Author's Note: I'm feeling the love! I don't own Linkin Park or their songs.

To dasross it doesn't matter what you say, it can be as simple as 'great chapter' or 'update soon' or 'you suck' lol admittedly that last one I wouldn't mind so long as you give me a reason, so that I can work on being a better writer. Basically any review is appreciated.

To TheOmegaCrimsonKnight thanks that's very flattering, I'm glad you enjoy my story so much, and it's my plan to keep it going for quite a while.

To Kight'sShade giving Naruto a more substantial blade was my intention, however I don't know that I could justify giving him that one at least not until Shippuden (But I will definitely consider it) As for your other suggestion, that is the plan (good job at being so predictive!)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and if you catch a mistake or think you'd like to see something in my fic, as always, feel free to let me know. Holy crap just read the most recent chapter of Naruto...I can't wait for the final fight between Naruto and Sasuke in the anime, I dedicate my fic to the end of Naruto Shippuden!

OoO

Mitarashi Anko was a short kunoichi, with short dark hair held back in a spiky ponytail. She wore a mesh body suit that didn't leave much to the imagination, over which she wore a short brown skirt and a trench coat along with a pair of ankle boots, complete with shin guards. Said woman was looking over the roster of remaining teams. 'Ibiki certainly didn't mess around. Less than a third of the teams are left.' She thought to herself. Of the eighteen remaining teams there were six teams from Konoha (Including all of this years rookies!), two teams from Sunagakure, one team from Otogakure, two teams from Kusagakure, three teams from Amegakure, and four teams from Takigakure.

It was early in the morning and Anko was standing before the remaining teams gathered in front of the Forty-fourth training ground, also known as 'The Forest of Death.' "All right maggots, listen up! This is the second stage of the Chunin exams. Take a good look around you, because at least half of you won't be making it to the third round." There were cries of exasperation and dismay, but she squashed it immediately. "SHUT IT! I'm only going to explain this once. Each team will be given one of two scrolls." She said holding up two scrolls, one with the kanji for heaven and one with the kanji for earth.

"To pass the second stage, you need to obtain one of each scroll and make it to the tower at the center of the forest. Before you go thinking that this is going to be easy, think again, not only will you be fighting the teams around you, you will be facing off against the forest itself. The forest has a ten kilometer radius and there are a plethora of dangerous beasts, bugs, and plants that will put all of your survival skills to the test. There is also a time limit of five days, after which those teams who have not reached the tower with one of each scroll are automatically disqualified. You were all given your scrolls and starting gate number when you turned in your waivers. Now any questions?"

An Amegakure ninja raised his hand, "Yes, are we allowed to kill our opponents to get the scroll?"

Anko smiled sadistically, "You are cleared to do whatever you need to do to retrieve the scroll." The air around the group tensed as killing intent began permeating the area. It seemed everyone had a beef with someone there.

One particular Kusa kunoichi had her eyes glued to Sasuke Uchiha. Unconsciously she licked her lips with her exceptionally long tongue.

The Oto team was also keeping a close eye on Sasuke Uchiha. "Ok this is our chance." said Dosu, speaking to his teammates. "Our only mission here is to kill Sasuke Uchiha."

"Yeah yeah, we know." replied Kin.

"I can't wait to rip him a new one." said Zaku, excitedly.

One of the Suna teams was calm and collected on the surface, but inside the shortest of them a lust for blood was building fast. 'Soon mother, soon I will give you all their blood.'

Most teams seemed to have already picked their targets. "Okay get to your starting gate, the second exam begins in one hour, and one more thing, DON'T DIE." Said Anko dismissing the teams.

