IMPORTANT NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR! PLEASE READ!

I'm sorry, but this isn't a new chapter. I had to revise something in chapter twenty-one after it was brought to my attention by JohnnyG. If you've read this chapter once already, just skip down to where it says "Jinra and Temari" in bold and you'll see the change I've made. Trust me, it's important to read because it is an event that will be referenced later on.

Thanks for reading.

-Soul of the Silver Phoenix

Chapter 21:

Reunions, Encounters and Confrontations

Jinra's eyes opened gingerly and released a contented sigh. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so relaxed. The air felt so warm against his skin and the trees surrounding him were so beautiful, he wished he could stay here forever.

"Jinra?" Jinra heard the feminine voice calling him but didn't respond. He didn't want anything to ruin this moment. However, the owner of the voice seemed to have other plans, as not soon after the boy felt a pair of gentle hands caressing his scalp. "Jinra, come on. You have to focus."

Jinra let out another sigh, this time expressing his disappointment, before getting up from where he had been laying down on the ground so he could look at the person talking to him.

"Do I have to? It's nice to be able to relax for once, and this place is so wonderful."

The woman who was now sitting across from him let out a small giggle at Jinra's whining before she put on a slightly more serious expression. "Yes, Jinra, you have to. We don't have much time and we still have a lot to talk about."

Jinra briefly frowned at the woman before his face relaxed into a more neutral expression. "Okay, mom."

Jinra's mother smiled as she pushed a lock of light purple hair behind her ear. She was wearing a white floral patterned kimono with her long hair flowing gracefully down her back until it almost reached her waist. Her light brown eyes shone with an inner light that she always seemed to possess. It was by looking into those eyes that he realized just how much he had missed her.

Jinra's mother must have read the look in her son's eyes because she just smiled a little broader and said, "I missed you too, Jinra."

Jinra smiled in return before saying, "So, what is it we need to talk about?"

"Look at your surroundings. Tell me if you notice anything about it."

Jinra did as he was told and allowed his eyes to wander around their immediate surroundings. Tall, picturesque trees of varying types and age encircled them and a layer of vibrant green grass covered the ground. The air that flowed around them was warm and dry, and just above the canopy he could see small traces of an afternoon sun.

"It's very nice, and a little familiar," Jinra said after a moment of thought.

"It should be," she said with a smile. "This was the place where you met someone very important to you, and I'm here to help you remember her."

"Her? As in a girl?" Jinra asked. "There aren't that many girls in my life. Who could I have forgotten?"

His mother's smile turned a little sad at his question. "That's not a question I can answer. All I can say is that she was a very important person to you at that time of your life. You have to try and focus on drawing the memory out."

"Can you at least tell me how far back this was?"

A small nod was given in way of an answer. "Try and focus on a memory of this place from almost exactly seven years ago."

Keeping the time frame in mind, Jinra closed his eyes and thought back, to a time when the only thing he could remember was his frantic search for his father. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and images, threatening to overwhelm him. Keeping the picture of his current surroundings in mind as an anchor to steady his thoughts, he could feel the memory almost within his grasp, but just when he reached out the memory vanished.

Letting out a small sound of frustration, Jinra opened his eyes to tell his mother of his failure, only to feel the words die in his throat as he found himself gazing directly into a pair of inquisitive teal eyes, along with the small girl who owned them. The girl was standing a few inches away from him, leaning toward him in such a way that their noses were almost touching. It made it almost impossible to see any details of her face aside from her eyes and the sandy blonde hair that hung loosely in front of her face. Other than that all he could say for sure was that she was young, at least six or seven years old.

The two of them remained frozen in their respective places until the silence became too much for Jinra and he was forced to break it. "Umm, hi. Who are you?"

"She's the one you have forgotten. You just pulled her from your memories. She looks different now, but this is what she looked like back when you first met," he mother said softly from behind the girl.

Jinra leaned back so he could see his mother's face again, but everywhere his head moved the girl's head seemed to follow, making it impossible to see anything outside of her gaze. It was only when Jinra finally gave up that the girl giggled before drawing back a little bit so he could see the things around her. He spotted his mother sitting just over the girl's shoulder, smiling as serenely as always. His attention was brought back to the girl however when he felt a hard poke on his stomach.

The girl laughed at the indignant expression on his face, showing him a very familiar smile in the process. Jinra's eyes widened as he remembered where he had seen that smile before.

"It's you!" he said in astonishment. "The one from the visions!" Caught up in his excitement he quickly got up, scooping the little girl up in his arms in the process before spinning her around, causing another round of giggles to escape his 'captive.' It was a second later that he realized what he was doing and stopped his actions, bringing the girl's face very close to his own. "Tell me, what's your name?"

The girl seemed to consider his question for a moment before giving the boy another radiant smile. "My name is Temari, Jinra-kun." And then, just as suddenly as she had appeared, the young Temari vanished into thin air, leaving a very confused demigod descendent in her wake.

