Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Chunin Exams Part 2

Yume sighed as she swung back and forward on the swingset in the park, she was alone everyone already having left. Or rather she would like to say she was alone, apparently she was being observed by some Suna ninja, what rank she didn't know and she didn't bother giving away she knew that she was being watched.

They had passed the first part, and would still have even if all of what they did really didn't matter in the end. Gripping onto the chains holding the swing she frowned, now all that was left was accomplishing the second part of this exam, the details still hadn't been told to them but they would need to be at the entrance of the by seven tomorrow.

'I wonder what kind of test it will be this time...it might be fighting or something like that..' She then began to hum the namimori middle anthem. 'Either way...I wonder how much longer till I can find a way back home. I can't disregard my duties and...I can't stay stuck here! I made a promise to myself to follow and protect him and everyone no matter what. I owe everything that I am to him, and Reborn.' Unknowingly to her tears began to form in her eyes.

"A-ano...Yume...san?" A soft timid voice startled her out of her thoughts and she looked towards where the source of the voice. In front of her stood Gaara, and he looked at her worried and sad.

"Are you ok?...I...I um…" He looked down at the ground, and she saw that the sand around him seemed to shift. "You...you're not sad because of me are you?"

She stared at him confused at him for a moment before she soon realised that her cheeks felt warm and wet. She let out a soft 'oh' as she realised that she had been crying without meaning to. Quickly, she wiped her eyes and cheeks, turning to Gaara she was about to say something to reassure him that it wasn't his fault when all of a sudden the Sand moved towards her direction.

"Please don't leave me. Please don't be sad. I'm sorry for making you sad." The sand gripped her and she winced and cursed herself mentally for not moving out of the way. She could feel that the ninja observing her was startled and nervous from the small sudden spike in chakra. Not enough to alert anyone else but definitely enough to garner some attention from more experienced ninja and ones that were observant as well.

Quickly she said, "No, no Gaara. You've got it wrong!" Hiding a wince from the way the sand scraped against her and held her tightly she continued. "I wasn't sad because of you!" Gaara held onto the brown teddy bear he had brought along with him and looked at her taken aback and that seemed to do the trick as she was unceremoniously dropped while the sand still lingered in the air.

"Ow..that's going to hurt." She muttered and saw that Gaara was tearing up and clutching the teddy bear tighter. The sand shifting seemed to shift again, and the ninja watching them seemed to have calmed down.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" He apologized. "Please don't hate me." Now the sand was shifting agitated and she smiled softly at him.

"It's ok Gaara, I don't hate you. It's fine, I know you didn't mean to." She patted his head and held back a cringe from the pain she felt from her arm. It wasn't sprained or anything but she might end up waking with a few bruises tomorrow. 'Better put some wraps around them before Shisui-kun and Itachi-kun see.' Thankfully as she patted his head lightly the sand didn't block her this time.

"There there..don't cry. I'm fine Gaara."

"You..sure?" He asked softly, and she nodded.

"I'm sure."

"But...you were crying when I came here and...I thought I might have done something bad.."

Shaking her head. "No. You didn't do anything bad it's just…" She hesitated and looked at him.

"Do you promise to keep a secret?"

He nodded and stared at her with a serious look on his face."I promise!" At that she had the sudden urge to pinch his cheeks and hold him in a tight hug. He was just so cute with that look on his face.

She smiled softly and sat on the ground motioning for Gaara to sit in front of her. She smiled a bit more when he did and looked at her attentively. "Well...remember when I told you about the person you remind me of?"

He nodded, wondering what she was getting at. "You see...I was thinking about him and about one of the scary people I was telling you about." She sighed as she stared up at the darkening sky. "I miss them...something occurred and I got separated from them. I...I decided to become a ninja in order to be able to find a way back to them. I suppose being a civilian might have let me do the same but I'd be weak and vulnerable to people stronger than me." She clenched her has as she wrapped her arms around her legs.

"I can't be weak because of a promise I made…" Gaara stayed quiet for a moment thinking over what she said.

"Is that why you are here? To get stronger."" He asked curiously.

