Harbinger

by tigerowl

Naruto's friendship with his teammates Gaara and Haku is put to the test as they prepare to deal with the threat of the Akatsuki. The secrets Jiraiya has kept come to a head, and Naruto must shoulder the responsibility of protecting much more than the Leaf Village. Continuation of Forlorn. AU NaruHina, GaaSaku, NejiTen, ObiRin, OCs *Taoism, Self-Indulgent World Building, longfic

30. New Exam: Fierce Competition!

Note: Thank you for reviewing, audience. Are you an Akatsuki no Yona fan? If not you probably should be. Mizuho Kusanagi's manga is the bomb. And also, check out Lady Zeia's AkaYona story, "What I saw in the Moonlight." UGH. What a sublime author.

Chapter Soundtrack: "Je Cours" by Stromae

Chapter 30- New Exam: Fierce Competition!

"Of course, it is very important to be sober when you take an exam. Many worthwhile careers in the street-cleansing, fruit-picking and subway-guitar-playing industries have been founded on a lack of understanding of this simple fact." ― Terry Pratchett

"Now, just to be clear." Tsunade rapped her red nails on a tabletop, "You are all cleaning this disaster up."

Sai nodded, wholly unperturbed from his place at a work table. He was eating a lunch of grilled fish from a carry-out box. Tenzo was across the table from him, working out a hand cramp before he too could take a break and eat with chopsticks.

"Thanks for all of your help, gentlemen." The Hokage smiled, "I would have hired someone else to make the clues for the Second Stage of the exam, but it would have been expensive. The framework didn't leave much for a labor budget."

Tenzo returned her smile tiredly, "We are always happy to provide you with cheap, part-time labor, Hokage-sama."

"I know. It's your honor and privilege. Can you believe the Sealing Corps clerks wanted double-time for this project? Pff."

"They allowed us to use this work room for free." Sai noted.

"Yes, so long as they didn't have to help." Tsunade snickered, "That's a criticism I'll save for the next administrative meeting."

The Hokage stood by watching as Tenzo and Sai began their lunch.

Across the room, Ebisu's new Genin students were struggling with winding up scrolls that had spilled from a shelf. Long lengths of blank parchment crisscrossed the floor as the children scrambled to clean up the mess. All manner of art supplies, childish and professional, still covered the work table. Tsunade figured clean-up for a Chunin Exam-related project was worthy of a D-Rank mission.

"I wonder why you called me in to help at the last minute, Hokage-sama." Tenzo mused while he chewed, "Sai was perfectly capable of drawing clues for every team, don't you think?"

"That's the point." Tsunade folded her arms and sighed, "His artwork was too good. He made it too clear what each participant should do in order to move through the stage."

Sai reflected on her words and then decided to smile, "Thank you."

"Well, that would be ideal if not for the fact that teams are supposed to question the material they've been given." She held up one of Sai's meticulously drafted clues, "Anyone would trust this." She flicked the paper, "I don't need ninja who blindly accept what they are told and then march to their deaths." Tsunade set down the ink drawing, "Likewise, I don't want ninja who assume important info, no matter its source, is worthless."

"I agree that each team should be able to make critical decisions like that." Tenzo frowned to himself, "But…why ask me to draw these clues?"

"You're the most miserable excuse for an artist I know!" Tsunade cheered, "No one will trust the junk you drew! Even if it is accurate, your work, Tenzo, is the most abominable thing I have ever seen."

His head bowed in shame above his lunch box. Sai felt a strange tingle of what could be the fabled feeling "humor" and it widened his smile just a bit.

"Now, now, don't feel bad." Tsunade attempted a bit of sympathy, "That's why I wanted you to work on this. It serves a purpose. Just the other day I had my own personal example of this sort of thing. I had no idea if I should or shouldn't take the word of a tiny old woman that Rock Lee brought into my office…but if I ignored her testimony I might've regretted it." She rubbed her chin as she remembered, "That lady did have a strong odor about her. Like curry."

"So a person who has an unpleasant odor is considered untrustworthy, by common standards?" Sai was looking for a teachable moment.

"No. Not necessarily." Tsunade replied, "It just makes it difficult to stand by and listen properly."

The socially inept ninja nodded in understanding.

"When you finish eating and cleaning up here," The Hokage went on, "I would appreciate it if you two reported to the Tower Passage next. As you know, that is the hidden route that Jounin chaperones take to enter the tower in the Forest of Death and observe preliminary matches. Please make sure it's clear before tomorrow morning." She fussed at the sleeve of her jacket, "I have to send Shikamaru through there tomorrow and he specified he doesn't want to see any garbage or cobwebs."

"Yes ma'am." They answered in unison.

"Good. Now I'm off to ask Shizune how the First Stage went." Tsunade turned towards the door and then called back to the Genin, "Oh! Konohamaru and friends."

Konohamaru and his teammates, Moegi and Udon, stood bolt upright when they were addressed, "Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"When you finish cleaning here please come to my office for your next assignment." The Hokage smiled, "I'm going to keep you all busy today."

---

It was early afternoon on the same day that the Second Stage of the exam had commenced.

On a lofty branch in the canopy of the Forest of Death, Hinata stood sandwiched between Sato and Shino as they examined the scroll they had been given. The girl grimaced and then rested her eyes, reporting, "There is nothing revealed that I can see with my Byakugan. I'm sorry."

Shino added, "My insects have confirmed it as well. There is nothing unusual about this scroll." Kikaichu insects retreated from the parchment and back into the young man's sleeve.

"Then it's for certain," Sato concluded quietly, "This scroll…is useless."

And that was because it was completely blank. Clean, white, and unmarked.

Sato's expression was the most foolish-looking, dubious frown that had ever graced his face. He was thinking on it. Hinata and Shino were also deliberating in silence about their plight.

After rushing into the dark woods to begin the next phase of the test, the team had never suspected that they would be unfortunate enough to get a dummy-scroll. Moreover, that they would have no information whatsoever to guide them on how to enter an entry-less tower.

"We could…just go there." Sato proposed hesitantly, "March right up to the building and figure out why no one can supposedly get inside. Right?"

"That is far too reckless and would waste time." Shino disagreed, "Is it important to learn what kind of impediment stands between teams and the tower? Of course it is. But the answer will be in a scroll. It is better to find a clue before we go anywhere."

"We will have to take a scroll from another team." Hinata deduced.

"Looks like we've got no choice." The Hatake folded his arms behind his head, "Maybe there's a better way to do this so that we don't squander time." He looked sidelong to Shino, "Why don't you have your insects look around? I'll send some owls towards the tower to see if they spot anything of consequence."

Shino nodded silently.

"There could be a key or password that we need to collect before we can enter." Hinata wondered aloud, "We would not want to miss a detail that could be out here beneath our noses."

"In the meantime, we will track another team." Shino reminded them as he loosed a small cloud of insects. They scattered in all directions to begin reconnaissance of the forest.

Sato summoned two pint-size screech owls, Aree and Aroo, and asked them to kindly scout ahead for obstructions. After the birds took off, both young men looked at Hinata expectantly.

She activated her Blood Limit before about-facing, bracing herself against the trunk of the tree with her hand. Hinata frowned to herself as she scanned around.

"The team of Sand ninja is about half a kilometer away from us." She reported, "But there is a team even closer than that. We should move to the southeast, ahead about 90 meters, and then wait. They will pass right by us."

"They're in for an early surprise..." Sato chuckled, "What village are they from?"

"Hidden Grass. They all have the same color hair." Hinata tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Maybe they are siblings?"

"Good. In the event they also possess a dummy-scroll, we should bear in mind that another ambush may be required in the future." Shino advised, "We need to conserve our energy and gather as much information as possible."

They all agreed that is was the best course of action. Hinata lead the way as she leaped into the leafy thicket towards the bowels of the forest.

---

On the far, opposite side of the wide circular enclosure, Sakura's team was also formulating a plan. They had stopped in a tight clearing hedged by overgrown hawthorn shrubs. The team's scroll was laid flat on the ground as all three shinobi looked it over. Akamaru sat in dutiful quiet beside them.

"I would just like to say that this brushwork is amazing." Tama was the first to speak.

"Yeah, it looks like something out of the books my grandpa keeps in his study." Kiba noted, "Old school."

Sakura's eyes scanned critically over the black ink drawings. After a few minutes of silence she stood cupping her chin, deriving the meaning, if any, of the traditional forest scene.

"At first glance this means nothing." She began softly, "Going on what we already know; that we're going to have problems getting into the tower, we could assume that this may be a clue for a scavenger hunt or something like that. We would possibly need to locate an item or key to get us inside. That's what we're supposed to think." Sakura pointed a finger skyward when she announced, "But I can personally vouch for that being completely wrong."

Tama and Kiba stared at her in bewilderment.

"The second proctor made it clear we would find it impossible to get inside the tower by traditional means." Sakura went on, "And I know Tsunade-sama would not want a test to be something as obvious as a dime-a-dozen scavenger hunt. I'm confident that there is zero chance of us getting into the tower. I don't know if they physically eliminated the doors, or if they put up a barrier we can't take down, but it isn't going to happen. It is impossible."

"What are you saying? We were warned that anyone who doesn't get inside fails!" Kiba reminded her.

"Right," Sakura smiled, "That's why we won't try to enter the tower the way we normally would. We're going someplace else. Look here." She lifted up the scroll and brought their attention to the drawing.

The illustration was set in a forest, framed by tall trees. The tiny body of a person was juxtaposed to the massive body of a burrowing centipede, which was proportionately the size of a train. The locations of the tower and sun above, in the drawing, gave a reference of space and location. To the 'east' of the giant bug was a curtain of dense jungle vines dotted with flowers and kunai.

"This wants us to find a huge bug, from what I can tell." Kiba surmised grimly, "I'm not really going for it."

"The clues here will at least help us find it." Tama noted optimistically, "But after that..."

"I have a hunch." Sakura assured them, "Wherever this thing is...that's probably the back door that we want. It has to be a way in or an alternative arena for the next stage, whatever the case may be." She angled the scroll to catch light filtering down through the treetops, turning about twenty degrees west of their position, "Let's start looking for our hints."

---

Tenten stood across from Neji and Lee, who were shoulder-to-shoulder and examining their odd scroll. She was not one prone to overreacting to things the way her teammates were. Neji had taken personal offense to a scroll so poorly illustrated and lacking sense. Lee, on the other hand, was disappointed and quietly trying to interpret anything that could be gleaned from their clue.

"There is nothing relevant in this." Neji determined firmly, "We cannot use it."

"Neji, try not to be hasty." Lee chided, pointing out details on the parchment, "These forms on the ground and hanging upside down from tree branches...are most certainly human bodies. Notice how they appear to be the meal of this large, hunch-backed bear. This is a rock formation and these are pine trees, see? Distinct."

"You are advocating for a clue that suggests we sacrifice ourselves to a bear that stands four stories tall."

"Well, I do not condone the suggestion so much as the clarity of what we are looking at." Lee illuminated.

Tenten had her arms folded and watched in silence as the young men had a tense but harmless argument. She turned their situation over in her mind and tried to be objective about it. Neji was being completely subjective, judging the content of the scroll, deeming it unreliable based on appearance and crudeness. Lee was abstaining completely from forming an opinion, but was reluctant to cast aside what they had been given.

"Can you two stop analyzing that for a second?" She asked, finally making eye contact with them. "Thank you. You're both trying to establish the value of what we've been given. The problem is that it may only be a matter of opinion. What if there are other teams worse off than us?"

Neji nearly contested the notion but stayed silent, humoring the idea.

