AN: I want to start by thanking everyone who Favorite/Followed this story. It really means a lot that you guys are giving this story a chance. Also some people have voiced concern that Katsu missing out on some of Naruto's childhood does not make sense. I know I gave a vague reason why Katsu was not in Naruto's life before the story, but I did that on purpose so to have a more detailed explanation later when Naruto learns who Katsu is to him.

In this chapter we will start at the beginning of the Chunin Exams. I would like to remind everyone that I will not follow Cannon exactly on the exam, and hopefully you all will enjoy it. Also remember last chapter I said that there was three months before the exam, and I will be skipping that three month period. Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Chunin Exams Begin

Naruto woke up excited. A week ago Kakashi had given Team 7 forms to sign up for the Chunin Exams. Katsu had already told Naruto about the exam, and Naruto was confident that Kakashi would let them participate. Naruto also knew that they had to compete in teams to participate, so he hoped Sasuke and Ino would also show up. He was not too worried though. Sasuke wanted to move up the rankings just as much as Naruto did, and lately Ino was just as ambitious.

Naruto had been really busy training the last three months, and did not get many opportunities to meet up with Ino. He missed her a lot, but training kept his mind off of his romantic troubles. Though he had yet to work up the courage to confess to the pretty blonde Kunoichi.

Naruto was also distracted by the fact Katsu had taken Sasuke as an apprentice. Naruto asked several times what Katsu was thinking taking Sasuke as a student. Katsu would just reply that Sasuke needed the help. Katsu also keep the boys separate during training. The wall that acted as a divider between the two made sure that neither one could tell what the other was working on.

Naruto was able to get a lot done during the last three months. He could tell that he was much stronger. Katsu made sure that Naruto was use to fighting using his strengths. A combination of Ninjutsu and Fuinjutsu made for a deadly combination. Naruto who use to be a one trick pony was now versatile. During the battle against Zabuza Naruto had stuck to Ninjutsu when he had more jutsus at his disposal. Katsu was sure to remedy that problem quickly.

Naruto had huge chakra reserves, and when you add in the fox's own chakra, he was a powerhouse. Katsu warned him that he still had poor control of his chakra so he had a tendency to waste some chakra here and there. Still Naruto could throw jutsus around like only a Kage could.

Despite this Naruto could not last long in a spar against Katsu. When Naruto asked Katsu where he stacked up against other shinobi Katsu told him that he believed him to be high Chunin level, but reminded him that he wasn't a real Chunin until he passed the exam.

Naruto was confident, and if the look on Sasuke's face when he left yesterday was any indication then Sasuke was confident too. Naruto was not sure how strong Sasuke had become, and Katsu refused to comment on his training; however, Naruto knew that Sasuke was a prodigy. He would never admit it out loud, but Naruto knew that Sasuke could learn jutsu as quick as the best.

Naruto arrived at the building the form indicated as the exam starting place. Sasuke and Ino were waiting out front for him. "Hey guys wait long?" Naruto was smiling ear to ear. He was ready to start this thing. Ino smiled herself. She was nervous that she wouldn't be able to match up against the other Genin in the exam, but seeing Naruto's calm and at ease attitude lighten her nerves.

"Now that we are all here let's turn in the forms. I don't want to be late, and we only have ten minutes left." Sasuke hurried them along. Sasuke was ready to test himself against the other Genin. This was just a stepping stone on his path to revenge. The Wave mission was a good test to show Sasuke were he stood against strong Shinobi. He was disappointed in the results. Sasuke knew he needed to get stronger. He would not have been able to defeat Zabuza then if he could not beat his subordinate without Naruto's help.

It was a tough pill to swallow, but his training the last three months proved fruitful. Sasuke was skeptical at first. It was impossible for someone outside the Uchiha to teach anyone the powers and secrets of the Sharingan. Imagine his surprise when Katsu proved to be even more knowledgeable than Sasuke about the secrets of the Sharingan.

