Confronting the Shadow

by NYC01234

Naruto Uzumaki and Sayuri Uchiha have more in common than they'd care to admit. After being thrust into the dangers of the world, they find solace in each other's company. However, their bond is soon put at risk when they are both forced to choose what they desire more — friendship or revenge? Will they endure? Or does fate have less savory plans for them? (Female Sasuke).

8. Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden. All characters in this story, excluding those that are created by me, are the intellectual property of Masashi Kishimoto. Please show support by reading or watching the original source material.

AN: I attempted to upload this chapter on October 30th, October 31st, and November 1st but the chapter did not appear, so I deleted it. Even when it was readable, it would only be up for a short period of time before it disappeared again. This seems to have been a site-wide problem, and I wanted to wait until I was sure that it was fixed before uploading again. Sorry for the wait.

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~Confronting the Shadow: Chapter Eight~

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"The Chūnin Exams Begin!"

(Several Months Later)

Upon looking up at the Yamanaka Flower Shop, Sakura couldn't help but smile. It had been roughly five months since Team 7 returned from the Land of Waves. Thankfully, things had been very calm and quiet since then. As if to compensate for nearly getting them all killed in their first mission, Kakashi had resolved to have Naruto, Sayuri, and Sakura complete D-Rank missions and focus on their training and development. In particular, Sakura had finally been granted one-on-one training with Kakashi, where she'd improved significantly.

While Kakashi wasn't able to teach Sakura anything about medical ninjutsu, he was knowledgeable about genjutsu. As it turned out, she was just as talented with illusions as she was with healing, and she really felt as though she was beginning to carve out a niche on her team. Naruto and Sayuri were the heavy hitters, and Sakura was a support. There was no shame in that, in her mind.

Focusing back on the Yamanaka Flower Shop, Sakura recalled how she visited the past to chit-chat with Ino. Yet, a few years ago, Sakura felt herself growing dependent on Ino, and their friendship faded as a result. However, after completing her first C-Rank mission and learning the realities of life and death, Sakura concluded that she needed to value her friendships more. Therefore, after taking a while to build up her courage, she decided to spend her Sunday afternoon catching up with an old friend.

"Sakura!" Ino exclaimed in surprise when she saw Sakura walk into the shop. "It's been so long! That forehead is as big as ever, I see."

A scowl quickly replaced Sakura's chipper expression, "And it looks like you still can't keep that snout of yours shut, Ino-pig."

The two girls glared at one another for a few moments before they both burst into laughter. Their relationship had always been this way. They would regularly compete with one another in just about anything. These competitions would regularly devolve into name-calling, in which they were both eternally branded as Billboard Brow and Ino-pig, respectively.

"It's been ages since I heard you say that," Ino replied. "How is your team?"

Sakura smiled pleasantly, "They're good! Sayuri is as mysterious as ever. But she's actually really nice once you get to know her," she explained. "And Kakashi-sensei is so strong! Apparently, he's some kind of bigshot that's known throughout the world."

"And Naruto?" Ino inquired with a quirk of the brow. "Is he weird?"

Pondering Ino's words carefully, Sakura recalled Naruto's reputation at the Academy. Many people considered him to be an oddity, with very few trying to get to know him. Under normal circumstances, this would result in him being on the receiving end of bullying or ridicule. Yet, nobody was brave enough to ever try. Therefore, for the most part, the other students simply kept their distance and never tried to become his friend.

Shamed as she was to admit it, Sakura could count herself as one of those people who never tried to reach out — though, it was more due to her shyness than anything else.

"Please don't say stuff like that, Ino. Naruto's actually a really incredible guy," Sakura said. "He's just rough around the edges sometimes."

"No kidding," Ino responded before leaning over the counter and resting her chin on her palm. "Do tell."

Sakura proceeded to tell Ino all about the mission in the Land of Waves. As the grand tale progressed, Ino's expression grew more and more incredulous. Now that Sakura thought about it, the idea that their first C-Rank mission evolved into an A-Ranked mission where they saved an entire country WAS pretty difficult to believe. Eventually, Sakura completed her story.

Looking pleased that the story had a happy ending, Ino smiled, "Well, well. I still can't get over that badass stunt you pulled with the substitution and the paper bombs," she remarked before her smile grew more playful. "It seems suspiciously unlike you."

Choosing not to be offended, Sakura merely smiled. It was true that the Sakura of six months ago wouldn't have had the guts to stand up against someone like Mangetsu. Yet, she chose to fight even if it meant that she would die. At the time, she could have never anticipated that Naruto would arrive to save her, so she had genuinely been prepared to sacrifice herself for the mission. Sakura felt immense pride at that realization — though she conveniently left that detail out when telling her parents about the mission. They were very worrisome people.

"Everyone has room for growth. It just turns out that I did a lot of growing on that day," Sakura conceded.

Ino smiled, with a hint of pride clearly welling up in her chest. Sakura imagined that it was quite shocking for her old friend to hear that she had stared death in the face and stood her ground. It was a far cry from the pitiful girl that Ino had met all those years ago, no doubt.

"Now, onto the juicier details," Ino said, shifting the conversation back into her wheelhouse. "What's the deal with Sayuri? Spill it."

Sakura rolled her eyes, knowing that the question was inevitable. Despite her best efforts, Sayuri managed to build up quite a reputation for herself back at the Academy. The boys, once they got past their "cooties" stage, all had crushes on her — at least until they realized that she was stronger than them. Then, their affection was soon replaced by fear. On the other hand, the girls all wanted to be her friend. Sayuri was amazing at everything and had a mysterious aura that was just begging to be unraveled.

"Sayuri's a normal person, Ino," Sakura assured with a sigh. "She's just a little introverted, is all. There's not much else to it."

Not seeming all that convinced, Ino straightened back up and crossed her arms, "You mean to tell me that in all this time you haven't gathered any meaningful intel on her? What kind of shinobi are you?"

Sakura bristled at the implication that she should somehow be ashamed for not spying on her own teammate, "If you want to know more about Sayuri, I'm not the one to ask. It's Naruto who she gets along with the best."

This appeared to pique Ino's interest.

"Oh, really?" Ino grinned. "Do tell."

Immediately realizing where Ino was coming from, Sakura formed an X with her arms, "They're just friends, Ino."

"What kind of friends?"

When asked the question, Sakura actually paused as she attempted to define Naruto and Sayuri's relationship. It definitely wasn't like most other friendships, in the sense that they'd both gotten off to a really rocky start. However, during the mission in the Land of Waves, they began spending more time together. By the time the mission was complete, Sakura had noticed that they would have private conversations on the journey home when they thought nobody was watching.

Over the past few months, when Team 7 had settled into smaller missions and training, Sakura would train with Kakashi, while Naruto and Sayuri would go off and train together. She was grateful for the progress she'd made training with her sensei. Yet, she couldn't help but feel like she was being left out of some quality time with her teammates.

"They both really like to train, so they spar a lot. Some days, they go at it from morning until night," Sakura explained, knowing that with Ino, there was no point in struggling. "They like to make everything a competition to see who's the best, but they also have quiet moments together where they just talk. Back in the Land of Waves, Kakashi-sensei told me that there was even a time when they snuck out onto the roof while everyone else was sleeping."

Shamed as she was to admit it, the reason these particular thoughts came to mind for Sakura was because of how left out she'd felt at the time. It wasn't Naruto or Sayuri's fault, clearly. Sakura was sure they'd accept her if she asked to tag along. Still, it was obvious that Naruto and Sayuri were able to relate to each other in a way that she could never up to.

Once Sakura finished her explanation, Ino's mouth was utterly agape, "Sakura, are you kidding me? How can you be so dense? Those are all the textbook signs of a budding romance!"

This time, it was Sakura's turn to appear skeptical, "Sayuri? Romance?" she deadpanned. Clearly, Ino knew nothing about Sayuri at all.

"I know these kinds of things, Sakura," Ino defended. "Constant bickering, teasing, spending all day together, and secret excursions at night? How more obvious can it get?"

"Would you even think twice about any of that if Sayuri was a boy?" Sakura countered. "I'm telling you, Ino. Sayuri isn't like you. She's not into fairy tale romances or anything like that. There's no hidden layer underneath."

For a brief moment, Sakura then heard Kakashi's teasing voice in her head, reminding her that a true shinobi should look underneath the underneath.

Sakura's words seemed to go right over Ino's head, "But Naruto of all people? That's what I'm most surprised about," Ino mumbled to herself before shrugging. "I mean, he's not ugly or anything — but he's not hot either. It's just…well, you know."

