Ok, just wanna apologize real quick about how I haven't been around for so long, but I got lots of things to do and loose ends to tie around and well, I'm graduating and college and applications and a good four of AP classes (one which is double class period –cuz it's science) will make anyone crazy – not to mention clubs and job and all…so yea anyway. Sorry!!

But I'm alive and I decided to make the plot really twisted. And yea, for the seating arrangement is important because for romance, Naruto have to be aware of Temari somehow…cuz let's face it if Temari doesn't make an impression why in the world would Naruto be interested? Or vice versa?

Chapter 10

We live in between worlds: the "truths" and the "illusions", but beneath it all, we live in ignorance. We see what we want, we believe what we see, and we want what we believe. We live a complex life, where the simplicity is overpowered by our complications. In our eyes there is only black and white, but in our lives there lies many shades of grays.

Something had changed. It was too small to be noticeable, but when you spent a good part of your childhood competing with someone, their change-no matter how small it is, is extremely apparent to you. It makes you uneasy for you have not seen your rival for months now. You don't know what cause this change, you don't know how it would affect you, and you don't even know if this change could be a considerable threat. It's a very vexing position to be in, but that's where Ino currently found herself – a vexing position.

The waiting room was buzzing with noises; almost every village had sent their best for the chunin exam. Ino paced back and forth in front of her team, fuming at the possibility that Sakura, her rival, had become stronger and depended without Ino's help.

"Will you stop pacing?" Shikamaru groaned as he shifted slightly in his corner. "I can't sleep with you stomping around."

Ino snapped her head towards the lazy genin. "What was that?!" she almost screeched. "How can you even think of sleeping at a time like this?"

Grumbling, Shikamaru turned away from the raging blonde, and sighed softly to himself, "Troublesome."

Naruto fidgeted every so often as his team approaches the closed doors. He wasn't entirely prepared to face Kabuto yet. Naruto understood that the traitor was to be avoided and that the med-nin was on part with Kakashi; however, Naruto just couldn't see any alternative options of not meeting the sliver-haired nin at all. It was nearly impossible to avoid him completely, and those retched info-card of his. It would be a problem to his plans.

Glancing at his teammates before him, Naruto was suddenly overcome with doubt. Was it a good idea to even attend this exam? Was he making a big mistake by coming here just to let the bastard snake to mark Sasuke again? Naruto was no fool. He knew that he doesn't stand a chance against a Sennin. Still, have he not warned the Hokage?

"But is it enough?" came the question, whispered by his doubts. "Is it enough?"

It has to be, Naruto reasoned with himself. If it isn't, nothing is.

Don't worry, kit, Kyuubi smoothed the nervous child, I'll be here…and nothing can stand in the way of my tails.

We will win; the blonde hissed in his mind, we have to win!

But even determination could not smooth his doubts, not when he had experienced the aftermath the first time around.

Sakura walked nervously among her teammates in tremble. No matter how many times or how loudly her inner-self had shout words of encouragement to her, she just can't help be feel small compared to her two friends. Busy with pitying herself and admiring Sasuke, Sakura failed to notice the troubled look on Naruto's face.

Time was running out.

Kyuubi stared at the seal that attached itself to his bared doors. Already he could feel the power weakening...the power that always had been with him since the day of his seal…

Fear poured into Kyuubi's heart…it's happening…the end and the beginning… Ouroboros.

Time stops for no one. The movement of time is like a stream – constantly moving forward; from upstream to downstream, merging into rivers before entering the big ocean waves. Yet phenomenon of backwards streams is not unheard of. In the far west, Mississippi of United States, such streams exist…or at least a piece of it. It was said, that in 1812 an enormous volcano eruption had caused the mighty Mississippi River briefly to flow backward, carrying the water upstream for many miles. And while, many would question the relevancy of streams with this tale of a brave, noble jinchuuriki who risk his life for his friends, the relevancy exist…for despite the backwards or forwards, time is always moving, fleeting, passing. So thus, when the unnatural phenomenon…the Pandora's Box that Kyuubi no Yoko had opened, the shifting time pulled at the buji's heart, sending a feeling of unsettle. Time is like a stream…and mixed with the forwarding waters…Naruto is a piece of the backward Mississippi River…

Parallel worlds, alternative universe, merging timeline – none of these are possible or proven possible by the most rational and logical minds. The ideas were unthinkable and unlikely because time is always in a movement. The logic reasoning behind the impossibilities were too mechanical to explain, but even simple minds like Naruto had and will surely if slowly become aware of the unnatural situation that he and Kyuubi had created.

