Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything else that appears in the story. All I own are the Original Characters.


Chapter Seven

It was getting darker in the forest, dusk has approached. Anko and Jhadow were furiously dashing through the forest, looking for any signs of their prey. The kunoichi was anxious about finding the murderer, especially with it being so close to nightfall. "Anko-han, you know the bastard better then I do," Jhadow asked as he surprisingly kept up with her pace. "Any idea why he's here and impersonating an examinee?"

She shook her head, knowing that he didn't really see it, but she knew that he could tell all the same. "I have no idea; it's been years since I've last seen the bastard." She leapt over a branch. "It doesn't really matter though; he's become an S-Rank nuke-nin since he's fled the village. I'm going to kill him and end his madness once and for all!"

Silence enveloped them as they continued on until Jhadow overtook her and changed directions. "This way," he commanded as he began to move again.

"Are you sure he's this way?"

"Not really but trust me on this."

"Is this some kind of weird monk stuff?"

"I'll tell you some other… That is a big snake…"

"Yea it is," Anko commented as she eyed the massive snake on the ground, its skull had been smashed in. "This is one of his summon's; the bastard is near." She glanced back over her shoulder, while Jhadow surveyed the area. "Who do you think did this?"

Turning back to the snake, she noticed that Jhadow was next to its head. "Look's like Naruto did this," he commented as he placed a hand on it. "Judging by how its head is smashed, it was done by with a blunt weapon. I could be wrong but I'm not, not with signs of the kid being here."

Looking back at the snake, Anko could feel a small measure of pride swell in her heart at the knowledge of the young monk slaying such a beast. Unfortunately she couldn't bask in it as she had to squash it; she was a predator on the hunt, hunting what can be the most dangerous of game. Glancing over at the man with her, she noticed that he had his head tilted to the side and gave an almost imperceptible nod to some unseen speaker. "What is it," the jonin asked as she joined his side.

"He went this way," Jhadow stated as he dashed off again. The jonin couldn't help but follow him once more as he had lead her to a good lead already so he might do so again.

"Look not that I don't appreciate the help so far," she began as her pace matched his. "But why are you doing this really? This hasn't got anything to do with you. The bastard is on a whole other level; he was once considered a candidate for the title of Hokage."

"I'm here for you, the kid, and Gramps," he stated as he gave her a brief look before flipping over a branch. "Anko, if something happens to you, they'd be sad, and even though we haven't known each other for long, but I like you. You have spunk and I like that." If Anko was going to be truthful, it was the first time he said her name without that damned honorific; she also knew that he was very serious about the situation, more then before. "Besides, if you die, I lose out on a fun puzzle to solve…" She hurled a kunai at him yet he flipped over her to the other side of her; he did it with a chuckle. "That's the spirit!"

"So all I am to you is a project," she growled as more kunai slipped into her hands.

"Anko-han, everyone is a puzzle to be solved," he offhandedly said as he came to a stop in another clearing. "Looks like the kid was here too; just take a look at the signs. He fell here… alive, but was carried off by a tiger… how odd."

"You can tell all that by looking?" She took in the sights as well, but kept an eye out for their prey.

"Yeah, the kid lost, but he should be fine… I hope he is." As much as Anko knew that both of them wanted to check on Naruto, she knew that they couldn't do that. The exam is still going on and the wildlife is part of the dangers that were part of the scenario. "Hmm… the bastard went up to the canopy and the pink-haired girl came down here and collected the kid's hat and shakujo. Looks like she was also carrying some extra weight, seems to be the other teammate was incapacitated. She came down after the tiger came, probably was tending to who was closer at the time and needed more attention." The jonin growled. "What is it?"

Anko clenched her fists. "The Haruno girl has a crush on the Uchiha boy. It's pretty well known that she and a few other girls in the village are crazy about him. She most likely ignored him."

The man shook his head and crouched down at a spot. "See this here, they are tears, she lamented over losing Naruto." He then looked up, "We should move on, staying here won't do any good." They then took off once again, moving further into the darkening forest; there thoughts to themselves.

It would be only a little while before they would stop once again. "What now," Anko hissed, her seal acting up more now then before and it was beginning to really get on her nerves. Her answer was him fixing his attention on a tree; looking at it, she saw what he saw. Melded to the trunk of a massive tree, was the kunoichi who was murdered earlier that day. She instantly knew who it was, her Cursed Seal of Heaven indicating who it was. The Konoha-nin narrowed her eyes on the person who she once loved and respected. "Orochimaru."

The person chuckled, "My how have you grown Anko-chan. Who might that young man with you be?"

Kunai slid into Anko's waiting hands, she was about to hurl them but stopped once Jhadow put a hand on her shoulder. Glancing angrily at him, she noticed that he was looking up and away from their target. "Clever bastards," he mumbled low enough only for her to hear. "Careful, remember that there were three bodies and three went in." Her eyes widened at as she realized what was going on. Jhadow turned his attention back to Orochimaru while folding his arms into his sleeves. "My name is Jhadow, wandering scholar. It is a pleasure to meet you Orochimaru."

"Oh so you're a man of knowledge are you?" Orochimaru chuckled condescendingly. "What knowledge do you seek?"

"Not the kind that would damn my humanity." Jhadow narrowed his eyes; Anko fixed her attention back to their target. "Tell me, did you plant your seal on Anko before or after you're change?"

Anko was confused, not following what Jhadow asked; however, Orochimaru seemed to know and narrowed his own eyes at the man. "Oh and what makes you say that?"

"You're part demon." The kunoichi's eyes widened from shock. "You reek of one who gave up his humanity for quick power. You're stench is foul, too foul to be truly human anymore."

"It was long before Anko-chan became my little tool," the murderer said as he separated himself from the trunk. "I devoured the heart of a snake demon back when I first began my pursuit for immortality. Sadly, gaining the power of a demon didn't mean I became immortal, just stronger."

"You're Seal of Heaven is part of that research?"

"Oh yes it is and I just gave one very beautiful boy my gift." The sennin licked his lips. "He seems quite exceptional and possesses what I need to become God! Something that Anko-chan lacked."

Anko's blood froze; she instantly knew who he is talking about. She knew what else the man sought. He always wanted to learn every jutsu in the world, and only one boy in the forest had the means to make that happen. "Uchiha Sasuke," Anko growled out as she prepared to hurl her knives. "You are here for more then him though. I know you too well that you wouldn't risk coming to the village just for that! You're here to assassinate Hokage-sama aren't you?"

Orochimaru chuckled once again, finding the situation amusing. "Why Anko-chan, I lack the proper manpower to pull off such a plan. I'm here to recruit exceptional ninja to aid me."

"You're gift will turn them to you're side," the younger man asked, though Anko could tell he was curious because of her own case. She knew that he was fishing for information about her seal, and most likely Orochimaru as well.

