Naruto: Rinnegan Jinchuriki

by Kurama no Kyubi

When Sasuke was cut down by Haku right in front of Naruto, said boy awakened a legandary power, the Rinnegan.

4. Konoha and Iwa join forces?

Naruto: Rinnegan Jinchuriki

Chunin exam arc

Kurama no Kyubi: From now on, the Author's Note at the start and end of each chapter will be like this, so I will be answering any questions that you might have. Also I'll be concentrating on just one story until I'm done with the current arc on that story. But if I'm still not done with the arc after a full month has passed, I'll go over to the next story regardless. Also, if I'm in the middle of a chapter when the 30/31 day time-limit expires, I'll not go over to the next story unless I finish with that chapter first. Now on to the reviews.

god of all: Great chapter and story so far please continue this story soon.

Kurama no Kyubi: Thanks.

shodaimeuzukage17: updateeeeee also naruto should get the rajin and a special sword for wind

Kurama no Kyubi: I'll think about it.

Damix96: interesting storyline

Kurama no Kyubi: Thanks.

bankai777: naruto should be paired up with either fu or please no hinata that has been done before.

Kurama no Kyubi: Don't worry, he won't be paired with anyone from Konoha.

crossoverfanofanime: PLEASE make the pairing narutoxfuu(the green haired nanabi jinchuriki) it is rare to see a good pairing with those two. Also naruto with rinnegan sounds neat

Kurama no Kyubi: Yeah, a pairing with those two is pretty rare and I am kinda a fan of that pairing myself, so who knows? Maybe she's the one he'll end up with.

Ccebling2: Have Naruto get a harem, I even came up with some girls for it they are Kin, Fu, Kurotsuchi, Tayuya, and Temari. I'll try to come up with more girls for it.

Kurama no Kyubi: If I am giving Naruto more than one girl for this story, two will be the limit.

bankai777: my guess is that naruto will either be paired up with fu or kurotsuchi.i hope that it's fu at least she can understand naruto namikaze for being a jinchuriki.

Kurama no Kyubi: Who knows? It might be both of them, or it might be none of them.

crossoverfanofanime: good chapter, and the priview was also great! and the way you intrduced fu was PERFECT! and orochimaru, tsk tsk.. trouble.

Kurama no Kyubi: Yep, this spells trouble.

schinken: i dont know if it is interressed but nagato was not able to react in the fight with naruto where one of his paths was in the mouth of the toad(naruto was in there too) adn what you wrote is true, while in his summon he was able to see but its proparbly from the ability of the rinnegan to share the vision of nagato, his paths and his summons instead of allowing to see through matter but good chapter

Kurama no Kyubi: I got quite a few reviews on this topic, but I'll only respond to this one 'cause it was the first one. After having thought it over a little, I see that you're definitely right, so I'm going to change how Naruto cheats in the first exam. I might not do it right away though, but I'll definitely get it done before the next update.

joesly25: Not bad good story is naruto going know Mokuton?

Kurama no Kyubi: Well, yes, definitely. He'll just have to find a teacher first.

Guest: Doton: DOURYUUHEIKI

Kurama no Kyubi: I suppose that you're talking about the Earth Dome jutsu and how I didn't know its Japanese name, right? Well you're kinda wrong there, Doryuheki is Earth WALL not Earth DOME! Not the same technique.

"Rinnegan." Normal speech

'Rinnegan.' Normal thought

"Rinnegan." Biju speech

'Rinnegan.' Biju thought

Disclaimer: All I own is this computer and the plot.

Chapter 3: Konoha and Iwa… join forces?

Bakutsuchi was hiding behind a tree, occasionally looking out to see if whoever attacked them was there, but the coast seemed to be clear and after a while, he finally gathered up the courage to go and see if he could find his two teammates.

"Hey, Kurotsuchi-san, Akatsuchi, where are you?" He called out, but there was no response.

Bakutsuchi didn't notice Sakura, who was hiding behind a tree, senbon at the ready in case she'd be found.

"You know, I might get the wrong idea if you keep hiding from me like this!" A voice said from behind her and she turned around to see Bakutsuchi standing there "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were scared of me!"

"Why would I be scared of you?" Sakura asked.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Bakutsuchi asked.

"Hey, Bakutsuchi-san!" Bakutsuchi and Sakura looked towards where the voice came from to see Akatsuchi.

'Oh, great. Now there's two of them, I just hope that the third one don't show up!' Sakura thought.

"Hey, Bakutsuchi-san, I've been searching all over for you. Huh?" Akatsuchi said as he came over to them before he started looking around "Where's Kurotsuchi-san? And what's she doing here?"

"I don't know where Kurotsuchi-san is. And it seems that the tree-huggers might have gotten separated from each other as well!" Bakutsuchi said.

"Hey, I've got a good idea, why don't we cooperate for now, until we've located our missing teammates!" Sakura suggested.

"WHAT, WHY ON EARTH SHOULD WE TEAM-UP WITH YOU?" Bakutsuchi yelled.

"It sounds like a good idea to me!" Akatsuchi said.

"What? You can't be serious." Bakutsuchi said.

"And besides, whoever attacked us, was strong enough to separate us so easily. We might need their help to defeat him or her!" Akatsuchi said.

Forest of Death, Sasuke

Sasuke was hiding under some bushes, but when he heard some footsteps behind him, he got up on his feet and turned around to see Sakura.

"Sasuke-kun!" She yelled.

"Sakura…" Sasuke said just as Bakutsuchi and Akatsuchi walked out from behind a tree.

"And don't forget about us!" Bakutsuchi said and Sasuke immediately drew a kunai.

"Sakura, what are you doing with them? Or are you Kurotsuchi in disguise?" Sasuke asked.

"Nah… it's your girlfriend, alright!" Bakutsuchi said, but Sasuke – ignoring the tease – wasn't convinced.

"We only decided to work together till we've found Naruto and Kurotsuchi!" Sakura said.

"Not to mention the guy that attacked us. Safety in numbers, y'know?" Bakutsuchi said.

"Yow… are you guys all right?" The five turned towards the voice to see Naruto coming towards them, but Sasuke thought that something was off.

"Naruto… remove the sunglasses!" Sasuke said and Sakura was shocked at what her teammate had just said, if Naruto would remove the sunglasses here then Bakutsuchi-san and Akatsuchi-san would see the Rinnegan.

"Sasuke-kun, are you crazy? If Naruto removes his sunglasses now then…" But she was cut off by Sasuke.

"Don't worry, Sakura! I know what I'm doing!" Naruto then removed the sunglasses to reveal… cerulean blue eyes? What the hell happened to the Rinnegan?

"Busted!" Sasuke simply stated and he threw a kunai at Naruto, but said blond dodged it easily.

"Heh, well done!" Naruto said before being engulfed in a puff of smoke and when said smoke cleared he had been switched out with a woman with long, black hair, a weird hat on her head and she had a Kusa Hitai-ate on her forehead "What gave me away?"

"You were way off with the eyes!" Sasuke said.

"Strange, and according to that Kabuto guy's card, he has blue eyes, so what did I do wrong?" The woman said.

"Well, let's just say that the picture on that card was a little… outdated!" Sasuke said.

"Outdated? How can someone change the colour of their eyes?" Bakutsuchi asked.

"Don't worry about it! Now then, shall we begin?" Sasuke said as the woman took of her hat.

Forest of Death, Naruto and Kurotsuchi

By the roots of one of the large trees of the forest were Naruto and Kurotsuchi lying… in a VERY suggestive position. Kurotsuchi was lying with her back to the ground, facing up while Naruto was lying on top of her, facing down. In fact one could almost think that they were kissing, except for the fact that they were still unconscious, but that was about to change.

At the same time, both of them opened their eyes, ringed purple met pinkish black and they immediately jumped away from each other while coughing, trying to get the taste out of their mouths.

"What happened?" Kurotsuchi asked after an awkward silence.

"Someone attacked us with a Futon jutsu!" Naruto said as he turned around.

