Sorry this took so long! I was really busy w/ school and all...(I know, same pathetic escuse...)

Anyway, here's Chapter 8

Finally!

Disclaimer: Naruto not owned by me!

The sun had already set, and lights could be seen throughout the Hidden Stone Village. All of the Jounins who had arrived to help had been assigned their campsite, while the villagers huddled in the common building. All had eaten, and finished their duties for the day, so no one was left on the outskirts of the village; making Sora's mission that much easier.

"OOF." She gingerly rubbed her butt and frowned slightly at the root that had caused her to slip. Sora always did have a tendency to trip on roots; and every time she made a point of ripping it out of the ground so no other unsuspecting person would trip. Plus, wearing a real ninja's outfit; the whole mask and all black; was hard to manage and easy to rip.

Sora glanced up; she had traveled far faster than she had expected, but seeing the village was a sight for sore eyes. She'd been waiting for about an hour at the back of the village, and finally it seemed as if all movement had ceased.

Sora POV

I stepped stealthily across the road and scanned the village to see if there was anything I could accomplish. ...Ah yes... they haven't rebuilt the water system... I can start with that...

The water system in Hidden Stone Village wasn't much to marvel at; it was primitive but was enough to get their village by. All I would need was a fresh water supply -which could easily be supplied from the stream- and some wood to support the machine.

Just as I approached the stream, my eyes widened and I leapt up into a tree; someone was awake. They moved slowly, as if tired and was beginning to connect the machine for the water system up to the stream. But the person stopped and paused in their steps as if to evaluate their surroundings, and no sooner had the footsteps paused, but the familiar voice broke the silence.

"If you are here to sabotage my village, I will no hesitate in bringing you down."

3rd Person POV

It was Taro! Sora had to restrain herself from leaping down and giving him a huge hug, but of course she remained silent waiting for him to leave.

"Hn. If that is how you wish to be, then I will approach you." Taro dropped the wood onto the ground with a loud clatter and leapt into the tree branch above her. Sora acted swiftly and leapt next to him, but did not draw any arms against him. Instead, she lifted her hands and bowed quickly, praying mentally he would understand.

His expression, though hard to read through the dark, softened, and he let out a sigh of relief, "Peace? You wish for no harm to come to my village then."

Sora merely nodded and rose her head to face him, he smiled and then wordlessly gestured for her to follow him. "Please forgive me, our village has recently undergone an attack from the Akatsuki and I cannot help but be--... you know what I mean."

Sora nodded and smiled beneath her mask, "Do you know how to work our water system? I doubt many of the ninjas from Konoha that have come to help know how to work it." Again she nodded, and began her work. It wasn't very hard, considering all Sora needed to do was to build a support system for the water, and then connect the hose to the stream. With the help of Taro, she finished the job quickly, causing him to let out a joyful laugh.

"Oi! If you had come earlier, you might have helped me much better than a ninja from Konoha!" Inside, Sora wished to take her mask off, but she remained silent and nodded. He glanced at her, and then shook his head reluctantly. "I respect that you wish to remain anonymous, but could you at least speak?"

Sora POV

...oh screw it... I thought silently, as I pulled my mask off my face, but quickly placed my finger over Taro's lips. With a smile I nodded and whispered, "Shh..."

Slowly but surely, he nodded his head, as if trying to get over the shock. "Erm... who are you…?" he asked with confusion written across his face. I smiled and replied, "A friend. Now you need to promise me that you won't tell any of the other Jounins here about my presence, do you understand?"
"I-I-- sure."
"Good, that mask was becoming uncomfortable anyway, come on, let's get some work done before daylight breaks Taro!"
"Okay! ---wait, how'd you know my name was--"
"Well? Are you just going to sit there all day?"

I waved at him from the bottom of the tree, and his head sunk below his shoulders, a sweat drop visibly sliding down his forehead. For the next few hours, I worked side by side with Taro with the simple things, things like refortifying the village walls, gathering supplies, and preparing proper burials for those shinobi that had died.

"What village are you from?" Taro asked while wiping a bead of sweat from his face.
"Me? Oh, I'm from Konoha!"
"Really?" His face lit up, "Then do you know Shina-chan?" He paused in his question, "You know... the Jounin?"

I hesitated, but smiled warmly at Taro and nodded. "Ah.. yes.. yes I know Shina!"
"You do?! How is she?! Is she well?"
"Oi! Calm down Taro! Shina's fine..." Even though my voice faded with uncertainty, Taro grinned brightly at my response, "Say hello to her for me, will you?"
"Hai!"

