Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way shape or form.

Chapter 2:

Fruits of training

--- --- ---

One week left that was all and even now Naruto was feeling subtly confident in his growing capabilities, his Uzumaki Family Taijutsu Style had reached levels he had not honestly believed he was going to reach in the short period.

And there was only one thing he could say about that, White Chakra freaking Rules its regeneration properties turning the roughly two and a half week training period into more like two and a half months.

Seriously he could do in a day what it would take almost anyone a week just because he didn't have to rest and let his muscles rebuild like everyone else between sessions, he had observed his clones in a mass Spar and he was scarily fast now.

Not as scarily fast as Lee and his Gai Sensei were but he had something they didn't a rather new discovery that had left him after just a short use exhausted unlike anything he had felt before.

It was his 'Gold' Chakra another aspect of the Foxes separated Chakra it was the filtered and purified part that had enhanced his well everything physical, it was like using the Chakra gates but without the tearing himself from the inside out part.

Oh it had its downsides he had come to realise everything did but they were more than worth it, it was after all more an endgame last ditch effort skill something that you used when you had no other choice.

Especially as it left him truly exhausted after, it boosted his strength, speed and he was sure his resistance to damage took a jump as well, but it drained his Stamina like nothing he had experienced before.

Right now his limit was set in three categories, Factor One which was about ¼ of what his body could handle and gave him just about a fifty percent boost for around five minutes, Factor 2 was about half of what his body could safely handle and easily doubled his power for around three minutes or less.

He had not gone beyond factor three as that had started to physically hurt and wore his body out as a frightening speed, another good fifty percent increase in his power was the hand off though only for about a minute.

There were two other problems with using Gold Chakra though one he had managed to partially offset, problem one was not really a combat orientated problem more than a statistical one, as he grew stronger physically and his body slowly became accustomed to the 'Gold' Chakra.

The amount he could use increased.

The other true problem was the raw speed, even if the boost affected his eyes increasing his reaction times he was having increasing problems thinking at such high speed all but offsetting that, it was frustratingly similar to how Sasuke had almost the same problem in his spar with Lee.

While Sasuke's Sharingan increased his both perception and reaction time beyond what his body could keep up with, he had almost the exact opposite problem, too much speed not enough perception.

It would fix itself in time once he began to grow accustom to the raw extra speed but if he wanted to hold the almost complete Rasengan in reserve he was going to have to find another was, and so he had spend almost four frustratingly empty hours looking through the Archive for a quicker solution.

He was successful... kinda anyway.

The SEED factor (Superior Evolutionary Element Destined-factor) was the almost perfect solution, the problem was simple ... it was a kind of racial bloodline in another freaking Dimension and the chance of him getting that was about as likely as him spontaneously developing the Sharingan.

But its affects had lead him down another path, it was a form of concentration based around Meditation, normally the mind receives information, partially processes it, stores it then you get to act on it.

The Sharingan worked by essentially dumping all the information directly into storage while a copy is pushed into process, in a normal human this would be a very bad thing as it would give a massive overload of information.

The normal eye has only so much it can process at once the rest is stored to be processed while you sleep, the Sharingan while active actually boosts that integration rate, each tomoe 'doubled' what the natural eyes capacity.

A fully matured Sharingan effectively increased Perception by around ten or more times than that of a normal eye, another scary thing was its ability to use its minimal ability to see Chakra in a person's boy's flair as they move it processes that automatically into an action.

What the 'Combat' meditation skill did was slowly with practice boost the eyes natural process and integration rate, couple that with a refined version of what he was beginning to do during meditation anyway.

And he already had a frightening jump it reaction and reflex time and a still steadily increase with practice, true while it was nothing like the amazing jumps each tomoe gave the Sharingan but it was steadily increasing with practice.

Already it was he estimated it reaction times were slowly creeping up on a single tomoe Sharingans level, and that was truly something to brag about.

It did still give him a nasty headache the longer he used it a side effect of overworking his eyes and brain, but like any muscle with some time and a little luck he would get used to it quickly enough so it no longer left him holding his head painfully after the adrenaline faded.

Again had he mentioned how totally freaking 'Awesome' his White Chakra was!?