OoO

Team '17' were all gathered at their starting gate waiting for the starting signal. Sakura was checking over her equipment, Sasuke was leaning against the fence with an uninterested look on his face, Chouji was sitting in the grass with his back to a boulder eating chips, and Shikamaru was laying near his friend looking up at the clouds slowly passing by overhead. He thought it was troublesome, but someone had to address the elephant in the room. "I think before the test starts we should discuss what each of us is good at. While we have the advantage of numbers over the other teams, the fact of the matter is that we don't really know enough about each other to work effectively as a unit, and that will hinder us more than the numbers help us." stated Shikamaru lazily. "It's a drag, but since I suggested it, I'll go first. I'm not much of a fighter, taijutsu or ninjutsu, I'm more of the sit back and plan kind of guy." Both Sasuke and Sakura listened intently.

'Not sure that's any different than being lazy.' thought Sakura giving a deadpan look in his direction that he couldn't see anyway.

"I can trap an opponent with my Shadow Possession Jutsu, and I'm pretty skilled in setting up traps, it's just a drag to have to rely on them." He finished, looking over to Chouji.

"I'm more of a fighter than Shika, and I focus mostly on combining my Body Expansion ninjutsu with taijutsu, I'm not very fast though." Said Chouji. Once he finished he started eating chips again.

Sasuke spoke up next. "I'm decent in taijutsu, but I'm stronger in my Fire Style ninjutsu and probably the fastest here. I also have the Sharingan."

Sakura was starting to feel inadequate, the rest of her team all had something that made them a force to be reckoned with on their own. Shikamaru may not have been much of a fighter, but he still added something to the group in being able to capture an opponent. She herself was only passable at basic ninjutsu, traps, taijutsu, and zero genjutsu to speak of. For once she didn't feel much like a ninja. "Most of my skills are just basics, the only place I really excelled were my written test scores."

Once he'd heard what everyone had to say, the pineapple haired boy sat up and knelt in the position he took whenever he was stuck on a move in shogi. 'Obviously our heavy hitters are Sasuke and Chouji, and we don't have much in way of dealing with long range opponents, though in the forest that shouldn't be too much of an issue. The easiest route to take is to head straight to the tower and ambush a team that already has both scrolls that way we don't waste time searching for another team and we don't run the risk of said team not having the scroll we need to begin with. Since none of us really exceed in scouting we'll need to keep a tight formation.' "Ok I have a plan." stated Shikamaru as he stood up.

OoO

The light of the sun streamed in through the window hitting Naruto in the face causing him to wake groggily. After letting out a large yawn, he looked over at Ino to see she was still sleeping, and didn't seem like she suffered another nightmare. He took the extra pair of clean clothes, and went into the bathroom to take a shower. As he showered he wondered what they were supposed to do until Kakashi came to get them. He really hated the fact that he'd had to leave the village, if this hadn't happened, they'd be taking part in the Chunin exams. Kakashi had told him to train, but apart from working on physical training and maybe accuracy with his weapons, there wasn't much he could train on by himself. 'Oh well, I guess I'll just find a tree and work some more on chakra control for today at least.' he thought to himself as he dried off and redressed.

He stepped out of the bathroom and saw Ino sitting up awake. She noticed him and gave him a small smile. "Good morning." she said as she stretched her sleeping muscles. "So what are we going to do until Kakashi comes to get us?" The money he had given them would last them a week at best and neither of them had their money, so they had to rely on what Kakashi had supplied them with. Thankfully they were capable of hunting for food, and neither had any qualms about sleeping outside at least while the weather was nice. The real problem would be that if this took too long, they would be missing out on training and fall behind their fellow shinobi. Hopefully it wouldn't take long to resolve and Kakashi would come get them.

"Not sure, I guess we can do some training on our own. Kinda sucks that we're missing the Chunin exams, yaknow." Naruto replied, gathering his ninja tools and some of the gear Kakashi had sent them with. "I'm gonna go walk up a tree and work on my chakra control."

Ino had heard of the ability to use chakra to stick to surfaces, but she had yet to learn it herself, the fact that Naruto was one step ahead of her yet again made her jealousy return. "Could you teach me?" she asked.