Taro stood up and helped me to my feet. "Morning is almost here, and if you don't want to be seen by the Jounin, I suggest you leave now, you've done more than enough help! Arigatou!"
"Good point... well then, I'll say hi to Shina for you!"

Taro waved one last time and then left for the village, leaving me on the outskirts of the village alone.

"...Goodbye Taro..." I murmured lightly before turning to begin my long journey home…

Back at Stone Village: 3rd Person POV

"...Wake up Taro... you lazy bum..." Kakashi kicked Taro in the side with a blank expression on his face. Taro merely groaned and chucked the nearest hard object at Kakashi; which just so happened to be (who would have guessed it) a stone.

"Go away baka... I'm tired..." Kakashi rolled his eyes, "... I heard you this morning... you were up working... that's why you're tired. You're the baka one here." Taro rubbed his eyes sleepily and stretched out with a yawn.

"I'm no baka..." Taro's words were slightly slurred and he quickly fell back down onto his bed and started to fall asleep again.

"You're the leader of the village... We're awaiting your order oh great one." Taro scowled into his pillow, but made no attempt to get up. "Come on Taro.. otherwise I'll instruct the Konoha shinobi to leave..."
"Keh... who the hell cares... I got nearly all the work done last night while you were sleeping your lazy ass off!"

Kakashi cocked his eyebrow at Taro, but Taro wove him off, "Just go and see... we're nearly done with the rebuilding anyway.."
"If you say so..."

Kakashi strode peacefully out of Taro's room and out into the village; the sun was now blazing brightly above the village, and to Kakashi's surprise, Taro was right! The pile of logs he and Taro hadn't finished chopping up last night was neatly piled up in front of each one of the houses, which were also rebuilt. He glanced over at the well, and the well had fresh running water, while a pile of fresh supplies lay in the center of the village square.

He glanced back at the room and let out a defeated sigh, but grinned, "Okay... you win for now." With that, Kakashi turned to join the other Jounin in a good hearty breakfast, knowing that with all this extra work accomplished, he might be able to return before the chuuin examinations were over. With newfound hope, Kakashi laughed along with the other Jounins, completely forgetting any worry that may have lingered in his mind.

Konoha Village:

Naruto yawned and smacked his lips together while scratching the back of his head. The sun was far too bright for an early morning during spring, but his anticipation to help with the chuuin examinations helped him drag himself out of bed.

Hard to imagine the giant energy ball known as Naruto, having trouble getting out of bed huh? There was a simple and clear explanation for that one; he had spent all last night arguing with Sasuke, and then practicing 'the look' in his mirror.

...oi... practicing that damn look is harder than having a training session with the pervert sennin...

Naruto shook his head and then blinked several times to grow accustomed to the lighting in his room. After he felt he had fully awakened, he grinned and cartwheeled happily across the room, "YAY!! I GET TO HELP WITH THE EXAMINATIONS!!!"

"SHUT UP!!"
"Put a lid on it brat!"
"Why are you up at this spirit-forsaken hour?!"
"...I'LL SCREAM WHENEVER I DAMN PLEASE!" Naruto slammed his window open and began purposely singing (off tune) at the top of his lungs as he dressed, in the sheer intent to annoy his neighbors. Their incessant clamoring soon died down, and with it, Naruto's horrible tune.

"--AND THE FOX RAN AROUND WITH A LARGE BOWL OF--..." Naruto grinned triumphantly to himself and tightened the band over his forehead and began to run to the examination area.

It was true that Naruto shouldn't be legally helping with the examination, but he pleaded so much it drove the Hokage insane! Besides, the 'unofficial' test in the beginning was always something that the Hokage assigned to those who he couldn't find anything. It was really a hard job, all you had to do was intimidate the idiot genin, but unbeknownst to Naruto, there wouldn't be many genin to scare off.

Naruto's footsteps screeched to a halt as he peered over a bush to see Sasuke lying calmly under a tree. A diabolical scheme formed immediately in Naruto's mind as he carefully tiptoed around the benches to the tree adjacent to Sasuke.

...ok... 3... 2... 1...--

"Hey... whatcha doin'?"

"NANI?!"

Sora POV

Naruto rocketed into the air at the sound of my whisper, causing me to step out from behind the tree with my hands on my hips. "Oi... you're such an idiot Naruto... Ohayou Sasuke!"
"... hey..."
"What are you doing just lying there?! I was told you were assigned to help with the first examination phase."
"...I'm going..."
"Wait, hold up, he was assigned to the first phase?! And not me?! I was assigned to the lousy unofficial--"

THWACK

"Just shut your mouth now before you sound any more stupid." I shook my head with a grin and then turned. "You guys coming or what?"
"Yeah!"
"Sure..."

