I hope you guys liked the first chapter. The revised version simply split the paragraphs up a little more for an easier time reading.

Well these beginning chapters aren't too hard to write, I'm sure writer's block will settle in later when the plot becomes more complex. I hope no one's disappointed I jumped to the Chuunin exam already, but I wanted to get by the repetitive part and just focus on how Naruto's life is gonna divert from its original course.

Disclaimer: So far Naruto is still not mine.

Formatting:

"Blah" – Talking
'Blah' – Thinking



Invisible Clouds

The sun was high in the sky, and there was not a cloud in sight. But through the dense trees of the Forest of Death, it meant nothing. For this particular patch of earth seemed to have been abandoned by mother nature, for it gave off an aura of vile corruption. What idiotic humans without a death wish would dare to venture in? The answer for this day would be the genins of the elemental countries, all competing for their share in the chunnin examination.

Each village had sent their very best for this exam. It was a show of power and pride, and no one would be going down without a fight. The Hidden Leaf Village had nominated a large number of teams, even some of their rookie teams. Among their teams, one of the main spotlights was on Team Seven, lead by Hatake Kakashi, the infamous copy ninja. They were rumored to have completed a class A mission, though the details were classified for reasons unknown.

The star of the team would be Uchiha Sasuke, the number one rookie in the village and the last surviving member of the Uchiha clan. He is always to be trailed by Haruno Sakura, a pink haired girl that still have not matured enough to let go of a teenage crush. However, after the recent classified mission in the Water Country, people around her has noticed her behavior has been much improved. Now the last, but not the least, member is the ever loud and surprising, Uzamaki Naruto, a true diamond in the rough.

Ever since the battle with the Demon of the Mist, he has been having nightmares. In one word, they were terrifying. Depictions and images of wars, battles, massacres, murders, and suicides each crept their way into his mind on certain nights, bitter memories of his childhood on other nights, and rare images of people and places he had never seen before in the remaining nights. He has always been an energetic boy, so the lack of sleep never showed much, but he didn't know how long he can keep the charade up. He tried to remember the details in these nightmares, but whenever he tried he would get a splitting headache, his back muscle would hurt, and his body would feel like it was on fire. He didn't want to bother Iruka-sensei, the Hokage, or Kakashi-sensei with his problems, especially during this busy season. He did not want to turn to just anyone, for if rumors got out about this, well let's just say he was enough of an outcast already in this village. So since he didn't have anyone else to turn to, he just had to try and ignore them, and hope they will fade with time.

No one noticed his change in attitude, except he was less vibrant and spontaneous now, but most others thought it was simply a case of him finally maturing. The only big change in him was that ramen can no longer satisfy him anymore. After he had come back from the mission, he grew sick just from the smell of ramen, which horrified him and the shop keepers beyond recognition. They even began offering free samples and two-for-one deals to him, but still it didn't work. He found that he had taken a liking to meat, and that he liked them cooked as rare as possible. He would have gone to a doctor, but he disliked how the doctors and nurses at the hospital treated him as if he had leprosy. On the plus side, he seems to be getting better, though ramen still doesn't seem nearly as addictive as before, he can now tolerate it. But in the short span of time he wasn't eating ramen; two shops already went bankrupt and changed their businesses to steakhouse and sukiyaki.

"Dobe, stop daydreaming and pay attention." That would be the ever so sensitive Sasuke, causing Naruto to get snap out of his train of thoughts. Mumbling under his breath, Naruto put his worries on the side and listened.

"...so come and get your scrolls now. We will began soon after. That will be all."

Naruto facefaulted. 'Aww crap, just when I was planning on surprising Sakura-chan with my maturity and new sense of responsibility, this had to happen. I just gotta try to make my way through this and hope to dear God that Sasuke doesn't notice.'

And as luck would have it, Sasuke, thanks to his calm and detached nature, was an unusually observant person. He smirked and asked Naruto, "So you got all the instructions right?"

"O-Of course, what you think I am, an idiot?" Naruto responded a little too quickly, and tried to hide his nervousness by laughing.

"I never doubted you for a second. So tell me what's your plan?"

Naruto just stared at him for a little too long and muttered curses in his head that this PG-13 story should not show, but being a quick thinker, he thought of an idea. "Why don't you tell me yours first? Unless you're afraid mine is better than that of the infamous Uchiha Sasuke..."

