Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters and blah! So, nyah! You can't sue me now! (attempts to chuck demonic plushies at anyone who dares say otherwise)

Fragile Bonds

Chapter 7: The First Match

After the terms for the preliminary exam had been issued, the tower had been cleared out. Ino's team, Sakura, Lee, Neji, Kiba, and Hinata sat down at their usual spot to just catch up. It was not far off from Shikamaru's home, which gave him a clear view of the sky. Perfect for the lazy chuunin.

"I don't know about you guys, but I don't like that stupid rule," Kiba said. He had been grumbling about it since they had left. "And I have to work with that Shino! He'll probably just try to order me around again!"

Sakura shook her head. She wasn't really disappointed since she had been paired up with Lee. She had been slightly hoping that either Naruto or Sasuke would have been her partners since she knew how to work with them, but Lee was just as good if not better. Her respect and affections for the boy had grown tenfold since the time she had first met him. "I don't think it's that bad," she muttered.

"That's because you get to work with your boyfriend over there!"

Lee brightened at the statement and tears rolled down his eyes. "Really, Sakura?! Am I yo-"

"NO!" she punched him over the head. "S-Since when?!" Ino couldn't help but laugh at the deep red that stained her friend's cheeks.

"Whatever, Sakura," she teased.

Sakura glared at Ino. "Shut up, Ino-pig!" she yelled.

"Ugly!"

"PIG!"

And it went on. Shikamaru and Chouji slowly distanced themselves from the quarreling girls. "They're scary when they get mad..." Chouji stated the obvious, gulping.

Shikamaru nodded, his right eye twitching. He had thought they're childhood squabbles were over, but he guessed wrong. And how often was he wrong about something? "N-No kidding..."

He sat down on the ground in a cross-legged position, his arms folded across his chest. He was thinking. He didn't mind his team. Ino's and his own techniques as a combination were perfect. With his strategies, they could be considered unbeatable. Maybe. Plus, he was happy to have her fight beside him. Without realizing it, he began to stare at her.

"Hm? What is it Shikamaru?"

"Eh? Er, nothing!" He looked away. She smiled and turned away. "What do you guys think of the teams?" he continued.

"I hate it!" yelled Kiba.

"Other than Kiba."

Hinata twiddled her thumbs. She wasn't sure what to think of her team. Ever since their fight, Neji had grown to respect her. His tone with her had become gentler. Hinata wasn't the stuttering, useless girl she had been. She had grown stronger and bolder, but that didn't change the fact that she was extremely shy. "I have confidence... in my team..." she whispered.

Neji nodded. "The teams seem well evened out. What one person couldn't do alone can do with a good partner." As surprising as it was to find that coming from someone who had always preferred to work on his own, they had to agree.

"Yeah, but what about the Sand team?" Sakura asked. Luckily for them, Gaara wasn't participating, for reasons they weren't aware of. But whatever the reasons, it was a gift from the gods.

Shikamaru shook his head. "I don't think we have to worry about them. We have a good idea of their abilities, but I can bet they've improved on their techniques."

Chouji continued to munch on a bag of potato chips, nodding frantically in agreement. Shikamaru had always been his close friend, and he knew that when Shikamaru was sure of something, it was right. "We pretty much know what they can do."

"This is all great, but what about Naruto and Sasuke?" Ino blurted. That was the question that she knew everyone had been worrying about, but of course, she was the one brave enough to say it. Shikamaru and Sakura looked downward as the others only grew silent. 'Why are they so nervous anyway? It's not like Naruto's around,' she thought, scanning her surroundings to double check. 'I think...'

No one replied. Shikamaru shut his eyes and frowned. 'Those two... What are their true strengths? No one has been around to notice Sasuke's since he goes off on his own and Naruto left the village,' he thought.

"Those two make a good pair," Sakura said. "Even if they did argue just about every second of the day, if not completely ignore each other, the two worked well in battle. And neither one of us knows their full potentials, especially Naruto's." It was true.

Neji frowned. "Basically, they're the ones we're going to have to watch out for. Whatever it is, I hope it's us that they are faced against."

Hinata wasn't quite as content with the idea as her partner was. She cared about Naruto, but battle wasn't exactly how she had planned on spending some time with the blond. "...I-I don't know..." she stuttered.

Sakura smiled and looked at the girl sadly. It had been obvious to everyone since the academy that she had feelings for Naruto, but he had always been too dense to realize a thing. 'But then,' she closed her eyes. 'he's changed. I wonder if he's still that way?'

Tsunade slumped over the desk, cupping her head with her hands. "How many?"

"I managed to find one, but apparently there were two others that ended up the same way."

