The Start of Nothing

by RaitonNinja

To find one's purpose in life is the goal of all. They build, strive, decieve and even kill to fulfill what they believe is their destiny in the world, only to realize that in the grand scheme of the universe, even the most impactful actions will only be a dot in history. Everything's essentially the start of nothing. This holds true for a small, blonde hero as well.

12. The Fox and The Weasel

Chapter 12: The Fox and The Weasel

---

Naruto let out a loud yawn as he made his way back into the building where the chunin exams were being held. Ino and Shikamaru were waiting for him at the door, both looking rather irritated by his tardiness.

"You should have got up and gotten ready when I told you." Ino said kicking herself off the wall and turning to head inside. Naruto gave his trademark grin while rubbing the back of his, getting the girl to roll her eyes at him.

"What can I say, five minutes turned into 30." He said. Shikamaru actually nodded his head in agreement at the boy's statement.

"Actually, he's right. It happens sometimes you know?" He said, him and Naruto sharing a high five as the sole female member of their squad looked on in disgust.

"I honestly can't with you two…" she said shaking her head as she opened the doors to room they were to be briefed at. They noticed right off the bat that the amount teams present were much smaller than the other day, the room almost looking empty in comparison.

"I wonder did-oh nevermind, there they are." Naruto said waving over at Team 8. "Looks like they made it after all, sweet!"

"That's surprising, all of rookie nine managed to make it through the first round." Ino said as they walked up the stairs. "Maybe we'll all end up getting promoted?"

"Don't get your hopes up." Shikamaru said as they sat down in their spot. As if on cue, everyone from Konoha seemed to gravitate over towards them.

"Hey, you guys arrived pretty late today, though I guess not seeing as the instructor isn't here yet." Sakura said looking back towards the front of the room. "What took you?"

"Well Naruto here decided to sleep in on one of the most important days of our shinobi careers so far." Ino said clearly still upset about the situation.

"Aw jeez, look around, nobodies even here yet! There was no harm done!" Naruto said trying to plead his case. It seemed to fall on deaf ears though as Ino simply continued to examing her nails, not giving the boy even the slightest of attention.

"Looks like Konoha's tied for the highest second round turn out with Kumogakure, that's gotta' bode well for our village." Tenten said looking around the room. "I'm guessing this next round is going to be a killer though."

"Ah killer, smiller, we'll be ready. Nobody's stopping me from getting that damn vest." Naruto said with a determination. Though no one would admit it, the boy's words sent a morale boost through everyone there. Though some of them couldn't tell if it was confidence or ignorance driving him.

"Looks like we're about to start." Choji said as the doors to the room opened up. Darui walked to the front of the room, looking through the remaining students with a lazy demeanor about himself.

"Wow, I did better than I expected. I was thinking a lot more teams would have passed than this." He mumbled to himself surprised by how empty the room was. Clearing his throat, he started the presentation. "Alright, congratulations on passing the first part of the exams. You'll be getting a new instructor who will be supervising you for the second part. She should be coming in right about...now."

The sound of somebody running down the halls caught the attention of everyone in the room. Suddenly, the doors shot open and a blonde blur rushed through the room and stood next to Darui.

"Whew, just in time!" The new addition said panting as she leaned over to catch her breathe. Settling down, she stood upright and greeted everyone in the room with a big smile. "Hello, I'll be your instructor for this part of the exam."

Naruto stared at her closely, his nose twitching as he picked up her scent. His eyes went wide as he stood up and pointed down at her, catching the attention of everyone in the room.

"Hey, you're Mitsune aren't you? What the hell are you doing here?" He said as Ino too stood up in recognition.

"I thought you looked familiar, what the hell's going on here?!" She said putting her hands on her hip. Darui looked over at the blonde in amusement as she rubbed her head in embarrassment, similar to another person in the room.

"You see, about that…" she started before trailing off at the end. Eventually she perked back up, clapping her hands together as her smile widened. "Well nevermind that, let's focus on the now!"

"That's Yugito-san for you." Karui said looking at what was transpiring with an exhausted expression. Omoi simply nodded in agreement.

"My name is Yugito, and I'll be your instructor for this part of the exam." She said taking on a slightly more serious tone as she began to explain the exam. "I guess I'll preface it all by saying this; only 8 teams will be passing on to the final portion of this competition."

Instantly the room became livelier as everyone began to speak out against what she just said. Yugito allowed it to continue on for a little longer before holding her hand up to gather everyone's attention back to her.

"I know, but like it or not that's how things are going down. Now, onto what this particular exam is going to entail. Scattered throughout the mountain ranges surrounding the village are a series of beacons, 8 to be exact, that must be retrieved and brought back to an extraction point in order for your team to pass." She said glancing around the room to make sure everyone was paying attention. "It's simple really, the first 8 teams to retrieve the beacons and bring them back to rendezvous point will pass on to the second round."

"Wait, you really expect us to search the entire mountain ranges surrounding this village for some small beacon thing? That could take forever!" A boy yelled out from the stands. Naruto noted that it was one of the boy's from the team with the green haired girl, who oddly enough was once again sleeping even though an explanation was going on.

"Don't worry, you won't be left completely in the dark out there. Every 12 hours from the start of the exam, the beacons will let out a series of pulses to help you determine their location. After that, it's matter of getting there before another team is able to. Now, anymore questions?" Yugito replied looking around the room. Gaara surprisingly raised his hand, getting Naruto to perk up a little as he wondered what kind of questions would run through his mind. "Yes?"

"We're allowed to kill our opponents, right?"

'Yep. Should've saw that one coming.' Naruto thought with a sweatdrop as Yugito shared his expression.

"Well, I mean technically there's no rule against it so yeah, sure?" Yugito replied, getting a nod from the red head in response. Clearing her throat to move on from the awkwardness of the situation, Yugito looked around to make sure there were no more questions. "That all? Well in that case, knock yourselves out!"

With that, she and Darui walked out of the room as the other occupants stared on in confusion. After a few moments, she poked her head back in to look up at them with confusion as well.

"Um, you guys do know the exam started right?" She said as everyone continued to stare down at her. For a moment no one moved, but then everyone began to make a mad charge for the doors. Naruto was about to follow suit when Shikamaru grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back into his seat.

"Nope, we are not joining in on that mess. We'll wait it out." Shikamaru said as he watched teams scramble to leave the room. Naruto was about to protest until he heard someone yell out 'my leg!', and decided maybe waiting was the best course of action. Eventually the room cleared, and all was silent as Team 10 finally stood up to leave. That is, until the noticed they weren't alone in the room. Looking back up at them was the team of the boy who had asked Yugito a question, and Naruto noticed that the green haired girl's golden eyes were specifically on him.

"Well look at this Fu, we weren't the only team who decided to wait that mess out." The blue haired boy who had asked the question said. His hair was tied back in a ponytail, similar to the other boy on the team although his hair was a flaming red in comparison. "Should we take em' out now?"

Fuu continued to stare at Naruto, her gaze both lazy and calculative as he matched it with his own. Eventually, she closed her eyes and began to head over to the doors.

"Aito, Kaito, we're leaving." She said as the red head boy now know as Aito headed after her quietly. Kaito groaned slightly as he begrudgingly followed after them, throwing his hands behind his head in irritation.

"You guys are no fun, I swear…" he grumbled as they exited the room. Team 10 watched them leave quietly before Shikamaru turned towards Naruto.

"I noticed that little stare down between you and that Fuu girl. What's with you and your attracting of weirdos. Dangerous weirdos at that." Shikamaru said shaking his head as he too head for the exit. Naruto pouted in protest as he and Ino followed after.

"I don't attract weirdos, they come to me! Wait…" Naruto said before realizing what had came out of his mouth.

"Idiot…" Ino said shaking her head before turning to Shikamaru. "Well Shika you know the drill, what's the plan here?"

Shikamaru simply continued to stare forward as they made their way out of the building and back outside. Looking over at a clock and noticing that it was 8 in the morning, he scratched his head slightly before turning back to his other two teammates.

"We are...going back to the hotel." He said before turning around and continuing on to the street. Naruto and Ino stared after him with deadpanned looks on their faces as they waited for him to tell them the real plan. When they realized he wasn't turning around however they ran after him, Naruto grabbing him by the collar and whipping him around to face them.

"Look, I know you're a lazy bastard and all but this is really taking it to another level." Naruto said holding him by the shoulders and staring him deep in the eyes. "Do you need counseling or something? Is something going on at home Shika? You can tell me you know."

"First off, I feel like you're the last person who should be questioning someone's mental health." Shikamaru said slapping Naruto's hands off of him. "Second of all, there's a reason for doing this. Think about it realistically, do you really believe we're going to be able to find some tiny beacon spread throughout all of those mountain ranges without some short of clue?"

"Well, when you put it like that…" Ino said grabbing at her chin. "Still, shouldn't we at least leave the village?"

