The next chapter is...FINALLY HERE! Ta-da! It was here, almost like magic!

Well, as you probably know, I'm now in high school, wich means I have more work to do, more homework, and more STUDYING! Gah! I seriously hate school, even if I do decently well in it!

Enough of my petty problems that I doubt you even read, let us begin the chapter but first let me say, I decided to say what happened to Kagome in a later chapter. Sorry, but I just forgot about her and stuff...so her fate will later be revealed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha or Naruto.

"Blah" -Talking

'Blah' -Thinking

-Blah- -Italic

Blah -Kyubi

(Chapter Begin!)

"...Naruto, why are you here so early?" Sakura, who was sanding at the foot of a tree near the bridge, asked while she looked up. She waited patiently for an answer until she realized that her teammate was, apparently, asleep. She felt her temper rise up and she violently kicked the tree, causing the blond to fall flat on his back, leading to his awake. Which came along with a startled shout.

"WHAT IN THE-oh. Hey, Sakura-san," Naruto said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Naruto, why are you here so early?" Sakura repeated through clenched teeth, the antics of her teammate quickly wearing down her patience.

"Oh, I forgot what time I was supposed to be here so I decided four o' clock was as good as any time. I guess I fell asleep..."

"Four o' clock!?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow as Sakura repeated the words.

"Was that too late?" the former chakra user asked innocently.

Sasuke said in an amused tone, "Well, it's seven right now so we still have about three more hours to wait."

"What!?" Naruto sat up straight and started to loudly complain.

Deep inside the blond's mind, Kyubi rubbed his eyes and grumbled out, It's way too early for this, kit.

'For what?'

For this damn charade. I'll admit it'd be funny to see their faces when or if they see the true you but...do you know how disgustingly innocent and oblivious you were back then!? And the whole yelling...uh...if I could, I'd have a headache.

'You know what? I really was too innocent, I still can't believe I believed in that crap about the world being black and white. We both know what color it is.'

Many know what color it is. Anyway, can you cut back on the yelling?

'Oh all right you baby.'

Wah, wah. I want my milk, Mommy. the demon said out in a bland voice.

Naruto almost laughed out loud at what Kyubi said. 'The mighty and fearsome Kyubi crying out for his mommy.' They both mentally chuckled at the absurdness of it.

"Naruto! Pay attention!" Sakura yelled in his face.

"Oh, were you saying something?"

Sakura stood there, fuming, until she threw a punch at the boy. Naruto, sensing the punch coming, fell onto his back, pretending not to have noticed Sakura trying to hit him. He put his two gloved hands behind his head. He vaguely remembered that his cloak was back up in the tree. He had bought a blue scarf t cover the weight around his neck.

"Anyway, wake me up when Kakashi-sensei gets here." Naruto seemingly dozed off. In reality, he just went to talk to Kyubi.

'Hey, Kyubi, do you think that the forgetting thing will go away?'

Hopefully, but you -did- go over a whole lot of memories. I bet the ones you forgot will eventually come back in time.

'That's good.'

I wonder how long it'll take for your sensei. To get here...

'Oh, what we gave him yesterday should wake him up fairly well in about another five minutes.'

Or make him lose consciousness.

'Remember what we gave Ebisu? That was totally genius! It was all you!'

Yep. And Iruka-

'And the Hokage-'

Oh! And Konohamaru-

'Let us not forget the man who runs Ichiraku.'

Why didn't we target Sasuke and Sakura?

'If I targeted Sasuke, his little fan girls would be after my blood, as for Sakura, she has parents and I don't want them after me.'

Point taken-

Kyubi was cut off when Kakashi came to the scene with a poof of smoke. He looked...to put it nicely, like a clown. His hair was dyed to look like a rainbow, you could see white paint on his face and red paint done around his eye. His clothes were in neon colors, along with his mask which had big, red lips painted on to look like they were trying to kiss someone. The jounion was glaring fiercely at the boy laying on the grass a little ways from the bridge. He closed his eyes is anger and gritted out, "Na-ru-to...WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HAIR AND FACE!?"

"Don't forget the clothes and your mask. And hey, how come you keep that mask on if your look like -that-? I had thought you were hideously disfigured." Naruto rolled to the side when a kunai was thrown. The blond jumped to his feet and asked with a smile, "Does this mean training and missions are canceled?" He didn't even wait for the answer as he bolted out of there. He distantly heard Kakashi telling his laughing/smirking students that the training for today was target practicing Naruto.

