Konoha, Forest of Death

Sasuke and Sakura had just finished eating some fish that Sasuke caught in the river running through the Forest of Death. To catch the fish, Sasuke had to leave Sakura with Naruto temporarily, but fortunately neither Sasuke nor Sakura and Naruto were attacked.

They had built a small fire in their little cave-like under-section of one of the huge trees in the forest. Sasuke was now taking a rest against the "wall", while Sakura was sitting beside Naruto, still tending to his slight fever.

"Just what happened to you back then…?" Sakura whispered to Naruto's still form. "And that man…Orochimaru, he called you the son of the Fourth Hokage…"

"Sakura, get some rest while you can. You've been up for way too long," Sasuke called to her.

"Okay…" Sakura responded quietly. She was just about to check Naruto's forehead for signs of fever again when she heard a groan. Then Naruto's right hand flew up to his own forehead and slowly opened his eyes.

"Naruto! You're awake!" Sakura said excitedly. It had been over fifteen hours since the battle with Orochimaru. It was still the second day, around noon.

Naruto's upper body came up and forward and he shook his head rapidly, trying to clear the fogginess he was feeling.

"Hey, you shouldn't move too much! You were seriously wounded!" Sakura protested as she supported him with her arms.

Sasuke rushed over.

"No, I'm fine now," Naruto pushed away Sakura's hands.

"Naruto, how are your wounds?" Sasuke asked as he sat down beside him, cross-legged.

"I think…they're still here, but the pain is gone. I'm pretty much feeling normal, except my chakra…" He answered as he looked at his body and held up his hands to see them.

"What the hell happened to you back there? Orochimaru stabbed you straight through the chest. How are you even alive? And what was that power?" Sasuke demanded. Whatever it was, it was clearly inhuman, or some sort of extremely powerful forbidden jutsu. It was also like…when Sasuke woke up. He too had felt immense power at that time.

"I-I don't know," Naruto lied. He did have a good idea of what it was. The Nine-Tails. But he didn't want to say anything yet. "All I remember is…seeing red everywhere, and I suddenly felt really powerful. Then, everything became really clear and focused and seemed slow."

Sasuke and Sakura stared at him. Aside from the 'seeing red' part, that was exactly the description Sasuke would have given to what he felt earlier.

"How are you feeling?" Sakura asked with a concerned look.

"Everything's fine, except my chakra. When I draw up my chakra, I feel as if I were still in the Academy…That seal he put on me, it completely messed up my chakra control," Naruto muttered as it tried to focus chakra to his hands. He found it was possible, but imprecise and difficult to maintain. In his current state, his Clone Explosions would be too dangerous to use, as he wouldn't be able to control the output properly. He would probably also be unable to perform the Seal Imprint technique with any seal. Fortunately though, his Stone Armor Jutsu would still work because that one didn't need a constant flow of chakra. The Transparent Escape Jutsu, on the other hand…might prove a problem. He wasn't sure how it would turn out.

"He put a seal on you?" Sasuke asked, wondering what kind of seal it was, as he knew that whatever Orochimaru gave Sasuke, it seemed like a seal as well.

'First it was both of them with the evil chakra…now they both got some sort of seal too?' Sakura thought to herself, deep with worry as she frowned.

"I think he called it, Five Elements Seal. Didn't you see him hit me with something before I passed out?" Naruto responded.

Sasuke and Sakura remembered that moment clearly; that was when Naruto's red chakra receded back into him.

"Anyways, what happened after that?" Naruto asked. "Did you defeat him, Sasuke?" Naruto was, frankly, surprised to be alive as well. Could Sasuke really have been strong enough to take him out?

"No, he bit Sas-" Sakura started to speak, but was cut off when Sasuke interrupted.

"He burned our Heaven scroll and told us to survive the exam before knocking me out with some Jutsu. After that, for about ten hours while we were both unconscious, Sakura took care of us," Sasuke then looked at Sakura and seemed to want her to continue.

Sakura felt awkward because Sasuke deliberately stopped her from telling Naruto about the curse mark. She was thinking of how to tell the rest of the story without mentioning Sasuke's sudden evil chakra that came from the curse mark.

So Sasuke's hiding something too…

"Then a team of Sound genin attacked us, trying to kill Sasuke-kun. They were following orders from Orochimaru," Sakura continued carefully, giving as many details as possible without giving away too much.

