Disclaimer: Neither The 8th Stone nor I own Naruto.

A/N: I published a total of three chapters today . . . One for SNU, another for Fragmented Remains, and a last one for a new fic named Fallen Sakura ("In which Sakura betrays the village instead of Sasuke"). Check it out in my profile? ;)

The poem for the Chuunin Exams is from the English dub (Cartoon Network), so it may be different from what you've seen.

Also, I'm reading the fic After the Fall, by Insane Romantic, and I realized how similar hers is to mine (except Sakura, not Sasuke, travels back in time and there's no replacement for her and other things that might spoil the story if I say it here). It's really good. If you like SNU, you should read it. It's a hundred times than anything you're about to read down here. :)

11. Unknown Future of the Preliminary Rounds

There was a poem written on canvas-like cloth, situated over a wall in the back of the room. It was a puzzle, and Naruto couldn't help but suppress his grimace. He hated puzzles.

Sasuke stood beside him, watching with some amusement unbeknownst to the boy. Perhaps the emo bastard liked poetry? That wouldn't surprise him.

Naruto rolled his eyes, and read:

"If qualities of heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher.

"If earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack.

"When heaven and earth are open together, the perilous path will become righteous forever.

"This . . . 'something' is the secret way which guides us from this place today."

There was silence for a while, then—

"WHAT! That doesn't make sense at all!" he exclaimed, waving at the poem. "Kami, what do they mean by 'qualities of heaven'? And 'take your mind higher'? And what about that blank space? (And what does 'perilous' mean anyway?) It's—It's like—Sakura-chan! Why aren't you awake? WE NEED YOUR AWESOME BRAIN!"

Naruto saw Sasuke's eyebrow twitch (it was amazing thing, the human anatomy).

"It doesn't matter what the answer is, idiot . . . All we need to do is open the scrolls."

"The scrolls?" Naruto crossed his fingers and frowned. "Are you sure?"

They were warned to never open the scrolls . . . but only in the Forest.

"Yes."

That was, surprisingly, all it needed to convince him.

Naruto took out the Earth scroll, while Sasuke fished the Heaven scroll from his pocket. They looked at each other once, and nodded.

Both broke the seal with their fingers and pulled out the sheet of paper, unfurling the secret messages that they had worked so painstakingly hard for—

A beat passed.

"'Man' . . . ?" He tilted his head, hoping for a better understanding from another perspective.

Naruto was disappointed. All he could make out was a series of scribbled words, arranged in a circle with a huge kanji, 人. The symbol for "man".

Then, the symbol began to bulge.

"Wha—" His fingers fumbled dumbly with the scroll.

"Naruto, drop the scroll!"

And Naruto did, literally threw it across the room like how he would with a bomb—

Huge puffs of white smoke burst into existence, filling the room: a summoning. Shadows appeared in the smoky air, and, alarmed, Naruto immediately held up his kunai, which earned a slight shake of head from Sasuke. In wonder, he lowered his weapon and stared at the approaching figure.

The air cleared. From the shadows emerged Iruka, his Academy teacher, looking as tan and kind as ever. Seeing him was like seeing a family member after a long mission; Naruto relaxed at once.

"Iruka-sensei!" he instead called loudly.

Iruka raised a hand. "Hey, Naruto . . . and look," he glanced at his watch, "still two more days to spare." He grinned. "I'm impressed."

"What are you talking about, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto feigned indignity. "I'm gonna be the future Hokage! These little bug and branches ain't got nothing on me!"

Sasuke snorted, earning him a glare from Naruto.

"Teme!"

Iruka held up his hands to calm his former student down. "There, there, Naruto. You just passed the second stage of the exams. Shouldn't you be celebrating?"

Naruto laughed. "Well, of course! I mean . . ." Then he registered Iruka's words. "We . . . we passed?"

Naruto knew he was gaping with his mouth open, but didn't really care.

"Yep. My job is a messenger to inform teams of their passing. The Sandaime has set up a tradition for Chuunin to welcome oncoming Genin. And so, I conclude here, that Team Kakashi has passed the second part of the Chuunin Exams. Congratulations. Now," he rubbed his neck, "I would really like for us to get a bowl of ramen or so . . ."

Naruto's eyes brightened. "YES! Ramen! Ramen! Oh, most definitely ramen!" He jumped up and down. "And all this time we were stressing over that stupid poem, and in the end it doesn't even matter—"

"Actually," Iruka cut in, with a laughing tone in his voice, "part of my job as messenger is to explain that poem to you, Naruto."

"Dobe . . ." Sasuke muttered under his breath superiorly.

