Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I understand why anybody would think I did. This is being posted as fan fiction after all.

Team Four leapt from tree to tree, heading deeper into the Forest of Death. "So," said Meitoku, "I assume that the two of you have a plan."

"Yeah, we're going to go into the forest a bit then spiral inwards. Some of the weaker teams might be a bit tentative and stick to the edges so with luck we can pick one of them off. Yugito-chan and myself will alternate keeping Ishiki no To-Remu active to give us a better chance of finding people."

Meitoku nodded, "Seems like a sound plan."

Naruto smirked, "Of course it does, it was my idea after all." His Ishiki no To-Remu blazed to life as he spoke. Then he moved up to take point as his teammates fell in behind him. Several hours passed by with no sign of any other teams. Then Yugito picked up three chakra signatures at the edge of her perception. Team Four conversed briefly before taking off, heading towards their targets. Shortly afterwards the Araikis picked up on another set of chakra signatures coming in. "There are six of them, should we still go in."

"I don't see why not," said Yugito, "That just makes it a three-way battle instead of a two-way one. And if there are two of them it's more likely that we'll find a heaven scroll. To top it off, if we get a third scroll that's one less team that can advance to the next round."

Meitoku briefly adjusted the way his katana rode on his back before adding his two cents. "I concur, the situation remains favorable. There is no reason to abort the attack."

"Looks like we're all in agreement then."

Team Four landed in a clearing in the forest a few minutes later, across from a team of Ame-nin. The Ame-nin standing at the forefront smirked as he regarded the team from Kumo. "Well, looks like the timing of things couldn't have been more perfect."

"Why, because you wanted to lose your scroll within the day?"

"No, because we have help coming." As he spoke the second set of chakra signatures arrived in the form of another team of Ame-nin that landed alongside the other. "Our two teams decided to cooperate for this test. You're outnumbered, there's no way you can win."

If Naruto was worried at all he didn't show it. "Have you ever heard the phrase quality over quantity? We may be outnumbered, but you're outclassed. I'm in a good mood though, so I'm willing to offer you a deal. If you give us one of your scrolls, preferably a Heaven Scroll, I'll let you keep the other one and leave you uninjured."

"Are you an idiot? You're outnumbered two to one, and since you won't surrender we're going to kill you all. Well, at least you two," he motioned towards Meitoku and Naruto as he spoke, "The girl we can have a bit of fun with."

Naruto glanced over to Yugito, "Yugito-chan don't," she was gone before he finished speaking, "do anything rash," he finished quietly.

Yugito reappeared in front of the boy who had spoken, she had a hand on either shoulder and Chikara no To-Remu was active. The boy smirked, "Interesting look on you. What's the matter? Can't wait until-" He was cut off as Yugito brought her knee up, hard. All of the boys in the clearing winced as the boy's pelvis broke with an audible crunch. The boy's mouth opened in a wordless scream of pain before he collapsed, mercifully unconscious.

In her anger Yugito had left herself open to counterattack, and two of the Ame-nin moved to take advantage of that. Naruto, however, was faster. He disappeared from view, and despite having four times the distance to cover reached Yugito before the Ame-nin. He effortlessly parried the attack of the first Ame-nin. His parry sent the attack flying out wide, causing the boy to lose his balance and stumble away. That allowed him to turn and confront the other incoming Ame-nin squarely.

He sidestepped his opponent's attack with ease, and lashed out twice. His first strike backhanded the Ame-nin across the face. As he stumbled backwards Naruto threw a kick. It caught his foe in the stomach, doubling him over and allowing his claws to dig deep gashes in the Ame-nin's abdomen. That was when the remaining Ame-nin charged. Naruto shook his head, they just didn't learn.

Yugito, who had calmed down somewhat, slid alongside him. The two calmly regarded the four attacking Ame-nin, waiting for their opportunity. It was provided by Meitoku, who launched a barrage of electrically charged senbon. The Ame-nin blocked them with kunai, and got quite a shock. The electrical charge stunned them and caused their muscles to spasm violently. It was all the opening that the Araikis needed.

