I have these accidents, these mistakes, these self-inflicted wounds, and then I tear my head to shreds about it for days.
-John Mayer

Chapter 24: Self-Inflicted Wounds

They arrived at the tower an hour later. However, after waiting five minutes at the door, they realized that no one was coming for them. They piled the injured up by the side of the building before Shikamaru, Naruto, Neji, and Lee clustered together, trying to figure out what to do.

"Mitarashi-sensei told us to head to the tower once we had the scrolls. I don't see what else we have to do since we have already completed the requirements," Neji said. He had stacked Team 9's scrolls in front of him and was staring at them curiously. He had already used the Byakugan on them, but they were normal seals. There was a bit of chakra residue in the center, but nothing out of the ordinary.

"There has got to be something we are overlooking. It isn't logical that they would simply leave this up to chance," Shikamaru said, fingering his earth scroll. He tossed it up in the air and caught it again. "Does anyone remember the instructions?"

"Two scrolls, center of the arena, don't open the scrolls," Neji reiterated, raising an eyebrow. "We fulfilled all the requirements. They can't ask any more of us, and this is wasting our time anyways. What I'm surprised about is the fact that there is no guard at the door to let people in. If they don't open the door when we knock, how do they know that we are here?"

Shikamaru snatched the scroll out of the air and whacked his head lightly with it. "Of course! Naruto-san, hand me the heaven scroll." Naruto scrunched up his face before handing the white scroll over to Shikamaru. Upon receiving the other scroll, Shikamaru snapped the seal and rolled it out on the ground. Naruto yelped as Shikamaru broke the earth scroll's seal and rolled it on top of the heaven scroll.

"What are you doing?" Naruto shouted. A puff of white smoke filled the air, causing all the genin to back away from the two scrolls.

"Ah, it looks like you succeeded." A cheery voice called out from the mist. The white fog cleared away to reveal Inoichi standing there with a polite smile on his face. "I was hoping that you would all pass. You made me worry, you know."

-TSUME-

Soon after, they broke the seals on the other scrolls and Kakashi and Gai appeared in the smoke. Since all the genin had survived the arena with no deaths and only critical injuries, they were allowed into the tower. Kei, Tenten, and Team 8 were immediately carted off to the intensive care unit with the other genin being treated for minor injuries.

Naruto was released from the medic station fifteen minutes later, being found to only have unsubstantial wounds. It was another thing to thank Kurama for, though he would never admit it.

A hand grasped his shoulder, and Naruto looked to see Neji standing by him. Neji nodded towards a corner of the large room before walking away. Naruto followed the Hyuuga over to the corner before asking, "What's up, Hyuuga-san?"

"I want to know how you created that clone. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before. No clone should be actually in existence. I honestly doubt that a mere genin would be able to create such a powerful seal without the rest of the town hearing about it." Neji crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall.

Naruto cringed a bit at the question and rubbed the back of his head. He had visited T&I enough to know that Hyuugas could read chakra flares with their Byakugan. Chakra flared when people lied, and it would be painfully obvious if he wasn't telling the truth. "I can't tell you that, Hyuuga-san. I'm sorry."

A frown touched Neji's lips. "Would an exchange of information be more amenable to you?" He tapped a foot on the ground, trying to get a read on the blonde. He didn't need to activate his Byakugan to tell that Naruto was feeling guilty. The small beads of sweat on his brow and the nervous twitch of his arm was enough to tell that. The only question was: why was he feeling guilty?

"That would work, but could you tell your secret first?" Naruto bit the inside of his lip. It would look worse if he tried to avoid the question. He hoped that the information he would receive from Neji would be worth it. And that Neji wouldn't blabber to anyone else. That would be the end of him if it was let out.

"I... I was working with them. Rika-san and the others," Neji said haltingly. The pale boy ran a hand through his hair sighed at Naruto's startled face. "You flatter me if you consider it to be at all surprising. I know that you already knew about the rebellion. I read Rika-san's lips with the Byakugan. You didn't seem that surprised by it then. Your chakra flare was minimal; it seemed that you were only just admitting to yourself that it was true." Neji shrugged before continuing. "I hate how the shinobi treat civilians. They're all so careless. We're supposed to be the protectors, not the prosecutors. I want for something to change, but I also know that brutality isn't the answer. I had been willing to work with the rebellion because of it, but..."

Neji frowned. "I hadn't expected Rika-san to hurt Tenten so willingly. I had been promised that as long as my teammates didn't find out about the rebellion, they would be kept safe. I was wrong to trust them like that. But it still doesn't change my mind about how shinobi are treating civilians. The only thing that has changed is the way that I will go about trying to fix the problem. I don't know how I will do it, but I will do it somehow." Neji looked away to where they could just see a glimpse of white from inside the medic quarters.

"You're right. I can't say that I'm surprised, but I didn't want it to be true. I could tell something changed after Tenten-san was hurt. That was the first clue. There were a few things afterwards that clued me in as well. I respect your decision though. You do realize that I'm going to have to tell the Hokage, right?" Naruto said, crossing his arms.