"Temari?" he said in a mixture of awe and confusion.

"Yes, Temari," the soft voice of his mother replied. "The same girl that you've become so fixated on since your return to the village. It seems as if fate has played a hand in bringing you two back together."

Jinra continued to stare at the open space that the memory of his friend had once occupied. He realized that now that he had a name for what Temari was to him, he felt a strong sense of loss. He was really starting to grow sick of that feeling.

"This is why I've never liked dreams," he said quietly. "I realize what they are before I really have a chance to enjoy them."

"Your father always said the same thing. I think it has to do with your ability to see past outward appearances. That, and dreams are never just dreams for your father's clan."

Jinra tore his eyes away from the space they had been fixated on and refocused them on his mother. "What do you mean?"

"Once again, that's a question that you'll have to answer for yourself," she said as she got up and walked over to Jinra before engulfing him into a hug. "It's time to wake up now, Jinra."

As soon as she said that, Jinra could feel his body fading back into consciousness. In desperation he clung onto his mother, not wanting to leave but at the same time knowing he didn't have a choice.

"Goodbye, mom," he murmured as the world around them began to disappear. "I hope I'll see you again, even if it is a dream."

"You will, Jinra. And never forget, I'll always be proud of you."

And then everything went black.

Jinra awoke to find himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. It took him a few minutes before he remembered that he was at the tower in the middle of the Forest of Death. This was the room his grandfather had directed him to a short while after they had finished the second exam.

He only vaguely remembered stripping down to his boxes and hitting the bed. He also recalled something warm curling up next to him, which he could only assume had been Luna. After all, she was the only one that had followed him into the room. And judging from the soft breathing he heard next him, he assumed she was still there.

Sighing he closed his eyes again and attempted to go back to sleep. Sadly though, that plan quickly dissolved when he felt the warm body next to him move closer along with a pair of slim arms wrapping around his torso. Jinra's eyes bolted open as the implications of this struck his mind. There was no way Luna should have been able to hold him. Wolves don't have arms. Arms implied that something human or at least human-like was currently holding him. But why would someone be holding him in his sleep, and what happened to Luna?

Seeing no other alternative in his sleepy state but to turn and see who it was, Jinra drew back as much as he could with the arms still encircling him and took a good look at his sleeping companion.

The person holding him was a young woman. She appeared to be roughly his age and had long white hair highlighted with streaks of silver and blue that rested on pale creamy skin. Even with his brain still slightly foggy from sleep, he had to admit that she was extremely attractive.

As those thoughts passed through his mind he heard the girl let out a faint murmur as she pulled herself closer to him so that her head now rested just under his chin. And although Jinra was a little young to fully appreciate what was happening to him right now, he was mature enough to relish the sensation of having a warm female body pressed so close to his own.

'I still don't know who this is though,' he thought to himself as he looked slightly down at the head of white, silver, and blue hair that rested on his chest. There was something about the color of her hair that was familiar. 'It kind of looks like Luna's fur…'

Then, as if a light bulb had been turned on in his brain, Jinra came to an odd conclusion. "Luna?" he whispered tentatively.

"Jinra-sama," she murmured back, causing Jinra's eyes widen in realization. There was no mistaking it. There was only one person on earth right now that called him that, but how was it possible? Deciding that there was only one person to ask he raised his hands and placing them on her shoulder, shaking her gently. "Luna, wake up."

Jinra was visibly relieved when he felt her begin to stir. "Jinra-sama?"

Jinra watched as she opened her eyes and found himself gazing into her enchanting blue orbs. "Jinra-sama, what's wrong?"

"Luna, is that really you?"

Luna nodded her head sleepily.

"But how? What happened to you?"

Luna gave him a confused look for a moment before her eyes relaxed and she let out a soft but amused giggle. "Oh, that. This happens to summons whenever they stay in the human world for too long. We have to adopt human forms in order to conserve chakra."

"And when were you going to tell me about this?"

Luna cocked her head to the side in a decidedly cute manner and said, "I thought you already knew. This should have been one of the first things your father told you."

Jinra just stared at her in silence, unable to think of a suitable response to her answer. After a few moments Luna yawned. "Well, if you don't have any more questions, I'm going back to sleep." And with that she closed her eyes and snuggled closer to Jinra's body. Her breathing became deep and steady and she was asleep a few seconds later

It was only a few minutes after that when Jinra began to notice something…unusual about Luna's body with their new closeness. And with each new breath Luna took, it became clearer and clearer that something very important was missing.

It didn't take long for him to figure it out, but when he did he did his face immediately flushed a deep crimson. And no matter how hard he tried over the next hour he couldn't get himself to fall asleep, because every time he came close he felt Luna take another deep breath, causing a single thought passed through his mind: Luna wasn't wearing anything when she was summoned.

Needless to say, Jinra never really got back to sleep.