Approximately forty-five seconds later they stood over the unconscious forms of five Ame-nin. The sixth was lying at the base of a nearby tree, terror evident in her eyes. "You know," said Naruto as he dug through pouches on the downed shinobi, "I know we're good. But still, there were six of them. You'd think they would have put up more of a fight."

Yugito flipped open a pouch, drawing forth a heaven scroll from within as Naruto found an earth scroll on a member of the other team. "Maybe we're just better then we thought we were."

"Guess so," Naruto turned to face the lone unharmed (mostly) Ame-nin. "Well, I told you I was in a good mood today, so I'll leave you conscious to stand guard over your comrades. A word of advice though, learn how to gauge your opponents better." With a blur, Team Four was gone.

"Our objective is complete," Meitoku noted as they leapt through the trees, "we should go straight to the tower. There is no reason to risk staying out here any longer than is necessary."

"I agree for the most part." Naruto glanced down at his bloody hands and feet. "But let's find a stream or lake to stop at first. Yugito-chan and I would like to clean up a bit."

"Very well."

It only took a few minutes for them to locate a suitable body of water. It was by small cliff. A stream ran off the edge of it, dropping off into a deep pool below. Naruto shrugged out of his gi and dove in. He entered the water without so much as a splash, and sunk almost all the way to the bottom before kicking his way to the surface. Then he paddled over to the shallower waters near shore, where he joined Yugito in scrubbing the blood from his hands and feet. A few minutes later they were clean and Naruto was tying his gi back into place. That's when it them.

A powerful wave of killing intent swept over the clearing. Naruto and Yugito swayed on their feet, shaken for a few moments before they were able to fight it off. Meitoku wasn't quite as resilient, collapsing to the ground under the weight of the malice in the air. "Ku ku ku, you two managed to resist my killing intent."

Naruto snapped his head around, catching sight of the figure that emerged on the far side of the pool. He had long black hair, and white skin with purple markings on his face. Naruto recognized the clothes he was wearing as those he had seen on a Kusa-nin earlier in the exam. He decided that he didn't want to know what had happened to her. For he recognized the shinobi in front of him, Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin.

"What the hell are you doing here Orochimaru? You seem to be a little advanced for this test. Did you get demoted down to gennin-level or something?" Orochimaru didn't respond, opting instead to launch himself at the two Araikis. They scattered, leaping away as they activated Megurushi no To-Remu. Orochimaru appeared in front of Naruto before he even landed and launched a brutal series of midair punches and kicks. Naruto managed to block the first few, but then took a punch to the face. The sheer force behind the blow dazed the gennin, and left him vulnerable for a split second. A split second was all Orochimaru needed to bury his foot in the boy's stomach, sending him crashing into the pool below.

Orochimaru touched down lightly on the surface of the water, waiting for the boy's emergence. A splash drew his attention as Naruto shot out of the water. Orochimaru evaded the boy's strikes easily, almost appearing to be bored. "How disappointing Naruto-kun, I was expecting better from you." He threw a punch, breaking through Naruto's defenses with casual ease and hitting the young gennin across the face. He received a mild shock for his efforts, and Naruto disappeared in a crackle of electricity.

"Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu!"

Orochimaru grinned as Naruto rose from the water in front of him, carefully maintaining contact with the newly formed sphere of water that imprisoned the Snake Sannin. "Impressive Naruto-kun, pulling off a deception like that without me noticing. Apparently I underestimated you, even if you don't seem to know how to use that jutsu properly."

"What do you mean?"

"It's true that this jutsu will prevent me from attacking you, but it prevents you from attacking me as well. Furthermore, I can tell that you're not using a clone this time. So you can't even run away from me. It's just a waste of chakra."

"Unless I just needed to immobilize you." Chakra leaked from Naruto's skin, taking on the form of a fox as Mantoru no To-Remu activated. It changed almost immediately, becoming lighter in color and developing countless fine edges. Orochimaru's appreciation for the boy's talent grew, to work a wind recompositon of that scale whilst simultaneously maintaining a water jutsu. Yes, he'd have to make sure to recruit this boy. "Like you said Orochimaru, you underestimated me. Now you'll pay the price for it. Yugito-chan, let him have it."

