Based on Naruto's boisterous personality that he showed to everyone else except Sasuke they all expected him to jump in excitement at the news but he froze with his mouth open before he could say a word.

Kakashi had just told them they were going to enter the next chuunin exam and although the blonde wanted that more than anything, he wasn't expecting it to happen any time soon. All their previous class mates from the Academy were already chuunin, their team being the only one left behind. But it was only in term of ranks of course because Sasuke and Naruto were anything but weak and Sakura was doing a good job becoming a medic nin that could also do some damage in battle. She was trained by Tsunade herself and she also asked Haku to teach her how to use the senbon needles efficiently on the battlefield or not and she was rather confident in her skills now.

She didn't give up on Sasuke, she never thought she would but she spent more time focusing on her training so that Sasuke would have no reason to say that she was weak or that she was dragging them down. She also became nicer to Naruto, not because she liked him but because Sasuke approved her behavior and she also had to be honest, Naruto was strong.

It had not been easy for her to learn to rely on Naruto during battles, not when her instincts told her to stay away from him but she had to admit that he never let her down and always had her back just as much as he had Sasuke's. Of course the battles they did thus far were training with Kakashi and other teams of Konoha chuunin so they were not the real thing but she figured that they could do well in a real battle too.

Kakashi probably thought the same since he allowed them to finally enter the exam.

The written test had been easy to pass and soon enough they found themselves in the mountains around Kumogakure for the practical test. The task was simple enough: there were 20 scrolls infused with chakra hidden in the mountains and they had seven days to find one or defeat another team and get one in order to pass. Only the teams who had a scroll at the end of the seven days would pass and there were 37 teams.

The three of them had analyzed their situation and Sasuke was the first to come with a plan.

"We should keep a low profile for the first three days and look for a scroll then attack other teams in the last four days."

"But we wouldn't need to attack anyone if we find a scroll." Sakura pointed out. "We would just have to protect it."

"I guess Sasuke is trying to say that we shouldn't let the other teams know that we are looking for one."

"Naruto is right. We don't know anything about the location of the scrolls, only their number and a way to identify that it's the real thing, so certain skills are needed by the teams to find them."

"A sensory type ninja or a summoning that can sense the chakra infused in the scrolls." Naruto added.

"Those who have no means of finding a scroll will try to steal one." Sakura nodded.

"But we really don't have a way to find the scrolls." She pointed out.

Sasuke began walking on the narrow mountain path before them "We should find shelter for the night first."

Kumo's mountains were nothing like Konoha's forests. The high peaks reached the clouds and the valleys were very often covered by mist, so the visibility was low and relying on sight alone would bring one to certain death. "Conceal your chakra."

They made their way deep in the mountains until they found a cave that could serve them as shelter for the night.

"Are we going to stay here for the first three days?" Sakura asked and Sasuke nodded.

They settled camp and made a fire in the depth of the cave but as Sakura was serving dinner to them she couldn't help but ask the question that had been bugging her since the beginning.

"I still don't understand how we are going to find a scroll."

"Naruto can do it." Sasuke gave the blonde beside him a confident look although Naruto looked anything but confident. His blue eyes were fixed on the cup of tea in his hands as he was lost in thoughts.

"I'll try."

Naruto found a spot in the cave that was a little further away from the camp and started meditating. If he couldn't find the scroll in sage mode then they wouldn't be able to find one at all. His senses were sharp due to the demon sealed inside of him but chakra signatures were easier to spot in sage mode and he was glad that Jiraya had trained him to reach this level.

He never used the sage mode in their usual training and the only ones who knew about it were Sasuke and Jiraya so Sakura let out a gasp when he opened his eyes all of the sudden and instead of being blue they were like a toad's. He pointed towards a general direction and without a word Sasuke summoned a raven and sent him off.

"What is it?" she asked confused.

"We don't know yet." Sasuke answered rather impatient as he looked towards the entrance of the cave waiting for his raven.

All of the sudden Naruto jumped up and running out of the cave he disappeared in the mist. The sudden action took Sakura aback but Sasuke was soon enough following the blonde. It didn't take long for Sasuke to understand what had happened because soon enough he felt chakra signatures further ahead. His raven had been spotted by other ninja and they figured that it was a summon searching for scrolls.

