An: Sorry for the long wait between chapters. I'll try to not let it happen again but work is pretty busy so I can't make any promises. Regardless I hope you enjoy and would like to thank all the people that review as always. Your humble author S. o. t. A.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit.

Chapter 6: A Date with Destruction

"No…no…no," Sakura kept repeating as she threw various clothes out of her closet. She picked out another red dress and then held it against her before chucking over her shoulder saying, "No," a little frustration bleeding into her voice. "Grrh, why is it I have nothing to wear," she said ignoring the pile of clothes behind her.

Moving away from the closet to think about things logically instead of letting the butterflies she felt get to her she said, "Alright calm down Sakura. Remember it's not an actual date, date, but just a couple of teammates going out together." But then she remembered that she had told Naruto he could think of it as a date and grabbing her hair in frustration said, "You and your big mouth, why couldn't you just have said you'd love to go?"

But Sakura calmed as she thought about how Naruto had acted the few days after he asked her to go to the Exams with him. He had been calm and relatively relaxed about the whole thing. With the greatest sign that he felt a little nervous being the day before when he had confirmed what time he'd pick her up. But he had made no mention of it being a date. Now thinking things through, she believed that even if Naruto did think it was a date he knew watching people fight wouldn't really be considered a romantic date. Therefore he'd probably opt for something more casual. Settling on casual Sakura grabbed a blue skirt and yellow shirt. She picked up a red vest but decided against it as she wanted to leave red out of her clothes to differentiate from what she normally wore. Tying the orange ribbon Naruto had bought her into her hair. Sakura then moved to her window to see if she could see him coming.

As she waited, she remembered entering her house the night Naruto had asked her out. Her mom had been unsure how to confront her daughter about the hug that she had seen Sakura give her teammate. Sakura had ignored the worried look instead simply moving to the dinner table where her dad was already sitting. They ate in silence since her mom tended to be the conversation starter of the family.

Finally her mom did say, "You seem to be spending an awful lot of time with your teammate."

"Well yeah mom, we were training," Sakura replied watching her carefully. Sakura could see her mom wanted to broach the subject of the hug she had just witnessed but she cut her off saying, "Mom, Dad next week can we have Naruto over for dinner?"

"I…I don't know honey…" her mom had started to say.

"It's fine," her dad said surprising both women present.

"But dear," Sakura's mom began, "You've heard some of the things people say about him."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at her mom unaware that her dad had been watching her. He chuckled slightly causing Sakura to shift her attention to him as he said, "Yeah, but I can't really say that I believe them until I meet the boy myself. More to the point our daughter's life is partially in his hands. I think I'd like to form my own opinion of the boy."

"You're right dear," her mom replied still a little nervous, "You can tell him to come over next week. Just give me some advanced warning."

Sakura smiled brightly something both parents noticed as she said, "Thank you, I will."

Sakura could see Naruto approaching and was glad that she had guessed right about his choice in clothes which was a white t-shirt with a flame on the front and black shorts. She quickly exited her house to meet him half-way feeling a little anxious and nervous.

She felt it melt away though as Naruto said, "Y-you look great Sakura," since the small hitch in his voice told her that he was nervous as well.

"Thank you," she replied feeling her cheeks warming. Grabbing his arm she said, "So are you excited?"

"Oh yeah, I got a program and everything," he said as he began to lead her away.

However, Sakura noticed that they weren't heading to the stadium so she said, "Naruto, the stadium is that way."

"I know," Naruto replied, "But I ran into this really weird lady in a trenchcoat with a big pile of dumplings. Since you told me you like them I asked where she got them from. I thought we could go there before we head to the stadium. We have time."

"That sounds great," Sakura said with a smile, before placing her head on his shoulder as they walked confident that nothing could ruin their date.

Sasuke was training in his family's compound. Setting several of the training dummies on fire with a jutsu when he suddenly spun towards a corner of the room. Pulling a kunai he held it in front of his saying, "Come out where I can see you."

"Impressive and I only just arrived," the sure sounding Kabuto said stepping out of the shadows, "I can see why he's taken an interest in you."

"He…"

"Why Lord Orochimaru of course," Kabuto said.

Sasuke tightened his stance since this man may be here to kill him but Kabuto said, "Now, now there's no need for that. I'm simply the contact that he spoke of."

Sasuke lowered the kunai but not his guard as he said, "If you aren't here to kill me, who is?"

"Wait for the sign and then head to the place where you became a genin," Kabuto said stepping back into the shadows.

"What sign?"

"You'll know it when you see it," Kabuto said sounding amused, "Even the sign is a sort of test so I can't give too much away. I wonder what you'll choose."

Left alone with more questions than answers Sasuke headed to his room in order to prepare for whatever sign it was that he was suppose to see.

Naruto sat next to Sakura at the stadium still having a hard time grasping the fact that he was on a date with his long time crush. Despite how he was acting he did think of it as a date but didn't want to make Sakura uncomfortable. Plus he viewed this as more of a getting his foot in the door date, instead of a romantic one.

Sakura smiled at him and he felt a surge of panic wondering what he should do. He was positive if today went well then Sakura would accept a more romantic oriented date from him later so wanted to make the day as pleasant as possible. With that in mind he asked, "Do you want something from one of the vendors?"

Shaking her head with her smile still in place Sakura said, "No thanks, not right now. I'm still filled up from those dumplings. They were delicious. I can't believe I never ate there before."

