Strength of Fist and Heart
by Darklion74

A/N: Okay, hopefully we can get a few reviews from the past two chapters, Kyuubi will again choose the best five, as I am behind him and will NOT let him get away this time, even if he does get mauled by my precious little kitten. I have seen a few concerns that say Naruto and Haku are a bit too powerful, and a concern about little Haruka being a Mary Sue. Naruto and Haku are considerably more powerful than in the series, but even they will have their limits. Haruka is by no means a Mary Sue, as you will see in the following chapters. She does have a weakness, a very big one at that. Again, just for everyone's recollection, Naruto and Haku returned to graduate from the academy one year before the start of the manga/anime series.

Chapter Nine
Genin Exam from Hell

"Ummm... guys, weren't we just here a few minutes ago?"

Naruto and Neji held back for a moment as they scanned their surroundings, as Tenten shouted out at them. Of the ninety minutes that Team Nine had for the exam, fifteen had passed. They didn't experience anything overly dangerous, except if someone slipped off of the tree trunks by accident. The other problem was that the copse of trees they were searching in could have been easily covered twice over in the time already lapsed.

What did happen in the past fifteen minutes was that they seemed to pass a particular rock in the copse four times in a row. The rock itself wasn't very descriptive other than it was a small boulder shaped different than any other rock in the forest, and also that it was next to the only sakura tree in the forest. Naruto sniffed at the air while Neji activated his Byakugan.

The blonde genin grunted and shook his head. "Strange, I don't smell anything out of place."

The pale eyed genius looked around and shook his head. "Even I don't see anything with my Byakugan. This doesn't seem right. Something's wrong and I just can't put my finger on it."

Tenten sighed and shook her head. "It's like we're trapped in some sort of surreal nightmare or something of the sort. We can't move without coming back here and we can't get out! What do we know about our crazy sensei anyway?"

Neji shook his head. Naruto rubbed his chin. "My experience with Anko wasn't a pleasant one but that was some years ago, and only one time. I did however hear a little bit about her sensei, the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru."

Neji blinked, canceling his Byakugan as he did so, and looked at the blonde genin in shock. "Anko-sensei's master was the traitor, Orochimaru?"

Naruto nodded as he rubbed his chin, as his black vest shone in the early day sun. "Uh-huh. They never told me much about him, except that he was very dangerous, and only a little about about his style. Decent in taijutsu, but it seemed much stronger due to his amazing ninjutsu and genjutsu. A snake style of... wait..."

Naruto sniffed again, and took a stronger whiff this time. "I didn't catch this before, but I smell the hint of a snake in the air. This... this has to be genjutsu, an illusion!"

Neji activated his Byakugan once more as Tenten stood back, trying to look around herself. Neji evaluated the area then turned to Naruto. "Where did that smell come from, Naruto-san?" As he looked at Naruto, he couldn't help giving out a gasp. He saw what amounted to be an enormous, if not inhuman amount of raw chakra, and the hint of something else in his chakra system, though he could not be sure as to what.

'What the devil is this? What is Naruto? This is NOT real, and it has to be part of the illusion. It has to be, isn't it? It... just can't be real. He can't be stronger than... me... can he?'

Naruto, not really noticing Neji's response, trained his senses to find the smell. "Over there... and... in midair, a little higher than tree level. Very strange."

Neji, collecting himself from the shock of an unexpected surprised from his teammate, looked in the direction Naruto pointed and then upward. He was right, something was there. Almost indistinct, but it was a thread of chakra. The thread seemed to be connected to a number of different areas around the woods. That thread seemed to be the nexus of a complex network.

"That must be it. This is a combination of genjutsu and ninjutsu! Very complex, but I only see the single strand. If I break it, we'll be free of this place!"

Naruto watched Neji jump into the air, the Hyuuga's hand covered in a veil of chakra in the fighting form of the Jyuuken. He felt a tingle go down his spine as something was wrong, even with this. 'Genjutsu can be dispelled, though not easily, depending on the level of genjutsu of the students. Our team is generally weak in genjutsu. My own genjutsu is average at best but... wait... believe little in what we see and less of what we hear... don't believe our senses! Oh no!'