"Do you think we should take the time to find out, Tenten?" Lee asked, "To compare what we have against the scroll of another team?"

"That could work, but what if they have the exact same clue that we do? I'm just saying that before we decide to waste time, maybe we should pretend we have exactly what we need and go from there." She took a crack at pragmatism, "The worst thing a team could receive...is it nothing? Or maybe a childish or deceptive clue? We are being tested on how we judge information."

Neji took a moment to reflect on how she had indirectly labeled him a "poor judge." That was an accurate description, at least for now. Maybe he was a bit too wound up about proceeding to the final stage that he was far less aware of the present. He exhaled softly and then turned to Lee, who seemed to be in favor of Tenten's idea.

"I think we should trust what we have been given." Lee agreed, "At least until we learn more. Although, I do not think this clue makes it clear why we cannot enter the tower."

"Maybe we aren't supposed to know that yet." Tenten came to a stop beside them to look at the illustration, "Yeah...this is pretty bad. What is that behind the bear?"

"It could be..." Lee stopped himself. The mound behind the beast in the picture, drawn with suspicious amounts of brown crayon, could pass for either stone or fecal matter.

"More than likely it is a land formation or cave." Neji interjected, "The next course of action should be to find this place. The information that we need could be there."

"Or it could be nothing...or not even exist." Tenten smiled, "But chances are that we'll come across something that resembles this."

Before Lee closed the scroll he memorized the pictures, finally forming a complaint about it, "I doubt we will see bodies or human flesh that is blue like this...though I imagine that was creative license."

---

Sakura was cross with herself that after traveling most of the afternoon with her team, they had more than likely gone off course. She had stopped to re-affirm their route based on the position of the tower and giant insect in the drawing. Cardinal directions were barely evident, but she had made some educated guesses.

"I thought we might have found it by now." The pink haired girl muttered.

"Don't worry about it, Sakura-chan. I don't think we really believed it could happen that fast. It is a pretty big forest." Kiba crouched down, "This was probably skewed a bit. Could have been northwest, actually."

"It's just a bit farther. We've covered a lot of ground." Tama passed around a canteen of water, "And there haven't been any incidents."

Sakura knocked on the bark of a tree to prevent her friend from jinxing it, "I'm glad about that…but the longer we're out here the more likely we are to run into other teams."

From the portion of sky visible from a break in the tree tops, sunset was hastening into night.

"Now may not be a bad time to make camp. We can try again in the morning when we have the light again." Kiba suggested, "Let me and Akamaru scent around to make sure it's clear, and then we can eat and get some rest."

While Kiba and his ninken prowled off to make sure they were alone in their section of wilderness, Sakura and Tama rustled up twigs and kindling for a fire. The two girls also concurred that some mushrooms they discovered were perfectly safe to eat. Sakura playfully nudged the older kunoichi as they foraged.

"Even when we're all the way out here, Sato managed to say hello." She grinned at Tama, "That was adorable."

"He didn't send those owls specifically to find me." Tama replied, fighting a small smile.

"I'm sure he didn't, but he'll be happy to know that you're safe and well during your first time in the Forest of Death." Sakura imagined, "When those little guys swooped down and landed on you...I almost screamed. And I don't startle easily."

"Me too. But they're so soft and they just nuzzled my cheeks." At the memory, Tama held her face, "Aree and Aroo are his cutest birds, by far. I like when he sends them."

"For what?"

"Sometimes Sato will send me a message from across town, before we go out somewhere." She explained, "They come straight to my window."

"Aw!"

"Sakura-chan, please. You should see how enthusiastic he is about things he used to have no appetite for." Tama restrained her laughter, "Sato shops and cooks now. I think I eat more frequently with him than my own family these days. He asks to go with me when I have somewhere to be. He even got his own membership with the dance studio too. Though, he prefers to wait for classes to let out so it's just him and me. "

"Hmm. Sato certainly is more involved than he used to be." Sakura observed shrewdly, "Does Sato ever, you know...sneak over?"

Her cheeks reddened.

"Oh, so he does."

"Sakura! We don't do anything..." Tama relented and said, "Like that. I don't go too far because I really do want to wait. You know what Uncle Gai and my parents are like. Honor is at the core of their mantra, and I guess I can't deny that I'm the same way."

"There's nothing wrong with that." Her friend assured her as she located a new patch of mushrooms.

"It's still hard to believe that Sato finally...noticed. You know? It took a while, but he looks at me now and suddenly he wants to touch and kiss." She sighed, "It's such a relief. I was afraid that he would never want me that way."

"Of course he would, he just needed some time to grow up a little." Sakura acknowledged with a nod, "From what Ino tells me, most of the boys our age are that way now. And try to remember..." She gestured at Tama from top to bottom, "Sato does have one of the most beautiful women in this village to go home to. As dumb as he can be sometimes, I'll bet he at least realized that."

"Thanks, Sakura-chan."

Sakura stopped and handed off the mushrooms she had collected to Tama. She ran her hand over the spindly green top of a plant before pulling up a super-large scallion from the ground. "Ah! Who wants a wild onion for dinner?" The pink haired girl draped the plant over her shoulders as they walked back to the thicket.

The two girls settled on the spongy forest floor, careful not to sit and flatten wild orchids. Before any preparations, they agreed to wait for Kiba's "all clear" first. The woods grew dimmer as the last sliver of a magenta sun surrendered to the blanket of night.

"I'm really happy for you." Sakura spoke quietly to her friend, "I know you've been waiting for Sato. You're in love with him."

Tama tucked her chin to her chest, smiling again, "I am. I'm much happier than I was. Things are so much better now."

"I can tell." Sakura shrugged so that the giant onion stalk slid from her shoulder, "I try not to talk about you and Sato in front of Kiba."

There was a silence as Tama gave the girl a strange look, her dark eyebrows furrowed, "Why not? I know that Kiba-kun doesn't really get along with-"

"Don't worry about it!" Sakura covered her tracks, surprised that Tama lacked even a faint inkling of how Kiba felt.

After a sharp rustle of foliage, Akamaru came bounding out of the darkness. The happy dog circled the girls twice before laying down between them. Kiba appeared after a moment, "Looks and smells good. I set up a couple of traps, too."

Sakura and Tama greeted him and dropped their findings, setting up a space for rest with near automatic motions.

"You found some things to eat too? Akamaru helped me dig up some potatoes." Kiba contributed four spuds to the pile, "We're pretty lucky this time around!"

"Oh!" Tama was intrigued, "You two never really told me what it was like during your first Chunin Exam."

Kiba exchanged a wordless glance with Sakura as he helped arrange twigs and kindling for a fire. The pink haired girl smiled tiredly when she turned to the other kunoichi.

"It was...a good experience, in some respects. It also had its low points." Sakura conceded, "We always hesitate to tell you about the time Sasuke was with our team. But if you're really interested in knowing, I see no problem with telling you what it was like."

"I would like to know." Tama confirmed.

"Well then," Kiba skewered the potatoes on pointed sticks, "At first it was great. When we started the Second Stage, which was also in the Forest of Death the last time...Sasuke was a thoughtful leader. We worked very well together." He chuckled darkly to himself, "I think we were all feeling pretty confident after we promptly collected a Heaven and an Earth scroll."

Sakura used a breath of flame to light a fire and then sat back. She rested her arms on her knees when she spoke, "But that Exam coincided with the Invasion, if you remember, Tama. Orochimaru was already here in the forest. From what I know, he was trying to test Sasuke, but he tormented all of us. He burned our Heaven Scroll. He threatened to kill us. We were too scared to move." She corrected herself sheepishly, "Actually, I was too scared. Kiba somehow got his nerve back and so did Sasuke."

"I didn't put up much of a fight." Kiba recalled glumly, "Sasuke nearly did, before that freak bit him on the neck."

Tama raised her hands to her mouth in shock and Sakura elaborated, "He put the Heaven seal on Sasuke, hoping to control him with it. He was unconscious for a long time after that. Kiba needed some time to recover too...and I had to fight off Sound ninja while they were out." Sakura shook her head, "I could have done better. It was a close call and I was lucky that other Leaf teams passed by to help me."

"Sasuke wasn't the same after he woke up." Kiba added, "Something was definitely wrong. And when he saw how hurt you were..." He looked at Sakura dolefully, "It was like he needed to kill someone. He was furious and maybe a little sad too. Sasuke really loved you a lot and that was the first time I was able to tell."

Tama gasped, "So that's how it was!"

"Not like it helped any." Sakura remarked scornfully, "After the Exam he drove our team straight into the ground and disgraced us all."

"It's not like he intended to make us suffer." Kiba defended as he watched the potatoes and mushrooms crisp over the fire.

"Kiba, he was unable to empathize with us. He was so obsessed with his own suffering and getting even with Itachi, that he was utterly incapable of seeing how much we were hurting." Sakura wrung her hands as she spoke, "I could have died trying to follow him when he left. You could have died on the Retrieval Mission; any of our friends could have! He was never sorry about the damage he caused as long as it meant he could get revenge."

In dead quiet, the teammates avoided each other's gazes uncomfortably. Tama removed the food from the fire and distributed it, "It was very hard for you both. I wish you didn't have to go through that pain and doubt when you were desperately trying to be his friend."

Kiba's wane smile was illuminated by firelight, "You are a much better friend than he ever was. You've only ever tried to help us feel better, like we're a real team." He looked at her and said with sincerity, "Thanks for everything, Tama. You make things so much easier."

Sakura nodded in agreement, "I couldn't be more grateful that you're here, it's true. Sorry to make you listen to all of this...but I prefer if you knew what it was like. Why you're so important to us."

"Thank you. But I know he's still a part of you, even if he's hurt you and Kiba. When Sasuke comes back I hope that you'd accept him as your true teammate." Tama requested, "He's going to need friends when he returns. He'll need you both."

Sakura shook her head solemnly, "He's not a true teammate. That's the problem. We'll always care about him, but I honestly don't know what I would do or say if he ever came back." Her breath trembled as she exhaled, "All I can ask is that he never hurts anyone again. Except for maybe his brother, I won't ever let it happen. I won't let him."

"Tama, I think we want you to stay. Permanently." Kiba clarified, "If Sasuke does come back to Konoha he probably wouldn't even have the clearance to participate on a team or missions. I'd try to help him, but I know nothing would ever be the same."

"I see." Tama murmured. She blew on the potato before taking a bite.

They ate dinner and talked about happier things, or rather, the subjects Sakura was most comfortable with. She clammed up and nearly had a bout of depressed introspection, but Sakura snapped herself out of it and marveled at what an incredible listener Tama was. They reduced the fire to a low smolder of cinders and then huddled up to sleep.

With Tama at the left, Sakura settled between her and Kiba in the cover of darkness. Akamaru had stretched out at their feet, only half-alert to the sounds of the woods. After a length of time passed, only Tama was able to fall asleep. Kiba spoke softly to Sakura.

"He really was sorry." Kiba assured her, "When I saw Sasuke in the Lightning Country...I could tell that if he had the chance to save either of us, he would."

"No, he won't. He would leave us high and dry again."

"Sakura, he will." Kiba pressed, "I think I reminded him that he can't do it all alone."

"I don't want to talk about him anymore." Sakura lowered her voice, "Go to sleep, Kiba-kun."

And somehow they slept.

At an unknowable, pre-dawn hour, Aroo the screech owl returned by himself. He landed beside Tama's head and fussed at strands of her hair until she stirred. She was not waking quickly. Determined, the owl hobbled ungracefully over the forest floor and arrived at Akamaru's muzzle. Aroo nudged the dog and then proceeded to walk across the large canine's body like it was a bridge. The owl thought it important to inform the group that a shinobi was watching them from the bushes.

