Okay, I'm kind of busy today so not much of an A/N or editing. Bear with me.

For those of you who reviewed or are going to review Nami known as PranksterofKonoha, you have our thanks. (BTW there was a little problem with her stories before, no Disclaimer, and she wanted to change it and started them anew. Therefore, the reviews placed for those stories are gone and Nami's not all that happy. So if you have the time and of course, if you'd like to, stop by her stories once more to review.) Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Midori could see the destination from where she was standing now. Maybe I should stop and take a breather right now… Midori thought, sitting down and breathing heavily. She held her stomach. What's this weird pain…it's not bad but… Shaking her head, she continued. Maybe that fight took more out of me than I thought.

---

It took exactly one more day for Kyoko to reach the tower. When she got to the entrance, she spotted Nami coming in from the other side. Narrowing her eyes, she ran faster.

Nami saw Kyoko as well and increased her speed. The wind rushed through her hair and she didn't take her eyes of her teammate.

"I WIN!" they shouted in unison, stopping on a dime.

"You weren't first!" Nami declared. "I was here way before you were!"

"You were not!" Kyoko shouted. "I won, so I'm faster!"

"Yeah right! In your dreams!"

"Oh, guys," came a voice.

The girls turned to see Midori, leaning against the wall of the tower and waving casually.

"MIDORI!"

"It's nice of you to show up," Midori said, clearly amused. "Don't forget the exam is still in progress. I suggest we go inside before we get attacked."

Her teammates silently nodded their heads, still surprised that Midori had gotten to the tower first. They entered the tower.

Hmph…acting all cool-like. That's totally my department, Nami thought, a little annoyed. I bet she didn't run into anyone.

"Hey Midori," she said aloud. "Did anything interesting happen?"

Midori raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Why don't you guys tell me about your adventures first?"

"Well…if you insist," Nami shrugged. "I faced off with the sound team. And Orochimaru."

"What? Then how are you alive?" Kyoko demanded. "No way, he would've killed you. Unless…you weren't important enough to be killed…"

"Stupid, of course he tried to kill me!" Nami shouted. "I just put up a good fight!"

"Did you…win?" Midori said hesitantly.

"Er…"

"Ha!" Kyoko laughed.

"Well, do you think you can beat Orochimaru?" Nami demanded. "His Michael Jackson impression just distracted me."

"Well you know what I did?" Kyoko asked.

"I'm afraid to ask," Nami muttered.

Kyoko ignored Nami. "I met up with Gaara and—"

"Here we go…" Nami said as she reached into her back pouch. "Where are my ear plugs?"

"Shut up!" Kyoko said angrily. "He almost killed me!"

"Why am I not surprised?"

"How'd it turn out? You're obviously alive," Midori said.

"Well…something weird kind of happened," Kyoko explained. "He sort of just…stopped. He didn't kill me."

"Aw…"

"You know what, Nami—"

"Er, so did you guys get any scrolls?" Midori cut in.

"Yeah! Now we have two!" Kyoko exclaimed, digging into her mended pouch. "I got a scroll with Team Eight and here it is! A Heaven Scroll!"

"Hmph. Of course, you needed Team Eight's help," Nami said. "So where's the Earth Scroll?"

Kyoko froze.

In the area where Team Eight and Kyoko fought the rain nin, a team of cloud ninja sat down.

"I can't believe you lost our Earth Scroll!" a boy said angrily.

"I didn't lose it! It's not my fault your defenses were terrible! They got behind me!" another boy shouted.

"Hey, it's fine," the third boy sighed, starting to sit down. "What's done is done. What we need is a plan to get another scr—huh?" He immediately sat up.

"What is it?" the first boy asked.

"It's…an Earth Scroll!"

Back to the tower…

"BAKA! You're so stupid!" Nami exclaimed. "You lost the Earth Scroll? Unbelievable!"

"It's not my fault!" Kyoko said anxiously. "It was during the fight and they ripped my pouch! I forgot about it!"