Naruto smiled widely at Ino, "Of course! It's not too hard once you get the hang of it. It took me and Sasuke a couple days to get it, but Sakura got it right away."

This surprised Ino, to hear that Sasuke had as much trouble as Naruto at learning something, but that Sakura had been able to do it before him. 'I wonder if I can do it right away too?' Ino prepared as well and before leaving they transformed into their pseudo identities. They walked through town, and everything seemed peaceful, people were just waking up, shops preparing to open for the day, the sound of morning birds could be heard every so often. Upon reaching the outskirts of town then began running to the treeline of the forest that was the Land of Fire's most prevalent feature. "So can you tell me what I have to do?" she asked as they ran.

Naruto thought for a moment, he wasn't good at explaining stuff. "You have to gather chakra at the bottom of your feet and use it to stick to the tree, but you can't use too much or it will push you off the tree, and if you use too little you won't stick. Sakura told me you can't let yourself get worked up or your chakra won't do what you want it to. Kakashi said for beginners you should get a running start to get a feel for it."

Ino nodded in response, "So who which of you got it first, you or Sasuke?"

"Tch, that bastard Sasuke may have been able to reach the top of the tree before me, but I still caught up." said Naruto, indignantly.

'I knew it.' Ino thought to herself as she imagined her crush in competition with Naruto running up a tree. She remembered all the times Naruto challenged Sasuke at the academy, and not once had he beaten Sasuke. Though that must have spoken volumes about her own abilities considering she seemed to be behind Naruto.

They ventured a little ways into the forest so that they wouldn't be disturbed, and Naruto dropped his excess gear. "Okay I'll show you how it works, then we'll see how you do." Naruto focused the amount of chakra he thought he'd need and started running towards the tree, once he got two steps up it he fell straight down on to his back. "Ow damn it."

Ino burst out laughing. "Are you kidding me? Are you sure you can make it to the top Naruto?" she said while giggling and watching him pick himself up and dust off.

"It's not funny, yaknow. And yes I can, I just haven't done this in a while." he retorted, feeling a bit embarrassed about his fluke. Naruto stepped back and once again gathered chakra at the soles of his feet before running at and up the tree.

Ino watched in astonishment as Naruto took off up the tree easily navigating through the branches, and then reaching the top, he turned around, sticking perpendicular off the tree, smiled at Ino. "Told you I could do it!" He tossed a kunai down at her feet. "Now you try, and mark the tree at the highest point you reach."

Ino picked up the kunai and looked back up at the tall tree, starting to feel a little skeptical about her chances. She did as Naruto suggested and gave herself some room for a running start. 'If Naruto and Billboard Brow can do this then so can I.' she thought confidently as she gathered chakra into her feet and started running at the tree.

OoO

Team '17' was moving swiftly through the Forest of Death. The formation Shikamru had come up with had Chouji at the lead, he was most likely to endure an initial attack. Sakura and himself were in the middle, relatively close together, they were pure support for wherever the attack came from, front or back. And Sasuke was at the rear, able to fend off attacks from behind with his Fire Style, also he was the fastest and could reach the center or front of the formation if the need arose. Thirty minutes into the exam and they could hear the sounds of combat and screams coming from other parts of the forest. So far they'd avoided any confrontation which was the main goal of their plan until they came within view of the tower.

A lone Amegakure ninja lay in wait in the hollow of a tree. His team split up in an attempt to acquire a scroll faster, and being experts at stealth and genjutsu made them able to take on multiple opponents easily. 'Lucky.' he thought to himself as a chubby ninja passed over head in the branches, seeminly unaware of his presence. He waited a moment and another two passed by, a boy with a spiky ponytail and a girl with long pink hair. He was just about to make his move while they had their backs turned, but stopped and another ninja passed overhead. 'Unlucky. Is he tracking them? Hmm no, they should have noticed him at that proximity. I must really be unlucky, that must be the four man team from Konoha. Well only one way to find out if they have a Heaven scroll.' He vanished from his spot, planning to attack the boy at the back and assume his form.