"Know what, exactly?" Sakura asked with crossed arms.

Appearing to struggle to choose her words correctly, Ino eventually responded, "Well, you see how people look at him, right? That's not normal. There has to be something going on there."

Sakura shook her head. She honestly had no clue what Ino was talking about.

"Whenever school would wrap up for the day, I would sometimes see the other parents giving Naruto dirty looks, "Ino revealed. "Next time you're out with Naruto, take a look at the people around you, and you'll see it too. There's something off about that guy — at least, that's what everyone seems to think."

"And what do you think?" Sakura asked, her tone becoming defensive. She wasn't liking where this conversation was going.

Ino held up her hands in a placating gesture, "Hey if you say he's a good guy, I'll take your word for it. I mean, he did save your life, after all," she conceded. "I'm just telling you what I saw. No doubt Sayuri has noticed it too."

Sakura frowned as she pondered Ino's words.

---

The afternoon sun shone brightly over Training Ground Three. This was a familiar setting for Naruto and Sayuri. It was where they completed their first training exercise with Kakashi to determine whether they would become genin. Now, they were both leaning against the very same stumps that they were nearly tied to after the bell test, relaxing after a good few hours of training. Sayuri, in particular, looked pleased, with a small smile brought forth by an exhilaration that only progress through training could produce.

'I can feel it every day,' Sayuri thought to herself. 'I'm getting stronger.'

"You're getting stronger, ya know?" Naruto spoke up as if he could read her mind. "Physically, I mean. Your hits feel a lot heavier."

Ever since they completed their mission in the Land of Waves, Sayuri had devoted a lot of time to her strength and conditioning. While she hadn't been lax in that regard before, she couldn't ignore that her body nearly gave up on her after fighting Haku. Sure, Sayuri managed to pull out the win, but she had always been the type of person to focus more on her failures than her successes. It was this mindset that enabled her to improve as quickly as she did.

"Thanks," Sayuri replied simply. "And you still feel like you're made of iron."

Hitting Naruto was a strange feeling. In Sayuri's experience, there was always a hint of satisfaction when she managed to knock someone off their feet or cause visible pain from a well-placed strike. With Naruto, that never seemed to happen. Describing his body as being like "iron" was probably a bit of an exaggeration. Yet, she'd be lying if she said that there wasn't an ache in her hands and feet in the aftermath of their spars together.

Naruto grinned, "Are you trying to make me blush?" he asked.

Suddenly, both Naruto and Sayuri noticed a presence in the distance — scratch that, two presences. They were being observed, clearly, and yet, it was apparent that their "spectators" were probably not among the highest caliber of shinobi. Neither Naruto nor Sayuri could sense chakra, yet they were able to notice the two figures immediately.

Yet, before they were allowed to call out what they had noticed, one of the figures jumped out of the bushes and threw a handful of shuriken. Reacting immediately, Sayuri parried the spinning projectiles with a kunai and jumped into the air to engage their attacker. Surprisingly, there was very little resistance. She was able to land a strike to the person's stomach before landing back on the ground while holding the mysterious figure up in the air by their ankle.

"Hey, Konohamaru," Naruto greeted casually. It was only then that Sayuri noticed that their assailant was a child.

The boy, Konohamaru, groaned in pain, "Ow," he said before glaring at Sayuri from his upside-down position. "You hit hard, lady."

Admittedly a bit perplexed, Sayuri was even further confused when the second figure rushed out of the bushes, revealing themselves to be a little girl. She had unruly black hair and strange red eyes with ringed irises. It appeared that the two children were around the same age, and there was also enough of a resemblance to where Sayuri wondered if they were possibly related.

"Let him go, you bully!" the girl shouted, sounding oddly meek and forceful at the same time.

Konohamaru shouted back urgently, "Don't do it, Mirai! She'll destroy you!" he said, sounding as though they were in an actual life or death scenario.

Having almost forgotten that she was holding up Konohamaru in the first place, Sayuri immediately released his ankle, and the boy collapsed onto the ground like a sack of potatoes. The girl, Mirai, quickly ran to Konohamaru's side to comfort him, and Sayuri turned to her teammate for answers. Naruto merely smiled and shrugged his shoulders as if he had no idea what was going on either.

"Your girlfriend is strong, boss," Konohamaru groaned, causing Sayuri's brow to immediately tick at the implication. She was nobody's girlfriend.

Naruto ignored the statement, "Nice entrance, Konohamaru," he said, looking amused.

Even since Konohamaru stole the Scroll of Seals, he'd been grounded — which, admittedly, was pretty lenient as punishments went. He was only ever allowed to leave his house to attend class at the Academy and perform chores as a form of community service. Naruto had visited him a couple of times to see how he was doing, but this was the first time Konohamaru met someone from his team. It would seem that his sentence was finally complete.

Now recovered, Konohamaru rose back to his feet. After giving Sayuri a nervous side-glance, he walked past her and approached Naruto, gesturing for Mirai to follow him. Looking even shyer than she had before, Konohamaru's companion complied, and the duo was soon standing in front of the still sitting Naruto.

"Boss, this is my cousin, Mirai," Konohamaru introduced, while Mirai merely waved timidly. "She's kind of weird, but the old man makes me take her out with me, so she's here to stay."

All her shyness immediately forgotten, Mirai's face immediately grew red. She clenched her fists at her side, "I'm not weird!" she yelled. "I'm gonna tell my mom what you said!"

"Go ahead," Konohamaru replied with a roll of his eyes. He then gestured to Naruto. "I'm under the boss' protection, so she'll have to get through him first. And nobody can beat my big bro."

"Don't drag me into this," Naruto complained, though the two children completely ignored his plea.

Mirai shook her head, stubbornly, "Nuh-uh," she said. "My mom's a jōnin, and he's only a genin. Jōnin beat genin, dummy."

Properly incensed, Konohamaru glared, "Oh yeah?! Well, the boss beat a chūnin all by himself! I was there!"

"A chūnin isn't a jōnin, stupid! This is why your grades are so bad. You don't pay attention in class," Mirai replied before sticking out her tongue.

"Auntie Kurenai only recently became a jōnin, so she's basically a chūnin anyway!" Konohamaru countered with admittedly faulty logic.

Before the argument could escalate any further, Sayuri walked up behind the two children and bopped them each on the top of their heads. That seemed to do the trick, as Mirai and Konohamaru immediately hunched over and grasped their heads in pain. Sayuri hadn't hit them all that hard, but it didn't take much to get children all worked up.

"Are you going to let her do that to us, boss?!" Konohamaru asked while rubbing his achy skull. Meanwhile, Mirai seemed to be fighting back tears, which served to make Sayuri feel guilty. Great. This was why she hated kids.

Naruto simply shrugged, "I don't know where you got this whole "protection thing" from," he said before his head perked up in apparent realization. "If anything, shouldn't you be the one protecting me since I'm apparently your boss?"

Immediately deducing that this was the student Naruto had told her about, Sayuri was surprised to learn that he was actually telling the truth. It seemed like some stupid thing that he would make up with the sole purpose of being annoying. Yet, as she watched the two interact, it was clear that Konohamaru admired Naruto in the way that a student looked up to their master.

After a few minutes of talking, the craziness finally cooled down. Sayuri leaned against one of the stumps at Naruto's side once more, and Konohamaru and Mirai were sitting crisscross in front of them. Now that everyone wasn't arguing anymore, Sayuri felt much more comfortable and decided to stay while Konohamaru and Naruto caught up. It was usually the kind of thing that she would walk out on, but she felt content to sit with them for some reason.

"So, boss. When are you going to show us one of your awesome jutsu?" Konohamaru asked — no, begged. "I told Mirai that you were really badass, and she wouldn't shut up until I brought her to meet you."

Mirai blushed and averted her gaze, looking decidedly embarrassed. Sayuri nearly rolled her eyes out of her head as she realized that the little girl probably had a childish crush on Naruto of all people. No doubt it was because of Konohamaru's exaggerated boasting. Again, this was why she hated kids.

"Hmm, how about this?" Naruto asked as he proceeded to create a shuriken out of his chakra that spun almost hypnotically over his palm.

Naruto then nearly toppled over when his audience didn't look impressed at all — Sayuri included.

"I already told her that you could do that, boss," Konohamaru explained. "Show us something different."

Sayuri smirked at Naruto's embarrassment and received a glare back in response. Children were very fickle creatures. One second they could be touting you as a legend, and the next, they could be the worst critics imaginable. Admittedly, Naruto's ability to create things from his chakra was pretty intriguing. Yet, seeing as Mirai was a child, her interest would likely be more piqued by something she'd never heard of before.