"Neji-san, stop! Don't break the thread; it's a trap!"

The warning went up too little, too late, as Neji severed the chakra thread with a gentle slap of his hand. As the thread went pop, other threads became visible and as the entire area became enshrouded in a field of darkness.

Anko witnessed the dark cloud enveloping the copse and sighed, shaking her head as her illusion took on a whole new life of it's own. This was a technique she developed on her own, without the help of her hells-be-damned sensei, and when triggered, is probably one of the most insidious and powerful techniques, a combination of genjutsu and ninjutsu. It had taken her years to develop, but once she did, she was not only hailed as a brilliant ANBU Captain during her earlier years, as well as a brilliant teacher of students.

Of the years she had been a jounin, only one team ever passed her exam. It was considered the most demonic exam ever given, even more insidious than the one her fellow jounin, Hatake Kakashi, ever gave. This was a difficult examination, and the one who passed it was the only team who didn't trigger the trap. She sighed and looked on as the devastating technique, teki amimono no jutsu, took hold on her prospective students.

It was a shame, and though she didn't have much hope for the meatball head kuniochi, the Hyuuga was supposed to be a genius in talent, and also had an exceptional intellect on top of it. The blonde wasn't nearly as dumb as he looked, as he obviously held back during his exams, if any of what she sensed was true, he was possibly the strongest of the group. She shook her head sadly as she knew the kid had what it took to be a great ninja.

She just hoped those two could come back next year to be great ninja. Hell, even she, Mitarashi Anko, the sole student of Orochimaru, failed the genin exam the first time. The meatball, well, if she came back, it would be a shame.

She did wonder, however, as she looked into the copse, was it possible, could it even be fathomable, even now, that they could pass? Was it... no... it was best not to think of it.

Tenten shook her head as he field clouded into darkness, as the copse became a dark and forbidding place. She didn't see Naruto or Neji anywhere. Her thoughts began to swirl on her two teammates. On the genius Hyuuga, which she termed "genius" lightly, she thought he was nothing but a sadistic prig, who cared for nothing but himself and his precious branch family, all else being damned. It does not matter at this point anymore. He always treated her coldly as if he was looking toward some unreachable goal, and treated her as an omnipresent obstacle instead of a help. He could just go to hell for all she cared.

Naruto was still a bit of an enigma, though she did find out he was far more than he seemed. He also hid his talents outrageously during his exams and finally just seemed to be rather forthright and honest, well, as honest as a Shinobi could be expected to be. One of two adopted sons from her famed heroine kuniochi, Tsunade, one of the greatest ninja to ever come out of Konoha. He treated her like a person, not a rival, and not like a possession. She never let it on but she deeply appreciated that and had a bit of a warm feeling whenever the unassuming blonde ever came to her mind. At that point, the darkness lifted from her eyes and she finally found someone.

It wasn't someone she expected though. The shinobi in view was clad entirely in black from head to toe, as his head was turned away from the kuniochi. He wasn't very tall, but appeared to be looking around calmly. Tenten made a slight step on the treebranch she was on and the shinobi on the ground looked upward. Cold eyes met brown eyes and Tenten finally recognized the hitai-ate of the shinobi on the ground, that of the hated Cloud.

She growled and started to throw her weapons at him, starting with her katana, and moved on with kunai and shuriken. The cloud shinobi on the other hand surprised her with a surprising number of speedy defensive maneuvers that made her miss every throw. Tenten blinked in shock. 'This isn't possible, I just don't miss like that! I can't possibly miss such an easy target!'

She growled but then took out scrolls from her pack and flew into midair, throwing them high and fast. "Soushouryu! Now let's see how you like this!" She raced toward her thrown weapons as the shinobi dodged again with surprising speed. The kuniochi then threw the weapons once more at the cloud ninja as he evaded each one, once again. A bright line of light caught his attention as it led from the katana, back to the outstretched hands of Tenten. Every weapon was attached by a string to her hands, and she pull both hands back for yet another attack. The weapons hit home, but there seemed to be a smile on the lips of the shinobi, as he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Tenten gasped. "A bunshin that can attack?"