"Why her gift was the very first of many, not everything was worked out." Orochimaru then dusted off his pants. "Well it's been fun chatting, but I have places to be and plots to unleash. Benisato, Shijima, take care of these pests for me why don't you."

Before Anko could react, she was pushed out of the way by Jhadow and fell to a lower branch. Looking up, she saw that Orochimaru disappeared in a plume of smoke and Jhadow was holding off one genin that entered with Orochimaru with a shakujo that he pulled out of nowhere while the other was where she once stood. It felt so surreal to Anko as time seemed to freeze as the two genins bodies bulged and then shifted into what could only be described as demons; both looked like snakes with long clawed arms; the only difference between them was that one had a hood like a cobra and had grayish scales while the other was as red as blood.

"Oh fuck," was all Anko could say as her eyes widened. Of all the things she was expecting to be facing, it wasn't demons. Her instincts kicked in as the branch that Jhadow was on, snapped from the violence unleashed by the attack of the two demons. Seeing that the man was falling while struggling with one of the two snakes; snakes flew from her sleeves and snagged his ankle as he fell past. From the sudden stop jerked the red one that he struggled with flew down to the forest floor and crashed. As Anko swung Jhadow to another branch, the gray demon came at her. Seeing that she had to move dropped off the other side of the branch.

As she fell, Jhadow rose past her, and as he passed her, he gave her a smirk. Once she was low enough she released her snakes and dropped to the ground, knowing that Jhadow was currently fighting off the other demon up top while leaving the other to her. The red one was upon her in an instant, proving how resilient it was after crashing down to the ground.

"I am Benisato of the Kimon Devils," it hissed as it swiped a clawed hand at the kunoichi. "You're soul is mine mortal."

Anko spun around the claw swipe and slashed at Benisato with her own kunai which scrapped against the demons scales. "You'll have to work for it Bitch," she shouted as nervousness began to settle. She had never fought a demon before; and they were rare to come across and almost always ended badly for the ones who fought against them. Dancing around more attacks, Anko couldn't do any damage with her knives, so gaining some distance away; she began making seals for a jutsu.

Seeing what the kunoichi was doing, the demon lunged at her once again but failed as the young woman flipped over it and shot flames out of her mouth. The demon was bathed in flames until Anko was sure that there was no movement inside the inferno. Walking up to the burnt husk that was the demon, she kicked it and her foot went right through the skin. "Cast off skin," she exclaimed as the ground behind her exploded. Debris blew into her face, blinding her, but her instincts saved her life when the demon snapped it maw at her. The demon flew over her body as she ducked under it. Not prepared for the action, Benisato tripped over her body and flipped onto her back. Before the demon could get react, Anko stabbed Benisato in the eye, driving it all the way to its brain. It died with a spasm as it unleashed an unearthly shriek of pain and rage.

Catching her breath for the moment, Anko looked up only to see the other demon crash to the ground a few yards away from her. It didn't move but that didn't stop Jhadow, who followed it during its downward flight, from smashing its head in with his shakujo. "You okay Anko," Jhadow asked as he turned his attention away from his kill. He slid the staff into one of his coat sleeves and it vanished.

Blinking at the action, because that was really odd to see, she briefly shook off her shock and said, "Yea, it's the bitch's blood, not mine." The man gave a brief nod before sighing. "What's wrong?"

"Bastard got away," he explained as he looked around at the trees.

If he said anything else, it was lost to her as pain from the seal on her neck flared; her world just seemed to disappear around her. Everything was gone, the forest, the demons, the blood covering her, only her. Those words cut her and destroyed all that was around her. Anko then fell to her knees but didn't quite make it as Jhadow moved in and caught her. The last sight she saw before darkness overtook her was the concern that clearly showed on Jhadow's face and something else that she couldn't quite see.


"I wish that I could take us to one of the gates," Sakura said as she placed a damped rag on top of Sasuke's forehead. Next to her in the hollowed out tree that she found, sat Slime who kept on smiling, even in the dark, she could see it. "But it's too dangerous for us to travel." There wasn't much really she could have done, with Naruto gone, and Sasuke with a fever, traveling now was just asking for trouble, and she knew it. Even though Sakura wasn't as strong or cunning as her two teammates, she knew the basics well enough. "I have to keep you both safe, for Naruto."

Glancing to her side, she looked down at the ruined hat and the now one-ringed shakujo, trademarked items of her teammate. It has been a few hours since they encounter and the pain was still fresh; she could barely hold back her tears from what happened. Taking the hat, she placed it over her head and then laid the shakujo over her knees. Looking back down at her crush, she couldn't help but feel doubt in her affections for him. Sasuke left Naruto alone to fight the man himself, despite the knowledge he was only interested in their lives.

Turning her attention back to Slime, she said, "Go to sleep, I'll watch over us tonight and make sure that we're safe." Slime nodded and did something that she didn't expect, it leapt into her lap. Annoyance briefly flared before she squashed it, Slime was a friend of Naruto's and was left behind by the monk when the tiger came. She moved the shakujo to her side once again and began to hum a soft lullaby that her mother song to her as she gentle rubbed the little blue creature.

Until dawn, she sat awake while comforting the odd creature while its presence brought her the comfort that she needed. The shock of losing one teammate while the other was struck with a fever was almost too much for her to handle. Seeing that it was there was light, she sent a worried look down at Sasuke before looking at Slime. Leaning over the creature, she removed the rag from Sasuke's head, and poured clean water over it before replacing it back on his head.

Nodding off, she shook herself awake, knowing that she can't let herself fall asleep yet despite her exhaustion; to do so could end with their deaths and she had a mission to do. 'I will get us out of here, even if it's the last thing that I do,' she thought before she heard the faint tap of something moving. Snapping wide awake, she drew a kunai and turned to towards the source. 'A squirrel…'

The squirrel stood there, looking at her before moving closer towards her. Seeing where it was moving towards, she hurled a kunai at it. It stopped before dashing off into the woods. After making sure that it ran off, she returned back to watching over both Sasuke and Slime; however Slime was now wide awake from her urgent actions to stop the rodent.

"You've been up all night haven't you," a mocking voice asked, surprising Sakura. Quickly turning around and drawing a new kunai, she spotted the team from Otogakure no Sato. "If you'd please, wake up Sasuke for us. Once you do that, you can take a break. We only want to have a talk with him."

Looking them over, the Konoha-nin gasped at the sight of there hitae-ate's. "What are you talking about? I know that Orochimaru is pulling the strings here, so what do you want?" Fear overtaking her, not wanting to take on three ninja who were fully prepared for her in her state of fatigue. Her use of the name gave him some confidence; it seemed that they weren't expecting her to know that. "What does this mark on Sasuke's neck mean? Either way, Sasuke-kun is in no condition to fight you now. Get out of here and leave us be!"