"Wow, okay," Naruto muttered before stroking his chin in thought.

After a few moments of consideration, Naruto then appeared to finally make his decision. Then, much to Konohamaru's confusion, Mirai's disgust, and Sayuri's surprise, Naruto bit his thumb until he drew blood and performed five hand seals. Sayuri watched with her Sharingan instinctively activated as Naruto formed the boar, dog, bird, monkey, and ram seals before slamming his palm onto the ground. A puff of smoke then appeared before quickly dissipating to reveal an orange toad that looked roughly the size of a small dog.

Sayuri was aware of the summoning jutsu, having witnessed her brother's friend Shisui summon crows when she was a child. In this case, it wasn't what Naruto summoned that shocked her, but rather, the fact that he had been able to obtain a summoning contract in the first place. They were apparently relatively rare, with most shinobi never being able to get their hands on one in their lifetime. It seemed that somehow, Naruto had managed to make a contract with toads.

"Yo," the toad greeted with a casual wave. "The name's Gamakichi."

Stars immediately appeared in Konohamaru and Mirai's eyes as they realized that the clearly unordinary toad could actually speak. They attempted to grab him in their arms, but he hopped away. This sparked an amusing game of "catch me if you can," where the two children attempted to wrangle Gamakichi as if he were a greased-up pig. On the sidelines, Naruto and Sayuri merely watched from their relaxed positions.

"Where did you get a summoning contract?" Sayuri asked, getting straight to the point, as usual.

Naruto smiled knowingly, "I didn't find it myself if that's what you're asking. So, no need to get jealous," he said. When he received an unamused stare, he proceeded to clarify. "There's this perverted old dude who teaches me jutsu. He's a toad summoner."

"A perverted old man taught you how to summon toads?" Sayuri deadpanned.

"Pretty much, yeah," Naruto admitted with a shrug before ultimately grinning. "Maybe someday you'll find your own pervy mentor?"

Being mostly self-taught, Sayuri couldn't relate to what it was like to have a mentor figure. As an Uchiha clan member, she had access to all of the training material she could have ever wanted. Still, nobody in her family ever really had the time to teach her firsthand — as it was the Academy's responsibility to provide formative training. In cases where clan jutsu were taught, Uchiha clan members were encouraged to be strong and independent. A parent or sensei would give a student a jutsu to learn, give them whatever information they needed, and leave them to figure it out on their own.

That was the way of the Uchiha clan.

"I think I'll pass on that," Sayuri replied before rolling her eyes. "And I don't even want to know how that relationship started."

Sayuri then turned to look back at Konohamaru and Mirai. They had given up on chasing Gamakichi and were now crouched in front of him, apparently having an amusing conversation. Despite herself, Sayuri smiled at the sight. She supposed that even kids had their endearing moments — even if they were mostly annoying.

---

(The Following Morning)

Sakura subtly glanced at Naruto as he leaned against the bridge railing. No matter how much she tried to shake the thought, she couldn't get her conversation with Ino out of her head. What possible reason could people have for not liking Naruto? Now that she thought about it, nobody in the Academy could really explain why they kept their distance from him. It was only now that she realized that her classmates had probably seen how their parents looked at Naruto and assumed something was wrong with him.

Like all of their previous team meetings, Kakashi arrived late. Sakura rolled her eyes as she assumed there must have been some old woman that needed help carrying their groceries. Or maybe it was a black cat that just so happened to cross his path? It would almost be forgivable if his excuses weren't laughably bad. It was clear that Kakashi knew that he wasn't fooling anyone — and even more apparent that he simply didn't care. He'd be better off without any excuse at all.

"Sorry I'm late, but I had a very important meeting with the Hokage. You see, this year's Chūnin Exams will be taking place in our village," Kakashi announced, immediately captivating everyone's attention. "And seeing as we've been together for nearly half a year now, I've decided that you've earned the right to decide whether or not you'd like to participate."

Looking at Naruto and Sayuri's reactions, Sakura immediately deduced that they would want to partake in the exams. Frankly, she didn't feel confident or ready enough to take such a test. Yet, after recalling her insecurity over not being close enough with Naruto or Sayuri, Sakura decided to keep her mouth shut. There was no way in hell that she was going to be a ball and chain that held her teammates back.

Kakashi spared Sakura a knowing glance before handing everyone the Chūnin Exam form. When scanning over her paper, she noticed immediately that both Kakashi and the Hokage had already signed their names on the bottom. All that remained was a line for her own signature. The implication was that the Hokage and the genin team leader would both need to formally approve for a team to compete in the exam.

"Do you have a pen?" Sayuri asked, bluntly. She didn't even take the time to read over the document and already intended to sign it.

"Maybe you should discuss this as a team before you make your decision?" Kakashi hinted. "After all, it's a team exam. It's either all of you or none of you."

Well, there were actually exceptions to that rule. Yet, Kakashi wasn't about to say that out loud — especially with Sayuri present. He doubted that she would want to hear that her brother was allowed to take the test by himself several years ago.

"I think we're all in agreement, right guys?" Naruto inquired with a grin. He was clearly oblivious to Sakura's apprehension.

Sayuri immediately nodded, and soon everyone's gaze shifted to Sakura. She became uncomfortable under the scrutiny but quickly straightened her posture, "Of course," she replied, trying to sound as confident as possible. "Whatever we do, we do it as a team."

Kakashi sighed, clearly unconvinced by Sakura's bravado. Nevertheless, he was tact enough not to expose her in front of her teammates. Sakura was grateful for that. In fact, she was grateful to Kakashi for a lot of things.

"Alright, then. The first portion of the exam is on July 1st, so be sure to bring your signed forms with you — and don't be late!" Kakashi advised with a wink, clearly seeing the irony in him of all people lecturing people about punctuality.

With Team 7 being dismissed for the day, Sakura made to leave. However, before she could, Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a look that implied that he wanted to talk. The due watched as Naruto and Sayuri continued on their way — probably to go train together.

Once they were completely alone, Kakashi finally spoke, "You know you don't have to do this, right?" he said. Even while he was talking to her, Kakashi continued to watch Naruto and Sayuri's retreating forms. "If you decide that you're not ready, I'll support your decision, and Team 7 will wait until next year."

"And then it would be my fault that Naruto and Sayuri didn't get to take the exams, right?" Sakura asked, sounding fairly frustrated. That would definitely go a long way in making her teammates respect her as an equal.

Kakashi raised his hands in a placating gesture, "Don't say it like that. As a member of this team, your opinion means something — especially to me," he revealed, prompting Sakura's eyes to widen in shock. "I know that I can count on you to be cautious — unlike Naruto and Sayuri. Between the three of you, you were the only one who argued that we should have turned back in the Land of Waves — and you were right."

Sakura knew that Kakashi was trying to make her feel better with his words, but he was unintentionally worsening her self-esteem. She didn't want to be the cautious one anymore! She wanted to be like Naruto and Sayuri. They were fearless and strong. Meanwhile, Sakura was always weighing the odds and worrying about the danger. Even when she finally took her stand against Mangetsu, it was Naruto that defeated him, not her.

"And if we'd done things my way, Mr. Tazuna would have been killed, and the Land of Waves would still be dying," Sakura retorted, causing Kakashi's brow to raise in surprise. As soon as she finished, Sakura turned and walked away.

Before Kakashi could respond, Sakura stopped in her tracks and turned back to face him, "I don't want to be that weak little girl anymore, sensei," she declared. "And that's why I'm going to take the Chūnin Exams with Naruto and Sayuri."

And with that, she was gone. Kakashi watched his student depart in an almost stunned silence. That conversation hadn't gone at all as he'd expected.

"Was it something I said?" Kakashi muttered as he was left alone on the bridge.

---

Following their team meeting, Naruto and Sayuri had a brief discussion about what they should do next. Predictably, she opted to immediately head to the training ground; however, Naruto proposed getting a meal before heading out. Apparently, there was this hidden gem of a restaurant that he knew about, and despite her own desires, Sayuri opted to go with him. She supposed that a crucial aspect of all friendships was the willingness to make compromises.

"And what's so great about this place, exactly?" Sayuri inquired, sounding as skeptical as she always did.

At this point, Naruto couldn't help but roll his eyes, "With a little patience, you'll soon find out," he said. "We're almost there."

"I don't even eat ramen."

Naruto shot Sayuri a side-eyed glance, "Well, you do now," he said. "And if you haven't had Ichiraku Ramen, you've never had true ramen before as far as I'm concerned."

