A Story

by BreakingWater21

This is a story mainly centered around my own character but contains all of the Naruto characters except Sakura...shiver... Read the Prelude for the background. Everyone's older than in the series.

5. Part V: The Chuunin Exam Test 2

Part V: The Chuunin Exam Section 2

Team 7 was the last to arrive at the forest with a minute to spare. The other teams were looking nervously around at the fenced off area filled with overgrown trees labeled "The Forest of Death." Anko was standing in front of a small pavilion with two examiners sitting behind her. "Ok, everyone, listen up! I'm only going to say this once and no questions!" she shouted at the crowd.

"She's like that other guy," Naruto whispered to Sora. She smiled nervously in response.

The crowd fell silent. "Each team will enter at a different location around the perimeter. Each will receive a scroll. Half of you will get the Earth scroll and the other half, the Heaven scroll. The object of this part of the exam is to make it to the center of the forest where you will see a large building with at least one of each of the scrolls." A murmur spread through the crowd but one sharp look from Anko quieted them down. "Do not open the scrolls until you reach the central building. You've got a total of 5 days to get there. Got it?" The students nodded their heads. "Ok, then each of you will have to sign a form saying that we're not responsible for any injuries or possible deaths that might occur during this time."

"What?" Naruto blurted out. "Deaths?"

Anko turned to look at him sharply and threw a dagger straight at Naruto. The blade barely cut him across the cheek and landed a few feet behind him. Naruto fell back shaking. What? She attacked me? She's crazy! he thought.

"I said no questions," she said menacingly as she approached Naruto. She stood towering above him as the students waited to see what would happen next.

Then one of the Genins came right up behind Anko with the dagger in his tongue. "Here you go," he hissed.

"Ah, thank you," Anko said without a flinch. "But if you don't want any trouble, I suggest you don't sneak up behind me like that again."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the Genin said. "I just get excited when I smell blood." He flicked his tongue in the air like a snake.

Anko took the dagger from the Genin and went back up to the pavilion. "If a member of the team is unrecoverable or dies then the team is disqualified. Now, every team will stand in line for their scroll and paper. If you don't sign, you will be disqualified from the exam." The group slowly got themselves into some sort of line, and each team was slowly taken into the pavilion behind a curtain and given their scroll while they signed their papers.

"Darn, now no one can tell who has the scroll," Naruto said stating the obvious.

"Well, that's the point," Sora said. "You wouldn't want anyone seeing which one of us had our scroll right?"

"Well, yeah," Naruto said laughing nervously. "But then we also don't know which teams have the scroll we want."

"True," Sora said nodding her head.

It was finally their turn to get a scroll. They stepped behind the curtain and the examiners gave them each a paper. Sora scanned the paper seeing "dismembered, mutilated, eaten, burned, and killed" somewhere within the mess of words. She took a deep breath and signed the paper quickly handing it back to the examiner.

"Ok, now which one of you is going to take the scroll?" the man asked revealing an Earth scroll.

"I will!" Naruto and Sasuke said at the same time. They glared at each other. "What? You? NO WAY!" they said still in unison.

"Uh, guys?" Sora said. "We can't take all day."

"I won't lose it! I promise!" Naruto said turning to Sora.

"Yeah right," Sasuke muttered.

"Fine, I'm just going to take it, ok?" Sora said eye twitching.

"But-" Sora shot a glare at both of them. "Ok."

The examiner handed Sora the scroll. She put it in the inside pocket of her fighting dress where she knew it wouldn't fall out or be found easily. "Let's go," she said smiling slightly. The two boys nodded and followed her out of the pavilion.

Another examiner led them to their entrance which was marked as gate number 7. "Wow! This must be our lucky day then!" Naruto said.

"What?" Sora said.

"This is gate 7. We're team 7! How cool it that?" he said grinning.

Sora giggled while Sasuke glared. And I'm going into that hell hole with him for 5 days?

"When it's 4 o'clock, the exam will start," the examiner said glancing at his watch. "Which is in about a minute."

Sora held her breath. This is it, she thought as the seconds ticked by. Then DING.

"Good luck," the examiner said as he opened the gate.

The three stepped in and heard the gate snap shut behind them. "All right!" Naruto said excitedly. "Let's do this!" The group walked into the darkness of the forest.

They walked in complete silence for a while afraid that the other teams might be close by. Once they found a clearing, Sasuke stopped suddenly.

"Huh? Eh, Sasuke," Naruto said in surprise. "What's-" A huge gust of wind came at the three. "AHHH!" Naruto yelled as he lost his balance and fell into the bushes. He lost sight of the others as he was thrown back further.

Sasuke had been anticipating the attack and had grabbed onto Sora before it came. They went crashing through the bushes in the opposite direction of Naruto until Sasuke twisted himself so that he was behind Sora with his feet on the ground. They skidded to a halt.

"What was that?" Sora said gasping for air since the gust knocked the wind out of her lungs. Why didn't I sense that? she thought angrily. Even without my Chakra, I trained for this dammit!

Sasuke kept one arm around Sora's waist as he pulled out his kunai with his other. "Sh, he's coming," he whispered in her ear as he held her tighter.

Sora's hand went to her kunai pouch ready for anything then someone stumbled out of the bushes. It was Naruto.

"Hey, hey, you guys!" Naruto said jogging up to them. "I thought I'd lost you!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and held up his dagger dangerously. "Stay back," he said turning so that they were facing sideways towards Naruto.

"What? Sasuke," Sora started. "He's-"

"Not Naruto," Sasuke finished.

"What?" Naruto said in surprise. "Of course I'm Naruto!"

"You're even worse at transforming than the real one is," Sasuke snarled.

"Huh?"

"Naruto puts his kunai pouch on his right leg and yours is on the left plus the scratch from earlier isn't on your cheek," Sasuke said getting ready to attack.

The Naruto poser smiled and transformed back. "Well then," he said as he revealed his true form, a Mist Genin. He rushed at the two.

Sasuke felt Sora's hand on his arm and they pushed off from each other going in opposite directions. Sasuke's one dagger turned into three daggers as he threw it straight at the target.

"What?" the Mist Genin said as he was only able to block one. The other two cut him right through an arm and leg. He cringed in pain but was not done with yet. He let out a gas from the mask that he was wearing.

Poison? Sasuke thought as he jumped up on a branch. The gas was a bit heavier than the air so it stayed beneath him. Sora! Where is she?

Sora had jumped back behind the attacker as he fought with Sasuke. No problem, she thought as the target disappeared into the gas. She knew that he was only concentrating on Sasuke and didn't know where she was. She closed her eyes and focused her sense. She finally heard a small stepping noise. There! She opened her eyes and threw a single kunai blade into the cloud of smoke.

"AHHH!" a voice cried from within the smoke. Sora knew she had hit her target exactly where she wanted to.

Stupid, I shouldn't have come here by myself, the Mist Genin thought. He jumped out of the cloud with Sora's kunai in his other arm making him unable to make seals or use his arms. He quickly disappeared into the bushes racing back to find his teammates.

That's strange, Sasuke thought. Usually during a fight, I can feel everyone's Chakra but Sora…hm…it's missing. Yeah, come to think of it, her presence has felt different lately. He jumped down to where Sora was now standing. "Why didn't you just kill him?" he asked.

"I didn't see the need," Sora answered moving some hair from her eyes. "If it can be helped, I'd rather not end the life of one so young like us." Then a sound was heard from the bushes. The two immediately got out their weapons but then,

"Hey, hey!" It was Naruto. "You guys! I thought I'd lost you!" He jogged up to them panting. "What happened?"

Sasuke pointed his kunai knife at Naruto's throat.

"Wha! Sasuke!" Naruto yelled out in shock and tensed up.

"Ok, you're the real Naruto," Sasuke said lowering his blade.

"What? What do you mean, 'the real Naruto'?"

"Sorry, it's just that we had a poser attack us," Sora said putting her weapon away.

"But how did you know I was the real one?" Naruto asked.

"Only the real Naruto would be slow enough to not dodge the simple motion of me bringing a kunai up to your throat," Sasuke put bluntly.

"WHAT?" Naruto said getting mad. "Well, you blah, blah, bla-"

Sora clamped a hand over his mouth. "Ok, now that we're back together," she said trying to change the subject. "We should have a password just in case we get split up again." Naruto stopped trying to talk and she lowered her hand.

Sasuke nodded. "Ok, listen up. I'm only going to say it once."

"He sounds like those anal instructors," Naruto said to Sora. Sora couldn't help but giggle a little.

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Shut up," he said. "This is the password. First, you will ask, 'The ninja song Ninki?' Then the other person will say, 'It is a good chance when a large number of enemies are making a scene, there are no hideouts even in a quiet place. It is important for a ninja to know the right time: the time when the enemy is tired, and has his guard down.' Got it?"

Sora nodded remembering it perfectly word for word. Naruto raised his hand. "Uh, could you repeat that please?"

"No."

"What? But I-"

"I memorized it right away," Sora interrupted Naruto catching on to what Sasuke was doing.

"Oh right!" Naruto said putting a hand behind his head. "Me too. HAHA!"

Sora smiled expecting such an answer from him. She gave a quick look at Sasuke who silently thanked her.

After Naruto was done nervously laughing he got up. "Geez, I need to pee!" The six bowls of Ramen had taken their toll. He got up and walked over to a nearby bush still visible to his two teammates.

"Naruto, that's gross!" Sora said turning quickly and shielding her eyes. "Can't you be a little more discreet about that kind of thing?"

"Sorry but it's gotta come out one way-"

"Stop it!" Sora said clamping her ears. Geez, this guy has no tact whatsoever!

"Fine, fine," Naruto said zipping his pants up again. "I'll be right back then."

As soon as Naruto was out of sight, the wind began to pick up. Again? Sasuke thought as he whipped out his blade. "They're back," he said in a low voice.

This time all three Mist Genins appeared. "All right then, hand over your scroll and we'll let you live," the leader of the group said.

"Bite me," Sora said surprising herself along with Sasuke.

"With pleasure," the leader said sweeping his eyes over her body.

Sasuke's temper broke. "Bastard!" he yelled as he ran at the three with his blade pointed out.

"Sasuke!" Sora said but she heard some shuriken knives slice through the air. She barely dodged them. Shoot. Another gust of wind came at the group and the three were separated. Sora felt herself being thrown back but she flipped over and landed on the ground using her hand to make her stop sooner. She concentrated her energy into her hearing. They're not here?

Sasuke used his Sharingan to see through every single attack that was thrown at him. He knew that Sora and Naruto were nearby but not close enough to be in danger. He made sure none of the three Mist Genins left his little attack zone. Within minutes, they were all knocked out. He searched their clothing and found that they also had an Earth scroll. Dammit, he thought as he tucked it away in his pouch. Just in case though. Then he sensed someone approaching. It was Sora.

"Sasuke!" Sora said when she saw him and the three unconscious Mist Genins.

"Wait!" Sasuke said keeping his dagger out. "The ninja song Ninki?"

"Right," Sora said. "It is a good chance when a large number of enemies are making a scene, there are no hideouts even in a quiet place. It is important for a ninja to know the right time: the time when the enemy is tired, and has his guard down."

Sasuke gave a sigh of relief and lowered his dagger. Sora did the same. "Where's Naruto?" he asked.

"I-I don't know," Sora answered getting worried.

"Whe-what? Here!" Naruto said stumbling onto the scene.

"The ninja song Ninki?" Sasuke said getting tense again.

"Oh, yeah!" Naruto said. "It is a good chance when a large number of enemies are making a scene, there are no hideouts even in a quiet place. It is important for a ninja to know the right time: the time when the enemy is tired, and has his guard down."

Both Sora and Sasuke threw daggers at Naruto at the same time.

Naruto barely dodged and fell to the ground. "What? Hey! I said the pass-"

"You didn't think that we'd really fall for that?" Sora asked getting out another knife. "If you were the real Naruto, you would've said something along the lines of, 'I forgot.'"

"What? Then why'd you make a stupid password to begin with?"

"I knew you were listening so I made it long on purpose so that Naruto wouldn't remember it," Sasuke said.

"Aha, I see," Naruto-poser number 2 said slowly. He grinned evilly as his tongue slid over his lips.

It's that guy, Sora thought, her eyes widening.

"Not a bad plan, Uchiha," the guy said as he transformed back to his original form. It was the snake-like Genin who had picked up Anko's blade after it cut Naruto. "Brilliant actually." He gave another chilling smile.

Once the snake guy's eyes transformed back, Sasuke froze. What? I can feel his power from here? He began to sweat. This guy's too strong.

"What's the matter? Not so tough anymore?" the guy said approaching them slowly. "You want this?" He revealed a Heaven scroll.

Sasuke flinched at the sight of it. Dammit.

"Well then, how about this?" He lifted his head and opened his mouth wide. He wrapped his tongue around the scroll and swallowed it whole. He opened his eyes. "Now let's begin." His eyes became wider so that the veins could be seen. A wave of his Chakra hit both Sasuke and Sora paralyzing them.

It's that feeling again, Sasuke thought as he fell back. This bloodthirsty intent to kill. He's really going to… He looked over at Sora. She had fallen to her knees and was shaking.

Who is this guy? Sora thought as she shook violently. He's no Genin. She tried to focus on her energy and managed to look up at the approaching figure. Her vision blurred. Dammit.

"Already can't move?" the snake guy taunted as he took out two kunai knives. "Aw, that's too bad. I'd thought you'd be more fun." He saw Sora look up. Such captivating eyes, he thought. He stared straight back into them. So beautiful.

