Hinata and her team had been traveling at at high pace for the last half hour. They had already acquired the right second scroll from an older, unfortunate Leaf team that had set off Shino's leech trap. Right now they were on their way to the central tower, making good time until suddenly something came into the range of Hinata's Byakugan.

"Shino, Kiba. There are two teams in a clearing 150 feet 43 degrees west of us."
They slowly came to a halt. Kiba and Akamaru sniffed the air, while Shino just stared at the position Hinata described.
"Who are they, Hinata?" Kiba asked, having been unable to pick up a scent strong enough to identify anyone.

"It's the Sand team and one of the teams from Rain," she answered as veins swelled up in her face, taking her Byakugan to a higher level.
"He. Perfect. What you guys say to checking out if that guy really is as good as Naruto says he is?"
"Favorable," was all that escaped the bug user's lips.
"Demo .. I told Naruto I'd stay away. And his chakra system, it's .. discomforting to look at."
"Hinata, we're not gonna fight them. We're just gonna take a peek. If he's really that strong it's best we know what to expect just in case we have to fight him later right?" Kiba offered one of his rare pearls of wisdom, normally he needed those to convince Shino of his views.

"Well, well, well, isn't this a sight for sore eyes," the taller Rain nin spoke. Scars covered the lower half of the young man's face, yet he already looked confident of his soon to come victory. "Three little Sand genin that look like they're straight from the academy. Looks like we're in luck boys," he smiled at his two teammates. "And so are you three little farts. I'm in a good mood, so hand over your scroll right now and I might not mutilate your bodies entirely beyond recognition."
The Rain nin's teammates gave a chuckle at their leader's proposal, but the young man was too annoyed by the Sand team's lack of reaction to appreciate it.
Gaara just kept standing there, arms crossed and his serious, uncaring look never leaving his face. Temari and Kankuro took a simple step back and eyed the redhead cautiously.

"I see you've made your choice. Very well. Joro Senbon!" As he yelled the Rain nin drew the five umbrellas from his back and tossed them in the air. Sixty feet in the air the umbrellas opened up and started spinning violently. "Looks like rain", he grinned right after he finished his handseals. Then suddenly the sky was filled with barrage upon barrage of gray steel. Thousands of senbon needles shot out of the hidden compartments of the airborne umbrellas and headed straight to one target: the scrawny looking kid with huge bags under his eyes and a giant gourd upon his back.

The massive amount of dust that was kicked up when his weapons had come down blocked the Rain ninja's view the undoubtedly massive carnage he had created. He didn't mind. He knew what damage his technique would do. Any second now he would be greeted with the sight of internal and external organs littered across the ground. Blood, needles, pieces of skin and bone fragments would be scattered around the surface of the earth and chances were at least one of his teammates would lose his lunch again. He really didn't mind much at all.
That was until the dust settled once more and it became visible that apparently not everything had gone according to plan. Beneath the few swirling sand particles that were still floating in the air, there stood Gaara, surrounded by a giant cocoon of sand that now looked like a huge pin cushion. The genin from Rain wasted no time and immediately fired off his remaining senbons at the cracks between the shield of sand. His attempt proved futile however as another thick plate of sand just simply shot out of the ground and guarded Gaara from the oncoming projectiles.

For a second one could read the doubt on the taller genin's face. Should he try to go in for close range or just run like hell away from this kid. A single moment later he no longer had any choice in the matter as Gaara moved his sand and the contained senbons on his unnamed opponent, effectively skewering him and holding him in place.

---

Hinata couldn't bare to look as the remains of bones, bodily fluids and internal as well as external organs rained down across the clearing. She focused her gaze on the red haired boy, but avoided looking him strait in the eyes while she did her best to ignore the screams of the remaining Rain nin. She readjusted her Byakugan and focused on the chakra circulatory system of this Gaara of the Desert. It somehow reminded her of Naruto's, but this one was wilder, darker and a lot more chaotic. As if it was constantly being disturbed by something. Naruto had been right, there was something very wrong with this boy. Even Kiba, who was never someone to admit fear, whispered words of caution, especially after Akamaru's whimpering. Shino on the other hand just showed to be his usual, collected self. No one really ever knew what went on in the mind of the Aburame. If it was true that the eyes were the windows to the soul, the Aburame kept the curtains shut at all times. Despite that fact, the team didn't need any more words or looks to decide what their next action was: Retreat, as fast and quiet as possible.

---
The aspiring young student of the Green Beast of Konoha, Rock Lee, witnessed the scene in front of him. The beautiful Sakura-chan was keeping a team of Sound genin from getting to her unconscious teammate. Their other member, the flaming Naruto-kun who had requested Gai-sensei's aid in training, was nowhere to be seen. For a minute Lee contemplated the idea that perhaps the bright genin had not made it. Both Leaf nin looked in bad shape. Scratches and bruises covered Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun didn't look any better, lying there on the forest floor. The valiant Azure beast of the Leaf could not idly stand by at this unsporting and unnecessary brutal behavior. So he jumped down from his hiding spot to a few paces to the front left of the blossoming pink kunoichi.