"For what? The only thing out there right now is a bunch of trouble, let those other teams go ahead and search their hearts out while we get some much needed rest." Shikamaru replied as they continued down the street. Naruto still didn't feel exactly right just sitting around while there were other teams out potentially getting a head start on them, but he also couldn't argue against anything Shikamaru had said.

'Well, he hasn't led us astray yet. I guess I can trust him on this one.' Naruto thought shrugging his shoulders as he followed after the two.

---

(12 hours Later)

Shikamaru had immediately retreated into his room once they got to the hotel, stating that he needed to rest his brain after thinking of this master plan and that they needed to stay alert for the signal. That in itself did nothing to quench Naruto and Ino's belief that the boy was just being lazy, but still they gave him the benefit of doubt. Though she tried to stay up and keep Naruto company, Ino too ended up taking a nap towards the end of their wait, leaving Naruto sitting on the couch next to her as the last one awake.

'It's starting to get dark out.' He thought to himself as he stared out the window. Glancing over at the clock, he saw that it was 8:50, leaving only 10 more minutes until the first supposed signal was to be sent out. Figuring it was time to wake the others up, he looked over at Ino's sleeping form on the other end of the couch. She squirmed a little in her sleep as his eyes landed on her, though judging by her state he doubt it was because she had noticed him. He actually was hesitant to wake her up, seeing as she was looking extremely peaceful in her current state.

"Maybe I'll get Shikamaru up first, that bastards definitely got enough sleep." He said sliding her feet from off of his lap walking over to the boy's room. He was surprised to see the light was already on, and peeked inside to see Shikamaru sitting up in his bed staring down at something. Curiously, he made his way fully into the room, effectively catching the black haired boy's attention.

"You're awake? I figured I would've had to drag you out of this apartment." Naruto said looking down at what was holding his attention. It turned out to be a map, specifically off the outer area of Kumogakure.

"I figured it would be rather troublesome to get lost out in those mountain ranges, so I've been studying the map a little to at least have some familiarity with the area." Shikamaru said yawning into his hand. "It's should be almost time to head out right?"

"Five minutes until the first signal should be sent out. I'm gonna' go make sure everything's setup, can you wake up Ino-chan for me?" Naruto said moving out of the room. Stepping into his own, he grabbed everything he figured he would need before walking back into the living room. Shikamaru and Ino were both going over their things as well, Ino letting out a yawn as Naruto came in.

"Sorry I fell asleep on you there, Whiskers. I didn't know I was that tired." She said, Naruto waving it off.

"It's fine, I'd rather you'd be rested and prepared for whatever we might run into out there anyways." Naruto said glancing down at his watch. "Ten seconds you guys."

Shikamaru and Ino stood up to stand next to Naruto who was facing out the window. He stared down at his watch as the final seconds ticked away, and exactly when the clock struck nine a series of pulses instantly shot through his body, coming from different directions.

"You guys feel that?" He said as he hopped up onto the window seal.

"Yeah, it feels like faint pulses of chakra shooting out from different directions. Now what are we supposed to do?" She said as Naruto dropped down to the ground with her and Shikamaru following.

"I think I can feel which one is closest to us, why don't we head for that one?" Naruto said looking back at his two teammates. "From what I can tell, all eight beacons are still out in rotation so it looks like Shika's gamble paid off."

"Lead the way then Whiskers." Ino said as Naruto nodded and headed up for the roof tops. It didn't take long for them to reach the gates to the village and head out into the mountain ranges, which they were down scaling at a rapid rate. After about 10 minutes of constant moving though, Naruto stopped abruptly as the pulses from the beacons had all but faded now.

"Looks like the help session is over with, I'm not feeling anymore pulses." Naruto said looking around the rocky clearing.

"I stopped feeling them about five minutes ago." Ino said panting slightly as she tried to catch her breath. "You sure you're not a sensor or something?"

Naruto shrugged at her question as he continued to look around the clearing. 'I could have sworn the beacon wasn't that far from the village. We should have ran into it by now, but it seemed like it was getting farther and farther away.' He thought to himself as he continued to look around the clearing. It was then that his thoughts jumped back to what Ino had said, as he quickly turned around to face the girl. "Hey, wait a minute, what did you just say?"

"Huh?" She said a little startled by how quickly his attention turned to her. "Um, I asked if you were a sensor type. I was just joking though-"

"Hold on a minute." Naruto said holding a hand up to cut her off. "You said you stopped sensing the beacon five minutes ago? Is that true for you as well Shika?"

"Yeah, it lasted about five minutes and then stopped." He said narrowing his eyes at the blond. "What are you thinking?"

'Could I have some type of sensor ability? That would explain how I was able to keep track of the beacon for longer than these two. There's also that time when we had track down Mitsu-I mean, Yugito-san in the first round.' Naruto thought to himself. Just like that, he began to remember all sorts of previous scenarios where he somehow just seemed to know where people were, even dating back to his childhood. The only way he could think to explain it was…

'Hey Furball, are you there?'

…

'Furball?'

…

'HELLOOOOOOOOO-'

"WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP FOR ONCE IN YOUR INSIGNIFICANT LIFE!" The Kyuubi roared as he was awakened from his slumber. Naruto winced at the volume, before steeling his resolve as he prepared to continue.

'Sorry about that. So um, listen, seeing as i'm your...host I guess? Do I get some type of special powers or something?' He asked. At first he was met with silence, but then a slight rumble rolled through his mindscape.

"Seeing as you are the first to have me sealed inside you the way I am, I suppose it's not out of the realm of reality that some of my abilities have been passed on to you. Why?" The kyuubi asked genuinely curious. It wasn't that he cared for the boy, quite the contrary actually, but if his host were was boasting something that could prove troublesome in the future then he wanted to know about it.

'Ok, how about chakra sensing? Like being able to sense people or track their chakra?' Naruto asked once again being met with silence for awhile.

"Your two predecessors showed no such traits, though as I stated earlier you are different. It may or may not be an effect of our...relationship." The beast replied as Naruto mulled over what he just said.

'Well, how do you do it? Or rather how can I do it? I could really use it right about now.' Naruto asked as the Kyuubi growled in response.

"Fool, as if I would waste my time explaining something that would serve to benefit you and not me. Do not mistake my actions as a sign of camaraderie. The day will soon come where I'm free of this oppressive cell." He boasted inside the boy's mind. Naruto was effectively riled up, gritting his teeth as his anger boiled over and he prepared to retort towards the fox when the snapping of fingers in front of his face brought him back to reality.

"Helloooo, earth to Naruto! What the hell is wrong with you?" Ino said leaning forward a little to stare in the slightly smaller boy's face directly. "You blanked out there for like a full 2 minutes, are you on drugs or something?"

"What? No! I was just…thinking! That's it!" Naruto said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Ino narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously as she backed away slowly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I find that rather hard to believe considering who I'm talking to but whatever." She said flippantly ignoring the glare he sent her way. "So, did all that thinking lead to something?"

"Kind of, I don't know actually." Naruto said getting a blank look from the girl. "Still, I guess it's worth a shot."

With that, Naruto took a seat on the ground and closed his eyes, Shikamaru and Ino both watching on in interest. 'Alright Naruto, focus. Let's see if I know what the hell i'm doing.' He thought to himself as he tried to feel for any source of chakra. Nothing happened though, and Naruto was beginning to get a little frustrated. 'Ok, what happens if I do this.'

Naruto began to focus his thoughts on Ino and Shikamaru, hoping that maybe having something in mind would be able to trigger something. At first it seemed like it was in vain, but then Naruto began to notice something. 'This feeling, it's just like the time I noticed that group back in the forest! Let's see, this first one feels rather warm and tingly. It's giving off vibes that feel rather irritated, but warm nonetheless.' He shuffled his sitting position as he tried to focus some more.

'Alright, this next one feels...sad? No, more like...relaxed yet still slightly on edge, with a hint of irritation to it as well. This one must be Shikamaru, and the other Ino! I think I did it!' Naruto thought to himself, allowing himself a moment of small celebration before getting back to business. 'Alright, now focus on the feeling that beacon gave off.'

Naruto scrunched his face up in concentration as he tried to remember what it felt like when sensing the beacon. It was considerably harder, Naruto theorizing that it was likely because he knew Shikamaru and Ino so well that he was able to track them down so well. A picture started to slowly appear in his mind, but it was slightly different than what he was expecting.

'This chakra, it's…Yugito-sans? At least I think so. I guess that make sense, they probably used her chakra to feel up the beacons. Now let's see if I can...got it!' With that, Naruto shot up from the ground and broke off into a full blown sprint, Ino yelling out in surprise at the sudden movement while Shikamaru quickly followed after him. He found it hard to do so though, as Naruto was running like a man possessed and showed no signs of slowing down.

"Hey Naruto, what the hell? Did you find something?" He asked when he finally managed to get within speaking distance. Naruto glanced back at him before turning back forward and continuing on.

