The competitors box was more of a balcony really, sandy stone jutting out above the battlefield, giving those waiting to fight a closer view of the action than was strictly comfortable. It was a design choice made in a time where these exams had considerably more bloodshed, and foreign villages would refuse to send their stronger candidates. It gave Konoha a chance to demonstrate their dominance and intimidate their rival villages in close quarters. This mindset of course had become less prominent among the villages after the horrors of the previous war.

Now, the Chunin Exams were an experiment in peace - or at the very least a way of deterring others from waging war against you. Naruto very nearly snorted. It was a nice idea that typically, other villages had quickly found a way to exploit in order to wage war against Konoha.

He glanced around the box, competitors huddled together in village groups and realised that he wasn't the only one who felt tense. You could cut the atmosphere in the room, dense and thick, with a kunai. Temari and Gaara stood in one corner, everybody else stood as far away from the pair as they could possibly manage. Temari was trying to maintain the cocky smirk that had never really left her face since the start of the exams but Naruto had seen her hands shaking earlier, and she had kept them tightly folded for most of their time in the box. Gaara had alternated between staring hungrily at Naruto, as well as Sasuke, his next opponent.

The rest of the box was Konoha shinobi. If he didn't know full well what Gaara was capable of, he might have suggested an ambush then and there. That approach might work, but it'd probably get everyone in their box that wasn't carrying a tailed beast inside them killed. Hana was leant against the wall beside him, also trying to act as though she were relaxed. She might have fooled the others but Naruto knew her well enough to know better, especially having spent a month training with her - she was as terrified as he was. Ino for her part, also hung close, although she hadn't said much of anything.

If Naruto wasn't certain that she hadn't been told, he would honestly have guessed that she knew what was coming.

Sasuke and Sai stood together, yet apart at the same time. Sasuke looked quiet and focused, if not sullen, but had been shooting him the occasional glance that Naruto couldn't quite read. However, he couldn't find the usual venom or disdain that the Uchiha seemed to reserve just for him. Technically that was an improvement, but clearly something between them had changed, he just couldn't work out exactly what. Sai on the other hand, stood out like a sore thumb. He had come dressed in all black, wearing a grey vest that was a little like a cross between a Chunin vest and ANBU armour. His whole body seemed taut and ready to move in an instant but his face wore that eerie, permanent smile that it always seemed to.

He shuddered and turned towards the final member of their group. Hyuuga Neji was no different to how he was a month ago, arms crossed and an arrogant, furious glare carved his face into hard lines. It's focus hadn't left Naruto since he'd arrived. He still wasn't sure how he felt about the Hyuuga. He was still furious with the boy for what Naruto truly believed to be an attack intended to kill Hinata; but he also pitied Neji immensely for his situation and the things the Branch Family's brightest talent had been through. Add to that the fact that they were being forced to fight immediately prior to their village being invaded and you had a striking emotional cocktail.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji, please report to the battlefield.'" The tannoy blared around the stadium, silencing the crowd to an uncomfortable degree. Neji gave him one last baleful look before stalking to the balcony railing and leaping to the stadium floor. His arrival was greeted by a muted round of applause before it quickly fell to silence once more.

He had a feeling he knew why.

Naruto made to move and follow his opponent, but Hana placed a hand on shoulder just as he did.

"I know I don't need to give you any advice, you know what you're doing. Just..." She trailed off, looking stricken for just a moment and Naruto was struck by the fact that the next time they spoke, they would be doing so in a world completely changed. If they spoke again at all. "Just be careful, Naruto."

He smiled as reassuringly as he could manage and placed his hand gently upon hers. "You too, Hana."

"Aww lovebirds, how adorable. Do be careful blondie, be a shame if anything happened." Temari's mocking sing-song voice made Naruto turn on his heel towards the girl, his face tempered steel. He said nothing, he didn't need to. The girl's smirk twitched then fell away, exposing the fear underneath. Naruto shifted his eyes to Gaara, unmoved, before turning his attention to the battlefield.

