Eternal Rivals: Yin and Yang

by Zipzapdoowoop

For millennia, 2 lineages have controlled the history of the continent. The world is kept in constant war. Death, suffering, and anguish are mixed in with instability. However, the birth of the last 2 of the bloodlines will transform the crowded continent of today into the barren wasteland of tomorrow. *Split-Personality Naruto*, *Byakugan Naruto*.

9. Chapter 4: Chunin Exams: The Second Test

I know people will ask about this eventually, so I will clear this up now.

The base Byakugan can have other abilities besides the standard ones, although they are passive abilities. Momoshiki could see Boruto's destiny and future with his Byakugan once he marked him. Kaguya could read people's thoughts and tell if you are lying with her Byakugan. In fanfiction, I see many people make it so the Byakugan can detect lies, so that has to come from somewhere, right?

Because of this, I decided that to make Naruto's future Byakugan really unique, I would tease its unique and passive ability. The ability to unlock lost memories/seeing your own past. Right now, it will only work when certain conditions are met and when Naruto is in a really unstable emotional state. He has no control over this ability at the moment nor does he know that it exists.

In time, he will discover it on his own and will master it along with his Byakugan. I didn't give him Byakugan for the sake of giving him Byakugan. I will make his Byakugan unique and extremely powerful, but it won't happen in a day.

The idea that anyone can master a new ability in a short amount of time is ridiculous. Naruto may be a genius in his own right and the main character, but he isn't perfect. I refuse to write a Gary Stu. That is lazy writing.

Just letting you guys know that any Jutsu I write in, I'll write them the way I want. It won't be strictly Japanese or English. I will see both versions and choose which I think sounds cooler. This will allow me to write original Jutsu that I create in English without worrying over translating it to Japanese.

I am open to having a Beta Reader. Not something I am actively searching for, but if anyone is interested, let me know. I can do this on my own, but it'd be cool to have a second opinion.

I have changed the update schedule to Sundays rather than Saturdays. I'm always busy on Saturdays and am free on Sundays. Don't know why I didn't do that earlier.

That is all. Enjoy the chapter.

General narration

"Talking"

Flashbacks

'Thinking'

Narration

Yami speaking

Bijuu talking

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or Naruto Shippuden, nor the Naruto Manga. They are owned by Viz Media and Masashi Kishimoto. I only own "Narrator" and other OC's.

---

Narrator: The next day Team 7 goes to Training Ground 44 for the 2nd Exam. The proctor, Anko, explains to them the rules. A Capture the Flag type of game is created where one team has to steal another team's scroll of the opposite color.

And since lethal force is allowed, the stakes could never be higher.

Once Team 7 gets their scroll, a Heaven Scroll, Naruto summons 2 shadow clones. He has them transform into copies of the real scroll.

As the most talented one on their team, Sasuke kept the real scroll hidden while Naruto and Sakura also kept their duds well hidden.

Time to start the Second Exam.

---

Dashing through the forest, Team 7 has yet to encounter any other teams or dangers. Naruto has sent a shadow clone in a different direction to do extra scouting. It will report back when it finds something.

They make a short stop in a small clearing to regroup a bit.

"I have to go pee." Naruto dashes off near a bush, preparing to take off his shorts.

A fist slams into the back of his head. "Baka! Don't do that in front of a lady! Do it deeper in the Forest where I can't see you!"

Naruto runs off before he can get punched again.

Once he gets back, he rubs the back of his head. "That was a lot. I feel so refreshed now."

Sasuke charges in and gives Naruto a vicious elbow tackle.

Naruto goes flying, hitting a tree back first "W-what was that for?"

Sasuke sprints toward Naruto and kicks his face. While going in for a complimentary roundhouse on Naruto, Sasuke keeps a keen eye on him. Naruto ducks underneath the kick and dashes up a tree.

Sasuke gets there quickly enough to intercept and kick Naruto down toward the unforgiving ground. Sasuke pulls out a kunai into his right hand and Naruto pulls out one in retaliation. This commences a short sequence of kunai striking and dodging.

They back away from one another. "Talk! Where is the real Naruto?"

What?

"Where is the cut on your cheek that the proctor gave you? And you're holding the kunai in your left hand. Your shuriken holster is on your left leg too. Naruto is right-handed. You are worse at transformations than Naruto, you phony!"

A puff of smoke releasing a jutsu was the response Sasuke got. The person impersonating Naruto had on an Amegakure headband and a type of gas mask on his face. He was also wearing a drab beige one-piece loose-fitting leotard.

"Which one of you has got the scroll? If you listen to me obediently, then I'll spare your lives." No one answers him.

"I see, then I'll have to resort to force!" The Amegakure genin charges in, kunai in hand.

Sasuke jumps up in the air and starts a short hand-seal sequence. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu." Multiple miniature fireballs are cast and shot at the genin from Amegakure. Sasuke and the genin meet in the middle to clash kunai. The genin from rain dashes off.

Sasuke sees Naruto tied up in the distance, so he throws his kunai at him, cutting the rope keeping him tied.

The rain genin throws a barrage of kunai at Sasuke. Sasuke retreats behind a tree. Unfortunately, one of the kunai had an explosive tag, which ignites. Sasuke is launched back.

The genin from rain holds a kunai to Sasuke's neck. Thankfully, Naruto throws his own kunai, hitting the genin on the shoulder, making him drop his kunai and retreat.

Sasuke activates his Sharingan and uses his training in tree-walking to hold the fallen kunai in mid-air with his feet. He twists his body around and does the motion for a roundhouse. He releases the control of his chakra, sending the kunai flying.

The rain genin swerves his body to dodge, giving Sasuke the opening needed to stab him in the chest.

Sakura, shocked at seeing Sasuke stab someone can't help but let out a squeak between a whine and a whimper. "Sasuke-kun…"

"Don't just stand there Sakura! There is no guarantee this guy is alone, got it? If you let your guard down, you will be killed." Meanwhile, Sasuke is contesting his strength with the genin from rain. Sasuke tries to force the kunai in deeper, but the genin is strong enough to prevent the stab from being deadly.

Eventually, the genin is able to overpower Sasuke using only one hand, forcing Sasuke to use both hands to keep the kunai from being used against him. Having one hand free, the genin reaches and pulls out a kunai, getting ready to stab Sasuke.

Naruto sees what is happening, and shakes violently. He knows what he has to do, but isn't sure if he has the strength to do it.

He pulls out a kunai and immediately feels nauseous. He can taste bile bubbling up his esophagus. It burns his throat, like a dragon's breath. Hot and comfortable for him, but the flames of his vengeance will burn everyone else.

His eyes dilate. His vision becomes static and blurry. He feels dizzy too. Is the world spinning, or is it him?

Naruto's right eye flashes black and red and he takes a few deep breaths. Better, better, good. He can focus now. He jumps high into the air, his heterochromatic orbs alight in the blaze of his warriors' spirit, and he aims his kunai.

He swings his right arm back, narrows his eyes, like a fox hunting easy prey, and swings, letting go of the knife. Blood splashes in the air and their part of the forest becomes still and silent, like the dead of night.

Both Sasuke and the genin fall to the ground. Sasuke is able to break his fall and land upright, but the rain genin falls face-first, his headband falling afterward right in front of him. A cut can be seen where the stitching once kept the headpiece together.

The genin himself is leaking blood from the back of his head in the soft, fleshy part between his skull and neck. Sasuke breathes hard, almost hysterically, and Naruto's breathing is ragged and aggressive, yet rhythmic and stable.

Sakura's pupils dilate seeing the now dead body of the Amegakure genin. "N-Naruto, you…"

"He was going to kill Sasuke! I-I couldn't let that happen. I… I'm sorry." Naruto starts tearing up. "I hate this. I don't like doing that. It feels awful. I-I feel like I'm losing a piece of myself every time I do that." He starts sobbing. "W-what if he had friends? Or fa-family? What if I took away someone's son or... brother? Maybe he was a good person who was m-meant for something. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. Now we-we'll never know. He-he was a necessary sacrifice to p-protect you guys. Even then, this still hurts..."

His red, puffy, and tear-filled eyes look up at his teammates. "Please…please promise me that no matter what happens to me, or what I become, we'll always be friends."

Sasuke and Sakura look at one another. They know what they need to do. Sakura is the first to answer him. "I promise Naruto! We'll be best friends no matter what!" She says wholeheartedly.

"Hn." Now it's Sasuke's turn. "You did what you had to do. I don't blame you. It's just shocking to know that you have what it takes to handle the burden of shinobi. I will always respect that in any shinobi, so there is nothing to worry about Usuratonkachi."

Naruto grows a watery smile hearing this. When Sasuke calls him 'Usuratonkachi', it doesn't feel malignant. It feels endearing, surprisingly.

His smile gains strength and vigor. He wipes his eyes and something is lit in his soul. These people... they are precious to him. They are more than what friends are, but he doesn't know what the term for that is yet. For now, though, the term 'friends' works just fine.

"Thanks, guys. You're all really cool, dattebayo." Sasuke and Sakura smile at him.

Sasuke turns around and looks away. He frowns. 'What was that? Naruto's right eye… if it weren't for my Sharingan, I would've missed it. No pupils, black sclera, and red irises. What is that? Is it a Doujutsu?' Sasuke isn't sure, but what he does know is that whatever that eye is, it's evil. It is an evil potentially far worse than Itachi could ever be.

And the owner of that eye is Naruto.

A shiver runs up his spine.

---

Narrator: Later that day, Team 7 was split up by a powerful Wind Jutsu. A Kusagakura Shinobi, posing as Naruto, regrouped with Team 7. With Sasuke noticing the ruse, the ninja was forced to attack preemptively.