Akamaru roused in time to hear the near inaudible crunch of a footstep, and with a murderous growl, alerted his human companions to the danger. There was a piercing screech before Aroo darted into the undergrowth and hooked his taloned feet onto the face of a lurking Genin.

"Wuh-holy-shi-!" A rustle and crash followed, "Get offa meee!"

By then Kiba was fully awake. In elegant synchronization, he was flanked by his two teammates as they dove into the tangle of ferns and orchids beside their campsite. They quickly apprehended the foolish spy who hoped to take advantage of a sleeping team.

He collapsed to the ground with a bloody face, and the young Genin sputtered his surrender.

"I just don't know what we're supposed to do!" The Rain ninja raised his hands submissively, "My teammates and I have never been in a Chunin Exam before, and our scroll was blank...we split up to find someone else's."

"You picked the wrong someone. I'll break your legs." Kiba warned, grasping the collar of the ninja's shirt in his fist, "We have done this before and we eat newbies like you for breakfast."

"It's almost time for breakfast now." Tama pointed out innocently, "I just mean that it's morning. Oh. No, we'd never eat a person!"

"Please let me go." The Rain ninja peeped, "I barely got out of a fight earlier...and I've got no chakra left. I've got nothing."

"He's full of it." Sakura chuckled, "I can tell he's perfectly healthy. He's just wasting time so his teammates can catch up to ambush us."

"Look for another team's scroll if you're having bad luck." Kiba told him, "But you won't get anywhere by challenging us." With fearsome strength, he hurled the chirping wimp of a shinobi into the thorny tangle of a juniper bush.

The Genin wailed as he retreated.

Kiba then elected that they should get going since they were already wide awake. Orange light began to saturate the dim edges of the forest. Akamaru was happy to receive praise for his quick reaction, and wagged his tail wildly as they began another trek. Aroo remained perched on Tama's shoulder.

"I think…Sato wanted Aroo to watch over us. Aroo must've told him that he found our team." The girl surmised.

"What a guy." Kiba grumbled.

"I couldn't be happier that he did that." Sakura folded her hands in thanks, "Thank you, cutie pie! We might have been robbed in our sleep!"

"Akamaru would have stopped him." Kiba insisted, patting the dog's head.

At daybreak, they continued on a northerly route through the forest.

---

By the shreds of light infiltrating the Forest of Death, Team Kurenai would occasionally stop and read the new scroll they had absconded with. They had to confirm their position a few times before feeling confident in the direction they had chosen. In order to obtain the clue, the team forsook sleep and hunted by night for unsuspecting Genin.

The triplet siblings from Kusagakure that Hinata spotted had somehow, purely by accident, eluded them until nightfall. In the darkness, the youngsters woke with shrill, petrified screams to find Kikaichu insects clambering over them to feast on chakra. Hinata and Shino both had identified the brother rolling in the dirt as the carrier of the team's scroll. Sato pounced on him and ruffled the ginger's hair as he pulled the scroll from the Grass nin's hip pouch, "Sorry, Carrot-Top!"

Sato leapt away in the dark, and the Grass team tottered around the clearing in bug-covered distress, unable to do anything about the theft. The Leaf team put considerable distance between themselves and their victims before examining the scroll they had taken.

"This looks about right." Sato murmured as he rolled it open, "Huh. Kinda looks like what Sai paints."

Hinata blinked at him curiously, "Who is Sai?"

"Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you guys that I have a new neighbor. He's an entry-level ANBU agent, but you didn't hear that from me. It's supposed to be classified." The Hatake rambled, "Shino, do you remember when Lee and Neji were talking about their artistic, obnoxious, substitute team mate? This is the guy! He really is that bad."

"I recall." Shino stated as he slipped his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah," Sato turned back to Hinata, "He' adapting. You should meet Sai sometime, Sunshine. I'm trying to help expose him to nice people. He may say weird things, though."

She clasped her hands in thought, "Maybe after the exam."

"You've digressed." Shino warned Sato, "What is on the scroll?"

"Oh, uh...it's still kind of dark."

The three of them squinted to get a look. Picturesque trees and deer in the scene surrounded a large circle with markings. Eventually, they agreed it was a clock. It seemed completely out of place in the wilderness. Something seemed off about the circle and its symbols. A tiny, ink footprint was just below ten o'clock.

"Ha! I'm stumped." Sato laughed, "What is this supposed to mean?"

Hinata accepted the scroll when he handed it off to her. She pursed her lips and deliberated, "Its meaning could be figurative or literal."

"It is literal." Shino confirmed simply. His team mates gave him surprised looks.

"Rather, it's physical. The main arm of that clock is sloped and there is a shadow beside it, so one can infer that it is set by the time of day." Shino went on, "A sundial. Why should we expect it to be physical? Someone has stepped on it." They looked back to the footprint in the drawing, "We will find one in the forest somewhere."

"And when we find it…maybe the time of day reflected on it will tell us something important." Hinata tried to build on the idea.

"Perhaps." Shino agreed.

"Then it's a good thing we're getting started at dawn. If that thing goes by the height of the sun, then there's a chance we might miss something and need to wait for the next morning." Sato observed, and he wilted as he added, "But that means…we'll be awake for a whole day again..."

Hinata sighed softly in disappointment, "It may not be wise to rest even when we need it. At night we can, but until then we have to search."

"We can rest inside the tower." Shino asserted.

"You really think we're going to get there that quick?" Sato snickered, "Shino if I gave you a whip I'd bet you'd crack it at us!"

Shino said nothing while he and Hinata giggled. Just then, Aree landed on Sato's head.

"Hey girl." He held out his arm for her, "Where's your brother?"

The tiny owl hooted as it perched on his sleeve.

"No way! Tama's team? Good!" Sato nodded happily and held a conversation with the bird.

Hinata whispered sidelong to Shino, "How does Sato-kun understand?"

"He doesn't."

Somehow, the language gap was a non-issue. Sato had learned that Aroo was escorting Tama and her team, that Aree had witnessed several nasty fights, and had even learned that a high-level barrier was surrounding the tower and preventing anyone and everything from getting within five meters of it. As she was the inquisitive type, Aree tested it by dropping a rock on the transparent barrier and watched it bounce off. She turned back to find Sato after that.

"I think he does understand." Hinata whispered.

Sato let Aree glimpse their scroll, "Seen any areas with deer or a sundial? That's where we're headed."

The owl tooted an affirmative and then took off.

"Alright then," Sato spun on his heel and ushered his team mates along, "We may be tired, but at least we know where to go!"

They started out strong, but as the morning wore on and they followed the bird zipping through leaves and bramble, the lack of sleep began to catch up with them. For fear of exhausting herself, Hinata only used her blood limit sparingly. At one point during the hike, Shino asked them to halt and take cover.

A coat-tail of moss that hung over a toppled tree concealed the Leaf team briefly as they watched a trio of Dream ninja race by. They also appeared to be searching for something.

"Hmf, looks like they got some rest..." Sato muttered enviously, "They're hauling ass in that armor of theirs."

"A confrontation with that team would have been unfavorable." Shino noted, "Once they are out of range we can continue."

Aree waited patiently until it was clear again, and then pressed on to guide her shinobi companions.

By noon, Shino estimated that the owl had brought them a quarter-way down from their position in the circular forest. They were standing exactly halfway between the surrounding fence and where the central tower was located.

Although the deer depicted in the drawing were nowhere in sight, the owl did deliver them to a clearing that was ringed with pine trees. A huge and conspicuous sundial was emblazoned on the ground. The team took a moment to catch their breath. Aree flitted from Sato's shoulder into the underbrush after a mouse.

"So now what?" Sato rested his hands on his hips.

They walked around the circumference of the time installation, which was about five meters wide. The thing was littered with pine needles and cones, dirty and weathered, as if it had sat there untouched for decades. The noon shadow was nearly at its peak.

Shino allowed a few Kikaichu insects to explore and see what they could learn about such an oddity.

"I don't see the point of something like this being all the way out here in the wilderness." Sato announced as he began to sweep debris off of the sundial with his foot.

"It isn't something that would be especially helpful to Genin." Hinata agreed, "But surely it was put here for a purpose."

"Genin are not the only ones who enter the Forest of Death." Shino reminded them.

"Well yeah, Kakashi did say that Jounin are permitted to come here whenever they want. They can train and participate in secret drills." Sato folded his arms, "Do they use this thing?"

"Maybe...but sundials only stay in one place and are not extremely accurate with time." Hinata added.

"This one is." Shino noticed, "It has been maintained, possibly reset this past spring."

"Why bother?" Sato gruffed as he began walking around the circle again.

Hinata observed the fixture with her Byakugan, hoping to rule out the possibility of hidden messages. Instead she saw an off-center hole hidden beneath the stone slab. It provided an entrance to a dark space far below ground, which, she could only assume, was a place they ought to get to. There was a track beneath the sundial that facilitated the movement of a hidden door. Finding the means to open it would be their next goal.

"There is a passageway beneath it." Hinata reported, "But I am not sure how the door opens."

"Whoa! This thing has got some inner cogs or something?" Sato was excited.

"A few of them." She concluded her analysis, "I think we'll need to move the arm."

They gathered around to look for grooves and other structural hints. After brushing aside a blanket of pine needles they discovered divots in the stone. From what they could tell, they would need to push the sloped gnomon arm from its position at twelve towards ten. That detail had also been alluded to in the scroll, as they recalled the footprint at that position.

Sadly, the gnomon would not budge. It trembled and resisted with a squeaking whine. Hinata puffed tiredly after pushing on it. She backed away to let the two young men ram it with their combined strength, but the arm stood unfazed. Frustrated, Sato wrestled with it for a short time before giving up. Shino inquisitively poked around the decorative support bar beneath the gnomon.

He decided to pull it loose just as Sato leaned back to rest on the arm. Abruptly, the narrow appendage collapsed without its support, and it fell almost flush into a groove on the stone face. Sato landed hard and bumped the back of his head.

"Shino...would it kill you to warn me?" He pouted up at his friend.

"It will move now." The Aburame assured them.

"Everything lined up!" Hinata confirmed, stealing a peak at the mechanism below with her Byakugan.

Hopeful once again, Sato rolled over and got a grip on the exposed tip of the arm. Slowly, it slid with a squeak towards "ten" as he pushed it. A grating sound of stone rumbled behind them, and Hinata and Shino turned to watch a quarter of the sundial slip aside to reveal the passage below.

"Phew!" Sato stood up and wiped his brow, "Secret Jounin tunnel!"

Hinata peeked over the edge into the absolute dark that lay underground.

"I will be able to see very little." She admitted, "There are no torches or overhead lights."

"I'll give us some light." Sato assured her. He turned to his best friend with a grin, "So Shino, why don't you lead the way? I bet there's nothing down there that can scare you."

Without a word, Shino plunged into the hatch without a second thought.

---

Team Gai was mildly discouraged. After doing a sweep of a whole third of the Forest of Death, their search yielded nothing. By nightfall they had stopped to hunt and gather food. Near the bank of a stream, Lee had constructed a lean-to with some assistance from Tenten.

They built a fire and tried to look on the bright side. While they had not found a single crumb of a hint that related to their scroll's drawing, the team was in good health. They'd had no encounters with other teams or perils of the forest. It had been rather boring, actually.

By evening of the first day, Neji's frustration had been made clear by his sharp comments and frantic, scowling survey of each area they passed through. Lee counteracted his negativity with suggestions and cheerfulness, and Tenten had made a few attempts at optimism before she went quiet for the rest of the day. Neither Neji nor Lee understood what Tenten's silence was about.