"Sound genin? You mean the ones that attacked Kabuto before the first exam?" Naruto asked, curious.

Sakura seemed surprised for a moment, before gathering herself and answering, "Oh yeah…now that you mention it, it was the same team. Anyways, then thick-brows showed up and tried to take them all on. Uh, I mean that Rock Lee guy."

At this, Naruto's eyes widened slightly. If he defeated them all, then that would really be someone to watch…

"But he lost. Then Ino-pig, Shikamaru, and Chouji showed up as well and helped us out."

"Wait, can you tell me how the battle with Lee went?" Naruto interrupted, as he was curious as to his abilities and those of the Sound genin.

"Um…" Sakura tried to think back and remember the details. "It started with Lee almost defeating one of the Sound genin, but then the Sound survived it with the help of his teammate, and Lee wasn't able to move well after that. Then, when the Sound genin attacked, even though Lee dodged the attack, he was hit by the sound. The Sound genin was able to use sound waves to attack Lee's ear, and ended up defeating him."

So that's what it was…no wonder…Kabuto did dodge the attack after all, but the sound hit him…

"So, that's when Ino and her team showed up to help us. At first, they had some success. Ino used her Jutsu to take over one of the Sound genin's bodies."

Interesting, that must be the Yamanaka's trademark… I wonder how it works…

"But then the Sound-nins attacked their own teammate, and defeated them too."

These Sound nins are pretty strong…

"Then, Lee's teammates' showed up too."

Wow. What next? Gaara shows up too?

"Lee's teammate Neji was acting all confident and preparing to defeat the Sound-nin when Sasuke-kun woke up. Then Sasuke-kun took down one of the Sound nin, and since one of them was already down from her teammates' own attacks, the last one gave us their scroll and left with his teammates." Sakura finished by taking out the Earth scroll that they had gotten.

"So, what happened with the two teams that came to help us? Did they just leave?" Naruto asked curiously. He was a little surprised that they had been willing to help in the first place. Well, Shikamaru probably would have been willing to do something…but Rock Lee and Neji Hyuuga? He expected them to at least take the Sound-nin's scroll as payment.

"Well, yeah. It's been five hours since then. Right, here's some fish for you to eat," Sakura told him as she went over to the smoldering ashes where they had built a small fire surrounded by some rocks. She grabbed the fried-fish-on-a-stick and handed it to Naruto.

"Ah, thanks!" Naruto said with a smile before he started wolfing it down.

Sasuke and Sakura simply watched while he finished eating the fish in less than a minute.

'…he eats like an animal…' Sakura thought while looking away disgusted, offended by the rude display.

'I can…definitely eat faster than that!' Sasuke thought competitively.

"Alright!" Naruto said in a muffled voice with some fish still in his mouth, as he was wiping away the last bits of food around his lips with his hand. He got up and walked over to where his cloak was and wrapped it around him, and clipping the two ends together at the front neck area to finish putting it on. He would have to replace it later, seeing as there were holes and blood all over it now. Fortunately, he had made sure to order multiple copies of it when he requested the custom design. He turned back to face Sakura and Sasuke.

"It's already the second day right? Now that we have both scrolls, let's get to the tower as soon as possible. We might be able to get some rest before the third exam starts if we get there early."

"Didn't I tell you? Orochimaru burned our Heaven scroll, idiot," Sasuke told him with an annoyed look.

"Oh, you mean this thing?" Naruto said as he seemed to fumble around a bit before his left hand came out of his cloak and revealed the Heaven scroll, perfectly intact.

"Wh-where did you get that, Naruto!" Sakura questioned, completely taken aback with her eyes wide open.

"Heh, I knew you would try to take it from me before we entered the forest, Sasuke. So I made a fake one with a blank scroll and showed that one to you when I asked you who would carry the scroll. I kept the real one myself." Naruto replied with a grin.

"You bastard!" Sasuke tried to say angrily, but found himself smirking as he was too happy that they still had their Heaven scroll and could now go to the tower.

"Way to go, Naruto!" Sakura smiled, forgiving him for tricking them like that because they wound up keeping the real one.

"So, what now?" Naruto asked his teammates as he looked around the room they were in. There was writing on the wall that appeared to be a hint as to what they should do. It was fortunate that they had met no trouble on the way to the tower. That was probably because it was still early in the test. Had they delayed until the 5th day, there would certainly have been teams who hadn't yet found another scroll waiting to ambush other approaching teams.