Sasuke did not know how, but Katsu proved to have more knowledge than some of the members of the Uchiha clan about the Sharingan. Sasuke suspected that either Katsu studied the Sharingan up close by experimenting on a member of the Uchiha clan, or Itachi told him the secrets of the Dojutsu. It would not surprise him if Itachi did. It would only be one of many traitorous things he did before fleeing the village. In this case his brothers traitorous act had helped him because Katsu shared all the information about the Sharingan too him.

However, knowing the secrets of the Sharingan, and using them were two very different things. Sasuke had mastered his Sharingan to its fullest in its current state. But Sasuke still did not know how to unlock the next stage. Katsu had told him that the Mangekyo Sharingan was unlocked through an emotional event, but Sasuke had yet to figure out what to do yet. Itachi had told him that he could gain the power by killing his best friend like he did, but Katsu told him that it was a bad idea because even if it caused enough emotional toll on him to unlock Mangekyo it would set him on a path of no return.

Sasuke did not want to follow his brother's footsteps anyway. So he was stuck trying to think of a situation that would unlock Mangekyo. Katsu told him to let it come naturally, but Sasuke needed that power now.

As they moved to the third floor to turn in their forms they stumbled on an incident in front of the exam room. Some older Genin were blocking the door, and an argument seemed to have broken out. 'Wait are we not on the second floor?' Sasuke felt a strong compulsion to believe he was on the third floor, and even the sign above the exam room was the right room, but Sasuke knew in the back of his mind that they had only walked up two flights.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan to break the Genjutsu. Once broken Sasuke was able to think clearly again, and moved to go up another flight. Naruto though was still walking to the fake exam room. Sasuke grabbed him, and dragged him up the stairs sending some chakra into his system to break the Genjutsu.

"This way idiot" Sasuke told him in a whisper. No reason to alert the other Genin that had fallen for the Genjutsu. Naruto looked to make a comment, but a sharp look from Ino stopped him. She seemed to break the Genjutsu herself, and understood why he was being quiet. Naruto settled for jerking his arm away and grumbling to himself.

Team 7 made it to the exam room with time to spare. They turned in their exam forms and waited patiently for the exam to begin. Some of the other rookie teams, who also decided to participate, came to wait with them. Ino and Sakura talked to themselves while Sasuke stood a little to the side, and Naruto and Kiba were arguing about who would be promoted.

Sasuke scanned the room. There were many teams from the many villages here. Konoha was one of the more peaceful villages out of the five great villages, and that prompted many villages to send Genin here for the Chunin exam.

Even a new village had sent Genin, but Sasuke was not worried about them. It was unlikely that a new village would have anyone that could challenge him. There were some Genin that Sasuke spotted quickly that stood out from the other nobodies. A Sand Genin with red hair and a huge gourd on his back gave Sasuke a bad feeling. He could not figure it out, but it seemed The Sand Genin had some strange aura around him. One that gave Sasuke a feeling of dread.

From his own village Sasuke could see a Hyuga from the year above them, and a Genin wearing a green spandex suit that looked to be able to provide a challenge. Sasuke had heard that the Hyuga was rookie of the year last year, and the other one had a feeling to him that said he was strong. Then of course there was Naruto.

All of the Genin Sasuke had spotted would give him a challenge, but he knew Naruto would be the true test. Naruto had been receiving training from Katsu long before Sasuke, and he had no doubt that Naruto was likely the strongest Genin besides himself.

"Spot anyone interesting?" A voice came from Sasuke's side. Sasuke did not notice him approach, but refused to let his surprise show. He glanced at the newcomer that was looking out into the crowd like Sasuke had been. He had white hair and wore glasses with standard cloths, but Sasuke had a feeling he wanted people to believe he was common so he wouldn't stand out. This guy was a dangerous Shinobi for sure.

"You are?"

"Kabuto. I am also something of a veteran in this exam. Also I know a little bit about everyone here. Want to see?" Kabuto pulled out some cards that seemed to be blank. "Give me a name and I'll show you all the information I have on them."

Sasuke points out the three Genin he wanted some information on, and he also told Kabuto to show him the info he had on Naruto. "Not going to make this easy on me are you?" Kabuto jokingly says. He pulled four cards out of the deck and laid them on the floor. By now the other rookie Genin had come over to see what was going on.

