Yo, sorry it took so long to update this story. I could give you a whole bunch of excuses, but they'd be just that, excuses. Honestly, I just didn't feel like writing on this one as my attention was on other ideas. I write as my muse hit. Sounds like an excuse still, but oh well. I've never been good at following a schedule. Maybe if I had a beta reader to hold me to a schedule...

Also, I've got a few other stories I'm working on as well. I'm not going to say one story has more importance or priority than another, because they don't. All my stories are equal and I write them as my muse hits.

Anyways, enjoy.

Chapter 14: Return to Konoha and the Chuunin Exams

The trio awoke to find themselves in back in their tent with light bleeding through the mesh walls. The smell of smoke was faint, suggesting that there was a camp fire burning recently. Opening the entrance to the tent, Naruto looked around to see that they were indeed at their base camp. Kakashi-sensei was no-where in sight, but signs of his passing were present in the camp.

"Okay, I think Kakashi-sensei brought us back up out of that cave system," Naruto said as he turned around to face his friends and teammates.

"Naruto-kun, what happened?" Hinata asked holding her hands to her temples. The events of the cave slowly trickled back to conscious memory.

"I'm. . . I'm not really sure," Naruto said after a brief pause. "It's was strange. Sasuke?"

Sasuke closed his eyes in thought, ignoring the oncoming headache. "The stone was too old to be fake. It holds too much that rings true to be ignored. I don't know how it was constantly growing or even if that's what it was actually doing. In my opinion, the only thing we can do is move on as if we never saw the damn thing."

After a moments thought, Naruto and Hinata both agreed. Just then they heard the sounds of movement in camp followed by a short signal they recognized as Kakashi-sensei.

Hinata stood and made her way to the tent's entrance. "Let's see what Kakashi-sensei has to say."

The trio made their way out of the tent and to the remains of the camp fire as Kakashi began packing the what little bit of equipment was out. "Good morning team," he greeted.

"Morning," the trio said in unison.

"Pack up, given what we found down there, as well as searching this whole island and not finding the remains of Uzushio, I'm calling the mission. Something isn't right here. It's as if all traces of the village were erased long ago. I already sent a summon to the Hokage and got a response. He approves of my decision."

The three nodded and began to pack up. Not knowing what else to do or say about what happened, they worked in silence as they took down the tent, folded it, sealed it and stored the scroll with the rest of the equipment.

Making their way back to the shore, Naruto found the seal for the bridge and activated it. They crossed quickly and when they reached the other side and the bridge resealed itself, Naruto used all his sealing knowledge to place an additional blood seal on top of the one already there. Not only would it require an Uzumaki's blood to activate, it would also specifically need his as well. If there was anything left of Uzushio, he would one day return and find it.

Line Break

The trip back to the village was long and uneventful. The monotony of the landscape and the lack of . . . well, anything of interest, ensured that team seven was completely and thoroughly bored by the time they made it back to Konoha a few days later. After checking in with Izumo and Kotetsu, the Eternal Guards, Kakashi dismissed his team as he went to give his report to the Hokage.

"It's hard to believe that we've been gone for almost two months," Naruto commented while walking with his teammates.

"Two months that we weren't able to train much," Sasuke added.

"Perhaps we should begin our personal training regiments again tomorrow morning?" Hinata asked the two. Getting nods of approval, the plan was set to meet up tomorrow morning to train together like they did before they became an official team. They would more than likely have a week or so off after such a long mission, so they had plenty of time to work on getting back into the full swing of their intense training routine.

As they continued to walk in silence, Sasuke branched off at a side road heading for his own clan compound. Naruto and Hinata continued to walk in a comfortable silence as their thoughts trailed back to what they had seen deep below the island.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked gently to get his attention.

"Hmm?"

"Did you get the feeling that you knew the names of those figures when you were looking at it? Or at least the name of the one who stood behind you?"

"Well... kinda? It's hard to explain. I feel like I should know. I feel like the name is right on the tip of my tongue, but I can't seem to find the sounds." His brow furrowed in concentration. "Asa... Asu... I just can't seem to find it."

Hinata nodded, "I'm going to look up the clan archives of the family tree as far back as I can. I have a feeling there is something I'm missing. It may take me a while though, a few weeks? Maybe a month or two? I'll let you know what I find though. Also, about what happened in the sewer. . ."

Naruto just nodded, pulling his best friend/step-sister into a warm hug. "It'll be okay Hinata-chan. We knew we would meet it sooner or later. We'll figure it out. But later, okay? I don't think we're ready yet."

Hinata could only nod. She knew he was right. But the fear was still there. The fox had simply terrified her.

Line Break

The next morning found the three in their usual training ground for the first time in months. It seemed so much longer than it had actually been. They had decided to treat their failed mission as a two month survival training exercise. In that aspect, they were leagues ahead of the other rookies. Two months in the forest hunting for your meals each day while simultaneously keeping all your senses alert to look for something that may not even be there was damn good training on survival, that much was certain.

They had the next few days off from training as per protocol when a team returns from an assignment longer than two weeks. They could have gotten up to a week and a half off after the time they spent out of the village, but they had all agreed that three days would be more than plenty.

And so here they stood, squaring off against one another in a three-way spar. As the three genin stood rigid in their stances, a single leaf drifted down from a tree nearby. As if willed by some higher power the leaf landed dead center in the triangle formed by their bodies. In the same instant, the three lunged forward in a flurry.