The Oto-nin's didn't back down; the bandaged-faced one pondered, "I wonder what Orochimaru-sama is up to?"

"Whatever, I can't turn my back after hearing that," his spiky haired teammate said as he stared at Sakura. "I'll kill both you and you're precious Sasuke-kun too!" He made to move but stopped when the bandaged faced ninja ordered him to stop. "Why?"

"Zaku, she's been setting traps," he stated as he bent down and moved some grass from the dirt. Sakura met the gaze of his single eye, feeling panic starting to snare her heart. "What's the point of laying these traps if you leave the signs of one that'll warn your prey?"

"She's an amateur," the now identified Zaku exclaimed. "She only threw the kunai to keep the rat from springing it then."

"Yeah, though she is of no use to us, so let's eliminate her first," bandage face ordered as the three of them leapt into the air. As soon as they reached the apex of their jump, Sakura smirked as her kunai cut a wire behind her. A giant log swung down at the three Oto-nins; unfortunately for Sakura, the log she used exploded and the Oto-nins came at her. "You're such a no-talent who should have worked harder!"

"Konoha senpuu," a green blur shouted as he kicked all three of the Oto-nins away. Standing before Sakura was Lee. "As you should have as well."

"Who the hell are you," the leader of the Oto-nin's asked as he got up.

"Why I am Konoha's beautiful green beast," Lee said as he took a fighting stance with the squirrel that Sakura recognized from before on his shoulder. "My name is Rock Lee."

"Why are you here," Sakura asked as she stared at Lee's back, her hand reaching for Naruto's shakujo.

Not looking at her, Lee settled the rodent onto the ground. "I came because I will always be there for you for when you need me."

A tear came to her eye; she wiped it away as she looked over Sasuke. Standing up with the shakujo in her hands. "Thanks for the help Lee."

"I promised when we met did I not? That I would protect you until I die." That seemed to have struck her as strange because they only had just met the day before. Though it did make her feel odd as well about her own feelings for Sasuke, but she put the thoughts to the back of her head; now wasn't the time for self-reflection. Sakura did giggle as she noticed how happy he seemed after that statement.

"Zaku, take this," the leader said as he tossed a scroll to his teammate. "They're as good as dead." Seeing that he made a move, Sakura tensed waiting to counter his charge if he managed to get past Lee. As he neared, the kunoichi hurled a kunai at him forcing him to leap into the air and dive at Lee. The green clad boy drove his fist into the ground.

"What the hell," Sakura shouted out of shock at the sight of Lee dragging up a massive root and stopping the attack of the enemy leader. 'He's so strong,' she thought while seeing how much more of a mismatch his fight with Sasuke was.

"I've seen you're attacks," Lee stated as he held the root up over his head. "I'd be wasting my time dodging as if they were real. His opponent leapt back to gain some distance and as he did that, Lee began unwrapping the bandages around his arms.

The leader went in to attack again, but Lee vanished to reappear underneath him with a kick shooting the Oto-nin into the air. Lee followed in an instant and managed to wrap his bandages around the Oto-nin. As they reached the apex of their ascent, the Konoha-nin grabbed onto his opponent and began spinning downwards towards the earth. "Take this… Omote Renge!"

The Oto-nin was driven into the ground headfirst while at the last second, Lee leapt away. Unfortunately, even though the genin was driven into the ground headfirst, he was able to walk away from it. "Heh, looks like I made it Dosu," Zaku said catching Sakura's attention. She saw that his hands were buried into the ground and the ground seemed to have been pushed upwards from them to where his teammate landed.

"Yea thanks," Dosu replied as he pulled his sleeve back to reveal his gauntlet covered arm. "It's my turn now." He launched himself at Lee once again and managed to get close when the Konoha-nin clumsily sidestepped. The punch missed, but Lee still went down to his knees. Sakura shouted out his name from his position near Sasuke and Slime, her grip on Naurto's shakujo becoming tighter as the fight moved on. "You may be fast, but my attacks are the speed of sound! It'll be some time before you get up; now it's your turn Girly."

Sakura readied herself, adopting a stance that she remembered Naruto using with the shakujo. It felt weird to her as she never really practiced with one before; though the added reach of it would help her in fighting them. 'That device on his arm must be part of his trick,' she thought, trying to analyze Dosu's technique, but preparing herself to provide cover for Lee should he need it.

It wasn't long before the Oto-nin lunged at her, but he was once again stopped by a green blur. This time Dosu was prepared for Lee and blocked the taijutsu combo. He countered with his own attack that Lee was barely able to block. "Stupid," Dosu muttered as he watched Lee struggle against his arm. "This gauntlet amplifies sound waves to the utmost limits, and I can use my chakra to direct the sound however I want!" After that, Lee fell to the ground, unmoving yet groaning. "Now to finish off this bug…" Dosu didn't get the chance as Sakura was in his face just as he was about to bring his fist down upon Lee. The Oto-nin grunted as he blocked the shakujo with his gauntlet. "Not bad…"

The next thing Sakura knew, she was blown away. Rolling over the ground, she came to a stop, the shakujo in her hands. Getting to her knees, a hand grabbed her by her hair. "You got lovely hair," the third Oto-nin said as she stood over Sakura. "Trying to be a sexy kunoichi when you should have been training? You are a disgrace to ninjas everywhere! Hey Zaku, why don't you drag the Uchiha out here and kill him right in front of her eyes. It'll be amusing to see her reaction to it."

Those words caused Sakura to freeze and release Naruto's weapon. 'I'm too weak,' she thought as her hands grabbed at the dirt in frustration. 'I'm the one who is always being protected, always in the way, and always the burden.' She closed her eyes as Zaku began to walks towards Sasuke. Her eyes snapped open as she pulled out a kunai.

"That's not gonna work on me Pig," the girl behind her said with mirth. Sakura could only smirk as she brought her kunai up and cut clean through her long hair, freeing herself from the enemy's grasp. Dropping the small blade, she grabbed the shakujo once more and made it to her feet this time. As she turned to face the girl, she felt the kunoichi tackle her. Sakura could imagine the surprise on the other girl's face when she rushed into the log she substituted herself with expecting her to have made a move like that.

'That one must specialize in ranged attacks,' Sakura thought as she reappeared to one side of the clearing. He saw her and aimed his palms at her, a blast of wind shot towards her. Sakura substituted herself once more to the other side of Zaku, and did it again as he followed her. She reappeared above him with the shakujo raised ready to strike. Zaku followed her again and hurled a kunai at her; it grazed her, but he looked away expecting her to have done the same trick again. It was his mistake as he barely had time to block the metal staff.