"Thanks for stating the obvious!" Kurotsuchi said sarcastically before she noticed Naruto's eyes "Pretty eyes, by the way!"

"What…" Naruto said as he brought his hand up to see if the sunglasses where there, but they weren't and he looked down to see the sunglasses lying on the ground… shattered!

"What's with them anyway? Is it some kind of Dojutsu?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"Um, y-yeah…" Naruto said as he nervously scratched the back of his head while also looking down on the ground.

"Cool, so what are they called anyway?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"Sorry, but that's classified!" Naruto said as he turned away from her with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Oh, come on, can't you just tell me?" Kurotsuchi asked, if Konoha had gotten themselves a new Dojutsu then she'd have to tell jiji. Plus, she was pretty excited herself about finding out its name.

"Are you stupid or something? Only a few in Konoha even knows about these eyes, and you expect me to tell you? An Iwa-nin?" Naruto said just before a shadow came over them and they looked up to see a giant snake.

"Where'd that thing come from?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" Naruto asked before the snake charged at them, attempting to eat the two, but they jumped away and both weaved a series of hand signs.

"Yoton: Sekkaigyo no jutsu." Kurotsuchi called out and she spat a lot of quicklime at the snake's mouth.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no jutsu." Naruto called out and a dragon of water came out of a nearby pool and hit the quicklime, making it harden.

"You know? I kinda feel sorry for the guy." Kurotsuchi said as she looked up at the snake which was desperately trying to open its mouth, but to no avail.

"Now, to find the others." Naruto said as he activated the eyes and he looked around before gasping.

"What is it?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"So much chakra… there's no way that's a Genin!" Naruto said before jumping onto a branch and continuing towards the massive amounts of chakra that he saw, while Kurotsuchi followed him.

Forest of Death, team 7 and team Kurotsuchi

Sasuke, Sakura, Bakutsuchi and Akatsuchi was standing in front of the Kusa-nin that had attempted to lure them into a false sense of security by pretending to be Naruto, though it didn't go so well considering that she didn't know about Naruto's Rinnegan.

"I suppose you two Konoha-nins would like to steal our earth scroll, wouldn't you…? Since you've already got a heaven scroll!" The Kusa-nin said as she held the scroll in front of the four Genin before she actually showed it down her mouth and swallowed it "Now… shall we see… just who shall be stealing scrolls from whom? We'll fight to the death!"

The Kusa-nin then sent a wave of killing intent at them and the four Genin even saw their own deaths at the Kusa-nin's hands. And the four collapsed down on their knees and Sasuke vomited.

'… She's casting… a Genjutsu! It's not… death… just an incredible simulation! I looked into her eyes… and she made me feel it… and believe it! Wh-who the heck is she…?" Sasuke thought.

'Oh, crud. This is so not my day! Kurotsuchi-san where the heck are you?' Bakutsuchi thought.

'Crud! If we don't retreat now… we're finished! The only other option is death!' Sasuke thought.

'Oh, c'mon. Move body, move!' Bakutsuchi thought as he tried to get a kunai from his pouch.

"Heh… I imagine you're quite paralyzed by now…" The Kusa-nin said as she got four kunais out of her pouch.

'Not quite… I can move… just enough!' Sasuke and Bakutsuchi thought at the same time before the Kusa-nin threw her kunais and both Sasuke and Bakutsuchi stabbed a kunai into their leg and jumped to save their respective teammate.

'Amazing! They stabbed themselves so that they would be able to focus on the pain and block out fear and illusion! Heh… just as I thought, there is far more to them than to the common prey!' The Kusa-nin thought.

Forest of Death, Team 8 and team Fu

Kiba vs Shibuki

"Tsuuga!" Kiba called out as he spun through the mist, towards where he thought his opponent to be, only to smash through a rock.

"Great, another illusion. Only if my nose would work properly." He muttered to himself, it seemed that not only was the mist tricking Hinata's Byakugan, but also Kiba's nose and Shino's insects.

"Mizu no Tatsumaki!" Suddenly a vortex of water formed right next to Kiba. The Inuzuka was then knocked out by the spinning vortex before it vanished and Shibuki came out from where it was and began searching the Inuzuka for the scroll.

Hinata vs Takimaru

Hinata hit yet another tree with her Juken. She wondered – of course – how it was that a Genjutsu could beat her Byakugan like this, it didn't seem possible.

Suddenly three kunai – all having explosive tags attached to them – flew down and embedded themselves in the ground near where the Hyuga was standing, and she jumped away just before the tags blew up.

Hinata then looked towards the branch that the kunai had come from and jumped up before hitting what seemed to be the silhouette of a person before she realized that it was a tree she had hit. Her eyes then widened as she turned around, realizing that it was a trap, but she was too late as she felt that someone hit her, hard and she fell unconscious.

Shino vs Fu

'Hmmm. My insects appears to be useless in this mist, I have to find a way out of it, and fast.' Shino thought before a he noticed a stream of insects flying at him. He then dodged the bugs only for them to vanish, and in their place was three shuriken.

'Shuriken? So, she's using the mist to her advantage. Letting it fool me into thinking that her shuriken and kunai are insects.' He thought before some red particles appeared in the air and the mist faded to reveal that the three Taki-nins were gone, and both Kiba and Hinata were unconscious.

"Ah. Kiba! Hinata!" He yelled before running over to them.

Forest of Death, team 7 and team Kurotsuchi

Sasuke, Sakura, Bakutsuchi and Akatsuki were currently up in the trees hoping that the one that attacked them earlier wouldn't find them.

"Speak to me, Sas…" Sakura started, but Sasuke put his hand over her mouth.

'We've got to move fast, or she'll find us again. The question is how to evade her… um… um… How do we run…? Um…' The Uchiha thought.

'Sasuke-kun is so jumpy… I've never seen him like this…' Sakura thought before she noticed a large snake coming down and staring at Sasuke.

"Yikes. Snake!" Akatsuchi said as he saw the snake as well. The four then jumped in different directions and the snake followed Sasuke.

'Whoa… My chakra is so out of whack, I overlooked a giant snake.' Sasuke thought before the snake hissed and the Uchiha almost saw the woman that had attacked them when he looked at the snake.

"Yaaaah! Get lost!" He yelled as he threw several shuriken into the snake's head before said snake fell down, dead. Suddenly, the Kusa-nin came up, out of the snake's skin.

"For shame, letting your guard down. Stay on your toes, like a good prey should. It makes the chase so much more rewarding… for the predatory!" She said before slithering up the tree towards Sasuke like a snake, but suddenly came several shuriken and kunai flying down and they embedded themselves into the trunk right in front of the Kusa-nin.

"Sorry, we're late!" Everyone then looked up to see Naruto and Kurotsuchi standing on a branch.

"Sweet! Naruto, that was awesome!" Sakura shouted.

"Kurotsuchi-san!" Bakutsuchi yelled before saying "Great, now we should be able to win this." And Akatsuchi nodded.

"Naruto and Kurotsuchi to the rescue, huh? You're completely psyched to be saving the day… but… now would be a good time to run for your lives! This guy is way out of our league!" Sasuke said.

"Heh heh… my compliments on your stunning defeat of the giant snake… Naruto-kun… Kurotsuchi-chan." The Kusa-nin said before noticing Naruto's eyes and her eyes widened as she thought 'Those eyes. They're the same as his… the Rinnegan. Kukukuku, this might prove to be a little more fun than I expected.'

'This chick's a freak. She's a woman… but all I can see when I look at her is a snake. Everything about her… snakey. I'll bet that snake was hers.' Naruto thought before turning to Kurotsuchi "Seems like we've got to cooperate for now."

"Yeah…" Kurotsuchi said before going through a series of hand signs "Katon: Ryuka no jutsu!"

"Futon: Kamikaze no jutsu!" Kurotsuchi's fire and Naruto's wind then combined to make an even bigger flaming dragon head.

The Kusa-nin quickly jumped out of the way and the raging fire destroyed the branch as the dragon head seemingly chewed down on it.

