Chunin Exams Arc: Second Exam

All those who passed the first exam stood outside a fenced-off forest covered in warning signs of imminent death and injury if you should enter. Sakura bit her lip, looking as far into the darkness of the forest as she could.

Anko stepped up in front of the crowd "alright genin behind me is the Forest of Death. This is where my exam is set. I hope you all took your survival training seriously because you'll need it."

"Pfft, I'm not scared! This exam will be easy-" Naruto stopped as Sakura smacked him upside the head.

"Will you shut it, Naruto! You barely got past the first exam, and you know it."

Anko smiled and slipped her kunai back into her sleeve. She guessed she wouldn't need to scare the piss out of the blonde idiot before the exam started. "Alright, you lot, I've got consent forms for you to sign. Some of you will die, so I need your permission if you wish to continue the exams."

Nobody spoke out or ran for the hills, so Anko motioned, and the chunin nearby started passing out forms for everyone. "Alright brats, the area of the exam, is about ten kilometers from any of the entrances to the center where a tower is located." she pulled two scrolls from her jacket.

"These are heaven and earth scrolls; each team gets one or the other. Your mission is to get the missing scroll and make it to the tower in the center of the arena. You have five days to do this. Oh, and you aren't allowed to open the scrolls until you get to the tower."

"What happens if we open it before then?" Naruto asked.

Anko just shrugged, "who knows. Anyway, a full team of three must make it to the tower to be considered a pass, and you must all be alive and conscious. Now when your teams are ready, you'll head over to the covered stands to your left and trade in your team's forms for a scroll."

Team Seven wandered off to a nearby boulder and sat at the base, looking over the forms. "So, any ideas about what kind of strategy we should take?" Sakura asked while looking at the fairly standard.

Sasuke scratched his neck, "should we stay quiet and try to track a team down or just go in full force?"

Naruto grinned and pumped his fist. "Full force, of course, we'll take out anyone and everyone who crosses us!"

Sakura sighed, "Naruto, we can't handle taking on every other team one after another. I know Sasuke is skilled, and you have that seemingly bottomless chakra reserve, but even with those, we can't take everyone."

She saw them both looking at her "Wh-what?"

Naruto looked at Sasuke then back to her "You didn't mention anything about yourself. You've been working really hard on those jutsu and exercises Kakashi-sensei gave you. Heck, last time, we spared you to beat me."

Sakura sighed, "I beat you then because I said no shadow clones. If you had made even one or two, I probably wouldn't have won. Besides, I still have a lot of training to do before I feel like I'm near you guys."

Anko whistled, "alright, brats come get your scrolls and follow your chunin to the gate you'll be entering from."

Sakura got up, effectively stopping the conversation and headed over with them shortly behind. They traded in their forms and got a heaven scroll. Sakura handed it to Naruto, "put it in your jacket."

"Why are we trusting Naruto with it?" Sasuke asked, looking as confused as Naruto.

"Because no one we know will suspect him, and if we start fighting, it'll be easier for Naruto to get lost in his clones and escape."

The boys nodded at that logic, and Naruto took the scroll, tucking it into an inside pocket. They followed their chunin to gate forty-four and psyched themselves up as the gate was unlocked. Once it was opened, they took off at a sprint boosting their speed with chakra. "Let's try to get some distance and lay low, " Sasuke said, leading the group into the forest's darkness.

After a few minutes, they found a divet near one of the massive tree roots and began to look around. Naruto was pacing in place and slowly driving Sakura crazy. "For the love of- Naruto stop moving so much."

"Ah, sorry I gotta pee. We haven't had a chance since before the first exam, so I" m really pushing how long I can hold it."

"Then go behind a bush nearby, but stay close."

Naruto nodded and ran off behind a nearby bush while Sasuke sighed, "that guy is an idiot sometimes."

Once Naruto returned, Sakura was about to tell him the importance of signaling his return when she noticed his kunai pouch was on the wrong leg. She smiled, putting her hands behind her back and moved in close while signing to Sasuke' Fake'.

"Hey, Naruto, I just remembered something super embarrassing that happened to Iruka-sensei wanna hear it? Some dirt on him might get him off your case so much."

