The moon hung in the sky and the dormitory was quiet.
Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura sat in a circle on the wooden floor. It had been several hours since they had settled in their quarter and narrowly fought the twins.
"Is it against the rules for three people to be in a quarter?" Sakura huddled her knees to her chest, ever the rule follower. She glanced at the one cot in the room.
"No," Sasuke shook his head, "I don't think so. The announcement said 'the first participants to claim a quarter,' it never specified a specific number per room. It had to be another test from the Skills Championship, they wanted shinobi to think it was one per quarter to weed us out further to see if we would fall for it."
"Besides, the twins probably claimed the last available quarter," Naruto pointed out, "and they're a duo."
"Right," Sakura nodded, "makes sense. Gosh, I didn't think everything would be a test," she rubbed her hair, "anything can be part of the competition."
"That's what Kakashi said, didn't he?" Sasuke raised a brow.
"Well, now we know what to prepare for," Naruto perked up, "we've already advanced to the second round and that's all because of you, Sakura."
"Naruto is right. Your plan worked great," Sasuke confessed, "if you hadn't been so quick on your feet, we never would have made it."
"Thanks," she blushed heavily, eyes glued to the ground, "it was just some luck is all…"
"What do you think tomorrow's test will be?" Naruto's eyes widened.
"We'll find out soon enough, I guess. We should get some sleep."
"Sakura, you take the cot," Naruto said.
Sasuke nodded, "We'll take the floor."
Sakura awoke with a start. It was the middle of the night and the moon hung high in the sky. She peered over the edge of her cot and saw the two bed rolls on the floor. Except one was empty.
Immediately, a feeling of unease settled in her stomach. Sasuke was asleep on his bed roll, but Naruto was missing.
She sat up and peered through the darkness. He wasn't anywhere else in the room. Her eyes widened when they settled on the door. It was open a crack.
She put her shoes on and shook Sasuke awake.
"Sasuke, get up," she pushed at his shoulder, "It's Naruto, he's missing!"
Sasuke blinked away and lifted his head, "It's nothing, Sakura, he's probably in the bathroom."
"I don't know," she wrung her hands together, "maybe this is another assignment? I don't trust this competition. And with those twins out there…"
He examined the glaringly empty spot next to him and shook his head, "Fine. Let's look for him," he stood up and muttered under his breath, "Where could the moron be at this hour…"
They headed quietly for the door. Sasuke took the lead and turned to Sakura, "Watch my back. If anyone sneaks up behind us, take them out."
She nodded.
He opened the door and poked his head out. The hallway was quiet and empty.
They stepped out and tip-toed past each bedroom. No sounds emanated from behind the doors.
They reached the end of the corridor where the hallways split into two.
"Naruto?" Sakura called in the dark. No response.
"We need to split up," Sasuke said in a low voice, "take the left. Meet back here in five minutes."
She nodded and watched Sasuke disappear in the dark. Sakura carefully inched forward.
Whispers floated to her from up ahead. She froze and huddled against the wall, trying to appear as small as she could in the dark.
"If we create an alliance, we can take those Hidden Leaf Village brats…"
Sakura felt a cold shiver run down her spine.
She could recognize the hissing voice of the female twin.
"Uraya, do you really think we need you, your twin brother, and myself to take on those lowly chunin?"
Uraya. That's the female twin's name. But who is that other voice?
"My brother wants to kill the Uchiha boy at all costs," Uraya continued, "The girl can be easily discarded."
Sakura bristled at that response.
"But it isn't the Uchiha boy you are after," the other voice said, "you want the blonde one. Uzumaki."
"Naruto?" Sakura whispered to herself, eyes wide. What do Uraya and her twin brother want with Naruto?
"Yes. Our master instructed it specifically," Uraya replied.
"What's so good about him?"
"He possesses a great power within him. One that is unparallel to any we know, the chakra of Kurama."
"The Nine-Tailed Fox?!"
"Precisely. Join me in an alliance and you will be rewarded."
Sakura leaned forward to hear better and her shoe scuffed the wall. She froze.
The voices stopped immediately.
She held her breath.
"Sakura, look out!"
A force pulled her to the ground just as a dagger sailed through the air and narrowly missed her head.
She recognized that voice and that spiky blonde hair.
"Naruto! Get out of here!" she tried to warn him, "Uraya wants-"
She was cut off as Naruto fended off an attack from Uraya.
"Sasuke!" she called down the hall.
Lights started to turn on and other competitors emerged from their rooms amid the chaos.
She looked up to see Naruto crouching over her, blocking Uraya's dagger.
Sakura joined Naruto and helped fend her off. She held pure evil in her eyes, glaring at Naruto as sharply as her dagger.
Uraya's mysterious partner was nowhere to be found. Sakura could hear Sasuke running towards them from down the hall. She acknowledged the disadvantage she held and the emerging attention from the other competitors.
She growled and pulled away, disappearing in the shadows.
Sasuke came to a stop right beside them, panting.
"She's gone," Sakura said quietly, watching the empty spot where she just stood.
"Why do they want the chakra of the Nine-Tailed Fox?" Sasuke paced.
"I didn't hear the rest of what they were saying," Sakura shook her head, "but it can't be good."
Naruto sat quietly, staring at the floor.
They were outside of their dormitory, in the cold of the night. It felt safer in the open space where they could see everything around them rather than the suffocating enclosure of their quarter.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Sasuke stared at Naruto. It was unlike his teammate to be so quiet.
"I've been thinking," he sighed, "maybe I should drop out of the competition..."
"What?" Sakura gasped, "Naruto, you can't!"
"Sakura, you were almost killed just because you're my teammate," Naruto's shoulders sagged guiltily, "if anything happened to either of you because of me…"
Sasuke sighed, taking a seat next to his teammates, "Naruto, you-uh, you shouldn't drop out," he barely choked the words out, clearing his throat, "We..uh, we need you. And want you…both of us want you here."
"Yeah," Sakura smiled at him, "don't abandon the competition, we know how much it means to you. We will stick together like the team that we are. Those twins won't stop us."
Naruto smiled gratefully at his friends. He opened his mouth to reply, but winced.
Sakura's brow furrowed, "Naruto, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he responded quickly, "we should go back to the quarter and get ready for tomorrow's competition."
They reentered their room and Sasuke took to the floor, settling onto his bedroll and falling asleep in seconds. Sakura wasn't so hasty.
She watched Naruto carefully.
He was trying to appear natural as he settled on his bedroll. However, the hawk-eyed Sakura noticed he couldn't conceal winces and grunts of pain.
"Naruto," she stood over him, "what happened?"
He opened his mouth to protest, but stopped himself.
"You can tell me," she insisted, "I can help."
He checked to make sure Sasuke was asleep before sighing and exposing a portion of his side. There was a long cut that still looked fresh and was starting to stain his clothes with blood.
"Naruto!" she shouted.
"Shh!" he stood and covered her mouth before she could speak, "Don't say anything!"
Sakura slapped his hand away, "What do you mean? You're hurt!"
"It was Uraya. She got me in the hallway with her dagger. It's nothing, I'll be okay."
"You can't continue the competition this way," she protested, "and you can't beat Uraya and her brother like this."
"I have to," his gaze was filled with resolution, "they can't have the Nine-Tailed chakra no matter what. But if I go to the infirmary, I'll be forced to stay there and I'll be an open target."
"Okay," she nodded slowly, "I've got an idea. Follow me."