Author's Note: thank you to my wonderful reviewers: FreeTheKyuubi, SereneC, KyuubiWolff, Blackheart Syaoran, Zannen, 4ever sweet, and Steffy27
You really make my day when I see your reviews in my inbox!
And also thank you to Blackheart Syaoran for pointing that one thing about Anko out to me, honestly, I forgot about her. But I am going to patch things up in this chapter, just watch, what I am trying to say is…
IF ANY ONE NOTICES THAT I MISSED SOMETHING OR SOMETHING ABOUT SOMEONE TELL ME!!!!
This story is pretty hard to remember everything about, so yeah. ON WITH THE FIC!
--
Four Days later, the odd group of Ninja had traveled most of the way to Konoha. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto were currently scouting ahead by tree hopping.
"Ne, Aiko, have you thought up an excuse for your hair yet?" naruto asked, using Sakura's fake ID to be used to it.
"Hai, Tai. I am just going to say that pink is my favorite color and I dyed my hair that way."
"But Aiko," intervened Sasuke. "Your favorite color isn't pink, just by looking at you someone would say red or black."
"Then what should I say, Shin?"
"Just say it was an experiment gone wrong. You tried to dye your hair red but it came out pink."
A vein popped out of her temple, "Did you just say my hair was 'an experiment gone wrong'?"
He put his hands up in defense, "No, no! I just meant it as something went wrong when you dyed it, nothing more!"
She calmed down but eyes him dangerously, "Riiight, I'm keeping my eye on you, Shin."
Naruto laughed, "Why did they have to pick such weird names?"
Sakura joined in his laughter, "Now that you mention it, they are pretty weird."
Sasuke raced up and put a hand over their mouths, "Shh, did you sense that?"
They quit their laughing and became serious. "Hai, it was probably just a patrol or a genin team on a mission, we are getting closer to Konoha," mumbled Sakura.
"We should go back and get Kabuto. We need time to scout out the city and we can't enter before we have our 'sensei.'" Naruto mumbled back.
"I'm already here." Kabuto was suddenly in their little circle of mumbles. They would have jumped if they weren't ninja.
"You should transform, Kabuto-san." Suggested sakura.
He did a seal and suddenly he was a tall, tan man with shaggy brown hair; a Sand headband adorning his forehead. "Let's go," he murmered.
--
The 'team' arrived at the gates to Konoha in a matter of minutes. They walked up at a normal pace and showed their paper work to the guard shinobi and were allowed to enter with not so much as a spare glance.
"That was easier than I would have thought," whispered 'Tai.'
"Remember," 'Sato-sensei' whispered back, "That was the easiest part. Those papers were genuine so even if they did suspect something they would have no evidence against us."
"No more talking until we reach the hotel," Sasuke hissed, silencing them.
--
"Alright," started Kabuto as soon as the door closed, "I'm going to have to teach you three a few things about Konoha and their shinobi since you have never been here before; Well, at least not that you can remember." They sat in a circle on the floor and let him continue. First he showed them a map of konoha, "The academy where you will be registering for the Exams in tomorrow is right in the center," he pointed to a big building on the map. "This is the Hokage Tower and that is the ANBU tower where all the investigations and tortures, if needed, are held." He continued to point at locations on the big map and when he finished he went more in depth about the Hokage Tower. "The Hokage Tower is one of the safest buildings in all of Konoha. It has multiple genjutsus put on it during the night and traps are set as well. The Hokage does not live there, so he shouldn't be a problem."
"Are we going to be obtaining the object ourselves?" sasuke asked.
" Hai. Your jobs are to get your senseis in here undetected so they can create a small diversion while you go in and get the scroll. We know that it is in the Hokage Memorial Room under the picture of the Shodaime, the one with the black hair. We don't have information on what might be protecting it, unfortunately." The three nodded back with serious faces.