Sasuke could feel something approaching him from behind. He activated his Sharingan and whistled up at Shikamaru and Sakura as was their planned signal. The plan was this situation was for them to keep going just in case this was a trap and circle back behind the enemy while Chouji came straight back and cut off any escape route the enemies might try to take. After signaling his teammates he turned and faced a seemingly empty forest. "I know you're there, you might as well come out and face me." He said trying to taunt his opponents into revealing themselves. Just after he said that he heard something hit the bottom side of the branch he was standing on. Without really thinking about it he jumped off the branch just as it exploded into a fire ball of splinters. With his Sharingan he could detect a ninja wearing an Amegakure headband, a full body suit, and a re-breather, hiding near the base of the tree he had been standing on.

'Damn unlucky.' the Ame-nin thought to himself as he turned to flee the angered Uchiha. He had hoped to at least have maimed his with that sneak attack, but he seemed no worse for wear.

"There you are." Said Sasuke as he started forming hand signs in mid air. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu." He shouted spouting small balls of fire from his mouth, directing his attacker as he dodged the fiery jutsu.

Just as the Ame-nin thought he was going to be able to hide again, he froze in place. "What the hell?!" he said as he looked around.

"Shadow Possession successful." He heard from a voice in a bush to his right. Shikamaru stepped out of the bushes and the Ame-nin mimicked his actions. "You seem to be here by yourself." The Ame-nin was then surrounded by the rest of the team on all sides.

'So unlucky.' "Lucky for me I don't have the scroll." he said hopefully they'd just let him go without feeling the need to kill him.

Sasuke checked him over before confirming that he had spoken the truth, and knocked him out so Shikamaru could let go his Shadow Possession.

"Wow Shikamaru, you're plan worked really well." said Sakura as Sasuke tied up their captive so that he wouldn't interfere again.

"Yeah, too bad he didn't have the scroll on him." he replied lazily. "Why can't this just be easy?"

"Come on Shika, it's not that bad." Said Chouji as he was nearing the end of his current bag of chips.

"We should keep moving." said Sasuke having finished securing the Ame-nin. "Let's stick to the plan and get to the tower." Just as the team of four was about to head out again, they could feel the earth beneath them start to rumble.

"What is that?" asked Sakura feeling slightly scared. Something large was coming towards them at an alarming rate. Suddenly a tree in front of them, where the rumbling was coming from, burst and from it charged the largest boa constrictor any of them had seen. Sasuke and Sakura being the furthest from the point of attack were able to dodge, but Shikamaru and Chouji directly in the path of it's open maw. With a speed that seemed unlikely from the large Genin, he grabbed the back of Shikamaru's jacket and threw him safely out of the path before being swallowed by the large serpent. After eating Chouji it sped off into the forest as quickly as it had appeared.

Before the rest of Team 17 could chase after the snake, a tall Kusagakura kunoichi appeared in their path. She had long dark hair covered by a straw hat, a tan tunic over a black full body suit, and a large purple rope belt. A long large tongue emerged from her mouth, licking her lips. "It's seems your teammate provided my pet with a 'substantial' meal." She said tauntingly.

Sakura, Shikamaru, and Sasuke drew weapons and prepared to attack, they needed to deal with this treat fast so that they could rescue Chouji. Sasuke would take the lead and keep the opponents attention while Saukra prepared traps that would help Shikamaru snare her with his shadow. Shikamaru had been sure to cover any situation that might occur on this exam, and had them commit his strategies to memory. 'Damn it's just one troublesome thing after another.' he thought staring at the imposing woman.

"I bet you need this." She said holding up and Earth scroll. She smiled deviously as she could see the reaction in their eyes. She then held it up and proceeded to swallow the entire scroll. "Well if you want it you will have to kill me for it. This will be a fight to the death." He said.

