Disclaimer: I do not own the lullaby Oyasumi

Noboru-POV

It took about 30 minutes for Hanabi to explain the second part of the exams. It sounded boring. The name of the forest was especially lame. The Forest of Death? You've got to be kidding me! Anri's holding on to our scroll right now, an earth scroll.

Hanabi stood in the center of the small field. She raised her hand. "Ready…GO!" she yelled. The gates opened and everyone ran out.

Normal POV-Samaru, Tami, Yoshi

Samaru stopped his team in a small clearing. "Yoshi, try to find anyone that has a heaven scroll." Yoshi nodded. "Byakugan!" She stood still, eyes searching everywhere. She pointed to their left. "That way," she said.

Samaru grinned. "Anyone we know?" Yoshi shook her head as she ran ahead, leading them to where the scroll was.

Kozakura, Ginama, Isamu

Isamu twirled a kunai as he walked. Kozakura groaned. "Can't we go faster?" she yelled. He stopped to look at her. "We're letting an earth scroll come to us. Just be patient." Kozakura slapped her forehead.

Ginama looked around carefully. Then focused her attention on the two walking ahead of her. She was basically only good at taijutsu and genjutsu so those two would have to do most of the fighting. Suddenly, a kunai flew out of a nearby bush and scratched her face.

Shikaro, Choukata, Inomaru

"This is too troublesome. I can't believe I agreed to this." Choukata turned around. "Stop your complaining, Shikaro!" she yelled. Shikaro sighed. He hated to be in the same area as her.

Inomaru turned to look at his sister. "Shut-up," he said plainly, "Shikaro's the genius. Let him decide what to do." Shikaro shrugged. "Search the area." They split up in different directions.

Anri, Noboru, Naoto

Noboru's Byakugan was activated. He searched everywhere as he jumped from tree to tree. Anri and Naoto followed him. Naoto had his Byakugan activated, but it didn't help much. Noboru stopped. "Wait. I think I see something." He looked down into a clearing, the tree branches concealing him.

Three Rain ninja were walking through the clearing, carefully scanning the area. Anri smirked. "Let me handle this." She disappeared through the brush. Kaminari followed her, while Akana stood next to Naoto.

Noboru landed on the ground below, careful not to make a sound. He wasn't going to let Anri handle these guys alone. Kaminari jumped out of a bush and ripped one of the ninja's throats open. Blood soaked her coal-black fur. A wild look shone in her eyes and blood dripped from her white fangs.

The ninja instantly died and his teammates became alert. They leaped at Kaminari, but Anri jumped out of the brush and tackled one of them while Noboru struck the other one in the chest. Anri dug a kunai into one of the ninja's arms.

She pulled out the kunai and formed a seal. "I'm in no hurry," she said fiercely. Snakes seemed to come out of nowhere under her jacket sleeve and wrapped around the ninja's neck, suffocating him.

Noboru got in a stance. He prayed this would work. "Hakke Rokujuu Yonshou!" he yelled. He hit the man repeatedly. Two strikes. Four strikes. 8. 16. 32. "64 strikes!" the man fell over, coughing up blood. Noboru threw a kunai down and it stabbed his throat.

Naoto tapped his shoulder. "Found it," he said as he held up a heaven scroll. Noboru smiled. Anri wiped the blood off her arms. "We'll head to the tower as soon as I get this blood off me," she said. They headed off towards the tower, hoping to come across a river.

Samaru, Yoshi, Tami

Samaru activated his Sharingan. He had mastered it years ago, so this was no problem. He foresaw the ninja he was currently fighting's attacks. He stabbed the ninja with a kunai and, with a quick jerk, broke his neck.

Tami formed a certain seal. "Kagemane no Jutsu!" She captured one of the ninjas. She formed another seal while maintaining her hold on the ninja. "Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu!" Part of the shadow turned into a hand and slivered up to the ninja's throat, and proceeded to choke him to death.

Yoshi hit one of the ninjas in their chest and they coughed up blood. Blood continously poured from their mouth. Tami let go of her hold on the now dead ninja that she was fighting. Samaru picked up a blood-covered scroll. "Let's go," he said, smirking.

Kozakura, Ginama, Isamu

"Chidori!" Isamu struck one of the ninja's they were fighting in the chest with the move his father, Hatake Kakashi, had taught him.

Ginama put her hands together to form a seal. "Jubaku Satsu!" She slowly vanished as a tree seemed to come up out of nowhere and part of it reached out to bind one of the ninjas to it. She seemed to come out of the tree as she held a kunai up to the ninja's throat and sliced it. She winced at the blood and released the body from her illusion.