It wasn't until a few hours later that Luna finally decided to wake up, which allowed Jinra to get up as well due to the wolf-turned-girl's death grip on his torso, only to discover two more problems, and both of them revolved around a lack of suitable clothes. Jinra's clothes were torn and covered in a thick layer of blood and Luna had nothing at all.

"Great. What are we going to do now?"

Luna sat up on the bed, a sheet wrapped loosely around her slim frame. "You could always walk around in your underwear. I'm sure that black haired girl wouldn't mind," she said in a teasing manner.

Jinra flushed slightly at the suggestion before saying, "Haku's just a friend, Luna."

"And that hug? I didn't see your other friends doing that."

Jinra thought about how to answer that for a moment. "I don't know. Maybe she's just friendly that way. Besides, guys don't really hug; not unless they're family…or something else."

Luna let out a sigh as she fell back down onto the bed. "Humans are confusing. You have all of these weird unwritten rules that you don't even know how to follow."

"And summons are different?"

"Yes, we are. It's all about what you would call dominance and pack behavior. Every summon is born knowing these rules and we follow them instinctively."

Jinra let out a small sigh as he eyed his ruined clothes again. "I think we're getting off track. What are we going to do about clothes?"

"I can shift back to my wolf form for a few hours," Luna offered helpfully. "More than that and I risk chakra exhaustion."

"All right. That covers you, but what am I going to do?"

As if in answer to his question, a loud knocking sound came from the door.

"Who could that be?" he wondered as he reached for the door handle, only to pause when he heard Luna's voice call out to him.

"Jinra-sama, your disguise."

It was only then that Jinra realized that his henge had fallen at some point during the night, leaving his transformed features exposed. Quickly forming the ram seal he put the illusion back up and opened the door just wide enough to look outside, but not so wide as to reveal Luna's presence. When he saw who it was on the other side, his eyes threatened to fall out of his head in surprise.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yo," he said lazily. "The Hokage said that the second exam did a number on your clothes, so he sent me to get you some fresh ones," he said as he handed Jinra a bundle. "They came from the pack in your room. It was the only way we could be sure they would fit."

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei," Jinra said before closing the door again. He then glanced at Luna who simply looked back and said, "Well, that was convenient."

Fifteen minutes later Jinra had dressed in his new clothes, which more or less mirrored the style of his old clothing though his vest was now black and gold instead of gray and silver. Then he and Luna, now in her wolf form, headed towards were Naruto was sleeping.

"As soon as we get out of here we're going to a store and getting you some clothes," Jinra said, trying to sound serious only to have the effect ruined by the small blush on his cheeks.

Luna allowed herself a small smile. "Oh? And who's going to get them for me? You? Besides, you're too modest for your own good. These humans have been a bad influence on you."

"You will be getting clothes. We'll figure out how later," Jinra said shortly as they reached his blonde teammate's door. Bringing up his fist he hammered on the door a few times and waited. After a few minutes had passed and Naruto still hadn't answered, Jinra knocked again, this time a bit harder.

"Maybe he isn't in there," Luna suggested.

Jinra ignored her and instead tried the door handle, which was surprisingly unlocked. Taking a few steps inside, Jinra scanned the room carefully with his eyes, finding no trace of the blonde anywhere. "That's strange. Usually Naruto is still asleep at this time of the morning. I wonder why he's up."

"He probably had something important to do before breakfast. Come on. Let's wake the other two and get some food," Luna said a little impatiently.

Jinra nodded silently and started walking towards the remaining two doors, but in the back of his mind he couldn't help but wonder, 'What could Naruto be doing at this time of the morning?'

At a different part of the tower Naruto let out a small sneeze. Rubbing his nose absent-mindedly, he wondered for a few seconds who could be talking about him before his attention returned to the matter at hand. At that moment Naruto was standing in front of the Hokage's temporary office. It had taken him most of the morning to find it, but he had expected as much, which was part of the reason he had gotten up so early. But now that he was here, he felt overwhelmed by a combined sense of hesitation and anticipation. What if he was wrong? What if Orochimaru had lied to him? But at the same time he knew that what the sannin had told him had felt right, and he wanted to believe that he was one step closer to knowing who his parents were. Either way the answers were right behind those office doors, he just had to reach out and take them.

Quietly gathering his courage he rapped his knuckles on the door a few times before taking a step back to wait for an answer. He didn't have to wait very long. Within ten seconds of his knock the doors opened, revealing the withered form of the closest thing he had ever had to a grandfather, the Third Hokage.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" Sarutobi said as his eyebrows furrowed.

Naruto stared directly into the old man's eyes as he answered. "There's something we needed to talk about, remember?"

Sarutobi looked confused for a moment before he remembered Naruto's parting words from the day before. "Oh, yes. Please come in." Sarutobi opened the door wide enough for the boy to enter before the blonde walked in and took a seat on the chair opposite the Hokage's desk. Sarutobi followed close behind and sat down in his office chair. "What is it you wanted to discuss, Naruto?"