A few kilometers away, Naruto is forced to fend for himself against a massive snake. When he finally defeats it and regroups with his team, he's put directly at the heart of the conflict.

With a quick sequence of hand seals, the Kusagakure kunoichi restarts the battle against Team 7.

Once the chakra dissipates, a large snake is summoned. The snake targets Naruto first. Naruto is able to dodge quick enough to avoid injury.

"Fufufufu. You are such cute prey, Naruto-kun." The snake coils its tail and like a whip, releases its built tension toward Naruto.

Although it failed to strike Naruto, the attack hit the branch he was on, causing Naruto to fall. He falls down toward the unforgiving ground, breaking branches along the way.

Before he lands, the snake uses its tail to hit him back upward. Naruto hits a solid branch back-first. The mystery ninja addresses her summon. "You can eat him now."

As Naruto is approaching the snake's mouth, deep inside him, his alter-ego supplies some of its chakra to Naruto's coils, creating the bridge necessary for the Kyuubi to give some of its own chakra to Naruto.

When Naruto opens his eyes, they are no longer the sapphire blue everyone recognizes. Now, they're a bright scarlet with vulpine slit pupils. Naruto flips and punches the snake on its snout, managing to bruise its tough, scaly skin.

Naruto lands on a branch and jumps back to the snake, breaking the branch from the strength in his legs. He loses any semblance of logic and throws a flurry of strikes on the snake's snout.

The Kusagakure ninja opens up her palm and blows at Naruto, shooting a fireball at him. Naruto is launched back hitting many branches until a particularly sturdy one breaks his fall.

Sakura looks on in awe. "Naruto has lost control…but how is he so strong?"

Sasuke is dumbfounded. "That's…Naruto? Is this the power of…" 'the Kyuubi?'

The snake goes after Sasuke now. Sasuke, still controlled by his fear, can't avoid the attack. His body refuses to move. As the snake approaches, Naruto jump from his distant branch to block the snake's path, protecting Sasuke.

"Hey, you're not scared are you, scaredy-cat?" Declares Naruto in-between breaths. His slit crimson eyes are glaring furiously at Sasuke's dull, dark and glassy eyes. Although struggling to hold the snake back and panting from exhaustion, Naruto still managed to get that quip in.

Sasuke's eyes widen remembering when he told Naruto the exact same thing when he first protected him during the Wave mission. He takes a step back when he sees Naruto's eyes. 'Naruto…so this is the power of the Kyuubi.'

"This stupid coward I see is absolutely not the Sasuke I know!" A long tongue coils around Naruto, restraining him and lifting him up toward the Kusgakure ninja. It is her tongue…

'So, the Kyuubi brat survived. When you get excited, a bit of the Kyuubi's power trickles out. You've grown up in an interesting way.'

The ninja opens up her hand. Purple flames are summoned around her fingers. She uses her tongue to lift up Naruto's jacket and shirt, displaying the Kyuubi's seal. "Five-pronged seal!" The ninja plants her fingers on five corners of Naruto's seal, burning his skin and branding him with a new seal.

"Sasuke-kun, help Naruto!" Sasuke remains still.

Naruto's eyes pulse for a bit, where his pupils switch from the slit version to the standard circular and back, over and over. Finally, his eyes return to the standard sapphire blue. Naruto immediately stills, closes his eyes, and goes limp.

'After twelve years since the sealing, Naruto-kun's chakra and the Kyuubi's chakra are now starting to act in sync…" the Kusagakure ninja uses her tongue to dig into Naruto's kunai pouch. She feels around and finds a scroll. Before she grabs it, she feels another scroll. Her eyes widen. 'Clever...' She grabs the scrolls and throws Naruto away like a dirty food wrapper.

As Naruto falls, Sakura pulls out a kunai and manages to pin Naruto's clothing to a tree, ceasing his fall.

As the ninja plays with the scrolls in each hand, the one in her left hand's transformation wavers. The Naruto clones lose their disguises and clutch their stomachs in agony, revealing the duds in Naruto and Sakura's possession. They then dispel, leaving the Kusagakure ninja with the real scroll and a new impression of the Kyuubi brat.

"Sasuke-kun, what are you doing? Why didn't you save Naruto?" No response. "Naruto sure is different from you. He's a klutz and kind of gets in the way, but unlike you, at least he is not a coward! Isn't that right?"

Sasuke flinches hard. He can take Naruto calling him a coward, but Sakura, his yes-man, the one who always takes his side and never says no to him. Her calling him a coward burns far more than he thought it ever could. This feels like a mockery, a shame, and humiliation he hasn't felt since his aniki's parting words.

His aniki. His words come back to his mind, taking over like a poison spreading throughout his body. If he wants to face him one day, he needs to overcome his fear now.

His blood boils over and his resolve burns deep in his soul. "Sharingan!" Twin blood-red eyes appear, two tomeos in each.

The Kusagakure ninja releases her summon and gets in a ready stance. Sasuke pulls out his kunai and charges in.

He jumps in the air and throws 3 kunai at his enemy. A slight tilt of her head to the left lets her avoid the first kunai and stepping to the right has the other two safely glide past her.

Sasuke punches her, but she blocks with her hand. Sasuke twists his body to kick her face, but a slight tilt of her arm has her block his attempt with her forearm while still maintaining an arm free.

Sasuke is pushed back and sends a jab, a left hook, and a straight. His enemy pushes his strikes aside with her palms. She attempts a leg sweep, but with his Sharingan, Sasuke sees it and jumps over it. Sasuke blocks a punch just before it hits his nose and barely dodges a heel-lick to his left cheek. Her strikes are faster than his and blocking them leaves bruises.

Sasuke's opponent flickers behind him and retreats to the trees, turning her lower body back to that of a snake. She slithers around Sasuke at speeds he can't register, but when she reappears to strike, he is able to catch it in time with his Sharingan.

Jumping away, Sasuke holds a tiger seal and breaths out a barrage of fireballs right where his opponent is. His opponent is hit with the entirety of his attack. Sasuke takes a deep breath and blows out a massive fireball comparable to the one he showed his father all those years ago when training to use Katon.

The heat and pressure of the combined attacks create an artificial cyclone, a firestorm in this case. His Sharingan sees the ninja slither underground to avoid the man-made disaster.

The Kusagakure shinobi reappears and blows pressurized wind at Sasuke. Sasuke stays on the outer edge of the attack to help push him away without getting hurt.

Springboarding off a tree, Sasuke grabs his opponent's body and flips them over. They fall 50 meters to land on a particularly solid branch, the full force of the piledriver being concentrated on the Kunoichi's head.

Backing away, Sasuke eyes the corpse in front of him warily. His eyes widen when he sees the corpse melt into mud. "Substitution? When?" His question is answered when a swarm of kunai comes at him like hungry locusts, surrounding him and nearly nipping off a bit of sustenance.

Jumping off the tree, Sasuke swings around using ninja wire as an improvised rope.

Once landing on a branch, his opponent immediately appears and punches him. A kick to the stomach makes him hunch over, allowing for a knee strike to his face. Now dazed, he can't avoid the left hook that lands on his cheek. "Hmph. You are too easy Sasuke-kun."

Small hidden explosives are triggered on his opponent's back, knocking her off balance. Sasuke leaps away and pulls out half a dozen shuriken with wire attached to them. The shurikens whiz around, guided by the wires in Sasuke's hands and mouth. The shurikens fly around the tree, having the wires wrap around his opponent, trapping her on the bark of the tree.

Sasuke sucks the wires further into his mouth. Snake, Dragon, Hare- Sasuke brings the wires between his fingers for the final seal- Tiger. "Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu!"

An extremely hot and dense fire travels through the wires to strike the ninja tied to the tree. The initial contact explodes a part of the tree off, and the rest burns the rest, lighting up the forest and pulsating like a beacon.

...

After a few minutes, the fire dies down. Sasuke gets on a knee to catch his breath. Sakura glomps him, happy that he's alive.

What they failed to notice was that the ninja tied to the tree broke free from the wires. She walks up to the remaining genin of Team 7 and glares venomously. She releases the full restraints of her KI, paralyzing Sasuke and Sakura.

"I didn't expect that you could use your Sharingan this much at your age." Her voice slowly gets deeper and slimier, almost serpent-like. "You are truly a member of the Uchiha Clan. I do want you after all." She peels off a bit of her face, showing paper-white skin, an Otogakure headband, and serpentine yellow-green slit eyes with purple markings around them.

"You're definitely his brother. Your eyes hide more ability than that Itachi."

Sasuke glowers at this… person? "Who the hell are you?!"

The ninja gives Sasuke a teasing smirk. "My name is Orochimaru. If you think you want to meet again, desperately run to the top of the test. Defeat the three Otogakure shinobi under my control."

"What are you talking about? We don't want to see your face ever again, right Sasuke-kun?"

"Oh, that won't do. He and I will meet again." Orochimaru performs an almost inverted tiger seal. His neck extends and slithers like it were a snake. His head reaches Sasuke and he bites him on the spot between his left shoulder and neck. His fangs poke through his skin, injecting something in him like a cobra's venom.

Orochimaru pulls away and retracts his neck. Sasuke holds his neck and drops to his knees in agony.

Sakura glares furiously at Orochimaru. "You! What have you done to Sasuke-kun?"

"Kukuku. I just gave him a little parting gift." Sasuke loses balance and needs to use an arm to hold himself up. "Sasuke-kun will come looking for me, desiring my power." Sasuke yells in agony, shuddering breaths escaping his lungs. He tries to breathe, but he chokes on the very air he needs. The pain is indescribable.