"First up we got Gaara of the Sand. He is a Genin from Suna with 1 B-Rank, 5 C-Ranks, and 26 D-Ranks. His abilities are unknown, but the rumor is that he has never suffered an injury on a mission before." That was not good news. It is possible that none of his missions were dangerous, but his B and C-Ranks told Sasuke that this Genin was dangerous.

"Next we have Neji Hyuga. Neji was the rookie of the year last year, and is hailed as a prodigy of the Hyuga clan. Is Taijutsu is second to none amongst the Genin here, and his Byakugan is fully developed. He has been on 12 C-Ranks and 44 D-Ranks." 'Don't get close' was the only thought Sasuke had about Neji.

"Third is Rock Lee. Lee was dead last, last year, but according to my info he has made great strides to become one of the top Genin in the Village. He is on the same team as Neji, and also excels in Taijutsu. He was trained personally by Konoha's Taijutsu expert Might Guy. Interestingly though he does not seem to have much skill in Ninjutsu and Genjutsu." 'Another one to be careful about getting close to.'

"Finally, we have Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto was dead last of this year's graduates. He has no talent for Genjutsu, decent Taijutsu skills, and his only known Ninjutsu is the Kage Bushin no Jutsu. He has been on 1 A-Rank and 28 D-Ranks."

'He doesn't have everything. Naruto is much stronger than those cards show.' Sasuke was a little disappointed. It made sense that the info cards would be lacking on Naruto, but he guessed that Kabuto gained his info from mission reports and teacher evaluations which would not detail Naruto's abilities. It did make Sasuke wonder if Kabuto obtained this info legally, but he put it to the back of his mind.

Naruto also was suspicious of Kabuto's info cards, but before he could comment someone cleared their throats at the front of the room. At the front the desk had been carried out and replaced by Katsu.

"Katsu-sensei what are you doing here?" Naruto shouted from the back making Katsu smile though he did not respond directly to him.

"Everyone if I could have your attention please. We are about to start the Chunin Exams. Before we start I think we should move this gathering to a more appropriate place." With that Katsu slammed his palm on the ground causing a seal array to appear below everyone's feet. Before anyone could react there was a blinding light that consumed the crowd.

When Naruto could see again everyone was in a new room. One Naruto did not recognize. It did not match the building style of the leaf village. "Where are we?" Shouted a panicked Genin from the mist village.

"This is the sight of the Chunin Exams." Katsu announced to the room. It was then that Naruto saw that there were more people here than originally. Genin teams from Iwa and Kumo also were in the room.

"The Chunin Exams will start in 10 minutes. Every team is to find there team sensei for details of the first task. If you are not at the designated area in 10 minutes your team will be disqualified." Katsu announced to the crowd. Immediately the crowd broke in search of their senseis.

Kakashi was leaning against the far wall with a blank expression on his face. Once Team 7 reached him he gave them his patented eye smile. "Kakashi-sensei where are we?" Ino asked.

"You all are in the neutral territory of the Land of Iron. The Hokage thought it would be best to have this Chunin Exam in neutral territory so that all villages would participate. Now this exam has become the largest Chunin Exam in history. I am counting on you guys to make Konoha look good out there understand?"

"Where is the first task?" Sasuke wasted no time since they were on the clock.

"Go to this location" He gave Sasuke a map. "This exam will be harder than any of you were expecting. Be careful and remember to give it your all, and work as a team." With that Kakashi disappeared in smoke.

Sasuke quickly left going to the location marked on the map. It took Team 7 a few minutes to arrive, but nothing impeded their walk to the room. It seemed that everyone made it to the room before time expired. The doors shut suddenly leaving everyone in a huge room.

"Now" Katsu spoke from the front again, "The first task will start. I will briefly explain your mission, but it will be up to you to solve the problem. Soon you will all go through this door behind me. Beyond this door is a maze. The maze is filled with dangers that you may face in the field. It is also possible that you will meet other teams in the maze. The objective is simple. Navigate the maze to the end. Once there another proctor will give you the clue for the next task. The next task does not start until tomorrow, but you will only get two hours to navigate the maze. The maze will be dangerous, so if you are not ready and want to back down now you need to raise your hand now."

