to see you try." Haru tilted his head and said with a blank face.

Genma frowned, "Don't tempt me, kid."

Akihiko scoffed and turned his head.

Thrusting his hands into his pockets, Genma looked at the whole group again. "The first match will now start. Everyone but Sena of Kumo, and Kaoru of Kiri, get out of the arena grounds."

At this statement, Sasuke and Naruto walked forward, heading to the stairs, where they would be led to the competitors box, while Fuu patted Sena on the back and wished him good luck. Sena thanked her and smiled, wondering why a girl he had just met was wishing him good luck, but didn't question it much. Haru ruffled Kaoru's hair and smiled softly, before he whispered in the clown's ear something which made the latter blush bright red, and he smacked Haru's head in embarrassment. Akihiko rolled his eyes and grabbed Haru, dragging him away from the raven-haired boy.

Once Naruto and Sasuke had reached the competitors box, Naruto looked over at the other side of the stadium and caught Yagura's eye. He nodded to him in greeting, and Yagura nodded back.

"Looks like a lot of the Kage's are here." Sasuke said to Naruto. "I doubt Orochimaru was anticipating that, since it wasn't going to originally happen, but you made Yagura and A insist."

Naruto nodded, "Which will make the invasion even easier to win."

Sasuke agreed and they took their seats, watching as the rest of the competitors started walking to the box as well.

~*~*~

"I haven't seen you in a while, Mizukage-sama."

The Kazekage, who was in actuality, Orochimaru, mentioned to him. He was very displeased over the fact that more people were ruining his plans, and the largest factor that was forming was the fact that the problem was one group of individuals; the Jinchuuriki.

"Yes, well, the civil war has been put on hold as I discuss future plans with Mei Terumi." Yagura said simply, eyes connecting with Utakata, who stepped behind him.

He knew Orochimaru's chakra signature, when he sensed it. It was surprising that the Hokage hadn't realised it yet, but obviously, Sarutobi was getting old. Which was unfortunate, because he was once called 'The Professor.'

"This is definitely a meeting which was long overdue." A, the Raikage, nodded.

Killer Bee and Yugito were standing behind A, eyes scanning through the crowd for possible targets to kill once the invasion starts. It was better to start early.

Hiruzen hummed in agreement, "Indeed. A shame that Hisen-sama and Oonoki-sama couldn't come." He referenced Taki's village leader and the Tsuchikage.

Orochimaru, in the Kazekage's disguise, smiled, "Yes, very unfortunate." 'But more helpful to me.'

Yagura scowled and creased his nose. 'It stinks of snake. How revolting.' He thought.

"About time for it to begin, yes?" A, questioned.

Hiruzen nodded.

Utakata leaned on the wall behind the Kage's, exhaling and turning his head to the side, smirking at Yugito and Bee.

'Okay, roll call.' Utakata thought mentally.

Yugito and Bee, who were next to him, blinked, as they heard Utakata's voice in their minds, but did not response verbally. It would be suspicious if they did.

'It's Naruto, long time no hear.' The Jinchuuriki's heard Naruto's voice say, obviously with a little smile. 'I'm in the competitor's box.'

'Fuu here! I'm with him!' The mint-haired girl said into the Jinchuuriki mental connection.

'Bee and I are behind the Kage's. As is Utakata.' Yugito's silky voice said smoothly.

'I'm with the other Kage's.' Yagura said simply.

'Hello,' Gaara's voice resounded, 'I'm in the audience.'

They waited for a bit for the mental connection to travel across the land.

'Roshi here.' Some of the Jinchuuriki thanked the strength of their chakra for travelling that far. 'I'm about 50 metres away from the Konoha gate.'

'As am I.' Han's deep voice spoke.

'My Kiri team are also in the competitor's box.' Yagura added.

Naruto nodded, 'Akane is in the audience.'

Yagura leaned back in his seat, looking at Sarutobi, who nodded and stood. The Hokage projected his voice and looked out into the arena floor.

"Now, start the first match!"