Sora tried to look away but couldn't. It was almost hypnotizing. I…can't…move… She started gasping for air. What is he doing?

The snake man was also hypnotized, but by her. She will be mine. He raised his daggers.

Move, MOVE! Sasuke screamed at himself. He saw Sora and the guy lock gazes. Sora, look away! He tried to move his arm. Dammit!

"I guess, if this is the best you can do," the guy said, "you're time is up." He let the daggers fly.

MOVE! Sasuke screamed at himself. He forced himself to move his arm. He brought the dagger he was holding down into his leg letting the pain awaken him. There! He immediately caught Sora in his arms and leaped away deeper in the forest.

The daggers stuck into a root of the tree behind where Sora and Sasuke used to be. Hm, the snake man thought. As I expected. He grinned evilly to himself and leaped off to find Sasuke and Sora.

Naruto crashed into a tree hard from the force of the wind. "Dammit," he muttered as he stood up. "Where are the others?" Then he felt a shadow over him. "Huh?" He looked up and saw a gigantic snake hovering above him. "Uh…uh…AHHH!" he screamed as he tried to run but it was too late.

The snake lunged forward and swallowed him whole. Naruto felt himself be pushed down the snake's throat into its belly. He couldn't see anything but he could feel the slime and smell the stink that was inside the snake. Shit, this isn't good, he thought as he tried to move but he was too tightly squeezed to move much. He managed to get out his kunai knife. He took a stab at the snake but it couldn't cut through. The intestine layer was too think and slimy for the blade to cut through.

No, he thought as he felt the burn of the acids of the snake eat at him. I can't die here! I've got to pass this exam. I've got to become the Hokage! He struggled more but that only pushed him further down into the snake. Dammit…I can't die here, can I? Suddenly his life seemed to pass in front of his eyes. Sora-chan… he thought. I never got to tell you how I really feel about you. Sasuke… His grip tightened around the handle of his knife. NO! I still need to beat that bastard and show him that I'm the better ninja! He forced his hand together in a seal. "Kage Buushin No Jutsu!" he yelled.

The snake felt something grow inside of him. He began to feel uncomfortable as the bulge in his stomach grew bigger.

"MORE! KAGE BUUSHIN NO JUTSU!" Naruto yelled more loudly. He replicated more and more until finally the snake burst open sending hundreds of Narutos flying everywhere. Soon they disappeared leaving one very sticky, smelly, but alive Naruto ready to kick butt. "Ok," he said to himself. "Now all I have to do is find Sora-chan and Sasuke." He got up and tried to wipe his face with his sleeve but found that his sleeve was equally gross. "DAMMIT!" he yelled in frustration. He ran off to find the others.

Outside of the forest, Anko was sitting on top of the pavilion eating some of her favorite rice balls. Then out of the blue, an examiner appeared. "Anko-sama!" he said kneeling down on one knee in respect.

"Yes? What is it?"

"It's, uh, we found three dead bodies," he said.

"Well, that's not unusual-"

"Outside the forest gates!"

"What?" She jumped down. "Where?"

"This way," he said as he leapt up in the air. Anko followed. They arrived near some standing stones put to mark graves of past ninjas. There were three bodies of Grass Genins lying there mutilated and without faces.

What? Is he here? Anko thought, sweat forming on her face. That's impossible.

"Anko-sama," the examiner said.

"Yes," she said snapping back. "Ok, get at least 5 ANBU squads down here immediately and tell Hokage-sama that he's here. I'll go in the forest and see what's happening."

"Uh, yes, ma'am." He took off.

Anko ran towards the forest. He's here, that snake-like Genin who picked up my knife. It was him! I know it.

"Sasuke!" Sora said after he had stopped running and put her down. "O my god, Sasuke, are you ok?" She helped him sit up against a tree.

Sasuke was breathing heavily trying to forget the images of death he had seen in the snake man's eyes and the pain in his leg. Sora quickly got a bandage she had in her pouch and began wrapping the wound to stop the bleeding. Sasuke cringed in pain as his thoughts came back to reality. He grabbed Sora's hand instinctively.

"Sasuke, we need to stop the bleeding," Sora said patiently removing his hand. He nodded still unable to speak. "Ok, I'll count to three and then I'll tighten the bandages." Sasuke shut his eyes. "One, two-"

"HOLY SHIT!"

"-three."

"Geez, Sora! I thought you said three!" he tried to say softly but at the same time clutching his leg.

"Well, I said three because I knew you wouldn't tense up until three and not two. See?" Sora grabbed his hands to keep him from touching his wound.

"It still hurt like hell," Sasuke grumbled.

Sora smiled but then realized that their hands were intertwined with one another. She blushed and broke the connection. "Uh, shouldn't we find Naru-"

Sasuke clamped a hand over her mouth. "I hear something," he whispered looking to his right.

Sora held completely still but then noticed a huge shadow above them from Sasuke's left. She panicked and tried to get Sasuke's attention. "MM! MMMMM!" she struggled.

"SH!"

"MMMMMM!" Sora finally hit Sasuke's hand away. "Snake to the left, you idiot!" she yelled as she threw him to the right away from danger.

"What?" Sasuke yelled as he flew threw the air. "Sora!" He landed on the ground. I need to get higher! He jumped up to a lower branch and then began to go from branch to branch until he could see the entire area. He saw the snake crashing through the bushes diving at some unseen target. Sora! He raced through the branches towards the slithering beast and threw three shuriken knives at its neck.

Meanwhile, Sora was trying to dodge the many attacks from the snake while keeping it away from where she threw Sasuke. Huge snake? she said to herself while jumping away from the branch she had previously been on and was now splinters as the snake charged through it. Its skin is armored, she thought as she managed to get on its back. Just like that other one. She thought back on her first "training" session with Naruto. Then she heard three clashes and saw three shuriken knives fall straight for her. "What the heck?" she yelled as she barely caught them before they hit her. "Sasuke!" She turned her gaze upwards and saw Sasuke in a tree scanning the area for her. "DOWN HERE!" she yelled as the snake realized that something was on its back.

Sasuke spotted Sora riding the snake. "Sora!"

"Get out of here," she screamed as she threw 10 exploding tags on the snake's back. She leaped off the snake with ease to where Sasuke was standing. She grabbed his arm and was about to jump away when the tags exploded the snake open sending the two Genins backwards to the ground. Snake guts were falling everywhere. Sasuke managed to shield Sora from the falling body parts as they skidded to a stop against a tree.

"Sora!" he gasped as the forest became still again. "You-"

"Sasuke, come on get up!" Sora said pushing him off. "Oh yeah, and here're your shuriken." She tossed them to him.

He caught them in surprise. "Oh, I-"

"It's ok," Sora said smiling. She began to pick snake parts out of his hair. "That's gross."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Sora laughed. "Sorry, I should be thanking you for covering me." She flicked some snake off of his shirt. "But you do need to bathe when we find a stream, ok?"

"Sure," Sasuke said in annoyance. He grabbed her arm to stop her from cleaning him.

"Well, isn't that cute?" a slithering voice said from behind the two.

Both of them turned in a heartbeat to see who had spoken. "It's him again," Sasuke said getting in front of Sora again.

"I'm sorry. Did I interrupt some intimate moment?" the snake man said licking his lips.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the man and said nothing.

"I did? Good." He rushed towards them, his neck elongating like a snake.

"Jump, now!" Sasuke said. Sora nodded and leaped up on a branch as Sasuke clashed iron with the man. Sasuke flipped up in the air over the man landing behind him and gave a spinning kick from behind. The man dodged and slashed through the air where Sasuke once was. Sasuke had artfully gotten around the man again and went straight at him with his kunai. The man blocked the attack with his blade and the two were thrown apart from the impact.

"Very good," the man said standing up. "Just as I would expect from the Uchiha heir." He came at Sasuke again creating seals as he ran.

Sasuke did the seal progression for his fire ball. "Fire Ball Jutsu!" he said as he put his hand to his mouth. He aimed the fire blast at the approaching man. The branch went up in flames where he hit. Did I get him?

Sora was watching from her hiding spot in the tree. I've got to help him! she thought as she moved silently through the leaves. But then the tree she was in shook violently making her fall to the ground. She managed to land on her feet but not as gracefully as she would have liked. "What the-" Another snake had appeared and had crashed into her tree. "AHH!" she yelled dodging the snake's tail as it came crashing down to the ground. She was thrown back from the wind it created but she kept her stance. "Another one?"

The snake lunged forward with its fangs out. Sora couldn't get out of the way fast enough. I'll have to try and block it! she thought as she got out two kunai blades. She steadied herself and pointed the blades forward. Ready and- Sora and the snake clashed head on. Sora focused all of her body energy into her legs and arms as they skidded back through the bushes. Sora's two knives had punctured the snake's armored skin in its nose from the impact and her feet dug into the ground building up dirt as they kept moving back. Then finally they stopped. My arms are going to break! she thought as she tried to push back. "AH!" she shouted as she finally managed to push the giant snake back just a bit so that she could get out of the way. The snake's head burrowed into the ground.

Sora's arms and legs felt like jelly. She collapsed on the ground. Dammit, she thought as she wiped her mouth. The snake raised its head again but it wasn't looking at her. She followed the snake's gaze and saw Sasuke and the snake man fighting on a tree branch. "Oh no you don't!" Sora yelled as she forced her legs to spring her onto the snake. The snake shook its head trying to get her off but she made herself hang on and tried to make her way down to its eye. She reached for a shuriken knife.

Sasuke and the man were still fighting head on. Neither had gotten a scratch yet. "I'm even more impressed now that I'm fighting you one on one," the man said taking another swing at Sasuke.

"What?" he said. Where's Sora?

"Oh, are you thinking about that red-haired beauty?" the man said as they separated from another attack.

"Shut up," Sasuke spat. He was running out of energy. Geez, this guy's too strong, he thought panting.

"She's busy with my pet," the man said pointing at the snake who was now looking at them.

Sasuke saw Sora making her way down to its eyes. No, Sora! He can see you!

The man made a signal and another snake appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "Shall I make them attack?" he asked a frozen Sasuke.

Sora saw the other snake and stopped in her tracks. Wha-another one? she mentally screamed. The snake she was on moved towards the second snake who had its mouth open.

"NO!" Sasuke shouted suddenly loud enough for the snakes to hear. They paused. "No," he said again. "Look, this is what you want right?" He took out the Earth scroll he had gotten from the Mist team he had defeated earlier.

The snake man smiled evilly and licked his lips. "I suppose," he said.

"Then take it and leave us alone," Sasuke said with a shaky voice. "Let her go!" The man nodded his head and Sasuke threw the scroll in the air towards the man.

"NO!" Naruto's voice came from a distance. A kunai blade cut through the air and struck the scroll pinning it to the tree in between the two on the branch.

"What? Naruto?" Sasuke said as he saw Naruto approaching.

"YO!" Naruto yelled as he landed on a nearby tree branch. "Sorry, I forgot the password."

The snakes shifted their senses to the new presence. Sora took the opportunity to jump off the snake onto a tree branch. "Naruto!" she said as she landed.

"Naruto you BAKA!" Sasuke yelled at him losing his cool.

"What? Hey I just saved our asses you dobe!" Naruto yelled back.

"It's the only way. He's way beyond our level! We can't win!" Sasuke said angrily.

Naruto grew silent for a while stared at Sasuke. "You…you're an imposter!" Naruto shouted as he ran towards him.

"What?"

A snake lunged forward at Sasuke at the same time Naruto was closing in. Naruto twisted in mid air to face the oncoming snake as he whipped out two daggers. His eyes became pointed as his irises changed from blue to red. His teeth grew longer as did his nails. Naruto landed on the branch in front of Sasuke and stopped the snake's attack.

Sasuke was stunned. No way…

Then Naruto let go of the dagger handles and punched Sasuke in the cheek sending him stumbling to the side. "The real Sasuke isn't a coward like this," Naruto growled in a low voice. He looked up revealing his eyes.

Sasuke steadied himself from the attack. "Naruto, you idiot! I'm real!"

"Naruto!" Sora yelled unable to go to the boys because the snakes were blocking the way. "He's real! Believe us!" When did he get so powerful? she thought remembering what the same attack from the snake did to her.

"No," Naruto said breathing heavily. "The real Sasuke wouldn't give in to a pathetic ass like this guy." He turned quickly to face the snake man. "Now you'll fight me!" He ran towards the man.

Is this kid the fox demon? the man thought as Naruto ran towards him. He caught Naruto's fist in his hand and grabbed his neck with the other. He held Naruto over the ground off of the branch.

"You bastard!" Naruto snarled digging his claws into the guy's hand. He was struggling to breathe.

"Hm." The man let go of Naruto's fist and lifted Naruto's shirt. He saw black markings surrounding his navel. He is the fox demon child, he thought. The seal has risen to the surface. I must stop it. He made a one-handed seal. "Gogyo Fuuin (Five Element Seal)!" His five fingers began to glow with a bluish flame, then he jammed them into Naruto's stomach.

"AHHH!" Naruto went limp as five black marks appeared around the seal.

The man laughed. "Well," he said throwing Naruto off the branch. "Let's get back to business shall we?" He turned to face Sasuke.

"Naruto!" Sora said as she saw him fall. She threw a dagger and it caught onto Naruto's shirt and pinned him to a tree before he could fall to his death. "Sasuke! Snap out of it!" she screamed at the unmoving Sasuke.

"I…I…" he stuttered. I can't. As the man slowly walked towards him, his mind made him think he was seeing his brother. It's him, he breathed. Hatred welled up inside of him as he prepared to fight. "I won't lose!" He charged.