She gave him a nod. " Yeah, I can't fail the exams. I have to pass...not just for me but for my teammates too. I've held them back until now so I have to make sure to hold my weight on this, then...as soon as I am able I will begin searching for my family."

"Yume-san...what's it like to have a family?" He asked after a while. Blinking she turned to look at Gaara and saw that he was looking at the ground.

"Why do you ask?"

"I..well..I'm curious. I don't have a mommy...and father, sister and brother never visit me. They stay away most of the time. Only Uncle Yashamaru takes care of me."

"Ah...hm..well. How should I describe it." She rubbed the back of her head and looked up at the darkening sky. "A family...gives you the feel of warmth, acceptance and love. Families can also consist of not only blood relatives but by those you form strong and special bonds." At that she smiled softly. "I can't say fully what it's like to have a mother and father or siblings by blood. My parents died in my childhood...but sometime after I ended up having a new family. Not related by blood but through those bonds."

Gaara gave her a confused look, tilting his head to the side a bit. "I don't understand...How can someone not your mommy, father or sister and brother be your family?"

"Ah...tell me does being around your uncle make you feel happy, safe and warm?" She asked. He nodded at her question. "Well it's kinda like that. Your uncle may not be a close family member like your siblings or father but he still is related. Although he still holds some blood relation to you, it's the bond you both share that ties you to family not just blood."

"Oh…" He blinked and stared at her in wonder. "What's your family like Yume-san?"

"My family?" She put a finger to her lips,ignoring the pain that the action caused, as she gave a soft smile. "They're something else I can tell you that, but they are fun to be around." She chuckled a bit as her eyes held a bit of sadness in them. "We all have our own different personalities and likes and dislikes, but for the most part we can get along I suppose." Humming she began to think of all the interactions she had with all of them, and how they interacted with one another.

"However, we would never be able to get along if it wasn't for the fact that we are all connected to one sky." At that Gaara who had been looking at her with wonder gave her a quizzical glance. She saw that and merely chuckled, not elaborating or explaining what that meant. "That sky, accepts and harmonizes us, no matter who we were and are that sky accepts us."

She then began to hum the Namimori Middle Anthem softly for a moment before continuing. "We are one big family because of the deep bonds formed through that sky. Well...back in Konoha you could say I also formed a family bond with someone." She gave a small smile at the thought of Naruto. Despite what she had wanted, he had now become like a small brother to her and she was happy she could be something of an older sister to him. She then frowned. However, she only wished that when she left it wouldn't hurt him but it probably would. That would be one of the few regrets she will have.

She then felt a tug in her hand and she held back a wince. Looking at Gaara she saw concern in his eyes. "..You miss them?"

"Hai...I do, but I try not to dwell on that fact much, because I know one day we will be back together again. Under that same sky once more." She then tried to pat him on the head only to be blocked by the sand. Her smile didn't falter though, and she then stood up, again hiding back a wince from the pain. She didn't want Gaara to feel bad about what happened. "Now I remember I promised you I would play with you the next time we met. So how about we go do that now?" Gaara smiled brightly and held his teddy bear close. "Okay!"

By the time she had returned to the hotel, it was late, and almost everyone had gone to sleep. However, she had a feeling her sensei would notice her arrival but thankfully he didn't appear to question her. As she entered her room, while she would have like to go to sleep, she didn't want to go to sleep covered in sand. So she took a bath and disinfected some of the scrapes she got from the sand that she hadn't noticed before. She then wrapped her arms and legs. It was a bit difficult given the fact that everything hurt but the pain had lessened more and she knew that with some of the bruises she would wake in the morning she would also feel very sore.

Sighing she decided to just leave it be and went to sleep. Hopefully her teammates wouldn't pick up on the fact that she was injured but if they did she would give them an explanation.

The moment she had stepped out of the hotel she was jumped by Shisui. They had all eaten a light breakfast, Itachi and Shisui before her. Their sensei wasn't there so she had been the last one to eat.

"Yume-chan! Where were you yesterday? We were getting worried about you. You know it's not safe to be by yourself at this time." He said disapprovingly while she gave him him an unamused look, hiding the fact that she was feeling a bit of pain.

