Well, here the newest chapter and the next part of the Chunin Exam. A little heads up this is the wrap up of the second phase of the exam. To know what happens you'll just have to read the chapter. Now for the disclaimer, I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 26:
Ambush

"It'll be daylight soon. Other teams will be making camp and it'll be the perfect time to attack." informed Neji. He and his team had taken a breather while coming up with a plan. "We'll split up and look for another team. If you find one don't confront them without all of us there. After an hour we meet back here, no matter what. Everyone is in agreement?" Both Lee and TenTen nodded their heads in approval. "Then let's move out."

With that the three of them headed off in opposite directions. Each of them hoping to find the person or group that had the scroll that they needed. Throughout the hour neither Neji or TenTen didn't have any luck but the same wouldn't be said for the third member of their team. It wasn't until they returned at the meeting place did they realize that something must've happen to Lee. So once again the two of them went on the search only this time it was for their missing teammate.

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"We're almost at the tower." exclaimed Kiba. It was the second day of the second phase of the exam and the team of Kiba, Shino and Hinata were on the verge of completing it. "We were lucky that the first team that we came across had the scroll that we needed. Now we'll have the chance to rest up for a couple of days before whatever is going to happen next."

"We would've been there on the first day if we didn't run into the team from Suna." recalled Shino. The mentioning of that incident caused all of them to become quiet. Even Akamaru, who was ridding inside of Kiba's coat, said nothing with the exception of a few whimpers. That wasn't surprising after what they saw just a day ago.

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Flashback, a Day Ago…

Shortly after getting their needed scroll Kiba, Shino and Hinata headed straight for the tower. Look like they would get there without much trouble. That all change when Akamaru caught the scent of something. With the help of Hinata's Byakugan it was discovered that not that far ahead of them was a prelude to a fight between two teams. Becoming curious, Kiba suggested that they should check it out.

Getting there but staying hidden they watched what was going on. One of the teams was the group from Suna while the other was slightly older men from Ame. At first glance it seemed like the shinobi of Ame had the advantage as they demanded the Suna shinobis' scroll. That wouldn't be the case at what happened next.

Stepping forward the one named Gaara stated in a voice of certainty declared that they were dead. In retaliation for not doing as they said one of the Ame shinobi sent a storm of poison needles at the redhead. All of that would be for nothing as every needle were stopped by a shield of sand protecting Gaara who hadn't move a muscle the whole time.

"You annoy me." Gaara said in a bored tone. "It's time to make the sky rain blood." What happened next would be something that no one would forget. Slowly the sand wrapped itself around the shinobi that attacked to the point that only his face was left uncovered. But that would soon be covered as well after some futile pleas were made.

"Desert Funeral." In one move Gaara had the sand crush the man to the point that his blood sprayed out in what resembled rain. No doubt about it, the man was dead and all the while the redhead didn't bat an eye. As for his teammates, they were a little unsettled by what they saw but say nothing.

Not wanting to share the same fate as their teammate the two remaining Ame shinobi gave up their scroll for their lives. Their bargain would be denied as Gaara made them share the same fate by crushing their bodies with two more Desert Funerals. After all of that the ground and everything around was drench in blood.

"We got lucky." acknowledged Kankuro as he picked up the fallen scroll. "They had the scroll that we needed. Now we can head for the tower." Sounded like a reasonable idea but one of them thought differently. "Come on, Gaara. Let's go."

"No. I want more." Looking out toward who knows, the young Suna shinobi appeared to be annoyed. "I want his blood." When saying that he sounded even more sadistic.

Understanding who Gaara was referring to, Kankuro decided to try and reason with him. "Listen. We know that you want to go after him but now isn't the time. As your older brother I'm asking you to wait to deal with Naruto Uzumaki."

"You're mistaken. I never once have I thought of you as my brother." Gaara announced in complete honesty. "If you get in my way I'll kill you as well."

"Please Gaara, do it as a favor for your sister." Temari pleaded. She hoped that it would prevent her brother from following up with his threat. "If Naruto is really worth your attention then he'll certainly make it to the tower. Just wait a little longer and you'll get your chance."

For a while the two siblings didn't know what their younger brother was going to do but luckily he conceded to their request. As the three of them headed for the tower they seemed to fail to notice of the team that had secretly witnessed the entire encounter. After waiting for a bit they left the area as well but going in a entirely different direction.

End of Flashback…

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Soon after they left the scene, Kiba and his teammates set camp and when the next day began they resumed their journey to the tower. "Though we spent another day in the forest I rather avoid running into that Gaara guy." Both Shino and Hinata didn't say anything but they were in agreement. "Especially after seeing what he did to those Ame shinobi."

"But why was he so interested in Naruto?" inquired Shino. "Does it have anything to do with why Naruto warned us about staying away from Gaara?"

No real explanation could be figured out and would be left unanswered as they finally arrived at the tower. Before going in, Hinata glanced back into the forest. "I hope that Naruto and the others come out of this safely."