At first, the implications were small – easy to ignore. But as the changes became swifter, rapid, and painful, the indications became more profound with each passing days. It is sudden and quick; like a spark of electricity that flashes from the metal doorknob to your fingertip. The feeling was intense, like the waves in the ocean during a bad storm. The crashes and splashes, one after another, reeling you back further out into sea and deep down under into the water below.

Night after night, the transformation plagued Naruto's body and soul: the burning pain, the tearing of flesh, the rushing blood, and finally the feeling of his bones breaking and then mend by unexplained powers that is not of Kyuubi's…a strange blinding white mist reinforcing the changes. By the time of the Chunin exam, Naruto's body had unnoticeably been shattered and put back together…his eyes glowed in a strange hallow blue.

The concept in theory was simple – the idea however was devastating. Was it evolution or just a simple natural continuation? We may not know, but the world is spinning out of control now. And Naruto was the only one that can see the rapid change. Every moment, flashes or glimpse of his future erupted without warnings, the images carries his death, his change, his soon to be future. Naruto was the only who is moving according to his own time…against the pacing water around him.

Tim is like a moving stream – it moves accordingly and never stopping. Actions or crossroads will always occur and depending on which path you chose, you may stray off in a different direction branching and breaking into a different river. But it always merges into the big ocean. Always. So in essence, the outcome (although altered) will always come to the same conclusion: the same big picture of: Death. Destruction. Betrayal.

But whose death? Whose destruction? And whose betrayal?

The door never looked so big, so intimidating, so frightful. For many behind the close wooden planes lie greatness, hope, and possibilities. To others, danger, failure, and death.

The heart clenched and quickens in beat. "Breathe," Naruto gasped softly to himself as Sasuke pushed open the doors. "Breathe."

The hallways brought forth a nostalgic longing, and while it was still bare and pale as ever, it doesn't matter to Naruto. For him, it was better than in shambles and torn – as it had been after Suna Invasion.

"Breathe!" Naruto hissed mentally, harsher and more urgent now as his chest continued to tighten. "Breathe!"

Something is wrong…something was terribly wrong.

Kyuubi continued to shift inside its cage. Already the most powerful demon can see the outcome. It was hard to say, of course, whether or not the fox liked the conclusion; however the possibilities of the future (or at least the very general future) will without a doubt paint the world in flames.

It hurts at some point, knowing that perhaps when or more accurately if Naruto were to ever realize or discover the truth, the boy would be devastated. Naruto had tired so hard to save – but he didn't know as Kyuubi did that some things are not meant to be saved.

The testing room was filled with hopefuls. Every village had sent their best; top genin with high performance scores and high mission success rates. All of them have the potentials of advancing, and making a name for themselves…proving that they would still be alive after the exam.

Shikamaru snorted quietly as he observed the chunin candidates. What a pain. Glancing towards the back of the far left corner, he spies a batch of nins; two boys and one girl wearing a headband of the newly structured Otogakure talking among themselves, while tugging at their bandages now and then. (Shika: It seems like every team is dominated by males…troublesome.) From afar, the Sound nins it seems like they were rather absorbed in their conversation, but their wandering eyes towards the entrance told Shikamaru better.

Are they waiting for comrades?