"Let's open the scrolls. They said we wouldn't be allowed to open the scrolls until the tower, but we're here now," Sasuke responded as he took out the Earth scroll while Naruto took out the Heaven scroll.

They both unfurled their scrolls.

Suddenly seals appeared on both scrolls and they both threw them away before it could hurt them. There was a poof of smoke…and a random chuunin whom they never met appeared.

"Congratulations, you three. You've passed the second portion of the chuunin exams," the man said with a smile.

They were escorted out of the room and upstairs to another room, where there were three beds and where Kakashi was standing, reading his orange book.

"Ah…so you made it," Kakashi said from behind his face mask that he always wore while putting away his book.

"Of course we did. We're the best," Naruto claimed with a grin. "So, I take it that we can't leave the Tower until the five days are up?" Naruto asked as he walked forward and fell down on a bed on his back and closed his eyes.

Sakura and Sasuke followed suit, but merely sat on a bed each as they looked at Kakashi.

"That's right…actually, you can't even leave this room, unless you have an escort. But don't worry, there's a bathroom over there," he gestured to the other door in the room, "and somebody will bring meals to you at 7, 12 and 6. When the five days are up, somebody will come get you."

"…but there's nothing to do in this room! This is like a prison!" Sakura complained.

"Well…this is better than the forest, right?" Kakashi pointed out as he shrugged. "But, Sasuke, you need to come with me immediately. From what we heard, you three faced Orochimaru of the Sannin in the forest, right?" He suddenly became serious.

Naruto jolted up. "What? How did you know that?" Sakura and Sasuke looked surprised too.

"That's not important. Right now, you have to come with me and we need to make sure he didn't do anything to you, Sasuke. There are Hokage-sama's orders." Kakashi stated expressionless, all-business.

So that's what he was hiding earlier…I wonder what it was, to have caught the attention of the Old Man.

Sasuke realized that Kakashi was probably talking about the curse mark on his neck. 'What's going on?' But he nodded and got up to follow Kakashi. They were about to leave when Naruto got down from the bed and called after Kakashi.

"Wait, sensei. Is Hokage-sama in this building right now?"

Kakashi faced Naruto, who had a serious look on his face. In fact, the Hokage did rush to the tower earlier to meet with Anko regarding the Orochimaru problem, and had now established a temporary office in the Tower to make sure nothing else happened. "Yes, he's on a temporary office on the second floor. Why do you ask, Naruto?"

"If he's here, then I have to see him. It's really important," Naruto said with a hint of urgency in his tone. He stared intensely at Kakashi. Kakashi wondered what could be so important as to make Naruto refer to the Third Hokage as "Hokage-sama" rather than "Old Man".

Kakashi simply continued to stare at Naruto, not giving a response. Naruto, realizing that Kakashi wanted to hear his reason, continued carefully.

"It's about that."

"That?" Kakashi asked back, not understanding.

"Um…if something happens to your guest, then it's your responsibility to make sure everything's okay, right?" Naruto tried to be as clear as possible without revealing anything.

Kakashi's visible eye widened as he seemed to read between the lines.

"Surely you don't mean…that?"

'What are they talking about?' Sakura and Sasuke both wondered.

"I'm afraid that is exactly what I mean. So you see, this is extremely important," Naruto finished.

"I understand…"

Kakashi turned around and pressed a button beside the door, before opening the door to reveal that a chuunin was there.

"Naruto over there needs to see Hokage-sama immediately. Would you please escort him to Hokage-sama's office?"

"Understood," he chuunin said with a nod. "Please follow me." He gestured with his left hand.

Meanwhile, Kakashi exited and Sasuke followed behind him. Sasuke gave Naruto one last curious look before leaving.

Naruto was about to leave the room with the chuunin as well, completely forgetting Sakura behind him, when he heard her call out.

"Wait, Naruto. What's this about?"

Naruto stopped and turned slowly. His eyes softened and took on a sad look. "I'm…sorry Sakura. I can't tell you right now…" The truth was that he didn't really mind her knowing about the Nine-Tails. But he had another, more important reason to see the Hokage, one that he left out in his explanation to Kakashi, and one that had been bothering him even more than the issue of the seal Orochimaru placed on him.