Sakura heard and felt his arm break as he tried to block with it. She pulled the shakujo back and swung again, grazing his chest as he leapt back. He had his other hand up and another blast of wind shot forth and knocked her back. Prepared she flew up and prepared to charge Zaku when all of a sudden Dosu was in her face with his fist. He was too close for her to block and with that gauntlet of his, it meant trouble for her. The fist connected and kunoichi was staggered from the blow.

"Bitch," Zaku muttered as he flew at her expecting her to be easy to finish now. It wasn't, Dosu's trick failed to render her helpless. Too close to swing the staff, she dropped to the ground and planted her foot into his stomach. Sakura felt pleasure as she watched the air leave his body. Rolling away and jumping to her feet, she was ready once again to take them on.

Sensing a threat she sidestepped two needles that were aimed for her. "That should do it," the enemy kunoichi stated as she finally joined the fight. Sakura looked over at her before hearing a bell. Her world became distorted as she nausea overtook her; she fell to her knees.

The next thing she knew, she was being pummeled by the one called Zaku. It lasted for a while; she knew that he was taking pleasure in beating her for what she did. All she knew was pain, it was there, and her thoughts of getting both Sasuke and Slime out of the forest were being driven from her mind. That is until a voice cut through the clearing, "I can't stand this anymore." Zaku stopped his beating.

Through her haze, she could see Neji, the guy that Naruto told her was Hinata's cousin and his teammate standing over the clearing on a branch. 'Lee's teammates,' she thought as she tried to get a better look at them.

"Stupid rats coming out," she heard her attacker mutter as he left her a moment's respite.

"See that annoying guy over there," Neji stated as he looked down at the Oto-nins. "He's our teammate and you're going to pay for what you did. Stop while you can before I give you everything I got…" He trailed off as he began to glance around, searching for something.

"If you don't like it why don't you do something about it," Dosu said as he got ready for a fight. From her spot, Sakura could see him glancing at his gauntlet every now and then. Looking at it, she couldn't help but feel proud for destroying it and ending his trick. 'If you know how a trick works, it's useless,' she remembered Kakashi tell her team once back during that C-Rank mission. 'Some ninja's are solely dependent on a single trick, if it's discovered; they are as good as dead.'

As she climbed to her knees, she heard Neji say, "From the looks of it, I won't have to."

Hearing a groan, she turned her attention to the source and found Sasuke rising with smoke coming off of his body. She felt joy at him waking, but seeing the hatred in his eyes and the strange black marks covering his body, she felt that same joy disappear in an instant. "Sakura, who did that to you," she heard Sasuke ask her as he eyed the others in the clearing. "Who was it?"

She didn't answer, but Zaku did, "It was us." The Uchiha fixed his attention onto the Oto-nins.

"Sasuke," she finally found her voice. "You're body…"

The Uchiha looked down at his hands and told her not to worry about, "I feel overwhelming power flowing through me. It feels amazing. I got it from that man. If I must make a deal with the devil, then I must if it means that I gain the power needed to become an Avenger." He ignored her worried look, as he fixed his attention once more on Zaku.; who seemed ready to launch a blast of wind at the Uchiha. Wind flew, decimating the hollowed out tree, and Sakura felt her heart clench. As the smoke from the blast settled, nothing remained.

"Heh, I blew him away," the Oto-nin said before freezing. Next to him was Sasuke and he backhanded the Oto-nin across the clearing. As soon as Zaku got back to his feet, multiple fireballs were flying at him; placing his good hand in front, he sent another blast of wind, dispelling the fire only to reveal that each ball had a shuriken inside. A two of the flying blades stabbed him while the others grazed him. Zaku could do nothing as Sasuke was on top of him with both arms held behind his back and the Uchiha's foot on his back.

That dark and devilish look on Sasuke's face frightened Sakura. "So you're proud of your arms," the cursed boy said as he put more pressure on his captive's arms and back. "Let's see how proud you are after this…" A resounding snap was heard throughout the clearing, and Sakura could only imagine how much worse Zaku's already broken arm was after that trauma. The boy was so overwhelmed by pain that he fell unconscious. "Then there were two." Sasuke turned his attention to the two remaining Oto-nins who took a step back from his gaze alone. "I hope that you're both more of a challenge than he was."

Sakura couldn't take it; this wasn't who her teammate was, or who she assumed he was, but she knew that he never acted like this before. She flung herself at him and wrapped her arms around his chest as she hugged him from behind. "Stop it," she cried as tears once more poured down her face. Any other time she would have reveled in the feeling of him in her arms, but those that was not now. Now she was frightened and she didn't want him continuing this madness. Seeing that he looked back at her with his doujutsu, she muttered, "Please, please stop…"

Her pleading must have worked, he relaxed and the black marks disappeared from his body. Once the marks were gone, she felt his body go slake in her arms, and she gently lowered Sasuke to the ground.

"You're strong," Dosu said interrupting Sakura's thoughts on her teammate. "We have no chance of defeating you as you are now. We'll give you our scroll if you let us leave." The boy in her arms grunted, she could tell that he was smirking despite his condition. Taking that as an agreement, Dosu carefully walked over to Zaku and lifted him up after taking the scroll out of his teammates pouch and tossing it over to both Sasuke and Sakura. "We'll let you go for now, but next time we'll stay and fight."

As the Oto-nins began to leave to lick their wounds, Sakura called out, "Wait, who is Orochimaru? What did he do to Sasuke?"

Dosu looked back, supporting Zaku with his other teammate, "I don't know, we were only following orders." Sakura didn't know for sure, but it felt like they truly were ordered and had no idea what was going on. The Oto-nins then retreated into the forest.

"What happened to me," she heard Sasuke say, and she couldn't help but worry for her crush and about what just happened. He was so dark, so cold, and taking pure joy out of what he was doing. It was completely wrong to her. She didn't give much of a second thought as the memory of the events of the fight finally caught up.

Sakura, in the middle of helping Sasuke up, dropped him as she darted back towards the tree that she was using for cover. She frantically looked around the wreckage that was once the tree. Sasuke wasn't her sole responsibility, and now it was very much likely that her other charge was now gone after that massive attack that her crush avoided. Flinging rocks and sticks to the side, she found Naruto's splintered hat. Fear filling her body once more, dread seizing her, not wanting to see what might be under the hat, but knew she had to. Without much of a second thought, and ignoring those around her, she lifted the hat. "Slime," she cried as she found the battered and bruised creature who smiled up at her. Grabbing it, she brought it up to her face and hugged it as she cried tears of happiness. "I'm so glad that you fine!" It rubbed against her face. Sakura fell to her knees, happy that Naruto's friend was all right.

She was broken from his moment when Lee's voice pierced through her mind, "I see that you are okay Sakura-san."