Naruto nodded pleased to hear that. He opened the program he had been bought earlier before entering the stadium and blushed as Sakura leaned in next to him to look it over as well. The first couple pages were about some of the history of the chunin exam. In truth he found it kind of boring but didn't want to turn the page in case Sakura was reading it. "Who is in the first match?" Sakura asked much to his pleasure.

"Well…it seems to be between a girl named Tenten and a sound kunoichi named Kin Tsuchi," Naruto answered.

"I hope that Kin ends up losing badly," Sakura said harshly surprising Naruto. She blushed in embarrassment but explained why she felt that way saying, "Ino ended up getting humiliated by her."

Naruto nodded, but noticing that Sakura had been speaking of Ino without the insulting pig added to her name asked, "What happened to Ino-pig?"

"Oh that," Sakura said blushing slightly, "We aren't competing for the same boy anymore so we aren't rivals."

Naruto couldn't keep a smile from splitting his face. Although there was a chance he was wrong he got the feeling Sakura was speaking of her own crush on Sasuke and not Ino's. As she made it sound almost like a hint. Filing that information away for later use, Naruto flipped the page to the next contestant which showed that the winner of that match would face the winner of the Karin and Shikamaru one that happened after.

At that a smile appeared on Sakura's face as she imagined either a bald Karin if she faced Kin or a pin cushioned one if she fought Tenten since she figured Shikamaru may very well quit. Karin's page in the program didn't list much about her techniques so she was a heavy underdog, but Sakura figured they hadn't taken in Shikamaru's laziness.

With hopes that what she viewed as her chief rival for Naruto would quickly lose and be on her way home Sakura asked, "Who's in the next match."

Naruto flipped the page to see that it was a match-up between teammates. Sakura also had high hopes for this match as well since she had heard the back story to it from Ino. But seeing Rock Lee, she did admit that some of the hope that Hinata would see the green clad genin as a suitable substitute for Naruto had faded. Although for all she knew he could have a personality to never give up that Hinata could latch onto.

Before she could ask Naruto to turn the page, she heard the crowd begin to rise in volume. Looking around for the reason she saw the Kazekage entering the viewing box with the Hokage. Figuring that meant the fights would be starting soon she snuggled a little closer to Naruto and asked him to turn the page.

"Ah welcome Lord Kazekage," Sarutobi said smiling at his fellow Kage. Although he personally found the man repulsive and a far cry from the Third Kazekage, the man he had signed the Alliance with, knew that in politics you sometimes had to deal with people you didn't like.

He noted that the Kazekage didn't have any bodyguards with him something his fellow Kage must have noticed as he said, "What need for bodyguards do I have in the home of my allies?"

Sarutobi smiled graciously but something about the way the man spoke had him on edge. Nodding politely regardless he turned his attention to the young genin entering the arena. Noticing that two of the contestants were missing he motioned for Raidou his own bodyguard. When the man leaned in Sarutobi asked in a whisper, "Did we receive any word that Sound has withdrawn its genin?"

"Not that I am aware of," Raidou answered just as confused, "I can send someone to check though."

"Please do," Sarutobi said. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck begin to rise, a danger sense he had picked up over the years that told him something was amiss.

"I have to say I find that to be rather strange," the Kazekage said drawing Sarutobi's attention.

"What would that be?"

"Well for such a small village as Sound to snub the final round like this seems rather foolish to me," the Kazekage said bringing his gaze to focus on the Hokage, "even if they didn't stand a chance against our villages' genin."

"Perhaps they felt that having two genin reach the final round upon their first entry into the exam was enough. While it may hurt their standing with future clients a little not as much as two embarrassing defeats would," Sarutobi said good naturedly. But even he knew what he said rang false as both Kin and Dosu had exhibited skills that had put them on equal footing with their opponents in at least the first matches. Along that thought he added, "Then again it is a small village so perhaps the two genin were needed for a mission."

"Perhaps," the Kazekage agreed amicably, "I suppose it doesn't matter though. Because once Gaara gets going, I doubt anything will stand in his way."

Gaara stood between his teammates with his arms crossed. He could sense Temari staring at him and observing him something she had been doing since coming across him and Sakura. Turning his head in her direction he felt an urge to sigh as much as he expected she had directed her gaze forward fearing to make eye contact with him.

Returning his gaze forward it wasn't long before she was staring at him again. Squashing down the annoyance he felt he was surprised when he didn't hear his Bijuu screaming for her blood. When he had first noticed that he hadn't heard the creatures insisted whispering in awhile he had once more sought out Sakura. She had come up with the theory that maybe since he seemed more willing to trust people again that his seal had strengthened itself by his desire to make friends.

Regardless of the reason he found that he enjoyed the quiet. Looking at the other genin present he frowned at the missing Sound-nin as they were supposed to back up his siblings in protecting him from Leaf shinobi while he unleashed Shukaku. While he had no intention of following that course of action now the sudden change of plans gave him some pause. Not in his desire to help the Leaf but what else had Orochimaru changed without telling his supposed allies the Sand.

He could tell that besides his recent change in behavior that this sudden change of plans bothered Temari. He spared a look at his sister out of the corner of his eye as he remembered when they had been told about the invasion of Konoha. She had been against the invasion but had come around when Baki explained it was necessary for Suna's very survival. Yet he could tell it still bothered her from time to time. He had almost told her what he had planned but feared that her loyalty to Suna would force her to reveal his plan. In any case, as far as he knew the invasion would still begin as soon as his match began. He would be ready.