"Lee!" she almost shouted in surprise, although no doubt relieved to see a friendly face.
"Yosh! My beautiful cherry blossom remembers my name!" the boy thought a little too loud. "Have no fear Sakura-chan, I told you I would protect you with my life." He stuck up his thumb a flashed a blinding smile.
"Heh, another little Leaf nin to play with," Zaku sadistically smiled to his teammates.
"I'll take care of him," the bandaged Dosu spoke in a calm voice. No second later he was charging towards Lee.

The young taijutsu master was not so easily taken by surprise. He had witnessed the Sound nin's attack on Kabuto before the start of the first exam and deducted that it wouldn't be in his best interest to try to block Dosu's attacks. Instead he just moved his entire body closer to his attacker's chest, completely bypassing his guard and really bringing himself face to face with his opponent. The bowlcut boy smoothly pinned Dosu's offending arm to his side with his left lower arm and delivered a devastating blow to the offender's face with his right hand. The impact sent him skipping over the ground back towards his teammates. Lee never gloated, but if he did, there was no time for it now as Zaku had already sent a massive shockwave at him. There was barely any time to dodge, yet Lee still found himself jumping towards Sakura, shielding her from the blast.

The two Leaf genin collided into each other, their wasn't any weird romantic staring however. This was a serious fight and they were aware of that fact. Both of them had someone precious to protect and failure wasn't an option for either of them. Lee swiftly jumped up and took a protective stance in front of Sakura. The pink haired girl didn't plan on just idly standing by this fight, certainly not when she saw Kin moving towards Sasuke's location. So before Lee even knew it, she had moved away to intercept. Zaku saw an easy target for another one of his soundbursts and was already following the movements of Sakura with his arms. This hadn't escaped the watchful eyes of Rock Lee however. This time around he took a more indirect approach. Moving away from Sakura, he flung two kunais Zaku's way, forcing him on the defensive.
Sakura was meanwhile tangling one on one with the Sound girl. Her single kunai wasn't very on par with the dual senbon's the girl was wielding, as she was already covered with numerous scratches but she still put up her absolute best to stop her from reaching the unconscious Sasuke.

While his teammates were busy with the two Leaf nin, Dosu was scrambling back to his feet with a mean look on his face. "Zaku, keep that giant eyebrow of my back. I'm going in for the Uchiha."
"No problem," he grinned as he charged up another Zankuha. His answer might have differed if he had known anything about Rock Lee, the paragon of hard work, who stood before him. Lee's eternal smile had now made way for a more serious look. The first Sound ninja was now heading towards Uchiha-san and the only thing that stood in his way was Sakura who was already fighting with another kunoichi. Lee could see by the fire in her eyes that no matter what happened, she wasn't going to allow either of them to pass. For a split second his eyes reached for the heavens before giving an affirmative nod to himself.
'Gai-sensei, please understand. I have to protect someone precious to me.'
And then he was gone.

His gaze only on the Uchiha, Dosu was already halfway there. He planned on evading the pink girl and planting one of his kunai firmly in the unconscious boy's hart. He would have his fun with the other two later. Orders came first. A few paces away from the girl and his teammate, he noticed she would not let him pass so easily. She had shifted her balance and was in perfect position to react to either him or Kin. He grabbed his kunai tighter in his hand, ready to slice her gut open and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chin right before he was propelled several yards upward. When the stars in front of his eyes faded he could once again see the blurry green outline of the Azure Beast of the Leaf. For a split second anyway, since less then a moment later the boy's right heel impacted against his chest, speeding his decent significantly and steering him towards Zaku once more. The brown and spiky haired genin was able to cushion the impact of his teammate however with a well placed blast of air from the hollow tubes that ran through his arms.

The sudden interruption surprised Sakura enough to bring her off guard for a split second, which proved to be just enough time for Kin to take her chance to drive one of her senbon in Sakura's shoulder. A small scream of pain escaped from the Leaf girl's throat and that when all hell broke lose.
From the up to now dormant Uchiha suddenly radiated a massive amount of dark, purple chakra. It felt immense to the surrounding genin. Kin instinctively jumped away from the youngster, back to the safety of her teammates. The crackling energy surrounding Sasuke was too much for her to take, as was the vicious killer instinct he seemed to emanate.

"Rock Lee, you have soiled my honour for the last time. I will show you your assistance here is no longer needed." He then directed his gaze towards the Sound team and for a slight moment, he grinned.