Turning around, she saw Lee being supported by his kunoichi teammate. He looked to be a mess; she smiled, "Thank you for your help Lee, you really came through."

"I am unworthy of such praise Sakura-san," the older boy said as he looked down at the ground. "You should be praising Sasuke-kun, he is the one who drove the Oto-nin away. It seems that those of the Uchiha clan have been granted great and incredible power." Sakura noticed that Sasuke was near, and could tell that he was shocked by the statement, but his pride in his accomplishment over Lee replaced it with his infamous smirk. "Sakura-san, the Konoha Lotus blooms twice. The next time we meet, I'll be a stronger man. That I promise you."

Smiling at his kind words, and touched by them, she nodded, "Yeah!" After that, both Lee and his team were gone, heading off somewhere else into the forest to continue with the exam. Their exit though, despite Lee's exuberance, fell on Sakura's deaf ears as she turned her attention back to Slime, holding it closer to her being, not wanting to lose anyone else at the moment. Sasuke was fine, he was up and about, but Slime, it was a frail creature and it kept her company throughout the night; much better company than Sasuke ever was. "Shh, we'll make it out of here and get you back home."

"Sakura, we're not quitting," Sasuke said, cutting her thoughts and peace. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him looming over her. "Where is the Dobe?"

She knew that Sasuke was going to ask this, and she's been preparing herself all night long as she kept watch, but her voice was stuck in her throat; she looked down at the ground, ashamed of what happened. Sensing her feelings, Slime rubbed against her face and smiled that same happy smile it always had plastered on it face. Taking a breath, she schooled emotions and said, "He's gone Sasuke. After the man did whatever he did to you and left, a tiger came and took Naruto before I could tend to him."

Shock and anger flew across Sasuke's face, and the kunoichi could only guess that he was hoping it wasn't true, but he caught sight of the shakujo, and the hat. "That's not the Dobe's stupid stick is it?" Her heart clenched at the disrespect shown towards their fallen teammate, she could only nod. "Why does it only have one ring?" She had no idea, but explained how after she picked it up, two of the rings disappeared. "Must be a stupid monk thing then." Looking down at the kunoichi, she could feel his displeasure at the situation. "We're going to continue. Sakura, throw that thing away and give me the hat."

Those words hurt like a punch to the gut; Sakura was stunned. "But Sasuke, we can't continue without Naruto! We have a responsibility now to Naruto to make sure we get Slime and his things back to his grandfather!"

"We can and we will," the shinobi snarled as he rounded on Sakura, fury blazing in his eyes. "I will not be disqualified because the Dobe got himself killed. He died because he was weak." His fury turned towards Slime, and Sakura backed away from him clutching Slime tighter to her; this wasn't the boy who she had a crush on and it was breaking her heart even further. Sasuke made a hand-seal that Sakura was very familiar with, but it wasn't one she's seen the boy use before, "Kage Buunshin no Jutsu!" A single clone of the Uchiha appeared in a burst of smoke, while Sasuke was bent over his knees, trying to catch his breath. "Transform into the Dobe and take his hat and stick, we're moving on. If you don't do as I say, I will leave you behind and leave you to what's in this forest."

Sakura watched as the clone transform into Naruto, tears running freely down her face now at seeing the familiar whisker face, but it wasn't Naruto's, it was all Sasuke while wearing the monks face. She watched it pick up the shakujo, and a new ring appeared. "Has some weight to it," it said using Naruto's voice yet it wasn't. It struggled picking it up which the kunoichi found odd in the very back of her mind. She didn't know how much further her heart could clench, but it did at seeing the blatant disrespect for their teammate. Sakura silently watch the clone finish its appearance off by picking up the splintered hat and placing it on its head. "I'm ready."

"Good," the original said, finally catching his breath; he reached out for Slime. A resounding smack could be heard through the clearing.

"Don't you dare lay you're selfish cowardly hands on Slime," Sakura shouted as she slapped her crushes hand away. Fury blazing in her soul, finally having enough of what happened and the bastard's mockery of Naruto's sacrifice. "How dare you, how dare you do this! You bastard, you only care about your own promotion and not what…" She didn't finish as Sasuke slapped her face, the blow so great that in her weary body, she fell to the side; her grip on Slime loosening only slightly before hitting the ground. Looking up at her former crush, she flinched from the sight of the rage blazing in his eyes, his doujutsu active and spinning menacingly as he looked down at her. Even as she flinched, her fury didn't wane.

"How dare you, you Bitch," he growled as he once again reached for her. "This is the thanks that I get for saving you pathetic excuse of a ninja! I drove those weaklings off, when Lee couldn't. I'm here, I'm powerful, I'm an Uchiha, an elite."

"I'm not some weak kunoichi," Sakura growled as she turned away, but was held in place by his clone. "I tended to both you and Slime after what happened. I stayed up watching over you all night long, I held the Oto-nins off long enough for you to recover, and even then, all you did was brutally harm one of them. You didn't fight all three, you fought one, and once they saw that you were up and ready for a fight, they backed off. Me and Lee held them off, you were fresh, they were not. So don't you dare get all high and mighty on me, I am strong, I did more to them then what Lee did." She could tell that was like a slap to his face as he flinched. He growled and struck her face.

"Don't you ever talk back to me," the boy snarled as he brought his fist back. "Now where is that thing?"

Dazed from the blow, Sakura could barely understand what her former crush was saying. All she knew was Slime was in trouble, but he was no longer in his arms. Through her pain, she felt a small manner of comfort coming from her stomach. "I… I don't know Sasuke," she mumbled as she tried to get up but was once again restrained by the clone. She hated this, she hated seeing Sasuke using Naruto's face and sneer down at her, making her feel like an insignificant worm. It hurt her, far then a blade or club could harm her. Sasuke was now definitely not the boy she knew and crushed on; he was a horrible person, one who doesn't really care about her.

'Would he… if given the chance just leave me behind,' she thought through her pain addled mind. 'Leave me in some forgotten ditch as you carry on.' Her tears threatened to spill once again. She hated this, these moments where she feels vulnerable, it makes her sick. 'He's worse then trash…' Sadly, she mumbled the last word and Sasuke struck her once more; hard enough to knock her out.


She had no idea as to how long she has been out, all she knew was that her head hurt and she had no recollection of why; all she knew was that she was being carried by, "Naruto…?" The monk was carrying her on his back; the jingle of his staff brought her closer to total consciousness.

"You're awake," the monk said as he looked over his shoulder at her. She gasped, it may have been her teammates face, but it wasn't. That was when she remembered what Sasuke was doing; a small part of her was thankful for not being left behind, but seeing Sasuke parade a clone around as Naruto, it was too much for her and she began to cry again. "You're weak."

