Hello, again.

To try and shake things up a bit, mainly because there is no real way to change the Second Exam from canon enough to truly be different, this time we'll be focusing some on Shy. Now, this might go against what I said before, but I ended up with an idea to help with later on.

Specifically, what if the brothers were getting stronger?

I will get back to Team 7 before the chapters out, though.

If enough people like this idea, I'll see about how the Training Trip Arc that serves as a time skip can make a connection between the Shinobi Lands and Equestria/Earth. Sort of have them meet their respective canon counterparts or something.

Perspective: Team 7, Shy

Don't own MLP or Naruto, by the way.

Training Ground 44

Shy stood a little ways behind Anko as she spoke to the crowd of Chunin Exam participants. He had instantly spotted his brother from among them, and exchanged smiles with him.

He wasn't entirely sure how, but he had managed to talk to the inhabitants of Training Ground 44. They would relatively keep to themselves as long as the shinobi don't go out of their way in provoking them. If they were to do so, then no promises that they wouldn't fight back.

However, one thing that confused Shy was how he was able to talk them into that agreement. Originally, he just had a knack for getting animals to listen. But recently, he occasionally thought he heard voices that he knew were not from any human he knew of. It especially happened when he was the only human in the area. And even beyond that, his own senses and reflexes were getting stronger as well.

Just what exactly was going on?

He then heard Sun's throat being cleared right in front of him. He blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, Sun."

"Everything okay, Shy? You looked concerned about something." Sun responded.

"Not really. I'm more confused." Shy told him. "Recently, I think I might have been hearing animals speak like humans."

Sun raised an eyebrow, curious. "That's new."

"And not only that, my senses and reflexes in particular have been getting stronger as well." Shy continued. "I haven't really done anything to warrant this happening, though. So I wonder what could be causing this."

"Hmm, now that you mention it, I think I've been experiencing something similar." Sun said after a moment. "At the very least, my control has been going up, but I think I might've one time enveloped an object I was just thinking about and it started levitating. It stopped before I got a good chance to see. I wonder if any of the others have experienced something similar."

"You take care of the exams, brother. I'll talk to the others." Shy offered. "Good luck in there."

"Thanks, Fluttershy." Sun said, giving the boy a quick hug before returning to his team.

With that, Shy's work there was done, and he walked off to talk to Pinkie and the others to learn if anything has been happening to them.

His first stop was Ichiraku's, where Pinkie and coincidentally Dash were when he arrived. The rainbow-haired boy was taking a break due to lack of tasks to do, and idly struck up a conversation with Pinkie to pass the time.

"Hello." Shy greeted upon arrival, getting their attention as Ayame Ichiraku, daughter of the owner Teuchi, came for his order. "Just a miso ramen, please. I won't be here for long, I'm afraid."

"Will do." Ayame told him before going back to the kitchen. It was a bit of a slow day for more than just Dash.

"Hey, Shy." Dash and Pinkie greeted in return, before Dash asked, "What brings you here today?"

"Have either of you experienced something, um, strange lately?" Shy asked. "With your powers, I mean."

Dash thought for a moment before responding in realization. "Actually...yeah, I think so. One time, I added my Storm Affinity during a jog between towns, and instead of covering me like normal, it was far more streamlined. Everything was sharper. My speed, reflexes, senses. Well, not entirely all my senses, but still..."

"Sounds like the crystal tree is more connected to us than originally thought." Pinkie piped in, getting Shy to contemplate it.

Could that really have something to do with this? He didn't quite know what to think, but Pinkie's words did merit looking into.

"By the way, Jack and Rare are currently by the tree. You might want to hurry to catch them." Pinkie told Shy.

"Thank you." Shy finished the bowl, paid, then went off to the tree. He really wanted to hear what they had to say as well.

Sure enough, he found the two doing a bit of care work around the tree, which got Shy wondering Did those 'fruit' get bigger?

Jack was the first to notice him. "Howdy, Shy. What brings yeh here?"

"You two, actually." Shy said. "The rest of us have noticed something going on with our powers, and Pinkie said it had something to do with the tree."

"That would make sense actually." Rare remarked. "It would at least explain how I've been seemingly seeing a little bit more cloth left with each piece I make."

"That's mighty strange." Jack said, looking down at his hands.

Only to notice that his boots had grass clinging to them. Yet, when he raised each foot in turn, the grass slid off without a problem.