---

"Demo, Hokage-sam-"
"I said no Anko. Judging by your report it's clear that Orochimaru still has too much control over your curse seal. I admit I'm impressed by your mental resistance, but it is obvious that your body still suffers greatly when he tries to activate it."
The normally so fierce Anbu captain let her head drop in defeat. She knew Sarutobi was right, but that didn't quench her flaming passion for revenge on her former mentor, that immoral snake bastard.
"Now to get back to your report, you say one of Naruto's clones guided you to Orochimaru's location."
"Actually it was more like three of them. After I discarded the first one I met two more of them before I finally found him."
"I see."

Anko had been moving at almost full speed for the past few minutes now. She swore under her breath, something about idiot blonds and sense of direction. So far she hadn't found a trace of Orochimaru.
"Anko-san! This way," came the voice of someone who seemed to match her previous description.
"Hn. How many of you are there anyway?" she asked somewhat annoyed.
"We created about 30 as a diversion to get away from that paleface. Most of us are already low on chakra however."
The young Anbu made a slight frown. Up until now she had believed most rumors of the blonde's talent in the use of Kage Bunshin to be exaggerated, but the serene look on the clone's face told her this was anything but a boast. For a genin, and such a young one at that, to have this level of proficiency in any forbidden jutsu was nothing to be taken lightly.
"How far is he?" she asked without making any eyecontact.
"About two miles ahead of us. He's picking up his pace. We should as well, if you want to get to him."

For a brief minute there was silence between them until the clone broke it again.
"Are you sure you can take him on alone?"
There came no answer from her.
"Anko-san? Ank-" poof

She had no time for this. It was just a clone. What would it know about anything. She sped up again and continued on.

"You know that's quite an annoying habit you seem to be developing Anko-san."
"Oh jeezes, not another one," the woman grumbled.
"Hey, we're trying to help you get this guy."
"You've helped enough already, kid. Now I suggest you stay away from him before he decides to one day stroll into the village again only to hunt you down and cut you inside out."
"That bad uh?" He made a long sigh "... Fine", the Naruto's duplicate just simply gave in before saying his goodbye and taking off in another direction.

Les then five minutes later Anko spotted her target. He was moving at a mellow pace, looking quite certain of himself that no one was following. Just as she was about to engage she heard a whisper not far away. "Wait."
It was one of those annoying clones again.
"Goddammit Uzumaki, I told you to stay away from him," she grouched between her teeth.
"Yeah, but that's not him Anko-san. It must be a clone."
"What? How do you know?"
"He's not hurt", he stated flatly.
"He's injured?"
"Hardly, but we gave him some cuts and scratches on his neck. I think one of us nicked him pretty good in the ear as well."
"... You must be one lucky kid. Any ideas on the real one."
"Must be around. I'll leave that up to you,let me take care of this one."
"Are you insane! You won't last a second against him."
"Look do you want to get this guy or not? Every second we can distract the clone is a second you gain on the real one."

The Anbu captain seemed to take this in consideration for a second. She knew that under normal circumstances even thinking about the little runt's proposal would be plain ludicrous, but a little battle among clones wasn't really that life threatening for anybody involved. She gave the living shadow a single nod before disappearing in a flash.

"Orochimaru!"

The long black haired figure didn't even turn around to avert the oncoming kunai in the woman's hand. "Anko. What a surprise. I thought you were still fighting my diversion."
"You're not the only one who can use clones."
"So I've noticed", the missing sanin snarled between his teeth while going through the intricate patterns of the Snake Fist style. Anko weaved through the attacks, but just when she thought to have seen an opening the nukenin jumped back a little to put some distance between them.
"What's wrong Orochimaru? Did those little genin wear you out already? You look a little pale, did really you lose that much blood ?" she smirked.
The serpent summoner didn't hide his annoyance, he soon turned it into a wicked grin though and Anko grabbed her shoulder as burning pain flared over her, forcing her down on her knees.

"Kukuku Anko-kun. You should know insults won't get you anywhere with me. Now I am curious though... What do you know of the Kage Bunshin brat?"
"I don't know .. who you're talking about", she answered between breaths, still fighting against the burning seal.
"Ku ku ku. Still so much spirit, yet still lacking the proper drive. I guess you wouldn't humor me for old times sake either?"
"You must have been playing with your snakes too much", she spat at his feet.
"He. Too bad. I had hoped it wouldn't have come to this Anko-kun, but it seems you'll leave me no choice."

"And that's when I suddenly found myself 30 yards away in the canopy, looking down at Orochimaru grabbing 'me' with a Hidden Shadow Snake Hand. I saw him whispering a few words to my doppelganger and using that hideous tongue of his on it's face. Then, just as he wanted to plunge a kunai into its hart, it grinned and exploded with the force of what must have been seven regular explosive notes. I didn't see any trace of Orochimaru afterwards, but a few of his singed clothing pieces. I doubt it really hurt him though."
"Except for his ego perhaps", the old Kage laughed from behind his pipe. "Do you know who your mysterious rescuer is?"
Anko opened up her trench coat and revealed a little sticky note.
"Took me half an hour to decipher his writing. Says 'Sorry to butt in. U.N., Cl.12 '", she looked away. Her annoyance was clear.
"Uzumaki Naruto?"
"Clone 12, I reckon."