The blonde's laughter could be heard as he ran down the streets of Konoha, people staring at him in shock when they realized the "monster" was back. The laughter was suddenly gone as soon as a certain chuunin came to a stop in front of him. Naruto soon had nine people chasing or looking for him in the next five minutes.

(Scene Change)

As many of the chuunins, jounins and clan heads were gathering for their meeting with the Hokage to deal with the rising issue with the Kyubi vessel, people could be seen openly staring at the poor jounin that was selected to teach the blond. Gai went up to his eternal rival and said in a booming voice, "Ah, my eternal rival! I have seen you have changed your style of clothes! Though I do suggest you tone it down on the colors, the enemy ninja will spot you!"

Kakashi, who is usually patient when it came to the disturbance known as Gai (AKA: Ignores him.) twitched and said in an annoyed tone, "This is coming from someone who wears green spandex?"

"I don't see your point."

Those who were not used to the "Green Beast" stared wide-eyed at him, momentarily looking away at the "victim." Iruka came up behind Kakashi and said, "He got you too, huh? At least he went 'easier' on me."

Kakashi turned and stared at him in curiosity with his one eye. "What did he do to you?"

"He painted my house and everything in it bright orange."

"...Maybe it was me who got off easy, he only did -this-" he gestured towards his clothes "to all my clothes."

"Oh, when I said everything in my house, that included me. It took me hours to wash the paint of myself and I had to have someone sub for me at the academy."

"Do you want to know what that brat did to me!?" Ebisu screeched, coming over to the two. "That little -monster-!"

The former and current teachers of the perpetrator looked at him up and down, then said in unison, "I'd rather not know."

A cough got all of there attention and they came to see a very attractive young woman in front of them, wearing very skin revealing clothing, but no one knew who it was. The woman's eye brow twitched and when she spoke, it was an old man's voice, "I suppose you three were some of his victims as well."

"...Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked hesitantly.

The Third nodded and it was weird to see their leader look like that. It was very distracting...the Hokage coughed when the males who made up this group kept on staring at "his" chest. Many of them had the grace to blush.

"Now, pressing news that should have been kept a secret until now has been released. I'm talking about the return of Naruto...would some of you look at my face when I'm talking? Thank you."

Someone said, "Maybe you should use henge to appear as you usually do."

"I already tried. Our prankster appears to have somehow blocked that. As I was saying, many of us already know that Naruto had left for a period of three months before returning. Anyone who questions him about his whereabouts or what he has learned in that period of time without my permission will be severely punished."

"But Hokage-sama," a chuunin spoke up, "Isn't it dangerous-"

"I have already spoken to him. That is all you need to know. Now the matter concerning Naruto is closed. The clan heads, please leave."

Many of them not pleased at having so little information about the demon vessel left grumbling. The remaining shinobi were silent but also unhappy at the lack of information.

Hokage sighed and said, "The Chuunin Exam is coming up in about a week."

"Already?"

"Have the other lords been informed?"

"That's rather sudden..."

The Hokage stopped the chatter with a single raise of "his" shapely hand and he said, "Now then, we'd like to hear first from those who have been overseeing the training of our newest genin."

Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma silently stepped up.

"Tell us, do you have, among your charges, any who you would recommend for this year's Chuunin Exam? Of course, they must have a minimum of eight missions. Beyond that, employ your own judgment as to whether they are ready to aspire to the next level. To be truly competitive, candidates should have at least double the recommended. You may begin first, Asuma."

"Cell number 10, led by Asuma, consists of Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji. I vow upon the honor of the Sarutobi Clan that all three are read for the Chuunin Exam."

Kurenai repeated what he said except for the number and names. Kakashi did likewise, but he hesitated for a second. 'How can I be sure Naruto will work well with his other teammates? He's been gone for so long...but from what I've already seen of him, he has matured and his skills have grown...at least he completed eight missions before he disappeared,' Kakashi mused while he recited the words.

"This is rather unusual..." the Third trailed off.

"J-just a moment!" Iruka said loudly, not quite a yell.

"Yes, Iruka?"

"Hokage-sama, please allow me to speak. Forgive me if I overstep, but most of the nine students just named were my students at the academy! Certainly, they are gifted and show commitment, but it's too soon for kids that young to be stepping up to chuunin." Iruka paused for breath and then continued. "Only with time will they have the kind of experience and maturity those exams require. I don't understand why their supervisors don't see that."

Kakashi said, "I was six years younger than Naruto when I attained the rank of chuunin, Iruka."

"Naruto's not like you! Do you want to destroy those children!?" Iruka was fustrated. Why couldn't they see that they were too young?