"Ah, yeah I know. But nothing bad happened so what should it matter?" She said with a slight shrug.

"Hm..well I suppose but where were you?"

She sighed and stared at Itachi who was giving her a questioning look as well. "Fine I'll tell you but first...Get off me!"

"Hah hah ok ok." Shisui said with a smile on his face.

"I was out playing with a kid I had met yesterday. We were at the park they have in Suna, and yes he was an actual kid. He hasn't been trained in the way of the ninja yet." She said to both Shisui and Itachi before they could voice the fact that the child may not have been a child.

"I ended up playing with him longer than I had thought I would. That's why I was late." She ended up leaving a lot out she knew but she wasn't lying either.

"Huh." Shisui said in a thoughtful tone and gave her an incredulous look. She narrowed her eyes slightly and huffed. "What is it?"

"Well that's so unlike you. To hang around with someone new willingly."

"Indeed Yume-san. That is quite out of character of you." Itachi voiced his agreement to what Shisui said.

At that she huffed again and didn't bother denying that it was out of character of her. Instead, she began to walk past them. "Shouldn't we be heading towards there now. We'll be late if we don't head there soon, and I doubt they will accept latecomers."

"Ah! You're right!" Shisui exclaimed as he started to move after her. Itachi didn't say anything but followed and quickened his pace.

It took them a while to get to the entrance of the village but thankfully they weren't the last ones to arrive. "At least we're not last but I'm itching to know what the second part is!" Shisui told them as they could practically feel the restlessness from him. Itachi and Yume nodded at what he said. Truth be told, they also wanted to know but couldn't do anything about that.

"Well it won't be long till we find out Shisui-kun so we should try and not get worked up about this." Yume said and she stared up at the sky, she could see that the sun would soon begin to rise.

"Yeah yeah." Shisui said and sighed as he forced himself to calm down. He then looked at Yume and saw that she was looking at the sky and took notice that she had bandaged her arms. He didn't bother asking her, why she did it. It was probably for the same reason she had covered her legs as they traveled here. He then heard that she had begun to hum that familiar tune of hers.

That got him thinking of what she told him. Even though he knew of her plans he didn't make him feel as if he was going to lose her. She would always be with them in some shape or form and he understood that she wasn't going to leave for any bad reasons. Although others may not see it that way.

He wondered who exactly these family members are. How they were like, and what they have done to make her want to go back to them so badly. It couldn't have been long that she knew them if when she came to be in Konoha was very young from what he had heard. So why? What had they done that made her be so inclined to find them?

He was lost in thought for a moment before he shrugged it off. 'It doesn't matter she will tell us eventually.' He thought as he noticed Itachi staring at Yume before looking away and seemed to become moody for a bit before reverting to his usual stoic face. At that he smirked. 'I wonder…' Before he could continue his thought he was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat and he, like many others gave the person their undivided attention.

A man dressed similarly like the first proctor, minus the scars on his face stood in front of the large crowd of prospective chunin candidates. There were only sixteen teams left and only eight would pass maybe less if some killed each other off.

"Listen up, and listen well, for you will only hear this once." He began to speak. "You will all begin the second part of the exams soon. However, we will need to travel to for one day for them to begin. The second part of the exam will be held in the Demon Desert. Upon arrival you all will have one night of rest. The following day before the sun rises your team will be given your scrolls. Your mission will be to guard your team scroll, making sure that it receives little to no damage by that time. The first eight teams to make it to the tower in the Center in three days time will proceed to the final round. Keep in mind, hunting for food, getting supplies and surving will be on you. However before we go you must all sign consent forms that if you die, Suna will not be held responsible and that this was your choice. If you die, we are not at fault."

He saw that some of them seemed to shift nervously and others seemed to be blood thirsty. "Until the second exams begin you all will be forced to tolerate one another. No sabotages, attacks or any type of violence shall be executed until that time. If we have to, you will be disqualified." He said it in a way to show that he was not bluffing. He then watched as they all began to go to the chunin that had the stacks of paper. As he watched them all sign he couldn't help but let his eyes drift to one of the young Konoha kunoichi. The one that they had been ordered to observe due to the fact that it was reported she had been close to the Jinchuriki, and was attacked. If she dared to speak of this to the Hokage of Konoha that may lead to some political problems between the two villages. Something which neither was looking for, so they were ordered to observe her, and to figure out if she held any hidden motive throughout the time they escorted them towards the second round of the exam.