"In the meantime, I've enjoyed the demonstration of your abilities. Kukukuku." Orochimaru pulls out the Heaven Scroll and burns it. He melts into the ground, his presence disappearing with him.

Sakura holds Sasuke before he could collapse. She sees the mark on his neck where the bite was. It resembles three tomoes in an even pattern. Sakura cleans the blood off of Sasuke's neck and he passed out soon after.

Sakura tries to shake Sasuke awake after feeling him go limp. "Naruto! Sasuke- Sasuke-kun's hurt! I need you! Naruto!" Sakura looks around and sees Naruto where she left him, dangling off of a kunai, still blacked out.

She is all alone now. No one to protect her.

---

A few kilometers away, Naruto's shadow clone looks at the scene in front of him. It's the Sunagakure shinobi team from before facing a team from Amegakure. And that Gaara guy… he gives him a bad vibe.

"If their eyes meet with mine... I'll kill them all."

Yep. Definitely bad news.

The big guy from rain threw six umbrellas in the sky and they rained down senbon. Gaara just stood there and sand surrounded him, blocking every single needle. "A senbon rainstorm? Well, I'll make it rain blood."

Naruto got chills. Gaara said that with such a dark look on his face. Almost as if he meant it.

Gaara then used the sand to cover the guy from head to toe. Gaara picks up an umbrella to cover himself and lift the sandman high up the sky. He then squeezes his hand, exploding the man inside, making it rain blood.

Naruto is mortified. His right eye pulses and he struggles to not make a noise. His dark eye looks at what he sees. It's raining blood, feeding the plants something far more nutritious than soil and rainwater. When he looks at it through his right eye, it doesn't look like some violent murder. No, it looks like a misunderstood expression of art. It's … stunning.

"The bitter crimson tears of a corpse flow and merge with the vast sinking sand, feeding more power to the demon of war within me." There is something about those words… they are poignant. Sad, edgy, and all types of fucked, but they have a sort of bliss in them. Naruto is in awe.

The old man's teammates leave their scroll on the ground for Gaara to take, as long as he spares their lives. Gaara lifts his arms and traps them both in the sand. Then, he crushes them like hard candy. The plants below are getting a drink of life.

Gaara releases the bodies and takes a minute to view his handiwork. The corpses… all that was left was a broken heap, unrecognizable from what once was. Their bodies were twisted and broken in so many unnatural places.

Naruto looks on and can't help but feel wonder viewing the corpses. When he looks at Gaara, he feels… admiration.

His left eye starts to grow dark. Black sclera comes in and his iris loses its pupil. He feels himself fading and something starts taking over.

Suddenly, he clutches his stomach and yells in agony. His body burns, so badly. The fox, he can't feel it.

Gaara hears the commotion and uses his sand to drag the shadow clone out. "Were you spying on me?" The clone opens its nearly mismatched eyes and looks at Gaara with a hint of admiration and respect. Gaara flinches seeing that look. It's so similar to… no, that man was bad. He will only listen to mother.

Gaara uses his sand to cover Naruto in the sand, burying him alive. He squeezes his hand, expecting his witness to shower him in ruby tears. But nothing comes out of the sand, only smoke. A clone.

Gaara goes to the tower with his siblings in a bad mood now. He failed to kill that kid. Next time he sees him, he will end his life to prove himself the superior existence.

What neither Gaara nor Naruto's clone knew was that they were being watched by Team 8.

---

Sakura managed to carry both Naruto and Sasuke to a cave located underneath a tree. She notices Sasuke's breathing stabilizes, but he still has a high fever. Naruto's injuries have healed, but he is still knocked out.

She is all alone. "Alright then. I have no choice but to protect them." Now she just needs to fight to stay awake.

In the distance, three Otogakure genins observe Team 7. "We strike at daybreak, as Orochimaru-sama ordered. Uchiha Sasuke is our target, not the others."

"If they get in the way, it's okay to kill the other two, right?"

"Of course."

---

At daybreak, Sakura changes the cloth on Sasuke's head to bring down his fever.

The sun is shining and the birds are chirping. Everything seems happy, but Sakura is exhausted. She has to fight constantly against herself to keep her eyes open. After all, if she doesn't protect these two, who will?

Suddenly, she hears rustling in the bushes. She pulls out a kunai and turns around only to see a… squirrel?

The squirrel runs at her and she uses a kunai to scare it away. That was too close.

In the bushes, the Otogakure genins think about if she saw the paper bomb on the squirrel. They decide to get closer to be sure.

When Sakura is distracted bobbing in and out of sleep, the three genins come out of hiding. "A no-sleep lookout eh? But it's not necessary anymore. Wake Sasuke-kun up. We want to fight him."

Sakura glares at them. "What do you want? I know the one called Orochimaru is calling the shots from the shadows." The sound trio gasps in shock. "What's that strange mark on the back of Sasuke-kun's neck? Your boss did this to Sasuke-kun. How can you say you want to fight him?"

"Tch. After hearing that, I will kill this girl as well as this Sasuke character." Says the one with spiky hair.

"Wait, Zaku." The one wrapped in bandages crouches to touch the ground. "It's the color of dirt that's freshly dug up. Grass doesn't grow in a place like this either." He faces Sakura. "You know, it's pointless to make traps if you make them so easy to spot. How cliche."

"Enough! We kill her now!" The three Sound genins charge in toward Sakura. Sakura pulls out a kunai and cuts a wire. A log trap swings in, threatening to crush the sound genins, like bugs to a fly-swatter.

Dosu the bandaged one lifts his hand with the gauntlet and strange energy of sorts gets released from the said gauntlet, destroying the log. Sakura is left vulnerable with no options left.

"Konoha Senpou!" A flash of green strikes all three members of the sound trio, knocking them back.

Zaku goes red in anger. "Who the hell are you?"

"I am the beautiful blue beast of Konohagakure no Sato, Rock Lee."

Sakura is shocked to see the bowl-cut weirdo from before. "Why are you here?"

"I will always appear when you are in trouble." Lee takes the squirrel off his shoulder. "Or should I say, it was really because of this fellow." He puts the squirrel on the ground. "Run along now."

"But right now, I'm also your enemy!"

"I did say this once before, didn't I? That I'll protect you with my life, 'til I die."

Dosu charges at Lee, readying his gauntlet. Lee digs into the ground and pulls out a root from a tree, blocking Dosu's attack.

"You showed your Jutsu earlier, so now I can counter it. It will be difficult since it's three on one, so I'm going to have to take a chance, one person at a time."

---

Half a kilometer away, Team 10 sulk about not finding any weak teams.

"Well, the only team weaker than us is Naruto's team." States Shikamaru.

"Baka! You know what you are saying?" Screeches Ino.

"What?"

"No question Naruto and Sakura are lame, but that team has the super genius Sasuke-kun!"

"Heh, I wonder… A classroom is one thing, but in actual battle, that genius might easily be defeated."

Ino gives Shikamaru a smile with far too many teeth. "What?"

"Alright, I apologize for irritating you." 'What a drag. I say one negative thing about Sasuke and I get the stink eye every time.'

"There's no way Sasuke-kun could ever be taken down. Sakura's a different matter though."

Choji, in a tree, stops eating as he sees something in the distance. "Huh? Hey, Sasuke has collapsed and Sakura is fighting!"

Doubting Choji's words, the rest of Team 10 jump up to the branch to see what is going on. They are shocked to see Choji was right.

---

A few kilometers away from where Team 7 and Team 10 are, Lee's teammates wonder where Lee is. They are at the designated meeting point and although he is very concerned about punctuality, Lee hasn't shown up.

"Perhaps he ran into an enemy." Tenten gasps. "Could it be?"

Nej smirks. "Hn. Haha, that would never happen." Despite his issues with him, Neji knows Lee isn't weak. "In any case, let's go find Lee."

---

Dosu and Lee run toward one another. 'I can feel him charge chakra to that gauntlet on his right arm' Lee flips over Dosu and blocks a left hook with ease. He kicks him on the stomach and heel-kicks him on the jaw.

Dosu waves his right arm around, but Lee is too far for it to be of any effect. 'He always tries and strikes with his left arm, but he always aims for a glancing blow with his right, swinging his arm even if it'll miss. There must be some sort of trick with his gauntlet. I need to avoid it.'

When Dosu tries to swing his arm, Lee ducks and leg-sweeps him. Dosu jumps over it, but Lee balances on his hands and manages to land a kick on the back of his head.

Lee jumps to attempt an ax kick, but before he can land, air cannons hit him and he is launched back.

Lee gets up and sees the holes in Zaku's palms. 'Air is blowing out of those holes. So that is where the blast came from. He will act as support and protect his comrade from any finishing blows. A youthful sentiment, but I cannot allow that to happen.'

Lee dashes toward Dosu, keeping his distance and finding any opening to land a strike. Zaku blows air blasts whenever Lee gets too close to his teammate. Lee is forced to keep at bay.

Dosu charges at Lee and he is forced to retreat, but just as he avoids whatever Dosu planned to do, an air blast hits him on the ribs. Lee struggles to get up, giving Dosu the opportunity he needs.

He charges at Lee and swings his right arm at him. Lee barely dodges his strike, but something hits him. He hears ringing in his left ear and his vision becomes wobbly like when he accidentally drank the spicy water Guy-sensei won't let him touch anymore. He loses his balance and stumbles to his knees.

"You are indeed fast, but our Jutsu exceeds that and is the speed of sound!"