Kakashi replied calmly, "They gripe about every detail of every mission. Just for once, I think it would do them good to find out what real pain is..." 'Though I have a feeling Naruto already knows...' Kakashi resumed talking. "Let's admit it, breaking them would be fun."

"Are you out of your mind!?"

"...It was a joke, Iruka. I understand what you mean, and I'm sorry if my decision upsets you, but I'm standing by it."

"But..."

Kurenai interrupted by saying, "Kakashi, can we finish this?"

Kakashi said to Iruka, "It's none of your business, anyway. They're not your students anymore. They are my subordinates."

Iruka gritted his teeth, angry, but no matter how angry he was, Kakashi was right.

'What a pest,' Asuma thought.

(Scene Change)

After a mission which Naruto found...boring, he walked down a sidewalk. This day, he decided to show his hair a little but still covered the top part of his head. Beside him was his team. Kakashi spoke up. "We'll call it a day. I've got to hand in my report."

Sasuke said coldly, "Then I'm going home."

"Oh!" Sakura said as an idea hit her. She sugar coated her voice and said sweetly, "Sasuke-kun, wait up! I was wondering...if we could, you know, just the two of us, go out for a late lunch or something."

Her reply was, "You're as bad as Naruto."

The pink haired shinobi felt like a boulder was on her back and she froze.

"Why are you always flirting when you should be practicing?" Sasuke said coldly. "Naruto's skills are better than yours!"

Sakura felt like she could collapse from the weight she could almost swear she felt on her shoulders. As the Uchiha walked away, Sakura thought gloomily, 'He's right...it doesn't mater what our mission is, they're all the same to me. I'm the weakest, I don't have any -real- special skills!'

Naruto, sensing from her aura, felt her depression so he decided to do something to get her mind off it. "Hey, hot stuff! How about you and I get a bite to eat!"

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. Kakashi felt the atmosphere and immediately left. As soon as the jounin left came a square "rock."

"You know, you could have just said hi or something," Naruto said with a wide grin.

"I expected nothing less from my rival!" a voice came from the rock said. It was lifted and so the action revealed three children.

"Hey, Konohamaru! Long time no see, huh!?" Naruto yelled happily.

"Naruto-nii-san! Why didn't you tell us you were back!? And why did you leave!?"

"Hehehe, that's a secret!" Naruto said in a stage whisper. He held up his index finger and winked. "So, you guys understand right? You know it's important to keep secrets and stuff like that, right? But since you guys are so cool with those goggles, I'll tell you!"

The three children's eyes grew wide with excitement. Sakura, who was still near by, overheard and leaned in a little closer, listening carefully. "Really!? Wow, you're the best! And we have these goggles since you're our idol!"

Naruto chuckled and he said in an obvious secretive voice (the three are just children so they can't tell but Sakura had a sneaking suspicion that Naruto was going to tell a lie), "I had to go away on a really important mission that took really long. Those bad guys had nothing on me! I beat them with one punch. Pow!" Naruto made a mock punch for show. It was so dumb but the kids seemed to be eating it up. Sakura nearly fell down from his exaggerated lie.

"Wow! Naruto-nii-san, that's why you're our leader! You're the coolest!" The children praised them. Then, Meogi squealed, "Leader! Why do you have your hitai-ate over your eyes like that!?"

"Oh, this? It's for training, of course!" Naruto said with a fox grin. "I'm trainging my senses!"

"That's so cool!"

These kids believe anything you say. It's kind of sad.

'Hey, they're kinda cute in that way, everyone used to be like that...I think.'

Whatever.

"Leader! Play 'ninja' with us!" The three squealed excitedly.

Sakura finally decided to say something, but out came an insult. "Just what is a ninja doing 'playing ninja'? Hmm?"

"Aw, come on, Sakura-san! We used to be like that as kids!" Naruto's smile didn't falter as Sakura glared at him. He didn't see it but he felt it.

"Hey, who are you?" Konohamaru asked. Then he got an idea and leaned towards the blonde. "Hey, she's your, you know...right!?"

"Hahahahaha!" Naruto laughed.

Inner Sakura fumed and ranted, 'Oh, now I'm not good enough, huh? Not that I care but no one laughs at me!' Sakura was about to hit the blonde in annoyance when he said something.

"Sakura-san and I? An item? No way would she go out with me! Not that I haven't tried, but a lady like that deserves class, you know what I mean?" Naruto made a motion with his hands and the three children got the idea.

Sakura straightened up, thinking in her head, 'Hmph. For once that idiot's right! Hell yeah!'

Ugh...I can't believe you said that.

'Same here. But at least now she won't hit me. Besides, this sort of stuff is supposedly "charming."'