Her reverie was interrupted as the cloud ninja once again attacked, but he attacked the ground from the trees, leaving a fierce kick to the ground, then leaping back up. The kick turned into a major tremor speeding toward Tenten in almost an instant. Tenten shrieked as her footing became unsteady, then she fell into a twelve foot pit. Worse yet, her head hit one of the rock sides. She lay unconscious on the base of the pit... as her world became as dark as the copse around her had been. Before she lost consciousness entirely, she saw another nin enter the fray.

Naruto sniffed and looked at this new nin that appeared. The kuniochi with the symbol of the grass ninja on her hitai-ate, was safely out of commission for the time being. He did find it strange that she used such a strange technique, as he never heard of grass nin ever being that skilled with weapons. He was lucky to have used a kage bunshin when he did otherwise he would have been fatally skewered. But now this shinobi with the rock symbol on his hitai-ate glared at him with hatred in his eyes.

Naruto was struggling to figure out the cryptic words that the fox gave him. But that would have to wait as he now fought against a surprising rock ninja who decided to use a strange form of taijutsu. As he blocked against the shots he took only a couple of slaps to his sides which didn't seem to hurt and counted with a horrifically powerful kick that the enemy shinobi blocked, yet was hurled back by the force.

The rock shinobi tumbled in midair, his wrists almost broken by the sheer force of the kick, and almost unusable. The rock nin's eyes glowed and the nerves near his eyes protruded against the tan skin hidden by a brown mask and uniform. Something in Naruto's mind clicked that something was very wrong. This looked all too familiar.

Neji grunted and panted heavily, as he felt that a few bones in his wrists were all but broken, and that this strange cloud ninja used could have killed him instantly if it connected. This was a surreal nightmare, as he saw a grass nin, in the crevice just nearby, out like a light. How could two enemy ninja, from different nations of all things, infiltrate Konoha? While he witnessed the fight between the grass and cloud ninja as he hid, he was stunned to see the grass ninja use a technique all too similar to that of Tenten, in fact, it almost looked like the same technique. He was further stunned when the cloud ninja used a jounin level technique, the Kage Bunshin, and followed up with a kick that literally shook up the entire forest, and made the small crevice in the ground.

He did smile lightly though, since the cloud shinobi probably used chakra to fuel his incredible strength. The gentle slaps of the jyuuken did more than it seemed. He had closed four of his tenketsu. The cloud shinobi would not be able to use such freakish strength again. At least, not for quite some time.

By that time, it would be over, and Neji would win. Though it still nagged on the Hyuuga's thoughts about the grass nin's maneuver. He didn't have time to think about it as the cloud nin closed in with a few strikes to his body, far faster than the Byakugan Genius would have expected as he leapt back, but suddenly when he tried to land, he crashed into a heap on the ground instead.

He tried to move his body, and found that he could, but not the way he wanted. His arm moved instead of his legs, his neck craned around instead of his arm moving. Did this guy know how to use tenketsu strikes as well? No, this was something a bit more basic, yet far more complex.

Then Neji widened his eyes in alarm... he had heard a little bit from his younger cousin, Hinata, about medic-nin techniques, and how nerves were connected throughout the body, and how electrical currents sent messages from the brain. If certain nerves were hit, it would alter or disrupt that flow.

It was at that point that Neji knew he was in dire straights as he faced off against not only a very powerful ninja, but probably a hideously strong and skilled chuunin or jounin of the Cloud, quite possibly one with medic-nin techniques on top of that. Something he was not prepared to face at this point in his life, and probably would not live to see the next day. Neji was ill-prepared for what the cloud ninja did next.

He merely sat on the ground, his eyes apparently showing deep reflection, not even giving a second thought to his disabled enemy. 'What the hell is this guy doing?'