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As soon as Naruto opened his eyes he knew that something was off. Instead of seeing the forest that the second phase of the Chunin Exam, he saw a ceiling with pipes exposed that was all too familiar. Getting to his feet Naruto started walking toward a specific location. All the while paying no attention to the water that covered the floor that he was on the floor.

Going through several passages the blond would make it to where he wanted to be. "Well, I'm here." In front of him were the large bar doors that helped to contain the demon the other side. "What do you want?"

From the other side were two large red eyes opening and set their sights on the blond. "Finally you arrive. I was beginning to grow impatient." Naruto merely looked on without the least bit of being sorry. "I warned you to stay away from that person but you didn't listen."

"Well, excuse me. I saw my team in trouble and I wasn't going to stand back and do nothing." retorted Naruto. Not showing any concern that he was arguing with a deadly fox demon. "I may have been beaten by whoever that guy was but at least I was able to make sure that he wouldn't forget about me anytime soon."

Thinking back at what happen during that fight, Naruto remembered something that was said. "Did that guy really know that I was Fox? If so then I have a feeling that it'll only lead to even more trouble." Putting that bit of concern on hold he focused at the matter at hand. "Is there a reason why you had me come here or what?"

"Just watch yourself." Kyuubi simply stated. "Your body won't be working properly for sometime. Now wake up." In a blinding light Naruto was removed from the part of his subconscious that the nine-tailed fox dwelled.

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Opening his eyes again Naruto saw that he was back in the forest. He tried to get up but discovered that he couldn't even lift his head. "I guess the fox was telling the truth about my body being messed up." Trying to get up again only resulted in the same thing happening.

Gratefully Naruto was able to turn his head from side to side and noticed a few things. On one side of him was Sasuke who was unconscious for some reason. Forgetting about him he looked over to the other side and he instantly didn't like was he was seeing. What he saw was Lee on the ground and having trouble getting back up which left Sakura to defend them all from the three shinobi from Oto.

Despite being outnumbered Sakura fought bravely, using substitutions to confuse the opposition. In the end she was no match for them and was at their mercy, which he doubted they had any. Wanting to help in some way Naruto tried to move but found it pointless. "Who am I kidding? I can't even lift my arms let alone create any shadow clones. There's nothing I can do."

While that may have been the case for Naruto, the same couldn't be said for others as three people entered the scene. "This is a fine mess that you've gotten yourself into, forehead." said a familiar bleach blonde girl, Ino Yamanaka. Along side with her were teammates, Shikamaru and Choji. "Luckily we happen to be passing by and decided to step in when we did."

Soon Ino's team and the Oto team fought one another. For a while it seemed like the shinobi from Konoha had the advantage by using their family abilities but slowly the tide started to turn. As all of this went on, a foul feeling began to come from Sasuke who was starting to move.

None of them seem to notice the unusual feeling except for Naruto and that was only because he was laid beside him. "What's this feeling that I'm getting? What happen while I was passed out?" He didn't have the chance to think about it as he again lost consciousness.

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"Enough of this." stated Dosu. "We've wasted enough time with these pathetic nobodies. Take care of the target already, Zaku."

"Gladly." Going over, Zaku was prepared to kill the two unconscious boys. "This'll be fun. There's nothing better than a quick and easy kill." He was just about to go through with it until something happen that put a halt to it.

Standing up was Sasuke but he was different. On various parts on the left side of him were black markings and the foul feeling that no of them felt earlier was clearer felt which instantly put all of them on edge. It was so strong that you could see a purple chakra surround the Uchiha.

"Who did that to you, Sakura?" What Sasuke was referring to was the beating that she received. "Which one was it?"

"It was me." announced Zaku with a snug tone. "What are you going to do about it?" The answer would come as with incredible speed Sasuke got behind him and grabbed both of his arms. Struggling to get free, Zaku discovered that was impossible.

"Apparently you're very attached to these arms of yours." Slowly a sadistic smile came across Sasuke's face. "It'll be a shame if something were to happen to them." The smile only grew as he pulled even harder on the arms until one of them being separated completely from the shoulder. "This power that's flowing through me is incredible. I've never felt anything like it before."

While all of this was going on, Sakura looked on in concern. "This isn't Sasuke. What's wrong with him?" She then remembered what happened with the man called Orochimaru and started to understand. Not being able to see the person she deeply cared for she rushed in without a second thought and embraced Sasuke from behind.

"Please. That's enough Sasuke. This isn't you." From the corner of his eye, Sasuke at looked at her with contempt but slowly faded away as he saw the tears flowing freely from Sakura's eyes. "You can stop now. There isn't any need for you to fight anymore. So, please stop."

An intense moment was felt by everyone there as it was unknown what Sasuke would do. They wouldn't have to wait long as slowly the markings that were on his body started to be absorbed back into the pinwheel mark on his neck. When that was done Sasuke fell to the ground in exhaustion. He was luckily helped down by Sakura who was glad that he had seemingly returned back to normal.