All three Genin got a vision of their vivid and swift deaths, bringing them to their knees and dropping their weapons. Sasuke vomited but was still relatively able to think but a quick glace at Sakura and Shikamaru told him that they had been rendered unable to react. 'Was that genjutsu?' He thought glaring at the kunoichi who smiled smugly at them. 'No that was just killing intent! It's so strong, we imagined our own deaths!' He struggled to stand, eliciting a laugh from the vile Kusa-nin.

"I'm impressed you're not completely paralyzed, but it's only a small matter, you're still a sitting duck to me." she said as she drew three kunai.

'Come on move, move, move.' Thought Sasuke to himself desperately. He picked up his dropped kunai and plunged it into his leg. 'MOVE!' he managed to grab Sakura and Shikamaru and leap out of the way just as she threw her kunai at them.

'Impressive, he managed to block out the fear with pain. I can't wait to see what else you're capable of my dear Sasuke.' she thought as she took her time in searching for her prey.

OoO

Inside the snake, Chouji was having difficulty moving. He'd attempted to cut himself out with a kunai but it proved futile. He'd also tried his Partial Expansion jutsu, but he couldn't make the snake pop open. 'Damn it, I need to get back to the team.' he thought, reaching for a chip to help him focus. His bag slipped out of his hand and the last chip from the bag fell out, it was quickly dissolved and vanished. "That was the last chip...MY LAST CHIP." he shouted, quickly pulling out wires with kunai attached and wrapping them around his body. "No one eats the last chip except me. Super Expansion Jutsu: Spiky Human Boulder." He began rolling rapidly causing the snakes muscles to contract giving Chouji's kunai and spiky hair the traction they needed to dig into flesh. "Rollrollrollroll." He said repeatedly as he gradually made his way back up and out of the snake, ripping the snakes head to shreds as he shot out like a cannon ball.

After coming to a stop he examined his surroundings and found the likely path that the snake had come here on, and took off in hopes he'd run into his teammates. He wiped his face of snake gore and opened a new bag of chips. 'Hope you guys are okay,'

OoO

When Sakura gained awareness of her surroundings she found that she was in a tree with Sasuke and Shikamaru, both looked absolutely alert. She noticed the wound on Sasuke's leg and was about to say something but his had shot out and covered her mouth. He was searching everywhere with his Sharingan active. 'I've never seen Sasuke this worked up before.'

Suddenly a large snake came up from below striking the tree where the three Genin had just been having scattered. It was clearly chasing Sasuke. As Sasuke was fleeing backwards away from the snake he could see in it's eyes the same killing intent that had come from the Kusa-nin. "NO STAY AWAY FROM ME!" he shouted, unleashing half a dozen shuriken into the face of the approaching snake, causing it a mortal wound.

OoO

Yo, yo
Forfeit the game
Before somebody else
Takes you out of the frame
Puts your name to shame
Cover up your face
You can't run the race
The pace is too fast
You just won't last

OoO

All three watched in horror as said kunoichi emerged from the flesh of the dead serpent staring murderously at Sasuke. 'We can't get away from her!' "Here's the scroll just take it and go." He said holding up, it was that only way they could avoid a fight.

"Fufufufu That's right, keep your guard up. Prey must always be alert in the face of a predator. And just like prey you offer your predator even tastier bait in order to escape. However why negotiate when I can just kill you and take it!" she replied biting her thumb and running the blood down a seal array on her arm, summoning another larger snake. 'Come on Sasuke, entertain me some more.'

OoO

You love the way I look at you
While taking pleasure in the awful things you put me through
You take away if I give in
My life, my pride is broken

OoO

The giant snake was bearing down on the frozen young Uchiha when without warning, "Super Expansion Jutsu: Human Boulder." Chouji's massive rolling form slammed down on the head of the snake, just missing the Kusa-nin. Before Chouji could stop spinning the Kusa-nin kicked him with enough force to break his jutsu and send him smashing into a tree. Shikamaru and Sakura tossed kunai into the unconscious Genin's jacket attaching him to the tree so he didn't fall to his death.