No one raised their hand though some looked like they wanted to.

"Okay then. As you enter the next room I want you all to take one of these badges. Each badge is tagged to teleport you out of the maze if you need it. If you are in danger, or gravely injured then press the button on the badge to be teleported to the medical tent." The door opened to reveal the vast maze. Each team slowly filled in.

Proctors were at the entrance telling teams when to go in. Naruto did not think it was fair that some teams got in before others, but figured since it was not a race he would not complain. Once Team 7 entered Sasuke took off. Naruto and Ino followed close behind.

"I'll take lead. My Sharingan can inform me what is up ahead. Listen closely and we will get through this maze quickly."

Naruto nodded. It made since so there was no reason to argue with Sasuke taking command. Naruto observed the maze around them. It was even bigger than he first thought. The walls did tighten you up some, but there would be plenty of room for fighting in the maze.

The maze quickly diverted in multiple directions. Sasuke did not slow down once at any turn. Naruto did not know if Sasuke knew where he was going, but he didn't have any better way of navigating the maze so he remained silent.

Ino however, was getting nervous. The Katsu told them that there were dangers in the maze, but they had yet to encounter anything, not even another team. They hadn't even seen a dead end yet, and all mazes had dead ends. She trusted that the Sharingan was helping somewhat, but the still should have hit something by now.

Not a minute later Sasuke shouted "Duck" they hit the floor quickly just as arrows flew past them. It was the first trap they ran into. They continued on as before. It wasn't long until Sasuke stopped them. "There is a pit here."

"How can you tell?"

"There is some chakra still lingering here. An earth jutsu to conceal the pit."

Sasuke stepped forward to cause the earth to give. Once it did they could see the spikes that they would have fallen on if they had continued. "We need to be careful. The proctors are not pulling punches on this one."

They jumped over and continued on. It was not long until Sasuke stopped them again. He edged to the corner of the upcoming turn and peered around. "There is a team up ahead. They seem to be injured and taking a break. Approach quietly and quickly. Take them out and move on. We are running out of time." Sasuke instructs them.

They advanced quietly. The Iwa Genin did look to be injured. There was blood on the ground, and one of them was not moving. The two remaining looked to be debating quitting. Both were facing away from them so it was not difficult to take them out. Both dropped.

"Let's keep moving." Team 7 sets off again. They dodged more traps, and avoided other more healthy looking teams. Sasuke had convinced Naruto that it was not worth getting into big fights and running out of time. Naruto could see the logic in it, but still felt like a coward at hiding from other teams.

Eventually the maze entered a long straight stretch. They exited the maze to find a proctor standing in front of three doors.

"Congratulations on making it through the maze. Now comes the final test to the first task. Behind me are three doors. One door leads to your sensei who has the location to the second task. The other two doors lead to an area set up to transport you back to your village. Your job is to pick the door." Naruto was nervous. He was not the best at math but even he knew that 2/3 odds where not good.

"You must pick as a team. Also if you choose wrong then you will be unable to participate in a Chunin exam ever again. If you want to quit then you can do so with no extra penalty." The proctor finish.

Ino was very nervous. She did not want to remain a Genin forever, and she saw no way, but pure luck to pass this test. She was about to withdraw when Naruto spoke up. "We are not going to give up. I'm going to be the Hokage, and the Hokage sometimes has to make the hard decisions. We are going to pick the right door and move on. Believe it!" Naruto tells the proctor.

"Do you two feel the same?" the proctor asks them. Sasuke and Ino both nod. Both filled with confidence from Naruto's words.

"Okay then. You all pass!" Silence meet his announcement. Team 7 stared at him in disbelief.

"What?"

"You guys pass. This test was just to see if when you encounter dangers out on a mission if you were able to make tough decisions at the end. As long as you were willing to pick a door then you were going to pass." The proctor tells them.