"Mm. I know." Neji closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly. "There wouldn't be a single leader that would let a soldier get away with such disrespect. I deserve it."

Naruto couldn't help but feel guilty. Neji wasn't a bad person; he was just doing a good thing by the wrong route. "Well, maybe you can redeem yourself a bit."

"How so?" Neji quirked a brow.

"You know more about the rebellion than any of us do. If you exchange information, I'm sure that would work towards your pardon." Naruto secretly hoped that he wasn't lying between his teeth. It seemed reasonable to trade information for a lesser punishment. "How far back does the rebellion go?"

Neji smirked a bit. He knew it wasn't something to be proud of, but he would always enjoy knowing something that someone else didn't. "I can't say exactly how far back it goes, but I know Hiashi-sama is involved. I was kept in the dark for a majority of the rebellion meetings. My information was fed directly from him. Any work I had to do was give to me by Hiashi-sama and by no one else."

Naruto pondered the new information. They had all suspected some of the clan heads to be in on it, but Hiashi was unexpected. Hiashi had always appeared to be more political instead of militaristic. "Can you try and stay with the traitors for now? We might need someone on the inside for future operations."

"Always thinking a step ahead, are you? Sure, I'll be there," Neji said with a mocking nod of his head. "Now how about your secret?"

Naruto gave a soft "eep" before blushing a slight red. He had hoped that Neji had forgotten about that, but apparently not. "It's not a jutsu that I'm supposed to know. If you know what I mean, that is." Neji hummed in acknowledgement and rocked back and forth on the back of heels.

"How did you learn it?" Neji asked.

Naruto gave a small smile and said, "Only one secret, Hyuuga-san. I never said that I would reveal two."

Neji gave a short laugh before shaking his head. He pushed off the wall and patted Naruto on the shoulder. "I got it. I'll keep in touch. I have to go check on Tenten-san."

-TSUME-

"Inoichi-sensei!" The mentioned blonde looked up from his pile of paperwork and gave a small smile. He laid the pen down on the paper stacks and rose from the jounin table. Inoichi bade the jounin a quick goodbye before walking towards Naruto. Inoichi caught Naruto in a hug, sighing in relief. Ever since they had entered the forest, he had been worried about them. He knew that Naruto would be able to take care of himself, but he couldn't help but worry. If any of them came back with a debilitating injury or if they didn't come back at all, it would have killed him.

"I'm glad you're safe, Naruto-kun. Do you want to tell me about what happened in there? I lost sight of you as soon as you entered the gates." Inoichi pulled away from Naruto and looked him in the eyes. A frown touched Inoichi's lips. There was something in Naruto's eyes that worried him. Did something bad happen in the forest? Inoichi's gaze flicked over to where Shikamaru was talking with some of the Kusa genin. He knew that he had seen them bring in Kei, and she hadn't sustained critical injuries. So what had happened in there to make the livewire like this?

"Can we go sit somewhere, Inoichi-sensei?" Naruto asked downcast. His forehead had tightened and there were wrinkles across his face. Now that they were out of the field of battle, he had been thinking. Thinking was a troublesome thing, and it only followed that he felt troubled after it. Shikamaru had told him in the forest that the genin were targeting him. That had to mean that they knew Kurama was in him. Kei and Shikamaru had gotten hurt because of him. If they had any other partner, the ambush wouldn't have been planned. He felt the deep seed of guilt worm around inside of him.

That wasn't the only consequence of their knowing though. Naruto had gotten used to the fact that next to no one outside of Tsume and Torture and Interrogation knew that he had the Kyuubi. The fact that all those genin knew was startling. Or perhaps they didn't know. Maybe he had only been a target to them. He doubted that he would ever know now. They would all try to avoid him as much as possible after losing. He had to wonder though, how many people knew that he was the Kyuubi? It was supposed to be an S Class secret.

"Come, Naruto-kun. There's a little cafe over here." Inoichi pulled Naruto through the halls. They entered a large room with booths lining the sides. One of the waiters waved to Inoichi as they moved to sit at one of the empty tables. Inoichi sat down on the red leather and waved for Naruto to sit on the other time. Naruto sat down and leaned over the wooden table.

"They know that I'm the jinchuuriki, Inoichi-sensei. They sent two genin teams to take me out during the exams." Naruto whispered hurriedly. He looked to the side a few times as he did so, careful not to speak too loudly when people passed. Chatter echoed in the hall, effectively covering the secret conversation. Inoichi appreciated the cover now. It was a lot to think about.

The black haired waiter walked over and dropped two cups down on the table. He poured out the steaming hot tea before walking away, leaving the two to their thoughts. "The Hokage will have to hear about this. I don't know how the information got leaked out. This means that some of the higher ups have to be on the opposite side. After I leave you, I will contact the Hokage about it. Thank you for letting me know."