"Alright! Way to go you two!" Sakura yelled before the Kusa-nin suddenly appeared behind Naruto.

"Naruto, look out!" Kurotsuchi said before the Kusa-nin suddenly kicked the blond away before grabbing Kurotsuchi by the neck.

'If I'm not mistaking, this is the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage. If he were to learn that a Konoha-nin had killed her, then even if my plans would somehow fail, the village would still fall.' The Kusa-nin thought.

"Ah. Kurotsuchi-san!" Bakutsuchi yelled before jumping up towards the Kusa-nin with a kunai in his hand, but as he approached the two, the Kusa-nin simply kicked him and was sent flying into a tree before falling down towards the ground before Akatsuchi caught him.

"Ugh… what's with this chick? How can she be so strong?" Bakutsuchi said before passing out.

"Hey, you! Let her go!" Naruto yelled, though he didn't know why he was getting so mad at the Kusa-nin.

He then jumped up as he weaved a series of hand signs.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no jutsu!" He called out before a dragon of water came up from a pool of water that was somewhere below them as the blond weaved more hand signs.

"Hyoton: Sensatsu Suisho!" The water dragon then turned into countless of frozen needles which then headed straight for the Kusa-nin.

The Kusa-nin was then forced to let go of Kurotsuchi as she jumped to avoid the needles before Naruto landed on the branch right in front of Kurotsuchi. As the Kusa-nin looked towards them she noticed that Naruto's eyes had slightly changed, the pupils were now crimson with black, vertical slits in them.

'So, he's the Kyubi Jinchuriki, eh?' She thought before throwing several kunai with explosive tags attached to them towards the two. As the kunai approached them however, Naruto suddenly felt a slight sting in his eyes as they seemed to widen and a shockwave came out from where he and Kurotsuchi were standing, knocking away the kunais and destroying the tree they were standing on as well as several surrounding trees.

Naruto and Kurotsuchi then quickly jumped over to another branch as the tree they were on earlier fell down.

"What was that?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"I-I don't know." Naruto said, barely remembering what had happened during the last minute.

'Hmmm. It seems like he can't yet control the power of those eyes.' The Kusa-nin thought before weaving a series of hand signs and slamming her palms on the branch she herself had jumped over to "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

In a puff of smoke, a large snake suddenly appeared before bringing its tail down on Naruto and Kurotsuchi, but the two of them jumped out of the way and landed on another branch.

"Let's take out this one the same way we took out that other one." Kurotsuchi said and Naruto nodded before they both weaved a series of hand signs.

"Yoton: Sekkaigyo no jutsu!" Kurotsuchi said as she spat a good amount of quicklime towards the snake.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no jutsu!" Naruto said before a dragon made out of water came up from a pool below them and headed towards the snake.

"They sure make a surprisingly good team." Sakura stated and Akatsuchi nodded.

The quicklime and the water dragon quickly approached the snake, but said snake then brought its tail in front of its head and blocked the attacks.

"Aw, man…! He managed to block it!" Naruto said.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, tree-hugger." Kurotsuchi said.

Naruto then jumped towards the Kusa-nin as he subconsciously channeled chakra into his arm.

"Wait. Naruto, what are you…?" Kurotsuchi said just before the blond delivered a powerful punch to the snake's nose, knocking it backwards.

Suddenly the Kusa-nin's extremely long tongue came down and wrapped itself around Naruto before lifting him up to eye-level with the Kusa-nin.

"HEY! Get off me!" Naruto yelled.

'Heh heh… the Kyubi brat is still alive and kicking, and he even has the legendary Rinnegan. How fascinating that, when he is consumed with rage, he loses himself… and a bit of the Kyubi trapped within comes through. An amazing development.' The Kusa-nin thought as she weaved several hand signs while her tongue raised the blond's jacket to reveal the seal 'There's the proof. The spell that seals the monster within appears on your skin like a tattoo.' Small purple flames appeared on her fingertips and she struck Naruto on the stomach, reinforcing the seal.

"Sasuke-kun! Naruto needs your help!" Sakura yelled as Sasuke had only been standing there like a statue the whole time.

'After being trapped within him for a dozen years… the Kyubi and Naruto's native chakra and psyche have apparently gone from enmity and opposition to coexistence… and are on the very brink of symbiosis. But today you are more trouble than you're worth.' The Kusa-nin thought before flinging Naruto away.

'He's bound to fall!' Sakura thought before she threw a kunai while yelling "NARUTO!"

The kunai caught Naruto's jacket and stuck him to a tree. Kurotsuchi then weaved a series of hand signs.

"Doton: Doryuso!" Suddenly, several spikes of earth came out of the ground and shot towards the Kusa-nin, but she simply just dodged them before appearing next to Kurotsuchi and punching her hard enough to knock her out.

"KUROTSUCHI-SAN!" Akatsuchi yelled.

"SASUKE-KUN! Naruto may be nothing like you. And sometimes he's a big nuisance, but at least he's got guts! Naruto's no coward! Right?" Sakura yelled and Sasuke thought back to what his brother had said after murdering the clan.

"Ototou, you're pathetic. If you want to kill me, settle for hating me until you can. Hate me… and live. Live like the coward you are. Clinging to life… without honor."

'NO!' He thought as he activated his Sharingan.

'Heh heh… it appears that the blood of his ancestors is rising up in this one, demanding action.' The Kusa-nin thought.

'Sasuke-kun!' Sakura thought.

'We'll take our time, so you can show me all your moves!' The Kusa-nin thought before dispelling the snake.

Sasuke then took five kunais and what looked like a miniature version of a fuma-shuriken out of his weapons pouch, and he held four of the kunais in his right hand, the miniature fuma-shuriken in his left hand and the last kunai in his mouth.

'I've been living with the hope of one day killing my older brother. I thought it was the most important thing… but maybe I'm the one who's been the dobe all this time! Naruto… Sakura…!' Sasuke thought before he leapt into the air '… Because someone who can't even stand up and do what has to be done at a time like this… wouldn't stand a chance in a fight against… HIM!'

Sasuke then threw the kunais he had in his right hand, but the Kusa-nin dodged all of them before the Uchiha grabbed the side of a tree as he threw the miniature fuma-shuriken, but the Kusa-nin dodged that too. Sasuke then took the kunai he had in his mouth as he coated it in chakra and he threw it at the Kusa-nin, but the snake simply sidestepped it.

'Not bad! The way he anticipates my every move… the accuracy of his targeting… he sees me!' The Kusa-nin thought before she noticed wires attached to the shuriken and kunai, with the one that was attached to the shuriken going back to Sasuke so that the said shuriken moved back towards the Kusa-nin 'String?'

"A Sofushasan no Tachi!" The Kusa-nin said in surprise as the shuriken moved closer to her.

"I-I think he did it!" Akatsuchi said, but then he, Sakura and Sasuke saw that the Kusa-nin had caught the shuriken… with her mouth.

'He flawlessly perceived my escape route and struck along a path I didn't see myself…' The Kusa-nin thought before saying "Heh… such a shame…" She got cut off however when she noticed that the Uchiha had formed the tora sign 'He means to use Katon: Ryuka no jutsu!"

Sasuke then sent a wave of fire along the wire towards the Kusa-nin, but Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened when they saw that the Kusa-nin's face seemed to be melting and the piece of her face around her left eye had fallen off to reveal white skin underneath.

"That one so young should have such mastery of the Sharingan…! Truly a worthy successor of the honored name of clan Uchiha! In fact… I believe… I want you, after all…!" The Kusa-nin said.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura yelled as she ran over to where Sasuke was standing before she looked towards the Kusa-nin and suddenly she found that she couldn't move.

"It's marvelous fun, having you show me all your tricks! You really are his brother, aren't you? You can see – and conceal – things with those eyes of yours that Itachi-san himself never dreamed of!" The Kusa-nin said.

"Just who the heck are you?" Sasuke yelled.