The old man couldn't stop smiling. Which greatly added to Anko's stated of aggravation.

---

"Ultra Zankuha!" the Sound genin screamed. The massive shockwave only got a few yards before it collided with the raging inferno it was mend to stop. The confrontation of the two blinded the Sound team from seeing anything beyond the 5 meter point. Needless to say they didn't see the wave of kunai coming through the curtain of flames in time to react properly. Dosu was the luckiest as he used the metal device on his arm to deflect the oncoming projectiles. Kin dodged as good as she could, but still got cut in her leg while another blade pierced her left shoulder. Zaku's constant airstream had diverted the kunai that were heading his way, but it hadn't stopped a purple glowing Sasuke from coming up behind him and grabbing a hold of both of his arms.

"You seem to be proud of your arms", he grinned as he placed his foot on Zaku's spine. "Perhaps I should strip you from that pride", he whispered to his captive. Then in one fluent move he started stretching his leg until two distinctive "plops" were heard.
"Yamete Uchiha-sama! Dosu, make him stop!" Kin screamed from the top of her lungs, while still struggling to get the kunai out of her shoulder.
Dosu seemed to hesitate for a second before reaching into his jacket.
"Uchiha-dono. Please forgive us. Take this scroll as a sign of our defeat and allow us to leave with our injured comrade."
It were pretty words and a nice gesture, but they didn't quench the fire that was still burning in Sasuke's eyes. The fact that Naruto suddenly dropped down from the trees and grabbed the scroll out of Dosu's hand probably didn't help much either.

"We accept your generous offer and suggest you get the fuck out of here before someone changes his mind and decides to burn of whatever may remain of your face underneath those bandages."
"Back off Naruto, this is my fight!"
"Yeah I saw. The entire 5 seconds until they surrendered. Now let's just let them go alright?"
Sasuke frowned in thought without losing any grip on his victim. For a few seconds he thought of his next action. "Hmpf. So, you two want your teammate back uh?"
The two Sound genin silently nodded.
"Okay," he said as he lifted Zaku from the ground by leaning backwards, his foot still on the poor genin's back. The Sound nin screamed once more at the sudden difference in pressure that was exerted on his dislocated limbs. "Fetch", he simply said as he catapulted Zaku away at a devastating speed, arching high between the trees. Dosu wasted no time and immediately went after the flying form of his teammate while Kin came limping after him.

Sasuke grinned. In a most uncharacteristic way. The dark purple energy was still lingering around his form and half of his body was covered by the active curse seal. He continued staring at the fleeing forms of his defeated enemies until he noticed something whizzing through the air, coming straight at him at high speed. Just as is was about to hit the side of his face he caught it barehanded.
It was the Earth scroll.
"Are you okay? You look ... different", the blond questioned his teammate with a frown.
Sasuke slowly turned his gaze on Naruto, locking eyes firmly before speaking.
"I feel ... fantastic", he finally grinned, revealing his his right fang.
Naruto raised a questioning eyebrow, this wasn't what he had expected from the seal. Anko had never said anything about this.
"Naruto. Fight me."
"What? Now? You're kidding right? Sakura's injured and we finally got two scrolls. Besides, this is the chuunin exam. I don't want to pass a promotion just to have some fun here."
"... Fine", he answered after taking this into consideration. After finally uttering the response he seemed to have calmed himself enough for the curse seal to retract.

"Lee! What are doing here? Did you forget who your teammates were?" It was Tenten who cried out for him as she came through the bushes. Following a few paces behind her was the Hyuuga.
"Uh? Tenten! Neji! Sorry for my delay. Sakura-chan and her team seemed to be having some trouble wit-"
"Like I said, your assistance was unnecessary."
"And I wasn't even there", Naruto spoke up in his defense.
"The way it sounds you have wasted our time on these rookies here Lee. Let us leave before they ask you to babysit them" the Hyuuga spoke in his stoic yet mocking manner before turning his back to the assembled nin.