--- --- ---

Sarutobi Hiruzen watched through his Viewing Globe as hat had been dubbed the Rookie Nine or at least the ones who were going to be competing in the finale of the Chuunin exams with a small smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

It truly felt good to see the next generation really did possess the fabled 'will of Fire' true he had been both annoyed and angry when he had found out Kakashi had all but abandoned Naruto, especially as he knew that the blond Genin held absolutely no respect for the Jounin Training Specialist.

His annoyance had slowly turned into concern when Naruto successfully managed to drive of the Jounin, true he might not have trusted, respected or even liked the Instructor but he would have learned a lot from him.

So you could imagine his shock and growing awe as the Fourths Legacy had started to suddenly train in things he should have no knowledge about, when he had started learning what he was sure was the Rasengan he had used the orb to look for Jiraiya.

Only to find the Toad Sannin ready to leave the Village something he knew he would not be doing if he was training Naruto, true the Toad Sage had made the aging Hokage promise to apprentice Naruto to him when he became a Chuunin.

But he didn't even seem to known that his godson was even 'IN' the Chuunin exams, something he decided he was going to have to rectify.

The next shock had been the new forms of Chakra and especially the new additions to the Seal or rather the effects they were having on the teenage son of his predecessor/successor.

The distinct lack, an absolute and complete disappearance of any of the foxes Chakra had been an interesting revelation, the additions had initially scared him as it would mean someone had tampered with a Seal so complex it could have had disastrous consequences.

That was until he had frozen the Orbs image when the Seal was visible and his eyes had found something that had froze the blood in his veins while at the same time warmed his heart.

Everyone who was called a Seal Master or even a practitioner had a distinct mark a kind of Seal Signature so if something started to go wrong with the Seal they could be contacted for help, he had one, Jiraiya had one.

And their resting proudly on the outer boarder of the new slightly expanded Seal was the 'Signature Seal Mark' of one Namikaze Minato.

He had no idea how and the only reasonable thing he could think of without asking the teen directly something he was going to before the exam finals was that the Seal was meant to do this, possibly some kind of evolution or time delayed activation of something.

He idly remembered the former Yondaime has known for developing multi sequenced 'Prank' seals during his apprenticeship to Jiraiya, so it wasn't a stretch of the imagination to thing he had set the Shiki Fujin with extra Seals that would activate when his Son reached a pre-planned age or Chakra level.

If that was the case and the Seal really had become even stronger that would help elevate some of Naruto's more vocal opposition, with some fast talking and a good fabricated story he might be able to get the boy more of his inherence much sooner than the council originally wanted.

Speaking of the Council he was quite pleased at the admittedly few Naruto supporters had been growing over the past few month, even among the civilian population he was steadily earning respect and a reputation.

True it was a reputation as an excitable loudmouth who tended to screw up at almost everything the first few times he did it but he was also getting a reputation as being genially friendly and dependable sure he messed up a few times while he was learning but who didn't.

Also his adventure out of the village had began to trickle back, rumours of liberating an entire country rumours that had been quickly confirmed by traders from wave had only added to his reputation.

His poor performance yet humorous defeat over Inuzuka Kiba had initially made people laugh and joke, which had quickly faded when some of the details of Orochimaru's infiltration had been skilfully leaked detailing how team Seven had not only survived the encounter.

But had succeeded in making it to the Chuunin exam finals while both being exhausted and injured from the encounter with the S-Class Missing Nin, succeeding even while suffering from performance suppressing Seals.

The fact that the Snake Sannin 'had' infiltrated was not going to be a secret for long but putting this twist on it had not only offset the damage the incident had cased to Konoha's image, but strengthened it by having a team with such capabilities.

After all it's not everyday someone or a team of someone's are targeted by the S-Class Snake charmer and not only live to tell the tale but live with minimum injuries and go on to defeat capable Genin in the Chuunin exams.

His former student was up to something that he knew instinctively, Jiraiya had confirmed that with his report and he truly wished the Toad Sage was wrong.

But he knew he wasn't, Orochimaru was suspected to be the Otokage and with an entire village at his beck and call he knew war was going to be inevitable, it wasn't hard to deduce the Sannin was planning an Assassination, a string of Assassinations or an outright invasion.

Knowing the Snake like he did he suspected all three with added twists.

Konoha would survive of that he was certain the 'Will of Fire' was not so easily extinguished after all, oh no the trick was to turn this potentially devastating situation to their advantage if not Militarily then politically.