"Right, Raiton: Raitama Endan!" Yugito extended an arm as she finished the seals, using her free hand to brace it. Multiple blasts of lightning shot from her palm, each one impacting the pool of water. The blast was immediately conducted by the water, exposing everything touching it to untold volts of electricity. Naruto was protected by the cloak of wind chakra around him, his dominant affinity shorting out Yugito's attack before it could reach him. Orochimaru had no such luck, unable to work any jutsu in the confines of the water prison he took the electricity full blast. Naruto's elation, however, was short lived as Orochimaru dissolved into a pile of mud.

"Damn," Naruto muttered, "he didn't underestimate us as much as I had hoped." His eyes widened as he sensed a sudden surge of chakra. He dove aside, a split second ahead of the giant snake that crashed into the spot where he had just been standing. He wasn't quite fast enough to escape the thrashing tail and got clipped along the side. He was launched into the cliffside, cutting deeply into it with his mantle of wind chakra. The snake paid for the blow as well, earning a bloody gouge on his tail where he had made contact. Naruto pulled himself out of the hole in the cliffside, "Yugito-chan, we need to take out that snake!"

"Yeah, lead off."

"Got it, Fuuton: Daitoppa!"

Yugito flashed through her own set of hand seals, finishing shortly after Naruto. "Katon: Karyuu Endan!" She spat out an intense stream of flames. It intersected with Naruto's blast of wind and expanded in a concussive blast of heat and flame. Orochimaru leapt clear. His snake, however, was unable to move quickly enough to evade the blast. It was forced to take the attack head on, and was reduced to ash and bone.

When the blast died down, Orochimaru saw that the two were nearing the end of another set of seals. An excited grin grew on his face, this could prove interesting. "Fuuton: Fuuryudan!"

"Katon: Karyuudan!" Coils of wind spun around Naruto, taking the form of an enormous dragon made of wind. At the same time, Yugito spat a similarly sized dragon made of fire. The two dragons shot off towards Orochimaru, no, over Orochimaru. His eyes widened, they had discovered his clone, and now the two attacks were bearing down on the branch that he was concealing his real self on. He was preparing to leap clear of the blow when the two attacks collided.

There was a sudden explosion of white hot flames, shooting outwards through the forest. Several hundred feet of trees were reduced to ash in an instant. The devastation, however, extended far beyond that. Many more trees were badly charred, some falling over as their bases were burned through. The entire area was black with ash. Fires were burning at the edges of zone of devestation, the only reason that they weren't burning throughout the entire area was because all of their fuel had been consumed with the initial blast.

Naruto and Yugito were both breathing hard. Those were powerful, chakra-intensive jutsus that the pair hadn't quite mastered yet. They took quite a toll, despite the immense stamina of the Araikis. "Think we got him Yugito-chan?"

"Kami I hope so."

Their hopes, however, were put to rest as they heard the freak's sick laughter ring out from behind them. "Ku ku ku, to think that you're already capable of attacks of that level. You two are skilled, geniuses, perhaps even more so than Sasuke-kun."

Naruto stared at the man with undisguised amazement, and even a hint of fear. "How did you avoid that attack? You were there when it hit, I'm sure of it. I could feel your chakra signature there."

"I can do many things that you couldn't even imagine. Someday, you might get to learn them."

That last statement earned him a pair of glowers as the Araikis processed the hidden meaning behind it. "You're dreaming if you think you can make us abandon Kumogakure."

"Ahh, but you haven't even seen what I have to offer yet." His neck suddenly lengthened, splitting into two as it went. Yugito and Naruto tried to leap aside; but Orochimaru was too fast, too persistent. His fangs sunk into each of them at the slope of the neck. Both gennin winced in pain, but much to Orochimaru's surprise were not overwhelmed by it. No one had been able to move while he was marking them with the curse seal. The Araikis, however, could. They both reached up and grabbed Orochimaru at the base of his skull.

"You got sloppy Orochimaru," pain was evident in Naruto's voice as he spoke, even if he didn't show it. "I thought you of all people would know to keep track of all your opponents." Naruto had the satisfaction of seeing Orochimaru's eyes widen with worry at that. Meitoku had finally fought off Orochimaru's killing intent and climbed to his feet. Normally, this wouldn't have even concerned Orochimaru. With his head immobilized and fifty feet away from his body, however, it had the potential to be a dangerous situation.

