The Movement You Need

by fingers-falling-upwards

Everything is different for Team Seven after the forest of death, and it all has to do with two seals. One forces the members to get closer than they ever wanted to be. Ever. The other changes Naruto's life for the better. How much will these two different seals alter Naruto's path?

4. The Prelims

Sorry for the delay. Life and stuff. Plus this doc had multiple versions floating around which was a bitch to sort through. Mega long chapter though, so I hope that makes up for this.

I'M NOT REWRITING THE PRELIMS EXACTLY. I'm too lazy for that. These are my own prelims that have changed by virtue of the butterfly effect. One change changes a whole lot more.

Anyways, unbetad. Also I don't own Naruto.

---

Chapter 4: The Prelims

---

The next thing Naruto knew, he was being shaken awake by Sakura.

"Wake up Naruto," the kunoichi spoke impatiently. Naruto quickly sat up and rubbed his eyes blearily as he stared at the bland room.

"Come on dobe," Sasuke said curtly, leaning on the doorframe, "the next part of the exam is about to start."

"Right, just give me a second," he said and the other two stepped into the hallway.

Naruto scrambled out of bed. None of them had anything to change into so they had all slept in their clothes, despite how much their clothes already smelled. Because of that, Naruto only had to find his jacket and sandals. A few moments later, he was out the door. Sasuke and Sakura were standing there waiting for him. With silent nods, they departed down the stairs to the circular room they first entered through.

"Geez, don't they have anything to eat?" Naruto grumbled, "I'm starving."

"There were a few pieces of fruit we got but you were sleeping." Sakura tightened her hitai-ate.

"Sakura-chan! That's so mean!"

"Just eat a ration bar," Sakura said dismissively, "If you hadn't slept in so much, you could have had some fruit."

"But Sakura-chan . . ."

"Shut up, both of you!" Sasuke hissed, "This isn't the time."

The kunoichi's expression immediately dropped in embarrassment, feeling her crush's displeasure. Naruto on the other hand, screwed his face up irritably, but pulled out his last ration bar and quickly shoved it into his mouth. The mutinous air between the two boys was thick and tense. It was only when they reached the bottom of the stairs that they noticed a door they had previously overlooked. A brown-haired leaf nin stood by it and the trio walked over.

"The rest of the teams are on the other side of the door," he informed them shortly, "the minute you enter the doors, the exam resumes."

Naruto and Sakura swallowed. Sasuke was the one to push the door open. All of them tensed expecting the worst, but instead of a sudden attack, all they saw were the other competitors getting into rows. The trio quickly followed the example, coming in near the middle. The Hokage himself was watching the proceedings from the front of the room. Two ninja flanked him, and behind them two ANBUS hovered on the side. One of the ninja beside him was Anko, and the other was a brown-haired ninja wearing a bandana.

Sasuke was surprised by the amount of competitors still left in the exam. Though Anko had threatened to get rid of more than half of them, there was still a pretty large sum left. He noticed that all of the rookie nine and Gai's team had made it into the third round. Sasuke estimated that there were about twenty-six or twenty-seven people left. Some looked like they were in considerably better shape than others. When he looked at the clock, he realized that the second exam had just ended about twenty minutes ago. That meant that though he, Naruto, and Sakura had gotten there with about seven hours left, other teams were just getting there now. A smirk spread over the Uchiha's lips as he realized that they had a considerable edge. Something he was looking forward to exploiting in whatever the exam brought next. With that in mind, he carefully took note of who the remaining examinees.

After the entire group had assembled, the Hokage cleared his throat.

"Congratulations on passing the second stage of the exam." His eyes scanned the congregation that had gathered before him. "However, your real test begins here. No longer are you within your teams. Now, this is an individual test. You will be forced to fight one-on-one, against foreign nin, and genin from your own village and team."

Reactions of outrage and surprise echoed quietly through the group. Naruto was glad he had known beforehand. He'd had a little time to come to grips with fighting a nin from his same village. Though the idea of fighting his teammates was something he was having a hard time reconciling. What if he got Sakura-cha? He didn't think he could hurt her . . . Speaking of, beside him he felt the pink-haired girl vibrating with fear. Sasuke smothered it with a wave of irritation much to Naruto's relief. Truthfully, her nervousness was really messing with Naruto's mind and confidence.

"From our own team?" a male Suna nin asked, sounding apprehensive.

"Precisely. Your enemy is on all sides."

"That doesn't seem very realistic," someone from the front row muttered.

Old age had not affected Sarutobi's hearing in the slightest and he raised an eyes bow before replying, "Does anyone know why we hold the Chunin Exams instead of doing on field promotions in combat situations?"

"War."

Naruto turned around to see who had unobtrusively spoken the word. To his surprise it was the weird quiet kid with the sunglasses who always sat in the back of the class at the academy.

The Hokage nodded. "Exactly. We are in times of peace as of now. Konoha has treaties with each of your villages. This is an opportunity for the villages to show strength and valor, in a mock war scenario in order to prevent the need for further conflicts." He paused. "But there is another reason," the Sandaime said seriously, "The Chunin Exams are one of the rare opportunities you as ninja have to go against your teammates and fellow village members in a truly substantial way. The exam tests your fortitude and forces you to make difficult choices. Later on in your careers, you may have to make decisions between your and your teammates' futures and chose one or the other. This is a close substitute."

"That's not to say that it is certain you will go against a teammate," Sarutobi said, a tad lighter. "The drawing for pairings is completely random. The proctor for the exam is Gekko Hayate. I leave the rest of the instructions to him."

A sickly-looking ninja from his side stepped forward. "At this time, would those who wish to quit please raise their hand? After that we will commence the next round," The brown haired ninja—Gekko— said, coughing slightly, "Your teammates will not be disqualified by your choice. From here on out, it's a single person competition."

Glances were exchanged throughout the room between teammates. Everyone looking for the first person to crack. Of the group gathered, Kabuto was the one to finally raise his hand.

"I'd like to leave, I don't think I can go on," he said in a weak but earnest tone.

Naruto felt mild upset. Kabuto had helped them a lot the last exam, and it was only because of him they even passed it. When they fought their way to the tower, he had seemed strong enough. Besides that, it shouldn't have taken seven hours to reunite with his teammates so he should have been able to rest. Naruto didn't like to see a person like Kabuto give up on their goals. "Why?" He asked Kabuto as he passed by team seven on his way out.

"Sorry Naruto," he replied with a smile, "my head's just not in it."

Naruto sighed and crossed his arms unhappily.

"Stay focused, dobe," Sasuke said indifferently.

The blond shinobi shot him a glare but turned back to the front. After Kabuto, a handful of people raised their hands and also left. After a few more moments of waiting in which no one else raised their hands, the ninja from before spoke again. "If there is no one else, then we will continue. As there are too many remaining competitors, there will be a preliminary before the final third round, which will take place at a later date."

Exclamations of shock sounded through the large room. Sakura flared with a mix of anger and distress that quickly spread through the bond.

"Sakura-chan, are you okay?" Naruto asked, barely remembering the code they set yesterday amidst her swirling anxiety.

"Y-yes," she said, willing herself to calm down, "I'm fine."

Sasuke choked out a relieved breath. Her constantly shifting emotions were beginning to really irritate him. His eyes narrowed though as he considered the last trick. If enough people had left because they felt too weak, then the remaining group would have had a waiting period before they even fought again. Those that doubted themselves that much had weak drive, and clearly did not deserve to be Chunin. Sakura, he couldn't help feel, was their ilk. At least it was no longer a team competition, so she wouldn't be dragging him down anymore.

"The first round will be announced shortly. Will the competitors now go to the second level?" The proctoring ninja requested.

Naruto was at the forefront of the trio as they headed up the right staircase all turning over the sudden event in their minds. Sasuke in particular was scoping out the competition as the majority of the foreign nin climbed the stairs opposite of them. Though he knew Naruto was ambivalent on the matter, and Sakura was just plain anxious, he was excited. That feeling grew stronger and stronger until it cleaned out the rest of the bond. At least he was beginning to get the hang of it.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura exclaimed happily when she saw the gray-haired jonin leaning against the iron bars of the porch, 'Icha Icha Paradise' firmly in hand.

"Yo," the grey-haired nin greeted. His greeting was completely overrun because a jonin burst forward, nearly trampling team seven as he did. They dodged out of the way as he ran to Tenten, Neji, and Lee who were walking up behind them.

"Youthful students! Your burning flames beat the dark Forest of Death and now you stand on the precipice of victory!" He proclaimed. The Hyuuga was looking away with an expression of distaste on his face, and the female of the group was smiling awkwardly. Rock Lee on the other hand was returning his sensei's gestures with equal vigor.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto asked eventually as he watched the ongoing spectacle, "Who is that?"

"That," He said, flipping a page of his book, "Is Mighto Gai, a jonin taijutsu specialist."

"We met him before Naruto." Sakura reminded him.

"Oh yeah! He was the turtle-sensei!"

Kakashi didn't bother asking what Naruto meant. He didn't want to know.

"Is he always like this?" Sasuke asked with a look of disgust. They'd already seen their odd display after his brief battle with Rock Lee, but Sasuke hadn't actually believed anyone could behave so ridiculously all the time. It just made it harder to stomach that someone so ludicrous could be so powerful. At least he wasn't on their team though. Compared to Gai and Lee, Sakura and Naruto were tame.

"Yes." Kakashi answered with one word. He briefly turned away from his book to rummage through his various pockets. "Here," he said, tossing light lavender elbow covers to Sakura and black gloves to Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"What are these for, sensei?" Sakura asked.

"To hide you latest tattoos," he said with a light eye smile.

The two of them glanced at each other.

"Do we have to?" Naruto asked, his voice whiny. Kakashi stared at the orange wearing teen until he was suitably uncomfortable. The blond quickly pulled the gloves on, thankful to see that they were combat gloves with Velcro straps. Sakura hesitantly followed his lead, and slid the elbow pads up her arm until they covered her seal. They felt weird, and Naruto in particular was trying to get used to the slight restriction of his mobility. He wondered if they had any in orange.