"Can't talk, must focus." He mumbled as he continued to run. Eventually they came to the edge of a cliff, with Naruto not missing beat as he jumped off the edge without showing any signs of concern. He slid down the side of the slope, kicking up a dust cloud as did so before using chakra to stick the surface and continued running down it. He reached the bottom and fell into what looked like a large valley, with a river running down the middle in between two mountains. Shikamaru caught up with him as he began to walk towards the river, followed by Ino.

"A little heads up would have sufficed next time, thanks guys!" Ino said as she watched Naruto bend over by the river. "What the hell, don't tell me you were just thirsty Whiskers?"

Naruto didn't answer, instead standing up slowly with his back towards them. He then turned around, holding in his hand a small animal. Upon closer inspection, Ino could see that it was a small, yellowish-orange fox, most likely still a baby based on its size. Naruto grinned as he turned the fox back around to face him.

"Looks like this little guy was who we were chasing all along." He said smiling down at it. Ino didn't know what he was talking about at first, until she looked at what was on the animal's back. Strapped to him was a small orb like artifact, giving off an almost unnoticeable glow. "This is definitely the beacon, it's giving off the same feeling as I was sensing earlier.

"No wonder we couldn't find it at first then. It was actually moving around." Shikamaru said scratching at his head. "Man, they really went all out to make this exam as troublesome as possible."

"And we're going to be the first team done by a long shot, didn't I tell you guys everything would work out." Naruto said as he released the fox from the strap on its back. Shaking itself as if to celebrate the help, the small animal stared up at Naruto curiously as the boy examined the orb. Noticing the fox's stare, he reached inside pocket and threw out a energy bar he had. "There you go, you hungry little guy?"

The fox took the treat without any reservation, eating it quickly as the group prepared to head out. Finishing up, the animal quickly climbed on top of Naruto's back, resting on his shoulder as Naruto glanced over at him.

"Looks like he likes you." Ino said with a giggle as Naruto picked him up. Shrugging his shoulder, Naruto opened up his jacket a little and set the animal inside, allowing his head to stick out in front of his chest so it could breathe.

"Rather fitting that it's a fox huh?" Naruto said to no one in particular before stretching slightly. "Alright, let's take this back to the drop off point and get this exam over with!"

Shikamaru was silent as all this had unfolded. He watched Naruto and Ino beam at each other as they made their way down the riverside, scratched his head slightly in thought. 'This was rather easy...too easy considering how we have a knack of getting into troublesome situations.' He thought as he began to follow after them. 'Whatever, better not jinx it I guess.'

---

(2 Hours Later)

"Um, guys."

'Damn it.'

"Do you feel that?" Naruto said standing a little more alert than he did earlier. Ino was about to remark that he was the only sensor on this team when she picked up on what he was talking about, a nasty chill running down her spine.

"What is that? It feels so...dark." She said shuddering one last time as the feeling began to fade. Naruto frowned as he stared in the direction the energy was coming from, seemingly staring off into space before his eyes widened.

"Oh no, I think I can sense Sakura-chan and Kiba in that direction!" He yelled catching both of his two teammates attention.

"What? Is anyone else over there?" Shikamaru said stepping up. Naruto nodded as he turned back towards his teammates. "I'm not entirely sure, but this feels like them. Only thing is… I don't feel Sasuke at all. Just them and that evil chakra...wait, is that another team?" He said trying to make out the signals he was receiving.

"Should we go check it out? Whatever's happening over there doesn't seem good at all." Ino said looking in the direction worriedly. Shikamaru was hesitant to do so, seeing as they had all but completed the exam already. Still, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to one of his friends and he could have prevented it.

"Damn it, let's go. Naruto, lead the way!" He said getting a salute from the boy.

"Roger that, follow me!" He said taking off in a sprint. From what he could tell, they weren't very far away from their current position. In fact, they were just on the other side of this mountain in front of them. Running around the side of the giant structure, the 'evil' feeling Naruto was sensing was starting to get stronger. Though it wasn't just him, as now both Shikamaru and Ino could clearly feel what he was talking about.

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered as they turned the corner into a small clearing. It lead into a cave, where Naruto was staring at anxiously.

"Whatever the hell is going on, it's happening inside of there." Naruto said looking back at his two teammates. "You guys ready?"

"Does it really matter?" Ino said as she began to walk inside. Naruto shrugged in response as he followed after her, Shikamaru taking point in the back. The inside of the cave was illuminated by small, glowing blue crystals that gave off a eerie light. It was just barely enough in order for them to see where they were going. Ino creeped forward slowly as they began to close in on where the power was coming from. That is, until a yell ran out throughout the cave.

"Crap, that sounded like Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as he and the others broke out into a sprint. The path in the cave began to narrow in, so much so that they had to run in a single file line because of the lack of space. Just as quickly as the area confined though, it expanded into a large room like area, so big that Naruto couldn't believe it was actually inside of the mountain they were in. In the center of it was a giant form of the blue crystals throughout the cave, providing a prominent source of light for the room. He didn't have time to admire it though, as his hunch that team 7 wasn't the only one present proved to be correct.

"Dosu, Zaku, looks like we've got some company." A girl with long black hair said sitting atop of the large crystal. Dosu, who was leaning against it underneath her, glanced over at the group as the girl hopped down.

"Looks like things won't go as smoothly as I hoped. Kin, help me take care of our unwelcomed guest." Dosu said as he flashed his gauntlet in Naruto's direction. Kin groaned as she grabbed behind her neck and rolled it around, looking at the team passively.

"Man, I wanted a chance to clobber that little pinkette myself, why does Zaku get to have all the fun?" She said as Naruto's eyes widened at those words. Looking around the clearing, he quickly spotted Sakura being held up by her hair by another boy, who was smiling down at her. Raising his fist up, brought it straight down into her face, not letting her fall to the ground however because of his grip on her hair. Naruto's eyes narrowed as Zaku let out a laugh at Sakura's cry in pain.

"You bastards…" he said, closing his fist so hard that blood began to leak from his hand. Ino herself was shaking with anger as well at seeing her, though she would never admit it, best friend being treated in such a way.

"Naruto," she said catching the blonde's attention as he looked over at her. "Go tear his head off."

Nothing else needed to be said as Naruto's eyes flashed red while a grin spreader across his face. In a burst of a speed he quickly ran past Dosu and kin, both of whom shared a look of shock on their face at the display of speed. Before he could even recognize the threat, Naruto thrusted a knee into Zaku's face, sending him flying backwards as he released his grip on Sakura's hair. Naruto caught her before she hit the ground, the girl wincing slightly as she looked up at the boy through one eye. "Naruto? What are you doing here?" She said weakly as Naruto smiled down at her.

"We sensed you guys were in some deep shit and figured you could use some help." He said before frowning as he stared over at where Zaku was lying. "Where the hell are Kiba and Sasuke?"

Sakura pointed over to a wall in the cave where Naruto could see the two lying down. "We were attacked by another one of the genin, though it turned out to be-" Sakura started before stopping abruptly as her eyes glossed over. Naruto gave her a slight shake and she gasped as she seemed to be broken out of whatever trance she was in.

"You okay?" Naruto asked as she nodded her head in response.

"Y-yeah, I guess I'm still just in disbelief. Look, Naruto, this might sound crazy but...the rookie we ran into...it was Orochimaru." Sakura said as Naruto's body tensed at those words.

"O-Orochimaru? Of the Sanin? Are you sure?" He said swallowing a knot in his throat as the girl nodded her head yes. "Well...shit."

"It gets worse," she said as she pushed off of Naruto to kneel on her own. "It seemed like he wanted Sasuke-kun for something. He and Kiba tried to fight him off, but in the end Orochimaru overpowered them. He did something to Sasuke-kun and then just...left."

"What did he do?" Naruto asked before the sound of groaning caught there attention. Over on the other end of the cave, Zaku was finally coming back to as he slowly rose to his feet. "Actually, hold off on that. Go over to where Sasuke and Kiba are, we'll take care of the rest." Sakura nodded and quickly got up to head over to her teammates as Naruto rose back to his feet. Zaku glared over at him as he flexed his hands at his side.

"Performing a snake move like that, how can you call yourself a warrior?" The boy growled while Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not a warrior," he replied as his eyes reverted back to their Kyuubified state at the sight of Zaku. "I'm a shinobi, and I'll be damned if I'm passing up a chance to snake someone."

---

(Somewhere in Kumogakure)

"And then I we-" Asuma said before stopping mid sentence. He looked up with a blank look on his face, before a slight grin broke out onto it.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked looking at the man curiously.

"I don't know why, but I get the feeling one of my students is using a page out of my book. And it's really making me proud."

(Back in the cave)

---

"Let's see how you like this." Zaku growled as he crouched down low, holding his arms in front of him in the form of an X. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he prepared for whatever his enemy was planning, staring curiously as Zaku pointed his hands in his direction. "Boom."

"What th-" Naruto started before a powerful gust of wind struck him directly. He barely had time to register the pain he was in before it was replaced with a new one as he crashed into the top of the cave, imprinted into the roof.

