"He is growing quite well," Naruto commented as he saw Sasuke wobbling slightly, the baby barely able to keep himself upon his chubby legs. 

"That he is," Itachi commented with a soft smile. He'd give anything to prevent Sasuke from being harmed. 

Anything. 

Sasuke caught Itachi's eyes as a small toothy grin filled the baby's face as he tried walking over to Itachi, but tripped on his own feet as was sent to the ground, or, he would've been sent to the ground if it weren't for Itachi, who caught the baby just in time. 

"Jeez, Sasuke, you're clumsy." Sasuke, not knowing any better, just giggled as he played with the eight-year-old's cheeks. 

"You were probably the same, Itachi," Naruto spoke as he shifted uncomfortably. Ever since he had refused to join the clan, things were awkward with the clan he spent most of his time with. The only people who haven't changed their attitudes have been Itachi, Izumi, Shisui, and of course, Sasuke. 

The thought of Sasuke put a weight in Naruto's chest, his little sister would've been just three months younger than the child. But, he would still smile. 

He would smile. 

"Itachi-kun! Naruto-nii! We have to go!" Yes, Izumi had taken to calling him 'nii-san' ever since he defended her against the Daimyo's now dead son. It had been an interesting change, but a welcome one. 

She could be his little sister. 

"Bye-bye, Sasuke!" Itachi said softly as his forehead connected to Sasuke's own, a warm smile on his face. Naruto grinned at the two Uchiha before standing up. 

"Good luck, Itachi," Mikoto said stiffly, ignoring Naruto. 

"We know you will pass." Fugaku chimed in. "You'll do the Uchiha proud!" Itachi smiled at his parents. 

"Thank you, I'll see you all in two months!" And with that, Itachi turned around and walked out, leaving Naruto in the room alone with the two Uchiha, including Sasuke. 

"I'll protect them both," He spoke in a soft voice, his smile never diminishing. "Goodbye, Fugaku-san, Mikoto-san." He turned around to walk away, only for a pair of slim arms wrap around his torso and hug him tightly. 

"Good luck, Naruto," Mikoto whispered, the sadness in her tone almost unbearable as tears threatened to leak out of her eyes. 

"Thank you, I appreciate it." He released himself from her grip and walked out of the house, making sure he didn't slam the door when he closed it. Fugaku crossed his arms before walking into the kitchen, obviously not pleased. 

"Why won't you talk to him? It's been two weeks, Fugaku!" 

"The boy denied his heritage. I cannot respect someone who doesn't follow blood." 

"He isn't our son!" She hissed, causing him to freeze. "No matter how much I want him to be, he isn't ours to claim." 

"He is an Uchiha!" He roared. 

"He is Naruto Namikaze!" She shouted back, meeting his leveled glare. 

"Sooooooo," Naruto trailed off as he glanced at Shisui. "Why are we going to the Exams later than the other Genins again?" 

"Because," Shisui began, rubbing under his nose as he grinned. "Arriving fashionably late is always stylish." 

"Sensei I believe you just forgot that the other teams left yesterday. . ." Shisui's eyes widened as he suddenly sputtered. 

"How could you say such a thing, Izumi?" He declared incredulously. "I'm wounded, I am truly wounded you would think such a thing about little old me!" 

"Kumo seems like a good place to practice lightning," Naruto spoke, completely destroying the conversation they had going on. Shisui suddenly adopted a serious face. 

"There will be no training while we are in Kumo," He said strictly. "Kumo is still slightly salty that we won the war, so they will try to find anything, and I mean anything to arrest you." He then looked at the trio. "But you three are to be especially careful, Kumo has a history of trying to steal bloodlines, and they prize doujutsu over anything." 

"We won't let them get us, Shisui-sensei," Itachi said softly. "We can protect ourselves, and each other." Shisui let a proud smile cross his face. 

"Good, I can't wait to see your progress then!" Naruto smiled to himself at the thought of being promoted to Chunin. He would prove it. He would prove he was worthy of such a title. 

How hard could it be? 

They arrived in Kumo, going through the rather extensive security check, which was expected but still troublesome. They were then escorted by several Anbu to the Raikage's Office, where they met a large man. 

Ay was an overly muscular man, his muscles heavily defined. He had blonde hair that was slicked back with a tiny mustache and a beard, his face set in a scowl as he looked at the Konoha Genin Team along with Shisui of the Flash Step. 

He had on two golden bracers on each of his forearms with a large belt that looked as if he won a wrestling match and was crowned the champion. 

"Greetings, Raikage-sama," Shisui greeted as he bowed, his three Genin doing the same. The Raikage only grunted as he stood up, being two heads taller than Shisui, who remained composed at the sight of the large Kage. 

"Why has Konoha sent another team of candidates? Your other two teams leave much to be desired, and now there are children, is Konoha taking Kumo lightly?" He spoke as he looked out the window. 