Naruto stuck a tongue out at his friend, who rolled his eyes. What a bastard.

Iruka chuckled, the kind of chuckle you would hear from a man amused by youngsters' antics.

"Well, now, allow me to explain." The man cleared his throat, but then paused, his gaze transferred Sakura. She was still unconscious. "Sakura is still asleep, though. Can you tell her about this when she wakes up?"

Naruto nodded. "Of course!"

"Good, because this is a bit important . . . Now, this here is a list of requirements the Third Hokage wrote down for the Chuunin." Iruka traced his fingers over the first line. "'If qualities of heaven are your desire . . ."

And so it went. To be honest, Naruto didn't memorize half what Iruka had said, mostly too excited by the fact that they had passed the second exams! At this rate, all of Team 7 could become Chuunin, even if more freaks, like that Olotimato or whatever, came. Believe it.

But as Iruka's lecture winded down to an end (something that reminded him so nostalgically of the Academy days), Naruto realized that he was staring at him a bit oddly, making him wonder if there was a giant lizard climbing across his nose.

"Iruka . . . sensei?" he asked uncertainly.

The man seemed to shake himself out of a daze, and that usual kind-old-Iruka smile was back across his face.

"Naruto . . . you've grown."

The boy smiled widely, his hands behind his neck. "'Course, sensei! I'm gonna be the Godaime someday! Nothing's gonna stop me out there! Believe it!"

Instead of the usual reprimand he'd expected, Naruto got a small pat on the head.

He looked up, surprised, but saw that Iruka had already turned his heels, proceeding on leaving.

"By the way," Iruka tilted his head back and faced Sasuke with a grin, "thank you, Sasuke."

And then the Chuunin left, leaving Naruto staring, dumbfounded, at his smirking best friend.

Sakura woke exactly two hours and thirty-three minutes after their arrival at the tower (not that Sasuke was counting or anything), and immediately shut Naruto up nicely by the repeatedly murderous cries of "Quiet, Naruto! Your voice is KILLING MY HEAD!" Sasuke was glad he had a reason to glare more often; that strange happy sensation he'd gotten when she opened her eyes was unnerving him.

They spent the rest of the time catching up on their stories to the fight with Team Dosu. After everyone finished talking, Naruto got the most ridiculous idea of comparing each of their own clothing designs. Naruto's bright orange jumpsuit was of course voted as Most Blinding and Ridiculous Shinobi Garb of Team 7, while Sasuke's combination of dark blue, black, dark blue, and black was voted as Most Emo. He thought the voting was rather biased. After all, if he didn't agree to vote Sakura's red dress for Most Feminine, he would certainly get a beating for it.

Sasuke's wounds were not healed yet, though he wasn't worried. He had suffered more than a few cuts and bleedings, albeit this time from one of the most feared ninjas in the world. But he was fine, as he told Sakura that one time, who glared at him scarily (and they said he was terrifying?) while unwrapping a few of his bandages.

"No, Sasuke." She crossed her arms. The scary glare was still there, so he dared not interrupt. "You already ripped four of my stitches. I don't want to patch you up just because you refuse to cooperate. If any more stitches break, I will watch you bleed to death and laugh because you were too scared to get the stitches over with."

Needless to say, Sasuke became a lot more obedient after that.

Their stay at the central tower of the Forest of Death was a short one. After another day, the time limit for this stage was up, and doors were barred from other Genins. The three Genin of Team 7 was allowed out of their compartment.

"Yes! FRESH AIR!" Naruto shouted, earning him more than a few raised eyebrows as he tore through the hallways.

After the recapturing of Naruto, Team 7 strode into the tower's huge, gym-like main room. The place wasn't particularly familiar to Sasuke—after all, he'd only been there for one battle—but he could tell that it was the main room, the place where the preliminary rounds would take place.

"Welcome," the Third greeted, standing in front of the huge, seal-forming fingers. Silence spread through the Genins. "To have passed the Forest of Death, all of you must be remarkable in the prospects of . . ."

The Rookie Nine, all of them, were present in the room, as were Gai, Kabuto, and Gaara's teams. Sasuke tried not to glare at the medic too much—it would be suspicious. But it was a hard taks. The man's very face reminded him of his time in Sound, without doubt one of the most horrible times in his past life. He remembered with much disgust how some of Orochimaru's "lab rats" had been left to die in those vile cells underground after "their usefulness was over". The experiments would scream and claw the ground, bang onto the bars, smash their heads against the impenetrable walls, and plead for mercy, for freedom, for food, for death . . .

How he had ever lived with the man all those months, he couldn't fathom.