"I'm Orochimaru, the giant snake. If you'd ever like a rematch… then pass this exam as quickly as you can! I'll see you again, if you manage to defeat the three Oto-nins who answer to me." The Kusa-nin, now identified as Orochimaru said.

"Wh-what are you babbling on about? We never want to see your face again!" Sakura yelled.

"Perhaps not… but wishing won't chase me away." Orochimaru said as he made a hand sign before his neck suddenly extended and his head lunged towards Sasuke and bit down on the said Uchiha's neck before Orochimaru's neck retracted.

"I look forward to seeing you again, Sasuke-kun… in the quest for power!" The snake said after his neck had returned to its normal length.

"Wh-what…? Everything… hurts!" Sasuke said as he brought his hand over his neck where Orochimaru had bitten him as three black tormoe suddenly appeared there.

"What did you do to Sasuke-kun?" Sakura yelled as Orochimaru started to sink down into the branch.

"Just a little something to remember me by…" He said before started Sasuke screaming.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura yelled as Sasuke continued screaming "S-Sasuke-kun…? Hang on, Sasuke-kun! You hear me?" She then started crying as she noticed the mark on Sasuke's neck before she looked around "Naruto… Naruto… Sasuke-kun is…" She then saw that Naruto was unconscious and stuck to a tree 'I… Wh-what should I do…?'

Akatsuchi then came down and landed next to Sakura as he was holding Bakutsuchi and Kurotsuchi over his shoulders.

"We should find a safe place to rest until the others have woken up." Akatsuchi said.

Forest of Death, team Guy

Lee, Neji and Tenten were sitting in the forest as they were eating.

"It'll probably start to get light in the next hour or so. We were able to use our first day to secure food and water. Most of the teams will be resting now… making this the best time to act. Let's split up… and reconnoiter for the next half hour. But whatever you find, when the time is up… be sure you're back here. Got it?" Neji said as he dropped a kunai down on the ground with the pointy end first.

"Okay!" Tenten said.

"Roger!" Lee said.

"Good…! Ikuzo!" Neji said and they shunshined in three different directions.

Forest of Death, team 7 and team Kurotsuchi

Sakura and Akatsuchi had put their respective teammates under a tree. Sakura had also removed Sasuke's Hitai-ate and placed a wet cloth on his forehead to keep his fever down. After a while she then removed the cloth and placed her hand on the Uchiha's forehead.

"Is he all right?" Akatsuchi asked.

"His breathing is improving, but… his fever's still high." Sakura said.

What they weren't aware of however, was that in the bushes where the three Oto-nins hiding.

"Heh heh… there they are! As Orochimaru-sama commanded, we'll strike at dawn! And our target is Uchiha Sasuke!" The apparent leader of the three said.

"If the other five get in our way, we can take 'em out, right?" One of the other two asked.

"Of course!" The leader of the three said.

As dawn came Akatsuchi had left to patrol around the area in case that snake would return as Sakura was keeping watch at the camp and hoped that the others would awaken soon.

'Oh! It's already dawn?' She thought as she saw some light coming down.

She then noticed something approaching from behind and she pulled out a kunai from her pouch and slowly turned around, but she saw that it was just a squirrel.

'A squirrel…?' She thought before saying "What are you up to, scaring me like that?"

The squirrel then moved towards her and she noticed that it got dangerously close to one of the traps, she and Akatsuchi had laid there. She then threw the kunai and it hit the ground just in front of the squirrel before said squirrel then ran away.

'That was close. That was too close!' Sakura thought.

"That's pretty tightly wound. I wonder if she noticed the explosive tag we stuck on the squirrel!" One of the Oto-nins said.

"No… that's not it…" The leader of the three said.

"What then, Dosu? What's going on?" One of the others said.

"… We'll have to get closer to find out. So… what are we waiting for?" The leader of the three, now identified as Dosu said.

Forest of Death, Lee

Lee jumped from branch-to-branch through the forest until he eventually stopped at one of the branches as he saw 20 tree-leaves falling down.

'If I can catch all 20 of these leaves before any of them hits the ground, then Sakura-san will fall in love with me! But if I miss even one… then my love for her will never be requited! And she'll probably make fun of my hair!' He thought before leaping down towards the leaves and he started catching them, one-by-one.

'Just one more try…' He thought as he reached for the last leaf, but then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye 'It's…!' He saw a squirrel that had an explosive tag on its back.

BOOM!

As the smoke cleared, Lee lied on the ground with the squirrel in his left hand and the explosive tag in his right.

"Just in the nick of time! An explosive tag… on a very short timer. Who would do something so cruel?" Lee said as he crunched the tag.

Forest of Death, team 10

Shikamaru, Ino and Choji were hiding behind some bushes as Neji passed them.

"Come out of hiding… unless you're a coward." Neji said.

"How'd he spot us when we hid so fast?" Ino whispered before looking at the other two "My masterful plan A – hiding until anyone who might hurt us is gone – has failed! Time for plan B!"

"What a drag… finding us like that!" Shikamaru whispered before the three of them came out of the bushes.

"Oh! What an honor. Hyuga Neji-sama, last year's rookie of the year's rookie of the year… fancy meeting you here." Ino said.

"Wow… can I have your autograph?" Shikamaru asked.

"Oh! It's you three…" Neji said.

'Get a load of this.' Ino thought before she pulled off her hair-string and she said "I can't tell you how long… I've dreamt of meeting you!"

"Get lost." Neji said as he walked away.

'Why? Why didn't he find me sexy? What's wrong with him? It makes me so mad!' Ino thought as she angrily raised a fist in Neji's direction.

'I tried to tell you he wouldn't go for it!' Shikamaru thought.

" Hey… Does that fist you're shaking in my direction mean you want to fight me?" Neji asked.

"Heh heh. O-of course not!" Ino said before thinking 'H-how could he know that… unless he does have eyes on the back of his head?' (Kurama no Kyubi: No, Ino. Only women have eyes on the back of their heads… and they can read minds too by the way.)

"Then get lost. I wouldn't demean myself by taking a scroll from losers like you. It would make me a laughing-stock." Neji said.

"O-okay!" Ino said as she and her teammates jumped back into the bushes.

"Hm… They're like cockroaches." Neji said before he continued walking.

"Let's go see if we can pick off some weaklings!" Ino said.

'I doubt we'll find anyone weaker than us.' Shikamaru thought.

Forest of Death, team Fu

Fu, Shibuki and Takimaru jumped through the trees. A small bug then flew past Fu and she stopped before her two teammates stopped behind her.

"Nanabi-san, what is it?" Takimaru asked, but Fu ignored him.

'Naruto-kyu and his friends are in danger?' Fu thought before jumping in the direction the bug had come from, she might not like humans that much – with the exception of her friends – but she can't look the other way when a fellow Jinchuriki is in trouble.

Forest of Death, team 7 and team Kurotsuchi

"Heh heh… you've been up all night standing guard, eh?" Sakura heard a voice from behind her and she turned around to see the three Oto-nins.

"As of now, you're off duty. Just wake Sasuke for us. the three of us want to take him on." Dosu said.

"Wh-what are you talking about? I know that some guy named Orochimaru is the one who's pulling all the strings… so what do you want?" Sakura yelled, shocking the three Oto-nins before she continued "What does this mark on Sasuke-kun's neck mean?"

"Hmm… I wonder what Orochimaru-sama's up to?" Dosu said as Sakura was wondering what he was talking about.

"Whatever… I can't walk away after hearing that! I'll destroy you, girl… and your little Sasuke-kun, too!" One of the other two Oto-nins said.

"Wait, Zaku!" Dosu said.

"Wait? Why?" The Oto-nin, now identified as Zaku asked before Dosu took a few steps forward before kneeling down.

"It's obvious… freshly turned stones, exposed soil… grass in a place it would never grow… someone's been setting booby traps… but what's the point of laying them if you leave evidence that warns your pray?" Dosu said as he ripped away the grass that Sakura had laid down.