After listening to the Hokage announce the beginning of the third round Karin felt her panic begin to rise. Especially since instead of fighting in the second match the proctor had decided to pair her against Tenten. Adding to her concern was just how deadly the girl was with her throwing weapons. Karin was thinking about dropping out right now since her real goal was defection. The only reason she had even returned for the exam was because it made defecting simple since Konoha was hopefully going to be her new village. The only reason she hadn't already announced her withdrawal was because she feared it would damage her chances of being accepted into the village.

Taking a few steadying breaths she thought, "Alright, think calmly. What do we have to work with?"

The Hokage ended his speech and Genma had the other genin enter a viewing box. Standing across from her opponent Karin felt fear beginning to rob her of her ability to think clearly but then she heard a loud shout of, "You can do it Karin."

Focusing her chakra sensing abilities on the shouter she could feel Naruto's warm chakra wash over her. It easily eclipsed all the other people in the arena. She almost lost her train of thought, wanting to bask in the feel of his chakra, but with Naruto watching her was determined to put on a good show.

"Hey Naruto you shouldn't be cheering for a girl from another village," Sakura said feeling a tad jealous.

"Aw come on Sakura," Naruto said, "She's our friend."

"She's not mine," Sakura muttered under her breath.

"What was that Sakura," Naruto asked noticing Sakura's drop in mood and wondering if he had done something wrong.

"Nothing Naruto," Sakura replied trying to recover her good cheer and not let the rivalry she felt with the girl get her down. After all, she was the one with Naruto at the moment. Getting a mischievous idea Sakura grabbed his arm holding it close to her chest and asked sweetly, "Naruto, you'd cheer for me though if I was down there, right?"

Trying hard not to blush he said, "Absolutely Sakura."

Leaning in she placed a kiss on his cheek as she said, "Good answer."

Naruto did blush deeply when she kissed his cheek unable to stop it. But that was okay as Sakura felt her own cheeks turning rosy as well. Focusing once more on the arena floor, Sakura felt some of the jealousy she felt leave her as she thought, "I should just be glad I recognized what a great person you are Naruto. Otherwise a girl like her might have stolen you from right under my nose."

Karin waited for the proctor to drop his hand and as soon as he did she began running as far from Tenten as possible trying to make it for the edge of the field. "Hey," her opponent shouted before flinging what seemed like hundreds of shuriken after.

Almost all of them hit her in the back but she disappeared in a cloud of smoke revealing a log. Breathing hard as she panted behind a tree she thought for a moment about the words of wisdom her sensei had given her, "Give up, you simply made it to the third round by luck." That had been the extent of the training he had given her to boot during the month between the second and third exams.

There were times when she felt that if not for her Mind's eye of the Kagura ability she wouldn't have even passed the Grass Shinobi Program. She felt the urge to give up again but heard Naruto begin cheering for her. Sadly so too did her opponent who decided enough was enough. Karin heard the impact of the kunai and several hit the tree she was hiding behind. But it was the sound of the tags attached to them sizzling that drew her attention. Jumping from her hiding spot she caught sight of Tenten who quickly targeted her.

The girl let fly several more kunai causing Karin to duck behind a log. Tenten's kunai impacted against it but before she could throw more the ones with tags went off. As Karin covered her head she could somehow still hear Naruto cheering her on and feeling that was driving Tenten to attack so violently shouted, "Stop cheering for me." Unfortunately Naruto couldn't hear her over the sound of his own voice, or the explosions.

She noticed that the barrage stopped as the area was covered in dust. Focusing her ability she could see that Tenten was still there holding kunai in preparation of her popping out or the dust settling. Realizing that under such conditions she actually had the advantage Karin reached into her pouch to pull out several smoke bombs. Using her ability she threw them and achieved a good scattering around Tenten and when they went off charged.

Closing her eyes she could see Tenten's chakra roughly a hundred or so feet in front of her. She was feeling about blindly in front of her searching for the end of the cloud when Karin caught her in the stomach with a kick. Tenten folded around the attack allowing Karin to hit her again with a punch to the side of the head. Tenten used the momentum of the blow to carry her away from her opponent.

Rolling into a crouch she unsealed a bo staff and held it defensively in front of her. Karin's technique only allowed her to see people or things made up of Chakra so she couldn't see the staff, but could roughly judge where it was by how Tenten held her hands. As the smoke faded from around them, she saw Tenten make a break for the edge of the smoke cloud. She just managed to clear it when several more pellets landed in front of her.

Karin heard her opponent curse but didn't let up as she chased after Tenten into the new dark cloud. She smiled when Tenten stopped as she reared back to hit her in the face again, but Tenten spun in a wide arc. Karin stopped, afraid of the bo she couldn't see, but then heard the sound of a chain and felt the staff connect with the side of her head. The world went black for Karin who was knocked unconscious by the staff which had separated into three separate sections held together by a chain.

The smoke cleared to reveal a bloodied and bruised but ultimately victorious Tenten. Sarutobi sat back in his chair at the end of the match in order to say, "It's been quite a while since I've seen a Grass-nin fight so hard in these exams."

Chuckling, the Kazekage said, "It's been quite a while since ones even made it to the third round."

Sarutobi inclined his head in recognition of the man's point. "True enough," he admitted, "Still although she did reach this round through luck. She did prove she deserved to be here. I don't think she'll have a problem earning a promotion in light of how well she did."

"I suppose, but I don't see how it matters," the Kazekage said causing Sarutobi to frown.

He didn't reply, feeling it was pointless considering their overwhelming differences when it came to how they perceived their shinobi. The Kazekage saw them simply as assets, a philosophy that led him to sacrifice his wife in order to bind the Shukaku to his son. A son he would spend years trying to kill as a failed experiment.