She leaned back in her chair. "I should have known something like this would happen during the exams. Well, Kakashi. We might have to sort through the teams again. Please deliver the message to Naruto and the others."

He nodded. "I'll figure out the pairings." She raised a hand in dismissal and he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"How many more of these incidents do I have to hear about?" she folded her arms across her chest. "I wonder if Naruto will be okay."

It was the evening and it was getting fairly dark. The lights of the markets and food bars were lit and there were still small crowds along the street sides. It seemed peaceful and he took the time to enjoy it.

Naruto continued his way down the familiar path to his apartment. It was strange having to revert back to old ways after being gone for such a long time. He carefully observed every detail of the area, taking in every little change. And in fact, there weren't that many. He was thankful for it.

Though, there was one drastic change. The eyes of the villagers. They no longer held that look of hatred and resentment. People walked by without sparing him a second glance if any. In his book, this was a good thing. But when someone did stop to speak with him, they would wave or smile kindly. It was... unusual, to say the least... but pleasant.

'Maybe... maybe I will continue my life here.'

He pulled up on the collar of the dark coat and pulled out his keys. He held the key with a gloved hand, the cool metal twirling about the exposed skin at his fingers.

As the blond neared an alleyway that he had taken to get back to his apartment every once in while, he picked up a strange scent. He frowned and tried to figure out what it was and it's source, but decided to ignore it. It probably wasn't even near him anyway.

Normally, one wouldn't be able to pick out the scent, but with his sharpened senses, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. With the harsh training that Naruto had to endure under Jiraiya, he had developed a very good grasp on the ability to tap into the chakra of the demon sealed within him. Perhaps he had gotten too good a grasp of it. Jiraiya had made it clear to him that the kyuubi was, indeed, merging with him. The more he tapped into the demon's power, the more it became apart of him.

At first, he had been reluctant to wield the power that belonged to the very being that had made his life a living Hell, but he had been assured that merging with it wouldn't cause him to lose himself to the kyuubi. Naruto went with that and as the years passed, his chakra began to change. For some reason, it caused him to look more human, though it was obvious from his presence that he was far from it. Whatever the case, this new ability had made him stronger.

Naruto stopped abruptly, catching the key before it made a full turn. He narrowed his eyes, clutching the keys in a tight grip as the jagged edges of the metal pressed against his gloved palm, threatening to rip through the fabric.

That scent he had picked up earlier... it was getting stronger. It was a smell that he had become all too familiar with over the years.

The smell of blood.

As he drifted down the alleyway, the stench became stronger and filled his sense. It was sour and left a sickening feeling in his stomach, but he had been around it far too long to be fazed by it. Once at the edge, he discovered what had been giving off the foul smell.

A body was thrown amongst discarded boxes and crates. His shirt had been shredded and a thick, crimson liquid pooled around the lifeless form. Naruto's eyes darted, scanning his surroundings to make sure whoever had done this was gone. When he was sure no one was there, he bent down and carefully looked over the figure.

"Broken arms, broken legs," he whispered, pressing two fingers against the arms.

Naruto frowned. He recognized the face of the man. He was one of the participants in the jounin exams. 'They must be trying to kill off competition...' He slipped his hands in his pockets and turned, giving the mangled form a final, sympathetic glance. 'The ANBU members will clean this up.'

It was getting darker with each passing minute, and he was aware that he should be getting some rest rather than strolling around. There was always time for that after the exams. But seeing everything made him nostalgic. Naruto wandered his way back to that one place that he cherished. The place where it had all began. The start of his life as a ninja.

Once he had reached the forest, the sky had grown pitch black and the moon hung low in the sky, it's brilliant glow lighting the area beautifully. He made his way to the monument that held the names of fallen heroes. His deep blue eyes widened in surprise before his mask fell back into place.

Someone else was there.

"Oi, shouldn't you be getting some rest? The exams are tomorrow, after all," Naruto said, smirking. The other boy raised his eyes to the blond, pushing back his dark locks.

"I should say the same for you."

Naruto shook his head, chuckling lightly. "Yeah, yeah. So, what are you up to Neji?"

The corner of his mouth curved in a small smile. "I couldn't sleep."

"You, too, eh?" Naruto stood beside Neji.

Naruto pulled his right hand out of his pocket and rested his palm against the monument. He closed his eyes and silently traced the names engraved on the cool surface with his nimble fingers. Several names had been added to the list since his departure. Some were even names that belonged to those that he had known and worked with in the past. He winced every time he came by a name that he was familiar with. He took a step back, bowing his head down in respect.

He raised his head when he felt a hand on his shoulder, before it was quickly removed. "You do know that our teams have been changed, correct?"