That night the darkness felt like a warm blanket that covered the sleeping villagers. Down in the valley, near the lower river, the moonlight shone brightly over his gray spiky hair. Billions and billions of stars were filling up the night sky. It was the kind of night lovers dream about, but alas, he had no one to share this night with. So he just prodded the small campfire he made and pondered over the latest jutsu he acquired. Suddenly a twig snapped in the vicinity and he was immediately back on guard. Some movements in the bushes later the form of a young woman appeared.
"Looks like you can use some company", she smiled. She had brought some rice balls from her father's restaurant. They talked for hours, she mostly about the business and the antics of certain mutually known guests, while he tried to remain quiet about the merciless way of his profession. Then very unexpectedly she flapped out that she really liked him and asked if she could kiss him. She didn't give him the time to answer however as her fingers went for hi-

"Kakashi-san. The Hokage request your presence at his office."
'God. Damn. I was just getting to the good stuff', he thought disappointedly.
"I'll be right there," he said in his lazy tone.
"It concerns your students," the messenger added when he noticed the jounin's lack of enthusiasm.

A little later, but not much, in the Hokage Tower.
"You asked to see me Hokage-sama?"
"I'm afraid so Kakashi. I have news of one of your students."
"What happened."
"It seems that Uchiha Sasuke has been afflicted with one of Orochimaru's Heaven curse seals. We believe the rest of your team is unharmed however."
"Orochimaru! What was he doing in the Leaf?"
"Other then recruiting one of your subordinates we simply don't know his motives. We have reason to suspect howeve-"
"Hokage-sama! I have news of Uchiha Sasuke's condition!" an Anbu who was coming through the window yelled.
"Detarame? It is not your habit to be ... this loud."
"Well, that's probably cause I'm not Detarame", the masked man spoke. His hand moved to the rat shaped mask and opened the clasp holding it shut.
"Naruto!" Both the old man and the young pervert yelled in frustration.
"Close as I can get to it anyway", the blond grinned as he threw off the brown cloak.
"Didn't Anko tell you its not allowed to le-", the old man sighed and changed his mind. "What's the situation over there Naruto?"
"Sasuke has just regained consciousness and brutally defeated the Sound team on his own. Currently there's a dark purple chakra glowing around his body and he looks really pissed."
"Don't add anything to that Naruto, his mind is probably very unstable now. If you fight him at this state, there's a chance he might not recognize you as his friend, but just as another enemy", the jounin warned him.
For a second the bunshin looked as if it was gonna shoot his mouth, but in the end just settled for a murmured "Whatever."
"I presume you didn't come here just to keep us posted."
"Well, actually, I did. But now I'm here anyway, I'd like to know some more about that curse seal."
"Hmmm, let's see. We don't know everything about the curse seals of Orochimaru, but what we do know is that when activated, the curse seal increase their user's strength and chakra five-fold. You can see when it's active as the seal spreads all over the body of the afflicted person."
"That doesn't all sound so horrible. So why do you call it a 'curse' seal?"
"You see Naruto, every time Sasuke will use his seal, he'll become more and more susceptible to Orochimaru. If he'd ever start heavily relying on it, he might even become a mindless slave to Orochimaru's will."
"Orochimaru this, Orochimaru that, who the hell is that guy anyway!" the now frustrated clone demanded to know.
"You shouldn't worry about him now Naruto. You have a Chuunin Exam to pass."
"I'm just worried that if that guy really is as powerful as Anko says he is, we might have pissed him of enough to come back and try to peel of our skin or something."
"I'm afraid that no matter what you heard Naruto, Anko was not over exaggerating. Orochimaru is an S-class missing-nin and an extremely dangerous individual. And taking Anko's report into consideration, then yes I think it would be best if you steered clear from him in the future."
The clone seemed to ponder on this for a moment before letting it go and focusing back on track. "So, what will happen to Sasuke now?"
"We'll put an Evil Seal Suppressor on him, which will keep the seal from taking over Sasuke's body, however, a lot will depend on Sasuke himself. Now, Naruto, if you don't mind, I want to talk to you sensei in private."
"Hai Hokage-oji-sama", he bowed and left through the same window he entered from.

"Doesn't he have to disappear to relay the information back to Naruto himself?" a voice came from behind the masked jounin. Kakashi was fast to turn around and look at the source of the sound.
"Jiraiya-sama!"
"Hi Kakashi", he casually greeted but then looked straight back at his former teacher, desiring an answer.
"I told you he makes his clones different. I suspect he has some sort of telepathic bond with them."
The long haired senin gave a small approving "hmpf" before turning back to Kakashi. "This wasn't exactly the briefing we had in mind, but now that you're up to date anyway, I'll hereby instruct you on the suppression seal Sarutobi mentioned to your student."