That night as they ate grilled fish off a fire, Lee asked how she was feeling.

"I just lost confidence in our group today, that's all. It seemed like every time I made a suggestion, at least after the idea I had this morning…I was ignored every time." Tenten replied bluntly, "The both of you sometimes...I don't know. You go into this frenzy. Like you couldn't waste a single second in order to find the way ahead! You both try to solve a problem while practically orbiting each other."

Neji and Lee exchanged a bemused glance.

"You need to learn how to back off and breathe; the both of you." She scolded, "And try listening to me more. We might have found that stupid bear if you took some of what I said into consideration."

"Please know that I am very sorry." Lee apologized sincerely from his seat, bowing slightly, "I never meant to exclude you, Tenten!"

"It's alright."

Neji looked at her with the same expression he always wore when he believed he was not at fault. But slowly the reality sunk in. He was aware that Tenten had been trying to communicate with him since the start; that he was not behaving nearly up to the standard she expected. He was back to his irritable, hair-trigger ways. He sighed heavily. It was Neji's hope that he had vastly improved since the previous exam, and even if he had, his attitude certainly hadn't. Tenten would not let it stand.

"Your input will not be ignored again." Neji promised her.

Even when he said it, she still looked severely annoyed. Tenten chomped on skewered fish and made no effort to talk to him.

As the night grew deeper, Neji had the distinct feeling that Tenten had taken his behavior personally. She responded to Lee when he discussed a plan of action, but her shoulders were tightly shrugged and her mouth pursed. If he'd had some foresight, Neji may have curbed his cynicism a bit more to avoid his girlfriend's disapproval. Never mind that he could not afford to have poor team communication at a time like this; he had actively been trying to please Tenten and become closer to her. But her having to spend the whole day with a pessimist had probably curdled the romance, he guessed. It was quite the stumble on his part.

When it was time to sleep, leaves and moss had been arranged beneath the lean-to as a cushion. Lee dozed off with ease. At the center of their huddle, Neji laid flat on his back and stopped thinking about the Second Stage for the first time in eight hours. He turned his head slightly to the left where Tenten was bunched in a ball. Her weapon-scroll and sword were piled beside her and within reach, in case of an attack.

He looked at her like that for a while and felt calmer. Neji reached out and touched her back.

She grunted in annoyance at him.

He replied quietly, "I know that I disappointed you."

"Well that's good." She snarked.

"I won't continue to." Neji added helpfully, "Since the Second Stage began I have been thinking too far ahead. I've been impatient." His hand relocated to her side, "Before the exam began you could already tell that I wasn't concentrating enough, and you tried to warn me."

"I did." Tenten agreed.

Neji shut his eyes and said, "I will only listen to you from here on out."

She rolled over, surprised, "Uh." She felt his head, "Are you well?"

"I will be. Tomorrow you can expect better from me."

"I think I already knew tomorrow would be easier, it's just...don't worry too much, Neji. I understand. I know what's going on in your head." Tenten said quietly.

He nodded and then stretched out his arm. She got the idea and shifted over to rest there, closer to him.

"I didn't like what you did before."

"What? When I wouldn't talk?" Tenten smiled slightly, "To you?"

"That." Neji confirmed, pulling her closer.

"I was only a little mad. I would have gotten over it."

"I don't want to make you feel that way." His voice was the softest she had ever heard it. Neji's mouth was level with her forehead, touching the cool metal of her hitai-ate.

"I know, and I don't want to make you upset either. Especially not out here." Tenten acknowledged, "And remember we've been much, much angrier at each other in the past...on some occasions. Those were knockout fights."

Oh, of course he remembered those. The biggest fight had been over Hinata, after the previous Chunin Exam. His poor treatment of his younger cousin had incensed Tenten, resulting in a violent duel and then a furious reprimand from Gai.

Neji carefully slipped up her headband and kissed the skin there. He was sorry. He would always be sorry about that. How Tenten had been completely right about Hinata, about standing up for her, and Neji was entirely insulted that she had not sided with him instead.

He felt her fingertips trace the side of his face, and her other hand pressed into the warmth of his shirt. She murmured indistinctly before fitting her lips to his. Neji only remembered kissing her for a long while before falling asleep.

At dawn, Lee shook them awake. He had found his teammates entwined and snoring softly.

"Neji! Tenten! It is light out and I think we should spend as much time as possible on our search." He had a hand on each of their shoulders, "Please wake up and try not to fight today."

Tenten raised her head up, fussing at the crust in the corners of her eyes, "Lee...of course. We won't fight, promise."

"Neji is squeezing you." Lee observed innocently.

"I know. I think he'll be in a better mood today." She pried her boyfriend off and gave his cheek a light pat, "Hey fearless leader, up and at 'em!"

Neji made low sounds of reluctance. While he stirred from a deep sleep, Lee notified Tenten that he had packed a few pieces of dried fish and replenished their water stores. She thanked him for his thoughtfulness as she pulled on the sash of her sword and weapon-scroll. They took a short while to prepare and then set out.

As Tenten had expected, Neji was far less irritable than he had been the day before. While using his Byakugan later that morning, he could see that they were on a collision course with a team of young Sand ninja. Not interested in a scuffle that could delay them further, Neji led his teammates along a small ridge to avoid the other team.

On the opposite side of the land formation, the Leaf team dropped down into the tawny cover of a sequoia grove. No sooner had their feet touched the chips and mulch of the forest floor, a piercing, otherworldly scream rang out and was silenced. The three ninja paused and attempted to identify the sound.

"I think we may have avoided a puny team only to walk into something worse." Tenten speculated, "Can you see anything, Neji?"

He was already on the lookout, holding his head very still as he regarded the forest ahead of them. "A lot has been going on here." Neji reported as he began to walk forward, "And I recommend the two of you be prepared. I don't know if the danger has passed yet."

Without questioning Neji's assessment, Lee and Tenten followed him without speaking, tense, and carefully approached a battle site laden with mangled trees. Towards the center of the forest glade, a singular, gargantuan sequoia tree still stood, complete with a huge nest in its topmost branches.

Everything surrounding it had been bent and cut, providing evidence of an earlier fight. Near the edge of the tree line, Neji held out his arm and stopped his team. He pointed out a pool of hours-old blood and the spattering that led away from the clearing.

"Someone retreated." Neji supposed, "With extensive injuries. If not one Genin, then probably the whole team."

"Looking at this." Tenten gestured to the mess, "I'm thinking wounds like that would force any team to retire early from the exam. It'd be a death sentence otherwise."

"Yes, though it seems as though this attack happened long before we got here." Lee observed, "If that is so, then what was that sound we heard a short time ago?"

Tenten gave him a mystified look.

"A second attack which occurred recently." Neji said as he turned to look towards the opposite side of the grove, "And some carnage is left over from it."

They followed him towards a heaping mess. The team discovered the once-resident of the lofty nest in the sequoia tree: an enormous eagle had been cut apart.

"This beast may have attacked another team." Lee rubbed his chin, "And...they retaliated savagely."

Tenten stared into the open, glassy eye of the recently decapitated eagle, "The first team was chased away by this lug and then the second one..." She shuddered, "So now we should worry about who did this?"

"Maybe we don't have to worry." Neji ventured, taking steps towards the central sequoia. He laid his hand on the trunk and stared in silence. "This tree is hollow." Abruptly, his head snapped up and he made a chakra-fueled leap to reach a branch, "This way." Neji prompted his team.

Lee and Tenten followed him for the ascent. Near the top, the team paused beside the empty nest and noted a conspicuous, person-sized hole in the bark of the tree. It was not a natural feature. Neji finished determining the strange phenomenon as a breeze swayed the highest branches.

"This is an entrance to a hidden passage." Neji explained, "The trunk leads down into an unlit chamber, with a tunnel that continues underground. The team that was here shortly before us is now proceeding through it."

"Can you tell which team it is?" Tenten wondered.

"I cannot."

"Now that we have arrived at such a critical juncture...is it wise for us to keep searching for the clue in our scroll?" Lee asked, holding up their scribble-drawing, "It may save time to use this passage, provided that we do not come to blows with the team ahead of us."

"I would rather not do that." Tenten agreed gravely.

"We will use this chute. The tunnel's end will feed into the basement of the Forest's tower." Neji announced, scrutinizing with the full strength of his Byakugan, "Considering that we're already here, there's no point in searching for another entrance. However, it would be best to avoid the other team and let them stay ahead of us."

They agreed it was the best course of action. Lee tucked away their scroll, silently apologizing to the poorly drawn clue they were unable to locate. It only made sense to take advantage of a path directly in front of them.

Lee lined up first to squeeze through the gap in the bark into the hollow of the tree.

"Do you suppose the bear's cave was the entrance we might have used?" Lee pondered, bracing with his hands and feet as he shimmied down the cylindrical space.

"It might have been." Tenten figured, "That, or it was the bear's stomach."

Neji followed after Lee, making sure the descent was stable as they carefully made their way down. After he had climbed down several meters, he asked Tenten to follow. Though Neji kept it to himself, he preferred Tenten having a cushioned landing in the event of a fall more than her being the cushion. It was a tiresome task to clamber down the chute, growing darker as they went. They took their time with the climb.

Lee yelped in the blackness and, by the sound of it, slipped and fell. A moment later he informed his team that he was fine.

"Ah, I lost track of the wall. The opening widened! Please mind your step." They could hear Lee's footsteps on a floor below, "I have made it to the bottom but it was quite a drop!"

Neji was able to anticipate it as he felt the tree hollow sloping away from his hands. He took a calculated leap from the funnel opening and landed successfully on concrete. He nearly toppled onto Lee in the dark. The tunnel was uncomfortably narrow. A minute later, Tenten shrieked as she lost her footing.

During the fall she propelled herself blindly in the dark and latched onto the tunnel wall with chakra. They could only hear her ragged breathing before she spoke, "I think...I'm out. Where's the floor?"

"You are not far above it." Lee assessed unhelpfully. He had his hands out in the pitch, trying to get an idea of where the tunnel would lead.

Neji located her with an outstretched hand, inadvertently brushing her thigh. Tenten made a small sound before realizing that there was no danger of breaking her neck if he could reach her. She sheepishly hopped down and identified Neji with her hands, prodding his shoulder, hair, and face, "Ah, I thought that was you. So what do you think, Neji? Stay in the dark, or not?"

"For now," Neji gently tugged her along to where Lee was patting stone walls, "The dark. It's better not to alert the other team."

"I wonder how they got through here?" Tenten mused, "They were quick."

They bumped into Lee's back and all folded like an accordion.

"This space may not be booby-trapped if they passed without difficulty." Lee speculated.

"From what I glimpsed, it isn't." Neji assured them, "It is a long path, however."

Tenten linked arms with Lee as he continued his wall-crawl through the passage, "Then we don't need to rush." She laced her free hand with Neji's and pulled him forward, "Being blind isn't so bad when you're ahead of schedule, huh?"

---

By the afternoon, Kiba's tracking skills had allowed his team to locate what could be their desired location. He and Akamaru had stopped in a patch of forest littered with burrows.

"This doesn't have a giant-mammal smell to it, so it's more than likely an insect." He assessed, "Now we just need to figure out which of these is our way into the tower."

"It would be a shame if we have to check each hole." Tama lamented.

"It would." Sakura agreed, referring back to their scroll, "Or maybe the centipede in this clue will point us towards the one we want."

"Well, where is that thing?" Kiba leapt down into a hole and his voice carried up to his team, "Akamaru and I don't smell it. It's either way underground or it's gone on vacation."

Tama pointed out the thicket of vines depicted in the scroll, "This is the only other feature we can look for. Maybe the bug won't go beyond this point?"