The blond raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I'll take that as a 'no'." Naruto folded his arms and waited for his friend to explain. "Participants have been 'disappearing'."

Naruto frowned as he recalled the body that he had found earlier. "Disappearing as in... dying."

Neji nodded. "Disqualifying teams that have lost a partner would be unfair to the other. So, the teams were sorted through again. Delaying the exams would have been too much trouble, so the news was delivered to the participants in person."

"I see, but what about the partners? When will we find that out?"

"We already have."

Naruto tapped his foot on the ground in anticipation. "And? Then who are you with?"

Neji turned his back on Naruto. "You."

Naruto smirked. 'Not much of a change from Sasuke, but hey... anything's better than him.' Well, not that he minded working with Sasuke. After all, they did work well together and ever since that little situation at the guy's house he had to admit that he found him pretty attr-

He smacked himself in the forehead. 'ARGH! I'm going psycho! I need help... right now!' He was on the verge of throttling himself (as hard as that would be) when a familiar presence joined the two. He would have said something had Neji not beaten him to it.

"You don't have to hide in the shadows. It's pointless since your intensity gives you away." Within a second, a dark figure cloaked in black stood behind Naruto. Neji could feel an intense gaze directed at his back like a knife piercing his flesh in a swift movement. He smirked and walked off, but not without a few choice words. "There's no need to be jealous. It wasn't like I was going to do anything."

Confused, blue eyes looked on at the brunette's retreating form, confused as to what he was referring to, but shrugged it off. 'Never could understand the guy anyway. No point starting now.'

Once the Hyuga had left, only two were left.

Obsidian orbs captured cerulean...

Before the blond could utter a single word of protest, he was roughly pinned to a tree. Strong pressure kept his arms and legs firm. Naruto's mask hadn't cracked. He only blinked and stared at the pale figure standing in front of him.

"What were you doing?" the voice was low and demanding.

"Uuh..." Naruto was stumped. "I was talking with Neji?" He could feel the grip on his arms slowly loosen.

"That's it?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. 'Geez, what did he expect? Plucking each other's eyes out and eating them?' He shuddered. 'Okay, maybe that's not the most pleasant thought.'

"Yeah... What's up with you? Seriously, Sasuke. You've got some serious attitude problems."

The raven-haired boy grunted and released the smaller boy from his tight hold. "Hn."

"See what I mean?"

It was Sasuke's turn to roll his eyes. "Whatever, I just wanted to let you know that we aren't partners for the exam anymore." Naruto managed to pick out a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Ah! So you wanted to be my partner! I feel special," Naruto grinned playfully. How he loved to push the stoic boy's buttons.

Sasuke visibly stiffened, and whirled around so that his back was facing the blond. He let his dark hair fall in front of his face to hide the obvious redness. "You wish, moron," he muttered.

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, well, if that's it... Neji beat you to it. He told me about the new partnerships." When the raven-haired boy didn't respond, he took it as his cue to leave. "Right... I guess I'll just... go."

"Why?"

"Wha?" Naruto frowned and looked at Sasuke. "Because it's late and the exams are tomorrow maybe?"

"That's not what I meant..."

"Then what did you mean?" he asked, feeling rather irritated. He was getting tired and Sasuke was acting weird.

Sasuke lifted his black eyes to look at Naruto. He walked over to Naruto and brought a hand to his cheek, smiling lightly as he gently caressed the warm flesh with his own cold skin. "Uh," Naruto raised an eyebrow and looked at Sasuke as if he had lost his mind.

'Not again!' he screamed in his mind.

...Maybe he had lost his mind...

"Why did you leave?"

Naruto's eyes softened as he searched the dark pools. It was strange to see the usually calm, cool exterior crack slightly to reveal confusion and... longing? "I..." he slipped back under his mask. "I felt like getting away from this place." Naruto brushed aside Sasuke's hand and turned his back on him. "Just got sick of those eyes," he said. He smiled sadly. "I wanted to leave. I wanted to get away from all that hate, if only for a while."

Apparently, the answer wasn't good enough for Sasuke. His face twisted with anger. "So, you just abandoned the people who did care?" Naruto flinched at the remark and the intense anger that came with it. "What about the people who did care, huh? And since when did you let the villager's opinions effect you!"

He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. "The he-" he was in the middle of throwing a sharp reply at the other boy when he was pulled into a warm embrace from behind. Lithe arms encircled his waist, pulling him closer. "S-Sasuke, w-what do you think you're doing?!" he stuttered, trying frantically to get free, but froze when he felt soft lips brush the back of his neck.