"Shut up," she exclaimed as she smacked the clone, dispelling it. She fell to the ground along with both the splintered hat and the shakujo. "Sasuke, where are we?" She snarled as she grasped the shakujo; idly noting that it now has one ring.

The shinobi sent her a nasty look with his doujutsu flaring in his eyes; the sight sent shivers down her spine and she flinched. "We're almost at the tower. We'll wait by it for the next team to pass by to take their scroll."

Sakura had no idea why but she was wary of the boy, and didn't take her eyes off of him as she picked up the fallen hat before placing it on her head. The two of them slowly walked out of the tree line and saw the tower. It loomed over them in the middle of the forest, and sitting on a step in front of one of the sealed doors sat a hunched figure. Sakura couldn't quite make out who it was. Lying next to the figure, was the very same red tiger that she saw earlier in the exam. "Hey guys what took you so long," the figure greeted with a wave.

Seeing who it was, Sakura dashed with abandonment and tackled the figure, "Naruto!" They fell back onto the ground with her on top of Naruto. She knew that he had no idea of what was going on but that didn't stop her from crying at the sight of the monk; thoughts of what happened buried to the furthest reaches of her mind as happiness overtook her. She didn't care about how he was still alive, and how that tiger that was hovering over her was the very same tiger from the previous day, she was happy that he was still alive. Sakura had no idea as to how long they were on the ground, with her crying into Naruto's kosode, but it had to have been a while because her tears finally stopped. "How?" Looking down at his blue eyes, she could easily read his confusion. "How are you still alive?"

His widened as realization dawned, "Oh well Benitora here just took me away so that I could recover. He thought that I was wandering around the forest once again and thought I ended up way over my head." He glanced at the massive tiger that was lying on its front paws; ignoring the tear streaked face of his teammate. "The big lug would never hurt a fly." Sakura couldn't tell, but she thought that the tiger snickered. "Okay, he wouldn't hurt me; we've been best friends since we were little." The kunoichi couldn't help but blink owlishly at the boy beneath until he made a motion.

Getting up, she blushed out of embarrassment and scratched the back of her head like he has done so many times before. Looking down and then back, she sees Slime with the monk's items that she held onto. Walking over to retrieve them, she ignored the glare and the questioning look she was receiving from her teammates. Heading to Naruto, Slime was resting on her shoulder while his hat and shakujo were in her hands. "Here," she quietly said as she handed his items back. He looked grateful for having them back, especially so with her taking care of them; though he did look upset about the lose of the hat.

"Oh man," he muttered while studying the hat. "Now my badass monk look is ruined!" She couldn't help but chuckle at his pout. "Hey I know look like a cheap poor monk who can't even take care of his hat!"

"They are cheap hats you can find anywhere Dobe," Sasuke muttered as he finally walked up. "They are a dime a dozen and sold everywhere."

"It's hard finding just the right one Bastard," Naruto growled, not liking the look Sasuke was giving him. "So mind telling me what happened while I was gone?" His blue eyes locked with her green eyes. "You look like hell Sakura. What happened to you're hair?"

Blushing once more under his attention, she explained the events of what happened, starting from when the monk was defeated to them being reunited. She omitted a few parts for both his and her benefit. The glare that Sasuke was giving her could have killed her if they could kill and she didn't want to worry Naruto about the actions of their teammate. "As for my hair," she glanced down before looking up at the boy while rubbing her hair. "Well I wanted a new look, and it looked like as good of time as any with that kunoichi holding onto me." She smiled at him as he gave her a proud look.

"You look good with short hair." The kunoichi had to look away, her blush refusing to die down. "Anyway, see what I told ya." He moved to scratch Benitora behind the ears. "You are strong. Remember what I told you before the exams began?" She nodded. "Strength and jutsu's don't matter, its Will. You stood your ground against the three of them with Lee out of action. That right there just shows that you're Will is strong…" Sasuke snorted, but they both ignored him. "And that is all that matters because with a strong Will and some work on the side of course, you can tackle anything."

She was happy, pleased with the praise and the knowledge that her teammate wasn't dead. Sakura just wanted to bask in the moment despite how her body was protesting at the moment. Sadly it was ruined by when Sasuke decided to join in, "If you're both done with you sappy moment, we still need to finish the test."

Annoyance flared within Sakura, the Uchiha was beginning to grate on her nerves, especially with how he wanted to carry on despite the temporary lose of Naruto. The dark boy didn't care about Naruto's lose aside from not being able to pass. She was about to round on him and chew him out when her legs gave out from under her. As she began to topple over, Naruto caught her; she blushed when she felt his arms wrapped around her and holding her tight. "Thank's Naruto," she mumbled as she felt herself being held up by her teammate.

"Nah, I should be thanking you for taking care of Slime for me along with my stuff. I sorry for worrying you like that; but like I said, Beni saw me hurt and took me to a place to rest." He guided her to the sealed door. "Let's get inside now, you guys really cut it close, it's the last day and you both had me worried."

"What are you talking about; we only have the Scroll of Earth!" Glancing over her shoulder, Sakura saw Sasuke whip out the scroll that they won from the Oto-nins.

Naruto gave the dark boy a flat look, and asked, "You gave up our scroll..." Sasuke reacted as if he was slapped. "Lucky us then that I had a backup and didn't mention it to you." He returned his attention back to Benitora. "You be good now and don't cause too much for Aka-obaachan." Naruto smiled as his friend gave him a mischievous grin before dashing off back into the forest. The monk waved at the tiger and she couldn't help but do the same; glad that he kept her teammate safe..

"Where is it?"

"Where is what?"

"The scroll!"

Not wanting to take it anymore, Naruto ignored the other boy and proceeded to guide Sakura into the tower. The talisman over the door was ripped in half as he pushed the doors open. Walking further into the hallways, the genin came across a poster on the wall. "I think that it's telling us to open both scrolls," Sakrua explained after reading the words on the wall. "We have to open both the srolls…" Naruto reached into his tearstained kosode; Sakura couldn't help but look away embarrassed about how she acted. "You got it from those Ame-nins right?" Naruto nodded, while ignoring the heated glare that Sasuke was giving him. Both monk and shinobi opened the scrolls and smoke began to spew out of the seal inside it.

"Toss them," Naruto shouted as he watched the scrolls burst into smoke. "It's a summoning jutsu!"

"You're," Sasuke mumbled as he looked at the figure emerging from the smoke.

"Yo," Kakashi said as he stood before his team while reading his book. "I see that you made it here, good work. Looks like you each had a rough time out there; but you surpassed my expectations for this test. I really thought that you wouldn't be here until the last day." Putting his book away he straightened up. "Congratulations, you guys just passed the second test…" He would have continued if Sakura didn't tackle him and shout his name. The kunoichi could tell that Kakashi was smiling as he affectionately ruffled her hair. "Now, now Sakura let me finish."