Once we were close enough to the Examination grounds, I pushed Naruto forward.

"Okay Naruto, you have to go and start with the unofficial testing, they'll be coming in about 10 minutes or so."
"Hai, okay, bye Sora-sensei!"
"Good luck Naruto!" I waved goodbye to Naruto and then turned with Sasuke to begin walking to the official examination grounds. Even though I was kind of tired from an all night of traveling and assisting, I was holding up pretty well, and it seemed like Sasuke couldn't tell the difference.

"So... I guess I should start training you soon, neh?" Sasuke nodded but didn't reply. "Well... I suppose we can set up a training session for after the examinations tomorrow. I heard the crowd for Chuuins aren't too big this year, so it'll be done within two days, that's good news right?"
"Yeah... we're here."

Iglanced up and lo and behold, there laid the official grounds for the Chuuin examinations; I remembered the grounds all too clearly, every single inch of it.

When I went in for the Chuuin examination, there was a huge uproar, since I was so young, and the last person they allowed to go in at such a young age was Uchiha Itachi. They all claimed I had cheated somehow, rigged the course, but I did nothing of the sort! ... Well... I did happen to peek into the Hokage's mind to see which path was the safest to follow but... Oh well!

"I have to go and meet with the Jounin, you go and get the first phase ready ok?"
"...hai Sora-sensei." Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets and turned, retreating quickly into the building as if I was scaring him.

...oi.. I'll never understand that guy... I thought silently, until Maito Gai's voice crashed through my thoughts.

3rd POV

"SORA-SAN!!"
...hooo boy...
"...Ohayou Gai!"

The mono-browed Jounin strode freely to Sora, with an irrepressible grin on his face. "Truly, it's been far too long Sora! Haven't seen you in so long!"
"...we saw each other like 2 days ago!"
"Ah, but that doesn't count!"

A sweatdrop slid freely down her forehead, and Gai shook his hands as if to redeem himself. "Ah, we have to examine the course to see whether they can make it all through together. We're going to be on the patrol, just like old times, neh?"

Sora let out a chuckle, "Yeah, just like old times..." Gai and her used to race through the Chuuin course, just to see who was faster, and she had so far beaten him 69 to 50.

He grinned chivalrously and gestured for Sora to follow him. She walked in silence until she asked, "Exactly how many Genin are expected to be here today?" Gai was silent, and he stared straight ahead in a vain effort to block her voice out.

"Gai... How many?" Sora's voice became slightly more stern, and he let out a reluctant sigh. "Twenty-seven. Only twenty-seven genin are expected to be here, and more than half of them were here last year."
"Wow... bummer! We'll have to be a little harsher on those who are new comers then, too few entrants."
"Tell me about it, oi! It's the Hokage!"

Gai paused in his steps to acknowledge the Hokage, while Sora tried to slink into Gai's shadow. She whispered furiously under her breath. "...Gai! Don't tell him I'm he--"

"Ohayou gozaimasu Hokage-sama! Sora-san and I are here to get the scrolls..?"
"ah yes... Well, good morning Maito-san... May I speak with Sora for a moment? The scrolls are over there on the desk."
"Hai!"

Gai moved out of the way and walked out of earshot over to the scrolls, leaving Sora face to face with the Hokage. She put on her usual cheesy smile and bowed slightly, "Ohayou Hokage-sama!"
"Ohayou Sora." His voice was sharp, but not too sharp as too frighten her. "Sora... I won't force you to say anything at all," he paused and eyed her carefully with his warm eyes, "but if you have anything to say, don't feel like I'll get mad."

Sora was quiet for a moment. "What do you mean?" He let out a reluctant sigh, "Sora, you know exactly what I mean..."

...shit...

"You've been back for over a month and you still haven't found a decent place to stay?"
"EH?!" Sora fell to the ground, but quickly recovered and grinned. "Erm-- y-yes of course! I couldn't get my old place because someone moved in. I was gone for a while and it's hard to find a place to stay these days..."
"You should have asked me Sora! Right after this examination is over, I want you to report to my office. I can give you a new place to stay, and your orders for the spring festival."
"Hai Hokage-sama!"

She grinned one last time and raced off to catch Gai, who was already moving spiritedly across the dirt path to where Sora would eventually greet the hopeful Chuuin.

That's all!!! Please do the same: READ AND REVIEW!!!!

Chapter 9 will be out shortly, I hope!