"Oh, and don't think you're getting out of this, Sasuke," Kakashi said mildly, "When this exam is over, we'll have to do something about your wardrobe of high neck shirts." Anger flared over the bond, which both Naruto and Sakura echoed as they realized this would be a permanent matter until further notice. Seeing the mutinous expressions, Kakashi again leveled them with a serious gaze until one by one they folded. Sasuke took a whole three minutes of not blinking, but eventually turned to the side with a "Tch."

"Let's move a little away." Kakashi glanced to the side, seeing his overenthusiastic rival. Team seven moved further down the walkway away from the lurid team Gai and closer to where team ten was standing. Asuma nodded in greeting to his fellow jonin and Shikamaru and Choji slowly meandered their direction. In complete contrast, Ino practically skipped over.

"Ino-pig," Sakura said with a scoff, "Didn't expect to see you here."

"I knew you'd be here," Ino replied, just as cattily, "Only because Sasuke-kun's on your team to carry your big useless forehead out of the forest." She laughed.

Hurt sparked around Sakura at just how close Ino was to how Sakura genuinely felt.

"I knew you'd do well Sasuke-kun," Ino oozed.

Sasuke felt immediate disgust at the proceeding. Caught between the two feelings of hurt and repulsion as they battled for the top spot made Naruto's head spin.

"Hey Naruto," Shikamaru said casually as he and Choji approached.

"Hey Shikamaru!" He greeted, a little dazedly. "I'm glad you made it out of the forest."

"I'm not," he said bluntly, "I mean, as if this whole exam wasn't troublesome enough, they had to go and add another round. It's not worth it."

"Don't talk like that Shikamaru!" Ino demanded, breaking from her verbal sparring with Sakura.

Naruto sighed, glad for the reprieve of emotion as Sakura and Sasuke gathered themselves once more. It was hard to interject when they were both flooding him with unwelcome feelings. He needed to work on using their code more often so he wouldn't be as unprepared, (or as nauseous.)

"I guess we're all here again," Kiba said with a toothy smirk as team eight walked over, passing team Gai with a healthy berth.

"It seems so," Shino said mutedly.

"I-it's good to s-s-see you Naruto," Hinata stuttered.

"Huh? Oh, you too," He said offhandedly.

Her face burst into red.

"Pay attention," the leader of team ten commented, "They're beginning the match-ups."

In the very front of the room, above two large stone hands in a handsign, there was a giant monitor. Characters filled the screen, and after a few moments it showed the first match.

Abumi Zaku vs. Rock Lee

YOSH!" Lee's fist shot into the air with excitement as he realized he was the first competitor. His opponent being a sound ninja didn't faze him in the slightest. "I am first! My youth will guide me into a most righteous victory!"

The other genin winced at the loudness. Sasuke wondered when the team had scooted closer to them. Unfortunately, they had run out of space to retreat, being too close to the wall opposite the stairs. Inwardly he groaned; the way things were going, this was going to be a very long preliminaries.

"That's right Lee," Gai said with his trademark smile, "Set an example for the rest. Show them what the power of youth can do!"

"Yes sir!"

"Now go get them tiger!"

"Yes sir!"

Kakashi sweatdropped as he watched from down the rail, "You know Gai, we can all hear you even if you speak at a normal level."

"What do you mean?!" Gai demanded, "I am not yelling! This is my normal level! Is it too youthful for you?!"

"Right," Kakashi said with a sigh before turning back to his book.

"How terribly cool of you Kakashi," Gai grinned, "Not that I expected anything less from my eternal rival!"

"Did you say something?" the gray-haired jounin asked as he turned the page.

"Eternal Rival?" Naruto asked with a curious expression. This was the second time Gai mentioned it, and Naruto didn't understand in the slightest.

A wide smile spread over Gai's face, but before he could reply, a coughing sound broke through their conversation. Gekko Hayate coughed for a few more seconds before he raised his hand. He stood in between the sound nin and the eager looking Rock Lee.

"The first match has been decided. The match will continue until one opponent forfeits, is knocked out or is unable to continue fighting. Killing is not allowed. Outside interference will lead to disqualification," The proctor said.

"Come on Lee, show this guy who's boss!" Tenten shouted from the stands.

"Fight with all the power of youth!" Gai exclaimed. Lee sent his sensei a thumbs up and a sparkling smile. Several of the other genin averted their eyes at the blinding white light from his teeth. Everything about Gai and Rock Lee was entirely too much, Sakura couldn't help but think. Across from Lee, one of the sound Shinobi from earlier that day stared him down forward cockily. Sakura had thought she recognized his name.

Gekko looked between the two ninja. "The match between Rock Lee of Konoha and Abumi Zaku of the sound, will now commence." He pulled his hand down, showing the start of the round before backing away.

Lee assumed his basic fighting stance with a confident expression on his face. "Come at me, if you dare."

Zaku stood with his two palms extended towards his opponent, eyes closed, obviously ignoring Lee's words.

Konoha nin bent his knees and prepared to attack, "If you will not make a move then I wi—"

A cloud of dust and a loud boom followed Zaku's attack. The sound ninja lay in wait outside of the cloud, eyes darting to wherever the green wearing ninja would emerge.

"Lee!" Tenten cried.

A green blur darted out from the dust and towards the sound nin with startling velocity.

"Fast!" Sakura uttered in surprise. What they'd seen before the exam hardly compared to what they were seeing now. Sasuke grit his teeth, realizing that the green wearing shinobi hadn't gone all out. His feet were nearly a blur as he moved, much to the genin's communal amazement. Though his chakra supply wasn't at its best, Sasuke decided to activate his sharingan. This was a fight he didn't want to miss a second of.

"How come he's so fast?" Sakura asked.

"Lee trains with weights, working every day to improve his youthful ability," Gai answered grinning.

"Cool," Naruto exhaled. He frowned as he squinted, trying to understand what the sound nin was doing. The foreign shinobi would hold out his hands and bursts of something came out. They didn't look like anything. His ears kind of hurt though. He saw Kiba and Akamaru were wincing too.

"What's that guy doing?" Naruto asked his sensei.

"Lee's opponent is a sound shinobi. They're specialty is exactly what you'd think it is; sound attacks."

Naruto nodded, still not fully grasping how that equated to what he was seeing.

"He's compressing the sound with chakra and then channeling it. I would guess that he'd using small holes in his palms," Kakashi observed.

"Eww," Sakura uttered, looking at her own hands.

"Sasuke, mind your chakra," Kakashi reminded the Uchiha who had become caught up in the match, "You don't know who you might go up against. Sasuke's eyes immediately flickered to the red-haired sand ninja and with a small nod, he dismissed the doujutsu.

"Sensei," Tenten began, glancing at Sasuke with a sandaled tone, "That's the blood trait that allows him to copy any technique, isn't it? Are you sure it was okay for him to watch?"

Her sensei smiled and gave her a grin. "Tenten, there isn't a worry in my mind about the Uchiha watching," Gai spoke confidently. "Even if he sees every step and memorizes it, his body couldn't handle the strain of executing it."

Sasuke shot a glare towards Gai's direction, anger pouring off of him. Sakura and Naruto both started slightly at the sudden outpour.

"Sensei! It's the lotus!" Tenten gasped, cutting off Sasuke's anger. Rock Lee lay a combo of kicks towards the other nin's stomach, pounding him up in the air despite the natural pull of gravity. Zaku was helpless to fight it was Lee began expertly binding him with bandages midflight.

"Woah!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Gai, you didn't," Kakashi said wearily.

"I did Kakashi," the other jonin replied without a hint of guilt.

"Huh?" Naruto uttered, looking between the two instructors.

"The lotus is a powerful technique that floods a person's body with chakra to a nearly unhealthy point. It grants to user incredible strength and power, but at the cost of sometimes permanent damage if it is used to a certain extent." Kakashi said with a serious expression on his face as Lee's body began to fall back towards the earth, Zaku firmly in grasp.

"That's . . ." Sakura trailed off, at a loss. When Rock Lee got his opponent early, she knew that she had lucked out not having to fight him, but now she knew how impossibly blessed she had been.

Zaku came down to the floor with a harsh crashing sound. Rock Lee stepped to the side, unwinding himself of from his enemy who flopped to the floor uselessly. Suddenly a hand stirred and grabbed Lee by the leg warmers and pulled him to the floor.

"Aahh!" Lee exclaimed, his head whipping to the destroyed floor where Zaku was slowly trying to stand. With a reflexive kick that sent the sound shinobi flying into the concrete wall, Zaku was completely down for the count. Lee stood in a weak fighting stance, swaying lightly as he stared in the direction of the unconscious body, as though waiting for it to stand up again.

"The winner is Rock Lee from Konohagakure." Gekko announced with a cough.

"How could that guy even stand after what Lee did to him?" Sakura wondered, her voice full of awe.

"How could he even be alive?!" Ino exclaimed.

"Lee could easily have lost this fight," Kakashi said, making all the rookie nine genin stare at him gobsmacked.

"You saw it too then?" Gai asked, looking a little tired.

Kakashi nodded. "Before they hit the ground, the sound shinobi used his hand cannons and shot the ground, softening to blow considerably. If it wasn't stone, he probably would have been able to attack. As it was, stone is too dense for sound to break apart sufficiently, so he was hurt rather badly. If this had taken place outside, he probably would have been able to continue, and Lee would be at a considerable disadvantage." His eyes turned to Rock Lee. Everyone's gaze followed and saw how suddenly exhausted and hurt he looked. The medic shinobi were fluttering around him concernedly.

"After using the lotus, a person's body needs a lot of recovery time." Kakashi sighed.

"I'll speak to him about this later," Gain said seriously, "But for now, my youthful student has triumphed!" He shouted, regaining his passion.

"I did it, Gai-sensei!" Lee exclaimed as he came back up to the balcony. The smile on his face erased all the weariness that had previously been there.

"Lee!" Gai shouted in delight as he began running towards his student.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee shouted in reply,

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

Kakashi covered Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura's eyes with his hands and book.

"It's best not to watch," He said simply.

"Ugh," Sakura shuddered as she heard the crashing of waves and the sunset.

"I think it's kind of sweet." Naruto said, a small warmness filtering through the bond.