Naruto had finally disabled the struggling rock ninja with a nerve strike he learned under Tsunade's training. He knew he only had a couple minutes at best so he decided to try to think through the situation. He also noticed that he was right back at the sakura tree with the small boulder next to it, just about where this whole fiasco had begun. This battle seemed wrong from the start, as he began to feel the sting from the slaps before. Due to those slaps, he was unable to create the powerful shots he could at the beginning of the fight.

It was as if some of his tenketsu were closed... and that's when it hit him. The techniques only his allies and few others could use, and the darkness finally lifting only to reveal something else. Believe nothing that you see and less of what you hear... it led to the trap being triggered before... the trap! This has to be part of the trap!

The question now is, are we fighting people, or shadows in our own minds? Either he fought phantom enemies with the skills of his friends or...

He stood up his eyes afright... he was fighting his friends who looked like enemies. That was it, that was the key to it there. The girl in the pit had to have been Tenten and she was...

'Tenten! Kami, I hope she's alive!'

He leapt into the pit and saw the still form of Tenten, with a crack to the side of her head, bleeding badly. He cursed silently then performed a healing jutsu which sealed the wound and allowed her to breathe a bit more easily. Naruto sighed in relief, she was going to be okay. The test be damned at this point if he fails or passes. While his mind told him that this was Tenten, his eyes told him that this was still a grass kuniochi.

Still, he now had to worry about Neji, and if he recovered by now. He leapt back out of the pit, only to meet a slap to the center of his chest.

Neji smirked as he rose to his feet, he just needed time to figure out which part of his body moved when he tried to move something else. He now had about 70-80% effectiveness in his body, even with the unusual 'rewiring' of his internal nerve endings. He leapt at the cloud ninja and continued to strike, as the ninja began to block all of his attacks. The cloud ninja and Neji were now on about equal footing, as both of them lost some effectiveness in their body, Neji due to the nerve strike, the cloud ninja due to six tenketsu being closed.

However, the cloud ninja tried to tell him something, almost desperately it seemed. Neji frowned as all he heard was gibberish. Neji, not being impressed snarled and attacked further, his hands snaking in and sealing six more tenketsu, driving the cloud ninja to his knees. Neji grinned inwardly, but something still nagged at him.

'I did it, I'm finally going to win against perhaps one of the strongest ninja I've ever seen, proving myself to the Hyuuga. But why didn't he defend himself against my attacks? Even as he was before, he should have easily blocked those shots, even come in with a counter shot. It was as if... he didn't want to fight. What was he trying to say? And what is he doing now?'

What the cloud ninja did was write kanji into the earth. He was using his finger in a very unsteady hand, but what he did write stopped the young Hyuuga in his tracks. What was written was "Friends are seen as enemies... illusion... it's me, Naruto."

The cloud ninja seemed to smile slightly as he fell unconscious, then the grass Kuniochi leapt from the pit to stare at Neji. Neji merely shook his head then pointed at the message scrawled on the ground, then scrawled his name, "Hyuuga Neji".

The grass ninja leapt back, not sure what to expect, then her hands went limp at her sides and she nodded. As she did, the illusion was dispelled, leaving the appearance of three injured, but living prospective genin, as Naruto slowly regained consciousness. Neji blinked, using his Byakugan on Naruto. The illusions were gone, and yet his strength still remained, limited by the closed tenketsu true, then the young Hyuuga's mind went into an state of overload.

'Wait, he should have twelve closed tenketsu, not ten... now it's nine... seven... it can't be. His tenketsu are all reopened! And what's that swirl of red chakra within him, and... is it staring back at me? What the hell are you, Naruto? And why I am getting so scared looking at you this way? You! You're not human, you can't be human! '

Naruto rubbed his head. "Remind me to clock Anko-sensei when we get out of here, eh, Tenten-san? Neji-san, let's get out of... Neji-san? Neji-san? What is it? Why are you..."