Naruto could not believe it, but he was happy they passed the first task. One of the doors opened, and the proctor ushered them in. The hallway lead to a room with many Jonin from various villages. There was tension in the air which wasn't surprising since most of these guys fought one another in the Third Shinobi war. Most of the tension was coming from Konoha and Iwa Jonin.

Naruto was oblivious to the tension in the air. He was just happy that so many Jonin senseis were still here. It meant that Team 7 was far from being last through the maze. Kakashi quickly meet them, and ushered them from the room.

"Congratulations my cute little Genin. You passed the first task." Kakashi gave them a big eye smile.

"Where are we going Kakashi-sensei?" Ino asked curiously.

"I'm taking you guys to your hotels. There are many villages here, and I don't want you guys out in the open. Once we get to our rooms I want you to stay in your rooms. It is not safe to explore the village."

Ino was not that disappointed. The Land of Iron was cold, and there was not much to look at. Kakashi lead them to a newer looking building. It seemed to have been constructed recently.

"This hotel was built to house the teams from Konoha while we are here. It is the safest place in this country, so I want you guys to stay in this building okay? We have been at war with almost every village here, and I don't want to take chances." Kakashi reminds them as they step in the hotel. Many other Konoha Genin teams were already inside.

Kakashi went to get their room keys while Team 7 checked on the other rookie teams. Hinata, Kiba, and Shino made it through the maze easily. Team 8 was built for tracking, and navigation. Choji, Shikamaru, and Sakura ran into trouble. A team from Kumo ambushed them, but Shikamaru's intelligence got them out of the pickle. Not without injury though. Choji broke his arm, and Sakura suffered a concussion. They had been forced to withdraw in the end.

Team 9 did not have a scratch on them. With Neji on the team navigation was not a problem, and He and Rock Lee could handle anyone quickly in close quarters like that. Kabuto's team seemed to be the only other leaf team to make it through so far. After getting up to date on what was happing with the other teams, Kakashi returned with their room keys.

"Let's go check out the rooms shall we?" Kakashi lead them up the stairs to their rooms. Kakashi stopped on the third floor, and handed a key to them. "You guys are in 205. I'll be in 206 so if you need anything just holler." Kakashi started to walk off.

"Wait! Do you expect me to sleep in the same room as the boys?" Ino asks outraged. If she was being honest the idea actually excited her a bit. She always had a crush on Sasuke, but lately she had been thinking a lot about Naruto too. Her new feelings scared her, and confused her. Which is why she objected to the room assignments. She did not think she could handle this.

"Yes I do. Ino when we are out on mission we will most likely all be sleeping in the same area. You need to get comfortable with your team. Even to the point of changing in front of them." Ino went red as a tomato. "Don't worry, I don't expect you to get naked, but out in the field you could get your cloths wet, or bloody so you need to be able to change with everyone else. Going off on your own for privacy will get you killed from an ambush." Kakashi told her firmly.

"Here at least you will be able to ease into it. You will be mildly comfortable, and exposure to the others will be minimal." Kakashi added to easy her worries somewhat. He was a little out of his element on this one. Even when he was going through his Genin years, and his time with his Team 7, he did not have to deal with this. Rin for the most part was mature for her age. The war is what matured her really, and there just was not room for shyness on a mission during war times.

Kakashi disappeared into his room leaving the Genin outside. Sasuke entered the room first. Inside was a full kitchen, a laundry room, two bedrooms, a bathroom in each bedroom, a living room, and a dining room. It was more of an apartment then a hotel room really.

"I call one of the bedrooms." Ino shouted as she ran for a room closing the door behind her. Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other and shrugged.

"You take the other room, I'm use to sleeping on couches." Naruto tells Sasuke. Sasuke nods and moves to the other room closing the door behind him. Naruto goes to the kitchen to make some dinner. He was hungry after all that running in the maze.

Naruto found some ground beef in the fridge, and taco seasoning in one of the cabinets. (I know it's not Japanese food. Lay off.) Once the tacos were finished, a newly showered Ino stepped into the kitchen.