"I'd rather check there first before we begin diving into every burrow we see. Just to be thorough." Sakura agreed, "The area we want should be just over that hill, due east."

Kiba returned above ground to help them search, and Akamaru's nose worked overtime as they began to pick through dense vegetation. It was not the scents so much as the sounds that coaxed them onward. It began to get noisy as they entered a jungle-like grove, its curtain of vines cascaded down from the canopy as the scroll depicted.

"That," Kiba recognized, "Is shouting."

It was another team. Akamaru confirmed it as they skirted around creepers and roots. They took a good look at the team that had accidentally come across the mammoth centipede before them.

Fujita looked infinitesimal beside the gigantic creature, scurrying bravely through brush. The burst from his small Rotation knocked the bug face-first into Chouji's Human Bullet Tank technique. With a clicking screech, the insect was thrown across the clearing and tangled in tree vines. Kiba's team was noticed after a few moments.

"Hey guys!" Ino called down to them cheerily from a tree branch, "Want to join us for some exercise? I let the boys have at it first."

"Ino!" Sakura leapt up to join her, frantic, "We need that thing! It's part of the clue in our scroll."

"Oh?" The blonde kunoichi immediately accepted the idea, "I see. Right, I'll tell-"

They watched in horror as Chouji effectively squashed the giant insect with his Multi-Size Technique.

"Chouji!" Ino roared, "Sakura's team needed that bug! You just killed it!"

Chouji and Fujita turned around slowly to face her, abashed. Ino gnashed her teeth at them, "We just ruined their clue for the exam, so now we're going to owe them. What do you have to say about that?"

Chouji and their first-timer companion returned to the gathered teams and apologized sincerely. Kiba merely shrugged, "Eh, it's alright. We know where to go. We wanted to use it to narrow down which path was the right one."

"There's a path, Kiba-kun?" Fujita asked curiously. He nodded calmly and patted the boy's shoulder.

"Yes, Sakura-chan determined that we will find an alternative entrance to the tower somewhere." Tama informed them, "Ours is most likely in that insect's burrow. One of them, anyway."

"Oh...we didn't quite figure out what our clue meant yet." Chouji admitted.

"Well," Sakura gave them a proposal as she tapped her chin, "If you three don't mind helping us look around, I don't see why you can't use the tunnel we're looking for. How about it?"

Team Asuma happily agreed to the terms. They returned to the field of endless burrows to begin the hunt for the correct hole. After perusing, the teams determined that some holes were shallow and interconnected. Akamaru loped about with his nose pressed to the dirt, and began turning in odd directions. Kiba and Fujita followed the hound closely.

The path they chose began a downward slope into darkness. Fujita took a gander with his Byakugan, "There is a passageway further down! We won't have any light, but it's paved and empty."

"Good enough for me." Kiba grinned before calling back to their friends, "Get over here, everyone. We've struck pay dirt!"

After a time the large group assembled again. Kiba and Akamaru headed the expedition as the rest followed behind with slight apprehension. Other than the scent-driven leaders guiding them, Tama was the least afraid. Ino had taken her and Sakura by their wrists and held tight, making sure Chouji was no more than a step behind her in the pitch black.

A short way into the underground stroll, Sakura admitted that there was no way of knowing if danger awaited them in the dark, "Other teams could be using the same route as us...and we don't know if traps were set up."

Further into the newly discovered passageway, Ino considered aloud, "Could you imagine if we had to fight down here?"

"I don't want to." Fujita replied timidly.

"It wouldn't go well." Sakura agreed, "Then again, we probably outnumber any threat that we could run into."

"Don't jinx it, Sakura-chan." Tama was laughing softly.

"Oh great!" Ino whimpered at the notion, "Now we're going to get a swarm of who-knows-what or a pack of rats."

"That would be the least of our worries." Kiba said from the front, "I'm only trying to sniff out shinobi. We'd be in trouble trying to not take friendly fire down here. We could beat the hell out of each other and not realize it."

"Or to avoid that, I could plug up the tunnel and mow enemies down." Chouji suggested.

With that, Fujita and Ino pushed Chouji ahead to be positioned beside Kiba. The Inuzuka-Akimichi pair seemed the most capable of dealing with an unseen threat.

Sakura sighed at the chicken-livered maneuver, "You do know that leaves our rear unguarded, right?"

"I'll protect everyone." Tama assured her friends, "I've never been afraid of the dark, and I know Kiba-kun would smell a problem in advance if there was one. I will cover the rear if there's a threat."

"You're too brave, Tama..." Sakura chided her. Ino and Fujita were clinging to Tama's arms by that point as they proceeded.

And they discovered, after picking up the pace, that their walk would be a long one. Sakura took a guess that it would be nearly sun set above ground. They all elected to make a run for it when several people reported needing a restroom, "And we probably shouldn't do something like that down here." Tama noted.

Kiba deemed the way clear and then asked Akamaru to hurry ahead. The group began a race towards the end of the tunnel. For a time they continued without interruption. When something dropped from the cavern ceiling onto Ino's shoulder, a riotous, echoing-scream-conniption ensued.

"Ino-chan!" Fujita managed to locate her in the dark and corralled her towards the group.

"It's okay!" Tama and Sakura restrained her. Everyone came to a screeching halt.

Whatever had landed on Ino leapt away in fright and began circling Tama's feet. In the dimness Tama could barely make it out, but the kunoichi bent down to scoop up a field mouse, "Ino-chan...it's just a-"

"Don't say it." Ino cut her off, "I humiliated myself enough. Let's just…keep going."

Tama set the mouse free and they moved on. Kiba and Chouji chuckled about the ordeal for the rest of the way until a shred of distant light became visible. Motivated, the group nearly sprinted towards an exit which was, surprisingly, underwhelming when they arrived.

They were in the bottom-most portion of the Forest of Death's tower. Torches blazed on the walls of the room and support pillars, casting long shadows on the floor. The musty air was stifling. The group walked into the atrium in silence, somewhat confused by the environment.

"Look." Sakura spoke up, pointing to another tunnel exit further away, "I had a feeling there would be other passages that would lead here."

Kiba bent down and rubbed Akamaru's flank, frowning to himself, "Other teams got here before we did. Smells like it, anyway." He stood upright and gestured his head towards a staircase wedged between pillars, "I bet we'll see them on the next level."

Both tired and determined to find the restroom, the combined Leaf teams trudged up the long flight of steps to the ground floor. Akamaru perked up and excitedly bounded over to familiar faces. Welcoming hands patted the dog's head, mussing at his floppy ears.

Hinata and Sato were relieved that their comrades had made it. They clamored for their friends to join them while they pet the happy ninken. Shino stood nearby and did not say a word, but he was vaguely amiable as well.

"So you beat us!" Sakura marched up to Hinata and embraced the girl happily, "I want to know how you did it! Were you the first team here?"

"We were." Hinata confirmed it with a nod, "Our team began with a blank scroll, so we needed to consult with another team's clue."

"No way!" Kiba was dumbfounded, "We had a clue from the start and it still took us forever."

"We put in double-overtime with our tracking. We even skipped sleeping." Sato informed them with a grin, "Shino only let us get some rest after we made it here."

The Hatake warmly regarded Tama as she pointed Fujita and Ino towards a doorway marked "lavatory." She turned around with a soft sigh and caught Sato winking an eye at her.

Kiba refrained from gagging at the sight. He folded his arms and glanced around. He noticed Neji, Lee, and Tenten seated a few paces away and eating what looked like leftover fish they had caught in the forest. Chouji had noticed Team Gai as well and also decided to check on them.

"How did it go for you guys?" Kiba wondered, "I'm not surprised that you were on the early side."

"We are glad that you made it, Kiba-kun, Chouji-kun!" Lee greeted his friends with a wave, "We were the third team to arrive. Your teams are tied for fourth place, I suppose."

"Third?" Chouji was puzzled, "Who was Second, then?"

Neji inclined his head, ushering them to look at the far side of the room. On the wall opposite them were three young men standing clustered together, seemingly repulsed by their Leaf ninja company.

"They're the team from Iwagakure." Tenten kept her voice down, "We actually used the same tunnel that they did."

"And judging from the amount of damage they inflicted on one of the Forest's beasts, it would be wise to avoid them." Neji recommended, "They are dangerous."

Lee added, "Yet we say this in spite of the fact we have not properly introduced ourselves. I remain hopeful that they are a civil team." He dusted his hands of crumbs, "I will introduce myself now."

"Lee, you can't seriously want to talk to them!" Tenten was mortified, "They didn't try to approach us. I'm sure they have their reasons."

Kiba's smile was cocked and he rumbled with laughter, "If anyone should try saying hello to them, Lee is the only emissary fit for that job."

Chouji politely inquired if they had any leftover fish to spare and Tenten handed him a skewer. Lee stood up and began to cross over to the second-place team. Tenten merely shook her head as Neji calmly continued eating. There was no point in trying to talk their teammate out of it.

Lee stopped a short distance away from the Rock trio and raised a hand in greeting. "I wanted to extend congratulations to you for making it into the tower so quickly! My name is Rock Lee."

The team stared at him suspiciously.

"Why not introduce yourselves? We may be waiting here for a few days before the Second Stage terminates. You could join me and my friends if you like."

With a heavy foreign accent the shortest Rock ninja replied, "Ga-Fen." He extended a hand to shake and Lee delightedly did so, "Kuang Ga-Fen. This is my big brother, Qin." He gestured to the taller, brawnier young man beside him, "We won't be joining your group, sorry to say."

"That is alright. I wanted to tell you that you were welcome." Lee replied, noticing the dark quality of the third member of their team who stood behind them.

He stared back at Lee, resembling a regal leopard with his narrow face and posture. Oddly, the Manchurian hairstyle of the last team member was highly characteristic, if antiquated, of Han customs. The front of his head was shaved bare, and jet black hair was left at the back in a long, tight braid. It was all too familiar. Lee took a chance and asked in Hanwen, I am sorry, but I did not get your name?

The unnamed ninja stared at him for a moment before a sly smirk spread on his face, And I am Huo.

It is a pleasure to meet you.

If you say so, Rock Lee. Huo's smile widened.

Ga-Fen cleared his throat to excuse the testy remark, continuing the conversation in their mother-tongue, Are you a descendant of Iwa's Han people?

No, in fact my family came directly from the Middle Kingdom.

So you must be a weak ninja. Huo supposed, The Kingdom's vagrants always struggle to learn Ninjutsu. What a waste they are…

Qin added his two-cents, It's better to be born here in the shinobi nations.

I was born in the Fire Country, Lee defended politely, And I do not agree with your assessment.

Qin, you fuckhead, Mom is from the Kingdom of Han. Ga-Fen muttered angrily, You respect her as a ninja, don't you?

Everyone should respect their mother. Qin concurred, Just not this dumbshit in front of us. I can tell he's a wuss by looking at him. Huo could tell right away.

It's his name. Huo determined, It is profoundly stupid.

Lee gently clasped his hands and drew upon the last semblance of dignity in his soul, concluding, I seem to have made a poor impression. Please excuse me for now, and best of luck to you…

Huo folded his arms and sniffed, Where do you think you're going?

To return to my team.

Ah, well if you're going to do that, ask all of your Leaf comrades what they will miss the most. I would like to know. Huo requested.

Why do you care to know that?

Is it their eyes or their heads? Their fingers? Before I kill each of you in the next stage, it's only prudent to collect mementos. He said it in all seriousness.

Lee looked from Huo to the two brothers standing beside him, marveling at their undisguised malevolence. Perhaps they did share a degree of patriotism, if he squinted, but Lee felt as if he was having an interview with barefaced sociopaths.