Lee's left ear starts bleeding.

"Lee-san!" Yells Sakura in worry.

"Our Jutsu is sound. My jutsu creates frequencies that attack the semicircular canal, causing you to lose balance and rupture your eardrum."

Zaku adds on. "You were doing well up to a certain point, but I had to intervene." He presents his palms. "I freely manipulate ultrasonic waves and air pressure and have the power to obliterate boulders."

'To explain and show your enemy your jutsu. So arrogant. I now know how to counter them. They will pay for their unyouthful behavior.'

Dosu runs past Lee, going straight for Sakura. "Next, is you!" Dosu stretches his right arm, readying his gauntlet.

By sheer strength of will, Lee gets up and runs past Dosu to protect Sakura. "Konoha Senpou." He aims a backheel that Dosu couldn't block, but Lee freezes mid-motion. It's the effect of the attack earlier.

Dosu grabs Lee's leg and pushes it away. He swings his arm at him. Lee has one of two options. He can block Dosu's attack to force a stalemate, or he can duck and try a counterattack.

Remembering his opponent's jutsu works in close distance and blocking the attack would have them be in direct contact, Lee goes for the second option.

He ducks under Dosu's swing and balances on one arm to twist his body and deliver a quick backheel. Dosu is knocked back, giving Lee some breathing room. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.

Lee remembers his time training with Guy-sensei. The Lotus, a Forbidden Jutsu that blocks the brain's limiters on muscle strength. A self-sacrificing Jutsu of sorts. He promised to only use it when a condition was met.

"Guy-sensei. I will utilize that Jutsu without reserve. Because this is the time you said…" Lee unwrapped his bandages. "When protecting a precious person!" Lee stomps on the ground, kicking up dirt and rubble. He catches a stone in his left and right hands and stares down his opponents.

Dosu charges at Lee. Lee moves at a speed far faster than Dosu can react to, making it look like he disappeared. Lee crouches under his opponent and kicks him on the chin, propelling him upward.

Lee jumps toward his opponent's shadow. On his way, he sees Zaku lift his arms, aiming them at Lee. Lee opens up his hands and throws the stones at Zaku, aiming them at the holes in his palms. The stones manage to plug the holes before Zaku can unleash his jutsu, leaving him temporarily defenseless.

Finally reaching Dosu's shadow, his bandages wrap around his opponent's body, binding him. Lee spins them in the air and dives at the ground upside-down. "Primary Lotus!" They head toward the ground with incredible speed and force.

Just before they make contact with the ground. Lee let's go of Dosu and rights himself, moving out of the way. Dosu lands on the hard, unforgiving ground head-first, taking the full force of the jutsu. Dosu is now out of commission.

Lee lands on his knees still not fully recovered from Dosu's attacks and having to deal with the effects of opening the first gate.

Zaku grunts with effort and manages to use his air blasts to force the stones from out of his palms. He aims the effort at Lee.

Lee sees the stones coming and moves, but isn't able to avoid getting hit. The blunt stone hits his shoulder -that will leave a massive welt later- but the jagged stone hits his thigh, puncturing his flesh and coming out the other side. Now there is a gaping hole in his leg.

Luckily, it didn't hit bone.

Zaku charges at Lee and builds up chakra in his palms. He aims his airwaves at Lee. Lee knows he can't counter it in his current state, so he backs up to not receive the full brunt of the attack. "Decapitating Airwaves!"

Lee is caught in the airwaves and is sent flying. He flies backward at ludicrous speeds until he hits a tree back-first. All the wind is knocked out of Lee and he collapses, all the strength in his body drained.

…

A few dozen meters away, Team 10 observes the carnage.

"It looks like Sasuke and Naruto are only unconscious, but… even that Lee guy has been messed up and Sakura is alone. What are you going to do Ino?"

"What do you mean, Shikamaru?"

"Well, Sakura is in deep trouble." Shikamaru narrows his eyes. "Are you alright with that? You two were once close friends, weren't you?"

Ino's thoughts linger on a better time when life was easy. When only the bright otherworldly aspect of larger-than-life childhood dreams seemed centuries away, and the most anyone had to worry about was petty schoolyard squabbling.

She remembers what split her and Sakura up. The dream of being Mrs. Uchiha. The dream that seemed bigger than them, even now, and that petty moment of squabbling made them rivals.

She shakes her head to rid herself of the cobwebs. "I can't heedlessly go out there, can I?" Ino trembles in fear. She's weaker than everyone else. She can't fight against them. She'll be destroyed. What good is she as a friend if she is no good as a kunoichi?

…

Sakura throws shurikens at Zaku. He uses his airwaves to reverse the momentum of the shurikens and make them return to their sender. Sakura ducks to dodge her own shurikens.

Once safe, she takes a step, but slips and falls on her butt. Kin, the final member of the sound trio, comes from behind and grabs a fistful of Sakura's long, rosy locks.

"Your hair is shinier than mine. Tch, if you have time to worry about your hair, you should train!" She grits out in disgust. "Getting all spiced up like a woman…" She coils all of Sakura's hair between her fingers and wrist, keeping her knuckles to Sakura's scalp.

"Zaku, why don't you kill that Sasuke guy right in front of this sexy bug?

"Hahaha. Sounds like a great idea."

The second Sakura moves, Kin pulls her hair harder, keeping her in place. Lee, still somehow conscious, looks on. He grits his teeth. He should've used all his strength from the start.

Sakura starts crying tears of frustration. 'I…again. I let everyone down again. What good am I? Even now, when my team truly needs me, I still need protecting. I thought that maybe when it's life and death, I could come through for my team. I'm useless…'

"Okay, let's do this." Zaku walks past Sakura toward the cave. Sakura stops crying and clenches her fist, gritting her teeth. It's now or never. Zaku is nearing the cave.

Sakura puts her hand on her holster. She fingers a kunai. If only Kin's hand was farther from her scalp, she could cut off her own hair, but that isn't an option anymore. She'd risk stabbing herself doing that. The only option left is…

She looks toward the cave. Zaku is about to enter the cave.

She looks at Lee. He isn't able to get up.

She looks at Dosu. He starts twitching and stirring.

She looks at Kin. She tightens her grip on her hair.

Sakura gulps heavily to swallow the bile in her throat. She glares determinedly at Kin, knowing this is the best and only way.

For everyone present, it happened in slow motion. Sakura pulls out her kunai and using the edge of the blade, cleanly slices Kin's right hand from her wrist, cutting her hair along with it.

Stray strands of rosy locks float in the wind. Blood flies along with it, soaking the Earth in a twisted scarlet rain. The ends of Sakura's hair are dyed in Ruby highlights, further accentuating her natural color. Her hair now resembles an inverted Hibiscus flower.

'I always considered myself a true ninja. I claim that I'm in love with Sasuke-kun. I always act like I know everything, and I'm always lecturing Naruto. But I'm always behind them, trying to catch up, and yet those two always covered my mistakes and fight for me.'

Sakura looks at a wide-eyed and barely conscious Lee. 'Lee-san, you say that you like me. You risked your life and fought for me. I have a feeling that you taught me…that I want to be like all three of you!

Sakura's eyes become sharp and an emotion completely unknown to her blooms in her heart. Resolve. 'This time, if it means protecting the three of you, and having you guys watch me grow, even at the cost of going against my morals, then so be it. Naruto has done worse to try and protect us. He has taken lives. Now that it's my turn, crippling someone should mean nothing if it means my friends can live to see another day!'

Lee finally blacks out. Team 10 watch on wide-eyed and unmoving. Is this really the same Sakura from the Academy?

Kin's agonized screams capture Zaku's attention. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT! Kin, kill her, now!"

Kin grits her teeth and shoulder-tackles Sakura. Before reaching her, however, Sakura performs a quick sequence of hand seals and substitutes with a log. Zaku was able to track where Sakura went.

Sakura reemerges with four Kunai in each hand. She throws her barrage at Zaku.

"Kin, get out of the way!" Kin retreats in the forest to patch herself up. Zaku maximizes the air pressure for his next attack. "Slicing Airwaves!"

The kunai are reflected back toward Sakura. Sakura repeats the same hand seals as last time and substitutes with a log again. Zaku was able to spot where she went.

Sakura jumps straight at Zaku for a frontal attack. She does the hand seals for a substitution once more, except this time she doesn't charge any chakra into the seals.

"No matter how many times you do this, it won't work." He pulls out three kunai. "But, if you insist, I'll play your stupid game." Zaku throws the three kunai at Sakura.

Sakura curls up in a ball, protecting her head and abdomen. The knives pierce her right forearm, her right thigh, and left calf.

"So where are you coming from next?" Zaku didn't expect it when nothing changed.

Sakura pulled out a kunai from her pouch and got ready to stab Zaku. Sakura is already too close for Zaku to avoid being stabbed, so he put up a guard. Sakura was able to stab through Zaku's forearm.

Zaku tried to use his left arm to attack Sakura, but Sakura bit his wrist, holding his arm in place and drawing blood.

"Get the hell off me, you crazy bitch!" Zaku frees his right arm and starts punching Sakura. He punches her over and over, trying to get her to let him go. She just bites harder. In retaliation, Zaku punches harder.

Zaku punches her head over and over and splits her open. Even then, Sakura doesn't let go, and Zaku keeps punching. Sakura's hair soaks up her blood, gradually turning her hair scarlet. She now resembles an Uzumaki.

Kin comes from out of the forest and kicks Sakura on her stomach, successfully pushing her off Zaku. "That was for taking my hand you psychotic bitch!"

Zaku gets up and pulls the kunai out of his arm. "Time to finish you off."