"Shit, Naruto!" Ino yelled as she moved to help him before Kin jumped into her vision. The black haired Kunoichi sent a kick in her direction, which Ino barely managed to dodge as she jumped backwards to avoid it.

"Where do you think you're going missy, your fight's with me." Kin said smirking down at her. Ino growled as she swiftly pulled out a kunai, holding it out in front of her as Kin slowly approached her. "Look at you, just another clueless little girl more concerned about her looks and boys than her power. I bet if it weren't for those other two weaklings pulling your weight, you wouldn't even have made it this far in the first place."

Ino didn't respond, gripping the kunai in her hand harder as Kin slowly moved into striking distance. A pair of Senbon appeared in the girl's hand as she held them up in front of her face. Without warning Kin quickly flicked them in Ino's direction, who barely had enough time to deflect them before the girl was up on top of her again.

"Too slow!" Ino yelled as her cheeks puffed up. She blew out a purple gas directly in Kin's face as the girl inhaled the substance in shock before jumping away, holding her arm in front of her mouth as she tried to cough out the substance.

"You bitch!" She yelled getting up to her feet and turning to face Ino. "I'll make you pay for that tenfold!" 5 senbon appeared in both of her hands as she held her arms in front of her body in a X formation similar to her other partner. To Ino's surprise, her body began to multiply and spread out into different forms.

"Shadow clones? No, no one but Naruto could possibly make this many clones, and she's still a genin all things considered. Genjutsu?" Ino mumbled to herself as she slowly began to back away. Kin, or rather the entire group of her, smirked in Ino's direction as she found herself backed up against a wall. Swearing, Ino looked around for an exit but found she was completely surrounded by the clones. 'I could try to run for it and hope I pick a way that the real one isn't in, but even then I'll be vulnerable if she turns out to be behind me. Damn it!' She thought to herself as she surveyed her options.

"Wanna' know what my favorite animal is?" One of the Kin's said as they all held up their senbons. Ino again choose to stay silent, instead moving her hands behind her back to place them against the wall. "Here's a hint, you're going to look a lot like it in a few seconds."

At once the group of clones launched the senbon at Ino, who seemed to have no where to go. Just as they were released though, Ino suddenly lifted herself up onto the cave's wall in a cartwheel fashion, continuing to do so until she was well out of range of the needles. Jumping from the wall, she landed and broke out into a sprint before Kin could react, coming upon one of the versions of her and hitting her square in the face, launching the girl backwards as the other clones disappeared.

"Ouch, that was definitely the real one alright." Ino said shaking her now bruised hand. Standing up proudly at her handy work, she dusted her hands off and turned around to check in on Shikamaru and Naruto. "I doubt she'll be getting up from that one."

The sound of a ringing bell caught her attention, and she narrowly managed to avoid a senbon thrown in her direction only for one to still hit her from the opposite direction. Swearing, she turned back around to find Kin glaring at her murderously, her broken nose not going unnoticed by the blonde.

"That looks like it hurts, maybe you and your team should just leave before things get worse." Ino said trying to ignore the stinging in her arm. Kim replied by launching another set of senbon in her direction, with Ino once again hearing the distinctive bells ringing and moving to dodge the sound, only to still get hit in the end. "What the fuck! I know I'm dodging these damn things!"

Kin smirked at her outburst as she straightened up a little. "It's time to end this." She said preparing to continue her assault when a figure suddenly came crashing down next to Ino. "Oh for fucks sake, what is it now?!"

"Shika? Are you alright?" Ino said looking down at the boy in surprise. Shikamaru grimaced as he got up holding his head, groaning before focusing on Ino's form.

"No, I'm not alright. I'm actually getting my ass handed to me." He said sarcastically glancing over at Kin. "I'm guessing there's something special about her as well, right?"

"Magical senbon that even when you dodge still manage to hit you." Ino said blankly. "Wait, what's up with the guy and the big metal gauntlet?"

"Besides the big claw?" Shikamaru said dusting himself off. "I don't know how exactly, but it seems like he's using sound waves during his attacks to disorientate people. Speaking of the devil…"

Dosu landed next to Kin, noting her broken nose and giving her a passive look. Kin seemed to get defensive as she turned away from his stare with an undignified look. "What? She caught me off guard." Sighing, Dosu turned his attention back over to Shikamaru and Ino, who were both trying to prepare themselves for what came next.

'So close, we were so close to having an easy exam.' Shikamaru thought just as Dosu came in for another charge.

---

(Back with Naruto)

"Ughhhh." Naruto groaned still from his spot at the top of the cave. From how his head was spinning and the pain he was in, he was perfectly fine with staying up there for a little while longer. That is, until he felt the rocks around him starting to give out and his body slowly loosening up. "Ah shit…"

Leaving himself to his fate, he decided to fall freely until he remembered something he had on his personnel. Quickly turning in the air, he yelped out loud as he landed hard on his back. Taking a few moments to catch his breath, he unzipped the upper half of his jacket as the fox from earlier poked his head out.

"Sorry about that little guy, almost squashed you to death. I'm surprised you're alright after that attack, you're a little survivor aren't you?" Naruto said as he took the fox completely out of his jacket. "How about you go over there next to my pink haired friend while I take care of this?" The fox turned his head sideways, staring at Naruto before following his directions and scurrying over to where Sakura and the others were. Naruto managed to pull himself back up to his feet just as Zaku was coming over.

"You Konoha scum are all the same, all bark and no bite." He said folding his arms over his chest smirking over at Naruto. The jinchuuriki returned the smirk, rolling his neck to relieve some muscle stress he was holding.

"Yeah yeah, you got me good there. Still, that won't happen again though." Naruto said jumping back into his fighting stance. For a moment nothing happened, but then Naruto broke out into a sprint toward Zaku, who held his hands up in Naruto's direction.

"You really are stupid to run right towards me." Zaku said as he fired a burst of air out of his two hands. Naruto continued forward just as the blast was coming towards him, and deftly hopped over the turrets of air. Making two clones, both of them grabbed either side of his arms and began to spin in the air before launching him directly towards Zaku, who didn't have enough time to react as Naruto launched another knee directly in his face. Before Zaku could take off, Naruto grabbed him by the back of his head and pulled him down into his other knee, using his momentum to smash the boy's head down into the ground. Flipping away, Naruto landed on his feet as he turned to inspect his work.

"How's that for all bark and no bite." Naruto said as Zaku laid motionless in the mini crater Naruto had created with his head. Figuring his fight here was over with, Naruto looked around the cave for his other teammates, spotting them on the opposite end still fighting with the other two. Sparing one last glance at Zaku, Naruto ran over to the other end to give his teammates some help.

He managed to reach them just in time to catch a falling Ino, who looked up at the blonde in shock as he landed the two on the ground safely. "Naruto? Did you take care of that other guy already?" Ino asked as Naruto put her down on the ground. He took note of how her body was covered by senbon in various places, and that her breathing was rather ragged.

"Yeah, he's down for the count alright. Now I'll help you with this one and-"

"No!" Ino yelled making Naruto jump in surprise. "I can handle this myself, you should go and help Shikamaru instead."

"But Ino-chan-" Naruto started before shutting up at the glare she gave him. Sighing, he reluctantly jumped away as Ino turned her attention back to Kin.

"That was a dumb choice." Kin said bluntly. Ino pulled a couple of senbon out of her shoulder, rolling it slightly to try and relieve some of the stiffness she was feeling.

'Damn it, she's hit so many of my pressure points that it's getting hard to even move because my body is so stiff.' Ino thought to herself as she reached into her back pouch. 'The poison from that gas should have kicked in a long time ago. How the hell is she even still standing, she directly inhaled it!'

Her thoughts were cut short as Kin appeared in front of her, throwing a punch that Ino couldn't even dodge, instead allowing her to strike her in the stomach. Grabbing her arm, she pulled Kin forward and threw a knee into her stomach, pushing the girl behind her to put some distance between them. Skidding to a stop, she took a few moments to calm her breath and focus her thoughts.

'Ok, what did Shikamaru say? These guys are likely using sound as a way to disorientate and attack us, so how could she be…' she thought to herself before the sound of ringing in her left ear caught her attention. Jumping to the right to dodge, she was immediately met with four senbon's being lodged into her shoulder. Yelling in pain, she fell to one knee as she clutched at the wound on her arm.

'Ok, I KNOW I dodged the senbon she threw, so how the hell am I still getting hit! And what the hell is up with this ringing I keep hearing….'

Ringing…

"I'm such an idiot…" Ino said to herself pulling the senbon out with a grimace. Tossing them to the side, she looked over to Kin expecting for another attack. Instead, she saw that the girl was simply staring at her while holding the needles in her hand. Her breathing was harsh, and sweat was pouring down the sides of her face profusely.

'The hell's going on with her? She can't be that exhausted already could she?' Ino said glancing down at her hand. 'Yup, just as I expected, there's bells on certain senbon. She must be using the noise from those to distract me from the other ones she throws.' Ino smirked having figured out here game.