"Now I need to tell you about The Chunin Exams. First off, your opponents. The rookie class from about three years ago is who you should be looking out for. They are the same age as you and are powerful as far as genin go. I do not have that much information on them, but stay away from Team 8 of Konoha. Hyuga Hinata has the bloodline limit of the Hyuga clan and will recognize your lies. Her other teammate is Inuzuka Kiba, he will most likely be able to smell you are not from Suna, They will be able to tell your identities if you are not careful." They nodded once more. "There are three stages to the test. The first is a written test and is going to be taught by Morino Ibiki this year. He is a jounin that specializes in torture of the mind, but do not pay attention to his threats. They are just to keep you going under the principle you were taught by. It might be a bit difficult for you in particular because you were never taught any of the ways of the Shinobi, but you all have strong minds and will be able to make it through."
"And the second part?"
"I was getting there, naruto. The second part is a survival test lead by Mitarashi (sp?) Anko. She is quite…well, there aren't enough words that could describe her. Anyways, you will be going into the Forest of Death. Your objective is to make it through alive and to gather the opposite scroll you have from a different team."
Sasuke smirked, "Let me guess, the third part is a tournament."
Kabuto smiled, "Yes sasuke. The final part of the exams is a tournament. Sorry to disappoint you though. Most likely you wont be able to make it the whole way through seeing as the distraction we set up is Jiraiya-sama, Orochimaru-sama, and Tsunade-sama suddenly appear in the stadium. That is enough a distraction on its own. You three will then teleport to the Tower, recover the scroll, and then meet up with Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru-sama to go to the meeting place. Understood?"
"Hai."
"Then get some rest, its late enough already."
--
"Wah! Why can't we go in and just have one bowl of ramen?!" whined naruto.
"Because baka! We have to go and register for the exams, remember?"
"But teme! You know how fast I can eat! It won't take long!"
"Tai," said sakura in a deadly voice, "Please shut up before I can't restrain myself from smashing your head in anymore." Naruto gulped and quieted down. "H-hai, Aiko."
They walked the rest of the way in silence. They arrived at the Academy to see many shinobi from all over the world in a long line outside of a room that had a banner that read "Registration" above the door. When they reached the front of the line they handed in their forms without any struggle or even a hint of suspicion.
"Again." Said naruto as they were making their way through the winding corridors of the school, "They didn't notice a thing…"
"They all are probably just a little stressed with all the nins coming into their territory. It will get harder when the exam actually starts." Murmured sakura, almost talking to herself. They walked into an open area that seemed to be a dojo and ascended down the stairs. (it's the same place where lee and sasuke fought in the anime)
Sakura's and Naruto's eyes attention were caught by a hand sign sasuke made, not one for a jutsu, but there own signal; it meant caution. The blonde and pink haired glanced at each other than down to the bottom of the stairs to see a white eyed girl standing next to a boy who was petting a HUGE dog. They looked back at sasuke. He mouthed the word "Eight." Then all of the faces on the card Kabuto showed them flooded back. This was the team eight they were supposed to avoid.
Naruto looked to the Hyuga girl and didn't see anything intimidating about her. She looked up at that moment and their eyes met. She blushed and turned her head away. 'what's her problem? Thought the blonde ninja.
The dog boy stepped in their path as they reached the bottom, "you're new here, I can tell." He sneered out. "This test isn't for the weak, and let me tell you, you all look the definition of it!"
A vein popped out of Naruto's head, "mind saying that again, dog-breath!"
He smirked seeing he had done what he wanted, "Sure, You-all-are-weak!"
The next happened in a blur, sasuke's arm shot out and he had a kunai pointing towards kiba's neck, but sakura saw what he was doing and put her hand on top of his to stop it. What the human eye could see was sasuke's left arm holding out a kunai to kiba's neck, with sakura's hand gripping the kunai's handle to stop him.
Kiba wasn't happy, "H-hey! What the hell were you trying to do?!"
"Do you really want me to answer that question?" sasuke asked in monotone.
Kiba gulped and pushed the kunai away, "What are you thinking; the Sand and Leaf are allies!"
The girl pulled on his sleeve, "Kiba-kun, let's go. We can't get into any fights!" He looked down at the raven haired girl, "Hinata, we can't just walk away."