"Absolutely not, Raikage-sama," Shisui stated as sweat began collecting on his forehead. "In fact, I believe we sent my team because we are taking you seriously." He gestured at his Genin, fighting the urge to smirk. "These three will not only pass your exam but be promoted to Chunin. They're our best Genin, and they're better than most of our Chunin!" 

"Pride is one of the seven deadly sins, Shisui Uchiha." The Raikage began as he turned around, meeting Shisui's determined look. "Aren't you going to introduce your three little prodigies to me then?" Shisui took a step back, nodding at Izumi to go. 

Izumi stepped up and began."My name is Izumi Uchiha, daughter of Riku and Moro Uchiha, I am eight-years-old, and I am a proud Genin of Konoha." Izumi took a step back before Itachi stepped forward. 

"My name is Itachi Uchiha, son of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha, I am also eight-years-old, and I am a proud Genin of Konoha." The Raikage nodded. 

"Two Uchiha hm? That's an interesting fact," He looked at the blonde expectedly. "And who are you?" 

"My name is Naruto Namikaze, son of Minato and Kushina Namikaze. I am nine-years-old and I am a proud Genin of Konoha." The Raikage's eyes widened at the mention of Minato's name, the fact that Naruto was his son flooding his mind as the boy never left the man's eyes. 

"You are the Yellow Flash's son?" Naruto nodded. "And let me guess, you want to become just like your father when you're all grown up?" Naruto, to Ay's surprise, shook his head. 

"No, Raikage-sama. I wish to be better." Ay rose an eyebrow. 

"And you truly believe you can do that?" Shisui inwardly cringed at those words, knowing exactly what was about to come up. "Only a handful of people were stronger than your father, and you want to be one of them?" Once again, Naruto shook his head. 

"No, I'm going to become the most powerful shinobi in history," Naruto's hands turned into fists. 

"You couldn't even save your own family," The masked man said as he suddenly seized Naruto by the throat and held him in the air. "What makes you think you can save a piece of trash like him?" 

"So I can stop all of the pain in this world," Ay snorted. 

"That's impossible, but I won't tear down your dreams, they mean nothing to me anyhow." He sat back down in his chair. 

"Don't be so ready to-" Izumi began angrily, only for her mouth to be covered by Shisui, who laughed sheepishly. 

"Sorry about that Raikage-sama, we'll be taking our leave now." He quickly grabbed the three of the Genin and vanished from sight, leaving a slightly confused Ay, but he just grunted. 

"Raikage-sama," Mabui said as she walked into the room, carrying her clipboard that had a stack of papers on it. "Why did you want to see that team? You didn't want to see any other team," Ay shrugged. 

"They are all under the age of ten, yet they're probably one of the more dangerous teams. I like strength," And let out a small chuckle. "And that Namikaze will become strong." 

"If he survives," Mabui said, getting a nod from Ay. 

"If he survives indeed. . ." 

"That was foolish!" Shisui almost shouted as they appeared, glaring at Izumi. "You can't just speak to the strongest person in the village like that!" 

"He was making fun of Naruto-nii's dream and-" 

"There is no ifs or buts!" Shisui shouted. "If he so wanted, he could've killed us because what you did could be taken as a threat!" He pinched the bridge of his nose as he paced back and forth before looking at his team. 

"Are you guys serious about actually becoming Chunin? If any of you have any doubts, then we will go back home right now." 

"No, we're fine." Naruto began. "But you're not fine, are you sensei?" Shisui's eyes widened at that statement, looking at Naruto with narrowed eyes. 

"We're not talking about me, are we?" He asked rhetorically. "Now, are you going to take this exam?"

"Of course," Itachi spoke, not an ounce of doubt in his voice. "We've been ready for a year." 

"We're going to beat this thing, just like you said!" Izumi shouted, all the previous tension in the air now gone. 

"They won't know what's coming to them," Naruto said, grinning brightly, causing Shisui to run a hand through his hair. 

"Fine, you can do this, I believe in you, everyone does." 

In a distant cave, a man was currently cutting off his long hair, the raven locks falling to the ground softly. A pair of Sharingan eyes glowing through the darkness, a plant-like man next to him. 

"It seems Naruto is going to take the exams, are you going to interfere at all?" The masked man shook his head. 

"My little brother doesn't need help, he's strong enough to get through this," Obito Uchiha put on a new mask, a swirly orange mask with one eyehole. "He will make it to paradise, I promised myself he would." 

"Rin would be angry with me in the new life if I didn't save him," He chuckled as he stretched a little, a few bones cracking. "She's probably already mad at me." 

". . ." Zetsu didn't say anything, knowing well enough not to interrupt when Obito was talking to himself. 

"Anyhow, let's go talk to Nagato. We need to go recruit some members for our goals," And with that, Obito disappeared in a swirling vortex. 

He would throw away this reality and create a new one. 

With Rin and Naruto in it. 

And done. How was it? Good? Bad? Tell mee! 

Anyways, late asf, I know, but I got it done/ 

so yeah, Obito's POV too, but I'll make that a rare spice in every few chapters. 

Anyways, Yep. 

Til next time my lil demons!