Naruto nodded and sipped some of his green tea. He gave a small sigh. They had been focusing too much on the exams and not enough on the rebellion. Now, it was becoming blatantly obvious that it was all falling apart. Naruto knew that the rebellion was going to happen in the finals, but now he had to worry about it happening earlier. Would the exams even last to the finals? He didn't know anymore.

"I should let you know what I have found out as well. Naruto-kun, you'll have to tell Shikamaru-kun and Kei-chan later. I have to get to the Hokage as soon as this is over." Inoichi leaned over towards Naruto and said, "I've been in the jounin lounge for the majority of the exams. All the jounin sensei were told to wait there for when their scrolls were opened. The Ame jounin was missing for a majority of the meeting. I talked to him once he returned, but he seemed to not care about how his genin were doing. One of the Kusa jounin never arrived at the lounge either. The other Kusa nin said that he had been acting strangely. No one has seen him since then."

"Both the Kusa nin and the Ame nin fit the signs of being traitors. On the other hand..." Inoichi trailed off.

"It's too obvious. They would be more careful if they were really traitors, but they could also be counting on us thinking that." Naruto supplied, covering his mouth with his hand. He looked down at the table, his mind racing. The implications on the jounin's guilt reflected on the teams themselves. If the Kusa jounin was a traitor, it probably meant that Kusa as a whole was guilty as well.

"Right." Inoichi reached over and patted Naruto on the shoulder. "Keep an eye on it, but make sure you keep someone by you at all times. If they really are targeting you, they'll probably do it again. As long as you stay near others, I doubt they'll try it."

Naruto nodded and leaned back into his chair. He ran a hand through his hair and gave a sigh.

"Hey there." Naruto looked over to see Temari and Gaara. The blonde blew a strand of hair out of her face before asking, "Can we have a seat?"

Naruto jumped a bit before nodding hurriedly. Temari slid in beside Inoichi while Gaara moved to sit beside Naruto. Temari crossed her leg and leaned back against the red leather padding. "I heard something strange just a bit ago." Her green eyes moved from Inoichi to Naruto. Her gaze lingered for a moment before she shrugged and said, "Two Konoha genin teams were found in critical condition. Well, 'two genin were found in critical condition' is what I should say. The other four were found dead."

Naruto felt a prickling worry in his chest. Two genin teams? Konoha genin teams? It was sickeningly familiar to him. The faces of the genin that had ambushed Tsume flooded into his mind. Why were they dead? They hadn't left any of the genin with critical injuries. Sure, they had knocked a few of them out, but not more than that.

"They say that one of the survivors was only alive because he had such bad chakra burns. They think that whoever killed them left him for dead. He was lucky, that one," Temari said calmly. She softly rapped her fingers at the table as she read Naruto's face. He obviously knew the genin that she was talking about. Gaara had told her that he suspected that the genin had something to do with Naruto, but she hadn't been certain. "Did you?"

"No, we didn't," Naruto replied shortly. "They were just unconscious when we left them." Naruto bit his thumb tightly. How did this happen? Obviously, they were killed on purpose. They didn't have the scrolls, so they couldn't have been killed for them. The Kyuubi snorted in his mind. Likely enough, it was because they failed their mission. I'm not surprised. A failure is a failure, and death makes it an example to the survivors. They are just unlucky that they didn't kill all of them.

Naruto shook slightly as he hunched over the table. "What did the survivors look like?" He asked, his voice quavering.

"There was the one that I mentioned, a boy, with bad chakra burns. He might have been fair-skinned earlier, but no one can really tell now. He has been charred too much for that. He's in intensive, but they think he'll live. The other one though, they're not so sure about. She had a sword stabbed into her lung. They had the jounin bring her back in, and she's in surgery now. She had brown hair and looked like she was bleeding from the ankles as well. Her prognosis looks bad right now. I just thought you should know," Temari commented. She raised an eyebrow at Naruto's reaction. Why was he reacting so violently?

"I need to find someone." Naruto stood up abruptly at the table and looked over towards Gaara with pleading eyes. Gaara nodded and moved out of the booth. Naruto scooted out and ran out of the cafeteria. His pace quickened and his heart sped up. He had to find Neji. Rika and the others were all right when Tsume and 9 had left them. The only people that would kill them off would be the traitors. If the traitors had seen him talking to Neji earlier, Neji could be in danger. Naruto bit his lip and prayed that he wasn't already too late.

Author's Note: I finished it in time! :D

I know some of you were interested in my debate, and the others weren't. So you can skip this if you don't care. XD I got a 2-6 record which means I lost 6. Yeah, it kind of stinks. I am apparently short unconfident and aggressive. I bully kids older than me and taller by a foot, so I don't quite know what to take from this. :'D I'm generally a social introvert, so I don't see myself as aggressive. Oh well. It's not as if I didn't spend 9 hours creating a single brief times fifteen briefs. Ha...

In any case, thanks Pokepikachu1 for betaing me and giving me advice! I really appreciate it! (: The rants are extremely helpful.

And thanks to all my readers and reviewers for continuing to read and support me!