The three who he was just fighting with suddenly were behind the two, "Sure you can." Said naruto simply, "We are. Oh and," he turned around to face Kiba, "If you end up crossing our paths at some point in the exams, walk away. Because we won't stop Shin from killing you then." Kiba glared at the blonde but they disappeared before he could retort.
"The hell…?"
--
The day after Naruto Sasuke and Sakura were walking to the waiting room for exams. The moment they entered the room they were getting hard stares from every nin in there.
"heh, I feel welcomed…" muttered Naruto.
Sakura rolled her eyes, "Whatever." They followed sasuke to the left and just stood in a corner to wait for the examiners to show up. The staring continued. Sasuke sighed, "I swear if they don't stop soon there is going to be a massacre." He said just loud enough to get them to stop. Sakura smirked, "never was the people's person."
A group of three walked in. it consisted of a big (as in fat) man wearing a lot of armor, a brown eyed brown haired girl who wore her hair up in panda buns, and a platinum blonde with blue eyes. They scanned the room before walking over to Hinata and Kiba, who were giving them dirty looks.
"That guy doesn't give up. Kind of reminds me of a certain blonde I know…" whispered sasuke so only sakura could hear. Sakura giggled. Naruto turned his head up, "What?"
"Nothing Tai."
Naruto rolled his eyes and sat down on the ground. When they used their fake names it basically meant 'buzz of' or 'shut up.' He took it as both.
The blonde stared over at the group with Kiba. They could hear them whispering, "Why is her hair pink?" "Birth defect, that's why she's so dumb,." A vein popped out of sakura's head. "Aiko, calm down. Ninja don't show emotion on a mission, remember?"
"Right. Gomen Shin."
All of a sudden a bunch of Leaf shinobi appeared in the room, signaling the start of the test was near.
--
Sakura sat staring at her full paper. She knew all the answers to the questions, and she knew sasuke would know most of them too. But naruto…she could see him quivering in his seat. 'This isn't good, we can only pass as a team.' The objective was to 'gather intelligence' or in other words: cheat. 'che, Kabuto was right. Konoha nin do like to make thing seem more peaceful, it makes them look like softies.' She glanced up to Ibiki, the proctor, 'then again, if all of the shinobi here look like this, they defiantly don't follow that reputation. This guy can seriously mess with your brain.' She chewed on her eraser. 'I hope naruto can get through this. And to top it off he had to sit next to Hyuga. This might turn out bad…' Sakura went over scenarios of what might happen over and over in her mind until she was disturbed. She felt like a rock was just thrown at the back of her head, but she knew better. It was her mind-block she had put up, a side effect of the seal on her forehead, someone had tried to intrude.
--Ino's POV--
'Damn, these questions are hard! I wish I had Shikamaru's mind right now! Ohh, what's this?' she took notice of the pink haired girl that she and kiba were talking about earlier. 'Pinky's done, eh? Why don't we just take a look at her answers then?' she did the sign for the mind transfer technique, but when it almost succeeded she was blown back by such a force she had never felt before. 'What the-'she was about to send a deadly glare to the girl when she found she was already being glared back at. Ino gulped, 'this chick isn't normal. She can send off such a killing intent like its nothing.' The girl caught the eye of her dark eyed teammate and turned back around. Ino unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. 'Who the hell is she?'
--Sakura's POV--
Ibiki had just announced the deal to them. It didn't really mean much to her though. If she didn't answer the question she could never take the test again? Pft, yeah right! She could care less about taking this exam again or staying a genin forever. All she had to concentrate on right now was staying in the exam so they could stay in Konoha. So to do that, they would have to answer the question correctly, they had no choice.
But these memories of when she was back at the academy in the mist kept flooding back to her…, 'screw friendships, they get you no where in life! If it is between your life and your friend's, chose yours!' she shook her head to get those thoughts out. She wasn't like that! She had learned different since then. She knew sasuke and naruto had learned the same, but they all chose to ignore what they had been taught. It wasn't right for them.