"What?" Sakura asked in shock. Sasuke's emotion mirrored hers making Naruto squirm a little

"What? It kind of is! They have the matching hair and spandex, you know, it's kind of sweet!"

"Naruto, if I ever see you in spandex, you're going straight back to the academy," Kakashi said simply as he pulled his hands away and buried his nose in his book.

"What!" Naruto jumped. "You wouldn't really do that, right sensei?"

The actual concern coming from Naruto made Sakura roll her eyes. "Of course he wouldn't. I probably would though."

"Tch, you're so temperamental, dobe."

Naruto snapped his head towards his teammate, "Teme—"

"Shut up, Naruto, they're posting the next match!" Ino snapped. All of their eyes flipped towards the screen.

A mixture of anxiety excitement and eagerness swirled around the trio from team seven. When the shifting characters on the screen finally settled, that adrenaline was replaced by one part relief and two parts impatience.

"The second round will be Nara Shikamaru of Konoha and Tsuchi Kin from the Sound."

"Ugh, this is such a drag," Shikamaru groaned. "I can't follow that last match."

"That are you saying Shikamaru?! Go out there and kick some ass!" Ino shouted.

"So troublesome . . ." Nonetheless, the shadow-jutsu user slowly went down the stairs to the center of the room where the proctor and his opponent were waiting. The other ninja had long, dark hair, held away from her face by her Sound village headband. There was an impatient look on her face as Shikamaru lazily approached.

"Now that both competitors are here, the match can begin," Gekko said, coughing as he moved out of the center. The girl immediately jumped back, scanning her competition.

"Another sound nin," Shikamaru murmured lightly to himself. Whereas his posture was slumped and lazy, his mind was active and alert. Already he was turning over the knowledge he'd seen in the last round. She would probably have some kind of sound jutsu like her teammate, but until she attacked, he wouldn't know the specifics. He doubted it would be as explosive as her teammate's as her shoulder muscles weren't developed enough to handle the strain. So what was her move then?

"Yes, another sound nin," she said with a haughty voice, "but I can tell you I'm much stronger than my pathetic teammate."

Kin began the match by throwing two needles to Shikamaru.

Sakura's brow furrowed, that laughter sounded familiar for some reason. Her brain finally made the connection to the name and voice from earlier.

"She was another one of from the group who were trying to find Sasuke," Sakura said mostly to herself.

"Someone was trying to find you?" Kakashi asked his student.

"Yeah, it was after that Orochimaru guy attacked us. We heard her and her teammates talking about finding Sasuke, and how Orochimaru would be mad at them if they didn't," Naruto replied, his face scrunching unhappily.

Kakashi's hidden eyebrow raised in surprise. The team from the Sound. Coupled with the mysterious mark on Sasuke's shoulder . . . Was it possible that they had collaborated with Orochimaru?

Gai, Asuma and Kurenai all looked towards him subtly at the mention of the name. He gave an almost indiscernible shake of the head. Everything was under control for the moment. He would report the matter, subtly and immediately.

"They didn't find us though, so that was good." Sakura sighed in relief.

"Yes it was. It goes to show what capable ninja you all are becoming," Kakashi said with a light smile.

Sakura blushed, setting off a chain reaction between her teammates.

"Sakura, calm down," Sasuke said shortly, turning his head to the side.

"Oh right!" She said, the flush of pride turning into embarrassment.

"That really isn't better Sakura-chan," Naruto said honestly.

She took a few deep breaths, trying to settle her emotions.

Kakashi watched the exchange with amused interest.

'Perhaps,' The jounin thought, 'This could be good for them. I don't think there could be a better teamwork exercise. The three of them have to work together if they want to make it through this.' He glanced at the Uchiha heir from the corner of his lone eye, 'Sasuke especially could benefit from a little understanding.' He turned his attention back to the match just in time to catch Shikamaru's clever ploy.

"The winner is Shikamaru Nara from Konoha!" Gekko announced. Medics arrived on the scene and quickly collected the knocked out sound ninja. Kakashi watched the proceedings with sharp eyes. "Now for the third match," Gekko said. Behind him, the board cycled through the names again before settling.

"The third match will be Tsuguru Misumi of Konoha, and Subaku no Kankuro of Suna."

Kakashi closed his book and placed it in his pockets. Without a word he turned on his heels and began walking towards the medical room.

"Where are you going?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi gave casual shrug. "There's something I need to check up on. I'll be back before any of you go up," He assured her.

Naruto and Sakura gave him somewhat hesitant nods before turning back to the center stage.

Kakashi exited quietly. He headed down the medical hallway, letting his hearing guide him to his destination. Sure enough, the echoes of the attending medic-nin led him to the correct location. Inside the room, there was an orderly wrapping up the head of the female sound ninja. She had yet to regain consciousness, and Kakashi watched her for a few moments. Looking around the room, he quickly found the two masked ANBU that had been assigned to guard the room and injured. He approached them casually.

"Kurasu, Neko," Kakashi nodded to them respectively. "I don't suppose you can tell me what the Hokage has planned for the opening ceremony for the third exam, can you?" He straightened his hitai-ate. "I've got a special someone who I want to take out to it, but she's not too crazy about fireworks."

"We don't know anything yet." Neko sighed, his posture loosening. "But don't get your hopes up; I doubt you'll have too much time on your hands, since you'll probably have at least one genin there. I heard the Uchiha is quite strong." His tone lightened. "No, you'll be stuck there like the rest of us, doomed to merely watch the fun."

"I figured." Kakashi spoke unenthusiastically. "A man can dream though."

"Hey, I wouldn't cancel the date yet, the competition's pretty rough this year." Neko commented.

"That's bad energy, hoping your team will lose," Kurasu said with a smile in his voice.

"I'm not hoping . . . just accepting of that potential outcome. Denial isn't good energy either."

Kurasu chortled before he changed the subject. "How has the weather been?" He stretched a little as he spoke. "I've been inside all day and it's making me crazy. After my shift I'm planning to go to the onsen. Working the chunin exam really cracks down on my free time and I need every moment to unwind."

"What free time?" Neko asked wryly.

"Exactly," Kusasu echoed.

"Well it was pretty windy when I was last out and the leaves were falling again." Kakashi sighed. "Maybe I should cross my fingers that my genin pass, if only to avoid the D-rank yard work."

Kurasu groaned at the words. "Think there'll be a storm?"

"'Fraid so. I guess your onsen plan will have to wait until you get another break."

"So maybe next week then" Neko said with an impish tone.

"More likely next month." Kakashi smiled. "The woes of being the ninja elite."

A female medic-nin came over suddenly, halting the conversation. "Is there something you need?" She asked the gray-haired jonin, a suspicious look on her face. Part of her duty was to ensure the infirmary station was clear of any unnecessary ninja from any village. She'd assume he was discussing business with the ANBU, but she heard a tail of their conversation and rolled her eyes; they were tremendously unprofessional, but it wasn't her place to say.

"You know, I completely forgot why I came down the stairs in the first place!" Kakashi said with a sheepish expression. She rolled her eyes, but moved on.

Kakashi retrieved his orange book and walked back out the medical area with his nose buried deep in 'Icha, Icha, Paradise.' When arrived back at the observation deck, the round was already over and some of the supplementary proctors were repairing the floor that had been destroyed.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto greeted excitedly as he walked towards his team.

"Hello, what did I miss?" He asked mildly.

"The Suna shinobi totally won!" Sakura informed him with an eager smile.

"You missed it! It was so awesome! The Suna nin had a puppet, but it turned out that the puppet was the Suna nin the whole time, and the Suna nin was the puppet and then WHAM!" Naruto exclaimed, "He just got him!"

" . . . Thank you for the recap Naruto." Kakashi sighed inwardly at his student's hyper behavior. At least now he knew why Sakura was so effusive. A quick look to the side informed Kakashi that Sasuke had his lips firmly closed, clearly deciding just not to say anything at all. Kakashi was mildly disappointed. He had rather hoped to see the Uchiha heir in a bubbly mood. Though he figured it would only be a matter of time.

"The fourth match will soon begin." Gekko coughed loudly as the large screen shuffled names before the pairing was decided.

Royal blue eyes widened in delight. "YES!" Naruto whooped, drawing a fair amount of attention to him. "I am so ready for this!"

"Naruto," Sakura said exasperatedly, though smiling. Naruto's excitement was contagious.

"The fourth match will be between Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha and Akado Yoroi, also of Konoha."

A tall, fairly burly man stepped forward. His dark glasses hid his eyes from view and the rest of his face was covered by a bandana.

"Don't lose, dobe," Sasuke said nonchalantly.

A wide grin spread over Naruto's face, and his confidence swept through Sakura and Sasuke too. "Are you kidding?! Me lose when I'm this close to becoming a Chuunin? No way!"

"Tch, we'll see about that." Sasuke smirked.

"Whatever teme, I'll be back up after I win." Naruto jumped off the balcony and onto the fighting arena.

"Now that both participants are here, the fourth match may commence," Gekko said, coughing as he walked away.

Naruto assumed his brawler position in anticipation of an attack.

The other ninja stared down at his opponent, his entire posture screamed arrogance.

"You won't come at me? Fine, I'll come to you!" Naruto shouted before he made ten clones and went charging in. On the rafters, his fellow team members were shaking their heads at his rash declaration.

Blue chakra coated the other ninja's hand, and before Naruto could react, his opponent was charging through the ranks of shadow clones. Pops rang out in quick succession as Yoroi jabbed the clones that were in his way, quickly dispersing them. In a flash, he stood before the original and grabbed the younger nin by his neck. The blue chakra surrounding his hands pulsed and Naruto gasped.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted, feeling his panic.

Suddenly a smug sense of satisfaction began to settle in Sakura, and she had no clue where it was coming from. She turned towards Sasuke, but his brow was slightly furrowed showing that he was also confused. Then there was a popping sound followed by an explosion and the burly man with the glasses was sent flying to the other side of the room.

The audience was stunned as Naruto stood defiantly with his arms folded, in the clearing cloud of smoke with barely a scratch on him.

"What just happened?" Ino asked blankly.

"I think Naruto just won?" Shikamaru said with disbelief.

'Naruto, you clever dog.' Kakashi thought to himself with a smile.