Anticipatory silence turned to hushed whispers as he landed smoothly in the arena. He tried to tune them out but he couldn't help but notice the thousands of hushed conversations that were happening all the way around the arena. Jiraiya had warned him that this would happen, that it could never be so straightforward as the villagers all immediately treating him decently now that they knew he was the son of the Fourth. Some would still hate him for what he was, some would seek to exploit the knowledge regardless of what they thought of him. Others would bounce straight from believing he was the Kyuubi reborn all the way to the idea that he was the Yondaime reborn, never once in that process seeing the real Naruto past what it was they envisaged he should be.

Only a very small number would truly open their minds to the real Naruto at first, and he would have to earn their respect just the same as he would if nobody knew.

He focused on Neji in front of him, arms crossed and impatience written across his face. Naruto smiled easily. The whispers made him uncomfortable, but he'd take pleasure in making sure Neji was too.

"How's it going Neji?" He asked casually, arms stretched out behind his head as if he were the most relaxed person in the village. "Viciously attacked any relatives recently?"

He could see the snarl before it erupted from Neji's mouth as the boy's Byakugan activated subconsciously. "How dare you, an outsider, pass judgement on that which you cannot understand." He sucked a breath in through clenched teeth and Naruto almost smirked - he had clearly been holding onto this since their words after his fight with Hinata. "How dare you, a privileged son of this village, the son of the Hokage himself, speak as if you understand what it is like to be in my position. To be trapped under the inescapable burden of the Branch family."

Naruto couldn't help himself. It was as if Neji's words struck right at the tight knot of tension caught in his stomach; all his fear, anger and anxiety that he was keeping back until the fighting was done - he could hold it back no more.

He laughed. It was a deep, guttural laugh straight from the deepest part of his chest. He laughed so hard that tears came to his eyes and he very nearly buckled over. He laughed so hard in fact, that he almost didn't notice the referee, a special Jonin using a senbon like a toothpick roll his eyes and begin the match. Neji lunged forward and despite nearly frothing with raged, the one handed jyuuken strike to Naruto's chest was textbook-perfectly executed.

His eyes widened in shock as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth - Neji was fast - and then he burst into a cloud of smoke.

Naruto blinked from his position, still leaning casually against the balcony railing in the spectators box. The Byakugan was an incredible doujutsu but it had it's limitations, and most of those were down to the user themselves. They could still be tricked, could still be misdirected; and Naruto's provocation had meant Neji hadn't noticed that the real Naruto hadn't come down from the balcony at all. Still, the Hyuuga had been much faster than Naruto had expected, and he knew that as much as he wanted to get a little payback against Neji, winning would have to be enough.

He couldn't afford an injury here.

He funnelled a sliver of chakra to the palms of his hands and touched them to the sides of his armor, activating a pair of storage seals and pulling a kunai from each of them with a slight smile. He had learned a lot this past month with Jiraiya. His master had been able to devote a lot of time to him, and Yuugao and Hana had made sure to push him whilst the old pervert had been absent. It was time to put all that work into practice.

Leaping soundlessly from the balcony straight at Neji, he threw both Kunai towards the boy, not entirely focused on his aim. Just as Neji began to smirk at his poor throw, Naruto formed the handseals for the Kage Bunshin and two kunai became a storm of them raining down on the Hyuuga. Neji's eyes widened and he hastily began the rotation required for the Hakkeshō Kaiten, spinning on the spot and forcing a stream of chakra from his palms. The jutsu formed a spinning dome of chakra that could repel most attacks - it was high level ninjutsu, and Neji being able to perform it given that he likely hadn't been taught it by anybody was impressive. His kunai bounced off and away from Neji harmlessly but Naruto had timed his leap perfectly - he landed just as Neji came out of his rotation and aimed a vicious thrust with his sansetsukon at the disorientated Hyuuga that he just barely managed to dodge.