A small smirk graced his aging face as he thought 'the true trick s finding a way for this to strengthen us not militarily or even politically, oh no the trick will be as I am planning... both, and I have a feeling Naruto may be the Key to that'

So with a growing smile the Wiley old fire shadow began planning how to improve both his beloved village and his much loved charge's positions.

And yes he really did think the unknown Namikaze was going to be the Key to this, it was a chance and it could go wrong but he had good instincts and for probably the first time in years.

They were screaming for attention.

--- --- ---

Uzumaki Naruto blinked twice a grin spreading itself over his face as he looked himself over, not having a large enough mirror he simple substituted it for a Clone and he had to admit, he liked what he saw.

He had grown a lot in the past month gaining only a few inches if that but considering he was a shortass before they helped a lot, his hair was the same spiky mess that he was going to try combing a bit with a real comb before he left rather than just with his fingers.

After an interesting Chat with Oji-San where he found his changed were not as secret as he had thought he had asked for a few pairs of more traditional Shinobi gear, he loved orange he really did but it was time to leave his childhood behind and bright Orange clothing was a part of that.

Now while he had decided he was going to go more... traditional in his outfit the old man had suggested he not leave it completely behind and to leave it to him, the result he had to admit was freaking awesome.

More traditional that his Orange jumpsuits yes, like the average Ninja... not exactly, it seemed to have taken a 'lot' of inspiration from his father's old outfit.

Sturdy Black Shinobi Sandals were a start, white fairly baggy white pants with all the standard pouches a uniform black, a mesh vest under a fetching black top a long silver zipper could be seen in the middle.

It had long thick sleeves looking more like black versions of Sasuke's arm warmers than sleeves and atop of his head was his forehead Protector the Symbol of His Village affiliation and Ninja status the blue cloth replaced with a longer black one.

The best part he would admit was the Red and Black replica of his Dad's coat, on the back were the Kanji proudly depicting 'Konoha's Maelstrom' and as he looked over his clones he admitted, he looked 'Good' much more professional even dangerous.

It also gave him a startling resemblance to his father while giving it a distinct twist that all but screamed uniquely 'Naruto ' so quickly checking over his equipment and finally brushing his hair he left the room through the window and took to the roofs, his destination.

The Chuunin Finals.

If he had taken the time to check his appearance one final time he would have seen that simply from brushing his messy hair he went from looking a lot alike the Fourth.

To being almost undeniably the former Blond Hokage's Kin.

--- --- ---

The stadium was packed, with the impressive line up of competitors including many a powerful clan all three children of the Kazekage and many others it was not too much of a surprise.

The Sandaime smiled a secret smile when he spied Naruto sitting in a shaded part of the waiting area mostly hidden from everyone, the teenager really did look a lot like his father with the change of clothes and he was looking forwards to the reaction when he walked into the light.

He expected a few people may faint.

Naruto was sitting cross legged atop one of the seating stands sharp eyes taking in the arena grounds critically; the other competitors were already down there in the ring soaking up the cheering fans.

Sasuke had yet to turn up but he knew he only had to appear for you match so he wasn't too worried he probably wanted to make a big entrance like he did, well Kakashi probably wanted to make a big entrance for his 'Star' student anyway.

His eyes landed on Sakura and Ino and he couldn't help but smile as they were as he had expected arguing, but he smiled as well because the rift that had developed between the two former friends over Sasuke seemed to have closed.

He was glad for that, Kiba and Hinata were there as well next to two Ninja who judging by Hinata's look was badmouthing him, he couldn't help the slight blush that that thought brought his mind too.

A Download of Human psychology had brought about a lot of revelations to the oblivious teen, a lot of embarrassing revelations and the fact that Hyuuga freaking Hinata the closest thing Konoha had to a genuine Princess 'Liked' him.

Well he was kicking himself for days for not seeing that and what his negligence must had done for her self esteem, he had confronted and almost mortified the poor girl the day before, telling her he was both flattered and amazed someone like her would like someone a street urchin like him.

He had let her down in the best way he could, by not really letting her down, he had instead said that he liked her but didn't really know her, they should start as friends and see what happens.

He could see Kiba's smirk at the two other Ninja defiantly an I know something you don't know look and he also watched as Kiba noticed the strangely abundant ANBU in the stands, from what he had downloaded there were far more than he thought there should have been.

His eyes finally landed on Gaara and a frown graced his features at the murderous gaze of the redheaded Sand Junchiriki flickered around obviously looking for the absent Uchiha.