Meitoku had drawn the katana on his back, and it was crackling with electricity. He ducked under Orochimaru's clumsy swipe and stabbed forward, burying his sword into Orochimaru's body. Electricity exploded through Orochimaru's torso and limbs. But the sannin didn't flinch, even as his flesh charred due to the energy coursing through him. He swept his arm out in a backhand strike, using the sword he was impaled on as a guide. Meitoku, unable to react in time, was sent flying. Orochimaru grasped the katana's hilt and pulled, pleased to get that it of him, but he wasn't out of the woods yet. For, on some unspoken signal, both Naruto and Yugito struck.

Both of them took one hand from Orochimaru's skull, claws splayed wide. Naruto's claws became outline in wind-natured chakra, Yugito's erupted in electricity. Naruto cut cleanly through the neck that held him, but was disappointed when it simply withered into a snake. He had gotten the replica, it appeared. The neck holding Yugito jerked wildly, managing to tear free of the grip of the lone hand holding it. He was unable to fully evade Yugito's strike though. She drew three deep gashes in the side of his neck, and dosed him with another burst of electricity.

Orochimaru's neck snapped back to its normal length, giving him his first good view of the Araikis' wounds. Both were freely bleeding, and emitting a dark chakra into the air. He frowned, the chakra he injected into them should have gotten caught up in their natural chakra flow and been carried to the brain. Once there it would be able to solidify its influence on them. Something, however, seemed to be interfering with that.

Things had not gone how he had expected at all, especially when he considered his own wounds. They were nothing he couldn't deal with, of course. But he knew he'd have to deal with Anko before he left that forest, and she had a better idea of his capabilities than he had of hers. Not that he was worried about facing her, but he wanted to make sure he was ready for her. His current burned and bleeding state could hardly be considered as such. To top things off, their combined dragon blasts had been a massive attack. Something that was far beyond what would be expected of any of the gennin in the exams. It was sure to draw attention, which meant that someone was probably already on their way. As much as he regretted it, he was going to have to stop playing with the young Araikis, especially since his cursed seal wasn't working on them. If he was lucky he could still manage to sway them to his view. If not, at least he had managed to mark Sasuke. Either way, his trip into the forest had been fruitful.

"The two of you are simply full of surprises, quite delightful. I'm afraid I must cut our playtime short, but my offer to you still stands. I can give you more power than you can imagine, remember that." Then he was gone.

Meitoku groaned as he climbed to his feet. "I believe that his last attack may have broken a few of my ribs. How are the two of you faring?"

Yugito sat down at the base of a tree. A hand was clamped to her wound, which still had blood and chakra running from it freely. "We've been better. He tried to inject us with some sort of foreign chakra. Our system is fighting it, preventing it from gaining a foothold in our system. Apparently the foreign chakra is also being expelled from our systems. However, that seems to be interfering with our normal accelerated healing. We'll have to bandage these wounds."

"You've never needed to tend to superficial wounds before."

"I know, it's troubling."

Naruto unsealed a roll of bandages with a puff of smoke. "It's definitely because of that chakra he injected us with. I just wish I knew what it was. Next time I see an Oto-nin I'm going to beat it out of them." He gestured towards Yugito, "Here, I'll bandage that up for you."

"Yeah, sure." She deftly undid the ties of her top, letting it pool around her waist and leaving her torso clad only in her bra. "Go ahead."

"Umm, Yugito-chan…"

"What?"

"Well, due to the location of the puncture wound I'll need to wrap your bandages around your torso and under your other arm."

"So?"

"You're, umm, going to have to take your bra off. The strap's in the way."

"What!"

"The strap would get trapped underneath the bandage, it has to be moved." He gave the red-faced, sputtering Yugito an apologetic look. "You could cover them with your hands."

She glowered for a second before replying. "You," she pointed at Meitoku, "turn around now!" Meitoku didn't waste an instant. A somewhat irate Yugito turned around too, quickly unclasping her bra and covering herself with her hands as best she could.