Sniffling as she looked up at their sensei. "I'm sorry Kakashi-sensei; it's just that we're all out of that forest," she said as she tried to wipe her tears away. "It was very… harsh out there Sensei."

"Yes it is, but like I said before, they are a good learning experience." Kakashi crouched down to eye level with Sakura; his lone eye staring into her green eyes. "It's a good experience for you because it is harsh; it pushes you." The kunoichi nodded and stepped away. "Now who is this little friend of yours?"

Blinking she had no idea what Kakashi was talking about until she felt Slime rub against the side of her head. She glanced over at Naruto who gave her a smile and a nod; seeing that she smiled as well and looked up at her sensei. "This is Slime, he's one of Naruto's friends."

"Well nice to meet you Slime," the jonin said as he patted the creature. "Welcome to Team Kakashi. Now then, before I let go further, I must explain the motto behind me. You read it right?" They nodded. "Good, this is the motto that all chunin and jonin of Konohagakure no Sato follows. See the mention of Heaven, which refers to the mind. With Earth, it is referring to your body. If you're lacking Heaven, it means to acquire knowledge and better your mind. Sasuke, you are a good example of this, you're body is strong but you have much to learn still. And you Sakura, you're not lacking in Heaven, but in Earth, so you should train hard to improve yourself. Now if you have both, then you'd be like Naruto despite his lack of ninjutsu. It's about bettering yourself if you find yourself lacking in one area or the other. If you can find a balance between the two, no mission is ever too dangerous for you." Pulling out his book once more, Kakashi turned and began to walk further into the tower. "Now let's get you guys rested a bit."

Hearing those words, the genin fell in step with Kakashi, but Sakura couldn't shake her uneasiness around Sasuke. Why she felt that way, she didn't know, but she knew that she no longer had a crush on him.


"This new suppression seal should prevent him from lashing out at you from now on," Anko heard Jhadow say as he pulled his hands back from her neck. She was sitting on a couch in the office within the tower, without her coat on to cover herself.

"Does it still hurt Anko," she heard the Hokage ask. Glancing at the older man, she couldn't help but appreciate the concern. Aside from Karasu, he has always been there for her; not as much as the old monk due to his duties, but he always showed her his support.

As she continued to rest on the couch, she put her coat back on. "I feel much better Hokage-sama. I can feel the pain reseeding."

Turning to one part of the office, she heard a snort, "It'd better because if that idiot grandson of mine couldn't do it, then I couldn't." Standing next to the window leaning against the frame, she saw Karasu as he carefully looked over the meeting. He then released a sign. "I'm sorry Anko-chan, I had…"

"Save it Old Man," she said as she stood up, stretching her arms and back, much to the amusement of the men in the room. "What we should consider is what to do about the bastard's appearance and his tampering with the exams." Looking up at the Hokage, she then continued. "He's probably…"

She never didn't to finish as the Hokage interrupted her, "I think we can assume that he was after Uchiha Sasuke. We'll proceed with the exams as planned while keeping an eye on Orochimaru's movements of course. If he did place the seal on the boy, then we'll just have to continue as planned."

She nodded, but couldn't help but say, "We should take into account of the demons he had with him…"

"And his change," Jhadow threw in his piece. "It's because of his change that the seal is far more complicated to handle then we originally believed. As much as I loath to admit it, it is a very ingenious seal, not only does it enhance the user, but it leaves a piece of the seal-caster on the target. Should he die, he'll still live on because a piece of his soul is bound to a living vessel." No matter how many times she heard these since she woke up in the medical facility with the man at her bedside, they cut her deeply. To know that a part of the bastard's soul was bound to her until either they manage to remove the seal or she dies. "What makes this worse is the fact that he is no longer wholly human from the act of consuming the demon heart. He can give as many pieces of his soul now as he wishes without consequence."

"What if something claims his soul or takes a piece of it," the Hokage asked, looking towards the two seal masters in the room.

Deciding to answer, Karasu explained, "With tainted souls, if you forcefully take a part of it, it cannot heal. It'll only recover if it is willingly given from the owner." Noting the confused looks, he looked over at his grandson.

Sighing, Jhadow continued, "Here is an example, if you happen to use the same fuininjutsu that was used to seal the Kyuubi no Yoko into Naruto, the Shiki Fujin." Everyone but both Anko and Karasu stared at the man in shock for knowing such information.

"How do you know this," Hiruzen demanded and both Genma and Raido were ready to leap into action.

"Not the first jinchuuriki that I've seen. Besides he's my cousin and I was bound to find out sooner or later." The Hokage nodded in acceptance of the answer. "Anyway, with the aide of the Shinigami, instead of sealing a soul into his bowels, you can potentially tear off a piece of the targets soul. If you tear it off, it won't recover no matter what is done because it is permanent. You're effectively scarring the soul then. However, if you give, a piece of yourself, you'll recover and can do so again."

"Those who split off pieces of their souls are generally a pain in the ass to handle, but most of them just take one piece off and stick it into a vessel of their choosing," Karasu finished. "Its part of a step towards leading to bastardized form of immortality; which is what Orochimaru is looking for. By making each person a vessel for a piece of his soul, should he die, he can still live on like a parasite."

"He must have finished that jutsu he was working on," the Hokage muttered, and Anko's eyes widened, knowing what he was talking about. "The seals are probably a means for him to abandon one body for another by conditioning them by corrupting their bodies."

"If the victim has a strong will and doesn't give into the temptations of the seal, their bodies will never be corrupted," Jhadow said with finality, bringing a small measure of comfort to the kunoichi. "If they choose to resist, they have no real issues aside from having it and having it act up now and again until it can be removed. Only the ones who bask in its use must be concerned."

Before they were able to continue with the conversation, an image appeared on one of the television in the room. "Anko-sama," Moruku said as he appeared on the screen. "The second test had just finished, and seven teams have been confirmed. In accordance with the rules governing the Chunin Selection Exams, we'll be holding a preliminary round for the third test."

"Hmm… interesting the first time in five years," Hiruzen stated as he turned to leave the room. "Come; let us go greet the examinees and our guests." Seeing the command to follow, Anko and the seal masters followed the old Hokage.


Standing before his eye, stood his three genin. He was proud of them, but the tension in Sakura had him curious. Kakashi noticed it during the little down time they had before coming to the arena within the tower, where she subconsciously tried to keep as far away from Sasuke as possible. She never did that before, and now tried to use Naruto or himself as a barrier of sorts. The girl no longer says his name with the usual honorifics. Something happened in the forest and he had no idea; when question, Sakura gave him an honest answer, or as honest as it could be because she looked confused as well. He asked Naruto, and he had no idea, they were separated from each other for a few days out in the forest, so if anything happened, he had no knowledge. As for Sasuke, he gave him one of his patented looks telling him it is none of his business.