"Jeesh Sakura, I keep telling you they're not poisonous. I ate the same ones last night and I'm still here, aren't I?"
"I don't care, I'm not eating anything you picked up from the ground in a place they call the Forest of Death."
"Then at least eat some pigeon. Your body won't heal if you don't get your strength up."
"Actually Naruto, the Nameko mushroom can be quite lethal, if prepared right," a friendly voice suddenly sounded behind them, "however I see you have no complete alchemical lab with you, so chances of that occurring would be dim."
"Kabuto-sempai! What are you doing here?" the pink haired girl jumped up in surprise.
"I got separated from my team fighting some Rain nin. I just found you guys by dumb luck", the silver haired medic-nin smiled. "Lucky for you as well I see, allow me to have a look at your injury Sakura-chan."
"Oh, you're a medic Kabuto-sempai?"
"Well, let's just say I know a few basic healing jutsus,"he modestly answered while removing the bandage. "Run afoul with a senbon user eh? You're fortunate it's only a piercing wound, those are the easiest to heal. That's because the amount of tissue that's actually damaged is minimal. ... See, all healed up already."
"Wow, you're amazing Kabuto-sempai."
"It's nothing really. We Leaf nins have to look out for each other, right?"
"Right"
"Woit", a blond with a face full of pigeon agreed.

Not much later Sasuke arrived back at the scene, finding his teammates in idle chitchat with a fellow Leaf genin. The presence of this third person would have been impossible to miss to anyone, yet the last heir to the Uchiha name pretended like he hadn't noticed him anyway. Even after Kabuto interrupted his conversation with Sakura on the inner working of the human body and cell regeneration properties to greet the raven haired boy he only got a slight nod in affirmation of his existence. This pause however allowed the glassed young man to see Naruto playing with the remains his food.
"Did you know birds have hollow bones to make them light enough to fly, Naruto?"
"Uh? No, really?" the genin in question suddenly looked up. In his curiosity he immediately looked down again to inspect the bone he had just broken between his fingers. "Hey, you're actually right. How did you know that?"
"Naruto, you baka. That's basic academy stuff. Remember Iruka told us when we learned henge? That's the reason ninja's can't just transform into a bird and fly", Sakura scoffed at him.

Naruto on the other hand now experienced a number of different, mostly unpleasant, flashbacks. Transforming into a bird was something that had been on his mind for quite a while already. He had been experimenting with it again up to a month ago, ever since he had gained his higher proficiency with the Kage Bunshin and Henge techniques. His experiments had had many a bunshin expired prematurely and given Naruto a decent knowledge of close encounters of the floor kind, but had never ended in success. This new information could shed a different light on that situation.
Now wasn't the time to experiment however. That would have to wait ... at least until nightfall when the others where asleep. For now, he would just continue snapping the bones, looking like an idiot as he inspected every little piece to check for hollow spaces.

He looked from his little inspections when Sasuke stuck a stick with a fish on it in the ground near the fire. Apparently he didn't want to take the extra risk of trying out Naruto's newly found cooking talent. "Hey Uchiha, why don't you make a trail of breadcrumbs leading to us right away? The smell of that thing will alert every team in a half mile radius downwind of our position."

Silently his feet hit the ground of the complex' inner courtyard. He had witnessed this scenery many times before, yet this time was different. No longer would he be a simple observer, this time, he would go further; delve deeper into the dark secrets of the near dead clan. Though he knew there would be no one wondering the premises, he moved forward with the greatest stealth and care, weary of any possible traps that could end his already brief existence even sooner. The soft tapping of the rubber soles of his sandals sounded ear deafening to him.
When he finally reached the sliding doors his dim, shadowy hart felt like it would beat straight through his chest. Not out of fear, but excitement. He knew they were crossing a line at this point. Not only was breaking and entering in a fellow shinobi's house a felony, most of the time it also was an incredibly stupid and dangerous task as well. But he was a ninja and this the mission given to him by his creator. After spending some time picking the lock, he carefully slid open the door. He halted the movement of his arm as soon as his eyes detected the sunlight reflecting on a steel wire. Following the thin cable, he saw it leading to a out of place, closed cabinet. No doubt his rival had filled it with some nasty surprises. He looked further into the room, but failed to notice any more surprises. Still he didn't trust this simple setup, it wasn't like Sasuke to set up such an uncomplicated trick. Throwing his eyes to the ceiling and subjecting it to inspection he nodded approvingly. Moments later his world was turned upside down and the clone himself was carefully wedging himself through the narrow opening.

After navigating through the mansion for some minutes he started to learn his way around. Half an hour of searching later he still hadn't found anything that remotely looked like his target: the collection of techniques and jutsus the Uchiha clan must have acquired throughout the years. Yet he knew it had to be there. One did not become one of the ruling factions of Konoha for over a hundred years without some intensive clan only training program or something to back it up with. And Naruto neither believed that Sasuke, no matter what kind of genius he was supposed to be, developed chuunin techniques like the Grand Fireball, Mythical Fire Flower of Dragons Flame by himself. Not without his Sharingan anyway.

For a second it had already crossed his mind that the Uchiha clan had no need for an extensive jutsu library. With the ability to copy almost any jutsu in the bat of an eye and remember it indefinitely, who would throw himself over stacks of scrolls for hours on end to learn new techniques? Then he remembered the that not every Uchiha developed the Sharingan and even all those who did, didn't all do it at an early age. So that left him with the one conclusion that there simply had to be some good stuff stashed away in here somewhere.