"Yeah, like I'm gonna believe that!"

"Hey, hey," Midori said, reaching into her own pouch. "Enough of that. It's okay, I have another Earth Scroll."

"Huh?" the two girls looked at their fellow teammate.

"Yeah," Midori said. "I didn't think it would be necessary considering we had an Earth Scroll but—"

"How'd you get that?" Kyoko asked, shocked.

"What did you do?" Nami questioned.

"Neji and I were fighting some waterfall nin and well…we got the scroll," Midori said.

"Wait…he gave you the scroll?" Nami said with astonishment.

"That is so weird," Kyoko said, though she smiled slyly. "Is it…a sign?"

Midori narrowed her eyes, cheeks red as her teammates burst out laughing.

"It was a kind gesture," Midori declared, though she hated to say it. "That's all."

"Whatever you say," Nami said, taking the scroll. "It's a good thing, though. Because someone lost the scroll."

"Hey, at least I managed to get a scroll unlike someone," Kyoko pointed out.

"Shut up."

By this time, the girls had stopped in a plain room. It was pretty much empty except for a large wall scroll on the…wall.

Midori stared at the wall scroll her teammates verbally fought. 'If qualities of Heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom and knowledge to take your mind higher. If Earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body in the fields and prepare to attack. When both Heaven and Earth are opened together, the path of peril will revert to the righteous path forever. This "blank" is the secret way…that guides us on from this place today. The Third Hokage…'

It's so true… Midori thought, glancing over at her teammates. Though the three of us may be lacking more than that…

It was then when another team walked into the room. It was the sound team.

Huh? Dosu thought, noticing Nami. That's the girl from before. So her team made it?

Pft, Zaku thought. That girl's team is just a bunch of females. How'd they pass?

The room was silent. Nami was busily glaring daggers at Kin. Kyoko observed Zaku's broken arms that lay uselessly at his sides.

Jabbing Midori slightly, Kyoko whispered, "Hey, you've been practicing medical ninjutsu, right? Why don't you heal up Zaku's arms, huh?"

"What?" Midori said with disbelief. She glanced at Zaku's arms and suddenly something pulled at her conscience. "Oh…all right."

The sound team had turned to the wall scroll and started reading it, acting as if the girls were invisible.

Midori cautiously walked over to Zaku, gaining his attention. "Um…"

"What do you want?" Zaku spat.

"Your arms…" Midori started quietly.

"Yeah, what of them?"

"Well, if you'd like, I could fix them for you…" Midori said shyly.

Zaku stared at her for a second then said casually, "All right. Let's see what you can do." He sat down in a cross-legged position.

Midori nodded and kneeled down. She pressed her hands together over his right arm. Green, glowing chakra slowly appeared.

Dosu and Kin watched with interest.

Why are they helping us? Surely the other one told her teammates about our little fight. And with Kin acting that way before… Dosu thought.

Hmph. Those girls are stupid to help Zaku, Kin thought. It's as if they want to help us pass these bothersome exams.

"Hey, why's Midori helping Zaku?" Nami whispered to Kyoko. "You do realize that they were the ones who tried to kill me. They're the bad guys."

Kyoko shrugged, smiling.

"I've reduced most of the damage," Midori said, wiping her brow. "Every bone is back in place and you shouldn't feel any pain. But you should sort of lay back for a while. It isn't completely healed yet."

"Lay back during these exams? I don't think so," Zaku said, standing up.

Midori waited for a moment then walked back to her teammates.

"Hey man, she just fixed your arms! Show some gratefulness!" Nami called to Zaku.

"I didn't force her to," was all Zaku said.

"You—"

"Let it go, Nami," Midori said, smiling under her nose. "He's grateful."

Nami pouted.

"So guys, are you gonna open those scrolls or not?" Midori said to her teammates.

Nami and Kyoko looked at each other and nodded together. With the Earth Scroll in Nami's hand and the Heaven scroll in Kyoko's. They peeled open the scroll, then both threw them like grenades.