Naruto took a deep breath before starting. "When we fought Orochimaru in the forest of death, he said something to me about my parents, something that I haven't been able to stop thinking about, and you're the only person I know that can tell me if it's true or not."

Sarutobi shifted slightly in his seat when he heard this. As a sannin Orochimaru was privy to many of Konoha's secrets, but only two of those secrets involved Naruto, and only one of those two secrets remained unknown to the boy. Unfortunately, even though he knew what was coming there was no way he knew of to avoid it. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he said, "What was it?"

"Who were my parents?"

Sarutobi sighed sadly, "I don't kn-"

Naruto harshly cut the Hokage off by slamming his hand onto the desk. "Don't lie to me! You do know! I can see it in your eyes! Why won't you tell me?!"

"Naruto, calm down," Sarutobi said sternly.

"I will not calm down!" Naruto roared as years of withheld frustrations rose to the surface. "I'm sick and tired of you lying to me! I deserve to know where I came from! I deserve to know that it was my own father that sealed a demon inside of me!

"Naruto…" Sarutobi said again, this time a little louder.

"I deserve to know the names of my parents! There's no trace of an Uzumaki before me in the family record books! Is that even my real name?! I don't even have a heritage, a history! Do you know what that's like?!"

"NARUTO!"

Naruto immediately fell silent, mainly because he had never before heard the old man raise his voice to anyone, especially not him.

Sarutobi waited a few moments to be sure that there wasn't going to be any more outbursts before he spoke again. "Now that you're calm, I'll tell you what I can. As you have guessed, Naruto, you father was the fourth Hokage. He was a great shinobi who sacrificed everything he had in order to save the village that he loved. He chose you to carry the burden of being a demon vessel because he felt that you were the only child he could trust with it. Even before he had a chance to know you, he had faith in your ability to keep the village safe. It was his hope that you would grow up being known as a hero, but the people weren't ready to let go of their hatred and used you as a scapegoat to take out their aggression."

One lone tear escaped Naruto's eyes as he sat there, listening, fighting to keep back the onslaught of painful childhood memories. "But what about my mother? What about my clan? Where were they?"

"Your mother died in childbirth, just as I told you when you were younger. She had no clan to speak of in Konoha because she was an immigrant from a foreign country, and your father came from a long line of single children, so he was the last of his clan as well. As for your last name, it was your mother's maiden name that she gave up when she married your father, and since she had no clan when she died it appears in the records as if there were no Uzumakis before you."

"What about my father's clan name? Why wasn't I named after him?"

"Because being a famous shinobi can be a mixed blessing for the clan he belongs to. Your father garnered just as much hatred and fear in his life as he did respect, especially from the Village Hidden in the Stone. During the leaf/stone war, the fourth Hokage earned the nickname 'the yellow flash' when he use one of his signature techniques to kill over a thousand stone-nins. He won the war, but made an army full of lifetime enemies at the same time. If those people knew that he had a son that he was no longer around to protect, they would take their vengeance out on you in your father's place. It was for that reason that you were given your mother's name and all knowledge of your relation to the fourth restricted to only the highest ranking officials in the village."

Naruto stayed silent for a moment as he absorbed this new information. As much as he tried, he couldn't fault the elderly Hokage's logic. The village was hard on him, but at least he was never in mortal danger. His life was at least safe from those that would try and end it. But even with as much as had been said already, there was still one question left unasked.

"When were you going to tell me all this? Or were you going to keep this from me for the rest of my life?"

"I was going to tell you once you reached the rank of jounin. Only then could I be sure that you would be able to protect yourself. It was also going to be at that time that I would allow you to take your father's last name if you so chose."

"What was my father's name?"

Sarutobi seemed to consider this for a moment before answering. "Before I tell you, I must ask you to swear on your life and honor as a shinobi that you will never speak of this information to anyone unless you are given the Hokage's permission to do so."

Naruto hesitated for a moment before agreeing. "I swear."

"His name was Kazama Arashi, which would make you Kazama Uzumaki Naruto, though it won't be official for a while."

Naruto nodded numbly in acceptance, and the Third understood why. This was a lot of information to take in, especially for one so young. It was another reason why he had wanted to wait until Naruto was older to tell him.

Sarutobi slowly got of from his seat, his old bones straining in protest, and quietly led Naruto out of his office. "Go and eat some breakfast and try not to think about this too much. The chunin exams will require all the attention you can spare."

Naruto nodded again as he started to walk down the hallway towards the dining room. And as Sarutobi watched the blonde walk away, he smiled as he realized just how much Naruto was starting to look like his father.

Naruto arrived at breakfast in a slight daze, barely registering the pink and red blur heading toward him before it tackled him to the ground.

The two hit the floor with a dull thud, effectively jolting the blonde out of his hazy mental state as his mind quickly realized what had just happened. "Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto-kun!" the kunoichi squealed as she clutched the blonde in a death grip, unknowingly causing him to turn various shades of purple.

"Um, Sakura? I think you're cutting off his air supply," Jinra said with a small chuckle.