The fake Naruto smiled, "hell yeah, thanks so much."

She moved in and whispered, "You're a fake." She slammed her fist into his chest, sending him flying into a tree. Sasuke and Sakura both drew their kunai as the imposter got up and dispelled his henge returning to his original form of an Amegakure shinobi.

"Tsk damn it. Alright, then how about you two just hand over your scroll, and I'll return your friend to you alive." He said while drawing his own kunai.

Sasuke grinned "Fat chance how about we just take you out and take your scroll." He rushed the rain shinobi, who fell back and jumped up into the trees. While Sasuke pursued him from above, Sakura followed from below, looking for signs of his team or Naruto. As Sasuke let out a Katon above them, Sakura found Naruto tied up on the ground unguarded. She quickly undid his retrains.

"Come on, idiot, let's go help, Sasuke."

Naruto nodded, grabbing a kunai and following Sakura from a distance. She stopped seeing Sasuke kneeling down while the rain shinobi had a kunai pointed at his neck. She signaled for Naruto to circle around as she stepped out into sight.

"Hey, hold on! You don't need to hurt him. We work out a deal, ok."

The shinobi scoffed, "oh, now you want a deal? Alright, give me your scroll, I" ll let this one go, and maybe I'll tell you where the other one is if you beg!"

Sakura nodded. "Alright, let me just-" she threw her kunai as Naruto threw his from the side.

The rain shinobi jumped back and up high to avoid both. Sasuke grinned and grabbed Sakura's kunai out of the air while using his chakra to grab Narutos with his foot while rotating so that he could throw them one after the other. The first kunai missed, but the second sunk into his shoulder, and he fell to the ground.

They surrounded him quickly, and Sakura said, "surrender we don't want to kill you. We just want your scroll if it's what we need."

The rain shinobi gripped his shoulder "I don't have it. My teammates do, and they're not gonna give it to you."

Sasuke sighed and kicked him in the face, knocking him out. "Alright, let's just string this guy up in a net and use him as bait for his team. We'll take them out and check their scroll.

Sakura nodded and pulled a length of cord from her pouch. "Here, this should be enough to tie him up in a tree."

Naruto perked up as the wind changed direction and grabbed both his teammates suddenly, and shouted, "Get down!"

They dove into the bushes as a massive gust of wind cut through the trees, reducing them to splinters. Sakura tried not to look at the spot where the rain shinobi used to be as they hid.

Once the carnage had passed through several figures emerged from the source of the blast. It was the creepy looking grass shinobi who they saw skulking in the background since the first exam. The three of them split up while Team Seven fell back quietly, "We should run that was way too strong of a jutsu." Sakura said.

She felt like a coward, but she had never seen a justu that strong before, and it scared her to think about what else the caster could do.

Naruto didn't look happy about it but nodded, and Sasuke agreed, but before they could get far, the lead grass shinobi appeared in front of them. "No, I don't think you will be running anywhere."

Before they could move, the grass shinobi bit his thumb and ran through a series of seals quicker than even Kakashi could before slamming his hand on the ground "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A massive snake burst from the smoke and smacked Naruto into the forest and went after him. Sasuke and Sakura tried to go after him, but they froze in their places as a wave of killing intent that put Zabuza to shame rolled off the shinobi in front of them. Their heart rates spiked, and both felt like they could see and feel their deaths coming with no way to stop it.

Sakura fell to her knees, and eyes rolled back as she collapsed, and Sasuke lurched and fell to his knees as he vomited. The shinobi laughed, watching Sasuke try to get up before falling over. "So weak, and here I had high hopes for the last Uchiha."

The words struck Sasuke and centered him. He was able to shakily get to his feet, but his hand was fumbling, trying to pull out a kunai.

Meanwhile, Naruto had been swallowed by the giant snake that was now slithering around the woods. Naruto squirmed and struggled. He tried using a kunai, but it wouldn't cut. He gritted his teeth and crossed his fingers in the usual sign, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Narutos started popping into existence one after the other, quickly making the already cramped space even more restricted.