Sakura pushes herself off of the ground and glowers venomously at the Sound duo. A drop of blood falls in her left eye, forcing her to close it, but even then, her remaining right eye expresses more than words can express.

If this is how she dies, she'll make sure that these two know what they can go do afterward. They can go fuck themselves.

…

"Ino, are we going to do something or not?!"

Ino is still trembling. She can't get over her own fear.

Sakura swore she would beat her one day. Today, Sakura has done something she couldn't. Does that mean she is behind her now?

No, she refuses to be left behind or lose to anyone. Does that make her an egoist, a hater? Maybe, but at least she won't abandon her friends. And Sasuke won't think she is lame when he finds out about the incident.

Ino grabs the hands of her teammates and drags them out to help her fight the Otogakure shinobi.

…

Since no one is paying much attention to the cave and surrounding area, no one saw Dosu start forcing himself up to his 4 limbs, and no one caught sight of the faint purple aura coming off of Sasuke's body.

So no one can be faulted for failing to notice it gradually becoming stronger and denser.

…

Team 10 arrive just in time to put themselves between Sakura and the Sound duo.

"Ino…why?"

"I can't let you upstage me in front of Sasuke-kun!" She still hasn't realized that he is unconscious, so he won't witness what she does.

Choji quivers like a leaf seeing the Sound duo and it only worsens when he sees Dosu start stirring. "No, I don't wanna die! There are many foods I haven't eaten yet!"

Zaku smiles sinisterly. "Hahaha. It's okay to drop out of the fight, fatso."

Choji immediately stops whining and becomes rigid. "I didn't quite catch that. What did you say?"

"Huh? I said if you have a problem, then pull out, you super-sized piece of bacon!"

Choji twitches sporadically and his teammates pale. He turns around to look at Zaku. "I'm not fat! I'm big-boned!" Choji's fighting spirit was awakened.

He looks at his teammates. "Do you understand? This is a battle between Konoha and Oto!" Lucky for them, Choji has lost control, so he is willing to help.

"Okay. Let's go. Formation: Ino-"

"-Shika-"

"-Cho!"

"Choji, we're counting on you!"

"Expansion Jutsu!" Choji inflates like a balloon. Next, he tucks his head, arms, and legs inside his body. "Konohagakure Taijutsu: Human Boulder!" Choji rolls toward Zaku at blinding speeds.

Zaku aims his palm-holes at Choji. His blasts of pressurized air hit Choji, but it doesn't push him away. Choji remains in place, continuously spinning, making this a sick game of chicken. First to tire or run out of chakra loses.

Before a winner can be decided, Choji jumps over the airwaves, diving straight toward Zaku.

A few dozen meters away, Dosu, forces himself to his feet and runs toward Zaku. Spotting him first, Shikamaru uses Kageshibari no Jutsu to stretch his shadow and connect it with Dosu's, halting his movement and binding his opponent to him.

Zaku escapes just in time, causing Choji to crater the ground Zaku was standing on not only a second ago.

"Ino, now it's just the ladies left."

"Okay. Look after my body, Shikamaru." Shikamaru's eye twitches. That sounded very wrong.

Ino performs a modified Bird seal. "Ninpou: Mind Transfer Jutsu." She aims her seal at Kin. Kin suddenly goes very still and Ino's body goes limp. Shikamaru holds her up.

Choji still chases after Zaku. Zaku dodges Choji in a shinobi version of cat and mouse. "Kin. Help us out!"

Kin opens her eyes. "Ahhh. It hurts so much! Itai!" Kin clutches her right wrist where there is a bloody bandage covering the stump that was her right hand. She grits her teeth and swallows hard.

She pulls out a kunai with her left hand and holds it to her throat. "Take it easy. If you make one move, this girl Kin is dead meat. If you don't want this to end right here, leave your scroll and walk away. Once you are far enough that I can't feel your chakras, I'll release this girl."

Both Zaku and Dosu grunt and grin.

Choji charges at Zaku. Zaku lifts his arm and aims an especially high-powered airwave at Choji. He angles it in a way that wouldn't hurt Choji but rather would change his trajectory. Choji hits Kin -Ino- and then stikes a tree. Ino in Kin is launched back-first into the tree.

Ino's body starts bleeding from its mouth. The real Ino in Kin's body looks up at Kin's teammates baffled. "W-What kind of person…hurts their own comrades?"

"Careless. Our goal isn't the scrolls or passing this test playing by the rules. It's Sasuke-kun." Just as Dosu finishes his statement, Shikamaru's jutsu runs out, releasing Dosu from his hold. "It seems like the girl's jutsu lets her take over a person's body. But by the look of the blood dripping from her mouth and the bruised purple flesh below her right wrist, whatever happens to the host's body happens to her real body. So if I kill Kin, that girl will die too."

"Would you really do in your own teammate?"

Zaku lifts his arm and aims it at Kin. "If I have to." Before he can do anything, they are interrupted.

"Hmph, I don't like this at all, you insignificant Sound ninja. Bullying second-rate children and blowing hot air like winners." Everyone turns to look at who said that. It was Neji, accompanied by the bun-haired girl. What was her name again?

"That kid with the bob cut lying over there is our teammate but…" Naji activates hit Byakugan. Veins protrude around his temple and pupils become visible in his eyes. "You messed with him, didn't you?!" He glowers darkly at everyone present. He is furious that anyone would hurt his teammate.

"If you are going to continue, I'll fight with full strength!" He is about to jump into action but hesitates when he feels a dark, dense chakra.

"What's wrong? If you don't like us, stop playing cool and come down here."

Neji chuckles and smirks. "There is no need for that."

Suddenly, everyone is hit with the chakra. It's dark, dense, and powerful, with hints of evil. Everyone turns toward the direction of the signature. It's Sasuke standing with his head down and a massive swirling aura of dark, purple chakra.

Everyone feels the hatred in the chakra and how cold it feels. They shiver when a cold breeze comes along, complimenting the scene and carrying over the stench of rot in Sasuke's chakra.

Glowing red marks cover the entire left half of Sasuke's body, complimenting his burning Sharingan. He sees the condition Sakura is in and her growing black eye. A cold fury sets in, washing over everyone. "Sakura… Who did this to you? Who is it?"

'The Curse Mark runs along his entire body?'

Sasuke looks at his arm. "So this was the strength he was talking about. That guy gave this to me… At last, I understand. I am an Avenger. On my path, I must gain as much power as I can, even if it means abandoning myself to the devil." He chuckles lowly.

"Sakura, again. Who harmed you?"

Zaku, ever the intelligent creature, raises his arm like a student. "It was me, so what?" Sasuke faces Zaku fully, giving him his full attention.

"Ino, release the jutsu and get out of that body. Your real hand is dying. And you'll get involved in this if you don't! You too Choji. Hide!" Ino, although having only one hand, forces as much chakra as she can in that one seal and releases the technique.

Once in her real body, she massages her right hand to try and get the blood flowing back in the swollen, purple appendage. Her hand is dying and she needs to save it.

Zaku looks at his teammate. "Dosu, this half-dead bastard is nothing to be afraid of."

"Stop, Zaku! You don't understand!"

Zaku releases the super-sonic version of his jutsu directly at Sasuke. There is enough power to shake the entire immediate area of the forest. When his jutsu is over, he doesn't see Sasuke anywhere. "Heh, he must've been blown to pieces."

"Who did?" Sasuke -behind him with both Sakura and Naruto- backhands Zaku. Zaku is thrown away, rolling and landing at the feet of Dosu.

Sasuke performs hand seals, slowly, almost mockingly showing them at Zaku. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu." Multiple tiny fireballs are launched at Zaku.

Zaku uses his airwaves to put out the flames but didn't realize there were shurikens inside the fireballs. He is pierced by the scalding metal in multiple limbs, branding his body in soon-to-be permanent scars.

Sasuke dashes toward Zaku and sweeps his legs. Before he can completely fall, Sasuke comes behind him and holds his arms back, and places his foot on the center of his back.

Sasuke slowly grins. He lifts his head slowly and shows his face. Sadistic, pulsing Sharingan working in tandem with a bloodthirsty grin to present the world with a deranged expression fitting of a manic Avenger.

Sasuke starts pulling Zaku's arms and pushing his foot down deeper into his spine. "You seem to be very proud of your arms…you trash." Sasuke pushes harder.

"S-stop it! Please!"

Sasuke pulls harder until you hear a pop, and even then he keeps pulling. A crack is heard with an accompanying scream from his victim. Sasuke only chuckles.

Sasuke stops pushing but keeps hold of Zaku's arms. He switches feet and begins stomping on Zaku's spine, shoulders, and arms. Further cracks from breaking bones and pops from dislocations echo throughout the forest like a percussion symphony, with Zaku's screams and yelps acting as grim vocals, completing the horror song.

Finally satisfied, Sasuke releases Zaku, with 2 dislocated shoulders, 2 broken humerus, and his left arm left a twisted, mangled mess with his bones more resembling splintered wood than anything human. Zaku lies on the ground a broken, twitching shell of a person, left rueing his own mistakes.

Sasuke turns around and looks at a weakened Dosu still recovering from Lee's attack. "You're the only one left… You. You're injured, but I hope you can make it a little more fun for me." Dosu's entire body quivers like a sick puppy. His breathing breaks and becomes ragged. He can't get a full breath in.

"S-st-stay away! Stay away from me, you monster!" Sasuke smirks and keeps stalking toward Dosu, eyeing him like he is nothing more than prey.