"Why did you leave us?" he repeated. He pulled the smaller boy's form closer to his own, taking comfort in the warmth that his body gave him.

"Like I said," Naruto growled, irritated for having to answer the same question more than once and being interrupted on top of it all.

"Why... why did you leave me?" he whispered, the words barely audible. His eyes widened slightly before closing shut.

"...Sasuke."

"Was it because of me?" Naruto wriggled out of Sasuke's grip and turned to look at him sadly. "Did you leave because of something I did?" He asked almost pleadingly.

Naruto searched the dark depths again. 'What more do you want from me?' He turned his back to Sasuke.

"Go home, Sasuke."

And he left.

Tsunade wasn't sure what it was, but everyone in the arena looked rather tired... not to mention frustrated. Then again, she couldn't blame them. Due to the recent disappearances of the fighters, a lot of complications had been thrown into the match-ups. She sighed. There had been a total of five deaths during the exams. The matches hadn't even started yet, and already they were killing each other off.

'I hate this job,' she mentally kicked herself for accepting the request.

She scanned the room. "Looks like everyone's here." Her eyes stopped on her favorite blond. Sakura was chattering away while he stood by and smiled, nodding occasionally. Aside from that, he was squabbling away with his rival. The two scowled at each other before Sakura jumped in as usual, separating the two. Instead of continuing the argument, Naruto fell back into his calm, reserved mannerism.

Tsunade gazed worriedly at him. She had been watching the entire time and saw how quickly he faded back to that expressionless mask. She leaned over to Jiraiya who had decided he'd come watch, interested to see this new partnership idea. Well, more so to see the result of Naruto's training, but that was only most of the reason. "See? There it is again! That mask..." her voice softened. "It's like he's back to his old self and then quickly slips away again."

Jiraiya looked on at her with pity. She really did love the boy and ever since he had left, she had beaten herself up over the matter, believing that she could have prevented his departure. Tsunade clenched her fists slightly, and gazed at her feet. "Tsunade, the kid's strong. He'll be fine. Just give 'em some time."

She nodded. 'Yes, I'll give him some time, all right, but he's not getting away so easily. I'm going to make him remember how he used to be.' She smirked. 'I guess I'm just going to have to kick you back to your old ways, brat.'

Naruto skimmed the piece of paper that he had been handed. It was a listing of all the teams and the new partnerships. Most of them had already received news on it, but there were still some who weren't aware of it. He checked out a few of the pairings.

Rock Lee and Nara Shikamaru

Hyuga Hinata and Aburame Shino

Hyuga Neji and Uzumaki Naruto

Kankuro and Temari

Yamanaka Ino and TenTen

Inuzuka Kiba and Akamichi Chouji

Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura

He couldn't help but chuckle at the last one. She had seemed content with Lee, but it was obvious she still had a thing for the dark-haired enigma. It wasn't surprising really, since she had been running after him for quite a while. 'That explains why she was so excited earlier,' he thought. Sometimes he really wondered what everyone saw in the guy. But then again, he also had a feeling that he knew very well what the answer to that question was.

He shivered lightly as he recalled how close he had been to him. He placed a hand at the back of his neck where he could still feel those soft lips pressed gently against his skin. Naruto sighed. Things between them had been odd. In all the scenarios that he had played in his mind of their meeting after he had returned, all the ones he had gone through were nothing like them. Instead of settling things out between them, he had been thrown into a whirlpool of emotions. 'Great... Just my luck to make things even worse.'

The volume fell down several notches when Tsunade took a step forward and raised her hand to the air, demanding everyone's attention. The room's occupants all turned to the woman, looking on in excitement. It was finally about to begin.

"Before we start, I would like to apologize for the confusion concerning the teams. We encountered a few... casualties," she said, inhaling deeply. "But with that said," she paused. "The jounin exam... has now begun!" She lowered her hand and gave a quick nod to Genma.

He stepped to the center of the arena and briefly ran over the rules again before the board was exposed. The board was flickered and a jumble of names darted across the screen. "The first match is," he began.

Naruto leaned against the wall, uninterested. Sakura frowned at her old friend. 'He's like that again. What's with him?' she sighed.

The names stopped.

Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura vs. Inuzuka Kiba and Akamichi Chouji

This chapter's outcome was slightly changed due to some requests from other people. Hehe. Well, I'm going to spend maybe the next chapter for the matches, so don't expect anything mushy. That's for after the matches!! Mwahahaha. (cricket noises) Erm... well, I hope you liked this chapter. It's not as long as the others, but I really didn't feel like continuing with the fight. I think I'll just end that all with the next one or maybe into the one after. Well, let me know what you think!