He turned around again and walked out, following the chuunin.

Sakura looked down and sighed, as once again, she was left in the dark.

"We're here, Naruto-san."

"Thank you," Naruto nodded at the chuunin.

The chuunin knocked on the door and called in. "Hokage-sama, genin Naruto Uzumaki is here to see you."

For a few seconds, there was silence. Then, "Let him in."

Naruto pushed the door open and walked in.

"Naruto-kun, what brings you here?" the Hokage asked with a pipe in his mouth. He had a slight smile upon seeing Naruto, after realizing that he must have passed this part of the exam.

Naruto smiled back, then he noticed that the Hokage wasn't the only one in the room.

"Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto was surprised to see him leaning against the left wall, grinning at Naruto.

He walked over and ruffled Naruto's hair. "Hey kiddo, so you passed the second part of the exam, huh? I knew you could do it."

"Uh-Thanks," Naruto replied with a sheepish smile.

"So, what're you here for?" Jiraiya asked as he put his hands to his hips.

Then Naruto's expression became serious again. He looked at the Hokage and then at Jiraiya.

"In the forest, my team fought with Orochimaru," Naruto began.

"Yes, we know," Hiruzen said as his face became stern as well.

"During the fight, Orochimaru stabbed me through the chest with a sword, and I thought I died," Naruto continued as he pointed to the area where he was stabbed.

Jiraiya and the Hokage's eyes widened at that. They realized that with Naruto still standing perfectly alive that this must have had something to do with the fox.

"But somehow I survived it, and I felt a massive amount of chakra surging through me. My memory of it is blurry, but I remember being covered by red chakra and a heightened aggressiveness. I don't really remember many details besides that," Naruto explained expressionlessly.

"Hm…yes, that makes sense. That was the first time you felt the chakra right?" Jiraiya asked him, remembering that Naruto had told him he had never felt the chakra before when asked a month ago.

"Yes. But that's not why I came to see you today."

"No?" Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.

"Even in that state, Orochimaru was able to defeat me. At the very end, I know that he used some sort of seal on me, putting it on top of my original seal. After that, my chakra receded and I believe I fell unconscious." Naruto elaborated.

"What! He messed with your seal? That snake! Show it to me!" Jiraiya demanded, outraged.

Naruto complied and unzipped his jacket and held his cloak aside to reveal the seal by drawing up some chakra.

Jiraiya knelt down as Hiruzen watched. Jiraiya closely examined the seal. 'So this is the new seal…this is…the Five Elements Seal…it's normally used to temporary restrict chakra flow, but because it's also an odd-numbered seal, it's disrupting the function of the existing even-numbered seal. With this, the Nine-Tails chakra is mixing more erratically with Naruto's chakra, and that will probably cause a loss of chakra control along with the greater difficulty in gathering chakra…'

"Phew! I was scared for a moment," Jiraiya blew some air out of his mouth in a comic fashion as he stood up. "It's nothing serious, he only used it to block your chakra flow and disrupt the mixing of the Nine-Tails' chakra with your own."

Behind him, the Hokage also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Brace yourself kid, this is gonna hurt," Jiraiya said as he held up his right hand and sent chakra to his fingers.

Naruto noticed and realized what he was going to do, so he braced himself by deeply breathing.

"Five Elements Unseal!"

In a quick motion, Jiraiya's fingers slammed into Naruto's stomach and he felt like he was on fire again.

"AH!" Naruto screamed as he clutched his stomach from the pain and doubled over. After a moment, the pain subsided and he got up again. "Did you fix it?" He asked with a gasp.

"Sure did. You should be back to normal now," Jiraiya explained.

"If that's all…you should get some rest now, Naruto-kun. You may have to fight again when the five days are up," Hiruzen advised. There was no visible signal as to what he was thinking about, but it felt to Naruto as though the Hokage had just winked at him. But that was strange, as Naruto knew that there was generally a break between the second and third portions of the exam. This meant that there might be a portion he was not aware of.

But he wasn't done yet.

"Actually…there is something else I need to talk to you about," Naruto started. "Orochimaru said something during the fight." Naruto's faced darkened. "He called me…the son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and his wife Kushina Uzumaki."

"…!" Jiraiya's mouth fell open. Hiruzen's eyes widened and he gripped the armrest on his chair tightly.