Kozakura's Sharingan didn't need to be activated, because Isamu finished off the last ninja by stabbing it with a kunai. She looked disapointed. Her dark green eyes shone fiercely. Shbe twirled her finger in her red hair and said, "You could've at least saved one for me." He shook his head. "Not a chance." He licked some of the blood off his kunai, a trait that he picked up from his mother, Hatake Anko.

Ginama tapped her foot impatiently. "Let's get going!" She held up the earth scroll and turned to start walking towards the tower.

Shikaro, Choukata, Inomaru

Shikaro held up a heaven scroll. "That wasn't too bad. Next time, maybe you guys could help some more," he snapped. Inomaru panted. "Shinranshin isn't that easy to control. It almost backfired on me." Choukata looked at her bloody hands. "Ewww…I need a shower. I want out of this forest!" she yelled. Shikaro shook his head. He may be lazy, but when it came to battles, he was just as impatient as his mother.

That night, Anri, Noboru, and Naoto decided to stop and rest. Once the other two were asleep, memories came flooding back to Anri. She decided to make herself go to sleep with and old lullaby that her mother used to sing. It was not of her culture, but of a culture that existed far away from here. Tears ran down her face as she sang in a choked voice,

"Nighttime has come,
Gone is the sun,
Dream sky is spun,
Stars one by one… Oyasumi… hush my love,
Oyasumi… hush my love,
Oyasumi… hush my love,
Hush, hush and hush.."

She curled up and cried herself to sleep.

FLASHBACK

"Mom, I'm scared. It's so dark in here," five-year-old Anri whimpered. Her mother smiled and embraced her. "Listen Anri, the darkness is nothing. It may seem scary, but it can't hurt you. It can only intimidate you."

Her mother looked out the window. "See. The moon is watching you. The darkness is a bay. As long as the moon is around, you have nothing to fear." Anri was still scared. Her mother could sense it. In a gentle, sweet voice she sang a lullaby until Anri fell asleep. The last thing she heard was her father saying, "Azami. I need to talk to you."

FLASHBACK

Anri woke up, beads of sweat ran down her face, along with tears. Noboru was looking at her. "Are you ok?" he asked. She nodded and stood up.

3 days later…

The only teams that had survived, were the rookies. The time limit was shorter this year because of all the ninjas needed in the war. The exams had to go by quickly. Choukata and Kozakura gave up before the battles started. They said they didn't feel like it after being soaked with blood.

The preliminary rounds would now start. All of their senseis stood near the Hokage as the rules were explained. The rules were explained with no questions asked. Shiranui Genma was the new examiner.

The first match came up on a large board. Akimichi Inomaru vs. Nara Tami. They both stepped up. Genma looked at both of them. "Ready? Begin," he said as he stepped back.

Tami smirked as she opened her fan. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" She swung her fan and a large gust of air flew towards Inomaru and he jumped out of the way. He looked at her angrily. She tried to kill him.

He threw a kunai at her, but she caught it and flung it back. It scratched his face. Blood dripped onto the floor. He formed a seal. "Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Tami got out of the way and flung six kunai at him. He carefully dodged each of them, unaware of her plan.

As he turned, his face met a gust of wind. Tami smirked. This match was basically over. After a few seconds, he fell out of the whirlwind and landed on the hard floor with a sickening thud. Choukata, who had stayed to watched, watched with a look of horror. "Inomaru!" she yelled.

Genma walked over to him. He was knocked out. Genma held up his hand. "Winner, Nara Tami." He looked at the smirking girl. 'I wonder how much this will be like the Rookie Nine's battles,' he thought.

The med-nins took Inomaru out on a stretcher as the next match appeared up on the screen. Hyuuga Yoshi vs. Noboru.

Noboru jumped down as Tami walked up to stand next to her brother. Yoshi took her time to walk down. Genma looked at them. The faces he saw were Neji and Hinata's. He shook his head. "Begin."

Noboru got in a stance. Yoshi did to, but not in time. Noboru hit her. Two strikes. Four strikes. 8. 16. 32. 64. He hit her again and she slammed into the stone wall, blood running down her chin. Noboru didn't give her a time to react. He hit her in her arm, blocking her chakra. Her eyes widened, but she hit him in his stomach.

He held his stomach, but threw a few kunai at her, pinning her to the wall. A shuriken sliced into each of her arms as she tried to pull free. Noboru hit her with Juuken repeatedly, until she passed out.

He stepped back. "Sorry," he whispered, "That's the way life is." Genma raised his arm. "Winner, Noboru." Noboru walked up to stand next to Anri. She smiled. "Nice job. Although, you still won't win when you face me." He raised an eyebrow, but still smiled.

The next match was Uchiha Samaru vs. Uzumaki Naoto. This would be interesting. Samaru activated his Sharingan. He formed a seal. "Katon, Gokakyu no Jutsu!" A fireball came rushing towards Naoto. He jumped away, but still got his leg burnt.