Sayuri shook her head and chose to hold her tongue. Who could have guessed that Naruto was such a snobby ramen elitist? If that was even a thing.

Eventually, they arrived at a rather unimpressive food stall with flaps that concealed the top portions of everyone inside. From what Sayuri could see, there were already two customers eating meals. Without much thought, Naruto ducked under the flaps and was greeted by the owner, Teuchi, who clearly knew him quite well. Brief introductions were made as it was Sayuri's first time, then the two were finally seated.

As Naruto scanned over his menu, Sayuri glanced over at the other customers, and her eyes narrowed. They were young, older than her, but not by much. Yet their most prominent feature was their foreign headbands — which appeared to depict two rocks. The Hidden Stone, maybe? That would certainly make sense. After all, they were apparently one of the other Five Great Shinobi Nations. There was no doubt that they produced promising shinobi of their own.

The very prospect excited Sayuri immensely.

One of the Hidden Stone shinobi was a girl, and the other was a boy. The girl had short, black hair and black eyes, and the boy was imposing with a tall and round build. They both wore similar clothing, which consisted of a red uniform with baggy sleeves, a lapel over their right leg, and a brown flak jacket. Though, distinctly the girl wore tight shorts with fishnet leggings and only had one sleeve, while the boy wore both sleeves, standard pants, fishnet around his calves/ankles, and a bright yellow scarf.

"Sayuri?" Naruto said, diverting her focus. "Are you ready to order or what?"

Realizing that she hadn't been paying attention, Sayuri looked up at the owner and told him that she'd have whatever Naruto was having. Apparently, that amounted to miso ramen, which didn't sound all that bad. Naruto was apparently the expert on all things ramen, so she chose to trust his personal preference.

While the two were waiting for their orders, the Hidden Stone kunoichi began complaining about something to do with her bill. The large boy tried his best to quell the developing scene, but predictably, he failed. While Sayuri wasn't particularly attached to the restaurant or anything, she would be lying if she said she wasn't a bit annoyed at visitors coming to her home and acting so disrespectfully. At least, that's what she would say if someone asked her why she wanted to get involved. In truth, she was eager to see what these Stone shinobi were made of.

"Hold on, all that for just two bowls of ramen?" the girl slammed her hands onto the counter as she and Teuchi argued about the bill. "Do you charge more for foreigners or something?"

The large boy continued to try and diffuse the situation, "Sorry about this," he apologized to Teuchi before turning to his companion. "Look, just let me pay for this, Kurotsuchi."

"Oh, no way in hell, Akatsuchi. This guy isn't getting a single ryō from either of us until we straighten this out."

When Kurotsuchi still refused to pay after Teuchi explained that his prices were perfectly fair, Sayuri decided that she'd seen enough. This Kurotsuchi girl had an annoying attitude.

"Pay your bill and leave," Sayuri spoke up, earning the attention of Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi both.

Kurotsuchi scowled, "Excuse me?"

Naruto took an opportunity to interject, "Forgive my teammate. She can be pretty blunt," he said. "It must be weird for you to see the prices of actual food, huh? It's a lot more expensive than the rocks and dirt that you eat back home."

Internally, Sayuri conceded that she couldn't have said it better herself.

"Oh, how creative. I've never heard that one before," Kurotsuchi responded with a smirk. "How about we take this outside, and I feed you some rocks and dirt right now, blondie? Free of charge, of course. I'm way more reasonable than the owner of this dump."

Before Naruto could accept her challenge, Sayuri rose from her seat in his stead. Seemingly not as picky about opponents as she was about food, Kurotsuchi stood up from her chair as well. The two girls left the ramen shop and faced off in the center of the street. Thankfully, anyone walking the by was wise enough to steer clear of whatever was going on, rending the street virtually empty.

"Kurotsuchi, what are you doing?" Akatsuchi called out as Sayuri and his teammate looked like they were about to exchange blows.

Looking decidedly cocky, Kurotsuchi dismissed Akatsuchi's concerns, "Be quiet and watch, Akatsuchi. As far as I'm concerned, I'm just starting the exams early."

Not knowing whether or not she should activate her Sharingan from the beginning, Sayuri observed Kurotsuchi carefully. If she wasn't strong, her village wouldn't have sent her to compete in an examination so far from home, so she probably wasn't a pushover. Sayuri then looked back at the giant boy, Akatsuchi, and remained mindful of the possibility that he might join in as well. However, she quickly pushed aside her concern when she remembered that Naruto was watching too — now with his own ramen bowl in hand. He wouldn't let anyone interfere.

Suddenly, Kurotsuchi appeared to be overtaken by a sensation of dread. Sayuri smirked as she initially believed that she was the source of the girl's fear, but then she noticed a presence looming behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a towering man — as tall as Akatsuchi, but less rotund. However, he was completely different in the sense that his aura was intense and threatening.

He had light brown eyes with no eyebrows and wore red plated armor that extended all the way to the bottom half of his face, covering it up. Underneath the portion of the armor that covered the bottom of his face, he wore a white cloth which also covered both sides of his face and the top of his head. Aside from his red armor, he also wore a red conical hat over the white cloth — which seemed to be composed of the same material as his armor. He wore his Hidden Stone forehead protector on a black cloth, and over his armor, he wore a black gi, with the sleeves seemingly torn off, and black gloves.

"You're late," the hulking man growled, his voice deep and booming. "I shouldn't have to come and fetch you like this."

"S-Sorry, Han," Kurotsuchi stammered, her personality doing a complete one-eighty. She then turned to Akatsuchi. "Come on! Just pay for the food, and let's go."

Akatsuchi did as he was told. Meanwhile, Sayuri looked back to Naruto and saw that he was still seated on his stool, now slurping up his bowl of ramen as he watched the proceedings like a spectator. He seemed to attract Han's attention as well, who stared at him intently. Just based on appearances, the two boys couldn't be further apart. Sayuri imagined that an ordinary person could never imagine someone like Naruto — who was average-sized on his best day — being able to fight someone as massive as Han. Lucky, Sayuri knew differently.

"Who are you?" Han demanded, officially turning his focus to Naruto completely.

To his credit, Naruto hardly seemed intimidated. He finished chewing what food he had in his mouth and swallowed, "Naruto Uzumaki," he replied.

Han seemed to appraise Naruto for a few more moments before speaking again, "I'm going to kill you in the exams, Naruto Uzumaki," he said as if remarking on the weather.

Naruto's brows rose in surprise, "What did I do?" he asked before gesturing to Sayuri. "She started it."

Sayuri deadpanned at being thrown under the bus.

"I couldn't care less about that," Han explained as both Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi finished paying for their food and stood at his side. "Your presence makes me sick."

Before Naruto could reply, Han and his team turned and walked away. Once they were gone, Sayuri sat back down at Naruto's side and saw that her own meal had been placed on the counter. She grabbed her chopsticks without a word and began eating her food. Admittedly, it was pretty delicious. After eating a bit of her meal, she looked over to Naruto and saw him watching her strangely.

"A guy threatens to kill me, and you just start eating your ramen like nothing happened?"

Sayuri scowled, "What do you want me to do? Vow to protect you from the "big scary guy" or something?" she replied sarcastically before turning back to her food. "You can take care of yourself. You'd be a pretty useless rival if you couldn't."

For once, Naruto appeared speechless. In the end, he began eating his ramen again as well.

---

In the distance, a lone figure was perched on a rooftop. He had distinct red hair and soulless green eyes, which had thick black rings around them. He watched the interaction between Sayuri, Naruto, and Han with thinly repressed mania. An eerie smile then spread across his face as he felt his mother begin to grow restless.

"Gaara?" a feminine voice behind the boy spoke up nervously. "Is everything okay?"

The new figure was a girl, with teal eyes and sandy blonde hair gathered into four consecutive pigtails. She wore a single light purple-colored, off-the-shoulder garment that extended to halfway down her thighs, with a scarlet sash tied around her waist. In addition to incorporating fishnet worn over her shoulders and legs, specifically on her right calf and her left thigh, she also wore her black forehead protector around her neck.

At her side stood another boy, who oddly wore a Bunraku puppeteer's costume; a black, baggy, full bodysuit with a red and yellow circle on the front. He also wears a black hood that covered his head entirely and had cat-like ears and his forehead protector on his forehead. He also had his face done up with a purple, triangular face-paint design.

Their names were Temari and Kankurō, and they were genin of the Hidden Sand Village.

Gaara looked back at his siblings and scowled, causing them to flinch back in worry. Temari's question then went unanswered as he vanished in a vortex and sand. Now with their brother gone, Temari and Kankurō shivered at the close call.