Inari-sama help us all.

'I know what you mean.'

Then, suddenly, Konohamaru slapped the vessel's arm and yelled, "Tag! You're it!" He ran off giddily until he crashed into someone. "Ow..." He was suddenly lifted up by the person he crashed into.

"Hey, punk! Don't you know that's rude!?" the boy said. He had on a black suit with something wrapped in bandages on his back. A girl to his right had blond hair and wore a dress of some sort. They both had fore-head protectors from the Sand.

"Kankuro, don't! We'll get in trouble!" the blonde girl said.

The female genin from Konoha said nervously, "Sorry, we were fooling around..."

"Hey, let him go, if you please," Naruto said politely. Those who knew Naruto stared wide-eyed at him.

'Whoa! Naruto can be polite!?' the pink hair shinobi thought in shock.

"'If you please,' what a wuss! I'm just having a little fun." The boy now known as Kankuro said with a smirk.

"Listen here, friend, it was just an accident," the demon vessel said with a friendly smile.

The sand shinobi scowled at him and sneered, "You're starting to annoy me with your goody-two-shoes act! First off, I'm allergic to 'shrimp'! Once I'm finish with him, you're next!"

The girl sighed and said, "I'm not going to be held responsible for this."

"Whatever, Temari."

Right after he said that Naruto "disappeared" and reappeared, it didn't look like he moved from where he was standing but he was helping Konohamaru stand up! This was all done in a second.

"Wha-how did you do that!?" the boy glared viciously at the blond.

Naruto grinned at him and said, "A good shinobi doesn't reveal his secrets easily."

The blond girl looked impressed with the blond boy. While she was impressed, Kankuro was angry and charged. Just then, a rock was thrown between his eyes and he stumbled back. They looked t the direction where it came from and there was Sasuke sitting on the branch. He said, while throwing a rock up and down, "Tell me...what are you guys doing in our village?"

"It's Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squealed, completely forgetting about Naruto.

'About time he revealed himself to the others,' Naruto mused.

'Pretty cool,' Temari thought. 'Though it wasn't as nicely done as blondie's.'

"Hmph. Another brat," Kankuro thought.

"Get lost," Sasuke said coldly.

"He's so cool!" Sakura squealed. Meogi looked at Sasuke and instantly thought he was good looking.

Konohamaru looked between Sasuke and Naruto and said, "He had a better entrance but all he did was throw a rock."

Naruto chuckled at this but Sakura glared at him, making him hide behind his role model.

Kankuro, who had ignored the exchanged, growled out, "Come down, you squirrel! You think you're so smart, don't you?"

That was a stupid insult.

'Agreed.'

Then, the male Sand genin pulled down the thing strapped to his back. His teammate yelled out in panic, "Tell me you're not going to use Karasu!"

"Let's not make a lady so worried, friend," Naruto spoke out to him. "After all, I think we can solve this in a reasonable way."

"Shut up, you freak!" Kankuro snapped at him.

Naruto said softly, "Well that was sure friendly."

Kankuro was about to move when someone shouted out, "Stop!" Everyone now turned their heads to the speaker. It was a red headed boy with a gourd on his back. He said, "You're a disgrace to our village."

The two from sand had a frightened look in their eyes. 'At least this guy wasn't hiding out like Sasuke. Strange, why does this boy feel...like...me?' Naruto decided to pay a lot more attention to this one.

'He...He snuck up beside me...and I didn't know! His stealth skills rival Kakashi-sensei's,' Sasuke thought. 'And Naruto...when did he get so fast!?'

"It annoys me you'd lose control in a fight with children! Have you forgotten why we're here?" the red head asked in a deadly tone.

"But Gaara...they started it! The little one slammed into me!" Kankuro said desperately.

"Shut up...or I'll kill you."

At this, the boy immediately became quite and shivered. He tried to say one last thing. "Y-you're right, I was out of line."

Temari added nervously, "We're sorry...okay, Gaara?"

Team Seven decided he was the boss from the way the other two acted. The red head, Gaara, turned to Sasuke and said, "Sorry about my teammates." Wind surrounded him and then he was suddenly at the ground. Gaara thought, 'This is the one who nailed Kankuro with a stone. That took skill.' When he stood up straight, he turned his back and said, "Let's go."

"Wait!" Sakura yelled. "According to your headbands, you three come from Hidden Sand. Your country is one of Konoha's allies, but according to our treaty, your ninja are not supposed to cross the border with authorization. State your business! We went can't let you go on your merry way!"

"Weren't you informed?" Temari stepped up. She had a haughty attitude. "As you guessd, we're genin from Sand. We're here to take the Chuunin Exam."