"You made tacos? Sweet!" Ino filled hers up with as much as she could. Naruto would have responded if his jaw was not on the floor. Ino had put on a simple robe that the hotel must have provided because it was just a tad to0 big in the chest area. This caused the seam to fall loose which left Naruto with a good angle to see her chest. He tore his eyes away blushing. It was obvious that Ino did not know that at the right angle someone could see her chest.

Tempted to look again Naruto quickly made his own tacos and sat down. Sasuke joined a few minutes later. He did not seem to notice Ino's wardrobe choice, but Sasuke rarely looked at the opposite sex anyways. Naruto quickly ate, and retreated to the bathroom to wash up.

He had cooled down after his shower and walked out without his shirt. Ino saw him and blushed deeply. Naruto was in great shape. His training lately had been fierce and it showed. Toned muscled adorned his torso and arms. Ino was not use to half naked men walking around. Even her father was fully clothed at all times around her. It did not help that half of her wanted to jump Naruto then and there while the other half was angry at herself for looking at someone other than Sasuke.

Her conflicting emotions eventually caused her to retire early for the night. She had dreams that night of a certain blonde doing things to her that would give her father a heart attack. Ino snapped awake with a noticeable wet spot in her crotch area. She groaned to herself. This was the first time she had a wet dream. She had heard of them before from the older girls, but never did she think she would start having them, much less with them featuring a blonde instead of a raven haired boy.

She checked the time to see she needed to get up and ready. After her morning routine she stepped out of her room to see a still shirtless Naruto cooking breakfast. Ino went red again. She pinched herself to make sure she was not still dreaming. Naruto noticed her, and greeted her. She gave a weak greeting in reply.

Not long afterwards, Sasuke came out of his room fully cloth, thankfully. Once they finished breakfast, they discussed some strategy for the coming task. A few minutes later, Kakashi stepped in to tell them it was time to go.

Team 7 meet up with the other Genin on the outskirts of the village. It was freezing cold outside, and a blizzard could be seen just a few meters ahead. Once again Katsu was the head proctor. "Listen up! The second task will start soon. In this task you will be up against the harshest conditions of your lives. The second task is a survival challenge using any means necessary to get to the summit of that mountain." Katsu pointed to a lone mountain out in the distance.

"Each team will be given either an Earth scroll or a Heaven scroll. The objective of each team is to get to the base that is located at the base of that mountain. Obviously some of you will not pass this section of the exam."

"They are cutting the number in half with this task" Sasuke whispered to the others.

"You will be up against a blizzard, local wildlife, and other teams in this survival challenge. If you don't feel like you are up for the challenge then speak up now." No one gave up. Each Genin was determined to prove themselves.

Seeing no one give up Katsu and the other proctors escorted the various teams to their starting points. Team 7 was waiting for the signal to start. "We are at a disadvantage. We have never navigated a snow climate before." Ino stated to the other two. She was nervous about surviving the cold. That was not even taking into account the other teams they might run into. If one suffered an injury it could slow the others down enough for the cold to finish them off. This would be the single most dangerous mission they ever encountered.

Hundreds of red flares went up signaling the start of the second task. Luckily, the mountain was so big that even with the blizzard roaring in front of them they could still see it. Once they stepped into the actual blizzard, visibility dropped drastically. Sasuke's Sharingan helped some, but even the Dojutsu was limited in the harsh climate.

"We need to find shelter quickly." Ino shouted out to them. Naruto and Sasuke agreed, but the problem was that shelter was hard to find. All around them was nothing but snow. Naruto who was sensing out the area for enemies, sensed a team up ahead. Naruto signaled his team to stop. Making clones that Henged into his teammates, the fake Team 7 continued on while the real Team 7 flanked the waiting enemy team.

Once the clones got close enough, a team of mist shinobi jumped out of the snow on both sides throwing kunai at them. The clones were pierced multiple times before popping. The mist Genin were confused, and that confusion cost them as Team seven ambushed them from behind. Once the mist Genin were down Sasuke searched for their scroll.

"An Earth scroll. We are in luck." Sasuke told them. He placed the scroll with their Heaven scroll, and continued advancing towards the mountain.