"I suppose I need to deal with the trash first." She said, her tongue hanging out hungrily.

OoO

You like to think you're never wrong
(You like to think you're never wrong)
You have to act like you're someone
(You have to act like you're someone)
You want someone to hurt like you
(You want someone to hurt like you)
You want to share what you've been through
(You live what you've learned)

OoO

Sasuke stood still frozen in fear, when suddenly he had a flashback. On their mission to the Land of Waves he had stood up against Chunin while Naruto had been to paralyzed to move, and he'd taunted him. Suddenly Naruto's face flashed before his eyes, 'What's wrong, scaredy-cat.' He recovered and gathered as much chakra as he could in his feet before kicking of the branch with all his strength. He cut off the Kusa-nin before she could reach Shikamaru or Sakura and delivered a devastating kick to her face sending her sprawling through the air onto the branch of a nearby tree.

OoO

You love the things I say I'll do
The way I'll hurt myself again just to get back at you
You take away when I give in
My life, my pride is broken

OoO

Sasuke didn't waste anytime continuing his assault from above her in the air, going through that hand signs. "Fire Style: Giant Fireball!" He let loose a large torrent of flame that seemed to engulf the kunoichi, as he could hear her screams. With his Sharingan though he could see her beyond the flame, melt into a pile of mud. 'Damn it a mud clone.' He thought just in time to block shuriken that were thrown from behind him.

Shikamaru gathered his wits, noticing Sakura was still in no shape to act. He needed to get a hold of that woman so Sasuke could land a solid blow on her. He quickly pulled out some shuriken and all the paper bombs he had on him.

OoO

You like to think you're never wrong
(You like to think you're never wrong)
You have to act like you're someone
(You have to act like you're someone)
You want someone to hurt like you
(You want someone to hurt like you)
You want to share what you've been through
You live what you've learned

OoO

Sasuke landed on a large branch away from the psychotic woman, and pulled out all his shuriken that he'd attached thin wire to and threw them past her. She seemed unimpressed at his aim as they all sailed past her. By the time she noticed the wire it was too late, he pulled them taut and cause them to come back, wrapping the wires around her and tying her effectively to the tree. Sasuke held that other ends tightly and went quickly through his hand signs once more. "Fire Style: Giant Fireball!"

OoO

Yo, yo
Forfeit the game
Before somebody else
Takes you out of the frame
Puts your name to shame
Cover up your face
You can't run the race
The pace is too fast
You just won't last

OoO

Orochimaru smiled as the fireball incinerated his guise and the tree he was attached to. Sasuke Uchiha's skills were magnificent and his Sharingan was beautiful. 'Soon it will be mine.' Just as Sasuke relaxed he shot forth from the burning tree intent on leaving his mark on the boy, ensuring his fate, but suddenly he was stopped in place mere feet away from Sasuke.

OoO

Forfeit the game
Before somebody else
Takes you out of the frame (frame)
Puts your name to shame
Cover up your face
(You) You can't run the race
The pace is too fast
You just won't last

OoO

Sasuke smiled smugly as he'd dropped his guard to lure his opponent towards him so that Shikamaru could trap him. Who ever this was, cause he was sure they were using some kind of disguise now that half of another face was visible, was thoroughly screwed. Shikamaru had pulled the same trick at the Ame-nin and littered the underside of the branch Sasuke was standing on with paper bombs attached to shuriken. After which he got behind the Kusa-nin having been forgotten in her single-minded focus of Sasuke, and captured her with his shadow.

"Fufufu I suppose I got too excited." the person said in a new voice.

Sasuke jumped away preparing the last of his chakra, "Fire Style: Giant Fireball." He shot fire from his mouth once more, and again hit his target and at the same time Shikamaru activated all his prepared paper bombs, obliterating the branch and anything near it. Thankfully that had been quick cause he had been barely able to stop her with the amount of chakra he'd had left.