Naoto formed a few seals. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" 9 clones of Naoto appeared and circled Samaru, each standing at different angles. "Shihohappo Shuriken!" Each of the clones, plus Naoto, threw shuriken at Samaru from different angles.

Samaru tried his hardest to dodge all of the shuriken. The clones repeatedly threw shuriken. Finally, they stopped. Samaru had been pierced with ten shuriken in both his back and arms. He watched blood gush out of his arms. If he didn't finish Naoto off soon, he would pass out.

He formed a few seals. "Katon, Gokakyu no Jutsu!" A blast of fire hit Naoto's clones and they disappeared. Then, it hit Naoto in the back. He had turned around to block it, but it was too strong. He fell in pain, the burns were serious. He tried to stand up, but something hit his head and he passed out.

Samaru smirked. Easier than he thought. Genma looked at Naoto. "Winner, Uchiha Samaru." Samaru walked back up into the stands and stood next to Kozakura. She knew a few healing techniques and tried her best to heal the depp gashes in his arms.

Anri looked around. There were only three people that she might fight. Ginama, Isamu, and Shikaro. She looked up at the screen. Hatake Isamu vs. Inuzuka Anri. She jumped down and waited for Isamu. He jumped down and looked at her.

She smirked. Kaminari stood next to her while Akana stayed up in the stands. Genma looked at both of them. "Begin." Isamu formed a few seals. "Chidori!" He held his hand down and a ball of electricity formed in his hand. He charged at Anri. She stood there and grinned. "Kanashibari no Jutsu(temporary paralysis technique)!" Isamu stopped, paralyzed. He glared at her.

She formed a few seals. "Jujin Bunshin!" She got down on all fours. Dog-like fangs grew and her nails became claw-like. Kaminari was transformed into a clone of her.

"Gatsuuga!" They both spun in a fast speed and directly hit Isamu. After one hit, they repeated the technique. Kaminari turned back into her regular form and ripped Isamu's arm. He could move now, but he couldn't move the arm that Kaminari had bitten.

Anri came up behind him and stabbed him with a kunai in his shoulder. Now he couldn't move either of his arms. He spun around and kicked her in her stomach, which slammed her against the stone wall. Kaminari came up behind him and broke one of his legs.

He fell and hit the ground. Anri formed a few more seals, she wasn't finished yet. Isamu shuddered violently. Genma looked at him in horror. He looked at Anri. "This match is over. Winner, Inuzuka Anri." Anri put her hands down and Isamu stopped shuddering.

The med-nins rushed over to Isamu and put him on a stretcher. When Anri got back up into the stands Lee and Noboru gave her odd looks. "What the heck did you do to him?" Noboru asked.

Anri looked at him. "I didn't mean to. It was an accident. I was told never to use that. It was supposed to be a last resort. I don't know what came over me."

The final match was beginning. Nara Shikaro vs. Sarutobi Ginama. Genma stepped back. "Begin." Ginama put her hands together to form a seal. "Jubaku Satsu!" She started to vanish but Shikaro put his hands together. "Kai!" he yelled and Ginama's illusion vanished.

She focused directly on him. She threw a kunai at him. Well, she started to when his shadow caught hold of her. He smirked. "You can't just focus on me," he said. He formed a different seal. "Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu!" Part of his shadow took the shape of a hand and reached for her neck.

She starting running out of air and passed out. Genma looked at them and smiled. "Winner, Nara Shikaro." Shikaro stepped back. That was too easy. He stood in the arena while Kiba jumped down and took Ginama back up into the stands.

Genma looked around. "The five of you that won, come down here." Tami, Samaru, Noboru, Anri, and Shikaro jumped down and looked at him. Naruto walked down from where he was watching the matches. Hanabi and Temari followed him.

"Congratulations on making it past the preliminary rounds. Now, if you'll all draw a number out of the bag that Temari's holding."

Temari walked around and each of the five drew a number. "Now, call out your number," Naruto said.

"4 Anri said. "2 Samaru said. "5" Shikaro said. "3" Tami said. "1" Noboru said.

Naruto smiled. "Now, you will see who you will face in the actual matches." Hanabi held up a board. Samaru vs. Shikaro. Anri vs. Tami. Tami/Anri vs. Shikaro.

The five genins seemed unamazed. They were told that they had one month to prepare. As they walked away with their senseis, Naruto couldn't help but grin. "This is going to be interesting," he said.

A/N- Like I said before, I don't have much time to write this. I kind of got the second and third parts of the exam over with because I wasn't very interested in them. The next chapter is when they're training; I'll try to put more detail in the final rounds and training. Well, please R&R!