Sasuke clenched his teeth, they had to fight, there was no other way around it and they were outnumbered.

There were six of them, two teams who ganged up together against other teams to steal their scrolls. Activating his sharingan Sasuke took a fighting stance and made a chidori while Naruto still in sage mode made a rasengan.

"We should finish this fast. The sage mode won't last for long." Sasuke nodded and they both attacked at the same time.

They were doing fine and had defeated four enemies before Naruto dropped the sage mode. He was panting heavily and Sasuke realized that he forced himself to keep it on for as long as possible. Stepping in front of the blonde, Sasuke decided to fight alone for a while so that Naruto could rest. Using his sharingan he watched his enemies carefully. He had used his chidori twice and he didn't want to use it the third time so fast, besides making a close range attack would leave Naruto opened and his priority was to protect his friend.

The attack came fast from beneath him and he jumped to avoid the douton but once he was in the air the lightning arrow thrown by the second enemy was unavoidable. After that everything happened in slow motion. If it was because of the sharingan or because of the shock, he didn't know but he could feel the adrenaline level raise in his body when Naruto fell on the ground hit by the lightning arrow aimed at him. It should have been him, not Naruto. Naruto should have been safe.

Without another thought he made another chidori that was aimed at the lightning user's heart then with a swift graceful motion he changed his direction to chase the last one. When the enemy couldn't move anymore Sasuke was satisfied and finally allowed his tired body to fall beside Naruto.

When Naruto opened his eyes it was dark. It wasn't supposed to be dark though, he was in the middle of a battle and….

"Sasuke!" He yelled as he recalled that Sasuke was in danger but there was no answer. "Teme!" he yelled louder but there was only silence.

"You're too noisy, kit." A grumpy deep voice could be heard from the endless darkness. "He can't hear you anyway."

"Who are you?" Naruto looked around but he could barely see his own feet in the darkness.

A light turned on further away from him but he couldn't see the source. What he could see though was the owner of the voice. "Kyuubi?" he asked hesitantly.

"No need to be so formal, kit. Call me Kurama." The giant fox was laying in front of him with his head on the front paws as if sleeping but then lazily he opened one eye to look at his guest with not too much interest.

"Is that your name?" Naruto asked amazed to see the demon in person. Kyuubi was huge, Naruto thought and he couldn't even see the fox's entire body since most of it was still in the dark.

"No kit. It's my grandpa's. I just thought I should mention it. Why are you so surprised that I have a name when you know that Ichibi's name is Shukaku?" Naruto burst in a fit of laughter.

"I didn't think you would be so funny."

"I wasn't trying to be funny, just sarcastic."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"I didn't bring you here. You passed out." Naruto's eyes went wide in panic.

"Am I hurt, am I going to die?"

"Yes you're hurt, no you won't die. I'll take care of it." Naruto sighed relived. For a brief moment he had been scared that he won't see Sasuke again, or Iruka, or Tsunade, or jiji, or Ichiraku and Ayame or… "You should be more careful though. Acting the way you just did was stupid."

"But Sasuke was in danger and he was trying to protect me."

Kurama scoffed "Protect you when he couldn't even protect himself? I wonder how you two even got this far as ninja."

"Hey, we're not that weak." Naruto protested.

"No, but you're dumb."

"There's nothing dumb in protecting a friend."

"For your own good you should learn to be more selfish, kit."

"I am selfish, especially when it comes to Sasuke." Kurama sighed seeing that his jailer didn't understand what he was trying to say.

Sasuke entered the cave carrying Naruto bridal style. He was tired and scared but now there was no time for that. Seeing him, Sakura came running, her face full of concern.

"Sasuke, what happened? Are you alright?"

He glared at her, something that he had not done in quite some time and she immediately understood what she did wrong. It was like a second nature for her to be concerned about him, why couldn't he understand that? She loved him so much, how could he disregard her feelings like that?

"Put him on the sleeping bag and I'll heal his wound." She offered because that glare had been too painful for her.

"Don't touch him." Sasuke ordered her and she just wanted to dig a hole and crawl in it. "Save your strength in case we're attacked again." He continued on a more gentle tone.