Naruto began applying the bandages. "Hey, remember back at the Daimyo's Palace when you dropped in on me when I was in the onsen?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

Naruto smirked, "Karma's a bitch isn't?" Yugito dearly wished she had a free hand to smack her boyfriend with.

Anko was a blur moving through the Forest of Death. Trees flew by beneath her as a mixture of rage and worry churned at her insides. One of the Chuunin Proctors for the exams had shown her something about half an hour ago, a trio of dead Kusa-nin. What really caught her attention though was that one of them no longer had a face. It could only be his jutsu, Orochimaru's. She had no idea what he was doing here, but she doubted it was a social call. She had sent the chuunin to fetch the ANBU Black Ops, then headed into the Forest of Death herself. If she met up with her traitorous sensei, she decided, it would be an encounter that neither of them would walk away from.

Then she could feel it, his presence. It washed over her like an oily film. She stopped, drawing a kunai from her holster. "Show yourself, Orochimaru."

"Where are your manners Anko-chan?" She gripped her kunai tighter as he stepped out from behind the tree in front of her. "You haven't' seen your sensei for years and that's how you greet him? I taught you better than that."

"Manners, do you have any idea what I've gone through since you betrayed this village, since you gave me this mark! Not to mention the crimes you've committed against Konoha. What you've done can't be forgiven Orochimaru, and you'll die for it today!" Not wasting any more time she slung the kunai at him, only to growl in frustration as he caught it between his fingers.

"Now now Anko-chan," he said as he began sinking into the tree, "I don't have time to play with you at the moment. There are several, prospects, I've been testing in this forest. Besides, if I let you keep me here long enough for the ANBU to arrive I just might have to kill you."

"Like hell you're getting away bastard. Sen-eijashu!" She extended her arm as snakes shot forth from the sleeve of her trench coat, plunging into the tree and pulling Orochimaru towards her. She caught his hand as he was pulled in, forcing it into the same half-seal as hers.

"Using that jutsu Anko-chan, are you really that desperate?"

"Shut up you bastard. Now you pay for your crimes." She felt a sting on her wrist as the snakes in her sleeve bit both of them on the wrist. Just a little longer and they'd both have a lethal dose of poison in them. She might die, but at least she'd be able to take out the one who had wreaked so much havoc on her life. Then she felt a change in the texture of Orochimaru's hand, just before he dissolved into a pile of mud. She canceled the jutsu, but the battle was lost and she knew it.

Anko fell to her knees, her breath already coming hard because of the poison flowing through her system. She could barely move, couldn't even raise her head as she sensed her traitorous ex-sensei walking up to her. "You've improved quite a bit Anko-chan, you must be jounin level by now. It appears that my tutelage hasn't gone entirely to waste. You're still too soft though, unwilling to utilize all of your resources. The cursed seal I gave you can provide with power should you need it. I've wasted enough time on you now though, just give a message to the Hokage for me." He leaned down, and Anko could feel his warm breath on her ear. "Tell him that if he stops these exams I will destroy this village." Then he was gone in a swirl of leaves.

Team Four hadn't traveled far after their fight with Orochimaru. They had only moved far enough to find a decent hiding spot, then rested for the night. They departed the next day, making a beeline for the tower. Naruto was taking point when he came to a sudden halt. Yugito was forced to grab onto an overhead branch to avoid careening into him. She shot him an annoyed glare, "What was that for?"

"Cast about a bit Yugito-chan, see if you can find anything."

She closed her eyes and concentrated a bit before responding. "I can sense six chakra signatures in the distance."

"Yeah, three of them are that Konoha team we ran into along with those Suna-nin. The other three belong to those Oto-nin that made the scene at the start of the first exam. Orochimaru was wearing a hitaite from Otogakure when he attacked us. I think it's time to get some answers."

Yugito hesitated only an instant before responding. "Agreed, let's go."

They arrived at the battleground a few minutes later. Sakura was the only member of her team who was moving about. Sasuke and Sai were lying unconscious under some sort of cavern made of tree roots. There was something a bit off about Sasuke's chakra too. There was something else to it, a foul taint like the chakra that was still leaking from the wound on the Araikis' necks. The three Oto-nin were spread across the clearing, leaving Sakura with her back to her unconscious teammates. There was one more gennin present as well, a Konoha-nin with a bowl cut and green spandex. He was lying on the ground, bleeding from his ears.