Neji scrambled back, his eyes still showing and activated Byakugan. The genius Hyuuga was terrified beyond belief, as his otherwise featureless eyes bugged out of his head. Only ten minutes remained in the exam, and the last trap was finally broken. However, Team Nine was at a total standstill. An impasse was to appear that would forever change the team. The following words from Neji would haunt Naruto for the rest of his life.

"Get away from me, you monster!"

A/N: There are two new jutsu that I have yet to explain, so allow me to explain:

Kasanami no Toukai (Inferno of Destruction): This technique, is a very powerful technique, almost as powerful as the rasengan or mizuken in raw power. It emits a powerful wave of chakra and fire. This is the only offensive jutsu known to the red-head, Umino Haruka.

Teki Amimono no Jutsu (Enemy Web Technique): An insidious technique as it is a combination of ninjutsu and genjutsu. It affects the mind in two stages, first it makes a darkened area around the place that this trap jutsu was triggered. When the darkened area lifts, the second stage takes effect where friends are seen as enemies, and enemies will be the only ones to see the victim as they are. Only when all affected by the illusion realize that it is an illusion will it be dispelled.

This was a short chapter, I admit, but I think it needed to end here for the important reason that it was logical to end it here. And now, Kyuubi answering reviews, and he'll answer reviews from both chapter seven and eight, though it will only be five reviewers that will be answered. Go to it, furball, and don't torment the cat.

"Don't torment the cat? How about the cat not tormenting me?? How about caring for your poor, tired, abused little muse?! Any answer to that? Oh, fine.. at this point there are too many reviews to go over individually, as now they are coming in at the rate of over thirty-forty per chapter. Even a magnificent muse, such as myself cannot directly answer all of them, or pick five of the best ones. That would be a waste of my talents... so I'll go over the five points, criticisms and concerns, based on the reviews that Dark receives."

Not a bad idea, furball. Let's get it moving!

"The first thing we'll go over is the idea that Haku and Naruto are overpowered for the fic and should not be able to handle a Sannin or Jounin at their level. Even Sannin or Jounin can be surprised and underestimate someone, giving them an initial disadvantage. If they survive that, or if they know what either of the step-brothers can do, they are likely to be extremely prepared for what is to come. But yes, they are vastly more powerful and intelligent here than in the manga. And why not, they've had training from both Tsunade and Jiraya, several years worth, and they have more tricks coming on the way."

Heh, heh. I'm evil like that, eh?

"The only reason I stick around as your muse, Dark. Item number two is Anko as the Sensei for this year's team nine, Naruto, Tenten and Neji. Other than being an arrogant loudmouth herself, as well as the last student of Orochimaru, thus being introduced to a number of serpent-based jutsu and genjutsu, not a whole lot is known about her. Dark, being the mean bastard that he is, plans to take full advantage of that, and he... ulp."

The sleeping Mr. Snuggles is introduced to the face of Kyuubi.

"Ri-right. Item number three is Haku and Gai. They are not seen at all in this chapter, and according to dark, this was deliberate. They will be the main focus of chapter ten. As for Haku impressing Gai, that's a given... Gai is so crazed and focused that poor Haku is going to be in for the ride of his life, even if Gai is more competent than he appears."

Maito Gai is actually very competent, but his enthusiasm makes him prone to mistakes.

"Riiiight. The fourth item is that of little Haruko, that she may be a bit too powerful. Consider how powerful 'Inner Sakura' can be if she is ever unleashed... for that is the part of Sakura that is kept under wraps. But note, she is a little kid in many ways, and does have major weaknesses."

That's absolutely right. I don't make invincible characters, unless they have bit parts to play, and she will not be a bit player.

"The final item to be addressed for now is something else entirely, why is a trained ninja like Neji going to be so scared of Naruto? The only thing I'll let you in on is this, Neji at this time, while extremely gifted, is only a graduate of the academy, a genin, he doesn't yet have the year of experience he has attained in the series. Other than that, take a wild guess. :)"

And that will wrap things up for right now. For the furball, this is Dark, asking everyone to review this little creation called Chapter Nine, signing off for now!