He gently put Naruto on the sleeping bag and cleaned his wound then covered him with a blanket then leaned against the wall beside the blonde.

"Can you at least tell me what happened?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, resting his head against the wall. "My raven was spotted and two teams ganged up against us."

"That doesn't really explain how Naruto…"

"He saved my life when I was supposed to be the one protecting him."

"But he's a ninja in the chuunin exam just like us, you shouldn't be protecting him. He should have your back." She said full of confidence.

"He did have my back that's why he ended up this way."

"He was using some technique when he left…Do you know what it was?"

"The sage mode but he did it without clones to gather energy for him so it drained him out fast."

She went to make a hot drink for both of them. "There seem to be lots of things that I still don't know about Naruto's techniques."

"That's because he doesn't want you to know. He knows you'll just hate him more."

"I don't hate him….I….I can't help how we were raised, how we were told to stay away from him and now that I also know why I can't say that I'm not afraid of him. He wouldn't hurt me, I know that but…" He also keeps you away from me, she thought but she could not say that out loud, Sasuke would just hate her more.

"Sasuke is my friend and I'm ready to die for him." Naruto leaned against the thick bars that separated him from Kyuubi. He was not afraid to go so close and the fox had to admit that the kit had guts. He liked that. Not many people would have shown their back so casually to the fox.

"Well I'm not ready to let you die because then I would die too."

"So….you're going to protect me?"

"That's what I'm saying."

"Does that make us friends?"

"I'm sealed inside of you. Why would I want to be your friend? You're like a curse to me."

"Your seal is like a curse to me too." Kurama softened a bit. He had said that Naruto was his curse but Naruto blamed the seal for his misfortune, not the demon.

"I'm not ready to be your friend but I guess we could be a team." Naruto turned to look at him and grinned.

"I'm happy you're not a pain in the ass like Shukaku."

Kurama scoffed "Please don't compare me to that crazy tanuki. Oh and your wound is almost healed, you can go back now." Naruto gave him a bright smile and ran into the darkness once again.

"Sasuke you should try and get some rest." Sakura pleaded. The raven had not left Naruto's side since they came back to camp and he needed to sleep but couldn't, so he ran his fingers in the blond hair in an attempt to comfort himself. It was ironic how Naruto was the reason for his concern but also his source of comfort.

It's just us against the world, he thought. "I'm fine, Sakura. I can't sleep anyway but you should try to."

She wanted to tell him that she should watch but she was tired too so she did not complain. It was just the first day of the exam and already that much happened.

Naruto woke up early in the morning. It was still dark when he opened his eyes and felt Sasuke's fingers in his hair.

"Sasuke?" He asked on a low voice not wanting to wake Sakura up in case she was asleep. Opening his eyes, Sasuke looked at him and smiled. "Are you ok?" There was concern in the blonde's voice and that amused the raven.

"You get hurt and then ask me if I'm ok? You're such an idiot. You scared the shit out of me, dobe."

"I can say the same thing about you, teme." Naruto pouted. Being called dobe was one thing but idiot…

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. You need to rest."

"Someone has to watch and you slept through your shift but don't worry, I'll make you pay." He smirked.

"I'm awake now and my wound is healed so I can take over."

"I'd rather join you when Sakura wakes up."

He kissed Naruto's forehead then went to the cave's entrance. His raven summon had come back with the scroll.

Sasuke was sitting at the cave entrance watching the rain outside. He took the first shift watching the cave and thus far all was good. Since the first day things have been relatively quiet and he assumed that not many scrolls had been found yet. They would wait one more day then start attacking too.

Naruto approached him quietly and stretched his arms. "Go to sleep, teme. I'll take it from here." Sasuke turned to look at him for a moment then turned to watch the rain again.

"I'll stay with you for a while." Naruto took a seat next to him.

"You need your beauty sleep, though." The blonde received a death glare that would have scared the shit out of Sakura but he just laughed. "What's wrong, Sasuke?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking…."

"About?"

"Sakura…."

Naruto gave him a concerned look "Did something happen?"

"No. But there's something I don't understand."

"What?"