OoO

You like to think you're never wrong
(You like to think you're never wrong)
You have to act like you're someone
(You have to act like you're someone)
You want someone to hurt like you
(You want someone to hurt like you)
You want to share what you've been through
You like to think you're never wrong
(You like to think you're never wrong)
You have to act like you're someone
(You have to act like you're someone)
You want someone to hurt like you
(You want someone to hurt like you)
You want to share what you've been through
You live what you've learned

OoO

The unmoving body of the kunoichi dropped to the ground. Sasuke and Shikamaru collapsed both completely exhausted. Sakura looked on happy that they were alive. But their mirth was short lived as the mouth of the corpse opened wider than it should have been capable and out slithered a man with dark long hair, slitted pupils, purple shadows around his eyes, and much the same clothing as the Kusa-nin had been wearing, only he donned an Otogakure headband.

"Splendid, to think that you pushed me as far as having to use Snake Rebirth." Said Orochimaru, standing in front of a horrified Sasuke. "You will become even stronger." he said as he quickly extended his neck, closing the distance to Sasuke and biting down on his neck, marking him with the Cursed Seal of Heaven. 'Soon all that power will be mine.' He smiled down at the writhing Uchiha "My name is Orochimaru, you should do well to remember it, seek me out when you desire power." With that Orochimaru vanished.

"Come on Sakura." Shikamaru said helping her up. "We need to get out of here fast." All he really wanted to do was lay down and sleep, but he would forgo his lazy attitude this once so that they could get to safety. Sakura picked up Sasuke who seemed to be unconscious but crying out in pain, and Shikamaru got Chouji down from the tree. 'I swear if I make it out of here I'm staying a Genin forever, this is too troublesome.'

OoO

Ino smiled at Naruto who was in the tree next to her. She hadn't been able to get it on the first try like Sakura had, but she did manage to get the technique down before the end of the day, much to the dismay of Naruto. "See? I told you I could do it." She said mostly to herself, as sweat beaded on her face.

"Tch Yeah yeah, I never said you couldn't, yaknow." replied Naruto, who had been working on continuous control while Ino trained. He felt a twinge of anger that she had mastered it far faster than he had, but still he was happy for her, and couldn't help smiling back in the way he always did.

Ino laughed as she walked down to a lower branch and took a seat. The sun was just beginning to set and the sky was a cloudless bright orange. "Thanks for teaching me Naruto. We should keep training, since we're missing out on the Chunin exams." While she had been practicing, they had talked about Naruto's mission to the Land of Waves, and what all had occurred there. She would have been terrified when she'd heard that Naruto had thought Sasuke was dead if she hadn't already known better. He'd also talked about the strange boy he'd met in the woods who turned out the be the hunter ninja that was allied with Zabuza. He'd spoken of how they died, one believing that his life was only meant as a tool for the other, and one, who'd believed ninja were meant to be use and be used. It was a sad tale, and it had given him the drive to find his own way. She couldn't help but respect him for that.

"Sounds good to me." Naruto replied as he also took a seat on a branch. "We can't slack now when our teams are out there working their butts off."

Ino nodded in response and enjoyed the sunset. Not far away in the thick of the forest stood a pale skinned woman with collarbone length black hair, tied at the end, and short bangs that parted right and swept over her brow. She wore a light brown kimono with black edges, and black ankle boots. She had come across the duo training and had hid and listened intently as they spoke about an adventure that had been filled with excitement and sadness. She'd hung on their every word, making sure she didn't miss anything. She wanted to speak to them, but decided against it for now, and walked back towards her home in the forest with tears running down her fair face.

OoO

BOOM there you go, anyone have a guess as to the mystery woman? I love writing song fics, it's helps with the creative juices. Longest chapter yet btw, though I'm sure the song helped. Again thanks for all the reviews, and I'd like to see 60 total so that I have an average of 10 per chapter. I don't think that's asking much. As always if I made a mistake or you want to see something done differently, speak up.