Any man that could do that to his own family truly lacked any understanding of what a Kage was as far as Sarutobi was concerned. Especially since he saw the Kage position as that of a father whose job it was to watch over and protect the family that was his village. As Lee and Neji entered the arena Sarutobi put his thoughts on hold to focus on the next match.

While the Kages discussed the first match and the first two combatants either left or were removed from the field. Sakura and Naruto made their way to a vendor to get some drinks before the start of the next round. As they walked Sakura caught sight of a woman staring coldly at Naruto. When her gaze moved to Sakura the woman quickly looked away surprised to see the pinkette glaring at her. She smiled to herself as she refocused on Naruto but frowned when he said, "Man, I was really hoping Karin would have won."

Sakura on the other hand was already planning to offer the grass-nin help in packing her bags but good naturedly said. "Don't worry Naruto. Winning might not be the most important thing in these exams."

"What do you mean?"

"Well if being the winner was all that mattered then we'd only get a single chunin every year," Sakura explained. "While I'm sure there are field promotions and the like. The idea that all the allied nations would send their genin to compete for a single spot seems rather silly."

"Heh-heh," Naruto chuckled lamely adding, "Of course it does."

Grabbing his arm with both of hers she said, "You thought there was only one promotion handed out didn't you."

"Busted," Naruto admitted looking at the girl hugging his arm with a bright smile. "But why do the Shinobi villages send people for only the few spots in the third round then?"

"I guess so they can see how they stack up against shinobi from other villages," Sakura said after thinking for a moment. "There's only so much you can learn about your own training methods without testing them against others. If Konoha's training system had a weakness, it would probably be found by an enemy looking for it. These exams are probably just a more civilized way of conducting such drills then actually going to war."

Naruto nodded trusting in Sakura's explanation of the exams something that made her feel warm inside. However a surprised, "N-naruto…" which quickly trailed off caused it to cool somewhat. It wasn't that she didn't like the girl that had called his name. Only that Sakura would have preferred her to not see that she now had competition for the blonde boy.

Naruto looked over his shoulder to see Hinata standing behind them with Kiba. He was momentarily surprised when instead of letting go Sakura's grip on his arm actually tightened. She then spun them around saying, "Hello Hinata, Kiba. Are you on a date?"

Kiba blushed at the idea but he frowned when Hinata said, "N-no Sakura. F-father insisted I have an escort in order to come and watch the exams. Kiba was kind enough to volunteer."

Although it appeared Hinata was looking at her as she spoke. Sakura could tell the Hyuuga was actually staring at where her arms were linked around Naruto's. Kiba asked the question that she figured was on Hinata's mind as he said, "So how about you two, are you here on a date?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head with his free arm blushing a little and was about to deny it. But Sakura beat him to the punch saying, "Yes…well not a romantic one obviously, but maybe next time. Right Naruto?"

Naruto could only nod his head not believing that Sakura had pretty much declared that there would be a next time and that she was open to his dating her romantically. He was probably a few seconds away from doing something like picking her up and spinning her when a loud speaker asked the people to retake their seats for the beginning of the next match.

Sakura began pulling him away saying, "I guess we'll have to get that drink later Naruto." As she pulled him away she could feel Hinata's eyes following them and thought, "Sorry Hinata. But you had your chances. I'm not going to miss mine."

Lee stood across from Neji holding one hand in front of him with the other folded behind his back. Even after a month the green genin still had a hard time imagining the unemotional boy in front of him as the person that had almost killed his cousin. Yet he had done almost exactly that when Hinata had refused to give up trying to honor someone that appeared very dear to her. Seeing the battered girl trying to keep getting up had reminded Lee of his own struggle to become a shinobi. Therefore when Neji had lost his temper Lee had been unable to stop himself from coming to her aid.

In the month since they had last seen each other Neji hadn't lost any of his skill in reading what was on his mind as he said, "Are you thinking of your own parallels with my failure of a cousin?"

Bristling at the comment Lee replied, "Indeed, however your cousin is no failure. She would only be that if she allowed your words to rob her of her determination to improve. I know not why you bear her such animosity. But, perhaps if a failure like me is capable of defeating a prodigy such as yourself you will come to learn that people are capable of overcoming any hardships."

"You simply refuse to understand Lee," Neji countered. "Regardless of how hard you try, you will forever be a skilled but limited shinobi. That is the lot you were fated to be born with and it is why you will be unable to back up your words today."

"Neji the only way something becomes impossible is if you give up," Lee said and prepared for the proctor to begin the fight. The proctor dropped his hand and Lee immediately took off running at his opponent. Neji simply stood waiting with a smirk on his face. When Lee attacked with a swirling kick he simply stepped back only enough for it to miss. Lee followed up with several punches but they were all avoided as cleanly.

Finally an opening appeared which Neji exploited when Lee went for a spinning high kick. Neji easily ducked under it and raising up hit his teammate in the chin with the palm of his hand as he completed his spin. Lee flew back several feet landing on his back. Staring down on his opponent Neji said, "Come now Lee. You honestly don't think you can best me in taijutsu without even taking off your weights."

As he stood Lee worked a knot out of his shoulder by rolling it as he responded by saying, "I am not the only one holding back though am I Neji. That blow was not a move set of your Jyuuken. Perhaps it is that you want to be wrong about your view on life."

"Don't be absurd," Neji scoffed, "I merely had no need to use my best moves against you when you aren't even taking this match seriously."