"New plan. Now we have what we need I say we bee line it for the mountain, and take shelter where we can along the way. We do not want to risk too much time out here." Sasuke suggested. Both Ino and Naruto agreed.

As they were advancing to the mountain, the wind picked up drastically. Sasuke who had the Sharingan activated saw what was about to happen. "Get down!" He shouts to his team mates. Ino and he hit the ground, but Naruto reacted a little slower. He was blown away out of sight.

Sasuke tsked. He was not afraid of any of the Genin in the exam, but if more than one team was working together they could become outnumbered quickly. He really wished he had Naruto and his clone army in such a situation.

Sasuke jumped from the ground in a defensive stance. There was only one Genin. The grass Genin that confronted them did not seem like much, but she gave off this aura that terrified Sasuke. Sasuke remembered that this was the killing intent he felt going against Zabuza, but this Genin had a much more powerful killing intent.

Sasuke was able to shake it off, but he could tell that Ino was not going to be any help. She had already collapsed shaking in fear. "Who are you?" Sasuke asked.

"Kukuku. You don't need to worry about who I am. You just need to entertain me for a bit." With that the grass Genin took off at speed unmatched by any Genin. Even with the Sharingan Sasuke had trouble keeping up. In fact if he did not have his Sharingan active to predict his next move he would have already been finished. 'This is no Genin.' Sasuke thought. Trading blows with this nin was like sparring with Katsu. Sasuke even got the impression that this mysterious nin was holding back greatly against him like Katsu would.

Sasuke jumped back to make some distance. "Great Fireball Jutsu" Sasuke tried to burn the nin to ash. It looked like his fireball connected, but when the fire was extinguished the nin was nowhere to be seen.

"Great use of the Fire Jutsu Sasuke. However, if you want to beat me you'll have to do better than that." The nin's voice sounded from behind him. Sasuke whirled around to find him. She was standing there relaxed like they were not engaged in a life or death battle. Sasuke was infuriated. It was time to bring out the big guns.

Sasuke had been trying to conserve as much chakra as he could, and not give away his abilities but this enemy was too strong to hold back against. "Fire Style: Fire Dragon Jutsu" A huge dragon made of pure fire shoot out at the grass nin. She didn't flinch. In fact, she smiled a huge gleeful smile. The dragon connected causing a huge amount of steam to shoot up around them from the melted snow.

Sasuke thought for sure that he got her this time, but until he saw the body he did not drop his guard. "Very good Sasuke." The voice seemed to come from everywhere, and even though it sounded much deeper now Sasuke knew that it was the grass nin. "You have pleased me. For that I will give you two presents."

Sasuke did not know what the strange nin was going on about, but he did not like it. All of a sudden he felt a sharp pain in his neck. He glanced to see that in all the stream the grass nin had sneaked up behind him, and was now biting into his neck. Terrible pain shot through his body. He let out a blood hurling scream.

He was released only to fall to the ground. A dark mark appeared on his neck where he was bit. "Now I will leave you with my second present." The grass nin grabbed hold of Sasuke's chin in a firm grip forcing him to look into the nin's eyes. His cold snake like eyes. "My name is Orochimaru. I am one of the three Legendary Sannin." Orochimaru threw him down intending to walk away before the patrol got to him when he was sent flying by a kick to the head.

Naruto had landed in a snow pile a good distance from his team. He could sense now the massive chakra that had attacked them. He knew that only all three of them together could beat this guy. He could also sense a creature approaching him at a high speed. He quickly jumped to the side to avoid a huge snake.

"I don't have time for you." Naruto tried to throw kunai at it, but the snake was too fast. Naruto was forced to dodge many more times. The snake was very fast. It was all Naruto could do to keep dodging it. Naruto jumped high into the air to avoid another attack.

The snake thinking it had Naruto, jumped into the air as well. "Wind Style: Great Break Through" A gust of cutting wind blew at the snake chopping it up into many pieces. 'Sasuke!' Naruto could sense Sasuke's chakra fluctuate badly. He took off in their direction.