---

(Morning of the First Exam)

On the morning of the first exam, Team 7 met at the testing site with time to spare. They turned in their signed forms and briefly met with Kakashi before eventually going inside. There was time to spare, so Sayuri decided that she would attempt to gather as much intel as possible before the test started. She scanned the area and noticed two uniformed chūnin having some sort of conversation. Seeing it as a potential opening, Sayuri activated her Sharingan and read their lips.

"How many of them do you think will pass?" one of the men mouthed.

The other one shrugged nonchalantly, "Ibiki is the one leading the written exam, so I wouldn't be shocked if they all fail."

Sayuri's eyes then narrowed as she watched the two chūnin walk away. A written exam, huh?

"What are you so focused on?" Naruto asked, his fingers interlaced behind his head.

"The first exam is going to be a written test," Sayuri explained to her teammates after deactivating her Sharingan. "Apparently, it'll be very difficult."

Upon hearing the news, Sakura's brows perked up, and Naruto's shoulders sagged. Sayuri felt a mix of both feelings. She wasn't bad at written tests at all, but she'd be lying if she said that she enjoyed them. Sayuri was a warrior through and through, so academics only really interested her when the knowledge would improve her fighting ability.

"Shit," Naruto mumbled. "I suck at written tests."

Sakura was a bit bewildered, "What do you mean?" she said. "You must have done well on your tests at the Academy. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been the top-ranked student. To get your score, you would have had to do well on all the tests."

"Well, yeah, but that was the Academy, and this is the Chūnin Exams," Naruto explained. "It's probably going to be a lot harder to cheat here than it was in Iruka-sensei's class."

Time seemed to freeze as Sakura looked at Naruto in almost comical horror.

"Naruto…you cheated on your tests at the Academy?"

Naruto appeared a bit confused, "Yeah. Did you guys not?"

Sayuri calmly shook her head. Sakura still appeared too appalled to do anything else aside from stare intensely into Naruto's soul.

"I…I can't believe you!" Sakura exclaimed, finally able to formulate words. "Number one student, my ass! I can't believe I actually admired you!"

Surprised by Sakura's response, Naruto waved his hands wildly, "Hey, it seemed like something a shinobi should do, ya know?" he explained before smiling awkwardly. "I'm surprised you never noticed, though. I copied off of your work the most, Sakura."

The fury that Sakura exhibited upon hearing that confession was beyond anything Sayuri previously felt to be possible for the typically well-tempered girl. It would be almost scary if it wasn't so amusing.

---

Once they familiarized themselves with the building, Team 7 arrived at the door to the classroom where they would be taking the first exam. Sakura was still sending Naruto dirty looks along the way, all the while mumbling and grumbling about how he was a dirty cheat. Frankly, Sayuri wasn't all that surprised by the fact that Naruto apparently cheated at the Academy. He hardly seemed like the academic type.

A crowd was surrounding the door, and they were being prevented from entering by two other genin who were warning them to turn back. It seemed like a sound enough tactic. Thin the herd by discouraging people from actually making it to the classroom. However, Sayuri soon noticed something else that was odd about the situation. The room's sign said 302 — the room number they were told to look for — but they were currently on the second floor, not the third. Sayuri immediately reached her conclusion.

"There's a genjutsu on the sign," Sakura whispered, voicing exactly what Sayuri was thinking.

Naruto squinted up at the sign, and it was obvious that he hadn't noticed at first like his teammates did. He was perceptive enough, but genjutsu was hardly his strong suit.

"Don't say anything," Sayuri advised. "There's no point in helping out the competition."

"What? No urge to point out the genjutsu to everyone and prove your superiority?" Naruto joked with a smirk. "If you don't do it, I just might."

Sayuri rolled her eyes, "Don't even think about it, moron," she warned. Though it was obvious that Naruto was just messing around.

Team 7 continued to observe the ruckus as a strong-looking boy wearing green spandex with a bowl haircut, and comically large eyebrows was getting smacked around by the two genin that were manning the door. Reaching the conclusion that people fooled by such a basic genjutsu weren't worthy of taking the Chūnin Exams anyway, Sayuri gestured for her team to follow as they attempted to scoot by.

"Wait!"

Before they could turn the corner and take the stairs to the next floor, the same boy who had been getting his ass kicked only a few seconds ago flagged them down. Oddly enough, any injuries he appeared to have sustained during his "fight" earlier were now immediately faded. Strangely, he looked at Team 7 with flushed cheeks before turning to Sayuri specifically.

"Are you Sayuri Uchiha?" he asked, receiving a slight inclination of the head from Sayuri in response. Had she met this guy before?

The boy seemed thrilled to have confirmed his suspicions and approached Sayuri's directly. He stood a bit taller than her — or anyone on her team for that matter — and looked to be in reasonably good shape. It was strange that he seemed to be such a pushover.

"My name is Rock Lee, the Hidden Leaf's Handsome Green Beast of Battle," Lee greeted with a thumbs up and a wink. "Please be my girlfriend. I promise to make you the happiest woman in the entire world!

One could have heard crickets in the hall as everyone processed what was said. Sakura blushed in surprise. Naruto was just barely managing to suppress his laughter, and Sayuri was too disgusted to even form an expression.

"No," was all Sayuri said, feeling that having to explain her reasoning would be redundant.

The wind immediately vanished from Lee's sails, and he placed his hand against the wall to keep himself from falling over in grief. Sayuri merely rolled her eyes at the ridiculous display and walked away. It was hardly the first time that some weirdo had asked her out, and it almost definitely wouldn't be the last. Boys were so irritating.

"Hehe, what's wrong, Sayuri?" Naruto asked with a teasing grin as he and Sakura caught up with her. "Are you not into dumb bowl haircuts and bushy eyebrows?"

Sayuri made to answer but stopped when her instincts warned her of danger. Naruto seemed to notice too, and he turned on a dime and managed to catch a punch with his hand that would have landed square in his face. Lee glared daggers at Naruto as the two struggled against each other's strength in a battle for dominance.

"Please do not make jokes," Lee warned before he perked up a bit. "Unless you intend to present yourself as a rival for Sayuri's love? If that is the case, then I welcome the challenge!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed, 'This guy's strong,' he thought before noticing the amount of distance Lee had covered in a mere instant. 'And fast too. How the hell was he getting his ass kicked by those clowns just now?'

With similar thoughts bouncing around in her head, Sayuri only briefly considered how odd it felt that two boys were essentially getting into a fight because of her. She supposed that it was kind of flattering — in a weird and annoying way.

"Lee, that's enough," another boy called out as he approached him. Sayuri assumed that he was one of Lee's teammates. "Was it not you who proposed that we hide our true strength?"

The first thing Sayuri noticed was that he resembled Hinata, which instantly told her that he was a Hyūga. He had fair skin, long dark brown hair, and featureless white eyes with a slight lavender tint. He wore a beige-colored shirt, dark brown shorts, blue shinobi sandals, and wrapped bandages around his right arm, chest, and right leg. He tied his hair back in a loose ponytail tied a few inches above the end, along with a black forehead protector — under which was a smaller headband with two straps that framed the sides of his face.

"But Neji—" Lee attempted to argue but was stopped by a glare. He looked like a child who'd been lectured by their parent.

There was a girl at Neji's side, who was likely the final member of Lee's team. She had brown hair and brown eyes. Her hair was styled with two buns on her head and short fringe-bangs framing her face — with the buns seeming to be her most distinguishable feature. She wore a pink sleeveless qipao-style blouse, with red sleeve trimmings and yellow fastening buttons, dark green pants, and blue shinobi sandals.

"Hey, wait a minute," the girl muttered as she looked Team 7 over. "Are you guys on Kakashi's team?"

Surprised that she had heard of them, Sakura finally spoke up, "Yes, we are," she clarified. "And who are you three?"

"I'm Tenten, and these two are Rock Lee and Neji Hyūga," Tenten introduced with a smile. "Our sensei is actually a rival of yours."

"No kidding?" Sakura replied, trying to sound intrigued by the revelation. Frankly, she couldn't imagine Kakashi being rivals with anyone.

Once it was revealed that Team 7 was Kakashi's squad, Neji focused his attention and Naruto and frowned. The look was not lost on the subject of his scrutiny. Naruto frowned back, finding Neji's attitude to be immediately off-putting. He wasn't nearly as easygoing as Hinata, it seemed.

"You're the top rookie of this year, correct?" Neji asked though it was apparent that he was only inquiring for formality's sake.