Not knowing what "sound" can do – Shikamaru mentally categorized them into "potential enemies" list. Meanwhile, beside the Sound genin stood a group of genin from Iwagakure. Shikamaru didn't even think twice before throwing the Grass nin into "avoid" category. After the Third Great Shinobi War, Leaf, Stone, and Grass had been at each other's throat with a vengeance. In Shikamaru's mind: there is no need to lose your life just to please some bloodthirsty nin who seeks revenge – not when there would be no political repercussion for such actions during the exam.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru made special note towards a single team of Suna genin, which seem to give off a strong sense of irritation towards many people in the room, thus thickening the already tension-filled air. There is no doubt that the painted face Suna genin and the blond female Suna genin would be difficult to deal with if their paths were to ever cross. Their older age had already put them at an advantage in experience, and while the red-head look about the same age as Shikamaru and the rest of the rookie nine, the Suna nin's haunting, empty emerald eyes gave Shikamaru more than enough reason to avoid him at all cause. Mental, Suna when into "Do NOT approach/ RUN for your life" category.

A sudden flash of light stole Shikamaru's attention away as his eyes landed on a nin with silver hair and glasses. While the nin bore the leaf headband, the lack of immediate recognition from Shikamaru unease. It was unusual for Shikamaru to not recognize or even briefly heard of the glass-wearing nin. The strange genin had silver hair for crying out loud! Surely that alone would give someone the reason for gossip. (Not that Shikamaru gossip, mind you, but when you were dragged by your mother to grocery shopping or when your father is always home talking about some event or mission regarding the shinobi world and being extremely fore coming about shinobi's activities and the chunin exam competitors…you do tend to hear a lot of interesting things; information, after all, is important…no matter how trivial or silly it can be.)

Thus, when observed, the way the silver-haired nin shuffle about around the room conversing with all genin, Shikamaru found it very unusual. Especially when the said nin had first entered room, he was completely alone.

Don't teams always come in together? Shikamaru wondered. Either that nin was extremely insignificant to go unnoticed or highly talented to pass undetected.

Shika shook his head a bit, before eyeing the suspicious genin into "keep an eye on" group.

Suddenly the door swung open. Startled, the room immediately quite down. Just as Shikamaru was about to see what the commotion was about, Ino, who was busy pacing before let out a loud squeal: "SASUKE!!"

Sasuke bit back a groan when an ear-deafening screech greeted him just as he stepped into the room. And while, Sasuke was used to the endless screeching from his millions of love-struck fangirls, he was NOT use to the sudden bear hugs or glomps that was often made (unfortunately) by Ino or Sakura.

"How are you?" Ino gushed as she clings tightly onto his left arm. "I just know you would come!"

Sasuke sighed and tried to ignore the ranting girl beside him. Walking towards the gathering rookie nine, Sasuke gave a small nod of acknowledgement, but otherwise kept quiet.

Naruto meanwhile, did nothing but kept silent, adopting a place among Shikamaru and slightly towards the corner of the room. "Yo," he grinned towards the lazy nin before slouching down to rest his feet.

"What's with you?" Shikamaru couldn't help be asked, as the normally energetic nin seem very…well…unenergetic.

Naruto shrugged, "Couldn't sleep last night…was too excited for today…but now I'm just dead tired…" he replied gloomy. Naruto left out that the majority of his night was spent on creating plans for the battle to come.

Shikamaru nodded sympathetically before he allowed himself to continue to observe the rest of the potential chunins.

Hinata stood beside her teammates in awe and fear. She was in awe that she was nominated for such important event and fear because she felt as if she would bring her team down. The only tint of happiness and hope she and was the fact that her blonde crush was also among the chosen genins. Naruto, to her was like a prince. His determination and refuse to give up had given Hinata great inspiration to become stronger. Yet, despite all the inspiration Naruto had provided, the shy girl couldn't help be still feel weak in resolution to become stronger. Hurting others had never been her strong suite. Thus so, when Kiba began to approach Naruto for a ritual jesting, Hinata spying a slump and tired Naruto intervene without a thought.

"K-k-kiba-kun," Hinata grabbed the dog boy's sleeves hastily, "P-p-please don't bother N-n-naruto-kun right now…h-h-he seems really tired right now…p-p-please let him rest…"

The dog boy turned toward Hinata in surprised. Although Kiba know of Hinata's crush, to say he had expected Hinata's reaction was a lie. He never seen Hinata stood up for Naruto period. The girl had been too shy to even say "hello", so therefore anything to do with Naruto would result in a red faced Hinata…who never uttered more than an "oh…" or "N-n-naruto-kun…". So, while Kiba is a rash and bash person, he did however know when to stop and think. And think he did. Hinata, Kiba conclude, was a teammate…a shy and nice and very, very pretty teammate….right, get back on track….Hinata was a shy person, who never make any request…ever. So…Kiba nodded to his reasoning, it wouldn't hurt to leave Naruto alone this once.