"She says she loves me….then why does she hurt me? Father is the same. Mother and Itachi always told me that father loves me but he has a strange way of showing it and he's the one who hurt me the most."

"They're selfish. Your father cares about the clan's reputation too much and Sakura wants you to return her feelings but because you don't she hurts you. She can't let you go."

"But didn't you once say that you are selfish too and that can't be called love?"

"I guess people define love in different ways. I don't believe that true love is selfish though."

"You may be selfish but you never hurt me. Doesn't that count as love?"

"It may count for some people."

"You really have strange ideas but I guess you're just afraid of love."

"Why would I be afraid of it?" Naruto asked confused.

"Because you didn't get it for so long and you started to believe that you don't deserve it so you run away from it."

"Now what gave you that idea?" Sasuke leaned closer and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips.

"This scared the shit out of you a while ago."

"It did not. What scared me was Sakura finding out. It still scares me." Naruto rest his head on Sasuke's shoulder and Sasuke put his arm around his waist.

"I missed this…"

"What?"

"Us…just being like this. It's been a few days…"

"Yeah but we can do what you want once this is all over."

"I just wish we didn't have to hide anything. We're not doing anything wrong."

"Your father would disown you if he knew."

"My father disowned me already, dobe."

"Oh…I almost forgot. I can't believe you're still ok with that."

"Why wouldn't I be? I thought we talked about this before."

"I know." Naruto stood up and walked out of the cave to look at the sky. It was clearing up and he could see a few stars between the clouds. "It's strange though…You're so popular and everyone likes you and I'm the most hated person in the village and yet it seems like we only have each other. We belong to different worlds and yet…" Standing up Sasuke went to wrap his arms around the blonde and Naruto rest his head on the raven's shoulder.

"Is that how you feel? That we are from different worlds?" Naruto nodded. "Is that why we have to hide?" Naruto nodded again.

"Does that bother you?"

"Just a bit. The fact that I don't really understand bothers me more."

"I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"For not making sense."

"It's ok. I'm going to bed." Turning to face the raven, Naruto smiled at him.

"Good night."

"Don't I get a good night kiss?"

"Aren't you getting used to this too much?" Naruto laughed and Sasuke shrugged before he stole a kiss from the blonde.

He closed his eyes, trying to get some rest but sleep wouldn't come. Sasuke remembered how much he wanted to be on a ninja team in his years before the Academy, how he imagined a team to be. They'd be your friends, a second family even, someone you could count on no matter what and someone who always had your back.

He used to daydream about his future team for hours before he went to bed and the wait until he could go to the Academy became unbearable. But then he met Naruto and they became best friends and he only wanted for the blonde to be on his team. The dream about his ideal team went out the window when he saw how everyone treated his friend and he didn't expect his team to be like a second family. Or actually he did when his own family started to make his friendship with Naruto a problem and they would argue about it but that was not the family he wanted.

Later on he feared that the teachers would split them apart after the Academy and he started to feel lonely and anxious. Now he was pretty content with how far they got as a team and he had to admit that Sakura was trying hard to be nicer to Naruto although Sasuke was aware of the fact that her feelings did not change. But what about Naruto? He still seemed broken in Sasuke's eyes, still walking on egg shells with everyone, even with him sometimes.

"You should get some rest." Sakura told the blonde as she came to start her shift and guard the camp.

"Do you mind if I stay a while longer?" he asked still looking at the stars. It was peaceful outside and hard to believe that they were in the middle of an exam and there were enemies everywhere.

"No." She leaned against the cave entrance. "Thank you."

Naruto was surprised to hear those words coming from her but did not react in a way she could see. "What for?" he asked as casual as he could in spite of the fact that his curiosity was eating him alive.

"For saving Sasuke. He told me what happened, how you got hurt. I wanted to heal you but he didn't let me to." He didn't know how Sakura felt about that but he was glad that Sasuke didn't let her do it. "I wonder why?"

"Didn't you ask him?"

"He said I should save my chakra in case we're attacked."

"So…then you do know why."

"What he said makes sense but I'm a medical ninja in training. I'm supposed to heal my team mates, am I not? Or does he not believe I'm skilled enough?"