He just had to find out where.

'Let's see, if I was an Uchiha, where would I hide all my secret goodies? Put myself in his mindset ...
I'm a superior ninja. My clan is the most feared one in all of Konoha. I can steal every jutsu of yours that you throw at me, know what you're going to do before you actually do it and see through any genjutsu. On top of that I'm a cocky bastard and think you're all dumb shit. You wanna steal all our jutsus? Oooh, I'm so scared right now, here's the key, come right in, I'm going to do some training in the forest, close the door on your way out.'
'... That's it! Genjutsu. There must be a permanent illusion placed around here somewhere.'

It wasn't long really afterwards that the bunshin ended up staring at a majestic zen garden in one of the living quarters. What intrigued him the most was the very well kept miniature flower garden on one of the central rocks. Naruto didn't know a lot about flowers, other then that they needed water and good soil or something like that, but the one thing he did know was that Sasuke definitely didn't strike him like a flower-type person.
So, this might be it, the entrance to the cave of knowledge. He took a step closer to the pool of raked pebbles and reached down inside. They small rocks felt real enough. He grabbed some and uprighted himself. Selectively he tossed some back into the garden. Nothing special seemed to happen. He quickly looked behind his back and then faced the pool again. He closed his eyes and then carefully as not to hit anything he started tossing the stones behind his back. Yet no matter how hard he focused on telling himself they weren't real, each time he heard the distinctive thud when a pebble hit the ground behind him. This was most unpleasant, this out of place meditation garden certainly wasn't bringing any relaxation to his mind. He tossed the last remaining rock up and down his hand. There was one more thing he could try. With a wide arc he threw the small stone across the room, as it was flying the clone started doing handseals.
"Kawarimi no jutsu."

He closed his eyes right before a puff of smoke surrounded him. He took a deep breath before opening them, but when he did he smiled. It might look real, feel real and sound real, but one thing has for sure. Ninjutsu that depended on matter did not work on this illusion. So that was settled, this was definitely the place. Now they just needed to find a way to get past it.

"I swear that's the fifth time we passed that tree Naruto. Do you actually have any idea on where we are? You probably got us lost again." Sakura complained.
"Would you finally shut the hell up Haruno, just cause I'm walking up front doesn't mean the three of you have to just follow mindlessly. Besides, the tower should be right around that tree line over there."
"That's what you said the last three times."
"Yes I did, didn't I ?" he gloated.
"You baka. You say that like it's a good thing."
"It kept you quiet until we reached the tree line, didn't it?"
"Dammit Naruto you stupid blon-"
"Ah, here we are. Three days ahead of the deadline. ... So Kabuto, you're just going to wait until your team arrives?"
"Guess I have little choice in the matter. But I'm confident they'll show up soon."
"Well then, see you inside Kabuto-sempai."
"Bye bye Sakura-chan. Naruto, Sasuke." He greeted the two boys with a small nod.

---

"... if you lack strength run in the fields. If you lack wisdom, seek enlightenment."
"If you're weak, train. If you're an idiot, learn. I don't think myself as either, so let's just open those scrolls now, shall we?"
"But instructor Anko said not t-" Sakura objected.
"No to open them until we reached the tower. We're there now." Naruto stated, grabbed his own Heaven scroll and opened it. Sasuke did the same with his Earth scroll.
Just as they started to get some comprehension of what they were reading smoke erupted from both scrolls. Quickly they both threw their scrolls away and braced themselves for whatever was coming.

"Iruka-sensei!"
"Hi Naruto. Sakura-chan. Sasuke." the previous mentor of the members of Team 7 greeted.
"I see you made it past the second test. Pretty good time as well."
"We had some ... added difficulty to the test. I'll tell you later Iruka-sensei."
"I'm sure you will Naruto. Well, the test doesn't end for another three days. So let me show you to your quarters where you'll be staying until everything is over."

On the way to their chambers they passed a few common rooms where Hinata, Kiba and Shino were hanging around with Lee and Tenten. Upon recognizing them the golden haired boy immediately wanted to stop and say hi, but Iruka had expected that and told him to come along and see his room first. The chuunin didn't have much time he said, he had a lot of tests to correct and lessons to prepare. On top of that, he had to participate in supervising the rest of the exam. Halfway during his explanation Naruto had already replaced himself with a clone and was heading towards Hinata.