Naruto edged over a bit and whispered to his teammates. "Meitoku, we need you to disable the right arm of that bandaged Oto-nin. He did something strange with it back before the first exam, probably something to do with that weird gauntlet he's wearing."

"I understand. Leave him to me."

"Yugito, do you want to take the kunoichi or that spiky-haired kid?"

"I'll take the kunoichi, see if she's up to my standards."

"I find that unlikely." He tapped his chakra for a second, calling upon Megurushi no To-Remu. "You ready Meitoku?"

"Yes."

"Good, lead us off. And remember, we want these guys alive." Meitoku nodded once, then flung a senbon coated in a sheen of electricity. The bandaged Oto-nin must have heard hit. He spun around, raising that gauntlet to deflect the senbon. It was probably the worst decision in that scenario. The electricity stored in the senbon discharged into the gauntlet, which conducted it straight through into the Oto-nin's arm. He fell back, his limp arm twitching at his side. A trio of blurs shot out of the bushes as Team Four moved to confront their targets.

Naruto's target barely managed to leap to the side as Naruto lunged at him. He was in trouble from the outset, retreating steadily with his weight on his heels. He had no effective counter to Naruto's barrage of taijutsu attacks, except one. As off balance as he was it was an act of desperation, but it was also his only shot. He raised a hand, lining a hole in his palm up with Naruto. "Zankūha!" The blast of pressurized air that shot from his hand blew him to the ground, but also obliterated everything in front of him. "Heh, that kid wasn't so tough after all. Only took me one shot."

He stiffened suddenly as a hand shining with blue-gray chakra placed a kunai at his throat. "Hardly, that attack's far too slow to hit me when Shitai no To-Remu is activated. I'd advise a surrender here."

Yugito had a similarly easy time of things. Her opponent rang a bell, and Yugito could feel the brushings of a genjutsu at the edges of her senses. She shook it off with ease, but remained still. That was apparently enough to make the girl think she had succeeded. She walked closer, still ringing the bell. "Too easy, so many ninja neglect training to counteract genjutsu."

Yugito waited patiently, knowing that her opponent would be within arm's length soon enough. When she was Yugito lashed out with a single knife-hand strike to the side of the neck. The sound kunoichi dropped without a sound.

Meitoku was standing in front of the lone remaining Oto-nin, eyeing the metal gauntlet warily. "He uses sound." Meitoku turned his head slightly, bringing the spandex-clad Konoha-nin into sight. "That gauntlet he wears produces sound that he uses to disrupt the balance of his opponents."

"What is the range of the effect?"

"I'm not certain. I fought him hand to hand."

"I see, thank you for the information. I'll handle things from here." Meitoku reached behind him and drew his katana. He was analyzing the situation in his head. The range on his opponent's attack was unknown. However, ranged attacks were likely to be blocked by that gauntlet. The metal-on-metal clang that would result would produce a more intense sound than most other scenarios, theoretically increasing the range and potency of his foe's attack. It would be better to finish this up close, taking care to keep the gauntlet clear of other objects. Thankfully, the right arm on which his opponent wore that gauntlet would not be functioning well for some time.

Meitoku charged, katana held out in front of him. The Oto-nin spun his body, his momentum bringing the gauntlet up in front of him. The placement was good, and would have resulted in a noisy parry of Meitoku's intended attack. Instead he sidestepped to the left, away from the gauntlet. The Oto-nin spun, attempting to keep his gauntlet interposed between himself and that sword. It was exactly what Meitoku had been expecting.

He dug his foot into the ground, reversing direction and throwing himself low. He passed under the gauntlet, feeling a brief moment of disorientation. But he had caught his opponent by surprise and he was unable to capitalize on his opportunity. Meitoku's katana flashed across in a spray of blood, severing the Oto-nin's hamstrings. He fell face first to the ground. Acting quickly he planted his hands on the ground to push himself upright, only to stop when he felt the tip of the katana press against the base of his skull. Meitoku looked around, noting that the other two Oto-nin were also defeated. "It's over."