Sasuke was barely able to stand or hold his kunai while Sakura was starting to come around, but it didn't matter because the grass shinobi was closing the distance with their kunai ready to be thrown. As they threw the kunai, Sasuke stabbed himself in the thigh and grabbed Sakura while boosting himself with far too much chakra than safe to sprint as fast as he could away from the maniac.

With some distance and up in a tree, the two were able to recover their sanity, and Sakura quickly pulled out supplies to patch up Sasuke's leg as he took calming breaths.

"Wh-what the hell was that? That guy was..." Sakura couldn't finish her statement as a giant snake barreled toward them from the ground. Sakura jumped back as Sasuke jumped to get higher in the tree while the snake followed him. They both threw shuriken at its head before it could catch Sasuke, who landed and stumbled back with panic as the snake fell across the branches dead.

Before they had a chance to relax, the grass shinobi burst from the snake's corpse "Don't relax just yet kiddies. Prey needs to stay on edge while a predator is around!"

Their torso started elongating, and they twisted around the branch leading straight to Sasuke but stopped when winds ripped the bark of the branch. They looked up to see Naruto grinning, "Oi snake freak! You think you can tackle me with a giant sneak then go after my teammate. I don't think so!"

Sasuke shuddered, trying to shake his fear. "You idiot don't just give yourself away so easily. This guy is crazy. He will kill us if we're not careful!"

Naruto scoffed. "Ah shut it, Sasuke, I can take this weirdo on by myself. Come on, why don't you try a real challenge."

"You really are a huge idiot, you know that! He wants the scroll just toss it to him Naruto-"

"Hell no! I'm not giving this creep the scroll. If he wants it, he'll have to fight me for it."

The grass shinobi smiled, uncurling himself from the branch "That sounds like a good idea. I'll kill you first."

They pulled their sleeve up, revealing a summoning seal wrapped around their arm; they quickly summoned another snake that lurched toward Naruto. Smashing him through branches and higher into the canopy before its tongue swung and threw him down. Naruto bounced off a branch before being hit again into the trunk of a tree.

Naruto felt consciousness slipping from him, but a deep voice rumbled from deep inside him "Wake up! Kill him!"

Naruto felt a power surge through his system as he clung to the trunk; his eyes changed from blue to red, shocking everyone else as he growled and leaped for the grass shinobi. The snake rose to block him, but Naruto punched its face causing it to fall and disappear with a puff of smoke. The grass shinobi laughed as he danced around Naruto's chaotic swings that broke off the thickest of tree branches.

His hand lit up with purple flames. "I came looking for Sasuke, but you're quite interesting yourself. I wonder what your childhood was like!"

They deflected Naruto's punch and lifted his shirt as they stabbed their fingers into his stomach and threw him towards the ground. Naruto cried out in pain as his eyes changed back to blue. Sakura kicked off the tree and grabbed Naruto mid-fall. The two tumbled onto a branch, but she kept them secure with chakra. "Sasuke, move!"

Sasuke flinched, hearing Sakura yell. He had been stuck in fear of the maniac and Naruto's sudden murderous presence. He looked up to see his enemy running down the tree to him. Sasuke's Sharingan activated, and he fell back.

While Sasuke was dodging the grass nins attacks and spitting fire to keep him at bay. Sakura made sure Naruto was secure then ran up the tree to join the fight. She couldn't use doton up here so she'd have to rely on the little suiton she knew.

Sasuke fell back as Sakura landed behind the grass nin. She flew through the hand signs and shouted, "Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri!" She planted her foot, and a wave of water sharp as a knife cut through the bark and toward the shinobi. Sakura panicked as they dodged the attack and disappeared. "Sakura behind you!"

Sasuke's warning came too late as Sakura was knocked unconscious and thrown from the tree. Sasuke cursed and jumped after her but saw the enemy moving in to strike mid-air.

He aborted, catching her, and simply kicked her so she would land on a lower branch and hopefully stay there. Sasuke stuck to the tree trunk and ran back, pulling the fight away from his teammates as he prepared his next attempt to get rid of this freak.