He turned smoothly on his heel and crossed back to the safe side of the room. Surely, Lee thought as he walked, shinobi from Iwagakure were not so bad. These Genin may have been outliers among their population. He had found it strange that they were all speakers of Hanwen, a discovery which went from happy coincidence to catastrophe in a matter of seconds.

By then, Neji and Tenten were standing and extremely aware of the horrified look on Lee's face. He stopped beside his teammates, making sure to keep his back facing towards the Rock shinobi. Lee could feel them watching.

"What happened?" Tenten asked softly.

"That went far worse than I ever could have expected." Lee announced.

"You didn't have to talk to them." Neji pointed out.

"I know, but they spoke Hanwen. I believed we had something in common." Lee admitted, "But we could not be more different."

"It figures. There is something about them, at least the long-haired guy..." Tenten muttered, "He looks familiar to me, but he...has a vibe."

"A vibe." Neji repeated to himself, half-amused.

"I'm serious." The kunoichi grumbled, "He's the one who killed that bird. Probably."

Lee nodded somberly, "I think he is the one. Huo. He was unkind and threatened to kill all of us in Stage Three." He added flatly, "He truly meant it."

"He has no weapon that could have sundered an animal so large." Neji noted the gaping hole in the theory.

"Some people don't need weapons to cut things." Tenten poked Neji in the ribs, "Remember, Wind-Nature-prodigy? We don't know what kind of jutsu any of the foreign teams can use yet."

"Forgive me for not wanting to give them any credit." Neji replied, "When do I ever?"

She chuckled at the notion. Lee was still having difficulty returning to his light-hearted mood. Tenten walked him over to the other Leaf teams to cheer up, patting his back gently. Neji watched as they departed and stayed in his place on the wall. His eyes strayed towards the Rock team again. They were loitering and he could see their lips move as they conversed. Then, the one Lee had called Huo began staring across the room. His gaze rested on Lee and Tenten, and then it remained on Tenten as she parted from the group for the restroom.

Neji would have liked to have thought nothing of it, expecting other teams to size up Leaf competitors while they could...

But when Tenten returned Huo was watching. When she stopped to speak to Sakura and Hinata, when she squeezed past her group of friends and returned to Neji's side...Huo looked at her as if she had a neon sign glowing above her head. There was no explaining it. Disturbed, Neji stared back and mustered as much intimidation as his reputation and lineage could afford him. It seemed as though the Rock ninja did not notice. Even when Huo's teammates took their turns for the restroom, leaving him alone, he stared with the same tenacity as a guillotine blade positioned over an exposed human neck.

After ten minutes of relentless scrutiny from the hateful Rock shinobi, and a poor attempt at conversation with Tenten, Neji felt a body-block might at least deter the awkwardness a little. In a businesslike manner, Neji held her by her upper-arms and swiveled Tenten, flattening her against the wall. Then he leaned over her like what he saw men do in those sappy magazines, bracing an arm above her head.

There. The rotten Iwa nin could stare at the back of his head for all he cared. 'Feast your eyes, you degenerate.'

"Neji-?" Tenten snapped him out of his inner spiral of anger, "Not like it's an issue...but I don't find this very like you."

"What?"

"Standing like this."

"Endure it. You're being watched."

"Oka-aay. Care to explain why that's bothering you so much?" She raised her eyebrows a margin.

"The Rock Genin."

"Oh." Tenten understood, "So you finally felt that vibe? I told you."

"He wants to kill you."

"Hm. Lee said he wants to kill us all." She reminded him casually.

"But he will start with you, Tenten." Neji cautioned her, "And I cannot determine why that is."

"Well, I hate to make this a pissing contest, but I bet I could kill him faster."

He did not want to smile so he only let the corner of his mouth slant up a little. Sometimes, Neji acknowledged deep down inside, he found Tenten's sense of humor absolutely essential.

"And never mind that," Tenten went on, still completely relaxed, "He's outnumbered, he's being cocky, and I have never seen you this protective before. You could wind-chop him just by blinking too hard at him."

"I am being protective." Neji agreed, deciding he could dial it back a bit. He moved to lean away from her but she shook her head.

"No, no. Stay where you are or you'll ruin it."

He didn't understand what she meant until he glimpsed their friends from the corner of his eye. There was Lee, along with Team Kakashi, Team Kurenai, and Team Asuma rivetedly observing him in his magazine-ad position with his publically acknowledged girlfriend. It had become a spectacle.

Sato cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Shit, Neji, don't just stand there leaving us in suspense! We want to see you ki-!"

The Hatake ate a full-force Air Palm.

---

By nightfall, only one additional team had arrived in the tower and trudged up the stairs. It was a team of young, worn-out looking Sand ninja. Neji watched the group enter the restroom to splash their faces with water at the sink. After that, they too settled down to sleep for the night.

The Leaf teams had "circled the wagons" and huddled together to rest. Earlier, Lee had kindly warned the other Leaf teams to be wary of the team of Rock ninja. After that, he had told Neji and Tenten more of the deranged things that Huo had said. They took the warning to heart.

While the group slept, Neji stayed awake and alert. He was a naturally vigilant individual, but tonight his utmost attentiveness was required. Neji was not about to let his guard down just because they had arrived in the tower early. They were, after all, accompanied by some very unsavory competitors.

Diagonal beams of moonlight shined down through overhead windows. The Leaf group's breathing and snoring was a symphony. After a long while of peace, Lee had thrashed awake twice in the night, highly anxious. Neji reassured him without a word, pressing the heel of his hand against Lee's shoulder until his friend settled down again.

Neji sat in silence beside Tenten and Lee, his arms lax at his sides and his head heavy. The errant tip of his finger traced the skin of Tenten's arm while she slept. In the late hours past midnight, Neji felt the atmosphere of the place change. The stillness in the air and traces of light shivered in the room. On the far side of the hall where the team of Iwa ninja lay, Huo's eyes had opened. He stared in silence at the same objective he had fixated on that evening.

'I wasn't imagining a murderous lunatic on the lookout after all.' Neji thought to himself, 'And what Lee said was not comforting…' He had been as protective and cautious as he needed to be, Neji assessed. He had no way to tell if the prowler had been feigning sleep or not, or had actually gotten some blessed shut-eye before resuming his disturbing watch.

The night dragged on and so did the staring match. Neji's stubborn disposition may have won out. Huo looked away a few times and skimmed over the other sleeping occupants of the tower. Eventually, he seemed to fall asleep again, but Neji refused to buy it. When the sun rose and shinobi began to stir and awaken, he was not feeling nearly as stalwart.

Tenten quietly reprimanded him when she woke up, "Neji! You should have rotated with someone if you were going to keep watch all night."

He shrugged it off.

She sat up beside him and stretched, "You don't do well without beauty sleep. You've got two shiners and no one punched you."

"Are you sure?"

"Quite." Tenten smiled, "Why don't you get some rest now? Everyone else is up so we should be fine. You don't need to be the watchdog." She pointed over to Kiba and Akamaru, "I mean we have enough of them as it is."

He considered it before he nodded, adding, "Wake me if anything significant happens."

"Sure. Here," She positioned him so that he was leaned comfortably against her. It was not long before Neji's head lolled, hair falling in his face, and he was fast asleep.

Lee came by with a soundless thumbs-up so as to not wake their teammate. Then he pointed to the staircase where non-Genin shinobi had appeared. Tenten's mouth dropped open at the sight.

Shikamaru appeared and was joined by a few other Chunin who were carrying boxes of supplies. Lee joined the rest of their Leaf peers, sans his teammates, to learn more about the development. Shikamaru sighed and rubbed the back of his head when his friends surrounded him excitedly.

"Yeah, I'm here. Teams got to the tower earlier than expected, so the Hokage supplied rations while you wait for the rest of them to show up." He explained, setting a box down, "Jounin Chaperones don't need to report here until tomorrow."

While food and water was handed out, Shikamaru mingled with his teammates. He even patted Fujita's head after seeing his pint-sized replacement, "Thanks for looking out for my teammates, kid."

"Oh, I...didn't do much." Fujita confessed, "I feel like Chouji-kun and Ino-chan were looking out for me, mostly."

"Sure they did; it's your first time taking this exam." Shikamaru simpered at Ino beside him, "But Ino needed some saving down in that tunnel."

"How-?" Ino puffed her cheeks, "You saw that? Don't tell me those paths were under surveillance!"

"They were under surveillance." He shut his eyes and restrained a grin, "You and your little mouse..."

Ino whacked his chest while Chouji chortled.

Shikamaru slipped an arm around her back and held her nonchalantly, "It's not like those cameras caught anything damning. Everyone who got in wanted out of those tunnels fast. That's why they were designed to be dark and uncomfortable." He added, "And I was the only person in the control room watching the progress of teams. It got boring."

"So if you're here who's watching those cameras?" Ino asked.

"The proctor for the Second Stage took over. We were told to swap so I could oversee..." Shikamaru trailed off, "Well, I shouldn't mention that yet."

"We already know, Shikamaru." Chouji reminded him.

"Yeah, I know. Just don't go broadcasting that I'm the proctor for the next stage." He kept his voice low, "Right now I'm just doing food delivery and tower inspection. I can't make an announcement until all of the required Jounin chaperones are present."

"Ah, got it." Ino grinned, "So if that's your only task, deliver my breakfast. Please."

Shikamaru's pout wavered before he turned back to the distribution line to find something for her. While shinobi gathered around to be fed, Sakura noticed the Sand team at the side of the room and Matsuri was waving at her. She had an urgent look on her face.

The pink haired kunoichi excused herself from her team and trotted over to Gaara's student. Ino had crossed her arms and tossed her hair, disgruntled by Sakura's promptness when it came to helping the team of Sand ninja.

"What's up, Ino?" Chouji was perceptive, "You huffed at her."

"Oh, I didn't mean to. I do that sometimes when I think too hard."

"About what? Sakura checking on the Sand Genin?"

"It just makes me worry a little." Ino shut her eyes and shook her head, "Not that Sakura is doing anything wrong, of course, or even that those newbies are competition for us, but..." She gave Chouji a sidelong look, "I suspect that she's been thinking. Sakura's been thinking about Hidden Sand."

"Well, Gaara's there. It makes sense." Chouji accepted a bowl of delivery-food from Fujita and then the boy scurried off to sit with Hinata while they ate.

"Yeah, it does. It just scares me that she's invested. That she works so hard." Ino covered her mouth with the back of her hand and added shakily, "I will not handle it well if Sakura decides...to go there to be with Gaara."

Chouji snapped chopsticks apart to begin eating and then stopped, giving his teammate a long, severe look, "You think she would actually do that?"

"Call it intuition. It freaked me out a little. And I think Gaara is somewhat, you know," Her eyebrows waggled with emphasis, "Persuasive, in his way. They'll want to be together, even if she has to stay in Hidden Sand." Ino huffed again, "I would hate not having her at my beck and call every day."

"Hokage-sama would too."

"I may have taken it for granted that I've had her for so long." Ino managed a smile, "But I've been trying to look at the big picture lately, and it won't behoove Sakura to stay away from the guy she's crazy about."

"Don't start saying your goodbyes just yet. Even if that's what Sakura-chan is planning, it has got to be pretty far down the line." Chouji gently bumped elbows with her, "Ino, if it's bothering you that much, just enjoy your time with her now as much as possible. That's what best friends should do, right?"

"I will." She muffled a sniffle, "Chouji, I don't know how you got so good at talking about these things. You should charge by the hour for therapy."

"Nah. I need to keep it free otherwise no one could afford me."