"Oh but I am Neji," Lee said reaching into his orange leg warmers and removing the weights there. He noticed that Neji's eyes grew wider upon noticing the amount of weight he used had increased. Dropping them to the sides of him they left indentations in the ground. Once again assuming his stance Lee said, "However the fact that you did not crush me during our opening exchange has me curious. Why bother to hold back if the winner of this match was decreed by fate? The answer is simple. You recognize that fate plays no part in battle. You wish to keep your strongest moves in reserve as to limit the amount of time any future opponents have to analyze and counter them. Through your own choices in the coming battle you provide the perfect counter argument to your philosophy on fate. I plan to drive the point home by defeating you."

Neji activated his Byakugan quietly seething as he prepared to prove his teammate was a fool. He wasn't surprised when Lee disappeared from in front of him, or to discover him faster than he had been when they had last spared. But he smirked when he noted that it didn't matter and suddenly blocked a kick from behind. He lashed out with a Jyuuken strike but wasn't too surprised when it missed as Lee somersaulted away.

Landing and assuming his stance Lee asked, "How…?"

"Did I block your attack despite you being faster?" Neji finished for the surprised boy. "I told you already. You simply refuse to believe it."

"That being…"

"Fate is what separates us," Neji said calmly, "It doesn't matter how fast you get my vision affords me all the time I need to ready a defense against you. Can't you see? I was born as the very proof that you will never be anything other than a mediocre shinobi."

Up in the stands Sakura wasn't surprised the Hyuuga's words were having an effect on Naruto. She noticed him tensing almost like he wanted to charge down and take on Neji as well. Hoping to calm him, she took his hand and when he looked at her gave a bright smile to him. He returned it but it wasn't as cheerful as his usual so said, "Don't let what he says get to you."

"I know," Naruto said, "But I just don't like the way he's talking down to his own teammate."

Sakura nodded and realized that Neji had also probably talked down to Hinata during their fight at the preliminaries that Ino had told her about. Thinking about it she was sure that Naruto would have charged in if he saw Hinata being bullied just like Lee had. Smiling, she also imagined that maybe with the right push she could possibly get Hinata to view Lee in a similar way that she saw Naruto. Looking at the green genin she conceded it would probably take one hell of a push, but while their outsides may appear different both Lee and Naruto had similar spirits.

Lee getting sent flying by a dome of chakra that surrounded Neji as he spun pulled Sakura's attention back to the fight as the green genin slowly got back to his feet.

As Lee got back to his feet Neji said, "You should stay down. With my mastery of Rotation your small and fleeting chance at victory has now become impossible."

Lee continued to his feet replying, "Earlier you said your birth was the proof that I was fated to remain a mediocre ninja. Well the same holds true against you as well Neji. Perhaps my birth is proof that your ideas of fate are false and that the only fate we are destined for is the one we carve out for ourselves." Gambling everything on his beliefs Lee began to open three of his chakra gates. His skin turning red Lee shouted, "Prepare yourself Neji."

Despite his earlier boast Neji was indeed surprised to when Lee disappeared from in front of him only appear crouched in front of him before he received a vicious upwards kick. As he floated in the air he was again shocked when Lee appeared behind him wrapping him in the bindings that covered his hands. As they fell back to the earth they began to spin giving Neji an idea.

Releasing Chakra from his Tenketsu points he allowed Lee own rotation to allow him to form the jutsu. As the chakra surrounded them, it shredded the bindings and pushed Lee away. Both combatants landed on their feet. Again Lee attacked causing Neji to blindly use Rotation counting on the fact that his teammate almost always charged straight in. He guessed correctly but Lee instead of smashing into it pushed against the edge of the jutsu attempting to stop Neji's spin.

His hands bleeding from the friction Lee redoubled his efforts positive that once he could stop Neji and get in close he could end the fight. His teammate also believed this causing him to pour more chakra into the jutsu. In a literal sense the pair poured everything they had into the clash and eventually something gave in the form of a rather large explosion as Neji lost control of his chakra. Both combatants were sent flying as a result.

Despite being at the epicenter of the explosion Neji was still conscious but couldn't get himself to stand his body feeling like it was made out of lead. As the dust settled he could see his teammate also lying on his back and could tell he was unconscious. He smiled knowing that all he had to do to win was get to his feet. Yet found he did not possess the will to force his body to move. Then to his amazement Lee began to stir slowly getting back to his feet. What truly amazed Neji though, was the boy was still unconscious.

Once back on his feet Lee assumed his fighting stance with his eyes closed and facing away from his opponent. "Impossible," Neji said to himself.

However the proctor Genma heard him and said, "Nothing is impossible for those who refuse to accept their lots in life." Addressing the audience Genma said, "Winner Rock Lee. However due to medical reasons he will not be allowed to compete further in the tournament."

As the medical team appeared to cart them away amidst the cheers of the crowd Lee awoke saying, "Where am I?" Remembering and realizing he was on a stretcher he said asked, "Did I lose?"

Before the med-nin could respond Neji answered, "No Lee you didn't."

Lee looked over to see a bruised Neji also on a stretcher and said, "May I ask how I won if I cannot even move at the moment?"

Neji stared up at the sky and said, "You believed in your view more firmly then I did." Despite his loss Neji found he was not bitter about it. After all, if Lee could reach his goal of defeating him then truly the only thing that had ever been standing in Neji's way had been himself. Grateful to his teammate he said, "Lee, thank you for opening my eyes." Not receiving a response he looked over to see his teammate sleeping. Smirking he decided to allow his own battered and tired body claim the rest it so desperately wanted.