"It's amateurish! So… the person who threw the kunai was trying to stop the squirrel from springing the trap?" Zaku said.

"Well, the girl is no use to us… so let's eliminate her first." Dosu said before he and his two teammates jumped into the air.

They didn't notice however that they were walking straight into Sakura's trap as she cut a string with her kunai while smirking, and a log suddenly swung down towards the three.

"A log? The trap was above us all along!" Dosu yelled before he put his right hand on the log and said "Very funny!" He then made a one-handed hand sign with his left hand and the log suddenly blew up to Sakura's surprise "To be honest… you know you're a complete no-talent, don't you? Stop dogging it and start working at it! It's an insult being underestimated by slackers like you!"

Suddenly a stone golem came down and punched the Oto-nins away before Akatsuchi and Lee came down and landed next to Sakura.

"Akatsuchi-san! And… Lee?" She exclaimed.

"Well, isn't this a strange sight? An Iwa-nin saving a Konoha-nin!" Dosu said.

"Sorry I'm late, but I ran into some weaklings from Ame with a heaven scroll, and on my way back, I ran into this guy." Akatsuchi said before Lee assumed a Taijutsu stance.

"Who are you two?" Dosu asked.

"I'm Konoha's handsome blue beast… Rock Lee!" Lee said.

"And I'm a Genin of Iwa, Akatsuchi!" Akatsuchi said.

"It can't be helped. Zaku… little Sasuke is all yours." Dosu said as he threw his earth scroll over to Zaku "They're as good as dead!"

'From the looks of it, Sakura-san doesn't have much more fight left in her either.' Lee thought.

'The unibrow kid is obviously a virtuoso of Taijutsu, while the other one seems to be using close-range elemental Ninjutsu. They'll make excellent playthings.' Dosu thought as he charged towards them.

Sakura then threw a senbon, but Dosu jumped into the air before coming down towards Lee. However Lee stuck his arm into the ground before pulling up the roots of a tree to block Dosu's strike.

"This is some kind of illusion, right? So, I'd be wasting my time ducking as though your attacks were real. I've seen you use these moves before." The Taijutsu user said.

'He's… so strong!' Sakura thought.

"Doton: Goremu!" Akatsuchi said as a golem of stone came out of his mouth and struck down at Dosu with a punch which sent the Oto-nin flying back a few feet before landing on the ground.

Forest of Death, team 10

"How can we pick off the weak when we can't find any weaklings?" Ino asked.

"What a drag. If only those guys we ran into earlier had had the scroll we needed." Shikamaru said before Choji noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey! Naruto and Sasuke are unconscious. And Sakura's defending them." He said.

Forest of Death, team Guy

Neji and Tenten were both back at their rendezvous point, but there were no sign of Lee anywhere.

"It's not like Lee-san to keep us waiting! It's odd… he's usually such a stickler about punctuality. … I wonder if he ran into trouble…" Tenten said.

"Not him! No way. But we should still look for him." Neji said.

"Right!" Tenten said before they shunshined away.

Forest of Death, team 7, team Kurotsuchi and Lee

'Guy-sensei… the time has surely come for me to use the forbidden move you taught me… and not hold back!' Lee thought as he unwrapped the bandages around his arms 'I'm defending the life of someone who means the world to me!' Lee then crouched down before disappearing.

'Where'd he go?' Dosu wondered just before Lee appeared under him and with one powerful kick to the jaw, sent him high into the air before jumping after.

"I'm not done with you yet!" Lee said when he came up behind the Oto-nin and his bandages suddenly wrapped themselves around Dosu and the two of them spiraled – head-first – towards the ground.

"He's wide open… can't make a move to defend himself! Oh, crud!" Zaku said as he weaved a series of hand signs.

"Take this! Omote Renge!" Lee said just before they hit the ground.

Lee then jumped away at the last second, but as he landed he saw that the ground that Dosu had landed on had somehow been turned to a pillow of soil.

"Whew… looks like I made it…" Zaku said before he pulled his hands out of the ground.

"No way!" Lee yelled when Dosu got back up on his feet.

"… What a terrible technique… I managed to land on a pillow of soil… and it still almost wiped me out! But now… it's my turn…" Dosu said as he got ready to attack, but before he reached Lee, Akatsuchi came up in front of the Taijutsu user, weaving a series of hand signs before slamming both hands down onto the ground.

"Doton: Doryuheki no jutsu!" Akatsuchi said before a wall of earth suddenly rose up from the ground, blocking Dosu's attack.

"Zaku!" Dosu said as he jumped out of the way.

"All right." Zaku said before pointing his arms towards the wall of earth.

"Zankuha!" A powerful wave of sound then shot out of the air-pipes in his arms and the wall of earth didn't stand a chance as it was literally ripped into pieces. Dosu then jumped forward and swung his right arm in front of the two, giving them no time to react.

"Your moves may be fast… but ours are super-sonic! And muscles alone can't break down… this wall of sound!" Dosu said as he looked at Lee and both Lee and Akatsuchi fell down on their knees before vomiting.

"LEE-SAN! AKATSUCHI-SAN!" Sakura yelled.

'My left ear…' Lee thought as he felt an intensive pain in said ear and he brought his hand up to it.

"It's this appliance on my arm… you see? It prevents you… from breaking my attacks." Dosu said.

"What did you use on them?" Sakura asked.

"Heh heh heh… It's sound! Even if you block my fist, the sound waves reach you." Dosu said.

'Sound?' Akatsuchi thought.

"Do you understand… the fundamental nature of sound?" Dosu asked.

"Vibrations…?" Sakura guessed.

"Precisely. When you hear a sound, it's actually those vibrations displacing the air, which trembles against your eardrum. And the human eardrum – the tympanic membrane – ruptures when exposed to sound levels in excess of 150 phons. Moreover, if the sound is powerful enough to upset the semi-circular canals of the inner ear… it becomes impossible for you to maintain your balance. Heh heh… and it will be some time… before your equilibrium returns." Dosu explained.

"So, you see, crude, old-fashioned Taijutsu simply won't don't work against us. You did start out very well, though. It's rare for a foe to force me to reveal the nature of my techniques. But now the tide has turned against you! I can wield sound waves as a weapon… with enough force to crush entire boulders! And with a mere thought I can use sound waves to force air into the earth beneath me, transforming rock-hard soil into the softest kind of cushion… a far more elegant and effective art than your crude application of brute force." Zaku said.

'Blast him…' Lee thought as he remembered what Guy had told him after he had learned the Omote Renge.

"The only time you may use this technique… is to protect someone very dear to you."

"… To protect… someone dear to me…?"

"But even if you never employ it, I'm very proud of you for mastering this technique! Good work, Lee!"

'Darn it…' Lee thought.

"And now… it's your turn." Dosu said as he charged towards Sakura.

"Blast…!" Lee said as he tried to move, but found that he couldn't.

Just then however, a ball of quicklime hit the Oto-nin and sent him skidding backwards.

'NANI?' Everyone present thought before they looked towards where the quicklime had come from to see that Kurotsuchi and Bakutsuchi had woken up.

"Kurotsuchi-san! Bakutsuchi-san!" Akatsuchi said.

"I don't know what's going on here, but it looks like we woke up at the right time." Kurotsuchi said before weaving a series of hand signs.

"Doton: Doryuso!" She called out and spears of earth suddenly shot out of the ground and headed straight for Dosu, but said Oto-nin easily managed to dodge them before charging at the girl.

"Kurotsuchi-san, be careful not to let his attacks get near you!" Akatsuchi said.

"Got it!" Kurotsuchi said as she went through several hand signs before slamming her hands down on the ground.

"Earth Style: Earth Dome jutsu!" She called out before a dome of earth appeared in front of her, but Dosu then simply put hi palm on the earth and it suddenly blew up.

"Nani?" Kurotsuchi said before Dosu aimed a punch at her and she just barely managed to dodge it before it felt as though her eardrum exploded and she fell down on her knees.