"This match isn't over yet!" Yoroi shouted as he picked himself up from the rubble. His clothes and hair were a little scorched but there didn't appear to be any vital damage.

"Not yet, but soon!" Naruto grinned. "I figured out you were doing more than just popping my clones after the first handful you destroyed, so I decided to allow myself to get captured. Then I used a kawamiri jutsu to substitute myself with one of my clones. Which had an exploding tag. I hope you liked that last touch," Naruto said with a foxy grin. Inside he was intensely relieved he had been able to pull of the kawamiri, a jutsu that had long escaped his grasp. That probably had to do with his constantly shifting chakra levels more than anything else, but still, he couldn't help but feel proud; especially about his new intelligence gathering skills.

"Naruto, you're too much," Kakashi said with a sigh.

"Why did he just explain everything? That means he won't be able to use that trick in the future." Sakura groaned.

"Still, that was pretty impressive," Ino said, "For Naruto, that is."

"I now know the secret of your blue hand jutsu thingy!" The blond declared.

The upper balcony sweatdropped.

"Oh really?" Yoroi chuckled lightly. "And what exactly is the secret."

"You're trying to steal my chakra!" Naruto said with an accusatory tone that was borderline childish.

"Are there really jutsu like that, sensei?" Sakura asked curiously. She'd never heard of such a dangerous jutsu at the academy.

"Yes," He replied, "Though they are usually too high level for genin to use. The chakra control necessary can only be accessed by jonin, or strong chunin most of the time." Kakashi wasn't terribly concerned though. If the other nin had gotten anyone but Naruto, he probably would have stood a fair chance. As it was, Naruto's reserves were far too large for any one human to drain completely. He was interested to see what his excitable student would do next.

Sakura on the other hand, was unable to completely hide the worry that settled over her features after hearing her sensei's words.

"What a dangerous jutsu . . ." The kunoichi thought to herself.

"Just because you figured out my jutsu doesn't mean you'll be able to stop me from draining you dry!" With that, Yoroi began running straight for Naruto. The orange clad ninja sent a flurry of kunai towards his attacker, all of which were dodged or batted away. Twisting his lips into a frown, Naruto peppered his opponent with kunai that had explosive tags tied to them. A cloud of smoke and dust grew in the central area of the room, engulfing Naruto and Yoroi. The jinchuuriki made another handful of clones to explore the fog as the original squinted and tried to see through the haze.

There was a popping sound, and Naruto's eyes darted towards the right. But then he received a flash of memories from a clone on the left. His eyes darted every which way, trying to figure out what was going on. It was no use, the dust and smoke was still too thick. Naruto leapt backwards, and out of the cloud.

Before he even landed, a hand darted forth from the haze and grabbed Naruto by the throat. His neck creak painfully as his breathing strained. He automatically raised his hands in the familiar cross-shaped handsign, when another pair of hands grabbed his and pulled them awkwardly behind his back.

He glanced backwards to find another Yoroi behind him holding his hands a part from each other.

"You're stupid if you think you're the only one who can make solid clones," Yoroi's deep voice said menacingly, "I'm going to enjoy choking you, but I won't put you out of your misery until you pay me back for all those cuts and scratches you gave me." Blue chakra enveloped his hands and Naruto's mouth opened in a silent scream as he felt his life-force being drained from his body.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata echoed, fear building in her eyes.

"Hey, Naruto, don't give up!" Shikamaru urged.

"Do you think he's going to substitute again? Hey, maybe this is just a part of his plan!" Ino said, distressed by her friends' reactions.

"Not this time," Sakura said, shaking her head. "He's really scared this time, I can feel it."

Ino gave her an odd look, but the pink haired kunoichi ignored it. Her mind was focused on the terrible feeling of desperation and pain slowly engulfing her teammate. She hated the connection now more than ever. The desperation and panic made her knees tremble, and she wondered if this is what dying felt life. She turned towards Sasuke desperately, and found her crush gritting his teeth fiercely against the onslaught of emotions.

"That idiot!" Sasuke ground out.

Sakura started crying for real now; she didn't think she could bear being emotionally tied to Naruto and have to feel him die. She couldn't do it!

Suddenly, a cry of pain lit up the air, and it didn't come from Naruto. Yoroi let go of Naruto with a scream before holding his hands up to his face. A faint outline of red energy surrounded their teammate.

"Oh my God . . ." Sakura felt nauseous as she saw the spirals of smoke rising from the opponent's burning palms.

"What did you—" Yoroi turned to Naruto to demand but was met by the blond's fist. With a strong series of punches, the burly leaf nin was out for the count. His earth clone quickly crumbled, leaving Naruto standing and gasping.

"That's what you get for trying to steal my chakra," He said in a raspy voice, breathing heavily. His eyes were dark and he fought to bury the red chakra. The desperation was still strong though, he remembered reaching out for something—anything to stop the enemy shinobi from stealing his life-force. One moment his body was running dry, and the next his system was flush with crimson energy. The fluxes, he decided, weren't that great after all. Especially since he couldn't lock it down. It was still leaking from his body. Inhale and exhale, he thought to himself. Slowly, he managed to bring down his pulse, and calm the sudden surge of energy. So engaged was Naruto with his thoughts that when a voice finally called out into the silent arena, the blond shinobi actually jumped.

"The winner of round four is Uzumaki Naruto, of Konoha." Gekko called.

"I can't believe it," Ino uttered, stupefied. "Naruto actually won."

"What just happened?" Shikamaru asked, voicing just about everyone's thoughts.

The group of jonin observing had eventually arrived to a conclusion involving the poisonous fox chakra. They exchanged furtive glances, some more uneasy than others, but all of them hid their reactions. Kakashi in particular was perturbed by seeing a flash of the red chakra manifest. Though he realized that the latest addition to the seal on Naruto's stomach could well be influencing his affiliation with the fox's chakra. He'd have to keep a closer eye on his blond genin. If the Kyuubi's chakra was leaking out faster than Naruto's body could assimilate it, then they needed to start working on a solution immediately. Hopefully though, when the Sandaime removed Orochimaru's seal, Naruto's system would return to normal. Yoroi was a perfect example of how toxic the Kyuubi's chakra really was to humans.

The upper balcony watched a quick conversation take place between Naruto and the attending medic, in which Naruto repeatedly shook his head. Eventually, a frustrated looking medic nin walked away and Naruto began heading back up to rejoin his team.

"Naruto! What are you doing?! You need to get your neck looked at!" Sakura yelled at him.

The blond ninja waved her words away. "It'll heal on its own," Naruto said hoarsely.

Her eyes narrowed, but Ino interrupted before she could reply.

"What was that all about though, how'd you burn that guy's palms off?!" Ino asked bluntly.

Naruto's head tilted downward and Sakura and Sasuke felt a small blanket of fear settle around their teammate. The two exchanged glances.

"I didn't mean to, really," Naruto mumbled. "I was just trying to overload him. It was an accident."

'The amount of chakra needed for something like that . . .' Shikamaru shook his head. 'I knew Naruto had a lot of chakra, but that's just ridiculous!'

"Che." Sasuke scoffed from the side. "I don't know what you're so afraid about. You shouldn't be so scared just because someone tried to steal your chakra. If you really become an actual ninja, you'll be going against much scarier stuff." He wouldn't acknowledge that he had nearly choked when he felt Naruto dying through the bond. This was the ninja world, he reminded himself resolutely. If it was frightening to Naruto, the blond needed to leave before his weakness affected Sasuke's growth.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said softly.

"It isn't that." Naruto shook his head fervently, anger settling in the air. "I know that— I've faced much scarier stuff." The blond said, recalling his fight with Haku, Zabuza, and Gato's henchmen. "It's not that I'm afraid of that guy!"

"What then?" Sasuke asked.

"It's the—" He was afraid the Kyuubi's chakra would manifest. He was afraid everyone— his teammates especially— would see it. He was afraid of losing control and hurting people. Those were his fears. After what happened with Haku, time he couldn't help but be worried. The rage in the memory still felt so close to the surface. . . He shied away from the intensity.

"Cool it, you two," Kakashi said, placing a palm on each boys' shoulder. "Let's save this discussion for another time."

"Whatever," Sasuke muttered, walking back to the banister.

Naruto took a few breaths trying to clamp down on his fear and irritation.

"Whatever the case is, you won Naruto! Congratulations! You're going on to the next round!" Sakura declared, trying to disperse the tenseness in the bond.

Naruto's eyes widened with gratitude. He allowed his female teammate's feelings to seep into him, and tried to drown out his worries. When Sakura was nice, it felt really good.

"Not bad Naruto, not bad," Shikamaru said with a lax smile.

Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head, beginning to feel proud.

'I guess I did do it, huh?' Naruto thought to himself, feeling better, even if the fox played a part in it.

Hinata carefully came next to the orange ninja and played with the tips of her fingers, "N-Naruto, congra—"

"The next round's coming up!" Kiba whooped.

"Alright!" Naruto croaked with his scratchy voice. He immediately regretted the action as sharp pain shot up his throat.

"Why are you yelling Naruto?" Sakura demanded, before slapping him over the head, "You're going to lose your voice, idiot!"

"OW!" Naruto exclaimed. "That hurt Sakura-chan." He sullenly rubbed his head. When she was mean it didn't feel very good at all.

"The fifth match will be between Uchiha Sasuke and Tenten, both competitors are from Konohagakure."

"Finally," Sasuke said with a confident smirk. Without a word to either of his teammates, he walked to the stairs and entered the fighting arena. A little further down, a kunoichi wearing a pink shirt with her hair in two buns was fending off Gai-sensei's exclamations of youth.

"So that's Tenten I guess," Naruto mused aloud as he watched, "I hardly know who any of these competitors from Konoha are."

"A couple groups are repeats who have tried several times over the years to pass, and a few have just waited to take the exam. Gai's team in an example," Asuma said, overhearing Naruto's question, "Tenten, Lee and their other teammate Neji, are from the year ahead of you all. They learn under Maito Gai, whom I'm sure you've already noticed."

"Hard to miss . . ." Sakura trailed off quietly.