Temari tried to calm herself as they carted the two Konoha-nin from the center of the arena. It wasn't fear of her opponent that gripped her since she imagined she'd have to hold back in order to make their match last as long as possible. Her orders were simple. Stretch her match out as long as possible and then when the signal was given protect Gaara as he summoned Shukaku.

That however was the cause of her fear. That soon she'd be in the middle of an invasion and at ground center when Suna unleashed its ultimate weapon. Sparing another glance at Gaara she truly couldn't get a good read on him. Normally it was easy to do as either he was calm or in a sort of deranged frenzy. However lately she hadn't been able to sense the bloodlust that he admitted, even when calm, that would alert her to his impending derangement.

He was still somewhat standoffish but otherwise he seemed truly at peace. He hadn't even threatened to kill her lately. Something she sadly admitted had her a little on edge. Wandering what sort of sister actually was more comfortable being threatened made her think of the Konoha-nin that she had found her brother with. She wasn't sure why she hadn't reported her finding out that Gaara had apparently made a friend with a soon to be enemy to Baki. Maybe it was because if she did their sensei would have no doubt forbidden Gaara from seeing her again. She figured that would have been rather cruel especially since her brother had never made a friend before.

So she had kept quiet and decided to keep an eye on her brother herself. But outside of one other meeting with the girl where they had discussed something in a ramen stand Gaara hadn't made any more contact with herl. Still Temari had kept watch on him and had even followed him to the stadium the night before. But again nothing of any real interest had happened although she did wonder what Gaara had planned for all the sand he had poured into the ground. She figured maybe he was looking to create some small advantage for himself during the invasion, but what that could be she couldn't say.

Focusing on the boy she would be fighting soon he appeared conflicted about something as the proctor called for them to come down. He appeared to settle his confliction suddenly saying, "To hell with this." Addressing the proctor he said, "I give up."

The crowd began to boo him but it was Temari's outburst of, "What," that attracted his attention. However after he put his hands in his pockets and began to walk away without explaining himself she said, "You can't just give up."

"Actually I can it's in the rules," Shikamaru replied stifling a yawn, "Fighting you would be far more troublesome then it's worth. Besides I don't even want to be a chunin that badly. I only showed up today to keep my mom's complaining to a minimum.

The slacker suddenly began to sway side to side and Temari became aware that the booing was quieting down. Directing her attention to the stands she could see that apparently whoever was in charge of putting the audience to sleep was keeping to the timetable even if her match had been far shorter than planned. That bothered her as the man couldn't even be sure that all of Suna's forces were in position. Refocusing on Shikamaru she saw him laying on his side with his back towards her and she was tempted to slice his throat. However, before she could decide Kankurou saying, "Where are you going Gaara?" attracted her attention.

She turned just in time to see Gaara leap from the balcony of the viewing box to the arena floor below. Kankurou turned towards her saying, "What the hell is he playing at? The viewing box is the most defensible position to protect him from."

"I don't know," Temari said quickly leaping after her youngest brother. Landing on the arena floor she chased after her brother who slowly walked towards the center of the stadium. Getting within a few feet she said, "Gaara we have to get back to the viewing box we're too exposed down here."

"I'm sorry Temari," her brother said surprising her. She knew his words held more than just an apology for leaving the viewing box and they also had a hint of finality to them. As if he didn't expect to survive the day.

"Hey it's okay…" she attempted to say but took a step back in horror as a gigantic wall of sand appeared around her brother. The wall easily toward above the stadium and wrapped around Gaara completely.

She could just make out Gaara saying, "I cannot allow the Leaf to be destroyed," before the wall began spreading out in all directions. As the first person swept up in it Temari always feared meeting her end as a result of Gaara's sand. However a stray thought that perhaps she deserved it entered her mind, after all if a Leaf kunoichi could have befriended her brother than surely she could have been the big sister he needed.

Sakura had easily shaken off the genjutsu placed on her and quickly did the same for Naruto. "What…what happened," he said still a little groggy.

"Someone placed a genjutsu on the audience," Sakura said and upon noticing Sand and Sound shinobi disguised among the people added, "I think we're at war." Cursing that she hadn't brought any shinobi weapons she noticed Gaara making his way to the center of the arena. She felt betrayed by the boy as the Invasion force began fighting the few awake Jounin and Chunin that had also thrown off the effects of the genjutsu.

Gaara was then surrounded by a pillar of sand and she feared that he was simply going to crush the stadium under it. But then the sand began to spread out quickly passing over her and the rest of the stadium. When it had passed all the Sand shinobi were gone, except for Gaara and the Kazekage, and she could only assume that the same thing was happening over the rest of the village as the Sand Wave passed throughout Konoha. The Sound shinobi were obviously just as surprised as the Leaf that half of the attacking force was gone.

From the sudden quiet a masked Sound Kunoichi called Gaara a traitor and threw a kunai at him. His sand easily blocked it. Raising his hand towards her, sand shot from his gourde wrapping around her neck and after picking her up into the air tightened until it crushed her throat. Several more Sound shinobi launched various thrown weapons at him as the woman's body fell to the floor but Gaara ignored them as his automatic defense blocked them while he directed his gaze towards the Kazekage who faced off against the Hokage. He raised himself into the air on a platform of sand heading towards the Hokageviewing box.

Naruto asked her, "Where's he going?"

Sakura shrugged saying, "I don't know, maybe to confront his dad."

"What should we do?"

"We need to follow protocol and help with the evacuation of civilians," Sakura said knowing all the village protocols by heart.