By the time he arrived he only saw Ino collapsed on the ground unable to move, and Sasuke getting shoved to the ground obviously losing conscious. Naruto was angry. Not only did the nin hurt his friend, but he also threatened his crush. Naruto would not let anything happen to her.

A rush of energy filled Naruto. He did not notice his scares on his face deepen. He did not notice his nails sharpening into claws. He did not notice the shroud of red chakra surround him. All Naruto knew was he needed to beat this guy to save Ino.

His kick sent the enemy nin flying, but Naruto was not done yet. With speed he had no idea he could achieve, Naruto closed in on the surprised nin, hitting him with a barrage of punches and kicks. At first Naruto thought he was going to win, but a strong kick to his midsection sent him flying away.

He got his bearings to see that the enemy nin had recovered from his surprise, and now he was pissed. Naruto flew through hand seals. Wind Style: Wind Shuriken Jutsu." The wind from the blizzard made it easy to use wind jutsus, and with the chakra boost Naruto easily made hundreds of deadly cutting blades that flew at the nin.

"Summoning Jutsu" Snakes appeared in front of the nin taking the brunt of the wind shurikens. Naruto through the haze of his anger knew that this nin was way out of his league, and he would need to even up this match somehow. The nin engaged Naruto again. Naruto took more hits then he could give, but he kept his focus on his chakra. He was kicked away which give him enough time to use his jutsu. "Leg Movement Fuin." Naruto took a shot to his face, but he was still able to dig his claws in the nin's leg. Immediately a seal appeared on the nin's leg.

Orochimaru was having trouble moving his leg. He knew he took some damage from the Kyubi's container, but it should not have been enough to impair his movement. When his leg stopped moving all together, he knocked Naruto away. 'Poison? No! Impossible. I am immune to almost all poison. Plus my spies would have told me if the Kyubi was working with poison.'

Orochimaru looked at his leg to see if he could see what was wrong. There was no decaying of flesh around the wound so he knew that it wasn't poison. He did not have much time to think though as the Kyubi was back at him. With one leg down Orochimaru was having troubles keeping up with him.

'I need to end this now.' Orochimaru knew he could no longer play with the Genin. He had wasted enough time already, and now he was impaired. Orochimaru grabbed both of Naruto's arms. Opening his mouth a sword shot out piercing Naruto through the stomach.

Pain. That was all Naruto could feel. One minute he had the advantage. He even believed he could win, but now all he knew was pain. The pain quickly disappeared though. Now he was cold. Like all the warmth in his body was gone. The sword was withdrawn. The nin disappeared, but Naruto did not noticed. He collapsed on the frozen ground.

Ino finally was able to move now the nin was gone. She shakenly approached Naruto. She could not believe it. She knew the exams could be dangerous. She knew the profession was dangerous, but never did she think that one of her teammates would get hurt. Now both of them were hurt, and one was going to die if she did not get help soon.

There was no one around to help. It was up to her to save Naruto's life. She dragged both boys to a fallen tree that she spotted now that the storm let up a little. She did her best to dress Naruto's wound, but she knew it wasn't enough. Sasuke though unconscious, was not in danger. Naruto was pale and cold. Ino did not know what to do. The bleeding had stopped, but Naruto would die of frost bite long before she could find someone to give proper medical attention to him.

First thing she had to do was get him warm. Darkness was setting in, and the temperature was rising. Ino had heard that skin to skin contact was the only way to warm each other's bodies. Ino was embarrassed, but the den she had dragged them into provided good shelter and cover. Plus Naruto's life was more important than her modesty. With that in mind, she stripped herself and Naruto of their clothing. She briefly doing the same for Sasuke, but he seemed to be overheating. She laid down against Naruto, trying to cover as much of his body with hers as she could. She was embarrassed beyond belief. Some of her most private places rubbed against Naruto. She felt like she could die, but it had to be done. Ino eventually went to sleep. Worry and fear plagued her thoughts through the night.

AN: That's all for that one folks. Hope you liked it. Next chapter will end the second task and cover the month training period plus the third task. Just would like to note that their will be no invasion. This is not the leaf village, and no reason for Orochimaru to attack. He was only there to give the curse mark to Sasuke.