However, he couldn't help but be surprised she was physically well, after being attacked. Or rather appeared to be but he could pick out that while she was not too injured it would hinder her if she was in a bad situation, and she was getting injured a lot. Yet he could see that the girl seemed to have a sort of determination in her eye, as if, no matter what she would ensure that she was not a hindrance to her team.

And speaking of her team he could see that both Uchiha shinobi seemed to be emotionless on the surface but they too held a determination in them. However, the older one appeared to be more cheerful and talkative from what information had been gathered on them. Either way, they would be monitored and observed for any suspicious or hostile actions. One could never be safe on these matters. That is to say, they would not be the only ones watched, the other teams would be too.

By the time they had reached the Demon Desert, they were tired to an extent but Yume wouldn't let that bother her for the moment. She was itching for the second part to begin but couldn't do anything about it. It would appear they would have to wait a bit longer, just a bit more and they would begin.

As she stared out of the circular window of the room she had been assigned she wondered how things would turn out. It was sandy as one could expect but she understood some logical problems they may encounter. Scorpions would be one, if they didn't stay hydrated and cool enough they could get heat stroke, possibilities of Sandstorms, and quicksand. There could be others but she couldn't think of what at the top of her head at the moment.

Another thing that was on her mind was the fact that it would be like that they would be targeted seeing as they were quite young, painting them as targets.

"Tch. But we're not as weak as we look." She muttered to herself as closed her eyes. She then sighed and once more went to bed. She would need all the rest she could get, ignoring the soreness her body felt. It took a while but eventually she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning she was rudely awakened by Shisui, who slammed her door open. "Yume-chan! Time to wake up!" He then proceeded to take off the covers from her bed all the while holding a tired looking Itachi in one hand. Itachi practically glaring daggers at him.

Yume groaned. "Ugh...fine. Just give me some space. I'll be done changing in a few." She got up sluggishly and stretched. She then saw Itachi was trying to crawl into her bed, probably wanting to rest a bit, but Shisui wasn't having any of that. She rolled her eyes, and went into the bathroom and changed into one of her other similar outfits she was wearing. Frowning she wondered if they would be given any breakfast but she dashed that thought away. It was unlikely, and she began to wonder if she had enough water for this. Hopefully she did, and when she came out of her room she went to check, but not before noting that Itachi had successfully managed to crawl onto her bed with Shisui on the ground a bit bruised.

She sweatdropped and shook her head, amused by it, and checked her three canteens. Frowning she noted that only one was full, the second one was half full, and the last one was empty. Pursing her lips she sighed, knowing she would have to refill it from the tap in the restroom provided to them with the room. So she did so, and began to hum the Namimori Middle Anthem again.

Smiling slightly, she watched as Shisui was trying to get Itachi up from the open door of the restroom. Chuckling softly, she rolled her eyes. "Shisui, just stop, you're going to annoy the other participants by all the noise you're making. You probably woke some too."

"But Yume-chan, he needs to get up now."

"Yeah I know. " She sighed as she saw that the sky was beginning to lighten. "But waking him like that won't help any. You'll only get hurt and we'll have a grumpy companion for the first part of the day."

"Well what do you propose we do, huh?"

"Bribe him."

"With?"

"Dango, lots and lots of dango. Well at least till we get back to Konoha." She stated as she went towards Itachi. "Itachi-kun." She shook him lightly until he opened his eyes, and he gave her a slight glare. "Don't give me that look." She rolled her eyes and continued. "Look, if you get up now I promise that when we get back to Konoha I'll buy you as much dango as you want for a week."

That seemed to bring him to alertness a bit and he seemed to mull things for a moment. "Two." Was all he said and she said.