Unknowingly, the decision of leaving Naruto alone had altered the passage of time yet once again. Without Kiba and Naruto's loud (and probably almost violent) conformation, the meeting between the rookie nine and Kabuto was intervened. Because this time, Kabuto have no reason to approach the somber group. He has no excuses to calm them down. He has no distraction to allow him to present himself. And may it be Kami's will or Destiny's gift, Kabuto shifted unease in his corner, not knowing how to approach the last (well, legally anyway) Uchiha.

Slowly the room began to fill up until it became almost uncomfortably packed…jam packed that is. Groaning in slight annoyance, Naruto got up from his spot and lean onto the wall for more space.

"When is the examiner going to come?" he grumbled out loud, mostly to himself.

Just then, the loud door swung open with a loud "BAM!" Black coat flashing, Ibiki entered the room. Behind him, four A/N: That is the correct number, right? Don't remember… chunins trotted, each carrying a hand board in their hand.

"Alright, gaki!" the heavily scared man bowled, "Find and seat! The exam begins NOW! If you are not seating in the next fifteen seconds, you're OUT!"

Everyone scattered. Without thinking, Naruto launched to the first available empty chair he finds. It definitely wasn't his original spot, but here, he was sure that he would be able to find one of the hidden examiners. Not a glance was given to his teammate, Naruto focus his attention solely on finding his "marked prey".

Unaware, next to him, Temari fidgeted nervously under her calm mask. Everything about the blonde leaf nin makes her inner conscience ready to fleet. The wind under her skin swirled with unease and strangely as it sounds: peace. That itself was a juxtaposition that makes Temari a little bit more than put off at the mix message she was receiving. Her wind seems to be torn between fearing the boy and loving him. Looking at the boy next to her, studying him as hard as she can, she can't help but question why in the world did her wind tells her that the boy was dangerous on their first meeting. Sure the boy's blue eyes held a bit hardness and have a haunting look to it, but who doesn't? They are shinobi for Kami's sake. Of course they all have to grow up fast. Kill or be killed. This Naruto boy didn't look dangerous.

"But he knows about Gaara's demon…he said he was friend with someone…or something that is familiar with Shukaku," Temari furiously told herself. That alone should be more than enough reason to label the boy: "dangerous". But looking at the boy, Temari began to garner some doubts. The boy just seems so…well, innocent, kind, and noble. He doesn't seem like the type that would snap and kill everyone in sight. But you'll never know, her mind whispered. We are shinobi after all…who knows what's behind the mask.

Ibiki stood before the genin is slight glee. It's always so much fun to torture unfortunate souls. "Sit down and pass your applications to the front row." Ibiki ordered. (Yes ordered, Ibiki don't do instructions damn it! He orders!) "Be sure to write down the number that's on the corner of your table. We will hand out the written exam after we got all of your applications."

After a brief and threatening run of the rules, the exam took off without too much of a problem. Not when you have already taken it before. The advantage was not lost to Naruto this time around – now that he actually knows the purpose of the exam. And while Naruto did debated on whether or not he should have done what he did in his "past" life, in the end, Naruto thought it would seem more fitting to actually to do the work. It never hurts to try and see where his spying skills are.

Discreetly, or as subdue as he could, he palmed the side of his head, and mustered an oblivious bored face. Letting his eyes to glaze over, he raked around the room before he allowed his eyes to rest on a fellow "genin". Still, with a bored and dull face, Naruto forced himself to appear to be spacing out. Years of observation had allowed Naruto to be able memorize and read movements. The position Naruto was in gave a perfect view of the hidden examiner's hand and pencil movement. It would only take a matter of minutes to depict the correct words and answers.

After his attended actions, Naruto waited a few more minutes before scribbling down the answers. Now all he has to do is wait.