Sakura, you know what we have to do. Remember what you were taught when we were little.
'fuck off.'
Someone's getting touchy!
'do you want a concussion?'
Fine, fine, but if everyone fails because you couldn't make a decision, don't come cryin' to me!
Sakura shook her head once more. The boys to her left and right looked to her in amusement. She was going through many mood swings. Now that she thought of it though…those boys looked familiar with their odd bright turquoise hair. They were related, anyone could tell. But she still felt like she knew them. You don't see people who look like them too often. 'I'm getting off subject! I know I have to take the question, why is it so hard?'
Maybe because your evil roots are starting to take over. You know what you were taught is implanted in your mind forever, you will have to give in someday.
'I thought I told you to go away!'
I'm just pointing out what you know is true. Nothing more.
'che, yeah right! Just leave.'
Smothered laughs woke her out of her mental argument. She glared fiercely to the owners of the laughs, which were the twins from before. They must have seen something that told them to back off because they immediately stopped and looked the other way. Sakura glanced to sasuke who was sitting in the same row as her across the aisle. He caught her gaze and the expression in his eyes told her to calm down and carry out the mission. She blinked to show she understood.
In the end, Naruto decided to just go with his gut, and not care about what the proctor was saying. It might have not been the best choice for other situations, but apparently for this one it was the 'answer' to the tenth question. Heh, maybe he really was a konoha shinobi at heart. Sakura mentioned this to him later, he laughed; even if he knew it was true.
--
"Alright maggots! Do you understand the rules?!" Anko asked/demanded in her oh so anko-ish ways.
There were nods and people started lining up to get the scrolls.
"Alright!" naruto yelled enthusiastically, "Let's get a gate and go already!"
Sasuke half laughed half smirked, "Dobe, we're supposed to be nervous."
"So what? I don't see you sweating bullets!"
"stop fighting already, I'm getting a head ache."
"Will the three sand brats please SHUT THE HELL UP SO WE CAN START THE DAMN TEST ALREADY!!" Naruto shrunk back, while Sasuke put on an indifferent face and Sakura just stared at her teammates weirdly.
Anko sighed, "I honestly don't know what's happening to the knew generation…they just keep getting weirder and weirder." She mumbled to herself. She examined the three sand ninja wearing identical sand colored cloaks. The one that stood out to her was the darker haired one though, he reminded her of someone…
She sighed once again and checked the chakra signaters to make sure all the teams were accounted for, "ALRIGHT, LET THE SECOND PART OF THE CHUNIN EXAMS, BEGIN!!" Anko's shouts set off teams flying through the Forest of Death. 'Team Sato' as they were supposedly, called raced through, going extremely fast for one that was considered a 'genin.'
--
They were almost at the tower by sunset of the first day when sakura stopped them, "Guys, if we get there too early it will seem suspicious. Let's slow down a bit." They agreed and set up a camp for the night.
When they were done laying out sleeping bags they were just laying around, doing nothing.
"So how're we gonna get a scroll?" drawled naruto.
"Wait for someone to come and try to get it from us. If not we go on offence." Responded Sasuke.
"We could set a trap," suggested sakura.
"Or we could wait until the Inuzuka and the Hyuga come out of the bushes and just take theirs." Said sasuke in a louder tone. They could feel the two in hiding freeze up, sasuke smirked.
Naruto got up and dusted himself off, "Well, that was easier than I thought."
They suddenly blurred and re-appeared surrounding the two and the dog.
"So tell us, what kind of scroll do you have?"
"None of your business, pinky!" snarled the male. She twitched, "What did he just call me?" she asked threateningly. "A-Aiko, calm down. Remember what happened last time someone pissed you off, we can't have that much blood here." Eased naruto. She took a deep breath, "Fine tai. I'll listen to you for once."
"Too bad I will never lose enough brain cells to do that" remarked Shin. All in one movement he pulled out his katana and pointed it towards kiba, "Remember their promises back at the academy, they wont hold me back."