Shikamaru returned to find the two of them rumbling with laughter, "What'd I miss?"

---

The day dragged on and by afternoon only one new team had arrived; a team of Grass ninja plodded up the stairs and straight towards the station set up with food. Shikamaru supposed that some teams had more difficulty finding things to eat in the Forest. Chouji shuddered at the notion.

As they had been advised to do so, the Leaf teams grouped together and kept their distance from the Rock Genin. Sakura moved back and forth between Matsuri's team and her own, troubled by the Sand team's misfortune.

"Her teammates aren't doing well." Sakura explained quietly to the other kunoichi, "Whatever they're sick with is going to need strong medication, and there's nothing I can do about it right now. I healed some of their injuries. Matsuri seems to be healthy."

"Why are you so worried about her?" Ino whispered, "She's just a little Sand ninja."

Sakura raised pastel pink eyebrows, "She's Gaara's student. I can't just leave her hanging."

Ino made an incredulous sound while Hinata chirped in surprise.

"I didn't think Sakura-chan was arbitrarily helping a team." Tama confirmed, "But this clears it up."

"So you wouldn't want Gaara to be disappointed if his student didn't make it to the Third Stage?" Tenten concluded, "You can't interfere too much, Sakura. She has to make it there on her own power, like we all did."

"I absolutely agree," Sakura nodded, "And I know she can do it. I'm just saying that it's likely her teammates are going to have to drop out. They will not be fit to fight."

"They aren't her official teammates, then?" Ino gathered.

"No. She's Gaara's only pupil. Matsuri is filling in as a substitute for a team, like how Fujita is with you and Chouji."

"Ah, I got it."

"She looks so small. It reminds me of the first time we competed here." Hinata remarked distantly.

"We really had no idea what we were doing." Ino added, "The great shame was that only Tenten was able to make it to the Final Rounds at the last exam. All of us need to represent this time!"

The idea stoked Tama and Sakura who were both wild-eyed and clenching their fists. Even Hinata frowned with determination as Tenten laughed quietly at them, "Yeah...I get the feeling none of you will sit out this year's Finals..."

"There's no way I'm going to miss it. Tsunade-shishou and Gaara are going to be there." Sakura was beaming.

"Right. We should all do what we can to make Tsunade-sama proud." Tenten agreed, "At least from what she's said, she is trying to make this exam her crowning achievement. She'd be upset if any of us flaked on her."

"It does seem inevitable that we're going to end up facing each other as opponents, or at the very least our teammates." Tama pointed out, "But I don't think that's going to stop me..."

The girls discreetly looked over their shoulders to where the men of their teams were relaxing together. It was food for thought.

"Not even if you have to fight Sato?" Ino teased Tama, "Or Kiba or Sakura?"

"Not even you, Ino-chan." Tama grinned, "We don't pull punches in my family."

"She's not lying." Sakura confirmed.

"I'm glad, then...that Naruto-kun isn't here." Hinata spoke softly, "I might not find the willpower to fight him in the Third Stage, if I had to. Or Gaara-kun or Haku-kun, if they were here."

"Yeah, that's true. Well, Gaara-kun couldn't even if he wanted to. And Haku's so polite he'd probably surrender." Sakura imagined, resting her chin on her knuckles, "But Naruto does not and has not yielded in battle, as far as I know. Any of us would have trouble with that match up."

"And he's learning Sage Arts." Hinata added with a smile, "It'd be scary!"

All of the kunoichi present nodded collectively, disliking the disadvantage, imaginary though it was.

"I would actually love the chance to fight Neji." Tenten mused, "Since he's so focused on the last stage of this exam, I know he wouldn't go easy on me if it was an official match. Lee would be a great opponent too..."

"Do you hear yourself, Tenten?" Ino hissed, "They are your teammates! And by the way: you are dating one of them. Are you aware that they can level buildings with their fists?"

"I know. That's exactly why." Tenten assured her.

"Then I sincerely hope you get your wish, because I certainly don't want to face them." Sakura concurred.

The conversation was interrupted when Shikamaru stopped over to bid them farewell. He had to report to the Hokage once more before returning as proctor of the Third Stage.

That evening, the team of Dream ninja arrived in the tower. They were a pop of color and glamour among plainer-looking peers. Like most teams had before them, they used the restroom and then helped themselves to rations of food. They strolled over and sat down in an empty spot to the left of the Leaf ninja group, where others were settling down and preparing for sleep.

One of the Yume ninja glanced over and made eye contact with Sato. They smiled stupidly at each other.

"This is a good sign." Sato whispered directly into Shino's ear, "I think that guy is friendly!"

"Lee thought that of the Rock team as well. We are now informed otherwise."

"Jeez, Shino, quit killing my buzz." Sato pushed up on his knees and stood, adding to Hinata and Tama, "I'll be right back. I'm gonna talk to the guy wearing pink over there."

The girls made no objection, but watched as he made his way over and stopped by the newcomers. The Dream ninja had a fur-trimmed, ornate gi of bright red and pink. He had red markings beneath his eyes, probably permanent, because they crinkled when he smiled again.

"Your team is unique to say the least. It's a good thing you made it here." Sato told the stranger, "You're gonna make this exam interesting."

"Thanks, man. We've never done something like this before, so we didn't want to screw up." He replied.

The kunoichi beside him, in intricate armor, added glumly, "We almost didn't figure out our clue."

"But you were still in time and that's what counts. Oh," Sato held out his hand, "I'm Hatake Sato."

The Yume nin put his boxed meal down and stretched out his hand to shake, "Uh...like the Copy Ninja, kind of Hatake?"

"That kind."

The Dream ninja grinned, "Sick. I'm Tenro Masugama," He turned to his girl teammate, "Here's Amagiri Eifa," Then to the hooded ninja beside him, "And Hirasaka Agehanto."

"Those names sound familiar." Sato noted.

"That's because we're from famous clans too." Eifa updated him, "We just don't trifle in international matters much. It was great that your Hokage let us participate. My father nearly fell out of his chair when he heard about the Chunin Exam being hosted in Konohagakure. We haven't entered a team in decades."

"Same." Agehanto commented, "My parents thought it was all a joke until we were registered."

"So does your village have anything like a Chunin Exam in-house?' Sato wondered.

"We have promotion trials but we failed them last year. Enzo-sama said it would be good for us to participate against shinobi of other villages and find out how much we've grown." Masugama explained, "Our Sensei also thinks we can pass."

Sato nodded, "Probably. Or just show up and look good."

They twittered happily at his assessment.

Within the congregation of Leaf shinobi, Kiba scooched over and remarked to Tama, "If you don't pull back on his leash Sato's going to befriend all of our competitors."

"Let him. He's a social butterfly."

"More like a social lemming."

"Hey, don't be so critical, Kiba-kun." She chided him, "Sato being outgoing and social is one of the things I like about him most."

"And what about the part of him that unnecessarily tempts danger?"

"No one is perfect. Besides, those Dream ninja seem nice."

"It's totally an act."

"If it is," Sakura interjected, "I'll take that over Rock ninja openly threatening to kill us any day."

Tama nodded in agreement. A short time later, Sato returned and sat down with his friends.

"The Dream ninja are great! They're nervous because this is their first time in a foreign village." Sato brought them up to speed, "They also want...my uncle's autograph."

"Tch. See?" Kiba snickered as he leaned back onto Akamaru like a pillow, "I told you it was an act."

Overnight, Team Gai slept in shifts to keep watch and even traded off with Team Kakashi. No incidents occurred and the environment was copacetic well into the next morning when more food and another team arrived. It was a team of Cloud ninja. They were rather irked that so many teams had reached the tower before them.

The day passed and teams had begun to get antsy. The health of Matsuri's teammates was concerning, as Sakura assessed them periodically. Huo watched other teams in stony silence from behind his teammates. Lee's mood had improved as he and Sato chatted up the friendly "Dream Team," Sato labeled them. Tenten did have to admit that they had great style.

Things remained peaceful but the influx of Genin teams reduced from a trickle to nothing. Not even a whisper of spelunkers came up from the underground tunnels after the fourth day. By the morning of the last day of the Second Stage, no one new had appeared. Around noon, Jounin sensei popped up one at a time from the basement staircase, and then met with their trainees in the atrium.

The first Jounin had been Hyoshigi, the sensei of the Sand team. He quickly darted over to his ailing students, Koji and Tamsen, and looked them over. Sakura watched from afar as he patted Matsuri's shoulder and asked her not to feel guilty. They were not quite as "tough" as she was, he said. Hyoshigi shared a laugh with the two wheezing boys, imagining that her training with Gaara had made her superbly sturdy. Matsuri blushed in embarrassment.

Kurenai and Gai appeared consecutively, and Kurenai was especially proud that her team held the record time for entering the tower. She flashed a smug smile towards Gai, but it did not discourage him in the slightest. He was too busy rejoicing with Lee and patting Tenten's shoulder. Neji avoided being touched.

The sensei of the Rock team was a stern-faced kunoichi is the deep burgundy garb typical of her village. She joined the three malicious boys at the edge of the room and began speaking to them quietly.

Asuma arrived a short time later and was immediately spotted. Ino and Chouji rushed over to him and were quick to praise their little Hyuga companion. Fujita denied most of the accolades blushingly. Asuma commended him anyway as he lit a cigarette.

A tan-skinned, handsome man emerged from the staircase minutes later, and was loudly met by his Grass Genin, "Ah! Mahoto-sensei!" They scurried over and overwhelmed the Grass Jounin with their harrowing tale of the Second Stage. By the look of it, these Genin were older and near their Leaf peers in age, close to sixteen or seventeen.

Simultaneously, a hideously bedraggled Genin team had clambered up the stairs. Groaning and stooping, three Rain ninja made their way into the room. Kiba prodded Sakura and Tama to look, identifying one of the Rain genin who had once attempted an ambush on them.

"I can't believe those losers made it!" Kiba snickered.

"They look exhausted and filthy." Tama nearly sympathized, "That's probably what they deserve."

Sakura agreed, "I highly doubt they'll last long in the Third Stage."

Time passed and the jounin joined their students for lunch. Some discussed the challenges of the Second Stage while others strategized about what lay ahead.

As teams ate their meals and conversed, a violet-hooded jounin ascended the stairs in silence. An intricate outfit of orange and oxblood red made him stand out, and Sato muttered to his teammates, "Maybe that's...a Dream Jounin..."

"They are colorful." Hinata acknowledged.

The Jounin's piercing eyes scanned around before settling on Masugama's group. The Dream students met their teacher half-way and bowed with respect. Curious Leaf ninja watched as the colorful team brought each other up to speed. Eventually, the Genin led their teacher towards Sato's group.

Masugama was eager to introduce their mentor, "Sato-san, this is our sensei, Hirasaka Yomito." Sato gave a wave of greeting to the grave-looking man, "Much like you are a relation of Copy Ninja Kakashi, he is Agehanto-kun's uncle."

The two hooded ninja exchanged a peaceable glance with each other before regarding the young Hatake.

"Small world." Sato gestured towards Sakura's team, "And my uncle is actually their sensei. These fine people are Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura, and Maito Tama." He muttered behind the back of his hand, "Tama is going to be my bride someday."

"Leaf ninja...have many connections to each other." Agehanto observed.

"Kind of like how it is in our village." Masugama agreed.

Eifa seemed to be hitting it off with Tama and Sakura as the girls inquired about her armor. Hinata politely introduced herself as well. Kurenai stood beside Shino and was highly amused to see ninja of a once-isolated village mingle with Leaf genin.