To the side, Sakura comically rolled her eyes and crossed her arms while mumbling something about how cheaters shouldn't be ranked number one. Naruto glanced at her, and a bead of sweat dripped down the side of his head. Was she going to hold the whole cheating thing against him forever?

"It was more of a tie between her and me," Naruto replied while pointing to Sayuri.

Admittedly, Sayuri was surprised that Naruto gave her any credit at all.

"A tie?" Neji responded with a scoff. "How ridiculous. You're either the best, or you're not. Which is it?"

At that point, Naruto was growing annoyed with Neji — that much was evident to Sayuri. Sakura watched the interaction with thinly veiled trepidation, while Tenten and Lee merely observed from the sidelines.

With a visible scowl, Naruto responded, "What's it to you?"

"I was just interested in seeing the quality of this year's rookie class," Neji said. "From what I can see, you don't appear all that special."

Naruto's hand twitched in a clear sign of aggression, which Neji immediately noticed. Choosing to interpret the gesture as a threat, he lunged forward with surprising speed. Naruto reacted by summoning what looked to be a chakra baton in his right hand — indicating his lack of intent to use lethal force. He moved to slam the baton down on Neji's head but was surprised when his right arm was jabbed with a multitude of quick strikes. The hits were light, but Naruto immediately lost all feeling in his right arm, and his chakra weapon vanished.

'His hand speed is crazy,' Naruto thought in shock. Neji's movement speed was easy enough for him to keep up with, but the speed of his strikes was something he'd never dealt with before. Naruto was then knocked off his feet by a palm strike to the chest.

Seeing her teammate being attacked prompted Sayuri to activate her Sharingan. In response, the veins around Neji's eyes became visible, indicating that he had activated his Byakugan. The two dōjutsu users looked poised to fight, but they were each stopped by Sakura and Tenten, respectively. On the ground, Naruto gritted his teeth in pain as he struggled to breathe normally. His body hadn't suffered any exterior wounds, but he felt as though he'd been pierced through the chest.

"That should help you remember your place," Neji derided before walking past Team 7 on his way to the third floor.

Everyone who remained behind stood around awkwardly looked at each other before Lee and Tenten quickly caught up with Neji — both sending apologetic looks Team 7's way as they did.

"What a jerk," Sakura mumbled before crouching down at Naruto's side. Her previous annoyance at his lack of academic integrity appeared all but forgotten. "Are you okay?"

Naruto simply grunted and stood back to his feet. His right arm hung limply at his side, though he stubbornly ignored the pain and inconvenience and instead opted to glare at the floor. Under normal circumstances, Sayuri would have teased him for getting embarrassed like that. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to say the words. Frankly, after what she saw, she wasn't sure if she would have fared any better against Neji — loathed as she was to admit it.

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked again, clearly concerned. "You don't look too good."

"I'm fine!" Naruto snapped, causing Sakura to flinch back. Before anything else could be said, he turned and made his way down the hall and to the third floor.

Sayuri and Sakura exchanged a brief look before following him.

---

Upon entering the testing room, Team 7 was immediately the source of everyone's attention. The majority of people seemed to have arrived even before they did and were sending them intimidating stares. Most participants looked to be in their late teens, with some even appearing to be adults. Sayuri noticed Sakura swallow a lump in her throat, and for a moment, pondered the idea of comforting her. However, in the end, she wasn't entirely comfortable and opted not to.

"There sure are a lot of people here," Sakura muttered. "And they all look like they want to kill us."

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand while his right arm continued to hang limply at his side, "Glare back, Sakura. Show them that you're not to be messed with," he proposed with a smirk — though after speaking he winced for a split second through clenched teeth.

While Sakura blushed at the suggestion, Sayuri frowned as she examined Naruto's condition. Even with a few minutes having passed, his breathing still seemed labored, and his arm was still injured. Usually, Naruto was a pain in the ass to even bruise. Yet, Neji somehow managed to inflict lasting damage in a way that she had never seen before.

Once they began settling in, Team 7 was reunited with the rest of their graduating class. Sakura and Ino started talking immediately — an odd mixture of insults and affection that Sayuri couldn't quite understand. Was that what most friendships were like? She supposed that she and Naruto's relationship was a bit like that, but heavier on the insults and light on the affection. While Sakura and Ino caught up, Shikamaru leaned against the wall in a struggle to stay awake, and Chōji stuffed his face with potato chips.

On the other side, Sayuri noticed Team 8 as well. Kiba was glaring back at the other participants, and Shino was observing them with cautious pragmatism. Meanwhile, Hinata greeted her with a nod — which Sayuri reciprocated — before looking at Naruto with a bit of concern. Realizing that he didn't look in the mood to talk, she approached Sayuri's side.

"Is Naruto alright?" Hinata asked in a subdued tone, so nobody else was able to hear. "Did something happen?"

Sayuri nodded, "He was attacked by someone from your clan," she explained.

Immediately putting two and two together, Hinata's eyes widened in surprise. Only one other Hyūga was taking the exam — at least as far as she knew — and that was her cousin, Neji. Hinata then proceeded to activate her Byakugan and give Naruto a careful look over, "Some of the chakra points in his chest and right forearm have been interrupted. How is he even standing?" she said in slight awe.

Without another word, Hinata approached Naruto and asked how he was doing. Initially, he played it off, but after some persistence on her part, he eventually conceded that he had been injured. Unsurprisingly, Hinata offered to help and proceeded to place her hand on Naruto's injured chest. She then began to unblock the unaffected chakra points one by one. Sayuri scowled as she noticed a slight flush to Hinata's cheeks throughout the entire process. What the hell was that about?

"Woah, I actually feel a lot better already," Naruto voiced in surprise once she was finished. "I'm not used to being hurt for that long, ya know?"

Hinata nodded, "Your chakra is strong, and for some reason, it seems to heal your wounds automatically," she observed. "Just now, I watched your chakra trying to heal your injuries, but the disruption of your chakra points was making it take longer than usual. Hopefully, it should be all better now."

For some reason, Sayuri felt a strong urge to butt into Naruto and Hinata's private time, "Who is this Neji guy, anyway?" she asked.

A look of sadness passed over Hinata's face at the mention of Neji's name, "He's my cousin," she revealed, prompting Naruto's eyes to widen in surprise. "I apologize for his actions. He can be…difficult to deal with, but he has his reasons. Please don't hold it against him."

Naruto rolled his eyes and began to test his right hand — noticing that he was already beginning to regain feeling in the limb, "Whatever. Screw that guy," he muttered.

The Rookie Nine were then approached by a much older genin who wore a Hidden Leaf Headband. He had black eyes and ash-grey hair, which he kept in a ponytail. He also wore a dark purple shirt with a high collar, a white under-shirt, and dark purple pants with a white cloth waistband. His most prominent feature was his black-rimmed circular glasses. Immediately, Sayuri felt as though he couldn't be trusted.

He introduced himself as Kabuto Yakushi and warned them that the exams were no joke. He then proceeded to pull out a stack of information cards that apparently had intel on everyone taking the exams. He showed them info on a few people, including Rock Lee, Neji Hyūga, and a boy from the Hidden Sand Village named Gaara, who apparently had never suffered an injury. Kabuto also provided information on the other villages. He confessed that he had little information on the Hidden Sound shinobi taking the exam but claimed that this wasn't an issue since they were a new village of little prominence.

Having overheard his comments, the lone team from the Hidden Sound Village attacked Kabuto unprovoked. The fight was short and one-sided, as a strange boy with bandages covering most of his face and a straw raincoat on his back landed a bizarre attack that appeared to do damage, even though it missed its mark. Kabuto's glasses were shattered, and he collapsed onto his knees before vomiting on the floor.

"Seems you aren't faster than sound — go figure," the boy from the sound village taunted.

Now that he was no longer moving, Sayuri could get a better look at him. As noted previously, he was almost entirely covered in bandages and wore a straw raincoat. Underneath that, he wore a large poncho with long sleeves, a snake patterned scarf around his neck, and a strange gauntlet on his right arm that was lined with holes. Sayuri immediately deduced that the gauntlet was the source of his peculiar ability.

His two teammates stood at his side, one a girl and the other a boy. The girl had fair skin, black eyes with very long black hair, almost reaching down to the ground, tied by a violet ribbon right near the end. She wore a pale green vest somewhat similar to a flak jacket, snake patterned pants with a snake patterned skirt over it, and a snake patterned scarf around her neck. The boy was dressed similarly, with the same scarf. He wore a beige shirt with two black stripes and three prints of the kanji for death down the front. His forehead protector also had an attached happuri under the cloth.