Good, the man thought as he readied himself but instead of attacking Sasuke, the man dodged Sasuke's attack and sent a wave of Chakra straight for Sora.

Sora couldn't feel it or see it coming since she didn't have her own Chakra to sense with anymore and it hit her head on. She was thrown back through the forest crashing through small branches and tree trunks, breaking them from the impact. Then she slammed up against a humongous tree trunk and stopped. Blood was coughed up out of her mouth as she fell to the ground.

Stupid, she thought as she tried to will away the pain. She struggled to get up and managed to get on her hands and knees. She turned her head and spat out the pooling blood in her mouth. "Stay awake!" she said out loud. Her vision doubled. She felt like her body was falling apart as she breathed. Amazingly her back and limbs weren't broken but she could feel broken ribs puncture her insides. She hacked up some more blood. "Ugh." She breathed in deeply and slowly though it sent a severe shock of pain throughout her entire body. It seemed to make her feel a little better. She stood up shakily leaning on the tree trunk for support. Sasuke, Naruto, she thought. "Move, you idiot," she said to herself as she slowly put one foot in front of the other. She swaggered a bit but kept upright. She sighed at the path in front of her. I've got a long way to go.

"SORA!" Sasuke yelled as he saw the Chakra wave hit her. "NO!" His Sharingan appeared on its own as he turned viciously towards the snake man. "You bastard!" He ran at the man making his fire ball seals. "Fire Ball Jutsu!" It seemed to hit the man but Sasuke knew better than to let his guard down.

The man attacked from behind but Sasuke was ready and blocked it with his kunai. "Now that we're alone," the man said as they fought with lightening speed attacks. "I'll finish you slowly."

"You wish," Sasuke snarled as he dodged another swipe of the man's blade.

"And after I'm done with you," the snake man continued, "I'm gonna take your pretty bitch."

"GO TO HELL!" Sasuke screamed as his eyes glowed with rage. His body seemed to move on its own at an amazing speed. Faster than Sasuke knew he could move, but he didn't notice. He was too enraged. "I'LL KILL YOU!" He knocked the man off his feet and punched him square in the face.

What? the man thought as he flew back into the trunk of the tree. His face looked like it was mutilated from the blow. He's even stronger than I thought. He let his body melt into the tree but left his face visible.

Sasuke stopped. "Who the hell are you?" he asked holding his dagger up. The man's face was peeling as if it was only a mask. Two new eyes were staring at Sasuke now. They looked like serpent's eyes. Sasuke felt his fear beginning to return. This guy… He backed up until he felt a branch stop him. He turned his head. "What?"

It was the man. "Now that my body is part of this tree I can move to wherever I want to," the man said laughing evilly. "You're even more than I expected." The man extended his arms from the branch and trapped Sasuke, pinning him to the main branch. "I must leave you with a small present then," he said leaning his head down towards Sasuke's neck.

"Get away from me!" Sasuke yelled as he struggled to get up. The man sunk his fangs into the crook of Sasuke's neck leaving behind three black marks. "AHHH!" Sasuke screamed in pain as he felt a blazing fire rip his insides. Then he lost consciousness.

The man smiled at his work and released Sasuke. He will be the perfect body, he thought. He glanced at the scroll still pinned to the tree. Ah, yes, their scroll. I'll be taking that. He melted back into the tree taking the scroll and dagger as well and disappeared.

Sora finally made it back to where Sasuke and Naruto were. She wanted to just lie down and sleep forever but she forced herself to stay awake. She clumsily climbed up the tree where Naruto was still hanging unconscious. She willed herself to hold onto him as she took the knife out of the tree trunk. She almost dropped him but they made it safely to the ground.

She scanned the area looking for Sasuke and spotted his unconscious form on a higher tree branch. I'm going to die…climbing trees, she thought miserably. She moved to start climbing again but winced in pain as she felt her broken ribs scrape her insides. She started hacking up blood again but she spit it out after a while and calmed herself down. "Geez," she mumbled as she started climbing again ignoring her aching muscles. She reached the branch and crawled over to Sasuke. "Sasuke?" she said hoping that he was somewhat conscious but once she saw his face, she knew he was out. "Dammit," she muttered as she hoisted him over her shoulder. She stumbled from the weight but kept walking. She slowly climbed back down the tree and laid him gently next to Naruto.

This would be the absolute worst time to be attacked now, she thought as she searched for a place to stay for the rest of the day and night. Then she heard running water. What? A stream? she thought with a spark of hope. She used the rest of her strength to drag the two boys towards the place where she heard water and luckily, it was a stream. She also found a small shelter made by the roots of a tree that probably used to be submerged under water. She laid the boys side by side under the roots but then she noticed something on Sasuke's neck. What? She leaned in closer and saw that it was a seal. Did that man…? she thought as she touched the mark. "Ow!" she cried out in pain as she felt it burn her skin. She pulled back her hand and saw that the fingers that had touched the mark were burned badly. She also saw Sasuke move. "Sasuke?" she said hopefully but he didn't open his eyes. He was sweating.

Sora stuck her burned fingers in her mouth to cool the burning sensation and took out two cloths from her pouch. Heh, it's amazing how much can fit inside this thing, she thought with a sad laugh. She dipped the cloths in the water with her burned hand and let the coolness of the water soothe her skin. She walked back to the boys and put a cloth on each of their heads. "There," she said to herself. "Now as long as no one attacks us, we should be ok until morning." She knew they couldn't hear her but she felt better talking to someone. She wanted to lie down and close her eyes but knew that she had to set up traps and keep watch in case someone did try to attack them. She sighed and started to set the traps up.

Anko ran through the forest looking for him. That bastard's after someone, she thought as she jumped from branch to branch. She lifted her hand to touch her neck feeling the old mark come alive. He's close. She stopped to look around and spotted him. His body was still in the tree but his face was visible. "YOU!" she snarled viciously as she got out her dagger.

"Nice to see you too, Anko," he said smiling maliciously.

"I should've killed you back then," she said putting her dagger up against his face. "But now I will repay my debts."

"Oh, I don't think you can kill me," he said as the tree began to melt down. He stepped out revealing his true form. "You wouldn't kill your old sensei." He slowly took her wrist and pointed the dagger downwards.

Anko couldn't move. She could only stare at him with fear in her eyes.

"Afraid?" he said stepping forward and pushing her back. "Afraid and, what is this? Jealous are we?" He backed her into a tree.

"You must be crazy," Anko spat.

He laughed. "Ah, yes," he said. "So you figured me out, huh?" He leaned in close. "Don't worry. You had your share of my favor. If this Uchiha boy makes it through, he will only be another body for me. He will come to me seeking for power as you did."

Anko shut her eyes as she felt his tongue slide over her mark on her neck. She shuddered. "Get back you snake!"

"Funny you use that word," he said releasing her. "Fine, I'll go then. Be a good girl while I'm gone." He disappeared.

"NO!" Anko said getting up. "NO! I'll kill you! I'll kill you, Orochimaru!" She threw her dagger at the disappearing figure but it went right through and struck the trunk of the tree behind him. She was breathing hard. No, I've got to warn Hokage-sama. She took off running towards the center of the forest.

Sora was done setting up all the traps she could set up. She sat down in front of the entrance to their little shelter completely exhausted and in considerable pain. She coughed up some more blood and spat it out on the grass. "Dammit," she said wiping her mouth. If we're attacked, I won't be able to hold out for long. Then she saw a squirrel approaching. "Huh?" It got too close. "GET AWAY!" she yelled as she threw a shuriken at it not meaning to hit it. The squirrel ran away scared. She sighed. "This is going to be the longest day ever."

"Did she see it?" Zaku whispered to his teammates from their hiding place.

"No, I think she was just being overly cautious," Kin said quietly.

Dosu nodded his head. "We'll attack when I give the signal. Got it?" The other two nodded.

Meanwhile, Neji, Lee, and Tenten had decided to split up and spy on the other teams to find out which ones had the scroll they needed. They had an Earth scroll as well.

Lee had spied on a few teams but now he was bored and it wasn't time yet to return to the agreed meeting place. He walked across the branch he was standing on not paying attention to where he was going and he ran into the trunk. "Ow," he said rubbing his head. Then he saw that some leaves had fallen from the impact and were now floating to the ground. "Huh?" He quickly counted them. "Ok!" he said out loud. "If I catch these 15 leaves before they hit the ground, Sora will love me!" He dived off the branch and began collecting the leaves. "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14-huh?" He spotted a squirrel with its back on fire. "What the-" CRASH "ow…" He landed on his head on the ground and the last leaf floated to the ground inches from his face. He sighed sadly, but then he recovered quickly and ran over to the squirrel and peeled off the explosion tag and put it out expertly. "Who would do such a thing?" he said as he released the frightened squirrel. It ran into the bushes. He decided to investigate and followed the trail of ashes left behind by the squirrel.

"NOW!" Dosu said and the three jumped out of their hiding place straight for Sora.

She didn't flinch. "Heh, I thought you guys were hiding back there," she said. She watched as the ground underneath the three Sound Genins crumble.

"It's a trap!" Kin gasped as she jumped away. The others did the same.

"Hah," Zaku said. "Your pathetic little traps won't work on us."

Sora gave him a smile and tilted a kunai knife that was in the ground. It was connected to some wire string that held a huge log above them.

"What another one?" Zaku said as the log came crashing down on them.

The dust rose in the air and Sora couldn't see what was going on. Dammit, she thought as she shielded her eyes. I can't see.

Then she heard laughter. "You didn't think that we couldn't survive that, did you?" Dosu's voice was heard. The dust settled as the three appeared standing a few feet in front of her.

"No," Sora said getting up. "That would've been no fun for me." I can't believe I'm saying this. She got out her knife ready to fight but then-

"NO! I'LL PROTECT YOU, MY LOVE!" Lee shouted as he jumped in front of her.

"Lee?" Sora asked in shock.

He turned his head slightly and winked. "I will always protect you, no matter what!" he said and turned back to face the three Sound Genins.

"You?" Kin asked laughing. "How romantic." She shot Sora a look.

Sora was unfazed. "Lee, you can't! You might get-"

"You three'd better just run away," Lee said interrupting Sora. "I will not lose."

Dosu laughed. "I heard that you can't even use your ninja techniques, Lee," he said cruelly.

Lee flinched but kept his stance. "Well, I'm here to tell you that hard work and perseverance can overcome any obstacle!"

Dosu ran at Lee. "This one's mine!" He pulled back his sleeve revealing his metal arm.

"Hah! Too slow!" Lee said as he seemed to appear out of nowhere behind Dosu.

"What?"

"Take this!" Lee kicked Dosu to the side but didn't stay around to watch him fly. He appeared on the other side of Dosu and punched him in the face. "And this!"

Finally Dosu landed in safety away from Lee who was back in front of Sora. "Fine then," Dosu said dangerously. "You can't go faster than the speed of sound!" he roared as he sent a punch straight at Lee.

Lee blocked it with ease and sent Dosu back but the sound waves pierced his ears and they began to bleed.

"LEE!" Sora said as he fell to his knees and covered his ears. She watched him as he shuddered in pain from the attack. "What? How did it not affect me?"

"I aimed my sound waves directly at his ears only," Dosu said. "Any stronger and his eardrum would rupture making him permanently deaf." He laughed cruelly.

Sora didn't dare move towards Lee for fear of them attacking her teammates.

"Now, you're next," he said as he ran at her.

"NO!" Lee appeared in front of her again and tackled him backwards.

"We've got to help," Kin said as she grabbed Zaku's arm. They jumped into the cloud of dust that had risen from the fighting.

"No!" Sora gasped as she tried to get up quickly to help but she fell back down to her knees coughing up more blood. "Lee…" she coughed as she spat more blood out.

When she looked up, she saw that Dosu had gotten a nice kick in his face and was a little dazed and Kin had been knocked out but Zaku was standing over an unconscious Lee who was face down on the ground. "Hah," he said. "He couldn't take on all three of us." Lee was bleeding from his head.

"You bastard," Sora spat as she forced herself to rise.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," he said approaching her. "You're mine." He moved faster than Sora could detect and she soon felt his arms around her neck and waist. He tightened.

He's too fast, she thought as she tried to get his arm off of her neck. She was gasping for air.

Zaku buried his head in her hair, inhaling as he did. "Ah, you smell good," he said licking her ear. "So fine…" he loosened his grip around her neck and slowly traveled down her neck and over her breasts.

Sora couldn't fight back since her arms where trapped by his arm around her waist. "You pervert!" she gasped out.

"Aw, no need for name calling," he said as he unbuttoned her first button on her dress. "I'm gonna take you right now, you little bitch." He growled as he continued to unbutton her dress. He leaned his head down to her neck and began kissing and sucking her skin leaving marks all down to her shoulder.

"No," Sora said weakly as she struggled but her body was too exhausted and her ribs were irritating her more than ever now.

No one had noticed that during Lee's fight, Sasuke had begun glowing and he was now fully awake. The mark had spread across his face and arm. It glowed brightly like a fire. "Get your hands off her, bastard," he said as he stepped out from the shelter.

Zaku turned around taking Sora with him so that she was in front of him. "Oh yeah? Well take her from me, asshole," he spat.

Sasuke saw that Sora's dress had been unbuttoned almost down to her stomach revealing her bindings. "Let her go," Sasuke said darkly.

He sounds possessed, Sora thought fearfully. Is he going to lose control again? "Sasuke!" she yelled trying to get through to him but it was too late.

Sasuke moved faster than a blink of the eye and separated Sora and Zaku sending them off in opposite directions.