"Would you please inform us about this 'Chuunin Exam', my fair lady?" Naruto asked with a smile, doing a little bow. Sakura and the three youngsters stared wide-eyed at him, Sasuke ignored Naruto.

Apparently the female genin liked his way of treating her because she smirked and said with -some- politeness, "Of course. Genin are sent to compete against each other. It is mainly to maintain the skill of all shinobi at the same high level of excellence. Also to foster friendship and understanding between ninja and to balance the power between the countries."

After the explanation, Sasuke came down from the tree and asked, "You there! What's your name?"

Temari looked at him and blushed, pointing to herself and said, "Huh? W-who, me?"

"No, I was talking about the red head," Sasuke said indifferently.

Gaara looked at him and answered, "Gaara of the Sand. And you are...?"

"Uchiha Sasuke," he said with a smirk.

As the sand genin were about to leave, Temari turned around and asked, "Hey, what's your name, blondie?"

"Oh, me?" the former chakra user asked. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto. But for such a hottie, you can call me 'Naru-chan.'"

"Oh, please!" she said, but she had an amused look in her eyes. With that, they left.

"Hey...Leader, how'd you know she was cute?" Udon asked. "You're eyes are covered."

"All women are good looking, remember that as you grow older," Naruto answered with a fox grin.

Sakura slapped the back of his head for that.

(Scene Change)

The next day, Naruto was nowhere to be seen. Sakura and Sasuke were getting impatient for their late team members. It had already been two and a half hours! Just then, the said boy ran into the scene, panting for air. He didn't have his cloak with him.

"You ok, Naruto?" Sakura asked, a little worried.

"They're...they're after me!" Naruto wheezed out.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and asked him, "Who?"

"Um..."

"Yo! Sorry I'm late, I had to-"

"Liar!" was yelled as the same time as, "You got it out!?"

They stared at Naruto. The blonde said, "How'd you get my hair dye out!? It was supposed to last for weeks!"

Kakashi twitched at that until he said tightly, "No, I didn't get it out. I had to throw away all my clothes because of you, the paint was easy to get off my face, but I had to do a henge to make my hair normal...are you telling me this stuff lasts for weeks?"

"Um...maybe..."

The jounin glared at him and then said mischievously, "Then maybe I shouldn't give you this Cuunin Exam application...Oof!"

Naruto tackled the jounin to the ground and said, "You got us applications!?"

"Maybe I should take yours away...unless you get this dye off my hair."

"Deal!" Naruto grabbed his teacher's head and licked his hair. Everyone just silently stared in fascination while Kakashi was a little uncomfortable at what he was doing, plus, his student was straddling him. After a while of the licking and spitting, Naruto wiped his mouth with the back side of his hand and said, "If you don't drop the genjutsu, I won't be able to tell if I missed a spot."

Kakashi complied and on went the licking and spitting out the dye. "Um...are you done yet?" he asked.

"Just give me five more minutes."

After five minutes, Naruto was finished and stood up and leaned on the railing. "Done. The dye comes off if you use spit. Now can I have my application form?"

Kakashi handed out the sheets of paper, when handed the paper, Naruto tackled him again. ("Kakashi-sensei! I love you!" "Get off...You're embarrassing me!") Once the blonde got off, the jounin explained, "If any of you don't wish to compete, the exam is entirely voluntary. The choice is yours. You needn't turn in those application forms unless you want to. If you do, report to room 301 at the academy by four o' clock tomorrow afternoon. That's all!" 'Now I got to wash my hair from Naruto's spit...' Kakashi thought. Then he left like how he came.

As the rest of team seven walked, Naruto started to talk. "I bet this test will be really hard! It'll have a lot of strong people too! I bet we'll even have to fight them!"

'Now that sounds like the old Naruto...though...I don't want to go...I can't even keep up with Naruto, much less Sasuke-kun. This exam would be too much for me...' the girl of the team thought.

Naruto checked out his teammates' aura as he kept on talking. 'Sasuke's excited about it too...but Sakura isn't too happy...she's down right depressed. Better cheer her up.' With that thought in mind, Naruto turned his attention to Sakura and said, "Hey, Sakura-san! We're all gonna do great in this thing, right!?"

"Um...Yeah."

"Hell, yeah! Sasuke would do pretty well by himself, he -is- top rookie of the year! And you're the smartest! You'd probably think up a lot of ways to beat up your opponent without touching them! Things might get dirty, but I'm gonna do great, just like you guys!"