Bored and with nothing else to do, Naruto let his eyes wander. A gentle breeze caught his attention as he turn to find himself staring at Temari. Gaara's sister, his mind supplied. I remember a bit about her…she was definitely protective over Gaara…even if sometimes she doesn't even know it. Naruto remember recalling how Temari had step in front of him to save Gaara. How she was so willing to give her life for Gaara. Naruto never told anyone this, but Temari's action had left quite an impression on him. Call it jealousy or longing – but Naruto wished he have someone like Temari to protect him.

Studying the girl, Naruto wonders exactly had he did to garner Temari's earlier reaction. It was almost as if Temari was afraid of him. No…he was sure that Temari was afraid of him. But why? It didn't make much sense. It's not like he have ever done anything to her. Maybe she's sensitive to his demonic powers? She does have one for a brother after all. But still…to be looked at with such eyes coming from Temari – who he had always thought was spunky and doesn't bow down to anyone and occasionally had smack everyone, especially Shikamaru if Naruto remembers corrected of his past life, around, it was weird. Even with Gaara, Temari occasionally use a firm and bossy tone. So it was definitely unusual and hard for Naruto to take in that Temari was afraid of him. Whatever makes her react this way, Naruto is going to find out.

Ibiki took a long look at the room filled genins. In all honesty, he personally thinks that less then half of them would pass his test. Already, he noted right off the bat of many amateur attempts of spying. Take the girl with the buns…who would be fool even for a minute? She had made it almost painfully oblivious with her constant head motion. The arching of the neck and head was a dead give away…not to mention her teammate – the one with the green spandex was hard to miss…especially when his eyebrows was going up and down like a freaking jumping caterpillars. And the Hyuuga – both of them, was of course using their Byakugan. It's damn hard to miss when the veins are showing. Uchiha without a doubt probably is using his Sharigan, if his red eyes have any indication of it. Bloodlines…Ibiki thought, Of course they would use it. Always looking for the easy way out. Dog boy and Bug boy probably used their animal friends to help them as Ibiki spies some bugs buzzing around and the dog on Kiba's head let out small barks. And the sound nins were defiantly listening to the scratches that were produced by the pencils. Nice trick…And finally the painted sand nin used his puppet no doubt. Does the kid honesty think that Ibiki wouldn't notice the weird behavior his man is exhibiting?

Nevertheless, Ibiki was under strict orders to not go overly professional on the hopefuls. After all, if the exam was to go by Ibiki's standers…well, let's just say no one would pass. So, reluctantly, Ibiki bit back a groan of disappointment and marked off five points from each of the genin that he found fault in. If he can't kick them out, then may as well take off the maximum points as possible…just to make them sweat.

Meanwhile, when looked to the next section of the room, Ibiki found himself slightly (very slightly mind you) impressed with the performance of the red headed and blond headed sand group and the Uzumaki kid. Ibiki didn't know what justu the sand duo was using, but whatever it is, it was impressive – if it weren't for the tension it had created. If this was an actual mission, both of them would be discovered simply due to the power they were putting out. The Uzumaki kid however was a different story. If Ibiki wasn't known for his keen observation skills, the kid would have fooled him too. Clearly, the kid got talent.

Further down back on the other hand… "Number 18, 136, and 78 OUT!"

The time passed rather slowly in that exam room. Quietly and painfully slowly. Finally, one by one, the pencils dropped and papers flipped. When the timer reached zero, Ibiki got up from his chair and shouted. "TIME'S UP! DROP THE PENCIL OR YOU ARE DISQUALIFIED!" Even the most reluctant let their pencil fall.

"You will only have one chance to quiet before we give out the tenth question. If one of your teammates bails out, the whole team goes. Same thing happens if you get the question right or not," Ibiki informed before letting an evil smirk to grace across his face. "If you don't take the question, you'll have to retake the exam next time. If you agree to take it and succeed, good for you, you pass. BUT, if you take the question and failed, you will be stuck as genin FOREVER!"

Almost immediately the room exploded in shouts and protest.

A nin from grass hissed, "You can't do that!"

Ibiki snorted before roaring, "WELL TOO BAD GAKI! I MAKE THE RULES FOR THIS YEAR'S EXAM! SO WHAT I SAY GOES!"