Zaku crashed into the ground. "What the hell?" He saw Sasuke approaching with fire burning in his eyes. Zaku thrust out his arms. "Air Cutter!" he yelled as a streamline of air came rushing out of the two holes in the palms of his hands.

Sasuke dodged by getting behind him and grabbing his arms. "Interesting attack," Sasuke said putting his foot on Zaku's back and pulling. "You must be very proud of these arms then, huh?" He smiled cruelly as Zaku squirmed in pain.

"Let me go, please?" Zaku pleaded.

"Not after what you did," Sasuke said viciously. He jerked back forcefully snapping Zaku's arms out of their sockets.

Zaku screamed out in pain and he felt his arms go limp after Sasuke dropped them. He went unconscious from the pain.

Sasuke turned his sights on Dosu. "Now, I'll kill you all!" he yelled as he got out a kunai.

"NO!" Sora yelled as she rushed up behind Sasuke and threw her arms around him holding him back. She leaned her head against his back nearly in tears. How could-how could he be so cruel? she asked herself. "Stop, Sasuke! Please stop!" she pleaded as she felt his power increase. She began to feel the burning pain again as the seal kept spreading. "No…" she whispered then she put her arm up across his chest and clamped her hand over the seal on his neck. She screamed out in pain as the mark began to burn through her skin but she didn't let go.

The fire began to shrink back into the seal and Sasuke began to regain control. What? he thought as he felt the burning marks all over his body move back towards his neck. He felt a soothing icy coldness on the place where Orochimaru had marked him. Then he closed his eyes and slumped down to the ground in a sitting position. The fire vanished from his eyes and he heard Sora's voice.

"Stop, Sasuke…" Her hand felt like it was going to burn off but she kept it there. Then she felt Sasuke's hand lift her own from the mark. She collapsed forward leaning on his back completely worn out.

Sasuke looked at her hand and saw the imprint of his mark in the palm of her hand. It had burned almost all the way to the bone and was still glowing. No… he thought. No, Sora…no! He quickly moved her so that she was in his lap. "Sora," he said looking in her eyes keeping her hand tightly in his grasp. "Why?"

Sora couldn't respond but smiled weakly.

Dosu had felt the immense power radiating from Sasuke. He looked at the two and then at his teammates. We can't beat him, Orochimaru-sensei, he thought. Why did you send us to kill him if you knew we couldn't beat him? He got their Heaven scroll out of his pouch and placed it down on the ground. Then he picked up his unconscious teammates. "We'll leave you now, Uchiha, but if we ever meet again, we won't run away." With that he disappeared.

Sasuke used a bit of his Chakra to levitate the scroll over to his hand. He tucked it away in his pouch.

"LEE!" a female voice called through the forest.

Sasuke looked over and saw an unconscious Lee lying a few feet away. "Over here," he called to the voice recognizing it as Lee's teammate, Tenten.

She stepped out from the bushes. "Lee!" she gasped when she saw him. "We said no fighting! What did you do to yourself?" She knelt down to one knee and touched his arm.

Lee stirred and slowly opened his eyes. Then he bolted up. "SORA!" he shouted as he looked around. Then he saw Sasuke holding her. "Is…is she ok?" he asked trying to stand.

Sasuke just stared at him wondering why he was here and why he was unconscious to begin with.

"Lee," Tenten said in annoyance now knowing the reason why he had fought. "You should've met us back there like 10 minutes ago! We were worried!" She grabbed his arm. "Thanks," she added to Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded as he watched Tenten drag Lee back into the forest. They were left alone now. "Sora?" he said as he stood up with her in his arms. She had lost consciousness. He sighed when he saw Naruto under the shelter and leaned up against the side of the root placing Sora in his lap again. Well, we're off to a great start…

The next morning Naruto finally woke up. "AHHH! That was a nice nap! What'd I miss?" he asked no one. "Huh?"

Sasuke was near the stream while Sora was resting against a tree near him. Naruto crawled out from under the shelter and yawned. "Hey," he called as he approached Sora.

She turned her head and smiled weakly. "Hey," she said back. "How're you feeling?"

Naruto saw that her chest area had been wrapped with bandages and her arms and legs had been cut up pretty badly. "What happened to you? I mean, uh, how are you feeling?" he asked sitting next to her with a worried look on his face.

"Oh, I'm ok," she said sighing and looking back over to a shirtless Sasuke who had caught three fish and was coming back on shore. "We just ran into some trouble, that's all."

"Some trouble!" Naruto exclaimed. "You look like you've got some serious injuries!"

Sora smiled at his anxiety. She put a hand on his arm. "I'm fine, really," she said.

Sasuke walked up to his teammates and grabbed his shirt which was hanging on a low branch. "Get a fire going," he ordered Naruto as he tossed the fish into Naruto's lap.

"What?" Naruto said staring at the fish.

"I said, get a fire going," Sasuke repeated rolling his eyes.

"Ok, ok," Naruto grumbled getting up. "Geez."

Sora smiled at the two's bickering and tried to sigh but the intake of air started her coughing again. She covered her hand over her mouth and tried to stop it but Sasuke noticed and quickly kneeled down. "Sora," he said gently as he put his hand against her back rubbing it gently.

"No," she gasped out. "I'm fine." She slowed her breathing and was soon back to normal. "I'm fine." She tried to get up.

Sasuke shook his head and picked her up. "You need more rest," he said as he carried her over to where Naruto was starting a fire.

Sora slightly blushed when she noticed that he still hadn't put on his shirt yet and he was carrying her. "It's ok, I can walk," she mumbled.

"Hm? What was that?" Sasuke pretended not to hear her.

Sora sighed knowing that he wouldn't let her walk. She let him place her down next to the fire.

"We're going to have to stay here for a few days for all of us to recover," Sasuke said as he sat next to her.

"Yeah. That's probably a good idea," Naruto agreed while shearing the scales off of the fish with his knife.

Whoa, that's the first thing they've ever agreed on, Sora thought in amazement.

Sasuke noticed her look of shock. "What?"

Sora laughed. "Oh, nothing. It's just that I think this is the first thing you guys have agreed on ever since I met you," she said.

"Haha, very funny," Naruto said as he place each fish on a stick and put them over the fire.

Sasuke didn't say anything. Come to think of it, it's true, he thought. We must be agreeing with each other for Sora.

Soon the fish were cooked and eaten and the day passed as the team rested. Sasuke had put some of his Chakra into Sora's body but she was still healing slowly because of the seal and also because Sasuke didn't really know how to heal other people effectively with his Chakra. Two more days passed and finally Sora seemed well enough to fight. On the last morning of the exam after an early breakfast, Sasuke offered to go get some water from the stream and left.

While he was gone, Naruto became restless. "Sora?" he asked as he twiddled his thumbs.

"Hm?" she said opening her eyes to look at him.

"I've been wondering," he said looking to see if Sasuke was coming back. "I mean, we don't have any scrolls do we? Since that snake guy took ours and…"

Sora smiled. "Oh, I forgot to tell you," she said taking out the scroll from her secret pocket. "The one Sasuke had was from the Mist Genins that separated us the first time with the air blast, remember? I still had ours the entire time."

Naruto looked relieved. "Really? Whoa, I had no idea!" he said. Then curiosity got the better of him. "Don't you think we should open it?"

Sora looked at Naruto in disbelief. "What? Didn't you hear the rules? We can't open it until we reach the center with the scroll of Heaven."

"But," Naruto whined. "Maybe they just said that to keep potential clues from us. I mean, they tested our thinking skills with that first exam thing, right? What if this is just another information gathering test?"

Sora looked at him and shook her head. "Naruto, we can't. What if-"

"I mean," Naruto said interrupting her. "The worst that could happen is that-"

"You could get disqualified," a voice said from behind him.

"Wha?"

Sora looked up and saw Kabuto. "Kabuto-san?" she said in surprise.

"Hey, sorry to scare you guys like that," he said waving and sitting down in between Sora and Naruto. "But trust me, you don't want to open that up."

Naruto turned red with embarrassment. "I, uh…"

"It's ok," Kabuto said. "I think it was two years ago, they put a sleeping seal inside the scrolls that was active until it passed through the door of the central building. If someone opened it, they would stay asleep until the end of the exam and then they'd be disqualified."

"See?" Sora said with a taunting look at Naruto.

Naruto crossed his arms. "Of course! I was just testing you!"

Sora smiled and shook her head. "So, have you gotten your scrolls yet?" she asked Kabuto.

"M-hm," Kabuto said as he took out two scrolls. "You?"

Sora looked down. "Well, we kind of ran into trouble the first day so we haven't really had the opportunity to get another scroll."

"Oh, I see," Kabuto said kindly. "You still have all day today to get it though, and we're pretty close to the central building."

"Really?" Naruto asked getting excited.

"Then that must mean all the other teams unlucky enough to have only one scroll are all surrounding the central building to try and trap the incoming teams," Sora said thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Kabuto said as he put his scrolls away. Sora did the same.

Sasuke finally came back, but when he saw Kabuto he immediately got out his kunai. "HEY!" he yelled as he ran up to the group. "Get back!"

"No, wait, Sasuke!" Sora said as she stood up putting herself in between Kabuto and Sasuke's knife. "He's ok. We were just talking."

"No, he's an enemy!" Sasuke said still not putting down his knife.

"Sasuke!"

"Kabuto," he said ignoring Sora. "I challenge you for your scrolls!"

Kabuto looked at Sasuke and saw that he wasn't really serious because he could've just attacked him instead of making an open challenge. Plus he noticed a bulge in Sasuke's pouch. "Why?" he asked nonchalantly. "You already have both scrolls."

Naruto jumped up. "What?" he asked excitedly.

"We do?" Sora asked Sasuke.

Sasuke glared at Kabuto still suspicious partly because of his old habit of not trusting anyone and partly because he was a little too close to Sora for his comfort. "Yeah," he said lowering his dagger. He took out the Heaven scroll.

Sora's eyes widened. "We've been sitting here for three days and we've had both scrolls all along?" she said.

"WOW! I can't believe it!" Naruto said jumping up and down doing a little dance. "That means all we have to do now is to get past all those freaks who haven't gotten two scrolls yet and then we'll pass the exam!"

Kabuto smiled and nodded. "Yup," he said. "But we need to be extra careful because there are people that, well, I like to call them collectors, but they keep extra scrolls to give to enemies in exchange for going free or to give them to friends who are in the same village. That way, they can gain information to get through the remaining exams more easily, or crush strong enemies to get to the third part of the exam."

Sasuke looked at Kabuto closely. Hm, he thought. So you're afraid of these collectors too. That's why you want us to go along with you. "Fine, let's go," he said as he put out the fire.

Kabuto smiled and offered an arm to Sora. Sora smiled and took it because she knew that she was still going to need as much help as she could get for walking so she could save her energy for fighting. Sasuke and Naruto turned green with envy.

"Hey, come on you guys," Sora called unaware of what she just did. "It's almost 9!" The two guys grunted and followed behind. After walking for a few hours, the group decided to take a small break for lunch. Nothing had happened so far but the guys were beginning to feel the other groups' Chakra around the area. They ate in silence not wanting to attract unwanted attention from other Genins or animals.

Then Naruto noticed something moving. "WATCH OUT!" he yelled as he flung his kunai over the head of Sasuke who was just finishing up his meal. Sasuke ducked but just barely.

"What the hell?" he said angrily.

"Hey, I just saved your life!" Naruto insisted. "There was a huge bug right above your head!"

Sasuke turned to see that there was indeed a huge beetle that was now dead above his head. Its insides were beginning to spill out. He quickly moved from his spot to avoid getting bug guts all over him.

"That's just gross," Sora said putting down the remainder of her meal not hungry anymore. After finishing up, they resumed their slow and careful walk. It was sometime in the early afternoon when they finally saw the central building in the distance.

"Hey, we're almost there!" Naruto said excitedly.

"Yeah, but this is the hardest part to get through," Kabuto said cautiously. "We've got to look out for any traps that might be hidden or any illusions we might walk into."

The others nodded their heads and they continued walking even more alert than before. After an hour or so, the central building looked just as far away as it did before and their surroundings began to look vaguely familiar. "What?" Sora said suddenly as she looked at a tree.

"Hm? What is it?" Kabuto asked.

"It's strange, but I think we've been walking in circles."

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked looking around. He didn't really recognize anything, but then again he had somewhat of a short term memory.

Sora nodded. "Yeah, I'm positive we've passed this place before. That bug Naruto killed during lunch is right there!"

The group looked in horror at the insect that was now being dissembled by a million smaller insects. "There's no mistaking it," Kabuto said. "Naruto's kunai is still there. That means we've already fallen into someone's illusion without even knowing it for the last hour!"

"What?" Naruto said getting alarmed.

"Shut up," Sasuke said harshly. "I can sense someone coming." Out of the bushes appeared an army of clones of a Rain Genin.

"So," one said, "you've finally figured it out, huh?"

"Took you long enough," another mocked.

Naruto was mad at being tricked for so long and his temper broke. "Shut the hell up!" he snarled. "I'll take care of this!" He ran forward and sliced through a clone. It split apart like some sort of liquid and then reformed itself. "What?"

"Ha ha ha," the clone laughed. "You can't beat me."

"Naruto!" Sasuke said as another clone attacked Naruto. Sasuke flung a kunai at the clone but it went into him and came right back out aimed directly for himself. He stared in shock.

"Sasuke!" Kabuto yelled as he pushed him out of the way just in time but the kunai scratched Kabuto's arm.