Sakura blinked at him. This was definitely different. But she smiled at him. 'Yeah...I can't let them both down! I got to do this!' She smiled confidently and yelled out, "That's right!"

Sasuke smirked. 'So dobe's smarter...not to mention faster...' The smirk turned to a frown.

(Scene Change)

Naruto got to the academy a little later then the others. "Ohayou!" was his loud cheer. Sakura waved a little and Sasuke smirked. They walked inside and was met with an odd scene. There was a crowd of people surrounding the door and a green spandex cloth youth was knocked to the ground. 'Genjutsu,' Naruto immediately thought. 'Hmph. A rather weak one, at that. One on this hall way and one on each of themselves.'

It's only weak to you since you're so good at illusions.

'True.'

"Is someone as talent less as you really planning to take the Chuunin Exam? Why bother?" sneered the person who knocked the boy down. "Bunch of wet behind the ears snot noses!"

"Yeah!" his companion agreed.

"Please," a girl with her hair in buns, "We're begging you, let us in." She was hit to the ground.

"That was cruel!" someone from the crowd said.

"What did you say?" asked the first guy. "You misunderstand! We're just trying to spare you. The Chuunin exam is incredibly difficult...and we should know. We failed three times so far. There are people who made it, then immediately gave up being shinobi, others who ended up crippled, some reduced to vegetables. We've seen it all! Besides that, chuunin are cell commanders, they lead their units. The responsibilities for failed missions and dead shinobi res firmly on their shoulders. And you little punks have the nerve to apply?" He snorted.

His companion continued, "We're saving a step by weeding out obvious losers beforehand."

"That sounds good in theory, but you'd better let me through. And drop the genjutsu you created while you're at it," Sasuke said, stepping forward. "I have business on the third floor."

Some people, at this, became confused at what the Uchiha was saying.

"Heh, so you figured it out, eh?"

"That was very considerate to think about your fellow shinobi like that," Naruto said. He smiled a little. "But did you need to hit such a cutie?" He turned his smile to the girl with buns. At this, the girl looked away and blushed.

'Since when did he start flirting with every girl he met?' Sasuke thought. He ignored it for now, it wasn't his business. He turned his attention to his other teammate and said, "It was easy, right, Sakura? You were probably the first to notice it. You're the most analytical and the best in our cell at understanding genjutsu."

'No she's not,' Naruto mentally said.

Sakura looked at Sasuke with gratitude. Then her expression turned to confidence and she said, "Of course I noticed it. Obviously, we're still on the second floor."

The boy who guarded the door said, "Hey...not bad. But just seeing it isn't enough!" He threw a kick at Sasuke. Sasuke was about to counter it with his own but the green spandex clad boy caught both of their kicks.

'He's so fast! He perceived the attack patterns on both sides and planted himself at the nexus of both their kicks...is that even possible!?' Sakura thought in amazement. 'He's a completely different person from the boy who was getting beaten up just a minute ago!'

'He -blocked- my kick! About there's something weird about his chakra...' Sasuke pondered.

"Hey," a boy with no pupils said. "That's not what we agreed! You're the one who insisted we should avoid drawing attention to ourselves."

"B-but..." the boy replied. He looked at Sakura and blushed. The bun haired girl only shock her head in exasperation.

Naruto, though he couldn't see it, could definitely feel how his aura changed. 'Uh-oh...I have a bad feeling about this...' the blonde thought.

The boy walked up to Sakura and said, "Um...Hi. My name's Rock Lee. You're Sakura, aren't you? Would you like to go out with me? I'll protect you with my life!"

We both saw -that- coming, Kyubi said in amusement.

Sakura was in shock for a moment before saying in disgust, "No...way. You're too unique for my tastes."

The boy bent his head down in defeat. Naruto patted his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Don't let that get you down. She's a tough one."

Saura rolled her eyes at this. Then, the boy with no pupils said to Sasuke, "Hey, you! What's your name?"

"It's common courtesy to give your own name first," was Sasuke's reply.

'What about the other day with Gaara?' Naruto thought.

"You're a rookie, aren't you? How old?" the boy persisted.

Sasuke said coldly, "I don't have to tell you a thing." He turned his back to the boy. Sasuke thought, 'This exam is turning into a freak show.'

'Cute...and cool! Not a single scratch,' thought the girl with buns. 'Though I can't see that other boy's face, he's kinda charming.'

In another room, the two thugs from earlier talked to themselves. One said, "So those are Kakashi and Gai's precious brats, huh? Well, at least thay managed to submt their application forms."

"Yep." The two dropped the genjutsu to reveal themselves as older and more mature shinobi.