Sasuke normally wouldn't care much about the idiot not paying attention, but he will never forgive anyone for belittling his family name. So, he rose to the challenge, "Fine, since we all understand that the target of our mission is to steal the protector from our assigned jounin, I suggest we go about it by a flanking attack, now in this Naruto will...." As Sasuke continued his explanation, Naruto was listened attentively, nodding along as he listened, hoping to catch on all the information he could. What he did not notice was that behind him, Sakura just discovered how hard it was to stifle laughter and breathe at the same time.

"Ok I see, I'm impressed Sasuke, a truly well made plan indeed. Now, if it is a guy I suggest my Harem no Jutsu, if it's a girl you can just attack naked, and if it is Kakashi-sensei, we should try to unmask him as well..." Naruto suddenly felt like he had forgotten something. 'Didn't the loud examiner mention scrolls? What do scrolls have to do with unmasking....oh my god, I am going to beat that Sasuke up so bad some day.' Although he was thinking this, even if he didn't want to admit it, he was glad that Sasuke seems to be lightening up a little. Besides, as a true prankster, he doesn't take it to mind all that much.

"Ok ok, ha ha, you had your little fun." Naruto laughed sarcastically. "Fine, I admit it, I didn't get all of it, would you, Sakura, mind stop laughing on the floor and you, Sasuke, stop snickering and turn back to your normal anti-social self, and just tell me the real instructions?" Naruto sighed, beginning to lose his patience. Finally as his eyes began twitching, the two finally stopped and told him.

The team then began to make their plans, but not with out an occasional tease against each other. Though they fumed and felt nervous about this exam, they still felt relaxed at heart.

In another part of the village, the Hokage was busy filing paper work. He looked forward to the coming Chuunn exam, especially to a few of the candidates. And almost instinctively, his eyes went to the wall hangings of the other three Hokages, especially the Yondaime. Just when he was about to sigh and go back to work, he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in."

"Hokage-sama, I am here to report something that the night shift guards have been noticing lately," reported an Anbu captain.

The Sandaime's eyes narrowed the slightest bit, and calmly replied, "Yes?"

"We have been noticing a dark aura during the nights, thought it is faint, we are sure it is there. Some of the men think it is similar but not quite the same as that of the Kyubi. Even though it has the same touch of despicable presence, instead of anger, this one is filled with sorrow and an hunger." The Anbu captain was beginning to become uneasy just by continuing to describe the aura he felt during those nights. "But regardless, I request your permission to immediately launch an investigation regarding this. Its presence has been getting weaker lately, and if we do not act now, we may lose our chance to find out the cause, so…"

"That's enough," the Hokage interrupted. His normal calm and soothing tone has been replaced by one of seriousness.

"But-"

"But nothing!" The Hokage nearly shouted. "You and your men are hereby under my direct order to forget all information you have just revealed to me and abandon all of your curiosity, there never was any dark auras, it was all a figment of your imagination due to the exhaustion from the night shifts. Your team is to be hereby given a three day rest and then reassigned to a day time post. Disregarding these orders will result in your team's immediate suspension, and you will all be turned into genins once more. Is that understood?"

The Anbu captain, having survived countless battles and lethal wounds, could do nothing but reply an affirmative to the Hokage-sama's direct order. After bowing in respect, he quickly left to inform his squad of the news.

After being left alone, the Hokage thought to himself. 'An aura similar to that of the Kyubi yet possessing a mixture of sorrow and hunger. Sorrow and hunger. Those two words reminds me of so many things. The loss of loved ones and the acknowledgement of new ones, much like that Naruto. Even hunger seems to describe that bottomless pit he call a stomach for ramen, even on my salary, raising him wouldn't be easy.' The Hokage warmly recalled the memories and scenes of the child, his father, their clan---! 'No, it couldn't possibly be. There is no way for that cursed blood to activate itself again. Yet, I can't help shake off this feeling that something is about to happen.' The Hokage walked up to his glass ball and looked into it at a laughing image of Naruto. 'Naruto, my dear boy, be strong in the face of whatever danger the fates have in store for you. Remember that you are not destined anything, you must fight for your own future and destiny.'

'Perhaps it is time I call Jiraiya back from his travels, he may be needed soon.' The Hokage signed while rubbing his temples. He looked at the time, 'it should be starting now.'

The gates leading into the center of the Forest of Death opened, and all 12 teams entered. Part II of the Chuunin exam has just begun.