"What's wrong? You look a little winded over there." Ino said, Kin jumping slightly at suddenly being addressed.

"I-I'm fine! You're the one who's looking bad out here, any moment now and those joints of yours will be useless." Kin said gearing up for another attack. Ino had other plans however, reaching into her pouch and grabbing a set of kunai.

"Let's see how you like this!" She said launching them in Kin's direction. As soon as they left her hands, she immediately jumped into performing hand signs, running through them as Kin landed and launched the Senbon that were in her hand. As expected Ino heard the ringing in her left ear, but instead of dodging to the right she stood her ground and allowed the single senbon with the bell to hit her. Finishing the hand signs, she brought her hand up to her mouth just as Kin was about to hit the ground.

"Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu!" She yelled spewing the turret of water from her mouth. Kin had no way to dodge as she was still stuck in the air and took the attack head on, flying to opposite end of the cave and crashing into the wall with a huge dust cloud kicking up. The commotion caught the attention of Shikamaru, Naruto and Dosu as they stopped their fighting momentarily to watch the sight.

"When the hell did Ino learn how to do that?!" Naruto yelled while Shikamaru stared on surprised as well. Dosu grunted in annoyance, not liking how this mission was turning out at all.

'Kin won't be taken down so easily from an attack like that, even if it does look pretty bad. I need to take care of these two quickly though, we still need to kill the Uchiha!' Dosu thought before jumping at a still distracted Naruto. 'This boy is the most troublesome of the lot, I'll take him out right now!'

Dosu closed in on Naruto before he could react, and reached back to stab the boy with a kunai. Shikamaru was well aware of his plans however and intercepted the masked boy, catching him off guard with a roundhouse kick from the side that sent him into the ground. Him and Naruto both jumped away from the boy, Shikamaru clutching at his ankle in pain as they landed.

"Shit, good save Shika, I got distracted there." Naruto said sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. Shikamaru grunted from his spot on the ground, still rubbing at his ankle. The sound of rubble moving caught their attention as they turned back to where Kin had crashed earlier. The girl pulled herself out of the rubble, stumbling out with her face hidden by her hair. She glared up at Ino, who was leaning down on one knee panting hard.

"You...I'll kill you...with my bare hands…" Kin growled in between breaths as she stumbled over to the girl. Ino herself was still exhausted from the previous attack, and found that she couldn't move her body.

'Shit, I stood still for to long. The stiffness has set in around my whole damn body now!' Ino thought as she tried to move. No matter what she did, she still found she couldn't control any part of her. Kin pulled out a kunai as she was now standing just a few feet away from her.

"I'll...make...you...pay...you…" she said holding up the kunai in front of Ino. For a moment she simply stood there, kunai in the air ready to launch at anytime. Then without any warning, she simply passed out and landed next to Ino, who was still staring forward in fright. She glanced over to see the girl lying next to her, breathing harshly and soaked in her own sweat.

"This must be...the effects from my poison?" Ino said to herself. "That doesn't make any sense, I figured she didn't inhale any of it seeing as it shouldn't have took that long for it to kick in."

"Huh." Naruto said, Shikamaru nodding in agreement at the lost of words. He turned back to where Dosu was, only to find that the boy was missing. "Uh, Shika…"

"Sakura!" Ino yelled catching the two boy's attention as they turned to the girl. Zaku had her held by her arms, while Dosu pointed a kunai at her throat.

"Listen up, I want you to hand over Kin and let us leave this place peacefully, or she can have a nice little hole in her throat." Dosu said drawing a little blood from the girl for added effect. Naruto growled as he inched closer to where they were, stopping when he saw their grip on Sakura had gotten tighter.

"You bastards…" he said trying to think of a way to grab her. He didn't have to think long though as a huge burst of chakra spread throughout the cave and caught the attention of everyone there. Behind Dosu and the others, Sasuke had slowly risen up to his feet, and ominous cloud of dark purple chakra was flowing around him. A series of red marks spread through his body, slowly fading into a dark black color as his eyes opened to reveal the Sharingan. He sights were set clearly on Zaku and Dosu, as he disappeared in blinding speed and appeared behind the two, grabbing them both the head and smashing them into each other. He kicked Dosu away while grabbing onto Zaku and pulling him towards him.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked and before allowing Zaku to answer, punched him directly in the stomach and threw the boy off to the side. He was about to continue towards Dosu when he glanced down at Sakura, noticing her beaten state and the blood coming from her neck. "Sakura, who did that to you?"

The pink haired girl however was trembling in fear from the dark power radiating off of the boy. Strucking so much that she couldn't even speak, which served to irritate Sasuke even more. "No matter, I'll just kill all of them and be done with it."

He started back towards Zaku with plans of finishing the boy off when Dosu grabbed at his arm, trying to stop him from advancing any further.

"No, there's no need for that! We surrender, we'll leave now and never bother you all again!" Dosu exclaimed trying to calm the situation down. Sasuke stared at the hand holding on to him before grabbing it and snapping Dosu's wrist, causing him to fall to the ground in agony.

"Wait your turn." Sasuke said before continuing his descent to Zaku. He picked the unconscious boy up by his neck and held his limp body arms length apart. Smirking, he cocked his fist back with plans of ending it with one strike when another hand grabbed onto to his. Growling he turned his head to see Naruto staring back at him, tightening his grip on Sasuke's wrist.

"Let him go Sasuke, they've already surrendered." He said not flinching under Sasuke's glare.

"Let me go Naruto, unless you want me to put you down as well." Sasuke said dropping Zaku and turning around to face the boy fully. The two stared at each other for a moment, neither moving from their spot as the dark chakra swirling around Sasuke began to become more erratic. Just when it seemed as though Sasuke was about to launch out with an attack, Sakura appeared between the two and held herself up in front of Naruto.

"Sasuke-kun, stop it now! This isn't you!" She said holding her head down trying to hold back the tears going down her face. "You wouldn't ever attack your own friends, snap out of it!"

Naruto looked down at her in shock, before his facial expression softened and he moved to comfort the girl. Sakura however moved over to hug Sasuke, who took up a shock looked of his own as the girl embraced him harder. He grimaced as he closed his eyes and grabbed at his head, the markings on his body receding back into the black mark on his neck. The two collapsed into their knees on the ground, Sakura still embracing the now exhausted Sasuke who simply stared forward with a spaced out look in his eyes.

"S-Sakura, I'm…" he said before passing out again. Naruto watched the sight silently as Ino and Shikamaru came up to stand next to them. Out of the corner of his eye, Shikamaru noticed that Dosu had rounded up his teammates and was trying to escape.

"Hey, hold up." Shikamaru said getting the boy to stop with his two teammates in his arm. "I know you all have a beacon, I want you to leave it here with us."

Dosu stiffened at those words, wondering how he was able to figure out they had found a beacon. He contemplated running away, but figured he wouldn't be able to get far while carrying his two teammates with him. Sighing, he reached into his pocket and through the beacon on to the ground. With one final look at Sasuke, Dosu cursed their luck and ran for the exit of the cave, leaving the others to sort things out.

Walking over and grabbing the beacon, Shikamaru brought it over and threw it next to Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura looked down at it before her eyes widened in recognition of what it was as she looked back up at the group.

"Take it, you guys need to get out of the exam and get checked out badly. Especially if what Naruto told me was true and that Orochimaru was involved in this." Shikamaru said as Sakura picked up the beacon. "You need to tell someone about what happened. ASAP."

"B-but we can't take this, I-I mean you guys should be the one-" she started but was interrupted when Naruto took out their beacon from earlier and flashed it to her.

"See, we're already covered. So go ahead and take it." Shikamaru said turning for the exit. Ino gave Sasuke and Sakura one last worried glance before turning to leave as well, with Naruto following.

"Naruto, wait!"

Stopping, he turned to see Sakura looking up at him, a tentative smile on her face. "I just wanted to say...thanks for saving me. I guess I really owe you one." She said giving him one last smile before turning her attention back to Sasuke, who had falling back asleep and was currently laying in her lap. Naruto nodded, turning to continue on with his team, making his way through the cave to meet them at the entrance.

"It's already dark out, I think it would be a bad idea to try to gun it towards the end. We're not exactly in the best state right now anyways." Shikamaru said from the ground holding on to his ankle. Ino was leaning on his shoulder, drifting in and out of conscious as she tried to stay awake.

"Yeah, lets at least get away from this cave though and find somewhere else to rest at. You good to walk Shika?" He asked walking over towards them. Shikamaru nodded as he finished wrapping his ankle and got up to his feet, Naruto picking up Ino and hoisting her up on his back. The trio began to descent lower into the valley, hoping that there would be somewhere to rest when they got to the bottom. When they reached it, the terrain began to take on a more forestry decoration. They found another cave that was hidden behind a waterfall, and decided to camp out there for the night.

"I'm guessing I'm taking first watch?" Naruto said after everything was set up and Shikamaru was already sound asleep.