Kakashi did not bother showing up until late in the day, for he seemed to be allergic to schedules. It might have killed him to be on time for the close of the Second Stage. He and the sensei of the Cloud and Rain teams were the last to show up.

"I did not believe you at first." Yomito told Sato upon seeing his uncle apologize to his annoyed students, "Though Kakashi of the Sharingan really is here. You bear a slight resemblance to each other, I think."

"Thanks! He may be famous, but I hear I'm better-looking."

---

The Jounin stayed until dusk and then departed for the night. They would come again in the morning and herald the beginning of the next stage. The strange fullness and noise of the atrium made it difficult to sleep.

Team Gai continued to keep watch in shifts throughout the night. Lee claimed that they were used to it, and so everyone else was encouraged to relax and get rest.

While Hinata tried to find a way to sleep comfortably on the hard tile floor, she shut her eyes and wondered how the end result of the exam would affect her life. She had confidence that she would pass. It would be almost outrageous, in her opinion, if she had not improved enough to be promoted to Chunin rank. But what then? She rested her head on folded hands.

What expectations would her father have of her when she became a Chunin? Her clan and the Hyuga clan elders? What types of missions would the Hokage task her, Sato, and Shino with? And how odd would it feel to know that she had pulled ahead, even for a brief time, of her own very talented boyfriend?

It would be better not to invite that stress in, for the time being. 'All of that will come later. I still need to concentrate.' She acknowledged, 'I don't think it will be so bad to have more responsibility...and I know that my friends are here by my side, going through the same trials.'

After what felt like an age she finally began to feel sleepy. Behind her, she could hear Sato whispering in a near inaudible voice to Tama. It sounded positive. They were sharing fortitude in preparation of the next day. Hinata then heard the soft peck of lips meeting. Embarrassed, she tried to ignore the sound by covering her ears with her arms.

The next thing she knew, she was being woken by friends shortly after sunrise.

"Sunshine! Time to get up. The Jounin are already here...even Kakashi." Sato informed her, astounded that his uncle was on time.

She batted her dry mouth as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her neck felt sore.

Sakura was chuckling at her, "You slept funny! Almost like a contortionist. Are you okay, Hinata-chan?"

"Um...I-I..." Hinata remembered curling in a ball to block out sounds, "I think I will be fine..."

Sakura muttered to her, "I had to ignore them too..."

Teams had wobbled to their feet and hastily crammed breakfast into their mouths. Before long, the teams filed off with their Jounin chaperones and proceeded through a corridor towards the central room of the tower. At the far end of the auditorium was a large shinobi statue with hands folded in a Ram seal loomed. Railed walkways were positioned above along the perimeter of the room.

The Jounin parted from their students to stand near the statue, where Tsunade was waiting with a hand on her hip. Each Genin team lined up single-file, parallel to the teams beside them. The room was hushed into silence to listen to the Hokage's announcement.

"Welcome to the Tower; and to those of you from other villages, I bid you a sincere welcome to Konohagakure. I am Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage." There was a twinkle in the woman's eye, "I must admit it is unheard of to see ten teams successfully pass the Second Stage of the Chunin Exam. There is no denying the aptitude and strength of Genin teams competing this year...so let that serve as your warning. This is no ordinary competition. The opponents you will face here, from this moment on, will challenge you more than any test this Exam can throw at you."

Sakura realized after a moment she was holding her breath. She was hanging on Tsunade's every word.

"Look around you. Note the fantastic diversity of shinobi standing to your left and right. Ninja from the Leaf Village may be the most abundant contenders, but there are shinobi here representing an impressive range of nations." Tsunade pressed on with rhetoric, "This is the essence of the Chunin Exam. No matter your walk in life or where you come from, nor the adversity you've faced, whatever divides you...you join us here as up-and-coming ninja. Equals. There is a unity here that you must never forget as you continue to forge your careers as excellent shinobi."

Tsunade added to the speech, "With that said, there are far too many of you to host a streamlined Final Stage. Because of this, I have mandated that preliminary matches will take place to determine which ninja are qualified to proceed to the Final Rounds. These matches will randomly select from the Genin present and pit you against each other in one-on-one duels. It goes without saying that your dependence on teammates, at this point, is not a determining factor of success. Accordingly, you are permitted to drop-out individually at this point if you believe you are unable to continue to fight. You will not be penalized or prevented from participating in another Chunin Selection Exam if you do so." She looked at them expectantly, "Any takers?"

With sad reluctance, both Tamsen and Koji of the Sand team raised their hands. Hyoshigi nodded to them from the front of the room while Matsuri stood in silence, beginning to tremble with anxiety. As the feverish boys walked off to join medic-nin at the back of the room, the girl stood all alone, sandwiched between a Leaf team on her left and the Rock team on her right.

One of the Iwa nin, Ga-Fen, scoffed quietly at her, "What are you still doing here? Just give it up, you wimp."

"Someone as pathetic as you is a free win for another ninja." Qin whispered.

Matsuri swallowed and stared ahead, feeling beads of sweat streak down the side of her face. She would not raise her hand. She could not quit. Not only had she promised Gaara that she wouldn't, she had promised herself.

Tsunade quirked an eyebrow at the whispering ninja, "Hey, the chatters over there! Yes, you. I am addressing you." The Iwa Genin gave the Hokage their attention, "I trust you aren't trying to intimidate a gutsy kunoichi now, are you?"

They fell silent but smirked at the village leader.

A voice suddenly came from behind Matsuri, directed at the Rock ninja, "Anything you have to say to Matsuri can be said to me as well."

The Kuang brothers (and not the unshakeable Huo) turned their heads and gawked at the sharp-looking, black-attired Kazekage. Gaara's arms were folded and he was scowling furiously.

Matsuri nearly jumped out of her skin when she noticed him.

"Sensei!" She peeped softly, "What are you doing here?"

"Technically, I am a member of your team. I can stand here." Gaara elaborated, "And Tsunade-sama demanded that I be present for the remainder of the Exam. Public relations, and all that..."

Gaara's Leaf shinobi peers gave a rolling cheer of excitement to see he had joined them. Sakura's grin was particularly wide. He couldn't help a small smile when he informed them, "I cannot compete. I can only watch." He gave them a small, Kage-like wave, "Good luck to all of you, my friends."

Matsuri bent in a tiny bow of respect for her teacher before he parted from her to join Tsunade at the front. As he passed the chuckling Leaf jounin Gaara grunted at them, dismissing their entertained reactions.

"Be it resolved, then. The remaining twenty-eight Genin here are consenting to randomized, preliminary duels for the chance to proceed to the final rounds." Tsunade announced, "Even the finals will be substantial..." She muttered to herself, "But that's how we'll make good money..."

She motioned for the next proctor to take over. Shikamaru removed his hands from his pockets and stepped forward, giving a long look to the Genin teams in front of him, "I am Nara Shikamaru. I will be the proctor for the remainder of the Chunin Exam, as well as the referee for all of your matches. Listen closely to the rules of one-on-one duels."

Shikamaru went on with the narration, "Genin are permitted to surrender at any point during or before their match. Any activity that constitutes cheating, such as the assistance of a teammate or other ninja, will immediately disqualify you. You will fight until you are unable to continue. While in the arena, it is against the rules to flee or kill your opponent. I, as referee, will judge when a match is over or when a Genin cannot go on."

There was quiet acknowledgment of the rules.

"Right. If you got all of that..." Shikamaru turned and pointed to a doorway, "Jounin, please escort your teams to the top floor."

Tsunade made for the doorway of a staircase at the side of the room. Gaara followed after the Hokage quietly once Matsuri was by his side, continuing on.

Quizzical Genin bobbed around, inquiring of their mentors about what was to come.

"Wait. What?"

"This isn't the venue for duels?"

"Where are we going?"

Kakashi pointed a finger at the ceiling when he told his students, "Up. This room was not approved for preliminary matches this year. We're taking you to the chamber that is."

Teams marched behind their teachers to parts unknown, highly confused. And it was almost a disappointment that there were ten minutes worth of winding staircases to climb. There was heavy breathing and annoyed moaning along the way. The air was thin by the time they scaled the tower to a circular room in the topmost area.

Like the ground floor, this room had a railed walkway around its circumference to watch matches on the floor below. The round room's floor, however, was unusual. The architectural design had cut-outs of slim, acute angles that allowed light to pass down to levels below. And, of course, any ninja who missed a step or slipped could take a plunge to the next level, which was stories down.

Above, glass panel skylights allowed light to pour into the room. Pale, metal support beams arched along the ceiling. The blue sky above served as a reminder that there was little to hold onto and nowhere to hide. A sophisticated, digital screen was mounted below one of the high windows on the wall. Tsunade and Gaara stopped to stand below it. Matsuri peered over the rails to examine the strange and treacherous layout of the floor.

Teams settled for a few minutes and spaced themselves out along the walkway. Team Kurenai was situated between Team Gai and Team Kakashi, not far from where the Hokage was located.

Hinata examined the room with awe, amazed that the location was so dramatically different. She turned to Neji and Tenten, who were also glancing about.

"Neji-niisan, Tenten-neesan," They both looked at her with the attentiveness of parents, "I hope we...don't have to face each other. Not here, I hope. I want you both to watch me get to the Final Stage. This time I know I can do it."

Tenten bit her lip and reassured her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Hinata...you will. Neji and I definitely won't get in the way of that. You'll be in the Final Rounds." She turned to Neji, "Isn't that right?"

He nodded confidently, "If we should be pitted against each other again today, however unlikely, you can be sure that I will not be an obstacle for you. The same must be of Tenten. We will not surrender, but neither will we be a hindrance to your advancement." Hinata sort of understood what he was hinting at. Neji wanted her to go all-out and wreck them, or anyone, if the occasion called for it. It was a bullet he and Tenten, at least, were happy to take.

Shikamaru stood off-center on the floor of the arena, gesturing to the screen above, "The preliminary bout will now begin! Direct your attention to the screen for the contestants of the first match."

All eyes followed the screen's readout as it flashed rapidly, tumbling over twenty-eight names over the course of a few seconds. It abruptly clinched the name Kuang Ga-Fen. Below, it had also stopped on the name Tenten.

Tenten sucked in a small breath, surprised. She felt the tension radiate out of Neji beside her. Lee and Hinata were looking at her in wordless shock.

"The first match will be between Kuang Ga-Fen and Tenten." Shikamaru announced in a clear voice, "Competitors, please meet down here in the arena."

On the opposite side of the room, Ga-Fen cackled happily and leapt down from the rail. He landed lightly on his feet and his Jounin sensei, Sekieima, was smiling with confidence. Ga-Fen's teammates remained impassive, as far as others could tell.

Tenten glanced over to Gai. His serious expression melted away and then he grinned at her. For some reason, it began to feel completely fine. Tenten could only think to say, "Watch me."

She did not need words of encouragement. With a swift turn, she proceeded down a narrow stairwell that led to the arena floor. 'Neji and Lee are here. All of my friends are here, and Tsunade-sama is a spectator.' Tenten's mouth was pulled taught, gearing up mentally for the duel, 'I bet they'll want a good show.'

---

Note: Hey, listen to Stromae. Get thee on the musical bandwagon and sit next to me. And while we're at it, let's talk about who you think will face and defeat who in the Preliminary Matches of the Chunin Exam 2.0!

There has been slight progress in the next chapter of The Ocean in a Teacup as well, if you have been looking out for signs of life. Beep! A pulse. Naturally, Harbinger's Chunin Exam intrigue takes precedence for the time being.

Chapter 31- New Exam: Genin Takedown!

In case you were wondering, Dream ninja of Yumegakure are featured in the PSP game 'Naruto Shippūden: Kizuna Drive.'