Kiba smirked, "good," he made a sign, "Tsuga!" he began whirling ferociously at the trio. Luckily they were all fast enough to dodge. "I just have one question." He shouted, "Where are you really from?!"
Sasuke, naruto, and sakura knew better than to admit defeat, they had thought up a lie, "what do you mean?"
"You don't smell like any Suna nin I have ever met. You can't be from there"
"That's because we traveled around training before we came to konoha. We haven't been to Suna in a long time."
He sneered, "Why should I believe you!? You could be missing nin for all I know."
"Kiba-kun, they aren't using any genjutsus. They are probably just normal Sand Shinobi." He turned to her, "Hinata, I know you are trusting and all, but even so. They are our enemies at the moment, we can't change that fact."
"You don't have to fight us, you can run away."
"Tough luck pinky! We will beat you; the leaf always defeats the sand!"
Naruto smirked, "In case you haven't noticed, you're outnumbered." Kiba's smirk didn't go unnoticed. "What's so fu-" The team found they couldn't move anymore, naruto glanced to the ground to look for rope, but only found a shadow, "what the-"
"Kage mane, seko." The panda, the deer, and the boar stepped out of the bushes. When the pineapple haired man walked forward, naruto sasuke and sakura came forward too.
"Well, well, well; what do we have here? Three little sand ninja who think so high and mighty about themselves, and can't even sense a presence. What shall we do with you?"
Sakura narrowed her eyes, "You are the one who tried to force yourself into my head." She let of some killing intent, "I don't let people read my thoughts anymore, It invades my personal space."
"Aiko, now's not the time."
"You think I give a damn Shin? If you get to fight dog-boy, I get the pig."
"Aiko! Now is not the greatest time to lose your calm." Said naruto in a level voice.
"I kill people who try to get in my head, that's just the way it's always been for me. I have never told you that, but now you know. This kunoichi is no different."
Ino laughed, "You don't get it! You are bound by Shikamaru's Kage Mane, you can't free yourself. Your lives are in our hands whether you like it or not."
Sakura smile devilishly, "Every jutsu has a weakness, this one is no different."
"Tch, good luck. This jutsu has never failed me yet."
"But it has a time limit, doesn't it? I can see the shadow wavering already." Pointed out sasuke.
The bunned girl held up a kunai, "they know already? Oh well, it doesn't matter, we can get their scroll now and be on our way. We are going to pass the exams this year, they aren't going to stop us!"
"you think we are going to give up so easily?" asked naruto, "too bad. Let's get out of this, guys!" the three suddenly let out an enormous amount of chakra, channeling it into the shadow that lead to Shikamaru's feet. He was blown back by a huge force.
"What the hell was that?!"
"Che, we had to use up a lot of our chakra," lied sasuke, "but its better than being killed."
"Tough!" yelled kiba, "you aren't safe yet. You still have to get past us!"
"These odds aren't exactly fair, you know." Said naruto in a lazy tone. He turned to his friends, "we should just go find some other random team and take their scroll. We have already proved we aren't weak, isn't that enough, Shin?"
"Tch, dobe. You scared or something?"
"Teme, I just don't want to get into a useless fight. Besides," he carried on in an undertone, "Aiko is about to burst, we might not be able to control her much longer." Sasuke's eyes showed understanding, "right. Hey," he caught the stranger's attention, "what kind of scrolls do you have?"
They looked at him quizzically, he practically started the fight and now he's stopping to ask what scrolls they have?
Veins bulged out of the Hyuga's eyes, who had remained so quiet the entire time, "Kiba-kun, they have an earth scroll, we both have heaven. This is useless."
Sasuke smirked, "then if you don't mind we will be taking our leave." He gave a mock bow and grabbed sakura by the shoulder as they disappeared into the depths of the forest.
--
Naruto looked around him. He and his team were standing in the middle of a large room. The Hokage was lecturing them about the truth behind the exam and all that crap. All they could do was stand there and hope he didn't notice their disguises.