Naruto looked around at all the sleeping civilians and said, "How are we going to get all these people to the monument?"

"We don't," Sakura said grabbing his hand and leading him from their seats up the stairs to the exit. She stopped near a dead Sound-nin and took his tool pouch as she said, "We'll have to leave these people in the care of the shinobi defending the stadium."

She focused her attention at the top of the stairs in time to see a Sound-nin launch a kunai at her. Naruto suddenly appeared in front of her taking it in the forehead. She wanted to scream at his sudden death but he turned into smoke. Refocusing her gaze up towards the shinobi she saw him being tackled from the side. The Sound-nin tried to throw Naruto off but he hit him in the face with his unfinished Rasengan. It didn't kill the man but the way his head was suddenly thrown into the ground certainly did as it made a sickening crunch.

Naruto quickly took the man's equipment and said, "Alright Sakura let's go."

Sakura pulled it together reminding herself it was only a clone. Joining him at the top of the stairs she followed after him as he took off for the exit in search of people that needed their help.

Sarutobi moved as soon as the genjutsu began, avoiding the wind blade that the Kazekage sent at him. Raidou wasn't so lucky getting hit in the chest but his flak jacket absorbed most of the damage. However he still hit the wall behind him hard enough to knock him unconscious.

As the Kazekage removed his robes to reveal he was wearing a Suna flak jacket Sarutobi asked, "Why, Lord Kazekage? Why would you throw away years of peace to attack us now?"

"I had my reasons," the man replied, "But they are no longer my own." Confused Sarutobi threw his own robes away to reveal his battle armor causing the Kazekage to say, "I see, perhaps you weren't as unaware of our impending attack as Orochimaru thought."

"What, Orochimaru is behind this?" Sarutobi said clearly surprised.

"That's right," the Kazekage said but before he could explain the Sand Wave passed over both him and Sarutobi.

When it passed over them the Kazekage was several feet further away apparently almost having been pulled away with the rest of his forces. Sarutobi turned his attention to the boy who had removed all the Suna forces from the arena. Turning his focus back to the Kazekage he said, "It appears your son doesn't share your desire for Konoha's destruction. End this now and things can go back to the way they were."

"Heh," the Kazekage chuckled mirthlessly, "He was always a disappointment." Staring at Sarutobi he said, "I'm afraid that choice has been taken out of my hands." He then charged Sarutobi however before he could close the distance was pushed back by a barrier of Sand that surrounded Sarutobi.

Gaara landed between the two Kage. Getting back to his feet the Kazekage said, "Finally decided to take your revenge for your mother. I suppose it was a mistake to trust you to be useful."

Gaara's response surprised his dad as he said, "I believe I have proven myself more useful to the village then you ever have been. I prevented your stupidity from leading to its destruction today."

"Have you," the Kazekage replied, "Tell me how boy. This attack was meant to destroy the very village that has been slowly bleeding our own dry."

Gaara remained impassive saying, "You blame the Leaf village for the Daimyo's sending them business that you view as ours. However instead of negotiating lower fees to bring his business back you immediately align with a criminal like Orochimaru."

"A mistake to be sure," the Kazekage said cryptically, "But before I kill you both tell me, did you kill all our fellow shinobi."

Miles away from Konoha the sand that had been a part of the giant wave that had swept through the village gathered into one big ball of sand. It then lowered to the ground. The sand fell away from the people trapped inside of it one of whom, Kankurou, immediately fell to his knees thanking every god he could think of that he was still alive.

Baki immediately came up to Temari who was standing next to her still kneeling brother and demanded, "What the hell happened? The invasion is doomed to failure now."

"Gaara…he said he couldn't let the Leaf be destroyed," Temari said sadly obviously surprising Baki nthat Gaara would pass up a chance to slaughter as much as he wanted.

One of the shinobi near her said, "Traitorous little monster."

Temari snapped at hearing that rounding on the man and angrily saying, "What the hell do you know? What reason did he have for protecting Suna? A village that never showed him anything but hatred and disdain. We're lucky he didn't simply crush us all with his sand instead of merely moving us away from the battlefield."

"Yeah and what reason did he have to protect the Leaf?" the man shouted back.

Turning towards the village in question she replied sadly, "Because someone there had the courage to befriend him. Something the rest of us lack."

Sasuke was surprised when the giant snake appeared outside the village and smashed its way through the wall. He was about to go investigate when he realized this was the sign he was supposed to keep his eyes open for. He also realized what the messenger had meant by this also being a test. He had to choose between his duty as a Leaf Genin which meant he had to help evacuate civilians or go to the training grounds to face the challenge Orochimaru had placed before him.

He was conflicted for a moment but in the end chose his duty as the avenger of the Uchiha. Taking off in the opposite direction of the village he made his way to the training field where Kakashi had tried to impress upon Team Seven the value of teamwork.

Running into the training field, he stopped in front of the pillar where Naruto had been tied too. Despite how infuriating he had found Naruto and Sakura's recent development of strength he did feel a pain of guilt at abandoning his team in favor of his own ambition. He almost turned back but a blast of wind forced him to dodge to the side. The wind attack smashed into the post snapping it in half. Directing his attention in the direction the attack came from he could see three Sound-nin.

The one that attacked him still held his hands up revealing that the attack came from the nozzles in his hands. Standing to the side of him was a girl with long black hair. The final member was hunched over as he walked and whose face was covered in bandages. He was the one that spoke saying, "Sasuke Uchiha, we're here for your life."

Straightening he replied, "It's yours if you can take it."