"What?" Sora said as she saw his cut. "That means that they're real clones then?"

"No," Sasuke said standing up. "It's just an illusion."

"But-"

"I'll see where the real one's hiding!" Sasuke steadied himself. "Sharingan!" His eyes turned red but then the mark on his neck began to burn as the seal spread across his shoulder. "AH!" He fell to his knees in pain. Why's this happening? he thought as he clutched his shoulder.

"Sasuke!" Sora shouted and ran over to where he was kneeling. She knew that she could probably stop the spreading and his pain by touching it. It seemed to work before but she was afraid of the terrible pain. I'm such a coward… she thought as she tried to calm him down. "Sasuke, just breathe. Don't use your Sharingan!"

"Dammit…" Sasuke gasped. No, I just saw it. Barely but…

"Fine!" Naruto yelled. "I'll just have to take out all of the clones!"

"Don't! You'll waste your Chakra!" Kabuto warned.

"KAGE BUUSHIN NO JUTSU!" 20 Naruto clones appeared in a puff of smoke. "Now let's fight." He attacked the Rain Genin clones slicing through them easily but they kept reforming. Then he began attacking faster so that they could only reform themselves and not attack him or the others.

"Come on!" Kabuto shouted. "He can't do this alone!" The other two nodded and the three joined the fight. They fought for what seemed like hours and finally they were all out of breath.

Then the Rain Genins decided to make their move. "They're all exhausted," one said.

"Let's go," said another. They appeared out of the bushes. "You're all out of Chakra," he mocked as they appeared. "Now we'll take you out!" But then the group appeared behind them. "What?"

"Hah!" Naruto said. "When I used my shadow replications, I made replicas of those three as well to make it look like we were all fighting but they hid as I fought your stupid clones!"

The three narrowed their eyes at Naruto. "He's out of Chakra," one said. "Attack!" The three jumped at him but Naruto expected such an attack and used up some of his remaining Chakra and delivered a powerful kick casting all three Rain Genins to the side.

"No way!"

"Now," Naruto said approaching them, "let's finish this!"

But Sasuke felt something was wrong. "Wait!" he yelled. "Sharingan!" His eyes turned red again.

"Sasuke!" Sora gasped.

"AH!" he screamed as pain filled his body again. No, just a second longer… He looked up and saw that the three Rain Genins were just clones as well. The real ones were hiding in the earth. "Naruto," he gasped out clutching his shoulder. "The real ones…in the ground!" He collapsed.

"What?" Naruto said turning.

"Look out!" Kabuto said as a Rain Genin attacked. He rushed up to Naruto and stopped the attack. "Get the real ones!" he shouted to Naruto.

Naruto nodded. In the ground? Where?

Sora finally noticed where they were hiding. Dammit, it'd be so much easier if I had my stupid Chakra, she thought angrily. She left Sasuke to help Naruto. "HERE!" she shouted as she threw three shuriken knives into the ground. The three real enemies were forced to surface.

"You'll pay for that," one said as he removed a star knife from his shoulder.

Sora said nothing but narrowed her eyes and got ready for an attack.

"NO! YOU'RE MINE!" Naruto shouted as he ran in front of Sora.

He should be exhausted, Sora thought as he rushed past her. "Naruto!"

"AHHHH!" Naruto yelled powering up. Then he made two more clones. "KAGE BUUSHIN NO JUTSU!"

"Impossible…"

"He was out!"

Then the three Narutos delivered a simultaneous punch into each of the three Rain Genins' faces sending them flying back unconscious.

Kabuto, who had been fighting the clones stumbled back as the clones disappeared in a poof of smoke. "Whew," he said wiping his forehead. "Well, that was close."

Sasuke looked at Kabuto from his kneeling position. He was still clutching his shoulder but he had a suspicion. There's more to this guy than he shows…I'm certain.

Sora walked over to Kabuto and helped him up. "Are you ok?" she asked.

Kabuto smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said as he dusted himself off.

Sora pulled out a bandage and wrapped a pretty nasty cut on his arm he had gotten during the fight. "That should stop the bleeding," she said looking into his eyes.

"Yeah, uh, thanks," Kabuto stuttered as he lost himself in her eyes. God, she's beautiful.

Sasuke glared at the two and tried to stand but the pain kept him from moving too much. What the hell's wrong with me? he shouted at himself.

Naruto tied up the three unconscious attackers and found that they had no scroll. "Oh, well," he said coming back to the group. "We didn't need them anyway, right?"

Sora smiled. "Yeah, but we'd better get going before we run out of time." She walked over to Sasuke and helped him up by putting his arm around her shoulders for support. "You ok?'

"Yeah," Sasuke said shortly not looking at her.

Sora felt guilty for not helping him when she knew she could have. I'm so weak now, she thought miserably.

The group walked forward and found their way to the central building just in time. It was 2:45 and the cut-off was 3.

"All right!" Naruto yelled as he jumped up in the air after entering the building. "We made it!" Sora gave a sigh of relief and Sasuke just grunted.

"Ok then," Kabuto said. "I've got to get to my teammates but good luck on the last part of the exam." He began to walk away.

"Hey, Kabuto-san!" Naruto called. "Thanks for helping us!"

Kabuto waved without turning and left the room.

Sora turned her attention to an open scroll that hung on the wall. "Hey, look at this," she said walking up to it. "'If you do not possess Heaven, gain knowledge and be prepared. If you do not possess Earth, run through the fields and seek strength. If you open both Heaven and Earth scrolls, dangerous paths turn into safe paths. This is the secret of something… it should lead you on your way,'" she read. "It must be referring to the scrolls we had to collect. But there's a word missing…"

"Hm," Naruto said. "Maybe by opening the scrolls we can find out."

Sora took out the Earth scroll she was carrying as Sasuke took out the Heaven scroll.

"Ready?" Naruto asked as he looked at the two, his excitement level rising.

Sora and Sasuke nodded and opened them at the same time. A blinding light filled the room forcing the three to shield their eyes until the light subsided. Then they saw Kakashi-sensei standing there in all his slouching glory with his hands in his pockets. "Hello, students!" he said lazily waving his hand in the air.

Sora's and Naruto's mouths dropped. Sasuke crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

"Well," Kakashi said indignantly, "I would've expected maybe some joy in you guys for seeing your sensei after 5 days." He pretended to be hurt.

Sora closed her mouth. "Sensei!" she said stepping forward. "Uh, sorry, we were just, uh, shocked to see you come out of a scroll…" She felt stupid as she said it and turned red.

Kakashi smiled. She's as beautiful as ever, he thought as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Well, congratulations," he said. "You guys have passed the second part of the exam."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Of course we did!" he said smiling broadly. "You of all people should know that we were gonna pass no matter what!"

"When did all the others get here?" Sora asked aware that Kakashi had not taken his hand away from her shoulder yet.

"Hm? Well, I heard that there was one team, from the Sand village with Gaara in it that made it to the tower in 5 hours and 46 minutes. That's beating the last record by more than a day," Kakashi said thoughtfully.

"WHAT?" Naruto nearly screamed.

WHAT? Sasuke thought as his eyes shot open.

"And he wasn't hurt a bit. Not even dirty."

Both boys' mouths dropped open. "Wow," Sora said somewhat calmly. "That's pretty amazing."

"It is," Kakashi said looking at her. "He could be a potential threat if any of you were to fight him."

Sora saw the seriousness in her sensei's eyes and shuddered slightly. "Uh, but what about these scrolls?" she asked changing the subject. "And why is there a word missing up there?" She pointed to the blank.

"Ah, yes," Kakashi said taking his hand off of Sora's shoulder and walked to the wall where the open scroll hung. "This missing word is 'man.' The 'secret of man,' see?"

Naruto looked confused because he was. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, I get it," Sora said. "In order to become a real shinobi, we must possess the strength of the Earth and the wisdom of the Heavens. If one has these attributes, he will have figured out the secret of man, of life in a way, and all paths will become clearer."

"Very good, Sora," Kakashi said smiling. "That's my student!"

Naruto hung his head. Why am I so dumb?

Sasuke had stayed silent the entire time. He wasn't even listening to what was going on around him. Gaara, he thought. I can't believe he made it here in 5 hours and without a scratch! That's impossible…

"Hey, Sasuke," Kakashi said waking him up. "Are you listening?" Sasuke glared at Kakashi. "I guess you are now." He smiled. Sasuke frowned. "Ok, I have one more thing to tell you guys before I lead you to the main room of this building. You are all very close to becoming Chuunins. This level is much higher than a Genin and it expects that much more responsibility and respect. If you become Chuunins, you are capable of commanding a small team to go on missions. Leadership, teamwork, and strategy are essential to this position. Are you up to the challenge?"

"You bet we are!" Naruto said confidently. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Sora smiled nervously. Well, we made it this far, she thought. But what about that mark on Sasuke's neck? And what did that man do to Naruto?

As Naruto went on and on about how great he was in the forest, Kakashi looked over at the quiet Sora and noticed for the first time that her chest area was wrapped with bandages and that she had many cuts and bruises that haven't healed. She also looked like she had lost a lot of blood. This is bad, he thought. We're going to have preliminary matches today to get the number down to 10. What happened to her?

"Hey, hey, Sensei!" Naruto said interrupting his thoughts. "We should get going right?"

Kakashi put his hands in his pockets. "Uh, right. This way." The team walked down a corridor and into a huge room with balconies on either side overlooking an arena. The other Genins were already lined up in rows in front of a stage with a huge statue on it. The Hokage, Anko, and another Jounin were on the stage. The rest of the Genins' Jounin leaders were all standing around the group.

"Ah, good of you to come," the Hokage said as they walked up to the group. "Please get in line as Gekkou Hayate, your third and final examiner, explains the rules." The three filed into the rows. As they looked around, they saw Kabuto and his two teammates, Neji, Tenten, and Lee, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari, the three sound ninjas, and all of the Konoha rookies.

Hey, we all made it, Naruto thought as he started paying attention to what the examiner was saying.

"Ok," cough, cough, "Here are the rules. First there are way too many of you so we're going to have preliminary matches for the first time in five years. This will reduce the number to about 10 of you."

Preliminary matches? Sasuke thought in alarm. This stupid curse…I won't be able to use my Sharingan. And Sora shouldn't fight. She's too injured.

Holy crap, Naruto thought as he looked around nervously. Who's gonna be my opponent? Will it be that jerk, Kankuro? What if it's Gaara or Lee?

Sora tensed up. Sasuke! He can't fight with that mark! She glanced over at Sasuke who was standing beside her.

"If anyone wants to quit now, please raise your hand," Hayate said.

Kabuto raised his hand. "I quit," he said.

"What?" Naruto said. "You made it this far and you're quitting?"

Kabuto looked at Naruto with a tired smile. "I had no idea there were gonna be preliminary matches. I'm in no condition to fight and I'll only lose so I'll just try again next time." Yoroi, his teammate stopped him.

"What're you doing?" he asked in a low voice. "Are you forgetting our mission?"

"No, I leave it up to you and Misumi," Kabuto said quietly. Then he left.

Hm, the Hokage thought as he watched Kabuto leave. I remember him quitting here last time as well. "Anko," he said softly.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"What do you know about him?"

"Oh, Kabuto?" Anko asked. "Let me check." She got out her files and found his information. "It says here that he's failed 7 times in a row and this is his 8th. He didn't stand out particularly in the academy and graduated on his third try. He's done 2 C-rank missions and 34 D-ranked missions. And…uh…oh, here it says that he was brought from the Kikyo Pass battle and a Jounin from the medic squad took custody of him, an enemy's boy left on the battlefield."

"Hm," the Hokage said as he puffed his pipe. Interesting…

"Ok then, you may leave," Hayate said. "Does anyone else wish to quit?"

I should tell them about Sasuke's condition, Sora thought nervously. She moved to raise her hand.

Sasuke saw her movement and grabbed her arm before she could raise it. "No," he said roughly. "Don't tell anyone about this mark."

Sora looked at him. "Sasuke, if you're not afraid for yourself, I'm afraid. You can't fight in your condition! You'll get hurt."

"It doesn't matter," he said. "I'm not going to give up just because some guy bit me."

"But-"

"Sora." He looked her straight in the eye. "Please."

Sora sighed and looked down. "Ok, but…it's just I don't want to see you like I did in the forest." She shuddered at the memory. "I was scared."

Sasuke wanted to hold her in his arms right then but he dared not move and attract attention. "Sora," he said letting her arm go but grabbing her hand. "I can keep it under control. Trust me."

Sora looked at him worriedly but nodded nonetheless. The two returned their attentions to Hayate.

"Hokage-sama," Anko whispered. "We shouldn't allow the Uchiha to fight. Isolate him with an ANBU squad for protection from Orochimaru."

"Oh, I don't think he's going to quit that easily," the Hokage said as he noticed that he was conversing with Sora. "Let him stay."

"But, Hokage-sama!"

"I'll have extra ANBU squads to guard the matches. Don't worry," he said.

Anko wasn't convinced but she knew that the Hokage's decision was final.

"Ok then," cough, cough, "If that's everyone who wants to quit, the rules. There's only one rule and that is my word. You will fight each other until one of you dies, is knocked out, or if I stop you."

Naruto gulped. Dies?

"Other than that, you are allowed to use any weapon or technique in the fights." He looked around to see if anyone had questions. "All right then, we'll begin."