"And with that final word, I would like to congratulate you all on making it past the second part of the exams. There will be a one month break before the final part is staged, it should be used for training. We will now draw lots to see who faces who in the tournament."
Round 1: Sasuke vs. Kiba
Round 2: Naruto vs. Yuuta
Round 3: Ryoga vs. Hinata
Round 4: Sakura vs. Ino
Round 5: Tenten vs. Shikamaru
"heheh, I couldn't ask for a better line up…" sakura glanced over to Ino. "This is going to be fun," Remarked sasuke. "No doubt."
--
"I'm boooored! Hey sakura-chan, can we go get some ramen?"
She whacked him on the head, "you know very well that we are going to be meeting with our senseis today. There is no time for food!"
Naruto gasped, "how can you say such a thing?"
"Come on dobe, we don't have time for this. It's time to get going."
"che, fine. Let me starve."
"Naruto, it wouldn't hurt to lose a few pounds."
"That's so mean sakura-chan."
She smirked and walked out the door, "I'm just saying Tai, as a medical ninja, I am concerned for your health, and not to mention your sodium intake…"
--
The three bowed their heads in respect to their teachers. "Do you have a report?"
"Hai, Orochimaru-sensei. We have found that Konoha shinobi are just as you say. They get stressed out during the exam times and love to challenge others. No one has proof that we are not as we seem but the Inuzuka boy did suspect we were not from Suna. The Hyuga girl did however tell him to drop the subject and that was the end of that."
"Have you been to the hokage tower yet?"
"No, Tsunade-shishou. We can't just waltz up and ask to inspect the tower, that would be too obvious."
"We have decided to go in as the councils guests and take a look around then. That is of coarse, if they approve. We are meeting them tonight." Responded naruto.
"Good work you three. You have become such a strong team in such a short amount of time. The next time we see you will be at the chunin tournament arena."
"Hai, Jiraiya-sama."
"And one more thing, don't kill anyone in the exams, that was a condition when we took the mission."
They all narrowed their eyes and didn't answer.
"Is that understood?"
"…Hai."
--
((the day of the exam))
The genin stood in the middle of the arena, cheers coming from the stands. "Finally!" yelled naruto, "the exams have begun again. I seriously thought I was going to die of boredom."
"Tai, just concentrate on the matter at hand. You have the second match against that Mist Shinobi."
"Right, right. But Shin has the first, and he looks positively giddy. Well, as far as giddy goes for him at least…"
Sakura giggled, "Good luck, Shin."
"hn."
"I don't think he liked you calling him giddy…"
"Serves him right for calling me loser."
"Whatever, lets just get up to the stands."
Naruto and sakura joined the others up in the waiting room that had a great view of the stadium. (receiving many death glares along the way from the other participants.)
Hayate Gekko stood in the middle of the ring with Sasuke and kiba on either side of him. He raised an arm and the spectator's yells died down. "The first round of the third stage of the chunin exams, begin!"
Kiba's hands immediately made a seal as he shouted out a jutsu that changed his dog into a replica of him. Sasuke stood calmly as the 'twins' began speeding around him in a zooming circle of black and gray. He glanced to the two as they stopped opposite each other.
Sasuke smirked, "let me guess. You want me to choose which one is the real you, right." He questioned in a stately manner. Kiba smirked in return, but did not answer for that would give it all away. "Well then," sasuke drew his katana, "I'll just have to figure it out. Process of elimination." He sped forward and slashed at the kiba to the left. He dodged just in time.
"heh, you are faster than that. Show me what you can do!" sasuke smirked and kiba covered his mouth realizing what he had just done. "Gotcha. That was easier than I thought."
"tch, you still have to catch me."
"And this is where the fun begins."
--
Sarutobi watched as the sand shinobi chased and clashed with the Inuzuka boy around the arena. His face adorned a smirk at all times. The hokage could tell he was just toying with him, not taking him seriously. It reminded him of a certain student that he used to teach…
Flashback
"Orochimaru, what have you done? Have I always taught you to never mess with forbidden jutsus? Do you know the consequences to your actions?!"