There was but one small alternation this time around. Team Dosu was not present with the Chuunin finals hopefuls.

Good riddance, he thought savagely, thinking of how they'd sneaked up on Naruto and Sakura while he was out.

Remember, though: what seems good right now may be seen otherwise later on, the Voice said in its usual riddle-like tone.

Now all that was left were the fights at the preliminary rounds. Without the Curse Mark to stop him this time, his opponent (what was the guy's name? Yoro? Leyoi?) would be an easy opponent. Naruto would pass along with him, though Sakura wouldn't . . . But that was alright. She'd probably be disappointed at first, but it was too early for her to become Chuunin anyway, without including the possible Invasion in the equation.

Hayate Gekko, a sickly-looking man with tired, sunken eyes, appeared before the crowd of final qualifiers, and began an announcement.

Sasuke ignored both Hayate and the Voice—neither were worth much of his attention. Instead, he chose to use the time to access his enemies. There, across from Hinata (who waved back shyly at a grinning Naruto), Tenten (who spun a kunai around her index finger dully), and Kankuro (who fingered the bandages of his puppet rather suspiciously . . .), he saw Kabuto's teammate, Yoroi-something, who looked malicious just by simply standing there, with his creepy sunglasses and face mask.

". . . and because of this, we will host a preliminary round before the finals," the proctor concluded, coughing twice more in his fist. "A series of one-on-one matches will be made to determine whether you are fit to go on to the final round or not. If you are defeated in these matches, you are out. Only the winners may advance. If you want to drop out, you may say so now."

Murmurs of and protest rose from the Genin.

"This isn't fair—"

"Hey, why can't we all—"

"This was never—"

"We are all—"

"I will drop out."

The voices ceased.

Gaunt eyes located the boy's raised hand.

"Yakushi Yabuto?" Hayate called out hoarsely then nodded. "Very well. You may leave."

"Kabuto?" Naruto piped in the front. "Why? You were doing pretty good. Why are you quitting now?"

The silver-haired medic faked a smile. "I'm sorry, Naruto-san. The injury I've gotten earlier . . . it's just too much of a risk for me." He walked away, head dipped down. "Perhaps next time I would have a better chance."

Sasuke stared after the man, fist clenching and unclenching. Seeing that Team 7 had survived the Forest . . . the snake probably wanted to report to his master. However, Sasuke could do little but glare after him angrily. After all, who would all the Jounin believe—a shinobi who had been loyal (seemingly) since birth, or the new, stuck-up boy from enemy Cloud?

The silence returned after Kabuto's departure. Not many people knew of the man's talent as a medic, even as a supposedly "mediocre" one. Even fewer knew of his association with the infamous Orochimaru—the right-hand man, a powerful position. But most knew that Kabuto had attended the Exams more than any one of them, and the fact that the boy intended on dropping out was worrisome to all.

"Kakashi-sensei!" chorused Naruto and Sakura, running over to meet their teacher. Sasuke acknowledged the ninja's presence with a small "hn".

"See, all those training sessions had brought you here, hadn't it?" Kakashi teased, knowing that the boys hated it when Sakura always won.

"Kakashi," Sasuke cut in, realizing that this was a good chance to reveal what he knew about Orochimaru. "I have to tell you—"

But he was interrupted by Hayate. After a loud fit of hacking coughs, the proctor said, "The LED screen will randomly match up you and your opponents. There will be no choosing on who your opponent will be. Again, the winner will qualify for the Chuunin Exam finals, while the losers leave. First opponents . . ."

Gigantic monitors blinked into life on both sides of the statue's index finger and began scrambling names.

Sasuke smirked and proceeded forward on the balcony, knowing his name would be called. The conversation could wait.

The flickering stopped, but Sasuke's name did not appear.

"Tsurugi Misumi versus Nara Shikamaru."

"Sasuke, come back." Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't get so excited. It's not your turn yet."

"Yeah, teme!" said Naruto. "If you want to face me, you have to save all your energy to put on a good fight when I kick your butt!"

"Naruto," Sakura said in exasperation. "You don't even know if it's Sasuke you're facing." She made a face. "Plus, why would you want to face your own teammates anyway?"

"Actually," Sasuke cut in, getting over the moment of shock, "the person I want to fight most . . . is you."

Naruto grinned in determination. There seemed some sort of gratefulness in his eyes, grateful to be acknowledged.

"But Iruka told me to 'protect' the dobe." He smirked. "So don't worry. I won't hurt you too bad."

While Kakashi held both of the boys by their collars, Sakura sighed. "Morons," she muttered.