Suddenly, smoke gushed out of each scroll. As the smoke resided, a chuunin stood in place.

"Congratulations, girls," the chuunin said, pressing a button on a stopwatch he carried. "You've passed the second exam."

A few days later of waiting, the girls found themselves in a large arena-type room standing in line with the other candidates who passed the second exam. Nami stood at the front, then Midori, and last was Kyoko.

Some meters across from the group was another. They were the jounin senseis, examiners, and more.

There's Marieke-sensei, Nami thought, smirking. I bet she's surprised to see us here.

Kyoko glanced around. Her eyes fell upon a team that was out of place. Huh? A team from Hidden Cloud? They're not supposed to be here… She heard heavy breath in front of her. Turning, she noticed Midori looking sort of sickly and holding her stomach.

"Hey, Midori," Kyoko whispered, concerned. "You okay? You look kind of bad…"

"I'm fine…" Midori said slowly. Did…did I accidentally get some poison into my system? That couldn't be it…it would've gotten me long before…wouldn't it have?

"If you say so," Kyoko shrugged.

"Hm…looks like your students did make it, Marieke," Kakashi said. "Having your doubts still?"

"Oh yeah," Marieke said stubbornly.

"Your students?" Gai said, squinting towards the group of genin. "You mean the all-female team?"

"That's right."

"Ah…the fire of youth burns within them tremendously if they were able to surpass the other teams!" Gai declared. "You've done well, Marieke!" He gave her the nice guy pose. "But mark my words, my students are superior! Especially to Kakashi's!"

"Yeah…" Marieke said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Kakashi said, turning his head.

Gai turned his back towards the two masked ninja and clenched his fist. Argh! It was bad enough when Kakashi ignored me…but now Marieke sounds so doubtful of my youthfulness! Oh Marieke…what do I have that Kakashi doesn't? Is it the mask? Yes, that must be it! I shall purchase a mask! Oh…but hiding one's face is most not youthful! I am torn…

As Gai tormented himself, Marieke jabbed Kakashi and said, "Is he all right?"

"I forgot that you were fairly new here," Kakashi said. "He'll be fine. He does it all the time. It's best to ignore it."

"Hokage-sama will now explain the third exam!" Anko barked. "All of you listen well! Take it away, Hokage-sama!"

She stepped behind as the Sandaime stepped forward. "Before I explain the third exam, I'd like to for you all to know something…concerning the true reason for the Chuunin Exams."

Midori attempted to listen, but she couldn't. Her chest pulsed strangely and she felt her ankles getting weaker. It felt like it took all her strength just to stand. What's wrong with me? She shook her head. Maybe…maybe I should just quit now. I have no idea what this weird feeling is…

"Yo, Midori."

"Huh?" Midori looked up towards Nami who had her head turned.

"Don't die on us now," Nami grinned, half-jokingly. "We're a quarter there, we're almost chuunin."

Midori only nodded. Yeah…I can't let my team down…we've come so far...and I'm not going to be left behind.

Kyoko tuned the Hokage off and glanced around the room uninterestedly. These explanations are sure troublesome. I wonder who I'll have to fight…whoever it is, I'm not going to let them stop me. As long as I don't get Gaara…

The Sandaime Hokage had been interrupted by none other than…

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but as the examiner of this exam, I, Gekkou Hayate would like to proceed with the explanation."

"Yes, yes, of course."

Hayate stood up, his back facing the genin. "Hello. I'm Gekkou Hayate…" he paused for a moment to cough. A LONG moment.

"Uh…dude…do you want a cough drop or something?" Nami asked, earning a thwack on the back of the head by Midori. "What?" she hissed quietly.

Midori just gave her the LOOK.

"I'm fine," Hayate said. "But there is something I must ask of all of you before the third exam...You must all go through a preliminary round first…"

Once again, I'm a little busy today so not much editing. R&R please!

-HM