"Ah yes, but before we do that," the Hokage interjected. "You must all recognize the real reason for the Chuunin exam." The Genins stood at attention as the Hokage stepped up to the front of the stage. "The Chuunin exam is completed with participations from allied nations to maintain good relations and to heighten the level of the ninja art. This exam is the only allusion of a war between the allied nations. In history, we have fought each other over and over again so to avoid wasting military power, we have decided to choose a place to fight. That was the beginning of the Chuunin Selection exam. Although this exam chooses who is of Chuunin level, it is also a place where ninjas fight and carry their country's dignity. Feudal lords and famous people from various countries who may be potential clients are invited as guests to watch the battles. The stronger countries will be flooded with jobs but if a country is seen as weak, their jobs will decrease. Each country is able to show how their village has grown by sending in their best."

"Then why do we fight by risking our lives?" Kiba asked.

"A country's power is the village's power," the Hokage explained. "A village's power is the ninja's power and a ninja's true power is only born through life and death battles. This exam is a place to show off the ninja power of one's country and because contestants fight with their lives, the exam has meaning. That is the reason our predecessors have fought and dreamed of being in the Chuunin Exam. The custom of saving one's life and fighting to maintain balance is the good relation in the world of ninjas. This is a life or death battle for your dream and your village's dignity."

The students all nodded their heads at the seriousness of the subject. The Hokage puffed at his pipe and nodded.

"All right," Hayate said. Cough, cough, "the machine up there will randomly select who will go first." Everyone held their breath as the screen blinked to life. Then two names appeared. "Akadou Yoroi vs. Uchiha Sasuke."

What? Sora thought. The first match? She looked at Sasuke nervously.

Sasuke just smiled confidently. "Don't worry, I'll be fine," he said gripping her hand tighter.

Yoroi, the teammate who stopped Kabuto, took a deep breath. I will fulfill my duty to Orochimaru-sensei, he thought as he stepped forward.

"Everyone else, please clear the arena and head up to the balconies. The group separated into their teams and climbed the stairs to the balconies.

As Kakashi passed by Sasuke, he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sasuke, I know about your curse," he said quietly. Sasuke tensed. "Don't use your Sharingan or any high powered Chakra attacks. This curse reacts to your Chakra level and if it gets too high, you might die. I will stop the match if it comes to that." Before Sasuke could respond, Kakashi left him and joined Sora and Naruto on the balcony.

"Sensei," Sora said unable to keep the mark a secret anymore. I'm sorry, Sasuke… "Sasuke, he's-"

"It's ok, Sora. I know," Kakashi said. "Don't worry."

Sora gripped the rail nervously. "I can't help it."

Kakashi patted her head. "I'll stop the match if it gets dangerous."

"All right," cough, cough, "Begin!"

Yoroi immediately ran towards Sasuke and threw a punch at his face. Sasuke dodged and tried to kick his legs to get him off balance but Yoroi dodged and placed a hand on Sasuke's head. "Energy Drainer," he said as his hand began to glow.

What? Sasuke thought as he felt his body and mind energy reduce.

"You can't win," Yoroi said as he absorbed his energy. "Once I have all of your energy, you'll be helpless."

Sasuke forced his arm to knock off Yoroi's hand. "Shut up," he spat as he jumped backwards. "Sharin-AHH!" He clutched his shoulder in pain. Dammit! Stupid curse, he thought as he tried to breathe.

"Too late," Yoroi said as he smacked his hand on Sasuke's forehead again draining his energy.

Sasuke shook his head to get Yoroi's hand off and managed to kick Yoroi away. I'm already exhausted, he thought as he panted heavily. If things keep going like this, I'll lose.

"Sasuke! Don't lose to a wimp like him!" Naruto yelled from the balcony. "Remember I'm the one who's gonna beat you!"

"Shut up," Sasuke muttered under his breath knowing Naruto couldn't hear him. Yoroi rushed at him again delivering kicks and punches. Sasuke dodged and blocked them wearily as he tried to figure out a plan. He wants close combat, he thought dodging another punch but barely. Then he saw Lee out of the corner of his eye. Wait, I've got it! He gathered his remaining energy and disappeared so that he was behind Yoroi. "Konoha Senpu!" he yelled as he kicked Yoroi high into the air just like Lee did to him before.

"Hey, that's my attack!" Lee said as he grabbed the rail.

Gai-sensei was also intrigued. "Ah, very impressive Kakashi," he commented. "It looks like your student has copied my Lee's attacks just by using his Sharingan. Usually Taijutsu like that must be learned by years and years of training."

"Hm? I'm so sorry. Did you say something?" Kakashi asked.

OH! YOU ARE TOO HIP, KAKASHI! Gai thought overdramatically as he grabbed his hair.

Sasuke then jumped up right underneath the flying Yoroi. "Shadow Dance."

What? Yoroi thought and tried to move but couldn't.

Then the curse became active on Sasuke's shoulder. He winced in pain. Not now! NO! He couldn't use the attack. "DAMMIT!" he yelled as he punched Yoroi in the back instead. Yoroi went even higher in the air. Then Sasuke did a series of Taijutsu attacks he had seen Lee do earlier. "Lion Combo!" he shouted as he slammed his leg down into Yoroi's stomach. They both crashed into the ground. As the dust settled, Sasuke struggled to his feet clutching his shoulder. Yoroi didn't move.

Cough, cough. "Well, it looks like Uchiha Sasuke can move on to the Chuunin matches," Hayate announced as he signaled for two Medic Nins to get Yoroi off the arena floor. Sasuke dropped to his knees completely exhausted.

Kakashi jumped down to Sasuke. "Let's go," he said as he picked him up. They disappeared.

Sora rubbed her temples as she sighed in relief. He's ok, she thought. Kakashi-sensei's got him.

"WOOHOO!" Naruto shouted as he hugged Sora from behind surprising her.

"Naruto!" Sora exclaimed as he swung her around.

"Hah! Now we have to pass!" he said turning her around in his arms.

Sora smiled and nodded her head.

Lee saw the two and walked over. "That Uchiha is really something," he said.

Sora turned to look at him. "Yeah," she said softly. She remembered that she never thanked him for saving her in the forest. "But uh, he used your attacks right?"

"Oh, yeah. He did!" Lee said putting a hand behind his head and laughed.

"He kicked ass!" Naruto said as he let go of Sora to do a thumbs-up sign.

Sora shook her head at Naruto. "Uh, Lee, I never got a chance to thank you for saving me in the forest," she said quietly looking down.

"Uh?" Lee said turning red. "Aw, it wasn't anything. I said I would protect you to my best ability. I'm the one who should be sorry it wasn't enough."

"No!" Sora said looking up. "I mean, you shouldn't think like that. Nobody's ever protected me like you did back there." She gave him a quick hug. "Thank you."

Lee turned a darker shade of red. "Uh?" Oh! SHE LIKES ME! he thought as dramatically as his sensei.

Then the screen began to blink again. "Amubi Zaku vs. Aburame Shino." The two descended the stairs to the arena. Sora shuddered when she saw his arms in slings.

Hayate looked at the two. "All right, begin!"

"Give up now if you ever want to use your arms again," Shino said quietly.

WHOA! That's the first time I've ever heard him speak! Sora thought amazed.

"Save it," Zaku growled. "I can use my arms fine! Air Cutter!" He raised his right arm straight out in front of him aiming his attack at Shino.

Shino dodged. "You will never be able to fight again," he warned as he landed behind him.

"Shut up, you freak!" Zaku swung around to face Shino. "Air Cutter!" he said again. It hit Shino straight on. "Hah! Too overconfident."

The crowd gasped as Shino tumbled to the ground. What? He could've easily dodged that attack! Sora thought. But then Shino's body began to dissolve. "Huh?"

"Whoa, are those bugs?" Naruto asked staring bug-eyed at Shino's body. Sure enough, his body was slowly dissembling into individual bugs. Soon there was a swarm of bugs where Shino once stood.

"What the hell?" Zaku said as he began to sweat.

"I'll give you one more chance," Shino's voice came from behind him.

Zaku turned his head and saw that he was trapped from both sides. "You…" Sweat trailed down his face as he slowly put up his arm towards Shino.

"Give up now or I'll attack you, either by myself or with my Kakai bugs."

Then Zaku forced his other arm that was supposedly broken towards the mass of insects. He winced in pain but kept it up. "Not a chance!" he snarled. "Maximum Air Cutter!" he shouted as he forced his Chakra to its peak.

Shino didn't move. "Too late," he said.

"What?" No air came out of his hands like he expected. Instead, he felt the air build up in his arms. The pressure was tremendous. "AHHH!" he screamed in pain as the air finally broke through his arms tearing through his flesh. "What is this?" He fell to the ground writhing in pain and blood.

Shino calmly walked up to him. "Some of my bugs crawled into the holes in your hands and blocked up the air passage so that you wouldn't be able to use your attack. Because of the build up of pressure, the air had to find another way out, through your arms."

"No…" Zaku choked out. Then he lost all consciousness from the pain.

Hayate looked from Shino to Zaku. "I declare Aburame Shino the winner," he said. He nodded for the Medic Nins to take Zaku away to the hospital.

Naruto was blue in the face and shaking. "Ew, that guy's creepier than I thought," he said hugging himself.

Zaku won't be able to use his arms ever again, Sora thought as she shivered as well. She watched Shino as he calmly climbed the stairs and took his place with his team. She saw Hinata congratulate him on his win and saw him just nod in response. Kiba also gave him a thumbs-up sign. He's creepy but interesting…

Blink blink blink blink blink…"Tsurugi Misumi vs. Kankuro."

Kankuro smirked. "I guess I have to go first out of the three of us," he said to his teammates. Gaara didn't make any motions but Temari rolled her eyes.

"Don't screw up, ok?" she told him.

"Hey. Me? Screw up?" he smiled as he walked down the stairs.

Temari sighed. He's probably going to show off in front of that girl, she thought as she quickly stole a glance at Sora who looked like she was deep in thought. Temari snorted. She's not so special anyway… She had noticed how all of the guys seemed to be interested in her, including that really cute Sasuke. No, you're not jealous at all, she said to herself sarcastically.

Then Kakashi appeared next to Naruto and Sora. "ACK!" Naruto yelped in surprise.

Sora turned quickly to see what was going on and she saw Kakashi. "Sensei! Is Sasuke-"

"He's fine," Kakashi said. "He has an ANBU squad in his hospital room so he's quite safe."

"A whole squad?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi nodded. "I'm guessing neither of you have fought yet."

Naruto nodded. "But no matter who it is, I'll crush them!"

Sora gave a sigh of relief and turned back to watch the fight.

Sora, Kakashi thought as he gently put a hand on her shoulder. "Relax," he said softly.

"I know," Sora barely whispered. I'm in absolutely no condition to go against anyone like Neji or Gaara, she thought. What if I get paired with one of them?

She needs professional medical help soon, Kakashi thought as he looked at her wounds. I can tell Sasuke's tried to heal her with his Chakra but it won't last much longer.

The two fighters below faced off. "Begin!"

"I'm not going to go easy on you just because you're a kid like Yoroi did," Misumi said.

Kankuro didn't say anything but just took the thing he always carried around on his back off and placed it on the ground.

Misumi rushed at Kankuro and in a blink of an eye, he had elongated his body around Kankuro holding him in place. "I'll break your neck if you chose not to surrender," he warned as he tightened his grip on Kankuro's head. When he found that Kankuro was still not responding, he swiftly cracked Kankuro's neck.

Sora gasped as she saw his body go limp. But to hers and everyone's surprise, it wasn't Kankuro.

"What?" Misumi said as he saw the covering slip off. "What is this?"

Then the thing that Kankuro had dropped when Misumi had wrapped himself around him unraveled revealing the real Kankuro. "Gotcha," he said confidently. Chakra strings were attached from his fingers to the thing Misumi was holding.

"It's a marionette!" Lee said in amazement. "He's a puppeteer."

Sora looked closely and even though she couldn't see the Chakra strings, she saw that Lee was right.

"So that's what that thingy is," Naruto said sounding slightly stupid.

"AHHH!" Misumi screamed as he saw the face of the puppet. It had three eyes and looked scary as hell.

"You're finished," Kankuro said as he made his hand into a fist. The puppet then closed in on Misumi and appeared to bite his neck as its many arms stabbed into Misumi's skin. Misumi fell motionless to the ground. Kankuro pulled back on the Chakra strings and in a flash wrapped up the puppet again and slung him on his back.

"Hm, that was fast," Hayate said to himself. "Winner: Kankuro," he said loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Kankuro smiled smugly up at Sora winking at her then he climbed the stairs back up to his teammates.

Sora looked away. Then she began to feel pain again. No, not now! she thought as she desperately tried to hold back a coughing fit. She put her hand against her mouth as blood began to drip out.

"Sora-chan!" Naruto said as he caught her in his arms before she fell.

Kakashi knew that this was coming. Damn. Why couldn't it come later, he thought as he knelt down next to his students taking out a cloth. "Sora, spit it out," he ordered.

Sora spit out her blood into the cloth that Kakashi held. It was a dark color. "Oh, god," she groaned as she clutched her chest.

"Just breathe, Sora," Kakashi said. "Breathe."

Sora tried to take a deep breath in but felt another sharp pain against her chest. What's wrong? she thought angrily.

Naruto looked up at Kakashi. "Wha-what do we do?"

Kakashi looked at the now blinking screen. It better not be-

"Yamanaka Ino vs. Kousetsu Sora," Hayate announced.

Sora shut her eyes. Calm down, she told herself. Just forget the pain, like you always have… She pushed Naruto's arms away. "I'm fine," she said with blood in her throat. She wiped her mouth.

"No, you're not!" Naruto said trying to get her to stay down. "You can't fight like this!"

Sora sighed. "It's not my choice."