"We give up." declared Dosu. During the whole situation he got his teammates who were in no condition to move on their own. "You're stronger than any of us, Sasuke Uchiha. In the hopes that you let us go we offer our scroll as payment." He went ahead and placed their Earth scroll on the ground. "Be warned that the next time we meet there won't be any retreating from us." That said the Oto shinobi took their leave. No one tried to stop them as there was more important things to deal with.

After they left, Sakura used her limited knowledge of medical ninjutsu to help heal Lee. Originally she was going to treat Sasuke but he refused and not wanting to argue with him after what happen she let it go. Sakura didn't even bother to offer the same thing for Naruto as she was told that he was all right and whatever injuries that he may have, his quick healing would do the job. Speaking of which, Naruto started to make his way to her after having a few words with Shikamaru.

"How is he? He appears to have gotten a beaten while I was out of it." Remembering that he had been unconscious throughout most of the fight left a bad taste in Naruto's mouth. "I may have been able to do something it wasn't for that man doing whatever it was to me." Thinking of that reminded him of something that he wanted to ask.

"Sakura, what happen while I was knocked out?" His pink haired teammate didn't give an answer as she looked away. It was easy to tell that she was hiding something. Not wanting to push the topic he went for something smaller. "Could you at least tell me that he said who he was before he left?"

Again there was hesitation in Sakura answering but seemed to have decided to tell him. "Yes he did. Before leaving he said that his name was Orochimaru." Hearing that caused Naruto to stiffen up but managed to hide it. Do you know who that is?"

"Afraid I don't." lied the boy. "I don't have a clue at who he could be." Naruto of course knew better. "Why would he be here? What could he possibly want and what reason could he have for coming after us?"

Naruto wouldn't have the time to think about it as about that time Neji and TenTen arrived to retrieve Lee who seemed to have recovered enough to get around on his own. A few words, both good and bad, were exchanged between them until only Naruto and his teammates were left. "Well, what do we do now?" wondered the spiky haired boy.

"We should rest up for a while before we go searching for the other scroll that we need." suggested Sasuke. Naruto just looked at him in confusion.

"Don't you remember?" Sakura asked her teammate. "Our Heaven scroll that you had was taken by that strange guy before he made you pass out. We now have the Earth scroll that the Oto team left but we have to find a replacement Heaven scroll."

"A replacement?" Reaching into his weapon's pouch Naruto pulled out a Heaven scroll. "You mean like this?" Seeing the item that they needed was a surprise to both Sasuke and Sakura. "I managed to get my hands on it after being ambushed by that team on the first day. Kept it incase we needed it for a bargaining chip or something." Being kept in the dark didn't sit well with his two teammates.

"Sorry about not telling you but the less people who knew the better. After all, I'm doubtful that the guy who attacked us knew that we had two Heaven scrolls instead of just one." Naruto explained his reasoning. "Now how about we skip the resting part and head for the tower?" No argument was made as the tired and battered team hurried to complete the second phase.

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"You finally arrived." Inside of the tower but away from any prying eyes was Orochimaru. He no longer had on the disguise of the Ame shinobi and whatever injuries that he may have sustained were now gone. Presently he was having a conversation with a team. "We're you able to complete the task that was given to you Kabuto?"

"Afraid not my Lord." informed Kabuto. He showed no fear as he told the dangerous man the bad news. "I was unable to make contact with Sasuke and his team. Apparently they arrived at the tower shortly after fighting with your minions." The grey haired spy paused as it was unknown how the pale skinned man would react. "I thought you made sure that they lost their original scroll. It would then allow me the chance to come to their aid and gain their trust. What could've gone wrong?"

"I may have an idea." Flashing back to the confrontation Orochimaru remembered his little scuffle that had with the spiky haired member of the team. "I guess the boy was smarter than I gave him credit for." Coming up with an idea he looked over to his Konoha spy.

"Don't worry. It's only a minor inconvenience. For now we follow the rest of the plan. But have Dosu meet with me. There something I wish to say to him that he may find interesting." Nodding his head in understanding Kabuto and his two teammates went further into the tower. Unable to himself, Orochimaru let a sinister a little smile to come out. "At least this'll make things more interesting."First off, I know I somewhat replicated what happen in the actual series when it came to the genin team from Oto and to be honest it was because I couldn't think of anything better than that.

First off, I know that I somewhat replicated what happen in the actual series when it came to the genin team from Oto attacking the others and to be honest, it was because I couldn't think of anything better. Sorry but that's the truth.

As I mentioned in the author notes in the previous chapter, I had a reason for the Ame team being taken care out early and here it was. Just one of my twists and I didn't want to have Team Kakashi having to team with Kabuto to get a scroll and reach the tower. What happens in the next chapter you'll just have to wait to find out and I promise I'll do my best in having it out soon.