In the stands Sakura's fingers twitched nervously "Come on, where are they do they want to be disqualified, I knew Kakashi Sensei's bad habits would spread to one of them but not both" the Pinkette half joked to her once again friend.

Ino who was also looking around nodded "I know you worried about Sasuke nobody has seen him all month, but shouldn't you worry more about Naruto his match 'is' first and he hasn't shown... think he overslept?"

Sakura blinked her head slowly turning to her blond friend "Well Naruto did do that a few times in the Academy remember" sighing at her friend Sakura sadly nodded.

"Yes but Naruto is a... different that he was back then, more serious well sometimes and well he made a promise Naruto never breaks one, anyway he wouldn't be late for this he will arrive on time if he isn't already here somewhere"

Down in the ring the new announcer cleared his throat and started.

"The Chuunin Exams Officially Start Now, the first match is between Hyuuga Neji and Uzumaki Naruto can the two please come to the ring everyone else move to the waiting area"

Neji who was already in the ring so waited while the others filed out, looking impatient the Hyuuga branch member snorted "It's obvious the Dobe forfeited, not even having the courage to turn up, fait has declared I will be the winner yet to win without fighting, utterly pathetic"

A soft masculine voice seemingly carried by the air replied after a few seconds.

"What is pathetic Hyuuga-San is a man who blames everything good or bad on fait, fait only exists in those to weak willed to make their own, and I find 'That' to be truly pathetic"

Absolute silence, that was what greeted him after Neji spun to face him the Hyuuga managed not to gape as he considered that beneath him but to these who were in the position to see the Blond Chuunin hopeful there was complete silence.

He was standing on the edge of one of the stands balanced easily on the railing with his arms crossed over his chest and eyes giving fiercely at his opponent.

It started slowly, a quiet murmur mostly from foreign diplomats and Shinobi with murmurs of 'Yondaime' and 'Yellow Flash Reborn' slowly filtering to questions on his heritage.

Sakura had to admit with a badly suppressed blush as he really did look amazing almost nothing like the knucklehead he was just a month ago, and it wasn't just the new clothes though they defiantly helped his new image.

It came to her suddenly "It's his eyes, yes and the set of his face he looks so serious It's like he is an entirely different person" the members of the group known as the rookie nine seemed to have gravitated together as Sakura reached the rails in front of her seat.

Ino gave a snort "He 'is' a Ninja one Sasuke-Kun himself said he wanted to fight, it's about time the baka started acting like one" despite her tone she was obviously impressed as were much of the people watching.

Hinata smiled her eyes twinkling and a delicate blush gracing her features "This is Naruto; this is just a part of him he does not like to show much, yes he plays the part of the village fool but he only plays the part because it makes people smile but he is anything but a fool"

"Watch him, are friend, are colleague and by choice, are protector"

Jumping from the railing Naruto seared through the air with seemingly no effort his landing making nary a sound and hardly kicking up any dust, walking into the ring like mound of earth his eyes not once leaving the eyes of his target.

"Hyuuga Neji, Uzumaki Naruto... Hajime"

--- --- ---

Nothing happened at first, the two combatant just stood there eyes locked for several long seconds until Neji moved first sliding easily into a 'Jūken' ready stance tensing only slightly as Naruto remained standing his arms at his sides.

What the Hyuuga didn't know was that Naruto's Taijutsu didn't 'have' a formal stance or rather it did but it was made to 'look' like it didn't, while Naruto looked unguarded he was just as on guard as Neji.

So when Neji really expect Naruto to lean back then twist to his right at his hips then rotate his entire body his leading foot kicking up a trail of dirt as he spun his arm lashing out in a blur and impacting solidly with the Hyuuga's wrist.

As it turned out to Neji's misfortune the 'hit' was simply from momentum as the arm was not meant to be an attack, rather it was a grab and with the arm of the Branch Hyuuga firmly in his grasp the young blond pulled.

Off balance the Hyuuga hardly had any time to think as with a duel *Poof* two Shadow Clones appeared their arms already rising together would they hit their target it would have left quite a bruise, as it was they didn't as the Hyuuga Prodigy spun his hands meeting those of the Clones.

Using the rising fists as a platform Neji spun his leg lashing out at the real Naruto in what was promising to be a punishing blow; it was not to be as the blond was suddenly replaced with an explosive tag, his eyes widening the Prodigy averted his kick and used the clone to propel himself upwards.