Neji was now stuck backpedalling though as Naruto pressed his advantage with a flurry of bojutsu strikes with his weapon. It was a tactical choice that Hana had recommended - as much as he trained with a weapon, Naruto's first instinct was to use his body in combat, but fighting a Hyuuga demanded he keep a distance that prevented Neji from sealing his tenketsu as they exchanged blows. He delivered a thrust, into a side that forced Neji to hop back even further that allowed Naruto the space to swing his weapon around and sweep at the Hyuuga's legs. It worked, but Naruto felt a rush of triumph anyway as Neji stood on the on the replicated Kunai.

It burst into smoke and another Sansetsukon-wielding Naruto burst forward landing a savage blow at Neji's head, intending to knock his opponent unconscious with as little damage as possible. The staff hit the Hyuuga with a sharp crack and he was sent tumbling to the floor. Naruto paused, unwilling to press a comrade that was already on the floor and allowed the Hyuuga to stand, blood now seeping down his face from the underneath the centre of his hitai-ate. This made Naruto start, as he had aimed his strike for the side of his head to avoid the protection of the metal plate, but the ring and smallest finger of Neji's left had bent at an unnatural angle solved the mystery. He had actually managed to get a guard up and redirect his blow to keep his self in the fight.

For his part, Neji was at least looking at Naruto in a different light now - guarded and calm, well aware he was facing an opponent capable of defeating him, and of the need to keep his cool. Perhaps it was time to disrupt that a little bit.

"Do you want to know why I laughed just now, Neji? It wasn't at you - not really." The boy's eyes narrowed angrily at that, but he made no move so Naruto pressed on. "It was because you called me 'priviliged' - despite the fact you know next to nothing about me, other than that I graduated dead last and that I'm the son of the Fourth - a fact which, by the way, I only found out after I graduated." Neji's eyes did widen in surprise at that fact, which made Naruto chuckle humourlessly.

"Insane, right? The son of the legendary Fourth Hokage in the village this whole time and he didn't even have a clue - only a few people did. The truth is Neji, what it's like to live with an inescapable burden - a curse that haunts you're every move, that taints you in the eyes of everybody around you? That seems to give everybody a right to treat you like shit through no fault of your own - as if you were being punished just for being born? Neji, I understand what that's like better than you could possibly imagine."

He saw Neji about to protest angrily, so he flared his chakra in a concentrated burst, letting it pour out of him and surround him in a display of power only visible to those with a doujutsu like Neji or Kakashi's. Neji gasped and took an involuntary step back at the sight of it. "What- What is that chakra?"

"You see Neji, I have a mark that cannot be removed or erased - like you, only death will remove it from me. My father couldn't kill the Kyuubi that he died fighting - only seal it within a new-born infant child. Within me. That little fact, the village did know. And having just lost their Hokage and knowing who the culprit was inside... Wanna take a guess at what growing up as a poor and orphaned Uzumaki Naruto was like? In fact, I bet you don't have to guess, do you? You've lived it too - at least partially."

Neji looked shell-shocked, and Naruto finally became aware that the audience had gone silent as well. Naruto wasn't sure how much they could hear, but if his words had given a few of them something to think about - well, good. He was ready to move past his childhood and let go of some of the hate and anger he had penned back all those years - that didn't mean he had forgotten it had happened though.

"Difference is, Neji, I haven't decided to take out my anger by nearly killing my comrades, on my family."

"She is the scion of the main house, she represents everything I ha-"

"Stop making excuses, Neji." Naruto interrupted, voice hard. "From what I hear, your primary responsibility in the clan is to protect and guard her - you better than anyone know just how kind Hinata is, and just how far she would go to help you if she could. You didn't go that far because you hate her, you did what you did because you're angry that you're too weak to change your situation yourself."

Neji scowled but looked away, unable to meet his eyes and deny what Naruto was saying. He knew what he was talking about after all - very few of his pranks had been for the fun of it. After a moment, he brought his focus back round to Naruto and settled into a ready stance.

"One of the greatest powers of the Hyuuga is that of being able to see truth, one of our greatest weaknesses is that this makes us vulnerable to deception from without and from within. To deny the truth in your words would be to fall prey to that weakness more that I already have. But for now Uzumaki-san, we have a match to finish."