"I said stay away dammit!" Sasuke starts chuckling. Knowing there is no hope for him, Dosu collapses and falls on his ass. He backs away. Further, further, farther until his back hits a tree. He looks in front of him, and Sasuke grins like a Cheshire cat.

"W-wait!" Dosu digs into his clothing. "You're strong. Here. It's our scroll, take it, please! It's the one you need, isn't it? Take it and spare me, please!" Dosu throws the scroll at him.

Sasuke catches it. He eyes the Earth Scroll. With his Sharingan, he can tell it's the real deal, but he hasn't had his fun yet. The scroll is nice, but what he is really craving is some blood.

"You… Would abandon your teammates to save your own pathetic existence. You are worse than scum." Sasuke pockets the scroll. He stalks closer to Dosu, who curls up in a ball.

"You are so proud of your intelligence. Your mind is your weapon, so you have pride in that. What better way for me to punish you than caving your skull in. Let's see how effective your mind is when your brain is turned to mush!" Just as Sasuke is about to grab Dosu, someone grabs him.

"Stop!" Sakura runs and hugs Sasuke from behind.

Sasuke looks her in the eyes. Furious Sharingan and desperate Emerald eyes meet.

Sakura holds him for a while. "Please… Please stop. This isn't like you Sasuke-kun… Stop." Sakura starts crying.

Sasuke looks at Sakura. He sees her tears.

He looks away and looks at Dosu. He sees him quivering, looking at him like if he were something inhuman.

He looks down at the ground. 'What have I done? I lost myself right there. Why did I do that to the arms guy? Why did I threaten to kill the bandaged guy? How did I go so far that I made Sakura cry? Does my own teammate fear me now?

No, she isn't afraid of me. She's afraid for me, of what I could've done.' Sasuke's bloodthirsty tunnel vision fades. He can think clearly, now that his mind isn't in a haze. The marks on his body recede and retreat back to the mark on his neck. Sasuke loses strength in his legs and falls back, landing on his butt.

Dosu crawls away from the tree as fast as he can to put space between him and Sasuke. Once he feels far enough, he addresses Sasuke. "We cannot defeat you as we are now. That scroll…take it as our fee for settling this. Please let us withdraw from here."

Dosu gets up and walks toward his teammates. He puts Kin on his shoulder and carries Zaku by the stomach. "Let's make a promise. If we have the chance to face each other once more in the Exams, we won't run from you. We will face you with everything we have."

Dosu walks away with his teammates to places unknown to lick their wounds like injured dogs.

Shikamaru walks over to kick Naruto awake and Lee's teammates go to pick him up. Tenten wakes Lee up and scolds him for being reckless.

Naruto is on edge the moment he wakes up. He shivers and scrunches into a ball, hugging himself. He speaks over and over about sand. Shikamaru and Choji snap him out of his funk. Naruto questions them on what has been going on since he was unconscious.

Sakura walks up to Lee. "Hey, Lee-san, Arigatou. Because of you, I was able to stand up for myself and wake up. I feel like I've gotten a little stronger." She smiles sweetly at him.

"Sakura-san…" Lee tears up a little. "It looks like my efforts weren't good enough." He looks at Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun. You are what one would expect of the Uchiha Clan. To chase off the Otogakure shinobi, you must possess amazing strength, just like I thought. You were better, whereas I was beaten to a pulp."

Sasuke's eyes widen. What did he hear? Lee was beaten? They were that strong? He grabs the mark on his neck. Just what is this new power he has been given?

Lee looks at Sakura once more. "The Lotus of Konohagakure blooms twice. When we meet again, I will have become a stronger man. I pledge it. So wait for me until then."

Sakura blinks. Once, twice, thrice. She doesn't get it. "Uh, okay."

"Hey, Sakura. Come here, I'll fix your hair for you." offers Ino while clutching her hand.

Sakura touches her hair. The blood has dried at the tips and has gotten thicker near the roots. She still needs to get her hair cut to keep the length even. "Okay."

Ino cuts the loose and uneven bits in Sakura's hair. She doesn't have anything to wash the blood away, except wiping off the parts that are still wet. This will be a chore, especially while only having one functioning hand. Her right hand is recovering.

Neji eyes Sasuke from afar. The Uchiha would make for a fantastic opponent.

Eventually, they part ways, and Team 7 decides to find the closest body of water where they can wash up and find some food.

---

Once at a river, they take turns washing. Sakura goes first and she cleans her clothes and removes all the dirt off of her skin. Once finished, she tries washing her hair. She goes from the roots to the tips over and over. Most of her hair is her original soft pink color, with her hair gradually turning rosier the closer you get to the tips.

The tips of her cut hair, however, are stained ruby, having her tips resemble pink and red paint in cross-contact. The very ends of her hair are red. She has no choice but to grow her hair and cut it as it grows.

Naruto goes next. As he cleans and Sakura gets changed, Sasuke is left alone to ponder everything that has happened. From his actions and emotions to his goals. His cold, brutal vengeance on the sound ninja, and his effort to protect his friends, one question is left unanswered.

What is he?

Is he a member of Team 7? A loyal servant to Konohagakure no Sato and friend willing to protect his comrades? Or…

Is he an Avenger? Which is the real him?

---

After two days of healing, Sasuke and Naruto work together to catch fish while Sakura makes the fire. Naruto scares the fish and forces them to jump and Sasuke pins them to a tree with his kunai knives.

They cook the fish they caught and gather to strategize. "It's been four days since the start of the Second Exam, which started at three in the afternoon. We only have twenty-five or twenty-six hours left.

This means that we have to increase the distance of our actions and also increase the risk of every move to stand a chance. At any rate, this is our last chance." Team 7 stays quiet to think about what to do.

Sasuke picks up his canteen to take a sip but realizes it's empty. Naruto reaches for more food but sees that they have nothing left. A harsh breeze causes Sakura to shiver. She sees that the fire is dying.

Sasuke gets up. "I am going to get some water. Give me your canteens." Naruto and Sakura give Sasuke their canteens.

Naruto gets up as well. "I am still hungry, I'm gonna go get us some more food. I'm a growing boy, after all, dattebayo!"

Sakura gets up and stretches. "The fire is dying. I'm going to get us some more firewood. How about on our way we look around for enemies and scrolls? What do you guys say to us meeting back up in say… an hour?"

"Hn." Sasuke grunts in agreement.

"Yeah, yeah. Okay, Sakura!" Exclaims Naruto.

They go their separate ways. Off to find enemies, scrolls, and their respective materials. Sasuke takes the real scroll with him to keep it safe.

…

Naruto, now alone, gulps at the sounds of the forest. He remembers that nightmare he had when he was passed out in the cave. His clone being discovered and buried alive, just to be crushed to dust by that sand.

He shivers. He can still feel the rough sand rubbing against his skin, peeling it off like a banana. He can feel the tightness of the sand suffocating him, restricting the oxygen from entering his lungs. He can feel the pressure of the sand compressing, crushing his bones like a walnut shell. He remembers the sand squeezing his innards out like he was a wet cloth being wrung dry.

He feels nauseous just remembering it. That red-headed guy, Gaara. He killed those Amegakure guys right in front of him. Their blood rushed out of the sand, giving the plants below a drink of life, literally. He can remember the sand soaking up the remaining blood like a dry sponge.

He also remembers when he released those guys. The corpses… all that was left was a broken heap, unrecognizable from what once was. Their bodies were twisted and broken in so many unnatural places. They resembled a bug that was stepped on. Legs dangling, abdomen twisted, arms pointing in three directions.

Worse than that is, although it was a nightmare, it all felt so real. He is afraid of Gaara. Of what he can do. But that wasn't the worst of it. No. The worst part is that when he saw Gaara kill those guys, and when he saw their mangled heaps of flesh, he felt awe. He felt wonder. He felt curiosity. He felt admiration for Gaara.

And scarier than all, what he saw… it was beautiful. It was art at its finest.

Naruto shakes his head to rid himself of the cobwebs. No, that was the dream talking. He would never feel that way about death. He is above that. He'll become Hokage someday. The best of the best. He can't be trusted with the safety of his village if he has a thirst for blood…

Can he?

He shakes his head and looks around. He can't find anyone, so he goes to the river to catch more fish. Once done, he heads back to the meeting place.

…

Sasuke has wandered around the forest for nearly an hour now. He is on his way back to his camp but stops when he hears a scream nearby. He is torn between leaving that person to their own devices or meeting with his team but then thinks about if maybe he can steal a scroll from whoever is in trouble.

Yeah, that. Definitely that. It has nothing to do with wanting to help. Nothing at all… Curse his bleeding heart.

…

Sasuke eyes the scene in front of him. He sees a girl from Kusagakure, completely alone, running from a super-sized bear. Her appearance is unique, unlike anyone he has seen. Red hair with a slight pink hue. One side is fully straight and the other spiky. Ruby red eyes and glasses.

What surprises him most is her chakra. Her reserves are large. Maybe as big as his, no, they are larger than his. And her chakra is so… dense. It is extremely unique. The only person he can compare her chakra to is Naruto, and even then, she only shares small similarities to his. His chakra is far larger and denser. His chakra has a spicy element to it too, likely from the Kyuubi.

He sees her trip over a root while avoiding a swipe from the bear. Her glasses fall and she backs away from the bear, only to be stopped when her back hits the tree. She can't move further. The bear readies for another attack, one she can't avoid.

Sasuke intervenes and jumps high into the air, slamming his leg on the bear's head. "Lion's Barrage!" He spins in mid-air to deliver another ax kick. He flips over once more and twists his body to deliver a third and final kick. A heel kick.