"They're a heavy hitting team," Asuma continued, "Seeing as Gai's their instructor, it's no wonder that all of them are taijutsu specialists." Gai perked up at the mention of his name.

"Not just specialists," Gai interrupted. A quiet laugh quirked his lips before quickly growing loud. "They are taijutsu geniuses! All of them!" He exclaimed.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee's eyes were watering and Neji who was beside him just sighed irritably.

"So Kakashi, are you worried?" Gai asked with a cocksure smile, "Tenten is a real firecracker. I think you'll find she's more than a match for your student."

"Hm? What are you asking?" Kakashi asked, not bothering to look up from his book.

"Just what I expect from you Kakashi," Gai said, "Staying cool in the face of the struggle."

Kakashi sighed inwardly.

"If everyone's ready, we are going to start the next round," Gekko coughed. Glancing between Tenten and Sasuke before slicing his hand down decisively.

"Hajime!"

The minute the word left the instructors lips, Sasuke had begun forming handsigns.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!

With a quick show of gymnastics, the kunoichi maneuvered herself away from the fiery blast. Tenten then retaliated by, unleashing a barrage of weapons toward the Uchiha. Sasuke jumped away, but when he landed there was another set of kunai and shuriken coming at him. He grit his teeth and pulled out a kunai of his own and began slicing them out of the air as they came at him. A few made it past his guard, nicking his calves.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Anger built at Sakura's cry and anxiety, and he forced the emotion over hers.

Tenten smirked, clearly thinking she had the advantage in their fight. A smile slowly spread over Sasuke's face as he activated the sharingan. He watched her guard tighten further, waiting for his next move, but instead Sasuke stood still, waiting for her. She didn't disappoint, quickly attacking him with a spray of kunai covered in explosive tags. Sasuke's eyes watched them move through the air, catching their every motion. He stopped trying to anticipate her moves and instead let his sight guide him out of the way.

"Go Sasuke-kun!" Sakura and Ino echoed from the stands, but his focus didn't waiver from the weapons mistress, who was looking more irritated by the second.

"Stay still!" she grit out. Sasuke smirked at her lost concentration as he dodged another handful of weapons and then another. Inwardly, he worked on a retaliation plan. Though he could probably wait for her to run out of weapons, it would probably waste too much unnecessary chakra. With that in mind, he waited for her to throw more weapons before moving out of the way and towards her. Using the sharingan, he dodged every weapon and moved closer and closer to his quarry. She panicked, and threw more and more, but it was too late, he knew her pattern. Using his kunai to block her close-quarter attacks, he pivoted behind her and delivered a swift chop to the back of her neck, sufficiently knocking her out.

He stood above her unconscious form, smirk firmly in place as Gekko announced the winner. Sasuke watched as the medic-nin collected Tenten's unconscious body. He declined their offer to patch him up, not wanting to miss out on the next match because of a few scratches. He had outsmarted her at her own game, and that was a satisfying feeling. In addition, he didn't doubt that the weapon techniques he picked up from her would serve him well in the future. As he approached the stands, he belatedly noticed a sense of pride, glee and jealousy. The glee was a little overzealous, but Sasuke especially enjoyed the jealousy.

"Well done Sasuke," Kakashi complimented with a smile.

"Yeah that was amazing Sasuke-kun!" Sakura bubbled.

"Hnn," He replied uninterestedly. His attentions were focused on the remaining genin, specifically to the ones across the balcony. The red-haired Suna nin had yet to go, but from what Sasuke saw from his puppet-wielding teammate, they were a force to be reckoned with. His eyes cut sideways to where the male Hyuga resided. Those expressionless pale eyes were strong. He couldn't wait to see what the Hyuga could do.

"I expected a good opponent from your students Kakashi," Gai said with a serious hand on his chin. "I'm glad to see you didn't disappoint. Her youth lame will only grow after this battle."

"Right . . ." Kakashi returned to his book.

The ground remained intact and there were only a few small blood-stains and melted floor tiles to clean up before the next round, so it wasn't too long before Gekko was clearing his throat.

"The sixth match will begin now." As he spoke, the screen activated, randomizing the pairings.

"The seventh match will begin now." As he spoke, the screen activated, randomizing the pairings.

"The next match will be between Aburame Shino of Konoha, and Yamanaka Ino also of Konoha."

Ino exhaled in relief. "Thank goodness. I thought I was going to get one of the monsters." She vaguly gestured to the sand trio and Neji. Despite being in earshot, the Hyuga male showed no outward reaction. Which Asuma was grateful about. Ino's loose lips could sink ships that would be very important later on when the group of them began working together on a higher level.

"Ino, the Aburame's are a well-known and respected clan of the village. Do you remember what your father taught you about them?" Asuma asked.

"Uhm." She paused before flushing as she failed to recall what exactly the Aburame's were known for. All she remembered was that it was something gross.

Asuma just shook his head before smiling. "You can do it Ino," He urged.

"Yeah!" Choji put forth in between eating his potato chips.

"Aburame's are so troublesome . . ." Shikamaru said.

"Thanks for the support Shikamaru!" She said sarcastically, "I mean honestly, how hard is it to get a little team-spirit from you, huh?"

Shikamaru sighed.

"Whatever, I am so ready for this. Just watch me Sasuke-kun!" She said with a flirty smile.

---

"Err," Gekko cleared his throat as he watched the medical nin pick a dazed Ino off of the ground. She was muttering 'bugs' over and over to herself, making the rest of the rookie nine avert their eyes awkwardly.

"The winner of round six is Aburame Shino of Konoha. The next round will begin immediately."

There were no stains after that short and eventless fight so the screen promptly began flipping through names.

"Poor Ino," Sakura said a little softly. Disgust was still swirling under her skin. She could hardly imagine what would have happened to her if she had gone against the bug nin.

Looking around at the remaining competitors, Sakura had to take a deep breath. None of them looked like they were going to be pushovers. She sighed. Then again, no one who had already gone had exactly been weak. Still, she could hope that maybe she could get Kiba. He was still a rookie just like she was, so at least her chances would be better.

"Ne, Sakura-chan!" Naruto tugged one of her new elbow sleeves to get her attention. She was going to whip around and maybe hit him for interrupting her train of thought, but realized that her name was on the board. All thoughts fled her mind. It was go time, and her opponent . . .

"The seventh match will be between Akimichi Choji from Konoha and Haruno Sakura, also from Konoha."

Complete and total relief swept through her body. "Thank God." She had forgotten about Ino's other teammate. But sharpened her mind anyways. Looks could be deceiving as Shino just demonstrated. Especially considering that her opponent came from a clan. From what she remembered at the academy, the Akimichi had some sort of expansion jutsu, but she couldn't remember what exactly that meant. She'd never seen it because they trained that jutsu exclusively in their clans for the most part.

"Good luck," Shikamaru said mildly to his teammate. The other boy gave him a thumbs up as he dropped the empty bag of potato chips in his hands. He looked fairly confident in his abilities which made Sakura feel both anger and insecurity. He seemed to think he had it made, getting Sakura as a competitor. She would show him. Her inner persona was getting prodded.

"Hey, Asuma-sensei, will you take me to Barbeque if I win?"

The jonin in question scratched his cheek. "Ehhh, I guess so."

"Alright!"

"I lucked out, huh Shikamaru?" Choji said, clearly unaware that Sakura was listening, "Free Barabeque, here I come!" He exclaimed with fervor as he went down the stairs.

"We'll show him!" Her inner voice raged. Next to her, Sasuke and Naruto started in surprise. The emotions coming from their teammate were very different than usual. This was especially startling considering that on the outside she didn't look different. "Let's do this!" She exclaimed confidently before jumping off the balcony.

"Go Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheered, catching onto her competitive energy.

She honed her determination ready to show Sasuke-kun what she was made of!

"Uhm, Gekko coughed, "Let the seventh match begin."

She jumped away landing in a perfect defensive position to respond to any kind of attack.

Choji smirked before he pulled his hands together in a strange handsign. "Expansion Jutsu!" His body ballooned right before her eyes, turning into a gigantic ball. The floor below it caved under his weight, leaving depressions in the stone. His head and arms disappeared from sight and the next thing she knew, the ball was heading towards her with dangerous speed. She hadn't been expecting this. With a small cry she jumped out of the way. He turned around in a big u-shape before coming at her again.

She couldn't help but scream as he plowed towards her. He was much harder than she had thought! Sakura dodged out of Choji's destructive path once more, mind spinning frantically to figure out a strategy.

"I can't keep dodging like this," She thought frustrated to herself. "There has to be something else that I can do." There were no weapons she could use in her academy style weapons pouch, but besides that, his body was too large for her to hit with anything. The jutsu in her collection were miserably few, and all but useless. Dread began to fill her as she realized that there was nothing she could do.

"Sakura-chan! Don't give up!"

Her head twitched to the side, catching the image of her annoying blond teammate. Beside him though, watching the round, was her crush. She couldn't give up, not now. Naruto was oozing encouragement and confidence and Sakura let it fill her and give her new strength. She could do this. Her mind flipped to the past rounds she had seen, looking for an idea. A smile spread over her face. ''Yeah, that could work.''

This time when Choji changed directions and began plowing towards her, she held her ground, waiting for him to get close to her.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted from the balcony.

She didn't hear him, her mind was focused on the timing of when to make her move.

"He's gonna hit her!"

Not close enough yet.

"Sakura-chan! Move!"

Her gaze sharpened. When he was a few meters from her, she started doing a string of backhandsprings. Her body began gaining momentum as she continued flipping away from Choji. She clenched her teeth, trying to stop the nausea from building up. She couldn't lose focus now! With careful timing, she was able to reach into her pack and grab what she needed while doing one-handed backhandsprings.

"Sakura! The wall!" Naruto exclaimed.

From her upside-down and constantly moving perspective, she could barely make out how close the grey wall was to her position. She grit her teeth. It was now or never. With as much precision as she could manage, she set down what she wanted before nearing the wall with frightening speed.

"She's going to hit it!"

Sakura wondered who that was. She could barely make out any of the other voices as her mind focused so heavily on the task at hand. At the last moment, she sprung herself forward, landing about halfway up the wall. She rest there on the side of the wall using her chakra to hold her in place, panting from the exertion. Her muscles screamed at her after the long trail of gymnastics. Her mind stayed focused though as she examined her oncoming opponent, waiting to see if her plan would work.