After a few more jibes (accompanied by the customary Sakura Punch), Sasuke focused his attention back to the center of the room, like everyone else. Or he seemed to.

Voice . . .

Hm . . . So you finally noticed what getting Dosu and the others out will mean?

I don't understand. Their scroll was taken last time too. Why—?

Their purpose, it explained, was to capture one teammate of Sai's and kill the rest. Unlike last time, they are actually expected to kill you. They failed to do so—and Orochimaru is an unforgiving man.

Ah . . .

Shikamaru finished Kabuto's teammate, Misumi, off within five minutes. Misumi's signature strangling move needed close physical contact—something that could already be used in the Leaf-nin's advantage. After capturing the contortist in the Shadow Possession Jutsu, the boy revealed that he had tied up his kunai pouch on his left leg before the battle, instead of the usual right. When he reached down the holster for a weapon, his opponent, mirroring his moves, could get nothing, as it was strapped on his other thigh. Needless to say, Shikamaru advanced easily.

It was quick, too, when Temari faced off Kiba. Temari's fan had swept Kiba and Akamaru off their feet, literally—the two of them were in at the hospital now. There was a grim sort of silence for the Konoha-nins. Not because Temari had won, but because of the way she had finished the two off: how she had almost killed the bleeding Kiba, who'd tried to save Akamaru from the girl's cutting winds. Many of them had lived upon their parents' ideals of honor and justice, and especially mercy instead of unnecessary cruelty. Everyone knew that the ninja world wasn't sunshine and sparkles, but to see it up close and personal . . . Even those who hadn't thought much of Kiba previously held resentments to Temari.

The match between Neji and Chouji was the first round with two Leaf shinobi, and it was the one that everyone expected the victors of already. In spite of Ino's calling of "fatso," an angered Chouji, and the fact that Chouji's Human Bullet Tank made his chakra points basically impossible to penetrate, all Neji had to do was stand and watch as the Akimichi crashed into a wall. The fight was over quickly from there.

While Ino dragged a dazed Chouji from the field, Hayate announced the winner of the match. Neji was allowed to enter the finals.

But not much harm was done, Sasuke reflected dryly as he watched Chouji gobble down the fifth pack of chips (how in the world did he bring all that to the Exams . . . ?). He then turned his attention back to the front, and craned his neck over Naruto, who had been cheering loudly for Chouji. He was alright to fight against anyone in the arena. But if he got Gaara, though . . .

The screen flashed, and all watched with great eagerness . . .

Ino Yamanaka vs Tenten

Team 10 must have had some sort of weird luck to have all three of their members picked in the first four matches, while none of Team 7 was chosen. Sasuke watched impassively as Ino muttered some words to her teammates before heading down the railing.

This, like the Neji-Chouji match, was an obvious victory for Team Gai. Tenten's speed was an obvious advantage. Ino was not likely to pull a stunt like cutting off her hair without drawing suspicions to herself, like what happened in his past life, something Naruto and Sakura had told him about. Team 10's advantage lied in their teammates' compatibility to work as a combat machine. They were ten times less efficient as ninjas separated.

"Pig . . ." Sakura had been quiet for a few moments in the waiting room after Sasuke told her what'd happened with Team Dosu. The female mind sure was strange, never saying what they truly meant directly. Like now. Even as indifferent as Sasuke was, he could still tell that she was practically restraining herself from showing worry.

"Begin."

Tenten didn't waste time hesitating. At once, the girl pulled out kunai from pockets and senbon from buns. One flash of hands to the shuriken pouch and her hands were filled with ninja stars.

Ino was forced to duck deadly weapon after deadly weapon, each landing precariously close. Her face was that of determination, but sheer will did little to deflect the onslaught.

A scythe-like object missed Ino by half an inch, while another grazed her cheek. Blood flowed freely from her wound.

The rain of kunai and shuriken ceased suddenly.

Ino hesitated.

Tenten's arms were crossed, fingers curled. It was only through the precise angle of lighting that Sasuke saw it.

Strings.

A casual fling from Tenten. Weapons twitched on the ground, and then were flung into the air. Ino was trapped; she had no way of escaping.

Sisssssh! Four kunai sliced through her well-kept ponytail, leaving a short stub. Her hair scatted all over the field with the speed of the attack. Ino came out unscathed, but her cut was bleeding heavier than ever. The whole left side of her face was covered in blood.

Tenten shook her head. "Give up, Ino-san. You can't win this. I never miss a target."

The blonde girl did not respond. Strangely, instead of covering her wound, her hand was pressed against her forehead, as if her head was paining her. What was—?