The bear topples over and lays unconscious. Sasuke stands on its head and eyes the girl. "What scroll do you have?"

"W-what?"

Sasuke jumps off the bear and walks toward her. "I said what scroll do you have?"

She picks up her glasses and drinks in all she can from the boy. Pale, smooth skin, sharp dark eyes, spiky raven hair, and a defined jawline for someone so young. He is already so handsome. The girl blushes. She then remembers his question. She digs into her pouch and pulls out a Heaven Scroll.

"A Heaven Scroll. Just the one we need. Hand that over, will you?" The girl looks back and forth between the boy who saved her and her scroll. She holds the scroll out in front of him, giving it up.

Sasuke narrows his eyes, suddenly extremely wary of whatever tricks she's pulling.

The girl gulps, knowing this looks suspicious. "I-I… There are no tricks. I promise. Th-this is as a thank you for saving me. Arigatou. If it weren't for you, I'd be dead."

Sasuke takes a cautious step forward. Then another, and another. He finally reaches the red-head and grabs the scroll carefully, on alert for any traps. Once he gets a full grasp, he takes it from her and holds it, observing carefully. He tosses it a few times, checking its weight, and then looks at the sealed tag. He smirks. What great luck. He pockets it and walks away.

"W-wait! What's your name?"

Sasuke stops but doesn't look at her. "Isn't it common courtesy to introduce yourself before asking for someone's name?"

The girl flushes for being called out but forces it down. "Karin. Uzumaki Karin."

Sasuke stiffens immediately, becoming as hard and rigid as a rock. He turns back to look at the girl ever so slowly. "W-what did you say your surname was?"

Karin pouts. "Mou. I'll repeat myself then. I said my name is Uzumaki Karin."

Sasuke grits his teeth and clenches his fist. It's as he feared. He tastes something bitter in his throat but swallows heavily. He takes a deep breath. He looks at the girl carefully. "My name is Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke. Remember it." He turns around and dashes away, moving so fast that Karin can't see the way he went.

Uzumaki. That name. It couldn't be…

Could it?

…

Sasuke is the last one to arrive at the meeting spot. Naruto and Sakura are fully geared and have fish broiling over a fresh fire. When they see him, they breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

"Where were you Sasuke-kun? We were so worried!"

Naruto grabs him by the collar. "You're late! We thought something had happened to you! We were getting ready to look for you!" Naruto's tone turns subdued. "Don't ever do something like that again teme. I was scared you were gone, dattebayo."

Sasuke grabs Naruto's shoulder. "What, gonna cry, you big baby?" Seeing Naruto's expression not change, Sasuke looks at him and Sakura. "Alright. Sorry for that. It won't happen again." They aren't satisfied, but both Naruto and Sakura say nothing. They know that is the best they'll get out of Sasuke.

"Oh, and by the way," Sasuke smirks haughtily and digs into his pouch. "I got a Heaven Scroll. We have both the scrolls needed to go to the tower."

Naruto and Sakura's moods do a 180. "What! That's great! Why didn't you say that earlier!?" Sasuke sweatdrops.

"Oi, Naruto, can we talk for a bit?"

Naruto looks at Sasuke confused. "Huh? Why?"

Sasuke walks closer to Naruto to whisper in his ear. "It's about why I was late. This only involves you, so don't tell Sakura."

Naruto sucks his teeth. "Tsk. Fine." They walk off deep into the forest, but not too far from camp.

...

"So, what do you want to talk about, 'ttebayo?"

"I went wandering, looking for scrolls. I didn't find any and started going back to camp, but then I heard a scream."

"So you went and played hero?! You really aren't the bastard I thought you were, dattebayo!"

Sasuke's eye twitches violently. He smacks his head to get it to stop. He takes a deep breath. He continues. "When I got there, there was a girl-"

"-Oh, a girl! Sasuke, is this a secret lover? Are you in L.O.V.E, love? Does Sasuke-chan have a girlfriend?"

Sasuke's entire body twitches. He grinds his teeth like they were whetstones. His Sharingan activates and he clenches his fist until his knuckles pop. He grabs at the Curse Mark to make it die down.

"Woah, Woah! Okay, okay, jeez. I'm sorry. Continue."

Sasuke glowers venomously at Naruto but bites his tongue. Why does he even bother? He takes another deep breath. If he doesn't he might kill the dobe. He deactivates his Doujutsu. "Long story short, I saved her, and as thanks, she gave up her scroll."

"That's great and all, but why are you telling me this?"

"Because we talked for a bit. She told me her name. Her name was... Uzumaki Karin."

What?

Naruto's entire body tenses. His eyes dilate and he stares deep into Sasuke's eyes. "What did you just say? I think I misheard you."

Sasuke avoids Naruto's gaze. "Her name was Uzumaki Karin."

"Sasuke. Look me in the eyes. If you are messing with me, I really might try and kill you. Say it again, and look me in the eyes."

Sasuke sighs. He looks Naruto straight in the eyes. "Her name was Uzumaki Karin."

There it was. The bombshell. Based on the look in Sasuke's eyes, Naruto knows he isn't lying. He collapses to his knees.

"W-where is she now?"

"She's from Kusagakure and her teammates are alive, so she should be fine." Naruto's eyes widen. "I know what you are thinking, but we can't look for her."

"Why not?!"

"Because there isn't much time left until the exam is over, and she is from a foreign village. If she stays with us, it could be seen as us kidnapping her, which won't go over well with the shinobi from Grass. They could declare War if she is important enough to them."

Naruto's expression loses all life in it. He goes through all 7 stages of grief in an instant. There is nothing he can do.

"I know how you feel. I would give up almost anything to know that someone from my clan survived the massacre. I would give up anything to touch my family again, but I can't. I know how you feel, so I don't blame you for wanting to look for her, but there is nothing we can do. I'm sorry."

Naruto understands what Sasuke means. He is right, as always, but he hates this more than he has ever hated anything. He might lose his mind!

To keep his sanity, there is one thing he needs to ask.

"W-what... What did she look like? Can-can you describe her for me?"

Sasuke gives Naruto a sad smile. "She wore glasses, and she had Ruby-colored eyes. Her skin was pale, almost an ivory color." Naruto starts to picture her n his head. "She had long hair. Half of it was spiky and the other half was straight." He has a better image of her.

"Her chakra was very unique. Her chakra was larger than mine and even denser too. It's like yours, but yours feels simultaneously stronger and more diluted if that makes sense." What? What does that even mean? "But the most striking thing about her was the color of her hair. It was red. Not ginger, no, she had red hair."

Naruto's eyes widen. He remembers that strange episode from a few days ago. That woman in his vision, with red hair. She was protecting a blonde baby. Could she...

"Sasuke... Arigatou." Naruto starts crying. He cries bitter, angry tears. He cries suffocating tears of sadness, and he cries joyful tears of happiness. He cries until his eyes are dry.

This has been the best and worst moment in his entire life.

...

He and Sasuke walk back to camp together. They eat their meals and drink some water. The whole time, Naruto does these things on auto-pilot. His aura feels blank. Nobody knows what to do.

They then wash up and head to the tower, finally done with the Forest of Death.

---

It's a day later. The 21 passing Genin have been called to the center auditorium in the tower with their teachers. Only 7 teams out of 26 passed. The Hokage is also present.

He walks to the front to address everyone. "Before I explain what the Third Exam entails, I want to explain something about the test itself. I have just one thing I need to make clear. About the true purpose of these exams.

Why do allies conduct the exams on a conjoint basis? Raising the level of shinobi and friendship among allied nations perhaps? No, it won't do to have these naive ideas." Hiruzen takes a deep drag from his pipe. "These exams so to speak… are a microcosm of battle between allied nations."

Whispers wander the room. What does that mean?

"If we look in history, the allied nations of today were once neighboring nations that continued to vie against another in search of more power. In order to avoid a futile crushing of each other's people, those nations mutually selected a place of battle. That was how the Chunin Exams originally came to be."

"Why do we have to do such a thing, dattebayo? We're not doing this to select Chunin?"

"There is no question that this is to select Chunin. But on the other hand, these exams also provide a venue for shinobi who carry their nation's pride on their backs to fight for their lives. In other words, it's a substitute for war!"

"Even so, why do we have to risk our lives, dattebayo?!"

"The nation's strength is the village's strength. The village's strength is the shinobi's strength. And the true strength of a shinobi is only tested in a life or death battle!"

Naruto looks down at the floor with a frown. That response by the Hokage was not an answer. It was dodging the question with vague answers.

Just when he thought he was doing something here, he finds out that the exams are just simulated war. That he and his classmates were simply tools of rival nations flexing their muscles, betting the lives of their people to prove petty points.

Is he wrong? Was Zabuza correct all along? Are shinobi really just tools in the eyes of their village leaders?

A new ninja appears. His name is Gekko Hayate. He explains that because there are too many people left, a preliminary would take place to determine who goes to the third round.

He allowed anyone not willing to fight to forfeit from the preliminaries. Kabuto forfeited and went on his way, leaving 20 participants left.

Sakura is about to raise her hand to let the proctor know about Sasuke's mark, but Sasuke smacks her hand down. "Be quiet about the bruise."

Sakura starts tearing up. "Why're you acting tough like that? I don't want to watch you suffer anymore! For me, you are-"

"-This has nothing to do with you! It's none of your business!" Sasuke glares at Sakura with all seriousness, completely stunning her. Sakura stops crying out of shock more than anything, but she is extremely hurt.

"I've said it once before. I'm an Avenger. For me, this is something far more than just an exam. Whether I become a Chunin or not means less than nothing to me." Naruto overheard that, so he turns to look at what Sasuke and Sakura are talking about.