Sasuke jumped from the trunk as the grass nin dove at him. He threw two braces of shuriken that flew wide around the trunk. He tugged on the ninja wire he had attached to them, and they circled back quickly, entangling his enemy and pinning him to the tree. Sasuke landed, and his hands flew through the signs "Die you fuck! Katon: Karyū Endan!"

A fire sparked on the wire in his mouth and grew, forming the mouth of a dragon that tore down the wire and engulfed the grass nin in the fire. He screamed and writhed as Sasuke released the wire and stumbled back his eyes, returning to their usual black. "Got-gotta check on the others-"

Sasuke nearly fell over as the grass nin's face appeared in front of him on an unnaturally long neck and he bit Sasuke's neck. As Sasuke dislodged himself, the shinobi laughed, "I hope you enjoy my gift Sasuke-san. If you ever want to thank me, remember Orochimaru is my name, and I hope to enjoy your progress."

Sasuke writhed on the ground; it felt like fire was coursing through his veins, and a coil was being pulled taught around his neck. Sasuke blacked out shortly after.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but Sakura slowly came back around and groaned, rubbing her head. Her whole body was throbbing and aching as she stumbled to her feet and looked around. She saw Naruto a few feet above her and Sasuke even higher than that. Sakura took a deep breath and checked her chakra reserves. She was gonna be pushing it if she used anything unnecessary.

After a few deep breaths, she used tree walking to get up to Sasuke first. Once there, she used some rope in her pouch to lower Sasuke down to Naruto then slid down the rope to them. Her body ached, and she desperately wanted to stop and drop, but she couldn't because her teammates needed help. "Just get them safe, take a breath, and keep going."

It took almost an hour and a half to get them to the ground. Sakura's arms were burning with the strain as she lowered herself to the ground and dragged them one after the other to a spot under the roots of a tree. There was a sizable clearing in front of them for her to see anyone approaching. "Alright, they're on the ground."

Her head started to droop, and she nearly fell asleep. Sakura shook her head "No! Stay awake ok. You need to secure the area."

Sakura stumbled around, setting what traps she could while using almost all their supplies. She made sure to leave both the boys with a handful of shuriken and a kunai if they woke up. Once everything as good as she could get it, she made her way back to the other two and started to look after them.

Sasuke had a raging fever and several bruises and cuts from the fight. The strange mark on his neck was also below the collar by what looked like a snake bite. On the other hand, Naruto seemed to look fine physically, but he wouldn't wake up. Whatever that snake person had done to him, it knocked him out hard.

Sakura hesitated before lifting his shirt to show his stomach. The markings she saw earlier weren't there now. Unwilling to try and pry farther, she simply sat herself down and looked out into the woods trying to stay awake.

At some point, she had to throw a kunai to keep a squirrel with an explosive tag from getting close. She almost didn't see the tag, that was colored the same shade as the squirrel's fur. "Come on, Sakura, keep it together; no one's going to find you. That was probably just a fluke from a different fight..."

She had almost nodded off when a voice from the clearing laughed "asleep on the job little kunoichi? That'll get you killed during something like this."

Her head snapped up to see the three sound shinobi standing there, "shit."

"That's an appropriate statement for your situation. Why don't you hand over Sasuke so we can fight him." the middle one who was hunched over covered in bandages held out his hand as he spoke. "We won't kill you or blondie if you just cooperate."

Sakura stumbled to her feet and pulled out one of her two kunai left and stood ready. "I'm not handing over a teammate. No matter what you threaten."

"Come on, Dosu, just kill this bitch and let me fight Sasuke. I wanna see if he's all he's hyped up to be."

"Fine Zaku, I'll let you have a go at him first." they started to advance before stopping just as quickly. Dosu crouched. "Oh, look at this. This trap is almost well done too bad this kind of grass wouldn't grow here. You really should know this stuff before you go making traps, little girl."

They jumped over it, and Sakura smiled as they fell for the faint she cut two strings next to her, sending a massive log swinging towards the mand shuriken from either side. Dosu looked surprised but obliterated the log with his right arm while Zaku held his hands out and blasted the shuriken away with a blast of sound and air.

When they landed, the ground quickly gave, and they were forced back before they fell into the pitfall. "Oh, looks like the little girl does know how to set up some traps, but it'll take more than that to trip us up."