"Sorry about that, but I'm exhausted too. I'm not sure what I was expecting from this exam, but it certainly wasn't that. I mean, Orochimaru of all people? This can't be real." Ino said getting into her sleeping bag. Naruto nodded in agreement before making his way to the entrance by the waterfall. "Naruto?"

"Yeah?" He said turning to face Ino. "What is it?"

"You still like Sakura, don't you?" She asked bluntly staring up at the roof of the cave. Naruto froze slightly as the question caught him off guard and he wasn't really sure how to respond.

"Uhhh, what?" He said. "W-what are you talking about Ino-chan?"

"Mmmm your reaction says it all you know." Ino said smiling from her position. Her face grew more serious as Naruto continued to stumble over his words in the background. "Do you really think you can take her away from Sasuke?"

"Huh?" The boy said as he stopped his rambling to look over at her. "Did you say something?"

"Nope, nothing at all." Ino said putting back on the smile she had earlier. "Don't you have a cave entrance to watch?"

"Uh, yeah, right!" Naruto said eager to get away from that conversation. "I think I'll watch from the outside, yeah?"

With that, Naruto made his way out of the cave, leaving Ino alone with her thoughts. She laid in silence for a moment before looking over to Shikamaru's sleeping form.

"Shika, were you awake for any of that?"

Her question was met with steady snores.

"Figures." She said turning back over. 'Jeez Ino, what's going on with you? You really need to get yourself together, I mean what even was that.'

Sighing, she closed her eyes and decided to get herself some well deserved rest.

---

(Two hours later)

Despite it being sometime in the early hours of the morning, Naruto found himself wide awake as he stared up at the moon from his position on top of a rock embedded in the waterfall. The fox, which he had yet to give an actual name, was curled up in his lap as he mulled over the events that had just transpired.

'What the hell is Orochimaru doing in Kumogakure, let alone interfering with the Chunin exams of all things? And what the hell did he do to Sasuke, that chakra he was giving off felt almost as bad as…' Naruto thought before something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Making no indication that he had actually saw something, Naruto sat up a little straighter as he tried to see what it was. Peering into the tree's, he searched for any signs of movement while simultaneously trying to feel for anything.

"Maybe i'm just imagining things…" He mumbled as he started to relax again. Suddenly, a black crow shot out from the top of one of the tree's, causing Naruto to jump in confusion as his eyes darted towards it. The crow seemed to just be simply circling around in the air above Naruto, which still made him feel slightly uneasy as now both he and his little companion were on high alert.

"Do crows usually do that little buddy?" Naruto whispered, the small fox trying its best attempt at a growl in response. Getting up to his feet, Naruto stared up at the crow harder before the sound rustling brought his attention back to the treeline. At first he once again didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. But then he saw it. Something that was definitely not normal.

A red eye was staring right back at him.

As quickly as he noticed it, the eye disappeared, leaving Naruto to wonder if there was anything there to start with. He was broken out of his stupor however by the fox hopping off of his shoulder and bounding down the waterfall, eventually disappearing behind the trees that he saw the figure at.

"Hey! Where the hell are you going, get back here!" He half yelled, half whispered as he watched the animal continue on. Cursing his luck, he jumped down from the rock and landed on the ground below, sparing a glance back at the waterfall entrance before taking off into the tree's as well. He made a clone before he left to continue watching over Ino and Shikamaru while he tried to see what was up.

Making his way around the trees, he found that they were slowly becoming fewer and farther between as the terrain began to revert back to the more rocky influence that Kumogakure was known for. Dropping to the ground, he slowly walked past the the last of the trees as he found himself overlooking an area leading to a cliff. At the edge of this cliff stood a man, his body covered completely in a cloak covered in red clouds. Resting on his shoulder was the fox, whom the man was petting absentmindedly. Swallowing a knot in his throat, Naruto slowly inched closer out into the open, stopping a good distance away from the man. At first Naruto wondered if he had even been noticed, but that thought was revoked as the man started to address him.

"Seems birds of a feather truly do flock together." The man said not turning around. Naruto froze at the sound of his voice breaking the silence, for some reason feeling awfully intimidated by the person in front of him. Steeling his resolve, he cleared his throat as he tried to find the words to say.

"Um, who are you?" He said grimacing at how much lamer that ended up coming out than he expected. His question was met with silence for the most part, until after what felt like an eternity the man slowly began to turn around. Naruto's eyes widened as he almost instantly recognized the person in front of him. "Oh fuck me…"

"Seems you remember who I am, consider me impressed." The man said looking down at the boy while still petting the fox. His red eyes peered down into the cerulean blue ones as Naruto ignorantly stared the man down.

"Who the hell wouldn't know who you are, you're one of the most infamous people in the Shinobi world, especially Konoha." Naruto said backing up slowly. "Itachi Uchiha, just my luck."

Standing completely still, Naruto continued to eye Itachi as he tried to consider his next course of action. Figuring he'd test the waters, he made the ever so slightest movement to indicate he was thinking of taking off. Immediately he noticed Itachi's eyes narrow and, though to the untrained eye he hadn't changed a bit, Naruto could tell his muscles had tensed up just enough to show he was ready to go after the boy. Sighing, Naruto surrendered to his fate as he stood his ground against the Uchiha.

"Smart choice." Itachi said confirming Naruto's suspicions that Itachi knew he was trying to run off. "Don't worry, as of now I only wish to...converse with you Naruto-kun."

"You actually remember who I am? Trust me, that's the bigger shocker here." Naruto said slightly taken back that someone of Itachi's caliber went out the way to remember him. Itachi turned back around towards the cliff to continue looking at the moon before answering, which irked Naruto slightly as the person in front of him clearly didn't see him as being a threat.

"You're more known throughout the Shinobi world than you might think Naruto-kun. After all, you do know what you carry inside of you right?" Itachi said getting the boy to narrow his eyes.

"Actually I was more so under the impression that it wasn't common knowledge, at least that's what the old man told me." Naruto replied.

"You must mean Lord Third," Itachi said turning back to face him. "Well, he's right. Your status as a Jinchuuriki isn't known widely, but those who have a need for information will always find a way to get it. You'd do well to remember that in this world we live in."

"Noted," Naruto said eyeing him wearily. "So what exactly do you want with me?"

Itachi was quiet for a moment as he seemed to be thinking over his next words. After a moment however, he simply closed his eyes and released his hold over the fox, who instantly jumped out of whatever trance it was previously in and hurriedly hopped over to where Naruto was. Catching the fox in his hands, Naruto stared back up at Itachi curiously as he made his way up to the edge of the cliff.

"Actually, simply meeting you has been more than enough for what I was hoping to learn today Naruto-kun," He said stopping at the edge and looking back at him. "Your completely different from what we were expecting, whether thats a good thing or not is yet to be determined."

"What are you even...who is this we you're talking about?" Naruto said becoming more confused by the minute. No matter what was said, he simply couldn't get a read on what was going through the man's mind. What even was the point of this conversation to begin with?

"Tell me Naruto-kun, how is my little brother doing?" Itachi said, his eyes becoming icy at the mention of his brother. Naruto shuddered unwillingly under the stare as he backed up again slightly.

"S-Sasuke? Why do you-well I mean he's fine I guess? " Naruto replied. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down so he could keep answering whatever Itachi asked of him, figuring it was one of the only reasons he was still alive right now. "He's not dead yet so I guess that's a plus."

'Damn it Naruto, not the time for your witty comments!' He thought in his head as he looked up to see Itachi's reaction. If the older man found it humorous or not he couldn't tell as his face hadn't changed throughout this entire interaction. 'Wait, he's not here too… ahh fuck me! But if he is, I at least have to try…'

"Y-you're," He started off, taking another deep breath to calm himself down and not stutter. "You're not here to try to finish Sasuke off are you? Working with Orochimaru?"

For the first time throughout this entire ordeal Itachi showed a single sign of emotion. His eyes widened in surprise at the mention of Orochimaru before narrowing as his disappeared from his spot atop the cliff. He reappeared in front of Naruto, Snatching the boy up by his throat and holding him up off of the ground, staring into his eyes as his Sharingan spun wildly.

"Orochimaru is here, in Kumogakure?" Itachi asked, his monotone voice breaking character if only for a moment. Naruto nodded as he struggled under the man's grip around his neck. "And you're saying he had a run in with my little brother?"

Seeing as Naruto couldn't talk while being choked out, Itachi unceremoniously dropped him to the ground as the boy coughed and tried to recover his breath.

"If Orochimaru is here and he's made contact with Sasuke, then that means…" Itachi mumbled to himself before turning back to the boy still on the ground.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, it appears I'll have to cut our conversation short." He said grabbing the boy by his jaw and forcing him to look into his eyes. "I'll leave you with a parting gift, though I doubt you'll be fond of what it is. The next time we meet likely won't be on such pleasant terms, and for that I do apologize."

With that, Itachi flashed his Mangekyo Sharingan and knocked the boy unconscious, leaving him with a final set of parting words as Naruto slowly drifted away.