Naruto looked horrified. "Sensei!"

Kakashi looked at Sora. She stared back at him with a determined look in her eyes. "I can do this, Kakashi-sensei," she said.

His heart begged him not to let her go, but his mind told him that she wouldn't listen to him if he tried anyway. "Naruto, let her go," he said quietly.

Naruto's mouth dropped open in shock. "What?"

"She's not going to listen to me anyway."

"But…you…"

"Trust me," Sora said forcing a smile. "It's just Ino." She walked off.

Naruto stared after her for a while then snapped out of it. "KICK HER ASS, SORA!" he yelled.

Sora smiled to herself. Just remember your training, she thought. She faced Ino who looked like she was going to burst from relief and confidence.

"Ready to lose?" Ino jeered as she saw Sora's legs wobble.

Sora steadied herself and looked up to meet Ino's disdaining blue eyes. "Sure," she said smiling knowing that it would irk Ino to no end.

Ooo, THE NERVE! Ino screamed inside. "I'll make sure that no one will recognize that pretty face of yours!" she screamed outside.

Sora just ignored Ino and looked over at Hayate.

"Ready?" he asked her. He was a little worried about her since he saw her coughing fit. Plus he thought she was absolutely gorgeous.

Sora nodded. "It'll be quick," she said smiling. Ino turned red with anger.

Hayate almost lost his straight face at her smile but turned his emotion into a coughing fit. COUGH, COUGH, COUGH! "Uh-hm! Ok, then, begin!"

Ino ran at Sora like an angry bull and whipped out her kunai. "You're going to so get it!" she screamed as she sliced at Sora.

Sora had already figured out a plan for Ino's move. She slightly sidestepped her attack and grabbed Ino's wrist making Ino lose balance.

What? When did she get so fast? Ino thought as she felt Sora begin to swing her around.

Sora flung Ino across the arena like a Frisbee but had to fall to one knee to keep herself from coughing. She clutched her chest. Dammit…

Ino flipped in the air and skidded to a halt. "Oh, so you can fight?" Ino mocked as she grabbed three shuriken knives out of her pouch. "Take this!" She threw the three knives through the air at Sora.

Move you idiot! Sora screamed at herself and ducked just in time to dodge two and caught the third with her teeth because she was still clutching her chest with her arms.

What? Ino thought as she saw her knife stopped by Sora's teeth. Impossible! She had been the best girl ninja in the academy days and everyone, even the boys, thought she had a nasty throw.

Sora got up and took the shuriken out of her mouth. "Nice throw," she mocked as she gathered her energy in her hand. "HAH!" she yelled as she ran at full speed to give momentum and threw the shuriken back at Ino.

Lee sensed that she was using body energy like he did. "AMAZING!" he said clutching his fist to his chest. "She's using that same tactics as I do!" The shuriken flew so fast in the air that it seemed to catch on fire. Lee's eyes did the same. "OOHOOHOO! That's what I expect from my future girlfriend!" he shouted.

Naruto glared at him. "She's not your type, fuzzy eyebrows!" he shouted at him.

Lee ignored him and concentrated on the fight.

Ino wasn't out yet though. She dodged the shuriken barely, but that was what Sora wanted her to do. The star blade rammed into the wall making it shake as well as send some concrete flying off into the arena. "Huh?" Ino said as she realized that she was going to be hit with a shower of concrete. "AHH!"

Sora didn't wait for her to make a move. She knew that a small concrete shower wasn't going to stop Ino even though the pieces of concrete were flying back at like a million miles an hour.

Ino covered her face with her arms as the concrete rocks pelted her. She flew backwards from the impact.

Sora caught her in a death grip locking her head and she pointed a kunai blade at her throat. "I would suggest that you give up now," Sora said really not wanting to kill her.

Ino clenched her teeth as she stopped trying to get away. No, I'm going to lose if I don't think of something quick! she thought.

Sora waited for Ino's response ready for anything but then the pain came back again. No, fight it! Fight it! She tried to hold it in but this was no normal injury. It was too much. She let Ino go and began to cough uncontrollably. Dammit, dammit!

Ino realized that she had the upper hand now. "HAH!" she said as she turned around and kicked Sora hard in the stomach.

"Sora!" Naruto and Lee screamed at the same time.

Kakashi staggered out a breath. No, Sora…this is all my fault…I should have never…DAMMIT!

Sora had the wind and some blood knocked out of her as she flew across the arena. Holy crap, that hurt, Sora thought as she hacked up more and more blood. She spat it out determinedly. But I'm not going to lose…

Ino saw her chance. "Mind Transfer!" She aimed her Chakra at Sora and it hit. Her body went limp as she transferred her mind to Sora's body.

Sora's body shuddered as Ino's mind entered. Then the room was silent. Sora's body stirred then stood up. "Hah, it worked!" Ino said through Sora's voice. She looked at Sora's hands covered in blood. That's strange, Ino thought as she examined the blood. It's really dark…that must mean it had to come from some internal injury given to her a while ago. Suddenly she felt guilty for being so cruel. Ok, then I'll end this match quickly. She was going to raise her hand and make Sora say that she gave up but then something stopped her. What? I can't move her arm!

"Get out," an evil voice said.

"Huh?"

"I said get out."

"Wha-Sora?" Ino looked everywhere but could only see swirls of darkness.

"I don't appreciate you being in her mind," the voice said.

Ino was scared. "Her mind? Come out! Who are you?"

A pair of gleaming eyes appeared in the darkness. "That is none of your concern."

Ino felt claws pierce her flesh as she screamed in horror at the sight of those eyes. She couldn't move, she couldn't think. All she wanted to do was get out and fast. "CANCEL! CANCEL!" she screamed shutting her eyes. Then she felt her mind leave Sora's and it went back to her own body.

Sora fell to her knees unaware of what had happened in her mind. She opened her eyes. "What?" she said in surprise. She saw Ino's limp body.

Then Ino came back to life. Her eyes shot open but she didn't get up. She was shaking with fear. Sora got up and began to walk towards Ino. "DON'T COME NEAR ME!" she screamed and scooted back.

Sora stopped confused. "What?"

"Who-who are you?" Ino stuttered as she shook.

Sora was completely lost. "I don't know what you're talking ab-"

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" she yelled. "I surrender. I give up, ok?" She got up and ran out of the room leaving everyone in a quiet stupor.

"Uh?" Sora questioned no one.

Hayate looked at Sora strangely. What did Ino mean? he asked himself. "Well, uh, I guess since Ino surrendered, Sora is the winner of this match."

Naruto and Lee immediately jumped for joy and shouted, "YEAH! I KNEW SHE COULD DO IT!" They stopped and looked at each other in disdain. "Hmpf!" They turned their backs towards each other and crossed their arms.

"Hey, good job, Sora-chan!" Hinata called out trying to get Sora's attention.

Sora smiled at Hinata but didn't feel relieved or happy even though many people were congratulating her for her win as she walked up the stairs. She couldn't stop thinking about Ino's look of utter terror after she woke up. What did she see? she pondered. She didn't look where she was going and ran right in to Kakashi's hands. "Uh, sorry," she mumbled.

"Sora, we need to talk," Kakashi said leading her towards a door.

"Hey, where're you guys going?" Naruto asked.

"Just give us a moment, Naruto," Kakashi said and shut the door.

"Uh?" Naruto said confused. "She won didn't she?" he asked.

"Of course she did!" Lee answered.

Hm, Naruto thought as he turned his attention back to the arena.

Kakashi led Sora into a private room and shut the door leaving them completely alone. "What happened?" he asked.

Sora didn't know what to say. "Uh, I don't really know," she stammered.

"Sora," Kakashi said as he sighed. "Did you see Ino's expression? Do you know what pure terror looks like?"

Sora looked up at Kakashi. "Sensei, I didn't-"

"All I'm saying is that there's something strange happening," he said as he paced in front of her. "Something's not right."

"Sensei, look, I-"

Then Kakashi couldn't take it anymore. He suddenly pulled Sora into an embrace and leaned his head down on hers. Sora was too shocked to resist. He stood holding her in his arms for a while. "Sora," he said softly letting her go just enough so he could look into her eyes. "I don't know what's inside of you but I do know that I…" love "I'm scared for you. This thing-it-I just don't know what to make of it. If anything happens to you, I'd…" He trailed off and let her go looking away.

Sora stood silently, hopelessly. What can I say? she thought. I'm scared too. Then all of a sudden, she felt another jolt of pain run through her body. She pushed Kakashi back and began coughing up a storm. Blood came running out of the sides of her mouth.

You stupid, Kakashi said to himself as he helped lower her to the ground. Should've taken her to the hospital by now instead of losing control over your damn emotions. "Sora, we're going to the hospital. Now."

Sora shook her head. "No," cough, cough, "I have to stay," cough "and watch Naruto's fight." She spat a glob of blood to the side. "Dammit…"

"He'll be fine without us watching," Kakashi said putting more of his Chakra into her weakening body. She needs professional help. "You're going to die if you lose much more blood."

Sora finally regained control. She wiped the blood away from her mouth and stood up. "I'm fine," she insisted. "He supported me, I've got to support him!" She got up and began walking towards the door.

Kakashi grabbed her wrist to stop her. "I'm serious," he pleaded. "If you lose any more blood, you're going to faint."

Sora turned her head and smiled. "Well, then let's hope that Naruto's fight ends before I hack up any more blood." She released herself from his grip and walked shakily out of the room.

Why does she have to be so stubborn? he thought angrily. Then he sighed. I know I shouldn't be the one talking…

Sora went back out to the arena area. Naruto was still in the balcony and hadn't fought yet. "Sora-chan!" Naruto said when he saw her. He gave her a huge hug. "I thought you'd gone to the hospital with Kakashi-sensei."

Sora laughed. "Yeah, well I can't miss your fight! What kind of teammate would I be if I did?"

Naruto's eyes shined. She does care! He hugged her even tighter. "Thanks, Sora-chan," he said in her ear. "I'm gonna win for sure now!" Sora nodded her head in confidence.

Kakashi entered and saw the fire in Naruto's eyes as he hugged Sora. Sighing, he walked over and put a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Fine, then, but right after, I'm taking you to the emergency room."

Sora looked up at him. "Got it," she said and smiled.

Kakashi sighed. Why can she get me to do just about anything?

"Who went while we were gone?" Sora asked Naruto.

Naruto's face fell a little. "It was that Temari from the Sand against Tenten and Tenten lost," he said softly clenching his fist. "That Sand Genin was so cruel…I can't believe she made Tenten land on her fan as she fell. Everyone could see that Tenten was beaten but she still…" He shook with rage.

Sora saw a mess of scrolls and weapons lying everywhere on in the arena, and plenty of blood. "Is Tenten ok?" she asked.

Naruto looked down. "I think they took her straight to the hospital. She probably broke her back."

Sora glanced at Temari who was silently leaning against the wall with a satisfied look on her face. Sora narrowed her eyes. These Sand Genins, she thought as she looked over Gaara and Kankuro. They're all so powerful. Even I can feel their power without my Chakra. She then glanced over to Lee and Neji. Lee looked like he was ready to kill Temari while Neji kept his cool, clear eyes down.

Once the arena was cleared, Hayate started the screen. Blink blink blink blink. "Tsuchi Kin vs. Nara Shikamaru," he announced.

What? A girl? How troublesome… Shikamaru thought as he frowned. He put his hands in his pockets and walked slowly down the steps. Why do I have to fight a girl?

Sora leaned over the railing. "Hey Shika-kun!" she called.

Shikamaru looked up. "Huh?"

"Go for it!" Sora encouraged. Hopefully he isn't as lazy as people say he is, she thought as she smiled at him.

Shikamaru gave a rare smile to Sora. Heh, well I can't look like a loser in front of Sora, he thought as he turned back to face Kin. I guess I'll have to actually work to win this one.

"Begin!"

Kin immediately took out two long needles with bells on them and threw them straight for Shikamaru.

He dodged easily. "What was that?" he asked sarcastically. "I'm not that lazy that I wouldn't dodge." I could've even dodged that with my eyes closed. Why would she have bells on her weapons?

Kin just smiled evilly. "Looks like someone's cocky," she said as she pulled back her hand.

Shikamaru heard the bells jingle behind him. He turned his head. She has her Chakra connected to her needles, he thought. Hm…

Kin took the opportunity to throw another spray of needles at Shikamaru, but he dodged again because the bells made them easy to pinpoint but then he caught one without a bell on it right before it hit his face. Kin was surprised.

"I know your strategy," Shikamaru said as he tossed the needle aside. "You were going to distract me with the needles with the bells on them so that you could hit me with a soundless one." He slightly rolled his eyes. "Don't think I don't know what you're trying to pull."

Kin got angry. "You don't know even half my strategy!" she yelled angrily as she pulled back her hand again. The bells jingled. This time there were many more than just two and they had some kind of effect on Shikamaru.

His vision swam as he tried to keep balance. What…what's happening? Those bells… He began to see many Kins appear in front of him. It must be a dampening effect.

Kin laughed at his daze. "Now, you won't be able to dodge the belled or the silent needles," she said as she took out more needles.

Oh crap… The needles came flying seemingly from a million directions. Shikamaru could only cover his face and chest area with his arms. The needles sliced through his skin but didn't hit any vital areas. I've got to snap out of this…find a way to trap her with my shadow, but- The bells jingled again behind him making him even more dazed than ever. Geez, I'm going to lose at this rate, he thought as his mind began to go dark. Wait!

"Now," Kin said as she pulled out her final spray of needles. "You will lose!" She lifted her hand in the air but then she couldn't bring it down. "What?"