"KUROTSUCHI-SAN!" Bakutsuchi yelled before pulling out a kunai and charging at Dosu.

"Bakutsuchi-san, don't." Akatsuchi said, but it was too late as Dosu punched his fellow Iwa-nin, sending said ninja into a tree.

"Now… for the coup de grace!" Dosu said.

"I don't think so!" Sakura yelled as she pulled out several kunai and shuriken. She then threw the kunai at Dosu, but said Oto-nin easily blocked it with his amplifier.

"… Oh… my…" He said.

Forest of Death, team 10

"Running away sounds like a good plan! Those guys are getting creamed!" Choji whispered as they watched the battle that was going on.

"It looks like Sasuke and Naruto are just unconscious… but… the famous Lee and the Iwa-nins have obviously had their butts kicked, and Sakura's all alone… what are you going to do Ino?" Shikamaru whispered.

"Why… why are you asking me?" Ino asked.

"I mean, Sakura's in deep! We can't just leave her… can we? Wasn't she, like your best friend or something?" Shikamaru whispered and Ino suddenly thought back to when she and Sakura first became rivals.

"Um… Ino-chan?"

"What's up, Sakura?"

"I heard someone saying…"

"Saying what?"

"Saying that you like Sasuke-kun, too!"

"What?"

"If it's true… that makes us… rivals!"

'Why am I remembering that now?' The Yamanaka heiress thought.

"Hey, Ino! What's it gonna be?" Shikamaru asked.

"There's nothing we can do. If we blunder in now… we may just make things worse!" Ino whispered, trying not to yell before thinking 'Those guys would take me out in about 10 seconds flat! Not even I… can beat them!'

Forest of Death, team 7, team Kurotsuchi and Lee

Sakura threw the shuriken, but Zaku came up in front of the throwing-stars before sending them back towards Sakura with a wave of sound.

'My shuriken… were repelled by a wall of air!' Sakura thought as she dodged them, but then the female member of the Oto team grabbed the Konoha kunoichi's hair.

"Lovely hair… so much more bounce and shine than mine has! What ninja technique is that, Deep Conditioning no jutsu? You're a disgrace to all shinobi… fussing with your looks when you should concentrate on your training!" The female Oto-nin said before looking at Zaku "Zaku… why don't you finish of Sasuke or one of her other fallen heart-throbs… right in front of this lovesick little pig? The least we can do… is entertain her!"

"Hah! Good one!" Zaku said before walking towards where Naruto and Sasuke were lying.

'No! They wouldn't…!' Sakura thought.

"Hold still!" The female Oto-nin said.

'S-Sakura-san…' Lee thought.

'I can't summon any strength… I… I can't… I'm just a burden to them… just someone they have to protect! I'm always in the way… never helping. Darn it! I thought this time… it would be different! This time… I need to help the people I care about!' Sakura thought.

"All right. Let's do it." Zaku said as he got closer to the two sleeping Genin.

"Hey! Sasuke and Naruto are in deep trouble!" Shikamaru whispered.

'Wh-what'll we do?' Ino wondered.

The female Oto-nin then noticed that Sakura pulled out a kunai.

"Your tricks are useless against me, little girl." She said.

"You think so?" Sakura asked before she – to everyone's surprise – cut her hair so that she got free from the Oto-nin's hold.

"Nani…?" The female Oto-nin said in surprise.

'I'd always… thought of myself as a full-fledged ninja… proud to be an equal as I trailed after my teammates… crushing on Sasuke-kun and scolding Naruto… watching them… safely from the background. While they… would both risk anything to protect me. Lee-san says he likes me, too… and he risked his life to come between me and danger. You're all my teachers… and you've shown me what I want to be… like all of you. Now it's your turn… to watch my back!' Sakura thought as she stood up on her feet and her Hitai-ate fell off and landed on the ground.

'Sakura…?' Ino thought.

"Ha! Kin! Finish her!" Zaku yelled and the female Oto-nin, now identified as Kin pulled several senbons from her weapons pouch and charged at Sakura who was currently weaving a series of hand signs.

'Those signs she's making…!' Zaku thought just before Kin slammed her senbons into the pinkette's back, but Sakura just turned into a log 'Zigging when I zagged… she's making a mockery of this, trying to deceive us with such a rudimentary technique!'

Zaku then noticed that Sakura came running for him, with four kunais in each hand.

'The nerve of her, coming right for me!' Zaku thought before yelling "Kin, look out!"

Kin then jumped out of the way as Sakura threw the kunais towards Zaku.

"Give it up." Zaku said before thinking 'The air pressure is at full strength, with no ultra-sonic output…'

He then saw that Sakura weaved the signs for Kawarimi no jutsu again.

"Poor, foolish girl… just a one-trick pony. Zankuha!" Zaku said as he sent a sound-wave straight towards Sakura and the kunais were deflected back at her, but she once again turned into a log "Obviously… you're over-head!"

Zaku then looked up to see that Sakura was indeed above him as she weaved the same sequence of hand signs again and Zaku pulled out four kunais from his pouch.

"Try it twice, try it thrice… that trick will never work on me! My smallest skill is more than enough for you!" He said as he threw the kunais towards the kunoichi and he then started to look around, trying to find out where'd she come from next "Heh heh… come out, come out, wherever you…" He got interrupted however, when a drop of blood landed on his face and he looked up to see Sakura with three of the kunais still stabbed into her while she was holding the fourth in her left hand 'What the…? This time… it's real!'

Sakura then fell down onto Zaku and she stabbed his right arm before biting his left.

"Get off!" Zaku yelled.

'Sakura…' Ino thought as she recalled the first time she met the pinkette, as well as when she introduced her to her other friends and the time when Sakura first told them that she had a crush on Sasuke-kun and the time when they met after having been assigned into teams.

Zaku then managed to get Sakura off of him and he got ready to kill her.

"Th-this is not good…!" Choji whispered.

"Ino! Ino… come on!" Shikamaru whispered.

'They need me… to protect them…' Sakura thought.

"You little witch!" Zaku yelled as he prepared to fire, but then to everyone's surprise, team 10 came up in front of Sakura, with Shikamaru holding onto Choji's scarf "Hmm. The freak parade just goes on and on…"

"Ino…" Sakura said.

"Sakura… I told you… I'd never let you show me up!" Ino said.

Sasuke's mindscape

Sasuke was hovering in a completely white space and in front of him was what appeared to be a younger version of himself.

'Who are you?' He thought.

"Tou-san and Ka-san… needn't have died." The younger Sasuke said.

'The me… of long ago?' The older Sasuke thought.

"Ultimately, without strength, there's nothing you can do. I wasn't strong enough. Our clan was destroyed. Everyone was killed… because you… let them die. You just… stood there and watched." The younger Sasuke said as he brought his hand up to his left eye and started ripping off the skin around the eye to reveal Orochimaru's eye as his voice changed to Orochimaru's "Because you're nothing but a weakling!"

Forest of Death, team 7, team Kurotsuchi, team 10 and Lee

"Ino… why…?" Sakura said.

"Did you think I was going to let you make the big sacrifice and hog all the glory in front of Sasuke-kun?" Ino said.

"More of these annoying little bugs have crept in… and started swarming." Dosu said.

"Wh-what are you guys thinking? Those creeps are too dangerous! They'll eat us alive! Shikamaru… let go of me!" Choji yelled.

"Nope! No way. Sorry, buddy, but that's the way it is. We're the men here. We can't run away when Ino's ready to risk her life fighting. Not even if we die!" Shikamaru said.

"Sorry I dragged you boys into this. But we are a three-man team… all for one and one for all." Ino said.

"What's meant to happen will, I guess!" Shikamaru said.

"Heh heh… we'll let you off the hook if you want to run… fatty." Zaku said.

"What did that guy just say? I… could've sworn he called me…" Choji said.

'That word's a big no-no with Choji… if this guy says it again…!' Shikamaru thought.

"You're welcome to run away… if you can find a hiding place that's big enough… fatso!" Zaku said.