Naruto watched in mild amusement as the Exploding Note detonated his eyes following the Prodigy as the blasts shockwave pushed him higher that he would have jumped on his own, readying another surprise he pulled out a trio of Shuriken with each hand and let rip.

Neji grunted from his elevated position his ears still ringing, having had enough he activated his Byakugan and good thing too as six Shuriken cut though the Chakra laced Dust curving up to meet his decent, pulling out his own projectiles he skilfully flung then at the approaching weapons of death.

That done he turned his attention to more pressing matters while still keeping an eye as it were on the Shuriken on the off chance he missed, again the boys eyes widened as a shout of "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu" and the six spinning projectiles became sixty.

Grunting as the Shuriken bit into the large log he was replaced with thanks to a quick Kawarimi no Jutsu Neji found himself tensing for another attack.

The expected attack never came as Naruto was just standing there his arms back at his sided and piercing blue eyes boring into his soul he met the red clad Ninja with decidedly more care.

'His speed has increased I would say a little more than double what it was during his match with the Inuzuka, and his use of that Clone technique has improved he has defiantly improved far more than I had believed he could'

Narrowing his activated Byakugan eyes eh called out "I will admit you have improved far more than I had estimated Uzumaki however I have estimated you are still no match for me at you're current level, you will lose this fight It has already been decided by fate"

The Hyuuga prodigy blurred forwards with such speed many of the spectators saw just a blur of light cloth as those that could track the path of the Genin whistled impressed, the first blow was shockingly blocked and while it obviously stung he didn't manage to close a Tenkatsu.

His second third and fourth however did blocking three of the Tenkatsu in the blocking arm of the blond Genin, a superior smirk when to his shock the appearance of two Chakra sourced drew his attention to his feet.

Naruto grinned at the shocked Neji as a pair of clone broke the surface of the ground, latching on to the cream clad teen while the original Naruto spun one half turn his foot lashing out and turning the Hyuuga into a temporary bullet.

He watch his eyes hardening again as the Hyuuga got to his feet while simultaneously wiping a trickle of blood from his Chin with a wince.

"Tell me Neji-Kun, is fate the reason you now have a bloody lip or is fate the reason you underestimated me or is 'fate' really just an excuse"

The teenaged prodigy looked up sharply both angered and confused and the blond Junchiriki's next words momentarily froze the blood in his veins.

"No fate has nothing to do with it, I know people like you Hyuuga I know people who childishly blame everything bad that happens to them on one thing whether it be a person, an object or a deity they hide behind it so fiercely because deep down they are cowards"

Neji looking furious went to shout a retort but was silenced at Naruto's glair.

"I know about that Seal you suffer with, about the abduction and it 'after-effects' I know better than most the pain one goes through because of an unwanted Seal but do you know something Neji, not once have I given up have I given in and ran away"

"I started training last month to beat you for what you did to Hinata, I was going to take you apart and beat you into the ground for your how you treated her, I changed my mind I'm not just going to beat you for her or even for me"

"Hyuuga Neji Prodigy of the great Hyuuga Clan, I am Uzumaki Naruto the Academy Dobe and I am going to defeat you for your own good, I'm going to prove that If a 'Dead Last Loser' like me can change then so can a genius like you"

--- --- ---


So that's it for Chapter two, so what do you think have I over powered Naruto? I think I have but that is Kinda the point lol

Let me know what you think and any advice and don't just say a Beta as that isn't much help in improving 'My' writing ability now is it lol.

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'Kawarimi' = Body Replacement Technique

Switched with an object of similar mass to the user

'Kachuu Kyouhon' = Wildly Running Vortex

Taijutsu Style of the Uzumaki Clan, fast, unpredictable and deadly

'Kage Bunshin' = Shadow Clone

An advanced variation of the Bunshin it has a physical body and anything the Clone learns so does the original.

'Kage Shuriken' = Shadow Shuriken

A Variation of the Kage Bunshin only it makes copies of the thrown Shuriken instead.

'Rasengan' = Spiralling Sphere

An orb of dense Chakra wildly spinning in multiple directions encased in containment 'Shell' of Chakra, grinds into almost anything and the vortex of Spinning Chakra can be released making the targed fly away inside an extremely powerful vortex of cutting air.