Sakura cursed; she only had a few more tricks before they would be actually engaging in combat. She took one last look over her shoulder at her teammates before adjusting her grip and running in. Zaku scoffed, "Kin, why don't you take care of her."

Kin grinned "with pleasure."

Sakura moved to the right as Kin disappeared. She kept her eyes on the others who were just standing there. Sakura activated one of the traps, sending explosive kunai at Zaku and Dosu. Zaku moved to divert them up into the air while Kin appeared and grabbed Sakura by her hair. "Oh, this is so soft. You must put a lot of time into caring for it. Maybe you should have used that time to train more so you wouldn't be so weak."

Sakura smiled. "Thanks for the advice, but I figured that out a while ago, and are you sure my hair is soft?"

Sakura's hair suddenly wrapped around Kin's wrist while the last of it struck towards her stabbing into her shoulder, arm, and neck. Kin struggled to get away while her blood soaked into Sakura's hair. She stood up and released the sound shinobi before turning and kicking her into a tree where she slumped over, trying to put pressure on the cut in her neck.

Sakura staggered, feeling light-headed from using her already low supply of chakra. "Come on, assholes... who-who's next."

Zaku grinned. "This one has some fight." he stepped forward toward her. Sakura smiled and threw a kunai a foot in front of him. "Wow, what was that-" he stopped as light poured from the ground "Shit flash tags!"

He and Dosu attempted to cover their eyes, giving Sakura time to run around to the other side and slice the threads she had placed along her path. With each snap, an explosive kunai flew and landed near them. The last one landed in a pile to the left of the sound shinobi, causing a chain reaction. Sakura reinforced her body with chakra as she was thrown in the opposite direction from Zaku and Dosu. The two sound shinobi landed near their bleeding teammate covered in burns and cuts.

Sakura stumbled over, feeling exhausted. She hoped they were down for the count and that she could tie them up and try to move Sasuke and Naruto.

Her luck wasn't good enough as Zakus hand suddenly raised, and he blasted her into a tree with his gauntlet. "Y-you damn bitch! That hurt!"

The sound shinobi stood. Zaku and Dosu staggering to their feet while Kin applied bandages to try and stop herself bleeding out. Sakura groaned, her body felt like lead, and she struggled to get her breathing back right. She knew she was done for, but she couldn't stop now, not when her teammates were still in danger. She would have jumped if she had the energy to as her vision suddenly filled with a green jumpsuit as Lee landed in front of her. "Are you alright, Sakura-chan? I heard an explosion and came to see what was happening."

"I'm fine, Lee I made the explosion I thought it would be enough, but these guys are tough. I-I could use some help if you don't mind."

Lee pumped his fist. "Yes, despite your rejection of my love, I will help you with all my heart!"

Sakura sighed inwardly but tried her best to smile, "y-yeah, thanks, Lee."

Dosu cocked his head "who's this freak? Another Leaf brat comes to die? Fine, then I'll take you down."

Dosu pulled his sleeve up, revealing his gauntlet and ran at Lee. while they were fighting, Sakura tried to limp back to Sasuke and Naruto but stumbled as Zaku charged at her. Lee intercepted him with a kick that sent the sound shinobi flying back. Dosu used the opening and swung at Lee missing by a few inches, but it didn't matter as Lee suddenly staggered and fell to his knees as his ear bled. Dosu laughed "You're a fast one, but it doesn't matter if you can't move faster than sound. You lost this one you bowl cut freak!"

Lee tried to get up, but he stumbled and took a direct hit from Dosu's gauntlet that sent him to the ground where he didn't get back up. Zaku, who was holding his right shoulder, kicked Lee while he was down. "Look at this asshole. He came in like a big guy, but he dropped easy-"

"Don't you attack one of my comrades!" Sakura tackled Zaku, stabbing his hand and shoulder together while sinking her teeth into his left forearm.

"Ah, you bitch! Let go of me!" Zaku screamed as he tried to get her off him. "Dosu, Kin, get her off me now!"