"I'M NOT FAT! I'M JUST PLEASINGLY PLUMP!" Choji yelled as he snapped "Pleasingly plump people UNITE!"

'Unreal!' Sakura thought.

"Does everyone understand? Do you get me? Konoha and the Oto ninja are at war!" Choji yelled.

'Good luck. Choji's lost it!' Ino thought.

"This is turning into a complete drag!" Shikamaru said as he let go of Choji's scarf.

"… It certainly is." Zaku said before thinking 'Our orders were to find and kill Uchiha Sasuke under the cover of this exam, but…'

"Sakura…! Stay here and watch over your team." Ino said.

"Right!" Sakura said.

"This is it, team Ino. Up and at 'em, full speed ahead!" Ino yelled.

"Yes, ma'am!" Shikamaru said.

"Ino-Shika-Cho formation! It's on you, Choji!" Ino yelled as Choji made a hand sign.

"Okay! Baika no jutsu!" Choji said and he suddenly became twice as big and looked like a ball with tiny arms, legs and head "Nikudan Sensha."

Choji's arms, legs and head then went into his body as he started rolling towards Zaku.

"What kind of freakin' jutsu is that? Hm. Just a fat guy rolling himself around! Zankuha!" Zaku said as he sent a sound-wave at Choji, but said Akimichi managed to hold his own and after a few seconds, he jumped up into the air "Flying? How is that possible?"

'With that kind of rotation… so much for air pressure! Maybe ultra-sonic waves…? If that thing hits me, I'll be pulverized!' Zaku thought as Choji came down towards him. Seeing as though Zaku was in trouble, Dosu ran towards him, but Shikamaru noticed it.

'Oh, no you don't! Since you've been the biggest drag in everybody's ascot… Kagemane no jutsu!' He thought and suddenly his shadow stretched and hit Dosu's own shadow, paralyzing the Oto-nin.

'I… can't move! Why is that? It's his shadow!' Dosu thought as Zaku managed to dodge Choji.

"Wh-what are you doing at a time like this? Dosu!" Kin yelled.

"Ino! The woman is the only one left." Shikamaru said and Ino made a hand sign.

"You got it, Shikamaru! Take care of my body while I'm gone!" Ino said.

"Gotcha!" Shikamaru said.

"Shintenshin no jutsu!" Ino said and she suddenly fell asleep as Shikamaru caught her before she hit the ground.

"Man, that makes my head spin!" Choji said as he stood up on his feet.

Kin suddenly pulled out a kunai and held it up to her own throat proving that it was actually Ino, in Kin's body.

"You're finished! If either of you makes a move, your teammate, Kin is as good as dead! Both of you, leave your scrolls here, and go finish the exam without them. When I can no longer sense either of your chakras, I'll release Kin!" She yelled, but she was puzzled when she saw both of them, smirking 'What do they think is so funny?'

"They're going to…!" Sakura shouted when she figured what the Oto-nins were planning and Zaku pointed his left arm at Ino/Kin "NO!"

Zaku then sent a sound-wave straight at Ino/Kin and she was sent flying into a tree before she fell down to the ground as blood came out both Kin and Ino's mouths.

"INO…!" Shikamaru yelled.

"… Wh-what unbelievable lowlifes… to wound your own comrade!" Ino/Kin said.

"You underestimated us… bad mistake." Zaku said.

"Our objective is not some stupid scroll… nor have we any interest in passing your infantile exam." Dosu said to everyone's surprise before he continued "We're after Sasuke!"

'Blast… I'm almost at my time limit!' Shikamaru thought just before his shadow detached itself from Dosu's and retracted back to him.

"So… your little trick can only work for five minutes at a time? And as for the jutsu that girl is using… from the look of things, if we inflict any harm on her host, her real body suffers as well! Heh heh… we can kill her by killing Kin ourselves!" Dosu said.

"You're despicable!" Everyone then looked up towards where the voice came from to see Neji and Tenten.

"You bucolic nonentities think you're all that just because your sonic powers were strong enough to whump these novices." Neji said.

"What?" Dosu said.

"Again the vermin come crawling from the woodwork." Zaku said as Neji looked down towards Lee.

"Looks like you blew it, huh?" He said.

"Lee-san…" Tenten said.

'Those are Lee-san's teammates…' Sakura thought.

"The kid with the hairdo belongs to us. You hurt him, so now you have to answer to us!" Neji said as he activated his Byakugan.

'His eyes seem to penetrate everything!' Dosu thought.

"Stop while you still can or we'll give you everything we've got." Neji said and he was about to attack Dosu before suddenly noticing something.

"Heh heh… if you find us so despicable… why won't you stop posturing and start doing something about it?" Dosu asked.

"S-Sakura-chan…" Everyone turned towards the voice to see that Naruto was awake and attempting to climb up on his feet.

"Naruto…" Sakura said.

"About time you woke up, tree-hugger." Kurotsuchi said before Naruto got up on his feet and walked forward until he was standing in front of Sakura, and he looked around while activating his eyes.

"Sakura-chan… Bushy-Brows… Kurotsuchi… Iwa-nins… Sasuke…" He looked over everyone who had been taken down before glaring at the Oto-nins, and luckily his eyes were hidden in the shadow of his hair.

"Heh. So, one of the sleepyheads decided to wake up, I see. Well too bad. You should have stayed in dreamland, but now we'll just kill you too." Zaku said.

"Ino!" Naruto said calmly, ignoring Zaku "Return to your body."

"Huh? Why?" Ino asked, surprised that the blond idiot knew that she was in Kin's body, and she wondered why he wanted her to return to her own.

"Just do it." Naruto replied.

"R-right." Ino said before making a hand sign "KAI!" And she returned to her own body.

"What are we waiting for? Let's blow this guy out of here! Zankukyokuha!" Zaku called out as he sent a powerful sound wave towards Naruto and the others.

As the sound wave approached the blond, however, he held out his arms as if on instinct and what looked like a blue shield appeared in front of him and as the wave hit the shield, it seemed to be absorbed into the young Rinnegan bearer.

"Nani?" Zaku said in surprise, and he wasn't the only one that was surprised. None of the people present had ever seen someone blocking a Ninjutsu with his bare hands, in fact not even Naruto – who had performed the miracle – didn't know what had just happened.

"Looks like Ninjutsu won't work on this one. Well… in that case!" Dosu said before charging towards Naruto, but said blond looked up towards the Oto-nins. Dosu was then stopped in his tracks as two large purple eyes with four rings centered on the pupil like a ripple pattern seemed to appear above the boy, and the three Oto-nins lost their breaths as they felt as though their bodies became much heavier, and they also started sweating bullets.

'What the…?' Shikamaru thought before he noticed Naruto's eyes 'What happened to his eyes? Has he unlocked some kind of Dojutsu? Is this why he wore those sunglasses?'

'T-those eyes… What is he?' Dosu thought, never having seen or heard of eyes like Naruto's before.

"I'll give you one chance to leave your scroll here and escape!" Naruto said.

"Obviously, we won't stand a chance against you." Dosu said before he put an earth scroll down on the ground.

"You don't seriously think that we would lose against some weakling like him?" Zaku said.

"Didn't you feel that Killing-Intent? It would only have that effect if he's stronger than us!" Dosu said before turning around to leave, quickly followed by Kin, and Zaku hesitantly followed shortly after.

"MATTE!" Sakura yelled and the Oto-nins stopped as they looked over their shoulders "You've got to tell me! Who is Orochimaru? What did he do to Sasuke-kun? And… why was Sasuke-kun the one he chose?"

"I don't know… we were just following orders." Dosu said before thinking 'You ordered us to murder Sasuke, but you got to him first. And instead of killing him, you marked him with that curse. What's your game?'

Forest of Death, team Fu

Fu, Shibuki and Takimaru were in the trees over-looking the battle.

"Whoa. What was it that that blond kid did?" Shibuki asked.

"I don't know, but for some reason I hope I don't have to fight him." Takimaru said.