Sakura looked at the silver haired boy curiously before turning back to the boy in her arms and squeaking in shock as she released him. She watched in concern as Naruto took in a deep breath, his coloring returning to normal. "Sorry, Naruto-kun," she said apologetically.

"It's all right Sakura-chan," Naruto wheezed. "But what are you doing here?"

"The Hokage brought me along with him so I could root for you during the matches. Why? Don't you want me here?" she said with a teasing smile.

"Of course I do," Naruto said quickly. It was that moment that Naruto noticed something different about the emerald eyed girl. "Did you cut your hair?"

Sakura smiled and nodded her head. She had indeed cut her hair quite a bit. Whereas her hair used to reach just past her shoulders, now it only went about half way down her neck. It was reminiscent of the style she used to wear in her early academy days, not long before Jinra had wandered into the village.

During the few days that Naruto was busy with the Chunin Exams, Sakura was left with very little to do. Both Kurenai and Kakashi had busied themselves watching the progress of their other students and had no time to train her. So, she decided to do something that she had been putting off for a while, and that was to get a haircut. She had grown it long back at the academy to catch Sasuke's attention, and just never bothered to cut it short again when her interests shifted. But now that she had already snagged the boy she cared about she felt that a change was in order, even if it was just a change to something from a long time ago.

"I decided it was time for a little change. Do you like it?" Sakura said as she batted her eyes, causing Naruto to flush a little.

"Yeah," he said as he took a hand and brushed it lightly through some of the pink locks. "To be honest I kind of prefer short hair over long."

Immediately following Naruto's seemingly harmless comment, there was a loud crash as Hyuuga Hinata, one of the rookie nine as well as a long time follower and not so secret admirer of one Uzumaki Naruto, abruptly passed out from shock. Inuzuka Kiba rushed to his teammate's side, muttering something like 'not again' before lifting her up and carrying her bridal style back to her room.

The other people in the room watched the entire spectacle with a mixture of amusement and confusion, and none more confused than the person who had inadvertently started it all.

"What just happened?" he wondered aloud.

Sasuke, who had up until this point been eating his breakfast in silence, looked at his blonde teammate with a raised eyebrow. "You can't be serious."

"What do you mean?" Naruto said, causing the remainder of team seven to sigh and rub their foreheads in unison. Apparently not all of Naruto's obliviousness was an act.

The three other members of team ten looked at each other in question, silently debating whether or not it was best to tell him of Hinata's less than secret infatuation with him while Haku, who was sitting between Jinra and Sasuke, looked just as confused as Naruto did. Eventually a silent agreement was formed as Sakura got up from the floor and motioned for Naruto to follow her out of the room. There was no need to make this more public than it already was.

Sasuke silently watched them go before he started eat again, only to stop a minute later when he felt a blinding pain erupting from the mark on his neck. Immediately his hand went over the mark and dug into the flesh surrounding it in an effort to numb the nerve endings, but it didn't help. And on top of it all, his thrashing about had caused his chair to lose balance and sent him on a collision course with the floor. It was only Haku's fast reactions that caused her to catch him mid-fall, saving him from the impact.

A second later Kakashi appeared in the room with a blur before lifting Sasuke up from Haku's arms and rushing back out of the room, stopping briefly to give Jinra and Haku a reassuring nod to tell them Sasuke was going to be okay.

Luna, Haku, and Jinra looked at each other for a few moments before finally Luna spoke. "Is it just me, or is this table getting emptier by the minute?"

Jinra was about to answer when he felt a soft tapping on his shoulder, causing him to turn around and face the last person he expected to see. "Temari-san?"

The sand kunoichi gave him a small smile before asking, "Would it be okay if I talked to you in private?" Her eyes briefly darted to the seated forms of Haku and Luna before she locked eyes with him again. Images from Jinra's dream flashed through his mind and, although he knew it probably wasn't a good idea to talk to foreign ninja in the midst of an exam, he had to accept.

Getting up from his seat, he turned towards his dining companions and said, "I'll be back soon."

Luna opened her mouth in protest, but before she could utter a word Jinra silenced her with a raised hand. "I'll be fine, Luna. Stay here with Haku."

Luna obviously didn't agree with Jinra's decision, but she hesitantly did as she was told and watched as Jinra and Temari walked toward a more secluded part of the tower.

The wolf summon and the girl from the mist sat there in silence, neither one knowing what to say.

Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata:

Naruto stood stalk still in front of Hinata's door, with Sakura close by his side. He turned toward the girl beside him and asked nervously, "Are you sure about this? I mean, she barely even talks to me; how could she love me?"

Sakura sighed at how thick her boyfriend could be at times. "You don't understand girls at all, do you?"

Naruto thought for a moment before his face split into a foxy grin. "Not really, just you."

Sakura gave him a soft smile before resting a hand on his shoulder. "Then just trust that I know what I'm talking about and go and talk to her. It'll make her feel better."