Sakura almost blacked out as Dosu's gauntlet collided with the side of her head, sending her flying landing off to the side. She panted and tried to stand, but a hand gently pushed her back down she looked up to see Ino smiling "You look terrible Sakura. Why don't you just sit there and wait for us to handle it?"

She smiled, seeing her friend and simply laid her head in the dirt' Y-yeah I think I soften them up enough for you."

Sakura wasn't sure what Ino and her team did or when Lee's team showed up, but she was glad that no one was dead, and she had protected her teammates. She was propped up against a log near Sasuke and Naruto. Ino and her team were on lookout duty while Lee's teammates showed up and took him away without a word. She looked over as Sasuke started to get up she flinched trying to move "ah Sasuke stay down-" her words died in her throat when she saw him.

Black markings crept over his skin. He looked at her with a blank look, "who did that to you, Sakura?"

She shook from the vibe he was giving off "Those sound shinobi from the first exam came looking for a fight I stalled, then Lee tried to save me he got beaten by them, then his team and Ino's team saved us." she looked around to make sure no one was looking or coming this way. "I also stole this from one of them." She showed the earth scroll she took off Zaku back when they were on the ground together.

Sasuke looked at her confused, then smiled and nearly doubled over laughing as the marks retreated to that spot on his neck. Sakura frowned, "I don't see what's so funny, Sasuke."

He grunted and sat down "compared to how much you did in the Land of Waves. I think today proves how seriously you took, wanting to get better seriously. I'm sorry, Naruto, and I were out of it, and you had to do that on your own."

Sakura shook her head "No, it's fine. I-I think I needed this fight. Something to push me when I'm weak."

Ino, Shikimau, and Choji came back. Ino grinned. "Oh, Sasuke, you're finally awake. I have a bone to pick with you, sir."

Sasuke went from annoyed to confuse as far as he knew Ino was one of the annoying fangirls he had. "Uh, what?"

She poked his chest, making him flinch, "You left my best friend to keep you and that blonde idiot safe. You should be ashamed of yourself leaving your teammate in such a bad spot."

Sakura tried to pull Ino back, but her muscles felt like jelly, and Sasuke lowered his head "I am sorry about that. I should be stronger, but I messed up. I'm still as weak as ever."

The kunoichi blinked, surprised by his words. Sasuke wasn't known for admitting to anything, let alone apologizing. Ino shook her head "well good, I'm glad you understand. Now Sakura." she grabbed her hand "Let's get you patched up."

Once they were a bit from the tree and had some privacy, Ino started to fuss over Sakura, checking her for injuries. Once she was satisfied, Ino moved behind her and started to clean the blood out of Sakura's hair. The two sat in silence while Ino worked. Sakura sighed; she wanted to let her guard down around Ino, but she couldn't; not in these woods. Ino squeezed her shoulder "There we go, your beautiful hair is intact and blood free."

Sakura blushed and smiled, "Thanks, Ino. let's go back to the others."

Ino nodded, and the two went back to find Naruto awake as well. His face lit up, "Ah Sakura! You're ok! Wow, you look beat up. Who was it? Huh, one of these punks, I'll mess them up."

Shikamaru tsked, "It wasn't us, you idiot you and your team would have been dead if we didn't show up."

"Huh?! Is that true, Sakura?" He looked frantically between her and Shikamaru.

Sakura nodded, "I did the best I could to stop the sound shinobi that came for us, but I couldn't beat them."

She sat Naruto down near Sasuke and told them what happened while they were out. "We have both scrolls so we can head to the tower."

"Oh, you guys are done too?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura nodded, "You guys got the scrolls as well?"

"It was a pain, but we got it before finding you all."

Ino clasped her hands, "then why don't we head to the tower together, it'll be easier for you guys since you're wounded."

Sakura looked to her team, but they didn't protest, so she nodded, "Yeah, that sounds good."

The six of them moved out, and by the morning of the third day, they arrived at the tower and entered it. They read the plaque on the wall, and Naruto announced he didn't understand it while Shikamaru said it was too much trouble to explain it.

Sasuke was distracted by his neck, which had been hurting since he woke up after Orochimaru bit him. Sakura sighed, "I think it means you need to know your weaknesses and train them whether they be mental or physical. I think it also wants us to open the scrolls."