'Those eyes aren't normal. He's got to have a Dojutsu, but I've never heard of one like that before. Kyubi Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto, there's obviously more to you than meets the eye, and I'm not talking about your tenant.' Fu thought as she licked her lips before turning to her teammates "Let's get out of here."

"Right!" The two of them said in unison before the three Taki-nins shunshined away.

Forest of Death, team 7, team Kurotsuchi, team 10 and team Guy

"Hey, Naruto!" Sakura said as she walked over to the blond, catching his attention.

"Huh? What is it Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he turned around, but then Sakura suddenly punched him so hard that he was sent flying into a tree.

"Hey! What was that for?" Naruto yelled before Sakura appeared in front of him.

"What happened to the sunglasses?" She asked, making sure that no one else would hear her.

"Oh, those? They broke." Naruto said.

Hey, Naruto!" Naruto and Sakura looked towards the voice to see Shikamaru walking towards them and Naruto quickly looked away so that the Nara wouldn't see his eyes.

"Here." Shikamaru said as he handed Sakura a pair of sunglasses.

"What?" She said.

"We ran into a group of Ame-nins earlier and one of them dropped these. I don't know why, but I had a feeling that they could come in handy, so I picked them up." Shikamaru said before walking back to his teammates as Sakura gave the sunglasses to Naruto who put them on.

Tenten jumped down and landed in front of Ino who was helping Lee.

"Let me take him from here." Tenten said and Ino handed the boy over to the weapon user before said weapon user started relentlessly shaking Lee while yelling "Lee-san! Are you all right? Pull yourself together!"

"Huh? Tenten? When did you get here?" Lee asked.

"We came to rescue you!" Tenten said before Lee started to look around.

"… Huh…? Where did the Oto-nins go?" He asked.

"Naruto scared them off!" Tenten said.

"Oh…" Lee said as he looked towards where Naruto and Sakura were.

"What were you thinking, going off half-cocked like that, alone? Look at you! You're a mess!" Tenten said.

"S-Sakura-san needed me! saving her was my sacred duty… as a man!" Lee said.

'Oh, for crying out loud! If Lee-san had faced those guys by himself, with no distractions, he could have taken them!' Tenten thought before saying "You're an idiot. You know that, right?"

"Your words are so sharp, if I try to answer back, I'll cut myself!" Lee said.

"Lee-san… arigato." Sakura said as she came over to Lee and Tenten "Thanks to your help, I've made some kind of breakthrough. My skills have been taken to a whole new level."

'Sakura-san…' Lee thought.

"You guys all right?" Naruto asked as he knelt down over Kurotsuchi.

"I don't want your sympathy, tree-hugger!" Kurotsuchi said as she climbed to her feet quickly followed by her two teammates, and Naruto rose up on his feet as well.

"But thanks." Kurotsuchi whispered so that her teammates wouldn't hear it "So, you're gona tell me what Dojutsu you have?"

"What? No way!" Naruto said

Forest of Death, tower

Anko was sitting on a couch in a room inside the tower in front of two ANBU. Just earlier that day, she had run into Orochimaru in the forest, though the snake Sannin managed to get away from her.

"What's happened is a disaster, but the exam must go on!" Anko said.

"Why?" One of the ANBU asked before a Jonin came in the door.

"Thank goodness you're here, Anko-san! There is something I must tell you right away…" The Jonin said.

"Now what? We're right in the middle of something vital!" Anko said.

"Observe!" The Jonin said as he held up a surveillance tape before putting it into a video player.

"Video surveillance, eh?" One of the ANBU said as the Gaara, Kankuro and Temari were shown on the TV.

"Right there… Notice the time and date stamp…" The Jonin said as he pointed at where the time was shown.

"That looks like…" Anko said.

"It is. it was shot from the interior of the tower… a mere hour and 37 minutes after the second exam began! The three ninja from Suna… have already passed the second exam!" The Jonin said.

Chapter preview

Hiruzen "Congratulations to you all on passing the second exam!"

Orochimaru "So… you've mastered the spells of sealing, Kakashi? … Looks like you're all grown up."

Ino "So, Sakura… It's you and me… going head-to-head. I never saw it coming."

Kiba 'The only ones who haven't competed yet are me, Hinata, Naruto, one of the Iwa-nins, one of the Oto-nins, Choji, Neji, One of the Taki-nins and Lee… And that guy from Suna…'

Naruto "You're so high on yourself… You just go and fight me alone, or with your dog, or any other way you want!"

Hayate "Next time on… cough… on Naruto: Rinnegan Jinchuriki: Preliminaries."

Sasuke "Naruto… You're one of the ones that I wanna fight the most!"

Character status

Naruto: Power level: 30

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Oiroke, Harem, Kage Bunshin, Suiton: Suiryudan, Doton: Moguragakure, Futon: Kamikaze, Hyoton: Sensatsu suisho, Rinnegan: Killing-Intent.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Rinnegan, Hyoton.

Sasuke: Power level: 30

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Katon: Goukakyo, Katon: Housenka, Katon: Ryuka.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Sakura: Power level: 15

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken, senbon.

Kurotsuchi: Power level: 30

Techniques: Katon: Ryuka, Suiton: Mizurappa, Doton: Doryuso, Earth style: Earth dome, Yoton: Sekkaigyo.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken, sword.

Kekkei Genkai: Yoton.

Akatsuchi: Power level: 25

Techniques: Doton: Doryuheki, Doton: Goremu.

Weapons: none

Bakutsuchi: Power level: 20

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi.

Weapons: kunai, bombs.

Kekkei Genkai: unknown (not unlocked yet).

Rock Lee: Power level: 25

Techniques: Konoha Senpou, Kagebuyo, Konoha Reppu, Konoha Daisenpu, Omote Renge.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kiba: Power level: 30

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Shikyaku, Jujin Bunshin, Tsuuga, Gatsuuga.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Hinata: Power level: 20

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Juken.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan.

Shino: Power level: 25

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Kikaichu, Mushi Bunshin, Mushi Kame, Tetsuzanko, Hijutsu: Mushiyose, Hijutsu: Mushidama.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Shikamaru: Power level: 17

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Kagemane, Ino-Shika-Cho.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Choji: Power level: 20

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Baika, Nikudan sensha, Ino-Shika-Cho.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Ino: Power level: 15

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Shintenshin, Ino-Shika-Cho.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Fu: Power level: 30

Techniques: Mizu Bunshin, Takigakure-Ryu: Mizukiri no Yaiba, Mushikui, Hijutsu: Rinpungakure.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Shibuki: Power level: 27

Techniques: Mizu Bunshin, Takigakure-Ryu: Mizukiri no Yaiba, Mizu no Tatsumaki.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Takimaru: Power level: 27

Techniques: Mizu Bunshin, Takigakure-Ryu: Mizukiri no Yaiba, Akagan: Iryujonmisuto.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Akagan.

Orochimaru: Power level: 139

Techniques: Doton: Kage Bunshin, Jagei Jubaku, Gogyo Fuin, Mandara no Jin, Sen'eijashu, Kage Bunshin, Kuchiyose, Kuchiyose: Rashomon, Shoshagan, Futon: Daitoppa, Kanashibari, Sojasosai, Shoshagan, Juinjutsu.

Weapons: Kusanagi.

Dosu: Power level: 35

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Kyomeisen.

Weapons: melody arm.

Zaku: Power level: 30

Techniques: Zankuha, Zankukyokuha.

Weapons: none

Kin: Power level: 30

Techniques: none

Weapons: senbon.

Kurama no Kyubi: I'm very sorry for the late update, but I was delayed because I was in the middle of a chapter on Naruto: the Legend of Aang when I should have moved on to this story, and I didn't want to stop in the middle of a chapter in case something would happen to my computer and I'd been forced to write the chapter over again. Anyway, in case you're wondering how Naruto's Killing-Intent worked on the Oto-nins when one of them were stronger than him and the other two were just as strong as him is because of the Rinnegan.