Naruto nodded uneasily as he rested his hand on hers and gave it a small squeeze. "If you're sure…"

"I am, now go," she said as he slipped her hand out of his and moved away slightly to give them a small amount of privacy. Naruto faced the door as he turned the handle and walked inside. On the other side was a small room almost identical to his own. The lights were all off, but with his keen hearing and eyesight he was able to make out a small huddled form on the bed and the sound of soft sobbing. Hinata was sitting with her knees tucked up close to her body and her arms wrapped tightly around them. He couldn't see her pale lavender eyes, but he was sure that they were more than a little red from crying.

Naruto took a few steps closer to the girl, unsure about how he should approach her. Offering comfort to others wasn't something he was accustomed to doing in his life, or even receiving comfort for that matter. Even being close to another person like he had been experiencing with Sakura was unknown territory for him, though he felt that he was learning quickly. He could only hope that the some of the same principals applied here.

He was now within a foot of the bed and decided it was probably time to alert her to his presence, if she didn't know already. "Hinata…"

At the sound of her name the sobbing abruptly stopped as timid lavender eyes looked up from her knees to meet his own. "Na-Naruto-kun?" she stuttered slightly, her voice containing a mixture of surprise and embarrassment. Naruto noticed that her voice always seemed to sound like that when she was speaking to him.

"Hinata, I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," Naruto said sadly.

"Wha-what do you mean? Y-you didn't do anything," she said meekly as her eyes gradually fell until they rested on her hands where she at once started to play with her fingers. It was another nervous habit that the shy girl had managed to pick up over the years.

Naruto sighed before he went and sat down on the bed next to her, causing the girl to emit an almost inaudible squeak. "Maybe I didn't doing anything intentionally, but I did hurt you and I'm sorry. I know how hard it is to love someone who you know loves someone else, and I can only imagine what it feels like to see those two people together. No one should have to suffer through that…" he paused as his fist tightened at his sides, his self-anger becoming evident for a few seconds before he forced himself to relax. "I don't want you to be sad, Hinata…not because of me."

Hinata raised her eyes and looked at the depressed blonde haired boy sitting next to her and instantly felt angry with herself. He had always admired Naruto for his positive attitude and belief in himself, and to see him looking so guilty and helpless because he felt responsible for her pain…she couldn't bear it. So, gathering up as much courage as she could muster, Hinata shifted her body so that she and Naruto were only inches apart and with one quick motion engulfed him in a tight embrace. She felt him stiffen for a moment before relaxing in her arms, an act that almost made her body pass out in relief. She forced her self to stay conscious though, because she was determined to say what she needed him to hear.

"I-it's not your fault," she stuttered softly. "You-you've always been my inspiration. The way you keep trying even when everyone expects you to fail, the way you smile even when I can tell you're sad. You're the bravest person I know, and even…even if I never get to be as close to you as Sakura, just knowing that one day I might be one of the people that you hold close to your heart will be enough for me."

Hinata almost fainted again when she felt Naruto's arms encircle her as he returned the embrace. "Thanks, Hinata. And you don't need to worry about being close to my heart, because you already are."

The two of them stayed like that for a few minutes, just enjoying the warmth of the embrace and the friendship that it had started, before Naruto realized he should probably get back and eat breakfast before they stopped serving it.

"Hinata," he said softly, knowing how close his mouth was to her ear at the moment. When he didn't get a response he tried saying her name again but still didn't receive an answer. He was starting to get concerned until he noticed the soft, even breathing coming from her lips and realized that at some point she must have fallen asleep.

So, after slowly untangling himself from the sleeping girl's arms, he laid her gently onto the bed and tucked her in before heading out the door.

"Sleep well, Hinata," he whispered before he closed the door behind him.

Sakura was still standing a small distance from the door when he exited, but from the slightly misty expression in her eyes he figured she had been listening in.

"Ready to go back to breakfast, Sakura-chan?"

The pink-haired girl nodded as she wiped the moisture from her eyes and smiled at him. Then, hand in hand, the two genin made their way back to the dining room.

Jinra and Temari:

Jinra followed the sandy haired girl through the maze like corridors of the tower until they came to a small balcony overlooking the surrounding forest. The two stood in companionable silence for a few moments before Jinra spoke. "What was it you wanted to talk…?"

Jinra question was interrupted when Temari's slightly smaller body impacted with his own, resulting in a very tight embrace. To say Jinra was confused by this turn of events was an understatement, because for the third time since the start of the exam he had been surprised like this and he was starting to wonder if some supernatural being had decided to declare it "Hug Jinra" week and just forgot to tell him. When she didn't let go after a few moments, Jinra did the only thing he could think of and gently wrapped his arms around her.

This action somehow caused Temari's grip around him to tighten even further, almost to the point where if she applied any more force and it would be painful, and whispered in a voice so soft that Jinra almost questioned whether or not he had really heard it, "Please tell me you remember." The tone she used was filled with a mixture of insecurity and desperation, and Jinra instinctively knew that this was an uncharacteristic act of vulnerability for her. So, in an attempt to provide comfort to the blonde, he tightened his grip as well and said in an equally soft voice, "I do."