"That's enough!" a powerful voice boomed as the smoke cleared. The man in question was large and imposing. He wore a darker version of the Intelligence Division's standard uniform, along with a black trench coat and gloves. He also wore a black bandana as his forehead protector, which covered the entirety of his head. Behind him were many other people wearing similar uniforms.

"My name is Ibiki Morino, and I will be your proctor for the first exam," he greeted with an almost sadistic smirk. "From this moment on, consider me your worst enemy."

---

Kakashi sat in the Jōnin Standby Station while his students were taking the first exam. In particular, he was relaxing on the top floor of the building, in the lounge. The room was a circular room with multiple windows, long red sofas that surrounded a single pillar with plants growing around it, and a small green vent. It was where jōnin typically waited when off duty. For the exams, the building was reserved for all jōnin whose teams were participating in the exams — foreign jōnin included.

Admittedly, Kakashi felt rather strange not having his team around. Naruto was always stirring up trouble and keeping things interesting. Sakura was inquisitive and always knew just how to make him feel like the coolest teacher around. And Sayuri was always fun to observe. Her reactions to Naruto's behavior was usually quite amusing since she was such a stoic person.

"I have to admit, I miss them," Kakashi confessed out loud to his two companions.

Across from him sat Kurenai and her husband, Asuma Sarutobi. All three of them had attended the Academy together in their youths. While their journeys had different stops and destinations, they each found themselves together once more. Asuma and Kurenai had married young, as many shinobi tended to do, and had a child just as they entered their twenties. It made Kakashi think about his own legacy. Traditionally, shinobi were encouraged to produce an heir as soon as they were of eligible age. There was no telling when one could die on a mission.

"Yeah, mine are a pretty good group too," Asuma replied before taking a drag from his cigarette and blowing out a cloud of smoke — earning an annoyed look from Kurenai for his trouble.

"I really wish you'd stop with that disgusting habit," Kurenai complained with a scrunched-up face.

Asuma sighed. This was clearly a conversation they'd had many times before, "I can't smoke near the house because of the kid, so let me enjoy myself now while I can," he countered before inhaling once more. "Besides, I'm a Sarutobi. We're practically born with smoke in our lungs and fire in our veins."

"I swear, if Mirai picks up smoking from you, I'll scramble your brain and turn you into a vegetable."

The trio continued speaking until they noticed another person enter the room. He was young — young enough to where Kakashi initially assumed that he was a lost exam participant. He had slanted blue eyes and long golden blond hair, which he wore drawn into a long ponytail — while his left bang concealed almost the entirety of the left side of his face. He wore a blue and grey kimono jacket with a fishnet under-shirt inside, dark pants with zōri sandals, and a belt-like pouch with a chain. He also wore a Hidden Stone headband on his forehead — which almost went unnoticed due to his aforementioned left bang.

The stranger ignored them entirely and walked over to the other side of the room and sat down where nobody would be able to see him. Meanwhile, Kakashi's mind raced through an internal catalog of names and faces as he attempted to figure out why the man looked so familiar. Eventually, he recalled a name.

"Deidara," Kakashi spoke lowly, loud enough for Asuma and Kurenai to hear, but too quiet for their new guest. "He's a member of the Hidden Stone's Explosion Corps."

Kurenai seemed to have no idea who he was, while Asuma frowned in recognition. The Explosion Corps was infamous for their brutal and destructive tactics, garnering a similar reputation to that of the Hidden Mist's Seven Shinobi Swordsmen. In particular, Deidara was known for using one of the Hidden Stones forbidden jutsu, which allowed him to knead his chakra into clay to create explosives. He was something of a prodigy in his village.

"There's only one Hidden Stone team this year. He must be their team leader," Asuma deduced before taking another drag from his cigarette.

"Is he particularly deadly?" Kurenai inquired.

Asuma scoffed, "The kid's like — what? — seventeen? And I'm not even sure how I'd fare against him," he confessed. "I've heard some wild stories about him." (1)

Kakashi felt a hint of unease in the pit of his stomach. The Hidden Stone seldom participated in international events like the Chūnin Exams because of their isolated and confrontational foreign policy. The only reason they'd send a team over now was if they were trying to show off their toys and make a statement.

'This could be trouble,' Kakashi thought to himself. He hoped that his team was careful. It seemed that there were some big fish in the exams this year.

---

After introducing himself to the participants, Ibiki handed everyone a number which determined where they would be sitting. There was a conscious effort to ensure that the teams were separated from each other, so there would be no cooperation. After that, Ibiki explained that they would be taking a written test with 10 questions. Each participant would start off with ten points total, and for every question they got wrong, they would lose a point. Furthermore, teams passed and failed based on the total scores between all three members — and if one person got a zero, then the entire team failed.

Cheating was prohibited, and every time a participant was caught, they would receive a two-point deduction. To make this even more complicated, the entire room was surrounded by sentinels watching their every move. With that said, it meant a participant could only afford to be caught cheating 5 times before their score would be reduced to zero, and their entire team would fail.

Sakura scowled at the mention of cheating, 'It feels like these rules were put in place for cheaters like Naruto,' she grumbled internally. She was still somewhat miffed that the number one student in her class obtained his rank through cheating.

Once the test began, everyone flipped over their papers and got started. Sakura was immediately surprised when she scanned over the questions. They were incredibly advanced — the kind of stuff that jōnin should be expected to answer, not chūnin hopefuls. Sakura gulped. Tests were usually her strong point, yet even she needed to rack her brain to find the answers. Sakura wasn't arrogant by any means, but Sayuri and Naruto wouldn't have a chance answering questions like this — hell, she'd wager that most people in the room couldn't!

'Calm down,' Sakura thought to herself. 'Just get through the test and have faith that your teammates will find a way.'

---

The moment Naruto laid eyes on his test, a drop of sweat dripped down the side of his head. How the hell was he supposed to be expected to answer questions like those? Only a nerd like Sakura would be able to pass the first exam — and that wouldn't do her any good since the scores were tallied based on team totals.

'Well, I knew this was going to happen,' Naruto thought, knowing full well that he was going to need to cheat to pass.

Naruto then placed his hands underneath his desk, cut his thumb with a chakra kunai, and performed the hand seals for the Summoning Jutsu. He managed to do so stealthily enough so that nobody could see or hear him, and once he was finished, a miniature toad was perched on the top of his right hand. Naruto exchanged a glance with the small amphibian. The creature immediately activated the Camouflage Jutsu and became utterly invisible to the naked eye.

'Go on, little guy. Get me some answers.'

The small toad then climbed onto his desk before beginning an investigation of the room to see who had the answers that Naruto was looking for. Eventually, the toad landed next to Sakura's paper and watched as she scribbled answer after answer with admirable gusto. Naruto felt amused that he would pass the first exam by cheating off the same person that he copied off of in the Academy.

'And everything comes full circle,' Naruto remarked to himself before grinning. 'Let's just keep this a secret from Sakura.'

---

Sayuri looked down at her paper and scowled. There was no way in hell she'd be able to answer even a single question. While she was no bookworm like Sakura, she did well enough on tests at the Academy to know that her present circumstances were not caused by a lack of intelligence. No, this test was too difficult for any genin to complete on their own.

Maybe that was the point?

It was strange that the exam participants would need to be caught cheating five times before being failed. Never before had Sayuri taken any kind of test where someone was essentially allowed to cheat four times before they were finally kicked out. It was almost like the examiners were encouraging them to cheat. It was then that the realization finally hit Sayuri like a ton of bricks. This exam wasn't designed to test their academic knowledge, but rather, their ability to gather information.

After activating her Sharingan, Sayuri noticed something odd on one of the desks. She was able to see a small toad that appeared to be using the Camouflage Jutsu, looking over Sakura's paper. With her Sharingan, she was able to see the toad's chakra, but nobody else in the room would be able to. Knowing only one person that summoned toads, Sayuri smirked as she realized that Naruto must have reached the same conclusion that she did.

'I need to identify someone who looks like they know what they're doing,' Sayuri thought to herself as she subtly scanned over the room.

Eventually seeing a man who was answering the questions strangely quickly. With her Sharingan activated, Sayuri began to copy his pencil strokes. She wrote in perfect sync with him and promptly began filling out her test with very detailed answers that she could have never come up with on her own.

'I'm definitely telling Sakura that Naruto cheated off of her again,' Sayuri thought to herself with a small smirk. Now that would be amusing.