"You do realise I'm still going to kick your ass for what you did to Hinata, right?" He asked, joining Neji in a ready stance.

The Hyuuga narrowed his eyes a touch. "It would appear that self-deceit is not only a weakness of the Hyuuga."

And with that, his Byakugan flared and the genin dashed forward with a lithe grace that belied his speed directly at Naruto. The blond's hands moved by instinct, knowing he needed to keep Neji at a distance, flashing through hand-seals. "Doton: Doryū Taiga." The ground beneath and directly in front of Neji, softened before losing it's firmness together, melting away into a pool of sloppy mud intended to trap and slow down an opponent.

Had he mastered the jutsu, the ground would have collapsed into mud instantly, but he had worked on a variety of ninjutsu with Jiraiya and Yuugao over the past month with the intent of broadening his repertoire, and the moment before it took full effect gave Neji the chance to avoid the trap by leaping adroitly over it. Fortunately, getting Neji in the air was a good enough outcome to keep the close combat specialist at bay. Two discarded kunai either side of Naruto's jutsu burst, and a pair of shadow clones burst forward, already prepared with lightning whips aimed towards the Hyuuga.

Neji, momentum all heading forward somehow managed to twist in the air, avoiding one whip and deflecting the other with a chakra-covered palm. However, the move took most of the Hyuuga's concentration and he missed the one-handed seal Naruto performed as he dodged. He landed neatly in front of Naruto, inside his guard fully.

"You're clever with your ninjutsu, but once I'm this close - you're no match. Hakke Rokujūyon Shō." Eight trigrams, sixty-four palms - the legendary finishing move of the Hyuuga. For Neji to be able to perform both this and the kaiten at his age was utterly outrageous. However, he had forgotten just who it was he was dealing with. Naruto's kage bunshin, substituted in as Neji had dodged the lightning whips, managed a half-smirk even as the first palm landed and Neji's world exploded into electric-blue light.

Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding as Neji collapsed, twitching to the floor. The deception had worked. The Byakugan saw almost everything, but it's wielder can only focus on so much at once. Overwhelm them with multiple threat and the incredible visual prowess is limited by the wielder enough that they can be deceived. Added to that the fact that he had split his chakra evenly among his clones so that Neji couldn't tell that they were clones - let alone the fact that the seals that each clone wore were lightning traps that would activate when struck, shocking the person who did so.

Best of all, Neji would be up again and practically fighting fit with a few minutes of treatment. He'd need to be, after all. He walked over and crouched down next the still-conscious Hyuuga, who looked at him, grimace from the pain etched onto his face.

"How?" He asked, voice strained. "How do you keep going, knowing your own fate?"

Naruto crouched down next to the Hyuuga so that he could speak over the noise of the crowd. "Because fate is just an excuse, Neji. Because I refuse to let the burdens I carry drag me to the floor." He glanced towards the crowd. "Because they said I couldn't and there was no way in hell I was going to prove them right about me. That got me about as far along as you, but just proving the people who treat you like dirt wrong isn't enough by itself. That's pettiness, not conviction.

"For me, it was finding a reason more important than all of it. It was about finding something to protect that was worth putting my life on the line for. This village is the home of the people I love and I'll die protecting that - protecting them."

Neji didn't respond, but his eyes wandered out to the audience, searching out something that Naruto couldn't see with his own eyes.

"Something worth protecting..."

Naruto left Neji to the medic-nin and returned to the competitor's box. It wasn't quite the ass-kicking that he had meant to mete out, but for some reason, he felt good about it anyway.

* * *

Gaara's sister, Temari went up against Sai next. It was an interesting match if only for the fact that Sai was very clearly not a Genin. The boy that shared a name with Danzou ran rings around Temari's usually devastating Fuuton ninjutsu using a variety of his admittedly unique ink-based techniques. Sai of course, had also beaten Kiba a month ago, but the gap between them hadn't been close to this large. Sai had been holding out on them. Given what he knew about Danzou, this wasn't exactly surprising, but it was interesting the boy was choosing now to stop holding out. Was Danzou preparing to join the effort to save the village? The Sandaime hadn't thought he would - not at least, until there was absolutely no other choice. He had invested too much into keeping his Root division well hidden.