And that was it. It wasn't the most eloquent wording, but it appeared to be effective nonetheless, because a moment after he said those words he felt the girl in his arms let out a soft sigh before she began to loosen her hold on him, an indication that it was time for Jinra to let go as well. As soon as she was completely free from his hold, Temari took a step back and gave the boy a warm smile. It wasn't the same bright smile that Jinra remembered from seven years ago, but it was similar enough that Jinra couldn't resist smiling in return.

Temari leaned on the nearby railing with her back facing the forest. "So, how have the last seven years been for you?"

Jinra slowly walked back over to the railing and leaned on it as well, only he was looking out into the forest. "Me? They've been eventful enough. I wandered into Konoha about a year after I met you and was found and adopted by the third Hokage. Then, five years later, my dad, who I had been searching for since I was five, shows up out of nowhere and offers to train me for the next three months before the chunin exams. Then the day after I got back, I ran into you and your siblings. What about you?"

"Lots of training," Temari said with a light shrug. "My father is the Kazekage, so my brothers and I are expected to be the best. It's a lot of pressure."

Jinra frowned and absent-mindedly rubbed the spot where his seal was. "Pressure, huh? I can understand that."

Temari noticed the motion and arched an eyebrow in curiosity, but chose not to comment on it. "It sounds like we've both been busy."

"Yeah," Jinra said softly.

Things went quiet again as the two listened to the sounds of the forest around them.

"Your brothers seem…interesting," Jinra said vaguely.

"Yeah, Kankuro's a pervert and a real pain in the ass when he wants to be and Gaara…" Temari's shoulders stiffened involuntarily at the thought of her redheaded brother. "Gaara's different." Temari inclined her head sideways so that she was looking at the silver haired boy and said very seriously, "Don't fight him. If you get paired against him during the exams I want you to just forfeit."

Jinra turned slightly to face her and eyed her curiously. "Why?"

"Just promise me you'll do it."

Jinra continued to stare at her, trying to read in her eyes why she wanted him to make a promise like that, but the only thing he could see was fear. The only problem was that he couldn't tell who she was afraid for. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Jinra made the only response he could.

"I'm not going to run away from a fight just because someone asked me to. If you really want me to make a promise like that, I need a reason." Jinra's eyes softened as he looked at the conflicted expression on Temari's face. "Can you tell me what the reason is?"

Temari refused to meet Jinra's eyes as she answered. "I…I can't."

Jinra felt a little disappointed by her answer and the lack of trust it suggested, but he kept it to himself. "Then I can't promise I won't fight Gaara." Jinra turned around and faced the door. "I'll see you back at breakfast, Temari."

But before he could make two steps, Temari had taken a firm grip of his arm to halt his progress. "Please…Jinra, you can't fight him."

Jinra couldn't hide his irritation as he turned back to his long lost friend. "Why not, Temari? You keep saying don't fight him, but you won't say why! Are you afraid for him because you think I'll hurt him, or are you afraid for me because you think I can't protect myself? You have to tell me or I can't do anything!"

"Because he's a monster!" she shrieked back, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "He'll kill you! It doesn't matter how strong or fast you think you are! And…and I don't know what I'd do if I lost you again," she said in a slightly more subdued tone. "Please, don't fight him."

Jinra felt his chest tighten as he saw two tears fall from the sand kunoichi's eyes and for one of the few times in his life felt completely at a loss as to what to do, at least on a conscious level. His subconscious, however, seemed to know exactly what was called for and commanded his arms to draw Temari into his chest, an action that she did little to resist.

They stood there quietly for a few minutes, Temari remaining motionless in his arms and Jinra trying to figure out what the hell he was going to do. It was against everything he knew to make a promise like the one she was asking for, even if it was about an event that may never come to pass. But he also realized that more than anything, it pained him to see her like this. Eventually though, he made a decision. He just hoped he wouldn't regret it later.

"I promise I won't fight Gaara in the exams, Temari. You don't need to worry anymore."

Temari looked up at him with hopeful eyes. "Really?" Jinra nodded and the fear in her eyes was almost immediately replaced with relief as she smiled and said, "Thank you."

Jinra didn't answer, instead staring up at the sky. "We should probably head back in. Breakfast will be over soon."

Temari thought for a moment and realized he was probably right as she eased herself out of his embrace and started heading off the balcony with Jinra not far behind. But before she made it to the door Jinra's voice stopped her. "Temari."

Temari stopped where she was, her hand on the handle of the door to exit as she turned around to look at him. "What is it?"

"You have a really nice smile, you should use it more. I'm sure you'll feel better because of it," he said with a smile.

Temari surprised herself when she starting blushing from such a light compliment before muttering, "Thanks."

That was the last thing they said to each other as they made their way back to the dining hall.