Sarutobi was furious as he stood there on the head of the second hokage, glaring at his star pupil with a touch of sadness.
"Sensei, I have not meddled with any forbidden jutsu, you are mistaken."
"I honestly don't know whether to trust you or not anymore."
"Sensei, what is the meaning of this!" two voices that he knew all too well came out of the trees. "Why are you accusing Orochimaru of this?"
"He has broken the law of all ninja. He will have to be punished, I am afraid."
Jiraiya looked to his sensei if he were crazy, "what do you mean he has 'broken the law of all ninja?' You aren't talking about those experiments he's been doing, are you?"
Tsunade stepped forward, "I have mentored all of those experiments of his and they are completely legal and humane, who told you these lies?"
"I am in no position to tell you my sources."
Jiraiya looked to him incredulously, "You're the friggen Hokage! What more of a position do you need?!"
He looked to each of his students sadly, "I am sorry, but if you both were in on his secrets as well, you must be punished too."
"Sensei…!"
"Please, don't make this harder than it already is…just follow me quietly to the ANBU Tower."
They stood planted where they were. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, "You also taught us that everyone should be given a chance, right sensei? Where is our chance?"
"I also taught you to never give mercy to the enemy."
Tsunade was angry. "So that's it. We're the enemy now!?"
"Konoha has become nothing more than a place that strives to please people after this war. I do not wish to be apart of it anymore." The other two agreed with their silver-haired friend.
"So you will become nuke-nin just like that? Run away from your problems? I won't let you leave."
They narrowed their piercing eyes, "You have forgotten what you have created sensei: The Legendary Sannin!" there was a blinding explosion and once the smoke cleared, the only one left was a devastated old man.
End Flashback
'I wish that day never happened.' Grieved Sarutobi. 'Later I found that my information was wrong, it was another man that was doing those experiments under the alias 'Orochi.' I tried to get my students back, but whenever my ANBU would get close to them they thought they were being pursued and wiped them out. It became even harder when they split up.'
Sarutobi gave a sidelong look over to Anko who was watching the raven haired boy with hardned eyes. she knew he reminded her of her former sensei. They both had that sadistic aura about them, it was hard not to think of the other when you saw him. Sarutobi knew that Anko hadn't fully forgiven him for the day her sensei disappeared without a trace. She had been away on a mission at the time, and when she came back, he was long gone. He was sure that she would've followed him to the ends of the earth, but she never got the chance.
He pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind and concentrated on the match. He glanced back down to the stadium to see the sand shinobi, Shin was his name, with his katana pressing firmly against Kiba's neck. 'Well this match has been decided. That young man is very skilled with his katana.'
The Inuzuka was carried away on a stretcher, seeing that he had many weapon wounds, and the other boy jumped up to the waiting balcony to be congratulated by his friends. None of them looked too surprised though… 'They must have trained hard for this.'
Next match, Tai, another sand shinobi, versus Yuuta, a mist shinobi.
--
Naruto and Yuuta stood in the middle of the ring. Naruto couldn't take his curiosity anymore, "Oi, what's up with your hair? How is it all…turquoise?"
The mist ninja that looked to be at least a year younger than him narrowed his golden eyes, "What about your hair? It isn't exactly common either."
A vein popped out of his head, "Come on! It's more common that yours!"
Hayate held up his arms, "that's enough. Let the second match, begin!"
The two immediately started clashing. The fight went on for a long while. After a half hour or so of fighting, the match was over. With Yuuta being the victor.
Yes, it may seem unbelievable, but that was part of their plan. Naruto would loose his match and be sent to the infirmary, that way things would be less suspicious when they all suddenly disappeared when their senseis appeared.
The next match ended the same, with the Mist Nin coming out victorious. The Hyuga girl was being carried to the infirmary as Ino calmly walked down the stairs to the ring. Sakura merely jumped down, landing gracefully on one foot. They came to the middle.
"Let the fourth round, begin!"
They both jumped apart. Ino looked as if she were seething, but was bottling it up inside and trying to cover it up with a calm façade, but not succeeding.