"Choji, stop!" Shikamaru shouted.

The Akimichi attempted to slow and stop, but it was too late, because at that very moment, an explosion resounded off the walls, filling the air with smoke. Another explosion followed after and yet another until the dazed boy slammed straight into the wall. For a few moments the arena was filled with smoke. Naruto leaned over the rail rapt with attention while Shikamaru ran his hand through his hair tiredly. The smoke soon cleared, revealing an unconscious Akimichi. Sakura was crouched several yards above him, still using chakra to glue herself to the wall.

The kunoichi exhaled in relief. She had done it. Her plan had worked. After realizing there wasn't a weapon in her pouch, she recalled seeing what Shikamaru had done by using the arena as a tool. Sakura realized she did in fact a weapon that was even larger than Choji! Still, she could barely believe it worked. She allowed herself to drop to the floor and took a moment to regain her balance. Meanwhile, the proctor walked closer to examine the exact state of the Akimichi. With a short nod to the medic nin, he turned to the audience. "The winner of round seven is Sakura Haruno of Konoha." A handful of ninja immediately poured into the room to repair the extensive damage, and Choji was carted out of the room.

"Way to go Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted from the balcony.

She smiled and headed up the stairs to rejoin her team. Her feelings of excitement were brimming. In actuality, she hadn't really thought she stood a chance of moving onto the third round with a collection of opponents that were this strong, but she had done it. She was going to the third round of the Chunin Exam! She couldn't wait to see Ino's face!

"Congratulations Sakura! You did it!"

She tried to peek at Sasuke from the corner of her eyes to see his reaction, but he was resolutely turned away. He was probably too overwhelmed to say anything. She definitely felt a lot of excitement from someone in the emotional connection.

"Very well done Sakura," Kakashi complimented, "You took a page from Shikamaru's book."

"Wait, what happened?" Naruto asked. He hadn't actually seen everything that happened, it had been too fast for him to follow.

"She led Choji on a charge and then set up a string of explosive tags. Her opponent was too dazed to stop his path towards the wall. A good plan, though Sakura, next time, I would advise you to follow through on your attack, "Kakashi warned, "Even if Choji hit the wall, it wasn't guaranteed that he was knocked unconscious. It would have been better to prepare for a secondary attack."

She nodded, though his words didn't pierce her haze of happiness.

Sakura smiled and blushed. She did it! She was in the final with Sasuke-kun! This set off a small chorus of groans from her teammates. She was too happy to stop though. Sakura wasn't going to be left behind.

"All three of you did admirably today," Kakashi said. He honestly hadn't believed that all three of them would be participating in the third round. 'Perhaps I've underestimated them,' Kakashi thought to himself.

"The eighth round will commence soon," Gekko said, watching as the assistant shinobi fixed the last big hole in the wall. There were a few moments of obligatory hackings before Gekko announced the next pairing.

"The next round will be Inuzuka Kiba versus Hyuga Neji, both from Konohagakure."

Sakura sat down heavily on the floor against the wall, finally feeling comfortable enough to relax for the first time since the exam started. Both of her other teammates already passed and now all three of them would be progressing. Whatever happened next wouldn't change that. She could still see most of the match from here, so she figured it was okay to unwind and relax.

Unlike her, Naruto was still heavily invested in seeing the rest of the competition and he jumped up and down impatiently as the two boys went down to the floor. Sasuke also kept watching, leaning next to the railing as he gathered more information.

Kiba grinned cockily at Neji and the Hyuga gave him a condescending look. Naruto was psyched to see what would happen. He knew that Kiba fought with Akamaru, but he had no idea what the other guy did. He frowned as he remembered the cocky attitude. Why were there so many Sasuke's in the world, he wondered. He never smiled, and his attitude was completely dumb! It was really suckish. If the world had more Naruto's instead of Sasuke's, he'd bet it'd be a better place.

The moment Gekko announced the beginning of the match, Kiba charged at Neji. The Hyuga grabbed onto Kiba's arm, redirecting the energy towards the wall. Kiba barely managed to skid to a stop. He whipped and glared before activating his dog jutsu.

"Both opponents focus on taijutsu style attacks, this should be interesting" Kurenai commented offhandedly.

"Both opponents focus on taijutsu style attacks, this should be interesting" Kurenai commented offhanded.

"Interested to see how Kiba stacks up?" Gai asked competitively.

"No, just curious to see how he handles a fighter like Neji. Our team focuses mainly on reconnaissance so he rarely comes across enemies like this. What about you? How do you think Neji will handle both Kiba and Akamaru?

"Though the Hyuga's specialty is single person combat, that doesn't mean they can't handle more opponents," Gai replied, a confident smile spreading over his face. "With those eyes he sees everything."

"Eyes?" Naruto asked with blatant confusion.

"Don't you know anything about the history of our village?" Sakura asked irritably.

Naruto ducked the feeling before shrugging a little sullenly.

"The Hyugas have a bloodline, and it's a doujutsu, just like Sasuke-kun's," Sakura explained knowledgably.

"Hyugas?" Naruto's brow furrowed. "Wait! Hinata, you're a Hyuga, aren't you?" He asked, turning his full attention to the timid girl who stood a bit down the railing.

'He remembered me!' She thought to herself, all while flushing furiously under his gaze.

"Uhm y-y-yes," she answered eventually.

"Good! Then you can explain this whole eye-thing, right?" Naruto asked, coming over to stand next to her. Their shoulders were nearly touching.

Impossibly, her face reddened further.

"I'll d-d-d-do my best." She promised before taking a deep breath. "The B-Byakugan is a bloodline that the Hyuga's have. It allows the user to see the chakra points." Hinata explained. She tried to focus on what she was saying to distract herself from his piercing blue eyes.

"Why's that good?" Naruto scratched his head.

"Naruto-baka! It gives them a huge advantage!" Sakura scolded.

"Why?" Naruto asked, still misunderstanding. "Why does it matter that they can see the chakra and stuff?"

"Because then they can attack the chakra points, dobe," Sasuke scoffed, dripping with condescension, which Sakura gladly echoed through the bond.

"Shut up teme!" Naruto growled.

"T-the chakra points are important to the body and the B-Byakugan allows the user to close them," Hinata stuttered.

"Oh! That's way cool!" Naruto effused.

"Naruto, you don't even know what that means," Sakura said, a tad condescending.

"I know it's awesome," He retorted lamely.

"T-t-traditionally, it's used to s-stop an opponent from accessing their chakra." Hinata toyed with her fingers, studiously avoiding Naruto's eyes.

Naruto's face lit up with amazement as the full implication of the power sunk in. "Oh wow."

"Exactly," Sakura replied.

"Is that why his eyes are all weird and veiny looking?" He asked tactlessly.

"O-oh, uhm, it's a s-sign that the doujutsu is activated," Hinata said, awkwardly looking down at the floor.

"And you do that too?" Naruto asked, staring intently at her.

"Y-yeah, I can," She said, squirming under his gaze as she examined the concrete floor.

"That's so cool!"

Her eyes shot up, catching his brimming smile. "T-t-thank you N-N-N-Naruto," Hinata stuttered, her face flushing badly.

"Sure! Uhh, are you okay Hinata, your face looks sorta red," Naruto asked, brow furrowing.

"God, so hopeless!" Sakura muttered to herself. Naruto caught her emotions and sent her a curious glance.

"What is it?" Naruto inquired.

"Nothing, don't even ask," she said shortly.

"But Sakura-chan!"

"Pay attention to the match Naruto, Sakura; you might learn something." Kakashi suggested. Now that his students were going on to the final round, they needed as much information they could get. "One of these genin could be your opponent in the final round." Sakura and Naruto exchanged serious looks. The pink-haired kunoichi carefully picked herself off the ground to get a better view despite her aching muscles.

Naruto and Sakura turned back to the battle, watching with blatant amazement as Neji gradually pounded away at Kiba and Akamaru with what seemed like small strikes, but built up to fully cover Kiba's chakra points to the point he could no longer stand. Akamaru who was still standing despite his weakened state, barked pitifully at Kiba. The Inuzuka glared weakly at Neji, still conscious and very displeased with the battle.

"That was awesome." Naruto exhaled.

"The winner of match eight is Hyuga Neji."

"That's right Neji!" Gai said with his good-guy pose. The Hyuga was silent as he rejoined the group, arms folded and eyes expressionless. The coolness of his actions sort of irritated Naruto, but at the same time, the blond boy couldn't help but find the techniques he used to be particularly neat.

'Though it's pretty dangerous,' Naruto thought as he watched the supplementary examiners clean the blood off the floor with various jutsu. The fact that such a gentle girl like Hinata could use the same jutsu struck him with amazement.

Kurenai went down the floor and talked to Kiba before picking him up and bringing him up to the walkway. She tried to lean her student carefully against the wall but every movement made him wince in pain.

"Y-you should be resting, Kiba-kun!" Hinata said, worry in her voice.

"And miss your match? No way!" He asserted wearily. The smile on his face was genuine, making Hinata smile in response.

"The ninth match will begin after the pairings have been chosen," Gekko said after everything was repaired. The roulette went again.

The remaining genin held their collective breaths. Then the names on the screen stopped, along with Hinata's heart.

"The ninth match will be Hyuga Hinata of Konoha, against Subaku no Gaara of Suna.

Memories of the brutal killing her and her team had witnessed filtered in front of her mind, and her breath caught in fear.

"O-oh God," She uttered.

"What is it Hinata?" Naruto asked.

"I-I don't think I can—"

"Weak."

Naruto whipped his head around to find the person who said that single word. The other Hyuga met his eyes challengingly.

"What did you say?!" He asked angrily.

"I said, weak." Neji repeated with a challenging expression. "Do you not even have you the pride to face him like a shinobi?" His lips curled.

"Naruto-kun, it's nothing. Neji-san is right; I should face him like a shinobi. I can do this." The waver in her voice belied her words.

"Hinata," the voice was soft. She turned to see Kiba with a desperate look in his eyes. "Don't do this, he urged."