"Yeah," Naruto motioned to some bushes off to the side of the clearing, "you guys can come out now." A nervous-looking Team Ten emerged from the bushes. Naruto flashed them a grin, "Been a while hasn't it?"

Shikamaru eyed him warily, "Are you going to attack us?"

"Nope." Naruto took some ninja wire out of his pouch and proceeded to bind his prisoner's hands together, making sure the openings in his palm faced into each other. "We have some other things to worry about right now. These guys here should be a good source of information for us."

"Information on what?"

"Ahh sorry, but a shinobi has to keep some secrets." Naruto finished binding his prisoner and turned to face the green-clad Konoha-nin on the ground. "I must admit though, I'm curious as to why you're here. I know you're not on their team."

"Yosh, I am Rock Lee and have promised to protect Sakura-chan with my life! Even were that not the case Sakura and her team are fellow Konoha-nin who were in danger. I could not just stand by and watch them get killed."

Naruto was a bit taken aback at the enthusiasm and energy in the boy's voice given his condition, but nodded approvingly. "That's a good outlook Lee, and sound judgment. Too many of the gennin here would let the circumstances of the exam overrule the camaraderie they should feel among gennin from the same village. It's good to see that…"

Naruto's sentence was cut off suddenly as spun around. A sudden blast of chakra poured through the clearing. It was dark and malevolent; reminiscent of the chakra that still leaked from his wounded shoulder only much more potent. Sasuke was standing now, covered in strange black markings and surrounded in a blazing field of purple and black chakra. "This power," he said while staring down at his hands, "it's amazing. I must test it." He raised his head, and his face twisted into a maniacal grin when he spotted Naruto. "Yes, you'll do perfectly."

Translations

Megurushi no To-Remu: Translates to Markings of the Totem. This is the first stage of the kekkai genkai To-Remu Yajuuki. It is easily identified as the user's chakra appears on their skin in a pattern of tribal markings. While in this state the user gains enhanced speed, strength, and sensory ability. Additionally, their nails turn into claws and they gain the ability to utilize the rest of their bloodline's techniques.

Ishiki no To-Remu: Translates to Senses of the Totem. User's eyes change to resemble that of their totem. Chakra will also outline the user's ears. This stage of To-Remu Yajuuki greatly enhances all five senses of its user.

Shitai no To-Remu: Translates to Limbs of the Totem. Outlines the user's limbs in shimmering energy and greatly increases their speed.

Mantoru no To-Remu: Translates to Mantle of the Totem. This technique forms a protective field of chakra around the user. The field will move autonomously, seeking to deflect glancing blows and lessening the force of ones that land more solidly.

Chikara no To-Remu: Translates to Might of the Totem. This technique greatly increases the strength of its user.

Suiton Suirou no Jutsu: Translates to Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu.

Fuuton Daitoppa: Translates to Wind Release: Great Breathrough

Katon Karyuu Endan: Translates to Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Projectile.

Raiton Raitama Endan: Translates to Lightning Release: Lightning Bullet Barrage. This jutsu fires multiple blasts of electricity. It's most useful when attacking an area or multiple targets. Although it is also effective in electrifying water for a slightly prolonged period.

Katon Karyuudan: Translates to Fire Release: Fire Dragon Blast. A fire version of the Water Dragon Blast used by Zabuza and Kakashi.

Fuuton: Fuuryudan: Translates to Wind Release: Wind Dragon Blast. A wind version of the Water Dragon Blast used by Zabuza and Kakashi.

Zankūha: Translates to Decapitating Sound Wave.

Note from the Author: The fights may have seemed a bit short in this chapter. But really, that's how I see them happening. One party was overmatched, and sometimes ambushed, in each of the conflicts. Given the circumstances, it doesn't seem likely that any of the fights would have been prolonged. It's also been brought to my attention that I made a mistake in the last chapter by not having Naruto recognize Chouji. Yeah, I'll admit I screwed up there. I got a little too caught up with referring to the Konoha-nin by their clans. You'll also note that I only described the effects of some of the above jutsu. That's not a mistake, I just decided that you'd probably know the ones from the show already. Finally, I'd just like to tell you that the next chapter will probably be delayed a bit as I have some midterms coming up.