Hinata aimed a straight but fast thrust to her left at Sasuke's sternum. In response, he ducked to his left and dropped to the ground spinning in a sweeping motion aiming to trip Naruto. Naruto jumped lightly over Sasuke's sweep and went for a mid air kick at Hinata, who was pulling back from her thrust.

She leaned back, displaying her incredible flexibility, and Naruto's kick went clear over her head. Continuing his motion he tried to connect with Sasuke, only to have his kick fall short. Before he could recover, Sasuke grabbed his leg and threw him into Hinata. She caught him and slid back a few feet before taking advantage and brought her palm up to Naruto's heart.

"Dead," she said. Naruto nodded and backed out. He knew a gentle fist killing blow when he saw one. If she had used chakra, he'd most certainly be dead within minutes. Sasuke rushed in as Hinata took her palm from her best friend/step-brother's heart. As she turned around and saw Sasuke taking advantage of her back being to him, she dropped into the stance she'd been working on for a few years. It was her Jyuho, or Gentle Step.

The only downside, they had all agreed long ago that they wouldn't use their dojutsus in these spars they had. Without her Byakugan, the Jyuho was incomplete and she could only do so much. Sasuke came in with a flurry of blows that she did her best to deflect away with open palms. She was largely successful, much to Sasuke's continued annoyance. He still couldn't beat her Jyuho without his Sharingan.

With a feint at Sasuke's head, she quickly switched to a thrust into Sasuke's Solar Plexus. Sasuke staggered back and she leveled her hand above his heart before he could recover. "Dead," she said again.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

The trio turned to see where the noise was coming from as Sasuke regained his breath. Standing there was none other than Kakashi-sensei. "Good job my cute little genin. You've all got some work to do on your styles, but a good job from all of you none the less."

"What are you doing here Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked. "Don't we have the next few days off?"

"Hmm," Kakashi hummed as he gave his signature eye smile. "You do. But that's not why I'm here. I wanted to drop off these forms with you. I've decided to nominate you for the Chuunin exams coming up in a week."

"Do you think we're ready?" Hinata asked. Kakashi just nodded his head. He handed the forms to them and disappeared in a swirl of leaves without so much as a 'Ja Ne'.

"What do you think? Should we do it?" Hinata asked, looking to her teammates.

Sasuke thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think we should. Even if we don't make it, we can judge how far we've come by how well we do in the exams. That and the experience we would get make it worth it in my mind."

Naruto just nodded in agreement.

Later that night, Naruto and Hinata were having dinner with Hiashi and Hanabi when they decided to let Hiashi know what their team had decided.

Waiting for the last branch member to leave, the family let out a sigh of relief. No more formalities. Naruto decided to get it out of the way and see what Hiashi thinks about their decision. "Ano, Hiashi-Tousan..."

He looked over to Naruto, brow raised in curiosity. "Yes, Naruto?"

"So, Kakashi-sensei decided to enter our team in the Chuunin exams. And we've decided to enter."

Hiashi looked to his daughter, who nodded her head in agreement. Well then," Hiashi began. "Good luck to the both of you and do our family proud." He smiled at the pair of them before asking, "how did your mission go? We didn't get a chance to speak about it last night."

And so the two began the tail of their mission. By the end, Hanabi was laughing at the few funny situations they got into in the forest. Hiashi on the other hand was going over what he had just heard about the moving mural on the wall of the cave below the island. 'Something about that mural seems familiar. Perhaps a look in the clan archives would shed a bit of light.'

The rest of the night was spent in light conversation with family. Over all it wasn't too bad of a night. If only they knew just how little of that would be to come during the exam.

Later in the Week

The Sandaime had called another jounin meeting. As such, they were all standing in formation in the meeting room of the Hokage Tower just as the meeting was about to start, when in walks Kakashi. . . on time.

Their jaws dropped and their eyes were nearly bugging out of their sockets.

"Mah mah," Kakashi muttered. "You look like you've all seen a ghost."

Before anyone could comment, Hiruzen cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Now I know we've already gone over the nominations for the exams, but I'd now like to let you all know about the special circumstances involved in this one. Originally the exams were to be held here in Konoha, but a few months ago all the applicants from the other villages came in and there were quite a few surprises. So it was decided that the exams would be held somewhere else. You will all receive a packet with the details, but if there are any questions from those who do not have a team entered, now is your only time to ask."

"Well, Hokage-Sama," spoke the only chuunin in the room. As the teacher who graduates the majority of students, as well as the one who assigns missions with the Hokage, Iruka Umino was allowed to attend this meeting. "I'd like to know what the changes are, if that isn't to forward of me."

"Not at all Iruka-kun." The aged Hokage paused to puff on his pipe before answering. "The exams are to be held in a neutral nation as there are too many villages participating for us to accommodate without compromising security, among other reasons. Also, because of the sheer number of prospects the number of rounds of the exams has also been increases. This year will be a five round exam with a proctor from each of the major villages presiding over one of the rounds. Konoha will be in charge of Stage One. Iwa for Stage Two. Kumo for Stage Three. Kiri for Stage Four. And Suna for Stage Five. In two days time, the jounin with a team in the exams will depart with there teams to a secure location which the first round will be held in. The exams will take a few months longer than normal. Anything other than that I cannot share with you at this time. Jounin, prepare your students. Dismissed."