"It looks like we can amuse ourselves with this year's crop."

"A little perk for being the proctors."

"Let's go! Sasuke-kun, Naruto!" Sakura yelled energetically.

"Hell yeah!" Naruto put in. Sakura took one of each of her teammates hands and walked onward.

"Let's go, Lee. What are you doing?" the girl with buns asked.

"Neji, Tenten, you two go ahead. There's something I want to check first," Lee said.

(Scene Change)

"Hey, you with the scowl, wait up!"

Team seven looked up to see the Rock Lee kid. Sasuke asked, "What is it?"

"You and me, here and now, want to fight?" he asked. "My name is Rock Lee. Among sticklers, etiquette requires one to introduce themselves before asking the name of another...Uchiha Sasuke."

"So you knew who I was all along," Sasuke stated.

"I'm calling you out! I want to test the effectiveness of my techniques against the last surviving member of your legendary clan. Besides..." He turned to the pink haired shinobi and winked.

At this, she was startled and shrieked, "No way! Those eyelashes creep me out! Not to mention the geeky hair, plus the caterpillar eyebrows!"

"You're an angel!" the love struck boy said and blew her a kiss.

She "dodged" it like her life depended on it. When she straightened out, she yelled at him, "You keep your kisses to yourself, you creep!"

"Aw...don't be like that..." the boy whined.

"So you're challenging me, even knowing my lineage? In other words, you're a fool," Sasuke cut in. "So, do you really want to learn, what it means to be an Uchiha?"

"You bet!" Lee went into a fighting stance. "I am the greatest fighter among all the genin in Konoha!"

'He stopped my kick with his arm. No human alive can do that. I don't know what techniques he's using, but I want to find out!' Sasuke thought. "I accept your challenge," Sasuke said with his customary smirk.

"Sasuke-kun! Don't do it! We have less than an hour to submit our forms!" Sakura said when she glanced at the clock.

"This will only take five minutes." Sasuke charged.

'Sorry, Gai-sensei. I may need to break my promise in order to use -that- move!' Lee thought.

Lee three a kick, which Sasuke blocked. After the block, the green clad youth threw a punch that the Uchiha had no time to block. He was thrown backwards from the force of the hit. A shrill scream of, "Sasuke-kun!" came afterwards.

'How'd he get under my guard? Is this martial arts? Or magic? Genjutsu?' Sasuke thought frantically. 'Fine, this may be the chance to practice using it...' "Sharingan!" Two pupils appeared in each of Sasuke's eyes, indicating that his bloodline limit was in effect.

'When could Sasuke-kun have...? Oh, Sasuke-kun! He's the best! He'll be able to penetrate that thick brows guy's techniques no problem!' Sakura thought happily.

Naruto concentrated on Sasuke for a long time. He pondered, 'I can't see it...but I definitely -feel- something changed. Was I gone for so long that Sasuke is now able to use his bloodline limit? Should I uncover my eyes to see it for myself...?'

'Wether it's genjutsu or ninjustsu at work here, there's something at work here!" After Sasuke finished that thought, he was hit into the air by Lee. 'My Sharingin couldn't see through his attack...but that means...'

"My moves are neither ninjutsu or genjustsu. It's taijutsu," Lee said. He jumped into the air, right behind Sasuke. "Hard as it is for you to accept, if your sharingin can see to the heart of every shinobi art well enough to duplicate it, as it is said to, then you know what I say is true. I'm pretty sure your Sharingin is invaluable against ninjutsu and genjutsu, with their formalized rules, hand seals, and chakras...but taijutsu in their pure form is a very different story."

"Impossible!" Sasuke yelled.

Lee continued, "Even if you see my moves, you lack the speed and strength to counter them. You didn't have the physical training needed to keep up with me! It doesn't matter what your eyes can see if they can't do anything about it! There are two kinds of strengths: the one where you are born with and the one you get from hard work. Your Sharingin is the one first mentioned, mines is the second! Yours and mines are a complete mismatc, this move will prove it!"

He began to unwrap his bandages when something pinned it to the wall. A turtle appeared out of nowhere and yelled out, "That's enough, Lee!" When that was said, Lee landed back on the ground. Sasuke fell too, and Naruto jumped forward to catch him.

'Sasuke, you were beaten badly by this guy,' the blond thought. 'But you were no match for him. He seems like the energetic and hard working type.'

"Sasuke-kun! Are you alright?" Sakura asked, coming over to the two of them. Naruto helped the boy to the ground.

Sasuke grunted out, "He's trembling, he can't even defend himself..."

"You...you saw?" Lee asked, head bowed in shame.