"Oh, and Naruto-kun. I'd prefer if you keep this little meeting of ours a private matter. I'd hate to have to take your life if isn't necessary."

After those words the Uchiha simply vanished into a flock of crows, with Naruto watching them fly off as he slowly lost consciousness.

Though in actuality it would only be three hours, Naruto would awaken having experienced the tragedies Itachi saw from Third shinobi war a hundred times over.

---

Itachi ran throughout the night air, hastily making his way back to the cave where his partner Kisame waited. Landing at the entrance, he peered inside to see Kisame roasting something atop of a poorly made fire pit. The shark like man perked up when he saw Itachi's face, holding a stick with a grilled lizard up as he smiled at him.

"Itachi, look, I found these little buggers hanging out in the back of the cave! Aren't I great?" He said grinning down at the cooking animals. Itachi sighed as he made his way into the cave, taking a seat next to firepit across from his partner.

"It looks as though Orochimaru has slithered his way here into Kumogakure." Itachi said looking over at Kisame. He took a bite out of the one of the lizards, taking a moment to savor the taste before replying back.

"Orochimaru, eh? Man, that fucker sure does get around huh? None of our business though." Kisame said taking another bite from the his meal. Itachi looked up at him, and though every fiber in his body was telling him not to press the issue, he couldn't help but doing so.

"Kisame, what exactly do you mean by that?"

"Huh? Well I mean we don't really give a damn what that man does do we? As long as he doesn't get involved with our plans I suppose."

"...Orochimaru was apart of Akatsuki. We're supposed to kill him and gather his ring that he never gave back, remember?"

"Orochimaru was apart of Akatsuki? Where the hell was I at when this happened?"

"...You were there as well."

"Oh. Well you learn something new everyday right?"

Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose as he let out a deep sigh at the idiocy his partner showed sometimes...most of the time. Kisame snickered as he grab a stick with a finished lizard on it and held it out to Itachi.

"You know, everytime you sigh those lines on your face get a little bit longer." He said. Itachi looked up at him blankly before shaking his head and grabbing the stick form the man. He took a bite, and though he wouldn't admit it outloud, it was actually pretty good. "So what's the plan? Are we going to go after Orochimaru or what?"

"No," Itachi said placing the now bare stick down on the ground. "I'm actually interested in what his game is, coming here to Kumogakure. Though I'm already certain of what one of his goals was, I find it hard to believe he would risk all of this trouble just to get that."

"And what exactly is this 'that' you're speaking of?" Kisame asked furrowing his eyebrow.

"He's after the Sharingan." Itachi said plainly grabbing another stick of roasted lizard. Kisame stared at the man quizzically as he tried to figure out how exactly Orochimaru could get the Sharingan by coming to Kumogakure when it finally clicked for him.

"Little brother, eh?" Kisame said smirking over at him. "Maybe you should go and pay him a visit, who knows what Orochimaru has done to him."

"He is of no concern of mine, especially if he was weak enough to allow the likes of Orochimaru to have his way with him." Itachi emotionlessly, closing his eyes as he tried to focus on the taste of the food in front of him.

"Man, you are cold Itachi." Kisame said shaking his head. "So I guess we're back to our original plan then, watching over the Jinchuuriki's participating in this year's exams?"

"Percisely," Itachi said leaning back against the cave wall. "There's one in particular who's already proven to be different than our initial reports, he's caught my attention."

"So that's what you were out doing, a little scouting of your own?" Kisame said preparing to take first watch. "Well if someone managed to catch your attention there must be something pretty extraordinary about them."

Itachi said nothing, having already drifted himself off to sleep. Kisame chuckled as he made his way to the entrance of the cave, taking a seat as he looked out over the mountain ranges.

"That Itachi, I tell you…"

---

Naruto jumped awake with a shout, looking around frantically for any sign of Itachi. After a few moments however he realized that he was no longer in the forest, but inside the blue, Metallic hallway that he experienced the last time he fell into his own mindscape. Reaching up to grab his face, as if to confirm he was really himself, he was startled by the feeling of wetness. It was then that figured he had been crying, likely a result of the things he was forced to experience under Itachi's genjutsu.

'Was that-no, it couldn't be. There's no way that that was actually real. He was just trying to mess with my head, t-that's gotta' be it.' Naruto thought trying to bring some closure to himself. Shakily getting up to his feet, he used the wall as a crunch as he followed the numerous glowing red lines on the walls and ceilings down the hall.

Eventually he found himself once again standing in front of the giant metal bars that led up into complete nothingness. Behind those bars laid the Kyuubi, sleeping in all its glory as Naruto made his way up to him. He took a seat just outside of the bars, staring down emptily at his hands as became lost in his own thoughts. The Kyuubi opened a single eye to glance down at the boy, noticing how he wasn't paying the beast any attention at all.

It irked him slightly.

"I see you've finally awakened from the genjutsu placed on you by the Uchiha," The Kyuubi said opening both eyes and lifting his head up slightly. "It wasn't easy, but I managed to prevent him from destroying your tiny mind too much, though it looks like his point still got across."

Naruto continued to look down at his hands blankly, and would probably be blocking the Kyuubi out right now if his voice didn't reverb so heavily throughout the entire room. He finally looked back up directly at his tenant, his eyes full of uncertainty and doubt.

"Those...things, experiences that Itachi showed me, they weren't real right? There's no way he actually experienced those things right?" Naruto asked looking for anything to ease his mind. The Kyuubi didn't answer right away, instead closing his eyes and putting his head back into his arms.

"I stayed out of mortal affairs as much as I possibly could, and outright ignored them more often than not." The Kyuubi said finally, voice nothing more than a low rumble. "However, from my experiences, they are the most vile creatures to inhabit this earth by far. The things mortals do to fulfill their selfish desires knows no bounds, and their concept of 'war' shows that."

Though he didn't answer the question directly, Naruto got the gist of what he was saying. Laughing bitterly, Naruto flexed his hand out before closing it into a tight fist.

"Being forced to experience something like that at that age, no wonder he flipped out and murdered his whole clan huh?" Naruto said standing up. "This shinobi world is really fucked isn't it?"

The Kyuubi didn't answer, instead watching the blonde curiously as he moved to the center of the room and looked upwards into the dark void above him.

"Things like that...that can't happen. It shouldn't happen. Someone needs to change something." Naruto continued, stopping as he reached the center. Looking back over at the Kyuubi, he held his fist out towards it before slowly bringing back, pointing to himself in the chest with his thumb.

"Maybe that someone's gonna' be me."

With that, the boy vanished from the mindscape. The Kyuubi stared at where he was standing for a little while longer before closing his eyes again and turning to face away from the bars that held him imprisoned.

"Foolish, but interesting nonetheless."

---

"Damn it Naruto wake the hell up!"

Naruto slowly opened his eye up to stare into another set of blue ones. Instantly he was pulled up into a tight hug as Ino, almost literally, squeezed the life out of him. Almost as quickly, he was pushed away by her and met with a hard smack to the face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing running off without us you idiot?! If little Foxy-kun didn't come and get us who the hell knows what could've happened to you!" She yelled as Shikamaru sighed and took a seat next to them.

"You really are the most troublesome person I've met in my life." He said before looking over at the blonde seriously. "What the hell were you doing out here anyways?"

Naruto mulled over whether or not he should tell them the truth about what had happened over the night. In the end though, he remembered Itachi's words and figured it would be better to keep the encounter to himself. He didn't know how Itachi would figure out if he blabbed, but as of now he didn't put anything past him.

"I...thought I sensed someone out here so I came to check it out. I think of might of been placed under a genjutsu or something and feel asleep." Naruto lied rubbing the back of his head.

"Why would someone place you under a genjutsu just to leave you out here in the end?" Ino said suspiciously grabbing her chin in thought. "I guess they could've figured that it wouldn't be worth the hassle seeing as you didn't have a scroll, but still it's weird…"

"These entire exams have been nothing but weird, do you really find it that hard to believe?" Naruto asked trying to move the conversation away from that topic. "Either way, I'm fine aren't are? So what else is there to even talk about?"

"A lot actually, especially on your end." Shikamaru said narrowing his eyes and standing back up. "Sadly we don't have the time to discuss those things right now. Day lights starting to break, which means it's time for us to make our way out of this exam."

"Why so early?" Ino asked standing up alongside Naruto. Shikamaru had made his way to the edge of the cliff and was surveying the area.

"Remember how I said there would be some teams who would just wait at the exit for someone to come around with a beacon, just to steal it?" Shikamaru said looking back. "Hopefully we can bypass all that and sneak our way through, banking on the fact the everyone might be asleep right now."

"Well then let's go ahead and get this little excursion over with." Naruto said standing at the edge as well. Ino joined them, and they all peered down over the edge into the lake underneath them.

"Do we have too?" Ino asked looking up at her two teammates, rather put off by the idea of jumping into the water. It was then that Naruto's head perked up, and he stared behind back in the direction of the cave they rested in last night.