"Fine, two, but please get up now." He nodded and sat up reluctantly and she saw that his hair was sticking up a bit. Sighing she began to comb his hair with the comb she had used earlier while she had been changing. It didn't take long and by the time she was done she knew it wouldn't be long before the exam would begin.

"Well, we better get going now." She said to Shisui who had become quiet for a moment and Itachi who was staring at nothing infront of him."We'd better find where we'll be starting the second round.

At that they both nodded and she made sure she hadn't left anything in her room. She didn't worry for Itachi and Shisui because she knew despite the fact that Itachi might not be a morning person, he would still have packed everything. It also helped that Shisui would have double checked to be sure.

As they headed for the top of the stone fort, where they had been they had been given a scroll. Then they were pointed towards a certain spot and that was that. As the sun began to peak out of the sky, they heard one of the procter's say. "Begin!"

They all jumped from the height soon after and began to run. Each and every team headed towards the same direction the center. The had been given equal amount of space from other teams, so no one could interfere with one another so early in the round.

Yume, Itachi, and Shisui ran without interference, minus the two quicksands they had encountered, for at least two hours before they decided to take a small break. They had covered a lot of distance in such a short time but they could tell this place was large so it would be a long while before they could reach the center.

As Yume looked around her, she could say that all she saw was sand, sand, and more sand. Well, sand and rocks too. Not really much to note though.

She frowned for a moment before looking towards Itachi and Shisui. They both didn't appear to be out of breath, but the scorching hot sun would eventually begin to take a toll on them if they overworked their bodies too much.

Always watch out for your friends and family Bakayume.

Hearing Reborn's voice had her eyes harden. Of course she would look out for them, they were her teammates and friends after all. After a few more minutes they began to run again. However this time after half an hour of running they encountered their first challenge.

As the sand seemed to rise upwards they got their first look at one of the dangers in the Demon Desert. Yume's eyes widened as she took a step back and tensed. Shisui and Itachi did the same. "Is that-" She began to say only to have Shisui finish her question.

"A scorpion? It's huge!" Shisui exclaimed as it towered over them like a giant. Which it was, it was a giant scorpions.

'Damn. I thought the scorpions we might encounter would be smaller. Not to mention how is that biologically possible? I've never know for a scorpion to get that big!' Yume exclaimed in her head. She and her teammates jumped back as the tail of the scorpions striked towards them and it jabbed one of its pincers too. Instinctively she threw some of her shuriken towards it only for it to bounce off uselessly. 'Crap, and I don't think my water jutsu's will be able to do much to it either.'

Shisui and Itachi seeing that weaponry was useless looked at each other and nodded.

"Yume-san, me and Shisui will be using one of our fire releases. Please be careful and make sure not to get caught in the line of fire." Itachi said seriously.

"Alright, I'll see if I ca-" Her answer was cut off as another giant scorpion appeared. "Oh you have to be kidding me!"

Itachi gritted his teeth and jumped as a pincer headed towards him. Shisui did the same while Yume backflipped as the second giant scorpion jabbed a pincer towards her.

'One was bad enough, but two!' She gritted her teeth and she saw that both Shisui and Itachi were launching their fire release: Great Fireball Technique.

Both attacks combined seemed to have done some damage to it but it was still alive and the other one was heading towards them to attack.

'To think I have to use this now rather than later.' She thought angrily as she took out her vongola lightning box, and lit it up her ring. 'Thankfully I put it on earlier.' With a slight crackling noise as the flames around her ring lit, she connected the box to her ring. The box as it opened emitted the same noise and soon both Rai and Jin were in her hands.

Her eyes sharpened and she jumped standing between in between Itachi and Shisui. As the pincers were getting close to them Shisui and Itachi jumped up, eyes widening as they saw Yume.

"Yume get out of there!" Shisui called out. She ignored those shouts as she concentrated her flames into Rai and Jin. At her lack of response both Itachi and Shisui frowned and began to form the handsigns of the fireball jutsu.

"Elettrico…"

M:And that's all for now! Truthfully this is only about half of the chapter that I was planning on writing since it was longer than I thought it would be. But the rest should be out soon. Well, anyways I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Till next time, ^-^