Naruto suddenly felt the paranoia strengthen. He concentrated on his surroundings. The turtle yelled, "You know the rules, Lee! That move is strictly forbidden!"

The shaky reply was, "P-please forgive me...I was only..."

'Why is he taking that from a turtle?' Sakura thought in bewilderment. Sasuke stared is slight shock. Naruto wasn't paying any attention to the turtle until a man was standing on the shell.

"Ah! The exuberance of youth. All of you have it," The man said. He looked that an older and bigger version of Lee. Sasuke and Sakura were staring wide-eyed. Naruto couldn't see them so he wasn't shocked, but he did relax a little.

Sakura began to mumble the resemblance in disgust until lee shouted at them, "Don't try to make fun of Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!" the man known as Gai said. When Lee turned around, he was promptly hit. "Idiot! You...you..."

"Sensei..."

They stared at each other, teary eyed. They each cried out each other's name bfore hugging. Sauke thought in shock, 'I got beaten by him...?'

"I understand! It's because you are young!" Gai cried out.

"Sensei!" Lee also cried out.

Naruto smiled and turned to his teammates, "Aw, doesn't it give you a warm and fuzzy feeling?" He gestured to the two.

His teammates could only look at him in a mixture of disgust and disbelief.

"It's all right, Lee! Youth and mistake go hand in hand!" the jounin said, oblivious to the other people.

"You are too kind, Gai-sensei!"

"But I can't let your attempt to break the big rule go unpunished. You will run a thousand times around the academy after the exam!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!"

Gai turned to look at team seven. 'Unless I miss my guess...these three are Kakashi's!'

"Whoa...He's looking at us!" Sakura whispered in fear.

"...He is?" Naruto asked. "Oh...oops, that came out wrong. Hehehehe..."

"By the way, how is Kakashi?" Gai asked them.

Sasuke answered with another question, "You know Kakashi-sensei?"

The man started to chuckled and suddenly he was standing behind them...-was- standing behind them until Naruto hit him down. "Oops..." Naruto muttered. "Reflex! Sorry, friend. You okay?"

The jounin stared at him for a long, hard moment before flashing him a thumbs up and a grin that seemed to shine in a creepy way. Sasuke and Sakura grimaced, forgetting their shock of Naruto. Naruto obviously still couldn't see so he didn't understand why they took a step back. Gai said in a booming voice while standing up, "Kakashi and I are eternal rivals! The score is currently fifty to forty-nine, I have the fifty! I am stronger than him!"

'He's fast, faster than Kakashi...is he even human?' Sasuke thought.

"Gai-sensei is totally amazing!" Lee shouted from where he stood.

"I know Lee started this fight, but for the sake of my own self respect, forgive him," Gai said.

'Who is this guy? He says he's better than Kakashi-sensei, and I don't think he's bluffing!' Sasuke thought in shock.

"You should go to the classroom now," the man continued. "Best of luck, Lee!" He disappeared.

Lee said to Sasuke, "I was bluffing before, I'm really here to just prove my own strength. And I don't think you're the strongest Konoha genin. The strongest Konoha genin is on my team, and I intend to take him down. That's why I'm entering. By the way, you're also on my list. I'm off." He ran off.

When he left, Sasuke clenched his fist. Naruto turned his head to him and said, "Sasuke-san...this may get you angry but I think it should be said. Lee-san probably trains much more then you do. It's no wonder you didn't stand a chance! Unless you pick it up a notch, you're toast."

"He's dead meat the next time we fight," Sasuke said coldly.

"Despite what happened just now?" Naruto asked. "Like he said, it won't mater if you can see if you can't keep up." He smirked. "Next time, can you keep up?"

Sasuke stared at him and replied, "Hmph. Of course. Things are starting to look interesting."

Sakura nodded enthusiastically. Team seven walked and they came upon Kakashi. "Glad you made it, Sakura," he said. "This way, you all qualify."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"This test can only be taken by three person cells."

"But you said it was up to each of us to decide!"

"I only said that so Sasuke and Naruto wouldn't force you into this. One word from Sasuke and you'd do whatever he asked, but your heart wouldn't be in it. If they had come here with out you, though, they wouldn't be allowed to past this point. But you're all here, and I'm proud of all of you. Good luck!" Kakashi said.

"I bet we'll need that luck," Naruto whispered under his breath.

(End Chapter)

I finished this chapter in two days but it'll take a while to edit it. Please review! This chapter was 21 pages! I usually make them just around 14...Anyway, I kind of think my writing style is awkward but I don't want to change it. Input please.

Anyway, I know some people might be a little occ...