Kakashi agreed at the time, but he could easily see how tense she was by standing right in front Sasuke. Each genin stood at attention before the Hokage and the semi-circle of jonins at his side. He stood with the jonin-senseis behind the Hokage who had both Karasu and Jhadow standing behind him on both sides.

Looking away from Naruto's family, he looked back at his students, Naruto stood in the front, happy about making it this far and having him, Anko, and his family there to see him. Sakura stood behind the young multi-class ninja and looked worse for ware. Kakashi hoped that she'd do well at this part of the Chunin Selection Exams. She was coming a long way, and was really shaping up. As for Sasuke, he stood in the back, not liking the position, he wanted to stand in the front, but Kakashi made the call for the line-up of his team and they agreed it to. Now he regretted it, if he could have gone back before the ceremony, he would have placed Sakura in the front and placed Naruto in between just to keep her at ease.

Glancing over the other genins, it came to no surprise to Kakashi that five of the seven teams ended up being from Konoha but he was surprised by having all three of the current rookie teams being there. 'They are all very talented,' he thought as he sent his colleagues a glance before looking over at the two foreign jonin in the room. He was familiar with Baki, seeing him a few times before in passing when running diplomatic missions. The jonin from Otogakure no Sato was new to him but those eyes reminded him of someone; who it was, he couldn't place it at the moment.

'You have all come a long way from the cadets…' he thought before noticing that Gai was saying something to him. "Huh? Did you say something?" Expecting an answer, Gai turned away in frustration, confusing him some more.

"Congratulations on passing the second test," Anko shouted to the genin from the Hokage's side. "Now Hokage-sama will explain about the third portion of the exam; listen up and heed his words." Most of the genin looked indifferent to the words or were excited to be there in the presence of so many elite ninja and especially the Hokage; though a few cast curious glances to the old monk and the man at his side. Watching from where he stood, he watched Anko turned towards the Hokage lower her voice. "They are all yours Hokage-sama."

The Hokage tok a step forward, "Now that the third test is about to begin, let me explain a few things about this exam. Why do you suppose an exam of this nature is being conducted by all of the nations in the alliance? 'It's to promote friendship and raise the level of standards for ninja within all nations.' However, I don't want you to be confused about the true purpose of the exams. These exams are a substitute for war…" Jhadow snorted, and drew everyone's attention. "Those in the alliance were at one time hated enemies. And as a means of ending the squandering of both ninja and resources needlessly, they have come up with the Chunin Selection Exams. There is no mistake though, that at the end of this exam, those who don't make it to the end are unfit for the title of Chunin. The exams also serve as a way of bringing honor and prestige to the homelands of those who have made it this far. It will be in this final part of the exam, that you will be watched under the careful eyes of both leaders and representatives of foreign lands. It is here that they will judge you worthy of being a Chunin, and if you have proven worthy, that you bring honor; however if you fail, you bring dishonor.

"Where one land is strong, they will flourish, and a weaker land will slowly fade away," the old man said as he continued. "It is here that you all will stake your lives on the line for not only your dreams, but for the dreams of your home. By doing so, you are showing the strength of a country which comes from its village. And the strength of its village is the strength of its ninja. Those same ninja only show their true strength in the midst of a desperate life and death battle." As Kakashi looked over the proceedings, he noticed his fellow yet sickly jonin, Gekkou Hayate step forward and kneels before the Hokage. "Hayate, they are now yours."

Nodding the sickly jonin stood and turned towards the genin. "Before we start this next part, there is something that we must do," Hayate said as he approached the genin. "With so many of you left, and with so many honored guests coming, we can't take too much time showcasing each and every one of you. So we will be holding a preliminary round before the actual third portion of the exam. It is only because of the rules governing this exam that all nations follow that we are doing this so don't be upset." During his speech, he coughed a few times as he reached into his pouch and pulled out a note board. "So anyway at this point, you will not be tested as a team but as individuals so if you wish to quit now you can and not worry about disqualifying your teammates as well. Once I take down you're names, you can leave."

From where he stood, Kakashi ignored what the others were doing, he idly took some pleasure in seeing Karasu smacking Jhadow on the back of the head, but his attention was fixed on his team. The conversation being held between Anko and Hokage about the silver haired genin didn't hold his attention; it was the dynamics of his team.

As he watched them, he noticed that Sasuke was holding his neck and was wincing now and again. Something that he was doing from time to time once they met up for at the tower. Sakura, despite the tension between her and Sasuke seemed concerned about something, but once the boy grabbed her, she froze. 'Now that is odd,' the jonin thought as he studied his students. Sasuke whispered something to the kunoichi after sending her a glare. Seeing that Sakura relented, Sasuke withdrew his hand. "I am an avenger, I have to test my strength against the best of the best," Kakashi was able to make out as Sasuke broke out of whispering; this also catches Naruto's attention. "I will not back down for anything or don't you remember what I told you about talking back at me?" Right there Sakura froze up, it was painful for the jonin to see, and he knew that something terrible happened between the two genin.

"What are you talking about Sasuke," he was able to hear Naruto ask as he gave his teammates his full attention.

Kakashi couldn't help but hate the look in Sasuke's eyes and his smirk when he spoke to Naruto. "Naruto, you're one of the ones that I want to fight." Despite the situation going on with his team, he couldn't help but chuckle at Naruto's dumbfounded posture. He knew that Sasuke viewed Naruto as a rival, and that they never truly fought before. Naruto knew this as well but never thought much of it, he never considered Sasuke as a rival. The young monk never took any sparring session seriously, even during the bell test, he was just doing. He may never have it in him to really fight Sasuke because the boy was a fellow Konoha-nin and such events should never happen.

'If they did fight each other seriously, one or both may not walk away,' Kakashi thought, barely suppressing a shudder.

"If that is all, we'll now begin the preliminaries which will consist of single matches as if this was a tournament," Hayate seeing that no one else was going to leave. Counting off the heads, Kakashi noticed that twenty remained. "We will hold ten matches to determine who advances to the next stage. The rules are is that there are no rules so anything goes here. Each pair will fight to the death or until one loses consciousness or until admits defeat. Since we don't want any unnecessary deaths on our hands, if we determine an undisputed winner, I along with my colleagues will step in and end the match. Don't count on that though." Turning to the side, he pointed towards the wall behind the statue. "From here on out, the matches will be determined by this electronic scoreboard where two random individuals will be determined. Now let's begin."


Author's Note: Wasn't where I was planning on ending it, but it went on longer then I thought. Not much of Naruto here, but I wanted to develop Sakura a bit more. Well the Preliminary Round is next, and should be interesting for. First time in at least four years since I tackled this. Should be something more acceptable then what I did in my past stories.