"Uh, actually, yeah we do." Naruto said putting the fox inside his jacket and grabbing onto Shikamaru and Ino's hand. "We need to move. Now."

"What are you tal-AGH!" Ino said before without warning Naruto jumped off the edge of the cliff, pulling them with him. For his credit, Shikamaru seemed rather composed as they fell to what could have been to their death, simply closing his eyes and waiting for the impact. Ino on the other hand was the complete opposite.

"I SWEAR IF WE MAKE IT OUT OF THIS ALIVE I'M GOING TO KILL YOU NARUTO!"

Her screaming was cut short as they finally made impact with the water beneath them. Luckily enough, the water did turn out to be deeper than it appeared from above, giving the team plenty of room to submerge in and cushioning their fall, though it did still hurt. Shikamaru was the first to resurface, pulling himself back up onto dry land followed by Naruto, who was dragging Ino. As soon as they caught their breath, Ino began to go into a tirade.

"I swear, you've done a lot of dumb things in your life Naruto Uzumaki, but that one might have taken the cake! We could've died Naruto, died! Just because we're shinobi doesn't mean we're invincible!" She said jumping around in her rage. She stopped however when she noticed both Naruto and Shikamaru were looking away with blushes on their faces. "What?!"

"W-well um," Naruto said glancing her before looking away again. "It's just that, well...your clothes are wet and…"

Piecing two and two together, Ino let out a small 'eep!' before dropping to the ground cross legged, covering up her budding chest with a blush on her face as well.

"Why me, why me, why me…"She mumbled to herself as Naruto and Shikamaru stood up.

"Here, you can wear my jacket. It's not dry but it'll cover you up at least." Naruto said holding it out. Ino took out reluctantly, grumbling out a small thank you as she put it on.

"Thank the heavens me and Sakura got you out of that hideous orange jumpsuit or I'd be looking like an idiot right now." Ino grumbled.

"I take offense to that, that orange jumpsuit was legendary I'll have you know it." Naruto said mock glaring at her. "Anyways, we're not out of the clear yet. We should really get the hell away from this area."

"Why, what's out here." Ino asked getting a little worried seeing as there was something that was actually scaring Naruto.

"Something we don't want to have any problems with before we absolutely have to." Naruto said looking back up at the cliff. Grunting he motioned for Shikamaru and Ino to follow him as they began to make their way area where they turned in the beacons. By now the sun was rising in full effect, and they were hauling ass in order to keep Shikamaru's plan in action.

"Think those teams are still asleep Shika?" Ino asked looking over at the boy.

"Nope, but if we're lucky, something amazing will happen and everything will work out just fine."

That's the spirit!" Naruto said grinning back at the boy. Ino shook her head as obviously the sarcasm dripping in Shikamaru's voice had went unnoticed by the knucklehead. "We should be pretty close to the rendezvous point right?"

"Any moment now." Shikamaru said squinting his eyes as he searched for any sign of the building. Maybe, just maybe things would workout after all…

"So what do you gu- OOF!"

'DAMN IT NARUTO!'

Shikamaru skidded to a stop as Naruto and an unknown figure collided in mid air, both of them dropping to the ground. Naruto groaned as he pulled himself up off of his back, holding his head as he looked over at what he collided with.

"Hey," He said eyes widening as he recognized who she was. "You're the green haired girl!"

Said girl looked up at him while holding her head as well, looking rather irritated that she was being referred to as the 'green haired girl'.

"My name is Fu, not the 'green haired girl'." she said getting up to her feet. She glanced towards the ground and noticed that a beacon was laying there, and that Naruto's eyes were on it as well. She immediately scooped it up and jumped backwards, putting some distance between herself and team 10 as she glared in their direction.

"Hey hey, relax, we're not after you're beacon. We've already got one of our own." Naruto said holding his hands up in a defensive stance. Her two teammates happened to hop down at that moment, Aito glaring at Team 10 as well while Kaito gave them the same smug grin he did earlier.

"Hey, you're the team that was in the room with us that one time." He said scratching at his head. Unlike his head red head brother, he seemed completely unbothered by Naruto and the others presence.

"Yeah…" Shikamaru said staring at him wearily. Something about him just gave off weird vibes, the same could be said about his brother. "So, seeing as we both have beacons, how about we just head back to the meetup spot?"

"I don't know, if we take you guys out now that's one less team for us to deal with later on. What do you say Fu?" Kaito said turning to the girl. Once again Fuu stared at Naruto passively, who started squirm a little under her bored and emotionless eyes.

"Aito, Kaito, we're leaving." She said closing her eyes and turning to leave, similar to the way she did the other day. Aito followed after her silently while Kaito was once again left to complain all by himself.

"Aw come on! Jeez, you're such a killjoy you know that? I swear this next part of the exam better filled with action or i'm gonna' kill myself from boredom…" He said following after the two. Naruto and co waited until they were completely out of sight before making moves of their own.

"You know, I'm really ready to go home now." Shikamaru said as they continued on.

For once, Naruto was actually ready to agree with him on that front.

---

Finally making their way into the building they were supposed to go to at the end of the exams, the team let out a collective sigh as they crossed the doors and were officially safe from any other trouble. Standing near a front desk talking to another shinobi was Yugito, who smiled when she caught notice of the group.

"Welcome back! Looks like you're the third team to make it in so far, man we've got a talented bunch this year. Three teams only one day into the exam, that's pretty impressive." She said taking their beacon and examining it before passing it off to the Shinobi at the front desk. "Welp, you guys should go ahead and get some rest, you've earned it. You'll be staying here until the end of this exam, so feel free to use the facilities as much as you like."

"Great, where's our room? I'm going to take a nap." Shikamaru said taking the key from the women and heading off to the room. Ino stretched and let out a yawn before turning over to Naruto.

"I think I'll go and take a shower, what are you gonna' do Whiskers?" She asked as the boy rubbed his head in thought.

"I don't know, guess I'll go grab a bite to eat." Naruto said making up his mind. Ino nodded as she headed off to find the showers, Naruto making his way over to the cafeteria. As he was walking though, he began to feel a dull aching in his head as he clutched at it, groaning as it seemed to get worse.

Suddenly, his vision became blurry, and before his very eyes the inside of the building transformed from into a battlefield. Battlefield that was littered with dead bodies. All around him Naruto could hear the screams and sounds of battle, while the injured moaned and screamed out for help. He felt something reach for his leg, looking down only to see a severed arm laying next to him. Then, just as quickly as the vision came to him, it vanished, leaving Naruto standing in the middle of the hallway wide eyed with sweat pooling down his face.

"Uzumaki-san?"

Jumping, Naruto turned around to stare at Yugito, who was looking over at him worriedly. "Is everything ok?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, just need some rest is all." Naruto said shakily deciding to forgo the cafeteria and head straight for his room. On his way though, he bumped into Fuu once again as she was exiting her own room. Judging by the change of clothes she had with her, he figured she was on her way to the showers. Again, as soon as the two made eye contact, Fuu simply stared at him with a passive look. This time however, Naruto let his emotions get the best out of him as he growled in her direction.

"Jeez, what the hell are you always looking at me like that for?" Naruto said harshly. Fuu simply narrowed her eyes at him, closing them after a moment and silently walking past him. Naruto watched her leave, guilt starting to set in after he realized he was in the wrong for that little exchange. Sighing, he decide to run after her make things right.

"Fuu, wait!" He said catching her attention as the girl silently turned around to glare at him. "Look, um, I-I'm sorry about that. I'm just a little tired, that's all, but still I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that. Are we...good?"

Fuu didn't say anything, instead just glaring at the boy until he finished. Then, her face went from angry to its original passive state before finally, shocking Naruto completely.

She smiled at him.

It was the smallest, barely classifiable form of a smile that you could give, but a smile nonetheless. With that, she turned and continued towards the showers, leaving Naruto to stand in the hallway dumbfounded. Scratching his head, Naruto turned and headed into his own room, immediately met with the sounds of snoring by a passed out Shikamaru.

'He's got the right idea.' Naruto thought throwing off his shirt and collapsing into his bed. Turning to face the ceiling, Naruto relayed everything that had happened over the course of these exams in his head again before closing his eyes and putting his hands behind his head.

"You know, I am a pretty troublesome person now that I think about it."

"Amen to that…"

---

DONE. Man, I had the worse case of writer's block making this chapter like a quarter way into it, I thought I'd never finish it. Took a new Kendrick Lamar album for me to break out of my funk, but finally here we are. I could almost cry. No seriously, writer's block is no joke, I see why authors talk about it a lot.

I revised this chapter a lot to try and improve moments I was half assing it and forcing things. Luckily enough I got out of my funk for the more important parts to the story. Up next, we've got the tournament, which I'm really looking forward to because it's a chance to really focus on writing battle scenes, which I'm still feeling kind of iffy about. I feel like I'm rambling now just because I'm happy to have finally finished this thing, so I'm gonna' sign out now. is acting up again, so I'll do the line breaks when we're good.