"I-I- don't know if I can do this," she whispered. Her confliction was palpable.

"Of course you can!" Naruto exclaimed eagerly. "You can do all that awesome chakra stuff your cousin did, huh Hinata?" Naruto asked, admiration and excitement visible.

Hinata blushed. "W-w-well, Neji-san is very talented fo—"

"Don't put yourself down like that! I bet you're just as amazing!" Naruto crowed, "You were always super smart in the academy, and I'm sure you've just gotten smarter and more powerful!"

Her face reddened even further at his praise. "N-N-Naruto-kun . . ."

"You can do it!" He said with a brimming smile and a thumbs up.

"R-r-r-right." She took a deep breath and went down the stairs.

"Tsk. As if a few words can change a person's fate." The disapproving sound came from behind him, and Naruto whipped around once more.

"You know, you're really beginning to piss me off!" Naruto said as he glared at Neji, who decided to pointedly ignore him

"Are you okay Kiba?" Kurenai asked, noting his strange silence.

"Oh shit," Kiba said distantly, his face pale.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"That guy," Kiba swallowed as the red-haired ninja in question appeared on the ground level with a flash of sand, "That guy ain't normal."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that he's fucking crazy!"

"Kiba!" Kurenai said in a scolding tone.

"Sorry, but I'm being serious," He said with an unusual amount of solemnity.

"What happened?"

"It was during when we were in the forest of death." Kiba began explaining. "We were on our way back to the tower— snagging our scroll was cake with Akamaru, and Hinata's powers. While were headed back, Akamaru noticed an enemy ahead, and we decided to scout them."

"It was the Suna team?" Sakura guessed.

Kiba nodded seriously. "They were fighting against some Ame ninja. The red-head kid— He handled them like it was nothing. No one even touched him, and then he did this thing with the sand. His sand isn't normal. He controls it really weird. Anyways, it surrounded this guy and then it just—" Kiba looked nauseous.

"Crushed him," Shino put forth, startling Naruto and Sakura who had forgotten about his presence.

"There was so much blood," Kiba said, a little dazed still, "That guy is a monster."

Naruto's face grew impassive as he listened to the story. He looked out towards the floor where the stoic redhead stared blankly at Hinata who had a soft tremble moving through her entire body.

The orange clad ninja sucked in a deep breath. "YOU CAN DO IT HINATA!" He bellowed, ignoring the pain in his throat. She jumped before turning to the side and seeing his large grin.

"H-hai!" She returned with a soft smile before looking back at her opponent. A small blaze of determination filled her gaze. Across from her, the Suna nin didn't bat an eyelash.

"Why'd you do that?!" Kiba hissed.

"If she's thinking like that how do you think she could win, huh? You need to support her!"

Kiba looked to the side guiltily. "I just want her safe. She isn't safe going against a monster like that!"

Naruto's smile grew a little sad. That was a word he heard a lot, directed at him though. Both his teammates turn towards him curiously. He quickly dismissed the feeling and replaced it with determination before walking a few steps down the balcony to be next to Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi.

"Both opponents are here, so let the ninth match begin." The brunet proctor backed away.

Hinata immediately activated her Byakugan and assumed the gentle fist stance. The red-head remained where he was, arms crossed and gaze blank. The Hyuga heiress quickly assessed her opponent's chakra system, and paused hesitantly when she realized how developed it was. His chakra was on par with a high jonin's! Sand began pouring from her opponent's large gourd and the particles were slowly filling the air, and she knew that she needed to act quickly, or else she'd find herself in a similar situation as the Ame shinobi. Close combat was her preferred style, and from what she saw, he seemed to attack mostly from far away. Considering how he used the sand, it made sense. She hoped that his close combat skills weren't as developed by extension. She couldn't know for certain but it was her best shot. But that raised the question:

How could she get close to her opponent?

She had a feeling that he used his sand as a shield as well and threw a couple kunai his direction to make sure. As expected, the sand immediately rushed to his aid. If she wanted to get past that barrier, she'd need something much stronger, she concluded.

The experiment had also shown her something else though. The Suna nin had not moved at all, despite the attack. In fact, he hadn't taken a step the entire round. Also, when defending the kunai, the sand never solidified. She wondered if he couldn't or if he just knew that the constant shifting would be able to stop the velocity. So far he had been taking his time, perhaps assessing her, and she was grateful for that.

Another problem rose to her mind. Gaara's sand was quick, so even if she managed to get close to him, how could she avoid being quickly caught and, at best, kicked away, and at worst, killed? She took a deep breath.

There was only one way to do it; she'd have to get eliminate him as a threat with one move.

That was something to consider, but she still didn't even know how to go about getting close to him.

"Go Hinata!"

The continuing support from her crush lifted her spirit. She wondered what he would do in this situation. Naruto had the most inventive plans ever. People often made remarks about how dumb he was, but she knew better. She could really use a dose of his ingenuity right now; normal ninja tactics wouldn't be enough for this fight.

Hinata glanced heavenward for an answer and slowly, a strategy began to form in her head. An insane, ludicrous, over the top, and completely dangerous plan. In other words; a plan Naruto would definitely approve of. Hinata drew a kunai from her pouch and stared intently at it. She hesitated at the thought, feeling faint at the very idea of doing it. Without a doubt, this would be the most perilous thing she'd ever done in her thirteen years of life. She could even die.

Could she really take that risk?

In the end, the sudden spate of sand that was heading towards her with frightening rapidity was what made her decision. Terror in her mind and determination in her eyes, she turned away from the flood of sand and towards the opposite wall, kunai gripped tightly in her hand. The sand was fast, but thankfully, the preexisting space between them helped her keep ahead.

"Hinata!" That was Kiba. His worry touched her, but she was going forward. For this battle Hinata was taking Naruto's nindo as her own.

When she reached the wall, her teammate's voice rose higher in concern, but she didn't miss a step. Hinata channeled chakra to the bottom of her feet and began climbing the tall walls of the stadium. Each footfall brought her higher and higher until she reached the junction that connected the wall to the ceiling. The sand had followed her and she pressed herself to keep moving. Her breath came out in small pants, and when she looked down she thought she would faint. Naruto's bright, blond hair caught her eye though.

"I never give up," she murmured to herself. "Because that's my ninja way." Eyes forward she ran, ignoring the drain on her chakra.

Hinata knew she needed to act fast; before her opponent had time to gather himself, and before the sand finally caught her. Her heart pounded in her ears, and the rush of blood made her dizzy. Terror ran through her body like lightning and her body shook violently. But she was already here.

She inhaled a deep breath before exhaling.

Using the Byakugan, she lined up her shot and then

She let

herself

go . . .

Cries echoed through the stadium, but she heard them mutedly, like they were coming through water. Nothing pierced her sharp barrier of determination. Her opponent's eyes widened as she fell towards him face first with staggering speed. His feet were glued to the floor, maybe out of confidence in his shield or maybe in shock from her plan. She didn't know. She didn't care.

Sand rose to defend its user, and with swift chakra laden slices from her kunai, it was scattered. She was a meter away, and she braced herself for impact by channeling as much chakra as she could into her legs. She landed nearly on top of him, making him stagger away. Her knees almost blew out despite the large deposit of energy she had layered her legs and joints with, but she ignored that. She couldn't afford to think right now. If she did, Hinata knew that her psyche would probably crack.

She dropped the kunai and began jabbing into his body with her quick palm thrusts to his heart tenketsu. There was a thick shield of something, but she poured as much energy as she could into hands and continued attacking his heart. She saw them blinking out as she closed them, doing some serious internal damage. It was a serious and violent method, but her only option. She had to finish this battle now! Her hands ached despite the fact they were chakra coated as the hard sand shell tried desperately to remain strong. She pressed on anyways.

A strange choking sound slowly began building in her opponent's throats before it became a hysterical shout. The sand suddenly grabbed her around her midsection, breaking several of her ribs in the process, and frantically threw her to the side. She landed harshly on the stone floors wincing. Her wrist had probably been broken too and the Byakugan deactivated. Hinata's breathing was faint and she could hardly move. She felt disappointment fill her hazed mind despite the pain. For a while, Hinata believed she really could have done it. In her last glimpses of his system though, she noticed that the tenketsu she closed were open again. Maybe she'd never had a chance to begin with.

Blood gathered in her throat and she coughed it out pitifully. Afterwards, her head lolled against the floor as she stared at the red-haired shinobi

Her opponent was still screaming in a pained, blood-curdling way.

The adrenaline that had empowered Hinata in her entire reckless quest was abandoning her. In its place, a bone chilling fear began to spread through her veins like ice water.

"My heart hurts mother!" He clutched his head. "Mother is this pain? It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!" His voice was hysterical and his head began to pulse in a strange unreal way that unnerved all the onlookers. His eyes were moving frantically around the room until they finally settled on Hinata.

"The match is over, the winner is Subaku no Gaara," the proctor said, jumping in as he noticed Hinata's debilitated state.

The Suna shinobi never shifted his gaze from the Hyuga heiress. His eyes were sadistic. As her stared her down, the currents of sand shifted more and more violently in the air. Suddenly, in a moment of complete discord, all the sand in the room collected before heading towards Hinata in a terrible wave.

Her shriek was caught in her throat as the reality of death appeared in her mind.

"Enough!" Kurenai appeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Suiton: Suijun!" A large wall of water rose, catching the sand and thickening it into mud.

"Why did you save her?" Gaara asked agitatedly. "Why did you save her? When she has lost her use?"

"Because she is my student, and I care for her deeply." Kurenai spoke with an unwavering gaze.

Without another look at the hostile, muddled Suna nin, she carefully picked up her battered student and walked towards the medic shinobi.

"Hinata!" Kiba cried when he finally found a way to shake himself from his horrified stupor. He began running full speed towards his teammate. Naruto was right behind him, worry flooding his system.

The Hyuga heiress was dazed, but still conscious.

"Kiba-kun," she murmured with a soft smile.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata turned to him. "I tried to have a nindo, I tried to never give up."

"You didn't you didn't Hinata." Naruto found the words hard to find as he looked at her beat-up face.

"Did I do okay?" she asked sluggishly.