As the three headed summons made its way through the village Jiraiya dropped a giant toad on it stopping the creature cold. With most of its internal organs crushed he directed his gaze over the village easily spotting several areas where the fighting was fiercest. Despite the sudden removal of the Sand the Sound was still making a fight of it. He smirked knowing that the only reason for that was because the village was waiting for the evacuation of the villagers before mounting its true counter offensive.

Ibiki appeared on the toad's head behind him saying, "Lord Jiraiya, it's good to see you."

"Ah Ibiki I haven't seen you since you were a little squirt," he said jokingly. Growing serious he asked, "What is the status of the evacuation?"

"It proceeds well," Ibiki answered, "However squads in a few areas our pinned down with civilians they can't move due to the heavy fighting."

"Send what back-up you can to them," Jiraiya said leaping from the toads head.

"Where are you going sir?"

"To find the snake behind this fiasco and put an end to him once and for all," Jiraiya called back.

Sakura and Naruto arrived in an area where they could see a single chunin attempting to fend off a squad of twenty Sound-nin. Behind the man they could make out a group of huddling people that were obviously civilians. Two of the people immediately caught her attention as her parents. "Naruto…" she said wondering for a moment what to do.

"What's the plan Sakura?" he asked.

"Me…" she said surprised.

"Yeah I imagine you're a lot better at strategy then me," he replied confident in her ability.

Taking the confidence he put into her she applied it in proving his high opinion of her was right and ordered, "Create a wall of clones between the enemy and civilians. We'll use them to give the chunin time to get them out of there."

Naruto immediately complied with the order creating a hundred clones to get between the Sound and civilians. Sakura and he then dropped down behind the wall of orange blondes where Naruto quickly disappeared into the clones midst's. The Sound-nin recovered from their shock at being outnumbered quickly opting to charge into the mass of blondes.

As the Sound began dispelling them Sakura shouted to the Chunin who was simply gawking at them, "What are you waiting for? Get these people out of here."

Taking her eyes off the battle of Sound and clones almost proved costly as one of the Sound-nin made it through the group. Targeting her, he closed on her holding a kunai that he planned to bury in her chest. Her attention was drawn to the danger when one of the many blondes lunged in front of her and shouted, "Sakura." Grabbing the man's hand he deflected it downwards taking the hit in his side.

Sakura gasped when instead of turning into smoke blood began leaking from the wound. As Naruto fell backwards Sakura reared up tears leaking from her eyes hitting the man with everything she had and deposited his corpse almost half way across Konoha. Turning towards her teammate she cradled his head and saw that the chunin still hadn't moved so shouted, "Go."

He nodded getting his charges moving away from the fight. Before they left though, Sakura's watery eyes met her mother's. She was sure her mom could understand what her eyes said which she felt was, "See, this is the boy you would have judged so unfairly." Her mom nodded as she allowed her husband to lead her away at the urging of the chunin.

Naruto reached for the kunai pulling it out. Sakura said, "Naruto, don't…"

"Don't worry Sakura, remember I heal quickly."

Sure enough, she could see the wound glowing red with an internal light before it quickly closed. She rubbed her eyes clear of tears before saying, "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Yeah, it doesn't even hurt anymore," Naruto answered getting back to his feet.

"Okay," she said accepting the hand up from him, "Then let's take these guys."

Naruto smashed a fist into the palm of his saying, "Alright, just tell me what to do." Sakura nodded as she planned out her and Naruto's counter attack.

Opening the pouch she had procured she told Naruto to do the same. Seeing that between them they had several exploding tags and a dozen kunai left she looked around her and saw a decrepit building. Placing the pouch back on her hip, she said, "Follow me."

Looking over her shoulder she could see that although the clones had taken a few shinobi down that a good portion still remained. "Naruto dispel the rest of you clones," Sakura ordered.

"Sure thing," he answered and as soon as he did so one of the shinobi pointed towards them. As she expected they gave chase probably wanting revenge for the men Naruto had killed.

Entering the building, she told Naruto to create some more clones, enough to fill the lobby they had entered. She then moved among them handing several clones exploding tags telling Naruto to do the same. She then asked one of the clones she had given an exploding tag to, to henge into her. She then whispered something into the clone's ear who nodded with a smile before grabbing the real Naruto's hand and pulled him to the second floor.

Below she could hear the shinobi bust in and heard the clone that had henged itself say, "Come and get us you losers."

"Come on," she said jumping from a second story window to the next building smashing through the glass. Naruto followed without hesitation which proved to be a good thing as the exploding tag the henged clone held went off causing all the other tags to do so as well. Naruto was still in the air when the shockwave hit and the building behind him began to collapse. Sakura moved in front of him helping to cushion his fall.

He landed on top of her and stared down into her green eyes before saying with a smile, "That was kind of reckless Sakura."

"Says the boy that normally charges into everything without thinking," Sakura replied wondering if Naruto had the same urge to kiss that she was experiencing.

Although Naruto was feeling it he picked himself up offering her a hand up feeling that making out in the middle of battle probably wasn't a good idea. Sakura accepted it with a small pout before moving to the window they had entered through. Looking down on the remains of the still smoldering building she said, "I think we should begin making our way to the monument now to help with the defense of it."

Naruto nodded, following behind her as she ran down the side of the building. As they made their way deeper into Konoha the pair were careful to avoid enemy patrols and were wondering where all the shinobi of the village were.

Meanwhile back at the command center of the village Ibiki watched on a monitor as a lone chunin escorted the last of the civilians into the monument. Smiling darkly he said, "Alright it's time for our counter attack."