Shikamaru stood up shakily and laughed. "Heh, I guess you didn't see that coming," he said as he stretched a bit.

Kin automatically did exactly what he did. What's happening? she thought as she leaned to one side then the other.

Shikamaru saw her confusion and smiled. "Well," he said after he was done stretching. "My specialty is shadow attacks. You should've noticed that your Chakra strings had a shadow today when usually they're too thin to project one. But I used your strings to stretch out my shadow so it could trap the real you."

Kin's eyes widened with fear. What's he going to do? she thought as she felt her body walk backwards as Shikamaru did.

"Ok, this is what we're going to do," he said as he stopped. She stopped as well. "We're going to throw shuriken knives at each other and see who can stand it the longest." He took out a star blade.

"What?" Kin protested as she pulled one out as well. "If I get hit, you get hit! You can't be serious!"

"Wanna bet?" he said as he let his blade fly. She threw hers as well. They whizzed past each other and headed straight for the others' head.

He's going to dodge…HE'S GOING TO DODGE! Kin screamed in her head as she saw the blade approaching.

Shikamaru stayed still until the last minute and then bent backwards at an amazing speed. The blade flew over his face. Kin also barely dodged the blade but then her head hit the wall and she was knocked unconscious. Shikamaru drew back his shadow as he stood straight again. He put his hands in his pockets and smiled. "While our actions were the same, our distances from the wall weren't," he said as he started to walk off the arena.

"Winner, Shikamaru," Hayate announced as the Medic Nins took Kin off the arena. That was definitely a strange battle, he thought. He looked up to the blinking screen to announce who was next.

"Hey," Sora called to him as he walked up to their group. "Nice job." She gave him a quick and surprising hug.

Shikamaru blushed. "Uh, yeah, thanks," he stammered and felt his heart rate go up a million beats faster.

Sora smiled and let him go. "Then I'll be seeing you in the final rounds," she said punching him playfully on the shoulder.

God, I hope I don't fight her, he thought as he smiled back. "Sure thing," he said and went to his team.

Naruto was dumbfounded. Shikamaru…blushed! he thought. The world's been going crazy ever since Sora arrived. Then he felt jealous. Hey, wait a minute. That means that he probably has a crush on Sora! GRRRR… He glared at Shikamaru who was being congratulated by his team. I have to win my match!

Sora felt her legs go weak suddenly. Why does this stupid…grr… She grabbed the rail to steady herself. Can't fall now, she told herself. Kakashi's going to make me miss Naruto's match.

"Sora," Kakashi said walking up to her. "I know you're going to refuse, but I strongly suggest we leave."

Sora shook her head unable to speak.

Kakashi put his hand over her heart area and poured more of his Chakra into her body. "I can't keep you like this much longer. If Naruto's match isn't the next one, I'm going to have to force you to go."

"Then the next one better be Naruto's," she muttered as Kakashi's Chakra allowed her to speak.

Naruto overheard their conversation. Please, let me go next! he silently begged.Blink blink blink blink blink blink. "Inuzuka Kiba vs. Uzumaki Naruto."

"YES!" Naruto shouted as he jumped over the rail down to the arena. This must be my lucky day! He smiled with glee.

Sora sighed in relief and shot a triumphant look at Kakashi. Kakashi rolled his eyes and tried support her as best he could. He put an inconspicuous (he hoped) arm around Sora's waist to help her balance.

Kiba also looked happy as he walked down the stairs. How lucky can I get? I'm against Naruto. No way can I lose this! He shot a smile at Sora who smiled back.

Just my luck, Sora thought as she smiled at Kiba. If I try to encourage Naruto, then I'll be going against Kiba-kun. If I cheer for Kiba… I'll just silently cheer them both on. She sighed. May the best man win. She laughed to herself but felt the pressure in her chest build up. She stopped quickly and automatically grasped onto Kakashi for support. "God…"

"It's ok," Kakashi said as he strengthened his hold on her. "Hopefully this will be a quick one." Even though it's probably not going to be…

"Begin."

"All right!" Naruto shouted. "I'm going to win this nice and easy."

"Heh, don't count on it," Kiba scoffed as he let Akamaru out of his coat. Akamaru barked in agreement with his master. "Beast Cry Jutsu!" he yelled as he got on all fours.

"What?" Naruto asked dumbly. Never heard of it.

The technique gave Kiba super speed and raised his physical strength. He rushed at Naruto and easily swiped him back with a single blow.

Naruto flew backwards and skidded on his side to a halt. "Ow…" he said as he sat up. He was too fast, he thought as he tried to stand.

"All too easy," Kiba said to Akamaru as he threw a smoke bomb at Naruto.

"Ah?" Naruto said as he started coughing out smoke.

"Go, Akamaru!" The dog barked as he jumped into the smoke. Then a brawl began with Naruto getting beaten.

"AHH! AHH!" Naruto yelled as the little dog seemed to jump out of nowhere and attack. Come on, think! he shouted to himself.

Kiba stood outside of the smoke with a confident smile on his lips. Naruto should be worn out by now, he thought as the smoke began to clear. He saw the form of Naruto lying on the ground with a happily barking Akamaru standing next to him. "Good boy!" he said motioning for Akamaru to come back. Akamaru jumped back but then Kiba sensed something. Wait a minute, he thought. This doesn't smell right. NARUTO! He barely dodged an attack from the disguised Naruto.

In a puff of smoke, the Naruto on the ground disappeared revealing a very angry Akamaru and the fake Akamaru disappeared revealing Naruto who was speedily making his way to Kiba's other side. "Gotcha!" he yelled as he took a swing at Kiba.

Kiba dodged and attempted to fight back but caught nothing but air. Dammit, where'd he go? He looked around then heard a yelp from Akamaru. "Akamaru!" he said turning to face his dog.

Naruto had Akamaru trapped in his arms. "Hah, you thought I was going for you, huh?" he mocked Kiba.

Kiba clenched his teeth then whipped out a small package. He quickly took out two pills and put it away. "Catch!" he called to his dog as he threw one to him. He popped the other in his mouth. Akamaru caught the pill and ate it obediently.

Naruto was thoroughly confused. "What was that?" he asked. The dog in his arms didn't look any different.

"Hah," Kiba said swallowing. "It's a soldier pill that doubles our Chakra allowing us to fight for 3 days and nights straight without rest."

What? Naruto thought as he felt Akamaru getting bigger. He looked at the dog and saw that his original white fur was turning red. Uh oh…

"Half-Beast Clone!" Kiba said completing the necessary seals. Naruto had to drop Akamaru because he was getting too strong and big to handle. Then Akamaru transformed into Kiba's clone.

"They look the same," Naruto said out loud to himself. Sweat began pouring down his face.

Naruto concentrate! Sora screamed in her mind as she saw him sweat. Don't lose your focus!

"Double Fang Destroyer!" both Kibas said as they ran at Naruto. Their speed was incredible. Then they turned into spinning torpedoes and attacked Naruto from both sides.

Naruto only had time enough to cover himself with his arms. The hits sent him crashing to the ground in a temporary paralysis. Dammit… He tried to get up but then another attack sent him into the stone wall. Bits of concrete flew out from the impact. Then another smoke bomb exploded in front of him. He staggered up wiping the blood that had come out from his mouth. This is bad, he thought as he tried to sense where the Kiba clones would come from, but torpedoes attacked from seemingly everywhere and all at once. Naruto could only try and protect his sensitive areas from the lightening fast attacks. I've got to find a way…

The smoke cleared as the crowd held its breath to see who was still standing. Three images could be made out in the haze but then all three appeared to be Kiba. "What?" Kiba said as he saw two other clones of himself. Then he remembered. "Hah, you can't fool me, Naruto!" He punched one of his clones in the face sending him flying backwards. "My sense of smell has been amplified by thousands of times through the Beast Cry technique. I can smell your difference!" But then the clone he had punched transformed into a badly shaken Akamaru. "What? You!" He turned quickly and punched his other clone even harder. "You tricked me!"

As Kiba's back was turned, Naruto transformed from his dog shape back into his original form. "HAH! Surprise!" He punched Kiba from behind.

Kiba flew through the air and landed next to a knocked out Akamaru. Kiba quickly stood back up. "Why you-YOU MADE ME ATTACK AKAMARU!" he yelled as he ran towards Naruto like a bull. "Beast Cry Jutsu!" he yelled increasing his speed and strength even more.

Naruto panicked. Do something-DO SOMETHING! He looked around for any ideas. He saw Sora looking at him with pleading eyes. Then it hit him. Concentrate! He put his hands together in a focusing seal. "GRR…"

Kiba came up behind Naruto ready to give him a final blow but then he stopped dead in his tracks. "AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" he screamed as he fell back holding his nose.

Naruto then realized what he had done. He had farted unintentionally right into Kiba's face. "Uh?"

Everyone watching sweat-dropped. "Did Naruto just fart?" Lee asked with a twitching eyebrow.

Kakashi laughed shakily. "I guess he did," he said. "And with good timing too."

Kurenai was the only one looking really concerned as fits of laughter came from the others watching. "His sense of smell has been amplified twice by his Beast Cry Jutsu. That means that he smells things 5000 times stronger than what we normally smell."

Hinata blinked in shock. That must be really disgusting, she thought as she blushed in embarrassment for Naruto.

Naruto then turned to face a shaking Kiba still holding his nose. "Hah! All part of the plan!" he claimed as he formed his special seal. "Kage Buushin No Jutsu!" 5 Narutos appeared in front of Kiba. Then, not to be outdone by Sasuke, he kicked Kiba up into the air with one clone while another kicked him down from above with an ax kick. "Lion combo!" he shouted with glee. He imitated the moves that he had seen Sasuke do with his clones since he couldn't do them with just one but he made sure it looked fancy. Kiba landed hard on the ground knocked out cold.

Kiba-kun! Sora thought but kept her mouth shut. Geez, I feel like such a hypocrite…

"Naruto looks like the winner," Hayate said. Cough, cough…

Naruto threw his hand up in the air and jumped for joy. "YEAH!" he shouted as he flew back up the stairs. "ALL RIGHT!"

Hinata gulped as Naruto passed her team but then she finally had the courage to say his name. "Naruto-kun!" she called softly.

Naruto stopped. "Eh?" he said turning to face her.

"Uh, here's some ointment for your wounds," she said handing him a small box. She blushed as he took it.

"Oh, hey, thanks!" Naruto said happily.

Hinata bowed slightly and went back to her sensei. Kurenai observed this with a watchful eye. It seems as though Hinata's finally overcome her shyness towards this boy, she thought. Although it was a small step, she was proud of Hinata.

Naruto opened the box and put some of the ointment on his wounds. They healed almost instantly. Wow, this stuff really works, he thought oblivious to Hinata's real intentions. He walked up to Sora and smiled like an idiot. "Told ya I'd win!" he said as he gave her a thumbs-up sign.

"Really?" she said in a careless joking tone. Naruto's eyes became circles. "I'm just kidding!" she said quickly after seeing his expression. She patted him lightly on the shoulder and then leaned back into Kakashi's grasp. I feel so lightheaded...

"Ok, we're going," Kakashi said picking her up bridal style in his arms.

"Hey, can I come?" Naruto asked.

"No," Kakashi said. "I think it might be to your advantage to see the other Genins' fights and to learn their strategies. Sasuke and Sora will be at a disadvantage in the final rounds because they might not have seen their opponents' moves yet." With that he disappeared.

Naruto frowned. He's trying to keep me from Sora, he thought automatically. I can feel it… But he still heeded Kakashi's suggestion and stayed where he was.

Kakashi transported himself and a now unconscious Sora to the emergency room. The doctors and nurses immediately took her into an intensive unit room and told Kakashi that he couldn't come in until later.

After a half an hour, a Medic Nin, Kazuna came out to inform Kakashi on Sora's progress. "She's going to be all right," the Nin said flipping through her clipboard. "But I'm concerned about a few things."

"What?" Kakashi said quickly his heart racing.

"While scanning her Chakra structure, I found that it had been sealed," she started.

"Oh," Kakashi said a little relieved. "Hokage-sama-"

"Yes, he told all the Medic Nins about her seal," she said. "But that's not what worries me." Kakashi's visible eye widened with fear. "I saw that her Chakra structure had been attacked."

"What?"

Kazuna nodded. "Precisely. Usually when sealed, the Chakra skeleton is unable to let Chakra out and also to receive blows directly. This injury was internal to her Chakra skeletal structure although it should have only affected her physically."

Kakashi became even more worried than he had been before. This is impossible, he thought. Attacks on the internal Chakra skeleton are too high leveled to be the work of a Genin or even most Jounins for that matter. And it had to be powerful enough for it to break through Hokage-sama's seal. "But will she be able to recover?"

"Maybe, with time," Kazuna said slowly. "If she hadn't lost so much blood, the transition might've been smoother and quicker, though."

Damn her stubbornness, Kakashi thought. "How long?"

"She'll be unconscious for at least a week," was the reply.

"A week?" he repeated. The Chuunin final rounds are going to be held in only three weeks. If she's out for an entire week,she'll be at an even greater disadvantage. Not to mention the time it might take for her to recover even after she wakes up.

The Nin nodded. "You can come in tomorrow if you like, but today I want no visitors." Kakashi nodded in a dazed state and Kazuna exited the waiting room.

It had to be Orochimaru, Kakashi thought with rising anger. He approached me when I was sealing Sasuke's mark. The mark that he gave him. That bastard! He quickly disappeared out of the room to inform the Hokage of his findings.