"G—God, Hinata," his hands shook as he pulled on the best smile he could muster. "That was the most incredible this I've ever seen my entire life. You're an amazing shinobi. If anyone says otherwise I'll punch them in the face!"

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." She replied quietly, returning a small smile in exchange. A small well of happiness sprung in her heart. Her crush believed in her. Hinata didn't think she could ever be so happy. Basking in the warm emotion, she finally let go of her consciousness and fell asleep.

The medic nin carried her away, leaving Naruto and Kiba feeling lost.

"Why did you make her do that?!" Kiba demanded, turning on Naruto furiously.

Before Naruto could even open his mouth to reply, Kurenai had placed a calming hand on her student's shoulder.

"Kiba, no one 'made' Hinata do anything. It was her choice, as an adult and a ninja of the village." Kurenai's voice was firm. Kiba deflated, his feelings going up and down violently— Anger and now sadness. He didn't know what to do. The jonin carefully steered her conflicted genin up the stairs, away from battle zone.

The supplementary proctors had already begun repairing the damage, but Gaara still hadn't moved from the center. The Suna shinobi was staring intently at the small puddle of Hinata's blood the Hyuga had coughed up.

"You—" Naruto hissed between clenched teeth. He stomped over to where the Suna ninja stood motionless. "You bastard!"

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted. The pure anger swirling around him though made the air catch in her throat. Beside her, she knew the rest of the competitors were watching with fear, as they waited with baited-breaths to see the red-head's reaction.

"Why did you keep attacking her? Even after the match was over, why?!"

"It isn't over until she is dead, only then will my existence have worth." The redhead shifted his gaze towards Naruto, unseeingly.

"Your existence?!" Naruto growled. His nails lengthened and cut into the palms of his hands. Ignorant of the pain, he held his hand out towards the other boy, blood dripping off the length of his fingers.

"Fuck your existence. I swear, I will beat you. And I never go back on my word."

"Why do you say . . . Something for her . . . I can kill you . . . but you say," Gaara began, taking a step back, "She was weak, she was a piece to be used."

"She isn't just a tool!" Naruto shouted. "And no way in hell could you ever kill me!"

"She is useless. She lost; her life has no meaning—"

"She is my friend!" Naruto pushed, "I don't care about if she lost!"

"You," Gaara swayed clutching his head, "Mother finds you interesting." Sand slowly began to gather in the air around Naruto.

Naruto batted the sand away from his face. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Are you . . . like me?" Gaara asked point blank.

"Huh?!"

"Do you need proof of your existence?"

Naruto's hair bristled and his eyes began to fade into a dark red color.

Suddenly the Hokage appeared in the center of the room, the Suna jonin on one side and Kakashi on the other.

"The match is over. Both of the non-competitors must leave so that match ten may begin." His eyes were flinty as he stared down the two unsettling boys. Naruto's red eyes especially unnerved him. After a few moments, the irises faded back into the familiar blue shade and the Hokage barely resisted exhaling in relief.

"Whatever," Gaara said distantly. His eyes stared long at Naruto before he left the floor with a swirl of sand and appeared back on the left side of the balcony.

"Naruto," Kakashi urged quietly, placing his hand on his student's shoulder. Naruto sullenly made his way up the stars. The rage was still clear in his eyes.

"The tenth round will begin momentarily." Gekko cut through the tense air only for a tenser silence afterwards.

As the blond walked back through the balcony, his eyes settled on Neji and the rage only built again.

"Do you think she doesn't have any shinobi pride now? Did you see her bleed for her belief?! Does that satisfy you?!" Naruto demanded harshly. The generally stoic Hyuga took a step back as the blond's royal blue eyes were moving back into the scarlet shade. Gai exhaled suddenly from behind them.

"What are y—"

"Naruto." Kakashi snapped, tightening his hold on his student. Naruto forced his eyes away from the Hyuga heir and walked with a stormy expression to where the rest of his team stood. He leant against the bars, gripping the metal tightly.

"Naruto," Sakura asked hesitantly. The complete and total fury she felt coursing through their shared bond was smothering her. She was managing to resist being pulled into it, but couldn't stop the uneasiness she felt in her gut. Beside her, she saw Sasuke's eyes fill with a terrible haze.

"What?" the blond asked irritably.

"Naruto, are you okay?"

"What do you—" Naruto suddenly remembered that they were feeling his rage too. Sakura was looking especially disturbed, and borderline pained, by the emotion. He didn't want to hurt her. He didn't want to hurt anyone on his team. Naruto sucked in a deep breath. He tried to slow his heart and stop the blood that was pumping furiously in his ears. "I'm okay," He said tightly at length.

Sakura was glad to find the feeling lessen slightly. She noticed a few drops of blood fall down her teammate's hand. She wondered sometimes how anyone could be as driven as he was.

"Talk about freaky, what was that?" Tenten murmured aloud.

Gai just shook his head silently. None of the genin could truly understand what a catastrophe was just avoided.

No one uttered a sound as the remaining two competitors went down to the stage. Naruto was so exhausted all of a sudden. The hatred he felt was so heavy.

"Match ten, between Subaku no Temari of Suna and Dosu from the sound will begin, now!" Gekko leapt back as the final match began.

---

The Hokage ran his eyes over the remaining ten ninja. This Chunin Exam hadn't gone like he thought it would at all. His eyes stopped on the Uchiha-heir. He still needed to see the mark, but from what Kakashi told him, it was a complex master seal, made only more puzzling because it was entwined in Orochimaru's work. Then there was Naruto and Gaara to consider. He knew without a doubt that the conflict that almost happened would have ended messily. He couldn't afford to have such a confrontation occur. Perhaps he could talk to the Kazekage about arranging the tournament so that the two don't fight. He doubted that would work out like he hoped it would. The Kazekage, in his ambitious ways, would see this as an opportunity to prove that the sand's jinchuuriki was superior to Konoha's. The political play wasn't one Sarutobi was willing to participate in, but it's possible that he wouldn't have a choice in the matter . . . Maybe he should send Jiraiya to the boy. At least that way he might be better prepared.

"I congratulate you on completing the preliminary. You ten shall go forward and compete in the third round of the exam for the title of chunin," Sarutobi said.

Gekko stepped forward, coughing as he did, "Each of you will draw a number from this box. It will determine the order of the fights and the matchups."

The only genin remaining in the room went up, one-by-one, and claimed a numbered orb.

"These are the final standings:"

#1 Uzumaki Naruto vs. Neji Hyuuga

#2 Sabaku no Gaara vs. Sabaku no Kankuro

#3 Haruno Sakura vs. Aburame Shino

#4 Nara Shikamaru vs. Sabaku no Temari

#5 Rock Lee vs. Uchiha Sasuke

All of the remaining competitors were looking forward to the matches, though for different reasons. Naruto stared at the Hyuuga from the corner of his eye, his gaze furious. He would beat his cousin for putting Hinata down so much. And after that first round, he'd beat Gaara!

Sasuke lit up with keen anticipation. He and Lee would finally get the rematch they deserved. The determined look in Lee's expression echoed similar sentiments. Sasuke's mouth curled into a smirk. He was beginning to look forward to his training.

When Sakura first pulled her number, she had exhaled in relief. The fact she wasn't going up against Sasuke or Naruto right off the bat lifted a huge weight off her shoulders. It was hard for her to even think about going up against her crush. After the bug-user picked his ball though, her stomach dropped. Sakura shivered as she remembered the not-really-a-match between Shino and Ino. She'd need some serious help with that. She glanced around, she supposed she got off light, all things considered.

When Kankuro received his number and found out he was going against his brother, he couldn't help but feel fear. His brother was barely sane most the time, and after what happened earlier, he knew he was rightly afraid. Gaara was even more unstable than usual which was a truly frightening thought. He'd most likely forfeit when it came to it. They couldn't afford to make Gaara lose chakra before the invasion either. At least he had a good excuse besides fear to forfeit the match.

"The round is instant elimination. The winner goes forward and the loser leaves," The Hokage said, "You all have a month to prepare for the final. Good luck."

With that the Hokage disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

As the other teams gradually gravitated away, Sakura's feet fell out from under her. "I—we did it."

"Sakura-chan!"

The worry Naruto felt softened the blow of her exhaustion. Nonetheless, she was about to pass out.

"Come on everyone," Kakashi said, as he carefully picked Sakura up and settled her on his back, "Let's meet tomorrow at the bridge and discuss our next plan of action."

Naruto and Sasuke nodded, looking both determined and totally worn out.

"I am proud of you all," Kakashi spoke with seriousness, "You fought strong opponents today and proved yourselves to be superior among your peers. I have faith you will all do fine at the finals. But let's leave that for later. Sleep well!" With that parting word, Kakashi and by extension, Sakura, disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto felt soft happiness at the words. Kakashi had never said that before. Beyond that though, he was more eager to tell his father about his clever win. Despite the heavy unpleasant loathing that had taken residency in his stomach, he couldn't help feeling excited that he passed.

"Why are you so excited?" Sasuke asked, yawning as the two left the arena. Darkness had just fallen, reminding Naruto that he hadn't eaten anything all day besides the ration bar. Ichiraku was likely closed by now, but Naruto had enough Ramen at home to satisfy his hunger tonight.

"Why do you think?" Naruto asked cheekily.

"Whatever dobe, it's too late for this." There was no negative energy behind his words which just made Naruto grin.

"I'll see you tomorrow, teme!" Naruto said, smiling as the other shinobi turned the opposite way Naruto was going.

"Hn." Perhaps it was because he was so tired, but Naruto would almost say that he saw the harsh stony lines of Sasuke's face relax under the lamplight. For whatever reason, that fact made him smile even more and he quickly jumped over the trees and houses to his home— and more importantly, his father.

---

.

.

.

So that's taken care of. Let me know if you think it was realistic. I truly feel Sakura could win if faced with the right opponent.

ON SUPER!NARUTO hell to the no. Naruto will not get super strong out of nowhere. He'll struggle, but learn bit by bit with Minato's help. The important thing in this fic isn't that he has a new instructor, but a father. That difference will be addressed later on. Any questions? Feel free to ask.

Lemme know whatcha think.

Thanks to all the people who reviewed last chapter!