"The hey?" He asked out loud, getting his brothers to look at his feet as well. "Am Ah seeing things, or is teh grass actually acting like a clingy child?"

Shy knelt down and felt the grass as Jack showed what he meant. "Incredible. Human-like sentient plant life. Sun and the others have definitely got to know of this."

As if on cue, a massive explosion came from Training Ground 44, which they recognized came from Sun from both the chakra and his voice screaming "SCRAM, YOU OVERGROWN ROTTING WORM!"

"Sun's in trouble!" Shy exclaimed, running. "Something must've gotten into the the forest!"

"Or someone." Jack clarified, recalling a little detail as he and Rare followed close behind. "It could be Orochimaru. But why would he attack Sun, Sakura, and Sasuke?"

"We'll just have to find out, brother." Rare told him.

They met Pinkie at the fence, who told them that Dash had already gone inside.

Shy sighed. "Does he know where to go from here?"

"Does that answer your question?" Rare asked, pointing out Dash's return.

"Shy, Jack, you're here." Dash asked. "Any ideas on where it happened?"

Jack face-palmed.

"I'll talk to the inhabitants. See if any of them noticed anything." Shy said. "You go tell the Hokage. Jack, Rare, Pinkie, you three make your way to the tower. Try to use separate paths that aren't far from each other to maximize search area and allow the others to make it to help you in time. I'll send some form of word if I find something."

The four nodded, knowing that this was primarily Shy's territory.

They split off to do their respective jobs, each praying for Team 7's safety.

Shy quickly found a forest tiger. "Think you can help ask around about the explosion?"

The tiger knelt down, gesturing for Shy to get on.

"You at least know where it happened?" Shy asked, getting an affirmative growl in response. "Thank you."

He got on the tiger's back, who got up and ran towards where the explosion took place. And thanks to knowing the local area, it got there pretty quickly.

The explosion must've been stronger than we thought. Shy noted to himself before asking the tiger, "What about the ones who were involved? Where's my brother?"

This time, a bird responded via flying in and grabbing their attention. Though Shy could swear he thought he heard something along the lines of "This way!" at the end of the bird's chirping.

Needless to say, he didn't have time to question it. He needed to get to Sun.

He found Team 7 holed up in a tree hollow, and they weren't in too pleasant shape.

Sasuke was completely down, while Sun and Sakura were pretty scratched up and exhausted, if Sun being asleep and Sakura being nearly so is anything to consider.

"Oh my! What happened?" Shy called out as he came up to them.

"Orochimaru." Sakura explained. "Stubborn snake managed to sneak in the exams and attack us. He placed...something...on Sasuke's neck which took him out instantly. Sun, with my support, barely managed to drive him off, but that pretty much took him out as well. He only had enough to help get us to this spot for safety before he fell asleep."

"We need to get you guys out of here." Shy stated, only for Sakura to shake her head.

"We can't. Whatever he did to Sasuke isn't stable yet, so he most likely can't be moved until morning." She told him. "We're in no condition to move without substantial help, with Sasuke not moving period."

"Then it's a good thing we're here as well." Pinkie said, having appeared out of nowhere with Jack, Rare, Dash, as well as Anko and a contingent of ANBU.

Anko came in to check on Sasuke while the brothers helped out Sun and Sakura. She saw what was on his neck. "It's a Curse Seal alright. We'll need a stretcher to move him right now, otherwise he's not going anywhere until it's stable."

"And the fastest route to stopping it is gone with Sun unconscious as well." Pinkie added.

"We'll just have teh come back for the night to be ready." Jack said. "This is already beyond the exams, so all that matters is getting all three to safety, even if the closest infirmary is the tower in the middle."

Even Anko and the ANBU couldn't argue with his logic, although they didn't have much of a choice but to keep them in the exams. Who knew what Orochimaru would do if they took them out now?

Can 'Lightning that flows like water' really be called Storm Release instead of just a souped up Lightning technique? Lightning doesn't change between thunderstorms and hurricanes, so how does it change from Lightning Release to Storm Release by just adding water? A more accurate term would be 'thunder shower.' For now, Storm Release is Wind + Water + Lightning, while Shock Release is Lightning + Water.

Also, sorry about the length, but I've just been drawing a blank for most of the Forest of Death area, so I'm stopping it here and finishing it off next time alongside at least starting the Prelims.

Until then. Please let me know what you think.