Kakashi and Sasuke:

Kakashi watched Sasuke's exhausted form sprawled out on the ground, his single visible eye drifting to the recently sealed curse mark on the boy's neck.

The seal that now surrounded Orochimaru's mark would keep it from activating on its own like it almost did it the dining room, but it relied on Sasuke's will to power it. That meant that if Sasuke's belief in his own power faltered for even a moment the seal would come back stronger than ever. And with Sasuke's current lust for power, Kakashi knew that he wouldn't be able to let the boy out of his sight until the Uchiha realized the price his vengeance would bring.

"You've grown stronger over the years, Kakashi. You finally have enough chakra to perform sealing techniques. I'm impressed."

Kakashi jerked his head in the direction of the new voice and was horrified to see Orochimaru standing a few feet away.

"Stay away from the boy, Orochimaru. I'm warning you," Kakashi growled.

Orochimaru ignored the threat and instead focused his attention on the jounin's concealed eye. "That eye is something else new about you. Mind telling me where you got it?" he said with an evil grin. "After all, you shouldn't be the only one who has a sharingan."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the former sannin. "So that's why you came back to Konoha. You're after the sharingan."

"You only got it half right, Kakashi," Orochimaru mockingly admonished. "I'm also here to see how my other little project is coming along. You may have heard of it. It's called the Hidden Village of the Sound. Though I have to admit, of the two I'm definitely more interested to see how little Sasuke is progressing."

Kakashi instantly dropped into a battle stance as he ran his hands into a familiar set of seals before pushing as much chakra as he could spare into his hand. The air around him started to crackle with energy at a ball of lightening formed in Kakashi's palm. "I won't let you take him. I'll die stopping you if I have to!"

"Oh, I have no intention of kidnapping him," Orochimaru said calmly. "With or without the seal active, Sasuke will seek me out because I can offer him power unlike anything you could ever offer him here. It's only a matter of time," he said as he turned around and began to walk away. "And by the way Kakashi," he said as he walked out of sight, "that was your chance to stop me." And with a cackle of laughter Orochimaru vanished, leaving Kakashi to collapse onto his knees, his false bravado failing him as his body started shaking all over.

'We'll find a way to protect you, Sasuke,' Kakashi thought as he looked at the still sleeping boy. 'I swear it!'

Sarutobi:

Sarutobi sat at the desk of his temporary office with his eyes glued to the crystal ball in front of him as he watched the events from all around the tower take place. He was glad to see that Jinra and Naruto were all right after their encounter with Orochimaru, but this new turn of events with Sasuke had him extremely concerned. Orochimaru was right in what he said about Sasuke; there were many things they could do to keep the last Uchiha safe, but none of them would work unless the boy wanted to stay with the village.

Things were starting to look bleak, and would continue to get worse unless more severe actions were taken…

The Hokage's thoughts were interrupted when one of the chunin exam proctors walked through the door.

"Hokage-sama, the last of the possible exam participants has made it to the tower and some ANBU members have already been dispatched to locate the people who failed. Unfortunately, there are too many participants for us to proceed directly to the third part of the exam. What should we do?"

Sarutobi took a long drag of his pipe before answering. "Since the time limit for the second exam is up, gather the surviving genin and lead them to the tower arena. The preliminary matches will be held in one hour. You are dismissed."

The chunin gave the Hokage a small bow before exiting the room, leaving the Hokage alone with his thoughts once again.

'Orochimaru clearly doesn't want anything to stop the exams, or he would have struck by now. He probably wants to see how the Uchiha will do before he tries to take him away. This next month will be a hard one for Konoha. I just hope we can prepare enough to survive it.'

Author's Note: This chapter tops my previous record and is over eighteen pages and 8000 words in length! I just kept adding and revising until it felt right. Tell me if my updates are starting to get too long.

This chapter was mostly about tying up some loose ends and maybe adding some new ones. The Jinra/Temari moments were the hardest to write so feel free to tell me what you think of them so I know if they were a success or not. There was also a small NaruHina moment in there as well, but I just threw that in because I kind of felt sorry for her and figured a friendship with her crush was better than nothing at all. I repeat, FRIENDSHIP! If there are any NaruHina fans reading this, I'm sorry, but it takes a really good writer to pull that pairing off, and I am neither motivated nor skilled enough to accept the challenge.

As for the poll about Sasuke's pairing, they are closed and a very clear winner was found. As for who that winner is...it's a secret.

I considered just telling you guys who won, but I realized that doing that might ruin it for some people. So if you really want to know who the lucky (or unlucky depending on your perspective) girl is, you'll have to ask in a review or PM, otherwise you can just enjoy the suspense.

And finally I want to give thanks to everyone that has sent me a review so far, especially those of you that take the time to leave me a review for every chapter. You guys are awesome!

I hope all of you readers enjoyed the latest installment of my story. And feel free to leave a review with any of your questions, comments, or constructive criticisms.