Gaara

"Yes! I did it! See, Pervy Sage? I'm not making a clone train for me. We're splitting the work! Once I get the hang of it, I'll be able to do it myself. For now, this is good enough!" Naruto said excitedly, letting the Rasengan in his hand dissipate.

"Nice work, kid. Come on, let's celebrate with ramen," the white-haired man said.

"All right! Ramen! Ramen! Ramen!" Naruto cheered, heading to his favorite Ichiraku Ramen with his teacher.

Ichiraku Ramen

"All right, kid, you've done well with the Rasengan. Your method might be unconventional, but as long as it works, that's fine. This coming week, we're focusing on genjutsu," Jiraiya said.

"Why, Pervy Sage? Didn't you say I have way too much chakra and practically no talent for genjutsu?" Naruto asked, puzzled. He didn't understand why they would spend the last week before the exams practicing something he was bad at.

"That's right. Your talent for genjutsu is as lousy as my old teammate's luck at gambling. But you need to learn to recognize advanced genjutsu and break out of it. Otherwise, if you face a genjutsu specialist in the exams, you'll be as useless as a student facing a Tiger Cat high on catnip," the white-haired man explained.

Just imagining that Tiger Cat on catnip made Naruto go pale. He was quite confident that he could handle most Chunin.

"Okay, I get it. Teacher Kurenai Yuhi taught me some basics, so how are we going to practice?" Naruto asked, still shaken by the thought of that terrifying Tiger Cat.

"There are two ways to break genjutsu. The easiest is to hurt yourself and use the pain. If you're into sadomasochism like Anko, that works great. For normal people, though, you need to form hand seals to disrupt your own chakra flow, shout 'Dispel!', and release a burst of chakra to break the genjutsu," the Toad Sage said.

"So when do we start? There's only a little over a week left before the exams," Naruto asked.

"Tomorrow. I'm not good at genjutsu, so I'll have to find someone to help," Jiraiya replied.

The two happily finished their ramen-at least, they were happy until Jiraiya saw the bill-then went their separate ways. Naruto was delighted to be learning a new skill, while the old pervert's attention was caught by two women heading toward his "research spot."

The next day, Training Ground Two

"Pervy Sage, how are we going to practice genjutsu? You said you're not good at it either, but there's nobody else here," Naruto asked curiously, wondering how they would train in his weakest area.

Without wasting words, Jiraiya used the Summoning Technique to summon two elderly toads. One had gray-white hair and a beard, while the other had curly black hair and held a rolling pin, looking rather displeased.

"Jiraiya-boy, what did you call us out for? I was making centipede soup," the toad holding the rolling pin said in a female voice, making it clear she was female.

"Now, now, old woman. Jiraiya-boy must have a good reason. Well, what is it?" the gray-haired toad asked.

"Yes, Lord Fukasaku, Lady Shima. This is Naruto Uzumaki, my new student and the newest toad Summoning Technique user. Naruto, these are the Toad Elders," Jiraiya introduced them.

"Hello, Toad Elders," Naruto greeted them respectfully.

"Lord Fukasaku, Lady Shima, I'd like your help teaching this boy to recognize and break genjutsu. If he can break yours, he'll be able to handle the vast majority of genjutsu," Jiraiya said, hoping his flattery would keep him from getting hit with the rolling pin.

"Fine, we can help him. But summon us on a whim again, and don't blame me for what happens," Shima said, lightly patting the rolling pin in her hand and making Jiraiya whimper under his breath.

Naruto created a hundred Shadow Clones, ready to break the genjutsu the two elders were about to cast. By the end of the day, he had made only a little progress. Apparently, this would take longer than Jiraiya had expected.

A week passed, and Naruto could finally break most genjutsu and detect when one was present. He also discovered that he could break the ones he couldn't dispel by introducing a small amount of nine-tails chakra. But he still struggled to gauge the right amount and feared losing control. He had found a safe limit, though: as long as the Demon Fox Cloak didn't appear and he didn't let negative emotions fuel the Nine-Tails' power, there would be no side effects.

The day before the First Chunin Ninja Exams, Naruto watched a square rock with eyeholes following him around and found it thoroughly amusing.

"All right, Konohamaru, come out. A square rock? You could at least try harder," Naruto said with a laugh.

The "rock" suddenly burst apart, revealing three children three years younger than Naruto, all coughing from the smoke bomb.

"That's my rival and boss for you!" said a boy with spiky brown hair and a long scarf.

"Hi, I'm Moegi, the cutest girl in school!" said the girl with twin ponytails.

"I'm Udon. I like math," said the boy with glasses and a runny nose.

"Boss, play ninja with us! You haven't played with us in ages!" the little Sarutobi boy said eagerly, wanting to play with his friend and rival.

"Playing ninja? Naruto, you're already a ninja, and you still play that? Idiot," a new voice said.

"Oh, Sakura. What's wrong with playing? They're kids, and it's a good way to learn how to be a ninja," Naruto said.

"Boss, is she your girlfriend?" Udon asked curiously, wondering what the relationship was between Naruto and the pink-haired kunoichi.

"No. I had a bit of a crush on her back in school, but I'm long over it," Naruto said.

"Good. Her hair's like a neon sign, and her forehead's so wide she'd need two forehead protectors to cover it," Konohamaru joked.

"Hey, Konohamaru... run!" Naruto said, immediately getting ready to chase after him so he wouldn't have to treat his ears if Sakura caught him.

Unfortunately, the little monkey ran straight into a boy wearing a black jumpsuit and a hood.

"Hey, watch where you're going, brat!" The older boy grabbed little Konohamaru by the collar and lifted him off the ground.

"Kankuro, let him go," said a tall girl with four blond ponytails.

"No. I'm going to teach this brat a lesson."

"I suggest you let him go," Naruto said at once, seeing the Hokage's grandson in danger.

"Oh? What are you going to do about it?" The boy turned to glare at the blond.

"Oh my god, you're the ugliest girl I've ever seen," Naruto said, pretending to be horrified.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm a guy!" Kankuro roared angrily.

"Then why are you wearing makeup?" Naruto asked, holding back his laughter and making the girl laugh aloud.

"It's not makeup, it's war paint! Damn it, why can't anyone tell? You're dead!" Just as Kankuro was about to attack, Naruto rushed forward and seized his arm, making him release his grip in pain.

"Konohamaru, go home. You don't need to watch some cross-dresser embarrass himself before the exams," Naruto said, keeping his eyes fixed on the older boy and the girl who was preparing to open her folding fan.

Just as the girl was about to make her move, a powerful wave of killing intent swept over them, freezing her and Kankuro in place. A red-haired boy Naruto's age, with dark circles beneath his eyes, stood behind them, staring intently at Naruto.