Seeing that Ino wasn't about to forfeit, Tenten shook her head, and charged forward, weapons, rigged with wires, trailed after—

Tenten stopped abruptly. "What the—?"

Twenty feet in front, Ino smirked, though through pain it came out more as a grimace. Below her, one foot stepped on a small blue glowing . . . wire?

"Her hair . . ." Sakura breathed beside Sasuke. Then he saw it too. The strands of light yellow could be seen, outlined with blue chakra. The strands of hair wrapped around Tenten's ankle and rendered the girl immobile. This mimicked Shikamaru's jutsu, achieving the same effect and at the same time covering her weakness.

"You can't run now," Ino said smugly, and rightly so. In Tenten's split second of carelessness, the match was turned into her favor.

". . . No," Tenten admitted. She did not waste time struggling against. She was a weapon master. She knew how traps worked. "But I can still do this!"

Those motionless weapons, bound by their masters' strings, slid through the stone floor and towards Ino.

So what was faster, the velocity of wired weapons, or Ino's mind technique?

But Ino seemed confident that she would win out. She raised her pale, shaking arms.

"Mind Transfer . . . Jut . . . su . . ."

Then her eyelids drooped. Blue eyes rolled backwards and Ino fainted to the ground.

Gai Maito seemed to appear in several locations at once, kicking off the metal weapons Tenten could not stop in time.

Asuma arrived at Ino a beat slower than his fellow ninja, lifting her up in his arms, cradling her softly. But something didn't seem to sit right with him. He took one look at his student and paused in his steps.

"Medic!" he shouted.

A ninja clad in white overalls hurried to the Jounin. Soon, Kurenai joined the two and they began to discuss something.

"What happened!" Naruto was shocked.

"Sasuke . . ." Sakura's voice was shaky. "What are they saying?"

Sasuke's eyes flashed red, and focused on the small group.

"This is Kurenai. 'Genjutsu,'" Sasuke said, lip-synching the exact words. "'But not the normal kind, and wasn't done very cleanly either. There must be some sort of leftover stimulus in her brain, most likely unintentional. This might just be an accidental reactivation, but I'm guessing her jutsu might've triggered the genjutsu. Don't worry, though. It doesn't seem very life-threatening. Just a blackout.'" The woman's gaze hardened. "'The original might have been worse.'"

Sasuke frowned. Gai was speeding over to the group of three. "Now it's Gai talking. 'A'right. This is definitely not Tenten's doings. She told me there isn't any poison in her kunai; she'd used them all in the Forest.'

Asuma: 'We know, Gai. Kurenai thinks that it's a leftover stimulus-genjutsu, and her technique triggered it. But what—?' Kurenai again. 'Asuma, stop fretting. She's fine. Her condition is stable. The more worrying thing is how the stimulus was there in the first pla—'"

"Sasuke. Sakura. Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to eavesdrop?" Kakashi put hands on their shoulders. Sasuke deactivated the Sharingan, having heard Kakashi coming. "And Sakura," the man added offhandedly, "don't think of running. As admirable as it is for you to care for a fellow Konoha ninja, there is nothing you can do for Ino right now."

Sakura froze in place and glared at her sensei, something that seemed to surprise Kakashi, whether pleasantly or not. Sasuke did not speak his mind, but chose to watch Sakura carefully.

The slight tremble of her hands and the tight hunch of her shoulders told Sasuke that she hadn't forgotten about what happened in the Forest. Her eyes darted back and forth between Kakashi and Ino, who was being carried away. Sasuke suddenly wondered if he would react the same way if it was Naruto instead of Ino on that stretcher, but then realized that it was unthinkable.

Perhaps what Sakura was feeling wasn't so irrational after all.

"Now, Sakura . . ." the Jounin warned.

"I—"

"You're gonna miss the preliminary rounds," Sasuke interrupted. He met her glare evenly, and continued harshly, "You can't help her anyway. It's the truth."

You're worthless.

That was a thought left unsaid, but still conveyed, to Sakura.

Her angered faded a bit. Sakura lowered her head, short hair framing her face.

She gave a small, bitter smile. "Yes. I guess so, then."

Sasuke could practically feel her self-loathing, hear her chanting the words Weak, weak, weak, weak in her mind.

When neither Naruto or Kakashi could see him, he took her hand, gave it a squeeze, and let go. Ignoring her confused expression, he looked away, remembering a time when she would squeal with joy if he so much as looked at her.

He shook away the thought, deeming at as treacherous. After all . . . it was different now. She liked, and would most likely fall in love, with a whole different person.

And Sasuke wasn't Sai Uchiha. He was just her teammate.