Chunin Again

The next morning Naruto walked slowly to the place where he, Sakura, and Sai where supposed to meet Kakashi. Deep groves were easily visible under Naruto's eyes and his walking resembled the movement of a zombie.

Sakura looked up and saw Naruto walking toward the bridge. "There you are, Naruto." She said.

Sai looked up from the "Improving Relationships" book he was reading. "Naruto, you're almost as late as Kakashi." He said. Naruto took no notice. He just kept walking. As he walked, his path drifted further and further to the left. Sakura and Sai continued to watch as Naruto missed the bridge completely and fell into the river.

Naruto bolted back to his feet and looked around, dazed and confused. "Huh, what, how, where?" He muttered. He saw Sakura and Sai standing on the bridge and remembered what he was doing before. "Oh, yeah." He jumped from the water and on the bridge, soaking wet.

"What's with you today, Naruto?" Sakura asked. "You're more in a daze then usual."

"If I wasn't so tired I'd be mad at you for that." Naruto said. "I haven't been able to sleep."

"Maybe I should call you 'living dead' instead of 'manhoodless'." Sai laughed.

Naruto wasn't too tired to be angry at that. In the blink of an eye, Naruto pulled five shuriken from the holster on his right leg and threw them powerfully at Sai. The shuriken wirled through the air and struck Sai all over his body. As Sai fell to the ground his body turned black and dissolved into a pool of black liquid.

"An Ink Clone Jutsu." Naruto said.

"How observant." The real Sai climbed up from under the bridge and with a kunai, stabbed Naruto deep in the chest. Naruto's body fell across the railing and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Huh? A Shadow Clone?" As Sai stood confused, Sakura's fist made contact with his face and Sai fell to the ground. Sai sat up and rubbed the side of his face. "What was that for, hag?" He asked.

Sakura placed her hands together forming the generic hand sign, and her body was surrounded by a cloud of smoke. As the smoke dissipated, Naruto stood in her place. "A simple Transformation Jutsu." He said. "You should've figured that out earlier, after all, Kakashi is on a mission with Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji to attack the Akasuki. Kakashi became the Jonin on that mission because of Asuma's death."

"Yes, I know." Sai said. "So, I know Sakura, or you in disguise, asked me to come here. So why do you want to see me?"

"You know that the next Chunin exams are going to be held soon. I want to ask you if you'll take the exams with me." Naruto said.

"Why do you want me to take the exams?" Sai asked.

"Because I need a three man squad to take the exams. I have Sakura but I need a third team member. Can you do it?"

"Technaclly, I'm not a Genin, I'm an AMBU. Besides, why do you want to take the exams? You're already more powerful than almost all of the other 15 original Genin." Sai said, now back on his feet.

"Because, they all hold the level of Chunin or higher. Kakuro, Temari, and Neji are all Jonin and Gaara is the Kazekage. I don't want to be left behind. Believe it!" Naruto said.

"All very well, but did you forget that Sakura is a Chunin as well. So, she can't participate in the upcoming Chunin exams." Sai said, leaning on the railing of the bridge.

"AWWW! I can't believe I forgot that!" Naruto screamed, clutching his head with his hands. He sank down to the ground and tapped his head against the bars of the railing.

"Believe it," Sai mocked. "If you don't find a third team member to take the exams with us, you'll never become Chunin."

Naruto shot back up to his feet and pointed at Sai. "Does that mean you'll take the exams with me?!" He asked frantically.

"Yeah, sure. I wouldn't want to disappoint a friend." Sai said with a smile. An honest smile.

"YEAH!" Naruto shouted, jumping up in the air. "I'M GOING TO BECOME CHUNIN AFTER ALL! BELIEVE IT!"

Sai shook his head. "Sakura said that you matured during the two and a half years that you were gone training with the Pervy Sage. I don't see it. By the way, you said you were having trouble sleeping."

"Yeah, bad dreams." Naruto said.

"About what?" Sai asked.

"In my dream, I see the forest. A forest almost exactly like this one, and it's on fire. I see the Nine-Tailed Fox rampaging through the forest spreading the fire. He's chasing after a young woman. I can see her and I see the symbol of her clan on the back of her kimono, but I can't tell what it is. She's holding something in her arms and it looks like she's trying to protect it, but when I see her again it's gone. She then turns on the fox and uses the Rasengan, my spiral sphere, to attack the man on the fox's head. But the fox moves and looks like he's about to eat her. Then I wake up." Naruto explained.

"Interesting. Very interesting." Sai commented.

"I don't even recognize anything in my dream. Other than the Fox and the Rasengan." Naruto said.

"I can't help you with that. Just let me know if you find a third team member before that exams begin." Sai responed then walked stedily away.

Naruto stood on the bridge for another moment longer. The terrible image of the woman falling toward Kyuubi's open jaws lingered in his mind. "I think Kyuubi knows more about this than he says he does." With that thought, he walked off the bridge.