"I'm sure that's not the case."

"Then why?"

"Did you say anything to him?" Naruto turned to look at her for the first time since she woke up "Anything that hurt him?"

She looked taken aback by his words and felt a bit guilty. "Why? What…what did he tell you?" She stuttered.

"Not much really…just that you say you love him but you still hurt him. Why?"

She looked at her feet in shame. "It's frustrating that he doesn't love me back; that you seem to mean more to him than I do. I can understand that he cares about you since you're his friend but that doesn't mean there can't be room for me in his life as his girlfriend." Naruto dropped his gaze not being able to look her in the eyes.

"I'm sorry but I can't help you there. I can't change the way he feels."

"What does he want from me?" She poured all her frustration in one question that Naruto had no answer for. As far as he knew Sasuke the answer would be 'nothing'. Sasuke didn't want anything from her just maybe to stop loving him but that was impossible and he knew that. "I tried to become worthy of him, to become stronger. I worked hard and yet he doesn't see me."

"That's not true. He does see the progress you made as a ninja, that you are stronger and skilled."

"Then is that not enough to be a worthy girlfriend?"

"I'm not the one you should ask. You don't want this answer from me but from Sasuke."

"Wouldn't you want your girlfriend to be a strong kunoichi, Naruto?"

"I….I've never thought of that. I'm a jinchuuriki, I'm noting like Sasuke." With those words he left her alone and went to get some rest before sun rise.

She let her head fall backwards and hit the cold surface of the rock behind her head.

He never thought about such things…didn't everyone think about having a girlfriend or boyfriend, about the family they might make in the future, about love? But Naruto's chances of having a girlfriend were close to none since their generation was raised with hatred towards him so why would he bother to think about the future. It would just hurt him more, wouldn't it? Even she thought that was sad.

Was Sasuke trying to fill that emptiness for the blonde, she wondered. He didn't have to do it and Sasuke didn't pity Naruto she knew that for sure. So was it love that kept Sasuke so close to Naruto? She feared the answer to that, she dreaded it but no matter how much she thought about it there was no other answer. Sasuke had not shown interest in anyone else but Naruto.

Sasuke woke up with the first sun rays and joined her outside.

"Good morning!" She gave him a sad smile "Did you sleep well?"

"It's cold here in Kumo's mountains." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "But it wasn't that bad."

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked but as soon as the words left her mouth and he focused all his attention on her she wanted to take it all back.

"What?"

She needed to know though. "Do you love Naruto?" It was either yes or no but at least she knew where she stood. She wouldn't be able to give up on him but at least she would know.

"No. He doesn't let me to."

"He doesn't let you?" she asked confused. "Since when do people need to ask for permission to love?"

"That's not what I meant. Love is so pure in his eyes, with no selfishness and no jealousy that it feels unreal. I can't give him that so in his eyes I don't love him at all because although I would never hurt him I'm selfish."

"So you do have feelings for him."

"I do, I always have. I can't label them though because he doesn't label them the way most people do."

"Do you want him to be more than your friend?"

"I'm fine with the way we are. I don't need more. I'll take whatever he offers me whether it's love or hate or something else."

"That's confusing. People don't like getting hurt or not getting their feelings returned when love and friendship are involved so why would you accept anything from him?"

"Because I'm selfish and I need him in my life more than even my own family. He wouldn't hurt or hate me though, he's not like that."

"Didn't he ever hurt you, not even once, not even without intention, not even for your own good?" Sasuke shook his head. "Why didn't you let me heal his wound? It wasn't just to save my strength, was it?"

"Neither of you wanted that."

"Neither of us? But I offered…"

"You didn't really want to help him, Sakura. Let's be honest. You would have been glad to heal me if I was injured but not him and he doesn't want you to heal him either. He doesn't want to rely on you."

"But why?"

"For many reasons really. For a start he knows you don't like him and he doesn't want to owe you anything, then I guess he blames himself because I don't love you, which is stupid but he's a dobe. He wants to be a good team mate that we can rely on but he won't rely on us, especially on you."

"You mean he doesn't trust me?"

"I wouldn't say that. I guess it's just the instinct of someone who was alone and hated his entire life."