---

Around the classroom, many other students were cheating as well. Hinata and Neji both activated their Byakugans and scanned over everyone's tests until they found one that was completed. Tenten used wires to manipulate the mirrors on the ceiling so that she and Lee could steal other people's answers. Kiba had Akamaru read out answers from atop his head. Dosu listened to the sound of pencils hitting paper and used that to find the right answers. Gaara created an eye out of sand that he used as a medium to look over a nearby test taker's shoulder. Shino stole answers using one of his insects. And finally, Ino used the Mind Transfer Jutsu to enter Sakura's body, read over her test, and pass along the answers to Shikamaru and Chōji.

Every once in a while, the proctors would call out the numbers of certain participants, indicating that they had been caught five times and failed — along with the rest of their team. Once the allotted time passed, everyone who managed to make it through without being caught were the only remaining people in the room. Now, it was time for the tenth and final question.

"All right, listen up, everyone!" Ibiki finally called out. "It's time for the tenth question!"

Sakura rubbed her achy head — still recovering from Ino's jutsu — and listened closely to Ibiki's words.

"However, before we continue, there is something that I must explain," Ibiki said. "First things first, you have the right to choose whether or not you'll be given the final question. If you choose this option, you will be given a zero regardless of your answers on the first nine, and you and your team will automatically be failed. But there is still one more rule after that…"

There was an eruption of muttering throughout the room as everyone collectively wondered what the hell was going on. Why would they choose not to answer the tenth question if refusing meant automatic failure?

"If you do accept the tenth question, and answer it incorrectly, you will not only fail but will also be barred from taking the Chūnin Exams ever again!"

Now everyone's responses were a bit more vocal. For example, Kiba voiced open opposition to the final rule, which earned shouts of agreement from other like-minded participants.

"Too bad, I wasn't making the rules before, but now I am. If it bothers you so much, then just skip the question and try again next year," Ibiki countered. "Anyone who wishes to skip the final question, need only raise their hands, and you, along with the rest of your team, will be dismissed."

After considering their options, a significant number of participants decided not to test their luck and raised their hands. Sakura watched those who opted to skip the final question file out of the room and wondered if they were making the right choice. She analyzed the situation and found that the most logical decision would be to leave. Nobody even knew what the tenth question was, so it could be impossible to answer. And yet, Sakura glanced over at Sayuri and Naruto and noticed that there wasn't a hint of doubt in their posture or demeanor.

'We'll pass or fail together,' Sakura thought as a look of determination passed over her face. 'Even if we have to be genin forever.'

Once everyone who decided to skip the final question was gone, only seventy-eight participants remained in the room. Ibiki appeared to appraise those who stayed behind before nodding his head. Sakura clenched her fists as she assumed that he was going to announce the final question.

"Well then, to those who have chosen to stay, I offer my respect," Ibiki said. "There is only one thing left for me to say…which is that you all pass the first exam!"

Everyone in the room stared at Ibiki as though he'd grown a second head. He then explained that there wasn't a tenth question at all. It was merely a test to determine their resolve to complete a hopeless mission. The first nine questions were simply put in place to test everyone's information gathering skills. There were also several proctors disguised as students hidden among everyone who had all of the correct answers. Sayuri recognized one of them as the man that she cheated off of.

Then, out of nowhere, before Ibiki could finish announcing that the first exam was completed, a shadowy figure spectacularly crashed through the window. A large tarp was then displayed in front of Ibiki, using kunai at each corner to keep it in place. The sign served as an announcement that the second exam had begun, and in front stood a strange-looking woman.

She had light brown, pupil-less eyes, with violet hair styled in a short, spiky, fanned-out ponytail. She wore a fitted mesh bodysuit that covered her from neck to thigh. Over that, she wore a tan overcoat with a purple in-seam, a pocket on each side, a dark orange mini-skirt, a dark blue belt, and pale grey shin guards. In addition to the typical forehead protector, she also wore a small pendant that looked like a snake fang.

"Alright maggots, now's not the time for celebrating," the woman shouted exuberantly. "I'm Anko Mitarashi, and I'll be your proctor for the second exam! I hope that you're all ready!"

Everyone sat in stunned silence. Sakura lurched back when she saw how scantily-clad their new proctor was. Meanwhile, several boys in the room were shamelessly ogling Anko's body like hungry dogs that were just tossed a steak. Sayuri rolled her eyes at the display. Boys were so predictable.

Behind the tarp, Ibiki deadpanned, "You're early," he informed coolly. Based on the interaction, it was evident that this kind of thing happened a lot.

Anko blushed in a mixture of anger and embarrassment as nobody in the room shared her bizarre enthusiasm. Once she calmed herself down, she scanned over the room, and a look of surprise passed over her face. She then turned to Ibiki with a look of skepticism.

"How many are there?" Anko asked. "You let this many pass? Your test must have been too easy."

Ibiki shrugged, "There seems to be an excellent crop this year."

Anko appeared unconvinced, "Hmph, you've definitely grown soft," she remarked. "By the time I'm done with them, more than half will be taken out of the game."

"Alright, maggots. Things may have been easy for you up until now, but starting tomorrow morning, the real exams will begin," Anko announced. "I'll let your squad leaders know where you'll need to meet me. Until then, you're dismissed.

Sakura's heart sank at the Anko's bold declarations. It was disheartening to see that their next proctor was someone who seemed to pride herself on how difficult her exam was.

---

Deidara leaned back into a couch at the Hidden Leaf's Jōnin Standby Station and sighed comfortably. Compared to back home in the Hidden Stone Village, the Leaf was so colorful and artistic. Even while relaxing, he couldn't help but be overtaken by an almost manic degree of inspiration. His art was perfect and sublime, and he felt as though he'd just stumbled upon the perfect canvas to demonstrate his talents to the world.

Another man soon sat down next to Deidara and said nothing. He was very tall, with two distinctive, red markings on his face's right side — which was the only visible part of his head. The rest was covered by his turban-like headgear and by a sheet hanging from it on the left side of his face. He donned the standard attire of a Hidden Sand shinobi, complete with a forehead protector and flak jacket.

"Are you Baki?" Deidara casually asked without opening his eyes.

Baki's frowned but also refused to look in Deidara's direction, "I advise that you be more cautious during your stay here. I could have been anyone."

"But you weren't," Deidara retorted with a smirk before deciding to get right to the point of their meeting. "Well, are we in business or what?"

It didn't even look as though Deidara and Baki were speaking to anyone who could see them. They barely moved their lips when they spoke and never looked in each other's direction. Deidara appeared as though he was taking a nap, while Baki looked out the window and observed the scenery. The Hidden Leaf was so vibrant and full of life. The Hidden Sand Village couldn't be any more different.

"The agreed-upon sum has been dropped off in your hotel room," Baki muttered quietly.

Deidara seemed pleased, "Then I'm your man," he said. "Any chance you'll finally let me in on this plan of yours?"

"Soon. When the preparations begin," Baki assured. "Does anyone else know about our dealings?"

With a light scoff, Deidara replied, "I wouldn't be sitting here if I told anyone. Old man Tsuchikage would turn me to dust if he found out what we were up to."

"And the boy, Han. Will you be able to control him?" Baki asked. "You assured us that he was on board."

"That freak didn't need any convincing," Deidara replied, revealing that Han was privy to their scheme. "He'll jump at any opportunity to go on a rampage. The other two, though — Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi — can't know a thing. They'll go straight to the Tsuchikage if they find out."

Baki nodded, "They aren't required for our plan. We only need the Jinchūriki," he said ominously. "I will keep in touch."

Without another word, Baki stood up from the couch and left the room. Once he was finally gone, Deidara grinned in satisfaction. There was no better feeling than getting paid to do what you loved. He looked back out the window and once more admired the Hidden Leaf Village.

'Such a sprawling place with beautiful architecture and happy people,' Deidara thought with a sick smile. 'All the more reason to blow it sky-high.'

---

~End~

---

(1) Deidara is a year older in this story than he is in canon. In Shippuden, he was four years older than the Rookie Nine, while in this story, he is five years older — the same age as Itachi.

I hope that you guys enjoyed the new chapter. The Wave Arc is finally over, and the Chūnin Exams have begun! This will be the most enjoyable arc to write so far, no doubt.

So, as you can see, there are more characters in my version of the Chūnin Exams arc. I've included a team from the Hidden Stone Village and decided that Deidara would be the coolest person to serve as their squad leader. Also, I'm not sure what Han's personality was supposed to be like in canon (since he wasn't explored as a character) but in this story he's kind of a violent outcast like Gaara. I won't write them the exact same way though, I'm just saying that they are similar.

Thanks again for your continued support!