"Ohayo Hinata-chan! Guys. Tenten."
"Hi Naruto-kun."
"Yo Naruto, where's the rest of your team? .. They're not .. dead, are they?"
"Nha, Iruka is showing them and a clone of me to our rooms. They'll probably show up in a minute or so."
"How did your test go, Naruto-kun?"
"... It was .. We ran into some unforeseen obstacles. I'll tell you later. Everything else was pretty kick ass though. How did you guys do?"
"Well we got our second scroll pretty fast. After that we just headed straight for this tower. We've been here from day one. Only a few hours after ..." the white eyed Hyuuga heiress suddenly just fell silent.
"What is it Hinata?"
"Gaara", Kiba answered in her place. "We happened upon his team and a Rain team fighting. It was ... brutal. He, he just slaughtered them all. The guy's a monster. It was just like you said Naruto, only worse. More .. terrifying", he spoke in a silent voice. For Naruto seeing Kiba act this way was most unsettling, still he had to know more.
"What does he do for attacks?"
"He uses the sand inside his gourd. He can control it's movement and wrap it around his opponents. Then he; he closes his hand in a fist and... And everything just ..."
"He crushes his opponents bodies. Using so much pressure they implode. The remains of their bodies just flying in bits and pieces through the air." Shino finished. He stated it without any emotion. No matter how impressive his description sounded, it didn't seem to do one thing to the prince of the hive.

"Naruto-kun. How goes your t-"
"Hiya Lee! Great to see you!" Naruto shouted out to the Azure Beast. "Hey, come here for a seconds would you? There's something I just really need to know."
"If you wish."

"Listen Lee," Naruto started as they moved from the group, "I'd really like this training to be kept just among us. It's hard enough to beat an Uchiha without him knowing just how you're gonna do it."
"I understand Naruto. There are things I have been keeping from my rival as well. I hope I will be able to show him my true accomplishments before the end of this Exam. Now was there something you wanted to ask me, Naruto?"
"Not really actually. I just wanted to talk to you in private. ... Wait, maybe there is something. The Hyuuga in your team, you called him Neji, right? You wouldn't know if he happens to be Hinata's cousin?"
"Actually he is. I think it would be unwise to mention it though. There is a lot of bad blood between the two houses right now and Neji doesn't seem to be unaffected by the internal struggle of the Hyuuga. I believe that Hinata, being the heiress to the main house, now stands for everything he wants to oppose."
"Ah it's like that. I was wondering why Hinata didn't want to talk about it."
"Now tell me Naruto-kun; how far have you progressed with Gai-sensei's training?"
"I just need two more bars and I'll be at your previous level", the blond smiled. "How about you?"
Lee's face dropped in a look of shame and disappointment "I still have a long way to go before reaching Gai-sensei's level."
"Oh come on Lee, Gai's like over twice your age. You can't expect to get as good as him overnight."

"Naruto!" a hellish voice resounded throughout the hallways. "How dare you leave us alone to listen to Iruka-sensei's rambling!"
The orange clad boy just rolled his eyes as he heard his furious teammate approaching, making sure that she saw it too.

"This will hurt quite a lot", the jounin spoke to his raven haired subordinate as he put his hand of on the center of the complicated set of seals he had just finished to to suppress the dreaded Curse Seal of Orochimaru.
The next moment the dark chamber of the tower was filled with the screams of Uchiha Sasuke's voice. The seals on the floor suddenly seemed to take on a life of its own as it flowed towards the original, making the circle of commas light up in retaliation. It was all over in a matter of seconds but to the young boy on the floor it seemed to last for hours. When the pain suddenly subsided his mind couldn't hold it anymore and glided into unconsciousness.

"Ku ku ku Kakashi-kun. You didn't know how to use seals last time we met."
"Orochimaru!"
"You know it doesn't matter how many seals you put on mine. The Heaven seal is linked directly to his will and his will for power is strong. Strong enough, to overcome."
"Then his will should be strong enough to resist your influence as well."
"Ku ku ku Kakashi-kun. I will leave you with this question: Whose will is strong enough to resist itself?"

As the words echoed through the halls, the pale face of the snake master retreated back into darkness, along with the rest of his slim form. The gray haired Leaf captain looked defeated. The shame of being unable to pose a threat to this opponent together with the fear of losing his student to him was to great for him to just let it idly slide by, like he did with most emotions.

Authors notes:

To everybody: I'm really sorry it took me so long to update and leave you with such a crappy ending. Really.
Real life (aka having a job and responsibilities) sucks. I'm really stressed for time, all the time.
This story is still constantly on my mind, so no worries that I'll abandon it before I've written what I had set out to write.
Thanks to all my reviewers, especially the people who came with so many ideas of their own, and I want to apologize to you guys right now for having forgotten your names and being to lazy and in a hurry to look them up, I just really want to get this chapter on line fast before something happens to stop that again.

Message to everybody who finds out spelling or grammatical errors: PM me or mail me a corrected version of this chapter. It's so embarrassing to get corrections like that in the review sections and I'm too ashamed of the long ago update to bother the people who proposed to beta for me.

Laterz guys.

K