Sakura, Naruto, Ino, and Choji opened the scrolls all at once. They stared at them for a moment before smoke started to billow from them "Shit summoning scrolls drop them, you guys!" Sasuke shouted.

The four of them threw the scrolls and backed away, preparing for a fight. They were surprised when two leaf shinobi stood on the scrolls. Iruka-sensei and the chunin with him both looked as surprised as the genin to see them.

The chunin waved and started to leave. "You got this, Iruka-san. I'm gonna take a smoke break."

Iruka nodded and looked at six of his former students with pride "wow, I gotta say I'm proud of you guys. You all made it here. Team Eight is already here, so that's all of the rookies this year. Congratulations on passing the second exam."

The group sagged and sighed with relief. Ino hugged Sakura, "we passed!"

Sakura laughed and held Ino, "Hell yeah, we did!"

Naruto grinned. "Oh, hey Iruka-sensei, what's up with the plaque on the wall."

Iruka smiled, "Yes, that. I was about to explain it. If you read it, the heaven part refers to your mind, and earth refers to your body. These are orders form the Hokage to chunin that tell them to identify their weaknesses and train. If your weakness is mental, then find a way to sharpen it. If your body is weak, then strengthen it. It's more than something a chunin should abide by. It's something all shinobi should strive to do. With that out of the way head inside, there's some food and bedding until the second exam is over."

Naruto hugged their former sensei before the six of them headed into the tower. They found Kiba, Shino, and Hinata pretty quickly, and the nine of them stuck together, for the most part, talking about how the exam went.

Kiba ragged on Sasuke and Naruto for being unconscious while their kunoichi teammate kept them safe. Sakura knew he was actually worried and just showing it in his own way. While most of them were asleep or getting food, Sakura and Ino sat on either side of Hinata, startling her. "So Hinata-chan we noticed you tried to give Naruto-Kun something earlier, what is it?" Ino asked

Hinata blushed and looked down at her hands "U-um it's this." she pulled a small cylindrical container out and unscrewed it.

Sakura looked at it, "is it a healing salve?"

The Hyuga girl nodded, "I-I made it myself, and I thought he could use it. I was going to give it to him before the exam, but I-I couldn't bring myself to do that."

Sakura nodded, "You really like that Idiot don't you?"

Hinata looked ready to bolt "I-I um..."

Ino smiled, looking at Sakura. "Yeah, she does. Should we help her give her gift to the dork?"

Sakura nodded and stood up, "Don't worry, Hinata we'll help you out. Naruto's kinda dense, but as his teammate, I feel this is for his own good, so I'll bring him over and Ino you provide emotional support for Hinata so she can hand over her gift."

Ino saluted, "Yes, Taichou!"

Hinata tried to stop them, but they reassured her, and Sakura marched off to grab her teammate. She found him with Kiba, Choji, and Lee, who had shown up. Apparently, they had gotten to the tower around the second day. They were all stuffing their faces with food. "Oi Naruto, come with me for a second; there's something you need to see."

"Huh? what is it?"

She sighed, "Just come with me, ok. It'll be worth your time, dope."

He swallowed his last bite and grumbled before following her as Kiba laughed about something. She brought him back to Hinata, who was fidgeting and Ino, who was sitting nearby at an unobtrusive distance. "Here you go," Sakura said before stepping behind Hinata to give her an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder.

"Oh yo Hinata-chan, you need something?" Naruto grinned and waved.

Sakura felt like Hinata might bolt at any moment. "U-um... I made this and thought maybe." Sakura gave her a nod and squeezed her shoulder again. "I thought you could use this. I meant to give it to you sooner, but I didn't have a chance. It's a healing salve for minor wounds." She sputtered and thrust the container towards Naruto, who took it and unscrewed the cap to look at it.

"Wow, you said you made this yourself?'

Hinata nodded, and Naruto grinned "That's so cool! I will definitely use this thanks, Hinata-chan."

Sakura thought the girl might faint as Naruto waved and ran off to go get more food. "See, that wasn't so hard," Sakura said as they went and sat with Ino, who looked positively giddy.