The room quiet down from the roar but the unhappy mutters remains.

"What about our remaining points?" one brave idiot asked.

"It doesn't matter, everything comes down to this last question," Ibiki told him fatly, all the while enjoying himself immensely on the inside.

"But that's not fair!" the idiot continued to protest, "Are you telling me that the nine questions means nothing?!"

Annoyed, Ibiki snarled with glee, "Well, then boy, minus all your remaining points…NOW GET OUT!"

It didn't take long for long before the teams began to drop like flies. Many teams left, in the end just as Ibiki had predicted, less then half of the people remained.

Throughout the whole ordeal, Naruto didn't interfere. Whether or not he wanted to, it was better to just weed out the competition. The only action he did do however, was turning around to give both Sakura and Hinata a thumbs up, smoothing their doubts and worries. Naruto haven't forgot how last time Sakura had almost raise her hand because she thought Naruto would fail or how Hinata's lack of confidence had made her wanting to quit. His encouragement had certainly given them a reason to stay. And since Naruto didn't technically did anything wrong, Ibiki left Naruto alone to his own little world.

Finally when it seem like no one else was going to give up, Ibiki nodded to his men and lean forward toward the nervous and tensed crowd. "Now the tenth question is…," he begins, "Everyone here…PASSED!"

"WHAT?!" Temari was the first to shout, "What about the tenth question?!"

"What about it?" Ibiki challenged. When all he got was stutters for an answer, Ibiki continued on, "Do you know what makes a chunin? What is the line between kiddies and adults? You come here all wanting to be chunins. But what makes a chunin is the ability to take up a mission even when they know that they might not come back alive! By refusing to take the tenth question, you already fail – not ready to become chunin!" Removing the cloth that shielded his injuries, Ibiki graced the room with his scared head, "Their will be a time when you will get caught be enemies and you will have to make a decision as to whether or not give them important information or be torture to death. As shinobi we should all be willing to offer up our life and die. The question is design to see who will stay and who will leave. If you are unwilling to even take on question just because you are afraid, how will you take up C ranked, B ranked, or even A ranked missions?!"

The room remained silent – shaken by his speech, but more so by the truth that was in it.

"Before you ask me about the other nine questions, I'll tell you now, they were important," Ibiki went on. "The nine questions were design to test your information collecting skills. We don't expect you to do every well since you are still amateurs. But we do kick out of all the poorly conducted idiots. I don't know what you red head," turning his attention to Gaara, "but whatever it is, that intensity would have alerted your prey." Ibiki put his cloth back on and shrugged. "Whatever, you all pass; you're examiner for the next task should arrive shortly…"

It was and always will be the longest wait of Naruto's life – and he doesn't care what other people may tell him. He had forgotten all about the most painfully slow hour he had to wait for Anko to show up. He swears that girl is almost like Kakashi-sensei when it comes to time. But unlike Kakashi-sensei who was just addicted to Icha Icha Paradise, Anko have a strange fascination with dango and blood. How in the world did those two fix together, he'll never know- probably have to do with eating dango covered in blood. That seems more up Anko's alley. Either way, it was a long wait for Anko.

The tension that had covered the room earlier had been lifted. And if Naruto didn't know better, he would have to say that Ibiki was getting a bit more than annoyed. In fact, Ibiki seem rather fidget ever since the first half hour that had past when no one showed up. That's like the twentieth time Ibiki had glanced at his watch, Naruto noted. Yup, and Ibiki's left eye definitely twitched too.

Anko was having a good day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and best of all she have dango for the eating! Somewhere in the back of her mind tells her that she was forgetting something very, very important. But no matter. It surly can wait after she consume her delicious order of dango twice her weight – just like Naruto consume his ramen or Itachi with his pockey.

It would be another half an hour before Anko realizes where she should have been. It would be another ten minutes before Anko would actually show up. It would take about fifteen seconds to scare the chunin hopefuls shitless with her proclamation: "I'll cut them in half by the time I'm done!" And it would probably take about thirty minutes for every one of the candidates to return back to the Death Forest with their life signed away.

Oh well…there's always time. Anko thought as she took another bite into her dangos. Life is good!

tbc