Of course, an ugly part of his brain suggested, he could always know something that the Sandaime didn't.

He winced as Sai used a Katon ninjutsu on Temari's fan, turning it into what was essentially now just a big metal stick. Tactically, it was a great move but the horror on the girl's face told him that it had been more than just a weapon to her. She was an enemy of course, but even knowing that he struggled to quash the empathetic side of him - at least until she was actually guilty of something.

Next, Sasuke and Gaara made their way to the arena floor and Naruto felt his stomach tighten. He could see next to him, that Hana's knuckles were bone white from clenching her fists. Jiraiya had been pretty confident Gaara would be the signal that would begin everything.

The match started reasonably tamely. Sasuke had gotten a lot stronger in the month since the forest, no doubt thanks to Kakashi's tutelage. He was fast, agile and smart and Gaara was having a hard time pinning him down. Sasuke had learned the lessons of Rock Lee's ill fated match with the Suna Jinchuuriki, and had the added benefit of the Sharingan keeping him clear of Gaara's instinctive sand attacks. Much like Rock Lee however, the last Uchiha was having the exact same problem of actually damaging Gaara. Lee had used the Eight Gates to increase his strength and speed enough to bypass Gaara's defences, only losing the fight because his own body couldn't keep up with the strain.

Sasuke too realised this, using a series of Katon ninjutsu to make create room between him and Gaara. However, Naruto noted with interest, the Uchiha was smirking despite the issues he was having. He has a plan then. He watched with interest as Sasuke's hands blurred through a series of handseals, before he grasped his own wrist and sparks began to fly in a blinding display of electrical power. If nothing else, the noise was impressive, a high-pitched shriek echoing around the arena like a flock of screeching birds.

Chidori. An A-rank assassination jutsu. He had seen Kakashi use it once before on their first C-Rank mission - the Sharingan-user had come up with it himself.

Sasuke broke into a dash, the violently flaring chakra encasing his arm destroying the ground as he ran, straight towards Gaara. The red-haired shinobi's eyes widened, recognising the danger, and sand began to swirl around him, forming a rock-solid sand cocoon. The Uchiha never faltered, even as spikes burst forth from Gaara's shell, forcing him to weave through them to get at his enemy. He thrust his new jutsu at the shell, and for a moment, it looked as though the sand would hold strong. The crackling chakra flared as Sasuke poured even more chakra into it, and the Chidori burst through to the target within.

Gaara's scream pierced the cheering of the crowds, silencing them and sending ice rushing through Naruto's veins. Then he felt it - intimately familiar to him and yet, like nothing he had ever felt before. A tainted, creeping and overwhelming power, oozing over the arena and making the hair on his arms stand on end.

"I'm bleeding! Mother! The blood, mother! It hurts!" Gaara's howl was panicked, frantic, as though the idea of bleeding was entirely alien to him and he just couldn't understand what had happened to him. "Make it stop! Make him pay!"

Then, Gaara's chakra exploded violently, visible plumes of sickly energy, cascading power, erupting from the sphere, even as a monstrous claw burst forth and hammered at Sasuke, forcing him to retreat hurriedly. Almost simultaneously, explosions rocked the arena, enveloping the upper spectator boxes in a ferocious inferno. It was only then that Naruto realised he was getting drowsy and hurriedly broke free from a genjutsu that had already placed much of the audience under its spell and asleep.

He looked out across the arena aghast, as suddenly Sound, Suna and Konoha forces were engaged in violent struggles everywhere he looked. Already, the dead were beginning to litter the stands and he could see that some of the audience had been caught in the crossfire of the battles around the arena. Fire and lightning flashed, blade met blade and weapons flew in a cacophony of violence that stopped Naruto's breath right in his throat, whilst explosions began to sound out from even further away and smoke poured into the sky above the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

All around him he knew, inescapably, that Konoha burned.