"'Am I as strong as I can be?' All I want is the answer to that. I can only find out by fighting those who are the strongest and the best. All of them are here. This is the path I walk. Not Naruto nor anyone can change that."

Sasuke turns around to face Naruto. "Oi, Naruto." Naruto instantly focuses to hear Sasuke out. "You are one of the ones I want to fight the most."

Naruto was caught flat-footed. What did Sasuke just say? That he wants to fight him? Has Sasuke… acknowledged him as a ninja?

Naruto faces away from his teammates to look at the front. A tiny tear prickles the corner of his eye, but he refuses to let it fall. What he failed to prevent however was his large kid-like grin plastered on his face.

…

Sasuke was the first to fight. Because of the Curse Mark, he had the disadvantage of fighting without using chakra. No Ninjutsu and no Sharingan. Even then, Sasuke beat Yoroi with his new Taijutsu move. 'The Lion's Barrage', he dubbed it.

Afterward, he went with Kakashi to get the Curse Mark sealed.

…

Shino vs Zaku was next. The Sound ninja somehow made it to the next round.

Shino had an easy time beating a mostly crippled Zaku. When Zaku tried to use his broken arms to fire his airwaves, Shino used his bugs to plug the holes and leave gaps inside the tube so the force would only go to the arm, causing it to explode.

Before, Zaku only had broken arms. Now, Zaku will need 2 amputations.

…

Next is Kankuro and Misumi. Kankuro was hiding in the bundle the entire time, so Misumi was attacking the puppet. Kankuro controlled the puppet to suffocate Misumi and knock him unconscious.

…

The next match was Sakura vs Ino… The less said about it, the better.

There was no winner, so no point in it anyway.

…

Next is Tenten vs Temari. This was a squash. When you only use projectiles and your opponent is a wind-style user, there is no point in even trying. Temari destroyed Tenten easily.

…

Next is Shikamaru vs Kin from Otogakure. Shikamaru is a genius with an IQ of 220 at age 12 and his opponent is crippled. What easier fight is there for him than that? Besides Ino of course.

…

Next was Naruto vs Kiba. Naruto struggled to channel chakra since Orochimaru used the 5-pronged seal on top of his 8-trigrams seal. Even then, he managed to keep up with Kiba. It was a hard fight, but by farting in Kiba's nose, Naruto was able to perform his new taijutsu move and defeat Kiba. He dubs the move 'The Uzumaki Barrage'.

After the fight, Hinata gave Naruto homemade ointment to treat his wounds.

…

The next match is important for the future of the shinobi world, albeit in an indirect manner. Neji vs Hinata. The battle of the Byakugan weilders.

Both are in the middle of the arena. Neji looks at Hinata and relaxes. "Before we do this, a word of advice. Hinata-sama, listen to me and withdraw! You're not suited to being a shinobi." Hinata gasps.

"You are too gentle. You wish for harmony and avoid conflict. You allow yourself to be easily swayed by others. And you have no confidence in yourself. You are inferior to everyone else here.

I bet you thought it would be a good idea to remain a genin. However, you can't register for the Chunin Exams without three members, so you couldn't turn down when Shino and the other one proposed it. The truth is, you entered the exams reluctantly. Didn't you?"

"N-no, you're wrong. I only… I wanted… to find out. I did it because I wanted to see if I could change." Everyone stays quiet for a few moments.

"Hinata-sama. You are the pampered offspring of the head family. People can never change!" Hinata starts shaking.

"They can't escape their true nature. A failure will always be a failure. Since people don't change, differences exist among them, and expressions like 'elite' and 'failure' are born. We can change our appearance, our skills, weight, and intelligence. But ultimately, we are judged by what we cannot change. What we cannot change must be endured. We are who we are Hinata-sama, and that can't change. Just like how I am of the Branch Family, and you of the Head." Hinata's lips quiver.

"I've seen everything with these Byakugan. That's why I understand! Despite your brave words, what you are really thinking is you want to run away from this place."

"Y-you're wrong about me!"

Neji activates his Byakugan and glares fiercely at Hinata. "My eyes cannot be deceived. Just a moment ago, your gaze drifted to the upper left. I saw that at that moment, you were thinking about your bitter past. Then your gaze went to the bottom right. It's a sign of you imagining mental and physical suffering. You are seeing your old self and wondering if your life has prepared you for this moment. You are imagining the result of the battle, and it's you losing!"

Naruto grips the jar Hinata gave him to hold in his anger. The jar cracks.

"And the way you put your arms in front of your body. It means you are trying to build a wall between us and keep your distance. And that reflects your mind… That you don't want the deepest recesses of your mind, your deepest emotions from being raided. And why is that? Because everything I've said is true!. Should I go on?

In other words, you know, deep in your heart, that all your efforts are futile! Whether you admit it or not, you already know you can't change. You are a-"

"Sure she can!" Naruto yells that from across the room. "Who gave you the right to decide who she can or can't be? Come on Hinata! Show him that he is wrong!"

Hinata stares wide-eyed at Naruto.

Naruto growls louder. "Hinata! Are you going to stand there and take that? Do something about it! You are driving me insane!"

Hinata bites her lip and looks at the ground. She thinks about what Naruto said. She knows Naruto is right and she knows she disappointed him. This makes this so much harder, but she has to try. She swallows hard and looks back up at Neji, now fully determined.

"So you are not going to withdraw? I won't take responsibility for what happens!"

Hinata still looks determined.

Up in the audience area, Naruto observes Hinata. He feels like something important is going to happen soon, so he watches closely, making sure to drink in all the details.

Hinata does the hand seals to activate the Byakugan.

Naruto memorizes them all. Horse-Tiger-Boar-Rabbit-Rat-Dog-Boar-Rabbit-Rat-Dog, and to end it, a modified snake seal. The only difference is the right index finger is raised to resemble a Tiger seal. Somehow, he memorized it, but beyond that, he feels like he unlocked some sort of forbidden knowledge.

…

The fight was deceiving in its equality in skill. It looked to be neck and neck the entire fight, just for Neji to reveal that was part of his plan. He attacked discreetly while blocking, causing unseen injuries to Hinata. It was all basically sealed when Neji got a direct hit on her.

But even then, after coughing up some blood, Hinata got up and still fought. She held her own too, but a palm strike to the chin stopped her momentum flat.

No matter the fact she kept on fighting, nothing would change the outcome. After charging back in, Hinata received a heavy chakra-filled palm strike to the chest, securing the result of the battle. Even then, she still got up, at least to prove a point.

Frustrated with Hinata's attitude, Neji went for a killing blow but was stopped by three of the teachers and the proctor from executing it, finally ending the fight. A surprisingly tough victory for Neji.

Hinata later collapsed, going into cardiac arrest. Riddled by the guilt that his cheering indirectly causing this, and his disgust with Neji's actions led Naruto to do one of the most important things in his life.

Grabbing a fistful of Hinata's spilled blood, Naruto points his fist at Neji and declares on her blood that he will defeat Neji in her honor.

He never goes back on his word. That is his nindo.

…

Next is Lee vs Gaara. They competed in what was one of the most hard-fought and kickass battles in history.

Lee's efforts and strength surpassed that of most Jonin, but even that was not enough to beat Gaara, who crushed Lee's left arm and leg, leaving him crippled.

…

The tenth and final fight was Choji vs Dosu. It was an uneventful squash, in which Dosu beat Choji without even warming up.

…

Now, the Hokage explains the Third Exam. It'll be held in a month with an audience made up of the most important figures in the continent, with the Daimyos from all three representing nations in attendance.

The randomized bracket is Naruto vs Neji for the first fight, Sasuke vs Gaara as the second, Shikamaru vs Temari as the third, and lastly, Kankuro vs the winner of Shino vs Dosu.

Now is the time everyone needs to work hard to beat their opponent.

…

After the meeting was adjourned, Naruto went straight to the hospital to see Hinata and Sasuke.

"I'm sorry. No visitors are allowed for Sasuke-sama, and Hinata-sama's condition is far too delicate for her to be allowed visitors."

"What? Ne, ne, what's up with that, dattebayo?"

"I'm sorry, but those are the rules."

Naruto complains continuously, arguing with the nurse.

Kakashi walks in on this scene. "Naruto, this is a hospital. Keep it down."

"Huh? Kaka-sensei! Ne, ne, I've got a favor to ask!"

"You don't need to say anything. I thought it would come to this, so I searched for someone to watch over your training."

"Why? I want you to train me Kakashi-sensei, dattebayo!"

"I have some matters to take care of. I don't have the time to trouble myself with you."

"Oh? You're going to train Sasuke, aren't you?"

"When you say it like that, it makes me out like the bad guy. I merely found a sensei who's more reliable than I am!"

Naruto's eye twitches violently. Through gritted teeth, he grinds out a response. "Fine. Who is it?"

Ebisu walks into the room. "It's me."

Naruto points at him. "Ahhhhh! It's the closet pervert!" He yells out.

---

This is the end of the chapter. I cut out unnecessary information and filler. I only included what I know will be recurrent in future chapters or has an impact on the future. The first clues about Shadow Clone memories were given. The mystery of Naruto's lineage is being unraveled too.

Naruto's Byakugan discovery and training were also hinted at the end. Your welcome.

The next chapter will have Naruto's training and the Third Exam. Also, there will be a little surprise next chapter too. I promise you will love it. It will change the course of the story permanently.

Thank you for reading this chapter. As always, if you have any concerns, requests, or simple questions, Please Review, or simply PM me.

This is Zippy, out.