Sakura raised a brow amused at the blonde, "You sure look calm. I really am afraid now." Sakura smirked, "you aren't that great at hiding emotions, ya know that piggy?" a vein popped out of her temple, "what was that, pinky? Did you just call me a pig?"
Sakura smirked again, "Maybe I did. What're you gonna do about it?"
Ino cracked her knuckles, "that's easy. I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!!!" Ino rushed forward in all her fury at sakura who just calmly dodged her attacks. After a few hits Ino jumped away again.
Sakura was practically laughing, "That's all you've got? Come on, I wanted a better fight than that…"
"grrr…."
"Pigs are supposed to oink, not growl." She pointed out. They went back to clashing, sakura goading her on with more mental attacks and ruining her train of thought and better judgment. One last comment did it though.
"Jeez, what a week kunoichi. No wonder you weren't able to pass the exams before."
Ino snapped.
She pulled out a kunai slashing it at sakura's face. They pulled apart once more. Sakura held a hand to her cheek. She brought it down to reveal crimson blood on her fingers. She put on her best fake smile,
"Congratulations. You were able to scratch me." Her eyes narrowed, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to be serious now."
Ino smirked, "good, I want a real fight, so stop insulting me and get serious!"
Sakura looked up to sasuke who nodded. Sakura took a deep breath, "Ehh, gomen, Ino-san. I am also afraid that our fight must be cut short." Ino looked clueless at her abrupt politeness, "what are you-"
She didn't continue as she saw the pink haired kunoichi jump into the air and drop back down again at an alarming speed and crash her fist into the ground. Ino was thrown onto the arena wall from the force of the impact and the debris.
This was their signal. Once the smoke cleared, yells rang out through the stadium as one by one people noticed the legendary figures standing on the roof across the VIP Kage section. Once sakura and sasuke saw they had arrived they jumped to the top of the wall to join naruto, who had heard their signal and came to the meeting place. With one last look, they headed out of the area and to the Hokage Tower.
--
((With Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto))
They sped across rooftops, invisible to the naked eye; and to some ninja as well. They reached the Tower in a matter of moments.
Sasuke looked to his comrades, "you know what to do. Let's not be slow." Sakura made a sign and turned to a chunin she saw at the exams and ran into the building franticly,
"The Exam Stadium is being attacked, hurry over. Fast!" no one even bothered to look twice at sakura as they all rushed out the door. Sakura whistled and naruto and sasuke appeared beside her.
"Tch, this is too easy…"
"Don't say that so fast, naruto." Warned sakura, "We still have to get to the scroll."
The three hurried down the hallways stealthily, avoiding genjutsu and traps. They reached the door to the common room unscathed.
Sasuke put his head against the cool wood of the door. "No chakra signatures." He whispered. They nodded and went in. there they saw a comfortable looking couch facing the portraits of the former Hokages.
They walked to the first portrait. Naruto tapped it with his index finger. "No traps."
He removed the picture to reveal a safe. "Heh, such a classic old geezer." He murmured. Sakura lightly tapped the dial and it promptly broke from the force. They opened it and grabbed the only scroll that was hidden in there and bolted out the window behind them.
"Alright, first part of the mission, success. Now we have to get to the meeting place they told us about." Informed sasuke.
There was a loud, earth shaking crash that came from the stadium.
"That can't be good…"
--
((To Be Continued))
Kay, sorry, but I have to end it here. And yes, Orochimaru is good in this fic. You don't know how hard it is to try and keep him in character, which I know I am failing at. XD yeah…I really need to go work on Under His Power now if I don't want to be murdered in my sleep…if you are reading that story of mine expect an update soon! I just need to finish the second part so yeah…
Also, did you know it is WAY easier to write a few chapters before posting a story and getting a plot going? That's what I'm starting to do…with this story I already had up to four chapters written before I posted, and the ideas are just flowing in, but they are still appreciated if anyone wants to comment on anything. Enough with my insane ramblings,
Ja ne,
-Sn1ck3rd00dl3